Technocrat

[a_libertine]

They went to the front of the store and piled the dresses up on the counter. He paid for the dresses, "Please put them in appropriate bags, my driver will pick them up."

Taking his cell phone out he dialed the car, "Philip, come to the boutique and pick up some bags for Emma, please."

He listened a moment then replied, "Thank you."

Hanging up he offered his arm to Emma, "Shall we? I believe dinner is waiting for us."

They left the boutique and turned left. An upscale restaurant was not too far away and they walked toward it. "We should get something straight, while we are in the beginning stages of our relationship."

"The main thing with me is that you cannot lie to me. If you do, that breaks the trust. Without complete trust, we have nothing, and you cannot work for me. Understand?"

 

[DearSunshine]

Emma's eyes widened as he paid for all of her new clothes. She had glanced over the price tags before steeling herself for the charge she had expected to put on her credit card, and she knew it wasn't cheap. "You don't have to do that..." She started to protest, but backed aside as it was made clear that he was indeed. "Thank you, I appreciate it." She said, not wanting to seem rude or that she wouldn't accept them as an investment in her future.

Taking his arm, she followed him out to go to the restaurant. Hearing him, she turned to look up and listen to him. She blinked a little. "Oh... Of course not, sir. I wouldn't lie to you. I promise I won't. I understand that since we'll be working so closely together, our trust will be very impactful of how we get things done."

 

[a_libertine]

Malcolm gave her a grin as he said, "That includes lies of omission, like in the car earlier."

Malcolm discovered as they walked side by side that he liked the feel of Emma next to him better than he had Claire. Claire had her good points, but there was an honesty in her approach to things had been lacking. It didn't hurt that the show she had put on earlier was still seared into his memory. That fresh memory and her hip occasionally brushing against his as they walked kept him in a semi turgid state while they walked.

He pulled the door to the restaurant open, and his eyes followed her inside, reaffirming what he already knew. She was exceptionally well put together.

He followed her in and asked, "A table for two, privately please."

The maître d'hôtel replied, "It will be an hour wait sir. May I have your name."

Malcolm leaned over to Emma and whispered, "Here is the downside of money."

Turning to maître d'hôtel, he replied, "Blankenship, Malcolm Blankenship."

The man's eyes scrunched up a moment as if in thought, then his eyes widened, "My apologies sir, it will be but a minute."

He turned toward the bar and asked Emma, "What would you like to drink while waiting?"

 

[DearSunshine]

Emma ducked her head sheepishly, "I promise it won't happen again, especially now that I know how you feel about that sort of thing." She said, following him inside. The restaurant looked amazing, like the type of place she would only have gone for big celebrations like her graduating from Princeton. Once again she felt like she was walking on clouds, living the dream life that she had worked so hard to finally achieve.

"Oh yes, such a downside." She giggled softly to him, as their wait was cut down. "Oh, a white wine, please. Preferably something German?" She asked, looking towards the well stocked bar that most likely would have something. "What do you like to drink, sir?" She asked, looking back to Malcolm. "These are things I should know so I can bring you something you like when you ask for a drink." She said, eager to learn more about him... But just for the job. She had to reaffirm that to herself. Just for the job...

Though she was starting to enjoy just being around him in general, off the clock as well as on. He was easy to be with, or at least it was for her. She respected his work so much, and it turned out he wasn't insane like some CEOs. Not to mention he was incredibly handsome. It was hard for her to keep her eyes off of him.

 

[a_libertine]

He ordered a Riesling for her, and a Bombay Sapphire and Ketel One martini for himself. After getting the drinks he brought them over to the table where they were sitting at. He sat next to her as he put the glass of wine in front of her.

"The second rule as it were, is that you should ask questions, any questions that come to mind."

He grinned at her and said, "After you adjust a little, I will ask all manner of questions, some will probably make you a little uncomfortable, some won't."

He waggled his eyebrows at her a little and asked, "So what haven't you asked that you wanted to?"

 

[DearSunshine]

Emma smiled as he handed her the Riesling. Honestly, it had been just what she had in mind, though she hadn't wanted to sound too picky with type. "Thank you." She said, following him over to the table to sit down at.

"Oh, any question?" She asked, thinking back on all the questions that had gone across her mind. But no, those would have been inappropriate. Seeing that waggle of his eyebrows though made her want to test it. Maybe she could, he was going to be asking her uncomfortable questions... But maybe that was just like questions about where she grew up or awkward family things. Better to start out with one of her more less awkward ones of her own, though she and truthfully been really wondering this.

