Moot Point Kate

As always, as the series definition explains, a snapshot of a period, with untold parts. And, no sex.

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Kate looked at Rita who was waiting out of her door on Sunday morning. This started to get annoying.

She was a friend from university but that was all. She was never one of Kate's quality time people. Her superficial overreactions to mundane things, self-admiration, her choice of clothes. Especially those clothes.

She would have been less irritating if she was wearing slutty outfits.

But no, she acted like she was very sophisticated and dressed like royalty. Too mature for her age, too contradicting with the setting they were in. Almost obnoxious.

They came together once or twice a year, mostly because of some third-party common friends or acquaintances. And she never changed. It wasn't a surprise for her to be still single. She talked about some lovers or dates but they didn't care to listen in detail. They were all perfect lovers, especially in bed. She always used the words "you know what I mean", without giving away any specifics.

But she always added that they didn't know how to behave when they were out of bed, that they failed when socializing with a 'lady'. That was the reason nobody ever saw any of them.

Those arguments and stories were boring and stupid. And, probably lies.

Thanks to Phoebe, who told her that Kate's husband Dylan was in CAT and printing business, Rita stepped in Kate's life more a period ago.

She contacted Dylan, she showed him some of her work - which, by the way, Kate wasn't still sure what they were about - and tried out his services. This was the time she started to attend every social activity Kate and her friends planned.

"Oh, you should see how disciplined and pedant Dylan is. I know I'm in good hands." She wasn't tired of talking to Kate's friends about him.

This was stupid, some other woman was talking about Kate's husband, as if she had any idea about him. As if she was talking about her new boyfriend. As if she was about to say 'my Dylan' in any part of that never ending praise. And she was doing it in front of Kate.

"I'll make you regret this, Phoebe" she whispered once.

"Oh, she's trying to compliment, to show her gratitude to you."

Maybe she was. But Kate didn't like this.

And, on a Sunday morning, when Dylan wasn't working, when they were about to have their family breakfast, she was at Kate's door. Without getting invited.

"Hi Kate. I'm sorry to come on Sunday like that but we have an urgent issue to resolve, since tomorrow is the deadline for this thing."

Kate was trying to choose her words carefully when she saw Dylan and shouted "Hey Dylan!"

He was surprised to see her but he didn't look upset.

"Hey Rita, what a nice surprise."

She walked past Kate and started talking to him "I couldn't wait until these were out of my head. Look, I brought some muffins to you, the ones you like."

It was funny that Kate was the only one feeling annoyed about this situation. She would feel better if Dylan also showed some hints of a grimace, especially considering his rules about 'No work on Sunday' or 'Sunday morning is for family, family only'. He made suffer Kate for a few times just because of arranging a brunch with friends on Sunday.

As if...

But it wasn't possible. Rita was annoying from head to toe. Her voice, the way she talked, the subjects she gave priority to. She was shallow. Like that character in a TV series that you couldn't wait for him or her to die and leave the show.

And, who would dress like that on a Sunday morning? A very uptight dress, dark tan nylons, medium heel shoes, hair done?

Su-per-fi-cial!

Dylan wouldn't be enjoying the company of such a fairer-sex representative.

They had breakfast together; she didn't let Kate have a few words with Dylan. When the breakfast was over, Rita stood up and started to collect the dishes. This annoyed Kate. Seeing her acting like she was the housewife of this house. She stood up and started collecting stuff too.

In a minute, she noticed that Rita didn't move anything to kitchen. She just put two plates over each other and left them there, to enjoy her coffee with Dylan, in Kate's garden. What was that?

When Kate left kitchen after washing the dishes, she saw them getting ready to leave.

As if she didn't hijack the whole morning, she said "I have to borrow your husband for a few hours dear."

"Dylan?" Kate could say. Out of anger, these could be the only words she spoke that morning.

"This seems urgent Kate, I'll be back in the afternoon."

And they left.

Kate called Phoebe and told her about this.

"You know her. Her priorities are the only important things. Not only in her life, she expects everyone to see it that way. She's not a man eater, don't worry. Besides, you are by far the most beautiful of us."

"Stop defending her Phoebe. She's all over Dylan."

"Oh, are you jealous for real? Are you afraid of losing Dylan to her? Rita? Oh, come on."

