I had time to go home, unpack, and check the house before driving to the station to meet Maggie. As I was driving, I wondered why she had suddenly decided to return home from her weekend with Michael. If she knew yesterday that she was coming home today, she would have told me then.
I went through lots of possibilities in my head. I wondered whether she was coming home to tell me that she was leaving me. I concluded that she wouldn’t come all the way back after two days just to tell me that. Even if she had made that decision, why wouldn’t she spend more time with Michael? What would be the rush to tell me? I put that idea to one side.
I was worried that Maggie had been harmed in some way or got involved in something that made her feel scared. Was Michael really interested in keeping her safe or would he be prepared to expose her to danger? I guessed that she would have mentioned any serious physical harm, but what about emotional harm or other injuries?
I got a simple message around lunchtime confirming the train she was on and the time it would arrive. I replied with a quick message to confirm that I should be on the platform to meet her. Time seemed to move slowly as I thought of how Maggie might be when she came off the train.
I arrived at the station at the same time as the train and so as I got to the platform, I saw Maggie stepping down. She was wearing a different skirt and top combination from when I said goodbye to her a couple of days earlier. The skirt was longer and the top more conservative. Her hair still looked good. She was wearing less make-up and she wasn’t wearing the large hoop earrings.
I glanced briefly at her ankle. There was no tattoo, not that I expected one, but my dream was still in my mind. There was also no anklet, just the same high-heeled sandals she had been wearing before. I thought that she still had a confident look about her, but she wasn’t flaunting herself as she was when I left her. She was also very different from when I had last met her in the very early morning after her previous time with Michael. There were no obvious physical changes.
Maggie saw me and her face seemed to light up with a big smile. We met up and held each other’s arms and I kissed her cheek and she kissed mine. I waited a moment and then gave her a hug when it was clear she wasn’t going to initiate giving me one. I wanted to make sure I was positive and supportive and not show how nervous I was feeling. Being close to her, I noticed a couple of love bites where her neck met her shoulder. I decided not to mention them but it reminded me of what she would have been doing while she was away.
“How’s my hot wife?”
“I don’t feel like a hot wife today.”
“Well, you look very good, very lovely to me. A true hot wife.”
Maggie looked at me. “Miss me?”
“I really did, very often. Did you miss me?
“Since early this morning I’ve just wanted to be back with you. I will tell you more, but let’s go home. Thanks for coming to meet me. I’m sorry that I interrupted your time away.”
As ever, we were circling around what we both wanted to know. Obviously, something had changed, because it seemed that Maggie had not missed me before this morning. However, for now, I was happy that Maggie had come home and was happy to see me.
Maggie spoke quietly. “Please take me home.”
I took Maggie’s case and Maggie held my hand tightly as we walked to the car.
As I drove home, I again felt the contrast of the journey a couple of days earlier when Maggie had been excited by her journey. I was feeling a sense of sadness from her. Now Maggie was back and instead of feeling pleased, all I felt was worry about what had happened. However, I was determined to let Maggie tell me in her own time. I knew how easy it might be for us to argue, and then she would tell me less, or at least it would take longer for me to find out why she had come home so soon.
“Have you had a good couple of days?” Maggie’s question broke the silence in the car.
“I’ve had a good time.” I didn’t elaborate.
“I’m glad. I had some good times too.”
“And some not so good times?”
“I’ll explain, it’s all fine. I’m just a bit fragile, and very tired. I didn’t sleep much last night, and I didn’t manage to sleep very well on the train. But I’ll be okay. I want to tell you everything that happened. It might take a while. I’ve had the long train journey to process everything, but I’m still not sure how to describe it all.”
“Just tell me what happened, starting with when you arrived. I’ll be patient and you can take your time. I guess my story won’t take so long.”
“I’d like to hear it. I assume you’ve been with Elaine for all the time that I’ve been away. I know you were going to meet her to go walking. I thought you might do more than just walk and talk.”
I wanted to get the story of my time with Elaine out of the way so that we could focus on Maggie’s story.
I told Maggie how I had met up with Elaine at a small cottage in the countryside that she had rented for a few days. Maggie seemed keen to know what we had done, and when I described the hot tub where we had spent some of the afternoons and evenings, she admitted it sounded nice. She mentioned that I was never particularly keen on hot tubs, and we ended up discussing how we had both done different things with different people recently. Maybe our long marriage had sometimes meant that we had stopped trying new things.
