Ruined Anniversary

"Where am I sleeping?" he asks quietly.

She laughs a full genuine laugh from deep within her, she walks back towards him and leans over to peer into the bedroom. Confidently, Alice proclaims, "It's a honeymoon suite! Where else would you sleep other than next to..." Her voice chokes on the last word. She slowly stands up and faces Joshua. She slowly blinks as the gears in her mind grind. Her minds races, certain that John had not been the one that she has been shamelessly flirting with since they landed. However, the evidence in front of her is indisputable. Even looking at him now knowing full well who he is and what she had been doing, she still feels that thrill and desire to flirt with and entice him. Finally making a decision, Alice breaks her ten second impression of a deer caught in headlights. Alice laughs haughtily, "There's only one bed. And it's huge! Come look. I paid for a California king bed. There's more than enough room for both of us!" She lurches forward and grabs his wrist and pulls him to the bedroom door. "See, baby?" Alice asks hopefully that he'll overlook her unintentional neglect of changing the booking.

Joshua looks down at her, as she is hugging him tightly waiting for his approval and acceptance of her reasoning. "Yeah... that should be fine, Mm... Alice," he says before kissing her on the forehead.

As they set to the task of unpacking the necessities for their stay, Alice watches Joshua closely. "How did I mistake him for John?" she muses to herself. "John hasn't been attentive in months. John doesn't have my dark hair, like Josh. His is definitely a light blond. Joshua is also much taller than John. I never have to look up to see John. And they smell nothing alike. John still wears the same cologne as he did when we were in high school. Joshua has been working not to hang onto his high school years. I swear that he bought new cologne just for this trip. How have I been feeling like it was John with me?" She tries to keep her glances and obvious desire for his attention to a minimum.

Joshua watches as Alice prances and frolics around the suite. She looks like she is having the time of her life getting ready for her adventure in Martinique. She giggled as she sorted out her possessions. She turns to look at him. Joshua's heart freezes. Something in her face isn't right.

"So, Josh. You've been saying that you have something important for me to know," she states clearly. "I promised you that we would have that conversation once we were settled in. So... When do you think it would be best to talk?"

Joshua balks. "Um. Uh. Let me order room service and then we can get right into it. Sound good?"

Smilingly sweetly at him recognizing a man trying to buy time, and responds, "Sure, baby. Whatever you want."

Joshua proceeds to place an order with the kitchen and the bar over the phone. Alice notices that Joshua is acting skittish and not sure of himself. Her eyebrows stitch up in worry and concern. She's already caught on that Joshua is not exactly comfortable with the information that he wants to share. She turns to busy herself in the bathroom. She knows that she has already organized the bathroom, but needs something to occupy her mind. Mindlessly, Alice picks up Joshua's cologne and takes off the cap. She slowly inhales the aroma and enjoys the unconscious sensations that it gives her. She slowly nods as she replaces the cap and puts it back into Joshua's drawer that she had organized for him. Not wanting to leave the bathroom and go back into the awkwardness that is wafting off of Joshua. She decides to brush her teeth. She continues with her hygiene by plucking her eyebrows, touching up her mascara, chasing down rouge hairs from her normally controlled hair, and fussing over the way that her clothes hang on her body. Getting frustrated, she slinks out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. As she walks as stealthily as she can to her chest of drawers, she sees Joshua hooking something up to the television in the parlor, or the visitation room for the rest of us lay folk. Alice quickly pulls out a fresh top and shorts from her clothing. She sneaks back into the bathroom to change. As she studies her physical appearance in the mirror (at this moment the stretch marks and scars from her pregnancies and her children's' births), Alice hears the soft knock on the main door to alert them to the food service awaiting outside. Alice drops the hem of her top so that it can settle on her stomach just over her belt buckle. One last appraisal to judge how her denim shorts match her tank top, and that they do not reveal too much skin. "But just enough to show that I'm on vacation," she mutters. After smoothing out the fabric against her stomach, she heads out of the bathroom again. This time she tries to convey a sense of confidence and security. Alice knows that Joshua has something that he believes will bother her. He acts like it is major information. She reminds herself that her son is only trying to do the best by her that he can.

