The Dark Lady Ch. 10

"My god, Clemmie, that's wonderful!"

"Any normal woman my age would be in a dead faint on the floor. He is going to suffer when this is over."

As Clemmie called Greg, I started for the gallery to find Erica. She found me first, shoving us against the wall with a thud. "I hope you notice there are twenty women racing around following up on your latest idea."

"Anything that keeps us one jump ahead of the press is welcome, isn't it?" She looked around and then pressed her lips to mine.

"I was looking for you to talk about another thing we need to do."

"Let's go to my office so I can listen properly." The look she gave me was stern until the end, when her lips turned up in a smile.

HR didn't have a listening couch yet, so she had to settle for another session against the wall. My arms were tight and my tongue wandered over her neck and ear.

"Hmmm. I've never read about an office where the boss gives out kisses and hugs along with instructions."

"You get more than hugs, but that has to wait. I am here with a heads up that the mining thing needs to stand on its own two feet. I already put Clemmie in charge of those land deals, but I want to fold that into something called Parsons Mining Corporation and have her continue as CEO. She's acting like one right now, working with Greg and the police on catching the bad guys who are terrorizing DR and Manuel. The lawyers can figure out the details, but for once I wanted to clue you in early."

"Am I the Director of Personnel for Parsons Mining?" Her knee was threatening my crotch.

"You are if you agree to make Carlos the Director of Security. He needs a promotion too, after that last scrimmage."

She pulled on my ears and mashed her lips to mine. "One of these days, I am going to catch up with that fearsome brain of yours. Just you wait."

"If you see Kim, tell her she is about to be Chairman of a mining corporation."

I went looking for Susan to inquire about the organ preparations. She was behind a closed door, arranging music at the console and making notes, but looked up with a smile and a kiss.

"Poor Karl, he about had a heart attack when he discovered I was going to play cocktail music before dinner."

"You promised no Sinatra, and no Tony Bennett?"

She frowned. "Absolutely. No Vegas tunes at all. What about some Broadway hits? South Pacific? Les Mis?"

"Perfect. Give me a few chords."

She started into 'Younger Than Springtime,' and I could instantly see Mary Martin singing it.

I kissed the side of her cheek, "That will blow them away. See you in a bit."

The look I got from Clara was totally dark, until she too broke into a smile. "The women have a new plan. You are going to be fined for excessive ideas. We haven't decided how much, but it will be substantial." Her armlock was getting stronger everyday.

"You didn't tell me you have been working out."

"We had to. It was humiliating to watch Clemmie taking you down all by herself."

"Now that I have screwed up your media arrangements, where are you going to sit?"

"Karen and I have decided to be the flying squad. Why don't you join us? A press event like this has an ego crisis every minute."

"Can I use your office if I have to deal with a particularly delectable ego?"

"I'm not even going to answer that. Do you have any idea what the press would do with a story about the young sexy President of Parsons getting into a cute blond reporter's panties?"

"Ok. I promise to behave. But I only have that one outfit."

"Save it for tomorrow night at the Inn. Dress down. Pretend you are Steve Jobs. Black turtleneck with pressed jeans. Wear dark glasses and tell them your eyes are sensitive to the floods."

"What if they hit on me?"

"Practice saying no politely."

My next stop was with Selma and Marty, who were headed for the garage to get dressed at home. I got kissed and told to come along. At that very moment, Kim came striding up, full of trouble. I jumped in first saying I needed permission to leave with our Spanish friends for a quick conference.

She gave them a totally hostile glare and said, "If I hear either of you messed around with him..."

To me, she said, with a hug, "I love these new jobs you keep giving me. That's a fine idea to separate the mining operation. See me when you get back."

At the last second, Clemmie barreled through the door with us, explaining that I obviously needed a chaperone. We got in the back seat and she was all over me. But stopped and apologized to the others in Spanish. I just sat there soaking up the bombshell in my arms as they talked over my head. Were the two of us really going to marry and have babies?

She cooed in my ear, "They said it is ok if they are ignored just this once. They understand that El Presidente has matters of state to deal with."

My fingers wormed into the front of her dress and found the appropriate item to pinch. Marty was in the passenger seat watching. "Senor Theo," she said, laying it on, "that does not seem to be a state secret you have in your fingers."

