Jake & Liz

This is a fairly lengthy story, so if you prefer a quick read, this won't satisfy you. There isn't a tremendous amount of sex either, as I tried to focus more on the characters than just the sex. But there is sex, don't worry.

Thanks for reading.

----------

"Thank you for coming, Barry."

Jake Wallan stood at the front door of The Pavilion, a large, relaxed restaurant that had been the venue for his father's wake. He was shaking hands with old Barry Fields, the man who until last year had been living next door to his parents. It was the end of the day, and most of the guests had already gone. But Barry was a friend as well as a neighbour, and had stayed on to see that Jake and his mother Liz were managing on this difficult day.

"Don't mention it son," Barry replied, shaking his hand. "Our families have been solid for many years. I've been honoured to help you celebrate your dad's life today."

Barry opened the door with his free hand and released his grip on Jake's. Stepping out into the cool evening he said, "Now you let me know if you or your Mom need anything."

"Thanks," Jake said with a brief nod.

The day had gone well, despite the sadness and grief.

They had known his father's time was coming to an end. He'd been diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of bowel cancer 18 months ago and had begun chemotherapy immediately. At 57 years old, Terry Wallan was a fit and robust director in an engineering company. He was the sort of man who never got sick in his entire life. So to say the diagnosis came as a shock was an understatement. As was the toll the cancer and the treatments took on his body. But his spirit was never beaten. He faced his death as he had faced all things in his life - with courage, humour and compassion. But when it became clear that the treatments weren't helping and his prognosis became ever more dire, Terry used his remaining time to plan for his own passing as best he could. He'd discussed and planned out exactly how he wanted his funeral to go. He emphasised it should be a celebration of a life well lived, with many friends and treasured memories. The funeral service itself was short, with as little time spend ruminating over his body as possible. As soon as the body was interred, the congregation moved to The Pavilion, Terry's favourite restaurant. There had been a speech from Jake, which had been written by his parents and himself, which summed up the happy and easy going philosophy of his father. Terry stuck a few parting shots at some old friends into the speech, but mainly the aim was to get everyone laughing at the crazy stories he'd accumulated in his life.

The surprise of the evening had been when several of Terry's best friends got up and burst into song - singing a song they had written with Terry celebrating his life - from the glories highs to the most embarrassing lows. Terry had kept that part of the evenings plans secret from everyone, including his wife Liz and Jake. It was a masterful way of bringing everyone's mood right up, seeing these 50-something year olds riffing off each other like the best of friends. Which is exactly what they were.

The drive back to Liz's apartment was quiet, with the events of the last week leaving both her and Jake drained and exhausted. They had both agreed that the day had gone just as Terry had wanted, and his memory was truly honoured amongst those who knew him best. But beyond that, they felt no real need to push the conversation. Liz felt a slight pang of nostaliga as she climbed the stairs to her first floor apartment. When Terry began his treatments, they decided to commit fully to fighting the cancer. They hadn't kept a great deal of savings, but they were sitting on a big nest egg – their fully paid up house. So they sold it in short order, netting themselves a not insignificant windfall. They used a small amount of it to purchase this small one bedroom apartment in the city, with the a large part of the remainder going into his treatments. The hurt of losing her husband seemed sharper now she thought on the fact she had also lost the home she'd made with him for over 30 years.

With a heavy sigh, Liz kicked off her shoes as she stepped into her apartment. She'd managed to hold up well through the days ceremonies, but now within the confines of her home, the grief came creeping back.

"I'm totally wrecked Jake," Liz said. "I might just take a quick shower and head to bed."

Jake finished hanging his jacket by the door and slipped off his shoes. "Are you gonna be okay mom?"

