It was now mid-afternoon, and I needed to get back and shower before the big event. The auction was to start at 5:30, and I wanted to be there by around 5:00. Scott dropped me at the hotel where my bag was awaiting me (thanks to Joellen) and the best room in the house had my name on it. Jennifer was happy to announce that every aspect of the hotel had been taken care of, and my room had been comp'ed to address the inconvenience.
"Jennifer, this is perfect. I have only one request -- can I speak to your manager?"
Jennifer looked very concerned. "Is there anything I've overlooked?"
"No, you've done just about everything I could reasonably ask," I said, letting the innuendo hang in the air, "but there is one more thing I'd like to speak to your manager about. Can you get her or him for me?"
Minutes later Ms. Johnston and I had a short conversation. Afterwards, she shook my hand and told me, "I'm happy to help. I'll have Jennifer bring it up in the next hour."
I went to my room and took a long shower. The last few days had been a euphoric blur, and I struggled to recount the various events. It was too much, and I realized I was looking forward to my trip back to Stimson Beach and the relative calm of my small house with a view of the Pacific.
As I dried my hair a knock came to the door. I wondered, then remembered where the knock was coming from. Jennifer was delivering the envelope from the manager. I opened the door in my robe and took the envelope from Jennifer. "Thanks, Jennifer. I appreciate it."
"No problem, Mr. Dotson. By the way, I meant it when I said I'd be happy to do anything I could to make our stay a good one. I still feel bad that we pushed you out into the cold the last couple of days."
I looked at her carefully to be certain of what she had just said. Her body was screaming "fuck me" as her words were carefully chosen to give her a small bit of "plausible deniability."
"Well, Jennifer. That sounds great to me. But right now I'm a bit tired and need to get ready for an event." I paused and considered my options.
"What time to you get off tonight?" I asked.
"Well, 10:00 officially, but I usually stay and help out the transition until about 11:00. There's a lot of switchboard activity at that time -- wake up calls and more towels!" She smiled at me.
"I should be done with this meeting at about 10:00. I'd be delighted if you bought me a glass of wine. Is that overstepping my bounds?" I looked at her directly. She never broke eye contact.
"Oh, no. That's totally within bounds. And I think we can do better than that. Why don't you just come to the front desk when you get back and I'll peel of then." I could tell that she wanted something now, but this little "date" was my only chance.
"I'll see you then," I said. I put out my hand to shake hers, but she stepped up and gave me a hug. This pushed my robe open a bit (I never seem to tie them quite right) and it came open as she stepped away. I left it open and stood there. She looked me up and down completely, drinking in my body as best she could. This little exchange brought a stir to my cock, but mostly made clear to both of us that more than wine was going to get consumed tonight.
She then turned and walked out the door. I took the envelope and opened it. Inside was a gift certificate promising a weeks lodging at any of the resorts or properties managed by this huge corporation. Some pretty outstanding properties were part of this deal. I couldn't believe my good fortune. Trudy and Joellen would going to love this little surprise. They might even reward me . . . I had to let that one go. Too much of a great thing really could be too much sometimes.
I entered the auction in that chaotic-last-minute phase when everything is nearly done. I walked around and spoke to the key players -- presenters, auctioneer, check-out personnel. Everyone was both ready and excited. This was bound to be a success. Like so much, the success is pre-ordained if the preparation is good. We had the right gifts, the right people and the right cause. We were easily going to exceed our goal.
The dinner was very good, the silent auction went off without a hitch. It was loud and people were drunk. The main event -- the oral auction -- was looking better all the time. We had a relatively modest number of things to auction off, but they were all high-dollar items. The pick of the lot was four first class tickets to Athens, and full tickets to all the events of the Olympics. I could never compete for such a wonderful item, but if I could, I'd go to the mat.