It Happens All The Time

Claire came back and stared at her friend. "What happened?"

"My dress got caught in the machine. Where's my hoodie?"

"Oh shoot, I left it out front. the heater started working."

"Go get it!"

"Wait, we've got to hide you first. I forgot, I called Ken in to help. He'll be here any second."

"What? No! Oh God. Not again."

"We'll hide you in the crawl space. You can get behind some boxes." Claire pushed Lisa up the step ladder and started to boost her up by pushing her butt. She carefully hooked her claddagh ring into the back of her panties. Lisa had her stomach on the ledge and was trying to squirm up further when Claire fell, ripping Lisa's panties clean off and kicking out the step stool.

Ken walked it to see Lisa's ass and pussy pointing right at him, with Claire sprawled on the floor rubbing her back. Wow, he thought, Claire wasn't kidding. this does happen a lot. Okay, be cool, he told himself. "Oh, Hey. Sorry, I'm a little early. Uh, do you need help?"

Lisa moaned slightly, pressing her forehead against the landing. This couldn't be happening, she thought. Am I being punished in some Karmic fashion for something I did as a kid?

Claire spoke first. "Yeah, we've had an accident. I think I pulled something. Could you give us a hand?" Lisa's head snapped up. Claire had to be kidding. She stole a glance over her shoulder at her friend, who was prone on the ground, rubbing her hip and knee. She watched Ken walk over, turn the step stool upright and lift Lisa up with total ease and set her gently on it. Then he walked over to her and set his hands on her hips. Oh my God, Lisa thought. He's eye level with my pussy. He lifted her up first, and she felt her ass against his chest as he gently slid her down to her feet. She stood that way for a moment, trying not to think about how good it felt to be pressed against him, or what felt like a stiffing bulge in his pants, before turning around and covering her neatly trimmed bush with her hands. Thank God Claire taught me to always do that, or this would be even worse, if that was possible.

For his part, Ken tried to fight the urge to pant. He looked into her eyes and reminded himself Be Cool, over and over again. "So, uh, I know it's boiling back here, but do you need a shirt or something?"

Incapable of words, she put on a weak smile and nodded. He unbuttoned his dress shirt and pulled it off, handing it to her. He stood there, bare-chested, less than a foot away from her, desperately fighting the dryness in his mouth, trying to think of something to say. To Lisa, he looked like he was sculpted, with a light dusting of hair across his chest and stomach. It took her a moment for her to take it, totally distracted by his build. When she did she briefly exposed herself, but Ken was too busy looking into her eyes to notice. So green, he thought.

Claire, unseen by both, smiled. What a gentleman. This was going perfectly. "Ken, if you want to wait, I'll get her hoodie back from out front and you can have your shirt again." Keeping them together, each half dressed, was more than she even hoped for out of today.

"No, it's cool. I came here from the Laundromat. There's like no one in the parking lot, I'll run back to my car. I can close, then do the inventory stuff after and you can run home and..."

Lisa found her voice and strengthened her smile. "Sure, thanks." Ken turned and headed out at a jog. When he stepped out, Lisa exhaled and looked at Claire miserably. "He probably thinks I'm some klutzy bimbo."

"Are you kidding? He's running through a mall and a parking lot in 40 degree weather, shirtless, just for you. Let me get your hoodie so we can tie something around your waist and then I'll take you home."

As Claire walked out, she corrected herself. Almost perfect. I've just got to find a way to make sure they're stuck together.

Part 4

Ken spent the last empty hour at the store before closing thinking about Lisa and wondering about the heat situation. After closing, he spent an hour investigating. Before he left, he had an answer, but more questions.

Monday afternoon, Ken stopped by OfficeOptions to talk to Lisa, who was dressed in a heavy sweatshirt and sweatpants, closing on her own after Peter had left early to save hours for Wednesday's inventory. "Hey, how are you?"

Lisa smiled awkwardly. "Thanks..uh, I mean good."

"Listen, about yesterday..."

"Oh, Ken, I'm sorry. I don't know what's been happening. I've just been unlucky."

"Don't apologize, it's been great luck for me." Lisa laughed at that and smiled at him.

"Listen," Ken began, "I'm not good at this. Can I buy you a drink after work?"

"You're very good at it. Yes you can."

Two hours later they were laughing in the booth of a mall chain bar, sipping wildly overpriced drinks, sharing personal histories and finding out how much they had in common.

