“Can you pull down your panties, Mrs. Sanborn? I won’t touch.”
“No Albert. ” This was getting very uncomfortable. “Call me Sarah, remember?” I didn’t want to make him more nervous.
“Please, Sarah?”
“Let’s not keep your father waiting. Maybe some other time.” I realized the instant I said it that it was the wrong thing. Albert would never let go of the suggestion. He handed me my skirt and helped me balance myself as I put it on. We bumped some more in the small bathroom.
When we got back to the table our plates had been cleared, the table cleaned, and there was a business document in front of my seat. Thomas stopped me before I sat down and peered at my crotch. He nodded approvingly. He gave his son a fist bump, which was returned half-heartedly. “You did well.”
Albert moved closer to me on the bench seat and draped an arm over the back. Not touching, but hinting at possession. “Can I hold your hand again?” I ignored the request.
Thomas pointed to the document. “First Pharmaceuticals is going public. We’re doing an IPO in about a month. I want you in on the IPO, and I want you to come work for us.”
“I have a well-paying job that I’m really good at.”
“When we go public we’re going to source our supplies directly. We won’t need your employer, and I suspect that he won’t need you. You’re good at your job, and I want you to do it directly for us. I’m offering you a terrific compensation package, including stock options. You’ll have many perks, including–”
“Me,” Albert said.
Thomas winced. His son had deviated from the script. “It’s true. You and Albert will be working closely together.”
This was too much of a setup. “It all sounds very interesting. Are you expecting me to sleep with you, Albert?”
I didn’t expect him to grin. “Only if you want to. I’d like that.” He squeezed my hand.
Thomas was quick to take back control of the conversation. “Please don’t discuss this with anyone for now. We need to keep things under wraps. Take a quick look at our offer, and if it piques your interest, we’ll discuss it further next time you come to our office to sell raw materials.”
There was something off about this. “I’ll have to discuss it with my husband.”
“Not yet please, Sarah. We have our reasons. Wait till we’re a little further ahead.”
This was not what a business lunch was supposed to be. I looked at my watch. “Thank you for the lunch, but I have to get back to my office.”
“My pleasure, Sarah.” He looked at his son.
“Yes, father.” Albert turned to me. “My pleasure, Sarah. I especially enjoyed seeing you without your skirt on. I’m looking forward to when you take off your panties for me.”
“That wasn’t a promise, Albert.”
“I know. You said ‘maybe some other time.’ I hope it’s soon.”
I must have been beet-red. “Please stand up so I can get out.” He squeezed my hand and stood. We all walked outside together, Albert staying very close, too close to my side.
Thomas looked at him. “I forgot to leave a tip. Go give our waitress twenty dollars.”
“Thank you, Sarah. I can’t believe how much you’ve accomplished for him today. Believe me, I’ll make this worth your while. Some doctors say he’s autistic, others say he’s just shy. Whatever shell he’s in, you’ve cracked it open.”
“Well–”
“Did you really offer to take off your panties for him?”
“Absolutely not! He wanted to touch me, then he asked me to take them off. I told him maybe another time, just to put him off.”
Albert came back out. Thomas leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Till next time, Sarah.” Albert leaned over and kissed my other cheek. “Till then, Sarah.”
I pretended not to understand what he was talking about.
I usually met with the Firstens every couple of weeks, so I was surprised when Thomas called me a few days later and invited me to a nightclub. “Albert’s been taking dancing lessons for several months, and he’s gotten really good. Trouble is that he’s never danced with anyone but his instructor. You two will make a handsome couple.”
“I can’t do that. What would my husband say?”
“I know how to deal with that. You’ve told me he works in the investment field. Tell him about the IPO, and that we don’t want to discuss it during regular business hours with our staff around. Don’t tell him where we’re meeting, or give him any details about the IPO.”
“I don’t know any details of the IPO. I’m not going to lie to my husband so I can go dancing with your son.”
“It will be the truth. The Hamptons club has some small meeting rooms. I’ll reserve one, and we’ll talk business between dances. Sarah, this will make Albert very happy. It will make me very happy. It can make you very rich.”
