Romancing the Sale

Writer's Notes:

'Romancing the Sale' is a rewrite of a story written by Cat5 titled 'Sales Team'. When I read it, it spoke to me and I had to do something, so the story herein is the result.

My original desire was for Cat5 and myself to collaborate on this story, to be co-writers and co-editors, the same I wanted to do with JammyJimmy, but so far, it has not happened. Cat5 created the story and deserves credit because credit is definitely due.

I have not been successful contacting Cat5 through Literotica so if anyone knows how to make contact, please ask Cat5 to contact me and also thank Cat5 for writing the great stories.

Therefore, 'Romancing the Sale' is an unauthorized, reimagined rewrite and sequel to Cat5's story, 'Sales Team'. The storyline in Cat5's story is embedded in this story. All character names have been changed because this is my story.

Anyone who has read 'Sales Team' will identify the characters quickly, starting with my main character, Bill Langley, formerly known as Phil Stockton in Cat5's story.

I do hope you enjoy 'Romancing the Sale'. All characters are 18 years of age or older so let the story begin...

MDSW

Chapter 1 Bill's Life

It's a hot, muggy summer day in Atlanta as Bill Langley slowly walks to his second floor apartment. So far, the morning has gone well. His first sales call has created another client, but he still has two more to complete. His commission check next month may very well be the biggest of his career in Atlanta. He's back at his apartment because he left his much needed mobile phone at home, something he rarely forgets.

It's a relatively new apartment complex with lots of singles and parties. The gym and large pool makes meeting other singles easy. He's glad he decided to splurge and rent the three bedroom model, rationalizing at the time, that one of the bedrooms would be his office and vaguely thought it might be a tax write off. The other room he leaves unfurnished for lack of purpose at this time, but it's there if and when he needs it.

In his first six months at the apartment complex, it's relatively easy for him to get dates because all the single women want to check out the new tenant. However, in his mind, none of them are keepers, so he keeps his options open and continues to party.

Bill stays in shape at the gym and works hard in his sales territory, which pays off both financially and by attracting the attention of the Regional Sales Manager, who has noticed his sales volume, being slightly higher than all other salesman.

Life is good and so far, uncomplicated, but he has a problem that limits his sales efforts, which is a recurring problem for him.

Chapter 2 An Unusual Introduction

Bill is resting his head on the back of the chair with his eyes closed as he daydreams of spending his well earned money. Just as he's about to get off his butt and hit the road again, he hears someone knocking on the door. He pads to the door and opens it, but nobody is there. He hears the knock again and it's coming from two doors away.

There is a woman is standing in front of Karen's door and knocks again. She's about five foot seven with dirty blond hairand she's wearing a somewhat heavy skirt and coat over a blouse. That combination has to be warm in this summer heat. A small, black rolling suitcase stands upright next to her.

He pads to her and says, "Hi."

He gets a good whiff of her fragrance and it's not a pleasant one. She jumps and turns towards him.

"Sorry to startle you. Are you looking for Karen?"

She looks at him before answering. He can clearly see her face now. Along with the dirty blond hair, she has blue eyes, high cheek bones and a pixy nose. Those attractive body parts are marred by the sweat on her face, hair in disarray and needs washing, and a body frame that suggests she's under nourished. She is obviously exhausted, but there is good news.

The girl replies, "I'm a friend of Karen's and came for the weekend to visit her, but she isn't home even though I told her when I would be here."

Bill replies, "I'm also a friend of Karen's and live two doors that way," he says pointing toward his place. "Karen's mom had a heart attack two days ago and she left for Chicago to be with her. I guess she forgot to let you know of her change of plans."

"Oh shit," she whispers.

Selling is Bill's occupation and reading people comes with the job. He looks at this woman's face and sees despair turning into panic. He thought she's seconds away from tears, or worse.

Seeing her dilemma, he blurts out, "I'm Bill Langley. Why don't you come to my place and have a cold drink?"

She stares at his face, but it's obvious what she heard isn't registering. Panic is now winning over despair, along with her eyes becoming glassy.

He gently grabs her arm with one hand, her suitcase with the other and leads her toward his apartment. She doesn't resist.

He sits her at kitchen table, turns the thermostat down to seventy-two and fills a glass with ice and water. She takes the glass and drains it. He refills it and sits across the table from her.

