The Summer of Consent

by Jayne Marlowe

  “Gloria, I’m not—”

  “Well, we’re stuck with each other for eight more weeks. Then you don’t have to worry about me ever again.”

  She threw her napkin down on her plate and left the table. When she got to her room, she slammed the door shut. She reached for the nearest thing—a book—and threw it across the room, not caring that it chipped paint off the wall and broke the book’s spine, causing pages to flutter out.

  She flopped on her bed and stared at the ceiling. Why the fuck did everyone try to justify butting into her business? OK, she was seeing Nate. Big deal. He was several years older than her. Again, big deal. Men date younger women all the fucking time. He wasn’t some pedophile. They weren’t breaking any law.

  Were they?

  Gloria wasn’t surprised when the knock came on her bedroom door a few minutes later.

  “Can I come in?” Robyn asked.

  Gloria sighed. “Yes.”

  Robyn entered and sat beside Gloria on the bed until she moved and they both sat up against the headboard. Gloria grabbed a big pillow and hugged it for comfort.

  “Talk to me.”

  Gloria shrugged. “Nothing to talk about.”

  “Sure there is. For one thing—and correct me if I’m wrong—but Nate’s your first...intimate relationship.”

  When Gloria didn’t reply, Robyn nudged her elbow into Gloria’s arm. “You know why Michael’s being such an asshat, don’t you?”

  Again, Gloria shrugged.

  “C’mon, yes you do. He loves you and he worries about you.”

  “He doesn’t have to worry about me.”

  Robyn sighed. “OK, maybe ‘worry’ is the wrong word. Cares. He cares about you. It’s not so much that you have a...boyfriend,” she said cautiously, “It’s....”

  She wiggled and flexed her toes, and Gloria suspected that if they’d been sitting at a table, Robyn would be drumming her fingers.

  “He is much older than you, Glo. He’s even older than Michael.”

  “So what?”

  “I’m just saying that it can be hard for people to relate to each other when someone is years older or younger. It’s called a generation gap for a reason.” Robyn made herself comfortable by grabbing a pillow and hugging it like Gloria did. “I imagine that you haven’t had anyone to talk to about any of this.”

  Gloria sighed. She didn’t want people knowing and judging her private business. After living with drunk parents, her privacy was something she’d protected all her life. Yet, she wanted to talk, needed to talk. Too bad the tightening in her throat threatened to make talking as difficult as suppressing her urge to cry.

  “It’s OK, Robyn.” It came out a whisper rather than a statement of confidence. “I’m making it up as I go along.”

  Unfortunately, the tears started to flow and called her a liar. She buried her face into the pillow, and Robyn stroked her head.

  “Oh, Glo-bug.” Robyn sighed. “I know what you’re going through. Believe me, I do.”

  Gloria raised her head to look at Robyn.

  “My first husband was several years older than me. We began dating when I was sixteen.”

  This was news to Gloria. She didn’t know Robyn had been married before, let alone dated an older man as a teenager.

  “What happened?”

  “It didn’t work,” Robyn said simply with a shrug. “I was sixteen, he was twenty-four. We met on the job working at a movie theatre. Of course my parents were not pleased, especially when I got pregnant.”

  Gloria sat up and tried not to gape.

  “We got married. It was either that or my parents would have him arrested for statutory rape.” Robyn’s eyes had a faraway look for a moment and then they focused again. “We got married, but I miscarried during my sixth month. He was a good man, though. We tried to make it work and convince each other we were really in love...but we weren’t.”

  With a hollow laugh, Robyn stroked a lock of hair off of Gloria’s cheek. “By the time I was your age, I was divorced and studying to get my G.E.D.”

  “Did your parents give you grief?”

  “Yes and no. They didn’t care for the circumstances, but they didn’t turn away from me, either. I was lucky.”

  Gloria nodded and turned away. Robyn was lucky. Gloria didn’t harbor such feelings about parents or so-called maternal instincts. Her mother would have thrown her out, because that’s what her grandmother did. Maybe if that hadn’t happened, Gloria’s mother wouldn’t have become a drunk, but there was no use in imagining what ifs.

