'You're late!' I heard her voice before I could register the front door swinging open. Her words would have shaken me, but the cheeky smile on the lips of the woman standing in the doorway portrayed a playfulness.
She was about chin height to me, with wavy dark-ish hair framing her freckled face. I only had time for a quick scan of her body -- fearing her obvious attitude would have a field day if she caught me checking her out -- and wondered for a moment if she had a date of her own to get to; glancing up her figure, thick-soled ankle boots gave way to pale legs that seemed to extend an almost pornographic length until, mercifully, they disappeared under a black flare skirt. The outfit was completed by a white tube top hugging a chest just large enough to make me worry I was already staring too much when I saw them, a concern compounded by meeting her gaze to find that she was still looking right at me. If she had noticed anything, she showed no signs of it. Remembering she was probably waiting for a response to her greeting, I answered.
'Is Charlotte here?' I asked.
'Yes, and you're late!' The woman persisted, still wearing a smug smile like she'd caught me doing something wrong.
'Only by a few minutes,' I protested, surprised to find myself defending myself to this stranger.
'With a catch like Charlotte you should be showing up
at least
half an hour early.' She raised a finger up to point accusingly at me to drive home the tongue-in-cheek-ness of the point she was making.
'Joe!' As if summoned, Charlotte rounded a corner behind the woman and made her way to the door. 'Is Mia messing with you? Don't let her do that or she'll never let up.'
Charlotte was the woman I was here to see. We'd been on two dates already, but this was the first time I'd been invited to her home. I wasn't expecting anything, but the prospect of meeting her on her home turf had a certain novelty to it that made this date already feel more intimate than our last two.
She was a gorgeous woman, with shoulder length blonde hair and eyebrows raised in a seemingly permanent look of mild surprise, like something out of a 1920s pin-up. Affirming this look, her figure was tall, slender and small-chested. Considering my own attire leaned more casual, I was somewhat relieved to see she was also more dressed-down compared to our previous encounters: a white polo shirt and beige trousers. Classy, but not over the top.
'I'd appreciate it if you didn't give my cheat codes to the guest,' Mia turned to Charlotte, pouting. 'I'll have you know I'm a complex and layered person,' she glanced at me before disappearing inside.
'Sorry about her, I hope she didn't say anything weird?' Charlotte turned her attention to me. She blinked a moment, a realisation striking her. 'Mia! My housemate! Oh my god I'm so sorry I didn't say, did I? She's just such a part of the house I didn't think to- that's so rude of me, god...' She put her hand over her face.
'No no, not at all! It's not surprising you'd have a housemate actually, this is a really nice place.' I tried putting her at ease by complimenting her house (at least what I'd seen of it so far), and she relaxed slightly.
'It should be alright, I think she's going out soon anyway.'
'Not anymore!' Mia's head poked round a corner. 'Lewis bailed and I'm not going out with just Ben.'
'What!?' Charlotte seemed genuinely disappointed at the news. 'Are you sure?'
'I'm never gonna get some with him wandering around with that lost puppy look.'
'Is that all you think about?'
'No!' Mia put her hand to her chest (I gave it another cursory glance) in a display of feigned pearl-clutching. 'You know I'm a cultured woman capable of deep and nuanced thought.' She paused. 'But I do need some dick every now and then.'
Charlotte rolled her eyes and turned to me, slightly apologetically: 'you don't mind if Mia's around do you? She'll stay out of the way I promise!' She said that last part louder, directed as much to her housemate as it was to me.
'You won't even notice I'm here,' Mia chimed. It was fun seeing Charlotte interact with someone besides me, and they seemed pretty close, which helped assuage some of the awkward feeling that comes with the start of the first few dates.
'Not at all, I'm the guest here anyway,' I replied.
'And I endeavour to be the most excellent host,' Charlotte retorted in her best regal accent with an accompanying mini bow. 'Please, come in,' she beckoned and led me to the kitchen.
***
Charlotte had been in the middle of cooking us dinner (which I hadn't been late enough to miss), and I stood with her in the kitchen as we made idle chitchat about various early-encounter topics -- childhood, fun facts, politics, etc. I offered to help cook, but she insisted on making it herself since it was a recipe she was 'rather proud of.' I was having a good time, we got on pretty well and she laughed at all my jokes which is always a bonus. She had a kind of warm radiance about her that made it really easy to talk to her about things, a positive energy that gave the impression she wouldn't mock or judge any sincere remarks made in her company. She wasn't air headed by any means (as our brief dip into politics confirmed), simply a genuinely nice person. I hadn't known her long, but it was a nice feeling of trust.
As dinner was about five minutes out, I asked where I could find the bathroom.
'Up the stairs and on the left.' Charlotte told me, glancing up from her stirring. I excused myself.
When I arrived at the top, I was greeted by multiple doors, all of which were closed. One on the immediate right, one on the immediate left and one on the left wall, leaving my choice as a toss up between the latter two. Since there was still some light left in the day, there was no light to be seen under either door.
I opted for the far left door, which turned out to be almost the correct choice, if not for Mia being sat below me about a metre away, panties at her ankles and legs closed tight. Her mouth was agape in silent shock but her eyes seemed to be smiling with a glint of something unplaceable.
'Oh my god I'm sorry!' The words stumbled out but my brain I hadn't quite arrived at realising I should look away. I was instead transfixed on her legs, which were now visible in all their naked glory extending up all the way to the sides of her ass, the outline of which I could make out even from the front.
