Pretty Girls

by Mimi Strong

  Bobby slipped his arm around her waist and gently helped her over a log. Huskily, he whispered near her ear, “I am at your service. Any time, anywhere.”

  When the others weren't paying attention, Nora and Bobby made plans.

  Nora didn't want Kylie to know, though, so she didn't say anything to her during the hike, or on the drive back to town.

  Nora made an excuse about doing errands for her mother, and dropped Kylie at her apartment right after the hike.

  “We miss having you at work. I don't even want to go in tomorrow,” Kylie said as she unfastened her seat belt in front of her apartment building. “It's no fun without you.”

  Nora was touched by this, and felt bad about considering career opportunities away from the studio. “I'll be back in no time, but I should probably warn you. I am getting that nasal surgery, so I might look a little different.”

  Kylie smiled and squealed with excitement, to Nora's surprise. “I'm so glad! I've been trying not to stare at your nose, and I do think you're lovely exactly how you are, but I can understand why you're doing it, and I want you to know, I support you completely.”

  Nora leaned forward and gave her friend a hug inside the car. “You're like the sister I never had,” she said, surprising herself with her honesty.

  Kylie got out of the car, but not before making Nora promise to call her immediately after the surgery, and every day after, to check in.

  Nora waved goodbye and circled the block a few times to allow Bobby enough time to get home, then she went to his building.

  In the light of day, the metalwork chandelier in the lobby looked macabre, and the floor, with its bold black and white geometric circles, looked scuffed. She should have been tired from the long hike, but her blood was racing, especially below the waist. She hadn't felt this excited since the early days with Andrew, back in college.

  Bobby opened his door, nude except for a towel around his waist. “I thought you could join me in the shower.”

  “No shower. I would need something to sit on, and you don't have any bars in there for me to hold onto.”

  “You can hold onto me.”

  She peeled off her shirt and bra, still standing in the living room. “That's gallant of you, but I wouldn't be comfortable.”

  He pulled open the coat closet and retrieved a folding, plastic chair. “Will this work?”

  He put down the chair, cupped her breast with one hand and kissed her.

  “Sure,” she said. “I'll try anything.” He kissed her again. “Well, not anything, but, yes, I could use a shower after that hike.”

  He kissed her neck and chest. “You taste salty.”

  CHAPTER 6

  They got everything set up in the shower. At home, Nora had crutches to help her get to and from her ensuite bathroom without her foot. She could hop, or shuffle over on hands and knees, but neither were dignified options, so she stood still, arms out. Bobby scooped her up and brought her into the spacious shower stall, where she sat on the chair.

  She'd never showered with a man before, because Andrew had been too self-conscious, and she marveled at what she'd been missing. He felt different covered in sudsy water. They shared the bar of soap and took turns washing each other. He complained of being ticklish when she lathered up his armpits.

  When he turned his back, she gently sunk her teeth into his delicious, round butt cheek. She remembered biting Stevey on the arm, that day at the office, when he'd pulled her away from Murray, and how good it had felt to act without thinking. On air, she always had to think, three sentences ahead of what she was saying, so she didn't drop a beat or say something politically incorrect. It felt good to bite, and to grab what you wanted. She reached around to grab onto Bobby, and he stiffened in her hand.

  At his suggestion, they switched places, and he sat on the little plastic chair, with her on his lap. The shower was full of steam, and the hot water showed no sign of letting up, which was good, because now that she'd gotten into the shower with a man, she didn't want to get out.

  She swung one leg over his head, turning to face him, and kissed him hungrily. His wet hands moved all over her body, rubbing her backwards and forwards against him.

  He asked, “Is this okay?”

  She moaned into his ear.

  She was not done, not even started, when he came against her stomach, clenching her tight to him and biting her on the shoulder.

  She pulled the shower sprayer off the wall and washed the both of them down. He laughed, a little embarrassed. “That ended rather abruptly,” he said. “Let me return the favor. Do you want to take this to the bed?”

