Jim Andrews stared through the window of the plane as it came in for a landing at LaGuardia. He had never seen anything as impressive as the island of Manhattan; it looked like every square inch of the island was filled with a skyscraper.
At 17 years of age, the biggest city he had ever been to had been Des Moines. When his sister, Elizabeth, had written to him and asked him if he wanted to come visit her, he'd jumped at the chance. He felt the same urge as Elizabeth had; to get out of the backwater burg his family lived in back in eastern Nebraska. He admired the way Elizabeth had just tore out one night, leaving a note for their parents that she was going to travel and see what else was out there in the world.
That had been 3 years ago and no one in the family had seen her since. Occasionally a postcard would come, addressed to him, from different cities around the country. Chicago, New Orleans, Dallas…but never with a return address. Then, a few weeks ago, a letter. And then a week later, a round trip ticket from Topeka.
The plane was coming in low now over the Long Island Sound. He'd studied a map in the family Encyclopedia Britannia; probably outdated but he doubted they had changed the name of the Sound. He looked over again at Manhattan, still not believing his sister had made it this far from home.
Jim came out of the airplane entrance ramp, walking in the midst of other passengers. He moved forward, swinging his head from side to side, looking for Beth. He tried to keep in mind, as he scanned the faces around the gate, that his sister was sure to have changed in the three years she'd been gone.
The crowd began to thin away, people meeting their families and heading for the baggage claim. Jim was beginning to feel dumb, standing there with his head swiveling around.
"Jim?!"
He looked around and there she was — his big sister, Elizabeth. Man, had she ever changed! When she's left, she'd had short brown hair and the fashion sense of any other teenaged girl from eastern Nebraska, namely jeans and T-shirts. But now there was a wild looking girl…no, woman…in tight black Lycra pants, a bright red half-shirt that let her stomach bare and a tan suede jacket with lots of tassels swinging everywhere. Her hair was now blondish, long, over her shoulders with a tight curl.
"Look at my baby brother — all grown up!" Beth said as she ran up to him and gave him a big hug which he returned with equal affection.
"Beth, man, I've missed you..look at you!" He let her go and motioned to her attire. "You look like a fashion model or something."
"What, these old things!" Beth laughed. "When in New York, do as the Yorkers do. Come on, let's go get your bags. I'm sorry I was late…it was hell getting a taxi today."
"You don't have a car?" Jim said. "No one in New York has a car. There's barely enough room for the people. You'll see. This the most remarkable city in the world…. Tomorrow I can show you around, do the tourist thing."
"Sounds good to me." Jim said as they headed down the concourse.
In the cab on the way to Elizabeth's place, they caught up a little on the three intervening years. Elizabeth asked about the old town, the high school, if he knew anything about any of her old friends. Jim pumped her for the things she had seen on her travels, how she liked New York, etc. Beth seemed to want to steer away from the topic of why she hadn't kept in touch with the family more; she would just say that it was probably best for everyone, then added she hadn't wanted to worry them.
"So, tell me, little brother, do you have a girlfriend back there?" "Well, I've had my share but I'm free at the moment. Why? You got someone you want to set me up with while I'm here?"
"No, I was just wondering. When I left, you were still in the 'girl's are yucky' stage." Elizabeth laughed.
"Yeah, well, I came to my senses." Jim smiled as the taxi slowed and pulled to the curb in front of tall brick building.
"This is it." Beth said as she opened her door.
A few minutes later, Beth was opening the door to her fifth story apartment loft. She walked in and hit the lights as her brother carried his case in.
"Holy shit! This place is great." Jim complimented her as he looked around. The apartment had real high ceiling, wood floors, cool furniture.
"Glad you like it. You can put your bag in here," Beth walked over to a door and turned on the light. He went into the bedroom and dumped his bag on the bed. The room was modern looking and clean. Overhead there was a skylight that was sure to let all the light in in the morning; sleeping in was going to be tough.
"You'll be staying in here. This is my room usually. I'll be sharing my roommate's bedroom."
