Chapter 6

Walking back into his townhouse after picking up the morning paper, Ray wondered if you could have too much of a good thing. Through Jane and then Peg, Ray had met three wonderful, beautiful, intelligent women: Katie, Amy and Beth. They were all very successful in their chosen fields and all that any man would want in a sexual partner. They all wanted to see more of Ray but it was starting to turn into a juggling act.

Ray was committed this Saturday to be Katie's escort to a bar association dinner. Amy had called wanting to go with Ray to dinner this Saturday but Ray had to turn her down. Then to top it all off, Pat Burns, the bank economist who Ray had met at Peg's wedding had phoned. Out of the blue, she was inviting Ray to come out to her cottage which was on a lake this coming Saturday. Ray had to politely turn down Pat's invitation but asked her to keep him in mind for another time.

Dating these three women was great. What else could be a problem? Well, for one thing, Ray felt he was dating sisters. These are wonderful women but they had known each other for more than 20 years. They talk to each other frequently and Ray could only guess if they compare notes. Laughing to himself, Ray wondered if they were rating him on his performance. He thought a little more about that and came to the conclusion that the answer was no. These ladies were too classy to do that.

In thinking more about the present situation, Ray thought that this was a problem most men would love to have. That being the case, Ray wondered why he was limiting his contact with these ladies to once a week. It wasn't that he wanted to date a woman every day but dating twice a week wasn't out of the question nor was it unreasonable.

Ray called Pat back at her office and apologized for not being able to accept her invitation. Ray asked if he could take her out to dinner this Wednesday. While Pat was a little surprised at Ray's return phone call, she indicated that she would like to go to dinner with Ray. Pat asked Ray which restaurant he wanted to go to.

"It depends on where you live."

"Well, I live and work in the center of the city. There are a lot of nice restaurants not too far from where I live."

Ray mentioned two restaurants he was familiar with and Pat said both were fine with her and they could walk from her condo to the restaurant. Pat gave Ray her address and instructions on how to get to get to the guest parking at her condo building. Time was set for when rush hour traffic had somewhat died down.

In Ray's opinion women loved receiving flowers whether it was one or a dozen. On his way to Pat's condo, Ray stopped and picked up one white rose.

After parking the car, Ray took the elevator up to Pat's condo which was on the 64th floor of the tallest building in the city. Ray thought that Pat must be doing extremely well financially to be living in this building and on this high floor.

Pat answered the door. She was dressed in a black pants suit. The color of the suit matched the color of her below shoulder length hair. The cut of the suit indicated she was a slim woman, probably no more than 130 pounds to go on her tall five foot ten inch frame.

Ray presented Pat with the single white rose. Pat thanked him and with a twinkle in her eye said, "I understand Amy received two dozen roses. What does a girl need to do to merit that?"

He didn't have a come back for that and anyway, what he could say? Ray had a brief picture flash through his mind of what Amy had done and she sure looked sexy doing it.

Pat asked Ray, "Do we have time for a drink before we have to leave for the restaurant?"

Ray said, "Yes, if it is a quick one."

In a minute the drinks were made and they where sitting in Pat's living room. Ray commented on the excellent view of the city Pat had from her condo.

Pat agreed and said, "On a clear day it's spectacular. You can see for miles and miles. On a stormy day, it's a little scary and when there are sever thunderstorms it can be frightening."

As they were talking, Ray suddenly said, "I got it. I thought you looked familiar but I didn't know why. Now I know. I have seen you being interview on CNBC. You comment on economic conditions. You are on television fairly regularly."

"Yes, that's me. Guilty as charged."

Ray said, "Beauty and intelligence. You know that's a lethal combination."

Pat smiled more and thought it is nice to hear comments like that.

Off to the restaurant they went. It was a 15 minute walk in the early dusk of the evening. Ray again expressed his regrets that he couldn't come to the cottage this weekend and asked about the cottage.

Pat said, "I bought the cottage about 10 years ago as both an investment and a place to go to unwind from the pressures of the job. The cottage is just across the state line and it's on a good size lake. I am kind of a tom-boy so I can do most of the things I enjoy doing up there besides relaxing. In the summer it's fishing and water skiing, in the fall it's duck hunting and in the winter it's cross country skiing. Every now and then I do some ice fishing. Down the road from the cottage are two championship golf courses which I enjoy playing."

Ray indicated he also liked to golf. Pat asked what his golf index was, Ray said he played to a 12.

Pat took a look at Ray and said, "The way you handle yourself I would think you are a better golfer than that. I wouldn't give you more than two strokes a side."

That caught Ray by surprise and he asked Pat what she played to and Pat told him she was a six. This was one hell of a woman. You could now add the word athletic in describing her, thought Ray.

After being shown their table in the restaurant they ordered drinks. Ray asked Pat to tell him a little more about herself. Pat told him there wasn't much to tell.

"I received a four year athletic scholarship for volleyball which paid my way through college. I continued on at the same school and received a Masters Degree. Four more years at the University of Chicago and I received a Ph.D. in economics. I was recruited heavily by banks and accepted a job offer from a major money center bank in New York. I was there for five years when I was offered my present position as the Chief Economist here. I wanted to come back to the Midwest. New York is a great place but this is home. I was never married or engaged and don't date that often. The lack of dating isn't because I don't want too. I think it probably is that men are a little apprehensive of me and stay away."

Pat asked Ray to reciprocate and tell her about himself. Ray told Pat the same thing he had told Amy and Beth. He told Pat about the confidentiality agreement he elicited from Amy and Beth so it would put both of them in a bind if Pat was to discuss Ray with Amy and Beth and they couldn't respond. Ray asked Pat not to say anything and Pat assured him she wouldn't. Pat thought it was funny that Ray had outfoxed the foxes.

They ordered the meal and the conversation continued. Pat was a great dinner companion. She could discuss any subject very intelligently and was a delight to listen to besides look at. Investments, politics, sports and current events were all subjects of discussion. The time flew by and all too soon they were finishing dessert and putting down their empty coffee cups.

Pat said, "We need to be going back to my condo. I am scheduled to be interviewed on television early tomorrow and I don't want to have bags under my eyes."

On the walk back to Pat's condo, Pat invited Ray to come up to her cottage in two weekends.

Ray said, "It's a date."

At the open door to her condo, Pat asked, "Do you want to come in for some coffee?"

Ray thanked Pat but said since she had an early wake up, he had better be on his way. Ray thanked Pat for a very enjoyable evening and for being a very beautiful and fascinating dinner companion. This caused Pat to blush a little. Ray gave Pat a little kiss on her forehead and turned and walked to the elevator.