"It's none of my business, but my guess is, you could use a friend right now."

She stares at the table top and nods. The first sign of tears run down her cheeks.

"Hey, my name is Bill, what's yours?"

"Dani Taylor," she mutters.

"Well Dani, things can't be that bad."

She lifts her head and looks at him, her tears highlighting her blue eyes.

She blushes and stammers, finally saying, "I've spent the last five days on four different buses. The only possessions I have are in my suitcase and I used the last of my money to pay for the taxi to get me here. To top it off, I look and feel like shit."

He quickly says, with a smile, "Dani, don't hold back. Just tell me what your more serious issues are."

He sees her first, brief smirk, then it disappears as she lowers her head and stares at the table again.

"Dani, please look at me," Bill says.

She slowly raises her head and looks at him, feeling embarrassed about her situation.

"This is not a good time to make decisions or even talk about your problems. I have a sofa bed in my office. You're going to take the longest, hottest shower of your life, then get some sleep. I'll get you towels and a robe and there is a clean toothbrush and shampoo in the bathroom. By the time you get out of the shower, I'll be gone making some sales calls. I'll wake you when I get back and we'll have dinner here. After dinner and a glass of wine or two, you're going back to bed and sleep until morning. Then we'll talk about your minor problems."

"I can't..."

"Dani, please," he interrupts, "just stand up and follow me."

Like a little kid, she stands and follows him. He points out the office, the bathroom and retrieves the towels and robe from the linen closet.

"Take your shower. I will not be offended if you lock the bathroom door as you are in a strange place with a strange man. When you're through, your bed will be open and made. I'll lock the front door when I leave and I'll wake you at dinner time."

Without a word, she walks into the bathroom and shuts the door, but doesn't lock it. Then she opens the door and walks back to him, speaking without making eye contact.

"Would you allow me to fix a breakfast or lunch while you're gone? I'm starving," she asks.

"I'm so sorry, Dani. I should have told you that you can help yourself to whatever food you can find. I'm getting steaks tonight so we are going to have a big dinner."

"Thank you so much," she says with appreciation in her voice.

"You're welcome, Dani."

With mission completed, she returns to the bathroom. He opens the sofa-bed, gets two clean sheets, two pillows and a light blanket from the linen closet and makes the bed.

As he takes her suitcase from the kitchen to the office, he hears the shower start. Leaving the apartment, he locks the door, hoping she will still be there along with the contents of his apartment, when he gets home.

Dani only eats a small breakfast while he's gone, leaving plenty of room for a big dinner. It was hard for her to do that because she's so hungry, but she's afraid of the consequences if she goes too far, not knowing what Bill would do.

Dani must have been a good luck charm for him. Two more sales calls and two more clients. This day has been the best day of his life, between his sales and meeting Dani. It's a record. He's never sold three clients in one morning of work prior to today, but it took longer than anticipated.

After the third sales call of the morning, which turns into afternoon, he goes to his favorite local bar and sips a beer, waiting for time to pass as he has a little celebrating to do when he gets home. While doing so, he wonders about his current situation.

Dani is obviously in a tough spot, but he doesn't know anything about her. He also assumes she isn't skinny by choice and wonders if she is tough enough to rebound from whatever or whoever slammed her.

Finally, he leaves the bar about 3pm and heads to the grocery store. Two huge steaks, baking potatoes, sour cream, butter and the ingredients for a salad seem to be the right combination for a celebration and to help a damsel in distress. With all that in his car, he heads for home, hoping with trepidation, she's still there.

Chapter 3 Dinner Time

Bill cautiously and quietly lets himself into his apartment, trying hard not to wake his guest. He's relieved his furniture is still there and his pots and pans are still in the kitchen. He sits on the sofa and reads the sports news to take some time off the clock, then he turns the oven on and drops in the baking potatoes.

The door to the office is half open so he pads to it and looks inside. Dani is laying with her back facing him and the sheet over her has fallen below her waist. It's obvious she's sleeping in the nude and his dick stirs at the sight.

He stares at her back, then down the swell of her hips, then concentrates on her butt. Maybe it's just him, but a female's form is a beautiful work of art, but the male instinct has a way of taking over and his cock hardens as his thoughts are far from pure.

