Elaine & Me

She had pierced ears with two elegant pearl drop earrings hanging beside two smaller diamond studs in each lobe. She wore a broad gold ring on her third finger of her left hand and her nails were exquisitely long and shaped and painted in a French manicure style with white tips.

She wore a blue business jacket and a matching pleated skirt with a creamy white silk blouse showing underneath, while round her neck was a simple pearl necklace.

She still seemed uptight about something and spoke softly about her job as a tax consultant with a leading firm of solicitors. "I help with inheritance tax planning and wills," she said. "It's not very exciting. Most of my clients tend to be middle aged or old men with far too much money who don't want to leave it to the tax man when they die."

"The office is a bit drab and everyone has to dress conservatively to impress the clients that we are a solid and dependable company," she added.

"So what do you do for excitement if your job doesn't provide it," I quickly asked.

"Not much, my hobbies are all fairly routine apart from horse riding and I am hoping to race a car later this year when I have had a few lessons from a friend of mine," she smiled. "I'm also just back from a week in Holland."

"Apart from that I think I lead a quiet life with reading, buying clothes, music and surfing the Internet are my favourite pastimes. My name is Elaine by the way." She added stretching out her hand. I took her hand and noticed that it was not much smaller than mine was. Her long nails seemed to give the impression that it was.

I bought her another gin and tonic and Elaine was starting to loosen up a little more. I found out that she lived with her sister a half mile from my parent's house in a better-heeled district of the city. Her sister Lorraine just happened to be the brunette who was having a good time with my little brother.

After an hour or so both girls went off to the ladies joking and laughing, the obvious result of our alcohol purchases and our company. While they were away, my brother and I bought another round of drinks and we gave ourselves a well deserved comfort break.