Dinah was pissed off. Another night lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She might as well have been alone, her husband Mark, lying fast asleep, curled up in the fetal position, hugging the bed covers. He was tired, it was Monday tomorrow -- back to work!
They hadn't had any form of meaningful sex in seven weeks. Mark was working harder, working later. She didn't think he was having an affair; he was too timid, just not that type of guy. Truth was they'd been drifting apart, their interests had differed, the time they spent together was mealtimes, silenting watching TV and falling asleep. If she was being honest, Dinah wasn't sure they loved each other anymore. Not that they hated each other, but whatever spark they had was now a dying ember.
Dinah was nearly forty and had recently found a new lease of life, she was interested in arts and culture, she had started taking classes for pottery and life drawing. She was even learning to play the banjolele. It wasn't a mid life crisis, it was realising life was too short for dead end jobs, promotions passed over to younger, lazier employees who had a knack for talking the big talk and doing just the bare minimum of work to back it up.
She was now working part time in the local high school as a librarian. The hours were good, the pay wasn't great but just enough. And she had plenty of time for reading. There were older kids too - due to funding the school and the adjacent college shared certain facilities like the gym and the library.
She also liked that the guys all thought she was a milf. She had long brown hair which she would often wear in a bun, deep brown eyes, and soft, sumptous lips. She would often wear a white or pale blue shirt, a pencil skirt and stockings. She was demure, also professionally attired, with a pair of reading glasses perched on her nose. Secretly she'd enjoyed the way some of the boys had looked at her, it told her that whatever problems she and Mark were having, it wasn't sexual. She still had it.
But not as much as Kirsten her twenty two year old colleague. She'd only been working in the library for a couple of weeks, but all the boys were talking about her. There had been a sudden interest in reading within the school, kids were reading more books and there were no late returns. Dinah would never admit it, or that she was just a little bit jealous, but it was all thanks to Kirsten.
Dinah lay on the bed. She was horny and she was angry. Mark was asleep, and he was too frustrated to entertain herself. She leant over to her bedside table, grabbed her iPod and listened to soothing classical music until she fell asleep...
...She awoke in a bad mood. She was quiet and detached. Mark sensed something was wrong but whether through fear of rebuttal or just not caring anymore, he kept quiet and went about his business. Typical.
Dinah stood in the bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. This would not be how she turned forty, sadly and with regret. She wore a little extra make up and she decided not to wear any panties. It was a tiny act of rebellion, but it was a start.
She got to the library just before the first bell. Kirsten was already there, cataloguing the new returns. There were three kids there, two boys and a girl all with books they were bringing back. The boys were flirting or doing whatever it is a sixteen year old thinks passes for flirting. The girl was quiet, but her eyes were transfixed on the blonde twenty two year old beauty.
Kirsten was wearing a white summer dress and pumps. The dress was cut just at the crest of her breasts and Dinah swore she could see the two boys pants tightening as she leant over the desk to reach for a working pen. She smiled at them and the trio left, all joking and hitting each other in the arm.
"Morning Mrs. Able," Kirsten said, gathering the books in her arm and carrying them over to the new returns shelf.
"Morning Kirsten," Dinah said, perhaps a little too harshly. She stopped herself, she had no right to take her bad mood out on Kirsten. She sighed, "and what have I told you? Just call me Dinah. You make me feel old enough as it is."
Kirsten laughed, "Sorry... Dinah."
Kirsten shelved the books and then disappeared down an aisle to carry out some other duty.
Dinah took a seat behind the desk and blew on her steaming hot coffee, gleefully ignoring her own "No Food or Drink" sign. Kirsten reappeared carrying a couple of mishelved books - Dinah and Kirsten's biggest shared hate - and returned them to their rightful place. The books were on a lower shelf and Kirsten had to bend over to do so. Dinah looked at the younger girl and the curves of her butt and ridiculously good legs.
"You are a robot," Dinah said in a whisper, "or a clone or an alien or something. Probably evil too."
Dinah admonished herself again - normally her disposition was cheery and polite. Kirsten stood up and turned round, Dinah almost spilled her coffee when she realised she had been caught staring at the younger girl's ass.
She looked down and busied herself with some meaningless paperwork. When she was sure it was safe, she looked up. Kirsten had disappeared again.
A spotty sixteen year old with greasy hair and thick rimmed glasses came into the library, his bag heaving with books on computer science. His name was Stevie and he was the kind of boy other kids bullied but would ultimately end up working for when he owned the latest multi-million dot.com or must have gadget.
"Hi Kirsten," he said with a slight stutter and a shy, awkward wave.
Dinah watched, peering over her glasses. Kirsten came out to greet him. He handed her a pile of books.
"Could I renew these?" he asked nervously, "I know you have a policy and I've had these books out five times in a row and there are other kids, but I'm nearly done with them. Please?"
Kirsten smiled, returning the books to Stevie, allowing her hand to linger on his for a just a moment. Dinah thought she could see the flutter in Stevie's heart, the smile it gave him - and the confidence to face the day.
Dinah watched in envy. She decided to keep a close eye on Kirsten - not out of spite but to learn a thing or two.
She watched Kirsten all day, she would flirt in subtle ways, a flutter of eyelids, brushing hair behind her ear to show the curve of her neck, a wetting of lips. Small things, but enough that the boys she was talking to felt good about themselves.
It was nearly the end of the working day. There was still a huge pile of books that needed returning to their shelves and the Dinah was determined not to have a backlog of work carrying over into the next day.
"Kirsten, do you mind staying back an extra half hour?" she asked.
"Not at all," Kirsten replied. She too hated work half done. Plus it would mean an easier morning - time for reading and kicking back a little.
Dinah took a trolley of books and pushed it down an aisle, Kirsten took another trolley and pushed it down the next aisle. Dinah watched Kirsten through the gaps in the books. Kirsten looked at her and smiled, brushing a stray piece of hair behind her ear and fluttering her eyelids. Dinah knew that look - she'd been watching Kirsten employ it all day and to devastating effect.
Dinah, blushing, busied herself with her work. So engrossed was she that she hadn't realised she'd come to the end of the aisle and bumped straight into Kirsten's trolley.
"Oh, christ, I'm sorry," Dinah said, "It's just been one of those days."
"No worries," Kirsten said, placing a hand on her arm, "Coffee?"
"Thanks."
Kirsten walked away, her hand trailing down Dinah's arm, her fingers running across Dinah's hand. A purely innocent gesture - right?
Dinah took the time to straighten her hair, her glasses, compose herself before Kirsten came back with two steaming cups of instant coffee.
"So, what's up?" Kirsten asked, blowing on the hot drink.
"Oh, you don't want to hear about that," Dinah laughed.
"Try me."