This is the first part of a longer series. I hope you don't mind the slower pace, it should all add to the story in the long run!
*****
Running a small bookshop on the edge of town was never my chosen career path. Leaving school nine months ago, I didn't have much planned, but aimed to find something that drew on my passion for electronics and gadgets and stuff. Life, or more accurately a death in the family, intervened within weeks of graduation to change everything. Uncle Mike, my mum's brother, was probably the most entrepreneurial member of our clan with at least three businesses on the go, and his life had seemed pretty sweet until he died suddenly with a heart attack, leaving his wife Sue to cope alone.
If I am totally honest, it was not just a sense of family duty that made me offer my services to help run Aunt Sue's Bookshop. I have had a crush on her since as long as I could remember, and I would probably have done pretty much anything she asked, anytime, anyplace. I really enjoyed her company, and I had found her beautiful since the day I had first taken notice of a woman's body.
It was about ten days after the funeral and I found myself once more visiting Aunt Sue in the small community Bookshop that was her pride and joy. She had run 'Black & White books' now for a few years. It was a childhood dream to run this shop- even the name was chosen before she was 12. Mike was always fully supportive, and let her run it however she wanted, although he often teased her at family events by claiming he loved the bookshop as it kept her distracted and didn't try telling him how to run his fashion business! Of course, that felt quite ironic now, as she had both to contend with.
We had been meeting up in the bookshop to chat about life for a few years and this day was no different- except it seemed more important that I spent time there and gave emotional support. As usual, I was leaning on the counter with a coffee in hand and Sue sat on the tall chair behind. Suddenly, in the middle of saying something quite inconsequential about book ordering, she started to crumple and sob.
'what will I do Jack?' she sobbed, 'how am I ever going to cope? Mike loved his fashion business as much as I love this place, but the factory and showroom has most of our money tied up in it. I cannot be in three places at once, and I'm so tired...'
Without a moment's thought, I offered to help run the Bookshop so she could spend time across town running the factory. She stared at me through her tears for a while and, without saying a word, got up slowly, came around the counter and gave me the tightest hug I had ever had.
'Oh Jack you are such a good man' she half whispered, with her face tucked into my neck. 'What would I do without you eh?' She was still sniffing a bit, but there was no more sobbing, and that felt good.
In fact it felt wonderful to hold her so tightly, and to be honest I was enjoying myself far too much. With a dawning horror came the realisation that my dick was responding totally inappropriately to this hug, and was already stiff, upright and pushing against her body. I guess she must have noticed it pretty much at the same time as me as she stepped back suddenly with a blank and slightly shocked look on her face. I thought I was going to die of embarrassment. A perfect moment of closeness, ruined. I was therefore left speechless when her stare turned into a cheeky grin, and with a small twinkle in her eyes said 'you better put that away before you poke someone with it!', reached out, and gave my dick a solid squeeze. She then turned tail without a word and walked back round the counter and through the door towards her flat above the shop. I was rooted to the spot, unable to think, but vaguely aware that she was still smiling to herself as she headed off through the little door.
After a few moments, and some rapid readjustment down below, I shut up shop (it was already dark, and we don't get many customers after 4pm), and I nervously walked upstairs. Apart from a slight smirk when I first popped my head round the door, she said nothing about that moment, and rather she went on to talk in much more detail about what I'd so easily offered - and what it would mean, with much more energy and enthusiasm that I had seen from her for many days.
And so the plan was hatched. I agreed to ride over every day to start learning the ropes from the very next morning. As I said, I would have probably agreed to anything she asked.
--
About two weeks passed without incident after that day, each following an easy rhythm; cycling the ten minutes over from my folks house then spending all day learning what I needed to know, occasionally staying over for a quick supper in the flat. There was nothing remotely special about these days, except that I enjoyed myself immensely. I was constantly working alongside and physically close to Aunt Sue, and we developed an easy comfort in each other's presence. To my slight shame, I found myself deeply breathing in the air around her. With no real encouragement on her part, I was developing an all embracing obsession, and my night-time thoughts were full of improbable encounters that occasionally made the next day a little awkward for me, until reality kicked in and we settled back into our easy pattern.
I soon got to grips with tills, ordering and so on, and began to enjoy the thought of doing this job properly. Maybe a bookseller's life was for me after all... 'I think you are probably safe to fly solo next week' Sue declared one Friday evening, and I genuinely looked forward to giving it a go- dealing with all a business demands.
That night, a slightly tearful and seemingly inebriated Aunt Sue called me on the mobile.
'Jack... I hate to ask, but can you stay longer tomorrow? I'm trying to be brave and start to sort out some of Mike's stuff in the flat... I want to move some of my stuff to the big house but, well... it's not easy alone... I keep... I keep...'
...she went silent for a while.
'See you in ten' I said, and jumped on the bike before she could argue.