I was definitely struggling to get over her. She was stalking me. Living large in my head. Images of her would crop up unbidden in my dreams, in the midst of my everyday thoughts, and in my sexual fantasies. I needed help.
***
I had been sad and conflicted for weeks after my liaison with Frida. Even my usually enormous libido seemed subdued. I didn't go out 'on the pull' and even went days and days without masturbating -- absolutely unheard of.
Jun and Gigi at work noticed my lack of sparkle, and I said I was 'just at a low ebb.' I did consider confiding in them, but in the end I kept my heartache to myself. I'm not sure why. I just didn't feel ready to share it. Instead, I remained strangely closed and introverted, which was not like me at all. I muddled along, trying to concentrate on other things, grappling with my thoughts, and just waiting for the cloud to pass, which it did of course, eventually.
It must have been more than a month later when I was having a coffee in a town-centre cafe and I was served by a bright and smiley Scottish waitress called Kirsty (it said so on her badge). She had the most delightfully musical laugh, and my sexual spirit finally stirred itself from its slough of despond. I didn't try to seduce her -- I wasn't ready for that yet - but my brief encounter with her and the way she made me smile reminded me that my inner siren was still alive and kicking.
Just that 30 minutes in the company of Kirsty, watching her and listening to her, and I'd turned a corner. I knew, rather than just hoped, that I could get past Frida and move on. There were lots of gorgeous women out there. I just needed to open myself up again.
Frida had shaken me to my very core though. I hadn't realised I was so emotionally vulnerable because nothing like it had happened before. She had fired her cupid bow when my guard was down and she scored a bullseye.
I had toughed it out, with difficulty, laboriously building my guard back up, despite having serious doubts about whether I should, and I had reached a point where I could move forward, but it wasn't going to be easy to forget her. In fact, I knew I never would.
Just by chance, I saw a Facebook post by an old friend of mine, and I decided to catch up with her. Debbie (known as Debbie Double D for obvious reasons) was a university friend of mine and for a time we had been lovers. I had got together with her on a night out while studying in Nottingham, and we had a torrid affair for three years. We had taught each other a lot during that time and I still felt a fizz of excitement when I thought of her and the amazing sex we had shared.
Later, when we both moved back north, me to the north-west, her to the north-east, we had a casual relationship that you could call 'friends with benefits' but we were not really girlfriends. We lived almost 100 miles apart, which made it difficult, but we got together every two or three weeks to renew our sexual liaison.
That's all water under the bridge though. Debbie is now happily married to a freelance photographer, and they seem very happy. They met when Debs was chosen as the model for an ad campaign for a well-known tall girl clothing brand (she's 6 feet tall), and Kelly was the photographer.
I sent Debbie a message saying I needed a bit of a heart to heart and she responded exactly as I expected.
'Aw, babe, I hope you're OK. Of course we can talk. D'you want to do it online, or do you want to come over? Kelly is away on a job in Italy at the moment, so if you need a private chat..'
I pondered for all of ten seconds, then I sent back, 'Can I come tomorrow?' Which was a Friday.
'Of course sweetie. You can remember where we are can't you?'
She was being cheeky -- of course I could remember -- but her use of that old form of address brought a tear to my eye.
The following evening, I left work and drove northeast across the Pennine hills to Kelly and Debbie's place on the east coast. I was under no illusions: A night alone with Debs, with Kelly away, didn't mean sex. Debbie is too faithful for that, and of course she'd tell Kelly exactly what was happening. Their relationship is not fragile, and Kelly had always been quite friendly with me, despite knowing all about my history with her wife.
No, it was going to be a nice girl-talk kind of evening. An opportunity to pour my heart out to one of my oldest friends, and get some forthright advice, something Debbie had always been good at.
Although she's the same age as me, she's always seemed older; somehow more grown-up and level-headed. She's still great fun though, and wickedly irreverent when she's had a drink or two. It was sure to be therapeutic.
I pulled onto the driveway of her house on a balmy evening, just as the light was fading and she came out to greet me, wearing a beautiful rainbow-striped cotton maxi dress and flat sandals. The dress was simple and figure-hugging, and it had a very low neckline. It really showed off her eye-popping cleavage and her curvy hips to absolute perfection and I was reminded why I'd fallen for her charms that night in Nottingham.
We embraced and I savoured the so-familiar scent of her perfume. 'Ah, Santal 33. I love that you are still wearing that.'
'Mm, so good, why would I change?' she laughed as she led me inside. 'Would you like a glass of wine?'
'Ooh, would I?' I flopped down on her sofa and she brought me a lovely glass of red.
'I bought this today, it's your favourite Ribera. I remembered you liked it.' How very thoughtful of her.
We chatted about this and that, old times etc, and, as the wine flowed, I could feel myself relaxing. She was always easy to be with and always made me feel comfortable and mellow, and I was completely disarmed when she brought the conversation around to why I had driven 100 miles for this chat.
I began telling her the story of Frida... I started with my going to her stall for fruit, her suggestive comments, asking her out just because I was horny, the full revelation of her attractiveness in the pub, her excited dragging me home by the hand, our fantastic sex, and the fruity session the following weekend. I even told her about Frida's perfect pussy. But when I began telling her about the horrible, heart-breaking morning, and the pangs I felt when I saw her again, I couldn't control my tears.
I was sat next to her on the sofa with my head on her shoulder, sniffling, and she was stroking my leg gently as she asked me what made Frida so different from 'all the others' (she was well aware of my propensity for serial sex dates).