Over the last couple of months Harriet had established a little routine. Sex with Andrew was now more regular and without the dreaded condom, and she was able sometimes to perform oral sex on him in the car without complaint, as long as it was parked discreetly. He was still nervous about outdoor sex, but he was certainly a lot less uptight than he had been.

Once the house was empty in the morning she would get her vibrator and watch videos on the big TV screen. Sometimes they were the videos of herself with Witness, other times it was Witness with other women. She watched as more women were added to the Witness Program folder, her own image dropping further back. She no longer felt jealous about it, but pride when she saw her own photo, her face hidden by the “I’ve been Witnessed” sign as with the others, but she knew it was her. She was part of this special, but ever growing group.

On the swinging website she chatted and flirted with other men, but she hadn’t met anyone else since before her birthday. She was making an effort for Andrew.

It was the Friday before Christmas, and she knew it would be the last time alone with her toy, as school was about to break up. She decided to go out and buy a small Christmas present for Angela, as a thank you for the help she’d received. The vibrator she had chosen for Harriet was perfect. It was certainly powerful, despite it’s size, and a pleasure to use. Also it looked fairly anonymous and could easily be mistaken for some beauty product should it be seen by her bedside.

So this morning she had seen Andrew off to work and the children off to school and then went upstairs and opened her bedside drawer to pick up the vibrator. It wasn’t there.

Panicked, she quickly searched through the drawer and then down the side and under the bed. Nothing. She went to the ensuite to see if it had been left there, but still she couldn’t find it. She raced downstairs to search through her bag. Nothing.

A cold chill went through her. She went to Hannah’s room and there it was on her bedside cabinet plugged into her own phone charger. Anger, embarrassment and concern flooded through her. Hannah had been showing a lot of attitude recently, and this took it over the line, but Harriet wasn’t sure how to deal with it. She decided not to reveal that she knew and left it where it was. She’d see what would happen, but something needed to be said. She never thought she had to worry about Hannah in this way, she always seemed averse to public displays of affection, but now she wondered exactly what she’d been up to. She closed the door and went back downstairs, frustrated that her routine had been disrupted. Picking up her coat she decided to go out to buy Angela’s present. The rest of Christmas was all sorted, and this was her final, personal task.

The day was cold, grey and damp. Harriet was wearing boots and a thick corduroy skirt that went down to just below the knee. She wore a seasonal knitted sweater, nothing tacky, but it had a subtle snowflake pattern.

The town was busy. She didn’t want to embarrass Angela with anything expensive, but just wanted to give a token of her appreciation. She ended up browsing a chemist shop for some suitable fragrance.

As she was looking at the shelves a delivery driver came in carrying a large box, he came back with another. He was black and looked to be in his early twenties. Harriet admired his strength as he came back carrying another two boxes and watched him bend as he placed them with the others behind the counter her eyes on his tight behind and slim figure. He noticed her looking as he straightened up and smiled at her. Harriet held his gaze steadily.

Nothing was said, but a lot went on between their eyes. He looked, she smiled. He inclined his head to suggest outside, she nodded. He left, she followed.

Harriet followed him out of the front of the shop and turned into a small alleyway. It was mostly taken up by his van which had been reversed in. She walked behind the van to where he was closing the rear doors. Around them were large metal cages on wheels and commercial bins. As he slammed the second door shut he reached out to Harriet and pushed her against the rear of his van. His hand was already up her sweater and cold against her breast, looking for a way to free it from her bra. His mouth pushed into her own and she pushed her tongue against his. Something about the discovery that morning had stirred something in her. It had been a long time and she was hungry.