Cheating Does It Spell The End Or...

Firstly, I must say thank you to Randi, for the invite. It's always special to be invited to write for one of her events. The name aside, I am not, nor do I hold pretensions to be a "Legend." It is however, an enormous privilege, if you will to be invited to join in.

The amount of work that goes into organising these events is huge. I would like to say thank you for all of the effort she puts into it. For the writers who participate in the other writing events, shoul add their thanks, because without her persistence. The events wouldn't have happened.

I need to add my thanks to her for the wonderful editing and of course. All of her assistance in writing.

*****

"Sorry, could you repeat that?" I said, aghast.

Her initial confidence waned, and she repeated her statement, this time lacking the conviction of earlier. It had been replaced with a quiet unease. "I said, Bill, has invited me to go away with him for a week, to celebrate my recent run of sales."

"He invited you to go away with him?"

"Yes..." she said, her voice now barely more than a whisper. "To Cairns. He has a friend who has a timeshare apartment there."

I couldn't believe it. She was so calm. "This week away, would you have separate rooms?"

She shook her head, the hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. "Clint, it's supposed to be like a dirty weekend, just extended."

"You would be sleeping together... having sex?"

"Yes, that's the idea of a dirty weekend." That dirty little smirk was becoming more noticeable.

"Can you explain why Drummond invited you? He's your bloody boss, for Christ's sake."

"I don't know, lately we have sort of been flirting, and it got a little suggestive. It was all innocent, just a little sexy."

"Innocent, and yet sexy, sounds like a contradiction. So what, he just decided out of the blue to invite you off on a dirty getaway?"

She nodded. "Pretty much."

"And your reply was?"

"I said I'd have to discuss it with you first. I wasn't going without talking to you."

"Sherry, I'm struggling here. Out of nowhere, he invites you to go away with him. That's bullshit. You expect me to believe you haven't had sex as yet?"

The smirk vanished, and she looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Clint, we haven't even so much as kissed. He took me by surprise."

"I don't buy it, Sherry. On the back of some flirting he decided you'd be interested in going off with him?"

"Like I said, it's been pretty hot flirting."

"What did he say when you said no?"

"Bub, I didn't say no. I said I wasn't doing anything without talking to you first."

"And he said?"

"He said that was a good idea."

"Cheeky bastard. What the hell, he's bloody married as well. What the hell does he think Michelle was going to say?"

She shrugged. "I don't know?"

"She's your friend. She got you the bloody job in the first place. What do you think she's going to say?"

Finally, a blush of embarrassment. "Honestly, I think she will be okay with it. There's some things you don't know about Michelle. She really dislikes sex. She doesn't hate it, but she would do anything on earth to get out of it."

"She told you that?"

"Yes, many times. Like you said, we are friends. She said to me several times she wished Bill would find a lover so he'd stop pestering her. She makes him beg."

We finished loading the dishwasher, and clearing down the table in silence. Like a slow boiling pot, it had to blow. "Well? What do you think, Clint?" she said hesitantly.

"For fuck's sake, Sherry. What did you think I was going to say? My answer is... no, under no circumstances, that's what I think."

Fighting back, she decided to take us back to an earlier stage in our relationship. "We have talked about this sort of thing in the past, Clint. You had no issues with it then."

"We discussed swinging, not having some kind of open marriage. You didn't honestly think I was going to say okay, go for it, did you?"

A lengthy pause took root, and as I stared at her, she finally cracked, replying. "Sweetheart, I wasn't asking permission. I was simply telling you what was happening."

I nearly choked, as she stared back at me unflinchingly. Challenging me, daring me to say something. Words dried up in my mouth. I couldn't find a suitable response. She moved forward, her arms circling my waist. "Come on love. It's only a week."

"Piss off, Sherry. He's your boss. You work with him every day. Do you honestly expect me to believe that he would be happy for just the once? Especially after what you just said about Michelle."

"It's all I have agreed to."

"Hang on, you said nothing was determined yet. Not until we had spoken?"

"I told him, if I agreed, it would only be a one off. He is going to tell everybody else in the office it's a conference we're going to. That way there won't be any gossip."

"Oh, don't be so juvenile. The moment he says that, they'll all be on their computers looking for a bloody conference. They'll all know there isn't one."

"Clint, calm down. There's a conference for real estate sales strategies in Wellington the same week. Nobody will know we went to Cairns, instead."

"You're not going Sherry. I'm telling you right here, right now. I'll not put up with it."

She sighed, her lips kissing my neck and earlobe. "Why are you so against it?"

"What, don't be ridiculous. I'm not letting you go off with some bloke."

"Clint, when we talked about swinging, we talked about all this stuff. We specifically talked about going away with other couples."

"Yeah, that's right. At the time, we were talking to that couple, and we got pretty close to doing it. This is different."

"Why is it different?"

"Because we're not swapping?"

"So, you'd be okay with it, if you were getting some as well? Shit, Clint. You're just jealous because I'm going to be getting something you aren't."

"Fuck you," I snarled. "I said it's not happening. No fucking way."

"Really," she said snootily. "And how do you propose to stop me?"

"Oh, I can't stop you, but I can sure as hell make sure that I won't be here when you get back."

That shocked her, She dropped her arms from my waist, and stepped back. "You are joking, I hope?"

"No, deadly serious. I'm not going to be made a fool of."

"Nobody would blasted well know?"

"He'd fucking know. He'd never let it lie; he would be after you every single day. I'm not having it Sherry. When the hell is this supposed to be happening?"

"Two weeks."

"Well, I'll give you overnight. If you refuse to change your mind, then I will be filing for divorce tomorrow."

"Don't be ridiculous, Clint. For heavens sake. It's not as if this isn't something we've talked about."

"I don't care. I'm not having that fat little fucker gloating at me. No fucking way."

"He's no fatter than you."

"He's gotta be ten years older. Jeez Sherry, you could do better than him."

"I like him, he's good fun. Easy to talk to and what's more, he's a really good boss."

"He's a fucking arsehole. That's what he is. You make up your mind, Sherry. A week in Cairns, or our marriage. You choose."

"This is preposterous. I think you need a few days to calm down, my love. Think logically. At the moment you're angry, and simply venting."

"What did you expect?"

"Honestly, I expected you to be shocked, of course. I did hope that you could see it for what it was. A little bit of fun."

Confused, I shook my head trying to clear away the fog of disbelief. "You actually thought I would accept it?"

"Yes, I most certainly did. As I said. We talked about scenarios like this when we were making rules about swinging. You were quite happy back then."

"That was years ago, Sherry, Bloody ages. Things have changed now. At the time things were a bit rocky. Lately, I thought everything was going great."

"Oh heavens." She sighed, slipping back into my arms and kissing me passionately. When we separated, she looked up into my eyes. "My lovely man. Everything is fine. We have never been stronger. That's why I didn't think this would be a big deal for us."

"You think everything's great, but you want to throw it all away for a sleazy fuck with your boss?"

'Why does it have to be throwing anything away? it could just as well have been you, rather than me."

"And you're going to tell me you'd be okay with that?"

She leaned back in and kissed me. "Yes I would."

"Well, you're a better man than me, Sherry. I'm not okay, and I'm far from accepting it."

"Clint, could I suggest we take some time and talk about it when we're both calmer. Right now, you're angry, and I don't think you're thinking clearly."

"Yeah, okay. We can do that."

"Thank god." She sighed.

"Hang on a minute, Sherry. I will take time, and as you say talk about it. But, and this is not negotiable. We will talk, understanding that the outcome might be you saying no to Bill."

Again, a deep sigh, her head resting on my shoulder. The silence grew, spreading like a virus, until she spluttered. "Fine, that would only be fair, but in saying that. I have to be fair to Bill, as well. He needs as much time as possible to book the timeshare, once he has booked it. He will lose his money whether he uses it or not."

"I don't care about Bill, he didn't consider me in asking you in the first place. So, fuck him."

She slipped out of my arms, and said, "I got a chocolate cake today. What say we have some with a coffee?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

As we sat in the lounge, the atmosphere slowly warmed up. She asked about my day and work. We talked about our daughter, Erin's, upcoming trip to Dunedin for the national netball tournament. We were both pretty proud of her achievements. We had talked about taking ten days off work to go down and support her. We still had two months to decide.

"I think I've secured a sale for that block of flats I snared. If it goes through my commission is going to be nearly thirty grand," Sherry proudly said.

"Wow, good job."

"If it goes through, I might pick up sales person of the year. I've got two other houses under offer to top it off."

"What's the prize? Don't tell me, a week in Taneatua with Bill the dill?"

She sniggered. "Dick, no... It's two weeks."

"Why, Sherry, can you tell me why?"

"I told you, I like Bill. He might not be a buff young guy, but he makes me laugh, he's fun. That's all it's about, Clint. Just a little fun. Shit, I've been working my arse off, and I think I've done really well. Let's not forget, a lot of that success was because Bill took a chance and hired me, and he's been helping me."

"He wasn't taking a chance. He clearly fancied you; all he was doing was laying down the ground work."

"No, let's not fight."

"Sorry, but I can't get past this, Sherry. If you wanted a week away, why not ask me?"

"I didn't necessarily want it. Bill just came out and asked me. He was cheeky, had such a huge grin on his face. I thought he was joking. Then, after I stopped laughing, he said. I'm serious, and I thought. Why not?"

She peered at me with her big brown eyes. "So, I ask again, why not?" She fluttered her long sexy lashes. "Well?"

"Sherry, we haven't so much as talked about this for six years. Even then we never actually went through with it. If I remember correctly, it was your idea not to follow through."

"That's because the guy was a jerk. I thought she was all right, but, nah. He was sleazy."

"What I'm trying to point out is, we were already to go off for a dirty weekend, and you didn't want to go. So I cancelled. I supported your position."

She winced a little at my words, and she at least acknowledged my position. "It was all right for you Clint. That woman was stunning. Her husband though... Not in the same league, and he was a dirty bugger. He was into some kinky shit that didn't excite me."

"I don't care about any of that. All I'm saying is, you said no and I agreed. All I'm asking for is the same level of support. I'm not going to go along with your plans. I'm saying no."

"Clint, you agreed that we would at least talk about this, consider it with an open mind."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know what I said."

She gave me one of her wicked sexy smiles, and said breathlessly, "Let's go to bed." She stood up, and as she did, she reached out her hand. "Come along."

In the bedroom, I brushed my teeth and got undressed. Sherry was already naked when I walked back in. She pulled back the bedclothes and slid into bed. Sleeping naked was something we both preferred. The warm feel of naked flesh was the perfect way to go to sleep.

In bed, I stayed over my side, stretching out. Sherry snuggled up beside me and reached for my dick. Still angry and a little dismayed. I pushed her hand away.

"Oh don't be silly, Clint. Are you going to cut your nose off to spite your face?"

"Beg your pardon?" I gasped.

"I mean, really. We have two weeks before I'm supposed to leave. Surely we can at least enjoy our time together. We don't have to be silly."

"I'm still angry, Sherry."

"Then let me ease that anger." Her hand curled around my dick, and she squeezed and massaged it into an erection. The anger bubbled away, but as her mouth closed over mine, and my hands kneaded her magnificent boobies my anger turned to arousal. Her pussy gripped my inquisitive fingers as they slid into her wet and slippery opening. God, she was a sexy bitch.

Our lovemaking was torrid and passionate, fuelled by my bubbling anger I fucked her harder than I ever had. The bed creaked and groaned under the extreme duress. My cum exploded in a volcanic eruption. Her orgasm arrived a little later, her mewing whimpering moans announcing her own powerful climax.

We lay side by side panting valiantly trying to regain some level of life sustaining oxygen levels.

Sherry dropped off to sleep quickly, I, on the other hand, had to lie there staring at the ceiling as I tried to come to grips with our situation. Fourteen years of marriage. Hard slog and difficult situations. At thirty-five, we were hardly over the hill. We were average people. Sherry was attractive, without being stunning. These days, like myself, she carried some extra weight she just couldn't shift. She wasn't fat, but she could use to lose a few.

Don't get me wrong, she could still turn heads when she put the effort in.

When she lost her job at the bank in town due to downsizing, she fell into a bit of depression. As hard as she tried to find another job, she just couldn't.

That's when we were in a pretty dark time in our marriage. We fought over everything. She complained bitterly about almost everything. Our sex life went from great to non existent. I met a guy at work, who told me about this swing club he belonged to. He rabbited on about how awesome it was. At that stage I thought we had nothing to lose and suggested it to Sherry.

At first, she was dead against it, but after she met Rod and Angela, at a party, she reconsidered. They were full of positive comments about it, and Angela said it saved their marriage.

We did go along to the swing club, but both decided unanimously it was awful. We did, however, decide that it might be interesting if we could meet another couple we liked and we could try swapping. We went down the usual paths: we checked out magazines with confidential sections. There were web sites, and we went on a few dates with different couples. We never went through with it because we never really met the right couple. It was either I liked the woman and Sherry didn't like the bloke, or it was the other way around.

The closest we got was Dario, and Leanna. They were a bit younger than us, but Leanna was bloody gorgeous. I couldn't believe how stunningly attractive she was. Her husband, okay, I'm no judge of what does or doesn't turn women on, but he looked okay. He worked out, had muscles on his muscles.

We went on a couple of dates with them. Leanna and I got on great. Sherry and Dario, also got along, at first anyway. Then we set up a weekend where we were actually going to do it. Unfortunately. Sherry got cold feet. Dario said some things to her in confidence that turned her off.

If nothing else, it got Sherry and me back on track. We had spent so much time searching for the ideal couple. We got our mojo back. We had laughed and joked over some of the classified personals. It reignited our flame.

We had our marriage back. It really went up a gear when one of her closer friends, Michelle, suggested her husband Bill was looking for a new real-estate salesperson.

The idea sparked Sherry. We knew Bill from social gatherings and parties. He and I weren't mates, but we got along okay. He was ten or twelve years older than me. A nice bloke, not the usual real estate sleaze.

When we sat down to talk about it. Sherry became super invigorated. She flew through the training, and earned her license in record time. She took to selling real estate like a duck to water. She loved it.

She wasn't against using her looks to her advantage. She dressed impeccably. Always had the newest trendy hairstyle. She looked the successful business woman. The fact she had spent fifteen years in banking didn't hurt either. She knew how the banks worked and what they looked for.

She racked up more sales in her first year than a lot of agents made in two years. It wasn't just her success; the money was bloody amazing. We were able to do some work on the house. We bought a new car. The big plus was in Sherry. She found herself. She was bright and bubbly again, her old personality shining like a glittering star.

Life was pretty good in our house. Our sex life was good, our communication was fun. We talked about most things; we shared the same interests. Weekends were pretty much centred on our daughter and her netball. A couple of local coaches informed us, she was more than talented. They thought she might be good enough to go all the way, so we put a lot of effort into going to all her games.

*****

The next morning, the air was awkward and uncomfortable. We had breakfast together, but neither of us really knew what to say.

At work, I found time to phone Michelle, Bill's wife. I thought she could be my best ally at this point.

I didn't really know how to approach it.

"Hey Michelle, do you have a moment to talk?"

