Natural Impulse

by Anna Durand

  Two people, a man and a woman, stood separate from the crowd, doing their damnedest not to look at all the naked guests. The woman lifted her chin and marched straight up to me and Mara. The man trailed after her. He had auburn hair and green eyes like Mara, and the woman had Mara's golden skin coloring and almond-shaped eyes. I'd met these people earlier, so I knew who they were---Peter Severins and Sheryl Kanda Severins.

  They were Mara's parents. If I hadn't met them already, I would've guessed who they were based on their clothes. Mrs. Severins wore a navy pantsuit that I figured was designer, not that I knew squat about women's clothing, and her husband wore a gray suit and tie.

  It was eighty degrees today.

  Mrs. Severins puckered her lips, narrowing her gaze on me. "What have you done to our daughter?"

  "Uh, I was just helping her---"

  "She's filthy. And wet."

  Yeah, Mara's dip in the hot spring had gotten her clothes wet when she put them back on, and her hair was still drenched. Since she'd gotten knocked down by that asshat, she now had dirt on her backside.

  Mara wriggled in my arms like she was trying to get free.

  I set her down.

  She straightened her clothes and patted her hair, but apparently realized there was no hope of fixing that without at least a hairbrush.

  "Ollie didn't do anything," she told her mother. "That jerk rammed into me, and Ollie dealt with the situation. That's all."

  Mrs. Severins squinted at Mara. "Why are you wet? You're a mess. What's happened to my proper, ladylike daughter?"

  "I..." Mara's expression fell, and her shoulders drooped. She spoke in a small voice when she said, "I was just having fun in the hot spring."

  The word proper seemed to have been the trigger for Mara's change in attitude. I wanted to butt my nose into the conversation and tell Mrs. Severins to go jump in the hot spring headfirst, but it wasn't my place to do that. Mara needed to stand up to her parents on her own. I knew she could do it, but I had no idea if she would do it. She'd only just gotten used to being around people who played sports in the buff.

  Mara slumped more and gnawed on her lip.

  Sheryl Kanda Severins grasped her daughter's arm. "You're coming home with us this instant."

  For a second, I thought Mara would leave with her parents.

  But then she lifted her chin, straightened, and said, "No."

  "No?" her mother repeated. "Mara Tamiko Severins---"

  "I said no, Mom." Mara crossed her arms over her chest. "I'm staying here. With Ollie." She grabbed my hand, tugging me closer. "This is Oliver Jackson---my boyfriend."

  This was news to me. Boyfriend? Sure, we'd had sex once and had been hanging out a lot since then. But she never told me I was her boyfriend. Not that I minded. Actually, I kind of loved the idea.

  Mrs. Severins launched into a tirade that I couldn't understand, so I guessed it was in Japanese. Mara seemed equally confused, which confirmed my suspicion about the language her mom was speaking. That day when we'd gotten it on in her bedroom, Mara had moaned, "I can't even speak Japanese." That had been the cutest thing ever, until I realized she wasn't kidding. She felt like a failure because she'd never mastered that language.

  Her mom knew Mara couldn't understand Japanese. So why was she barraging her daughter with words that made no sense to her?

  "Stop it, Mom," Mara said. "I know you love to babble in Japanese when you're ticked at me, but you know I have no clue what you're saying."

  Mrs. Severins shut up, though she still looked pissed.

  Her husband cleared his throat. "Your mother is saying a lot of things that I won't translate. Honestly, Sheryl, I've never heard you curse so much. Mara is an adult, and we need to respect her decisions even when we don't agree with them."

  Okay, I liked her dad a lot more now. Definitely more than her mom. But I supposed I shouldn't condemn Mrs. Severins right off the bat since she might've been in shock from finding out her daughter had been staying at a naturist resort.

  Mr. Severins offered his hand to me. "I'm Peter Severins. It's nice to meet you, Oliver."

  I shook his hand. "Nice to meet you too. You can call me Ollie."

  "Thank you, Ollie. You can call me Peter." He glanced at his wife. "Don't be rude, Sheryl. Say hello to the man our daughter is dating."

