A Rich Experience for Zoe

The last line of the email caught my eye: 'I also have something non-work to discuss with you. Will be in touch shortly'. My mind turned over a few ideas as to what this might be, but could find no clues. I waited to hear more from Sarah.

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"It's something I would like to ask Zoe to do for me," Sarah said as we sat opposite one another at a table in the coffee shop. Sarah took a sip from her coffee.

"Zoe?" I said, slightly surprised and still none the wiser.

"Yes." said Sarah, placing her cup on the saucer. The corners of her mouth hinted at a smile and she looked at me more intently. "Zoe".

"OK. So now I'm intrigued. Tell me more."

Sarah seemed to explore my eyes with hers as though looking for something inside me. I felt that Sarah was assessing me before she spoke.

"Well, it's all to do with the Singapore thing," Sarah said eventually.

"Yeah, that really was a win for you, wasn't it?" I said, smiling. Sarah and I had been colleagues for a number of years and had supported each other through a couple of rough patches. Because we were professionally close I had been pleased when Sarah had been given the Singapore placement over some fierce competition.

"Yes, it was a win for me," Sarah replied.

There was a 'but' coming.

"But it also means that I will be on planet Singapore for three months. Well, apart from a week in the middle when I come back to provide progress reports to Freeman and the board. Freeman doesn't do online, it has to be in person. And Rich and I are really getting going now - getting close and starting to make plans together - and three months on planet Singapore is just what we don't need. Just what I don't need, anyway. Not in terms of our relationship." She saw me smiling again.

"Sorry Ross," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Gushing a bit there, wasn't I?" She smiled too.

"It's nice," I replied. "Having somebody to gush about is nice. About time for you as well, I would say".

"Thanks. Yes it is nice. It's really bloody nice in fact." She grinned, unable to hide her investment in this relationship.

"And that is why I wanted to talk to you, Ross. Well, to Zoe really, but through you."

"Now I am totally baffled" I said. I took a sip of my coffee. Sarah studied my eyes again briefly, then sighed gently.

"I might as well just get straight to the point." she said. "I wanted to ask if Zoe could look after Rich for me while I am away, and if you would be happy with that. If both of you would be happy with that in fact. You might not be and that's fine, totally fine. Of course it is. But I just wanted to ask in case it would be fine."

"In what way does Rich need looking after? I mean, he's a rising star in his field and all that, and a bright guy from what you've told me. He doesn't seem the type to need much looking after."

"Sex," half-whispered Sarah, looking around to see who might be in earshot. "He needs looking after with sex." She studied my face again. I had no idea what my face must look like right then.

"He has a high libido and three months is just going to be way too long. And I don't want to lose him. Not now that we are onto something bigger and more lasting. I can't lose him, Ross, I really can't."

I spoke slowly trying to understand what I was saying as I said it. "So, you want Zoe, to have sex, with Rich, while you are in Singapore, so that you don't lose him?"

"Yes. But only if she is OK with that. And if you are OK with that too, of course."

"You are asking me to ask Zoe to have sex with your boyfriend while you are in Singapore. If she is OK with that and if I am OK with that. Is that right?"

"Yes, exactly! And like I said, you might both not be alright with it in which case no problem, no harm done, and I will find a plan B. Somewhere. Someone." Sarah waved her hands in a 'somewhere' gesture.

"But I thought that because you and Zoe like to have your sexy weekends away and try new things out from time to time, this could be another new thing for you to try out. I was hoping, anyway. It would just be for three months, so that Rich is being looked after and I know who by and I can totally trust Zoe because you two are rock solid. I know you are." She sat back, took a sip from her cup, and waited for me to say something.

"For three months", I said, still trying understand the question that Sarah was asking. She smiled.

"Yes. And it wouldn't need to be more than once a week."

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"Once a week?!" shouted Zoe.

"Not just once as a kind of try this out thing, but once a week?! For three fucking months?! Are you... you must be... Sarah must be joking. Or off her head! That's not trying something new, that's having a full-on relationship!"

"She's not joking," I said. "And I thought the same as you. But she really did mean it. Really does mean it." Zoe stared at me and then out of the window and then at me again, processing.

"And what did you say?"

"I said that I'd pass on the request to you to see what you think."

