In a Class of His Own Ch. 09

Sarah gave me a hug, too, and a kiss on the cheek. She was wearing cutoff jeans and a halter top. Now, it did promise to be a warm day, but that outfit was a little bit distracting. For a relatively short girl, Sarah was stacked.

Steve got the keys, and we were in there sanding and priming before 10 a.m.. I had painted houses to make money for tuition (and beer) in my university years, so the others deferred to my 'expertise' - such as it was.

I suggested that the girls work on the trim and the windows, while I cut and Steve rolled, but Sarah vetoed that.

- "I can roll better than Steve. Let the lovebirds work together, and I'll help you." she said.

She had a point: her brother was already covered in paint, and we were just getting started.

Sarah and I worked well together. She was quick, but careful - 'hurrying slowly', as my first crew chief would have described it. I was on a ladder, cutting the edge of the wall, so I didn't have to look at her too often - which was a good thing, because for some reason I was struck by the similarity between Sarah's body - and Nina's.

Sarah was much shorter - 5'3" or so. But they were shaped similarly. Solid, hippy, hourglass figures, with prominent chests. Sarah's hair was darker - black. Nina looked more exotic, to the point that she was often asked if she was Asian.

Steve had brought a tape player, and was blasting tunes while we worked. Roundabout came on, which immediately took me back to Nina's place. There were quite a few Stones' songs in his mix; many of them made me think of Moe.

But Steve was a big Peter Gabriel fan. Sure enough, he had Solsbury Hill on there. I have no idea why, but I started to feel tears forming. I wiped my eyes with the back of my arm. All that did was smear paint across my forehead.

- "You alright?" asked Sarah.

- "Yeah - fine. It' just ... warm in here." I said - which made no sense at all.

- "Getting sweat in your eyes?" she asked.

- "No - I'm fine." But Sarah came over to take a closer look.

- "Your eyes are all red." she said. "You sure you're OK?"

- "Yeah - just that song ... brings back memories."

- "Ah." she said. God Bless her - she left it at that.

We made good progress despite me. She did a great job of keeping up with me. We finished the living room, and the kitchen, and then moved into the bedroom.

Steve put in a new tape, with more of a New Wave mix. When the Talking Heads came on, Sarah started swaying her hips, dancing and singing along to 'Once in a Lifetime'. I have to admit, she looked pretty good.

I was having weird thoughts, with her brother right there, in the next room. Luckily, Steve's attention was all on his girlfriend. Kim was actually painting.

When Sarah and I finished the walls, we started helping them with the trim.

With four of us working, the job went quickly. It was latex paint, so the cleanup only required water. Steve ordered pizza, and cracked open a few beers.

- "Here's to the hired help." he toasted.

Everybody was tired, at the end of the day. We would also be moving Steve in a couple of days, so there was no point in going out, or staying up. I dropped Sarah off at home.

The next day, I got into a stupid argument with my parents. It started with Mom complaining about me sleeping in her guest room with paint on me. She felt that I should have showered before going to bed.

Dad jumped in, claiming that I was being disrespectful.

- "Disagreeing isn't the same as disrespect." I said. Moments later, we were all reprising the roles we had perfected since I became a teenager. Unfortunately, being around my parents always made me feel about sixteen years old. I said some things I shouldn't have, and it just escalated from there.

Dad informed me that I was no longer welcome in their home.

- "As if I ever was." I said.

Yeah, I got the last word, for once. But now I had nowhere to stay. Steve's apartment was freshly painted, and completely empty. Now I regretted not keeping in touch with some of my old friends. It wouldn't do to call them up and say 'Hey - long time no see - can I stay with you for a week?'

I sat in the local donut shop, sipping a coffee, and considering my options. My parents had kicked me out twice, back when I was a teenager. Both times, I had found shelter, and support, with Steve. It would be a bad time to dump this on him, but I couldn't see any other options.

Back in those days, I couldn't pull out my cellphone, or smartphone, and cycle through my list of contacts. My little black book was back in Pinecrest, so even if I wanted to make a phone call, it would have to be a number that I knew by heart.

In the end, I drove to Steve's parents' place, hoping that he would be there. If he wasn't, his folks would know where I could find him.

Sarah opened the door.

- "Hey Chris. What's up?"

- "Hey Sarah - is Steve here?"

- "He is. How did you know? Come in." She called her brother.

