Cara had just finished inspecting the work the young man had done on the pool. It wasn't a good job, it was a superb job! By himself, he had done what she never believed two people could do, and in less time too.
Getting someone to clean the pool was something she had been postponing day after day just as she had been postponing getting enough exercise to trim down the excess fat that was now building up in her body. She had always been chubby, but certainly not obese and she had no wish to make the progression.
Waking up this morning, she had suddenly felt the need to do something physical. But when she looked out of her window at the pool, it was a mess! There was no way in hell she'd consider swimming in such a gutter. Long disuse had turned it into exactly that: an unkempt gutter. So she quickly picked up her phone and dialed the guy that mowed her lawn, fixed her faucet and other such odd jobs around the house. She was relieved when he told her that he was free and would come over immediately. She really could not bear to imagine that the pool would remain in its current state for yet another day. She was tired of procrastinating and today, she would not postpone any activity. Time was always on the move and she would move with it.
Three hours later, the young man, Gale, had finished his work and the entire pool area looked like how it had been when she and her ex-husband moved in a year ago. She was surprised, and grateful. She asked him to give her a minute and darted into the house. She would surprise him just like he had surprised her, not only with a large tip, but she'd also let him have a note and her mobile number, so he could present them as references to new customers.
She went into her room, counted out the money and wrote and signed the note. Leaving her room, she shut the door behind her, but before she could take a step forward, she bumped into a breathless Lance.
"Whoa Lance! Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. Just wanna talk to you."
"Anything the matter? Is your mom okay? Anna?"
"No. Um.. yeah. It's not about Mom or Anna."
"Oh. Okay then. Um.. lemme go pay..."
"No no," he shook his head vigorously and grabbed her hands. "I wanna talk to you now."
"Yeah. I won't be long. I'll just pay him and then we can sit and talk."
"No," he stonily refused, still holding her hands. "I don't wanna wait any extra second. I've thought about this and there's no better time to do this."
"You're scaring me, Lance. What is 'this' all about?"
"You, Cara," he replied, looking straight into her eyes.
"Me?", Cara asked, puzzled.
"Yes, you. I dream about you, always. I think about you, always. Every good feeling I have is somehow related to you.. always. I'm in love with you, Cara. I don't think I..."
"Lance! Do you..."
"No, let me finish. You're my first true love, my last true love and my only true love. I want you, Cara. I need you. No one can stop me from having you, not even you."
"I..."
"No, don't say anything. Just listen," he continued breathlessly. "I don't care what anyone thinks. I know what I want. My body knows it, my brain knows it, my heart knows it. It's you, Cara. No one else."
He took a break, but not to breathe. Cara watched him with her mouth agape as he performed his next action.
"Cara Neyes," he said, addressing her by her maiden name, ring in hand and one knee on the ground. "Will you marry me?"
**FEW MONTHS LATER**Lance had been struck by surprise when his mother invited him to accompany her to her friend's birthday party, which would also double as a get-together of classmates of a girls community college that Carol and the celebrant had both attended. Lance was supposed to wear a tuxedo, certainly not something he did often. But the worst part was the bow tie. Carol had only given him a few hours notice, asking him to wear this and that, and look such and such. So the poor young man began prancing about in front of a computer screen an hour before the 8pm attendance time. Apparently, the DIY YouTube videos were not so easy to follow. His mother soon noticed his dilemma."Maybe you should stand exactly the way the guy's standing, instead of facing him," she suggested."Seriously? That would mean I'd have to turn my back to him, so how do I get to see him?""Get a mirror. And we're only minute
Cara exhaled as she stepped down from the treadmill at the local gym. It had been an eventful morning of exercise, the only event being that she had spent an hour on the treadmill - something that she had never been able to achieve before now. The events of the previous night had been what had inspired that burst of stamina.Now that she had slept on it and mulled it over again and again, she kept seeing reasons why she should not have backed down so easily. At first, she felt that Carol could not really be blamed, considering the fact that Lance was her son. She would have done even worse if it were her Lisa. But then it occurred to her that both cases were way different.Lisa was a child and Lance was an adult, a very manly one at that, if she were to consider the things he did to her in bed. He had the right and was old enough to make his own choices. Why did Carol feel the need to interfere? Not that Cara was a notorious person. She'd actually been one