Maggie asked me how many times Elaine and I had sex. I had to work it out but decided that five times was about right. As soon as I gave her the number, I realised it was actually seven times. I was trying to work out how to correct myself without appearing to rub it in when Maggie asked me if we had just had sex or whether we had made love. I suggested there might be a fine line between the two. She said that I would know the difference, that it was about how we both felt as we did it.
I said that it was intense, but it was just sex. I knew what Maggie was driving at and I was going to explain things when she asked me outright. “Does Elaine love you?”
“We were very close, but when I left this morning, she made it clear that we can’t meet again.”
“Why, what happened?”
“I got your message and said that I needed to go.” I explained how Elaine had said that she didn’t want to be a ‘part-time lover.’ “While I love you and you and I have each other, she doesn’t want to see me intimately anymore.”
Maggie considered this for a moment. “I understand how she must feel. She sounds very sensible and caring. I think I would like her.”
“I think you would like her. She’s special, but she’s not going to take your place and she doesn’t want to play second fiddle.”
“Are you very upset?”
“I think I would be more upset if I hadn’t been worried about you. It reminded me where my priorities lie.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry that I messed things up between you and Elaine.”
I smiled as I said, “Are you really?”
Maggie smiled as well as she answered. “No. I feared I could lose you to her, that you could fall in love with her all over again.”
“I don’t think I really knew what love meant when we were both students. We were young and immature. Right from the start, it was different with you.”
“Elaine does seem nice. I can see why she doesn’t want to be an extra. I really do think that we could have been friends.”
“Maybe I could introduce you to her. Maybe you’d get on. We could meet up for a meal and maybe we could all have some fun.” I didn’t expect Maggie to agree, but the thought did for a moment seem interesting.
“I don’t think so. I’m not going to share you with her for your amusement.”
“It was just a thought.”
We were getting close to home, and I wanted to be able to focus on Maggie’s story with as little interruption as possible. However, I couldn’t wait to start, so I asked her what happened when she first arrived.
Maggie said that Michael was waiting to meet her at the train station. He was very pleased to see her and was very complimentary about how she looked. He was particularly pleased to see she was wearing the anklet he gave her.
Maggie’s mention of the anklet reminded me of something. “You’re not wearing the anklet now.”
“I only said I would wear it on the trip. I’m home now.”
“When did you take it off?”
“I left it at Michael’s apartment.”
“Does that mean you’re going back again?”
“No, it means I haven’t got it anymore.”
“Why?”
“I’ll explain later.”
We were arriving home and once we were in the house, I made Maggie a cup of tea. I waited while she went to change into a pair of jeans and t-shirt, and we sat on the sofa together. There was a period of silence while she drank her tea, and I waited for her to restart her story.
I was keen to get as much detail as possible so that I could picture in my mind what Maggie had been doing. I knew the station at Manchester, and I wanted to visualise the meeting. Over the years, I had occasionally pointed out to Maggie that other couples often showed their affection and how much they missed each other by a display of embracing and hugging. We always tended to just have a quick kiss when we met at stations and airports.
Maggie had always said that it didn’t reflect any deficiency in our relationship, but just that we tended to be less demonstrative in public. I wondered how she was when she met up with Michael. I was desperate for her to tell me more, but I wanted to be as supportive as I could. I had so many questions, and the lack of the anklet intrigued me more. But I had to get the full story. I urged her to continue.
“Did you embrace at the station?”
“Michael did show how pleased he was to see me. Yes, we embraced. He was very enthusiastic, and it was a bit embarrassing.”
“Did you kiss?”
“Do you want me to describe every detail?”
“I just want to picture the scene.”
“He did make a bit of a scene. He took me in his arms and lifted me off my feet. We did kiss.”
“At least you didn’t know anyone.”
“No-one I knew well.”
I didn’t think anyone would know Maggie in Manchester. “What do you mean?”
“I had sat opposite a guy all the way. I think you saw that he helped me put my case in the overhead rack when I got on the train.”
“I remember him well; he seemed pleased to have your company. He seemed to have your attention as soon as you got on the train as well.”
“He was just a smooth salesman going to a conference. He had taken the train rather than drive to finish an important report, although he seemed easily distracted. He offered to buy me drinks on the way and asked me lots of questions. He had seen you say goodbye to me on the platform and asked me whether you were my husband. He said that he was hoping I’d be his travelling partner. I tried to talk about families, but he wanted to talk about me and where I was going looking like I was. He described me as ‘dressed to kill’.
