She looked through the special drawer that she had for her necklaces. She had a lot of them. It was, for her, kind of a hobby or at least a fascination. She was smiling, as usual, and wondering which one she might suggest for today.

Today it was one of her knit shirts. She looked again in the mirror, liking what she saw, and giving her Momma a silent word of thanks again.

You see, she took after her Momma. She, Jumaine Wilson that is, had her Momma's great genes. She had short hair that she kept curly and close to her scalp. Her smile was radiant, and the rest was her Momma, pure and simple.

Her Momma, Julie, had been her height and rather large through the bust, as was Jumaine. It was something that Jumaine was proud of too. She liked the knit creations that she constantly sought out, because they emphasized her breasts and she thought that her breasts were her best feature or at least one of her best features.

Of course, it was Momma Julie's thought that Jumaine's lovely smile was probably her winning feature. But Jumaine liked her large breasts, her 38cs, her 'girls', as she called them, only to herself.

It was Momma's advice that Jumaine might buy a necklace that would maybe call some attention away from her breasts and make her image a bit more sedate.

What Jumaine discovered was that the combination of those large, beaded and rattily necklaces were absolutely great companions to her 'girls'.

She sought them out and bought various ones frequently, if she discovered any that were large and bangly. That's what she liked most of all.

So, today, for Jumaine Wilson it would be a knit blouse and one of her special necklaces, and, of course, some cleavage. It's the way that she preferred to dress.

Until she'd found her present job, the front person for a large medical practice, she'd lived with Momma but now Jumaine had declared her independence and lived in her own small but lovely place.

She got together with her Momma frequently and they shared a wonderful relationship. She didn't particularly go for all of the churchy things that her Momma did but that was never a real bone of contention between them. And she realized too that, once her beloved Poppa died about two years ago, the church things became even more important to her Momma as a social kind of outlet too.

With Momma Julie's help and guidance, Jumaine got a good education, doing night school work to get some good skills at accounts and secretarial skills. It helped her along, and ultimately won for her the present position that she had.

Jumaine was bright and breezy. She had a smile and a kind word for everyone and was very popular in the office, with the medical staffs.

There were, of course, some that she liked better than others but she was pleasant to all of them.

Today it was a dark skirt, pleated but not too short. She wore, with this, a knit top that was kind of gray with stripes through it, though the stripes were muted and not really visible, unless you were up close to her.

Again, with her Mother's advice, she took a good deal of her early salary money and bought herself some really nice clothes, including the knit tops she liked, which allowed her to show off a bit of 'the girls'.

The necklace would be the large array of mostly dark beads. It hung down across the front of her breasts. Jumaine liked the effect.

She twirled around in front of her mirror and approved. She had hips that were pleasing, she thought, and not too wide. Her legs were those of an athlete, which she'd been certainly in high school.

Jumaine Wilson was 25, Afro-American and physically lovely. There had been some 'boyfriends' along the way but Jumaine tried to keep herself aware of what kind of life she wanted for herself.

She had so many girl friends who succumbed to the 'baby at the age of 17 or so' syndrome, that seemed to be the norm for girls, at least in her neighborhood. She didn't want for herself that kind of almost traditional role. It's also one that she and her Momma had talked about any number of times.

Today was a Wednesday, she mused to herself, and that meant that some favorites would be there today. It would be one of Dr. Kelly Casey's days in, short, strawberry blond, and gorgeous. It would also be Dr Alastair Carlson's day in, her very favorite.

It certainly gave Jumaine something to look forward to.

She was in the office early to open it and get things ready for the stream of patients that would be coming in, in about 45 minutes."There she is, folks," came a soft female voice from the side. "And look at the boobs on this girl!"

Jumaine looked up at the smiling face of Kelly Casey.

"Doctor!" Jumaine said in a soft voice.

Kelly Casey leaned her elbows against the counter where Jumaine did her work.

"Gee," she said, grinning, "I wish I were into women; I'd be all over you, girl, like a rash."

Jumaine grinned widely at this normal greeting from this lovely, lovely woman.

"Gonna take you up on that one day," she quipped back at Kelly Casey. "Just gonna!"

"Still no boyfriend?" Kelly asked.

"Mostly trolls," Jumaine said in a winey voice.

"Got that right!" Kelly Casey said.

"How's the great doctor today?" Jumaine asked, just as the door opened.

"Well, here he is now, so you can ask him yourself," Kelly said.

Both she and Jumaine were giggling.

"Yes," Alastair Carlson said, "Joke at my expense?"

"Just talking about 'the great doctor," Kelly Casey explained.

"Well, let me know when he or she gets here," Alastair said, and all three of them laughed.

Kelly Casey walked away then to get to her area and get ready to begin her day.

Once she'd walked away, Alastair Carlson placed a bag on the counter. He didn't say a word; he just smiled at Jumaine. She gave him a huge, white toothed smile and said: "Thank you, Dr Carlson."