Five days of the week were the only times that Cara visited the gym. She spent the weekends doing other little exercises around the house, like tending the garden at the back and swimming. She had just finished weeding the garden with her little shovel on a Saturday morning and was about to go in for a shower when she heard a car pull up somewhere behind her. At first, she thought it was Lance, but when she turned to look, she found that it was his mother instead."Good Morning, Carol," she greeted as the older woman walked up to her."Where is Lance?", Carol demanded, ignoring her greeting.Cara was by no means surprised. It was clear that that incident at the party had forever damaged their friendship."I have no idea. Haven't seen him in a long while," she shrugged in reply."Are you sure?", Carol asked, eyeing her suspiciously. "I sincerely hope he's not somewhere on a bed in your house, because that would be...""Look, Carol," Cara cut
Cara was awakened by a groan. She thought it sounded like someone was in pain and her eyelids fluttered open. The bed space beside her was empty, so she rolled onto her back, just in time to see a gloriously naked Lance coming into the bedroom from the bathroom. Before she could say anything, he jumped beside her on the bed. But she wouldn't fall for him so easily."Hey hey hey," she protested, clasping her thighs shut as he ran his hand softly up her leg. She could already feel his hardening cock touching her leg and she knew it would take some tact to avoid getting speared today."Did you use condoms with those girls at Rob's Cove?", she demanded."What! What girls?""Oh please, stop pretending. I found you with your face between a set of huge breasts and your hand between a set of tightly locked thighs.""Oh. But.. I..."She seized the opportunity and quickly wriggled out of his grasp before jumping off the bed."I swear, I didn't
When Lance walked into the house, his mother at first mistook him for a stranger because she had never seen him in such formal clothes before. But when she saw his face as he turned to her, she confronted him."And where the hell are you coming from, young man?""A friend's," he replied with a smile."Why didn't you call or pick my calls? Do you have any idea how worried I've been?""Sorry. It wasn't deliberate. I lost my phone."She breathed a big sigh of relief and then shook her head."Look, I know you're an adult and old enough to do what you want, but I'm still your mother. I care and worry about you all the time. Whenever you're leaving for long periods, try to let me know. And if plans change midway, call and keep me informed. If you lost your phone, you could've used a friend's phone. You got me so worried sick that I thought you were in the captivity of that nasty woman and I was just about to raid her house with a combined team of
Lance breezed into the restaurant and made straight for the kitchen, patting one of the waiters on the back as he went. He closed the kitchen's door behind him and moved further in. He saw the chefs hard at work - steam, aroma, and sounds of boiling, frying and roasting coming from every direction.He made his way over to a far end and sat down on a chair in front of a clear table near the window. He didn't have to wait long. The co-owner of the restaurant, his friend Rex, came over in his white chef attire and slammed down a tray of food on the table."Munch," he said as he took a seat beside Lance, who then drew the tray closer and inhaled the aroma. It was mushrooms prepared in an unfamiliar but delicious looking way, with stew and chunks of meat. He picked a fork and threw some pieces into his mouth."Hmmm. Real nice," he complimented as he chewed."Glad to hear. Thanks for coming.""My pleasure," Lance replied between mouthfuls."
A second clink of cutlery against plate brought Lance's face up from his food. If he dared to not respond, Anna would clink him into deafness."What is it?", he asked sourly."The eggs," she replied, nodding at his plate. "You don't like eggs, so let me have one.""Fine," he conceded and transferred one of the two hardboiled eggs in his plate over to hers."Thank You."But he did not respond. She shrugged and went to work on the egg. She loved eggs and would do anything to get them. Lance, on the other hand, was not a big fan of eggs. Whenever his mother would persuade him to have some in his food, Anna would be there to help him get rid of the unwanted burden.Seconds later, he dropped his knife and fork with a loud clatter and her eyes quickly shot up. One glance told her that his plate was empty save for the cutlery and the second egg. Even before he could push the plate to her, she reached forward and grabbed it."Thanks, La
When Lance was done working, he quickly swallowed supper while the just-returned Anna was bathing. By the time she was done and was coming down to join them, he was already on his way out to attend an all-night party that could not be missed for anything in the world. Even the thought of missing it was a sin! That was what he told his mother and she had no reason not to believe him.He jumped into his car and began the journey to his friend's house, just as the darkness began to intensify. It would be a long evening and he had no plan to rush.**When Lance arrived at Rex's, he pressed the bell with sufficient civility since he was not so sure of the current status quo, but it didn't take a minute before Rex threw open the door. Lance immediately launched a direct punch aimed at his head, but his friend ducked just in time and managed to push him into the house at the same time."That was for the money returned, you bastard," Lance blurted as he reg