Chapter 3: Katherine Feels Her Oats

The following Monday morning I was in the office before Katherine. I happened to be in the hallway when she came in, and I got a big surprise from her appearance. While previously she had slouched in every day, now she sort of glided in like Barbara Stanwyck at the beginning of Double Indemnity. There was a kind of luminous look about her; her reddish-brown hair was down and flowing almost to her shoulders.

As soon as she saw me, she smiled and greeted me warmly, “Why Paul, good morning, how are you doing today?” She gave a little shake of her head so that her hair swirled around, and then she smiled again.

I couldn’t remember the last time I saw her really smile at anything. I think I said something non-committal like, “Hi Katherine, I’m doing all right.” It seemed okay for some reason to watch her hang her coat in the closet, which normally I would never have done. I noticed that she was wearing the brown boots that I had seen the previous Friday.

Then she did a sort of a whole-body stretch, putting her hands behind her back and pushing her breasts forward. Her blazer fell open, and I saw the white blouse she had on underneath. And damn, I was almost sure she wasn’t wearing a bra. Her breasts were small, but they were still upright and perky. From the side, I saw her left nipple pushing against the cloth.

Then she turned and noticed me gaping at her. Oh no, now I’m in trouble. But I wasn’t. She lowered her head and looked up at me. What actress used to have a look like that? Was it Veronica Lake? She spoke to me again, “All right, I’ll see around, okay?”

Then when she turned, I noticed the swivel in her hips as she walked away. Her skirt was tighter than the ones she usually wore, and her compact behind moved back and forth inside of it.

What exactly is going on with her? There was something unnerving about her new bearing because it was so sudden and unexpected. At least with the old morose Katherine, I knew what I dealing with. Now I wasn’t sure how to behave.

I had to find Renée and ask her about this. If anyone knew what was going on, she would. But I didn’t have time to get her and speak to her.

About an hour after her arrival, Katherine called me on the phone and asked me to come to her cubicle. Okay, now she’s going to ream me out about something, I’m sure of it. I grabbed my notebook and trudged over there. On the way over, I looked out the window at the small farm across the road. I was somewhat ambivalent about that place because I always saw it going to and then leaving from some unpleasant meeting with Katherine.

When I got there, she was still in her warm mode. “Oh, please, come in and sit down, make yourself comfortable.” I had never liked being in her cubicle because it wasn’t that big and I didn’t like being too close to her. But now, I wasn’t so sure.

Her hair framed her face, and she seemed to be wearing subtle lipstick. Had she ever worn make-up before? I couldn’t remember. It struck me that a person’s appearance is not merely about their physical attributes, but it was also their attitude about themselves. And Katherine definitely had a different attitude on that day. In fact, she looked very good indeed.

For a little while, we had a conventional work-related discussion. Then I noticed something she was doing. She kept putting a hand down to her blouse, and I saw that most of it was unbuttoned. Her hand rubbed her chest between her breasts, and I took a guess about where her bra should be. It wasn’t there, as I had noticed before.

She said, “It’s a little warm in here, don’t you think?”

“Ah, no, it seems okay to me.”

“Well, it is November, they probably turned the heat up somewhat.”

Actually, most modern office buildings set their HVAC systems so that it felt the same inside year-round. But she wasn’t talking about the air temperature.

She wasn’t done with showing herself off. Just as I was getting ready to leave, she put her left booted foot up on an extra chair. I tried to avoid staring at her, but she wouldn’t let me.

“Paul, look at me.”

I looked into her face, and in my peripheral vision, I saw her spread her legs apart. She gave me a little nod to indicate that I should look down, and I did. Between her parted legs, I could see up to her crotch. Damn, this lady isn’t wearing panties, which means she has no underwear on at all today. Her thick pubic bush was visible. It definitely matched the color of the hair on her head.

She laughed, “So what do you think?”

I dug into my bag of things to say to women in different situations. I came up with, “Katherine, you used to be such a good girl, but you’re turning into a bad girl now.”

I got away with it. “Oh yes, I’m becoming very bad now, that’s for sure!” She added, “I always was, but now I going to let it out.”

It seemed like a good time to end this particular encounter. “Well, I should be getting back to work I suppose.”

She put her leg back on the floor and she said, “That’s fine. I know where to find you when I want you.”

With that, I folded my notebook and stood up. Just as I was leaving, I looked back at her. Katherine smiled at me and gave me a little wave of her hand.

About an hour later I got a hold of Renée. I said, “I need to talk to you. Let’s go to the conference room.

