The School Spinster Takes a Chance

"Who are you fooling you old goat, you know that you agree with me. I blame her mother, God rest her soul. She was just too overprotective and now Julie is past the age where she'll find Mr. Right probably."

"Well it was nice meeting you but I should be getting back to work," John said as he felt uncomfortable with where the conversation had gone.

"Now look at what you've done, scaring John away with such talk," Jack said to Edna.

"No really, it's not that. I just need to get back to work is all. But the job just started so I'm sure I'll see you a lot. Take care."

That afternoon as Julie ate her lunch Lauren had peppered her with questions about John. She had replied truthfully though her answers didn't seem to satisfy her friend.

"What do you want me to say Lauren. He's there working and that's all there is to it. Sorry to disappoint you but this isn't a story from you know where," she said, lowering her voice for the final part.

Lauren smiled wickedly at a thought that came to her after her friend's declaration before she spoke.

"If I was you Julie I might be a little nervous with a strange man alone in my house. If he's anything like those men from the erotic story site then by now he's jerking off into a pair of your dirty panties. Can you imagine?" she said with a laugh.

"Oh my God! Don't say that Lauren, even kidding around. He's not like that, is he? What do you know about him that you're not telling me?"

Looking around to make sure that no one in the lounge was listening first Lauren replied to her friend.

"I've never heard anything like that but you never know with men, they're all beasts. But I did remember something I heard about him. If you're interested that is?"

"Of course I am Lauren. Tell me," Julie whispered as she leaned closer to her fellow teacher.

"Well one time years ago when I still lived at home I happened to overhear a conversation between my sister and one of her friends. It seems they were at a party the night before and John and his girlfriend at the time had gone into a bedroom for some privacy if you get my meaning. I guess the girl was a bit loud and not just moaning but she was a talker as well. Some pretty wild things were said but the thing is some guy being a smartass happened to open the door while they were going at it. A lot of people including my sister managed to see into the room and from what I heard there was another reason they called him Johnny Forty-five. It seems he has a BIG gun if you follow me."

"Oh my God Lauren! What are you saying? Never mind," Julie said, her face turning crimson.

Lauren just smiled in a knowing way at her friend.

When Julie arrived home that afternoon she was surprised to see how much had already been accomplished. The amount of stuff removed boggled her mind but what really shocked her was that when she went into her house she found John sitting in the kitchen with Emily sprawled on his lap purring as he stroked her behind her ear.

"Hi," he said as she walked in the room, "I hope you don't mind but I was just taking a break and Emily decided to hang with me. We kind of became friends when I gave her a little of my lunch earlier."

"Why would I mind but she doesn't usually warm up to most people quickly so I guess that means she approves of you. I saw you managed to get a lot done today. It's a good thing I hired you because it would have taken me a lot longer to do and it probably would have put me in traction on top of that."

"Yeah, in that at least it makes sense. The way things are going I'll be done tomorrow with removing stuff from the house and you'll have to make your decision on how many windows you want to replace and what style so start to think about it. I guess I'll call it a day and I'll be back bright and early tomorrow. Have a good night Julie and I'll see you too Emily," he said as he gently put the cat on the kitchen floor before standing and departing through the kitchen door.

Emily yawned and stretched before rubbing her nose against her mistress' ankle as she waited for her supper. Julie fed the cat and scratched Emily's head as she chowed down.

"What do you think Em, about John I mean? You like him and he seems nice and here I am asking my cat for advice. God, I'm losing it."

Julie walked the house again looking for things to get rid of that she might have missed in her initial survey while also inspecting and taking a count of her old drafty windows. She also made her final decision on the colors she wanted a number of rooms to be painted as well. Satisfied with what she'd done Julie had her dinner while doing schoolwork the rest of the night.

