Very Pretty Things

*Author's Note: Any and all persons engaging in any sexual activity are at least eighteen years of age.

*****

Chapter 1

The heat shimmered off the sidewalk as Brichelle Adams walked along the strip mall. It was hot and dry almost year round in Oakleaf, Texas, but it seemed even more oppressive in late August.

The eighteen year old girl was wearing her best blue jeans, her cutest blouse, and her best sneakers as she walked from one shop to another, filling out job applications.

The manager of the electronics store had made her very uncomfortable; Brichelle had actually left his store with the job application form in hand.

"Hey, you can't walk out with that," he protested.

"I'll bring it back," Brichelle lied.

She wasn't about to leave her name and phone number with the man; the way he kept leering at her.

Brichelle Adams knew she was cute, some would even say she was pretty. She had long blonde hair that reached to just below her heart shaped backside, large brown eyes, a little snub nose and pouting lips.

But few men looked above her 36 E chest to see her large eyes or sweet smile. And if they weren't staring intently at her chest, they were staring at her rear.

It was getting close to lunch time; she knew the food truck 'School Lunch' would be around the corner. School Lunch was a school bus that had been converted into a food truck, and it served school style lunches. Turkey Tetrazzini, sloppy Joses, beef stew, hot dogs with chili con carne, and hamburgers, all with Cole slaw and apple sauce. There were twenty stools along a long Formica counter and nine or ten old wooden school desks for customers to sit and eat. Courtesy dictated that you eat your meal off the old plastic trays and then leave so the next hungry patron could have your seat.

Brichelle decided to try one more shop, then go for lunch. The owner of School Lunch took the old school staples and kicked them up a notch or two and Brichelle imagined she could actually smell the sloppy Jose she planned to have.

Valerie's Notions' was stenciled on the glass door in an almost calligraphy style handwriting. Brichelle wrinkled her nose, having no idea what a Notion was, but entered the shop.

A merry tinkling sound announced the opening of the door. The air inside was cool, and was pleasantly scented. The carpet under her feet was plush, a soft pink and white in color. The lighting was soft, not the harsh fluorescent lighting of all the other shops along this strip.

The older woman behind the wooden counter smiled a friendly smile.

"Hi, help you?" the woman asked in a soft voice.

"Hi, I um, I'm looking for a job," Brichelle said, still looking around at the displays of knick-knacks, the rows of cards, the displays of candles and displays of fine pens.

"Well, very good," the woman said, reaching under the counter. "Have a resume, Sweetie?"

"Uh, um, no ma'am," Brichelle admitted, looking at the woman.

She appeared to be in her middle to late thirties, possibly even early forties. Her blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a bun, with blonde tendrils escaping to frame her face. Her eyes were a hazel color, her nose a small snub nose, and her lips, softly painted a light pink, were full and pouting.

As the woman tore a pre-fabricated employment application from a pad, Brichelle noticed the manicured nails and the three rings. She had no idea if they were real gold and real gems or not, but she did notice that the woman's left ring finger was bare.

The woman's blouse was a soft pink in color, with flowers embroidered along the front, and she wore a soft cream colored skirt.

"Do you have a pen?" the woman asked even as she was reaching for a pen.

"Yes ma'am, I did bring my own," Brichelle said, proudly displaying the Parker pen her grandmother had given her for her high school graduation.

"Oh, that's a lovely pen; it's a Parker, isn't it," the woman said.

"Why, yes ma'am it is," Brichelle said, surprised. "How'd you know?"

In answer, the woman pointed to the display of pens.

"Oh, uh duh," Brichelle tittered.

Another woman came into the shop and greeted the woman, "Valerie, I'm looking for a sympathy card but I'm really not sorry the ass hole's dead; what you got?"

"Ms. Baker, I've told you before, you are just incorrigible," Valerie tittered and walked from behind the counter.

Valerie rang up the sympathy card, along with the birthday card Ms. Baker suddenly remembered she had to get, wished the customer a good day, then returned her smile to Brichelle.

"Finished?" Valerie asked as Brichelle was carefully checking that she'd filled out all the necessary items.

"Yes ma'am," Brichelle said, handing the form to the woman. "I think so."

"Brichelle? That's an unusual name," Valerie commented.

"Yeah, my mom's name is Michelle and my dad's was Brice, so she just kind of crammed them together and that's what she came up with," Brichelle said, quite used to people asking about her name.

"Well, it's just lovely," Valerie complimented.

