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Author Topic: A new story - Sparkles  (Read 23238 times)

Offline radian

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Re: A new story - Sparkles
« Reply #45 on: 14. April 2023, 19:40:43 PM »
I enjoy more and more your story ! Please keep on writing !

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles
« Reply #46 on: 16. April 2023, 06:37:19 AM »
Chapter 7

I follow Birdy as she rolls to the freight elevator. She waves her wrist over the pad and the doors open for her. "It wouldn't hurt to brighten this thing up a little. I know it is used mainly for moving supplies around, but adding a little colour to the walls would make it more appealing to everyone using it. Once the new restaurant is open you may have customers using it too."

She hands me a tablet and says, "Get used to using that. You're going to be making notes on that thing quite a lot with me working for you."

The doors open and she rolls into the new restaurant. Right away, she points out that there needs to be better access for the customers to the elevator. The kitchen is getting ready for the evening rush and she just peeks inside before telling me we can leave it until it is a better time. It's as she rolls around the layout of the new restaurant that I learn just how valuable a member of the staff she is going to be.

Right away, she points out things nobody else thought of. Many of them are just cosmetic, such as putting some of the decorations at the same height as she is at so she doesn't have to look up at them. Some others are using handles instead of knobs on the doors so it is easier to open them for people with difficulty grasping things.

I'm a bit shocked when she stands up and takes her crutches from the back of her wheelchair, then tells me to sit in it. Once I figure out how to maneuver it properly, I realize it is quite comfortable. She slows down so I can keep up with her as we work our way around the restaurant again. The things she is pointing out to me make more sense when I see them from the same position she was in and I make more notes as I follow her.

Something else I notice is how nice she looks from this angle as she crutches around the restaurant. My arms are tired when I finally ask her if we can take a break. She smiles and a picture of her with braces on her teeth flashes through my mind. She clips her crutches to the back of the chair and takes a seat again.



At the Tuesday staff tour of the new restaurant, I bring up the suggestions Birdy has made, giving her the credit for them. While everyone is wandering around the restaurant, I'm busy looking at their smiles, and there are a lot of smiles to look at. The majority of the smiles are showing metal, and an overwhelming proportion have brackets, with many of them being quite colourfully enhanced.

Birdys right in there with them, using her legbraces to get around, making notes on her tablet as she circulates among them. She's wearing a short skirt and the difference between her braces is easy to see. I notice a few guys checking her out and am tempted to say something to them, but she doesn't seem to mind and eventually works her way to where they are and talks with them.

After everyone has left, she transfers her notes to the computer for me to review, and it's no surprise they are very detailed and include more than just notes on the new restaurant. At the bottom is a note saying she is going to take a couple of extended coffee breaks next week. Sometimes I feel as if she is the one running the office.



With Birdy taking care of things in the office, I have a lot more time to get into the kitchen and more than enough to handle things in the new restaurant. The walls for our new offices are up and just like she said, her office is more extensive than mine. She’s always in the office before I arrive and lets the restaurant know what flavour of coffee she wants, and I bring up the pot when I arrive, then we sit down and she tells me what is on my schedule for the day.

I’m wandering through the new restaurant, looking for things that have been missed and knowing I’m not going to find any, when Birdy texts me she is taking an extended coffee break and has transferred the office phone to my cell. When I saw how efficient she was at running the office, I told her I was changing her pay from hourly to salaried and giving her a small raise. She was amazed that I was doing it after such a short time, but I told her she still wasn’t getting paid what she was worth.

An hour or so later, I get another text from her letting me know she is back in the office and asking me to come to the office when I have the time, something she does when there is something she feels I might want to know about.

She has her back to the door when I walk into the office, and she waits until I am sitting in the chair across the desk from her to turn around. She has a big smile on her face and her teeth are covered in metal. We'd spent quite a bit of time discussing the different options available for braces and the benefits and drawbacks of each one. Some look better up-close and others are better from a distance. With all the time we spent talking about what she should get, I couldn't settle on one style I preferred. Even after all the time we've spent talking, she's found an option that I hadn't even thought about and has almost all the features I found most appealing. She has wide gold bands around most of her teeth, with spacers between the teeth that are too close together to fit bands around and chrome springs to create spaces to move a few teeth into.

She leans forward over her desk to give me a better view of her braces, then not satisfied it’s close enough, rolls around her desk in her wheelchair to beside my chair. She’s not wearing her legbraces today, probably because it was more comfortable to be in the orthodontist chair without them. She slowly moves her head from side to side with her teeth together, then opens her mouth enough for me to see the gold bands on the inside of her teeth.

Every time we’ve discussed her getting the braces, she’s dropped hints even I could pick up on, that she has been looking forward to finding out what it is like to be kissed while wearing braces, and that she would like it if I was the person who did it. I’ve never given her any indication that I am considering it, but it has been on my mind every day when I see her around the building, and sometimes when she isn’t around.

Seeing her with her new braces is just too much for me to cope with, so I say, “How about we close the office a little early today and I buy you supper at ‘Sparkles Daytime’? And if you don’t object, we can call it a ‘date’.

She pirouettes her wheelchair on the back wheels a couple of times before going behind her desk and saying, “I’ll book ‘the room’ for later today. You go and finish what you were doing while I decide what to wear for our date.” It doesn’t surprise me she has access to the one place in ‘Sparkles Daytime’ that always seems to be booked.




I decide I’m going to surprise her with a braces-friendly meal not on the menu yet. When I tell the kitchen staff what I want to do, there are a lot of smiles and mumbles of ‘it's about time’ from a few of them. I ask them to keep it to themselves, but it spreads to the waiters and waitresses in no time and they all have smiles on their faces as they come and go from the kitchen, many of them having metal sparkling in them.

The staff all work together to get the meal ready and I am putting the finishing touches on 'the room' when Birdy rolls through the door to 'Sparkles Daytime'. Even from across the room, her gold braces are visible, just not the way ordinary metal braces are. She's changed her makeup, using colours and shades to compliment her new braces and make them stand out more. She's also changed her stockings and shoes and she's not wearing her legbraces either. I'm used to seeing her wearing the legbraces around the office most of the time, since she finds it easier to get around, even when she's using her wheelchair.

She parks her chair beside the hostess station and stands, using the crutches from behind her seat. The gold-banded smile on her face seems to get bigger as she swings between her crutches toward me on her heels, her shorter leg just about touching the floor each time she takes a step.

I move out of the doorway so she can get into the room, then close the door so we are separated from the rest of the restaurant. One of the features of 'the room' is the communication system. On the outside of 'the room' is a light, and the occupants of the room can use it to let the waitress know when they need something, without worrying about being disturbed. It also changes colour when the kitchen has the order ready. The first design was just a switch and after some comments from staff and customers, was changed to a dial to allow for better communication.

Birdy takes her seat at the table, with her shorter leg facing me and sets her crutches within easy reach. I turn the dial on the wall to let the staff know we are ready to eat and sit across from her. I’m admiring how her gold braces sparkle in the subdued lighting when there is a knock on the door and our waitress brings in our meal. Just like most of the new staff, she’s taken advantage of the opportunity to have her teeth fixed and has started treatment before the new restaurant is even open.

Birdy waits until our waitress is gone to say, "She's going to be so happy with her smile when she's finished with her braces, and she seems pretty happy with her braces right now." She looks at the food on the table and asks, "Is this part of the new menu? I haven't seen it before."

Her smile gets big and her braces glitter as I say, “I made this for our date. It is to celebrate your first day with braces. It’s probably going to be added to the new menu as a specialty item just for two people to share. Everything is braces-friendly, even though it doesn’t look like it.”

She giggles as she looks at the plate, pulls it to her side of the table and gestures for me to move my chair beside hers. She doesn’t give me much room and we are sitting with our legs touching and I have to put my arm behind her to get close enough to the plate. It becomes obvious this is what she wants when she begins to feed me, alternating with feeding herself.

It doesn’t take long for her to decide there is a better way to share the food and she shifts her body to my lap, relying on me to support her back with one arm. She takes my other hand and places it on her knee over the scars from her operation, then moves it around a bit, implying she is giving me permission to do more with my hand.

Her position on my lap puts her mouth at the ideal distance for me to examine her new braces, and she takes plenty of opportunities to flash them at me, both the inside and outside of her teeth. Every time she picks up another piece of food for either of us, her position on my lap changes and my hand gradually moves up the split in her skirt, on the outside of her leg as I use it to help support her, until it is resting on the lace band of her stocking. When I realize where my hand is, it begins to shake a little until she places her hand over mine and whispers, “Thank you,” in my ear as her braces graze my earlobe.

She feeds me the last few bites from the plate and leans back against my arm, then runs her tongue over her braces, dislodging a few bits of food stuck to the archwires. I have a ringside seat to her display, and she takes her time removing the debris.

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles - Charlene
« Reply #47 on: 12. May 2023, 03:45:13 AM »
Chapter 3

My spoiled rich kid got even more spoiled when we got home. I put on one of my old waitress uniforms and slipped on a pair of stockings and stiletto heels. While I cooked supper, he sat at the table watching me, and I made sure to bend over to look for ingredients several times, each time giving him a flash of the top of my stockings.

I didn’t neglect what he really wanted to see, my braces. I still hadn’t taken a look at them, so I didn’t know what they looked like yet. My tongue got quite a workout exploring them, and he got to watch as I ran my tongue over the brackets frequently. My teeth hadn't started aching yet, but I knew from when our daughter had braces that my teeth would get sore, so I made one of the meals they used to enjoy.

Eating wasn’t as easy as I expected, and I spent a lot of time trying to dislodge food from my braces, which he seemed to enjoy watching. He was spending so much time watching me, his plate hardly got touched.

After wrapping his plate so he could eat it later, I told him it was time for me to brush my teeth and he could watch as long as he behaved himself. Brushing my teeth with braces was a whole new experience, and oddly, made much more enjoyable by having my husband watching me. Each time I bent over to spit or rinse, he got a glimpse of more than just my stocking tops, and a few times I caught him extending his hands toward what he was seeing. I just grinned and let him know he would have to be patient. I also got a good look at my new braces, and the look of the bulky brackets and dark ligatures holding the archwires in place appealed to me.

I had seen how thorough he had been, making sure our daughters had done a good job brushing their teeth, and I wanted him to do the same for me, with a few variations. The first was how long I wanted him to take doing it. The second was the positions we would be in. I had him sit on the edge of the bed with his feet on the floor, then I put my head on his lap. I don't know where he found the lamp, but it had a fully articulating arm and a lens to focus the light to a point, just like they use in the orthodontist's office, only smaller.

With his lap acting similar to the headrest of the orthodontist's chair, he was able to see everything in my mouth and move my head around to get the best view possible. He had a surprise waiting for me. He pulled a set of instruments from the drawer of the night table and removed a tiny mirror from the case so he could see how the bands fit around my back teeth, in better detail. My first evening in braces was turning out to be even better than I had hoped, and it was still early.

His visual inspection became more thorough as he used another of the tools to very gently probe behind the archwires to check for any food left after I brushed. I had spent extra time brushing just to tease him and he didn't find anything. There was one more thing I wanted him to do. I let him take as long as he wanted inspecting my braces, before I pushed him onto his back and straddled his hips, putting him in the ideal position for him to use his tongue to make sure my braces were clean.

My position above him also freed his hands to explore the areas he had been reaching for in the bathroom, and all he had to do was unfasten a few buttons. There wasn't anything else in the way.




