by A. Anders
The End.
*****
Spanking Her Curves 3
Maggie Rivers skimmed over the week’s calendar as she sipped her mid-morning latte. The new hires and transfers were arriving today and starting training this week. As the IT Department’s secretary, it would once again be her responsibility to ensure they were all comfortable with their company’s computer systems.
Technically, this wasn’t her job. And she wasn’t any sort of computer whiz, but she didn’t mind helping out. Training the new employs also gave her a chance to meet the new people and maybe make friends. Ever since she was a girl, making friends wasn’t something that was easy for her to do.
As Maggie scrolled idly down the list, a name seemed to jump off the screen. Ryan Parker, Manager, New Project Development, transfer from Corp HQ.
She set her latte down as she frowned slightly. It couldn’t be the same Ryan she’d gone to school with, could it? Ryan Parker wasn’t an unusual name. There were probably lots of them in the world.
But what if it was? They had lived on the same block for decades, and gone to the same schools for thirteen years. Until their freshman year of high school, they’d been best friends. But the summer after eighth grade things changed. She’d started putting on weight, so instead of going to the pool with him, she’d found a little rare-books store to hide in. And when school started again, she continued to hide herself away.
Her favorite place back then was the rare bookstore. It was her sanctuary throughout high school. Even now it was her favorite place to go. There was something about holding those hard to find books in her hand that transported her to different times and places. To hold classic books that were over 100 years old was like being a contemporary of Mark Twain or Jane Austen. It gave her a place in the world.
For the last couple of years, however, the owner had been talking about retiring. This saddened Maggie. She knew that no one would be interested in keeping the place open. Most days she was the only customer. People didn’t seem to be interested in old books anymore. It was a tragedy.
Maggie closed the email and finished her latte. Ryan had also loved to read. They used to ride their bikes out to the park, then lie in the grass and read for hours. Sometimes they would quietly read their own books. And other times she would read out loud to him.
That wasn’t all they did though. Often they had what they would refer to as “adventures”. Their adventures would almost always ends with them getting in trouble. Those were some of the greatest times as Maggie’s life. Getting into trouble with Ryan by her side and a book tucked in her back pocket was all she ever needed to have a great day.
Maggie smiled thinking about it. The thoughts lingered as she retrieved her training binder out of the cabinet to prepare. Whoever this Ryan Parker ended up being, she concluded, at least he was bringing back a lot of great memories.
Throughout the rest of the morning, as Maggie went over the basics of email for a few of the new hires, she found herself smiling. She couldn’t help but remember the misadventures they’d had, as well as all the things that she and Ryan had put their parents through.
At noon, she unpacked her lunch and settled at her desk. Today’s book was her latest acquisition from the book shop: a first-edition of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It was priceless, yet the owner had let her have it for nearly nothing. As she nibbled and read, her boss stopped by her desk and commented on the morning’s training.
“Everyone said you were quite friendly and upbeat, Maggie. I’m happy to hear it. Keep up the great work.”
“Thanks,” she replied with a smile.
It was easy for her to be upbeat while thinking about the trouble that she and Ryan used to get into. Maggie really enjoyed being that mischievous child. And more than that, she enjoyed having Ryan as a sidekick.
The afternoon passed much the same. That night, as she lay in bed, she found herself thinking not of the youthful trouble they got in, but of the high school years. The summer before freshman year, Ryan had tried for a while to get her to hang out as they always had, but she had refused. It was the summer that she was embarrassed about gaining weight.
By the time school had started, he had a whole new group of friends and seemed to have forgotten about her. She still saw him often. He got taller, filled out, and joined the swim and soccer teams. She went to his swim meets and soccer games to watch him, but only from behind the covers of a book. Pretending to read she would stare at his developing body. She was amazed at how good-looking he was becoming.
The swim meets were torture for her, she recalled as she shifted in her bed. Senior year was the worst. He was lean and lithe as he climbed out of the pool. His taut muscles glistened with water, and all she could do was sit in the upper bleachers and watch like a stranger.
Maggie sighed and tried to think of something else, but the image wouldn’t go away. Surely now, ten years later, he might be a bit thicker too, right? It would only be fair. She sighed again and rolled over, but it took a very long time for her to get to sleep.
The next day, Maggie found it hard to be friendly and upbeat. She faked her way through her training sessions and hoped that no one would notice. Her eventual training session with Ryan Parker was weighing on her. She typically left the management transfers for last allowing them to first set up their office. But with Mr. Parker, whoever he was, she wanted to wait for as long as possible. She simply didn’t know what she would do if this was her Ryan.
As their appointment approached, Maggie knew that she could no longer put it off. With her heart racing, she collected her things and made her way to Mr. Parker.
His assistant told her that he had stepped away a moment, but that she could wait in his office. Maggie nodded and went in. Immediately she felt that there was something comfortable about the office. It was still pretty bare minus a few personal effects. But what he did have felt familiar somehow.
