Holly gets a ride (Holly Craig Series)

by Jodie Halliday

  Breathing out finally, she pulled the plug on the bath and wrestled with an idea which entered her head. Jane’s hair was filthy, it stank of dirt and vomit and needed to be washed. She gasped and knelt back down on the floor as the water gurgled out. She would dearly like to wash it for her, sitting behind her in the bath, feeling her leaning back against her breasts. A once in a lifetime opportunity, but a million miles outside what she would consider appropriate. So far she felt that she done the right thing in rescuing her and cleaning her up ready for bed. But getting into the bath, naked, sober with a drunk and incapable girl, how would that look in court? More to the point, what would she think of herself in the morning? Without thinking she slipped her hand between her legs and was shocked to feel her pussy, engorged, sleek with her juices even though she hadn’t even touched herself. It was probably that single touch that made the decision for her. She put the plug back in and ran hot water into the bath, testing it until it felt ready. She took the shampoo bottle and stepped into the bath, facing Jane who was slumped against the end of the bath with her eyes closed. The water was back up to her breasts and Holly stared at them, reliving the feeling of the flannel over them.

  “I’m going to wash your hair so I need to get behind you,” said Holly, towering over her. Jane opened her eyes and stared at the legs and knees in front of her. Her head tilted back slowly as her gaze travelled up, over her thighs, her pussy, breasts and stopped as she looked at her face.

  “What?”

  “Wash your hair, can you lean forward?” asked Holly, maneuvering around. She deliberately opened her legs wider than necessary but Jane was staring down at her feet, trying to duck as Holly swung behind her and slid down into the bath. “Lean back against me so I can wet your hair.” Holly lathered her up and with a lot of effort rinsed and applied another load of shampoo, unsure if she was really doing much good but it would definitely smell nicer in the morning. The slippery mixture rolled off her head and down over her shoulders and between the two girls. It was nice to be in the bath with her but what she had thought might be an erotic experience wasn’t approaching anything like that. She rinsed her hair again and brushed the soap suds off the girl’s breasts and decided that she had done enough. “OK, time to get dry, I’ll get you to sit on the floor OK, then dry you off.” Once again with great effort and careful maneuvering she got Jane onto the bathroom floor, positioned her against the side of the bath and draped a towel over her. Her timer pinged and she ambled naked into the living area, opened the oven door and extracted her panties and bra. They weren’t fully dry but they would do to get her home.

  She took another towel from the rail and knelt as she dried Jane’s hair as best she could, then patted her down with the larger towel until it was time to get her to bed. She pulled back the covers of the bed and immediately noticed the silkiness of the sheets and the thick texture of the duvet. Lifting Jane by the arm she helped her over to the bed where she flopped down with a sigh. Holly’s eyes were immediately drawn to the girl’s pussy, its hairless skin as though hair had never grown there in her life, and the way the texture of her lips seemed to be identical to that of her upper thighs, pure unblemished skin, silky and so very feminine. She was tempted to grope her again with the excuse of drying her thoroughly but simply pulled the covers up to her neck and tucked her in. She now understood a little more about her arousal and her actions of the evening. She was randy beyond belief not so much because of the naked young girl but because she had been exposed to something that she would have considered taboo, off limits and not even worth considering before this evening. Being naked with another girl was new, a thrill because it was a challenge to her preset ideas. It was Mike’s beer barrels but in real life. She had survived, passed the test and was thrilled that she had helped someone at the same time.

  She ran some water into a glass and put it beside the bed, then washed Jane’s clothes and hung them up in the bathroom to dry. The washing up bowl in the sink would make a nice container if she vomited again and Holly left it by her bed. She returned her ID card to her purse and left it along with her phone on her bedside table so that it would be one of the first things that she saw when she woke the next morning. Finally, Holly dressed, checked her pockets and bag for her own possessions, turned the bathroom light on and the other lights off then closed the door and emerged into the early morning.

