George: Book 05

BOOK V - THE ODD COUPLE

Chapter 1

George ate a late breakfast again on Thursday morning; the memory of the lovely Marge in her snow white under garments haunted him. He got a hard-on just thinking about removing her bra or getting his hands inside her panties. After eating, he tried to call her apartment but there was no answer. The events of this day began rolling and there was not time to dwell on Marge; she was filed away for future reference.

After a successful afternoon meeting, George was invited to join his new customer for dinner and an evening of playing poker. George was not an avid poker player, but he did know the game and enjoyed it on occasion. Anyway, after three strenuous nights in a row, he was a little weary of bar hopping.

George and his companion, Jory, dined at a run of the mill steak house and talked business over dinner. Jory was about fifty, solidly built with steel gray hair. He had owned his own chemical business for twenty-five years. He acted overly self-assured and outgoing, doing most of the talking. George took a liking to him almost immediately.

After dinner, they arrived at a downtown hotel at around seven-thirty; it was just two blocks from George's hotel. George realized that the hotel they were entering was the most exclusive and expensive in the city. They took the elevator to the top floor, sixteen and knocked at the door of 1601.

A man of around fifty opened the door and invited them in. He shook hands with Jory and after being introduced as Bill, he shook George's hand too.

"Jory turned to George, "Bill and I have been doing business for ten years or so. He sells data processing supplies, tapes, disks and so forth. We've become pretty good friends over the years, been to Vegas together a couple of times. Whenever Bill comes to town we line up a game to exchange a little cash and shoot the bull."

Bill had dark black hair, probably tinted. He was also stocky, about thirty pounds overweight, and dressed in an expensive looking suit. He invited his guests to have seats and asked them what they would like to drink.

"Beer, poker and beer," Jory ordered.

George nodded agreement, "Sounds fine with me."

As he waited, George inspected the hotel suite. It was exquisite, furnished very expensively with heavy wooden French provincial furniture, a plush gold carpet and impressionist oil paintings on every wall.

George got up and asked Bill, "This is a terrific suite. Do you mind if I take a tour?"

"No, help yourself."

George had been in the living room and could see a large recreation room off the living room, sunken two steps lower. It had a large television set and a bookshelf full of hard cover books; a card table with four chairs was set up in the center of the room. More paintings adorned the paneled walls.

George poked his head into the kitchen where Bill was opening three bottles of beer on the counter. Then he walked down the hall, past a bathroom and found two large bedrooms. Each had a king size bed, dresser, chest of drawers, television set, and bed table. Paintings covered the bedroom walls too. The two rooms shared another bathroom. George was impressed.

When he got back to the living room, he asked, "Is this the honeymoon suite or what?"

Bill answered, "No newlyweds could afford the tab. It's called the penthouse suite, and it is booked solid year round. You need to reserve it about two months in advance. I never use it except when I bring Kathleen along. She likes this suite better than anywhere else we stay."

Jory explained, "Kathleen is Bill's lovely wife. Will she be here later, Bill?"

"I guess she will. She's just out shopping so whenever the stores close she'll have to come home."

"Who else is playing?" Jory continued.

"Tim, you remember him don't you. I had him in here about a year ago."

Bill turned to George, "Tim's a young salesman that I'm training to be my replacement. He's super, already sells half of what I do."

A knock on the door proved to be Tim. He was introduced to George, reintroduced to Jory, and offered a beer. Bill was anxious to get the game going. As soon as he handed Tim his beer, he herded the three guests into the recreation room and sat them at the card table.

There were no ashtrays, which George was relieved to see. He hated smoky rooms. There were two unopened decks of cards; he picked one up and broke the seal. He un-wrapped the fifty-four cards, removed the jokers and began to shuffle them noisily. Tim duplicated George's efforts with the other deck.

Bill explained the rules of the game to George, "We keep it simple, straight poker, five card draw. There's a limit of twenty on raises and a limit of three raises per player per round. You can play as long as you have cash. We don't intend to cause any enemies here."

George nodded that he understood and they cut for first deal. Tim won with a queen.