"You really are an asshole, Bill," he thinks to himself.

He quietly closes the door and goes to the kitchen. An hour and a half later, the steaks are prepped, the salad is made, the white wine is chilled, the red wine is open and breathing and the charcoal in the barbecue is lit.

He goes to the office and knocks.

"Dani, wake up," he says.

No response.

He tries twice more with the same result, getting a little louder each time.

Frustrated, he opens the door and looks in. She has rolled over and is now on her side, facing him. Her hair is in disarray, covering most of her face and the sheet is still down below her waist. She's still asleep. He can hear her breathing.

With this different view of her, he can see her breasts. They are bigger than he thought with small areolas and somewhat large nipples that appear to be soft. He estimates a B cup, possibly close to a C cup. They are self supporting and firm, a perfect pair. She has no visible hair on her mound and a flat stomach.

Thinking of his next attempt to wake her up, he walks to the bed and pulls the sheet up to her neck. Even though her face is obscured by her hair, it is relaxed and prettier than he first thought, without the stress of her problems.

He pads back to the door, knocks loudly and yells, "Dani, time to eat!"

After several attempts, she finally stirs and mutters, "Wanna sleep."

"Open your eyes please!"

Her eyes finally squint open. She remembers him, he can tell.

He says, "I know you're tired, but you're hungry too. Get cleaned up and come to the kitchen. The steaks will be ready in twenty minutes. Are you going to get up?"

"But I'm really sleepy," she whines.

He repeats, "Dinner in twenty minutes. If I don't see you in the kitchen in five minutes, I'm going to find out how ticklish you are."

Her eyes pop wide open.

"You wouldn't."

He grins and replies, "Would you like to find out?"

He closes the door, pads to the thermostat, adjusts the AC back to seventy-five and returns to the kitchen. A minute later, he hears the door open, she goes into the bathroom and closes the door.

A few minutes later, she enters the kitchen, yawning as she walks. She has brushed her hair and it has regained some of the gloss it used to have. She's wearing a T-shirt with Daffy Duck on the front and it's also short, exposing a fair portion of her flat stomach. He can tell she's wearing a bra and also jogging shorts that mold her shape, and she's barefoot. Dani is sexy as hell.

When he sees her, he says, "Wow! Who the hell are you? What a difference between this morning and now!"

She smiles shyly at him and says, "Thanks... I really want to thank you..."

"Dani," he interrupts, "no serious discussion just yet. For the rest of today and night, your job is to relax and enjoy the food. We'll talk in the morning. You need a break from your problems. Okay?"

She nods her understanding.

Then he asks, "White wine, red wine, a drink, or just water?"

"White wine please."

As he pours her wine, he asks, "Do you want your steak rare, medium rare or medium? If past medium, you have to cook it yourself because that is a mortal sin in my book."

She giggles, "Medium rare please."

"Butter, sour cream or both on your baked potato?"

She giggles again, "Both please, Mr Boss."

He smiles, pours a glass of white wine for himself and offers her the one he poured for her, but she doesn't want to drink before dinner in her condition so he sits down.

Bill says, "I want you to know that right now, you are my good luck charm. I'm a salesman and today, I made more sales this morning than I've ever made and adding that to the rest of the month's work, I will be receiving one fat commission check a few weeks from now. So, we are celebrating with good wine and steaks."

Chapter 4 Who is Dani Taylor

So far, Dani has impressed Bill, even though he knows so little about her. He even enjoys her company, despite being single and independent most of his adult life. She's easy to talk to and she laughs at his humor. Getting down to a little business, it is time for a brief exchange of information.

"Dani, my name is Bill. I'm twenty-five, never married, but was close twice before, until I got smart. I'm six-feet tall and tend to get fat when I don't work out. I barely got through college because I never met a party I didn't like. I fall in love often, but cupid only nicks me and I fall out of love just as often. I can tell a million jokes, but sometimes get tongue tied when asked serious questions by pretty women."

She giggles, "I'm also single, twenty-three and..."

He interrupts, not wanting her to return to her problems.

"That's all I want to know tonight, you're single, twenty-three, beautiful and female," he tells her.

"Not even curious?" she asks.

