Chapter 29

It was late Saturday morning, BJ and had finished our outing and Sharon and I were just finishing up our morning coffee when my cell phone rang. Since it was in front of Sharon, she picked it up and answered, listened for a moment and then asked them to please hold. Extending the phone to me, Sharon said, “It’s a woman. And she sounds extremely sexy.” I was grateful when Sharon winked at me.

I was curious now. What sexy woman would be calling me on a Saturday morning? “Good morning, this is Matt.”

A familiar sultry voice greeted me, “Hi Matt, it’s Jennifer. Is this a bad time?”

“Well, gee whiz, we were just having wild, passionate sex and Sharon was screaming...” Sharon’s hand slapping me on my back, stopping my comment.

“She just hit you, didn’t she?” Jennifer was laughing as she asked.

“Yeah.”

“And you had it coming.”

“Yeah. Thanks Jennifer, what can I do for you this morning?”

“Would you and Sharon please come to dinner this evening. Can you make it?” I told Jennifer to wait a moment and asked Sharon if we had plans for the evening. When she asked me what was going on I explained about the invitation to dinner. Sharon grinned at me and said, “Go for it. Ask what time and what should I wear?” Just like a woman, wondering what to wear. I know, that’s a sexist remark. So, I’m a pig.

“We’d love to. I just need to know what time and where? Oh ... and Sharon wants to know what to wear.”

I heard Jennifer laugh again as she responded, “A limo will pick you up at your place at seven. As for what to wear, you look great in a suit. Tell Sharon to wear whatever looks good when you wear a suit. See you tonight.” And she hung up.

“Well?” Sharon asked. “What did she say?”

“She told me I looked great in a suit and for you to try and look half that nice.” Damn it, she slapped me again. “Really, she said for me to wear a suit and for you to dress accordingly.”

“That is not what you said first!” I thought, picky, picky, picky! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Around 6:30 that evening I took BJ out to do her business and then I started my transformation. I pulled out my best suit and my favorite cufflink sleeved shirt. I noticed I had ten minutes to go, and I had enough time to go to the kitchen and pour myself a small Scotch. Just as Sharon entered the kitchen, the phone from the lobby rang. Our limo had arrived.

On the way down in the elevator I complemented Sharon on how nice she looked. Her dress was kind of clingy and it showed a nice amount of cleavage. She smiled at me and asked, “Do I look half as nice as you?”

My hand strayed down to her shapely bottom, and I caressed her darling cheeks as I responded, “Yes, dear!” She wasn’t going to let my remark go unpunished. “You look very nice.”

The limo waiting for us was two zip codes long and the driver was standing by the open back door. As Sharon entered, the driver smiled at me, “Good evening Mr. Preston.” I nodded.

After the driver slipped behind the wheel, I called out, “Where are we going?”

“Miss Rockingham has asked me to keep that a secret.” I leaned back and shut my mouth. Sharon and I sat in the back, holding hands, watching the passing view.

We were traveling through an exclusive part of town when we pulled up in front of a large, expensive looking home. The driver asked us to please wait in the car. He went to the front door and Richard Silversmith opened it. I had met his wife once and the driver escorted the two of them to the limo. There were two seats facing us and Richard and his wife took those. We all exchanged greetings and Richard’s wife reached over and extended her hand to Sharon. “Sandy Silversmith.”

“Sharon Crowell. Nice to meet you.” She turned to Richard and asked,

“You must be Richard? Thanks for keeping Matt out of jail for so long. I’m impressed.”

We all laughed, and Richard retorted, “It hasn’t been easy.” He then turned to me, “I like her. A bit above your pay grade, but I do like her.”

“Thanks, Richard. Do you have any idea what this is all about tonight?”

“No, I was hoping you knew.” Richard responded. “I asked the driver, but he said it was a surprise.”

Richard turned and called out to the driver, “How long to where we’re going?”

“Just a few minutes, sir. By the way, there is a small fridge between you and your wife. There are cocktails in there for the four of you.”

Richard opened the small cooler and sure enough, there were four glasses of some sort of reddish looking liquid with lids on them. Richard passed out the drinks and we took a sip. I have no idea what it was, but it was splendid. There was a definite berry flavor to it, but you could also feel the drink had a fair amount of alcohol in it. All four of us enjoyed our drinks and they seemed to go down way too easy.

We pulled up in front of the tallest building in Seattle and the driver stopped. The doorman stepped forward and opened the limo door. After the four of us were out of the limo, the doorman invited us to follow him.

Sharon leaned close and whispered, “I’ve heard rumors about a very exclusive club-restaurant on the top two floors of this building. Have you ever been there?” I shook my head. I’d heard rumors about it too. The doorman showed us to an open elevator, reached in and pushed the only button on the panel. He nodded his head and as the door closed, he said, “Have a nice evening folks.”

Richard spoke with some excitement in his voice, “I’ve heard about this place. You have to be nominated to join and then be voted in. It’s very expensive to join and you pay monthly dues, which I understand are rather stiff. The food and service are supposedly exactly what you would expect from a place like this.”

When the elevator door opened, we were greeted by a wall of glass showcasing the Sound and the Olympic Mountains in the distance. The view was stunning. A lovely Asian woman in some sort of regional dress stepped towards us. “Mr. and Mrs. Silversmith?” she asked, and Richard raised his hand. The exquisite lady turned to me and asked, “Mr. Preston?” I nodded my head, and she turned to Sharon. “You must be Miss Crowell?” Sharon nodded her head. “Miss Crowell, your dress is stunning.” Sharon glowed. “Please follow me.”

We walked down a hallway and then stepped into a small private dining room that was set for seven people. No sooner had the lovely hostess left the room when Jennifer entered followed by Scott and a woman I had never met. Scott has nice taste in woman, but this was way beyond any woman I had ever seen him with. The woman was almost as tall as I am and the word that came to mind was voluptuous. Her dress looked to have been spray painted on her and her long black hair swirled around her face. She was stunning. She looked familiar but I couldn’t place her.

Jennifer smiled at all of us. “I want to thank all of you for coming this evening. I wanted to show you my appreciation for all you’ve done for me. Shall we take our seats?”

Sharon was on my left and Scott’s date was on my right. I turned to the young woman, extend my hand and said, “My name is Matt Preston.”

She smiled at me. “So, you’re Matt Preston? I’ve heard about you.” I just sat there like a bump on a log. She continued to smile at me. “My name is Anne Small.”

Sharon had been listening in and she leaned across me. “Why you’re Anne Small, the actress.” The light bulb went on in my head. That was why she looked familiar.

“Guilty. But please, call me Anne. And let’s forget about the actress thing. Please.” The woman was warm and genuine. She asked, “Isn’t this a spectacular view?”

Two people entered the room, one male and one female. The female introduced herself as Betsy and introduced the man as Bill. They both made a small bow and explained they were going to take care of us this evening. Betsy asked us if we’d like a drink and Sandy Silver- smith asked if it was possible to get another drink like we had in the limo. She was told she could. Sharon said she wanted another one and Anne said it sounded like a drink she would like as well. I thought the drink was okay, but I prefer Scotch. Scott, Richard and I all ordered a Scotch. Betsy listed the available Scotch on hand, and she mentioned one I had never heard of. But she said it was thirty years old, all three of us told her we wanted to taste that one. I learned that evening I could get really used to thirty-year-old Scotch.