Brief Encounters

Many thanks to HMAuthor for all the hard work in editing and improving this story from a previous version.

*****

The gorgeous woman came over to me at the bar on the last night of the conference. She blindsided me because I had been gazing at another woman.

"I'm trying to figure out your system," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you asked someone to take a picture of our breakout session yesterday morning and you made sure you stood next to me," she said. "And yesterday afternoon you were looking at me in the bar. But you've never said a word to me."

I looked down at her hands. "That's because you're married," I said, which made her laugh. I liked her laugh. It was a full, honest laugh She didn't try to hold back.

"That was a good one," she said. "We both know that's not it. I've been trying to imagine what you do with those photos, and most of my ideas are really perverse."

"Care to share them?" I asked.

She laughed again. "You ARE good. I see you're married, too. Would you like your wife to see those photos?"

"As a matter of fact, I will show them to her when I go home," I said. "She's very interested in my work."

"You don't say," she said and was thoughtful for a moment. "I think I've just figured you out. Maybe you're a genius, not a pervert. Now I'm going to blackmail you, so listen carefully. I promise I won't make any trouble for you if you agree to do as I say tomorrow for the last half-day of the conference. I'm going to be with you as much as I can. I will take pictures of you next to good-looking women, and you'll take pictures of me next to good-looking men. Before we leave, you'll upload the pictures of me onto my laptop. Got it."

"All except the blackmail part," I said. "If you say anything about my photos, which are totally innocuous group shots, I'm going to tell everyone the truth, which is that you came over to me tonight and started talking dirty. I think I can pass a lie detector test on that one. As for accusing me of looking at women across the room, I don't think you'll want to make yourself ridiculous by bringing that up. On the other hand, I think your idea is terrific, and I'm looking forward to working with you. By the way, my name is Val. I know I've seen you in the building, but I don't know who you are or which department you work in."

***

I saw the woman from work - her name was Jolie - a few times at the office after that. We nodded at each other but never exchanged a word. However, she was at a convention with me five months later, and after the Wednesday night session, I was sitting in the bar and saw her make a beeline for me.

"Val, you have no idea what happened when I showed my husband some of the photos you took of me," she said. "I didn't have to say a word. It was amazing."

"For the first two nights, all he had to do was look at the photos, and we were off to fantastic sex. On the third night, he wanted me to tell him about the men. I could see he was disappointed when I told him I just posed next to them to get him jealous and excited. So I started to make up stories. I could tell right away that's what he wanted to hear. You know what? As I told him the stories, I got as excited as him."

"That's because you're a woman," I said.

"Thanks a lot," she said. "So you tell your wife stories, too. How do you come up with them?"

"That's what I do when I stare at women in the bar," I said. "It's not connected to the photos at all. When I'm taking pictures, all I do is look for a hot woman to stand next to. But when I'm in the bar, I look around and try to spot a sexy woman who's far across the room. I sneak glances at her and start imagining meeting her and seducing her or her seducing me in her room or mine. Then I start making notes, so I don't forget the story. Sometimes, I see the woman catching me looking at her, and even returning my glances. If she does, I get up and leave. I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea."

"You've got a great system," she said. "I don't think it would work for a woman. Let me tell you something strange. After a couple of weeks, I was worried that my husband might really believe me, so I told him that I was happy about how excited my stories made him, but I wanted him to know that I would never cheat on him. You know what he said?"

"Yes," I said. "Something like this. He appreciated your telling him, but from now on you didn't need to remind him anymore, because it was much more exciting for him if he could imagine you might really do the things you were telling him."

"Right," she said, "and look what he bought me." She pulled out an expensive miniature camera, one of those spy type cameras that takes high resolution photos but can easily be hidden away in a sleeve or a pocket."

"We're going to take turns using this at this convention," she said. "Deal?"

"Deal," I said.

Our company finished buying out a competitor a week after the conference, and the week after that, the CEO scheduled a retreat for the acquisition's top executives to get to know us. It was only a month after the convention.

