Leo was stocking shelves with pantyhose when Tami walked up to greet him.
"Hi, Leo, how was your weekend?"
"Huh? Oh, Hi, Tami. It was just fine."
A peculiar glint came into his eye. Tami knew that meant he had been able to sneak away with his lover, the doctor's wife.
"Good, mine too."
Their unspoken language of communication made it clear that they both enjoyed a lot of sex. Leo scanned Tami's body quickly and she felt self-conscious. She wondered whether he could tell by her walk that she was sore from being fucked so much. A customer soon took her mind off the subject.
At lunchtime Leo invited her out to a nearby coffee shop. Tami was glad to get out into the fresh air for a while and she gladly accepted.
"Now, Leo, let's be sure this is lunch and only lunch… " warned Tami.
"Why, Tami," smiled her boss, "What else could it mean?"
They smiled at each other.
Driving to the eatery, they discussed the store. Leo complained that business hadn't yet picked up enough to please the district manager.
"Don't worry, Leo. Something'll work out."
"I certainly hope so, Tami."
She hadn't heard him sound so serious in a long time.
They pulled into the coffee shop parking lot, only to find that it was closed for alterations.
Tami suggested they go to a restaurant that was just a bit further down the road.
"No, I know the owner, it'd be too… " He lowered his voice so she couldn't quite make out what he was saying.
"Never mind, I know a good place."
Leo proceeded to a small hotel five or six miles out of town.
"They have great soup and sandwiches here."
Absently Tami ordered a meal. Fatigue was creeping up on her. After eating, however, she perked up enough to notice what seemed to her like strange goings on in the hotel.
The barmaid was a flimsily-attired girl who kept talking to customers in a low voice and then leaving the room. She would soon return and the men would exit through a door near the back.
It had all the earmarks of a house of prostitution. Tami asked Leo if that was, indeed, what went on behind the door.
"Gee, Tami, I don't rightly know."
He winked.
Her mind started to jump to all sorts of conclusions. Did Leo expect her to…? Actually, the idea didn't seem so bad on further consideration.
As if he knew exactly what she was thinking, Leo began to explain his plan.
"Look, Tami, the thing that happened the other day at work really got me thinking… "
The ‘thing' was their little confrontation in the employee's lounge when they got very close to balling until a stockboy interrupted them.
"You really knocked me out-you've got a great body. Plus, well, Anna and I have lately started to get involved in some, well, let's just say ‘very swinging' sex scenes."
This surprised Tami, since she couldn't imagine Leo's lover Anna being interested in such things. The girl had seen her once in the supermarket and she seemed to be surrounded by an air of mysterious dignity-not at all the characteristics of a wild swinger.
"So," he continued, "What I mean to say is that I've gotten a lot more tolerant of all sorts of things."
Tami wished he would stop, excuse the expression, beating around the bush.
"Well, the other slay, it struck me that you would be just what they need."
He nodded in the direction of the green door behind the bar.
"I know that you know the score."
He smiled knowingly.
"The way you moved around the other day, there was no doubt in my mind that you're an experienced chick."
Tami smiled at this compliment. It seemed that the friendly sexual joking between them had suddenly become much more than that.
"So, what did you have in mind..?" she asked softly.
Tam, a few of our customers have remarked to me that they thought you were an exceptionally fine girl."
He emphasized ‘fine' to mean a lot more than just polite.
"They were men, of course," he added, a trace of nervousness creeping into his voice.
"Would you like another drink?"
She agreed, partly to make Leo feel a little more comfortable. She was actually getting excited about knowing the rest of his plan. Leo cleared his throat.
"So, I thought that it would be a clever idea to set you up in business at the supermarket… "
"What d'ya mean?"
"Well, I wouldn't let the word out-only to a few guys that I know aren't freaks or anything… "
He knew that she was aware of just what he meant.
"And-only if you're willing, of course, we could arranged for them to come to your checkout to let you know if they're interested…
Tami began to laugh uncontrollably. This upset Leo, who wasn't quite sure how she would take the idea.
"Tami, what's the matter?"
"That's funny… I can just picture some guy buying a popsicle to indicate he wants a blow job and a couple of doughnuts to show that he wants to fuck!"
"A great idea!"
It relieved Leo immensely to see that Tami thought the idea was at least possible. Before telling her, he had had a moment of serious doubt, thinking even that she might regard him as perverted or sick.
But the scene in the employee's lounge floated back to him, and he knew she would never react in such a fashion. She was as hip as he had always thought she was.
Tami thought about this proposition as she took a long drink. Being a hooker-or whatever the equivalent was in this situation- struck her as being pretty exciting.
Sheryl told her that she had sometimes turned a few tricks, that it was really satisfying if you were sure the guy would treat you well …
She remembered stories Sheryl had told about the nice gifts men would give her, the nice restaurants they would go to… But what about Joe? What would he think if he ever found out?
Another sip and she had decided. He didn't have to find out, unless she felt she wanted to tell him.
Leo was silent, apparently to give her a chance to think things over.
He turned expectantly towards her.
"I think it's a great idea."
He sighed with relief.
"Wonderful."
Buying her another drink, he explained.
"Tami, I hope you realize that this will probably save my job. With the extra business we'll get, the district manager'll have nothing to complain about."
Suddenly Tami remembered work.
"Leo! I'm twenty-five minutes late from lunch! I'll be… "
"Forget it, Tam. From now on, you're on a special schedule. I explained, I mean I will explain, to everyone else that you're in training for some kind of upcoming position in another aspect of the business. That'll be vague enough to please ‘em."
Leo thought of everything.
Returning to her job, Tami spent the remainder of the day doing her usual duties so as not to attract attention.
"Tami, I'd like you to stay a little later today, so we can discuss the details of your position."
"Of course."
She returned to help a little boy who was crying because his penny was stuck in a gumball machine.
As the store closed for the evening, Leo finished various office chores and then led her to the lounge.
"You, of course, keep any and all money that you make from your new… position."
Tami daydreamed about the trip to Trinidad she had always wanted to take. Her head was full of visions of white beaches and cool sea breezes as he sat her down.
"I've made arrangements with some of the interested clients. Now, I will be announcing that this room will be no longer used as a lounge…"
"But, Leo, that's not fair. There's no other place for everybody to go. I refuse to make them suffer just because I'm doing something crazy like this."