Under My Umbrella

All who participate in sexual activity are 18 or older.

The impetus for this story derived from a request by another member for a bwwm story with a certain theme. If you're looking for a story with lots of quick sex this one will disappoint you, there is a lengthy build up to intimacy. Consider yourself forewarned.

*****

Though I had a wide umbrella assuring the rain wasn't running down my neck or soaking my clothes one still gets wet, I found myself asking, "Why did I ever let those girls talk me into this?" The girls across the street, eleven and thirteen, had challenged me to take the bus to work for a month as an eco-project for their school. Corporate sponsors were contributing a given amount of money for every person the girls signed up and then gave proof at the end with a bus pass receipt, since the pass registered every time it was used confirming its use, the matter of a monthly print out was not difficult.

The city bus system was working hand in hand with the project which made it easier for the kids. Though I work in the city I live in what was once an outlying community that had been absorbed into the metropolitan area as the city expanded. It was an eighteen minute commute with my truck, it was just shy of forty five minutes of jostling, listening to rude people, and having to endure people on their phone talking loud enough the entire bus could hear when I took public transportation. By the third day it was perfectly clear to me why more people didn't use the city bus line.

From my point of view the only bright point was that my bus stop was less than a block from my house, that is until today. When its dry folks are seldom inside the waiting structure which is no more than a small shelter, when it rains everyone tries crowding inside, thus I began carrying an umbrella every day whether it was sunny or not. Sudden squalls off the lake were a common occurrence, seemed that every day it rained a little at some point, just as it had today, an early evening soaker. There were no high winds, it wasn't a downpour, just a steady soaker, something you didn't want to stand in without some sort of protection.

I thought to myself *three more weeks of this madness* as I watched her approach, hurrying along the sidewalk with a magazine over her head, collar turned up, left hand clutching her coat as tight as possible. Though her coat was tight to her neck preventing me from seeing her attire she appeared to be a professional of some sort, hair done professionally, makeup soft yet inviting, running in her three inch heels wasn't helping things either. As she neared the stop and saw it was already stuffed with people I could see the disappointment on her face, when I caught her eye I gestured for her to stand under my umbrella, it was certainly wide enough for two. Moving my body to the left giving her room to move beneath the umbrella she looked at me pensively.

With a smirk she asked, "You aren't a serial killer or something are you? You aren't going to beat and rape me if I stand under your umbrella are you?"

I chuckled as I looked into her dancing eyes, "You're onto me, the umbrella murderer, sure hope nobody tells my mom, she'll send me to bed without supper."

She lightly slapped my shoulder, "You're funny."

I felt foolish after I uttered, "You're pretty." I quickly tried to salvage the moment. "I'm sorry, that was uncalled for, please don't think of me as being forward. My mother taught me better."

"That's okay, I'd like to meet your mother, she sounds like quite the lady. Oop, here comes the bus, thanks for the shelter."

She got on five or six people ahead of me, as I shuffled down the aisle looking for an open seat, I heard a soft feminine voice, "Hey, umbrella man, there's a spot next to me if you're interested."

I settled in, the bus started moving as we both relaxed welcoming the warmth and knowing the days end was near. I tried to assuage my guilt once more.

"I want to apologize for the comment, I've been told ladies don't like that sort of thing, honestly, I wasn't trying to be fresh."

"Not to worry, what does your mama call you?"

"Naial."

"You mean like the river?"

"Yes, but it's spelled Naial, don't ask, it's from Scotland or somewhere in Northern England I was told. My mother said I was named after some relative long since dead."

Glancing at her hands on her lap then back at me, "Well Naial I was caught off guard when you told me I was pretty, I've never had a white guy tell me I was pretty before. I've had white guys come onto me and I've dated white guys, but none have ever told me I was pretty. So, those were surprising words to this chocolate girl's ears."

I laughed lightly as she watched my face, "Chocolate girl, never thought of it that way. Fits though, you seem sweet, or is this you trying to make sure the umbrella killer doesn't attack you on a crowded city bus?"

She slapped my shoulder again this time harder, "You're funny, I needed a good laugh after having to run through the train. I usually take an umbrella but was in a big hurry this morning and forgot it."