"No, I mean what did you say about me having sex with your colleague's partner on a regular basis for three months? So that she won't lose him, apparently! What did you say about that?"

"I was knocked sideways by the whole thing and didn't say very much at all, to be honest. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to tell you and talk about it with you."

"And what do you think now that you have told me? This is not just us trying something else, this is me trying someone else. And that's going to change the whole dynamic, isn't it?"

"Of course it will. And here's the thing. I genuinely don't know what I think about seeing you with someone else. I don't think you can know unless it actually happens. Until I am right there watching you with him. Who knows how I'll feel? I've had the fantasy plenty of times, you know I have. But actually being there in the real room with you and a real other man. That's entirely different. Fantasies are safe because they are fantasies."

Now it was Zoe's eyes exploring mine. She was studying my face, listening to my words, seeing where I was with the whole thing. I was studying her body language too - trying to get a sense of where she was with it.

"OK. Let's start with that. When you picture me with Rich... you have seen him, have you? You know what he looks like?"

"Only from a couple of photos that Sarah showed me. He looked handsome and was smiling. That's all I noticed. What you would expect Sarah's boyfriend to look like, was what I thought."

"Alright. So picture the handsome, smiling man with his clothes off and me and him having sex. What does that do when you think about it?"

"I honestly can't say because it's just an image. Watching you having sex is always a total pleasure for me - you know that. I could watch you having sex all day and all night. And have done. But I can't add another guy into the picture because it's not happened and I have no point of reference." I paused. Zoe was listening intently, taking in what I was telling her.

"And what about you?" I asked.

"How do you mean?"

"How do you feel when you think of another man having sex with you?" Zoe seemed taken aback. Her face displayed thoughtfulness, then confusion, then thoughtfulness again.

"I really can't say." She paused. "I mean, I don't feel like I need to have sex with someone else. You know that. But I can't say for sure because neither of us will know for sure until it hap-... would know for sure until it happened, if it did happen. Will we? Would we?"

"That's my point, honey. It's impossible to know how either of us will react."

"You would definitely need to be there. I'm not doing anything if you are not there with me. We both need to see how the other one is feeling and stop it straight away if we need to." The idea was becoming real in Zoe's head. She was watching it happen to see how it looked.

"And definitely not in our bedroom. No way. The bedroom is our place - you and me. That's where we happen, Ross. No-one can invade that space."

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Zoe and I had eventually agreed between ourselves to try it out just once, with the condition that if either of us was not comfortable then we would call it off immediately and without question. Like having a safe word. I had then relayed our decision to Sarah, who was thrilled and grateful to us both in equal measure. She gave me Rich's mobile number so that we could text about the arrangements.

The first time that Rich called at our flat we were taken by surprise. Rich and we had agreed on a Saturday evening at 7. But he had arrived at our flat at 6 instead. I buzzed him through the main door and we knew that he would reach our door in about two minutes.

"We said seven," said Zoe, hurriedly fixing her hair in the mirror in the living room. She had planned to get ready in time for 7 o'clock, though she had not been sure - we had not been sure - what getting ready for this type of arrangement would look like. We weren't going out. We weren't entertaining guests either. Well, OK, one guest.

"What am I supposed to wear for this, anyway? And how much make-up?" She pouted at the mirror and turned her head from side-to-side.

"You look great already. You really do."

Zoe ignored my comment. She walked into the hallway.

"We said seven," she said again, nerves starting to take a hold as she checked out the rest of her appearance in the long mirror in the hallway.

"You look fine, honey," I said. "Gorgeous, in fact". I walked across and kissed her then hugged her. She felt tense.

"Are you really OK with this?" she asked me, looking into my eyes and gripping my arms.

"Nobody needs to do anything, remember," I said. "Only do what feels comfortable. Either of us can stop it at any time. Sarah knows that's the deal, and so does Rich."

The knock at the door ended our anticipation. This was it happening. This was real now. Zoe looked in the mirror again, adjusted her hair again, and tugged down on her top to straighten it, again. She turned and looked over her shoulder at her bum in the mirror, and stood up on tip-toe.

"You answer it," she said, walking back into the living-room.

I opened the door to a man who was slightly taller than me. His t-shirt and shorts revealed an athletic physique. His dark looks suggested either a Mediterranean or Middle Eastern background. He was holding a bunch of flowers and a bottle of wine. He was smiling, slightly nervously.

