Hospital Summer Picnic I

Running a weed eater was not how he had anticipated his day would be spent. Then again, did any day ever go the way it was ‘anticipated?’ All around him he could see the fields turning color, which meant harvest was right around the corner. At the moment his hay fever was driving him nuts, which made him regret that he hadn’t taken his medication in the morning. Still, the sunshine was warm, and the exercise was good.  It was reasonably certain there would be good weather for the picnic tomorrow.

Looking around the pond, he was at least glad he didn’t have to tackle everything alone. There was scarcely time for one person to deal with it all. The following day there would be about 200 people tromping around the place, and there was tons left to do, most of it falling squarely on the shoulders of his Sweetheart.

While he tackled the nasty bits and tall grass, Melissa was making good headway on the shorter grass surrounding the pond, mowing it down with the riding lawnmower. She’d refused to even try it until he mowed the first strips next to the pond, far enough away that she was convinced she wouldn’t ‘fall in.’

In the shallow end of the pond, he watched with amusement as Stan and Marie attempted to set up the volleyball net, Stan on one end and Marie on the other. For added height, Marie sat perched on Tami’s shoulders as she tied the net in place. For her part, Tami appeared to be complaining that it was taking too long. She was probably right, too, as Stan and Marie appeared to be arguing over some doubtlessly small thing.

On the far side of the pond, his eyes zeroed in on his Sweetheart. Even if conscripted into service, he was proud of her. Before it was all said and done, she’d be tired enough to sleep a couple days straight, but at the moment she was examining a clip board with her notes, and surveying the surrounding scene. It wasn’t the first time they’d hosted a function at the pond, but this would certainly be the largest. He’d seen her list earlier, and she was doubtlessly going through it with military-like precision. She also happened to be borrowing a pair of Marie’s ‘daisy-duke’ shorts, and he found it hard to concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing at the moment! He mainly hoped she found time for some fun on the following day rather than worrying through the work of it.

“No, no, no…” Lisa mumbled under her breath. Dropping her clipboard, she ran towards the truck that was backing up on the wrong side of the pond to get him squared away. Just one more detail. He also seemed more interested in staring at her legs than in receiving new instructions, which she would have forgiven any other day, but at the moment it was an irritant. He finally agreed to try it again, and she hoped he didn’t end up in the pond.

Hours later she surveyed the scene once more, pleased with their efforts. Feeling the arms of her husband encircle her from behind, she leaned back against him, suddenly tired. “Looks great, Hon,” he murmured, kissing her ear.

“Now for the food…” she replied.

“Oh, Babe – ”

She smiled wearily at him, and he stopped. He’d encouraged her more than once to just have the meal catered, and at the moment, she was glad she’d taken him up on that. It cost a little more in the budget, but at the moment, she was glad she didn’t have to go back to Marie’s house to spend the night cooking. Besides, as good as Stan was with his grill, he didn’t have nearly enough capacity to feed 200 people. “Only kidding!”

He sighed with relief and gave her a squeeze. “Tired?”

“Very.”

“Hey Lisa – how we looking?”

“I think that takes care of site prep,” Lisa remarked, smiling wearily at Tami. “Are you as tired as I am?”

“Could be,” Tami winked. ‘Probably not – with a guy like that going to bed with me, I’d never get any sleep!’ she didn’t say. “Any chance we could soak in Stan and Marie’s hot tub?”

“I’m sure that could be arranged… that sounds good!”

And about forty-five minutes later, it was just that – good. Lisa’s husband had declined, heading instead to his office to catch up on the day’s happenings while he was working at the pond. This caused a jovial Stan to proclaim himself the ‘rose amongst the thorns.’ Surrounded by four women in the same hot tub, it seemed perfectly ‘reasonable’ to him, though Marie nearly drowned him with water in response, all of which earned her a round of applause from her friends, the other so-called ‘thorns.’ He was immediately conscripted into giving shoulder massages. But if she thought that would be punishment for the ‘great teddy bear’ for a misspoken remark, she was sorely mistaken!

