The Housekeeper, Chapter 21
Chapter 21
Jess
It was a much longer drive than I expected.
Just over an hour, and not into town like we did the previous day. I actually didn’t mind sitting in the back seat. While it was a little insulting, as it felt less like having a chauffeuse and more like being denied the privilege of the passenger seat, I wasn’t complaining about the distance or lack of attention from Hannah. Aside from the occasional glance in the mirror, her eyes were on the road, and she seemed content humming along to the pop tunes playing from the bluetooth system. I didn’t hate her music, though an hour of the same sounding stuff did get tiresome after a while.
I was also plenty distracted with my own thoughts. Like how she had decided on my credit card with no discussion whatsoever, and the fact that two of her friends were joining us. At least it wouldn’t be the whole group from the other night, but still. Life was difficult with just the one eighteen year old. And of everyone present at Hannah’s little gathering, Willow and Lillian had most quickly gotten on board with everything the blonde had thrown at me.
Turns out, we were going to the beach.
I had never been to the area Hannah was driving us to, though it didn’t take much to recognize the fact that we were near the coast. As we approached a private parking lot, there was no doubt in my mind that we were heading towards the water. In classic rich girl fashion, it seemed that Hannah had some form of membership with this place, as she was waved in without so much as showing an ID or paying the person at the booth for the day.
She parked and got out of the car, telling me to do the same. I would have done so anyway; now I was stuck looking obedient as ever, as I couldn’t just sit in what was going to soon be a very hot car. To my relief, Hannah had packed along a whole beach bag, which she procured from the trunk. There had to be some sunscreen in there. I was already burned from yesterday, plus she was fairly fair skinned herself; there was no way she could get away without that kind of protection.
“Let’s go, Jessie. This way.” She strutted away without giving me a second look, leaving me scrambling to catch up by the time I realized she wasn’t bothering to look back and see if I was still with her. What else was I supposed to do? My phone was likely back at the house, and she was my responsibility to some degree despite how I had lost every ounce of my authority.
Her pace was impressive for how she was wearing sandals and hauling the bag full of whatever she had brought; my flip flops weren’t nearly as forgiving, even when I had nothing to carry. Honestly, I was a little surprised she hadn’t shoved her stuff into my arms. Maybe she was just used to the ritual of going to the beach, and didn’t think about making me her pack mule again.
In any other circumstance, I would be looking forward to a place like this. The breeze off the water felt amazing, and I did enjoy a good beach day. Preferably one that didn’t require a drive, not that I had too many beach house experiences throughout my life. Unlike Hannah, I didn’t have rich parents or rich friends; if I did, I wouldn’t have needed this job in the first place.
“Hannah! Over here!!”
I’d recognize that red hair anywhere. Willow waved us over with a smile; phone in one hand, hard seltzer in the other, she reminded me of plenty of university girls. Lillian was next to her, lying down on her stomach with an undone bikini top. Lounging in her own way, and getting the best tan she could with the skimpy bottoms she had on.
The hot sand did little to break Hannah’s stride. She joined the duo with me in tow, greeting them with a, “Hey! You remember Jessie, right?”
“The lesbian virgin with no bladder control?” Willow smirked, “How could I forget?”
I felt a blush coming on immediately. It wasn’t like that!! Only the virgin part was true. And even that wasn’t supposed to be something to be ashamed about . . .
“Nice spot,” Hannah said. She nodded towards where her friends had set up shop with their towels and a cooler that I assumed had more drinks in it. Wasting no time, she gripped the hem of her top and peeled it off herself to reveal a different bikini than she had worn at the pool the other night. Actually, now that I was thinking about it, neither of the other girls had repeated swimwear. Just another difference between them and me. “Oh! Virgin.” Hannah turned towards me. “You didn’t bring a bikini, did you?”
Of course not! The only clothes I had been allowed to wear the last couple days were the ones Hannah lent me. “No,” I muttered, “You-”
“That’s okay!” she said, “I probably have something in here that will fit you.”
Uh huh. I knew better than to look annoyed when Hannah had all the power between the two of us, but I wasn’t an idiot. She wouldn’t ‘just happen’ to have something for me to wear.
Setting her stuff down and taking a moment to lay out her own towel, which in turn gave her easier access to everything underneath it in the bag. The blonde squatted down for a few seconds to look through the things she had brought along, before exclaiming, “Got it! Here, try these on.”
It took all of two seconds to realize that I’d prefer to stay in my current outfit than put on what she was offering. It was a pair of board shorts and a bikini that didn’t match in the slightest; like usual, the bottoms were almost certainly going to be too big on me, where the bikini looked incredibly small.
