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- 90. Filled Stockings, Part One
-
- By MASTER WADE
-
- It wasn't a short skirt. Had she been standing on the floor
- rather than on the fourth rung of the library ladder I probably
- wouldn't have noticed her legs at all; certainly not as easily.
- She was reaching for a book high on the top shelf of the
- bookstore wall when I turned the corner, and her nylon covered
- calves were the first thing I saw.
-
- I stood quietly and watched her retrieve the book and come down
- the ladder. While the skirt wasn't short it was rather tight
- fitting, and as she moved the material hugged and caressed her
- well-shaped bottom and upper thighs, confirming in a subtle but
- unmistakable way my suspicions and hopes about the undergarments
- she wore. I smiled inwardly as in my own mind I gave her garter-
- belt a life and personality of its own and pictured it winking at
- me and saying, "Yes, you're right, I'm under here, just like you
- wanted me to be... and I'm glad you noticed!"
-
- I picked a book at random from the shelf nearest me, opening it
- and watching her as I turned the pages idly. Still unaware that I
- was observing her, she looked back over her shoulder as she stuck
- one foot slightly out to the side, checking to see if her seams
- were still straight. When she turned her head the other way to
- check the other stocking she caught me watching her and smiled
- with just a touch of embarrassment. Before I could even return
- her smile she had turned away again and had begun walking around
- the corner of the aisle we were in.
-
- Not wanting to appear too obvious, I waited for a moment and then
- followed. By the time I found her again she was at the checkout
- counter paying for her purchase. I also had purchases to make,
- but before I could work my way to the counter she had left the
- store and was walking away down the sidewalk. Eager to find some
- way to introduce myself to the attractive young woman and finding
- the prospect of not seeing her again totally unacceptable, it
- seemed to me as if the clerk moved in slow motion as she rang up
- my purchase.
-
- Finally the transaction was completed and I left the store,
- disappointed to see an empty sidewalk in front of me as I turned
- in the direction she had headed. I searched the stores to my left
- as I walked along the sidewalk, hoping to find her in one of
- them. I wasn't sure yet what to say to her when I did find her,
- but I knew for sure I didn't want to miss an opportunity to meet
- her.
-
- I was so caught up in my search for her that it came as a total
- surprise when I walked full speed into the brick divider that had
- somehow materialized in front of me. The impact knocked the bag
- of books from my hand and I stepped back in surprise, staring at
- the waist high divider as if I could hardly believe it was really
- there.
-
- I glanced around quickly, hoping that no one had seen my awkward
- accident. To my chagrin, not only had someone seen the whole
- thing, but it was the girl from the bookstore, standing behind
- me, her hand covering her mouth as she supressed her laughter.
-
- "Are you okay?", she asked, trying in vain not to show her
- amusement.
-
- "Yes, I'm alright... I think," I responded, rubbing my right leg
- and dusting off my slacks. "They just built that divider this
- morning, its never been there before."
-
- "Uh huh, sure they did. And they built all these others just like
- it this morning too, didn't they?", she teased, kneeling to pick
- up my spilled purchases.
-
- "Yes, its a very new shopping center. In fact none of these
- stores were here before today. Isn't it amazing how quickly they
- can just throw a shopping center like this together?", I said
- with mock seriousness, kneeling along with her to pick up the
- books. Her legs were slightly parted, and I tried rather
- half-heartedly to avoid staring between them, my friend the
- garter belt winking at me again and waving.
-
- "I think you must stay home with your nose in a book too much,"
- she said, rising gracefully, "this shopping center has been here
- for nearly five years now, and so has this divider."
-
- "Well, I'm sure a nice lady like you wouldn't lie about a thing
- like that. I don't suppose there is a restuarant nearby where we
- could have lunch together is there?"
-
- "I don't usually have lunch with strangers. But, since your
- caretaker is obviously on vacation, I suppose I could stick
- around for a while to see if you recover from this attack of
- senility you seem to be having. Or did you leave your white cane
- and guide dog at home by mistake?"
-
- "Your voice is a bit high, but you still seem like a nice man," I
- said, deadpan, taking her elbow as if I were in fact blind. "Lead
- the way!"
