The M.I.L.F. Man

Confession

Even after we'd made love as if it were our last night on Earth, neither of us could sleep. But Cielo's restlessness had a very specific cause.

So after tossing and turning to no avail, she finally slid an arm around my chest and said, "So, how do you know that actress I saw you with?"

The last thing I expected to hear under the circumstances.

And when I sighed and turned to face her, she said, "I mean, it's not every day I see someone I know on the cover of one of those stupid little newspapers. I saw it when I bought my hat and stuff--it was right by the checkout counter."

"God, I'm so..." I couldn't even choke out the "sorry." Woefully inadequate...

"Well, that's who you roll with, right? People with planes and boats and whatnot..."

I closed my eyes, counted a wee bit past 10...and then said, "Clients with planes and boats and whatnot..."

It was incredibly difficult—and interesting—to watch her face change as her brain ran through all the possible permutations of that statement...

She finally said, "Clients?"

And I said, "Women. Mostly women." Holding a very steady gaze.

She raised her chin a bit and asked, "Clients like...you sleep with them?"

"Not always--not the men. The actress needed someone to just...be there. Listen..."

She did that "Lot's wife" thing then, the way she had when that woman verbally accosted her on campus. Only Cici turns to stone, not salt like the wife in the Bible. And it's like staring at a wall.

So I said, "It's a very long and very odd story. But...well, my parents froze all my accounts and announced that they would only pay for tuition and very basic living expenses until the end of the school year. They were understandably fed up, of course. I've wasted a great deal of money and time hopping from college to college—wasn't much better in their snobby little prep school, either. So I expected to be reined in. Just not quite so hard."

Nothing, from Cielo. Not one flicker in the eyes...

So I rolled over on my back, closed my eyes, and said, "You see, I'd met this...amazing woman—Lupita, actually. There were all these snarky little bitches making fun of her in a bar, so I danced with her. And she was so wise and real compared to all the younger women I'd been with--I wanted more of that."

Silence, still. So...I turned back to her and said, "My love, I'd been sleepwalking through school. Life. So it was wonderful to spend time with a woman of substance who was long past that weird...limbo land we're in at this age. So Amandla made a rather interesting suggestion—she has a rather unusual side hustle, too. And as the cliché goes, it sounded like a good idea at the time. It's a very exclusive service. Very private, very discreet..."

Again, nothing. Not one muscle moved. So I stopped trying and just lay there feeling and probably looking rather pitiful.

But then she smiled. I'm not joking. She smiled.

And said, "You been sweatin' this, haven't you? All this time?"

I turned to stone then. Not the way she does. I was just dumbfounded.