The door opens and Mervyn and Carol walk in; they are the owners of the house and my clients, behind them trail their guests: he tall, overweight and red faced, dressed in a shirt and slacks, she shorter, slender, much healthier looking, wearing a knee length floral patterned summer dress and flat shoes. Both mid-sixties at a guess.
"Sorry Dave, didn't realise that you were working in here."
"No problem Mervyn."
Mervyn starts to explain something about the dining room to his guests and I get back to the fireplace. I'd worked at the house for nearly three years: started on two days a week with the previous owners and stayed on for one day a week when Mervyn and Carol bought the place the previous year. They were a nice couple; self made millionaires through Mervyn's businesses; this visiting couple, or rather he, was a new business partner but I had no idea what his wife did.
I was the maintenance man; looked after the house, a big mid-18th century pile in the middle of four acres of gardens, a lovely place that needed constant tlc to keep it going. Mervyn and Carol wanted various things doing to put their stamp on it and that was what I was in the middle of today: on my knees cleaning up and painted a very ornate Victorian fireplace.
After a few minutes explaining various features of the room the four of them disappear out of the door and I carried on with the fireplace.
An hour or so later there was a light knock on the door and the head of the visiting wife appeared.
"Hi, do you mind if I come in?"
"Of course not, help yourself, what can I do for you?"
She walked into the room carrying a glass of wine and stops in front of me.
She waved over her shoulder, "Mervyn and Andrew: that's my husband, have gone up to Mervyn's office to talk business and Carol is in the middle of cooking dinner, she's more interested in cooking than chatting to me, so I said I was going to explore, do you mind if I sit here and annoy you?"
I laugh and wave at one of the dining room chairs behind me,
"As long as you don't mind talking to my back," Carol did enjoy her cooking and I could imagine her not being very talkative whilst in the midst of some concoction.
From my position on my knees I put out my hand and introduced myself, "Dave."
"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Gillian"
"Nice to meet you Gillian," and again wave towards a chair, "Please."
She pulled the chair out behind me, spun it around and sat, and we started talking about stuff. She was quite easy to talk to, even with my back towards her, so our conversation just rambled.
Every now and again I glanced around, at 65ish, not that much older than me really, she had a certain elegance, even in her simple summer dress she had an air about her; she had a light tan and her hair was an expensive looking bob of grey, in fact she looked expensive all over, probably a real looker 20 or 30 years ago, pretty damn good now.
As she'd sat herself down her dress had ended up mid thigh, her crossed legs revealing quite a lot to me in my position down on my knees, just three feet from her. Well worth the occasional glance, one she didn't seem to mind me taking.
After half an hour I really needed to go to the loo so I excuse myself and went across the hall, did the necessary and washed my hands.
Re-entering the dining room she is still sitting where I'd left her, she'd finished her wine and placed her glass on the table, I went back to my position on the floor and sat facing her.
She re-crossed her legs and smoothed her hands down her dress, her eyes are looking into mine and I deliberately drop mine down to her legs; they are smooth with that light tan to them, not particularly toned but quite shapely. I look back up into her eyes; they are still focused on mine.
I keep eye contact, get onto my hands and knees and slowly crawl across the short gap between us, stopping just in front of her and settled back.
Put my hand on her ankle, keep my eyes locked on hers, she just sits with her legs crossed and her hands clasped in her lap.
My eyes drift down her body until I'm looking at my hand on her ankle.
Stroke up the back of her calf to her knee, back down to her ankle, back up again, over her knee and along her thigh. Hand slips under her dress until my fingertips touch her knickers, slip down and stroke back along the underside of her thigh, softly back and forth, the skin smooth and firm, warm and silky.
Other hand takes hold of her foot, lifts it and places it on the floor uncrossing her legs. Both hands on her ankles, slowly push her feet apart. Slide my hands up her legs to her inner thighs, stop, look back up into her eyes. She gazes back then breaks eye contact and looks towards the door, I follow her eyes and see that I've left the door open.