  Mrs. Severins shuffled closer to me and held out her hand, limply. "I am Sheryl Kanda Severins, Mr. Jackson."

  "It's Ollie." I shook her hand, but she didn't clasp mine at all. "Mara's told me a lot about you guys. It's good to finally meet you."

  "I'm sure."

  Peter threw his wife a long-suffering look.

  She rolled her eyes at him, then sighed, squared her shoulders, and aimed a polite smile at me. "Please call me Sheryl."

  "Thanks."

  I wasn't sure I wanted to call her Sheryl, considering her husband had goaded her into saying that.

  Sylvester Norris walked up beside Mara's mom---completely nude, of course. All his manly bits were swinging free when he patted Sheryl's shoulder and announced, "It's a real pleasure to meet Mara's folks. She's such a sweet kid, and smart too. You must be proud of her."

  Mara's mom turned her face toward Sly and forced a polite smile. But then she made the mistake of glancing down---a lot of newcomers who aren't already naturists make that mistake, it's like a reflex action or something---and her eyes bulged bigger than I'd ever seen anyone's eyes do. Her mouth gaped open, and a strangled gasp burst out of her. Her jaw flapped.

  I swore she looked like a fish that got yanked out of the water. All she needed was a hook jammed into her cheek.

  And I kind of felt sorry for her. She wasn't used to this sort of thing. I also finally understood where Mara got her fear of naked people. It wasn't proper, after all.

  Sly, oblivious as usual, grabbed Sheryl's hand and shook it. "I'm Sylvester Norris. That's my wife, Ruth, over there." He nodded toward Ruth, who stood several feet away. "We're so dang pleased to welcome you to our home away from home, Au Naturel Naturist Resort."

  Peter slung an arm around Sheryl and gently pulled her away from the naked man who was smiling at her. Sheryl's face had gone pale, and she looked like she was on the verge of fainting or throwing up. Jeez, it wasn't like a porcupine had jumped her. Having experienced that myself, I would've sympathized a lot more if Mara's mom had gotten chased by one of those buggers. But this was just an old fart who let everything hang out.

  What was it with the Severins women and nudity?

  "Calm down," Peter told his wife in a patient, soothing tone. "That nice man is naked, but he's not going to hurt you. He wants to say hi, that's all."

  Another senior citizen nudist, Ralph Edwards, trotted up to Sheryl and offered her a bottle of whiskey. "One swig of this and you'll feel all better. Trust me."

  Sheryl stared at Ralph's face for a few seconds, then swerved her attention down to his equipment. Her cheeks turned pink, which seemed like a step up from her pale-and-about-to-barf expression.

  Finally, she took the bottle. "Thank you."

  She sounded a little hoarse, but at least she was speaking a language everyone here understood.

  "No problem," Ralph said, smiling. "A shot of Jack Daniels always makes me feel better."

  Ralph moseyed off, disappearing into the crowd.

  Sheryl took the cap off the bottle and downed one huge swig of whiskey. She ran the back of her hand across her mouth and gave her husband the bottle. "I would like to speak to my daughter in private, please."

  "We can talk," Mara said, "but with Ollie there too."

  Mara's mom pursed her lips, lifting her chin.

  Peter waved the whiskey bottle in her face. "Maybe a few more gulps of this will loosen you up, Sher."

  His wife flashed him a frown, then smiled politely at me. "Of course, Ollie. You may join us, if that's what Mara wants."

  "It is," Mara said. "Thank you, Mom."

&nb
sp; Sheryl tugged her suit jacket down and smoothed the lapels. "Where may we speak in private?"

  "In the caretaker's house." Yeah, I'd just made up that name for the place, since I figured Mara's parents wouldn't understand if I called it Eve and Val's house. "Follow me."

  Mara clinched my hand tighter as we led her parents away from the congregation of nudists.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Mara

  Ollie and I sat on the stools at the kitchen island while my parents stood on the other side. My mom had refused to sit even when Ollie invited her to take the other stool. After that, Ollie had suggested we go into the living room, since it had plenty of comfy places to sit.

  My mother said no. Curtly.

  Dad threw her a chastising look, but she ignored it.

