More Bang for His Buck (2 page)

Rick just looked at me for a long moment, folding his hands and leaning back in his big leather chair.
He didn’t look like a typical big business type, but he pretty much had the mannerisms down. “Well,” he said, “That’s okay. Five years ago I didn’t know what I wanted to do, either. And to be honest, I’m not just looking for someone who can use a phone and open my mail. In fact, that’s probably going to be the smallest part of it.”

I nodded, my b
row furrowing ever so slightly, and listened politely.

“It’s… hard to broach this matter with someone I’
m just meeting.” He ran his hand through his hair again restlessly. “Firstly, what I need, is someone who can assist me in personal matters, not just at work. I need someone who can travel with me, come to events, do my shopping and hell, sometimes maybe cook a meal for all I know.”

I nodded again, more slowly.
“I can do all that.” - I wasn’t sure about the cooking part. But for now I decided to run with it.

“Most of all I need someone who I can trust with intimate matters.”
He said, looking right into my eyes. “And I don’t expect this to happen overnight. I haven’t gone into this expecting to hire the right applicant the first time. There’ll be a probationary period. To see if we get along.”

“Alright,” I agreed.
That wasn’t so out of the ordinary. And he seemed alright - certainly easy on the eyes. I thought I could get along with him.

He smiled warmly again, the corners of his eyes crinkling. He had blue eyes, I noticed
. Hesitantly, I smiled back.

“Obviously,” he continued, sitting forward again and picking up the corner of one of the pages,
"if you have commitments here - a partner, children… this position might not be suitable. We could be traveling for long periods of time.” One of his eyebrows was raised slightly, questioningly.

“No,” I said quickly. “To either.”
And I felt the flush returning, my cheeks growing hot.

He rubbed
his stubbly chin with one hand thoughtfully. “Well,” he said, “I just have one other thing to ask you.”

“Sure.”

“Will you come to dinner with me tonight?”

Rick
must have seen the confused look on my face, as he hurriedly continued, giving a little laugh. “I know it sounds strange, but think of it as an extended job interview. I hope you can forgive me - I think you would suit the job well, but I do want us to get to know each other. This isn’t a decision I can make based on fifteen minutes in an office. And I need you to be sure, too. You might not want the job, once you get to know me.” He grinned.

“
I don’t think that’s likely.” I replied, belatedly hoping I didn’t sound flirtatious. But his grin was infectious, and I smiled back. “Sure, why not.” I agreed.

“Thank you.” He sounded grateful, somehow. “I’ve been interviewing people all day. It’
s been boring as hell,” he confided.

“Are you going to dinner with all of them?” I asked,
his casual manner putting me at ease.

He laughed. “Let’s hope
it doesn’t come to that.”

***

He had offered to pick me up in his car, or to have me picked up - but I’d declined. I took a cab, and met him at the restaurant, which was one of the fancier ones in my part of town.

As
I entered wearing my low-cut purple dress and super-high heels, I couldn’t help looking around nervously, wondering just how underdressed I was. Wealthy looking couples and groups sat at tables full of delicious looking food, lit by candlelight. They laughed and joked together. But I couldn’t see Rick.

Just as I was beginning to worry,
a staff member approached me. “Jessica Adams?” He politely but neutrally inquired.

I nodded, dumbfounded. The thought occurred that I was about to be stood up.

“This way, please.” The waiter looked me up and down with an empty smile as he turned to lead me out.

Rick was
seated at a table in a back room. All of the other tables were empty. He was fidgeting with his phone, brows furrowed, looking somewhat tense. The waiter walked out, and I stood watching Rick for a minute, a small smile forming on my face. He was wearing jeans and a casual shirt with his sleeves partially rolled up, and looked utterly out of place. And
I
had been worried about being underdressed! But then, I supposed, when you’re rich you can do whatever you want.

I
cleared my throat softly.

He looked up sharply, then smiled his warm smile.
“Jessica.” And he stood up, waiting for me. Hesitantly, I went to join him. He held out his hand for a handshake, and I took it. It was soft, and very warm. I smiled. “Hi Mr. Alcott.” I greeted him.

I made myself comforta
ble at the table, sitting down and crossing my ankles under the chair.

“Call me Rick, please,” he said.
“What do you prefer - Jessie?”

“Sure, that’s what my friends call me.”

“Jessie, then. Drink?”

We sipped wine, which I wanted to say was a very nice red, but I really knew nothing about wines. Still, I enjoyed it, and welcomed the warmth that started to spread out from my belly
as the alcohol took effect. Rick seemed completely at ease, and the silence was, to my surprise, not uncomfortable.

“
So how do you know James?” I asked after a while, to make conversation.

“Oh-“ he seemed slightly surprised for a moment. “We uh… we run in some of the same social circles.”

“Ah.” I buried my face in my wine glass for a moment. I knew some of the clubs and activities James liked to frequent. Perhaps he was a regular at one of the gay bars. Or even one of James’ exes. I couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed at the notion.

The waiter had somehow snuck into the room and was
hovering as unobtrusively as possible to the side.

“What would you like?” Rick asked.

“What are you having?”

“Hmm. Probably a steak.”

“Sounds good to me. Medium rare.”

He grinned, and ordered
for us.

“
Well, then.” He leaned forward, clasping his hands and leaning his chin on them lightly. “I suppose we’d better talk shop.”

“Sure.”
I nodded, placing my glass down, and after a moment’s hesitation, picked up the bottle to pour more. I noticed his glass was nearly empty, and topped it up too.

