Chapter six - Elsie

My mum's good mood disappeared with whatever conversation she was having with Billy just now, but she's refusing to speak, her jaw twitching as she drives, her eyes not moving from the road ahead of us.

"Mum, what's the matter?" I ask and her jaw twitches again but she doesn't reply. Indicating right, she turns into the car park of the big shopping mall in the centre of time and I wait until she parks and switches off the engine before speaking to her again. "Mum?"

"Stay away from Billy." She blurts out, her eyes burning into me. "He's going to be your brother, it's not incest, but it still wouldn't look good for us. William wouldn't like it, it would ruin everything I've worked so hard for."

"Excuse me?" My mouth drops open at her words. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about the way he was flirting with Carrie Lawson this morning, not the non existent relationship between me and Billy?"

She sighs heavily, twisting her body so she's facing me fully, she grabs my hand in hers and levels me with a serious look.

"Elsie, you may be an adult now but you don't understand the way men work. I know how to keep William in line and away from other women, don't you worry about that." Her hands tighten painfully around mine and she leans in close. "Your father was a kind man, but that kept him poor, he was ok with that and you were too young to know any different. But William can give me the life I deserve. I've planned and I've waited and I will not have you or that idiotic little boy mess that up for me."

"Mum." I gasp, trying to pull my hand free from her grasp. She blinks a couple of times and her face softens, she loosens her grip and pats my hand.

"Sorry Elsie, I didn't like the way Billy was looking at you this morning. You're a good girl though, I know you wouldn't disappoint me." She turns to get out of the car. "Let's not let him ruin our day, come on."

I don't actually know what to say to her, my dad was wonderful, everyone loved him and we were happy, at least that's what I thought up until now. I follow behind her, watching as she picks things off shelves almost without looking at them, handing over William's credit card with an excited gleam in her eye.

She shops for hours while I follow her around, giving opinions on clothes which she ignores unless they match hers, I'm not sure whether the clothes are meant for her or me, but they're all so tight and clingy that I'm fairly sure I won't be wearing any of it.

Finally she tells me we're stopping for lunch, dragging me into a cute little cafe and ordering us both latte's and panini's.

"I've been thinking, Elsie…" She starts and the look in her eye has me immediately on alert. "Billy is trying to ruin this situation for us. He's going to try to sleep with you, thinking it'll upset me and his father, we can use that to our advantage."

"Mum, I am not going to sleep with him. No way." She laughs hysterically, slapping the table until forcing herself to stop when the waitress appears with our drinks. I frown at her when she wipes tears from her eyes.

"Oh baby, I wasn't expecting you to sleep with him, I mean, have you even lost your virginity yet?" She looks me up and down as if the thought of anyone wanting to sleep with me is ridiculous. "No baby, I want you to lead him on, get close to him, make him think it's a possibility and the whole time it's distracting him from whatever other little schemes he's got planned."

"Mum, I don't want to get involved and I especially don't want to hang around Billy, do you not see what he's like? He was drunk in school the other day and got into a fight, I don't want anything ruining my chance at going to uni."

"Then don't let him." She picks up her coffee in both hands, bringing it up to her lips and looking at me over the rim. "He's going to try everything to get you into bed anyway, you can either fight it or take control of it."

She smiles up at the waitress who brings out food, thanking her and then turning her attention back to me. 

"Let's not talk about it anymore, I know you'll make the right decision." She places her coffee down and picks up her panini, taking a bite and groaning in pleasure in a very similar way to the noises I hear coming from her room, which makes me shudder. "I need to go to that lingerie boutique, is there anywhere else you need to go?"

"No, nowhere." I say, glad that this whole trip is reaching its end.

"Ok good, you can help me pick something William will like." I open my mouth to object and she cuts me off. "I know you don't want to, but I need a second opinion and you're the only one here. I'll buy you a new set too. No arguments, you can't keep wearing those awful granny pants you insist on. I do want you to get married one day baby and I'll have failed you if I don't help you keep your husband interested, you don't want him to start cheating on you the way William did throughout his whole marriage. His wife's lost everything now, just because she couldn't keep his attention away from the other women throwing themselves at him."

