Play Date

by Casey Grant

  “Two.”

  Binky nodded. “It certainly doesn't seem to have had any detrimental effect. You are well built, you have a long torso, and your breasts are ample but proportionate to the rest of your body. Everything just works.”

  “Okay, and...?”

  “Do you want a job?” said Binky.

  “Of course.”

  “Then you’ll need to do what I tell you.”

  The Twelve Labors of Hercules

  Nina rode five minutes in Binky’s Jaguar to Binky’s stone house, pulling into the short gravel driveway. “It’s two hundred years old,” said Binky walking up the short stone walkway. “It’s only had four owners.”

  Inside, Nina looked at the exposed wood rafters and the large stone blocks on the walls. “The walls are a foot thick,” said Binky, “It could take a direct hit as long as the shell comes in from the side.”

  A fireplace was in the center of the room, two steps lower than the rest of the room. Along the outer walls were five small rustic desks, each with thin computer screens on top of each (the only element out of place).

  Nina peeked her head into the large bedroom. In the waning summer light Nina could see a massive extra-size king bed with a thick beige comforter. It was piled high with a dozen pillows stacked high, looking like the remnants of an avalanche. Outside was the lake, and some five miles across on the opposite end were the low mountains on the Vermont side.

  “We have our meetings in the house at nine. My five employees all live in the area.”

  Nina smiled, “This must be the most charming office on the planet.”

  “You could arrive early, each morning”, said Binky, “At maybe around 7:30, after you drop your kids off at school. We could have some alone-time before everyone else arrives. We could curl up in that big bed with our coffee and talk about books.”

  “Okay…” said Nina, not sure how to respond since her answer might be the difference between unemployment and a dream job.

  “But we have to do something about that hair. We have to go at least two shades lighter.”

  “It would be better for you to get this professionally done but we don’t have time,” said Binky helping Nina with the hair dye as Nina stood over the sink, the astringent smell of the chemicals overwhelming the room.

  An hour later, Binky was corralling Nina’s very blond locks with a curling iron and blower. She was spending most of the time working on the bottom end of Nina’s shoulder-length hair, flipping it upwards. “Leo loves it like this.”

  “Try these,” said Nina, tossing the lingerie on the bed.

  “What? I’m not wearing your underwear,” said Nina.

  “Leo Baldwin has particular tastes. You will only have one chance to make a first impression. You will need to go in with both guns blazing.”

  “Wait… you want me to sleep with him?” said Nina, standing in front of the bed in a white robe.

  “Well, yeah, duh.”

  “I’m not a prostitute.”

  “Don’t bullshit me. You saw him. You’d sleep with him in a second even if you had nothing to gain from it.”

  Nina knew she was right but she didn’t like the way Binky could see so easily through her. “He loves Aubade lingerie—black stockings and garter belts—apricot trim,” Binky continued, “On top, he likes a pencil skirt and a fitted white blouse with a high buttoned collar.”

  “How do you know all this?” said Nina.

  “Every woman on the eastern seaboard knows what Leo Baldwin likes. There are Facebook pages and blogs devoted to him if you doubt me.”

  “My God.”

  “Remember how I said we had crossed paths? Both our families are prominent and sometimes we traveled in the same circles. But unlike mine, his family knew the difference between interest and principle. Like most rich people, that’s how he made his money; he started with a lot of money and made more. Mine ended up being college professors at Swarthmore.”

  Binky helped Nina get dressed. She clasped the garters to the front and back of Nina's stockings as her long nails brushed against Nina's thighs. “The skirt and blouse might be a little too small for you but that could work to your advantage,” said Binky.

  “I can barely move,” said Nina, standing in her bare feet.

  “You’re not done yet,” said Binky coming out of the closet holding two skyscraper pumps.

  “No way—I’m not wearing those!” said Nina. “I’ll break a leg!”

  “And if you do I have some crutches left over from a ski accident in Stowe back in 2011.”

