Ben zapped the automatic garage door as he cycled up his drive to put his race bike away immediately since he desperately needed a shower. On crossing the threshold he spotted his new neighbour heading out for a jog or run dressed in a baggy grey tracksuit and noted how poor her running style was, a habit borne of his degree in sports science & therapy.
He laughed at the note from his mum stuck to the fridge with a jumbo smiley face magnet as he went through the kitchen, "fridge, freezer & all cupboards full - off to see Janet for a week - love mum & dad". He was 24 and yet his mum would always view him as 12 bless her.
Janet was his aunt, his mum's sister, who had missed the annual 3 week ski trip to the family chalet in Chamonix from which they had returned a few days before due to recovering from a knee operation. The trip was an institution with 18 family members coming together every year on a post-christmas food, drink and ski fest but this morning's ride definitely showed the toll it took on Ben's general fitness level.
Ben toyed with the idea of using his parents huge en-suite wet room but decided his own large en-suite sauna shower was sufficient as he needed to get off to work. It didn't take too long to ease the aches and twinges from the 30 mile cycle ride he'd completed and once he had put together his lunch it was off to the sports centre where he worked for his first shift.
Although he had a teaching degree and did occasional school supply work Ben much preferred working at the sports centre - it was decent pay, he had free use of all the facilities, he worked with a great bunch of youngsters like himself and best of all there was access to an endless supply of single dateable women. Although the official line was 'clients' were off limits, as long as everyone was discreet then a blind eye was always turned & Ben wasn't shy when it came to making the best of an opportunity like that.
Being a Tuesday his first job was in the pool as a lifeguard for the local primary schools swimming classes that took place twice a week - as there was a great pupil to teacher/assistant ratio, along with his four fellow poolside assistants Ben just provided a bit of gentle crowd control whilst keeping a sharp eye out for anyone who might be in difficulty in either of the pools.
No dramas, a quick tidy up and clean ready for the general public to use the pools and it was back home for the lunch he'd made earlier. Ben was working a split shift that day as in the evening he was one of the tutors for the centre's adult learner & improver swimming classes so there was plenty of time to get out into the garden and get in a heap of practice for his primary sport - archery.
His parents were mad keen archers and had met during competitions as teenagers, they had even bought this house solely because of its main feature of a gigantic garden - as long as a football field & half as wide - as soon as they married so they could practice daily in the comfort of their own home. They didn't have Ben until late into their thirties but he had known archery from birth and had his first proper bow aged 4, specially made for him. He had always been a natural shot and loved the sport - currently he was in the British squad and heading for a place at the next Olympics but right now he was gearing up to win his third consecutive county winter indoor title. The contest ran for 4 months over winter with a shoot every other week for 9 shoots & competitors keeping their highest 5 scores. So far Ben was top of the league but had missed one competition during the skiing holiday so wanted to ace the one on the coming Saturday. As the indoor shoots were shot at 20 yards he decided against using one of the three permanent target stations built at the end of the garden, choosing instead to wheel out a portable target boss from the garage and setting it at the shorter distance measured against the fixed range markers set into the lawn and make the most of the unseasonably warm January sun flooding this part of the garden at the moment.
With his indoor competition recurve bow on a stand next to him, a fresh target on the boss and several sets of arrows in a stand he went through his ritual of centring himself mentally & emotionally before starting his practice session. Despite the layoff he was shooting as well as ever and having loosened up with several sets of arrows he was now comfortably in the gold on each of the 5 faces on the target.
Ben paused momentarily having noticed he was now being watched over the fence by the same neighbour he had seen going out running earlier. The young woman and a man moved in just a couple of days before Ben and his family had shot off to France so there'd been no time for introductions but Ben thought now was a good time to remedy the situation.
As he walked over Ben called out a cheery hello to the attractive blonde on the other side of the fence and when he reached her he said "Hi, I'm Ben - welcome to the neighbourhood."
"Thanks, I'm Paula - sorry for being nosey but I've only seen archery on TV and was intrigued."
"That's OK you'll find me out here pretty much every day at some point. Do you want a go?"
"Can I? That would be great", and with that Ben told her to come around to the front door & he'd let her in.
He paused on the way to the door to grab some kit for his neighbour from the garage and arrived just as Paula rang the bell. With a perfunctory smile and handshake he led her through the house to the garden.
On seeing a much more basic bow now next to Ben's bow Paula reacted by asking if he didn't trust her to shoot his 'posh toy' but rather than arguing he asked her to stand at the shooting line and handed her his bow. It wasn't that it was extremely heavy but rather that, with the multiple long stabilising rods and sight system it was very unwieldy to someone unused to the balance of it. The other thing with it was the fact that it was fitted with very stiff limbs having a draw weight in excess of 45 pounds and as soon as Paula attempted to draw back the string she failed.
Having taken back his bow Ben gently explained that his was a piece of kit that any archer built up to and that everyone started on the basic one he'd brought out. Paula seemed to swallow her pride and accept his advice. Although it was warm enough for Ben to be comfortable wearing a polo shirt & jeans, Paula was in a thick baggy grey tracksuit and when he went to attach a bracer (a protective guard for her forearm) over the sleeve it proved quite tricky. This prompted Paula to suddenly grasp the hem of the top and pull it over her head revealing a snugly fitted figure hugging T-shirt and what a figure it was hugging. Ben swiftly checked out her slim build, taught tummy and splendid breasts held high within the outline of a sports bra, generating that familiar warm feeling of desire in his groin. The bracer now slipped onto Paula's slender lightly tanned arm with ease and Ben also asked her to put on a strange looking mesh item - a chest protector - explaining that given she had certain 'assets' that lads lacked it would ensure that there was no painful contact with a bow string. Once Paula slipped her arm into it Ben clipped the side securely closed then adjusted a buckle in the small of her back for a snug fit.
Although the first three arrows that Paula shot actually missed the boss altogether, to Ben's delight his neighbour picked up the basics of archery very quickly and was soon peppering the area around the gold on the centre target. During the lesson Ben found out that Paula and Greg had moved for his work as an accountant following a big promotion and she was a theatre nurse who had secured a transfer to the local hospital. She was only a year older than Ben, extremely confident, outgoing & competitive and had an impish sense of humour. Today was the first of three rest days between her shift patterns which was why she was home feeling bored as Greg was in London until Sunday meeting clients & partners.
