Good Neighbor Karen

Chapter One: Innocently Intimate Flirtation

My name is Karen. I am, by trade, a writer and make a reasonably decent living writing short stories and feature articles for several well-known women's magazines. Although I was quite happily married for many years, I am presently divorced and live alone in southern Nevada where I especially enjoy the hot, dry climate and the twenty-four-hour lifestyle.

I live in a quiet cul-de-sac in a secluded neighborhood. A large, shaded veranda stretches along the entire front of my house and, whenever possible, and weather permitting, I enjoy my morning coffee in blissful contemplation of nature, from the veranda, in the comfort of my favorite lounge chair.

One such morning, many months ago, began as routinely as any other but set in motion a chain of events that would dramatically alter my life and change the way I viewed my life in general.

**********************************************************************

"Good morning, Karen," my neighbor, Marjorie, greeted with a smile and a wave as she walked from her front door to her car parked in the driveway. She and her teenage son, Jeremy, had been my neighbors for almost two years, moving into the house next to mine several years after I had settled into my home. While we were never the closest of friends, we always maintained a cordial and friendly relationship, and I liked her very much. I never knew her husband; by her own admission, she had been divorced for several years.

"Good morning," I replied with a smile and a wave of my own. Sipping my morning coffee, I watched her absently as she walked to her car and opened the trunk. Jeremy, followed behind her, struggling slightly with his mother's two large sample cases.

As a representative and demonstrator for a cosmetic company, Marjorie was forever lugging those heavy display cases in and out of her house to a variety of demonstration venues.

Jeremy hoisted the cases into the trunk for her, and she closed it with a satisfied nod. After giving Jeremy a quick kiss on the forehead, she was off. She gave me a wiggle of her fingers and a little toot of her horn as her vehicle sped away, a tumble of fallen leaves in the street cascaded along behind her in her wake.

Jeremy meandered slowly, from the driveway, across his yard toward me. "Hey, Mrs. Walters," he called from the beginning of the walkway to my door.

"Good morning, Jeremy," I replied with a smile.

"How're you doing today?" He asked, shading his eyes with his hand and squinting into the morning sunlight.

"Very well, thank you," I said. "How are you?"

"Pretty good I guess," he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other self-consciously as he looked around at my lawn. "Looks like you're going to need another mowing pretty soon. I can do it for you today, if you want."

I nodded. Since I don't own a lawn mower, I've found it both necessary and convenient to hire Jeremy regularly during the spring and summer to keep my lawn mowed, trimmed, and looking nice. "It's getting to be about that time, isn't it?" I said, surveying the somewhat ragged state of my grass. "But today is my day to water, so how about maybe tomorrow, if you're not busy?"

"Sure," he nodded, squinting, the sunlight directly in his eyes. "Tomorrow's cool."

"Why don't you come over here in the shade and sit down, so you don't have to keep squinting into the sun like that," I smiled, indicating the lounge chair beside mine.

He shrugged with a smile and made his way to the veranda, and flounced into the proffered chair.

"Whew...that's a lot better," he said, rubbing his eyes.

I offered him some coffee but he declined politely and we sat and chatted amiably for several minutes about the lawn and a variety of mundane things.

"Well," I began when the last drops of coffee were drained from my mug, "As much as I enjoy talking to you, I really need to start getting productive this morning. I've got to start the watering and do a few things in my garden out back before it gets too hot."

"Oh, yeah...okay," said Jeremy, jumping self-consciously to his feet. "I...uh...guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Sure," I said, "and thanks for the company."

I stood and collected my cup and coffee paraphernalia, peripherally conscious that Jeremy had not moved away.

"Um...If you ever needed me to...I could maybe help you out in your garden," he offered, shifting his weight self-consciously from foot to foot.

"Oh, gee, honey," I said, smiling appreciatively at his thoughtfulness. "I really don't have all that much gardening work to do this morning, just some watering and maybe a bit of weeding."

He nodded, looking somewhat dejected. "Oh, sure...but, just...you know...if you ever do ever need help with anything..." he stammered.