"Sorry I'm early," he said, looking apologetic. I heard a muffled giggle behind me.

"I got my 1700 and 7 o'clock mixed up on the timetable and caught the train two hours too soon. I'm crap at the 24-hour clock, always have been. Number blind. I did sit in a cafe for a bit but then I thought I would come and see it it was OK for me to come now."

The man glanced over my shoulder a couple of times as he was speaking. And why wouldn't he?, I thought. There's a lot resting on how the woman now standing across the hallway looks to him.

I wondered how Rich's initial visual scan of my wife had registered with him. I also wondered how Zoe's visual scan of him was going, and whether she liked the sound of his voice and his subtle accent.

"I can go away and come back in an hour if that's better for you," he said.

Zoe replied "No that's fine. Come on in."

The man we had met 30 seconds ago walked into the hallway of our flat, and into our intimate lives. Just like that. I closed the door and followed him into the living-room, where Zoe was extending her hand. Rather than shaking her hand, however, Rich put down the flowers and bottle on our glass coffee table, leaned forward slightly, lifted Zoe's hand towards his mouth, and touched it with his lips. Not quite a kiss, more the gesture of an old-school gentleman greeting a lady respectfully. I saw Zoe blush slightly as he returned her hand to her side. She was studying his face and I saw her eyes briefly scan his shoulders, arms, and chest as well.

"I hope you like flowers. And wine," Rich said.

"Yes, we like flowers. And wine," Zoe replied with a smile. She looked across at me. I smiled back at her.

"Please sit down, Rich." He perched on one of the sofas.

"First thing to do is talk to the boss," said Rich, taking a mobile phone from his pocket. He pressed a key and held up the phone to Zoe and then to me. The contact ID tag was 'Sarah' and beneath it there was a picture of Sarah and Rich together. He pressed another key and we could hear the ring-tone. After two rings the other person picked up. I heard a familiar voice.

"Hi baby!" said Sarah. "Where are you?"

"I'm with Zoe and Ross," said Rich. He held the phone towards Zoe and then me so that Sarah could see us and we could see her. Seeing my colleague's grinning face on her partner's phone screen in our living-room was a novel and slightly surreal sensation. Familiar person, unfamiliar context. Zoe and I both called out "Hi!".

"Hello Zoe! Hello Ross! Oh wow, this is so exciting, isn't it? Zoe, you look gorgeous, just like you do in the photos on Ross's desk. You are a really attractive lady!"

"Thank, you?" Zoe said, looking slightly surprised though also seeming pleased at the compliment.

"I wanted to say thank you so, so much for agreeing to this. It means so much to me and I am really grateful to you, to both of you, for helping us out. Seeing you now - you are such a hottie, Zoe! - makes me feel like this was definitely the right thing to do. I know that Rich will just love you! Don't you, babe? Don't you think that Zoe is hot? And so pretty! Wow! Lucky boy!"

I thought that Sarah was putting Rich on the spot with that last question, and I felt a little awkward for him. But he was unfazed.

"Yes, babe. Zoe is very attractive. Ross has a very pretty wife." Rich looked at me. I nodded, appreciating the acknowledgement.

For a moment I thought that Sarah might now ask Zoe if she found Rich attractive. That really would be putting Zoe on the spot. Thankfully, she did not.

"Listen," said Sarah from the phone. "I've got to go. You guys all have the best time. Oh I know you will! I can't wait to hear all about it tomorrow. Go enjoy yourselves. And each other!" Sarah laughed at her own joke. I was uncertain whether the familiarity of that laugh made this situation seem slightly more normal or slightly more bizarre for me.

Rich ended the call and placed his phone on the coffee-table. There were a few moments of awkward silence. Then Zoe spoke.

"Right! So this is happening and we need to set some rules." Rich and I both looked at Zoe and we both nodded in agreement.

"So nobody needs to commit to anything here," Zoe continued. "If any one of us is not happy with what is happening, any one of us," she looked to me and then to Rich, "we just say so and it stops. No ifs or buts. It just stops. Then we all shake hands, say goodbye, and get on with our lives."

"That works for me," said Rich.

"Agreed," I said.

