The Pursuit

Claire smiled when she saw the caller ID. She picked up her cell and walked out of the meeting room. She always had time for this caller.

"Hi Jase, what's up?" she said.

"Hey Mom, I'm sorry for calling during work, but I had to run this by you so you don't get surprised."

"Oh, yeah? What is it?"

"Dad called. He said he can't make it to your party tonight and asked if I could go with you instead. I didn't want to spring it on you at the last minute."

Claire closed her eyes briefly. Her husband was always pulling this stuff when it came to social gatherings. "Thanks for the heads up. What did he say was the reason this time?"

"Something made up. You know him," Jase said. "Are you okay to take me? I don't know what kind of party it is, but I wouldn't want you to miss out because of him."

"I... well, let me think. You're 22 now, right? An adult, yes? I think you are fine to attend whatever party I can," she said, teasing him. "I'd love to have you come with me. It's one of my friend Janice's shindigs, they're usually pretty fun."

"Perfect. How should I dress? Is it themed at all? I don't want to stand out."

"Her invite said it was a high school party. I don't know what that means, really. I was going to wear a skirt and some leggings, but that sounds more 80s theme now that I say it. Really, dress how you like, it won't matter." She saw her coworkers watching her through the glass doors. "Listen, I have to run, pick me up at 8 sharp. Thanks for the call, son."

"Love you, Mom, see you tonight."

Claire ended the call and rejoined her meeting. She wasn't really mad at George bailing on her, she'd half expected it. Him roping their son in on the act was a new twist.

After her meeting she called Janice to give her a heads up about the guest list change.

Janice's sultry tones caressed her ear. "It's too bad George can't join us, but I'm sure Jase will have fun." There was a hint of other meaning in her tone.

"You're not planning any of your games, are you?" Claire said. "I think the last ones are why George is bailing on this one. Please tell me you'll be gentle with my son."

"Oh, you know me, I always have something planned. Don't worry, I'm sticking to the theme." Somehow that didn't put Claire at ease. "Well, as long as there'll be no lasting damage. We'll see you later, hon. Bye."

"Bye, Claire."

Claire hoped that by having put the bug in Janice's ear, the party wouldn't get out of hand. Somehow her friend always managed to put people at ease, throw down barriers that would normally be up. More than once a couple had disappeared into a bedroom for a while after participating in one of her party games.

Claire herself had tried to get George to join her in a room during the last party. He'd been so embarrassed they'd had to leave. She knew no one would have cared. In her eyes, disappearing was a sign that your relationship was a solid one.

The sound of her high heels clacking on the pavement echoed around her as she made her way to her BMW after work. Happy with a week over and ready to celebrate the Friday, Claire contemplated what to bring for drinks. Gin? Wine? Whiskey? Gin was a slow burn, Wine was for conversations, and whiskey made her silly.

Deciding on a mix, she picked up her night's supplies and headed home to have dinner and prepare for the party.

Dinner turned out to be a fairly predictable affair. George protested that he really did have work, but she didn't believe him. She let him off the hook, but did stick it to him about pulling Jase in.

"What?" he said, eyes wide with innocence. "He'll have a good time, he's more like you than me in those situations."

"Yes, I know, but you remember how Janice's parties can be sometimes."

"Oh come on, so what. He's an adult now, if he wants to go to the back room with one of her guests, let him."

"You know Janice doesn't endorse swinging. She only invites couples, to avoid temptation. You know what? Never mind. I'm sure Jase and I will have fun, even without playing any of the games."

"Exactly," George said, with a smug smile.

At 8 o'clock Claire was ready to go. She had decided that her earlier idea was silly, and so went with something she'd seen one of Jase's high school friends wear, back when he was going. It was just a simple crop top and a medium length skirt, with yoga shorts underneath.

The doorbell rang and George went to answer it. "Claire, your date's here," he called out.

Funny man. Claire called back, "I'll be right there!" She finished her hair, grabbed her handbag and went to meet Jase.

He was waiting at the door, like a date, which made Claire laugh. He was playing along with his dad's dumb joke, so she would too. "Oh, hello Jase. You're right on time. Shall we go?" She held out her arm for her son to take it, and he did. Together they walked out to his car. Claire called back, "Don't wait up!"

