The Pool Boy

A/N: Although this story stands alone, it references my stories "Love Child" and "The Path Home".

"Honey, I've been thinking." Fritz looked up at his wife from two thick pool maintenance manuals and his computer screen.

"Hmmm?" Brenda, only half listening, replied as she perused an evidence catalog for an upcoming trial.

"I think we need to hire someone to maintain the pool."

This got her attention. "What? Why?"

"Look, I know when we bought the house I promised you that I would take care of the pool. But it's very complicated and time-consuming. And the Hansons left the information on the pool maintenance company that they used. I checked and their rates are reasonable."

"Fritzi, you promised…"

"I know. And I'm trying. But the pool got out of whack over the winter and I don't know how to get it back to normal. We can't swim in it the way it is now," he explained as he monitored Brenda's expression. "It might be a long time before I can get it right. Or, I could really mess it up and we'd have to drain it and start over."

Brenda knew how to spot a manipulation when she saw one so she replied with amusement in her voice, "I doubt we'd have to drain it." But she had to admit that, although she didn't initially care about a pool, now that she had one she wanted to be able to swim in it so she sighed, "I guess there's no point in havin' a pool and not bein' able to use it." She saw a smile start on his face so she quickly added, "Ok, but I don't want to hear anythin' from you if I want to buy a dozen pairs of shoes."

He squelched a smile because he knew better than to say anything more so he just replied, "I won't. I promise."

I know you think you played that just right, Brenda thought smugly. But I play that manipulation game better than you do, and don't you forget it, mister.


Brenda and Fritz were just finishing up their Saturday morning routine of cleaning their house. While Fritz rinsed out the mop and bucket, Brenda was putting the vacuum cleaner away and she noticed the blinking message light on their phone so she pushed the button. When she heard Emilio Hernandez' voice she called out, "Fritzi, there's a message here for you."

Fritz put the mop and bucket away and came into the room to hear the message from his "Little Brother" requesting that he return the call. Since the boy sounded frantic, Fritz called him right away. "Hi, Emilio. Is anything wrong?"

"Fritz, I need your help! I'm babysitting and my little sister punched some buttons on the remote control and now I can't get the picture back. And she's having a screaming fit."

Fritz heard the urgency in Emilio's voice and his three year old sister screaming in the background so he stifled a laugh and said, "I'm cleaning the house right now. How about I finish up here and change my clothes? Then I'll bring you both burgers and fries for lunch. And after we eat I'll take a look at your TV."

"You can't come right now?" a disappointed Emilio asked.

"No, I'm afraid not. I have to finish my chores before I can go out, just like you do."

"I thought when guys grew up that we didn't have to do chores any more."

"That would be nice, wouldn't it?" Fritz chuckled. "But I'm afraid we have chores our entire lives."

"Well that sure sucks."

Fritz chuckled again and said, "I'll be there as soon as I'm finished. In the meantime why don't you play a game with Anna or read her a book?"

"Is there a problem at the Hernandez home?" Brenda asked.

"Nothing major. Anna pushed the wrong buttons on the remote control. I'm sure I can get the picture back. I'm going to buy lunch for them and I'll be back after I check out their TV. Maybe we can catch a swim this afternoon."

After watching him back out of the driveway Brenda thought, I'm gonna eat my lunch on the patio, so she changed into shorts and a tank top. Then she made herself a tuna sandwich and put the leftover fish in Joel's dish before grabbing a fistful of potato chips, a can of Diet Coke and a napkin. She carried everything outside and enjoyed the warm early summer sun as she ate. She looked at the petunias in full bloom and inhaled the aroma of the rose bushes. Who knew we could do that good a landscapin' job ourselves? A mockingbird's song caught her ear as it filled the air with its joyful melodies. I have to admit it. Fritzi was right. Livin' in this house is so much better than our old apartment. I never heard the mockin'birds singin' the whole time we lived there.

As she ate she noticed some leaves floating in the pool so when she was finished she took care of her plate and empty can and then headed to the garden shed where she retrieved the skimmer and began scooping up the leaves.

"Hey! Are you trying to take my job away from me?"

Brenda turned and saw a grinning young man in his early 20s holding pool cleaning equipment. He looked like the perfect caricature of a pool boy. He was tall, muscular, tanned and handsome, with thick blond hair. "Oh, hello. You must be from Aqua Tech."

"Lance Long at your service, sexy lady."