  She was home twenty minutes later and slipped into bed silently. Her need for release had doubled during the past twenty-four hours but she needed sleep and pushed Mike to the back of her mind as she slipped between the sheets, naked, wondering if it was now normal for girls to be totally shaved.

  Chapter 6

  As Tuesday morning entered her consciousness she rolled over, remembering that she was meeting Rob in the afternoon for what was likely to be their final date. She would take her backpack with her which would keep her hands busy and unavailable for him to hold in case he still didn’t get the message.

  Holly called her mother, catching her just before work and gave her the news of her car search and final exams. She sensed the pride in her mother’s voice and grinned at the ceiling in her bedroom as she brought her up to date with some of the gossip from campus, people’s plans and her own job applications. Her mother wondered when she might be home and Holly replied that home would be one of her first trips once she got the car. Her father was fine and out at work but she had been feeling a little under the weather with a pain in her knee but was sure it would pass in a couple of days and would still go in to work. They signed off and Holly went back downstairs to heat up her coffee, naked under her dressing gown. There was a part of her that morning that dearly wanted to demonstrate to Addie that she too was now casual about how she dressed around the house, but, alas, Addie had stayed at someone else’s house the previous night and was at that very moment getting a wonderful early-morning wake-up call.

  Holly texted Marko and thanked him for sending Sam in her direction, responded to an inquiry from the new Event Director from the Foundation, confirmed with her landlord that she would be staying in the property after graduation and googled ‘shaved vagina’ to see what the world was doing in that region. Information such as ‘new, clean razor’, ‘single use’ and ‘thick shaving foam’ were obvious and there was little information to be found that she didn’t consider common sense. The thought of clicking on the ‘images’ link was tempting but not her scene so she closed the tab and deleted the history of her search. She felt the tuft of pubic hair, placing her feet back up either side of her keyboard for ease of access. It wasn’t bushy at all and in fact it was pretty well behaved for something that she had never trimmed, pruned or shaved. She thought it had looked nice when she had checked it out in the bathroom mirror, in proportion to the rest of her body, which, she thought, was just as pretty as Jane’s from the previous night.

  She slid her feet off the desk and pulled her dressing gown around her, thinking back to the sight of that girl in the bushes, how those brambles had dug into the flesh of her neck and head, how she must have been thrown in there to have landed with her arms contorted and her face in the dirt. Whatever her faults might be, and Holly could only think of a night of uncontrolled drinking, it was no excuse whatsoever to discard her like an unwanted toy. Jane would have had no chance trying to get out of those brambles on her own in the state she was in. Her face would have been ripped up and the injuries to her thighs would certainly have increased, maybe up to her pussy from the way those brambles had snagged her. She balled her hands into fists, thinking of ways on which those men could be found but knew in her heart that it would be simply another incident on the campus police blotter.

  After lunch she showered, dressed conservatively in jeans, shirt and jacket and put some books in her backpack that needed to be returned to the Admin building and library. She sat in the lounge and waited for Rob to arrive, determined to go straight out to meet him rather than let him inside. He was on time and as she slipped into the pas
senger seat she allowed him to kiss her cheek, a friend-zone move that she sensed was understood all too well.

  He offered to drive her to the Library and suggested that they go down to the river afterwards for a walk. Holly agreed, pleased with the plan and the fact that the walk would be out in the open with other walkers, young and old, using the same scenic path. She returned the books and jumped back into the car, still holding her backpack which contained the travel budget and a few items to pad it out and make it look important to her that day.

  “So the last exam went well, then?” she asked as they turned into Albany Crescent. It would take them through the eastern edge of town and almost directly to the main car park for the river path.

  “Yeah, no probs. Free now!”

