Karonga, Malawi: Friday 20th October 2017
As I looked at Sue and Francis, so close and intimate after their passionate love-making, I knew I’d made the wrong call. I knew I’d let my addiction get the better of me. That I’d allowed Jenny to manipulate and suck me into a place where I’d forgotten all the painful lessons learned. Forgotten just how bad it had been with Brandon.
I picked up the phone and pressed the speed dial for Sue. I knew what I had to do. Whatever I’d said and done before, I had no choice.
I closed my eyes and played back Sue’s words to comfort myself. Sue had been the one who’d told me she never wanted to hurt me. And this was hurting more than I could bear. More than anyone could bear.
As Sue picked up I took a deep breath and prepared myself for a very difficult conversation.
“Hey, honey. I wasn’t expecting you till later. Isn’t it the middle of the night there?”
Briefly, I was disoriented by looking at the picture from Jenny’s camera at the same time I was speaking into my phone. Disoriented, but incredibly glad I’d not triggered some kind of feedback loop.
Trying to still my nerves I explained. “I needed to talk to you, Sue.”
“Now you’ve got me worried. That sounds serious, baby. Is everything alright there? Are you alright, Pete honey?”
As I listened to Sue’s words I saw Francis gesture to her that he wanted the phone. Sue looked a little confused, but shrugged her shoulders and handed the phone to him.
“Hey, buddy. Good to talk to you, man. How’s it going?”
I closed my eyes with a mix of frustration and exasperation. I wanted to get straight to it. To say what had to be said and move on. Not engage in social pleasantries. But with a deep sigh, I conformed.
“All good, thanks for asking Francis. What about you? How’s things?”
Francis paused. Both on the phone and on the screen. The pause seemed to go on forever and it felt like a giant fist was squeezing my intestines as I felt terrified at what Francis might be about to say. Something about him and Sue? Something about the two of them? About the future?
He put the phone on speaker and lay it on the bed between Sue and him, splitting his attention between the phone and Sue.
“Things aren’t great right now. That’s why I wanted to talk to you.” The alarm bells were in overdrive now, my nerves shot through.
“Talk to both of you,” he clarified, looking up at Sue. “Pete, I’ve not told either of you what I’m about to tell you. And I feel really bad about it, bearing in mind how unselfish and understanding you’ve been.”
If I’d been worried before, now I thought my life was ending as every cell in my body felt filled with adrenaline. This sounded for all the world like the start of a ‘Dear John’ speech. He’d always been up front about not being a sharer. Was he about to declare that he wasn’t content to share Sue? That he wanted her all to himself, and that she’d agreed.
On the screen, I saw Sue reach out to grasp and squeeze Francis’ hand, and in my advanced state of paranoia, I took this as confirmation that my fears were correct and my marriage was ending in front of my eyes.
“Guys, I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching these last few months. As you know, my Dad passed away a year ago and talking to my sister Kebe, my mum’s not in great shape. I’ve spoken to the hospital and starting on January 1st I’ll be taking a sabbatical to travel to Nigeria to look after my mum for the next few months. From what Kebe says, I’m not sure how long mum’s got left and I want to be there for her. To make her last months as peaceful and fulfilling as I can.”
I’m not proud to admit it, but the first thing I felt was a huge wave of relief roll over me. This was the big news, rather than a declaration that he wanted to take Sue from me. Then I felt guilt. Guilt about this relief. Followed finally by sadness and sympathy for Francis. I recalled how the passing of his dad in 2016 had really hit him. And now it looked like his mum only had a few months left.
All of my earlier thoughts about my own needs and fears disappeared at that moment. They still existed, but they were way back in a place that seemed a world away.
I saw Sue hold both of Francis’ hands as she looked lovingly into his handsome face. “Francis, we’re so sorry to hear your mum’s not well. Of course, you must go and take care of her. If there’s anything we can do to help, you must tell us.”
I saw a tender look come over Francis’ face as Sue’s words sunk in and he realized that she was there for him in this.
“That’s right, Francis. Sue’s right. Whatever we can do. You’re doing the right thing. One hundred percent. You need to be there for her, and for your sister.”