“Hey there,” a friendly voice called about a half hour later.

“Aren’t you a little overdressed?” Marie quipped to her cousin.

“Oh, maybe so,” he replied, looking down at the same grubby jeans he’d worn earlier while weed eating. “Just came to get my Sweety.”

“I guess that’s my cue,” Lisa smiled, rising out of the water, and reaching for his hand.

For a moment, he regretted having headed back to the office in the evening. His lover was sexy without even trying, and he suddenly found his jeans too confining. Trying to distract himself, he remarked, “I see we have one thorn in the middle of all these roses.”

“Now that’s more like it!” Marie laughed, giving Stan a poke. “Listen and learn!”

“A weed is more like it,” her cousin continued. For his part, Stan grinned good-naturedly and kept his mouth shut, lest he lose another one of his ‘roses.’

Drying herself off and wrapping up in a fluffy white robe, Lisa found her husband’s hand. “I-I’m ready Love, I – ”

“Ready for what?!” Marie hooted, giving her best friend a verbal jab.

“I think I’ll sleep for a day,” Lisa giggled, ignoring the innuendo. Making their exit before Marie could pop off with anything else colorful, they made their way back into the house.

“What a cute couple,” Tami murmured. “I’d give anything to have a guy look at me like that. Are they for real?”

“Lisa is a doll,” Marie said matter-of-factly. “My cousin is a stinker, but he does follow her around with his tongue hanging out most of the time.”

“Back when he was a CPA in town, he didn’t even need a tie when he went to work, his tongue was hanging out so far,” Stan drawled.

“We kind of ‘worry’ about her taste in men, but otherwise…”

“What?” Tami laughed. “But… I thought you were the one that introduced them to – ”

“Oh yeah. Forgot about that,” Marie fibbed.

“I think someone’s pulling my leg.” Yep – the baloney meter was registering on ‘high.’

—————————————————————————–

Inside the house, and oblivious to the blarney of their friends, Lisa and her husband enjoyed the spacious shower in Stan and Marie’s master bedroom. It wasn’t often they could use a walk-in, tiled shower where they could both enjoy the warmth of the water without getting in one another’s way, so it was a treat. The bigger treat to them both was to simply be together, naked and unashamed. He could see the weariness in her pretty face, but she was obviously happy over what they’d gotten accomplished during the day. She also had a white dab of soapy suds on her cheek, which was maddeningly sexy for some reason, as was the sight of soapy suds that ran with the water down over her lovely curves. For his own part, he looked delicious, rock hard and pointing towards the sky. She’d long grown accustomed to seeing him ‘hard’ whenever she was in close proximity, whether clothed or unclothed. It made them both laugh, particularly as it was flat-out something he couldn’t help… or so he said!

—————————————————————————–

“All right, you two… I think me and this big lug over here should go hit the hay.” Standing up, Marie made quite a picture trying to tug Stan to his feet.

Stan finally winked at the two remaining occupants of the hot tub and stood up. Briefly exchanging the ‘look’ with his lover, he knew what was in store for him once they got within the four walls of their bedroom… if he behaved himself. “G’night Tami, Melissa,” he chuckled. They stepped out of the water together, and when she attempted to slip her hand into his, he gently smacked her bikini-clad bum.

“Ouch! Hey – you…”

Tami and Melissa watched them until they disappeared into the house, Marie in pursuit to repay the ‘compliment’ to her behind. “Are they always like this?” Tami asked.

“Pretty much,” Melissa giggled. “I think it’s kind of cute.”

“Your boss is SO hot,” Tami exhaled. “What’s he like to work for?”

Melissa felt her cheeks turning red, though she wouldn’t have been able to explain why. She sort of agreed with Tami’s brash assessment, though different adjectives came to mind. “Um… he’s pretty cool. He’s very kind and nice and…”

“Kind and nice?!”

“Uh… yeah. Pretty much, I guess.” Maybe that did sound kind of dull, but she was only telling the truth. Was he supposed to be something different if he was ‘hot?’ “Pretty mundane stuff, I guess… I do the books and he looks them over.”

