Athy's Brother

"Thank you, dear."

"And thank you, ma'am. I hope you enjoy your purchases and come back soon."

She smiled at me over her shoulder as she turned to walk back out into the mall concourse. "I'm sure I'll do both."

I watched her walk away, the chique little shopping bag dangling against her thigh. I figured her for early forties. Still very attractive, great legs, and still with a lot to live for, judging by the lingerie she'd just bought.

I looked at my watch and saw that it was closing time. I poked my head into the back room, where Sheila, my boss and owner of the franchise on this outlet of a large national lingerie chain, was bent over her desk.

"Sheil, I'm going. I've picked out a few things for myself and written it all down. You can take it out of my check."

She looked up at me and smiled. "Got hot plans for the week-end, eh?"

Sheila's strong Australian came through in everything she said. I grinned back at her.

"Yeah, but not like you mean. My brother's coming home from bumming across America. We haven't seen him since he went east to college last fall. I'm sure it'll be a big night for all of us. Like a reunion."

"Well, have a great time. I'll see you again on Monday." Sheila's smile faded and she gave me a pensive look. "You know, Kathy, I'm going to miss you when you go off to school. I can't really run this place alone. I love working the floor, meeting the customers and helping them. And I love all the beautiful things we sell. That's why I got into this. But all the rest," she gestured at the piles of paper on her desk, "is taking up more and more of my time." Her face lit up again. "You know, when you came in here looking for a summer job, I saw a bored little girl just out of high-school with no sense of how to dress and no idea of how to work with the public, and I almost sent you packing. I'm glad I didn't. Just look at you now. You're a lovely young woman, and I know a lot of our customers come back just because you've been able to advise them so well. It'll be very hard to replace you."

I felt little pin-pricks behind my eyes, and I walked over to the desk and put my arm around Sheila's shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, Sheil. This job is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. If I'm not the little girl you hired, then it's because you taught me to be something else."

I straightened and wiped my fore-fingers over my cheeks. "Hey, it's not like I'm leaving tomorrow. I figure we've got four more weeks to make this the best lingerie shop in the world. You'll have people beating down the door to come work here."

"Yeah, you and me, babe. Now get on home, and give your brother a big kiss for me. I'll see you Monday."

I scooped up the things I'd bought and stuffed them into the same sort of bag my last customer had left with. It was amazing how little space it all took in the bag. I yelled out a last good-bye to Sheila and walked out through the mall to the little red Miata my father had bought me for my eighteenth birthday. On the way I noticed men turning to look at me, but I'd gotten used to it since I'd started working for Sheila. The first thing she'd hammered into me was that we dressed for the customers. First-time customers came in and had no idea what they wanted or what was possible. It helped if they could see it. Today I was wearing sling-back heels, a floating wrap skirt that split in the front when I walked, and a gauzy white top that showed my white lace push-up bra. All from the store. It was the Sheila philosophy: sexy, but not too.

I tossed the bag onto the passenger's seat, slipped into the car, and drove home. When I turned into our street and pulled up to our house, I saw the driveway was full. My Mom's BMW was right up at the garage door, then my Dad's Mercedes, and behind it his old silver Lexus he'd given Jack, which had now been across America and back, and looked like it. I parked at the curb in front of the house and was starting to unfold myself out of the car when the front door opened. Jack appeared on the step and shouted, "Hot damn. Look at you."

I was half-way out of the low car, and my skirt had slid open to expose my tanned legs. I stood up as gracefully as I could, turned and got my package from the other seat, and then dashed over the lawn to throw myself into Jack's open arms.

"Well, hey, girl. Great to see you, too."

I tilted my head back to look at him. It was almost like looking in a mirror: the same blue eyes, the same blond hair, the same little crinkly smile-lines at the corners of his mouth. I pulled away and checked him out. Deep tan, hair a little lighter than I remembered. And something else. He'd grown up somehow in the year since I'd seen him. Maybe not yet a man. but not at all the boy who'd been my brother.

Jack seemed to notice something similar about me. He pushed me away and twirled me around. "You look great, lady, but what have you done with my little sister?"

We were standing like that, flushed with each others' presence, when my mother walked up behind Jack and wrapped her arms around him from behind. Her eyes were lit up like candles as she kissed him on his neck and said to me, "Isn't it great to have him home, Kath?"

