Nearly six months had passed since my encounters with Tina, in that time she had moved away to start university and those nights in June seemed a distant memory. Kat had all but forgotten about Tina's feelings towards me and my own guilt over what really happened had subsided. Tina hadn't returned home at all during her first term and the distance was probably a good thing, I felt like I had gotten over my moment of weakness and things were going along nicely.
That all changed in the first week of December however when Kat received a call from Tina's mother Debbie. She explained that university was not going well and Tina was seriously thinking of dropping out and moving back home, she wanted Kat's advice and to ask for a favour. Kat had a very senior position in her company and Debbie was wondering if she would help with a job for Tina if she decided to leave uni.
'I don't think it's a good idea mixing family and business.' I responded flatly, Kat asked for my opinion once she got off the phone. 'If she dropped out of university after one semester then you don't know if she can commit to a job at your place either.' My honest opinion was that I though it would be a good idea but I didn't want there to be any chance of Tina telling my wife what really happened between us.
'I know what you mean.' Kat bit her lip like she did when she was thinking. 'But she's family, Debbie's having a hard time of it with Shaun not being around and it would really help Tina.' Shaun was Tina's older brother who no one spoke about, we had no idea what was happening with him. 'She needs to know that uni isn't the be all and end all of everything.'
She was right, the amount of pressure on kids leaving school to know what they want to do with their lives is massive. I was lucky, I always knew I wanted to work in design and managed to get the grades to study architecture. I worked for a small local firm with steady work and good pay. Kat was different; she had no idea what she wanted so she didn't go to university and worked her way up through sales and into a highflying management role with a tech company instead.
'I think you're right.' I agreed but made a mental note to speak to Tina to make sure she didn't let anything slip. 'I think you should give her a chance, that's how you started and look where you are now. I think you should interview her for the job though, make her work for it so she understands how the real world works.'
'That's a great idea, I'll call Debbie tomorrow and let her know.'
Christmas passed and the New Year rolled around and Tina moved back home. She called Kat herself and went through an informal phone interview and then turned up to her formal interview 30 minutes early, dressed professionally and passed with flying colours. By February she had started the internship and from what Kat told me, she was focused and working hard. I managed to get a quick conversation with Tina at an office event and she assured me it was all forgotten. She said that I was right about meeting new people and she had been in a relationship while she was away and it made her realise that it was a crush she had. She thanked me for being so kind and promised that she would never utter a word to Kat after she had given her a chance at a career.
Tina was rising through the ranks in her internship and really found her calling in sales. It helped that she was pretty, but after the humbling she received after returning from university she was filled with a new determination to succeed at everything she tried. She had even had her proposal for a new team project win the vote from senior board members to be taken forward.
For the project she would be directly reporting to Kat and they would often work late together with Tina joining us for dinner becoming a regular thing a couple of times a week. I would cook and we would open a bottle of wine and talk about so many subjects. Tina was really curious about how Kat and I met when we were at school. She would often talk briefly about boys she met in her short time at university and while she was at school, she didn't feel uncomfortable sharing about personal topics in front of us which was nice but I always got the feeling she was trying to measure my reaction to the things she would say.
As Tina got back on her feet she started renting her own small apartment and moved out of her parents' place, she couldn't afford it on her own so they supplemented some of the rent but it was her space and she was really maturing into her own woman. Once she was settled she wanted to invite us over for dinner as a thank you for all of the help we had given her since the New Year, she even booked a day off work to prepare the meal. The plan was for Kat to finish work a little earlier and come home to freshen up before we left but I got a panicked call from Tina a few hours sooner than expected.
'Tony I need you!' She breathed heavily as she spoke.
It totally caught me off guard. 'Heh? You what?'
'Sorry Tony one sec.' I heard pans banging and a fire alarm beeping in the background. 'Ok I'm back, Tony are you free to help me out please? I've fucked up the food and don't know what to do.' I could hear the panic in her voice, she had spent all day preparing and I felt bad for her.
'Yeah no problem I'll be there in 10, you need me to bring anything?
'I don't think so just please get here, there's a store around the corner if we need anything later.'
When I arrived there she opened the door and smoke bellowed out, her hair was disheveled and her apron was covered in food. I couldn't help but laugh at her but she looked on the verge of tears.
