Ofelia Ch. 01 Pt. 07-08

vii.

Daniel found Ofelia in the staff room the next morning, enjoying her 9:15 break. There were a few others in the room, but Ofelia was sitting by herself, checking some text messages on her cell phone. She looked delicious, as usual. Today she was wearing a sleeveless white blouse and some black jeans. Her hair was pinned up, and she looked well-rested and fresh as a daisy, which was always a wonder being that the mill was hot and she was an industrious worker.

Daniel approached the opposite side of the table she sat in and stood there for a moment; but Ofelia was so engrossed in her phone that she didn't look up, though she sensed someone was there. Daniel had a moment to notice that the first two buttons of her blouse were undone, affording, at least from his vantage point, a view of the top of her lacy white bra, and the soft flesh of her little breasts inside them.

"Oh, hey!" Ofelia said, looking up finally. "Is something wrong?"

Daniel took a seat across from her, "Mind if I join you?"

"No, I don't mind." Ofelia replied, and smiled pleasantly at him across the table. She saw his eyes flit from her eyes to her breasts and back to her eyes. She glanced down and noticed that her blouse was opened wider at the top. She casually closed the gap, but didn't fasten the buttons. "Do you need me for something?"

"No, Ofelia, I just had a few minutes, I was walking by and I saw you in here..."

"Okay." Ofelia said, and smiled at him.

"So why is the prettiest girl in the whole mill sitting all by herself?" Daniel asked her. Ofelia's smile grew wider, and she thanked him for the compliment. While she spoke he noticed that she kept glancing over at the other tables, as if to see if she and the boss were being watched.

"Oh, I don't know." she told him, "I guess maybe I smell."

Daniel's eyebrows came together. He leaned over the table and sniffed the air like a hunting dog. Ofelia giggled.

"Nope," he said, "I don't think that's the problem. All I smell is lavender, jasmine, and maybe a faint hint of sexy Latina."

"Guey!" Ofelia said, rolling her eyes, "I'm going to tell my fiance on you."

She tilted her head and averted his gaze for a moment, then let her eyes look at the curly black hairs sprouting up out of his open collar. Daniel had noticed that when he was walking past her in the mill Ofelia would look at him and smile, and her eyes would always drop below his belt and stay there for a second, then go back up to his eyes. Daniel never thought of himself as a very "sexy" person, but Ofelia had a way of making him feel sexy.

Daniel leaned forward and said to her quietly, "I wish I could take you out for a drink just once before you got married."

Ofelia pretended that her feminine sensibilities had been offended, "Huh.." she gasped, "I mean it, I'm going to tell on you. You're bad."

"Seriously." Daniel said, and he let Ofelia see him glance down at her breasts again. "Just one drink. You can invite your fiance. I just want the chance to see you in some way that's not connected with this horrible place. It'll be the three of us. What do you say?"

Ofelia said, "Well, I don't drink, and Leonard doesn't drink either."

Daniel persisted, "Coffee then. You and Leonard and me, Starbucks, this afternoon." he tapped the table.

"Leonard works at night. He don't get home till like, ten thirty. Oh well, nice try." Ofelia answered, smiling and playing with her cell phone, flipping the cover open and closing it again and again.

"Will you come with me by yourself? I promise, it's just for coffee and a little conversation. Kind of like a department meeting, except....like... without the rest of the department."

Ofelia answered, after a pause. Her eyelashes lifted up slowly. "Okay, I'll go with you. If it's just as friends then it's no problem."

"Great!" Daniel said, and drummed on the table in triumph. "Do you want me to pick you up, or maybe you'd rather meet me there?"

"Well, I think you should probably pick me up. My car's got problems and Leonard didn't get a chance to fix it yet." Ofelia said, "I don't trust it."

"Alright then, I'll pick you up at say, five o'clock this afternoon?"

"Okay."

Daniel had Ofelia give him directions to her apartment. She scribbled them down on a piece of paper she got from her purse and gave it to him. Several people in the break room saw it, but Ofelia didn't care. If they wanted to talk, let them talk. Besides, she knew that she and her boss were going out just as friends. She had nothing to be ashamed of, and if there was any controversy, well, that was because people liked controversy.

