Sagging Boobs, Ugly Nipples Ch. 01

And his ex-wife, damn that bitch. What goes around comes around, she thought. Someday you'll get yours. I just hope I'm around to see it.

"Sherrie, I'm so sorry for my outburst. My divorce, my ex-husband and his treatment of me, all came surging back. I think this is just a case of misplaced aggression. Anyway, that's going to be my defense if I get to talk to your boss. I just hope he doesn't hold it against you."

"Relax, Norma. There isn't a more understanding man in the universe. Just explain what happened and beg forgiveness. He'll be fine. Just be yourself and sincere, that's all you can do."

David agreed, trying to get her to relax.

"Come on girls, I'll escort you back to the hotel. I think we've had enough fun for one evening."

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PART TWO: Crow for lunch. With a side of foot.

Norma spent a restless night. If she had her own transportation, she would have left first thing.

Sherrie was upbeat and supportive.

"I bet he's forgotten all about it. Just go come to work and do your best, it'll be fine, you'll see."

She didn't believe a word but had nothing to lose. As it turned out, she didn't even see Charlie again for two weeks. Seemed he like to spend most of his time at the factory or in his private shop, designing furniture.

After the divorce, he got away from traditional furniture and specialized in kitchens and children's rooms.

He was propelled into the mainstream when he did some furniture for a lawyer friend of his, who shared the pictures with his brother, also a lawyer on the West coast. He was an entertainment lawyer, and one of his clients was a popular singer. The singer was also a friend, and he showed the pictures to him.

One thing led to another, and Charley ended up doing the furniture for his new getaway cabin, if you can call a four thousand foot, multilevel house a cabin.

Architectural Digest did a story, and the photos and personal endorsements of his work propelled him into the mainstream. They did a back story with photos of Charley, Sherrie, and David, in the factory and her design studio.

The local TV station did a segment on them, and one of the cable networks did a half hour show on their home and garden channel.

Already busy, suddenly they were swamped. They added workers and expanded the production floor, and still turned away work. Charley refused to substitute quantity for quality.

A developer in Raleigh, N.C. was an old friend, and when he decided to do an upscale condo project, he called Charley. After meeting with Sherrie and David to get their input, they committed to the plan. Twenty seven luxury condos, all designed and furnished by Charley and company, to the specifications of the owners.

They had had contracts approved for half the units before ground was broken. Sherrie and Norma were in for long hours and a grueling schedule.

Out of the blue, Charley called and asked her to lunch the next day. Her behavior came rushing back to her, but you don't say no to your boss, and agreed to be picked up at noon.

He picked her up in his four door, four wheel drive truck, apologizing, he had been out in the field and hadn't had time to change clothes or vehicles. She had never ridden in something so large or sat so high off the ground.

He had on a faded denim shirt over a black t shirt and worn jeans. He took her to a small diner she had never noticed before, even though she went right by it everyday to and from work.

"I'll take you somewhere more upscale next time, I promise. The food here is quite good though. Shall we?"

He opened the door and helped her out, reminding her to watch her step down.

The place was homey, everybody was friendly, and they all seemed to know Charley. They gave her a menu and brought water and a sweetened tea for him.

"Ya'll know what you want yet?" said the middle aged waitress, holding her pad.

Charley started to order but she interrupted him.

"Hush, Charley, I know what you want. Fried chicken thigh, okra, and mashed potatoes. I was talking to your friend. The meatloaf is really good today, sugar, just saying."

She could smell it and her stomach rumbled. Making a promise to spend extra time on the Stair master, she took the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and creamed corn.

She brought out the order and a platter of homemade biscuits.

They ate in silence, enjoying the meal.

The waitress bustled back out.

"Chocolate pie, carrot cake, or banana pudding?"

She groaned. He laughed.

"Go on, if you don't, I'm going to eat mine in front of you, smack my lips and talk about how good it is. You'll hate me before I'm done."

Two chocolate pies and coffee, and they weren't small pieces.

She looked at the time. They had been gone for an hour and a half.

