The next morning I arrived at the shop alone, having left my wife to complete the weekly housekeeping chores while I battled the tourists shopping for cheap souvenirs. I opened the door early, hoping to get my head sorted before the pre lunch rush. I'm constantly amazed by customer's slavery to their stomachs; many of them wouldn't leave their motels unless they were going to eat somewhere.
I looked up from my newspaper as the door bell signalled the arrival of the first customer of the day. Luckily it was one of our semi-regulars so I knew that there wouldn't be any of those nuisance questions about what to do around here if you don't like beaches.
Much as I would always want to reply along the lines of stay in bed and go fuck yourself I was duty bound by the "Tourist Information" signage above the door to point out the many natural wonders of the area.
One of those wonders had just wandered in to my shop. There is a small artists' colony centred around a few shacks on the next bay. Some of the painters are well off but most are just struggling to make ends meet and are supported by their richer peers. There are many stories about free love, nakedness and various drug fuelled perversions circulating about the colony but the couple of times that I have been there it seemed quite dull, just a bunch of hippies sketching or staring at the waves.
One of the permanent residents is a woman named Joy who gets a lot of money for her paintings but she doesn't work that much so she's either rich or broke. Legend has it that she is happy to swap oral sex for food from the butcher and grocer when times are tough but I always scoffed at these tales as some sort of smear campaign.
I pretended to read my paper while Joy meandered her way round the shop. When she wasn't looking I studied her curvy shape. She was younger than me, maybe late forties and she had been quite beautiful in her younger, blonder years. Her hair was still long and flowing but it was now grey verging on white in parts.
She was wearing torn and faded blue jeans that fitted her rounded backside like a glove. Her breasts flopped under the loose fitting orange T shirt. Her sandals made clicking noises as she approached the counter. I looked up. She had two boxes of mouse traps.
"That time of year again!" I said to her as she placed the boxes on the counter.
"Yes" She replied "all those tourists driving the rodents out of their homes!"
"And straight into ours..." I interjected.
It happened every year, as soon as summer was over the mice and rats would return to the sanctuary of the empty holiday homes. She placed two ten dollar bills on the counter and we chatted as I handed her the change. I could make out her nipples through the thin T-shirt. I tried not to look but she caught me staring.
As our conversation continued she folded her arms under her breasts. This seemed to push them up and out. Those damned nipples were now even more prominent. I wondered if it was deliberate. She couldn't be interested in me; she could have any man in town. I decided that she was just teasing me, trying to embarrass me for staring. I started to blush but she kept talking as if nothing was going on. I asked her if she was working on any paintings at the moment.
"Yes." She said then paused for a breath before continuing "I'm working on some commissioned portraits. I've already been paid for them but I'm only half way through. I feel guilty 'cause I've almost spent it all and I've had an argument with the couple."