I bite into my own panini so I don't have to respond. We don't agree on the causes and blame when it comes to cheating. The married men she used to bring home with her were all the same, they'd come straight from her bedroom and look at me as though I was a possible conquest, quickly going back to her room for another go when I made my disinterest clear. So I can't believe it's the wives fault their husband's are disgusting sleazebags.

After using William's credit card to pay lunch, mum drags me to a shop that I really wasn't prepared for. As well as bras and pants in various colours and styles, there are numerous variations of underwear, from stringy items that I struggle to work out what they're meant to do or cover, to see through garments that cover your entire body from wrist to ankle, then, as if to extend the awful experience of shopping for my mother's sex clothes, the employee, who is chatting animatedly to my mother about the numerous things she's picking up, leads us through an area with what looks like hundreds of different vibrators, to get to the changing rooms.

My mother's eyes light up and she whispers something to the employee, both of them cocking their heads to study me.

"Mum?" 

"I'm going to leave you with Sally here, she's going to help you pick something that you really don't want your mum helping you with." Closing the door on the changing room, I'm slightly relieved I won't have to help her pick out which underwear to choose, but also nervous by the way, the employee, Sally, is looking at me. 

"Come on Sweety, no need to be embarrassed. Your mum wants you to take control of your sexual pleasure, I wish my mum had been as cool as yours. Now, tell me, what sort of experience have you had so far?" I feel my cheeks burn at the prospect of discussing my sexual experience, as little as there is, with a complete stranger. "Ok, are you still a virgin?"

I shake my head and her eyebrows jump up in surprise, followed by a sly little grin as she glances at the room where my mum went. Gesturing me closer, instead of asking questions, she starts to explain about the different things on the shelves, before telling me my mum wants me to choose two items.

"I have no idea what to pick." I whisper and she picks up two boxes.

"These are my personal favourites." She says, sliding them into the bag with a wink and I don't know what to say, the whole thing is completely out of my comfort zone. Thankfully my mum comes out of the changing room then, fully dressed and hangers full of clothing in her arms.

"All sorted?" She asks, looking at Sally who nods and lifts up a bag with the clear outline of two boxes inside. 

My mum passes her a couple lacy bra and panties sets and tells her to put them in my bag, then the rest goes in a bag for her. 

"I really enjoyed today." My mum says, handing me bag after bag out of the back of the car. "Go hang these up and then we can cook something for dinner."

"These are all for me?" I look at the bags straining under the weight of the clothes in my hands and realise I have no idea what's in them. 

"Yes, and these, hurry up, I'll help you carry them in, but it'll be at least two trips."

"It's too much." She's already on her way indoors, so I chase her up to my room and find her unpacking the bags onto my bed. There's tops of every colour and style, jeans, trousers, skirts, jackets. "Mum, this really is too much. How much did you spend?"

"I had to take advantage of having you with me baby, we got you everything you need. Now, go and get the other bags, quickly, I'm going to take these…" She holds up two bags, one of which is her one from the lingerie shop. "And put them away before William gets back, don't want to ruin the surprise."

I pack away the clothes without looking at most of them, fortunately the built-in wardrobe is enormous, so everything fits easily inside. The only bag left is the lingerie one and after putting the bra and panties in my drawer, I sit on my bed, intrigued by what could be inside the boxes the shop assistant picked for me.

"Baby, change of plan." My mother squeals, running into my room and I've barely got time to stuff my boxes inside the bag before she's sweeping me into a hug. "William is taking me to see Chicago tonight, in London, we're staying over there for a few days, going to see the sights. I can't wait." She squeals again and jumps away from my bed. "Apparently Billy's out with his friends tonight, you'll be ok by yourself, won't you? We're leaving in an hour, William's left money for a takeaway if you want to order in?"

"Oh, thanks mum." I say, but she's already skipping down the hallway to her own room and exactly an hour later, they're calling their goodbyes and heading out the door.

I breathe out slowly, walking around the house quietly to check I am alone before running upstairs to look at the boxes again.

Inside one of the boxes is a long white electronic thing, with a twisty padded end and in the other is a huge bright red penis shaped vibrator, with a couple of buttons at the base.

With one last double check that I'm definitely home alone, I settle down into my bed, pull my bottoms and pants off, and test out the new toys, because despite what my mum thinks, I'm not completely without sexual desires.