All characters are consenting adults. Occasionally they may be based on real people, in past experiences. But it's probably all fiction, maybe.
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The Lovely Enhancements
My friend, Mandy, and I had been consulting for a non-profit for about three months. Our backgrounds in Engineering and Business were a good match for the organization's desire to create a new online tool to help drive fundraising activities. Over the course of several working sessions, we had roughed out the infrastructure, design language and storage solution to keep everything safe and private, while being intuitive to use.
We had just presented our vision for the tool at a board of directors meeting, and the response had been very supportive. So, to celebrate, Mandy and I had decided to go out for a drink. We also invited Julie, one the directors, to join us, since she was responsible for recruiting us to the project.
It was early evening when we arrived at what turned out to be a neighborhood dive bar with a dreary atmosphere, and matching selection of songs in the jukebox. Apparently Julie had been here before. Though it looked bad, the place was actually catering to that atmosphere. The drinks were reasonably priced, and the food was good. The owner had hoped to keep his little hole in the wall under the radar of the hip crowd, and was achieving that goal in spades.
We ordered a round of drinks and a plater of mixed appetizers and sat in a booth at the back of the bar. It was away from regular traffic, including the restrooms. The bartender had warned us his waitress had called in sick, so we were on our own to fetch drinks from the bar.
We worked our way through a couple rounds of drinks, covering a wide variety of subjects ranging from the non-profit's history, to local community events, and briefly, politics. That subject seemed to be spoiling the mood so I decided to make a restroom visit.
As I got to my feet, I noted a slight instability in my balance. Time to switch to water, I thought, knowing the alcohol would continue to affect me for a while.
"Hey, pick up another round on the way back," said Mandy.
I looked back over my shoulder, partially turning.
"Same choices?" I asked.
Mandy and Julie both spoke their agreements together in tangled responses.
Finished in the restroom, I went to see the bartender.
"Another round, please, but this time, can you add waters, too?" I requested.
The bartender nodded, putting down the glass he had been drying. He got to work lining up small glasses on the bar and preparing drinks.
"It's quiet in here this evening," I said, glancing around and seeing a handful of people, mostly watching a basketball game on the TV, and making small talk.
"Yes," replied the bartender. "Tuesday night is our slowest. Say, how did you land yourself a date with two women tonight?"
"Date? It's hardly a date. We're just celebrating a project milestone," I said.
"Ok," said the bartender. "You're still in the presence of two lovely ladies, so it can't be all that bad."
Was this guy angling for a good tip? I thought.
"Yeah, at least I've got that going for me," I replied.
The bartender continued to work in silence and soon had the six drinks ready. He placed them all on a tray.
"You ok to carry this, or would you like me to?" he asked.
"I have it, thanks. Please add those to my tab," I said in reply.
I picked up the tray and walked back towards the table. I noticed Mandy and Julie were sitting pretty close together, almost conspiratorial. They were now on one side of the booth, where previously Mandy had been sitting by me. They were so intent on their conversation then never noticed me approach.
I cleared my throat and said, "your drinks have arrived ladies."
They both slowly looked towards me, with devious looks on their faces. Mandy was smiling slyly.
As I placed the drinks on the table, I asked, "what's all the discussion now?" I was suspicious of the change in mood.
"Enhancements," said Mandy.
Julie elbowed her on the shoulder.
"Shhhh," said Julie, giggling.
I pretended to look around the area, then back at the women.
"Hmm, something has changed since I left. You two look like the devil's in both of you," I said.
"Wouldn't you like to know," said Mandy, before finishing her old drink.
I sat on my side of the booth noting how narrow it was. My feet ended up between each of the women's, as I tried not to step onto theirs.
Julie replied, "we were talking about enhancements. Breast enhancements."
"Oh," I said with interest. "How did that come up?"
Mandy and Julie looked at each other, confused.
"Hmm," said Mandy, "I'm not sure, but it did."
They looked back at me, smiling.
"What?" I said.
Julie asked, "what do you think of breast enhancements?"
Ok, the alcohol had definitely lowered her inhibitions towards naughty topics.
I had a fair number of partners over the years, but had never considered whether they had breast implants. I wondered if I would known, had I been interested.
"I guess I'm a little on the fence about them. I wish women didn't feel the need to enhance themselves, just to attract men. At the same time, I do like a nice looking set of breasts," being a little too forthcoming with my response. Alcohol for the win!
Mandy and Julie looked at each other again. There was something going on.
"Ok, then," said Mandy, "do you think either of us has implants?"
I had been about to take a drink, but I paused holding the glass up off the table. I looked back and forth between their faces, neither giving any indication. I placed the glass back down.
"Are you suggesting I stare at your breasts and then guess if either of you... Wait what are we doing?" I said, confused as to where this was going.
Julie laughed, "Oh don't be so shy, Dale. I saw you looking at me in the meeting earlier. Your eyes lingered."