It suddenly occurred to me that, with his mother working during the day, he was, very likely, spending a great deal of his summer vacation alone. I felt a little sad for him, he seemed lonely.

"But," I said, after a moment's hesitation, "If you don't have to rush right off right away, you are certainly more than welcome to keep me company in the backyard while I putter around."

He brightened immediately and smiled. "Well...sure...okay... Hey, I can get your sprinklers going out here in the front for you too if you want."

"Thanks, sweetie...that'd be really nice," I smiled in return.

While Jeremy unrolled my hose and set the sprinkler in the front yard, I put the coffee things away in the kitchen and made my way around to the back.

Jeremy joined me a few minutes later, taking a seat on my patio and watching as I uncoiled the hose and turned on the water. We resumed our amiable chat while I meandered through my garden and applied water liberally to all my plants.

"Good morning, Karen," called a voice from across the back fence.

"Hey...good morning to you too, Bob," I returned with a wave and a smile.

Bob Roth, an elderly gentleman and my neighbor of many years, returned my wave. We chatted briefly over the fence about the loveliness of the morning as he too began to water and tend to the plants in his own garden.

Several minutes later, I glanced up and started in surprise to see Jeremy standing very near at the edge of the garden.

"Um... Mrs. Walters?" he hissed softly, purposefully keeping his voice low and motioning me to come closer.

"What is it, Jeremy?" I asked, stepping closer to him and lowering my voice in kind.

"I...um...don't know how to tell you this," he stammered, keeping his eyes averted. "Um... it's kind of embarrassing... but I think there's something you should really sort of know about."

"What is it?" I repeated softly, growing somewhat apprehensive by his secretive attitude. I drew even nearer to him and inclined my head toward his.

"Um.... Well, it's just that.... I think you should know that...well...with that...um...dress that you're wearing...and, well... with the sun shining on you like it is...well... I kind of think that Mr. Roth can sort of...see right through it."

I started in surprise. I was wearing my usual outdoor summer attire, a long sundress, sleeveless and loose fitting, which draped loosely from my shoulders to my ankles, with only a small pair of bikini panties beneath.

A momentary wave of mild anxiety coursed through me as I suddenly realized how very transparent my light sundress must be in the direct sunlight. With all my attention to the plants in my garden, it had never even occurred to me at all that my body might be so revealingly silhouetted through the very sheer cotton fabric.

"Oh!" I stammered, feeling the blush rise to my cheeks warmly.

"I kind of thought I better say something to you because I noticed that Mr. Roth keeps looking over this way a lot," he continued in a whispered rush.

I glanced over my shoulder and, indeed, Bob smiled and waved good-naturedly once more.

"Oh...okay, I see," I said, feeling suddenly very exposed and vulnerable in the bright sunlight. "Thank you very much, Jeremy...for bringing this to my attention...Would you mind turning the water off for me, please?"

He turned and sped off toward the house, turning the water off while I quickly gathered up the hose to put away. I joined him on the porch a few moments later and sat down beside him on the bench.

"Thank you," I said, clearing my throat and laughing softly. "I'm more than a little embarrassed. Believe me, I had no idea that I was being such an exhibitionist for old Bob... I'm glad you let me know about it."

"That's all right," he said, smiling and nodding consolingly.

We sat quietly for several minutes. I was absently admiring the look of my garden when I was suddenly struck with a rather stunningly insightful realization. The whole time I had been in the garden, Jeremy had been sitting here on the patio. Looking out toward my garden from where we sat, the sun was in my eyes. Anyone seated here on the patio would undoubtedly have been afforded a particularly revealing and unobstructed view of my silhouetted figure through my dress. A view that would, without a doubt, have been intimately more revealing than anything Bob Roth might have been able to glimpse from his yard, almost three times the distance away.

Pondering this rather salient fact a little longer, I came to the distinct realization that I must have been providing Jeremy with quite a revealing spectacle of myself for at least fifteen to twenty minutes before he had alerted me of my indiscretion. I bit my lower lip to keep the smile from my face. I was not so naïve as to wonder why he might have waited as long as he did before saying anything.

