PARKS and RECREATION
Part 1
"The Parks Department?? Are you serious Krissy?" Ashley's tone was harsh. She rolled her eyes as she sat across the room, perched at the edge of Krissy's bed, an iced Venti Starbucks Latte in her left hand.
"I told you....I do NOT want to work inside all summer!" Krissy was resolute. Her decision to take a summer job working on the grounds crew of the parks department was based upon many factors. First, it paid almost DOUBLE per hour what her friends earned at their various mall-located retail hell-holes. Who wants to hawk clothes at Abercrombie for a lousy $7.40 an hour!!?
Second, it was outdoors!! What a great way to work on her tan all summer, and go back to college for her Senior year all golden brown and sexy!
And third, it meant her nights all summer long would be FREE! No more working the closing shift at some crappy restaurant or department store and not getting out until 11PM. At the park, she would work from 7AM until 4PM Monday through Friday, and had the option of working on Saturday too if she wanted to earn some extra cash.
Krissy had calculated that if she didn't miss a single day of work all summer, she would gross about $7,500 before she had to go back to school. After taxes....she'd make an easy $5,000. Oh the things she could do with 5 grand!!
Ashley, meanwhile, was just angry about that fact that she would be working the back to school rush at Abercrombie and Fitch for the 3rd straight summer. All the returns, bitchy mom's, horrible obnoxious little middle-schoolers...it was death on wheels.
"I mean...it's like all these old guys who work there....right?" Ashley continued her assault.
"Um...like no! As a matter of fact, it was a woman who hired me! And there were a couple of pretty hot guys working there the day I dropped off my application too."
Ashley just shook her head. "You suck Krissy. I can't believe you are abandoning me!"
"You could have come with me and gotten yourself a job there too!"
"Uh...yeah....mowing the grass all day? No thanks!" Ashley said. Then she stood up. "I need to go...my first shift is today and I need to go in early to get my name tag printed and get trained on the new cash register. Have fun raking leaves!"
Krissy just smiled to herself. Ashley could be SUCH a bitch. But still....she WAS Krissy's BFF after all!
Krissy awoke the next morning at 6, took a quick shower, and got dressed in what Karen, her new boss, had suggested. Comfortable clothes that you don't mind getting dirty. Krissy put on an old pair of cargo shorts and a T-shirt, and wore some old sneakers, then headed to the park.
Seneca Ponds Park was the largest public park in the upstate area. It had over 20,000 acres of ponds, woods, huge grass fields, pavilions, softball diamonds, a boat launch and picnic areas. It was a favorite destination of the picnic crowd on the weekends, but was still used during the week by dog walkers, bikers, joggers, and just people looking to escape from the city or suburbs for a while.
Krissy arrived at 6:50AM and met Karen in the main shed in the maintenance area. She would be meeting there every morning to get her work assignments.
As Krissy arrived, 2 guys on huge lawn-mowers were just leaving. The cute younger one smiled at Krissy. Krissy grinned back. "Old guys....huh Ash?" she said to herself as she continued into the shed.
Karen was waiting for her inside.
"Hi Kristina! Welcome to the wonderful world of parks grounds maintenance!" Karen said with a smile. Krissy laughed a little. Karen was a fairly attractive woman, maybe in her 30's. A little rough around the edges, but in great physical shape and REALLY tan!
"Hi Karen....remember, you can just call me Krissy."
"Ah yes....right. Krissy. OK -- ready to get out there?" Karen said.
10 minutes later, Krissy was riding with Karen in a maintenance truck out to one of the picnic pavilions. Her job today was to apply a single coat of polyurethane to the 8 picnic tables in that pavilion.
"UGH!" she thought to herself. She hated to paint anything, and applying poly would be worse due to the fumes! But once they got there, Karen helped her move the tables out of the pavilion into the sun so that they would dry faster. Krissy was happy about that...SUN!
"Once you are finished, which shouldn't be until about noonish, come get me. I'll be mowing just on the other side of that hill." Karen said. "I'll leave you the truck."
She set off on foot, and disappeared after a minute over the large hill to the north.
Krissy got the supplies out of the back of the truck, and started to work.
After the first two tables, the had a method down for completing the remaining 6. She sort of turned the whole thing into a competition with herself. Trying not to drip any poly on the grass, using a systematic approach to start at the top and work her way around and down.
