(Edited by
"larryinseattle
" whose skill and friendship have kept me going.)
"Where is that kid? Eleven o'clock and he's still not ...,"
Natalie thought to herself until she saw her own reflection in the mirror behind the clock. She blushed, quietly saying, "Who am I kidding? Dale's only six years younger than me and he's no kid anymore. He going to be 22, in just a few months, and he's the head of a department at our company.
'Our company' was actually the clothing design and manufacturing company that Dale's father had started. Dale's mother died when he was very young so it had been just him and his father until she'd come into their life. She'd been a model for the company for just a few months when she met Dale's father at a company event. Rumors quickly circulated about them, not all of them nice, especially regarding the difference in their ages.
When they married, Dale's father was 39 and she was 23, not that the age difference mattered to them. The three of them quickly bonded as a family and they did everything together, or almost everything. She was afraid of water, well not really water but the large, predatory fish that live in those waters. That was why she was sitting on the beach the day of Dale's 18
th
birthday instead of scuba diving with them.
She'd known something was wrong the moment Dale surfaced, as he looked about frantically calling out his father's name. She watched as he dove back under the water over and over before racing for the shore. It was only when he was calling for help that she overheard him talking about a shark. The search lasted for several days before it was called off when the investigators informed them they'd received evidence of the shark attack.
"Talk about sharks," she thought as she remembered the battle that took place between the investors after her husband's death. One group of investors wanted to sell, while another wanted to keep it, but only if they were in charge. In the end, she and Dale, as senior stock holders, took over and she'd taken on the role of CEO.
In the beginning, it was rough but now, three years later, the company was a leading manufacturer of high-end women's clothing and lingerie. It was doing so good, in fact, that she'd made Dale head of the Research and Design Department so she could have some time to herself.
She looked up at the mantle, at the picture of Dale's dad that still sat there, a piece of black ribbon hanging on a corner. "Gawd, I miss you. If you were here I'd know if I made the right decision by promoting Dale ... but then again if you were here I wouldn't be the one making the decision," she sighed.
Just then Dale walked through the front door, calling out. "I'm home. Anybody else here?"
"In here," she called out.
The moment he stepped into the front room, he knew he was in trouble. Even though she remained in her chair, he felt her 'presence' surround him. At 5-foot, 9-inches, she was shorter than the majority of the men she did business with, maybe that's why she always wore 3-4 inch heels, so she could look at them at least eye-to-eye. Add to that a razor-sharp wit regarding the women's clothing design and manufacturing industry and the men were already at a loss. The final nail in their proverbial coffin was her beautiful face and great looks. After all, who was going to argue with a brown-haired, blue-eyed woman with a 36D-25-36 figure?
"WHERE have you been? You left the office almost 4 hours ago. Did you forget that we were supposed to have dinner together tonight?" she snarled.
"Sorry. I ... ummmmm ... I was checking out a new product line and lost track of time."
"Yeah. WHAT product line?" she asked, seriously doubting what he said.
"Just a new store I heard about. Apparently, the owner does her own design and production. Unfortunately, the shop is located down on the East side which means it took forever to get there and then parking was a bitch. I spent over half-an-hour just circling the area before I found a parking spot."
"Well, I'm glad to hear you were doing something productive for the company and not just fucking around."
It was lucky that the lights in the room weren't all on or she'd have seen the way his face turned a deep shade of red, as an image of his cock sliding in and out of the shop owner's pussy formed in his mind.
"Anyway, there's left-over salmon and rice, along with a salad in the frig if you're hungry."
"Thanks, I'm starved," he called over his shoulder as he headed for the kitchen.
"So, tell me about this new line"
"I can't hear you," he yelled, though he could hear her perfectly.
She sighed as she got out of her chair and walked into the kitchen where she took a seat across from him. "I wanted to know about this new product line."
"Mmmm, this dinner is really good," he replied, trying to change the subject.
When she didn't say anything, he knew he wasn't going to get away with it. "It's just a small place. The owner is in her mid-40's I think she said. She's only owned the place for about a year but she seems to doing pretty well for herself."
"Okay. Anything we might be interested in?"
"I'm not sure. She specializes in, what was it Mr. Henshaw said the one time, the more deviant areas of the industry."
"Ahhhhh. So in other words she specializes in the sexier outfits and ... ummmm ... accessories."
"Yeah, that's a good way of putting it. Though she also had some really good quality clothing as well."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe I should check this place out myself?"
"No need for that. I picked out one of the better outfits and bought it."
"Where is it? I'd like to have a look at it."
"It's in my car ... and that's where it's gonna to stay for right now."
"Excuse me?"
"I said it's going to stay in my car," he replied, a little more forcefully.
"But ..."
"Listen, mom," he said, watching her face redden as it always did when he called her that, "I didn't just buy it as a sample of a possible competitor's product but as a birthday present for you."
"You got my present at a ... a ...?"
"A sex shop," he smiled. He could see she was trying to take in what he'd just said and so continued before she had a chance to ask more. "Listen, you told me you'd worked as a model since you were 7 years old so I'm sure you've seen stuff like that before. I promise, though, that what I bought isn't a sex toy or anything weird like that," he said, while thinking,
"At least not in the usual sense of the word."
