There was plenty for me to think about after the weekend of the rugby tournament. Maggie had, once again, had sex with Simon. Then again, I had sex twice with Kat without a condom, something which I would never have dreamed could happen just a few weeks ago. I hadn’t told Maggie about this yet, although I had promised Kat that I would.
Maggie and I had, at last, spoken more openly about how she felt about what she had done, and she had even arranged for me to spend extra time with Kat. We had discussed the possibility of her having fun with other men. She seemed attracted by the idea, and was also keen that I shouldn’t miss out.
I was still conflicted. In the following days, there were moments when I felt almost paralysed by jealousy. Why couldn’t Maggie do new things with me, so that we could explore them together? At other times, I was excited thinking of what my sweet lovely wife might do with other men. I worried for our relationship, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about Maggie being intimate with other men, occasionally even with lots of men!
As ever, the working week took over, and Maggie became consumed with lesson preparation and marking when she wasn’t working late at school. I wasn’t travelling much so I took over preparing evening meals, and whilst I wanted to share my thoughts, the moment never came and I feared something might be said that could end up hurting Maggie, me or our marriage.
Maggie had been particularly busy mentoring a new trainee teacher. The school had taken part in a scheme which encouraged those leaving the armed services to become teachers by offering fast-track training with lower entry requirements. Maggie had been critical of the scheme, since she wasn’t convinced that being a soldier meant being able to teach any better than anyone else. She didn’t think that they should be able to avoid going through the same entry qualifications and full graduate training required of other teachers.
However, her ambitious headteacher wanted the extra funding and potential prestige taking ex-service personnel would bring to the school. Maggie was allocated as the mentor to Michael, who had been with the Royal Marines for around ten years. Maggie wasn’t delighted but agreed to help. She was always helpful and good natured so I knew that she was a sitting target for these new initiatives, which is why she always seemed to be working so hard.
Maggie quickly found that Michael was not what she had expected. He had left the Marines after some sort of trauma which took place while in action in Afghanistan. He had no sense of entitlement, and was keen to learn from Maggie and to inspire children to learn. He particularly wanted to explore ways to help less confident children and those with special needs to use exercise and sport to learn to achieve more when working as part of a team.
Maggie involved him in after-school clubs and they worked on new schemes which helped children learn core skills such as numeracy through physical education. Word got around about their work, and a charity that had given Michael practical support with his stress disorder as he moved into his new career nominated him for a national inspirational teacher award. The judges were due to visit the school and this meant extra preparation work for Maggie and Michael.
As Friday came, I was thinking of ways to get some time to talk things through further about what we might do in future weeks, and what role Simon and Kat might play. I also wanted to talk through my conversation with Debbie at the rugby event. Maggie arrived home late, tired but excited to share some news.
Following the visit by the award judges, Michael and his partner had been invited to the awards ceremony at a prestigious upscale hotel on London’s Park Lane, along with a representative of the school with their partner Maggie’s Headteacher would usually attend these events but because of the short notice, she wasn’t free, and her deputy had thought it would be more appropriate if Maggie attended as Michael’s mentor and co-worker on the new schemes for children.
It was on a Friday evening in a couple of weeks time. The invite included a black-tie dinner and a champagne reception. The charity sponsoring Michael was going to pay for him to have a room at the hotel, and the school governors had offered to pay for a cheaper London hotel room for Maggie and me so that we could both stay over.
I suggested that as a member of the hotel group’s loyalty scheme, I had enough loyalty points to secure a room at the same hotel as the ceremony, which would be nicer and save the school budget. I guessed the rooms could become booked up quickly with the large event taking place and so I booked a room online while Maggie went to change out of her working clothes before we had dinner. It would be a great opportunity and acknowledgement of Maggie’s hard work.
That evening, we enjoyed a simple fresh pasta dinner and shared a bottle of wine as Maggie described how everyone in the staffroom had been pleased for her and Michael. She also said that a couple of her female colleagues had said that they were envious that she got to dress up and spend the evening with Michael. It appeared that the ex-marine teacher had caused a bit of a stir.
I said that it sounded like it was just as well that I would be there to chaperone Maggie, or who knew what she might get up to? I was joking, but Maggie didn’t laugh.
Maggie hesitated. It was clear that she had something on her mind. I was curious as the atmosphere seemed to get a little tense.
“What?” I asked. “Don’t you want me to come with you?”
“Well, I wanted us to talk about that,” Maggie replied.
I felt warning bells ringing in my head.
“You’re not thinking of taking Simon with you, after all you said at the weekend?”