My sudden awareness of Jeremy's somewhat tarnished gallantry quickly elicited a renewed warmth to my cheeks. It was somewhat disconcerting to realize that I had been so vulnerably exposed in front of Jeremy for all that time and, I couldn't help but wonder if Jeremy would have said anything to me at all if it had not been for Bob's timely entrance.

I wasn't at all offended that Jeremy had likely taken personal advantage of my indiscretion. It was, after all, a harmless incident and, I supposed, a completely normal reaction for any young man to seize upon such a golden opportunity as I had inadvertently provided.

I glanced over at him and smiled. Jeremy, a nineteen-year-old who had recently graduated from high school, was certainly small for his age, probably not more than an inch or two over five feet. Slight of build, with slender arms and legs, he had a youthful glow to his smooth, blemish-free skin, with only the finest blond hair on his arms and legs. He was blessed with fine auburn hair that he wore long, covering his ears, and pale blue eyes.

He was, essentially, a very attractive young man who was clearly beginning to mature rapidly, despite his diminutive stature. Wearing only a pair of shorts and a tank top, I could easily see the developing muscle definition in his shoulders, upper chest, and thighs. Despite his youthful appearance, I could distinctly make out the early signs of facial hair on his upper lip and chin.

I couldn't help but wonder what Jeremy's thoughts and feelings might have been upon seeing me so vulnerably exposed. After all, I surmised, a forty-year-old woman, currently at least ten pounds heavier than she should be, would likely be a far cry from what any astute, discerning young man would consider "a major babe." With my vanity suddenly rising to the forefront, I began to fervently hope that Jeremy didn't see me merely as an old lady--unattractive or even repugnant. The more I thought about it, the more intrigued I became to know Jeremy's true feelings.

At first, I thought I might keep my bit of insightful knowledge to myself, but eventually, my curiosity and vanity got the better of me. After mulling it over for several minutes, I decided to playfully shake Jeremy's tree a little, hoping to glean more insight into his thoughts and feelings.

"Jeremy... do you mind if I ask you a very personal question?" I asked, leaning slightly toward him on the bench and casually crossing my legs.

"Sure," he said, with a nod of his head.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to... or if you find it embarrassing, but I'm just a little curious about something."

He shrugged. "Okay."

I looked him directly in the eye. "If... Bob Roth hadn't come out into his backyard, would you still have warned me about my dress?"

His eyes widened briefly, and I could see that my question had caught him off guard. "I don't know what you mean," he stammered, glancing away toward the garden.

"Well, it's just that, from right here where you were sitting, you must have noticed the sun shining through my dress for quite a while before Bob came out into his yard. I was just curious as to why you waited so long to say anything to me about it."

His face turned several shades of bright red and I struggled not to smile. His embarrassment attested to the fact that he had, most definitely noticed and then personally taken advantage of the situation.

"Well?" I urged gently. "Like I said, you don't have to answer me if you don't want to."

He shrugged and kept his eyes averted.

"Did you just not notice?" I probed, enjoying his discomfort and wanting to prolong it just a little longer teasingly.

"Well... yeah, I mean... sure, I guess I did notice," he stammered uncomfortably, keeping his eyes averted. "But... it was just kind of an accident, you know... and I didn't want to say anything. I thought you would probably be embarrassed if you knew."

"I see," I said, feeling a slight twinge of shame for needling him. "So, you're saying you didn't say anything... because you wanted to spare me some embarrassment?"

"I guess, yeah," he nodded, still keeping his face averted. "But when Mr. Roth came out and was going all... googly-eyed at you, I figured I'd better say something."

"Googly-eyed?" I said, laughing aloud.

"Well, yeah, he sort of was that way," he responded a little defensively.

I smiled and patted his shoulder affectionately. "Well... I really appreciate you letting me know."

He returned my smile while still keeping his eyes averted.

"How bad was it, though? I asked after a pause. "I mean, you know, on a scale of one to ten, how much of me could you actually see?"

