Family Business

I was in good spirits driving home with my buddies that Sunday. It felt like there was definitely something happening between me and Brittany.

During the week I heard from Brittany and she told me where the all campus party was for the coming weekend. I told her I'd meet her there. There was no discussion of motels, sex, privacy, or any of the subjects left unfulfilled from last weekend. But I knew, this coming weekend, I wanted to get Brittany alone.

I was upbeat and in an uncharacteristically outgoing mood on the drive to Eugene. That night myself and my two buddies headed over to the all campus party. This week it was at one of the bigger fraternities.

It was jammed with people but last week Brittany was able to find me, and I wandered casually around the huge house comfortable in that knowledge. The fraternity house had a huge main floor where most of the party was happening. It also had a sprawling yard that was also packed with people. There was a basement as well as a large broad staircase heading up to the second floor.

Beer in hand I slowly made my way through the party, eyes peeled for that blond hair. I guess I may have been there for a half hour and still no sign of Brittany. I noticed a group of girls including a couple of her friends I had been introduced to.

I casually approached their cluster.

"Hey Erin," I addressed a petite redhead, "have you seen Brittany around?"

"Brittany Robinson?" She asked.

I nodded with a smile.

"Um, yeah," she said. "I know she's here. A big group of us all walked over from the sorority together. I haven't seen her lately." She added, and then she quickly glanced back towards the frat house.

"Got it, thanks." I told her, and walked off.

I decided to text her. 'Hey where R U'. I sent it to her.

I continued to cruise the party, curious why I hadn't seen Brittany. I had been through the main floor twice and had surveyed the outdoor area, I thought I'd check outside again. I noticed my two buddies in a group with some girls outside.

I began looking at the large cedar deck in the backyard of the frat house. I saw that it was more than twenty four inch on center and the weathered cedar boards were flexing with all the weight of the partygoers. As I was standing there analyzing the poor workmanship on the deck, Cody, one of the guys I drove over with, grabbed me.

"Hey I saw that chick you've been hanging out with, the blond with the big tits," he described her.

I nodded, as if to say, 'go on'.

"She was hanging out with that guy we played football against from Redmond, plays college ball here now, Sims I think his name is." He told me.

"Mims," I said under my breath, "where'd you see them?" I asked.

"In the frat," he hooked his thumb back over his shoulder toward the house, "It looked like they were heading up to the second floor." Cody told me.

"Okay, thanks Cody," I told him, trying hard to act completely nonchalant. I walked inside, a trickle of emotion ran down my spine. I think it was a combination of jealousy and anger. I headed up the stairs.

A long hallway headed off to the left. Most of the rooms down the hallway had their doors opened and people were having little room parties in the individual dorms. Perfectly innocent. There were a couple of rooms with doors completely shut.

I wandered down the hallway nodding and greeting the people I knew. So far no sign of Brittany. I was nearly at the end of the hallway and noticed a door slightly ajar and I glanced in. There were a few people in the room and I saw a couch. And there with her blond hair and pronounced breasts sat Brittany locked in a passionate kiss with Donovan Mims.

I pushed the door open part way and stepped just inside the threshold.

"There you are Brittany," I said calmly, not a hint of the anger I was feeling. "I tried to text you, maybe your phone was off or perhaps, you were busy." I stated, making eye contact with Mims as I made the statement.

And with that, I pivoted and left.

I considered leaving, as pissed off as I was at the time, but then I thought, fuck her. I'm going to enjoy the party and maybe get a little drunk. I decided that I was not about to run off with my tail between my legs.

I forced myself into an outgoing, happy-go-lucky partyer. Knowing that below the surface my anger simmered. Mad at Mims, certainly mad at Brittany, but most of all mad at myself. I had put too much emotion into a few casual encounters.

The rest of the party was uneventful. I noticed Brittany looking my way a couple of times. I ignored her, and actually ended up having a fairly good time. Much later, as my buddies and I were leaving, we passed within a few feet of Brittany and a group of her sorority friends.

"Timothy?" She called my way with a questioning lilt.

Without turning to face her or speaking I raised my right arm and wagged my hand back and forth 'see ya'.

