Chapter 1

“But which do you prefer?” Nicole asked, as she held up both a black and red dress in front of the tall, thin mirror in their AirBnB apartment just off the main road in a remote Spanish town.

With the pressure of working in retail, family life and COVID thrown into the mix, it had been a tough 18 months for the pair, who opted to get some sun on their backs and a change of scenery.

On the side, Nicole was also an on-call friend, counsellor, fashion stylist and sex therapist on her ASKfm account, another reason the break would do them both good after a hectic period.

In the main, most had moved on to the next social platform but a core community stuck with it, and she would frequently give advice on a whole matter of subjects. It was something she enjoyed, if felt a bit of a responsibility to get right.

“Either or”, said David, as he laid in bed checking the latest football transfer news on his phone. “Whichever you prefer”, he sighed.

“Thanks for the interest”, she had thought, but refrained from causing an atmosphere before dinner. With a complicated love / hate relationship with her figure at times, she hadn’t been looking for compliments, only reassurance.

Eventually plumping for the red dress, Nicole cranked up her ‘Get Ready’ Spotify playlist and started her usual routine. After applying the finishing touches to her eye shadow, a subtle pink blush, the night awaited.

Stepping through the old wooden door frame of the apartment onto the cold white tiles, ‘fuck me’ was the mutter from David, who had just popped in the top button of his open neck maroon shirt.

“Is it okay?” Nicole had asked, still somewhat self conscious about the deep red dress which clung to her hourglass hips. She had joked they were great childbearing hips, and probably knew somewhere in her subconscious they would actually come in handy for that if or when they decided to start trying for a family.

“Are you joking?”, replied David, who had to take a seat on the edge of the bed to admire his partner in full detail.

Unusually for Nicole, the dress had an uncharacteristically plunging neckline, with a supportive strapless bra just about sending David over the edge as just enough cleavage peaked out.

There was quite a height difference between the couple, made evident when David rose from his perched position. Nicole’s head barely reached his nose in height, but it was a dynamic that had always worked for them.

Rising to his feet, his black leather brogues clacking as they hit the tiles, David took a few steps and stood behind her. Running his hands over her hips and, when she turned around to face him, placing both hands on her firm buttocks, slowly whispering “you look beautiful.”

Nicole was used to hearing those words by now, but to what extent she fully believed them was still up for debate. “Right you, let’s go”, Nicole said as she sprayed perfume on her neck and wrist, ready for dinner and a stroll along the promenade.

“Are you not forgetting something?”. David struggled to control a wry smile that was clearly brewing as he sat back down on the queen size bed. Nicole had looked down and checked through her clutch bag and had repeated “phone, keys, money, lippy”, despite knowing full well what he had meant. Looking up to meet his eye, David was holding the bright pink love egg vibrator they had bought a few months previous.

She had tried to show some resistance for no other reason than to build up his suspense. Her false protestations were soon followed by a smirk and an eye roll, with her dimples on her cheeks showing off a cute smile that he fell for each and every time. “FINE” she had said, pretending to sound frustrated, but secretly had been just as excited to use it.