His sudden familiarity took Brenda by surprise but her instant assessment was that he was probably harmless. Nevertheless, she replied, "Well, since you're here I'm gonna let you pick up where I'm leavin' off."

"Just my luck. Just when I meet a beautiful woman, not only is she wearing a wedding ring, but she ups and leaves."

This caused Brenda to laugh. "Well, thanks for the compliment, but I've got things to do inside," and she walked back into the house, taking care to lock the French doors behind her. Even though her instincts told her that he was harmless, she monitored him vacuuming, testing and treating the water until he left.


"Brenda," Fritz called out as he entered the house.

"In the kitchen," she replied. She was standing in front of the open refrigerator and asked, "Why don't we make a stir fry for dinner tonight? We've got a lot of veggies."

"Ok, sounds good."

"Were you able to fix Emilio's problem?"

"Yeah. He's hinting that he'd like to come here for a swim some time."

"That would be all right. Do you want to ask him to come today?"

"No. He's babysitting today. Right now I'm going to mow the lawn and then I'll be ready for a swim."

"That reminds me. The pool boy was here earlier."

"Is it ok to swim this afternoon?"

"I think so. At least he didn't say he found a problem."

"Good, because I really want to swim with you." He put his arms around her and said, "Actually, I've been having fantasies involving you and a leopard skin bikini for days now."

"One probIem: I don't own a leopard skin bikini."

"We'll have to do something about that. A leopard skin bikini is absolutely vital to our enjoyment of our new pool. And my fantasies."

"Is that so?" she replied as he kissed her neck. "Why sir, I do believe that you're comin' on to me."

"Am I that obvious?" he asked as he kissed the other side of her neck.

"Yes, and you're the second man today who has been a little too obvious," she said as she pushed away from him.

"Really? Who else has been 'a little too obvious'?"

"The pool boy." When she saw Fritz frown she said, "Now don't go gettin' all cave man possessive on me. It was nothin'. He was just a kid feelin' his oats."

"How many oats? Maybe I should call the company and…"

"No, honey, don't. He tried flirtin' with me but he wasn't any good at it. It wasn't anythin' serious."

"All right. But you let me know if he comes on too strong and I'll take care of it."

"Fritzi, I've been dealin' with guys hittin' on me since I was fifteen. I can handle it myself so you don't have to go all Macho Man."

"I love it when you get your Feminista on," he grinned. "I think I'd better get out of here and work off my Macho Man instincts by mowing the lawn."

"I'm not sure our lawn is big enough. Maybe you'd better mow the neighbors' yards too, or maybe the whole block."

"Very funny."


Three weeks later on Saturday, Fritz was on a Big Brother-sponsored fishing trip with Emilio. When Brenda finished cleaning house she once again went out to the lanai with her lunch. After eating her sandwich and a brownie, she decided to soak up some rays and put on a one-piece bathing suit and then studied herself in the mirror. As she tugged on her suit she thought, Maybe I should buy more fruit and fewer brownies.

She then settled into a lounge chair with a book. While she had been at the LAPD she had been able to read for pleasure only sporadically as the business of the LAPD too often yanked her from the worlds of books. But now that she was more familiar with her new job and had more free time, she once again willingly allowed herself to be drawn into the other worlds which books opened up to her. But just as she got into her book she was drawn back into reality by a familiar voice.

"Hello, beautiful lady."

"Oh, hello, Lance. Workin' another Saturday, I see."

"Yeah. Ideally I would get all my pool jobs done by Friday so I could cut loose on the weekends, but yesterday I had a callback on a film."

"So, you're an actor?"

"Uh huh. Hopefully I'll get my big break soon."

"So I take it that the callback yesterday didn't work out?"

"I don't know yet. I think I did ok. Usually cougars don't turn me on and that one sure didn't. Of course she was just a stand-in. But if she'd had your bod I know I would have knocked it out of the park."

"Oh, you're an adult film actor."

"Not just any actor. I'm a very beautiful young man!"

"Well, you don't look much like Robert Wagner."

"Huh?"

"You just quoted one of his lines from Beneath the 12-Mile Reef."

"I did?"

"Yes, you did."

"Well, I didn't know that. I don't even know who Richard Wagner is."

"Robert Wagner. Richard Wagner was a composer."

"Oh. What I meant is that I'm a megastar in the making, baby."

"You certainly don't lack for confidence," Brenda observed in amusement.

