Day 3B

It was less than half an hour later when she arrived. Mum got to the door before me, and let her in.

"Oh, hi Mrs Brown."

"Hi Chris. Oh, I like that dress." She wasn't the only one. I was standing gawping when I should have been taking over.

"Yeah, it's hot out there. This was the best thing I could come up with."

"It's lovely. You're here to see Paul?"

"Yeah. Paul?" She called over to me. "You ready?"

"Yeah. Oh, hold on, gotta get something."

"I'll come up with you. Nice to see you, Mrs Brown."

"You too, Chris. Are you two going somewhere?"

"I'm going to help with a secret project," I told Mum with a straight face.

"Secret?"

"Yeah."

Chris piped in again then. "He's just going to help me feed my Uncle's cat."

"It takes two of you to feed a cat?"

"It's vicious," I offered.

"And the food is up high," Chris added.

"Listen you two, how about you just admit you like hanging out together, and stop all this pretending?"

"What pretending?" This from Chris.

"Mum!" Obviously that was me.

"Well, look, we got Christie-Anne over here in the first place because we thought you'd be good for each other. Your Mum and I would like to know it worked, Chris."

"Well, for a smelly kid..." Chris started laughing then.

"She's alright for an oldie," I responded.

"Alright, alright, play it like that. I can still tell."

"Mum, mind your own, would you?" I softened the words with a smile.

"Not talking about it any more!" She put her hand out in front of her face.

"Thanks, Mum."

"Mrs Brown, you're okay, you know that?"

"Why, thank you Chris. Now go!" She left the hallway to carry on with whatever she'd been doing before.

"Come on Chris."

"I thought we were going upstairs first?"

"Oh, yeah. Yellow sundresses have to go first."

"You're just hoping for a peek at my panties."

"That's not all."

"I bet."

"You hope."

"Could be."

I followed CA up the stairs, and yes, I looked at her ass the whole way. At the top of the stairs, we turned to my room, and then Chris stopped, and looked at me.

"Hey, what did you come up here to get?"

"Towel. I didn't want any questions from Mum, even though I have some of my own."

"Don't I get a kiss?"

"God, yes!"

"Mmmm... Ooh, get the towel. I need to use the bathroom."

"Oh, alright, if you insist."

"Take my bag."

"Huh?"

"Put your towel in it, with mine. No questions from downstairs then."

"Ah, got it. Another kiss first?"

"Yes!"

After she pushed me away, and ran off with a big grin on her face, I stood and stared. My God, she was gorgeous. She turned back, and grinned at me. "Meet you downstairs, okay?"

"Yeah sure, CA."

"Get me a glass of water, would you?"

"You want a coke instead?"

"Oh, yeah, if it's really cold."

"'tis."

"Cool."

"Yes," I said.

"Smart ass!" and she wiggled her ass at me to make her point.

I took her bag into my bedroom, and stuffed the towel in it, before heading back downstairs. By the time she showed up, I'd poured two glasses of coke and was standing staring out the window. Chris sneaked up behind me, put her arms around my waist and whispered "Where's your Mum?"

"Outside. Gardening."

"I wanted to tell you something."

"Uh huh?"

"I've got a couple of surprises for you."

"Oh? Such as?"

"They're not surprises if I tell you."

"Well then, Granny, why in hell did you bring it up?"

"Suspense."

"I could call you names."

"You just did, youngster."

"Worse names."

"Not here. Your mother might be upset."

"I'm wondering if I can upset her, where you are concerned."

"I know what you mean, but I have no idea why."

"Me neither. Still, might as well make the most of it." I turned then, and took her into my arms. Our lips met, and our bodies melted together. "It's amazing," I told her quietly, "how easy it is to get used to this."

She pushed me away suddenly. "Come on, or we'll never get this cat fed."

"Spoilsport."

"I'll make up for it, Paul. Promise."

"Ooh, good."

The walk was mostly uneventful. We chatted quietly, and I stared at her, watching the way her body moved in the thin yellow dress, and how her face crinkled up when she grinned. She was watching me too, I noticed, realising for the first time that she felt the same way about me as I did about her. It was a nice feeling. Comfortable, safe, happy.

Her Uncle's house was only a few blocks away, but it was so hot in the sun that by the time we got there I was looking forward to getting out of the heat and relaxing for a few minutes.

We turned down the driveway of the house, and had walked about halfway down before I could see the house. I was stunned.

"CA, what does he do?"

"Do? Oh, well nothing, I don't think. He did something right at some stage, and made a pile of money, and since then I think he just manages it. He's always off somewhere on holiday though."

"Does money run in your family?"

"Hardly."

"I wondered."

"He's the only one. Anyway, down here."

"Here? But the house is over there."

"We're not going to the house."

"Oh?"

"No. The cat is locked out of there. She makes messes now and then."

"Yuck."

"Yeah. So when Ben is away, she has a home down by the courts."

"Tennis?"

"Uh huh."

"Cool."

"You like?"

"Yeah, I do. Not today, though. Too hot."

"Okay. Ummm... how to do this. We need to get through this door."

"This is a shed?"

"Not exactly. Combination. See, like this? Got it? 7758. And then enter."

"7758. Okay. I hope. You sure you should tell me?"

"I trust you. You might want to know."

"I need to get into your uncle's toolshed?"

"Nope. Take a look."

I walked through the door in front of Chris, and just stood there. In the end, she had to push me out of the way, so she could get through.

"You seem a little surprised, Paul."

"A little. Wow!"

In front of me was one corner of a large swimming pool, glittering and blue in the filtered sunlight. Around the pool sat a number of table and chairs, and various beach balls and the like. A couple of flotation toys sat motionless in the water. A high ceiling made the whole thing look incredibly spacious, and with the heat of the morning, the water looked very inviting.

Chris left me standing staring at the pool and walked down the side, and through into a side room. I followed her in the end, only to find her filling a bowl with some sort of dry cat food, next to a bowl of water.

"You mean the cat business was for real, CA?"

"You bet. I wouldn't lie to you. You know it. Kick that cat flap, would you, and make sure it's working? It jams sometimes, and Darth can't get in."

"Darth? Who calls a cat Darth?"

"Ben does. She's black, and slinky. She's just missing the voice."

"Shouldn't she be here?"

"Oh, she wanders all about. Ben has a big place. She's in charge."

"Okay. That it?"

"Yeah. Make sure we shut the door though. We don't want Miss Vader in at the pool. No telling what she might do."

"Got it."

"So, listen, lover, you want to swim?"

"Lover?"

"I wanted to see how it fitted."

"And?"

"Not sure yet, Paul." She reached up and gave me a quick kiss. "Sounds nice though."

"I agree."

"Thought you might. Swim?"

"Oh, yeah. But you only told me to bring a towel."

"I know! Boys are a little slow sometimes, right?"

"But what if someone comes?"

"Nah. Ben's away for another month or so. He took his girlfriend and her kids with him."

"Yeah, but..."

"And we already locked Darth out, so you can't get your twig and berries clawed by a vicious cat."

"But..."

"Hey Paul, if you don't want to..."

"No, no. I want. God yes, I want."

"Good. Get 'em off."

"Here?"

"You don't want me to see?"

"No, no. You are most exasperating, you know."

"You learn that in English this week?"

"Last week. How come I'm the only one undressing?"

"Show you in a minute. Mmm... I like to watch you do that."

"Anything else?"

"A twirl. Oh, yes. Again? Now stop, before you get dizzy, and come over here. I have a dress you need to help me with."

"Help?"

"Yeah. See, that's why I invited you. I knew I couldn't get this dress off all alone."

"Uh huh. What should I do?"