The game seesawed back and forth through a series of small and medium pots. The host was the only one of the four who almost never won a hand, yet he seemed to be the player enjoying the game the most. As they played, they talked, about the current news events, about football and hockey, about themselves, but never about business.

The beer flowed freely and it was approaching nine thirty when they heard a key in the door lock and a woman entered the room carrying a couple of packages. She walked over and looked down at the men and their game.

Even though they were in the midst of a hand, Bill jumped up, "Hide your cards." He took the woman by the hand and drew her down the two steps to the poker room.

"This is my wife Kathleen. Dear, this is George Thomas and you know Tim and Jory."

The three men stood up. Jory walked over and gave Kathleen a peck on the cheek. "Hi, Kathleen, you look stunning."

George and Tim just smiled their acknowledgment of Kathleen. She was a real knockout, tall and slim, a gorgeous face and dark hair. She reminded George of Jaclyn Smith of "Charlie's Angels."

Kathleen smiled at the group. "It's nice to meet you George, but you'd better watch out for these sharks. Tim, I like your sport coat. Jory, when are we going to Vegas again?"

She turned to her husband, "Bill I'll be happy to serve the drinks, whenever you need another round."

"We're all just having beer, honey. I think we're ok for now. Why don't you fix whatever you'd like to drink?"

The game resumed and Kathleen went off to put her purchases away; she came back later with a mixed drink in her hand, already half empty. She had changed clothes and was wearing a slinky, blue sheath dress, sleeveless, knee length, with a fairly low scoop neckline. She watched the game for a time and then disappeared again.

George had just won a hand worth fifty dollars when Kathleen appeared with a tray containing four cold beers and two small dishes of peanuts. She served the beer and peanuts and removed the empties. As she moved around the table, she rubbed her leg against the shoulder of each player, including her husband. As she bent to place things on, or take things off the table, she displayed a nice view of cleavage in the front of her dress with a glimpse of her black bra clearly visible. George smelled the bourbon on her breath.

"I'm glad to see we don't have any smokers tonight. I hate it when Joe Bunker plays, Bill. His cigarettes really smell the place up."

"Are you sure that's the only reason you don't like Joe," Bill asked her.

"Are you referring to the night he got too drunk and tried to tear my dress off? No, he apologized for that several times; he even sent me flowers. He was just too drunk."

Bill was carefully counting his money. "Have you got any cash left, Kath? I'm having a really bad night."

Kathleen left and returned with a twenty dollar bill and several ones. "That's it, Bill, when that's gone you're out of luck."

"Yeah, and out of the game too; I've never been out of a game before eleven o'clock in all the years we played these rules."

The game continued and Kathleen left the room again. Jory made some comment about how a man married to a woman like Kathleen couldn't expect to win at poker. They discussed Bill's wife and Bill explained how he had found her working as a secretary in a client's office. He had asked her to have dinner with him four times and been turned down. On the fifth invitation, she accepted and they were married six months, to the day, later.

Jory suggested, "Tell Tim and George about the night in Vegas when Kathleen almost ran the crap table."

Bill folded from the current hand and started into his story. "Well, Kathleen usually likes the blackjack table but the last trip she asked me how to bet at the crap table. So I taught her a little bit, how to bet the win line, bet the odds and manage her money. We practiced it a little together."

"Anyhow, one night while Jory and I were in a poker game, she was bored to death. She had a bad run at blackjack and didn't want to play anymore. She asked me if I thought she was ready for the crap table by herself. I told her, sure."

"Kathleen decided to take a few drinks to steel her nerves and then she goes up to our room and puts on the lowest cut dress she can find. It barely covered anything when she was standing straight up and when she bent over her tits almost spilled right out. It was short too."

The game was continuing and George was in the midst of dealing as he tried to pay attention to the story and avoid a misdeal.

"She gets back downstairs and it's kind of quiet. She goes to a table that's empty and buys a hundred dollars worth of chips. She starts betting ten dollars on the win line, and since she's the only one there, she's the shooter. As she bends over to roll the dice, she puts on a nice show for the table stickman and cashier."

"The table started out cold and Kathleen dropped about fifty dollars. Pretty soon some of the men at other tables spot this great looking broad in a low cut dress and they wander over to watch. A couple of them placed a bet with her and she rolled a seven on the come out. Then she let her twenty ride and rolled eleven."

