Chapter 4

Having dealt with paperwork all morning, the afternoon was pretty much spent entirely on the phone. That wasn't entirely a bad thing. If an irate client has to wait until you call back, it gives them time to cool down and perhaps see things from a broader perspective.

Still, by the time I finished at the end of the afternoon, both my ears were complaining and I felt tired. I did a last check of my e- mail but Donna's resume still hadn't arrived. I wondered if she had a problem with working for the same company as her brother.

I knew I was in for a celibate weekend. My parents were doing some redecorating and I had been enlisted to help move furniture out of the way. That entailed a three hour drive there on Saturday, an overnight stay without any company, then a three hour drive back Sunday afternoon. I knew I was going to get very well fed over the weekend so I didn't want to stuff myself that evening.

I decided to head to a local Thai restaurant. Actually, calling it a restaurant is a bit pretentious because it mainly caters for takeouts, but they had a few tables for customers who liked to eat in. They discouraged large parties from eating in, which suited me fine. I had the sweet and sour pork, which filled me nicely without leaving me feeling bloated.

I was ambivalent about whether to try for a hookup or not, but perhaps subconsciously I wanted to see if the ice maiden was there again. Joe's Bar was heaving with college kids, as it usually was on Fridays and Saturdays, and it was quite a struggle to force my way to the bar. The ice maiden wasn't there. I felt as though someone had ripped a hole in my heart, although rationally I couldn't think of a reason why. Gary, who was being aided and abetted by a couple of part- timers in anticipation of the crowd, saw the look on my face.

"Hey Guys, here's one for the scrapbooks. Dave gets blown off a couple of times by some woman and now he's gone all gaga."

Wilson - I didn't know whether that was his first or last name - and Fran, the other bar staff, knew my reputation. They looked in my direction and smirked.

"I don't expect we'll ever see her again," I said to Gary. "Probably here on business for the week."

Actually I was subtly probing, inviting to correct me if he knew better, but he just nodded his agreement and poured me a beer.

"Thanks for taking care of that woman last night. Did she get home okay?" asked Gary, handing me the drink.

"I took her back to my place."

"Jeez, she was blind drunk! I never thought you'd stoop that low."

"I had no choice. She passed out in my car and I didn't know where she lived. I swear I didn't take advantage of her, although she was rather grateful this morning."

Gary grinned at me. "You lucky bastard. It's a good thing that woman you're pining over keeps blowing you off, if only to show that even you don't score every time."

"I'm not pining over her," I insisted, deciding the best way to make the point was to score a hookup.

There was no sign of Luisa or Claire or any of the other regulars I might have considered fucking. That rather limited me to the college girls. They can have their attractions, I must admit - with the benefit of youth, some of them can pull off some extremely athletic positions. But getting to the stage of a no-strings fuck can be very hard work because they lack the experience and they tend to want the whole 'girlfriend' experience. Going back to their place is usually out of the question because they live in college facilities which means all guests have to be signed in and out and definitely no male guests after 23.00, and it's far from easy persuading them it's okay to go back to my place.

Like a lion sizing up a pack of antelope, I circled the college kids looking for a weak link I could separate from the pack. Eventually I identified a prime target. She had boyish length, rich mahogany hair, a round face with plump, red cheeks, and the cutest dimples imaginable. She had quite a stocky build but she wasn't overweight by any sensible definition of the word. It was easy to overlook her amongst her taller, willowy friends, but the more I took in her understated attributes, the more she seemed like a hidden gem.

The group she was with was quite raucous but she was sitting there quietly and rarely interacting. She happened to look in my direction and saw me watching her. She blushed and lowered her head for a moment, then she looked back at me with a half smile. Interesting!

When she got up to go to the restroom, I was in position to make my move, blocking her path.

"Hi, having a good time?" I asked.

"Yes."

"To me you look all alone in a crowd."

She looked slightly worried at my blocking her way to the restroom and the way the conversation was heading.

"They can be a bit overwhelming at times," she conceded.

"Fancy a quiet drink somewhere?"

"I don't know," she replied uncertainly, showing that she was at least considering my offer.

For some reason I suddenly felt tired of playing games, and just came out with what I really wanted.

"Actually, I think you're extremely cute and I'd love to take you back to my place for some no-strings fucking."

"No," she gasped, turning bright red. "I'm not that sort of girl."

"I'll be around for a while if you change your mind."

I moved out of the way. She hesitated for a moment then scuttled to the restroom. It looked as though I had struck out again. I saw Gary watching me with a look of amusement on his face.

I wandered over to the bar, where Wilson served me another beer, then I mingled for a while, chatting with some of the other regulars although it was quite difficult making ourselves heard. The girl returned from the restroom and rejoined her friends, but she kept on sneaking occasional glances in my direction. Suddenly a loud argument broke out amongst the group she was with. It continued for several minutes, then half the group got up and left. I surmised they were arguing about which club to go to next. When the other half of the group got up and left shortly after, I was surprised that the girl stayed behind.

I sidled over and took the seat next to her.

"Are you considering my offer?" I asked her.

"No. Yes. Maybe."

I could sense she was scared.