Steve had a sandwich in his face. "Hey - what are you doing here?"

- "Uh - I'm ... persona non grata at my parents' place." I said.

- "What happened?"

- "It was stupid, and infantile. My fault, this time." I was all too aware that Sarah was standing in the hallway. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it at all. Forget it."

- "What do you mean, forget it?" said Steve. "They kicked you out?"

- "Yeah."

- "Crap." said Steve. He knew that I was temporarily homeless, but he couldn't help me out, with his apartment freshly painted.

- "Where are you going to stay?" asked Sarah.

- "I'll get something." I said.

- "What do you mean? No, no - you can stay here." Sarah still lived with her parents. "You can have Steve's old room."

- "I don't know." I said.

- "Of course you do." said Sarah. To my horror, she turned her head, and called: "Mom!"

Steve's parents were both great, but his Mom should have been declared a saint. She heard the basic outline of my predicament, and immediately solved it.

- "You are more than welcome to stay with us." said Steve's mother. "In fact, I'll be very upset if I hear that you're staying anywhere else."

- "Thanks, Mrs H., but I don't want to be a burden."

- "Don't be silly." she said. "It would be our pleasure."

That was that. Sarah shrugged, and lifted her hands, as if to say 'What did you expect?'

***

I had nothing urgent on my social calendar, so I cut the grass for Steve's parents, as a thank you. I also made a few phone calls, and that evening I got together with Ellen and Glen and a few other old friends. Glen looked a bit older, but he hadn't changed. Ellen filled me in about her sister.

- "Married, promoted, serious - completely boring now." she said.

- "Say hello for me, when you see her." I said.

- "You should call her." said Ellen.

- Mmm ... I don't know if that's such a good idea." I said.

Glen slapped me on the back. "Shooters! Who's with me?"

It was that kind of evening.

On the 4th, we loaded Steve's furniture - such as it was - onto a cube van, and moved it to his new apartment. Kim and Sarah were there to help, of course. Steve and I handled the big items, while the girls took care of dozens of boxes.

One massive item surprised me.

-"What the hell?" I said, as we struggled to get it into the elevator. "Since when do you need a king-sized bed?"

- "Hey - do I bug you about your sex life?"

- "Yes - all the time."

- "OK, so I do. Shut up and lift your end." he said.

Steve also had hundreds of records. Tape players, he claimed, were just a fad, soon to go the way of the dodo - along with 8-tracks. But he had tapes playing - and for some reason, today's choice was Frampton Comes Alive.

- "Ooh, Baby, I love your way." he sang - off-key - as we got the huge box-spring into his bedroom.

It got worse when I carried a box of albums in, just as Sarah was coming out. She was singing 'All I want to be is by your side'. She saw me, and blushed. I blushed worse.

I'm not a complete idiot. Well, sometimes - maybe. I knew years ago that Steve's little sister had a crush on me. Sarah was cute, chubby, and six years younger than us. It would have been easy to ignore her, but I felt for her. I paid extra attention to her, as she grew up.

No, I was not trolling. She was thirteen or so when I started dating Carol. It didn't cost me anything to be nice to Steve's little sister, in her awkward years.

But now ... I wasn't blind. Sarah was a lovely young woman. She had a body to rival Nina's, and a personality that could have given Moe a run for her money. If ... no, there were too many 'ifs'. First and foremost, she was Steve's little sister.

We worked our asses off, and got the job done by mid-afternoon. Steve didn't dare offer us pizza again, so he went out to pick up Chinese food. Kim volunteered to help him.

Which left me alone with Sarah.

I got her talking about music. It wasn't hard to do, with 'Who's Next' on the tape player.

- "You guys were so lucky." she said. "The music coming out when you were young was awesome. Now ... I don't know. It can't compare."

- "You sound like an old fart. Like me."

- "You're not so old. Oh - your students. What do they listen to?" she asked.

- "Depeche Mode. The Cult. They're not too bad. U2 is still popular."

- "I thought you liked U2." she said.

- "I do. Used their lyrics to teach poetry to my grade 7 class." I said.

- "That's so cool. Steve said it was the second best concert he ever saw."

- "True."

- "What was the first? He won't tell me." she said.

I laughed aloud. "He's embarrassed. I made him go with me. The best concert we ever saw was ... Kiss. 1976."

- "Kiss? Really?"

