Chapter 1- Mr. Sparkle's Diamond

“Now listen up, guys. We are going to be having a new employee starting this afternoon,” Paul, the manager of the Mr. Sparkle Car Wash, announced. The crew of college aged employees were half listening, mostly making plans for the weekend. “She will be here after lunch and I need someone for her to shadow.” Paul sighed, when he noticed the young men give him their attention at the utterance of the pronoun alone. He scanned the group, many chomping at the opportunity, and shuddered at the thought of the very nice young woman being grossly hit on by any of his employees. The boys were a decent lot, but not the polished type. They were young and unfortunately, absolute dogs. His regular full time guys took vacations throughout the summer, and college kids fit those slots perfectly. The younger part time kids who were non seasonal seemed to really enjoy having a young crew. They played louder music and there was far more "roasting". His main priority over the summers was to make it fun enough for the seasonal guys to stay without it turning into a party. Helooked over at Jason, one of his guys he'd had two summer seasons, who was listening to one headphone and mouthing the lyrics to the song. He seemed to be the most respectful out of the others. He wasn’t quite shy, but more quiet. Paul thought he would be a perfect shadow. He did his job, and probably would be safe to help show the new girl the ropes. He wasn’t much of a flirt, from what Paul could tell.

Paul shouted over the volunteering calls, and informed them that Jason would be the one she would shadow. Jason pulled out his headphone, unsure of why everyone was looking at him so angrily. He found out what the drama was about and rolled his eyes at his co-workers. They couldn’t just let some girl work there without being total slime balls. Jason couldn’t deny he was intrigued by the prospect of a girl being at the shop though, and he wasn’t mad that he was going to get to show her around. He didn’t really have any girls in his circle, which made it hard to talk to girls. Let alone, date one. None of which was helped by the fact that Jason had found back the baby fat he lost in freshman year of highschool. He resented everyone who had made one of those cliche "freshman 15" jokes to him before he went to live up at the in-state college. The freshman 30 was even less funny, which is what Jason had picked up. He hadn’t dated any more girls when he had lost weight than before, but he certainly didn’t feel as confident. He was far less likely to approach someone being as chunky as he was. He was going to take the summer to get back into shape, but just had not gotten to it yet.

Some of his bad college eating habits followed him home, and his parents noticed. They were not fitness freaks, but they were not impressed with their son’s added pounds and clear display of laziness. They pushed him to apply for a job, one where he would be on his feet. He didn’t hate working, as he had a job during school. He felt like his parents were judging him pretty harshly. He had finished his freshman year making the dean’s list. He was tired. Yes. He got a little carried away with the meal plan, but it wasn’t like hadn’t been chubby most of his life, thanks to them. Jason just thought more than seven days of a summer break grace period would have been nice.

Jason felt excited for later in the day. When everyone sat to lunch at the picnic table in the break room, Jason was swarmed by his co-workers. Cole slid his arm over Jason's shoulder. "Hey Jason, congrats on getting the shadow gig. Very cool. Listen if she's a seven or more, please give her my number," he said, handing him a paper scrap with it scribbled on.

"Cole, you know that's not gonna happen," Jason said, continuing to eat his grinder.

"It's not like any of you stand a chance," Maurice said. He was super confident and would jump up at the opportunity to service any woman who came through. A notorious flirt that was always reciprocated. He had one of those perfect hair, teeth, and body combos that even grandmothers couldn't resist. The others grumbled and attempted to chop Moe down, but knew they couldn't.

"My shot's better than Jason's. I know that," Cole said snidely. Jason gave him a disapproving look.

"You really think so, huh," Maurice said, making Cole doubt himself. Jason almost felt flattered by the slight to Cole, but knew it wasn't necessarily supposed to be a compliment.

"He's fat!" Cole retorted, thick with maturity.

"Thanks. Right here," Jason said, sarcastically, but shifted in his seat. Moe stroked his chin, inspecting Jason.

"You are kind of fat. But you're a tall guy. 6 feet?"

"5'11" technically."

