I got a call from an old college buddy of mine last week, Jimmy Hall. He's a pretty successful photographer in the mid-west, these days. We caught up, shooting the shit about old times before he asked if I could put up a friend of his that was coming to work in my area for a few weeks. At first I had qualms about the idea. It's not that I didn't have plenty of room, my house is a decent sized 2 bedroom cottage not far from the beach and I live alone. It had the added benefit of a large yard, and being the last house on a cul de sac, making it nice and private. It fit my introverted lifestyle. I mostly worked from home these days, so I wasn't worried about having the place cleaned out while I wasn't home.
He told me about his friend Jess, she was a typical struggling college student that modeled for him when not in school. She had two jobs lined up near here. If she were to stay in a motel she'd barely make enough to break even for the trip. I probably would have told Jim no if not for the feeling that he wasn't giving me the whole story. Something triggered my curiosity and without realizing why, I agreed. He thanked me and said that he'd give my info to Jess and she'd call me to set up the details. A couple hours later I got her call. She sounded upbeat and was very grateful that I'd let her stay with me while in the area. I gave her directions to the house and my cell number in case she got lost along the way. She said she would be here in couple days. That was two days ago.
I'd just finished mowing the lawn, and was sitting on the porch step with a cold drink when I saw a car driving slowly past, the driver peeking out the passenger window at the mailbox. The car popped into reverse and came down the driveway. It was her, she had been nice enough to send one of her head shots so that I'd recognize her when she arrived. I got up and waved as I walked toward the car. I pointed to the spot next to my car, she nodded and pulled in alongside. I walked around the back of the car as the door opened and a long, shapely, leg swathed in skin tight fabric to just below the knee, swung out of the door, joined quickly by the other as she stood and arched her back. I took a moment to look her up and down, and realized quickly why she was model material. She was a tall girl with brown hair sporting blonde highlights, with a lean athletic body, and a bright smile, which gave her eyes a slight squint and an accompanying twinkle.
"You must be Pete, or I'm in the wrong place." She said holding out her hand.
"If you're Jess, you're in the right place."
"I want to thank you for letting me crash with you. Jimmy said you were buddies in college and you were a cool guy."
"Well I can attest to the former, the latter I'll let you determine for yourself. Need a hand with your bags?" I said nodding at the trunk. We got her bags into the house and showed her the layout. She freshened up a bit before she came back into the kitchen where I set her up with a house key and one of the local tourist maps of the area. She already had my numbers in case she got lost.
I looked up and noticed she was biting her lip. I just raised my eyebrows in inquiry.
"Sorry. I just wanted to say thanks again. I can't do much but I can help out around the house and buy my own food." She said stumbling.
"Don't worry about it. I have somebody that comes in once a week to clean, and I won't let you starve. Though in your line of work I would think that's to be expected."
She laughed a little nervously. "No, I can eat. I'm blessed with good genes." Her eyes narrowed and her nose scrunched up a little as she smiled, and visibly relaxed.
"Are you thirsty? I just made a pitcher of iced tea."
While I put glasses on the counter and reached into the fridge for the pitcher, she asked. "You look like you're in good shape, do you go to the gym?"
I smiled, "not as much as I should, but I like to keep active. I bike a lot, hike some." I paused. "I can get you a guest pass at my gym if you'd like. I can't say that you won't get hit on constantly."
"Oh, hang on a sec," as she darted to her bedroom and came back with her cell. "I promised I'd let my dad know when I got here." She said crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out of the side of her mouth, which caused me to bust out laughing. She began tapping away on her phone, which immediately buzzed back. She tapped in more and set it aside, it vibrated again but she just looked at it, rolling her eyes.
"If you don't mind I'm going to take a walk. I feel all cramped up from being in the car for two days."
"From the driveway to the main road is about a quarter mile, be careful if you go any further, the main road is busy and doesn't have a sidewalk."
"Half a mile should be plenty to stretch out in." She smiled and turned getting her bearings and headed for the door. I watched her dance down the few steps to the driveway and turn out of sight. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly and chugged the last of my tea thinking that this may not be as easy as I first thought.
I went and checked my email seeing if there were any work crises I needed to address, but nothing popped up. I shot off a quick email to Jimmy telling him that Jess had arrived, and that I wasn't sure that he should be thanking me, but maybe the other way around.
She walked back into the kitchen a little later, calling out my name, I called back to her from my office. She looked around the corner of the doorway. "I was going to unpack and grab a shower. Do you want to go and grab some dinner after? My treat."
I looked up, smiled and agreed. Her bedroom door was nearly across from my office door, so I could hear the homely puttering for a few minutes before I heard her pass by the door on her way to the bath. I heard a little puttering in there before the water came on. A few minutes later I heard some muttered cursing before hearing my name being called again.
I walked over to the bathroom door and asked if there was a problem.
"How do you adjust the temperature on this thing?"
"Are you decent? I'll show you."
"Yea c'mon in."
I opened the door to find her standing there stark naked leaning over the shower control.
"Oh shit, sorry!" I said as I stepped back closing the door. A moment passed and I heard giggling, as the door opened again. This time she was wrapped in one of the bath towels.