As more of the new restaurant was put in place, they hired more part-time staff. The Hostess was busy training more hostesses and had more than enough to do with getting the new restaurant ready, so I was promoted and given the job of training the new waiters and waitresses. I came up with a fun way to make the training realistic without putting pressure on the new staff.

Each week, I held a training session in the new restaurant and invited anyone who worked in the building to come. Everyone who came got a piece of paper to write a possible scenario on and place in a box. All the new waiters and waitresses were given a number, and when everyone was ready, I took a scenario from the box and we acted it out, sometimes doing more than one at the same time. Anyone whose number wasn't drawn became a customer.

The kitchen staff and busboys weren't excluded either. I had one of the staff members draw numbers and the people with those numbers were the serving staff for that scenario. Some of the scenarios were funny, such as the screaming baby, and others were a little more intense, such as the pregnant woman going into labour. Even the kitchen staff were involved. We used pink forms to designate a practice order and the kitchen staff had to keep track of how long it was supposed to take before the order was ready, then place the form on a plate to be delivered to the table. Even though they didn't have to make anything for a customer, they still had to manage their time while still working.

It wasn't just the floor staff who showed up. Management came as well, and they used the time to listen to what the employees said. The kitchen manager's new assistant was particularly helpful. Sometimes she showed up wearing her legbraces, and other times she came in her wheelchair. She taught the staff how to properly serve someone with a disability, and the most important thing everyone learnt was that not everyone with a visible difference is disabled. She demonstrated it by challenging some of the waiters to try serving the 'customers' while using a wheelchair, and did the job right alongside them.

The Seamstress also showed up frequently, usually in a costume and we never knew how she was going to act. When she did 'rich woman with an attitude', there were a few embarrassed looks from some of the owners, and some changed the ways they did things. Everyone had fun when she did 'the drunk bride-to-be', even the busboys who had to clean up the mixture of cold pea soup and vegetables left on the floor.

What really stood out was the number of people with braces and orthodontic appliances that took part each week. The new people usually had retainers and were still getting used to wearing them. The staff who had been around for a while and had just been fitted with their braces were easy to spot too. They were the ones either trying to hide their braces or still learning how to get their lips over the brackets. Sometimes I cheated when the numbers were drawn and appointed them to be the waiters and waitresses for the evening.

My husband didn't always join me for those evenings, and when he did, we always played the older couple on a date. We didn't make it easy on the staff, deliberately getting caught with my husband running his tongue over my braces while we kissed and let our hands stray. They didn't know just how much fun we were really having, and most of the time, we weren't acting, we were treating it like a real date.




When the Seamstress and the Hostess asked me to help them with a presentation to the owners about the uniforms, I leapt at the chance, and got my husband involved as well. We designed a uniform similar to what I had worn when I first was a waitress and added a few minor touches to update it a little. My older-style braces were the touch that really pulled everything together. Of course, we had to try it out in the bedroom, and both of us enjoyed what happened.

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles - The Bet
« Reply #48 on: 25. May 2023, 07:51:23 AM »
Chapter 2

A few days later, I get a call from the orthodontist's office to let me know my retainers are ready, and that I should be prepared for an appointment to have my uniform fitted.

I arrive a bit early, out of habit, and check in at the front desk. The same girl is there and she gives me a big smile as she says, “It’s nice to see you again. Have a seat and the Doctor will see you shortly.” I return her smile, though mine isn’t decorated the way hers is. Her British accent is barely noticeable and is partially hidden by the slight lisp she has.

My newest hearing aids have a drawback. They were more sensitive than I am used to and I am still learning how to screen out the background noise they pick up. Some things are more apparent, such as her lisp and the British accent, but I’m not complaining, this new set is much more discrete. I’ve had hearing aids most of my life and they are just like another piece of clothing to me. Some people reach for their glasses as soon as they get up, I reach for my hearing aids, then put on my glasses. I don’t need the glasses, but I like how I look wearing them.

One thing I like about my new hearing aids is I can wear my hair however I want. For a long time, I had short hair and clipped it back behind my ears because my hair used to brush against them and create an annoying rustling sound. It’s nice to be able to let my hair grow, it’s almost to my shoulders now. I’ve also had my ears pierced and have been experimenting with earrings. Studs work very well, and some dangling earrings work fine without my hearing aids picking up any noise from them. I can also connect my hearing aids to BlueTooth and control the volume with my phone.

Being hard of hearing from a young age also meant I had learnt how to read lips, and as a consequence, I had also developed an interest in mouths. The way the girl at the desk is smiling reveals all of the orthodontic hardware in her mouth, and the bands around her molars and premolars are new. I take a seat where I can watch her and see some of the other people waiting for their appointments.

It’s surprising how much information can be learnt just by watching people. A couple of employees from the restaurant are talking and I learn that the probationary period is calculated on the number of hours paid, not on the number of days worked. An ortho assistant comes out and asks the girl at the desk if the special client has arrived. The girl at the desk looks in my direction and smiles, then nods. The assistant tells her the Doctor can see me in ten minutes. It’s all random information with no context and just gets filed away for future reference. All of this information comes to me from across the room, without them knowing I am ‘listening’.

While I am waiting, I use the internet app on my phone to check the value of the pot for the bet. The value of the bet is still low, but with the number of people betting, the pot is quite substantial. A geek with a .EDU account posted the rules and set up a program to handle online bets and track the people betting. Part of it handles alterations to the original bet to stop it from being substantially changed to try to win the bet.

My request to add “Must successfully complete clause 4B of the employee requirements” to the rules for ‘The Bet’ has been approved and my raise of $10 has been accepted. Now all I need is for the orthodontist to agree to my request.

The receptionist taps on my arm and says, “The Doctor is ready for you now, please come with me.” I follow her to a private room with a dental chair and a cloth-covered tray. On the computer screen are my files and pictures of my teeth. At the top is ‘Special’ in green letters. Some of the things I ‘heard’ in the waiting room are making sense.

The doctor glances at the screen as he walks in and smiles at me. “Before we start, do you have any concerns?” I shake my head. “Are you ready to become an employee of ‘Sparkles’?” I smile and nod my head. “Okay then, open please so I can check how your retainers fit.” He lifts the cloth covering the tray the way a magician does and the models of my teeth holding my new retainers come into view.

They are spectacular looking on the models, and as he slips them into my mouth, fit onto my teeth without any alteration. He has me open and close a few times and checks to make sure they fit between my jaws correctly. I glide my tongue over the heavy wires now running over my teeth and begin to giggle at the feeling.

I have to restrain myself from running to the mirror when he says I can take a look. The lights around the mirror glint off of the wires on my teeth as I examine how I look now. He’s waiting patiently for me by the chair when I return, and before I have a chance to say anything, he asks, “I only ask a certain type of employee this and only when I am sure they will stay with the restaurant for quite a while. If you could have any type of treatment, what would it be? Be honest with me, because I can make it happen for you.”

The smile on my face can’t get any bigger than it is. “Do I have to decide right now and can I alter it at a later date?”

He chuckles a little bit. "Take your time deciding, I want it to be just what you want. The only limit is, it has to be realistic and I won't do anything that will cause you harm. And yes, it can be altered as your treatment progresses, as long as it doesn't significantly change the treatment you have requested."

As I begin to describe what I want to do, he makes notes in my file. A few times I ask if he can do one thing at the same time as he does another and he smiles and nods. The file gets longer as I mention a few things I would like to try for a short time just to see how it feels.

Then I ask ‘The Big Question’. “When can I start?”

His reply surprises me. “I can do the brackets and archwires next week. The rest of the things will have to wait until you complete your probation period. If you want, I can advise them to put you on full-time.”

I’m grinning so much that the muscles in my cheeks are beginning to hurt as I accept his offer. I don’t even have to go to the front desk to schedule my appointment, he does it as I watch.

As I walk out, the girl at the front desk says, “Welcome to ‘Sparkles’, I look forward to seeing you around here,” and she returns my smile.




I stop at the restaurant on my way up to the orthodontist's office to say hi to all the people working. They all know I am getting my braces today, but they don’t know why.

The total figure of the money I can win is enough to pay for my education with plenty left over to cover the cost of my braces with all the accessories I want to try. And it is still growing. If anyone else has managed to get this close to winning ‘The Bet’, they’ve been keeping quiet about it.




Just over an hour later, I walk out of the orthodontist's office with a big smile on my face. Nobody will be able to miss the bright pink ligatures holding in the archwires of my older style braces. I remember the kids at school wearing this kind and wishing I could have them. The doctor has promised me I can have the bands fitted around my teeth as soon as I complete my probation and there is enough space between my teeth to fit them.

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles
« Reply #49 on: 26. May 2023, 19:13:38 PM »
Chapter 8

Despite being around people with braces all day, I've always seen them as just part of the uniforms they are wearing. It's never occurred to me that there is more to having braces than just wearing them for treatment, for some of the people in the building.

Birdy’s braces display has an effect on me that I’m not prepared to deal with. It’s been a while since I’ve had a pretty girl sitting on my lap, and even longer since I’ve had my hand on the leg of one so willing to allow me to be so close to her. I’m also realizing she is using her braces in a way I wasn’t expecting.

It's impossible for me to hide my body's response to the display she is putting on, with her sitting on my lap, and her smile gets bigger as she adjusts how she is sitting. I'm trying to figure out how to apologize to her for acting inappropriately when she says, "Thank you for asking me for a date. It's been a long time since anyone has treated me with the respect you have so far this evening. You probably don't realize just how special the meal you prepared for us was. Nobody has ever created a meal for me, designed to be shared the way this meal has been."

Her eyes begin to sparkle as they get moist and I can see her fighting back the tears that are forming. “What is even more special to me is that you haven’t treated me as if I am a cripple. You’ve made me feel like the woman I am.”

I move my hand underneath hers on her leg and she giggles again. “I did say you might end up with me on your lap if you weren’t careful what you did with your hands, I just didn’t expect it to be quite like this.” Her hand moves from covering mine to the side of my face. “I’ve been hinting that I want you to be the first guy I kiss after getting my braces, so if it’s okay with you, will you let me?”

I’m really not in a position to object, nor am I inclined to refuse the request. When I don’t say anything, she takes it for consent and leans toward me, a single tear running down her nose and landing on my lips just before her lips contact mine. Our first kiss is tentative and brief, with her pulling away first. I pull her closer to me with the arm supporting her back, and this time I initiate the kiss. She shifts her position so she is more comfortable, and my hand on her leg slides up the outside of her leg and under her skirt. Her lips part slightly and her braces brush against my lips.

We’re interrupted by a knock on the door. Birdie moves her head away enough to say, “Come in,” and our waitress enters. She takes one look at us and turns the switch on the wall to ‘Do Not Disturb’. Her face has a pretty pink flush to it as she turns back to us and says, “It’s been quiet in here for a while. I just wanted to see if you wanted anything for dessert, but it doesn’t look like you’re quite ready for that yet. Just let me know if there is anything I can get you.”

Birdie giggles and says, “Would you mind bringing me my wheelchair? I’m not sure how stable I’m going to be on my crutches and I’d rather not take the chance of hurting myself.”

As soon as we have the room to ourselves again, Birdie runs her tongue over her braces and says, “Now, where were we? I think I had my braces against your lips and you were about to use your tongue to feel them before kissing me the way I should be kissed to experience being kissed for the first time while I’m wearing braces.”

