Parallel Universe Ch. 02

A week later, on Friday morning the family was getting ready for a beach day, going to a place that was 25 minutes away by car. Both Nina and Nick were working in cloud IT companies remotely and had taken the day off. Nina was managing a team of 7 and Nick was a consultant that worked with executives a lot, so his hours sometimes were a bit strange due to Australian and Californian time zones that should be accommodated.

Nick, already in his swimsuit, prepared the kids' stuff with their beach toys, their change clothes, caps, sunscreen while Nina was in the walk-in wardrobe choosing her bikini. The trio was ready and Nick shouted that they were going to load the car. After a few minutes and when he had set everything up, Nina opened the front door, locked it behind her and sat in the car. While the girls were chirpy making chicken voices and laughing, Nick had a "visibly annoyed" look in his face.

"What is it, baby? You look like something's wrong. Was I late or something?", Nina offered.

"No, we were good in timing. It's that my director just called me and asked me to help a director in Australia complete a report, so I will need to call him when we get there. It will take me 30 minutes to an hour", Nick responded.

Nina assured him that it's not that bad, she will find something to get the girls busy with and when he is done, he will come and enjoy his day.

Their trip continued with some songs about the wheels of a bus and they quickly reached the beach bar which was part of a larger resort. They find an umbrella with 3 sunbeds and order cold coffee and an orange juice for the oldest young lady. Nick takes the coffee glass in his hands, gives Nina a peck on her glossy, cherry flavoured lips and disappears with his phone. Alone now, she takes out of the bag a few toys and lets the kids sit on the sand and play. It was still quite early and the sun was not hot, but she applied sunscreen on them and then she had maybe 1-2 minutes of "me time" before they called her for anything, so she got rid of the beach dress and rubbed some sunscreen on her arms, decolletage, belly, thighs and calves. She laid on the chaise-longue in her blue floral bikini and large sunglasses looking at the sea and some people playing beach volley in the distance. At some point, she hears a voice from her left calling her.

"Nina! Good morning to the family, so happy to see you here!"

It was Sonia walking to her in a red swimsuit with her sunglasses on her hair. The bikini was a triangle bra that covered Sonia's large boobs adequately and the bottoms were brazilian type which with her figure looked fantastic. The strings that formed the beachsuit structure were having some tough time managing her curves, but this is the way life works for them.

"Oh hello Sonia! Didn't certainly expect to find you here. You look smashin' by the way" said Nina with a large smile and a deeper, sultry voice, raising her glasses on her head too.

"Awww thank you, have to say right back at you! And here are the lovely girls, how are you doing? Do you enjoy your time on the beach?", Sonia turned to them and they shouted back all sorts of excited yeah-yeahs.

Nina offered her the empty sunbed to sit if she is alone. Sonia responded that she came there with her boyfriend who was playing beach volleyball 20 metres away and pointed to him for Nina to see. She saw 4 people jumping for the ball, two girls and two guys. One of them was Manos, Nina recognized him directly even behind his glasses and of course without the work clothes he wore in the bar restaurant.

"Wait, is Manos your boyfriend?" She sounded surprised.

"Yep he is! We are together for 3 years now" Sonia responded.

"Good job there, lady" Nina cheered loudly and winked her eye to her young friend. She voicelessly continued "he is HOT" so the kids don't hear this. Sonia got the lip reading right and laughed, nodding positively her head to Nina's comment, acting embarrassed.

"Where is Nick? I hope he isn't back at home working, leaving you here all alone" she said.

"No, he should be in the resort lobby cause he had a phone call from work, he will be down in no time. Sit, have the sunbed so we can talk", Nina asserted this time.

Sonia sat down and they started talking about work, Nina explained that she works remotely managing a team for a company whose HQ is in the country capital so she travels there every 1,5 month for 2 days and Nick is travelling internationally every 2 months for 3-4 days for meetings.

"How is the bar going?" She asked Sonia.

"The bar is going well, but I will stop working there most probably in a few days", Sonia came back looking a bit worried.

"Oh, sorry to hear this, what happened?" Nina said, truly concerned.

"Manos will serve the army for the next 12 months, so I don't want to be working late nights alone, I will need to find another job that works day shift. Money with rent and stuff is also an issue, so I really need to find a solution soon."

