It's kind of hard to explain how it all happened. I fell in love with my husband at a young age. I don't think I was able to distinguish passion from love. We weren't responsible, and I ended up getting pregnant before I graduated high school. Luckily, Mark was a hard worker and was set on proving that he could make a living for our family. Like everyone, the first few years were really tough as we scraped by and borrowed tons of money from anyone that was willing to lend a helping hand.
Mark worked as a life insurance agent and did well despite the high turnover rate. I've been working as a part-time tutor for the past two years, and I was able to bring in a small amount that helped with our debts. Ben turned 12, and we were comfortable. Slowly paying off our debts and saving money, it looked like things could only get better.
It was summer now, and Mark and I decided it was time that Ben experienced summer camp. With Ben gone at camp, my phone was ringing off the hook from anxious moms looking desperately for someone to get their kids into a university. I had an objective outlook and asked all my potential clients how much they would be willing to pay me. I created a spreadsheet that calculated how much I would make from each prospective client. All the offers were in the same ballpark. It was only a matter of randomly choosing which job to take up. I decided to go with the most polite woman that I talked with. She went by Mrs. Hensley and her son, Josh, was not only struggling with the standardized tests but school in general. We agreed upon meeting three times a week, weekends excluded, for 4 hours.
After having breakfast with Mark and kissing him goodbye, I hopped in the shower to prepare for my first day. As usual, I wore somewhat professional attire that consisted of a black and brown striped pantsuit with a matching blazer and a white blouse underneath. Even though the pants looked extremely tight around my rear and legs, it was comfortable to wear; they felt like sweats. On the other hand, the blazer was a mistake I was learning as I drove to Mrs. Hensley's house.
I had to put the blazer back on when I arrived at Mrs. Hensley's. I didn't usually sweat, but it was definitely heating up. The house was a standard suburban home enclosed in a private neighborhood. I rang the doorbell, both nervous and excited.
"Come in, Mrs. Brae," She dressed nicely, but her body was round and plump. She had very short, curly, brown hair, a big nose, and heavy black bags weighing under her eyes.
"Oh, please call me Shannon, Mrs. Hensley."
"Thank you so much for tutoring my son on such short notice. I've hired plenty of tutors, but nothing seems to stick." She seemed to backpedal from there, worried she'd scare me off. She sat me down in her living room after asking if I needed any refreshments. "Josh. Mrs. Brae is here." She called out.
I heard his door open from the basement as he thumped up the stairs and then opened the door that connected to the living room. "Hello, Mrs. Brae." He sat beside his mother slouched and looked down at the floor. He looked a lot like his mother. Poor kid. I could see why he would have trouble in school. He didn't seem like he had very many friends and he was socially awkward. You could feel it if you were in the same room as him.
"Hi, Josh. You can call me Shannon by the way. I'm really looking forward to our time together. Just stick with me and we'll be able to get you into any college that you want." I offered my hand to him.
He got up and shook it and then sat back down. "Well now that you two are acquainted, it looks like I can go to work. Is it alright if we start this same time every day Mrs. Brae?"
"That's fine with me. Don't let us keep you from getting to work on time."
"Feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge. The study is upstairs or wherever you feel most comfortable Mrs. Brae." She had a massive smile on her face. I think everyone was anticipating the small changes.
We had a short first day and covered a lot of ground. The only thing I had to complain about was how hot it was in the study. The sun was beaming through the large wall windows, intensifying the heat. There were more than several incidents where I caught Josh staring at my cleavage. It got awkward, but I didn't say anything because I knew how high school boys were. Also, I was used to men staring at my oversized chest.
After finishing my session with Josh, I started cooking dinner for Mark and me. It seemed like an eternity since the last time we had time to ourselves. I called Ben to make sure everything was okay. Luckily for me, he was having the time of his life and made a lot of new friends. The summer camp kept us updated daily as they uploaded pictures to their facebook.
"Hey Shay, I'm home." That was his nickname for me ever since high school.
"Dinner's on the table. I'll be down in a second." Not having to cater to Ben had given me a slight anxiety as if I had lost something. In return, both Mark and I had a lot more time to ourselves.
"So how was the kid? Is he weird?" Mark was smiling and enjoying his food.
"He's a sweet kid. A little overweight, but very kind."
"A porker huh? Remind you of anyone?" He was referring to himself. He was always amazed at how we ended up dating. Mark was the typical fat loner at school and he describes me as the bombshell.
"Actually, I caught him staring at me a couple of times," I giggled.
Mark laughed back, "I guess it's only natural. I mean look at you." He got up from his seat and placed his hand on my breast. "Who wouldn't want to feel these?" My body was flushed with raging hormones, must've been the heat, as he kissed me and continued to grope my breasts. Mark wasn't usually so impulsive to do such things to me.
We couldn't finish dinner and ended up having sex right there. I was surprised at how aggressive Mark was. We hadn't had sex for over a month, but this time he was exceptional. If this was what summer would be like, I sure was looking forward to it.
I decided to go to the gym on my day off. I'd been going to the local gym a couple of years ago and was finally getting my high school figure back. My stomach flattened out and my butt was tight again. While I was on the treadmill I got a text message from Josh, "Shannon?"
"Yes?" I replied.
5 minutes had passed when he replied, "I think you're beautiful."
"Thank you Josh." I didn't think much of it as I was focused on running.
Another 10 minutes passed when he texted me again, "Can I get a picture of you right now?"
I stopped the treadmill a little weirded out now. "Why do you need my picture for Josh?"
He didn't text back for the rest of the day. Weird kid.
The next day, when I arrived at Josh's house, he apologized and profusely begged me not to tell his mom. "Josh I would've gladly sent you a picture, but I just wanted to know what you needed it for."
His eyes lit up. "Really?"
"Let me give you a little tip about girls Josh. At your age, girls are still new to the dating scene. So rather than being uncomfortable with someone who has the same experience, girls tend to flock to the guys who act like they know what they're doing. Do you understand what I'm getting at?"
"Girls like douchebags?" I was surprised. That was what I was trying to say.
"Not necessarily, but they do like confident guys. Be confident Josh. It's a very wanted trait in all men." He just shook his head thinking it over in his head.
"So... Can I take a picture with you Shannon?"
"Yes," he was in disbelief, "see Josh? Sometimes you just have to ask." After taking the picture, we pounded out a couple of books for the rest of the day.
I got home around 5 and since there was nothing to do I decided to check up on my facebook. I didn't usually log into my facebook that much, maybe once a week, and I didn't maintain it either, like how some people pollute their profiles with pictures. When I logged in I noticed a friend request and some new notifications. It was Josh. Josh had uploaded the picture we had taken and tagged me in it. I 'liked' the image. It was a pretty cute picture, but Josh couldn't dilute that awkwardness that was him. I checked out his profile. To my surprise, he had over 500 friends.
Mark wasn't into the whole online social network and never really asked about my facebook. We would sometimes check up on our high school friends and talk about how some have changed, but that was about it. I accepted Josh's friend request and logged off my computer. When Mark came home he seemed more tired than usual. Our conversation was minimal and he went to bed straight after dinner.
After seeing Mark off in the morning I found myself yet again on facebook. I was bombarded with new notifications, 37 to be exact. Many people had 'liked' the picture that Josh had uploaded and then there were the comments. My friends were the worst when it came to being politically correct.
"Who's the sexy babe Shannon?" (2 likes)
