4
When Jade got home, Hunter, as always was waiting up for her. He asked her how her evening had gone and listened as Jade spun him a yarn about her time with her imaginary friend. When Hunter asked her if she had eaten, she was almost brought up short, but recovered quickly to say they had enjoyed a Thai meal together. She was in fact starving, but realised part of the deal was that she would have to wait till breakfast to satisfy her hunger.
As for her sexual appetite, it had been sharpened not dampened as a result of her time with Mina. She usually made love with Hunter every night, but he was typically not a late person, so she reckoned he would just want to crash when they got into bed. Instead, he was very much up for it, as she could tell when he moved across the bed to cuddle her.
Jade, already reminded that evening of the pleasures of delayed gratification, played coy, turning her back on her husband. However, this only meant that his penis (he typically slept in the nude, unlike Jade, who liked to wear a T-shirt and panties) was jutting against her buttocks. She knew exactly what this meant, but attempted to douse Hunter's passion by telling him he must be exhausted.
When Hunter, far from desisting from his actions, merely intensified them, she wondered if he could smell the distinct scent of woman on her. She hadn't washed her hair, she thought. Maybe that was the cause of the problem. Given that both of them were up for it, there was only ever going to be one outcome. Once they had sealed the deal, Jade waited until Hunter was sleeping soundly before heading downstairs and finally having something to eat.
The following day was a Friday. As was her practice, Jade worked only in the morning, after which she usually attended a yoga class, or, if she had failed to book a class in time, she would go to the gym. That afternoon, she had booked back-to back classes, which meant she wouldn't be home till around five o' clock. As usual, Hunter would be preparing dinner. This suited Jade just fine, as he was a good cook with a passion for trying new things, while she could take it or leave it as far as cooking was concerned. She'd learned the rudiments from her mother and was actually pretty handy in the kitchen - her Singapore fried noodles was legendary - but she much preferred to spend her time doing other things.
Jade noticed a new face at the second yoga session. She was a woman who must have been a similar age to Mina, maybe a little older. She wasn't in such good shape as Mina, Jade had to admit, but there was that instant attraction for an older woman which had been part and parcel of her life since her university days. Hell! Even at high school, Jade thought, remembering her crush on the wife of the physics teacher, who she had met when he hosted a barbecue for his sixth-form class.
After the class, Jade hardly needed to put herself out in order to make initial contact with the woman, as she was very slow to roll up her mat and gather up her various bits and pieces. She was still breathing hard when Jade wandered past her in a slight detour on her way to the door.
'Tough workout, eh?' she said, trying to mix a casual approach with a non-condescending empathy.
'Well, for me, at any rate,' the woman replied with a smile.
'Not for you, though, by the look of it. You've hardly broken sweat.'
Given the friendliness of the reply, Jade was desperate to avoid a response of the 'Do you come her often?' variety. She thought it safer to talk about herself.
'Well, I've been coming here most Fridays after work for as long as I can remember, so I have excuses.'
'It's only my second time here,' said the woman, smiling a nice smile. 'I haven't done yoga for years. It will take me time to get back in shape.'
Jade wanted to tell her that her shape was one of the things she had going for her, but bit her tongue. Instead, she introduced herself, learning in turn that the woman she was speaking to was called Celine.
'Nice name,' she thought. 'Maybe she has French blood.'
Celine was certainly quite dark - not complexion wise, just her hair colour. She was also not particularly tall (around the same height as Jade herself), which made her look a little heavier than she really was. Her face, now that Jade could see it up close, was very pretty indeed, with her dark eyes, her small aquiline nose, her sculpted cheeks and her elfin chin. Her breasts were prominent without being out of proportion with her petite frame, while her ass was bigger than Celine would have liked it, but looked just fine from where Jade was standing.
While she was friendly enough, there was a certain reserve, which warned Jade off from taking things too fast. Also, she was wearing a wedding ring, as indeed Jade was. In all probability, Jade thought, she had never been with a woman. Truly - unlike Mina, who Jade was now convinced had been stringing her along with her protestations of innocence. She felt pretty certain she'd run into her again, even if it wasn't going to be in the changing room. Celine evidently went home to shower, as she waved goodbye to Jade once they'd entered the corridor.
As things turned out, Jade didn't see Celine for another three weeks, during which time she had thought of her quite often. This time it was in a different class with a different teacher, and this time it was Celine who took the initiative to approach Jade. Also, this time Jade had got to class earlier than Celine (who she hadn't therefore seen enter the room), so she was in the middle of the room, while Celine was at the back. The idea that the older woman had been checking her out turned Jade on no end. In fact, the first thing that the older woman said was to compliment Jade on the excellence of her technique.
'I didn't need to watch the teacher. I could just watch you.'
Taken out of context, this might count among the biggest come-on lines of all time, but Jade knew she shouldn't get too carried away. She threw the spotlight back on the other woman, even as she struggled to control her emotions.
'I guess you're finding it easier now,' she said, fiddling with her hair, which was tied back in a ponytail, and pretending to look at the people passing behind Celine, so she could avoid looking her in the eyes.
'You make me realise how far I've got to go,' Celine replied, seemingly unable to desist from complimenting her interlocutor. 'I'm working out on my bike at home now too. I hadn't realised how badly I'd let myself go.'
Jade wanted to put her arms around her and tell her she liked her just the way she was, but sanity prevailed. Yet she couldn't let those last words go unchallenged.
'Well, I think you look great,' she said, as breezily and as lightly as she could.
She then said bye to Celine and started off towards the changing room. Before she had got very far, Celine called her name.
