by BrettJ © 2012
Paul Stewart was glad to be home and finished work. He had spent a good part of the previous day cheering up his mother, Elizabeth. She had just ended a 3 year relationship with her boyfriend, Allen. Sadly, Elizabeth had discovered that he was cheating on her with his former girlfriend, a much-younger, airheaded blonde that Paul knew from high school. She wailed that maybe she was getting too old to be dating much younger men and Paul took nearly an hour to convince her that just wasn't so. Allen was 34 to Liz's 42. You would never have guessed Liz's age if you didn't already know it. She didn't act, dress or look like a woman of 42, let alone a woman with a 23-year old son.
Liz worked as an office manager for a local radio station and supported Paul and herself rather nicely. His deadbeat father hadn't been heard from in years. It was just Paul and his gorgeous mom against the world. Whenever he told his mother how lovely she was, she would ruffle his hair – which he hated – and laugh it off. It was true. She was almost 5'9" with short-cropped brunette hair, legs that went on for days and warm, dark brown eyes. Liz wore a perpetual smile and dressed like a fashion model. She had the legs for short skirts and tight pants, so she wore them and enjoyed the fair share of attention they got for her. Liz would admit to having a small shoe fetish and owned over 50 pairs of expensive shoes, all of them with a nice heel. She detested flats. Paul loved to watch his mom walk; she had the most alluring sway to her walk any woman ever possessed.
He was glad that she had gone to work in a better mood this morning. He had the next few days off from his job at the restaurant, as he had trained all of the cooks and apprentices in how to prepare his signature dishes for the Christmas season. He wanted some time to spend with his mother and to go Christmas shopping for her and find something special. He had managed to save up quite a nice chunk of money with which to buy Elizabeth a nice present, although he yet to decide what that present might be. He hoped that they'd enjoy a nice Christmas together. His grandparents were away in Europe, so it would be just the two of them and he wanted to make it special for her as she had made it for him while he was growing up. He thought he might take her out tonight for a nice dinner. That hope went crashing to pieces when Liz stormed through the front door and slammed it shut.
"Damn, damn, DAMN!" Elizabeth cursed before managing to smile at her son. "Hi honey, I didn't see you there," she sighed.
"Obviously," Paul smiled. "What's got you so upset now? Did Allen do something else?"
"No. Well, yes – in a way. Tomorrow is our annual Christmas party and attendance is mandatory. He was supposed to be my date and I really don't want to go alone," she fretted. "I also wanted to show off my handsome younger boyfriend to keep the wolves at bay," she told her son. Some of the DJ's at the station believed Allen was only an invention of Liz's to keep them from hitting on her. That was one of the reasons she had left her former station and moved here four years ago. Liz found that she couldn't get couldn't get any work done because she was constantly fending off the horny on-air personalities.
"I'm sorry, mom," Paul said, helping her off with her coat and offering a hug. "You know I think Allen's an idiot. Anyone who would prefer that blonde twit over you isn't worth being with. I do know how much you were looking forward to the party and having a social night out."
"Yes," Liz sighed. "It's been a crazy year, I needed to blow up a little steam, kick up my Jimmy Choo heels and have a few drinks," she said to him. "I'm not going to go alone though; John Caravella's 'attentiveness' alone would be a reason why not to go. You and I will do something instead, perhaps we can go out to dinner?"
"I was thinking about taking you out tonight," Paul answered. He looked at her beautiful, shining face and knew how much she had needed a night out. Then he got an idea. "Hey, no one at your work knows what Allen looks like, do they?"
Liz shook her head. "No, none of them have ever met him. They only know that he's a little bit younger than I am."
"Does anyone at work actually know how old you are?"
"Just the personnel director who hired me, I don't really make a habit of discussing my age," Liz responded. She sat down on the sofa across from her son and her skirt rode up. He always noticed her lovely, long legs. It was a toss-up as to whether her legs or her eyes were her best feature. Or her lovely face. On Liz, everything worked in harmony.
"Does anyone know who I am?" Paul asked her.
"No. There's a picture of you on my desk from last year, but no one's asked about it," Liz answered again. "Where are you going with this?"
