Penny Saved

Although the robe was modest, for the first time I got an idea of her true body frame. She had long legs and from the brief view I got earlier of her bare back, a sparse sprinkling of freckles.

With the robe tied tightly around her waist, she appeared to have medium-sized breasts. Although those facts weren't important towards my goal of helping her, it was difficult to not notice and appreciate it. Still, I was determined to keep the relationship strictly platonic. That was my promise to her. She had entrusted so much faith in me for me to even consider trying anything.

I took her to breakfast. Molly was there, and I introduced her to Penny. I had called Molly the night before and let her know who Penny was. I didn't want the automatic assumption made that I had a new girlfriend.

After introducing her, Molly asked Penny if she'd like some part-time work on Friday and Saturday nights.

Penny's eyes lit up? "Seriously? Yeah, whatever you need me to do. Cook, clean...I have experience doing both."

Molly laughed. It was only during peak hours on Friday and Saturday nights. It was a dishwasher position with some busing duties.

"That's okay. I worked at Denny's while in junior college. I started out washing dishes and by the time I graduated, I was working as a line cook. Besides, I have to start somewhere. Gotta pay back Ted for all he's done."

Next Friday she'd start. I had to correct her about paying me back. Seeing her happy and getting her life back together would be the only payment I'd need. I reminded her of Pete.

She shook her head. I'm still not sure she believed me completely. She'd have to learn when I proved it.

Pete. That evening, Pete and his now-steady girlfriend Stacy, came by for some pizza and iced tea.

I was amazed at how quickly Penny bonded with both.

Stacy had a checkered past as well. She had married at 18 to a drug user, had a failed pregnancy, divorced at 20, and moved back in with her parents. After a period of partying and meaningless sex, she went back to school and got her Associates Degree, majoring in math. Also, she matured and gave up the party-girl lifestyle.

She was now 27 and a successful mortgage lending specialist. Pete met her through their work contacts.

Pete gave Penny a detailed account of his struggles. I sat at the dining table while the three of them sat in the living room. Pete was a good motivational speaker. I could see that Penny was soaking in every word.

"One other thing, Penny," as he pointed towards me, "Ted...well...when he says he expects nothing in return, he means it. I've tried to do all kinds of stuff to repay him and all he's done is let me buy him dinner once."

"He's legitimate. He's carrying out his late wife's legacy. You're his next person to help. This is your lucky break. If you're willing to work and learn, I can tell you that you'll do very well. If you ever want to do what I'm doing, I'm happy to help you."

I was beaming with pride and I had to speak up.

"Penny, do you get what I'm saying now? Right now, Pete is paying me back. He's paying it forward. He knows what it's like to be on the streets. He's using his experience and is willing to help you. THAT'S how I get repaid."

A few tears began to fall from her eyes.

"Ted," she sobbed, "You will never be disappointed in me. I'm going to work and study my ass off. I may even take Pete up on his offer."

Pete smiled. "Great, there are some classes that are offered at the adult school. The city bus has a pickup two blocks away and goes right to the school parking lot."

"You need some computer classes. Powerpoint, Excel, and Access will be helpful. Access is optional, but the others would be a great asset to bring to the table. A basic knowledge of Word is also needed. After each level, they give certificates of completion along with your grade. This impresses prospective employers. Each class has three levels...Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced."

"Ted got me a bus pass each month. There's no charge for the classes. It will take about 6 months to complete 3 levels of each and one level of Word. That's if you go at it non-stop. Each class is done at your own pace and the enrollment can be done at any time."

"I can't believe this," Penny said while trying to dry her eyes. "I've screwed up my life so much. For the first time in almost four years, I can actually see a bright future for me."

She looked at me, "I am not going to screw this up, believe me Ted. Again, I'm going to make you proud."

I also scheduled a simple physical exam for her with our family doctor, Joy Dihn. She was a general physician and her husband was a pediatrician.