- "Ask him. He'll admit it. Or listen to 'Kiss Alive' - it's better than any of their studio albums."

- "I will ask him." she said.

When Steve and Kim returned, we ate, and had a couple of beers. Once again, he thanked us.

- "I'm going to double your pay." he said.

- "You aren't paying them anything." said Kim.

- "Right. That's why I can afford to double their wages."

Mindful of the fact that Steve and Kim might want to 'christen' his new apartment, Sarah and I called it a night fairly early.

Steve saw us to the elevator.

- "Thank you - both of you. I ... I can't tell you how important this is to me."

- "No problem, Bro." said Sarah.

He hugged both of us, in turn.

- "You're both good for the 6th, right?"

- "The day after tomorrow. We'll be there." said Sarah.

As we drove home, I had to ask. "Do you know what the 6th is all about?"

- "Yes."

- "Are you going to tell me what it means?" I asked.

- "No."

- "Fine. Be that way."

Sarah laughed the rest of the way home.

We were both filthy. I remembered my own mother's complaint, and asked Sarah if it would be okay if I took a shower.

- "Yeah. Me too." she said. "Mind if I go first?"

I was bunking in Steve's old room. Other than his Star Wars figurines and a few toy soldiers, he had taken all of the good stuff with him. I found a few of his old comics, and was leafing through an issue of Thor, when I heard the shower stop.

Just as I was finishing the comic, I heard the bathroom door open, and - a moment later - Sarah's bedroom door close. I got up, and headed for the bathroom, to take my shower.

The moment I opened the bathroom door, I realized my mistake.

Sarah was still there.

She had a towel around her waist, but she was completely naked from the navel on up. She was leaning over the sink, looking at herself in the mirror. She looked around, saw me, and spun away, her hands flying up to cover her bare breasts.

It might have been two seconds. One and a half, probably. But what I saw ... Mother of Mercy. Sarah had exceptional tits. Prominent nipples ... oh, shit. I was staring at my buddy's little sister's naked boobs.

I staggered back, trying to cover my eyes, without actually covering my eyes.

- "Sarah! I'm sorry!" I backed off so fast that I smacked into the wall behind me. I beat a hasty retreat to Steve's room.

It was a minute or more later when I heard a knock on the door of Steve's bedroom.

- "Chris?" said Sarah. "The bathroom is free."

- "Thank you." I managed to croak.

- "You're welcome." she said.

Yes, I jerked off in the shower. Don't judge me.

***

The following morning, I apologized profusely. To make my embarrassment complete, Steve's Mom knew what had happened. In fact, she was the cause of my error. She had popped her head into the bathroom to ask Sarah a question, and then she had gone to her own room, closing the door behind her. Those were the sounds I had heard.

Both mother and daughter found the whole situation understandable, and even funny. I was the only one who was mortified.

- "Honest mistake." said Steve's Mom. "These things happen."

- "Hey." said Sarah. "If you feel that guilty, you could just drop your pants, and even things up."

She saw my mouth open, and the look of sheer horror on my face.

"Kidding, Chris. I'm kidding."

I spent the day visiting some of my old haunts, and picking up a gift for Steve's Mom, and a plant for Steve's new place. It was probably a death sentence for the poor thing, but maybe Kim would water it from time to time.

Mostly, I tried to get the image of a naked Sarah - well, a topless Sarah - out of my mind. Easier said than done.

That evening, Steve finally revealed the big secret. Sarah and I met him at his new apartment. We helped him unpack a few boxes, but before long he sat us on the couch and handed us a beer.

- "Tomorrow night," he said, "I'm going to ask Kim to marry me."

- "That's awesome!" I said.

Sarah gave Steve a big hug. "Congratulations, Brother. It's about time."

He had the ring, and a plan - dinner at a very nice restaurant, private booth ... but Steve was nervous.

- "I think she'll say yes." he said. "I mean, I hope she will."

- "She will." said Sarah.

- "Yeah, but ... " Steve was also preparing for the worst case scenario. "In case I blow it -"

- "You won't." I said.

- "Yeah, but just in case. It would make me feel better to know that you two will be waiting for me, at the pub. Just until 11:00 or so. I plan to ask her around 10, so if I'm not at the pub by 11, you'll know it went well."

- "We can do that." said Sarah. "Right, Chris?"