“God, no! I meant what I said about him. The thing is, Michael told me that he doesn’t have a partner at the moment. He doesn’t know anyone locally who would go with him, and his family lives hundreds of miles away.”
“From what you said, wouldn’t someone from school go with him?”
“We’ll only have two rooms, and I don’t think that anyone is going to admit that they would share with him.”
“What are you suggesting?”
“I wondered if you would mind if Michael and I go to the dinner. Alone.”
“As a couple?”
“Well, not exactly. We’d go as colleagues. But I don’t want Michael to feel like a spare part. It’s his night really.”
“Do you mean, ‘his evening’?”
Maggie seemed flustered.
“Yes. Of course. But it might be quite late.”
“You will have separate rooms though.”
I felt the need to clarify what I was being told.
“Of course.”
“So how are you imagining the evening going? What are you and Michael planning?”
“I’ve not discussed this with Michael. It’s just an idea I have at the moment. Michael and I work really well together and we both have a really good understanding of how to motivate the children. I admit that it might be fun to spend an evening with a much younger, rather well built, handsome and very fit man, but I’m sure that Michael wouldn’t have any thoughts of anything more happening. We don’t have that sort of relationship.”
I wasn’t so sure. If he was a red-blooded heterosexual male, and if Maggie was dressed to impress she would be bound to get his full attention. She never realised how good she looked. I was frustrated that Maggie wanted to go up to London without me. Although, I was also getting a little excited about what she was saying. I just wasn’t sure I was ready to admit it.
“So he’s handsome. Do you find him attractive?”
Maggie blushed, which answered the question.
“How far do you want this to go?” I asked, as Maggie refused to look me in the eye.
“I told you, I haven’t thought it through. After our conversation last week, I thought about a further adventure. I don’t want to go nearly as far as I have with Simon. But if I was going to have a little bit more fun with someone else, Michael would be a good candidate. For one thing, I could never fall in love with him, I know that. He’s no match for you.”
I thought that Maggie was softening me up for something. She continued.
“If I was going to spread my wings once more, maybe flirting and maybe a tiny bit more, he would be different from Simon. He always seems very sensitive and caring, so I trust him not to go too far. I’m sure nothing much would happen, but the buzz it would give me… well, it makes me excited even just to think about it. But I would only go if you agreed and I wouldn’t do anything that you didn’t agree with. From now on, we must be open with each other.”
I still was harbouring guilt that I hadn’t told Maggie about the unprotected sex I had with Kat. I also felt a little pressured, since I was sure that it was only a matter of time before Kat would mention it when they were socialising together. I had, after all, told Kat that I would tell Maggie everything.
“Paul, say something. I’m trying to be honest with you here.”
Maggie’s words brought me back to what she was saying.
“I’m trying to digest what you’ve just said. It’s a lot to take in.”
Maggie topped up my wine.
“I love you, Paul. I realise that this means you might want to have your own evening out with someone. Maybe Kat? I could try and set that up for you.”
“I’m still working through last weekend. I guess I might want to, but I don’t feel ready to make any plans just yet. You seem to be a much faster worker than me.”
“Are you cross with me? I won’t go on my own if you don’t want me to. You could come, although you’ve always tried to avoid events with lots of teachers.”
Maggie smiled. And I smiled back.
“Give me a day or so to work this through. By the time you go back to school on Monday, I’ll have worked out how I feel. I’m not angry with you, and I appreciate you talking it through with me first. It’s just a bit of a shock.”
“I understand. I won’t mention it again until you’re ready to talk about it. Let’s have a nice evening.”
We did have a nice evening. We finished the wine, sat together on the sofa and watched TV for a short while until going to bed where Maggie took the initiative. She even made her intentions clear by putting out the condoms in my nightstand. That was a first. She also came to bed naked and stayed naked all night. I did like this new side to my previously reserved wife. It might not sound much to most long-married couples but it was still quite new to us.
Although I really enjoyed the new interest in sex that Maggie had found, I knew that this was because of the times she had spent with Simon. Whenever I was awake in the night and all through during the following day, I kept thinking of how she had gone out with Simon to that first rugby dinner, dressed to impress. How she had come back in Simon’s arms. How they then had gone from making out on the sofa to a whole night of sex. I had been filled with jealousy, but it had also become part of the most exciting time of my life.
Despite this, Maggie had not wavered in her love for me. Would that always be the case? I had not stopped loving her, but I had felt a surge of affection for Kat as we had made love. Was that what we did? Made love? Could we stretch things too far and destroy our marriage? Did I trust Maggie not to feel strongly about someone else she was intimate with?
