Simply "X"

Part 12 - The Gifts Just Keep on Coming

    When lunch was finished, we hammered out the rest of the case files and finished around 4:30 or so. Everyone departed except Delilah. She stayed behind to gather her paperwork. As it was just her and I remaining in the conference room, I tried to act casual while collecting my belongings. She shut the clasps on her brief case, and walked over to me. I fumbled with some papers to make it look like I was focusing on my work. She knew better and a smile lit up her face. I figured it was time to face the inevitable.

Delilah came straight out with it. She looks at me with those beautiful piercing blue eyes, and says, "So Mr. Daniels, have you given any thought to my proposal?" I knew exactly what she meant, and I replied, "I have Ms. Masterson. I'm not all together sure that an inner office romance is a good idea." Her response was quick. "No, no, no.... I'm not proposing an inner office romance. Look, I live in Georgia, and you live in Colorado. We both come to New York twice a month. What I'm offering you is something that could be very pleasurable, and very uncomplicated, if you are interested."

Holy shit !!! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. That sounded almost rehearsed, like she'd done this before. I was both turned on and scared at the same time. I smiled reluctantly, and told her, "That's a very nice offer Ms. Masterson, please let me think about it." She looks a bit dejected, and says, "Is there anything that I can do to perhaps sweeten the opportunity for you?" Wow !!! She is aggressive. I have got to be very careful here. I tell her, "Not necessary, I just want to mull it over please." She nods in agreement, and as she departs, she says over her shoulder, "One way or the other, I will have you Mr. Daniels. You will quickly learn that what Delilah wants, Delilah gets." And the fear factor just got worse.

I finish up my paperwork, and head back to the Waldorf. By the time I get there, it's nearly 5:30 and I'm feeling a little hungry again. The limo lets me off at the front doors, and I walk inside. As I get into the inner lobby, the night shift has already taken over as Victoria stands behind the desk smiling at me as usual. Considering the afternoon I just had, Victoria seemed tame in comparison to Delilah. I smiled back at her as I walked to the desk. She greeted me with, "How absolutely wonderful to see you Mr. Daniels. What can I do for you this evening?" She says this while shooting a quick glance towards my belt line. I know what she means, and I'm sure that if I told her that I would love some 'room service', she would happily oblige. I tell her, "I'm going to my room to freshen up, and then I will be back down for dinner at 6 o'clock sharp. Please let Jeremy know I will be arriving." She shoots me a big smile and nods in compliance.

When I get to my suite, I notice something unusual. There is a small gift wrapped present sitting on my pillow. I think to myself, "How odd is this?" I open the gift, and find a beautiful pair of midnight blue sapphire cuff links. There is a card inside that reads, "These would look great on you with your blue pinstripe suit." It was signed simply "X." I immediately start to assemble the methods of possibility of this getting into my room, and then ponder who "X" could be. How did this person know I was wearing a blue suit? How did they manage to get this into my room? And most importantly, who is X?

While I prepared for dinner, I recalled Delilah was on her phone earlier in the day, and she was quite deliberate about her privacy. I was thinking that she was setting this whole gift thing up to surprise me, in hopes of getting me into her hotel. I couldn't think of any other scenario, so I headed down to dinner. Getting off of the elevator, I stop momentarily at the welcome desk to ask Victoria about the gift. I decide to twist it a bit to try and get an involuntary confession out of her. I walk up to her and say, "Thank you for the gift Victoria, that was very thoughtful of you." She looks at me bewildered, and says, "Gift? What gift?" Immediately I could tell by the genuine confusion, she was not the one who gave it to me, nor was she a part of a Delilah plot to get it to my room. So, I tell her, "Well if it wasn't you, then how did a wrapped gift box get on my pillow? It wasn't there when I left for the office this morning, and it was there when I returned. Has anyone requested a delivery to my room today?" Victoria starts to fidget a bit, and tells me nervously, "No sir, no one has requested any deliveries be made to your room as far as I know."

