A Tangled Web
All people and places are fictional. All characters are over eighteen.
*****
Razor sharp knife through sweet white onion. A crisp, snick of a sound, over and over until the pieces are swept into hot olive oil and an aromatic sizzle fills the warm humid air. Margo gives the pan a quick flick with her wrist to toss the pieces, and lets the gas flame do its thing. After the onion has softened a bit she sprinkles in smoked paprika, salt and a little flour, and tosses it again. Minced garlic, a spoon of grainy mustard, a splash of dry French Vermouth, a little water. She tucks in two thick pork chops that she browned a few minutes before and puts on the cover to finish them. Brown rice with coconut oil and steamed asparagus rounds out the dinner plates. A fruity Beaujolais fills the glasses.
“Delicious honey,” her husband Derek says. “You’re too good to me.”
Yes, Margo thought, I am too good to you. The least you could do is fuck me once in a while. The thought brought a sad little smile to her face. ‘Fuck’ wasn’t a word she used to use, under any circumstances, but lately it had crept into her vocabulary. She hadn’t said it out loud yet, but whenever she said it to herself it made her smile a little.
Fuck, pussy, cock, tits. Even a well used word like ass for goodness sake. They had never been uttered by Margo in all her forty years. She was a ‘good girl’, and now a ‘good wife’, but recently, in the last six months or so, she’d reached a tipping point.
In the mirror, day after day, her reflection looked back at her with an emotionless expression, showing the passage of time. First thing in the morning, when it all was most on display, she was grateful for blurry eyes. Anyone other than Margo — a man for instance — would see it very differently. Yoga and long walks had kept her fit, and her face was radiant with middle-age beauty, the type of beauty most young girls hope they’ll grow into but don’t achieve. Lovely eyes and a mischievous smile that curls up at the corners, soft strawberry blonde hair that looks just right with a bit of grey streaking through it, and smooth cleavage, on display, at least a little bit, every day.
Derek carved off a piece of pork and put it in his mouth, watching the news on a TV at the far end of the room as he chewed. Margo watched him as the little smile from the ‘why don’t you fuck me’ thought faded from her face. She’d grown tired of wondering why the spark had left their marriage. Tired of thinking about it. Just tired.
In bed that night, in her old t-shirt and loose-fitting cotton yoga pants, she lay awake with a pulpy romance novel as Derek drifted off to sleep. It had cooled enough to have the windows open, the nighttime silence giving her imagination free-reign with the words on the page. The chapter she was reading was just getting to the good stuff — the sex scene with the gardener she was hoping for. Then she heard it. Outside her window, across the darkness, the next-door neighbors where making love.
They were an average-looking young couple, in their late twenties, trying to have a baby. Margo had heard the sounds a few times before, usually at night but once during the day. She’d wondered if she should tell them — that they could be heard when their window was open — but it seemed too awkward a conversation to have, so she let it be. The sounds always stirred mixed feelings in Margo. Disappointment, sadness, excitement and desire, all mixed together in a strange way. She wasn’t sure if Derek had ever heard them. Ten years Margo’s senior, she wondered if the sounds would stir anything in him, or if his sex-drive was simply gone, washed away with the years.
On that particular night Marybeth and Billy — that’s the young couple next-door — were having a particularly good time with their baby-making. Moaning exclamations drifted on the summer night air, so lovely and pure. Young love in all its carnal glory. Margo closed her eyes and listened deeply, imagining Billy’s cock deep in her own pussy, moving slow and deep, the way she’d seen young porn men fuck older women in flickering images on her computer screen. Her hand slipped inside her old yoga pants, her middle finger touching her clit ever so gently. A warm heat overtook her, but she knew she had to stop. Stop touching herself and stop listening. No good would come of either, not there, not in bed with her sleeping husband. Read the book Margo, she told herself. It’s all you get these days.
———————
“I probably shouldn’t be blabbing about this, but Christie’s having an affair.”
Margo was having coffee and half a pastry with her friend Joan at a cafe down the road from the yoga studio. “You’re not gonna believe who the guy is,” Joan added.
“Joanie! Oh my God, you shouldn’t be telling me this!”
“I know, but it’s so juicy, isn’t it?” Joan said, her eyes wide and smiling. “It’s Matt, the cute guy that works at the Quick-Fill at Ander’s Corners.”
“You’re joking!” Margo said. “She’s old enough to be his mother!”
“I know!” Joan exclaimed. “Can you imagine?”
Margo could imagine, and she wasn’t Escort Bayan alone. Most of the women who went in that Quick-Fill could imagine.
