Mom's Love & Games (Extended Pt. 01)

It was more than enough to make Shannon lean over on the bathroom sink and stare into the void. She knew which photo Alana was referring to. It was taken at a dinky water park near her brother's place in Savannah. Shannon had even told her husband she thought it was one of her sexiest photos. Still... Shannon thought,...for it to be that popular... Wow.

But its good reception wasn't the point. Her husband had the audacity to treat her likeness as his personal property. He had the sense of entitlement to share it with others, let them play with it, and then walk home with it in a huff when he got upset -- like it was his ball on the playground.

The more she imagined the scene where her husband announced he was taking away her photo, the angrier Shannon became. Bringing it and sharing it was the act of a selfish and horny man. Taking it away at his will was the act of a controlling one. He thinks his privacy was invaded. He thinks he's the victim, Shannon thought.

She studied her upturned eyes in the sink mirror and shook her head. After retying her bun and flattering her periwinkle polo, she marched out of the bathroom.

The atmosphere of the simple diner had changed. Of the four booths in her section, three of them were all men. All of them knew each other. All of them had seen at least one of her sensitive photos. And all of them had likely masturbated with it for pleasure. Now, because of her husband, Shannon had to live the nightmare of being a sex symbol at work.

"That fucker..." she muttered dryly. Then a cagey, vengeful smirk stretched the corners of her lips. Shannon could never undo what her husband had started. But she could punish him with her.

In a surge of dopamine and self-satisfaction, Shannon crept behind the bar. When the coast was clear, she squirted the water nozzle.

----

"Jenny."

Shannon waited for her coworker to finish handing a stack of dirty plates to a dish washer in the kitchen. "Jenny, guess what?"

"Yeah?" The young waitress spun around and covered her gaping mouth with her hand. "Nooo! Oh my god!"

"I know," Shannon scoffed, second-guessing her spontaneous idea. "It's like a cruel joke. I'm sorry to ask, but do you think I could maybe borrow your yoga pants again?"

"Oh. Well, I don't have those. I took them home after you wore them."

Lovely, Shannon thought. This is what you get-

"But I have these leggings I've been wearing to Pilates for the last couple of days... if you want to wear those? They might be a little sweaty, though."

"Oh, I don't mind." Shannon's heart raced. "Anything's better than these. I need to start bringing my own at this rate, haha!" She thanked Jenny profusely for running to her car on short notice again.

When Jenny came back, Shannon dipped into the restroom to change. Immediately, she noticed the difference in the material between the leggings and the yoga pants. Yoga pants were made to be a comfortable outer layer, loose around the ankles. Athletic leggings were generally sleeker with more compression. But as Shannon shook out the black pants, she couldn't help but wonder if these were more tailored for a darker-skinned beanstalk like Jenny.

Once she tugged and wiggled her way into the leggings, Shannon shuffled over to the full-length mirror. "HAHAHA!" She erupted in laughter. The stretched spandex was sheer over her olive skin. With every slight movement, she needed to pick at the fabric to adjust it. When she twisted her hips, she could see the seam buried between her butt cheeks again. The major difference was, instead of an outline, the black leggings were sheer enough to make a veiled impression of her polka dot thong.

Every fiber of her conscience told her to change back into her wet jeans, but Shannon's hands were trembling. A jittery, exhilarating sense of adrenaline pumped through her veins. The thirty-seven-year-old split into a wide smile, as she retied her voluminous hair into a low ponytail. As a final touch, she unbuttoned her polo down to her apron, permitting a hint of cleavage.

Shannon opened the restroom door and stepped back into the breach. For the remainder of her shift, she shrugged off the gawking eyes and eagle-like stares. She leaned over the tables to pour water and stood sideways to her tray stand as she served plates of food, knowing the men were sneaking peeks and photos. At one point, a man's hand 'accidentally' brushed against the side of her butt cheek, and Shannon chose to ignore it.

By closing time, Shannon felt liberated and proud, and in control of her body.

----

In the early morning, Shannon walked through the side door to see Charlie texting on the couch.

"You look excited," he noted.

Shannon then caught his eyes lingering below her face. She had forgotten to rebutton her polo and was showing mild cleavage. She quickly convinced herself it was no big deal. "I am very happy! I had a great day at work for the first time in a while."

