the ring, part 1

new long-ish story. A picture will follow soon

[part 1]

It had been an easy day at school. The math teacher was absent for whatever reason so Kate and her friends had spent most of the morning chitchatting about their next year. Most of them still had no idea about the college they would choose but Kate had her fate already sealed at one of the best campuses in the state. Sure, she would have to be ready to leave her family and friends behind, but it was her future she was talking about so it was a sacrifice she was willing to make. It was a beautiful day, so she'd taken her bike instead of her car. Had she done differently, maybe her life wouldn't have changed so dramatically that day. 

She had practically arrived at home. It was early in the afternoon, so her parents wouldn't be at home for quite a while. Her older sister was probably in her room so she would have some time at the big living room tv all for herself. Just as she was about to get in, the woman next door came back from her jogging session. "Hey Kate" she waved. She was gorgeous, even after an intense workout.  Kate hoped her body would look like that once she reached her age. "Hey ms G." she waved back. The older woman was wearing jogging pants, a blue tank top, and beautiful orange running shoes that looked extremely expensive. She came closer to Kate, and stopped her jog. She removed her earpiece, and smiled at her younger neighbor. "Hey Kate, can i ask you a big favor?". Kate wasn't sure wether to come up with an excuse, but she didn't want to be rude to her neighbor. "It depends, really. I have a lot of homework" She lied. "That's ok, it won't take more than five minutes" the woman kept smiling. Now that she was so close, Kate coulndn't help but notice that the woman had been sweating profusely, and was not afraid to show it. She really didn't feel like doing anything else that wasn't sitting on her parents' sofa for the next hour, but she let her neighbor convince her with her politeness. "Sure" she said, regretting it immediately after. She cursed herself silently for being so unnecessarily polite.

Ms. G led the way to her home. She used her fingerprint to unlock her front door and they both entered the house. While it already looked great from the outside, the inside was majestic. Kate had only caught glimpses of the house from the front window, and she had once spent a very boring barbecue afternoon in the backyard with her whole family, but she'd never seen the actual inside. It was decorated with great taste, and the furniture looked quite expensive. Kate realized that she'd never wondered what kind of job ms G did for a living, but she figured it must have been some high payed, skilled position. She even wondered if she could get some money out of this favor the woman was asking, but first she had to know what it was. "Shoes please" the woman addressed her. Kate removed her converse sneakers, leaving only her socks on, and saw ms G removing her own running shoes and socks and placing her bare feet on the floor. She'd been sweating during her jog, and the perspiration was visible on the wooden pavement everytime the woman took a step. "I'll be with you in a minute" the older woman said, leaving behind her a trail of sweaty footprints. "Gross" Kate found herself thinking, and couldn't help but wonder how long this favor would take. She even considered just leaving, but it would have been rude and very unlikely of her. Sure, if she had even imagined what was waiting for her, she would have turned back and never even spoken to her neighbor ever again, but she was completely oblivious of her fate.

"Kate?" ms G called her from the other room. Kate followed the origin of the sound, only to find herself in the biggest and most luxurious bedroom she'd ever seen. It was something straight out of design magazines, mainly in tones of white, with darker elements adorning the beautiful furniture. Her neighbor was standing inside the gigantic walk in closet, lit only by carefully placed tiny downglights all inside the perimeter. She was surrounded by all kinds of colorful garments and she had a shoe rack that was taller than she was and at least two meters wide. Kate was not poor, but could only dream of ever owning something like that.

"So" Ms G started explaining "I dropped my ring, and the bastard fell all the way down the shoerack this morning." "That's it?" Kate thought. She could say goodbye to the idea of getting paid for doing something so trivial. She wondered why the woman wouldn't do it herself, after all it didn't seem like a narrow space. As if she'd read her thoughts, ms G explained herself "I can't reach down there, i sprained my back at the gym yesterday. They say squatting heavy is good for your body, but they never mention how painful it can get." Besides the fact that Kate had no idea of who those "they" could be, and the fact that she had not noticed that the woman with a supposedly sore back had just came back from an intense jog, she coulndn't help but stare at her neighbor's perfect butt. She had a great body herself, despite the fact that she did little to no phisycal activity, but it was mostly due to her young age. A body like ms G's at her age meant hours of painful gym sessions and a very strict dietary regime.

Kate didn't want to waste any more time, so she entered the closet, which was big enough to contain both women, and kneeled in front of the shoe rack. Now that she was in front of it, she could really appreciate the quality of the vast assortment of shoes the woman had in her possession. There were all kinds of ballerinas arranged by color, leather pumps, sandals that looked extremely expensive, boots of various heights and materials, and even a few sneakers. It was every woman's dream. And despite the faint smell of used shoes that she could perceive, every single pair looked immaculate. She reached with her arm under the shoe rack, and to her dismay she found out she could not touch the ring by just a few centimeters. "What is it?" ms G asked her when she saw her struggle. "I think it's too far inside, and my arm won't fit" Kate answered, and when she turned her head to address the woman directly, she found herself in front of her bare toes. She was practically an inch away and was now impossible not to notice the perfect layer of brick red nailpolish that coated each of her nails. She thought of how rude the woman was, but kept the comment to herself. At least they didn't smell like she thought they would. "Are you absolutely sure you can't reach it?" asked the worried woman, not moving an inch from the younger girl's face.

Kate made another attempt, that revealed useless, and she almost hurt her shoulder in the process, but at least she had turned her head away from the woman's wiggling toes. "Sorry, i just can't" she said, and pushed her hands on the ground in order to stand up. "Wait a second, you're just in the right spot". Before she could ask her what she meant, Kate felt something heavy land on her back, immediately followed by a second, similar feeling. "Stay very still!" the woman said in a playful tone, and she realized what had happened: the bitch was standing on her back! "Just one more second!" she heard her say. It didn't actually hurt to have her standing on her body, but it was definitely humiliating, even more considering that she could feel ms G's bare foot on the part of her back that wasn't covered by her short t-shirt. It was disgusting, but she had been caught in so much surprise that she couldn't get herself to say anything. 

"There it is!" ms G exclaimed triumphantly, as she descended Kate's back. "Ugh" the girl muttered instinctively when the pressure was released altogether. As soon as she was relieved by the weight, Kate stood up. "It didn't hurt, did it?". Kate didn't want to sound rude, but her face said it all. "Sorry about that. I just couldn't resist, looking at you down there. And i really didn't feel like fetching the stepladder". Kate didn't really know what to say, she just wanted to leave that beautiful yet sinister place. Probably seeing her discomfort, ms G handed her the box she'd fished from the top shelf. It was a shoebox "here, for your trouble". Kate now felt guilty for not actually managing to get the ring, and was excited to see what she was being gifted. "Wow, thank you!" she said, as she practically snatched the box from the woman's hands. She opened the box to reveal the most beautiful pair of Jimmy Choos she'd ever seen. They looked like they were used, but she didn't care. "Really? for me? But i didn't even do what you asked!". 

"It's ok, it's not like you didn't try" ms G reassured her. Kate wanted so desperately to try them on, but she realized the harsh truth. They were definitely too big for her. "Sorry ms G" she said, handing the box to the woman "I really don't think they're my size". They were a size 9 and a half, and she was a 6 at most. "My, you're right. You could practically live in those" Ms G looked like she hadn't considered the size difference, and tried to find a way around the problem. "How old are you?" she asked. "19, why?" the girl answered. "Then i guess that growing into them is out of the question." She looked thoughtful for a moment, then she said "I'll find another way to repay your effort. Come on, let's get some tea"

[continue...]