"The offer of a quiet drink still holds. I won't pressure you for anything else."

The girl thought for quite a while before saying anything.

"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked.

"I tell you what. My name's Dave and I'm a regular here. Let's go over to Gary, the head barman, and ask him if you're safe with me. At the very least, if anything untoward were to happen to you, he could then tell the cops you left with me."

"Okay. I'm Harriet. Harriet Green."

We headed for the section of the bar where Gary was serving.

"Gary, Harriet here wants to know if she'll be safe if she leaves with me,"

Gary looked as though he was about to respond with a typical wiseass rejoinder, but he caught my serious look and stopped.

"There's no disputing Dave is a player, but he's a gentleman and understands the word 'no'. I'd trust him with my grandmother."

"But only the dead one, not the live one," cracked Fran, who was collecting empties and at that moment happened to be right behind us.

We all laughed at that, and the tension was broken.

I offered Harriet my hand, and when she took it, I led her outside.

"At least we can hear ourselves talk out here. Where would you like to go? Somewhere quieter for another drink?"

"I think I've had enough bars for the night."

"There's always my place. I've got a decent selection of drinks."

I was expecting a flat refusal, but Harriet simply acquiesced with a quiet, "Okay".

I led Harriet to where my car was parked on the other side of the street, then drove back to my apartment. Harriet was silent the whole journey, looking down at the footwell as though she was trying to drill a hole through it with her eyes.

It wasn't until I was opening my door that I remembered Donna had stayed overnight, and I hadn't had a chance to change the bedlinen in the guest room. I cursed myself for my stupidity as I led Harriet over to the sofa.

"What would you like to drink?" I asked, then enumerated my stock of various types of alcoholic and soft drinks.

"Do you have any water?"

"Still or sparkling?" Of course she wouldn't want tap water, she was a girl.

Harriet asked for sparkling, and while I was getting it for her, I got myself a drink too. 'Fuck it, ' I thought to myself. 'I've had a couple of beers already and I don't feel like another. I won't miss a few braincells.' I poured myself a coke.

"What are you studying?" I asked Harriet, once I had joined her on the sofa and she'd taken her first sip of water. She looked surprised that I would actually ask.

"I'm majoring in English with Drama as a minor. I'm worried about the Drama. It's been fun so far but as a final project we have to write and direct a ten minute play and I haven't a clue what subject matter to use. And we each have to act in each other's plays in front of an audience of students and their families but I've never acted in front of a large audience before."

I could understand that. She seemed rather timid and it was hard to imagine her in front of a large number of people, but if she could pull it off it might be transformational for her self-confidence.

We chatted for quite a while, Harriet telling me about her home and her family and college life, and me telling her a little about my background and job, although not dumping on her like I'd do with Claire. Eventually there was a lull in the conversation.

"You know, we've been here for nearly an hour and you haven't made a move on me," said Harriet, almost complainingly.

"All you agreed to was a quiet drink."

"What if I were to agree to the other offer?"

"You want a no-strings fuck?"

"I think..." She bit her lip as her moment of bravado evaporated. "I'm not sure."

"Not sure means no because you're not ready."

Harriet thought for a while, as though trying to make up her mind.

"I am sure," she said, but very quietly.

I leaned over and kissed her, and Harriet responded. She was an inexperienced kisser, but she learned quickly and it soon became very enjoyable for both of us. I put my hand on one of her ample breasts, over her t-shirt and bra. Harriet acted as though nothing had happened but she certainly didn't protest so I gently toyed with her erect nipple and the kissing seemed to go up a notch. I pulled Harriet over so that she was half-lying, half sitting on top of me with her knees outside my thighs. Now I had both hands free, I was able to caress her all over while we continued to kiss. Since we were pelvis to pelvis, Harriet had to know what Little Dave was feeling, his stiff presence trapped between us.

I reached behind Harriet and tugged her t-shirt free of her jeans then up her body. Acres of smooth warm flesh unveiled themselves, then a rather formidable bra. Harriet broke the kiss and raised her arms above her head, allowing me to pull the t-shirt off completely. Then I unfastened the bra, freeing her breasts.

Harriet's breasts were very large, but firm with no sag. What was unusual was their profile, they were relatively flat, plateaus rather than mountains. But when they filled out with milk, they were going to be absolute melons.

"I bet you find it hard to get a comfortable bra," I observed.

"Tell me about it. They measured me for this in a specialist lingerie shop, but even so it pinches here and here," and Harriet pointed to reddened flesh and track marks, "and it's quite baggy here."

"What size are you?"

"They reckoned a 34D would fit me best."

"Your breasts are so firm you would probably be okay without a bra, but you should see about getting some custom made."

"Me without a bra? Do you know what boys say about girls who don't wear bras? And the girls are even worse."

I answered that by leaning my head forward and sucking on one of the nipples that was so obviously craving attention, enjoying how her large areolas crinkled and puckered. As Harriet panted her approval, cradling my head to her breast and gently stroking my hair, I took advantage of the gap between our bodies to unfasten her belt and pull down the zipper on her jeans. Harriet reached down with her hand and stopped me.