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Michael folded the final napkin and placed it on the table. Tonight was more important for him than for his wife, he knew that. This fact made him doubly grateful as he saw her rush in and out of the kitchen wearing her best dress. All of this despite the tensions which had arisen over the past year. As she rushed past him he reached out his arm to stop her. "What, Michael?" she said impatiently "I just wanted to say thank you, Natalie," said Michael earnestly. Natalie raised her eyebrows and moved on. "Michael, he'll be here in 5 minutes," she flung over her shoulder. The purpose of the evening was to entertain his boss Karl. Michael had been working for Karl for three years without significant promotion. He had tried to drop hints about possible promotions but Karl had seemed not to notice. The annoying thing was that Karl was about the same age as Michael and he hated having to kiss his ass. Tonight Michael intended to be more frank with Karl and to ask him straight, man to man, what the situation was. Karl arrived and the three of them commenced with the awkward conversations round about 'such and such' and 'him and her' and 'not those two surely'? Natalie sat everybody down for dinner and presented the starter course. As the three of them ate and drank wine, the conversation inevitably started to become less awkward. By the end of the main course they had finished two bottles of red between them, and Michael went to the kitchen to fetch another, pleased with the way the evening was going. Coming back into the dining room, he heard Natalie start up a conversation with his boss. "So, how come you haven't found a nice girl yet, Karl! I mean you're a prime catch, successful, fit, attractive." Natalie blushed at hearing these words come from her mouth and lowered her gaze slightly. Karl glanced up at Michael slightly uncomfortably, but Michael smiled and nodded to show that he didn't mind. Karl turned back to Natalie. "Well there have been women, significant others. But I've never met anybody that I felt it was worth giving up my freedom for. I have a nice house, nice car, I can do what I want, see who I want, if you know what I mean. I envy you guys though, having something so strong that you committed to stay together for ever." "Maybe you think marriage is a bit old-fashioned?" asked Michael. Karl turned to Michael. "Well, I wouldn't be so arrogant as to say something like that. Perhaps it is for some people. I find that I've changed quite a lot over the years, I don't know if I could promise myself to one person and really be confident that I would feel the same way, say, ten years later." Karl looked back to Natalie. "People change, their needs change." Michael was surprised to see his wife blush again under Karl's gaze, perhaps he had missed something while he was out of the room. Karl changed topic. "Natalie, Michael tells me that you have a degree in, what was it, geography? First in your class I heard." "That's right," said Natalie, smiling self consciously. "So you never thought of turning it into a career, or..." he paused and saw Natalie glance up at Michael for a split second then back at him. Karl looked up at Michael, but could see no recognition of the glance on his employee's face. "Well, I would say that the job opportunities are limited round here," said Natalie. "There's so much pressure these days on couples to both have careers, sometimes I think it was easier in the old days," said Karl to both of them, then turning to Natalie with a concerned expression on his face. "Although I'm not saying that my female employees are any less effective than the males, in fact its often quite the opposite..." "I'm not surprised!" smiled Natalie. "...I just mean that having one person going out to work and another looking after things at home makes a lot of sense to me, I don't think it really matters which does which," said Karl. Hearing this, Natalie briefly raised her eyebrows at her husband and Karl, seeing the rapid gesture, smiled. "What, did I say something contentious?" Natalie looked back at Karl and said, "Not at all," before smiling a forced smile. Michael sat down at the table and nodded sincerely at Karl. "No, I've always appreciated how much Natalie does for me round the house." Natalie laughed at this and said, "Oh, please Michael..." "What?" said her husband, staring at her suddenly, a serious expression on his face as if he was scolding her, although a slight tremor in his voice made the exclamation less daunting. "Nothing" said his wife quietly, picking up the wine bottle. "More wine, Karl?" Michael's boss held out his glass to get a refill. "I'm sorry. I've obviously said too much." He raised his glass to Natalie and then to Karl and smiled. "I apologise!" "No problem," said Natalie, apparently genuinely, "we should probably change the subject." "Well, hold on," interjected Michael, laughing nervously. "I don't want Karl to go away thinking that I send you out to do hard manual labour or something." "No, but you probably wish you could!" said Natalie quietly and with a cold smile. "Oh come on, that's not fair Natalie. I've never asked you to go out and get a career." Natalie's mouth dropped. "Michael, I'm sorry, but that is such a lie!" Karl seemed to be unperturbed by the developing situation. "Hey, come on, let's not get crazy. This balance, the thing you are talking about is one of the hardest things to figure out in... well in life." The couple both stared at their wine glasses sullenly, Michael clearly embarrassed by his wife's outburst and Natalie just angry. Karl continued, "I see it all the time with employees, everybody faces the same problems." Natalie raised her eyes from her glass. "I'm sorry Karl. It's just that Michael has always wanted me to have a career for myself." "Well he probably just wants the best for you!" smiled Karl. "He doesn't want your brain to go to waste." "Absolutely," agreed Michael vehemently. There was a brief silence, broken only by Natalie knocking back another glass of wine. Alarm bells went off in Michaels head as it suddenly occurred to him that his wife was drinking quite a lot. "Besides, it's a big responsibility being the single earner," added Karl, apparently as an after-thought. It took a second for these words to register with Michael, then thinking he should reply he turned back to Karl. "Well, yes it is," he replied quickly, then inwardly cringed, realizing his reply may have shown weakness. Karl turned to Michael as he refilled Natalie's glass. "Do you find that weighs heavy on you, Michael?" "Well not as such..." began Michael "Yes it does!" interrupted Natalie taking her glass from the table. "I know it does. He tells me it does. It's what I've always felt guilty about." "That's not true, Natalie," laughed Michael, a feeling of foreboding coming across him. "Don't LIE, Michael," said Natalie, emphasizing the word by banging her wine glass down on the table. Michael started to panic now, his wife was really getting out of control. He raised two hands at her palm downwards to try and calm things. "Look Natalie, I'm sure Karl doesn't want to hear about all of this." Karl looked at Michael straight in the eyes. "No, no, don't worry Michael, it's fine, it's... " He turned to Natalie. "I actually appreciate the opportunity to learn... I feel it's part of my job to take an interest in the welfare of my..." He paused and turned back to Michael before he said, earnestly, "Well one of my most important members of staff." Michael blushed at this, everything suddenly seeming to fall back into place again. "It's the decisions," said Natalie suddenly, her voice slightly slurred. Karl turned to the woman, and admired her jet black hair whilst keeping his glowing smile fixed. "I'm sorry, what did you say Natalie?" Natalie looked up earnestly at Karl. "The decisions. He doesn't like having to