I acquiesced. It was true that Albert was a great dancer, though he barely touched me at first. When the band played “Only You” by the Platters I was swept up in the mood and told him to put his arms around my back. I clasped mine behind his neck. When the song ended, I gently kissed his lips.
“That was fantastic, Albert. You’re a wonderful young man and a terrific dancer.”
Joy was radiating from his eyes, from his grin. “I enjoyed it too. Does that mean you’ll take off your panties and let me touch you?”
I was giddy from the dance, and maybe from the cocktails I had consumed. “Take my panties off AND touch me? You’re pushing your luck, young man. Like I said, maybe some other time.”
“Okay.”
“I left a bag in your car with my regular business clothes. Can one of you go get it? I need to change out of these clubbing clothes before I go home.”
Thomas volunteered to go to the car. “Go into our meeting room, you two. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Albert followed me into the room. “Do you mind if I watch you change?”
I wasn’t changing my top, and he had already seen me bare-legged. I was in a good mood, so to have a little fun I asked him to undo the clasp on my skirt and let it fall to the floor. Albert quickly wrapped his arms around me in a tight embrace. “Will you take off your panties now?”
“No.”
“Okay. I’ll wait.”
We both turned at the sound of Thomas clearing his throat. He moved over to the wall and flicked a switch. “Maybe you and Albert would like to dance a little more.” The club’s live music came through a tinny speaker. “Albert, offer the lady a dance.”
I wanted to go home, but Albert held his arms open in invitation. I sighed. He had made a lot of progress with me, maybe too much. “Last song before I leave.” Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling In Love” came on, and Albert wrapped his arms around my back, resting just above my ass. As we danced, his hands slipped a little lower. One of us, I’m not sure which, moved in a little closer. The song ended and we kissed. Not a long, lingering kiss. Just friends expressing their appreciation of a beautiful dance together.
Or so I told myself as Thomas and Albert drove me back to my car. I touched up my appearance in my rear-view mirror and headed home.
Two days later it was lunch again with the Firstens. Thomas introduced me to Candy Ortega, who represented Managua Capital, the investment bank for his IPO. Albert kept his hand on my thigh throughout the entire meal as his father explained the ins and outs of his proposal for taking the company public. The Firstens stood to make a fortune from it, and if I quit my job and joined them, so did I. It could bring me multiple millions of dollars, depending on how much I would invest at the outset. Initial Public Offerings were complex affairs, closely regulated by the SEC. Thomas explained he brought on the best advisors to work with him.
I refused his suggestion that I talk to Arnold about getting a second mortgage on our home but told him I would give notice at work. After some arguments, I agreed to cash in my retirement account. I would invest that along with the funds in my personal savings. Arnold and I were separate as to property according to our marriage contract. I wasn’t going to put his money at risk while I endangered my marriage whoring with Albert.
Yes, I recognized that’s what it was. Thomas had plenty of wealthy people he could ask to come in with him on the IPO. He wanted me because of the “fringe benefits” (as he described them) that only I could provide his son.
The Firstens’ next suggestion was more brazen. My equally outrageous response was to accept. I lied to my family that I had to go to New York for a few days to learn about new sources of drug ingredients. I didn’t tell them that I had given two weeks’ notice at work.
The Hamptons club was next door to the Bridgehampton hotel/resort; the two played off each other’s clientele. Thomas got a two-bedroom suite, with a sitting room and kitchenette. He took the smaller bedroom for himself, leaving the king-size bed for Albert and me. I was aghast at the arrangement though in truth, I expected it. “No sex,” I told both of my johns. Thomas said that he was a great admirer of Bill Clinton.
My children were upset at my going on a business trip. Kevin especially kept on calling, till I told him that he was keeping me from my work, and I would have to stay away longer if I spent all my time on the phone with him. Thomas Firsten smirked as he listened to my side of the conversation. I was surprised and happy that I didn’t get fucked that evening. Albert wore flannel pajamas to bed; I wore a cotton nightgown. We didn’t even snuggle. Thomas came into the room with the rise in his underpants indicating what he had in mind; we both ignored him. I woke up with Albert’s hand resting on my breast, the rest of him a few respectful inches away. I smiled, stroked his chest, and gave him a good-morning kiss.