Julia's Second Collection

by McAvoy, Bridy

  The rest of her outfit was more conventional, less sexy, although the thin blouse did show a hint of the color of her bra through it, and the neckline was a little lower cut than usual, to show more than a hint of cleavage. The sharp cut charcoal two-piece suit over the top completed the outfit. The skirt was about three inches above the knee but had a deep slit on the left-hand side. If she strode out rather than walked normally, it would open wide enough to show off her stocking tops.

  “Since I’m eating out, don’t forget to do dinner, will you?”

  He shook his head and settled down in the bed, forcing her to bend more to kiss him. She knew what he was doing, making sure he got a chance to see down the top of her blouse at an angle nobody else would. She paused, smiling, to allow him to look, then kissed him gently on the lips.

  “No. I’ll nip to the park and grab a burger off the van.”

  “Junk food will be the death of you.”

  “Wow. This from the woman who drinks ten cups of strong coffee a day.”

  “Coffee is good for me.”

  “Yeah, sure is. Enjoy your day, and enjoy your lunch. I hear that place just changed hands, so find out how good it is, and if it’s good we’ll have a meal there next week.”

  “Deal.” She grinned. “Look, time flies. I have to go.”

  “What you mean is you want time to make your coffee first.”

  She rolled her eyes. He knew he was right. She did drink rather a lot of it, but she enjoyed it.

  “Do you want one?”

  “Nope. I’m going to snooze for half an hour or so, and let you think of me, naked, all tucked up in this warm comfortable bed while you drive to work.”

  She stuck her tongue out at him and chuckled as she waved goodbye and headed downstairs. She’d taken so long to get ready, she’d have to have her coffee in a travel cup.

  * * * *

  “Looking good today, girlfriend, hawt!”

  “Stop it.”

  Josie giggled but kept looking her up and down. “Is that the skirt with the split at the side?”

  Julia nodded and turned to present her left side to her friend. Placing one foot well in front of the other, she made the side slit open up.

  “You don’t think it’s too much?”

  “Nah. You’ll knock ’em dead.”

  “Easy for you to say. You’re not going to be eating lunch with four randy guys, one of them your boss.”

  “But at least you get to go home to your husband afterward. If I let a group of businessmen get me hot and bothered, I’ve got to go home and get glammed up and then go bar hopping to get any action.”

  Julia laughed in turn. As always, Josie managed to brighten her mood, dispelling her apprehension.

  “You could always come home with me. You know I don’t mind sharing what I’ve got. Besides, he’s at home today, anyway.”

  “What? Hang on a minute. I feel a temperature coming on.” Josie struck a theatrical pose, the back of her hand to her forehead. “Yeah, I was right. I’m too sick to work. I’ll have to borrow your husband ʾtil five and by then I’m sure I’ll feel better.”

  “Yeah, right! In your dreams. I said share, not steal.”

  “Teasing.”

  “I know. Which is probably a good job. Don’t forget I took Karen’s advanced self-defence class last year.”

  “Getting all aggressive on me, are you? I’ll have you know, I’ve just passed the exam for my black-belt origami.”

  “When? I didn’t know you were taking classes!” Julia knew her deliberate wide-eyed stare wouldn’t fool her friend, and they turned and walked into the building together, still giggling.

  The first part of her morning was frantically busy as she tried to clear her inbox and in-tray and make sure her section was set up to run without her. At about eleven Andrea rang down.

  “Hi, sweetie, you ready?”

  She took a deep breath. “I guess.”

  “You’ll be fine. Quick message from Simon.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah, another change of plans. After lunch Mr. Sandstrom has to head back to Chicago. So will you ride with him and navigate to the restaurant, and Simon will cover the tab for a cab back? Simon will be taking Mr. Jamison and Mr. Batnerson on to the plant.”

  “No problem.” She giggled. “As long as he doesn’t drive like a maniac.”

  Andrea returned her laugh. “No, no problem there. Apparently he’s driving a hired Prius, so I doubt he could drive fast with a following wind. He’ll leave it at the airport, and Simon will drop Batnerson off to pick it up on the way back from the plant. All sorted.”

  Julia sighed. “Why does everything have to be so complicated?”

  “It isn’t, sweetie, not really. Anyway, you’re wanted in conference room three in ten minutes. Simon said to give you a chance to freshen up because you always say he never gives you the chance.”

  “Is he getting bitchier or what?”

  “Gotta go. See you in a minute.”

  She grabbed her jacket and slipped it over her shoulder. Despite Simon’s comment about freshening up, she’d been one ahead of him, having done that fifteen minutes earlier. Leaving her bag slung over the back of her chair, she shut down her computer and, after quickly checking Karen was okay running things in her absence, headed for the elevator.

  A minute later she walked past Andrea’s desk. Her friend and boss’s secretary was on the phone so she just waved and headed down the short corridor to conference room three. She knocked and heard Simon call out for her to enter, so she put her best smile on and opened the door, stepping into the room.

  “Gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Julia Swanson, our sales admin supervisor. Julia, this is Frank Jamison, Sigmund Sandstrom and Peter Batnerson from Jamison Printing.”