“Thanks, Pete. But part of me wishes we’d not started this whole thing up again. Not with me now going away. It’s not fair to you guys. Stop-start. Stop-start. I’m really sorry about it.”
I saw Sue again squeeze his hands. “Don’t be silly, Francis. We know it wasn’t deliberate. And, anyway, if Pete and I can put a little light and happiness into your life, then what kind of friends would we be if we didn’t take that opportunity?”
“Sue’s right.” I couldn’t really add anything meaningful to her words.
“Thanks, guys. You’ve no idea how much this means to me. You guys mean so much to me. It’s wonderful to know I’m not alone in this thing. The kids try their best, but they’re busy with their lives. You guys mean the world to me.”
With that, he leaned over and gave Sue a huge hug. A hug that seemed to go on forever, causing my earlier feelings of jealousy and anxiety to sneak back out from under the carpet.
As they finally pulled apart, Sue looked away from her lover to the phone.
“Pete, honey. You said that you needed to talk to me, and it’s the middle of the night there. Is everything okay? Are you okay?” I could hear the worry in her voice, mirrored by the look on her face.
For a split second, I considered saying what I’d been planning to say. That I couldn’t cope with their relationship anymore. That my fears and worries were swamping my enjoyment and that I wanted them to stop.
But I knew, after what Francis had just said, I couldn’t come out and say this. Not now. Not like this. Thinking on my feet I quickly made up a white lie to explain my call and put Sue’s mind at rest.
“It’s nothing really, Sue. I just couldn’t sleep. Work’s been driving me crazy here and I just wanted to talk to someone about it. But it can wait.”
“Are you sure, honey?”
“Yes, sweetheart. I’m sure.”
I was sure that it would have to wait for another day. After what Francis had said, there was no way I could say what I was going to say.
There was silence between us. Neither of us knowing what to say after the news Francis had just shared.
With a deep breath, I said goodnight. I told Francis again that we were there for him. And I told Sue that as I’d not slept well we should skip our planned call in around three hours time. But that we could talk around this time tomorrow night.
Sue was happy with this and we said our goodnights. At least we did on the phone. But as I put the phone down I looked at my laptop screen which was still showing the picture from their bedroom.
Francis and Sue were just looking at each other, and I wondered who’d be the first to speak. If anything, with Francis’ bombshell news, the emotions between them seemed more intense and poignant than before. They knew that in about ten weeks they’d be separated. Half a world apart, with an uncertain timeline until they’d see each other again.
Part of me felt it was wrong to still be watching them at a moment like this. Yes, Sue was my wife. But in some ways, this transcended that relationship. It was as if Francis’ news about family health and huge life changes trumped my rights as a husband to watch. I felt slightly awkward watching these two close friends, knowing the topic they were likely to start discussing. I also was afraid if Sue ever found out I’d been secretly watching that she’d be really upset with me.
My finger hovered over the ‘end call’ button. I wanted to watch and listen. A big part of me needed to know and hear what the lovers would say to each other in this emotion-charged situation. But decency won out and I pressed the button to end the call.
The call now ended, I suddenly felt very alone. The ticking of the old clock and the swoosh of the ceiling fan seemed to emphasize how far away from the hustle and bustle of New York I really was. Seemingly separated not just by hours or miles, but by decades or centuries. As I stared up at the rotating blades, my mind filled in the gaps. Imagining the conversations going on between Sue and Francis. Faces touched, eyes locked together. Words exchanged about how they’d miss each other. How they had to make the most of their time together for the next few weeks. Maybe Francis gently probing, wondering about leave taken and trips from New York to Lagos. Maybe Sue doing the suggesting.
I screwed my eyes shut as all these thoughts went around and around in my head, like some demonic carousel. Maybe it would have been better if I’d stayed listening in. The actual words I’d have heard and sights I’d have seen couldn’t have been worse than my imaginings.
Two hours I lay there trying to sleep. No dice. And as the clock reached five a.m. I decided I was going to feign sickness and take the day off. I needed sleep and I needed to do some serious thinking.
