Company Policy Pt. 02

Mike grinned at her. "Yeah, I know. And Arkansas always loses. But I keep hoping they'll win every single time. I can't help it," he said.

Shelby just smiled.

"Hey, I brought back some shaved ham and turkey and fresh bread. I'm fixin' to make myself a sandwich. Want one?"

"Just ate, remember?" She said.

He nodded absently, then nearly shot off the recliner. "That ref needs his eyes checked! Did you see that?! That was a ridiculous call! My God!"

"Mmm," she said. "Hey, can I have a Bud," she asked, hoping he might slip and say 'yes' in his distracted state..

But he shot her a dark look. Addiction and therefore underage drinking was no laughing matter in his house.

She put both hands out, laughing anyway. "Sorry! Guess not!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Sunday, was not as sunny but even though there were plenty of clouds, Shelby knew to be wary. Redheads and sunshine did not go well together. Her step dad and brother tanned really well. Her friends mostly tanned nicely. Leena's tall and lean body was all kinds of tan from the pool already. Shelby, however, the redhead, did not tan. The whiteness of her body was a frequent butt of her friends' jokes. But they didn't understand what it was like to be outdoors for 10 minutes and to come back inside as red as a boiled lobster. And after the redness faded days later, her skin was just as white as before, except she'd have a new crop of brownish freckles on her elbows and knees. Besides the pain of a burn, there was skin cancer to think about. She could do without that, too. It just wasn't worth it.

She stood at the bathroom mirror smearing some waterproof sunscreen onto her face. She'd cover her body with it when she got to the pool, otherwise it would get all over the inside of her car. She was in her little black bikini and a white see-through fringed cover-up. She tied on a shell ankle bracelet that Michelle had made for everybody as part of their graduation gifts. Shelby's toes were freshly painted bright red because she'd done them last night. Hair freshly put into a ponytail, she grabbed her dark sunglasses and her floppy beach hat and her pool bag with her sunblock in it and left the bathroom. She promptly ran into her step brother in the hallway, quite literally.

"Oof," he said. "What gives? You smell like a coconut," he said. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to a funeral," she said, her eyes rolling.

He laughed. "Well. You are wearing black."

She looked down. Her bikini. Indeed she was.

He was wearing black jeans, a black shirt, and his red apron, all ready to go to the hardware store. "Can Michelle take you to the pool? I want to swing by Coffee Nation before I go in."

Shelby shrugged. "Sure."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The three girls arrived at the pool right as it opened. Leena had gotten there earlier with her coworkers and was just finishing up getting everything ready for the swimmers.

The pool was an old affair the city had built sometime probably in the 1950's. Built of concrete, it had a perpetual leak in it which meant water was always being pumped into it. It had no heating system, so that also meant it was always freezing cold. Little kids didn't mind it, but Shelby and her friends were old enough now that a splash here and a splash there was enough for them, usually. The pool had a big deck built all around it - also made of concrete - and that's where the girls spent their time - sunbathing and talking. Well, except for Leena. She was always alone in one of the lifeguard chairs watching the swimmers as were her coworkers.

Leena spied them as they arrived and she jogged over. She was wearing a conservative looking blue one piece swimsuit with a racerback, and a pair of quick-dry blue shorts - the female lifeguard uniform.

"Hey, girls!" She called. Her boyfriend Troy followed her. He wore the standard blue conservative-looking swim trunks that were the boys' lifeguard attire.

Troy threw his arm around Lena's shoulders when he caught up to her. "How's everybody?" He asked. Troy had a mop of short, curly blonde hair on the top of his head. He was headed to Indiana State University too - not because he couldn't go anyplace else, for he'd gotten a scholarship to Rose Hulman. But it was going to be too expensive for his parents to foot the rest of that college bill. He was saving them money by going to Indiana State - and he'd be there with Leena too, which was probably the real reason he wanted to go there.

"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?" Michelle said to Troy. She had her pink and purple hair in a stylish bun on the top of her head and was wearing an all black one-piece bathing suit with silver hardware on it that made her larger figure look very attractive.

Troy immediately took his arm from Leena's shoulders and went down on one knee before Michelle.

"With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls; For stony limits cannot hold love out...and blah-blah and blah and so on and so forth," he said, looking up at her with a grin.

