"Liam? Are you ready yet? We've got to shake a leg now before rush hour kicks in."
"Yes, mom," Liam shouted back, wincing as he stretched under his bed, attempting to curl his fingers around the spare computer cables that remained just out of reach. Shoving his body beneath the small gap, he finally snatched the cables and pulled himself free, looking a little worse for wear. He tossed them at the already brimming cardboard box sat next to his bedroom door, dropping them next to the rest of the devices he intended to bring with him.
Liam brushed the dust and lint off his shirt and pants, taking a brief moment to just look around, taken aback by how bare his bedroom looked, lacking the clutter and unique decorations that had made it so familiar to him. The rest of his essentials had already been stowed away in his parent's car, packed and ready for their college-bound journey. His excitement to get away from home was quickly replaced by a tinge nostalgia, memories of the time he had spent with his friends, rainy days spent on his games console. Leaving his childhood home behind wasn't as simple as he had first believed, but the allure of freedom from rules and curfews dulled any remaining worries. With a final glance, Liam stalked over to the box and retrieved it, rushing down the stairs and onto the landing, peering around in search of his mother.
"Mom? I thought you said we had to leave straight away? This box is killing me," Liam grunted, lifting his knee up to prevent the box from slipping any further downwards, growing concerned by the way the corners of the flimsy cardboad started to bulge. "And I think it might be about ready to explode if I can't find somewhere to put it soon."
"We are, hun, just give me a minute," she replied, rustling around in the living room, just out of sight of Liam.
Twisting his wrist, Liam looked at his watch and observed the seconds ticking by. It didn't come as a surprise when one minute became two, then soon bloated to well over ten before he finally heard his mom making her approach. Liam reached out to the door latch and unlocked it, ready to step out and ditch the heavy box, but the appearance of his mom in the living room doorway was enough ignore the pain shooting along his arms.
Melissa Bryon had always made for a stunning sight, even in her late thirties. She stood at just under six-feet, possessing a statuesque physique that would have earned her a place on any runway, with wavy, voluminous brunette hair that spiralled across her slender shoulders and poured down her back. Liam wasn't oblivious to his mother's beauty, had been a constant source of embarrassment over the years. His friends constantly teased him about the sorts of things they'd like to do to her if they ever had the chance, an issue only exacerbated by her proclivity for wearing outfits that flaunted her figure. He could never be sure whether she knew what sort of effect her outfits had on his friends, but he certainly felt the result of them.
But her appearance in the doorway took her typically daring style up a notch, even taking Liam by surprise. Fitting the summer season, his mom had opted for a pair of Daisy Dukes that conformed to her hips as though they had been painted on, leaving her toned legs largely exposed to the morning glow pouring through the windows. She wore a short sleeve tartan blouse that she had tightly tied around her stomach, ensuring that it was snugly wrapped around the swell of her breasts. A pair of her favourite black Louboutin platform heels pushed her well beyond six-feet, amplifying the muscles in her legs, forcing her rear to become more pronounced. Liam struggled and failed to stop himself from goggling, something that didn't go unnoticed by her.
"I take it that it's a bit eye catching?" Melissa giggled, turning around to show off the back, kicking her leg back joyously.
"Yeah, a bit," Liam coughed, blinking hard to pull his gaze away from her, doing his best to find the plain white ceiling above as interesting as possible. "Why exactly are you dressed like that?"
"Because it's summer? Because we're heading off to college? C'mon, Liam, I'm not ready yet to become an old fuddy-duddy just because you're flying the nest. Sometimes, I just want to feel a little...sexy. With your dad stuck at work on today of all days, it gives me an excuse to be a little provocative," Melissa smirked when she spotted the rosy tinge on her son's upturned cheeks. "It's always nice to be checked out once in a while."
"Too much information," Liam choked, reaching back to pull open the front door, getting some relief in the form of a rare cool breeze from the summer air, "I really think we need to get a move on, otherwise we're goinf to spend the next few hours crawling along in a traffic jam."
"Changing the subject, are we?" Melissa teased, grabbing her keys from her purse, giving Liam's hair a playful ruffle as she strutted outside. "Come on then, my eager little beaver, let's get you off to college."
Liam followed behind, using his foot to pull the door shut. He heard the rapid chirping of his mother's black Mercedes as she remotely unlocked it, with the trunk automatically opening for him. It took a bit of shifting and reorganising of the boxes already packed inside to make some space, but with some force he was able to make enough space to pack away the last box, much to the relief of his aching arms. Rounding the car, Liam prepared to open up the passenger side door, only to find his mom with one foot already planted inside the footwell, resting an arm along the roof.