“Well. Where do I start…
I don’t have time for much of a social life, Jessie. When I do go out, its work related.”

I nodded, listening patiently.

“I was married, for a few years. It… ended badly.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”
I wasn’t, entirely.

He smiled. “
Never mind. Anyway, my point is - like anyone else, I’d love to have companionship. But I haven’t found time to get to that point with anyone. I’ve dated, but haven’t found anyone I clicked with, to be honest. I’m tired of it.” He looked at me, with a half-smile.

“I thought you wanted to hire me, not…
date me,” I said hesitantly.

Rick chuckled to himself. “
This is hard to explain. Forgive me. I do need an assistant, but its more than that. I’m looking for a companion. Not a - a girlfriend - just someone to share my time with. If that’s as far as it goes, that’s fine by me.” He picked up his wine glass, and took a long, slow drink, his eyes locked on mine.

I couldn’t hide the fact that I was taken aback.
“You want to
pay
me to spend time with you?” My right eyebrow raised of its own accord, and all my pretence of a professional demeanour went out the window.

“Pretty much.
I’ll pay for your accommodation, expenses, and provide a generous allowance. Of course, with work and - hopefully - a little social time, it may be long hours.”

I swallowed.
This could not be real.

“If you’ll allow me to be
honest, for a moment, Jessie…” He raised his eyebrows, as though asking me for permission.

A small laugh burst from my lips. “Of course.”

“I think you are a very attractive woman. And not the type of woman I normally meet. I knew there was something different about you from the first time I saw you.” He gave a wry smile, still looking into my eyes. “I realize I barely know you - but I’d like to. And if we end up as friends, well, at least I believe you’re the type of friend who’d be honest with me. I have enough yes-men.”

Breathing out a soft breath
I didn’t realise I’d been holding, I laughed quietly in disbelief. He couldn’t be serious. Guys like him didn’t go for girls like me - they wanted stick-figures like the receptionists at Tableau, not women with big boobs and asses. A thought occurred to me, and before I could stop myself, I’d already blurted it out.

“Are you gay?” I asked, feeling my blushing reaction to my own stupidity before the words had even left my lips.

“I’m sorry?” And he laughed.

“I wondered if you were looking for… like, a… a beard. I’ve done the duty for James a couple of times. When meeting his parents and whatnot. They didn’t know about his orientation until recently-“ I stopped short, realising I was babbling. “Oh god.” I murmured quietly, grabbing my glass and downing my wine. “I did not just ask my potential boss that question.”

Rick laughed again.
“It’s okay.” He said in between chuckles. Then he reached his hand out and briefly patted mine where it lay on the table.

I looked up, meeting his sparkling eyes and lopsided smile, and blushed some more. But an answering smile spread on my face, and I found myself giggling.

“No. I’m most assuredly not.” He said with a grin, after I had finished laughing.

Our food arrived, and
we ate quietly for a few minutes. We discussed salary and perks and other work-related things. The steak was outrageously delicious and the salad fresh and crispy. I kept drinking wine, despite feeling increasingly clumsy with my comments. I tended to put my foot in my mouth enough sober, without adding to the issue.

“So…” I said quietly, still holding a fork in my hand and watching him eat.
“You want to give me accommodation, pay me to travel, socialise, and do some typing on the side? Oh”- I added, “and hang out with you.” I didn’t voice the other thought that was running through my mind - that what he wanted was some kind of ‘Kept Woman’… a prospect that, to be honest, wasn’t entirely unappealing anyway.

“Pretty much.” He nodded, speaking with his mouth full.

“Wow, sign me up.” I said, and took a big bite of salad.

“Really?”

“Hell, yes,” I enthused. “You know what I do at work right now?”

“You… tend bar.”

“Yeah, I get paid to serve drinks to drunk people, fend off perverts and occasionally clean up vomit in the bathroom.”

“Ah, I see.
It sounds more interesting than what I do.”

I giggled. “Yeah, it probably is.”

He was smiling. There was an intensity in his eyes that I noticed most when I
teased him like that. I enjoyed it.

We finished the meal, and another bottle of wine was fetched.

“Why did you book this entire room? Too good to eat with the regular people?” I asked, somewhere into my fourth glass.

Rick scoffed.
“Well, no. But I hate noise and interruptions. Don’t you?”

And
like ill fate, I heard the ringtone of a phone. It buzzed on the table next to him. He stopped, sat up straight and picked it up to look at it. Then, to my astonishment, he screwed up his face, turned the phone upside down, and dropped it into his drink.

I think that’s the moment when I decided I wanted to jump him.

Rick ordered dessert.
I ordered iced coffee. And I kept shaking my head no when he offered me a bite of his mud cake, even though I secretly wanted to feed it to me like in one of those cheesy chick flicks.

It was a surprisingly nice time.
After the initial work talk, we forgot all about business and talked about inconsequential things. Favorite movies. Music. Philosophy. Time passed quickly, and at around ten o’clock Rick looked at his watch.

“Ye
ah, I suppose we should be going.” I conceded, smiling, and feeling slightly tipsy.

“Hmm?
” He looked up. “Oh no, I was just thinking I don’t really feel like going home yet. Do you?”

I shook my head
earnestly.

“
Where do you like to go on Friday nights?”

I didn’t want to tell him that
for the last few weeks, I went home to watch movies and fall asleep on the couch.

“Well…
I sometimes hang out at the place I work,” I said, which was true, when my friends weren’t all busy. “It’s actually a really fun club.”