Showing posts with label Frederick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Frederick. Show all posts

July 30, 2012

When Frederick Met Camille

Frederick got up from the desk and went to answer the knock at the door, surprised they hadn’t used the bell. Standing before him was a lovely young girl, dressed in something resembling a bell boy’s outfit including the stylized hat and white gloves. She offered him an envelope with great flourish. With an upturned, open palm she indicated that he should open it, and she stood silent and still. The whole routine made him grin.

Before he turned his attention to the envelope he looked the girl up and down. The bell boy costume was very true to form except for one obvious unusual feature, the lack of buttons down the front of the shirt. The shirt was open at the neck, plunged down to a single studded closure at the navel and with the tails tucked into a pair of tailored low-rise trousers. A pair of suspenders bracketed her smallish, but ample breasts, pressing them together into a cleavage that amplified the open front of the shirt.

He stood and stared at the girl’s chest, her navel and the snug fit of her trousers, largely ignoring the envelope until a second gesture reminded him to open it.

Finally, Frederick broke the wax seal on the back of the envelope and pulled out its contents, a card which read:

Personal Invitation

You are invited to spend the evening as the guest of Patrick

A limousine will arrive to pick you up at 7:00 PM

Transportation will be provided to and from the event

Dress is formal casual and all your needs will be attended to for the evening

R.S.V.P. to the delivery boy


Laughing out loud, he said to himself, Patrick, you sneaky bastard. This explained Patrick’s dinner invitation for this very evening issued a couple weeks ago, an obvious ploy to lock in his calendar.

He looked back up at the girl, still standing stark still in front of him, again noticing her breasts, but this time also the stylized page boy haircut, very bright red lipstick and dramatic eyebrow makeup. She was an attractive girl, probably in her late 20s and she obviously seemed to be enjoying playing this role, if it was a role she was playing.

After giving the girl another once over, he returned his attention to her face and invited her in, but she waved off the invitation with a dismissive gesture. She tilted her head with a quizzical look, begging his response.

“Please tell Patrick I am happy and excited to accept his invitation and will be glad to attend the event.”

At that the girl tipped her hat, smiled, and turned and headed toward the stairs, leaving him to stand and watch her trim little body flow off down the hall. It was his first opportunity to notice just how nicely the trousers had been tailored all around. She turned right and disappeared down the stairwell, leaving behind the faint scent of jasmine and a not so faint, lovely memory.

He walked to the end of the hallway and stepped through the French doors into the bright morning sun and onto the little balcony. Looking down he saw a shiny black limousine with a driver holding the back door open. Just then the girl came out of the building and stepped into the back seat. The driver closed the door and walked around to his side of the car. Looking in through the sunroof he could see the girl removing her hat and shaking out her hair as they drove off.

* * * *

Walking back into the apartment he read over the invitation again, turned it over, looked into the envelope and realized it didn’t offer any explanation of the nature of the evening ahead. “All your needs will be attended to”, was very broad, and seemingly all inclusive. And the dress code; dress formal casual, what was formal casual, black silk pajamas? He sat down in his easy chair and pondered his knowledge of Patrick and tried to imagine exactly what he had in mind for the evening ahead. He leaned his head back and soon dozed off.

* * * *

After awakening from his late morning nap, he went about his routines, doing some business online and reading/responding to various emails.

At 5 o’clock he got up from his desk and went about showering and shaving and dressing for the evening. He decided on a pair of relaxed slacks, a button up collarless shirt and a pair of sandals. It was going to be a warm evening and he wanted as much comfort as his wardrobe could afford him.

Just as the sun was setting the doorbell rang. He looked at his watch, 7 o’clock on the button. Opening the door he found a nice looking gentleman in a black suit, white shirt with an open collar and a black beret, the chauffeur.

“Frederick, yes? Your ride is here, are you ready?”

“Yes, I am, thank you. Just let me get my things and I will be right down.”

“Very good Sir, I’ll be waiting downstairs.”

Frederick turned back into the apartment to make sure everything was turned off, put his keys and coins and billfold into his pockets and grabbed his shoulder bag. One last look around and he walked out the door and headed down the stairwell. At the front door the limo driver stood holding the back passenger door for him. He climbed in, the door was closed and he settled back, enjoying the nice cool air blowing through the vents.

The driver got into the car and leaning around over the seat back, through the partition to say, “I have one stop to make along the way and then I will get you to Patrick’s club straight away.”

“Very good, thank you.”

As the heavily smoked partition was closed he found himself in a nearly dark backseat, which was very comfortable and offered legs-straight-out leg room, a luxury he really appreciated. Looking around he saw a sound system control panel and what looked like a small liquor cabinet beside a mini refrigerator. These were flanked by cushions for fold down rear facing jump seats which would consume a good bit of the spacious leg room, but in their folded upright position were completely out of the way.

He was so engrossed in surveying the surrounds he had not paid any attention to where the driver was taking him and was startled when the car pulled over out of traffic and settled into a parking space on the wrong side of the street in front of a dress shop. Looking up through the sunroof he could see that the building was three stories tall; there was the street level business and two floors of what appeared to be residences above it. The driver got out and went through a doorway at the side of the storefront, probably a stairway up to the second and third floors.

He continued to explore the fitments in the back of the limo, changing the sound system from the FM radio to the CD function and the system clicked into some very nice soft jazz. He decided he would let the CD continue to play. It was not an artist that he knew, but he very much liked the music.

Suddenly the opposite back door of the limo was opening and someone was climbing into the back of the limo with him as the driver closed the door. It was the bellboy girl who had delivered the invitation to him earlier in the day, still dressed in the same silly costume. He turned sideways in his seat and just looked at her as she sat looking at him.

“Hello, I guess I’m giving you a ride to work at Patrick’s?” He wondered if she would speak this time or continue to be mute as she had been at their morning meeting.

“Hello. Well, not exactly. I’m going with you to Patrick’s, yes, but not to work. I’m your blind date for the evening.”

Frederick sat there astonished. What had Patrick arranged for him? Who was this girl? What was going on? He suddenly realized that he was staring at her with his mouth half open in amazement. He mentally shook himself. He tapped on the partition and told the driver to remain here for the time being while he straightened this out.

“I’m sorry young lady, but I’m really not interested in some hired escort for the evening. I don’t know what Patrick has promised you or what arrangements he might have made, but I don’t think this is something that is going to work out.”

She smiled and said, “There have been no arrangements made by Patrick, or anyone, for you in regard to me. I am here of my own free will and interest, and am not an escort of any kind or someone who can be arranged for in such a manner.”

“Really? Then can you tell me what this is all about?” he asked.

“My name is Camille and I am one of the owners of this dress shop.” she said, gesturing out the window to the storefront.

“I’ve worked with Patrick on the arrangements for this evening, but as an accomplice, and have outfitted two girls for him with dresses and fittings for this evening. However, they have nothing to do with you, or me. That was business I had with Patrick. Being here with you and going to Patrick’s party with you is something I arranged for on my own. You might say I invited myself to his party. In fact, I invited you to his party as well.”

“Then what is this evening all about, what is it that you and Patrick have cooked up? And how do I figure into this scheme?”

“Patrick made arrangements for a few of his very special customers, a surprise party in the private part of his club; you know where I am talking about. When he was telling me about the evening and asking for my help, I asked why you were not included. He said he didn’t think you would enjoy such an arranged evening and so had not included you.”

“He was right; this kind of a party is not my cup of tea. You should have listened to his counsel.”

“Sir, please hear me out. This is not about you being part of some special party at Patrick’s, but rather about me having found an opportunity to spend some time with you and get to know you. We met briefly at my 30th birthday party at Patrick’s a couple years ago; I found you very intriguing and appealing. Tonight’s party has simply afforded me the chance to invite you to be my guest for an evening. I want you to be my date; I want to be your date, for the evening.”

He stared at her and thought about this. What an interesting and elaborate ruse she had concocted. He looked at her, she was a cute girl, he had noticed that even in the morning and decided he might enjoy this evening after all. And he had complete faith in Patrick and so would trust his involvement.

“Well, if we are going to go through with this evening’s plans, whatever they might entail, we need to change your clothes. I don’t want to spend the evening with a girl whose outfit looks like a cross between an organ grinder and his chimp. I loved your costume this morning, but it is not appropriate for an evening out.”

Frederick tapped on the partition again and told the driver they were going back up to the apartment for a few minutes and would be back down shortly.

He reached across Camille’s lap and pushed the door open and followed her out. She unlocked the door to the stairway and he followed her up the stairs to the third floor. He had to admit that he really did love the way her trousers were tailored and would not have minded several more flights of stairs for the opportunity to enjoy the view of her cheeks swaying back and forth, so snugly contained.

He continued to follow her up the stairs, down the hall and waited patiently while she opened her apartment door and let him in. He looked around and saw a very nicely appointed living room, sparingly furnished in a semi-modern style. The decor showed semblances of her profession, she clearly brought her fashion and dress shop work home with her.

“Where is your closet?”

She suddenly seemed quite shy, in contrast to the girl who had just told him how she had arranged this evening as a bold and forward way of getting to know him. Suddenly she was shy about him looking into her closet. Finally, she pointed to a hallway off of the living room and he could see a set of double doors on the left side of the hall.

He stepped into the hall and in front of the doors, “Right here?”

She nodded her head and he pulled the doors open and found a surprisingly large walk in closet, completely out of proportion to the size of the apartment. He walked in and could instantly see how the closet was arranged. Pants and slacks hanging over here, then jackets, then skirts, blouses next and finally dresses. He started browsing through the dresses as Camille came up beside him, looking very anxious. As he thumbed through, he would occasionally push a space open to view a particular dress and then move on. Toward the end of the section of dresses he came upon a dark blue halter dress secured to its hanger by braided ties. He spread open some space and gave it a more thorough examination. It was a very simple dress, almost skimpy in design with a hi-low hem style, considerably shorter in the front than in the back. It had a deep plunging back and nice peek-a-boo slit between the breasts. He glanced over at Camille and the plunging neckline of her shirt and could imagine how nicely the dress would cling to the shape of her breasts and show their roundness through the open slit.