After the first session, I saw my co-conspirator in the bar. "You know what my husband said to me yesterday before I left?" Jolie said. "He said he wouldn't mind if I seduced you."

"My wife said the same thing," I said. "Do you think they talked it over?"

She laughed. "What an imagination you have," she said. "You know, even though I never talk to you except out of town, I feel like I know you a little bit. You are an attractive man with a good sense of humor, and you don't cheat. If I weren't married..."

"And you are one of the most beautiful women I've ever met," I said, "although I'm sure the fact that you figured out my game is probably more flattering to you than me telling you that."

"Not necessarily," she said.

"So your husband knows about us?" I said. "I bet it's for the same reason my wife knows about you."

"Yes," said Jolie. "When I came home with all those photos last time, he said I must not have attended any work sessions. So I told him how you helped me and I helped you so we could get quite a bit done in a short time. He asked a lot of questions about you, but I told him I didn't know much."

"After I told her about you, my wife wore me out, she was so excited," I said. "I don't think I've ever seen her have more orgasms in one evening. By the way, Jolie, if this is too graphic for you, please tell me. I don't want to be offensive."

"I'm glad you realize that we could both be fired for inappropriate behavior," she said. "You and I are taking big chances. What if you suddenly decided you regretted our arrangement and turned me in? Or maybe I got angry with you and said something."

"You're right," I said. "Even though it would destroy both our careers, I've seen stranger things happen. Right now, I totally trust you, but I've seen people change. Are you one of those people like my boss who believes people never change?"

"No," she said. "And the proof is myself. Talking to you and what I'm doing to please my husband are two things I've never done before. And I'm not really sure why I'm doing them. I get an uneasy feeling sometimes. I think I never should have started this."

"I've been feeling strange, too," I said. "I guess I was naive in thinking it was all innocent fun. When she told me it was OK to sleep with you, she sounded like she really meant it, not like she wanted me to make up a story about it. I'm sure she didn't, but it got me worried."

"That's exactly the way I felt when my husband spoke to me," she said. "He didn't come out and say it like your wife did, but I could tell that's what he was implying. What are we going to do?"

"Well, we can't do anything now," I said. "I think we've been talking here too long already. I don't want anyone to see us when we confer."

"Why don't you come to my room tonight after the evening session," she said. "Don't look at me that way. I will be fully dressed, and there won't be any drinks, except water. We can work on our stories together and get them done fast and you can sneak back to your room."

"OK," I said. "We've already got the beginning of the story done, about our talking in the bar and me sneaking to your room."

***

"I'm worried, Val," said Jolie. It was four months after the merger retreat, and we were at another large company conference. She had come over to where I was eating breakfast alone and asked me to come to her room so we could talk privately. We were taking a chance because it was daytime, and someone could spot me going there.

"Me, too," I said. "I think this is the last time we are going to meet, and I'm not taking any photos at this conference."

"I hope that works, Val," she said. "I picked up the phone at least three times to call you in the last couple of months, but I felt I couldn't break our unwritten agreement just because I felt trapped. After the merger conference, my husband didn't want to hear anything about the men in the photos. All he wanted to talk about was you.

"He was disappointed with my story of our hotel room rendezvous and even accused me of lying about you, because he was sure we did a lot more than what I made up. He wanted to know details about you, about your body, about your sex equipment. He's obsessed by you.

"He said that he never really felt like a cuckold when I was posing with the other men, but thinking about me and you, he really feels degraded. I wanted to slap him and remind him that all my stories were fiction, but he was so excited when he said the word 'degraded' that I was stunned. I didn't know what to say.

"The sex with him has been great, but the way he talks disturbs me. I'm crying myself to sleep a lot of nights. What am I doing to our marriage?"

"My wife craves more information about you," I said. "She even began talking about your husband. She said she'd like to meet him, because she's sure they have a lot in common. I said under no conditions was she to try to contact him. Then she asked me to take pictures of you naked at this meeting. Not just naked, but in certain positions. She even went to a porn star's blog and showed me photos of the positions she wanted. I couldn't believe it."

