Taking One For The Team

As he passed the chauffeur, Charlie paused to look for any kind of reaction from him about the obvious difference between his and his "date's" ages. Try as he could, he couldn't notice one. Evidently, he concluded as he settled into the back seat, pairings like this weren't that out of the ordinary in his line of work.

Even on a weeknight, midtown traffic was midtown traffic and the ride to the restaurant took almost twice as long as it would've taken to just walk the ten blocks. If this had been a regular date, Charlie would've just suggested they could cover the distance better on foot, but since he wasn't footing the bill, he might as well just relax and enjoy the extravagance.

The ride was uneventful and except for a few casual remarks about what a nice evening it was turning out to be, it passed in silence. Which was fine with Charlie, who thought that the less he said the less the chance he would say the wrong thing.

When the door opened in front of the restaurant, Charlie got out first and remembered to extend his hand to help Eliza out onto the sidewalk. His mother would be proud of him, he thought, seeing him remember the courtesy lessons she had drummed into him while growing up.

Again, in accordance with the written instructions, there was a hostess waiting for them at the entrance and she quickly led them past the long line of people waiting to be seated and over to what Charlie knew without asking had to be the best table in the house. As soon as they'd been seated, the hostess raised her hand and a waiter who had been standing against a far wall quickly moved to her side.

He introduced himself as Robert and then proceeded to rattle off the night's specialties, offering his opinion on each entree. As he listened, Charlie realized he had yet another problem. The waiter might as well have been speaking another language because he didn't recognize anything he described. He'd known this wasn't going to be the kind of place where you ordered a cheeseburger and fries, but he never imagined it would be this bad. He was going to look like an idiot when he tried to order.

"My oh my, they do all sound so good," Eliza said, drawing the attention of both the waiter and hostess away from Charlie, "but I think I'm really in the mood for something simpler. Do you think you could get the kitchen to grill me a small steak, medium rare, with a bit of mashed potatoes on the side and perhaps some green beans and cream corn?"

Surprise filled Charlie's face, but it was nothing compared to the look on the faces of the man and woman who had been waiting for their order. Their mutual reaction was more akin to shock, as if this had been some roadside steakhouse instead of one of the city's premier eateries. The waiter actually opened his mouth to say something, but a quick look from the hostess held him in check. The special instructions she had been given for this particular table would forgive a multitude of sins

"Very good, Madame," the waiter said, swallowing his disapproval as he turned his gaze back to Charlie and asked, "and you, sir?"

Charlie didn't even have to think about it, quickly saying that he would have the same.

"Excellent," Eliza said, adding that if it wouldn't be too much more trouble, could the waiter check with the wine steward and see if their cellar contained a particular vintage that she'd always been quite fond of?

With his limited knowledge of wines, his usual selections based on what he could afford to bring when he was invited to someone's house for dinner, Charlie had no idea what had just been ordered. The waiter obviously did, because his previous dissatisfaction vanished with the thought of what a bottle that Eliza had ordered cost. That alone would easily triple the gratuity he might have ordinarily expected.

"So Charles," Eliza said as the staff went off to place their requests, "or do you prefer Charlie? Tell me about yourself."

Charlie started by saying he preferred the latter and then told a very simplified version of his life. It didn't take long; in fact he was just about finished when the wine steward appeared with Eliza 's selection, presenting the label for her approval before pouring a small measure into a glass for her to sample. Once she had done so and expressed her approval, the steward filled both their glasses before depositing the bottle in an ice bucket that a bus boy had set up during the interval.

"Try it -- I'm sure you're going to love it," Eliza said, gesturing to the now filled glass in front of Charlie.

Not being much of a wine drinker, Charlie took a hesitant first sip, then a much larger one once he realized that it was unlike anything he had ever tasted before. The label, of which he'd gotten a quick glimpse when it had been presented to Eliza , had been in French, so he had no idea what it was called. All he knew was that it had to have been ridiculously expensive. When he later found out how much it cost, he was glad the company was playing the bill because that single bottle would've eaten up his weekly check and then some.