"Oh, good!" Charlie smiled genuinely, sitting up, cradling a pillow.

"Alright. I'm gonna go shower and hit the hay. Get to sleep, will you?" she ribbed.

4*****

Shannon woke up alone in bed. It was just after ten o'clock, and the sun was filtering through the blinds. She yawned and checked her phone to find a text from Alana. "Urgent! Call me!"

The previous night still felt like a hazy dream. Reading Alana's text was like a shot of adrenaline. All of the feelings and realness from last night returned in an instant. Shannon jumped out of bed and began to dress, holding her smirk.

She knew why Alana wanted her to call. But she figured the conversation was better to have in person.

Once the doorbell chimed, Alana stood at attention to greet the attractive waitress. "Shannon!" she announced, surprised. "I'm glad you're here."

"Hey, Alana. I got your text."

"Yes." Her mood lowered. "I have some bad news."

Shannon pushed her hair behind her ear and controlled her breath. "Yeah? What is it?"

The shop owner huffed and reached under the counter. "These." She aligned four plastic zip-top bags on the marbled granite.

Nervously, Shannon stepped forward in her jeans and heels. She glanced at the evidence bags and saw four different photos of her from last night. Two were of her backside, with her thong visible between her butt cheeks. The other two were of her face and cleavage from when she had leaned over. They all shared one common trait. They had faint, splotchy stains from where cum had been wiped from the photo paper. One plastic bag was smeared from the inside with suds. It had been wiped just recently.

Shannon had expected this result. She was just amazed by how quickly the men had gotten to work.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see them until it was too late," Alana lamented. "I'll be launching an investigation to figure out who took these. And I will find out."

After all the rehearsing she had done in her head on the drive over, all Shannon could say to explain her reversal was, "It's okay. I'm fine with these now."

"What?" Alana shook her straight, blonde hair. "Are you just saying that because you don't want to cause trouble? Believe me, I want to get to the bottom of this. It's no burden."

Shannon wagged her chin and sheepishly smiled. "No. I just... I don't know."

Meticulously, Alana read her eyes, and her face bulged in an elated, accusatory grin. "You did this on purpose."

"Hehe!" A flustered Shannon giggled and went red. It took her a moment to untie her tongue. "I kind of wanted to get back at my husband. And I figured, if men are going to be this way with me, I might as well do it on my terms, you know?"

Alana sucked her lips and folded her hands to conceal her excitement. "I think that's a wonderful attitude. I'm happy to see how happy you look now. And, obviously, my patrons appreciate you."

The two women stood and nonchalantly looked around.

"I have something else to tell you," Alana finally said.

"What?"

"Your son came in here yesterday."

"What did you just say?" Shannon reacted loudly. She wasn't as amused as her new friend seemed to be.

"Your son, Charlie, came in here yesterday. I could tell by his hair and face... and also his debit card helped. Using a debit card at an adult shop to buy porno..." Alana tsked."Rookie mistake."

It was uncomfortable to hear, but Shannon wasn't sure how to feel. Her son was officially an adult and he was going to do adult things. Being horny and watching porn was one of those things. She was more concerned about him going to a place like The Greenville Private Library. "Why would he buy a video here? No offense. I just don't get why he wouldn't watch it online."

"Men buy physical porn for a lot of reasons. The quality is much higher, they can watch their favorite video with bad Internet, there's no traceable charge on their credit card statements. Plus, actually getting to hold it is just exciting. You own it. Does your son have a Playstation?"

Shannon thought then nodded.

"There you go. He has a Blu-ray player. That's much better than streaming a video online."

"Huh, okay." Shannon sighed and still looked distraught.

"Before you get too worried about your son-"

"I'm not."

"Well, good!" Alana grinned. "You should be proud, especially considering his selections."

"Unless they're videos about how to buy a woman flowers, then I doubt that."

Alana tossed her hair and laughed. "I won't tell you what he came in here for because there's no reason to share that with you. But I will tell you about the third movie he chose. When he had the movies he wanted, he kept perusing the store, and I noticed him walking by that display again and again."

Shannon peeked back at a waterfall DVD display facing the window.