We had never really been close. She and Sherry had formed quite a tight friendship. They met as members of the PTA and fashioned a friendship from that. It had been a bit of a sticking point between Sherry and I, that I wasn't able to build a relationship with either of them. Sherry had this vision of us all being best friends, but the gap was to wide for me. Michelle, although attractive, was fifteen years older than me, and we shared nothing in common. Bill was a nice chap, but again, we never really hit it off. He had his own network of golfing buddies, whereas I liked to play with cars and motorbikes.

"Clint, how nice to hear from you. How can I help?"

"I wanted to have a quick chat, if you have a moment?"

"Certainly, is there a problem?"

"I'm not sure, and it's a bit delicate. I'm not sure how to start."

"Clint, there's clearly something bothering you. I think lets simply get it out in the open."

"Okay, I'm sorry about this, but did you know Bill invited Sherry, to go away with him for a weeks vacation?"

Her voice took on a curious waver. I could almost see her mind whirring. "No, he didn't mention it. Are you suggesting there's something inappropriate going on?"

"Yes, there bloody is. It's not just a vacation, Michelle. They would be going as lovers, Sharing the same bed, having sex."

"Oh, I see. You are obviously not happy, Clint?" she snapped back curtly.

"No, of course I'm bloody not. Which is the reason for my call. I wanted to know how you felt about it?"

"To be truthful, that comes as a bit of a shock. I am annoyed that Bill did not have the courage to tell me. However, I am not upset about it. Sherry is a friend, and I hope she at least will talk to me about it."

"What... You don't care?" I spluttered disbelievingly.

"I wouldn't say it like that. Sex is not something of a priority in my life. I know Bill is frustrated by my lack of desire. I have suggested on many occasions he should find a suitable lover. Somebody who is interested in the sexual aspects, but won't try to steal him away."

"You don't care that it's Sherry?"

"Clint, this might be hard for you to grasp. I'm very happy that it's Sherry. I know she isn't going to fall in love with him. She loves you far to much for that. I am sorry that it upsets you so much. What are you going to do?"

"At this stage, I'm not sure myself. All I know is I don't want it to happen. I have told her as much."

"Oh dear. What did she say?"

"That she wasn't asking for permission, simply informing me."

"Your reply?"

"If she went ahead with it. I wouldn't be there when she gets back."

"Oh no, surely that is an extreme reaction. You have such a wonderful marriage."

"I thought so, but apparently. I was wrong."

"Clint, my dear. Surely you can find a way to get past your concerns. I mean, what is your biggest problem with it? Sherry mentioned to me some time ago that you both were thinking of becoming involved in wife swapping?"

"This is different, Michelle. I'm expected to sit at home while they go off on their romantic get away to Cairns and spend the week fucking."

"Calm down, Clint," she snapped. "Goodness me. There's no need for that sort of language. I understand you are upset, but there's no need for it."

"I'm sorry if the language offends you, but what your husband plans to do to my wife offends me."

"Yes dear, I understand. I don't understand the whole sex thing. It repulses me. I do not for the life of me see why people get so worked up over it."

"Yeah well, it pisses me off. I'm not standing for it. I'd rather divorce her than let her go through with it. I hope that Bill has the common decency to call it off. I would appreciate it if you could try to convince him of the same."

"Yes, I will talk to both of them. Thank you, Clint. Bill is not an unreasonable man. He thinks highly of you, so perhaps you should speak to him directly?"

"That was my first response. However, I'm not sure I could contain my anger, and I'm afraid I might do something dumb."

"Oh dear, I think you have made the right decision. I will talk to him. I am sure that once he knows how upset you are, he will cancel the whole thing."

"Thanks Michelle. I appreciate your help."

I was hopeless at work. Thankfully, the team carried me. I was exhausted when I got home. No sleep from the night before, and worrying all day. I was a nervous wreck.

It took me an extra hour and a half to write a report that would on any other day take me twenty minutes. It meant I was two hours late getting home.

Erin and Sherry were already eating dinner when I walked in. "Hey Dad," Erin called.

"Your dinner is in the oven keeping warm my love," Sherry said.

"How was your day?" I asked as I sat down with them.

"I had a rather interesting conversation with Michelle," Sherry, said softly.

"I had an awesome day." Erin announced, and then went on in great detail to explain every single thing that happened.

I was even more exhausted after listening to her. As she finished her dinner, she asked. "Can I go over to Emily's place to study?"

She was gone before either Sherry or I could give her an answer.

"What did Michelle want?" I asked.

"You know damned well what she wanted. Did you really have to call her. She was very upset."

"I thought it was important. She is our friend, at least I thought she was. Although I have to question your understanding of what friendship means."

"Sweetheart, she is okay with it. She honestly doesn't mind. Her only concern is you. She said you were very rude, and swore at her."

"I didn't swear at her, but I did swear."

"That was uncalled for, don't you think?"

"No, I simply said I wasn't going to sit idly by while you two go off and fuck yourselves stupid."

She sighed deeply, sucking in a deep breath. "She did mention that you tossed around divorce."

"Yes, I did. Today I gave it a lot of thought. If you and Bill go through with it. I will divorce you. By the time you get back from your tryst, I will be gone. In fact, you will have the divorce papers in your hot little hand before you board the aeroplane."

"I see; so you haven't really considered it at all. You are just annoyed because you are missing out. Why don't you concentrate your efforts on finding somebody you could spend the week with?"

"What?"

"You know what I mean, Clint. Rather than brooding jealously over missing out, find yourself a partner and enjoy it as well."

"Fucking hell, Sherry. Don't be daft."

"I'm serious, my love. I certainly have no objection."

"No thanks, I'm not fucking around here, Sherry. I hope you told Bill how unhappy I am?"

"Yes, although I needn't have. I think Michelle might have explained it better."

"And what did he have to say?"

"He said we wouldn't be going if we couldn't convince you it would be all right. He said if you weren't happy, then it was all off."

"Thank god. Somebody is finally talking sense."

"Clint. I still want to go. In fact, I'm very disappointed in you. Calling Michelle, and making her so uncomfortable."

"I don't care. The outcome is the right one."

"For you, but not for the rest of us."

"Tough. I don't care."

"That is a terrible attitude, Clint. Last night you promised to discuss it over a few days. Consider it with an open mind. It's pretty clear you haven't got an open mind. All you care about is yourself."

"Just like you. Don't tell me you were doing this for me. You come home and pretty much give me a bloody ultimatum. You never once considered how I felt. Even after I said no, you said you were doing it anyway."

"I simply didn't see it as a big deal. I thought you would at least be prepared to talk about it. I would have been happy if you could give me a logical reason why you're against it? Nothing you said last night made sense. Your one and only reason was jealousy. Me getting something you weren't. Like I was getting one over you."

"For fuck's sake, Sherry. I'm dead against it because I don't want to be humiliated."

"How in heavens name are you being humiliated? Nobody knows. Bill certainly doesn't think like that. I don't think any lesser of you. For heavens sake. We talked about all this when we were thinking about swapping. You were okay with it then. I do not see how this is any different."

"He would know, and so would I. That's all that matters to me."

"Yes, so long as Clint's happy. To hell with the rest of us. Typical from you. I love you, Clint, but sometimes you can be so selfish."

"Me?" I barked angrily. What about you? God what a selfish cow you are."

"Name calling, yes, very clever. I would like to talk about this further, but perhaps tonight isn't the right time."

That night there was no cuddling, no intimacy whatsoever.

The next day was a repeat. We did have to show a united front at the netball. Erin's team was in the semi finals. It was actually a pressure relief. We could yell and scream our support, and it allowed us to vent at somebody else.

Erin had a sleepover with a friend. That left just Sherry and me at home alone. I didn't bother helping her prepare dinner. I went out into my workshop and did some work on my old motorbike. Sherry called me in for dinner, which we ate in complete silence. She went off to bed, and I watched TV alone.

Another cold night in our bed.

When I got home from work the next day. Sherry was waiting for me. She was dressed smartly, and there was no signs of dinner cooking. "We have been invited over to Bill and Michelle's home for dinner. You had better get changed quickly."

"Where's Erin?"

"Staying with Reba for the night."

"I don't feel like going out. I'll make my own dinner. You can go if you like."

"Clint, don't be an arse. They are our friends; we quite often go there for dinner."

"Not any more. I want nothing more to do with them."

"Good lord. That's preposterous. He's my boss for heavens sake."

"Pity he didn't act like it. Michelle might accept being cheated on. I'm not."

"There was no cheating. I told you what was happening."

"If you went ahead with it knowing I was against it. That is cheating."

"Semantics. Good heavens. We're going to argue details now?"

"No, I'm not arguing anything. I'm merely saying I'm not interested in maintaining a friendship with them."

"Buggeration, you can be an obstinate shit." She reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. "Hello Michelle, sorry love. I'm going to have to cancel. Clint refuses to go."

"Yes, I know, I am sorry. Yes I know how much trouble you went to."

She walked away, so I didn't hear the rest of the conversation. She did however walk back in looking very angry. I ignored her and went about making my own dinner. She walked in a little later, as I was getting a knife and fork out of the drawer. "Did you make something for me?"

Staring at her, I replied, "No, I thought you were going out?"

"Of course I wasn't. You heard me cancel."

"No, I heard you say I refused to go. You never mentioned you weren't going."

She snatched her keys off the bench and stormed off towards the door, screaming. "I'm going out."

I was in bed when she returned, and if it was possible, she was angrier than ever. She didn't say a single word, but she fumed silently as she climbed into bed and stayed as close to her side of the bed as she could.

The next day was long and drawn out. We had issues at work. Normally, I would pick up issues early in a project and sort them. At the moment, I couldn't get my head in the game. All I could think of was my problems at home. It meant another long day, and I was shattered when I got home. Sherry and Erin were busy in the kitchen when I got home. They had obviously held dinner back, awaiting my arrival. The food smelt delicious.

Erin met me just inside the door with a hug. "Hey Dad. How was your day?"

"Busy, how was school?"

"Fine, you know... School."

Sherry, popped her head out as I hung up my jacket. "Hello love. Dinner will be about ten minutes." Her soft warm voice carried me back to happier times. Especially when accompanied by her killer smile.

I went up to the bedroom to change and wash up.

Dinner was served, and it was a complete change from the last few days: the atmosphere warm and inviting. I wondered if it was just a front, seeing as how Erin was home. The conversation flowed easily. Sherry jubilantly announced. "I closed on the flats today. My commission turned out to be thirty-three grand."

"Congrats." I said with a nod of my head acknowledging her success. "Good job. We might get the mortgage paid off this year after all."

"We sure will," she replied with a proud smile.

"Can I get a new computer?" Erin asked.

It was, in a word, pleasant, all the bitterness seemed to have evaporated. We were back.

After dinner, Erin drifted off to her room and I helped Sherry with the cleaning up. "You seem cheerful."

She leaned against me and gave me a little kiss on the cheek. "Well, thirty grand, that can make you smile."

"Hell yeah. I am proud of you, Sherry. You have made incredible strides at work."

"Thank you love. That makes me feel nice. Knowing I have your support."

We finished the cleaning up, and she reached into the fridge and pulled out a beer for me. I leaned against the bench taking a sip of my beer while she poured a glass of wine. "Come on, let's sit in the lounge," she whispered.

Sitting on the sofa, I reached for the remote, but she put her hand over mine before I could select the on button. "No, I would like to chat first, if that's okay."

"Fuck." I thought to myself. "Here we go."

With her warm smile working it's magic, she said. "I have a suggestion to make. Will you hear me through before interrupting?"

Taking a long drink, I nodded. "Fire away."

"Well, Bill and I were talking about our problem today, and I explained why you are against us taking our vacation together."

"Really, you spoke to Bill?"

"Let me finish, Clint. You promised."

I nodded, and returned to my beer.

"Thank you. So, yes. Bill, and I talked and he offered a solution." She stared intently at me waiting for something. When I didn't respond, she added. "How would you feel if I was able to find a woman to keep you company while we were away. Probably not every day, but at least the weekends and possibly a couple of nights during the week?"

"What the fuck? You're going to act as my pimp? Find some hooker to keep me happy? Jesus Christ, Sherry. Are you bloody mad?"

She looked shocked at my vitriolic retort. "Clint, I am suggesting we, I mean, I, would find you some companionship, and no. Not a hooker."

"No thanks. If I want a date I'll find my own."

"Love, I merely thought I might be able to find somebody."

"Sherry, I can find my own dates. If I was interested in that, I would have done it myself. I'm not interested."

She slumped back against the sofa, and sipped her wine, her warm affectionate smile gone, replaced by a bitter scowl. "I should have expected that. You initially said you would consider all options with an open mind. I thought that if you had company, it would remove the jealousy aspect. We would both be having fun, much like when we were going to swap."

"Sherry, if we talked about it together, if we had planned it together, and it was something we were both comfortable with, then yeah, we could find a way to make it work. You coming home and dropping a bomb on me the way you did. No, I'm not interested. Yes, we can reopen the swinging conversation."

"The problem with that was always we could never find a couple we both liked. We could search forever to find a couple we both like. I think it's easier if we have an open relationship and we were both free to find our own partners."

"Yeah, fine. We can have that conversation, but it will take time and we need to establish some ground rules first."

"Like what?"

"If I remember correctly, when we talked about swapping, we had some rules. No friends, no work colleagues, no doing it here at home. Erin was never to know, always practice safe sex, and we must always be discreet. I think we both agreed with them."

"Yes, but things are different now."

"How so?"

"Well, after talking to Bill, I don't see how including somebody we work with is such a bad thing?"

"The reasons were pretty understandable, from my recall. We each spend a large proportion of our time at work. You for instance would spend more time with Bill than you do with me. You work ten hour days. You would be with him a lot. He would want sex regularly. It wouldn't be just a one off sexual encounter."

She sighed unhappily, her eyes rolled back. "I think you're just putting up walls making it impossible to happen."

"No, I'm simply thinking it through. I love you, Sherry, and as much as broadening our sexual boundaries is concerned. I'm okay with that. I don't want to lose you, though. I love you and want to live my life with you. If you start an affair with Bill, I'm afraid it will be more than just sex. Especially now that I know his own marriage is shot."

"Sweetheart, his marriage is fine. He loves Michelle, and she loves him. All he's looking for is sex. He's not searching for a replacement."

"You say that now. But what happens when you're sneaking away from work every day for sex? It becomes more than sex. It becomes an affair. He can say whatever he likes. I think you would quickly become a bigger part of his life. Emotions would be involved."

Again the deep unhappy sigh. She stood up and grabbed my empty beer bottle. "Would you like another? I certainly need one."

As she went to walk away, she turned to stare at me, and this time it was warm, and deeply loving. "Clint, I have always loved you. I love you now more than ever. The swapping, that was your idea. I never liked it, but we talked it through and you convinced me to try it. What angers me here is you won't open your mind and explore possibilities with me. I love you, I'm not looking to replace you either. I just see it as a little fun. Golly, Bill, is hardly somebody you should be jealous of."

"That's what surprised me. What the fuck do you see in him?"

"I like him because he's fun. He makes me laugh. He's been amazingly supportive and helpful. He didn't have to mentor me, but he did. I found I like him; he's charming, intelligent. Most of all, he's got this wonderful openness. He's prepared to take on new challenges."