  “Yes, please.”

  They dried each other off with fresh, fluffy towels, and he reached down to pick her up again. “May I? I want to carry you, but it's because you're a cute girl and it makes me feel strong. But I won't, if it doesn't make you feel good.”

  She locked her arms around his neck. “I would like a lift this time, thanks for asking.”

  He carried her to the bed, excused himself, and came back with some extra cushions from the couch. “I hope you don't mind some props. I don't want to get a sore neck.”

  He propped up her hips on a stack of pillows.

  The room was bright with sunshine and she could hear people through the open window, five floors below, and the music of an ice cream truck.

  He ran his hands up the insides of her thighs, then cupped her buttocks. His head went down, and he did things to her that she hadn't even imagined were possible, let alone felt so good.

  After, they napped together like kittens.

  Nora woke up feeling like a new girl.

  Bobby still didn't have coffee in his apartment, but he did have a frozen lasagne in the freezer, and when they woke up famished, he put it in the oven. After Nora wiped the hiking dirt off her prosthetic and put it back on, she dressed herself in a shirt and sweatpants Bobby offered her. Their hiking clothes mingled together in the washing machine and then in the dryer.

  He opened a bottle of wine and they sat together on the sofa, making conversation. She couldn't shake the feeling she was borrowing Bobby from his future wife, and he was as temporarily in her possession as the clothes she was wearing.

  “I'm glad we can keep this casual,” Nora said tentatively.

  He held up his hands. “I am your boy toy, I get it. Casual. Friends. With benefits.”

  She shuddered. “I do hate that term.”

  “More people are choosing to live alone, and to stay single. There's nothing wrong, so long as both parties are in agreement.”

  “You sound like you're about to draw up a contract.” She tipped back the rest of the wine.

  “Are you seeing anyone else?” he asked.

  She thought immediately of Aaron. “No.”

  “Me neither. So how about this: we keep it casual, but if either of us starts dating someone else, he—or she—lets the other party know.”

  She nodded and gazed over at the bottle of wine. The scent of lasagne cooking made her hungry. Exercise, sex, wine, and food. What more could she want?

  “I'm happy with that,” she said. “And since we're being honest, I'll need a couple of weeks off from frolicking around in your shower and bed. I'm getting that little nose surgery. It's all booked and paid for.”

  He put his chin in his hand and rubbed his non-existent beard, which reminded Nora of her father.

  “I suppose the proper thing to say is you shouldn't do it. But I think you should. Everybody says we shouldn't be shallow, but people are shallow. I should know. I do work in advertising. And I'm a ginger.”

  “Ginger?”

  “That's what the English call people with red hair. It's an insult.”

  “That's ridiculous. It's just hair.” She squeezed her own tight blond curls, which were still damp from the shower and likely would be for another hour. “At least you don't have a white girl afro.”

  “I don't mind if you change your nose, but never touch that hair.�
��

  Nora grinned. “You and your weird fetishes.”

  “I'm not weird.” He playfully grabbed her by the tops of her thighs and pulled her toward him, then laid on top of her. “Grr.”

  The waistband of his pants were loose, and she slipped her hand in them easily. “Ginger,” she whispered in his ear, “is one of my favorite flavors.”

  “It sounds like a compliment the way you say it.”

  She wrapped her fingers around his length, enjoying the feeling of him expanding into her palm.

  He closed his eyes, enjoying her touch for a moment, then he suddenly moved and yanked off her loose-fitting sweatpants in one motion. The panties followed, practically ripping in his haste.

  Nora shrieked and tried to cover herself, but he pushed her back on the couch and kissed her thighs as he lowered his face between her legs.

  He really was the perfect boy toy.

  She squirmed to get away, but he held her still as he dragged his tongue along her pussy, honing in on her sensitive bud. She bit her knuckle to stay quiet as he licked and sucked, gently pleasuring her, slow and easy, like they had all the time in the world.

  He pulled back for a moment and said, “Beg me not to stop.”

