"Fuck. That lazy prick. There he is again lying on the fucking couch with his laptop on his chest looking at God knows what. I wish he'd just do something. Anything!"
I am Jenny Jones, a fifty-year-old wife and mother. When I saw my husband, Steve, on the couch, again, those were my thoughts. He had been on his annual 6-week holiday and it was the last week. He had been on the couch just about every day for the last five and a half weeks and I was sick of it.
We have been married for twenty-seven and a half years. We'd brought up five children, the youngest (twins) of whom were about to leave for College. I wasn't sure I could put up with Steve spending every waking moment on the couch.
Our marriage wasn't perfect. Steve wasn't the man I had married, nor was he the man I thought he was. I thought that, as a schoolteacher, he would love children. Oh, he loved his kids but never helped when they were really young. He changed nappies but didn't spend time with them.
He got better as they grew older but more and more it was me who took them to sport or to birthday parties. Steve preferred not to. He didn't like spending time with the other parents. He thought that, intellectually, they were below him. It wasn't arrogance, as such, but he just preferred his own company.
I thought that he enjoyed spending time with me but lately he seemed to not even want to do that either. He stayed up until well after midnight and got up at midday and kept to himself. I tried to interest him in any number of things that involved both of us but he never wanted to join in.
Our sex life was terrible. We hadn't made love in over a year, and before that it was over a year too. Twice in the last three years.
At least we were talking about it now. Steve came to me one night and said that he knew that he let her down and she was disappointed in him but didn't know how to change. I pointed out the many times in our married life that this had happened.
The funny thing was that Steve knew most of it. But I made sure he knew how he had upset me over the years. At one stage Steve was the Principal of a small country school. He was really busy as there was only one other teacher there and he had to teach as well as work on the administration of the school.
He would wake up in the middle of the night and want to make love. I accepted this for a while but then put my foot down. I didn't enjoy it.
I now told him, repeatedly, that I felt used, that Steve was not looking after my needs but his own.
When my dad was diagnosed with cancer ten years ago Steve kept the home fires burning while I went and helped my mother look after him. This meant an hour's drive each way. I told him that I didn't feel that he supported me enough at this time. When he pointed out that he looked after the children and the home I said that he should do that anyway as it was his family too. It was the personal support I missed.
Steve couldn't do even the simplest of things without me reminding him of it. Whether it was to do the dishes or clean up after the dog, take the rubbish out or lock the back door at night, he needed to be reminded all the time.
All in all I felt unloved and unappreciated. Steve told me he loved me but he never showed it in doing the things husbands do for their wives the world over.
So I told him I needed a short break, a holiday by myself. To his credit he seemed to understand my need to go away. I left the next day and drove the two hours to the Capital.
I knew there were a number of conventions in town, as there often is. I checked into a hotel that had a convention for International Finance. I had determined that if a handsome man wanted me then I would accept. I had never cheated before but decided that I needed the excitement that an affair involved.
After dumping my suitcase in my room I went to the downstairs bar. It was early evening and it looked like a few of the convention delegates were having a few drinks before dinner. I ordered a gin and tonic and found a table that afforded me a panoramic view of the bar.
Most of the men in the bar were in small groups. There were a few women also but they were badly outnumbered. I thought to myself that this was the place to be for a romantic liaison. Nobody really stood out though.
And then I saw him. Tallish, broad-shouldered and excruciatingly handsome, he entered the bar with a casual ease that spoke volumes about him. He looked to be the type who cared little for his surroundings but would be comfortable anywhere.
He casually glanced around the room. I dropped my eyes before he looked my way. The next thing I knew he was at my table asking if he could join me. I looked up at him and went to say something but my mouth was so dry nothing would come out.
"You look lonely and I thought I could fix that. I'm Greg." He put out his hand. I shook it and said, "Jenny."
He sat down and asked me if I was there for the convention. I told him I wasn't but just happened to be staying here on a short holiday in the big city. He told me he was and had flown from interstate for it. His company paid for his flights and accommodation.
We seemed to get on quite well and before long we were chatting like old friends. He told me he was married and had three children. I told him about my brood. He said that his wife was upset that he was away this week as one of their children had a birthday and he would be away for it. She told him that her husband was hard to motivate.
Nothing super secret but perhaps a bit more detail than normal for a comparative stranger. We discussed the ups and downs of married life. We didn't really dish the dirt on our partners but we both said enough to imply that all was not perfect. I felt comfortable with Greg. He was easy to talk to and easy to listen to as well.
"So, Jenny Jones from the country, what are you really doing here?" Greg asked with a disarming smile.
"Well," I began, "I just needed some 'me' time. I would be happy with a few days to myself but in reality if a handsome stranger such as yourself wanted his way with me then I would be open to that too."
"Well, well, well, Jenny. You're here to have an affair, aren't you?"
"No, not at all, well, not really. I'm just saying that if the circumstances were right, I wouldn't say no."
"So how are those circumstances looking at the moment?" he asked.
"Just about right, Greg."