"Oh my, I need to get back to work. Sherrie must be wondering where I am."

He just smiled.

"She knows you're with me, what can she say. I've enjoyed lunch, but the main reason I brought you here was to apologize for my comments when we met. It was wrong, what I said. But you need to understand, I wasn't talking about you specifically, but women in general, and it WAS taken out of context, by someone I have a lot of history with."

She held up her hand.

"Please I should apologize too. I was upset about things you had nothing to do with, it just brought back a lot of pain. I reacted badly. Peace?"

She held out her hand. He took it.

"Peace", he said, "but I won't take back the part about you being attractive. And, truth be known, men are just as bad. I'm sure you've known a man or two who has gone through his 'midlife' crisis. You know, dyed hair, flashy sports car, young girlfriend. We're just as vain as women. Why do you think I go to the gym and play tennis, use a shampoo that makes my gray hair stand out, and use the tanning bed my ex left? Vanity, my dear Norma, is not gender specific. That's how I hurt my knee, trying to return a volley I knew very well I couldn't reach."

He dropped her off at the studio, thanking her for lunch and a chance to clear the air. He promised to take her somewhere more upscale next time.

She was humming to herself as she went through the door. Sherrie grinned and tried to look disapproving.

"And just where have you been, young lady? You have a job, you can't just go lollygagging around with some handsome, silver haired devil just because he buys you lunch. Next it'll be dinner, and who knows, maybe breakfast the next morning."

Despite herself she blushed while Sherrie laughed, but then rallied.

"Mind your business, child. If the boss wants to buy me lunch and occupy my time, who are you to complain? And it won't be dinner next time, but lunch in some upscale establishment."

"Oh, already got another lunch date? Fast work there, girl. Where did he take you this time?"

"The Lunch Spot."

Sherrie snickered.

"You didn't get the meatloaf, did you? You know twelve ounces of their meatloaf equals five pounds on your thighs, six if you had mashed potatoes. And if you got dessert, you can kiss your waistline goodbye."

Norma groaned.

"Wanna go to gym with me tonight?"

"Oh no. David is taking me out to a movie later. Don't wait up for me."

Glad to steer the conversation away from her love life, or lack thereof, she decided to give a little bit of needling back to Sherrie.

"Do I need to stay somewhere else tonight, give you a little room? When are you gonna admit you two are in love and do something about it?"

Sherrie sighed.

"It's not me. I know he loves me, but his ex burned him pretty bad, and he's skittish about relationships right now. Damn that bitch anyway!"

She brightened.

"But you don't have to get a room, David has a very nice house, although I fully intend to redecorate it when I move in."

She stopped, realizing she had said too much. Norma smiled.

"I'll help, lord knows men have no fashion sense."

Sherrie hugged her.

"I'll take you up on that. Now, how about we do a little actual work? Mrs. Martin called, she's thinking about a new color scheme."

Mrs. Martin had taken advantage of advance sales of the condos, bought a penthouse, and was making full use of the decorating service that came as part of the package. They had created virtual rooms on the computer, and she had already changed her mind three times. She was driving David crazy with her furniture requests, and had even met with Charley once. He just smiled, made notes, and said he was sure she would be satisfied with the end results.

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PART THREE: Getting comfortable

The days went by. The condos were three quarters sold, and the building was almost complete. Sherrie and Norma were swamped. The purchasers were all well to do, and demanded the best. David and Charley were spending long hours on furniture designs.

Luckily most of the customers were inclined towards traditional furniture and were easy to satisfy. About one out of ten wanted something different, a few were really demanding.

Sherrie, Norma, David, and Charley had many meetings to stay on the same page. They grew easy in their relationships, making it easier to have differences of opinion without worrying about bruised feelings or hurt egos. They all realized it didn't matter what they thought past a certain point. Whether or not they liked the end result, it was the decision of the customer.

"They're not always right" Charley summed it up, "but they are the ones footing the bills, and it will be hard for them to complain if we give them exactly what they want."

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Norma had gone out twice more for lunch with Charley, both pleasant experiences. Then they got really busy, and lunch became sandwiches in their offices as they struggled with their workloads.