  So here we were, Ollie and I on this side of the island and my parents on the other side. Dad leaned back against the sink counter, but Mom kept her spine straight and her backside away from the counter.

  "Explain yourself, Mara," Mom said. "Why on earth would you want to vacation at a nudist camp?"

  "I didn't know that's what it was."

  "And you didn't even tell us," she went on, completely ignoring the fact I'd spoken. "If you want to sow wild oats, at least have the courtesy to inform us."

  "Like I just said, I didn't know this was a nudist resort. The travel agent screwed up. She told me 'naturist' meant birdwatching."

  "How could I have raised such a naïve daughter?" Before I could respond, she barreled straight ahead. "And why didn't you tell us once you found out what sort of...resort you were staying at?"

  Only my mom could make "resort" sound like this place was Sodom, Gomorrah, and Caligula's palace all rolled up together.

  Apparently, I said that out loud---probably mumbled it, but Mom heard.

  She huffed. "You know I don't understand all that young person slang."

  "That's not young person slang, Mom. Sodom and Gomorrah are from the Bible, so as a devout Methodist, you really ought to know what I'm saying." I sat up straighter, because finally standing up to my mother made me feel emboldened and strangely energized. "And Caligula was the most depraved emperor in the entire history of the Roman Empire."

  Her cheeks turned slightly pink. "Of course I know about Sodom and Gomorrah. But I thought Caligula was a reference to---I don't know. That's not the point, Mara. You have a lot of explaining to do."

  "No, I don't." Wow, was that me saying those words? I sounded so...confident. Hanging around with nudists was good for me. "I'm happy to tell you all the fun things I've done since I came here, but I'm not going to justify myself to you. I didn't call to let you know about the mix-up because I knew you'd go crazy over it. And really, it's none of your business. I'm an adult."

  "Then act like one."

  Dad laid a hand on her arm. "Calm down, Sher. Mara is a strong, capable woman. It's about time we let her know we appreciate that and stop treating her like a child."

  My father had never, ever contradicted my mother. She seemed as stunned as I was.

  He took hold of her arms and turned her toward him. "I love you, Sheryl, but you can be a bit of a dictator. I've never spoken up about it because you never went this far before. Cut Mara some slack. She's a good girl, and she deserves better than a dressing-down from her mother."

  Dad was right. Mom never had behaved like this before, so overtly hostile to my life decisions or my mistakes. She would primly inform me of what I should have done, but she did not get angry.

  "Relax," my dad said to my mom. He kissed her forehead and smiled gently. "Let's have a normal, adult conversation with our daughter."

  Mom let her head fall back and moaned, the way I often did. I'd never seen or heard my mother do that, though.

  "All right," she said. "Let's go into the living room and have an adult conversation."

  Ollie led us into the living room, where Mom and Dad settled onto the sofa side by side. I took the smaller of the two armchairs in the room, leaving Ollie with the bigger, much puffier one. He looked kind of silly sitting in that oversize chair, like a kid in a furniture store trying out all the big recliners. Though he looked outwardly silly, his demeanor and posture made him all man. His clothes clung to his body just enough to provide hints of the muscles underneath, muscles I had vivid memories of feeling pressed against me.

  What I wouldn't have given to sneak off to the bedroom with him.

  Instead, I sat there in an armchair with my feet on the floor and my hands clasped on my lap. I looked at my parents, not Ollie. My gaze did keep gravitating back to him, but I forced myself to focus on my parents.

  Mom stayed ramrod straight, her hands on her lap, though she clasped hers much more primly than I clasped mine. She threw Ollie a sideways look before aiming her disapproving gaze at me. "How long have you known this young man? A few days?"

  "Yes. We met on the day I arrived here." The day I'd freaked out and fainted in Ollie's arms. Yeah, I didn't plan on telling my parents about that.

  "Days?" Mom's eyes widened, but to her credit, she calmed down within seconds. "Mara, I'm trying to understand this, I honestly am. But it's difficult to reconcile my obedient daughter with the woman I see before me today. You have been keeping company with...nudists."

  "Naturists," Ollie said. "Some of us prefer to be called naturists."

  Mom veered her squinty gaze to him. "Some of us?"

