My Leather Glove Date
Part Two - A Warning
It’s time that I introduced myself. My name is Larry. Last names aren’t important. It’s now been 6 weeks since that chance meeting with Maria at the company reunion. A lot has happened in those 6 weeks. Looking back on events I now know that I should have been more careful. Let me tell you my story.
As I recall, the rest of that first evening was a complete blur to me. I couldn’t get Maria out of my mind. I laid in bed thinking about her and how beautiful she looked as she subtly moved her leather encased hands. The next morning I decided that I had to do something to show her how much I thought of her. After all, such a striking woman would probably have many potential suitors and it wouldn’t hurt to try to stand out a little from the crowd. I went to a neighborhood florist shop and ordered a dozen roses to be sent to her at her office. I included a note confirming our date next Saturday for dinner. The price of the bouquet was exorbitant and I really couldn’t afford it, of course, but every time I thought of Maria and how she looked in her black leather gloves I knew I was doing the right thing. I spent the rest of my work day half day dreaming about Maria, planning on what I would say to her the next time we met. Should I be up front about my fixation on her gloves and chance a rejection before I could develop a relationship with her? Or should I continue to be subtle and hope that she would agree to see me so that some time in the future a more propitious moment would present itself? I really couldn’t decide on an approach so I thought to play it by ear and see what would happen.
When I got home that night I was surprised to find a voice mail message on my answering machine. It was from Maria. She had received the roses and was overwhelmed that I cared so much to send them. She told me that she was now more than ever looking forward to seeing me on Saturday. I could barely contain my excitement. Could I dare hope that she would wear her leather gloves again? The rest of the week was a blur. I know that I accomplished some tasks at work but I could barely recall what they were. Saturday night couldn’t come fast enough.
Sure enough, Saturday night finally came. Since I had made dinner reservations at a rather impressive (and expensive) dining establishment I dressed in my best suit. There was a method to my madness in choosing an up scale restaurant. I hoped that Maria would dress for the occasion by wearing a beautiful outfit that included a pair of long leather gloves. It was a long shot but a long shot well worth taking. The cab ride to Maria’s apartment building seemed to take forever. I kept thinking about what she would be wearing. After about 20 minutes I arrived and proceeded past the doorman up to her apartment. It was clear that Maria had money; perhaps more money than her position at her company would have explained. If I had been more thoughtful I might have wondered about that. But at the time I was too infatuated to think things through. I would come to learn more about her source of wealth later. When I knocked on her door I heard her move toward me. As she opened the door I stood in stunned silence. Maria was standing in front of me dressed in a long haute couture black strapless evening dress, with matching leather pumps, and a glittering diamond necklace framing her neck. I judged that she was about 5’ 10” tall. She had her long brown hair moved up away from her shoulders and, with her beautiful exquisitely made up features, she looked like she stepped off the cover of Vogue magazine. Then it happened. Maria went over to her dressing table and picked up a pair of very expensive, long opera length, black leather gloves and began to put them on in front of me. She slowly entered her hand into the left glove first. Carefully and dramatically she eased the glove up over her elbow and up to the mid point between her elbow and her shoulder, being certain to smooth out all the wrinkles as she proceeded. When she was certain that the glove was fitted just right she picked up the right glove and repeated the process. When she was satisfied that both gloves were perfectly placed she picked up a diamond bracelet that matched her necklace and placed it around her gloved right wrist. At that point she turned to me and said, “There, I’m ready now. Do I look all right?” At first I didn’t understand what she just said. All I could do was stare in a somewhat catatonic state. Finally, I heard her say, “Larry, you look very handsome tonight. I hope you like the way I look.” It took a few seconds but I finally recovered enough to stammer “Maria, I think you are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.” My eyes kept drifting toward her gloved hands and arms. I hoped I wasn’t being too obvious, but it was hard to avoid. Maria seemed not to notice my stare, much to my relief, and she simply said, “Well, we have reservations and we don’t want to be late, do we? I’ll call down to my doorman to have him hail us a cab.” With that said she went to her phone, made the call, and we went down to the cab stand. The ride to the restaurant was short, only about 10 minutes. But sitting in the back of the cab with Maria so close that I could smell and feel the leather that encased her hands and arms made the ride possibly the most pleasurable experience of my life. When we arrived at the restaurant and entered the front door all the diners and restaurant staff immediately looked up from what they were doing and stared at Maria. It was hard not to. The Maitre D’ led us to our table and we sat down. At that point Maria unbuttoned the three buttons on each of her Mousquettaire gloves and slipped her hands out to tuck the hand portion of the glove back under the long arm portion. She did this with a simple elegance that showed that she had done this many times before and knew just the impression that this act would make. I watched all this with a growing arousal. Then, in spite of myself I began to have strange doubts. As I looked at this magnificent woman sitting in front of me I thought, “Wait a minute. What am I doing here? Why is this incredible person here with me tonight? She could be out with any number of more successful, more handsome men. Certainly, it’s not my money. I make a good living, but I’m not wealthy by most standards. Am I just that lucky, or what?” I would soon come to understand what the real reason for her interest in me was but for the moment I was too excited just being with her to explore any deep motivations.