Ensuring that no one could see her, Maggie walked around the office. There were no photographs, but what did catch Maggie’s eye was a set of leather-bound books standing on the shelf behind the desk. She leaned over the desk to get a better look. The print on the spines was faded. But leaning in a little further, what she found both startled and delighted her. They were copies of: The Sun Also Rises, Slaughterhouse-Five, and Ulysses.
“Hello, you must be Maggie,” a masculine voice said.
Maggie jumped with a surprised gasp before she straightened up. She couldn’t believe that she had been caught snooping. But not only that, she was doing it while bent over a desk. Those were not the round cheeks that she had intended to greet him with.
Her face heated up as she turned, and it took everything in her to pretend that nothing had happened.
“Yes,” Maggie said immediately searching his face for familiarity. “And you must be Mr. Parker. I was just admiring your books.”
He nodded as he stepped through the doorway and toward the desk. Maggie recognized him immediately. Ten years older, and his hair was darker, but otherwise he was even more gorgeous than she remembered. Ryan Parker, her childhood friend, was back in her life.
Maggie stared back at his gaze wondering if he recognized her. She cradled her training binder to her ample bosom. Trying not to seem nervous, she bit her lower lip.
Ryan lifted a box off of the desk and set it on the floor. “I had a friend that turned me into a bookworm when I was a kid,” he said, shrugging a little. “There are a few I can’t get over.” He nodded toward the shelf with the books. He then signaled for her to sit.
“Nothing wrong with that,” Maggie said, relieved that he didn’t seem to remember her. She’d gained more weight since high school, but more than that, it was a little humiliating to still be a secretary while he had clearly done so much better for himself. “There are certainly worse things to get hooked on, right?”
“Right,” he agreed with a smile. “So you’re the computer genius around here?”
Maggie smiled back and shook
her head. “Not even close. I just have the time to show everyone how to log in for email. If you need any real help, you have to call the real geniuses. But I answer their phones.” She smiled again, setting her binder down on the desk and opening it up.
It was quick and simple to show him how to get into the company’s systems. They finished up a few minutes before quitting time.
“If you need any help,” Maggie said, jotting down the IT Department’s number on a sticky note, “feel free to give us a call. I’ll have someone come and sort it out.”
“Thanks,” Ryan said. He turned the chair to look up at her. “Before you go…”
“Yes?” She picked up her binder and held it in front of her in an attempt to seem casual.
“I know it’s about quitting time. I don’t want to hold you up when you probably have things you need to be doing,” he said, seeming hesitant.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” she said. “Is there something I can do for you?”
He reached for a memo on the corner of his desk. “I had just noticed this yesterday,” he said, glancing at her. “I went to school with a girl named Margaret Rivers. Everyone called her Maggie. I don’t suppose…”
“Did you?” she asked blandly. “What school was that?”
“Washington Central.” He watched her face as if knowing she was the girl he remembered, but willing to give her the opportunity to say he was mistaken.
“Oh, yes,” she said, slowly, as if it had been a century ago rather than a decade. She let herself smile. “Well, Ryan Parker! I didn’t recognize you. How’ve you been? How’s the family?”
He leaned back in his chair, the corner of his mouth lifting in something that wasn’t really a smile. “Me? Fine. How have you been?”
“Oh, fine,” she said dismissively, waving a hand. “It’s great to see you, really. I have to get my stuff closed out for the day, though. So, you understand…”
“Sure,” he said, sitting forward. “But listen, Maggie, before you run off again…”
There was something about the way he said “again” that made her pause. It caught her heart. It was probably silly, but something in her wanted to believe he was referring to the way she had pulled away after eighth grade.
“Yes?”
“Are you busy after work? I’d like to catch up, you know. Let me buy you a coffee or a drink or something.”
“Oh,” she said, dropping her gaze.
When he rose from his chair, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to look at him as she came up with a reason why she couldn’t. But as her eyes lifted, they moved across the books behind his desk. It was then that she recognized it. The copy of Ulysses was the same one that she had spent so many hours reading aloud from?
“I… I’m not really busy, I guess. There is one stop I have to make, but I could meet you somewhere.”
“Great,” Ryan said, sounding like he really meant it. “Except for one thing…”
“What’s that?” Maggie said, gripping the binder a bit tighter as her breathing felt heavy and her palms suddenly felt warm and damp.
“I’ve only been back in town for a few days. I don’t know where to go anymore.” He shrugged and smiled.
She produced a weak smile. “Uh… Okay. We could, um…”
He leaned on the corner of the desk. “Maybe I could just make your stop with you?”
“Oh, I don’t know, I just…” Flustered, Maggie clutched the binder to her chest and dropped her gaze to the floor.
“I didn’t mean to intrude,” Ryan said quickly. “Is there a bar or something nearby we could meet up after you run your errand or whatever?”
“Uh, sure. I mean, it’s no big deal, really, I just…” She took a deep breath, but decided she wasn’t ready to tell him. Instead she gave him directions to a quiet little place she knew and told him she’d be there in about an hour.