She was finished by 11:15.
She decided that instead of just loafing off for the next 45 minutes, she would go and find Karen to see if there was anything else she could do before lunch started. She had already earned $52 in her first 4 hours and had been out in the sun the whole time! So far -- the new job was awesome!
She drove the truck in the direction that Karen had walked. She parked it just off the road, and listened for the mower. She heard it, and continued on foot down a path through a wooded area to the large grass field that Karen was mowing. She saw the large mower right away, all the way across from where she stood.
It was pretty far, but Krissy could make out that there was something different about Karen from earlier. The green work-pants and white tank top shirt were gone. In their place, Karen seemed to be wearing a bikini.
"Or her undies!" Krissy said out loud, and continued to watch from the tree line. "So THAT'S how she gets so tan!"
Karen drove the mower around the far edge of the field, just finishing the area, then turned it and headed back right towards Krissy. She seemed to jump a little when she saw that Krissy was there already. Krissy waved, Karen waved back. She drove right up to Krissy and shut the mower down.
"Yep...a bikini." Krissy thought to herself as Karen got down from the mower. Karen had washboard abs and not an ounce of fat on her anywhere. The little bikini she wore was a black string bikini. Krissy noticed that Karens nipples were rock hard and poking up through her top. She averted her eyes right away.
"Wow....sexy boss!" she thought.
"Well...you're done early!" Karen said, then quickly put her tank top back on over her skimpy bikini. Pants went on next. She had them stashed in a little gym bag that hung from the back seat of the mower.
"Yeah....I came up with a good system! Anything else you need me to do?" Krissy asked.
"Initiative....I like that in an employee! If one of the guys had finished that job early, it would have been nap time!"
They walked back to the truck together. The silence was a little awkward. Krissy noticed that Karen seemed to be.....embarrassed? Her cheeks were a little red when she had initially pulled up on the mower. But with a body like that -- could she really be embarrassed about being seen in a bikini? Krissy shook the notion off, then decided to question her a little.
"Well...now I know how you maintain that killer tan!" Krissy said once they were in the truck and driving back to the main shed.
"Hmm?" Karen responded, a little confused.
"Um....the bikini?" Krissy said.
"Oh....haha! Yeah. That's right! It does lead to a great tan!" Karen said. She smiled to herself.
Now Krissy was a little confused. Wasn't tanning the purpose of wearing the bikini in the first place? Karen almost seemed surprised by the connection.
"Um, I was wondering, would it be ok if I wore one? Maybe just a bikini top and shorts? I would LOVE to work on my tan too while I worked."
"Well, we'll see. It's really not the most appropriate thing to have on at work. In fact, I only wear mine when I mow, and only in certain fields that are fairly less frequented by park guests."
"Oh....ok..." Krissy said, and decided to drop the subject.
She and Karen ate lunch together and then they both worked on the flower beds near the North entrance, weeding and watering, until about 4.
As a matter of fact, for the next two days, Karen and Krissy worked together in the afternoons. Each morning, Karen gave Krissy a job to work until noon while she went to mow. And each morning, Krissy would meet Karen at whatever field she was mowing once her job was completed. And each morning, Karen was in a bikini while she was on the mower. The bikini's were always small, fairly skimpy, and skin tight. Karen always got dressed as soon as she was finished, and Krissy guessed that the guys had no idea about Karen's tanning sessions on the mower.
Another thing Krissy noticed was that Karen ALWAYS seemed more relaxed when she was finished mowing. Their afternoon's were filled with conversation as they worked, and Karen's mood was always much higher than at 7AM. Krissy figured that Karen was probably not much of a morning person.
PART 2a
Wednesday afternoon, as they were driving back to the shed after pruning some trees along one of the roads through the South end of the park, Karen told Krissy that tomorrow morning, Thursday, she had a meeting with the parks director at 10 AM.
"I'll still be here in the morning but instead of your usual maintenance task....I'd like you to mow the field next to the field I was mowing this morning. The mower is still out there...you do know how to start and operate it, yes?" Karen asked, interrupting herself.
"Yep -- I still remember you showing me how....it WAS only yesterday you know....I AM in college!" Krissy joked. Karen laughed. Their interaction was becoming quite familiar over the past couple of days, and Krissy thought of Karen more like a big sister than a boss at this point.
