Mel, Unplanned Life of the Party!

Mel had no sooner finished her first martini of the party than one of her companions at the bar offered to buy her a replacement. "Thanks, Josh, I would like another," she said, "but since I was the one Colin tasked with making the the arrangements for this little celebration, it would be closer to the truth to say I've already bought the drink you're offering to me!" Josh looked appropriately chastened at being roasted by Mel, as well as the laughter of six or seven co-workers within earshot.

Mel, (technically Melinda, but never called anything but Mel) was the longtime assistant to Colin, the CEO of the software company where they all worked, so Josh should have known better. They were gathered to celebrate the firm's very successful IPO, the culmination of 8 years of crazy amounts of work, burning through many millions of dollars of nervous investors seed money and several brushes with bankruptcy.

Mel had been with the company practically from the beginning, other than Colin longer than anyone else currently employed there, so it shouldn't have surprised anyone that Colin had asked her to arrange the open bar, food and everything else they were enjoying at a small bistro near the company's Palo Alto headquarters.

The general mood at the gathering was jubilant. Colin had specified who Mel should invite to the party, and other than Mel the dozen or so attendees were exclusively from the upper echelon of the firm. The IPO had ended up with the company's newly publicly traded stock being priced by the market well above expectations, making all the invited executives, at least on paper, much richer than they'd been when they'd arrived at work that morning! Depending on exactly how many stock options they'd accumulated, and when, they each were worth between 5 and 25 million dollars more than the day before.

Going strictly by the company's organization chart, Mel wouldn't have made the cut to be invited to the gathering, but as much as Colin depended on her nobody gave a second thought to her presence. The other difference, beside being a woman in a very male workplace, was that she hadn't accumulated many stock options. Back in the company's rocky years she had to choose between taking compensation in options or actual money; between not having any family money, her hefty student loan payments and the high cost of living in Silicon valley, she'd decided years ago to pass on being paid in options which might or might not ever be worth much.

Colin had always been fair with her, paying her far more than her job title would call for, but until the company actually went public he really couldn't pay her enough to have made up for her missing out on the windfall she would have had if she'd gone with the options. "At least I know none of these guys are after my money," she thought to herself as she caught several of them ogling her. The attention they paid to her wasn't surprising, nor was it unusual; she had long been used to getting a lot of looks from her male coworkers, and since none of them were obnoxious about it she'd come to enjoy it.

In keeping with the significance of the day's events Mel had chosen an outfit a level or two more eye-catching than her usual workplace attire; nothing outrageous, but....different. High platform heels in place of her usual flats, fine-woven fishnet stockings, a charcoal silk skirt just a couple of inches shorter than any of her usual workplace skirts, and a cream colored sleeveless button down tunic style blouse, a bit more sheer than any she usually wore, just enough so that her cluster of admirers could tell she was wearing a lacy bra of some dark shade.

The gathered employees all straightened up a bit and switched their focus to the entrance when one of them noticed Colin's limo pulling into the parking lot. When their leader entered, coming to the private dining room and bar by way of the main part of the restaurant, they broke out in applause for the man whose inspiration ten years ago had ended up all this time later making each of them pretty wealthy. He called for an end to the applause, then said, "I should be applauding all of you. I had a good idea, but none of this would have been possible without your hard work. To be honest, over the last seven or eight years my contribution has mainly been to keep our investors from giving up on us! Thank you all, and as I mentioned in your invitation, please enjoy the drinks and dinner, my treat!"

The group gathered at the bar all began trying to get the bartender's attention. Colin steered Mel toward a corner booth at the far end of the dining room, telling her he wanted to discuss something important, out of earshot of the guys at the bar. "So," she said, "that encouragement to enjoy the food and drink was meant for the new millionaires, but doesn't apply to me?"

Looking genuinely hurt, Colin replied, "I hope I can make up for taking you away from the party. To be honest, I've been feeling guilty about you missing out on the windfall the rest of us had today, and I thought we could work out a way to, in some small measure, let you join in it."

