Excerpt Wives & Lovers
As Jennie picked up the phone and dialed Joan's number, she was seething. How dare Ralph speak to her like that? She'd not been expecting him home from work so early and thought she'd have plenty of time to clear up before he came in. It wasn't her fault that her kids' friends had decided to turn the living room into a scene out of Twister. She'd been running up and down stairs all day bringing two year old Peter drinks and toys to amuse him. The poor kid was now at the itching stage, and she could understand him being irritable, but it was no fun for her either. She wasn't feeling so hot herself. Mind you that was nothing new. Lately it took all her energy just to get out of bed in the morning. When she heard the car drawing up outside, she frantically tried to clear up at least the worst of the mess, but it was a futile effort. Her heart sank when she saw the look in Ralph's eyes as he walked into the room. "So I can see you've had another busy day," he said sarcastically. After throwing his briefcase onto the sofa, he went into the kitchen, where a pile of dirty dishes met his eyes. "I suppose it was too much effort to put these in the dishwasher?" He didn't wait for an answer but opened the fridge door and took out a can of beer. Walking back, he almost tripped over the cat, which was busily producing a hair ball in the middle of the carpet. He aimed a kick at it. The cat screeched and jumped up onto the cupboard, knocking over one of Jennie's favorite ornaments in the process. It sat there and hissed at the world. Jennie knew exactly how it felt. Sweeping the toys off the sofa, Ralph sank down on it with a long drawn-out sigh of frustration. "Is it too much to ask that when I get home the place doesn't look like a garbage dump? It's not as if you've got anything else to do." His harsh words hurt. They were so unfair. All he seemed to care about was his own comfort. She tried to keep calm. "You know the kids are at home, and they had some friends in." Trying to lighten the mood she added, "You should have seen them. They were all dressed up as bandits and..." Ralph didn't let her finish the sentence but snorted in exasperation and said, "I couldn't care less what they were dressed up as. I do care about the state of this room. Why didn't you get them to clear up afterwards?" "They were really enjoying themselves and I didn't have the heart to moan at them about the mess. Anyway - I thought I'd have the time to do it before you came in. Why are you home so early?" Ralph took the question as an accusation and replied tersely, "Obviously I don't work long enough hours for you. But don't worry. I'm only home now because I need some data from my computer, and I'm still working. Which is more than some of us do," and, vacating the sofa, he stormed into the den. "In case you're interested, Peter is still ill," she yelled at his retreating back, but he just ignored her. Well, he could forget about any fun and games this evening - that was for sure. She'd been planning on trying to get herself into the mood. It had been over a month since they'd slept together, and she could tell from his mood the last couple of days that he was fed up with waiting. She didn't want it to get to the stage that it had last time. Then they'd had a blazing row, during which he had yelled at her, "If you're not willing I can always find it elsewhere." Why on earth he thought that would make her more obliging she couldn't imagine. It just made her feel as if she was being blackmailed. It goaded her into shouting at him, "In the unlikely event that you're lucky enough to find anyone that stupid, then she's welcome to you!" She'd regretted the words as soon as they were out of her mouth, but before she could take them back, he'd stormed out of the house. By the state he was in when he returned, he'd obviously made a beeline for the nearest bar. It seemed that they were heading the same way again. Suddenly she was fed up with the whole situation. She needed to get out of the house. Let him see what it was like being stuck indoors with three kids. She decided to ring Joan. The phone was picked up at last and soon she was speaking to her best friend. Ten years older, and, it sometimes seemed, one hundred times wiser, she was Jennie's standby in her recent rows with Ralph. Joan could obviously tell from Jennie's tone that things were bad again as she said, "How do you feel about going out for a drink together this evening?" "I always knew you were a mind-reader! That was just what I was going to suggest. Ralph can get the dinner for a change, though knowing him, it will probably mean a visit to McDonalds." They arranged to meet in a local Irish bar, where there was a folk song evening, something which they both enjoyed. She decided to have a shower and dress up for once. It seemed as if she'd been wearing nothing but jeans and sweaters for the last year. Ralph never took her out anymore, unless it was to the McDonalds with the kids. She was fed up with looking like the harassed mother of three that she was. As she passed the den she heard the sound of Ralph's fingers pounding the keyboard. She wondered if he really was working. He seemed to spend most of his time at home on the computer recently. Well, at least it meant that he was occupied, and wasn't moaning at her. She left him at it, and was soon standing under the shower feeling the warm water flowing over her, soothing away some of the tension she felt. As she soaped herself, she looked down at her body with a feeling of pride. Even after three kids her figure was still worth looking at. Her stomach flat, her skin unblemished and her breasts still firm, with their nipples pink and erect. She let her fingers