(This story may be true, but the names have been changed)
Friday afternoon:
Finally, some time alone. It was the day after Thanksgiving and I was waving goodbye to my lovely wife of eighteen years and our four children as they were leaving to visit her parents for the remainder of the holiday weekend. I was scheduled to go with them but after an unexpected meeting came up for Saturday morning at the university, I had to stay home. I was trying to act sad but the truth is that I love my time alone. Time to read, reflect on plans for the coming year, and who knows what else. Maybe I would get a chance to spend some time with Allison, who I have been growing quite fond of lately. Of course it wasn't always that way.
It all started twenty-two years ago when I first met my wife's sister Allison at a party on campus. Beth and I weren't even officially dating yet when she introduced me to her 18 year old sister, who was in town to check out the university. Allison had a darker complexion than Beth and was taller. She was not extremely curvy but she had this Liv Tyler movie star look with long black hair and beautiful brown eyes. It didn't take long to discover that Allison knew she was gorgeous, which made her extremely stuck up and I doubted anyone would ever penetrate the "I am better than you" shell she had built around herself. Her attitude toward me was that I was not good enough for her sister, and that made us instant adversaries that would carry on for a long time.
A couple of years later, Beth and I were married and we settled in the college town where we had graduated. Allison went to an Ivy League school and we only saw her around the holidays. Being very driven as well as beautiful, Allison became very successful as a writer, a motivational speaker, and has recently started a successful business. A few years ago she married John, a man seven years older than her, and they had a couple of kids. To me it seemed to be a marriage of convenience and it was hard to tell if they were truly happy.
Around a year ago, Allison and John moved about twenty miles from us because they wanted to raise their kids away from the big city. Seeing so much more of them I realized that although Allison was still strikingly gorgeous, she had mellowed a lot and was actually pleasant to be around. Since I had my MBA, she was asking more questions as they related to her business and I always jumped at the chance to help. Not that I had ulterior motives, I just knew it made Beth happy to see me help out her little sister.
Although Beth and I were extremely happy, I found myself having more in common with Allison then I first realized. When we would all travel on ski vacations, Allison and I would hit the expert slopes while everyone else would ski the easy stuff. When we would all go to the beach, Allison and I would go for a jog while everyone else sat around eating and drinking. It wasn't that Allison and I liked each other (we still acted like adversaries); it was just convenient for us to hang out together. However, even though she's my adversarial sister in law, she still looks awesome in her jogging outfit and with the ass she has, I found myself falling behind quite often when we would go for a run.
That brings us to last Thanksgiving weekend. Being in our forties with kids, Beth and I find ourselves staying at home for the holidays more instead of traveling hours away to either side of the family. Imagine my glee to discover that not only did we not have to travel but we didn't have to cook either, as Allison and John had decided to have us over for Thanksgiving at their house. Even though Allison had mellowed out, she still had a selfish side about her and I quickly discovered what it was. She was using this dinner as another opportunity to pick my brain about a new compensation plan she wanted my help with for her business, which she asked about from the moment we arrived until we left.
During dinner, John shared that he was going to take their kids up to his parents and spend the rest of the weekend with them, but that Allison was going to stay home to wrap up some end of the month business responsibilities. Beth shared that she was doing the same thing but that I couldn't go because of a prior engagement, and Allison instantly locked eyes with me. I said, "I know what you're thinking, but you have to finish your compensation plan without me." She smiled a wicked grin and Beth encouraged her to call me at any time if she needed help. Beth reiterated, "Robert has a wonderful business mind and if I were you I would glean as much of his knowledge and experience as you can." Then she openly encouraged me to be available at Allison's beck and call. She did so by saying, "Bobbie, if you give Allison your best while I am gone, I will give you my best when I return". We all laughed at her playful appeal with a sexual innuendo, as it was a little out of character for her. At the time I tried to act put out by the idea, but I secretly hoped she would need my help.
Saturday afternoon:
By 4:00 in the afternoon, I feared that Allison had worked out the details of her compensation plan on her own and my help was not needed. That's when the phone rang....
"This is Robert," I answered
"Robert, its Allison."
"Hey Allison, enjoying your time alone?"
"Yeah, except I can't get this stupid spreadsheet to model the compensation plan properly."
"That is too bad," I said, not offering any help. She paused for a moment and countered, "Now Bobbie, remember what Beth said about being available to help me out." I nearly chocked. She had never called me Bobbie before. No one ever called me Bobbie except Beth. I was Robert to the rest of the world and Bobbie was the pet name Beth used for me; especially when she was feeling playful. I knew Allison was using it only to bring to mind the conversation from two days ago but still hearing her say it and the way she said it made my mouth dry. However, I still played a little hard to get.
"Yeah, she said I would be rewarded if I helped, not obligated to do so." Another pause.
"Ok, how about this," Allison countered. "You have to eat sometime tonight. I will make you dinner and you fix this damn spread sheet. And on top of that, you get rewarded by my sister so you can't lose. Do we have a deal?"
Still not wanting this line of discussion to end I said, "Well, your sister is the one that really has nothing to lose because she loves our little reward time as much or more than me".
Allison laughed, saying, "I doubt any guy has less fun than a woman in a situation like that unless he can't get it up."
I came back with, "That's not the issue at all, but to keep this on a professional basis, I won't go into that. I'll be there at 6:00." She simply said "See you then". I could tell that she was a little frustrated because she is the one that normally ends the discussions and sets the rules. But now, the tables had turned.
I couldn't wait for 6:00 to arrive. I showered, put on some trendy jeans and one of Beth's favorite shirts that I wear when we go out. I didn't want to look like I had anything in mind, but at the same time I was secretly hoping something might happen between us. When I arrived I found Allison on the back deck having a glass of wine and a cigarette. This was a little out of character as no one in our family drank much and normally it was for social reasons. The other notable fact was that instead of being decked out like I was, she was donning sweat pants, a tee shirt, and had her hair pulled back with no makeup on. Still, she looked drop dead gorgeous.
"What are you all dressed up for?" she asked. I played it off like I was still dressed from the meeting earlier in the day. When I asked about the wine she said, "With the family gone I thought I would have a little unwind time.." When I asked about the smoking she said, "I normally smoke about one pack a year and normally alone. It's an ugly habit but it goes so good with this deck wine I am having."
"Mind if I join you?" I asked.
"I didn't know you liked wine?"
"There are a lot of things you may not know about me."