“I think I’d be looking him over,” Tami murmured.

—————————————————————————–

Slipping in between cool sheets, he scooted next to his lover’s soft, naked form. “Sweetheart?”

“Hmm…?” A tired Lisa called. Instantly he stopped. Whoops! Maybe not tonight? Not hearing a response, she knew what he wanted. “I-it’s okay, love… I’m just… just bushed is all.”

Feeling him gently palm a hand over her femininity, she heard him whisper, “You’ve never had a ‘bush’… and I love it!”

She giggled in spite of feeling tired and turned on her side, feeling a beautiful, rock-hard penis resting in the cleft of her bum. “Want to come in?”

“It’s okay…” he whispered. “Then you’d just need to get up anyway… maybe I can go find something…”

“Hmm…?”

Chuckling softly he left her for a moment, clawing at his pajamas to put something on. Surely the owners of this fine house would have something to help in this ‘emergency?’

—————————————————————————–

Slipping across the hallway, he gently knocked on Stan and Marie’s bedroom door. He wasn’t sure just what kind of a reception he’d get from his saucy cousin, but after all, an emergency was an emergency – surely she could appreciate that!

“Yes?” he heard from inside.

“Marie – it’s me.”

“It’s all right – come in.”

Stepping inside, he was immediately greeted by what appeared to be hundreds of flickering candles. He could hear the shower fan and knew where his best friend, Stan, was at the moment. His pretty cousin was still in the process of lighting the last few candles, evidently preparing for a special night. “You all right over there?” she asked, turning to him and blowing on her lighter to cool it down. Glancing at his waist, she could see immediately that things were not ‘all right,’ and laughed at him. “I think she’s in the other room,” she giggled.

“I know what room she’s in,” he hissed. Right. As if he didn’t know where he was? The pajamas covered, but they didn’t hide the fact that he wanted to quickly return to the other room.

“Need written instructions?” she teased, needling him further.

“Stop it!” he chuckled. “No, I need a condom. You have one in here?”

“Just call me the store down by the corner, eh? When am I going to stop rescuing you from every – ”

“You’ll never be done,” he interrupted. “Now do you have one or not?”

She thought for a moment. “Well, I have some left from New Year’s eve… remember those?”

He wouldn’t forget those anytime soon, and they’d been a hoot. It was probably the first and last time he’d ever again see a condom that looked like a candy cane. It also called to mind some special memories from New Years, but at the moment he was too preoccupied to dwell on those. “That will work!” His Sweetheart wouldn’t know the difference anyway.

Having mercy on her childhood best friend, she turned to rummage in her nightstand until she found what she was looking for. Glancing again at his waist, she teased, “Let’s see… need about ten of them, do you?”

“Just one,” he said meekly, feeling heat rise into his cheeks.

“Here you go,” she grinned, holding one out to him, then withdrawing her hand multiple times until he finally managed to get it from her. “Go get her, tiger,” she winked.

“Thanks,” he said simply, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. “You’re a life saver.”

Marie watched him beat a hasty retreat from their room and smiled wistfully, glad again that she’d done ‘at least one thing right’ in life by introducing her cousin to Lisa. When it came right down to it, Lisa was the only one she trusted to leave him off to.

“Hey Babe,” she heard a voice rumble behind her. “Who was that?”

“Hmph… get a load of this!” Smiling, she turned to her husband, who’d emerged from the shower blissfully naked. “Ooh… nice!” Letting her robe drop to the floor, she grinned mischievously to watch him harden almost instantly. A man was SO predictable… but then again, who could fault him? She loved the body God had placed her in, loved that it turned her husband on, and loved the ‘enormity’ of what she soon hoped to ride long into the night.

