DISCREETOFFICESERVICES.COM Chapter One

The Present...

😾The expected morning phone call came as I stepped from the train onto the platform. My commute from the suburbs to the city had ended in its predictable way. A call from Mom to catch up on my life since I'd gone to sleep the night before. Because I was always up and away from the house before mom and dad were awake, the morning phone call took the place of the conversations we used to have over breakfast before school.
The usual pleasantries followed, 'When was I going to look for a better job than being an office temp? A job that offered benefits and security. Was I still uninterested in going to college?' She'd just begun to express wishes that I'd find a guy, 'I'm not getting any younger. Grandkids would be nice to have around while I'm still young enough to enjoy them.' At that point, pleading being in a hurry, I hung up and checked my messages to make certain I had the correct time for my first appointment.

😾I had plenty of time so, after stopping for coffee and a couple of donuts, I walked the short distance to my apartment. An apartment my parents knew nothing about. I'd given serious thought to moving out of my parent's house and to the city. I was almost nineteen and out of high school. Many girls I'd graduated with were finishing their freshman year of college. Others were living on their own and a few were already married! Money was no longer an issue, but...

😾But, the city was less than a half-hour ride by train from our suburb. If my mom knew I had an apartment she would be dropping by at all hours of the day and any day of the week. I'd never be able to keep my secret a secret. Instead, I lived at home in the bedroom which had been mine since I was sleeping in a cradle. Mom and I still rode bikes together. Shopped together. Gardened, talked and watched weepy-eye Lifetime/Hallmark movies together. To keep Mom happy, I even went out on dates occasionally.

😾My Dad? Oh, he huffed and puffed and bellowed like an elephant wondering,
'When are you going to leave the damned nest so your mom and me can have some damned peace and quiet around here!' But on Saturday mornings after falling asleep on the couch during a late night binge of watching the afore-mentioned weepy-eye movies, I'd find a blanket covering me and Dad making a huge breakfast while bellowing, 'Eat you idiot child and put some meat on those skinny bones so you have the energy to find your own damned place and leave me in peace!' Yeah, I've had Daddy figured out and wrapped around my little finger since I took my first steps.

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😾Thinking of steps, I looked at my watch and increased the pace of mine. I again ran the stairs for cardio and on the third floor landing I met Danny heading down. A senior in college, Danny lived in the apartment below mine. With hair that always needed to be cut and dressed in his usual jeans and t-shirt, he still looked delicious in a rumpled, un-made bed, shaggy sheepdog kind'a way. I knew he had a little crush on me and wanted to ask me out. School work, part-time jobs, lack of money and a bad case of shyness kept him from asking.


😾Exchanging 'Heys', I was several steps past when I heard him stumble and almost fall with the thud of a bookbag hitting the steps echoing in the stairwell. Grinning, I tried very hard not to laugh. I just knew he'd turned his head to check out my butt and tripped. I stopped on the landing above his and watched as he fumbled for his dropped bag.

😾"You okay, Danny?"

😾"Ahh, yeah. Just clumsy, I guess," he answered while trying to keep a furiously blushing face turned away as much as possible. Danny changed the subject by pointing to my coffee. "You know, Olivia. It'd be cheaper to brew coffee instead of going out to buy one every morning."

😾I'd made up the story of going to the Coffee Clutch for coffee when Danny had met me coming in as he was going out once too often. "I know. I guess I just like the taste."

😾"Hey, Olivia," Danny said as I was turning to run the remaining steps to my floor. "Thanks. I know I haven't mentioned this but, having someone as quiet as you above me, I mean, living in the apartment above mine, it's really great. I saw the hardwood floors when I moved in and I was afraid that I'd be hearing the clump, clump, clump of footsteps at all hours. How someone as big as you can move so quietly, well, when I'm trying to study it really means a lot."

😾Since the reason I was away and not in the apartment at night would be too hard to explain, I just took the compliment with one reservation, "Someone as big as I am?"

😾"I meant as tall as you are. You're nowhere near fat! You have an incredible... I mean, your body is totally... Ahh..."

😾The laughter I'd kept in earlier bubbled out and I took pity on the shy nerd. "It's fine, Danny, and thanks for the stammered out almost compliment. I gotta run to get to work on time but score an A on a test for me today."


😾I had a corner apartment on the top floor. No clumping footsteps above me to have to put up with. Closing the door behind me I tossed my bag and keys on the table beside the door and breathed in the sweet smell of privacy. This was my first apartment and although I didn't spend much time here, it was still mine. All mine!

😾I could decorate it the way I liked. Paint the walls the colors I liked. Buy furniture that I liked. I could even run naked through all the rooms. Cook in the nude. Throw caution to the wind and even fry bacon in the nude! Tried that once. Hot bacon grease spattering out of the skillet had me grabbing for an apron very quickly. So, okay, probably wouldn't fry bacon in the nude again but the important point is, I
couldif I wanted to.

😾Going to the bedroom, I stripped and tossed all my clothes onto the bed before opening the doors to my closets. The outfits I wore to and from home was for dad and mom's benefit. The clothes I kept here in my apartment were my real work clothes. Shopping in stores far above my pay as an office temp had filled my closets with beautiful clothes. Knowing who I was meeting, I picked out a backless, black dress and held it to my front. Shaking my head, imagining what my dad would say if he saw me headed out the door for a date in a dress this short and without a bra, I laid it on the bed. Hose, garter belt and panties, also black, joined the dress.

😾Stooping, I surveyed the choices I had in heels and picked my ash colored Christian Louboutin's. Unlike many of my friends who exceeded 5'8", I liked being tall. Unless I'd had another growth spurt, I was still just barely over six foot tall in my bare feet. The four-inch heels of my Louboutin's would elevate me to over 6'4" and the client I was seeing this morning liked tall women.

😾I'm sure anyone reading this is pretty confused by now. But there's a simple explanation. You see, some months ago I was an office temp fresh out of high school. One afternoon as I was about to walk out of the building where I'd been filing old papers all day, a woman approached me, handed me her card and offered me a job.

😾"DISCREETOFFICESERVICES.COM," I read off the card with a laugh. "Sounds like you work for the CIA or something."
 
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