"Er, what's going on?" Liam asked. "I thought you were driving me?"
"It's your first day of college, Liam, you don't get another chance to make a good first impression. You have to make a statement when you arrive, to turn up in style," Melissa jingled her keys and tossed them at Liam, which he only just managed to catch, "I think the girls there might be interested in a man rolling up in a new Mercedes. Who knows, maybe you'll end up with a phone number or two?"
"Thanks, mom," Liam replied with an excited grin, wasting no time in dashing over to the driver's side, sliding into the seat with a degree of reverence, lacing his fingers around the leather-bound steering wheel. He slotted the key into the ignition and gave it a short twist, listening to the engine roaring to life, enhanced by the gentle pressure of his foot against the pedal. "You know dad would kill me if he knew I was about to take this thing for a ride?"
"Then it's a good thing he's at work. Hold on for a second," Melissa settled into the passenger seat, leaning across to reach the central console. Before Liam could disengage the brake, she flipped a pair of switches, causing the roof to slide back, disappearing back into its protective housing, exposing the pair to the beating sun. Retrieving a pair of designer sunglasses from the glovebox, Melissa put them on and flashed Liam with a blinding white smile, visibly excited by the vibrations being generated by the powerful engine. "I can't think of anything better than barreling down the highway with the top down, but I've never had the chance to actually do it. Come on, hun, let's see what this thing can really do. Give it some gas!"
"You don't need to tell me twice," Liam laughed as he released the brake, dropping his foot in an instant, sending the car flying out of the driveway and onto the residential road, slicing through the quiet September morning with the squealing of the Mercedes's tyres.
Avoiding being swept up by the initial excitement of getting behind the wheel of his mom's car, Liam made sure to be more cautious when he weaved his way through the town, having seen his friends pulled over enough times for the lightest of reasons to know just how overzealous the local police department could be. Again, a wave of nostalgia washed over him as he passed by the local landmarks that had been a fixture of his childhood. He wasn't quite leaving his town for the last time, but it didn't feel too far from it.
Fortunately, Liam didn't have to wait long before he could direct the car onto the on-ramp, finding himself riding along the open highway, allowing him to really open up the Mercedes, spurred on by the delighted laughter of his mother. Liam listened to the wind rushing past them, still amazed that his mom trusted him enough to put such an expensive purchase through its paces. It was a far cry from the beaten up second-hand clunkers he was used to riding around in with his friends, especially after making it more than five miles without having to pull over due to a mechanical fault of sorts.
Despite being distracted by his driving, still being cautious when it came to manoeuvring by the heavy haulers trundling along with them, Liam found himself falling into a back and forth conversation with his mom, mainly focused on what he could expect from the year ahead based on her own college experience. It was an informative discussion, with Liam only half paying attention to it as he weaved between the lanes, keeping his eye on the large road signs overhead and constantly checking the navigation system to make sure that he didn't accidentally end up on the wrong route.
However, that changed completely when he watched her from the corner of his eye when she manipulated the mechanism found at the side of her seat, using it to roll it back as far as it could go along its rail, giving her enough space to lift her long legs up and rest them upon the dashboard, crossing them at the ankle. She gently tapped her heels in the air, lost in her own world as she stared at the cityscape encasing the highway, drumming her manicured nails against the vinyl door card.
A brief silence set in as they approached the halfway point of their journey, letting Liam fully enjoy the feeling of being behind the wheel of such a powerful vehicle, but that didn't prevent his eyes from occasionally moving sideways, glancing at the sheen of his mom's legs, tracing them towards her almost fully displayed thighs. He gave his head a subtle shake, reminding himself of the inherent wrongness of gazing at his mom in such a way, no matter how much of a tantalising sight she knowingly presented.
Liam had always been able to acknowledge how attractive his mother was, he was very used to her drawing eyes wherever she went, even recalling one of his softball games where the dads in attendance spent more time eyeing her up than watching their own kids. It was a fact of his life that he had long accepted, developing a thick skin to lessen the blow of the lewd comments the guys at his school would make, learning to return with equally sharp barbs. But just because he was so quick to shut down their indecent fantasies, that didn't mean he didn't share such thoughts; to a certain extent at least.