Liz stopped halfway down the hall and turned. She seemed so frail and small, Jake thought. The moonlight filtered through the open window and cast her face in a ghoulish pale glow that seemed to sap away what remained of her vitality. She looked much older than her fifty two years in that moment. She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, her breathe beginning to catch as tears welled up in her eyes. She hugged herself and clamped her eyes shut, the grief of losing her husband feeling like a cold fog that crept out of the emptiness of her apartment and spearing her in the heart. She felt the loss physically, as though a great part of her being was missing, creating a void down in the pit of her stomach that she knew would never be filled again.

Jake stepped over to his mother, caressed her shoulders and pulled her into his embrace. She sobbed into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her. He was at a loss for words, his own grief over losing his dear father blanketing all other feelings. So he simply held his mother and rubbed her back, trusting that the strength that he knew she had would return in time and help carry her through these dark times.

------------------------

"See you tomorrow, Liz!"

Kary was a colleague of Liz's, a gregarious woman with a larger than life personality and witty sense of humour. They'd just finished up a class at the gym in their office building and were heading their separate ways. Kary commuted into town from her home in the suburbs, but Liz only lived a short walk away.

"See you, Kary."

Following the death of her husband, Liz found solace in a steady routine. She'd kept her job throughout his illness, and returned to it as soon as she felt able. At first, it had been almost intolerable - dealing with the insipid problems of daily life seemed so hollow without Terry, and all those problems were dwarfed by the seemingly bottomless void she felt inside. But she knew she had to continue; she had to move forward with her own life. So she persevered, through good days with friends and supportive family, and bad days when she almost couldn't even summon the will to get out of bed. But wallowing in her own misery was not the kind of life she'd lived with her husband. Letting her misery consume her would only taint his memory, and all the joy he had tried to give her in life would be for naught.

It had been just over two years since Terry's death, and Liz had settled into a comfortable routine. She'd managed to coordinate a healthy schedule between maintaining her apartment, working, exercising and socialising. And she had to admit, committing to that routine had probably saved her in her darker moments. Knowing that there was something else to attend to, or someone else to connect with or someone else who needed her had sometimes been the tiny rock she needed to cling to when everything else seemed so unstable. She often found her thoughts drifting toward a sense of gratitude during her walk from the gym - she had a steady job that paid for a comfortable life, a home with no mortgage, and her health. Day by day, facing the world without her husband steadily became more bearable. It was never easy, but just a bit less miserable with each day.

Her introspection was broken when her mobile phone started ringing in her bag. She stopped and quickly retrieved it, swiping to answer as she resumed her walk.

"Hi Jake!"

"Hi mom,' Jake replied, "what's going on?"

"Just heading home from the gym now. It's been a while since you called."

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry. I've just been absolutely smashed at work. They've been pushing us all pretty hard these last few weeks to deliver on a new project. Most nights the entire team has been held back in the office until around midnight."

"That's crazy dear! And you guys don't get any overtime pay, right?"

"Ha, I wish." Liz smiled, the enthusiasm in her son's voice reassuring her that despite the long hours, he was well.

"Well I suppose that's a barely acceptable excuse for not calling your poor mother."

"Well, the hard work is paying off finally. I've scored a promotion!"

"Oh honey, that's fantastic!"

"Yeah, but the best part is, it's in our office back home. So I'll be moving back down by you."

Liz felt a bit skeptical. What kind of "promotion" would require that he move to another city?

"Are you sure?" she asked him. "That doesn't sound like a promotion to me."

"What do you mean?" Jake sounded offended on the phone. "It's normal. The office over there recently lost their head of operations and I put my hand up for the opportunity. The good work I've been giving them lately helped seal the deal."

"Hmm," Liz felt only slightly convinced, "Okay. Well, it will be good having you back regardless dear. No more visiting only every six months!"

"Well," Jake stammered, "that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about, mom."

"What to you mean?"

"Well, work has offered to put me up for a week once I move, to help me settle and find my own place. But I'd prefer to take more time to search around and find the right apartment that I can buy rather than just rent. And so I wanted to ask if I could stay with you for a while until I find my own place."

Liz smiled at the irony of the situation - just as she had been contemplating how her routine had been a cornerstone in getting her life on track again, something came up to turn that routine upside down.