The drive to the party was peppered with periodic small talk and silence. Claire took in Jase's outfit, and let him know she approved. He was wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a leather jacket over top. Nothing that would stand out, but it looked good on his lean frame. Or? She reached over and gripped his bicep. "Are you working out?"

He laughed and looked at her, realizing she was serious. "Yes, of course. I've been lifting for 6 months now, ever since Bill joined the company. He's super into it, so I've been joining him."

"It looks good on you. You'll definitely draw the notice of any single ladies there tonight."

"Do you think there will be any?"

Claire shrugged with one shoulder. "There could be, but it's unlikely. Janice likes to invite couples to her parties. That's why George didn't just abandon me without providing me with a replacement. Janice likes to set up games for couples, but don't worry, I called and warned her it would be you coming tonight, not George."

"You had to warn her? Are her games that risque?"

"No, not really. You might see some people disappear into the back rooms now and then, but there's no swinging or group sex or anything. People just have some fun."

"Oh," he said. He sounded vaguely disappointed.

Smiling, Claire shook her head. Men were all the same.

***

At the party, Claire and Jase found that they were the first to arrive. 830 was early in the evening, but Claire liked to have some time with Janice alone to gossip without her having to play hostess. They gabbed away at each for an hour before anyone else showed up. Poor Jase was fairly bored by then, so was happy things were getting started.

The second couple to arrive was Harry and his wife Marie. They were in their late 40s and dug into a bottle of wine right away. Jase was introduced as Claire's date, as she wanted to keep the joke going. Harry and Marie laughed, knowing that he was her son.

"Where's George? Did he chicken out?" asked Henry.

"Yes, you know him. It was him who roped poor Jase into this whole thing. He's my knight in shining armour, saving me from a boring night at home." Claire leaned over and planted a big smooch on Jase's cheek in motherly affection.

And so it went, with more couples slowly joining them, until eventually they had 11 people crowded in the apartment. Janice stood up and held up her hands for attention.

"As you know," she started. "We usually play some fun games at my parties. Tonight is no exception, however there is a theme this time. Some of you have dressed appropriately," she gestured to Claire and Jase. "And some not," she said, pointing to a couple in what amounted to pyjamas.

"I thought you said it was a slumber party," the woman of the couple said, laughing.

Janice raised her glass and said, "It's okay, the theme is high school party, and so the games will apply to slumber parties as well."

"The house rules still apply. You cannot leave this room, or this apartment, with anyone except who you arrived with."

Claire rolled her eyes at Jase at this part. She knew they were safe from those shenanigans.

Janice continued, "We will play until everyone agrees we are done, at which point a winning couple will be declared. The prize is... 7 minutes in heaven!" The room erupted into gales of laughter at this throwback to olden times. "No, actually the prize is you get to brag you had the most fun." They all cheered, and Janice retreated to get the first game rolling.

Within minutes she had set everyone up in a circle around the room, a bottle in the middle of the circle.

"Aw, come on, Janice. You can't expect us to kiss other people, can you?" said one of the men.

"Nope!" she retorted. "This is a twist on the old game. In this version you don't kiss, you tell. One person spins the bottle, and whomever it lands on gets to ask that person a question. If the spinner doesn't answer, they lose 10 points. If they answer honestly, they get 20 points."

And so the game started. Janice went first, and the bottle landed on Henry. He asked her when the last time she kissed someone was. "Five minutes before Claire and Jase got here," she answered, which had them both staring in astonishment. She had been kissing someone just before they arrived? Where did the person go? Claire started to ask, but Janice held up her hand. "If my spin lands on you, you can ask."

The game continued. Most questions were tame, some were a bit risque, but nothing was terribly embarrassing. At one point the pyjama wearing man spun and it landed on Jase. Everyone knew that Claire and he were mother and son at this point.

"Will you kiss your date goodnight?" he asked, with a grin. Everyone laughed and Jase went a bit red, but answered gamely.

"Of course not! I am a gentleman," he declared. The women clapped, while the men jeered. Claire smiled at his clever answer, for he didn't say he couldn't, just that he would not, due to good manners.

