Flowers For A Wounded Soldier: A BBW Erotica
by Jessica Appleby
Published by Jessica Appleby, 2013.
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
FLOWERS FOR A WOUNDED SOLDIER: A BBW EROTICA
First edition. June 30, 2013.
Copyright © 2013 Jessica Appleby.
Written by Jessica Appleby.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Epilogue
Chapter 1
Anna sighed as she looked at the clock on the wall. Almost 30 minutes until closing time. She rested her elbows on the check-out counter of her family’s florist and looked around the room – it was strange how growing up around flowers your entire life could inoculate you to their charm. Reds, blues, yellows, whites, Wheaton’s flower shop had every colored flower under the sun. Her father and mother both worked hard to make their little business a thriving one, but recent sales had been poor. It was easier to get flowers from the grocery store, or a gas station, and both places were far more inexpensive. They were also low quality and tended to die twice as fast as a Wheaton flower.
She had grown up in this town all of her life, and part of her was happy that her parents were handing the family business over to her in a few years. They were getting older: Her father had to have a triple-bypass last year after he had a heart attack, and her mother’s arthritis had gotten so bad that it made it difficult for her to tend to the flowers in the shop. This shop had put her through college, where she had gotten a degree in business and botany. Sometimes she wondered what her life would be like without the store. Maybe she could travel the world, see the pyramids, drink local wines in Paris. She sighed again as she looked at the clock. 20 minutes until closing.
Anna caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror next to the cash register. Her family was always a bit bigger, and she was no exception. She was short – shorter than the average woman, frankly – with a round face a puffy cheeks. She did have adorable dimples, she thought to herself optimistically as she looked at her face in the mirror. As she thought about the rest of her figure, she became a lot less optimistic. She didn’t think that she was obsessed with food, not by a long shot. Still, she was born and bred on a Midwestern diet, which isn’t exactly known for being healthy. She had tried the “celery soup” diet, but eventually ate so much celery that she couldn’t even bare to look at the stuff anymore. She tried to eat more whole grains, or eat less processed sugar. She even cut out soda, all to no avail. She would lose a few pounds, and then seemed to put them back on again in a few months.
She was always a shy person, too, which did not help her situation. She would sometimes fall asleep crying into her pillow after thinking about how lonely she felt. There were friends that she used to spend lots of time with – Marcy, her best friend in high school and college came to mind – but after people started going their own way after school had ended, Anna felt like she got left in the dust. Marcy was married and just had her first child, Stacy was engaged and lived on the other side of the country, and Maryann got a job in a small town in Pennsylvania. Anna wondered how they were all doing. She wondered if they were thinking about her like she was thinking about them. She wondered if they were as lonely as she was.
Her history with men was almost non-existent. She dated some guys in college, but they all turned out to be jerks in the end. Her first boyfriend, Steven, cheated on her for 6 months of their relationship. Her second boyfriend, Arnold, was a recovering alcoholic who ended up relapsing while they were dating and hit her one night after he had too much to drink. He spent some time in jail, and the restraining order against him was thankfully still in effect. The last time she had heard, he had gotten an 18 year old girl pregnant and ditched her, probably to avoid paying child support payments.
Anna had a pretty bad rap sheet when it came to men. Part of her always believed that her taste was indicative of her own negative self image. She knew what these men were like when she became involved with them. Some corner of her mind thought that maybe if she showed them love like they had never had in their lives, they might change. Another corner of her mind thought that she didn’t deserve any better. She was just some chubby shy girl. She was broken, and they were broken. That should work, right? Apparently not. She looked at the clock again. 10 minutes until the shop was closed.
Anna wandered through the aisles of flowers, thinking about her life, who she was, what she was doing. The sweet smell of Lily-of-the-valley came from her left, the light, airy smell of gardenia’s came from her right. Those were very fragrant flowers, and Anna appreciated that, but her favorite had always been calla lilies. Those thin, fragile stems leading to those delicate white petals. It always made her heart skip a beat when she saw them in the shop. Zantedeschia aethiopica. She remembered the scientific name for them from her days in college. She recalled how much water they needed, what kind of light they thrived in, and all of the other facts about them that are useful for someone about to take over the family flower business.
She always did well in school, since she wanted her parents to be proud of her. There was no doubt in her mind that they were proud of her, too. They told her how much they loved her and how much her taking over the business meant to them. Her parents were her ground, her bedrock which she always knew was there for her if she was to fall. She remembered her father going out and buying a gun a few days after Arnold had struck her while drunk.
He was ready to drive down to her college and blow him away, but Anna had thankfully convinced him not to. Her parents loved each other deeply – they met when her father was in the military, in fact – and sometimes she wished that she could find that same kind of love. She wished that she could find someone who didn’t possess her, who didn’t hurt her, who didn’t judge her or want her to change. She wanted to find someone earnest and kind, who was compassionate and smart. She sighed to herself as she looked at the clock again. That was indeed a tall order. 5 minutes until the shop was closed.
Anna looked out of the store windows as the sun passed beneath the horizon. She saw a car pull into the parking lot with a squeal, and she walked behind the counter. It was rare to have a customer come in at the last minute. Heck, it was rare to have a customer at all these days. She wasn’t about to complain though, it had been a slow day. The door flew open, and the breeze from outside made the wind chime near the entrance jingle a calming melody.
