I have a pretty great life. I live in a nice little town, and I operate a nice little business, a ladies' clothing store called K & E Gal's. I'm the "E" β Evie. The "K" is my business partner and best friend, Karen.
We really are best friends. We met almost 20 years ago, at a business mixer. Karen was thinking about opening a shop. I was thinking about opening a shop. We were introduced, we hit it off immediately, and became business partners. Since then we've become fast friends, sharing all our secrets and crazy ideas. I trust Karen, and she trusts me.
I have plenty of acquaintances around town, but not friends as good as Karen. And I date a little, but not a lot. I think men like my smile and sense of humor, but I don't think I offer a lot of "sex appeal." I have too little on top, and too much down below, for most guys to find me pretty. I keep my salt-and-pepper hair cut quite short. I have lightly freckled skin, and light gray eyes. And I haven't kept any relationship going for more than a year, ever. Except for me and Karen.
I turned 60 this year, and Karen turned 50. It's only a Sunday in February, and it already seems like a watermark year of some sort. Karen has been having a kind of wild time lately. Her mother, June, sounds like she's getting a little loopy (she's 75, and lives here in town). And I suspect that Karen's husband, David, has a bit of a thing for June.
We already had a couple of good customers in the shop when Karen arrived, later than usual. She cornered me in the back of the shop, and said, rather breathlessly, "I have something to talk to you about."
"It'll keep, Karen! We have customers," I said.
"I really want to tell you what happened last night," said Karen, urgently.
"Unless it's a life-or-death thing, you've got to keep a lid on it for a few hours," I said. "We have work to do!"
"Right, right. I'll go out front and help those ladies," said Karen, resignedly.
"Perfect! Early closing today, so what say we head over to my place later," I suggested. "We can sip some wine and you can spill the beans."
Karen gave me a quick hug, smiled, and hurried out to assist our customers.
Hmmm, I thought.
***
At 5:30 PM I pulled my Volvo into the driveway at my house. Karen parked her Prius on the street out front, and walked up the front path to meet me at the door.
"I called David to let him know I'd be late," said Karen. "He was at Mum's anyway, so she can look after him for a bit." And Karen giggled.
"Don't get coy with me, woman," I said, unlocking and opening the front door. "Get in here and let's get comfortable."
It was a little chilly outside on this winter afternoon. I grabbed a big, ripe Zinfandel to warm us, a corkscrew, and handed Karen two acrylic wine glasses.
"Why don't we use real glasses?" asked Karen.
"Because we're heading outside to the spa tub!" I said.
"But I didn't bring a suit!" Karen protested.
"We'll skinny-dip! A couple of middle-aged ladies, in a steaming tub ... nothing very interesting to look at, and you can't see through the steam anyway!" I laughed. "There are towels by the back door. Come on!"
I had my back to Karen, opening the bottle of Zin, at the patio table. I heard her gasp as she slid into the hot water behind me. I turned to look. Karen was in the water to her neck, smiling at me. Her clothes were carefully folded on a patio chair next to the tub, along with the towels.
I poured us each a glass of wine, and set them on the table. I turned to face Karen, and undressed a little slowly. I took my top off first. I wasn't wearing a bra ... don't really need one. Then the flouncy skirt I wore to disguise my hips, and, finally, my high-waisted "granny style" panties. I left them all folded on the patio table with the wine.
Karen watched me attentively, without saying a word. I took the glasses of wine and walked to the edge of the hot tub.
"You're going to have to sit a little higher if you want to hold this wine glass, Karen," I said.
She rose up a bit, and I could see the tops of her large-looking breasts breaking the surface of the water. She took both glasses from me. I stepped up, and into the tub, gasping myself at the warm temperature, and settled in opposite Karen. She handed me my wine, and we raised our glasses in a silent toast, then sipped. Perfectly delicious. A good choice for a chilly day.
"Now, tell me everything," I demanded.
"It's funny," said Karen. "We've never been naked together, not in all the years we've known one another."
"Did you see anything that surprised you?" I asked.
"You've a lot of hair ... down there ... more than I expected," Karen said. "Even more than Mum!" She laughed. We'd talked about her Mum's hairiness before. I expected that to be part of her story today.
"And you're bigger, up here," I said, gesturing at her chest with my glass, "than I expected."