My thanks to Doug for lighting a fire under me (metaphorically), to Rich for some encouragement, but most to Seurat, who came out of retirement to help me finally get the words out. Since I like surprise stories, I try to speak more from the person getting the surprise.
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Jenny, part 1
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Mike sat in the SUV, his temper near the bursting point. He looked in vain through the fogged up windows at the rain outside, hoping to catch a glimpse of his girlfriend Jenny so they could end this stupid shopping trip and get back to the beachhouse. He had eleven days off from work, and so far the first two had been spent trying to find things to do until the rain let up and they could actually enjoy the beach.
Not that he was much of a beach person. This whole little trip had been her idea, a way for them to get to know each other better. He knew enough about Jenny already. Her family had enough money to own a house at the beach in a little New England town. She was shy when it came to doing anything in bed While she was willing to spend the better part of two weeks alone with him, she was not willing for either of them to go past some heavy petting. The time wasn't right, she said. It better be the right time soon, he thought, or this trip would probably be the cap to their relationship. Mike used his shirt to rub the fog from the window again, and this time he saw her.
Jenny was standing under the awning of one of the little shops that lined the main street, a pile of pink and black shopping bags arrayed around her feet so as to be out of the rain. When she realized that he saw her, she started waving frantically, motioning him to come join her. Great, he thought, two hours sitting in the SUV while she did some 'quick' shopping, and now he was going to be dragged into the stores himself. He tried to time his sprint from the car, but ended up getting soaked anyway. It didn't help his mood at all.
Jenny greeted him with a peck on the cheek and, evidently ignoring the scowl on his face, told him, "One more place honey, right around the corner. I remember it from when I was a little girl, and I thought you might like to see some history of the town."
Mike gave out an irritated grunt in acknowledgement.
"C'mon, don't be like that. It's a little shop with the town museum in the back. I promise it won't take long. Besides, I need your help with my packages." She smiled coyly, "I think I got some outfits you might like." Mike's heart beat a little faster at the thought, though he knew it probably wouldn't be anything more than a new dress or some such thing. Jenny was good at teasing him. Her current outfit of shorts, t-shirt, bikini underneath, and a pair of sandals pretty much matched his own in simplicity. He thought she would look much better in a catholic school girl's outfit, but doubted greatly that she had picked up anything of the sort.
Mike picked up a number of the bags, and found them suprisingly heavy. Tufts of back and pink tissue paper stuck out the top, hiding the contents. "What do you have in here, anyway? Rocks?"
Jenny gave him another peck on the cheek, "that's for me to know, and for you to wonder about. Now, c'mon, it looks like we got a break in the rain. It's just around the corner."
It wasn't just around the corner, and the break in the rain didn't last long enough for their mad dash. The two of them entered the shop dripping wet. It was yet another in what seemed to be the standard for the town: a storefront rowhouse built a few hundred years ago. The place smelled slightly of lavender and old people. A little old lady sat behind the counter and looked up from her knitting to eyed them suspiciously. Jenny made some small talk about the town and how she had spent her summers there and Mike just zoned out completely. The shop was filled with curios from local artists, with painted seashells and handcarved waterbirds seeming to take up most of the space. Mike put the bags down next to Jenny, and asked the little old lady where the bathroom was. "That diner food from this morning doesn't seem to like me anymore." She pointed to a door at the rear of the store, reminded him not to make a mess and to leave the fan on, and he trotted off, suddenly unable to control his bowels.
When he returned, Jenny asked if everything was alright. "Yeah. I think I am pretty much drained at the moment. Wanna stop for lunch on the way back?"
"You're hungry after that?"
"Empty is more like it. What do you say a quick burger, and then you can put on a fashion show?"
"We can. Let's take the tour first, though." She handed him the bags again. His arms were starting to get tired and he shivered uncontrollably from the air conditioning but before he knew it, Jenny was dragging him through a curtained doorway in the back of the shop. "Hurry up, will you? It's normally closed this time of week, and I had a hard enough time convincing that old lady to let us in. I don't want her to change her mind."
After a walk down a short hallway, past the actual entrance from the outside (with a "closed" sign in the window), and down a short flight of steps, Mike and Jenny entered the first room of the museum. To Mike, it didn't seem much better than the shop upstairs. The room was mostly dark, with luminescent tape marking the path across the tiled floor. A number of ceiling spotlights illuminated wall mounted exhibits of clothing and placards that dotted the perimeter of the small room. In all, it seemd nothing more than somebody's converted basement.
