A flawed man becomes involved with a troubled woman and a new relationship begins, characterized by both conflict and a common need. If you've read any of the other Excelsior Arms stories of mine, you know these people.
Gwen shook her mother, trying to wake her. Again. This was getting way out of hand!
"Mom! Get up, please? Dad'll be home soon, and Robbie and I are hungry. Are you gonna fix something for dinner or not?"
Karen Johnson dragged her eyelids open with no small amount of effort. "Okay, okay," she groaned, "I'm getting up. Please don't shout." She was sprawled across the sofa still fully dressed, although her short skirt had ridden up her thighs, and the plainly visible panties were showing stains of questionable origin. Robbie, the 14-year-old, had averted his eyes after a couple of quick glimpses. Gwen, who was 16, suspected her mother was up to something, but she didn't want to think too much about what it might be. She was having her own problems, related to the boys at school. But, GAWD! Did her mom have a lover now?
'Omigod, that would freakin' kill Dad!' It was hard to even think about.
"Mom!" She got Karen's attention again. "Hey, listen! Straight up, is there anything you want to talk to me about?"
Karen was, by now, pulling her skirt down, attempting to rescue some of her dignity. She imagined what she must look like to her kids. It was a sobering moment. But the memories of her day quickly returned. She turned to Gwen, raising her eyebrows in a mock-innocent manner and tried not to smile. Her daughter was so serious!
"What, sweetie," she said, putting her hand on her daughter's arm. "Are you thinking your mother might actually have a life beyond keeping this crappy apartment up?" She blew her hair away from her forehead in a huff. "No," she said, "I'm just the same boring mother I'm always expected to be. I just get tired, you know?"
Karen was now heavily addicted, thanks to Jamarcus, the black drug dealer she'd submitted herself to on so many occasions. His plan had worked on the 38-year-old, the same as it worked on a lot of his younger girls. "Hook 'em and work 'em" - that was his business model. It rarely failed. If your prettiest customers needed your product that badly, they should help to drum up business, right? Karen's MILF body, still in decent shape, had been fun to play with, but it worked even better as a sales tool. And the best thing for him was, she seemed to crave the sex as much as the product. Three months in, and she was his favorite slut.
Karen was becoming well-known in the worst parts of town. She was beginning to recognize this, but reluctantly. She had very few options at this point. She
needed
the highs. The lows - being used, sometimes brutally, by the worst class of men and sometimes women; the physical craving for orgasms, the wretched times after - were having their effect on her, physically. Twice she'd had to be treated for STDs, and her cocaine need was only growing. She kept a 'kit' in the bathroom at home, tucked behind the feminine products below the vanity, for when she absolutely could not function without a hit. Her mouth and eyes were permanently dry. She wore more and more makeup.
Brady Cobb had not missed the woman's change in appearance, even if her husband still seemed oblivious. He watched her leave the building and then return later, looking thoroughly used. His own affair with the Chinese woman on the same floor, Sue Lin, had become a little monotonous. He saw a new opportunity in Karen.
"Good morning," he announced behind her, as she was exiting her front door the next morning. She turned quickly, startled, like a cat with a bird in its teeth.
"Oh! Hi," she replied. "I didn't see you there."
She looked more than a little slutty today. Her usual short tight skirt, and a sleeveless knit top that showed a fair amount of side-boob, were only part of it. Though she wasn't stacked, her breasts were on display and stood out proudly without a bra. Her nipples were practically poking through the thin material of the top. Her heels, easily 4 inches, would look more appropriate on a stripper stage. It was the almost feral look on her face that completed the picture.
"Looking good, Mrs. J," he told her.
"I... oh, thank you," she said. "I'm sorry, I don't remember your name."
Brady laughed. "Well, we haven't really met," he countered. "I'm Brady Cobb." He put out his hand and she shook it, kind of formally. "I'm up on three." He didn't release her hand immediately, enjoying the feel of her soft skin in his hand.
"Nice to meet you," she replied curtly, seeming eager to go.
"Well, now that we've been properly introduced, I hope to see you again," he said. He was blocking her exit, he knew. He hoped she'd try to brush past him, but she seemed confused about how to react.
"If I'm keeping you from something, I apologize. But when someone who looks like you graces my building, I have to enjoy the moment." Grady smiled broadly. In truth, he'd been noticing her for some time now.
Karen mumbled, "oh, well. Thanks. No, I... it's... sort of an appointment." She hesitated and smiled, obviously beginning to enjoy the male attention. Since she'd first become aware of the appeal of her lush body to younger men, she'd become much more attuned to the possibility of sex. She'd been fucked by a few "seniors" through Jamarcus; men old enough to be her father. As long as they had hard dicks, she didn't discriminate. Now she was beginning to see Brady in that light.
Grady reluctantly released her hand. "Well, I don't want to keep you," he said, "unless you really don't have to run. I was going to take a little walk around; check the neighborhood and get some air. I could use some company?"
Karen considered. What the hell. Jamarcus wasn't a morning person. She often had to drive around for quite a while, waiting for him or Coyote to 'open up shop', as they called it. His customers usually dragged in later, so after satisfying Jamarcus and Coyote, she was made to wait. "In case you're needed," Jamarcus would tell her. Of course, she was
always
needed. Only then would she get her supply for the day.
"Uh, I've got a while, sure," she told Brady. He seemed nice, and he was definitely appealing. She was already imagining what his cock might feel like.
"Let me take off these heels."
They walked outside and down the street, and she found herself captivated by the man's stories and how he seemed to know everyone they passed. By the time they were two blocks away, she felt her need growing. For two things.
"Mr. Cobb," she interrupted, "Grady, I mean. Can we go back now? I'm not used to walking this much." She still held her heels in her hand.