We sat back with our drinks in quiet. Erin came bundling out with her laptop. All she wanted to talk about was a new computer. She sat between us scrolling through tech pages. She was a smart kid, and she knew how to get what she wanted.

In bed that night, the intimacy returned with a fiery passion. We didn't so much make love, as Sherry fucked me. She took control and let herself go completely.

When she was like that, it was impossible to remain neutral or even controlled.

Her sexuality was what attracted me to her in the first place. We had both had several partners when we met. Sherry, though, was a level above the other girls I had been with. Where they were reserved and unaware, Sherry loved sex and she held nothing back. We tried everything. The other girls were happy to give blowjobs, but Sherry didn't just suck cock. She adored it, idolised it. What's more she swallowed, god damn. None of the other girls were prepared to do it.

Sex was an adventure for us. We tried everything. She loved receiving oral as much as giving it. That meant me learning to take instructions, which she was happy to provide.

We quickly learned what we did and didn't like. She was vocal, and loud. I loved how expressive and free she was. Sex wasn't merely procreation. It was for pleasure and fun.

That night she stunned me with her ferocity. It had been quite a while since we had enjoyed a night like that.

The next day, she rang me at work. "Clint, Bill and Michelle have invited us for dinner again. I don't want to say no. Can we please go?"

It was against my better judgement, but I agreed. It was going to be impossible to maintain any separation from them. Not unless I could get her to switch companies.

We walked into their home at six. Michelle, greeted us at the door and welcomed us in. Bill waited by the door, placing a glass of whisky in my hand. We sat on their rear deck enjoying the evening. We talked generalities for a while but the tension built gradually until Bill Said.

"I wanted to get you both around so I could apologise, Clint. I want us to remain friends. I know I acted disrespectfully. I want to put that in the past if we can?"

"Yeah, no worries. I accept your apology."

"Excellent." Michelle stated. "I am so glad to hear that." She glanced at me, and I saw a vulnerability creep in. "You might not realise this Clint. I struggle with people. Unlike Sherry, I don't have a wide circle of friends. I am not the gregarious outgoing life of the party. I am reserved, introverted. Sherry is perhaps my closest friend, and I hate the thought that it could be destroyed."

It was a very frank revealing statement. Much deeper than anything we had ever shared. "I see no reason why your relationship should be soured," I remarked.

"For us to be friends, it relies on you and Bill also being friends. Otherwise, little dinner parties like this could never happen. That's why I suggested this get together. A chance to clear the air, rebuild the foundations which seem a little shaky. We need to be able to share emotions."

I felt a tight knot forming in my stomach. Was she the woman Sherry had talked about the previous night? Fucking hell. I swallowed a lump that didn't want to go down. Peeking at her. She had once been an attractive woman, but she was much older than me. She was cold, unfriendly. I could never have sex with her. God no.

As she talked, I pleaded silently. "Please don't suggest a swap... Please...

Thankfully, she said, "Sherry, would you like to help me serve. Let the boys chat for a while?"

They both left, and Bill, leaned forward. His elbows resting on his knees. "Clint, I'm glad we have this chance to talk. Let me apologise for acting in poor judgement."

"It's okay, we can move forward."

"No, I need to put things straight. I should never have approached Sherry without first talking to you. It was blasted rude of me. All I can say in my defence is Sherry is a very vibrant woman, very sexual. The flirting and teasing got to me, I'm afraid. So I do need to apologise."

"I said forget it. It's in the past now."

"Clint, I want to be brutally honest. I still very much want to follow through. My sex life here at home is non-existent. I want sex, I need it, just like any other red blooded man."

"Whoa, hold on a minute, mate. Are you saying you're going to keep pursuing Sherry?"

"No, pursuing is the wrong word. I like Sherry, a lot. I don't want an affair. I'm not looking to replace Michele. Her failings aside, I love her dearly. All I am searching for is an occasional sex partner. Somebody I like, somebody discreet. When Sherry told me you tossed around ideas of wife swapping, it made me think: she would be my perfect partner."

"Fucking hell, man. You're talking about my wife, for fuck's sake."

"Yes, I'm well aware, Clint. Tonight was to offer you reassurance. Nothing will happen between Sherry and I. Not unless you change your mind. I do not want a broken marriage on my conscience."

"You're confusing me, Bill. One moment you're telling me you want to fuck her. The next you're saying it's not happening?"

"Sorry, Clint. Let me try and be a little more succinct. Perhaps this will make it easier. I will make you a promise. I will not attempt anything sexually with Sherry unless it is with your complete approval."

I nodded slowly. "I can live with that. So long as you keep your word, we'll be fine."

He reached his hand across the low table, and we shook hands.

The girls returned with some nibbles, and fresh drinks. The rest of the evening, passed pleasantly. Bill and Sherry, talked shop, and he stressed how close she was to making sales person of the year.

Michelle and I talked school. Their son James, was in his third year of University.

On the drive home Sherry who was a little tipsy, giggled. "Thank you for tonight. It was nice, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, very."

I felt her hand caressing my dick, through my pants. "What are you doing?" I asked nervously.

"You just focus on the road. Let me worry about what I'm doing." Her hand moved along the length of my now growing erection. She squeezed, and caressed. Rubbed firmly stroking it wilfully.

When I felt the zipper going south I gasped. "Hey, bloody hell Sherry."

She giggled again as she leaned across the centre console. "Just drive, Clint. Stop overthinking."

She climbed up, kneeling on her seat, her head in my lap, her hot wet mouth engulfing my cock. Up and down her wet mouth slid. Her tongue swirling bathing the head with her luscious lips.

She glanced up at me, grabbed my left hand off the steering wheel and placed it on her bum. I took the hint, and lifting the hem of her dress, I slipped my hand into her cotton panties, my finger sliding down into the folds of her fanny. Already slick and lubricious.

My finger found her clit, swollen and twitching beneath my caress, then sliding back along her slippery crevice. My fingers found a new home in her burning moist vagina.

My assault on her personal sex increased her desire, her head bobbing up and down, my cock plunging in and out of her sucking vacuum-like mouth. She fucked me with those libidinous lips, her mouth fiery and passionate. She sucked furiously, her hand working down to caress and fondle my balls.

"Fucking hell, Sherry. You're going to kill us both."

She climbed up, her mouth wet with saliva crashed into mine, the kiss volatile and alive, her tongue rampant.

I pulled up at traffic lights to turn right. A car pulled up on the inside, and I saw a look of shock on the driver's face as Sherry's naked arse stared him in the face, my fingers fucking her in time with her mouth, as she sucked me off.

"You know there's a guy in the next lane staring at your arse at the moment."

Surprisingly, she barely stopped, lifting her mouth off my cock for the barest moment, to say, "Is he beating off?"

"Could be, the light just went green and he's just parked there, eyes glued on my fingers in your fanny."

"Kinky bastard," she mumbled, her mouth full of my dick.

The horn honking behind me brought me out of my trance, and I drove off, the other guy, still parked there.

We were now only ten minutes from home, but I wasn't sure I could last. When her probing finger prodded at my bum hole, I exploded into her gasping mouth.

"Fuck." I screamed into the night air. She sucked harder, her arse grinding on my hand, her pussy now sodden, my fingers sloshing in her sex.

"Ahhh," she cried out around my dwindling shaft.

I pulled the car to a halt in front of the garage, she lifted her mouth to mine and we kissed passionately.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"For being you. God I love you, Clint Mc Cloud. I love you so much. Tonight you were so wonderful. Thank you for being understanding."

We made love again in bed, this time slower, more lovemaking than fucking.

The next few nights were similar, our marriage seemingly on steadier ground.

*****

I got a surprise when she sent me a text. "Please don't be late tonight. We have a guest."

"I'll try, but no promises. Busy day here."

I arrived home, and there was a strange car in the driveway. I noticed it was emblazoned with her company logo. So it was clearly somebody from work. Although it definitely wasn't Bill's.

I barely had the door open, and she was in my arms. "Hey sweetheart." She kissed me, grabbed my jacket and bag. "Go into the lounge. There's somebody I want you to meet."

Fear shivered through my body, uncertainty driving my emotions. When I walked into the dining room, there was a woman sitting nursing a glass of wine. A slightly older woman, attractive in a pleasant way rather than striking.

Sherry rushed along beside me. "Clint, this is Alicia. She works out in the Chartwell branch."

She stood to greet me, her hand outstretched. "Hello, Clint, nice to meet you. Sherry has told me so much about you. I feel like we are already friends."

"Sit by Alicia, love. I'll get you a drink. Would you prefer beer, or wine? The Merlot is very nice, and we are having beef."

"Wine would be nice," I replied, although I sat in my usual spot, at the head of the table.

"Are you in sales, or property management?" I asked.

She smiled, her face lighting up, her eyes sparkling. "Sales, although I have been helping with property management. Our office isn't as large as Sherry's. We have limited resources."

"Yeah, got it. Are you local?"

"Chartwell, on the outskirts, more on the Gordonton side."

Sherry returned with drinks and carrying the bottle. She was right, it was nice, brisk and enveloping. She sat opposite Alicia and glanced at me. "Alicia, has only recently divorced. I thought it would be nice to invite her for dinner."

"Right, I see." I replied, wondering why she opened with that. "I hope it wasn't acrimonious?"

She shook her head slowly. "No, nothing nefarious. We simply grew apart. Neil wanted to sit at home, watch sports on TV, play with his model helicopters and stagnate. I wanted different things. We had been married a long time; we simply drifted apart."

"That's sad, how long have you been separated?"

"Four months. It's horrid. Our friends don't know who to side with. It's not a lot of fun."

"Never mind, perhaps you'll find somebody new. More in line with your needs."

"Oh god no," she spluttered. "I'm not looking for a partner. I need some time alone. I want to enjoy it. I'm struggling at the moment, just to sort out what I do want."

We all sipped our wine, a silence cloaking us in it's density. "Alicia is my competition for sales person of the year. She's actually in front, but I'm closing on her," Sherry said.

Alicia shocked me, when from nowhere, she said, "It's sex I miss the most. I don't want to start a new relationship, but god I need sex."

Sherry laughed loudly. "I can imagine. I couldn't live without it. I know where you're coming from."

"There's always Tinder." I threw in.

"No, not for me. I want sex, but I need some degree of certainty. One of the girls showed me how it worked, but I was horrified."

"Oh well, go down the tavern. Bound to be a bunch of single blokes down there."

"I'm horny, not desperate, Clint. I want to focus on my career. Now that Neil is gone, I need to make sure I can finance my dreams. No, what I'm looking for is a nice man who wants a little no strings attached sex from time to time."

Bingo... The coin finally dropped. Sherry was playing matchmaker. This was the woman she talked about when she said she'd find me somebody. Sneaky fucking bitch...

"Oh well, I'm sure you'll find somebody. You must meet a lot of blokes selling houses. In fact, Bill, Sherry's boss, is looking for the same thing. You should talk to him," I stated.

"Clint! "Sherry gasped in horror. "Why did you say that?"

"It makes sense. Bill's in a sexless marriage, Alicia here, is horny. The two of them would be perfect for each other."

"Clint, that is Bill's private information. You have no right to share it." Sherry snorted uneasily.

"I'm sure you've already heard it, haven't you Alicia?" She glanced red-faced at Sherry, then the table, then back at me, her eyes narrowing, evaluating, assessing.

Sherry jumped up to bring out the warm bread rolls. We all took one and enjoyed the bite of the garlic and sweet chilli.

Over dinner, the conversation turned to the more mundane, and I took the opportunity to assess Alicia more closely. Ten years older, I guessed from the conversation. Her sons, both in their first year at Uni. She carried it well. Her hairstyle was trendy, framed her face nicely. Her eyes, although carrying the ravages of age, sparkled in the light.

Her skin not as smooth as it once was. Her figure was trim: skinny probably a better description. Her clothes fitted well, but there weren't a lot of curves. Her cleavage was enticing without being in your face. Probably one of those push up bras.

We finished the meal with the conversation flowing reasonably.

After dinner, I excused myself. "I'll leave you girls to gossip. I have some work to do. Nice to meet you Alicia."

She nodded. "Likewise."

I wandered off to the spare room which we both used as an office. Opening up my emails, I was surprised when Sherry popped her head in. "What are you doing, Come back out and chat with Alicia."

"No, you girls obviously have things to talk about. You carry on, but if you make coffee, I wouldn't say no."

"Clint, don't be an arse. I invited her home so you could meet her."

Leaning back in my chair, I linked my fingers in my lap. "She's your friend, Sherry. You don't need my approval."

"Clint, stop it. I brought her home so you could get to know her. She's lovely, isn't she?"

"Sherry, I don't understand where you're going with this. She is your friend. She seems friendly enough. A little older than most of your friends, but pleasant enough."

"Were you listening when she said she was looking for no strings attached sex?" she answered, her voice laden with frustration.

"Yes, it's why I suggested Bill. They're looking for the same thing. They're the same age, I'm guessing. They would be perfect for each other."

"Jesus..." She slammed the door and disappeared back to the dining room. I sighed to myself. Sneaky bitch. She was indeed trying to set me up. Alicia did seem nice, and if the circumstances were different, I might have been interested. At least she wanted sex...

It was an hour or so later when Sherry, opened the door. "Alicia's gone. I'm going to bed. Are you coming?"

"No, It's just the way I'm sitting."

She growled, and walked up the hall.

She was already in bed when I climbed in. Nothing was said for a few moments, then she rolled towards me, nestling up against me. "Alicia is lovely, isn't she?"

"Seems very nice. I'm sure you will become fast friends."

"She's very pretty, don't you think?" Her hand slid down my stomach and lifted my dick, weighing it, caressing and squeezing it gently.

"No, pretty isn't how I would have described her. She is holding it together for a woman her age. Although, she is starting to show the signs."

"Rubbish, she is very attractive. I would kill for her figure. I'm blasted envious, actually." Her hand continued to stroke and caress, my dick fattening in her hand.

"She is not in your league Sherry. You have nothing to be envious of. Her clothes hung loosely, she had no tits, her hair is greying. I think you're safe."

She dropped my dick, and flopped back on her pillow. "You are just being mean. I thought she was very attractive. She won't be on the market long."

"No, I suppose you're right. She's single, there's bound to be some older bachelors that'd love a piece of that. She'd be right up Bill's alley."

"Why do you keep saying that, Clint?"

"Because it's true. They both want no strings attached sex. Perfect."

"Bill isn't looking, you might remember; he has found somebody." She smirked, and her hand found it's way back around my dick. "I was thinking, she would be perfect for you. She likes you, and she's available."

"She also knows I'm married."

"I may have hinted that we had an open marriage. Which is why she was interested."

"Why did you tell her that? It's not bloody true."

"Clint, we talked about this. I think the only reason you're pissed off about Bill and me is you'd be missing out. It's a plain and simple case of jealousy. If you opened your eyes, Alicia is a very attractive woman. Who is interested in you."

"But I'm not interested in her. She might be attractive for somebody a bit older. Not for me. Remember back to the swapping days. You don't know what I like."

"You didn't find her even a little bit enticing?"

"Nah, she didn't do it for me."

"Oh bugger, that's disappointing. I thought she was perfect for you."