"Oh Sonia, I feel your pain", Nina touched her on her arm. "When is he leaving?"

"In 10 days from now, that is why we came here to enjoy our day, but I also had a talk 2 hours ago with the resort staff manager to see if there is any fit opening here. Manos knows him through a few friends of his at uni. There is one apparently for the beach bar which could work fine, but of course in 2,5 months I will need to move to the hotel bar where it might get me again to night shifts."

"Poor Sonia, all the best from my heart", Nina said and hugged her for a brief second. "It's a tough time for you guys, but you will prevail". Nina remembered her rough patch when Nick served at 23 years old, so it was really a pain that she could feel.

Suddenly, an angry girly shout came from Nina's oldest daughter which disrupted the sympathy moment.

"What is wrong, Annie?" mom asked.

"My orange juice straw is punctured and I cannot drink my orange juice!" The little girl faking furiousness said.

Sonia smiled and jumped in. "This is high treason, my princess! Come with me and we will fix this once and for all. I know the Straw Keeper here and we will make sure that he never fails us again!"

Sonia turned to Nina requesting green light to walk with her daughter to the bar and replace the straw. Nina nodded and thanked her silently for this.

Annie and Sonia walk up to the bar, Sonia smiles at the handsome bartender and winks at him.

"Good day, Straw Keeper" she says with a dramatic voice. "It has come to my attention that you have given a punctured straw to Her Majesty here and she can't drink her royal orange juice. I demand a settlement or you will be sent to the Judge for treason". Annie was surprised how Sonia startled the Straw Keeper.

"So you uncovered my cunning plot, Lady Sonia. It's too bad for me, my days as a Courtesan Straw Master are now close to an end, but here is your straw, my Princess. I beg for your mercy and forgiveness". The bartender tagged along with a squeaky, villainous voice and smiled to both court beauties who turned their backs half-smiling satisfied and half acting superior to the mischievous Straw Keeper.

A few steps on the return from the bar, Annie started running and calling her mom excitedly. "Mom mom mom! Sonia is great, she got me a new straw and she told the Straw Keeper off!"

Nina heard the news and restored eye contact with crafty Sonia thanking her for the resolution. She mentioned to her that she has watched something alarming that needs to be reported.

Sonia comes close and Nina points with a nod to the beach volleyball court. "The short lady has been handsy with Manos, I think" she said. Sonia looked at them, it was a girl she knew. Manos must have done something with her before he got with Sonia, she was sure about it. Her name was Elira and she was quite popular and well connected, one of the people that would step on dead bodies to succeed in her targets. Sonia didn't like her at all because she was or might have been her competition for Manos, but also for obvious reasons. Elira was wearing a triangle purple bikini top to cover her small, perky breasts but also a black thong which displayed her full ass to everybody. Not the best choice for sports, but a great one for Elira to parade and flaunt her goods. Sonia's best friend Angel, who was gay as they come and the most intelligent and supportive person in the world, had once mentioned that Elira's ass is what everybody knows her for, so instead of her resting bitch face she put her belfie on her passport.

Sonia was obviously annoyed and Nina picked up on this. She didn't like seeing the young girl jealous or stressed.

"Go fetch him, he must come sit with us", Nina said as if Manos was Sonia's pet.

"Will do in a few, I don't want to go there now and make a scene", she responded.

Saying this, she got off the sunbed and on the girls' towels on the sand and joined their games. Nina took note and her brain started crafting plans. They were having so much fun together for a few minutes that they were actually disrupted by Manos coming there.

"Hello, have I missed the party here my ladies? Nice to meet you here Nina" he said.

Nina examined his sweaty, nicely defined, tan body behind her sunglasses and was pleased with what she saw. However, she was less excited to speak to him as she was still a bit mad about the thong-lady incident.

"Hello Manos. We are sitting here with your lovely girlfriend Sonia and we have a great time indeed" she said, maybe putting some emphasis on the "girlfriend Sonia" part for him, to register that he should be careful of what he does and who he lets touch him.

"I heard that you are leaving for the army, I wish you the best for the year. It's not an easy time, especially if there is a relationship left behind", Nina continued in a serious manner.

"Yeah, thanks. I know it will be hard, I hope I will be stationed close to the city so I can visit as much as I can, potentially work a few nights per month when I am out to support Sonia financially. We will have trouble with the rent if I don't do this" he said and was eager to join the fun with the kids.

