I'd been seeing Debbie for around three months; we were both in our early twenties (this was the 1980's), worked for the same company and my closest workmate was dating her best friend, so getting together with her seemed natural.
A company sports and social club night out to a local German styled beer hall had resulted in much drinking, and dancing on tables. At one point in the evening Debbie had squeezed past me on her way to the ladies, flashing a big smile my way. So, when I spotted her making her way back I thought nothing ventured, caught her around her waist and pulled her close. I wasn't sure if I was getting kissed or slapped but it turned out to be the former and we'd been an item ever since.
Debbie was attractive, dark curly hair and a pretty face. She had nice curves without them being outrageous and it turned out that she usually wore stockings to work under her corporate wear although it was more for practicality as she explained it rather than to be overtly sexy.
The only frustration for me was that after three months we still hadn't had full sex. We'd groped on the sofa when her parents had gone to bed, and we had even slept squeezed into the same single bed together when we had stayed overnight at one of her friends' houses, but that's as far as it went. I hadn't really thought at the time that she might still be a nervous a virgin, I was just frustrated and very horny.
Debbie's parents, the Thomas's, seemed to like me well enough. Her father Michael was a placid type, a driving instructor by profession who worked long hours to keep up a decent standard of living, but when he was around he was friendly and chatty towards me. Debbie's mother, Angela, also came across as very "pleasant", inoffensive and welcoming towards me. She was quick to want to feed me or make me a drink whenever I turned up in that typical motherly fashion, but otherwise kept herself busy with chores around the house or spending time on shopping trips with one of her girl pals.
I had been thinking of breaking up with Debbie for a week or two due to my increasing levels of frustration starting to get the better of me. She was nice, but I'd never had any thoughts that Debbie might ultimately be 'the one', and our company was a large employer with a young workforce and a great social scene which meant there were always opportunities to find female company. I've never been movie-star good looking, but neither am I a gargoyle and even then, I could hold a conversation with a woman without becoming a babbling mess so I wasn't worried that I might be alone for too long, but I wanted to be careful not to cause a huge amount of fallout from a breakup that impacted our circle of friends.
While this was all on my mind I had tried to behave as normally as I could in front of Debbie and her parents, and on this Saturday afternoon I had rocked up at Debbie's parents place to spend time with her much as I usually did on weekends only to find there was no one home. I couldn't remember Debbie telling me she wouldn't be at home, but then I may not have been listening to her as attentively as I should lately, so in an age without mobile communications I had two choices.
I chose to hang around for a while and sat outside the house in my car listening to music with my head back and my eyes closed, I left the motor running as it was wintertime and not too warm outside. After around twenty minutes like this a sharp tap on the window made me jump and I opened my eyes to find Debbie's mother smiling through the wide window, no doubt amused that she had startled me.
"Hey Sam, what are you doing out here?"
"Hi Mrs Thomas, I wasn't sure where Debbie was so I thought I would hang around and see if she came home any time soon."
"Well, you'll be waiting a long time, she's away until tomorrow evening visiting with her friend from university. I'm sure I heard her tell you last weekend when you were here."
I realised I'd messed up and felt the colour rising in my cheeks. Scrambling to cover myself I replied "Um, I remember now, I just didn't realise it was this weekend she was talking about."
"I believe you Sam, thousands wouldn't." she responded with a knowing smile, "Come on, you might as well come inside and have a warm drink before you head home. You can hold a couple of these bags for me while I fish out my door keys from my bag."
Turning off the car engine I stepped out and saw that she was holding on to half a dozen or so bags with clothing shop names on them which meant she had been on another spree with her friends.
I followed her inside once the door was opened and we headed for the kitchen.
"You can put those down by the bottom of the stairs, I'll take them up and unpack them later." She busied herself filling the kettle and getting mugs out of the cupboard to make coffees and I took a seat at the kitchen table.
I thought I had better make some conversation, "It looks like you've had a successful shopping trip Mrs Thomas." Turning to face me while she poured the now boiled water into our coffee cups, she suddenly became quite serious looking.
"Never mind my shopping Sam, what's going on with you and Debbie? The last couple of times you've been here you've looked like you wanted to be somewhere else, and you clearly aren't paying too much attention to her when she talks with you, otherwise you wouldn't be here today." She paused to pass my coffee mug over to me, "You're planning to break up with her, aren't you?"
She spoke softly an calmly and looked me square in the eyes waiting for an answer. I knew I was caught bang to rights as they say, and figured there was no point in lying or fumbling around with my response as she would probably see through either.