“How do you know? Does everybody know?” Margo said.
“Just you and me, and anybody else Christie blabs to. I was surprised she told me, but I could tell she’s proud of it and wanted someone to know.”
“Wow!” Margo said quietly.
“She said things have been dried up at home,” Joan said. “I can sympathize.”
“You and Jim? Really?” Margo said.
“Well, not really dry, but…I guess I’m not as attractive as I used to be,” Joan said sadly.
“Wow, what’s going on with us all?” Margo asked. “Is this just how it is when you hit forty? I never imagined it like this.”
“So, you and Derek?”
“Not good,” Margo said, looking down at the crumbs on the plate.
Margo thought about telling Joan how listening to her neighbors made her feel, but didn’t want to get deep into the personal. Joan was a good friend, but sexual conversations had been few and far between with her.
“I wish you hadn’t told me, about Christie I mean,” Margo said. “Now I’ve gotta pretend I don’t know when I see her at church.”
“Are you kidding? You’ve got the best poker face I’ve ever seen. You could bang half the town and keep it a secret probably.”
“Joanie! That’s…”
“Exciting to think about?” Joan said. “You don’t have to tell me honey. We’d all love a little somethin’ on the side. The kids these days got it made with their friends with benefits thing. That’s what we need, friends with benefits. Just don’t tell anybody. Well, nobody like me anyway,” Joan laughed.
———————
Sunday morning was warm and humid. All the windows in the church were open. Reverend Blake’s sermon was about open windows, letting the world into our lives, sharing in our neighbor’s trials, tribulations, joys and triumphs. Margo mind went right were it shouldn’t when you’re at church, to Marybeth’s moaning and muffled screams of ecstasy, and the dull thump of her bed hitting the wall as Billy pounded her young pussy with his young cock. They were sitting right there, just three pews in front of Margo. She wondered if Billy gathered up Marybeth’s long hair and held it tight while he fucked her from behind, the way the porn men sometimes do.
“Lovely sermon Reverend,” Margo said when she and Derek shook his hand on the steps on the way out.
Her mind was still in a bit of a fog when she saw Christie and her husband heading their way.
“Hi you two!” Christie said with a big smile.
“You look happy,” Margo said with a smirk. “Did you win the lottery or something?”
“I think she did and she’s keeping the money for herself,” Christie’s husband Rob said.
“Ooo! A secret life! I like the sounds of that!” Christie smiled, and she winked at Margo.
A wink? Does she know I know, Margo wondered?
In the parking lot Margo and Derek said hello to Winnie and Bob Stein. They had been at the house for one of Margo’s holiday parties a while back, a quiet brother and sister who didn’t mingle much that night. They lived together, Rob moving into Winnie’s house two years ago after returning from a failed business venture out West. There had been some tongue waging at first about the cohabitation, but as everyone got to know Rob that had died down.
On the way home Derek pulled the car into the Quick-Fill for some gas. Margo offered to go in and pay, saying she needed a quart of milk. Matt was working. Margo moved slow, lingering at the refrigerator where the milk was, gazing at Matt as he dealt with customers, his smile effortless and natural. She walked slowly to the counter.
“How’s it goin’?” Matt said. The fact that he recognized her made Margo’s heart race. “Just the milk today?”
“Yeah,” Margo said, fumbling in her wallet. “Oh! No! Gas…I need fifty on pump three. Sorry.”
“Hey, that’s cool. My mind goes other places too sometimes,” Matt said, glancing at the way Margo’s ample tits filled out her church dress. Margo caught him looking and lost her barely-there composure.
“How, um…much is the…milk?”
“Fifty-two ninety-five all together,” Matt smiled.
“Oh…yeah…gas,” she said, fumbling in her wallet some more.
“Thank you. I hope you come again soon,” Matt said, his eyes twinkling.
I shouldn’t have gone in there, Margo thought to herself as she walked out. He knows I know. Come again soon? Was he really making a sexual reference? Oh my God, I think he was…
The ride home was silent. Margo’s mind spun out of control — Billy pulling her hair from behind as her tits swung under her; Christie getting fucked hard by a boy less than half her age; Bob Stein’s cock, big and swollen in her hand; Matt making her ‘come again’, and again, and again.
“You need to get this air-conditioning fixed,” she said as she pulled on the front of her church dress, pumping fresh air into it. She unbuttoned it a nearly obscene amount and pulled up the hem. Derek didn’t even notice.
———————
“Joanie told me she told you,” Escort Christie said quietly.
