Finding Alice Page 5

  “Audry in the kitchen?” Elizabeth queried.

  “Yep.” And with that Elizabeth toddled off to the kitchen while John poured Peter a beer.

  Peter started to crap on about how wonderful his bank was. What a boring fart, thought John. His eyes kept glancing over at Alice who had positioned herself with one arm against the corner of the mantle piece over the fireplace. He looked her up and down while pretending to listen to Peter ramble on. She had on matching black high-heeled platform shoes with thin heels and narrow straps across them. These showed off he beautifully toned calves to the maximum. With her arm on the corner of the mantle piece her dress moved even higher up her legs. Wow she was really something. She caught him looking a couple of times and just gave him the hint of a smile, then looked away.

  Alice started to question Peter about what he did at the bank. It turned out he worked in the foreign exchange department, which was news to John who had never bothered to ask. Alice had a way of talking to Peter that seemed to make him feel comfortable and at ease. She also showed she had a good knowledge of what was happening with world currencies which obviously impressed Peter.

  John was fascinated by the interaction. Peter being a bit of a nerd and was so boring yet Alice treated him with respect and was obviously concentrating on what he was saying. She had an easy way about her. Boy did she look gorgeous. Noticing her glass had gone down a bit he took the opportunity to replenish it. Still looking at Peter Alice handed him her glass. What an exotic creature she is thought John as he handed her glass back to her. She can hold a conversation with anyone. Even boring old Peter.

  Not interested in the currency conversation Bill tried to change the topic by chiming in about the football,

  “Did you see the match on TV last night,” he enquired generally of the group.

  Peter of course said nothing. He had no interest in football, which he considered to be a working class game where a bunch of thugs try to hit each other as hard as possible. On the other hand John had a mild interest.

  “Yes I saw a bit of it,” he volunteered, “What was the final score?”

  “20/14,” said Bill, but there the topic lapsed.

  Peter again started on about currencies and the Australian dollar,

  “Elizabeth and I are off to Hawaii for a holiday soon so the high $A will make it quite cheap for us.”

  “Yes,” said Alice, “as you know its been rising for over five months but now that our Reserve Bank has lowered interest rates it may start to fall. It may be a good idea to buy your tickets soon.”

  John could see that Peter was very taken with Alice. For a moment he actually felt a tinge of jealousy. Why was she was giving Peter so much attention? Surely she could have no interest in Peter? Although, from the way she was chatting with him you would never know. He decided to watch and analyse Alice in minute detail. Yes, then just for a split second, he noticed it. Unbeknown to Peter who thought he had her full attention Alice was actually aware of everything that was going on in the room. She was dangling one of her shoes back and forth on the tips of her toes and it seemed to John, it was pointed in his direction. Was it or wasn’t it? Then he saw it. In no more than a nano second, as she took a sip of her wine, Alice checked to see that John was watching. Oh that was so smooth, thought John. Neither Peter nor Bill had noticed and even John would not have seen it had he had not been concentrating on her so intently. Who is she? How can she do that? He was fascinated.

  Alice was playing Peter and even Bill for that matter, like a violin. She was obviously very clever and able to operate on many levels at the same time. She would be very successful in real estate, thought John. That ability to make people feel at ease and that you are giving them your full attention while still being aware of everything else going on around you is a major attribute.

  Even though Peter was doing most of the talking, Alice was controlling proceedings by asking a question every now and again. She even managed to steer Peter away from his banking and currency talk onto holiday destinations.

  “You must try swimming with the dolphins when you are in Hawaii,” said Alice, “Bill and I did it a couple of years ago. It was the highlight of our holiday.”

  After a while Elizabeth and Audry joined them. Evidently the problem in the kitchen had been overcome. The talk went on and on with John still sneaking glances at Alice. He was sure Audry and even Bill, had caught him once or twice. Meantime, Peter continued to bore the socks off everyone, totally oblivious to the other games that were being played. Finally Audry asked everyone to be seated. Alice and Elizabeth both offered to help serve the dinner and went off to the kitchen with Audry as John compared their backsides as they left the room. From what he could see there was very little competition.

  The dinner went smoothly. John had to admit that Audry was a very good cook and everyone complemented her on the meal. The wine also flowed freely; as John made sure that no one’s glass was ever empty. As their tongues loosened with the wine, Bill and Peter got into an argument about the banks. Bill claimed that the Australian housing market was totally over priced and the banks had contributed to this, by lending people too much money at low interest rates.

  “With these low interest rates today people can borrow three times what they used to borrow,” argued Bill.

  “This is what has pushed house prices up. As long as interest rates remain low they can afford their mortgages, but if interest rates ever rise, there will be big trouble and people will be forced to sell their homes.”