He pulled the dress down off the pole and held it up to Camille. She instinctively grabbed the material and spread it across her body to show how it would look on her. He nodded his approval and draped the dress across the back of the chair in the corner. He turned back to the closet and looked through the rest of the dresses, but couldn’t find anything else that would overrule his first choice.

He turned and looked back at Camille and saw a strange look on her face, “What?”

“No man has ever come into my home, taken over my closet and selected something for me to wear quite like this. Certainly men have suggested what they would like to see me in, but never has anyone taken over a clothing selection so thoroughly. I am not sure what to think about it, I find it very appealing, it is a very sexy thing to do to a girl. Do you know that?”

He broke out in a broad smile and said, “Yes, I do. Perhaps it is part of what makes me, how did you say it, “intriguing and appealing”? If you had not liked it, it probably would have signaled a very short evening.”

He stepped over in front of her and pulled the suspenders and shirt down off her shoulders. Without waiting for a reaction he stepped past her, gave her a firm but playful backhanded swat on the bottom and walked into the living room, “Hurry up now and get changed.”

* * * *

Frederick went and sat down on the couch and waited for her, casually looking around at the room’s furnishings. It was a very comfortable room. He sat back and relaxed.

When she came out, she stopped in the middle of the room, turned around slowly and said, “What do you think? Is it what you expected?”

He was very impressed, the dress clung to her features exactly as it was designed, it cupped her pert breasts, flowed down off her hips, and the dipped back came right down to the dimples in the small of her back, just above her buttocks. He raised his eyebrows and said enthusiastically, “It’s lovely and looks exactly how I had hoped it would on you, wonderful. And I really like the shoes.”

She had added a pair of fairly high heels that really accented her legs, but he noticed something wrong and told her to come closer. She came up and stood right in front of him, “Yes?”

He reached out and put his hand on the outside of her calf and paused to judge her reaction. Finding none, he slowly slid his hand up her calf, past her knee and on up the outside of her thigh until he felt the top of the thigh-hi stockings she was wearing. He hooked his thumb into the elastic around their top, looked up into her eyes and made a clucking sound, “These will have to go.”

She registered no surprise, just acceptance. He moved his hand further up her thigh until his hand was on her bare hip. He shook his head back and forth, “No, no, this isn’t right. Sit down here and remove those stocking.”

He got up and gave her a hand sitting down onto the couch then walked off into the hallway out of sight. When he returned Camille was sitting with her legs half tucked under the couch, stockings folded neatly, sitting on the coffee table. He walked up to her and said, “Here, put these on.”

It was a small pair of black mesh bikini panties.

* * * *

Once they were back out in the limo and heading towards Patrick's place Camille fell silent again and he took to alternately looking out the window and looking her over head to toe, becoming more and more intrigued with her audacity at setting up such an arrangement. It was not often that he was so actively pursued by someone, preferring to be the aggressor himself, and usually beating them to the punch.

When the limo pulled up to the VIP entrance at the side of Patrick’s club Camille started to get out of the car, but he gestured toward her to stay and said, “I need to speak to Patrick for a minute and then I’ll be back for you.”

Camille nodded and settled back down in her seat as he got out and walked through the entrance into the club.

Patrick stepped forward and greeted his friend with a hug, “So good to see you Frederick. I’m very pleased you accepted my invitation and decided to join us for the evening. I promise, you will have a wonderful time.”

Looking around past Frederick’s shoulder Patrick seemed confused, he said, “You are always so punctual, you're actually a little early, things won’t be starting for a while now. But where is Camille?”

“She’s out in the car waiting for me. I’m looking forward to the show tonight, but I have a couple things to do first. I assume you won’t mind me using the limo and driver for a while longer?”

“Not at all, just don’t be too long, I wouldn’t want you to miss anything. How long will it be before you are back?”

“Probably not much more than an hour, maybe a bit longer.”

“Hopefully not, we should just be getting underway in an hour or so. What do you need to do first?”

He smiled at Patrick, shook his hand and clapped his shoulder with his free hand, “See you in a while Patrick,” and turned and walked back out.

After exiting the club he walked around to the driver and tapped on the window. The driver lowered the window, “Patrick has extended me the use of you and your car for a couple of errands I need to run before the party tonight. I hope you will be able to accommodate me?”

“Most certainly Sir. I was hired for the evening and would just be waiting around for several hours to drive you home at the end of the night. I’ll be happy to have something to do.”

“Very good, thank you.” At that he gave him instructions on where to drive to and went around and got back into his seat.

* * * *

Frederick slid his hand across the back of the seat as he got into the car, letting it come to rest on Camille’s shoulder and then neck, and said, “Patrick says hello and he hopes you’re having a nice evening; that everything is going as you’d planned.”

Rather than pulling away from his hand she leaned in his direction, smiled and said, “So far so good, wouldn’t you say?”

He just smiled in response and lifted the big armrest divider up and back into the cushion so there was nothing between them. At that, Camille moved over across the seat a bit more so that his hand was now on her opposite shoulder and she leaned in against him slightly. He responded by tightening his grip around her and they both settled back and fell silent and both seemed absorbed in listening to the music.

After they had been driving for a few minutes she asked, “Where are we going? Aren't we going to go to Patrick’s party?”

“We’ll be going back to the party after a while, but nothing will be starting for an hour or two, and rather than hang around all those people I thought we might enjoy the quiet night or maybe going for swim.”

Camille gave him look of surprise, “A swim? Where on earth would we go swimming?”

He looked down at her with a conspiratorial smile and said, “I’m a member of a private club that has a very nice facility that just happens to include a full sized swimming pool.”

She looked up at him and smiled, and moved closer, raising her head and offered him a kiss, which he willingly accepted and prolonged. He pulled her in closer, wrapped his arm around her tighter and turned in his seat to more fully engage with her. When they broke the kiss they were both looking into each other eyes, smiling, even grinning. He moved his hand up to the back of her head and slipped his fingers into her hair, taking a tight grip of a handful of her hair and pulled her head back. He leaned in and kissed her again, more aggressively than before and worked his mouth over hers, parting her lips with the tip of his tongue.

She let out a little moan at the tug on her hair and fell back, not offering any resistance to his pull, her lips parted slightly. He could feel her jaw relaxing as her mouth opened more. He rotated his body toward her and deepened the kiss which she returned with equal ferocity, her mouth now fully open and accepting his tongue as it probed and explored the insides of her mouth, her own tongue, her teeth and even the roof of her mouth.

Still gripping the back of her head by her hair he reached over and tucked his hand under her arm and pulled her over toward him. She rotated with the pull, but rather than ending up laying against him she moved so she was astride his left thigh, hands against his torso. He had to lean down even further to continue the kiss since she was nearly out of reach. As he tried to pull her up closer she put her hands on his chest and pushed off, breaking the kiss.

He let go of the kiss and his grip on her hair and took hold of her upper arms with each hand as she slid back even further, rocking herself in a grinding movement against the muscles of his upper thigh. His grip on her arms helped balance her on his leg. He smiled at her as he saw her eyes begin to glaze over, recognizing the pleasure she was bringing to herself. He could feel the damp heat in his leg as she rode up and back, making low gasping noises and he flexed the muscles on his leg to provide an even firmer surface for her.

As he held her arms, looking into her eyes, she looking back at him, he could feel her arms becoming tense. Her leg muscles grew tense as her whole body stiffened and she threw her head back and grunted out, panting and shaking all over. He held tight to her arms to help steady her until her spasms passed and she collapsed down against him, breathing heavily, gasping in short breaths.

Slowly but surely she relaxed and began taking longer, slower breaths, still with her face buried in his chest. Camille looked up at him and shook her head as if to clear her mind. She gave him a sly smile then collapsed back down against his chest again.

* * * *

As she laid there relaxing the limo came to a stop and the engine was shut off. Frederick heard the driver's door open, felt the car jostle, and then the door closed, then silence. He knew they had arrived at the club and the driver was excusing himself as they had discussed.

He took Camille’s head in his hands and said, “We are at the club swimming pool and the driver has left us for a while. He will be enjoying himself in the lounge until I call him back. Would you like to go for a swim?”

She shook her head, “No, not just yet.”

She laid there against his chest, still astride his thigh resting against his knee, he felt her hand on the inside of his leg. She was slowly running her hand up and down the inside of his thigh, stopping every once in a while to lightly pinch or squeeze a handful of flesh. He could feel her breathing starting to change again and the heavier her breath the more time she spent with her hand rubbing and pressing his erection.

Suddenly she moved, sliding down off of his thigh and landing on the floor of the back seat, between his feet and pulled herself up into a cross legged sitting position, and scooted herself up close to the seat between his thighs. She shifted around and pulled up on her dress so it rose and then bellowed down around and over her crossed ankles and legs. Once settled she put a hand on each of his thighs and rubbed them up and down, pushing further up each time until her hand were up around the waistband of his slacks. She curled her fingers inside the waistband and slid them to the center; she fumbled with buttons and zipper until she had them undone and was able to peel them open.

He felt her hands working to undo the waistband and then the feel of the material being peeled down. Next he felt her hands rubbing him through his shorts, knowing she could feel his involuntary throbbing. He looked down at her and saw the concentration and determination in her face. He reached out and was barely able to tangle his fingers in the hair at the top of her head, but could tell she enjoyed the tease, her head swayed and she hummed a soft tune.

Just then she reached up and roughly pulled down his shorts, so hard that he had to lift his hips off the seat to allow them to slide down off of his bottom. Once freed she took him in her hands and stroked slowly, stretching the skin, causing him to grow even harder as she worked him up and down. He let go of her hair and settled back, enjoying her handiwork. As she continued to work him with her hands his breathing got shorter and his hips moved up and back in rhythm with her stroking.