I responded to her quietly "Yes, I have been thinking about it Mrs Thomas. If I'm completely honest I'm just not sure how to go about it without hurting her too much or causing a problem for our group of friends."
"Well thank you for being straight about it, most young men of your age would have tried to lie their way out of my question. It's not healthy to stay in a relationship if you aren't completely happy or committed to it. But do you mind if I ask why? I thought you two really got along well."
I was a little relieved. I had expected her to explode at me and throw me straight out, and I wasn't sure that that still wouldn't happen if I blurted out that I wanted to dump her daughter because she wouldn't have sex with me. So, I paused whist I tried to choose my words carefully and it must have given the game away because she answered before I could.
"It's sex isn't it. You want to finish with her because she won't have sex with you, isn't that it? Be honest!"
I felt myself going red again which was answer enough for her, and I thought there was no point in trying to deny it. I nodded, "I'm sorry Mrs Thomas. That must seem very immature of me, but we've been going out for months now and she just doesn't seem to be interested in a physical relationship. I've tried not to pressure her, but I do get very ...." my voice trailed off as I realised I was heading into too much information territory.
"You get horny is what you get, you're young and full of hormones and cum and you want to get laid, am I right?"
"Well, I'm not sure I would put it quite like that." I responded, still waiting for a full-on ear bashing.
I had never heard Debbie's mum use even a mild swear word so hearing her use the word "cum" shocked me a little. I braced myself for what I was sure was going to be a lecture on how shallow I was, followed by swift ejection from the house, but it didn't come.
She sat at the head of kitchen table, cradling her coffee cup in both of her hands, and sighed. "I was afraid of this."
I thought she was referring to my wanting to break up with her daughter and I started to try to defend myself, but she cut across me. "I think it might be a family trait, not on my side but on her fathers. Mike is a very loyal and loving husband, but he has almost no interest in me physically," she was clearly choosing her words carefully, "and I think Debbie may be made the same way."
This was a conversation I was completely unprepared for, and with someone my mother's age. I struggled to find an appropriate response but needn't have worried as Angela continued to speak.
"I've learned to cope with it over the years and distract myself with other interests - hence the shopping trips, and lunches with my girlfriends. But I've been worried for a while that Debbie might take after her father in that respect, and it looks like I might be correct." Angela paused to take a sip of her coffee, "I've tried talking to her about it, but she just tells me it's not something that's important to her at the moment and then changes the subject."
Finding my voice, I tried to sound sympathetic, "I'm sorry to hear that Mrs Thomas, about you and your husband I mean. But to be honest I really don't know what this means for Debbie and me."
"Look Sam, you're young and have lots of wild oats to sow, I think you and Debbie make a good couple but I'm not going to give you a hard time if you decide to break up with her, just please find a way to do it gently, and maybe don't mention this conversation!"
My mind pretty much made up and now feeling slightly awkward, I finished my coffee and made to get up from the table to head off home.
"I'll try my best Mrs Thomas, but I should probably get out from under your feet for now and let you put your shopping away."
"Ok," she replied "if that's what you want to do, otherwise you are more than welcome to hang out here for a while. As I said, I'm not holding any grudges, Michael is working until at least eight-thirty this evening and it would be nice to have some company and conversation."
I shrugged my shoulders and told her "Sure, it would be nice to stick around for a while, I would only be going home to an empty house so the company would be good." I also figured that she was likely to offer to feed me at some point which would be very welcome and made another compelling argument for staying put for a while.
She smiled and rose from the table, retrieving our coffee cups she moved over to the sink to rinse them. I'd never thought of Mrs Thomas in a sexual way, she'd always adopted such a motherly approach towards me that it hadn't occurred to me to see her as anything other than Debbie's mum, but I watched her now as she walked away from the table.
Angela Thomas was, I suppose, a fairly typical example of a forty-something mum and housewife. Pleasantly attractive, with broad hips, a thickened middle and what appeared to be a hefty pair of breasts underneath her thick sweater. She wasn't what Americans would refer to as a 'soccer mom', and she wasn't going to turn heads when she was on her shopping outings with the girls, but she was pretty when she smiled and made you feel at ease in her company.
"Earth to Sam." she laughed as I startled, too engrossed in my study of her to realise she was watching me and I felt my face turning red, embarrassed at getting caught out.
"Sorry Mrs Thomas, I was miles away." I stumbled.
"Yes, I could see that, no harm done. Now, you wait here while I pop upstairs to put my shopping away. We can continue our chat when I come back down."