Ofelia was ascending the stairs to her apartment building just as Leonard was coming down. He was dressed in his usual pressed Dockers, long sleeved shirt, and red vest, his name tag reading "ASST. GROC. MANAGER" in big bold capitals. He was a decent looking young man, clean cut, immaculately groomed, obviously someone who placed a great deal of importance on making a good first impression. He smelled tastefully, and discreetly, of pricey cologne.

"Hey, you're late." He said, when he was one step above his fiance.

"Sorry!" Ofelia answered, "My car stalled two times on the way back!"

Leo went down onto the same step as Ofelia and gave her a kiss. She put her hands to his chest and made it a short kiss, and said in an urgent voice, "I have to pee!"

"Okay, okay, I'm late anyway. I was waiting for you." Leonard said, "I'll call you sometime later."

"Okay." Ofelia said, then she acted as if she had just remembered something long forgotten. "Oh, I might not be home! Mr. Davidson wants me to go somewhere with him. He says he has something to talk to me about. Something to do with work."

Leonard's expression reflected his mixed reactions to this information. In fact, he was incredulous, but not angry. "Oh...alright. He couldn't talk to you at work? Well, no, it's okay with me. That's how it is sometimes. How about you call me at work when you get back?"

"I will, as soon as I get home. It won't be late." Ofelia told him.

"Alright." Leonard said, then he smiled shrewdly, "Just remember what most of us guys are after, okay"?

"Don't worry about that." Ofelia replied, "It aint like that at all. He knows I'm getting married. Besides, he invited both of us at first! I told him you work at night. He was disappointed. He wants to meet you."

"Uh-huh." Leonard said, fighting back the desire to laugh out loud. "Like the way a bear wants to meet a bear trap."

Ofelia folded her arms and gave him her usual stare. "Are you gonna let me go and pee or what?"

"Call me later." Leonard said, going past Ofelia down the stairs. "Don't forget!"

"I won't." Ofelia called back to him; then she added "And remember, okay, it's just like, a work meeting thing. I bet it's going to be so boring"

Leonard waved at her without turning around and Ofelia bounded up the stairs to her apartment.

Manual wasn't home, which was good because Ofelia wouldn't have to waste time trying to explain to him where she was going that afternoon and why. Dominga was cooking some tamales in the kitchen. Several big kettles were on the stove, steam piping from under their lids. At forty-two Dominga was still a very handsome woman. Virtually no one could understand what Ofelia's father saw in that woman he ran off with, a tacky gringa with fake blond hair, fake boobs, and skin grown leathery from lying around in tanning booths up and down Califonia's west coast. The two women exchanged pleasantries and small talk, and finally Ofelia was able to head for the bathroom.

She actually didn't have to pee. She undressed and stepped into the shower. She washed herself thoroughly, especially between her legs and around the back. For a moment she considered taking the pink Bic razor she used on her legs from its soap dish and shaving herself smooth. Her pubic hair was short but very thick, and she looked down there, running her fingers through it, pulling it, debating in her mind whether or not she should rid herself of it. She tried to imagine what it would feel like, being smooth there again like a young girl; she imagined Leonard's reaction. It would only make him want to consummate their relationship even more, to see her "kitty" naked and silky smooth.

Then she imagined how some of the young men would react when they saw her the next time down by the pool. Of course they would notice that she had shaved herself there, she thought, since they were constantly looking at that particular part of her anatomy, being the naughty young devils they were. She knew that when she wore a bikini some of her hairs were always showing out the sides, and she was aware that this was not exactly fashionable-- despite the fact that her admirers no doubt enjoyed the chance to see them-- and Ofelia was nothing if not fashion-conscious, at least in respect to how one dressed and everything in connection with one's appearance.

Finally she smiled despite her misgivings and lathered herself up with soap, then took the razor and began to shave the area, starting with the outside and the top and working her way downwards and inwards. She was especially careful once she got to her vulva. She put one foot up on the side of the bathtub and pulled up at the top of her groin so that she could look down and see what she was doing. It took longer than she expected, and the water was starting to cool. She soaped herself and applied the razor again, running the blade gingerly along her fleshy outer labia, going all the way under until she was actually swiping it along the tender and pleated perimeter of her bottom's hole.

