'Okay, that's fine, but I didn't want to be accused of arrogance by not offering you a glass. I still like you a lot you know.'
'What? How can you say that when you were fucking your wife yesterday?'
'Because it's true. Wendy knows...'
'I don't need to know her fucking name...' Belinda snapped and immediately regretted the implied jealousy.
'Well that's her name. I'm sorry I didn't tell you...'
'Sorry you didn't tell me' Belinda interrupted, unable to hide the incredulity she felt. 'What about what you did to your wife?'
'She knows.' Belinda stopped as though she had been slapped. 'Wendy knows. We've agreed that I can have casual relationships here.'
'What?'
'I'm allowed to...'
'I heard,' she snapped. Her head reeled. Her being a casual relationship fitted with his "fantasy"; voyeurism and putting her to work just met his need.
'Well its over,' she said. When he just shrugged she pushed past him and stormed out, slamming the front door behind her. She felt deflated and used, while at the same time part of her acknowledged that she had enjoyed her time with him. No one had been hurt, except her pride. 'How the hell can a woman let her husband have sex with another woman? What kind of relationship was that?'
Belinda's sleep that night was filled with dreams that she couldn't recall but left her feeling empty and listless the next morning.
***
'Tonight couldn't come fast enough.' Belinda raised her drink to Julia who smiled back and returned the toast.
'Well, if there's one thing that can cure the blues, it's a drunken party!'
'Well its Saturday night and I just got paid...' Belinda sang. They began to break into chorus when the doorbell rang.
'Someone's early,' Belinda exclaimed.
'That'll be Troy,' Julia winked.
'Ooh, looking to make an early, sober impression huh?'
'It's not me that should be making an impression, Belle,' Julia shot back over her shoulder as she went to answer the door.
Belinda grinned. 'Troy is cute and Julia seems to be giving me all the signals that she's not that interested. But the last thing I need right now is to start another relationship.' Then Julia re-entered the room with Troy in tow. 'Then again maybe I do need it.'
'Hi Belinda,' Troy greeted her with a bright smile. They exchanged pleasantries while Julia poured him a drink. Belinda found herself flirting with Troy, despite herself.
By midnight she was thoroughly drunk, standing alone in Julia's backyard and on the verge of sinking into a mire of self-pity. Partly it was the fact that Tony had used her, but mainly it was the fact that she genuinely liked him. That she had been willing to explore her sexual fantasies with him told her more than anything else that she had been falling for him. She felt violated, yet part of her knew that she had let herself be violated. She hadn't asked him about his attachments, she had made the first move and made it clear she wanted sex, and at the outset she had not intended for things to develop further. He had never really indicated his feelings for her. And she had accepted the whole secrecy at work idea without question.
Belinda wandered back into the party, noting that the crowd had begun to thin out, mixed herself another drink and tried to mingle as best she could. At around two in the morning she said good night to Julia and let herself into the spare bedroom that Julia had offered. She was too drunk to drive home regardless, but in reality she didn't want to wake up with a hangover and be alone the next morning. She quickly undressed and slipped on a pair of satin boxer shorts and a thin cotton tee shirt that she favoured for sleeping. Within seconds of her head hitting the pillow she was asleep.
At three she awoke with a pressing need to pee. Slipping from under the covers she left the light off and carefully opened her bedroom door, unsure as to whether the party was still going on. The house was silent and dark so she padded down the hall towards the back of the house. At the end of the hall she stopped abruptly, hearing the soft sounds of lovemaking. Although the house was dark, sufficient light shone through the rear French windows to illuminate Julia and Troy on the sofa.
Not wanting to interrupt them, Belinda quickly backtracked and relieved herself in the ensuite off Julia's bedroom. As she stepped cautiously into the hallway, across from the door to her room, the memory of Julia topless in her ensuite rose in Belinda's mind. She felt her heart skip a beat, then felt a stab of anger towards Tony. It was his influence that made her want to slip down the hall and watch what was happening; a few months ago it wouldn't have crossed her mind.
A soft moan reached her ears and her anger was swept away in a rising tide of lust. Again she moved down the hall, pressing her back against the wall so as not to be seen. Julia was sitting with her back to Belinda, astride Troy who was lying on the sofa. Both of their shirts were gone and as Julia moved Belinda could just make out the curve of her breast. She was rubbing oil onto Troy's chest and his skin was glistening in the moonlight. Julia leaned forward and her breasts brushed his chest, then their mouths met. Troy's arms encircled Julia and pulled her down on top of him and as she leant further forward Belinda realised that Julia was naked. Her buttocks were rounded and firm and Belinda watched as Troy's hands moved lower and stroked them, his fingers tracing along the edges of her crack.
