Chapter 6
Clara continued screwing regularly with Fred for the next few weeks.
Then suddenly, one afternoon when she arrived at the country club for her tennis lesson, she was jolted. She looked around for Fred but was unable to locate him. She finally walked into the office of the country club's assistant manager, George Thomas, a man with whom she was reasonably well acquainted. Whenever she was stumped about anything, or needed any kind of assistance, she would call on the assistant manager.
George looked up from his desk, then rose, shaking her hand cordially.
"Hello there, Clara," he said. "Sit down."
"Thank you," Clara said, taking a seat across from his desk. "I'd like to know what's going on with my tennis lessons. I show up today to get a lesson from Fred, but he's not there. What happened?"
"You mean to say you weren't called?" he shook his head disgustedly.
"No. What should I have been called about?"
"Fred was fired yesterday afternoon. I guess in all the confusion some of the calls were not made. At least the one to you. A new man is going to be taking over next week. I'll get on this right away and see to it that everybody else who had lessons today gets a call."
Her heart sank. She could hardly believe the words she had just heard.
"Could you say that again?" Clara asked. "I didn't quite understand. What did you say happened to Fred."
"Fred was fired," George Thomas repeated.
Clara knew that it would be potentially damaging to her to act too upset. Her curiosity was too far aroused, however, for her to accept something like that without seeking further explanation.
"I just don't understand what you're saying," she exclaimed. "Why was he fired? I mean, I happen to like the man. He was an excellent instructor. I felt that my game had improved a great deal under him. That's why I'm a little upset about it all."
Even though she was a little pleased over the fact that she had a plausible way of covering up her disappointment, that of explaining just how good an instructor Fred was, her heart was still very much in the dumps. She just couldn't get over the shock impact of the announcement that he had lost his job.
"I hate to go into this," George shook his head, "because it's really a personal club matter. But I've known you for quite awhile, Clara, and I do trust you. If you promise to just keep this thing under your hat, I'll tell you everything."
"Of course. I won't mention it to anybody."
"Then I'll tell you. It so happens that Fred got intimately involved with at least one married female student of his. They guy's wife found out one night when the woman had too many drinks and started telling her husband what a good tennis instructor she had, and how he could satisfy her more than her husband. It just so happens that this man is about the richest member of our club. He owns a national electronics firm. He really hit the ceiling. He can pull all kinds of weight with the top command. But even if he had been less distinguished and less rich, the result would have been the same. We would have canned Fred. Actually, we had no other choice. We'd heard all kinds of rumors about him getting involved with the women, but we figured that maybe it was nothing more than that. A few of the husbands had mentioned instances in the past where they thought that their wives might be involved with him, but up until this particular time we didn't really have anything resembling that kind of concrete proof. This guy was enraged. He demanded that we immediately get rid of Fred. We did. He's leaving the entire area, from what I understand."
"How tragic," Clara shook her head. "I guess he was one of these people who just couldn't control his impulses."
"Yes, that's true," George Thomas nodded sadly. "I was really sorry to see it happen. I happen to like old Fred. He was a likeable enough fellow. But what the hell are you gonna do in a situation like that?"
"That's very true. He just took some terrible gambles and he lost."
"He had a drink with me last night right after he'd been fired. He told me that he'd had sex with a few women around here, but didn't name any names. He said he really enjoyed a lot of the sex. He admitted, though, that if he had it to do all over again, he'd try his damndest not to mix business with pleasure."
Clara got up from her chair, thanking George for providing her with the information. She felt totally stunned as she walked back to her car. She was limp with disappointment. She hoped that she had not let her disappointment show through too keenly in her conversation with George Thomas. She didn't want him to know that she had been having sex with Fred.
She was in such a despondent frame of mind that Clara decided to just take a drive. She drove around Miami, then finally found a bar just a few blocks away from the downtown section of Miami Beach. She decided to have a drink, to relax, to try and shake off the tremendous feeling of disappointment that she carried inside of her. As she ordered a Scotch on the rocks, she thought about the type of relationship she had with Fred and how it could not last forever. She had been foolish to think that she could extend it as long as she desired. After a while, she knew, it all had to come to an end.
Clara had walked into the bar intending to have just one drink, but she felt disappointed enough to where one drink led to another. Eventually it was five o'clock and the professional offices in the downtown area let out for the day. A few minutes later, the bar, which had been previously quite, was throbbing with all kinds of activity. A number of white-collar workers were sitting and sipping drinks with their secretaries and fellow workers.
Even though there were a few attractive female secretaries at the bar sipping drinks with their office workers and bosses, in the main the man greatly outnumbered the women.
"Mind if I sit next to you?" she heard a soft, mellow male voice ask.
Ever so curiously, Clara moved her head rightward, observing the young, brown-haired man who was clad in a brown suit with a brown tie.
"No, go right ahead," she said.
The man sat down. He ordered a bourbon and 7-Up. As he sipped his drink, he looked at her and smiled.
"It really does get busy in here after five o'clock," he said.
"Yes, it does. Very busy."
"You come in here regularly?"
"No, I don't. I just happened to be stopping by this afternoon."
"That's what I thought. I didn't recognize you, and I think I would have, because you're so good looking and I come in here all the time."
"This is my first time in here. Thanks for the compliment."
"Don't mention it. Looks like you can use another drink. Let me buy it for you."
The polite young man summoned the bartender. He ordered another drink for Clara. They began to talk in even more friendly terms. The longer that the man talked, the more charm that he flashed. He began to smile at her with ever-mounting joy.
"Let's have another round," he suggested.
Clara was realizing that ever so gradually she was getting drunk. The young man introduced himself. His name was Mike, and he told her that he was an attorney in just his first year of practice, after getting out of law school. He worked for a title insurance firm just a few blocks away from the bar.
Clara was beginning to feel daring around this young man. She could see that despite the drinks, which had loosened him up sufficiently so that he could talk to her, he was still very shy. She had a feeling that he was probably the type of young man who, instead of forcing the issue at the outset, would want to meet her another time for drinks. He'd probably get up at any point and suggest that they meet at the same spot the next day.
She did not want to give him such an opportunity. She wanted to take matters into her own hands. Clara wanted to see to it that she left the bar with young Mike.
"Mike, I don't know how else to put this, but I'd be interested in having sex with you if you're willing," she looked him straight in the eye.
Mike's jaw dropped with shock. He could hardly believe what he'd heard. This beautiful woman to whom he'd been talking was actually propositioning him!
"Why, yeah, of course, sure," he stammered.
"It's nothing to get scared about," she mildly chided him. "How far from here do you live?"
"I've got an apartment not too far away."
"I could follow behind in my car. How about it?"
"Of course. This is too good to be true. A beautiful gal like you asking me if I want it "
'T don't believe in a lot of phony beating around the bush," she laughed. "When a woman wants it, why can't she ask for it? After all, isn't this the day of women's lib?"