Victoria sensed that I was perhaps angry at the violation of privacy, and feared that if I push the issue, she may get in trouble. She offered, "Mr. Daniels, I swear that no one has requested access or a delivery be made to your room since I came on at 3 o'clock this afternoon." She was obviously scared that there has been a major breach of protocol somewhere, and that it happened on her shift. She feared that the blame would come to her and the shift manager. I told her quietly, "Alright Victoria, I believe you, but please keep your eyes and ears open for me." She quickly replied, "Of course Mr. Daniels, you know that I would do anything for you." I nodded to her, and turned towards the restaurant.

Well, vice it to say that I didn't find out who had sent me the cuff links. I went back to Denver the following morning, and didn't give it much more thought. Two weeks had passed, and I was preparing for my next trip to New York. I decided to bring the cuff links with me, and the blue suit. As a creature of habit, I followed the same schedule as before. After dinner on Friday night, I went to my room to find yet another gift wrapped box on my pillow. I opened it and it was a bottle of Armani cologne. This is a very nice gift indeed. And it's one of my favorite fragrances. The card attached read, "I love how you smell." It was signed simply "X" just as before. This was really getting me a bit rattled now.

I decided to sleep on it as I was exhausted from my long day. Saturday morning came, and I chose to wear the cologne and the cuff links with my blue suit to the office. I figured that I would get Delilah to come clean about the gifts if I flaunt them in front of her. Of course Delilah was already there when I arrived, and she was looking especially radiant. It was obvious to the advantaged eye that she went out of her way to try and impress me this trip. All eyes were on her. She was wearing a gorgeous Chanel sundress. It was a soft salmon color, and she accented it with deep blue high heels. She wore a Cartier diamond tennis bracelet, and had French tipped nails. She had a glow about her too, like she had just come from a spa day, and her eyes sparkled. In a word, she looked 'delicious' to say the least.

As I sat down at the conference room table, Delilah came and sat next to me. She already had her files set up at the table. She knew what she was doing. As she sat down, she intentionally reached over and placed her hand on my wrist. I immediately figured that she was checking to see if I had worn the cuff links. She leans in, and whispers to me, "You look amazing this morning. I love you in blue." She smiles at me, and gives my arm a little massage. As she releases, she says, "And you smell sexy as hell too." Good God, it's going to be another one of those days. But I was getting the impression that she had somehow orchestrated the gifts. I just hadn't figured out exactly how yet.

By day's end, she had done everything in her power to try and capture my attention. She tried everything from constant flirtatious eye contact to actually rubbing her breasts against my back during lunch. She even reached down and glided her hand across my ass when no one was looking. She was really pulling out all the stops. Just as the last trip, she waited for everyone to depart before coming to me and renewing her proposal for me to stay with her at her suite. I told her that I was actually heading back to Denver this evening. I made up some excuse that I had personal family business on Sunday, and had to get back right away. She let out a heavy sigh, and told me, Well, I hope that all goes well for you, and perhaps we can revisit this opportunity next trip." I thanked her and headed back to the Waldorf.

Hoping that she got the message that I wasn't comfortable with her aggressive approach, I chalked it up to either corporate climbing, or she was simply insatiable. Another Friday travel day came, and another gift was waiting. This one really caught me off guard. I opened the box, and it was a pair of beautiful navy blue silk boxers. The card inside read, "These go with your gorgeous blue suit, your sharp blue cuff links, and your deep blue eyes. The only way they would look any better is if they were on the floor between us." There was a smiley face and it was signed simply "X" once again.

How inthe hell is she doing this, and how in the world does she know that I wear silkboxers? She did rub her hand across my ass at lunch today, but could she reallyascertain that I wore silk boxers? And even if she could, how did she arrangethis from lunch time until now? I was really getting freaked out by all of thisnow. So, I decided to do something about it. It was time to go full on SherlockHolmes with this.