"The best Romeo at Stationville High," Leena said with a sigh.

"Oh, don't I know it!" Michelle agreed, helping pull Troy to his feet. "Those other guys trying out? Pitiful!!"

"My aunt's garden club still talks about that play," Lexie said.

"Hey, Michelle! Fatty, you'd make two Troy's!" Said a nearby voice.

The girls turned, horrified, to see Shelby's ex-boyfriend and a couple of his friends standing there.

"What the hell, Jace?" Shelby said, glancing around. "Fuck off!"

"Ooooh, where's this nastiness coming from?" He asked, crossing his arms over his bare chest.

"You! You're disrespecting my friend."

"Yeah? Well it's not my fault that she's huge. That's on her."

Jace, or Jace the Face as her friends used to amicably call him when he couldn't hear, was very good looking. He had never been a popular guy as he was more of an outsider. But he had a brooding, dark soul that attracted girls like watermelon attracted flies. He played the guitar and wrote soulful, angsty songs that he'd play on the front steps of school during lunch from time to time. He carried his guitar in a case on his back most everywhere he went.

Shelby had been his latest and most recent spectacular breakup. He was a hot guy, for sure, with his dyed black hair and Mohawk that he sometimes wore spiked and at other times wore combed to the side.

Shelby took a long look at Jace. Sans guitar since he was at the pool, today he was in red swim trunks with a new girl - a too-skinny thing with scraggly long dark hair, wearing an orange bikini top and blue jean daisy dukes. Shelby had never seen her before. She must be from the rival high school up the highway between Stationville and Wainwright. Jace was with his ever present friend Brian and maybe also with his cousin, but Shelby couldn't even remember that guy's name. She hadn't dated Jace for very long.

Jace was the kind of guy that painted his nails black. He usually wore ripped black jeans and combat boots and sometimes red and black flannel shirts. Megadeth was his favorite band and he could scream the words to all of their songs.

But, as Shelby had learned, there was a selfishness and a darkness behind Jace's deep hazel eyes. Shelby hadn't specifically been saving herself for marriage, but she'd been waiting for the right guy to come along. Jace had spent the few weeks before they were official wooing her with notes and texts and phone calls and little gifts and dirty picture exchanges, telling her how smart and pretty she was. One night when she'd been out with him in his El Camino on a dark country road, she'd given her virginity to him. And like any jerk that had been given a precious gift, he took advantage of it.

At first they'd had sex a lot. It was a lot of quasi-innocent hand stuff at the start, which blossomed into blow jobs and some clit licking, but mostly towards the end it was just Jace humping her until he came and then that was that. He didn't seem to understand or care that girls were orgasmic beings too. Rather, it was like he thought that she seemed to be there physically for him. It hadn't really bothered her in the sense that she hadn't realized that it should have bothered her until she'd discovered how she could make herself come.

She'd been so excited to show Jace how she could rub her little clit and how she could explode - probably just the same way like he was doing inside her. But he hadn't been interested like she figured he should have been. Instead he'd been bored. "That's it?" He'd said the first time after she'd come. She'd felt the fireworks. Evidently it didn't translate.

And the second time she tried to show him, she'd opened her eyes as she rubbed herself and she'd caught him looking out the car window at something else.

He was a peculiar guy, she reasoned, but their relationship was so new and she was so inexperienced she wasn't sure what was normal and what was not. He was her first real boyfriend, after all.

He still liked to have sex with her, however. It just never involved her having orgasms.

They had gone on like that for a couple of months until one night they'd planned on going out for pizza and he'd stood her up.

She'd tried to text him but he wouldn't answer. At school the next day he ignored her completely.

Finally she'd cornered him the next day after lunch. "What's the deal?" She'd asked him.

He just shook his head and looked down at his black Chuck Taylor's. "It's just not working out," he'd finally said.

It had been a blow she'd been afraid was coming given his recent ghosting, but once it landed she couldn't help but cry. He'd left her standing on the front school steps sobbing like an idiot.

The question that niggled then at the back of her mind - and still did - was: Why? What had she done, if anything, to tank the relationship? She'd just been herself. She didn't know how else to be. Had they moved too fast? Had he grown tired of her?