—————————————————————————–

Slipping back into the warmth of their bed, he snuggled close to Lisa and whispered, “I got it.” She stirred slightly, but didn’t respond. For a moment he wondered if he should continue, a part of him hating to disturb her. Then again… she would remember in the morning… and if he didn’t, she’d ask why. He grinned stupidly and slipped out of his pajamas. Wondering again for the umpteenth time why he was so blessed, he tore open the condom and began unrolling it onto his manhood. Chuckling to see its ‘candy cane’ pattern, he remembered again the previous Christmas holiday, and the mischievous energy of Marie who seemed always on the lookout for new outlandish things.

Slipping behind his sweet lover once more, he found her still on her side, breathing evenly. “Oh, my sweet lover,” he whispered softly. Making sure his hands were warm, he reached around her and softly touched her tummy, letting his hands tenderly move their way between her legs. She stirred slightly, and seemed to nuzzle closer to him as his fingers tiptoed through soft tendrils of pubic hair to the whispery softness of her femininity. The beauty of her body never ceased to amaze him, as he tenderly drew a finger through her baby soft cleft and the moist warmth beneath.

The hunger deep within overtook him as he sighed softly, his hand moving to gently lift her thigh. Hearing her softly sigh, he felt her scoot her bum against him as he attempted to find her with his manhood. Finally slipping him between her soft legs, he rested a moment, then pressed him into her soft cleft, gently slipping back and forth for a moment, and then inside the sweet embrace of her body.

“Oh… my… Lisa,” he whispered softly. It felt so incredibly good, there were nearly tears in his eyes. His heart filled with inexpressible joy, and he hugged her to him. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear.

“Love you, too,” she returned, before slipping back into dreamland.

He prolonged the sweet agony as long as he could, loving the feel of his body pulsating within hers, and the soft press of her bum on his abdomen. Moving ever so gently to keep from disturbing her, his heart pounding like a drummer in his chest, he embraced her with possessive tenderness as she led him to quite another dreamland, ecstasy washing through him with sweet nurture to his soul.

After taking care of his ‘candy cane,’ he slipped in beside her once more, hugging her to him. “Thank you,” he whispered, even though he knew she wouldn’t hear him. He was proud of her, and hoped the following day went well with all her coworkers from the hospital. And once more, as he slipped off to rest, he again counted his blessings!

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Hospital Summer Picnic II

Yawning, but feeling rested, Lisa sat up in bed and looked at the clock. 9:30? Already? She’d been more tired than she’d even known. He was already gone, probably already at the farm shop to help pull the combines out of the shed to get ready for another harvest. It had been sweet of him to give her a day to help clean up the pond in readiness for her picnic, but today it was back to business for him. For a brief moment she wondered why one of her friends hadn’t come to get her up.

Almost as if on cue, her two energetic friends entered the room with little preamble. “Lisa! You up yet?” Marie called.

“Uh – right here,” Lisa giggled, hands coming up immediately to cover her bare breasts.

“Whoops! Sorry!” Tami laughed.

“When is everyone supposed to arrive?” Marie asked.

“J-just after lunch, 1:00 I think. Isn’t that what we put on the invitations, Tam?”

“Yep.”

“We’ve got time,” Lisa said.

“Yeah? Well, we have people wandering around out there already, and nobody is out there.”

“Really?” Lisa gulped.

“Unless the zero went in the wrong place… Oh, Lisa, did I mess it all up?”

“We could just tell them all to go home for a couple hours,” Marie mused.

“Or have them make themselves at home. We can make it work. Surely not everyone will show up at 10! Tami… um, can you hand me that – ” Motioning with her hands, Lisa directed her friend to find her clothes.

“Hey, Lisa, this looks pretty cool!” Tami said, immediately changing the subject. “Did you make this?”

“You’re right – that’s pretty ‘patriotic,’ Lis,” Marie added. Patriotic at least in terms of employment.

“What did you make it out of?” Tami asked, not waiting for an answer to her first question.

Grinning as she briefly ignored her friends, she gently fit the bikini top around her lovely breasts. Turning to face them, she pointed at her breast, where each could see the hospital’s logo. “I made it from some old scrubs. Waste not, want not, hey?”