She had snuck up behind Margo at the supermarket, and looked like she was about to explode with pent-up excitement.
“You don’t want to talk about it here do you?” Margo said. “There’s lots of ears in this place.”
“Oh. Yeah,” Christie said, looking around at the other customers. “Meet me at the schoolyard after you put your groceries away. I’m dying to talk about it.”
Margo pulled up beside the school a half-hour later. Christie was swaying gently on a swing with the sounds of playing children in the distance. It seemed like an odd place to talk about an affair, but the young man in question wasn’t much more than a boy, so maybe it was appropriate.
“I hope you don’t mind me knowing about this,” Margo said as she walked up. “I didn’t pry or anything like that.”
“No, it’s fine,” Christie said as Margo sat on the swing next to her. “I know I’ve totally lost my mind and all, but oh my God, it’s so worth it. I feel like I’ve been born again. It’s better than any Christian shit, I’ll tell you that,” she laughed.
“So how did it start? It seems unbelievable. He’s so young.”
“I sorta went out of control with the flirting. It built up slow, but when it got to a certain point I was doing things I wouldn’t ever have dreamed I’d do. I went in there one day in tight pants with a little lingerie top on under a nice blazer. It’s totally x-rated. A bedroom only kinda thing. I browsed around waiting for the other customer to leave. Matt was smiling a little, he knew I wanted to flirt some more. I took the blazer off, hooked it over my shoulder on my thumb and walked over to him. This little lingerie thing, it’s like sheer to the max, like a little wisp of chiffon. My titties were bouncing as I walked, my nips were pointing right at him. My hormones were just screaming, and I said, “Would you like to fuck me Matt, ’cause I’d like to fuck you.” It was like another person inside of me talking.”
“Christie! Oh my God, what if somebody’d walked in?”
“I know! I was totally out of control. But let me tell you, the sex…oh my God! I’ve never…I mean I can’t even…”
“Wow,” Margo said quietly. “That good huh?”
“Oh my God!” Christie said, rolling her eyes.
“What about your marriage Christie? What happens when Rob finds out?”
“You know what, we’ve been together a long time, but I’ve learned sex is important to me. You only live once, and I don’t want to blow the majority of my life with a lousy sex life. Rob’s just not interested in me in that way any more. Hasn’t been for a long time.”
“I know honey. You’re not alone. Me and Joanie, well, at least me, I’m in the same boat. Joanie says she is too. I guess I have to believe her, but seeing her and Jim together, I never would have guessed it. What is it with our men? Is it us? Are we doing something wrong?”
“Sometimes it’s just time for a change I think,” Christie said. “This whole monogamy thing, it’s so over-rated. Unless you’re content with boredom. I mean, unless you’re trying to make a baby, sex is a recreational activity. Why should it be any different than playing golf?”
“What about love Christie? What if you fall in love with a guy that’s half your age?”
“I don’t fall in love with my golf partners. I could just as easily though. It’s no different with casual sex. The way that boy fucks me though, oh my God, there’s nothing casual about that!” Christie laughed. “I bet he’d be into a three-way. You want to try him out?”
“Christie! Oh my God! You’ve gone off the deep end!”
“Deep is right,” Christie said, her body shaking in a big, theatrical tremble.
“Oh my God,” Margo said. She smiled and shook her head. Her friend had well and truly lost it.
———————
“What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”
“Oh, hi Bob,” Margo said. “I’m trying to find windshield wipers to fit my car. Guess they don’t pay much attention to women in these stores.”
“Well I certainly would if I worked here,” Bob winked. “How may I be of service Ma’am?”
“First of all, never call a woman my age ma’am,” Margo said with a smirk.
“Oh, sorry. I should know things like that after living with Winnie.”
“How are things going? You getting used to being back in town?”
“Yeah, I guess so. It’s definitely quieter here. Or maybe it’s just my sister’s lifestyle. I’ll get back on my feet eventually.”
“Yeah, Winnie’s not exactly a party-girl, is she. A lot of us seem to be be going that route.”
“You mean Trentburg doesn’t have a wild, dark side? Or we just haven’t found it yet maybe. So…how big a one are you looking for?” Bob asked, his eyes twinkling.
Margo could feel the blood drain from her face, and just as quickly it flushed red. “Oh…I’m not sure.”
“We can go outside and measure it,” Bob said. His face was straight, but there was definitely something in his eyes. Margo hadn’t seen a man with that twinkle in quite a while.
“Yeah, I’m…right out front.”
They Bayan Escort walked out and Bob removed her blades and brought them in. The clerk saw them and went over to help.
