I Never Saw Her Face
The Beginning
It was summer, school holidays and my grand-pa had a lot of work to do. He was a skilful master at wood-floors, his hands were like magic, covering the raw cement with those shiny brown woods. A luxury for some to walk on. I used to help him when he needed, it was good for both of us, I earned a pocket money and he got a helping hand. There were some people working for him, but some times they were not enough for the amount of work that had to be done in several different places.
It?s a real intimate pleasure to walk on such a warm and comfortable floor of wood, especially if in bare feet or something close to that...
Day One
It was a hot Friday morning, we made a first pass in another place were some parquet was being placed, under grand-pa instructions, other workers were taking care of this task. Wasting no time, we were again on the car heading to our real destination. This house was a 1940´s old fashioned style one, with nice typical Portuguese glazed tile panels, in the interior the detailed high ceilings and the wooden floors were eye catching. This was not a house of a rich family, but was clear that they were wealthy... but the floor needed treatment... so they asked for the best guy in town, grand-pa!
I was smoothening the woods with sandpaper before another clear varnish coat was applied, some special cares are needed when you are dealing with such an old floor. I was doing my task while my thoughts were on those pictures that I had seen on top of a drawer in the hall... such a strange and interesting positions of the body... There were also some medals and diplomas in the living room, so it was obvious that there was a girl, who was a gymnast, living in the house. Talking with my grand-pa I found out that there were only three people, the owners, a married couple and their daughter, a teenager just like me.
I was finding those pictures quite interesting, they revealed a beautiful shaped body in all its splendour. A dramatically back-turned torso, the crossed arms with hands wide opened and the long perfectly lined legs with the high arched pointed feet, on funny toe slippers, touching a ball. Such a stunning photo, it was a petty that one could not see her face as one of her arms were covering it, leaving just a striking green eye sneaking over to the camera. Only much time later I found out that Rhythmic Gymnastic was the name of that, somehow, sensual sport. Anyway, I had to admit, I was seduced by those pictures, but I had been seduced by other things in the past, so why the fuss?... "Forget it" I said to myself.
When one orders this kind of work in a house, many people chooses to hang around the place to see how things run, but this was not the case. The owners were away when we arrived, it was the housemaid who actually opened the door. We never worked on all the rooms at the same time, because furniture must be evacuated from room to room to clear the floor from all objects. We were working on the hall and the large living room and we had orders to use all the other rooms to keep the furniture, except one. Why?... I didn?t know, but I was just about to find out.
The floor must be even, bituminizing and sandpapering was the things I was doing. This process is repeated for some 3-4 times, after several coats of varnish. The end result is a fantastic shinny wood floor for which we could be proud of.
The work was going well, meanwhile I found my self near de closed room. I was on my knees, facing down, working on the floor when suddenly the door opened... while recovering from the fright, my eyes were stuck on those gorgeous naked feet! Hesitating on what to do, those feet were on tip-toes going back and fourth for a couple of seconds... I felt a chill down my spine, flutter on my stomach, what a vision!! In a normal reaction I was now turning my head up, discovering the rest of the body. It looked like the world stopped, the time stood still, everything was in slow motion and those were the legs from the pictures! I was excited. My head wanted to go up, but my eyes were hypnotised by the highly pointed feet, I had no doubt this was the gymnastics girl, elevated on her toes the legs were even longer, her body seemed like a never ending statue.
In a split second she jumped, while flying over me I was able to turn my head up and snapshot in my brain the image of that beautiful body. Under her long sporty T-shirt, in a glance, I saw her white panties. "Oh, my god, this is no dream, this is really happening!" I thought. But, as with most good things in life, that unforgettable moment ended fast. She entered in the kitchen, probably for breakfast, and I didn?t saw her again. Later I had to work in to other room and couldn?t witness that vision again.
That night I kept on thinking on those gorgeous highly arched feet on tiptoes, and that mystery girl that I only knew that was a gymnast.
Day Two
On Saturday morning there we were again. The work was going well, but I had something else but the work in my head....
This time there was no one in the house. My grand-pa had the key to the door and soon we were finishing on the varnish coat. I couldn?t help my eyes from falling in to the photos around the house. That girl was still rocking my mind, that vision was still so vivid, that was really a first. As no one was in the house, I just kept on thinking in a way to sneak into her room, but it was a dangerous task. There was another guy working for my grand-pa that morning and we were busy, ending the works that day. But the will was so intense, I had to do it.
It was hot again, the summer had no mercy on us, sweating was only worse as I thought on the plans to enter that room. It was time. With the excuse of going at the toilets, I left the living room we were finishing and headed towards her room. Before opening the door I though it was wise to at least turn on the toilet light and lock the door, so I did. Returning to her room I finally gained courage and opened the door. The excitement was great, I noticed that my hands were shaking when I quietly closed the door behind me.
There wasn?t much light, the only window of the room was closed and also the curtains, but it only underlined the feeling that another dream was happening. The room was painted in a soft pink tone, more pictures, medals and trophies were all around the walls. The bed was neatly in order and I was stepping on a soft fluffy carpet. I was wondering, now inside the room, what was I going to do?... I just felt like a child in a candy store! I really wanted to take anything that remembered me of her, I was going for anything at the first glance, I didn?t had much time. In a quick scan of the room I noticed the drawer, maybe some underwear in there; the closet, maybe a piece of clothes; a small trunk on the floor, what could it contain? A step forward and I kneel down. As I opened it there were some noises outside, they were passing by the room, in the hall. After the fright I decidedly opened the trunk to find out something very interesting... It was a rumble of leotards, various sport clothes, socks, lycras, and so on... I had found a real treasure, the mixing smells of girl perfume and sweaty clothes were very arousing. While probing with my hands deep down in the trunk, as I had no time to take everything out to admire every piece, I touched something different. It was a bit colder than the rest and it felt like leather. What a trip! Pulling it out, it revealed a couple of small round pieces of pink leather with elastic bands. Amazing!... It was the strange funny looking toe slippers from the photos! Such intriguing apparel, this one was. They were a bit worn out, and that only powered up my excitement. I could easily see the shaded leather tones were her toes usually were. It was great, but it was time to go. I don?t remember how much time I was inside the room, it could be from a handful of seconds to a couple of minutes, but the memory remains as the longest of the quickest experiences of my life.
The After Match
It was night. Alone in my room I could only stare at those toe-slippers. The flutter on the stomach was still intense. The door was locked, I felt like I had in my hands the most precious treasure I could ever found. My thoughts were still in her room, I was still thinking were did I got the guts to take them away and keep them for me. It all happened fast, in a quick reaction I closed the trunk while hiding the slippers in the intimacy of my underwear shorts. Of course it wasn?t very bulky, but even today I can still remember the feeling of them against me all that day, as it was summer the only thing I had on me was a T-shirt, trunks and a pair of snickers. So I kept on hiding my excitement, as it was so obvious under that light clothing...
I still admire it today, the smell of leather is still adorable and the shades of the use are still as vivid. I keep playing with it from time to time, just feeling petty for never trying to meet her again. The secret desire of maintaining those memorable moments intact, or the afraid of meeting someone who didn?t corresponded to the image I had build in my mind.
My grandfather is now elderly, but he?s fame still persists. I never worked again of wood floors, I?m today in the media business. But I bet that wood floor still shines, but I don?t know if she ever noted the toe slipper disappearance. I can just imagine her adorable feet, on tiptoes, walking around stepping on the floor that I polished? I just regret that I never saw her face.
Amope
May 1999