That night she didn't sleep well, tossing and turning then waking up bathed in perspiration. Unfortunately she knew the reason why. Her dreams were causing this reaction and not only were they of a sexual nature but John featured prominently in them. Finally desperate to get some sleep she pulled her nightgown up and let her fingers do the walking. For the first time her mystery man had a face and it appeared identical to her former student and current worker's. And he delivered an earth shaking climax to her, after which she sank into a contented sleep.

In fact Julie slept so soundly that she snoozed right through her alarm clock (yes, the old fashioned kind) and it was the ringing of her doorbell which awakened her the next morning. She pulled her nightgown down though she clearly remembered doing that last night before again going to sleep. She rushed downstairs and threw open the front door to see John standing there looking gorgeous and holding two cups of coffee.

"Sorry I'm running late," she mumbled, "have to hurry."

Julie left him at the door and ran up the stairs in a panic on her way to the shower. She took a quick one then brushed her teeth and practically bolted out the door. Unfortunately at that moment John was carrying a box from the attic and had just emerged into the hall. They collided though John managed to turn his body lessening the impact with the only casualty being that Julie's robe which hadn't been fastened securely came somewhat undone.

John had been about to apologize when his jaw dropped as he caught a glimpse of Julie's charms - two small and perfectly shaped breasts topped with bubble gum colored nipples. He managed to close his mouth and turn away. Mortified from what had just happened Julie pulled her robe together and fled without a word to her room where she swiftly dressed.

Fortunately for her he remained in the attic allowing Julie to slip out of the house with the tattered shreds of her dignity. By the table near the front door sat a cup of coffee with a sticky note labeled Julie. She took it in passing as she left. In between figuratively kicking herself as she drove, Julie took some comfort in the thought of John bringing her the coffee which then triggered her embarrassment anew.

She just made it to class before the first period bell rang and she was not at her best. Since it was Thursday that allowed her to tell the class to review their lessons to prepare for the following day's exam. She sat there seemingly going over her own notes and lesson plans while actually replaying the scene over and over. That would have been bad enough but it actually started to arouse her knowing that John had seen her breasts. No man had since her college days when finally freed of her mother's control she had actually lived life a tiny bit.

There had been mixing with the opposite sex and dates with college boys and even a couple of short term boyfriends during those four years. It was when she had lost her prized virginity, taken during a frat party when she had one too many glasses of spiked punch. The worst thing about it was she barely remembered the actual incident but it was also the last time she heard from Kyle who had deflowered her. Still she hadn't let that stop her from continue trying to live life.

About that night she vaguely remembered there had been some pleasure involved on her part which she wished to experience again. Unfortunately the next boy she dated named Harold had been more than willing to sleep with her but he had not a clue when it came to a woman's erogenous zones. Fumbling clumsily with her breasts a moment as he positioned himself was the extent of foreplay and once he was in her he would thrust weakly for a couple of minutes before pulling out and ejaculating on her aroused yet unsatisfied body.

On a few occasions she had delicately tried to broach the subject of her enjoyment, or lack thereof with him, only for him to respond that any girl who thought in such a way must be a slut. Since that was the last thing that Julie wished to appear as, she let the matter drop. They continued to date until the end of the semester at which time he informed her that he had transferred to a college closer to home and they wouldn't be seeing each other again.

Maybe she should have been offended but truthfully Julie felt relieved. The thought of continuing to date and maybe one day marry Harold left her cold. He was smart and not bad looking but he was dry and boring with a very narrow view of things. In no uncertain terms he'd informed her that no wife of his would work and she had set her sights on becoming a teacher. Even worse was the thought of years of marital relations when her desires would get scant attention.

That had been the full extent of her sex life. Once she'd returned home after college her mother had reasserted her control, not that the men had been breaking down the door to get to her. Still from then on Julie dressed and conformed to what her mother thought was proper. The skirts she had worn in college that ended just above the knee were thrown out as they were too revealing even to be donated to charity. Julie had retreated back into her shell and the only time she felt alive was when she tried to impart her love of literature and poetry to successive classes of students.