"Of course, Jake. Although you may need to get used to sleeping on the couch or buy a sofabed, as there's not much space for two."

-------------

"You don't

really get out much, do you Jake?"

Liz was slipping out of her gym shoes as she entered the apartment. Jake turned around from the stove as she spoke, the pot of tomato and meatballs left simmering slowly.

"What can I say, mom," he replied, "I'm a home body. I like my own personal time. Besides, who wants to be out in that rainy weather tonight?"

"You know," Liz said as she walked past him and down the hall to her bedroom, "too much personal time can be unhealthy. After your father died, I knew I had to keep my connections with people, otherwise, I'd just go crazy." She gathered a change of clothes and turned to head to the bathroom.

"And you're young!"

Jake could only smile and chuckle to himself. He'd had pretty much this exact same conversation with her at least once a week since moving in three months ago. It had become a bit of a running joke between him and his mother. He knew she wasn't really upset with him not being a social butterfly. He took after her in many ways, including being more of an introvert for the most part.

Not that he was socially inept. He wasn't shy, and had had a series of relationships over the years. But he'd always found them overly complicated and in the end had decided that sacrificing his own personal space in order to compromise with someone elses demands just wasn't worth it. When he compared how he felt when he was single to when he was actually with someone in a relationship, he noted that his level of happiness was only marginally higher in a relationship. And he knew that was mainly from the regular sex on offer. The rest of the deal just wasn't worth it.

He returned to preparing dinner as he heard the shower start up. He and his mother had agreed to take turns preparing or buying dinner for the weeknights. Such was the nature of their relationship that they slotted into each others lives very easily - both were easy going and open, but possessed of a strong sense of independence. But while she'd tempered some of that through her marriage, he had taken to a solitary lifestyle like a duck to water. Rearing a child and being one of four siblings had also taken the edge of Liz's craving for personal space as well, which contrasted to Jake's upbringing as an only child and subsequent bachelor lifestyle.

The only part of their arrangement that struck him as peculiar was the fact that he had lingered for three months already. He had expected to be able to find his own place in short order, and indeed, he had found quite a few suitable apartments in his price range and within close proximity to his work. But whenever he considered his options, staying with his mom always seemed to come up as the most logically beneficial solution. They shared living costs, easily accommodated each others needs and got along like best friends.

Jake paused in his cooking as the revelation struck him. He really was happy staying with his mother and felt as though he was actually living with his best friend. He laughed as he considered how strange it was that he felt so surprised by it, and yet also felt like it was the most natural thing ever. After all, it wasn't as though it was some arbitrary arrangement that forced them to cohabit. They genuinely just got along really well. And he felt fortunate and blessed that, while life had taken his father, at least he had a solid and loving relationship with his mother.

"What's so funny?"

Liz's question startled him, as he hadn't heard her coming out of the shower.

"Oh, nothing," he said. "Was just wondering how weird it is that we get along so well, and you haven't kicked me out of your place yet."

"Well, you keep up with the good food and paying your way and we'll keep things that way, mister!"

Jake nodded and began setting the table for dinner. Liz picked out a bottle of wine and brought out a couple of wine glasses. As Jake began plating up the pasta, she filled the glasses with wine and sat down.

In truth, Liz was content with how the arrangement had worked out. She'd never anticipated that having Jake around would help take the edge off her loneliness, but his presence was a great comfort. Aside from being the best of her and her late husband, Jake himself was genuinely a lovely man. He had felt absolutely torn when his work initially sent him away soon after his father's death, and had intended to resign instead of leaving his grieving mother. But she had insisted that she needed to get on with her own life, and find her own way through. She had been saddened when he left, but in the end it proved worthwhile. She got back on her own two feet.

And now having him back was such a rich blessing. He reminded her so much of Terry with his witty sense of humour and easy going demeanour. But he also seemed to have inherited her love of reading and quiet contemplation. She had to admit, she really did enjoy living with her son.

