I had a baby-sitting job with the Winslows, George and Beth. Well, with Beth, really. George never worried about things like sitters. I'd long ago decided that he wasn't the most practical person in the world. He always seemed to be off in a daydream. I've been told he's very smart. Apparently he's a scientist of some sort and when he's working on something his mind just goes AWOL from general living.
This particular job came up all of a sudden. Beth rang and told me she needed me right away and could I please come straight over. Having nothing else planned I headed on over.
On arrival I found Beth all flustered. Her mother had had an accident and she was rushing off to the hospital to see her. She didn't know when she'd be back so could I please just stay until George got home. She'd already rung him and told him and he'd said he'd get home as soon as possible.
"You know George," sighed Beth. "He's as likely to forget as not and may not get home to midnight. Is that OK?"
"Don't you worry about a thing," I told Beth. "I'll look after things until George gets home. You just go and see to your mother. I do hope she'll be all right."
So Beth shot through, leaving me with the kids. She also left me with my pay, paid in advance. Beth explained that not knowing when George would be home she was paying me for a full night's sitting. The unspoken reason for paying me in advance was that we both knew that George would probably forget to and that I, being a little shy, wouldn't remind him.
I watched the kids, fed them, made sure they had a bath and brushed their teeth, and tucked them into bed. I also made sure that there was a meal there for George, one that he only had to heat and eat. Then I watched TV. I'd decided that I'd give George until midnight and if he wasn't home by then I'd bunk down in the spare room for the night.
At ten, George showed up, which was a surprise. He hadn't forgotten and had made the effort to get home early. Wrong. He had forgotten and had just happened to come home at this time.
"Ah, hi," he said on seeing me. "Where's Beth?"
"Visiting her mother in hospital," I said sweetly. "She was in an accident."
"Oh. Yes. That's right. And you're the babysitter. What was your name?"
"Trudi," I told him, a little irritated. He could at least have remembered my name.
I wronged the man. He had an excellent memory.
"No," he said flatly. "That wasn't it."
He seemed to think for a moment and I was thinking, "What, I don't know my own name?"
"Ermintrude," he said. "That was it. You're Ermintrude."
Parents should consult with their children before giving them names. Fancy naming your child after a cow. My mother had been reading The Magic Roundabout, saw the name and loved it. I wore the name and hated it.
"Trudi, not Ermintrude," I said flatly, daring him to contradict me.
"Don't blame you," he said, which made me think better of him.
"I've prepared dinner for you if you need it," I told him. "All you have to do is heat it."
I should have known. He promptly looked confused. Did he know how to use a microwave, I wondered. I volunteered to heat his dinner for him. So I heated his dinner and he ate it, insisting that I sit and chat with him while he did so. (No thought of the babysitter's wages seemed to cross his mind. Good thing that Beth paid me in advance.)
After George had finished eating I made going home noises.
"Oh, not just yet," George protested. "A couple of questions first. You've been sitting for us for several years now, haven't you?" At my nod he continued. "So how old are you now? I make it to be about nineteen."
Again I nodded. He acts scatty, so you tend to down play his smarts, but his mind is like a steel trap. Anything that went in stayed there.
"That's fine," George said, sounding pleased. "Quite old enough to sleep with me."
He didn't say that, I told myself, knowing full well that he had.
"Excuse me?" I said.
"I said you're quite old enough to sleep with me," he repeated, still sounding odiously pleased.
"Ah, thank you, but no thank you," I said carefully.
"No, no. Don't say no. I insist," he said cheerfully.
Insist away, mate, but in my considered opinion it's not going to happen.
"Look, I'm sorry, but I just don't sleep with clients," I said firmly.
Or anyone else, for that matter. I don't have a current boyfriend and previous boyfriends had never got that far. My fault, or credit, depending on how you look at it. I've always been too shy to make friends easily and none of the boys I'd dated had attracted me all that much.
"Or with anyone else," said George, making me wonder if he'd read my mind. "Beth said that you're far too shy for your own good. You watch. You'll find that a good fuck will make a world of difference to your attitude."
He had to be joking. I was so getting out of here.
"Well, maybe another time, George," I said, speaking quickly. "Goodness me, look at the time. I really must be going."
"Now is a far better time," George said, and he was suddenly holding my arm. "Come along," he told me, turning me towards the bedrooms and starting to walk, towing me along.
"Um, George, I said no," I protested.
"I know. I heard you. Don't worry about it. I fully understand your reluctance and will overlook it. Here, hold this."
Reluctance nothing. It was a flat refusal. And hold what?
I found out when he closed my hand around his erection. The rotten swine had unzipped had exposed himself. Now he wanted me to hold it? I snatched my hand away.
"Oh, don't be so childish," he said, pulling my hand back to his erection. "You're an adult and it's time you acted like one. Now hold it so you can get accustomed to what a cock feels like."
Not having any choice I walked beside him, holding his erection, protesting the whole way. He just walked straight down to the master bedroom, ushering me inside.
"You can remove your hand now," he told me, and I sighed. At least, this bit I knew. A couple of boyfriends had managed to persuade me to touch them. I started stoking his erection. You never know. Jack him off and he might forget about anything else.
"Ah, Trudi," he said. "I said remove, not move. I meant you can let me go. Too hard to undress you while you're holding me. Not that what you're doing doesn't feel good."
I could feel myself turning red. Take your hand off, he says, and I start trying to milk him. What the hell must he think of me? Then the rest of what he said caught up with me. Undress me? Did that mean he was really going to try and have sex with me?
"Ah, George, I said no. You have to back off. I'm not going to have sex with you."
"Maybe not, but I'm going to have sex with you. I think you'll find you have no choice but to join in once my cock is inside you," observed George. "Now lift your arms."
With that he jerked my top out of my slacks and started lifting it. I found myself doing as I was told, lifting my arms obediently, my top being lifted up and off. Then he was turning me around and unclipping my bra.
I caught the bra and held it against myself, face burning. George turned me back to face him and then took my wrists and firmly moved my hands away from my breasts, and my bra dropped along with my arms, showing off my assets.
"Very nice," murmured George, his hands taking hold of my breasts, treasuring them. There isn't any other word to describe the way he was holding them. His hands cupped my breasts, stroking them, his thumbs curling up to rub against my nipples, which promptly responded to his touch, damn them.
I explained to George how he was going too far and that I wanted to go home. He ignored me, probably unable to speak because he was sucking on my breasts, moving from one to the other and back again. I found myself breathing hard, putting it down to temper. The whole situation was infuriating.
When George finally took his hands away from my breasts they were feeling sensitive, tender and swollen. I could still feel where his hands and mouth had touched them. Showing great sensitivity George pushed me so that I sat back on the bed, at the same time saying, "Sit".
I glared at him, wanting to point out that I wasn't a dog, but not quite game to.
"Foot," he said, snapping his fingers and I smiled and tried to kick him.
It didn't work. He just caught my foot, undid the laces and pulled my sneaker off. "Foot," he snapped again, wanting the other one.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" I asked, exasperated.
"I'm taking your shoes off before I take your pants off," he explained calmly. "If I don't, your shoes would get jammed in your trouser legs."
He had a point, but still, I didn't have to appreciate it.