XI
Charlotte's life was now spent on a cloud. Each day drifted by in a euphoric haze, waiting for the evening in which she'd either make love with Josephine or sleep with Emma. This was paradise: the two women she loved being so close. She could concentrate on Josephine and her beautiful body, her wonderful jokes and the lovely way her tongue lingered over her clitoris. Or she could fix on Emma who despite never letting Charlotte touch her groin nowadays allowed much more license than before. How could life ever improve on this?
Emma was in love too, Charlotte knew. But not, alas!, with her. She also had a dreamy air about her these days. An air of easy distraction. Her eyes would wander away with her thoughts. She was fairly sure that Emma had never been in love before, and it had always been clear that, despite the passion of their lovemaking, she'd never been in love with Harriett. Emma spent many nights each week with a teacher called Dorothy who lived a very long way away. But from her conversation it was pretty clear that it wasn't Dorothy who Emma loved. In fact, it seemed like a relationship that Emma was either already tired of or had regretted even beginning. Why then did she continue to see this Dorothy? Even though Emma's old lovers weren't visiting nearly as often as they used to, Charlotte was sure that they remained a viable alternative to Dorothy.
However, it soon became impossible for Charlotte to hold off Josephine's entreaties that she come and visit Emma and Charlotte at her own flat. Charlotte couldn't just continue visiting Josephine's rather small flat when her own flat was both larger and more accessible. Charlotte loved every inch of Josephine's home. She loved every cushion, every joss-stick holder, and she and Josephine had names for all the fluffy toys that lay around the place. The teddies, the gollies, the trolls and other evidence of the very soft under-belly of Josephine's character. Often the two of them would just lie together cuddling up close to whatever fluffy toy was at hand, just happy to be in such a nursery of erotic joy together.
Josephine was starring in a few episodes of a soap opera on one of the sex stations - but not
St Denis Street
nor on
Harlot TV
at all. The plot sounded very silly, but it troubled Charlotte that Josephine had to make love with several men and women in the process of filming the series. "It's only
work
!" assured Josephine. However, the studio was close to Charlotte's flat, so she had to relent to pressure and invite Josephine around for tea with herself and Emma, who would be at home that day. Charlotte reasoned that there was no cause for anxiety as things were and anyway Harriett working abroad β¦where was it this week? The luxury casinos of Baku?
And indeed, when Josephine arrived after work, all seemed to go well. Emma had volunteered to help Charlotte prepare the meal and throughout the preparation, they chatted just as much as friends as they'd ever done. Emma was fascinated by all that Charlotte told her about Josephine and on occasion she leaned over and kissed her, apparently moved by the depth of her passion. Charlotte wondered how her relationship with Emma would continue. Josephine had often talked about her, and how much she had appreciated Emma's lovemaking and, of course, that of Harriett. But she often said that whereas with Harriett, she could see the actor, there was something essentially genuine about Emma's sexual performance.
Emma talked to Josephine like an old friend as soon as she arrived, and indeed as the evening progressed, with each course, Charlotte began to feel that her unfocussed dread had been fully justified. Bit by bit, she felt increasingly isolated from the general drift of conversation. Why was this? she wondered. Why couldn't she get into the general flow of chat? Perhaps, she reasoned, it was because Emma and Josephine were just inherently more interesting people than her. Emma was now a successful executive producer, famous for her nude promotion of
Harlot TV
and Josephine was an actress, destined, Charlotte was sure, for fame and fortune.
Her fears almost overwhelmed her, as she saw with horror Emma use her new practised skills of seduction to ease conversation and activity around sex. She reminded Josephine of their first sexual encounter and stroked Josephine's knee in a way that promised more. And then Charlotte saw the two girls move off together, Emma's arm around Josephine's waist to where sure enough Josephine would begin to take her clothes off and the two would make love.
"Don't leave Charlotte," protested Josephine, as Emma eased up the white tee-shirt over her neck to reveal the white brassiere underneath.
"Charlotte?" queried Emma, turning around to look at Charlotte sitting disconsolately at the table in front of a collection of cheese, biscuits and a glass of half-finished wine.
"Doesn't Charlotte ever join in when you and Harriett make love?" wondered Josephine pulling a knee-length white sock off her leg to reveal a shapely white foot.
"Well," commented Emma cautiously. "Well, β¦ no."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. It's just never seemed right."