Business Among Friends

JUSTIN

After finishing up some late meetings with several wholesale vendors, I get up, grab my bag, and head out to the gym.

I like to work out after work; it helps to relax after a hard day of meetings. Today I’m just going to work on some cardio and get some miles in.

Tonight is the night I have a blind date with Katie. Trying to take my mind off my nerves, I start to run a little faster. Once I hit the 5-mile mark, I get off. I look at my watch and see that it’s 7 p.m.

“Oh, shit. I have to get ready,” I say out loud.

I make my way to the lockers to take a quick shower. I put on my favorite cologne and put on a nice dress shirt and slacks.

I get into my Toyota Camry and start it up. I drive to the restaurant and park my car. As I climb out, I look at all the cars in the parking lot for the restaurant.

“Wow, this place is jumping.”

There are thirty people waiting to get in. The food must be amazing here.

I work my way to the front where the hostess is standing.

“Welcome to MillerJim’s Bar and Grill. How many in your party?” Christine asks.

“My name is Justin. I’m here for a blind date to see Katie.”

“Okay. KD is waiting for you at the end of the bar,” she says as she points in that direction.

I work my way through a couple tables and make it to the bar. I see a beautiful woman in a black dress sitting with her legs crossed, drinking a glass of wine. I walk up to her.

“Katie?”

She turns her head. “Justin?” she asks.

“Yes, I’m Justin. So nice to meet you,” I say as I hold out my hand.

She shakes my hand with a firm grip. Normally you don’t get a good handshake from anyone unless they’re confident and self-assured.

“I’m Katie, and I don’t believe in a weak handshake. You learn a lot about a person from their handshake,” she says.

“Pleased to meet you, and you’re right about the handshake. I hope I passed the first test,” I say with a small laugh.

“The pleasure is all mine,” she says as she looks me up and down with a smile.

She doesn’t look forty-nine. She looks like she’s in her late thirties or early forties.

She is gorgeous. The dress she’s wearing fits her like a glove. It’s open in the back, showing that she isn’t wearing a bra. I can’t keep my eyes off her, she’s that beautiful.

“You’ll have to excuse me a little, but I’m very nervous right now. I haven’t been on a date in a long while,” I tell her.

“Would you like to get a drink, maybe that will help you relax a little?” she asks.

“Sure.”

“Wine?” she asks as she holds up her glass.

“Do they serve beer here?” I ask.

She snaps her finger and shows the bartender three fingers, then points down. He nods his head. That’s odd, I say to myself. He puts the beer in front of me.

“I have a confession. I wasn’t going to tell you that I’m the manager of the restaurant.

“I too, am nervous as hell about this date. It also has been a while for me on the dating scene,” she says while kind of hiding behind her glass.

“I totally understand,” I say as I hold up my beer.

“Cheers,” we both say as we clink our glasses together.

“Can I ask you a question?” I take another drink.

“Sure,” she says.

“The girl up front called you KD. I thought your name was Katie.”

“It’s both. My name is Katie Dawn Shrives. My employees call me KD for short. But when I hear it, it all sounds the same.”

“Cool. It almost threw me off when I heard it earlier.”

“Okay. The dating app doesn’t divulge last names. So what’s yours?” she asks.

“Meadow. Justin T. Meadow.”

“Meadow? Like the food service Meadows?” she asks.

“Yeah, just like it. In fact, I own Meadows Food Service,” I say. She spits a little wine when she hears that. “So who is your salesman?”

“Bobby. He told me that Robert was the owner,” she says.

“Robert is my father. He retired last year, but we haven’t told anyone about the move yet.

“He thought with me running the company that a lot of our clients would leave, thinking I would make a lot of changes. So when they find out I’ve been doing the same thing as my father, they’ll stay with us.

“Not that I was going to change anything, I support them the way my father ran it. If it works, don’t fix it. That’s why we haven’t made that announcement yet.”

“Okay. I totally understand that. I’ll keep your secret. Although we might have to renegotiate our current contract,” she says with a wink and a wicked smile.

“Are you blackmailing me?” I say, laughing.

“I couldn’t do that. I like what I see,” she says.

