My husband gives me his usual bullish fucking, then gets up to leave. I lie in bed listening to him use the bathroom. The shower clicks on, clicks off. His shaver clicks on, clicks off. At 6am precisely the buzzer trills; the car is here to take him to the airport. He's running late. I hear him bumping about and swearing and he leaves without saying goodbye. As the door clicks closed, I feel a mix of emptiness and relief. I roll over to avoid the wet patch, pull the covers back up, and fall asleep.
I lie there for hours, dozing, dreaming. I'm still in bed at ten when the door clicks open again: the maid. "Fuck," I mutter, then call out "Hello!"
The maid appears in the bedroom doorway. She looks embarrassed and says "so sorry."
It's a new girl, I notice, dark-skinned, possibly Indonesian. Our eyes meet, and neither of us looks away. Silence. Something passes between us then; I don't know what it is. Seconds pass as she stands there in the doorway. Eventually I look down, and hear myself apologising back: "No no, I'm sorry. Just give me a few minutes and I'll be out of here". She waits in the hallway while I pull on a blouse and trousers and slip out of the flat.
I grab coffee in the lobby bar at the Four Seasons and spend the afternoon shopping on Orchard Road. But my mind keeps drifting back to that maid; to that look that passed between us. What did it mean? What did I feel? Showering before dinner I think about her again, and to my shock I experience a flush of arousal. I find myself going back to the bed, lying where I lay, looking up to where she stood, touching myself.
The next morning I lie in bed again, but I can't sleep. I'm feeling confused; aroused; apprehensive. Ten o'clock comes and I hear the click of her key in the door. She appears again in the bedroom doorway, unbidden this time. I feel myself blushing. She looks just as I remembered; impossibly young and slight, and strikingly attractive. The gaze and the feelings are the same.
"Come here," I say.
Holding my eye, she crosses the room and stands right next to me.
"Sit down."
She sits beside me. I look at her: the gentle curve of her hips; her slender arms; her delicate lips. She wears a sweet, cheap perfume, but there's a musky scent beneath that's all her own. Gingerly, I touch her on the arm. She doesn't pull away. Still looking into her eyes, I find myself leaning closer; kissing her on the lips. The kiss is soft and beautiful and I feel her body respond.
Lying back in the bed, I gently guide her down next to me, and we go on kissing, long and slow. Our tongues touch, and we sigh with pleasure.