Before I could express my distaste, Hannah insisted, “Don’t just stand there, Jessie. Change!”
What? Here? We were in public. Surely there was a bathroom or changing area nearby. Normally I would do what Hannah did, with wearing swimwear under my clothes, except I hadn’t been told anything about where she had planned on taking me. “Is there somewhere, I can-”
“Literally no one is nearby,” Hannah said, “We pay good money to have a beach that isn’t crowded. Here. Want me to prove that it’s okay?” She gripped her bikini top and threatened to flash me by starting to lift.
“Wait! Don’t- I’ll . . . ” I’m not sure if it was because she was eighteen or that I was supposed to be babysitting her with the whole ‘housekeeper’ set-up; either way, the prospect of seeing her bare chest felt wrong. At the same time, I didn’t want to risk insulting her by protesting too loudly, which is why I ended up awkwardly stammering as I tried to split the difference. “I get it. Here.” Against my better judgment, yet not being able to think of an alternative in the heat of the moment, I turned away and quickly pulled off my top after verifying that nobody was looking in our direction.
All three of them had already seen my bare boobs, but that didn’t mean I wanted yet another topless experience around them. The constant nudity around Hannah definitely hadn’t changed the fact that I hated being exposed around other people, though here I was, stripping outside. In my haste to keep my bare upper half covered, I dropped my top onto the sand without a second thought, then promptly covered my breasts with the bikini cups.
Stepping up behind me, Hannah said, “You’re taking forever.” Taking the lower strings herself, she gave a hard pull, crushing my boobs in the thing and deftly tying it off. Aside from being too tight, the fabric wasn’t nearly enough to fully cover my breasts, somehow making my chest look both awkward and slutty at the same time. “You’re welcome,” she said, upon doing up the top strings afterwards. “Try the shorts, too.”
This time, turning away wouldn’t do me any good. I could cover my most private area for the most part, but my bare ass was going to be completely on display for a minute. Ripping off the bandaid, my face turned crimson as I pulled down my bottoms and rushed to step into the board shorts. The giggling behind me didn’t make the process any better.
The shorts were too big. WAY too big. All the other outfit pieces Hannah had lent me recently were tolerable, if somewhat ill-fitting. Now that I was wearing this particular item, I doubted this was something she had ever put on herself; on my petite self, I would have to hold it up with one hand just to walk, or worry about it riding down when seated.
“Perfect!” Hannah smiled, upon looking me over. She scooped up the clothes she had given me before we left the house and gestured to the spot next to her. “You’ll have to sit on the sand. I only have the one towel.”
Typical. She managed to pack this awful combo, but only brought a towel for herself? As usual, I knew better than to complain about any of the uncomfortable/inconvenient experiences she so effortlessly set me up for. “Sunscreen?” I asked. Applying lotion was so much worse after getting sandy.
Hannah didn’t outright deny my request. Instead, she mulled it over for a moment before bending over and looking through the cooler. She found a seltzer similar to the one that Willow was sipping on and handed it to me. “When this is empty, you can use my sunblock. What do you say, Jessie?”
Still flushing a bit from my new ensemble, as well as the stripping stages that came before it, I muttered, “Thank you, Hannah.”
There was really no other approach other than downing the drink. I didn’t want to think about how much of a lightweight I was going to be after barely eating for the last two days, nor how this was clearly a ploy to fill me up with fluids again. Every minute I spent casually sipping was another minute the high UV rays would be attacking my already burned skin.
I needed both hands to pop the tab, so I adjusted the loose shorts and briefly clamped my thighs together in order to keep them from falling off. The second the can was opened, I returned one hand to the waistband and started drinking.
Though I was going quickly, I didn’t feel the need to outright chug. Between the cold and the bubbles, knocking back a seltzer was a rough experience. An extra minute or two of sun wouldn’t make that much of a difference; I just couldn’t casually sip for how long it would normally take me to finish a drink. While I worked on the task, Hannah sat down on her own towel and got herself settled.
I was easily the odd girl out as I stood there while the other three were comfortable on their towels, but I was committed at this point. After finishing the drink, I politely asked for the sunscreen and immediately started on my shoulders after Hannah gave it to me. It was a tedious process when one of my arms was basically always tied up with the loose shorts, plus I had to make sure I hit all the spots on my chest the bikini didn’t cover, as well as get my back without the help of the others. I had done so before, as I could technically reach everywhere, though it was difficult to be thorough.
