By brhmsj
Copyright 2025 by brhmsj, all rights reserved
[6,357 words]
* * * * *Household Help, Chapter Two
Getting the Pool Ready for Summer
“How’s the job with the old guy?” Scott asked Henry at lunch.
“He’s not old, actually,” Henry told him with a touch of annoyance. “No more than fifty-five at the most.”
“Sounds old to me. So why does he need help?”
“He has some mobility problems he says. He hasn’t explained them to me
but apparently it is difficult for him to do some things so he decided
to get some help. He’s a good guy and his house is really cool.”
“Will we ever be able to see it?”
“I guess I could ask. We’re opening the pool on Saturday so maybe you
guys can come for a swim. I’m staying overnight on Friday so we can get
an early start on Saturday. I’ve never done a pool.”
“Don’t drown!” Scott teased and laughter erupted.
By Thursday Henry was feeling some excitement about the stay at Mr.
Ordway’s. He kept it under control. Friday he put some clothes and
necessities in his backpack so he could go to Mr. Ordway’s right after
school. It was no problem riding his bike with the backpack on and he
always enjoyed biking to school.
As had been discussed, Henry
arrived earlier than usual on Friday. Mr. Ordway was delighted to see
him. “I see you have your house on your back,” he said with a twinkle
when he saw the backpack.
“Yeah, I guess I do.”
“Let’s get your things up to the guest room. I do have a few things for you to do, light housework really.”
To Henry’s eyes the guest room was amazing. There was a double bed, an
elegant dresser, even a small couch in one corner. The closet looked
big enough to sleep in.
“The bathroom is right across the
hall, so you won’t have to go far. Everything you may need is there,
including toothbrushes and shaving articles though I’m guessing you’re
not shaving yet.”
Henry blushed slightly and admitted that he wasn’t shaving. “Nothing to shave so far.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No. From what my dad says, shaving is a pain and a bore.”
“There is some truth in that. Now, put your clothes away, toiletries in
the bathroom, and stash your backpack. Meet me in the living room and
I’ll give you your orders for today.” The last said with a smile
letting Henry know that he meant nothing intimidating by “orders.”
There wasn’t much to put in the dresser, just one drawer’s worth. To
Henry’s surprise when he went to use the top drawer he saw that there
already was clothing in it. The second was empty so his things went in
there. For the moment he did not connect up the comments about clothes
with the appearance of clothes in the dresser.
In the living
room Mr. Ordway “there are two loads of laundry in the laundry room.
Before you mow start a load of wash. When you’re done mowing you can
just throw your clothes in with the second load.” Henry was fine with
that.
Laundry in the washing machine, Henry got to work on the
lawn. As it had before, the job went quickly and, again, Henry worked
up a sweat doing the job. He put the mower away and went into the house
through the garage door. Mr. Ordway had heard him turn off the mower
and went to greet him on his return.
“The washer is ready for
the second load. I went ahead and moved the wet clothes to the dryer so
that you wouldn’t have to worry about getting sweat on them. Just drop
your clothes in with the load, then you can go up and shower.”
Henry hadn’t expected anything like this suggestion. Did Mr. Ordway
think he’d be going through the house naked? After a moment he said “I
should get undressed upstairs and do the wash after my shower.”
“Not at all,” Mr. Ordway replied. “You don’t have anything I’ve never
seen before and boys shouldn’t be modest. False modesty is not
attractive. So, get in there and get those clothes off.” Henry sensed
an “or else” in the way Mr. Ordway said that. “Or else” what?
By all appearances Mr. Ordway intended to see that Henry’s clothes went
into the washer now. He followed Henry. In the laundry room Henry
stripped down to his briefs and started loading the washing machine.
“Wash everything,” Mr. Ordway said. Henry was in a quandary. He
certainly did not want to be naked in front of this older man, no
matter how nice he was. At school all the boys had to shower after gym
but there was a lot of embarrassment. At least those were kids his own
age. He didn’t want to forfeit the job, either. If nothing else,
explaining to his parents why he lost the job would be quite
embarrassing, too.
Feeling defeated, Henry lowered his briefs
and tossed them into the washer. He added the laundry in the hamper to
the load, all the while keeping his back to Mr. Ordway who had not left
the room. When he had no choice, Henry turned around to face his
employer. Like any teen, Henry had his hands covering his package.
“Now, now, Henry, we’ve agreed that boys should not be modest.” Henry
didn’t remember making any such agreement. Slowly he took his hands
down.