His arousal built more and more until he was starting to throb, he involuntarily moaned his pleasure. He was sure she should be able to feel it in her hand but was not slowing down or changing her pace in any way. He was feeling his release building deep in his groin and wasn’t sure how much more attention he was going to be able to tolerate without exploding. She looked at him and gave him a big smile then lowered her head again.

Suddenly she increased her pace and he knew he was moments away, sweating all over. All of his muscles tightened and his legs tried to push out straight. She leaned up onto her knees and forward toward him and pulled him down toward her and just as he could hold it no longer and burst out with his orgasm she placed her mouth over the head of his cock. She swallowed quickly, several times, until he stopped throbbing and began to relax, even though he did not soften yet.

She settled back on the floor, but continued to hold and caress him. After a couple minutes he began to relax and soften. He reached down and lifted her head until their eyes met, and they both smiled. He settled back and continued to hold her head, tangling his fingers in her tousled hair.

Camille moved up to the seat and sat close, cuddling up while he grappled with getting his slacks rearranged and buttoned and zipped up. After he had himself back together he pulled his phone and called the driver back.

* * * *

When the limo dropped them off at the club they were greeted just inside the door by Patrick himself, “Well, where have you two been for the past couple hours?”

“It is such a lovely night, we went to go for a swim. I hope we got back in time and didn’t miss much?”

“No, in fact things are just getting started. Go ahead on in and make yourselves comfortable. Someone will be around to get your drink and food orders shortly.”

“Thank you very much, we are looking forward to a very nice evening.”

As they walked by Patrick noticed that neither of them had wet hair. But before he could ask again they had moved into the crowd, into the noise, and on into the night.

January 29, 2012

Agnes's Birthday - Dinner

Continued from here

The maitre d' looked down at his list and then back at Frederick and said, “Party of three?” Frederick said, “Yes, but only two of us are here now. We can be seated, we don’t need to wait.”

“Very good sir, right this way please.”

The assistant smiled as they stepped forward to be led to their table. Frederick smiled back, reaching out and handing the girl the bouquet of rose buds, “Could you please put these in a vase and have them brought to the table? Thank you.” She smiled and nodded.

Frederick put his hand in the small of Agnes’s back and ushered her forward to follow his lead. He led them through the front dining area toward a set of of doors that opened to the back room. Frederick noticed the attention that their passage was drawing, and knew that Agnes was the cause of the stirring. In her little black dress she was very alluring, catching the attention of both the men and the women as she passed by, enjoying the way her body moved. There was a natural flow to the dress, it clung at her hips and accented the shape of her bottom. The hem of the skirt flipped up to the back of each thigh alternately as she took each step and her hair swung in cadence with her arms.

Passing through the doors to the back dining area, they were in a room of surprisingly large size, filled with a half dozen extravagant overstuffed booths along one wall. On the right were heavily carved oak tables with various seating arrangements for parties of four or six. In between was what served as a dance floor and at the far end was a small step up stage cloaked by heavy curtains. Back to the far right was the sitting area with couches and tables, the area where Frederick had brought Agnes on their first evening out.

They were led to a table in the right side of the room; a table for four, but set for just three. The maitre d' held the menus in his hand and gestured with the other, indicating, ‘here is your table’. A server was standing at the far side of the table pouring glasses of water and next to him was the sommelier attending to a bucket filled with ice and a bottle of Riesling with it’s characteristically long thin neck.

Agnes moved to sit down but Frederick put a hand on her arm. She looked back at him and he shook his head and said softly, “Not just yet, hold on.” The server finished setting the table and walked off after exchanging nods with Frederick. The sommelier uncorked the bottle, poured a sampling into one of the wine glasses and offered it to Frederick. Frederick took the glass, swirled the liquid around, sniffed the bouquet and took a small taste. “Superb! Thank you very much.” Frederick sat the glass down, the sommelier poured a second glass, and finished filling Frederick’s glass, and placed the two glasses on the table. Frederick thanked him. He put the bottle back into the bucket and withdrew.

Just then the girl arrived with the bouquet of roses and placed them in the middle of the table. Frederick walked around behind Agnes and pulled out a chair for her, she sat down and he pushed it in. He walked around the table, moving the vase to the back edge of the table out of the middle and proceeded to seat himself, but before he sat down he picked up his wine glass, lifted it in a toast.

“Happy Birthday sweet girl. I hope you have an enjoyable evening and that it is a fitting celebration for you.”

Agnes picked up her glass, lifted it up toward Frederick, took a small drink and said, “Thank you very much Frederick. I am sure it will be, I am looking forward to the night.”

With that Frederick sat down himself and smiled across the table at Agnes. Looking around he could see that the booths were filling up and there was developing a strong background murmur of conversations across the room. He had noticed that they had captured the attention of several parties as they’d proceeded into the room and were escorted to their table.

“Why is there a third setting?”

“Someone will be joining us for dinner. He is a special friend of mine and I wanted him to help us celebrate your birthday.”

A waitress arrived with a basket containing a variety of breads, two shallow dishes and a rack holding olive oil and vinegar bottles. She poured a medium size pool of olive oil onto each dish then poured balsamic into the olive oil. Frederick noticed Agnes’s curious look and said, “Break off some bread and dip it into the mix.”

They sat and quietly drank wine and ate bread, with no conversation, listening to the background music. Just as the waiter stopped by to refresh their wine glasses another man approached Frederick and greeted him. “Good evening Frederick.”

Frederick stood and shook the man’s hand. “Good evening Patrick, I am so glad you were able to join us.”

Frederick pointed to the third wine glass, and the waiter poured a glass of wine for Patrick and ushered him to his seat.

Frederick introduced him to Agnes. “Patrick, this is Agnes, a very special friend of mine and our birthday girl. Agnes, this is Patrick, he is the owner of this restaurant.”

Agnes offered her hand and Patrick kissed it. “Happy Birthday Agnes, I am so pleased that you have chosen to celebrate your birthday here. I hope you have an enjoyable evening, one you will not forget.”

“It is an interesting and exciting place. I have been here once before with Frederick. In fact it was the first place he took me out to, and I confess it was an eye-opener.”

“What did you discover here Agnes?”

Well, sir, it was a place like I’ve never been to before. Before coming to Paris, I was just a country girl and had never ventured far from my hometown, a small town to the south. Since moving here and meeting Frederick I have seen many things that I didn’t know existed and seen things I never knew people did.”

Patrick gave her a knowing smile but simply said, “I am glad you enjoy yourself here.”

At that Patrick turned to Frederick and began discussing menu selections. Noting that Frederick had selected a very nice Riesling, he suggested a couple of fish dishes that he thought they would enjoy. Frederick asked if they had any particularly nice pasta dishes that he would recommend and Patrick mentioned a spaghetti with squash blossoms and an eggplant dish but wondered if they was substantial or festive enough for the occasion.

Patrick turned to Agnes and said, “So, since you are the birthday girl, do you have anything in particular that you would like to have for dinner?”

Agnes smiled back at him, looked at Frederick for a moment, and then back at Patrick and said, sheepishly but with conviction, “That is something that is up to Frederick, he has told me that he will be making all the decisions about the celebration of my birthday. I am a little apprehensive but so far so good, and I do trust his judgment.”

Patrick looked back at Frederick and gave him a wry smile, and said, “So, it would seem that you are the man of the hour. Knowing you as I do, I’m not surprised by this. What strikes your fancy this evening Frederick?”

Frederick returned the smile and said, “Let me have one last glance through the menu and see what I might have missed. In the meantime I think another bottle of wine would tide us over until the food starts to arrive.”

At that Patrick gestured to the waitress. She was there immediately and took the wine order. Shortly the wine steward arrived and uncorked a second bottle which he placed in the ice bucket after topping off everyones glasses.

Frederick put down the menu and turned to Patrick, “There are so many wonderful choices I am having a hard time selecting just one or two. What would be perfect for us would be a platter of your chefs favorite offerings of pastas and vegetable dishes. Something we could all share and experience a nice variety.”

“An excellent idea Frederick. Excuse me for a minute while I go to the kitchen and make some arrangements.” Patrick got up from the table and headed back toward the kitchen.


After he was gone Agnes agreed, what a wonderful idea that was because she herself had been having trouble selecting just one dish from several she was curious about. Frederick agreed and allowed as how Patrick surely had a very good idea what would be best although he’d not wanted to impose his ideas on them without allowing them their own choices.

The table fell into quiet as they all listened to the music of the quartet on stage, munched on bread and cheese, and just relaxed. Suddenly Frederick turned back to Agnes and said, “Please, sit up straight in your chair.”

In response Agnes adjusted and stiffened her posture in her seat, with a quizzical look on her face. She was clearly taken by surprise at Frederick’s command. She sat up straight, placed her napkin on the table and put her arms on the arms of the chair, feet flat on the floor. There was a small smile on her face that seemed to speak of self pride at complying perfectly with the instruction while waiting for his purpose to reveal itself.

Just then Patrick returned, beaming, and took his seat. He told them that he had taken the liberty of suggesting a couple dishes that would take a bit longer but would be well worth the wait. Frederick and Agnes both nodded their acceptance of his decisions and offered Patrick a small toast of thanks.

“Did I miss anything?” asked Patrick, noticing the overly formal way in which Agnes was sitting in her chair.

Agnes said, “Oh, no. We’ve just been listening to the lovely music and enjoying the bread and wine.”

Frederick added, “That is right, but I am glad you are back. I was just starting something with Agnes.”

Patrick raised an eyebrow, “Oh?”

And simultaneously, Agnes said, “Oh.”

Frederick gave Patrick a conspiratorial smile and turned his attention back to Agnes.


“Are your feet flat on the floor? Put your hands on the table, fingers interlaced.”

Frederick glanced down under the table and saw her toes, even with each other, a few inches apart.

“Cross one leg over the other, nice and snug.”

Agnes shifted slightly in her seat, looking at Patrick, and then staring at Frederick, but did not move.

“Cross your legs Agnes.”

“But Frederick,” glancing again at Patrick and at the room around them.

In a deeper, more stern voice Frederick said simply, “Agnes,” and glared at her.