"Joshie, baby? Is everything ready?" she asks trying to keep her voice calm.

Slightly nervous, he responds, "Yeah... I'm ready to show you what I need to. I think it might be best if you have some sort of drink while you watch this." Joshua turns to the service cart and pours a glass of wine and two shots of tequila. He brings the tray over to the coffee table in front of the television. He bustles to bring sliced limes, a salt shaker, and two open beers over as well.

Alice tries to stifle her giggle, but fails. "Honey, are you trying to get me drunk?" she asks with mirth and fun full in her voice, as she covers her laughing mouth with her hand.

"No," he replies. "But I think that you might want something to drink after watching this."

"We'll see about that, darling," Alice says playfully as she pats Joshua's arm. As she sits down on the couch facing the television she picks up on the tequila shots and shoots it quickly, before slamming the glass down n the table. "I think we'll need another one of those. You might just want to bring the bottle over," she jokes with her son. Instead of joking back with her, he dutifully brings the liquor bottle to the coffee table. Unsure of what else to do, Alice gestures towards the screen to invite Joshua to begin with the video that he obviously has queued up.

Joshua fills the shot glass in front of his mother. He then shoots the shot in front of him. As he is sucking on the slice of lime, he immediately refills his shot glass. Something in the back of Alice's mind lights up, but is ignored by the rest as there is nothing that is an obvious danger to her. She plays down the primal and instinctual alert as her overactive imagination. He spits the lime out and drops it onto the tray. Picking up the remote, he glances at her before he pushes the play button.

Giggling, Alice pulls her attention away from Joshua towards the television. The video begins with a jumping and unfocused scene. Alice laughs uncomfortably to hide her frustration with the quality of the video. She settles down into the couch as the video stabilizes.

"Honey, where is this video taken?" she asks uncertainly as she unconsciously recognizes the location.

"You'll recognize it soon enough. The location isn't the important part," he responds. He preps another round of shots for his mother. Absentmindedly, she swallows one more shot of tequila. The video continues to travel through an irritatingly familiar landscape.

The video eventually finishes walking through the hallway. The perspective turns towards a door. Alice grabs the remote from Joshua and hits pause. "Joshie... that's not our house, is it?" she asks pointing at the screen.

He uncomfortably nods, "Yes, it is, Mom. That's our house."

Not braking eye contact with him, "Why are we watching something in my house? I thought you and your sister made amends and were on good terms with each other."

Joshua nods and slowly replies, "Liz and I have made amends and currently are on good terms. This video is not about Liz. And, no, I'm not on good terms with the people in the video. So, I'm not completely innocent in my reasons for showing you this."

"You're not going to tell me who's in the video until I see them, are you?" Alice asks hotly. Joshua shakes his head in the negative. "Fine. Just keep the tequila filled," she grumbles as she slams another shot. Joshua complies with Alice's instruction.

The video footage restarts in the hallway of the upper story of the family home. Noises that are obviously human start to fill the common area of the hotel suite. Alice becomes more unsettled as the video continues. The thought slowly enters her mind that the video is not of her (especially since she hasn't had sex in months), Joshua (because he would've just told her), or Liz (because, once again, Joshua would've just told her). Alice knows who is in the video but is trying to deny the reality. She has long had suspicions., but no evidence. John has always resolved her anxiety before she was motivated to do any investigation of her own. And now, here is Joshua showing her a video that potentially has her worst suspicions in it, and remove any doubt from her mind.

And there it is. A zoomed in shot of her husband's dick sliding in and out of his secretary's soaked twat. The young woman's back tattoo is on full display. The lecherous look on her husband's face (just visible from this angle) as he watches her breasts bounce in front of him. The wet slapping sound of their bodies meeting each other. She can only tolerate one minute of full confirmation of her worst fears.

Finally looking at her son, she weakly says, "Please, stop it." Joshua scrambles for the remote. "Please, stop it," Alice begs as Joshua finally hits the mute button in search of the power button. She continues to say, "You've been trying to tell me for weeks." Joshua silently nods his head, as he turns the tv off. "I've been trying to pretend that it wasn't true for months." She slams another shot of tequila, and holds it out to Joshua. The tears roll down her cheek unbidden. "You've been..." Alice can't finish the thought. "What are we going to do?" she asks her son desperately.

