Joy

This story derives from a case which I handled during my years as a marriage guidance councillor. All that I was told was that my clients name was Tom and that his problem involved infidelity by his wife. After speaking with them both I felt that they had already resolved their issues but requested the consultation for validation.

Tom came to see me first and at the end of that initial meeting told me that his wife Joy wanted to speak with me too. I finished up with two accounts of the same events but from different perspectives. Rather than present two virtually identical stories, I have interleaved the most relative sections from the two narratives. Throughout what follows I have omitted my own occasional prompting remarks.

*****

Tom

"My business partner is an unmitigated bastard. If I explain I think that you will understand why.

Twenty years ago, just before Joy and I got married we hired a narrow boat and travelled the canals for two perfect weeks - there was a heat-wave for virtually the whole fortnight and it was idyllic. Before this we had spent nights together and a great number of weekends but it was the first time that there had been opportunity for sex morning noon and night, day after wonderful day. Ever since we had promised ourselves that one day we would own a narrow boat just like it but for years it seemed little more than a dream. We have brought up two lovely children (the eldest conceived on this holiday) but both are now at university and I doubt if either will return home to live.

In partnership with my one time friend Paul I own a firm selling business software - he does the selling while writing the actual programs is my area of responsibility. For most of the first twelve years of my marriage I worked for a large software house as an analyst programmer - Paul was a salesman for the same enterprise and it was during this period that we first became friends. I earned a decent income but ten years ago I began to become disillusioned with my employers - mainly because they drastically reduced the retrospective bonus commission on the sale of standard business packages. Paul was also unhappy so we decided to branch out on our own but it was nearly two years before we took the plunge.

I will admit that our method of doing this was rather unethical but nobody ever gets anywhere without pulling a stroke or two. From work I purloined copies of some popular packages and in my own time redesigned the front end so that the data input screens looked completely different and reformatted all printed reports while leaving the bulk of programs untouched. Paul for his part continued selling our employer's product but whenever a prospective purchaser jibbed on price, Paul would say, "On the other hand I can offer you this - it's just as good if not better and a great deal cheaper." In this way he got my revamped software into business premises and built us a fighting chest for when we started on our own.

Our first two years in business were desperately hard, (largely because a national slump started the moment we were out on a limb), and we came very close to folding. Paul used his own car, put in the miles and picked cheap bed and breakfast establishments rather than the hotels to which he was accustomed. I wrote programs during every hour I could manage to keep my eyes open and Joy continued her full time job (to put food on the table), fulfilled the role of mother and then handled all correspondence and the typing of documentation for our fledgling business. The following three years were also a grind but at the end that period we were doing well enough for Joy to quit her other job and come onto the payroll full time. By now we had a range of applications that we could sell ' off the shelf' relative relatively cheaply, could tailor any of these packages to a particular client's requirements and would design and program any new system that a client needed developing. These last were the life blood of the business because the client paid the bulk of development costs and we were left with another product for our catalogue. The most recent three years have been ones of consolidation and we have seen the benefits of our gamble. The final sign of success came a year ago when we set on a girl to replace my wife; letting Joy became a lady of leisure while still drawing nearly the same income from the business.

Lucy our new girl Friday is a sight for sore eyes - if the word 'nubile' did not exist it would need to be invented just for her. Aged twenty-two she has a very pretty face, long wavy blonde hair and Jaffa orange sized breasts. These are accentuated by being situated on a high rib cage above a very slim waist that swells out to old fashioned hips and the most perfect behind you can imagine. Lucy always totters about on extremely high heels worn with either tiny skirts or trousers of a thin material that couldn't possibly be any tighter. Those glorious tits are always on display and I doubt if there is any part that has not been in sight at some time - except her nipples but every day they can be seen in outline, proudly thrusting against whatever material is trying to contain them. She is like an animated pin-up. I would never have dreamed of cheating on Joy but just having Lucy around brought an automatic feel-good factor.