They sat in a comfortable lull, enjoying each other's company. Ken winced, sipping his incredibly strong cherry whiskey whatever-the-girl-in-the-flair-suit-called-it and leaned forward. "So listen, about yesterday..."

"Oh God, Ken, I don't think I can talk about it. Or the incident before that." Lisa shook her head, embarrassed all over again. "But, I'm keeping the shirt."

"It probably looks better on you anyways. I hate to have you relive it, but this is what I don't understand. Why was the heat cranked all the way up but all the vents to the floor of the store closed?"

"What? Claire said the heater was broken."

Ken shook his head. "Nope. The thermometer was. Someone wrapped it in ice."

Lisa stared at Ken for a long second. "Garbage and recycling doesn't go out until tomorrow morning, right? Let's take a walk through the Bat Caves."

The Bat Caves was the nickname all the mall employees used to describe the network of narrow corridors that ran behind the stores, so that delivers and shipping could happen out of public view. They were a bit of a maze if you were not familiar with them, but employees walked them to avoid crowds.

Twenty minutes later Ken was climbing out of a massive plastic recycling bin with a mess of crinkled lamination. Lisa unrolled it until she found the ripped dress, and then saw the clip and long string attached to it.

"So, she did this to you?" Ken asked. "On purpose? Why? You told me she was a great friend?"

"She is." Lisa was deep in concentration mode. "She...She...was trying to get you to notice me. She's always wanted people to notice me. She's worried I'll end up alone with my books."

"Christ. Is she nuts? I noticed you two minutes after I walked through the door to talk to Peter."

"Yeah, but...would you have talked to me?"

"Hmm. Good question. So, she got us together. Are you going to forgive her?"

"Oh, I will. Right after I get her back."

_________________________________

The next day, Lisa and Claire were together at the store, with Lisa arriving a half hour ahead, telling Claire that morning that she needed to grab coffee an run an errand. Claire looked mournfully at Lisa, worried that fate had other plans for her perfect couple. Petey had sent an email to Claire that morning stating that there was good odds Ken would be leaving right after inventory, as that it appeared he was going to be offered some sort of paid internship at his college. Plus, there was no way to schedule them together before that, as that the evening hours were going to Gloria and Jennifer, who couldn't work inventory but needed the time.

Claire watched her friend move glumly about in an old t-shirt and bulky sweatpants, unquestionably one of her old ones from when she was heavier. Lisa was slowly setting things on shelves and re-straighten items, politely helping customers but looked so sad that strangers were asking if she was okay.

Then the phone rang. Claire recognized the caller ID, and lunged to the phone. "Ken Doll!"

"Hey Claire. I was wondering if Lisa was working today. I...I...kind of wanted to...ask her out...if you..."

"OHMYGODYES. Here, let me get her."

"Nah, I'd like do it in person. I..was going to bring flowers...and I've got to shower and shave first...I'll be there somewhere within the hour."

Claire sprinted across the store, her skirt flouncing, to give Lisa the news.

Lisa beamed, and then her face fell. "Oh, but look at how I'm dressed. He's going to look all romantic and I'm all frumpy. There's no time to run home." She looked at Claire for a long moment. "Can we trade?"

Claire smiled. "Hell yes. If you think it will fit into this. Thank God we're the same shoe size."

They dashed into the back room and traded clothes. Claire was thrilled with the result. Even though she was much thinner that Lisa, Lisa was still able to squeeze into Claire's camisole top and skirt. It hugged her curves and really showed off her chest.

Lisa looked down at herself. "Wow, I'm bursting out of the seams." Let's hope, Claire though silently. "But look at you. You're ridiculous."

Claire laughed. The four inch high difference between the two girls was evident from the fact that Lisa's t-shirt stopped two inches above Claire's belly button. The pants were loose and sagged down, stopping just above the curve of her butt.

"So I look like a club kid from the 90's. You look great and that's all that matters." She was a little self conscious, however. With her firm but small b-cup breasts, she rarely wore a bra, and the shirt was borderline threadbare across the back. Still, Claire went back out on the floor so Lisa could work on her makeup.

The first disaster happened five minutes later, when she when up to help a businessman in his late 30's with a toddler in tow.

"Hey, could you grab these boxes of envelopes for me and bring them up? If I let go, she's sprinting around your store for the next hour."