Jase's spin landed on the pyjama wearing woman, and he smiled.

"Will you kiss your date goodnight?" he asked.

She laughed and said, "Of course not, I am a lady!"

The room erupted into laughter, while the pyjama man looked glum until his date leaned over and smooched him on the cheek.

A while later they took a break while Janice set up the next game.

Jase grabbed them fresh drinks and said, "So these games are usually a bit 'freer', right?"

Claire shrugged. "Sometimes, it depends on the theme. We've had political themes before where the games were debates. It sounds dry but after a few drinks no one is making any kind of coherent point and there's a lot of laughter."

Soon Janice had the next game set up, and there was much giggling. It was a game of twister. Janice stood up again. "I think we all know this one. Just a friendly match between couples. The couple that goes the longest without falling over wins 50 points."

They drew straws to see which couple would go first, and it was Henry and Marie. They only lasted a few moves before Henry fell over, complaining about a stiff back. The next couple was in their 30s, two women who turned out to be fairly limber. They lasted 5 minutes before a tricky move sent them tumbling. Third up was Claire and Jase, and Janice was ready to let them bow out, but Jase spoke up.

"I don't see any reason to pull out, it's a family game, right?"

Janice looked at Claire, who shrugged. Jase grinned and told Claire to stretch before starting. She laughed and did some light stretches before taking her place on the mat.

The first few spins were dead simple, and she didn't even have to touch Jase, but the fourth spin was a bit more problematic. She had to reach between his legs and touch her right hand to a red spot. Thankfully she managed with little fanfare. Jase's next spin spread his legs further apart, causing him to squat down on her arm. She barely held on to the red spot. Her next spin was her left hand on blue, and the only spot that made sense was also between his legs.

Claire hesitated. If she pushed for this spot, she'd basically be putting her face in his crotch. Just as she was about to roll over and give up, Janice announced that they only needed 30 more seconds to take the lead. She glanced at Jase, who didn't seem worried about it, so she plunged her face forward, barely touching the blue spot. She couldn't see what Jase's spin was at this point. She heard the dial going around, but was distracted by something else. Surely, that wasn't what she thought it was?

Claire closed her eyes and tried to mentally divorce herself from the lump in her son's jeans. It had nothing to do with her, he'd react this way to any woman's face in his crotch. She was soon relieved of the position when Jase failed to place his foot on the next spot and they both crashed down. Janice announced that they were in the lead with a time of 6 minutes, so she supposed it was worth it.

In the end, it was not worth it as the pyjama couple went 10 minutes. In fact, Claire was fairly sure that there had been some biting and caressing, causing their turns to take longer, but she didn't mind. Jase also looked like he didn't mind, cheering the PJ couple on. Was he cheering their gameplay, or their performance?

The PJ couple held the lead at 10 minutes, but before the other couples had finished, they disappeared into the back. They returned in time to see the winning couple go a full 11 minutes, but didn't seem to care. They were both red faced and their PJs were a bit messy. Claire guessed that they had other things on their minds, and indeed they said their goodbyes fairly soon after. They wouldn't be wearing the PJs long, she guessed.

The next game was a variation on the first. It was spin-the-bottle again, but the spinner got to give the person the bottle pointed at a dare involving their partner. Again, Claire and Jase were offered an out, but he protested, saying they could refuse anything too daring. Claire shrugged. She was feeling fairly loose from alcohol at this point, and knew they wouldn't need to do anything too out there.

The first spinner was one of the lesbians, who happened to get her partner on her spin. She was delighted, as she dared her partner to kiss her for 5 minutes. Jase seemed particularly interested in the two women kissing at first, but got bored after a bit.

The other woman spun the bottle next, and got Marie. She dared Marie to give Henry a lap dance, which Marie was happy to do. The room cheered for Henry as Marie ground her hips into his lap. Before long, Henry stood up and grabbed Marie's hand to take her into the back, accompanied by the other couples cheering.

Claire spotted the problem with George not coming. Sure, he never went to the back rooms, but these parties at least had the effect of getting him revved up for later when they got home. Now she'd just be left with a sleeping husband, and no after party delight.

The next spin should have been Marie but she was gone, so it defaulted to Janice. She spun it and the bottle pointed directly between Jase and Claire. Janice clapped her hands.