“I’ll go up and shower now,” Henry said.
“I
like to dine at seven o’clock and that is when we will tonight. Even
alone, I always have dinner in the dining room. There is no need for
you to help with dinner preparation or setting the table, but you will
do the cleanup. You know what to do already, of course.” He smiled at
the boy.
“There is also one thing I want to say. You may have
noticed some clothes already in the bureau. Those are yours and I would
like you to pick an outfit from them for dinner. Nothing formal but
something better than your usual baggy outfits.” Henry was getting a
bit annoyed with the continued reference to his clothes being baggy. He
wisely did not react. “I need to start in the kitchen. You’re welcome
to stay down here with me, go into the library and look at some books
if you wish, or go upstairs. Please be dressed and in the dining room
at seven.”
“Yes, sir.” Mr. Ordway gave Henry an amused look at
being called “sir.” He hadn’t been called that since his retirement and
was finding that he missed it. With that he went to the kitchen. Henry
scampered upstairs, grateful that he had not become erect in front of
Mr. Ordway.
Henry went straight to the bathroom and showered.
The water was relaxing. When he went into the guest room he saw that an
outfit had been laid out on the bed. Briefs, shorts, and a polo shirt.
Sandals were next to the bed.
After dropping his damp towel in
the room’s hamper Henry began to dress. The briefs were smaller than
anything he’d ever worn but were comfortable. The shorts could only be
described as snug. He was aware, with some embarrassment, that there
was a bulge in front. He went to the room’s full-length mirror to
assess how he looked. He didn’t know what to think. Out of curiosity he
turned so he could see how the shorts fit over his butt. Not bad, he
thought. Maybe even a bit athletic looking.
The polo shirt was
not snug but not at all loose. The sandals were comfortable. He had no
idea how Mr. Ordway could know what size to get but everything did fit.
Sooner or later his host would see him in the snug outfit so he took a
deep breath and went downstairs. As he went down he reflected on the
conversation in the laundry room. Had Mr. Ordway purposely worded
things to suggest that Henry could stay naked until dinner? Weird.
Henry was curious to see the library. It was large, every shelf full of
books. Out on a table was a history of their town which kept Henry
engaged. Before he knew it Mr. Ordway was at the door announcing
dinner. As they went to the dining room Mr. Ordway said “I’m pleased to
see that the clothes do fit. You look quite smart.” Henry wasn’t sure
yet how he liked the clothes but he did enjoy the compliment.
In the dining room the food already was on the table. Serving dishes
were passed back and forth and the two filled their plates.
“This is delicious,” Henry said with true admiration.
“Thank you, son. I try.”
Over dinner Henry did learn some things about Mr. Ordway. The man had
grown up in this house and chose to stay in the house after he finished
college, which included a graduate business degree. Initially he was
helping to care for his elderly parents in addition to his job. When
they died he saw no need to move out. His job was nearby and he loved
the house.
“My job put my business degree to good use and I
did enjoy it. However, I started having these issues and felt it best
to step aside. I had enough money to live on. I suppose I could have
worked at home but there were other things I wanted to do. So, here I
am.”
“I guess as long as you don’t get bored,” Henry said when the man finished.
“No, I don’t get bored. I can do some traveling, which I enjoy.
Sometimes it does get a bit lonely. People, myself included, get caught
up in their lives and don’t see each other as often as they’d like. To
be honest, that’s one reason I advertised for help. I hoped to find
someone companionable to help me here and I did.” He smiled at Henry.
“Thank you, sir. I’ve enjoyed working for you and now I’m getting to stay overnight in this wonderful old house.”
The main course done, Mr. Ordway had Henry clear the table. The boy
worked on the dishes and the man put food away. Then he produced an
apple pie which he sliced up for dessert. “We can eat this here in the
kitchen,” he said. “No need to go back and forth just for dessert.”
They ate quietly.
As Henry was doing the last of the dishes
Mr. Ordway said “the pool team will be here early in the morning. They
may wake you up,” he added with a smile. “I’ll still need for you to do
things. They might have you help them which I think you’ll find fun.
Even if you don’t get in the pool before it’s filled you’ll have plenty
to do. Then a nice swim as a reward.”
“Whatever is needed,” Henry told him.
“I like to read and listen to music in the living room in the evening.
Feel free to join me, go to the library, or up to your room. Whatever
you wish.”