It was when Lauren had joined the staff and befriended the painfully introverted English teacher that again Julie felt a yearning for something more. Of course by then her mother was in poor health which gave her another means to control her daughter but though Julie complied she lived vicariously through Lauren. They would talk and tell each other everything though as Julie confessed she didn't have much to reveal. Still it was from Lauren that she learned about masturbation and that there was nothing wrong with a woman achieving orgasm. And now Julie couldn't wait for lunch so that she could again confide in and ask advice of Lauren.

She was waiting anxiously at their regular table when her friend breezed in. Right away she sensed that Julie was on edge as she sat down by the way her eyes were darting around and by the fact she was continuously twisting and untwisting a strand of her long brown hair.

"Okay spill it! I can tell something's bothering you Jules."

"I really made a fool of myself this morning and I'm hoping you can do me a big favor," she began. "Is there a chance you can come with me to my house after school?"

Lauren raised an eye brow at the suggestion and shook her head.

"Julie, Julie what have you done that you need my protection for?"

"Well not really for protection, well maybe a little bit, but more for moral support."

Julie proceeded to tell Lauren everything, from how she'd dreamt about John and actually relieved her stress fantasizing about him and her to where she overslept because of that and up to the point where her robe opened revealing her naked breasts to him.

"I don't know how I'm going to face him again and the job has just started," she concluded.

Lauren had listened to everything her friend said with a mixture of amusement and concern and thought a few minutes before replying.

"If you want Julie I'll come with you but in my opinion you should go alone. It doesn't matter if it goes anywhere. You should just get some. How many years has it been? Go have fun."

"No I can't. Lauren you're right that I need it and all but I can't. Just throw myself at him I mean. Especially after what happened this morning. Come over to pick something up and that way I won't be alone with him because he'll leave once I get there."

"Fine if that's what you want."

That afternoon Lauren followed behind her friend's car as she drove home. The two of them entered the house together and John soon came downstairs. He was sweaty and dirty but he smiled when he saw them.

"Hey Julie how are you?" he asked and his eyes narrowed when he saw Lauren. "Hey I know you, don't I?"

"Hello Johnny, I'm Lauren and you hung out with my sister Trish back in the day."

"That's right, how is she doing? I haven't seen her or really a lot of the old crowd since I got back to town."

"She's good, married now with a little boy. They live over in Andersonville a few miles away."

"Let me get you that book," Julie said to Lauren as she slipped away. As she headed upstairs she heard the two of them gaily chatting about the past. When she came down she handed Lauren her lesson plan book though she had been carrying it the whole time with her.

"Thanks Jules and I'll see you tomorrow. Nice seeing you again Johnny, I'll be sure to let Trish know you're back in town."

"Yeah cool Lauren, I better go now as well and let Julie have her house. Goodnight Julie. "

She closed the door behind them and watched as they walked to the street where they both were parked. They talked for a minute more before climbing into their vehicles and driving off. The next morning Julie made sure she was up early and in fact she was ready to leave before he even arrived. When he did she attempted to hurry past when he stopped her.

"Julie before you go we need to talk."

"Okay," she said with her heart in her throat, dreading what he might say.

"Well I'm kind of at an impasse with the work. Until you let me know what windows you want done and which rooms to paint first, as well as the colors, then I'm almost out of work. I have a few more hours' worth and that's it. We really have to discuss it."

"Sure no problem, I understand John. After school today we'll talk," Julie answered, relieved that was what he wanted to talk about. "See you later, have to go."

With that she was gone leaving John alone. He shrugged helplessly as he really wished to talk about more than that but wasn't sure how to broach the subject. It was fairly obvious that after yesterday morning Julie was uncomfortable around him. He could understand it especially given her shy nature but it had been weighing on him as well. Last night all he could think of was the sight of her naked breasts and how much he wanted to suck on them.

