Paying the Rent Ch. 02

Jen blinked twice to clear her eyes. 11:59. Why the steady pounding? She drank quite a bit last night, but something didn’t seem quite right. Her head didn’t really hurt that much; where was the noise coming from? Slowly coming out of a sleep induced stupor, Jen realized the pounding wasn’t coming from inside her after all, and she bolted to the door, hastily tying on her robe.

“Morning, sunshine!!! Still morning, we can still have breakfast. Come on, let’s go!” Sarah beamed across the threshold at her neighbor, then as if just noticing Jen‘s state of undress, “Hmm. Let’s get you dressed first.”

Sarah pushed her way into the apartment and straight into Jennifer’s room for the second time in as many days. Rummaging through Jen’s clothes, she came up with a pair of jeans and a plain white babydoll t-shirt.

“Hurry up, I need some coffee!” Sarah jokingly whined.

Jennifer jumped into the clothes Sarah had set out and quickly brushed her hair, pulling it into a ponytail. Her favorite way to wear her hair, it was low maintenance and hid the fact that she hadn’t taken a shower yet that morning. Ignoring Sarah’s pleas for coffee, Jen took three minutes in the bathroom to freshen up before joining the way too chipper Sarah headed out the door.

“Where are we going, anyways?” Jen asked.

“Dot’s, right down the street,” came the reply.

Even as they exited the building, Jen could see the café sign just two doors down. She had noticed the place when she applied for the apartment but hadn’t been in yet. The short walk was worth it; walking through the doors, Jennifer and Sarah were bombarded with scents of freshly baked bread and cooking bacon. The two noticed a table full of the women Jen had met the previous evening. They all greeted her warmly and invited Jen and Sarah to sit at their table. Making an order for coffee and breakfast, Jen and Sarah settled into the conversation, learning of plans for a party that night at a girl named Amy’s. Amy, a short, green eyed brunette, loudly lamented the choice of her apartment to anyone within earshot.

“It’s ALWAYS my place, why do I have to be the one to clean?” she whined with a wink to Stacy.

“Maybe it’s because your place is the only one that needs cleaning!” Stacy shot back, laughing.

“I’ve seen your apartment, Stacy. Maybe you girls should bug her,” Ben said, walking through the door.

Jen blushed, remembering her actions of last night and praying she could act casual. It wasn’t every day she slept with someone she had known less than 48 hours. The thought made her a little nervous, but Ben seemed to think nothing of it. He had seated himself and was laughing and joking with everyone sitting at the table.

“Jen?”

“Huh? What? I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m quite awake yet,” she stammered.

“That’s okay, we were just wondering if you were coming tonight,” Sarah repeated. “It’s a lot of fun, almost like a block party for the complex. It’ll be the perfect opportunity to meet everyone else that lives here. Come ON, you’ll have a lot of fun,” she coaxed, noticing the tiniest look of panic flying across Jen’s face. She had seen that look before and was determined to get Jen into the party spirit.

“Okay, okay, I’ll make an appearance. What should I bring?” Jen groaned loudly, smiling in spite of herself. She really hadn’t intended to go, but Sarah had a point - it was a great chance to meet new people.

After breakfast, the group walked back to the apartment, poking fun and joking good naturedly with each other. Jen couldn’t help but become part of the fun, and soon found herself having a better time with these people than she could ever remember having had since before high school. Nobody cared about her past here, they all seemed so nonjudgmental. Jen shook her head, amazed again at her good luck. Who would have guessed she’d find such a great bunch of people and such a great apartment in one place?

After all the tenants dispersed toward their own apartments, Jen asked Sarah where she could find a laundromat where she could wash Sarah’s skirt before returning it.

Laughing, Sarah replied, “I have a washer and dryer in my apartment; it’s one of the perks of living at the end of the hall. I let everyone in this wing use them whenever they want. Ben knows and will let you in if you ever need them and I’m not home. Anyways, why pay if you can get it for free?” With that, Sarah opened her door and disappeared into her own apartment, neglecting to shut the door behind her.