That was the last I interacted with Brittany for quite some time. I still went to the parties in Eugene occasionally, but less frequently. A few times I noticed her at a party or an event. Most of the time Mims was with her or close by. It seemed like maybe they were together as a couple.

Life went on and any thoughts of Brittany or an interrupted relationship nearly died. Deep down a flicker of a flame still burned for her but I did my best to ignore it.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

SIX YEARS LATER

My crew had just shown up on a large outdoor living jobsite in Redmond. It was me, Albert and Yimi, Albert's nephew. We had to take out an old cedar deck, clear some overgrown landscape, level the ground, and then put in a combination of hardscape and ground level decking and add a patio cover. This was a fifty four thousand dollar job. Surprisingly this was considered an average job for the family business, Designed Outdoor Spaces.

DOS had grown over the last few years. No false modesty, I think I had a lot to do with it. I made it through one year of community college, but classroom learning was not for me. I loved our family business. One of the skills I had was to fairly quickly look at a job site and start organizing it into smaller tasks leading to the objective.

I do believe my challenges in reading translated to superior organizational skills and a near photographic memory. Where I was not the skilled craftsman as Roman or my dad I had other strengths. Occasionally I would even get a slightly positive compliment from grouchy Roman.

If we had a true corporate set up, my mom would be the CEO. She took care of the scheduling, the finances and the marketing. My dad or I would visit customers, make the sales call, and create the bids. This was my least favorite activity. My mom would organize the material and personnel after the job was sold.

We had three crews; me and normally Albert were one. My dad specialized in landscaping and he had his crew. And finally Roman who was our lead carpenter. Roman more than made up for his sour moods with his craftsmanship. Occasionally we would work together but it was more efficient and profitable if we had all three crews working independently.

The business sat on a valuable piece of land within the urban growth boundaries. My dad's dad had originally bought the land for a few thousand dollars. There was some kind of family trust on the land designed to keep it in the family. The office and shop were in the front near the main road. There was a small, run down, currently, unoccupied house near the shop. My parents had lived there when they were first married.

The larger house, where I grew up and my parents lived, was up the hill. It had never quite gotten finished and I was often recruited to help install trim, hang a door, or paint something. I had done a lot of work on this house over the years.

When I was going to community college I bought my own house near downtown and the college. It was small,and needed a lot of work, but the price was right at the time. Over the past few years it has increased significantly in value. Another reason I bought it was to get out of my family's shadow. Particularly my mom. I needed separation.

I worked with them all day long. My mom was always mentioning something positive that Taylor had accomplished. And perhaps it was my own imagination but my mother always seemed slightly disappointed in me. This all flew well over the head of my laid back dad. I was glad I had my own house to go back to at the end of the day.

That morning while Albert, Yimi and I had just about demolished the old wood deck at the job site we were on in Redmond my mom called.

"Tim, can you run over and give a bid on a project in Pinecone Springs?" She asked.

"Mom," I asked, "now?"

I was filthy and we were just about done with the tear out.

"The people, the Eldridge's, are leaving for California this afternoon." She replied. "It's a big job and they would like to be there to explain their ideas on what they want." She added.

"Where's dad?" I asked. "Can't he do it?"

"No, they're all down in Sunridge." She told me.

Shit, I thought. I did not like this part of the job. Off I went to the address she sent me to in Pinecone Springs. I was to meet Carlton Eldridge there. Probably some kind of wealthy asshole.

Two and a half hours later I was back at the job in Redmond. As it turned out Eldridge was a pretty good guy. He was an attorney and lived primarily in The Silicon Valley. Obviously he had money. He seemed friendly and we talked a bit. I'd made notes, measured and told him we would e-mail him his bid.

When I saw Yimi and Albert, I could tell something was up. Yimi was smiling and laughing and Albert kept scowling at him. Fortunately they looked like they had accomplished some things.

"What's going on?" I asked Albert, Yimi was still grinning.

Albert just glanced at Yimi, shook his head, "estupido!" He said and nodded toward Yimi.

"Boss," began Yimi in a loud whisper, "you gotta see next door." He pointed toward the fence on the south side.