I press my lips against hers again, and her new brackets graze my lips before I follow her directions and add a slight twist by running my tongue along the inside of her teeth as well. It’s hard to tell who is getting more enjoyment from our second first kiss, and it doesn’t really matter.




I let Birdie decide when she’s been kissed the way she wants to be kissed, and she isn’t in any hurry to stop. Her position on my lap gradually changes as she presses more of our upper bodies together, relying on me to support her. I’m beginning to think I’m doing something wrong, until she moves her lips away from mine and says, “Wow, that kiss was so much better than I imagined it would be.” She quickly brushes her lips against mine and asks, “So you think you can put me in my chair now?”

I grin and reply, “I don’t think it would be very polite for me to stand up right now.”

Her grin matches mine as she leans away from me and pulls her chair next to us, depending on my arms to support her. I swivel in my seat to line her up with her wheelchair and my hand slides along the outside of her leg as she transfers to her chair. As her leg slides beneath my hand, I caress it until my hand reaches her knee and she pauses as I trace along the scars covered by her stocking.

Her hand grazes the front of my pants as she settles into her wheelchair and she’s grinning as she says, “Thank you. Do you want me to leave while you adjust yourself?”

I smile sheepishly. “I was hoping I could use the handles on the back of your chair to pretend to push your chair and hide it behind you.”

She has a big grin on her face as she says, “That’s not going to work. I don’t have any handles. You can put your hands on my shoulders and it will look as if you are pushing me that way.” She waits as I stand up, then turns so she is facing away from me and I put my hands on her shoulders. Her head tilts back against me and she grins as she asks, “Ready to give it a try?”

I smile at her. “You’re making it hard for me, you know that?”

Her gold brackets and bands are on full display as she says, “I know, so just enjoy the view while you can.”




We don’t make it very far before someone in the restaurant begins to laugh and someone else begins to clap. I try to ignore the whispered comments of, ‘It’s about time’, and ‘It took him long enough,’ coming from some of the staff and regular customers. As we pass the hostess station, Birdie asks her to store her crutches until later, when she will pick them up. She places her hands on top of mine on her shoulders and says, "To the office James."

I smile down at her, dividing my attention between admiring her braces and the amount of cleavage showing between the edges of her blouse. Her hand leaves mine just long enough for her to wave it across the elevator keypad before covering my hand with hers on her shoulder again.

As the door to our office locks behind us, she points to the office chair and asks me to sit down so we can talk eye to eye. “I want to thank you properly for taking me on a date.” She parks her chair beside me and uses the desk to stand, letting her left leg dangle until she settles on my lap with her shorter leg away from my chest.

I thought our first kiss was good, but she takes everything she learnt from it and puts her entire body into showing her appreciation for taking her on the date. Without the risk of being caught, I take the time to explore her braces thoroughly. It takes a while before she loosens her grip on my neck and I can move my mouth away from her enough to say, “Thank you. You’ve given me a whole different understanding of how to kiss a woman.”


Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles
« Reply #50 on: 28. May 2023, 03:32:14 AM »
Chapter 9

As the finishing touches are put on the new restaurant, Birdie and I plan for a preview look for all the investors. It will be a few full-service evenings with all the staff on duty and the kitchen handling all the cooking for both restaurants. The plan is to see what we need to do to smoothly transition to running both restaurants at the same time before problems occur.

The first evening is going to be adults-only, and it wasn’t me who suggested it, it was Birdy, Tabi, Louise and Charlene who suggested it. They haven’t included me in the planning sessions and Birdy just smiles and tells me, “Mind your own business, we’re taking care of everything. If we need you, we’ll let you know.”

They have told me, not asked me, to be ready to make the meals listed on a limited menu put together from the dishes we already serve and to prepare my staff ahead of time. All of the staff who are working the first evening have big smiles on their faces and are refusing to tell me what the ladies are planning. They’ve mailed out invitations to all the investors explaining what the test runs are for and why there is going to be more than one evening. Clearly stated on the invitations is that the first evening is adults-only. I’ve had a few inquiries from the investors, but I’ve asked them to talk to Birdy for the answers they are seeking.




I get a glimmer of what is going on when Birdy arrives at work wearing one of Tabi's creations. Birdy's already told me she is going to be working from the new restaurant all day, and to call if I need anything. Most of my day is taken up with getting the kitchen ready for the evening, and I begin to understand just how much I've come to rely on Birdy to make my job easier.

As it gets closer to ‘Opening Time’ for the investor’s evening, more of the staff start arriving, and things are looking interesting. The hostess has her station moved outside the entrance to the new restaurant and has one of her assistants taking care of directing the guests to where they need to go. Those with an invitation are welcomed to the new restaurant and those just looking for a meal are directed to ‘Sparkles Daytime” or upstairs to ‘Sparkles Cafe’ if they want a snack.

The kitchen gets busier as the orders start to come in from the new restaurant and I am kept on my toes trying to manage it all. My head chef finally tells me to get out of the way and let the people I hired do their jobs. The staff in the restaurant have a very efficient communication system, and Birdy heads me off before I can walk from the kitchen to the new restaurant. “Come with me. You are not working here tonight, you are a customer and have to use the front door just like the rest of them.”

I follow her through ‘Sparkles Daytime’ and she takes me to the hostess in front of the new restaurant. She’s wearing one of the new uniforms designed by Tabi and it isn’t one I approved. It fits her in all the right places, maybe a little too well, and is showing just a little more than is proper for a family restaurant, but still acceptable for her job as a hostess. That is if she wasn’t wearing the heels she has on.

"Hello, and welcome to Sparkles." She nails the greeting perfectly, accenting it with a braces-filled smile with the ligatures in the restaurant colours. "This evening is for the investors only and the uniforms are not what we are going to be wearing when the restaurant opens." She opens the door for us and I follow Birdy inside.

The smile on Birdy’s face matches the smile on the hostess's face, except my assistant has a much more glittery smile with all the gold bands around her teeth. Her outfit looks professional, until I take a better look at it. Her blouse is too thin to adequately cover the lingerie she is wearing, relying on the form-fitting jacket to cover it. Her skirt is just as tailored and is meant to only be worn while in the wheelchair, and is barely long enough to cover the lace at the top of her stockings. I know she’s going to be spending the evening in her chair, because there is no way she would be able to walk in her heels, even with her crutches and leg braces, neither of which she has with her.

She begins to laugh as I look around at the restaurant. I’ve seen it when it is empty and when we have our investor’s meetings, but it is transformed by having customers in it for the first time. Many of the investors are dressed up for the evening and the feeling of money is present. As I look around, I see most of them smiling and enjoying the atmosphere created for the event.

All of the staff are dressed appropriately for the event and I see why Birdy wouldn’t tell me what they had planned. I hostess's greeting makes more sense now. Everyone working is wearing one of Tabi’s creations and none of the uniforms would be allowed. Birdy takes my hand and guides me to a booth where I can see the entire restaurant.

As she stops laughing, she begins to explain. “We wanted to do something special for our first time with customers in the restaurant. The four of us held a staff meeting and asked everyone if they wanted to do something a bit fun, and then we asked for their suggestions. Tabi tossed out the idea of wearing some of the things she created that weren't meant for the restaurant, and they were thrilled at the idea. It wasn’t just the younger staff who jumped at the idea. Charlene wanted to wear her uniform again, with a few changes, and some of the older staff decided to join her. Tabi was kept busy designing and assembling uniforms for many others. Everyone working tonight is here by choice.”

I take a good look at what all the staff are wearing. Rather than all looking the same, each outfit is different, and they all stand out as working in the restaurant. Not all the uniforms are as on-the-edge as Birdy and the hostess’s are. What does stand out is every one of them has a smile and their braces and retainers are on full display.

Our waitress comes over and asks if we are ready to order. Birdy nudges me under the table and says, “Stop staring at her. She’s working you know.”

Our waitress laughs and says, “It’s okay if he stares. He’s the one that made all this possible.” She does a slow spin to show off her uniform and ends it with a big smile. “I wouldn’t have been able to afford to get braces without this job.” Birdy asks her to come back in a while once I get my brain working again.

All of the suggestions from the staff have made a big difference to the flow in the new restaurant. The waiters and waitresses aren’t getting in each other's way and I see several tables with large groups where more than one server is helping to bring the food. Even though it isn’t obvious, the traffic moves in a circle throughout the restaurant. The customers are following the staff without realizing it. So many of the problems I thought I would see just aren’t happening.

Birdy orders for me when our waitress returns, and our food arrives faster than I expect. It seems as if each staff member manages to pass by our table at some point and say ‘Hi’ to Birdy. She seems to know the name of every one of them and always asks questions unique to each one. All I have to do all evening is sit back and watch her at work. Her tablet gradually fills up with notes as the evening passes, until the last customer is gone.

All of the floor staff gather around and she holds an impromptu staff meeting to discuss how things went. She does far more listening than talking.




She’s late getting into the office in the morning, and her reason is obvious when she rolls through the door. She’s been to the orthodontist and there have been a few changes made. The last of her bands have been installed and she has a bit of a lisp. Most noticeable are the elastic bands she has on the sides of her mouth.

Her smile seems brighter somehow and she rolls right up beside my desk so she can show me everything. There’s a new lamp on my desk and I know she’s ordered it just for times like this. It’s a miniature version of the lamps they use in the orthodontist’s office to light up the inside of a patient’s mouth.

We haven't officially said we're dating, but we frequently find ways to act as if we are. Rather than just opening her mouth to show me, she turns sideways in her chair so she can lay her head on my lap to give me a better view of everything in her mouth. Even though her hair isn't in the way, I run my fingers through it to move it away from the side of her face. She has a wire running between her molars on the top and a similar one on the bottom, running around behind her front teeth, between her molars.

I help her sit up, and before she has a chance to swivel in her seat, I lift her onto my lap. If she’s going to be flashing her braces at me like this, she should know there are consequences to her actions. My face moves closer and I press my lips against hers. She’s very cooperative as I explore the new additions to her mouth with my tongue. I save the elastics for last and try to see if I can get my tongue through them.

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles
« Reply #51 on: 29. May 2023, 00:42:31 AM »
Chapter 10

The second investor's evening is a family night. They are all encouraged to bring their children, and for the older members, that includes their grandchildren. The menu is expanded to include dishes designed for younger people with braces.

The kitchen staff inform me ahead of time my place is on the floor watching how things are working, not in the kitchen. In reality, they don’t want me in their way while they are working. They’ve talked to Birdy and she is enforcing the ‘no boss in the kitchen’ ultimatum for them. Once again, I wonder just who is running the office around here. It sure doesn’t seem to be me.

The restaurant has a different feel to it this time, less formal and more family-orientated. The uniforms are still varied, just better suited to a family environment. The smiles are still there and quite a few have coloured ligatures and elastics, giving a more festive atmosphere. Someone on the maintenance crew replaced some of the white bulbs with coloured ones in the walkways and there are little pools of colour all over the place.

Birdy tells me to walk around a little and talk to some of the customers to get a feel of what they think of the place. Despite my best efforts, I can’t seem to remember very many of their names and do what I can to talk to them without making a fool of myself. Birdy takes pity on me and takes over by greeting them and letting me ask for their opinions of the new place. She has her tablet handy and makes notes as we circulate among the tables.

Almost everyone who attended the first evening says how much fun they had and they wish we would do it again sometime. Many of them thank me for all the effort I put into arranging it, and when I try to give the credit to Birdy, I quickly learn she doesn’t want it, preferring to say it was a team effort.