"Right now? Nothing. I knew that tonight was going to be a wreck. You get to feel whatever emotion it is that you need to. Drink if you feel like it. I'll keep watch over you. In the morning, we'll deal with the hangover. We'll then figure out what to do with the rest of the vacation and... THAT situation." Joshua states clearly as he motions to the television.

***

True to his word, Alice thinks about how she can barely remember Joshua drunkenly holding her hair back as she puked into the toilet. She runs through her memories of the previous day, as she lays in her bed contemplating her shitty life through the haze of a hangover. She turns her head to look at Joshua. He is quietly sleeping facing her.

She gently brushes his cheek and smiles meekly. "I don't deserve to be looked after like this. He's too kind to me." She thinks to herself. "I should get some water. I'm sure to be horribly dehydrated after last night's drinking." She gently slides out of the huge bed, doing her best not to disturb Joshua or her headache. She eventually finds several bottles of water in the mini fridge. She tucks four bottles into her arm, cradling them against her breast. "Oh! That's cold!" she gasps. She quietly pads back to the bedroom. She tosses the water bottles onto one of the pillows on her side of the bed. She crawls onto the bed back into her original spot. She opens one of the bottles and chugs half of it immediately. She lays down and just lounges enjoying the gentle breeze from the ceiling fan on her skin. She absentmindedly thinks about how she is only wearing a tank top and a pair of loose exercise shorts. She looks over at Joshua and sees that he is only wearing a pair of basketball shorts. "Or are those board shorts?" she wonders pointlessly.

Joshua's phone chimes. He sucks in air noisily and sits up. He clicks the phone off. Turning to look at her, he says, "It's 7:30. I figured we should get up at this time to feel like we're being somewhat productive with the day. Even if we're being lazy." He starts to slide out of the bed."

"Here, Josh," Alice calls to him and hands him a bottle of water. The condensation is dripping onto the bed. He takes it wordlessly from her and opens it. He drinks a couple of gulps, before looking at her again. He is studying her. "Something wrong?"

"You're smiling," he responds.

"Of course, I'm smiling. I got to wake up in paradise with someone that has earned and maintained my trust.. I also get to look forward to having a pleasant day with him." Alice replies slyly while lying on her side propping her head up. Joshua's libido takes full notice of her position and lack of underwear. Alice's nipples are poking into the loose fabric of the tank top.

Sitting up and slightly crossing his legs at his ankles in order to feel some fresh air on his junk. Joshua asks her, "So what are the plans for today?"

"Well, I was thinking that once we have breakfast and get rid of these hangovers, we could figure out a rough plan for the week," Alice explains to the best of her ability through the throbbing headache. "After lunch, I suppose I should make a few phone calls to the States. There's an attorney that I've kept on retainer for the past few months. I could email her that video. And get her opinion just before dinner." She smiles softly as she presses a water bottle to her forehead.

"I feel fine." Joshua responds. "Otherwise that sounds like a pretty good plan. I don't want this vacation to be a complete waste for you."

Alice laughs lightly and slaps her son's knee, "Oh, honey! Of course we'll enjoy ourselves while we're here," she laughs. "But you brought this up, and it needs to be resolved. All I'm saying is I want it to be working while we're relaxing or doing whatever it is that we want to do while we're here."

"I'm not too sure that I believe you, Alice." Joshua mutters.

She flops back onto the bed with her head bouncing on the pillow. With the water bottle sweating onto her forehead, she states clearly, "I don't care if you believe me, honey. What I need right now is for you to get ready for brunch. I'm hungry."

Joshua glares at his mother through slotted eyes. "If you seriously meant that, you'd be on your way to the bathroom," he challenges her.

"Ugh." she mutters from her pillow. "Give me ten minutes... then you can shoo me into the bathroom."

"Duly noted," Joshua notes. "You will be held to your word."

***

"These have got to be..." Alice mumbles with her mouth full, "the best Eggs Benedict I have ever had!" She rolls her head back in over exaggerated joy.