“Thanks. I’d like to see more of the library.” With
that they went their separate ways. In the library Henry spent some
more time with the town history. There was so much he didn’t know.
Historical studies done for the moment Henry looked around at the
various books on the shelves. Quite a range of topics and some books
seemed quite old. Mr. Ordway’s father’s books? In a corner of the room
on the lowest shelves were some books of photography. As Henry explored
them he saw that most of them were “artistic” nude photos. Mostly men.
Henry’s experience with naked males was limited to after-gym showers so
an opportunity to see naked adults piqued his curiosity.
From
what he’d seen of schoolmates Henry, of course, knew that bodies and
their attachments came in all shapes and sizes. Some mature men,
however, had quite a bit of hair on their bodies. Others did not. And
many men in the pictures had bigger penises than he’d seen at school.
The pictures often were in lovely settings which gave him a lot to
absorb.
A couple of books later he found one in which most of
the men had erections. Henry had only ever seen his own. Well, there
were the odd unexpected and quickly covered up locker room hardons but
those were quick glimpses. Often the other boys were more embarrassed
about it than the owner of the erection. He spent a lot of time with
this book, taking in the many shapes and sizes of adult male erections.
Would he ever match some of these men, he wondered.
Henry
checked his watch and saw it was close to ten o’clock. He put back the
erections book. As he did he noticed some other “art” books sort of
tucked into a corner. He pulled out one to discover it was full of
pictures of naked boys. “I thought this was illegal,” Henry said to
himself. He had heard of issues concerning adult men and young boys,
always called abuse. These boys didn’t look abused. Some were quite
cute. Many of the settings seemed natural, nothing that Henry, with his
limited knowledge, would call sexual. He’d forgotten what his body was
like before puberty and was fascinated by the boys who were quite
undeveloped. The book included teenage boys, too, but not many.
Feeling slightly guilty about this find, Henry quickly put the book
back. He went to the living room where he told Mr. Ordway that he was
going to go upstairs to read before going to sleep.
“I always
enjoy doing that,” Mr. Ordway said. “There are pajamas in the bureau if
you need some but there’s no obligation to wear them.”
“Oh,
thanks.” Henry hadn’t worn pajamas for a few years now, usually
sleeping in his father’s old boxer shorts and sometimes, in warmer
weather, naked. One time in secret confessionals Henry and his friends
Scott and Jim admitted that they slept naked sometimes. Jim had said he
thought it might be “queer” but Scott and Henry assured him that it was
cool. Henry knew he wouldn’t use the pajamas but didn’t know if
sleeping nude in someone else’s house was proper.
He
undressed, washed up, then put on the boxers. Even though Mr. Ordway
had seen him nude already, Henry was nervous about Mr. Ordway checking
on him before bed and finding him naked. Mr. Ordway did, in fact, knock
and say good night.
In the morning Henry did hear noise
outside as he woke up. A look out the window revealed three young men
doing various things to the pool. He guessed part of what they were
doing was cleaning it after the winter. Having looked at the photo
books last night, Henry was aware of the physiques of all three.
Impressive.
During the night Mr. Ordway must have come in and
put a robe at the bottom of the bed. Henry put it on quickly and
scampered downstairs and out the back door to see what the crew was
doing.
“Who are you?” asked the one Henry guessed was the head man.
“Oh, I’m Henry. I’m helping Mr. Ordway with things, including the pool.”
“Well, I’m Jerry,” the man said. He gestured to the other two. “This is Auggie and he’s Bertie.”
“Nice to meet you,” Henry said. He shook hands all around.
“Your timing is good, kid,” Jerry said. “We need someone to use the squeegee in the pool.”
“I’m not dressed for it.”
“Doesn’t matter. Whatever you have under that robe, even naked.” The
three workmen laughed at that. Henry blushed but really wanted to
participate so he took off the robe. “Not bad, kid,” Jerry said as he
checked out Henry.
“Yeah,” Auggie said. “How old are you?”
“Sixteen.”
“They grow ‘em bigger these days,” Auggie added. Henry found that odd
as he could tell that these three weren’t a lot older than he was.
“You’re gonna get soaked so just take off those shorts and get in.” By
now Mr. Ordway had joined them. Henry glanced at him and received a
subtle nod. He shrugged and took off the boxers. Apparently parading
around naked for people was the theme of this weekend. He hoped he
wouldn’t get hard in front of these guys and his boss. Now naked, he
climbed down into the pool. Jerry tossed him the squeegee pole. “We’ll
hose down the sides and floor and you just push the water to the
drain.” With that, the hose went on and water was splashing everywhere.