"There's a blond chica," he told me, "with big tabucco's in a bikini."

I glanced toward the fence. Immediately I could imagine what probably happened. Yimi was likely up on a ladder tearing down the old overhead structure. He would have a great view into the neighbors yard. There was someone probably out sitting in the sun. All perfectly harmless unless it's the neighbors fifteen year old daughter. Then we look like perverts. This would not be good for the company.

"Why don't you guys break for lunch?" I told them.

I decided to see if I needed to do damage control with the neighbor. Who knows what they may have seen or heard from Yimi.

I rang the doorbell of the neighbor's house. I waited, nothing. I tried again. I was just about to turn around to leave when there was movement at the door. I took a step down off their front porch. A blond woman in large dark sunglasses and a coverup answered the door.

"Hello, ma'am," I began. "I'm with DOS, and we are going to be doing some work on your neighbors house next door and I wanted to make sure we were in no way disturbing you." I went on.

She was quiet for a moment, seeming to study me.

"Timothy?" She asked. And I thought I recognized the voice.

"Yes?" I hesitated.

She took off her sunglasses and I thought I recognized her.

"Brittany Robinson," I said with what must have been a surprised expression on my face. "Wow, it's been a while. Is this your house?"

"Yes, well, I'm house sitting but this is where I live," she said. "But it's now Brittany Mims, at least for about another month." She told me.

I stood there for a minute, kind of stunned at this coincidence. I hadn't seen Brittany for years and I didn't even know she lived in Central Oregon. I assumed she was married to Donovan, but the 'at least for another month' part had me curious.

We chatted for a few minutes, catching up. I went on to say we'd be on this job for a few weeks and reiterated that we would try not to disturb her in any way.

"Tim," she said, "don't worry, you won't disturb me." And she gave me a big smile.

Huh, that was an interesting comment. All throughout the day I couldn't get my mind off Brittany. I wondered about her marital situation. I also wondered what she looked like under the coverup. According to Yimi, she looked pretty good.

We continued to work on Brittany's neighbors project. I saw her once driving a black Outback and waved to her. Other than that, no sight of Brittany all week.

Friday afternoons I often cut the guys off a couple of hours early, but paid them. That happened this Friday. I was in the backyard, surveying our progress and making mental notes on the plan for the following week.

Deep in concentrated thought, I was interrupted.

"Hey Tim," from over the fence, it was Brittany. "It's almost five o'clock, how about a beer?" She asked.

I hesitated. My initial impulse was to decline, but I thought for a moment. There was still that flicker of interest for her, and what happened in college was a long time ago.

While I was doing these mental calculations she called back to me.

"Tim, it's just a beer. I promise I won't bite!" She said with a laugh.

"Sure." I agreed.

She let me in through a side gate. She was dressed casually in shorts and a tee shirt. No bikinis like Yimi had seen, but still those breasts in that tight tee shirt still looked good.

We sat at a patio table on her back deck. Next to the deck was a lounge chair. Brittany went in through a set of French doors to get the beers. I observed the house and yard. It was nice, I knew she was house sitting. Whoever owned it must be doing okay I thought.

"Tim, I've got to say you look really good!" She told me.

No false modesty, I think I actually did look pretty good. I was lean and muscled from work and I also belonged to a gym and kept in shape there too. I knew I was tanned and my sandy hair lightened in the sun. I felt good too.

"Thanks Brittany," I said, as I looked at her, "you've always looked good, and I think you've improved with age." I added.

She smiled at this statement.

"I still need to lose some weight." She said and looked down at her body.

My eyes followed the same path down her shapely body. I think she caught me staring.

"Some things never change!" She laughed and said to me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You always liked looking at my boobs." She laughed. "And I just caught you again." She smiled and looked me right in the eyes.

I was embarrassed, "sorry," I told her.

"It's okay." She said still with a smile. "It's flattering. That I can still attract a man's attention with these." And with that she hoisted her tits in each hand and gave them a bit of a bounce.

I couldn't help but stare again. I was starting to get turned on. I could feel the beginning of an erection.

"Sorry, I'm just messing with you," she said, but I did note her quick glance at my slightly engorged groin.