Her hand, had completed it's task. My cock throbbed manfully in her hand. She stroked it confidently, smoothly. She leaned closer kissing me, her leg sliding over my body. Her pussy taking over what her hand started. Her tongue ravaged my mouth, her passion growing quickly.

Like a rodeo rider, she gripped tight and bucked up and down her her hand between us as she diddled her clit. My hands massaged her glorious globes of awesomeness. Full and succulent. Her nipples proud and erect.

Her orgasm arrived quickly, her body shuddering and trembling as her pussy sucked wantonly on my cock.

Over the next few days, Sherry kept pushing and pushing. For the love of me, I didn't know what it was about Bill that attracted her, but she wanted it.

I was getting sick of hearing about it. She went on and on, and I guess it chipped away at my ego. I tried to understand what it was that irritated me so much. She might have been right. I didn't care about her having sex with somebody else. We went through all those emotions when we discussed swinging.

So, I had to ask. Was it my insecurities? Was it because it was Bill, or was it simply jealousy? I never considered myself the jealous type. Well, up till that moment in time, anyway.

Over the weekend, we caught up on some jobs around the house. That night after a few drinks, Sherry started on again. "Clint, tell me why you don't want me to go with him? Give me a logical reason?"

Maybe it was the beer, maybe I was sick of arguing, maybe it was the frantic passionate sex we'd been enjoying. I can't explain it, but I said. "Sherry, if you still want to fuck the old bastard, just do it okay. I'm sick of arguing about it. Christ I don't know what you see in him. Has he got a big dick or something?"

Taken aback, she stiffened beside me. "What did you say?"

"I said if you want to do it, just do it."

"And you will be all right?"

"Truthfully I don't know. It doesn't feel right to me, but if you're so hell bent on it, just do it."

She leaned in close and kissed me. Her mouth soft and compliant, inquiring. "Thank you, my sexy man. You won't regret it. I will totally make it up to you when I get back. That I promise."

She giggled sexily. "By the way. He hasn't got a big dick, no bigger than yours anyway."

"And how do you know that?"

She sniggered, "I had a little feel when we were flirting. A girl has to know these things."

"Right, and did he get to have a feel as well?"

She shook her head. "No, not yet, but I'm looking forward to when he does."

After that day, she went mad, Visits to the hair salon, the beauty parlour for a wax and shine. It had been a while since her pussy was that smooth. It felt nice, no pubic hair when I went down on her.

Shopping for new clothes. A bikini, which I didn't really want to tell her looked out of place. She carried a little too much flesh around her thighs to pull off a micro bikini. If she had been going with me, I would have hidden it, or built the courage to tell her. Seeing as how she was going with Bill. I decided I didn't care. People wouldn't be laughing at me.

The night before she flew out, we made love with a passionate ferocity that bellied our age. Afterwards, she cuddled up close. "Are you sure about this Clint? I don't want to come home to find you angry and our marriage in trouble."

"Sherry, I don't know. I tried to explain it to you. I said go, and I meant it. What I can't guarantee is how I'll deal with it. All I can say is. I'll hopefully be okay. If not we'll have to work through it. I will be reserving my rights to play my own card when and if I meet somebody."

She nodded. "Of course, You know Alicia is still interested. She really liked you, and was a little disappointed when you showed no interest. I felt sorry for her that night. She felt completely rejected. You were mean to her."

"That was your fault. You could have got around her discomfort simply by being honest with me. You could have shown me a picture, and I would have told you not to invite her around. Saved us all some embarrassment."

"I thought you would like her. She's nice. I'm sorry. I should have told you." We snuggled together, and she said. "You realise, tomorrow night. It will be Bill's cock fucking me... His mouth on my pussy... His cock in my mouth."

"Yeah, don't worry. I know."

"Does it excite you?"

"No, not in the least. What you two get up to is none of my business."

"You don't want even some small titillating details, like how his tongue feels in my pussy?"

"Nah, don't wanna hear it."

*****

It was an uneasy feeling the next morning. We had talked this thing to death, but here she was actually going through with it.

I was getting ready for work, she scurried around beside me, making my breakfast. Her nervousness was clear. She wouldn't stop talking. "I'll call you as soon as we arrive."

"No rush, you do what you gotta do."

I sat down with my usual cereal and toast. She was in panic mode, running through her list. Phone, charger, laptop, purse, passport.

Strangely, she came to stand behind me. Her arms draping over my shoulders, her mouth nuzzling my ear. "Clint, be honest with me. Are you okay with all this? You have to tell me now."

"Sherry, I've told you over and over. No, I'm not comfortable with this. All I said was, if you're gonna do it, then do it. We'll sort the rest of the shit out afterwards."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, I said go. I just can't make any promises about what tomorrow will bring. It's either going to be okay, or it's not. It's up to you to make the judgement call."

"Buggeration, Clint. Now I'm scared."

"Then don't go."

She screwed up her nose, in a cute little scowl. "You want me to stay?"

"Of course I want you to stay. Jesus, how many times do I have to say it? What I don't want is for you to stay, and then hold shit against me forever. That might actually be worse. This is a one time thing. I hope you get it all out of your system and we can go back to life as usual."

"What happens if you can't handle it?"

"I dunno. I'll probably tell you to quit your job, never talk to that arsehole again. I might get bitter and twisted. Shit I might walk out and never come back. I'm fucked if I know."

She leaned down, and we shared a kiss. It was as always, a ball buster. Our whole bodies melted into it. "I love you, Clint."

"Yeah, I love you as well."

After breakfast, I collected my shit for work and said. "Have fun."

I knew their flight left at twelve, and it made my day shit. Should I call her and tell her not to go? It was a lot to think about. In the end, I decided, fuck it. We had rolled the dice. Guess we'd see where they landed."

At home that night. I made dinner, it was pretty quiet. Erin, asked if she could spend the weekend with her friend. That suited me, I didn't really feel like listening to Erin, talking about how Mum was getting on at her conference.

I had to drive her over to her friends' place, so I took a detour back through town. Pubs aren't really my scene, but I didn't feel like going home to an empty house to mope around. I didn't feel like going down to the local either. Too many mates, and they'd all ask about where Sherry was.

It was a spur of the moment decision. I saw a car pull out from the curb, opening up a car park, and I pulled in.

I walked into the front bar and instantly regretted it. One of those stupid decisions. I felt more alone than if I'd been in an empty room. Fuck it. I was here, may as well grab a beer. The prices were horrendous, but I picked up my beer and headed for a table. Glancing around the room, I was pretty much the odd one out. The place was full of trendy students and young people looking for a good time.

Leaning back against the bar, I did a little crowd watching. There sure were a lot of very sexy young women. God the place was full of them. I felt a bit like a pervy stalker. I almost licked my lips.

"Fancy meeting you in here." I heard the voice, but didn't recognise the owner. Turning, I found Alicia.

"Hi." I mumbled unintelligently.

"Long way from home," she said questioningly.

"I had to drop Erin, my daughter, off at a friend's house for a sleepover. Decided I needed a drink."

"Fair enough, wouldn't have thought this was your scene."

"Nah, it was just one of those split second decisions. Car pulls out, and you take the spot. What about you? Long way from Chartwell."

"I was with some friends. Celebrating a sale."

I glanced around, seeing no one near bye. "Left you on your own huh?"

"Yeah, something like that. Where's Sherry?"

"You know bloody well where she is. Let's not play games, Alicia. I'm pretty sure she told you all about her little scheme."

She smirked, not even bothering to hide her giggle. "Yes, you got me. I'm sorry okay."

"How did she con you into coming around home that night?" I asked. "What did she promise you?"

With a casual shrug, she replied. "There was no con job, Clint. Sherry, and I became quite friendly over the last six months or so. She confided in me about her and Bill. I knew she was married, and asked if you knew. That's when she told me that you weren't all that happy. While we talked, I suggested to her that you might be a little more accepting if you had company. She showed me some photos of you, and I said if she was okay with it. I was interested."

"Holy shit. You're as bad as her."

"Oh, I can be very bad. Similarly to Sherry, I like Bill, and after meeting you, I was definitely hopeful you would have been interested and might have wanted to take me up on my offer."

As I waved to the barman, I checked her out. Dressed in a trendy cocktail dress that showed a lot of leg, and a plunging neckline. She looked entirely different from the night at home. She looked very nice. I ordered us both refreshment drinks, and she sniggered. "Like what you see?"

She had clearly seen my appraising glances. "Yes, very much."

"Funny, you didn't seem at all interested the other night at your house."

"At home, I was pissed off. I felt like I was being manipulated and forced into something. I can be a pig-headed shit sometimes."

"I noticed. Have you heard from Sherry?"

"Nah, she said she was going to call, but they're probably to busy fucking each others brains out."

She laughed softly replying. "Makes sense, I'd probably do the same."

"Fuck, what is it with you women and fucking Bill. Has he got a big one or something?"

She laughed outrageously. "Dummy, I didn't mean Bill, specifically. I was referring to the situation. On holiday with your lover. I would have been straight to bed."

"Bloody hell. You're straight to the point."

"Clint, I was married for a long time. I never once cheated on my husband, but god I wanted to. He completely lost interest in sex. The last five years of our marriage, I think we made love less than ten times. It's like he just gave up. I tried everything I could think of: lingerie, dirty movies, pillow talk. Nothing. For whatever reason, he just lost interest."

"I'm sorry, Alicia, that must have been hard."

"Awful, I hated it. If I'd dressed up as a bloody helicopter I might have had more success. I had a lot of offers from men. You might not thinks so, but some men find me attractive." I wondered exactly how much of what I told Sherry she shared with Alicia?

"Oh, you most definitely are that. Every bloke in here would happily take you home."

She stared at me querulously. "Every man?"

"Yeah, every single one."

She smirked again, and it totally changed her. She looked sexy and cute. When she smiled, her face lit up. "You better buy me another drink then."

I ordered two more drinks, and she said. "Your place, or mine?"

"Yours, I'm not sure if my daughter will be home in the morning."

"Clint, I'm not looking for a husband. I don't want to break up your marriage. All I'm looking for is some fun, some sex and some company occasionally."

"Sounds marvellous."

"Are you sure it's not just you getting back at Sherry?"

"She will never know, if that's your preference. I'm not looking for a revenge fuck."

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Yeah, fire away."

"If casual sex doesn't worry you, why were you so angry about Sherry and Bill?"

"I think she was partly right. I was jealous, but there was more to it. I was pissed off that she sprung it on me. Almost ultimatum like. If she'd approached me and asked me about whether I wanted to explore our marriage boundaries again, I would have been open to it."

"So you were pissed that she was getting some?"

"Yeah, I can be honest. Jealousy was part of it."

She nodded. "By the way. I don't want to be creeping around behind my friends back. So you may as well tell her, because I'm going to."

"Fair enough. That is my preference as well. I hate secrets. They destroy relationships."

"All right, Clint, lets talk honestly. Sherry mentioned when I asked her why you didn't show any interest. She said you didn't find me attractive. Why now?"

"I told you before, and I was being honest. I can be very stubborn. I hate to be forced or told what to do. I said those things, not because I wasn't attracted to you, but, to piss off Sherry. I didn't expect her to share them with you."

"You don't think I'm to old for you then?"

"No, I think you are a very sexy woman, who is clearly at the peak of her sexuality."

"But, I'm so skinny," she said teasingly.

"I said that to piss off Sherry. You have an amazing body, which I'm hoping I will get a chance to explore later. I'm also careful about what I say to Sherry. Regardless of what she says, she is very self-conscious regarding her figure. She can be very jealous."

Two more drinks, and it was obvious I wasn't driving anywhere. We found a taxi, and snuggled together in the back seat. Her body felt alien. The first time I had been this intimate with another woman in fifteen years. When she leaned in close, and her head tilted. Our mouths met in a soft questioning kiss. It was light, a gentle caress, her lips moist, tasting of her pineapple vodka. Her tongue slithered across mine, slowly seductively. Our bodies pressing together.

Her hand slid up my shirt, across my chest, coming to rest on the side of my face. Her fingers moved slowly, caressing, stroking.

I let mine fall onto her leg, squeezing her just above the thigh. Her skin felt smooth, soft like silk. Her legs parted invitingly, my hand sliding ever upwards. It was becoming increasingly uncomfortable. My dick was as hard as steel, and it was getting crushed by her leg.

"My, you are excited." She giggled, as her hand stroked over the uncomfortable bulge.

Her house was a nice duplex in a fairly new development. We stumbled in through the front door. Clothes falling by the way side as we went. By the time we fell onto her plush bed. We were naked. Her beautiful little breasts filling my mouth. Her pussy swollen and slippery grasped my fingers. Her sticky gooey juices coating my hand.

I wanted to taste her, feel her pussy on my face, her clit wiggling under my tongue, but she was in a hurry. She rolled onto her back, pulling me up between her legs. My cock sunk deep into her depths in one agonising thrust. My balls crushed against her arse.

"Oh god, that feels so good." she breathed into my mouth. "Fuck me."

As if I was capable of anything else. I moved slowly, my thrusts long and purposeful, then quicker, more urgent, her panting breaths urging me on. Her mouth moved, biting down hard on my shoulder, her arms tight around my neck.

The gentleness dissolved into a furious frantic passionate fuck, her hips bucking against me. She met my every thrust with one of her own. God, it was going to be over in seconds, and I could do nothing to stop it.

My cum boiled, erupting, shooting stream after sticky stream into her convulsing sex.

Usually, I would be done, but I felt her urgency, her hunger. She was close herself. I kept thrusting pushing deeper and harder. "Yes," she cried out. "Don't stop."

Her orgasm was cataclysmic. Her whole body shuddered violently: a starving animal eating for the first time in years.

Afterward, we lay together. "Wow, that was incredible." I sighed intently.

The morning found me scampering around, getting showered and dressed. "What's the rush?" she asked.

"I have to get to my daughter's netball game. It starts at eleven."

"Oh, drat. I was hoping we could spend the weekend together."

"I can come back. She's staying with friends. I promised I would be there to watch. The representative selectors are going to be there. She's an outside chance of making the squad."

"Wow, you better go then. We could go out for dinner somewhere?"

"Love to. I could be back by three, if everything goes well."

We kissed salaciously before she drove me into town to pick up my car. The game was awesome. Erin played her heart out. I watched the selectors standing in a tight huddle on the half-way line, each selector following a different player. I knew watching the game, she played exceptionally, and there was no doubt in my mind. She was going to get picked.

The vibe was one of expectancy. Erin came over to talk to me after the game, but we didn't say much. We both focused on the selectors.

When one of them strode purposefully towards us, I felt Erin grab my hand, and squeeze tightly. She needn't have worried. She made the squad. Her and one other girl.

Her friends gathered around and they formed a huddle bouncing up and down, squealing like the crazy teenage girls they were.

My job was to ferry them all to the pizza place and buy them lunch.

"Dad, I have to call Mum. Do you think she'll mind?"

"What, of course not. She'll be hanging out to hear how you got on." I passed her my phone, and I listened while she called Sherry.

"Mum, I made the team. I got selected." Even with the loudspeaker off, I heard Sherry crying out in joy, as well. They laughed and chatted for a bit before Erin passed me the phone. "Mum wants to talk to you."

"Oh my god, Clint. She made the team."

"Yeah, she played awesome."

"Oh my god, I missed it. Did you video it?"