Almost immediately Henry was soaked but he didn’t mind. It felt good.
Also it made sense to be naked, he thought, the boxers would have been
a nuisance. Quickly he was involved enough in the job that he forgot
his naked condition. He couldn’t tell how long the job took. The hose
eventually did stop and Jerry shouted down that Henry could get out.
When he was back on land, as it were, Mr. Ordway was there with the
robe and helped him on with it. Henry didn’t bother to close it but was
glad to have the covering as he dried.
“Is it readied to be filled?” Mr. Ordway asked Jerry.
“Yup! I’ll start the water.” Soon water was pouring into the pool.
“You’ll want a swim, I’m sure,” Mr. Ordway told Henry.
“That would be nice. You guys staying to swim?”
“No, we’re here to work but you should enjoy it,” Jerry replied. With
that the crew gathered up their things and soon were gone.
“Good work, my boy,” Mr. Ordway told Henry when they were alone. “This
was what I needed. It will take a while for the pool to fill. You still
haven’t had breakfast but I’ve put together a brunch for us. Afterwards
you should be able to have a swim before you have to go home.” Henry
smiled with delight at the thought. “Now, there are things to be done
inside.” Henry picked up his boxers and started to put them on. “No
need for that,” Mr. Ordway said, stopping him. “You’ll be swimming nude
so just stay nude for the day.” Henry wasn’t thrilled at that but
something told him it would be wise not to protest.
When they
were inside Mr. Ordway said “this floor needs to be vacuumed. There’s
some laundry to get started. Do your clothes need a wash?”
“No, I’m fine, thanks. Where should I put this?” Henry asked as he shed the robe. May as well get on with it.
“Just put it over a chair and you can take it upstairs later.” With a
swat to the now-naked boy’s bottom Mr. Ordway said “get to it!” Soon
the washing machine was going and the sound of the vacuum cleaner
filled the house. When Henry finished that and started the next round
of laundry, Mr. Ordway announced that brunch was ready.
After
brunch Mr. Ordway said “finish up the laundry and then you should be
digested well enough for a swim. I’ll come out and keep an eye on you
so you don’t drown.” The last said with a smile. Mr. Ordway cleaned up
the kitchen, Henry worked in the laundry.
“Let’s get you in the pool,” Mr. Ordway said when Henry emerged from the laundry room.
Swimming naked was a new experience for Henry and it felt great. Quickly he knew he’d swim naked here every chance he got.
“What time is it?” Henry asked after a while.
“Around three. You probably should be getting home.”
“Yes, I think so.” After toweling off Henry went upstairs and organized
his things. Before he left he got the clean laundry folded and ready
for Mr. Ordway to put away.
“Thanks for all your help. I’ll
see you on Tuesday. Now, let’s get you paid.” They went into the office
where Henry was handed the most substantial compensation of his brief
tenure. Mr. Ordway enjoyed seeing the boy’s look of surprise. “Don’t
spend it all in one place. Now, off with you.”
Back home,
Henry’s parents wanted to hear about his time at Mr. Ordway’s house.
Henry didn’t mention his forced nudity but otherwise told everything,
including the fun of doing the squeegee in the pool. He let his parents
imagine him in his shorts, getting wet.
Henry wondered if he’d
be naked again when he was at Mr. Ordway’s. If he wanted to swim he had
to be naked, but otherwise? Did the man want him naked? This was new
and strange, yet it had some appeal, too. Time would tell.
Household Help, Chapter Three
When Henry arrived at Mr. Ordway’s on Tuesday, the man said “go up and
get changed and we’ll see what needs doing.” Henry nodded and went to
the guest room where an outfit was ready for him. No footwear so he
guessed he could wear his own sneakers. This outfit seemed more
appropriate for housework than the previous one but fit snugly, too.
When Henry found Mr. Ordway in the living room the man said “Let’s go
to the library. I hope you’ve enjoyed your visits there so far.”
“Oh yes! So much to see.”
As they entered the library Mr. Ordway said “one disappointment of my
physical issues is that I really can’t take care of the library as it
should be. The books haven’t been dusted in quite some time. You see on
the table that I have dusters. What I need you to do is go shelf by
shelf dusting the tops of the books and whatever else isn’t covered on
the shelves. There are a couple of step stools that will get you to the
top shelves. Not a complicated job, dull even, but it needs to be done
and I’m glad I have you to do it.”
