Michael or Mac Ep. 05

I walk into the kitchen and grab the orange juice carton from the fridge. I pour myself a drink and down it in one.

"Here you go, baby," Emma says as she hands me a plate of toast. I give her a kiss to thank her and go and sit next to Donna.

"So Donna, how are you handling last night's revelation?" I say as I take my first bite.

"I was a little jealous to start with, and I'm sorry to say took it out on Mitch. Then I realized what I did wrong and made it up to him big time." She says as she leans over and grabs one of my slices.

"What, you two.....?" Emma wiggles her eyebrows.

"No, but it got very heated. Anyway, that's why I came over this morning. I had to see if you were still here. So.....?" Now Donna is wiggling her eyebrows.

We are saved when my phone starts playing a familiar song, "hi Olivia, what can I do for you this early on a Saturday morning?"

I see out the corner of my eye Donna mouth 'who's Olivia?"

"Hi, sweetie," she says. "I am expecting all the paperwork to be ready by Friday for the Parker place. When are you back from MIT?"

"I fly in on Friday night. Why do you want to come down Saturday?"

"Yes, if both you and Paps are available."

I turn to Paps, "are you here next weekend to sign for the Parker place?"

He nods, "is she staying Saturday night going back Sunday?"

I didn't have to ask, "yes, if that's okay." She says as I nod at Paps.

"Are you sure that everything will be ready for then?"

"Oh yeah, the search has come back. The land registry has contacted us, and Old man Parker has already moved everything out and handed his solicitor the keys."

"That's great, so I will see you Saturday?"

"Looks like it; I will let you know if it changes." She pauses a while, "Mac, do I hear a female there?"

"Yes, Olivia," I shake my head, knowing the grapevine has been working overtime. "Donna is here from next door."

I pause deliberately to catch her out, "oh," she says.

"Baby, stop being mean. I'm here as well, Olivia. He's just playing with you."

"Oh yeah, and Emma's here, but you knew that, didn't you."

"Oh, come on, Mac, we girls have got to keep up with what's happening with you. After all, it's all the excitement most of us get."

I hear Olivia's husband voicing his disapproval in the background and can't help but laugh. "So, is there anything else you would like to ask before you go?"

"Ummm, no boss, I think that's all. If I think about anything, I'll call you when you get back tomorrow."

"Christ, Olivia, isn't there any part of my life you don't talk to Kim, Terri, or Susan about?"

"Uhhhh no," she says. "I will let you get back to whatever you're doing." With that, the line goes quiet, and I put my phone down.

"So, who is Olivia?" Donna asks.

"Oh, she was my mother's best friend and now works for me," I say without thinking.

"She works for you?" Donna asks, making me realize what I said.

"Yes, she's a solicitor and looks after the family affairs." I hope the vague answer will satisfy Donna's curiosity. I don't think I am ready for her to know everything.

"So what time do you want to leave, baby?" Emma says, changing the subject.

"Why, what's happening today?" Donna asks, being deflected.

"Mac is off to MIT next week, and we are going into the city for dinner and making a night of it."

"Oh really, first you stopover, and now it's a hotel?" Emma grins at her friend. "You lucky bitch, so much for innocent Emma," Donna says as she gets up. "I've got to get going; I shall see you Monday?"

Emma nods, "yes, see you Monday morning." She shows Donna out and comes back in. "I will need to get home soon baby, how are we getting into the city?"

"I'm not sure; how do you usually travel into Charlotte?"

"Oh, bus, mom, dad, or Donna," Emma says, thinking. "Let's go on the bus; it saves us worrying about anything."

"I'll give you a lift to the station if you like," Paps says, putting his paper down.

"Thanks, Paps, that will be great," I say, googling bus times. "If we leave around ten, we should get the ten-thirty," I say, looking at my phone.

We finish up breakfast, and I take Emma home to get ready for our trip into the city. I have booked into a hotel my parents stayed in when we traveled down from West Virginia called the Marriott, and they seemed to have me on the computer. I don't remember it, but it looks nice and is well located. The restaurant I have booked is called The Fig Tree, well I say I booked it, but if I am honest, I asked Olivia's opinion, and she booked it for me.

Ten sharp Paps sounds his horn outside Emma's place, and she is straight out of the door. She has the same bag she took down to the beach house, and I get out to help her in. I sit next to her for the short trip to the bus station. It takes no time to get our tickets and board the bus.

