Chapter 1: Corporate Dinners

Lily's face showed boredom. Her eyes seem to half close as she listened to Charlie's rant about the politics of the day.

"I'm tellin' ya... these people just don't know what they're doing! We need to get rid of all of em."

She blinked. The whole table looked disinterested. Slumping in their seats.

"These things have gotten really boring lately." Nancy half whispered in my direction. I looked to the right at my husband's expression. He agreed. The small consulting company he worked for was a terrific place. They had always treated us fantastically. But the company was getting bigger, the people older, and these events more boring.

Sitting at the large round banquet table, trying to stay awake, I found myself counting the seconds until the drink waiter made his return with more alcohol. I had worn a tight black dress that really showed off my figure. The neck line plunged to show off plenty of cleavage. I was hoping to at least inspire a few lewd comments. So far there hadn't been a lewd thought in the room.

I looked to my left. "You need to liven things up a bit Nancy. Why don't you get up on the table and do a little dance?" I giggled.

"Oh sure, that would be great for my career." She rolled her eyes.

"Awe c'mon honey. You and Sass could both jump up on the table and really get things going. I'll hold your clothes." Shot back Dave, Nancy's husband, in his typically deadpan manner.

My husband turned to face us, chuckling. "It wouldn't be the first time for you." He said staring at me with mischief in his eyes. "Don't worry Nancy, Sassy can you show you the ropes." I knew he'd like seeing Nancy in such a state. I could tell by the way he reacted to her that he was attracted. It didn't bother me, though. We were married not dead. I had my own attractions. You could only screw so many times in a marriage before you started fantasizing about other people. It was healthy as long as that's as far as it went.

I kicked him under the table, just to get that look off of his face.

"What?!" squealed Nancy with her voice rising like a fire alarm in response to my husband's comment. "Let's hear this one."

"Absolutely" chimed in Dave. "I'm dying to hear this as well!"

"Oh yeah. Sassy's done a table or two dance in her day. Go ahead hon... tell 'em about the Bistro in Emerald Isle'. The needling continued.

"He's so full of shit." I countered to Nancy. I was feeling too embarrassed to meet Dave's gaze.

"Oh you remember. The Bistro by the Bay Restaurant. Emerald Isle. Sam, the old guy, your boyfriend." He kept on. "You guys didn't know that my Sassy used to date an old sixty something rich guy when she lived in North Carolina. And he was a real perv. They were partying constantly."

"You're sleeping on the couch tonight, jerk." I said smirking.

"OK who had the martini?" broke in the waiter arriving back with a tray of drinks.

"That's me!" I chirped. "And boy do I need it."

Picking up the fresh glass of clear liquid, I removed the olives, and downed it in two large swallows. Then chased it with the squishy olives. This could only mean one thing, and my husband knew it. I was going to tell the story.

"Now look, this was all a long time ago. I wasn't even twenty five yet, so don't judge me too harshly." I said.

"Oh we won't..." said Dave rubbing his hands together. "Now let's get to the table dance.

"Calm down, junior, I'm getting there."

"Back in those days I was living with my boyfriend Sam on Emerald Isle. He was a few years older than me..."

Chapter 2: Island Social Climbing

As we got ready to go out that Friday night, Sam seemed unusually fidgety. Normally he was calm and seemingly amused. As if he knew everything that was going to happen ahead of time. He was wearing a dark suit. Every hair was perfect.

As I put my earrings in, I could feel him staring at me. "What? You're making me nervous."

"Is that what you're wearing? You look like you're trawling." He creeked in a somewhat squeaky voice that gave away his age.

"I thought you liked me dressing skimpily." I shot back. After all, this was not some off the rack, cheap club dress. It was my barely there, red party dress which looked fabulous on me. It was skimpy, with a halter top that tied. I never wore a bra with it, even given the size of my full breasts. The feeling of the silky fabric on my nipples absolutely drove me wild. I always wore it with a little lace thong underneath. I felt absolutely wicked, and wonderful as the mid thigh length occasionally lifted in the breeze. Throw in my shoulder length auburn hair, bright blue eyes, and petit frame, and I knew I'd get my share of attention tonight from the "beautiful people" of the isle.

"All right... All right. Let's just get there before midnight for a change." He said sarcastically. Sam was in a mood tonight.

Despite his age he was a handsome man. He was slender and tall with graying black hair and black eyes. He had money and power and that added to his attractiveness. He also had a couple of ex-wives and several kids.