Thinking back to a short but memorable make out session she and Colin had very early in her time working with him when he was between wives, she eyed him suspiciously. Seeing her stiffen up, he tried to assure her, "I know what you're thinking about, and no, I've always honored our agreement to leave that night behind, never speaking of it again. As I remember it you were the one who suggested that going forward we 'Look, but don't touch', and I've stuck to that plan. I know lots of people doubt me, a man on his third marriage, but I've been completely faithful to Jessica and don't intend to change that!"

"I believe you," Mel replied, "as much as you try to be subtle, I've definitely seen you eyeing several women in the office, including me, but I've got to believe I'd have heard about it if you were actually fooling around with any of them. I'm curious, does Jessica mind your roving eye?"

Pausing their conversation long enough to give a waitress their drink order, Colin continued, "Luckily for me, she's okay with me, um, appreciating beauty wherever I encounter it, as long as I'm only using my eyes, and as long as I'm not being blatant about it when we're together. She doesn't even mind my occasional visit to a strip club if it's in the service of entertaining investors!"

"Well, Jessica seems like a better match for you than either of her predecessors, but what exactly did you bring me back here to discuss? I've made my peace with my decision to take a paycheck instead of stock options if that's what this is about."

Colin's expression shifted from a smile to a more serious look. "Actually that's exactly what I want to discuss. You've never complained about missing out, but I still feel a little guilty about hitting this jackpot without you sharing," Colin answered, "I want to even things out, at least a little bit. We can't retroactively give you options, and now that we've gone public I have to answer to answer to a board of directors, I can't just have the firm give you some huge bonus, but I've come up with a way to reward you."

"Colin, I don't know what you have in mind, but I," she began to reply before he interrupted.

"Before you finish that sentence, let me be clear, I'm not suggesting you do anything which would in any way trouble Jessica!"

"Then what?" she asked.

"I'm proposing a simple transaction; you will be the seller, I'll be the buyer. Interested?"

"Yes, in theory, but I'm not sure what you think I have to sell that would make much of a difference," she replied. I'm sharing an apartment with three other people, I'm driving a 17 year old Camry, well, you get the idea!"

"I'm truly not interested in your car, but would you take $10,000 for the shoes you're wearing? You can think about it while we're ordering dinner."

Mel ordered a Caesar salad with shrimp, Colin ordered grilled salmon and a bottle of Cabernet to share. She tried to decide if he was being generous in some quirky way or had a foot fetish she'd never picked up on.

"Okay," she said, "but do I need to deliver them immediately? It wouldn't be kind to make a 5'-3" tall woman give up any height."

"Sorry," he answered, pulling out his checkbook, "I think for that price getting possession upon payment is reasonable."

"Considering the difference between what I paid for them at the Target on Bayshore Road and what you're offering, I suppose I shouldn't argue. Thanks, Colin that's a nice bonus, even if you're not calling it that!"

"Honestly, Mel, that's just a drop in the bucket compared to what the guys at the bar stand to collect." he replied as she handed her shoes over. He handed her a check, dropped the shoes into a tote bag and set the bag down next to his end of the booth. "Would you be interested making a bit more, by selling me your stockings? I'd go as high as $25,000. That's for both, of course."

Mel had thought the shoe sale had been a little stand alone joke; the $10,000 was more than she'd ever received as a bonus, way more. Now, with Colin unexpectedly dangling more than twice that much in front of her, she couldn't help thinking, "NEW CAR!" She felt a little like she ought to be offended by his method of rewarding her, but managed to justify accepting his offer, reasoning that since she often wore skirts to work without stockings she wasn't being asked to show anything improper, or even unusual.

Mel paused to confirm that the other men celebrating a the bar weren't paying any attention to what she and Colin were doing; she was relieved to see that even though a few of them had moved to a table almost as near to her as it was to the bar, they didn't seem to be looking toward her. "$25,000? Really? And I don't have to do anything but give you my stockings?"

"Yeah, that's the deal," he nodded.

"I'm sure there must be some sort of catch," she said.

"No catch," he answered. He filled out a check for $25,000 and slid it across the table.

