Note:
This story is inspired by true events back in the late 1970s. I first wrote it entirely from Kevin's perspective, and after rereading and revising it several times decided that it would be interesting to also tell the same story separately from Lois's point of view. So I did, and I hope you find that interesting as well.
Kevin
I'll never forget that steamy Friday in July when an ordinary day at work developed into a milestone event for me.
When I got back to the drug store after some mid-afternoon deliveries, Mr. Conrad called me over to the pharmacy area. "I've got one more delivery for you today, Kevin, but it could take you a while to get it done, so why don't you just head straight home afterward." It was about 4:30 and the store didn't close until 6.
Mr. Conrad went on: "I got a call from Lois Green, who's a good, long-time customer. She took a fall a week ago at work and sprained her ankle. She's at home today and needs a few things from us. Since she's not able to get out, I also told her that you'd run over to the grocery store and pick up a few things for her there too. That OK with you?" "Sure," I told him. I didn't really mind, and in fact I often did little extra tasks for customers during my regular deliveries. It also meant I could knock off a little early and head home.
Mr. Conrad handed me a shopping list for the groceries and told to circle back for the things Ms. Green wanted from our drug store. It turned out that the grocery list was pretty substantial, and when I eventually loaded everything up to head off to Ms. Green's the four large and heavy bags completely filled up the basket on my delivery bike.
It was a late July day, very hot and humid and I worked up a bit of a sweat on the pedal over to Ms. Green's apartment. I hadn't ever been there before since Ms. Green usually did her shopping in person, and I was unpleasantly surprised to learn from her doorbell that she lived on the third floor. Since I didn't want to run the risk of leaving any of the bags out on the sidewalk, and also didn't really want to make two trips up to the third floor, I grabbed ahold of all four bags as best I could and huffed and puffed my way up the steep, hot and stuffy stairwell.
Seventy-two stairs in all -- yeah, I counted. By the time I got up to the top, sweat was dripping from my face and my t-shirt was nearly drenched. I put the bags down and knocked on the door of 3S. "It's open," came a voice from inside. I nudged the door aside with my shoulder and poked my head through.
"Hi Ms. Green, it's Kevin from Conrad's Drugs. I've got your delivery and your groceries too. Where would you like me to put them all?"
Ms. Green was sitting on the sofa in the front room reading a book, with her foot propped up on a pillow-topped ottoman. "Would you mind terribly putting them on the kitchen table," she replied. "It's all the way down the hall at the back. If you would be kind enough to put the milk and butter in the refrigerator, I'll put the rest away later."
"Sure thing," I said, and hauled the load of stuff to the back of her large apartment, dripping sweat all the way. After dropping the bags on the table with a sigh of relief and stowing the cold stuff in the fridge, I walked back toward the front room. It was cooler in Ms. Green's tidy apartment, as she had a window AC unit blowing up where she sat.
Ms. Green looked up from her book when I returned and shot me a look of mom-quality concern. "Oh you poor dear," she said, shaking her head, "you're dripping wet! I didn't mean to work you that hard."
"No big deal," I shrugged, "just summer in the city. It's pretty hot out there today."
Ms. Green looked me up and down, smiled somewhat awkwardly and said: "You're a pretty husky guy to have carted all of that up here in one trip." I'm sure she meant it as a compliment, although nobody had ever previously referred to me as "husky." I'd just turned 18 a couple of weeks before, and I was not a big guy by any means: just a shade over six-feet tall, with only about 160 pounds on my skinny frame.
"But you look so uncomfortable," she tutted. "Why don't you pop into the bathroom back there and run a cool cloth over your face."
"That actually sounds pretty nice," I admitted, "as long as you don't mind me getting sweat all over one of your washcloths."
"Don't be silly," she chided, grab a fresh one from the shelf in there and run it under the cold water. I don't want you passing out from heat stroke on my account."
"Thanks Ms. Green," I said as I backtracked to the bathroom and ducked inside. It was a big room with the towels arranged on shelves just inside the door as I entered. I grabbed a fluffy washcloth, ran it under the tap and then enjoyed the feeling of the cool wet cloth on my hot, grimy face. I glanced in the mirror above the sink and noticed for the first time the bathtub behind me at the opposite side of the room. But it wasn't actually the bathtub itself that caught my attention. Rather it was the contents of the drying rack sitting in the tub: the rack was covered with Ms. Green's underwear!
I'm not talking about anything particularly sexy or risquΓ©. Although truth be told, when you're an 18-year-old guy who had just graduated from an all-boys Catholic high school and had exactly ZERO experience with sex, just about anything would pass for sexy.
Ms. Green's underthings were pretty basic: white bras and white cotton panties. Three or four of each on the rack. I slowly turned around for a better view and -- to my great regret and discomfort -- felt an erection start to fill up my pants.
About those pants. They were khaki shorts, about three summers' old. While I was a skinny guy, I had gone through a growth spurt or two over that time and these shorts were on the hairy edge of being too small for me. They were more than tight enough to wear without a belt and -- when I turned back to the mirror -- clearly displayed every embarrassing inch of my raging boner.
"Everything OK in there," Ms. Green called from the front room?
"Uh, yeah... this, um, feels great," I stammered, figuratively kicking myself.
"Glad to hear it," she said in her kind voice, "come on back up here when you finish."
If I come back up there now, I will be finished, I thought to myself as I tried to will my willy to calm itself down already. But my penis was having none of that, and the fact that I was still standing in the room containing the collection of bras and undies didn't help. I tried closing my eyes, but I just could not un-see them.
What to do. For a moment, I seriously considered climbing out her small bathroom window, but the prospect of a three-story freefall convinced me to abandon that strategy. Looking around for something, anything to cover my throbbing shame, my gaze fell on one of the hand towels hanging on the rack by the sink. I grabbed it and determined that if I held it in both hands at about waist level it would pretty much cover my still rock-hard dick. Better than nothing, I decided and stepped out looking like an under-equipped matador.
Ms. Green was reading again when I emerged, but she did hear me come out. "Would you be a dear and grab my wallet off the table by the door," she asked, "I want to give you something for your trouble."
Talk about trouble! I couldn't think of any way to grab and hand her the wallet that wouldn't involve dropping one end of the towel. A quick glance down confirmed that my dick was still flying at full mast. So, I snatched the wallet on my way by and then tried to execute an intricate maneuver involving holding the towel in front of my crotch while stepping sort of sideways toward Ms. Green.
Fail!
Given my height, the fact that Ms. Green was sitting down, and my stupid decision to essentially wave a flag in front of my crotch, Ms. Green's gaze was drawn directly toward the prominent and increasingly painful bulge in my shorts.
For a moment, time stood still.
I had seen Lois Green before around the drug store. She was probably between the ages of my mom and my grandmother: i.e. early to mid-50s. She had red hair and fair skin with freckles. At the store she always looked pretty well put together, usually dressed in what I assume were her work outfits: pant suits or skirt-and-blouse combos. I always thought she looked good for her age. On this day she had on a loose-fitting light green housedress, which frankly looked kinda frumpy on her, but she was still an attractive woman.
I watched in horror as the freckles on her face slowly disappeared because her cheeks and neck were flushing bright red, and I could only imagine that my face was a similar color.
After a brief eternity, Ms. Green broke the silence with a breathy "Oh Dear!" She then looked up at my sheepish face, as if seeking an explanation of some sort.
The best I could come up with was to croak "I'm so sorry Ms. Green, I... I...." I what exactly? I'm a dirty little creep who was scoping out your scanties? My mind went blank. I had nothing.