I liked the direction this was going, "You're welcome to share mine anytime you'd like."

We talked as the bus journeyed onward toward home. She asked if I was going to catch the number five bus at the next stop, I explained I'd be going on to Brent which caused her to scrunch into the corner of the seat and stare at me.

"Brent, why would you be going to Brent, that's a community of nearly all black families."

"The key words there are *nearly all*, but not entirely, I live on Velma Dr. I was born in that house and have lived there all my life. When I grew up it was nearly all white families, as the kids graduated and the older people moved out most of the homes were purchased by middle class black families. Our once noisy exciting street full of kids went away as people aged, now it's back, with a different bunch of kids."

A soft squeal and another slap on the arm, "Velma, no kidding? I live on Aberdeen about a mile and a half from you, my closest friend lives on the street next to you, I know right where Velma Dr is. Small world."

I was interested in why a professional looking lady was taking the number seven bus. "I haven't seen you on this bus before, why tonight?"

"I used to get a ride with a neighbor, that came to a crashing end when he propositioned me last Friday. What ruined it entirely is when I told his wife about it, to say he's in the dog house is being nice. Why do married guys do that, get to know you and then try to put the make on you?"

I shrugged, "Not very confident in who they are I suppose, always looking for someone to affirm their quote unquote manliness. Ever notice those people, male or female, always seem to be married to a devoted spouse? Why would you knowingly screw that up? Makes no sense to me, I'm as baffled as you are."

"Well Nile, spelled Naial, you're pretty smart for one so young."

"I wasn't aware thirty one was so young as you put it. What are you, mid to late twenties?"

"Why Naial you shy fox, are you trying to take advantage of me because you offered me shelter earlier? Thank you for the flattering words but I'm a delicate thirty three, never had my brakes replaced or my oil changed and have a hundred thousand mile warranty still intact."

I was laughing so hard I almost peed myself and told her so through gasps for breath. She hugged my arm as she had at the bus stop and gave me another soft slap on the shoulder. We were nearing her stop when I asked if she had big plans for the evening.

"Not really, Hairy will be making noise about something to eat, I'll get that out of the way and wash my hair, the rain pretty well ruined it earlier. Hey, will I see you in the morning? If so, I'll save you a seat."

My heart sunk as I watched her exit the bus, it had been a pleasant ride, I hadn't met someone as nice as her in months and it seemed promising. Even worse I hadn't gotten her name, oh well, no matter, I didn't see a ring but she has Harry at home, no sense getting my hopes up. My evening was spent thinking of her and our conversation, I found her attractive, she had that *librarian* sort of look with her light blue stylish glasses. In my mind she was the proverbial girl next door who is an absolute knock out, except no one in the neighborhood figures it out until she's gone.

I suppose I couldn't blame her for not being interested in me, at five foot ten and 190 pounds I'm one of those guys you walk by a hundred times a day and never notice. I'm not ugly but then I'm not what cool chicks would call *handsome* either, just an average guy. I have a bit of upper body bulk from high school days when I wrestled but nothing to make anyone look twice. I don't go to the gym, I have a set of free weights at home and I lift enough to maintain tone, I certainly don't want or need any more bulk.

Her stop was before mine in the morning, I looked for her when I boarded, she was half-way back waving to me, all smiles and seemingly enthusiastic. I found myself wondering just how bad her home life was if she was so excited to see me. Her greeting was warm and seemed sincere which left me momentarily confused, I needed to sort this out before I went any further.

"How was your evening with Harry, have a fun time?"

"Hairy? Oh, he's fickle, once I feed him and clean up the mess he climbs on my lap and purrs until bedtime. Nothing very exciting about Hairy."

I laughed, "Harry is a cat? Oh my goodness."

"Wait, you thought Hairy was a man? Nope, that's why his name is H A I R Y, because he sheds like crazy. I'll only have him another month or so, my sister's new home will be done and she can take him back. He's grown on me, but I regret ever telling her I'd take him until their home was finished."