  Bill of course was having none of this and argued,

  “We have one of the best regulated and best managed banking systems in the world. Our banks are all operating on sound lending principles and are doing everything right. We are the envy of the world.”

  The banking argument was becoming boring to everyone else at the table. Elizabeth turned towards Audry and started to talk about the upcoming Christmas function they were planning for their tennis group. This left John and Alice looking at each other across the table.

  “How's the walking going?” quizzed John engaging Alice in a conversation.

  “Great,“ said Alice, I’ve also signed up at the local gym to do aerobics classes twice a week. That's getting me really... fit.”

  At the time John noticed the emphasis on, “really...fit,” but didn’t know what to make of it. He was to find out later.

  He looked around the table and saw everyone other than he and Alice, was deeply engaged in conversation. Then, he noticed that Audry was so engaged with Elizabeth about their tennis function, she had not cleared away the dirty dishes. If there was one thing John did not like it was sitting with dirty dishes in front of him.

  “I’ll just take the dishes to the kitchen.”

  “OK, I’ll help you,” said Alice.

  They gathered up most of the dishes and headed off towards the kitchen. Following behind Alice he couldn’t help again noticing that slight sexy wiggle of her hips. She had perfected it to a fine art.

  In the kitchen John rinsed the dishes under a running tap, while Alice bent down stacked them in the dishwasher. She looked very sexy squatting down like that, with her mini skirt creeping right up, showing off all her legs and with her ample breasts also in full view. As he handed it to her John dripped a bit of water on her leg from one of the dishes. He bent down to wipe it off with his hand and found she wasn’t wearing any stockings. All she had on was her dress and platform shoes, definitely nothing else. He was getting very turned on. When it came to the last two dishes, he bent down beside her and put them in the dishwasher. For an instant their heads touched, as they brushed against each other. A shiver of excitement went through John’s body and he could swear he felt the same response from Alice.

  Slowly they both rose to their feet looking each other in the eye. It was now or never. John purposely put his hands around her waist and gently pulled her towards him. She did not resist. Far from it she seemed to welcome his advance by putting her arms over his
shoulders. Next they engaged in one of the most passionate and exciting kisses he had ever experienced in his life. Her lips were full and smooth and the body he now held in his arms was not only toned, but also surprisingly soft and warm. His mind was spinning out of control. He could feel the curvature of her body through her thin dress. He was totally intoxicated by her expensive perfume. She was sex personified and he was totally in the moment.

  Then........

  Suddenly his senses snapped back on full alert. It was a voice from the dining room, above the general chatter. Bill was saying quite loudly,

  “I’ll take these other dishes to the kitchen.” Obviously he had tired of the argument with Peter and was making an excuse to get away from him.

  Quickly, John and Alice snapped apart. As they did she whispered,

  “Lipstick.”

  Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed a tissue and gave his lips a quick rub. He had barley got the tissue back into his pocket, when Bill entered the room.

  “What have you two been up to?” he asked, handing the dishes to John.

  Bill had a strange look on his face.

  “Just doing some washing up,” John struggled to get out. “Would you like a liqueur to finish dinner off?”

  “That would be great. I’m sure Peter could do with one.” Turning quietly towards John,

  “You were right he’s a real pain in the arse.”

  Bill next turned towards Alice,

  “Lets go back and join the others.”

  John couldn’t help notice that unlike him, Alice did not seem to be at all flustered by what had just happened. In fact she seemed perfectly calm and in control as always.

  Alice led and Bill followed her back to the dinner table, while John sorted out the remaining dishes then went to the drinks cabinet, to get the liqueurs and some glasses. He could feel his hands still shaking. He had just had the most passionate kiss of his life with his beautiful exotic neighbour and had nearly been caught by her husband. Yet everything was perfectly calm. Everyone was talking at the dinner table, just as normal, as if nothing had happened. Sure, he had had a few drinks, but everything seemed surreal. It was almost as if he had imagined the whole thing.

  The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. Peter continued to be the perfect bore, while John and Alice, continued to catch each other’s eyes across the table from time to time.

  As she was leaving Alice gave John the usual kiss on the cheek at the front door, but it seemed to him there was more to it this time. He could fell her breasts against him as she pressed and against his body. He responded by putting his hand around her waist. He was confused, not being able to make head nor tale of it.

  “Good night Bill,” he pretended nothing unusual was happening as off they went down the front steps.

  John watched them as they walked down the path out the gate and disappeared into the night. He turned and went back into the house but would have preferred to be going the other way. His mind was racing. He helped Audry clear the rest of the table, while they engaged in some idle talk about what a lovely dinner party it had been. But he was not concentrating. John’s mind was elsewhere.