"Absolutely." Claire stretched up to grab the boxes, and as she did, she felt a sudden draft as the sweatpants hit the floor, revealing her bright orange lace thong to him. She immediately dropped the boxes and reached for the sweatpants.

"I am so sorry." She blushed as she pulled them up and reached for the ties. The customer simply reddened and rubbed his hand over his mouth, trying to suppress a smile. She bent over and picked up the boxes, starting to walk up front. She made it exactly seven steps before they fell again in mid-stride, nearly causing her to fall face first. She moved one hand under the boxes and scrambled with her other to pull up her pants again. Damn, she thought, I just tightened these. She heard the customer behind her chuckle and heard a few more from some boys passing by the store.

Claire slowly walked over to the front counter and set the items down, and walked around the register. the moment she did, the sweatpants fell again. Her smile was frozen on her face. At least he can't see it this time, she thought. This thing is waist high.

She rang him up as quickly as she could, trying not to think about her exposed butt pointing outwards. After what felt like an hour, but was little more than a minute, she handed him his bag and receipt and said, "Anything else, sir?"

"I'm good, but you might want to call mall security. You've got a group of teen boys loitering out there."

Claire stiffened and looked over her shoulder to see a group of four boys looking through the glass of the storefront, holding up phones and laughing.

The moment her customer turned away, Claire bent over, pulled up the sweatpants with both hands and ran toward the back.

Part 5

Claire ran into the back, panting. "Lisa, I need your help. These won't stay up."

Lisa came out of the bathroom, with little more than mascara and eyeliner on. "Sorry, it's taking forever Claire. I just haven't had enough practice. You usually do it for me and you do a way better job."

"I can't keep my pants up. I just mooned six people."

"Let me see, Claire." Lisa knelt down and pulled at the draw string. It came out in her hands and the pants fell once more. "Oh, shoot. That's okay, I can fix it." Lisa pulled up Claire's pants into a near wedgie and rolled the waistband down over itself, several times. By the time she was done, there was a thick roll of fabric that sat right at her butt crack.

Claire gate a few experimental twists and shakes to her hips. Everything seemed secure. But her thong was now hanging out over the top of her sweatpants. Lisa was staring at the same thing.

"You should probably consider commando. The orange with the green pants is going to catch more attention than you want. I'll deal with the floor for a moment and then come right back."

Claire nodded, ditched her underwear and waited, holding the edge of her sweats, trying not to think about the likelihood of pictures of her thong and butt being uploaded all over the internet by teen boys. A few minutes later, Lisa was back, confirming some of her fears. "Sorry, there's way more customers here than normal. I wonder if one of the high schools has some science fair coming up. I kicked the teen boys out of here, but mall secuity is as bad as maintenance with getting here. Anyways, I grabbed some heavy duty chart clips to fit in the pants for extra support."

Lisa once again pulled and rolled up the waistband of the sweatpants, and in the last twists fit in the chart clips towards the sides and back. "Sorry, you've got a little more of the wedgie effect going, but I think at this point we need to avoid an accident at all costs."

Claire smiled and went back out on the floor. The smile fell to a grimace as she saw the same teen boys, who had been joined by more of their friends, milling about the outside of the store. Claire steeled herself, gave another wiggle to check that she was secure, and went back to the register while Lisa ran around, setting things up.

After a few minutes, Claire was able to breathe normally. She had gone back to being excited for her friend. I've done a good thing, she consoled herself. I know it was tough on Lisa, but she's finally with a great guy, who should be here any minute.

"Hey Claire, could you give me a hand?" Lisa was across the store with an older female customer, at the rolled paper display near the front window. The heavy, colorful rolls were a big seller to schools and businesses, but were difficult to manage. She walked over to Lisa.

Lisa gestured to the two foot ladder surrounded by heavy boxes. "Could you climb up there and hand those down to me? This lady wants several and I down want to climb up there in a skirt with all these boys still around. Or in your heels for that matter."

"Sure, Lisa." Claire was nervous, but she gave herself another experimental wiggle. Things felt secure enough. She climbed up and stood on the top step. When did this thing get so rickety? She thought. We need to order a new one.

Claire began to pulled down the heavy rolls and hand them to Lisa, one by one. Lisa ran them up front to the register, where the woman was waiting. In between, Claire looked out the window at the group of teen boys who had left the store, but were still hanging around intently. She resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at them.

