Valerie and the Bachelor

Valerie was ecstatic, overwhelmed. She read and reread the invitation. Her attendance had been requested at the home of Mr. Marcus Burke. It was a formal affair planned for the second Friday of this very month. An RSVP was requested.

Valerie was employed at the same advertising agency as Mr. Burke. He was a senior partner. While his was a high level decision making, lucrative position that meant scads of prestige, oodles of money, gobs of recognition, and tons of flattery, Valerie's job was somewhat different. She had worked in the data processing section until just three weeks ago, but for some reason that hadn't been clear to her then she had been reassigned to Human Resources. In both positions she was invisible, a nonentity. No one noticed her. No one commented on anything she did, and certainly no one bothered to take the time to appreciate how hard she worked. She was Valerie Carlyle, the under paid, unappreciated, and innocuous nobody. That is to say no one ever noticed her except for Mr. Burke. For some reason he had taken an interest in her when she was in data operations. He called her in once to commend her efforts, and once he even took her to lunch at the little eatery around the corner. Well, in hindsight one could see where things were headed. The private office commendation and the lunch date had been the first steps in a lighthearted flirtation. It had led to a couple late afternoon dates at the alehouse on the corner, but beyond that, nothing.

To be sure, Mr. Burke had proven to be a true and complete gentleman. If he had any interest in Valerie in any way other than friendship she hadn't picked up on it. In fact, she was a little disappointed when she had been transferred to Human Resources, since that moved her well away from Mr. Burke's areas of authority.

Now, however, with the invitation in her grasp, Valerie felt like she understood the reason for her transfer. Mr. Burke, ever the gentleman, wanted to make certain that, if he and she continued to see one another, and on the off hand chance their up to then very casual dates led to anything more serious, no one would be able to accuse him of anything. No favoritism, or, heaven forbid, harassment. Her transfer to Human Resources now made any continued contact above reproach.

Valerie had liked Mr. Burke upon their first meeting, and even before he had taken any interest in her she had found herself from time to time mooning over him. In fact, most of the women in the office mooned over him. Marcus Burke was a hunk. He was tall, tanned, muscular, and clean looking, and while not what she would call handsome, he was certainly eye catching. He wasn't married, though from what she heard there had been a Mrs. Burke a few years earlier. According to the gossip, he had been given the bum's rush. It was rumored his wife had been quite promiscuous, and she had led him on for quite some time before he caught on and got off that merry go round.

Valerie, when she wasn't especially busy, often found herself fantasizing about becoming the new center of Mr. Burke's attention. She imagined that through her personal wit, charm, and grace she restored in him a renewed confidence in the opposite sex. Of course, in her fantasies, her reward for her selflessness and virtue was a deep abiding affection that led to a massive engagement ring followed by an enormous wedding, a splendid honeymoon, and the classic happily ever after. In her fantasies she was Joan of Arc, Florence Nightingale, Grace Kelly, Mary Tyler Moore, and Marilyn Monroe all rolled into one irresistible, if totally fanciful, personality.

No one had been more shocked than she'd been when he started to take notice of her. There had been the wonderful coffee breaks in the afternoon, and the heart warming after work salads. Yes, and now here she stood at her front door with the proof he had noticed, he had grown to care, and he did want to be around her. After all she was standing here with her own personal invitation to a party at his house. There it was. His invitation with her name on it.

For the next several days Valerie lived and worked in a kind of erotic romantic haze. Each day drew her closer to the evening of the party. Finally the big day drew nigh.

Valerie couldn't let anything fall to chance. On that evening of evenings she absolutely had to be at her very best. A week before the party she went shopping for a new dress. For the first time ever she decided to go to Nordstrum's. She wasn't holding anything back. It was a go for broke, shoot for the moon, opportunity. Though she owned a couple nice cocktail dresses, for the big night Valerie decided she needed a new 'little black dress'. Nordstrum's had just the item she had in mind. It was the requisite black; it had translucent long sleeves, and a hem-line that came to just above the knees. Its texture was a mixture of silk and cotton. The silk gave the dress a low, understated sheen, while the cotton gave it a sturdiness that prevented unnecessary wrinkling or that slouched baggy, slinky, look silk sometimes suggested. The two fabrics gave the dress both allure and stability. The dress had a modestly low cut neckline that revealed a just hint of cleavage. When she tried it on she fell in love with it. It was erotic but not blatantly sexy.

