***All characters are over 18 and are fictional. Any resemblance to any real-life persons or situations is purely coincidental.
...
Alan needed to run. It was the only way he could relax. He had a job interview in a few hours, his first big one since graduating from college. He was hoping the internship he was at would lead him to a full-time position with a decent salary, but they had shown that they weren't serious about adding him to their payroll as a real employee. He was sure he would get this job; he had the qualifications, the references, and the ambition.
He spent the last few days getting himself ready. He studied the company he was interviewing for, how his qualifications worked for them, and he practiced the answers to the questions they were most likely going to ask him.
As ready as he was, he was still getting a lot of anxiety as the time got closer. When he feels this way, he finds that going for a run helps him relax. His mind becomes clearer, he feels less stressed, and his mood changes. After timing it out, he thought he had time for a good run, come home for a shower, get himself ready for the interview, and still be on time for it.
He put on a short-sleeved performance shirt, gym shorts, and his usual running shoes. He put his phone on the arm band to connect it to his earbuds so he could listen to some music as he ran.
As soon as he left his bedroom, he ran into his mother, Janice, in the hallway, who apparently had the same idea herself. She had her blonde hair tied back in a ponytail and was wearing a dark-colored sports bra with matching lightweight leggings and white running shoes. She also had her phone on an armband and earbuds to listen to music.
"Aren't you going to be late for your interview?" Janice.
"I looked into it. I have enough time to do this," Alan assured her. "How about you? Aren't you going to be late for work? I remember you said you had an important meeting today."
"I'll be fine," she replied. "You want to run together?"
"No. If you don't mind, I think I'd relax more if I ran on my own."
"Suit yourself."
They did some stretches before they left their condominium building, then ran off in opposite directions. Sometimes Alan doesn't mind running with his mother; it can sometimes be fun. But he soon learned there were some drawbacks to running with her. First, he had people assume that they were a couple. He couldn't blame them, because usually when you see a man and a woman running together, they are more than likely a couple. But still, he would rather people not think he and his mother were a couple. This would also hinder his efforts to meet women when he's out running and meeting other women doing the same thing, which sometimes worked out for him.
The second reason he doesn't like running with his mother is that he doesn't like seeing other men checking her out in front of him. In a way, he can't blame those men for looking at her that way; she was a very attractive woman, and with the running clothes she wears, it's hard not to look. In cooler weather, when she has to cover up more for her runs, it's not so bad. But in warmer weather, when her running clothes become more revealing, that's when men really start looking at her in that way. Alan also looks at the female runners who are dressed like her in that same way, so he understands. But that doesn't mean he likes seeing men checking out his mother in front of him like that.
Alan did his usual three-mile run that went along a route that he developed for himself that took him all the way back home. He would stop about every mile to take a break, do more stretches, and do a small set of pushups. His route also took him to a few public water fountains where he would take a quick drink before he kept going.
By the time he got back to his building, the anxiety had faded away, but he was dripping in sweat. He also smelled pretty bad, so he needed to take a shower fast. His mother arrived at the same time he did, also covered in sweat and with an odor that neither one of them could avoid noticing. They slowly made their way back up to their condo while having some small talk. They didn't realize until they got to the bathroom doorway that they both wanted to take a shower at the same time.
"You should go first," said Alan. He felt that he should be respectful and let his mother use the shower before him.
"No, no, you have that interview. You go first," she replied.
"Didn't you say you had an important office meeting today? Isn't it important?"
"But I'll take too long in the shower, you know I will. You should take it first."
This argument went back and forth like this for a few minutes, with each one of them being courteous to the other about their situation. The problem was, their condo had only one shower to use. They occasionally had issues like this before, but never when they were both in such a time crunch.
"Ok, I think I got it," said Janice. "You're not going to like the idea, but I think we should shower together."
"What?" Alan asked with a cringed face.
"It could work. It's a dual shower, it's made for two people to shower together."
Janice was talking about how the previous owners of the condominium were a married couple who redesigned their bathroom for both of their needs. The bathroom had a large double sink counter top with a large mirror in the center, and a medicine cabinet and drawers on each side of the sinks. The shower was a foot wider and a foot longer than a standard size, and was redesigned as a dual shower where each side had its own shower head.
