Rosie and I both have our birthdays on the same day. The year we turned eighteen we decided to have a joint birthday party at Rosie's place. She lives alone with her dad and he said that he had no objection and would pay for everything with one stipulation. We had to organise everything ourselves as he wasn't going to. We asked about alcohol and he said that was fine as we were all old enough to have a drink. He did put a limit on just how much alcohol we could bring. He insisted that we could only have wine and beer, no strong drinks. Anyone who showed up with something stronger would be shown the door.
So we arranged the party and made sure everyone understood the limitation on booze. The girls had no problem with this, although a couple of the boys who were coming grumbled a little.
The evening of the party rolled around and we were all having a good time. Mike, being a big he-man as well as an idiot, produced a bottle of vodka. Adam, Rosie's dad, appeared out of nowhere, confiscated the vodka, and invited Mike to take a hike. Mike promptly squared his shoulders and threw out his chest, ready to fight for his right to get pissed.
Adam just stood in front of him, smiling and gently shaking his head. It suddenly dawned on me that Adam, while being a rather unassuming and unassertive man, was also a very large man, and I don't mean fat. You could see the realization dawning on Mike, as well, that his would-be opponent was bigger and heavier than him and didn't seem in the least disconcerted about a possible fight. Mike backed down, apologised, and left.
That little episode was the only hint of any trouble and with that out of the way we all just settled down to enjoy ourselves. I wasn't sure how susceptible I'd be to alcohol and I'd promised my mother than I'd limit what I drank so that I wouldn't get drunk, so I limited myself to a single glass of wine. Quite a nice wine, it was, and I decided that I'd have another glass after the party wound down.
At the start of the party Adam had greeted me, wished me a happy birthday, flirted mildly with me, and given me a present, a very nice pair of earrings with a matching bracelet. They probably weren't real diamonds but even if they were cubic zirconia they were still top notch stuff. I put them on straight away.
I circulated, chatting with my girlfriends, flirting with the men, not that any of the flirting was serious. For some reason I noticed Adam quite a bit. He was also circulating, not noticeably so, but he got around. I'm pretty sure he found time to stop and speak to everyone at the party.
There were two other things I noticed about Adam. He apparently found time to count how many drinks Josie had and cut her off after her third. He also seemed to gravitate towards me quite a bit, always stopping to flirt a little before moving on. I flirted right back. That little confrontation he'd had with Mike had made me see that he was really quite a dominant man. An alpha, I think is the term. He didn't need to flex his muscles to demonstrate this. The other men just seemed to know and acknowledge the fact.
"I saw you cut Josie off," I said, holding up my empty glass. "Not going to do that to me are you?"
"No need," he calmly told me. "You've only had the one."
It was a case of well I'll be damned. He'd also been monitoring what I'd been drinking. I wondered if he'd try to cut me off if I started having a few glasses and from the slight smile on his face my guess was yes, he would. It was odd. I should have been resenting his assumption that he had authority over me, but it actually made me feel comfortable and secure knowing that he was watching.
The party went along nicely. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and no-one got drunk or started a fight. I suspect Adam had a lot to do with that. Eventually people started leaving. Somehow it didn't surprise me when Adam confiscated a couple of sets of car-keys, arranging lifts for those unable to drive. (Unable in Adam's opinion, but no-one wanted to argue the point.)
With the main horde gone Josie and I started wandering about, tidying up a little. A couple of the girls who had lingered joined in. I was idly wandering through the house to make sure we hadn't left glasses or rubbish or the odd person lying around when I ran into Adam. Literally. I made an abrupt turn and bounced off him. Apparently he didn't just look solid but felt it.
"Always happens," he said with a sigh. "It's why I don't go out very often, all those lovely young things throwing themselves at me."
"It was an accident," I pointed out.
"If you say so," he said in a dubious voice. "Anyway, step into my office for a moment. I was hoping for a quiet word with you."
He was? Why? Almost before I knew it he'd opened the door to his office and ushered me in, closing the door behind us.
Hand pressing lightly against my back he was urging me closer to his desk. It reminded me of him - big and solid.
"Now if you'll just bend forward over the desk," he murmured, and I'm like, "WHAT?"