Her Beautiful Man

Owen grumbled, "You ought not have told her all that; it's embarrassing."

"Dad when you two become more intimate, you may wish to call me and thank me for paving the way leading to you stroking Liz's tits, although possibly only over her clothing initially."

"You're talking rubbish, Maisie."

"Well, I'm off dad. I'll flag down a cab on the street. I've had a great time and so have you guys. Don't forget to make that call to me, dad."

"There never will be a reason to make such a call, Maisie. I've never been naturally optimistic or lucky like you."

* * *

A week after beginning her new job as head of inhouse training at the corporation, two exciting things happened to Liz.

First, she received call from her father who said thanks, and that he really meant that.

"That's fine dad. I did it because I knew it would work for you. Has she held hands with you yet?"

"We meet every day now and I'm calling because today she jerked me off in the tearooms. I loved it but there was a real mess but Liz cheerfully cleaned me up so expertly."

"Wow dad, that's awesome. Tell mum about that and get her to buy condoms for you."

"I, um, err, oh I'll have to think about that one, Christ, Maisie!"

The second exciting thing to happen for Maisie was the company sent her to an advance training updating course for corporate training managers. She knew she was now firmly on the company's promotional ladder.

After registering, she went into the main room and a young guy needing a haircut with his fly wide open, eyed Maisie disbelievingly.

"What?"

"You are my dream. I expected to see only faggots and middle-aged bossy women attending this course for senior training managers."

"Excuse me," said Maisie, pulling up his half-open zip and then digging into her handbag and handing him a comb, with an order, "Into the bathroom, dampen your hair and comb it nicely. You need to look professional to impress other professional presenters and all attendees."

"But I'm Danny Stone, one of the presenters," he protested.

"Don't let your side down Danny, into the bathroom and do your hair or else risk taking the toe of my shoe up your butt. Remember, it takes your audience including me only 30 seconds to form our first impression of you and to form impressions of anyone else, for that matter."

He left Maisie without a word and she signed and thought a thanks would have been appreciated.

She looked at the schedule in her seminar folder for the day and saw the first presenter was Danny Stone, Ed.D.

Omigod, she thought, an up-himself guy with a doctorate in education.

All the seats had name-tag stickers attached and she thought that's a great idea to stop cronies sitting together and whispering during presentations.

She reached her seat and was shocked. Her comb was on her seat. How the fuck did that know-all know which was her seat when she hadn't yet pinned on her name-tag and she hadn't given her name?

She thought, what a smart-arse, but he was educated and must have asked the organiser Eileen Thomas what was the name of that woman in bright red and, possibly he'd added with the great boobs/tits/ breasts.

The efficient organizer would have looked up the names of the 31 registrants with the requested passport size photo beside their name and brief CV and identified her and smart-arse would have found the name on Maisie's chair and returned the comb.

Smart-arse was introduced as Daniel Stone and his impressive brief bio was read out and he was handed the microphone.

"Hi everyone, I'm Danny. How do you get to become a good or even great training manager?"

A guy called, "By results."

"Yes, eventually, but let's go right back to the beginning with an employee facing you for the first time?"

"She likes the applicant's smile

That caller's name flashed on to the screen of his laptop and he said, "Yes and no, Lucille."

"The main impact comes initially when the employer and his recruitment officer look at you for the first time and within 30 seconds has formed a personal assessment of you."

"Thirty seconds and yes, we all know that including me. But I'm guilty of having that first impression rule slip from my front-of-head memory until being reminded of this here this morning."

"The only person I knew in the entire room was Eileen, organiser of this event. I had arrived on the run, having slept in last night after a night on the town with two or my old university pals and no we weren't out to nail women, at least I wasn't. The beers were consumed and then the middle-aged woman behind the bar said, "You lads have been good customers. Have a Margarita each with compliments of management". Foolishly we didn't change drinks after that."

"So, for the punchline."

"I arrived here with a fading hang-over and a lovely lady pulled up my half-open fly after saying 'Excuse me' and handed me a comb and told me to go to the bathroom and so my hair as first impressions for everyone here were important for us all if we were to gel as a group. Perhaps it was a shorter version from her. I slunk off, I guess looking like a dog that had just peed on the lounge carpet. I tidied up and looked in the mirror and winked at myself and said, confidently, 'Go buddy, go and kill them with your presentation."

"All this is due to the lady in bright red with the guts to pull up the zip of an uncouth guy she's never met and had no idea he was one of the presenters and yet she didn't want him to embarrass himself in front of an illustrious group such as this."

"Please stand up Maisie Lott."

The woman in red stood and smiling, acknowledge the spontaneous applause.

"How many people have you met so far in this room, Maisie?"

"Sue, the girl signing us in, Eileen Thomas who introduced herself to me and, yes, initially dishevelled you. You look rather impressive cleaned up."

There was a roar of laughter and Danny clapped his appreciation, his hand held above this head.

When the gathering fell silent, Danny said, "Now here's the real punchline. Who here doesn't know who Maisie Lott is in our small group?"

"Not a hand is being held up?" he said, 15 seconds later.

"Is such universal recognition because I forgot to wear panties here?" Maisie said.

[Laughter]

Someone said, "It's because she the only person wearing bright red, automatically making her a stand-out."

"Good, and?" Danny urged."

"Because of that arresting story involving her action," said another guy.

"And finally?" Danny urged.

"Clearly because of the 'what the hell' factor in us triggered when we noticed she was the youngest delegate here by far," said probably the oldest woman in the room.

"Brilliant guys," enthused Danny. "You three should be declared honorary carpenters, hitting the nail on the head like that."

[Huge laughter].

"Remain standing please Maisie, for just one more minute."