make decisions." Michael cringed, realizing his trouble had only begun. "He seems to always want ME to decide what we have to do, even what HE has to do..." Karl smiled at Michael knowingly. "Well I guess he makes enough decisions at work for a lifetime." Michael half-sniffed, half chuckled as he nodded his agreement. "Does he?" asked Natalie. "I mean does he really? Doesn't he just do what you tell him to do?" Karl's eyebrows raised as if negotiating a tricky situation. "Well, I... I wouldn't say that, I'd say that he makes a lot of decisions at work." "Natalie, what are you saying?" laughed Michael. "Perhaps you've had too much wine." Natalie glared at her husband reproachfully then turned back to his boss. "But really, Karl, I know he has to work out how to do things, but from what I hear, in the end you tell him what he has to do, am I right?" Karl fixed his expression on Michael now, apparently slightly amused. "Well I suppose you do have a point there, Natalie. Perhaps I should cut his pay!" Michael laughed at the lame joke, wishing that the earth would open up and swallow him. "And yet he gets back here and it's always 'Natalie, why do I have to decide everything!', 'Natalie, I wish you'd accept more responsibility!'" Despite his anger and embarrassment, Michael was actually very impressed by the way his boss was reacting to the situation. He hadn't looked ruffled at any point, even though Natalie was really making a scene now. "Look Natalie, it's very difficult for men these days," said Karl. "Oh, I'm sure it's terrible!" sniggered Natalie. Karl laughed with her for a moment then carried on. "No, it really is! I mean at work, we are expected, no required, to treat women as our equals..." "Are you saying that is wrong?" interrupted Natalie. Michael tried to find a way back into the conversation in but his boss and his wife seemed to be ignoring him. "No, not at all! Of course that's the way it should be, but then there are other women who like to maintain a more... traditional role." "Like me for instance?" "Well, I don't know, possibly," Karl continued diplomatically. "That's not for me to say, is it?" "I think that..." began Michael. "So what ARE you saying exactly?" continued his wife to Karl, cutting off her husband. "What I'm saying is that your husband spends all day at work surrounded by career women who expect, no demand to be treated as equals, and then he has to switch every-time he comes home through the door. Maybe sometimes he... lets say... forgets. I mean it's not so easy." Natalie was impressed by Karl, by his grasp of the situation and how he was dealing with their tiff, as if the normal rules of society had been written for a lesser man. It felt like it was the first time she had met someone who got right to the issue, could really see what the problem was. She found herself transfixed by the way his large hands moved confidently through the air as he spoke. Michael looked on miserably as she stared at Karl, eyes wide. Michael was trying to remember a time when he had felt more humiliated. Spurred on by his new fan, Karl continued. "I think the traditional roles of man and woman are really changing, lets say evolving. I've seen plenty of couples where the women are going out to work while their husbands stay at home, looking after the children." "I've heard a lot about women like that, but I've never actually met them," said Natalie Michael saw his opportunity to contribute. "Yes you have, what about Cathy at the office? Her husband has been looking after the children at home for two years." "That's right," confirmed Karl. "Cathy?" asked Natalie trying to place the name, then she remembered. "Oh, her... and him, well yes... but... well!" Karl smiled. "What do you mean?" Natalie stared at her glass and rotated the stem in her fingers. "Well, I don't like to say bad things about people... but..." She raised her eyes to Karl. "That guy is such a drip, don't you think?" "Steve is actually a very interesting and intelligent guy," said Michael. "He is," agreed Karl then started to chuckle. "But I sometimes wonder who wears the 'trousers' in that relationship." He emphasized the word trousers by making inverted commas in the air with his fingers. "And who wears the 'skirt'!" Michael laughed at his boss's joke even though it inwardly terrified him. He looked over at his wife, Natalie was also laughing. Perhaps he was safe. The moment ended and the three were silent for couple of seconds. Natalie got up from the table and sighed a contented sigh. "Yes. Michael would like that." Karl looked at her confused while Michael tried to die. "I'll get the desert," said Natalie as she went to the kitchen. Michael sat there for a second feeling his face burning red while he felt Karl watch. He decided he needed to get out of the room. "I'll clear some plates!" In the kitchen, Natalie was scooping cream onto the side of three chocolate cakes. Michael walked over to her and whispered, "What the hell are you doing? What you just said then, I think he heard you know?" "Oh don't worry, Michael," she whispered back. "You think he cares? I think a man like that has got more interesting things to worry about than your panty collection." Hearing those words made Michael feel as if he had been punched in the stomach. "Look, please, I'm begging you Nat, I need this promotion, you need me to get this promotion." Natalie rounded on him defiantly. "No I don't, I don't care!" "But the pay is a big increase." Natalie looked at her husband with despair and leaned closer to hiss at him. "How many times do I have to tell you Michael, I don't care about your money." She leaned still closer her eyes half closing in contempt. "Perhaps you're saving up for a little Gucci dress, or some expensive heels or something?" Michael's mouth opened and shut like a fish. Natalie didn't wait for a reply. "I'm going through." And walked back into the dining room. Michael took a couple of deep breaths and followed her. Time to change the subject. He needed to change the subject. What would he talk about? Golf. He knew Karl played golf, that must be a safe subject. He tried desperately to drag something up about golf from his memory but before he could get anything Karl started speaking again. "You know, you can make jokes about that kind of thing, but when I was at University I used to share a house with a guy called Simon who really was a transvestite!" 'Oh shit,' thought Michael to himself. Natalie looked at Karl with wide open eyes, apparently in shock, mock shock as Michael understood, as she took her spoon from her mouth. "Really?" then she turned to her husband. "Isn't that extraordinary Michael? A transvestite!" Karl continued his story. "Well we didn't know when we moved in with him, but one time not long after we had moved in together, we got back early from a weekend in the mountains and there he, well 'she' was on the couch watching Breakfast at Tiffany's." Karl smiled at the memory. "I'll never forget, there were two Audrey Hepburns in the room, one on the screen and one on the couch, complete with little black dress, high heels, long gloves and cigarette holder!" Natalie slapped her hands on the table and laughed loudly at this, too loudly. Michael tried to laugh and found he couldn't. In fact he found he could barely smile any more. Karl went on... "I remember, I looked at my other flat mate, David, the one I had been away for the weekend with and we looked back at Simon. Simon stopped the movie and looked up at us and I remember he said, 'OK guys, I'll be out of the house in a week, I'll pay rent until you can find a replacement. Just don't judge me, OK?' But my friend David, he just sat down next to him on the couch and said, 'Your mascara's running' and then he picked up the remote and turned the film back on!" Natalie was smiling at the nice story. "So did you stay with him for long after that?" "Oh yeah, another two