By showing some respect

The only explanation John had come up with for what was happening, was that Cathrin had taken their little joke about his birthday present and was spinning it to make a big bluff on her bitchy boss. And weird enough, it seemed to work pretty well. Come one, think fast. Faster! Make something up, John screamed at himself in his head. Cathrins bluff was counting on John coming off as the snobby, rich heir of some business empire, right? Or maybe as some kind of upstart, hipster-founder of a trendy start-up? Why not both? Go big or go home.

“Sure, sure. She’s working for me. Can we move on now? My time is valuable and highly sought after, so you better not waste any more of it.”

“I’m really sorry Mr. Doe , Sir”, Mrs. Tradeuo let out, her head bowed a little so she doesn’t by accident look into his eyes directly.

“I came here to get a halfway decent meal in this shithole-town, you better deliver on that.”

Wow, way to be a dick John… But isn’t that how rich douchebags act? Yeah, those who have to compensate for a tiny dick maybe… He scolded himself internally, especially for using that damned shithole-line. He was a regular nobody, how should he know how rich people acted apart from those megalomaniacs asshats he sees on TV?

But it did work. He really came off as an asshole rich guy and the restaurant manager seemed genuinely intimidated. Ok, the result was good, but to keep a good conscience, he decided to turn it down a little.

“Our k-kitchen is known around town as *the* address for those with a refined taste and I can-“, during her obviously learned talk, that probably sounded a hundred times more convincing when she rattled it with an air of superiority instead of this weak defensive tone, John looked over to Cathrin. She had a hellish smirk on her face, she obviously enjoyed seeing her former boos get taken down a notch. Her approval egged John on so much, he felt like giving in once more. A last time, he halfheartedly promised himself.

“Refined taste? Do you take me for a fool Ms?”, John leaned his own head forward and downward to look up into Mrs. Tradeuos downturned eyes, almost mockingly.

“N-no, of course not, S-sir! I would never-“

“Never give me proper service? Never get me a proper table? Never deliver an *actual* meal?”, each sentence turned the managers face more pale.

“I’m so sorry Sir! P-please, please allow me to order you our finest four course meal, on the house of course! We j-just got in an excellent new vintage from Burgundy, I ensure you you’ll enjoy that! We will open our roof terrace, the view from up there is spectacular. We highly value your patronage and am really honored you chose our establishment to take your lunch at. Of course I can’t excuse myself enough for wasting your time so far, but if you would be so kind to take this offer, I will make sure to move all orders behind until yours is finished, Sir. W-Would that be satisfactory?”, like a coy deer, she slowly raised her head and sought his gaze.

“You are probably not used to guests of high caliber, so I will let it pass. But make it two bottles of wine, my employee will join me”, after an additional hand gesture from John the lady hurried on her way. Have I just gotten myself a free meal? And have I dismissed her afterwards?! John was incredulous. Cathrin turned towards him conspiratorially.

“Oh thank god someone finally stood up to that bitch! I have no idea how I could endure her for so long, but it feels soooo good to be free. Well, not free per se, but *under new management*”, she giggled at him and he had to agree. It felt good to talk down to some snobby higher-up for once, usually he was on the receiving end of any rant.

“And she even gave you the terasse on the roof, that’s rare boss. Usually we, oh, I guess it’s *they* now. They usually only open that on the weekends for the evening or when they host marriages and business parties upstairs.”

With the expertise of a former waitress, Cathrin led John towards an elevator at the far wall of the restaurant. There was a number pad next to it, so it could be activated and deactivated by the staff. As they advanced on it, the doors sensors picked them up and the walked directly inside. The elevator alone is almost as big as my room, John mused while Cathrin hit the buttons and started their way up the building.

When the elevator doors opened at their destination, so did the mouths of John and every other normal person that would see such a display of decadence. On top of this ten story building was a whole eco-system of its own. A longbar with stone built barbecue grills formed the culinary center of the roof, directly around it stood high tables small dance floors. Those were obviously not for gala dancing, but rather for couples to dance closely or for golddiggers to show off their moves and entice rich guests drinking one scotch too many. That nucleus in the middle divided the rooftop floor into two halves, in one of them stood restaurant tables, closely resembling the ones downstairs, and the opposite half that John could barely see in the distance, was looking like circle-couches in a beach setting. He didn’t see much of that, because him and Cathrin walked to the central table in the dining area. That was the only table that had been hastily prepared.