This made her feel small.

"Lose? I wouldn't go that far. But she could offer her dip to his cracker. 'You know what I mean!'" She sounded agitated, imitating her.

"Dylan? Is he of that type? I mean fooling around? Come on."

They hung up.

She was right. First of all, Dylan was a decent guy. Not someone that would fool around. Besides, she couldn't see anything that could attract him about that woman.

Except...

She remembered their arguments with Dylan in previous years. How he complained that Kate didn't wear skirts or nylons, how he almost begged her to wear heels time to time.

Her answer to all these was the same.

He once or twice massaged her feet, telling her he would kiss them if she wore nylons. He tried any possible way to convince her. This wasn't like an obsession but he was definitely stuck on that subject for a period.

Again, her answer to all these was the same.

"I don't want to wear uncomfortable clothes. And I don't think I have to wrap myself up with some ornaments to be admired. If you want to kiss my feet, kiss them. I don't need you to."

She was right, she had a beautiful body, she was very beautiful and according to her, she had integrity, which mattered the most. Wearing clothes or going to the gym to look better was pathetic.

But she didn't realize that sort of talking was killing the mood, making him regret showing any sort of affection.

They had a very bad argument when Dylan once told her about the girl he saw at the gym.

"Even though she had her God-given natural perfection, she ran for two hours on the treadmill next to me and she was running faster than I could. When I was leaving, I saw her and she was wearing the sexiest mini dress and nylons."

"Fuck you, Dylan! Go marry her if you want!"

"I'm not saying that. I'm just wondering about her man. He must be a very good husband - unlike me - that he deserves such an effort from his woman. Especially a woman like that. That's the point."

Kate didn't listen to him; she was very angry about the first part.

But he was right too. If she listened to him, she would understand this wasn't about how she looked. Probably, this wasn't even about the clothes. This was about giving her husband what he asked for, what he liked. He needed to see the effort to attract her husband. As women always said. He probably expected his spouse to show she cared what he thought about her.

And that Sunday morning, after he left for work, after hanging up the phone with Phoebe, Kate saw Rita in a different light.

She never skipped gym. She always wore skirts and nylons. Not slutty ones, elegant but sexy ones. Her shoes were always adorable. They didn't fit the occasions but they were beautiful.

For Dylan, this could be like a catering service, bringing the food which you couldn't cook at home.

And she had to be looking. Any man to make her feel good. One of the husbands of her so-called friends. The friends who always talked behind her back. Such a move would make her feel satisfied on many levels. She couldn't stop thinking like that. Kate couldn't even start guessing how raunchy she could be feeling, without a man in her life.

She had to be careful. She had to stop her seeing Dylan as soon as possible.

They had always pitied her for not finding a man and nobody believed in her stories about her love life. They also knew that her 'ideal man' definition was only a bullshit to justify her inability to attract men. She was setting her standards to 'impossible', to relieve herself from facing that truth.

And, she had to be horny like a rabid dog. Looking for any protruding object to rub her randy cunt on. Kate didn't want her husband to be the subject to her desperate search for mating. Seeing some nice behaviors from any man could easily make her think that he was into her.

And she could confuse Dylan because she had what he was craving for. A feminine, shapely woman with nylons on her legs. Something he couldn't find at home. Something different.

She decided to talk to Dylan about this and warn him. If he didn't do it for Kate, she was going to use her own dirty mouth to put that sticky whore into her place. She spent that day in that mood.

In the late afternoon, Dylan returned home.

Kate hated that; how she was analyzing his expression, trying to figure out if she was right to be suspicious. Especially about such a low life.

He looked normal.

What did she expect? Him singing or looking out of the window, lusting for his new lover? She was still agitated.

"Dylan. We need to talk."

"Yes babe, what is it?"

"First of all, I will remind you all that crap about Sunday mornings some other day. I'm not getting into that."

He looked a bit surprised.

"For the record, she's your friend, not mine. I didn't make a plan and it wasn't a friend of mine who appeared at our door."

"I said we'll talk about it later. The main issue is that, I don't want to see her that frequently. We call her to our girl nights just not to upset her. So, get rid of her. If you must, ruin her work once and she'll go. Of course, if work is what she's really after."

