Chapter 4

Tom left at 7:00 a.m. on Monday to drive to Leeds and Jane went back to bed. She lay half-dozing listening to the radio till nine then got up to work on her book illustrations.

She was at lunch in the kitchen when the door bell went.

Elsie stayed and had a coffee, then left, Jane having explained to her that she had to have a real blitz on her work. She agreed to join her for a meal around seven.

' George's been away all week-end at a conference', Elsie said, 'I made him steak-pie but he's going straight to his office in town to see a client and won't be home till after ten. You come and keep me company and it'll save you stopping to cook.'

Jane stopped work at six-thirty and had a shower. Uncertain as to what to wear she settled for a red silk top and her black skirt, the one with the slit up the side that Tom had told her once was sexy but had not approved of her wearing any time she had wanted to put it on when they were going out.

Jane would have been surprised if anyone had told her that she had taken extra care in her selection of underwear and of clothes as well as of perfume. But she had!.

'My don't you look lovely', Elsie enthused as she invited her in, 'George will be really put out that he's missed this. But you'll stay till he arrives. You must.'

Jane laughed at her friend but she knew she wanted George to see her. She wanted his admiration. She wanted him to look at her.

After their meal Jane allowed Elsie to pour her yet another glass of wine and they sat together in the lounge to watch the video Elsie had rented. Jane felt tipsy. She and Tom never drank alcohol but she had enjoyed the wine.

By the time George arrived, Jane and Elsie were discussing the film. It had been an adult romance and with her normal reservations seriously diminished by the wine, Jane had enjoyed the 'scenes of a sexual nature'.

'Tom and I don't watch films like this', she confided to her friend, 'Tom thinks they deprave people'.

Elsie chuckled beside her on the couch and gave her a hug, 'They certainly get you thinking about it', she spoke into Jane's ear, 'I'll be getting depraved myself with George tonight. Poor you, all alone in that big bed of yours.'

'Elsie! You are incorrigible! The things you say!' But secretly she wished Tom was home and she could have tried to persuade him to have sex. Even if it was only Monday.

George arrived just before ten. No, he didn't need a meal. He had had a pizza. But he'd like a drink. He kissed Elsie and then came over and kissed Jane. On the lips. He had never done that before and Jane's heart missed a beat with surprise. His lips were soft and, as his mouth opened, his tongue flicked, once, into her open mouth. Then it was over. George turned away and she leaned back on the settee savouring the sensation. She felt her heart beating.

Elsie paid no heed to her but instead remarked on George's casual attire. He explained that he'd showered and changed at his office.

'The people I counsel', he told Jane, 'don't want a man in an executive suit when they're unloading the secrets of their lives.'

Jane looked at George sitting there in shirt and slacks, his square-jawed face, and those eyes, and those wonderful hands, the powerful fingers toying with his glass, and wondered about the women - she had no doubt they were women - who unburdened themselves with him. What she wondered did he say to them in that deep soft voice.

Elsie replenished their drinks. Jane no longer protested. She knew she was tiddly but she no longer cared. Tom need never know.

The dulcet tones of Ella came from the hi-fi:

Every time we say Goodbye, I cry a little...

'I just love this', Elsie got up and pulled George out of his chair, 'let's dance, George'

They danced slowly around just in front of Jane as she lolled back lazily on the settee, admiring them and sipping her wine.

'What a perfect couple they are' she thought, 'they're just a perfect fit.'

As she watched they seemed to move less around the room, and their bodies seemed to be glued together in complete unity. Elsie had put her arms round George's neck and her head rested over on his shoulder, her lips grazing his neck. Her eyes were closed. Hardly moving from the spot they swayed and rolled.

Jane met George's eyes and he smiled that strange little smile of his and instead of feeling out of place, Jane felt a warm glow inside. Felt she was a part of this lovely scenario as if she too were in George's arms. She saw his hands slip down and cup Elsie's bottom and she moved her hips to press her body even closer into him. Now they weren't moving round the room at all, their bodies just undulating in perfect harmony.