An Unconventional Convention Pt. 03

Kelly lives out a fantasy at a black-tie gala

It had been a few months since Kelly and Harry met at the convention. The two had kept in friendly communication, but living halfway across the country from one another and each with lives and jobs that kept them busy full time, the likelihood of them meeting up again—at least before the next annual convention—was pretty slim. So, Kelly was pretty happy to be able to send the following email to Harry.

"Hi, Harry,

I hope all is well with you. I'm doing fine and I just wanted to let you know that Rich has gotten a speaking engagement there in Arizona next month, on the afternoon of the 23rd. It is with a company called The Jefferson Group. Maybe you're familiar with them?

Since it's only for a weekend Rich's wife will not be coming with us, so if you're free and interested, Rich and I would both love to see you while we're in town. Perhaps you could suggest a nice place to eat where they have dancing?

Also, can you suggest a good hotel in the area? Not too pricey; I have to pick up the tab for lodging on my own. (Cheapskates!)

All the best,

Kelly"

Harry was amused at Kelly's references to Rich as if he was another person traveling with her. He was sure he could use that as he developed her character for his next book.

He replied:

"Hi, Kelly,

What a wonderful and unexpected surprise! I am free the entire weekend, and very interested in seeing you both, again! Rich turned out to be much more of a fun guy than you led me to believe when we dumped him outside the pub at the mall where we first met.

As to accommodations, I can highly recommend "La Casa de Harry." I have a spare bedroom with its own bath and a queen-size bed that should be comfortable for both of you if you don't mind sleeping in the same room.

Regarding dinner and dancing, along with whatever casual attire you may want to wear while you're here, make sure you bring something that will go with my black-tie tuxedo. I have an invitation to a gala fundraiser Saturday night that clearly states "and guest." I've been to these events before (they're put on by a company that I do a lot of consulting work for) and they're quite swanky. Everyone is dressed to the nines, and there's even a live band for dancing. Cocktails are at six; do you think that would give you enough time to get ready after Rich's talk? It's about 20 minutes from Jefferson's headquarters to my house.

Looking forward to seeing you both,

Harry"

Kelly replied:

"Oh, my, Harry, I haven't a thing to wear! But I will! What a marvelous excuse to go shopping! Thank you so much for sharing your invitation with me. I'm sure that you have a little black book with many more "conventional" dates that would have been happy to be on your arm. I will try to do you proud! (I know I'll be proud! I can't wait to see you in a tux!)

And, of course, Rich and I will be thrilled to stay with you! (On many levels!) I honestly did not expect you to open your home to us. I hope you didn't read a self-invitation into my mention of budget-friendly lodging.

As far as being ready on time, Rich may have to forego some of his usual handshaking after his presentation, but I will make sure there's time to get ready!

I am so excited!

All the best,

Kelly"

***

At a little before noon on the 22^nd, Harry was in the cell phone lot at the airport. At quarter past, his phone rang and Kelly told him she was off the plane and headed to baggage claim. He described the car he was driving and which side of the terminal to exit so he could find her.

He damned near drove past her, because it was Rich standing at the curb with two suitcases, not Kelly. And it was only because he waved after recognizing Harry's car that made Harry look at him twice. As soon as Harry did recognize him it made perfect sense that he would travel that way—as he had to the convention where they met—but he was thrown off because he'd just been talking to Kelly. The dual personality thing was getting interesting.

He pulled over and got out to help load the suitcases into the back seat. He shook Rich's hand and they slapped each other's backs as Harry said, "I'm glad you recognized the car and waved; I was looking for Kelly. But I'm happy to see you, too," he added with a laugh.

"Good to see you again, too," Rich said. "And it's a little hard to miss that car in a crowd. That's nice! Did you restore it?"

The car was a red 1964 Ford Galaxy convertible, and it did turn heads.

"I bought it about ten years ago from the classic little-old-lady who only put about a thousand miles a year on it after her husband passed away. All I did was detail it, replace the tires and and get a brake job done," Harry answered as he hefted one of the cases over the side and onto the back seat. "Good Lord! What the heck are you speaking about while you're here? Metamorphic rocks?"

