Charlie

"Yeah, she does have some huge hooters doesn't she?" Amanda laughed, attempting to lighten the conversation from her earlier statements.

"Hooters?? Isn't that a chain of bars in the states?" I kidded.

"Yes, but you have to have really big ones to work there, you know, big hooters to work at Hooters." Amanda giggled.

"You mean large breasts... big boobs... los grandes gazongs???"

Amanda laughed long and loud. Some of the other patrons looked our way, but she couldn't stop her giggling. Finally she was able to calm down and asked "Are all you guys interested in big boobs? I know most men look at my chest before they look at my face. I know first hand that many of the men who see Gina don't even know what her face looks like."

"I imagine most men do look, but I wouldn't say that breasts are the most important thing about a woman." I offered.

"You mean that you are not on that beach to see all those topless women? I can't imagine the sun is any better on that beach than any other on the island."

"I can't say I don't look, but that beach is the closest one to my house. And what was your reason for going to that beach? Were you planning to show off a little more than you did when I was there?" I added with a smile.

Amanda blushed again. "I didn't know exactly what to expect when Gina took us there, but I do admit I gave it a thought after seeing most women there without tops. Something about being here in the islands makes me think about doing things I might not do otherwise. Once Gina left with you, though, I felt more self conscious, and just drove back to the room shortly.

The food had arrived and we slowed our talking as we started to eat. It was good, but not really the classic French cooking that one might expect from a true French establishment.

We continued to talk as we ate, but each seemed less than satisfied with the dinner. Still, we had a nice talk and as far as I was concerned the evening had been a pleasant one. As we were leaving, I apologized to Amanda for the mediocre meal.

"It isn't your fault. I know they try but somehow I think the French in French cooking is something that just cannot be exported from France." Amanda replied.

"You seem to be pretty knowledgeable about French cooking." I said.

"I spent a semester in Paris when I was in college. I guess I am spoiled, but somehow I just cannot find a place for the food I remember."

"If you will let me, I bet I can find a place that will give you a better experience than this place did. Something a lot closer to the kind of cooking you remember. Want to let me try again tomorrow?" I asked.

"You seem to think I might want to spend more time with you, don't you?"

"Maybe I am assuming too much, but I thought this evening was nice. You did say before that I didn't know you well enough yet to call you Mandy. I guess I thought that meant that there might be a chance to get to know you better."

"Did I say that? You sure can remember the little details. I'm not sure we know each other that well yet, but just how did you plan to get to know me better? Are you expecting me to sleep with you tonight?" Amanda asked in a serious tone.

"I was thinking we could get better acquainted tomorrow. As for the sleeping together, I would be lying if I said the thought wasn't a pleasant one, but that possibility is entirely up to you. There's no pressure here."

"Would you be disappointed if I said I preferred to sleep alone tonight?" Amanda asked.

"A little." I kidded, "but I will be more disappointed if you don't want to let me see you again tomorrow."

Smiling at my answer, Amanda offered "OK, we can get together tomorrow. I will hold you to your promise to find a better French meal. I will be looking forward to it until then."

I was glad she had accepted, I found her to be considerably different from Gina. Don't get me wrong, sex with Gina was something I could get used to, but Gina was more shallow and I knew exactly where each of us stood in relation to the other. We had used each other for sex and nothing more. Now, I really wanted to get to know Amanda better and find out more about her. I found her intriguing on the beach yesterday, and even then I had thoughts of getting to meet her.

"I will pick you up about 8. Will you be up?" I asked.

"Up at 8. I get up early every morning, but what does that have to do with dinner?" she asked with more than casual curiosity.

"I mean be ready to go at 8 in the morning. I will be there promptly."

"Just what kind of restaurant serves French food at 8 in the morning? And exactly where is this restaurant anyway?" She asked, the curiosity only rising.

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out. You can think about it the rest of the evening. I'm glad you agreed to have dinner with me and even gladder you will be doing the same tomorrow."