Our relationship was odd but honest. He liked being seen with a pretty young girl on his arm and I liked being in the places his money could take us. Oh I liked Sam, too. It wasn't all about the money. He could be charming and sweet at times. But he was also used to getting his way. And his eyes tended to wander. I never knew when I would be replaced by the flavor of the month, so I made the most of the time I had. Of course this didn't make it any easier when I did catch him flirting. It only served to be a salve after the fact.

After a short ride in the limo, we arrived at the Bistro by the Bay. This was a small restaurant owned by Bob and Judy Parker. Bob was an old friend of Sam's from the country club back in Greenville. Judy, a thirty something bombshell of a woman, was always the life of the party. We tended to wind up at the Bistro most Thursdays and Fridays in the summer. After the kitchen closed at ten, and the dinner crowd left for their beach homes, the regulars congregated for drinks, music and some good old fashioned partying. The booze flowed, Bob would start playing the piano and almost anything could happen.

"Let's go in, before I starve to death" Sam lamented. I hated when he was in one of these whiney moods.

Inside we sat at our usual table. Looking around, the regular crowd was already there in full regalia. There was cute Dr. Bert Wilky and his pretty wife Eva. Kim Sweigel and her man "du jour". The Hardys, the Mantelli's, the Porters, they were all here.

As dinner wore on Sam's mood wasn't improving. I tried to get him to engage in conversation, but he was resisting at every turn. I could never tell when he was like this if I had done something wrong, or he just had a bad day at the office. It didn't matter. After several months together I knew that by tomorrow whatever was bothering him would be gone, and he would be back to his old self. Tonight I could just mingle with the girls and avoid Sam's wrath.

By ten thirty, we were drinking martini's and Bob was heading for the piano.

By eleven, it was only the regulars left in the place and the party was beginning. Sam had already stormed off to talk with Larry Wilson about some real estate deal. Business was definitely on his mind. I sat there listening to the tinkle of the piano keys when a tipsy female voice boomed at me.

"What's goin' on hun? Sam leave you all by yourself tonight?" It was Judy. Her elegant clothes belied her country bumpkin roots. But when the booze flowed, Judy was a first class party girl. She was a thirty something, blond, bombshell with breasts the size of volleyballs. She loved to show them off. There was hardly a person on the island that hadn't seen them, all of them that is, at one time or another.

"Yeah, he's being pill tonight. Something must've happened at the office today." I related calmly.

"Ohhh poor thing. Well you just stay with me. We'll have a good ol' time without him! Let's go find Eva and have a drink!" she squealed with delight.

Eva, Bert Wilky's wife, was Judy's best friend. She was a pretty woman in an odd way. Tall and thin, with short brown hair and very distinctive features, she could've been a runway model as easily as she could've been a diner waitress. Her jewelry glistened with every movement. As we approached, she tossed back what looked to be a cosmopolitan and beamed a smile our way.

"Hey girls! Come on over and let's dance!" she said with a voice full of booze.

"Eva we can't dance to this Laurence Welk shit that Bob plays!" Judy snorted. I was glad she said it and not me. "Where is that cutie husband of yours?" she continued.

"Oh he's off chasing a skirt somewhere. He's probably screwing a waitress in the kitchen." She said only half kidding. The good doctor had a reputation as a ladies man. I admired how Eva could be so frank about it. I guess she just figured that if he wanted to be that way, so could she.

"Let's go hijack Bob at the piano and see if we can get him to liven it up a bit." I said trying to change the subject.

"Good idea." Judy stammered. As we passed through the crowd I could feel the eyes on us. There were lots of married men in this room who would screw any one of us if we gave them half a chance.

At the piano, Bob was swaying slightly as the elevator music rose from his fingers.

"Hey Bobby-boy, how 'bout livening things up a bit? We wanna do some dancin'!" Judy negotiated. "Who knows, if you inspire me I may even do a striptease right here on your piano."

"Don't do that you'll scare the paying customers right on out of here!" Bob murmured through his cigar.

"Ma'am, drink?" came the inquiry from the waiter as he thrust his tray between us. I grabbed a martini and took a big swallow. I almost choked as the booming female voice beside me started to murder a rendition of "Bye Bye Blackbird". Bob, picked up the melody on the piano and followed Judy's lead.

Three drinks and six songs later th three of us were elbow to elbow on the side of the piano. The was a larger crowd gathered just behind us. My voice felt raw upon finishing a rousing, off-key chorus of "Delilah".

"Better find Sam", I thought. He was in a bad enough mood today. If he was somewhere waiting for me it would only get worse. As I straightened up smoothing my dress and starting to turn away something didn't feel right. I wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or my clothes until I looked down. My top was so loose it was about to come completely off. It's looseness was exposing a lot of me already and my left breast had completely found daylight. Somewhere in the background of my panic I was aware of the cheers and hoots