All of the effort Charlene, our new head waitress, put into her training program shows. When kids spill their drinks or food ends up on the floor, someone is there to clean it up right away. The tables are cleared efficiently and new customers are seated soon after. Even the tables with customers who are sitting and talking after their meal are cleared without any interruption.

Birdy has the same table we had the first evening reserved for us and we enjoy our meal, along with the rest of the guests. After the last guest has left, she has another informal staff meeting, and once again, she spends more time listening than she does talking.




The file of notes from the two evenings is smaller than I thought it would be, and Birdy has taken care of many of the things of concern already. Most of what's left is related to the kitchen, which is my department.

Birdy rolls into my office looking very lovely, dressed in one of Tabi's creations. Having an in-house seamstress is paying off, and it shows in how the staff are dressing. She's been signing all her work with a small black cat stitched on the right pocket or collar of everything she creates.

My assistant has a smile on her face as she hands me a letter with a company name I am familiar with. She's already read it and I can see the reason why she's smiling as I read it. I've been invited to a supper meeting at the hostess's apartment and they would like to know when I have time to go.

She's practically bouncing in her chair with excitement as she explains, "Her boyfriend was very impressed with how the two evenings went. He wants to discuss a business opportunity with you." It's obvious she is talking about the Hostess and her boyfriend. "They were going to just drop by and talk to you, but Tabi and I suggested they make it a formal request. I'm supposed to go with you and Tabi's been invited too."

Her excitement is infectious, so I ask, "Can you set it up for tonight? We can order from the kitchen if it will make things easier." She does a wheelie and spins her chair around, and I am treated to a display of her outfit from every angle. Tabi's work really is amazing. Birdy's outfit is tailored to give her ease of movement in her chair and still look professional. The chair and leg braces blend in and become a part of her total look.

Even though we both have phones on our desks, she never seems to use hers to call me when I am in the office, preferring to visit my office. No matter what I am doing, it becomes less important than talking to her. It feels as if a ray of sunshine has entered the room as she rolls through the door. The gold bands around her teeth are sparkling as she says, “They will be available after 6 pm and Tabi is going to join us, so we have to stop at her place before we go. Be prepared to spend a good part of the evening upstairs, it could take a while to answer all the questions we are going to be asking.”




Birdy makes sure we lock the office a little early and head upstairs to Tabi’s place. I haven’t seen her apartment yet, and she is eager to give us a tour. At the front of her place is a display window with a few of her creations on mannequins. The inside of her shop is a tidy mess. She has samples of materials arranged on one wall and spread across a table where clients can choose the fabrics they want. One corner has lights arranged so the cameras can take shadowless pictures for the computer program she uses to design the outfits to their precise dimensions. Through a doorway is her workroom. One wall has a rack with rolls of fabric stacked on the shelves, and the wall across from it and much of the floor has all her sewing machines and tools handy for her to use. A track in the ceiling holds a heavy curtain that can be pulled out to create a changing room when needed, leaving the space open for when she uses it to check the fit of her creations.

She touches a button and a section of the wall slides away, revealing a second entrance to her apartment. They both smile at the look on my face. Her living room is not what I expect of someone with her rather risque taste in clothes. It feels as if I've stepped into my great-grandmother's house, with comfortable-looking furniture from that era just waiting for me to relax in it. Whoever painted the room is an artist at heart, using shades of paint to give it the look of antiquity to match the furniture.

Her kitchen is as modern as it is possible to be. Stainless steel appliances are everywhere and it is all spotless. I wish I had a kitchen as well equipped as hers is, even the kitchen in the restaurant isn’t as well equipped as this.

Off of the living room is her greenhouse and it is still a work in progress, with plants growing everywhere. I can see all the work she is putting into creating the space she envisions in her mind.

Her bedroom is a mess, with clothes everywhere. It is just what I expect of someone who makes clothes for a living and I have to explain to them why I am laughing. “This is the one room in this place that is just the way I expected it to be. Everything else is so tidy.”

Her studio is a wonder to behold. She opens the door and it feels as if I am stepping outside the building. The outside wall is painted to look identical to the view through the windows and it is hard to tell where the windows end and the wall begins, until I step to the side and my perspective shifts.

The tour of the place has taken a while and it is getting close to the time we are supposed to meet with the Hostess and her boyfriend. As we pass through the living room, I look at where the doorway to her shop was, and it has disappeared. Birdy laughs at the look on my face and says, “It is still there if you know where to look.”

The apartment next door is completely different. Her boyfriend's influence is apparent throughout the place. It looks as if a woman has decorated it with the goal of making her boyfriend want to be there with her. The furniture all looks comfortable and durable, meant to be used to entertain. I can see signs that he spends quite a bit of time here, and a glance through the open doors shows he has a bedroom here.

We sit around the table and enjoy one of our premium-priced braces-friendly meals while talking about things other than the restaurants and the building. The ladies sit together, with our host sitting beside me so we can chat. Birdy keeps stroking my leg underneath the table until I take it and place it on her leg instead, then trap her hand with mine on her leg.

Using the round table is a good choice, with everyone having easy access to the food without having to disturb the conversations, and nobody feels like the odd person by being stuck at the end of the table. Dessert is another selection from our premium braces-friendly menu, and I notice Birdy isn’t the only one sharing a plate, our Host is being fed forkfuls of dessert by his girlfriend too.

The ladies excuse themselves to brush their teeth, and Birdy asks me to get her crutches for her. I provide a bent arm to balance herself with and I’m rewarded with a kiss on the cheek.  The others laugh when I try to turn my head and connect with her lips and she says, “Later, when we are alone.”

Our host waits until the ladies return and Birdy is sitting beside me, to start his business presentation. "I'm going to keep this casual. Interrupt me any time you have a question." It sets the mood and we all relax. "I have a few business associates with too much money and arguably, too few brain cells. They've eaten at the restaurant over the years and they've been impressed with what you've done with the place since you took over."

“When I told them what you did at the investor's dinners, the few brain cells they share between them came up with the idea to open a restaurant of their own. This part of the plan I can understand. They want to buy a franchise of ‘Sparkles’ to capitalize on the reputation you have built in such a short time. This is where the plan seems to fall apart. They want to do a 50s-style drive-in diner, complete with waitresses on rollerskates. I convinced them not to try to go with period-correct braces as well. They are looking at several locations, some are local and some are in nearby towns. They don’t want to get too far away, at least not yet.”

I stop him. “The board would have to approve the franchise deal, I’m just one member of the board.”

Our hostess takes over. “I’ve talked with a few of the women on the board informally, and they are open to the idea, as are their husbands. It’s a low-risk situation and potentially high rewards. A significant part of the deal is reliant on the three of you participating.” She turns to Tabi. “They want you to do all the uniforms. They like what they see and they want the same quality you have been providing for us.”

Our host takes over again by asking, “Do you think you can design a period-correct braces-friendly menu for the drive-in?”

My mind is already kicking into gear and I have several ideas. “In theory, I can. What I need is someplace where I can work without using the kitchen here. They keep kicking me out of the kitchen I designed for them.”

I get a laugh from everyone and Birdy squeezes my hand. Our host asks, “What do you need? Make me a list and I’ll see what I can do for you.”

I grin. “I don’t need to make a list. Send them a picture of Tabi’s kitchen and tell them I want one just like it.”

Our hostess directs her next comment to Birdy. “I already know the answer to this question, but I’m going to ask it anyway. Does your boyfriend think you can handle his responsibilities while he is busy getting the kitchen for the drive-in ready?”

Birdy grins at me and I melt a little inside. “He’s trained me very well. I’m sure he can find the time to coach me if I run into problems. Maybe in the evenings after he’s done in his new kitchen.”

I kiss her cheek and say, “I’ll be honest. She’s already doing my job for me. She just lets people think I’m in charge.”

Our host and hostess look at each other, then at the three of us. “I’ll write up a proposal and give it to the guys. If you don’t have any other questions right now, how about we have a drink to celebrate.”


Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles
« Reply #52 on: 30. September 2023, 17:17:09 PM »
It's been a while since I posted a chapter of this story. I've been working on a variety of other things.



Chapter 11


I’m sitting in my office working on ideas for new menu items when Birdy rolls into the office with Tabi and a courier following her. The courier doesn’t know which one of them to look at. Tabi has on one of her more risque creations and her banded braces are visible between her lips, and she’s added a face-bow to her look.

Birdy is just as distracting in her wheelchair. She has a short skirt on, showing off her stocking-covered legs and leg braces, and platform-soled high-heeled shoes. And it’s impossible to miss her gold-banded braces. She’s being mischievous by exaggerating her lisp as she talks. “Thish gentleman sheems to be losht. He shays he hash a package for you and won’t let me shign for it. Hish inshtructionsh are to have Tabi preshent when you sign for it.”

She seems to have an endless supply of shoes to go with any outfit she wears. The guy altering her shoes to attach to her leg braces must be getting rich with all the work she is giving him. I just assume it must be a guy doing the work. A smile spreads across my face as the picture of a busty blonde German woman working at a bench with a stack of shoeboxes on it forms in my mind.

I let the courier enjoy the view as I take my time signing for the package, then wait until Birdy returns from escorting him out to open it. Inside are a letter and two copies of a contract. I pass the letter to Tabi when I finish reading it and watch more of her braces come into view as her smile gets bigger.

The letter is from the company wanting to buy a franchise to open the drive-in. They want me to cook a meal for my ‘girlfriend and her friend’ in Tabi’s kitchen. If there are any changes to the layout of the kitchen to be made, I am to tell Louise what they are so the changes can be made to the architectural blueprints. They have signed a long-term lease for space in the building and are going to build me a kitchen to work in. As soon as I sign the contract, the kitchen is mine whether the franchise deal goes through or not.

The contract is full of legal terms and other junk, but all it does is secure my services to create menu items for the drive-in and any other restaurants they open under the Sparkles name. The salary is substantial and I don’t have to give up the job I already have, meaning I am being paid by two companies at the same time to do the same job.

On the last page of the contract is a bonus clause. A bachelor apartment attached to the kitchen is included so I have somewhere to relax and create new items for the menu. I show the clause to Birdy and she kisses me. “You take care of creating the food, I’ll take care of furnishing the apartment. I want it to be comfortable when I am there.”

Tabi’s mind is on a slightly different track. “So, when am I going to get my gourmet meal? I’d like to see just what my kitchen can do with a chef in it.”




There are several factors involved in creating a meal for a restaurant. Some of it is when the meal is served and how long it takes to prepare. Steak, hashbrowns and toast for breakfast doesn’t make any money for a restaurant. Serve the same steak in the evening with a baked potato and garlic bread, and the profit is easy to see.

I don’t have any of that to worry about for the meal I create in Tabi’s kitchen. I am limited by one factor though, it has to be braces-safe. There is a difference between braces-friendly and braces-safe. Braces-safe means it won’t pop brackets off and isn’t limited to things easy to clean out of the brackets later. Even that isn’t much of a factor. Both of them have bands around their teeth and can probably chew through a steak without having to cut it up into small pieces, as long as they don’t bend the archwires.

My meal is a combination of beef, pork, chicken and seafood, with side dishes of a variety of vegetables. If I was serving it in a restaurant, it would be a sampler dish. My version is much more elaborate and is better described as a buffet for three. Working in Tabi’s kitchen is a pleasure and I decide to leave the layout alone.

Birdy takes care of the office while I spend the afternoon cooking. Both of them pop in from time to time to see what I am working on and sample the dishes I have ready. I keep chasing them out, telling them they are supposed to wait until everything is finished, but they just flash their braces at me until I give in and let them have a taste.