"Roommate?"
"Yeah, did you think I could afford this place by myself?"
"I don't know. What kind of a job do you have?" Jim asked.
"I'm a hostess at a club here in town. A really trendy place. It's private, in fact."
"And what, you are on a salary?"
"Yeah, but most of the money comes from tips. The member's are loaded…it's really easy work. Just a lot of smiling. Anyway, I hope you're hungry, I'm going to make us some dinner."
"I'm starving…all I got was some peanuts on the flight."
"Good. Go ahead and unpack and I'll get things going." Beth left him, pulling off her suede coat as she went into the living area. Jim watched her leave and for the first time thought of how attractive Beth had become. She had to know that the clothes she wore left little to the imagination. The tight pants showed off her fine legs and cute bottom. Jim bet she played on her good looks at that club of hers, flashing a smile at the old codgers who'd give her a big tip just for the illusion of her maybe being attainable. Being blessed with good looks was a pretty easy way to get by in life but he couldn't hold that against Beth. It had gotten her away from Shitville, Nebraska.
Jim put his clothes in some empty drawers and took his toiletries into the bathroom. Being a neat person by habit, he opened the medicine cabinet to see if there was enough room for his deodorant and shaver. And was surprised to find the cabinet totally empty. Not a bottle of pills, not a pair of tweezers, not a jar of nail polish — nothing.
He opened the drawers by the sink and found them empty as well. The absence of any girlie items anywhere in the bathroom struck him as curious. He didn't think Beth had emptied everything out and taken it into her roommate's bathroom; no reason to go to all that trouble, just take the essentials over.
The bathroom looked like it wasn't even being used. Jim stowed his stuff in the drawer, kicked off his shoes and went out to see what his sister was making for dinner.
"Whoa! Who is this?" Jim said as he looked at a picture of his sister and another woman near the entrance to the kitchen.
"Oh, that's Julie, my roommate…well, don't walk on your tongue!" Beth said as she took a bowl out of the cupboard.
Julie looked like every man's ideal woman. In the picture, she was standing next to Beth with her arm around her shoulders. Beth was probably 5' 7". Unless Beth was standing in a hole, Julie must be at least 6' 2". Brunette, almost black hair, worn to mid-back with lots of body.
Her face was attractive — not great, sorta tough looking but it certainly could be overlooked.
But it was Julie's body from the neck down that probably stopped men in their tracks. Julie was stacked. Big round tits with a lot of cleavage showing.
'No way those are real,' Jim thought to himself. Hips that flared nicely, plenty of meat to grab onto there. Legs that looked like she had worn out a Stairmaster. 'She looks like a fuckin' superhero,' Jim thought.
Finally he moved on into the kitchen where Beth was smiling at him knowingly.
"Yeah, she gets that reaction a lot," Beth said as he leaned against the counter.
"I bet she does. Is that all her?" Jim said as he motioned with his hand over his chest.
"No….but she says it was the best $5000 she ever spent."
"$5000?! What kind of work does she do? That's a lot of money."
"Well…she's an agent, I guess. She hooks people up." Beth said.
"Like how?" Jim was intrigued.
"Well, she sorta acts like a headhunter." Beth continued after Jim gave her a quizzical look. "She's like a talent agent, finding people for jobs."
"Oh, I see."
"Don't let her looks fool you," Beth said as she opened the refrigerator and handed him a beer, "Julie's a smart cookie, too."
"So how did you two meet?"
"At a gym. I was living with this guy for awhile, a real jerk as it turns out, but anyway, I could use his pass fro his health club. Julie and I just got talking and we hit it off. She's probably the best friend I've ever had.
She pay's for the lionshare of the expenses for this place."
"Well, you've really fallen in it here…penthouse apartment, good job…it sure beats milking the cows at 5 A.M."
"Oh God, don't remind me!" Beth said as she opened a beer for herself.
Jim heard the front door open. Beth did too.
"That must be Julie," she said to Jim. "JUuullleeess!"