When she was finished she rinsed herself thoroughly and enjoyed how it felt to her fingers. She looked down and could see the small pink lips between her middle and index finger, the protruding hood at the top and the sharp V where they opened up like tiny satin curtains. She took her other hand and touched the little pink bud that blossomed between those smaller lips at the top, and it caused a familiar charge of sensation which on one hand made her feel guilty and on the other made her want to keep touching it.

Leonard was apparently oblivious to that part of her anatomy,-- and she had no intention of leading him to it until they were married-- but some young men knew just where and how to touch her. Still others went at that spot too aggressively. As far as she had gone with a very wide variety of men, Ofelia had never allowed one to get his tongue between her legs, or even very near it. That was simply too intimate a thing to be thought of as harmless play, or a childish game. There were a few whom she had allowed to kiss her breasts, but never down below. That was something that only a husband should do.

As much as she was tempted to touch herself in a way that caused her such stimulation, Ofelia had always avoided it. She had never masturbated. It was one of those things that seemed almost certainly sinful, like smoking, or drinking, or using drugs. In her mind she had successfully rationalized her behavior in other areas to the point where she no longer felt any guilt when she engaged in such behavior, even though underneath, deep down, she knew that these things she did were not good things to do at all.

One of those things was thinking herself superior to others. She knew that as a Christian (mostly, she would say, but not like, in a crazy way) this was undoubtedly not what a person ought to do, but she did it regardless. She couldn't help it, really. She simply knew that she was prettier and smarter than most people, and just better all around. It wasn't her fault, it was just true.

The other thing she did which she knew was not something she ought to be proud of was allowing men to see her and sometimes (only if the conditions were right) touch her in ways that were considered inappropriate. But the fact was, doing those things excited her like nothing else. When she was being admired, it was exciting. It caused a warmth in her belly and a fluttery, almost intoxicating pleasure that was caused by nothing else and to which nothing else could be compared. If a young man told her that she was beautiful, it pleased her but not in the same way or to the same degree it that it pleased her when that same young man was watching her in a certain way; and this pleasure was increased a thousandfold if that same man was able to see something which he wasn't supposed to see.

viii.

Daniel arrived when he said he would and he took Ofelia to Starbucks just like he said he would, but he didn't keep any of his other promises. Of course that was no surprise to Ofelia, nor was it a disappointment. After they had their latte and cappuccino they went for a drive, and by about three minutes into the drive Daniel had his hand on Ofelia's leg.

Ofelia had decided to wear a light, cottony summer dress for their outing, because it was still hot even though it was already into September. She had her hair in two long braids, and Daniel said she looked like Pocahontas, only prettier. She had sandals on her feet and kicked them off when she was in the car. Ofelia was talking when she felt his hand light on her leg just above her knee, and she felt a jolt of adrenaline shoot through her; but she was so slick by this time that there was not the faintest change in her voice. She continued speaking the way a married woman would continue speaking if her husband of ten years put his hand on her leg. He gave a little squeeze, and Ofelia felt herself grow slippery between her legs.

"...so eventually, I guess, I'd like to go to school for Nursing. I know I don't want to be working in a laundry until I'm an old lady like Beatriz."

"Little Worker Bee." Daniel said, using the nickname Beatriz had gotten stuck with at the mill. He was nodding and smiling while moving his hand slowly, inch by inch, upwards on Ofelia's smooth thigh.

Finally Ofelia turned to him but made sure to keep her voice pleasant, "Hello!" she said, "I'm engaged?"

Daniel took his hand away and whined, "Busted. Rats."

"Sheeez." Ofelia said, with a truncated smile that accentuated her dimples, "You're a bad boy."

"Oh, I'm not all that bad." her boss said, "Can I help it that you're so beautiful? You know, Ofelia, that fiance of yours is about the luckiest guy in the world from what I can see. I hope he knows it."

"I'm lucky too." Ofelia said, "He's a very good man. I won't find anybody else like him."

They drove on and eventually Daniel pulled up outside Ofelia's apartment building. Ofelia was surprised, and she gave Daniel a jolt when she turned to him and asked, "Do you like to swim?"

Daniel opened his mouth but nothing came out at first. He shook his head, then shrugged, and stuttered, "Not rr...I mean...I guess....sure..."

"Do you want to come swimming with me? There's a pool here." Ofelia asked him. Before he answered she smiled and said, "You just have to promise you won't go under the water and spy on me or something!"