For a couple of long quiet minutes, neither moved nor spoke. Then, reluctantly, she shifted around, and complied.

“Good girl. Now, start rocking your upper foot.”

She sat perfectly still except for the slight torquing of her torso as she rocked her upper leg, flexing at the knee. Her pace was steady, just as Frederick had taught her. She stared down at the place setting in front of her, concentrating.

Frederick snapped his fingers and Agnes looked up, “Look at me Agnes.”

Frederick could see the rocking leg was beginning to have its effect on her, looking at her face; he could see her eyes were beginning to glaze over. She continued on as he instructed. Agnes would let her gaze drift away but each time she did Frederick rapped a knuckle on the table top and she looked back up at him. Soon her breathing was becoming more and more ragged and her whole body was tensing.

Noticing her reactions, Frederick said, “Okay Agnes, slow down now.”

“Please, no, Frederick.”

“Agnes, slow down, come back from the edge.”

She slowed the pace of her rocking leg and took several deep breaths.

“Okay Agnes. I want you to stop for now, we can finish this later.”

Frederick had a slight smile on his face, but Agnes was clearly frustrated and disappointed.


Just then, three servers arrived with two large oval serving trays containing several steaming platters and placed them on collapsible serving stands on the unoccupied side of the table. They were each given a main plate and two side plates off to the right side. One of the waiters refreshed the oil and vinegar on their bread plates, while another picked up old napkins and provided fresh linen.

Patrick turned and smiled at the servers and then to the waiter and said, “Serve the lady a goodly portion from that platter,” pointing to the largest on the serving tray, “and then surprise us all with your best suggestions for our first course.”

He then placed his hand on both Frederick’s and Agnes’s wrists and shook them slightly, “Bon appetite! My friends.”

July 5, 2011

Agnes's Birthday

Continued from here

Frederick picked up the phone and called to make reservations for the evening. The phone rang several times and continued to ring, not even rolling over to an answering machine. He double checked the time on his watch, surprised there was no answer. Finally he hung up and turned to the keyboard to set a reminder to call again in a half hour and put his attention on applying the first coat of wax on his boots. As he was working the soft warm wax into the leather he thought about his plans for the evening and wondered how Agnes would fair. He recalled how startled she had been the first time they went to Patrick’s establishment. Her apprehension over the attention she drew from the other men in the bar, her obvious jealousy over the affection displayed by Gretchen and her strict familial influences when it came to things like the water pipe and hashish. She had certainly relaxed over the past months but just as she had bristled at previous exposures to more base proclivities, she was going to be challenged again tonight.

After applying wax to both boots he again sat them in front of the window so that the heat of the sun would soften and open the leather and help it to absorb the wax. It was still too early to call about reservations so he went to the bedroom and pulled the footlocker out from under the bed and set it on the bed bench. He carefully inventoried the various implements to be sure he had all he would be needing. He took out two riding crops, a quirt and a very old tawse, all to be cleaned and treated.

As he was coming out of the bedroom the computer chimed it’s reminder and he called again to make arrangements for the night. They answered this time and he set a reservation for a party of three in the back dining room for 8:15. He inquired to be sure they had a particular Riesling d'Alsace and was assured that it be cooled and waiting. He asked the hostess if she would be sure to pass along the reservation time to Patrick and she assured him that she would.

Frederick realized he had only given Agnes the sketchiest background on the plans for the evening. But that was just as well as he wanted her a bit off balance through the night. Well, not off balance but he did not want her distracted from the matters of the moment by anticipation of later planned events or concerns about things to come. Agnes could be such a worrier, her responses were more relaxed when she had no idea what was about to happen. He resolved to divert any questions about plans for the evening but he did need to call her and provide a few basic instructions.

When Agnes answered the phone, she sounded as if she had just woken up.

“Are you awake?” Frederick asked.

“Oh, yes. I had just dozed off here on the couch for a little bit. I was up very early this morning. I’m excited and looking forward to our date tonight. I wasn’t able to sleep for thinking about this evening. I also wanted to get a head start on my hair. It will take a lot of work to get it the way you want it.”

“I'm glad you are excited about the evening. But it is just dinner out, and then some music, perhaps some dancing.”

“Oh Frederick, you are always minimizing things. It is my birthday and I’m so excited. I remember your comments when we were shopping, about finding special events to show off my lovely new clothes. I’m sure tonight will be wonderful, it certainly will be for me. Maybe you don’t know how much I enjoy our time together?”

“I very much enjoy our time together as well, Agnes, more than you may know. Speaking of dresses, I wanted to be sure you were planning to wear the little black dress tonight?”

“I had not decided yet which of the three outfits to wear, that was part of my morning confusion.”

“Agnes, I want you to wear the little black dress, along with the matching stockings and lingerie we bought to go with it. Also, I want you to wear the black heels and the sliver necklace and earrings that match the outfit so well. You remember, the items I pointed out the other day when you were showing me the jewelry your mother had given you?”

“Okay, thank you, I think it will be a nice looking outfit. Although I do like the bright colored floral dress. And I’m not sure I have all the necessary matching underthings to go with the little black dress.”

“The black dress will be perfect for the occasion. You don’t have all of the things we bought to go with it?”

“Yes, I do Frederick. But, well, it is, the problem is, that not all of my usual underthings were included in the purchases.”

“Ahh, yes, I understand. Simply wear the black dress and the matching items we got to go with it. You don’t need to wear anything else.”

“Okay Frederick. You know I will be uncomfortable dressed that way?”

“Yes, I understand you will Agnes.”

Alright Frederick, I will trust your judgement. The little black dress it is.”

“Good girl.”

Frederick was grinning to himself, knowing that she would find the dress code a little challenging, and recognizing her penchant for worry and over analysis of events. But in the past couple months, she had improved quite a bit and now took most things in stride, particularly when he set out specifics. He noticed she had come to trust in his judgement, knowing that while he offered challenges, he always had the situation well in hand and thought through.

“Is there anything else on your mind that we need to talk about Agnes?”

“I don’t think so, unless you want to tell me your plans for the evening?”

Frederick smiled to himself and with a chuckle in his voice said, “I will come around to pick you up at 7:30. I’m looking forward to this evening.”

With just a little disappointment sounding in her voice she said,“Me too Frederick, very much so. I am sure I will have a good time.”

“I am sure you will Agnes. Good bye for now, I will see you at 7:30.”

“Okay Frederick, thank you.”


Frederick hung up the phone and turned his attention to the cleaning and polishing of the leather goods he had brought out. After he finished with the leather cleaner he put a hefty coat of creme onto the leather of each piece and placed them in the window with his boots, to let them warm and absorb the moisture.


After putting everything away Frederick realized it was lunch time. He made himself a hefty pocket bread sandwich and a bowl of fruit and yogurt. He was excited about the upcoming evening, Agnes’s birthday, and the potentials he had in mind for the night.

As he was cleaning up from lunch the phone rang. It was Patrick, calling to check on the plans for the evening. Frederick confirmed the reservation time and agreed to Patrick’s plans. He said he would see him at dinner and was looking forward to introducing him to Agnes.

Phone call completed and dishes put away, Frederick turned his attention to his desk and several business matters that were begging his attention. He made several calls to business associates, planned some meetings for the upcoming week or two, and settled down to write a business plan for his most recent venture. His mind was swept away into capitalistic schemes, and organizational structure, planning tactics and counter moves. The afternoon slipped away and before he knew it the day light was fading and he realized it was time to put the work aside and get ready for the evening.

Frederick dialed Agnes’s number but it rang through and the call was picked up by the answering machine. Just as he was leaving her a message to call him back she picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“It’s Frederick, I was just calling to be sure everything is okay for this evening?”

“Oh, yes sir, everything is just fine. I was just getting out of the shower and could not get to the phone quickly enough.”

“Okay, very good. I’ll see you at 7:30.”

“Okay Frederick, goodbye.”

Frederick picked up the leather implements and placed them on the coffee table between the couches. He spent a little time arranging and re-arranging them until he had them just as he wished, looking like they were just casually there even though he had meticulously arranged them. He picked up his boots, took them into the bedroom and placed them at the foot of the bed and undressed to take his shower and get ready.

After his shower he shaved and put on a sparing amount of aftershave. The alcohol in the lotion stung. He combed his hair, brushed his teeth, hung up the damp towel and headed to the closet to pick out his clothes for the evening. He pulled out and pulled on a pair of dark charcoal hard wool slacks. He wound a wide black leather belt through the loops and put on a starched light yellow collar-less shirt, tucked it in, zipped up and buttoned his slacks and buckled the belt.

He went over and sat down on the bed bench and slipped one foot, and then the next into his boots and worked the laces through the eyelets and around the hooks. He cinching them up snugly, buried the tag ends of the laces into the folds of the boot top and pulled his pant cuffs down over the boots. He stood and went to the wall mirror to straighten his clothes. He loosened his belt buckle and adjusted his gig line until it was perfectly aligned, and then buckled the belt again. He went and pulled a blazer out of the closet, slipped it on and stood in front of the mirror again to assess the combination. Satisfied, he went to the dresser and collected his money and wallet and keys, and loaded his pockets. He took off the jacket and draped it over the back of the dressing chair and went to the living room to sit down and relax for a while.

He sat looking out the window as the night sky darken and the horizon lost all light. He was startled when the buzzer rang. He looked down to the street and saw that the car had arrived. He went and got his jacket, laid it over his arm and headed down to meet the driver.

He greeted the driver and let himself be ushered into the backseat of the car. He reminded him that he needed to stop at the small flower shop around the corner, and the car pulled away. They drove down the street and around the corner and pulled up in front of the florist. Frederick stepped out and went and collected the rose buds he had ordered. He got back into the car and they drove off toward Agnes’s apartment. He sorted through the roses and found the best bud of the bunch and sat it on the seat.

When the car pulled up in front of Agnes’s building Frederick picked up the rose bud, climbed out of the car and left the back door open. He walked up the stairs, rang the bell and Agnes opened the door. Frederick was startled by how lovely she looked. Her hair hung down exactly as he had hoped it would, partly down over her shoulders and partly down the front of her dress. He stepped around her into the apartment and then turned to look at her more completely.