I got her a computer the next day and Monday I got her a one-month bus pass. I also got her a simple cell phone. There was a minute's limit of 100, but it would be enough for her immediate needs. She acted like a kid on Christmas morning that got a bunch of neat new toys. She tried hugging me a couple of times. I knew she appreciated it. I was keeping the physical contact to a minimum.

Dr. Dihn gave her a physical. While Penny waited for the doctor to come back to her room, Dr. Dihn came out and informed me that overall, Penny was in good health. Her iron levels and vitamin D levels were low.

A trip to the vitamin store would be enough to fix those deficiencies.

"Also, Ted...she told me more about her history. Things she said she's shared with you. Psychologically, she could be a lot worse. Right now, this extra attention she's getting is more therapeutic than any pills or diet. She hasn't been physically abused, but she's beaten up herself psychologically. It's not easy getting a new life, but for her it's nothing less than mandatory. She's quite bright, by the way."

"My experience when working in the free clinics and dealing with those from the street tells me that she's still very down on herself. She is much too bright and too much potential to be wasted on the streets. At one time in her life she was teeming with self-confidence. Also, a few more pounds on her wouldn't hurt."

After seeing her in the clothes that she got on Friday night, I was able to better discern her overall physical being.

Although I still had no intention of making any kind of advance on her, the fact that she was so much more pleasing to the eye would make me work even harder to not show any kind of undue affection towards her.

I had dated two other women since Mandi's passing. The second one, Kathryn, was the only one that I'd enjoyed any physical relationship with.

I didn't have much in common with Kathryn, but the sex was good. However, she wanted something much more permanent. Also, I sensed that she was more attracted to the financial stability I had more than a true love. Still, it was wrong to lead her on and make her believe that we had a future...just for the sake of having a sex life.

I hadn't enjoyed a physical relationship for nearly 2 years. When Mandi was alive, we were still very active in the bed. It wasn't unusual to have sex more than 4 times a week. It wasn't nearly that often with Kathryn, but at least it was something.

I wasn't actively looking for a new partner, but I wouldn't dismiss the possibility. Well-meaning friends, especially my long-time friends in my bowling league, would often suggest about a dating website, but I didn't want to date someone based solely on a profile that can be as fake as a three-dollar bill.

The worst part is that I've always considered myself kind of boring. I don't have any exciting hobbies. Writing, reading, bowling, golf, and watching the Dodgers and NFL on TV were my passions. Good conversation and quiet evenings were more to my liking. That doesn't translate as wild and exciting on the web. I also didn't want to be someone's sugar daddy.

I wasn't rich, but I was quite comfortably financially. There's no shortage of women that will give you any kind of sexual pleasure you want if you'll take care of their bills and take them on trips.

Through the next two weeks, Penny and I had developed a routine. Penny would take the bus from Monday-Friday and take her classes. On Friday and Saturday nights, she worked at the diner.

Molly couldn't say enough good things about her. Great worker. Great attitude. Willing to do any job necessary; including cleaning the bathrooms and parking lot. She had also shown enough knowledge of kitchen practices to be brought in on a couple of weeknights each week and help there.

After a one week break prior to the summer school classes beginning, she got back in the habit of attending school daily, two nights in the kitchen, usually Monday and Tuesday, and weekend evenings washing dishes.

She was breezing through her classes. She already had her certificates for the beginning levels of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. By mid-July she was already in the process of completing her Intermediate certifications in Excel and Powerpoint. Beginning in the fall, she had already registered for the Business Math class.

There was one incident in late June that could have severely damaged our relationship. In fact, Penny was ready to move out because of it.

Part of my routine is to do my water aerobics exercises in the morning or early afternoon while Penny is at school.

When Mandi was alive, we were always nude when using our pool. We only wore swimwear when entertaining guests.

Since I had the house to myself, I always did my water exercises in the nude as well. One Wednesday morning, around 10am, Penny came home unexpectedly. She walked out past the sliding glass door the led to patio and the pool and saw me in the water; nude.

Honest mistake. However, rather than excusing herself and going back into the house so that I could get out and cover myself with my towel, she stood there and explained that there had been a power line down near the school and that there was no electricity for at least the next 3-4 hours; or whenever the power company could complete their job.

