Chapter 4

Laura was miserable. The last few days had been absolute agony. The night of her tête-à-tête with Jullian, she had returned home an hour or so before Charlie. Quickly showering to cleanse herself of the erotic smells of Jullian and sex, she had gone to bed and pretended to be asleep when Charlie returned. Although he was elated with the successful completion of the merger contracts and actually feeling a bit amorous, when he woke her, she pleaded a headache and so the two spent another night without sex. She hated to disappoint him, especially when he was experiencing a rare night of excitation, but guilt and soreness from her unrestrained sexual antics with Jullian had left her drained. As Charlie finally drifted off to sleep, she lay awake for hours, intense feelings of guilt mixed with those of absolute elation. Laura Branson also felt sated sexually for the first time she could ever remember.

In the days that followed she kept reminding herself of her marriage, her vows to Charlie and the fact that his inability to satisfy her was beyond his control. To reassure herself, she dragged out some old photo albums and tried to find contentment in reliving the many good times she and Charlie had experienced in their twenty-nine years of their marriage. At one point she had convinced herself that she must put Jullian out of her mind, concentrate on making her marriage to Charlie even better and move on, accepting what had happened as a moment of weakness, one which she would make up to her husband by being a better wife. She revisited her own self doubts about her womanhood and decided to become as much woman as she could for Charlie. Perhaps if she tried hard enough, together they could overcome his condition and both of them could derive physical pleasure from their marriage once more.

She had her hair cut in a short, youthful, layered style which melted some years from her face. Her next stop was the purchase of an exercise video and a workout exerciser. She began eating healthier and immersed herself in exercise. Although already attractive, Laura shed several pounds, her waist, hips and thighs slimmed and began to take on a tautness they had not enjoyed for several years. Her breasts, although remaining full, firmed and her entire body took on the appearance of a much younger woman.

And finally, perhaps hardest of all, she cleaned out her closet of the loose fitting, shapeless and conservative outfits she had wore for the last twenty years and in their place she filed her wardrobe with stylish, more youthful styles, form fitting and figure flattering. All were in good taste, yet blouses and bras revealed cleavage and accentuated her bust line while dresses and skirts were shorter, some revealing ample leg, but all leaving no doubt as the shapely figure which Laura Branson now displayed.

She bought several revealing sets of lingerie, bra and panty sets and even a scandalous (by Laura's standards) crocheted two piece bikini for acquiring a tan which she supplemented with twice a week sessions at a tanning salon.

Physically Laura Branson had transformed herself from a somewhat dowdy, forty-seven year old into a voluptuous, very desirable woman who looked twenty years younger in face and body.

She was devastated however, when, at last possessing a body she felt worthy of him, she had donned one of her most revealing and sexiest negligees and seductively wooed Charlie into the bedroom. But despite the fact that he found her absolutely gorgeous, Charlie could not, even with the help of Viagra, get an erection. The night had become a disaster when she had openly blamed herself for his lack of performance and, for the first time in their marriage, he had not contradicted her.

They tried on several successive nights with the same disastrous results. Once again Laura began to question her womanhood and with that questioning came the longing for the man who could both confirm and satisfy her sensuality.

She fought the impulse to see Jullian again, regaling herself for her initial unfaithfulness and her renewed desires to again be in the bed of her lover. Yet, try as she might to distract herself with housework and even volunteering for charity work at the community center, her yearning returned and her new near model-like body ached to be filled. She dreamed of Jullian and re-experienced in her fevered dreams the orgasmic ecstasy she had experienced that night. On more than one occasion she had awakened, drenched in sweat from a dream in which she reached heights to which her husband could no longer take her.

Days later, lacking sleep and burning with a fire which simply could not be quenched, Laura puttered with housework, but her effort was meaningless and she knew it. At long last she drew a steaming bath.

Jullian had been home almost an hour, debating with himself whether to eat in or out, when the doorbell rang. Opening the door he was both pleasantly surprised and shocked to see the woman who stood before him in a figure hugging dress, slit up one side to reveal a great deal of curvaceous leg, sheer black flowered stockings and high heeled sandals, straps reaching well up her legs. His eyes roamed appreciatively over her figure and the lovely face and youthful hair style. But what he read in the eyes was nothing short of desperation. Her eyes met his, then cast away, her shame complete, the sack containing the bottle of wine hanging limply from her hand. She could say nothing, but her eyes were drawn back to his in supplication.

"Laura... please come in."

She entered, her head hung, her eyes cast downward.

"Jullian... I've been such a fool. You were right. I've tried. My god, I've tried to stay away from you."

"It's all right. I've thought of you as well."

"I... didn't know what to get..." she said, handing him the bottle.

"Madeira, I presume?" he asked smiling.

"Please forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive. You did what you thought was right... what you thought you needed to do."

"But I couldn't. I've tried to get you out of my mind, but every moment, waking and dreaming, I found myself wanting to be here... with you."

"And so you are," he said taking the wine and setting it on a small table. "But what is this? A new Laura."

"I... I first told myself I was doing it for Charlie. Then I tried to convince myself it was for me. The truth is I want to be worthy of you Jullian."

"But you are..."

"I want to be as much for you as you are for me," she continued. "I want this body to give back as much as it receives."

"Pleasure is not to be found exclusively in the body, Laura. You were already a very sensuous woman. Have you enhanced your physical desirability? By all means, but sensuality is as much in the mind as the body. You must not only look desirable, you must believe in your desirability."