She was wearing the little black dress and it fit her perfectly. It came just a third of the way down her thighs, short by some standards but that was precisely as he wanted it. The dress just covered the tops of the dark thigh high stockings and the black high heels finished off the outfit perfectly.

“You look absolutely gorgeous young lady!”

Agnes acted coy and shy but said, “Well thank you, very much. I feel very dressed up in all of this. It’s not something I would normally wear on my own but I love how it feels and I love that you chose it for me.”

Frederick stepped forward and reached for the slit at the front of the dress, slipping his hand inside and lightly brushing her skin of her breast with the backs of his knuckles. He pulling the dress out slightly and worked at pinning the rose on above her left breast. He could see her shiver and shake just slightly at his touch. She involuntarily pulled away just a bit at first, but settled herself and let him proceed with pinning the rose on. He loved how her skin felt against the back of his hand and her shivered reaction. That, and the combination of the scent of the rose and her perfume were working their magic on him and he felt a little more than slightly aroused.

He stepped back and looked at her again, rose bud in place and smiled a broad smile. “You look absolutely lovely! Are you ready to go?”

“Yes, I think so, although I couldn’t decide which handbag to use with this outfit.”

Frederick smiled and said, “You won’t need a handbag this evening Agnes. Give me your keys and what ever else you need to bring along and I’ll put them in my coat pockets.”

Agnes went to a little side table and picked up keys, and a lipstick and a compact and handed them to Frederick. He put them into various pockets of his jacket.

“There. Is there anything else?”

“No, that is it. I’m ready to go.”

Frederick took hold of Agnes’s wrist and walked her out the door, down the stairs and ushered her into the back seat of the car. He noticed the look of surprise on her face when she saw the a car, with a driver, sitting in front of her building, waiting for her. He closed the door and walked around to the other side of the car, opened the door and slide in. He picked up the bundle of roses from seat and set them on the back package tray, “These are for the table at dinner.”

Agnes was very quiet, but then managed a soft, “This is really something Frederick, I was fully expecting to be walking to dinner. It’s such a lovely night out, I thought you might enjoy the outing. But I’m grateful, I was worried about too much walking in these heels.”

They both laughed and Frederick said, “It’s your birthday and a special night, so special arrangements are appropriate.”


Agnes turned and looked out the car window as it snaked it’s way through the streets and very shortly pulled up in front of the restaurant. Seeing that they arrived, she reached for the door handle and started to open the door to get out. Frederick put his hand on her arm and shook his head. She stopped and waited for him to get out of the car and come around and open her door. He reached down and offered his hand as she swung her legs out and onto the ground. He looked down and saw just how far up the dress rode when she was sitting and how lovely her legs looked. She took his hand and pulled herself up out of the car, also noticing how Frederick was staring at her. As she stood up, she consciously pulled down on the hem of the dress.

Frederick leaned in and picked up the roses. He told the driver that he would call when they were ready to be move on to their next destination, estimating it would be at least two hours from now. He pushed the door closed and the car pulled away. Frederick took hold of Agnes’s arm and guided her across the sidewalk, through the door and into the restaurant. As they walked into the foyer, Frederick greeted the people in front of him.

“Good evening, Frederick party, we have a reservation for dinner.” The maitre d' looked down at his list and then back at Frederick and said, “Party of three?” Frederick said, “Yes, but only two of us are here now. We can be seated, we don’t need to wait.”

And then . . .

May 2, 2011

Frederick - Shopping

Continued from here

It was still just early morning but Frederick pulled his boots out of the closet to polish them for the evening. He also checked his pants and shirts to be sure everything was back from the cleaners and fresh. Tonight he would dress up and take Agnes out on the town for dinner and then some entertainment. He collected the boot black and cloths and water. He gathered some old newspapers to spread out to minimize the mess and protect his documents. He set up his work space and his mind began ruminating over his involvement with Agnes over the past couple of months.

While working on the boots he glanced over his journal notes for several of their “dates”. And he did consider them dates. It was an interesting courtship if that is what it was. Most of his relationships had been intense from the very start for an extended period of time, but he felt very much like he was courting Agnes, slow and deliberate, methodical and filled with feints within feints. She was so much younger and unfamiliar with his more mature and formal style. So he always felt he was presenting himself and she needed to be reminded on a regular basis of the structure of their relationship. He knew she was playing coy with him at times and teasing along, two steps forward, one step back, or to the side. He did not think they were deliberate ploys but maybe deflections borne from uncertainty.

He loved the sensuality of rubbing and working boot cream into the deep black leather, making swirls, building up depth and thickness. He worked meticulously, being sure to get the cream up under the various buckles. Once he finished working the cream into the leather he would let it sit so the leather would absorb the moisturizing cream. Later he would buff off the patina and add layers of warm soft wax.


He recalled a couple weeks ago, while walking down the street Agnes had been captivated by the dress and women’s wear shops, stopping and looking in all the windows. She stared in ecstatic wonder at the treasures in the shop windows. ‘Window shopping’ she called it but Frederick felt differently about it. In his mind, if you were going shopping you decided what you were looking for and went to a shop that would offer what you wanted and bought it. He recognized that his more direct approach was considerably different than hers. He was not sure whether it was really their different ages and life experiences, or if it was just a fundamental difference. The results of their shopping trip that afternoon helped to resolve the contradiction in his mind.

Frederick began making note of the particular clothing styles that seemed to catch her interest. When they came to the street corner he grabbed Agnes’s elbow and turned her to the right to cross the street, even though she had just then been turning the corner to go left. She followed along passively looking back over her shoulder, perhaps thinking about what she might have missed rather than really watching where they were going. A few doors down Frederick turned her into the entrance to a particular shop. Agnes turned to him and smiled, “Oh, look at the lovely dresses in these windows. I really do like the looks of these.”

Frederick smiled to himself, happy that he had interpreted her window shopping correctly. “Shall we go in and have a look around?”

“Oh, yes, I would like that. Yes, please.”

They walked past the foyer windows and on into the shop. They were greeted by two young sales girls and one of them addressed Frederick. “Good afternoon Sir. It is very nice to see you again. It has been a long while since you have been in.” They were both beaming, and Frederick could feel the slightest tug on his arm as Agnes recoiled back just a bit.

“Good afternoon ladies, I am happy to see you again. We are on a mission today to find the perfect dress. A dress to be worn to a very special dinner and night on the town; a dress that will show this lovely girl in all of her splendor. This is Agnes and I would appreciate you showing her your best offerings. Make no assumptions and show her a number of choices. Stir her imagination and find something to accentuate her beauty.”

The two girls smiled enthusiastically, came forward and each took hold of one of Agnes’s elbows and led her toward the racks. Agnes cast a questioning glance back at Frederick and he smiled, nodding his head in approval, encouraging her with a gesture to go ahead with the girls and see what they produced. Frederick followed along to the open space near the changing rooms and said, “I will sit here and enjoy the show. When you find a few appropriate dresses, Agnes can go and try them on and let me see how they look on her.”

Frederick found a leather wing backed chair and settled himself down. The three girls had gone off into the racks of clothing and he could just barely hear their titters now and then, punctuated by the occasional giggle or burst of laughter. After a few minutes they emerged from the racks and each of the girls were carrying several dresses and skirt/jacket outfits. Agnes followed along behind and as the girls stood in front of Frederick she stepped up and said, “Which of these do you like?”

“On the hangers they are just colorful pieces of cloth and I can’t decide anything other than perhaps I might favor a color or general cut. I need you to give them shape and life, show me how they take form when you put them on. Take them into the dressing room and try them on. If you like how they feel on you and look in the changing mirror, then come out and show me.”

“Which ones should I take?”

“Take all of them.”

And with that, the girls headed off toward the changing rooms with their collections. Agnes held back and looked at Frederick. Frederick smiled at her and gestured for her to “go, go, go on go” and she reluctantly followed along and disappeared into the dressing room maze. Once again there was the occasional giggle and laughter. Shortly, Agnes came out wearing a very nice floral patterned summer dress and stood in front of Frederick, hands crossed in front of herself, very tentative. Frederick noticed she had no shoes on and said, “Stand on the balls of your feet, as if you had on a pair of heels. Turn around and show off the dress.”

Agnes got up on her toes and took several steps and turned in a small circle, making the skirt of the dress billow and flow out. Quickly she seemed to lighten up and brighten up and fell into the playfulness of a little girl in a pretty new dress. After two circles and a slight spin, she stopped again in front of Frederick and said, “What do you think?”

“It is a very pretty dress but I am sure there are many more to try on and model. Set this one aside on a ‘possible’ hook and pick another for me to see. Later we will trim down the possibles.” Agnes grinned and disappeared back into the dressing room.

In a couple of minutes she came back out wearing another dress, similar to the first but in a bright solid color, not a floral pattern. One of the sales girls came out with her and walked over and stood beside Frederick’s chair. Frederick gestured up with the palm of his hand (up on your toes) and then spun his finger around (spin around and show me), and Agnes moved as instructed. Once again she finished, standing in front of Frederick with the obvious question on her face. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. She nodded her agreement and headed back to the dressing room.

The sales girl knelt down beside Frederick, put her hand on his forearm on the arm of the chair. Leaning in, she whispered, “She is a very pretty girl Sir, with a lovely figure. It is easy to see why you fancy her.”

“Thank you Camille. I agree completely. She is new to Paris and in need of a friend. I am happy to befriend her and help her in any way that I can.”

Camille chuckled as she stood up to head back to the dressing room, “Yes, of course Sir. Your friendship is very generous and appreciated, I am sure.”

She gave him a wry smile and disappeared behind the curtain.

Again there was much laughter and giggling from the changing room area and Frederick began to wonder if they had become derailed from the dressing process. Then finally there was quiet and a couple minutes later Agnes emerged again.