“I don’t remember you wearing them scrubs to work, girlfriend,” Marie giggled. At least, not looking like that!

Standing up, Lisa completed the package, tying the strings on either side that held up the bikini bottom. It was obviously not a ‘regular’ swimsuit, though it won the immediate admiration of her friends.

“That looks hot!” Tami remarked. “Maybe you should have made them for everyone!”

“Yeah… and spend all summer sewing? And guessing everyone’s size?”

“Well… how about one for an old friend anyway?” Tami giggled.

Lisa laughed with her and wondered if her tape measure was even large enough to measure her well-endowed friend’s top… but decided not to comment on that. “They’ll have to be content with the tee-shirts we got them. That’s all we could fit in the budget anyway.” Pulling on her tee shirt and a pair of shorts, and after quickly working over her hair and deciding it would have to be ‘good enough,’ she followed her giggling friends out to the kitchen for a bite of breakfast.

Moments later, they found themselves at the pond.

“Hi, Megan,” Lisa greeted warmly.

“I thought it was supposed to be 1:00, but the invitation – ”

“Was all messed up,” Lisa finished for her. “Our bad! But have a tee-shirt.”

“Thanks.”

Lisa returned her smile and handed off a tee-shirt, a large one. Megan just happened to be the tallest woman she personally knew at 6’2”. A person who ate, drank, slept, and thought soccer most of the time, she was also somebody with a heart for people’s health. Then she saw the cast. “Hey – what’s that?”

“Broke,” Megan said simply. “Did a dumb move on the field.”

“Can I sign your cast?”

“Sure!” Megan laughed. “Have at it.” Stretching her long leg up to a chair, she waited patiently while Lisa found a black sharpie and proceeded to write a small note on her cast.

“There, now I can say I was the first one! And I probably won’t be the last. I guess this counts you out for volleyball?”

“Says who?” Megan giggled, and at her height, she was probably correct. She could just stand there and whip most everyone else.

“You can change over there,” Lisa pointed to the special tents set up for changing.

“Hmm… Aren’t you kinda’ short-changing the guys?” Megan winked. The men’s changing tent looked as small as a broom closet.

“Nope,” Lisa grinned. Blessed with what had to be a 10-1 female-male ratio of employees at the hospital, Lisa figured the guys didn’t need all the extra space… nor did she think they would mind.

Lisa wasn’t sure how she became the official greeter, but it somehow fell on her. At one point Tami brought her a chair, and Marie set up a small card table with the official guest book, where the ‘score’ was kept as to just who showed up. She knew everyone in her own department, but there were a number of others she didn’t know as well.

“Hi Darren, hi Bob.”

“Hi Lisa.”

“How’s Allie? You must have found a sitter for her today.”

“Yeah, she’s with my Mom, I – ”

“Hey, are those shirts for us?”

“Sure, Bob – here you go. Wait a sec – you guys need the large ones.”

“Extra large for me,” Bob grinned, patting his tummy.

“Okay, extra large for you,” Lisa grinned, winking at Darren. “Enjoy.”

“Holy molie!” Bob hissed as he looked towards the pond. “I tell you what, Darren – it’s days like today that I’m glad I chose to be a nurse. It makes up for all the crap I took from every guy I knew in school. They can think I’m a sissy all they want! Bet they can’t go to work and see this!” Nope – wouldn’t find this on a construction site or some other ‘manly’ job.

Darren nodded in thoughtful agreement. The hospital was indeed blessed with an attractive female population, most of whom, because of their chosen field, happened to be fit and healthy and –

“Hey guys.” Trying to do her part in playing ‘host,’ Tami sauntered up to the two men. “Change room’s there, food’s over there, and if you have to go to the bathroom…” She gestured into the distance with a wink, “find a tree.” Both seemed to stare at her dumbly for a moment. “Geez, guys, I was only kidding!”

“Um, sure, thanks Tami,” Darren murmured, wondering if women, especially beautiful ones, fully appreciated the power they had to render a man speechless at times. Tami had curves in all the right places, a gorgeous tan, and the black bikini she wore displayed them perfectly.

