It was obvious to Mark the moment he stepped through the door, that something was up. "Guess what?" Gwen, his charming wife, asked, hugging him tightly while giving him an enthusiastic welcoming kiss, before going on excitedly, not giving him a chance to respond. "Corporate management is sending me to the International Aesthetics Convention and Aesthetician's Conference, in Santa Fe, New Mexicoâall expenses paid!"
Gwen and Mark were newly-minted empty-nesters, and Gwen had only recently rejoined the work force, having landed the manager position at a spa facility in Toronto. As she had only been in the position for less than eight months, the offer of a trip was both a surprising and a welcome Professional Development opportunity. The month's lead-time found her swept up in preparations for the five days and four nightsâThursday to Mondayâfieldtrip, and busy, until the day finally arrived.
Seeing her as far as the gate, Mark said his farewells. "Behave yourself!" he teasingly admonished, amused by his wife's giddy excitement. He watched her disappear into the innards of the airportâwaving furiously over her shoulder until she was out of sight. Amazingly, it was the very first time she'd been away from home by herself since getting married.
Gwen arrived to the bustle of the Santa Fe airport, still buzzing after the three-and-a-half-hour flight. After picking up her bags, she was pleasantly surprised to spot, in the welcoming crowd, a uniformed man holding up a sign that read 'International Aesthetics Convention'. "Gwen Brooks, from Canada?" he said, checking her off on a list when she confirmed, "Welcome." He, then, showed her out and onto the waiting mini-bus. Riding the shuttle to the convention centre, Gwen was still a little too overwhelmed to make much conversation with the other passengers. They were all dropped at the portico entrance, where they mingled into a large crowd of women milling about and making their way to the front desk. Eventually Gwen got to her room in which she dropped her bag, freshened up, and, a little timidly, made her way to the registration table to pick up her name tag and conference package.
At the Meet 'N' Greet, Thursday night, it became apparent to Gwen that the majority of participants at the conference were fifteen to twenty years younger than her. For some reason Gwen generally hung on to the silly tradition of not telling her age; suffice to say that although she could easily pass for mid to late thirties, she was well past her mid-forties. Nonetheless, Gwen routinely responded to anyone asking with a single wordâ"Guess," and a coy smile. While she saw herself as a plain, middle-aged, middle-class housewife, she would have been astounded if she knew how many of the men she came across dailyâfriends and strangers, alikeâconsidered her a MILF. (Furthermore, she would have been terribly embarrassed to find out just what that meant.) Even more she would have been shocked to know how often their conversations turned to what they'd like to do to her, and how, given half a chance.
Friday, the first full day of the convention, was as enlightening as it was busy. Gwen met a few women who attended several of the same sessions as her, and, consequently, ended up chumming with them. After dinner one of them announced, "Okay! Enough of the shop-talkâit's time to parrrr-teeee!" After making her call homeâright after dinner, in consideration of the time-zone difference, Gwen was bustled along with the lively group, without actually being given a choice. Her tacit inclusion made her smile, despite feeling she was more than a little out of her element.
The gang of girls met in the lobby and went into the attached club. Gwen followed along passively, wryly admitting to herself that she was succumbing to a bit of 'herd mentality'. To start, she mostly watched, sipping on a drink, a bit like a den-motherâyet, rather envious. Those young women apparently had so much more confidence than she had ever had. Presently, though, she was distracted by a few slick young bucks chatting her up, and, eventually, asking her to dance. She really surprised herself by accepting. After dancing more than a few dances, she was rather pleased with how much fun she was having, and flattered by the fact that her young partners tried to sneak the odd, subtle grope.
It had been quite the day, and despite the excitement of the club, Gwen swallowed her pride and was the first to say her goodbyes, and retire for the evening. The next day, Saturday, was equally frenetic; busy enough through the day that she hadn't time to think much about the previous evening's entertainment, but what flashes of memory she had were oddly accompanied by a tingling warmth in her core. "What is that about?" she wondered.
Surprisingly, the same group of girls, more or less, from the night before, insisted that she join them again. In fact, they wouldn't hear of her taking a pass. "What, you didn't enjoy last night? Coulda fooled me!" they cajoled.
Putting up only token reluctanceâ"I'm an old married broad! I'm certain to cramp your style, don't you think?"âGwen allowed herself to be talked into joining her colleagues Saturday nightâonce again after her call home.
Gwen recognized that she was bowing to peer pressureâas much as any of those gorgeous, confident young women could be considered a peerâbut, she was, nonetheless, more than a little curious and somewhat titillated as well. At the same club as the night before, they occupied a couple tables, got drinks underway and began making eyes at all the single men. Their conspicuous presence drew the attention of a flotilla of young Latinosâall wearing blouse-y white shirts over shiny tight black pants and black slip-ons with Cuban heelsâmany of whom they'd met the night before. While they were definitely a slick group of young guys, their handsome and familiar faces seemed safe. Carlos, whom she had met on Friday, sat with Gwen and began chatting her up. His attention, along with her drink, warmed her.
A short time into the evening a sing-song-y voice next to her pierced the thrum of the crowd. "I've come to save you, Dude! Save you from this lame party."
Gwen thought that it didn't seem so bad, "But what do I know?"
"Luis my man 'zupp?"
"Carlos...," they exchanged some kind of personal handshake before going on.
"Yeah, Luis, this pretty lady is my friend, Gwen."