  “It’s a good feeling. I’ve made a start on job applications but haven’t had even one acknowledgement that they’ve even received my information” said Holly, looking at the signs of sales in the women’s clothing store window. “Fifty percent off what?” she wondered. Probably off a price they had used in some random store for a week that they could use as a valid data point. She grinned. With the car purchase close she needed another financial target and decided that from her first paycheck she would reward herself with a matching Dior bra and pantie set. “What?”

  “I said that I heard that Sam is going to help you find a car,” said Rob, his tone falsely cheerful.

  “Yeah, seems his Dad is in the business and is willing to offer a mechanic to look over whatever I decide on before I buy it.”

  “Hey, look at that guy!” said Rob as they pulled up the traffic lights. They were two cars from the front of the queue and a man with one crutch stood by the light, holding a cardboard sign. One leg of his trousers had been pinned up half way. With his free hand he waved slowly at the cars, nodding and rotating the sign.

  “Poor guy,” said Holly quietly. Rob rolled his window down and Holly smiled, wondering how much he would give the guy as he started to limp along the queue towards them.

  “Hey!” shouted Rob, “you spelt ‘homeless’ wrong, stupid! It’s l-e-s-s at the end!” Rob rolled the window up and looked straight ahead, avoiding the man who simply nodded and seemed to say ‘thank you’. “What an asshole, eh?”

  The sound of the street and traffic was blocked out by the rushing of blood to her head. Her muscles tensed as though the past five seconds had torn at every one of her senses, her morals and beliefs. She stared at the man who hobbled back towards the corner, each step an effort as he continued to scan the cars hopefully. She would not cry even though her breathing faltered. She would not cry, not today, not as a prelude to their final conversation. She had simply never witnessed someone purposely degrading another in such a public, mean-spirited manner. Her boyfriend, the guy she gave her virginity to, her lover of two years, had less class, less courage than the one-legged man on the corner and it was only now that she was seeing him in that light. She would not goddam cry but she remained silent and looked in the other direction as they drove past the corner, turned left onto Oaken Lane and half a mile later, entered the car park. She grabbed her backpack, slung it around her shoulders then walked towards the water, not waiting for Rob.

  “Hol, did you have any more ideas about the trip?” he asked. He touched her jacket, indicating that he wanted to hold her hand but both her hands remained deep in her jacket pockets.

  She watched the ducks for a while then looked out into the distance where the path snaked into the poplar trees. “I told you, seventeen thousand isn’t going to fly,” she said with as much finality as possible. She sat on the nearest bench seat and stared out over the water. Rob joined her, sitting slightly further away than he would normally.

  “Hol, we could get a loan. And you’ve got savings, right?”

  “The savings are for my car, not a holiday. Rob, the trip that you have in mind is the sort of thing people do when they retire, not straight out of college, no job.”

  “But you were all excited about it!”

  “I’m not excited about the thought of a loan of seventeen grand around my neck at age twenty-three. And anyway, what bank is going to lend anyone that sort of money to blow on a holiday? What sort of collateral would you put up?”

  “Hol, look,”

  “Rob!”

  “No, look, maybe we cut back a bit, just go to one or two places and ..”

  “Rob! It’s not going to happen. I need to think about my future, get a job, get solvent, start my career.” He swallowed hard, the words slowly sinking in that there was not going to be any trip with her. “Rob, it’s time we went our separate ways, I have to concentrate on becoming something in the world, using my degree, releasing my parents from their duty to support me.”

  “So, you’re saying you don’t need me now?”

  “It’s not a question of need Rob. I want the freedom to be able to move and work anywhere, without any ties.” She turned to him, noting his wounded look. “None, Rob.”

  “So is that why you’re going out with Sam tomorrow?”

  “Rob, don’t be dumb!” she shouted, then calmed a little, aware that an old lady had turned around who had been feeding the ducks. “He offered his father’s mechanic to make sure I got a decent car, that’s all. Can you really see Sam fancying me?” They both stared out across the river, watching nothing in particular as the words and their meaning settled.

