Just a small story that came to me. Hope you enjoy it. Please remember to vote and leave comments. Thank you!
--~~--
"How badly do you want this guy?" Jessie Quinn lounged on her best friend's couch, sipping her tea, and quelling the urge to celebrate her friend's frustration. Her small, shapely body was the epitome of comfort, her bright blue eyes gleamed with amusement, and her usually long wavy strawberry blond locks were tucked up in a fashionable black pageboy hat.
Tessa Elroy paced back and forth in front of her. She had a slight limp from a high school softball injury. Her formidable six foot two body wasn't as fit as it use to be, but she still maintained a robust lifestyle. Green eyes flashed towards her friend on the couch as she passed Jessie by in her thoughtful pacing. An agitated right hand desperately combed through her shoulder length, straight, jet-black hair, for two years she had a crush on a fireman.
Duncan Bastian had been Tessa's uncle's replacement when it was time for him to move onto another profession. Her Aunt demanded that her uncle find a living that was less life threatening.
She had been at the firehouse that day looking after her seven-year-old cousin like she always did, keeping an eye the rambunctious kid didn't get into anything she shouldn't. Her Aunt asked Tessa to deliver her uncle's lunch since he forgot to take it with him.
She took it as an opportunity to see the inside of a firehouse, something that she never got to do in elementary school, instead of feeling like an underpaid servant. Dressed in a ratty t-shirt and jeans, shoes that looked like they'd seen better days, and a baseball hat with the cloth worn through to the board of the bill. That was the day Duncan walked into the firehouse, the day she looked like a bum who had an illegitimate kid her senior year of high school, not the smart twenty-five year old who was normally well groomed, single, with no kids.
Duncan ambled into the firehouse and time seemed to stop dead. To Tessa, it seemed that they were the only two people in the world that were unfrozen, as if nature wished to give them that time to take a good look at each other. Unfortunately, Tessa was looking and Duncan was wondering whom he had to meet to get started with his training.
Lucky Tessa had many opportunities to see Duncan and get to know him, many opportunities to remake a first impression and blind him with her beauty. He was often invited to her aunt and uncle's house for some type of party. Since women prettier than she constantly surrounded him, he noticed her love of sports and video gaming instead. Both noticed virtues were best friend qualities, not rip-off-clothes-lust-deep-meaningful-relationship qualities.
In light of the history she had to look back on, Tessa had no problems admitting, "I want him so badly my teeth hurt." She stated it with a quiet determination she never felt for her past goal to join the US Olympic Softball Team.
"It won't be easy for you. You're going to have do something drastic, something outside of your comfort zone." Jessie put down her teacup and picked up a cookie.
Tessa stopped pacing and looked at her friend in confusion. "What exactly do you mean?"
Nibbling on the cookie, Jessie rolled her eyes. "For two years the man's relegated you to best buddy. You're going to have to shock him out of that way of thinking."
Doubt assailed Tessa. What her friend was suggesting sounded a little too extreme for her liking. "Give me an example."
Jessie sighed like a drama queen who was put upon to perform a scene from a classic play. "I'm talking about seduction, dressing in tighter clothes to show off your curves, putting your womanly attributes on display in a tasteful yet tantalizing way. It's not like you don't have the body to tempt a saint to sin."
All the color felt drained out of Tessa's cheeks. "That's definitely out of my comfort zone. Seduction? I don't think I can pull that off."
Jessie jumped up from the couch, rounded the coffee table and placed her hands on her friend's shoulders. "Of course you can! All women were born with the knowledge of seduction. Men have to learn to seduce. With women, it's genetic. The key to unlocking your hidden feminine knowledge is confidence."
"I have confidence," Tessa declared with a courage that she didn't feel. She stood taller, straightening her blue button down shirt.
"Fine, you have confidence, then you won't have a problem with the make over I'm going to give you." With that said, Jessie turned back to the couch. Tessa grabbed her elbow to stop her.
"Make over?" She squeaked. Tessa cleared her throat and tried again. "What's involved in this make over?"
Jessie brushed off the hand with an annoyed motion. "Honestly, Tessa, you act like I'm proposing plastic surgery."
"In a way, you are! There's not much you can do with me. I don't want to wear make-up, my face will break out the next day, and then how attractive would I be then? What about clothes? It's summer; I can't wear sexy revealing clothes because I'm allergic to the sun. Mom almost bought stock in sunscreen because I had to pour the disgusting stuff all over myself when I was playing softball. I swam in sunscreen so often that I started to get sick of the smell. Even unscented sunscreen smells bad. After I busted my knee, I promised never to wear that foul stuff again! Why do you think I'm sweltering in long sleeved shirts? It's for my health and sanity!" Tessa's breathing started to accelerate.
"For the love of...!" Jessie marched into the kitchen and came back with a paper bag. She slapped it on Tessa's chest just above her breasts. "There is no reason for you to have a panic attack over this! I KNOW all that. Will you trust me?" She turned away from her friend and muttered, "She can face down grown men on a baseball diamond, but the thought of seducing one scares her." She punctuated her grumble with a roll of her baby eyes.
Tessa eyed her warily over the rhythmically crinkling bag. Jessie rolled her eyes again. "Let's ask the question again: How badly do you want this guy?" She evenly spaced out the words as if she were talking to a child.
The crinkling noise stopped. Tessa slowly lowered the bag as she stared off into the distance, sifting through the memories that involved her and Duncan. She focused on the easy way he talked with her, how comfortable they felt in each other's company, the jealousy she felt every time he talked about the "flame of the week"...the tingling sensation that flowed through her every time he brushed up against her. It had only grown in intensity with the passing years.
Resolute, she crumpled the bag in her hands and tossed it at the wastebasket in the corner of her living room. "Swish," she mumbled when the bag made it cleanly into the basket. She turned to Jessie with her chin in the air, "You only live once. Let's do it."
