"Hi Rii..." Rupali waved to me in her usual high pitched squeaky voice and her usual enthusiasm.
She called me Rii, short for Rhea. I was walking back to my building from the nearest ATM when I saw her. Her demeanor always made me giggle; she was a 32 year old child.
"Hi Rups." I said, shortening her name like how she had mine.
"What's up?" She asked as we stood near our building.
"Nothing much; just spending the summer vacation, doing chores etc etc." I replied with a sigh.
"Apart from that you seem to be doing a little more?" Rupali said, her eyes displaying an intention of mischief.
"What do you mean?" I asked her, sounding puzzled
.
"The Frenchman seems to be bowled over by your charm." She said before giggling.
"What...what are you talking about?" I asked her, trying to dismiss her.
"The English tuitions, the morning jogs...hmmmm...something's happening!" She said in a very childish manner. She was teasing me like teenaged girls teased each other.
"What nonsense. He requested me to teach him English because he knows I am a teacher and I've been telling you to come for the morning jog for the last 1 year but you're too lazy to wake up early. All the other women are also irregular. I know your husband leaves for work without a lunch in his hand and breakfast in his stomach you lazy bum." I replied, checkmating any further moves she had.
From having that smug, mischievous smile on her face, she went to a frown with my comment. All these years with her had taught me how to counter her and I was now an expert in it and I enjoyed it.
"Hehehe...relax; I was just joking. Nothing is going on between me and Jacques." I replied as I kept my hand on her shoulder to console her ego.
"Wanna join me for tea?" I asked her and she nodded silently to which I smiled and pulled her close.
"Hi Rhea!" I heard just as we were about to walk to my house. We both turned around to see Jacques walking towards us. He was dressed in a crisp white shirt and stone grey trousers with a pair of black shoes. It looked like he had returned home after a day at work.
"Hii Jacquesss." Rupali said to her in manner which was not meant to be a greeting to him but a taunt at me.
"Hello" He replied smiling awkwardly, he too got a sense of her tone.
"Office done?" I asked him, brushing Rupali to the side in this conversation.
"Yes." Was all Jacques replied; I wasn't comfortable talking more in front of Rupali. As it is she was teasing me and I didn't want to give any more cannon fodder to go around, Jacques realized that too, nodded slightly and stood in front of us with an awkward smile.
"Good bye." He said.
"Bye." I replied.
"Byeee Jacquess.." Rupali replied in the same teasing manner, gently thrusting her elbow and giving me a mischievous smile. Jacques flashed an awkward yet cute smile before walking past us to the elevator.
"He's totally into you." Rupali almost screamed at me as soon as the elevator door closed behind Jacques. I winced hearing her squeaky voice so close to my ear and loud enough for someone else to hear.
"Shut uppp..Are you in for that tea or not?" I cut her down before she said anything. She nodded and we started walking to the elevator.
"You have to agree with me on one thing though; he's hot." She said as the elevator started moving up.
"That I will agree to." I replied and winked at her to which she winked back at me.
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A couple of weeks had passed since the day I caught Jacques staring at my assets at the jogging track. We would meet everyday in the morning on the track for some stretches and then a few rounds around the track.
I hadn't objected to him checking me out and everyday I thought I would say something about that to him but in the end I would say nothing.
He too didn't broach the topic but silently kept an eye on me. He didn't take my silence as an open invitation and wasn't a total jerk. A total jerk would've stared at me lecherously and perhaps taken liberties but Jacques didn't.
Even though I caught him stealing glances at my butt and my tits whenever I could, he would simply look away feigning innocence the moment I looked at him. I smiled at myself for indulging in such childish plays.
One day after the routine run was over I came back home and started my chores. I hadn't hired a maid and preferred to do everything myself; that way I could be used to working around the house and found another reason to burn calories.
I picked out the freshly washed clothes from the dryer and put them in a basket before walking to the balcony to hang them to dry. As I was busy putting the clothes over the line, I noticed someone on the balcony upstairs. I looked up to see Jacques standing in his balcony.
He was topless with just a towel tied around his waist and a cigarette in his hand. He leisurely smoked, looking in to the skyline of the city and occasionally down at the street. The first thing that I noticed about him was that he was fit. He wasn't pumped up like a body builder but had an athletic body.
Broad, muscular shoulders gave way to pronounced shoulder bones. His pectoral muscles were clearly out line with impressive cuts and even from a distance I could make out that they were hard. He unknowingly hardened his abdomen and his washboard abs became visible and his clearly cut hip muscles protruded outwards.