Chapter 2

When Kara arrived at the office on Wednesday morning she was immediately summoned to Winston Grayson's office. Grayson was the managing partner of the law firm where Kara worked. There were over a hundred partners in the firm and although Kara had been there nearly six years, other than when she was hired, she had never had any dealings with Mr. Grayson.

Kara took the elevator from her office on the twenty-second floor up to Mr. Grayson's on the twenty-sixth. She couldn't imagine why he wanted to see her. It wasn't partnership time and she couldn't think of anything she might have done to merit a meeting with him. As she came off the elevator she was met by Grayson's secretary who immediately ushered her toward the managing director's open door. Kara paused briefly to knock. Then she stepped through the door and stopped, dumbstruck by what she was seeing.

Winston Grayson's office was the biggest she had ever seen. It was at least ten times the size of her own and had a magnificent view of the city. The managing partner was seated behind a large ornately carved wooden desk with his back to the smaller of the three glass walls. Several file folders were neatly arranged on the leather surface of the desk.

The only illumination, other than the early morning sun, came from a green banker's lamp perched on the corner of the desk. Mr. Grayson peered through the dim light at the contents of one of the folders. The harsh light of the lamp and the dim light from outside accentuated the lines in Mr. Grayson's face, causing him to look much older than his actual age of sixty-one.

When Kara entered, Grayson looked over the top of his glasses and motioned her to the leather wing-back chair that faced his desk. As she walked across the room her feminine form was obvious even though she wore a sexless woman's business suit, a frilly blouse and solid-toe shoes with short boxy heels. Yes, Winston Grayson thought, Kara will be perfect as the firm's second female partner, if she doesn't embarrass us first.

As Kara sat down, Grayson stood and got right to the point. He spoke sternly but somewhat fatherly, "Miss Radcliffe, Kara I guess would be better, I have just learned that you are romantically involved with one of our more substantial clients. I understand this has been going on for several weeks now and that you have recently moved into his house, without the benefit of marriage."

Kara was stunned by Mr. Grayson's knowledge of her personal life and his thinly veiled attempt to control it. She opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything Grayson cut her off with, "There's no need to justify it. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. I just want to make sure that you don't embarrass the firm.

"Dirk Williams is an important client and a very public figure. I guess that considering today's customs its alright for the two of you to be living together while you're courting. I just hope that neither of you does anything to call attention to the situation." He added, "It would help if you did eventually get married."

Kara spoke flatly, "I can't make any promises about marriage since we haven't discussed it but I can assure you that it is not our intention to embarrass you."

Grayson back-peddled a bit, "I'm not concerned about anything that might embarrass me, it's the firm I'm worried about. I know that the two of you will be careful. As I'm sure you know, we're hoping to make you a partner next year. It would be a lot easier for us to do that if you were married, at least I know my wife would like it better."

Kara was stunned to learn that Mrs. Grayson, who was neither a member nor client of the firm, could threaten her partnership chances over something unrelated to her abilities as an attorney. She was not going to have the conversation go any further, even if it cost her the partnership. She bolted upright from the chair and spoke abruptly, "I'll do what I can. Thank you for showing your concern. Can I leave now?"

Grayson knew from the question and the tone of Kara's voice that it had been a mistake to speak to her about this. Kara was one of his best attorneys, good looking too, and he didn't want her upset with him. He used a conciliatory tone, "I just wanted to chat a bit. Thanks for coming in, Kara. We think a lot of you here. I'm sure you won't let us down. Yes, by all means, go ahead and get on with your day."

Kara got to the elevator quickly but otherwise took her time getting back to her office. She thought about what had just taken place. Unbelievable, she thought, that the people for whom she worked would try to dictate how she lived her life. But if she wanted the partnership, or for that matter just to keep her job, she had better be careful about her public image. Expressing her sexuality had to be private. That meant it would have to be confined to the house.

Before noon Kara called me and informed me that she had to stay late. She offered to pick up some take-out on the way home. I was disappointed that she was working late but I readily agreed to her offer of bringing something home. Kara also said that she had had a meeting with Winston Grayson that morning and wanted to discuss it with me. I was anxious to hear what he had said and promised that we would discuss it.

However, by the time Kara got home I wanted her so bad that I had her completely out of her clothes before we finished eating. After supper I carried her into the bedroom. Kara didn't complain. She wanted it as much as I did. After an hour of fooling around with each other we finally made love, then drifted off to sleep. The meeting with Grayson had been forgotten, at least for that night.

The next morning the alarm went off at seven. Kara was out of bed and into the bathroom before I found the off button. The front doorbell rang. Kara stuck her head out the bathroom with a toothbrush in her mouth and mumbled, "Who on earth would be at the door at this time of morning?"

I explained, "Its Thursday, the day the pool man comes. It's probably him at the door." I'm sure that Kara understood that with the pool in the middle of the house, the man who maintained the pool had to come early and finish before I left for the day.

Kara took the toothbrush out of her mouth and said, "Alright, I'm up anyway. I'll let him in, then make coffee for us." Since we had fallen asleep after making love the previous night, neither of us was wearing anything. Kara grabbed a towel, held it in front of her naked body and tauntingly asked, "Can I go to the door in this?"

I had conflicting thoughts. I was certainly intrigued by Kara's desire to show off, but I was also concerned by how close the pool man was going to be to her nearly naked body. I needed to trust Kara though. My voice trailed off as I reluctantly said, "I guess its alright, if that's what you want..."

Kara's face lit up as she wrapped the towel tightly around herself. Her eyes were still sparkling as she strutted out of the bedroom toward the front door. The towel was similar to the one she had been wearing when I came home a couple of days ago. I remembered that it didn't cover much and neither did this one. I was thinking that the yard guys had gotten a real treat. Now it was going to be the pool man's turn. Just thinking about it caused a stirring in my loins.

With Kara briefly gone I took the opportunity to use the bathroom and brush my teeth. I couldn't see the front door from the bedroom anyway so I would have to guess what was taking place.

As I brushed my teeth I imagined that when Kara got to the door she re-wrapped the towel, put one hand on it to make sure it stayed in place, and opened the door. Of course, the pool man would have been expecting me. But when the door opened and he saw Kara, barely covered by a towel, he probably suffered cardiac arrest. I can picture his mouth hanging open as she introduced herself and invited him in.

As I climbed back in bed I saw the pool man go into the kitchen. Kara was behind him holding the towel securely in place. She followed him to the kitchen's sliding glass door where he let himself into the courtyard. He didn't look back. He left the door open and began cleaning the pool, facing away from her.

Kara remained in the kitchen to fix the coffee. She was directly across the courtyard from the master bedroom. The pool man was cleaning the drain at the deep end of the pool and he kept his back to the kitchen. After Kara put the coffee on to brew she stood in the doorway, still wearing the towel, watching the back of the pool man. Across the pool she could see me in bed, looking at her through the wall of glass that separated the master bedroom from the courtyard. I think she could also see the pool man studying her reflection in the bedroom window.

As she waited for the coffee to brew, Kara redid the towel repeatedly, each time fully exposing her breasts, her stomach and the tuft of hair between her legs. She pretended that she was doing it just to tease me, but I could see that the pool man was intently watching her reflection and I was pretty sure that Kara knew she was putting on the show for both of us.