years, and it was great for a while. But then... well." "What?" asked Natalie apparently fascinated. "Well it all got a bit weird. Weird and... and intense really, I... I don't think this is the place to talk about it." "No, please go on Karl," encouraged Natalie, "we're very open minded about these kinds of thing." She turned to her husband who was glaring at her. "Aren't we Michael?" Michael felt that he needed to deny that. "Well, I mean..." He looked up at his boss who was staring at him. "Up to a point..." His boss continued to stare at him, waiting for him to finish or continue or something while his wife just smiled at him deliriously, Michael cleared his throat before finishing, "...obviously." Karl looked slightly confused. "Well... uh... OK. It's a very strange story though." He turned to Michael. "And, I know I can trust you to keep it quiet. I haven't told anybody else at work, so..." Michael interrupted him, slightly annoyed, "Oh come on Karl, you know you can trust me by now." Karl looked guilty. "I know, I know. I'm sorry. But when you hear the story....well, OK. One weekend it was Simon's turn to clean the house, and anyway, he had bought himself this French maid's uniform." Karl turned directly to Michael. "You know that these cross-dressers seem to love that kind of thing, don't you?" Michael swallowed and tried to chuckle, "Um... I guess" "They certainly do," said Natalie, not looking at Michael. Karl looked at her quizzically. "Go on, Karl" "Well anyway, he was prancing about the house in this uniform, and we decided to play along, I mean we were never really bothered by his dressing, it was just a joke to us, at the time. So we kind of pretended to inspect his work. We followed him into the bathroom and David said 'This mirror isn't clean enough Simone.' (that's what he liked us to call him, Simone) Anyway, he started to polish the mirror like there was no tomorrow, I mean until it was perfect, then he turned back to David with this huge smile on his face and said, 'Is that better, sir?'" Natalie nearly spat out her wine laughing, Michael tried to join her. "And so we said, trying not to laugh you understand, 'Yes that's much better Simone, thankyou.' Anyway, to cut a long and very funny story short, it turned out that he loved being set little tasks to do around the house. In fact, we made sure he did all the cleaning from that day on!" "NO!" said Natalie, incredulous. "I'm deadly serious, Natalie. Every Sunday, we would just sit around while Simone ran around in his little uniform, fetching us the newspapers, making us breakfast, and then she, sorry he, would clean the entire house, the bathroom, the kitchen, even our bedrooms." "Your bedrooms, that's incredible." Natalie looked at her husband. "I would kill for an arrangement like that." She turned back to Karl. "Did you have to black-mail him or something?" "No, it was a lot weirder than that. We thought we were going to have to threaten him with telling everybody on campus, not that it was the biggest secret you understand. After a few Sundays, he started complaining, getting lazy, not doing our rooms properly. Anyway, we got back from the bar this one time, we'd had a few drinks, well a lot of drinks actually. He was sat there in his uniform smoking and watching TV. The house was exactly the way it had been the night before, a BIG mess. Simone said something about not doing all the work anymore, and, well we'd had a bit to drink you understand, well David grabbed him and pulled him over his knee and said, 'We'll see about that,' and just gave him this hard long spanking." Natalie was transfixed by the story. "Oh, my god! what, on his ass?" "Well he was wearing some of those stupid frilly panties, so through those." "And what did he do?" "Well I couldn't believe it, I thought we were going to get in real trouble, I mean like real situation. He wailed a bit, and even started to cry a bit, but a few minutes later he was no his knees scrubbing the toilets!" Natalie laughed turned to look at Michael, who was breathing heavily. "Isn't that amazing Michael?" "Yes, incredible," said Michael quietly. "From then on we realized that we had to supervise him a bit. I mean not much, but we arranged it so that we sort of inspected his work at the end of the Sunday. We usually found some little reason to punish him, if it was me it was spanking, sometimes with David I got the impression there was... well... other stuff going on." Natalie's brain raced as she wondered what 'other stuff' could mean but it was the idea of getting him to clean the house which really got her. "Every single week?" she asked. "Don't you think that's a bit cruel?" said Michael quietly. The other two looked at him questioningly. "Basically taking advantage of him like that?" "Well actually, I think he really liked it you know, he certainly got... well... hard when we spanked him. We use to tease him about that." Natalie leant back on her chair. "Oh my god! So I'm trying to picture it, this is like three boys, 18, 19, one of them dragged up in a French maid costume." "He was pretty convincing, kind of cute!" chuckled Karl. "How big was he?" "Oh, I don't know, not very tall, 5-8 or something, and skinny." Natalie smiled at her grey-faced husband. "Like Michael, you mean." Karl looked at his employee. "Well... yes, I suppose." Then he added jokingly, "But I don't think Michael's got a French maid's uniform hidden away anywhere!" Natalie smiled at Michael then at Karl. "Oh no, when Michael cross- dresses he doesn't usually get past the lingerie!" Both Natalie and Karl laughed at this hysterically, while Michael desperately tried to laugh with them. He felt slightly faint and rather sick. Natalie started again. "I want to get this picture right in my head, he's over the knees of one of you two, being spanked?" "Yes. If he tried to pretend to fight one of us would hold his arms while he was over the other's knees. But I think it was the ordering around that really kept him under control. He really got off on being told what to do." Natalie turned to her husband and said in a patronizing tone. "You mean having other people making decisions for him, I know somebody else like that!" Michael glared back at her. "Well it's hardly the same." he muttered. "Why not?" asked Clara. Karl answered her question. "Well Clara, I think you'll find all men have slipped into a pair of ladies stockings and high heels at least once in their life, I certainly have on several occasions, but this was a different level." Clara stared at Karl. "You've dressed as a woman?" "Of course, any man who tells you he hasn't is probably lying. I'm sure Michael has too, haven't you Michael?" Michael gulped, he was shocked his boss had said this and now he was unsure how exactly to answer. "Yes, well... sure. A couple of times," he muttered. Natalie stared at him and started giggling. He turned red and looked at her. "What?" Karl regained the conversation. "But Simone, he would do it every week, sometimes more than once a week. You're going to think this is strange, given that I've told you how we basically ended up using him, but I actually really respected him for that you know. There are so many people who would just suppress feelings like that and not act on them. I'm sure that most people are sexually frustrated in one way or another because they are just too afraid to act out their fantasies. Actually I think it's one of the really unhealthy aspects of our society." "What, people not doing what they feel like when it comes to sexual urges?" asked Natalie. "Yeah," shrugged Karl, "exactly." "But if they're married and have made a commitment to each other and their fantasy involves someone else or something the other person is not into?" "Look, Natalie, I have seen far too many people ruin their lives by 'doing the right thing' through some misplaced sense of responsibility." He turned to Michael. "There are some