“I’m gonna grab some antifreeze,” Bob said. “If you’d like I can help you install those after we check out.”
“Thanks Bob,” Margo said.
Driving home Margo couldn’t get her mind off Bob. He was three years younger, if she remembered right, so she really didn’t know him back in their school days. Winnie was a year younger than her. Margo knew her back then from a spelling bee competition they both traveled to. Some of the other girls on the trip were getting into trouble, meeting up with boys, but she and Winnie were ‘good girls’ and spent some time together. There was one time after that, at a pool party in Winnie’s parent’s back yard, that she remembered seeing Bob. He was a boy of about fourteen at that time, shirtless, shooting baskets in the driveway in gym shorts that had shrunk up way too much. Margo remembered giggling with the other girls because they knew Bob was checking them out, trying to make himself known to the newly blossomed young women.
Margo pulled into the Quick-fill. Suddenly she didn’t mind so much that her big SUV was a gas-guzzler.
“Hi Matt, how’s it going today?” she said, breaking new ground with a casual conversation.
“Not too bad Mrs…”
“Margo.”
“Mrs…Margo?”
“Just Margo,” she smiled. “Forty on pump three today.”
“You got it,” Matt smiled. “Have a great day.”
“You too Matt,” Margo said.
———————
A week of quiet nights with Derek drifted by. Margo had made it a point to look good in the evenings, forgoing her loose ‘comfort’ clothes for some tighter yoga outfits that showed off the nice body she worked so hard on. Even with an extra glass of wine at dinner, and a kiss with some heat in it before bed, there was no response from Derek. “I’m tired dear. Big day tomorrow,” was one of his most used lines.
One of those frustrating nights coincided with Marybeth and Billy’s baby-making adventures. It was another wonderful summer night, perfect for open window sleeping. Derek was snoring quietly when Margo heard a tell-tale moan. She put her book down and got out of bed, the quietly ecstatic sounds pulling her like a magnet. She walked through the house in the dark, into the living room and out onto the back porch. The young lovers were only thirty feet away. A dim light was on in their bedroom. Margo could make out some movement through the lacy curtains, but not enough to really see what was going on. Margo settled herself on an upholstered lounge chair and her hand slipped into her yoga pants. She let herself go, eyes closed, her mind drifting away on the beautiful sounds, Marybeth and Billy both moaning, flesh slapping into flesh. Margo came in a wave of intense heat. The cool of the summer night lowered her back to earth.
———————
“Hey good looking. How’s life treating you?”
The words, honey-soaked with a soft Latin accent, reached Margo’s ears as two strong arms encircled her from behind. A soft kiss on her neck finished things off with an exclamation point.
“Hector!” Margo cooed. “You could get me in big trouble!”
“Wouldn’t that be fun,” Hector breathed into Margo’s ear. “Derek wouldn’t mind, would he?”
Hector and Derek worked together. Accounting and payroll at a plastics manufacturer in town. Hector, a tall, dark Puerto Rican, had been to a few cocktail parties at Margo’s house, the last one a few years back, before her life had become so painfully boring.
“Let me look at you,” Margo said, loosing herself from Hector’s arms as she spun around. “Mmm!” she said. “Who’s the lucky girl who snapped you up.”
“Ha! I’m beginning to think you’re the only one who thinks they’d be lucky with me. No, nothing much happening on that front I’m afraid, since Nina.”
“Well the women in this town are crazy, I’ll tell you that,” Margo said. “What are you doing, playing hooky from work?”
“No, had an appointment earlier and thought I’d stop in to look for a birthday present to send home to my mother. I could use a woman’s eye to help me pick something, if you have the time.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“Oh, something a stylish seventy-year-old would wear. She loves clothes from America.”
Margo picked the perfect outfit, working slowly, enjoying Hector’s company and the delicious cologne he was wearing.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a man wear a suit as well as you do,” Margo said, emboldened by Hector’s easy-going ways.
“Why thank you my dear. I could compliment many things about you right now, but I’m afraid all of them would be dirty,” Hector winked.
Margo floated home, feeling like a real woman for a change.
———————
All the sex talk with her girlfriends and the flirting with Bob and Matt and Hector had left Margo horny and frustrated, so she decided to make a romantic dinner for Derek Friday evening. White bean and black olive crostini; grilled scallops with tequila butter; wild rice with shallots and fresh herbs, and a lemon soufflé with champagne. Candlelight and two different wines added to the warmth in the cozy dinning room. Margo dressed casual but sexy, her lovely cleavage and hourglass figure on full display in her little cotton dress.