Sex is awkward at the best of times, but that's what makes it great. Imperfection perfection.
SCENE 1: THE CUPBOARD
Bleach stink. Metal shelves digging into her back. One pathetic bulb flickering overhead. The chemical reek of industrial cleaners mixing with her Hermès Cavaliers du Caucase perfume. Their first encounter began with her scarf - that same silk Hermès with the gold threading that he'd returned to her that morning.
ETHAN has CLÉMENCE backed against the storage rack, hands shaking while he shoves her skirt up. Her silk underwear feels expensive beneath his fingers. Nothing like the cotton crap college girls wear back in Chicago.
ETHAN
'You sure about this?'
CLÉMENCE
'Yes. Now.'
He fumbles with his zipper.
Fuck
, it's stuck. When he finally yanks it down, he's already hard, precum staining his boxers.
ETHAN
'I don't have a-'
CLÉMENCE
'It's fine. Just do it.'
She reaches down, guides him. He pushes too eagerly, misses completely, slides against her thigh.
CLÉMENCE
'Wait. Let me.'
Hand between them, positioning him right. This time he slides in. Christ, she feels amazing.
ETHAN
'Holy shit.'
He starts moving. No rhythm whatsoever. Knocks a bottle of cleaner off the shelf with his elbow. Loud clatter. They freeze.
CLÉMENCE
'Quiet, idiot.'
She wraps her stockinged legs around his waist, those Italian hand-stitched stockings with the perfect seam up the back. One heel digs into his ass. The metal shelving creaks with each thrust. Sounds like it'll collapse any second.
ETHAN
'Am I... is this-'
CLÉMENCE
'Deeper. There.'
Sweat running down his back. Even with all the Olympic tourists clogging the museum, he never expected this. Her perfume mixing with cleaning chemicals. Watching her face change as she gets closer.
[Breaking fourth wall]
Look, I know you're not gonna believe me. I wouldn't believe me. This French curator's wife with her fancy clothes and her perfect accent, letting some random art student screw her against the janitor's supplies. But I swear to god it happened exactly like this. All because I returned her Hermès scarf this morning, and now I'm studying the goddamn negative space between us.
Her breathing gets faster. Her body squeezes around him.
CLÉMENCE
'Je vais... I'm going to-'
He slaps his hand over her mouth as she comes. Feels her moan against his palm. That's all it takes. He buries his face in her neck, trying not to make noise as he empties inside her.
They stand there, still joined, breathing hard. Lipstick smeared all over her face. All over him too, probably. His cum already leaking down her thigh.
The speakers crackle: 'Le musée fermera dans cinq minutes.'
CLÉMENCE
'Merde. We need to go.'
She untangles herself from him, grabs tissues from her purse. Wipes between her legs fast, adjusts her clothes like she's done this before. Button missing from her blouse. She tucks it to hide the gap.
ETHAN
'When can I see you again?'
The question hangs there. Stupid. She studies him. A married woman who just let some kid fuck her against the Pine-Sol. She should feel bad. She clearly doesn't.
CLÉMENCE
'Tuesday. Three o'clock.'
Writes an address on a business card. Hands it to him. Their fingers touch.
CLÉMENCE
'Wait five minutes after I leave. Exit by the gift shop.'
Checks herself in a compact mirror. Fixes her lipstick. Smooths her hair. Gone.
Alone now. His heart still pounding like crazy. The card in his hand feels unreal. Like winning the lottery and finding a unicorn, all at once. He flips it over - an address in the 6th arrondissement, written in elegant script with her fountain pen.
---
SCENE 2: THE APARTMENT
Tiny street in the 6th arrondissement. Wedged between a bakery and some dusty bookshop. ETHAN checks the address again. Wipes his sweaty palms on his jeans. Knocks three times on the heavy wooden door.
Waits forever. Maybe she changed her mind. Maybe this whole thing was-
Lock turns. Door opens.
CLÉMENCE looks nothing like the museum. Hair down. Simple black dress. Those stockings with the seams up the back. No wedding ring today. The Olympic rings pin she was wearing at the museum is gone too.
ETHAN
'You're here. I mean, hi.'
CLÉMENCE
'It's my apartment. Where else would I be?'
He steps inside. Holy shit. High ceilings. Wood floors in that classic herringbone pattern. Windows letting in streaks of afternoon sun. A desk covered in papers. Bookshelves everywhere. Smells like old books and expensive candles.
CLÉMENCE
'This is my pied-à-terre. For writing, Philippe believes.'
ETHAN
'Is it? For writing?'
CLÉMENCE
'Sometimes.'
[Breaking fourth wall]
So my thesis was about negative space in Impressionist paintings, right? Standing in that apartment, I finally got it. Negative space isn't empty - it's where the real story happens. This whole secret life she built in the gaps when no one was looking. The person she really was when her husband wasn't around. Like Degas understood with his ballet dancers - the tension between what's shown and what's hidden.