Her friends had been there for her, of course, and she'd spent long hours talking to Michelle about her situation. But Michelle had had no answers either.

Her stepdad, ever attentive to her moods, had suspected something was off. She wasn't going to talk to Mike about Jace because she figured Mike would be disappointed that they'd had sex. But Mike had surprised her. He came home from work one Saturday morning and gave her a book.

"'He's Just Not That Into You'?" She'd said, reading the title.

Mike had nodded.

"This makes me even more depressed," she joked.

"No!" Mike had said. "It's a good book, so the guy at the bookstore said. It's about not wasting your time chasing after boys that aren't really into you. If he's not, drop him. He did you a favor, kid, by getting out of your life. Now you're ready to meet someone better."

Shelby had shrugged and had put the book down on the table. But when Mike had laid down to take his nap so he could get up later and do his weekend chores, she took the book into her room.

It was just the thing she'd needed, come to find out. It was uplifting and positive and indeed said that it's best to drop a guy who isn't into you because you're wasting your time with someone like that.

Eventually she'd asked her friends to stop talking about Jace because it did her no good to rehash her relationship with him. It was unexplainable. There was no 'why', and now she was just trying to move on.

And now Jace was in front of her again. It was the first time she'd even spoken to him since that day at school that he'd dropped her. Since then he'd done his best to avoid her.

"Jace, Did you need something? Or did you just want to look like an asshole in front of me and my friends?" Shelby said. "Because you're doing a great job of that so far."

Jace just sneered. "Like I care," he said.

Shelby snorted. "Well, you must care. Because if you didn't care you wouldn't be standing here talking to us," she said glancing around at her friends. "That's what not caring means. It means just going and fading away," she said.

Jace had his new girlfriend by the arm. He took a step forward so abruptly that his girlfriend wasn't expecting it and she stumbled to keep up with him. He got right into Shelby's face. "You think you're so smart," he said.

She just chuckled. "I don't care what you think about me," she said, shaking her head. "At all," she added.

Jace looked surprised, but his face quickly turned into a scowl. "I'm sure that's not true."

Shelby shook her head. "Your new girlfriend is right here. Why are you even talking to me?"

When Jace didn't answer, Troy jumped in. "Man! Just go away!"

Jace stared at them angrily for a couple seconds, probably trying to figure out how to make as face-saving an exit as possible. In the end he motioned to his friends and they all just turned and stalked off.

"So," Shelby said, taking a shaky breath after they'd all left. "Anybody want to hit the concession stand?"

"Need a stiff drink?" Michelle chuckled.

"Yeah," Shelby said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They all came back from the concession stand with various items - popcorn, Pepsi's, and candy bars. "Single Ladies" from Beyoncé started on the pool's sound system. They headed up to the pool deck and chose their spots right next to the edge of the deck. They could dangle their hands over the edge between the railings and watch the cars sporadically drive by on the street below.

"I feel like this is all ending," Michelle said, licking an ice cream cone. "Like we're never gonna see each other again. I mean, Leena's just down there watching the swimmers and I already feel like she's a million miles away."

"Hum," Lexie mused.

Shelby watched jealously as Lexie spread tanning oil on her body. "I'd be a piece of burnt toast if I used that stuff," Shelby said.

"There's always spring break," Lexie said, grinning at Shelby's comment. "For us to get together, I mean," she added.

"Yeah, I checked. I don't get one and neither will Shelby, and you and Leena have them on different weeks. It's all fucked," Michelle frowned.

"We'll figure something out," Shelby said.

"It's getting hot out. Who wants to do the high dive?" Lexie said, jumping up.

"Ooh! Count me in!" Michelle said, standing too.

But Shelby shook her head. Even from the deck one story up the high dive looked imposing. "Eh. Count me out," she said.

"What?!" Michelle said. "But you went off it last year!"

Shelby had to be convinced to go off the high dive every year because she grew scared of it again over each winter. She shrugged. "Yeah, but that was last year."

Michelle tsked at Shelby. "Come on," she said, standing up. "We'll be your support." And she stuck her hand out for Shelby to take it so she could help pull her up from where she was still sitting on her towel.

Shelby rolled her eyes. "Um..." and she sighed. "Okay. I guess I'll try to go off it."

