The neighbor seemed nice enough. Although Charles had to admit that socializing was more Susan's job and now that she had left and was busy with her new, much more hip friends that he didn't give a damn about what any of them thought. It didn't seem to matter at the moment, the man seemed intent on speaking with him though and no matter how diligently Charles pretended to ignore him, he wasn't giving up. "Mr. Hunt," here he was, calling out to Charles again and he was already more than halfway up the sidewalk.
There seemed to be no way of getting out of it and Charles could feel his shoulders slope a bit, he had lost. The neighbors had won and he would have never guessed that it was Susan's knack for this type of things is one of the things that he missed the most about her. "Can I help you?" he barked at the neighbor. He didn't have to try to sound like he was really telling him to go to hell, for Charles Hunt, it just came naturally.
"Hey, I'm Doug Riley, we live next door," the man made a face, neither of them seemed to be sure how to navigate this and apparently it was something that Mrs. Riley couldn't handle. The man pointed at Charles' front door, "can I come in for a second?"
Nothing in Charles wanted to say yes. It was his Saturday, a day that he had come to look forward to in its tedium. He worked on the yard and did odd jobs around the house and although in the back of his mind, he knew that it was all in a vain attempt not to feel lonely, it didn't matter. Charles would be tired by seven thirty and fall asleep watching a movie on the couch. Another day in the rear view, another day closer to feeling normal again. Doug was disturbing his new routine but there was something about the desperate look on his face that made Charles ignore his instinct. "Sure," he waved at the neighbor and opened the screen door, inviting the man inside. Once he had closed the door behind them, Charles watched as Doug shoved his hands down into his pockets as if he were too nervous to trust himself not to fidget and he figured that an awkward conversation was coming. "What can I help you with?" he asked with a fake smile plastered across his face.
For all of his urgency, Doug didn't seem as if he knew exactly where to begin. He cleared his throat and coughed, then asked, "Ashton's your son, right?"
Charles nodded and didn't say a word. Ashton was a good kid so if this asshole came over here to give him grief about his son, Charles was going to end this even sooner than he had planned to.
Doug nodded to himself and made fists in his pockets, "well, you know that Ashton comes over occasionally. He helps me with the model car I've been building."
It wasn't a question and Charles didn't know that but rather than look like a shitty parent, he lied and told the neighbor, "yeah, of course, Ashton told me."
Doug blushed, "well, we talk a lot and I'm not really sure how it happened," the man couldn't look him in the eye and Charles felt his pulse throb at his temple. "I didn't think anything of it but, well, your son unzipped my pants and was touching my cock," after the confession, Charles watched as his neighbor gave him the most inappropriate grin.
Sounded like bullshit to Charles and he narrowed his eyes, he could feel the furrow in his brow as he regarded the neighbor. More likely that he was the one reaching into Ashton's jeans, "are you sure about this, Doug? There isn't something that you'd like to confess?" he muttered.
Doug took a step back, "no, sir. No, I'm not gay and I told Ashton that and when he put his hand down in my boxers and grabbed," Charles watched him struggle with repeating the word, "grabbed me, I walked away. I asked him not to come back to the house but I started thinking about it and I just wanted to clear the air with you."
Charles crossed his arms over his chest, "Ashton's an adult, so I don't know why you would need to tell me."
The neighbor looked immediately relieved and suddenly the reason that Doug was here was abundantly clear. He was worried that was even more inappropriate than he had thought and Charles wondered if the man didn't regret turning him down now, at least a little. "Jeez, look at me, making things worse," Doug took two steps backwards to the door, it was almost as if he couldn't get away fast enough, "I'm so sorry. I guess it was just, when he was touching me, he called me Daddy."
Now it was Charles' turn to blush. He closed the distance between them, reached for the door handle, turned it and gestured to the yard. "Well, I'm sure that it was all just a misunderstanding and I will make sure that you don't see Ashton again," watching him leave, Charles knew that he would have pushed Doug off of his doorstep if he thought the man would keep his mouth shut.
As soon as Charles closed the door behind him, he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. No, the neighbor wasn't the guy who could keep a secret and within a day or two, he had to assume that Doug would tell his story. Worse, he'd probably embellish and even though Charles didn't want to be friends with any of them, he also didn't need to feel their eyes on him. Charles still hadn't come to terms with any of it and he was too warm under his shirt and it felt as if all the blood in his body were moving much too quickly.
Susan had left him with this mess and even though Charles didn't blame her, he still could have used some help. She and her son were two peas in a pod. She should have understood better than anyone, or at least she should have tried. Charles was an outsider looking in, the boy didn't even bear the slightest resemblance to him. Charles was tall, dark-haired, almost swarthy after working outside so much, he was broad-chested and solid. He'd always been a foot taller than his wife and more than a foot wider and he used to joke about how the boy took after his mother.
Blonde and petite, willowy, Susan had taken ballet for years and with her tiny frame, she could have gone far if she hadn't chosen architecture instead. His wife and her pale, creamy skin, her slender limbs, her light blue eyes that looked so far away, Charles missed her everyday and yet he knew that all he had to do to get his fill of Susan was to look at Ashton.
Now that his son had grown his hair to his shoulders, he looked exactly like Susan, especially from behind. Charles could see the resemblance, both of them staring out the window expectantly, probably both wishing that they were anywhere but here and now, she was. She had left her doppelganger behind though and Charles couldn't stop berating himself for what had happened a month ago.
Waking up in the middle of the night, Charles had reached to his right to feel for Susan. It was instinctual after all of these years and in the place halfway between asleep and awake, he forgot all of it and smiled to himself as he thought that she must be downstairs getting a snack.
Sure enough, there she was, in the kitchen, her pale body glowed in the moonlight, the midnight around her. The light caressing her from behind, touching the tangle of blonde hair that had fallen forward, her skin was the same color as her white tee-shirt and she knew that it drove Charles crazy to feel her just like this. "Baby," he came up behind her and his face found the warm nook that he liked to kiss, a small place on her throat that sometimes smelled of her floral perfume and tonight he searched for her scent with his mouth. A kiss there and then another a little further up, almost nibbling her buttery ear lobe and then one a little further down, closer to her shoulder and if Susan would allow it, he'd strip the tee-shirt off of her right here and push her small body up against the island. "There you are," he sounded so pleased to have found her, "what are you doing down here all alone, baby?" Charles burrowed his face into her sheath of blonde hair as his right hand reached around her body. Cupping her tiny, left breast, her skin was so soft and supple. She had bee sting breasts and Susan's whole body would shiver when he licked her nipples. She was so responsive and her first moan was a reminder of just how long it had been.
When she answered, "I was just thinking about you," it was a kitten's purr and her voice traveled straight to the head of his cock. Charles was instantly hard, from root to tip, his dick pulsated in the front of his boxers, his manhood was already seeking out the bottom hem of her tee-shirt and he spilled precum on the front of his underwear as he though about parting her thin thighs and holding her dainty hands flat to the marble counter. "Oh yes," she arched her back and it was like she had never left at all. It was like all of the other midnight couplings that they had shared over the years, Susan panting just like that, her mouth open. Her back coated with a little sweat, her ripe nipple hot and feeling as if it were about to burst under his touch, "please, Daddy," she begged him.
It was then that Charles froze, it seemed that even his heart had stopped beating and the next breath he took was a gasp from somewhere deep inside. His hand was still fondling the nipple and his dick was still out. His manhood had escaped through the opening in his boxers and the slippery head had found its way to the tee-shirt, intent on making its way to the hot, velvety destination that it craved.