followed Wesley into the kitchens to be shown where the drinks were prepared. He told me that the majority of the girls who worked there were repeat employees, hired every year for this 3 day conference. While he introduced me to the head chef one of the girls burst into the kitchen, her face as red as crimson.
“ Anyone here got more panties I can borrow?”, she called to the room. “I’ve run out already”.
Wesley chuckled, turning to me with a wry smile.
“ I’m sure that you’ll have a profitable time here”, he said.
For the duration of the morning I wandered throughout the halls of this giant residence, watching the patrons as they gave me a nod or a wink. Most ordered whiskey, some vodka, none anything non-alcoholic. Approaching noon I headed up one of the staircases to find a bathroom.
Walking along the corridor I heard voices from one of the bedrooms. I had no intentions of looking inside but the door was ajar and the snippet of conversation that I heard piqued my interest.
“ Try to rub them into your pussy a bit for me”, a male voice said. “I need to be able to smell you”.
“ Of course”, said the girl, giggling. What on earth was going on in there?
My heart pounding, fearful of being caught but dying to know what was happening in the room, I poked my head around the door. The man was standing with his back to me, the girl facing him. Rummaging underneath her skirt she wiggled her hips, pulling her black panties down. Curling them into a ball she handed them to the man, who appeared to be giving her cash in return.
“ A pleasure doing business”, he said.
“ Likewise”, she said with a smile. Leaning forward to kiss his cheek she looked over his shoulder, catching sight of me in the doorway. I gasped as our eyes met, terrified that she would reveal my presence to the man and have me fired. Instead she winked at me as she pulled his cheek to her lips.
After scurrying downstairs I worked for the rest of the afternoon, trying to decipher what I’d seen. When I went into the kitchen to fix a scotch on the rocks for a younger billionaire - who had curiously smiled at me when I had asked him which brand, simply saying ‘whatever you think I’d like’ - I ran into the girl who I’d seen upstairs.
“ This is your first year here, right?”, she said to me, smiling. “I’m Megan, nice to meet you”.
“ Amber, and yes it is”, I said nervously. “I’m so sorry about before, I was looking for a bathroom. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything”.
“ Not at all”, she said taking my hand. Walking me over to the kitchen door she stood, pointing to the throng of businessmen. “You see all of them? Do you know why they come here?”.
“ For the conference, right?”, I said meekly.
“ Partly”, she said. “They like to have some fun too. You see that man over there? The super cute guy with the pink tie?”.
Following her gaze I saw that she was talking about Alan Starkey. Talking with a couple of older men, he looked towards us and raised his glass.
“ I see him”, I said; preferring to keep my knowledge of him close to my chest, for now.
“ Every year he makes a little bet with his friends. Whoever can collect the most pairs of panties from the girls who work here wins. That’s why so many of us come back, once they let you know that they’re playing, they’ll pay big money for the goods. A girl can make a lot of money if she plays her cards right”.
A little shocked, I put my hand over my mouth.
“ That’s incredible!” I said. “How much do they pay you?”.
“ The average is $1000 per pair”.
Letting out an audible gasp I looked into the eyes of this girl, who beamed back at me with her eyes wide open.
“ Holy fuck!”, I exclaimed. “But how do you know that they want to buy?”
“ There’s a code”, she said. “It’s part of the game. They
Dean Wesley Smith, Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Martin A. Lee, Bruce Shlain