  “Pleased to meet you.” Julia was going to take the vacant seat next to Frank Jamison, but the man stood up and offered his hand, his two junior, in terms of position if not of age, colleagues then doing the same. She gave each of them a smile as she shook hands then nodded a thank you as Frank Jamison pulled out the chair for her, the old world courtesy bringing a little heat to her cheeks. Simon watched on, obviously gauging the impression she was making on them. Looking up, she caught his eye and he gave her a reassuring wink before returning to the projected image that formed the core of his presentation.

  The next forty minutes passed in a series of quick slide presentations from Simon, followed by rapid fire questions from the three potential customers. Many of them Simon handled, and Julia was impressed by the way her boss handled himself. Despite working for him for five years, it was the first time she’d seen him in full-on, face to face selling mode. She respected him before but now that respect started to deepen. Some of the questions, though, where they related to administrative details, he passed on to her. Julia felt confident. She was, after all, on safe ground. She couldn’t talk margins and costs, but she could talk processes and order handling. Having spent some time covering in the transport section, she could talk about dispatch, distribution and delivery details as well. She wasn’t sure, but Simon seemed pleased with her answers, and the three men from the book printing company seemed more than satisfied.

  At about five to twelve, Simon reached the end of his pre-prepared sales pitch and suggested they break for lunch. Frank Jamison agreed and Simon offered everyone a chance to use the facilities before they left for the restaurant.

  Julia dived straight into the ladies and was as quick as she could be, but found all the men waiting for her just outside the elevators when she came out. Simon led them into the elevator, down to the ground floor and then led Jamison and Batnerson over toward his Lexus, while Sandstrom showed her the way over to his pale blue Prius.

  “I guess you’ll have to forgo the luxury of a leather interior.”

  “Not a problem. I find it can get sticky in this heat, even with the air conditioning.”

  “One benefit for the men.”

  “Oh?”
>
  “Yeah, we get to wear pants all the time. I can’t imagine what hot leather feels like to bare…or even nylon-sheathed legs.” He shuddered. “I don’t want to, either.”

  “I gather you’re heading straight back to Chicago.” Julia changed the subject as she strapped herself into the passenger seat.

  “Yeah, got a production problem. One of the book binding machines has burnt out its PCP controller.”

  “That sounds expensive.”

  He rolled his eyes. “You’re telling me! Although, that’s not the worst of it.”

  “Oh dear, why?”

  “The smoke from that set off the sprinkler system for that zone. About thirty-thou in damages, as far as they can work out. Luckily, we keep most of our stock in a separate space. Otherwise, your boss might have been celebrating a seriously large urgent order.”

  She wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, but suddenly the car was moving. She hadn’t heard the engine start, then remembered it was a hybrid, so he was running on electric at the moment.

  “I guess it’s just follow the Lexus?”

  “Yeah, hang a right out of the car park and it’s pretty much a straight drive down to the waterfront then a left alongside the river.”

  He chuckled. “Best make sure I make that turn—unless you can swim, of course.”

  “Sounds like a plan to me.” She laughed and sat back.

  They made polite conversation, but nothing else, and ten minutes later pulled up at the restaurant, parking next to Simon’s Lexus.

  * * * *

  The three course lunch went well, and everyone seemed to have a great time. The men seemed to spend their entire time vying for Julia’s attention. Part way through the starter, Simon had dropped his hand below the level of the table and given her knee a squeeze and then let go, before continuing the meal as if nothing had happened. Julia was puzzled but when Simon gave no other indication, she eventually assumed it was more by way of reassurance than by sexual approach. She relaxed and enjoyed the delicious scallops.

  A couple of minutes after the mains had been served to the table, she felt a gentle pressure on her left leg. Mr. Jamison was sitting that side, and of course, that was the side where the slit in her skirt was. His hand unerringly found the slit and he signaled his intent by brushing the skirt further open. She dropped her hand on top of his and gave his fingers a little squeeze and gently lifted his hand away. He smiled, but continued his conversation with Simon, carrying on as if nothing had happened.

  Frank and Simon were the first to finish their mains while Julia still had a little of her peppered steak left. She stiffened slightly as she felt both men return their hands to her legs, Simon squeezing her knee, while Frank, the decision maker among the clients, was sliding his hand along the slit toward her stocking top.

  Julia was stuck. Either she could make a scene, which would, of course, not go down well with her boss—possibly ruining a deal which, she knew from Sandstrom’s comments, might be bigger and more urgent than they’d expected. If she brought her hand down to knock Simon’s hand off, it left the client’s hand free to wander higher still, and he was already close to the point her garter attached to the stocking. If she knocked his hand away, the most dangerous choice because of the slit on her skirt, she risked upsetting him. She couldn’t move both away without it being noticeable to them.

  All this flashed through her mind in the blink of an eye, while at the same time visions of the pair of them sliding their hands up underneath her skirt and touching her far more intimately started to play inside her head. Her body heated up in return at the idea of being touched like that so publicly. She cursed her overactive libido as she felt her nipples harden.