"There were about six guys watching now, all on the other side of the table so they can look down her dress. She keeps on winning and getting more and more excited. A couple more guys showed up and stand next to her, on either side. They started talking to her and encouraging her. A couple of them were pretty drunk. Kathleen was high from the drinks she had and from the excitement of winning the first time she ever tried the crap table on her own. When she passes again, she turns and gives the two guys on either side of her big hugs, and they take advantage of it to really rub against her."

"So she keeps winning and hugging the guys around her. One guy deftly slips a strap off her shoulder and she leaves it hanging. Another guy grabs a feel of her breast and she doesn't slap his face, just says, "don't do that!" And she downs a couple of more free drinks as she's going along."

"The guy on her left, who seemed to be the drunkest, started telling everybody around that Kathleen was wearing her 'lucky panties'. He asked her what color her lucky panties were and she told him they were lavender."

"Finally she passes for the tenth straight time with two thousand on the line and two more on her number, four; she wins six thousand buckeroos. She's jumping up and down and the guys near her have their hands all over her. The guy who had raved about her lucky panties got down on his knees and reached right up her skirt. He said he had to touch her lavender panties before he placed his next bet. Another guy broke her strap and pulled the front of her dress down. Thank God she had a bra on, although not much of one."

"That's when Jory and I arrived and rescued her. She was ready to bet again. If she had won, I think they would have stripped her and laid her out on the table to take turns. She was pretty plastered, but when she saw me, she realized that she had better let me take her off to bed. She had ten thousand dollars worth of chips."

Jory cut into the story. "Kathleen will never live that night down. She was really flying. When we got to the table, the guy next to her had his arm over her shoulder and his hand in the front of her bra, grabbing her tit for all he was worth."

Bill added, "The guy on the floor trying to reach her pussy was the one who got me. He was getting pretty close when we arrived. And she didn't have on much protection, just a skimpy little bikini panty. I bet he came damn close to getting a finger inside her."

Kathleen called out from the kitchen, "How's the beer situation?" She poked her head around the wall to get their answer.

Bill held up an empty to show her they needed a fresh supply.

"We were just discussing what a fantastic crap player you are, Kathleen," Jory told her.

"Oh my God! You didn't tell them that story, did you Bill?"

Tim spoke up, "It's a terrific story, Kathleen; you shouldn't be ashamed of having fun in Vegas like that."

"I was lucky Bill and Jory showed up when they did. I'm not sure who was enjoying themselves more, me winning ten thousand dollars or the lechers with their hands all over me."

"You know Kathleen," Jory said, "If your husband hadn't been with me when we got to that table and saw what was happening, I'm not sure if I would have dragged you out of there or joined the guys who were pawing you."

Kathleen laughed and left to get the beer and the game continued.

Chapter 2

The game paused when Kathleen returned with cold beer while everyone enjoyed watching her serve. When she got behind George, she pressed herself against his shoulder as she leaned over to put his beer in front of him and retrieved his empty dead soldier. She poured half of the fresh beer into his mug.

The game resumed and George won three hands in a row, but the pots were fairly small. Bill was folding nearly every hand to conserve the little cash he had left.

On Bill's deal, George folded and went to the bathroom as the others were betting the first round. When he came out of the bathroom, the same hand was still going on and the pot growing nicely. Bill had folded again and Tim and Jory were competing enthusiastically. Kathleen had put some music on the stereo and beckoned George into the living room to dance with her.

Since Kathleen didn't have shoes on, George removed his. They danced and George told her a little about himself and how he had ended up in this poker game.

Kathleen smelled of bourbon and perfume; she seemed a little tipsy, stumbling against George twice as they danced. She let him hold her closely and put her face close against his cheek as they danced slowly and awkwardly on the thick carpet.

Before the song was finished, Jory was calling George back to the card table for the next hand. Kathleen stepped back reluctantly and George told her he looked forward to a longer dance later. She smiled in agreement.

On Tim's deal, Bill and Jory seemed to have good hands and George had two small pair. The first round bidding was spirited as Tim folded and the other three stayed in through several raises.