We ordered our dinner and then began our conversation with the usual small talk. You know, comparing our jobs, mutual acquaintances from years ago, things we like to do for relaxation, interests in sports, theater, arts, etc. But as we spoke Maria began to subtly ask about a member of my company. His name was Steve Nelson. Steve was in charge of a special software development project. As it turned out I knew Steve very well. We had worked together for a couple of years and we had several outside interests in common. Steve was a nice guy but was always careful not to say too much about his actual work. Maria was careful to explore any mutual interests that Steve and I had. When I said that Steve and I enjoyed the outdoors and liked to hike in the country she seemed more than casually interested and said that she would love to join us sometime. Maybe we could get together next weekend? The thought of seeing Maria again so soon excited me so much that I agreed, even though with Steve along I wouldn’t be alone with her. At that time everything was moving way beyond what I could hope for. After our dinner was over Maria made another exhibition of placing her hands back into her gloves and carefully smoothing out the leather. Although I did my best not to show my fascination, I’m certain that she knew the affect that she was having on me and she smiled at me as she secured the buttons around her wrists. We hailed a cab and returned to her apartment. I wondered if she would ask me in, but to my disappointment she didn’t. She put her gloved arms around my neck. kissed me gently, and told me how much she was looking forward to our day in the country next weekend. Then she entered her apartment, closed the door, and left me with a head full of dizzying thoughts.
The next day at work I saw Steve and told him about my evening. Steve was fascinated by my story and was very anxious to meet Maria. He quickly agreed to join us for a hike in the woods on Saturday. With that settled I forced myself to put Maria out of my thoughts, at least as much as I could, until the weekend. It was hard but I mostly succeeded. Finally, Saturday arrived. I rented a car, picked up Steve, and drove to Maria’s apartment. Maria was already outside waiting for us. She was wearing a dark tan leather pant suit with matching knee high leather boots. Her hair was worn down over her shoulders, and she had on a pair of dark tan skin-tight leather gloves that went up her arm and disappeared under the three-quarter length sleeves of her leather jacket. Once again passersby stopped to stare at her. Steve looked at Maria, then looked at me, and said, “Wow, you weren’t exaggerating! How did you get a date with her? She’s way out of your class.” Steve was right, of course, but I wasn’t about to question circumstance, not with Maria waiting for us and looking like that. We all got into the car and drove to the country. Maria suggested that we hike on an off-road trail deep into the woods to see the beauty of the natural environment. Steve and I were agreeable to go wherever she wished so we went off into the deep woods. After a couple of miles of walking Maria stopped and turned to us. She said, “I think we’ve gone far enough for now. Let’s take a break and sit down and rest for awhile.” That sounded like a good idea so Steve and I sat down on a large log. Maria sat across from us on a flat rock. Then Steve and I started some idle conversation about how beautiful the scenery was when Maria interrupted us. “Well, I guess that it’s time that we got down to business, gentlemen.” With that said she reached into the right hand pocket of her leather jacket and removed a .32 caliber silver plated automatic. She took the gun in her gloved hand and pointed it at Steve. Steve and I stared at the gun and then at Maria in total shock. Neither of us was able to speak. Maria finally broke the silence, “I guess you gentlemen would like to know what this is all about. Well, I’ll be happy to explain. You see, my job with my company is an excellent job. I do enjoy it very much and I’m very good at it. But, unfortunately, I also enjoy a very expensive lifestyle. In order to fund that lifestyle I have a second job that I also enjoy and that I’m also very good at. You see, I’m a professional hitwoman. In plain English, I kill people for money. Lots of money. Larry, you’re really a nice guy. But I’m afraid our meeting at the company reunion wasn’t by chance. I knew that you worked with Steve and would be my way of