In my thesis for my degree in social studies, I had argued that many of our social ‘rules’ regarding extra-marital sex, adultery, and incest had been formed by a heterosexual male-dominated ruling class. In the cases of both pre-marital sex and adultery, it was outlawed by that class, represented by religious leaders, in order to protect a husband's ‘property.’ On the one hand, protecting the ‘purity’ of his daughters and...

I couldn’t tell Eleanor about the dress. I would, I decided, tell her later it didn’t fit. Having re-packed the box, I went, the following morning, straight to the charity shop. “A friend bought this for me, to wear at a party tomorrow evening but, to be honest, I’d prefer something a bit less dramatic.” There was no point in telling the rather county lady serving that it didn’t fit, she’d soon realise it was, in fact, pe...

My eyes had turned blue. I came round on the kitchen floor, cold and cramped. My trousers were back on so perhaps they had never really come off. They were pale blue but with a dark patch at my crotch. I lay there, reluctant to move, reluctant to face the now obvious fact I needed psychiatric help. I checked the clock on the oven and realised I must have been there for an hour or so. Heaving myself up to my feet, I stood...

I woke up on Sunday morning and was disappointed to find myself alone. I felt alive from the moment I awoke. My thighs hurt and, I noticed, my nipples were large, almost as if they had just been sucked. My cunt lips were swollen. Was I doomed to be in a permanent state of sexual arousal? There was a delicious smell of coffee emanating from, I assumed, the kitchen so I got out of bed and looked for my clothes. That search...

“Hi, Sweetheart.” Denise was behind the bar in her gay-friendly pub. “Glen’s a bit tired so I am doing her shift.” “You’re a softie. Or is she tired because you’ve worn her out?” Denise gave an enigmatic smile. “Merlot?” “You know me to well. Has Clemency been in?” “I haven’t seen her and, boy, she’s noticeable, isn’t she?” I wasn’t going to argue with her. I’d almost persuaded myself not to come out that evening, but I d...

I went to the bar that I usually frequented on a Friday evening. It was, as it proclaimed loudly from a blackboard outside, gay friendly, but it wasn’t one of those that encouraged overt exhibition, and its clientele was nearer to my age than others in the city. Denise, owner as well as barkeep this evening, asked me, “What’s your poison, sweetheart?” She called everyone sweetheart but kept her actual affection for a woma...

My time at the Flotsam Theatre was coming to an end. The play Millicent Graham had written and which was based on Faust had been a huge success and it was likely to go to London. There were also rumours that an American company wanted to put it on in New York. Nadine, or Nads as I now called her, and I were definitely an item. The L-word had reared its beautiful head and I was about as happy as I could be. She’d moved int...

Saturday after Lilly’s party. I had never before felt as I did then. I know the difference between falling in love and loving. I know how to tell the difference between love and lust. I was a forty-two-year-old woman and whilst I wasn’t the most promiscuous woman in the world, I’d had my share. I knew I was tired, not to say exhausted. A night of very active sex and my emotional epiphany had left me drained. I went up to...

I walked up three steps outside the gloomy looking building into a hallway that was so, so typical of government owned properties, beige, tatty, threadbare cheap carpet, peeling paint and a noticeboard saying in directive terms what is not allowed. A glass screen opened beside me and a dowdy woman with blonde hair (greying roots) and ridiculous glasses with blue-tinted lenses peered myopically at me. “You, Tatton?” “No.”...

The scene, as so often before, is my agent’s office. Flick (Felicity) Caterham has summoned me to an audience. I know, I know; I am the client, she the paid agent but with Flick those lines are not blurred, they are totally removed. It’s 11 am. I enter the office and face Flick’s new assistant, Portia. Portia is typical of Flick’s employees; female, gorgeous, intelligent and right out of the top drawer. “You must be Miss...

There is, if you look, a bar like it in every town. Back home it was Ernie’s; a small friendly bar where women meet other women. In LA, where I found myself working as close protection for an actress, Faye Millerton, it was Matt’s. A good friend, Hannah, had recommended it and when Steph had to go home. It was where I went to fill the vacuum her departure left. I’ll explain why Steph had to go home a bit later on.One Frid...

I was in London for the Board Meeting. Every six months we hired a room in an hotel and had a day discussing everything from finance to manufacturing. I was head of R&D, a qualified mechanical engineer. The company made bicycles, quad bikes, ride-on mowers; pretty much anything that had wheels but was not a road vehicle, a car or a van or a truck. We had a good lunch before the afternoon session and a few drinks after it...

Friday night. Ernie’s was one of the best lesbian bars in the city.  Small, it had a lot of character and a few characters who made it a warm, friendly and safe place.  It was one of my destinations of choice if I wanted to get laid.  Ernie, full name Ernestine, was a butch lesbian.  Her ownership of the bar attracted a lot of other butch women and she kept a safe, orderly club.   I like butch women so it’s a no brainer....

We were touring. The play had been written by a wonderful but almost unknown writer called James Leader. He specialised in comedies for small companies and there weren’t many smaller than this one. I’ve mentioned Dole Queue before. Instead of our usual venue in the little theatre in Bristol we were on the road with Cloak and Haggard, a wonderful comic romp about incompetent spies. I played a glamorous Russian called Ludmi...

She closed the dressing room door in a rather decisive manner and walked to me as I lent back against the dressing table. She took the glass from my hand and very deliberately placed it on the dresser. “Should I lock the door, Faye.” “if that were possible, probably yes. But nobody has seen the key since Honor Blackman played here. Apparently the director liked to pop in unannounced.” She smiled. “Well, one can but admire...