We spend the trip talking excitedly about our evening together and the evening to come. The bus ride seems to go by quickly, and it's not long before we enter Charlotte's city center.

We swap to a taxi to take us the last part of our journey and pull up outside the Marriot just after twelve. We walk into the hotel's lobby and stand waiting for the lady behind the desk to serve us.

While we are waiting, I glance around; Emma whispers into my ear, "I'm feeling a little underdressed, baby."

"Mmmmm, yes, maybe jeans wasn't the best choice," I say. "It shouldn't make a difference."

As we are talking, a middle-aged woman walks in through the doors and straight up to the desk. The woman stops what she is doing straight away and begins to check the woman in.

"Excuse me," Emma says. "We were here first." the woman turns, eyes us up and down, and turns back.

"I'm sure they can wait," she says rudely to the woman behind the desk.

Emma is getting more agitated, "I'm sorry? What makes you more important?"

She turns, "my husband is a prominent lawyer and expects to be seen straight away."

"So?" Emma says, starting to get upset. "Where is your husband now?"

"Oh, he's in an important meeting in town."

"I'm sorry," I now say. "That shouldn't come into it, and my girlfriend is right. We were here waiting patiently first and should be the next to be checked in. Your husband isn't here, so even if you could make that excuse, there's no need for you to push in now."

The woman turns but can see that I am now looking at the woman behind the desk. She is looking a little embarrassed and calls the concierge over.

"Can I help you, sir?" He says, looking at me the same way the woman did.

"Yes, we are waiting to check-in, and this lady has pushed in front of us expecting preferential treatment."

He looks at the woman behind the desk, who nods, still looking slightly embarrassed. The woman in front turns, "my husband is Donald Shepard, the prominent lawyer."

"Why is it lawyers always think they are so much better than anyone else?" Emma says.

The concierge now looks a little embarrassed. "I am sorry that Mrs. Shepard here pushed in front of you. Please let me book you in, and I will refund 50% on the price of your room as an apology."

"Well, that's very generous," I say, knowing that I had booked the most expensive suit.

The man walks around the back of the desk. He logs into the computer terminal and looks up with a smile, "right, can I have your name?"

"Yes, Michael Carter," I say as the smile slips from the man's face.

"Mr. Carter. It's so good to see you again." He glances at the woman next to him, who has the same look on her face as he does. "I was sorry to hear about your parents; please accept the hotel condolences." I nod to accept their condolences. "You have booked the penthouse suite, I see," he says.

The woman next to us gasps, "we usually have that suite." She looks across at us, "you're not Mr. Carter as in Carter and Walker by any chance, are you?"

"The very same," Emma says with pride and a little smugness.

"What part of the business are you involved with? We had a delightful dinner once with Kyle Walker and his wife, if I remember correctly. It must have been about twelve years ago. Wow, time does fly."

"Kyle is my grandfather, and I inherited the mantle of CEO of the whole company when my parents passed." I take the key card from the concierge. "We are going out to dinner for eight. Can you have a taxi ready for about half seven?"

"Ummm, maybe we can have dinner later when my husband turns up?" The lady says, calling after us.

"No, sorry, I am here to spend time with my girlfriend before I Go away for a week. We, unfortunately, won't have time for anything else." We turn and walk towards the elevator.

As we walk away, I hear the lady behind the desk say, "I'm sorry, Mrs. Shepard, but I don't seem to be able to find your reservation."

The elevator doors open straight away, and we have to insert the card into the elevator before it moves, then it takes you to your floor without pressing any buttons.

"So, my darling, what do you want to do before we need to go out to dinner?" I say as the lift starts to move.

"Oh, that's easy. I want to strip you naked and explore every inch of your body." She replies as she presses our noses together."

The elevator door opens into a small room with a table, lamp, and just one door. With my door card, I open it and let Emma enter first.

Emma gasps as she walks into the room, "wow, baby, it's a shame we are only here one night." She walks from one room to the next with the most beautiful amazed look on her face. I find Emma's reaction more fascinating than the hotel suite.

I put our cases into the bedroom and follow Emma as she explores. "Do you usually stay in the penthouse, baby?" Emma asks as she walks up to me and puts her arms around me. "My one worry is that I won't be dressed appropriately for tonight."