feelings that you can't suppress, and you'll probably just end up putting yourself in an early grave if you do try and suppress them." A naughty smile spread across Natalie's face. "So what's your 'thing' Karl, you've obviously spent enough time thinking about it!" "Who me? Oh I'm afraid I'm a bit boring in the end. I'd say I've tried things, experimented, but when it comes down to the crunch, there's nothing that does it for me like taming an attractive, intelligent woman." "Taming!?" cried Natalie with an expression of disgust on her face- "Sounds like you're talking about an animal. What exactly do you mean 'taming'?" "Depends on the woman. Usually it just means seducing, but I like passionate women who want... who need to be dealt with... passionately. I like to know that if I am with a woman, she only has time for me." "Oh, so you're the possessive type," cooed Natalie. "Doesn't that just mean you're insecure?" Karl grinned at the rude question. "I'll admit that I'm a control freak, perhaps it's neurotic, but it's not really insecurity." Karl's face cracked into a jokey smile. "Usually I prefer brunettes as it happens!" Natalie unconsciously ran her fingers through her jet black hair and blushed slightly as Michael watched in horror. Karl turned to Michael. "But don't worry Mike, I think you're safe!" Natalie sighed and smiled then leaned over to her husband and looked at him in the eyes. "Well sometimes I wish I could get rid of him, but unfortunately, I love him." And she kissed him on the forehead. Michael was not expecting to hear this from his wife, she had been flirting almost openly with his boss, but when he heard these words after the week of arguments they had had with each other he was filled with emotion. He shook slightly as he replied. "I love you too, Natalie," he said, his voice cracking with emotion. "Told you!" said Karl, warmly. "I guess I'll have to keep on looking." All three of them started laughing at this. The tension in the room suddenly dropping for the first time in what felt like hours to Michael. Karl took another sip of wine while Natalie refilled her and Michael's glasses. Karl put down his glass. "Yes, so my 'thing' is very boring, but you'd be amazed how many people are into the same thing as our friend Simon." Karl turned to Michael. "Pete Rivers for example." Now it was Michael's term to stop himself from spitting his wine out on the table cloth. "W-what, Rivers?" he spluttered while Karl nodded gravely. "He's into dressing as a woman?" Michael turned fully to address Michael conspiratorially. "No, he's not one of them, he's into them." "Do you mean this guy from the contract?" asked Natalie. "The very same. Our biggest customer by a long way. Michael manages his account, but it's me who had to entertain him when he was in town, and the only thing he wanted to do as soon as work was over was to go that girly-boy revue down in that nightclub by the sea front." "What, 'The Pink Flamingo'?" asked Michael. Karl looked astounded. "YOU KNOW IT?!" Michael looked uncomfortable. "Well, I heard about it..." he spluttered. "That place is something else." He turned to Natalie. "I have to admit, I'm not normally freaked out, but I had the weirdest time there." He turned back to Michael. "Some of the acts were extremely disturbing, those girls - boys whatever you want to call them." Winking at Natalie he added jokily, "Took me right back to my student days." Michael desperately wanted to know more about saw Pete Rivers - the rude, macho, nasty piece of work he'd been having to ass-kiss for months. For the past year, his job had consisted almost entirely of getting this guy to re-order for the next year, preferably increasing his numbers. He had only spoken to him earlier that day and was confident of getting his signature for the next year's contract over the weekend. "So Rivers, he was into it?" "Michael, if you had seen some of those girls, you might have been interested too, but yes, he was really into it." Karl leant forward so that he could speak more quietly for effect. "And let's just say he arrived with me, but left with someone else..." Natalie said, "What, he went off with a... In front of you? Wasn't he embarrassed?" "Hardly. He let me pay for it." "What?" spluttered Michael. "Oh, I offered." Natalie looked disgusted and Karl put his hands up in the air. "Yes, I know, I know. What do you do though? Listen." Karl's face became extremely earnest. "It would not be an exaggeration to say that with the money tied up in the new expansion, the new site, I'd have to sack more than half the work force without a renewal of the Rivers contract. He is a nasty piece of work, he likes to feel that he is manipulating people." 'Isn't that what you said you like to do?' Ttought Michael to himself. Karl continued, "Personally I would never go to a sex worker, because I'd be scared of exploiting them, but this girl-guy-tranny-whatever seemed to enjoy his work and anyway, this contract..." "Hold on, you said, 'some of them.' Don't you think they're all being exploited? All kinds of prostitutes?" asked Natalie. Michael looked at her and hesitated before saying, "Not all of them. I think there are a minority that... how can I say... get a kick out of the situation." He saw Natalie's eyes light up with outrage and he held his hands in the air again. "Of course for the majority it's a living hell, but some of them.... Anyway, I'm not going to feel guilty because I can tell you right now I have never paid for sex for myself. I have met a few though. Once when I was in the city, I hired one for the night, just to talk to." Natalie stared at him. "Oh, and you slept on the couch?" "Yes! As a matter of fact I did!" Karl leant back, proud with himself. Michael was finding out more than he felt he wanted to know about his normally distant boss, but he felt that he ought to act as if he was interested in what he was saying. He WAS actually interested, but Karl's openness also made him feel uncomfortable and vulnerable, vulnerable because he was worried that he might be expected to tell all about his private life, which of course he could not. Karl might then think that Michael had even dirtier little secrets to hide, which of course he did. 'Anyway,' thought Michael to himself, 'let's try and feign interest.' "So when you were... chatting... with this lady of the night," he said. "She told you that she enjoyed her job?" "Yes, she was an expensive one of course, so that probably made a big difference." Natalie seemed to be oscillating between horror and interest. "what I've never been able to understand is how those girls deal with it when they have to let some fat, sweaty, ugly old man put his hands all over them, inside them.. uurgh." Natalie shivered. "That's what I wanted to know. So I asked her. She was in her mid twenties, was called Lucy and she was extremely attractive." Michael chipped in, "Lucy's normally quite a posh name isn't it?" "She was very well educated actually. She said that firstly, because of her fee, they generally turned out to be clean, I mean washed. But, I said, still, it must be pretty strange. Anyway, she went a bit quiet for a while, so I just plied her with wine to see if I could get her to talk a bit more, I remember, she preferred wine to champagne, that really surprised me about her, and the bottle she ordered from room service... well, she really knew her wine. Anyway, she became more talkative later on and then I got a bit more out of her. It turned out that she had been in an S&M relationship when she had been very young with one of her father's friends, and she had ended up going round at parties and servicing old men by the dozen." "Urgh. And enjoying it? I always knew the upper classes were sick," said Natalie "Well she said that the humiliation did it for her. She said that everybody in the room could see that she was disgusted at what she was about to do, but they could also see that she was so easily turned on by anything sexual that they knew that she was a slut (her words, not mine) and that they knew that she knew that they knew etc. The whole thing only made her think about sex more and get more excited at being used by those old men. She said that she felt helpless and that turned her on." "So it's the same thing as before, she enjoyed being told what to do," said Natalie. "Yes, but it was her own reaction to the situation that turned her on more. She was a slave to her own libido as much as she was a slave to the men," said Michael, his speech now slurring slightly. He suddenly became self conscious about his familiarity with the emotions. 