Rich laughed, and said, "I know! Talk to Kelly about that. She couldn't pack light for a lifeboat on the Titanic. Two-thirds of that is hers."

As they pulled out into the clot of traffic at the arrival doors, Harry asked, "So, are you hungry?"

"Oddly," Rich answered sarcastically, "the snack-pack of pretzels they gave us on the plane just isn't holding me over. Yes, I'm famished."

"We can stop somewhere on the way to my place," Harry said, "or we can go there first so you can freshen up, and then go out. It's about a half hour. Can you survive that long?"

Rich smiled and crooking a thumb toward the heavy suitcase in the back seat, he said, "Someone has been dying to freshen up since we left the house this morning."

Harry pulled the car into his garage, and then showed Rich to the spare bedroom wheeling one of the suitcases behind him. "I think the guest bath has everything you should need—there's even toothpaste and a new toothbrush in the top drawer, there. If you need anything else, just shout. I'll be in the living room. Take your time."

Because he had showered and shaved everywhere before he left his house earlier in the day, Rick just washed up and shaved his face before opening Kelly's suitcase.

Half an hour later, Kelly walked out into the living room. Harry got up from the chair where he was flipping through a magazine, and said with a smile, "Some things are more worth the wait than others. It is so good to see you, again, Kelly!"

"Oh, Harry, you have no idea how wonderful it is to see you, too! I am so thrilled to be here and just blown away by your beautiful home! Thank you so much for the invitation to stay with you."

"I assure you that my motives are completely dishonorable," Harry said with a grin.

"Well, I should hope so!" Kelly replied with her own smile.

They embraced and exchanged a short kiss, then, stepping back, Harry made a motion with his hand indicating that Kelly should do a modeling turn.

Her blond hair was the same as before—short and showing her ears—and she had on her sexy-secretary glasses over her full make-up. She wore a lightweight green dress befitting the warm temperature. It flowed over her curves smoothly without being too tight, conveying a casually sexy look. And her curves were better now than the last time they met as she was wearing a set of hip-enhancers that helped to fill the dress out across her behind and made her waist look narrower at the same time.

The dress was long enough to be decent but short enough to playfully show some stocking-clad leg and a bit of red garter if she "accidentally" moved just right. It buttoned all the way up the front, so its sexiness was fully adjustable. At the moment, the top three buttons were undone so when Kelly put one hand on her hip and pulled her shoulder back, the neck opened enough to give Harry a nice glimpse of the matching red bra that she wore; a sufficient amount that he could see that this one had full cups covering her breasts, but of light enough material that her pert nipples still tented the dress.

Harry offered her his crooked arm, and said, "Shall we go? I'm hungry, and you're probably starving."

In the garage, Harry opened the Galaxy's door for her, and as she slid in, she said, "You know, I don't think I've ever ridden in a convertible before." As Harry got in the other side, she slid her hand across the expanse of seat between them, and added, "And never any car with a bench seat. It's like it was designed for teenagers to go necking in."

They pulled out of the neighborhood onto the main street, and as Harry accelerated and the air began to churn around Kelly's head and shoulders her smile grew wider and wider. She stuck her hands up above the windshield and played with the rushing air, then said, "Where are we going; I hope it's far! This is so much fun!"

"Well, it wasn't," Harry replied smiling at her playfulness. "But I can change that. I'm nothing if not flexible."

"Not always!" she said with an impish grin.

They were shortly on the freeway and heading north, and Harry patted the seat next to him and said, "There's another seatbelt over here; why don't you slide over and be Natalie Wood to my James Dean?"

As she moved over and rebuckled, she said, "I'd rather be Vesper Lynd to your James Bond. I can't wait to see you in your tux tomorrow night!"

Because they hadn't started putting headrests on car seats in 1964, Harry was able to put one arm up across the back of the seat and his hand on her shoulder to snuggle his girl close to him.

She laid her head over on his shoulder and was magically transported to another time and place that she had only seen in old movies. She smiled contentedly and laid one hand on his leg and gently moved her fingers.

He looked down, and said jokingly, "I'll give you exactly twenty minutes to stop that, young lady! But only because we'll be at the restaurant. I will let you pick up again on the way home, though."