  “I don’t want to embarrass you—” Robyn began.

  “Which means you’re about to.”

  The speed of her reply made them both laugh. It helped ease the tension.

  “I’m going to ask you the same thing Mike did.” She looked Gloria in the eye. “Have you and Nate been having sex?”

  Gloria lowered her eyes. A pout formed on her lips. “Just once.”

  “OK.” There was a pause before the next question. “Did you use protection?”

  Gloria shook her head. “It wasn’t planned. It just sort of...happened.” She didn’t mean to sound so shrill and panicked, but Robyn quickly put a reassuring arm around her shoulders.

  “Shh, shh, shh...It’s OK, Gloria. I know. It happens.”

  Robyn pulled a tissue out of the box on the nightstand and gave it to Gloria, who blew her nose. “Was it your first time?”

  Gloria nodded.

  “When did this happen?”

  “About three weeks ago, now. I’ve had my period since.”

  “Have you had a pregnancy test?”

  “No.” Gloria’s voice trembled.

  “Well, let’s get you down to Planned Parenthood and get you tested. Although I’m certain Nate is clean, it won’t hurt for you to get tested for STDs. Might as well make damn sure you’re working with a clean slate.”

  The way she put it made Gloria giggle.

  “Nice to hear you laugh.” Robyn gave her a squeeze. “Just be careful. I’m not going to sit here and jinx your relationship to fail just because mine did. You and Nate have the same chance of staying together or splitting up as anyone else. You’ll just have different challenges to face.”

  Robyn made Gloria tilt her face up, and she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

  “You know, we haven’t been out shopping for a while. When I get home from work tomorrow, I’ll take you out so you can get your hiking gear.”

  Gloria smiled, grateful for the gesture. She doubted Michael would let her borrow his car any time soon.

  “Thanks, Robyn.”

  “Of course, Glo-bug.” Robyn gave her a squeeze.

  Perhaps it was the knowledge that Robyn understood that allowed Gloria to relax, and with it, realize she was still hungry. Her stomach growled and Robyn laughed.

  “Now come back down and have some dinner before Michael scarfs it all away. Don’t worry about any of this. Leave your brother to me.”

  Gloria was glad that Nate was picking her up for their hiking trip after Michael and Robyn left for work. Gloria and Michael had been giving each other the silent treatment since their fight. If it wasn’t for Robyn, Gloria suspected that, never mind assurances to the contrary, Michael might have kicked her out of his home by now.

  There were barely eight weeks left before she would be on her way to college and out of the house—possibly for good—and she couldn’t wait. If she was ever going to get her life together, she had to get away from her family. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to be patient because she had no money and no place to go...and she seriously doubted she could move in with Nate—even though she sometimes allowed herself the fantasy.

  She sat on the sofa, waiting for Nate to arrive, thinking about what it would be like to live with him. Was he a neatnik, or was he a slob? Considering the way he kept his office, Gloria doubted he was a slob...but his desk suggested a tendency toward untidiness. She doubted she could let herself be messy and disorgani
zed even if she wanted to be. Living with her parents, Gloria was raised to keep everything neat or there’d be hell to pay.

  But going to bed at night and waking up in the morning next to him couldn’t be that bad, could it?

  The sound of the doorbell startled her from her daydream. She jumped up, grabbed her backpack, and went to answer the door. He was leaning casually against a pillar supporting the front porch, arms folded across his chest, legs crossed at the ankles and looking Handsome. As. Fuck. If ever there was one lucky girl, she was it.

  “Good morning,” she sang, grinning.

  “Good morning to you, too, beautiful.”

  His compliment took her by surprise. It went straight to her pussy, which clenched so hard in expectation that Gloria thought she’d wet herself.

  “Is your brother and Robyn home? I’d like to let them know where we’ll be.”

