“Cindy?” The man asked.

“Yes.” Cindy replied.

“I’m Joe. Nice to meet you.” He replied.

Joe was well dressed, wearing a coat and a tie. Cindy guessed he was a few years older than herself. His dark hair had some hints of gray, but he was well groomed, and stood a couple inches taller than her.

“Thank you for joining me for dinner.” Joe said.

“Thank you for inviting me.” Cindy replied. “Or rather, thank you for buying me.” As soon as Cindy said it she realized it did not sound right. “I mean, thank you for bidding on me at the…” She stopped herself again. She felt her face flush and didn’t know what to say to recover.

“No worries.” Joe said. “I understand. I’m happy I could help with the fundraising effort at the club.”

Cindy sighed. Her embarrassment faded a little. Joe had a comforting air about him.

“Yes. Thank you.” She said.

“Shall we go?” Joe gestured to the car parked behind him.

“Yes.” Cindy replied, eager to change to the topic of conversation.

Joe turned and opened the door for her, but to Cindy’s surprise he opened the back door. Unsure of what to make of it, Cindy proceeded to get into the back seat, and Joe closed the door behind her.

The car was very nice. Leather seats, immaculate condition, and then Cindy noticed she was not alone. There was a driver up front. A woman with her hair pulled back in a neat bun. They made brief eye contact and the woman gave Cindy a nod and a smile. Joe opened the door on the other side and got into the back with Cindy.

After they finished with her seat belts Joe asked, “Ready to go?”

“Yes.” Cindy replied

The driver started the car and proceeded on their way.

“Thank you again for agreeing to do this.” Joe said. “I’m new to the area and I wanted to learn more about the town and the people here. I joined the social club in hopes of meeting some of my new neighbors.”

“Where do you live?” Cindy asked.

“My full time residence is in London. My business is based there, but over the last few years I’ve been traveling for work more often, and so it matters less exactly where I live. I found a little house up on a hill outside of town and hope to be around here more often.”

Joe’s voice was calming. He seemed relaxed and at ease. “I enjoy this area. It is much more calm than the constant hussle of London.”

There was so much that Cindy wanted to ask about him, but her earlier stumbles made her hold back. After all, the whole point of the evening was for him to ask her questions.

As they rode Joe proceeded to ask Cindy about the town, the people, and the history of the area. He was particularly interested in locals who were known around town, such as shop owners, town officials, and social characters who showed up everywhere and who were known by everyone. Cindy had lots of stories to share and Joe enjoyed getting the inside details of the community.

When they arrived at the restaurant the driver pulled up to the front door. A doorman opened the door for Cindy. Joe got out, circled around, they went inside.

“Good evening, sir.” The maître d' greeted them. “Your table is ready. Right this way.”

Wow, thought Cindy. Not only did they expect Joe, but they recognized him the moment he walked in. Cindy followed the maitre d’ to their waiting table. The restaurant was very elegant without being stuffy. Cindy browsed through the menu. The meal descriptions read almost as short works of poetry. They were so well crafted and tantalizing. She also noticed there were no prices on the menu. Hmmmm. Cindy glanced over at Joe’s menu; no prices there either. She found this a bit odd, but Joe was buying dinner, so she let it go and tried to make a selection.

“May I offer you something to drink?” A waiter asked.

Cindy looked to Joe, who took the lead.

“How would you feel about some red wine?” Joe asked.

“That sounds very nice.” Cindy replied, trying to match the general level of sophistication in the room.

Joe proceeded to ask for a specific bottle of wine by name and year. Clearly Joe was familiar with the world of wine.

“Very good sir.” the waiter replied, and left.

“I have had the steak here.” Joe said to Cindy. “It was very good.”

“I was looking at that one.” Cindy answered, grateful that Joe was continuing to set the tone for dinner.

The wine arrived, along with some ice water. Glasses were filled and the bottle was set to rest in a small floor stand next to the table. There was plenty of room on the table for the bottle, but clearly a special temperature and level of ceremony was important to the restaurant.

“To new friends.” Joe raised a glass.

Cindy raised her glass and made the smallest of taps with Joe’s glass before sampling the wine. It was amazing. Just the right amount of murky fruit, a subtle tang, and then smoothly faded away. Cindy glanced at the label and tried to memorize the name.

“So you have traveled to many places for work.” Cindy said. “What is the farthest you’ve been?”

“Well,..” Joe thought out loud. “That would probably be Australia. The central region is a bit dry, but the coastal areas are beautiful. And the locals there are so friendly and entertaining. The accent, the rolling nature of their speech, and the many nicknames they give to everything makes listening and understanding them a delightful challenge.”

The two of them shared a gentle laugh. Cindy enjoyed listening to Joe talk. There was a gentle air of authority about him that was comforting. He continued to tell stories of his travels while Cindy grew more comfortable asking the questions. She found herself leaning forward in her seat, trying to be closer to the unfolding adventures.

The waiter returned and the two of them ordered their meal. Cindy chose to order the same as Joe, although opted for the smaller size of the steak. Her reasoning was hard to define, but it had something to do with his generosity, and her wanting to impress him, without completely matching him. She liked him being one step ahead.

The friendly conversation continued until the food arrived. Everything was delicious and so elegantly presented. A second bottle of wine arrived and their conversation continued.

“What is the craziest thing you’ve done in your travels?” Cindy asked, excited to get the juiciest story yet. “Have you tried walking on hot coals? Did you ever swim with sharks?” She felt like a kid on Christmas eve, hoping for that unbelievable present to arrive.