Julia began to rise and fall rhythmically on Troy's lap and Belinda found herself taking another risk and edging slightly past the end of the hallway to improve her view. What she saw was Troy's hard shaft, glistening with juices, appear and disappear into Julia as she moved. Belinda could see Julia's outer lips being pulled and pushed as they gripped his shaft and felt her own juices responding at the vision.
She could hear their heavy breathing and the occasional wet sound as their mouths broke apart. A low groan from Julia sent shivers through her and set her heart pounding. Her nipples hardened and Belinda was conscious of them as they brushed against the cotton material. Julia and Troy's breathing was becoming louder and faster now and Belinda found herself frozen in place, wanting to leave and feeling ashamed at her spying, but enormously turned on and wanting to see more.
Julia moved so quickly that Belinda had no time to slip into the shadows. She simply slipped from Troy's lap, then spun around to remount him facing the other way. And therefore facing Belinda. Julia was looking down as she mounted him and Belinda watched as she reached between her legs, grabbed Troy's shaft and guided herself onto it. Belinda moved back into the hall as Julia looked up, but she knew that she hadn't moved quickly enough when she saw Julia's eyes open wide. The polite, well-mannered "normal" part of her brain screamed at Belinda to walk away and return to her room. She could easily explain to Julia that she had just walked in on her way to the toilet.
But that newly discovered primitive part of the brain that let lust take control told her to remain, to look around the corner and watch the scene. From where she now stood she could neither see nor be seen, but she could hear and what she heard told her that Julia and Troy were still making love. If Julia had been embarrassed or angry, she would have stopped what she was doing, instead it sounded as if she was continuing and increasing the pace of their lovemaking, if the sound of flesh on flesh was anything to go by.
Belinda took a small step forward and looked back into the room, knowing that she was changing her relationship with her friend forever. Julia's eyes widened again momentarily, but then narrowed and a faint smile curled the corners of her mouth upwards. The two women locked eyes and Belinda saw her own lust mirrored in the brunette's gaze. Belinda let her eyes wander down across Julia's breasts that were swaying with each movement. She felt an overwhelming desire to walk to the sofa and touch them and the thought made her mouth go dry. She licked her lips involuntarily and then looked at her friend's face just as Julia exploded into climax.
'Oh fuck!' Julia exclaimed, her head dropping forward, her hair obscuring her upper body as she came. Then she arched back, revealing herself in full, Belinda noting the tightness in her stomach and abdomen, the points of her nipples, then she heard Troy grunting and knew that he was coming inside Julia. Belinda turned and almost ran to her bedroom, turned on to an extreme and reluctant to remain in sight as the lovers came down from the pre-orgasmic high.
In the darkness of her room she was keenly aware of the blood pumping through her ears and the buzz of her clitoris. Throwing herself onto her bed she slid her hand inside her boxers and flicked the tip of her forefinger onto her clit. The buzz grew immediately and by simply picturing Julia's body, her head thrown back in ecstasy as she came, Belinda climaxed. She bit down on her lip to remain silent, aware that they might be standing right outside her door. That thought sent her crashing into a second orgasm on top of the first, her first multiple orgasm that forced a small whimper from her throat. Belinda writhed on the bed and ended up being dragged from the pleasurable waves as her legs tangled in the sheet.
As her breathing returned to normal she was aware of the sweat between her breasts. Thirty seconds later she fell into a deep sleep.
***
It was well after ten when Belinda woke up. She was confused as to where she was, but then the flood of memories returned, the party, her self-pity over Tony and most of all the scene with Julia and Troy. She squirmed in embarrassment and the knowledge that she now had to go and face the two of them in the broad light of day. And with a hangover.
She postponed the inevitable by lying in bed and thinking through her situation. Having broken company rules by having an affair with a co-worker, she had also broken her own rules by getting involved with a married man. Although she hadn't known that fact, she had made no effort to find out about Tony's life. And now, to top it all off, she had performed a lewd and completely overt act of voyeurism on her one and only true friend. She thought briefly about resigning from her job and returning to Sydney.