Valerie was a smallish woman not like so many of the movie stars and models. She wore a size eight. Her breasts were small, only a 34B, but they were well formed, and a smidgen of padding in her bras always gave her just the right push to enhance their appearance. Valerie wasn't small and bony like some women. She had just enough flesh to give her that slightly soft demure appearance she'd heard men liked. When Valerie looked at herself in the mirror, in her new dress she saw herself, and correctly so, as being just about right.

She complimented the dress with a pair of dark, charcoal colored, nylons, a black bra with only that slightest hint of uplift she loved, and a pair of three inch black heels. Everything was plain, simple, and modest, but certainly, she hoped, eye-catching. She just knew she was going to be a stand out at the party. She hoped Mr. Burke would notice her.

On the day of the party Valerie arranged to leave work right after lunch. She had planned an appointment at the hairdressers. She wanted to have her hair done, and be able to get home early enough before the party to give herself some time for personal relaxation. The hairdresser knew her, and understood how she liked her hair. This time Valerie intended to take things a little further. She arranged it that her hair would be cut a little shorter and thinned a little finer than usual. Valerie's hair was thick, actually quite luxuriant. She hoped by thinning it a little the dresser could arrange for some soft bangs, a tight uplifted pony tail, and a few softly curling ringlets that would cascade around her temples and ears with perhaps one or two delicate wisps intimating toward her blue eyes. Valerie knew she had beautiful hair, and she had a well-structured heart shaped face. Her hair she knew would accentuate her natural good looks, her delicate only slightly up turned nose, her large vivacious blue eyes, arching eyebrows, rich long lashes, and her pert dimpled chin. Her skin had a clean, fresh, look, more like a child's than an adult's. Valerie was twenty-six, but her skin was clear, free of any major blemishes. It was radiant and soft

The only downside to her reverie was her life long carnal frugality, or what she called her secret social disability. Some said she was frigid. Some of the boys she dated said she was a lesbian. She knew that wasn't true. She liked men. She thought about men all the time. She liked looking at men. She told herself it was a disability, but she knew the truth. She knew she was pretty. She had always been pretty, but all through high school and college she had never had more than a handful of dates. Some girls had all the fun, but she'd never been one of them. She remembered some girls got the quarterback or the fraternity president. She always got the nerd or the creep who couldn't keep his hands off her. When she was in high school she had initiated a dating policy that had worked for her, but had undermined her social activities. She would willingly accept dates, but she insisted on driving herself and meeting the boy at the date site. This was an inconvenience, but she'd never been trapped in the great outdoors with an octopus, and she had never found herself out of gas in somebody else's car. She knew boys only wanted one thing. She knew what the one thing was, and she had vowed early on that that was to be saved for just one man. She wasn't cheap. That was her disability. She was going to be a one-man woman. At twenty-six years old Valerie was still a virgin, a virgin right down to the bone. But she knew when the right one came she'd give it up. She had a hunch that right man was Marcus Burke. At least she fantasized that it was Marcus Burke.

As the afternoon of the party faded into early evening, Valerie lounged back in her only easy chair in her quaint little apartment and thought about what it might be like. She so hoped she carried herself well. She hoped and prayed Mr. Burke would notice her, and she prayed feverishly that nothing went wrong.

Valerie rested until 6:00. Mr. Burke's residence was only about forty minutes from her apartment. She took one last look in the mirror. She had a pearl choker. It was small and delicate. She clipped it to her neck. She took her pearl stud earrings and affixed them in each of the single piercing of each ear. She gathered the rest of her things, her purse, that black evening wrap that matched her new dress, and took off for her big night. She thought. She prayed. This might be the biggest night of her life.

Valerie got to the party at just about the perfect time. The guests were invited to arrive at 7:00. She pulled her little Honda Civic up to the front door at precisely 7:00. A young man in white shirt, black pants and bow tie took her car and drove it around to the back.