Then, instead of telling Brichelle that she'd keep the application on file, or she'd keep her in mind, Valerie actually started talking about the store, the store hours, the salary she'd be willing to pay.

"But, I am sorry," Valerie said, pretty lips drawn into a grimace. "What you have on is just not appropriate. Dresses, or nice blouses, that blouse you have on is nice, blouses and skirts and closed toe pumps."

"You, you mean, I got the job?" Brichelle asked, mouth open.

"Well, yes, you did say you were looking for a job, right?" Valerie asked.

Michelle Loisel, formerly Michelle Adams, was happy to help her daughter pick out a few outfits. She was also happy to use Stan Loisel's credit card to make the purchases.

Chapter 2

"Well, don't you look lovely?" Valerie smiled as she opened the shop door the next morning. "And I just love your hair like that."

Brichelle had taken her long blonde hair and piled it on top of her head, allowing a few blonde tendrils to escape, an almost perfect imitation of Valerie's own hairstyle.

The morning went by quickly, Valerie showing Brichelle how to operate the cash register, then allowing the girl to familiarize herself with the odds and ends within the shop and within the small stockroom.

"You go to lunch; I'll have mine when you get back," Valerie said.

"I'm going right around the corner, that 'School Lunch' food truck's right there," Brichelle offered. "Want me bring you anything back?"

"No, no, I have my own," Valerie smiled.

"You'll find out, soon enough; eating out every day is a bit expensive," she added as Brichelle grabbed her purse from under the counter.

As Brichelle sat at the counter, gnawing her way through the hamburger, she realized, they'd not had a single customer the entire morning. She knew Valerie had sold two cards yesterday, totaling nine dollars and fourteen cents. But that had been the only customer that Brichelle had seen.

She ate quickly, carried the battered plastic tray to the large plastic bin, and then hurried back to Valerie's Notions.

"Thank you, come again," Valerie smiled as an older woman walked away from the counter.

Brichelle could see the dollar amount of eleven dollars and nineteen cents on the cash register's display.

That dollar amount was still displayed when Valerie wished Brichelle a good day.

Over dinner, Stan Loisel did ask Brichelle about her day. Brichelle answered the man, although she really did not like him. The man was trying to be her father and Brichelle did resent it. Her own father had committed suicide five years earlier, when he'd found out about Michelle's affair with Stan, so Brichelle also held that resentment.

But she was living in his house, and eating his food, and so she was polite to him.

"That's that little place right there on Pembroke?" he asked and Brichelle agreed.

"Yeah, if she didn't own that whole strip there, she'd be out of business," Stan agreed.

"She owns..." Brichelle asked.

"Yeah, we did a remodeling job for that, damn it, what was it? That, oh, damn, guy sells those..." Stan mused aloud.

"Narrows it down quite a bit, doesn't it?" Michelle asked her daughter and Stan glared at the two women.

"That sports place, sells the stupid baseball cards," Stan said.

"Them?' Brichelle wrinkled her face in dislike.

The manager had been quite rude to Brichelle, didn't even let her fill out an application.

"Yeah, and whole time, even picked up a hammer, there that old bitch was, right there, making sure we were up to code, making sure we didn't damage her property," Stan agreed.

"She's not a bitch," Brichelle defended.

Chapter 3

The next morning, Brichelle twisted her hair into a long French braid and Valerie smiled at the sight of that.

"I had a girlfriend when I was in high school," she said to Brichelle as they both straightened up the already quite neat shop. "Oh! We'd spend hours just brushing each other's hair and putting it into braids like that."

She indicated her own hair.

"And because mine was always so long; when I let it down, it actually drags the floor, we'd put it into about eight or nine braids and then take whatever pretty ribbons we could find to tie them all back. Oh I do miss Sherice so much!" she sighed, hand over her heart.

"What happened to her?" Brichelle asked.

"Hmm? Oh, you know, we just kind of lost touch with each other and then I married Roger," Valerie said and looked away.

"You're not still married though, right?" Brichelle asked, looking at Valerie's bare ring finger.

"Oh no, no, he decided that he would much rather be married to a little guttersnipe," Valerie spat. "A stripper! Can you imagine? A stripper; with tattoos and everything."

A customer came in and Valerie smiled and let Brichelle attend to the woman.

She rested her hand on Brichelle's back, just above Brichelle's bubble butt, as Brichelle rang up the one hundred and ninety eight dollar fountain pen set the woman was buying.