“I think I’ve died and gone to heaven,” Bob muttered as Tami walked off.

“I know what you mean,” Darren murmured, looking back to where Lisa sat. Friendship was pretty special, too, and Lisa was in a class all of her own. He
saw her smile at him, then turn to greet a pair of doctors that wandered in. He knew she was just being friendly, but wondered if she understood just how much that smile meant to him every time he saw it.

“Yeah, well I’m gonna go check out the food.”

“You do that,” Darren chuckled. Beautiful women AND food. Bob was likely indeed in ‘heaven.’

At one point, Lisa heard a few shrieks and turned to see what was happening, just in time to see Betsy get dumped in the pond, her arms and legs flailing. She’d been carried there by a group of her giggling ‘friends’ who evidently thought Betsy needed some cooling off. Then again, maybe Betsy was the only one the group of them could carry, being a tiny thing who barely reached five feet in high heels. Brought to a satisfactory conclusion, the ladies returned to shore while a soaking wet Betsy ‘fumed’ and plotted ‘revenge.’

It wasn’t the only ‘shrieks’ she would hear as the afternoon wore on, as others were summarily ‘escorted’ into the pond to cool off. And as the temperature touched one hundred degrees, it started to be welcome relief. Then at one point, someone got the brainy idea of ‘bringing the pond’ to those on shore, for more fun and frolic. Bored now that the stream of visitors had subsided, Lisa yawned, and was about to rise to go join the party, when she let out a shriek of her own. Sneaking up behind her, Tami and Marie dumped an entire five-gallon bucket of water onto their lovely greeter.

“Oh – You guys!” Lisa gasped. She didn’t mind cooling off, but still, it was a shock to the system! Five whole gallons… and pond water was the ‘best’ kind of water, too. Not!

“Now I can truly say you’re ‘all wet’ about something,” Marie laughed.

“T-that’s for sure,” Lisa grimaced, pulling the teeshirt from clinging to her torso and attempting to drive some of the water out. Grinning in spite of herself, she got up from her chair and headed towards the pond.

“Wow, Lisa – they got you, too?” Darren smiled with understanding, having already shed his teeshirt.

“I’m afraid they did,” Lisa smiled, tugging at her tee shirt again. “You too?”

“Caught in a water balloon barrage,” he chuckled.

“Water balloons? Who brought those?”

“I dunno,’ I –” He stopped suddenly, transfixed as he watched her tug the shirt off, up and over her pretty head. He hoped she didn’t hear him sigh, but he couldn’t help but stare with appreciation, though he tore his eyes away when she finally got the wet shirt removed.

“Where did you hang up your shirt?” she grinned, absently wringing the water out of hers.

“Um – I think everyone is, uh – putting them over there.” He pointed towards a makeshift clothesline that someone had set up.

“Hey, that works! Can you hold this for a moment?” Handing him her teeshirt, she proceeded to shrug out of her shorts, tantalizing his eyes as she wiggled her hips and pulled them down her smooth legs. “There, that ought to do it.” Reaching for her shirt again, she walked over to the clothesline and hanged them up.

She smiled brightly at him as she walked back to where he sat. Tired of being the one to say ‘hello’ to every person that came, she was looking forward to talking to him about Allie and a few other things, not to mention getting some sun. Finding an unused chair, she dragged it out next to his. “If I sit here,” she grinned, “will you take anyone that comes along to dump water on us and throw them in the pond?”

He chuckled softly. “Sure, it’s a deal.”

“Okay – Be right back,” she said.

He watched as she headed off towards the caterer, who was probably pulling his hair out in making sure none of the food got swamped from pond water by these ‘insane’ supposed health care workers. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the warmth of the sun. Lisa finally returned, leaning back in the chair and stretching her legs with a contented sigh. Then, sitting up momentarily, she busied herself with applying tanning oil, starting with her legs. He watched her from the corner of his eye, then noticed her swimsuit.