I beamed back at her. She turned and said, "Come on out back. You father's fired up the barbeque and we can all sit out on the deck and have a drink before the steaks are ready."

She padded away on bare feet, and as I watched her retreating figure, I hoped I'd ever look that good. At any age. Her auburn hair bobbed on the shoulders of the blue work shirt she'd tied up under her breasts, and her trim waist flared just above the cut-off jeans shorts that accentuated her curved legs. I looked at Jack to see if he was checking her out, too, but he was staring at me with a smile on his face.

"So you're a working girl now."

I rushed to explain how I'd been hanging at home after graduation with nothing to do since my best friend Lydia had gone off to France with her parents. I'd spent a few weeks out on the deck by the pool, working on my tan and getting bored, and one day walking through the mall I'd seen the help wanted sign in the window of the lingerie shop. I was just telling him about Sheila and all she'd done for me when he said, "Yeah, I can see. So what's in the bag?"

I blushed. Another thing about working for Sheila: she'd not only changed how I dressed, she'd altered my whole idea about what a woman wears under her clothes. I'd gone from white cotton undies to lace and silk in all colors, and just this week I'd picked out some tiny thongs to try, as well as some bras that were, well, a lot more revealing than what I normally wear. That's what was in the bag now. When I'd shown them to Sheila she'd laughed and said, "I wondered when you'd get around to that. You can't work here every day, showing all that to the customers without thinking how it would look on you. But let me give you one caution. You've sure got the body for it, but you're going to have to shave. Nothing destroys the effect of a sexy bikini or panties more than sloppy personal grooming."

I looked up at Jack. "Just some stuff. I've got to run upstairs and change. I'll see you outside in a minute."

I dashed up to my room. I was dying to try on some of my new things, but that would have to wait. I wanted to see my brother and hear all about his adventures. I pulled off my work clothes and slipped into a T-shirt and cut-offs. I tugged my shoulder-length, ash-blonde hair back into a pony tail and looked in the mirror. Just Kathy. Just fine. I'd try the new version later.

Out on the deck, my Dad was fiddling with the coals and Mom and Jack were sipping what looked like a kir. "I'll have one, too, if you'll make it for me," I told Jack, and walked over to Dad and threw my arm around him.

"You're home early. What's the occasion?"

He put his arm around my waist. "Had to get back to see what the man has been up to." My Dad is half of a two-man law firm, and he works long hours, sometimes seven days a week. It was Saturday, but seeing him at home at six o'clock even on a week-end was unusual.

"How about you? No hot date tonight?"

We laughed at each other and turned to watch the coals glowing on the grill. Jack walked up with my kir and Dad pulled him close. "Welcome home, buddy. We've missed you around here."

Jack kissed my father on the cheek, and then me on my forehead before turning back to Dad. "I've missed you, too. Get you a drink?"

"I thought you'd never ask," my father said.

When Jack came back with the drink, he and Dad began putting the steaks on the grill, and I walked over to the table and sat by my mother. She asked about my day, and after I'd enthused for a while, I asked about hers. Once Jack and I were in high school, she'd started selling real estate. I think at first it was a way to get out of the house and assert herself as a person rather than a mother, but she was good at it, and it became a vocation. She worked nearly as much as my father, and there were many nights Jack and I got supper for ourselves when Mom was out showing a house to clients who worked all day. Jack and I certainly didn't mind; at that age you can fend for yourself well enough, and we enjoyed being on our own together.

"I think I'm really close to a big sale," Mom told me. "I've had this one property on the market for months. It's more than most people can handle, but a couple looked at it this morning, and I really think it will work for them." She laughed. "And for me. I'm going to meet them back there tomorrow, and I hope I can wrap it up."

While she was saying this, Jack and my Dad brought a platter of steaks to the table. Mom had been home early today, too, and made potato salad and tossed together a bunch of greens and vinaigrette, and after Dad uncorked a bottle of red wine, we dug in. Jack had hundreds of stories about his year at college, and more about his cross-country trip. We talked and laughed, happy to be a family again.