- "Absolutely." I said. "As long as you can keep your clothes on." I had decided, earlier that day, that the only way to avoid blushing whenever I saw Sarah - for the rest of my life - was to make a joke of the shower incident. After all, neither she nor her mother seemed to think that it was a big deal.

- "Hey!" she said. "You're the one who busted in on me!"

- "What's this, now?" asked Steve.

Sarah told him the story - with a minor embellishment or two.

- "I did not stand there and stare." I protested. "I nearly fell over trying to back away."

- "You didn't cover your eyes all that well." she retorted.

- "So you're scarred for life?" asked Steve.

Sarah punched him. Pretty hard, too.

So that evening, Sarah and I obeyed instructions, and went to the pub. It wasn't a date, or anything, but it felt a bit weird so soon after I had seen her near-naked. To make matters a little odder, Sarah chose to wear a dress.

It was a bit short, and revealed a lot more leg than I was comfortable with, at that moment. Up top, it didn't have a plunging neckline, and very little cleavage was exposed. But the way it was pleated, or gathered, it did emphasize her rather prominent bust.

I was awkward, at first. But Sarah put me at ease, asking me about my school, and my life in Pinecrest. She had heard, from Steve, that I was no longer seeing Anna.

I had relaxed enough, by then, to tell her the whole story. It was therapeutic, in a way, but also educational. As I explained the details, I got a clearer picture of where I had gone wrong. When I was being patient with Anna, I was in fact following down the exact same path I had travelled with Carol.

Sarah thought so, too. "Chris, a girl doesn't need nine months to figure out if she wants to sleep with a guy. Not if she's dating him. I'm not saying that she has to sleep with him - but she knows if she wants to or not."

"I can picture working with somebody, or belonging to the same group of friends - and not thinking of them in a romantic way. But not if you're in a relationship.

She was curious about Nina's visit, too.

- "So, did you two decide anything?" she asked.

- "Like what?"

- "You've known her for a while. She sounds perfect for you. I don't understand why you haven't asked her to move here. Or even ... to marry you." he said that last part very softly.

- "We ... we talked about it." I explained our dilemma. The relationship was ideal, but Nina wasn't about to leave her job, and I couldn't work there.

- "That's so sad." said Sarah.

It was. So I changed the subject.

- "What about you? Whatever happened with that guy you were interested in?"

- "Who? Jason? I dumped him ages ago."

- "No." I said. "The one you had feelings for - but you never did anything."

- "Oh. That guy."

- "Does he know?"

- "No." she said. "I don't think so."

- "Are you still interested in him?" I asked.

- "Yeah."

- "Then you should go for it - tell him how you feel." I suggested.

- "Nah. I'm too chickenshit."

Sarah had her head down, avoiding eye contact with me. She was toying idly with a few strands of her long black hair, just above the swell of her exceptional bosom. I don't think she was doing it on purpose.

I wanted to offer words of comfort - or even to reach out and touch her. But a stunning, paralyzing thought suddenly popped into my head.

What if the guy she was interested in was ... sitting across the table from her?

It couldn't be. Could it? Did I want to know for sure? That particular genie, once it had been let out, was not going to go back into the bottle, or lamp. I hesitated - and the moment passed.

- "Hey, it's past 10." said Sarah. "He should have asked her by now." She ordered another round for us, and we toasted Steve's success.

We talked quietly, about more mundane things, until 11:00. I managed to avoid saying or doing anything disastrous, and drove us home - to her home, that is.

The following day, we celebrated with Steve and Kim.

- "She saved me." he admitted. "My mind went blank. All of my carefully prepared lines - gone."

- "I prefer the way you said it." said Kim. The two of them couldn't stop grinning, or beaming at each other.

- "Any idea when?" asked Sarah.

- "Next summer, probably." said Kim. "So that Chris can be here."

- "As my best man." said Steve. "No doubt about that, right?"

- "I'll be there."

- "And Sarah?" said Kim. "Will you be one of my bridesmaids?"

- "I'd be happy to."

We spent a wonderful evening with them.

The following day, I packed up my car.

- "Do you have to go? So soon?" asked Steve's Mom.

- "I have tons of work to do before school starts." I lied.

- "We'll miss you." said Sarah. "You know that you can stay here, anytime you're in town, right?"

- "Thank you so much. That means a lot."

She gave me a hug - a warm hug, pressing that delectable body against me. That just steeled my resolve.

I had to drive home, to get away, before I made a really terrible mistake.

*****