He walked across the parking lot after work, the late afternoon heat shimmering from the asphalt as the sun started ducking behind the elm trees that bordered the parking spaces, filtering through the branches, momentarily blinding him for a step or two at a time. It was a walk he'd done many times, a walk he could do with his eyes closed, with little risk of bumping into anything, unless a car was driven through the lot at the same time. The chances of this were slim, as he liked to start work early, put in his 8 hours, and leave the office early, thus missing the bulk of rush hour traffic both ways. The company he was subcontracting for didn't mind his start-early and leave-early schedule. He played a key role in the company's profitable run of recent success, and his role didn't call for a lot of office interaction with other employees. He did his work thing, shared the results with key stakeholders, and went on to the next prioritized task.
The man was in Information Technology, a talented software developer, and although strikingly handsome and gregarious when the situation called for ripe communication, he kept mostly to himself, and preferred it that way. He was about producing results and letting them do the speaking for him. He didn't need to talk his way up, his work did the talking.
The man, Joseph, although he preferred to be known as Seth, shielded his eyes from the momentarily blinding sunlight. A light sheen of sweat showed on his forehead and cheeks. It was a very large parking lot, and even though Seth was one of the first people to arrive every morning, he parked in the slot that was furthest from the building entrance. Some people felt that was odd and talked about it a little behind his back, but Seth liked to start and end each workday with a brisk walk. He sat in his cubicle almost all day, getting up for the occasional meeting, cup of hot tea, or walk to the men's room in the middle of his floor. He liked to feel invisible in the office, underrated, almost a forgotten fixture, except by the leadership and executive teams who relied on his skills to help them forecast their future market moves. He'd been approached numerous times by Human Resources to join their team and company, to be an employee of high standing. Seth preferred the much higher rates derived from contracting, even if it was a little risky, and continually rebuffed the offers. One day, they would give him the ultimatum -- join us or be released. When that day came, Seth would walk, and be happy to look for the next company he could contract for. He didn't fear being unemployed. New challenges were welcome changes. Well, most challenges were.
Seth's cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Wiping away the sweat threatening to drip down his forehead towards his nose, he fished the phone from his pocket with his free hand, seeing that the incoming call was from his wife's work number. They spoke every lunch hour. Seth was faithful in calling her on workdays, without fail. He was a creature of habit and enjoyed the break in the day that chatting with his wife provided. She almost never called him from work, other than sometimes at lunch, and only if Seth was tardy in calling her first.
Seth had reached his car. Using his key fob to unlock the doors, he answered her call as he slid his briefcase and lunch carrier into the back seat.
"Hi honey, I'm just about to leave. What's up?"
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that Melinda and Matt will be at the house when you get there," his wife responded. This was unusual, as they lived over an hour away and weren't prone to surprise visits. Melinda was his 25 year old step-daughter, his wife Julie's youngest child. Matt was Melinda's 4 year old son, Seth and Julie's only grandchild. He was a handful.
"Is something wrong?" Seth inquired, knowing that something must indeed be wrong.
"Melinda and Rob broke up. Again. She has nowhere else to go so I told her she could stay with us for a while." Seth could hear the hesitancy in Julie's voice as she broke this news. Like Seth, Julie was happy with their empty nest home life. Quiet. Peaceful and quiet. Serene. But life wasn't always like that. Julie's 2 children, Melinda and her older brother James, were not exactly easy to live with. Both were prone to extremely vocal and occasionally violent outbreaks, mixed with frequent drug and alcohol episodes that fueled their angst. Melinda was 15 and James was 18 when Julie and Seth married. During the next 2 years the local police made 7 visits to their house to defuse escalating situations between mother and child, while Seth tried his best and often failed to keep things civil. By the time the following year ended, both James and Melinda were out of the house. James was asked to leave. Melinda ran away the day of her high school graduation. She got caught up in the wrong crowd, was heavily involved in drinking and drugs, performed as a stripper to support herself, and withdrew from her mom completely. Melinda eventually hooked up with Rob, who became the father of Seth and Julie's grandchild, Matt.