"I've got confidence, I'm good looking, and I'm talented, and that's the trifecta in the film industry."

"I see. Well, I wouldn't want to slow up your rise to stardom so I'm just gonna get back to my book while you work on the pool," she replied dryly as she picked her book up from her lap and opened it again.

"I have a better idea."

"Oh? And that would be?"

"We could help each other," Lance replied, giving what he hoped was his most seductive smile. When he saw Brenda just looking at him over her sunglasses he continued, "You're the hottest cougar I've seen in a long time. You could help me practice my considerable talent. And I could replace the fantasy in that book of yours with an experience you'd remember for the rest of your life."

Brenda noticed the newly grown bulge in his pants and looked away. "Forget it, Lance. I'm a happily married woman."

"Oh, but you'd still be married. Just a lot happier."

His overt and crude approach was making her angry so she got up from her lounge chair saying, "You may be confident, and you obviously think you're talented. But one thang you definitely lack is a good approach. You're not gonna get very far with the one you're usin' now, so maybe you'd just better concentrate on cleanin' the pool. Because I have the feelin' you're gonna need the money from this job awhile longer."

"Oh, but you don't know how talented I am."

"No, I don't, and I don't care. My husband has all the talent I want, so why don't you just clean the pool?"

"If you want your husband to join us, I don't mind. Three-ways work for me, although I'd prefer two hot babes instead of two men. But, hey, a challenge like that would be good for my career."

Brenda's voice had now become hardened by anger and disgust. "Well, it doesn't work for me. At all. And I don't give a rat's ass about your career. This topic of conversation has ended, and if you want to keep our account you'll accept that and just tend to the pool."

"Ok, ok. Maybe another time?" he called out to her as he watched her walk into the house. He saw her shaking her head and, after he watched her walk away with much appreciation, he turned his attention to testing the water and told his reflection, "She's got one smoking hot bod."


The following Thursday, Fritz had been helping out on a stakeout all night. It was after 2:00 in the afternoon and he'd missed both breakfast and lunch. He was starting to have fantasies about food so he stopped and picked up a meatball and mozzarella sub from Moretti's on his way home. Before he dove into his lunch he stopped and remembered that he'd just had his jacket cleaned so he removed it and hung it on the back of his chair. Then he sat down and took a big bite of his sandwich. As he was savoring cheese, meatball and sauce he heard something. That sounds like it's coming from the back yard. So he swallowed, put the rest of his sandwich down, wiped the sauce from his mouth and walked into the dining room to look out through the French doors. A twenty-ish young man had just dropped some cleaning equipment beside the pool and was getting his supplies ready. This must be the kid Brenda was talking about. I think I'd like to meet him.

As he walked out to the pool, Lance turned to face him and smiled. "You must be the husband."

"Fritz Howard." He extended his hand. "And you are?"

"Lance Long, with Aqua Tech. I take care of your pool."

Fritz wanted to ask him if he also wanted to "take care" of Brenda, but decided against it. He agreed with her assessment that he was probably just a harmless kid so he asked, "And how is the patient? Healthy?"

"Huh?"

"The pool. How is it?"

"Oh, right. Well, I'm just about to test the water but it's been good the last two or three times I've been here. I had to shock it when I first got the account but since then it's just needed routine maintenance." As he spoke he took a water sample and tested it. "It's good," he confirmed.

"Good. That's pretty much what my wife told me."

"I met your wife a couple of times," Lance said as he continued to minister to the pool. "Man, you are one lucky son of a gun. She is the hottest MILF I've ever seen."

Fritz just looked at him for a minute trying to decide how best to slice and dice this little jerk, but that hesitation gave Lance the opportunity to continue.

"I asked her if she'd like a three way with you and me and she turned me down cold. If she's really that frigid, I think we could warm her up. It would be a shame to let that body go untapped. And besides, you're both older so you probably could learn something from an expert like me."

Fritz could not believe what he was hearing and his anger boiled over. "Listen to me. Brenda and I don't need any lessons from..."

"Ah, her name is Brenda," Lance said as he stood up. "She never introduced herself. Well, don't let your train pull out on the wrong track. Just chill. I think that we can have some fun and that you guys could learn from me. Is that a bad thing? It's all about consenting adults, man. I'm offering you a great opportunity."