Jen smiled, wondering if that she was imagining the amusement in Sarah’s voice. Deciding she must have been, she entered her apartment and gathered the few clothes she had managed to dirty since her arrival here and piled them into the basket she had noticed in the hall closet. Still pondering what Sarah had said, she shuffled next door into Sarah’s place. Immediately she understood Sarah’s comment about the perks of living at the end of the hall; the place was enormous! She easily had twice the living space as Jen, whose apartment wasn’t small in any way. Jen was still staring, turning around to see all the space, when Sarah walked around the corner that apparently led to the bedroom.

“Got everything? Great, the laundry room is right over here,” Sarah said, leading Jen down a short hallway perpendicular to the one she had just exited. “On your left is the guest bath, on your right is the laundry room. You can hang out here, too, if you’d like. I was going to go through some of my old clothes and grab anything that’d fit you. I save things like that to give to the new people instead of the Salvation Army. At least this way I know it’s being put to good use and not gathering dust in some warehouse.”

Shocked, Jen stammered her thanks and retreated to the laundry room to start a load. This place never ceased to amaze her. Between the great price she was paying, an apartment nicer than she had expected to be able to afford, and all the people so willing to accept her, Jen found herself wondering what could be next. There had to be a catch, she knew, but what?

In the living room a few minutes later, Jen’s worries were at the back of her mind as she sat surrounded by a pile of clothes that was steadily growing larger. It seemed that Sarah loved clothes. And giving them away.

“Honestly, I’d rather get rid of a lot of this. It just gives me an excuse to go shopping and buy more!” Sarah admitted, giggling.

Another five outfits came flying into the pile, with Sarah following and declaring she was finished. Jen laughed at Sarah’s version of being ‘finished’; it looked like half her closet was now gracing the living room floor. Sarah sat on a footstool and began sorting clothes into tops, bottoms, and outfits. Then she ordered Jen to stand up and hold things up so she could, in her infinite wisdom, decide if the clothes fit the girl.

Jen wasn’t entirely surprised an hour and a half later when Sarah declared the final outfit a success. Every single item of clothing had been placed in the ‘keep’ pile without Jen deciding on even one of them. Sarah’s exuberant personality had convinced Jen at the start that this was the sort of person she needed to be around to help her start over, and without being told, Sarah had enthusiastically taken the position.

Lugging both the clean laundry and the new clothes into Jen’s apartment, the two girls laughed and talked like old friends. Together, they put it away and organized Jen’s closet, then collapsed on the couch.

“So what was it like?” Sarah asked, out of the blue.

“What was what like?” Jen replied, afraid she knew exactly what Sarah was talking about.

“Come on, Jen, we share a wall for Pete’s sake. And I’m used to staying up later than you. Do you think I heard nothing last night after you went to bed?”

Blushing, Jen realized Sarah was right. “Well, I guess it was pretty good. I’ve never … I mean, I’m not … hell, I don’t know. Why?”

“Because WE all think Ben is one of the best fucks in town,” Sarah said, matter-of-factly. “He got to all of us within a week of our moving in. It’s not like he’s trying to do it just to score, it just happens. He radiates some weird pheromone that drives women wild without them even knowing it. Don’t worry,” she added, noticing Jen’s crestfallen face, “None of think worse of you for it. Remember, we all did it too, so we can’t really judge you, can we?”

Jen shrugged, at a loss for words. She hadn’t thought that she might just be another conquest of Ben’s. At the same time, she didn’t expect to be special either, she reminded herself. Everything was happening so fast, she didn’t know which way to turn, really.

Leaning in conspiratorially, Sarah whispered to Jen, “Look -- it’s really hard to hide anything from anyone in this complex. We all know what everyone else does, so it’s no big deal that you and Ben slept together. In fact, most of us have slept with each other at some point or another, so it’s not like sleeping with Ben is any different from that aside from the feeling of real cock. Ever notice that all the renters are female? And good looking? Yeah, they do that for a reason. You’re here because you’re hot, and they like to have hot around this place. Take it as a compliment, don’t worry so much!”