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Having emailed Joseph that I’d be staying in the hotel, I switched my laptop off and finally managed to sleep.
I awoke seven hours later. As I looked at my watch my first thought was that it was now five a.m. in New York. If I wanted I could speak to Sue in an hour or two. Realizing she’d still be with Francis, I decided against this. I really wanted her to be alone when we spoke.
After a very late breakfast, I decided to take a stroll around the hotel garden to help me gather my thoughts. The walk and a couple of good cigars did the trick.
I felt calm and resigned, rather than angry. But the truth is that the news Francis had shared with us had put a huge spanner in my plans. I’d been all set to apply an enormous brake to Sue and Francis’ budding relationship. Admitting to Sue the truth, that I couldn’t cope with watching the closeness and intimacy between the two of them.
But now if I did the same thing I’d feel like a small minded little shit! Francis was dealing with uprooting his whole life to go and take care of his dying mother. And now he’d be gone from our lives in a matter of weeks. In this situation, whatever my feelings, I had to think again.
As I walked around the garden, cigar in hand like some latter-day Churchill, I knew what I needed to do. I knew I needed to come clean with Sue about my feelings and then between the two of us, we’d agree what we were comfortable with. My own need to put a stop to their relationship had been knocked back by two big changes: Francis’ imminent departure to Nigeria; And just as powerful, my own need for self-respect. However much I was hurting, he was still a friend and I knew how much his relationship and closeness to Sue meant to him. Cutting him off from Sue while he struggled with these family problems would reduce my standing. In my own eyes, and quite possibly in the eyes of Sue as well.
Having resolved that Sue and I would discuss it together and agree on a way forward, I felt a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Heading back to my room I checked the time and did some mental sums. If I wanted to talk to Sue alone I needed to get hold of her before she headed off for another evening and night with Francis. This meant catching her immediately after she finished work at around five p.m., which was midnight my time. It was only just after lunch and so I still had around ten hours to kill.
I opened up my laptop to do a few hours work before dinner and a couple of beers, but I was barely five minutes into reading the first report when I heard a light knock on the door. The knock had the same lightness and sound as Grace’s had the other night. And I felt a little ashamed as I realized I was hoping it was her.
I opened the door and tried my best not to look too pleased when I saw who it was.
“Hi, Grace.”
Her sweet smile lit-up the room. “Hi, Mr. Jones. Just checking that everything’s okay. Lisa and I noticed you didn’t go to work today, so I just thought I’d pop in to check you’re okay.”
I felt my own mouth smile, subconsciously mirroring her smile, unable to help myself.
“I’m fine, thanks. It’s kind of you to come and check.”
“That’s okay. All part of the service,” she said with a girly sing-song to her voice, her arms pulled behind her back in a fair imitation of a shy young lady.
As she continued to smile at me, arms pulled back and breasts pushed out, I found myself having decidedly adult thoughts about this young lady. Never mind the near thirty year age gap.
“Well, if you’re all okay, is there anything else I can do for you?”
The way she said it had just the right level of ambiguity. Enough to give me a message. Not so much as to get her in trouble if an irate guest was to report her to the manager.
We stood just looking at each other for a moment. The previous night I’d quickly said ‘no thank you’. So I guess my silence encouraged her.
“We still offer that therapeutic massage I mentioned the other night, if you’re interested. It might help you get over whatever illness kept you off work today.”
Clever girl. She was giving me cover for saying yes. As I hesitated, she gently tried her best to nudge me over the edge.
“It will help your recovery. Help you feel better. Why don’t you go and get ready while I go and get the oils.”
She might have been a seemingly simple girl from a remote corner of Africa, but she could have taught many an Ivy-league MBA student a few things about sales techniques. As I heard her heels clip-clop down the corridor to get the oils, I knew she’d gone for the old ‘assumed sale’ technique. She’d be back in a few seconds with oils and towels and had now made it difficult and awkward for me to say no.
But of course, a big part of me wanted to say yes. I had no doubts she’d offer me ‘extra services’ at some point in the next hour or so. But I could turn these down and just enjoy a good massage.