One lunchtime when she had perched cheekily on the corner of my desk, chatting happily and repeated crossing and re-crossing her legs I found myself with an illicitly throbbing erection so I took my overload of lewd thoughts and went for a walk outside to cool down. On a whim I took some steps down to the canal and started to stroll by the side of the murky water. After a couple of minutes walk I saw a narrow boat tied up with a big 'For Sale' on it. Closer up the notice said that the sale was to be by private tender and that the current day was the closing date for bids. I assumed that I was already too late but curiosity impelled me to climb aboard and look around. The boat was dirty and neglected but as far as I could see it was perfectly sound. As I was about to leave, I was joined by another man who said that he was there to take the notice down. He was happy to unlock to let me have a look below deck and I was not unimpressed by what I saw. When we finished up chatting, I asked if there had been much interest to which he replied, 'Not a lot," but then perhaps feeling that he had been a trifle indiscreet, went on to say that there were two or three bids in already. The most important information he gave me was that the bidding did not close until 6 p.m.

I walked back to the office calculating madly to decide that I could just about meet the reserve price - but the boat was worth a great deal more. Nevertheless, I typed out on offer for £1000 more than the minimum, as an afterthought added another £160 and then went round to deliver it by hand at the address given. Two days later I heard that my bid had been successful. On the spot I decided that I would not tell Joy of my purchase. Our twentieth anniversary was only three months away so I planned to spend the intervening time cleaning the boat up and then give it to her as a surprise anniversary present.

Paul tended to be in the office just after lunch on Friday's to catch up on his paperwork for the week while Lucy worked a couple of hours on Saturday mornings dealing with mail so knocked off at 2 p.m. on Friday afternoons. It struck me that if Paul was certain to be in and able cover the office on Fridays then I could get some afternoons and evenings working on my new boat. With this in mind I told my partner about the purchase, asked him to help me out but stressed that he must not give Joy even a hint of my present to her. That night I mentioned to my wife that I was working on a new application and would be staying at the office late on Fridays for the next few weeks - she knew that I worked best when there were no distractions.

As it happened the poor appearance of the boat was largely superficial so after only two dedicated sessions I had the cabins gleaming like new pins and got the exterior looking at least respectable. At this point, with still more than eight weeks before the anniversary, I realised that I had time to completely renovate the exterior and give it a new paint job. Furthermore, I decided to make it an exact replica of that long ago vessel - there were several photographs in the album that I could use for reference. The original had been called 'Joyful' - we had joked about 'Joy full aboard Joyful', so all I had to do was lose the last three letters and my wife's gift would bear her name.

I must now confess to an ulterior motive. During the hard days, no matter how tired, we had made a point of doing something sexual, for mutual comfort and to maintain a contact apart from the business. Now that better times had come it might be expected that we would be making up for lost opportunity but in fact the opposite seemed to have happened, with love making only a desultory occurrence instead of a very frequent event. (It is possibly not getting enough at home that made me so susceptible to Lucy's pneumatic charms). I should point out that at thirty-eight, Joy looks a damn sight nearer to thirty than she does to forty and remains a very desirable woman. Admittedly there is a maturity about her, but she has stayed slim, keeping the trim figure that I fell in love with at the start. So my big hope was that a canal cruise on a simulacrum vessel might recapture the unrestrained passion of our younger days.

I had done three sessions on the boat and nicely started the undercoat when Paul unusually called in at the office on a Tuesday to say, "This Friday is our first barbecue of the year. You and your lovely wife are invited as usual but if you prefer to work on your project there is no reason why she can't come on her own."

I passed this invitation on to my wife that that night. She was delighted but was surprised that I could not take the evening off to accompany her. I had been tempted but eight hours of painting had made me realised that I had taken on far too much and would need every hour I could scrape up if I was to finish on time. So I worked on the boat and Joy went to the barbecue by herself."

Note:

The following section is a transcription from a section of my interview with Joy. The same information was also related to me by Tom but as told to him by his wife. I thought that her direct words might carry greater clarity.