“He was divorced and had a child that he rarely saw. I talked about our children and my job as a teacher. Although it was flattering to have someone flirt with me, I had tried to steer him away from asking me too much about why I was going to Manchester. He did say that it must be an important trip since I looked very good. I felt self-conscious, but he knew I was married, and it was fun to have someone to talk with. I hadn’t expected him to be with me right to the end of the journey. I only realised he was travelling so far when we were well into the journey.”
“When we arrived, he helped me with my case and was walking along the platform with me. I don’t think Michael realised that we had been talking. He just ran up to me and grabbed me and hugged me. Then gave me a big kiss. I didn’t have a chance to say anything. I just found myself in a rather embarrassing embrace.”
“So your companion from the train noticed?”
“He could hardly miss it; he insisted on wheeling my case along the platform for me. He stopped to wait for me a short distance away when Michael came up to me.”
“So what happened next?”
“When Michael put me down, I went and took my case from the guy. I thanked him. He just gave me a smile and said that I was a ‘dark horse’ and that I shouldn’t worry because he wouldn’t tell my husband.”
“I took the case and tried not to look too embarrassed, but I could feel myself getting very red in the face. I wanted to try and be more outgoing while I was away, so it was my first test. I gathered myself together and went back to Michael and we walked hand in hand out of the station.”
“The way you were dressed must have made the guy think that you were going to have sex with him. I can’t imagine how the Maggie I know dealt with that.”
“Actually, it felt strange but good. I’m not used to people looking at me, but I was getting used to it a little. I felt attractive and desirable.”
“Don’t I make you feel like that?”
“I know I am to you, but at that moment it felt like I was to others as well. There have been many others over the last forty-eight hours.”
I would have liked to see the scene that Maggie had described, but I could also feel my jealousy was rising. I realised that there was going to be much more to tell me about and so I did my very best to be calm and encouraging. “It sounds like an exciting welcome to the city. You were already acting like boyfriend and girlfriend.”
“It was so strange, but yes, that’s how we were, and I was looking forward to seeing Michael’s apartment.”
I was desperate to know everything, but I also wanted to have as much detail as I could get Maggie to tell me. “Did you go directly to the apartment?”
“We took a taxi from the station. It wasn’t far but we thought it best to drop off my case as soon as we could, and we could then have a drink before taking a look around the neighbourhood.”
I noticed how Maggie was already talking about them as “we”, but I didn’t say anything. Maggie continued her story.
“His place was on the third floor of a warehouse conversion. It had high ceilings, brick walls and was pretty stylish. However, the furniture was a real mix of stuff that Michael had from previous places or had borrowed when he moved in. In the large high rooms it seemed empty and not very homely.”
I knew that Maggie was more comfortable describing the apartment than what happened between her and Michael. I needed to push her to tell me more about what she knew I wanted to know. “What did you do next?”
“We got a little distracted.”
“I guess you had sex?”
“We did, and then we went out for a walk.”
“Hold on, you can’t just say you had sex. I need to know more.”
“I’ll never be able to go through the weekend in that much detail. I can’t remember every detail and it will take too long. I never asked you to go through every minute of your time with Elaine.”
“I don’t mind telling you more about what Elaine and I did if you want to know.”
“I would like to know more, and I’ll give you more details if you really want them. But it will take time, and there’s a couple of things I should let you know.”
I felt sick inside. I knew that there had to be much more, and I knew that some of it would hurt. I didn’t know what to say.
Maggie seemed to sense I was getting concerned. “It’s not too terrible, at least I don’t think that it is. Can I just quickly tell you the main things that happened? If I promise to tell you more at another time?”
It was sounding even worse to me. Maggie responded to my silence. “I’ll tell you more about the sex we had.
“It was quick sex. After looking around the apartment, Michael took me in his arms and we kissed passionately. Pressed against me, I could feel how hard Michael was. I reached down and squeezed his cock through his trousers then remarked about how glad he was to see me. He reached under my skirt and fingered me through my panties, which I could feel were getting wet. He said I was obviously very happy to see him also. I told him he got me started in the cab when he had his hand on my thigh and was trying to get his hand under my skirt. I was wondering if the cab driver noticed what was going on behind him.