"Sure did. Got as much as I could."

"Thank you. Blast, I should be there. Give her a kiss for me."

"Will do. How's the conference going?"

The phone went silent, I could hear her breathing. "Are you still there?" I asked.

"Yes, I'm still here. What do you want me to say?"

"I want the truth, that's why I asked."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"It's been so nice. The apartment is stunning. It's right on the beach. The restaurants are amazing, the suns shining. It's wonderful."

"Sweet, how's lover boy holding up?"

Again the silence. "He's been great, and it has been really nice."

"Good, have fun."

Before I hung up, she asked, "Wait... How have you been? I hope you haven't been sulking, getting moody."

"Nah, I went out for a beer after dropping Erin off last night. I'll call you later."

"I love you Clint. Thank you for, well, everything. Remember to give Erin, a big kiss from me."

After dropping Erin off at her friend's place, I drove back to Alicia's place. We decided on the local tavern for an evening meal. She was surprisingly easy to talk to. We discussed her marriage and how it had changed over the years. Her husband Neil apparently used to be a fun loving sort of guy, but after their sons left for Uni, he changed. She thought it was that he had lost his sense of who he was. Up till then, he had been the father, the bread winner, the one the boys needed.

With them gone he lost his sense of worth. Slipped back into his shell. Their divorce had been amicable, they split everything, and were at least still friends.

We talked about why Sherry, and I had decided on trying the swinging scene. I saw her frown, as she listened.

"Sorry, Clint, but I don't think swinging fixes marriages. I think you need a very strong marriage to get through it."

"Yeah, I think you're right. In the end we decided not to go through with it. We couldn't find a couple we both liked."

"Without sounding nosy, how did you end up in your current situation?"

With a shrug, I replied. "I dunno, to be honest. One day, out of the blue she said she was going off with Bill." It made me wonder, did Alicia know something. "Did she say anything to you?"

"No, never mentioned it, not until she obviously started arguing with you. We were friendly, without being close. One day we were talking and I mentioned that I needed to find somebody. That's when we started getting closer."

The meal was nice, and we slipped into a comfortable silence as the rattling of cutlery on crockery took centre stage. It was afterwards, she said.

"I'm not complaining. I like Sherry, and she did introduce us. I'm happy."

Back at her place we moved quickly into the bedroom, and we made love. It was a fast and furious end to the day, with a slower more delicious languid slide into the wee hours of the morning.

She showed me how much she liked to suck my dick, and I showed her how much I loved the taste of her fanny. We cuddled and kissed our way into the warm embrace of sleep.

Sunday, we did the usual things new lovers do. We walked around the University garden park. Went out for lunch. Did some shopping, and enjoyed a couple of the wonderful galleries lining Victoria street.

The evening was another expression of lustful passion. I guess Alicia had a lot to catch up on. Sherry and Bill never even crossed my mind.

Work, Monday morning was entirely different. Everything flooded my endorphin swamped brain. What was she up to, was she enjoying Bill as much as I did Alicia? That hurt, I know it sounds weak, but thinking she was having multiple orgasms, enjoying romance with him, felt like a stabbing pain...

I had to split my time between being the doting father, and horny lover. Luckily, Erin was happy to stay with friends. She loved the extra freedom she suddenly had. Normally we restricted her sleepovers during week days.

Alicia was happy, and we got along great. She was nothing like I expected. Our first meeting wasn't unpleasant, but I didn't see this side of her.

As the week drew to a close, and Sherry's Sunday return raced towards us. Alicia asked. "What happens when Sherry, gets back?"

"I'm not sure. I did say to her that this trip with Bill was a one off. I'm not living with her if she expects to see him again."

"But they work together."

"I know, don't worry, I bloody know. I'll be watching her like a hawk."

"What happens to us?" She asked, a look of anxiety spreading across her face.

"Alicia, you understood there was nothing ongoing between us. You were the one who said, no strings."

"I know, and I'm not trying to put any pressure on. I've just enjoyed our time together."

"Oh hell, me too. Holy fuck it's been amazing."

"Then why does it have to end?"

"Because, if I ask Sherry, to accept you and I. Then I have to accept her and Bill. I can't do that. I let her go on this stupid bloody trip in the hope she gets it out of her system. I want my life back the way it was."

"And you think that can happen while she and Bill work together?"

"No, not really, but I live in hope. He's an old bloke, I was sort of hoping he'd turn out to be a dud between the sheets, and she'd be over it."

She laughed. "Idiot, Bill's not that old. I don't know him that well, but I don't think he'd be a flop. I always got a positive vibe from him."

"Yeah, I know. Look I can't defend myself. I wasn't thinking clearly."

She giggled playfully, and gave me a hug. "Ah baby, I think you are setting yourself up for a world of pain. Have you thought about what you're going to say to her?"

"Nah, not really. Just that it has to be over, and I won't accept any sexual activity between the two of them."

She kissed me, the passion growing quickly. "I guess I better get my fill tonight, it might be a while."She attacked me ravenously. The woman was insatiable. I realised that it was the thing that she shared with Sherry. They both loved sex."

It was a sad day Sunday morning. I drove home, feeling lost. Alicia had been the amazing thing I needed to get me through this, now I was leaving her behind. That felt wrong. At home I threw myself into all the tasks I usually did during the week.

Erin came home and we charged into it. Sherry was due home about eight thirty that evening. I had promised to pick her up from the airport. When I arrived, the place was shrouded in thick fog, and the arrivals board flashed red. "FLIGHTS DELAYED."

I walked down to the information desk which was already crowded about five people deep. By the time I got to speak to somebody. I was told. No news. There was nothing to do but wait, and wait, and wait.

About ten that night, we were informed all flights had been detoured to Auckland.

There was nothing for it. I had to drive up to Auckland. I should have stopped at home and picked up her car. I had brought my old pickup, because I did a dump run that afternoon.

Just after midnight, I got a phone call. "Hey Love, where are you?"

"Abut twenty minutes away. I'll meet you at the front doors. Save me paying for parking."

"God, what a flight. Sorry Clint. It must be horrible for you as well."

"Yeah, the roadworks have been shit. The whole southern motorway is being widened. Don't think I got over ten Kilometres per hour from Drury on."

"Sorry Love. Meet you out front. Can't wait to hold you in my arms. I love you."

I pulled up outside and saw her standing close together with Bill, their luggage piled up in front of them.

She rushed into my arms as I got out. "Why are you in the pickup?"

"I did a tip run, and it was in the driveway. I wasn't expecting to have to drive to Auckland. By the time I found out you'd been diverted. I was already late. No time to drive home and change vehicles."

We kissed, and I lifted her luggage into the back. Bill, held out his hand. "Hello Clint. Nice to see you."

I ignored him. Weirdly the drive up had hardened my anger towards him. How dare he pretend to be my friend, then seduce my wife. The guy was an arsehole. I held the door open for Sherry, and she gave me a strange scowling glare. "We'll have to give Bill, a lift. His car is stuck at Hamilton airport."

"There's no room." The pickup was old, not a full dual cab. It was what was called, a cab and a half. The back seat was okay for kids, but not adults. Plus, I had all sorts of shit stacked on the back seat.

When Sherry looked in she sighed. "We'll have to put all that stuff in the back."

Bill stood there trying to look the other way while we talked. "Sherry, there's no room. He can catch a cab, or bus it."

"Clint, I'm not leaving him standing here. It's after midnight."

Fuming I grabbed his bag and threw it roughly in the tray. Then I cleaned out half of the back seat leaving him barely enough room to sit, with his knees up around his chin.

As we drove off heading for the motorway. Bill, leaned forward between the seats. "Thanks for the lift, Clint."

I merely grunted a response, and he slumped back. Sherry gave me a scathing glare, before trying to pick up something resembling conversation, asking. "How have you been?"

"Fine." I snapped curtly.

Sensing my anger, she tried to defuse it. "How was Erin's, first practice with the rep squad?"

"Fine." I replied grumpily.

That was it. Not another word was spoken. Three hours of utter silence. Complete bitter uncomfortable darkness. The atmosphere got heavier with every Kilometre driven. I pulled up outside his house, got out and threw his luggage on the driveway. I think Sherry was going to get out as well, but I jumped back in and drove off noisily.

"Clint, I was about to say goodbye."

"Fuck him."

"Oh my god. What's got into you?"

"Sherry, I agreed to your trip. It's over, done and dusted. From now on. Everything goes back to normal. As far as I'm concerned. That was as we discussed. A one time deal. It's over. You are now nothing more than work colleagues. Got it."

I glared angrily at her, and I saw the shock. She obviously wasn't expecting my anger or vitriol.

"I know what we agreed Clint. I didn't expect you to behave like a nasty rude caveman. Would it have hurt you to be at least polite to Bill. Gosh, I hope you didn't break anything. His laptop was in that bag."

"Tough. I figured it out on the drive up to Auckland. At home, I didn't get it, but it came to me about Rangariri. He's a fucking arsehole. He pretended to be my friend, but all the time he was seducing my wife. Friends don't do that Sherry. Friends don't fuck over their friends."

"Oh god, here we go. Look Clint, he is still our friend. Okay, it's a little more than friends now, but you agreed to this."

"Yeah, I did. It's done now. Finished, over, done and dusted. We go back to the way things were. We never talk about this last week ever again."

"Good lord. Couldn't we have just said hello, cuddled and talked before you blew everything up?"

"Nah, I wasn't expecting to have to chauffeur the guy who spent the last week fucking my wife. He could have got a fucking taxi Sherry. You must have seen that I didn't want him to go with us."

"I didn't expect that. I thought you were just tired from the drive."

"No, I told you before you left. I didn't know how I was going to handle this. Turns out not so well."

She tried to lean over for a kiss. I held my hand up and pushed her back. "Sorry, I don't know where those lips have been. We can catch up after you've had a shower and brushed your teeth."

"Good god. Are you crazy? We just spent five hours on that blasted flight."

"Yeah, who knows what dirty shit you got up to. You probably joined the mile high club."

"Oh my god. You have flipped. You have totally lost it."

"Say whatever you want."

The rest of the drive was completed in silence. At home I got undressed and went straight to bed. Sherry, clearly exhausted from the flight, climbed into bed beside me. She tried to snuggle, but I pushed her away. "No shower, no cuddles."

"Fuck you can be a stupid bastard," she growled. "I've been dying to get home to you and climb into your arms. All I dreamed about on that flight from hell was being held by you. That's all I wanted, and you give me this. Well, fuck you, Clint."

She rolled to the edge of her bed.

The morning was awkward. Erin had thousands of questions about Sherry's conference. Did she go on the cable car, did she visit government buildings, were they affected by the storm?

Sherry, was caught unexpectedly in her lie. She stumbled along, making up excuses about how busy she had been. Erin looked confused. I have to say, even I hadn't paid attention to the news. A storm had cut power to the capital, and the whole city had been plunged into darkness.

Breakfast was uncomfortable. I was only a block away when my phone buzzed. "Clint, my car has a flat battery. I think I may have left the inside light on. Can you come back and give it a jump?"

That fucked my day, and I was late for my own meeting, It made the day worse. Walking in the door at home, I was already in a nasty mood. Erin and Sherry were in the kitchen getting dinner. Erin and I shared a hug; Sherry and I exchanged hellos, but it was cold. If Erin hadn't been there, there would have been no conversation at all.

I grabbed a beer, and flopped in front of the TV. I stayed there until dinner. The meal was nice, Sherry and Erin chatted, but I sat grumpily through it.

With Erin, off in her room, and the clearing up complete. Sherry, came and sat with me in the lounge. "I talked to Bill, he was really angry with you for the way you carried on yesterday. He agrees, the trip was a one off."

I sniggered, irritation driving my snarkiness. "He agrees does he? Let me tell you, Sherry. He had no fucking say in it. He's nothing but a sleazy disgusting piece of dog shit on my boot. You're damn right it's over. As I said yesterday, we will never speak of it again."

"Clint, I brought you a gift while I was over there. Do you want it?"

"Nah, give it to Erin, or throw it in the bin."

She stood quickly and stormed away, growling and grumbling under her breath.

The next few days were much the same. It took until Thursday before the atmosphere at home had thawed enough for even a mildly friendly conversation.

Over dinner, Sherry said casually, "Bill and Michelle, have invited us to dinner Friday night. It's nothing special, they are having a few friends over for a pot luck dinner."

I never replied, I saw out of the corner of my eye, she chewed nervously on her bottom lip. "I don't have to go, do I mum?" Erin, grumbled.

"No dear, you don't," Sherry replied. Turning to me she asked. "Can I tell them we will be there?"

"No, I have to work late Friday. Another time perhaps."

"It doesn't start until seven thirty. How late were you planning to be?"

"Not that late, but after a long day, I'm not going to feel like listening to that. I was thinking I might catch up with the boys for a beer at the Arms after work."

She pouted in frustration. After Erin disappeared, Sherry said, "You know, you could catch up with your friends any day. Would it hurt to attend the pot-luck dinner? I thought it would be a nice chance to show Bill there's no hard feelings."

"That's the problem Sherry. There are hard feelings. I said to you Sunday. I don't want anything to do with him. It's bad enough you're still working together. That alone pisses me off."

"That's preposterous. The fact we work together isn't a problem."

"Really, how's your relationship now? How many hours do you spend in his office with the door shut? Bet it's a hell of a lot more than you used to, and I bet the topic of conversation is a hell of a lot more intimate."

"Good god. I never realised how insecure you were. The only reason he closed the blasted door was. I was sobbing my heart out worrying about you and me. All he did was offer me a reassuring shoulder to cry on."

"Bullshit. He's just setting up his next play. He got his fill of pussy, so that will probably hold him over for a couple of weeks, but believe me. He'll be back."

"For the love of god. Grow up. He's just a friend."

"Yeah, a friend who fucked you, slept with you. Snuggled up to you as you slept in his arms. He'll never be happy until he has more of that."

"I'm not listening to this lunacy, Clint. I'm going to bed."

Not sure if I was expected to reply. I chose not to. It was only eight thirty. I made coffee, and sat back to watch TV for a while.

When I did go to bed at ten, she was sitting up in bed with her laptop.

I climbed into bed and rolled over to hug my side of the bed, flicking off my bedside light.

With the blankets pulled up tight, I feigned disinterest. I felt her moving, the thump of the laptop being placed on her bedside table, and the light going off.

She snuggled up beside me, her arm sliding over to hug me. Her naked breasts pressed up against my back. Her head on my shoulder. "Would you like to make love?"

"Nah, not tonight."

"Clint, it's been four days."

"Has it, how do I know that?"

"What?" she huffed.

"Maybe there was more than reassurances happening behind his closed office door. Maybe you were having a sneaky fuck?"

Her arm retracted and she rolled away. "I give up. What is it you want me to do, Clint?"

"You could start with no more meetings behind closed doors. No more cuddles, and travel in separate cars from now on."

"What, why separate cars?"

"Because, we both know how much you like to suck the drivers cock."

"Oh my god. That was my gift to you. It was special."

"Funny, I thought your body was special to me as well."

"Fuck off, you insecure arsehole. I told you there was nothing going on."

"Sherry, I hate you working with that bastard. The solution for me is simple. If you want to do something positive about saving our marriage, transfer to another branch, get out from under his control."