My mind was in a spin. I knew that Maggie found telling lies difficult and I was sure that she had told me everything. However, I couldn’t be sure that more wouldn’t happen if she had a few drinks and she got close to Michael during the evening. They would be staying at the same hotel. If he wanted to go further with her, would she be able to resist? Deep down inside me, I wondered if I would want her to resist if the opportunity arose.
I was trying to be logical. I wanted to think things through. However, my mind wasn’t logical. The powers of jealousy and excitement were battling in my head. I was curious to know what Maggie might do if I agreed that she could do whatever she wanted with Michael. I did consider whether I could go to the hotel and wait for her in our room. I dismissed this, since it would mean that Maggie would feel pressured to get back to me, and it might put too many constraints on the evening.
I was continually thinking of what exactly I might say, but one thing was becoming clear. I was going to agree Maggie should go alone to London for the awards dinner with Michael.
On Sunday evening, I brought Maggie a cup of coffee as she was preparing lessons for the week. She stopped and gave me a kiss. I sat down by her. I told her that I wanted her to go to London and have a lovely evening with Michael. My only condition was that she told me everything. I didn’t want her to go too far with Michael this time, but she should make it a special evening for him. Maybe they could hold hands and act as if they were a couple. I would stay up so that she could give me a full update when she got back to her hotel room.
Maggie gave me a hug.
“This in no way will change the fact that I love you and want to stay with you forever,” she said. “As long as we have no secrets. I’m seeing Kat after work tomorrow and I’m sure she’ll be pleased for both of us. Are you sure that you don’t want me to see if there’s any chance of you both getting together when I’m in London?”
I hardly heard her question. I was more worried that Kat would mention our unprotected sex episode, and I was far from certain that Maggie would be cool with that. Especially if Kat told her before I did.
“I think we should concentrate on your night for now. If all that you’re going to do is some flirting over dinner, you don’t have to organise for me to have sex as compensation.”
“I know, but I’ve still had more time with Simon than you’ve had with Kat. But, if you’re sure that you don’t mind, and you can be happy at home on your own, it’s one less thing for me to think about. After all, I have a feeling that you were far more into Kat than I was into Simon!”
I felt that was my cue.
“We did kind of get carried away more than we should have.”
“I told you, it’s fine. You know I’ve done more than I should have with Simon.”
“Did Simon always have a condom on when you had sex with him?”
“Of course. I mean, I guess so. I didn’t constantly check but he knew from the beginning that I wasn’t on the pill and I trust him at least that much. So yes, I’m sure enough. Why do you ask?”
“Because when I said that Kat and I got carried away, we didn’t always use a condom.”
Maggie stopped looking at me, and I felt the tension as she digested what I had told her. I didn’t know what to say to reassure her.
“We both agreed that it must never happen again,” I said.
“Did you enjoy it?” Maggie sounded a lot less relaxed now.
“We didn’t intend to. It just sort of happened.”
“I get that. But you obviously realised what you were doing. Did you enjoy it?”
I realised that Maggie wasn’t going to let me move on from this.
“Yes, I think we both enjoyed it.”
“Did you finish inside her?”
I found myself thinking about the strange way that Maggie had described cumming inside, but she hardly ever used crude language. I admitted that I had.
“How many times?”
That was a question I wasn’t expecting and didn’t want to answer. But we had an agreement to be open, and if I didn’t tell the truth, there was always the danger that Kat would tell her.
“A couple of times.”
“You did it twice? Wow, so it wasn’t a single moment of impulsiveness.”
“I should have told you earlier.”
“You should have, after all, we have been saying about how we must always be open with each other. Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
“I think you know everything now. I’m sorry not to have been more open straight away.”
I realised that trying to make any excuses could make things worse.
“Is it really so much better without a condom?”
“It’s more intimate, so a bit more special. But it doesn’t affect that I love you and would never want to leave you or be with Kat. It won’t happen again. Nothing will take place without you and I talking in advance.”
“I’ve still got quite a bit of work to do tonight. I need to get on.”
I was dismissed. I wasn’t sure what had upset Maggie the most. Was it that I hadn’t told her something that was clearly important, or was it that I had taken a risk with our health; or was it that I had done something with Kat that Maggie and I hadn’t done together for a long time.
We didn’t talk again. I had to go to bed earlier than Maggie so that I could leave well before dawn for a meeting over a hundred miles away. After I left the following morning, I sent a message to her phone saying, “Have a good day, I’ll call later. I love you.”
I got away from my day’s meetings as early as I could and tried to call her mobile to let her know that I wouldn’t be back too late. I had to leave a message, but that wasn’t unusual when she was at school.
