Even though he'd spent almost every one of his eighteen summers on vacation in Spain, being of fair complexion and blond hair, Chris found the early summer afternoons, when the temperatures soared over 35C too much to bear. This afternoon while sheltering inside, he'd been unable to drown out the intimate noises sounds of his parents that penetrated the thin walls of the apartment.in their bedroom. Feeling more than a little uncomfortable he rose from the couch and padded out of the apartment, dressed only in his baggy swim shorts, vest and flip flops.
Across the apartment complex Chris found himself drawn to the cool breeze coming out of the community room, where the AC was running at maximum. As he slipped into the room he saw that it was Scrabble afternoon; most of the tables were already occupied by groups of 2, 3 and 4 who were silently playing their game. Chris slid into the nearest chair at an unoccupied table, intending only to chill for a moment before facing the blistering sun again. Almost immediately, he was joined by another late-comer Susan.
Susan was 47. He knew this because she and his mother talked often and he'd overheard them remark on their shared year of birth. He also knew that she'd made a pot of money working in the City of London, had parted from her husband and had completely relocated here about four years ago. Other than that Chris had only shared the occasional nod of hello with Susan, but he had enjoyed the occasional stroke after seeing her relax by the communal pool. While Chris' shoulder-length blond hair, all year round tan and maturing good looks meant he didn't have problems with getting girls, there was something about Susan that always turned him on. Maybe it was the fact that her body was slightly more filled out than the girls of his own age. Not that Susan could be considered fat in any way, just that she had all the right curves in all the right places. Or, maybe it was the element of mystery; the way he'd never seen her without shades, even in the pool. It could even have been the fact that her clothes, swimsuits, bikinis, sandals and shades were all designer and enhanced an already beautiful woman, taking a good 15 years off her age. In any case, Chris wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, when he had the golden opportunity to sit opposite her and take add to his wank-bank the occasional close range look down the cleavage that was clearly on view inside her loose white shirt.
"Want to play?" She asked.
Already this was one of the longer exchanges between the two and Chris was sure that an impish grin was concealed behind the simple question.
"Sure," he replied. "I'm up for it."
"Yes. But are you any good?" She challenged.
And with that, Susan picked up the small green bag of Scrabble tiles, shook it, opened it and invited him to take seven. Chris made his selection, looked down at his row of consonants and lonely vowel and sighed inwardly; he wasn't going to make much from this.
"Ladies first," he declared with a flurry of chivalry.
For a few seconds Susan played with her tiles: rearranging them over and over. Tilting her head inquisitively at times and then tapping a tile with the purple-painted nail of her index finger before shaking her head and moving them around again. Finally she began to place her tiles in the center of the board, spelling out CABALA and declaring that with a double letter score for the C and a double word score she'd achieved 26 points.
Chris looked back down at his own array of letters, which comprised K, C, O, P, Q, L and N. The best he seemed to be able to make was PLANK using one of the A's from Susan's word. But, with an inward chuckle to himself, he used his own tiles and Susan's C to spell COCK.
"Is that all you've got?" Susan asked, with a trace of a smile edging from her mouth towards the corners of her eyes.
"It's not the size that count's, it's what you do with it," he replied with the confidence of youth.
"Yes," she admonished. "And you've not used it very well here. That's just 12 points. If you'd have gone her and made LOCK for example you'd have scored more. But maybe we are playing different games."
Reddening slightly, Chris realised he'd been a little too bold too quickly and had been rumbled straight away. He admonished himself and decided to play the game straight now. However, Susan's next move made him wonder if the AC was on at all; as he felt a sudden spike in temperature.
Susan had spelled out TEASE; adding it to the end of COCK, to make COCKTEASE.
"32," she declared, having added the total in her head by tapping each of the tiles with her fingernail.
"Ah, I'd not put you a day over 31," Chris re-joined, suddenly emboldened again.
Susan wasn't able to help herself from breaking into a broad grin and a short coquettish laugh.
"Mmmmm. Flattery will get you everywhere." As she encouraged Chris, Susan simultaneously leaned forward and crossed her legs under the table; bringing the toe of her bare foot to rest on the inside of Chris' knee. It was clear to Chris that Susan was not wearing a bra under her linen shirt. Chris took a single tile from his options, adding to the word in play and making COCKTEASER.