Clemmie batted me away and said, "Carlos called Maria and said that his classmate told the police the guys he rented to had backpacks and accents he didn't recognize. When they brought the car back this morning, they didn't have the backpacks and had him drive them to the bus station. Carlos said the kid is terrified now that he knows he might have gotten Manuel killed."

"I called Greg and he had the FBI bureau chief on the other line. I told him the Carlos info and he is passing that along right now."

Selma said from the driver's seat, "Clemmie, when this is over, if we are still alive, it will make a terrific tv show."

I whispered in Clemmie's ear and she said in Spanish, with great emphasis, "Selma, he says you are going over his knee for thinking negatively, and he is also going to talk to Eduardo about wifely discipline."

It was decided Clemmie and I would get our clothes and come back to Selma's house, after letting them out. She reclined the seat back and smiled at me with a twinkle in her eye. "Still no lack of excitement around you, Theo."

"Can I say something serious?"

She sat up and paid attention. It was amazing what some executive responsibility had done to her.

"We need to be prepared for mischief at the next two day's events. The probability is low, but not zero that one of the clowns involved in the espionage scheme may decide to get violent. Not likely tonight because the press are too convenient a target, but tomorrow night a lot of community leaders are going to be in one room for dinner. Let's keep using Greg and Tom as intermediaries with law enforcement, but when we get back to the office, make a call to Greg and ask him to talk to the FBI about the connection between the mine and our gallery launch. Ask for some quiet surveillance at the dinner."

"Damn, Theo, I am sure glad you are thinking ahead for us." Her smile was gone.

"Now comes the hard part. You have to dress up and be a congenial host this evening, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, without anyone suspecting you are other than a very attractive young woman at an art gallery event."

She dashed into her house, swearing under her breath and returned in a moment with two arms full. I asked her to drive to my place, where we retrieved my new dress down outfit, per Clara's instructions. Clemmie had a laughing fit when I told her what Clara had said. "Ok, Theo. To go with those clothes, you have to stare meaningfully and silently into their eyes until they flinch. When you answer their questions, your words have to be torn off monosyllables with an Irish accent."

After the four of us were dressed at Selma's, Clemmie repeated what she said to me, and the two Spanish women were impressed. "Theo, you can also be from Madrid and answer with one or two words in Spanish. Not enough to give away your lack of accent."

We were back in the gallery at five, where temporary calm prevailed. The invitations said five-thirty, and it had been decided to keep the doors locked until then. The doors to the organ room were wide open and Susan was playing a few chords very softly to calm nerves and warm her fingers.

Carlos, Arturo, James and Mark were standing near the entrance doors. "That was a great job you did today, Carlos. The FBI are involved now and you gave them a good lead. There is a chance those people, whoever they are, might try something tonight or tomorrow night. All of you, keep a sharp eye for anything that does not seem right. If you have to use force, try to get them on the floor and immobilized and shout for help."

Carlos said, "Si, Senor Theo. You are looking good. Very good. Movie star good. These women will be hitting on you."

"That's what I am afraid of. Clara told me to dress down."

"Si. Excelente."

A quiet voice from behind me said, "Theo, you simply can't look that gorgeous. There is someone here you need to meet, but both of us are almost fainting."

I turned to see two smiling faces on two very dressed up women.

"This is Emile Konstanz, the cultural editor of the morning paper. She is a great friend of the gallery and is getting a personal tour."

"You two are the gorgeous ones." I gave Karen a quick kiss on the lips, and tried one on Emile's cheek, but got her lips instead. Soft, yielding sensuous lips.

"Call me Milly. How does one get a date?"

I blushed and they laughed. Karen said, "Theo, you better get ready, most of the women here tonight are going to ask for a date."

"Maybe you could spread the word that I am nasty, egotistical and terrible in bed."

Milly put her arm around my waist and murmured, "What if I said I would take what I can get. Rumor has it there is a secret penthouse up on the bluff where you do your loving."

Clara and Karen were standing there, laughing. I realized what was going on and gently twisted Milly's arm behind her. "They put you up to this. You are testing my defenses against predatory females."