“Did you?… Where did you get that?”

“Get what?” she asked, stretching her legs and admiring their gleam in the sunshine.

“Your suit – it has the hospital logo on it.”

“Oh, I made this. It was from some worn out scrubs.”

“You are more talented than you let on.” And quite a few other things, he didn’t add. It gave him an excuse, albeit a small one, to look just a little longer.

“Well, I had such good luck making Allie her swim… I mean ‘simsuit,’ I thought I’d give it a try here. And after all, it is the summer picnic.” Finished, she smiled at him and turned her back. “Darren – would you mind hitting my back with that?”

Was water wet? Trying his best to keep his hands from trembling, he sat up and reached for the tanning oil. Waiting until she had time to gather her hair, he gingerly applied the oil to her smooth back, pensively rubbing it in with his fingers. It brought back so many memories in a rush, and for a moment he forgot all about Lisa, as he remembered some of the last pleasant memories he had of his wife. Their last trip together had been to visit her folks down in Florida, meeting them there for a special getaway in the middle of winter. Allie had been just a little chirp, and her folks had given them some time alone while they put in some ‘grandparent’ time. He remembered the sound of her voice, talking as he rubbed tanning lotion into her skin, just like he was doing at the moment. She’d encouraged him to build a playhouse for Allie… something he hadn’t gotten to until after she’d passed on. It had been therapeutic, but it still grieved him that he hadn’t taken time to build it while she’d been alive. But mostly it was just her and him, and the sound of the waves landing on the beach, and the whisper of a light afternoon wind. He’d layered her back with kisses, one small prelude to what he wished to do with her in the night…

“Darren?”

‘Oh my gosh! Did I just kiss Lisa’s back?’ Horrified, Darren froze and looked down at his hands, then quickly at the crowd, wondering if anyone noticed.

“Darren?” she repeated. “You all right back there?”

“Oh, Lisa, I’m so sorry,” he blurted. “I – my mind was a thousand miles away.”

“Memories?” she asked, turning to face him.

“Y-you have no idea.” He couldn’t meet her gaze, and dropped his eyes. “I-I’m so sorry. I don’t know what made me do that.”

“Darren…” She reached for his hand and held it in hers. “It’s okay. Really. She… she must have been really special.”

Had it been anyone other than Lisa, he would have been irritated to be read so easily like a book. He nodded dumbly, but kept his eyes averted, wanting like everything to let his heart spill over to someone, anyone, with things that had long been kept locked up inside. Lisa was an absolute peach, and a friend, but it didn’t seem right to dump it all on her, especially not here.

Seeing his lips tighten to a thin line, Lisa changed the subject. “How’s Allie doing?” It was a much ‘safer’ topic, as it turned out, and he managed to eventually smile again as the afternoon wore on. Both watched their friends finally play a game of volleyball, and become even wetter. It had been Stan’s idea to put it in the water. Nobody knew why, but he thought it was a ‘good’ idea to have a volleyball net in the pond in a few inches of water.

“Want to go join them?” Lisa finally asked.

Darren smiled wryly. He was actually quite content at the moment. Who couldn’t be when you were talking to someone showing an interest in you, particularly a beautiful woman? It was far better than the snippets of time he could get at work to talk to her, and at the moment, he was beyond caring what anyone else thought of it, if they were. “I think I’m fine,” he said, then added, “if you are. If you want to go jump around and bat a ball around, uh, go right ahead.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Lisa smiled. “Otherwise, it will make me chafe even more.” He almost wilted as she gently rubbed her breasts. Looking at him, she giggled. “Learn from this, Darren – never make yourself a swimsuit out of hospital scrubs – I don’t think the material was intended for swimsuits! Probably the last time I should ever wear it… seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Chuckling, he promised to take her lesson to heart. Reaching for his cell phone, he quipped. “Need a memory then? Better have a picture if this is the last time it sees the light of day.”

“Not if said ‘memory’ ends up on the bulletin board at work,” she giggled.

“Lisa

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