She did get to see his house. To say she was impressed was an understatement.

Made of logs harvested from the property it sat on, it was an impressive two story affair with a rambling porch that wrapped completely around it. It had a roof of treated oak shingles, also of trees off the property. It was a man's house, no doubt.

He welcomed her in the shop out back, his design studio. She was there to bring him the specs for their latest client's demand.

"This guy is a pain in the ass. He wants us to be done in ninety days, but he keeps changing things. We did exactly as he asked and now it's not what he wants."

She knew there had been a heated exchange between Charley and the client a few days ago. Charley had sent him notice they were not going to be able to meet his demands and they were not going to work with him any longer.

The customer was one of those super rich guys who thought his word was law and everyone should scramble to please him. He was furious, threatening to sue for breach of contract.

"Look at your contract, sir. It plainly says that our services are part of the package as long as both parties agree. You have the right to use anyone you want, we have the right to refuse you if we don't think we can work with you. Sue if you want, you'll get nowhere. If you like, I can recommend several firms who would be happy to work with you."

"I'll ruin you!" he screamed.

Charley actually laughed at him.

"How? I carry no debt, and besides this project I have two to three years of work I'm committed to. You'll splash around, spend money and end up looking foolish while I continue to prosper. There are no skeletons in my closet, so if you try to slur me I'll be the one doing the suing. Goodby, sir, I hope you can find someone who can give you what you want."

The wife was furious when they got dropped. David and Sherrie had shown her the plan for her son's room. The six year old loved frogs, so David had designed a dresser whit a curved top that resembled a blue pond with lily pads. Small metal frog sat on the pads, and the drawer pulls were frogs that chirped when the drawers were opened. The walls were painted with a meadow motif, with cattails prominent in the foreground. His bed was a large lily pad that made a splashing sound when he lay on it. Sherrie had even designed the comforters, and an alarm clock that looked like a frog, and gave mighty croaks when the alarm went off. Now she was going to lose that, even though Sherrie had assured her that she could have all the plans for the next designer.

They had also designed the ceiling to look like a night sky, with embedded lights. It changed into a sunrise glow when the alarm went off.

She actually threatened to leave him if he didn't stop being such an asshole. He backed off, practically begging them to resume their work.

They had one more meeting, with the wife in attendance. He said little except to apologize, and she assured them there would be no more changes.

Sherrie asked her to take the final drafts and some suggestions out to his house, he was working in his home studio that day.

He took her into the shop to show her the project he had been working on.

It was a dining room suite. The table was massive, designed to seat twelve people. The top was made of black walnut and holly in six inch boards two inches thick, the rails were holly, and the legs walnut. The black alternated well with the white of the holly. The chairs had legs and rails of black walnut, with seats made of holly, and backs made of the walnut, with a four inch strip of holly in the middle. Very impressive.

"How long did this take you?" she asked, in awe.

"Four months, in my spare time, after the wood had seasoned. It was all done here in the shop." He pointed to the planers, routers, and lathes.

"It's so beautiful. How much does something like this cost?"

"Forty thousand for the set. Twenty two for the table, and fifteen each for the chairs."

"Do many people want things like these?"

He laughed.

"I could give up the factory and the design studio and still have enough work to keep me going to retirement. I only do about four of these a year. The first set I did twelve years ago just went up for resale. I signed and numbered it, it went for seventy two thousand."

"How many have you done since?"

"The one you just saw was number fifty one. Would you like something to drink?"

She took several pictures, dropped the specs she had brought on his drafting table, and followed him into the house.

She stood at the doorway in awe.

The front half of the house had a cathedral ceiling, easily forty feet. A massive cut glass chandelier in a rustic style hung over the great room.

A fireplace easily big enough to walk into filled the opposite wall, made of field stone. The floors were hardwood, but she didn't recognize the grain. There was a stairway on the opposite wall, so impressive she just stopped and stared. Charley smiled at her wonder.

"Do you like it?"

"It's amazing! How did you come up with that?"