Jen looked so shocked, Sarah had to laugh, nearly falling off the couch. Such an innocent, she thought to herself. They did better this time. Still, I’ll have to break her in a little before long -- no better time than the present, I guess. “Why don’t you try on some of those clothes? We can figure out something for you to wear to the party tonight… it’ll make you feel better.”

Jen couldn’t disagree with Sarah. Even with the realization that there was a lot going on under the surface of this apartment complex, Jen had to admit that she still liked the people and wanted to stay. Sarah followed her into the bedroom and seated herself on the bed like the day before. Jen stripped and proceeded to model various outfits for Sarah’s approval. Trying on a lightweight silver cocktail dress, she presented her back for Sarah to zip her up. The material slid across her breasts every time she moved, causing her nipples to harden slightly. Noticing, Sarah told Jen that this was the perfect dress for tonight. Jen nodded in agreement and, after Sarah undid the zipper, pulled off the dress. Sarah helped lift it over her head and surprised Jen by brushing her hands against her breasts so slightly she didn’t know whether to believe it was an accident or not. The touch caused her nipples to harden again, involuntarily. Jen blushed and hurriedly reached for another outfit.

“Nah, I think that’s good for now. I need to get back and start getting ready. I know I’m high maintenance sometimes, but it’s good that I can plan for it!” Sarah smirked, heading towards the door.

Jen realized that she should get ready as well, not knowing how long it would take her to prepare by herself. She decided a long bath was in order, pulling out a bottle of bubbles from the bathroom cabinet. She started the water and walked, still naked, to the bedroom to pick out shoes and makeup. Satisfied, Jen returned to the almost full bathtub, turned off the tap, and gingerly settled in to the steaming water. Relaxing, she let her mind wander. She wondered what Jeremy, her soon-to-be ex husband, would think of her now. He had complained that she wasn’t exciting enough, but never let her try to change. Well, here was her chance. She would discover her own identity after all this time. At that moment, Jen resolved to be wilder, crazier, and have more fun than ever before, no matter what.

After her bath, Jen did her best to replicate Sarah’s masterpiece of makeup from the night before. After starting over three times, she was satisfied with the result and turned her attention to getting dressed. Glaring at the clothes she had set out for herself before her bath, she remembered her new resolution. Jen returned her bra to the drawer it came from. The panties were tossed into the back corner of her closet, along with every other pair from the dresser. Jen traded her conservative black dress shoes for a pair of white high heeled sandals from Sarah. Putting on the cocktail dress and zipping it up as far as she could herself, she stepped into the sandals and walked next door to ask Sarah to finish zipping her up.

When Sarah answered her door, Jen was astonished to see her in a crop-top halter and daisy dukes. She suddenly felt overdressed for the occasion, and was about to go change until Sarah cut her off.

“Don’t worry, I never get dressed up for these parties, and everyone wears whatever they look best in. The sandals make you look informal anyways -- I like them a lot better than your clunky interview shoes,” Sarah said in reference to the first time they had met after Jen’s first day of job hunting.

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“I’m sure. Now turn around and I’ll zip you up, is that what you needed?” grinned Sarah.

At Amy’s, Jen found Sarah’s earlier comment about the complex being full of beautiful women to be entirely correct. In many ways, Jen felt privileged to be considered on par with many of the gorgeous creatures she met. Sarah introduced her to everyone she hadn’t met and walked off, returning a moment later with drinks. They mingled a little and Jen tried her hardest to remember everyone’s names. At any given time, there were eight to ten women in the apartment. Sarah explained that these parties were marathon events, so people came and went as they pleased.