"And apart from that...," Zoe said, then paused. She looked at Rich, then at me, then at Rich again.

"Apart from that, let's just see where this takes us, shall we?"

Rich and I both agreed again. I saw a mixture of nerves and anticipation on Zoe's face as she once again visually scanned the man who was now sitting on our sofa and then looked back to me.

"I'll put these in a vase and pour us some wine," I said, picking up the flowers and the bottle from the table.

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

I walked out of the living-room and down the hallway to the kitchen.

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As I was putting the white roses and purple freesias into a vase and making a crude attempt at arranging them, I wondered what I would have brought if it had been me arriving in this situation. Some decent flowers but nothing overly expensive and the equivalent bottle of wine was probably about right, I decided. Anything too much could have been perceived as wooing. Or, worse, payment. Anything too cheap would just be downright rude and insulting. So yeah, he had done what I probably would have done.

The wine was a good white but it was not chilled. Rich had probably chosen something nice in advance and brought it with him. Again, a nice thought. I placed Rich's bottle in the wine fridge and took out one that was already cold.

I uncorked the bottle and took down three glasses from one of the cupboards.

I listened out for any sounds from the living-room, but unless Zoe and Rich had been shouting at one another, I would actually not expect to hear much from this distance in any case. I poured three glasses of the golden wine which scintillated slightly in the late afternoon sunlight that was bursting in through the kitchen windows.

Earlier in the day, I had made a mental note to check in with myself as events progressed so that I could be honest about whether or not I was OK with whatever was happening. Recalling this note-to-self now, I decided that I was currently in a good place about the whole thing, and actually quite curious to find out how things were progressing in the living-room.

I also remembered Zoe telling me the previous night as we fell asleep that "I don't want to treat Rich like a sex toy but he basically is a sex toy as far as I'm concerned. Does that make any sense?" I chuckled now, as I had done at the time she said it.

I placed the three glasses onto a small tray, along with a bowl into which I poured some olives with herbs from a packet in the fridge. I picked up the tray and carried it through to the living-room.

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As I walked into the living-room, Rich was sitting in the recliner which was tilted back. His eyes were closed. Zoe was standing behind the chair, massaging Rich's shoulders. His t-shirt was on the floor next to the recliner. Plenty of gym work there then, I thought. Pecs, biceps, six-pack, the lot. Sculpted.

I walked over to the coffee-table and put down the tray. I picked up a glass of wine and walked across to the end of the sofa furthest from the recliner. I took a sip from my glass, placed the glass down on a coaster on the floor next to me, and watched.

Zoe looked up from Rich and asked me with her facial expression if I was OK. I nodded, and swept my hand downwards in a 'please go ahead' gesture. I smiled as well, because actually this all felt fine for me. If anything, seeing Zoe massaging a semi-naked, muscular man was pleasing to watch. I knew what those hands felt like, and I was curious to observe what I normally only experienced as the recipient.

Zoe's hand movements started to extend further down Rich's torso. She started by including his biceps in her strokes. Both hands were working together, the same movement on each side. Rich moved slightly in response to this and smiled.

"That's nice," he sighed.

Zoe smiled. Then she re-focused herself on the massage. I could see that her eyes were now sparkling. A slight glow in her face suggested that she was enjoying an opportunity to feel and stroke this fit man's body. Zoe maintained slow hand movements.

Both of Zoe's hands pushed down slowly from Rich's shoulders, over his chest, and this time down over his six-pack. Then they rotated at the top of Rich's shorts, moved out to the sides, and travelled slowly up the sides of his torso. Rich moved his shoulders and adjusted his position in the chair in response to this. Starting to get into it, I thought. Been there.

Zoe continued with these upper body strokes for a few minutes. I noticed that she sometimes allowed the tips of her fingers to stray a little way under the waistband of Rich's shorts, and that she sometimes left them there for a few seconds before continuing with the sweep back up the sides of Rich's torso. I imagined what her fingertips would be feeling - heat, hard muscle. Possibly hair?

More than once I thought that Zoe might indulge her curiosity and push her hands all the way into Rich's shorts. Find out what was waiting there for her. Give in to her own rising feelings and literally seize the opportunity of having free access to another man. If she was tempted, then she was resisting the temptation for now.