  “Nope. They were both gone before I woke up. I left a note on the kitchen counter saying we’d be back around six o’clock.”

  “Sounds about right.” He looked her up and down and smiled. “I see you’re dressed for a nice day hike.”

  “Sure am.” Gloria stepped out onto the front porch and locked the door. Then she turned slowly in a circle, modeling her outfit. Since it was going to be warm, she wore khaki shorts and a short sleeved T-shirt. She even pinned her long, black tresses up and wrapped a red bandana around her hair akin to Rosie the Riveter. Her backpack carried the rest of her supplies consisting of a pair of rain pants, long-sleeve shirt, and a shell jacket in case the weather got wet or cold.

  When her fashion show was over, she put on a red baseball cap and faced him.

  “Race you to the car!”

  Nate had never seen Gloria look so casual before, and the result was just as alluring as her working attire. Hiking shorts hugged her waist and long legs and packaged her ass in a khaki parcel that begged to be ripped open and plunged into. Her white T-shirt stretched over her breasts with its hem tucked into her waistband.

  Ever since that marvelous afternoon in the office when he had her pinned beneath him, a luscious, pillow-soft body of barely legal female, eager and wet and giving his cock the best experience it has had in years, and again earlier that week on her brother’s couch...it was difficult for him to not get hard thinking about it, and he thought about it—a lot.

  Nate wondered if it was merely self restraint that kept him from ravishing her whenever they were alone. He was living the fantasy he knew some of his friends and colleagues wanted. It was a typical male thing, something bravado was made of, sitting around bullshitting about having some young, beautiful woman-child to sex up.

  He didn’t see Gloria as a simple sexual conquest—but he had yet to mention her to his friends, and his colleagues only knew that she was his typist. Strutting about with Gloria on his arm would not earn him any merits with the school faculty and administration, and even less from the parents and the school board.

  Gloria may no longer be a student and be the legal age of consent, but teachers have had their careers ruined for less. He needed to keep their closeness to himself for the sake of appearances if nothing else.

  Jesus! He couldn’t even call it a “relationship” in his thoughts. Was it a relationship? They did have a working relationship, and a former student-teacher relationship. But what was this now? He cared for her, deeply, but did he love her?

  Gloria hadn’t made any noises about going public. Hadn’t pressured him into being seen as a dating couple. Were they dating? Apart from him driving her home from work, this hiking trip was their first outing that was not work related.

  After years of teaching teenagers, Nate had seen lots of girls pursue boys, and once ensnared, the girl made sure the boy knew it. But Gloria didn’t pursue him, and he didn’t ensnare her.

  Did he? The job was meant for Brittany Taylor—and while he admitted to himself his immature selfishness in wanting her for the eye candy she would have presented—would he have been in the same situation with her as he was now with Gloria?

  Brittany, with her aptitude for biology, was a bit of a princess and not above using her appeal to get her way. It reminded Nate of Jill. If anything, this aspect of Brittany’s personality would have ensured his never considering entering a relationship with her.

  Relationship. There it was. He knew the answer. Always did. Freud would have been proud.

  On the other hand, Freud would probably be concerned that instead of feeling paranoid and nervous at the thought of being outed, Nate had to fight the urges he had for weeks that had only gotten worse since he and Gloria had sex. Their flirtatious exchanges at work helped take the edge off, but did little to alleviate his desire, his need.

  Watching Gloria race ahead of him to his car made him smile and laugh at her youthful enthusiasm. She was a kid being let loose for recess.

  It was going to be a fun day.

  The drive up into the mountains was pleasant. It had been years since Gloria had last been to the mountains. It was on a school field trip. Her parents were hardly going to take her. She was so preoccupied with the changing scenery, she didn’t have time to tease Nate about his music selection.

  Actually, they had discovered some common ground, musically, not long after he started taking her home from work. They both liked classic and contemporary R&B, and ’70s disco. An odd combination, but it worked for them.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To one of the state parks. There’s some good trails that will take us around the lake.” He glanced over to her. “I even bought a picnic. Hope you eat ham and cheese.”