She chuckled and ran her fingers farther up to feel the bulge in his pants. "I, um ... I don't want to tease you and I'll gladly take care of you later if you want—that's the least I can do—but, if you don't mind, I'd kind of like to save myself for tomorrow night. The fantasy of spending the evening with James Bond has been churning in my head—and other parts—since you told me about the gala a month ago."

In a decent impression, Harry replied, "I must be dreaming!" quoting the line from Goldfinger when Bond wakes up looking into Pussy Galore's face. Continuing as Bond, he said, "But if you can hold off, Miss Moneypenny, then so can I."

Kelly laughed, and said, "Oh, I don't think I want to be Miss Moneypenny! Hasn't she been holding out for James for years? I can control myself but I'm not that patient!"

At the restaurant, for the next hour or so as they ate and enjoyed their wine, they talked about everything and nothing in particular. Harry knew that Kelly was fabricating things about her own life—probably born of if-only wishes and dreams—but she also talked about Rich, his life, his marriage, and his career, always referring to him in friendly terms, but always in the third person. He found the dual-personality thing fascinating but was still trying to figure out exactly how to use it when he wrote Kelly into a story.

On the drive back, Kelly snuggled next to Harry on the bench seat again, and Harry took the long way home.

Harry poured some wine and cut up some cheese to have on the back patio while Kelly went to freshen up.

She was gone a long time, but Harry suddenly understood why when Rich came out of the house.

"Hey! Good to see you again!" Harry said motioning toward a chair. "Kelly have a headache or something?"

"She figured she'd pretty well talked your ear off and thought I should get a chance to have a conversation," he replied.

"My pleasure," Harry said as he picked up his glass and said, "Cheers!"

They clinked, and then Rich said, "First off, thank you for inviting Kelly and me into your home. You have a gorgeous place here, right on a greenbelt."

"It's a little too public, sometimes," Harry replied, "but it's still nice to have a few acres of greenery as a backyard that I don't have to water or mow. I feel damned lucky to be living here."

"I can imagine," Rich replied. After a sip of wine, he went on, "I also want to thank you for the way you treat Kelly. She's never had a friend like you—with or without benefits. She was kind of a bottled-up mess until you let her strut her stuff and gave her a willing ear to bend."

"It really is my pleasure," Harry replied. "Also, with or without the benefits. She's a fun, attractive, intelligent, and sexy woman, and I'm happy to call her my friend ... and my occasional date."

After another sip of wine, Rich went on, "And I want to thank you for letting me explore some things that I'd been curious about and I guess repressing for a long while. Sharing benefits with you and Kelly that night at the convention liberated me as much as Kelly." He raised his glass and said, "Thanks!"

With raised glass, Harry responded, "Once again, my pleasure. If we can talk Kelly into not hogging all the attention, maybe we can share benefits again, if you're interested."

"Oh, I am!" Rich replied.

***

Rich's presentation the next day went so exceedingly well, that he had a hard time prying himself away from people who wanted to talk more. Normally, he'd have engaged them for hours, but he had a lot of work to do before Kelly and Harry left for the gala.

***

At about 5:30 Kelly came out of her room, and as Harry picked up his jacket and threaded his arms into the sleeves, he said in his Bond voice, "My God, Moneypenny! If I'd known that you looked like that outside of the office, I'd have made you a full-fledged Bond-girl a long time ago!"

Kelly smiled—beamed would be more accurate—as she did a turn.

Wearing a new wig her hair spilled just over her shoulders in carefully-crafted "casual" waves. It was honey-blond in color with perfectly placed highlight streaks. As sexy as Harry thought Kelly's secretary-glasses were, she wasn't wearing them now, which he had to admit was exactly right for this outfit.

She was wearing a black, shape-hugging floor-length gown with long sleeves that ended in feathery cuffs. It had a slit up her left leg and had a plunging v-neck that displayed a surprising amount of cleavage. And Harry could see that it was real cleavage.

Indeed, when Kelly found this dress and imagined how perfect it would be beside Harry in a black-tie tux, she realized that its deep-v neckline would not work with her usual breast augmentation method—not at close range, anyway.

