As her bikini bottoms came off, she had turned around just enough for Brayden to catch sight of her luscious butt-cheeks. More so, she purposefully arched her back in a provocative manner while picking the discarded swimwear up from the floor – feeling naughty in the best of ways. She could feel Brayden’s eyes following every movement of her body – not wanting to miss out on any small detail that she might choose to offer up. For a split second, her eyes glanced over to her son – and in that briefest of moments, there’d been an intensity behind his gaze. An animalistic lust which sent her pulse soaring like never before. A clear sign of arousal.
It should have been far too taboo to even consider; imagining herself and her own flesh-and-blood being intimate with one another. The mere thought should have made her cringe in disgust. And yet, there was no repulsion to be found within her mind. He was her special baby boy – whom she loved unconditionally – and he needed comfort, security, warmth. What other woman could be better equipped to provide him with that than her? Wouldn’t it just make sense to take him into her loving arms – and make sure that his physical needs were met as well as his emotional ones? That’s what she tried to tell herself, at least. To combat the guilt that ate at her insides. But alongside the guilt was a strange form of excitement; gnawing, clawing, trying to burrow its way in, refusing to be ignored. If he’d have risen to his feet and slid down his shorts, she’d have let him ravish her without a word of protest. The temptation grew stronger and stronger.
As she put matching underwear on, then shimmied into the dress, Laurie couldn’t help but feel a little lightheaded. With unsteady hands, she sorted herself, out readjusted her bosom and straightened out the hem of the dress. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, sure.” Her son stood up and ran his fingertips through his dark curls. “Do you want me to find a place for us using the app, or would you prefer to just walk around until we stumble upon something?”
“Let’s just head up towards the mountainous area and see what we come across,” Laurie said, offering him a smile. That part of Cape Florencia was by far the most romantic, capitalizing heavily on its natural beauty and the wonderful view it afforded of the azure sea.
The sun was still fairly high in the sky, but a few clouds had begun to make an appearance, slowly drifting along above them like white, puffy sheep. The stucco buildings lining the cobbled roads looked beautiful under the golden rays, and while Cape Florencia wasn’t known for its nightlife, music could be heard coming from every quaint bar they passed by – playing ‘summer plagues’ and other ‘catchy tunes’ over and over again on repeat, until one couldn’t stand to listen to it anymore.
“The tackle shop that grandpa took us to years ago is still here,” Brayden noted, pointing towards the little storefront several buildings down the road. Fishing rods and mannequins in waders lined up against the front window, and the wooden sign above the entrance was slightly crooked – perhaps intentionally, creating a rustic look about the place.
“Oh, don’t remind me of that. He went on and on about how they had rigged the fishing competition you two participated in well in advance, and that the seabass he caught ought to have won.” Laurie shook her head, a look of mock disappointment on her face. “He never learned how to lose at anything with grace.”
Brayden smirked. “Yeah, I remember that. He refused to be in the picture they took of the winners, saying that a photograph of second place wasn’t even worth the frame.” The two of them laughed together for a moment, reminiscing of days long gone.
The uphill walk was quite arduous, even on vacation. Cape Florencia was one enormous collection of slopes and ridges, villas and apartment blocks alike dotting the terrain. Shops seemed to be thrown in haphazardly, rather than collected together in a more planned location, creating an illusion of chaos wherever the eye wandered. And yet, there were also charming little places – hidden away in unexpected locations – which made it well worth exploring. A wild dog – no owner in sight – ran across the street in front of them, sniffing along as if hunting for food, though that was not an unusual sight anywhere in the region.
“What about that place? Taco’s?” The dark-haired young man asked his mother as he pointed towards a restaurant on their right. “That looks authentic.”
Laurie frowned. “It says fish taco’s, Brayden. No more fish. Please?” Her eyes looked pleadingly at him from behind her frames.
“I’m sure they have other stuff, too,” her son tried, with little conviction. Opting not to press the issue any further, they just kept walking without taking a look at the menus inside.
A handful of minutes later, nestled between palm trees and stone-wall gardens, they finally found themselves a decent bistro; a place with a relaxing atmosphere, that didn’t seem busy. After grinning at each other, satisfied with their find, they took seats facing one another by a glass wall – watching seagulls flying over the street outside, cawing at their kin – and beyond them, the sparkling blue water stretching into oblivion. The interior smelled of freshly baked bread, and of shallots being fried up in butter somewhere deeper in the establishment.