The dinner conversation, which began to flow much more freely once dinner began to be served, proved, like so much else tonight, to be not what Charlie had expected. On spotting one of the players for the New York Yankees a few tables away, Eliza made the comment that the Bronx Bombers weren't a bad team, but they did finish the previous year three games behind her own Red Sox. Baseball, however, turned out not to be her favorite sport. A hockey enthusiast, she said the Bruins' Stanley Cup win over the New York Rangers had been a high point of her year.

It also turned out that, for someone who came of age during the big band era, Eliza also had an unlikely appreciation for modern music. Something he could hardly say about his own parents, who had been born a decade later. Depending on her mood, Eliza could listen to the Beatles and Beach Boys just as easily as she might to swing or classical music.

She asked a few more questions about his life, including what his plans for the future were. Since he was working at one of the city's premier law firms, Eliza wondered if he had any thought of becoming a lawyer himself. Charlie replied that it had occurred to him, but the cost of going on to law school was prohibitive right now, even with financial aid.

Eliza , Charlie learned, had been a forty-four year old widow when she married the twice divorced and sixteen years her senior Alexander Orzeskowa. They themselves had been childless, but his previous marriages had left him with a son and daughter, now both fully grown. Neither of them, it turned out, had any interest in the family business as anything other than a source of income, so it fell to Eliza to take over operational control of the corporation when Alexander passed away four years ago.

By the time they'd progressed from the main entrée to desert, it was as if they'd know each other days instead of just hours. The depth of their conversation had come that easily.

"Charlie, can I ask a question and get an honest answer?" Eliza asked as she sipped her after dinner coffee.

"Of course," he replied.

"I'm curious as to what your reaction was when they first asked you, or did they just tell you, that you were taking some old lady out for dinner and a show?" Eliza said. "And please be honest, I promise not to be offended if you had a negative reaction."

Charlie took a deep breath and then decided that since he'd been pretty truthful in his answers so far, there was no reason to stop now.

"I thought I was being set up as some sort of sacrificial lamb," he answered, trying to be as diplomatic about it as he could.

"An honest answer," Eliza smiled. "I appreciate that. And if I was in your position, I probably would've felt the same way."

She paused for a moment to take another sip and went on.

"Just for fun, let's look at it from a more common perspective for a minute," Eliza proposed. "Suppose I was a man, instead of a woman, and I said I wanted to have dinner with some secretary that caught my eye, say that stuck-up but pretty thing that sits outside Brendon's office. Do you think that an assumption might be made that I was expecting more than just company at dinner?"

"I suppose so," Charlie said hesitantly, now wondering if maybe he shouldn't have agreed to be so honest.

"So, tell me, and remember that you promised to be honest," Eliza went on. "Did you think that tonight was going to involve more than just dinner and a show?"

'I..." Charlie now hesitated even more, "I... I was led to believe that it was a possibility."

"And did that scare you?" she asked.

"A little," he admitted.

"Only a little?" she smiled. "Then I've got to give you a lot of credit, Charlie, because if I was in your position, I think I would've been terrified. There you are, being told by your boss that he expects you to spend the night with some old lady that you've never even met. And if I know Brendon Harrison, he might have made it sound like a request at first, but he would've also made it quite clear he expected you to do whatever it took to ensure that the old lady was in an agreeable mood come tomorrow morning."

Charlie didn't reply, but the expression on his face told her that she'd hit the nail right on the proverbial head. It was like she'd been right there in the room with them.

"I thought so," Eliza grinned. "Let me tell you something. I've known Brendon Harrison a very long time, and even from the start he's always struck me as an arrogant little prick. But to give the devil his due, he's also very good at his job."

She paused for a moment then continued.

"He can, however, also be more than a bit condescending, especially when it comes to women in positions of responsibility. In his mind, it's still 1961 and all women in the workplace are good for is getting his coffee in the morning and bending over his desk after hours."