“Michael picked me up by my thighs, wrapping my legs around him. As we kissed, he walked us to the bed and laid me down. He pulled up my skirt and removed my panties. He started to remove his pants when I asked him what he was doing. He replied he was going to give me what I wanted. I replied that he wasn’t getting what he wanted until he put on a condom. He reluctantly did as I asked. I think he was hoping to have sex bareback. I knew he was covered because when he came, I felt his cock twitching in my pussy several times. He filled the condom with his cum.
“After we finished and rested for several minutes, we got cleaned up, I put on fresh panties and we went out. Is that enough detail?”
Maggie’s voice had been cold and emotionless as she described the scene. I had got what I asked for, but I wasn’t sure it made me feel much better. Maggie and Michael couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Why couldn’t she be that way with me? “Are you going back to him soon?”
Maggie seemed surprised by my question. “No, I have no plans to go see Michael. Is that what you’re worried about?”
Maggie’s voice had softened. I wanted to be open with her.
“I don’t know what to expect. When I see you after you’ve spent time with Michael, it’s always a massive thing. I don’t know how you’ll be, or what you’ll have to tell me. I can’t help fearing the worst. I want to know everything, but I want to know it straight away. I know that’s impossible. Right now I’m just relieved that you’re not planning to go back to Michael.
Maggie reached out and took my hand. “So how do you want me to do this? What can I say that won’t make things worse for you? I know that some things I need to tell you might be difficult to hear, but remember that we agreed to do this, and you’ve been having your own fun while I was away.”
I wanted to help her tell me what really happened and how she had felt to be Michael’s girlfriend. Whilst I knew I would be torturing myself, I wanted to know her feelings for Michael. I had to be different if I wanted Maggie to tell me more and not become defensive. I breathed deeply and made a conscious effort to relax. Then I spoke calmly and carefully.
“I know I don’t make it easy for you to tell me what happened. I want you to let me know everything in your own words and in your own way. I’ll try and keep my questions to a minimum. I haven’t helped in the past by my reaction to what you have told me, even when I have asked you for more details. So, I am going to accept whatever you say. Please try and forget what I have said before. I promise not to hold anything you say against you. You can tell me anything and everything you want to. I just want to know the truth, however painful. I’m going to keep remembering how you have come back to me and told me that you still love me.”
“I told you after the last time I was with Michael that I want us to spend our fortieth wedding anniversary together; that I never want to be without you. That hasn’t changed. I’ve been thinking about everything that has happened in the last many months since that first evening when I kissed Simon. We married young, which I never expected when I was a teenager. My parents’ marriage always seemed to me happy but boring. I always thought I would be single for longer. I wanted to rebel against my mother’s conservatism. How she saw my father as ‘head of the household’; how she lived her life through him and his career.”
I had heard Maggie say this before. I knew that her relationship with her mother was a difficult one, and that Maggie was very different in outlook from her mother. I had often thought that Maggie’s previous hang-ups with her sexuality and with just being naked, came from the way her mother would never talk about such things. Maggie had more to say now.
“While I was at school, I dated a couple of boys I thought my mother would disapprove of. However, I didn’t even like them much and I didn’t do anything more than some kissing with them. When I went to University, I met up with a nice group, and got involved in going to church. I didn’t date much at all but enjoyed having close friends. I met you soon after I left University and fell in love with you. I wanted to be with you, but I knew that if we were going to live together, my mother would find it difficult if we weren’t married. I was happy to make that commitment to you. My mother liked you, and she was delighted that we married. Then the children came, and I loved being a mother, a teacher and your partner. I didn’t want to rebel.”
“Over recent months, I’ve started to realise that I missed out. I’ve never told you this, although you probably realised, you were the first man I had sex with.”
I didn’t know what to say. I thought this was probably the case, but we had never discussed it. When it came to sex, we had never discussed anything much until recently. I had never managed to get Maggie to open up. I feared it might be the fault line in an otherwise perfect marriage.
“So until recently I was the only guy you had sex with? And now you’ve had sex with another two, and realised you had missed out?”
Maggie was quiet for a moment. “It’s more than two, but I’ll come to that.”
Once again, I was shocked by Maggie’s words. I immediately needed to find out what she meant by this. I only knew of Simon and Michael. I managed to keep calm. I didn’t want to stop Maggie saying what she wanted to say. There was so much I wanted to ask, but I wanted to avoid challenging Maggie. I wanted to try and understand. “How long have you felt that you missed out by marrying me?”