This time she was wearing a blazer and skirt combination. It seemed particularly provocative because she had no blouse on under the buttoned up jacket. The outfit was even more appealing because of the way her calves were accentuated by the tip-toeing and the skirt was mid thigh, with broad pleats. It was a medium charcoal gray that went nicely with the dark blue of the blazer; very classic looking. Agnes did her tip toe, spin around, flare and twirl showoff routine and landed fore-square in front of Frederick again smiling broadly.

He looked the outfit up and down and with a broad smile, nodded his approval. Agnes smiled back and turned and ran back into the changing room and there was the familiar giggling again.

Over the next half hour Agnes came and went several times with a variety of different styles and shapes and colors. Frederick made a mental note of a couple of his favorites and was keeping track of the ones that Agnes said she liked as well.

Finally, Agnes came out in a little black dress that immediately caught Frederick’s attention. It was shaped in a way that highlighted all of the strong features of Agnes’s figure. It had a nice trim waist, slightly flared at the hips, three quarter sleeves and high neck line but with a slit that exposed a good deal of cleavage in a provocative and immodest way. The length was shorter than many of the others, showing not only her lovely calves but the musculature of the backs of her thighs. Frederick was particularly fond of Agnes’s legs, not too thin, muscular and strong without being bulky, ‘swimmers legs’ was the description he had heard that seemed perfect to him. The dress was immediately slotted at the top of his favorites list.

After Agnes modeled the little black dress she stood before him with a sad face and said, “I have run out of selections to show you.”

“Have you found something that appeals to you?”

“Oh, yes, I have, yes.”

“Why don’t you go back and change into your own dress and send Darlene out here. Camille can help you change and gather your things.”

Agnes disappeared and Darlene emerged. “Darlene, please hang everything we have tried on today on a small rack and bring it back out here. Also, discreetly gather her measurements and sizes for lingerie.Thank you.”

Darlene walked over close to Frederick and squatted down in front of him and spoke softly.

“Certainly, Mr. Frederick. It is wonderful to see you again. It has been a long time. I have missed you.”

He reached out and took hold of her hand and pulled her up, “It is good to see you too, Darlene.”

They smiled warmly at each other, she rose and turned and went back to the changing room.

When Agnes came back out she was in her old summer dress and sandals. She was accompanied by Camille. Darlene came out behind them with the rack and placed it in the middle of the floor. Frederick stood up and walked over to Agnes, took her hand and led her over to the rack. “Do you have a favorite among all of these?”

Agnes looked them over, reached out and touched one and said, “Yes, I do, this one.”

“That is a very nice dress, I like that one too.” He pulled the skirt and blazer out a bit and asked, “How about this?”

“Yes, I like that too, but think I prefer this other dress.”

Frederick reached into the rack again and pulled out the little black dress, “And this one?”

Agnes looked confused by his questioning, her smile was gone and she seemed to tense up, “That is nice too, but I really do like this one.” Again, indicating her first choice.

Frederick stepped closer and put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her to his side, “It is okay, I am not trying to change your mind or make you pick something you don’t want.”

He could see her visibly relax again. He pulled her even closer so she was standing side by side against him with his hand on the back of her neck. Frederick turned to the two girls and said, “We will take these three, the two dresses and the blazer outfit.”

Agnes pulled away a bit and said, “I can’t afford these dresses, Frederick. The one dress is within my range, but there is no way I can get all three of these outfits.”

“It is a treat from me Agnes. I brought you into this store and it is what I wanted to do. I also know your birthday is coming up very soon and so this is an early gift for you.”

Agnes threw her arms around his waist and hugged him. “Oh Frederick, thank you so much, but this is too much. These dresses are expensive. I can’t let you do this.”

Frederick smiled down at her and said, “You are very welcome and it is not a matter of you letting me do this or not. It is what I am doing. These will be nice additions to your wardrobe and will inspire me to find opportunities to show you off. I will be challenged to find outings which will befit you and these lovely outfits.”

Agnes hugged him tightly again and said softly, “Thank you so much Frederick. You are so good to me. I am a lucky girl, thank you.”

Frederick gestured to Camille to pull out and package up the three selections. He untangled himself from Agnes and said, “Agnes, go with Darlene, I think there are a couple more things that you will need to compliment these dresses. She knows what is needed and will help you.”


Frederick smiled at the recollection. it had been a fun afternoon; a great outing. He picked up one of his boots and pushed the shoe stretcher down into the toe, locked it in place and did the same with the other boot. With the leather stretched and formed he started vigorously brushing off the patina of the cream in preparation for applying the wax.

When he finished buffing the boots he picked up the bottles and cans and papers and tidied his desk. He set the boots in the sun to warm them in preparation for applying the wax. Looking at the time, he walked over and picked up the phone and called to make reservations for the evening.

Agnes reflects on the shopping trip

March 16, 2011

Frederick - Courtyard Afternoon

Continued from Agnes makes lunch

Frederick watched her walking away, enjoying the way her body moved. There was a natural flow to the dress, it clung at her hips and accented the shape of her buttocks. The hem of the skirt flipped up to the back of each thigh alternately as she took each step and her hair swung in cadence with her arms. He watched her as she climbed her way back up the spiral stairway until she disappeared into the building.

He turned and walked back toward the far corner of the courtyard. He wanted to inspect the bushes where Agnes had been foraging earlier. He wanted to see where she had gone and what she might have seen. As he approached the shrubs he saw her footprints in the soft soil and could see where she seemed to have carefully stepped over the ground cover and flowers and moved back into the bushes. There was a trail where she had passed most of the way through the bushes and had almost reached the walkway that was hidden behind the hedgerow. Frederick walked on through the hedge and onto the walkway along the edge of the building.

Moving along the edge of the building he heard a movement and rustling inside the shed. The sound made him smile. He spoke in a calm and soft voice, “Hello sweet girl.” Then he moved on along the walkway, past the screening and onto the garden tool shed. In the garden shed he picked up a rake and went about cultivating the ground both he and Agnes had walked across. He took the knife out of it’s sheath and pruned a few errant branches away. Satisfied, he returned the trimmings and the rake to the garden shed. As he walked back he heard the rustling again and he paused to lean in and look through the screening. There she was; such a beauty. He said, “Such a sweet girl,” then moved on and followed the walkway back around the far end of the hedgerow and followed the path back into the opening.

Frederick stood still, enjoying the afternoon sun shining on his back, warming him, soothing his sore muscles. He felt good. Finally he focused his attention on the courtyard. He looked around, surveying the areas where he would need to direct Franco to focus his attention. His mind engaged, trying to calculate the size of crew that would be best for the work to be done.


Off in to the distance he spotted Agnes coming down the stairway with the picnic basket on her arm, once again struggling with the tree branches. When she reached the bottom of the stairs and got out onto the pathway she moved the load to her hand. As she walked up to Frederick he reached out and gave her a broad smile and a small greeting hug.

“Thank you very much, Agnes. I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten lost, but I see you have been very busy.”

He took the basket from her, put his arm around her shoulder and lead her over toward the grassy knoll where they could spread out a picnic spot to sit and have a bite to eat. As they walked, she put her arm around his back. Her hand went around to his opposite side and fell onto the sheath of his knife.

“What is this Frederick?” she asked, grabbing and pulling at the sheath through his shirt.

“It’s a knife.”

Just then he stopped, set the basket on a wooden bench, took out the table cloth and spread it on the ground.

“This will be a nice spot for our little picnic. There is a nice view of the big trees from here and the sun will help keep us warm.”

He took Agnes’s hand and guided her down to a sitting position on the ground, turned and picked up the basket, sat down himself and placed the basket between them. Agnes immediately started pulling out plates and glasses and wrapped bundles of food. She pulled out a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Frederick to open. He was pleased that she had chosen mineral water rather than wine as he had suggested. While Agnes busied herself arranging sandwiches and coleslaw onto plates she smiled and handed the fruit to Frederick.

“Perhaps you can use your knife to cut these for us.”

Frederick peeled and sectioned the fruit, arranging pieces on each plate, along with the sandwiches and slaw.

He poured drinks for the two of them, setting the glasses on the bench behind them and then handed a plate to Agnes and took one for himself.

“This is a lovely meal you have prepared for us Agnes. This is much nicer than I imagined I had the making for in the house. Thank you very much.”

He handed her a glass, picked up his, smiled and offered a toast, “Bon appetit.” They tapped their glasses and took a good healthy drink. They both laughed, and settled quietly to eating. As they ate, Frederick talked more about the courtyard, specifically the need to have some maintenance work done. He pointed here and there as he talked, and Agnes followed his conversation and gestures, quietly taking in all of his explanation but not saying anything in response other than the occasional exclamation, indicating her attention and understanding.

After they finished eating, Agnes gathered the plates and linen and glasses and stowed them away back into the basket. Once everything was collected and put away Agnes reached down into the bottom of the basket and pulled out a little bag of wrapped chocolates she had found in the refrigerator. She offered the bag to Frederick who took it, smiling. He reached into the bag, took out a few pieces and offered some back to Agnes. She smiled in return and they ate the little chocolate dessert. When the chocolates were gone, Frederick folded the bag and put it back into the basket, pushed the basket up under the bench and laid back on the ground with his arms crossed under the back of his head. Agnes followed his lead, and laid out on her side facing Frederick and rested her head on her curled arms.


Frederick jerked his head up, not realizing he had even fallen asleep. He was groggy and dazed and disoriented. It seemed almost dark; the sun had gone down behind the buildings and the afternoon shade was heavy. He turned to speak to Agnes but she was not there.

“God damn it,” he thought to himself, “she has wandered off again.

Frederick sprung up and looked around, confused. He turning left, then right, still he could not see her. He walked down to the center of the courtyard where he could see in all directions. Still he could not see her. He walked back to the bench where they had eaten and wondered if her curiosity had drawn her to the corner again. He walked off in that direction looking here and there for her, but she was no where to be found. He reached the corner and there was no sign of her. He cursed again, and turned and headed back. When he rounded the hedges there she was, sitting on the bench, pulling the water bottle and a glass out of the picnic basket.