'Fuck it,' he said inwardly to himself. 'Karl doesn't want to promote a pussy,' he thought using some drunk logic and carried on. "That made her want the men more, because that was an act of surrendering to her urges, which is the ultimate turn on." Looking up, he noticed that the other two were staring at him in surprise. "What?" "Do you have something that you would to tell us about Michael?" chuckled Karl. "Oh, Michael has all sorts of hidden depths," smiled his wife winking at him. "I'm coming to the conclusion that everybody interesting that I have met in life, certainly my closest friends, each of them has some kind of... I don't know... how can I put it... trait or something that they do that a bishop would find obscene..." said Karl smiling. Natalie started laughing. "I like that," said Karl, nodding at Michael. Natalie was giggling good naturedly. Michael was gratified to see his wife so glowing like the first time he had met her, especially after the last months of fighting. Karl turned to her. "So I'm doing all the talking, what about you Natalie? What turns you on?" Michael's relief died away at this. 'Please don't say anything,' he thought to himself. He was less bothered about his wife letting his boss know what turned her on than the fact that if she did, it would be his turn next, and then... Natalie smiled at Karl with a naughty expression on her face. "AND Why should I do that?" she said playfully. "Oh come on, that's not fair. I told you!!" joked Karl. "Hardly. The word 'taming' is about all we know. What do you do, I mean do you dress up like a lion tamer and approach her slowly with a whip in one hand and a chair in the other?" Karl thought that this was very funny. Natalie was in one of her sarcastic moods Michael thought to himself. It was a very risqu? conversation and he was glad that his wife had re-assured him with that kiss. She continued, "Or do you put a collar and a leash on her and make her sit up and beg in the garden?" Karl laughed out loud at this, he seemed to like that one. "Natalie, you're kinky! If I'd told you I'd done the second one and I'd like to try the first, you wouldn't believe me!" "No I wouldn't." smiled Natalie. Karl shrugged. "Anyway you're avoiding the question! Come on, tell me!" 'Don't say anything darling, you're doing just fine,' thought Michael to himself. "Well..." began Natalie, sounding like a kid in a sweet shop about to order. "Ah, don't be mean to her Karl, she doesn't have to tell you anything!" spoke up Michael. Natalie waved her hand at him, smiling. "No, no, it's OK darling, I think it's funny actually." She turned to Karl. "Well, you know, the usual." She shook her head from side to side as she spoke as if she was talking about curtains. "Strong confident men..." "Strong... confident..." repeated Karl, pretending to write the words down in an imaginary note book. Natalie laughed. "Stop being silly," she slurred. Michael rolled his eyes to the ceiling, his wife was really drunk now. "Strong confident men, and then a few fantasies, you know. The usual. Being rescued from a burning building by a nice young, strong, preferably topless fireman." They all laughed, she went on. "You know, all the usual stuff, the odd little rape fantasy..." Michael did spit out some of his wine, and then felt around the table for a cloth while he tried not to choke on the rest. "Hold on, rape fantasy?" said Karl. "Oh, you know, obviously it's silly, but the idea of being forced by an attractive stranger, or somebody I saw on the street." Michael remembered the nights, long ago, the aggressive sex that had turned them both on so much. He suddenly saw an opportunity to prove his manliness to Karl. "I thought you'd grown out of having me bend you over picnic tables in dark parks, darling!" "Wow!" said Karl, shaking his head in genuine surprise. Natalie raised her eyebrows at him and nodded. The she turned to Michael. "Well I can't really take you too seriously as a rapist anymore, can I darling?" "What do you mean?" said Michael, offended. Karl sniggered at his hurt expression. "Well, we've been married for 4 years! And besides..." "What?" asked Michael, Natalie turned fully to face him. "Well... you know!" she said conspiratorially. Michael felt empty as he thought about the wild sex that they used to have. It was the first time it had occurred to him just how much their sex life had deteriorated since then. Karl turned to Michael. "And what about you, esteemed colleague! What gets you all hot under the collar?" he said winking at Natalie, who giggled. Michael got up from the table shakily. "Oh, I don't know," he tried to say as dismissively and finally as possible. "I'll go and put some coffee on." "Ah hah! trying to wriggle out of it I see," croaked Karl, sounding like a pirate for some bizarre reason which Natalie found hilarious, of course. She looked at Michael searchingly with a glint in her eye, her arms folded. He met her gaze and acknowledged it with a short lifting of his eyebrows, pretending not to understand the significance of her stare. "Do you both want coffee?" "I want brandy!" declared Natalie loudly. "And Karl will have some too, won't you Karl?" she said to her new drinking buddy. "Well, if you're going to have some, it would be rude to say no..." "Yes it would," nodded Natalie, still staring at her husband, waiting... "Right then," said Michael, his quiet voice contrasting with the mood of the other two. "I'll see what I can find." He smiled and walked into the kitchen. Once through the door he took a deep breath and started to make the coffee as slowly as possible. He could hear giggling next door as they made each other laugh in turn, then after a minute or so it went quiet. Michael put his ear to the door and tried to hear what was going on over the noise of the coffee machine. He heard them whispering to each other, were they talking about him? Then he was relieved to hear more giggling. He heard Natalie coming to the door just in time for him to get out of the way and stand at the coffee machine. She walked into the room and came up from behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Are you alright my love?" she whispered in his ear. "Sure!" he smiled. "Just making the coffee." Michael closed his eyes as his wife nibbled his ear lobe. "What are you going to say?" she asked. Michael's eyes opened and he stared at the ceiling. "What do you mean?" Natalie's hands moved inside the front of his trousers and rubbed him slowly through the thin satin of his very pink, very feminine panties. "You know what I mean. It's your turn darling!" "I really don't know what you mean!" he lied. "Come on Michael, you know what I mean. It's your turn to tell us about what pushes your buttons!" "Oh that stupid conversation. I can't be bothered with that," said Michael, feeling himself get hard. "Do you like this baby?" whispered Natalie in his ear, rubbing her fingers up and down his cock. "You know I do," breathed Michael pushing himself against her hands as best as he could. "I think you should tell him..." "Tell him what?" asked Michael dreamily. Natalie increased the pressure on his penis. "Oh you know what I mean, about your taste in underwear." Michael maneuvered