Rob was a small step up from the scumbags that Melinda associated with. He had a factory job and owned a small house 75 miles away from his in-laws. That was the good part. He was also 14 years older than Melinda, frequented strip joints, which was how he met Melinda, used drugs, and his overbearing mom lived with him. Melinda tolerated Rob's mom but wouldn't let her manage her life, which is what she tried to continuously do. Melinda wouldn't put up with Julie, her own mom, no way would she put up with a domineering mother in law. The dynamic had a few good moments but mostly not so good. From what Melinda had told us over the past 4 years, there were frequent arguments with verbal and occasionally physical abuse. Rob didn't abuse Matt, his son, but he also didn't shield Matt from the abuse he heaped on his baby momma, Melinda. Melinda and Matt had fled to Seth and Julie a couple of times but went back to Rob within a couple of days. This time would prove to be different.
"How long do you think this might last?" Seth asked Julie.
"I don't think she's going back to Rob this time," Julie sighed. Seth agreed. They both saw this split-up coming, and had discussed their options in advance. They could let Melinda and Matt recuperate with them for a few days before Melinda tired of living under her mother's shadow and then they were off again to wherever. That would have been fine in the past, but now there was their grandchild to think about. He had to come first. It had been decided that if Melinda left Rob again, Seth and Julie would insist they stay with them for an extended time. It was a foregone conclusion that Melinda and Rob would break up, and of course they did. Goodbye peacefulness and serenity. Seth and Julie concluded the phone call by agreeing to talk with Melinda that night about the best options for her and her son.
Their conversation with Melinda that evening was a short one. She agreed to stay with Seth and Julie, save some money, and then consider her future options. She listened to Seth and Julie's advice, and had made a good choice for her and her son. New routines would need to be formed. Life had presented all with a new challenge, and they all tried hard to do the next right things.
The months rolled by. Melinda worked as a waitress in the evenings, saving her money as asked. Seth and Julie cared for Matt while his mom worked. Life was much, much busier and more hectic for Seth and Julie, but knowing they were doing the right thing for their daughter and grandson helped ease their concerns.
At 58 years of age, Seth tried to keep up with Matt but often struggled and needed to rest. It's not that Seth was out of shape, because for a man his age Seth was a pretty good package, but his grandson was a non-stop exhausting hurricane of activity and keeping up with him was futile. Seth stood 6'1" tall, with blue eyes, silver hair, broad shoulders, and a solid frame. Julie was still deeply attracted to Seth, but since entering menopause and especially since Melinda and Matt had moved in, sexual contact had simply ceased. This frustrated Seth a little, but he also was feeling the advancement of life's aging process and its downhill effect on his libido. But when he needed it, the release, it was easier to pleasure himself than to bother his wife, Seth learned.
Seth had thought that Melinda must be a sexual dynamo, which was his view on strippers in general, but was surprised to learn otherwise. According to Julie, Melinda and Rob had only had sex a few times since Matt had been born, which really frustrated Melinda. She assumed that Rob was seeing other women, but she didn't have the means to prove it because she stayed with Matt in the evenings when Rob went out to play. He rarely took her out on a date. This was one of the many reasons why Melinda finally left him.
Seth didn't have such a high opinion of Rob before, but when he learned this piece of news he downgraded his opinion to that of a complete idiot. Melinda was a complete knockout; 5'4", long blonde hair, big blue eyes, beautiful breasts and a rounded ass that was sheer perfection. What she lacked in brains she more than made up with in physical appearance. She wasn't dating anyone, and sometimes Seth wondered how Melinda took care of her physical urges. Since Seth's own physical desires weren't being taken care of by Julie, his mental meanderings about Melinda led to very satisfying self-pleasuring acts. He would envision Melinda with a dildo in her pussy, fingers massaging her aching clit, taking herself to a quiet release, knowing her son was deep asleep a few feet away. Seth fantasized about Melinda but never ever considered taking it to reality. Sometimes he wondered what Melinda fantasized about when she was pleasuring herself, and if she ever thought of him. That was a foolish thought, of course she didn't think about him. He was 58 years old, she was 33 years younger. Silly notion.