Some of the things I make are purposely chosen because they will stick to their braces. I cut the beef with the grain knowing it will shred and wrap around the hooks on the brackets. The cheese sticks are made with a soft cheese and there is no way they won’t get behind their archwires before they cool.

I finally let them know the meal is ready and watch as their eyes go wide at the array of foods on the table. Everything is on the round table and I sit across from them where I can watch them eat. It doesn’t take them long to find out just how good the food is, and just as long to figure out what I have done. They both glare at me as they try to get the food stuck to their braces loose.

Watching their tongues running across the braces is entertaining and stimulating. No matter how much they try to be discrete, the food is just too hard to loosen without opening their mouths. They get their revenge by making a display of it, using their fingers to hold their lips away from the sides of their mouths. I am prepared for the mayhem I have created. I pull two boxes of orthodontic toothpicks from my pocket and hand each of them a box.

Not everything is as messy. It’s impossible to pick one wine to go with everything, so I have more than one to choose from. The array of desserts is good too, with some that simply melt in our mouths.

The meal doesn’t end, we just take a break and move to the living room. The conversation revolves around the new restaurant and how it is going to affect us. Tabi has a contract from them tailored to her business, with a cost-plus profit clause. Her bonus clause is for top-of-the-line machines for her shop.

Birdy doesn’t have a contract. What they’ve offered her is an educational package. They want her to take courses in business management and any other courses she feels she wants to take, and they have offered her a job with their company running it for them. She can take the courses and decline the job offer if she wants, but the salary is well beyond what she is making here.

We get a little too drunk to drive, and Birdy and I spend the night at Tabi’s. She offers to let us have the bedroom, but I sleep on the pull-out bed in the living room and let them have the bedroom. Before we fall asleep, Birdy curls up with me for a while wearing one of Tabi’s nightwear creations and I practice kissing her the way she has taught me to kiss her.

She leaves the bedroom door open and I hear them giggling for quite a while before they fall asleep.



The building inspector shows up unexpectedly to do the final inspection so we can legally open. Birdy lets me know he is here and asks if she can take care of showing him around the restaurant. I’m no fool, I know she has all the information she needs in her head and can answer any questions he has. She also has the benefit of being a good-looking woman in a wheelchair. He’s going to have a hard time resisting her charms, and she can smooth over any rough spots just by smiling at him.

It seems to take them quite a while to get through the inspection and I am beginning to worry, when she rolls into the office with the completed business permit in her hand. She transfers to my lap before she tells me how the inspector kept trying to find ways to extend his inspection, and how she kept ‘accidentally’ finding things she thought he might have overlooked that were well above the code requirements. “I think I might be to blame for the inspection taking so long. Can you forgive me?”

She has such an innocent look on her face and her lips are puckered so sweetly, that I can't resist her. "I would send you to my room to wait to be punished, but the bedroom isn't ready yet. How about you kiss me instead to atone for your misdeeds?" It's a good thing she locked the door when she came in, and I'm glad we aren't interrupted.

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles - The Accountant
« Reply #53 on: 02. October 2023, 20:34:12 PM »
Sparkles - The Accountant


By Silversmiles64



Chapter 1


In high school, I was the kid the jocks made fun of for being uncoordinated and lacking athletic talent. The cheerleaders pretended I didn’t exist and the good-looking girls would just laugh at my attempts to get a date with any of them.

It didn’t help that my teeth weren’t quite aligned right, and I seemed to have more bad-hair days than I did have good-hair days. I was the tall skinny guy who seemed to blend into the background no matter where I was. My grades were average, so I didn’t fit in with the smart kids, and I had to really study to keep my grades at that level. Even the outcasts, the strange kids who dressed in dark colors or wore odd fashions rejected me.

The one thing I was good at was things involving numbers, not so much math, but how numbers worked in the real world. I say patterns in numbers and how things went together to make two plus two equal four. It wasn’t until my last year of high school that I found a way to use it to my advantage.

There was this little restaurant on my way home from school that I liked to stop at and do my homework. They served a decent quality coffee and the lady who owned the restaurant baked the most delicious cakes I had ever seen. There was one table nobody ever seemed to use, tucked into a corner of the restaurant. There was just enough space for a small table and one chair, perfect for me to study at without being in anybody's way, including the waitresses. After a while, I started to grab a cup of coffee when I came in so the waitresses didn’t have to do it.

The table had a good view of the entire restaurant and I could watch everything that was going on without anyone really noticing me tucked away in the corner, or so I thought. On the days the restaurant wasn’t busy, the owner of the place would sit at the table near me and take care of all the paperwork involved in running the place, including balancing the books. I frequently would hear him muttering to himself about the things that were bothering him about the restaurant.

Even though I didn't pay much attention to what he was muttering about, my mind still took it in and I began to notice patterns in what he was talking about. The customers who ordered a piece of cake all had good things to say about it, but the pieces were so big they frequently couldn't finish eating what they were served, so the remaining part would get thrown out. My mind saw a way to make more money from the same cake just by serving smaller pieces. The coffee was another way I could see for them to save money. The coffee pots were easily accessible to anyone in the restaurant, and by simply putting up a sign to say customers were 'welcome to serve themselves', they could reduce the amount of time the staff spent refilling coffee mugs instead of serving food.

Something else that stuck in my mind was how he was handling his paperwork. He did it all himself whenever he could find the time, rather than taking care of it each day or having someone do it for him.




I made a habit of refilling his mug whenever I refilled mine and it was when I made a casual comment while refilling his coffee mug one day that things in my life changed. I asked him why he didn’t have someone take care of the paperwork for him.

He asked me to have a seat so we could be comfortable while we talked. “I see you come into the restaurant frequently and take the same table nobody else uses, so you can study. When you're not studying, you’re watching what everybody else is doing. You always seem to be able to keep your table organized.” Then he smiled and said, “To answer your question, I don’t have the time to take all this stuff to someone who can do it for me, and it doesn’t make much sense to pay to have someone come here and do it. It would just cost too much.”

I looked at everything spread out on the table as I sipped my coffee. If it was all organized better, it seemed as if it would be easier to work with. As if he were reading my thoughts, he said, "Having a secretary would help, but this isn't the part I have trouble with. It's having to use the computer I have a problem with. I'm so used to doing it on paper the old way. I didn't grow up using computers the way you young people do."

Something went click in my mind and I heard myself say, “If you show me what you need help with, maybe I can give you a hand.”

I don’t think either of us really took it seriously, because he asked, “What would it cost me?”

He laughed when I said, "A piece of your wife's cake, but tell her to cut it in half. She cuts them way too big and people can't eat all of it." I looked around the restaurant and saw one of the few girls who actually acknowledged my presence and talked to me at school. Like me, she wasn't one of the popular crowd, and she didn't fit in with the other groups at school. "Tell your wife to give that girl sitting alone in the booth the other half."

His smile got bigger and he said, “You know what, I’m going to give you a piece of cake. You’ve brightened my day by distracting me, and you’ve earned it, even if you don’t do anything else. Wait here while I get it for you.”

I watched as he went to the counter and had his wife cut a piece of cake, then cut it again when he explained what he was going to do. His wife took the one piece to the girl's table and pointed in my direction. I couldn’t tell what she said to her, but the girl looked at me and smiled, and that is when I saw the sparkle of metal braces on her teeth. It was only a flash before she covered her mouth with her hand and tilted her head down.

As the owner placed the slice of cake in front of me, he said, “Smile at her and give a small wave, then look at me and I’ll show you what I have to do with this mess on the table.”

I did what he said. I couldn’t see if she was watching because her hair was hiding her eyes, but she did move her hand away from her mouth. It took us longer than it would normally take him if he was doing the paperwork by himself. He explained everything as he filled in the forms, making sure I understood what was required. As we were cleaning up, he said, “Next time will be easier. I won’t have to spend as much time explaining things.”




It was almost a week before we did the paperwork again. As we were starting to get organized, his wife came over and asked if I would like a sandwich while we worked. I hesitated as I looked at the cake sitting on the counter. She smiled at me and added, "You can have a piece of cake too if you want."

After accepting her offer and telling her what kind of sandwich I would like, we began to work our way through the paperwork. When my sandwich came, she had a second plate with her. She pointed to the table where the girl was sitting and whispered, "I made a sandwich for her too. When I give it to her, smile at her and wave."

I waited until the sandwich was delivered and the girl looked in my direction, then I smiled and waved. She smiled back at me, and she didn’t cover her mouth right away with her hand, using her lips instead to cover her braces. She seemed to have a little trouble covering them when her lips caught on the hooks on the brackets. She turned her head away first, with a smile on her face.

The owner had a smile on his face when we resumed working. He was right, it was easier with the two of us doing the work. I organized the stacks of paper and had them ready for him so they were ready as he filled in the forms.

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles - The Accountant
« Reply #54 on: 12. October 2023, 20:15:38 PM »
Chapter 2

It didn’t take long for everyone working in the restaurant to make me feel like I was one of them. They did it in simple ways, whether it was giving me a smile when I came in, asking how I did on a test or simply asking how my day was going, they made me feel as if I belonged there. My table in the corner was always available when I came in after school, and I suspected the waitresses made sure it was ready for me.

I gradually took over doing more of the paperwork and made some simple changes to how the owner handled all the invoices and receipts to make it easier for us. It was when I asked for the manual for the forms that a significant change took place. The copy he had was slightly out of date and the latest version was available online.

When I asked to use his computer to study the latest version, I found out why he was still using the paper forms. We had always worked at the table in the restaurant where we had plenty of room, so I had never seen his office. When he took me to the office, I saw the computer for the first time. It took up quite a bit of room where it was and was plugged into the phone line. He explained he had bought it second-hand and had hardly used it because he didn’t really understand how it worked.

I told him he should get his wife because we needed to have a serious talk. After they sat facing me, I said, “I can’t teach you how to use this computer.”

Before I could continue, his wife turned to him and said, “See, I told you spending money on a computer was just a waste.” Then she started talking to him in another language, without letting him respond.

I didn’t want to be rude, so I waited until she stopped talking to explain my comment. It took me a while to explain to them how computers worked, using terms they understood. Both of them started to smile as they began to understand I could help them learn how to use a computer for running the restaurant if they were willing to spend the money on a new computer. I knew how much money the restaurant spent each week and how much profit it made, so I knew it wouldn’t be a problem to replace what they had.

It became apparent who really ran the place when she asked how much it was going to cost to have me teach them how to use it, as well as continue to help with the paperwork. I told her I was happy with the current arrangement, but she insisted we negotiate a new 'contract' as she insisted on calling it. Before she would agree to spend the money on a new computer, she wanted me to agree to work for them for the summer after I graduated.

The offer of a summer job really took me by surprise. I tried to explain to them that they didn’t have to give me a job, the reason I was helping with the paperwork was because I found it interesting, and in reality, they were doing me a favour by teaching me how to do it. For every objection I had, she had two reasons why I should accept the offer. The longer we talked, the less it was about the computer and the more it was about me having a job for the summer.

Her husband just sat there, the grin on his face getting bigger all the time. Finally, he decided he had waited long enough. “You might as well just say you’ll take the job. When she gets like this, it is pointless to try to get her to change her mind. She won't give up until she gets what she wants. I’ve lived with her long enough to know it.”