away from his wife so that he could face her and her hands were out of his trousers. "Are you mad?!" he hissed furiously. "He obviously won't mind, he told that story about his flat mate. You heard what he said, he admires people who have the balls to do their own thing. Anyway, after all this build up he'll be able to tell if you are lying if you say something else, and then he'll just think you're a coward!" "Natalie, that's my BOSS in there! Your flirting is one thing..." "Flirting?!" said Natalie, putting her hands on her hips and setting her eyes. Michael couldn't believe she was acting surprised about this but he didn't have time to have that argument. "Whatever, look I'm not telling him about..." He waved his hands around in the air. "Any of... that... stuff... That's between me and you." "I wish it was between you and you," spat his wife at him. "I can't believe you accused me of flirting," she hissed. "Of course you were flirting! God you were oozing all over each other!" he whispered. Michael suddenly realized he needed to diffuse the situation "But look, I don't care about that." "You say I'm flirting with your boss and you don't care?" "No, I didn't mean..." "I bet you'd encourage me to sleep with him if it'd mean that you got this fucking promotion!" his wife whispered venomously. Michael felt them rolling down the hill towards another row. He knew the routine so well by now, and he knew that nothing could stop it from happening. "Natalie!" implored Michael. "Please, I love you! Don't say things like that, I would never want you to sleep with another man." Michael watched his wife stalk around the kitchen opening cupboard doors and slamming them shut again, having forgotten where the brandy was in her alcohol fuelled rage. He knew better than to try and talk to her any more right now. Finally she found the bottle and stormed towards the door, putting her hand up to open it and then pausing and turning to Michael. "If you love me so much you'll tell him about your stupid dressing." "W-what..." stammered Michael, failing to see any connection. "Tell him! Be a man for once. Prove to me that you love me, Prove to me that you care more about me than a fucking promotion. Me! Your Wife! Remember?" "B-but Natalie, darling, that doesn't make any sense." "Yes it does. You've treated me like dirt for months, god knows why I didn't walk out a year ago. It's just been 'promotion this' 'promotion that' It's been HELL, Michael! You don't seem to care about my feelings anymore." Michael felt like the floor was dropping away from him. Natalie took a step closer to him and her voice became softer. "Michael, I need to know that you'd risk losing everything for me." Michael was horrified to see his wife was deadly serious. "I really need to know. In fact... yes. I've had it. I'm at the end of the line. If you don't tell him, I'm moving out first thing in the morning..." Michael's throat ran dry "...Natalie, I-I" "...and I won't come back. And you know that I'm 100% serious, don't you?" Michael wavered. "Don't you?" his wife repeated. "Yes," he answered, he did know. "OK, so do it," ordered his wife as she took the bottle from the room. Michael started to move towards his retreating wife. "Nat..." he began but cut his sentence off as she opened the door and went through it, leaving it to shut in his face. Michael stood in the kitchen staring at the blank white door, his head spinning. He remained motionless for some time, the sounds of conversation and laughter from the next room seemed to come from a million miles away. 'OK, get a grip on yourself Michael,' he told himself. Breathing deeply he smoothed down his trousers and turned to get the jug of coffee that he had brewed. He picked it up with one hand and immediately put it back down when he saw that his hand was shaking so much that he was going to drop it. He brought both of his hands to his face and swore quietly, 'Oh god, oh god, oh god...' repeating the words as if they would make everything stop. He felt himself rocking and held a hand out to grip the kitchen surface, feeling that he might fall down. "Michael! Are you coming through?" he heard his wife shout out. "J-just a minute!" he found himself replying. He let go of the surface and moved towards the door, stopping before he got there. He felt like he could barely stand up. 'Am I really going to go through with this?' he thought to himself. 'Am I really about to walk in there and tell my boss that I dress up as a woman?' "He'll sack me," whispered Michael to himself. 'He'll sack me and everybody in the business will find out about it, and I'll be finished.' Then he thought about the alternative, about losing Natalie... While he hated her for putting him in this situation, he knew he deserved it. Anyway, even if he didn't tell his boss, she'd probably make a huge scene, maybe tell him herself, and then leave him anyway. He thought about the things Karl had said about the time when he found his flatmate dressed. 'I guess it won't be so bad,' he tried to convince himself. 'Who am I kidding,' he thought. 'Oh well, perhaps it's time to switch career anyway.' With that thought he gritted his teeth and headed towards the door, barely able to remember how to walk. The two were sharing a joke as he entered the room, but they raised their heads as he entered. "You took your time, where's the coffee?" Natalie asked, smiling. "I-I decided to go for brandy instead." "I knew you would, so I already poured you one." Natalie pointed to a very large brandy she had placed in front of Michael's seat. He sat down and took a big gulp, not worried so much about his hands visibly shaking anymore. Natalie watched him smiling for a few seconds "somebody's thirsty..." she purred then she turned her head "Karl, I forgot, what were we talking about before Michael went to not get the coffee?" 'Bitch,' thought Michael to himself. 'Why do I love you so much, when you are such a bitch!' "Oh yes," said Karl. "I forgot. Isn't it Michael's turn to tell us what deviant sexual practices turn him on?" "You're right," said Natalie, turning to her husband. "So... Michael ?" Michael took another gulp of whisky as his heart rate rocketed. He tried to meet the gaze of the other two but he was unable to. "I'm... I'm... well, uh, listen I like... well... I mean it's funny, what you were talking about earlier..." Karl just stared at him confused. Michael heard the blood rushing in his ears. "I mean about... about um your friend. At university." The point o no return. "Yes?" said Karl slowly "Well I'm like that, I mean I'm not like that, I don't want to clean the house or anything. But... from time to time... very occasionally you understand. I have been known to crossdress." Michael rose his face to look at the other two, who were both staring at him "...a bit." Karl was looking shocked and Natalie was beaming at Michael, she mouthed the words 'I love you' silently. Suddenly Karl started laughing loudly. "Oh that's great Michael, you really had me there for a minute!" Michael smiled back at him, realizing that he had just won. He had proved to his wife that he would risk everything for her and now Karl didn't believe him anyway! He turned to Natalie and smiled and she smiled back at him joyfully, 'I'm right, that's enough for her,' realized Michael with joy. "It's all true, Michael owns more lingerie than I do," said Natalie suddenly. Karl stopped laughing. Natalie was staring at Michael, the smile just as bright. "And on Friday nights, he puts on his make up and his wig and his lingerie and he... has his fun," she said as if it was matter of fact. There was no question now. The open way his wife had delivered these lines left no room for doubt. 