XVIII
It had been a long night, Josephine reflected as she opened her eyes and squinted at the shaft of light streaming in through the window and the specks of dust floating in it. A long night! After all the rehearsals going on beyond midnight and then the inevitable hour or so at a night-club with the rest of the cast, where they danced naked to the vibrations of loud music and the rainbow of visuals to lose the smell of sex from their bodies. At the earliest hours of the morning, when Josephine had recovered her clothes from the cloakroom and stood on the street waving down a taxi, it was inevitable that she would choose to stay the night with Charlotte. She'd crept in, using the keys that Charlotte had lent her, and eased herself gingerly under the sheets next to the entwined bodies of Susan and Charlotte. She could just about distinguish a pleased smile of satisfaction on Susan's face - who had presumably had sole possession of Charlotte that evening.
Josephine was rather surprised, however, to learn how late it was when she awoke and glanced at the clock which indicated just how late in the morning it was. It was past midday, and Josephine was in bed alone with a residual hangover from the drinks and sleeplessness of the previous day. Charlotte had gone off to work and Josephine wasn't at all sure where the others in the house were. Perhaps she was in the house alone, she thought.
She pushed off the sheets and as she stood up glanced at the bed where there was still an indentation from where Susan and Charlotte had been sleeping. Josephine leant over and carefully removed a dark pubic hair lying there. She then wandered naked into the kitchen to prepare breakfast (or was it lunch?) and heard the murmur of conversation coming from the living room.
She popped her head through the door where she saw Susan and Maisie talking together. "I'm making some tea," she announced. "Does anyone else want some?"
Susan looked a little startled as she'd been engrossed in her conversation and hadn't expected anyone else to be there, but she quickly assented and Josephine was able to return to the kitchen with a mission in hand. When she returned to the living room several minutes later with a pot of tea and some tea-cups she noticed for the first time that Susan was holding Maisie's hand in hers and looking directly into her eyes. This didn't mean a great deal to Josephine as Susan was an extremely tactile girl. She was wearing long woollen socks and a tee-shirt with the name of the
Modern Dance Quartet
emblazoned over an impressionist painting. As always she was the only one in the company wearing any clothes at all.
"Emma's at work, isn't she?" Josephine asked as she poured out the tea into the cups which she had already prepared with milk.
"Yes," Maisie answered, smiling brightly. "It's the first broadcast of a new Quiz Show she's commissioned. It's something to do with recognizing your partners from only seeing their willies or fannies. I think the winners get to fuck one of a choice of studio guests."
"That's sounds nice. So there's no work for you?"
"Not today. It's half-term from school too." Maisie leaned over and picked up her tea which was in her favourite Minnie Mouse mug. She looked directly at Josephine's chest and then commented abruptly. "I love your tits, Josephine."
Josephine's cup wobbled on the saucer which supported it. "My tits?" she wondered aloud.