Fritz's face had turned hot red and he was clenching and unclenching his fists. "So you think we could learn from you? Well, you're going to learn some things from me today. First of all, my wife and I have nothing to learn from the likes of you. We already know about the peace and contentment that comes from true love and commitment. We already know about searching until we find our soul mates and how rich and deep and satisfying every part of our lives have become since we found each other…"

"But you'd still have all that. Dude, I'm offering you technique…"

"Shut up, you little pissant. I'm not through. Second, you're also going to learn that I have the capability of making your life a living hell. So you're going to leave and never set foot on our property again." As he spoke the sunlight glinted off his badge.

But Lance was barely hearing him. His attention was locked on Fritz's gun holstered beside the badge. His eyes flew open and he began shaking. "I… I… I…" was all he could squeak out.

"And, third, you're also going to learn that I'm calling Aqua Tech to request a new person be assigned to our account immediately. And you're going to learn to gather all of your equipment faster than you've ever done it before in your life and get the hell off our property." When Lance just stood there, his gaze still frozen on the gun, he continued, "You've got one minute. GET MOVING!"

Lance jumped when Fritz shouted and scrambled to retrieve his equipment. A still fuming Fritz stood there watching until he had everything and had left. Then he walked into the house, found his last bill from Aqua Tech and dialed the number. "Hello, Aqua Tech? My name is Fritz Howard and I want to discuss a problem with you…"

After his phone call he returned to the remains of his sandwich. When he bit into it he grimaced. It's cold thanks to that little jerk. He took another bite and changed his mind. It's still good and a cold lunch was worth it, he thought as a satisfied smile spread across his face.


When Brenda walked through the door, Fritz was fixing dinner. He had the potatoes scrubbed and they were ready to go into the microwave to bake. He had drizzled the veggies with olive oil, then sprinkled them with herbs, and garlic, and put them into the oven to roast. But Brenda couldn't stifle a giggle when he turned to greet her with tears streaming down his face from slicing the onions. He laughed self-consciously and wiped the tears away before giving her a kiss.

"You're cookin'. What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. I just thought when you called and said that your case conference was running long that I would get a head start on dinner."

"Can I help?"

"You can set the table. These cutlets will only take a couple of minutes to cook."

While they were eating Fritz said, "I met the pool boy this afternoon."

"Oh, what did you think of him?"

"Well, I fired him, if that's any indication."

"You did?"

"Actually, I scared the shit out of him and he ran out of here like he was being chased by Satan himself."

Brenda scowled. "Fritz, I told you that I could take care of him myself."

"I know you did, and I respect that. But he was coming on to me. He was suggesting a three-way so I got rid of the repulsive little jerk."

"Yeah, he suggested a three-way to me too, so I walked away and came back inside."

Fritz looked into her eyes and lowered his tone as he took her hands in his. "Honey, when we bought this house I promised you that it would be a safe place. And I am not going to let some horny little cretin drive you out of your own back yard. I said safe and I meant it, so I called Aqua Tech and they're assigning someone else to our account. You won't be driven out of your own backyard again."

Brenda sat back in her chair trying to decide how to respond. She had always resented the notion that she couldn't take care of herself just because she was a woman. But just as she was about to fire back at him she realized that he was right. She had let Lance force her back into the house and Fritz was affected by him, as well. So she bit her tongue and said, "Well, I've always heard stories about women havin' affairs with their pool boys. I just never thought I'd be given the same opportunity. And you know what? It's not all it's cracked up to be."

"I'm certainly glad to hear that."

"And I'm glad Lance isn't gonna be comin' around anymore. But just so you know, I could have handled the situation myself."

"You're welcome," he replied pointedly.

She responded with a fleeting smile. "Thank you."


The following week, Brenda and Fritz were in their pool and looked up when they heard a voice say, "Excuse me. I'm Nancy Clayton from Aqua Tech and I'm here to service your pool."

They looked up at a woman in her mid-thirties smiling pleasantly at them. They both got out of the pool and while Brenda grabbed a towel and dried herself off, Fritz walked up to her, extended his hand, and said, "I'm Fritz Howard and this is my wife, Brenda. We're pleased to meet you." He gestured toward the pool and said, "It's all yours."

Nancy watched as Fritz and Brenda walked back into their house and thought admiringly, That man sure has a great six pack. And a great ass too! He's got one smoking hot bod.

The End

A/N: And now, I'm borrowing a line from Walt Disney… Review, if you please. Review, if you don't please.