  “I’m going to bed,” said Audry, “It’s been a big night.”

  “OK, I’ll be along soon.”

  John returned to the lounge room and poured himself a stiff scotch. He sunk back into his leather lounge. It certainly had been a big night, in more ways than one.

  Chapter 7 Another Day at the Office

  Monday morning and John arrived later than usual at the office. It was 10 past 9. He usually arrived before 8 am to set the standard for his staff, but something had happened to him since that kiss on Saturday night. He just wasn’t in his usual go go state of mind.

  Rebecca greeted him at the front desk.

  “Bit late today John?” she queried. “Just two messages for you.” She handed him two telephone message slips.

  Rebecca was turning out to be quite a good receptionist and after laying off the two staff recently, he had given her the rent roll. The rent roll, as John had experienced early in his career, is the bottom end of the real estate business. It means looking after the properties that real estate agents rent out on behalf of owner/investors for a 7% commission. Not large but steady income for the agency. However there are always problems with rentals from tenants falling behind in their rent, or doing damage to the properties. Not to mention the continuing need for repairs and maintenance, as most properties investors rent out tend to be quite old.

  John had to admit he had initially employed Rebecca, six months ago, for her looks, as much as anything else. She was 19 with long blonde hair. Nothing wrong with having an attractive girl at the front desk he thought at the time. However she had actually proved to be a real asset to the business, once he had sorted out some of the office rules with her. Like not letting her scruffy boyfriend hang around the reception area late in the day, waiting for her to finish. Also he had told her about keeping her desk tidy, as it is the first thing people see when they come into the office and makes an initial impression on them. But she was coming along well and seemed to be quite competent, so he had given her the rent roll. He had also encouraged her to do a real estate course at Tech and she had cleverly negotiated with him to pay the fees. John had always intended to pay the fees, but was impressed with how she had negotiated with him; by saying it was a good investment for the business if she could take on more tasks. As well as the rent roll he was already getting her to check over the sale contracts.

  He walked through the office past the open plan desks where the agents sat. The office was about half full, which is quite normal, as agents spend most of their time in the field, showing clients around. There is no need for them to be in the office as John could judge how hard they were working, or at least how successfully they were working, from the amount of commission each was earning. One by one each of the agents said good morning to him as he walked past them. Maria sat at the last desk just outside his office.

  “Morning Maria.”

  “Morning John.”

  Maria was his best agent and as such had pride of position, just outside his office, which was at the back of the room, so he could keep an eye on everything. There is quite a subtle pecking order in the way a real estate agent’s office is laid out, starting with Rebecca furthest away from John at the front desk, through to the other agents, then Maria at the rear, right outside John's office. John’s was the only enclosed office, signaling his level of importance.

  He was just sitting down at his desk, when Rebecca appeared at the door,

  “Sorry John, there’s another message I meant to give you.”

  She walked in and handed him the message slip. Yes attractive he thought but for him not sexy. Initially of course he had found her sexy, but she was only 19 and after a while somehow the initial attraction had worn off. Also seeing her every day he had started to notice little things that he had overlooked at first. For instance her eyes were rather small for her face and her legs had a slight bow in them, when she wore a mini skirt. Also her taste in clothing was not to his taste. He would have liked her to employ a smarter power-dressing look for the office rather than the casual wear she preferred. He would leave that for a while. Not good to make too many criticisms at once. Still it all came together well and she was proving to be a real asset to the office. The more responsibilities he gave her, the more she seemed to revel in it.

  John looked at the new message, as Rebecca returned to the front desk. It was from the Wilson’s solicitor, who needed to clear something with the Wilson’s and make, what he said were some minor changes to the contract. It was in John’s interest to keep things moving smoothly. Even though contracts had been exchanged and the buyer had paid 10% deposit, he would not get his commission until final settlement of the $5 million contract, in about six weeks time. After John had sold their house the Wilson's had immediately traipsed off on an overseas luxury holiday, without informing their so
licitor how to get in touch with them. They hadn’t told John much either, but they had mentioned something about staying at the Surfrider Hotel in Hawaii, so he passed this on to the solicitor. Lucky rich bastards he thought.

  The other calls he had to make were routine and he arranged to meet a potential buyer at another property he was selling, not far from the Wilson’s.

  He was back in the office around 11:45 am and asked Rebecca to bring him the Wilson contract, so he could look at the changes the solicitor wanted to make. He sat there for a while studying the contract, when he heard something and looked up. There was Rebecca standing at his office door and striking an unusual pose. She had her right hand up against the doorframe and her other hand on her waist striking a sexy pose.