"Yeeahh!"
"Well, come and meet her," Beth said as she took her brother's hand. They exited the kitchen walking into the dining area and there she was — Julie and the picture didn't do her justice. She was looking through a stack of mail, wearing a form fitting short dress. She looked up then and jerked her head to the side, sending her hair over her shoulder. It was quick natural movement but Jim got the feeling she had waited until they could see her before she did it.
"Julie, this is Jim."
"So this is your little brother." Julie said as she walked over to them, the emphasis on the word 'little'. "I'd hate to see your 'big' brother."
Jim liked the fact that Julie was complimenting him on his physique. He was 5' 11" with muscle from working long hours around the family farm.
Julie extended her hand and Jim shook it.
"Nice to meet you, Julie." he said and meant it, willing himself not to look at her fantastic chest. Julie could be fodder for many a night of masturbation.
"You got a nice strong grip, Jim. You work out?" "Nah. Just work around the farm." he said. "Baling hay, other exciting stuff."
"Yeah, Lizzie's told me all about the farm life." Julie said with a wry smirk. Julie bend slightly and gave Elizabeth a peck on her cheek. Elizabeth looked at Jim after it happened but then Julie continued,
"So what do you kids have planned for tonight."
Jim guessed Julie was maybe 30; certainly older than he at 17 and Elizabeth at 21. Being called a 'kid' made Jim twinge but he got the feeling that was just the way Julie was. Like she wanted to get a reaction.
"Nothing tonight." Beth said. "I'm whipping up some dinner and I thought we'd just relax."
"I just stopped by to get another pair of shoes," Julie said. "I've got a meeting later, so I'll have to pass on dinner. I'll be back around 11. You'll still be up, right?"
"Oh sure, you know me." Beth replied.
"All right then, I'll see you guys later." Julie walked off toward the door to the other bedroom on the other side of the apartment. Jim watched her bottom all the way.
Beth punched him in the arm to bring him out of it.
"You men are all alike!" she said giggling as she went back into the kitchen. Jim followed her.
"So shoot me. There's nothing like that back on the farm…Lizzie."
"Don't you start with the Lizzie, too. Julie started calling me that but I don't want it to catch on. Beth is just fine."
Jim heard the front door open and close again as Julie headed back out into the city for her meeting.
Beth was rooting around in the cupboard, pulling out spice bottles. "Dammit!" she said exasperated. "We're out of basil…I'm gonna run down to the market and get some. Without the basil, this dish just doesn't make it."
"Hey, don't go to any trouble…." Jim said as he followed her out into the living area.
"The market's just around the corner. I'll only be a few minutes." She grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.
Left alone, Jim wandered around. He went outside on the patio that was off the dining area and looked at the surrounding buildings in the fading dusk. He went into the kitchen and lifted the lid on what Beth was preparing; it looked like an Italian sausage dish. He roamed into the livingroom and studied the prints on the walls; they were all of women, paintings by a guy named Nagel. They reminded him of some of the artwork in the front of Playboy magazines, mildly erotic.
He was walking near the door to Julie's room and the door was open, so he poked his head in. The bedroom was larger than the one he was staying in; obviously this was the master bedroom of the apartment.
Same skylight, a king-size bed with black and white bedding, same sliding door for the closet and the bathroom door in the same place as in the other bedroom.
Jim was going to move back out into the apartment when he noticed something very interesting sitting on the far bedside table. He couldn't be absolutely sure it was what he thought it was; a magazine was covering part of it.
He was going to walk over and check it out but he heard a key being inserted in the front door. Quickly he moved a few feet to the nearby entertainment center and made like he was looking at their music selections as Elizabeth came through the door.
"Told you that wouldn't take too long," she said as she pulled off her coat. "Come on and help me set the table."
"Sure," Jim said as he followed her toward the kitchen. His thoughts, however, were on what he thought he had seen in Julie's bedroom. It had sure looked like there was a pair of handcuffs under that magazine.