She saw other guests were starting to arrive. Luckily, she wasn't the first but she wasn't dragging in with the main herd either. She was just a little ahead of the curve, but not obviously early. Valerie started up the short staircase to the front door.

As she reached the door a rather dignified older gentleman dressed, apparently as the butler, opened the door. Valerie stepped inside. The butler took her wrap, and politely asked her name. She responded Valerie Carlyle. The gentleman took a cursory look at the guest list, and said. "Right this way please." As he spoke he added. "Ms. Carlyle, a very modest difficulty has arisen regarding this evening's activities, and I've been asked to escort you to a side room for a very brief conference with two of Mr. Burke's social secretaries." He led her to nearby side door.

Valerie didn't have the slightest clue what could have gone wrong, and she certainly didn't know how that could possibly relate to her, but very shortly she was to be apprised of the situation.

The butler ushered Valerie into the side room. Magically two smallish middle aged ladies appeared. The older of the two spoke first. "I'm to believe you're Valerie Carlyle?"

Valerie answered in the affirmative.

The second lady proffered Valerie a chair and one of the sweetest smiles imaginable. "Ms. Carlyle, we've a very serious conundrum this evening."

The second lady chimed in. "When Mr. Burke hosts these types of parties they are always intended first to provide some relaxation and entertainment for the guests, but secondly, and just as important from Mr. Burke's perspective, they are intended to further the cause of the company that both you and he work for."

Valerie was confused. "I understand, but I don't see where I fit in."

The second lady continued. "Well Mr. Burke always manages to arrange to have one server, a hostess, who carries on the duties of personal, shall we say, service assistant. Let us say a young woman whose main responsibility is to be discreetly near Mr. Burke at all times, but not so near as to appear to be hovering. This young woman acts to facilitate the needs of Mr. Burke and of anyone he may be having discussions with at any particular time. This serving person may be asked to obtain drinks, or perhaps a snack, for someone at a moment's notice. This server would be someone nearby and attentive to what Mr. Burke is doing and saying, but distant enough so as not to be intrusive.

Valerie listened attentively and commented. "I can understand all this, but I don't understand what any of this has to with me.

The first lady took Valerie's hands in her lap. "Ms. Carlyle, the young woman who was expected to act in the capacity of the person we've been describing has met with an unexpected accident."

The second lady continued. "When Mr. Burke heard about this unforeseen occurrence he checked the guest list and saw your name. It seems Mr. Burke invited you strictly for personal reasons. You have no financial stake or remunerative purpose for being here. Virtually all the other guests are either clients or prospective clients. You are the one and only guest whom Mr. Burke invited simply out of the joy of having your company."

Valerie replied. "So you want me to be a server, a servant for the evening." Valerie frowned and then bristled. "What you're really looking for is a maid."

The first lady chimed in. "Mr. Burke suggested that we ask you personally. This would be a great favor you would be doing for him.

Valerie answered. "I came here to have dinner, meet some people, and enjoy myself. I didn't come over here to be a maid or a servant."

The first lady smiled and answered. "Of course, I'm sorry we even brought it up. Go on in and have a wonderful time."

With that the first lady turned to the second and with a downcast look said. "Well, do you want to tell him or should I?"

The second lady spoke softly. "I'll tell him."

As the two social secretaries got up to go, Valerie made one last inquiry. "Is this really that important?"

The first lady answered. "Don't worry Ms. Carlyle. Everything will be fine. You just go ahead and enjoy the evening."

Valerie found herself in a quandary. She had been planning for this party for weeks. All her hopes, her silly fantasies about Mr. Burke were somehow entwined in this evening's activities. She had her heart set on being the great guest of the evening. Now her host needed her in an entirely different capacity. She was being asked to humble herself, to degrade herself, to become just another servant, another irrelevancy in an irrelevant life. She couldn't, she wouldn't surrender this opportunity to be the belle of the ball even if it was just a fantasy. But her host, the man she had come to impress. Her imaginary prince charming was asking her to become a serving girl, a drink hustler, a cleaner up of spills, and a gatherer of food for other people. She had believed she would be one of the people for whom drinks and food were to be gathered. Now she was being asked to be just another invisible servant, another nobody.

Valerie looked at the two ladies. "If I did this, what would Mr. Burke expect me to do? Tell me again."