"Get rid of..." He stopped "Wait, what? What do you mean by if that's what she's after? Oh, you're unbelievable."

"What? How am I unbelievable?"

"You enjoy your comfort, knowing you got me for granted and when some other person appreciates me in any way, this annoys you. I don't believe that you're jealous, sorry. You just don't want me to wake up, to see that I deserve more appreciation."

Kate's eyes were throwing fireballs at him.

She wasn't even sure if he was serious or he was doing this to reflect things to her.

"Dylan, stop talking like I'm one of those viragos. I don't see appreciation from you every day too, am I?" Noticing that she was sucked into this side argument, she returned to the subject, before letting him say anything.

"That woman is a man repeller and she's alone for a reason. And, her desperation may be guiding her to chase our husbands. I don't want her to talk about you near my friends. You're my husband and I don't want to see some other woman talking about you, telling how proud you make her, when the subject is you."

"Oh, she says that? I'm glad I managed to make someone proud of me then."

"Stop this. Did she make any advances towards you?"

Dylan wasn't waiting for that. He was surprised but he liked to see Kate like this.

"Define advances." He wanted to play some, apparently. It wasn't helping Kate's situation.

"Dylan, I swear I will start throwing things at you."

"I don't know what you mean but she makes me feel good, if that's allowed."

"Fuck you! Is it about nylons?"

Dylan had a funny expression for a second, as if he was just reminded of something he didn't realize.

"Nylons..." looking away to some horizon behind the wall "... are nice, yes."

Kate wanted to hit him. But she spoke calmly instead.

"Do you find her attractive?"

He chuckled.

"So, she talks about and appraises my work and we find ourselves in this conversation. No, Kate. I don't find her attractive. But yes, when you said it, I realized that her legs look beautiful in those nylons. I'm not sure if her legs are more beautiful than yours; if I ever saw yours in nylons, I could probably compare them."

The whole conversation was tangled around their previous issues. Yes, Dylan wanted to see nylons, skirts, heels on his wife and she denied him of those. But this didn't give the right for him to look at other women's legs.

"You won't look at her legs again."

"I look at every woman's nylon legs, what's the difference?"

"Oh, Dylan, you're overwhelming. You won't look at any woman's legs. You will look at mine only. Are you an animal?"

"If you can't do a single thing your husband begs you to do, you don't have a say in his eye movements. Sorry but, out of deprivation, even I don't have a say in my eye movements."

Kate couldn't understand what percentage of his words were the truth or he was saying them just to make her angry.

"Will you stop seeing her?"

"Sorry, no. I have a contract with her. She made me sign an NDA for not only her work but she brought other people's work too. I guess we will have to work for at least five months more."

"Ok, I'll talk to her then."

"Good idea. It will be clever to put ideas in her head as well."

Kate's eyes almost popped out.

"What idea are you talking about? What idea did I put into your head?"

"Her legs for starters. And that she's chasing me after a long dry spell. I think I won't be able to sleep tonight, when there are so many oppor..."

"Shut up!" she threw the pillow towards him, failing to hit the target.

'Legs in nylons!' she was thinking when she stomped off. She knew he could be right. Not that she put ideas in his head. A marriage couldn't be that vulnerable. Also, she knew men. A man didn't need anyone to put ideas in his head, you can't put something somewhere when it is already in there. Plus, any woman could confuse a man at any time, especially those married idiots.

But he was right about that bitch.

If she talked to her like that, she would probably think that her existence was seen as a threat by Kate and this could motivate her, if she had such an agenda. If she didn't, Kate would be the one who coerced her into thinking there was such a possibility. She decided to calm down and take things to her own hands.

The next week, Kate and Phoebe were shopping. She didn't tell her anything but Phoebe still knew this was new. They bought two elegant but hot skirts, a pair of heels which looked like a pair of Rita's shoes and many different color and texture nylons.

"So? Are we planning pregnancy?" Phoebe asked when they were having coffee afterwards.

"What? No. Why?"

"This looks like a honeypot to trap a prey. Dylan will not know what hit him."

"I don't need these to trap a prey. Especially Dylan. He's wandering around me since I'm on a strike."

"Oh, don't tell me this is about Rita."

"He rejected to stop working with her."

"And your plan is to deprive him of sex, while he's seeing her every day and night?"