Young, slender, and with a caramel complexion – the waitress looked up from her pad, smiling brightly at Brayden as she greeted them with a thick Spanish accent. “Welcome to Racamaci. My name is Catalina. May I bring you some drinks?”
They ordered beer from the local micro-brewery, and flipped through menus in plastic laminate pages – Laurie skipping the seafood pages so quickly that Brayden couldn’t help but to chuckle – until their beverages arrived. There were no photos, descriptions or ingredient lists; just names and prices – but Brayden went for a classic cheeseburger whilst his mother ordered steak. As the drinks were raised, frothy and cold, both mother and son made similar sounds of satisfaction as they tasted them.
“Your food will be ready shortly,” the young girl informed them before walking off. Her big smile and glistening eyes remained trained on Brayden long enough for him to give her a pleasant nod and an appreciative look in return.
“She’s cute, Brayden, but we’re leaving in a couple of days,” Laurie warned him as the waitress was out of earshot. “Don’t get smitten.” The jealous undercurrents were difficult to conceal – but so was the genuine worry in her tone.
A playful smirk appeared on her son’s face, and he replied without looking at her, his eyes transfixed on the seagulls outside as they plucked away at rubbish someone had left behind. “You worry too much. Not every girl that smiles at me wants to get into my pants.”
Laurie scoffed. “I’m far more concerned about you wishing to get into theirs.”
He paused for the briefest of moments. “Well, what if I do?” Brayden looked at his mom seriously now – studying her expression. “What’s so terrible about people wanting to have some fun together?”
She pushed the cutlery around on the table, straightening it up. Somehow she found it difficult to keep his gaze. “Fun, sure. But actions have consequences, honey.” She sighed deeply, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. “Your father, he was ‘fun’. And I don’t regret getting pregnant with you, not ever; but he left six weeks after you were born, Brayden. Six weeks. And you remember how I had to work all the time when you were little – double shifts, weekends, holidays; in order to make ends meet?”
“Of course I remember. What does that have to do with-”
“You need to be smart about your choices. Find a girl that has something more to her than a nice smile or a large pair of tits. They are a dime a dozen nowadays, trust me,” she insisted, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose, watching for his reaction closely.
Her son chuckled at that, and then nodded. “Okay, okay. You sound just like grandpa now,” Brayden said jokingly. His grandfather had been quite liberal in many facets of life, but one thing he’d made abundantly clear was the importance of responsible decisions when making love with someone, and selecting a partner – ‘one-night stands’ not being a part of it. He had been hammering this into Brayden on repeated occasions all through-out the young man’s teenage years.
Laurie leaned forward across the table. “You may think his way of looking at the world is old-fashioned now. I get that. But there’s nothing wrong with finding someone you actually enjoy spending time with before getting intimate, honey.” The blonde woman smiled, but there was a sadness about her eyes; an aching that tugged on her hearts strings. “You have your whole future ahead of you. Last thing you want is to end up getting a girl pregnant at the age of 19 – only to wind up having no choice but to be a dad, or to..” her voice trailed off.
“To run away like my father did? Yeah, I get it mom. I know better than that.” He looked glumly at his glass, swirling the liquid around idly as he stared at the white foam within. “I wouldn’t do that to a kid, or to a woman. Never.” His tone had taken on a solemn edge.
Grabbing onto his free hand, Laurie rubbed it with hers comfortingly. “Good. I’m glad you understand that,” she said, with a relieved smile. “Just find a girl back home that really cares for you, and treats you right.”
He looked deep into her eyes. “Someone just like you?”
Laurie was so caught off-guard by the way he said the words. She couldn’t deduce if it sounded like a genuine question, a challenge, or an innocent jest – or some combination of all three. But without thinking it through, her response just formed on the tip of her tongue, and spilled over before she had the time for any reflection: “Yes. Someone just like me.”
— 3 —
Feeling lightly buzzed, Laurie left the bistro with her son in tow just as the sun was about to set – lighting up the sky in soft, pastel colours like the palette of a painter trying to capture the feeling of a dream. They ambled down the main road, admiring the beauty of the landscape as they strolled along slowly. They walked a different route than when they’d arrived, and eventually came across a mural on the side of one building, depicting fisherman with boats floating by in the background.
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