Finally he moved on into the kitchen where Beth was smiling at him knowingly.
'Yeah, she gets that reaction a lot,' Beth said as he leaned against the counter.
'I bet she does. Is that all her?' Jim said as he motioned with his hand over his chest.
'No….but she says it was the best $5000 she ever spent.'
'$5000?! What kind of work does she do? That's a lot of money.'
'Well…she's an agent, I guess. She hooks people up.' Beth said.
'Like how?' Jim was intrigued.
'Well, she sorta acts like a headhunter.' Beth continued after Jim gave her a quizzical look. 'She's like a talent agent, finding people for jobs.'
'Oh, I see.'
'Don't let her looks fool you,' Beth said as she opened the refrigerator and handed him a beer, 'Julie's a smart cookie, too.'
'So how did you two meet?'
'At a gym. I was living with this guy for awhile, a real jerk as it turns out, but anyway, I could use his pass fro his health club. Julie and I just got talking and we hit it off. She's probably the best friend I've ever had.
She pay's for the lionshare of the expenses for this place.'
'Well, you've really fallen in it here…penthouse apartment, good job…it sure beats milking the cows at 5 A.M.'
'Oh God, don't remind me!' Beth said as she opened a beer for herself.
Jim heard the front door open. Beth did too.
'That must be Julie,' she said to Jim. 'JUuullleeess!'
'Yeeahh!'
'Well, come and meet her,' Beth said as she took her brother's hand. They exited the kitchen walking into the dining area and there she was — Julie and the picture didn't do her justice. She was looking through a stack of mail, wearing a form fitting short dress. She looked up then and jerked her head to the side, sending her hair over her shoulder. It was quick natural movement but Jim got the feeling she had waited until they could see her before she did it.
'Julie, this is Jim.'
'So this is your little brother.' Julie said as she walked over to them, the emphasis on the word 'little'. 'I'd hate to see your 'big' brother.'
Jim liked the fact that Julie was complimenting him on his physique. He was 5' 11' with muscle from working long hours around the family farm.
Julie extended her hand and Jim shook it.
'Nice to meet you, Julie.' he said and meant it, willing himself not to look at her fantastic chest. Julie could be fodder for many a night of masturbation.
'You got a nice strong grip, Jim. You work out?' 'Nah. Just work around the farm.' he said. 'Baling hay, other exciting stuff.'
'Yeah, Lizzie's told me all about the farm life.' Julie said with a wry smirk. Julie bend slightly and gave Elizabeth a peck on her cheek. Elizabeth looked at Jim after it happened but then Julie continued,
'So what do you kids have planned for tonight.'
Jim guessed Julie was maybe 30; certainly older than he at 17 and Elizabeth at 21. Being called a 'kid' made Jim twinge but he got the feeling that was just the way Julie was. Like she wanted to get a reaction.
'Nothing tonight.' Beth said. 'I'm whipping up some dinner and I thought we'd just relax.'
'I just stopped by to get another pair of shoes,' Julie said. 'I've got a meeting later, so I'll have to pass on dinner. I'll be back around 11. You'll still be up, right?'
'Oh sure, you know me.' Beth replied.
'All right then, I'll see you guys later.' Julie walked off toward the door to the other bedroom on the other side of the apartment. Jim watched her bottom all the way.
Beth punched him in the arm to bring him out of it.
'You men are all alike!' she said giggling as she went back into the kitchen. Jim followed her.
'So shoot me. There's nothing like that back on the farm…Lizzie.'
'Don't you start with the Lizzie, too. Julie started calling me that but I don't want it to catch on. Beth is just fine.'
Jim heard the front door open and close again as Julie headed back out into the city for her meeting.
Beth was rooting around in the cupboard, pulling out spice bottles. 'Dammit!' she said exasperated. 'We're out of basil…I'm gonna run down to the market and get some. Without the basil, this dish just doesn't make it.'
'Hey, don't go to any trouble….' Jim said as he followed her out into the living area.
'The market's just around the corner. I'll only be a few minutes.' She grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.
Left alone, Jim wandered around. He went outside on the patio that was off the dining area and looked at the surrounding buildings in the fading dusk. He went into the kitchen and lifted the lid on what Beth was preparing; it looked like an Italian sausage dish. He roamed into the livingroom and studied the prints on the walls; they were all of women, paintings by a guy named Nagel. They reminded him of some of the artwork in the front of Playboy magazines, mildly erotic.
He was walking near the door to Julie's room and the door was open, so he poked his head in. The bedroom was larger than the one he was staying in; obviously this was the master bedroom of the apartment.
Same skylight, a king-size bed with black and white bedding, same sliding door for the closet and the bathroom door in the same place as in the other bedroom.
Jim was going to move back out into the apartment when he noticed something very interesting sitting on the far bedside table. He couldn't be absolutely sure it was what he thought it was; a magazine was covering part of it.
He was going to walk over and check it out but he heard a key being inserted in the front door. Quickly he moved a few feet to the nearby entertainment center and made like he was looking at their music selections as Elizabeth came through the door.
'Told you that wouldn't take too long,' she said as she pulled off her coat. 'Come on and help me set the table.'
'Sure,' Jim said as he followed her toward the kitchen. His thoughts, however, were on what he thought he had seen in Julie's bedroom. It had sure looked like there was a pair of handcuffs under that magazine.
Chapter 2
Dinner was a success; Jim had three helpings. After that Beth and he sat and talked and watched some TV. Jim was amazed by the freaks on the local access station.
Around 11:30, Julie came back home. Apparently, her meeting had gone well. She opened a bottle of wine which they all polished off without any problem.
'Well, I'm going off to bed. Try not to wake me when you come in,' she said to his sister. Jim wished he could climb into bed with luscious Julie; she was like a wet dream.
'OK, Julie, I'll be in in a few minutes anyway.'
'See you tomorrow, Jim.' Julie said as she sauntered through the door to her bedroom.
'Night, Julie.'
Beth cleaned up the wine glasses and showed him how the remote worked before she left him for the evening.
'I'm really glad you came, Jim. I'm glad I left home but not seeing you has been the hardest..anyway, we're gonna have a blast while you're here. If you get up before me, there's some cereal over top of the fridge.'
'OK, Beth, thanks for everything.' He kissed her on the cheek and she went into the bedroom she'd be