"Okay," she said, "you seem to be serious, as ridiculous as the idea of paying me that much for a pair of stockings is!" She bent down, reached below the table, slid the stocking down her left leg, slipped it past her heel, and tugged it off her toes. She tried to look casual as she finished the removal of the first stocking, dropping it on the table in front of Colin; her involuntary high pitched giggle was the only clue giving away how nervous she was.

Focusing on Colin's reaction, she thought she caught a hint of a smile, too faint for anyone not as familiar as him as her to even see. She turned sideways on her bench and raised her right foot up to the seat, her leg bent so her knee was higher than the table. "Might as well give him his money's worth," she thought as she rolled her stocking's top up over her knee, then down her calf.

"You had the Salmon," the waitress asked, "and the lady ordered the salad?"

"Yes, that's right," Colin answered nonchalantly, gathering up the stocking in front of him. Without so much as a raised eyebrow, the waitress set the dishes down in front of Colin and Mel, who'd quickly pivoted to get both of her legs below the table, her mostly removed stocking still dangling from her right foot.

"Let me know if there's anything else you need," the waitress said, then left.

"Colin!" Mel hissed, "why didn't you warn me she was coming?"

"To be honest, I didn't notice her either," he said, "someone was distracting me."

"This is so embarrassing," Mel said.

"If you're worried about her mentioning anything she sees, I can assure you she will not," Colin assured her.

"Why ever not," Mel grumbled, "have you offered her a big check too?"

"Not a big check, but I did give all the staff a generous raise last month, right after I bought this place and just before my new employees all signed non-disclosure agreements."

"I should have known you had something up your sleeve when you insisted this party be set here," she laughed. "Well, I hope your little game was worth all this," she said, waving the two checks in front of him before stuffing them into her purse.

In between bites of his salmon, Colin casually told Mel that he didn't think he'd overpaid her for the things she'd sold him. "Actually, he said, "if you're interested in making another sale, I still have my checkbook and pen handy!"

"I'm not saying I'm interested," she said a bit nervously as she tried to guess what he might ask for next, "but I have to admit being curious about what you have in mind..."

"I'd be interested in buying the bra you're wearing; it's worth $50,000 to me."

Once her shock at both what he was asking and how much he was offering had passed, Mel joked with him, mostly to give herself a moment to think about his latest proposal. Getting the bra off without really showing any skin would be easy enough with her sleeveless blouse, but pulling her bra out and handing it over to Colin would be pretty embarrassing if any of her co-workers caught her doing it! Also in the list of cons was the fact that as thin and light as her blouse's material was, and as prominent and dark as her nipples were, and depending on the lighting, she'd almost look like she was topless! The list of pros was shorter, but not easily dismissed; besides the $50,000, she couldn't help being just a little bit excited by the chance someone might notice what she was doing!

"Are you really in such a hurry to squander your new fortune, or is this just about making me nervous?" Mel asked.

"Have you looked at the price our stock closed at? My shares are worth upwards of 7 billion dollars, so I can afford to have a little fun," he replied, "I'd be a liar if I said it's entirely about getting you more money; having fun is one of my goals, and you're not easy to rattle."

"Ah, so you admit you're having fun embarrassing me," she said as she reached behind her back to unhook her bra. "I just wanted to hear you admit it before selling this."

Colin's eyes followed Mel's progress as one by one she stretched her bra's shoulder straps down her arms. She hesitated for a moment, looking around one more time to see if anyone but Colin was watching. She pulled the lacy garment out and dropped it on the table, presenting it to its new owner, "As you requested, one 36C bra, black. Almost new. That will be $50,000, please!" He handed her a check for the agreed amount, but left his latest trophy on the table a minute, just long enough to be sure their server saw it as she cleared their dishes and took their dessert orders.

"Are you really so embarrassed," Colin asked, "I've always thought you enjoy being admired, and our 'Look but don't touch' rule was your idea."

"To a point, sure, I like knowing guys think I'm a little hot, but it's a pretty big jump from wearing a slightly short skirt to work or leaving an extra button unfastened to allow a tiny glimpse of my bra and this, whatever the hell it is we're doing!"

"I think this has mostly been just a little fun between friends," he replied, "I'm sorry if you don't feel the same way."