"My pleasure, pretty Jumaine," he said, and grinned at her and walked into the back to get ready for his patient load.

The espresso was exactly the way that Jumaine liked.

After Jumaine had worked for the medical office for about a half a year, Alastair Carlson had begun to bring her cups of espresso, when he discovered, quite by accident in a casual conversation, that she really liked it.

It was their special way by now.

She took a sip of the lovely, dark black brew and waited. She knew it was coming.

"Looking good," he said, his usual phrase. "Your beads and you."

She giggled and grinned at him, as he walked away, thinking to herself that Alastair Carlson was one of the really, really special ones.

"Leave his clothes on, girl," came Kelly Casey's voice from the side, where she emerged, just as Alastair Carlson was walking away.

"The man has style," Jumaine said.

"And a nice booty," Kelly Casey added, as she now lounged at Jumaine's desk.

"Got that right," Jumaine said, grinning.

"Okay," Kelly said next, "To work now that we've, or at least you've ogled the hard working staff."

"Yes," Jumaine said with a grin. "To work."

"Saw him staring at your girls!" Kelly said, and both of them went into rafts of giggles.

"Gettin' me steamed up, girl," Kelly said. "I'll have to bite my Sam's naked butt tonight, compliments of you."

"Glad to oblige," Jumaine said.

"Give me a hug and then it's the salt mines," Kelly said, coming around the desk.

They hugged and Kelly whispered into Jumaine's ear: "Jumaine, honey, you're the prettiest one here!"

It was cheek kisses then and to work.

ALASTAIR'S CAMPAIGN:

For Alastair Carlson, it had begun almost as soon as Jumaine was hired for the job. He was, as the saying goes, 'smitten' almost immediately. It initially caused him no end of trouble. He, at first, even refused to believe his reaction. He told himself time and again that he wasn't, just wasn't having this kind of reaction to this Afro American woman.

That kind of self debate had gone on for a good many months and then he decided on a campaign. But Alastair Carlson was a very, very slow and careful man.

To date the essence of his campaign was lodged in the fact that he'd discovered that Jumaine liked strong espresso. When he was scheduled for office hours at the medical suite he brought her espresso. As a matter of fact, doing that had been his sister Andrea's idea.

It was to Andrea that he'd carried his troubles and complaints about his 'infatuation', as he called it, with a black girl.

Andrea's snorted reply was something like: "What does it matter if she's black or green or orange. It you like her, begin to show her that you do."

This sage advice had led to a discussion about what Alastair knew about Jumaine that could be used for a 'campaign' and the answer to that, which came up in one of their talks, was the espresso.

It probably should be said that the espresso was, as of then, the entire essence of Alastair's campaign, though he and Andrea talked about it often.

He'd even, at her insistence, plumbed for some information about and from Jumaine, gathered at those times, when there would be a general pause in the work, often at the end of the day. It's how he discovered that she had no boyfriend and that she lived with her Momma, Julie.

But Andrea's advice was to not give up his 'campaign'. She was sure that it was going to end positively. Alastair took her sage advice and hung in there with the campaign.

A DISASTER TURNS WONDERFUL:

Strangely enough, the next real advance of the campaign was quite by one of those accidents of life that could well lead one to believe in a positive kind of 'Fata Morgana' individual working with the lives of people.

It was Thursday and was normally Jumaine and her Momma's night out to dinner. Jumaine liked to treat her Momma out to dinner at least weekly.

Only tonight, Julie wasn't feeling quite well, felt a cold impending and begged off. Jumaine went herself to the restaurant that she'd chosen, a kind of lovely Italian place.

She wasn't seated very long when she saw Alastair Carlson enter with a very pretty woman.

She surprised herself at how down it made her feel immediately. She cautioned herself not to make any kind of fuss and gave herself the message that a lovely man like Alastair would certainly have a beautiful companion, girl friend or whatever. She knew that he wasn't married.

She felt down now; was fighting, she realized, a jealous response that was fairly news to her and was not being able to keep herself from brooding, hoping that the place was big enough that they wouldn't see her there.

They did see her and Andrea insisted that Alastair go and asked the young lady to join them for dinner. It was the shove that the needed.

Jumaine was trying to mind the menu, though she saw, with regret, that Alastair was coming in her direction.

"Jumaine," he said, as he got to her table.

"Oh, Dr Carlson," Jumaine said, as though she was just now seeing him for the first time.

Then the light dawned for Jumaine.

"My sister Andrea and I would love it if you'd join us for dinner," Alastair said.

"Your sister Andrea?" Jumaine said in a tiny voice, more to herself that to anyone else.

"Would you please?" he continued.

"Thank you," Jumaine said, smiling winningly now, "I'd love to."

Alastair turned to the waiter and said: "The young lady will be joining me and Andrea for dinner."

