Chapter 1: Open mouth, Insert Feet

"Old man, you are so full of shit!"

The 'old man', around fifty, looked over at his companion, a man in his late twenties.

"You really think so?" He asked in a mild voice filled with humor.

"Damn right, nothing is sexier than a naked woman."

"That's where I beg to differ. I'd say it was an age thing, but it's been proven time and time again. Hells bells, if what you thought was the norm, whole industries would go bankrupt."

"Really?" the younger man challenged, "Name one."

"Victoria's Secret, Soma, heck, any lingerie designer or manufacturer. Women don't normally buy that stuff for themselves, mostly men buy it or supply the money with great expectation."

"And while we're on the subject, how about high heels? Think they wear those uncomfortable things to please themselves? I bet deep down 90% would wear sneakers if they thought they could get by with it."

"I still think you're wrong" the young man said stubbornly.

"Well, everybody is entitled to their opinion. But really, think about it. Sure, the ladies enjoy these things because it makes them attractive. Attractive to who, you may ask? Why, men of course."

"If a woman would give you an honest opinion, they would all be in slacks, sweats, sack dresses and flat shoes. Comfort, son, is way under rated."

"look around you, David, what do you see?"

"I see The Furniture Mart."

The Furniture Mart was a semi-annual expo for furniture manufacturers, retailers, interior designers, and material suppliers to show their wares, the latest and greatest in the industry. Held in High Point/Greensboro and Hickory N.C. every March and October, it was a chance to see and be seen, and check out the competition.

China had practically destroyed the domestic manufacturers, pushing many into bankruptcy. A few remained, catering to upscale customers. A few more clung to the edges of the middle market, snatching what crumbs they could.

A quarter the size of years past, it was still a pretty big deal to the local economy. David and his older companion were at the High Point expo.

"No David, look at the people. What do you see? Men in casual clothes, most without ties. But the ladies, David, look at the ladies. Not one in slacks, very few in business dress. Most are dressed to the nines, think they're doing it to impress each other? Of course, to a certain degree, but most of it's for our benefit."

"Think David, think. Of course naked women are attractive, but it's the thrill of the chase. Wouldn't you rather unwrap the prize slowly, savoring it, than just ripping it off?"

"Most men, even if they won't admit, would rather see women in sexy lingerie. Why? Because right up until the time she drops her push up bra and slips off her thong, she is perfect. Once the clothes come off, you can see the mole on her bottom, the beginnings of cellulite on her thighs, or the first minute signs of wrinkles on her neck."

"It's the mystery we love David, whether we admit it or not."

Finally David seemed to get it.

"All right, Uncle Charley, I concede. Your argument has merit. Tell me, what do you think of Sherrie and the woman with her?"

David and Sherrie both worked for Charley, he as an up and coming furniture designer, her as an interior design consultant. She and her companion had just entered the display hall from across the room.

"Now, David, you know I love Sherrie like a niece, but I have to admit, she is one attractive female. She's only moved twenty feet from the entrance and has been stopped three times, all from men greeting her. They seem to like her companion quite a bit too, even if she seems to be a bit older."

David frowned at the attention she was getting, he harbored feelings for Sherrie.

Charley laughed at David's frown.

"Boy, if you love that girl you better snatch her up before she gets a better offer. She could probably do better if you leave her alone."

"Seriously, I think she has feelings for you too. But neither of you own a physic hat, so you have to actually tell each other how you feel. If you don't, you may both miss out on something that could be grand. You should marry her, idiot, so she really would be my niece. That's my opinion on the subject."

Anxious to steer the conversation away from his lack of a love life at the moment, he asked what his uncle thought of the woman Sherrie was with. For the first time tonight, his uncle seemed to sparkle.

"That, my boy, is a fine example of mature Southern womanhood. Not too thin, not too fat, built for comfort and speed."

He looked at his uncle, surprised. It was the first time since his rather ugly divorce two years ago he had even expressed a passing interest in a woman.

"I'm guessing her age to be about forty, maybe a year or two older. She may be a miracle of modern science, silicons sacks, nips, tucks, dyes."

"Or it could all be an illusion. Heavy make up, a body shaper underneath, a bra designed by a NASA engineer, with air assist and gyros to maintain altitude and projection. Support hose and a padded panty to make her ass look great. Who knows? Strip her down, her boobs may sag to her waist. She might have ugly nipples, a roll at her tummy and a flat ass."