"Come on, before we settle, let's go shopping for a dress for you."

"Oh no, baby, you don't have to do that."

"I know, but I want to." I grab Emma's hand and pull her out the door.

I walk up to the concierge and explain what I want to do. Luckily there's a shopping center just down the road, and he gives me a lady's name to see in one of the shops.

"Can I help you, sir?" A middle-aged woman says as we walk into a boutique.

"Yes, the concierge......"

"Yes, Gerard just rang and said that you are to be helped with a dress for dinner tonight." She said, smiling. I take a seat as she guides a confused-looking Emma to a curtain. "Now, my darling," she says as she pulls the curtain back to reveal a room with mirrors. She eyes Emma up and down, "I would say you are an eight." Her eyes then look at me in the mirror, "do we have a limit?" I shake my head. "Okay, let's have a look and see what catches your eye....."

"Emma," I say. The attendant thanks me with a smile and moves Emma over to a rail with some dresses on. She looks at one of the price tags, and her eyes double, "best not look at that, my love."

Emma gives me an 'are you kidding me' look. I smile and encourage her to look properly. She finally relaxes and starts to enjoy the experience. Looking at the dresses and not the price tag. She would pull a dress out every so often, and the woman would put it on a rail for her to try on.

Once Emma has gone through the rack and picked out half a dozen dresses, they go back to the mirrored room to start trying them on.

One by one, Emma rejects them. She gets to the very last. I hear the assistant gasp, and Emma goes, "wow."

The curtain goes back, and my jaw hits the floor. The dress is incredible. It fits Emma like it was made for her and shows her figure off perfectly. The dress is the same color as the necklace around her neck and falls just below her knees. The assistant disappears for a moment and then returns with a bra, shoes, and matching bag. She closes the curtain again, and I presume, helping Emma with the accessories.

The curtain gets pulled back, and Emma is stood there. This time she has an enhanced cleavage and heals on the accentuates her legs. Emma holds the small clutch bag in her right hand and beams at me.

"Wow," is all I can say. I get up and walk over, and gently kiss her on the lips. "You are looking so beautiful," I say, looking deep into her eyes. I turn to the assistant, "we'll take it."

The assistant beams at me and then moves Emma back into the changing room. She comes back out with the dress over her arm, shoes, and bag in each hand. She leaves Emma to get dressed and walks over the till. She carefully packs the dress into a box, then disappears to find the shoes and bag boxes.

I hand my card over as Emma comes out of the changing room. Emma looks to the assistant, "those shoes are very comfortable for heels."

The assistant replies, "yes, I wear them myself at work. They put an extra padded strip inside that you don't seem to get with other heels."

"Thank you for your help," Emma says as I am handed my card and the receipt.

"It's rare we get such a well-shaped person to dress. You must have one of the most perfect natural figures I have seen, so the pleasure was all mine." She then looks at me, "Excuse me for asking, but are you, Mac?"

Emma answers, "yes, he is. Do you know him from somewhere?"

"Oh, we've never met, but I saw you on YouTube playing at some club."

I smile at her, "yes, my neighbor is on Tik Tok and decided to put it on live."

"You were outstanding; I love your voice."

"Thank you, I usually only do it for my enjoyment."

"Really? Do you mind if I take a selfie with you?" She quickly gets her phone out and takes the picture. "Well, thank you, and have a great evening."

Emma thanks her, and we make our way back to the hotel. I thank the concierge on the way through the reception. The elevator once again was waiting for us as we headed up to our suite.

We spend the afternoon having real quality time together. We get to know each other's bodies. We even get room service, so we don't have to leave the room. We spend the afternoon exploring, and we make love twice. I lose count of Emma's orgasms, and we have a bath together. The afternoon is special, with no time pressures or worries that someone might disturb us.

Twenty-five minutes past seven, we enter the elevator and make our way down to the ground level. A new concierge greets us as we exit the elevator. I notice people in the lobby turn to see us as we walk towards the front door. Emma seems oblivious to it but looks incredible in her new dress.

The taxi is waiting, and we get in for the journey to The Fig Tree restaurant. It's quite a distance in the cab but goes relatively quickly as Emma points out places she's been before.

A doorman opens first the cab door and then the entrance to the restaurant. I thank him as we enter. Again, eyes watch us as we enter and walk up to the reservations desk.