“Yes, sir,” Henry said as
he went over to the table to retrieve a duster. Mr. Ordway again smiled
with amusement at being called “sir.” What did this tell him about the
lad? Nothing more than good manners and respect for elders?
Mr. Ordway watched as Henry did a few sections. “You have the idea. I
need to do some other things so will leave you to it.” With that he
left.
Henry was in awe of all the different topics covered by
these books. It seemed like anything that could be studied was
represented. Not true, of course, but to a young mind it certainly
looked that way. One area had novels and works by the great authors
along with writers Henry had never heard of. If he’d asked Mr. Ordway
he’d have been told that hardly anyone had heard of them.
When
he felt it was likely that Mr. Ordway would not return for a while he
broke his circuit of the room and went back to the books of nudes. He
did not intend to look at them again but wanted to look at titles,
wondering if some might be online if they were old enough. As he
examined the spines he noticed a book tucked all the way against the
wall at the corner of the room. He pulled it out far enough to see the
title. The Value and Uses of Corporal Punishment. Henry knew
what corporal punishment was but never imagined anyone would write a
book about it. He pulled it out just far enough to see the name of the
author, which was a first initial and a last name. He or she was
purported to be some sort of doctor. Quickly Henry pushed the book back
in and went back to where he’d been dusting.
The book appeared
older than the books of nudes. Might it have belonged to Mr. Ordway’s
father? Henry supposed that that generation believed in spanking. If
kids still got spanked Henry didn’t know about it. He was an obedient
boy and his parents had other means of disciplining him when needed
that were effective in getting across the needed message. Henry worked
steadily, not wasting time, but his thoughts mostly were on the
punishment book. He knew he didn’t dare mention to Mr. Ordway that he’d
seen it.
Henry was close to finishing, and glad he was nowhere
near the naked books, when Mr. Ordway returned. “Looks good,” the man
said. “This has taken a while because there was a lot of ground to
cover. I called your parents and they said you may stay for dinner but
have to go home right away when we finish eating. You have homework to
do.”
“Thanks! I appreciate it. And, yeah, I do have homework.” Henry didn’t sound enthusiastic about that.
“Before dinner, though, take a quick dip in the pool.”
“I thought you’d never ask!” Henry said. He went into the kitchen. In
his excitement to get into the pool he stripped with no concern. Naked,
he scampered out the door and dove into the pool. Mr. Ordway followed,
keeping an eye on his naked worker. He wasn’t going to let anyone swim
unsupervised or completely alone.
Henry frolicked more than
swam. He was having a good time and that was what mattered to Mr.
Ordway. He took pleasure watching Henry get out of the pool and dive
back in. He took pleasure, too, in seeing the boy’s body, nicely
developed for a boy his age. Henry’s organs were average but
nonetheless nice to look at.
After a while Mr. Ordway checked
his watch. Time to start dinner. “OK, son, time to get out and get
ready for dinner.” Henry emerged from the pool obviously reluctantly
but willingly. Mr. Ordway was ready with a towel. “Your clothes are
where you left them on the kitchen floor,” the man said with a smile.
Henry knew he wasn’t being chastised.
Then Henry heard “but don’t do it again, son.” Henry heard the “or else” again.
“I won’t, sir.” The moment passed. Henry retrieved his clothes and got dressed.
“Dinner is quite informal tonight so that you won’t be kept late,” Mr.
Ordway told him. Right at six o’clock hamburgers and salad were on the
table.
Dinner done, Mr. Ordway said “you’d better get home. I
can clean up here. Thanks for all your good work. Let’s get you paid.”
The amount was what Henry knew now was the usual. He was grateful. “I
don’t think I need you until Saturday to take care of the lawn. Now
that the pool is ready if you have friends who would enjoy a swim, they
are welcome. Make sure they know the dress code.” That familiar smile.
“Thank you, sir!” Henry grabbed his bike and was off.
At lunch at school the next day Jim and Scott steered the talk toward
Henry’s job. “You’re just picking up stuff in his house?” Jim asked.
“I’m cleaning, if that’s what you mean. It’s no big deal. Stuff you
mother should make you do.” The boys often made such digs at each other.
“You got the pool set up?” Scott asked. He’d been dying to ask but
couldn’t decide if hinting at wanting to swim really was fair to his
friend.
