Butterflies land on
many branches. Old wood is
strong, saplings grow fast.
***
"So who is he, Amanda?"
"He's just a customer at the cafe. I sell him coffee in the mornings. We chat, when there's no queue."
"You must do more than chat, if he gives you this."
"This" was a wrapped box Amanda brought home from the cafe that day. It sat unopened on the table between her and Antony. In every way, it sat between Antony and Amanda; her boy not knowing what it meant, Amanda knowing exactly what it meant.
Adam had given Amanda the choice when he placed the box on the counter that morning. She chose to take the gift home knowing that Antony would eventually see it, and like Scarlett in the morning she would have to cope with whatever reaction he had. At least, she hoped there would be some kind of a reaction from Ant, to show that he cared.
"What is it? What does it mean?" Antony didn't know. He was scared to know.
"I don't know what it is, but it will be beautiful, I'm sure." Adam doesn't do plain, she thought, remembering her afternoon with him at the fashion exhibition. Whatever it is, it will be wonderful. She assumed it was Adam's way of saying he wanted to be with her again. His confidence amazed her.
But then, she had astonished herself that evening as well, thoroughly enjoying the ebb and flow of their togetherness. One minute he took her somewhere sensual, decadent and luxurious, then it was her turn to take him. To take him, and to be taken. Oh god, she wanted that again. She clenched her thighs together, a heat spreading in her belly.
Amanda knew she was testing Ant, and knew she was unfair doing so. Sometimes she just wanted to shake him, slap him even, just to get him to react. In her way she loved the young man, but Adam set such a high bar now. She knew she was unfair to Ant. He was so out of his depth.
Amanda's spreading heat in her belly, and the knowledge that she could seduce Antony in a moment, gave her a new confidence. But I mustn't play with him, she thought, that would be cruel. She gazed at him, admiring his slim beauty.
Amanda knew they made a good looking couple, with her elfin looks and Ant's lithe, blond grace, but he frustrated her so. His emotional distance drove her mad, sometimes. Just when she wanted him to stay, he would go, his mates calling and his games. His games, his constant, mind numbing games. Sometimes his fingers were more adept on his damned XBox controller than they were on her.
Now though, the idea of Adam and his worship in her head at the end of the day, she was horny, her mood shifting hot, and she would seduce her boy. She knew how to do that, slowly and with great delight.
Amanda reached for Ant's face, her fingers gentle from learning Adam's touch and understanding his slowness. "It's OK, Antony, I can handle it."
Antony winced away from her touch, and Amanda's eyes darkened, her mercury rising for a fight. A thread of adrenaline pulsed into her cunt, her nipples tightened and her fingers gripped the wood of the table. She waited for Ant's next move. Adam's parcel was a challenge between them, and her heat Antony's reward, if he could find it.
"But what the fuck is it, this fucking box wrapped so nice?" Antony's anger was rising, but he was beating on himself too. When was the last time he had given Amanda anything? He picked the box up from the table, but had the sense to open the parcel carefully and not tear the paper. He could see the care that had gone into the wrapping, and wondered about the man who would do that, care so much about little details. He looked at Amanda watching him, and thought he had never seen that look on her face before.
She watched his face as he turned the box over and removed its lid. Antony looked upon the contents, confusion on his face. He placed the box on the table, and his movement had a quiet reverence to it, for even he could recognise quality, especially when it was right in front of him. Amanda was right in front of him, but he didn't always see her. He glanced up, but not to her eyes.
"Why? Why is he sending you this? What have you done to deserve this?"
Amanda reached inside the box and took out the folded dress, a silver blue, silken blue dress. She stroked the surface of the cloth with her hand, a slow caress, and remembered Adam's caress of her skin, a gentle caress.
"Because it's beautiful," she replied, "it's because he likes beautiful things."
Antony looked at her. They were both standing, the table between them and the box and its silken contents between them even more, a gulf of understanding dividing them. Antony didn't understand at all. Amanda wanted him to, she wanted him to see her beauty when it was right before him.
"Are you fucking him, Amanda? This man, are you fucking him?"
Amanda looked at him, her eyes dark. "No, Ant, I'm not fucking him." He's too gentle for that. "You're the one who fucks me, then you leave me."
Her voice was steady, her passion controlled and directed towards him. She wasn't angry with her boy, she just wanted him to see that she craved love, wanted his gentleness, his attention. She wanted him to see her, the girl right in front of him. Look at me, Ant, am I beautiful? Look at me.
He didn't see her, all he could see was the dress.