The woman looks up, "please tell me you have a reservation." She looked like she was not having a good night.

"I hope so," I said. "Michael Carter, table for two."

"Ah, there you are, Mr. Carter, your table isn't quite ready. Would you like to have a drink on the house at the bar?"

"That's fine," I say as we are ten minutes early.

She escorts us to the bar, and we sit on a couple of empty stools to wait. "I will come and get you when the table is ready." I thank her and order the fruit punch from the bar for both Emma and me.

We are only sat there for fifteen minutes at best, and the woman is back to escort us to our table. "May I ask, have you dined with us before?"

"No, this is our first time."

"Oh," she says, frowning. "I'm sure I've seen you before?"

"I live out in Belmont. Do you know the area?"

"Ummm, no, it will come to me later." She turns and leaves, "the waiter will be with you shortly." We are seated at a window table; there's a good happy buzz in the place as people happily eat their food. You can always tell a good restaurant by the atmosphere. They have a three-piece band playing in the corner to give that little extra.

A well-dressed waiter in a mustard-colored waistcoat comes with two menus. "Good evening, sir and madam," he hands us each a menu. "Can I get you another drink," he asks, viewing our nearly empty glasses.

"Yes, please," I look at Emma to see if she wants another, but her attention is focused on the menu. "Em, do you want another drink?" I ask.

"Oh, sorry, yes, please, baby." She says and gives me a great smile.

I order two more fruit punches. "So, what do you want to eat?" I ask as I eye the salmon on a table across from us.

Emma looks at me, looking a little worried, "would it be too much to ask for the lobster? I've always wanted to try it."

"Just have what to want Em, are we having a starter?"

"Mmmm, yes, this afternoon has made me sooooo hungry."

The waiter turns up to take our order. "What is the soup of the day?"

"Yes sir, the soup of today is a tomato and chive. The tomatoes are sundried and allowed to cook slowly, so all the flavor is absorbed into the soup, and the chives are added just five minutes before serving.

"Mmmm, that sounds good. I will have that," Emma says.

"Yes, make that two. Em, have you decided on the lobster?" Emma nods, "okay, one lobster and one salmon, please." The waiter enters our choices on a tablet, takes the menus, and thanks us before leaving.

"Emma takes a sip from her drink. These fruit punches are nice." She has this excited look in her eyes, and that smile always seems to be on her lips.

The soup and both main courses are perfectly cooked. My salmon falls apart in the mouth and tastes incredible. Emma is so happy with her lobster and lets me try some.

The waiter turns up to clear the plates, and we ask for the dessert menu. I choose the ice cream, and Emma has the cheesecake.

We have finished our food and are talking while we drink another fruit punch.

"Thank you for tonight, baby," Emma says. "It's been like something from a love story."

She takes another sip as the lady from the front desk comes over the sound system. Emma and I both look towards the band where she has is holding one of the mics. "Lady's and Gentlemen," she says to get people's attention. "It's an honor tonight that we have an up and coming star of our community in tonight." I have a quick look around to see if I recognize anyone famous. "He is a talented musician that came to the world's attention a couple of weeks ago when he was thrown in at the deep end because the band he plays with got caught up in the horrendous pill-up on the circular."

"Oh shit," I say as Emma turns to look my way.

"I hope he won't leave me hanging and maybe come up and give us a tune." By now, many of the people are looking my way, and a ripple of applause goes around. This gets a little louder as I rise and make my way up to the stage.

The band has vacated the stage for a break, so I sit behind the piano. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. When I open them, I see several people with their phones out recording me. I start playing a couple of cords on the piano, and a ripple of applause goes around when they recognize the tune.

My eyes then look directly at Emma,

"Oh, her eyes, her eyes

Make the stars look like they're not shinin'

Her hair, her hair

Falls perfectly without her tryin'

She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday....."

A smile spreads across Emma's face as she buries her face in her hands. a smile spreads across my face as I get to the chorus,

"When I see your face

There's not a thing that I would change

'Cause you're amazing

Just the way you are....."

For a moment, my eyes drift around the faces looking my way. I can see the joy people feel as they sense the passion I put into every word. I glance back at Emma, who now has tears running down her face. I play the song in its entirety, and as I play the last note, the place is silent just for a second before the applause starts.