We had arrived at her building and I was not expecting to stay. I knew Amanda would be uncomfortable if I even suggested it, so said good-night and started to leave. Amanda took my arm and gave me a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for a nice evening. I had a good time myself and I too am glad I decided to let you take me out. Now, get out of here before I get so curious about tomorrow I make you stay until you tell me!" she laughed.

I said my own good-night and walked back to the car. The ride to my place was a short one and I spent the time reliving our conversation. I was looking forward to spending the day with her tomorrow. I knew it would be a long one, but one I expected to be as enjoyable or more so than this evening.

*****

I was pulling into a parking spot just before 8 this morning. Not many people were moving around this early, the usual tourist on a resort island slept in late and stayed out late. I had to park a block down from the time share building so walked the distance and went up to the third floor. Knocking on the door, Amanda soon opened it and offered good morning, but she looked as if she would prefer to be still sleeping.

"Ready to go?" I asked.

She looked at me quizzically, but agreed that she was. I suggested she take sun glasses and purse along with the room keys she was putting into the pocket of her shorts. I did notice that she was wearing a tank top that did not appear to have a bra underneath. I wasn't sure, but that seemed to me to be a change from the times I had seen her before. Of course, I had only seen her twice and really could not judge anything from those occurrences.

As she locked the door behind her Amanda mentioned that Gina was out for a run.

"She is an aerobics instructor and is always working out. I guess you knew that though."

I had to admit to myself that I really did not know what Gina did or even where she lived. I did however know intimately what the inside of her pussy felt like as it wrapped around my cock. I was a bit embarrassed by the thought, but did not share any of it with Amanda.

"She came back last night shortly after I got in. I really expected her to stay out all night, but she seemed a little off when she got in. I'm not sure it was disappointment, she said she had a good time, but I could sense something. She was positively glowing yesterday morning after you dropped her off. I think you might have spoiled her" Amanda offered.

"Well Yeah!" I deadpanned to Amanda's hearty laugh.

Amanda followed me out and we walked the short distance to the Range Rover where I held the door open for her. Once on the road I think she wanted to ask where we were going, but held her curiosity at bay, just watching the scenery as we drove.

I took the turn into the airport after we had left the central part of the town.

"Don't tell me we are going to France for this dinner?" Amanda asked.

"OK, I won't tell you." I answered calmly.

Before she could say anything else, I turned off the main road, away from the signs directing one to the main terminal. This seemed to confuse her for a bit and we drove on until I parked the car outside a small building on the perimeter of the airfield.

"Now where?" Amanda asked.

"Just follow me, this is the place."

We entered the small building where I gave the Rover keys to a man who was behind a desk inside. He told me everything was ready, so we walked out the front door onto the ramp. There was a small jet sitting about 100 feet out and the stairs had been let down and the jet was sitting open.

I took Amanda's arm and escorted her toward the jet.

"NO! You didn't charter a plane to take us to Paris, did you?"

"Not exactly. Let's get on board. We'll be wheels up in about 10 minutes." I answered her shocked question.

I allowed her to enter first and followed her up the short stairway. Once she was inside looking around, I pulled the stairs up and the door closed with a quiet hiss. Amanda looked back at me, then at the empty seats in the cockpit. No one else here but the two of us.

"Where's the pilot? ... You're the pilot??

"Yes, I am the pilot. I have to go over the check list and then we can be off. Feel free to look around and find a seat. If you want, you can sit up here while we take off. If not, there are comfortable seats in the back."

I had bought the G5 about 10 years ago, at the time when I thought that my success was measured by the number of toys I owned. Flying came pretty naturally to me so owning the plane seemed the right thing to do. Now, I was torn, the plane was convenient to do the traveling I needed to, but it was one of those things that wasn't the necessity I had thought it to be. Right now, however, I was glad I owned it and could use the plane to take Amanda to a nice French restaurant.

"Are you kidding, I want to see everything. I can't believe that we are doing this, but I am not going to miss out on a second of the action up here."