By the time I was wrapping up, Hannah started complaining about how I was taking too long. She needed sunscreen, too. I bit my tongue about how plenty of people shared the bottle when it came to outings like this. The prospect of sitting in the sand wasn’t my favorite, but the alternative meant just standing around for what could be hours. Between the heat and my hunger, I wouldn’t be able to sustain that.
Adjusting the short as I lowered myself, I sat down next to Hannah and was promptly handed a water bottle to drink. I wasn’t pressured to do so quickly, thankfully; I was well aware of how that could lead to yet another desperate situation. I’d have to balance those hesitations against the summer sun beating down on me, as hydration was going to be important if we were out here for a while.
Turns out, I wasn’t going to have much of a say in the matter. After sitting there for a little while with nothing to do, as I didn’t have a phone or a book or anything else to keep myself occupied as I sat with Hannah and her friends, the blonde handed me another water bottle. “Jessie. Hydrate.” Somewhat on the same wavelength as me, just with another motive for making me drink. “Finish the first one. Now.”
Willow started playing some music on her phone, which did serve as a distraction of sorts. She and Hannah talked about boys and summer plans, most of which I couldn’t tune out due to them being right next to me. All the while, I was told to keep hydrating. At least she wasn’t trying to get me drunk. Since the first seltzer, it had only been water bottles. Meanwhile, the two girls that were sitting up were leisurely drinking their alcoholic drinks, proving that they didn’t actually care as much about the kinds of fluids Hannah was pushing me to drink.
After the fourth bottle in less than an hour, not knowing for sure how much time had passed, it was difficult to avoid thinking about my swollen bladder. The sound of the waves certainly didn’t help.
“Hey. Virgin. Let’s go for a swim,” Hannah said. Hopping up from her spot, she grabbed my wrist without any warning and gave an assertive tug. It was all I could do to both stand up and make sure that my shorts came with me without accidentally flashing her or the others on the way.
Was Hannah planning something?
It was impossible to tell when she was doing something specifically at my expense, or simply bringing me along for the ride. In this particular instance, it was difficult to complain. A dip in the ocean sounded nice after being in the sun for so long, and the water would also rinse off all the sand clinging to my legs, plus whatever had made its way into the boarding shorts. If the prior beach experiences had taught me anything, it was that no amount of towels or clothes could keep someone from getting sandy.
Once she was sure that I was following, Hannah let go of me and continued leading the way towards the water. Her bikini looked so good compared to my ensemble; it was especially unfair since I quite literally packed swimwear for the summer, like the number I wore out to her pool. Now I was stuck in this.
The water was refreshing. Definitely not too cold. Hannah finally looked back once the gentle waves were up to her waist. “Come on, Jessie. Keep up.”
I didn’t want to keep up. The push and pull of the water around me was almost as daunting as gravity was where the borrowed shorts were involved, and I wouldn’t be able to swim very well with just one arm. My main concern was the loose bottoms; maybe I should have been worried about the other half of my ensemble as well.
When I finally made my way to where she had stopped to wait for me, at which point I could barely stand on the ocean floor while also keeping my head above the water, Hannah pounced. Lunging towards me, she roughly dunked me into the salt water. Since I hadn’t braced myself for it, I ended up with a mouthful; my eyes were stinging as well, as I hadn’t closed them in time.
Squirming away from the girl and the manner in which she was manhandling me, I surfaced and had to cough a few times before I could take a real breath again. Glaring at Hannah as I flashed back to when she had pushed me into her pool, my flicker of anger was extinguished immediately as I saw what she was holding.
She had my BIKINI TOP.
“H-Hannah!” I exclaimed in horror, sputtering a bit from the lingering salt water in my throat. Amidst the underwater tumble, I hadn’t even noticed that she was stripping me of the top. Now that I saw it in her hand, I was suddenly aware that my chest was totally bare. The ocean would keep that fact hidden from anyone who happened to look my way, though I still wasted no time in wrapping an arm over my breasts. “Give it back!”
“So bossy,” she smirked, “Don’t forget who’s in charge here, Jessie. For that little outburst, I’m not going to give it back.”
“But- but, you can’t . . . ” I trailed off. Based on my time with her so far, I knew that Hannah very well could do whatever she wanted.
“Here’s the deal, Jessica.” She started treating backwards towards the shore. Chasing her would mean exposing myself as the water got more shallow, while staying meant letting her get away with the bikini top. Being paralyzed by indecision meant ‘choosing’ the latter. “We’re leaving in ten minutes. You better be with us by then, or I’m going to leave you here.”
With a smirk, she turned and swam away. As usual, not looking back.
I was left in the ocean for the time being, knowing full well that I couldn’t hide in the water forever. One way or another, I was going to have to return to the beach without my top.