George drew one card, but it didn't match either pair. Bill and Jory also took a card each. When they started betting again, George folded. He figured one or maybe both of them had a straight, flush or full house.

When Jory made his second straight limit raise, Bill threw up his hands and said, "I can't match you, pal; I'm out of capital."

Jory was about to rake in the pot, but stopped. Instead he offered Bill a proposition. "I know the rules say you can only bet your cash on hand, but maybe we can bend the rules for this hand, -- if everyone agrees of course."

"What do you mean?" Bill asked.

"I'll put in my limit, another twenty. If you've got a better hand, you win the pot. If I win, I get a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"I want to feel up Kathleen and take her nylons off."

There was a moment of shocked silence from the group as they digested Jory's preposterous suggestion. Then Bill called to his wife, "Kath, come in here and listen to this asshole."

The gorgeous woman appeared and came down the steps to see what was going on. "Tell it to her, Jory," Bill suggested.

"Well," he started, "Bill is out of cash and can't call my raise. I told him I'd consider the raise called for a favor. If he lost the hand, I could feel your legs and take off your stockings."

Kathleen's eyes registered surprise, but she gave no other sign of reaction to the suggestion. She almost seemed to be pondering it. "What part of my legs?" she asked with a teasing voice.

Jory took a second to respond to the unexpected question. "All of them of course," he continued and George sensed that she might actually be considering the idea.

"You're still upset that you didn't get to take advantage of your chance in Vegas, aren't you?"

"Kathleen, I've had a thing for your legs longer than that. - So what is it? - There would be a tow minute time limit and you could stop me before that if you thought I went too far." Jory was making up the rules of engagement on the fly now as he thought it could possibly happen.

"How much is in the pot?" Kathleen queried.

Tim picked up the money and counted it "One hundred fifteen, -- plus Jory's final raise would make it one thirty five."

"A hundred and thirty five dollars for two minutes under my skirt, that's worth considering, Bill; let me see the hand you're betting." She walked around to his side of the table.

Bill picked up his hand and carefully unfolded it to show her. Then he laid it back on the table, face down. "Well, at least I know you're not bluffing," Kathleen said.

"What do you say?" Jory asked. His voice was a bit slurred too.

"Maybe she doesn't have on her lucky panties tonight," Tim interjected.

Kathleen scowled at him and slapped him on the shoulder; then she shrugged, "What the hell, Jory, you're an old friend. If you want to feel me up, there are worse fates. I could let you have your jollies."

Jory tossed twenty dollars into the pot and looked at Bill. "It's your bet, old pal."

Bill picked up his cards and looked at them again, as if they might have improved with age. "Bet!" he said and turned over a straight, nine through king.

Four sets of eyes turned to Jory in anticipation, George and Tim hoping for a better hand, Bill hoping for a worse one. What Kathleen really wanted was not certain to any of the others.

A sheepish grin crossed Jory's face as he slowly turned over a hand containing all hearts. He pointed the cards at Kathleen and said, "You will be my valentine, lovely lady."

Kathleen let out a gasp and her husband let out, "Son of a bitch!" Then he got up and said, "I'm going for a walk and some fresh air." He left the suite.

Jory looked sheepishly at Kathleen. "We don't really have to cash the bet. If Bill's really upset by it, - or if you don't want to go through with it. I don't want to lose him as a friend, - or you either."

"Don't worry Jory, I know Bill. He expects me to carry it out. We made a bet and lost and Bill Anderson has never welshed on a bet in his life. Anyway, it's just harmless fun." She gave a shaky laugh that tried to support her brave words but fell short of the mark.

"Well," said Jory, "How are we going to do this then? Who's got a watch they can time me with?"

George offered to be the timer. Jory led Kathleen into the living room and directed her to stand in the center of the room. He told her to spread her feet apart about twelve inches apart. He knelt on the floor behind her. George and Tim trailed along and sat on the floor in front of Kathleen.

"Just to give me the lay of the land," Jory said, "What are you wearing under there?"

"You'll just have to figure it out for yourself, and remember, certain areas are off limits. You can't go beyond my legs. I can call it quits whenever I want to."