"You want me to give up my job..." She gasped. "Just because you don't trust me? You have to be joking."

"No, I'm deadly serious. Look at it from my perspective. You are working with the guy you cheated on me with. Of course I'm uncomfortable."

"Firstly, there was no cheating. I told you, and you agreed. Secondly, you have nothing to be jealous of. There's nothing going on. All you have to do is trust me."

"Easy to say isn't it. Just trust me. You piss off to Aussie for a week. Spend the whole time on your back fucking him and expect me to believe that nothings going on... Yeah right. Give me a fucking break, Sherry."

She pulled the bedclothes tighter around herself, muttering. "You believe what you want, but I'm not giving up my job."

"I'm not asking you to quit. I'm asking you to transfer to another office."

We went back and forth for the rest of the week, there was a continuation of the slow thaw, but it was glacially slow.

Saturday, we both went to Netball with Erin and that added some impetus to the thaw. We ran up and down the sidelines screaming our support.

It was after the game when I got the slap in the face. Sherry, said. "I'm taking the girls for pizza, and then meeting Alicia, for a drink. You'll have to get yourself something to eat. I think I'll be late."

Driving home, I called Alicia. "Well, look who it is," she said in a teasing voice.

"Hey Alicia, got a minute?"

"Yes, I am just finishing up an open home. How can I help?"

"Is there any chance you could keep what happened between you and I private?"

"You want me to lie for you? What happened? You said you were going to tell her yourself?"

"Things got twisted, and we've been arguing like mad. I think we might be coming out the other end of the tunnel. So is there any chance you could, you know, not say anything?"

"You little bugger," she sniped. "I told you right at the start I wouldn't lie about what happened between us."

"I know, and I feel bad about it, but it would really help."

"Okay, what I can do is not offer to tell her anything. But if she asks, I'm not going to lie."

"Fair enough. I can live with that. She's got no reason to ask, so we should be sweet."

"I don't like this Clint. I'll be honest. I never set out to become the other woman. I expected honesty. Damn it, you said you were going to tell her."

"I know, but we started arguing and it became very antagonistic. We've both said some pretty horrible things. Believe me, her finding out could be the nail in my coffin."

"All right, like I said. If she doesn't ask. I will say nothing."

"Thanks, you're an angel. I'll owe you one."

"One what?"

"You name it."

I felt like a weight had lifted. I felt better. Erin stayed at her friends house, so I only had to look after myself. I worked on my bike for a couple of hours, before wandering inside for a shower, and dinner.

I was on my third beer when my phone rang. Recognising Alicia's, number, I answered. "Clint, I'm sorry. She knows, all right! "She's on her way home right now."

"What the hell happened?"

"She was upset, started crying her eyes out about how she thought her marriage was over. She said you were so angry that she cheated... I'm sorry Clint, but that wasn't fair. We did far worse than she did. You knew what she was doing. She didn't. When she became hysterical, I had to tell her."

"What did you tell her?"

"Pretty much everything."

"Fuck, Alicia."

"Oh no you don't, Mr. Right at the start I said no lies. I told you how I felt; I thought we were having fun, just like Sherry, and Bill. You were bloody mean to her. Laying a terrible guilt trip on her trying to make her feel like she was the only one."

"Thanks for the warning."

"Clint, She loves you like crazy, don't be an idiot."

I finished my beer, and tidied up. I heard her car come racing up the driveway and the brakes squealing as she came to a sudden stop. The door slammed and she came charging in.

I was reclining in the lounge trying to look calm. The TV news played and I attempted to look interested. I heard the door slam brutally, and she marched into the lounge, coming to a stand still right in front of me.

"Hey, I'm watching the news."

"You slimy bastard, Clint. Why didn't you tell me about you and Alicia?"

"Why should I? It was none of your business."

"I beg your pardon. You have been making me feel like shit all week. You have been nothing but an absolute prick. All that time you were sleeping with Alicia."

"You gave up your rights to question me when you went off with Bill. What happened while you were away is none of your business."

"None of..." She couldn't finish, she was so furious. Her face was so red, I honestly worried for her. I thought she might have a heart attack.

"Why, Clint, why didn't you tell me? I don't care. I'm not angry. I simply need to know why you've been carrying on like a chump. I mean, we both had a little fun. From what Alicia said, you had a wonderful time. Why couldn't we accept it and move on?"

"You want the truth? I was going to tell you on the drive home from the airport, but I got angry driving up to Auckland. It was a shit night. You saw all the road works, the fog. While I drove, all of the emotions came back. That's when it hit me. It was like one of those moments in the movies. The lightbulb went off."

"What are you talking about?"

"Let me finish," I said curtly as the anger ate away ate me. "It was Bill I was angry at. He acted like a real bastard. You might not understand it. He made out to my face he was my friend. Behind my back he schemed to seduce you. All that time he worked away, the flirting, the lunches, the teasing. Helping you. He was seducing you. I wasn't angry at you. It was him. Then you made me chauffeur the bastard home. You tried to make me feel bad because he acted like a real bastard."

"No, you lost me, Clint. How the heck does that have anything to do with what happened between you and Alicia?"

"I'm getting there. I figured if you knew what happened, it would justify everything in your mind. You'd think everything was all right."

She shook her head. "Sorry, still confused."

"Once I figured out what an arsehole Bill was, I knew I had to get you away from him. I knew he would never be happy with what happened being a one time thing. He's a sleazy fat little fucker, Sherry. He acted like a real bastard. I don't trust him one little bit. I decided I needed to get you away from his influence. If I told you about Alicia, you'd ignore all my concerns."

She flopped down on the sofa beside me. "You blasted idiot. If you had been honest with me and had a sensible conversation with me, we could have talked everything through."

I got up to get another beer. "Do you want something?"

"God yes. I need something. We've been drinking wine, so a nice red would be good."

Handing her a glass of wine, I sat back down, and turned off the TV. We sat quietly sipping our drinks.

"Clint. Bill isn't like that at all. He was nothing but a gentleman to me. The flirting started innocently. Gosh, I've flirted worse than that with friends in front of you at parties. It wasn't like he had some malicious plan. We merely clicked."

I sipped my beer. I listened, trying to stay calm, impartial.

"We have known him and Michelle for a long time, and frankly. I felt sorry for him. She told me years ago how they had stopped having sex. He didn't tell me. She did. He wasn't laying a line on me. I knew about their relationship. When we started flirting, the reality is I was the one doing most of the flirting. He simply got sucked into it."

"Why?"

"I don't know, our marriage was going so well. We were solid. I felt comfortable flirting with him. I knew you wouldn't mind, and that sort of emboldened me. I felt sorry for him. In his defence, he never once complained about Michelle."

"Then how did it move to him asking you to go away with him?"

"My fault. I teased him, egged him on. I was having fun flirting. It was sexy but harmless. I can't remember exactly how it happened. He said something about a mate having a timeshare in Cairns. I said something like. Wow, sounds great. We should go."

She glanced at me, checking my response. It made sense, when Sherry flirted, she could be shameless.

"I never expected him to say yes. I thought he would go all red and fade. When he called my bluff by saying. 'Yes, lets do it. We'll go away for a dirty weekend.' I got the shock of my life. I still thought he was joking. So I said. "A weekend, bugger that. Let's go for the week."

I needed another drink. She waved her empty glass as I walked past. "He never said any more about it because we were interrupted. It was the next day when he approached me and I knew he was serious." She called out to me as I got the drinks.

She took a gulp of her wine before continuing. "The next day at lunch, he said, 'I've booked the timeshare.' I had been thinking about it overnight, and the idea excited me like crazy. You and I made love that night, and it was so amazing. I was on some sort of high. I was so aroused when he told me he had booked it. I said. "Good."

We sipped our drinks, and she snuggled up to me. "You are so wrong about Bill. When I said we should go. The first thing he said was, what would Clint say? He's not the evil guy you make him out to be."

"Yeah, well what happened once he realised I wasn't happy, and wasn't going along with it?"

"He was upset, very upset actually. He panicked and said, 'It is all off, Sherry. I will not be responsible for ruining a damn good marriage.' I had to convince him that I felt if you and I kept talking we could reach an understanding."

"You said it was his idea to find a woman to keep me company."

"I lied, Clint. That was Alicia's suggestion. We had been friendly without being close. Then at a meeting one day, we started talking. We had a few wines, and she admitted she needed sex. That confession got me thinking, and I showed her some photos of you on my Facebook. She seemed interested. Then when I told her about Bill and me, she became really interested."

"So you dreamed it all up?"

She grinned ruefully. "Well, it was actually Alicia who suggested finding you a partner. I have to say, I was stunned when you didn't seem interested. I know she was a bit older, but she was as sexy as hell. When you turned your nose up at her. I was completely floored."

"It was the bloody way you went about it, Sherry. How long have we lived together? You know how much I hate being manipulated."

"I wasn't manipulating. When I invited her here that night, I thought I would simply let things happen naturally. I expected you and her to flirt a little, let the chemistry build naturally. When you walked away, I was confused and frustrated when you were so rude to her."

As we sipped our drinks, she said teasingly. "Well, am I going to get details? You clearly had a lot of fun while I was away. I want to hear all about it."

"Sherry, I can't joke about this. I don't care what you say about Bill. What happened while you were away is over. If we're gonna move on, then it has to be finished. I don't want to make this appear insignificant, or unimportant. I know I agreed to let you go, but it was under duress, extreme duress. You kept going on and bloody on. I said yes to shut you up. I was never happy with it as an outcome."

She frowned and screwed up her face. "I get it love, okay? You have made your point. Alicia told me what you said to her about it never happening again. I understand, but I have a different opinion. I think if we can joke about it, talk about it, we can move on easier, take away the antagonistic part."

"I don't think so. The thought of you and Bill makes me bloody angry. I don't care what you say. I still think he's a slippery prick, and I will continue to have nothing to do with him."

She sighed in resignation, but curled up beside me. "I think you're wrong. Bottling everything up and trying to pretend it never happened isn't going to work. Bill is my boss. Michelle is one of my dearest friends. I am not cutting either of them out of my life."

"You can do what you like, but I'm not interested."

"Yeah, well what about Alicia? She's also my friend. What happens when I invite her over for drinks, or to a party?"

"I would prefer you didn't do that. You've never had that relationship with her in the past. The only reason you would do so now is to cause trouble."

"Don't be silly. We have only known each other for a while. We do see each other, and we are closer now."

"I don't want to see her. What you do separately is your business, but do not invite her here."

"Oh for heavens sake. If I don't care, why should you?"

"It would be awkward for her, for both of us."

"You can be so overly dramatic. I'm sure she would be more than happy to be in the same room as you. You're not some irresistible super star, you know."

She put her empty glass on the table, and stood up. "Can we go to bed and make love, please? It's been too long. I'm horny."

Okay, it might sound stupid, but it felt strange. She was certainly insistent and urgent. I wasn't fighting her off, but when she went down and started sucking my cock, all I could see were images of her doing exactly the same to Bill. It was his cock in her mouth.

I felt my dick softening, and I had to take control, to change the movie images. I played with her pussy, fucked her with my fingers deep in her gooey pussy. I bit her breasts, sucked on her nipples and rolled her on her back. I had to do it before I lost my erection. The more I thought about it, the worse it got.

I slipped into her easily as she was so slippery and open. Her vagina swallowed my cock in one easy gluttonous bite.

I fucked her, it was hard and brutal. It was my method of dealing with the continual images of Bills grunting face. Sherry wasn't complaining, either. The fiercer my attack, the more she liked it. I bent her in half, her heels on my shoulders. The sloppy wet slap of our flesh colliding echoed around the room. Her loud squeals of delight, her wild breathless pants fed my needs.

Afterwards, we cuddled, our sweaty bodies sticking together.

"That was different." She sighed into my shoulder.

"Sorry, was I too rough?"

"No, but I have never known you to be so forceful. Did Alicia teach you that?"

"No it was a culmination of everything that's happened. I can't explain it."

Things settled down after that. Sherry did catch up with Michelle several times. When I asked how she was, Sherry said they talked about it, and Michelle was happy. It wasn't interfering with their friendship.

The difficult part for me was her developing relationship with Alicia. They were catching up for lunches three or four times a week, sometimes during the weekend, as well. I tried to put it out of my mind, but that proved easier said than done.

We were invited to a party at one of her fellow sales-members houses. Sure enough, there was Alicia. She waved and smiled at me. I waved back, but stayed out of her way.

Sherry, though, went straight to her and they embraced and stood close together laughing and joking. Later in the party, Sherry walked up behind me. "Hey stranger."

When I turned she had Alicia, on her arm. "You remember Alicia, don't you?"

I chuckled softly. "Hi, Alicia. How have you been?"

"Lonely." She pouted sadly.

"Perhaps you should look at getting a puppy," I replied.

She was clearly tipsy. "No, what I need is a man."

I cast my eyes around the room. "There's a few in here. Glen is single. I'm sure he'd enjoy a romp in the hay."

"Glen... Ew, no thanks." She leaned in close, whispering. "I think he might be gay."

Sherry overheard and giggled. "That's what the office gossip says."

"Well, there's always Bill. He's always on the look out for pussy."

Both their smiles faded, and I heard Sherry suck in a deep breath. Alicia let out a deep sigh. "Come on Sherry, I need a drink."

They wandered off arm in arm, looking dejected.

Sometimes it can be like that. You get a run of events. Sherry's, birthday raced up and Erin said we had to hold a party. Sherry liked the idea, and she and Erin started working on a guest list.

It was getting on to summer, so we decided on an afternoon evening barbecue. I was left to organise the logistics, hiring equipment, picking up drinks. I walked in and Erin was working on invites. When I saw Bill and Michelle's names, I said, "Scrub those two off. They won't be coming."

Sherry, must have overheard and walked into the dining room where we were. "Who's names are you scrubbing?"

"Bill and Michelle," I said forcefully.

Erin glanced up at me. "Is there a problem, Dad?"

"No problem, sweetheart. They aren't invited, that's all."

Sherry looked at me darkly. "Can you come up to the bedroom please?"

I followed her up to the room, and she closed the door behind us. "Clint, what are you doing? Michelle is one of my dearest friends. I can't have this party and not invite her. She will find out, and it wouldn't be fair on her."

"Okay, invite her. I can live with that, but he isn't stepping foot on our property. He is not welcome."

"Good heavens, I can hardly invite her without him."

"Then don't invite her. Your call. He knows how I feel about him, so he will understand."

I walked out, leaving her quietly simmering. When I walked up behind Erin, I noticed Alicia's name, as well. I pointed her out. "She's not coming either."

Sherry didn't say a word, but I could see how tightly she gnashed her teeth.

Alicia surprised me by phoning me the next week. There was no hello or easing into it. "I understand you banished me from Sherry's party?"

"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry, Alicia, but I think it's for the best. We can't move on with our lives if we keep going back over past indiscretions."

"So, that's what I am... A mistake?"

"Yeah, you could put it like that. I told you it was going to be a one off thing. I'd prefer if we didn't see each other."

"It's only a party, and I would be bringing a date. Sherry and I are friends. We are going to bump into each other. Christ, Clint. We can be adult about this."