  Oh crap. If my mom figured out Ollie was a nudist, she would shanghai me back to Philly.

  At the same moment I realized what he'd let slip, Ollie seemed to realize it too. He froze, not even blinking while he stared at me. After a couple seconds, he shook his head the tiniest bit and mouthed, "Sorry."

  I shrugged, pretending to not panic about this even while my heart raced like an Olympic sprinter on speed.

  And of course, Mom understood what was going on. She'd always had the uncanny ability to root out my secrets. Or in this case, Ollie's secret that had become mine too. We had kept the truth from only my parents.

  Mom stared at Ollie. "You are a nudist. My daughter has been doing who knows what with a pervert who wears no clothes in public."

  "This isn't a public place," Ollie said calmly. "It's a private resort. I wear clothes when I go into town, and also when I greet new guests."

  "I see." Mom looked at me. "You are coming home with us, and that's that."

  "No, I am not," I told her. "Ollie is a good man, not a pervert, and the fact he prefers to be naked has nothing to do with why you're mad at me. I screwed up again, didn't I? That's what you think. Stupid little Mara made another fuck-up."

  She sat up even straighter. "Watch your language, Mara."

  "No, I don't think I will." I jumped out of the chair. "And I am not going anywhere. I like Ollie, and I want to stay here with him to find out if we could have something together. He's helped me overcome some of my fears already. I plan to keep on doing that, getting past the things that used to make me a frazzled mess. I'm stronger than you think, Mom, and I don't need you to tell me how to live my life anymore."

  Never had I spoken to my mom like that. I'd always cringed at the idea of telling my mom what I really wanted, what I needed. Standing up to her both invigorated and terrified me.

  She opened her mouth, about to speak.

  I held up a hand. "I'm not done yet."

  My mother shut her mouth.

  Dad's lips slid into a closed-mouth smile. He winked at me.

  I rolled my shoulders back and forged ahead. "Mom, I know you love me. I know you're trying to look out for me, but you tend to forget I'm an adult now. I'm twenty-nine years old, and I can take care of myself. Please trust me to do that."

  She wasn't staring at me anymore in that mother-knows-best way. Instead, she looked down at her hands and sighed. "I worry about you, Mara. You're my only child."

  "Haven't I proved I can handle things on my own? You gave me an abandoned apartment buil
ding, and I made it a success. Doesn't that show I'm capable of running my own life?"

  Mom fiddled with the cuff of her shirt, tugging it out from under her jacket sleeve.

  Dad got up and hugged me. "Mara, I'm so proud of you."

  "For what?" I asked.

  "Everything. Standing up to your mother, turning the apartment complex into a real business, making your own decisions." He kissed my forehead. "You're a fine woman. And I already like Ollie Jackson more than I ever liked Nico."

  "Really?"

  "Yes. I never cared for Nico, actually." He rolled his eyes to indicate my mom. "I let your mother have her way most of the time, and she thought Nico was a catch. He acted like a decent guy, but something about him always bothered me. Maybe I should've spoken up about that. I'm sorry."

  "Not your fault. I'm the one who married him."

  I glanced at Ollie, maybe expecting him to look annoyed or disgusted or something, but he just smiled at me.

  Mom cleared her throat. "It's possible I've been wrong about a few things."

  "A few?" Dad said with a slight smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

  "Possibly more than a few." Mom slumped into the sofa. "What do you think we should do, Peter?"

  My father stared at my mother blankly for several seconds, then a broad smile broke across his face. "You know, Sher, I think that's the first time you've ever asked me that."

  "I always ask for your opinion."

  "No, I always give you my opinion. But then we do whatever you want." He settled onto the sofa again, taking Mom's hands in his. "I'm proud of you too. Mara's a grown woman, and we need to stop treating her like she can't do things herself. It's time we show her that we do trust her judgment."

  "How do you suggest we do that?"

  "It's simple." He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "We stay here with Mara for a while."

  "What?" Mom gaped at Dad like he'd suggested she sign up for a nude mud wrestling contest. "You expect me to stay here with all those...nude people?"

  "That's right. Maybe it'll be good for you to be exposed to a different way of life." Dad glanced at me. "It's sure been good for Mara."