Only four men were at the party, Ben being one of them. Mentioning this to Sarah, Jen was told the whole complex was picky about the guys they invited to parties. Jen smiled, noting the irony. Everywhere in the apartment, people oozed sensuality. To the experienced eye, people were flirting left and right, but to Jen all of this was simply fascinating. She had never watched a scene like this in her life. As the night unfolded, she became more aware of why people interacted they way they did, and took mental notes on the art of seduction from everyone there, especially Sarah. She noticed that Sarah disappeared at regular intervals, returning later on looking flushed and happy. Jen, impressed, decided to pay closer attention to her new friend and how she worked.

Sarah loved these parties. Tonight, however, she was intent to show Jen all the benefits of living here, and concentrated on getting everyone she could in a private (or not so private) place where they could… talk.

During one of Sarah’s disappearances, Jen was out on the patio sipping her drink and enjoying a light breeze when she felt two hands slide around her and cup her breasts. Mildly surprised but having been thinking about her ‘wild’ decision, she leaned backwards into the person who had approached. The hands dropped to her waist and pulled. When she sighed and arched her back, Ben groaned, grateful for her response.

“I want to fuck you right here, right now,” he whispered in her ear.

She paused, afraid of being caught. Her mind reeled as she struggled inwardly. Taking a deep breath and chiding herself for being a prude, she began to turn around.

“Don’t turn around, just lift your dress and take off your panties,” Ben told her.

Grinning at herself for being ‘so naughty’, Jennifer slid her new dress up over her hips, letting it dangle a little in front in a futile attempt to hide from passersby what was happening. She needn’t have bothered, as there wasn’t a soul in sight outside. Ben’s grunt of approval at her lack of panties served to boost her confidence even more.

Jen sighed as she felt Ben’s hand between her legs, spreading her lips and delving into her cleft ever so slightly. Unknowingly, she had been getting wetter and wetter as the party went on, watching all the people play at turning each other on. She was surprised when Ben’s fingers found her completely ready for him without needing any coaxing.

The sound of Ben’s zipper lowering pierced Jen’s consciousness, making her aware that all other sound had been blocked from her mind. She held her breath in anticipation, waiting for him to enter her, arching her back to give him better access, gripping the patio fence, stifling a moan. It felt like eternity before he finally thrust into her in one motion, filling her. Ben savored the feeling for a moment before pulling back, enjoying how hot her pussy felt around his cock. She was the tightest woman he had ever been with, almost virgin like. If he hadn’t known she was married before, he would have assumed she was a virgin last night. Reaching around to her clit with his right hand, he rolled it between his thumb and forefinger gently as he began to pump, slowly at first to assure himself he wasn’t hurting her, then harder as he determined her moans were from pleasure, not pain. His fingers began massaging her clit in time with his thrusts, enticing deep throated grunts from Jennifer. Every nerve in her body was tingling with desire as she felt her orgasm building faster than it ever had before. Ben’s left hand rested in the small of her back, steadying her and himself as he pumped harder with each thrust. As Ben slammed his cock into Jen as hard as he could, his climax imminent, she reached between her own legs. With one hand, she replaced Ben’s hand at her clit, fingering it in time with Ben’s now frenzied thrusts. With the other, she reached farther back and held her fingers at her pussy, pressing against the underside of Ben’s penis as it pushed in and out of her. The feeling of her hand and pussy on his cock was too much for Ben, sending him over the edge into an earth shattering climax. His mouth opened in a soundless scream and he thrust one final time, feeling his cock empty into her pussy in wild, erratic spurts. She felt his cock jerking inside her and found herself bucking her hips against him to complete her satisfaction, closing her eyes and seeing great bursts of light behind her eyelids, as if fireworks were being shot from her pussy. Her hands reached back and caressed his balls quickly before she stood up, pulled her dress back down, and noticed that her drink had spilled on the ground. Winking at Ben, she smiled and rejoined the party, refilling her drink.

Sarah had watched the whole encounter on one of the many screens in the “security” room. Smiling to herself, she decided it was time to show Jen exactly what kind of place she was living in. The girl was in for a surprise…

To be continued ;)