He hadn't lied when he told her he studied her back when he was a student. Julie was a lot more attractive than she gave herself credit for he thought and though she did her best to conceal the fact her slender body was sexy as hell to him. Plus he fondly remembered the way her face would get wistful or passionate when she would read certain poems back in class, usually a love poem by one of her favorites. It was true he wanted to stay in town due to his father but the other reason John took the job was he hoped now that he was older he might have an opportunity to tell her how he felt and maybe have a chance with her.

Since there was nothing to be done about it until later John went to work. He finished removing the remaining unwanted items before noon, leaving him precious little to do. He next took accurate measurements of all the downstairs windows in case she wished to replace them. Finally he measured the windows upstairs including in the bathroom as well as in Julie's mother's room and the spare bedroom which was used as a storage room. Her bedroom he avoided as he didn't wish to invade her privacy in that way with how things were at the moment.

John killed time playing with Emily for some time, dragging a string across the floor and watching the cat pursue it until finally the feline got bored and wandered off to take a nap in a sunny window. When Julie arrived that afternoon she was surprised to see John sitting on the porch next door sipping lemonade with the Russell's. They waved to her and she returned the greeting but she made no move to join them instead standing at the curb with her arms folded.

"Time for me to go it seems, thanks for the lemonade folks," John said as he rose from the wicker chair.

"You're welcome anytime John and you let Julie know the same. Here we are next door neighbors and we rarely talk to her these days," Edna told him as he departed.

Once he reached her at the sidewalk Julie made a sour face before asking "So what's up with the busybodies next door, trying to squeeze you for information about me?"

John kept his face serene as he answered her. "No, not really Julie. I mean the other day when they first saw me they asked if I was doing work 'in the Jones house' but I think that's kind of normal under the circumstances. They see some strange guy moving stuff out of your house and all."

"Yeah okay but you have no idea how nosy they can be. That's why Mother planted the hedge after we moved in so it made it harder for them to spy on us."

"I think it's good for neighbors to watch out for each other's houses. By the way they told me to tell you that you're always welcome there."

Julie rolled her eyes from that little tidbit and John couldn't help smiling at her reaction as he expected something along those lines from her. They had moved up her walk as they talked and now went inside. Emily was nowhere in sight and it had been a while since he had seen her.

"So have you made any decisions on the windows Julie?"

"I've decided that it makes sense to do them all now. I have the money available so what's the point in doing some now and then doing more down the road. I'm not sure what style to get yet though."

"I think you're making the right decision Julie. And as far as the style, you take a look at the styles and costs and decide from there. You might get some of a cheaper model for some rooms and nicer ones for others. Personally since you have an older house with nice woodwork I'd suggest you get the kind where the interior section is wood and the exterior is vinyl so it blends in seamlessly in appearance. Some have built in lattices or other features but they add to the cost so it's up to you. I took the liberty of measuring most of the windows as I ran out of work earlier. I just need the dimensions of your bedroom windows."

They proceeded upstairs where he took the measurements as she stood just inside the room. A few minutes later they were again on the street where John unlocked his passenger door to allow Julie to get in. As they drove he figured now was the best time to broach the subject.

"About yesterday morning Julie, I apologize. If I had waited until you left before starting to work-"

"No John, it wasn't your fault. If I was watching where I was going instead of rushing blindly into you like that, so no apology is necessary and we won't mention it again."

He knew there was no way he could forget what he saw even if he never mentioned it but he held his tongue - for the moment at least. With a sidelong glance he noticed that Julie's face was red as a beet so he continued to keep his face turned straight ahead as he drove.

"You have an idea of what color paints you want?"

"Uh huh, for the most part."

"Well then you just have to decide which rooms you want done first. If you want I can work tomorrow and get a number of windows done if they have them in stock which will allow you to have the rooms painted according to your schedule. I figure when I paint your room you might want to sleep somewhere else for a night or two because of the smell."