Ch 6
After the events of her invigorating holiday trip to Lake Coeur d'Alene, Brittany spent a lot of time thinking about what was going on in her life. She'd tried edging onto the conversation with Hal, but all her boyfriend offered was that he felt great about how their relationship was going, and wanted her to do what she liked to do. "Because I know we're good, babe. So I want you to do whatever fulfills you," he'd said.
The problem was, she didn't really know how to handle unconditional support. She expected him to break out a tough talk about how they needed to dial back their -- she didn't even know what to call it. Was she starting to experiment with polyamory? That seemed somewhat wrong -- she'd had fun, and wanted more, but she knew she loved Hal, and didn't love anyone else.
She eventually had to admit she just liked being promiscuous. Which led her back around to Hal. A lot of the things he said to her stuck in her mind, and as she thought about it, the more she decided that, if he was willing to roll with it, so should she.
So, thinking about going back to work on Monday after that eventful 4th of July weekend, Brittany decided she should try something new. When she'd committed to an idea in the shower shower on Sunday evening (after her daily workout), she felt a thrill of exhilaration.
I guess I'm doing this,
she realized.
Her big idea was skirts -- twice a week. It seemed innocent enough from an outside perspective. She'd even planned it out. She decided first she would wear one on Tuesday, when John was usually attending meetings for the better part of the day. Second on Friday, knowing that most of the managers left early.
Ever since her experience with the Ron's Renos guy, Jeremy, out of the back of his van, she had been feeling differently about work, which is why she wanted to start experimenting there. And the more she thought about it, the more she craved the kind of excitement she'd gotten that day.
On Monday, she waffled between thoughts of flashing Brian or Rick again -- which had been exciting -- and thoughts of flashing a stranger, like Ron's son, Jeremy. Rick had certainly shown more active interest in gaining her attention, but she maintained a mostly-professional attitude, if nothing else, because it was such a public place.
With the kind of summer she'd been having, she couldn't help but want to make something happen, though. The flare of nervous excitement she felt at the thought of being so adventurous was intoxicating. Especially since her adventures were so sexual. Without Hal's
explicit
consent, she still felt like it was her big, sexy secret, too.
Before everything started happening --
Before Hal put the idea in my head of having other guys touch me
she rationalized, it had been exciting enough just to think about things like that, when she was in the mood for it. She used to come in to work, see a customer in a certain situation, and daydream about a chance encounter.
With her mindset lately, she felt like it was always at least on the back of her mind. And she was actually trying to find ways to make it happen. So, twice a week, she decided to wear skirts.
That Tuesday had passed without incident -- it had been a busy day, and despite seeing the potential to make it happen, she became too nervous to act. Several times that day, she'd gone to the bathroom almost hyperventilating. By the end of Tuesday, though, she thought she had it figured out.
When Friday came, she went in wearing a skirt as planned, but she felt ready to act. She knew that with summer weather in full swing, no one would think twice about her wearing more revealing clothing, and she came in to work wearing a flowy black skirt that hung just above her knees. To emphasize the outfit, she wore a low-cut blouse.
The morning was spent working up her courage to make a move. It was a busier than normal day, and both John and Rick were in and out of the service center constantly to help customers. That left her to man the service center mostly alone, and she was constantly aware of the circumstances, trying to figure out the best moment to try out her first fantasy.
It was around midday when another opportunity arose. John was out late to lunch, and Rick had gone to the paint mixer to help a customer find a matching paint color for his garage.
A trim, middle-aged man walked over with a paper bag that looked heavy and set it on the ground by his feet. Brittany's body tingled with anticipation and she had a split second of hesitation.
Am I becoming a different person? I don't feel like a different person. If anything I feel
more
like me.
Brittany's thoughts turned over and over. Her palms were sweaty, and her breathing had come in shorter breaths. She felt like an electrical current was buzzing around her body.
I feel so different. When I felt this way before, I would just want to go home. How did so much change?
The thoughts continued as she said on autopilot, "Hi, welcome to Tray's Hardware Service Center. How can I help you?" Then she realized.
My anxiety. I have these nervous symptoms, but where's my anxiety??
The man stood up straight and held out a receipt. "Hi. I'd like to return a few things."
Brittany nodded, more confident in herself at her realization. She took the receipt trembling. Her hands had started shaking the moment he set his bag on the ground. "Sure thing, do you need to replace anything?" she asked slowly, trying to keep her breathing even.
The man shook his head. "Nope. Just found out I don't need any of it, so I wanted to get my money back."
Brittany nodded again and glanced over the receipt, put some information into her laptop and used the delay to take a deep breath. Then she leaned around the side of the service counter to peek into the paper bag.
As she leaned around, she pushed her breasts hard against the counter, pushing them high in her blouse. The middle-aged man suddenly had an easy view of a lot more cleavage. She felt her breasts threaten to break out of her blouse. She whispered, "One, two, three," counting the items in the bag to give herself an excuse to let him look.