I found renewed zeal as I looked her over, hair done perfectly, makeup stunning, I loved the light purple lipstick with silver flecks of glitter, a smart business suit and today she was carrying an umbrella.

"You know what, I don't even know your name, I think you have the advantage." I commented.

"I have an unusual name just like you. Its Alastair, folks call me Alli, unlike you I have no idea why my parents named me that. I'm the black sheep of the family, pun intended, a sister who's a Podiatrist, a brother who's a GP, both parents are dentists and then there's lowly old me, nothing but a CPA. They have no trouble letting me know that a doctorate in finances does not carry the same prestige as one in medicine. When I want to get their goat, I call them the *beautiful people*."

My astonishment must have been evident, "Wow, you come from quite a prestigious background, I have to say I am duly impressed. Who do you work for if I may ask?"

"Mathews and Willette, on Michigan Avenue."

"I know where that's at Alli. Were you on the bus yesterday?"

"Yep, I saw you get on board, you sat toward the front. I got off five or six people behind you and I remember thinking about the silly white guy with all the muscles and an umbrella, then when you went into Lil Bloomers I figured you were some kind of sissy."

"Well Miss Alastair, I'm betting I didn't seem so silly when you were running to the bus after work, as for Lil Bloomers, yes, that's where I work."

"Really? Are you like a designer or something? I can't see you making arrangements."

I wondered if I should dodge the question or be straight forward deciding she was worth telling who I was right away.

"I suppose I fit into the *or something* category, I own the Bloomers network including all the kiosks and the main nursery on Pine Road. It was started by my mom on a whim almost forty years ago, when she passed on a few years ago I inherited everything. Talk about going from the pan into the fire at the ripe old age of twenty eight, it overwhelmed me to start with, but I'd worked with mom enough years that in about six months with the help of her long time employees I was flying solo."

As we departed the bus she walked with me to the shop and continued on. I made the rounds to the different shops and the greenhouse during the day, I had five small shops in the downtown area, it's amazing how many people will buy flowers on a whim if they're available for a quick purchase. With most of the small shops in the busiest part of downtown we seldom if ever saw a downturn in sales, I had three kiosks in the two major malls and then there was our greenhouse facility. We didn't focus on arrangements in the small shops, we still made them upon request, our main focus was quick sales in abundance.

I saw Alli standing at the stop as I approached for the ride home, in my hands I carried a single yellow rose. When I inquired why she was so early she explained she's been late the day before hoping to wait out the rain, she was planning to take the 4:25 but decided to take the 5:05 with me. I was pleased and happy to know she'd waited, maybe I had a shot after all. Early spring can bring chilly days as well as warm, with the sun beating down I popped my umbrella for us to seek shade, to me standing under that umbrella together bordered on romantic. I had no idea what she thought of it, if anything, but I liked it.

I had foolishly forgotten to give her the rose and quickly thrust it toward her.

"For me? You're sweet Naial, no one's given me flowers in a long time."

On the ride home she asked what my plans for the evening were, when I told her two girls were coming by and possibly their mother as well she clammed up and was no more than cordial the rest of the way. I saw her in the morning, I was bothered that she didn't wave for me to sit with her, I did anyway. Looking at me in disgust she finally spoke.

"You're looking awfully chipper for someone who was with three women last night."

I was befuddled at first and then began laughing as I figured out what she was talking about. This seemed to make her even more pissed, holding my hands up in a gesture of surrender I stopped laughing long enough to say their names.

"Angela, Ellen and Maggie. Eleven, thirteen and thirty three. The girls who live across the street and talked me into riding the bus for a month as some eco project for their school. Their daddy died in Iraq, I've become something like a surrogate male in their young lives. Mom has a steady boyfriend, he owns an eighteen wheeler and is gone a lot. Shame on you Alli, you have a dirty little mind."

She quickly corrected me, "My mind isn't little." Which caused more laughter, this time both of us holding our stomachs. People around us were staring, some commenting, others making faces as though we were weird. She reached for my hand.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have thought the worst especially after the Hairy incident. Am I safe in assuming you're not in a relationship at this point?"

"Roger that, who the heck wants a thirty one year old guy who owns flower shops when they can have mister career guy in one of the tall office buildings?"

