Happily Ever After_ - Benison Anne O'Reilly [88]
When he popped into my office the next day Alex said, ‘That was weird, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes. I didn’t know you were going out last night.’
‘It was a bit of a last minute decision.’
And then I couldn’t help myself. ‘So who is Stacey?’
‘Ah yes, I realised later that you might have wondered about that. Don’t worry, she’s the girlfriend of my friend James. He was at the bar with Paul getting drinks when you came by.’
‘Oh.’
‘Were you jealous? I hope so.’
‘A bit…even though I know I have no right. She’s rather gorgeous.’
‘Yeah she’s a good sort. James is very keen.’
‘Tony thought she was your girlfriend. He said she was hot.’
‘Well he should have had a closer look at the woman standing next to him. She’s hot too…no scrap that, on second thoughts I don’t want him to notice. You know, Stacey guessed.’
‘Guessed what?’
‘That you were the girl I was seeing. She said she could tell by the way I looked at you.’
‘But no-one’s meant to know!’
‘Oh yeah. Paul must have said something to James.’
‘Well tell Paul to stop blabbing will you. You never know who will know who.’
‘Okay, settle down, I will,’ he soothed, although he seemed a bit irritated with me. Perhaps he thought I was overreacting, but then he had nothing to lose by exposure and I had everything.
Thinking it would be a good idea to change the subject, I said, ‘You know, when I told Tony that Stacey wasn’t your girlfriend, he actually asked me if you were gay. If I’d have been cleverer I would have said yes.’
‘Why, is he a homophobe or something?’
‘No, you couldn’t accuse him of that. As a matter of fact his younger brother is gay, although he’s yet to officially come out.’
‘You don’t think I’m gay do you?’ he said slyly. With that he quickly scanned the horizon, then leant down (I was sitting at my desk) and kissed me slowly on the neck.
I felt my insides contract with that now familiar feeling but I had to reprimand him. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Relax, I checked, there’s no-one around.’
***
It took me a few days to realise that I was not the only one struck by the green-eyed monster after our chance encounter in the shadows of the Opera House.
It was a Wednesday night, and I was once again alone with Alex in his bed. We had just made love, me on top. Alex lay on his back, looking like the cat that had swallowed the canary.
‘You like that position best, I think?’ I said.
‘Why?’
‘Because I can tell when you come - the intensity seems greater.’
‘Hmm, I like watching you.’
But then his expression changed - to what? I wasn’t sure until he spoke. ‘So tell me…what position does Tony like best?’
‘What?’
‘What position does your husband enjoy best?’
‘Why are you asking me that? You know I can’t talk about that sort of thing.’
‘Okay tell me this. Are you still having sex with him?’
‘Yes, but hardly ever. [‘Hardly ever’ if you used the criteria of a honeymooner maybe, but remember I was an accomplished liar by this stage.] He might get suspicious if I said no altogether.’
‘Lots of wives do say no, I hear. The thing is I had this impression that you were barely speaking to one another, but when I saw you together the other night I didn’t get that vibe at all. You seemed almost cosy.’
‘You know that people always present their best face in public.’
‘Even so - he didn’t look like a guy who was just about to walk out on you.’
‘Where did this all come from? You seemed fine about things on Friday.’
‘I don’t know…I tried not to let it worry me. But while you’ve been playing happy families all weekend I’ve had time to think - too much time probably.’
‘Okay, there has been a complication, which I suppose I should have told you about before now. The other day [actually it was more than two months earlier but I didn’t think telling the truth would be to my advantage here] I gave him an ultimatum. I said we should talk about separating soon if things didn’t improve. Anyway, he’s now saying he doesn’t want to split up and has