Tough Act to Follow
by Trigudis
This is a follow-up to A Roaring Craving (Mature, 12/19/20) and At the End of the Day (Mature, 12/29/20).
Melinda Everette was right. Her son Brian Everette was relieved to know that Wade Kimball, once a good friend, was no longer "schtupping" his mom. Brian also knew, as Wade did, that their friendship would never be the same. In fact, since Brian learned of the affair, he and Wade had spoken just once. It was a strained conversation to say the least. Wade had apologized, but then reminded Brian that his mom had "wanted it as much as me." They were no longer in touch.
The mom-son relationship was strained but not broken. They still spoke by phone. As the weeks passed in that winter of 1986, the outrage Brian had felt over the affair faded. He "forgave" Melinda, if that was the right word. Acceptance was a better word, acceptance for what happened, though Brian couldn't fully comprehend why. However, he had ideas. Brian, like many young guys, harbored his own older woman fantasies. He didn't begrudge Wade his; he had just wished he'd have picked another woman to act them out on. Melinda's motivation was less clear. Sure, Wade was a sharp looking dude and he knew that his mom hadn't had much luck with men her own age. "Things just happened," she had said, "things that typically happen when men and women are attracted to one another, when they have needs and find someone to fill those needs."
He left it at that and went on with his life. His so-called problems paled in comparison to recent events such as the space shuttle Challenger blowing up and the Chernobyl disaster. He was doing well, earning big bucks in finance and in the process of forming his own development company with a group of former Stanford classmates. He was dating, though no one special enough to where he thought of settling down. Los Angeles wasn't that kind of town anyway. Hook-ups were plentiful but so were breakups. He loved L.A., but he also missed his hometown of Baltimore, his old friends (including Wade), his mom and also his dad, an ophthalmologist with a lucrative practice. Leonard Everette, divorced from Melinda, got word of his ex-wife's affair with Wade through his daughter Lisa. Unlike Lisa and Brian, he found it darkly amusing.
Come May, Brian planned to take off work for a week to visit. His relationship with Melinda had thawed to the point where, as during the Christmas holidays, he'd be staying at her condo. He called ahead to a couple friends, including Jay Hellman, the guy who had seen Melinda and Wade kissing at the Memorial Stadium ice rink and then alerted Brian. Of course, he wouldn't be seeing Wade Kimball. That friendship was kaput. Perhaps they'd reconcile in the future, perhaps not. Wade had been okay with keeping the friendship alive, but not Brian, who felt bogged down with a mix of emotions. He felt betrayed and embarrassed. Yet, as much as he tried, as much as he admonished himself, he couldn't deny the erotic charge he got picturing Melinda and Wade getting it on. He wasn't blind to Melinda's feminine charms, her beautiful legs and seductive emerald eyes, her smooth skin and tawny complexion. He didn't blame Wade or any other guy, irrespective of age, for thinking her hot and acting on it. If he wasn't her son...
Of course, he was and he shouldn't be thinking like that. Ever. But he was and it disturbed him more than the affair. He felt like a hypocrite, giving Wade the what for, while picturing Melinda coming into his room wearing those sheer, short nighties she favored for bedtime. One night during his December visit, she had worn one of them, not in the guest room where he slept, but in the kitchen, fixing herself a post-supper snack in full view of Brian. He had gawked, long enough and hard enough to see that she at least had the decorum to wear panties. He had found it more than odd that his mom, so prim and proper about other things, didn't seem the least bit inhibited. Uncomfortable as he felt, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her, sitting at the dining room table, watching her at the kitchen counter, her back to him only yards away. From her bare feet, up to her cute, tight derriere, his eyes wandered and his cock stirred. And when she turned around, holding a plate of cookies and a cup of coffee and then asked, "Want some?" he didn't know what to say.
Want some of WHAT were his first thought, watching her wide, sensuous mouth turned up in a warm, if not teasing sort of grin. "Um, ah, no, not now, mom," he stammered, staring at her bare titties through the thin material. She then said goodnight and repaired to her bedroom, leaving him struggling to keep from getting a full erection and ashamed for having to put forth such an effort. He also struggled with the notion that she had been trying to seduce him. Outrageous. Impossible. Out of character. He was merely projecting, he thought, and pushed the idea into the deep recesses of his mind, hoping it would stay there.
He flew into Baltimore on a Friday afternoon, rented a late model Lincoln from Hertz and then drove to Melinda's condo in Baltimore County. It felt nice to get away from the stress of his job. Still, work was never far from his concerns, especially now that Renaissance Partners, his urban development firm, was off the ground. How different things looked and felt in the East from last December to the so-called merry month of May. Flowers and trees were in full bloom and the balmy breezes of spring drifted in like sweet music long missed and now finally here. It was weather he now took for granted living in Southern California. Melinda had talked about moving out West to be closer to him and Lisa. So far, though, she hadn't made the move. He wondered if she ever would because most of her close friends still lived in Maryland.
She greeted him with a hug and a kiss wearing a denim skirt, a white cotton blouse and flat house shoes, casual spring wear that nobody would call revealing. Yet those ideas about seduction emerged once again, reinforced by a flashback of the "coffee and cookies" incident, as he now called it. "Great seeing you, mom," he said, setting down his two pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage on the carpet.
"Great seeing you, son," she said, looking at him in his casual blue Docker slacks and open collar, long-sleeve, button-down, blue and white striped dress shirt. "I've looked forward to your company for weeks." She reached up and tousled his hair, still worn in that early Beatles style that to him never grew old.
Melinda, however, had changed her hairstyle from the way she had worn it last December. Her once straight, short brown locks now dropped a couple inches below her shoulders in waves and layers. Brian noticed, and Melinda noticed him noticing. "You like? It's more in keeping with how gals are wearing it today, even older gals like me."
He did like it, made her look sexier, though he wasn't going to say that. "Very nice," he said.
"Thanks. Meanwhile, you can put your luggage in the guest room and maybe freshen up a bit because I've made dinner reservations for us at Gordon's."
Gordon's had been a Baltimore institution since Eisenhower was president. It wasn't trendy or particularly fancy, but it served great food at reasonable prices and Brian loved it. In fact, when his parents were still married, they used to go as a family every few weeks. "Mom, that would be great," he said. "I haven't been there in years, since moving to California. Been there lately?"
"Hmm...I haven't been there since...oh, I remember, though it's not a particularly fond memory. A guy, one of those winners (she rolled her eyes sarcastically) I met through Parents Without Partners, took me there on a first date. First and last."
Brian knew his mom hadn't had much luck finding men she felt excited about. Which made her recent affair with Wade Kimball all the more puzzling. Somehow, a guy she once held in contempt became her lover and most likely would have remained so had Wade not fully committed to Susan Radebaugh, his current main squeeze. Brian knew that Melinda took their breakup hard, though he was relieved to see it end. He felt bad about his own breakup with Wade, a close friend since they were kids. Water under the bridge now, he thought.
He went into the bathroom to wash up, while Melinda slipped into low heels. Brian volunteered to drive, telling her that the Lincoln "rides like a dream."
The drive south on I-83 from the suburbs would get them there in fifteen to twenty minutes. On the way, discussion centered around work, his and hers, but mostly about Brian's venture into real estate development. Melinda found it exciting that he and his partners would be renovating old housing stock into upscale living spaces. "There's been lots of gentrification in this city also," she said. "But I guess you knew that."
Brian nodded. In fact, the gentrification of Baltimore's inner harbor neighborhoods had been national news. "That's kind of what we're doing, but the housing stock, the architecture is different," he said.
"Do you have a CEO?"
