A Study in Fragrance Pt. 08

He started laughing. "What? Did I ever let you think this was run-of-the-mill?" He could see she was taking it personally. "Sorry...but no. This is definitely not something I've ever done before."

She nodded, waiting for him to keep going on the work.

"Let me show you how the staining works and I'll leave you to it."

And 15 minutes later she was brushing stain on the boards, thankful she'd not put any clothes on; she'd def had ruined them. He wasn't in the room with her, most of the time, and when he was, his back was to her, working on the closet door hardware. He'd made sure she had the fan blowing directly on the work to blow the volatiles from the stain out of the room. For some reason though, she could still smell the fragrance.

Her hands and arms were covered in no time, and she didn't know how she'd gotten it everywhere, but by the time she'd finished, her skin had changed color. She giggled when he made fun of her. That teasing didn't bother her. It was kind of funny.

"Cos?" She turned to watch him through the closet opening, priming the plywood in her closet. "What if it is in the floor? Is there any way to seal it in or something?"

He looked at her and paused, captivated again by her breasts, her long legs, starting from her bush ending in her boots. "Probably. We could sand the top surface and put in a sealer. It's a bit of a pain, but not that much work."

"Is there something we could put down temporarily to see if it's coming from the floor?"

He pursed his lips. "Sure. We could tape down some visqueen and see if the smell goes away. That would be a lot cheaper."

"Tell me what to buy when I pick up the molding tomorrow."

He nodded. "I...uhhh...I'm just finishing up here. You close?"

She nodded, it didn't feel like 7:30, but the time had flown by. "Yeah. Pretty much. I'm going to get this cleaned up."

"Be right down after you."

They sat out on the back porch, the evening cooling off. She threw her boots off and rested her elbows back on the table, drinking water and feeling the night air. "Cos," she looked over at him, inhaling his sweat, the room's perfume a faint memory. "I...I," she suddenly felt embarrassed, the memory of how he'd humiliated her echoing back. The tendril suddenly jumped out of her core. "Earlier. When I..." She looked down and then back at his face. "When I...begged you..." She couldn't finish the sentence; she wasn't even sure what she was thinking. The tendril's tip lightened to a bright green.

He looked at her and smiled, oblivious to her self-consciousness. "That was so fucking amazing. I...you are amazing."

As much as she loved hearing him say that shit, it wasn't why she was bringing it up. "You like it when I call my vagina a pussy...? Or when I call myself a pussy?" She could say it now, in this conversation. It was just a name. But then, then it was something more powerful. She could feel the waves rippling in her gut just thinking about what she'd done.

He raised his eyebrows. "Fuck. It's not me. It's the priests."

He wouldn't budge an inch. She scowled, frustrated. "I got so worked up doing it. I...when you asked me to do it..." She'd lost track of her point. "...it was fucking amazing."

He stared at her, waiting.

"But I hate those words! I hate that you make me say those words..." But she knew saying them lit her up. "Why do I get so turned on when you make me say them?"

He grunted, shaking his head. "People are weird, Emily. We say we want it one way and then we do the complete opposite." He shrugged. "I dunno shit about this. All I know is what you said you needed, what you wanted in your fantasy. I just went with it." His face clouded for a moment. "But maybe this is wrong. Maybe you should be doing this with somebody you love, with somebody you care about. Maybe doing all these things as a summer thing...maybe it's wrong."

"What the fuck are you talking about, Cos? You think there's some kind of romance in being a virgin?" She laughed and made sure he saw she was serious. "Cos, the experience you've given me, the shit we've done, just in a week. It's worth way more to me than the cost of the work would have been. You're bringing me to school, Cos. What are the chances I'd get that from one of the puppies this summer?"

He hadn't expected that. "No way. That just can't be true..." Were all rich people like this? What a weird point of view. He shook his head. If she's for real, she's unreal. But what will she think a year from now?

She leaned over and wrapped her arms around him, inhaling his smell, feeling his stubble against her cheek. Maybe he's right. I should just let it all go. She moved her lips against his and kissed him softly, wanting some tenderness after all of the self-loathing. This feels good too! Why can't we just do this? But she knew as much as she liked it, that it didn't come close to how she felt when he pushed her. It had been a fucking long day. She looked at him and smiled weakly. "Time to go, Cos. I gotta chill."

Steph?

Wassup?

You busy tomorrow?

After lunch. Why?

I have a mystery and I need a scientist.

(˃̣̣̥▼˂̣̣̥๑)

Srsly. You're the one I need.

Sure? When?

10?

K. CU.