“That’s the strange thing, which I’m trying to understand myself. I didn’t think that I had missed out until that first time with Simon. I had friends who were far more promiscuous. I read about these things, but I never thought of myself in this way. Now, all that has changed. I still want to be with you, you’re my rock and my soulmate. However, there’s another side to me that I never acknowledged. I know it’s late in the day for me, but maybe I just want to experience the things that other people do before they settle down and get married.”
I wondered if Maggie was telling me these things to avoid having to describe what happened in Manchester. Or whether she was working up to telling me that she had made some sort of decision about our future together. I tried to prompt her a little. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“I’ve had lots of time to think about this on the train home and at other times. I wanted to try and explain this to you, so you understand more about how I’ve been thinking when I tell you about the last couple of days.”
I was desperate to know more about what had happened to Maggie in Manchester. And why she seemed to be telling me that she had now had sex with more people than just the two I knew about. However, it was also good to hear Maggie talk about herself and give some more context to the events where she had changed so much.
I refilled Maggie’s tea and let her take her time. After a break to drink tea and gather her thoughts, Maggie continued to tell me what happened in Manchester.
Maggie described how Michael took her to look at some of the more interesting parts of Manchester and then to the area where he had grown up, including his old school. Later in the afternoon, they stopped for coffee at a small local café in a residential area on the edge of the city centre. While they were there, a mother and her daughter of about five or six years old came in. This was Michael’s sister, Tessa, and his niece, Mae. The little girl ran over to greet Michael and he picked her up and bounced her up and down on his lap. Michael and Mae clearly had a great bond.
It quickly became clear that the meeting had been arranged so that Michael could introduce Maggie to some of his family. This made me feel quite uncomfortable. Why would he want to do this, when Maggie was only making a one-off visit? How had Michael described Maggie to his sister – as a work friend, girlfriend, married lover?
I didn’t want to interrupt Maggie again but I had to understand this better. I asked Maggie the question. “Why did Michael want you to meet Tessa?”
“I’m not sure, but why not? Mae’s father was no longer around, and Michael was an important father figure for her. Michael and Tessa seemed close. They were both from a poor background. Their father was a bus driver and their mother worked in a shop. Both of them had done well. Tessa was a social worker. I think he was proud of her and how they had moved up in the world. I liked Tessa and she seemed to be doing a great job bringing up Mae. Her daughter was bright, curious and well behaved.”
I was determined not to rise to my own dark thoughts about how enthusiastic Maggie seemed to be for Michael and now his family too.
Maggie went on to describe how they chatted with Tessa and Mae for over an hour before they said goodbye. Mae wanted a hug from Michael’s “special friend” as she was described. Tessa had kissed Maggie goodbye. Maggie admitted that Tessa and Mae had seen her walk off with Michael holding his hand. Maggie pointed out what I had known that while they were in Manchester they would be like boyfriend and girlfriend. This reminded me that Maggie would have been wearing the anklet, and I wondered if that would have meant something to Tessa.
They had returned to Michael’s apartment and had spent some time discussing how the place could be improved by new fittings, some different furniture and different décor. They planned stores to visit around Manchester the next day. I knew this was the kind of activity Maggie would have enjoyed. She has a great eye for colour and is a good amateur interior designer.
Michael had booked an upmarket restaurant in the centre of the city for dinner, so they spent some time getting ready to go out, with a glass of wine to help them. They took a cab to the restaurant, which was in a converted church and was stunning. The service was very attentive right from when they arrived and were shown to a table in a corner that was very private.
The specialities were steaks. I knew that Maggie rarely ate any red meat and preferred vegetable dishes. I was surprised when Maggie told me that she had a fillet steak with a peppercorn sauce, which she found delicious. It was a further sign that when Maggie was with Michael, she seemed to be a different person to the woman I knew. It seemed strange that these details mattered to me, but they did, almost as much as learning about the sex she had.
After a long meal when they had talked and flirted, they had gone for a walk around the city and stopped for a drink at a stylish bar. They then headed back to Michael’s apartment. I knew what would happen next, and I thought I was prepared for it, but as Maggie described her evening with Michael and their return to his home, I was less excited and felt an ache in the pit of my stomach. I couldn’t believe how Maggie had changed so much and was describing how she was spending the night with her lover.
I asked Maggie if it was different from the other times with Michael. As Maggie recalled the night, she seemed to be in another world. It seemed to be a happy place.
“It was lovely because we knew we had all night. Before, there had been an urgency, but this time we would have no interruptions. We could take our time. Enjoy each moment. There was no rush, I guess it was more like we were two lovers in our own place.”
