Rita was growing up, but her parents hadn't really noticed. To them, she was still just bubbly little Rita, the gymnast, the social butterfly, the solid B student. She was a late bloomer at age 18, but her development was finally beginning to show. It wasn't just that the old princess pajamas she always wore around the house were getting threadbare. They were also getting short in the ankle and filling out in all the right places.
Her mother Cheri didn't notice. She was working 12 hour shifts as a nurse and trying to keep a roof over their heads. And her step dad Brian didn't pay much attention either. He had never been much of a lady's man, which is partly why she married him after an acrimonious divorce from Rita's father. Cheri needed someone who would be a force of stability for their family, someone who was not given to fits of violent rage like her ex.
Brian was sweet and kind, and Rita liked him. He wasn't much in bed, but that wasn't the most important thing for Cheri at this point in her life. She only wished that he could find a decent job. With the little money he earned, it made more sense for him to stay at home and keep house than to work. He was handy and a decent cook and kept the place clean. That's why her idea to convert the basement rec room into an AirBnB was so brilliant. It would take advantage of all of Brian's talents and earn a steady income while allowing him to stay home with the kids.
They settled on Nick for a lodger. He had recently relocated to their town for a job as a computer security expert. His job allowed him to work from home part of the time, but he sometimes got called in at odd hours to attend to a security crisis. His contract was for a year, so it seemed like a good way for them to try things out before committing to a long term lodger.
Nick was in his 30's, confident, friendly and charming. He knew magic tricks, which won the children over to him immediately. Brian felt uneasy around him from the beginning, but he wasn't sure why. Maybe he envied Nick's stocky physique, or his confidence and easy charm.
The downstairs bathroom was right over Brian and Cheri's bathroom, and the sound of Nick urinating was easy to hear if the house was quiet. He wasn't sure if it was because the sound was muffled by the intervening floor, but Nick seemed to have a much stronger urine stream than his. It was a growl compared to Brian's tinkle. Brian wasn't worried about Nick hearing him since he usually sat while he peed. After hearing Nick, he resolved to sit every time.
Some months passed and they adjusted easily to having a lodger. Nick was quiet and clean and friendly, but mostly kept to himself. It was Covid time and the kids were doing school from home on the computer. Cheri was working one of her long shifts. Brian was trying to fix the dishwasher, which wasn't draining properly. Rita came in and asked if he would help her with her algebra homework. Brian said he was busy and suggested she see if Nick was around since he was a computer expert and so must be good at math.
So Rita knocked on the door to the basement and called down, "Nick, can you help me with my algebra homework?"
She heard a muffled 'sure,' and so tried the door knob and it was open. The door could be locked from either side, but they weren't consistent about locking it. Rita wasn't shy about going down there since it used to be her rec room.
Rita was a willowy blonde whose Latin sounding name didn't really suit her, but she liked it better than Margarite or Marge. She was wearing a baggy t-shirt with a picture of a princess on the front, her old threadbare pink pajamas, and blue flip flops. The t-shirt only half covered her outstanding little bottom, which was more revealed than concealed under the thin clingy pajamas. It was like her bottom was trying to become a woman while her hips remained those of a boy. It was impossibly plump compared to the rest of her body, which was otherwise thin and bony. If she had much in the way of breasts, the only thing that showed through the baggy t-shirt was an occasional sharp nipple stabbing Princess in the eye.
Nick was at his desk in front of his computer scrolling through lines of code. He was wearing a thick fleece jacket over his t-shirt, since it was always a little chilly in the basement, and gray sweatpants. He used an infrared space heater under his desk to help stay warm. Rita put her laptop on his desk and stood next to him.
"I don't understand the quadratic equation," she said.