I took my seat and motioned Amanda to sit in the other. I had to start the pre-flight check and was soon busy with my task. Amanda watched as I move my hands over the controls and checked the various instruments. Once finished with pre-flight, I fired the engines and let them warm a bit. The plane had heated inside due to the tropical sun, but with the engines running, the air and ventilation started to bring the interior temps to a more comfortable level. I told Amanda to get her belts tightened up and spoke to the tower. Traffic was non-existent and we soon had our instructions to taxi to the runway.

I asked Amanda if she was ready and she answered "Absolutely!", but I detected a bit of apprehension in her face. Sitting up front is a bit different from sitting in the cabin of a passenger plane as the runway starts moving past with increasing speed.

The runway was more than long enough for the small jet, even the large commercial planes had little trouble here. I pulled back on the controls as we reached take off speed and the wheels came up shortly afterward. I climbed steeply to get over the hills beyond the airport and started a bank to the left. I resisted the urge to do a barrel roll as we climbed, the guys in the tower probably did not have a sense of humor about that kind of thing. The Gulfstream was not built for aerobatics, but I knew that it could do this maneuver. Ask me how I know!

We climbed to 35,000 feet and leveled out. I trimmed out the plane and set the autopilot, allowing me to sit back and relax for the nearly 7 or so hours we would be in the air.

"The seats in the back are more comfortable if you want to move back there. The view up here is nice, but there won't be anything but clouds and ocean for quite a while. I have various beverages and snacks if you want anything. Just ask." I started.

Amanda had watched everything with wonder as we took off and climbed out of the St. Maarten airspace. Her apprehension had turned to enjoyment, almost like someone on a wild amusement ride deciding the ride is more fun than scary after the first experience.

"I am fine here for now. I just want to watch the scenery as we fly. I have never been up front in a plane and it's great! How long until we get to Paris?"

"Actually, I am heading to Marseille. We can change the flight plan to Paris if you want, though." I offered.

"No, I guess I just assumed Paris. I haven't ever been to Marseille. Why are you going there?" Amanda asked.

"I own a house there. I am familiar with the area and like to get away from the snobs in Paris." I replied.

"Well, Paris does have its share of snobs. What is Marseille like?"

"It is a more industrial city, but the Riviera is slower and friendlier than the area around Paris. I haven't been here for a few years, but still prefer it to the other cities I have visited in France."

"Why do you own a house here if you only visit every few years?"

It was a relevant question and one I had asked myself a number of times recently.

"I bought it when I was younger and just like the plane, thought that it was a status symbol that showed everyone just how successful I was. Right now I am glad I have it so we can find a place to stop if we need to, but really I can't justify owning it. I don't need to flaunt my ability to buy things just to prove how well I have done in life."

Amanda was looking at me with a question on her face. "Just how rich are you?"

"I don't really know in real numbers, but I have done very well for myself. I would never have to work again if I decided to stop today. When I was younger I had visions of making as much as some of the richest men on the planet, but as Sean Connery said to Catherine Zeta-Jones in 'Entrapment', "What can you do with $8 billion that you can't do with $1 billion?" After you reach a certain point, there just isn't any reason to go further, at least I can't find that reason."

I had stated some of the things I had been pondering in my mind for the past few years. I had never really opened up to anyone like this before nor had I ever really put it all out there for myself to consider. I had distilled all of my concerns into a couple minutes of speech and shared them with a woman I had known for less than 24 hours.

"Wow! What are you going to do?" Amanda asked as she considered what I had said.

"Long term, I am not sure. Short term, I plan to have a nice dinner in France with an attractive woman this evening."

Amanda blushed as I said this. "Dinner seems so far off, it is only 9 o'clock."

"Well, the flight will take the better part of 7 hours and France is 5 hours ahead of us, by the time we get in and get to the restaurant, it will be nighttime. Travel plays hell with your internal clock, but we can sort that out later."