She turned to her husband and said, “Thank you dear, and I owe you an apology for what I said to you earlier.” She turned to me and said, “Since I know you are going to take the job, why don’t you go and get yourself something to eat? I need to apologize to my husband properly.”

Even though I hadn’t said I would work for them for the summer, it was very evident I was going to take the job, whether I wanted to or not. As the door closed behind me, I heard the door lock. The kitchen staff were all grinning as I walked past them. News travelled fast in the restaurant, and it seemed as if they knew what was going on before I did.

A sandwich and a milkshake were waiting for me on my table when I got there. When the owner came out of the office, he had a happy look on his face and there were traces of lipstick on his lips.




I would see the girl from the restaurant, at school in the hallway. We didn’t have any classes together, so our paths didn’t cross that often. Each time she saw me she would smile, usually with her lips covering her teeth to hide them from the other people in the hall. I always smiled back at her, not bothering to hide my misaligned teeth. I never had the courage to do more than smile at her, feeling she was out of my league, even though she wasn’t one of the popular girls.

She came into the restaurant occasionally, usually on the days I was helping with the paperwork, and she would take a table where I could see her. Even though I wasn’t officially working for them yet, the owner and his wife treated me as if I were. They insisted I be paid my negotiated price, and I found they had given me an increase in compensation. Rather than being a piece of cake, it became a healthy meal, and I began to put on a little weight, not that it really showed, although my clothes seemed to fit my body better.

I didn’t consciously notice what was going on, but each time they fed me, the girl at the table had a meal too. Each time I looked in her direction, she would smile at me, usually with her braces showing and for longer each time. I always smiled back at her and made a small gesture, usually a wave.

As the owner and I did the paperwork, we talked about what type of computer to buy to replace what they had, and sometimes his wife would join us. There were times when I had to figure out ways to explain, using phrases they understood, how a computer could help them run their restaurant more easily. Usually, they would say they wanted to leave it up to me to decide what to buy, and finally, they told me it was going to be my job to take care of doing the paperwork, so I should buy what I needed. The one condition they put on my future employment was that I had to maintain my grades until I graduated, and if I could, I should improve them as much as possible.

I read through the old manuals and ordered the newest versions so I could refer to them when I needed to. I understood how everything in the manuals worked and found a few inconsistencies I could use to the restaurant's benefit. It didn’t take long before I was doing most of the work and he would check over what I had done. I found several ways to save them money just by using more of the deductions they were entitled to but had never claimed before.

One thing I suggested was for them to either renovate the office they had or add a second office so there was someplace to do the paperwork other than on the table in the restaurant. I learnt just how fast news travelled in the restaurant. The head cook was the first one to approach me, and he wanted me to know how things worked there.

He explained that the owners didn’t actually run the place, the staff did. The head cook came in each morning, unlocked the place and got the kitchen ready for the day. He also took care of ordering most of the supplies they needed.

The head waitress was the next to arrive in the morning. She handled everything in the front half of the restaurant. Between them, they made sure they had enough staff scheduled to work each day, which wasn’t hard to do since the staff had been working at the restaurant for a substantial length of time and worked the same days each week.

The restaurant owners didn’t come in until just before lunch, and brought in the cakes that were for sale each day. They didn’t really do much around the place other than to lend a hand when things got busy by clearing and wiping down tables, and bringing out food for the waitresses when there was a large order. The rest of the time, the staff found things for them to do to keep them out of the way.

The head cook was in favour of doing some renovations to the restaurant and had a few suggestions on what to do. He took me on a tour of the building, explaining how it was originally a warehouse and had been sold when the company moved to the edge of town. The top floor had been converted to apartments and the second floor was turned into office space. The basement had been loading docks when it was a warehouse and still served the same purpose for the restaurant. The main floor of the building was where the restaurant was located, and there was plenty of space to expand into if they wanted to. Adding more office space won’t be a problem and he was hoping I could make his job easier by giving him access to the computer so he could do his ordering online. I began to see that the idea of doing the paperwork on the computer was going to have a broader impact on the restaurant.

Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles - The Accountant
« Reply #55 on: 14. October 2023, 09:59:17 AM »
Chapter 3

I found that if I came in each day and sorted the paperwork that had come in, it took considerably less time to fill out the forms each week. It also gave my mind a break from the schoolwork I had to do to improve my marks. The owner or his wife, and sometimes both, would stop by the table for a chat, and they said they were okay with the idea of doing the renovations as long as it didn’t cost too much.

I started calling them Mr. Boss and Mrs. Boss when they started referring to me as the Kid Bookkeeper, and the staff started to use the nicknames too. When we talked about what type of computer to buy, they kept telling me to decide what I needed and to let them know how much I wanted to spend. Mrs. Boss was the one who said not to spend more than half the money in the bank account for whatever I decided to do, and that included the renovations. She asked me to have the renovations done by the time I graduated so I would have an office to work in when I officially began working for them.



The head waitress was the next one to approach me with suggestions about the renovations. She wanted to know what I thought about the idea of having a space for the staff to take their breaks in. Usually they sat at an empty table or went outside the kitchen, near the freight elevator.

When I asked her why she didn’t talk to Mr. and Mrs. Boss about it, she said she had and they told her to talk to me, since I was in charge of doing the renovations. Then she said something I didn’t understand until after I graduated. “They put you in charge of the renovations. Do the job they have given you. If you need help, ask for it, but don’t keep running to other people expecting them to make the decisions for you. When they sit down with you to negotiate what you want to be paid, be honest with them and ask for what you think you are worth. They aren’t as old-fashioned as they seem to be.”

I took my time thinking about the renovations and the costs involved. The head cook and the head waitress gave me advice on what renovations to do and asked me to make the computer available to them if they needed to use it. Mr. Boss gave me a list of people to contact when I was ready to begin the renovations. The first name on the list was an architect. The one name missing from the list was the owner of the building the restaurant was in. He said he would take care of talking to the owner of the building.

I was a nineteen-year-old student about to graduate, and I had been put in charge of more than just doing the paperwork for the restaurant.


My first call was to the architect, and I took their advice as I worked with them on the preliminary drawings. I decided to build an office for the computer and added space to grow into if it was needed. With the advice of the cook and waitress, I added a space for the staff to relax in that had room for a couch and armchairs, with electrical plugs for a fridge, microwave and other things, including a TV and stereo in the future. The couch and chairs were already in the budget, the rest could be added if they were needed in the future.

I did my research on the computers available and set up a budget to buy two reasonably priced computers, a desktop for the office for later and a laptop for use in the restaurant right away. The old computer was donated to a charity and the receipt was included on the tax forms. Each week, I met with Mr. and Mrs. Boss and explained to them what was happening, and told them to let me know if they had anything they felt needed to be changed.




Having the laptop meant I could take care of the paperwork each day when I went in. I tried to show Mr. Boss how to use it, but he just kept saying, “That’s your job now, that’s what I hired you for.” With the ‘wage’ they were paying me, I put on a little more weight and my clothes began to fit better, and I wasn’t the only one to notice it. Mrs. Boss insisted I buy some new clothes and gave me a company credit card with my name on it. She gave me the same instructions I had for the renovations, “Don’t spend more than half the amount in the bank.”

I convinced my bosses that they needed to change how I was being paid, partly because I didn’t want to get fat, but mainly so I could show it on the paperwork. For the first time, I had to put a monetary value on what I was doing.  I knew what the rest of the staff was being paid and based my requested wage on that. They asked me to put it in writing, and to put my reasons for requesting what I did. When they returned it to me, Mrs. Boss had added, “Accepted, plus bonus clause for additional duties. Contract to be renegotiated at the completion of the renovations.”

When I tried to object, saying it wasn’t meant to be for such a short term, Mr. Boss smiled and said, “Just nod and accept it the way Mrs. Boss has written it.” When he referred to his wife that way, I knew better than to argue. They treated me like an adult and didn’t tell me to do things, they asked, and I gave them the same respect.

I wasn’t the only one that was changing. The girl with the braces always smiled at me when we passed in the hallway at school, and she didn’t try to hide her braces. It didn’t take me long to notice she was dressing differently too. She started to stop by the restaurant more frequently, and each time she did, Mrs. Boss would bring her something to eat, though what she brought changed as the girl put on a little weight. On her, the extra weight went to all the right places. She didn’t become beautiful suddenly, but I took more notice of her. As she changed, I felt she became even more out of my league. It didn’t stop me from smiling back at her, and I often saw her blushing when I looked at her in the restaurant. Her braces were always visible when I did. I noticed the waitresses always placed her at a table where I would see her.

Every so often, Mrs. Boss left a receipt for me with a note attached asking me to claim it as a restaurant expense. The amounts were small compared to what the restaurant spent and it was easy to find places to claim them, though I couldn’t figure out how clothing from boutiques and sessions at salons were business-related. Some things I just claimed as charitable donations.



At Mr. Boss’s suggestion, I asked the various people I was dealing with to meet me at the restaurant. The meeting included food paid for by the restaurant, and I learnt the value of what giving away something could do when negotiating a deal. It didn’t take long for word to spread that Mr. Boss had put me in charge of the renovations, and despite my age, they treated me as an adult.

The renovations quickly went through the planning stage into the construction phase, and just like any construction project, changes needed to be made as problems occurred. The minor things were dealt with by the people I hired, but there were still I few things I had to make decisions on.

I also found ways to save money, such as by offering to feed the crews at the restaurant's expense. By claiming the regular price of the meals as an expense, the restaurant only had to pay the cost of preparing the food, and the reduction in the negotiated price of the construction was significantly better than what it cost to feed the crews. With well-fed crews doing the work, the renovations started ahead of the schedule and stayed that way.

As it got closer to the end of the school year, the topic among the staff turned to graduation. Everyone knew someone who was graduating and they wanted to know what I was planning to do. The big discussion revolved around the party in the evening, and they all had stories to tell about theirs. Some of the stories were quite risque, though they didn’t get too descriptive. When they found out I wasn’t planning on going, they wouldn’t stop asking me why until I explained I didn’t fit in with the crowd at school and hadn’t even asked if anyone would go with me.



There was plenty for me to do as the renovations were completed. The desktop computer arrived, along with the rest of the office equipment and furniture. The renovations didn’t just include the new office space and staff area, I included wifi for the restaurant, and the customers commented on the addition. It didn’t take long for there to be an increase in the size of the tips being left. With the tips going into a jar and being divided between all the staff, everyone was happy.

The Bosses had been keeping a closer eye on things than I realized, and I received a call from one of the formalwear stores in town asking me to come down for a fitting. I had used half the balance in the account at the start of the renovations as the amount to work with, and had kept track of all the expenses as they came in. Mrs. Boss had a big smile on her face when she told me the fitting was part of the bonus for completing the renovations ahead of time and under the budget they had set. She asked me to pick out a suit to wear for the graduation party, and from the way she phrased it, I understood it was one of those requests I didn’t have a choice with. I had just been notified I was going to be attending the party.

The staff at the store had several choices ready for me when I arrived, and as I tried them on, they made suggestions to narrow down the choices to the one I felt best in. Each suit had come with suggestions for shirts to wear with it and it didn't take me long to realize I was being fitted with a suit I could wear after the party as well. When I walked in, I looked like a kid getting ready to graduate. By the time they were done, the image I saw was of a young man getting ready to face the business world. I also found out I wasn't renting it, the restaurant was buying it for me, together with the shirts to go with it.

On the day of the party, Mrs. Boss asked what time I would be ready and explained a car would be picking me up. It was all part of the bonus for the work I did on the renovations. What she didn’t tell me was Mr. Boss would be my driver and she would be with him in one of his carefully restored automobiles. It wasn’t a limousine, it was classier than that.

