Whether it was because my boss had spent so many months gushing about his daughter's fifth-place gymnastics prizes and church piano recitals; or whether it was his habit of pinning her mediocre watercolors to the office-fridge door, I had only ever imagined his daughter, Kira, to be a dull, puritanical nerd.
Kevin, my boss, is a terrifying individual. He hired me way beyond my age and experience. He saw something in me that even I didn't. Two years on, we are each yet to discover if it's there.
Somehow I managed to score an invite to his elite, annual beach party - a small, prestigious affair, with only 30 or so guests, mostly Kevin's family and close friends, but a few colleagues from the office. It was quite the honor for me. I was shunned the two previous years but had spent six months sucking up to him. I would ask on a break at the office, or in the elevator, "How is the lovely Kira today sir?" as if I cared deeply about his daughter's precious soul.
"Thank you for asking, Sam. She just won an honorable mention in a riding competition," he might say, beaming with pride. His enthusiasm for her achievements generally greater than the achievements themselves.
"I bet she just loves hanging with her cool Dad," I might say - or something equally ingratiating (I know, it's puke-worthy). But I needed that job, and my abilities were not enough to keep it.
Kevin is a man quite fond of promoting his own achievements, to anyone who will listen. And yes, he is a brilliant lawyer. But the only thing he speaks about that really seems to matter, besides money and cars, is his beloved daughter, Kira. She is the best thing about him, he is fond of saying. And it turns out that yes, by far, she is.
I was aware it had been Kira's 19th birthday sometime in the previous year - Kevin mentioned it about a dozen times. But she was still just a faceless rich kid of
who-cares
age, and not someone whose physical existence meant that much to me.
So imagine my surprise when she emerged onto the deck of her father's opulent beach house, in a robe that she promptly discarded - to reveal a tiny, one-piece, stars-and-stripes swimsuit that clung to her hot, petite figure - and proceeded to strike a series of cute poses in front of all the guests.
I looked around to see if her display was as provocative to everybody else as it appeared to me. But they were all just clapping and laughing, as if it were an entirely wholesome, innocent spectacle.
I should mention it was the fact that she was clad in US flag-swimwear that ostensibly drew all the applause and attention, for this party was to commemorate the Fourth of July. We were effectively clapping America for walking barefoot onto the deck. But I can't have been the only one to notice what a smoking hot body America had on her, or the fact she was revealing a hell of a lot of nubile flesh.
I didn't quite know where to rest my eyes as Kira twirled for the blessedly endless photos (I wondered if I should shoot a video on my phone, but decided against it). Her curvaceous bare hips were exposed by the high ridges of her swimsuit. Her large round breasts, thinly veiled in two thin fabric compartments - one starred, one striped, and with a wide open cleavage that reached lower than either - and her tight, perfectly formed ass cheeks on near-full display. There wasn't a single blemish on her skin and the slight overuse of fake tan made her the unlikely color of iced coffee.
Kira finished her wholesome striptease and took a bow. She gave Daddy a kiss on the cheek and casually fetched herself a can of beer from the bar table (which Kevin didn't seem to mind). I noticed she seemed a little bored and deflated, now that her performance was over; perhaps because the spotlight had left her.
I stood close by as she was quizzed by an older man - I think he was her Uncle - about every banal subject a teenager can be asked - college, sports, church, the ocean...
blah
. Her answers were about as banal as the questions, and I wondered if she knew how bored she sounded, or simply didn't care.
It made perfect sense Kevin would have raised a spoiled child. But it made less sense he would have created such a hot one. It probably had more to do with his Swedish wife, who also had a cracking body on her, but was dressed more conservatively, in a tasteful, figure-hugging pantsuit.
Kira took a seat by the food table and ate a piece of fried chicken, sucking the dripping fat from her fingers. I was acutely aware that I was staring and tried to look at something else - the ocean, clouds, a seagull standing on the rail - but
nope,
there I was again, staring at the luscious Kira.
It's tempting to say she was bursting out of her swimsuit, but she was actually quite well covered; it was just that her breasts were so large, they seemed indecent by virtue of their existence.
I went over to the food table to re-serve myself from the elegant buffet - not because I wanted anything, but because Kira was momentarily alone, and I wanted to be closer to her. I pretended to survey the table, selecting something I could face eating again, all the time hoping she might strike up a conversation. She didn't. So when I put a corn cob on my plate, just as I was turning away, I smiled and said, "Pretty good party, huh?"
She looked at me doubtfully.
"Is it?"
she asked. I think she was trolling me, rather than being impolite, because she was smiling as she said it.
"Not really," I confessed in a whisper. She liked this and laughed out loud. God she was beautiful.
Her father called out: "Kira, can you help your mother get some more bottles from the pantry?"
She rolled her eyes in my direction but got up instantly to obey - just like me whenever he asked me to do anything at work. For the first time I found myself wondering what it must be like to have Kevin as a father, especially when you look like Kira. It must suck. Maybe she wasn't a nerd at all. Maybe the piano recitals and gym classes were all foisted upon her. Maybe she was wilder than I could possibly imagine, and loved to drink beer and eat fried chicken, and... and
what else?
The mind boggled.
I tried not to watch her mesmerizing little ass as she walked it away. I was painfully aware that Kevin was standing a few feet from me.