She stood up and said, “Oh, Frederick, there you are. This is such a beautiful place. I absolutely . . . ”

“Where have you been?” he interrupted.

She half turned and pointed off behind herself and said, “I was just looking at the little pond of koi over there.”

“This is the second time you have wandered off from me, even after I instructed you not to stray.”

“But you were napping and I wanted to let you rest. I heard the little waterfall there and went to have a look at it.”

“I am very disappointed in your behavior and am not sure what it is going to take to impress upon you the importance of following my instructions.”

“But Frederick, I just walked over there by the little pond.”

“Agnes, I told you I understand your curiosity but I cannot have you wandering off.”

“Frederick, I am sorry, I . . .” but she trailed off, lowering her head.

“I have already told you that ‘I am sorry’ is not good enough. When you are with me, you will follow my instructions or there is no point.”

“Frederick, I don’t understand why you are being so mean. Do you not want me to be here? Would you rather I leave?”

Frederick stepped forward and grabbed hold of her shoulder. She had to look up to see his face as he spoke.

“Stand here and be still. I very much want you here, but you can not just roam free. This is the second time you have wandered off, even after I told you not to. I have good reason to insist that you stay put and not go off by yourself.”

He reached down and untied the rope that was around Agnes’s waist, and stretched it out. He folded it in half, took out his knife and cut the rope into two equal pieces. He tossed the pieces over his shoulder.

“Sit down on the bench.”

Agnes just stood there, looking back at Frederick. Frederick looked directly into her eyes, with his own steady gaze. She had a defiant look, although he thought he saw her lip quivering.

“Did you hear me?”

“I heard you.”

“Sit down Agnes.”

“No.”

“Agnes,” and then he paused with his gaze locked onto her eyes, returning his own resolute determination, "You need to do as you are told, or you can go home right now."

Still she continued to look up at him, unmoving but her eyes were softening. Frederick stood his ground, looking directly into her eyes, his expression placid, but determined.

“Agnes, please sit down on the bench.”

Very slowly, reluctantly, she stepped back, glanced behind herself and sat down on the bench. She sat huddled, looking up at Frederick.

"Are you going to do as you are told?"

She sat and stared, silent, as if still weighing the choices. Then, she slumped in resignation and nodded her head.

“Are you sure this is what you want?”

Again, she was silent, just nodding her head, settling into the seat even more.

Frederick said, “Trust me Agnes, you will understand soon enough.” She just sat quietly, seemingly resigned to her choice.

Frederick removed the bandannas from around his neck and folded them neatly into a wide blindfold. He went around behind Agnes and placed the blindfold across her eyes then pulled it taut to the back of her head and tied three sound knots. He came back around and asked, “How does that feel? Is it comfortable?”

Her response was a soft and simple, “It is okay.”

“Now I am going to bind your legs and wrists.”

Agnes nodded her head.

Frederick pushed her skirt half way up her thighs then took hold of her knees and positioned them directly together. He wrapped the rope under the back of her knees, then up across the top of her thighs, and back around underneath, three wraps around. Then he wrapped the rope around the coils, down between her thighs and knees, cinching the other wrappings tighter, and tied off the ends.

“Put your hands behind your back.” She balked at this, but Frederick stood in still silence, waiting for her to respond, “Well?” Finally she did as he asked. He went around behind the bench and wrapped the rope around her wrists, and then around itself, just as he had done with her knees. He wrapped the ends of rope through one of the rails of the bench seat and tied it tight.

“Comfortable?”

She did not answer.

After a moment he said, “Sit here and be still. Do not attempt to move or change position. Sit absolutely still. Even if you hear me talking, or I talk to you, do not respond. I need you to be quiet. I will let you know very directly if and when it is okay for you to move or to speak, and until I do, be quiet. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Frederick.”

He put his hands on her shoulders, “I am going away for a few minutes but won’t be far off. If you hear me returning, do not speak to me, be still and be quiet.“

“Please don’t leave me here by myself, not like this.”

“It will be alright Agnes, trust me, you will never be out of my sight, but I need you to be silent and still.”


Frederick walked the path to the hedgerow and turned down the walkway along the edge of the building. When he reached the screening he looked in again and muttered a soft “Hello.” He took out his keys and unlocked the door to the inner room of the shed. He closed and latched the outer door and then took down a leash from the tack wall opposite the inner door. It was a short sturdy leash, perhaps 2 feet long, heavy rolled leather, with brass hardware at one end, and a wrist loop at the other. He draped the leash around the back of his neck and opened the inner door and walked in, closing it behind him.

He stepped forward slowly and bent down on one knee. He spoke in a calm and soft voice, “Hello sweet girl, how are you?” He reached out and took gentle handfuls of jowls and affectionately rubbed with his thumbs. She offered no resistance and clearly enjoyed the affection. He pulled the leash off his shoulders and clipped the brass snap to the ring on the collar. He stood, pulled up on the leash and she got to her feet and followed him to the door.

He led her through the inner door, then unlatched and opened the outer door. They walked on through and out into the courtyard, down the walkway and back toward the clearing. When they turned into the clearing, she started off to the right, almost walking in front of Frederick and nearly tripping him. He jerked on the lead and returned her to his left side and she fell back into a proper pace, at his side and slightly back and half step or so, just as she had been trained.

They followed the winding path and arrived at the clearing and Frederick could see Agnes sitting on the bench, exactly as he had left her although she had crossed her ankles and tucked her feet back under the bench. She did not look relaxed, which did not surprise him. He knew this was a challenging situation for her, for anyone really, to be contained so tightly, bound and blindfolded. He could imagine how her mind was racing, trying to make sense of it all while struggling to accept his control and instruction and accept this predicament.

Rather than sitting relaxed, she seemed hyper-alert. She turned her head in his direction as he approached. It was as if she was watching him coming toward her. When he passed in front of Agnes, Frederick turned and circled around behind the bench and stopped immediately behind her. He saw Agnes make very slight movements of her head as if trying to focus her ears to the sounds around her, but other than that she was remaining completely still and silent, exactly as he had instructed her.

“Agnes, I am going to untie your hands but I want you to keep them behind you. Do not move in anyway. Nod your head slightly if you understand.”

Agnes nodded her head.

Frederick reached down, pulled the knot loose, and unwrapped the rope from around her wrists. Agnes moved her hands to shrug the rope off, but then clasped her hands together again. Frederick pulled the rope loose and let it drop to the ground.

He circled back around in front of the bench, and stopped directly in front of Agnes. He tightened his hold on the lead, pulled it forward and they closed the distance to Agnes.

“Agnes, you are going to feel some movement. I want you to continue to remain calm and still. Understood?”

Agnes slowly moved her head up and down.

“Good girl. You will feel some movement of the bench and maybe some touch. In a minute I am going to reach out and remove your blindfold so you can see. Do not be alarmed. Everything is under control. I have the situation completely in hand.”

Agnes slowly nodded her head again.


Frederick pull the lead forward so the cat was standing directly in front of Agnes, sniffing at her knees, and putting her nose in the air. She was tasting the scent of this stranger in front of her. She was completely calm, but very curious. She turned her head and looked at Frederick and he offered her comfort and calm; more sounds than words. He stepped back and pulled up and forward on the lead. She rose up and moved closer, standing on her hind legs and putting her wide front paws on the bench, on either side of Agnes’s legs. She was eye to eye with Agnes, still sniffing the air around this new person.

She turned her head to Frederick again, and he said, “Good girl, just be calm, everything is fine.”

He realized suddenly that Agnes probably thought he was talking to her, and said, “Okay Agnes, now I am going to remove your blindfold and introduce you to my friend. Close your eyes and only open them on my command. Again, everything is fine, just relax and do not speak yet.”

Frederick sat down on the edge of the bench, reached over and pulled the blindfold up and off Agnes’s head, noticing that her eyes were indeed closed, tightly. He held off saying anything for a minute, to give everything a moment to settle down, and then, “Okay, Agnes, you can open your eyes now.”

Agnes opened her eyes and pulled her head back, startled. Her eyes opened even wider with the realization. There was shock and alarm in her eyes but she did not appear to be panicked. She sat stark still, staring up into the cats face. She was frozen and Frederick noticed that she was holding her breath. Frederick put his hand on her shoulder, massaging, and felt the tension in her muscles.

“Agnes, just relax and let your breath out. Everything is under control and there is no danger here.”

Frederick looked at the cat to affirm his control and saw that she was completely calm, but was definitely curious about this new person.

“This is Sheaden. She belongs to the man who owns the corner building. He is affiliated with the circus company here in town.”

At the mention of her name, the cat reared her head and leaned it to the side, looking at Frederick like she was expecting something. He looked at Agnes and saw she still had not moved, although she was breathing. He rubbed her shoulder and the back of her neck.

“Agnes, she is retired from the circus and was brought here to live a quiet and peaceful life. She is completely tame. She has always been very good with people, but she can be very protective of this space, her home.”

Frederick felt the muscles in her shoulder and back relaxing. He continued to rub her neck and she had turned her gaze to him, watching him speak. She seemed to be drawing calm from his words and relaxed, matter of fact manner.

“You can bring your hands up slowly now and reach out and pet her.”

But Agnes did not make a move, she just sat still, looking back and forth between Frederick and the cat in front of her.

“Go ahead Agnes,” and he slid his hand down her arm and encouraged her to move it forward. “She is familiar with you now and will not react to your attention or touch, other than perhaps to purr.” Frederick hoped this light hearted remark and a smile would help her relax even further.

Agnes slowly brought her hand up and placed it on the side of the cat’s neck, working her fingers into the cat’s fur and scratching slowly, tentatively. Sheaden tilted her head slightly in response to the scratching behind her ear and a deep rumble came from within her chest. Frederick knew the cat liked to be scratched behind the ear and was smiling in her own way.

“She is very much enjoying your attention, you are scratching her in exactly the right place, just behind her ear. She is smiling at you and voicing her pleasure.”

Agnes gave a slight smile to Frederick and continued petting her. Agnes was noticeably more relaxed now, she seemed to feel safe again.

