“Babes, wake up, you’re going to be late.” It was Jason. He stood above Sarah looking down at her with loving eyes. Sarah sat up, yawned, and looked at the time. Half past nine. Her shift at the store started in forty-five minutes.
“Shit! Alright, I’m up.” Another yawn.
“What on earth are you doing down here?” he asked. Sarah had never thought about this; she had to think fast. Theo was in the kitchen. She saw him go to say something, but then he caught himself and remained quiet.
“Couldn’t sleep, it was seriously hot upstairs last night,” she saw Theo suppress a giggle, “I came down to have a smoke, must have dozed off; sorry babes.” She waited. For a second it looked as though Jason was going to question it. When he didn’t, relief swept over her, and Theo too by the looks of it.
“Fair enough, you’d best get sorted. Don’t need you losing that job,” in a quieter tone, he added “and cover yourself more next time you sneak off downstairs in the middle of the night.” With a nod, Sarah went to get dressed, leaving the lads alone. Something that worried her, Theo had never been good under pressure; if Jason said the wrong thing, Theo might cave.
Twenty minutes later and Sarah was ready to head out the door. It would take about half an hour to walk to work. She was screwed this time; Barry, her boss, had already taken a disliking to her. In fact, she only got the job because Jenna, her best friend, had put in a good word.
“I’m off, I’ll see you tonight babes.” she called, as she was about to head out the door.
“I’m on nights, won’t be home ‘till gone twelve.” Jason shouted back, but she was already gone at a half-run, half-walk down the street.
The long walk gave her plenty of time to reflect on the previous night. What did she really know about Theo? He’d been with them a couple years now; it was only supposed to be a month or two, after Diana had kicked him out. But he fit in well and it kind of worked to have him around. He and Jason had known each other for over a decade.
He was probably the worst person I could have slept with, she thought. They were close, real close. It was the ultimate betrayal.
Lost deep in thought, she took a wrong turn and had to double back on herself, costing precious time. If she lost another job, she would be in serious trouble.
Sarah had never been great at keeping jobs. It was down to her hatred of being told what to do; it was just something she had a serious issue with - the only reason she’d kept this one so long was that Jenna had put herself on the line to get her the job. No matter how much she hated being told what to do, she couldn’t put Jenna at risk, for no other reason than that she was a stubborn cow.
She turned down the forest trail that the store sat perched aside. The vibrant greens of the willow trees overhead held a remarkable beauty, and the ground beneath her feet was soft and moist as a result of the glistening river to her left. She could just make out the shadows of the fish, darting through the river. She inhaled the fresh smell of the rain on the shrubs from the previous night. The sounds of songbirds in the canopy above created the most calming atmosphere, clearing her mind and letting her think openly.
Her thoughts returned to Theo. She continued to go over what she knew about him. How she felt about him.
I mean, he’s good looking, and knows ‘where to put it,’ no doubts there. Is he someone I’m willing to risk my relationship on? Is he worth that? This was probably the most indecisive she’d been in a long time. She was normally the kind of woman to know exactly what she wanted and how to get it. In this, though, she had no idea what her true desire was. She kept returning to the same thought; What did he mean when he said ‘I’ve wanted to do that for years’? Did he mean lust, was it something else? The thought unnerved her.
******
Several long minutes passed, and she came to the store. She stopped and stared at the quaint green building. The boat-shaped sign over the window read ‘Barry’s Bait Boat’. The fishy scent that emitted from the store found its way up her nose, causing her to shirk in disgust. The neon sign that read ‘open’ was on the blink again, the ‘O’ kept flickering so that it read simply ‘pen’. The little wicker table and chairs outside sat empty, as always.
With a deep breath - which she immediately regretted - Sarah opened the door and went inside; the familiar ring of the bell chimed.
The fishy smell was worse indoors; it was a pungent, nasty smell which penetrated your entire being, the culprit being the fridges behind the counter, full of every type of bait you can imagine. She looked around for any sign of Barry; luckily he wasn't around. The walls were lined with hooks and weights of all shapes, sizes and colours. Rows of various lines hung beneath the counter, and stands sat in the center of the room for rods of differing sizes.
Jenna sat on an old bar-stool - behind the cash register - making her usual ‘tut-tut’ sound and glaring right at Sarah.
“Don’t worry, I’ve covered for you - not that I should have. I’ve told Barry I sent you to the bank with yesterday's takings, which I did before I came in today. Honestly, Sarah, what are you playing at!? Do you know what it took to get you this job? If you screw up, I’m out. Is that how you want to treat the only person who’s helped you out...?”
Jenna continued in this manner for several minutes, but Sarah’s thoughts had trailed off; she was busy thinking of how she and Jenna used to get along, how they had once been inseparable. She watched Jenna, her long golden hair bouncing on her hips as she spoke with exaggerated hand movements. Her bright green eyes sparkled as the light reflected off them, her pale complexion, radiant. Nope, not now; that time was over.
“Ahh, you haven’t been listening at all, have you?” Sarah slightly shook her head, “Never mind, just take over here, okay? You alright, love? You look a little dazed today.” She was genuinely concerned; no matter how rough things got they would always care for each other.
“Fine, hon, just a little tired is all; do what you have to do. I’m good here,” Jenna turned to walk out back. "Oh and Jenna, thank you.” Jenna sighed.
“Any time, you know that.” And with that she went about her day.
Time lost all perspective as the day wore on.