  The cab driver seemed to know the way to the Baldwin house but Nina didn’t like the way the cabbie was taking his eyes off the road to check her out in the rear view mirror.

  She was driving in the verdant backcountry again, this time staying on the Vermont side of the lake and traveling upwards into some hilly terrain.

  When the cabbie dropped her off at the side of road, Nina seemed to be standing in the middle of nowhere. There was only a vine-covered wall that stretched for a good quarter mile. Suddenly a door from an enclosure in the wall and a man came out to greet her. “Can I help you ma’am?”

  “Leo Baldwin please,” said Nina.

  The guard smiled, “Well, uh, yes, but do you have an appointment?”

  “No, but he knows me. Nina Martini. We met this afternoon at Clair Railings’ for a book auction.”

  The guard retreated to the guard enclosure. A minute later the ivy wall opened revealing a large grass lawn with the driveway continuing on inside. There was a large metal and glass house a quarter mile away. In her impossibly high heels and tight skirt she started the walk down the driveway. “Ma’am,” called out the guard.

  “Yes?” Nina said, stopping.

  “Someone’s coming to get you.”

  A small open-air electric vehicle closed the distance between the house and Nina in an instant. As it came to a stop in front of her she could see that the driver was Leo. “Hi, what did you say your name was?”

  “Nina. I was at the house today.”

  “House?”

  “Clair Railings house. You were the top bidder. By a mile. Remember?”

  Leo’s eyes went wide. “Oh—that was you!”

  “Yes, that was me,” Nina said, smiling.

  “I didn’t recognize you,” he said looking at her with a lazy grin. “Well, get in.”

  The car zoomed quietly up the driveway and entered a large garage bay. Inside were twelve cars, some on lifts. The garage was pristine. The lighting was bright and the whole place looked like an operating room. Leo got out, came around and helped her out of the car. “You’re just in-time for happy hour,” Leo said leading Nina into the house.

  The front part of the house was mostly glass, with the late afternoon summer sun still about five hours from sunset. “Have a seat in the study,” Leo said, his hand pointed in the direction of a small room directly off the living room (or what must have been several living rooms). “What would you like to drink?”

  “Just, um, just a Manhattan please. If that’s too much work, then a beer is fine.”

  “A Manhattan it is.” Leo disappeared and Nina looked around the room. It was an interior room so there were no windows. But then she looked up and saw what appeared to be no roof, just blue sky and clouds. Looking closer she saw that a continuous sheet of curved glass with no seams separated her from the outside. “Here you go,” said Leo walking back into the room and handing her a glass. He sat down in a chair in front of her holding his own drink. “What can I do for you?”

  “Your house is amazing,” said Nina.

  “Thank you.”

  “I didn’t expect it to be you who would pick me up and make me a drink. I figured you’d have servants to do that.”

  “I’m a man of the people,” he smiled. “I have a staff of twenty but I like to do some things myself. Like greeting beautiful women and making them drinks.”

  Nina felt the blood flowing between her legs. “I
wanted to talk to you about this afternoon. Those books. I want you do consider selling them to Binky.”

  “To Henrietta? Why would I do that?”

  “She really wants them,” said Nina, realizing too late how lacking her reply was.

  “I really want them too,” said Leo as Nina thought about how those broad shoulders would look with that shirt off.

  “Binky feels that you already have such extensive resources that you really don’t need these books the way someone like her does,” said Nina. “But her life is dependent on the publishing industry.”

  “So Henrietta sent you over here?” said Leo. “I thought you worked for that other guy?”

  “I did. He fired me because I lost the deal.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Leo. “The guys a dick. So Henrietta hired you?”

  “She might.”

  “Did Henrietta tell you to dress like this?”

  Nina looked down at her glass trying to think of a reply but couldn’t.

  “Because your hairstyle and dress are pushing all my buttons and naturally I’m a little suspicious,” said Leo.