So, she had purchased a pair of self-stick breast-enhancer pads that would normally be worn under a woman's breasts as push-ups, but after some experimentation and a couple of online videos, she found the best placement for the look she was trying to create. They were stuck on low and to the outside of her real breasts, and with the help of a confining underwire bra, they were pulled up and together to form very real cleavage. The sacrifice in comfort was easily made up for by the sexy and authentic look.

Kelly struck a pose that exposed a good deal of her stocking-clad leg and then pulled up a bit on the gown to reveal the top of the stocking and one of her garter belt's straps.

On her feet she wore black satin three-inch heels that she had bought and been practicing around the house with since Harry told her about the gala. She felt quite confident in them now, and damned sexy!

Harry held the car door open for her, and she slid all the way to the middle. She needed to keep her legs bent to avoid the big transmission hump, which exposed her left leg all the way to her stocking-top.

As they drove, Harry reached over and lightly rubbed her almost-naked leg. "You nervous?" he asked.

"As a frigging cat!" Kelly answered. "But not for me; for you. I mean, what if somebody there figures out my secret? I'm never going to see any of them again, so it's not a big deal to me. But I assume these are your friends and business associates, so explaining your choice of a date might be a little awkward for you."

"I appreciate your concern," he replied patting her leg, "but don't worry about me. Just relax and have a good time; I intend to. Yes, I do know a good number of the people who'll be there, but I wouldn't have invited you if I was the least bit worried about what they might think. First off, you're better looking and far sexier than most of the wives who'll be there, and secondly, it's none of their damned business who I choose to date."

She laid her head over on his shoulder and as she slid her hand up his leg, she said, "Oh, there is such a reward waiting for you when we get home!"

When they pulled up in front of the hotel, the two young valets fought over which was going to park the cool old classic convertible as Harry led Kelly inside on his arm.

The huge ballroom was high-ceilinged with big crystal chandeliers, and a couple dozen large round tables with white linen tablecloths and centerpieces of fresh flowers in tall narrow vases that raised the bouquets high enough so as not to obstruct the guests' views of one another.

Harry led Kelly to the bar at the end of the room, and she slid up onto a stool briefly revealing her left leg all the way to the top of her stocking ... plus a couple of inches of bare leg. As she settled in, she adjusted the gown back to a more appropriate level of leg exposure. She turned to Harry, and with a wide smile, she said, "I have always wanted to flash a leg like that! God, I feel frisky!"

Harry laughed as he waved the bartender over, and said to Kelly in his Bond voice, "Well, try to control yourself, Moneypenny. We're supposed to be undercover here."

After ordering a sidecar martini for the lady and a gin and tonic for himself, Harry excused himself momentarily to go and talk with a former client that he noticed had just walked in.

When he returned, an older, distinguished gentleman was sitting on his stool, chatting with Kelly. He was also sipping Harry's gin and tonic.

With a heavy sigh Harry said to Kelly, "I leave you alone for five minutes and you're picking up old men. He can't even afford his own drink, for crying out loud; he's not going to be much of a sugar daddy for you."

The man laughed and extended his hand. "Harry! It is good to see you!" he said. "And your replacement G&T is on the way. How have you been? Got enough work to keep you going?"

"I'm well, and keeping the bills paid," Harry answered as they shook. "Freelance ain't for sissies." He turned to Kelly, and said, "In case he didn't properly introduce himself before stealing my seat and my drink and putting the moves on my date, this is Carl Morgan, lecher extraordinaire. Carl, may I present Miss Kelly Smith, a person far too sweet to be associating with someone like you."

Carl shook Kelly's hand, and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Smith. Any friend of Harry's—especially one as attractive as you—is a complete bewilderment to me. You'll join us at our table, won't you?" he then added in a slightly resigned tone, "You can bring Harry along if you'd like, of course."

Kelly laughed at the good-natured banter, and asked, "So, how do you two know each other?"

Harry's drink arrived and they all clinked, and then Harry said, "Carl hired me fresh out of college and then proceeded to teach me everything that school didn't." To Carl, he said, "Sylvia's here, I assume?"

He chuckled, and answered, "Like I could go to something like this without her! This soirée is on her calendar for next year, already."