Joshua fights to contain his laughter. He replies while gesturing with his fork, "I don't know about you ..." he waits to have her attention before continuing, "but my mother taught me not to speak with my mouth full." He smiles at her, challenging her again for her repeated flirting with him.

Alice freezes with her eyes locked on his, her mind races momentarily. She makes an exaggerated movement to swallow her food. After swallowing, Alice pulls her mouth to the side while looking at him askew. She suddenly turns to face him directly. She opens her mouth as wide as she can with her tongue out as far as she push it out. The tip of her tongue touches the edge of her chin. Joshua can see deep into her mouth. Alice's eyes dance with mirth and merriment. Joshua is momentarily lost in the hazel eyes of the older woman. His heart stutters for a split second, and he can feel his stomach roll, in a pleasant manner, amongst other physical sensations.

"Is that better?" Alice asks flippantly. "Is it better, baby?" she emphasizes the last word to challenge him on trying to constantly call her out for flirting with him.

Joshua squirms momentarily to reposition is inflating sexual member. "Yes, Alice. That'll do just fine," he smirks as he responds calmly. "My next question is are you done playing with your food?"

She leans forward opening her mouth to say something snarky, but stops herself when she remembers who she is talking to. Instead she replies, "I guess that depends on what is on the menu, and whether or not that it should be played with." Satisfied with her answer, she leans back in her chair and crosses her arms. She knows that her posture is challenging.

He chuckles, "We'll discuss what on the menu later. I believe that you have some phone calls to make to a Ms. Esquire something or other."

Alice pulls her lips tight and squints at him. As she studies him, he enjoys the attention and feel his body reacting to the attention. The attention that he shouldn't be receiving from her. A woman that he has fantasized about but knows is permanently off limits. It doesn't stop him from fantasizing, or stealing looks at her. She mutters something and stands up. Joshua watches her walk away from the table. He enjoys the view of Alice walking away. Joshua studies the way that her loose linen top moves over her fitted tank top and loose pleated skirt that barely reach her knees.

"How many hours does she work out every week. I still have no idea," Joshua ponders as he watches her ass bounce and wiggle as she walks away irritated at him. "I know how much I hit the gym. Speaking of which, how are we going to work out while we're here? Anyway... I should get started on researching stuff to do while we're here."

Some time later, Alice wanders back into her hotel room exhausted. Her phone call / video conference / grueling interview by a steely eyed, sleep deprived, and hungover Millennial lawyer who was roused from sleep by her merciless Boomer boss has worn Alice out. Alice closes the door to the hotel suite, and leans against it. Sighing loudly, she releases the breath that she's been holding for way too long. "I really hope she's on my side. That was fucking insane." Alice thinks to herself as she slides down the door.

After catching her breath, Alice gets up from the door to walk into the hotel suite. "What has Joshie been up to?" she questions in her mind. As she walks further into the suite, Alice hears grunting. A smile creeps onto her face, she hopes, "Do I get to have a quick thrill? Is he being 'naughty'?"

Alice isn't too disappointed with what she finds. "Not what I hoped for, but it is a entertaining sight for a lonely woman," she says to herself. She watches Joshua continue with his exercises while dressed in only a pair of boxer briefs. She giggles quietly as she watches random beads of sweat roll down his back, arms, and legs. Alice sits down on the bed, and grins as she watches her son work out. Alice notices several bottles of water on the bed. She grabs a couple of them, and slides her butt up to the head of the bed, collecting all of the pillows to shove behind her. She enjoys the ridiculous exercise demonstration by her son. After about 15 minutes, Alice feels the pull of sleep on her eyelids. She rubs her shoulders absentmindedly to stay awake. After all, she is enjoying watching her son's silly faces as he goes through the movements.

Alice feels the poking and prodding from Joshua to wake her up. "Your turn to shower," he says as he walks off.

Once she realizes that she fell asleep, she quickly gathers a change of clothes and hustles into the bathroom. She can hazily remember the dream that she was having. She enjoyed it too much, despite the inappropriate theme. She takes a moment under the shower head to enjoy the beating of the water drops on her skin. She freezes in place once she notices what her hands are doing. Providing her a quick thrill. She slowly pulls her fingers out and regains her wits about her.