Even after her explanation, there was no sense of urgency to turn around and go back into the house.

"Dammit Penny, can you get your ass back into the house, so I can cover up?"

She immediately turned around and marched into the house. Her body language indicated that she was very pissed. I didn't care. She showed no concern at all that she was able to stare at my naked body and make no effort to stop.

It wasn't because of modesty that I was angry. I'm not too bad to look at, if you believed what Mandi said, but she may have been more than a little biased. Still, it wasn't modesty, it was a lack of respect for my privacy. It was disrespectful.

We had been together for nearly 8 weeks at that time and had always kept a respectable distance between us physically. I was still perplexed why she would take showers and sleep topless (or maybe nude) with her bedroom door open, but I never took advantage of the easy opportunities to peek in on her.

For whatever reason, on this Wednesday morning in late June, she completely undermined that. I never asked for anything else in return except to respect each other's personal space and to respect the very simplest of house rules.

When I got back inside the house, her bedroom door was completely shut. As far as I could remember, she had never completely closed her door for anything in the past.

I heard the door open only once; and that was for her to walk a few feet across the hall and use the restroom. The firm shutting of both her bathroom and bedroom door indicated that she was still plenty pissed at me. I didn't care. We needed to review the boundaries.

When dinner was ready later in the afternoon, I knocked on her door and let her know that the lasagna was ready.

"I'm not hungry. Eat without me."

I didn't argue. If she wanted to pout like a teenager, so be it. She'd come out eventually...or not.

It was customary for one of us to fix breakfast in the mornings before she left for school. Her bedroom door was completely open...and she wasn't there. She wasn't anywhere in the house.

Had she run away? No matter how angry I was the day before, I wanted her to stay with me and finish her schooling. She had come too far to give up because of this. It was something two adults should be able to handle without too much difficulty.

Against my better judgment, I snooped around her room. Her clothes were still on their hangers in the closet. I opened one of her dresser drawers and it was full of underwear and socks.

She'd be back, but I wasn't going to allow her to avoid me any further. I sat in the recliner with one of my books and waited for her to come through the door. The recliner was near the entrance to the long hallway that led to her room. Directly across from her room was her bathroom.

There was no way for her to go past me without at least acknowledging my presence.

3:15pm. She walked through the front door and walked toward the direction of the hallway. There was no way for her to not acknowledge my presence.

"How'd school go today?" I asked pleasantly.

"Fine," was her simple reply.

"Penny, I need to talk to you."

"That's okay Ted. No need to. I've found another place to stay. I won't be a bother to you anymore."

"Bother?" I asked incredulously. "When have you ever been a bother? What happened yesterday was an accident. That's a shitty reason to move out. Besides, I really want you to do well and I honestly believe living here is your best option."

"Thanks, Ted, but I've got a friend at school that has an extra room. She's agreed to let me use it for 200 a month. I can afford that. It will be tight, but I'll manage."

"200 a month?" I asked. "Seriously? I'm not charging a dime here and I never intend to. Put that money back in your bank and save it for the day when you're able to go on your own."

She looked at me with sad eyes. I sensed that she didn't want to move out, but something else was bothering her that she wasn't sharing with me. Finally, she asked meekly, "Ted, can we go out on the patio and have a heart-to-heart talk? There's more to it."

She retrieved a Coke from the fridge and got one for me as well. It was a very comfortable afternoon in the shade and with the misters helping cool off an upper 90s temperature outdoors.

"Ted," she began and then hesitated to find the right words to say.

"Ted, I've already shared that my alcoholism messed up my marriage and that great job I had with Walker Temp. There's even more to it than that."

I nodded to her to let her know I was listening.

"I had a great marriage to Cliff. After our third date, I got to meet his parents. At that time, I learned that Cliff and his younger sister had been raised in a nudist home. They were also members at El Sombrero nudist resort; a very family-friendly resort."

"They weren't sexual deviants. They simply believed in the physical, emotional, and spiritual benefits of nudism."