  “So you’ve led me along all these months saying you’d go but now just as we’re about to set off you change your mind? That’s a really fucking bitchy thing to do Holly!”

  She refused to have a slanging match out in the park. She thought about their two years together, good times and bad, the car, her degree, her prospects and finally Addie’s words. She turned to him and said quietly “Rob, there’s some of your stuff at my place. Let me know when you want to collect it and I’ll make sure I’m in.” He snorted, looking down the path in the other direction. She touched his arm and squeezed. “Bye,” she said gently as she stood. She turned in the direction of the shops and heard a muttered and angry ‘Fuck off” from him, final confirmation that her decision had been the correct one on many levels.

  As she left the park she pulled her purse out of her bag and counted the notes. Twenty-seven dollars. She folded the seven dollars and slipped them into her pocket as she walked up Oaken Lane, relieved when she saw, two hundred yards ahead, the outline of the disabled man. As she approached him she slowed, watching his movements and how his short walk from the traffic lights down the queue of cars was synced with the cycle of the traffic lights. She smiled at him as he returned to the lights and held out the seven dollars.

  “I want to apologise for my boyfriend earlier,” she said as he stared at the money.

  “Boyfriend? Why, what did he do?”

  “He said you’d spelled the word ‘homeless’ wrong. I’m so sorry.”

  “Oh, the guy in the car?” he asked, taking the money. “Thank you dear.”

  “Yeah, sorry,” said Holly, noting the stubble on his face and the calloused hand where he had gripped the crutch.

  “It’s OK, I get worse all the time.”

  “Oh. Look, is there something I can get for you?”

  “No honey, you’ve been very kind. Not many people want to talk to a crippled beggar.”

  “Can I ask what happened?”

  “Army, lost my lower leg.”

  “Afghanistan?”

  “No, somewhere else,” he said, shifting as though he wanted to sweep the queue of traffic that was forming and that conversation wasn’t going to feed him.

  “Well, OK, see you again,” she said and reluctantly walked on past the clothing store.

  “Thanks Miss!” he called out and she turned, smiled and waved back at him.

  Chapter 7

  Late on Wednesday morning Holly walked back to the University, slightly on edge in case she saw Rob but to her relief he didn’t materialise and she was able to enjoy the sunshine and peace of th
e campus which was now deserted after the end of exams. She handed a postcard-sized advert to the Student’s Union clerk announcing a vacancy for a tenant at her house in anticipation of Addie moving out in two weeks. It stated female only, gave the rate and her email address and phone number along with the address of the house. She had also advertised on the university website that morning and thought that the online advert was likely to generate the most interest.

  She had her backpack with her containing analysis and printouts of cars, financing and helpful questions to ask dealers. She spent an hour online in the library, enjoying the change of scenery from her bedroom and the silent company of the one or two people who were also using the facility, then headed to a café close to the Student’s Union building for a quick, cheap lunch. Just before two she saw Sam’s car pull up and she downed the remainder of her coffee, checked her hair in the window then skipped out to meet him.

  He jumped out of the car, kissed her cheek then opened the door for her, closing it carefully once she was seated.

  “You want to head to the Rolls Royce dealer first?” he asked, grinning at her.

  “No, I need something reliable,” she answered, pleased with the quick response even though she was still a little awed by his presence. She turned and looked at him again, his smile, the perfect colour of his smooth skin, his confidence as he pulled out into the traffic. He was smiling at her with kindness and warmth, a genuine happiness to see her in his eyes and she felt dazzled.

  “Holly?”

  “What?” asked Holly, wrenched out of her dream.

  “I said, have you thought about how much you want to spend?”

  “Well, if I stay at my house where I am now then I don’t want to spend more than three hundred a month,” she said. His shirt filled out nicely and probably tucked way down into his jeans, no doubt covering his underwear in places. His legs looked muscular but not heavy. She breathed in deeply, forcing herself to look at the road ahead rather than the scenery.