  “You were staring at me today,” said Nina, still looking down. “The whole time. You didn’t stop once.”

  “How did you know? You never looked up,” said Leo smirking, his green eyes crinkling at the edges.

  “A girl has eyes in the back of her head,” said Nina looking up to meet his eyes. “I can tell you like me. I’m guessing you like me even more now. Don’t pretend otherwise.”

  “If you’re so hot why the hard sell?” said Leo.

  Nina’s face went red as she choked on her drink. Nina was embarrassed. She vowed to never be so obvious again.

  “I collect literary works,” continued Leo. “First editions, rare printings, botched printings. I was an English major. I love this stuff. I don’t collect things just to deny folks like you your livelihood. I do it because I love these books. I read Tom Railings’ three published novels in boarding school, five times each. His unpublished works are legend. The fact that I got them for such a steal is a crime against literature. But I’ll change that. I’ll bring them to the world’s attention.”

  “They meant something to us too,” said Nina. “But we’re small publishers. We don’t have your resources. Perhaps you could license the books back to us? You keep control but give us the publishing rights. Maybe we can digitize the books? They’ll never leave your library.”

  “Which one is your favorite?” said Leo. “Of just the published novels.”

  “I’ve only read 'Bound for the Horizon'.”

  “Only one? You sound like a real Tom Railings’ aficionado.”

  “I only heard of him three months ago and I’ve only had time to read one— between work and the kids, you know. I’m a single mom.”

  “You must have boyfriend.”

  “Don’t have time.”

  “Every guy in—where you from?”

  “Scottsdale.”

  “Every guy in Scottsdale must be beating down your door.”

  “If they are, I don’t know about it,” said Nina.

  “Hmmm, now all of a sudden you're so humble... Tell me, Nina, in 'Bound for the Horizon', do you think Jack’s belligerence is meant to be a symbol of American Cold War hegemony?”

  “I don’t remember anyone named Jack in that book,” said Nina.

  Leo smiled, “Why don’t we discuss our mutual love for Tom Railings over dinner. I know a great place in town.” Leo tapped something on his wrist, “Barry, get the car. We’re going to Augies”.

  Augies’ was a dump. Nina thought that if this was the way a billionaire showed his authenticity then it was a desperate ploy. She looked around and saw that the room had a studied distressed look: uneven wood planks for walls with some planks stained a different color and sunlight seeping in from the cracks. The tables were folding card- tables and the drinks were served in paper cups.

  “I don’t buy any of this,” said Nina, feeling a little pissy despite the gorgeous man sitting across from her.

  “What is it about this place that don’t you ‘buy’?” said Leo.

  “It’s fake. This isn't a real fish monger shack.”

  “Do you hang out in a lot of fish monger shacks?” said Leo.

  “No.”

  “Then what's so fake about it?”

  “Well, you’re eating here, number one…”

  “Okay—and number two?”

  “And they’re here,” said Nina looking out at the other diners in the cramped room. “Everyone here looks well-heeled, not the type of people who would hang out in a real fish monger shack. It think it's despicable that someone is romanticizing poverty in order to brand a restaurant.”

  “So you’re a rabble-rousing, bomb-throwing class-warrior?” said Leo. “Wearing six inch stilettos and a pencil skirt. Tell me, what do you have on underneath there? More things to push my buttons?”

  Nina noticed her breathing becoming more labored. Leo became better looking by the minute. She hated this feeling of helplessness, of not being in control. What did those lips taste like? She wanted him, books or no books. She wanted him to take her right there at the table. Do me right here! Diners be damned! She tried to ignore the wetness in her panties.

  “Well, guess what” continued Leo. “It turns out, you are right.”

  “Right?”

  “And it shows we have more work to do.”

  “You own this place?” said Nina.

  “I hold 20% of Herndon Restaurants—Country Garden, Fish Grotto—this is their test-bed for a new concept called “Studied Down-Market” targeted to resort towns like Snuffex. But it doesn’t look like you’re buying any of it.”