"What?"

"?" Phoebe looked like she said something wrong without knowing "Didn't you know? All she talks about is Dylan. I mean how they work day and night."

"I know he's working day and night but I didn't know that weasel was with him all that time. So, you're Rita's confidant, I guess."

"There's nothing secret about this. She was telling the same things two days ago at the pub to others. She would tell you too if you didn't ditch us that night. She's not a weasel, that's how she is. You know her."

Kate hated that.

This was like a snowball getting bigger every day and collecting everything around while rolling downhill.

For a second, she thought of lying to Phoebe. That Dylan wasn't the reason of this shopping. To make her think that there was someone else. Because she was feeling too vulnerable. She was questioning herself, comparing herself to other women these days for the first time in her life.

Also, Phoebe could tell this to Rita and Rita could think that this information could help Dylan slide into her arms. Kate was confident that this would make Dylan shake and come to his senses. He wouldn't risk losing Kate. Not for a pretty wrapped empty box.

But she didn't. Because Rita could just keep this information to herself and get motivated to confuse Dylan. Even stupid women could be very clever when it was about seduction. 'Fuck her!' she thought.

Then her phone rang. It was Dylan.

"Hi babe. I'm about to get home and we'll be working there tonight. There's a renovation at the office. I'll be working from home this week."

"We?"

"That's why I called you. She'll be here in half an hour. I didn't want you to go crazy when you see her here, making up things in your mind."

Kate didn't respond.

"So, if you don't trust me, come home quick to save me from her claws. Or, if you can't stand her, come home late. By the way, do we have beer at home?"

"I don't know." And she hung up on his face.

Phoebe was looking at her, waiting for Kate to talk. It was obvious something made her mad.

"She will be in my house tonight. And probably every day this week."

Kate told Phoebe what she's been going through. Their fight with Dylan and her mood. Phoebe offered her to go there together, so they could see them working together and Phoebe could verify that her concerns were for no reason. She could be the neutral bystander, to tell her what she thought.

"Wait" said Kate. She took her bags and went to the restroom of the cafe. A few minutes later, she came back in that dark navy skirt, brown nylons and brown shoes.

Phoebe said "You're gorgeous but you didn't need to do that. You're always gorgeous."

"Thanks, but I don't want to look like a caregiver near her."

"Ok, then your blouse doesn't fit. Let's go and buy you a white shirt. And, please be cool at home."

When they entered the house, Kate felt a shiver down her spine, hearing Rita's laughter in her living room. Phoebe held her hand and guided her there.

"Hey honey. I hope we're not interrupting."

"Hey! Where were..." Dylan's expression changed when he saw Kate like that. He was staring at her in disbelief and Kate was more than happy about this. Seeing her husband drool, gawking at her like this, she almost forgot all her insecurities.

Phoebe looked happy too. She was Rita's good friend but she probably wouldn't accept her friend to be a homewrecker. Kate cursed herself for putting herself in such a vulnerable position in her mind.

Dylan was standing when Rita broke the silence.

"Finally, Kate! You look gorgeous. You found the right way, which is?"

Kate couldn't help but look at her showing her annoyance clearly.

"My waaay!" And that irritating laughter.

Phoebe was laughing too, she had to be finding her cute or something like that.

Dylan was still looking at Kate's legs but he definitely heard her. Because his expression changed.

"Anyway, we have to work." He said coldly and sat back down near Rita.

'That was it?' Kate thought. He talked about nylons for years for this? Was he satisfied? She was still standing there when Rita stood up with her empty cup to walk to the kitchen.

"Does anyone want coffee? I can make tea if you like?" she said when walking past them.

Kate didn't respond. She watched her go in her kitchen, pour her coffee, open her cupboard to take some of her cookies and return to the seat belonged to Kate. This time, Kate looked at her legs and body too. Her toned legs, firm ass, lean but shapely waist, all looked better than hers. She hated to feel like she was in competition with that idiot about her husband.

Phoebe held her hand again to guide her to her bedroom. She changed back to her regular clothes; they went to the kitchen. Kate emptied the coffee pot and made fresh coffee, thinking that Rita made that coffee. They sat at the dinner table with their coffee, watched Dylan and Rita or looked at each other without talking.