Most of Sarah’s day was spent at the cash register, blindly staring out the window at the relaxing riverside view. The willows swayed in the gentle summer breeze.
As always there were very few customers; not for the first time, Sarah wondered how the store had survived so long.
As the sun crawled higher in the sky, her thoughts kept returning to the previous night, no matter how much she willed them not to. This led to several silly mistakes caused purely by her restless mind. Twice she failed to notice a customer come in the door, ignoring them as they asked for help. One - a rather plump, balding man - grew impatient with waiting and left, leaving his goods on the counter. When she realised what had happened, she shook herself back to reality, ever thankful that Barry had not come in today.
When a today’s delivery arrived - nine large, brown boxes filled with various hooks and weights - Sarah put several items in the wrong shelving area. It was a long while before she finished taking them all down, placing them where they should have gone first time around.
Then she was back at the register, and the day continued to drag on with agonisingly slow speed. The only sound in the dull store was the steady tick-ticking of the clock. Her only reprieve was watching Jenna darting around taking stock for the next orders; her breasts were bouncing as she walked, her bottom wiggling.
At long last it reached five o’clock - time to close up. While Jenna ran round flicking off the lights, Sarah emptied the register. Ten, twenty, forty, fifty, sixty-five, thirty-two, how on earth does he keep this place running? That doesn’t even cover our wage. She locked the till, plopped the cash in a brown envelope, licked it shut, and headed to the door. Jenna caught up; she switched the broken ‘open’ sign off. It made a strange buzzing sound as the light faded on the other side of the glass panelled door.
“Just over sixty-five pounds; will you drop it off, or shall I?” she asked Jenna, holding up the envelope.
“We’ll do it together; that little café down Barry’s road will still be open, you look like you need a friend.” She cast a worried glance at Sarah.
“No, no, I’m fine, honestly,” but she could already feel the tingle in the tips of her ears; that was a clear indication she was slowly going lobster-faced.
“Really, Sarah, do you think I’m buying that for a second? I’ve known you long enough to know when something is bothering you. We’re going, end of.” And that would be the end of it. Sarah knew there was no point in arguing when Jenna had her mind set.
Off they headed, following the shimmering river to where they could break off, returning to civilization. They walked in dead silence. Sarah knew an interrogation was coming. They passed only a mother and her angry toddler as they walked. They eventually came out onto a busy housing estate; cars whooshing by, people furiously rushing about what remained of their day.
“Right, you go drop the cash into Barry; you remember where he lives, right, four doors down on the left. I’ll order the coffee and meet you here.” Jenna walked off, spring in her step towards the rustic café they had just come up to.
Sarah headed down the road, wondering how she was going to lie to Jenna; she knew her better than anyone. Nope there was no way around it, Jenna would figure it out no matter what she said.
She arrived at Barry’s house; it was nothing fancy, just like every other terraced home on the street, perfectly symmetrical, red brick with a shiny white door. She knocked three sharp raps on the door. The sound of movement came from inside and the door opened.
Barry stood and looked her up and down. He was a tall man in his late fifties, white hair and a crooked nose. He turned it up in disgust.
“What?” he demanded. Sarah had to stop herself snapping at him; she was in no mood today. Instead she just handed him the envelope; snatching it, he slammed the door shut. Rage built up inside Sarah; there was no need for the way he treated her, and she had done nothing to offend him. What’s that twat’s problem!? She thought, blood boiling. He clearly doesn’t wear the trousers in his relationship. With a few deep breaths - to try and clam herself - she headed back toward the café, where Jenna was waiting.
When she got there Jenna was sitting at the little plastic table outside, two steaming cups in front of her. Sarah sat, nerves starting to go.
“So, what is it? No luck with the dry spell?” Jenna put her right in the deep end. Sarah felt her cheeks redden, and a grin started to pull at the edge of her lips.
“You did!? About time! How was it? I want details!” Jenna always wanted details. Sarah shook her head, not trusting herself to talk; she didn’t want to say it out loud. “Well, you clearly got something last night; if only you could see your face,” she giggled “ohhhh, it wasn’t Jason was it? Who? What have you done?” She had hit the nail on the head.
“How do you do that?” She knew Jenna would work it out, but didn’t think it would have been so quickly.
“Oh come on, I can read you like a book. Well, who was it?” Jenna was growing impatient.
Sarah sipped her coffee, and almost in a whisper said, “Theo.”
The look on Jenna’s face - she did not expect that. Sarah went on to explain the previous night, her and Theo’s almost silent encounter; his huge, bulging cock, and the intimacy they had shared afterwards. She told her of Theo’s comment; how she didn’t know if she wanted to carry on the affair and how it had felt so undeniably right, yet so soul-wrenchingly wrong.
They spoke for another half hour or so before saying their goodbyes, heading their separate ways for the night.
As Sarah walked home she felt more relaxed, having confided in someone so close. She still had no idea what to do, but Jenna’s company - even if she didn’t fully agree with what she was doing - helped to ease her worry. She would let this play out and see where it took her; it wasn’t something she could decide right now. First she had to see what Theo was really made of. First she had to take him to his limits.
The walk home seemed to go by much faster than this morning's trip. This time she knew that Jason was working late and Theo was at home…
Alone…
************* Thanks for your support! There was no sexual content in this one, but trust me chapter three more than makes up for that. Hope you continue to enjoy my work, and please don't forget to vote honestly. Happy Reading Y'all!
