Fiction: Barely There - Chapter 5

Barely There

Copyright 2011 by mikecb

Chapter 5

 

Kelly was pleased she had caught Dawn when she arrived at the store. Waxing Dawn’s legs and bikini area gave her a distraction from the thoughts and emotions swirling through her body.

 

She had never anticipated falling for a customer, much less leaving the shop for lunch and a quickie with him on his very first visit! She felt like such a slut. She was embarrassed over her behavior. Still, Jeff seemed like such a nice guy! Now, of course, that wasn’t necessarily a reliable indicator. After all “cheating bastard” had seemed like a nice guy, as did “lazy bastard” "drunken bastard” and “secretly married bastard” before. To be quite honest with herself, she sucked at picking men!

Yet, Jeff was different in so many ways. She hadn’t picked him up at a bar, nor did he come recommended by any of the friends who had suggested the last army of bastards that came her way. Jeff literally walked into her front door and into her life, all on his own.

She finished waxing Dawn pretty quickly, and went back into the outer shop to wait for Dorothy Johns to come in. She was scheduled at 3:00pm. The afternoon would pick up soon. She had a 4:00, 4:30 and 5:00 booked for sure, and wouldn’t be surprised to have a walk-in turn up. Awdie was scheduled to come in at 3:30 and work reception, which would definitely be a help this afternoon. 

Kelly sat behind the counter, opening some mail and sorting bills, while waiting for Dorothy. She was so lost in her thoughts that she literally forgot what she was looking at, midway through. She gave up, piling the papers in a heap and setting them back behind the counter just as Dorothy arrived. Kelly was once again grateful to have something to keep her busy.

She was in the Lemon room with Dorothy when she heard the telltale jingle of the bell above the shop door. She didn’t stop working, but waited. Sure enough, in a moment, she heard the stereo in the waiting room switch from Kelly’s favorite country station to Awdie’s favorite “Top 40” station. That was their signal, so Kelly wouldn’t have to leave the customer in the back to see who came in.

A few minutes later, she heard the front door jingle again. She was surprised, since it was 40 minutes until her next appointment, and she was just finishing with Dorothy. Still, she might sneak in a quick treatment if it was a walk-in. She finished with Dorothy, and excused herself while Dorothy got herself dressed.

Audrey “Awdie” Campbell was behind the counter, as expected. Even at just 5’5” she stood four inches taller than Kelly. Awdie’s dirty blond hair was pulled back in a simple braid, though she had a colorful butterfly hairpin at her temple. Her brown eyes were, as usual, embellished with a slightly overgenerous application of mascara and eye shadow. Her nails shined with a perfect coat of burgundy polish. She was chewing gum and leafing through a Nascar magazine behind the counter.

Kelly passed behind her with a friendly “Hi Hon” and ran her hand across Awdie’s back. Awdie turned to look at Kelly, intently enough to give Kelly pause. 

“Tell me everything!” implored Awdie, with a hint of both desperation and demand in her voice.

Kelly was confused a moment, but followed Awdie’s eyes. Sitting in the waiting room, beside the coffee pot, was a beautiful bouquet of lavender roses in an arrangement with baby’s breath in a crystal vase. Kelly stood, stunned, at the beauty of the flowers.

“The flower shop delivered those five minutes ago. Just who have you been keeping a secret from me, Missy?” Demanded Awdie,with a grin.

Just then, Dorothy came out of Lemon room. Awdie paused her interrogation, allowing a Kelly a moment to write up Dorothy’s bill and book her next appointment. As the shop door closed behind Dorothy, Awdie turned to Kelly once more, taking both her hands in her own.

“Tell me!” she demanded!

Before responding, Kelly pulled free of Awdie and went over to the vase. She smelled the flowers. Beautiful. She found a card attached, simply addressed to “Kelly O’Donnal”. She opened it.

“Thank you for a lovely lunch date. The man here at the flower shop says that lavender colored roses signify ‘Love at first sight’. They seemed appropriate. I hope our adventure continues. Warmest regards, Jeff.”

Kelly smiled as she read the card, and even paused to smell it, as if she could take in his scent.

“Mary Katherine Kelly O’Donnal! If you don’t tell me who sent you those flowers in the next two seconds I’m going to break that vase over your adorable head!” exclaimed an exasperated Awdie.

“Umm. Jeff. His name is Jeff.” Answered Kelly. Trying to decide how to begin.

“Who is this Romeo, and why haven’t you introduced him to your best friend?” Awdie asked, accusingly, but still with a hint of humor in her voice.

“Well, strictly speaking, we weren’t dating four hours ago. It was all kind of, uh…”

“Four hours?” exclaimed Awdie. “What? Did you meet him at the gas station, buying one of your lunch burritos?” she bellowed.

“Well, no, it was here. He was.. Well, I did…”

“A client? You’re dating a client?” accused, Awdie, sounding less good-humored all the time. 

“Hey! I own the place!” exclaimed Kelly, getting a little upset now. “If I want to rewrite the non-existent Personnel Manual, that’s my prerogative!”

