Alice Bluegown
05-09-2012, 02:14 AM
Hi all - this one's a bit long, so I'm breaking it down into four parts. As usual, it's a slow burner, but I hope you like it anyway...
DINNER & CONSEQUENCES
Part 1: The Dinner
So, you’re wondering how it all started: me and Keith and our sort-of ex-wives; the whole weird palaver. It started in the most mundane fashion imaginable - there was an invitation, and it was accepted. Keith and I had been very tight at one stage, in fact he was Best Man at my wedding (but I wasn’t at his): however, we had steadily drifted apart over a number of years, for various tangled reasons. One was our respective career arcs - Keith was a thrusting, go-getter type working his way up in the financial sector; I was happily bedded down in a humdrum office job that held zero prospects for advancement, but paid the mortgage. Another sticking point - it seems absurd to recall now - was Keith’s wife. Helen was a tall, strikingly attractive woman with auburn hair and a 100-watt smile that could stop your heart cold. After they married we saw quite a lot of each other as couples, and my wife Sarah - who is lovely but not what you would call supermodel material - used to suggest, not entirely frivolously, that I only went because I had the hots for Helen. Which was true, I suppose, in a way - Helen was gorgeous, but I didn’t desire her, not consciously at least. I used to retaliate by accusing Sarah of lusting after Keith, who was your typical slick, bronzed, gym-haunting City type. This wasn’t true either, but the underlying tension every time we got together as a foursome only helped to drive us away in the end.
So when the invite to dinner plopped onto our doormat, it brought both excitement and the trepidation of opening old (if absurd) wounds. It took me a couple of days to pluck up the courage to ask Sarah about it.
“So, what d’you think?” I asked.
“He’s your friend, Andy,” she shrugged. “It’s up to you…”
“They’re our friends,” I corrected gently. “And we haven’t seen them for years.”
“You decide - I really don’t care if we go or not.”
Despite her feigned indifference, I could Sarah actually did care. I knew she was thinking about Helen and, to be frank, at that moment so was I.
“All right,” I said firmly, “We’re going.”
We drove over on a bland, autumnal Saturday afternoon. Keith’s place had changed little since our last visit - the trees were a little taller, the whole garden a little more mature and overgrown. It was a big, expensive house with a silvery Merc lurking in the drive - not, I surmised, the household’s only car.
Keith welcomed us like old friends, which I guess was only appropriate. Keith looked good: unlike me, his hair hadn’t thinned; I wondered if maybe he’d had some sort of treatment. He was rather gushing about the way Sarah looked, which rather took me aback - I guess I’d become a bit blasé about my wife, even when she made an effort.
Helen, it transpired, was lovely as ever - if anything, even lovelier. The years had added a kind of ripeness to her beauty, like an apple matures to its finest just before it falls from the tree. I spent a good five minutes gawping at her like an idiot before the wafting heat of Sarah’s jealousy snapped me to my senses.
Much of what happened that evening was entirely predictable: there were drinks, chit-chat. Hesitantly at first, but with increasing ease, we all caught up on each other and on old times. Helen served up a superb meal (gorgeous and a great cook - I could sort of understand Sarah’s problem); there were more drinks, to the point where both Sarah and I forgot who was supposed to be Designated Driver - oh, well. It was all very convivial, but there was a lurking sense of building up to something - that Keith and Helen hadn’t invited us over for entirely altruistic reasons. We were well past dessert and deep into further drinks before we finally got our first inkling.
“D’you mind if I ask you two a slightly impertinent question?” Keith suddenly blurted. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“Ask away,” I said, neutrally as I could.
“Did you ever seriously think about having children?”
I was tempted to roll my eyes. This one came up frequently at family gatherings, the whole why-haven’t -you-got-kids-yet routine. We’d learned to deal with it head-on.
“Of course,” I replied. “We discussed it many times. But when we totted up the likely cost of having a baby, Sarah’s loss of income, not to mention the disruption to our lifestyle, well - call us selfish, but it just didn’t seem worth it.”
Keith nodded sagely. I stole a glance at Helen, who was listening intently. I’d have been prepared to let it go at that, but Sarah decided to bat the question back.
“What about you two?” she asked.
“Ah, well,” said Keith, glancing at his wife, “That’s sort-of the reason we asked you over this evening.”
I relaxed suddenly. It seemed so obvious - they were planning to have a kid, or were already having one, and they were going to ask us to be godparents. I was both flattered and vaguely disappointed, but then Keith spoke again.
