Chapter 1
“Fuck”!
That was all I needed.
All I wanted was a cup of pure delight in the form of a caramel latte. To take in an indulgent inhale of the sweet coffee, eyes closed, basking in the caffeine hit I was about to receive and very much needed – when some bell end on his fucking phone barged in to me! I was standing still and it's not like you can miss me, I may be short but I have a brilliant rack and hips that sway when I walk, I have brown hair that nearly comes down to my bum i like the way i look but my eyes are my favourite part of me, clear blue that get brighter in the sunlight. But he obviously saw none of that!
I turned to look at him. He didn’t even look up from his phone, just mumbled and apologised and carried on walking. This was all I needed. Now I don't have coffee and have stains down my white top and to top it off, I have no time to go home and get changed before work!
Gods damn, I could feel in my bones that this was going to be one of those days.
I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. As I was about to leave the shop someone behind me started speaking but I didn't hear what they said. I turned around expecting it to be the numpty that barreled into me, but nope; it was a tall woman with a kind smile on her face. She was still talking but I zoned out. She was stunning – long mousey blonde hair and a delicate face.
She repeated “are you ok? I saw what happened”
“Umm yeah, ok as I can be, now I don't have coffee” I stuttered.
She replied “well, you do, just not in the right place” and giggled.
I looked at her with ‘are you fucking kidding me’ eyes and she stopped giggling.
“Oh I'm sorry, I was just trying to lighten your mood, my bad. How about I buy you a coffee to make it up to you?”
I looked at her “thank you but it’s alright, it wasn't you that bumped into me but I appreciate it.”
I've never been very good at taking things from others. I've always felt guilty for some reason. I'm more of a giver than a taker so it just felt weird to me.
I shifted my weight to my other foot, trying to peel my t-shirt away from my bra which was now very visible! I looked up and caught her looking, then our eyes met.
She blushed slightly and let out a short gasp when we locked eyes, “oh sorry I didn't... I mean I wasn't... hmmm, sorry again, I couldn't help but notice. Anyway my name is Beth its nice to meet you”
She held out her hand to shake mine. I looked down at it confused. I mean who shakes hands these days? I realised I'm just staring at her hand for way too long and hastily took it and shook.
“Oh I'm Casey, nice to meet you too, I'm really sorry but I have to go. I'm going to be late for work and I already look a state so turning up late as well won't be great!”
“It's nice to meet you, and no worries, hopefully we will bump into each other again sometime with more coffee in the cup than down your top maybe” she said with a half smile, which with the way the light was shining made her look like she was glowing.
“Yeah, see you around maybe, bye.”
I turned around for a last look as I walked out of the shop. She was still standing there with a hint of a smile on her face. I did a half wave and carried on walking to work. I tried my best not to talk to anyone where I could avoid it, but something made me want to talk to her. I figured I would probably never see her again though so that's on me. Being an introverted extrovert and a people pleaser all my life I'd tried to stop doing what made others happy and just live in my own little bubble, but maybe that bubble had just popped?
I sat at my desk and put my head in my hands, I really couldn’t be bothered with this today. Why did I pick a job where I have to talk to people all day and put on a fake smile when even on the best of days I don't like people! Oh well, it paid the bills and my addiction to buying books – don't judge me, at least it's not drugs. Although the smell of both new and old books is just the best. I love getting lost in another world and just switching my brain off for a few chapters!
Working at a call center for people that need help with online orders for a big book chain does have its perks, I mean, at least I get a discount. But it’s the people that feel entitled to talk to me in any way they choose that really has me working on my best customer service voice to piss them off more. I won't lie, I get a small thrill out of getting the upper hand but I always help and get their problems fixed the best I can.
I straightened up and pulled my head set from my desk and logged on. I hoped I would have time to get some of the cheap coffee in the staff room before the mobs started calling, but no such luck.
The shrill ringing of my phone began mere seconds past nine, the caller must have been sat at home waiting to fuck up my day further. Oh well, one day, two hundred and ninety nine to go!
By the time lunch time rolled around,the amount of fuckery I had already listened to was just top peak; it's like they knew I was having a bad day!
My office door opened and Brian walked in – gut first, smug look on his face. Despite having the maturity of a twelve year old, he was at least ten years older than me, and unfortunately, he was my boss.“Casey good after… what happened to you? You look a mess!”
I rolled my eyes. “Thanks nice to see you too, how can I help?”
He looked straight at my chest, fucker didn’t even try to be sly about it. My shirt wasn’t as see-through anymore, but the look he gave me made my skin crawl. He's the type of manager that skims the fine line of sexual misconduct at work but never quite crossed it.
“Um yes well, I need you to do a cross reference of the reviews we have been getting. The top dogs have seen that there are a few negative feedback forms and we need to pass notes to the IT department to get this fixed”
“Why are you asking me? Isn't that Terry's job?”
“Well, if Terry was here I would have him doing it but he's not, so now it's your job for the day. Anyway, all you're doing is answering phone calls, it’s not that hard.”
