Dear reader, this is my entry for the
Literotica 2021 Winter Holidays Story Contest
.
~~~***~~~
It was unusual for Oishi to be relaxing in her lounge, rather than working, on a Saturday morning. She was wearing your average supermarket jogging top and pants, whilst reading a Literotica romance on her laptop. With the impending run-up to Christmas and the busiest holidays of the year, there weren't many opportunities left for her to enjoy a little
'Oishi time'
.
When the chimes of her doorbell interrupted her, she got up, annoyed at the disturbance. Switching off her music, she headed to the front door.
'If that's Ran after another boyfriend has stolen his wallet and cards, I'll kill him.'
When Oishi opened her front door to the frosty December chill, she was surprised to see a female Police Officer standing there. Although she didn't look old enough to be out of school, let alone wearing a police uniform. Her petite, slender frame and short stature should have excluded her alone.
The Officer's fluorescent yellow waistcoat pockets brimmed with the tools of her trade. Despite the woman not ticking any of Oishi's preferences, she was disappointed she couldn't make out the shape of the young woman's body, because of the bulk of radios, body camera, and other paraphernalia hooked onto her body.
The officer's face displayed mild surprise with her almost luminescent blue eyes lingering on Oishi. At first, Oishi thought it was because her appearance didn't match
'The Bengal Tiger'
nickname the local Police had for her. After a pause that extended beyond mere recognition, she noticed the officer's eyes surveying her, igniting a spark of vanity inside her.
The officer removed her cap and tucked it under her arm. Whilst she had short white hair, it was by no means a masculine cut, being fashionably thick on top with short sides and long fringe. The officer's hand came up and ruffled her hair flattened by her cap. With a final flick of her fingers, she removed her longer fringe away from an eye. Once satisfied she was presentable; she looked up at Oishi and held up an identity card with her photograph.
"Good Morning. I'm Police Officer Debbie Marsh. Would you mind if I came inside? So we don't attract any attention from your neighbours."
She smiled but spoke in an official tone.
"Yes, of course," Oishi replied, stepping aside to allow her to enter.
"I'm sorry but do you mind removing your shoes?"
Officer Debbie Marsh stepped into the hallway and removed her shoes, whilst Oishi closed the door. Normally she would never remove shoes whilst on shift, despite the relief, as her feet were already aching today, but she wasn't here to caution or arrest Mrs Singh.
Standing in her socked feet, the officer asked, "I assume you are Mrs Singh?"
"Yes, but you can call me Oishi, officer unless you are arresting me?"
"Should I be?"
"Oh, you're on duty. I'm sorry I was trying to be casual."
"Oh, no, it's me who should be sorry Mrs... Oh, err... Sorry Oishi, is your husband Dr Singh at home?"
The young woman's lack of confidence reinforced Oishi's poor view of the quality of the Police selection and training programs.
"Sorry, no. Ran isn't at home. He's away on a golf weekend."
'If you can call shagging his boyfriend in a remote hotel, then yes, he's playing golf.'
Officer Debbie Marsh explained, "He'd volunteered to help us with our investigations."
"I'm sorry, but he isn't due back until Monday evening. Ran mentioned something, but thought it wouldn't be for a while, so he wasn't very forthcoming."
"In that case, would it be possible to use your house to undertake some surveillance on a property that's behind yours?"
"Nothing for me to worry about, I hope?"
'I knew the new estate would attract the wrong type of people.'
"No. We have intelligence that a suspect we're investigating is using it as a safe house."
"Like Ran, I too have a strong community spirit, so would be happy to accommodate you in any way possible."
"Thank you, Mrs Si... Oi... Oishi... Before I confirm anything, I need to check the views from any rear facing windows upstairs."
Officer Debbie Marsh pointed up the stairs.
"You are welcome to, but don't you think it may be better if you remove the fluorescent waistcoat? You'll stand out like a lighthouse peering out the windows wearing that."
'Is this girl really that inexperienced?'
'But let's see what shape she's hiding underneath all that paraphernalia.'
Oishi, her interest now piqued, hoped for something more curvaceous to appear.
"Err, yes, you're right of course."
Officer Debbie Marsh blushed in embarrassment as removed the heavy fluorescent waistcoat and hung it on a spare hook in the hallway, now looking uncomfortable out of her uniform.
Oishi led the way up the stairs, disappointed that Debbie's baggy unisex uniform polo shirt and trousers lacked any shape. Not feeling any of the excitement she would normally have felt, leading a woman to her bedroom.
"The bathroom window is opaque, so that leaves only the one bedroom window overlooking the back."
Oishi opened a second door that led off the upper hallway. Debbie followed her inside. The bedroom was very large but minimalistic, with large mirrored sliding cupboard doors along two walls. Hanging from the ceiling was a stylish chandelier, made up of a cluster of LED lights hung together.
Above the bed's headboard was a picture of Oishi, surrounded by a group of other young women, linked arm in arm, laughing, despite their wet hair. They were all dressed in bright wet weather walking gear and carrying rucksacks with a backdrop of grey mountains and angry clouds.
As soon as Oishi noticed Debbie glance at it, she blushed and in a flash flipped the picture over to display the reverse side, showing a wedding photo of her and her husband. Debbie didn't need to be a detective to realise that the expert way Oishi flipped the picture over, was a practised routine.
Debbie walked around the double bed and went to the large bay window with drawn net curtains. The view overlooked the rear garden, which was an immaculate lawn bordered by simple bedding plants. High timber fences surrounded the property but still gave her visibility into the neighbouring gardens.
When built in the 1950s, Oishi's large detached house would have been out in the countryside. Now it is surrounded by new build, suburban little brick terraced boxes with postage-stamp-sized gardens.
Debbie counted the houses that backed onto the garden, to find the one she needed. As expected, she could see the offending house's rear-facing windows, single back door and its unkempt, overgrown garden.
"This is perfect, Oishi. I have an unobstructed view of the rear of the property from here and there is more than enough room in this bay window for a tripod, camera, and any night vision equipment."
Debbie was about to explain the legal side and timings of the surveillance, but Oishi cut in, holding her palm up to stop her.
"Why don't we discuss this further over a cup of tea in the lounge?" Oishi said, reopening the door, showing that Debbie was to leave the bedroom.
Having had her morning reading interrupted, Oishi thought having some female company would provide a pleasant distraction for a while. An invitation to share a cup of tea would encourage anyone to sit and talk.
"Please, that would be lovely, as I've been on shift for hours without a break. I'm not expected back at the station for a while."
Oishi led the way downstairs and showed Debbie into the lounge. Thick carpet furnished the room with a little too much chintz and dated wallpaper, for Debbie's tastes, but something her grandparents would like.
With Debbie settled, Oishi went into the kitchen, leaving Debbie sitting alone, looking around the room as she heard the kettle switching on and the rattle of cups.
There were hoards of photos displayed around the room. One photo showed Oishi with her husband, both in colourful traditional Indian dress that must have been their wedding photo. Oishi looked stunning in her beautiful wedding regalia.
Hanging on the walls were several larger photos of parents and grandparents. One black-and-white photo of an elderly man held the place of honour above the fireplace.
In the kitchen, Oishi delved into a pile of her clean, ironed laundry in her utility room, as she wouldn't dream of entertaining anyone in casual dress. Although in an uncharacteristic act of spontaneity, she removed her bra and omitted to wear a petticoat. Despite not wanting to flirt with Debbie, she wondered, in hindsight, if it was only a shallow, vain hope to confirm her attractiveness to her favoured sex.