I was sitting for Andy Mitchell and his two little angels had decided to change into two little demons on liberty from hell. It wasn't really their fault, I guess. It was the weather. It was a hot sticky summer evening. There'd been a cool change forecast but apparently it had got lost somewhere along the way. It certainly hadn't reached us.
The air conditioning took some of the impact of the heat away but it didn't really help with the humidity. I swear the humidity was so high that the few birds that took to the air had to swim through it. It made for a totally mucky day and two very short-tempered little boys.
I finally dumped the pair of them in a bath half filled with cold water and told them to have fun and that I'd clean up the mess. Well, they made a mess, but it was worth it. By the time I insisted that bath time was up they were cooled down and totally ready for bed. I just tossed them both on top of their respective beds and they were out like lights. I just hoped that they'd stay that way.
With them out of the way I cleaned up the bathroom. It's amazing how far two little boys can splash water and how much of it they can splash. Still, it was only water, so all I really needed to do was wipe everything down and the bathroom was sparkly clean again.
I wasn't. I was hot and grotty. My clothes were wet (they really spread that water around) and I had just about reached the snarly stage, but I was still coping. Just.
I gave the boys half an hour and then checked on them. Both of them were dead to the world and looked like they'd settled for the night. Not that I trusted this observation. It's the sort of situation that could change at any moment, resulting in two upset boys and an upset baby-sitter - me in this instance.
Still, I thought I would be able to take a chance on them waking up. I ran myself a bath. A full bath, not the half-way mark that the kids had. I also used lukewarm water, rather than cold, and bath salts. Lots of sweet smelling bath salts. I stripped off in the spare bedroom, the one I'd be in if Mr Mitchell was out too late. Wrapped in a towel I headed for my bath and some peace and quiet.
My lack of trust in sleeping children came to the fore. I didn't take any music into the bathroom, restricting myself to a couple of magazines. I left the bathroom door open so I could hear the kids if they started to fuss. Not something I'd normally do while taking a bath but I'd be out long before Mr Mitchell got home and even if I wasn't I'd hear him come in, so I wasn't worried about being caught in an embarrassing situation.
(Truth to tell I wouldn't be worried if he did catch me in an embarrassing situation because Andy was a honey. He was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome, with a wicked sense of humour. I was surprised no-one had snatched him up already as it was over a year since his wife died. I might have only been eighteen but I could recognize a fine specimen when I saw one.)
I just relaxed in the bath, reading my magazines. I did take the time to wash my hair (rinse it really) but apart from that I just let the water drain away all the trials and tribulations of the day.
The night was still hot and sticky, even with the air conditioner, so I just stayed in the bath for quite a while. Not a peep did I hear from the kids, god bless them.
Finally, feeling as though I must be wrinkled up like a prune, I pulled the plug and got out of the water. I quickly dried myself and then used the hair dryer to dry off my hair. It didn't take much as it had just about dried by itself. Wrapping the towel around myself I left the bathroom, heading to the spare room to get dressed. Actually dressed, rather than pyjamas, as it was still rather early. I'd worry about going to bed much later.
My get dressed plans hit a snag as soon as I stepped out of the bathroom. I ran into something big and solid. I guess the noise from the hair dryer muffled the sounds of Andy coming home.
No problems, you're thinking. I just say sorry and scoot double quick to the safety of the bedroom and my clothes. That's what I wanted to do, but I didn't want to do it without my towel. I'd automatically grabbed hold of Andy to stop myself being knocked over and when I grabbed the towel took advantage of the sudden movement to become unwrapped and drop to the floor.
For one horrific moment I was standing naked in front of Andy. Not a stitch on. When I mentioned not minding an embarrassing situation I hadn't meant one as embarrassing as this. It got worse by the second. Before I had a chance to bend down and grab the towel Andy did so. You know what that meant, don't you?
He bent down but he kept looking at me, so as he bent over his head went lower and he had a close up view of my body, starting at my red face, moving down past a pair of white breasts that were inches from him, past my tummy, and finally getting a close-up of my nicely shaved mons. He couldn't have given me a closer inspection if he'd tried and I couldn't help but think it was deliberate.
"I, ah, believe you dropped this," he said, his face perfectly straight. Inside he was probably rolling around the floor laughing.
"Thank you," I managed to say, clutching the towel to me. Then I turned and bolted to the spare room.
I realised my error as soon as I turned around. I hadn't stopped to wrap the towel around me. I was more interested in an immediate coverage of what he had examined and I just held the towel in front of me. When I turned around to scoot I promptly displayed myself as naked again, this time from a back view.
Face burning I hurried to the spare room, just knowing he was watching me. I could feel my bottom giving an extra little swish as I walked, but I swear it wasn't deliberate. It was doing that without any help from me. I couldn't help but turn my head to see if he was watching me and he was. Not only that but he was walking towards me, smiling.
I very nearly panicked, but common sense reared its head.
Don't be an idiot I told myself. He's not following you. He's heading towards the main bedroom. Of course he was. I closed the bedroom door and tossed the towel onto the dresser.
The door behind me opened and closed and I froze. I slowly looked over my shoulder and saw him standing there.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, feeling stupid. I must have missed something, but what?