“There was this one time.” Joe started. “ I was in Japan. It was the end of a business trip and the client took us all out for a very fancy meal.” Joe took a sip of wine, letting Cindy think about where this might go next.

“There were about eight of us.” Joe continued, “We were brought to a private dining room at a sushi restaurant. I had heard about this before but never experienced it.”

“You’ve never had sushi?” Cindy asked in disbelief.

“I’d had sushi before, but this was different. The Japanese call it Nyotaimori.” Joe paused for a moment to see if Cindy would react to that. She did not.

“The sushi was arranged on the table for us when we walked in. Although it was not on plates. Lying on the table was a young woman, completely naked, with small servings of sushi arranged on top of her in an elaborate pattern. The food was just on her bare skin.” Joe stopped the story for a moment. Cindy was frozen, mouth open, in complete wonder.

“We all took our seats around the table, had a sip of sake. And then using our chopsticks we proceeded to pick up the food, bite by bite, off her body, and eat it.” Joe took another sip of his wine and let that image sink into Cindy's mind.

“Woaaa.” Cindy whispered. “You just ate the food off her?”

Joe nodded in confirmation.

“And what happened after you ate the food? I mean, after you ate all the food?” Cindy eagerly asked

“When we were done, there was simply a naked woman lying on the table.” Joe spoke in a very calm, matter of fact way. “She never moved and never spoke. She never acknowledged our conversations or responded to us touching her body with our chopsticks. She remained absolutely still for the entire time. Even when we got up to leave, she remained in place until we were out of the room.”

Cindy sat back to digest the full story. It sounded surreal, like a fictional fantasy. She took a sip of wine, and then realized, this story was also very hot. Having a naked young woman remaining completely still while all these strangers surrounded her and ate their meal off her bare body. It was either the good food, the wine, or the seductive storytelling, but Cindy was definitely turned on.

After a few moments of silence Joe asked Cindy, “What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done?”

“Oh, believe me, nothing as exciting as that.” Cindy blurted out laughing. “The best I can do is that one time I walked home wearing a skirt but no knickers or a…” Cindy paused for a moment, and then realized she had to finish her sentence. “...no knickers or bra.” She was suddenly embarrassed about what she was saying. “I mean, I had a skirt and a blouse on, but… no… yea.” she sunk down in her seat, looking directly at Joe for any sign of response.

It took them both about 5 seconds and then they both burst out in muffled laughter. It was such a ridiculous confession, and yet so obviously struggling to match Joe’s story in terms of nudity. Cindy’s face felt flush with embarrassment, and wine, and a layer of lustful longing to be touched by Joe. This wonderfully friendly evening had reached that turning point when personal secrets were starting to be revealed.

“Excuse me.” Cindy said standing up. “I’m going to make a quick visit to the loo.” she turned to walk away and then added “Don’t go anywhere.”

“I’ll stay right here.” Joe replied with an amused smile.

Cindy carefully made her way across the restaurant, suddenly aware of the amount of wine she had consumed. Once in the restroom, she checked her blushing cheeks in the mirror and then proceeded to an empty stall. She lifted her dress, lowered her thong, and sat to pee. The physical relief was accompanied by a long exhale, a drop of her shoulders, and a motionless rest. The wine was setting in. She could feel her heart beating. Her face was glowing warm. She could feel the butterflies inside her from a developing crush on Joe. Was it a crush? She didn't know. Maybe. Maybe it was just lust. Either way, there were parts of her that really wanted to touch parts of him. These were first date jitters. And this wasn’t even a first date. Or maybe it was. Or maybe the drive had been the first date, and now the dinner was the second date. Would the drive home be their third date? This is ridiculous, she thought. What am I doing?

When Cindy was done she opened her eyes and looked down at her thong stretched between her knees. The gusset was wet. She was not surprised. She knew exactly why it was wet, and for the first time today her head agreed with her body’s response. She thought of the wet knickers she had left at Tony’s house. He was probably some sort of freak who liked a woman’s knickers. What was it with men and wet knickers? Why did they like them so much? Did they all like them? Why didn’t they ever explain themselves? Cindy wondered if Joe was the same way. She wondered if he wanted to touch her wet knickers.

Then, Cindy had an idea. Instead of pulling her wet thong up, she pulled it down and off. She got up, straightened her dress, and left the stall. She hid the thong in her dress between her breasts, washed her hands, and headed back to the table.

Joe was still there, waiting, and smiling.

“Oh good.” Cindy said, sitting down. “You’re still here.” She joked.

“Yes, I am.” Joe replied, smiling at her.

Cindy waited a moment, building up some courage. She glanced around to make sure there was no waiter approaching them. When the coast was clear, and she was sure she had Joe’s attention, she reached into her cleavage, quickly retrieved the thong, and placed it on the table next to her plate. Joe watched this very closely and when he realized exactly what it was on the table he raised his eyebrows at Cindy as if to say “That’s a bold move. What will you do next?”

Cindy picked up her cloth napkin and placed it on top of her thong, hiding it from view. She then picked up her wine glass and held it to her lips. She did not drink, but hid behind it, looking over the rim at Joe, forcing him to make the next move.

“I think dinner was delicious.” Joe said “Shall we be going?”

Cindy tipped her glass and finished the wine. Setting it down she replied, “Yes. That is a splendid idea.”

Joe stood and waited, letting Cindy lead the way. As she walked she turned her head and spied Joe’s hand discreetly retrieve her thong from under the napkin and slip it into his coat pocket. You dirty boy, she thought. I know what you want.