I got a message back to say that she and Kat were meeting at a bar in town, and she would be later than usual. I was desperate to see how she was feeling after the tense end to the conversation the evening before.
When she did get home, I had prepared the evening meal. Maggie seemed fine. She had enjoyed an early evening drink with Kat, which was unusual for a school night. Normally it would have been a quick coffee. She said that talking to Kat had helped and she was happy to move on. Maggie also told me that Michael was pleased to have Maggie as his partner for the awards dinner, and at least a couple of other female teachers had told Maggie that they were jealous of her.
It seemed that although the dinner was still a couple of weeks away, there was a buzz around the staffroom and a demand that Maggie and Michael share pictures. Maggie was enjoying the attention, which was so unlike her past self. It really seemed to boost her self-esteem.
I wondered what Maggie and Kat had discussed and what had made Maggie move on, but I decided that I had to trust her as I wanted her to trust me. If there was anything else she needed to tell me, I’m sure she would. The only thing I did learn was that Maggie and Kat were going to do a little late evening clothes shopping on Friday to make sure that she had what she needed for the awards dinner.
On Friday evening, Maggie came back with Kat after the shopping trip and from the number of bags, it seemed to be a success. It seemed that Maggie had gone to some shops that Kat recommended and that she had never been to before.
They were both in a good mood and so I poured out some wine and asked if I was going to get a fashion show. Maggie said that she had decided that I wasn’t going to see her evening dress until she was wearing it on the following Friday in London.
I was surprised, but she was adamant.
“It’s your penance for not telling me everything when you should have.”
I looked at Kat.
“Did you put her up to this?”
Maggie replied.
“It was my idea,” Kat agreed.
The two women toasted each other.
“Am I in the doghouse?”
“No, but I don’t think it will do any harm for you to realise that we are both going to have to accept changes in how we do things if we want to make the most of our new activities.” Maggie seemed more determined than ever to assert herself.
“If, after next Friday, you want to go back to how we were before, that’s fine. And if you want to propose any new rules, that’s fine too. But I think I’m owed a little fun after you and Kat acted like two inexperienced teenagers.”
“That is true,” admitted Kat. “We were bad, so are you going to send us both upstairs in disgrace?”
“Absolutely not, I couldn’t trust you both to behave up there,” Maggie said, using her best teacher tone of voice, but she was smiling. I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere.
Kat wanted to know what the plans were for the dinner. Maggie explained that the school had agreed for Michael and Maggie to have the Friday afternoon off so that they could get up to London in good time and be able to enjoy the reception and the dinner before the awards ceremony.
Maggie and Michael had agreed to share photographs of the event on a WhatsApp group which was being set up by another teacher for the occasion. It would only be shared with teachers, and close friends and family to avoid any pupils and parents seeing it. Maggie said that if we were good, both Kat and I could join the group. And if I didn’t complain anymore, she would also send me a picture of her in her new dress before anyone else saw it.
I promised I would be good.
Maggie and I had a good weekend doing stuff together. Despite being tempted, I resisted looking at her purchases. I wanted to enter into the spirit of our agreement and respect how Maggie wanted to handle things. I felt this approach would put me in the best position if I did feel uncomfortable about anything, and then she would respect any requests I made.
All too quickly, Friday arrived. I knew that when I got home from work, Maggie would already be in London. The house seemed particularly empty. However, I found that Maggie had left me a present of a new shirt and pants, and some silk boxer shorts. I don’t think she had ever bought me underwear and certainly not something like this.
She had left a card with the clothes, saying that she loved me, and that we could go out on Saturday evening together and she would be looking forward to a night together as lovers. I loved how more open my wife had become.
I put a ready meal in the microwave, and opened a beer as I considered what I should do to keep myself from over-thinking what might be happening in London. Despite what I had said, I was missing Maggie and feeling increasingly jealous. I didn’t intend to regret what I had agreed. I really didn’t.
I had taken a single sip of beer when my phone went notifying me of a picture message to me from Maggie. There were two pictures. One was of a large luxurious hotel bedroom with a massive king sized bed. The other was a view from a window which I recognised as Hyde Park in London taken from high up with a red sky and a spectacular sunset. It was a good picture. There was a comment saying. “My room and its view, upgraded because of your loyalty with the hotel group. Thank you. XX”
I sent back my comment: “Looks great, I wish I was there to see it. How are you?”
I short while later I received another picture from Maggie.
I opened it and almost gasped.
