Chapter 19: Something for the weekend

The Kalinin's requirements for Council of Kushtia had been precise. Between him and his son, I was coming to understand that Kushtians were capable of developing fairly specific tastes.

Luckily, I'd been able to work out how to satisfy them.

I was sitting in the lounge of a comfortable 1930's style house, looking out across a perfectly manicured lawn. The rum punch on the table in front of me was completing a pleasant afternoon. I was about to be joined by Alessa Moran, which was possibly the only down-side. I'd worked with Alessa before. She could be over-powering, tiresome even, but she could usually fix things.

Alessa burst through the double doors from the hall. "Larry," she gushed, "how LOVELY to see you."

"Alessa," I responded getting to my feet. "always a pleasure." Like everything else, Alessa invariably took greetings to extreme. The conventional kiss on either cheek was, as usual, repeated three times and accompanied by a rib crushing embrace.

"Well," she said, "this was a little challenge, wasn't it?" Alessa looked, as always, striking. Her black jacket and skirt were perfectly tailored; her buttercup yellow blouse contrasted with the suit and her own dark skin. She sat down and crossed her legs, smiling all the time. She shook her head as she laughed, her mass of tightly curled, black hair bounced like a sprung ball. She was an incorrigible flirt. I could tell that she knew exactly how far up her thighs her skirt had ridden. "But such fun and so good to be working with you again."

"I'm sure you've come up trumps, Alessa. I hope you were able to keep this quiet?"

"Absolutely, Larry, absolutely. All done through my company, no mention of anyone else. You know me, the soul of discretion."

Alessa was the soul of discretion like Liberace was shy but we'd been monitoring her emails and her mobile. It seemed like she had managed to keep her mouth shut about this little project.

"It's very exciting, Larry! I'd never realised you had contacts in the fashion business. And it's such an exciting idea, why shouldn't bigger ladies have sexy swimwear too?"

"So, you've managed to find me some models."

"Of course, Larry, of course. They're getting changed now. Six lovely ladies. I think they'll fit the bill for your project."

I'd just passed on the Kalinin's requirements to Alessa though I had interpreted the way in which the Kalinin had expressed them. Six women, he had said. At least 40 years old, possessed of a bosom able to comfort a man after many days in the desert and a seat that will endure ten days ride of a camel. I had also not been entirely honest about the exact reason why I was interested in seeing them. Alessa thought they were going to model a new range of swimwear for the well endowed, mature woman. And she was right, they were right now, it was just I had other plans for their future. "Well, let's see them, then," I said.

"Right away, Larry, right away. I'll just check that they've got changed. They were all supposed to bring a costume but you know what models are like." Alessa wandered off in the direction of the hall. She returned moments later. "All ready, Larry, darling," she said. "All ready. You sit down and we'll give you a show. Oh, I brought some music."

She slipped a CD into the hi-fi and pressed 'play'. Strains of the Beautiful South spilled out of the speakers. "She's a perfect ten, but she wears a twelve. Honey keep a little two for me..." I put my head in my hands. Alessa was definitely the down side of this project.

The first of her models strode in wearing a shiny black one piece bathing suit. She certainly fitted the bill — probably forty two or forty four inches around the chest. Her swim suit was well cut and lycra does a wonderful job. She stopped in front of me to spin around. I guessed she was forty five years old, maybe a little more. She was well covered, for sure, and while she didn't have the body of a fitness freak, she still looked as if she took care of herself. She posed, hands on hips, directly in front of me, smiled, turned and left. At the rear, she was sufficiently well upholstered to cope with the Kalinin's notional camel ride, I thought. Not bad for a woman of her age.

The next went through the same routine. She was bigger breasted and a little bigger around the waist and a little shorter too, blonde hair and a really friendly smile. She would be fine too, I thought as she left the room.

Four more followed, each stepping confidently across the room, high heeled mules clacking on the wooden floor. At the end all six returned and stood in one long line across the room. Alessa made a big thing of the costumes. "I hope you approve Larry, you said they'd be doing swimsuit modelling. I told them all to bring something that showed them at their best. Look at the woman on the end there, doesn't she just show that an older woman can wear a two piece if it's well designed and well made? Don't you agree? And that purple costume is really the right colour for the one on the left, isn't it. Such a flattering shade. I only hope I've got their same fashion sense when I get to their age." She smiled in anticipation of a compliment. I grunted in response. It didn't dampen her enthusiasm. "And they're all available for an overseas assignment at short notice, just like you asked. Three of them are single, two of them have just divorced, and the other one is widowed." she laughed. "I found them through that divorcees, widows & singles support group. Such a clever idea of yours. They'll all be glad of a bit of excitement, I should think!"

I asked the girls to walk around in a circle. I needed to be sure they'd fit the bill but I was pretty confident that the Kalinin would approve. Irritating as she was, Alessa had done a good job. Two blondes, three brunettes — two of them greying slightly with a salt and pepper look — and one suspiciously orange-haired redhead. Two long legged and tall, two of them rather short. All of them well covered and with bosoms that would offer sufficient comfort. They might all be over forty but they certainly didn't look over the hill. I thought the range would get the Kalinin's approval. Without knowing the tastes of the individual Councillors it was difficult but I guessed there would be something to suit each of them.

I clapped my hands. "Thank you ladies, thank you. That was fine. If you'd like to get dressed now." The six of them relaxed and left the room, chatting and giggling like young girls. I turned to Alessa. "Well," I said, "we need to talk. Let me just make a call. Excuse me."