“What’s that?” I ask as she pulls my chair closer.

“You hungry? You want to order something?” she asks.

“Sure, I’m starving.” I say as she puts up one finger, and the bartender brings two menus. “So, how’s the food here?”

“It’s okay.” she says.

“Just okay?”

“I’m kidding. The foods amazing, just look at this crowd,” she says with a smile.

I order the 10oz hand-patted burger on an open-wood grill loaded with extra bacon and tomato. Katie orders a blackened chicken Caesar salad that’s huge, but looks good.

We sit there talking for hours. I have my left hand touching her bare back while we talk.

Every once in a while, I can see her nipples poking through the material of her dress. She tries to push them down with her arms without me noticing, but I do.

It’s almost midnight when I notice the restaurant is almost empty. I don’t want the night to end.

“Listen, I really love talking to you. Do you want to come to my place and have a few drinks and talk some more? There are things you don’t know about me that I think you should know,” Katie says.

After a beat, she adds, “I can’t believe I just asked you to come to my house on the first date.” She covers her face with her hand.

“I would love that,” I say.

The bartender puts the bill between us. I reach for it, but Katie grabs it and writes “comp” on the ticket.

“I was going to take care of that,” I tell her.

“Don’t worry. I’ll let you pay next time,” she says with a smile.

She gets up and walks toward Christine, and they talk for a minute. I see Christine give Katie a thumbs up. Katie comes back to me at the bar.

“You ready?” she asks.

“Sure am.”

“Do you mind if you drive? I’m going to leave my car here overnight,” she tells me.

We walk up to my car, and I open the passenger door for her. She gets in. I walk around and slide in the driver’s seat.

“Is this your car or is it a rental?” she asks.

“This is my car. I don’t think I need to flaunt that I have money when a normal car can do the same and run longer. I would rather give the money to my employees.

“I look at it like this: If you work for me, and you are good at your job and sell beyond your numbers, I’m going to pay you like I should.

“They all get three to four weeks paid vacations every year, with bonuses at the end of the year. I’m all about giving to my employees,” I say as I click on my seatbelt.

“Bobby said you got him a week’s package at the Virgin Islands for a wedding gift. Sounds like I need to work for you,” Katie says with a laugh, then clicks her seatbelt.

She tells me where she lives and I start the drive to her house. I look over at her, and she’s watching me drive. She doesn’t watch the road to see if I’m going in the right direction.

I look over at her and see her dress is now showing more leg—almost to the point of seeing her panties, but not quite.

Ten minutes later, we get to her house. I park my car in her driveway and get out, walking around to the other side and opening her door.

She swings her legs around and gets out, pulling down her dress as she walks in front of me.

“Follow me,” she says as she walks away, shaking her hips. I follow her up the stairs. She pulls out a key from her purse, unlocks the door, and walks in. “Pardon the mess,” she says with a giggle.

I look around, and the place is neat and clean as any place would be.

“I live at the restaurant more than I live here. So my place never gets dirty.” She walks into the kitchen. “I don’t have any beer, but I do have a collection of whiskeys,” she calls over her shoulder.

“Whatever your favorite is, I’ll take mine on the rocks.”

She smiles and grabs two rocks glasses, then turns around and grabs a tray of ice out of the freezer. She cracks the tray on the corner of the countertop. Ice cubes pop out.

“Yeah, I’m that old,” she says with a smile. She puts three cubes in each glass and pours the whiskey until both glasses are full.

“Damn, you trying to get me drunk so I can’t leave?” I ask her.

“Yeah,” she says, smiling. She hands me a glass then she grabs hers. We clink glasses. “Cheers,” she says with a wink.

I take a drink. “Wow, that’s smooth,” I say.

“That’s Jim Beam, single barrel, 95-proof. I got it from one of my liquor salesmen for Christmas one year for being one of his best accounts.”

“Nice,” I say.

“You want to come and join me in the living room?” she asks. I nod and grab my glass. She turns around and walks in front of me.

“Damn, she looks good in that dress.”

“Excuse me?” she says, turning to face me with a devilish smile.

“Oh shit. Did I say that out loud?”