Sherry sat at the desk and stared out of the window of the office of the home she shared with her nineteen year-old son, Rick, and husband, Chuck; although to include her spouse in that group was generous. The navy captain was seldom home, spending more time at sea on his submarine than with her and their child. And if that was not bad enough, the younger man in her life was away at college during the week, and even though he came home most weekends, it still created a very lonely life for her.
The only saving grace was her two close friends, Sara and Megan, navy wives, too, whose husbands also lived at sea, all on ships in the same battle group as her husband. Likewise, they had sons who attended the same college as Rick. The three sons were all close friends and generally traveled home together.
On those rare occasions when husbands and sons were all home at the same time, the three families usually got together on Sunday afternoons for barbecues or some other meal-type activity.
During the week, the three women were together frequently having morning coffee at one or the other's home most days or lunch some days or simply afternoon cocktails occasionally.
It was something to do. Otherwise, she was bored out of her mindβand did she mention, lonely? What made the loneliness even worse was the empty place in her bed. She was a very sexual woman. She and Chuck had always had an active sex lifeβwhen he was homeβand the long celibate periods she had to endure were dreadful. As time went on, it became more and more difficult. A few years ago, she had discovered dildos and other similar devices. Sherry thought often about other remedies and often wondered where could she go from here, but so far, she had gone no farther than the use of her instruments.
As close as she was with Sara and Megan; strangely, the three had never discussed this issue, although Sherry suspected her friends suffered similar maladies. All three women loved their husbands and were faithful, so perhaps neither wanted to be the first to admit that they were becoming "restless" nor have the others think badly of them.
But Sherry would do as she always did: stew over this for an hour or so, go use a dildo or something, get off, and go on with her mundane life.
"Hi, mom."
Sherry turned sharply toward the door. "Hi, honey. What are you doing home?"
With a twisted expression, he said, "Uh . . . it's Friday."
"Oh! Wow. Guess I lost track of time." She grinned nervously, unable to push her previous thoughts from her mind. "Sometimes, the days just run together."
"Are you okay, mom?"
"Oh, sure. Just gets a little boring around here sometimes." She noticed him rolling his head around and twisting his neck. "I guess I could ask you the same thing." She gestured toward his head.
"Oh, just a stiff muscle in my shoulder from grinding my teeth."
"Are you stressed about something? Exams coming up?"
"No. Those are still a few weeks away." Rick shrugged.
"Girl trouble?"
Now it was his turn to be nervous.
"Talk to me, honey," Sherry said softly, seeing that she had struck a nerve. "Is it a sexual thing?"
"Mom! That's not the kind of thing a guy talks about with his mother."
"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Rick. This is the 21st century." She clucked. "Besides, your dad is never around for you to talk to him. Not that he would have a clue how to talk about it with you." Sherry was instantly sorry she'd said that.
"What are you saying? Is dad not a loving husband?"
Covering up with a chuckle, she forced her mind to come up with an explanation. "I just meant that he's always focused in his ships. In his line of work, I don't know how much he really understands this kind of human emotion."
"Does he take care of you, mom?" Rick wanted to know.
"Of course. We live well, have everything we need."
Pursing his lips, Rick said, "You know that's not what I mean."
"
Oh
, so you want
me
to talk about sex, but
you
can't?"
"I don't have any sex to talk about," he jokingly confessed.
"A good looking guy like you?" Sherry was actually surprised, but more than that, she noticed what a good looking guy he really was. She always knew he was, but had she been taking him for granted all this time?
"I guess it takes more than good looks."
"I thought you dated a lot."
"I do. But it rarely goes beyond that."
Sherry nodded her understanding. "So, is it a safe bet you struck out last night? Hence the stiff neck?"
"Not the kind of thing I'm comfortable admitting."
"Honey, I'm your mother. You can tell me anything and I won't judge you."
With a huff, Rick said, "Okay, if you must know, yes, I struck out last night and I'm horny as hell."
Sherry held out her hand for him to shake. "Well, join the club."
"
You
struck out last night?" He very curiously asked.
Realizing what she'd said, Sherry quickly corrected. "No, no, of course not. What I meant was, to be honest; I'm horny as hell also. Your dad has been gone for
four
months."
"I'm sorry, mom. Is there anything I can do?"