"Would you two just stop!" Julie Cameron shouted at her kids. Fifteen-year-old Holly and thirteen-year-old Mike hadn't been in the car more than five minutes and already they were picking at each other.
"She started it!" Mike used the worn-out phrase common to all sibling fights.
"If you weren't being such a dork and making those stupid faces, I wouldn't have said anything," Holly replied.
"If you grew some boobs, maybe you'd have a boyfriend and you'd get a ride home with him." Mike cut back at his sister.
"Mom!"
Julie looked in the mirror at her two kids behind her and the two kids in the third seat who belonged to her best friend, Ann.
Why couldn't hers behave like Ann's?
"Mike, you apologize to your sister. I never had a lot on top until after I had you two, and I got your dad for a boyfriend."
Yeah
, Julie thought
. After eighteen years of marriage my 'boyfriend' doesn't even remember I'm alive most days.
That wasn't completely true. Every Saturday night he remembered. They had been together long enough that he knew exactly which buttons to push and where. They both went to sleep satisfied, but there was a sameness to it, no spark of joy anymore, more like masturbating on each other. He used to remember at least once, maybe twice during the week, too. Over the past year those times had become fewer and fewer. All he seemed to do was work and watch TV.
In truth, she hadn't been pushing for it either. At forty she felt like an extension of her computer at work, a short order cook at home, and a taxi driver in between.
Did she have as many activities after school when she was growing up? Of course, she and Michael had been told if Holly and Mike wanted to get into a good college, they needed a lot of activities on their application. She didn't know what she'd do without Ann. They swapped off driving days, Ann picking up the kids Monday and Wednesday. Julie took advantage of flextime at her office to get out early and pick them up Tuesday and Thursday. Friday was a toss-up. If Mike had a basketball game or Holly an after-school activity, then usually she and Michael would both take off a little early and go to it. Michael hadn't made many of them since Christmas. About half the time, she had been forced to call some other parent to get one of the kids at one game while she picked up the other.
She felt she was being ground down by work, housework, and chauffeur duties. None of the three closest people in her life seemed to treat her as a human being with feelings.
"Oh, alright. I'm sorry," Mike said. But he stuck his tongue out at Holly.
*
Meanwhile, Michael Cameron, Julie's husband, was having his own problems. "George, I've got to get that part in here fast. How are we going to bring the new line up if we can't encapsulate the transformers? We're supposed to start production on the fifteenth and we haven't even done enough to set QA tolerances."
"Well, if Bill had specified a heavier gauge steel to start with the damn thing wouldn't have bent and we'd be making test runs today. It'll be here Friday morning -- the best I can do."
"Just keep on top of it and make sure it doesn't slip to Monday." He sighed as he put the phone down.
Where the fuck had those bright boys upstairs gotten the idea that this plant ought to introduce four new product lines this year?
The three years previous since he had been promoted to manager for new product production, they had done about one a year. In June before this fiscal year started they saw the economy slowing so they threw a dart and came up with four. If he missed any date by even one week, his bonus would be reduced, much less any chance at superior performance and the double bonus that came with it. He and Julie counted on those bonuses for the kids' college funds.
He hadn't told her about the changes in the bonus plan. He didn't want to worry her. He put in longer hours and was tired when he got home, so he didn't want the hassle of explaining. He figured before Christmas he had averaged 50 hours per week. Now he was averaging above 60, showing up every Saturday and some Sundays.
The number of hours plus the stress of the goals was wearing him down physically. His performance in the bedroom suffered. Julie and he still made love on Saturdays, but far fewer times during the week than before. It didn't seem to bother Julie. She used to initiate things once or twice a month, but since her birthday in November, he couldn't remember her starting anything. Did women start menopause this early? Was she not interested anymore?
Maybe she had never been that interested. Oh, she enjoyed it. He was sure of that. Over the years, they had settled on him performing oral on her, usually getting her to orgasm, her licking and sucking sometimes on him. If he came while she was sucking (he couldn't remember the last time that happened), she treated it as a mistake on her part and would spit it out. After oral he would get on top or sometimes she on top. Most of the time she came again before he let himself go.
But whenever he suggested something new, she didn't want it. He remembered one vacation to the mountains. The kids were still small enough that they could be put in a separate, connecting room. Their room had a balcony. After they both showered, they had gone onto the balcony and cuddled under a full moon shining down on the valley. She was in a nightgown and he in his boxers. They had necked for a few minutes on that third-floor aerie, but when he tried to get her to straddle him and make love, she was afraid someone would see and insisted they go inside.
When they had first been married, they had christened every room in the house, even on the hood of the car in the garage. Now, however, even when the kids were at the grandparents or on sleepovers, she was worried about the couch covers and only made love in bed. Well, he supposed every couple slowed down sometime.
*
The last Friday in February, they both got to the first game of Holly's soccer season. Julie watched as Michael enjoyed himself. Holly scored twice to give them all a thrill. She noticed Michael was getting an extra thrill from that big-boobed Jolene flirting with him. He was lapping up every word the redhead said to him.
Even with a sweater on, Julie could tell that Jolene hadn't put on an extra pound since college. Her waist was trim and her butt looked firm. In contrast Julie had added 10 pounds, well, maybe 15, to the 120 she weighed when she graduated from college. She couldn't remember the last time she had worked out.
"Don't worry about it."
"What?" Julie turned to Ann whose daughter, a year younger than Holly, was also on the team. She had known Ann since junior high. They had told each other the first time a boy groped their boobs. They had shared again when they each lost their virginity (the night of the Junior Prom, coincidentally). Now they could often complete each other's sentences.
"I know she's divorced and on the prowl, but I hear she has a younger stud in the stable. And I've known you and Michael forever. He'd never wander in a million years."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but it seems like lately we've been sort of stale. Maybe he's going for something fresh."
"Well, she may look fresh after her ex paid for the facelift, but I bet it smells like fish anyway." They both laughed, but Julie could see Michael smiling and animated.
Michael WAS enjoying himself. He knew Jolene was flirting. She would occasionally touch his arm to emphasize her words. He flirted right back, touching her shoulder when he pointed out something on the field. It felt good to have a different pretty woman obviously enjoying his company.
"Oh, look, Holly stole the ball," Jolene exclaimed. She grabbed his arm and also leaned against him, looking across his body. When the breakaway was over, she rotated back into a normal stance, but Michael felt both boobs rubbing across his arm.
Well, it didn't hurt to fantasize about having a lot more than a mouthful to nibble on, Michael thought. He looked at the auburn curls below his chin and wondered what shade of red the hair was on her pussy.
Holly's team won and the whole team plus parents and coaches went out for pizza. Since they had two cars to drive, Michael ended up arriving five minutes later than Julie. When he walked inside he saw that Julie was already buried among a gaggle of mothers, so he sat with the dads reviewing the spectacular plays of their offspring. Julie left with the children as the bill was being divided.
When Michael got home, he walked into the kitchen to give Julie a kiss. She turned her cheek for the kiss instead of kissing him on his lips. What had he done wrong, now?