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As Grace’s cool hands started smoothing the warm oil over my shoulders, I felt a wonderful feeling of peace and tranquility descend. Her hands might only have been small, but they felt strong as they worked back and forth over the knots in my shoulders.
As I lay face down, she started working the back of my neck and my back, and as she sensed that her skilled hands were helping me to relax, she started a conversation. She asked about my work and my home and family. It was all innocent enough until her hands were busy massaging my legs and the muscles in my ass.
She’d pulled the towel around my waist to one side and was working my left leg, her hand moving back and forth and sometimes ‘accidentally’ grazing against my manhood. As she carried on with this treatment, still chattering away, she changed the topic of conversation.
“So, is Mrs. Jones still entertaining her gentleman friend while you’re away?”
Hell, the way she said it made it sound like Sue was having afternoon tea and cucumber sandwiches with a gentleman caller. Like something out of an Agatha Christie or Sherlock Holmes novel.
‘Oh yes, dear Grace. Her and Francis sit and discuss the weather, the state of the roses in the garden and the latest goings on in the court circular.’
I jumped a little as I felt her tiny hand rubbing the top of my cock as she kneaded my upper thigh.
“Do you still enjoy watching them, Mr. Jones? While she takes his big black cock.”
I turned my head and looked at her. Her pretty face showed a mischievous smile. She was enjoying this game. Enjoying teasing me, and guessing it would make me excited so she had a better chance of selling me some ‘extra services.’
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” My tone was inquisitive, rather than angry and upset.
Her eyes twinkled as her smile increased. “It’s not a crime, is it?”
She might have looked sweet and innocent on the outside, but I was rapidly discovering how deceptive appearances can be. Grace might have been less than half my age and with far less education, but she was more than holding her own.
Smiling with an exaggerated sweetness, she moved up the bed and gently turned my head back so I was fully face down. Happy that I was now unable to see, she returned down the bed and started working on my legs and ass again.
After a few moments, with one sharp tug she pulled the towel off so I was now lying face down and butt naked. She giggled. “Your ass is so white,” and then she pulled my legs apart and returned to her work. The frequency which her hands accidentally touched or stroked my cock was increasing, and nature took it’s course as I felt myself hardening.
Still letting her hands maintain the fiction of an innocent therapeutic massage, her mouth was anything but innocent.
“I wonder if her black boyfriend’s fucking her right now?” “Maybe she’s screaming out his name as she comes on his big dick?” “Maybe she’s giving him a blowjob, swallowing his seed.”
All the time her hands continued to massage me, my cock now fully hard and desperate to feel Grace’s full touch, rather than the teasing she was using to win her goal.
She continued like this for five or ten minutes. Stimulating and tormenting me in equal measure. Physically and mentally. And then the words that always come.
“Mr. Jones, please turn over now. I’ll do your front.”
I turned, my cock springing free from under my body weight. Grace giggled. “Mr. Jones, you are pleased to see me?”
As Grace smiled at me I felt myself blushing. Knowing that Joel the chef had a cock much bigger than mine, I couldn’t help but wonder what Grace thought of my five inches. Were all the men around here as big as Joel? Common sense said no, but I worried that she thought me smaller than what she was used to.
Grace reached out and for the first time started stroking my cock properly. Her hand grasping me firmly and moving up and down with a slow effort, pulling my foreskin all the way back at the bottom of each downward stroke. All pretense of massage was finally gone, as she looked into my eyes and smiled as she worked my cock.
For the first time, I looked properly at her face. She was classically pretty. Everything symmetrical and well-proportioned. A playful smile complimenting a quiet confidence. Her long dark hair came down over her shoulders and was frizzy rather than straight. Her lips and nose were maybe a little thicker and flatter than if she’d been Caucasian. Even without make-up you’d have looked twice and remembered the face if you’d seen her somewhere. But she’d applied light lip gloss and a mix of light and dark pink eye shadow which really highlighted her kissable lips and those twinkling, mischievous eyes.
“You like what you see?” She’d caught me staring and now I felt embarrassed. I was lying on my back totally naked while she stroked my dick, yet it was being caught staring that was the thing that embarrassed me! Go figure.