Nick comes as well, taking his shirt off finally to enjoy the beach and his family.

"Full house today it seems!" he says happily. "My man Manos", getting to bro hug him like they were friends forever. Manos laughed but didn't fully get the point apart from the excitement of meeting someone you know in an unexpected place. It felt a bit weird how Nick was so warm to him. Then Nick turned to Sonia and greeted her too, much cooler though. Manos and Sonia went quickly back twenty feet away and started playing with the girls.

Nina informed Nick about Manos joining the army and Sonia looking for another job plus financial struggle with rental apartment etc. She looked at him and pointed with her head towards the happy bunch.

"Do you think she would agree?" she asked her husband who was completely out of sync as he just joined the pack, but the next second saw the little one named Helena and Annie both over-the-moon excited and decoded the message.

"Of course darling, if she feels she can handle them, why not?" He responded with a sigh of relief.

"Then we better waste no time, cause she had an interview here just today, wouldn't like her to get confused and miss a good opportunity with us" decisively said Nina.

"Sonia, love, could you please come over here for a second?" Nina raised her voice in a teacher's tone.

"Sure, Manos, could you please continue jazzing the gurls up? I will be back in a minute, mom calls me" Sonia said to be heard mainly by Annie who found mighty interesting the "jazz up" and started repeating it and laugh.

Sonia comes close and Nina tells her with a smile to sit down. The young lady was curious, but knew there was nothing wrong since everybody was happy and calm, children included. "What may I help with?"

"Exactly the question and the way I needed to hear. Sonia my dear, we are very sympathetic to your tough short-term struggle. We like you a lot and the kids like you as well apparently, so would you be open to help us with them when you stop with the job at the bar?"

"Wow, OK, that I didn't expect. But I guess you would need help a few hours only?" said Sonia processing the ask. "Not sure if this would be compatible with whatever job I get during the day", thinking also about money.

Nick jumped in "No, actually we are thinking holistically here, Sonia. We are both working and we would need help at least during the work hours with Helena, as Annie is going to school. Sometimes these hours get extended or we need to do some chores, so we would definitely welcome the possibility of having someone -in- the house as a sub-caregiver. We work from home, so we would be present for you and the kids. But..."

"...waiting for the but here!" joked Sonia who was trying to fit what could be the difficult part of the deal.

Nina laser-focused continues "But we have an isolated ground floor apartment that we would like to offer you so you stay with us and don't have to pay rent or keep your old one throwing money you don't have down the drain".

Sonia's eyes shone like the sun. Sure, it was quite forward for people she had seen only three times, but she was drawn in by this family and even for a short amount of time, she could picture herself as part of it. After all, it was just a job and she could find another. Worst things could happen.

Nick stopped her daydreaming and told her, "the apartment is furnished, Manos can have his clothes there too and can come stay whenever he is back on vacation. We will take care of all your groceries and also pay you a salary for your work. I believe you will also build some savings easily during this time".

"Where do I sign?" was Sonia's remark as she didn't have to think twice. She got up her chair and gave a happy hug of gratitude to Nina. Nick ordered drinks to seal the deal.

"Welcome to the family" they both said and Sonia was flying on cloud nine. She went to Manos and the children and announced the news excitedly. Manos was relieved about the short-term future, however couldn't put his finger on why Nina and Nick plus Sonia would be so giving to each other, after all they were perfect strangers.

Nick joined Manos and played for some time with the kids, while Nina and Sonia sipped their gin tonic, tanning and talking. Nina got in too deep quickly, maybe from the alcohol infusion.

"You know that when Manos is away you will need a vibrator, right? Hope you have a sturdy one cause you will burn the motor out".

Sonia was surprised but accepted the interest and the comment. "Yeah, I think I should find one. He has been quite...eh, attentive of my needs, but if he isn't here, I will need help".

"I'm sure about this. He seems quite virile and decisive, he probably tries to nail you twice per day" said Nina matter-of-fact-ly. "Can't blame him, nice nails by the way" she noted, playing on the nail word and looking at Sonia's classy and appropriate french tips. Even now with the red bikini, she couldn't go wrong.

Sonia looked at her hands and toes as well, just to remember what colour they were and admire the mani/pedi. "Well, I will need to start going for light blue when he is away and certainly avoid the white toes".