Jenny got out her camera and started taking pictures of the displays, and excitedly moved from one spot to the next. Mike quickly lost interest, and his mind wandered to the fact that he could see Jenny's black bikini top through her clingy wet T-shirt. His own bathing suit seemed to tighten a little while he stared at her.
The second room was at least a little more interesting. There was a half-decent scale mock-up of the ship the town settlers had come from europe in, as well as a diorama of the original town. Jenny chattered about the town founders and how her family had been on the original town council. Mike's mind went totally blank again after he started noticing little incongruities, like turn of the century items on the ship of the deck, or poorly done up indians (in war paint) trading with the people in the village mock-up. At least the air conditioning wasn't as bad down here. Mike stopped shivering, but could feel the creeping cold in his bones.
"I can't believe it's still here!" Jenny called from the next room. Mike hadn't even noticed that she had moved along. He shuffled into the next room, the bags seemingly getting heavier and heavier in his arms. The third room looked to be the worst so far. Mannequins in period dress lined the exterior of the room, most lit with their own spotlight. A number of the spotlights were burned out or at half strength. The effect was that a number of the mannequins were now creepy shadowed figures in the darkness. Jenny was in the middle of the space, looking at a well worn and old-looking but obviously pretend set of stocks. A set of phony looking levers, meant to look ominous, were attached to the side. "Mom used to threaten us all the time with this thing. She said that anybody placed in the stocks were at the mercy of the townspeople, and depending on what they did, punishments could get pretty nasty. She said they used to do public executions and stuff way back when."
"Yeah? What did your dad say about it?"
"I don't remember him saying anything about it. Him and mom have a strictly set-up relationship. He never commented about how she raised us kids, or what threats she used to keep us in line. But those stocks always used to scare the spit out of us when we were younger."
Mike had had enough. "Jenny, those aren't real. Those look like they came out of Disney - see the holes for the head and wrists? Those are way too big. You could slip your head in and out, and the same with your hands. It's like the rest of this place, a tourist trap. Just meant for picture taking."
"Stop being such a spoil sport. They seemed real enough when I was a kid. Here," she offered him her camera,"take my picture in the stocks, so I can send it to mom. She'll get such a kick out of it!" Mike put the bags down and took the camera while Jenny walked behind the stocks, bent over at the waist, and put her head and hands through the holes. Her camera was bit more complex then the one he carried, but he figured out enough to take a picture. She smiled at him, and he snapped of a picture.
"Can we go now?" he said, his irritation coming out in his voice.
"Not yet. There was something else I remember, and I would like a pic or two of it while we're here. Jenny pulled out of the stocks and started walking around the mannequins. She stopped in front of one where the light had gone out, and fiddled with it in the dark for a moment. "Put this on, would you?" Jenny then took off her shirt and hung it over the head of one of the nearby mannequins, and walked around the stocks, After she put her head and hands through again, she looked at him standing there. "Well?"
Distracted momentarily by her bikini clad top, Mike looked down at the piece of leather in his hands. He unfolded it and saw that it was an executioners mask, which would cover the back of his head and his face as low as his nose. "Ew,"he said, "I'm not putting this crap on . Who knows where it's been? Besides, isn't this a little..um..kinky? What if that old lady catches us?"
"She isn't coming down here for anything short of a hurricane, and I'm pretty sure we have the place to ourselves. Just c'mon, already. Pretend like your about to give me a little punishment." She smiled coyly again at him. "Put the camera on timer and set it on that chair over there, then stand next to the stocks." Jenny talked faster and the pitch of her voice was a little higher, both which betrayed her excitement at doing something they shouldn't. Mike paused for a moment, then figured he might as well make her happy. He pulled the chair over and aimed the camera, then set the timer for 30 seconds. Then he quickly pulled the hood onto his head, adjusted the eyeholes so he could see, and stood next to the stocks. The hood was tight, and smelled new or at least recently cleaned. "Cross your arms, like your about to condemn me to some horrible fate or something." Jenny said.
Mike quickly crossed his arms, and the flash went off. He started to pull off the hood when Jenny chirped up again. "Wait! This time, stand a little closer to me. I have another idea." Mike pulled the hood back down, and set the camera for another 30 second delay. This time, he stood in front of the stocks, and crossed his arms. He felt the finger's of Jenny's hand slide up the inside of his thighs, pushing them apart, and he unconciously spread his legs a little to give her more access. Her hand reached up and cupped his quickly stiffening cock when the flash went off. It was the first time she had ever touched him below the waistline, even through clothes.
"What was that?" he asked.