“Yup, we did. It’s great. I think I’ve had some sort of a swim every time I’ve been there now that it’s ready and full.”
“Cool,” Scott said. Henry had no doubts about what Scott wanted and was
sure that Jim did, too. This did put him in an awkward position. He’d
love to have his buddies join him for swims but was quite uncertain as
how they’d react to the undress code, as he was calling it. They’d been
naked together any number of times after gym, even played naked in the
woods when they were younger, but this was different. An older man
would be watching them. Would that idea freak out his friends?
“OK, I know you guys want an invitation. Mr. Ordway has told me that he like to have me invite friends.”
“Cool!” they said in unison.
“But we need to talk about it and, ah, not right now.” He saw that both
looked perplexed. “I’ll tell you right after school.” The thought of
telling his friends distracted him quite a bit that afternoon but he
held it together.
“OK, so what’s the big deal about the pool? Is the water green or something?” All three guffawed at their teenage humor.
“Ah, well, it’s not that easy. Let’s walk.” The boys headed off campus.
Once Henry felt that they truly were away from anyone who might hear,
he said “look, guys, Mr. Ordway has a rule. He, ah, well he. . . he
doesn’t allow swimsuits in the pool.”
“Whoa! You’ve been swimming naked?” Scott blurted out.
“Well, yeah. Actually it’s really nice.”
“And he sees you?”
“What do you think? He doesn’t want anyone in the pool without someone around, so yeah, he sees me naked.”
“Does he get naked?”
“No. I don’t know if he ever will.” Henry didn’t want to reveal
anything more about his nudity at Mr. Ordway’s or about the artwork and
books.
“So, ah, this means we would, y’know, have to get naked, too?” Jim asked after a pause.
“That’s what it means.” He buddies looked thoughtful. “It’s not like we’ve never been naked together.”
“Yeah, but not in front of an old guy.”
“He’s not old! I told you, he’s probably in his fifties at most.”
“That’s old to me,” Jim said with a nervous giggle. Suddenly he
wondered if swimming were the only time Henry was naked there. He
didn’t know what made him think of that but somehow if Henry was naked
for the pool, maybe he was naked other times. Naked housework? Jim was
too nervous about the thought to ask.
“Hey man, I gotta think
this over,” Scott said. “It could be worth being naked so I could get
in a pool when the weather is hot.”
“Let me think about it, too,” Jim said, not wanting to risk appearing to wimp out.
“Let me know,” Henry said, then the boys went their separate ways. All three boys mulled this over for the rest of the week.
Saturday Henry showed up a bit earlier than usual. “I hope you don’t mind me being here early,” he said when he was inside.
“Not at all. It gives us time to chat. I was about to have lunch.
There’s plenty so do join me.” It was simple lunch fare but, as always,
delicious. Henry made sure he wasn’t piggy about how much he ate.
“Let’s sit on the back deck,” Mr. Ordway said when they were done. “You
can do the dishes later.” They settled themselves in the traditional
patio furniture. “I’m sure that you find the way I do things here, how
I run the house, a bit different than what you’re used to.”
“Well, I guess so. I mean, I never expected you’d be getting clothes for me. I like them, though!” he hastily added.
“And my expecting you to be nude sometimes?”
“Ah, well, that’s. . . well, yeah, it is
different. I mean, I never expected anything like that. Somehow,
though, it doesn’t seem like a big deal now. I do love swimming nude.
Not sure about doing the housework, but. . .”
“I’m glad it
didn’t freak you out, as you kids say. You’ve been here long enough now
that I think I can tell you some things about myself, things that
definitely may seem different, even odd, to you. I know you’ve noticed
the artwork in my bedroom.” Henry nodded. “I’m fond of the male form,
something which is not all that unusual in men and women.”
“So you wanted to, like, um, look at me?” Mr. Ordway chuckled.
“In a way, yes. You are a pleasure to see naked.” Henry suddenly felt
himself growing in his shorts. “What was more important, at least to
me, was helping you get over the foolish modesty that so many boys have
nowadays. ‘Boys should not be modest’ is a philosophy that has been
around for a long time and practiced in many families. Some families
here in this town, I’m sure, though I’m also sure that any boys who
have to be naked at home aren’t broadcasting it. Pity as they could get
together and have naked times. So natural.”
“I. . . I guess so. I mean, it’s cool that you have this. . . interest.” Henry really didn’t know what to say.
