Because There's a First Time for Everything
The sun shone bright as Kay stepped from the car and rummaged through her handbag for her keys, cursing their non-existence.
"Lost something?" asked Dave, who was climbing down from his ladder and wringing out his chamois leather.
"Can't find my keys anywhere," Kay grumbled, not looking up as the window cleaner approached.
"Is that them?" he queried. Kay looked and sure enough, there they were hanging from the door of the car.
"Night shifts – they kill me!" she muttered as she grabbed the keys and stuffed the contents of her handbag back into its cavernous interior. "Do you need new water?"
The block of apartments Kay lived in took most of the morning for Dave to get round, and a fresh bucketful of water was always appreciated. Being the only shift worker in the building, Kay was often the only resident at home and regularly let Dave in to refill his bucket. For that she liked to believe he paid a little extra attention to her windows.
"No new water yet, but can I give you a knock when I do?" As he looked at her she melted into his deep chocolate coloured eyes, his gaze sending an unexpected but not unpleasant shiver down into the pit of her stomach.
Had the weather been warmer, Kay would have happily settled herself on the sun lounger on the back terrace and whiled away the time watching Dave as he worked his way across the building, his muscles pumping as he stretched to reach all four corners of every window. Once, as she had pretended to sleep behind Jackie O style sunglasses, she caught him looking at her slender frame through the reflection in the glass, a look that lingered just that second too long. That time she'd turned over onto her back to break the gaze, but today, though hot and humid, with rain clouds looming she contented herself with a glance backwards as she unlocked the vestibule door and made her way down the hallway.
The flat gave its usual quiet welcome, as Kay kicked off her shoes, opened up the French windows and lowered herself down onto the couch, curling up under the soft, faux fur throw. In not time at all she closed her eyes and let sleep come over her, her chest rising and falling as her breathing became deeper and more regular.
Stirring, Kay felt an unusual but very welcome sensation in her feet. It was as though the aches and strains of walking up and down hospital wards for ten hours were being drawn out of her body. She opened one eye to find Dave sat at the foot of her couch, stroking her left foot from heel to toes, slowly and deliberately. He smiled at her and continued to stroke up and down her soft soles, drawing circular movements with his thumbs as they travelled from heel to foot and then stroking with all four fingers of his right hand as it moved back down, his left hand cradling the ankle and stroking the Achilles tendon. After several cycles of moving up and down he gently placed Kay's foot on the soft fur and changed to perform the same magic on her right foot.
"Would you like me to stop?" he asked. Kay shook her head and lowered it back into the pillow, closing her eyes and willing Dave to make his next move.