He nodded and his lips curled into a rather self-conscious smile. "Well..." he said hesitantly. "I mean, on a scale of one to ten, I guess I would say it was... definitely a ten at least. it was almost like... you weren't wearing much of anything at all."

"Oh, wow... I was kind of afraid of that," I returned. "I guess this dress material is pretty thin after all."

He nodded and kept his silence.

"I don't suppose," I continued with a little laugh, "that you were a perfect gentleman and averted your eyes the whole time either... Right?"

His face blushed brightly once more and I had to bite my lip again to keep from smiling broadly.

"Well... no... not exactly." He murmured, glancing at me furtively from under his eyebrows.

I laughed aloud and he started, looking at me strangely, as if he were unsure if he should be laughing with me, or not.

"It's all right, honey," I smiled winsomely. "I don't mind at all that you looked. I'm just yanking your chain a little."

He smiled uncertainly. "I am sorry though... I mean, I guess I probably should have said something about it right away."

"Hey," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder and giving him a good-natured shake. "Listen to me. You didn't do anything wrong... and you have absolutely nothing to apologize for."

He looked over at me tentatively. "Really?"

I nodded and smiled. "Really."

He brightened noticeably. "So...you aren't like... upset or mad about it or anything?"

"Mad? Why should I be mad?" I shook my head. "It certainly wasn't your fault that the sun was shining through my dress."

He smiled. "Yeah, I mean, I guess that's true."

"And... even though I suppose you DID kind of take advantage of the situation, I think that was probably a pretty normal reaction for a young man like yourself."

He nodded slightly. "I really didn't mean anything bad by it."

"Of course you didn't, honey," I smiled. "I know that." I reached over and affectionately shook his shoulder again. "I just kind of enjoy teasing you about it a little, that's all. I'm really not that embarrassed by it... well, maybe just a little." I laughed self-consciously. "I mean, if I'd known anyone was going to be able to see that much of me, I'd have probably tried to lose a few pounds first."

We both laughed. "When a woman gets to be my age," I continued, "it's considered high praise indeed if a younger man notices her at all. And," I added, reaching out to pat him lightly on the arm, "given that you actually had the decency not to gag and throw up, I'm going to think of the whole incident as one big, lovely compliment."

We shared another laugh and then fell silent for several moments, looking out over my garden.

"You won't say anything to my mom about this, will you?" he asked a moment or two later.

"Of course not," I laughed. "Why on earth would I ever do something like that? What kind of a girl do you think I am?"

He laughed with me, but looked relieved just the same.

"It will forever be our own personal little secret," I said with a smile.

He smiled at me in return.

At that moment, Mrs. Miller's cat scampered over the fence and plopped down into my garden. "Hey... get out of there! Scat!" I hissed, clapping my hands loudly. That damn cat had been using my garden as his personal litter box for weeks, but I had never been able to catch him in the act. He just stared at me, blinking those big yellow cat eyes, and didn't move. I stood up and strode purposefully across the yard, clapping my hands and hissing at him until he finally bolted and leapt the fence in a single bound.

I stood there for a moment, hands on my hips, staring after the cat and wondering what I might do to keep him from coming back into my garden. It was then that I realized, with a fair amount of chagrin, that I had unwittingly repeated my earlier indiscretion all over again. I glanced over my shoulder to see Jeremy smiling at me and shaking his head. He quickly covered his eyes with his hands, then facetiously parted his fingers as if peeking.

I rolled my eyes comically and smiled, "Shit... I'm doing it again, aren't I?"

He laughed and nodded.

"Well..." I said, keeping my hands on my hips and trying very hard to look exasperated but failing miserably. "I suppose since you've already seen me earlier standing out here for at least fifteen or twenty minutes... I don't suppose another minute or two will permanently damage your retinas or corrupt your little mind."

We both laughed then, and I rejoined him on the bench. We chatted for a while longer until my phone rang and, as I got up to answer it, he bade me goodbye, promising to return the next day to mow my lawn.

(The story continues in Good Neighbor Karen - Ch. 02)