"Why don't I be your date to the party? If anyone asks, you can tell them the picture on your desk is your boyfriend. This will give me the chance to wear the tux you bought for me last year and you can find something that will really knock their socks off and we'll silence all those wagging tongues. You'll still get your night out and I'll have a date with the prettiest woman in town," he smiled.
"Oh Paul darling, what a lovely offer, but you must have better things to do than spend time with your mom," Liz replied, although now she was smiling again.
Paul sighed. "Don't you and I always have a great time together? You know I love wearing that tux and I love seeing you all dressed up. I don't go back to work until after New Year's and I want to do this for you. Besides, if we go to the party tomorrow night, that's one night's less cooking I have to do."
Elizabeth laughed. She knew her son actually loved being the cook in the family and she was very proud that he had gotten his chef's papers last year at the age of 22. She herself could manage simple dishes but there was little her son couldn't prepare. "Are you sure that you really want to do this?" She asked, hoping he'd say yes. She liked putting on fancy clothes almost as much as Paul did.
"If you promise to find the hottest dress you own, I'm going to take you tomorrow and make you proud of me," Paul smiled.
Liz's smile eclipsed her son's. "I'm always proud of you and you have a deal. Now, didn't you say something about taking me out to dinner?"
He smiled. "I did. What do you fancy?"
"Italian – either a good Bolognese or something fun, like pizza! I'm starving, all of a sudden," she said.
"It's good to see you smile, mom," Paul said as he helped her back on with her coat. "You have such a beautiful smile."
Elizabeth hugged her handsome young son. "You give me lots of reasons to smile, Paul. You're the best son that any mother could ask for."
Paul was sincere in his flattery. He loved spending time with Elizabeth because she was interesting, funny and well-informed. Any of the women he had ever dated fell short of his gorgeous brunette mom. He had dated women older than himself to compensate and it had helped, but they still weren't her. He was sure that lots of guys had crushes on older women or their moms, but his was one in a million. Even at dinner, she had their waiter wrapped around her little finger. Of course, the short skirt and high heels she was wearing were a nice weapon in her arsenal. Paul just wished the guy wouldn't have been quite so obvious in his flattery.
Paul spent a good part of the next day preparing for his "date" with Liz. He went to the gym and had a workout, so that he wouldn't be tired. He got his hair cut and even a manicure, he made sure his face was clean-shaven and he showered twice. A few hours before they were to leave, he had a small nap to make sure he'd have lots of energy. Paul wanted nothing going wrong that evening. He wanted Liz to be happy he was on her arm that night.
When she came down the stairs, Paul could barely find the words to compliment her. He had never seen the green dress she was wearing, but it hugged her slender body like a second skin. She looked magnificent, the dress dipped low in front and back and she wore a gold choker that matched the earrings he had given her last Christmas. On her feet she wore expensive black heels and when she got close, he could smell the sexy, musky perfume she wore. Her lips were ruby-red and she looked so beautiful that he wanted to take a mental picture of her and frame it in his mind.
"God," he gasped, not quite sure if he was speaking aloud. "Do you have any idea of how incredible you look?"
"I hoped that I'd look nice for you, thank you," Liz smiled.
Paul took her arm and led her to the full-length mirror in their hallway. "NICE? Mom, do you see that amazing creature standing beside me there? That is the hottest woman I have ever seen! Paul is an idiot for cheating on you, a fucking moron – oops, sorry!" He chuckled. Elizabeth didn't like hearing him swear and he remembered well the taste of soap in his mouth.
"Thank you for saying that darling, but my goodness, look at my gorgeous son," she exclaimed. With his dark, wavy hair and intense eyes and broad shoulders, Paul really did make an impressive figure. "You're going to attract a lot of attention tonight."
"Isn't that the whole idea?" Paul smiled as he helped her on with her coat. "Don't worry mom, I'll make sure and play the part of the attentive boyfriend to the hilt."
"You just make sure to enjoy yourself, but don't forget to call me Elizabeth or Liz tonight," she told him. "I didn't talk much about my boyfriend, so it will be fine if I call you by your proper name. You just have to be careful."