It hurt as Maggie told me this. She realised I had tensed up.
“Sorry, but you asked. I’m trying to be honest.” This reminded me of my promise to not get upset with what Maggie told me.
“It’s okay, sometimes I just need a bit of time to absorb what you’re telling me. It sounded like you were really making love like girlfriend and boyfriend.”
“It would have looked like that. It also felt like that. But you’re still my husband, and the man I love.”
I appreciated the reassurance. “Thank you. I shouldn’t be surprised, I didn’t really expect you to sleep in separate beds. This is what we knew would happen. I guess it was another night that you didn’t get much sleep.”
“Maybe it will surprise you, but we both did sleep well. We had lovely slow sex then slept together and woke up in the morning, when we did it some more. It was nice and calm.”
There was the now-familiar exquisite feeling of being incredibly turned on by what my wife described, yet at the same time, feeling a heavy pain inside. It sounded that I was closer than ever to losing my wife. She clearly had enjoyed the opportunity to be with Michael, and she was describing them as a couple. I couldn’t help asking. “Did he cum inside you?”
If Maggie was irritated by my question, she didn’t show it. “Actually, he didn’t. He was very careful. He used condoms when necessary.”
I wondered what this all meant, and why Maggie had used those particular words, but I didn’t want to interrupt her story. “In any case, you enjoyed spending the night with him.”
“I did. I got to know a different side to Michael. Less rough, gentler. He’s not as caring and as special as you, though.”
I appreciated that Maggie was continually trying to help me. I wasn’t sure how much she really meant it, but I wasn’t going to challenge her.
I asked her how long they stayed in bed the next morning. I was a little surprised when Maggie told me that they had not stayed in bed for a long time. They had decided to get to the stores as soon as possible so they had plenty of time to browse before the crowds got too big. They went out for breakfast, and then on to the many stores in the city centre.
“We went to furniture stores, home accessory stores, galleries and paint stores to find things that would go with Michael’s apartment. We had great fun checking things out and we even tried out beds in the store together.”
“I guess that many people saw you together.”
“Of course, but there was no one around who would know me. The assistant in the bed store said that we had to try out a range of beds to find the one that was best for both of us. He just accepted that we were a couple. We enjoyed it.”
“You were wearing your anklet throughout?”
“Yes, although I don’t think anyone took much notice. I was wearing slacks so it wasn’t on show particularly. It was a relaxed day. We had a light lunch in a canal-side pub. Afterwards, we decided to look at pictures in one of the art galleries and we shared the same taste in impressionist paintings. We ordered some prints which are being framed for the apartment.
“After we had seen as much as we wanted to for the apartment, we went to a couple of fashion shops at the end of the day because Michael wanted to buy me an outfit for going out in the evening. He told me that we were going to go clubbing.”
“I didn’t think that clubbing was your thing.”
“It’s not my normal thing, but why not? I was just pleased that we were going to do something a bit different and we were both looking forward to dancing. I wanted to let my hair down.”
Maggie’s enthusiasm unsettled me, and I wasn’t finding it easy to keep up my dispassionate façade. I felt like she was talking as if to a friend after a weekend away with her partner. However, I didn’t want to interrupt her flow.
“So what did you get to wear? Can you model it for me?”
Maggie’s enthusiasm seemed to wane a little. “I don’t have it anymore. I will explain.”
As Maggie’s story progressed, it became increasingly clear that I needed to get to the end of the story as quickly as possible if I was going to be able to make sense of it. Time was pressing on and Maggie was starting to look and sound tired again. “I was just interested in what you might have looked like.”
Maggie picked up her phone and flicked through some photographs until she found what she was looking for. She passed the phone to me. There was a photo of a mirror in a fitting room with Maggie holding her phone to take the picture. She was wearing a very short sleeveless electric blue dress that seemed to shimmer from sparkling sequins. It was tight on her body so that it looked like it would be difficult to wear a bra with it. It was not the sort of dress I could ever imagine Maggie choosing for herself. It was too short, too tight and too garish. “Did you choose that?”
“Michael chose it and said it would be good for dancing and would be right for where we were going.”
“I would never have imagined you going out dressed like that. If you danced wearing that dress, I imagine you couldn’t move much without the dress bunching up and your panties showing.”
Maggie gave a little giggle. “I think that’s why I had to buy matching panties.”
