The Art of the Deal – Part 1

“Must be fate…..I’ve never been THAT lucky” Dan Roberts told himself. Sure enough, sitting just down from him was the incredibly cute server from his favoritebar/ watering hole. She had to be half his 55 years, and he was sure it was the combo of Green eyes and raven-black hair, along with generally petite frame that made ‘Steph’ (he only knew this from her name tag) so attractive. Today though, she was looking very despondent, and Dan knew why…and what he could do about it , if this idiot idea actually worked

Dan rubbed his goatee, and made up his mind. He would approach her and see if the wild idea swinging round his head would work, or was he about to get hot coffee thrown on him, and have to find a new bar to visit. A tad nervous, he stood to his “full” 5ft 8inches, and, brushing his hand quickly thru his short whitening hair, he took a deep breath, trusted fate, and headed over

Stephanie “Steph” Robbins sat, looking out the window, wondering what to do next. The bar was not doing well, and they were going to let her go. She barely had the rent, which worried her a bit, but what crushed her this day was her mounting student debt. In just a few weeks, she had to register for her final year of college. Steph came a from a desperately poor background, and unless something happened, that gamble was going to fail, and she would have to move back home, to a dead-end job in a factory. She was sipping her last bit of coffee, when she noticed a man approaching from the corner of her eye, turning, she saw “Mr. Bob.’ Bob was a guy old enough to be her dad (had she actually known him), and was easily one of the nicest men at the bar, so it was easy to push out that despair for a moment. “Well hello!” She said “What are you doing here?”

Dan smiled at being recognized. He greeted Steph and pointed to the other side of the booth. Getting a nod, he sat, and after some basic conversation and introductions, Dan abruptly said “So Steph, I have to tell you something,”

“yes?” she asked

“Well, it’s like this,” Dan said, then stopped for a moment, adding “Please hear me out” Seeing her look at him with intent, he continued. “You may not know it, but when I was at my booth the other night, well, must be the way the room is or something, I could hear the whole conversation about tuition you had with your friend.” Seeing her sink a bit, Dan held up a finger and said “Now wait, one, I am sorry for eavesdropping, it was never my intent, and two, I am so sorry that a lovely lady such as yourself is in this position, and three…well…I think there’s a way for me to help.”

Stephanie sat there for a moment, instantly her defensive walls shot up, but she was becoming desperate, and desperate times….. “Go ahead.” She said simply.

“Let tell you where I am,” Dan continued, “Two years ago, I became a widow, and a year before that, I stepped away from my business.” Feeling it all spilling out, he said “Now, I’m not sure about a lot of things, but a few I can be sure of is that I am not ready to date, doubt I ever will. But when I heard you describing you plight, I thought…well I figured..”

“I *help* you and you in turn *help* me, right?” Steph asked. She saw it coming a mile away, but at least this guy was honest about it. She was not totally offended. Oddly, she seemed intrigued. Holding up a finger she turned and looked out the window for several seconds. “I can’t go home, I can’t fail.” She thought. “Look,” she finally said, snapping back, “I just don’t have my senior year tuition. That is going to be several thousand right there, and I just don’t think-“

Dan interrupted “Actually I thought it was going be about $3500, and I tell you what, spend Friday Afternoon to Sunday afternoon with me, & I will most certainly cover that.” Seeing her sitting there gap mouthed and stunned, Dan added, “When we meet Friday, I may have a proposal to cover your FULL tuition, but we can talk about that then.” There was about 15 seconds of silence, then Dan bluted out, in a low voice, “I can’t believe I just made that offer.” Looking at Stephanie Robins smirk, he added “But I’m damn-sure glad I did.”

The waitress had brought their bills, and they stood in silence at the register as Dan paid them both. As they stepped outside, Stephanie broke the silence, also blurting “Desperate times…..I’LL DO IT.” Turning and looking at Dan, she said “Anything having to do with the restroom is off limits. No recording anything. *Just* the two of us, right?”

Dan couldn’t believe the business man in him popping out. “Absolutely only the two of us, I had no intention of recording a damn thing. Showers stay n the deal. I live alone & have a private place here in town, so you’ll be ‘modeling’ things I want to see you in, so I’ll need your underwear and dress sizes. You’ll be at my disposal during this time, but no fear, I am a gentleman, so of course some things will be discussed before anything um…’takes place.’

Smiling, Stephanie took out her phone as did Dan, & the two phones synced. “You have my number” She said “I’ll text you tomorrow about 11.”

“I have a private drive beside Lakeview Apartments, know them?” Seeing her nod, Dan added, “My drive is the big gate beside them. Text me, & I’ll let you in.”

The die was now cast. As each got into their respective vehicles, they both breathed a collective sigh of relief. Stephanie just sat, staring straight ahead, never noting Dan’s truck pull out. “What are you doing?” She asked herself, then answered “securing my future.” As Dan took a deep breath, he started the truck and, realizing that exchange ***really*** happened, drove off. Calling his maid, he made arrangements to have the place cleaned again. Looking at her had written note of measurements, he knew he needed to go by a few stores,, as he had a some things to pick up before Tomorrow

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(OK sorry for it being so long, hang on there, the next episode I am typing now gets to it, as it were!)

Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/ereh55/the_art_of_the_deal_part_1