Things settled down after that. We had a normal conversation and caught up on our histories since the early college years. I told her about our family business, Designed Outdoor Spaces, and my role. She told me she was an independent web designer and she asked who did our website.

It was a pleasant and comfortable 'adult' type conversation with a mixture of personal and actually some business. I told her our website wasn't updated and we needed some help. She seemed to mentally note this.

Finally she talked a little bit about Donovan and her marriage.

"Donavan and I were married in our last year of college." She told me. "He and I dated off and on through school. When I met you we were off. I really liked you in college and Donovan saw that and really worked to get back with me. I never really explained that to you, or apologized. I felt bad," she told me.

"That was a long time ago," I said to her, never once admitting how it had stung at the time.

"We moved to Redmond, near his family. He's a mortgage broker and is successful. There was some infidelity and we decided to divorce. Nothing terribly bitter. I guess we probably married too young. Not all the wild oats had been sowed." She explained, glancing off into the distance.

"We're still friendly, if not quite friends." She said.

The beers were empty and the conversation, as pleasant as it was, was winding down. I got to my feet and thanked Brittany for the beer. There was a moment of slight awkwardness. I was feeling close to Brittany, unnaturally close, after not having seen her for a few years.

"Maybe I'll see you next week," I declared.

"Sure, when?" She asked.

I was again, a little confused.

"Um, I guess I just meant," I began, " that I'll be next door working through next week." I explained.

"Oh." She said, "Of course, next door."

For a moment she was slightly confused and maybe a bit disappointed, misinterpreting my statement. And with that she gave me a warm, brief, tight hug.

And then I left.

Driving home my thoughts were swirling. This was the girl that kind of dumped me, abruptly in college. There were many nights I cursed her. Yet she turned me on. I still had the remainder of an erection on the drive home. And there was another thing. I liked her. I remembered that similar feeling from college. I know I wasn't the most outgoing of people, but it was easy to talk to Brittany and there was a comfortableness to our conversations.

I was going to have to think about all this.

The following week my crew and I continued to work at the house next door to Brittany's. Part of me kept hoping to run into her, but another part of me was saying slow down. Thursday night after we had packed up for the day I found a note on my windshield.

'How about a drink and dinner tomorrow night? My place, 5:30? B'.

I thought about the invitation all evening long. I wasn't sure I wanted to get involved with Brittany. On the other hand, I knew I really liked being with her, and I liked the way she looked. I kept going back and forth.

Friday by noon I still had not replied to Brittany. It was a hot day, I was dirty and sweaty from all the work. Yimi and Albert were on their lunch break and I was studying the plans.

"Knock, knock," It was Brittany coming through the gate.

"I wanted to make sure you got my note." She said, "I hadn't heard back from you." She questioned, looking at me with a half smile.

I looked at Brittany. She was in white shorts, and the tightest shirt I had ever seen and it was nearly transparent. The large round globes of her breasts were on display, minimally sheathed in the tight shirt.

"Uh, um," I stuttered. "Sure, uh, when?" I stupidly asked.

"I told you 5:30!" She said with mock exasperation. "See you then." She stated, turned and walked back through the gate.

Well that settled that. I began to wonder if she wore the tight shirt on purpose. Probably I thought. Oh well, it's just a drink and dinner.

It had been a hot day and I was dirty. I kept a pair of clean gym shorts, a spare tee shirt and some flip flops in the truck. At 5:30 I rang Brittany's door carrying my clean clothes.

"Out back," she called from the backyard.

She was sitting at the table still dressed in the tight outfit she was wearing during the day.

"Sorry, I'm a little dirty," I said. "I've got a casual change of clothes. I didn't have the time to drive home and back." I told her.

"You look fine," she told me with a smile. "if you want you can take a quick shower," she offered.

Actually a shower would be great, I told her, and she showed me where the guest bathroom was.

Kind of weird to think after all these years I was now nude in Brittany's house, it was kind of exciting too.

As I was washing up in the steamy shower I felt a slight atmospheric change in the bathroom and a whisk of cooler air. Just then the heavy glass shower door rolled open, more cool air, and in stepped Brittany, nude.