She looked into my eyes intently, "You know Naial, there are more women looking for guys like you than the players in large corporations. For most of those guys the women are no more than the next piece of tail, sort of like a contest where the fools keep score"

I had nothing to contribute so kept my mouth shut and myself busy going through figures on my laptop. A few blocks before our stopping point I felt her hand on my arm.

"Do you like Big Ed's Pizza? You do, great. Wanna stop on the way home and eat, we can catch one of the later buses."

I nodded, we walked side by side after getting off the bus, it seemed her body was closer to mine than the previous day, at my store she reached out to touch my arm and told me she'd see me at five. My day was spent going to other shops gathering data and information needed for a running inventory, I'd gotten back late enough that I missed the 5:05 bus, knowing the route I had the delivery driver drop me two stops ahead. Seeing me she smiled and waved, when I sat down, she looked at me sort of perplexed.

"I was out at the main greenhouses, traffic was all jammed up due to an accident on Cobblestone Ave

and I missed the bus at our regular stop, I was not going to let that spoil our supper plans. Big Ed's here we come, I don't know about you, but I am hungry as a bear."

She grinned as she slipped her hand through my arm, "Well I don't know about a bear but I'm certainly ready to do some damage to a large whatever we order."

We started out with a beer, then a second one when the pizza came, eventually a third while we talked after we'd eaten. She was the first to go out on a limb.

"Had lots of girlfriends in the past?"

"Nope, only a few. A girl I dated for six months right after high school, then a longer relationship my junior year in college, the last girl I dated just over five months, right before mother died. As sick as mom was, I was a lousy boyfriend, I spent most of my time with mother, can't blame Tina for finding someone else."

With a stare she asked, "Virgin?"

I was surprised by her candor but answered quickly, "Nope, Linda Arnesen in college. It wasn't as earth shattering as I imagined, and later on neither was Tina for that matter, although it only happened occasionally before we split. And you?"

She grinned, "Nope."

"Okay, I gave you my details, time to fess up."

"I was twenty two, had just graduated college, was on a mini-vaca on a beach in the Bahama's, a treat from mommy and daddy. Sunning on the beach I decided I was old enough to lose my virginity, being a numbers geek I did what number geeks do. I researched ... wipe that smirk off your face. Once I had determined the average size of a penis and the average depth of a vagina I thought I can do that. After factoring the pain element of breaking the hymen I reached the conclusion that the good feelings would outweigh the short burst of pain."

I must have been smirking, "Knock it off a-hole, no it didn't work out as I had planned. Of all the guys I picked he had to be hung like a horse, once I'd seen and handled it I told him it wouldn't fit, the smooth talker he was convinced me it would. Long story short he hurt me enough that I cried through the entire episode, even when my body adjusted to the intrusion he was long enough that he kept hitting my cervix which hurt like hell. All the experience did was leave me crying in pain with a nasty mess between my legs while he sauntered off never to be seen again. The rest of my time on the beach was miserable."

I touched her hand softly, "So was he the only one?"

"No, I tried it again months later with a guy who was much smaller, he was way too fast on the draw and by the time it started to feel good he was rolling off asking if I wanted more of his big dick another time. That thing was anything but big, I'd had two bad experiences in a row, I've gone out with other guys since then but didn't allow them in my pants or my bed. The next one to get in my panties is going to be mister right and marry me, no more one night stand crap."

Checking her watch she said we should head for the bus stop or we wouldn't catch a bus for another hour. The ride home was pleasant, we talked small talk and basically passed the time until she had to get off. I told her I'd see her in the morning as she departed, the remaining mile or so to my stop I spent reflecting on Alli. In the pizza joint she'd taken off her coat, dressed in a light blue business skirt and top I found her alluring. The pencil skirt fit her nicely without being too tight, it hugged her butt and hips nicely showing off her assets without exposing too much, under the top was a black silk blouse with thin grey vertical stripes, buttoned at the neck with a collar like a choker. Her breasts weren't large but appeared firm, yes, I liked what I had seen, maybe this is the girl I've been looking for all along.