[All characters 18 and above.]
- 1 -
A woman was just leaving a luxury department store; she was very pale, with dark hair. The weather had not gotten very cold yet, but she was already sporting an expensive fur coat, which was paired with matte stockings and long leather boots, both black as well. She appeared quite satisfied with her findings of the day and was on her way back home, when she was suddenly approached by some youth, the type that tended to loiter around the city unsupervised.
"G'day, m'am, would you like to try some mating press?"
She thought he was trying to sell her something and waved no. She tried to move on; he wouldn't let her.
"Okay, what is it, what do you from me now, kid?"
"Mating press. Would you like to try it with me?"
"And just what do you mean by that?"
The youth explained it as best as he could without evoking obscenity.
"Absolutely not! And get away from me you little scoundrel--"
With a flush of anger she pushed him away, too forcefully: he fell on the pavement in a heavy slump on his head.
Christ, she thought, what have I done? She started to panic thinking she just murdered someone in broad daylight. After a second of two of not knowing what to do she came forward to check on the youth. He seemed hurt but appeared to be alive. And not visually angry; in fact, quite the opposite: he seemed thrilled somehow, lying flat, starring at something below and smiling like an idiot savant. She realized it was her boots.
"Jesus, are you alright? Do you want me to call an ambulance?"
"No, m'am. No need for the hospitality. Just a little concussion. I felt good, reborn, almost."
She noticed something and took off her sunglasses, her pale blue eyes opened wide: there was a sizable bulge in his pants. What is wrong with this kid? It was a serious fall and she even felt the ground trembling a little, and he grew a hard-on instead?
"You know, I can cover whatever fees they'll charge you for the ride and the check, if that's what you're worried about - I just don't want to leave you with an undiagnosed internal hemorrhage that'll turn you into a plant in three days."
The kid shook his shaved head. Textbook late-adolescent teen. He and her niece would get along real good.
"Fine. I see that I can't convince you. Then at least let's get you on your feet again and see if you can still walk properly." She reached out to him. The kid lay on the street, immobile, saved for his grin.
"Thanks m'am. You needn't worry about me. It's good down here. I feel quite at home." It was getting a little awkward; they were visually interrupting the busy pedestrian traffic. The kid seemed to be thinking. After a pause he came back to her:
"M'am, maybe you've changed your mind and become interested in the mating press?"
"No - please don't ask me again about that subject -"
"Then perhaps I can take a peek under your dress, m'am?"
"No -"
"But you can at least allow me to lick your boots, m'am?"
"Good lord - no! I will not - you can't just ask people for that sort of things! Have your parents not taught you any decency and self-respect?"
"They both died when I was young, m'am. I look after myself mostly."
"Heavens! I'm sorry."
The kid had gotten up and was sitting with legs folded like a buddha. There he suddenly started to sob. She was startled and asked him why.
"It's nothing, m'am, just that I've remembered I have nowhere to sleep tonight, and I haven't found anything to eat also."
Christ! That must be why he faltered so easily when she gave him the push. Somewhere in her lower gut she felt a sudden pinch: here she was, indulging her luxury livings, while some kid was literally starving to oblivion. Her long-latent maternal instinct was awakened. She made up her mind to do the right thing.
"Let me take you to my place and get you something to eat first.
And please don't 'm'am' me anymore! You're killing me with that formality."
- 2 -
The kid had taken a shower in her bathroom and was now wolfing down the roast chicken left over from last evening. She took the dirty clothes to the laundry and gave him something of her husband's. They were too large on him and made the kid look like Charlie Chaplin. She studied him from across the table with an intense curiosity. What sort of a kid would be empty-stomached for a whole day yet prioritize wandering around the blocks soliciting sex from grown women twice his age?
"You have a beautiful house, m'am."
"It is, isn't it? Just a little empty at times."
"Where is your husband?"
"Abroad. Work. Do me a favor and don't marry someone if you intend to be a workaholic."
He didn't seem to catch the jest.
"Where are your children?"
"Never had one. Can't. My husband thinks it's my problem. I think it's him. Perhaps it's both."