It seemed that Maggie accepted that her panties would be seen when she danced. This seemed incredible to me that my shy wife was prepared to go out and show off her body. “I have to see those panties too.”
“I don’t have them anymore, either.”
The date and time on the photograph reminded me that this was less than twenty-four hours ago. The picture was taken late yesterday afternoon. I had to stop myself from saying what I was thinking. It looked like Michael wanted to show off Maggie, but I also looked at the photograph and thought that Maggie looked hot. Although she was probably much older than the average clubber, her slim body could take wearing the dress. She could easily look ten years younger than she was. I was sorry I had not seen her dancing in it.
“So you bought the dress and panties?”
“And some different shoes, and a purse to match. I left them all back in Manchester.”
I had so many questions and I was feeling very churned up inside, but I wanted to get to the end of the story as quickly as possible. I knew that meant I could not keep interrupting. I had to just encourage Maggie to keep going. “Did you go back to the apartment after you bought the outfit?”
“We stopped off for a couple of glasses of prosecco at a champagne bar, which was nice. We decided to celebrate a successful day shopping. By the time we got home, it was time to start getting ready to go out.”
“You must have been tired.”
“I didn’t feel tired. Maybe it was the excitement. It all felt different, and I liked acting like I was a different person.”
I suggested a short break while I made sandwiches and some more tea. I didn’t want to stop for long, but I knew that we needed to have a break. When I returned with the food and drink, Maggie had dozed off on the sofa. It was obvious she was very tired, but I needed to know more. Clearly there was much more to tell. I put down the food and nudged Maggie. She awoke and smiled and thanked me for the sandwiches, and we both ate. It seemed to revive her a little.
I asked a little more about the events of yesterday. Something was on my mind. “Did Michael suggest that you get a tattoo?”
“That’s a strange question. What’s brought that on?”
“I just was wondering.”
Maggie thought for a moment. “Michael did point out a place which he said did the best tattoos. He had one on his arm done there and it was a nice small picture of a large bird in flight.”
“Did he suggest an ace of spades on your ankle?”
“No, he just asked me if I did get a tattoo, what I would have. I said that it would have to be very discreet, and it might be a bird taking off, to symbolise my new feeling of sexual freedom. But I did say I didn’t think I could ever have one. Why are you asking?”
I described my dream to Maggie, and how I had been humiliated in front of our family and friends as she had left me to go off with another black guy without any conversation with me. I told her of how excluded I had felt and how I was in despair.
Maggie smiled and moved closer to me on the sofa and put her hand on my leg. “I’ve done a few things that I know have upset you, and I’m sorry for that. But this is silly. I can’t be held responsible for what I do in your dreams.”
I liked the contact and affection which Maggie was showing. I played along a little more. “It did leave me hurt.”
“I haven’t got a tattoo and I haven’t gone off with another young guy for sex in front of our friends and family. But are you sure that you weren’t excited by the thought? It might be a deep fantasy for you.”
I feared the same too, and it had excited me, but I didn’t think I could cope with it in real life. So I denied I wanted it. “I just would appreciate a conversation before you get a tattoo and make yourself available to any passing black guy.”
Maggie gave my leg a squeeze. “I promise to let you know.”
Without further prompting, she continued with the story.
“When we got home, we started getting ready to go out later. We were going to meet up with a couple of Michael’s old friends for something to eat before going off to a club. I wanted plenty of time to get ready and look good.”
“You really like dressing up for Michael.”
“I do, but given the age difference between me and most of the people I expected to meet, I also needed more time to make sure I looked the part. I wanted to avoid too many people noticing that I was ten to fifteen years older.”
“You do look younger than you are. I don’t think Michael has ever seemed that concerned.”
Maggie turned and gave me a look that warned me that she didn’t want to have this type of conversation. I quickly realised I needed the conversation to move on. “I’m sure you can look great for any occasion. Just accept that I will always be jealous, but I’m not going to let it consume me. I just like to have the full picture. Did you get ready alone?”
“I spent some time sorting out the clothes I was going to wear, and then we had a shower.”
“Both of you?”
“The apartment has a big shower. There’s plenty of room for two.”
I tried to remember when Maggie and I had showered together. We hadn’t. Then again, I reminded myself that Elaine and I had enjoyed times in the hot tub together, and Maggie and I had never done that. It wasn’t rational, but it still hurt when Maggie told me these things, yet I had to know as much detail as possible.
“Did you have sex in the shower?”