  “Of course. Who doesn’t eat ham and cheese?”

  “Vegans.”

  Gloria burst out laughing, which made Nate start. She never appreciated his sense of humor when she was his student—she had been too preoccupied with her own problems while also struggling in his class—but now, she appreciated just how funny he could be. His dry sense of humor appealed to her.

  Since they left for the hills after the morning rush hour, it took them less than ninety minutes to get to their destination. Nate drove them into the state park and followed the signs to the parking area. It was summertime and the place was quite busy, but it didn’t take them long to get out onto the trails.

  Nate suggested they start out by simply taking a walk along the path by the lake before veering off into the wilderness.

  “Consider it the warm-up before the exercise,” he said.

  They strolled along with the other park visitors. The first part of their hike was more a nature walk because every now and then Nate would point out some bit of vegetation or some plant. By the time they came to a fork in the walkway where a signpost pointed in several directions, Nate took her by the hand and led her down what was labelled a beginner’s trail. The first quarter mile of the trail had hikers and bikers sharing the same path before splitting away from the bikers.

  Gloria kept taking deep breaths of air. The air quality was fresher and sweeter than what could be found “down below” in the city. Nate put his hand on her shoulder and they stopped walking. He frowned at her.

  “Are you OK, G?”

  “Yes, why shouldn’t I be?”

  “You’re breathing heavy. The air is thinner up here. You could be feeling the effects of the altitude.”

  Gloria’s heartbeat raced, touched by his concern.“No, I’m alright. Just enjoying the fresh air.”

  Nate’s worried expression melted and he pulled her into an embrace. Since she wore hiking boots and not her usual heels, she was a few inches shorter when standing next to him. She couldn’t help grinning as his hold tightened around her, and when she felt his lips brush against her hair, she thought she’d swoon.

  Thanks to her pedometer, Gloria noticed that about a mile into their hike, they were running into fewer and fewer people. By the second mile, even less, and by the third mile, none. They were five miles into their hike when Nate decided it was a good time to stop for lunch.


  They arrived at an overlook along the path where a huge stone was perfectly suited for people to sit and look at the vista spreading out for miles. Nate unpacked a blanket and a small thermal bag that held their lunch and bottles of water. Gloria complimented him on his sandwich making: honey baked, spiral-cut ham on wheat bread with Dijonaise, lettuce, and sharp cheddar.

  “Oooh, these are my favorites,” she said, taking a bite of her sandwich wedge.

  “Yes, I’ve been paying attention.” He winked at her and again Gloria’s heart fluttered at the thought of his taking a notice and interest in the things she liked.

  The sun was high in the sky and warm, but the mountain air made the summer heat tolerable and took the humidity away. Nate lay back on the stone, eyes closed, basking in the sun. Gloria allowed herself to get an eyeful at the way his long, athletic body filled out his cargo shorts and how his muscle-toned legs went up inside the fabric, leading and tempting the eyes to take in the bulge to the left of his crotch.

  There they sat, in companionable silence. Gloria moved so that he could lay his head on her lap. She started to feed him grapes, finally getting the chance to casually run her fingers though his hair. Hints of reddish gold highlighted the sandy blond on his head and the faint hint of a moustache and beard on his face. As she stroked his cheek, she wondered how he’d look with facial hair. Eyes still closed, he kissed her fingers as they neared his lips.

  She wished she had the power to stop time because this had to be the best moment she had ever experienced in life. Age didn’t matter, school didn’t matter, people—especially Jill Oliver—didn’t matter. Nothing mattered except for them.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  He opened his eyes and blinked rapidly because of the sun. She leaned forward to offer him shade.

  “For what?”

  “For today.”

  Nate sat up and cupped the side of her face. His eyes matched the deep, clear blue of the sky. “You happy?”

  She nodded, smiling, and he pulled her in for a kiss. It was to be the first of many, and several minutes later, they came to realize something. They were not alone.