Note: All characters are over 18, as indicated in this or the previous chapter
Deep Waters - Chapter 2
There were six of us at dinner that evening, seated round a fine old oak table in a wood panelled dining room. The food was served by three of George Webster's remarkable supply of hot 20-something girls in maid's uniforms, leaving me wondering how many he had. Madelaine was one of them, together with a sweetly lively black girl called Martha, who had a south London accent, and a cute redhead named Cerys, who was Welsh. Jenny, it seemed, had been given the evening off following her exertions with Izzy and me that afternoon.
Despite the uniforms, there was little sign of a master/servant relationship going on. It was all rather informal, with a lot of cheeky banter, Martha in particular indulging in a lot of flirting and giggling. Webster mentioned that his chef, Pierre, who was French and, I have to say, very good at his job, would have cooked exactly the same for the staff as we were getting, and as soon as we were busy tucking into the main course, the maids, chattering happily among themselves, scuttled off to eat it.
Our little party consisted of George Webster, who sat at the head of the table, Sarah Lim, Webster's personal assistant, who was seated opposite him at the far end, my wife and I next to each other on one side of the table and another, somewhat older, married couple sat opposite us. Webster had introduced them as Ian and Annabel Thornton. I guessed their ages at early forties and late thirties respectively.
"Ian and Anna are my investment managers" George explained. "I inherited a good deal of wealth and made some more of my own when I was younger, but now I leave keeping me rich to these two - and an excellent job they are making of it."
"Nice to meet you," I said, trying to think of small talk that would fit with a world I knew little about. "Interesting that you are married and in the same line of work. I suppose you met there?"
"No," said Anna with a smile. "Actually, Ian and I work for different, rival, firms. George is wise enough to spread his investments. We met here at Deepwell, in fact."
"Yes," cut in George, "I choose carefully who I trust to work with me and I like to invite them to come and stay at Deepwell. That way I can check them out at close quarters and I have never been wrong in my judgement yet."
Ian nodded, "Anna and I love our visits to this place. They are always so very exciting and fulfilling. When we met here we soon found we were - let's say compatible in our tastes. And that's proved an excellent basis for our relationship."
Given what I had seen of this place so far, I had a strong suspicion what type of 'tastes' Ian might be talking about. I was conscious that Ian and Annabel were eyeing Izzy and me with a hungry sort of look, as if we were tasty morsels they might devour. I found it a little unsettling, although Izzy seemed untroubled. That said, they were an attractive pair. Ian was handsome, tall and smartly dressed, while Anna, who naturally interested me more, was slim and classically elegant. She had an accent redolent of private schooling and long, straight, dark hair which cascaded down the back of her expensive, figure-hugging evening dress.
Something about them bugged me over dinner and it was only later when I spoke to George that I realised what it was. We had moved to a sort of sitting room for after-dinner drinks. Izzy and Anna were perched on a sofa, chatting away as if they had known each other for years, while Ian was flirting with Sarah, seemingly with his wife's approval, since she took no notice. George had drawn me to one side for a quiet word.
"Izzy," he said, looking at my wife, "will ask you soon, tonight I would guess, if you are happy for her to sleep with other men while you are staying here. What do you think about that?"
I was rather stunned by his directness. "I ... I'm not sure that's any of your business. Besides, she's not like that." I managed to sound a lot more convinced by the last part than I actually felt.
George nodded reassuringly. "Of course you're right but you are my guests and I want you to be happy. If she does ask, I suggest you agree. So long as you are both honest with each other about everything that happens, I think you will find that it will only enhance your relationship and your love for each other."
I stared at our host. How did he have the gall to say such personal things? After all he barely knew us; we had only met for the first time that day. And yet somehow his words seemed so reasonable. I wondered if perhaps he was right and found myself saying, rather apologetically, "But ... but, I don't know if I could stand watching Izzy with another man. I mean ... what if she liked him better than me?"
"That's a little hypocritical of you, Ed," George said with a smile. "You weren't worrying about things like that when you were fucking Jennifer in front of your wife this afternoon, were you? I know you loved it, so why do you want to deny her the same pleasure? And you needn't worry about losing Izzy. I promise you that she loves you very much. I've known a lot of women over the years and I can tell. But she also has her erotic needs and desires - just as you do. You should both indulge them while you're here. This is a safe place, made for such things. Ian and Anna have a completely open relationship. Give it some thought and I hope you make the right decision. I'm sure you will."
And with that George Webster left me and drifted over to Ian and Sarah. I just stood there watching him go, clutching my drink, my mind in a whirl of confusion concerning Izzy, but at least my suspicions about Ian and Annabel had been confirmed.
*****
That night as we lay in bed, Izzy broached the subject of opening up our marriage while we were here, just as George had predicted she would. I was not even slightly surprised, let alone shocked; I had already concluded that if Webster said something would happen, he was probably going to be right. I had also decided on my answer.
Izzy made her case - she loved me and only me, but that wasn't a reason we couldn't sleep with other people so long as we both knew about it and agreed, and didn't I think the threesome this afternoon had been amazing, and if it was another man wouldn't that be OK too? I got the impression she expected me to say no. A day earlier and I certainly would have.
"So what brought this on?" I asked, but gently, holding Izzy in my arms, showing that I wasn't upset with her. "I saw you talking to Annabel. Was it her idea? Do you want to swap partners with them?"