Eventually Mom stood up and said, "I know tomorrow's Sunday, but I've got a showing. I think I'll turn in." She walked around the table and gave Jack a little kiss on the corner of his mouth and bent over to kiss my cheek. She looked over at my Dad and then turned and walked into the house. My father sat there for a moment looking after her before he stood up and said, "I've got to get down to the office tomorrow, too. So if you two will excuse me..." He walked behind Jack and put his arms around his neck and leaned forward to kiss the top of his head. Jack rubbed his hand over Dad's short blond hair and held him close for a moment. Dad straightened and reached out to caress my cheek. "See you tomorrow."

When he was gone, Jack let his eyes slide over to mine and raised his eye-brows. "That was pretty transparent." We shared a smile. He stood up and gathered the plates, and I got up to help him. Once we'd got everything stowed in the dish-washer, he went over to the drinks cabinet and got out a bottle of cognac and two glasses. "Care for one outside?"

We laid back on recliners on the deck and as we stared up at the starlit sky above us, Jack told me more about his first year at college, and I regaled him with stories of my job. We'd pretty much finished off the brandy and I was just about far enough gone to tell him what was in the bag I'd brought home when I realized he was asleep. All of a sudden I was dog-tired, too. I stumbled into the house and put the glasses in the dish-washer and the empty bottle in the trash. I was surprised to see it was only 12:20. I walked back out onto the deck and shook Jack until he showed some signs of life, and led him upstairs to his room. At the door I gave him a shove and saw him wobble towards his bed until he fell across it. I figured I'd done all I could for him and went to my room. I wasn't drunk, but all the excitement had taken its toll on me. I picked up the bag of little nothings I'd brought home from the store and contemplated it. Tomorrow would do. I threw it on the floor. By the time I'd shucked off my shorts and top, I'd fallen onto my bed. And by the time I'd pulled the sheet up around me, I was asleep.

When I woke up in the morning, the sun was streaming through the window. It was almost 10:30. I lay there a while, figuring what I'd do with my day off. I turned over on my side and saw the bag from the store lying on the floor. Suddenly, I was wide awake. I kicked off the sheet and rolled out of bed. I scooped up the little bag and stood in front of my mirror, amazed again at how little room all the things I'd bought took up in the bag.. I was wearing the lace panties I'd had on yesterday for work, and nothing else. They were gorgeous, cut high along my hips to show my long tanned legs. I spun around and checked out my back-side in the mirror. Lace partially covered my buns and dipped between my thighs. Sexy. I dropped the bag and peeled my panties down over my legs and stepped out of them, looking away from the mirror. I reached into the bag and pulled on a pair of the new panties, not looking in the mirror until I'd gotten them settled around my hips. I looked over my shoulder and gasped at what I saw. My other panties had displayed a lot of my ass, but these disappeared from the low-cut waist-band almost immediately between my buns, leaving my cheeks totally bare. I slowly pivoted, and starting at the top, let my eyes descend over my reflection. My hair was tousled from sleep. My blue eyes, staring back at me in the mirror, were beginning to show signs of life. I was tan to the waist, having taken advantage of my weeks alone at home alone to sun-bathe topless on the deck. The thin peach-colored straps of the panties rode high on my hips and then dipped down to a little pouch that barely covered my pussy. Immediately, I saw what Sheila had been talking about. My blonde pubic hair, nothing more than a few wisps, and normally covered by my other panties, peeked out around the tiny bit of material covering me. A little shiver ran over me as I realized I'd have to do something about that. I wanted to try on the other panties and the bras, too, but first I pulled on a robe and walked out into the hall. I knew my parents would be out, so I knocked on Jack's door. When I didn't get an answer, I pushed the door open and saw his rumpled sheets. So he was gone, too. I wasn't surprised; he had a lot of friends in town, and I figured he'd gotten up early to hook up with them.