"The polite thing to do would be to accept that I would be uncomfortable with your presence. So please, Alicia. Be polite." I disconnected the call.

The party went well. I busied myself playing chef. With all our friends around, I lost track of who was there. Michelle caught me unawares. She walked up behind me whilst I was flipping some steaks.

"Good afternoon, Clint."

I turned to face her. "Hi indeed, Michelle. How are you?"

"Not very happy, actually."

"Is there a problem?"

"Yes, I had to leave my husband behind. This is not the schoolyard, Clint. We are adults. Sherry and I are great friends. Being told I could only attend her birthday party if I left my husband at home was very upsetting."

"Sorry, you and Sherry might be friends, but he and I aren't."

"Clint, I thought all of this was cleared up. Sherry said you approved their trip."

"No, Michelle. That's not entirely true. Sherry wouldn't stop nagging me about it. In the end, under duress, I folded and said go. I made it abundantly clear. I was never happy with that as an outcome. I hated it."

"That is not what Sherry said to me. She specifically told both Bill and me that you had changed your mind and were happy for the trip to proceed."

"That, my dear, was a lie. I was very definitive with Sherry. I didn't speak to Bill, but I made sure she was under no false allusions. I was not happy."

"Oh dear, in that case I am very sorry. I did not know that."

"You know now. Because of that, Bill is not in my good books."

"But it isn't his fault."

"Michelle, you can say whatever you want. Bill knows me. We spoke after he approached Sherry. I made sure he understood I would never go along with it. So let me be clear, he knew, regardless of what he said to you, he knew full well that I wasn't happy."

"Sherry told us categorically. You gave your permission."

"I did, but it was never with my blessing."

"I see, so you are telling me you were forced?"

"My arm was certainly bent up behind my back."

She scowled deeply. "I see. I am sorry, Clint. I was unaware of your dissatisfaction with the arrangements. Good day."

I watched as she walked over to where Sherry stood talking with some friends. She almost dragged Sherry away, and although I couldn't hear what was said, it was pretty obvious. Sherry was getting a dressing down.

Michelle handed her glass back to Sherry and marched off purposefully, a dark cloud following her.

Sherry, looked devastated. She looked over at me, and with tears streaming down her face walked over to me. "What in gods name did you say to Michelle?"

"The truth. Simply that I was never happy with you and Bill, going off to play lovers. That, yes I may have agreed, but under duress, and I explained that I told you in no uncertain terms that I wasn't happy, that if you went through with it, I would make no promises about what would happen afterwards. Which is the truth."

"Jesus, Clint. Why did you have to be such an arse?"

"Because she asked me. Because she was under the impression everything was okay..."

"The truth is, you said it was going to be okay. You said we would deal with the fallout. Shit, she just said she was totally disgusted with me for endangering our marriage and never wanted to see me again. She's one of my best bloody friends Clint."

"Sherry, I told you not to invite her. You wouldn't listen."

She shook her head viciously, her eyes screaming in anger. "You can be a malicious bastard. You want everything your way. You spent the week fucking Alicia, but have the audacity to complain because I did the same."

"Say what you want, Sherry. I'm not having your affair rubbed in my face. Remember, I did ask you not to invite them."

The party went on unaffected by our argument. Sherry, as unhappy as she was, had no alternative other than to play the smiling happy hostess. Surrounded by neighbours and friends, she had to put aside her feelings of loss, smile and carry on as if nothing was wrong. I did see a few scathing glares burning holes through me as the night progressed and she had a few drinks.

A couple of my mates noticed as well. They did what mates do, and kept the beers flowing. Fred, my next-door neighbour, said, "Shit mate, dunno what you did to fire up Sherry, but she is pissed, bro. I wouldn't accept any opened drinks from her today."

"Yeah, she probably spit in them." I joked.

"Fuck dude, I think it might be worse than spit." We laughed, sharing a toast.

Sherry's mood did lighten when her cake was rolled out. Then, with everybody singing happy birthday, she brightened up.

Still, I was pleased to see everybody filing out at midnight.

It was the next day when I got the shock of my life. We had all slept in and were busy cleaning up. I had noticed Sherry texting furiously with somebody. When she gathered up Erin and said to me, "We're going to the shopping centre for a while," I thought nothing of it.

The atmosphere had been so chilly, I was pleased to see the back of her.

The knocking on the door, about half an hour later did surprise me. Swinging it open, I was more shocked. "Bill, what do you want?"

"I think we better have a chat, don't you?"

"No, not really. You have nothing to say that I want to hear."

"Well, I think we should. Are we going to do it out here where your neighbours can hear, or are you going to invite me in?"

"Come on then."

He wandered inside, and turned to face me. "No sense beating about the bush, aye? I don't know what's got up your bloody nose, but your behaviour is unacceptable."

"How so?"

"Look, Clint. I don't know what transpired between you and Sherry. All I can tell you is what she told me. You agreed to us taking that bloody trip. If I thought in any way that you weren't happy, I would not have proceeded. End of story."

"Bullshit. We sat together at your home and I told you I wasn't happy. I bloody told you to your face."

"That's true, but after that, Sherry told me that you had changed your mind and that you were willing to go along with it."

"Well I bloody wasn't. I just got sick of her nagging me everyday. In the end it got too much and I said just fucking go if it's that important to you. I did, however, tell her I wasn't happy, and if she did go, then I made no guarantees about what would happen afterwards."

"I knew none of that. What I am sick of is being blamed for your failing marriage."

"If you fuck married women, mate, then you can expect to carry the blame. You seduced her."

"What the hell? There was no bloody seduction, we flirted a bit, and I said something inappropriate. I accept that. When she came back to me and said she wanted to do it, I was shocked, to be honest. I did say to her, only with your approval."

We stood toe to toe, staring back at each other. I wanted to hold him responsible, but how could I?

"Clint, I'm sorry things are in such a state of turmoil with you two, but what I can say? I never entered into this with any intention of ruining a good marriage. Sherry is a dear and trusted friend. I know you and I aren't close, but I did think we were friends."

Running out of arguments, I threw at him. "Friends don't fuck their friend's wives."

"I slept with Sherry, but I did so thinking we had your explicit permission. Perhaps I should have spoken to you personally beforehand, but Sherry convinced me that you were in favour." His eyes narrowed, and his scrutiny deepened. "Was she lying to me, Clint? Should I be questioning her integrity?"

"No, she didn't lie." I sighed, caught in my own trap.

"Would it help if I gave her a couple of weeks off and you two went away for a while? Perhaps a short holiday might put things in perspective. I can tell you, and it will probably sound ridiculous coming from me, she loves you fiercely. Of that there is no question, not in my mind anyway."

With a silence closing over us, he said, "Would you like to go down to the pub? I have to say, I could use one?"

"No thanks, but if you want a drink, I have a nice bottle of whisky left over from last night?"

"Perfect, I'm not used to this type of conversation."

I made us both a drink and we wandered out to the back deck. "Clint, if it's a reassurance about the future, I can assure you. Nothing more will happen between Sherry and myself."

"Nice to know, I assume you would prefer otherwise?"

He thought for a minute. I saw by the way his eyes shifted that he was considering his choice of words very carefully. "If you want brutal honesty, yes, if the chance was there I would graciously accept. But not while it puts your marriage under stress."

"Thanks, I appreciate the honesty."

"I came here today because Michelle returned from the party sobbing hysterically how we had destroyed your marriage. I knew things were tense, but I didn't think it was that bad. Michelle is an introvert, she has a small select group of friends. Sherry is probably her closest. When she explained what you said to her, I replied I did not think that was true."

"Okay, I probably shouldn't have said the things I did. It wasn't her fault."

"Michelle is a very deep thinker, Clint. After speaking with you, she felt Sherry had lied to her and used our situation against her. It hurts me deeply to see their friendship go up in smoke over a miscommunication."

"I bear no grudge against Michelle. My anger is with you and Sherry."

"I'm not happy with being blamed either. I understood from my conversations with Sherry that you had in the past dabbled with swinging or wife swapping. That your marriage was perhaps not open, but ajar."

"All of that is true, but we never did anything more than talk about it. We met a few couples, and realised it wasn't for us. What happened with you and her came completely out of left field. Caught me by surprise."

We chatted for a while, and before he left. He said again. "Anything I can do to help you mend this, well, you can count on me. I apologise for what happened, it wasn't done maliciously. Tell Sherry to come around this afternoon for tea. I think Michelle will be open to talk after this."

Sherry looked very pensive when she returned. Erin, was happy though. She had an armful of bags filled with new clothes.

We found a moment to talk, and I guess every time we did, it got easier, less antagonistic. The bitterness fading with every airing of the issue.

She did visit with Michelle, and returned feeling very happy with herself. I still harboured some animosity, but what can I say. The load lightened, and yeah. I managed to keep it under wraps.

When I assessed what I wanted, I realised Sherry, was part of me, part of my life. As angry as I was, I wanted to get us back on track...

*****

The amazing thing was the burgeoning friendship between Sherry and Alicia. The pair were becoming faster friends with every passing day. That worried me, because I carried an enormous amount of guilt because of what happened between us. I knew I shouldn't have gone there. Now all I wanted to do was put it behind me, but that was hard, while the pair of them became closer and closer.

Our lives returned to normal, if you can call it that. Sherry was on a different mission. She was so close to being named salesperson of the year. She went on an all-out attack. She worked seven days a week, ran open homes, one after the other. Saturdays, Sundays, she wanted that title. Her battle with Alicia was good natured, although it sounded like Alicia was just as enthusiastic.

They were in a battle of the ages. I felt sorry for Alicia, because when Sherry sets her mind on something. She never lets up.

With the end of year approaching, the battle lines were close. From what Sherry, said, if either of them closed a sale before the end of the next week, they would win.

When it was announced, Alicia, had won. Yep, one property was all that separated them. They were miles ahead of their nearest competitors. Sherry, took it surprisingly well.

"Oh well, at least if I had to lose, it's nice it was Alicia."

The awards dinner was set for the end of the following month. Second prize wasn't bad: seven days on the gold coast. First prize was two weeks in Rarotonga. The work Sherry put into winning did pay some dividends. Her commissions allowed us to become mortgage free.

That wasn't the end of the competition though. Sherry, was now determined to look better. She started working out in our home gym, jogging, weights. Every night she was home early and going at it. I joined her to keep her company, but seeing her effort I started pushing her harder.

"You know you've left this way to late. A month doesn't give you enough time."

"I know, but I want to look my best."

"You don't have to do this Sherry, you are far more attractive than Alicia."

"Liar," she said with a teasing smirk. "But don't stop, I like it."

"I'm serious, Sherry. You are sexier and way cuter."

"Flatterer, I bet you said the same things to her when you were in her bed."

"Like hell. We never talked about you. Never once." I snapped curtly, insulted.

"Wow, relax, my love. I was joking."

The ceremony was to be held in Auckland, and was a pretty big deal. All the franchise holders and selected agents from around the country were going to be attending. Sherry spent almost the entire month searching for the right gown.

I have to say, she did look amazing. Yeah, she had managed to trim down a little. It was more the skin tone. She looked good.

"We should book a hotel for the night, maybe even a couple. Turn it into a real celebration." I suggested.

With a huge smile, she said. "Really, that would be amazing."

She gave me a funny glare. "You know, Bill and Alicia are travelling up, as well. We could offer them a ride?"

"Do you think that's a good idea?" I sighed, unable to hide my dissatisfaction.

"I do, actually. Come on, it could be fun. Wouldn't it be nice to show everyone we've moved on, and there's no grudges?

"I suppose, but it could just as easily turn into a huge fight."

The drive started off quietly, Bill and Sherry talking work. It still affected me, having him around. I drove, listening to them talking shop.

It wasn't until we pulled up outside Alicia's home that I started to get anxious. She walked out looking stunning. She had clearly entered into Sherry's challenge. It might have been unspoken, but Alicia wasn't going to be pushed out of the spotlight.

Her hair was a new style, short, but very nice, the highlights covering her grey. Her outfit, although casual, fitted her like a glove.

She climbed in the back with Bill and greeted us all. "Hello, Clint. Nice to see you again," she said with a sexy breathlessness.

"Nice to see you as well. How have you been?"

"Wonderful, thank you."

"No date?" I asked.

"No, going solo, but don't panic. I have a bag full of batteries."

I chuckled, but Bill choked, coughing harshly. I wondered how much he knew? Sherry and I hadn't talked about who knew what.

She and Bill picked up the shop talk with Sherry, leaning into the back to join in. I was pretty much left to my own devices.

We got to Mercer, and Sherry suggested we stop for a break and something to eat.

Bill got our orders and waved us away to find a table. Sherry excused herself to go to the loo.

Alicia gave me a cheeky grin. "So how have you been really? Sherry gave me a bit of a run down. Sounds like it was a rough couple of months?"

"Yeah, you could say that. What about yourself? I felt sure you'd have a date."

"Been too busy, I mean, it was a bit of fun, but I had to work my tushy off to win."

"I noticed, you're looking particularly sexy."

"Glad you noticed. At least it wasn't a complete waste of time."

"God no, you look good enough to eat." The words were out before I could stop them.

"Naughty man." She giggled. "Are you flirting with me?"

"Sorry, I'm not very good at this stuff."

"Don't apologise, I was surprised is all. Last time we spoke you didn't seem that interested."

"I felt guilty. I'm a married man, and I felt like I was screwing everything up. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was fun. I would have liked it to continue, but it is a fond memory."

Sherry turned up and sat down. "Wow, that feels better. Has he kept you entertained?"

Alicia sniggered. "Yes, he told me my arse looked good."

"Did he just?" Sherry said in mock anger. "Cheeky bugger, you never said that about mine," she added with a hurt pout.

"I did so." I replied defensively.

Bill turned up with a tray full of food and drinks. "How would you feel about a round of golf tomorrow, Clint?" he asked.

"No, not for me. I'm shit at golf."

He turned to Sherry. "What about you, Sherry, would you like to join me?"

Sherry glanced questioningly at me, before replying, "No thank you. I'm hopeless."

"Don't look at me," Alicia threw in. "I hate golf."

"You should work on it. There's more to golf than hitting the ball. You might meet some very helpful people. I do more business on the course than I do in the office."

Conversation turned to more personal matters as we enjoyed the pastries and coffee, Bill, spending a lot of time talking about my job and what projects I had on.

We were all staying at the same hotel the awards ceremony was being held at. Friday evening was an unofficial, casual meet and greet. Dinner and drinks, of course.

Sherry was pretty excited and wound up; she mingled with lots of the attendees. Bill making sure he led her around introducing her to everyone. Alicia, who was there on her own, looked a little lost. Being a gentleman, I hung with her, and we joked, chatted and probably drank too much. I forgot how much fun she was. We really clicked.

We were standing by the bar, her arm slipped through mine as she leant in close so we could talk without yelling.

"Well, you two seem to be getting on well," Sherry said as she approached from behind.

Guiltily, I let my arm drop and stepped away from Alicia. "We have been catching up," Alicia, responded.

"So I see," Sherry replied, moving closer to Alicia. "I think you should take this opportunity to network. Bill, has introduced me to some very interesting people. If you like, I could introduce you to them as well?"