linger on them and to her surprise realized that she was enjoying the feeling. She'd lacked the energy recently to even think of masturbating. For a second she thought of calling Ralph to join her, but then she remembered his angry words, and the moment passed. She could relieve her feelings just as well on her own. She took her breast in her hand and, drawing it to her lips, she began to lick the water droplets off her nipple. With her other hand she began to stroke her clit with a soapy finger. She felt her legs trembling and leaned against the shower wall for support. Stopping her actions for a second, she removed the shower head attachment from the wall and directed the water stream directly onto her clit. Oh God, that felt good. Turning up the water pressure, she began rubbing her nipples in between her slippery fingers. As the water hit her most sensitive spot she could feel herself beginning to come. Pressing the shower head right up against her body, she rubbed the metal against her clit. The rubbing motion of the warm metal and the pounding of the water were all she needed. She pressed her hand against her mouth so that no one would hear her scream of release. Fleetingly she wondered how long ago it was that she'd come without having to smother the sound so that the kids wouldn't hear. Stepping out of the shower, her legs were still shaking and she held onto the towel rail to stop herself from falling. Her breathing was coming in gasps and her heart was still beating at about twice its normal rate, but she felt really good. A lot more relaxed than she had felt in a long time. She realized that she was really looking forward to her night out. Dressing carefully in her black silk underwear (though goodness knows why - no one would be seeing it), a pair of tailored brown slacks and - after a moment's hesitation - a slightly see-through silk blouse, she observed the effect in the mirror. Not bad, she thought, but decided that it was just a bit too revealing. Hunting through her wardrobe, she added a short brown waistcoat with ties up the front, and completed the outfit with a pair of brown suede boots. After putting on her makeup with a little more care than usual, and tying the front of her hair back to expose her face, she was quite pleased with the result. But now there was the little problem of telling Ralph where she was going. She knew he wouldn't like it, but he never asked her permission if he wanted to go out in the evenings. Why should she have to ask his? She checked on Peter first, but luckily he was asleep. He looked like a little angel and she smiled softly. He'd managed to eat some soup earlier so there was no need to wake him for a meal. With any luck he'd sleep through to the next morning. Jackie and Melanie were at her neighbor's house, where they had fled to avoid clearing up the mess, but would be in soon to be fed. Well, she just hoped that Ralph could handle that for once, even if it did mean fast food. Walking downstairs, she knocked on the door of the den, hearing the sounds of frantic typing stopping at her knock. As she opened the door, Ralph quickly switched off the screen. He'd been doing that a lot recently, and she wondered what it was he was so busy with that he didn't want her to see. However, she didn't think this was the right time to ask, and filed the question away in the back of her head for later consideration. She saw that Ralph was staring at her in surprise. He'd obviously observed her change of clothes. She supposed she should have been glad that he'd even noticed. Lately she'd felt that she might have been wearing an old sack the number of times he'd complimented her on the way she looked. Suddenly the thought hit her that he might think that she was dressed like this for him. Hurriedly she said, "Joan and I are going out for a drink this evening." By the change in his expression, she knew she'd been right in her suspicions. His next words warned her that this wasn't going to be easy. "Oh, yes, and what about the mess downstairs, and what are we going to do for food? I don't suppose you got any shopping in, did you?" "The kids are next door, but they should be in soon. There are some steaks in the fridge, and some salad; you could do some fries with it, and..." "Oh great! I've been working all day, and then I'm expected to cook the dinner too, while you go out gallivanting I suppose?" He clenched his fists and for a moment she thought he was going to hit her. "That's not fair Ralph. I hardly ever go out. I need a break." "What! You need a break! Oh, yeah sure, you've obviously had a very strenuous day, sitting on your backside! And I've been doing nothing of course, just earning the money so that you can go out and spend it." She felt her stomach contract at the hateful tone of his voice. He just didn't realize how tiring it was looking after three kids all day. The lack of stimulation and no adult conversation sometimes drove her up the walls. When he'd come home in the evenings, she'd try to talk to him, but he just wasn't interested. The little milestones in the kids' lives that were so important to her just left him cold. She knew it wasn't exactly stimulating conversation, and Ralph obviously thought the same. He ignored her, and ended up switching on the television or closeting himself in the den with his computer. Well, she needed some relaxation too, and tonight she was going to get it, whether Ralph was pleased about it or not. She stopped wasting her breath, picked up her bag and just walked out the door. She guessed she'd pay for it when she got back, but at that moment, she just couldn't care less. She had to get out of the house. | ||
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