"I wasn't only shocked, I was terrified about the prospect of getting even closer to Cliff and the expectation that I would be expected to be part of it."

"I knew that eventually Cliff and I would probably end up in bed. The idea of being undressed in front of him didn't terrify me too much...although I was still at virgin when I met him at 19."

"To make a long story shorter, I agreed to go with his family for a weekend visit to the resort. That was the first time I'd seen Cliff naked and the first time for him to see me that way."

"I was so scared before that Friday afternoon before we left that I hadn't eaten all day. The idea of a bunch of people staring at my naked body scared the shit out of me."

"What was even stranger was that less than a half hour after getting nude in front of the others, I began to feel comfortable. It's funny, because I kept trying to hide my tits and my beaver. I wasn't sure I could walk around all weekend with my arms and hands covering everything, but I sure as hell gave it a try...for about a full 5 minutes. I finally just dropped my arms and gave everyone a look."

"Except...no one seemed to care. I wasn't treated any differently. I met other people there that would talk to me and make direct eye contact. That included the guys. I expected their eyes to be focused lower, but I was wrong."

"From that day on, I was hooked on the lifestyle. That weekend was the sixth date for Cliff and me, and we finally had sex for the first time inside his tent."

"We joined that resort after we got married. We made many good friends over the years. Nearly all our social lives revolved around other members of the club.'

"We had made some good friends, Lloyd and Vicki, when our son Derek was still a toddler. They also had a son that was a year older. The boys became friends."

"They also lived less than a mile from us, so we often got together at their house, even on weekdays, because they had a heated pool in their back yard. Just like yours, nice and heated."

"The last year I was a member there, my drinking had begun to get out of hand. The worst part wasn't the drinking, though. It was my behavior. Cliff was already getting impatient with me because of my drinking at home. However, I was beginning to flirt a lot with Lloyd when I was drunk."

"Vicki didn't like it but decided that it was safe since she could usually keep an eye on us. The problem is, even when sober I desired Lloyd, but had enough sense to never go past a friendly hug. The sober Penny valued our friendship too much. The drunk Penny didn't give a damn."

"Although nudists don't care much about a man or woman's physical characteristics, sometimes certain things are so obvious that it's impossible to not notice. Lloyd was the perfect example. To put it nicely, he had the longest member of anyone I'd ever met at that resort. Long and skinny, but very long. I also had a characteristic that got attention, but that's a subject for another day."

"When drunk, I began to find ways to touch his crotch when nobody was looking. One night, I got inside of his trailer with no one else around and gave him a blow job. We weren't caught and we both enjoyed it."

"Two weekends later, I did it again. This time, Vicki walked in on us. She was pissed. I was almost passed out. All I remember was waking up inside of our trailer with Cliff angry with me."

"Cliff is very even-tempered, but he made it clear that I'd better get help with my drinking or our marriage would be over. I declined. I told him that what happened with Lloyd would never happen again. I apologized to everyone. I was sincere...until my next binge the very next night."

"Lloyd and I managed to sneak out about 10pm and meet at the showers. At nudist resorts, the showers aren't segregated. Men and women share the same showering facilities."

"Well, this time it was more than just some oral pleasure. Lloyd had me against the wall and we were doing the full sex act at that time. While in the middle of sex, both Cliff and Vicki walked in on us. They had suspected something and walked together to find us."

"Worse than that, there were security cameras in the showers and when the owners saw it, all four of us were banned from the resort for life."

"Vicki didn't care about excuses. Lloyd was history. I may have been drunk, but Lloyd was sober each time. He simply was cheating on a very nice wife. I never understood why he would cheat on her. She's very good looking and she has huge tits. Still, it no longer mattered. She and Lloyd were through."

"Cliff gave me one more chance...if I decided to go to AA and get help. I refused, and subsequently, our marriage was done."

"Derek was in the military and both of my parents had just passed away within the same year. I didn't handle that stress well. Cliff was patient. More patient that he needed to be, but he couldn't handle his wife cheating on him and not getting help with the underlying problem."