JOY

"I went to Paul and Lisa's by taxi. I had my own smart two seater sports car now but I knew that there would be plenty of boozing before the end of the evening. I was rather miffed at Tom for not taking me to the barbecue - no matter how urgent the application he was working on, one night off was not going to hurt. There had not been any real overtime for nearly two years so I think that I had started to resent what had once been a standard part of life. I also knew that, being on my own, I had to be extra careful to avoid Paul's wandering hands. For years he had blatantly been trying to touch me up in front of everybody - Lisa knew exactly what he was up to without apparently being bothered by it and dear Tom never ever noticed a thing. It crossed my mind that it would serve hubby right if his partner managed to cop a real feel for once but I had no intention of allowing lecherous Paul any extra latitude.

A night out like this was a rare treat because we never went anywhere and never did anything. If the truth were known I was bloody bored. I was used to a full life and since I had 'retired' I hated it with one boring day following another. We had finally made it but all that had given us money that we could only spend on things, things that we seldom really needed. All those years of sacrifice and struggle - and for what? It would not have been too bad if we still had bed to look forward to but that had become boring too - Tom seldom showed any interest and I suffered from the same lack of inclination. Even when things were at their worst, we always had that. Many times Tom has fallen asleep the moment he got his cock into me - there may have been no real sex but his organ was inside me where it belonged and that all that mattered. On the narrow boat cruise before we married, had Tom come to me and said, "We are going over a weir and will be drowned. There is an outside chance that we might be able to swim to safety but if we stay with the boat there is time for one last shag," there would be no question about what we would have done. Sex was an integral part of our lives at that time and for many years after and it was difficult to see where that old closeness had gone.

Paul let me in, as usual kissing me politely on both cheeks. Standing outside the cloakroom as he took my wrap, we made small talk with him making a big deal about how much he missed seeing me at the office. This prompted me to ask how my replacement Lucy was doing, adding, "Tom says that she is efficient but has told me very little else about her."

"She is an absolute gem," Paul enthused with no reservation, "Not only is she very good at her job but she is so easy to look at - she even sets my pulses racing. Tom thinks she's the best thing since sliced bread and he's absolutely besotted by her. Oops no wait - forget that I said that."

I just took this as a figure of speech and thought nothing of it but Paul seemed embarrassed and blundered on. With irritation in his voice he said, "Even so, I think he might have forgone his private pleasures for one evening rather than miss our first barbecue of the season."

"Come on," I said rising to the defence of my husband, "He does have this urgent new application to develop and you know that Tom always has put work first."

Paul looked at me blankly, "What new application - it's the first I have heard of it? Apart from tailoring some existing packages there has been no new development programming for over eighteen months."

"Then why is he staying late at the office every Friday night?" I asked.

"Not only doesn't he stay in the office but for the past few weeks he's been taking most of Friday afternoons off as well," Paul told me firmly but then he held his hand over his face saying. "Oh hell - there goes my big mouth again after I specifically promised Tom that I wouldn't breathe a word about it. I know he's desperate that you don't find out."

"What time does he leave the office on Fridays?"

"Around two o'clock - the same as Lucy. They go off together."

I went cold all over. "Are you telling me that Tom is having an affair with Lucy? Tell me Paul, Yes or No - I want to know?" I demanded.

"Even if he is it's not the end of the world," Paul said looking at me sympathetically. "Both Lisa and I are not exactly faithful to each other and it doesn't do us any harm - in fact I think it keeps the spark alive in our marriage. If you don't mind me saying, I think that your marriage is in the doldrums and it saddens me because we are both very fond of you and Tom. Even when the business was most fraught it was obvious that you and he couldn't keep your hands off each off each other. You once had a natural togetherness, a body language - but that seems to have gone altogether. A little affair might jolt Tom out of his rut and you could do with a bit of the same to bring back a sparkle to your eyes."