"Very curious, but now I'm hungry, just like you. It's time to cook and enjoy a good, hot meal. We'll talk tomorrow. I'll be out on the balcony with the steaks. You may set the table, get the salad, sour cream, butter and dressing out of the refrigerator and take the potatoes out of the oven in ten minutes."

She giggles and gives him a mock salute.

"Yes, Boss."

"And when you're done, join me on the balcony with the wine. My glass will be empty by then."

She grins and goes to work as he takes the steaks to the barbecue.

The balcony looks out over Buckhead and as the steaks are cooking, he watches the traffic converging on the restaurants and entertainment in the Buckhead area. It's the beginning of the weekend and people are starting early. Feeling her presence behind him, he turns to her and smiles.

"Your servant with more wine," she says in an expressionless, yet amusing manner.

"Perfect timing," he says with a smile.

She pours the wine into his glass and takes a sip from her glass, knowing dinner is close.

She looks at him, but says nothing at first.

Then she says, "Your..."

"Tomorrow, Dani. Tonight, your job is to enjoy the food, get slightly drunk...no, tipsy is a better word, then catch up on your sleep."

She answers, "Okay, but I just want to say your bark is worse than your bite. You are a nice person."

"Bad habit of mine," he says with a smirk.

Bill purposely bought very large steaks, anticipating her hunger. Minutes later, he declares the steaks done so they go to the kitchen ready to consume. Bill pours the first of the red wine into another wine glass, one for each, and they attack the food. Dani said it's to much for her, but once she started eating, she doesn't stop. Her steak, potato, salad and red wine all disappear. He surmises she hasn't eaten a decent meal in quite some time.

Finally, when the food is gone, she looks at him embarrassed as hell.

"I made a pig out of myself. The steak was delicious, but I didn't even try to talk to you," she says to him.

Bill reaches for the wine and pours each of them a half glass, which kills the bottle, then he makes a toast with his glass held high.

"To a great steak dinner, cooked by an expert and assisted by a person of beauty."

She giggles as her eyes fill with wetness.

"Bill, that was a delicious meal and I really want to..." and she yawns.

"Oh shit! I'm sorry I did that to you," she slightly slurs.

"Am I still the boss?" he asks.

"Yup, still the boss," she giggles.

"Stand up, go to the bathroom, then go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

She stands, looks at him with wetness in her eyes, walks around the table, gives him a peck on his cheek, then pads to the bathroom. Minutes later, he sees her go into the office.

For lack of better, he cleans up in the kitchen and makes the place look lived in. Then he goes to the livingroom, sits down with his last glass of wine for the day and slowly consumes it.

Hours later, he stands, pads to the office door, which she did not close, and looks in. Her shirt and shorts are laying on the floor next to the bed and she is on her side with her back to him. The sheet is down to her knees and once again, her nakedness is as plain as night, but also giving him a nice view.

Her butt is inviting and he can hear her quiet snores so he pads to her. Again, he stares at her with lust in his eyes. She's a beautiful girl. Her physical attributes excite him as he absorbs the vision of her teardrop butt.

He pulls the sheet up to her shoulders, pads to the door, quietly closes it and goes to bed, cussing himself for peeking in on his guest. At the same time, he's thinking tomorrow is going to be interesting.

Chapter 5 Learning About Dani

Being an early morning riser no matter when he goes to bed, Bill wakes up at sunrise. He tries, but isn't able to get back to sleep so he gets up. His master bedroom has its own bathroom so he does his morning ritual, puts on a clean shirt and shorts and goes to the kitchen.

The office door is still closed so he stalls for about an hour sipping black coffee, reading the morning news on his tablet and then starts organizing breakfast. With a plan formulated, he goes to the office door and knocks.

No response.

"Dani, wake up."

He knocks again harder and waits. Still no response so he opens the door. She is on her side facing him with the sheet up to her neck. Her eyes are full of sleep, but open and watching him.

He says, "In twenty minutes breakfast will be ready so you need to get your butt out of bed, clean up and meet me in the kitchen."

"Are you always this bossy?"

He pretends to look stern and answers, "Twenty minutes."

He walks away leaving the door ajar. Minutes later he hears the door to the bathroom close, then the toilet flush. Nearly twenty minutes later she walks into the kitchen wearing the same T-shirt and shorts, but this time he notices she isn't wearing a bra and looks just as good as she did yesterday morning.