Since this was a contest story I didn’t originally plan to write more, but response was so overwhelmingly positive I decided to add more content after all. I think this next chapter came out very well, and I hope everyone enjoys more of David and Roxy’s story. Thank you for the all the great comments on my last installment!
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If there was one thing that Roxy Doyle would have wanted to see improved in her current residence; a bigger bathroom would have been right near the top of the list. The existing cramped space tended to fill with steam when she showered, and despite her best efforts to organize it, there still wasn’t enough cabinet space for all her beauty supplies.
She stood in front of the mirror using one hand to wipe away the fog with a towel, revealing her face in the glass.
It was an attractive face, or so many men had told her throughout her life. Roxy herself was rather indifferent to it by this point having accrued quite a few years staring at her own visage. At least she had been, recent events had made her more aware of her looks. She squinted at her reflection, thinking that she could see more wrinkles around her eyes than had been there the previous week. The fact that she was about to celebrate her thirtieth birthday probably had something to do with her newfound insecurity, but an even more significant reason was her boyfriend.
Ten weeks earlier, Roxy had met David, a young man just out of high school who had come to work for her as a summer hire. The last thing she had ever imagined was that she would fall for him. The very idea had seemed ridiculous at first. He was eleven years her junior, inexperienced and a little bumbling right out of the gate. She had initially felt exasperation at his sarcasm and seeming lack of focus on his work, but over time she had discovered there was much more to this kid than she had first thought. He learned quickly, never made the same mistake twice, and proved to be a conscientious worker with excellent attention to detail.
The more time she spent around him, the more she found to like about him. He was kind and thoughtful, brave, and selfless. There was a maturity in him that mixed with his youthful innocence and dry wit attracted her in a way that no man had in a long time. She tried to resist her feelings. A task made much more difficult by the fact that David was also a very handsome young man with a body that was far more mature than its owners face. Given their age difference, and her relationship baggage that included a seven-year-old daughter, it seemed far more sensible to be his boss and keep a discreet distance.
When she had failed at that, she had tried to settle on being his friend.
In the end, she had failed at that as well.
David broke through the thick walls of indifference she had built up by doing no more than being himself, and that was both exciting and frightening to her. It forced Roxy to open herself to the kind of pain she had turned her back on, and to admit that she didn’t have to be alone. For a woman that had forged her personality around fierce independence, this kind of vulnerability made her nervous. Add to this the fact that their May/December relationship was unconventional, to say the least, and you had a recipe for some sleepless nights.
Then there were the wrinkles.
A banging on her bathroom door jerked Roxy away from the minute inspection of her face.
“What?” she snapped, opening the door enough to reveal the kindly old face of her neighbor, Mrs. Foster.
“I just wanted to let you know that David will be here soon. What’s taking so long?”
“I know what time it is, Mrs. Foster. I was just counting my wrinkles.”
“Wrinkles? You’re about to turn thirty, Roxy, not seventy. You want to see wrinkles? Take a look at my face, Sweetie.”
“It’s not your face that David has to look at all the time.”
“Feeling a little insecure today, are we?”
“No...Yes...Shit! I don’t know!” said Roxy loudly as she struggled to put on her makeup, “this is what I get for dating a younger guy.”
“You wouldn’t give him up for the world, though, would you? I’ve never seen you so happy as you’ve been since David came into your life.”
Roxy made a face in the mirror, she hated to give her nosey neighbor the satisfaction by admitting it, but she was right. David had swept into her orderly life and turned it all upside down but in a good way. He was proving to be a something she hadn’t believed existed, a man she could count on.
If he had just been a little older...
“David is a great guy. There. I said it out loud. Happy?”
“Just so long as you know it that’s all that matters, Dear. He is a peach. Why, if I was forty years younger, I might be trying to steal him from you!”
“Mrs. Foster! You’re going to make me blush, and I’m trying to get the color right on my face.”
“Don’t think I don’t know what goes on over here after lights out. These walls ain’t that thick...” said Mrs. Foster with a knowing grin.
This time Roxy did blush, for all his lack of practical experience, David seemed to have a natural ability in the bedroom. In their short time together, he had given her some truly epic orgasms that more than once had left her legs shaking.
“Why don’t you go back to watching soap operas and leave me in peace?”
“Fine, Dear,” said Mrs. Foster with a laugh.
Roxy finished getting herself ready and went to her bedroom to change into her clothes for their outing.
“I can’t believe I agreed to this trip. Two days of camping with a bunch of teenagers,” said Roxy returning to the living room where she stuffed her wallet into the backpack that sat on the floor.
“They’re his friends,” pointed out Mrs. Foster.
“They hate me. I’ve heard them call me ‘Grandma’ behind my back when they think I’m not listening.”
“Heather was the only one that called you a grandma. The others like you just fine.”
“Yeah, that’s another thing. You know she’s coming this weekend? Me and his ex-girlfriend on a camping trip! What could go wrong?”
“She is still his friend. They’ve known each other for years.”
“Little bitch wants him back too. She tries to pretend she’s accepted things, but I’ve seen the way she looks at him,” said Roxy hotly, crossing her arms.
“Are you seriously threatened by the wiles of a teenage girl?”
“What? No...Of course, not...I...I’m just saying it’s...it’s...rude!” replied Roxy flailing for the right word to describe her complicated feelings toward her boyfriends ex-flame.
“I wouldn’t worry. I’ve seen the way David looks at you. There is nothing Heather could ever do that would change that look in his eyes.”
Roxy nearly started blushing again, and she was glad when a knock at the door interrupted this conversation before it got worse.
Mrs. Foster was closer, and she opened the door to reveal David standing on the other side his usual care-free smile plastered prominently across his face.
“David! Come on in. We were just talking about you.”
“All good things I hope?”
“Of course!”
David stepped through the door, and instantly Roxy felt like a school girl all over again basking in the attention of her biggest crush. It was a disconcerting feeling for a grown woman, and one she had never gotten used too.
“Ready to go?” he asked his dark eyes falling on her and making her wish they were alone. She wouldn’t have minded leaving a bit late and dragging him to the bedroom first.
“I left Emily’s pediatricians number on the fridge. Don’t hesitate to call if there is any trouble, but I don’t know if we’ll have cell phone service.”
Mrs. Foster smiled indulgently, “I raised three kids of my own. I think I can handle yours for the weekend. You two go and have a good time.”
David picked up Roxy’s pack for her slinging it over one shoulder.
“Off we go! The great wilderness awaits.”
Roxy sighed and with a look of resignation followed him out the door.
An hour later, they were well outside the city. The freeway in front of them climbed steadily upward into the vast pine forest of the Sequoia National Park. The temperature had dropped as they ascended, leaving the scorching heat of the low desert behind.