As he spoke, Paul slipped his arm round me and gave my shoulder a squeeze. I stiffened automatically which caused him to jump back defensively and hold up his hands in protest, "Good Lord, not me. Not that I wouldn't love to but Lisa has warned that you are strictly off limits." He looked so comical that I had to laugh, he joined in and that eased the situation. "No, what you need is a nice eager young man," Paul went on. "As it happens we have one on hand ready for your approval - he's with Lisa and panting to meet you."

I followed my host onto the terrace in a state of confusion, not sure if Paul had confirmed that my husband was having and affair with Lucy or only hinted that he might be. There was no time to analyse the situation because next moment Lisa was greeting me effusively, kissing the air on both sides of my head. Then I was introduced to Guiseppe or "Joe as he likes to be called in this country". My breath caught in my throat, as sight of exceptional beauty often does, for Joe was the best looking male I had ever met. He was about twenty-five, of middle height and stocky but not overly so. He had the warmest brown eyes that you can imagine and he was also very black. His fingers were warm and soft without being at all effeminate and my hand slipped into his grasp like a glove.

The food was ready and waiting. While we ate I could not take my gaze from his full lips and very white strong teeth and every time that I did force my eyes upwards it was to see the warm pools of his eyes fixed intently upon me. We had all been drinking from the start and thoughts of Tom's betrayal had caused me to gulp down my first two glasses rather quickly so I was already feeling the effects of the liquor. I was enjoying both the situation and the company but the pleasure was spoiled by a feeling of tension inside me. I became aware of a pleasant sensation on my neck and realised that Joe had reached his arm along the back of the two seater recliner to describe gentle circles with his finger just below my ear. It was both soothing and relaxing and I found my head moving appreciatively in response to his caresses.

Paul and Lisa were sitting on a similar swing seat facing us. My eyes must have drifted closed because I opened them suddenly to be rather shocked by what I saw. Paul had pulled his wife's skirt right to the top of her thighs and was stroking her inside leg as if they were completely alone. The surprise was the discovery that my friend was not wearing underwear. I am rather bushy down there but she was completely shaved and it did look rather neat - almost pretty. Even more surprising was the fact that she had a small gold ring on either side of her vulva - I had long known about her tongue stud but had never realised that she had taken body piercing any further. Paul had extended his attentions to include her very exposed pussy and it looked so nice that I could almost imagine that I was feeling the sensations myself. Only a few seconds later I could not avoid the fact that I really was feeling them. Joe had insinuated his other hand under my skirt and had a finger making the same circular motions on the crotch my panties. The rotational movement of his finger was almost infinitesimal but the sensations generated in me were more intense than had he been strumming my clitoris like a banjo. I seemed to melt inside but my vagina was filled with a burning need. What I was doing was undoubtedly wrong but it faded into insignificance compared to what my faithless husband was undoubtedly doing at that very moment.

I let myself enjoy it and must have shut my eyes again because next time I looked, Paul had his cock out and Lisa was stroking it. Paul's penis was slightly smaller than Tom's and this surprised me because I always believed great self confidence in men indicated an above average endowment.

As if in a dream I reached out my hand to the side. I don't know if I intended to rest my hand on Joe's thigh or actually touch the front of his trousers but my blindly probing hand actually encountered a throbbing column of hot flesh. I quickly looked and could not believe my eyes. Joe's cock was at least two inches longer than Tom's and so thick. Almost convulsively I grabbed hold but was nowhere near to closing my fingers round the tumescent shaft. In addition to the impressive dimensions it was uncut, the only one of that type that I had ever encountered. In my youth I did go with a few boys but my experience was relatively limited. It is possible that I have touched an uncircumcised penis before but that would have been in the dark - most certainly never before have I had such a prime specimen of male manhood pulsating in front of my eyes. I was very tempted to lean forward and take it in my mouth but that would be going too far - I felt that passively allowing a bit of sexual petting was fine but did not want to let myself fall to my husbands deceitful level.