Awdie chuckled, then, breaking the tension. “Ok, Ok Boss. Back up.” Said Awdie, with her hands held up in a surrendering gesture. “How did you go from this ‘Jeff’ character being a client to a boyfriend in one morning… And now that I think of it, didn’t we agree that I would be vetting your next prospects for you? You’ve got really lousy selection skills, if you’ll recall.” Awdie crossed her arms, smugly.

“It was all a blur,” began Kelly. She poured herself a cup of coffee, and walked to the opposite side of the counter from Awdie. He was just so nice. I offered him a burrito….”

“Pork or Chicken?” asked Awdie, intently.

“Either.” Replied Kelly.

“Wow,” said Awdie, her eyes growing wide. “He must have made a good impression if you’d let him eat your pork burrito!”

Kelly nodded, seriously. 

“So you fed him a burrito…” prompted, Awdie.

“Well, no. He, uh… he took me out to lunch.”

“You closed shop and went to a restaurant for lunch?” asked Awdie, incredulously. “Who are you and what have you done with my best friend Kelly?!?” she asked, laughing.

“Well, yes and. no. He, uh… we went to his place.”

Awdie looked at her friend, and blinked, as if trying to comprehend what Kelly had just said. After a long breath, she shook her head.

“Let me get this straight. A new client comes in. You wax him, and offer him a burrito. The next thing you know, he whisks you off to his place for lunch?!?”

Kelly just nodded. The expression on her face made it clear she had trouble believing it herself.

Awdie chuckled. “The next thing you’re going to tell me is that after lunch, you offered him desser…” Awdie paused, glaring at Kelly.

Kelly stood there, blushing. Her pale complexion and Irish heritage made it impossible to hide embarrassment. Her face lit up like a giant red billboard. Awdie knew that look.” 

“Kelly!!! Oh my God!!”

Kelly just nodded, trying to will her face to cool down. Finally, trying to force a serious expression “Lunch was awesome, but dessert was incredible.” She made eye contact with Awdie, and burst into giggles. 

Awdie did her best to give Kelly a stern look, but after a moment, a smile curled one side of her frown, and then the other. A moment later, both girls were giggling in delight.

“OK, Girl. Tell me everything. Every. Last. Detail!” 

Kelly and Awdie had been best friends since they were in diapers, literally. With twenty three years of this kind of sisterly friendship, there were no secrets between them.

As Awdie’s expression grew more and more shocked, Kelly told her everything.

Everything.

---------------------------------------------------

Awdie looked across the glass counter top and the chastity belt key between she and Kelly.

“Now let me get this straight. You meet a guy, close shop and go to his house for lunch and a Nooner.”

Kelly looked on, nodding slightly, her face still glowing red with embarrassment.

Awdie continued. “You drink some wine… since when the hell do you drink wine?!?.. And hop in the sack with this guy.”

Kelly nodded.

“Neither of you have birth control, so you start giving him a blowjob… but he stops you, flips you over and goes Downtown on you…. Before he even…”

“Yea. And he’s good! He even asked stopped to ask how I wanted it.. No one’s ever..” said Kelly, wistfully, remembering the moment.

Awdie stared are Kelly for a long moment. “OK, I know I’ve criticized your taste in men, but this one..”

“Yea…” said Kelly again, still glowing.

Awdie continued her recap. “So then you get your cunning linguist friend revved up but won’t let him come, and you grill him for details about this kink of his.” She gestured toward the key on the counter. 

“Uh huh.”

“You finally finish him off, and then you take a shower and you lock up his cock in some steel contraption?”

“That’s about it, yup.”

“He wanted you to lock him up.”

“Yep.”

“And he can’t… yanno… play with it.”

“Uh huh.”

“But… why would he?.. If he doesn’t want to cheat on you, wouldn’t he …. I…. “

“I know, I know.” Said Kelly, shaking her head.

“You didn’t ask him to put it on… I mean, not like Terry?”

Kelly grimaced at the memory of “Cheating Bastard” and her irresponsible behavior in buying a cheap plastic chastity belt and locking him up. “Nope. He got it a long time ago, and it’s not some cheap one like I stuck on Asshole. He even wears it when he’s not…. With someone. He says he just… just… likes it, I guess.”

Awdie shook her head in confusion, still staring down at the key. 

They were both silent for a moment. Finally, Awdie looked at Kelly. “There are worse things, I guess..” As if talking herself into something.

“Yea,” said Kelly, nodding. “So, do I have your Blessing?” she asked, with a grin.

Awdie chuckled. “Well, I intend to be mad at you for at least another five minutes, but then, yes, you have my blessing. If his dirty perversion is that he wants to be faithful to you, I can live with that!”

Kelly burst into a grin and reached across the counter to give Awdie a hug. Awdie put her hands up, in a “stop” gesture.

“No, no, I’m still mad for another 4 minutes, plus!” trying to keep a straight face. Then, “Oh hell!” She gave Kelly a big hug.

Awdie leaned back from the hug, smiling. Then her face darkened with concern. 

“Oh.. Did you tell him about the family business? That could be… problematic.”

Kelly grimaced.

“I know. I was just thinking about that.”

Their conversation was interrupted as the door jingled open. Kelly casually picked up the key from the counter and put it in her pocket. She turned to find Ginny Barnes, here for her 4:00 appointment.

“Hey Ginny!” she exclaimed, and they went back to work.