'Ok where do you need me?' I asked once I straightened my face. I followed her to her kitchen and she talked me through her meal and what had happened, overall there wasn't anything too bad that we couldn't fix. She had slightly overcooked her meat but with a few tricks I learned from similar mistakes we were able to salvage it. Her starters were fine and the desert needed some tweaks but within an hour we were back on track.
Now that she had calmed she threw off her apron and grabbed a bottle of wine. 'We deserve a reward for sorting this mess!' Tina proceeded to pour two large glasses. 'Cheers Tony.' She smiled and gulped half of it in one go while I sipped mine, as she leaned back I saw that she wasn't wearing a bra, her hard nipples pointed out on her perky breasts. It was here that I noticed she had physically filled out since returning home, she was still a little thing but had put on a little weight and on her small frame her boobs looked quite large.
We took a moment to speak about her apartment and how she decorated it. She had befriended the neighbours within days and had found a nice pub around the corner. While she spoke I took a moment to look at her and noticed that she had really matured since the summer. Not just in her life experience but the way she carried herself, she was more assured and so confident. I was so happy she had settled into life and had found her feet after leaving uni.
Tina jumped up quickly as if she had just remembered something. 'Tony do you mind grabbing a couple things from the shop while I clean up please?!' She asked in a panic as she checked the time. 'Here's the list, and take my key to let yourself in.'
'Sure. I'll call Kat on the way and fill her in on what's happened.'
The store was only around the corner and I was back at Tina's front door within 10 minutes. I slid the key in and entered to a spotless kitchen, you would not have thought of the disaster going on in here just a short while ago. I dropped the bag of shopping on the counter and closed the door.
'I'm just in here.' Tina called from her room.
I walked over to her partially open bedroom door to see her pulling a light sundress over herself. I got a glimpse of her beautiful body before it was hidden from view by the material. Her head popped out and she lay eyes on my gawping at her.
'I'm so sorry Tina I didn't realise you were changing!' I turned and walked back into the living room, feeling my face reddening.
'Hey, it's ok, don't worry about it.' She followed me out while she buttoned the front.
I turned to see her smiling up at me not flustered at all. I on the other hand was feeling a surge of something in the pit of my stomach. Noticing her as a women in her own home, seeing her mature body through her clothes before glimpsing it in full as she changed had awoken something in me, and I think Tina could tell.
'Would you like another glass of wine to calm yourself down?' She grinned while she spoke. I nodded and she poured, handing me the glass she spoke again. 'Besides, we've done things in the past much worse than a peek while getting changed.'
I nearly spat out my wine laughing and instantly calmed down and sat on the counter top. We began to speak about the previous summer and how it happened, what we were feeling and what we thought of it now. It was strange; we weren't speaking like uncle and niece but more like a former couple. There felt a spark between us that I had never picked up on before.
Tina quickly changed the subject to work and asked how Kat was finding the new project they were working on. At this point I forgot I was speaking to my wife's niece and opened up about how hard I was finding the time she was spending in the office.
'The thing is I'm so proud of her and what she's achieving and I don't want to be the type of husband to try and stop her pursuing a career but she's constantly working. She leaves early, comes back late and even on weekends she's logging on.'
Tina sat quietly as I spoke, slowly nodding her understanding.
'We want to start a family as well but that conversation hardly goes anywhere.' I suddenly realised this was getting very personal and moved to change the tone. 'Anyway I'm probably overreacting, it's different when you work from home like me isn't it.' I laughed and jumped off the counter to empty the shopping bag. I carried on talking about unrelated topics to sound casual but I could feel Tina's eyes boring into me.
Not long after Kat arrived and we ate dinner, which was delicious, the rest of the evening was fun and casual with no awkward glances from either of us. The spark I felt earlier had gone away and I even forgot about seeing Tina getting dressed. Eventually we took our leave and headed home.
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'You're kidding me!? Again!?' I tried not to shout but Kat could hear the anger in my voice.
'I know I'm sorry but it's a major budget meeting, I need to be here. Tina's coming home now though, she isn't needed for it, so you wont be alone.' Kat tried to placate me from the other end of the phone.