Finally Daniel said, "I don't keep swim trunks in the glove compartment, sweetie."

Ofelia said, "You can wear one of my brother's. You're about the same size, only you have a bigger stomach." She smiled and poked her boss in the belly playfully. Then she giggled, doing a ridiculously accurate impression of the Pillsbury Doughboy.

Daniel agreed, reluctantly. When they were going up the stairs to Ofelia's apartment he warned her, wagging his finger threateningly, "If you make fun of me, you're fired!"

Ofelia introduced Daniel to Dominga and Manuel, who happened to be on their way out just as Ofelia was coming through the door. Manuel never made eye-contact with this new rival for his sister's attention, but Dominga was pleasant. The first thing Ofelia did was go and find trunks for Daniel to put on. When she found them she told him he could change in the bathroom, and while he was changing she went into her bedroom to change into her swimsuit. She closed the door but didn't lock it; though she didn't actually expect Daniel to try and peek in on her.

Her heart was beating fast as she dug into her bottom drawer and took out a brand new cream-colored bikini that she had bought at a local shop. It was made of a very soft material which the salesperson couldn't identify. What she liked about it was that the color was a nice compliment to her caramel-brown complexion, but more importantly, the fabric allowed for the natural shape of her breasts while also giving them just the right amount of lift. Even while it was dry she could see the dark image of her nipples through the fabric.

Ofelia put the bikini on and turned her bedroom lamp to its highest setting and stood close to her closet mirror. The bikini bottom felt wonderfully different, sort of the way her panties had felt when she first put them on after shaving that afternoon, only much better. She adjusted the bikini a bit and smiled. It clung perfectly to the shape of her sex, even indenting down the middle in a way that was not exaggerated or vulgar. She liked the feel of the soft fabric right up against her.

She pivoted and looked at the rear-view. The bikini was full-backed but saddled a bit in the middle so that it only just barely covered the crease of her behind. She thought the bikini made her bottom look fuller. Ofelia undid her braids and tied her hair in a bouncy pony-tail with a white scrunchy. She wore two skinny hair ties as bracelets on one wrist and a gold bracelet that Leonard had given her for Christmas on the other. Before going back out she went into the bathroom that adjoined her and Manuel's room and used the toilet.

Daniel was so stunned when he saw Ofelia in her bikini he blushed. He wasn't expecting her to come out in a granny suit from yesteryear, but he didn't expect what she was wearing either. She was carrying her sandals in one hand and two towels under her arm. She giggled when she saw Daniel, half because of how he looked in Manuel's trunks and half because of the expression on his face, which was flushed.

"Oh my goodness, Ofelia. You can't go down there like that, you'll get arrested!" he said, jokingly.

"Yeah, right!" she answered, "This is California! Hello!"

Daniel just shook his head and let Ofelia lead him down to the pool. Seen virtually naked, the girl's slender body proved itself shapelier than it appeared in her street clothes. Daniel appreciated being granted the privilege of following behind Ofelia, what with the adorable and enticing view it offered; but it was her breasts that put the hitch in his breath, the roseate color on his face.

They were small but perfect. She had no cleavage: in fact her breasts were well separated from one another, even in her bikini top. They were two sublime, exquisite entities, each with an identical but separate splendor. They seemed only tenuously attached to her, restless and agitated; each like a gorgeous and rare bird bound in a silk purse.

It was beginning to get somewhat cooler, though it was still hot enough to swim. Daniel sat on the edge of the pool with his feet on the steps leading down into the water. Ofelia was not a great swimmer. In fact, she couldn't swim at all, at least not technically. She walked down into the cold water and her skin bristled with goose-flesh. Ofelia loved the sensation of the chill water around her legs and waist in contrast to the hot sun on her back and shoulders. The pool deepened gradually, and as she wandered out her hips, and then her flat belly, disappeared. When the water was just above her breasts she stopped and slowly pivoted around, bobbed, and smiled brightly back at her boss.

"Oh man, are you going to just sit there or what?"

"Oh man..." Daniel answered, imitating Ofelia, "It's like dating Bart Simpson or something!" Daniel wished he could have stuck his tongue out far enough to draw one of those words back into his mouth; but Ofelia always heard every word spoken to her; or, more correctly, she listened to every word spoken to her.