GNB Gala
"Are we clear?" Bilson asked, his tone making it very clear that he only accepted one answer.
Barney nodded, "yes, I'll attend tonight."
"And for god's sake, bring a girl this time. I do not want you on top of one of the seniors wives again." Bilson left before Barney could respond.
"She was begging for it…" he mumbled, putting his head back.
Bring a girl, as if that was such an easy task. Barney Stinson didn't do girlfriends – period. And he couldn't just bring a bimbo, because he would make a complete fool of himself in front of the senior partners as soon as she opened her mouth.
He briefly wondered if Lily would go with him, Marshall wouldn't mind. And it would give her a reason to dress up, didn't girls always love that?
But pretending that Lily was his girlfriend would just be weird. Besides, she probably didn't want to spend her evening surrounded by a bunch of bankers, and lawyers anyways.
He mentally went through his contact list, but couldn't think of any girl that would 1) be up to it, and 2) be well mannered enough to pull it off.
He sighed, and opened a browser on his computer. He quickly found what he was looking for and dialed the number.
"Escort Service XOR, how can we help you?" A friendly voice asked.
"I need a sophisticated girl to attend a dinner with me tonight." Barney demanded.
The girl gave him some options, and went through the business terms with him, before finally setting up time, and place for him to pick the girl up.
He really hoped she wasn't a bleach blond bimbo.
….
As it turned out, she wasn't. He was standing on the sidewalk, next to the town car, and watcher her approaching.
At least if that was her. God he hoped so, this girl was not only gorgeous, but also wore a dress that was elegant, yet sexy in a subtle way. Exactly the kind of dress his perfect hypothetical girlfriend would wear.
"Hi, you must be Barney?" She asked.
He nodded, "and you are Ava?"
"Yes, nice to meet you." They shook hands, and he noticed a very expensive looking clutch.
"You look stunning." He said while checking her out.
It didn't bother her, "the agency stressed that this evening is very important to you."
He nodded, and opened the door for her, "shall we?"
They went through everything she needed to know on the ride over to the hotel, and he could already tell by the questions she was asking, that he had nothing to worry about, she certainly wouldn't embarrass him tonight.
"Let's do it." She said confidently once the driver pulled up.
A few seconds later he wrapped his arm around her waist to guide her into the hotel.
He noticed her perfume, he didn't recognize it, and doubted that he had ever smelled it on another girl before.
He briefly wondered why a girl like her did a job like this, but then they were there, and he forgot about all that.
She was exactly what he'd expected: Well mannered, and polite, yet witty, and confident enough so she wouldn't back down from an argument instantly.
They started out with some chit-chat, and while Ava was complimenting an exquisite scarf, or recommended a new hair salon, Barney was busy watching the reactions of his co-workers.
Most of them starred a little too long at her, some even lingered, and the wives who picked up on their husbands behavior either snapped at them, or drowned another drink.
It made him feel as if he was the man of the hour, because while all these guys went home to their wives, and kids, he got to spend the night with her.
Because he paid her – a lot, he reminded himself.
Still, he liked the way people where looking at them, it certainly wasn't something people did when he had one of his bimbos on his arm.
"Okay?"
He hadn't paid attention, and turned towards her now, "sorry, what did you say?"
"I'll freshen up, okay? They are going to start serving the food soon." She repeated patiently.
He nodded, "I'll be right here waiting for you."
She leaned in, and kissed him on the cheek, "I'll be quick."
He couldn't help but grin as he watched her disappear.
"So Stinson." Bilson was still standing across from him.
Barney raised an eyebrow.
"Where did you get yourself a girlfriend this quickly?"
Barney smiled, "a magician never reveals his greatest trick."
"The question I have is why you didn't bring her to these events sooner? She's hot." Blauman commented.
"Stinson likes to keep the best for himself." Bilson nudged him.
Barney grinned, he wanted to have her around all the time! And he hadn't even gotten to sleep with her yet.
…
The first course was served, and Ava, and one of the senior partners were talking about the upcoming elections.
Barney was barely paying attention to what they were saying, he was too mesmerized by her.
"Do you want my olives?" She had turned to him.
"You don't like olives, huh?" He asked grinned, while popping hers into his mouth.
"Why does that make you smile?" She asked curiously.
"No particular reason." He replied.
…
The conversation topic during the main course was mostly weather, and the last hurricane than hit the east coast. Ava was exceptionally knowledgeable, and funny again, and the entire table was hanging on her lips.