"What dare can I give you that is actually a dare, that you won't wimp out on?" she said rhetorically.

Claire glanced at Jase speculatively. He'd already shown he would react to her as a woman in the right situation. What would Janice come up with?

After a minute of pondering, her friend said, "I've got it! My earlier joke now proves prescient. I dare you to enjoy... 7 minutes in Heaven!"

Claire groaned. It was classic Janice. Throwing her and her son into a closet didn't mean anything. They'd just stand there for 7 minutes and then come out again, but Janice would never drop it. And if they didn't go in, they lose out on participating in the game. At this point Claire was on the fence whether she wanted to keep going, and so looked over to Jase to see what he was thinking.

She should have guessed. He was standing in front of her, one hand held out. "My Lady, please accompany me into the closet, where you will undoubtedly experience 7 minutes of a gentleman behaving himself."

Claire grinned and took his hand. She could get used to this. They made their way to the closet indicated by Janice and stepped in. The dark enveloped them as the doors closed, Janice's voice ringing out, "Time starts now!"

Claire immediately said, "Thanks for playing along. Your Dad doesn't take to Janice's teasing very well, and he'd have pulled us out and headed home in a heartbeat."

"That's okay. I'm having fun." She heard some shifting, as he moved around. "Damn, Janice's closets aren't very spacious, are they?" he said. "Let me just move some of this stuff so I can stand properly."

Then came the sound of shoes and boxes being pushed around until she heard a 'whoops!' and a crushing weight shoved her sideways, pinning her against the wall of the closet.

In her ear came, "Sorry Mom, I fell." Her son's head was next to hers now, his body pressing into her. "Let me try and get up."

Suddenly his hand was on her breast, as if he needed leverage to stand up straight.

"Damnit, sorry again." The hand moved, and the weight was lifted as he pushed away from the wall. "I can't move any more than this. I think something fell on me from the top shelf," he whispered.

"Can you reach the door?" she asked.

"No, but that's okay, I'll just hang out here for the next 5 minutes."

Claire couldn't see much, only small beams of light caressing her son's face as he looked around. "Are you sure?" she asked, and shifted a bit. The shift caused more thumps behind Jase and he grunted.

"Pretty sure," he said, trying to sound carefree.

They stayed in place for the next minute, faces pressed close, breath mingling. She could smell his aftershave drifting into her nostrils. It had been a very long time since she had been in close proximity with someone so obviously male, who wasn't her husband. Another minute passed and she was starting to see more, including his eyes. He was looking over her face, flicking from her eyes to her... mouth?

"What -" she said, but didn't get any further before he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers.

The shock of her own son kissing her was first, followed by the feel of his moist lips caressing hers. The alcohol she'd had slowed her response, and the situation confused her, so she stayed frozen. Then she felt him open his lips slightly, and the feel of his mouth on her caused her to respond, instinctually. First, by opening her own lips, letting him slip his lips between hers, and then by tentatively meeting his tongue, tip to tip in a brief glance.

It was a nice kiss.

He slowly peeled his mouth off of hers, leaving her gasping, eyes searching his face for understanding, explanation, anything. She saw only lust. Just as she was about to chastise him for the kiss, the doors opened, light flooding their confined space. The doors allowed the weight of shoes and hats that had fallen on Jase to fall out, and they fell out as well.

The room erupted into cheers. Janice leaned over to help her up, and whispered, "Was it heaven?" She then started moving packages and boxes to let them stand up. Claire arranged herself, aware that her cheeks were flushed. Jase didn't seem phased in the slightest, despite having just made an advance on his own mother.

Claire weighed the spectacle of calling him out publicly, versus the shame of everyone finding out, and decided to keep quiet. She would read him the riot act later.

The party quickly wound up after that. Janice declared Claire and Jase the winners by default and everyone agreed. Mother and son left soon after in a taxi. Claire sat in the back, up against the door. Jase sat comfortably on his side, watching the scenery as they drove to her house.

Once at her house, he walked her up to the front door. She was shaking now, furious that he had taken advantage of her like that. She turned around to confront him, only to find him with his hands raised in surrender.