There were three dresses hanging on the outside of the wardrobe.
“Which one do you think.. for tonight?” she asked as I walked in.
“Depends,” there was a long pause, “Will you have sex with him, or are you just reading your book tonight?”
The look of thunder was brief, and it was followed by a slight giggle.
Before she could reply I asked, “Have you had sex… since dad?” It was almost a random question out of the blue.
From the flush of red that coloured her face I knew the answer.
“You have! Who with, not that Derek you met at evening class?”
“Noooo,” she looked offended, “no, it was just someone I met through work, it just happened.”
Looking guilty she said, “You don’t think I’m awful do you Debs?”
I walked over and hugged her, and whispered into her neck, “Of course not,” then pulling back and looking directly at her continued, “If it happens with Mr ‘grey haired’ Ted then go for it, but please not in here when I’m here!”
We both burst out laughing, and there was a definite sense of relief that some stuff was out in the open.
Mum wore a summery print dress with a lowish neck, I wore a bare waisted cotton top, and a mini skirt. We were on the veranda of the bar attached to the restaurant when Ted arrived.
“Hi Jenny, hi Debbie,” he greeted us both with a kiss on the cheek. I must admit he looked good in his white short sleeved shirt and navy chinos.
“Another drink, I can’t believe I’m with two such attractive ladies?”
The compliment was a bit over the top, but I was ready for another cocktail, mum was drinking spritzers. She giggled and accepted the offer, and while he was at the bar I quickly said, “For god’s sake mum, just relax.”
The conversation flowed, mainly between mum and Ted, stuff about where they grew up and reminiscing about their teen years. By the time we went to eat I was getting bored with being left out of the general chat.
“Now Debbie, tell me about going to uni, what are you going to study and which one are you going to?”
Ted had his arm around both of us as we walked from the veranda to our table and for the next few minutes he did his best to focus on me.
The meal was delicious and, what with the wine, by the time we’d finished I was very drunk.
“I’ll leave you two to it, I’m going up to our room, I’ve had too much booze.”
Mum laughed, “Can you get there ok, do you want me to come with you?”
“No, I’m ok, you two enjoy the rest of the evening.”
Stumbling a little I found my way back to the room and passed out on the bed. It was midnight when I woke up the first time. Looking across the room mum’s bed was empty, she wasn’t back yet. I got up, got undressed, had a drink of water, and went to the loo before getting back into bed.
It was two thirty when I woke up the second time. This time it was mum closing the door. I kept silent, hearing her go to the bathroom, then undressing, and creeping into her bed. I wondered how the sex had been, it was an obvious conclusion.
Noises outside woke me up at nine fifteen. Mum was still fast asleep and I knew breakfast finished serving at ten. I decided to leave her in bed and hurriedly splashed my face, putting on some shorts and a t-shirt. I needed a lot of fruit juice, my mouth was rasping after the last night’s alcohol. Some fresh fruit and then a coffee made me feel half human.
“Hello Debbie, no mum this morning?”
Ted sat down beside me without asking, he was carrying a half finished coffee.
“No, I left her sleeping, I think we both had too much to drink last night, I didn’t hear her get in at all. Did you two have a good evening?”
The question appeared to be innocent, but I was watching for a reaction.
Unflinchingly Ted replied, “Yes, I certainly did, she’s good company.”
I read nothing in his face, both of us sipping our coffee.
“I can definitely see where you get your good looks from.”
Now was this just an observation, or just conversation, or was it flirting? Ted was sitting right next to me and looking intently into my eyes without looking away at all.
For a few seconds I held his gaze, feeling my heart suddenly race. Telling myself to get real I replied, “I guess we look similar, good genes I suppose.”
When I looked up he was still staring, and I knew then that this was definitely flirting.
Gathering my thoughts very quickly, I thought of mum’s feelings. If she’d had sex with this guy the night before, and he was a ‘player,’ then she would get hurt. But why was I excited by a much older man apparently hitting on me?
“Lucky me then.”
He continued, “I said I’d see Jenny in the pool later, if you go back and she’s awake, remind her please.”
“I will,” I replied, as he placed his hand briefly on my thigh, squeezing it as he got up and left.
My mind was racing, Ted was definitely making it clear he fancied me, completely inappropriately, but he didn’t seem to care about that. I knew I had to go back upstairs and find out from mum about the night before.
“Oh my god, my head!” was the first thing that mum said as I entered the room.
“I’ve got to take a shower, maybe that will make me feel better.”
“Maybe you should,” I replied, “you look pretty awful.”
I let her disappear and went out onto the balcony overlooking the pool and leaned on the railings. I could see the sun loungers filling up, and actually saw Ted appear and sit close to where he had sat the day before.
I heard mum still moaning as she exited the bathroom.
“Oh god, get me a bottle of water from the minibar please Debbie, I’ve got these paracetamols, I need something.”
“So I take it you had a good night? What time did you get back?”
“I’m not sure, about one I think.”
I didn’t comment about the lie, but decided to just come out with it, “Did you sleep with him?”
I knew the answer straightaway from the lack of eye contact and the flushed face.
“Debbie, I don’t ask you every time you come back from meeting someone.”
“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then. Was it good?”
“Oh stop it.”
She tried to bring the line of questioning to an end so she added, “actually very good, now shut up about it… please!”
I giggled and decided to relent.
“I saw him at breakfast, he asked me to remind you about meeting him by the pool this morning.”
“Ohhhh god I can’t, I feel like death. Can you tell him I’ll meet him for lunch? That’s if you’re going down?”
“Ok, I’ll tell him you’ve got a hangover and it’s his fault, but I might feel a bit embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“You know perfectly well why.”
“Ok, but thanks, tell him I’ll meet him about one thirty, now just let me close my eyes.”
Mum flopped backwards onto her bed and I got changed into my bikini. Guiltily I knew exactly which one to choose, the white one, knowing perfectly well the way it looked when it got wet. Fortunately mum didn’t see, and when I’d got my robe on and collected my things I left for the pool.
Ted waved and I walked over to give him mum’s message.
“She’s feeling rather hungover, but she said she’ll definitely meet you for lunch if that’s ok, one thirty.”
Ted didn’t look particularly disappointed, but then tapped the empty lounger beside him.
“You can sit here, I was saving it for Jenny.”