Indecent Exposure (Rude Awakenings) (3 page)

CD safely tucked away in a desk, she got
herself dressed and considered her next move.
‘…Do I dare go over and give
him the laptop now…after he’s seen me this morning…seen such a lot of me this
morning…well…should I or not…?’
Unsure, a glance out of the window made up
her mind.
‘…Perfect, Rob’s car isn’t there. I can leave the thing with Manny
and not have to chance death by blushing…
’ Quickly she grabbed the laptop
and headed over before Rob returned.

The plan worked perfectly. Manny answered the
door
‘…eventually…and he rambled even more than usual, the daft old
coffin-dodger…
’ and promised to pass it onto Rob when he returned later in
the day. Mission accomplished, Sarah returned to her house and waited
impatiently for the fallout from her misdemeanours.

Good job she wasn’t holding her breath for
results, because for a few days anyway, absolutely nothing happened. She did a
fair bit of parading around provocatively in her dressing room, though nothing
like the show she put on out in the back garden. She contented herself with
occasional visits to her lingerie collection, trying out various wispy bits of
lace and silk in front of the mirror. ‘
And in front of my faithful voyeur of
course…
’

Naturally, this led to a certain amount of
quality time by herself in bed afterwards. Though this was fun, she didn’t feel
completely satisfied and could feel her body increasingly craving something
more. She did actually see Rob out of her bedroom window a few times, usually
out jogging, but he never called over. She found herself wondering if he was
deliberately avoiding her.
‘Maybe he thinks I am just too much of a scary
cougar or something…
’

A week later she had more pressing concerns and
she found herself more and more preoccupied with a forthcoming visit from Jack.
The thought of the long-postponed meeting left her feeling anxious and
uncertain, so by the time the actual day arrived she was right on edge. A
couple of glasses of wine at lunch dulled the worst of the worry and she
decided to have a bit of a siesta before he turned up. Lying on her bed though,
she found herself unable to sleep.

Pleasantly buzzed on the drink, her thoughts
became lazy, free-wheeling round in easy spirals.
‘…Will get some sort of a payout from Jack when we split I suppose…Maybe
start up photography again….still got some good contacts….Poor Jack, wonder if
he will get these new accounts…not sure if his company can keep going without
them…told him the mortgage on this place was way too much…never listened to me
about money did he…still got all my gear up in the attic, bit dated now but
could use it to start up again…maybe…maybe…
.

Sudden stab in the heart …God, had it only been
four years since the wedding. Such high expectations…. so much excitement.
 
She had given up trying to establish her own
career in order to get married and keep house. The expected children had never
arrived of course and the relationship had spiralled relentlessly
downwards.
 

‘…Time to get out
Sarah, better for both of you in the long run…
’
 
There
was no real anger in her thoughts, just the sour taste of disappointment that
they had proved so incompatible as a couple.
‘…And of course, that slutty PA of his didn’t help either…’
though
even she had to admit that the pneumatic blond had been a symptom rather than
the cause of their dislocation.

Eventually her mind tired of allocating blame
and painful recrimination and let her doze off in the warm square of sunlight
coming through the window.

Dressed and refreshed later, she was making up
Jack’s usual bed in one of the spare bedrooms. She had felt desperately lonely
during the last few weeks and found herself wondering whether it would be used
or not. ‘
…We are married after all and he
is still a handsome man … wonder if it would be classed as an intra-marital
affair at this stage…Hell it’s been…5…no…6 months now…almost like having a new
love
r…’ Wavering, she decided just to let the talking run its course and go
with the flow.

She made a point of dressing nicely, as if
going out for the evening. A silky, knee-length patterned skirt was an old
favourite, matching well with a much newer white cotton buttoned up blouse.
After putting on make-up, she found time to admire herself in the full-length
mirror. Her hair was looking terrific, long and well groomed and she loved
seeing her legs looking so brown and shapely. As well as that of course there
was always her fantastic bust, well emphasised by an expensive bra.
‘I look…
delicious…
’ she decided complacently.

Mid-evening then found her out in the kitchen
opening an entirely unexpected second bottle of wine. They had already eaten a
couple of expensive fillet steaks for dinner followed by exotic ice cream for
dessert. It was an indication of how well the evening had gone that they were
both now more interested in wine than coffee.

The early part of the evening was mostly spent
agreeing a way forward to amicable ‘
…well
uncontested anyway…
’ divorce and permanent separation. The house was far
too big for just the two of them already, that could be sold and the proceeds
split between them. Sarah had been right about Jack’s company. It was deep in
the shit alright. In fact things were so bad that he had opened up talks with a
bigger competitor with a view to them buying him out. “Gotta go back working
for the fucking man Sarah!” as Jack had put it.

At first Jack had been defensive, obviously not
sure of the reason for her improved mood. Her normal sullen silence had been
replaced by almost manic chattiness. There was also an obvious lack of any
confrontation and soon they were talking candidly about how they felt. Both
knew they were long past the point of no return; it was just a relief to
finally be able to express it. As they talked, Sarah found herself seeing
flashes of what she had fallen for. The man who had swept her off her feet and
then promised her the sun and the moon. ‘
…Those
magical first few years, before we got so immune to each other…’
He was
obviously enjoying himself, cracking jokes and laughing along with her giggles.
A couple of times they ended up just staring at each other solemnly
‘…where did you go Jack…where…?
’ before
one of them broke the silence and the moment was snuffed out.