Mr. Ordway smiled. “I do think swimming nude is the only way to do it
and I’m glad that I can give you the opportunity. My father had a
strict rule that no one could wear a swimsuit, so always swam nude.”
“Your mom and sister, too?”
“All five of us. It was very healthy. So, as I say, I’m glad I could
introduce you to that pleasure. Again, your friends are welcome, too.”
“Um, I, ah. . . I kinda. . . Well, I told them that if they came they had to follow the rule.” Mr. Ordway smiled again.
“And?”
“They, ah, well they were ah, kinda surprised, I guess. But they didn’t say no.”
“Let them take their time. I suspect that they will come around. Now,
enough chat. Get the mower and get to it. But first get upstairs and
put on proper work clothes.” Henry did smile at that. He had gotten
used to it, and even tried to wear clothes that weren’t so loose when
he reported for work. He was up and back quickly, now dressed in a
tight t-shirt and snug short shorts. He was very aware that he showed a
bulge in these shorts. It was both exciting and embarrassing. No matter
now, there was work to be done.
Henry had done enough mowing
by now that he could get the job done quickly and efficiently. After he
put the mower back in the garage he stepped through the door to the
kitchen. Mr. Ordway was waiting for him.
“I’ll check the lawn
while you’re in the shower. There is a load of wash in the laundry
room, just add your clothes and get the washing machine going. After
you shower you can get the kitchen organized.” By now Henry expected
this, though he still wasn’t sure what he thought of it all.
He used the shower off the kitchen. It felt great. Henry was not
surprised that no clothes or robe were to be seen when he finished. “I
guess I’m working naked indoors, too,” he thought. Well, it wasn’t the
first time, but did Mr. Ordway expect this to become the norm?
Kitchen done, Henry went to find his employer. “All set?” Mr. Ordway
asked. Henry said that he was. “Fine. Let’s go out to the pool. You’ve
earned a swim.” They went out the back door. Henry ran to the pool
while Mr. Ordway took a seat on the patio. Henry did a cannonball into
the pool, with a satisfying splash.
When Henry got out of the
pool he saw that Mr. Ordway had put a large bath towel on the patio
table. It felt good walking wet, water running down his naked body.
“Good swim?” Mr. Ordway asked as Henry dried off.
“Yes, always!”
“Good. I like hearing that. You don’t know what a pleasure it is to
have a youngster enjoying the pool again. It’s been a long time.” The
last said wistfully. “You better check the laundry.” Henry went inside.
The washer was done and he transferred things into the dryer.
“We have some time before the clothes are dry.” The man opened a door
to reveal a flight of stairs going to a basement. “We won’t do anything
today but I will need you to tidy up and vacuum occasionally down here,
too,” he said as they descended. “This was our ‘kid’s den’ when I was
growing up. I don’t use it much now. It always feels lonely. Anyhow, I
really need for you to check now and then and see to it that dust
doesn’t collect too much. It can wait, though, until you’re here
again.” There were two doors in the room. Henry could tell that one
went to the cellar. The other appeared to be locked. He didn’t ask.
They went back upstairs. The laundry was done. Henry folded things, put
them in the laundry basket, and took them upstairs. He put his clothes
back in the guest room, put his own clothes back on, and placed the
laundry basket in Mr. Ordway’s room. While there he took some time to
look at the various pictures of naked men. He felt himself growing in
his shorts.
Downstairs he found Mr. Ordway in his office. “I was beginning to think you’d gotten lost,” the man said with a smile.
“Oh, no. I took a moment to admire your artwork.” Henry was getting harder and hoping it wasn’t showing.
“That’s good. I’m glad you enjoy them. But please don’t be doing any snooping around.” There was that “or else” tone again.
“No, no, not at all!” Henry didn’t want Mr. Ordway to think that he snoop. Mr. Ordway handed over Henry’s wages.
“See you Tuesday, my young friend. Bring your friends next Saturday.”
That sounded more like an order than an invitation. There had to be a
different side of Mr. Ordway that was slowly being revealed. Henry felt
a slight swat to his bottom as he went out the door. Not the first
time. In a way he kind of enjoyed it.
This was the last week
of school before the summer break. Not much got done that week but it
had to be endured. Henry knew that he needed to tell the guys that they
had a firm invitation to the pool. Perhaps more than just an
invitation. And reiterate the “undress code.” He knew that they wanted
to swim. Was that enough to make them do it naked in front of a man
they don’t know?