“Sorry,” I stammered. “I was just looking at your face. Thinking how pretty you are.”
Grace’s smile changed from impish back to innocent. I think she knew men well enough to know I wasn’t the smooth, bullshit type. So she took my stammered words as what they were. A genuine compliment.
“Why, thank you, kind sir. You can come here more often.”
The words barely out of her mouth, she let go of my dick and in one smooth motion pulled her top up, over and off. Her top thrown to the floor, she pushed her shoulders back to show off her tits to best effect. They were pert and firm. A B-cup or maybe a small C. But what shocked me was that both of Grace’s nipples were pierced. She had thin silver-colored bars through both nipples, whilst a tentacle tattoo snaked from her back underneath her right breast. With the end of the tentacle pointing down to a pierced belly-button, which I guess was the most tame of Grace’s fashion accessories.
Grace could obviously see the shock on my face, and it seemed to amuse her.
“You thought I’d be some chaste twenty-two-year-old virgin? Out here in the middle of nowhere.”
She smiled as she waited for my answer. Seeing the playful naughty look on her face, just for a moment I wondered if this young African girl had some kind of mystical cosmic link back to Jenny in New York. They both seemed possessed of the same kind of mischief-making streak.
Not getting an answer from me, she quickly removed her small denim skirt and black panties, revealing a smooth mound with no piercings that I could see.
She twirled around to give me a good look, and then sat next to me on the bed and continued to stroke my cock up and down as she looked into my eyes.
In nearly thirty years of travel and more hotels than I can remember, I’d been propositioned by any number of girls who’d transformed a hotel massage into an offer of something altogether more personal. But I’m not sure any of them had been as forward as Grace. Knowing what she knew about Sue and my love life, I guess she thought this gave her a leg-up.
As a rule, I gently but firmly decline any such offers. Happy to wait until I got home to my beautiful wife. On the few occasions things had got out of hand and ended up with a ‘happy ending’, I’d been racked with guilt and confessed to Sue, who’d always been pretty laid back and relaxed about things.
Grace’s hand felt amazingly good as it worked up and down. I wanted nothing more than to lie back and enjoy the wonderful sensations she was giving me. And reach out to touch her soft and firm young body. To explore those pert little breasts of hers, so different to Sue’s enhanced 36Ds. To experiment with what Grace’s pierced nipples felt like, and find out how playing with the piercings would stimulate her.
But I really didn’t want to make the situation with Sue any more complicated. Heaven knows, I was entitled. Her ‘boyfriend’ (as Grace had called him) was fucking Sue five or six times a day. So I think I was entitled to a little harmless fun. But with an immense effort on my part, I gently removed Grace’s hand from my cock and pointed to my wedding band.
“I need to discuss it with Sue before we do anything.”
I’d thought she might be upset, but she smiled at me. She was ahead of me. “Okay, so maybe tomorrow, when Mrs. Jones has given you permission?”
I’d not said this, but I couldn’t deny it was at the back of my mind.
As Grace continued my massage, I felt like I was in Purgatory. Her lithe and caramel brown body was still naked as she moved around massaging various parts of my body. She was a cunning temptress. Always placing her tits, ass or pussy within touching distance. Always maneuvering her body into a position to display herself and provide maximum temptation. I must have been on the point of giving in and reaching for her body ten or twenty times. But somehow I just about managed to hold it together.
Truly, she had the spirit of a playful kitten. At the end of the massage, as she put her clothes back on she wasn’t angry or upset with me. She just gave me a naughty smile, confirming she saw this all as a big game.
As I bashfully held my towel around my waist, she stepped directly in front of me and gave me the softest of kisses on the lips. Her eyes twinkling, she gave me a second little kiss then pulled back.
“Say hi to Mrs. Peter when you speak to her. Tell her she’s a lucky woman to have such a faithful husband. And tell her that your African wife will be happy to stand in for her. To meet her husband’s needs. While she’s enjoying her black boyfriend.”
