Chapter 5: Dating

I had just sat down at the meals table with Neva and our Mother and had some Coffee and cereal. Neva was in a heated discussion with Mom and it seems was not going to win this one. This same argument had been going on over meals about once a week for months now and I could see our Mom was well into the planning stage now for her children’s future which included more Grandchildren and a couple of weddings. Maybe not in that order but there was definitely a list.

“I don’t need to date to have a good time Mom.” said Neva. “I’m happy to be single for a while and not worry whether I am wearing the right outfit or having to impress someone.”

“Well you can’t be a stay-at-home Mom now that you’re single again. I have a job available down at my office as a receptionist/secretary that will fill in your time now that Febe is back at school. The pay is good and working hours are flexible for the moment. You can start Monday. Here ring this number and our office manager will help you with all the paperwork.”

“As for you Ken (I gulped, here it comes) I met a lovely girl the other day who is just dyeing to meet you. She’s the same age as you and has just started working in accounting. I just know that you two will get on. You can meet her on Friday next and she can be your date for my Company’s annual dinner. The dinner is on the 21St of next month. Plenty of time to get to know each other.” The conversation over as far as she was concerned she got up and left for work.

‘Groan.’ “What are we gona do Sis. She’ll have us married off by the end of the year.”

“No she won’t I’ll go down and see about this job and I mightn’t even like it at all. You can meet this Janis and go to the annual company bash. A couple of dances and a thank you for a nice time. Bye.”

“The dinner is mainly a thank you to the staff for increasing the company’s bottom line and handing out productivity bonuses. I see it as more of a boardroom meet.” We were sitting in the lounge room of the main house and had the fire going. These months heading up to Xmas were too cold to do much of anything else.

Well it’s late and I have a project that I need to finish for work, so I’ll see you in the morning.”I gave her a chased kiss on the cheek and headed up stairs. I always took the balcony root in the cold months as the distance was shorter to the warmth of my apartment above the garage. As I headed down the hall towards the door at the end that led to the balcony, a door opened and Luciana came out into the hall wearing PJ’s that completely covered her from neck to knee. She looked so cute in her baggie sleepwear.

“Not another sleepover.” I joked. She had been spending more time in the house since it started to get cold. “No.” she said. “I’m going to be taught to cook by Camilla. Just two days a week but so we don’t interrupt the household we are going to do it in the early mornings. Today will be my first day. We are going to bake.”

I held out my hands and she took them and held them to her chest. We looked at each other briefly then kissed passionately. My hands moved down to her cute rear and I lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around my waist. I walked her back into Febe’s room and I sat on her bed with her sitting in my lap. Febe was in bed reading in bed and said. “Luciana, you brought back some desert. Yum.” We all broke up over that. I said. “No I have a lot of work to do and I have to finish it tonight.” I hopped up and put Luciana in to her bed and ceremoniously tucked her in giving her a kiss on the head. I did the same to Febe. Saying in a matronly voice “Now you girls go straight to sleep.” I closed the door and headed to my apartment. I had not seen nearly enough of Luciana these past months what with work and her school activates. She still came and assisted Camilla in the kitchen after school but then there were too many people in the house to take things to the point where we could spend some quiet time together.

We had gotten to the point where we considered ourselves to be dating or going steady although on the QT. No one other than Febe and Neva new, and possibly Camilla. She would be legal after her next birthday but still there was the age gap to consider. In Spain last century it was considered conventional practice to marry off your daughter to an older and usually more successful man. There is still this idea of the joining of two family houses, but today it is based more on financial reasoning than land/holder reasons. We weren’t looking at getting married; we were just having fun and enjoying life. Next year when she was the legal age of consent I would take her out on dates to see Places like The Alhambra and some of the water parks, all the things that makes Spain a must see place on every bucket list. Over time I could see that people would see us as a couple and seeing us always together would be considered natural.

For now, she had to finish school and either go on to Uni or find a job. She had said that her parents wanted her to take over the family Hotel business, but she wanted to be a cook in a high class restaurant or a teacher. She loves to cook so maybe.

At work the next day, I had finished my project and was just shutting down my consul when the phone rang. The caller ID said it was Mother.

“Can you make a quick trip to my offices? It’s just across town and I have something to tell you that I can’t over the phone. See you soon.” No small talk she was all business.

Her offices were top floor of a ten story building in the commercial district of Barcelona. When I got off the lift on her floor I was surprised to see Neva behind a desk on the phone. She was dressed quite nice in a professional business style skirt and top. She waved me past her and pointed towards mother’s office. As I walked down the hall I could hear Neva say into the phone. “Ken is here to see you Mom. Ah ... I mean Miss Daniels.” I knocked and entered. Mom was behind a big desk which had two computer monitors on it and was littered with papers and files and she was not alone. Sitting in a chair facing the desk was a stunning red head dressed in a smart business suit. She had that coppery red hair that you only see on pin-up posters and pale ivory skin. They both looked up as I entered.

