Slight Detour. Part 1

At this she took out her phone and called Pavlina, asking if it would be all right for her to pay for my time up to close of business Thursday evening and they came to an arrangement, with a bulk discount. I was affronted – only a week on the shelves and I am already consigned to the discount bin! She then turned to me and explained what she wanted me to do.

“Gene, what we will want you to do is to try and get close to Claude and try to get him to take you home. We know where he eats, drinks and shops but we have never discovered his home base. We will equip you with the technical stuff that will allow us to track your movements and there will also be a panic button if you get into trouble. This guy is not known for violence but is a bit of an enigma. He does not frequent internet cafes and does not even carry a smart phone. If he had we could have tracked him a long time ago. He always seems to disappear when he enters a particular shopping centre but we cannot see how he does it. He does, however, meet up with Manuel, our gay operative, for lunch on Mondays at a little café, so that is where we will place you next to him. Have you any questions?” I said that I realised that if he took me home it may be an overnight stay and she nodded. She then told me that Monday morning we would go shopping for the right outfit that she thought Claude would like but, in the meantime, I would stay with her at the mansion so we could carry on our conversation in private.

We left Joseph to sort out the technical equipment. I did tell him that as we had scanners that could detect senders at the whiskeria, it was possible that Claude had similar, so we needed any electronics to be able to be turned off, perhaps a single touch off button and an internal timer to turn it on again. He said he may have just the thing. Portia and I went back to the whiskeria where Pavlina let me in around her office and I went up to my room to put together a small bag of needed supplies for the four days. I had to wait outside for Portia to return as she had gone around several blocks, following the one-way system, while I was inside. Before going to her mansion we went out of the city to a country restaurant and had a lovely early dinner, before going home for an evening of pure love.

When I woke Monday morning I had to pinch myself to make sure I had, actually, woken up, as I was being cuddled lovingly, a situation I had not experienced for a few years. I did, however, have a pressing need, so extracted myself from her arms and made my way to the toilet. After washing my hands I came back to find her sitting up in bed with a silly smile on her face. “You have no idea how good I feel this morning, Gene, I don’t think I had ever had a night like that before. I know you work as a puta but there is only love I feel with you while we are together. I don’t think I have transferred my love for Yvette to you as she did not have the equipment you have, but I do feel that her spirit is hovering close. I will do my very best to keep you safe this week.”

We had breakfast in the nude, making sure not to spill the coffee, and then showered together. This did take a bit longer than it usually does but her hot water service was up to it. After we had dried we both dressed, me in the denim button-through dress and her in blouse, jeans and boots. We drove into the shopping precinct and we hit the dress shops. Eventually we chose a short sheath with dark stockings and medium heels. It was fire engine red and, of course, I needed a bag to go with it. We dropped into the company and I met Manuel. We discussed how we would work this and decided that I was a previous boyfriend of his who in town from just across the border. Claude was also a French Basque. I knew enough about my fathers’ history to be able to talk about the area so we hoped that I could make the connection that way.

He would meet Claude, as usual, and prime him with the news that Gene, an old boyfriend, had contacted him and he had agreed to meet me so we could have the afternoon together, just for old times. The only thing was that Gene had gone all girly since they had last lived together. Joseph gave me a locket on a chunky chain and a pair of earrings with large coloured stones set in gold. He showed me how the locket was a mini camera and how I used it. The earrings looked like the stone was quite thick but he told me that this was an optical illusion. One was a miniature GPS sender with an on/off button that worked if you squeezed the stone against the backing, an action that could be made to look natural. The sender had a tiny mark near the attachment so you knew which side it was on. The other was my panic button. It was off until squeezed in the same way but would ensure that help would be on its way.

Back at the mansion I was prepared for the fray. With red underwear, suspender belt and dark stockings, the red dress looked absolutely fabulous on me. Portia made sure my hair looked good and touched up my make-up to appear a bit slutty. I put on the jewellery and made sure the GPS was working (it was slaved to Portias’ smart phone), and we set off for the appointment with the hacker. She dropped me off well around the corner from the café and wished me luck. I strolled along the street and around the corner, catching sight of Manuel and my target for the first time. Claude was looking my way when I came into view and I could see his eyes light up. He was middle aged and looked fit, dressed well and carried himself with a confidence that only comes with success. As I walked towards them he told Manuel to turn around and, when he saw me, I waved. As I approached the table they both stood and I greeted Manuel with a hug and a kiss, saying that it was wonderful to see him and how good he looked. I then asked “Who’s your friend, you sly dog?” He said it was nothing like that and that this was Claude, a straight friend who had resisted his approaches.

I sat down and we chatted away. Claude and I were talking about the other side of the border and getting on like the proverbial house on fire. Eventually, he looked at his watch and said “I am so sorry, dear friends, but I do have a meeting with my lawyer this afternoon but I will be a bit forward and ask you, lovely Gene, if you would have dinner with me this evening?” I said I would love to and he mentioned a restaurant and a time and I said I would see him there. After he left we continued to chat about old times when I was a guy and we lived together, just in case he had slipped a microphone under the table or his chair. We then walked off towards Manuels’ car, hand in hand. He dropped me off at the mansion where Portia met me, telling me that I had done well. They had been monitoring the table with a microphone down the street so knew everything we had said. I was put back into the denim dress and my boots and Portia bundled me back in her car to go and get a dress that would suit that particular restaurant.

It just had to be red, again, and it was long and slinky. I could use the same shoes and bag. Back at the mansion I was put into a bubble bath and had my hair washed. Once again I dressed to impress and was, once more, dropped off around the corner. I walked carefully towards the entrance and I saw him standing there, waiting for me. I had a sudden feeling that it was nice to have a man waiting for my arrival and wondered what it would be like if I could organise something permanent along the same line, in the distant future.

Marianne G 2020