"Men do that a lot," Alana explained. "A man will be interested in something, but he'll be afraid to touch it and admit he wants it. He's afraid someone will see, or he's afraid of what it'll say about him. So, he'll just stare at it again and again. That's usually when I walk over to help. Of course, he'll move away and pretend he wasn't really looking," the owner chuckled fondly. "What I end up doing is waving him over to the section and complimenting his taste. I tell him why the genre is special enough to me and popular enough to have in my store. Then I mention all of the positive things someone's arousal to the genre says about them. Then I recommend my favorites, compliment his selection, and tell him I'm happy for him."

"Your son selected a stepmom-stepson movie. It was a high-quality, uncut one with good acting and a solid plot. The kind you can't find online."

Her lips were moving, but no sound escaped. Shannon was alarmed and swirling with confusion. "Wh- Why would he want that?"

"For the same reason why stepmom-stepson and stepdad-stepdaughter videos are among my bestsellers. Freudian reasons. A lot of young boys are sexually attracted to their moms." Alan could see the twisting horror forming in the mother's face. "Shannon," she spoke calmingly, "before you buy into the narrative that your son is a screwed-up weirdo, I can promise you this attraction is natural, very common, and harmless."

"Are you sure?" Shannon's voice broke.

"Yes, I promise. And, c'mon... With a mom who looks like you, what choice did he have?"

She wasn't in a smiling mood yet. "You helped him? You- You encouraged it."

"Like I said, I didn't know until he paid. But even if I did know, I still would've helped. Making men feel comfortable and unashamed is important. Especially with someone his age. It's my job."

"Is there anything I should do about it?"

"Oh, not really. Just let him watch his videos, jerk off, and don't let him know you know. Let him enjoy his attraction from a distance. I mean, you had to have caught him checking you out at some point."

Shannon thought back to as recently as last night. "Yeah, he looked at my chest when I came home from work."

Alana gestured toward the bagged photos on her counter. "Looks like a lot of men did."

The two women shared a laugh in the empty store.

"In all seriousness, Shannon... Your son was one of the most pleasant and polite young men I've ever met. You should be complimented that he thinks so highly of you." They nodded and shared a warm smile, then Alana announced, "And, now, I have some work to do -- involving you."

A reeling Shannon watched as her blonde acquaintance clicked on her iMac and made the printer whirr. Copies of her photos mechanically slid into the tray.

"This isn't an attempt to use you for free labor, I promise. But do you know what would really stick it to your husband and make you feel good? Posting these photos yourself."

The suggestive expression on Alana's face only made Shannon giddier. She waited until a stack of each photo was printed, and she naughtily labeled her sexy photos with a Sharpie and masking tape. She was tempted to write where she worked, but it felt like too much. So, she simply wrote in pretty, looping letters: "Shannon - Waitress."

Alana lifted the counter gate so she could enter the Nonfiction Section with her stack of photos and tin of thumbtacks. She slid open the first white door in the dark hallway. "What the f- Eww!" The dark stall, which would have been terrible as an actual reading nook, looked different than last time. There were dried, splotchy cum stains on the laminate floor and a hole in each of the side walls.

Shannon backed out into the hallway and turned to see Alana observing her, with her arms folded under her chest. Preemptively, the owner answered her question, "I'm still in the process of cleaning the reading nooks from last night. The gloryholes are popular live streams to watch in the study room."

Alana then clicked across the thick laminate in her dress heels and invited her guest into the cramped nook. "These caps," she took the black plastic circles from the shelf, "screw into the wall on each side."

"Oh. I thought those were, like, those little circles you pop out for wires and cables and stuff." Alana's hearty laughter echoed in the nook, and Shannon scratched the side of her head. "I'm still getting used to the way your customers think."

"When you walked in here to post your photos, did you feel a tingly, nervous excitement from knowing a stranger would be getting off to you?" Shannon admittingly nodded her head. "My patrons enjoy this for the same reason. Except it's harder for me to clean, obviously."

The women flashed their teeth and shared another laugh. Shannon then tacked her four photos into the wall and moved on to the next room.

----

"Oh, what a night. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Late December back in sixty-three. What a very special time for me. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. 'member, what a night. Doo. Doo. Doo. Doo. Doo..."

Shannon danced and swayed about the diner, humming to the jukebox as she performed her serving duties. Her confidence came from her growing experience. It also came from stepping out of her comfort zone earlier when she posted her photos. There was an energy, a tickle in her heart.

