LOUISE

That night in bed Louise was reading the latest Peter Robinson thriller, but found it hard to concentrate on it. Her thoughts kept wandering and went from the next exhibition in her art gallery to Rob, who was coming home tomorrow and then to Alex, who had almost been here a week now. Marge, Alex’s mother had called her tonight to ask how things were going.

‘Alex only texts us to say that everything is cool and chill,’ she had said, ‘so I thought I’d better ask you.’

Louise had assured Marge that she and Alex were getting along well and that he was working hard.

‘Really?’ Marge had said. ‘I can’t believe it. Duncan will be delighted, if he buys it, that is.’

Louise hadn’t lied a word about it though. Her intuition had been right when she had brought up the idea of taking him in. A different environment and being away from his loving, but somewhat stiff parents could do wonders. So far he had been working well and their conversations were not too bad either.

Of course, he kept projecting the image of himself as a wise and deep hippie with a stubborn rebellious streak, but with a joke and a chat, she managed to get around that quite easily. Behind the image, she had found a shy boy who was searching for a place where he really belonged. She didn’t want to tell him, but she doubted he was going in the right direction. Dave and his other friends sounded like real stoners who would undoubtedly end up badly. That was why she didn’t want this Dave to come to France. What Alex needed was some time away from it all, and that included his friends.

At lunch today in Nice she hadn’t wanted to pry, but she was certain that he hadn’t had any experience with girls. He had been nonchalant about it, but she could tell from their conversations and his non-verbal communication that he was not at all used to having a woman close to him. As soon as she touched him, whether it was a hand on his arm or carrying a piece of furniture together, he became insecure and confused by her physical proximity. She suspected that the fact that she was a friend of his mother’s only added to that confusion.

She noticed the same pattern time and time again and it had already started on the very first day. First, she would feel his eyes on her body, then he would withdraw in shame and insecurity. The thing was, there was absolutely no need for that. She was used to men looking at her breasts. Of course, it often annoyed her, especially if she was ogled by some old pervert or a group of whistling monkeys on a building site, but she had no problem with Alex checking her out. Why not? she wondered. Because she liked him? Because he was insecure and vulnerable? Whatever it was, she didn’t mind feeling his eyes on her body and part of her wanted to tell him that, but of course she couldn’t do that yet. No doubt, she would frighten the boy.

What would be really good for him, she was thinking, was if he would open up and talk to her for real. Like in a therapy session, for example. They had plenty of time together though. Who knew what the coming months would bring? She felt determined to help him on his way. Talk to him when he wanted to, try to understand him and make him feel at ease, and yes, also correct him when he was out of line.

Thinking about that, she realized that he did have some very annoying habits too. The things he had said about women, for example! It was clear to her that he looked too much like his father in that sense. Well, Duncan was a real misogynist of course, almost as bad as Kevin, her ex-husband. She remembered the two of them sitting in the backyard, drinking beer and talking about work and women, but not in a nice way at all. God, how could she possibly have been married to one of them for so long?

Sometimes she wondered about Marge too. Was she happy with Duncan? She didn’t know, because although the two women became rather good friends, Marge hardly ever opened up about her marriage. So now Louise was getting reacquainted with Marge's son Alex, whom she had only known as a child. He looked more like his mother than his father, but yes, he also had this nasty side that seemed to consider men superior to women. A viewpoint that needed to be corrected before it was too late.

Her thoughts went back to her current husband, Rob, who had promised to stay home for at least a week. Unfortunately, the weather forecast wasn’t great. The weekend was supposed to be good, but then temperatures were going to drop and some rain was expected too. Anyway, she had a busy week ahead of her so she would hardly notice the weather. She had her regular patients of course and also needed to go to Saint Tropez to deliver a painting. The artist was an American woman; the painting had been bought by a couple who insisted that she do the delivery in person. She would do it, but planned to bring Alex along.

She had a lunch appointment with Francis and Monique as well. She hadn’t seen them since their boat trip, so she looked forward to that too. Another thing she would love to do, now that Rob was going to be home, was to go to the theater. A friend had told her about a wonderful play, so she hoped Rob would want to come with her.

What else? she wondered. Oh, just to have her husband by her side for a whole week was going to be great! Wake up with him, have breakfast together in the kitchen, watch movies in the evening and yes, have sex at night. So many years together, but they still felt desire for one another.

She was aware, of course, that there was another, unspoken side to their marriage. A side that most other couples would disapprove of but somehow worked for them. Years ago Rob had accidentally sent a text to her that was meant for a woman in London. Immediately Louise had understood what was going on, as she herself was no stranger to extramarital affairs either. Besides, she had always known he had a thing for young blondes, so how could she be surprised that he wasn’t one hundred percent into her? No, that’s why she hadn’t made a drama out of it.

They had talked and decided that the less they knew about each other’s sex life when they were apart, the better it was. It had been a talk which not only had saved their marriage, but also made her time alone so much more pleasant. She didn’t have lovers all the time of course, but every now and then she met someone with whom she would either spend a night or got involved with for some weeks or months. She wasn’t looking to replace Rob and she also took care not to choose someone whose path might cross with her husband’s. They might have had a good talk about it, but that didn’t mean she wanted to rub it in. Knowing how busy he was and how low his sex drive was compared to hers, she had no doubt that she was the more active one. Therefore she felt it was best to be modest and careful about her adventures if she wanted to keep things the way they were.

Thinking about the secret side of her marriage reminded her of Carlos, the Cuban sculptor she had met on the boat trip. Yesterday, when she and Monique were organizing their lunch date, her friend mentioned him and said he had asked for her number.

‘I get the impression he really likes you,’ she had said. It hadn’t been a question, but from the way she said it, Louise could tell that her friend was curious. Louise hadn’t been too pleased about the Cuban trying to contact her. Of course, she also felt attracted to him, that had been obvious, but her husband knew their friends as well. This could become messy and that just wouldn’t be worth it.

She had given Monique permission to give him her number though, more with the intention to set him straight than to get to know him better. Yesterday he called her and immediately apologized. The reason why he wanted to talk to her, he said, was because he and his agent were planning exhibitions in several French cities and Cannes could be one of them. Weren’t they preparing for London, she had asked, but he said that was taking too long and besides, he preferred the French climate.

So instead of telling him off, they had talked about business. He was serious about the exhibition and she loved the portfolio on his website. Last night though, the tone of their conversation changed. It had begun when he asked about her husband. What line of work was he in? Oh, he traveled a lot? Was he away now? Did she feel lonely sometimes? Before long, he had mentioned their little Murakami joke and then they were talking about something that had nothing to do with art exhibitions. Today, she would say, their conversation had been fifty percent work-related and fifty percent flirtatious.

This was going to be tricky, she knew. She feared neither of them would be strong enough to resist the other, so then what? How to keep it a secret from their friends? Could she trust him to keep quiet? She had no idea, because she hardly knew the guy.

When she thought about that hot afternoon though, her body reacted with an intense desire. The look in his eyes, the confidence, but later also his boyish side. She imagined his muscular body in her arms, the big hands touching her.

She sighed and closed her eyes. God, just thinking about it was making her hot again. So this guy was coming to town soon and he made it no secret that he wanted her. It was up to her then to decide what to do about it.

Feeling hot and bothered now she turned over to her side, opened the drawer of the nightstand and took out her black dildo. It was so big that it had made Rob laugh when he first saw it. Little did he know that it was more or less the same size and color as Carlos’s cock. With her free hand, she got herself wet and ready. Imagining the Cuban on top of her now, she spread her legs even wider, placed the thick dildo between her swollen pussy lips and slowly pushed it in.

TO BE CONTINUED...