"Eh," Moe said, batting the facts away. "You carry yourself well. Good face. Nice teeth. I wouldn't be so confident, Cole. You're forgetting Jason is also here just for the summer, you're in for the long haul. Girls love an educated boy." There was a distinction that the full time guys made between themselves and the college kids who worked just for the summer break. Jason didn't think he was better because he did two semesters, but they certainly felt a way about it. He had gone to high school with Maurice, and they had been friendly acquaintances, but Jason wouldn't stretch it to say they were buddies. Only towards the end. Maurice was working with his parents at their restaurant the days he wasn't at Mr. Sparkle, and had been doing that since before he graduated high school. They both had worked at the car wash their senior year and became work friends. He had not said anything to Jason about his noticeable gain, which Jason appreciated.

"She's here!" One of the other guys, Tim said, peeping her through the window. The room fell silent as they all observed her. She looked to be their age and had a curvy body. A "dump truck" as noted by one of the boys.

"And she's a latina? You guys are done," Moe said, straightening his collar. "I got the cultural advantage." Jason thought she was pretty, but didn’t want to join in on taking bets on who would "get" her. After his women's studies class, it seemed in very bad taste to talk about a woman so possessively.

Paul brought her into the break room, with a hesitant and warning expression. "Boys, this is Rosalita. She will be starting here today. I want everyone to welcome her and make her comfortable here at Mr. Sparkle. You will be working with Jason," Paul said. Jason got up and reached his hand out to shake hers, not sure if that was weird to do so. She took his hand and smiled, a gorgeous smile. She had sparkling brown eyes that pulled Jason right in.

Jason showed her around the shop. They took a break for her to ask questions in the break room under the AC. She looked around pleasantly and smiled. "So, it seems pretty chill here. Is Paul a hard ass," she asked. Jason smirked. He didn't think it was weird for her to swear, but was surprised by it. What was she looking to get away with?”

"Hardly a hard ass," Jason said. "He's too nice, if anything."

"I really want to get as many hours as I can." He could sense some desperation in her voice, but he did not want to pry.

"Just let him know. He'll work with you. I'm sure he'd help you out. Any other questions?"

"Yea, what's the cute spanish guy's situation?" That did not surprise Jason.

"Maurice. Aka Moe. He's a cool guy. Single, if that's what you meant." Jason could have shared that he was the worst flirt he'd ever seen, but felt it was best not to mess with him. He was coolShe saw him through the break window and she giggled when he flashed his smile.

Jason showed her how to take in a customer's car and the steps needed to detail it after. She wasn't afraid to get dirty or wet, which Jason thought was good, considering it was how it went. He looked her over as she sent the customer off and blushed, making a weird smile. "What? Did I do that wrong?" she asked, nervously.

"No! You're doing great," he stammered. "It's just…your shirt." She looked down at the baby blue Sparkle t-shirt that had two dark blue circles highlighting her breast. She had been working so hard, she didn’t notice her chest was brushing the cars.

"How funny," she cackled, looking up at Jason. Her laughter intensified. "You got one too!" Jason looked down, only to be mortified to see his shirt soaked right at his middle. He reflexively pulled it away from himself, and tried to ignore the heat coming to his face. Rosalita looked a little longer than Jason was comfortable with, but he figured if there was nothing to look at she wouldn't have.

"Sometimes you get a little dirty," he said, slightly annoyed.

"I'm just happy to have a job. I gotta get my car fixed."

"What happened to it, Rosalita?"

"Aye! Call me Rita. I meant to tell Paul earlier, but I was still too nervous." Jason nodded and smiled. "Less nervous now that you've helped me get acclimated. But, it's just the starter that has to get replaced. And once I do that, I'll start looking at AC."

"Oof. So you have no wheels?" She shook her head. "Well, if you need a ride home, I got you." Jason thought it was the nice thing to do, and he wouldn't mind helping her out.

"Wow. That's so nice of you. I'd love to take you up on that offer." They went to check in with Paul and he had them wait in his office.

"Hey, your shirt is dry," he offered.

"Funny you noticed that," she said with raised eyebrows. Jason froze. "I'm just teasing Jason. Yours is too," she said, pinching his middle. He stiffened even more at her touch. Jason sighed when Paul came in and eventually sent Jason away. He went out to the driveway and stood with Moe.

“Jason! How is she? Give me the details,” he said, shaking Jason’s shoulder.

“I don’t know Moe. She’s normal. Cool I guess.”

“She our age?” he asked. Jason nodded his head. “Good. What do you think? Should I go for it?”

“I know you would anyway,” Jason joked.

“I can’t keep all this pretty to myself,” he said, running his hands down his body dramatically.