“You see, it’s rather hard to admit this, but our marriage has kind of run aground. There’s no one thing that’s done it - we’re just a little over familiar, you might say. We’ve been thinking of things that might put us back on track - having a child was one of them.”
Sarah and I stared steadfastly at our glasses - I didn’t need to look to know she was blushing vividly. Like an idiot, I asked the obvious question.
“And, uh, what was the other?”
“Swinging,” said Helen sharply, suddenly. At that, both our heads snapped up.
“I’m sorry,” Sarah shook her head, “Did you just say..?”
“She did,” Keith interjected, taking his wife’s hand. “I realise it’s a bit of a bombshell, but we want to try getting together with other couples, and you two are at the top of our list.”
“Why?” was all I could think to say.
“Well, you’re old friends, you’ve got the most stable relationship we know of, and we think you’re damned attractive people. Are those good enough reasons?”
I swallowed. “I… don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything, yet. Just think about it - we won’t be offended if you turn us down, but give us a fair shake.”
A very awkward silence ensued. I glanced over at Helen, and was convinced she was giving me some sort of ‘come hither’ look. Maybe I was just a bit drunk, but I felt a familiar stirring from my groin. Then I felt something else, completely unexpected - Sarah’s hand dropping lightly onto my knee.
“If we agree,” she said evenly, “How will this work? I mean, are you planning to take me upstairs and shag me while Andy and Helen wait, or will there be adjacent rooms?”
Keith and Helen laughed out loud, which eased the tension a little.
“Okay,” he said, “I’ll admit we have thought about scenarios, but nothing like that. We don’t want there to be any jealousy or possessiveness, so whatever happens involves all four of us equally, or it doesn’t go ahead.”
Sarah’s hand was creeping inexorably up my thigh, and my erection was making my slacks downright uncomfortable. But I still couldn’t quite believe what was being offered.
“Look,” said Keith benignly, “Why don’t we just leave this stuff here, take our drinks through to the lounge and talk about it in comfort?”
As he got up, there was the unmistakeable outline of a hard-on I his trousers - I though I heard Sarah give a little gasp. I stood with some difficulty, my prick tight against my fly as if it was trying to hammer its way out - Helen glanced my way, but she was too cool to say anything, and I was too timid to flaunt myself.
DINNER & CONSEQUENCES
Part 1: The Dinner
So, you’re wondering how it all started: me and Keith and our sort-of ex-wives; the whole weird palaver. It started in the most mundane fashion imaginable - there was an invitation, and it was accepted. Keith and I had been very tight at one stage, in fact he was Best Man at my wedding (but I wasn’t at his): however, we had steadily drifted apart over a number of years, for various tangled reasons. One was our respective career arcs - Keith was a thrusting, go-getter type working his way up in the financial sector; I was happily bedded down in a humdrum office job that held zero prospects for advancement, but paid the mortgage. Another sticking point - it seems absurd to recall now - was Keith’s wife. Helen was a tall, strikingly attractive woman with auburn hair and a 100-watt smile that could stop your heart cold. After they married we saw quite a lot of each other as couples, and my wife Sarah - who is lovely but not what you would call supermodel material - used to suggest, not entirely frivolously, that I only went because I had the hots for Helen. Which was true, I suppose, in a way - Helen was gorgeous, but I didn’t desire her, not consciously at least. I used to retaliate by accusing Sarah of lusting after Keith, who was your typical slick, bronzed, gym-haunting City type. This wasn’t true either, but the underlying tension every time we got together as a foursome only helped to drive us away in the end.
So when the invite to dinner plopped onto our doormat, it brought both excitement and the trepidation of opening old (if absurd) wounds. It took me a couple of days to pluck up the courage to ask Sarah about it.
“So, what d’you think?” I asked.
“He’s your friend, Andy,” she shrugged. “It’s up to you…”
“They’re our friends,” I corrected gently. “And we haven’t seen them for years.”
“You decide - I really don’t care if we go or not.”
Despite her feigned indifference, I could Sarah actually did care. I knew she was thinking about Helen and, to be frank, at that moment so was I.
“All right,” I said firmly, “We’re going.”
We drove over on a bland, autumnal Saturday afternoon. Keith’s place had changed little since our last visit - the trees were a little taller, the whole garden a little more mature and overgrown. It was a big, expensive house with a silvery Merc lurking in the drive - not, I surmised, the household’s only car.
