Chapter 9

I would have laughed, but Rachel had expected me to kiss her, hadn’t she? I worried about it on the way home. She hadn’t seemed offended, at least.

But in any case it was hard not to be jealous about her with Sara. Though Sara wasn’t jealous about me with Natasha. And how was Natasha coping with sharing her girlfriend with her own mother? She’d seemed okay while they were working Sara over together...

When I got home there was a car in the drive. Tessa exchanged a slightly distant kiss with me and led me into the living room, where a man was standing; rather uncertainly I thought.

“I this is Ron,” Tessa introduced me, “a good friend from the Gardening Club.” He seemed a pleasant chap, a year or two older than myself, perhaps. Rather tense.

I shook hands with him and exchanged a few pleasantries about the weather and the problems with greenfly, before Ron made his excuses and left. It was bit odd.

Tessa got me a drink and I sat in the familiar surroundings, on the sofa. Tessa sat next to me as usual, but I had a bad feeling, suddenly. She’d wound herself up to say something.

“I’ve become quite fond of Ron,” She told me, a bit formally. “He’s a very caring person, and we get along well. I’ve been seeing more of him just recently, as you can imagine with being left on my own more. I wanted you to meet him.

“Now I don’t want you to say anything, just yet. I want you to think about what you want. What you really want. We’re the same age but in some ways you’re younger than me now. I can understand that but I want to be with someone, not on my own. I don’t need sex, or even a lot of intimacy, but I do want to be the focus of someone’s attention. I want to share my life with someone, and share theirs.

“So my question is, whether we should separate, for a while at least? Maybe you’ll get through this phase, or maybe it’ll always be this way, but I’d rather face it head on than wait. You know what I’m like.” She smiled at me. A slightly sad smile, but determined.

Tessa carried on: “I’ve slept with Ron, if that helps you decide.”

“Slept with him?” I was shocked. I’d stopped seeing Tessa as sexy, I supposed.

“Yes, using a lubricant, it was very nice. I don’t suppose it’ll be a regular thing, either way, but it cemented our relationship. So tell me about your week. How many? How many girls and how many times? It’s completely obvious. Start with today, if you’re struggling to remember.”

“Well,” I had to drag the confession out of myself, “three girls,” I admitted. “Five times, I think...” It sounded ridiculous.

“Alright,” Tessa had made her point. “I don’t suppose you realise how involved you’ve been with your precious factory over the last year? I’ve been quite cut off from you. Compared to when you were messing about in the garage here, every day.

“And these days you’re successful and you’ve changed. For the better I daresay, but it’s not the same between us. And now you have these girls; they’re part of this other life and it’s not my life. So I can have Ron, if I want, and he does suit my life.” She reached across and put her hand on mine.

Almost before I realised it I was back in my car, with two suitcases full of clothes, having agreed a trial separation and kissed my wife goodbye, for now.

I drove, trying to take in the enormity of what had just happened. I’d asked for it. Had it coming. I couldn’t claim it was anybody’s fault but mine, or that it had come out of the blue. I’d appointed not one but two sixteen-year-old secretaries, and now this was the consequence: I was homeless. Well, not really but that’s how it felt. Rootless anyway.

I’d been with Tessa my entire adult life. Now she was gone.

In the headlights I saw two figures, in the middle of the road. I braked ... Two figures right next to each other, and a consistent pale colour that wasn’t quite right...

Sara and Rachel! Naked and grinning at me! I’d driven back to Rachel’s country lane.

I dipped my headlights, then went to sidelights so the whole county couldn’t see them, as I stopped with a jerk. Sara came round to my window and I lowered it.

“I won the bet!” she laughed. “I bet an hour. Rach bet two.”

“Sara!” I had to adjust myself as, in spite of everything, my cock reacted to her presence.

“Welcome back,” Rachel smiled over Sara’s shoulder while she seemed still to be caressing the potent tanned-blonde ass.

“Thanks,” I was trying to disguise just how grateful I felt. “How did you know I’d be back? And what about the other traffic?”

“We talked about it,” Sara said with her usual candour, “and we all said you’re so happy with us and it’s so right and you’ve been away from home so much and you just changed and went all down when you said you had to go.

“We reckoned your wife had to be pissed off and you wouldn’t be pleading too hard for her to give you another chance. And I knew what your headlights look like.”

“Luckily another Mercedes didn’t come along,” grinned Rachel, “ooops ... car!”

They scampered off into the drive giggling, and I turned in after them as a car came up behind. Once it had gone by I put the lights on and watched them both wiggle their different but equally sexy asses at me, swaying up the drive in step with an arm round each other. Having fun. I could only imagine they’d filled in the time while they were waiting with sex.

Anyway they’d been right on all counts about me and Tessa. But Tessa had Ron at least, thank goodness. In fact, she probably preferred him these days.

For a while I was swept along by the fact they were all glad I’d returned. Nobody asked what had happened, I supposed because it was obvious. It was over dinner that it hit me again: no Tessa. She’d been with me forever, now it was over. No home. I could have stayed, if I’d asked, but it hadn’t felt right.

I didn’t realise how sad I was looking until I found Natasha was looking gravely at me: “What happened Mike?”

“She’s found someone else, who suits her better.” Twenty-five years, and now it was gone. It was my choice as much as hers, but...

“Don’t be sad,” Natasha laid a caring hand on mine, “you’ve got us.” She smiled beautifully at me.

“Thank you.” In what sense though?

“‘Course you’ve got us,” Sara was her usual definite self, “it’ll be miles better now.”

“You came back here, didn’t you?” said Dani.

“That was the right instinct,” Rachel was smiling at me too, “and you can certainly stay.”

“Thank you,” I hoped the moisture in my eyes wasn’t showing.

“It’s the start of something, isn’t it?” said Sara. “Just like Rachel’s making a new start, and Dani.”

“How am I making a new start?” asked Dani.

“You said you’d give muff-diving a go didn’t you?” Sara grinned. Unlike the sensitive Natasha and her family Sara was unaffected by my mood. Or trying to jolly me out of it, perhaps. Or, as usual, looking for the opportunity in it. Quite likely she was thinking she could get more fucking now. The thought brought a smile back to my face. She’s so positive.

“Did I?” said Dani, “I suppose I did ... no I only said ‘perhaps’, so you might have to make do with three partners Hotsie.” She grinned at the blonde.