Chapter 4: Life on My Own

Mr. Smith promised to send me letters, clippings, and pictures but I wouldn’t be allowed to contact her until her contract was up. I hated the idea of being away from her but it was the only way I could keep her and remain on the ranch. I was 21 when I packed up and left. Six years on the ranch and I had a pretty good nest egg. Mr. Smith helped me find a nice used car with less than 36,000 miles on it. He paid for half of it, but my half cleaned out a little more than half of my account. After getting insurance and tags I had about ten grand left.

Luckily, Mr. Smith got me a job as a stable hand on Hank Johnson’s farm. Well, an interview anyway. Being May it was well into Spring so I wore a white blouse that wasn’t see-through unless it was wet but you could see that I had a tan. With my back arched and my breasts thrust out as I was taught was proper posture for a lady, you could see the shadow of my tan and the shape of my nipples.

The first place I went was to Mom and Dad’s house. It wasn’t theirs anymore. When I knocked on the door a strange woman answered the door. “Hello. Can I help you?” she asked.

“Hello. Does Jessica and Mark Parker live here?” I asked.

“Not anymore. We bought the house from them about four and a half years ago. They said their daughter passed away recently and they couldn’t stand to live here anymore, too many memories.” The lady told me.

I can’t believe my parents would abandon me like that. No wonder they never called or came by to visit me. “Thank you, ma’am. Sorry to bother you.” I turned and walked back to my car, blinded by my tears. I still needed to find a place to live. I had another six weeks before classes started. I had Mr. Smith’s letter of recommendation and the phone number for a ranch on the other side of town. Mr. Smith told me the owner recently had an opening and was willing to meet with me. He told him a bit about my duties here but left out the pony training. I suggest you do the same. He and I went to college together but he doesn’t think training girls as if they were horses is right. There is a good chance he won’t hire you if he knows about it.

I had plenty of money from my pay even after buying the car, so I got a cheap motel room. It’s not like I could wear stilettos on a ranch. I bought a couple of pairs of knee-high boots with a 2 ½” wedge soles and wore a pair to the interview. I wore a mid-thigh skirt with a white blouse. Even though the blouse wasn’t see-through, if it was against my skin you could tell I had a deep tan. My areolae and nipples were only slightly darker than my tan so they weren’t distinguishable separate from my tan, although, you could see the shape of my nipples when the blouse was pressed against my chest. I tried to wear bras and panties again but it was too uncomfortable. It was difficult enough to start wearing loose clothing.

Mr. Johnson spent the entire interview staring at my breasts. He kept asking questions that left me doing most of the talking but I didn’t mind so much. I was 21, soon to be 22, when I did this interview. While I was talking to Mr. Johnson I slowly unbuttoned my blouse.

One button – answer a question. Another button – answer a question. Another button – answer a question. It took six questions to completely unbutton my blouse. When I asked a question about pay I slid my blouse off of my right shoulder, exposing my right breast. When I asked about benefits, I slid it off of my left shoulder and let it settle onto the chair I was in. I was sitting completely topless in the interview. He continued to talk to my breasts and began to stumble over his questions and answers.

He hired me and asked if I could start Monday. I said yes and we shook on it. I would have to air out the apartment and buy a new mattress but otherwise, the apartment was clean. I grabbed my blouse and left with the paperwork. I would need to read through it before I signed it and provide a copy of my birth certificate and social security card. I realized my originals had been discarded or were still with my parents. I had to order replacements when I went to get my driver’s license.

I went to the apartment first. Since there was nothing to steal I left the door open and opened all of the windows and went shopping. I bought a new mattress that will be delivered tomorrow morning, three 40-pound bags of pony hay, and a shallow trough to use as a plate. I did buy a glass to drink from rather than the trough.

As soon as I got home I put the hay in the fridge. I had to remove the shelves to fit them in. As a test, I bought a burger and a salad. The burger was gross and I had to spit it out. I tried the salad and I was able to keep it down but I wasn’t used to the flavors. I chopped up some hay in it and was able to eat it better.

When I went shopping I bought the same shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and a loofah. I was used to taking cold showers at the barn so I stepped in and washed myself. It just wasn’t the same. It was boring and felt like a chore that had to be done. I bought towels but didn’t use one, I just sluiced the water off and let myself air dry some before applying a moisturizer. It wasn’t the custom oil I am used to but it should still work. I spread a towel on the couch and...

What do I do? For years I was kept busy working, training, or talking with the ponies. Now I have a weekend ahead of me and I don’t know what to do. It was still daylight so I decided to get dressed and explore the ranch.