Ben looked back at her and she had tied her long red hair up in a bun on the back of her head to keep it out of the water. This just accentuated her long slim neck. She gave him a brilliant smile when she noticed he was staring. He cleared his throat and looked away. “So you wished to speak with me?”
Lori’s face took on a serious expression and she cast her eyes down at the bubbling water as she collected her thought. “Yes, I’ve done a lot of thinking about what you said and I thought about the times we’ve upset you and how we acted. It seemed so odd to us that there could have been a negative outcome to those events but I realized that was because we were only seeing it from our own perspective. Seeing things from the eyes of another isn’t something we’ve had a lot of experience with. Understanding there was an issue has been a little easier for me as I’ve typically deferred to Lisa so I subconsciously already see from her perspective but it so closely matches mine the difference is almost meaningless. So I replaced Lisa with you and tried to consider your perspective on our touching you inappropriately and climbing into your bed uninvited then Rochelle’s view on us being there too. I see now how uncomfortable it must have been for you and awkward for Rochelle. I’m sorry.”
Ben was smiling at Lori when she looked up. “Learning to see the effect of your actions through the eyes of others is exactly what I was hoping would happen. I’m so relieved to hear you’ve managed to do it! The question is, have you been able to share your epiphany with your sister? Does she understand yet?”
Lori looked back down sadly. “She’s fighting it. I think she understands but she’s always gotten what she wants in the past, even with me, and she’s trying to keep that.”
Ben had a bad feeling about that. “She’s been pressuring your mother to let her work at the daycare hasn’t she.”
“Yes, and it hasn’t been easy on Mom. Now I can see what a struggle it’s been for her. I let her know I support her decision. That really shocked her because Lisa and I have always been a team. For now she’s standing firm.”
“Then there has to be something else Lisa wants desperately that we can withhold from her until she is willing to listen.” Ben said thoughtfully.
Lori smiled seeing Ben so clueless to the answer before him. “Ben.”
“What?”
“It’s you. You’re what she wants the most, next to working at the daycare.” Lori explained.
“Oh!” Ben’s eyebrows rose. “But I’m already denying her that!”
“So she thinks it’s an impossibility. That’s what you have to change. She has to think it’s possible, just not for her.” Lori was grinning broadly by this point as Ben struggled to decipher the clues Lori was giving him.
She reached around her back and undid the knot on her bikini top. She then lifted it over her head and dropped it on the deck outside of the tub.
Ben’s eyes widened as he finally caught on to what she was suggesting. Lori’s smile faltered as she looked at him nervously, fearing his rejection once more. She could see his mind ticking over but his next words surprised her.
“Lori, this could put a serious rift in your relationship with your sister. Jealousy is an ugly, bitter thing and she might react very badly.”
Lori looked at Ben, amazed at how easily he put himself in the place of others. Truthfully, while Lori could now see how it done it wasn’t easy for her at all.
“Ben, I love my sister above all others and I know she loves me but you’re right, she may react badly. But I won’t let that sway me from helping her see what she needs to see. I won’t lie to you. It’s going to be a struggle. I truly feel that she will not fully appreciate the benefits of putting others first until she’s felt your firm hand guiding her.” she finished with a hopeful expression.
Ben looked at Lori and struggled with the decision but he knew she was right. He couldn’t just let Lori lie to her sister that she’d been with him as he couldn’t participate in such a lie. Decision made he reached out of the tub and pushed a button on a panel on the side of the tub. A privacy curtain descended from the outer edge of the awning over the deck. Soon the deck had complete privacy on all sides though much of the light still got through. Lori was surprised by the curtains and watched them enclose the deck. When she looked back at Ben she saw him dropping his trunks on the deck outside of the tub. She suddenly realized she was in a hot tub with a very large naked man. She trembled as she realized her dream was actually coming true.