I walked through the crowd of sexy beer wenches and lederhosen bros, sufficiently buzzed and enjoying the Leavenworth Oktoberfest for the first time during my short vacation in the central Washington Cascades.
Looking at my Instagram stories, I knew that Chelsea, my veritable Barbie doll of a former coworker at a beachfront resort on the Oregon Coast, was also in town. Before moving to the beach, she started her hospitality career at Leavenworth's Bavarian Ritz Hotel and liked to visit each year for the fest.
I wandered west on Front Street, half-full stein in hand, enjoying the sunset behind the mountains west of town and keeping an eye out for her. Halfway down the drag, a twenty-foot alley opened through the throng of drinkers. And at the end of it, there she stood in all her glory.
Chelsea looked like she had stepped right off of the label on a bottle of St. Pauli Girl lager and into every man's Germanic wet dream, clad in her minidress dirndl costume. A full head of platinum blonde hair cascaded down past her shoulders, tan and naked above the off-the-shoulder neckline. A set of perky, C-cup breasts in a push-up bra filled out the faux white blouse top of her minidress. They rested atop a faux brown leather corset built into the dress with lace around her taut midsection and thin waist.
The lacy trim of the green miniskirt barely reached halfway down her thick, tan, athletic thighs. A pair of thigh-high cotton socks ran up from her leather pumps, covering most of those sexy legs but leaving little to my imagination.
Chelsea had always been such a sweetheart to me, then a docile, introverted, three-hundred-pound puffball. She took me out of my comfort zone to go dancing, sing karaoke. I wasn't always easy to convince.
A lot had changed in the year and a half since she moved away to work at a ritzy hotel in downtown Seattle. We didn't stay in touch except on social media. I stayed on at the resort, working my way up from maintenance to management.
Chelsea couldn't help but break my heart when she left. But in my wallowing, I decided I needed the true affection of a woman in her league.
I started out walking. Then I started running. Within several months, I was finishing five and ten-kilometer races. My free time went from video games to running and strength training.
Over the next year, I dropped 100 pounds, toned my body and became rather svelte and athletic. I had just spent the last week in the Cascades climbing peaks before ending my vacation with a trip to Oktoberfest, feeling victorious and ready to turn one on, hoping to show Chelsea the new me.
I'd decided to play the part, donning a red-checkered gingham button-up shirt. I bought a pair of lederhosen, loose enough to be comfortable but tight enough to show off my impressive bulge. A pair of suspenders and my hiking boots completed the look.
I couldn't help but gawk at Chelsea for a few seconds with a look of amazement at finally seeing her in person again. She took notice of me out of the corner of her eye. Then she turned that always perfectly manicured face — like a cross between Mandy Moore and Jessica Simpson, with deep blue eyes, cherry red lips and a golden artificial tan — toward me.
Her eyes quickly scanned down my high-and-tight haircut and chiseled, stubbled jawline. She kept going down my muscular torso, even sneaking a look at my crotch before her eyes darted back up to mine.
The appreciative look and slight smile on her face told me all I needed to know. Chelsea thought I was hot — mission accomplished. My heart pounded and brain swirled. But I bucked up and walked straight for her.
"Long time no see, Chelsea," I said, confidently striding toward her.
She cracked a smile and turned her body away from her group of friend and toward me.
"Charlie; is that you?" she asked, looking somewhat flabbergasted. I had mostly kept my progress offline, aside from some beautiful mountain landscapes, preferring to surprise people with the new and improved me.
"In the flesh," is said, nearing her.
She stepped toward me, and we immediately embraced in a warm hug. Her hand wrapped around my broad shoulders. Mine went to the small of her back and pulled her slightly into me. The sides of our faces touched slightly for a few seconds before we broke our embrace.
"Holy cow, Charlie; what did you do to yourself?" she asked. "You look like a completely different person."
"Lots of salad and running," I said with a smirk. "It's great to see you again. I decided to come up and do some hiking in the Enchantments and check this place out. Saw your posts on Instagram and decided to search you out. You look amazing, as usual."
"Thanks, and it's great seeing you again too," she said with an appreciative smile, running her hand down one of my toned shoulders and biceps. "Looks like you've been doing a little more than just running."
"I work out a lot," I said. "Just wanted to tighten things up."
"Well ... you look pretty tight to me," she said with a mischievous smile.
Chelsea introduced me to her friends, who similarly ogled me. We hit it off pretty quickly, and next thing I knew I was part of their group.
We partied, danced and drank into the night. Mercifully, no other guys had significantly drawn in Chelsea before I found her. We continually stole glances at each other as she grew more and more comfortable with fit Charlie. I kept the pressure up, dancing with and giving her friendly caresses as we both grew fairly buzzed. She accepted my embraces more and more as the night went on, and we started to couple off.