-
- Lunch was very pleasant. By the time we got to the restaurant we
- had stopped our little word game and were busy getting to really
- know each other. By the time lunch was over I think we both felt
- as if we had known each other for a long time, at least I felt
- that way.
-
- Her name was Kerri, and she had a management position with the
- marketing department of a hosiery manufacturing company that was
- headquartered in the city in which we had met. It turned out that
- both of us were divorced, and while we had dated some, neither of
- us was really involved with anyone special at the moment. In
- fact, we were both rather dreading the coming Christmas holiday,
- wishing we had someone to share it with other than family. We
- made a date for the following Sunday, planning on spending most
- of the day putting up Christmas decorations in the old farm house
- I had recently purchased.
-
- The first snowfall of the year arrived Saturday evening just
- after dark, and continued throughout the night. By the time I got
- up Sunday morning the once productive farm had been turned into a
- scene out of a Currier and Ives painting. The white pines to the
- left of the old tobacco barn sagged under their burden of
- clinging snow, the bottom branches of the nearest one almost
- touching the sides of the sled which had at one time brimmed over
- with loads of freshly primed tobacco on its way to the barn for
- curing. The rusty tin roofs of the outbuildings on the other side
- of the winding driveway bore their caps of white proudly, the
- buildings themselves magicly transformed from relics of another
- time into decorated sentinels guarding the approach to the house.
-
- Slipping on old jeans and wrapping myself in a red and black
- mackinaw cruiser, I slid my feet into the rubber bottomed boots
- and brought in several armloads of fragrant, freshly-split
- hardwood for the fire we would enjoy the rest of the day.
- Touching a match to balled up sheets of newspaper, I stood back
- and watched absent-mindedly as the flames ignited resinous
- slivers of pine, lingering there momentarily before spreading to
- small maple branches and larger pieces of oak and ash above them.
- Satisfied that the fire had been built properly and would
- continue to burn without any assistance, I poured a cup of hot
- morning coffee and sat down to call my new friend.
-
- "Mornin'," I said cheerfully into the reciever. "Any snow where
- you live?"
-
- "Snow?", she asked sleepily. "I don't see any."
-
- "Well, perhaps not, but you're still in bed, aren't you?"
-
- "Um huh," she breathed, on the verge of drifting back into her
- dreams once more.
-
- "Get up sleepyhead! We have things to do today. We've got nearly
- eight inches of snow outside, and I'll have to come get you.
- You'll never make it out here in that thing you drive."
-
- "Did it really snow?", she asked, finally beginning to awaken a
- bit.
-
- "Yes, it really snowed. Now get out of bed and get ready. I'll be
- there in about an hour. Wear lots of warm clothes, 'cause its
- cold outside and my old truck doesn't have much of a heater."
-
- It took much longer to make the drive to Kerri's apartment than I
- had thought it would. I had loaded the back of the old Chevy with
- firewood, but still had to stop half-way up the driveway to put
- on chains. The main road had been scraped once, but that first
- trip by the snowplow had only served to make the road more
- slippery and I had to drive very slowly, the chains
- clink-clanging steadily against the back fenders along the way.
-
- Stopping in the middle of the street in front of her building, I
- had just begun to get out of the truck when she came through the
- doorway cheerfully, her long legs sheathed in tight denim, a
- puffy down coat hiding her shapely torso, woolen scarf casually
- cascading from her throat, bright red ear-muffs making her appear
- even more youthful than her 29 years. She spun around, her arms
- held out widely, dancing in the snow, obviously thrilled by the
- gift nature had given us.
-
- With a suddeness that one has to experience to truly understand,
- Kerri's dancing feet left the snow covered sidewalk
- simultaneously, hanging in mid-air as if waiting for her
- insufficiently padded bottom to land before them. It did. She sat
- stunned, her legs splayed out before her, the heat generated by
- her forceful landing competing with the cold of the snow for the
- attention of her abrubtly awakened nerve endings.
-
- Trying very hard not to laugh, and genuinely concerned, I hurried
- to her side. "Are you alright?", I asked.
-
- "Yes, I think so," she replied, reaching for her hip and rubbing
- it with her gloved hand. Then smiling mischeiviously and
- remembering my encounter with the divider at the shopping center
- she continued good-naturedly, "This snow wasn't here yesterday.
- Come to think of it, neither was this sidewalk or any of these
- buildings!"
-