"He wants naked photos of you, too," said Jolie. "I asked him if he was bisexual and desired you, but he said, no, all he wanted was photos of you showing your equipment, both regular and aroused. He said he really wanted photos of you having sex with me, but if all he could get was your equipment, it would help him picture scenes of you and me. I think it's time to stop all of this now. I'm not going to see you again, and I'm bringing nothing home to my husband.

"I know he'll be upset, but we have to move on. He's a wonderful man most of the time. But my feelings toward him are different now, and I'm scared. I want to go back to what we had before we started doing this."

"I feel the same way, Jolie," I said. "I'm just worried what my wife is going to do when I return empty-handed."

***

I was on my third cup of coffee at my desk when Jolie called on Monday morning. It was the first time she had ever called me, but I wasn't surprised.

"I have to see you tonight," she said in between sobs. "I'm in such a state that I had to call in sick. Can you meet me at the Denny's on the next block at eight?. It should be mostly empty by then."

"Yes," I said. "Last night was a long night for me, too."

When she joined me in the booth, I could see her eyes were red. But her voice was almost robotic when she began to talk. It frightened me.

"I thought I knew my husband," she said. "It was horrible seeing him go ballistic, but even worse was when he calmed down. He told me that even though I didn't tell him your real name, he would find out. No, he doesn't want to talk to you. He wants to talk to your wife. He accused me of punishing him although I was the one who was cheating. I don't know what to do.

"I think my wife will find him, before he finds her," I said. "I can't even imagine what they will say to each other. I've never seen her this way. I don't know what to do."

"I'm not giving up, Val," she said as she took one of my hands and held it tightly. I looked down at her hands on mine and up at her.

"Jolie, forgive me," I said. "You're so beautiful and sexy that I sometimes forget what a wonderful person you are. Your stupid husband doesn't deserve someone who loves him as much as you do. And I'm the one who started all your troubles. I feel terrible."

"Don't say that, Val," she said. "If I hadn't been so smug about confronting you that first time in the bar, this would never have happened. You had your arrangement with your wife, and you both were happy. But I had to butt in and put both of us on the road to disaster. I should apologize to your wife and ask her to forgive me."

"That would be a mistake, Jolie," I said. "The last thing she wants right now is an apology from you. She's not herself. But you're right. We have to stick this out and figure out a way to bring them to their senses." I put my other hand on top of our hands and squeezed them. She looked down to the four hands together and then looked me in the face again and slowly pulled her hands back.

***

"What?" she said. I stared at her and couldn't find the strength to speak.

"What?" she repeated. "What's wrong, Val?"

"Nothing," I finally said. She was standing a few feet from me. "I imagined what you would look like naked, but my imagination failed me. You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Until you undressed just now, I never thought I'd see someone who turned me on more than my wife, but you're on a whole different level."

"I'm turning red, Val, so maybe you should start taking pictures now," she said. "It will look like I'm aroused, because I am. Do you have that list of disgusting poses your wife gave you? I'll get on the bed, and you can read them to me. Let's get this over with."

"You don't shave your pubic hair," I said. "I was sure that you were a naked oyster down there, but you've got a bigger bush than my wife. She calls it her forest, but you've got a jungle. You have no idea how that affects me."

"Yes I do," said Jolie, "because you sound like my husband. Sometimes he gets so distracted that I have to lift his head up and remind him there's more to do. Come on. We need to finish this, because we have early meetings tomorrow."

"OK," I said. "I still can't believe I'm doing this."

"We've been over that, Val," she said. "When they told us if we didn't cooperate, they would see divorce lawyers, what could we do? You haven't changed. You were innocently taking pictures because your wife wanted you to spice up your sex life. She's the one who has changed, and my husband - and me."

"What are you talking about, Jolie," I said. "Of all of us, you haven't changed at all. You're still thinking about your husband, your marriage, my marriage, everybody except yourself. Why are you crying?"

