Chapter 19
When Connor got home, he seemed to Marcia not quite his normal self. When they were lying in bed, Marcia asked him if everything was all right. Connor started sobbing and said through his tears that he had done something terrible and was ashamed of himself. Marcia knew him well enough to know it must be something sexual and imagined he'd slept with a prostitute, or perhaps hooked up with a client. She told him to take his time and tell his story when he was ready.
The story turned out to be almost nothing. Connor had had a little too much to drink on his last night in LA and had kissed a woman in the hotel bar on the lips. When Marcia asked him if she was a client, he said no, she was just a random woman from Des Moines. Marcia had to fight back the urge to giggle, so minor was her husband's indiscretion compared to what she'd been getting up to. But that gave her an idea. Maybe, just maybe, instead of continuing to live a double life, she could share a little with Connor. But how? She could hardly tell him she had taken the Pastor's wife with a strap-on on her pool table.
The more she thought about it, the more she realised that Vesna held the key. What if Marcia confessed to Connor that she found herself being attracted to the soccer coach? (She already knew that Connor fancied her, which helped.) She could suggest to her husband that they met up socially with Vesna and saw how things developed from there. Well, it was worth a try. She possessed, after all, the moral high ground at the moment after Connor's confession, and she could phrase her suggestion to him in such a way that propositioning the Croatian girl to have sex with both of them seemed the most normal thing in the world. It was either that or continuing to live a secret life, which was both dangerous and something that didn't suit her temperamentally.
Marcia prefaced her suggestion by floating the idea of doing something to pep up their sex life, which after all these years might be able to use a little stimulation. She certainly had Connor's attention when she made the pitch. The question was how he would respond when she began to dot the Is and cross the Ts.
Without appearing to do so, Marcia was watching her husband carefully when she used the word "Vesna." The way his whole face lit up confirmed what that girl had said about him and then some. Interestingly, Connor neither shot down the idea nor sought specifics about what they would be looking to do with the girl or how far they would be willing to go. As for the matter of his wife's bisexuality, it didn't seem to concern him overmuch. Most probably, like all men, he would be thinking about watching his wife with another woman, whom he would then fuck himself.
One thing Marcia did learn was that Connor was no stickler for absolute fidelity in marriage. She began to wonder if she had let him off too lightly about the woman from Des Moines. Maybe she should have dug a little more; maybe she should have asked him if it was really true that all they shared was a kiss. In fact, it was Connor who raised the idea of asking his sister Emily to have the children to stay one Saturday night, so that they might have the house to themselves and provide a comfortable environment for Vesna.
So well did her conversation with Connor go that Marcia wondered whether Connor had been unfaithful to her in the past. If that were the case, she would feel a proper idiot for allowing him to "groom" Vesna. Then she realized that she was overreacting and that he might well have guessed the truth about Vesna and her. If she was getting a bit on the side, he might well feel that he deserved a little something as well. However hard she tried, she also realized that it would be very difficult for the Croat and her to keep up the pretence in front of Connor that they were making love for the first time. Although, she thought, roleplaying that scenario would be super-hot and the sparks that were generated could easily be interpreted as representing Marcia's first time with a woman, if they both disciplined themselves to stay in character.
The first thing she needed to do was get in touch with Vesna, and she would do that the following day. Rather than speak with Vesna over the phone, Marcia arranged to meet her in a coffee shop in the afternoon. Vesna made her own way there and looked very attractive in a white long-sleeved V-neck button blouse tucked into a pair of light wash jeans. Marcia noticed how many heads she turned when she walked in, although if she hadn't been so focused on finding a vacant table in the establishment when she arrived, she would have seen that just as many turned when she made
her
entrance.
Vesna's first reaction after hearing Marcia's proposal was one of surprise, bordering on shock. Did Marcia realise the implications of what she was suggesting? What if Connor acquired a taste for playing away from home? What if he started divorce proceedings against her and fought for custody of the children on the grounds that she was an unfit mother? Rather than reflect on Vesna's observations seriously, Marcia's first response was to smile inwardly that here was the bohemian European rebuking the more conservative American for her free-spirited and casual approach to life.
She acknowledged the points that Vesna was making but emphasised this time her own quandary as a bisexual woman who wanted to be able to live in both worlds without the need for more deception than was necessary, especially towards her own husband. Put in this way, Vesna understood her dilemma and considered the conundrum from her own position. Would she be happy with a man in her life again, when that sex had played such a small part in her life for so long? Could she envisage a scenario in which she could contemplate coming to terms with having this particular man as her sexual partner? Was he the sort of person who could ever become something more to her - a lover rather than just a sexual partner? If the answer was yes, how would Marcia react to having a rival for her affections?
It was best, she thought, to give these questions an airing now rather than later, and so she put them one by one to Marcia, who had already mulled them over in her mind. Certainly, this path was beset with dangers, but the thought of being able to share some of the things she held most dear with Connor (with whom she already shared so much that was dear) had come to be the dominant force in her life and before they parted, she had got Vesna to agree to visit them a week on Saturday, provided Emily was able to have the children.
When Marcia shared the news with her husband, Connor began counting down the days as if he were a child waiting for Christmas. A measure of how seriously he was taking the rendezvous could be seen by the fact that he took himself off clothes shopping, when normally he was content for Marcia to buy things for him. She was worried he would come back with something embarrassing like a thong, but he was clearly aspiring for a casual, man-of-the-world look. His choice of white open-neck shirt and beige pants strayed on the conservative side, but the addition of light brown suede loafers underlined the air of unfussy European elegance.
Marcia was quite impressed, even if she was a bit chagrined that he had to wait until the chance of an illicit liaison with a younger woman materialised before he dressed to kill. Then she remembered the thought that had gone into her wardrobe before her meetings with Vesna and the women from the church, and was able to take a more objective view of things. And of course what really occupied the mind of each member of the married couple was what exactly their guest would be wearing when she arrived on their doorstep at 8 o'clock.
The reality was enough to blow each of them away! She took off her overcoat, eagerly taken by Connor, to reveal a short round-necked white dress with large black polka dots. On her feet she was wearing branded black heeled ankle boots, which Connor thought were about the sexiest thing he'd ever seen. Connor and Marcia had discussed the schedule for the evening, but that was in danger of being thrown out of the window as each of them felt a surge of passion coursing through their body.
A brief glance at each other was enough to persuade them that they should stick to their plan - at least for the time being. Through to the living room they led Vesna, Marcia holding her by the hand while Connor followed closely behind. Once the women were settled on the couch, Connor went to the kitchen to prepare the vodka punch. The fruit had been sliced earlier so it was just a matter of mixing the vodka and the triple sec, adding the sweetened lime juice, the pineapple juice and the sparkling water, before adding oranges, kiwi, raspberries, ice and a few sprigs of mint. Connor may only have been gone for five minutes but by the time he returned to the living room Vesna and Marcia were kissing. Connor poured himself a large drink and then went back to the kitchen to put the jug in the fridge. As an afterthought, he also placed two tumblers there so they would be ready for the women later.