The waiter smiled and nodded, making it obvious that he knew both Dr. Carlson and his sister.

Then Alastair Carlson was leading Jumaine to their table. He introduced his sister Andrea, and said: "Just for confusion's sake, she is also Dr. Carlson. But it's micro biology."

Andrea stood and, ignoring Jumaine's outstretched hand, instead went into a hug.

"Jumaine, it's so nice to meet you; thank you for joining us for dinner."

Jumaine grinned at Andrea, deciding immediately that she like the woman.

When the waiter came to ask for drinks, the three of them decided on a bottle of wine.

Jumaine, not wanting to take things for granted, told the waiter then that her check would be separate.

"Nonsense," Andrea said, "Let Alastair simply take care of the bill for all of us."

"Thank you," Jumaine said softly, enjoying herself more and more.

During the dinner, the lights continued to shine for Jumaine. Their conversation was friendly and aimed at getting to know each other better.

Jumaine discovered, in the process, that she really liked Andrea Carlson. She found her lovely and as pleasant as possible.

For her part, Andrea was enchanted with the lovely black girl, to whom her Alastair seemed to be attached.

With Andrea present, Alastair's normal amount of self doubt was completely set aside. He felt comfortable and both enjoyed and joined in the conversation that the three of them were having.

At the end of the meal, Jumaine tried once again to put in her part of the dinner but this time it was Alastair who refused, saying that he'd take care of it.

"Let him," Andrea said, with a conspirator's smile at Jumaine. "You well know that he can afford it."

That made both Jumaine and Andrea go into the giggles.

"Caught a rich old man, eh?" Alastair said to the two of them.

"Well, we have," Andrea said, linking her arm with Jumaine's and then pulling Alastair into the middle of the three of them, as they walked toward the parking lot. "Haven't we, Jumaine?"

Jumaine giggled and said: "Well, at least a rich man."

They all laughed and Andrea said: "Now those are the words of a diplomat."

They'd arrived at the parking lot then and Alastair said he'd walk Jumaine to her car.

By that point in their evening, Jumaine was fairly walking on air. She had had a lovely time; she knew that she positively adored Andrea Carlson and her growing 'thing' for Alastair Carlson had received a hefty boost also.

When they got to Jumaine's car, she simply turned to him and put her arms around him. She was sighing a bit.

"Thank you," She said, into his shoulder. "It was wonderful and I love your sister Andrea."

Alastair was almost on the spot turned to stone, as he felt the impression of 'the girls' pressing against him.

He found his breath coming in short gasps and it was all that he could do do not kiss her.

They both knew that. It made Jumaine smile broadly.

Before he let her go, he said, into her ear: "You look so lovely tonight."

"Thank you, Dr Carlson," she said.

"Alastair," he corrected her. "Dr Carlson is my sister."

Jumaine giggled at that and said a quiet: "Alastair."

Then she called up all her courage and kissed him on the cheek before getting into her car. He stood and watched her drive away, smiling.

When Alastair got back to his own car, Andrea was grinning at him.

"We look smitten," she said.

"Ohhh," was all that she could manage.

Then, in a conspirator's voice, Andrea said: "Did you see the tits on the girl?"

It was their way with each other; it always had been, the good natured raillery.

"Oh, I did!" he said.

"Wanted to get our hands on those, I bet?" she said next, and then, reading that he was so affected by the encounter simply put her hand up to his cheek and leaned in to kiss his cheek.

"She's lovely beyond words," Andrea said then. "Good for you."

TALKS:

Jumaine was simply elated. It had looked, at first, so grim, finding him with 'his' woman, and then the entire evening opened up and it was simply wonderful.

Instead of going home, Jumaine went to her Momma's. She was greeted at the door with a big smile and a hug.

"How's my lovely girl?" Julie Wilson asked.

"Up in the air, Momma," Jumaine said.

Julie could see right away that Jumaine was upset over something. She hugged her daughter again and said: "Tell me, love."

"It was my dinner," Jumaine said.

They settled down then in the living room and Julie got them each a glass of wine.

"So, your dinner?" Julie asked.

Jumaine shook her head up and down, in a 'yes' gesture.

"I was sitting in Rizzo's, it's my favorite," she began. "It's always such a treat to go out. I like it, I mean taking care of myself and all, and getting to help you too."

Julie reached out and stroked her daughter's cheek with her hand.

"You are the best of the best," Julie said.

"Then Dr. Carlson came in with a lovely woman," Jumaine went on.

"Oh, dear!" Julie said, beginning to realize what her daughter was telling her.

"I tried to hide behind my menu, so that they wouldn't see me," Jumaine said, "Didn't know if I should leave or not. Told myself 'of course he'd have a beautiful woman."

Jumaine took a drink of her wine. "Momma, I was trying not to be jealous and foolish and infantile."