Charlie wondered if Eliza actually knew about Mr. Harrison and Paula Madison, or was she just making a general statement. He got his answer a moment later.

"I make it a point to know everything about the people I do business with, Charlie," Eliza explained, "and how their actions might affect my own company. I'm not going to worry if some executive is bopping his thirty-something secretary, but if he's got some underage girl shacked up somewhere, I want to know. By the way, in case you're curious, I'm told that while she might come across a bit cold on the exterior, she's really something once she gets going."

Charlie tried to suppress a grin while he digested that little piece of information. Then he returned to the subject at hand.

"So you always intended to renew the contract with Tyler, Dallas and Harrison? Charlie asked.

"Contrary to what Brendon Harrison and some of the remaining Neanderthals might think," Eliza replied, "I don't make any business decisions without serious deliberation. Since the relationship between your firm and my company continues to be mutually beneficial, I really see no reason to change it."

Charlie felt a small sense of relief, knowing that she was planning to sign the agreement come tomorrow morning.

"And while I'm at it, let me set your mind to rest on that other matter, Charlie," Eliza added. "All I'm expecting from you tonight is a bit of friendly company here at dinner and later at the play -- which you've been providing handsomely so far.

Eliza went on to explain that if she'd accepted one of the partners' invitations, the night would've turned into just another business meeting, with them extolling the advantages of continuing her relationship with their firm. She much preferred to spend some of her leisure time with young people not involved in business, or at least not on a high level, because it helped her view the ever changing world from a younger perspective. Picking one at random was just a little game she had come up some years back, one that had proven to be quite entertaining.

"And I'll let you in on a little secret, Charlie," she concluded, her voice dropping so low that she had to lean close to him so that he could hear. "Old lady that I might be, I can still get laid if I want to, and never have I had to trick anyone into my bed."

-=-=-=

The seats they had for the play were, like everything else tonight, first rate. They were close enough for you to almost feel like you were part of the performance, yet distant enough that you couldn't see the theatrical makeup the actors wore. Charlie wasn't much for musicals but this one did make him laugh. When they had a few minutes to talk about the play during the intermission, Charlie asked Eliza if kids were really like that in the 50s.

"You ask because I'm ancient and I was around back then," She responded, the small smile on her face saying she wasn't being serious.

"I don't think I could ever think of you as being ancient," Charlie said truthfully.

"Okay, that answer gets you off the hook," Eliza replied. "The Sandy Dumbrowski character reminds me of some of the girls in the Catholic school I sent my daughter to back then. They weren't all like that though; there were some girls like Rizzo too. Tell me, if you were back there at Rydell, which one of them would you want to date?"

Charlie took a moment to consider his answer. The actress playing the bad girl, Rizzo, had certainly caught his notice, or to be more accurate, her big boobs had caught his attention. So much so that he took the time to look in the playbill and find that her real name was Adrienne Barbeau.

"I'm not sure," he finally decided to answer.

The answer didn't seem to satisfy Eliza , but the call to return to their seats cut off any further discussion. Dropping the cups from their orange drinks into the trash, they headed back to their seats.

The second act was just as good as the first and Charlie had his eyes totally locked on Rizzo as she sang, "There are worse things I could do". So much so that he didn't even notice Eliza slowly move her hand across his lap, bringing it down and placing her open palm on the inside of his left thigh. Startled by the sudden contact, Charlie almost jumped up out of his seat. Especially since her little finger had brushed against his semi-erect cock.

He snapped his head around, even as Eliza casually removed her hand. Her gaze was still locked on the stage, but there was just the hint of a mischievous smile visible at the corner of her mouth.

"I guess that answers which one of the girls you'd like to date," she whispered just loud enough for him to hear.

The rest of the play passed uneventfully, at least in the audience, but Charlie couldn't believe what Eliza had done. He couldn't imagine any of the girls he'd dated ever doing something like that in so public a setting. Yet once the play ended and they headed for the exits, Eliza acted like nothing had happened.

