The next day, I walked from school to the diner in a decidedly different frame of mind.

The conversation I had with Mel was still bubbling through my head, and it seemed all of my blood was concentrated in a small spot between my thighs. I'd bumbled my way into and out of all my classes, and didn't have a clue what I said to anyone. It took me almost the whole day to come to my senses, and then I realised that I must have over-reacted to Mel's comments, and read more into them than actually happened. I calmed down, put myself together, and walked through the door.

"Ah," she called, as soon as I appeared, and then beckoned to me. The inescapable conclusion was that she had been waiting for me.

"Hi, Mel, what's up?"

"Want to tell you something. I get a break in a few mins. Can you wait?"

"Yeah, sure. Of course, Mel. Where the hell else am I going to go? I'll just sit here. Come get me when you have a chance."

"No, stud, not here."

"Not?"

"No. That last booth, Joe. By the gents. Sit there."

"Oh, it's alright. Here's fine. I'll do some homework."

"Uh uh. Over there. Trust me. I'll bring you a burger, okay?"

"Hey, you're the boss. Oh, I better say hi to Mum. You seen her?"

"She just went out to do something for Neil."

"Oh. Later then, I guess. And a coke?"

"A coke?"

"With the burger."

"Oh. Yeah, alright." She broke into a big smile then. "Showing your bad side while Mum's out, huh?"

"Oh, stop it. You know Mum lets me drink coke."

"Yeah, yeah. I remember. You can't say fuck though."

"No."

"Go on."

"What?"

"Say it."

"Fuck?"

"Hee hee. You go all red when you do that."

"Do not!"

"Do too. Gimme five, Joe."

"Yep."

I strolled down to the booth she had indicated, slung my backpack on the table, sat down, and got my homework stuff out, wondering the whole time what she wanted. Just when I opened my maths book to the right page, and started to ponder what on earth I was supposed to do, Mel wandered up, a plate in each hand, and looked at me, shaking her head.

"Other side, Joe."

"Huh?"

"Sit on the other side."

"Why?"

"Don't ask questions, Joe. Just do it!"

"Okay, okay." So I picked up all my stuff, shoved it over the other side of the table, and sat down again, wondering what in hell that was about. Fact is, I couldn't have disobeyed her if I tried.

I buried my head in the books, actually got some work done, and was surprised when I looked up and Mel was standing there again, a plate with a burger on it in one hand, and a tall glass of coke in the other.

"You order a burger, Sir?" Big smile, mischievous twinkle in the eyes. So I played along.

"Yeah, I did. No pickles, I hope?"

"Pickles? Oh, I don't know. Look, just pick them out with your fingers, would you?"

"Is that what you tell all your customers?"

"You're not a customer, stud. I'm on my break."

"Oh, well sit down then. And tell me why I had to sit here."

"You'll see," she told me as she slid into the booth, opposite me. "How's the homework going?"

"Not bad, actually. Hey, aren't they my fries?"

"I just want a few. I need some protective disguise."

"You know, you aren't making a lot of sense today."

"Yeah, but it will all become clear. Are you able to be distracted from that work?"

"Oh, please."

She picked another couple of fries from my plate, and looked around. "Okay, drop your pencil on the floor."

"Huh?"

"Trust, remember?"

"Oh, right. Okay."

"Great. Now bend down and have a look for it. Don't find it too quick!"

I was still no wiser as to what she wanted, but I dutifully ducked my head down under the table to look for the pencil. I couldn't help but notice as I was searching that Mel was sitting with her legs apart, directly opposite me, her skirt bunched up around her waist, pink panties plain to see. As you might have expected, I grunted in surprise, and banged my head on the underside of the table, grunted again in pain, and then smiled as I heard Mel giggle from above.

Still not sure that she had done this on purpose, though certainly suspicious, I tore my eyes from Mel's thighs, and hunted around for the pencil. I spied it in the middle of the floor, and stole a quick look back at Mel, just in time to see her hand appear from above the table, slide slowly over the bunched up skirt, and stop with her fingertips touching the tightly pulled panties directly in front of my bulging eyes. All doubt gone, I promptly forgot the pencil, and stared at the sight.

Slowly she began to move the fingers, sliding the tips in gentle circles over the cotton, pressing enough to move the panties around sometimes, just barely touching at others.

I was entranced, and totally unaware of the fact that I was hunched under a table, in a booth at a diner. At least until I heard Mel speak.

