Eric had reconciled with his wife Elise.
THE BUS RIDE
Elise had taken advantage of the £2 single bus fare scheme to get a 70 minute long bus ride to Swindon. She would have time for a coffee and a sausage roll and then get the bus back to her village in time to pick up her daughter.
She had been lonely before the reconciliation weekend with Eric. Now she was lonelier. She was the loneliest she had ever been. A day out (and for under £10) meant a break from the boredom and isolation of village life.
THE ELDERLY COUPLE
Elise saw an elderly couple on the bus., occupying the front seats. Despite their age and the wrinkles they appeared to be in love.
They were probably killing time, like she was. Elise couldn't imagine that they had sex at their age. They probably slept in separate beds. Yet here they were together.
As the bus trundled through village after village, she thought what fate held in store for her.
At one stop they got out some home made sandwiches and ate them.
Elise thought of the Ringo Starr song with the lyrics "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64".
She thought what the ferry fare to the Isle of Wight is nowadays. And if the couple could afford it.
DID THEY STRAY?
She got to wondering if the old couple had ever been unfaithful to one another.
She imagined the wife was more likely to have had extramarital sex. Perhaps with a younger man, perhaps she had carried on her illicit affair for months on end. Perhaps she had been lonely and been swept off her feet by a romantic lothario.
Erica then wondered what a lothario was.
She imagined that the woman had been caught out by her husband. Perhaps he had discovered a series of love letters. She imagined they were full of declarations of how much they lovers wanted each other.
Perhaps she had tried to resist committing adultery.
She envisaged the husband arguing (and throwing breakable things) when he discovered her treachery. She imagined them living apart. She imagined them having a reconciliation weekend.
THINKING OF ERIC
Elise imagined Eric and her using their pensioners bus passes and sitting in the front seat of a bus, just killing time. Then she wondered if she would be alone and killing time when she was in her 60s.
She was getting older, and having a daughter was tiring. She despaired of finding a man who wanted her when she had a 6 year old daughter. And she would be too old to attract a man when her daughter was 16.
A decade of being lonely and celibate wasn't an attractive proposition. But she might have some short term affairs.
ELISE'S PAST
Her pre-marriage days of one night stands had been nice. But it wasn't a lifestyle she wanted to resume, even if men were available to satisfy her carnal lusts.
ELISE'S PRESENT
Elise craved adult company more than sex. She had enjoyed having reconciliation sex with Eric. But she had, despite her anger with him at Castle Corfe, enjoyed his company. They had walked and talked. They had broached the difficult subject of Eric's affair and his bisexuality.
When the bus eventually reached the bus station, Elise let the elderly couple get off first. She struggled and he helped his wife.
Elise imagined Eric helping her off the top deck of a bus in 3 decades time.
SOLVING ERIC'S PROBLEMS
Because of the elderly couple, Elise thought fondly of Eric. She still had some anger but not at the level when she learned of Eric's affair.
She recognised that Eric wouldn't be able to get a suitable job in their village. He had dismissed from his job in the largest local employer for gross misconduct. He couldn't earn as much as he currently earned with any other firm locally. His workmates and friends had deserted him because of his homosexual affair.
Elise recognised that, even if he could get an equal paying job locally, Eric didn't want to give up his Bournemouth job.
Elise decided to agree that Eric could stay with us as a lodger.
He must agree to return to the matrimonial home, their home. as often as his driving shifts allowed. He must agree that she could stay with us as her job as homemaker allowed.
Elise knew that Eric fancied Ron (my husband). She suspected that my husband also fancied her husband.
Eric had promised not to progress any non matrimonial relationships.
(Elise was not aware that her husband also fancied me and that I wanted him to bed me)
Elise had been impressed by her husband's offer to go to therapy. Elise gave up on the idea of going to therapy together. Then she saw it as expensive and unnecessary.
She was fairly confident that she and Eric could talk through issues as they arose.
