[ Dear Readers:
If you prefer to read episodes of this series without their predecessors, that's fine and I hope you enjoy them that way. Just a heads-up, though: It's not meant to be an anthology. All the episodes (except the first) build on those before them, so you'll probably conclude some things differently from what was intended.
SPECIAL NOTE HERE: We are at the part of the story where personal and emotional consequences of the past are coming to the fore. Here, and probably in some chapters to follow, there may be no sex at all. I don't expect very high vote figures for them, perhaps, but if you complain about that in the user comments, don't expect your post to remain there long.
Some of our readers' public and private comments touch on unmentioned matters, just a few of which are safe sex, STDs and common real-world consequences of things and events in the story.
Two chief rules in theatre are, first, everything on stage must have a reason to be there, second, everything that the action requires must be present, whether explicitly or implicitly. It's not much different in written fiction. By the second rule, if a story does not get into some particular issue explicitly or implicitly (for example, indirectly through consequences) then it is irrelevant because the author deems it so and asks the reader to consider that issue adequately handled without mention. Sometimes action may be simplified a little from what is actually meant for the sake of smoothness and avoiding distracting details unnecessary for understanding the scene. A good author has respect for the reader's intelligence and imagination and does not feel compelled to paint every scene with photographic detail.
In short, if it ain't there, it don't matter. Please remember that this is a story, not a case study or the news.]
SECRET NO LONGER
Chapter 13
All Bad Things Come To an End, Too
[ Yet more notes:
At this point in the story I had one more chapter of events of the Decadent Period. That, I now believe, is one too many. It's time to get to the dΓ©nouement, so I've set that part aside for now. I have a follow-up series in mind, and if there's interest, I'll include it there. Meanwhile, here is the exposition for this chapter.
On the previous night, Linda, increasingly reveling in the attention shown her by her son's friends, has persuaded him to take her to a party he planned to attend. He's reluctant, expecting to be teased over bringing his mommy with him, but it's soon apparent that she's fitting in just fine. Later on, as the party gets more intimate, and a little bit of alcohol eases things along, Linda finally gets her chance to cut loose and give her exhibitionist fantasies free rein--but at a price: in her giddy state, Linda loses control of her wall of denial and makes a prounouncement she did not want anyone to hear--most of all, herself. ]
"To state the obvious, you were a real hit last night, Mom," Jason said, and as it sounded to me, proudly.
"Thank you, Jason, you're very kind."
By now, the reflexive habit of gagging those inconvenient voices protesting my continuing misbehavior had become not only automatic, but very efficient. An adequate catharsis had followed that time of tears and eviscerating agony, and now both of us were back to our artificially exuberant state.
"Kind, nothin'! Did you hear them?"
"Sure I did. And if makes me wonder a bit, with nudity and raw sex practically falling into our laps out of the blue everywhere--I mean, look at cable, and movies, just about any newsstand, and...whew!...all over the Internet--how these young, virile friends of yours should get such a kick out of an old lady whose most extreme move was going full frontal for them?"
"I think that there's a lesson there, about what it really means to be sexy. Like, look at that stuff you just mentioned; most of it looks like the people who made it think sexy just means skin. What you showed them last night was sexy that comes from
inside
. That's what really did it. They got turned on because
you
were turned on..."
"That I was, Son; that I was indeed!"
"...and you didn't keep it locked up. They tapped into it. That's what happened, and why they're looking forward to next time."
"They are? I didn't hear anything about that."