Mother-in-Law

You arrive back at the Benson's residence still feeling somewhat spooked by your latest encounter with the Marshal, but a yellow pill and some truly athletic sex with Mary Lou calms your mind and exhausts your body enough that you are able to sleep well regardless.

Too well, it transpires, as when you finally wake up your girlfriend is no longer there, sunlight is streaming into the room even through the closed curtains and the clock on the wall tells you it is already after ten.

You have just finished dressing when there is a knock on your door.

"Chuck, are you decent?"

That voice belongs to Betsy - Mary Lou would neither knock nor care if you weren't wearing anything. In fact she would probably prefer you that way.

"I'm dressed, Mrs Benson. It's fine for you to come in."

"Please, Mrs Benson is my Mother!" she tells you as she opens the door "It's Betsy to you!"

As she walks into the room you see that Betsy is carrying a large tray that has resting on it one of her delicious looking (and smelling) cooked breakfasts, a tall glass of orange juice and your morning yellow pill pick-me-up. She sets it down on the dresser by your bed.

"Just so you know, John suggested you take today off. He said he was awfully impressed with how late you chose to work last night, but he doesn't want his best member of staff getting run down. Mary Lou has gone to the office with him, she works there as a typist sometimes when she needs the cash. So I'm afraid you're stuck with little old me for the day."

"That's no bad thing Betsy. In fact, it will be nice for us to get to know each other a little better."

"I think so too Chuck" she smiles happily at your response as you begin to devour the food she has painstakingly prepared for you "I'm so used to just knocking around the place on my own on days like this. It can get so lonely. But having you here will give me a whole new lease of life. I can tell already."

You can't help but notice that, for someone who is supposedly just knocking around the house, Betsy has sure made an effort with her appearance.

She is a strikingly attractive woman at the best of times anyway, and there is something undeniably alluring about a sexy older woman. But you are acutely aware she is John's wife, not to mention Mary Lou's mother.

"I'm glad to hear that Betsy. I owe you so much for everything you've done for me since I arrived here and I'd truly appreciate the opportunity to pay back at least some of your kindness, even if all I have to offer is my company."

"You're being too modest, Chuck. I know you have so much more to offer than that."

Betsy has now sat down next to you on her daughters bed. You will need to tread very carefully here.

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like making me feel like a woman, and not a wife"

Okay, this is going exactly where you feared. And also kind of hoped. But anything happening between the two of you would be an awful idea, and you have plenty of beautiful women to romance already. Surely you can manage without one more?

"Why can't John do that?"

"You must think I'm a terrible person, Chuck" she looks at you sadly "John is a good man, and I know you two are pals., but.....Have you ever read a book called Revolutionary Road?"

"I haven't"

"That's not surprising. It's pretty much new out and it's a romance novel, not really your thing, I'm sure. But it's about this long time married couple whose relationship is just ticking along nicely enough but lacks any excitement or passion. They want to move abroad to France to try and rekindle things, but they can't find a way to make it out of their home town. Kind of like John and I. Anyway, I'll spare you all the grim details but their story doesn't end well."

"But why is that like you?" you cant help but jump in "Why does nobody think it's possible to leave Greenvale? Why does the exit sign have the word 'caution' on it?"

"Oh, I think the Marshal put that up a while back. A couple of people left town and have never been seen or heard from since. Probably just an unfortunate coincidence, but it spooked some folk here. Anyway, that's irrelevant. It's just not practical for John and I to up and leave. Mary Lou is very much settled here for one thing, especially now you're around. I see how happy you two starting a relationship has made her and I know I should feel joyful for my daughter. But I feel jealous instead. Isn't that awful?"

"That's nothing to be ashamed of. People experience complicated and inconvenient feelings all the time."

"I do realise that, but I'm finally done with burying them and pretending they don't exist" she takes your hand, gently but with certainty "You've stirred something in me, Chuck. You showed up here like you had stepped right out of the pages of a romance novel yourself - so dashing, exciting and full of mystery, with an air of sophistication and an intimate knowledge of exactly what it is that a woman wants and needs."

Wow. You really are all things to all women in this town, it seems. Except Michelle, of course.

"I'm really not sure I match that description at all, Betsy."

"And you're humble as well. That's such an attractive quality in a man"

It appears there is nothing you can say or do to put the ladies here off you. Nonetheless, this is clearly going somewhere you shouldn't allow it to.

"I feel like if your marriage is going through a rough patch you would be best off speaking to John about it."

"John can't fix my marriage Chuck, the only thing that can is an affair" she leans in closer, so you can feel her breath against your lips as she speaks, and gazes deeply into your eyes "I know that sounds like a strange thing to say, but I need someone to provide the part of our relationship that John can't, and there is nobody around here other than you who fits the bill. I slog away all day every day in this house like a hired maid. Surely I deserve some kind of pleasure and excitement in my life? Please Chuck, I need you to do this for me. Honestly, so does John."

"I don't know Betsy..."

It would have taken a flat out refusal to stand any chance of ending this, and you found yourself strangely unable to give your seductress that. Betsy senses your weakness and seizes on it, climbing up onto your lap and wrapping her arms around your neck. It does feel good having her there.

"Our affair is going to be very discrete, Chuck. Nobody will ever suspect a thing. It will be something you and I can indulge in whenever it's just the two of us here, and it will be business as usual otherwise. Doesn't that sound a lot more fun than me doing the housework while you sit up here on your own? And I have so much I want us to experience together, all of this bottled up sexual energy that needs to be released, so many things I want to try that would be far too spicy for John to handle. And if there is anything you would like to do with a woman that might seem too much for my daughter, well I'd be very happy for us to try that too. So what do you say, Chuck?"

There are so many things you should be saying - "no", "we can't", "this is wrong" - but before you are able to find a way to force any of them out of your mouth, Betsy leans in and kisses you, deeply and passionately.

You eagerly return it, and pull her down on top of you on the bed.