I found out there was one other stop on the way to the party. Mrs. Boss informed me she had arranged to have someone accompany me to the party. All I could get out of Mrs. Boss was it was someone I would recognize, and she was sure I would enjoy being with the person.

We pulled up in front of a house in the better part of town, and Mrs. Boss asked me to accompany her to the door. It was another one of the requests I knew better than to argue about. I knew it was traditional for the guy to pick up his date for the party at her place, but this situation was not typical. As the door opened, I was met with a smile I recognized right away, though the person smiling at me didn’t look like she usually did. She still wasn’t beautiful the way people usually define beauty, but she definitely looked way out of my class.

Even with the braces, her teeth hadn’t improved much yet. She had definitely filled out in all the right places, and the dress she was wearing was highlighting all of it in a very appealing way. Mrs. Boss was ready for the stunned look on my face. “See, my dear, I told you he would be speechless when he saw you. Give him a chance to recover, though I think it may take him a while.” Then she turned to me. “This is the part of your bonus I have had the most fun working on. I’ve been taking her clothes shopping and to the salon for a while now. After I saw how you looked at her in the restaurant and asked me to take her the piece of cake, I knew I had to do something. I could see you wouldn’t. When I asked her if she would go to the party with you, she said she was more than willing.” She paused, and then stage whispered, “I think she likes you. I didn’t even have to bribe her to go with you. When I took her shopping for a dress to wear to the party and she saw the prices, I had to tell her you were buying it for her.”

Charlotte and I were both blushing by that time, and she looked even better to me. I finally got my brain to work enough to say, “My name is Brian. It’s nice to finally say ‘hi’ to you, Charlotte.”

Her smile got bigger as she said, “I know who you are. I’ve been too scared to talk to you, and I’ve been waiting a long time for you to say something to me.”

Mrs. Boss had things under control. She whispered to me, “Hold out your arm so she can slip hers through it, then walk her to the car.” It was the final thing needed to relieve the tension we were feeling and Charlotte laughed as I extended my arm. Mr. Boss was waiting by the back door of the car for us to arrive. He took her hand and assisted her into the car, and gestured for me to follow her, before shutting the door for us.

At the hotel where the party was being held, Mr. Boss stepped out and slipped on a hat. All the eyes in the area turned in our direction as he opened the suicide door on his classic car and I stepped out wearing my suit. Everyone went quiet as I extended my hand to Charlotte as she stepped out. Mr. Boss whispered, “Hold your head up and walk into there as if you own the building. Have fun tonight, enjoy yourselves. When you are ready to leave, have us paged. I’m going to take my wife to have a meal and we’ll be listening to the music in the club afterwards. I still remember how to have a good time.”


Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles - The Accountant
« Reply #56 on: 15. October 2023, 21:54:06 PM »
Chapter 4

We took his advice. We walked in with our heads up, and in her case, with her chest out. She couldn’t help it. The dress was showcasing her assets in a very classy way and the shoes did wonders with her posture. I felt her tense up as she saw people looking at us.

 I used the experience I gained while I was dealing with people during the renovations. Even though I wasn’t feeling very confident as we walked in, I didn’t let it show in the way people saw me. The staff in the hotel treated me with respect, as if I belonged there, and the people around us picked up on it, without realizing they were doing it.

My attitude affected her as well, and it didn’t take long for Charlotte to loosen up, and it helped me to relax too. We had arrived fashionably late, just the way the popular crowd had, and the party was already well underway. I selected a table where we could see what was going on and be seen by our classmates, without being at the center of their attention. It didn’t work quite the way I expected.

The DJ alternated the type of music he played, switching between faster dance music and slower, more romantic tunes. My ability to dance was limited to swaying to the music and shuffling to the beat, so I knew I couldn't dance to the fast songs and I didn't feel comfortable asking her to dance to the slow songs, partially because I didn't want to step on her feet in the beautiful shoes she had on. I suggested we sit and talk for a while, which she seemed relieved to do.

We started with easy topics about things we had in common. A pattern developed where we took turns asking a question and answering one. As we became more comfortable, we began to volunteer bits of information about ourselves we thought might be of interest.

Things got interesting when she asked about my job at the restaurant. It took me a while to tell her how I happened to get the job to start with. Even though it was my turn to ask a question, I let her ask more as she thought of them. I was enjoying talking to her, and watching her mouth move was one of the things I was enjoying.

When she temporarily ran out of questions, I asked her why she started coming to the restaurant. Her answer of, "Because I liked the food," was reasonable, but I could tell she was holding something back, so I asked her what it was about the food she liked. She smiled at me and said, "You've been looking at my mouth all evening, so before you ask, it was because of my braces. The menu at the restaurant had several things I could eat easily with my braces." Her face turned a very pretty shade of pink as she added, "I could have found another restaurant to eat at, but your restaurant had one thing the others didn't." She paused again, then continued. "Your restaurant had you there. You were the first guy who didn't turn away when you saw my braces. And then you sent me the piece of cake. I wanted to say thank you, but couldn't get up the courage to talk to you. I kept coming back to try to say thank you, but each time I did, you bought me another meal."

She stopped to take a deep breath, and before she could continue, I said, “I remember things a little differently. I had already sent the cake to you before I saw the braces. Mrs. Boss always cuts them too big and I told her to give half of my slice to you. I would have sent the slice to you anyway. You're the only girl in school who has even given me a second glance, never mind smiled at me. As for the rest of the food you were given, I told my bosses they could pay me with meals. Mrs. Boss just kept sending you food each time you came in while I was working. I’m glad she did. I have a feeling she has been trying to get us together since the first piece of cake.”

Her smile had wavered a bit as I was talking and returned full force as I paused. “So you don’t mind my braces? I know I’m not pretty like the other girls at school and I’ll never be, no matter what I do. There’s not much I can do to fix how I look, but my teeth are something I can fix.”

I let my eyes wander away from her mouth and looked at as much of her as I could see. "I've been hesitating to ask you to dance with me all evening. I can't dance to the fast songs and I didn't want you to say no if I asked you to dance to one of the slow songs. I'm going to take the chance anyway. Would you dance with me for one slow song?"

Her eyes began to sparkle as she replied, “I’ve been waiting all evening for you to ask. I can’t dance very well, and these shoes aren’t going to make it any easier, so I will probably need you to hold me up if I stumble.”

I didn’t answer her, just held out my arm for her to take. We walked to the dance floor as the lights dimmed and a slow song began to play. She stepped into my arms and we began to sway to the music, not really dancing, just shuffling our feet to the slow beat. She seemed to be pretty steady on her feet, though she did get closer to me as the music played. At the end of the first song, she said, “You can move your left hand lower for the second song, I don’t mind.” By the end of the third song, she had her body pressed up against me and my hand was resting on the soft globe her posterior. We had stopped shuffling to the beat and were just swaying to the music.

The lights brightened as the DJ switched to faster music, so I reluctantly let go of her and we returned to our table. Neither of us said anything for a while until I pointed to a couple who looked as if they were having too good a time. “I wonder how long it is going to take for them to get kicked out?”

Charlotte looked at me and asked, “How do you know they’ve been drinking.”

I pointed to the guy. "You see the bulge in his jacket pocket? It's a bottle of liquor and he's been adding it to their drinks every time he's brought her another glass. I don't think she knows he's doing it." I pointed at another couple on the other side of the room. "She's been hiding at least one bottle in the top of her dress."

Charlotte giggled as she saw where I was pointing. “There’s plenty of room in there for more than one, especially with all the padding she stuffed in there.” I glanced at Charlotte. “You can look at me all you want. With all the food you bought me, everything you see is just me, no padding added.” I let my eyes wander over her body before returning to her mouth. “My braces really don’t bother, do they? How about we find someplace a little quieter.”

Once again, I stood up and offered her my arm to link with, but she had other ideas in mind. She took my hand and placed it over her bare shoulder. Without my arm in the way, she could get herself against my side. We giggled as we stumbled a few times until we were able to coordinate our footsteps. As we got close to the hotel bar, we saw a lineup of our classmates trying to get into the bar and failing when the bouncer saw their IDs. I asked Charlotte, “How would you like something stronger to drink?”

She smiled at me and nodded. “I don’t think we’re going to have any luck getting in there.”

I grinned and said, “Take my arm, and when the bouncer looks at you, smile at him and keep walking, I’ll do the rest.” It went just as I expected. The bouncer looked at me in my business suit, and when he looked at Charlotte, she smiled at him. By the time he realized he was supposed to ask for our ID, we were already in the bar.

I escorted her to a table out of the way and asked what she wanted to drink. The bartender grinned when I ordered our drinks and said, “I don’t know how you managed to get her past the bouncer, but I don’t mind you did. I’m not going to say anything.”

Charlotte was giggling when I set our drinks on the table. “How did you do that, get us past the bouncer?”

I had to explain to her how people saw what you wanted them to see. “I wanted the bouncer to see a young businessman walking into the bar. When you smiled at him, your smile provided the distraction needed to get us all the way in before he could figure out you were probably too young to be in the bar. By then it was too late for him to do anything about it. The way you’re dressed tonight makes it hard to guess your real age. What you are wearing and how you’re wearing it makes you look more mature, and it offsets how the braces make you look younger. We just used how we look to our advantage.” I couldn’t stop grinning as I told her what the bartender said, and then I added, “I think you are too hard on yourself about the way you look.”

She moved her face closer to mine and asked, “Would you do something for me? Would you mind kissing me? I’ve been too scared to ask you and I want to know what it is like to be kissed?”

I hesitated a bit too long as I tried to figure out how to answer her. She began to move her head away when I said, “I don’t know if I can do that.” Before she could say anything, I added, “It’s not because of the braces. I’ve never kissed anyone before, so I don’t know what I’m doing.” Before she could move away from me, I pressed my lips against hers.


Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles
« Reply #57 on: 20. October 2023, 04:48:42 AM »
Chapter 5

The first kiss was a disaster. She was surprised and wasn’t ready for me to kiss her. The second kiss wasn’t much better. By the third kiss, our instincts began to take over and things improved slightly. Our fourth attempt was better yet. And then she began to giggle. “We really aren’t very good at kissing.”

Our faces were so close together, her lips were brushing against mine as she was talking. I didn't want to lose contact with them, so I didn’t move away. “I did say I didn’t know how to kiss.”

It was too much for me when she said, "It sure isn't as easy as they make it look in the movies."

I had to move away before I laughed into her face. “They only show the scene after they have shot it many times. They don’t show all the times the actors made mistakes.”

My heartbeat increased as she said, “Well, maybe we need to practice some more,” and she moved her face toward me until her lips were against mine again. We were both ready for the kiss, and it wasn’t any better than the others, but it wasn’t any worse either. There were just too many things that weren’t right.

I put my hand on her bare shoulder and moved away from her. “We seem to be doing things wrong.” I grinned at her. “Let's try changing what we are doing until we get things right. Between us, we should be able to figure it out. How about we change one thing, try two kisses, then decide on something else to change.”

She nodded and I moved my chair closer to hers. We gradually changed how we were kissing, taking turns making suggestions, until she ended up sitting on my lap, and several things happened quickly. I had my left arm around her back to support her, and we found our faces at the right height to match, the distance between our faces was just right and our faces were at the right angle. When she’d sat on my lap, I’d put my right hand on her knee, but I wasn’t comfortable with it there, so I started to move it to her waist. She adjusted her position slightly just as I was moving my hand, and I misjudged the location of my where my hand was. Instead of landing where I thought her waist was, I ended up slightly higher on her body… on the side of her left breast. Up until that point, we had been kissing with our lips mostly closed, but we were both surprised and our mouths opened slightly.