"Well," Jake said as he sat down at the table across from his mother, "no need to stand on ceremony. Dig in!"

"Let's have a toast first."

Jake paused and looked at his mother with a puzzled expression.

"Come on," Liz continued as she raised her glass, "a toast to us. For not driving each other crazy."

Jake laughed and pulled his chair into the table before taking up his own glass.

"Okay mom," he said as he clinked her glass, "to us."

They toasted and then set into their dinner, both making general conversation about the days events. Their talk continued as that cleared the dishes and retreated to the sofa with refilled wine glasses. Jake put on the radio just for some ambient noise and then fell into the opposite corner of the sofa from his mother.

Liz took a moment to admire the scene before her - her handsome son spread over the edge of the sofa like some Greek masterpiece, the soft dappled light from outside playing across his face. She didn't feel guilty about finding her son attractive. She certainly was no prude and knew a good looking man when she saw one. But she was his mother, and didn't have any inclinations to do anything with her attraction. To her, it was always a practical, objective experience. Yes her boy had become a man that she was attracted to physically, but that's all it was. She thought it was ridiculous that someone would somehow turn a blind eye to his physicality just because they were related. But similarly, just because she found him attractive didn't mean she had to go jumping his bones. She was comfortable separating those parts.

"You seem a bit worn out there, Jake" she said.

Finishing his sip of wine, Jake set his glass down and said, "Ah just dealing with some politics work. You know how it is."

"I don't actually," she replied, "my office is too small, and we're generally older so we don't really have the time for silly politics. It's one of the reasons I've stayed there as long as I have."

"Well consider yourself lucky. There's a shit storm brewing in my office. One of the group managers was dating a girl in his team. Everyone knew and they didn't keep it a secret. But now they've split and there are rumours that another girl is the cause. So now they can't work together and its affecting other people – yada yada yada."

"Uhg," Liz said, "that just sounds awful. You young people really don't know how to control yourselves do you?"

"Hey you're not that old you know? And besides, the manager is about your age so, age is definitely not a factor."

"I still don't understand why people do that though" Liz remarked. "I mean, why bring extra drama into your life? It just leads to heartbreak and burnt bridges. I'm sure it looks bad professionally."

"Hell yeah. We just kind of wish that either one of them would just leave to give the office some breathing space, but we can't make them go." He shrugged and said, "I guess people just don't know how to keep it in their pants."

"Well that I can understand." Jake merely raised a quizzical eyebrow, but Liz continued. "But if they want that, they should keep the booty calls separate from their work."

"Wow you know what a booty call is? I guess I under estimated how young you really are."

Liz smiled and mocking kicked him in the shin. "You watch your mouth young man. That's no way to speak to a lady, especially your mother."

"Hey you're the one implying you understand wanting to have a booty call from time to time. It's not my fault I mistook you for a horny teenager for second."

"Well just because your father's not around anymore doesn't mean I stop, you know, being a woman."

"Ah," Jake said, "Well if you've got some fresh hunk of meat that you need some time with, I can always head out for a while."

Liz's eyes went wide and she nearly choked on her wine. Recovering quickly, she said, "No! That's not what I mean. Your father and I were, you know, 'active'. And we both enjoyed it, and he's gone, but well..." She paused before saying, "Let's just say I miss him. A lot."

Sensing the truth was more sensitive than what she saying, Jake only nodded and reached over to pat her knee.

"Well what about you, mister? I haven't had you asking me to go for an extended walk this whole three months."

Jake shrugged and said, "Nothing to tell really. I find most sexual relationships aren't worth the effort. Way too many compromises. Even booty calls get too messy after a while."

Liz's eyebrows leapt up and she said, "Oh so you have tried booty calling?"

Jake finished his wine and set his glass down before settling back into the comfortable corner of the sofa.

"Yeah, tried it with a girl about a year ago. Started off nice and casual but she eventually couldn't separate the emotion from the sex so, I called it quits."