  “But it IS packed tonight,” said Nina, backpedaling and trying to be more accommodating.

  “True, but we may not have to be that authentic. If you get too authentic you start looking like a meth lab in the woods,” he said laughing. Nina loved that laugh.

  She ordered the chipped beef and Leo ordered the beef stew. “I'm waiting for the beggar children,” said Nina. “Preferably with no teeth.” They drank Johnny Walker Blue Scotch out of paper cups and it tasted terrible.

  Nina finished her last bite. She looked up from her plate and saw that Leo was staring at her again.

  “Why don’t you stand up?” said Leo.

  “Why do that?” said Nina, suddenly feeling a chill, unsettled by the request.

  “Because I want to see if you’re really that good looking.”

  “You've seen me before,” she smiled uncomfortably.

  “I never really had a chance to study you,” said Leo.

  Turning her head both ways, Nina stood up beside her chair, nervously. It was then that she noticed something in his hand. It looked like a TV remote. He aimed it at her. It emitted a thin red light that he aimed at the top of her shoulder. He then ran the thin beam of light vertically down her blouse, over her breasts, stomach and down to the bottom of her skirt. “Don’t move,” he said.

  “What—” said Nina.

  “Don’t move an inch. This here is from a company that I’ve taken an angel investor position in. It’s a company that does precision CNC laser cutting in the aerospace industry. One of their engineers made up this little pointer for me that emits a cutting beam that can be programmed to cut almost all the way through a substance, except for the last few millimeters.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Nina, nervously.

  “You don’t have to understand it, just don’t move. Your blouse and skirt are going to fall away the moment you even twitch.

  Nina was paralyzed. He had to be joking. It was joke. He wouldn’t do this to her. Not in a public place. Humiliate her?

  “You’re kidding right?”

  “Let’s find out. How long can you stand there without moving?” Leo said.

  “I’ll stand here as long as I have to,” said Nina rigidly and defiant.

  “Okay, well then, I’ll order anot
her drink,” said Leo. “But you know what, gorgeous? I get bored easily.” He threw a napkin at Nina’s face and she flinched to avoid it. Her blouse and skirt split open simultaneously, falling to the floor and leaving her just in her apricot trimmed bra, panties and stockings. “Ah, Henrietta did send you... ”

  Nina could feel her bareness, the cool air flowing over her skin. Leo was once again staring at her, but this time, instead of a grin, his look was worshipful. The room had grown quiet with murmurs, with some scattered applause and nervous laughter.

  Nina bent down and grabbed her skirt and blouse, dashing across the room and out the front door, clutching her clothes. She ran clumsily down the sidewalk, not knowing where to go, not being able to make much speed in those monster pumps.

  Parents and children were still flocking the tourist streets of Snuffex. Nina kept her head down, avoiding eye contact. She stopped, pulled off her heels, and started to run at a faster pace, still clutching her shredded clothes and now her heels. Suddenly, she was raised up off the ground as if by a large bird. Now she was moving just above the sidewalk at fast clip, dodging sticky kids and overweight moms and down a side alley between two quaint buildings dating back to the Battle for Lake Champlain. The arms that had been carrying her, the very arms that now were pushing her against the wall, were large and powerful. Leo held her back flat against the wall, suspending Nina a good foot off the ground. The Adirondack air was flowing across her practically naked body, the sheer undergarments doing nothing to keep out the cool evening air. Her clothes dropped from her hands and Leo kissed her hard on the mouth.

  Nina was finally getting what she had been dreaming about since she saw Leo for the first time this morning. His tongue pushed against her lips and she opened her mouth, letting him in and sucking hard, maybe hurting him.

  “Do you want me?” said Leo.

  “Yes,” said Nina, her back still up against the Revolutionary walls. She felt Leo grinding against her, their mouths and tongues intertwined.

  “Do you deserve me?” said Leo.