“Tu jodias?” My eyebrow rose in question at Sandra as she swept into the room, regal and commanding despite the mismatched buttons on her blouse (some of them missing entirely) and rumpled skirt. Her chest was flushed and I could clearly see the swells of flesh where her breasts were popping out of her bra cup. Not to mention her nipples, rock hard and poking out under the silk. Then there was her ridiculous stick, swaying between her legs with every step as it tented the front of the skirt.

“I thought I taught you manners?” She frowned at me.

“Did you?” I asked, mockingly placing a hand to my chin as I pretended to think hard.

“I see nothing has changed. The same as always.” Sandra crossed her arms.

“Don’t I get a ‘Hi, how are you?’ ‘Nice to see you?’ ‘It’s been so long, give me a hug?’” To say Sandra looked perturbed was an understatement. Milk would have curdled in her mere presence.

I suppose it was understandable. It had been years since I had last seen her, since I’d last initiated a phone call of any kind, letter, email, SMS, anything… And I had been… A little rude when I’d left, a little bit childish. But what did she expect? I was young. Still was, only I’d learned a thing or two while I was away, done a bit of growing up. I hadn’t meant to be aloof; I had simply been busy. The lucrative job offer, in my exact field of study, with the exact organization I’d had my eye on through college was something I couldn’t pass up. It was a dream job and I threw everything I had into it, just like Sandra had taught me. I knew on some level she understood my choices, even if she didn’t agree. She might even be proud of me but I would be surprised if I ever heard those words for free. I thought time might have softened the discourse between us. But seeing her now, looking for all the world like an angry mother hen, brought that one angsty moment to the front of my mind along with all the emotions that came with it. I wanted to come home, but suddenly, even though I was standing inside the door, she was a solid wall between me, the little duckling she’d found in her nest one day, and the place where I’d grown up. Despite the feeling of the ground rolling and shifting under my feet, I did my best to remain calm and composed.

“Alejandro, would you get us something to drink? Wine and…?” I brought my attention back to her, trying for a soft smile as she turned to look at me.

“Scotch. Neat.” I said, watching the corner of her lips sour. It was a small challenge. I knew she didn’t much like hard liquor and had raised me on wine, but I’d come to appreciate the different flavors. Maybe that was stupid but I still hadn’t mastered my need to push someone’s limits when I felt like my back was against a wall.

“And scotch. Neat.” Her eyes were fixed on mine. She missed the bemused, playful, glare he gave her until he coughed politely into his hand.

“Please…” He added.

Sandra leveled her most devastating look of authority at the man, one that would have made me duck my head and run. Alejandro withstood the blast with ease, holding up his hands as a small smile teased his lips.

“You two really need to have a fuck off already, figure out who’s most dominant once and for all.” I said with a flat stare shared between the two of them. Alejandro barked a laugh while Sandra looked like she was ready to eat a boulder and spit out gravel.

“Ah Senorita… It is good to have you back!” Alejandro swept the hair out of my face as he took my cheeks in his hands and kissed me on the forehead.

“I love you too.” I smiled back, feeling the genuine warmth of his affection soothe my nerves.

“I will go now, and get your drinks.” Alejandro stepped lightly to the kitchen, disappearing around the edge of the open framed archway.

Sandra’s scowl deepened as she stared after the man, then turned it on me. I felt that warm familial feeling, the one that had deepened in my chest since I’d arrived at the gates, begin to freeze, extinguished by her straight up crank. Not exactly the homecoming I had hoped for. The anxiety of coming face to face with Sandra for the first time since our last argument returned. My palms itched, my legs growing restless as I shifted from foot to foot.

“I’m sorry.” I offered with a contrite smile, hoping it would be a start in the right direction.

Sandra’s shoulders sagged ever so slightly, the corner of her eyes softening.

“No. I am sorry. Your timing is… You were right in your observation, despite your uncouth words. I was… In the middle of something when you arrived.”

“More like in the middle of someone.” I quipped, my grin returning as Alejandro returned, a glass in each hand. Sandra scowled again but took the offered glass.

“Alejandro… It seems I am unavoidably detained at the moment and will be for the rest of the evening. Please take care of Miss Torres.” Alejandro frowned.

“Donde?”

“On the cross.”

“You left her there?” Alejandro’s glare could have straightened wrought iron, “Bah!” He didn’t wait for a reply

“In the stud-”

“Lo tengo!” I got it! … Alejandro seemed agitated, throwing a hand up over his shoulder as he walked away.

