"Mom," Vanessa said in a plaintive voice, "can you help me?"
I looked at my daughter dubiously. I'm June Franklin, and I've been waiting patiently for Vanessa to become more mature and outgoing; but at eighteen and two months, she still seemed shy and withdrawn, uncomfortable around people other than her own family. And that family has now been reduced to yours truly, since I and my husband Matthew had decided to part company after several years of ill-concealed hostility. The fact that Vanessa had graduated from high school and had started taking classes at the local community college (staying at home to save money) provided Matthew the perfect excuse to vamoose. I couldn't help wondering whether Matthew, at forty-two (my exact age), in the midst of a midlife crisis, was eyeing some sweet young thingâmaybe someone scarcely above his daughter's ageâto cuddle up with. I don't know for a fact that such a person existed, and I chortled inwardly about my ex-husband's chances of landing such a scrumptious morsel. But for men, hope springs eternal.
"What is it, dear?" I said tiredly.
Vanessa could hardly even look at me as we sat in Vanessa's tiny bedroom, which barely had enough room for a queen-size bed, a desk, and a loveseat.
"You see, Mom," she said, "I think I have a boyfriend."
"A boyfriend?" I said, startled. "You
think
you have one? Don't you know?"
"Well, I've gone out with him several timesâ"
"Gone out? I haven't noticed you going out in the evenings."
"It's not been like that. We just spend some time in the campus coffee shop after our last afternoon class."
"Vanessa, that hardly strikes me as going out on a date."
"Well, it's something!" Vanessa whined. "I'm sure he likes me."
"And you like him?"
"Oh, yes!"
The fervency of my daughter's response troubled me. This was, after all, the very first time Vanessa had shown any interest in boysâor men (I assumed the guy was at least her own age, if not a bit older)âin her whole life. And the emotions that could stir up could easily lead to trouble of various sorts.
"Well, good for you," I said cautiously. "So what is it you want help with?"
Vanessa now blushed crimson and again looked away from me. "Well, it's justâI mean, what do I do if heâ"
I eyed my daughter keenly. "You mean, if he makes a move on you?"
"Yes."
"Well, it all depends on what he does, and how far he goes. Do you
want
him to make a move on you?"
"Yes." Vanessa now blushed even more furiously.
"Well, he probably will. He's a guy, after all. They all want to get into a woman's pants."
"Mom, that's not very nice! Nicholas isn't like thatâhe's the perfect gentleman."
My lip curled cynically. "He's a gentleman until he
isn't
a gentleman. That's how most men are. The moment they get you into their clutches, you'd better watch out, girl!"
"I'm sure Nick won't do anything like that to me. He's been very respectful."
"Okay, fine. But if you're signaling that he should make a move, then he'll do exactly that."
Vanessa shuddered with both delight and a bit of fear at the prospect. "Do you think," she said in a furtive whisper, "he'll want to touch my boobs?"
I looked at my daughter. I had to admit that Vanessa was quite a dish. About five foot six, she was slender but with an exuberant endowment at the bust. I couldn't remember what her bra size was, but I had a dim recollection that it was something like 36D. Plenty of boob for a lusty man to hold onto! And the rest of her was pretty succulent also, including a curvy bottom and nicely shaped thighs and calves.
If I were a man,
I thought idly,
you bet I'd want to possess this tempting creature.
"I'm sure he will," I said with a little tremor in my voice. Since Matthew's absence, no one had touched
my
boobs, or any other part of me, and I was already getting a little crabby from sex deprivation. "And he's not going to stop there."
"Should I let him go on?"
"It all depends on how you feel about him. If you like him as much as you say you do, then you'll probably not want him to stop. I take it you're referring to yourâspot?"
"Yes, Mom."
"You play with yourself, don't you?"
"Mom, what a question!"
"Oh, come on, Vanessa, everyone doesâmen and women alike. It's a natural process. God knows, before I met your father or when he wasn't around, I got myself off in many and varied ways. It was great fun!"
"Well, sure, I play with myself. Not all that often, though."
"Why on earth not? What's there to be ashamed of?"
"I'm not ashamed. Just a little embarrassed, I guess. I didn't want youâand especially Daddyâto hear me when I, um . . . came."
"That's understandable. But I'll tell you, a lot of men don't really know how that part of us works. I'm not even talking about the guys who don't even
care
whether we get off or not. Even those who do can be pretty clumsy at it."
"What about me? Should Iâyou know, touch him?"
"Well, men have only one place they really like to be touched. Oh, sure, some men like their bottoms to be fondled, but basically we're talking about his cock. Aren't we?"
"Yes," Vanessa said in a small voice.
"I'll tell you, Vanessa, that piece of apparatus takes a bit of experience to get to know. It seems to have a mind of its ownâand, frankly, the moment it's out there it pretty much takes up all the attention. You're gonna have to nurture that thing if you expect to win a man over and keep him."
"Butâbut now?"
"There are plenty of ways. You can stroke it."
"How do I do that?"
"It's not exactly rocket science, dear, although there are complications that only trial and error can clarify. And of course, you'll want to put it in your mouth."
Vanessa blanched. "Eeew! Not on your life!"
I peered at her daughter exasperatedly. "Vanessa, darling, there's no way you're going to be able to avoid that. Every man will expect you to do it to him. Anyway, it's just foreplayâand it's rather nice, if I do say so myself."