For the first time, Shannon was happy to come in for her shift. Her forehead was relaxed, and there was a subtle bump in her cheeks. Her brown hair was tied down into a loose, French ponytail. The collar of her pastel blue polo was open and relaxed against her shoulders. And her legs and butt were softly wrapped in her own translucent black tights. Going into work felt like an exhilarating secret.

Maybe it was her smile, or her hospitality, or her allowance of light flirting, or maybe she was just doing her job well... but Shannon was making a lot more money tonight. Her tables were leaving larger tips. Very few were lower than twenty percent.

The sudden change was explained later in the night when Shannon's apron buzzed and she read the text from Alana. "Hey, gorgeous! How have your tips been tonight?"

"What makes you ask that? They've been really good."

"I taped a little note next to your photos. It says you pretend not to notice men taking pics... as long as they leave a nice tip. Seemed fair to me ;)"

Shannon stared at her phone screen uncertainly. It surprised her how Alana didn't consult her beforehand. But, then again, she had just confessed to helping men sneak pictures of her. If they're gonna do it anyway, why shouldn't you get an extra benefit? Shannon thought.

She turned the corner and walked through the long, rail-style diner. Most of the red and white booths were vacant. But in her section, Shannon could see the two tables of men, who had either recently or currently fantasizing about her.

"Anyone need more water?"

5*****

The morning after was not pleasant. When Shannon woke up, Sean was next to her scrolling on his phone. It was like having a stranger next to her, breathing, wrinkling her sheets. Ever since she found out what he had done, she hadn't been able to meet his eye or speak to him. She fell asleep facing away from him, and she barely spoke to him during the limited time they were together these days.

Going right home and screaming at her husband for lying and cheating and hurting the family... It was not in Shannon's nature. Before she approached her husband with her information, she wanted to be sure of how she felt and sure of what she wanted to say. She wanted to decide beforehand how she would respond to his answers depending on what they revealed. And Shannon was still reeling from and digesting the news.

"What are you up to today?"

Shannon rolled partly over. "Going to the store. What about you?"

Her husband's eyes were still on his phone, as he listlessly breathed, "Probably calling my buddy, Bill. He might know about a job comin' up soon."

"Oh. That would be good." Shannon rolled out of bed and showered.

----

Before work, Shannon stopped by The Library -- at Alana's request.

"Hey, honey! You really created some work for me last night, didn't you?"

Shannon arched her brow and strode up the counter. She watched Alana spread a row of different photos. "Six? Wow..."

"No, honey," Alana chuckled and patronizingly shook her head. "I had a lot of print requests in my inbox. These are the hot ones. Or I should say, hot ones of quality. I want you to have the honor of approving them."

The five-by-seven prints depicted the waitress in a variety of views and angles. Half of them featured her face, along with other points of interest. Shannon touched and examined the shiny paper, and she was drawn to the image of her entire figure from behind -- her styled ponytail down to her white shoes. It had to have been taken from the table across the aisle.

Her nose flinched, and Alana perceptively asked, "You don't like that one?"

"I do, it's just..."

"It's okay to not like one. Or all of them."

Shannon had a simple, squarer nose with a slight flair to her nostrils. It made her face look powerful and elegantly stoic under the right light. A skewed snapshot of her tits with the light casting down on her hovering face was not the right light. "I'm not a fan of this one."

In an instant, Alana slid it off the faux marble, ripped it down the middle, and dropped it in the trash can. "Do these ones make you happy?"

Shannon scanned the remaining pictures and coyly shrugged.

The new acquaintances chatted about a variety of topics, mainly the new real estate development downtown and the dresswear sale going on at Belk. When the mechanical screeching of the printer stopped, Alana asked, "Would you like me to use you for free labor again? I'll give you a gift."

"Haha! What's the gift?"

"You must be new to gift-giving if you think I'm supposed to tell you."

Shannon rolled her eyes and sassily replied, "Fine. I accept."

Alana placed the thin stacks of photos on the counter, followed by masking tape, a permanent marker, and the tin of thumbtacks. Shannon leaned over in her gray, short-sleeve top and began ripping tape for photo labels. Every time she glanced up, Alana was contently watching her and mulling her lips.