"Val, you can't see it, but I've changed the most. If I told you how much, you would have nothing but contempt for me. I can't tell you how much I disgust myself. But I'll still try to save my marriage. It's hard for me to believe my husband and your wife would be willing to end our marriages over this. I even thought of calling their bluff."

"It wouldn't have worked," I said. "As soon as we sat down with them, I realized how much in tune they were. They had everything worked out and spoke like one person. It's a good thing we were on our toes, because otherwise it could have been worse."

"Yes," she said. "I'm glad you put your foot down and said nothing was going to happen until we were at a conference out of town. They were ready for us to get together that week."

"I tried to keep them from going crazy," I said, "but here we are taking pictures of each other's naked bodies for them, so I wasn't that successful. But I'm trying to hold the line. My wife bought me this expensive camera that's a video camera, too, and she told me to film you masturbating. I told her that we never agreed to do video."

"I'm on the bed and I'm waiting," she said. "That sounds bad, doesn't it? I'm sorry."

"God, you look amazing," I said. "I'm so hard, and I want to jump you so badly right now. OK, sorry. Here's the list. 'Number one, have her lie back on some pillows and spread her knees wide apart so that her lips open and you can see the rosy color inside. Take some photos of her whole body and then use your tongue or have her masturbate until she's moist and take a few close-ups.' I'm not touching you, but I see I don't need to anyway. You are already - oops. I apologize."

After I finished with my list, she picked up her camera and said, "This will go a lot faster. Please get undressed."

"Aren't you going to dress," I said.

"Not now, I want to finish and get you out of here," she said. "Come on, faster."

"You're getting red in the face," I said.

"Shut up," she said. "I see that I'm not going to get any photos of you when you're soft. I guess my poses were too much for you. OK, stand over there. Now thrust out from your hips. Now I give up. Think up some poses. I don't know what to do. He wants video, too. He would like to see you come. I told him over my dead body. OK, I think that's enough. Get dressed and get out of here."

"May I ask what you're going to do when I leave," I said.

"No, you may not, but you may guess it's the same thing you're going to do when you get back to your room. We are as bad as our spouses. We're all disgusting animals, I guess, so we deserve each other." She laughed, but it wasn't a happy laugh.

***

Two months later, we were sitting across from each other at a small table in a fancy hotel room in our home town. We were staring at each other, and I felt as though I were in a trance. She was crying.

"What are we going to do, Val?" she said. "Why are we here with all the lights and the video cameras on tripods?"

"It's better than what they wanted to do," I said. "I couldn't believe they wanted to film us themselves."

"But you know that's what they'll demand next time," she said. "They can't stop themselves. And they're getting more perverse. I have a list of what I'm supposed to do to you, but I'm not allowed to tell you. I have to be sneaky, so you will be surprised for the camera.

"Some of it is really degrading and painful, and they've even figured out that you will resist and told me how to trick you so that when you realize what's happening, it will be too late. I'm sure your list has similar things for you to do to me. Val, Val, wake up! Did you hear a word I said?"

I shook myself. "Yes," I said, "I heard, but I've been thinking, Jolie. I've gone along with everything my wife wanted up to now because I felt I was the one who started this. Last time, when you were posing in those degrading positions, it was painful because I didn't want to be aroused like that. I wanted to stop you and just make love to you. But I've never touched your body, even when you were naked and excited and I might have been able to get away with it.

"Maybe if my wife had said, make love to her and film it, I might have gone along with that. But she wants that kind of sex only for herself. For you, she wants humiliation. I think that's what finally did it.

"She's gone too far. I don't think she even understands how evil this is. I never thought I'd say this, but she's not the woman I married. That girl would never abuse and degrade another woman to spice up our love life. I don't wish her any harm, but I've decided, I'm not going to do these things to you. Do you know, her list says I should try to put one hand inside your vagina and the other one inside your anus at the same time?"

"One of the things he wants me to do is twist your balls around until you're doubled up in pain," she said. "They see those things on the Internet."