  “Bobby! Don't stop!”

  He pressed his chin against her thigh and kissed her leg, then moved gradually back to the center again. “I might stop. Unless you keep making some sounds. Moan for me, so I can experience it with you. I want to take care of you, Nora, utterly and completely, but most of all, I want to hear how crazy I make you feel. Get crazy for me, baby.”

  She nodded, yes, and then closed her eyes. She made a few whimpers and sounds, which caused him to increase his pressure in the most incredible way, so she kept going, getting louder and louder. He dedicated himself to her pleasure, in a way she'd never experienced before. When she came, grasping onto a handful of the sofa with one hand and Bobby's hair with the other, she cried out loud in ecstasy.

  Since she had the week off, but Boddy didn't, on Monday Nora went to Tianne's house. The older kids, Lucy and Matthew, were at preschool and school respectively, and the baby was asleep in his room.

  To Nora, Tianne and Tyson's home was always surprisingly harmonious for a house with three small children, with hardly any visible toys amongst the antique furniture and slip-covered sofas.

  Nora had helped Tianne sew the white denim slipcovers the previous summer, when Tianne was expecting and in that phase of her pregnancy where she had endless energy for nesting activities. The slipcovers had been one of the most popular posts on Tianne's blog, thanks to the step-by-step instructions and photos. She was no Martha Stewart, but she was relatable, and she made mistakes and talked about those more than anything, which was what people liked. They also enjoyed hearing tidbits about her sex life, and while her husband had been reluctant at first, once a few checks came in from advertising dollars, he didn't seem so shy.

  “We're doing a pudding test,” Tianne said to Nora, waving her into the solarium overlooking the back yard.

  “I thought I'd help you with laundry and other chores. I'm at your disposal, and you want me to eat pudding?”

  Tianne sat across from Nora, on a wicker chair, and pulled the lens cap off her camera. “Yes. Put on the blindfold.”

  “Kinky,” Nora said as she wrapped the silk scarf around her head. A tiny bowl was pressed into one of her hands, and a plastic spoon in the other. “Wow, you don't mess around.”

  Nora's nose kept the scarf from truly blindfolding her, but she didn't let on that she could see straight down her cheeks, through the opening.

  Tianne said, “This is my secret of creativity. Work while others are resting. Very applicable when you have a baby. Now taste the first one and tell me what you think.”

  Closing her eyes so she'd be doing it blindly, Nora scooped the spoon through the dish and opened wide. It was sweet and creamy and cool. “Is this chocolate or vanilla? Butterscotch?”

  “You can't tell?”

  Nora took another taste. “Vanilla. Lavender?”

  “You're smelling the flowers I have in the room. No, it's not lavender.”

  Nora pulled up the blindfold and looked at the pudding, which was brown. “Chocolate? I had no idea.”

  Tianne snapped some photos in rapid succession. “You weren't supposed to peek, but that was the point. We taste with our eyes. Lots of people can't tell red wine from white if they're blindfolded. What we see affects our perception.”

  Three other bowls of pudding—all different colors—sat on the table. Nora pulled the blindfold over her eyes again and asked Tianne to mix them up and try again. “I bet I go three for three this time.”

  “You're competitive,” Tianne said.

  “I play with the big boys.” She stuck her fingertips into the bowl Tianne gave her, then licked them off. Vanilla? She couldn't tell.

  Tianne said, “You play with the big boys? What does that even mean?”

  “I don't know,” Nora said, laughing. “I haven't even been off the air for a week and my mouth is regurgitating strange cliches and I don't know what.”

  “You're too young for a mid-life crisis,” Tianne said. “This could be a quarter-life thing.”

  “That's not a thing.”

  “Oh, it is a thing.”

  Nora kept scraping the spoon in the bowl, trying to get more delicious pudding, but it was all gone. She licked the bowl to make her friend laugh.

  After the pudding tasting, during which Nora only guessed the banana pudding accurately, but not the caramel or pistachio, she caught her best friend up on developments with Bobby, as well as the appointment for the nose surgery.