Janice and Alan enjoyed this perk when they moved into the place many years ago. They each had their own side of the sink for their own personal use, so none of their belongings got mixed up with the others. This worked out better for Janice, who had a lot of beauty and hygiene products she needed to keep separate from Alan's bathroom items.
They did the same thing with the shower, where they each claimed their own side. They had their own shower caddies on each side for their own products, and even their own soap dish for their own favorite soap. This worked out better for Alan because before they moved here, they lived in a place with a standard shower setting and his mother's shower products always came first.
Now, they were in a situation where they were both in desperate need of a shower to be on time for their own personal reasons. And the only solution his mother could come up with was that they take a shower together, using the opposite sides of the dual shower.
"We'll have our own personal sides, like we normally do if we were on our own. Only this time, we keep our backs turned to one another."
"But we'll still be naked together," said Alan.
"But we'll have our backs turned to one another the whole time. We won't see anything."
"Yes, but..." Alan had trouble expressing his disapproval of this idea.
"I know this is not the best idea, but we're both pressed for time here. You cannot afford to be late for your interview, and I can't afford to be late for my meeting."
She walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind her without locking it so Alan can enter when he's ready.
"I'll go into the shower first," she said from behind the door. "When you're ready, just come in with your head turned away and I'll turn away from you too."
Alan just stood there for a minute, trying to realize what was happening. He never thought he would ever be in this kind of situation. While he was thinking about what to do, he suddenly got a whiff of his own body again. Even if he did find a way to make himself look presentable for the interview, he wasn't sure how he could cover up the body odor he created from his run.
He heard the shower turn on and assumed his mother was already inside. He decided he had no choice in the matter; he would just have to be extra careful with her being there. He walked inside the bathroom and began taking off his running clothes.
"Ok, I'm going to come in the shower with you now," Alan warned her.
"That's great, sweetie. And don't worry, we'll be adults about this whole situation."
He turned his head away as he opened the curtain just enough to step into the shower. The whole situation was incredibly awkward for him because he knew his naked mother was just standing a couple of feet away from him. But they had their backs turned away from each other, so as far as he knew, they had their privacy. He turned on his side of the shower and began cleaning his body.
"See, this isn't so bad," said Janice. "I mean, it's not ideal, but it's not so bad."
"I agree," he told her.
"And as a bonus, you can brag to your friends about how you took a shower with a sexy blonde."
Alan laughed at that joke.
"I could, but with a bit of editing to that story."
This time, it was Janice who laughed.
Alan managed to perform his usual shower routine without a problem. The only thing he found he couldn't do was turn around, like one would occasionally need to in a shower to clean their bodies. But he had to find other ways around that, just like he was sure his mother was doing the same thing on her side of the shower.
"Sweetie, I have a crazy idea, if you don't mind me bringing it up," said Janice.
"What is it, mom?"
"You know how it's difficult to wash certain hard-to-reach areas of your back?"
"Yes, I do. And even if you could somehow reach those spots, you can't scrub that area that well."
"I was thinking, what if we scrubbed each other's backs?" she suggested. "This is a rare opportunity to get that done correctly for once."
Alan was surprised by that suggestion. He agreed that it was a good idea; he always wanted a good back scrub. But it would be better if he had any woman other than his mother doing this for him.
"It's not a bad idea, mom. But I don't think we can do this without seeing each other's backsides."
"I thought about that already," she replied. "And I think it's OK, just this once. It's only our backsides we'll be seeing. It's our front sides that we mostly need to keep private."
He supposed his mother was right. Seeing a person's backside is not as much of a problem as seeing their front side. He had seen his mother in bikinis plenty of times; he always felt it was less awkward to see her from behind than to see her from the front, where she liked to show off plenty of her breasts.
"So, what do you say? Should we scrub each other's backs?"
"Why not? We're already here, and it's just a one-time thing anyway."
"Exactly. Now be ready; I'm going to turn around and do your back first."
