I am Chris. When I go to the nude beach, my friends ask "How did you get that beautiful 25 year old to be your girlfriend when you are 45 and plain with a middle age paunch?"
They augment this with "Mary is in a whole different league to you."
It's a long story.
MY PREVIOUS NEIGHBOURS
My then wife, Rose, and I didn't get on with our previous neighbours.
They had loud parties (to which we didn't get invites). They often argued. The walls of our semi are paper thin. This means we heard their sexual conversations. They used foul language and watched erotic films with sounds of lovemaking. They played these on full volume.
After the fake sounds of orgasms we heard the frequent, sustained and loud sounds of their own lovemaking. They bonked every night and sometimes twice a night. One time they had sex 3 times in one night and a further bout of love making before breakfast.
Knowing that they could hear our lovemaking inhibited my own libido. It affected my libido. I didn't really want to have sexual intercourse unless our neighbours were out. For me, this ultimate form of intimacy is a private thing.
LONG WALKS
I resolve my unhappiness at things sexual I took long walks. I generally don't work during the day because I am the full time Musical Director for the amateur Boscombe & Bournemouth Light Opera Society (BoBoLos, for short).
That means that I am responsible for putting on 2 shows a year at Bournemouth's largest theatre. Each show is on for 5 days. The Summer show is aimed at the holiday makers. It is kid friendly. It has 2 breaks because children get bored easily.
The Winter show is a fully staged musical number. This year I want to stage Fiddler On The Roof. I want to stage it, but I need to convince the BoBoLos committee. I need to convince them that we have the ability to stage it, that it will attract a large audience and that we will at least recover the costs of the royalties, staging and costume hire and hiring the theatre.
To do this we will have to break with tradition and employ a semi-professional to play the lead character.
This is a 3 hour long piece, with lots of great songs and a tragic undercurrent competing with a vast love of Jewish and Socialist life. Fiddler is usually noted for the film version and its star, Topol, singing "If I were a rich man."
It is rare for someone who has the character, physique & musical ability and stage presence to match Topol. My Lindon informants alerted me to Brian Smythe.He is Topol-esque. Brian has all those 4 essential qualities.
Brian will have to come all the way from London. Buying a rail season ticket for him would be expensive, as would his hire fee.
I have spoken to Brian. He is willing to do the part. He hopes.that this will get him noticed and he can go full time.
Having someone of Brian's stature will, I think, help to sell tickets. In fact I believe the BoBoLos committee should budget for a 10 day run. That means doubling up on all expenses. And, if the show fails at the Box Office, tripling the potential losses.
Brian has put together a video of him singing his characters songs and speaking lots of his lines. I have shown it to the committee, because he is crucial to my proposed 10 day run.
Brian has agreed to stay with me, as BoBoLos wouldn't be able to afford to put him up in a hotel.
So, as I walked I ran over what I would say to the committee. This walking kept me sane. It stopped my fixation over my increasing sexual problems.
ROSE'S LIBIDO
Our neighbour's sexual shenanigans didn't affect Rose's libido in the same way. In fact it increased her desire for sex. She wanted more exotic, erotic positions. Rose started using the F and C words while I made love. And she shouted them.
This made lovemaking even more difficult for me. I was supposed to be her husband, not some porn star.
I found it more difficult to get an erection when the neighbours were in. I felt that they were listening and judging my sexual performance.
And Rose shouting those offensive words ensured they knew we were having sex. I felt that I had to last longer, just so that the neighbours didn't snigger at my love making.
Eventually I couldn't get an erection at all. Rose got herself sex aids. This was humiliating. She used them to bring herself to orgasm. It told the neighbours that I was no longer capable of satisfying my own wife.
The sound of het vibrator told my neighbours that I was a failure as a husband and a man.
I got depressed and the doctor prescribed antidepressants.
THEY LEAVE
I was glad when the neighbours told us that he had got promoted and they were going to move to go to work in the London HQ.
My mood improved greatly. A week later they moved into temporary accommodation in our capital city.
I felt like opening the bubbly when the removal firm came. I was finally free of them. The following week the "For Sale" sign was up.
My libido returned and I wanted sex 3 or 4 times a week. So did my ability to get an erection Rose still continued to use her sex aids and use the F and C words while I made love to her. Given that I was older than my 9 times a week youth, I was comfortable with sex 3 times a week.
The neighbour's house was empty for 3 months. Rose stopped shouting obscenities and we went back to missionary position sex.
I thought, wrongly, that Rose was happy.
THE COMMITTEE AGREE
My mood improved yet more when the BoBoLos committee agreed to stage Fiddler for 10 days.
They signed contracts with the theatre and with Brian. They organised a Press Day so that the press in the West of England could photograph Brian. He sang "If I were a rich man" and the journalists lapped it up.
One journalist wrote "Brian is even better than Topol. Book a ticket when they are available." That quote would be on all our publicity posters.
Professionally and sexually things were okay.
MARY AND FRED BECOME OUR NEIGHBOURS
After 2 months the For Sale sign was replaced by the House Sold sign. Then a young couple moved in. The first thing I noticed about her was the long blond hair that reached down half way to her bum. He was tall and athletic looking. We invited them over for a light lunch while the Removal people unpacked. They had only been married 6 months and this was there first home. I liked them and they seemed to like us.
After a week they invited us to their house warming party. We met their friends, and enjoyed beer and wine and dancing to music. It ended by 10 pm.
Later I heard the sound of them making love. It was gentle. It wasn't threatening. Rose and I made love as if they weren't there. I was no longer competing with my neighbours. In fact it was comforting that I was as passionate as my much younger neighbours. Of course they had sex more frequently. But it wasn't as frequently as the previous couple.
SEEING MARY TOPLESS
I had just finished my bath and opened the window to air the bathroom. I didn't think anything of it. I glanced over Mary's garden and saw Mary sat on a chair. She appeared to have no clothes on. I could only see her top half. She was sunning herself and I saw those beautiful breasts with those perfect red nipples.
I knew that I should look away. But I couldn't take my eyes off Mary. I hoped she would move and give me a full frontal pose. But she just lay there. She reached down and applied sun cream to her top. I decided that I must stop being a voyeur. I didn't want Mary to know I had seen her.
I said nothing to Rose about the incident. But I started to fantasise about Mary. I hoped for sunny days so I could see Mary naked. But it never happened. But I shall remember that incident until the day I die.
GUILT AND UNDERPERFORMANCE
I had enjoyed seeing Mary nude. I knew that I should look away. I had enjoyed being a voyeur. I hoped to do it again and again. I had to come to terms with being immoral. I was a pervert spying on an innocent young woman. For the first time in my life, I sought psychological help. I signed up for a series of 8 weekly sessions with a psychiatrist.
BRIAN ARRIVES
Brian arrived for the first rehearsal for Fiddler On The Roof. He was pleasant company and every BoBoLos member got on well with him. He charmed Rose, who got used to "this future superstar" kipping in our spare bedroom.
For rehearsal nights Brian would stay overnight and then leave after having breakfast. One time he asked if he could stay for the weekend. He told us that he wanted to experience the Studland nude beach.
Out of the blue Rose said "If you want a companion, then I'm available."
I was so shocked that I didn't say anything. So there was a silence while Brian and Rose waited for me to say something.
I said to Rose "I never thought that you were interested in sunbathing."