Grace scoffed when she read the email on her laptop. She was sitting in the back of the bus next to her son. They were halfway to their destination, and at the current moment, the bus was in the hot desert of Arizona.
"What happened?" Billy asked.
She kept her eyes on the laptop. "An article I'm working on. Apparently the senior Editor has lost her mind."
"Are you looking at porn?"
"Keep quiet, would you?" she hissed, turning the laptop away.
There were 9 other people there. Many were around her own age. The rest were seniors. At this point in the trip, most of them had dozed off.
"What was it?" he asked, a bit more quietly.
Normally she was open with her son. She loved sharing details of articles she was working on. And since Billy was a journalism major in college, she decided to fill him in on the latest story she was writing.
She turned the laptop towards her son. "My boss sent me these pictures. I was making an article about sexual harassment that occurs on transportation. My boss wants me to expand it to include the different ways that people can have sex in flights or buses."
"Sounds like your boss wants clickbait."
"My point exactly. I'm trying to figure out a compromise. I'll deliver the clickbait article on sex in tight spaces, if she'll publish my story on harassment."
"Look at the bright side, you can use this trip for inspiration."
"Funny," she replied.
They went back to doing their own things. Grace worked on her laptop. And Billy seemed as restless as ever. The bus ride was going to last another hour.
"Would you mind looking away from my computer, please?" Grace asked.
"Okay."
Grace clicked an attachment to her email. A video played. In the corner of her eye, she saw her son glancing. That's when she closed her laptop.
"I said don't look," she snapped.
"You have an interesting boss. That's hardcore porn."
"Sex sells. That's why my boss wants this project finished."
"Maybe I can help."
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"You obviously hate this assignment. Let me write it for you."
"This breaches ethical boundaries."
"No one is going to know. So what ethical violations are there?"
Grace shook her head. "I don't want to read your writings on sex. It'll make me feel icky."
"What's worse? Reading my sex article? Or you having to finish that article alone? You look miserable doing this."
That was an accurate statement and she was trapped. Letting a few seconds linger so she could think, she came up with a solution.
"Let's compromise," she said. "We'll work together. How about that?"
He smiled, "Can I type?"
"Be my guest."
Grace handed the laptop to her son. She watched as he took it and played the video clip. It featured a naked woman riding a guy's lap. It was meant to be educational, but it was arousing nonetheless.
Since they had been traveling together for the last few days, she knew that Billy didn't have much of an opportunity to masturbate. She knew he was pent up. She had enough life experience (and sexual experience) to know when a guy was wound tight.
"The article is about sex in tight spaces?" he asked.
"Yes. Mile high clubs in an airplane bathroom. Sex in the back of the bus. That sort of thing. My boss says it's feasible. I think it's crazy."
"Your boss is right. Great sex is possible in tight spaces."
"Easy for you to say. Men can sit or stand. Women have to perform gymnastics."
"Stand halfway. Right here."
She looked surprised. "You want me to model for you?"
"Yes, it's for the story."
"Billy, I'm wearing a skirt. You'd be able to see the shape of my butt."
"If you make your boss happy, you'll have more freedom to make news articles."
The comment made Grace pause. It was a good point.
"Okay, fine," she said.
"Stand up. In this position."
Billy paused the clip, which showed a woman bending over with her ass pointed back. He turned the laptop so mom could see it.
Grace cringed. But work was work. She grabbed the seat in front of her, which was unoccupied, and lifted herself. She took the same position as the sex performer, letting her butt protrude. She knew she had a great ass, and now, her son was gazing at it.
"Got what you need?" she asked, refusing to even look at him.
"Yep. It all checks out."
She rolled her eyes at the double meaning. Then she sat down.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"Sex in the backseat of a bus would
definitely
work. Also, you'd make a great model. Just saying."
She rolled her eyes again. "Okay, we'll continue this assignment later when we aren't trapped next to each other."
Grace took the laptop back from her son. When she pulled the laptop back, Billy immediately put his hands across his lap. She knew what it meant.
"Are you..." her voice trailed off.
"No, I'm not."
"Is that an erection? From looking at my butt?"
He shook his head. "No way. It's from the video."
"I knew you were pent up," she said, smiling. "But this? I should be freaking out right now, but maybe, just maybe, I'm taking it as a compliment."
He blushed. "Okay, let's pretend this never happened."
"Are you still interested in helping me write it? You had a great point. Maybe you can be my assistant. It'll spare me the misery."
He whispered. "Well, I've never, you know, had sex in a tight space before. But I know I could write about it... if..."
"Say it."
"If I had more time to analyze the positions. I'd need to know, from a male perspective, how I'd need to turn my body."
She looked at him sharply. "So you want me to pose for you again?"
"It would improve the article."
"Let's make it quick. No touching. I want to finish this."
He nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
She closed the laptop and stood at a partial angle. She held onto the empty seat in front of her and scooted her feet, so that she was positioned in front of her son.
"What do you think?" she asked, knowing Billy was getting a full view of the shape of her butt.
"Incredible."
"The article, I meant."
She wanted to turn around and scold Billy for complimenting her butt, when suddenly, the bus hit a bump, causing her to fall back and land on his lap. No one else in the bus was affected since they were all sitting, but Grace was now planted square on her son's crotch.
Worse, as she attempted to sit upright, she felt herself sitting on her son's massive erection, which bulged through his shorts.
"Oh goodness," she gasped. "I'll move."
Before she could get up, she felt her son's hands gently grab a hold of her shoulders.
"Research, remember?" he said, giving her a light massage. "It's the best way to get a story done. Isn't that what you've always taught me?"
She reached down and slapped his leg. "Informational research. Legal research. Not feeling my butt or sitting on your lap."