There was a brief flash of pain in his eyes.

"Where all good ideas come from. I stole it. Do you remember the cartoon version of Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs?"

She nodded, barely remembering.

"This staircase, or a version of it, was in the house. I always thought it was impressive. This was supposed to be my retirement home. I was foolish enough to believe at the time I would have grandchildren, so I designed this and the sleeping loft for them. When my marriage ended, I decided to build this house, even though it was never going to hear the laughter of children. Maybe when I'm gone David and hopefully Sherrie can live here and play with their grandchildren."

Her heart went out to him, and she touched his arm.

The stairs were cedar, large half logs. Each step had an animal head carved on the end. Rabbit, with big ears, squirrel, fox , deer[with real antlers inset], raccoon, bear[with what were real bear teeth, she learned later], and several animals she couldn't recognize.

"Would you like to see the loft?"

She nodded, and he took her hand and led her upstairs. The stairs went four high into the side of the house to a landing, then turned and hugged the wall to the top. She raised her eyebrows.

He answered her unasked question.

"Remember, I designed this with small children in mind. If they slipped on the stairs, they didn't have far to fall. Lessens the chance of injury."

The loft was huge, forty by thirty six, with a safety rail of cedar waist high.

Deeply carpeted, she saw he had converted it into his sleeping quarters, with the biggest bed she had ever seen as the center piece. A large bookshelf went halfway along the back wall, crammed with all sorts of books. He had added a small bath and closet. He led her to the rail.

"Look" he commanded, pointing.

The upper part of the front wall was huge triangular windows. She could see the front lawn and the small valley dropping away. It was beautiful.

"I love the view. Sometimes I'll sit in my rocking chair[there was a set by the rail], and watch it snow in the winter. It's very peaceful."

He was silent for a moment, and her heart went out to this man, living in a house designed for love, alone.

He showed her the rest of the house, three bedrooms and two baths, all filled with furniture designed and built by him, with help from David. She fell in love with the kitchen, all stainless steel, with top of the line appliances. Why would a single man need double ovens, with a six burner stove top and a grill alongside?

"This has to be a million dollar home", she thought, and found herself wondering how comfortable that huge bed was. She colored as he helped her into her car.

She kissed his cheek on impulse.

"Thank you for showing me your home. It's beautiful beyond words."

He colored slightly over the praise and the kiss.

"You're very kind, but I'm sure your professional side was changing all sorts of things in your head."

She thought for a minute, and realized the only thing it needed was her. Her own face flushed, where had that come from? He's my boss! He's older, he's wounded, he's.......exactly what she wanted. She needed to have a long talk with Sherrie.

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PART FOUR: The best laid plans

"Have you been to his house yet?" Norma blurted when she returned to work.

Sherrie smiled.

"Yes, don't you just love the stairs?"

"I love the whole thing. It's a man's house, no doubt, but with a few touches here and there, a woman could be quite comfortable."

"Norma!" Sherrie gasped in mock surprise, "Are you thinking about volunteering? You'd loose him in that big ol' bed."

Sherrie was even more surprised at her response.

"No I wouldn't! I wouldn't let any dead space develop, when he rolls over, I will too. It's about time I got into synchronized sleeping again."

"My, my. Nothing like declaring your intentions. Let's make a deal. You help me land my honey, and I'll help you hook yours. Shake?"

They shook, they hugged, they planned. Norma didn't know if she had a chance. Her feelings for Charley had strengthened over the months, but she had never felt any reciprocation from Charley.

If she only knew. Charley had given her a good deal of thought. He loved her smile, her warmth, her brains. That all that was wrapped in a body he really liked didn't hurt either. For the first time since his divorce, he was interested in a woman.

He tried to subtly probe David to see if she was seeing anyone.

"The only one I know for sure she's seeing is some silver haired old devil who keeps taking her to lunch, but won't take her to dinner. Step it up, old man, she won't stay on the shelf long."

"I'd love to, but it's complicated. She works for me and does a really good job. I'd hate to mess that up."

David knew he was splitting hairs, but he really thought they would make a good couple.