The two ladies first looked at each other then they looked at Valerie. Then the first lady spoke. "Well Ms. Carlyle, first you'll be an excellent listener. You'll listen for requests for drinks and for food, but just importantly you'll be listening for information. You'll keep an ear out for comments and asides that the guests would not intend Mr. Burke to hear. In that regard you'll be serving sort of like a corporate spy. Later Mr. Burke might ask you if you heard anything worth repeating. On another level, Mr. Burke will be discreetly watching you and watching to see how his guests treat you. Mr. Burke is a very sensitive man. He hates it when people who find themselves in vulnerable situations are treated in disrespectful or dismissive ways. How his guests treat you, someone they won't know, will be a barometer of how any new client might treat the people he needs."

The second lady interjected. "Ms. Carlyle, no one wants you to become the victim of some other persons poor grooming, and Mr. Burke never intended that you find yourself in any kind of situation like that. Like we said earlier, you're the only guest he invited just for the joy of good company. Still, if you agreed to step up on this, you might be placed in a vulnerable situation. Believe us when we say, that's not why you're here, and if for some inexplicable reason you are compromised, Mr. Burke's response will be swift and sure."

The first lady added. "Ms. Carlyle, Mr. Burke likes you. He really likes you. He wouldn't ask this if it weren't really important."

Valerie was convinced. "OK, I'll do it."

The first lady responded. "Wonderful. Now come with us. We have to get you ready."

Together the two social secretaries each took one of Valerie's hands and partly led partly pulled her to another side door. The second lady said. "We'll come in here and get you dressed and prepped."

While opening a closet and getting a pair of clothes hangers the first lady said. "We need you to get completely undressed"

Valerie looked askance at the two women. "You want me to change clothes?"

The first lady continued. "Well, first we'll get you undressed, then we're going to give you a thorough bath."

Valerie spoke up. "But I bathed and cleaned up thoroughly before I got here?"

The Second lady responded. "Of course dear, we know that, but Mr. Burke has some very precise ideas about how he likes things to proceed. And you did agree? We're just going to have to go along with the program. Now hurry up and get undressed, we don't have a lot of time."

Valerie supposed she should do what she was told. She didn't want to let Mr. Burke down, but she had agreed to what seemed to be turning into a kind of silly state of affairs.

The two women just stood there and waited for Valerie to undress.

Valerie was by nature a modest person, and she had to admit she was a little on the timid side as well, and these two ladies were becoming more intimidating by the moment. Valerie didn't think this was deliberate, she thought it was more a function of her own lack of assertiveness. Valerie took off her expensive new black dress; her shoes, stockings, and, waited for and additional instructions.

The first lady politely cajoled Valerie. "When we said undressed we meant everything."

Valerie felt ridiculous, but she followed their orders. Uncomfortably, and quite a bit self- consciously Valerie slipped off her bra and underpants. She undid her pearl choker. Took out her earrings. She stood before the two women with one hand trying to cover her exposed breasts while the other valiantly tried to cover her vagina.

The two women smiled at the nude young woman in front of them. While one pulled Valerie's hand away from her vagina the other freed her breasts from their protective cover.

The second woman looked Valerie over and spoke to the first woman. "She's not bad looking. Let's get things going."

The fist lady smiled at Valerie and said. "You have a beautiful little shape dear. Dressing you up will be fun."

Valerie felt like they were talking about her like she was a doll or some toy.

The ladies took Valerie by the wrists and led her toward a large bathroom. Inside they swiftly went to work. Turning on the water at full velocity they herded Valerie into a walk in shower. Each lady put on an apron and proceeded to thoroughly scrub Valerie from head to toe. They washed her hair, her upper torso and her legs. Without letting her leave the shower they quickly toweled her off, but before she could make another move the ladies were plopping huge gobs of some kind of soapy cleanser all over her. The first lady explained this would guarantee that you'll have no trace body odors other than those that are naturally yours. We can see you're petite and quite lithe. You have very little body fat and will therefore exude no unwelcome aromas. The lady continued by saying. " I find you very attractive. Really adorable! I'd be surprised if any odors you emitted would be anything but appealing."