A tall man briskly made his way down the aisle and headed directly for Anna. He had a short-cropped haircut, and was wearing a polo with the top few buttons undone. His broad shoulders and thin hips hugged his cut body perfectly, and Anna could hear the sound of his flip-flops hit the cement floors of the shop. As he got closer, Anna could swear that she had seen this person before. It was almost a sense of déjà vu. It was like she recognized him, yet did not recognize him at the same time. Perhaps she had dreamt of someone like this man recently, as she watched him begin to approach the counter.
“You’re not closed yet, are you?” Anna looked at the man’s cut jaw, his clean-shaven face, his dark brown eyes. He was gorgeous. “We’re closing in about 5 minutes, but don’t worry about that. How can I help you?” The man paused for a second and squinted his eyes, turning his head to the left ever so slightly. He put his finger in the air and waved it up and down for a moment, like he was trying to place something. “Anna? Anna Wheaton?” Apparently she did know this person. Anna squinted her eyes too, trying to place where she had met him. Perhaps they went to high scho
ol together? “Yes, I’m Anna Wheaton. I’m sorry, do we know each other? I’m not very good at remembering people, sadly.” The man laughed a little. “No, no, that’s fine, I’m not very good at it either. It’s me, Bret.”
Bret...Bret... Bret McKinney? No, there was no way this was Bret. The last time she saw Bret, he was 3 times the size, with greasy glasses and pimples all over his face. He had always been a sweet fellow. She remembered he helped her pick up her books in the hallway between classes after Lisa Sommers, cheerleader extraordinaire, had slapped them out of her hands. The memories began to flood back to her about Brent. He helped her pass math class her junior year. He sat next to her in chemistry class and they used to pass notes back and forth, poking fun at the teacher’s obnoxious voice. She remembered that Brent used to have a crush on her. He had asked her out to prom, but she turned him down. She was too embarrassed to go to prom with anyone, let alone Brent. High school was a dark time for her.
This man in front of her, however, seemed nothing like the chubby, pimple-faced Brent that she had come to know all those years ago. What had happened to him? “Brent McKinney? You... you look amazing! What happened to you! Where have you been!” A wide smile spread across Anna’s face. Now that she recalled how nice Brent had always been to her, she was excited to hear what he had been doing over the past few years. Brent laughed a little and put his hands on the counter top. “After high school I worked in a factory for a while, and then I joined the Army. I know I probably look a lot different from when I was in high school. I do my best to try and forget those years, frankly.”
Anna gave a little chuckle. “Me too. I’m so sorry I didn’t recognize you before!” Brent looked around the shop for a brief moment. “Oh it’s fine Anna, no worries. I don’t want to keep you after hours, can you help me pick out some flowers?” Anna nodded at Brent and walked out from behind the counter. “Of course, are you buying these for your girlfriend or something? An anniversary, perhaps? Or did you forget that today was her birthday?” Brent shook his head. “No, no, nothing like that. My mother is actually in the hospital and I wanted to get her some flowers. Can you help me?” Anna nodded and led Brent through the rows of the shop. They talked as they walked, catching up on lost time. Brent wasn’t really sure what kind of flowers to get, so he gave Anna the task of putting together a bouquet.
After collecting and packaging a stunning bundle of flowers for Brent, Anna helped him pick out an appropriate get well soon card as well. They joked about some of the things that happened in high school, and what had happened to many of their peers over the years. The prodigal cheerleader Lisa Sommers ended up failing out of college, having 3 kids with a deadbeat drunk, and gained 50 pounds. Brent smiled a bit when he heard that. She had picked on both of them with equal veracity in high school. It wasn’t like she wanted Lisa to have a bad life, not at all, but it certainly made her feel a little better when she thought about how things had turned out. What was the phrase that people sometimes used? Just deserts. It was just deserts that things turned out the way they did for poor Lisa.
They talked for some time, even after Brent had paid for everything. It was like their old friendship had never ended. “So Anna, I have to tell you that I’m still a little bent out of shape that you didn’t go to prom with me. I had quite a crush on you, you know.” Anna blushed a little. She had always secretly regretted not going to prom with Brent. She had even thought about it a few weeks ago, and had felt consumed by guilt. Brent had stopped talking to her after she had turned him down. “I’m really sorry Brent. I still feel bad about that.” She looked down at the counter, and her hands nervously rubbed together. Brent ended the awkward silence. “I’m sorry that we fell out of touch. I was so heartbroken and depressed over the rejection, I just couldn’t bear to speak with you again, I was too embarrassed. I was a stupid kid then.”
Brent looked down at the counter as well, and his fingers rested casually on the thin glass. Anna looked up at him. “I think we were all stupid kids then, Brent.” Anna and Brent’s eyes met and they smiled. “So how long will you be in town? Maybe we should catch up somewhere that isn’t my family’s flower shop.” Brent gave a chuckle. “I’m going to be in town indefinitely, actually. I was injured a combat recently, and now I’m taking some time to recover at home.” Anna looked at him quizzically.