She moves through the place like she owns it. Well, she does. Sets down her bag. Takes off her jacket. Completely different from the frantic mess in the cleaning cupboard.
ETHAN
'This place is insane. Like a movie set.'
CLÉMENCE
'The building dates from the 1870s. All the Olympic renovation has only improved the neighborhood. Degas might have walked these halls.'
She uncorks a wine bottle. Pours two glasses. The light hits her just right. Shows off her neck, her waist, the curve of her hip through the dress.
ETHAN
'Won't your husband wonder where you are?'
CLÉMENCE
'Tuesdays I have my writing group. For my never-finished novel.'
ETHAN
'Is there really a group?'
CLÉMENCE
'There was. Not anymore.'
She sips her wine. Watches him over the glass. All that happened between them Sunday sits in the air.
CLÉMENCE
'We should talk about what this is.'
ETHAN
'Do we have to?'
Steps closer. Touches her face. Not rushed like before. Thumb traces along her jaw. Stops at the corner of her mouth.
CLÉMENCE
'You're very young.'
ETHAN
'That bother you more than being married?'
CLÉMENCE
'My marriage is... complicated. Your youth isn't. I have a son nearly your age.'
He finds her scarf. The same Hermès silk from the museum. Slowly unwraps it from her throat.
ETHAN
'You wore this on purpose.'
CLÉMENCE
'Perhaps. A reminder of how things begin.'
They kiss. Not desperate like Sunday. Slower. His hands find the buttons on her dress. Fumble.
ETHAN
'Sorry, I'm not usually-'
CLÉMENCE
'We have time.'
First button shows the hollow of her throat. Second reveals her collarbone. Third exposes black lace against skin.
CLÉMENCE
'La chambre. À droite.'
ETHAN
'Huh?'
CLÉMENCE
'Bedroom. Right there.'
Takes his hand. Leads him down a hall. Opens a door.
---
SCENE 3: THE BEDROOM
All cream and gold. Bed with sheets that probably cost more than his rent. Art books stacked on the nightstand. Degas sketch of a ballet dancer on the wall - an original, not a print.
CLÉMENCE stands near the bed. Dress half-unbuttoned. Black lace peeking through.
ETHAN
'This what you wanted Sunday?'
CLÉMENCE
'Yes. This. You.'
Finishes unbuttoning her dress. Lets it pool at her feet. Stands there in black lingerie. Those stockings with perfect seams running up the back, the ones she mentioned were hand-stitched by Italian artisans.
ETHAN
'Jesus.'
CLÉMENCE
'Your turn.'
They undress each other. His body's what you'd expect. Twenty years old. Firm. Smooth. Hers tells stories. C-section scar below her belly button. Stretch marks on her hips. Small breasts that nursed children.
ETHAN
'You're fucking gorgeous.'
CLÉMENCE
'I'm not twenty anymore. My body isn't like your college girls.'
ETHAN
'Good. I've seen enough twenty-year-old bodies. They're like student paintings - all technique, no experience.'
She sits on the bed. Watches as he digs in his bag. Pulls out her stockings from Sunday. Torn now.
ETHAN
'Can I?'
CLÉMENCE
'That's what you want?'
ETHAN
'Since I first saw you.'
She holds out her wrists. Consent without words. He ties them to the headboard. Not too tight. Just enough that she can't easily get free. Black silk against her skin.
[Breaking fourth wall]
You think I knew what the hell I was doing? Not a chance. My figure drawing professor covered the female form, but not this. Not a real woman waiting for you, giving up control but somehow still running the whole show. That wasn't in the curriculum. In art terms, she was the negative space - the absence that defined everything around her. And here she was, letting me fill that space, at least for these Tuesday afternoons.
CLÉMENCE
'Where did you learn to tie knots?'
ETHAN
'Eagle Scouts. Mom forced me.'
He kneels between her legs. Just looks for a minute. Takes her in.
ETHAN
'Tell me what you like.'
CLÉMENCE
'Show me what you know first.'
He kisses her inner thigh. Moves higher. Tastes her. Different from college girls. More complex. Like comparing boxed wine to vintage Bordeaux.
CLÉMENCE
'Oui... comme ça... n'arrête pas...'
Adds fingers. Curves them inside. Her body responds instantly. Thighs trembling.
CLÉMENCE
'Je vais jouir... oh mon Dieu...'
Back arches off the bed as she comes against his mouth. Before she recovers, he moves up. Pushes inside. Nearly loses it right there.
ETHAN
'Look at me.'
She does. Eyes heavy but focused on his face as he fucks her. Headboard banging against the wall.
CLÉMENCE
'So demanding for such a young man. Tu me surprends.'
ETHAN
'You love it though.'
He's right. She does. The dynamic - her tied up but still somehow in charge. His youth balanced against her experience.
She tightens around him again. Building toward another orgasm. He feels it. Shifts angle to go deeper.
ETHAN
'I'm gonna come. Should I pull out?'
CLÉMENCE