Well hello Ken. I’d like you to meet Janis from accounting. I walked towards Janis and held out my hand. She stood up and took my hand. She was short at about Five Eight and looked slim in that tight fitting dress. “Janis is the girl that I was telling you about and that I’d like you to accompany her to the Company Party. I know this is short notice, but it is what it is. Why don’t you both pop on down to the corner Tapas Bar and get to know each other. Now off you go I have work to do.”

We hurried out of the office and stopped by Neva’s desk. We were both stunned. Things were moving too fast and we needed time to catch our breath. “Sorry about that. Our Mother can be a tad controlling at times.” I said.

Neva added. “We grew up with it and have learned to roll with the punches. But people just meeting her can be overwhelmed.”

“Yes, I can see what you mean. I have been working here for a while now I can tell you everyone in the other departments fear her.” said Janis.

“Oh it’s not all that bad. She’s always trying to help other people as long as that help fits into her overall plan.” Said Neva.

“Were under orders to go and have Tapas on the corner downstairs. Care to join us?” I asked. “Sure I’ll just tell her I’m leaving.”

I walked behind the two girls as we headed for the lifts. The sway of those hips and the long legs in heals was mesmerizing. Neva and Janis chatted away like old school mates meeting up after a long break. I heard that Janis was native to Barcelona and lived with her parents in an apartment building there. She had a degree in accounting and was headhunted straight out of Uni for this job.

In a lull in the conversation I asked Neva how her job was going. “I like it. I’m surprised. I really like it. I get to meet everybody that comes to see Mom and sometimes go with her to meet her other bushiness. I didn’t realize how diverse her company was.”

We got to the Bar and as usual it had a casual group of patrons sitting at tables eating tapas and drinking coffees’. I loved coming here. The meals were rich in flavor and made the traditional Spanish way and today the company was lovely. We ordered a jug of Sangria and the garlic prawns cooked in the traditional terracotta cazuela. While Neva and Janis were deep in conversation I had a chance to look more closely at Janis. She had a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose that gave her that so cute little girl look. Her face was well tanned and she looked overall very fit.

“So you’re taking Janis to the Party.” I felt someone kick me under the table. “Hello, Ken.” “Sorry I was daydreaming or something.” I said. The girls giggled and looked at each other in that way those girls do. “Yes. When is it again? The 21St?” “Yes and Janis and I are going shopping the weekend before to get the essentials for the night. You can come with us if you like. We’ll need someone to carry all the store bags. The food arrived and we all tucked in. The Sangria was cold and the prawns were sizzling in there ceramic pots.

“Well.” I said between bites. “You know I’d love to but I have pressing work to do that weekend.” “What weekend?” asked Neva? “The weekend you’re going to choose to go shopping.” I said and laughed. “Com-on it’ll be fun. We can stop and have lunch somewhere. Janis will meet us at ‘Divinas’ and we can start from there.” Again my future was being played out for me by the women in my life. Oh well, could be worse. I could be in charge of the planning.

The shopping trip turned out to be not as arduous as I had thought. Both Neva and Janis needed my opinion on the dresses they chose, changing again and again and parading the latest style in front of me. Their long legs and stocking feet were a real turn on and the fact that they were sharing a change room made me squirm in my seat trying to hide my stiff cock. It wasn’t just the girls either. There were some nice young things that also were changing and seeing that I was with the girls and giving my opinion on their fashion choice. Others also asked for my opinion, standing in front of me and bending this way and that. ‘If I bend over like this, do you see my panties?’ And ‘Can you see through this material when I stand in the light.’

I was in a daze by the time we left and the girls were laughing and giggling fit to burst. I hope they didn’t see my cock standing tall. I used the arm load of shopping bags to help hide my arousal.

By the time we got to lunch I had calmed down. Lunch was some local fish, grilled with a salad. I said that the outfits the girls had chosen were fabulous and they looked good in them.

“Do you need to shop for an outfit for the night? It’s semi-formal so a suit and tie, crisp white shirt and some dress shoes would be good. Do you have those asked Neva?” I thought for a moment and said that I probable could go and shop for some items. “Great, let’s do that now. I know a shop for men’s fashion in the next block over.

When we got to the hombres store we had the place to ourselves. I went up to the owner and explained what I was after and he took us down the back of the store to the formal section. Here he showed me some suits and measured me up for size. “Any suit on this rack will fit just select the style and color. I’ll be back when you’ve made a choice.

I picked out one and was trying it on in the change room when the curtain flew open and Neva and Janis were standing there with an assortment of ties. All I had on was a button down shirt and my boxers. “Which one do you like.” said Neva holding up the ties. “I can’t decide.” I said, “Until I have on the suit.” “Well come on then put some pants on.” I struggled to pull up my slacks while hiding my chubby and stepped out. I threw on the coat and turned towards the girls for approval. “What do you think?” Both girls admired the fit and my choice of color. They had me stand and face the mirror in the change room. Yes I thought I do look good in this. I noticed that the mirror view gave me a look at the girls staring at my arse and giggling. “Yes they said we like the look of that.” said Neva. Both girls nearly doubled over with laughter. Well let them have their fun. I even liked how the suit hung on me. I could get used to this.