The details of their relationship were largely unknown to me but, even still, I’d seen enough to know that the man was normally deferential to Sandra, not daring to raise his voice. This was a new development…

I watched the exchange silently, sipping my scotch as I watched Alejandro retrace Sandra’s footsteps.

“Left who where?” I flicked my eyes at Sandra, the curiosity already eating me alive.

“My assistant.” She said after a moment’s hesitation and led the way into the living room. She sat across from the sofa in her favorite leather arm chair. I took my favorite spot against the right armrest, kicking off my sandals before tucking my feet under my body. I opened my mouth to speak, so many questions burning the tip of my tongue, but Sandra beat me to it.

“Yes, she is beautiful,” Sandra began with a heavy sigh. She gave me a knowing look as she continued, “Our first session. Yes she managed all of me. I will invite her again. No, it will not be problematic that she is my assistant.” My teeth clicked shut as I held my fingers up in defeat, thoroughly placated. Sandra knew me far too well. It certainly wasn’t the first time my curiosity had gotten the better of me.

“Still… Your assistant. I never knew you to play with your employees.” I sipped my drink, looking askance at her over the crystal rim of my glass.

“That is my business. I am a big girl. I know what I am doing.” Her eyes narrowed and my eyebrows rose but I didn’t push the subject.

“So she took all of you? That’s impressive. Was it a work up to it kinda thing?”

“I do not know. Tonight was… Spontaneous. We have not sat to have discussions about particular details yet.” Sandra kept glancing out at the foyer, frowning, distracted.

“Did you… Finish?” I asked, suddenly wondering just how bad my timing was.

“No.”

“I’m sorry…” I didn’t know what else to say.

Silence crept between us as I swirled my glass of amber liquid and looked around the room. Not much had changed in the years I had been gone, not much at all. It was comforting, the familiarity, soothing to be around dependable memories. I looked back at Sandra. She hadn’t changed much either. Perhaps a few more wrinkles but not many. The woman was an amazon, fit and hard. She took care of herself and it showed. The warmth of home crept back in as memories of the past came flooding back to me. And as my gaze slid down her body, to the lump under the lap of her skirt, a different kind of warmth settled into the pit of my stomach.

“You look hungry.” I looked at Sandra under my brow as my head slowly rose to meet her look of smug satisfaction, “The same as always.” The words rang again in my ears, this time playful.

“Hands caught in the cookie jar it seems.” I smiled, blushing shyly, “What can I say? I got a bit addicted to you before I left.” I admitted. It wasn’t a revelation for either of us by any means.

“Did you have no one while you were away?” Sandra took a gulp of her wine, draining a quarter of the glass in one.

“Of course. But… You are a hard performance to follow.” I tossed down the rest of my scotch, biting my lip as it burned its way down my throat, “Ahhh… You stock some good shit.” I grinned, setting the glass down on the coffee table with a loud clack.

“What is the point of having money if you don’t spend it?”

I shrugged as I rose and slowly stretched out my body. It had been a long drive and my muscles were tired from sitting most of the day. I reached for the ceiling as I stretched one side and then the other, deliberately letting the oversized wasteband of my shorts fall past the frill of the thong that clutched at the high side of my hips. My cropped shirt had ridden up, gracing Sandra’s gaze with the underside of my breasts. They weren’t as big as hers but they were perky and, hopefully, extremely alluring right now.

I slid out of my knit cardigan, one of Sandra’s I’d stolen from her closet before I’d left, and let it pool on the couch as I walked out of the room. Undoing the buttons down the front of my cutoff shorts, I turned back, hand on the door frame as the light from the foyer lit me from behind.

“I think I’m going to head to bed. You coming Mom?”

I grinned, watching the anger and lust battle for dominance on Sandra’s face before I turned and made my way to her bedroom, leaving a trail of discarded clothes behind me.

Author’s Note:

I thought about leaving this hanging but I’m trying to be upfront with my readers. Clearly there is something sexual between these two and with Judy calling Sandra mom… I will live no ambiguity here. This is a step-family relationship. To avoid any ick, their relationship didn’t develop into something more until Judy was in her early twenties.

With all that out of the way, meet Judy Clark Perez, daughter of Hannah Clark, and adopted by Sandra after Hannah lost her battle with breast cancer. There’s a whole lot of backstory there that doesn’t belong in this episode. Regardless, Judy has been waiting in the wings for years and I am so happy I finally get to introduce her!

© O.L. Vale 2024