Since high school, she had become something of an expert on the city’s quiet niches. Less popular, out-of-the-way spots where the awkward and book loving populace could hide were her specialty. But, over the years, many of her favorite places had closed their doors. She feared the same for Montgomery’s Rare Books.
In all the years that she had been seeking refuge in the dusty shop, she had seen less than a score of other patrons. Most of the clientele she had gotten to know by name. The place was as much home to her as her apartment, and she stopped in every day after work just to say hello to Mr. Montgomery. He had become like family.
There had been no real reason Ryan couldn’t come with her, except this had been the place she had been able to hide away during that first painful summer. She just wasn’t ready to share her sanctuary yet.
As she stepped into the store, she thought about the books that apparently still meant something to him. She thought about his mention of a friend that had turned him into a bookworm. As it all settled in her mind, suddenly there was another reason to have come without him; a better one.
Maggie had recognized the books in Ryan’s office as belonging to a famous collector, and knew that Mr. Montgomery had more of the titles from his collection. Without hesitation she found them on the shelf and took them up to the counter. Mr. Montgomery glanced at them then looked at her over his half-moon glasses.
“I know you have copies of these already, missy,” he said, almost a question, almost teasing her. He always called her ‘missy’ when he was almost-teasing her about something, like buying yet another copy of a book she already owned.
“These are a gift for a friend,” she said. “He has a few others from this collection.”
“Ohhh,” Mr. Montgomery said softly unable to hide his disbelieving smile.
With the books safely wrapped in tissue paper and tucked into a shopping bag, Maggie felt almost like skipping to the pub. She didn’t, but her heart skipped along instead.
Peering in through the window, Maggie found that the pub was near empty. The owner and his wife were behind the bar as always, and the old man that typically sat at the far end sipping tea was on his stool. A couple Maggie had seen in there a few times were at a booth toward the back, and Ryan was sitting at the table closest to the door.
Maggie hesitated for a moment when she felt a flush wash through her body. It had just dawned on her that Ryan, the boy she’d spent so much time thinking about, was in there waiting for her. For so long she had fantasized about this very moment. Having her fantasy come to life made her body tingle.
Ryan looked up and smiled as Maggie opened the door. He rose to his feet as she neared, pulling the other chair out from the table. Maggie smiled back noticing a half-full glass in front of him. It was a tall tumbler of clear liquid. She wondered how long she had kept him waiting.
“Sorry for the delay,” Maggie said as she sat. She puts the bag from the store on the table, logo-side down.
“I didn’t mind, really,” Ryan assured her. “This is a nice little place. Quiet.” He glanced around. “Good place to unwind after work. There is none of those over-the-top first-impression cheerful people, you know?”
Maggie nodded as the pub owner came over to the table greeting her by name. “What are you drinking?” she asked Ryan.
“I had mineral water while I was waiting,” he replied. “I didn’t know what you’d be in the mood for.”
“Have you ever tried apple ale?” she asked. “We have a local microbrewery that makes a great one.”
“I haven’t,” he said, leaning an elbow on the table and giving her a smile that made her heart give a funny stutter. “I’d love to try it.”
Maggie dropped her gaze to the shopping bag as the owner went to get their drinks. She didn’t know what Ryan’s smile was supposed to mean, or why it made it her so fluttery inside, but her cheeks felt warm and she hoped she wasn’t blushing.
She cleared her throat and raised her hands to the bag. “I, um, stopped off and picked up something for you.” She glanced up at him. “Just a welcome-home thing. Nothing big or anything.”
“Well, thanks, Mags,” Ryan said softly, moving the glass aside. “That was very thoughtful of you.”
She shrugged, then pushed the bag across the table a little closer to him. He smiled as he picked it up and she couldn’t help but smile back. He then clasped her hands tightly together before he opened the bag and took the first layer of tissue-paper from around the parcel.
The owner brought the bottles of apple ale as Ryan unwrapped his gift. With the leather clad books before him on the table, Ryan gasped. The sound was music to Maggie’s ears. She hid her satisfied smile behind a sip of her drink as he marveled over it. She watched him run his hand over the aged leather, and to her surprise, she begun to imagine what his hand would feel like caressing her.
“Where did you find this?” he asked. “I’ve been trying to find the rest of these, and…” he trailed off, shaking his head.
“A little place I know.”
He carefully set the book down on the paper and took the second volume out to open. “Invisible Man and Song of Solomon. Maggie, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything,” she replied, meaning it. The look on his face was enough.
He reached over and put his hand on hers. “Thank you. You’re still the coolest girl ever.”
She dropped her gaze and chuckled as she shook her head. “Not even close,” she said dismissively. “Try that ale, though.”
Ryan carefully rewrapped the books and put them back in the bag before doing so. He agreed that the apple ale was very good. After, Maggie answered his questions about herself with a few vague generalities. He then answered her questions about his years away at college and at the corporate headquarters before transferring back here.
His answers were only a little more detailed than hers, as if he wasn’t really interested in discussing it. It was like his thoughts were elsewhere. But his smile was relaxed and she was relieved to hear that he was still single.
After a couple more apple ales, they were laughing about their youthful misadventures.