At the grave side of her late husband, William Bennett, Maria wept the required and expected tears of the grieving widow. Resplendent in black silk dress and wide brimmed hat that topped sun bleached and blonde hair, she appeared, to the somewhat overcrowded cemetery, exactly as she had planned: The sad, loving wife that had just lost her adored husband.
But the dark, designer glasses that hid her eyes from the world also hid her secret: for years their marriage had been a sham and for Maria's part, an extremely frustrating one. Bill, ten years her senior, had been well liked and enjoyed the company of many friends; most of which she could now see crowded around the grave side. These friends consisted of male business associates and clients and female acquaintances, and it was the latter group that had brought about their marital problems. Bill thought little of female bed company when away on business; in fact he had never lied about his unfaithfulness to Maria.
But when it came to his wife, well, that was a different ball game altogether! Bill was of the "old school", and to him, Maria was a trophy wife: the ideal companion on his arm at business functions and wonderful to have in the bedroom, but there was no way that he was going to suffer the embarrassment of letting her run off with another man. For the last two years they had lived apart in the same house, occupying separate bedrooms and, consequently, Maria could hardly remember the last time she had been made love to by anything that did not require batteries! The tears that she wept were more of relief than of lament.
The few days subsequent to the funeral passed uneventfully for Maria. Because she and Bill had spent so little time together in their beach side mansion of late, the fact that he was no longer present impinged little on her senses. The days rolled by as they had before: mornings spent shopping, lunch with friends in fashionable restaurants and afternoons usually alone by the pool, stretched out in a bathing costume to soak up the suns powerful rays or engrossed in a steamy novel. There were, of course a steady stream of well wishers and sympathisers.
When Bill had been alive, she would have taken care to pull on a robe before greeting them, but she was getting used to the fact that he was gone now and felt a tingle of excitement when she welcomed male guests whilst still attired in the briefest of designer bikinis. She had been careful in her forty one years. She knew that she still possessed a very attractive figure. Weekly workouts and daily jogging had left her stomach flat and tight, her legs and thighs trim and cellulite free and her breasts, while quite large, remained fixed high on her chest. The sun, whilst browning her skin, had been kind and left it almost wrinkle free. Yes, she most definitely welcomed the stares of her male callers.
But Maria still felt frustrated. Her nightly routine of TV, shower and then bed with one of her favourite vibrators remained unchanged and she knew that this was something that she could, and must, now do something about. She was sat by the large, garden pool contemplating that very notion when Alice, a young house maid, wandered into the garden with a portable telephone.
"It's Mr. Goldberg, Ma'am" she said, handing Maria the phone. Sam Goldberg was - had been - Bill's attorney and one of his closest financial advisors. He was also one of his closest friends.
"Thank you, Alice," Maria put the phone to her ear. "Hello Sam."
"Maria, how are you?"
"Oh, you know, not too bad, thanks." Maria had become used to answering this sort of question by rote.
"I need to speak with you, Maria. Not on the telephone, can you come by my office later this afternoon?"
Maria knew almost certainly what the meeting would be about and had been waiting for this call. Bill had died a wealthy man and, as far as she knew, all his estates would come to her. It was the main reason that she had put up with his philandering over the years. Fixing a time with Sam, she rang off and allowed herself a rueful smile. At last, she thought, it's pay-off time!
Sam's office was large and air-conditioned. Expensively furnished off the backs of several wealthy clients, Bill included. Maria lowered herself elegantly into a plush leather armchair. She looked directly at Sam.
"I'm guessing this is about Bill's estate." she said. Sam nodded grimly and returned her gaze. She noted that his eyes flitted briefly to look at the ample cleavage displayed by the deep neck line in her new, tailored dress - it was a garment that she would never have bought while her husband was alive and she looked at it as the first step in her newly realised emancipation - and could not resist another wry smile. "So, how much am I worth?"
Goldberg pushed horn-rimmed glasses up onto his nose and returned his eyes to Maria's face. "It's not quite as simple as that, I'm afraid my dear. William has left certain...er...conditions to his bequests."
Maria's breath faltered. The heat in the room seemed to increase and envelop her face. Surely he couldn't have cheated on her again? The money was the only thing that had kept her going. Please God, he could not have taken that away?
Goldberg saw Maria's face flush red. He wasn't sure if it were anger, resentment or grief, but he felt he had to put her out of her misery.
Please, don't distress yourself, my dear." he said, comforting her. "You are a wealthy and, may I say, attractive, woman. Your husband has left you well provided for: The house on the beach of course, and the retreat in the mountains are both valuable assets. Then there's the Mercedes and the Jaguar as well. The actual money is tied up in trust funds, but you will receive an annual dividend in excess of two million after tax - that's over a hundred and sixty thousand a month." He noticed Maria relax visibly and let out a quiet breath.
"So, what's the catch?"
"Well," Goldberg continued, "as you know, your late husband was rather a jealous sort of man. His instructions, though somewhat unorthodox, are quite clear: You must not have any form of sexual relations with another man, or.." he paused. "Forgive me.........or woman"
Maria was out of her seat in a flash. "What? You can't be serious! No sex? Nothing? Oh come on, he can't have meant that!"
"I'm sorry, my dear. His instructions are quite explicit. Basically, he's cut off your action!"
"What action?" Maria cried incredulously. "I've not been laid for over a year!" her voice softened as she continued, the obvious solution suddenly becoming apparent. "Look, Sam, he's dead. He won't know, will he?"
"Well, my instructions are to appoint a private detective on a full time basis. He is to devote his entire time to you and report back any...shall we say indiscretions on your part. Then, I'm sorry to say - no more money!"
"Please, Sam. Surely there's something you can do?" Maria was almost hysterical. "I'll pay you a percentage to keep the detective away from me. How about it? Please, Sam?"
Goldberg sat further back in his sumptuous office chair and looked at the younger woman before him. His hands came together to rest on his paunch, fingertips touching as if in silent prayer. He revelled in the power that this situation suddenly afforded.