“I was trying to wash my hair, and Michael offered to help.” Maggie gave another little giggle as she remembered what happened. “He didn’t help very much.”
After all Michael and Maggie had done together, I don’t know why showering together should be any surprise. I tried to visualise what it would have looked like. “How did you manage it?”
“We washed each other’s body very thoroughly. First Michael washed my body and then I washed his. By the time I finished washing him, he was very hard. He lifted me by my thighs and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He then reached down, took a hold of himself and entered me. I had my arms tight around his neck and we kissed passionately while we had sex in the shower.”
“Just like that?”
“If you want more details I’ll tell you, but remember you asked for it so don’t complain if you don’t like it. The truth was I was very turned on and ready for him.”
“What about the condom? Did he have a supply in the shower?”
“No, he didn’t have a condom.”
“But you said that he’d agreed to use one.” I was trying to stay calm following Maggie’s warning.
“When we were talking during the day, Michael told me that he’d had sex with one other person two times since coming up to Manchester. It’s someone he’s known for over a year. They are dating. They’ve always used protection. He asked me if he promised to pull out, whether he could just go bareback for a short while.”
“You believed him? You agreed?”
“I know you find it difficult, but I trusted Michael. I’m sorry, but I said he could, and he entered me bareback in the shower. It just felt natural and really good. I was with my lover in the shower. We were naked, my skin against his skin. This is how I wanted him inside me. He remarked about how tight I was.”
More than ever during Maggie’s story, I struggled not to express how upset I was and how I felt she was just letting Michael do whatever he wanted. I managed not to overreact, partly because of the slight feeling of jealousy, guilt and frustration. I had wanted Elaine to agree not to use a condom, but she wouldn’t. If she had, I knew I would have happily had bareback sex with her. There was no reason I should have trusted Elaine more than Maggie trusted Michael. Although, I did know how careful she was.
Maggie reached for my hand. “You wanted you to know the truth and you wanted to know the details. At this point in the evening, I was with Michael and wanted him inside me, it all seemed so natural. He didn’t cum inside me.”
“How can you be sure he withdrew in time?”
“Because before he came, I had him remove himself from inside me and let me down. I then knelt down in front of him and took him in my mouth. That’s where he initially finished, I took some of his cum in my mouth and swallowed. I then removed him from my mouth and stroked him while he finished shooting his cum on my face and boobs. Remember how he enjoyed cumming all over me the previous time we were together when I could not swallow all of his cum.”
I imagined the scene, and I couldn’t help feeling excited and Maggie noticed it too. Her enthusiasm for performing oral sex was a massive change. She had refused to do it for so many years and now she was taking Michael’s black cock and letting him shoot his sperm into her mouth and on her body.
I tried to make light of it. “I guess in the shower it’s easy to spit, wash your mouth and get cleaned up.”
“I swallowed all the cum he shot in my mouth and licked some of the cum on my boobs off my fingers. Michael enjoyed watching me do that. Then I rinsed my mouth in the shower and washed the remainder from my face and boobs. It just felt like the thing to do to please him.”
I felt I had learned enough. Perhaps too much. Maggie’s sexual journey had come so far, it seemed she was a different woman. The familiar conflicting emotions of gut-wrenching jealousy and overwhelming excitement engulfed me. Yet I had to learn more. Given what Maggie had described, she wasn’t ready to leave Michael and come home any time soon. Yet by the next morning, she was leaving and asking me to meet her at the station. I was desperate to know what happened later.
It was the end of the afternoon by the time we got to this point. We took a break to use the bathroom and I got myself a beer. Maggie wanted to avoid alcohol, and just had water. She said that she wasn’t hungry and was looking forward to an early night. I could see how tired she was, but I didn’t want to stop the story without knowing how yesterday evening had changed from the time in the shower when she had complete trust in Michael. It seemed that she was ready to stay with him for some time. From what she had said, I was worried that I might be losing her. However, I knew that around twelve hours after they had showered together and had unprotected sex, Maggie was messaging me to let me know that she was leaving to come home.
Maggie and I sat down and I laid out some snacks of nuts and fruit to keep us going. She didn’t need any further prompting. It seemed that she was as anxious to tell me what happened last night as I was to hear her story.
“I’m going to tell you about the evening, and I’m going to try and give you the details you want, if you just let me tell you without challenging me. The next bit is difficult for me. Please don’t judge me too harshly when I tell you what happened later yesterday evening.”