I turned and walked across the hall into the bathroom. After I opened both taps fully, I let the robe fall off and looked in the big mirror across from the tub. I smiled at myself and cocked a hip. Yeah, girl. Looking good. When the tub was full I stepped out of my new panties and settled back into the hot water and relaxed. Home alone, in a hot bath and feeling good. It doesn't get much better. After a few minutes I pushed my feet against the end of the tub and arched my back. My sparse pubes rose above the water. I reached over to the end of the tub and grabbed my shaving gel and squirted a blob onto my palm. Once I'd rubbed it into a lather on my pubes, I picked up my razor and went to work. I shaved my mound, and lifting and straining and spreading my knees, feeling with my fingers, I got all the hairs around my pussy and my ass. I pulled the plug, and standing, water cascading over my body, I checked myself out in the mirror. Sunning topless had left me brown all over except for a small white triangle that my bikini had covered and where I was used to seeing a frond of blonde hair. It was gone. I stepped out of the tub, unable to keep my eyes off my newly shaved pussy. I picked up a towel and began drying off, never taking my gaze from my image in the mirror. I hung the towel back on the rack and picked up the new panties from the floor. I pulled them on, and looking back into the mirror, walked out of the bathroom and to my room.

I grabbled in the bag from Sheila's store until I found a peach-colored bra to match my panties. It hooked in the front, and I slipped it over my arms and fastened it. Looking in the mirror, I could scarcely believe my eyes. The straps of the panties were barely visible against my tanned skin. My bare mound pushed out against the minuscule bit of material that tried to hide it. The bra seemed to be losing a fight to cover my breasts; it thrust them up and together, and though my nipples were covered, the brown arcs of my aureolae were clearly visible above the lace frills that made up the top of the cups.

As I took in my reflection in the mirror I felt my knees weakening, and I drifted backwards until I felt the bed nudge the back of my legs. I fell back on the mattress, still locked on my reflection in the mirror. I lay on the bed and let my hands roam over my breasts. My nipples popped free from the almost non-existent restraint of my bra and I clasped them between my fingers. A soft groan escaped my lips, and I hooked my thumbs into my panties, lifting my hips to strip them off. The mirror showed my legs pointing up at the ceiling and my bare pussy lips pushing out between my thighs. I bent my legs at the knees and peeled the panties down until they dangled around my ankles. I stared at my reflection and thought I'd never seen anything so sexy. My hand was buried between my legs when I heard a key in the front door.

"Jack? Kathy? Anybody home?"

My mother. I yanked my panties back up and searched frantically for some clothes. My shorts and T-shirt lay on the floor by my bed where I'd gotten out of them last night, and I scrambled to get them on. I ran out of my room and down the stairs, skidding around the corner on my bare feet and into the kitchen.

"Jesus, Kath, slow down. You'll break something dashing around like that."

My mother sat on a stool at the bar between the kitchen and dining room, her legs crossed and the high heel of one shoe hooked over the rung of the stool. She was wearing a suit with a dark blue jacket and matching skirt. The jacket buttoned just below the swell of her breasts and showed a lot of tanned cleavage. The skirt was short and exposed a long expanse of thigh. She was twirling the stem of a wine-glass, and the light green of the wine refracted the sun coming in the windows. She raised a hand at me like a stop-sign and a big grin broke across her face.

"Come on. Give me five."

I just stood there, amazed to see my mother drinking so early in the day, and blinded by the sight of her, looking so beautiful in her business regalia.

She was looking at me expectantly, her hand still raised. "Come on, girl, congratulate your Mom. I just closed the deal on that house I was telling you about. That's 70,000 dollars in the bank. Your college tuition is covered and then some."

I slapped her hand and threw myself at her, my arms closing around her neck. "Way to go, Mom."

She held me tight for a moment and then pushed me away. Her eyes sparkled, and she lifted herself off the stool. "Get some decent clothes on, sweetheart. We're going shopping."

Thirty minutes later we were facing Sheila across the counter. I made the introductions and Mom and Sheila sized each other up.

"I can see where she gets her looks from," Sheila told my mother. "But not the blonde hair."

"My husband," Mom said, smiling. "And I can see where she's gotten her new-found sense of style." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Cynthia."

Sheila smiled back at her and took her hand. "Nice to meet you, Cynthia. What brings you two here on Kathy's day off?"

"We're celebrating."

"Oh? What's the occasion?"

"Kathy's brother is home from school, as I'm sure you've heard. And Kathy's graduated and'll be going off herself before I know it.. And I made a big sale today. I'm feeling flush," my Mom said with a laugh.

"Plenty to celebrate, then. Is this a social call?"