Any remaining tension drained out of the
atmosphere as both of them felt the relief of finally getting everything said.
Formalities mostly concluded, the mood got progressively lighter as they
finished their meal and settled down on the big sitting room sofa next to each
other. Jack fired up his expensive CD player for the first time in a long while
and they rambled enjoyably through a few old tunes.

By now Sarah had kicked off her shoes and was
nestled down comfortably on her side facing Jack. ‘
Its like being on a date…just without wondering how far I’m going to
let him go…I mean…Well…He is definitely… Should be anyway…in the spare
bed?…Does seem a waste though….
’ The conclusion to the evening was hanging
in the balance. At that moment though, fate took a hand.

BEEP! BEEP!

Jack’s expression managed to combine guilt and
surprise in equal measure. He had obviously forgotten to put his phone on
silent. The message was presumably from his PA
‘…Fucking bitch…
’
inquiring whether he was tucked up safely in bed yet. There was a drawn out
silence as Sarah counted down to nuclear meltdown. The seconds ticked
by…4…3….2….1….Then … nothing. No explosion. ‘
….Doesn’t bother me now….he’s not mine…’
she realised with some
surprise.

“That’s Carrie I suppose..” she said mildly.

“Y…Yes…Probably” he agreed.

“Well go on. Answer it then.”

He stared at her, still making no move towards
the phone.

“Answer it Jack. I just don’t care anymore.”

He paused for a moment, then went over and
picked up his phone. To her surprise he didn’t read, let alone answer the text.
Instead he turned the wretched thing off and dropped it back into his jacket pocket.

“No Sarah. Not tonight. Look, I know we are
splitting up. I know that’s already decided. Tomorrow, I’ll go my way and you
can go yours. Right now though, I just want to spend the rest of the evening
finishing things off properly…Oh I dunno, it all sounds a bit stupid when I say
it like that…I suppose what I am trying to say is that this is the official end
of our marriage.”

Despite herself, Sarah smiled slightly.

“You mean, like the opposite of a honeymoon
night? You gonna carry me over the threshold and dump me out onto the driveway
then?”

“Well….not exactly. Let’s just make sure we
both feel that everything has been said that needs to be said. We owe each
other that much anyway.”

Sarah thought awhile then nodded.

“OK Jack. Tomorrow the house goes on the
market. In fact tomorrow, we both go back on the market! Til then, truce.”

“Truce!”

They talked a while longer. The unexpected
honesty of the evening made Sarah felt easier in her mind than she had done for
a long time. Meanwhile, the wine and music combined to create a cosy
atmosphere. Without really thinking, she stretched out her long legs and rested
her bare feet on his thigh. Absent-mindedly he rubbed a dainty toe between his
thumb and forefinger.

Finally they ran out of things to say, lapsing
into thoughtful silence. Abruptly, Jack reached round and deliberately picked
out a particular CD. She recognised the tune straight away, a favourite smooch
of theirs back from when they first met. He stood up, offering her his hand to
pull her to her feet as well.

“Shall we?”

The old smile, the old Jack.

“One more time wont hurt I suppose…”

They clutched each other tightly, swaying
slowly around the room. Sarah buried her face into his shoulder, not wanting
him to see her sudden bitter tears. As the music finished, she whispered almost
to herself

‘Just keep the darkness away tonight please.’

His wordless response was to hold her even
closer, wrapping her in his strong arms. Five long minutes passed. They had
nearly stopped moving by now, entirely shut off from the rest of the world.
Sarah became very aware of the overwhelming presence of his maleness against
her. Conscious thought receded as she sought temporary relief from the pain she
was feeling. She started to press her body against his, gently prick-teasing
him as if at a high school dance.

His hands started to wander away from their
previously respectful hold around her back. One headed down to her slowly
swaying bottom, grasping at her buttocks through the sheer material of her
skirt. He pulled away slightly to allow the other to undo the top buttons of
her blouse. This let him reach in to the lacy top of her bra, feeling down
under it to fumble at her bosom. By now the music had stopped, leaving only the
sound of their growing arousal, her soft sighs nearly drowned out by his
heavier breathing.

‘Oh…Yeah, I forgot you could do that…
’ A devious hand had worked its way
round to the clasp of her bra. A cunning flick of his fingers and she felt it
fall open.
’…wish boys had known how to do that when I was seventeen…woulda
saved a whole lot of wrestling…
’. The hand moved in to claim its prize,
cupping the full weight of one of her breasts, rubbing its palm against her
suddenly solid nipple.

Abruptly desperate, she half staggered, half
fell onto the sofa, dragging Jack down on top of her. As they toppled, she
gasped out to him … “Fuck me…. Fuck me now…Oh please God… Fuck me now! ….”
urging him on. She delighted in the rough vigour of his response as he
frantically tore at her clothes. Months of pent-up frustration and anger
charged their lust, transforming it into an almost bestial coupling. She
started to fight wildly against him as he got on top of her, hating him but
wanting him all at the same time.

This only drove him on, forcefully pinning her
arms down enough to let him pull apart her blouse, buttons flying as he
impatiently tore at the cloth. ‘
You…Fucking Bastard…You…Get ….Off…Me…
’
She bucked and heaved, trying to throw him off for such disrespect, all the
while delighting in the struggle not to be conquered and taken. Unfortunately
he was now able to partially subdue her, pinning her shoulders to hold her
down. At the same time he forced himself between her flailing legs, scrabbling
to release his angry erection out of the constriction of his pants.