When they reached the waiting limousine, right where the driver said it would be, Eliza hesitated to climb back in. She seemed to be thinking of something and Charlie thought it best not to interrupt her.

"You know, Charlie, it's turned out to be a very nice night, weatherwise, in addition to everything else," she said, "and I was just thinking that, since my hotel is only four blocks away, why don't we just send this nice young man on his way and walk there ourselves? That is, if you don't need him for a ride home afterwards."

According the instructions in his pocket, a chauffeured ride back to Brooklyn wasn't part of the game plan. Like Cinderella, Charlie turned back into a scullery maid at midnight and his coach turned into a pumpkin, well, a regular taxi cab at least, paid for by the still large roll of twenty dollar bills in his other pocket.

"It wouldn't be a problem at all," Charlie said, stepping over to the uniformed driver and explaining that they were done for the night.

The driver produced a small clipboard with a form for Charlie to sign, after which the twenty-one year old reached into his pocket and came out with a few twenties which he then handed over with the board. The driver was surprised by the amount of the gratuity, but Charlie just smiled. It was easy to be overly generous with someone else's money. Especially since he assumed he'd have to give back whatever was left over when he went back to work tomorrow.

Once the driver pulled away, Eliza took Charlie by the arm and they took their time walking back to her hotel, stopping to look at one attraction or another along the way. Soon enough, however, they were standing in the lobby where his little adventure had started, and it was time for it all to come to an end.

"Well, I must say that you've been a wonderful escort, Charlie," Eliza said, holding each of his hands in one of her own.

"Thank you," Charlie replied, the smile on his face genuine, as he really had enjoyed the evening.

"So, with all your responsibilities to Tyler, Dallas and Harrison faithfully fulfilled," she went on, "I guess all that's left is for us to say goodnight."

"I guess so," Charlie agreed.

"Well, goodnight then, Charlie," she said as she leaned forward and kissed him on his cheek before releasing his hands, "I just want to say again that I've had a very nice evening and I really enjoyed your company."

"Me too," Charlie again smiled.

Eliza turned to walk away and had taken a few steps when she paused. Charlie had been watching her walk away and had yet to move. To his surprise, she turned back around.

"You know, Charlie," she said once she'd retraced her steps, "there really isn't any reason why the night has to end so soon. Unless of course you have somewhere else you have to go."

"No, I don't."

"Well then, would you like to come up for a cup of coffee, or maybe a nightcap?" Eliza asked.

Without even taking more than a moment to think about it, Charlie heard himself say that, yes he would.

-=-=-=

Eliza used a key to open the door to her suite, explaining as she did that since she planned to be out for the evening, she had given Bridget the rest of the night off and Jacqueline had her own room on a lower floor. Once they were inside, she told Charlie to make himself at home while she used the ladies' room.

Taking off his jacket and loosening his tie, Charlie sat down on the couch and relaxed. The night had been such an enjoyable revelation, he had really been disappointed to see it end. Even extending it as little as an hour was definitely worth it.

When Eliza had been gone about five minutes, Charlie began to wonder if maybe he was supposed to be doing something other than just sitting there. He didn't recall her saying whether they were having coffee or alternately a nightcap, although he preferred the former, because a drink this late might make him sleepy on the way home. Then again, since he wasn't going to be driving, what difference would that make?

There was a small bar setup over in the corner, but no facilities that he could see for making a cup of coffee. A suite like this might indeed have a kitchenette; if not, they could always call down for room service. It was better, he decided, to wait for her to come back to settle the matter.

A second five minutes passed before Eliza made her reappearance, coming back into the room through the entrance she had used earlier in the evening, behind Charlie as he sat on the couch.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," Eliza said, catching the younger man's attention.

"Not at all," Charlie replied as he started to rise and instinctively turned in the direction of her voice. "I wasn't sure if you preferred coffee or a drink, so I thought it better to wai..."

As Eliza came into Charlie's field of view, his mind abruptly short-circuited, robbing him of the power of speech. It was as if his brain suddenly couldn't sort out the image before him.