Keith welcomed us like old friends, which I guess was only appropriate. Keith looked good: unlike me, his hair hadn’t thinned; I wondered if maybe he’d had some sort of treatment. He was rather gushing about the way Sarah looked, which rather took me aback - I guess I’d become a bit blasé about my wife, even when she made an effort.
Helen, it transpired, was lovely as ever - if anything, even lovelier. The years had added a kind of ripeness to her beauty, like an apple matures to its finest just before it falls from the tree. I spent a good five minutes gawping at her like an idiot before the wafting heat of Sarah’s jealousy snapped me to my senses.
Much of what happened that evening was entirely predictable: there were drinks, chit-chat. Hesitantly at first, but with increasing ease, we all caught up on each other and on old times. Helen served up a superb meal (gorgeous and a great cook - I could sort of understand Sarah’s problem); there were more drinks, to the point where both Sarah and I forgot who was supposed to be Designated Driver - oh, well. It was all very convivial, but there was a lurking sense of building up to something - that Keith and Helen hadn’t invited us over for entirely altruistic reasons. We were well past dessert and deep into further drinks before we finally got our first inkling.
“D’you mind if I ask you two a slightly impertinent question?” Keith suddenly blurted. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”
“Ask away,” I said, neutrally as I could.
“Did you ever seriously think about having children?”
I was tempted to roll my eyes. This one came up frequently at family gatherings, the whole why-haven’t -you-got-kids-yet routine. We’d learned to deal with it head-on.
“Of course,” I replied. “We discussed it many times. But when we totted up the likely cost of having a baby, Sarah’s loss of income, not to mention the disruption to our lifestyle, well - call us selfish, but it just didn’t seem worth it.”
Keith nodded sagely. I stole a glance at Helen, who was listening intently. I’d have been prepared to let it go at that, but Sarah decided to bat the question back.
“What about you two?” she asked.
“Ah, well,” said Keith, glancing at his wife, “That’s sort-of the reason we asked you over this evening.”
I relaxed suddenly. It seemed so obvious - they were planning to have a kid, or were already having one, and they were going to ask us to be godparents. I was both flattered and vaguely disappointed, but then Keith spoke again.
“You see, it’s rather hard to admit this, but our marriage has kind of run aground. There’s no one thing that’s done it - we’re just a little over familiar, you might say. We’ve been thinking of things that might put us back on track - having a child was one of them.”
Sarah and I stared steadfastly at our glasses - I didn’t need to look to know she was blushing vividly. Like an idiot, I asked the obvious question.
“And, uh, what was the other?”
“Swinging,” said Helen sharply, suddenly. At that, both our heads snapped up.
“I’m sorry,” Sarah shook her head, “Did you just say..?”
“She did,” Keith interjected, taking his wife’s hand. “I realise it’s a bit of a bombshell, but we want to try getting together with other couples, and you two are at the top of our list.”
“Why?” was all I could think to say.
“Well, you’re old friends, you’ve got the most stable relationship we know of, and we think you’re damned attractive people. Are those good enough reasons?”
I swallowed. “I… don’t know what to say.”
“Then don’t say anything, yet. Just think about it - we won’t be offended if you turn us down, but give us a fair shake.”
A very awkward silence ensued. I glanced over at Helen, and was convinced she was giving me some sort of ‘come hither’ look. Maybe I was just a bit drunk, but I felt a familiar stirring from my groin. Then I felt something else, completely unexpected - Sarah’s hand dropping lightly onto my knee.
“If we agree,” she said evenly, “How will this work? I mean, are you planning to take me upstairs and shag me while Andy and Helen wait, or will there be adjacent rooms?”
Keith and Helen laughed out loud, which eased the tension a little.
“Okay,” he said, “I’ll admit we have thought about scenarios, but nothing like that. We don’t want there to be any jealousy or possessiveness, so whatever happens involves all four of us equally, or it doesn’t go ahead.”
Sarah’s hand was creeping inexorably up my thigh, and my erection was making my slacks downright uncomfortable. But I still couldn’t quite believe what was being offered.
“Look,” said Keith benignly, “Why don’t we just leave this stuff here, take our drinks through to the lounge and talk about it in comfort?”
As he got up, there was the unmistakeable outline of a hard-on I his trousers - I though I heard Sarah give a little gasp. I stood with some difficulty, my prick tight against my fly as if it was trying to hammer its way out - Helen glanced my way, but she was too cool to say anything, and I was too timid to flaunt myself.