“Not that I should even tell you, for fear your head would explode, but she might think you are cute.” Maurice swatted Jason in the gut with the towel he had been holding. Jason rubbed the sting out, which thankfully distracted him from something else.

“She’s got eyes, doesn’t she, Jay?” he called as he approached the blond soccer mom in a black SUV. Jason could not blame Moe for being so shameless. If Jason was as fit as Maurice, he might be a little more bold and forward. He had always been a little hands off when it came to girls mostly in fear of rejection. Middle school was peppered with fleeting crushes, and after he told the first two and was told he was too chubby, he kept the rest to himself. He wasn’t necessarily phased by it, but found others’ reactions to be frustrating. He did end up losing weight without really trying, but even still operated in a very defensive manner, and never really felt right in his own body. He noticed when he was putting on the first 10 pounds, and though slightly concerned, it was not a signal to change. And if he was honest, he hadn’t thought to change anything until he left school. He was having too much fun eating whatever he wanted and a lot of it. But it wasn’t until he got home and his mother had planted her hands on his gut and questioned him directly about what he had eaten, did it start to click. And he felt a little bad about pushing his mom off of him, but he had more reasons to get out of that room. He was freaking out because he felt himself get excited from it. He discovered in his many hours in his room in privacy, to his great relief, that it was his fat being grabbed, and not his mom. He felt utterly silly to be grabbing his own stomach and jerking himself off, but not silly enough. He equally wished that his family would lay off talking about how fat he got and that they would say more. He was trying to not let people’s regular comments get him going, but it wasn’t like he was asking people to make fun of him. Not that he didn’t think about what would happen if he could. He had been putting together his more recent feelings with some weird ones he had during his year away, that made him think he didn’t really want to lose weight at all.

The crew headed out to their cars at the end of the day. Moe had ended up talking to Rita and they were inseparable, which Jason had expected. He wasn’t sure if he was still taking her home, so he sort of hung around, as they finished chatting. Rita looked up at him waiting, and turned to Moe. He offered her a ride, and when she looked over at Jason, he was surprised it wasn’t an apologetic look. She was just smiling big, like he had said something funny. She declined his offer, putting her hand on his arm a second and skipping over to Jason to walk to his car. Jason blinked as he unlocked the door for her.

“Why didn’t you take Moe’s offer for a ride?” he asked, casually, honestly curious. Rita pulled on her seatbelt, adjusting it over her sizable chest. In the close quarters of the car, Jason could smell her perfume and was intoxicated by it.

“You had already offered me. And, not for nothing, you seem like a safer driver than Moe.” She kept her eyes on him as he pulled out the GPS and put in the address she gave. “I also wanted to make sure you weren’t bothered by me touching you. I sometimes tend to mess with people like I have known them forever. And you know when we met. Today!" Jason tried to bury the thought from earlier, far too happy to have been dismissed from the room. Jason cleared his throat.

“Don’t sweat it.” He kept his eyes ahead.

“Okay. Cool." She let two beats of silence go. "You have such a squishy tummy,” she said cutely.

“Sorry?” Jason spat, unsure if he heard her correctly.

“You wouldn’t think you were so soft. Who would think in this color you could conceal all that?” Rita met Jason’s glances from the road ahead with raised eyebrows. He was not sure if she was being straight disrespectful or if this was her acting too comfortable.

“I guess my response depends on whether you meant any of that in a good way.” Jason turned onto her street, feeling very thankful he could say goodbye to this conversation.

“You're like a little teddy bear. People like that,” she defended. Jason noticed she said “people”, and not that she liked that. “I won’t talk about that chubby belly of yours if it makes you uncomfortable.” Jason’s face burned, and it didn’t help that he could feel his “chubby belly” rolling over his waistband, confidently. A small snort slipped his lips. “But if you like getting teased, I can keep it up,” she said, poking him. Jason gaped back at her as he pulled up in front of her house. “I’m kidding!” she exclaimed, laughing. She reached her fist out to dap him before getting out. Jason reached up his fist and completed the send off. She grinned into his face, those chocolate eyes, stunning him.

“See you, Rita,” he said. She came back towards the window and Jason rolled it down. She leaned into the opening, with lowered eyes. “What?”

“Don’t eat too much Jason,” she said with a wink, and then playfully jogged up to her house, leaving Jason with a slight erection and a strong desire to eat way too much.