“She is a beautiful animal Frederick, and she does seem friendly and calm. This is why you did not want me exploring on my own?”

“I assure you, if you had come up upon her in her den she would not have been calm and friendly. There is no telling how she would have reacted to you, but I can assure you she would have become very territorial. For now I have her relaxed and under control. Since you are with me, and she was allowed to get a sense of you, this is going to be okay. As long as you are in my company, you do not present a threat to her or her territory.”

Agnes smiled, and nodded. She was now stroking and scratching and caressing the cats head, neck and ears with both hands. Frederick settled on the bench next to Agnes while she played with the cat. He reached down and undid the bindings around her knees. After he was done, he sat back and watched his two girls interacting and enjoying each other. He leaned on the bench back and put his arm around Agnes’s shoulders, massaging them slightly, enjoying the feel of her skin under his hands.

Agnes seemed to take to the cat naturally now. She had lost the palpable sense of fear and was showing a great appreciation for the animal. That pleased him, it was still another interesting twist to this young country girl who seemed to be such a mix of contradictory experiences and perspectives; fascinating.

Finally, Frederick broke into the silence and said that it was getting dark and it would be best for him to return Sheaden to her shed. He told Agnes to gather everything together while he was gone so that when he returned they could go back to the apartment.

“We will get dressed and I will take you out to dinner. It has been a long day, we have been through an ordeal and the weekend is coming. I think we deserve a little celebration.”

Agnes smiled at his suggestion and seemed pleased that the day would continue onto the evening. Frederick was quietly thrilled at the way Agnes responded. As he returned Sheaden to her shed, his thoughts wondered onto just how far he could probably take Agnes. Under the right circumstances, there was probably nothing that she couldn’t do.

From Agnes's perspective

February 6, 2011

Frederick - Into the Courtyard

Continued from Agnes (or here) or both
As they approached the spiral stairway that wound down into the treetops Frederick noticed that some of the trees were beginning to infringe on the walkway. He made a mental note that some pruning would be necessary. Some of the trees were nearly as tall as the roof of the buildings now. It was the first time he had been on the upper balcony in several weeks and the rate of growth surprised him. He would have to speak with Franco and arrange a crew.

As Agnes descended the stairway she had to push branch ends out of her way, and a couple of times they swished back at Frederick. He had to keep his guard and his arms up to prevent getting slapped in the face. To help avoid the branches he moved in closer to the center pole. He really needed to spend some time tending to the courtyard. Agnes was wending her way down slowly and cautiously, not seeming too sure of her footing, she was judiciously clinging to the hand rails.

The bottom of the stairway landed in the midst of a small pond. When Agnes got to the bottom she stopped suddenly and he nearly ran her over. Frederick told her to follow the stepping stones to the right. The stones circled around the stairs and led to the open space of the courtyard. Frederick followed her across the stones and collected her at the edge of the pool.

“This is an absolutely amazing garden Frederick. You are responsible for all of this?”

“Thank you. It has been my pleasure to maintain this garden for a few years now. It was maintained by someone else long ago, but he has passed away. When I moved in it had fallen into disrepair and I made a pact with the owner of my building to let me take over it’s maintenance and development. As I said last night, landscaping is an avocation of mine and this space has been a perfect opportunity for that expression.”

“It is gorgeous; so lush and green, and so mature; like being in a park.”

“It is a surprisingly large space in the center of these buildings. There are many tricks of layering plantings to create depth, and so while it is a big space, it is not as large as it might appear.”

“Well, it is just lovely Frederick; it really is like a small park.”

“Thank you.”

Agnes seemed to falter as she walked, then stopped and turned to Frederick and said, “I am feeling a little dizzy and fuzzy. I think I am a bit overdone from the rich food and alcohol last night and the strong coffee this morning. Would it be all right if I sat down?”

“Of course. Let’s sit down on that bench and we can relax. I will tell you more and you can catch your breath.”

Frederick took her wrist and guided her to a small white iron love-seat style bench. As they settled into their seats, Frederick put his arm across the back of the bench so it was resting across her shoulders. He looked over at Agnes and saw her looking into his eyes, but his gaze seemed to embarrass her. She immediately turned her face down and away. She was a confusion of shy openness. He pulled at her shoulder and she leaned in against his body and buried her head into the crook of his neck. Tentatively, he tangled his fingers in her hair; toying with it, swirling, combing, petting and listened to her soft murmurs in response. She reached over and took his hand up off his knee and held it in hers. She held his fingers across the palm of one hand and rubbed her finger absentmindedly up and down along the back of his index finger. When she lifted her head back up she was smiling.

“I think I am feeling better now and I am really looking forward to a tour of this beautiful garden.”

They got up off of the bench; he took her wrist and guided her along a path. It led out to the middle of a open grassy area in nearly the center of the courtyard. He stood behind her and placed his hands on her shoulder. He directed her attention and turned her slightly to the left.

“Over there is the stairway we just came down and the pond we walked across.”

The stairs were visible here and there as they looked up the three stories of the interior of the building but much of it was obscured by three mature trees; one on either side and another that stood between them and the stairway. Just down and to the right of the stairs was the pond they had walked across and further off to the right was the bench where they had rested.

With his hands on her shoulders and her neck, and at times her head, Frederick encouraged Agnes to turn this way and that way as he explained the major features of the foliage and landscaping of the space. He noticed as he spoke how responsive and attuned she was to his touch. At the slightest shift of his hands on her shoulders or move to her neck or head, he felt her muscles respond and she would shift her gaze and posture. He was pleased with the way she moved in response to his touch, guiding her this way or that as they walked. He felt an increasing warmth through her skin.

Suddenly there was a digital chirping sound. Frederick reached into his pocket and answered his phone. He listened, then said, “Yes,” listened more, and then, “Hold on.” He pulled the phone from his head.

“Agnes, I need to take this call, please excuse me a minute. Just relax and enjoy yourself. I will be right back.” He gave her a ‘hold on a moment’ gesture with his finger.

She looked concerned and started to say something but he turned and walked away. He walked off a few meters and stopped and continued the phone conversation. It was a routine business matter, but something that required a timely decision. Frederick listened, nodding his head absently several times, and then said, “Yes. Yes. Tell them we are absolutely committed to finalizing the arrangement. Set a meeting for the five of us at their offices for lunch, Monday. Thank you.” He clicked off the phone, put it back in his pocket and swiveled around to return to Agnes, but she was not there.


Where could she have gone? Frederick looked to the bench, then the pond, then further along the trail they had been following but could not see her anywhere. He walked back to the clearing and looked to the right and then to the left. In the distance, toward the far corner he saw her looking through the bushes, in a cautious but inquisitive way. He called out her name and headed quickly over to her. She had heard him call out and turned around toward him just as he reached out and grabbed hold of her arm. He pulled her away from the bushes she was investigating. He spoke as he hurriedly pulled her along, back to where they had been talking before the phone call.

“I am done with my call now. Let’s continue our tour back over here. I prefer you not go wandering around here on your own.”

“I was just looking at the beautiful flowers over there. It is a nice and sunny spot. The ground cover is spectacular; such brilliant colors.”

“Yes, yes, that is a lovely spot. I understand your curiosity but I do not want you wandering off again.”

With a look of concern on her face, Agnes nodded her head slowly, and looked down, “Yes, I am sorry.”

Frederick looked at her, trying to decide her state of mind, and in a stern voice he said, “It is not enough to be sorry, you need to be careful.”

He let that thought float between them and continued to watch her expression. Eventually she raised her head slightly, and spoke softly and said, “Yes sir.” He was satisfied that she truly understood that this was serious.

He took hold of her chin, lifted her head up and broke the silence. “That spot is lovely, I often eat a picnic lunch there. It is also a nice place to lay back on a blanket and have a nice sunny nap. The brightly colored flowers and their sweet scent can be intoxicating. Perhaps when we finish our walk around we can spread a blanket and have a small lunch.”

He gave her a quick steady smile, put his arm around her and resumed explaining the history and botany of the garden to her. As they meandered he explained that before these buildings were here, this had been an area for livestock and feed stores. And over the years as the neighborhood developed, buildings had been built out around the edges of the yard at street fronts. As the buildings along the streets were built, it left this sizable space “landlocked” inside and behind the buildings. Eventually the buildings completely encircled the yard area and over time it’s purpose changed. The neighborhood became more and more urban, losing it’s rural roots. As he understood it, the families of the building owners had encouraged and supported the people who lived in the buildings in developing this courtyard.

He looked at Agnes and saw that her attention was drifting. He realized that he might be going on a little too much. When they came back around to the open grassy area again Frederick asked if Agnes was hungry and she said she was a little.

Holding out his keys, Frederick said, “I have a couple things to do down here. I want you to go back up to the apartment and make us a light lunch; perhaps a sandwich, some cut up fruit, and a small bottle of wine. There is a basket in the shelves in the kitchen island.”

She seemed frozen by the request, but he could not read the expression any deeper.

“Is that something you can do for us?”

“I think I can, yes, but do you trust me in your apartment on my own? And, and . . . I am not sure what you might have that would make a good lunch.”

“I trust you on both counts Agnes. While I doubt you would go rummaging, you are welcome to see anything and everything in my apartment. And as far as the food goes, feel free to find anything you might enjoy eating and I am sure I will be happy with your choices.”

Agnes smiled at his reassurances, but still seemed to have some doubt, but said, “Okay. I will.”

Frederick stood watching her walk away, enjoying the way her shapely body moved. Even in what he imagined to be an uncomfortable situation she seemed to have an air of confidence and poise. She looked sexy. He continued to watch her as she climbed her way back up the spiral stairway and disappeared into the building.

Frederick was feeling elated by her company and in fact quite aroused, he was finding himself very tempted. He was very pleased with the way their friendship was developing, by her responsiveness to him and he was looking forward to getting much closer.

He shook himself out of his reverie and turned and walked back toward the far corner of the courtyard . . .

(Agnes's reaction)

(Agnes goes to make lunch)