The rest of the flight seemed to go by quickly, we had engaged in small talk most of the way across the Atlantic. As we got closer to Europe, I had to interact with the air traffic controllers so took my attention away from Amanda and paid more attention to flying the plane and following the instructions I was given. Shortly we were on the ground and I taxied the plane to a hanger away from the main terminal. Several other smaller corporate jets were parked there and I pulled the G5 into the slot I was directed to before shutting down the engines. I opened the door and a ground crewman came over and chocked the wheels. The staff would take care of the plane, refueling it and having it ready to fly us back when we needed it. I went inside the office and took care of the paperwork I needed to complete and we were ready to head off toward dinner, but first a quick stop.

I went back into the plane and grabbed a sport coat and pair of slacks that were hanging in the coat closet. I traveled prepared and knew that even on the Riviera some amount of formality would be required. The shorts that Amanda and I were both wearing would not due so we had to do something about getting Amanda better attired. She saw me emerge from the plane with my clothes on a hanger, but before she could say anything, I just said we would take care of her next. She started to say something, but stopped and just shrugged her shoulders.

"How do we get to town or to your house?" Amanda asked.

I had the keys to the car that I kept in the villa, or rather kept in a garage near the villa. Another symbol of excessive spending, the bright red Ferrari was parked outside the front office. My contact here had arranged for it to be waiting and I had picked up the keys as I took care of other business inside. I pointed to the car and Amanda's eyes got big.

"No! This is just too much. First a private plane and now a red Ferrari!"

"Like I said, I have the money and I spent it on the things I thought I was supposed to. Right now, we will look at home, there are a lot of the jet set here on the Riviera during the winter. You would be surprised at the number of expensive cars and yachts in the harbor. Just go with the feeling and enjoy yourself." I said.

The Ferrari fired on the first turn of the key and I was reminded just how powerful these cars were. I had not driven one in several years, but it did not take long to get that old familiar feeling back as I started letting the car show just how capable it was on the straights and curves as we headed away from the center of Marseille and down toward Nice. I wasn't planning to go all the way to Nice, but I knew that there were places we could find something for Amanda to wear then a nice café for a quiet dinner. I was thinking I should have removed the top but the air was cooler now that the sun had all but disappeared. I glanced at Amanda and the look on her face was pure enjoyment. She was seeing a different side of the world and I think she liked it.

I followed the direction given to me by the car's onboard GPS and drove until we came to a small shop with a sign advertising dresses. It did not look like much, but this is the shop that my caretaker had suggested and programmed into the GPS. We walked into the small shop and were greeted immediately by the proprietress who said her name was Claudine. Despite the smallish look of the store from the outside, it appeared larger once inside and as I glanced at the dresses hanging on racks, I saw the names of some of the top women's designers. I explained to Claudine why we were here, speaking in French. Amanda added her own comments. Her French was rustier than mine, but neither of us would pass for native speakers. When Claudine heard the southern in Amanda's speech she asked in English "American?" We nodded yes and she changed to English, though her language skills were pretty rusty as well.

I had told her we were looking for a nice dress that Amanda could wear to dinner. She looked at Amanda with a practiced eye, moving all around her as she took note of whatever it was she was looking for. After several minutes of this, she held up 1 finger and retrieved a dress from one of the racks behind us. The dress was a rose colored silk that hung limply from the hanger in Claudine's hand. I wondered how she knew what size or style to pick out, but it was her store and her business to know these things, so I just stood off to the side and watched. She handed the hanger to Amanda, saying "Thees is the one!"

Amanda obviously had the same questions on her mind I did, but she took the proffered hanger and looked closely at the dress. She then looked around the shop but there was nothing suggesting a dressing room. Claudine motioned for her to follow and led her to a corner in the back that was shielded from the rest of the store by a simple curtain. Claudine motioned for me to come back as well, and then told Amanda to try on the dress. I got back to them just as Amanda looked up and saw me watching. She hesitated a minute as Claudine again told her to try it on. I saw an embarrassed smile on her lips as she looked at me, her eyes not certain what to make of this.