"Yes, my son passed the BAR; this is for his desk at work," the woman bragged.

"Oh, well, do you need a 'Congratulations' card?" Brichelle brightly suggested.

"Well, I suppose I do," the woman agreed.

"Now, when it's time for you to do your Christmas shopping, we have these desk sets over here," Brichelle continued.

"And that would go just perfect with the..." the woman mused and agreed to purchase the ebony wood set.

Brichelle ran the woman's credit card, and smiled proudly as Valerie rubbed her back softly.

"Very, very good," Valerie agreed, then pointed to the empty spaces on the shelving where the pens and desk set used to be.

Brichelle went into the stockroom, located both and brought them out. Then she and Valerie stood behind the counter, waiting on the next customer. Again, Valerie rested her hand on Brichelle's back and occasionally softly rubbed Brichelle's back.

Brichelle had heeded Valerie's advice and had brought her own lunch. They sat at the small table in the stockroom, with the door open so that they could hear any customers come in.

During lunch, Valerie touched Brichelle often, her hand, her arm, her thigh. None of the touches seemed inappropriate to Brichelle; it was no different than the touches of a friend to another friend.

"Simpson!" The man from the electronics store barked out just as Valerie was exiting the stockroom.

"Yes, Mr. Brooke; what may I do for you?" Valerie asked, her displeasure evident, even in her soft voice.

"Toilet's back up again; shit's going everywhere," the man snapped.

"I will call Mr. Williams right now," Valerie said.

"Better get him out here quick; I'm taking any shit gets ruined off my rent, hear?" the man said, then narrowed his eyes at the sight of Brichelle.

"Please do, Mr. Brooke; it would be my pleasure to evict you," Valerie threatened as she punched the number into her pink telephone.

"Oh what a thoroughly odious man," Valerie shuddered when the man swaggered out of her shop. "Yes, hi Mr. Williams, yes I'm afraid we do have a bit of a situation at Brooke's Pro Audio."

The afternoon brought in a few more customers and Valerie smiled and let Brichelle take care of these walk-ins.

Mr. Williams was a large, smiling black man. He and Valerie chatted pleasantly before the man finally presented her with a bill for his services.

"Yes ma'am, appeared to be a wad of paper towels in there. He didn't want say nothing, but the boy works there said they been out of toilet paper a couple of days now," the man confided.

"Please rewrite the bill to reflect that, Mr. Williams," Valerie implored.

At closing time, Valerie gave Brichelle an affectionate little squeeze before locking the door behind Brichelle.

Chapter 4

The next day, Brichelle again wore her hair in a long braid and Valerie playfully tugged on it.

""I want you to do mine like that," she demanded and pulled her hair out of the thick bun.

Brichelle saw that Valerie had not been exaggerating; her hair reached the floor and trailed behind her a few inches more. Valerie wiggled onto a stool behind the counter and sighed as Brichelle ran a brush through the tousled hair.

Then Brichelle deftly braided a few thin braids, creating nearly twenty long braids. She gathered them all together and joined the thick mass of braids at the back of Valerie's head. A pink ribbon held all the braids together.

"Oh, I just love it!" Valerie giggled happily.

She even whipped her head back and forth, letting the braids flail out.

"Careful," Brichelle laughed. "Almost took out the Halloween display."

"Valerie, need a 'Get Well but Really Don't Care If You Do or Not' card; what you got?" Ms. Baker demanded as she swept into the shop. "Oh my, Valerie, I just love your hair like that."

"Ms. Baker, you are a horrible woman; these are friends of yours, I would assume?" Valerie smiled as she showed her customer to the 'Get Well Soon' cards selection.

"No, they're just people I unfortunately have to deal with," the woman smiled.

After their lunch, Brichelle perched on the stool and let Valerie braid her hair as well. Valerie found a lace ribbon that matched the lace blouse Brichelle was wearing.

"I'm sure your boyfriend will think this is just adorable," Valerie encouraged as she tied all the braids together.

"What boyfriend?" Brichelle said, almost bitterly.

"Oh?" Valerie asked, softly resting her hand on Brichelle's shoulder.

"Let him have sex," Brichelle admitted.

She'd not even told her mother that she and Alan had gone all the way, even though Michelle had encouraged Brichelle to be honest and open with her.

Brichelle had wondered what the big deal was. Alan slobbered all over her breasts then grabbed his cock and jammed the latex covered member into her dry pussy.

Three painful strokes later, he was grunting happily.