She was startled by Lisa tapping her leg from behind. "Hey, since you're still up there, could you put this one back? She changed her mind on how many."

Claire turned and took the roll from Lisa and turned back. As she did, she nearly lost her balance. Lisa shot her hands up and grabbed Claire by the waist to steady her. She heard a gasp from the boys outside, followed by some laughter and rib poking, as well as some digging out of cameras. What's so funny? she thought. I didn't fall. This time she did stick her tongue out at them.

"Claire, you may want to wait to put that back until I get back," Lisa cautioned. "There's boxes all around you and I don't want to get hurt getting down. Let me just ring this woman out and I'll be right back." Lisa took a few steps toward the register.

Claire turned and tried to shift the roll in her arms. The moment her back was turned, Lisa dropped to her knees and yanked Claire's waistband, pulling it to her ankles

Claire felt a sudden coolness across her waist and legs. the sweatpants had dropped suddenly, straight down to her ankles. Her mouth formed a silent scream. The teen boys stared hooting from outside.

Claire swiveled around, looking for Lisa, but she was all the way at the register, talking to the customer. Panicking, Claire looked for somewhere to drop the roll. She turned and bent at the waist, dropping the roll to the left and in doing so, mooned the group of boys again, who gave a collective cheer. This caused her to turn upright to quickly, and disaster struck again, and the step ladder collapsed beneath her.

Claire fell backwards and immediately put both of her hands down to brace her fall. She landed hard in her tailbone, and immediately rubbed her hip. She heard another cheer from the boys outside, and realized she was sitting facing them with her legs apart. She immediately snapped her legs together and covered her pussy with both hands. She immediately tried to pull her feet in to garb the sweatpants and cover up more, but they seemed to be caught. She stopped, realizing that every time she moved one of her hands, she was exposing more of herself. A small part of her brain wondered if the fact that she was freshly waxed made this more embarrassing or less.

"Oh, are you okay?" Lisa called from across the store. She ran over to Claire and reached toward her sweats. Pretending to struggle with them, she carefully hooked them with the clips into the top of the ladder. "How did these get caught like this? Claire, I'm going to have to pull your feet out to get them loose."

Claire looked at Lisa miserably. Very slowly, Lisa first bent Claire's left knee, then her right, each time pulling her foot out of the bottom of the sweatpants but making sure to stretch her as much as possible, exposing parts of her crotch as she did so. Just as she got her second foot out, Lisa turned and her eyes widened. "Oh God, Ken's coming. Quick, we've got to get you in back before he sees. I'll cover you."

Claire got up and covered her crotch with both hands, thinking that Lisa was right behind her when in fact he was standing to her left, exposing her to the crowd of camera wielding boys. Lisa guided Claire to the back room, while doing so she clipped a short wire to the back of the shirt. As they turned into the backroom, Lisa pushed Claire through the backroom door.

Claire had a brief moment to wonder why the door to the Bat Caves was open before she heard a "Whoa" from behind her and felt a push in her back, sending her through the opening. As she stumbled into the hall, she felt a tear, as the shirt was ripped from her body. The door slammed shut behind her as she fell to the cold concrete ground. She turned in horror, naked except for Lisa's sneakers, staring at the t-shirt hanging half way out of the door. She gave it a tug and a small piece tore off in her hands.

"Lisa!" She called in fear.

Lisa groaned, "Yeah, sorry, I tripped over a box. I think I rolled my ankle. Are you okay? Oh, God, the shirt. it must have gotten caught as you went through there."

"Yeah, I can't get it out. Let me back in, I'm naked out here."

After what felt like far too long, Claire saw the doorknob giggle. "Oh, God," Lisa called through the door. "It's stuck. The shirt must be caught in the mechanism.

Part 6

Claire crossed one arm over her breasts, and the other over her pussy. "The door can't be stuck," she whimpered.

Lisa gave it another tug. "I'm afraid it is. Oh Claire, I'm so sorry. I feel like this is all my fault. Let me get Ken." Lisa made sure once more that the door was locked and skipped out of the back room. Claire, on the other side, looked up and down the halls of the Bat caves. Claire spent very little time back here, as that she didn't deal with deliveries. Even though OfficeOptions was located at one of the far ends of the mall, she knew it was a matter of time before someone walked back here on their way to something.