The young man's voice was quiet enough that none beyond the booth would hear but solid enough to exude confidence. Christy envied him that. It spoke of a natural charisma that she had to work to achieve. Not for the first time, she wondered what he could need with the photos.
"I did." Christy replied, setting the envelope on the table.
He finally looked up from the book. After a glance at the envelope, he returned to his book, carefully marked the page he was on then closed it. When his eyes finally came up to meet hers, she felt a spark jolt through her body. If just a look in his eyes caused that, she definitely needed to be jealous of his charisma.
"What do you want?" Christy quickly blurted, uncomfortable with how the strange scene was already headed. "And how can I be sure, if you get it, that the pictures won't get out anyway?"
"I'll answer the second question first." He replied. Even his voice was perfect. The baritone sounds rolled off of his tongue and seemed to nestle within her body in a relaxing massage. If not for the situation, she would have loved to hear him speak for hours.
"They really are works of art. The expression of pure human emotion coupled with the perfection of the human body. They could easily be hung in the finest museums and no one would think twice. No one would dare call them filth or pornographic, despite the erotic content.
"I took the pictures with an old fashioned camera. Loathe as I am to give them up, you'll have the negatives and every copy of the pictures. I haven't scanned them, yet, so you wouldn't need to fear that, should you get them."
"What do you want?" Christy growled. Even the man's charm wasn't enough to remove the edge of anger, frustration and worry from her tone. She could imagine any number of things that he might demand and few of them were good. After all, if his motivation was positive, why would he resort to such underhanded tactics?
"Simple." He immediately replied. "I'd like a date, of sorts. Just the one and afterward, you'll have the envelope with the pictures and the negatives."
Christy didn't bother to ask what the catch was. Her imagination was more than up to the task for that, particularly in light of what he'd already seen. It wasn't often that a voyeur got a chance to actually indulge in his fantasies.
"I imagine you have something specific in mind? That we can't just get this out of the way now?"
The smile he offered her was genuine and friendly. Christy cursed her traitor body. Not only had it gotten her into this mess with its demands but it now responded to the evil bastard on the other side of the table. The warmth that nestled between her legs she could ignore but the way a simple smile caused her heart to flutter was absolutely unacceptable.
"You are correct. I do have something specific in mind." He confirmed. "Besides, we couldn't get it out of the way now since you have a funding committee meeting to attend and I, alas, am otherwise occupied. I can give you a call, later, to fill you in on the specifics, however."
It was clearly a dismissal. Christy angrily scooped up the envelope as she stood up. She would burn them at the first possible chance but until then they weren't leaving her sight. After another brief glare at the handsome young man, she turned to storm off. Her theatrical exit was ruined by his voice.
"Christy." She turned and glared at him once more. "I thought you might like to know, my name is David, by the way."
Christy cursed the blush that crept across her face. She'd never thought to ask. She hadn't even thought he be willing to offer it. He was, after all, exerting criminal influence over her. At the same time, all he'd asked for was a date, even if she was fairly certain it wasn't going to be for dinner and a movie.
She nodded, to show she'd heard and understood, then stormed off. Unconcerned, he'd already returned to his studies.