"Yes!" Michelle said.

They made their way down from the pool deck and walked over to the deep end of the pool.

Lexie and Leena were by far the best swimmers of the group. Lexie could dive like a professional. Shelby shielded her eyes from the sun as she watched Lexie's body make a perfect arch from the diving board down into the water. It looked gorgeous from the high dive.

Michelle was up next, and she only liked to do cannonballs. "I live in the armpit of America!" She yelled as she ran off the diving board and spun nearly a complete circle while grabbing one knee. She made an epic splash.

Next was Shelby's turn. She climbed the ladder so slowly and deliberately the kids behind her in line even started to complain.

But her friends started chanting her name from where they now stood on the side of the deep end.

"I hate all of you!" Shelby yelled from the high dive, her knees quite literally shaking. "You guys suck!" But she inched forward to the very edge, took a breath, and stepped off the high dive anyway, going in feet first and holding her nose.

The shock of the cold water was immediate. She almost gasped while still under water. She floated weightless for a second and then she kicked hard. When she surfaced, her teeth were chattering. "The w-water is f-freezing!" She stuttered.

"Yeah. Come on, get out," Michelle said. Shelby took her hand and she helped Shelby out of the pool.

"You did it!" Leena shouted from where she was lifeguarding on the other side of the pool.

"Yeah. Now I won't have to do it again until next year!" Shelby said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night they all gathered at Leena's house for their sleepover. It was fun, but it was bittersweet. When would they be able to do it again? Michelle would be busy with beauty school. Lexie babysat usually every Saturday night. Leena and Shelby would be working until Leena went off to school. Michelle and Shelby would be the only ones of the four left in town once it became fall.

Yes, things would change from here on out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

They woke up late Monday morning. They'd watched various Star Wars movies until well into the night. Shelby had to hurry home and grab something to eat because it would be time for her interview before she knew it. She didn't want to be rushed, or worse, late.

She quickly showered and dressed in the nicest outfit she owned - her graduation dress. It was a plain, sleeveless black shift dress that went halfway down her thighs just past her fingertips when she stood with her arms dangling. She loved it because it fit her good and it nicely hugged her curves.

She ran her hands over her breasts, smoothing down the black material. She stared at herself in the mirror, studying her face. Maybe something extra? She put on some makeup to hide her facial freckles and some mascara to make her eyelashes visible. She always let her shoulder length, wavy, strawberry blonde hair air dry, but today she turned on the hair dryer so it wouldn't look so wet like she'd just gotten out of the shower.

She put on a wide silver belt to break up the monotony of the black dress, and slipped on her black slingback dress shoes. Then she paused. Pantyhose or not? If she wanted to be professional, she probably should wear them. She found a pair and tugged them on.

Back in her shoes, she grabbed her purse and keys and phone that were on the table. Better to be early than late, right?

Her phone beeped as she picked it up.

"Good luck at your job interview!" Michelle had texted.

Shelby grinned as she entered the living room. Jamie was there sitting in Mike's recliner that was by the door. He yawned widely. "Ready?"

"Late night too?" She said, echoing his yawn.

Jamie nodded. "Yeah."

They talked as Jamie drove. "You clean up good," he said to her.

She grinned. "Thanks."

It only took a few minutes to arrive at the Addington building. That was the benefit of living in a small town. Everything was about five to seven minutes away from everything else.

"I'll wait until you get in," he said.

Shelby's heels clicked on the concrete as she approached the door. It too was darkened like the rest of the first floor windows. A little box to the right had a sign above it that said "Addington Investments. Ring for Service."

"Can I help you?" A tinny male voice said from the speaker.

"Yes. Shelby Jacobson. I have an interview with..." she dug for the card in her purse... "Nancy Addington."

Shelby heard a click that was the door unlocking. She stepped through the set of double doors into a small, white, but opulent lobby with a security guard desk stationed right next to the door.

"Please have a seat," the security guard said. He motioned to the empty white chairs that ringed the room.

Shelby did, and the security guard made a phone call. Shelby stared down at her feet. A white rug with different colors and sizes of intersecting circles on it was in the middle of the room. It was plush and she could feel her shoes sink into it as she had walked over it.