Maggie had taken a picture of herself in the mirror. She was wearing a deep blue silky long dress. It seemed to cling to her body. She had carefully applied make-up which made her look even younger than she normally did. Her hair was up in a type of bun with ringlets hanging down. She had clearly been to the hairdresser.
She was wearing the same silver jewellery that she had worn with Simon for the rugby dinner. This included the silver necklace with a cross which pointed down between her breasts. The dress had a curved deep neckline revealing the swell of her breasts and the valley between them. When she had worn the simple black dress with Simon, she had curves, but this time they seemed more accentuated and certainly more eye-catching. I wondered what Maggie was wearing underneath the dress, since she normally never had much cleavage.
There was a one-word message: “Like?”
My hand shook as I typed out my reply.
“I love it. You look wonderful. The top seems a little revealing, it will certainly get attention. I assume that’s the plan?”
A reply appeared shortly after.
“Kat and I loved the dress, but it only worked with different underwear. Would you like to see what I’m wearing underneath?”
My wife was teasing me. I replied quickly.
“I’d love to see. Please?”
The wait seemed to go on for many minutes but it was probably only a few seconds. Another picture came through. It was another full-length picture of Maggie in the mirror, only this time she was wearing only lingerie.
Maggie was normally painfully shy but she struck a confident pose in her very brief new lingerie. It was deep blue to match her dress. However, my eyes were immediately drawn to her breasts encased within a platform bra. Only this was just a quarter cup bra and it squeezed her breasts upwards. The quarter cups that pushed her breasts up were edged with sheer lace.
I zoomed in on so that her the bra filled the screen. Her nipples were clearly visible hardly covered by the lace. They seemed more on display than if she were naked. They seemed to be erect and poking through the lace.
I felt myself getting hard as I studied the picture. I kept it zoomed in as I moved the picture down her flat stomach to the matching bikini briefs. They appeared to be very sheer yet I couldn’t be sure because I couldn’t see any pubic hair. I zoomed in as much as I could so that the picture was slightly fuzzy.
I could see what appeared to be her bare pussy which confirmed that Maggie must have shaved her pubic hair. Years ago, I had persuaded her to it, just once. She tried it but said that she didn’t feel right. Although I loved the effect, she let it grow back and only kept it trimmed and shaped for wearing a swimsuit in the summer.
Maggie was wearing blue stay up stockings which seemed to draw attention to the top of her thighs and onwards to where her legs came together. The effect was stunning and I found it more arousing than any pornographic image. This wasn’t my normal wife. This was an erotic image of a confident beautiful mature woman practically naked. In fact, better than naked. The lingerie highlighted the most sexual parts of her body.
The reality of how far away she was hit me hard. I couldn’t reach out, touch her and kiss her and take her to bed. She was spending the evening with another man.
Another message came through from Maggie.
“Like?”
My hands could hardly type out my reply.
“I’m speechless. Is this for Michael?”
After a short delay, a reply came through.
“Don’t say that. I made this picture for you. Others will see my dress, but me like this is just for you.”
I felt bad that I may have upset Maggie. I sent another message.
“I didn’t mean to upset you. I’ve never seen you like this before. You seem to have shaved?”
Maggie’s reply came through quickly.
“I thought you would like it. I decided that I needed to shave more than usual to wear the panties and got carried away. I remembered that you liked me this way.”
I went back to the picture, and I wanted to memorise every detail. Another message came through from Maggie.
“I have to go now. Michael will be downstairs. Watch out for more pictures of the evening on the school group. I love you XX.”
I replied as quickly as I could.
“Have a great evening. You look super. Enjoy the attention, and don’t worry about me. I look forward to hearing all about it afterwards. Pxx”
There was no reply.
The microwave told me that my meal was ready. I took my beer and my food and settled down for an evening on my own.
It was not long after I finished my meal that another photograph appeared, this time on the WhatsApp group set up by Maggie’s colleagues, especially for the evening.
It was a photograph of Maggie with Michael. I gasped out loud and heard myself shout “fuck” out loud. Maggie looked stunning in her dress. Michael towered above her standing erect, back straight and shoulders back, as if to attention. He had an arm around Maggie’s shoulder. Her arm was around Michael’s waist. He looked the part in his dinner suit and bowtie.
I had never met Michael, nor seen a picture of him before this moment. I felt that Maggie had not told me everything that she should have. Then again, I was cross with myself that it seemed to matter to me. I considered myself liberal. However, I couldn’t help feeling differently as I looked at the smiling couple in the photograph.
Maggie’s pale skin contrasted with the hand that rested on her shoulder. Michael was black.
