Chapter 4

The rest of the week was busy for Jenny. Not only because of the added work-she had many of her previous duties as well as some new one's-but also because there was still a steady stream of people stopping by to wish her luck. Some of the people she knew well, while others had barely talked to her in two years. That made her wonder if it was the job or her new look and attitude that made the difference. She was friendly to all of them... she never knew who she would need to call on to help her in her new job.

Another thing that surprised her was that most of the visits were from men: there were Sean and Jack, from the marketing department, Rob from the finance area and several other guys that she had barely knew. Even Tim, the shy guy that worked in the mailroom stopped by. He was cute. In addition, all of the managers of the various departments stopped in to say hi and offer their assistance. Then there were the ladies. While they were all friendly enough, Jenny couldn't help think that in many cases their words of congratulations weren't sincere. It almost seemed if they were stopping by to size up their competition. Maybe it was just her imagination though.

On Thursday, she got a call from Mr. Davenport's executive secretary. He was the owner and president of the company. The secretary said that he had a policy of taking newly promoted "management" employee's to lunch. Jenny was surprised because she hadn't realized that she was "management" now. She scheduled the lunch for the following day.

Jenny could hardly work the rest of the day. The incident with Tom the day before and now lunch with the boss was almost too much. While she was excited about being invited to lunch, there was also a good bit of nervousness. She had never gone to lunch with anyone higher than Tom. Mr. Davenport was "Mr. Big". She had seen him several times and been introduced when she started work. He was a handsome and tall man in his late forties with silver gray hair and penetrating blue eyes. Although Jenny had only met him briefly, she remembered how his presence had energized the room. Everyone at the agency seemed to like him.

The following day, Jenny arrived at work wearing her most professional suit. It was a black pin-stripped suit with a modestly tight skirt and tapered jacket. She wore a powder blue blouse underneath. She felt good about her appearance and thought she looked very professional. Still, she was very nervous to be going to lunch with the President and wondered what she was going to say to a person in his position. She even rehearsed in her mind several conversations and pulled out a copy of the annual report to bone up on the company's financial position.

Jenny was still reading the report at her desk when she looked up and saw Mr. Davenport entering her office.

The handsome man walked over and held out his hand to Jenny.

"Hi, I'm Robert Davenport... call me Bob."

"Uh... hi... I'm Jenny," Jenny said, standing up and suddenly forgetting everything she had rehearsed.

"I know."

Jenny blushed.

"Tom's told me a lot about you... all good things. However, he didn't say how pretty you are. I think he's been hiding you from me."

Jenny blushed again and felt like a schoolgirl on her first date. "Uh... Tom's a good boss."

"Shall we go? I thought we would walk over to the Downtown Athletic Club. They have a great restaurant on the top floor."

"Yes... anywhere would be fine," Jenny said, letting him lead her out of the office.

The two of them walked the two blocks to the Downtown Athletic Club and took the elevator to the top floor. Mr. Davenport made small talk along the way... the weather, sports, traffic... nothing important. When they were seated, he ordered two glasses of wine.

"So, you've been with the company for two years," Bob said. "I'm surprised that we have never met."

Jenny wanted to say that they had met but he probably didn't recognize her because of her new hair and clothes. Instead she said, "Tom doesn't let me out very often."

They both laughed and Jenny started to finally relax.

"Well, I'll have to fix that."

Soon the two of them were talking like old friends. Jenny was surprised to find him very easy to talk to and quite knowledgeable; he seemed to be familiar with every subject that she brought up. When the subject of history came up, she was delighted to hear that he was a European history buff. It was rare to find someone that was into history like she was. Still, although the conversation was quite stimulating, she had a difficult time keeping her train of thought. Every time she looked into his blue eyes she felt a little tremor rush through her. It was rare for any man to have this affect on her so quickly. She found out that he was a widower and he had been single for about five years. It was difficult for her to believe that he hadn't found someone or that someone hadn't found him. She was dying to ask why but controlled herself.

As they ate their lunch, Jenny felt Bob's knee touch hers. It was only a light touch but enough to send a little tremor through her. She was going to move her leg away but decided to leave it where it was to see if he moved his. He didn't. Occasionally he would turn or laugh and his knee would press a little harder to hers. By the time lunch was over, Jenny was surprised to find that her panties were wet. And he had said nothing even remotely sexual.

When they arrived back at Jenny's office, she thanked him and he turned to leave. Then he stopped and turned back around. "Jenny, I have some tickets to the basketball game tonight. Are you a fan?"

Jenny thought he was going to give her tickets. She really didn't know much about basketball but didn't want to insult him. "Uh... yes, I go occasionally." She figured a little "white lie" was appropriate in this situation.

"Would you like to go with me tonight?"

"Huh?" Jenny said, sure she hadn't heard him correctly.

"I don't have anyone to go with and I was wondering if you wanted to join me. But I guess a pretty girl like you has a hot date anyway."