"Hi Nancy. Yeah, he's here. He dropped his pencil. Joe, your Mum's back."

I slammed my head against the table again, bent down to pick up the pencil, and popped my head back out. But not without noticing that Mel was talking to Mum, but still had her hand on her panties. "Hi, Mum," I replied, rather lamely.

"Joseph, how clean is that down there?"

"Huh?" Yeah, even more lame.

"On the floor. Is it clean?"

"Oh, yeah, I think so. It's alright. Why?"

"Just needed to check. Is he annoying you Mel?"

"Oh, no. I'm on my break. In fact, I'm probably annoying him, interrupting his homework."

"No, you're not, Mel. You can stay as long as you like."

Mum gave me that strange look again. "Listen Mel, if he gets in the way, let me know."

"No, he's fine, really."

"Okay. I better go see what Neil wants now."

"Yup. Bye, Nancy."

"Bye, Mum."

"Be good, Joseph."

As soon as Mum was out of earshot, Mel started to giggle, and grinned at me again. "I wonder if your Mum classes watching waitresses masturbate as being good?"

"God Mel, I don't know what to say."

"That's the idea. Hey, give it a minute, and then drop your pencil again. Joseph."

"Oh, don't start that. Why?"

"Because I'm not finished, of course."

"Not... Oh fuck."

"I explained that to you already. Fucking is a whole different thing."

"Yeah, you did. You are amazing, Mel. But why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"This. The booth, the pencil, all that."

"Hmmm... well, getting you hot gets me hot, Joe. I can stop if you want."

"No, no. I didn't mean that!"

"I thought not. Drop that pencil."

"Now?"

"Oh yeah, now. Right now."

The pencil rolled off the edge of the table again, and I made some pretence at catching it, but I had no intention. In any case, my mind was firmly on what else was happening under the table.

As my head ducked under again, I was stunned. Mel's hand, which had never reappeared above the table, had slipped down inside her panties, and instead of the vague circular motion that I could see before, her hand was concentrating on a small area. I could see the outline of her fingers through the pink cotton, and noticed a darker damp patch for the first time. As I watched intently, stopping only to rearrange my trousers around my solid erection, her movements became firmer, and faster. Her fingers were performing a dance that was obviously familiar to her, pressing and releasing with a definite rhythm all of their own. After a little while, the movement became frantic, her hand clawing furiously inside her panties, the dark patch growing as I watched.

Suddenly the movement slowed, and Mel's thighs seemed to shudder in front of me, her muscles tightening, her thighs squeezing tight on her trapped hand. I heard a quiet sigh from above, and then she called out again.

"Hey, you find it yet?"

I grabbed the pencil from the floor, just avoided slamming my head into the wood again, and sat back up. I didn't say anything.

"You want to see your face, Stud. You are a beetroot colour."

"Holy fuck, Mel. You just..."

"Yep. Nice, too. Did you like it?"

"Huh? Oh, fuck. Oh God!"

"Hey, watch the language. You want Nancy to come over and see your hard-on?"

"What hard-on?"

"Oh, give me a break. If that didn't give you a hard on, then I'm wasting my time."

"Oh. Well, yeah, of course it did."

"Okay. Now you understand why we sat here?"

"Yeah, no one can see us."

"Yep, but I had to sit on this side."

"Yeah, see that now."

"Good. There was another reason too."

"There was?"

"Yep. We can tell who is in the gents."

"We want to know that?"

"Sure do."

"You are kinkier than I thought."

"Uh uh. You want to know, Joe. Not me."

"I do?"

"Yep. You see, right now there is no one in there, so no one can see you stumble in there with an erection."

"I'm staying right here with my erection, thanks."

"No, you're not."

"I think so."

"I know not. Because you are going to go in there, and play with your cock with those six fingers, and then come back here and tell me how it went, because otherwise, I'm never going to do this again."

"Never?"

"Never. And I might be tempted to tell your Mum that you were looking up my skirt. And it's not like you weren't."

"Yeah, but you..."

"What?"

"And you want me to..."

"Yep."

"God!"

"Now."

"Yeah, but I..."

"No excuses, Joe. My break is nearly over. Go on. You want to, and you know it."

"Yeah, but my mind is so muddled..."

"Don't think, just wank."

