Tragedy pushes a mother and son together

Jessica was not the only one who was noticing the looks they got, Tom watching as young men appraised the young-looking woman he was with, none of them aware that she was old enough to be any of their mother’s. By the fifth bar, Jessica’s head was beginning to spin, it had been a long time since she had been on a ‘pub-crawl’ and she needed to pace herself, ordering just a soft drink this time. Eventually, they made their way to a night-club, even though it was a weekday night, it was reasonably busy inside.

Looking around her, she could see that most of the young women were dressed like herself, large amounts of flesh on display as they looked to ensnare a partner, whether for a promised relationship or even a one-night stand. Jessica studied several of them on the dancefloor for a while until she was confident, she could copy their moves. It wasn’t particularly her type of music, but she recognised some of the songs being played and finally dragged Tom up to dance with her, surprised to find that he wasn’t at all bad.

Jessica was again conscious of the looks that came her son’s way when as they made their way back to a booth, they were intercepted by two young women.

‘Hi Tom, what brings you out this way, I haven’t seen you for ages.’

He looked surprised for a second, ‘Hi Melanie, long time no see, how have you been?’

As they made small talk, it was obvious to Jessica that if she had not been there, this young woman would by now, have her tongue buried half-way down her son’s throat and that made Jessica jealous.

She slid her arm through her son’s and said in her nicest voice, but which contained a hint of menace,

‘Hi, I’m Jessica, I met Tom while we were both travelling and thought I’d come and see him. You’ve got to fight to keep hold of a good one when they come along.’

The last bit, and the tone it was delivered in, left Melanie, in no doubt, that if she tangled with this young woman, she would come off second best. There was something about her she realised, some worldly wisdom far beyond her age, which she guessed was maybe a couple of years older than Tom.

The two girls said their goodbyes, disappearing into the crowd as he gave his mother a look, was he angry at her she wondered. They had another couple of drinks and dances before deciding to call it a night, they had both had a good time, but towards the end, something had changed. The journey home was in silence, both of them lost in their thoughts and perhaps fearing for the worst. Once there, it seemed a forgone conclusion that they would end up in the same bed, but still, the silence persisted.

Tom was the first to break the silence, ‘What happens when you find another man?’ he asked, having omitted the final part of the sentence, sensing that the words would come out wrong.

‘You mean someone my age,’ Jessica said, ‘Probably the same thing that will happen when someone younger and prettier comes along, perhaps someone like Melanie.’

They were both gazing at the far bedroom wall, not wanting to look at each other and it was only when she glanced his way for a second that she noticed the moisture on his cheek.