It turned him on immensely.
…
He finished his last bite of dessert, and finally decided to do something about it. He placed his hand on her thigh.
She didn't even miss a beat while talking, and he felt encouraged to explore a little more, even though her tight dress wasn't allowing for much of that.
"Barney, you don't mind if I ask your beautiful girlfriend for a dance?" One of the senior partners asked while getting up.
Barney shook his head, "no, go ahead."
He watched Ava get up, and noticed the sad look on the guy's wife's face.
"I guess that leaves us. May I?" Barney asked, as he got up himself.
"You don't want to dance with me." The elderly woman waved him off.
"I'd be honored too, please, just one dance." Barney insisted.
The woman agreed, and they followed them onto the dancefloor.
The first dance ended, and it was Ava who swiftly ensured that the guy was dancing with his wife.
Barney swooped her into his arms, "smooth," he commented.
Ava winked, "I know a little something about dealing with horny old guys."
"Really?" He asked.
"Comes with the job."
"Well, you clearly know something about dancing too."
"You aren't so bad yourself." She replied.
"There is a lot of stuff I am not so bad at." He said suggestively.
It made her laugh, "that was weak."
Her comment made him laugh as well.
…
They stayed on the dance floor for quite some time, then they hit the open bar again.
Finally they ended up on the balcony.
"It was really nice of you to dance with that guy's wife, and make her feel special." She commented as she looked over the Hudson in front of her.
"It was really nice of me to let him have the first dance with you." Barney replied, lighting a cigar.
"May I?" She asked, pointing at it.
"It's just a cigar." He said stupidly.
"Well yeah, but saying a Arturo Fuente is just a cigar seems like an understatement."
"You…what?" He was speechless.
She grinned, "daddy issues, don't ask."
Barney grinned; he guessed that was the answer to why a girl like her ended up in a job like that, "hot!"
He handed her the cigar.
"Yeah, it's a good one." She commented as she handed it back to him.
…
He couldn't wait any longer, and so he pushed her into one of the guest bathrooms a little while later.
They got lucky, it was empty.
He plunged forward, and kissed her. She tasted like a mixture of cigars, and lipstick.
She kissed him right back, and he closed in on her until her back was against the wall.
Their make out session was interrupted by someone knocking on the door.
They halted, and he watched her as she licked her lips.
Gosh, she was gorgeous.
Whoever had interrupted them left, and he leaned back down to continue making out with her.
Five minutes later he was pushing himself against her, desperately trying to gain control of this situation.
He realized that they hadn't talked business yet.
"How much?" He asked once their lips separated.
First it seemed like she didn't know what he was talking about, but then her expression changed, and she pushed him away.
"I don't sleep with clients."
"What?" He asked surprised, all this turn on, and then she just let him hanging.
"You know the terms."
"Yeah, but…the agency doesn't need to know…that's where the real money comes from, isn't it?" He realized that he was making it worse.
"Guess you booked the wrong girl then." She sidestepped him, walked towards the basin, and checked her reflection in the mirror.
He reached out to her, "hey, can't we figure something out?"
She shook her head, "we should probably get back in there. The CEO was going to talk, right?"
He watched her reapply her lipstick, while trying to mentally cool himself down.
"Yes, it's the highlight of the evening." He finally said, holding the door for her as they walked out of the bathroom.
…
"So…how does this work now?" He asked as they were sitting in the town car, heading towards the corner where he had picked her up hours earlier.
"How does what work?" She asked yawning.
He couldn't help, but think that it was cute.
"The pay."
"Oh come on, don't pretend you've never done this before."
He put his arm around her, and kissed her, "never like this."
"The agency got your credit card information, they will just charge you." She replied as their lips separated.
"How about a tip?" He asked, kissing her again.
He really wanted to take her home right now.
"It's all part of the fee." She said.
He noticed that they were almost there, and decided to start one last try to make her change her mind. Cupping her head, he made sure that the kiss conveyed his intentions.
Surprisingly she joined in again, no hesitation whatsoever.
The car stopped, and so did they.
"Thanks for dropping me off." She said as she scooted over to the door.
Barney nodded, he thought about getting out of the car to open the door for her, he thought about asking her to go home with him, but he didn't want to sound like a desperate loser.
"Thanks for being so awesome tonight, you really stunned these people." He said.
She smiled, and winked at him before finally exiting the car.
Just an idea I had the other day, what do you guys think ? Worth a shot, or too out of character?