getting close to him. Steve, I’m afraid that the people who hired me are concerned that your work on that experimental software project threatens their business. They can’t afford that. I’m told that they tried to buy you off and that you refused. Bad choice on your part. If you had agreed you’d be a rich man now at home in bed with your girlfriend and not out here with me. Unfortunately, you made your decision and now it’s time for you to live with the consequences.” With that Maria smiled at what she had just said. Steve would only have seconds to “live” with the consequences. She stood up, raised the gun in her gloved hand and extended it out directly toward Steve’s chest so that it was possible to see the entire length of the tanned leather tightly enclosing her hand and arm up to her elbow. Finally shaken from his shocked silence Steve managed to stammer, “No, please. Don’t kill me. There must be something I can do. I’ll promise to quit my work. I’ll disappear. No one will ever see me again. Just don’t kill me.” Steve was crying and shaking. I watched all this frozen with fear. Maria smiled again at Steve. “I’m sorry, Steve. You had a chance to make things right and you refused. In this line of work you get one chance only. Besides, I’m getting paid very well for this work and I never go back on a contract. It’s not good for business.” With that Maria tightened her leather clad finger on the trigger. The gun flashed. BLAM! The sound of the gunshot echoed through the trees, but there was no one else around for miles to hear it. Steve clutched his chest and fell over in back of the log we were sitting on. He began to moan, “No, please.” Maria looked at him coldly. She showed no pity, no conscience. Then she walked over to where he lay on the ground and straddled him with her leather boots. She watched him struggle for a moment then pointed her gun once again at his chest and fired three more times in slow succession. BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! Steve’s body jumped with the impact of each bullet. After the third shot there was no longer any sound or movement coming from Steve. From her experience as a professional Maria knew that there was no need for any more shots. Steve was finished. She now turned her attention toward me. I was certain that I was to be next and was resigned to die. My thoughts turned to how gullible and egotistical I had been to believe that such a gorgeous woman would be interested in me. I’m sure she knew the affect that her gloves had on me that first night at the reunion and she used them to snare me into her scheme. I felt stupid and used. Maria pointed her lethal weapon now in my direction. She then said something that stunned me. “Larry, I guess you’re thinking that you’re next. I can’t blame you for thinking that, but I have other plans for you. You see, my contract doesn’t include you so there’s no financial advantage for me for taking you out. As a matter of fact your job at your company gives you access to many people my employer may want to deal with in the future. I expect to call upon you whenever necessary to make the proper introductions. Oh, and I know you’ll be discreet about what happened here today. You know that your life depends upon it. Now let’s go back to the city and explain to the authorities how we got separated from Steve and that we’re afraid something bad may have happened to him.” With that Maria lowered her gloved hand and moved the gun away from me.
Still in a state of shock and not entirely comprehending all that happened in the last few minutes I accompanied Maria back to the car and we drove back to the city. I dropped Maria off at her apartment where she drew her body close to mine making sure that I could feel the outline of her gun in the pocket of her leather coat for effect and gently kissed me. “Now remember to be a good boy and do what you’re told and nothing will happen to you. Otherwise ...” She didn’t have to finish her sentence; her meaning was very clear. I got back into the car and drove home, all the while wondering how I got into this mess. Deep down I knew that it all started with my weakness for a pair of shiny black leather gloves on a beautiful woman. How could I know that such an innocent fascination could lead to such terrible consequences? If there’s a lesson to be learned from my experience it’s this: Be careful if your love of leather gloves leads you to unexpected places. You never know where you might end up. You might end up like me.