Blanche had spent the occasion of her 65
th
birthday in mourning. She was officially a senior citizen, a relic in a culture that celebrated youth to such an exaggerated degree that immaturity was honored over wisdom. Gray locks and a crinkled complexion proclaimed to the entire world that expectations and desires were things of her past. That wretched birthday had not been simply a number. It was a line of demarcation. It made her feel officially undesirable as a woman. Her husband's lack of interest towards her confirmed what the mirror told her every morning. Blanche had begun moving through each day as if she belonged to a segregated class of untouchables, the sexually shunned.
Her 43-year-old daughter, Claire was her salvation. Blanche did not permit herself to think about the nature of that salvation. Her initial resistance to Claire's assertive advances had collapsed completely. Even more powerful a tool of seduction than rekindled desire within her, had been the realization that she was the object of another's sexual appetite. She made a gift of herself to her daughter. Blanche did not doubt that a day would eventually arrive at her doorstep when she would regret subjugating herself to desire and lust, but she reveled in the simple fact that until the demons of that day broke down her door, to drag her off to hell, she had both purpose and passion left in life.
"We'll have lunch here, Mom," Claire announce abruptly. It was a small cafรฉ, the sort that seemed better suited for illicit rendezvous or preludes to afternoon trysts than a memorable meal. Claire had decided and Blanche followed happily. "I found this place a few weeks back with Tom," Claire disclosed as the two ladies crossed the threshold. "I've been wanting to bring you here for your coming out."
Blanche balked. "What do you mean, Claire? What do you mean about my coming out?"
"The last two entries in your journal have involved aspects of behaving as my Mum in a public setting."
Blanche felt a flush of excitement between her legs. Anxiety flowed through the rest of her being. They had missed the lunch crowd. Only a handful of customers remained towards the front of the cafรฉ. Claire led her mother towards the very back wall, where Blanche spotted Claire's husband, Tom seated at a table. Her anxiety became a full panic. She clutched hold of her daughter's sleeve and dragged them both to a pause. "You can't possibly want me to expose myself in front of Tom. Claire, what can you be thinking?"
"You've as much as confessed to me that you want to feel desired by others, by men. You've written about it in your journal, our book of secrets. Besides, you flow like a river whenever I'm playing with you and make the suggestion that we should post a video of you submitting to me like a proper Mum."
"That's different, Claire! You know that's different. It's fantasy...and even if you did make me submit to such a video, strangers would only see it. This is your husband, Claire. Do you have any understanding of what you're risking...of us both?"
"Sit, Mum." The simple command ended the debate. Tom and Blanche exchanged stiff pleasantries. It was immediately clear to Blanche that Tom was not simply surprised to discover that his lunch date with Claire would include his mother-in-law, he was unsettled. The young man who would be their waiter arrived. Claire was in here assertive mode. She issued instructions without deliberation. "You can bring us three wines. I'll order lunch in just a bit," He disappeared towards the front of the cafรฉ with only a requisite acknowledgment of the other two. The wine was delivered and he quickly disappeared once again. Claire permitted her husband and Mum to sip in silence, to let the wine settle their nerves for a few minutes, before taking hold of the reigns once more.
"The only way we'll make progress in this is for the both of you to share your secrets with each other and understand how much alike you are. Since I'm starving and in no mood to wait for one or the other of you to begin, I'll start you off. Mummy, you should know that Tommy gets his bottom tenderized by the same brush that tans your lovely fanny. If there's a difference it's that you have a much higher threshold for the discipline then he does. Your appetite increases with each stroke and even the bristled side of the brush is tolerated. Whereas, humiliation is Tom's favorite dish."
Neither Blanche nor Tom shifted their gaze from the tabletop. Claire ordered lunch for the three of them and a second round of drinks. As the waiter turned to walk away, Claire disclosed another intimacy. "Tom knows that you're my concubine, Mum. In a way you've made him a cuckold. Since you've become my Mum, I no longer let him inside me." The waiter stuttered in his retreat from their table.
"I'm sorry, Tom," Blanche whispered, a tremor in her voice. Her eyes never strayed from the white linen covering the tabletop. It struck her as wholly inappropriate that white was being worn.