With that, Grace smiled, gave me a final kiss and left the room, clutching the ten dollar tip I’d given her.
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I was a shaking wreck as Grace’s heels headed back to the reception area. I had to quickly give myself hand relief before I changed my mind and called her back so that we could do all of the things that I desperately wanted to do to her young body.
Suitably relieved, I sat down and tried to pull myself together. I still had many hours to wait until I could call Sue. After what had happened with Grace, I knew there was no way I’d be able to concentrate on work so I opened up my kindle and lost myself in the latest Lee Child thriller I was reading.
Dinner. A couple of TVs. A couple of beers and some more Jack Reacher and it was finally time to call Sue.
As I dialed Sue’s phone, I felt like a nervous schoolboy. Sue and I had been married for more than twenty years. How come I felt so nervous?
“Pete? I thought you were going to ring later. Around eight o’clock. Is there something wrong?” The worry in her voice was the same as earlier, and it made me feel a little happy. It was good to know I wasn’t the only one with a bit of angst and fear.
“No, it’s okay, honey. It’s just I wanted to talk to you alone. Before you see Francis. Assuming that you planned to see him later …”
I left this last comment hanging in the air, keen to know if my supposition that Sue and Francis planned another evening and night together was correct.
There was silence from Sue. Her silence confirmed my suspicion about her evening plans and made me even more convinced that this was a conversation we really needed to have.
“Okay, it’s just me here. I’m in the nurses’ station. What was it you wanted to talk about, without Francis?”
There were no clever or elegant words to use, so I just came right out with it.
“Sue, honey. You told me you’d never want to do anything to hurt me. Well, I’m really sorry to have to say this, but I’m really struggling with you and Francis at the moment. Last night was just too damned hard for me, baby. I thought I was going out of my mind with pain and fear and worry.”
Sue said nothing. It was quiet on the line. She was thinking.
“Pete, honey. I’m so sorry that we hurt you, darling. Francis and I never meant to hurt you. We both love you and that’s the last thing we’d have ever wanted to do.”
There was a but coming. I could sense it. “But, I’m a bit confused. Two nights ago, you were all for it. You wanted to know all of the gory details. How many times? How good? How big? All of that stuff. And you gave me your blessing for me to stay over at Francis’ place. Provided I told you all the details again.”
“So, Pete honey, what changed? Why the sudden change of heart?”
My voice was full of raw emotion. I was nearly in tears. My mind was throwing up shadows from the previous night, and even as we discussed it I felt the aftershocks of pain.
“Sue, I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t bear to watch. You and Francis looked so close. So intimate. It was exciting, but I thought I was losing you to him.”
I could physically hear the penny dropping in Sue’s brain.
“’You couldn’t bear to watch.’ What do you mean you couldn’t bear to watch? Were you watching Francis and me last night?”
Sue’s voice was full of exasperation. I knew someone was going to get both barrels of Sue’s rare but fierce temper. I knew I had to choose my words incredibly careful. To make Jenny out as the villain and me the innocent victim.
“Jenny thought it might be fun to let me watch you and Francis in the lounge, and then later in the bedroom. Didn’t you notice her sneak her phone in when she gave you towels?”
I held my breath as I sensed Sue thinking at the other end.
“Sue, honey, I’m really sorry. But I need you to know how hard this thing is for me after last night. How much it hurt and worried me. After everything that happened with Brandon.”
I’d said my piece and now I couldn’t do anything except wait for Sue to process what I’d just told her and work out what she thought and felt. It felt like an eternity as I waited for her to speak. To pass judgment.
Eventually, she spoke. “Pete, honey. I’m so sorry. So very sorry that we hurt you. I hate that we did that. And I hate that Jenny’s up to her old tricks again. Just like when she set me up with that advert that Brandon answered. I’m going to kill her when I see her next.”
For the next hour or so, Sue and I discussed everything at great length. We discussed my feelings and worries, realizing how they were exaggerated and heightened by me having no time with Sue. Had I been in New York, Sue and I would have had the chance to re-connect after her dates with Francis. For me to feel and know Sue’s love, as an essential way of knowing how much she loved me and that I wasn’t losing her to Francis. But stuck here in Africa, I was denied this comfort and this was magnifying my fears to a ridiculous extent.
