Jon shuffled out into the hallway and power-walked toward the lobby with an increasing sense of urgency. He groaned when he saw the lines. The restrooms were blocked by a long line for the girls' room, which consisted of almost a dozen people stretching back and curling around to the side so as not to block the main hallway.
Jon's shrinking bladder was desperate for relief, so maybe he shouldn't be judged too harshly for what he said. He really didn't mean anything by it, but before he even knew it, he heard himself once again asking the world at large why women always had to go to the bathroom in herds.
A few of the women in line shot him various looks from annoyed to venomous, and Jon belatedly realized that he hadn't spoken softly enough. He cringed inwardly, wincing at making such an ass of himself. But when nature calls...
"Excuse me, ladies," he said in a much softer tone, being as polite as he could as he quickly approached the line and prepared to bow his way through.
All seemed well. The crowd parted to let him pass, allowing his access to the mens room and blessed relief...when his path was suddenly obstructed once again. Standing before that portal with her hands in her hips was a rather attractive, if harassed-looking, brunette who seemed to be in great shape, even for a woman in her mid to late thirties. Before he could say a word, her hands had left her hips and cupped his face, lifting his chin ever so slightly. Jon, later, thought it was remarkable that at that moment he realized she was a few inches taller than him.
Being kissed by a taller woman, and a nice-looking stranger at that, was a novel experience for Jon, and left him reeling.
The Liberal Arts major and mother of four let the obnoxious boy wheel away, once again thanking her lucky stars for that little trick that made them so much easier to control. She straitened her dress and smoothed an errant strand of her son's hair back behind his hair-clip. Maybe she would unground him tonight and and kiss him back to boyhood if he did the dishes without complaining, she thought to herself as Jon stumbled into the mens room at last.