"Now, this little opening patter involving this woman in red has lifted this update training day off to an amazing start, even managing to draw a few laughs from you. I wish to make a few off-the-cuff comments about Maisie. I haven't been briefed about her and not until she said 'Excuse me' and pulled up my zip was I aware she existed."

"When tidied up, I asked Eileen who she was and who employs her. I looked the name Maisie Lott up on South Pacific Allied Insurance Group's website and was amazed what I found. Maisie with a Master's in Education joined Allied Insurance aged 23 just over I year ago. Three weeks ago, she was appointed to replace the out-going manager of the company's in-house training team and wow, the company employs 360 people."

"I thought how the hell, with Maisie aged now only 24, could a company employing 360 people allow its training responsibilities to fall on the shoulders of one so young. Well, we've found some of the answers here this morning. Maisie dresses as a stand-out figure, is brimming with confidence, prepared educationally for her career and I'm confident, after having a lady say excuse me and pull up my half-open zip, she will definitely rise to achieve whatever she wishes to achieve. Thanks, Maisie, for participating in being shown up by me without you blowing a fuse."

[Applause]

"Now, getting back on track, I assume you all know what a meat cleaver is. Theoretically, in business, it's something that top management in business of any size, and even family businesses, needs to use to eliminate the deadwood to gain efficiency, ensuring that everyone with their shoulder to the wheel, so to speak is doing their bit."

"You, as training managers, have a major role play..."

Maisie returned to her office at the end of the seminar at 3 p.m. thinking she would wear a faded black dress and leave her hair unbrushed and wear only lipstick when she attended advanced training sessions in future. At least one of the presenters would be a smart-arse like Danny but at least he'd Danny has used their little encounter to make a huge point in launching his presentation and ended up holding his audience in his hand.

Two nights later, she was reading in her studio department when her phone rang faintly playing a piece of the melody, 'Lili Marlene'.

"Hi, it's Danny, the one you sent to the bathroom."

"Oh, I thought you would be in jail by now for progressive indecent behaviour."

"Um, am I speaking to Maisie Lott?"

"Yes, you clown, and yes you may date me unless you are married."

"I'm not, and don't have a fairly regular partner. We broke up last night when she announced that a former boyfriend was back in the city and has promised her the moon."

"Oh dear."

"May I book and pick you up at 8.15 on Saturday, dressed formally."

"Yes, you may, and thanks. Till then, then."

"Then, then. What for din-din?"

"Bye," she laughed. "Oh, my address."

"Got, that. Good night."

"Oh, I'm not married or in a relationship at present."

"I know, I checked thoroughly," he laughed. "You last boyfriend was jailed for picking you up in a stolen limousine to take you out. You do involve yourself in unusual events, Maisie. Cops and diplomatic guards piled into the upmarket restaurant where you two were dining, to arrest him, to recover the security key to the Ambassador's car, leaving you to deal with the arriving news media and to pay the bill."

"You aggressively told them to ask your date Charlie to pay the bill, that he should be easy to find, leaving the media guys breaking-their lungs laughing, so said media reports."

"Will you pay for the meal on Saturday night, Danny, or do a runner?"

"For you, Maisie, I'll pay and do anything for you, within reason."

"Ooh," she simpered, and cut the call.

* * *

The following week, the Lott's were dressed in their Sunday Best waiting for their daughter to arrive with her new boyfriend.

"I'm hoping this guy will be a little better that some of her past boyfriends," laughed Emily. "Do you remember the first boy she ever bought here, Pete?"

"A little, I remember you were so mad at Maisie for bringing him into YOUR house."

The door-bell went, and Maisie's parents stood at the door, ready to be shocked.

With a shaking hand, Emily opened the door wide.

"Mum, dad, this is my beautiful man, Danny Stone. Danny, meet my parents Emily and Owen.

"Dad, you are wearing a yellow and blue waist-coat with that expensive-looking suit."

"His mistress insists that he dresses smartly and takes him shopping and pays half of the things she makes him buy," Emily said, without malice. "Liz Steward has put real bounce into his life and they are doing a lot of bouncing in the bed when her husband is out drinking himself legless with his mates."

Danny looked shocked and Maisie grasped her father in a huge hug at the spilling of that news.

They went into the living room and Maisie said, "Dad, Danny has a serious question to put to you,"

"Where do you wish to put it, in my back pocket," Danny laughed, leaving Maisie thinking Liz had been really training him to lighten up a bit.

"Mr Lott, may I request your permission to ask for your daughter's hand?"

"Okay buddy, I'll chop off her left hand because she puts on her lipstick with her right one."

"Okay, Owen, that's enough fooling around," Emily said, taking over. "Yes, Danny you fine looking and presumably outstanding young man, because if you weren't, you would have had no chance of getting a leg over Maisie. You may marry my daughter. Err, our daughter. Owen, where are our drinks?"

"Coming up, but first, two questions for you Maisie."

"When is the wedding?"

"One day within the next year or so, we are in no hurry. We only began fucking last Saturday."

"Ah, that keeps us guessing. Um Maisie, would you please invite Liz to the wedding?"

"You are free to invite whoever you wish dad, as you will be paying for the wedding but remember, Liz is not coming to MY wedding without her husband being named on the invitation card, too."

"Err, right. Your mother told me you'd insist on that as being the correct thing to do."

"Thanks dad, and for goodness sake don't wear that awful waist-coat to the wedding. It makes you look like a circus ringmaster. Plain yellow would be fine."

As they reached the table, Maisie reassured Danny, "Yes, dad has cooked dinner darling but be not afraid, he's a wonderful cook and cleans the house every Saturday as well. He's a wonderful example for new husbands to follow."

The End