"Oh, yes please," Alicia said, and they wandered off arm in arm. I ordered another drink and meandered around. Apart from Bill and the girls, I didn't know anybody else. I found another bar, this one had big screen TVs showing sports from around the globe. At least it gave me a chance to think.

Alicia was something: sexy and easy to talk to. Thoughts I shouldn't be having, but couldn't stop. About ten-thirty, my phone vibrated in my pocket. "Where are you?" Sherry asked.

"In the sports bar."

"What are you doing in there?"

"I was feeling a bit lost in that crowd. I didn't know anybody. This is cool. You do your networking. I'm okay in here."

"The meet and greet is winding down. There's only a few of us left. Come back in."

I found the group of them standing by the buffet. The girls, Bill, and another group all standing together. Sherry greeted me with a kiss. "You were naughty sneaking away. I looked everywhere for you."

Bill signalled for her to go over and talk with the other men. Alicia replaced her by my side. "God, what a boring lot. All they talk about is work."

"Well, it is a work function."

"Yes, but surely there's more to life than selling houses. I wish you'd saved me."

"How could I have done that?"

"Taken me up to my room and made love to me," she replied flirtatiously.

"Oh, I think my wife might have something to say about that."

"Perhaps, but I think she wouldn't have minded."

"Oh really, and you know this how?"

"She told me."

I choked on my bourbon, and she giggled. "We girls like to talk you know."

"Apparently... And when did she share this little tit bit with you?"

"We have spoken about it many times. Although we did discuss it just before while we were looking for you."

"Really, and what did she say?"

"I said I was bored. Sick of all the schmoozing, and I might find you and seduce you up to my room. She merely replied 'Good luck.'"

"I think she was joking. In reality, she would have stopped off at the kitchen, picked up a knife and come looking for me. The headlines tomorrow might read: angry wife cuts of cheating husbands penis."

She sniggered softly. "You're wrong actually. Sherry, isn't like you, Clint. You are quite a jealous person, she is different. As am I."

Offended, I snapped curtly. "You think I'm jealous?"

"Yes I do. It's not a bad thing, Clint. Most people are inclined that way. It's probably normal. Strangely, I always thought I would be as well. Meeting you and sharing that week with you opened my eyes. Talking with Sherry opened my mind. She doesn't have that jealous streak. Rather than be angry that you and I had sex, all she wanted were the details."

"Bloody hell." I gasped.

"It's all right sweetie. I know you have different values."

"Alicia, I don't know what to say."

"You could say, I'll meet you in your room in ten minutes. It would of course mean you had to rethink those values of yours."

"I couldn't just walk off and leave my wife alone here. She'd kill me. I don't care what you say."

She leaned in close, her mouth close to my ear. "If she were alone, that might be the case, but she's not, is she?"

Shocked, I sucked in a huge gasp of air. She giggled, and nibbled discreetly on my ear. "You see, sweetie, that's what I meant by rethinking your values. You would have to walk over to her and tell her you were tired and were ready for bed."

"She would just say goodbye to her new friends and come with me."

"Not if you told her you were escorting me to my room, and she could stay."

When I turned and peered down into her eyes, she smirked, arched her brows, and whispered. "The ball's in your court, Clint."

I turned to look over at Sherry, who was deep in discussions with Bill and one other bloke. She must have sensed my unease. She caught my eye and frowned. "Have you had enough work talk my love?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sorry. I've heard enough about property for one night."

"Give me a minute, and I'll be ready to go." Her smile was warm, her tone soft.

"You can stay if you want. I'm ready for bed though."

I saw her brain engage, and she glanced quickly at Alicia, who added, "I'm ready for bed as well. It's been a long day."

Sherry excused herself from the group and walked over to us. "You're going together?" Sherry, asked quietly.

"We are." Alicia replied. "Or at least, I think we are." Turning to me, she said. "We are, aren't we?"

Sherry's, eyes met mine, and she smiled. "Clint, it's all right. I'm okay with that, but you have to realise. If that happens, I won't be sleeping alone either."

I sank what was left of my bourbon, and replied, "I realise the implications, Sherry."

"And you're okay with that? I don't want to wake up to a huge argument tomorrow. If we do this, it has to be on the understanding we're all adults, and we are all comfortable with the outcome."

"Yeah, don't worry. I understand.",

She leaned in and kissed me, a quick gentle kiss. "I'm sure Alicia will care for you."

We turned and walked away towards the elevators. As the doors slid closed behind us, I said. "I better stop at our room and get my pyjamas."

"Don't bother, you won't need them," she said teasingly. "They would only lie in a pile on the floor. In case you missed it. I'm feeling horny, and I need sex."

She pulled me into a lecherous kiss, and I suddenly felt like the prey in the sights of a very hungry huntress. The feel of her sexy silk dress sliding under my hands inflamed my already surging arousal.

The feel of her open mouth crushed on mine as we rode the elevator, poured fuel onto the raging fire. Her hand stroking my very turgid dick through my trousers made me feel the burning embarrassment. The other couple riding with us, stared at us in shock.

In her room, our clothes disappeared quickly. Her giggling only inflamed my ardour. "Did you see the look on that couple's face?"

"Yes, they looked quite traumatised."

Our mouths locked together, her wet juicy lips crushed mine, her tongue flirtatious. "You have such gorgeous breasts," I murmured, my hands already full of her spectacularly perfect tits, her nipples responding to the assault.

I kissed my way down her body, my mouth replacing my hands as I lavished adoring suckling kisses on her boobs, biting and tugging with my teeth her enormous nipples.

"Hhhhmmm, that feels wonderful." She sighed, her hands running through my hair as she pressed me tightly against her flesh.

"Oh god." She sighed, her hips jerking spasmodically against my hand, my fingers delving deep into her slick juicy pussy. Her body writhed, squirming erotically as I fucked her hard, my hand bathed in her aromatic juices, her vulva caressing my assiduous attack, her lips parting, her thick luscious gooey liquid.

She lost balance, falling backwards against the wall, my legs forcing hers wider, my fingers now lost inside her palpating vagina. Her orgasm was ferocious, her kisses ardent and urgent.

In bed, she guided my cock to her portal and whimpered in soft velvety tones. "Fuck me."

Like hot searing oil, her pussy welcomed my cock, my balls nestling against her muscled arse. Fuck her I did, long slow driving thrusts that only added to the incineration.

As my pace quickened, so did her breathing. She panted in short gasping breaths as the full force of my driving rod pummelled her sweet pussy.

With nothing but lust driving us, I felt her ankles lock together behind my back. Her finger nails raking my sweat covered back.

"Oh god yes, do it baby. Fuck me, fuck me hard, I want it so bad."

Afterwards, we lay together, her soft sexy hand caressing my growing dick. "I hope that was only the entrée." She sighed.

With her sexy mouth sliding up and down my returning erection, it most certainly was only the start of a passion filled night.

The morning was awkward; now completely sober, I realised, we hadn't talked this through very carefully. I needed fresh clothes, and I didn't know if Bill was in our room, or whether Sherry, had gone to his. The last thing I wanted was to walk in on them. The thought made me shiver; they might actually be doing it right at that moment.

Alicia picked up on my unease. She dragged me back onto the bed. "Don't let that blasted jealousy ruin this. We had a fabulous night. Surely you won't begrudge Sherry the same?"

"You're right about me, Alicia. We are different. I don't know how you can act so casually about it?"

"I came to the realisation, and it was only after you and I slept together. Sex can coexist without love. I like you a lot, Clint, but I'm not trying to steal you away from Sherry. I'm sure she feels the same way. We had a fun night. If you can let go your insecurities, I hope you will feel the same. Personally, I was hoping for a repeat performance tonight."

"What if they're over in our room right now doing it?"

"Well good on them if they are. What's the problem?" she said with a girlish giggled. "I hope he gave her as many orgasms as you gave me."

"I need some fresh clothes, and I don't want to walk in on them," I muttered.

She laughed riotously, reached for her phone, and hit dial. "Hey babes, which room are you in?"

"Yes, Clint wants some clean clothes. He didn't want to interrupt you. I'll pass it along. See you at breakfast."

She looked up at me. "They're in Bill's room. She was just leaving as well. If you want the shower you better hurry."

I was climbing into the shower when Sherry walked in. She looked sheepish. "Morning love," she said hesitantly. "Are you all right?"

I nodded, my stomach tightening in a tight knot. Before I could say anything, she was in my arms and we kissed passionately. Her body pressed against me, her new dress saturated by the shower spray, not that it seemed to worry her.

"I could join you?" she whispered.

"That would be nice."

She shed her clothes in a flash, I noticed she wasn't wearing panties, or bra. She was in my arms in an instant, and the soothing spiky jets of hot water washed us down. She covered me in soapy suds, and used her body as the wash cloth.

"Did you have fun?" she asked.

"Yes, it was pleasant." I replied not knowing what else to say. This was a new situation, and I was feeling my way. Like walking through a minefield.

"Oh, I hope it was much more than pleasant. I know Alicia was hoping for passion and lust. Please tell me you had a sensational night full of desire."

Her mouth closed over mine as she writhed against me. Her body slippery.

"What about you? Did old Bill fill you with desire?"

"Oh my love. He filled me with something. It was wonderful. I enjoyed it immensely. Thank you, by the way. I hoped, but was not expectant that we could find a way."

"You better thank Alicia. It was all her doing."

We walked into the dining room hand in hand. Bill and Alicia were already seated. He looked up, and turned away. I guess I could understand his disquiet.

Breakfast was totally dominated by the girls, who were determined that it shouldn't be awkward. Bill, again asked if I wanted to play golf with him and his mates.

I declined, saying Sherry and I were going to do some shopping. Sherry said that Alicia was going to be joining us as well.

What surprised me was the openness of their conversation. They compared notes jokingly, leaving me red faced. Sherry spoke highly of Bill's bedroom skills. It was strange to listen to. Previously I hadn't wanted to hear about it. I knew Sherry was exactly the opposite and used this opportunity to bare all.

Alicia only encouraged her, urging her to reveal more and more intimate details.

The day passed easily, although our credit card took a major hit. I was shocked when the girls decided we needed to visit some of the sex shops on K road. They shamelessly walked around picking up sex toys, discussing the pros and cons. They engaged the girl behind the counter and got her advice on the best ones.

Alicia picked up a few saying proudly. "We'll give these ones a try tonight. What do you think, Clint?"

Sherry turned to look me firmly in the eye, and said. "Yes, Clint, what do you think?"

"I think I'm in way more trouble than I thought, and I'm keeping my mouth shut."

Sherry laughed and leaned in for a kiss. "Good thinking, Batman."

Alicia tried the handcuffs on me to see they went around my wrists. She brought a vibrating cock ring, and some other interesting toys as well. They stood either side of me, giggling and joking. I have to say, having two very desirable women on my arm made me feel quite special.

The function was as you'd expect. Long tables filled with guests. Luckily, we were seated together. Afterwards there was dancing, and lots of work talk.

Again, Alicia and I escaped. Sherry loved the opportunity to schmooze, whereas Alicia, like myself was bored after ten minutes.

We had our fun in the bedroom. We tried all her little purchases, and some of them were... shall we say interesting. The night evaporated in passionate lovemaking and lustful furious sex.

The drive home was quiet, all of us, I'm sure, wondering what was going to happen next. I know, speaking for myself, my mind spun at an alarming rate, all sorts of scenarios whizzed through leaving even more questions in their path.

The girls appeared at least on the surface to be unperturbed by the events of the last couple of nights.

Once we were home, Sherry didn't hold back. "I have to say that was a surprise. What happened?"

"Not sure."

"Come on, Clint, all that angst over it never happening again. Once being enough. You treated Bill like he was the worst person in the world, then all of a sudden. Boom, we're doing it. I simply want to know what changed?"

"I can't explain it, Sherry, honestly. Alicia and I were talking, well flirting really. I can't explain it, suddenly, it didn't seem like a big deal."

"It certainly made for an interesting couple of days. I wasn't complaining, mind, merely trying to get an understanding of where we are now. Was it merely because we were away from home, or is this a new direction?"

"I guess we'll talk about it over the next couple of weeks and see what we think."

"All right, but could we get the ball rolling. What do you think... What do you want to happen?"

One of those moments when you feel the heat of the spotlight being focused on you. "I don't know, Sherry. It was fun. I enjoy Alicia's company. I forgot how well we clicked. I'm afraid that if we continue down that path, you and I will lose ourselves. I don't want that to happen."

She gave me a thoughtful confident look that said as much as her words. "That will never happen. Remember back to when we were talking about swapping? Our marriage was struggling. That was the wrong time, and the wrong reason. Now... God, I love you so much. I feel so comfortable with where we're at. Nothing could destroy what we have."

"I love you as well, and perhaps it's as simple as taking it one day at a time. Complete honesty, I know it will be easy for you and Bill, but I don't want it to become an everyday thing."

"Clint, you are all mixed up, my love. You clearly don't understand how busy we are at work. I don't see or talk to Bill every day. We simply don't get that many opportunities. Sometimes it's days before we chat. It's a small office, there's no insulation. There would be nothing going on at work, that I promise you. The last thing I want is gossip."

"But you could easily manufacture opportunities. Using other peoples homes, hotels. You could easily do it if you wanted."

"No we bloody couldn't. Bill accompanies me to meet the bigger prospective clients, but they are always present. He does not go with me for suburban homes. He is far too busy. I am not the only agent that requires his assistance."

I nodded, accepting that maybe I had made to many assumptions.

"Okay then, how would it work?"

"I guess we work it out as we go along. I would like to keep everything away from Erin, so nothing happens here at home, unless she's away."

"Perhaps we just say nothing happens here at home, regardless. We keep it as a safe space. That might be a good starting point."

Nothing happened for a couple of weeks. Alicia and Sherry caught up a couple of times, but that was it.

It was a phone call from Alicia that started the ball rolling again. "Clint, you like the Trucks Tedeschi band, don't you?"

"Yeah, love them." I replied.

"I got two tickets to their concert in Auckland next Saturday. Would you like to go with me?"

"I'd love to, but I'll have to talk to Sherry first." I mumbled anxiously.

She glossed straight over my nervousness. "Sweet, call me when you sort it out."

Sherry surprised me when she said I should go. It turned out to be an awesome night. We went out for dinner, then onto the concert and stayed the night at a swanky hotel. The sex was amazing, and again, it stunned me how well we got on.

That started things moving. We moved into this arrangement. It stunned me how easily it happened. I still had those horrible little jealousy pangs when Sherry spent the night with Bill, but we made it work. It was a mind altering change in lifestyle. It made me realise, for us at least, sex could exist outside our marriage. The only thing holding us back were our insecurities and social programming.

I couldn't accept random people, but having semi-committed partners changed everything.

Of course, nothing lasts forever. Alicia found herself in a space where she wanted a full time partner. With her looks and personality. It didn't take long. That put an end to our relationship. Bill and Sherry, carried on for a little while, but it fizzled out as well. Sherry, put a stop to it, because she didn't think it was fair, that she had somebody and I didn't.

Life went on, and we continue to find out things about ourselves. We might get to a point where we find a couple, or some other people we like, and want to share with.

At the moment, our marriage is better than ever, and we have some amazing memories. It started out as a hard conversation. Grew into a huge fight that nearly destroyed us. In the end, it was a fun filled adventure.

The end.