Once in there, I asked her, “What’s gotten into Katherine?”

“What do you mean?”

“She looks completely different; she’s acting completely different.”

Renée hesitated and then said, “I admit, I got into her.”

“I still don’t get it.”

“I mean, I got into her pants. She was at my apartment this weekend.”

That was such a surprise that I didn’t know what to say. Renée seemed nervous as she continued, “Remember when I said I’d forgive you if you had sex with her? Well, do you forgive me?”

I realized I had never had an explicit agreement of exclusivity with her. And the fact that it was with another woman confused me. “Okay, Renée, take it easy, it’s all right. I assume you were the one who imitated it.”

“Yeah, the day after your spanking, she wanted to talk to me about it. And I really let her have it, and she got upset. Then we went to Kinchley’s because she was too distracted to work and one thing led to another.”

“But she’s not a lesbian, is she?”

“It’s not a matter of labels. Every woman enjoys getting her pussy licked.” Then she went on, “Has she made any moves on you?”

“She sure has.”

“You want to tell me, like what?”

“First of all, she gives me these come-hither looks. Then a little while ago, I was in her cubicle. She flashed her crotch at me, and she wasn’t wearing panties. And I don’t think she has a bra on either. I’d call that being more than flirtatious.”

Renée laughed at that, “Yeah, that’s way beyond mere flirting.”

“The thing that concerns me is that when someone that repressed lets loose, they may become unpredictable. Renée, she’s my boss; what should I do?”

“Well, she’s my boss too; I was the one who started this. Give me a moment to think. Okay, see what she does; see if she continues to pursue you. It might actually be easier to give in to her rather than turning her down. That’s if you can stand her.”

I didn’t want to admit it, but yes, I thought I could stand her, maybe more than that even. She’s looking so good today.

Renée said, “Just be discreet about it.”

“You have to be discreet too. Man, this whole thing is so crazy. Renée, no one would believe you landed two lovers, one of each gender, in like two days.”

She shrugged, “You already know this. Under this modest exterior, I’m a hot little package. May I ask, how long has been it been since you last had a girlfriend? I know you are divorced.”

“Actually, none since my separation two years ago.”

“And with her, you didn’t know this, but it’s been at least eighteen years. And she wasn’t actually penetrated, I don’t think, so she’s technically a virgin. Well, in girl-loving terms, she isn’t anymore.”

“I know, you were the one who took care of that.”

She smiled at my comment and said, “She did engage in some very heavy petting with a guy when she was seventeen. Actually, I’d call it mutual masturbation.”

“And anything since then?”

“I don’t think so.”

“And she’s what, thirty-five now? I’m just trying to get a sense of what I’m dealing with here.”

“Think of it this way; it’s finally becoming fun to go to work.”

“I thought I was just coming here for a paycheck.”

That afternoon I had another encounter with Katherine. I came around a corner and she was using a fax machine. Her blazer was off but apparently, her blouse was buttoned again.

She saw me approaching, and she found some pretext to bend over the machine and study the electronic displays. As I reached her, she pushed her behind out and waved it at me. Her intent was unmistakable.

I looked around to make sure was no one was nearby, then I hauled off and gave her a solid swat on the seat of her skirt. Man, that was a dumb thing to do.

It turned out that it wasn’t. She stood up straight and said, “Oh my. You must think I need a good pat on the fanny.”

I dared say, “Maybe more than just a pat.”

She tittered, “Of course, I’ve been so naughty, I certainly deserve it.”

It seemed like a good time to get going. “Well, you have a fax to send I see.”

She gave me another wave of her hand. “I’m fine. There’s a staff meeting pretty soon; I’ll see you there.”

The staff meeting was uneventful; Katherine behaved herself. No one noticed her appearance, but even if they had, it would have been impolite to mention it. She did glance at me a few times, but she kept her expressions in check.

Near the end of the day, I was sitting at my desk when somebody came up behind me. Katherine put a hand on my shoulder and rubbed it. “Are you doing anything this evening? Why don’t you take me out to Kinchley’s now?”

“You’ll miss your bus.” I realized I had already implicitly agreed to go with her.

“That’s okay, you can drop me off on Route 17 and I can take one of the regular buses.”

I decided to get chivalrous, “I could drive you to Queens.” The transit bus would take her into the Port Authority Bus Terminal and then she’d have to take the subway for the rest of the way.

“No, it’s fine, really. I’ll meet you at your car in, say, twenty minutes.”

“Do you know which one it is?”