She twisted out of my hold, clasped arms around my neck and plastered her mouth on mine.

I wrapped her in a bear hug and whispered, "Let's do this right. I'm going to give you another hot kiss, then we are going to walk quickly down that corridor behind you, saying we will be right back."

She jerked in my arms and pressed tighter as I delivered the wet kiss. We broke apart, casting hot looks at each other, and skipped into the corridor with the crack about being right back. I turned the corner and took her back in my arms. Her sex was pressing on my erection.

"What would it take for us to actually disappear? I am hotter after three kisses than I've ever been in my life. Those rumors I've heard are really true." She went back to kissing.

Karen appeared and made a sandwich of the three of us. "Now you know what being around him is like. If you want a job and his bed, you have to convince him and his mom that the company needs a full time press relations person."

"Am I allowed to faint? This is the craziest gallery tour I have ever been on."

"No. We need your fine hand in a teasing piece on Saturday morning, and a feature with color photos on Sunday. After that, who knows? I can tell from his eyes that you are making a good impression."

"What about that hard thing making my pussy wet?"

"He is off limits until after the launch."

Karen made both of us stand still while she repaired lipstick damage, and we discreetly made our way back as the doors were opening. Milly squeezed my hand and batted her lashes at me. Damn.

The next hour was fun. Clara and Karen kept depositing breathless females with me, who started out not believing the young guy in jeans was the President, and ended up asking endless dumb questions to try to keep my attention long enough to ask them where their hotel room was. My technique improved with each encounter.

Susan's organ music was totally delightful, and drowned out most of the conversational din. I spied a middle aged woman swaying to "I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy," and went over.

"Hello, I'm Theo Parsons. You are enjoying the songs?"

She held my hand. "This is so romantic. My husband and I went to the show when it was still on Broadway on our honeymoon. I so wish he was here."

"That's wonderful. Are you coming to the recital tomorrow?"

"No, darn it. Tickets were gone by the time I found out."

"Excuse me just a moment." My secret stash of VIP tickets was in my office.

I grasped her hand from the side and pressed a ticket into it.

She wrapped her arms around me and sighed, "I am SO grateful! I've heard Mr. Lagerstrom play at St. John's and he is wonderful. And I read that this is a restored Melchior organ. What a treat."

I kissed her on the cheek and said I needed to circulate. Karen caught me in passing and said, "You do know who that woman hugging you was?"

I shook my head, "She is the senior music critic for the New York Times. That was a recital ticket wasn't it?"

I nodded and got a punch. "Theo, your instincts are right on target!"

I hurried to catch up with Maria and meet some of the Hispanic journalists. She saw me approach and we wrapped arms around each other. "This is Senor Theo Parsons, our leader." There was a lot of rapid Spanish after that. I loved the dark eyes giving me that 'hello there!' look. Maria poked my side. One of the men asked me a football question, "You play with Maria's son, Carlos?"

I said to all of them, "You should pay attention to Carlos. One of these days, he will be first string quarterback for the university and they will win the conference title." I caught Carlos' eye and summoned him over. Maria positioned herself in the middle and said something in Spanish that sounded like "My guys!" Carlos and I butt fisted each other in front of her. It was a fine moment and the press scribbled wildly.

A couple of trumpet calls sounded on the organ and everyone looked for a seat. I waved at Susan and asked her to find the Times reporter if she could.

The ambiance we hoped for was everywhere. Lots of smiles. After dinner, a sideboard offered small glasses of sauterne to accompany strolls around the gallery, which was partially open with new displays but no gold or diamonds.

Kim was pleasantly shooing the last guests out the front door at 10:30 as the rest of us began to relax. I caucused with Carlos and the other security people, who were taking shifts for the rest of the night.

"I'm sleeping down here tonight. As you know, we have a police situation in progress with some vandalism at the mine. The people we think are involved might try something here, so keep on alert."

I got them all to put my cell number on their one button list and said, "Call 911 first and then me."

The women were not happy about my staying at the gallery. I carefully did not pull rank, but accepted a stern edict from Clemmie that she was staying with me to provide backup. She got hugs from the others who went to their beds.

"I suppose you don't have a teeshirt around here, do you?"

