Chapter 2: Preparations

The next morning, after she worked out and went through her morning routine at the bank, Lisa pulled out her notebook and began planning. Bill often joked that Lisa didn’t take a shit without making a plan first, and though that statement irritated her, she had to accept that it was essentially correct. In this case, her planning was a bit difficult since she didn’t even know how to state the goal of her plan.

“Become Bill’s Personal Porn Star” seemed like a bit of an empty goal. She realized that the couple she watched last night seemed to have some pretty athletic and fun sex, but she didn’t want to turn her sex life into a performance. What she really wanted, she realized, was to feel the connection that the couple she watched clearly had.

Having spent many hours talking with her female co-workers, as well as her friends, she realized that a sexual connection was often the most powerful one that couples shared, outside of having children. Shawna and Dale, her petite employee and her hot cowboy boyfriend, clearly had a sex life way beyond what Lisa had ever engaged in, but their love and deep connection was obvious to anyone who watched them together. “Have Bill Look At Me the Way Dale Looks at Shawna” was probably a better expression of Lisa’s goal, but they were just kids. She knew that most of the porn that Bill watched featured women called “MILFs”, which stood for Mother I’d LIke to Fuck, so she wrote down “Become a MBLF - Mother Bill Likes to Fuck”. That sounded good to her.

As Lisa was sketching out a to-do list that would come to occupy separate pages of her notebook devoted to topics like appearance, lingerie, exercise clothes, sex toys and research, she was interrupted by Terry, the mousy teller who worked with Shawna.

“Lisa, there’s a man here who wants to talk with you about opening an account.”

Terry seemed a little flustered, but when she moved aside, Lisa could tell why. Following Terry into the office was a 6’ 4”, extremely attractive and well-built black man, dressed in workout clothes and sporting a buzz cut. He radiated power and confidence, which is why Terry was probably a little more nervous than usual. Lisa’s hand was tiny in his as they shook hands and she introduced herself.

“Hi, I’m Lisa Hansen, the branch president. How can I help?”

“Mrs. Hansen, I’m Del Collins, and I own Prime Fitness over on Grand Avenue. I wanted to talk with you about moving my business to Western State.”

“Good to meet you Del - I hope you don’t mind me using your first name - please have a seat, and please, call me Lisa. Of course, we’re happy to have your business, but can you tell me more about what you’re looking for in a bank so I can see if we’ll be a good fit?”

“Well, Mrs. - er Lisa - I don’t mind you using my first name, and I hope that if I bank here, someone will at least remember my name. I’m not looking for special treatment, just a place where, if I have a problem, I don’t have to talk to a call center in India, and I don’t have to wait a week to get my problem fixed.”

“Well, fortunately, Del, that’s an easy one. During business hours, you can call us, or drop in, if you have a question or concern. Now that banking has moved onto the Internet and people may have questions any time of the day, we also have an after-hours call center, in Omaha, staffed by Western employees who can answer your questions. We are a Nebraska state bank, and everyone who works for us lives here. As you can see from our lobby, we want people to drop in - we always have a coffee pot going, and we subscribe to papers and magazines that people like to read. We also want you to feel comfortable when talking with a teller, and we want our employees to be comfortable when talking with you, so as you can see both you and the teller will be sitting down.” Lisa’s pitch was practiced, and she believed in it. Her branch had pioneered some of what corporate called “the soft touches” that kept Western State competitive, and she was proud to share them.

Del asked a few smart questions that Lisa was able to answer to his satisfaction. He dropped a cashier’s check on Lisa’s desk and asked if they could open his account now. Del also had a letter on his company’s stationery with all of his corporate information. Lisa gave both the check and the information to Terry, who started the process of opening his account.

“Del, that’s probably the most complete page of information I’ve seen from a new customer in a long time. May I ask if you prepared it, or do you have someone who does your accounts?”

“I did it - I’ve had employees dip into the till in the past, so now I run my own accounts. I’ve been doing it for years, and most of it is computerized, so I’m able to keep on top of it.”

“I’m impressed, and I’m sure you’re doing fine. If you don’t mind a suggestion, would you be willing to sit down with me or one of my staff for an hour or so to go over some of the tools that we offer small businesses?”

“I have some time right now - can we get started?”

“Sure,” Lisa said, and she excused herself to go collect some materials. As she passed Terry and Shawna, she noticed that Terry was heads-down working on Del’s application, but Shawna was staring at her with her trademark smirk.

“What?” Lisa asked, as she pulled down a fresh “welcome business owner” binder, which contained the materials that she and her staff had prepared to orient new businesses.

“He was totally clocking your ass when you walked over here. He did it really subtly, but it was a good long look.”

“Well, Shawna, I work pretty damn hard on my ass, so I’ll take that as a compliment,” Lisa smiled at Shawna after saying something that she usually would have censored.

Shawna smiled back and said, “Especially from someone that hot, right?”

Lisa didn’t dignify that remark with a response. She went back to her office and sat down next to Del. For the next 45 minutes, they walked through the materials in the folder, with Lisa hitting the highlights, and Del asking questions that showed that he clearly knew both his business, and what he wanted from a bank.

During their time talking, Lisa was exquisitely aware of Del’s presence. He was clearly paying attention to the material, but every so often it was obvious he was also paying attention to her. They were sitting together close enough that Lisa got a whiff of his scent and felt the warmth emanating from his body.

When they had finished, Del gathered his materials together and said, “I hope I’m not being too forward, Lisa, but may I inquire where you work out?”

“Why do you think I work out?” Lisa asked, and kicked herself mentally for how vain and grasping she sounded.

Del gave her a little smile and replied, “It’s my business to notice who has a workout routine and who doesn’t, and you clearly do. And I think you know that you look like you work out consistently and effectively.”

It was Lisa’s turn to smile at Del’s compliment - “I work out at home - we have a stairmaster, an elliptical and some free weights. I’ve just never wanted to commit to a gym.”

“Well”, Del said, “I don’t want to stand in the way of obvious success, but someone as serious as you might find that Prime is a good place to help you achieve any goals you might have.” Dell pulled out a card and scrawled something on the back. “Please take my card. If you want to try us for free for 30 days, stop by. If I’m not around, just show my staff the back of the card, and they’ll set you up.” As Del handed her the card, he shook her hand and said, “It’s been a pleasure to meet you, and I’m looking forward to banking here.”

As the handshake lingered, Lisa thanked Del, who finally released her hand. After she had escorted him to the door, she saw Annie, her branch VP, standing outside her office door giving her the “you, come here” gesture.

Lisa followed Annie into her office and asked “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” Annie mocked. “What’s up is that a guy who is so hot that he makes me want to switch back to cock, and is clearly into you, just spent an hour in your office. You tell me what’s up.” Annie’s bisexuality was an often-discussed topic at the bank, though she was currently living with Linda, who had been her off-and-on girlfriend for as long as she had worked at the bank.

“The only thing that’s up is he gave me a card good for a thirty day trial at his gym. If you want to take a shot at him, I’d be happy to give it to you.”