"Why are you married? Or have a committed girlfriend?" She asked, "Your schedule is busy, but there's time. You're on at least three eligible bachelor lists for this city alone. What's up with that?"

 

[a_libertine]

Malcolm thought about the answer for a while before giving it to her.

"Well, how do I separate the ones looking to marry just to divorce me in a year or two? How do I filter out the ones that are looking for an easy life?"

He gave her a grin, "Besides, if I did have a committed relationship, invariably they would get jealous of the work relationships that I foster, not to mention the all of the business trips that have me out of town for days at a time."

He motioned to her, "Why haven't you? You are without any doubt beautiful and smart. Surely there would have been one or two guys at Princeton that would have tried to date or marry you."

 

[DearSunshine]

Emma nodded, sipping from her wine as she listened to him. "Mm, I suppose that makes sense. Perhaps I should be thanking my lucky stars that you aren't married, otherwise I might have your wife calling me at all hours of the day making sure you were playing nice and keeping your vows." She chuckled, "I could see how they might get jealous, yes. That's almost too bad though, you must get lonely sometimes. These are hard hours, and a hard working environment."

She then shrugged at his question for her, drinking more of her wine, finding it quite good and sweet. "Oh, I had a boyfriend here or there during college. But once it was graduation, and my senior year was finishing up, I didn't want to be dragged down by someone from a past phase of my life. Nobody I felt like walking forward with into the future. All I've wanted is to come out here and make my own career, now I'm doing that." She smiled, "That's all I could want, and I couldn't be happier being where I am, even if its by myself."

 

[a_libertine]

The waitress approached them letting them know the table was ready for them. Malcolm stood and offered Emma his hand to help her up.

He kept a slight gentle touch on her hand as they went to the table. "I have to ask," he trailed a finger across her palm then asked, "is my touch disturbing or exciting? "

 

[DearSunshine]

Taking her wine in one hand, she started to stand with Malcolm's help. She blushed lightly as he mentioned his touch. It had been one of the question she had thought of for him... How badly she wanted to just not answer, but they had to be honest with each other.

"I... I do find it a little different, but not disturbing. I um, suppose that it is exciting that you feel comfortable enough already to touch... me..." She trailed off, her cheeks bright pink as she felt like there wasn't a good way to say it at all, and she inwardly groaned, feeling like she was making this worse.

"It's alright, I kind of rather like it. Makes me feel like you're safely guiding me about." She said softly, trying to just be honest and hope that it would make up for her earlier fumbled words.

 

[a_libertine]

Malcolm smiled at her saying, "Okay. I will take it easy on you for a day or two. "

When waitress arrived her order a steak for himself and listened to Emma's order before ordering am appropriate wine for them.

The table they were sitting at was in a discreet corner where they would only be noticed by someone if they were very close and deliberately looking at them. I'm an age where everyone had a camera any help at keeping a life private was a good thing.

"Have you told your folks about your new job yet? If not you might want to."

 

[DearSunshine]

Emma tilted her head, not exactly sure what he meant by taking it easy on her. Was he not going to touch her anymore? She had mixed feelings about that... The young woman could still feel what it was like to have had his hand on the small of her back, and it almost made her want to arch up.

She ordered the chicken, nodding in thanks the waitress and handing over her menu before looking back across at Malcolm. "Yes, I have told them! I called them right after I stepped out of your office actually. They're very happy for me, and know that I'll be very busy. I like to try and call them at least once a week, usually on a Sunday. But they know I might miss that sometimes if I'm trying to help you with something. By the sounds of it, if we'll be in Oregon most weekends I think I'll be able to..." She then paused, thinking of another question for him.

"What did your last assistant do over the weekends with you? I'm just wondering since I'm trying to think of things that can take up my time while you're relaxing. I love to read, is that what she did too?"

 

[a_libertine]

Malcolm paused a moment considering how to answer Emma's question. He knew the truth probably would not go over so well, at least not yet.

Shrugging he replied, "Well, there is running, swimming, hot tubbing, reading, relaxing and preparing."

He took a sip of the wine, "And occasionally we shopped; after all one of the perks to having wealth is spending it on...amusements. "

He looked at Emma, "Other than fend off men, what do you do on weekends? "