"No nude encounter with bad guys?"

"Buster, you are angling for a complete cutoff of privileges."

I got her in a nice tight hug in the hall outside my office. "We've never had a sweep for bugs here, have we?"

She shook her head. I said, "Ok, we are taking the blowup mattress to one of the alcoves out there in the open, and sleeping in our clothes, except you can't wreck that nice dress, so you will have to let me molest you in those fancy undies."

"We are not starting something we can't finish. I'm going to hang the dress up in the bathroom and put on your sweats."

We found a spot and were asleep almost before our heads went down. Sometime still in the dark, there was a creak that woke both of us. I kissed the side of her neck as we lay still trying to identify what we had heard. Suddenly, and it almost lifted us off the air mattress, there was a thunderous chord from the organ.

"It's Karl, he's getting some last minute practice time." She turned into me with a hot kiss. Even though the door was closed, the sounds coming out into the atrium were marvelous. Clemmie giggled and whispered, "Do we need organ sex?"

I eased her on top and we lay there. Listening to our very own organ was almost as good as sex. Almost.

My watch said four-thirty. I reached for my phone and handed it to Clemmie. "Call Susan."

"Hi. No, this isn't an emergency. Listen."

In a moment, Susan was breathlessly asking what was going on. "Your distinguished organist is getting in some last minute practice."

More noise from the phone. "We spent the night on the air mattress in the atrium. I'm on top of him now, listening to the divine music."

"No, I told him we were not starting anything we couldn't finish. Bad guys do not get a sex show. Can you sneak in here and join us?"

I whispered, "Bring coffee and rolls. I'll unlock the door to the garage."

I also got into working clothes without turning on any lights and went cautiously out the front door. Two shadows were immediately upon me. "It's ok, it's me, Theo."

Two of the hired guards, who wanted to know what the organ noises meant. They had been trying to decide whether to call the cops.

I thanked them and suggested a quick break at the coffee shop down the block that has an early open.

A little after I got back inside, Susan's small flashlight was picking out our little bed. She sat between us with the breakfast sack and demanded kisses. "I'm sure he doesn't want us to disturb him. We have to sit and listen."

Clemmie licked her and said, "Tough duty. Kim is going to be pissed."

"What about Karen and Clara? My ass is grass." She giggled and kissed me again.

We snuggled together under the sofa blanket. "God Theo, this is so neat. If there weren't real bad guys around, I'd think this was a college prank."

I asked Clemmie, "How early can you call Greg for an update?"

"Maybe seven-thirty, after he and Tom have had a chance to make their own calls."

I pulled her over Susan's and my laps, digging fingers into the muscled back. "Susan, she dropped me again yesterday. What about Director of Women's Athletics? Make her responsible for team sports. Can you imagine what a Parson's Women's Karate Team could do?"

She bit into my thigh and mumbled, "Next time I am going to do more than drop you."

Susan took the place just vacated by Clemmie, where her sexy behind got attention. "I guess you are fully occupied with the recital. Sound systems always go out just when they are needed, so make sure you have a tech or two around. Are we serving anything to the guests afterwards?"

"Clara says time is too short. We need to clear the building to start preparing for tomorrow, because most of us are required out at the Inn by five."

The music stopped and Susan went to see if Karl needed anything. Clemmie and I packed up and headed to my office.

She nudged my hip and said, "We make a good team?"

I smiled at her, "You know, when I inherited you as a secretary, I thought, 'She is a nice bit of fluff.' "

Another nudge, "I am more than fluff?"

"When you ran that loader up on the trailer the first try, I said, 'That's real fluff.' "

"So you and I are going to make more fluff together?"

"Keep my sweats on and head out to the mine now. Manuel and DR will be out of their minds. You can call Greg on the way and get everyone on the same page. I think the workers are headed home for a long weekend this morning. Stay away from where that package is buried. "

Susan appeared and said, "He's gone back to the hotel for a nap. Come and sit on the bench with me and we will have light music to welcome people to work."

The English teacher was in her real element. Little bits of music found their way to the keyboard, with her fingers flying to adjust registers. After half an hour, I glanced around and almost everyone was in the back, smiling up a storm.