  “I will need someone to drive me home,” Nora said.

  “I think you're beautiful just how you are.”

  “Yes, but visual perception is powerful. Look at this, with the puddings. We taste with our eyes. I don't want to have a face for radio anymore.”

  “A face for radio? Ugh, that's the worst thing I've ever heard.”

  “Not as bad as peg leg, but yeah.”

  “I will drive you, my beautiful friend.” She took two more photos of Nora. “These are to remember you just as you are.”

  Nora rolled her eyes. “I'll still be me, just smoothed out. Why do people make such a big deal out of it? It's perfectly normal—expected, even—for kids with crooked teeth to get braces to straighten them. That's moving things around for the sake of aesthetics. You can still eat just fine with crooked teeth.”

  Tianne picked up one of the bowls and cleaned it out with her finger. “I know a Jewish girl who got a nose job for her sixteenth birthday. She's one of my regular blog commenters. Maybe you could do a guest post for me?”

  Nora grinned and said playfully, “I notice you just shot right through acceptance and into trying to monetize my surgery for yourself.”

  “I guess I did. I'm a bad friend.”

  “No you're not. But I would like more pudding.”

  Tianne leaned back, the wicker chair creaking under her, and put her hand on her forehead. “Me too. It's in the fridge, third shelf. I'm going to have a thirty-second nap while you go get it.”

  Nora returned with the pudding and some regular-sized bowls, and the two of them talked for a bit about future career plans. Nora mentioned her concern about Kylie possibly having an eating disorder.

  Tianne said she'd noticed Kylie seemed a little wobbly the week before, even accounting for it having been one of her first yoga classes. “I see it far too often in young women, and men too,” she said. “I know a woman who does a healing retreat, do you think Kylie would be interested?”

  “You mean like where people beat on drums and stuff?”

  “Good one. No, it's a residential treatment center. It's respectable. Not cheap, but I could get a discounted rate, because I know someone.”

  “I should at least talk to her, but it's awkward, you know? And here I am, a total hypocrite, getting plastic surgery.”

>   “I don't think that makes you a hypocrite. It's never wrong to care, okay? Repeat after me: it's never wrong to care.”

  “It's never wrong to care.” Nora scraped up the remainder of the pistachio pudding. If you closed your eyes, it really could have been vanilla.

  The night before her surgery, Nora was almost too nervous to eat dinner. Her parents were aware of the appointment, but neither had said anything about it.

  While Nora sliced mushrooms and her mother heated up the wok, Nora's father read The Economist and stroked his beard. “The world is in dire straights, but there's still so much wisdom in humanity,” he said. “I read one thing about how the environment is only getting worse, then I read about some wonderful new bacteria that might break down hazardous waste. I don't know what to think.”

  Nora looked up from her mushrooms and said, “That's why I talk about celebrity gossip on the afternoon show. It's the illusion of being informed, without all the sadness.”

  He said, “I suppose it is. Yes, it's nice to not have to think about ugly things. We're very lucky.”

  “Yes, we are,” Nora's mother agreed. “So, what time am I waking you up in the morning? I've got the whole day off work, but I don't know if I should wait at the plastic surgeon's, or go run errands and come back.”

  “Tianne's driving me,” Nora said.

  “Don't be silly. I drive you to all your important doctor appointments. You know that.”

  Nora put down the mushrooms and gave her mother a big hug. “Thank you, Mommy.”

  In the morning, the smell of brewing coffee that she couldn't drink was torture. Nora had read that when awakening from surgery, in addition to pain from the surgery itself, many patients had headaches from simple caffeine withdrawal. It seemed like such a small thing to make mention of, but Dr. Garrett's after-care notes were very detailed. They included answers to questions Nora hadn't even considered, such as how long before the patient could wear sunglasses. Nora had considered buying a sun visor, as was recommended in the notes, but she couldn't see herself actually wearing it. With her curly hair, she'd look like a clown in one of those hats.