“Wow, I never got to sit up here. Even when I had a shift at one of these happenings, Mrs. Grumpy never allowed us to take a rest up here. Not even after the last guests left and we had finished up cleaning”, Cathrin was looking around like she was seeing all this for the first time as well. The shift in perspective was doing wonders for her mood, she looked a lot calmer than when the two had met earlier.

“Well, all that changes now”, John pulled the chair out for Cathrin and took a seat in front of her. There was the hint of a blush on her face.

“I got to say boss, we’re off to a great start”, she chuckled and he joined in.

“Yeah, we sure are. But seriously Cathrin, that was a really ballsy move quitting that job. Do you have any plans now?”

Silence followed Johns question. Cathrin forrowed her brows.

“What do you mean what plans do I have? OHH, are we doing an interview? You mean my plans, like in *where do you see yourself in five years*?”

Ok, weird answer. But hey, she just lost her job, John understood that makes someone feel weird.

“Sure”, he encouraged her.

“So, where do I start? I used to be pretty good with languages, if I had gotten that runners stipendium, I would have studied linguistics. So if you need someone to translate I would love to join your team there”, by now their business-joke was getting a little stale, but John didn’t want to interrupt her, ”or if you need my talented tongue elsewhere, I would be happy to help in other positions.”

John gawked, but before he could answer her blunt flirt, two waiters appeared beside their table.

“Sir, may I serve you the lobster soup? With the best wishes from our chef”, one waiter set down the first dish and the other filled their glasses with sparkly water.

After they left, the former classmates were alone again,

“Now Cathrin, I had no idea you… you know… were having the hots for me”, John carefully took a first sip of his soup. And it tasted like someone had taken the very flavour of the ocean and condensed it down into a single bowl of soup.

“What can I say, I have a weakness for powerful men”, Cathrin slowly sipped her soup, her lips puckered a little farther than necessary.

Enough is enough.

“Come on Cathrin, we can drop the act. Your bitch boss is nowhere in sight”, John chided her a little.

“What act?”

“The thing about me being some business guy. I like us having inside-jokes, but we should switch the topic, jobs is not really a good topic for me. You know, with loosing mine this morning”, he shot her a sympathetic look. He didn’t want to kill the mood, he just thought Cathrin was overstressing it a little.

“John are you feeling alright? Not sure if that soup fried your senses, it tastes delicious, but you have *several* jobs. You’re the CEO, CFO, CTO and sole-shareholder of Doe Inc., in addition to some other positions. You told me so earlier”, she looked at him like had a fever.

But he knew, if someone was getting insane, it has to be her. On the other hand, the day has taken a turn for the better since this roleplay, so why not keep it going?

“Sorry, you can imagine how stressful business is at the moment”, now she nodded sympathetically, “I’m not sure why I said that. Let’s retrieve a little and go back to what positions you’d be willing to bend into, I mean *fill in the company*.”

He did his best sleezy smile and odd enough, Cathrin bit her lip in reply.

“The *oral support*, you so bluntly promised me, does sound promising. But you can imagine that there is a high supply of applicants for that position”, a complete lie, since a drunken party encounter a while back, no one had sucked Johns cock, “ So I would have to sample your skills before I transfer you in that direction.”

John went all in and Cathrin gasped, if at his audacity or at this huge opportunity he couldn’t tell. His common sense was telling him it was the first, but her eyes told of the section option.

Before she could answer him, two waiters appeared on their sides again and exchanged the not really finished lobster soup with meat in a dark source with a side of pasta.

“Mr. Doe, may I? Tuscan wild boar ragu with pappardelle pasta, a personal recommendation of Mrs. Tradeuos, and a bottle of our new burgundy vintage. Enjoy”, they both bowed and disappeared.

In awe at the look and smell of foodJohn could have never paid for usually, he couldn’t help but stare at it open-mouthed for at least a minute. He delicately took a piece on his fork, brought it to his mouth and descended into the tuscan forests on a warm autumn day. He closed his eyes to truly enjoy the flavour, but shot them open seconds later when he felt his fly opening.

Between his legs Cathrin had opened his pants and was about to unveil his now rapidly hardening cock.

“Oh, Mr. BIG boss, I hope you don’t mind me taking some initiative in proving my worth to the company~”