'Bitch!' thought Michael again. "My god," said Karl, shocked. "My god Michael." He started to smile. "I never would have thought... you're the last person..." Michael swallowed hard. He didn't know what to say. Karl continued, turning to Natalie, "So he gets dressed up, and then you guys have sex together or something?" Natalie, who was in the middle of taking a gulp of brandy, waved her hand in the air and shook her head at hearing this, then taking the glass from her mouth and swallowing she said, "No, no, no!" She looked at Karl as if he was slightly mad. "If he's been a really good boy I might tie him up - that's what he likes, to be tied up." She explained to Karl before turning back to her husband, "Isn't it sweety?" Michael didn't answer, he was trying to avoid the gaze of his boss. He was praying to Aliens to abduct him. "And if he's been a really, really good boy, I might give him... well... you know... a handjob through his panties," she continued explaining to Karl. "But I'm not going to have sex with him when he's..." she said rapidly, as if she really wanted Karl to understand. Michael felt physically sick, he felt like the room was very large and he was very small and far away from the other two. It reminded him of the times when he was a student and had smoked pot after drinking too much alcohol, he kept managing to convince himself that things were OK, but then he would suddenly realize that they were not OK, and he was still in trouble. All the time he could see his wife continuing to talk about him, gleefully exposing all of his deepest darkest secrets to the person in the world he least wanted to know about them, while his boss regarded him with an expression he'd never seen before, some mix of shock, concern and amusement. "Stop," said Michael. Natalie turned to him as if she had forgotten he was there. "Sorry dear?" "Stop it. ... stop talking about me." "I was just telling..." "Please Natalie, just stop it. Now." Michael turned to his boss and decided to try and see if he could retrieve any aspect of his career. "Karl, I didn't want to tell you, to embarrass you like this, but Natalie forced me to..." Karl interrupted him. "Michael I'm not embarrassed at all." Michael looked surprised and closed his mouth. "You're not?" "No, intrigued perhaps... I never thought of you as being anything other than... well you know, competent at your job. Frankly I'm impressed that you're so interesting." Natalie stared at Michael smugly. "I told you he wouldn't mind!" "Of course I don't mind. I'm just trying to imagine what you look like!" Michael blushed, his wife answered for him. "Oh, he's quite cute, he's got a little blonde wig, he wears pink satin stuff mainly." Michael cringed again at the details. Natalie turned to him. "Why don't you show him Michael?" "NO WAY!" blurted out Michael in a terrified tremor which made the other two burst into laughter. Michael sat there watching them laugh and realized that they were not disgusted, that they did not instantly hate him, that they could sympathise with him, at least a little. He felt much lighter and started to giggle along with them a bit. Karl managed to stop himself from laughing long enough to speak again "Seriously, that's a shame Michael, I'd love to have a look." Michael smiled back at him uncertainly. "No, I..I really don't want to do that," he said. Natalie reached her hand across the table to hold his. "Oh go on sweetheart, it would be fun!" she said encouragingly. "Go on, Michael, then we could all sit around and drink some more brandy. I bet you don't get much chance to dress in front of strangers." Michael's heart ran at the thought of that, but he held his hands up to stop them. "No. Listen, thanks, I really mean it, for being so understanding and everything, but I really feel I've gone way too far just by talking about it, and I wish we could just move on." "Oh don't be such a stick in the mud darling, come on, you only live once! We could have a great party." "She's right," smiled Karl. "PLEASE, leave it, you guys!" implored Michael, starting to feel nervous again. "Just change the subject." His wife muttered, "Killjoy," under her breath and took some more brandy. The three of them went quiet for some time while they drank some more, unsure of what to say next. It was Karl who broke the silence. "Has she got a name?" he asked Natalie casually. "Tamara," smiled Natalie, ignoring Michael who was trying to shush her. "Tamara!" repeated Karl, looking at Michael drunkenly. "That's a beautiful name." Suddenly he rose from his chair. "I would like to propose a toast." Natalie smiled and got to her feet, then the two of them looked at Michael and waited for him to join them, which he did, getting up slowly and resignedly. "To Tamara, even though I shall never meet her!" The other two clicked their glasses with his. Michael started to feel paranoid, both of the others were staring at him as if they expected him to do or to say something. He really wanted this night to be over. "Well, I don't know about you, but is anyone else getting tired?" Michael looked from his boss to his wife questioningly. Natalie looked at him blankly. "No, not really. Just starting to have fun, actually darling!" Natalie turned to Karl. "You aren't going to desert me are you Karl?" said Natalie, slurring the desert into 'dej-jurt'. "Not while you have more of this brandy," smiled Karl to her. "Don't tell me that you are calling it a night already Michael?" Michael tried to smile. "NO, no I just didn't want you to feel that you had to stay or... or anything." Karl leaned back in his chair like a contented cat. "Oh, I'm fine thanks, Michael." Natalie giggled a little at this, confusing Michael. He decided to try and get a few minutes to himself to see if he could make sense of things. Perhaps get a grip on the situation. "That's great then. I'm just going to the bathroom," said Michael and scurried off upstairs. He sat on the toilet with his head in his hands trying to make sense of the night. He couldn't believe Natalie had forced him to tell his boss about his cross-dressing. Why had she done that? He understood that it was a test of his love for her, and also he admitted to himself that he had been treating her badly over the last months. But when he had told Karl and he hadn't believed him, she had insisted on making sure that he did. Surely he had already proved himself to her? Michael decided that she must have been drunk and the alcohol had impaired her judgment. Michael then heard his wife running up the stairs outside the bathroom door and going into their room. He heard rummaging and then he heard her leave their room. "Natalie, what are you doing?" He heard her pause outside the bathroom door "Just showing Karl something." "What?" Michael heard his wife sigh and tut. "Photos. Michael. Wedding photos, is that OK?" "Wedding photos? Uh, I suppose so. If you think he'd be interested." Michael wondered why on earth she was showing him wedding photos, especially after the risqu? conversation themes that had gone on this evening. However then it occurred to him that it might help remind them that Natalie was married to Michael. He was painfully aware that his wife was still flirting with Karl, and the admission had only seemed to encourage her. The implications of Karl knowing about his dressing entered his mind again from behind a cloud of denial. He couldn't believe that his boss seemed to be so understanding, he almost wished that he wasn't and that he had sacked him in disgust. The way things had turned out, he was going to have to face Karl at work with the knowledge that he would be thinking of his dressing. Michael didn't know how he was going to be able to cope with that. Michael sighed and flushed the toilet, washed his hands and trudged down the stairs. He heard that Karl and Natalie were now in the living room. He could hear them talking quietly inside, giggling as they went through the photo album. He thought about the album, there were couple of funny photos in there. 