Mondays

Dan woke first and got up as gently as he could. His mother seemed to stay asleep when he checked back on her before heading to the bathroom. In the shower, he tried to take care of himself, but it was taking too long without some sort of stimulation. With a frustrated grunt, he got out of the shower and toweled off.

"Morning, dear," Laura greeted from the bed.

"Morning. I'm running a little behind schedule."

"Oh, well, try to have a good day. I'm going to pop by the laundry mat. I'll need to make sure everything is clean for work and I should clean... well, we've slept in the same sheets. Might as well get it done at the same time."

"Right," Dan agreed with a shrug as he slipped on his shoes and ran a hand through his wet hair. The uncomfortable restriction of his boxers made him grunt and adjust himself. He realized he'd done it in full view of his mother. "Ah, I'll be off," he muttered.

That day, Ms. Carmen was waiting for him by the time clock. "Do you have a moment?" she asked.

"Sure," Dan answered as he clocked in and went into her office, closing the door behind him. Ms. Carmen sat near the edge of her desk, waiting for him.

"I have some good news," she reported with a smile. Her clipped British accent made Dan smile to hide his discomfort. What his mother told him echoed in the back of his mind.

"Okay," he said as he took a seat when she gestured to the plastic chair in front of him.

"First, I'm happy to say the big-wigs of Big Bucks, really the H.R. Department has issued a three-hundred dollar gift card to you to help get through your recent struggle. The only stipulation is, you need to spend it in the store and keep the receipt because you're an employee. Just hand over the receipts whenever you finish using the card so I can prove you didn't buy something like a telly. The idea is for you to use the gift card to purchase essentials."

"That's no problem, we need a lot," Dan said with a wider smile. "Thank you."

"It wasn't my decision, but I'll take the praise anyway. You're welcome. Now, I swung an extra couple of shifts for you on the next schedule. I couldn't do much for this week, but next week you're at forty hours. Are you good to work that?" she asked.

"Yes, thank you! That'll go a long way to paying bills."

"My pleasure," Ms. Carmen said with a dazzling smile. "I've got another idea that might help you, but it might take some time to see if it will pan out. You're in Chemicals again. Now, get your stuff and head off. Oh, here, if you need anything. You have my personal number. If I find you've given this out, I will have words with you," she threatened as she passed a slip of paper over to him. Along with the piece of paper, Ms. Carmen also gave him a small packet of papers and a gift card.

Dan couldn't believe his luck. Another three hundred would go a long way to settling into the apartment. A working music player that didn't use the radio would be his first purchase.

The day went by faster than he could hope for. No one bothered him and his freight was light. He texted his mother that he had a surprise for her when he got home. She responded back almost immediately that she couldn't wait.

"Hey dear," Laura greeted from the kitchen. "How was your day?"

"It went really well, actually," Dan said as he dropped his keys on the counter and kicked off his shoes. "How was your day?"

"Oh, I puttered around for a bit. Made a few calls. Amanda stopped by for a while and we talked and talked. It was really nice. Oh, she forgot her plate. Could you run it over to her really quickly? The door across from us."

"Sure," Dan said and picked up the plate. Still in his socks, he knocked on their neighbor's door. Less than a minute later, the door swung inward to Amanda in wearing a black bra that barely contained her modest chest, a garter belt and stockings, and lacy black panties. "Did you come to take me up on my offer?" she giggled before her eyes went wide. "Oh, sorry, Dan. I thought you were your mother," she finished with a laugh.

Dan tried to smile as his eyes wandered back up to Amanda's face. "Sorry," he greeted. "Mom just wanted me to return this," he said, looking into her eyes.

"Thank you, I was going to come over to get it tomorrow," Amanda said with another laugh. "I'm about to go out for the night," she confided with a smile.

Dan couldn't help it and checked out her body again. She didn't seem to feel ashamed about showing it off. He glanced down at her panties again.

AN: This choice will affect the story of this path. Readers can choose to ignore this character in the future, if they so desire.