We talked about the bombshell of Francis going back to Nigeria after Christmas and how upset he was at the moment by the state of his mum’s health. And what this meant for the three-way relationship we had between me, Sue and Francis.
In the end, we agreed on two things. Firstly that as it was the weekend and neither of us was working, Sue would take a break from Francis for the weekend. To give Sue and me time together, even if it might only be a series of SKYPE calls. At least it would allow us to reconnect and for me to reassured of Sue’s love and commitment to me. And then we’d discuss how we felt and then agree what if anything would happen with Francis going forward. I felt reassured as Sue was adamant that if I had any doubts at all, then she’d want to end things with Francis. Even if he was going through a bad time at the moment. The second thing we agreed was that Sue would explain this all to Francis later this evening.
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When Sue and I finished our call, it was one a.m. local time and after all the emotional highs and lows I felt drained. Helped by this tiredness and feeling a lot happier about things, I slept well.
On Saturday and Sunday, Sue and I had many long chats over the internet. We talked about all kinds of stuff. It felt wonderful to re-connect with her properly. To spend time together and not feel that I was just an adjunct to her exciting new relationship with Francis.
In a strange way it felt a little like it had all those years ago when we were first courting and getting to know each other. There was something of the freshness and newness, as we rediscovered each other and our love after a week in which she’d been focused on another man. It felt good. Very good.
We discussed some normal family stuff. Sue was worried about Donovan’s new girlfriend, as she thought her too flighty and not suitable girlfriend material for her only child. We discussed this young lady at some length, and Sue promised to try and not make up her mind about Kate before she’d had a chance to get to know her better.
We discussed James, who’d still not found a new place to live. In Sue’s words, he was wandering around looking like a lost puppy whenever he saw Sue and Francis together. We even discussed Sean, who apparently was still frustrated that he’d not managed to find his way into Sue’s panties despite making a couple of passes at Sue during the last week,
Naturally enough we also talked about my feelings and emotions. Sue was keen to make sure we worked through all of this and that I didn’t have any unresolved issues. Once she was comfortable about this we talked about things between her and Francis. Sue confirmed what I’d seen on Thursday night. That they had grown closer over the course of the week.
I asked Sue point blank if she loved Francis. It was something I really needed to know.
At first, she teased me, asking me what answer I wanted her to give. Knowing full well many of my fantasies often involved the wife falling in love with their lover. Just a little. Enough to be exciting and dangerous. Not so much as she’d leave the husband.
When she’d finished teasing me, with a serious face Sue reassured me that no, she didn’t love Francis. At least, not like that. She looked into my eyes and told me straight that yes she had more than a little crush on him, and that she was close to him. But that she didn’t love him in the same way she loved me.
When inevitably we talked about Jenny, Sue had mellowed a little since her earlier threat that she was going to kill her friend for the stunt she’d pulled of secretly filming her and Francis and letting me watch. I knew she’d have it out with Jenny. But I also knew they went back a long way. My guess was that Jenny would get off with a last warning, to never do anything like that again.
Looking back, there were two other important things we discussed. We discussed what we’d learned over the last week about each others’ desires and needs.
Before now we’d only dipped our toe in the water in the two previous episodes we’d tried. We’d ended Sue’s first fling with Francis after a single weekend, worried that he was after a replacement for his late wife Heidi. And the thing with Brandon had been an unmitigated disaster almost immediately.
But as Sue and I talked, we realized that we were now a week into her new relationship with Francis and now that we’d ironed out some problems, it felt good. Sue opened up and admitted how much she was loving the sex with Francis and also the excitement and freshness of a new relationship with another man; an intelligent and handsome man who she had lots in common with and who she felt close to. And we realized as a couple that I enjoyed the excitement of this set-up. Provided that we kept things balanced. With plenty of time for Sue and me, to balance the considerable time she was spending with Francis.
These were important realizations for us to come to as a couple. It was as if, after two false starts, we were glimpsing through the mist a new lifestyle that we’d both enjoy and find fulfilling. Provided we took care, thought things through and communicated well.
