Mandy stared out the bus window as she made her way back home from the small bookstore where she worked. Unless you looked carefully you would miss the fact that Mandy was actually a very attractive woman. She wore her long brunette hair in a bun that really didn't suit her, wore unstylish eye glasses, her plain pants hid her shapely legs and her oversized shirt effectively camouflaged her large breasts. The overall effect was to turn a stunning pretty woman into a completely almost forgettable average one.
She turned off her MP3 player as the bus passed a house she was all too familiar with. The two storey stone sided house was where her ex-boyfriend, Ben, used to live before he left for college.
They had been friends since grade school and casually dated over the years before officially becoming girlfriend and boyfriend. That had lasted for about a year before they broke up. Mandy couldn't even remember why they decided to break it off, it was something so small and trivial and yet seemed so important at the time. A year had passed since the breakup and the two had slowly become friends again. Ben had been dating other women since the breakup and didn't hide it from Mandy. Mandy had tried dating as well, without much success, and always held out hope that she and Ben would be together again.
The bus continued on towards Mandy's destination, leaving the cute neighborhood with Ben's old house behind her.
Mandy and Ben sometimes scheduled "webcam" dates where they would talk and catch up on each other's lives. Tonight was one of those nights but she had some mixed feelings about it. Mandy was happy that it was webcam night and that she'd see Ben, but it just seemed hopeless that they'd ever get together again. She wondered if she was wasting her time.
Mandy signaled the bus driver, stood up and made her way to the exit. Having a bus stop so close to her home with a route that passed right by her job made living without a car so much easier than it could have been. She hated relying on others for car rides.
As the brunette approached the small house she shared with her roommates Erica and Jackie, she noticed a familiar car in the driveway which caused her stomach to flutter. Her landlord Jeff was visiting.
Jeff was one of the most attractive men she had ever met and she always felt like a nervous little schoolgirl around him. If there was one person that could help get her mind off of Ben it was Jeff.
Jeff was tall and athletic with wavy brown hair. He spent most of his time working as a personal trainer at a local gym, but his other job was taking care of the rental properties his wealthy father owned. Today was rent day and Jeff dropped by to pick up the monthly payment.
She swallowed the lump in her throat and entered the small brick house she called home. Jeff was sitting on the sofa between her roommates Erica and Jackie. The three were watching TV, joking, flirting and laughing.
Mandy spoke up as she entered the room, "Hi Guys."
Erica looked up and smiled, "Hey Mandy! How was your day?"
Mandy really liked her roommates Erica and Jackie. She didn't have a lot of friends left in the city as most of them went off to college after high school, but Erica was definitely her best one. They two of them met when Mandy was looking for an apartment in the city. Mandy had lived with her parents throughout high school but her parents moved to the countryside after graduation forcing her to look for a place of her own if she wanted to stay. Erica and her friend Jackie happened to be looking for a roommate for the house they shared and everything fell together.
Erica was about the same height as Mandy, about 5'2", but that's where the similarities ended. Erica had long wavy blonde hair that almost reached her butt. The beautiful blonde was also in fantastic shape due to the many hours she spent at the gym and loved to wear clothes that showed it off. Erica was fun, flirty and had an air of sexuality about her.
Jackie almost as good a friend. She was much taller than Mandy and Erica standing at almost 5'11". Jackie had a naturally golden skin tone and long straight black hair. She was quite thin with small breasts that she constantly complained about. Her friends had often commented that she looked like a runway fashion model but in reality her profession was quite different. The tall beauty worked in the accounting department of a small Internet services company.
"It was really good thanks," Mandy replied to her friends.
Jeff turned around now that Erica's attention was on Mandy. "Hi Mandy," Jeff said. "Erica and Jackie gave me your rent check."
"Oh, good." Mandy stammered as she nervously played with a loose strand of hair that came undone from her bun. She hated small talk and now that the rent was taken care of she had no idea what to say. She quickly averted her gaze and continued after a pause, "Well it was really good seeing you again, I guess if the rent is taken care of, I should get going. I have a web date tonight..." Mandy let the sentence tail off and headed for the safety of her bedroom.
Jackie sighed, "Not another one of those web dates with Ben."
Erica nodded, "Yep, girl needs to get over that guy."
Jeff looked at the two roommates, "What's going on?"
Erica excitedly turned to Jeff like she just had the greatest idea she'd ever had, "You should ask her out! That would help her get over Ben!"
Jeff was caught off guard. "Me? I don't think I'm her kind of guy," he replied.
Jackie joined in, "Come on, she totally has the hots for you."
Jeff hesitated.
"Come on, she's really nice. Just a little uptight and shy. That's all." Erica said trying to convince Jeff without much success.
Jackie jumped in to defend her roommate too, "She's super sweet, and one of the nicest people I've ever met. I'm sure you'd like her if you got to know her."
"Look," Jeff said, "I'm not disagreeing that she's nice, I just don't think..." He struggled for the right words.
Erica sighed, "What if we can get her to come out to the club with us. We can all hang out and you'll see she's cool."
Jeff smiled and shook his head, "I wish you the best of luck at getting her to go out."
Erica dismissed Jeff's negativity with a wave of her hand, "Are you and the guys going to the bar tonight?"
"Of course," he replied.
Erica took a deep breath, "Okay, Jackie and I will see you there tonight. With any luck we'll have Mandy with us. Please be nice to her and show her some attention. We want to encourage this."
"Yeah sure, I'll believe it when I see it. Anyway, I gotta get going home. Thanks for the rent. See you two tonight, let me know if she's coming. If she shows I promise I'll be nice."
"Awesome," Erica beamed. "And once you see how cool she is maybe you'll ask her out?"
Jeff laughed, "You never give up. We'll see. One thing at a time." The handsome landlord gathered his things and headed home.
--
Mandy collapsed on her bed and stared at the ceiling. "If it wasn't for Erica and Jackie I'd be completely invisible to Jeff," she thought to herself.
The shy brunette looked at the clock, it was just about time for the call. Mandy grabbed her tablet and initiated the video chat with Ben. Talking to him should get her mind of the embarrassing moment that just happened and hopefully make her feel better. After all, Ben was the only guy that seemed to notice her.
"Hi Ben," Mandy's face lit up as her ex accepted her call.
"Hey Mandy, sorry I can't really talk right now. I'm, uh, heading out in a couple minutes." Ben replied.
Mandy was a little disappointed they can't talk, but happy to see him anyway. "Oh, okay. Umm. Have you thought about visiting me like we talked about? It's been a long time."
"I can't do it this weekend, sometime came up. How about next?" He asked.
"Yeah okay, next weekend sounds good," Mandy forced a smile and tried to be hopeful but Ben had cancelled many times before. "You have a good night."
"Yeah you too," Ben replied. "Talk to you soon."
Mandy was about to close the call when she heard a familiar voice coming from the small speaker, "Ben are you coming or what?" It was her old friend Janice, she was there with Ben.