I still wasn't sure I was in possession of my senses, but I stood, my shorts obviously tented if anyone could see. Mel was certainly looking, her big smile encouraging me. I stumbled to the toilets, threw open a stall door, and frantically locked it behind me. Actually, this wasn't the first time I'd jerked off in here, but it was certainly the first time that anyone knew about it.

Pulling my shorts down as I stood in the cubicle, I looked down at my cock. It had no doubts at all, and the truth was that I didn't care any more, either. The only thing that mattered to me at this point was getting some relief. It didn't take long. I took my cock in my left hand, just as Mel had demanded. A few strokes, and I suddenly erupted, cum spewing across the stall and painting the door. The relief was intense, and I had to sit on the toilet for a few minutes to recover.

Tired, I stood slowly, as my muscles started to return to normal, and wiped the evidence from the door. Some had dripped down to the floor, and I was suddenly aware that someone could walk in at any time, and frantically completed the cleanup. Pulling my shorts and underpants back up over my still swollen but no longer hard cock, I unlocked the stall, and went to check myself in the mirror. I was amazed to see that I looked normal. Somehow it seemed that it should be obvious what I had been doing, but it wasn't. I washed and dried my hands, and walked back out to the booth, and slid back in, opposite Mel.

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"How did it go?"

And pretence seemed pointless now. "It was fucking amazing, Mel. You have no idea."

"Oh, I think I do."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh. Tell me something. When you were watching me under the table, what did you think my face would have looked like?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe a little scrunched up with the effort?"

"Nah, if I'm careful, you can't even tell. It looks like this."

That was when I noticed her right hand was under the table again. As I watched closely in amazement, her eyes rolled back slightly, and a small grunt sound escaped from her throat.

"You...?"

"Uh huh. God, that was better than the last one."

"Just then, you... Oh, God!"

"I was thinking of you, in there, with your fingers, and, well, I just couldn't help myself." She was completely guiltless in her explanation, and I couldn't help admiring her honesty. And then she asked me. "You want to do it again?"

"Now?"

"Of course now."

"Oh, no, I couldn't."

"Bet you could."

"Well, maybe I could... but Mel, no, I ... what if... "

"Yeah, I know, your mother. Well, I hope you're not angry."

"God, no. No way."

"Oh, good. Well, my break is over anyway. I was just teasing about you doing it again. But think of me tonight, won't you?"

"Oh, you can rely on that. Ummm... you think of me too, then, okay?"

"Mmhmm."

"Wow! You are amazing."

"So are you, Joe. You just don't know it yet. Listen, Neil or Nancy will ask you if you want to help with the renovations here in the weekend. Say yes."

"Oh, I don't want to move a whole lot of booths around and stuff, Mel. I have better things to do with my weekends."

"No, you don't."

"No?"

"No. Promise. Just say yes, and show up. Deal?"

"Oh, but what do you mean? I was planning..."

"Oh, hi Nancy. I've been monopolising him, I know."

"That's fine Mel, so long as he hasn't been causing trouble."

"Oh, no, he's been fine. We've been discussing responsibilities. Now remember what I said, Joe."

"Oh, okay Mel. It's a deal."

"What's a deal, Joe?"

"Doesn't matter, Nancy. It's between us."

"Yeah Mum. It's some of this responsibility stuff."

Mum gave us that look again, and then seemed to resign herself to not knowing. I looked at her as innocently as I could manage.

"Well Joe, Neil said I can leave early, so can I break up this adult discussion, and take you home?"

"Oh, now, Mum?"

"Now. Sorry, Mel."

"Hey, take him. I've done what I can with him."

I grinned at that, and then straightened my face before Mum saw it. "Alright then, let's go. See ya, Mel. And thanks."

"Oh, it's mutual, Joe. And don't forget what I said."

Mum headed out toward the car, and I followed, grinning back at Mel now and then. As soon as I was seated in the car, Mum turned to me:

"Joseph, Neil asked me to see if you could help with the moving on Saturday. I told him you were probably busy, but promised to ask. Can I tell him you have other plans?"

"Oh no, Mum," I stumbled the words out. "I can be there. I want to help. Tell him yes."

"Oh," was her only response.

I kept my promise that night, thinking of Mel, with her fingers in her panties, my thoughts jumping from the sight of her wriggling fingers to the sound of her restrained grunt, and I missed the damn tissues again. Twice. The second time, I was wondering what plans she had for the weekend. I couldn't wait to find out.