'OK, we can get do this,' he said to himself, smiled and opened the door. There was no photo album. Karl and Natalie were sat together on the couch with the sports bag where Michael kept all of his 'Tamara' things open between them Karl was holding up a pair of ridiculously frilly full satin knickers in front of him as Natalie was examining his recently acquired vibrating butt plug, with a puzzled expression on her face. Karl noticed his arrival. "Ah, here she is. Nice stuff you've got here Tamara." "Is this new darling?" asked Natalie, referring to the black bullet shaped object in her hand. Michael immediately moved towards the two of them, but his wife swiftly picked up the bag of goodies and moved out of his path, holding the bag behind her and smiling. "Natalie, give me the bag." "Oh come on Michael, we were just having a peek. You won't put it on for us, will you?" Michael moved towards her threateningly, he was livid with rage. Natalie skipped out of his path giggling and threw the bag over to Karl, then stood with her arms folded in front of her and a satisfied amused expression on her face. Michael turned to see that Karl was holding the bag above his head and looking at him with a kind of amused 'just try it' expression on his face. The two men stared at each other for a few seconds, then Michael brought his eyes down to the floor, decided to give up and sat down on the other side of the room. Michael sat back on the couch. "I'm sorry we made you angry," said Karl, "but I was just telling Natalie how much I'd love to see you dressed and she asked me if I wanted to see what you wear." Michael turned to his wife. "You had no right, Natalie." "I had no right?" repeated his wife. "You have no right to make me play your silly games every week, then refuse me when I want to show somebody how you look." "Leave it Natalie," said Karl. "I wanted to see Tamara, but if he doesn't want to, he doesn't want to. Lets not push it." Everybody remained quiet for a few seconds. Then Natalie added quietly, "I bet if you said you'd give him that promotion he'd put anything you wanted on." Then she raised her face to her husband, "Isn't that right darling?" Michael scowled at his wife while Karl chuckled. "Natalie don't be mean," said Karl, then he leaned back and smiled at the two of them. "I know what you are thinking Michael, what's it going to be like walking into the office on Monday after tonight," said Karl smugly. "I agree it's going to be a bit strange." Natalie giggled slightly nervously. Michael saw Karl's brows furrow for a moment and then watched as he leaned forward in his seat. "You know, that gives me an idea." "I'm not dressing up while you are here, promotion or no promotion," said Michael with finality. "I'm not talking about that crappy promotion. But I was thinking. You know that we have been looking for somebody to head up the new office." Michael tried to switch back into work mode. The new office was more of a new set of offices, a large complex and distribution centre that was being set up on the other side of the country. Karl was looking for somebody very senior to run the site and was offering an appropriately huge salary. "What, are you going to make the applicants dress up in drag to get the job?" asked Michael aggressively. He was pissed off. He tried to get control of his emotions and enter into the conversation and pretend not to be as humiliated as he felt. "Sorry. Who's on your short-list, all top MBA people I suppose?" "I don't know, have you got an MBA, Michael?" "What do you mean by that?" "Well you're on my list." Michael's throat went dry. "What, I don't understand, for the Director of the new site?" "I don't believe in CVs Michael, only what I've seen with my own eyes, and I have to say that, thinking about it you are the natural internal candidate." Michael had no idea he was being considered for such a huge post. He knew that he could do it, but he had decided long ago that ability was not a great indicator of success in business, so he was shocked by this news. "I.. I don't know what to say." Karl continued, "In fact, I had the last interview for the external candidates yesterday. They were good, but I don't know, I need someone I can trust over there Michael. Someone who I know will handle the transition." "Well you know I understand the workings of the company as well as anybody, Karl." "I know, I know." Karl shifted in his seat. "Listen, Michael, I'm willing to give you a six month trial as director of the new site. New car, full salary, everything. If you pull it off, and I think you can, We can talk about extending that contract afterwards." Natalie was listening puzzled. "I don't understand, what are we talking about here?" Karl turned to Natalie. "We're talking about a factor of three increase in your husband's salary." Michael gulped, this was even more than he had expected. "Karl are you serious?" asked Michael. "Sure. How about it Michael, chances like this don't come along every day!" Natalie moved over to sit on her husband's lap, knowing how important the moment was for him. She put her arm round him and kissed him on the forehead. "Well, yes, of course.. I'm interested." "You'd have to clear up this contract business with Pete Rivers before the end of the month." "That will be no problem," said Michael excitedly. "I was hoping to get his signature before yesterday, I'm expecting it on my desk Monday morning." He looked up at his wife, who smiled back at him. "That's great Michael. And I want to meet Tamara. Tonight." Natalie held her hand to her mouth and giggled while Michael felt sick again. Michael felt himself get angry again. "Karl, don't make fun of me, its... its just getting boring." "I'm not making fun of you Michael, I like games, you know I do." Michael knew that Karl was a gambling man, but this wasn't gambling. "It's just another game but the prize is real. I will give you the job, you have my word. I just need the Rivers deal to close and I want to meet Tamara. Tonight," he repeated. "But, but why... why do you want to?" "Because I can Michael, I like that. And if you do it, and get this job, you'll be on your way to being in a position where you can make people do things too. That's how it works. You know when I was 21 I had to do... dubious things to get the loan which started my first company?" "I don't understand what you are saying Karl, I mean what exactly do you want from me?" "NO, I told you. I'm not gay. I just want to see." Karl turned to Natalie. "Let's just say it amuses me. Besides I think you need to loosen up a little, Tamara!" "But..." begain Michael. He knew Karl was impetuous but making a decision about the whole company just for laughs... But he didn't want to point that out now did he? "This is all a bit sick isn't it Karl?" "Perhaps. Who's to say? Last time I checked, it's still my company," said Karl flatly. Natalie turned to her husband gripping one of his hand tightly in both of hers "Come on darling" she whispered in his ear and then gently licked it, sending a shiver up Michael's spine. "It's going to be fun," she said earnestly. ------------------------------------- Ten minutes later Michael was standing at the bathroom mirror waiting for the foundation cream covering his freshly shaved face to dry. His hands shook as he applied eye shadow and he had to grip his black eye liner pencil with both hands. The large amount of wine he had drank meant that he was just about managing to see the fun side of the situation. All the rules in his life had just been turned upside down. For some reason which he couldn't really understand his boss's strange sense of humour had changed his dirty little secret, Tamara, into the one thing that was going to change his life and career around. The alcohol coursing through his body was making him optimistic about the whole situation - Natalie had just given the three of them tequila slammers to celebrate and Michael was starting to get really drunk. He couldn't believe how