Julie just shook her head, and held Jumaine's hand.

"They did see me, and he came over and greeted me and then ... then, Momma, he asked me to join him and his sister Andrea for dinner."

Julie's hand flew to her mouth. He grin was wide. "His sister," she said.

Jumaine grinned and shook her head 'yes'.

"How did it feel?" Julie asked.

"They made me feel so special!" Jumaine said. "Both of them." She was grinning then.

Julie hugged her, and whispered: "Good for you, my lovely girl!"

"Oh, Momma," Jumaine said, "What do I do now? I think ... I really think that he likes me. At least I hope so."

"Give it and him some time," Julie said, "If he does, he'll make that known soon. He certainly won't let a beauty like you slip away."

"You just think about it and what's important for you," Julie concluded.

"Oh, Momma," Jumaine said, in the midst of another hug. "You're so wonderful."

"Easy to be wonderful with a daughter like you!" Julie said.

When the hug broke, Jumaine said: "Momma, I'm going to go home. Work tomorrow."

"Don't you worry about the big surgeon," Julie said, with some prescience, "He'll come around."

"Oh, I hope so," Jumaine said. "Wouldn't that be lovely!"

Alastair and Andrea had long ago made a decision to keep separate homes. After the dinner out, which was a constant treat for the two of them, they went to Alastair's big home for a night cap.

They sat sipping some sherry.

"So, talk to me," Andrea said. "I know I made comments about her tits but I didn't realize how struck you are with this woman."

"But she has such nice tits," he said, grinning.

"Fiend!" Andrea said and he shook his head 'yes'. "Just a typical man," she continued as he just grinned.

"How does it feel?" Andrea asked.

"Strange," he said, "Very strange. I mean. I've 'liked' her and appreciated her from the first. I can't put a finger on when that changed, but I know that it has."

They were quiet for a moment.

"Don't know if she would want a white guy like me 'sniffing around' at all," he said.

"Alastair, that's just your age old insecurity talking," Andrea said. "She was so struck by you. That much was obvious."

"It was?" he asked.

"To me it was," she said.

"Ohhh," he sighed. "Now what do I do?"

"Think of ways to show her that you care for her. It's going to be fine," she went on.

"Makes me feel kind of jumpy inside," he said.

"Oh, no," she quipped, kissing his cheek, "The big doctor is falling in love."

"With a black woman," he wailed.

"With a beautiful, young woman," she corrected. "That's the last that I want to hear about the race thing."

"Yes," he said, shaking his head, "You're right about that."

She grinned then and said: "Watch out, Jumaine, here comes Alastair!"

They both had a chuckle about that and struck glasses in a toast to the idea.

AN INTERVENTION:

It was thinking time then. For Jumaine, who decided to take her Momma's advice and think about what was important to her.

The first thing that struck her was that for her, at least, the race thing was not an issue. She just flat out liked Dr Alastair Carlson. It was that simple. She knew, however, that she needed to wait and see if the 'white and black' thing was an issue for him.

The thoughts about the dinner out at Rizzo's stayed in her mind. She went over it again and again, thinking about her being in the doldrums, when he came in with his beautiful sister, Andrea. She smiled as she worked on the rest of it, the realization that it was indeed his sister and their invitation to have dinner with them.

The feelings accompanying this kind of reflection were grand, she thought.

She also knew that she needed to leave the issue where it was, and let the next move be up to him.

He seemed bright and breezy at work the next time. He went to her at her desk, and bent down to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"How's Jumaine the beauty today?" he asked.

She smiled and said: "I don't know, if she shows up, I'll be sure to ask her."

He laughed and said: "Don't you dare be that way. My sister and I were both taken with how lovely you looked the other night at Rizzo's. And thank you for joining us."

She rewarded this with a huge grin and said: "No, thank you for including me. It was such a nice thing to do."

Alastair's attitude that day was pretty much a product of Andrea's counseling. She told him that he needed to begin to be bright and pleased, when seeing Jumaine at work.

"If you slink around like a lost teenager with his hands in his pockets and his head down, you'll never make any progress at all," she'd said to him.

It the truth were told, Alastair was not ever a dab hand at romance. He was better than a first rate doctor. He was extremely bright but with the ladies he had more than two left feet often enough. Of course, that's where Andrea's coaching came in.

He had readily admitted to his sister that he was really 'taken' with Jumaine and was wary about what to do and how to do it. When all the bravado was set aside, Alastair was unsure of himself in this situation.

Jumaine knew that Alastair would be away for the rest of that day and part of the next, after some morning appointments. She thought that she'd get a salad fro a nearby Wendy's and have some thinking time for herself.

But at 11:AM, Andrea Carlson breezed into the office.

"Hey, pal." Andrea said brightly.

"Hey, yourself, Dr Carlson," Jumaine replied. "He's not here."