Nina dropped her gin from her mouth and with eyes open wide blurted "wow oh wow, new information here. Fill me in! What does light blue and white mean?"

"Oh sorry, thought you know...in social media, light blue means that you are in a relationship, white means that you are single..." Sonia said and the trail of her voice made curious Nina ache for the complete information, so she nodded willingly to her young friend to continue. "But white toes mean that you are crazy in bed and you have a tight..."

Nina sprayed gin out of her mouth saying "Good God, have I been leading people on?!" and she remembered the play dates with parents where she had a summer, light mood and painted her toes white in the last 2 years. She just hoped the other older parents were as oblivious about the trend as she was. She remembered that in the last work trip she met her almost exclusively young and definitely social media savvy team complimenting an otherwise modest work outfit with sexy black heels and white toes for contrast. There was no saving from this specific incident, she thought. "Gen Z, you and your viral cultural decisions...!" she said and they both laughed hard.

"Well, your red now looks very milf-appropriate", Sonia said and immediately realized that she was not au pair-appropriate. Little did she know that MILF is a universally friendly complimenting term for all mothers and their post-baby insecurity. No mom would get angry at you if you meant it. Same was Nina, for her the term was a badge of honour for her hard work as a mom and a wife.

"Oh why thank you so much, love, Nick calls me frequently this way but I know he is smitten so it's not fully credited" she joked and accepted the compliment.

"Smitten after 22 years? What is your recipe? Can you teach me your magic spell?" asked Sonia, fully excited to learn more.

"Yeah he is! Don't get me wrong, I am too. Wouldn't change him for the world. However, lousy as people and relationships are especially these days with dating apps and the lot, finding the right person is easier than keeping the flame. I found him at almost 18 and fought day by day to maintain the relationship high as a kite."

"What do you mean? How did you know that Nick was the right person for you?" Sonia inquired as an interviewer to an Oscar winning actress.

"Well the first thing that I saw on him was his smile and his charm to make people he talked with feel comfortable and safe and happy. I was one of them after all. I never felt weird or uncomfortable talking to him before I said yes to his subtle advances. And he took his sweet time, trust me. I think that he was clever enough to instil his presence before he went forward. He built all the surroundings for me to get me hooked. The other thing was that he was an interesting person, he had a bright mind and I knew that I would not be bored at all. He has a great sense of humour, sometimes a bit forward but never crosses the line. And you know what they say about nice looking men with humour..."

"What do they say? Never heard something specific but I'd expect something good, right?" said Sonia with deer eyes in front of crazy truck Nina lights.

"...they say that they have a toll free ride to women's pants", Nina said and continued after a short pause "and if they drive a large cock up there as well, they choose their pussy from the top shelf" she laughed her heart out, not believing her own statement of her being a top shelf mating partner.

Sonia laughed and realized that both Manos and she were right about the reason that Nick punched over his weight with Nina. It was a great personality coupled with a big dick. She wanted to get more of the right answer credit though so she pushed more.

"Doesn't the large cock effect wear off after the first few months though? I mean, we tend to set as baseline things that we get used to".

"You are right, love. I indeed have set great sex as a baseline for many years now. And indeed the large cock would mean nothing if the person wasn't right. But now, since everything is going well I'm definitely taking advantage!" Nina said.

"How do you keep him interested? I think of Manos and the thong girl today and can't imagine how difficult it can be with two kids, daily life, chores and many young temptations who would like to take advantage of this." Sonia was deep in the conversation now, since she was learning things from her experienced new friend.

"Oh sweet Sonia...the key is simple: you keep the balance between hungry and satisfied. If you keep 'em constantly hungry, they get frustrated and will turn to something easier that gives them attention. If you keep 'em completely satisfied, they feel overly self-assured and cocky against their significant other. We don't want that. So what I do is feed him with a lot of teasing and unclog his balls when it's time to. For example, I'd let him spy on me at the shower but I wouldn't change clothes in front of him nude deliberately. I will wear a short nightie, but if he tries to put his hand constantly under it, I'll slap it and make him behave. However, I would make sure that he goes for a night out with his friends or at the office with his balls empty and a recent memory of a great fuck. No need to give any inch to any thong girls, right? Cause you give them an inch and they take the full seven" Nina said with self-confident maturity in between her joke.