Then he grinned.

"But right up until the wrapping comes off, she is one fine female, easily the most attractive for her age in the room."

David didn't know whether to laugh or cry for his uncle.

"Charley, Charley, let it go. How do you know so much about this stuff anyway?"

"Because David, my bitch of an ex-wife put me through all of it. Tits not perfect? Nip, insert, problem fixed. Liposuction, vein surgery, facelift, two hundred dollar bras, corsets, support hose, padded panties just until she could get her butt shaped. And when she finally got where she thought she needed to be, she decided she was too good for plain old Charley, and traded up. So, yeah, David, I'm a little gun shy around women my age."

"I guess what burns me most is that I didn't care about any of it. I knew you can't stay twenty five forever, I knew we were going to gain weight, get wrinkles, and slow down, and I didn't care. But she did. And the more I assured her it didn't matter that we were aging, the more determined she was to try and stop the clock. Her perceptions and attitudes became so skewed I didn't know her anymore. When I finally got to know the new her, I didn't care for her. But by then it was too late. She had found a younger lover who told her everything she wanted to hear, and believed every word of it. I just wonder what she's going to do when she finally finds out she can't out run the clock. I'd like to see her face at that moment. It would probably erase a lot of the pain I carried for so long."

David sighed. The divorce was bitter. Charley had tried to go fifty fifty and walk away, but she wanted it all. The business, the homes, most of the money.

So Charley surprised her. Quiet, honorable Charley got loud and dirty, exposing her affair and all her modifications in court. A tape he had made of her discussing how to destroy him with her lover, who also happened to be her lawyer, blew the whole case out of the water. When the dust settled, she got less than 40%, and had to pay the lawyers and court costs.

Her lover got reprimanded by the bar and suspended for a year. With no income coming in from him, she wanted to settle fast. Charlie surprised her by giving her the business, one house, and very little money. She thought she had got one by him.

She didn't realize that in an industry like theirs, reputation went a long way. Most of her older employees quit and went to work for Charley at his new shop. Shoddy work and a few missed deadlines and she was bankrupt, forced to sell for ten cents on the dollar. Charley was the only one who made an offer.

She refused until the banks gave her no choice. She took what she could get and sold the house she had gotten in the divorce, moved, and opened a small interior design company in another town. Although she hadn't worked at it in years, she was quite good and soon had a nice business, but she was very bitter. Surprisingly, her lawyer/lover stood by her, and they married, living a much less glamorous life than they envisioned.

What Charley didn't know was his ex was behind him the whole time he was talking to David, and heard the whole conversation.

She had come of course to promote her business, and was having a hard time getting any interest. In frustration when an old friend turned down her overtures, she asked him point blank if Charley had gotten her blacklisted. He seemed surprised.

"As far as I know, Stella, Charley hasn't uttered your name to anyone in the two years you've been divorced. It's like you ceased to exist. As far as blacklisting, I haven't heard anything. The reason I don't want to do business with you is that I don't trust you. If you could do what you did to Charley, the man who loved you more than anything in the world, what would you do to someone who was just a money source? Sorry, but you'll find that's the prevalent attitude of most of your old business contacts."

Then he drove the stake in her heart.

"Besides, when Charley got that big condo contract in Raleigh, he had to add an interior design consultant to his business. She's quite good for someone so young. She's brought in so much business he had to hire her an associate."

"Damn, damn, damn" she fumed silently. "First he screws me out of my old business, and now he seems intent on driving her out of my new one. Was he really that bitter?"

She calmed. Surely she hadn't turned him into that vindictive a person. He had no contact with her during the divorce except for the court sessions.

She had to admit, he got her good there. And she had not physically seen him except once in two years, and that was at the last market. She was going to speak, but he walked by her like she wasn't there.

This could work for her. She was damn good at her profession, surely he remembered from when they first started out. If he needed help that badly, maybe she could get him to let her sub contract some of it.

So she dressed conservatively, trying to tone down her enhancements, in colors she knew he liked. She rehearsed the speech a dozen times, trying to get him to focus on the old days, maybe stir up a good memory or two, then hit him with her sales pitch.