Internally I was screaming and picturing myself sucker punching this dick straight in the nose. The image of blood pouring down his face and him crying like a baby made me zone out for a moment but I quickly plastered a smile on my face
“Of course, I will get that done for you”
“Great, make sure you get it done by the end of the day, I was supposed to come earlier and talk to you but I was asked to take a new author out for lunch to make a deal!” with a smug look on his face he went to walk away.
“Wait what? There are like four hours left of the day. How am I supposed to get all that done in four hours and answer the phones?” I could feel my neck heating with anger. How fucking dare he just drop this on me and expect me to get it done in four hours.
Brian turned his head, raised his eyebrows and said “you're a smart girl, you will figure it out, chop chop” and left.
I flopped back in my chair, close to tears. I was that angry and I never cry, but trying to keep a job when you're the only one that ends up doing more than one person's job is infuriating.
Deciding I needed something to shake off the mood, I went to the staff room and made a stale coffee with no milk as no one had replaced the milk I had in the fridge. I felt my anger bubbling up. I said it was going to be one of those days! There's nothing else to do but get on and try to get the work done. I sat back down and zoned out, trying to figure out where to start.
Finally, five o'clock rolled around. I'd only managed to do half of the data collection as everyone and their dog had called with an issue so the phone was ringing off the hook.
Fuck it, I don't care. I told myself I could do more tomorrow, it’s not like I get paid any overtime. I put all my things in my bag and collected the paper work that I completed, hoping and praying Brian wasn’t in his office so I could drop and run without him seeing me.
I snuck down the hallway, peered inside his office and, what do you know, he wasn’t in there. I ran in, dropped the papers on the desk then bolted out of the room and ran to the exit.
Finally, fresh air and freedom. At least one thing went in my favour today.
When I got home I peeled off my stained shirt and threw it straight in the wash. I still smelled like coffee so I decided a scolding hot shower was the best course of action. Before I jumped in, I put a ready meal in the microwave so I didn’t have to wait for it to cook when I got out, being a lazy cow is useful sometimes.
In the shower I felt all the stress from the day wash away from me. I stood there lathering myself up and for some strange reason that tall lady's face popped into my head. What was her name again?
Tttt tina? No.
I start going through the alphabet slowly in my head, that always makes me remember things. The first time didn't work so I tried again.
“Beth,” I said out loud to myself. That was her name. I did well to remember because I can never remember people's names. I'm terrible at it. I started to think how nice her smile was and the way her eyes seemed so kind. I started to wonder how soft her hair was and what it would feel like to touch her skin. It looked like porcelain – so perfect and not at all how I look on most days.
As I continued to soap myself up I started imagining how it would feel to touch those parts of her body. I spaced out my hands, moving over my chest, touching my nipples, moving slowly down towards my core, feeling how wet I am just thinking about her.
Touching myself, my breathing started to get quicker and heavier. Using my finger to circle my clit and tease my entrance started to bring me closer to the edge. I needed a release after my shit-show of a day and it feels so good, the hot water pouring down on me, getting closer and closer – one hand teasing my nipple as the other continued circling my clit, all while imagining what I could do to her and how I'd love to make her squirm and moan my name.
I slid my fingers into myself while using the palm of my hand to rub my clit that's so swollen and needy. I could feel myself getting closer but I couldn’t quite get there. I grabbed the shower head and set it to one hard stream of water and aimed it at my throbbing clit.
Instantly I realised that's what I needed, my other hand moving faster. I gasp and come undone all at once, holding the water on myself a little longer to ride out my orgasm and I leaned against the wall. Feeling all the tension of the day washing away. I put the shower head back where it's supposed to be and rinsed off.
As I stepped out of the shower, realisation hit me! That was crazy, i literally only met the woman today and we spoke for all of a few minutes, I would likely never see her again. Oh well, that was fun and exactly what I needed. Little fantasies here and there do no harm no one's going to know, just me and my poor, abused shower head.
I towelled off and pulled on some comfy pyjamas with fluffy socks. I swear I have more pyjamas than I do outside clothes. I find my ready meal cooked and cool enough to eat. God, how long was I in the shower? It's normally molten when I get it out of the microwave.
The bolognese smelled yummy. I had treated myself to some marks and sparks ready meals; they were reduced but the freezer solves all those problems. I grabbed a can of Pepsi Max from the fridge and took a long swig. Pepsi Max is my weakness, I could drink it all day and not get bored of it.
I got myself comfy and opened Netflix on the tv to find some crime documentaries to watch. Isn't it crazy that crime documentaries help chill me out? According to some study it means I can't be right in the head but I don’t care, it helps me relax. And it isn't happening to me. I can disassociate from it and watch mindlessly. I get comfy and hit play.
After I finished eating I started to doom scroll with the tv on in the background. There was nothing on there I wanted to see but I guess it's just kind of a habit now. I got bored quickly so I turned my phone upside down so I wouldn't get tempted and started to watch the show again.
I had missed most of what happened. Oh well, they caught the woman and it turns out it was the victim's sister, she killed him for their dads inheritance. Maybe I'm not as crazy as I think I am, I would never have the guts to even hit someone, never mind kill someone. I got comfy again and soon drifted off to sleep.