  There was no good situation, but she realized she had to do something. Frank was now playing with her garter snap. Neither man seemed to know what the other one was doing. She put her knife and fork down and pushed the plate away, even though she’d have loved to finish the perfectly cooked piece of lean meat. Lifting herself a little in her seat, she brought her arms back and brushed down her skirt as if she was adjusting it underneath her. In the process she dislodged both hands, and when they didn’t return she breathed a sigh of relief.

  For dessert she went for the fresh fruit platter, saying she was full and needed to watch her figure. That just triggered a round of banter about the fact she was perfect as she was. The comments weren’t risqué—if anything, they were corny, but she felt herself blushing at the compliments. That, of course, just made them all worse.

  Frank declined coffee and suggested to Simon they move along. Simon insisted she had a coffee and the waiter brought it while they were all shaking hands and saying goodbye. Then it was over. She sat at the table on her own, sipping her coffee as she watched them get into the two cars and drive off.

  As they pulled out of the car park she went to get her phone out of her purse and reality crashed in on her. Her purse was still hanging on the back of her chair at work, complete with cell and her credit cards.

  * * * *

  Julia forced herself to sip her coffee for a couple of minutes, trying to maintain an outward air of serenity, while inside her mind was working at a thousand miles an hour. Taking another deep breath, she signaled the waiter over.

  When he arrived, she beckoned him closer still. She watched a slight frown pass over his face, and she was pretty sure he’d guessed what the problem was.

  “Can I have a word with the manager, please?” She was amazed how natural and level her voice sounded, despite the way her crop of butterflies had taken wing in her stomach. Although her voice sounded clear, she was sure the heat in her face was a dead giveaway.

  “Is there a problem, madam? Are you sure I can’t resolve it?”

  “Not a problem with either the food or your attentive service. Both were extremely good, but I’m afraid I do need to speak to the manager on a delicate matter.”

  “Ah. If you would be so kind as to wait one minute.”

  She’d not told him what the problem was, not in so many words, but it had to be obvious. Since she had no phone, she couldn’t make a call to get herself out of the hole. Besides, it would be mortifying to ring work about this. She’d end up speaking to Tom, and after the events a month earlier, he would make the most of it. She bit her lip and waited.

  The waiter moved over to a man in a suit by the bar, and spoke in hushed tones. She noticed he never took his eye off her. Julia had no intention of bolting for it, but she guessed he was watching for a sudden move from her. Part of her felt incensed they’d think like that but part of her recognized it probably was, if not frequent, not an uncommon occurrence.

  As the man in the suit walked toward her, she watched the waiter move toward the door, stationing himself to cut off any escape. She stared at him until he looked away, a blush rising to his face, but he didn’t move. After a moment, he turned his gaze back to her, and she could see the resentment on his face. He had to be assuming his chances of a decent tip had evaporated.

  The manager slid into the seat opposite her.

  “Charles Hanson, ma’am. I gather you have a problem.”

  Julia took another deep breath and nodded. “Julia Swanson. I’m afraid I do.”

  “And this is something to do with…payment?”

  She nodded.

  “Would you prefer to discuss this somewhere private?”

  “Please. I’m so sorry about this.”

  “I’m sure we’ll find a solution. Would you please accompany me? This way.”

  He rose to his feet and moved around to pull her chair out for her. Then he offered his elbow for her to take his arm. In part, it seemed a friendly gesture, but she was also aware he was holding her in order to prevent her running way. That actually made her feel angry, but she breathed deeply and forced herself to calm down.

  She wasn’t sure why but she expected the manager’s office to be small, cramped and untidy. In fact, although not spacious, it was tidy, immaculate e
ven. There was a chair facing the desk and he gestured for her to sit down, and without thinking, she crossed her legs. Too late, she remembered the slit in that side of the skirt, and as his gaze dropped she knew she was showing too much. She blushed, guessing he’d see it as a deliberate distraction, but it hadn’t been intentional. There was no way, though, that she could convey that to him.

  “Now, Julia—if I may call you that—will you please explain to me?”

  Julia tried to smile. “A total mix-up. My boss had to take the clients on elsewhere, and I was going to settle the bill and drive my own car back to the office.” She shrugged. “Then plans got changed at the last minute. One of them had to fly home so we used his hire car rather than mine.”

  “I’m not quite seeing where this is going.”

  “They’ve gone, as you know, which is when I realized I’d left my purse in the office, complete with phone, keys, and of course…card.”

  “Ah. Now I see.”

  “I’m sorry about this. I’d have made a call if I’d had my phone…but there again if I’d had my phone I’d have had my purse and been able to settle the bill.”

  “So you want to ring work, is that it?”

  She shook her head. “To be honest, no. I’d be the laughing stock. I don’t think I’d live it down.”

  He smiled and she blew an inward sigh of relief. He seemed to understand.

  “I guess I can see that.”

  “So, if I could borrow your phone, and call my husband…”

  “Ah, so he’d bail you out.”

  “Yes.”

  “We would have a slight problem with that.”

  “You would?”

  It was his turn to shrug. “We are a restaurant, and we conduct face to face business, so we don’t have Cardholder Not Present status, so we couldn’t process his card over the phone.”

  “I see. Look, could I call him? I’m sure we can resolve this.”