"I can think of a few things to call your little game,"Mel said, "but 'fun' isn't near the top of the list. Surprising, yes; clever, possibly. I might even admit to it being...interesting, but not fun, not exactly."

"Maybe you just haven't made a big enough sale to be having fun," he suggested, grinning as he picked up his checkbook and pen. What would you say to $100,000 for your panties? I'm assuming you're wearing some? Bad luck for you if you decided to go commando today!"

"$100,000? You can't think of anything better to do with your money?"

"It's not like this is my last $100,000," Colin chuckled, "I'll be setting up a foundation and donating lavishly to support my favorite charities. If you're feeling guilty you could make a donation with some of the proceeds from your sales!"

Mel did feel a small pang of guilt, not about how she'd made her most recent $85,000, but because she realized every thought she'd had about how to use the money had involved buying things for herself, with minor exceptions for gifts to her family. "Nobody has to know I've sold my boss my undies, all I have to do is manage to get them off discreetly and make Colin promise not to leave them out on the table," she thought.

"Okay,"she said quietly, "You have a deal, if you promise to put them away, out of sight, right away."

"Absolutely," he said, "but I'd like to point out that YOU were the one who set your bra on the table!" He watched with delight as she shifted on her seat and hiked her skirt up to be able to reach the red lace boy shorts and tug them down her thighs. The velour seating surface made their removal something of a struggle. Mel whispered every curse word she could think of to herself when their waitress arrived with their desserts, just in time to see Mel finally slide the flimsy bit of red lace over her knees on their way to the floor! She couldn't have missed it, but the only sign the waitress gave that she'd seen Mel losing her panties was a subtle smile aimed at Mel.

"Did she just see..."Colin asked as Mel handed him his newest acquisition.

"Yup, she sure did," Mel whispered, blushing, "and I hadn't put my skirt back in place yet, so she saw pretty much everything!"

"Wow, I mean I'm sorry, but wow!" Colin chuckled, "sorry if you got embarrassed."

"I'm not sure, but by now I might be embarrassment proof," she sighed.

"I'm kind of surprised she was able to see so much, as long as your blouse is; is that considered a blouse or a tunic?

"The website where I bought it called it a tunic, so I....HEY, no way," she hissed, "don't even think about it, I'm not going to sell you my blouse!"

"You mean you won't sell me your tunic?" Colin laughed, "No problem, I wasn't about to ask you to!"

"You weren't? Really? Every time you start talking about something I'm wearing tonight you end up offering some outlandish sum to buy it!"

"I suppose that's true," he said in between forkfuls of his raspberry tart, "But I swear, I wasn't about to offer to buy your blouse!"

"My tunic?"

"Not your blouse, or your tunic, or any type of top you're wearing, honest," he answered.

"Okay...good," Mel replied, giving him a nervous smile. She tried to relax and not think about how little she was wearing, succeeding well enough to begin eating her cheesecake.

"I was actually more interested in buying your skirt," Colin explained casually.

"You just have to be joking," she replied, after nearly choking on a piece of cheesecake, "I'd practically be naked!"

"Well," he admitted, "I have to confess to somewhat carefully studying just how much of you the tunic covers, and the bottom edge looked to be slightly below the lowest part of your butt, not providing a whole lot less coverage than your skirt does. Other than showing off a few more inches of leg, getting rid of the skirt wouldn't make much difference, except in the balance in your bank account!"

"I shouldn't even ask," she whined, "but..."

"How much for your skirt? $200,000, and I promise to put the skirt safely out of sight as soon as you hand it over!" he said, pointing to the tote bag next to his seat. She shuddered as she realized that even without her skirt the bag was already home to more of the garments she'd been wearing before he and his checkbook had arrived than she still had on!

Mel sighed, knowing that however inappropriate accepting Colin's latest offer would be, she couldn't pass up that kind of money, thinking, "that amount could be a down payment on a home of my own, without a random batch of roommates!" She tried to make herself believe he was right about how little difference going without her skirt would make in her appearance, with limited success. Thinking about how thrilled she usually was to find an outfit which helped make her legs look longer, she nodded her head and said, "Okay, I'll do it!,"