Ch 9
After her week of PTO, Brittany and Hal spent the weekend enjoying each other's company and little else. Despite the great weather, they were mostly inside (especially Hal). Despite how he'd been feeling at the end of the week, spending the time with his girlfriend helped Hal feel like he'd been overthinking things with Cade, and for the most part, everything felt normal by Sunday night.
At first, that wasn't the case. Brittany had been anxious and quiet Friday night, like she was waiting for something bad to happen. When, halfway through Saturday, nothing seemed to have happened, she loosened up. So Hal did, too, and put the previous week behind him.
By then, it was coming up on mid-July. Brittany went back to Tray's Hardware and got back into the rhythm of work and workouts. She had lost more weight since the 4th of July and her workouts became more varied as she started working the muscles in her chest, back and legs. It showed, too. Every time her belt needed to be tightened by another hole, she felt a surge of pride.
Hal appreciated her new hobby, too, and came onto her during workouts, while she showered, and even tried some mornings while she dressed. Brittany didn't always acquiesce, whether she was tired or running late, but she had to admit the sex had gotten better. She had more energy, and Hal fucked her like they were in high school again.
Work had gotten better, too. All the guys she worked with were nicer to her, and she even got a second raise since giving John that blowjob back in May. John had winked at her when he handed her the check that showed the extra pay, and Rick had happened to be there to catch her blush.
Feeling more confident than ever, Brittany wore skirts to work every day. Hal joked that she might get another raise if she kept wearing short skirts, and Brittany almost admitted to him that she liked the extra attention. She decided to keep that to herself, though.
Tuesday afternoon, Hal walked into Tray's Hardware, hot and tired from working in the heat. He'd finished everything he could do on the Mustang Cade bought from his customer and left work early, so he decided to surprise Brittany with cheap bouquet of assorted flowers. For $8.00, he felt like he did pretty good.
Inside the hardware store, he went straight for the service area where Brit worked. As he walked to the back corner of the building, he found Brittany talking to her boss in front of the service counter. He admired her profile as he walked up, noticing the pounds she'd shed off her tummy, and the lift in her ass. Her shoulders were thrown back and her tits were looking stellar.
When he walked up, Brittany noticed him and the flowers. "Baby, are those for me?" Hal beamed and handed her the bouquet. "Thank you so much!" she said.
"You deserve it, babe! You've come a long way, you know?" Hal winked at her and she blushed. He looked at her boss and said, "Hey John. Sorry to interrupt her at work, but I got off early and wanted to drop by for a visit."
John shook his head, "No problem at all, Hal. We're past the busy part of the day anyway. It's good to see you!"
The two men shook hands, and John looked at his watch, then glanced at Brittany. "That was awfully kind of you to bring flowers, Hal. She sure deserves the attention."
Brittany smiled, her eyes piercing and her cheeks rosy from Hal's previous comment. "Oh my gosh! You boys sure know how to treat a girl!"
"I absolutely agree with you, John. The more attention she can get, the better." Hal looked at Brittany. "I'm definitely not enough for her, that's for sure! Right, babe?"
Brittany was red now. "What? Hey!" she said, half-hearted. Wanting to change subjects, she looked at her new bouquet and glanced back at Hal. "I appreciate it."
"You're welcome, babe!"
John smiled lasciviously. "Well I just want you to know, Hal: we'll give her as much attention as she can take."
Hal smiled back at John, apparently not picking up on John's tone. "Thanks, man! I appreciate that a lot."
John's eyes met Brittany's and his eyebrows bounced upward. He looked at his watch again. "Well, I've got a few things left to do today. Don't be too long, alright?"
John strode away, and Brittany and Hal made small talk. When Hal left, Brittany set her bouquet on her service counter and got back to work.
Rick had watched the interaction and walked over after Hal left. "So that was pretty awesome of him to do. He's not in trouble, right?" Rick joked.
"Jeez Rick, a guy doesn't have to be in trouble to buy a girl flowers. He's just sweet!" Brittany said.
Rick didn't seem too admonished, and said, "Oh. I guess so. Are those your favorite flowers, then?"
Brittany shrugged. "I don't know. As long as they're pretty and they smell nice."
"Huh. Well, hey, I've been thinking about mentioning something to John, and wanted to get your take on it." He looked at her meaningfully.
"What do you mean?"
Rick's eyes dropped to her chest as if he were thinking hard about something. Then he looked back up at her face. Brittany wasn't sure he had much more than her tits on his mind, but then he said, "I want to see if we can do some team-building exercises."
Despite looking a little red in the face as the words spilled out of his mouth, Brittany thought he did a pretty good job of keeping his composure "I don't feel like I know you guys all that well, and we've worked together for 9 months already."
Brittany nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. Do you mean like, games or something?"