And since that evening, whenever they were together, Alan expected their evening to end in the rear of his Honda Accord. The few times she'd refused, Alan had sat and sulked.

"Just not worth it," Brichelle had decided.

Yes, they were using condoms, and Brichelle had been on birth control pills since the eighth grade, but there was still a possibility of pregnancy. Brichelle herself was an 'Oops' baby.

And, while Alan seemed to enjoy it, sex just wasn't all that pleasant for Brichelle.

Bailey Cooper, her former best friend, had been very quick to snare Alan after the break up. And both Bailey and Alan had been happy to let Brichelle know that they were having sex.

Valerie softly rubbed Brichelle's shoulder as the girl related the story to her

"Men, especially young men can be so foolish," she advised.

"Yeah," Brichelle agreed.

Chapter 5

Two weeks after walking into Valerie's Notions, Brichelle was handed her first pay check. Even though the check was only for one week's pay; Valerie had explained the pay schedule to Brichelle, the check was still a substantial amount.

"Ms. Valerie?" Brichelle asked, verifying again the dollar amount of the check.

"Brichelle, Sweetie, how many times do I have to tell you?" Valerie smiled. "Just call me Valerie."

"Ma'am," Brichelle said, holding up the check. "Why'd you hire me? I been here two weeks and this is more than we made that whole time."

Valerie smiled and rested her hand on Brichelle's hip. She stared into Brichelle's soft eyes.

"I just love being around pretty things; I want to surround myself with pretty things," she admitted.

She gave an affectionate squeeze to Brichelle's hip.

"And you are such a pretty thing," she admitted.

She had taken to giving Brichelle a soft kiss on the cheek in the morning when Brichelle arrived for another day of work, and giving Brichelle a soft kiss on the cheek when the girl left in the evening.

Now, she stepped up and lightly touched Brichelle's lips with her own.

Brichelle returned the kiss, lightly touching Valerie's lips with her own. Then they shut off the lights and Valerie locked up the shop.

"See you Monday," the woman smiled.

Chapter 6

Brichelle was a natural salesperson. When a customer came in, looking for this or that, Brichelle suggested that or this to go with the purchase. If they'd had more foot traffic, Brichelle would have doubled or even tripled Valerie Simpson's profits.

On Thursday morning, Valerie was lightly giggling to herself, humming happily... Brichelle smiled at her boss's antics.

"Okay, out with it; what are you bouncing all over about?" she demanded after Ms. Baker, their most frequent customer left the shop.

"Oh, I can't tell you; I'll have to show you," Valerie tittered, hazel eyes glowing with excitement.

She bustled toward the stockroom.

"Give me three minutes, no, yes, yes, three minutes, then come back here," she called out from the door of the stockroom.

Brichelle watched the hands of the grandfather clock, and just as it reached three minutes, walked toward the stockroom. She rapped softly, then opened the door.

"Isn't it just beautiful?" Valerie asked.

She was wearing an embroidered corset of light lavender color, which pushed her large breasts up. Brichelle blinked; half of her boss's areolae were visible, her light pink nipples were fat and poking out over the lacy material.

The corset ended at Valerie's slim waist with a flourish of lace, and three garter straps hung down, holding up sheer lavender stockings. And the matching panties tied to her hips with lavender bows.

"And I bought it in white and pink as well," Valerie tittered, turning to show Brichelle the back of the outfit. "Isn't it just perfect?"

"It's gorgeous," Brichelle admitted, noticing that the panties were a thong style.

She also noticed that her boss had a nice, tight backside. She had no idea of her boss's age; if she had to guess she'd say Valerie Simpson was close to thirty five, and Brichelle just assumed that all thirty five year olds had saggy, wrinkled backsides. Their next door neighbor, Mrs. Olsen was thirty six and both her large breasts and large backside were sagging, wrinkled lumps of graying flesh. As was Mr. Olsen.

"And I feel so naughty wearing it!" Valerie confided, grabbing Brichelle's hands in excitement.

She nodded with her chin toward her nipples.

"It leaves my nipples out in the open," she whispered, even though they were all alone in the dimly lighted stockroom. "All I can think of is how everyone can probably see them right through my blouse!"

"It's gorgeous," Brichelle repeated.

Throughout the day, all Brichelle had to do was look pointedly at Valerie's substantial chest and Valerie would blush prettily, then giggle. Her giggle would cause Brichelle to giggle as well and then the two women would laugh out loud.

"Stop it!" Valerie demanded, convulsed in laughter.