The second important thing we discussed started off as a bit of a joke. It must have been during one of our SKYPE calls on Saturday that I told Sue about Grace. Sue had heard tales like this from a few of my earlier trips over the years. But when I described how Grace tempted me and how I just about managed to resist temptation, Sue saw the funny side. I think her exact words were something like: “Poor baby. Here’s your naughty wife being banged five or six times a day by her African boyfriend. And you’re sweet enough to turn down even one little hand job.”
Put like this, I had to agree it was pretty funny. When I went on to describe the shock I’d got when Grace had revealed her pierced nipples and tentacle tattoo, Sue was in stitches of laughter.
I know that this must have happened on one of the calls on Saturday because of what happened on Sunday. Sue and I had been chatting for maybe half an hour when I heard a gentle knock at the door. By now I recognized this as Grace’s signature knock. Sue saw my reaction and before I knew what was happening she’d instructed me to let Grace in as she wanted a chat with her.
No sooner was Grace in the room, than I found myself being dismissed by Sue. She told me to make myself scarce for ten minutes as she wanted to talk to Grace. I tried to argue, but I knew that look and decided I’d better do what Sue asked.
I took myself around the garden for the specified ten minutes, enjoying a cigar as I wondered what they were discussing. When I came back into the room I was greeted by a truly surreal sight. As soon as I entered the bedroom I could see that Grace had taken her top off and was holding her pert breasts out and thrusting them at the little camera in my laptop.
As I got closer to the laptop I saw a mirrored but different image. My wife Sue, eight thousand miles away in New York was also topless, cupping her considerably larger breasts towards the camera and thrusting them at the screen.
As I looked at my beaming wife, Grace turned to me. “Mr. Pete, if I look after you like your wife wants, will you buy me some tits like that? They’re wonderful. So big.”
I’d hardly had a chance to recover from my shock than I was having to listen to the voice of her partner in crime.
“And honey, I was just thinking how cute Grace’s piercings look. Do you think we could get something like that for me? Maybe an early Christmas present?”
Seeing my beetroot red face, the two girls burst out laughing, happy with their conspiracy to embarrass me. The laughter slowly died down and the girls both put their tops on. After a little more chat between the two of them, Grace left the room and Sue told me she thought that Grace was a lovely young woman.
Then she dropped her bombshell. That if I liked, she was happy for Sue to be my “African wife” for the next couple of weeks.
“After all, honey, as you’ve let me play with my ‘African husband’ this last week, it only seems fair!”
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The last call Sue and I had that weekend was around five p.m., her time on Sunday, midnight my time in Malawi. And inevitably the topic that came up was how things would go with her and Francis during the next week.
After I’d told Sue how much watching them had hurt me, we’d agreed to make the weekend a “Francis free zone.” So that Sue and I could have the quality time together we needed. But the weekend was now over.
It was late and it was pretty much the last part of an hour-long conversation when Sue brought it up. She said that she’d go along with whatever I was happy with. But that she had a suggestion.
She reassured me that she wasn’t after anything more than permission for what to do on Monday night. And then we’d talk afterward. She then suggested that they’d like to do a video show for me on Monday night. Only this time it wouldn’t be secret like Jenny’s misdemeanor had been. It would be out in the open. When I pressed Sue on where the idea had come from, she admitted it had been Jenny’s idea. Apparently, it was Jenny’s way of saying sorry to me, as she thought it might ease my loneliness.
When Sue had let this sink in, she added one final twist. She wanted ‘my African wife’ to be there with me to keep me company and watch.
There was something in the way that Sue had said ‘they’, with a glint in her eye, which made me really wonder what she was planning.
Sue insisted that she didn’t want an answer from me now and that I should text her in the morning when I’d have a chance to think about it. And that if I had any doubts, I should text ‘No.’
We said our goodnights and exchanged our sweet ‘I love yous’ and then I settled down for a restless two hours trying to make up my mind what I’d tell Sue in the morning.
Yes, No. Or maybe there was some third way.
