Authors Note - This tale contains traces of D/S. If you don't like that sort of thing, don't bother with this one.
Heather walked into the quiet little coffee shop that day to meet her best friend Shannon, noticing immediately that she had claimed a booth in the back.
"Heather! I'm so glad you could come and meet me on such short notice! Please come and sit down."
"No offense, Shannon, but this had better be as important as you said it was. I had to reschedule some very important meetings to come here today and my boss is oh, so pissed."
"I'm sorry, dear. I really don't mean to be such a bother. It's just that something happened to me last night and I desperately need to talk to someone about it - someone I can trust to be very, very discrete. This is something I can't even talk to Tom about, so of course I turned to my best friend of twenty years."
"Don't be silly, Shannon. Whatever is going on, I'm sure he would understand. Your husband absolutely worships the ground you walk on. You can talk to him about anything. You just need a little reassurance. When he comes back from his business trip . . ."
"No, believe me, I can't talk to him about this."
"But why not? What happened last night?"
". . ."
"Come on, Shannon. Spill."
". . ."
"Shannon, you'd better start talking fast. When you called me, I set my career back by three years and nearly got into two traffic accidents racing to come and be here for you. I'm going to be very annoyed with you if it turns out I did all of that for nothing."
"Do you promise not to tell anybody?"
"Of course, I do."
". . ."
"Shannon . . ."
"I cheated on Tom last night, Heather."
"WHAT?!"
"Shhhh! Will you keep your voice down please?"
"Sorry, but I never imagined that I would hear you say such a thing. You and Tom always seemed so happy together, so madly in love. What happened? Are you two having some kind of trouble that I don't know about?"
"That's just it. We're not! I still love him today as much as I did on the day I married him. I can hardly believe I did it, but I guess I just got swept away. It all happened so fast! Before I knew what was happening, I had been whisked halfway across town and taken to bed by someone other than my spouse."
"Wow."
"Exactly. That's why I can't talk to Tom about this! How can I tell the man I love and cherish more than life itself that I was so willing to jump into bed with someone else the minute his back was turned? Especially when I can't figure it out myself!"
"Well, what exactly happened?"
"Do you remember how I called you up last night? Said I was bored with sitting around all alone at home while Tom was gone and how I wanted to go out and do something? I suggested that we go out and get a bite to eat and then go see that new play they were putting on down at the community theater."
"Sure, I remember. I couldn't go with you because I had a date with Mark. I told you I just couldn't bring myself to break the date because I felt guilty over how many times I'd had to cancel on him lately because of the endless disasters at my office."
"Right. Well, I just couldn't bear another night of sitting around the house and so I went out anyway. I got tickets to that show, but when I saw that I was a couple of hours early, I decided to go over to this cozy little pub I'd noticed just down the street to have a few drinks."
"Wait, I think I've seen this movie before. Is this the one where the heroine gets blind drunk one evening and then wakes up with some strange man the next morning?"
"No, not exactly."
"Then, what did happen?"
"I was sitting at this little table and minding my own business, nursing a drink and reading this paperback I'd brought, okay? I'd dressed up a little since I was going out, done my hair and make up, you know, and evidently I caught someone's eye. You should have seen him, Heather. He was fat and had this terrible comb over, but he was clearly convinced that he was God's gift to women. He stank of booze, too."
"Yeah, I know that kind of guy all too well. Thank God I finally found a sweetheart like Mark."
"Anyway, he must have hit on me a thousand times and let me tell you, he had the cheesiest pick-up lines ever! Naturally, I told him that I was married, waved my wedding ring in his face, and kept telling him I wouldn't be interested if he was the last man on earth, but he simply would not leave me alone. I was beginning to think I would have to leave just so I could get away from the guy, but I then I was suddenly rescued."
"A knight in shining armor?"
"Something like that. From out of nowhere, this hand lands heavily on the creep's shoulder and a deep, husky voice tells him to beat it. Let me tell you, Heather, the guy took one look back at who it was, went white as a sheet, and almost tripped over his own feet trying to get away as fast as he could."
"So then I'm guessing your hero was the muscle bound weightlifter type? That bar's bouncer, maybe?"
"Nope. As a matter of fact, it was a woman!"
"Huh?"
"That's right - a woman. Apparently she's pretty well known in there and the bar flies have figured out that they do not want to mess with her."
"So, this woman rescued you just in time for you to meet that man you cheated on Tom with?"
"No."
"What? Did she introduce you to the guy, then?"
"No, again."
"What then, Shannon?"
"Heather, that woman is who I spent last night with."
"What?! You slept with another woman?!"
"Yes, I did. Now, will you please keep your voice down."
"But you couldn't have slept with a woman, Shannon. You're not a lesbian."
"I know, Heather, and yet I did. Trust me, I know because I was there."
"But how on earth did it happen?"
"Well, first, let me tell you about this woman. Heather, she was fabulous! From the first moment I laid eyes on her I thought she was spectacular! And remember, this was before I was even considering having sex with her."
"Why? What was the big deal about this girl?"
"Her face was unforgettable. She had this sort of swarthy complexion, you know, full lips, and the most startlingly blue eyes I've ever seen, all framed by an incredible mane of curly and jet black hair. She didn't have that kind of super model, movie star beauty, but she was still the most gorgeous woman I've ever met."
"Interesting."
"The impression I got, fairly or not, was that she had some Italian blood in her. There was just something about her face that reminded me of the ones on all those classical statues of the old Roman goddesses. She . . . Hey! What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing, I guess. It's just that I've heard of girls saying their guy was built like a Greek god, but never that a woman was as beautiful as a Roman goddess."