Black New World Ch. 02 - Day 78

Chapter 2: Day 78 -- in which Jules learns about ergonomic positions

It's been a week since I moved in. I and Ashley are the only white guys in the dormitory which at the moment only hold 7 of out of the 12 possible attendants. The other attendants are Denzel, Kadeem, Mashawn, and of course, Jadyn and Khalon. I'm not that surprised anymore about suddenly being the minority at many places. For some reason the S4B7-flu hit the white population way harder than the black. Some expects theorize that the white population have a low natural resistant.

Still a bit awkward about my accident when I moved in, I haven't socialized much with the other guys. Sadly, Ashley has been occupied, and she hasn't shown the interest in me as I were hoping for.

Today I'm supposed to clean the common kitchen. Apparently, each room has to clean certain areas in certain weeks. The common kitchen is located in the middle of the hallway, and it is build like a big open space next the hallway. It consists of all the usual kitchen stuff but next to it, as an extension, there is a sofa group around a table and a TV.

Luckily, it's empty. In the hallway in front of the kitchen, I find the vacuum cleaner in a big closet, full of utilities. I begin to vaccum clean the floor, but after a short while, I hear a loud voice trying to drown out the noise from the machine.

"Hey, don't start without me." It's Khalon. "It's room 6 and 9 this week," he yells. I stop the machine. It's with mixed feelings I see him standing next to the kitchen table. On one hand I'm still shy about what happened, but on the other hand I feel a bit excited to see him not knowing why.

"How is your back feeling?" He asks.

"Way better," I reply. The first two days, the pain had been so bad that I almost couldn't walk.

"If you keep vacuum cleaning then I'll start with the kitchen," he suggests.

"Sure." I turn on the machine and swipes the brush between the TV-table and the sofas. Suddenly, I feel his presents near me and his eyes on me. I turn around. He is smiling at me nearby.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a occupational injury," he smiles. "I cannot stop looking at postures. And since I know that you still must have a lot of back pain - your position is very bad for your lower back. Do you mind if I show you something," he asks.

"No," I reply and wonder what he means. He then puts his left hand above mine on the metallic tube and softly guides it up the shaft. I can smell his fragrance as he moves next me. The leathery, citrus smell triggers a shiver in my body.

"Put your hand here on the handle," he grabs my other hand and moves it further up. "You are bending your back too much the other way around." He then slides his right hands down my spine to my butt. I release some tension in my shoulders and automatically straighten my back.

"Way better," he reassures.

"Use your arm and leg muscles. Not this part," he taps my lower back. My body automatically responds by curving my lower back inwards so my butt points outwards.

"Alright," I say and swallow a lump in my throat. Too baffled by his proximity to say anything else.

"You probably think I'm stupid after correcting you like this," he laughs after seeing my baffled face.

"No. No, not all," I reply a little too quickly. "I have had a lot of back pain lately, also before the accident."

His face lightens up. "Well, your back posture might explain why." His hand still resting at my lower back.

"Thanks for the help, Khalon," I reply thankfully.

"Well, go on then," he pushes my lower back a little, still watching me. I bend over, still trying to keep my back straight, and turn on the vacuum cleaner again. I then continue to move the brush around while I focus on Khalon's instructions. For some reason, I feel a desire to please him by showing that I have adapted to his advice. He smiles and give me a thumbs up as I look back at him for approval. A warm, exciting feeling rushes through me.

Some minutes late, as we are almost done, I agree to clean the oven while he cleans the refrigerator. I prepare a cleaning sponge and soap to clean some burnt food at the bottom of the oven. I bent over to reach the inside of the oven and start to scrub. All of a sudden, I feel his hand on my back again.

"Jules, keep you back straight," he slowly pushes his hand downward on my curved back. My back follows his motions so my body posture turns into a L-shape with a 90 degrees angle at my hips. I feel a bit awkward standing like this with my ass pointing in the air. I suddenly become overly aware of how my ass must look. Lately, after the S4B7-flu, I have gained a lot of weight around my thighs and ass, while I have lost weigh and muscle-mass everywhere else. Resulting in all of my pants being too tight in that area. My body-shyness overwhelms me but for some reason I just reply: "Sorry. I already forgot your advice." I don't what else to say, so I try to keep it cool and continue to scrub the oven.

"Don't be. It takes time to adjust. Remember to use your muscles," he grabs the front of my thigh and squeeze it a bit.

"And don't forget the big glutes," he laughs and softly slaps my butt. A strange feeling ignites in my stomach instantaneously and surges through my body. My knees feel weak and shaky.

"What the... Did he really just spank me," I think as my mind spins while I try to figure out a way to act. But my mind is blank. My butt burns and tingles, even though the slap was very light. I turn my head towards him. The rest of my body is still frozen. He now sits on the kitchen table with a beer and smiles at me. I feel shy as I meet his gaze and quickly turn my attention to the oven.

"Is he really just sitting there and watching me?!" I think as I scrub with all of my strength so all of my body shakes from side to side.

Finally, the burnt strain dissolves and I get up.

"It's hard work, huh?" he says in a daring tone. I'm all sweaty and my face feel hot and red from being down too long. A bit embarrassed about being this worked out after 20 minutes of cleaning, I reply: "Yes. I have been a bit out of shape since I had the flu." His face turns serious.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Of course you have had the flu," he says. Ever since the S4B7-pandemic, talking about the virus has become of bit of a taboo. Probably because of the sheer amount of people affected by the pandemic, and the fact that every family has many death-counts. At least the white ones.

"Hey Jules, why don't you come to my place tomorrow and join me for my daily workout routine. I'll show some great exercises that will get you back in shape in no time. They will be good for your back pain too," he asks with at bright voice as if he just came up with the best idea ever.

"Sure," I reply right away, not really thinking about if I actually want to. But for some reason I don't want to let him down.

"Thanks Khalon," I say with conflicted feelings. But his smile calms my bewildered mind down a bit.

"Great. See you then. Let's say at 10," he says and smiles.