She couldn’t see any obvious injuries. “You look pretty good to me – I mean, you look healthy. You look good too, I didn’t mean to imply that you didn’t look good. You look great!” Anna’s face went beat red. Smooth, very smooth. Brent laughed. “You look great too. A roadside bomb went off, and some of the shrapnel entered my thick noggin.” He tapped his head with his hand. “It’s been a long road to a full recovery, but things are looking up.” Anna smiled at him. He seemed like he was alright, but it was hard to tell. Brent grabbed a piece of paper, wrote down his cell number, and slid it across the counter. “How about we grab some lunch this week? I would really love to talk some more.” Anna folded the piece of paper and put it in her pocket. “I would love to. I’ll give you a call. Give my best to your mother by the way, I hope she enjoys the flowers.”
“Thanks Anna, I’ll be sure to let her know that you’re thinking of her. She was always a big fan of yours you know.” Anna blushed a little. Brent’s mother used to be a chaperone for their field trips in elementary school. Anna said her goodbyes as Brent headed towards the door. He turned and waved before he left, his smile broad across his face.
Brent McKinney. Anna couldn’t remember that last time she had thought about him. She leaned across the counter and put her chin in her hands. He looked so different. He looked so... handsome. She almost couldn’t believe how much he had changed. At the same time, he seemed so familiar. He still had the same laugh, the same mannerisms, and that same sweet smile. She was kicking herself for not giving him the time of day in high school. She was so young and foolish. It was an hour after closing, and the sun had almost entirely set. Anna stayed for a few extra minutes and walked through the aisles of flowers, smelling them as she went.
She threw her keys on the kitchen counter as she stepped inside her apartment. It was dark, and she turned on the lights to reveal a sink full of dirty dishes. She sighed as she looked at how messy her apartment was. Even though business had been down lately, she still spent most of her day at the flower shop, and hadn’t had time to take care of the place. She had grown up in that flower shop – it was like a second home to her in many ways. It was peaceful and warm, and the rays of light would pierce through the dusty windows in beautiful streaks. Anna plopped down on the couch and kicked her shoes off. She was still thinking about Brent. She thought about his muscular body, his defined jaw, his chiseled abdomen.
The warm water of the shower streaked down Anna’s hair as she washed off the sweat and dirt of the flower shop. Anna always loved being in the shower. It felt refreshing and comforting. Every time the water cascaded down her voluptuous body, she was born anew. She rubbed the soap up and down her skin, and watched the suds washing down the drain. She was still thinking about Brent. As she ran her hands up her inner thigh, she imagined Brent’s nude body.
She imagined him putting his muscular arms around her, making her feel safe. She pictured herself running her hands up and down those arms, onto his soap-covered chest. She could almost feel his hard pecs in her hands, and the bumpy ridges of his abdomen flowed under her fingertips. His muscular thighs flexed in attention as she ran her fingers along his hard cock. His eyes stared into hers, and those deep brown pools filled her stomach with butterflies. As she wrapped her hands around his waist and latched onto his hard ass, she could feel his warm member press against her abdomen. The water streamed between their lips as they kissed, and Anna never wanted to let go of him. She never wanted to step out of that warm embrace, that warm layer water that streamed between them.
Anna finished washing her hair and snatched a towel from the rack. Brent was gone, and she stood alone in her dark apa
rtment. She got into her favorite pajamas and laid down in bed. As she flicked the light off, she wiped a few tears from her face. She pondered why she was crying in the first place as she laid her head down. Things hadn’t been great as of late, that was certain. The shop had just kept its head above water this past year. All of her friends were spread out across the country or were occupied with their new babies, or new fiancés.
That wasn’t it though. It was Brent. She had forgotten what it felt like to have feelings for someone. The more she thought of Brent, the more she felt empty. When he had reached out to her in high school, she turned her back on him. Now she wanted to share her life with someone, but how could she ask Brent to be that person after what she had done to him? She was a hypocrite, and she knew it. She couldn’t get over his dorky appearance, his greasy glasses, his chubby face, and his pimpled skin in high school. Now he was gorgeous, and she was... she hadn’t changed at all. Back then she secretly had thought she was too good for him, and now, the tables had turned. She thought he was too good for her. Who was she kidding? He was too good for her. Another tear rolled down her face as Anna began to slip into a deep sleep. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.
Chapter 2
Anna looked at her alarm clock. Seven in the morning, and another day was about to start. Anna slipped on her work pants, and heard a crinkling sound coming from her pocket. She had forgotten that Brent had given her his number the day before. She reached into her pocket and fingered the piece of paper carefully. As she looked at the numbers, written in messy uneven form, she wondered if she should call him.
She put a green polo with the shop’s logo emblazoned over her right breast. Her hair was a mess, so she put it up in a bun on top of her head and secured it with some bobby pins. As she looked at herself in the mirror, she changed her mind about calling Brent. He just wanted to go out for lunch, that wasn’t anything serious, right? Her drive to the flower shop was as uneventful as usual, and as she drove she pressed her fingers against the slip of paper in her pocket.
Flowers For A Wounded Soldier: A BBW Erotica Page 1