For the first time, her braces were exposed and they brushed against my lips. We both hesitated briefly and then I moved my hand down to her waist. I tried to move my head away to apologize, but her lips followed mine, staying parted with her braces against my lips. The kiss lasted much longer than the others, and when she moved away, she said, “Can we do that again? I think we are finally figuring out how to kiss.” She pressed her lips against mine and opened hers slightly so her braces were against my lips. The kiss felt similar, but not quite right, as if something was missing. We tried again, with the same result. She moved her head back slightly and smiled. “I think I know what is missing. Do you trust me?”

I nodded my head, and as she moved her lips to mine again, she moved my hand from her waist to the side of her breast again. She was right, the thing that had been missing from our kiss was the placement of my hand. The kiss wasn’t quite the same as the first time because we were both expecting the sensation of my touch. The surprise wasn’t there and we both relaxed into the kiss, letting our lips slide over her braces together.

Our kiss was interrupted by a cough from the bar. We reluctantly moved our faces apart and turned to look at the bartender. “I hate to interrupt you, but I have always wanted to say this and never had the chance. Get a room, I can’t let you keep doing that here.”

Charlotte and I looked at each other and laughed. I turned to the bartender and said, "We didn't come here for that."

Charlotte brushed her hand against my cheek and said just loud enough for the bartender to hear, “Thank you for saying that, it means a lot to me. Why don't you sit here while I fix my makeup and then we’ll see if we can find our driver and his wife.” She gave one last wiggle as she brushed her braces against my lips and moved off of my lap. She understood I didn’t want to stand up just yet, and her lipstick did need to be repaired.

Watching her walk away from me was fascinating. I couldn’t tell how much of the wiggle and sway was from what she was wearing, how much of it was natural talent and how much of it was for my benefit, and it didn’t really matter. Just before she disappeared into the ladies' room, she looked over her shoulder at me with a smile and licked her lips.

Watching her walk toward me was even better. She’d fixed up her lipstick and adjusted her dress, and the top of the stocking on her left leg flashed at me with every step she took. She hadn’t suddenly become a beautiful woman, she was still the same 19-year-old girl who had been coming into the restaurant. Her teeth were still messed up and she had metal braces working to straighten them out, but her smile had changed. She had a level of confidence that had been missing before, and it showed in how she smiled at me.

I stood up and extended my hand to her, letting her decide whether she wanted to take it or simply link arms again. Her braces seemed to take on a sparkle they didn’t have before, as she wove her fingers with mine. When we’d walked into the bar, I’d been presenting an image to the bouncer that I wasn’t sure about. As we walked past him on the way out, the image he saw was one of a young man with a good-looking woman holding his hand. Rather than have my bosses paged, we wandered around the hotel to find the lounge, then walked around until we found them. We weren’t going to disturb them, but they saw us and gestured for us to join them. They had selected a booth at the back and the music in the lounge wasn’t loud to begin with, making it easy to talk.

We told them we were in no rush to leave and we would go when they were ready. They offered to buy us alcoholic drinks, but we both turned down the offer, choosing to have fruit juice instead. Mrs. Boss smiled when we asked for one of the fruit-blend specials served in a large bowl-like stemmed container and asked for two straws. When the drink arrived, Charlotte moved my arm over her shoulder and snuggled close to me so it was easy for both of us to drink. Before long, my arm had moved to her back and my hand was resting beside her breast, where she secured it by pressing her arm against it.

I wasn’t the only one enjoying the company of the person I was with. My bosses had moved closer together after we sat down with them, and their hands were doing a bit of wandering just out of sight. Every time Charlotte leaned over to take a drink, she used my leg to support herself, and her hand gradually moved up my leg, getting closer to my hip.

The band played a mix of styles of music, mostly jazz and blues, from modern tunes to old-time classics, and they joined the singer on some of the songs. We just sat back, enjoying listening to the music without having to talk to each other. Charlotte snuggled a little closer to me each time one of us took a sip, and my hand gradually moved closer to the side of her breast, with her encouragement.

When the band took a break, the ladies decided they needed to use the facilities and Mr. Boss suggested we head home. While we waited for the ladies, he said, "I remember what my graduation party night was like. I didn't meet the love of my life until years later, but the girl I was with was close to being the one I wanted to marry. She didn't want to wake up alone in the morning. If you don't want to go home yet, I can get you a room."

I smiled and said, “You’re the second person to suggest it. Charlotte and I didn’t come here with that in mind, so I’m going to politely decline your offer, though I wouldn’t mind if you gave us some privacy when you drop her off at her place. Maybe drive around the block once or twice?”


Offline Braceface2015

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Re: A new story - Sparkles - The Accountant
« Reply #58 on: 31. October 2023, 01:00:26 AM »
Chapter 6

When the ladies returned from using the facilities, Charlotte had a pink glow to her upper body, and it wasn't created using makeup. Mrs. Boss said, "Okay, dear, we're ready to go," as Mr. Boss extended his elbow for her to take and raised his head. She linked arms with him and put her chest out, and something shifted in my mind. The impression it conveyed was that they really did look as if they owned the place.

I looked at Charlotte and extended my hand to her. The pink glow around her upper body became more radiant as she took it and linked her fingers with mine. As we walked through the hotel, I checked out how we looked as we passed reflective surfaces, some of them mirrors, and more than once, Charlotte's eyes met mine in the reflection. I was happy to be escorting a good-looking woman from the after-grad party, not in a horny teenager way but in a mature-adult style. Compared to the couple ahead of us, we looked young, but not in the same way most of our classmates looked as they wandered around.

Mr. Boss left his wife at the entrance while he went to get the car, and she smiled at us as we waited. She said she thought we looked good together and how she had thought so from the time I sent the cake over. I chuckled when she said her investment had paid off. I knew just how much she had spent getting Charlotte to look like she did.

The car pulled up to the entrance and he stepped out wearing his hat again. He opened the rear door for us and gestured for me to help my date into the car. With the door swinging to the rear of the car, it made getting into the back seat much easier than the modern cars, and it presented Charlotte with a challenge she wasn’t used to. Rather than her body being screened by the door as she got in, her upper body was in full view as she bent over to get inside. The smile on her face told me she knew just what I was seeing and that she didn’t mind at all. She turned her body as she stepped inside so her left leg slipped through the slit in the side of her dress, putting the top of her stocking, including the garter straps holding it up, where I could see them. And she took her time getting in, making sure I had plenty of time to appreciate the view. She snuggled up to me and placed my hand on her left knee as the door closed behind me and the drive to her place began.

Mr. Boss opened the door for us at her place and said, “You youngsters take your time saying goodnight. I’m going to park at the end of the block to wait for you. Just step to the curb when you’re really to leave and I’ll pick you up. If I don’t come right away, be patient, I may be a bit distracted by the missus.” There was a chuckle from the front seat.

Charlotte linked her fingers with mine as I walked her to her front door, and when we reached her steps, she turned to face me for a goodnight kiss. Just like earlier in the night, we found the angles to be wrong for kissing with her standing on the step above me. The porch swing proved to be the answer. With her sitting on my lap, our lips were at the right height and we were able to angle our faces just right for a prolonged kiss. I put my arms around her to support her, and she moved my hand lower to the side of her upper body. The first kiss was good, and the second was even better. She moved her face away from mine slightly and whispered, “Would you do something for me? Could we try kissing using our tongues?”

She didn’t have to ask twice. I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers, extended my tongue and brushed it over her lips, and as they parted slightly, I ran the tip of my tongue over the surface of her teeth. She shifted slightly in my lap, and my hand moved from her side to the front of her body. I didn’t bother to move it, as it seemed to be where she wanted it to be as we kissed. The intensity of the kiss increased slightly as her teeth parted enough for her tongue to slip through and join mine, and then she giggled at the sensation of the top of her tongue against the bottom of mine.

Rather than break the mood, it just seemed to add to it. She put her head on my shoulder and whispered, “I think we need to practice some more, and I hope we can do it soon. It would probably be better if we stopped for tonight, before things get out of hand, though I don’t mind at all where your hand is.”

I was in no rush to end the evening, and it seemed, neither was Charlotte. We sat on the porch swing for a while, gently swaying back and forth and looking at the stars. Eventually she kissed me on the cheek, and shifted off of my lap. “I had a wonderful evening. Thank your bosses for everything they did to make it such a memorable day for me.”

I bent over to give her a kiss on the cheek, but she turned her head and our lips made contact instead. What I had intended to be a quick kiss goodnight turned into a much longer, much more pleasant exploration of her mouth as she parted her lips and exposed her braces to my tongue. I reluctantly moved my mouth away from hers after running my tongue over her braced teeth a few times.

She treated me to her cute giggle again, then said, “I could get used to doing this, though I find it much more enjoyable when I am sitting on your lap with your arms around me. You better go now, I don’t want to keep your bosses waiting too long.”

The last thing I saw as I walked to the curb was her running her tongue over braces-enhanced teeth as she closed the door. My phone chimed with an incoming text from an 'unknown number' as I waited at the curb, with the message, "We'll be right there." It appeared my bosses were more technologically-equipped than I thought.


With school over and my graduation certificate in hand, I was glad to have a job lined up for the summer. I had bills to pay and an education fund I needed to build up if I wanted to go back to school in the fall. It seemed as if my bosses had similar thoughts on their minds. They called me into their office and told me it was time to negotiate my contract for the summer.

The conversation didn’t start the way I expected. They told me they were going to be taking a vacation and they wanted me to handle the financial part of the restaurant for them. I had already been doing it for them, though it had been under their supervision, so it wouldn’t be much of a change. Then came the contract negotiation part of the conversation. Rather than asking me what I expected to be paid, they had an offer ready for me. The first part was to switch me from an hourly wage to a weekly salary. The figure on the sheet was very generous, especially taking into consideration the amount of time I needed to be at the restaurant. They were both smiling when they said they didn’t mind if I went to the beach and worked on my suntan, as long as I took care of the paperwork first.

The second part of the contract was an offer to pay the fee for me to take a course at the college, and they had a list for me to choose from. The contract did not rely on me accepting the offer, so I could spend my summer on the beach if I wanted to. The next part of the contract was an offer to renegotiate my contract in the fall, should I choose to continue working for them. The last part of the contract was a clause for an unspecified bonus for exemplary performance of my duties.

They asked if I needed time to go over the contract, but there was no fine print and everything was in plain language, so I signed it. I left the office with a big smile on my face. My bank account had just been given a healthy boost and I didn’t have to do much more than I had been doing for much of the last half of the school year.



Charlotte and I had called each other a few times since the night of the party, but she hadn’t come by the restaurant. We’d both said how much we enjoyed the evening, though neither of us had said anything about going on a second date. We easily found other things to talk about, and had spent enough time talking to learn things about what we wanted to do in the future.

I had access to a considerable amount of money and frequently handled transactions for tens of thousands of dollars, and I could talk to people over twice my age with confidence and manage a renovation project without having anyone checking on what I was doing, but I couldn’t manage to ask Charlotte for a date. With the contract on the desk in front of me, I dialled her number, and when I heard her cheery voice, I said, “How would you like to join me for a meal? I have something to show you.”