Rachel shifted her position in the deep armchair and placed her laptop on the coffee table in front of her, before leaning back against the soft cushions. Closing her eyes and rolling her shoulders, she felt the gentle tug of the velvet against her hair.
She had been working for three hours and thought she deserved a break. Rachel's shoulders were killing her, from the hunched posture she normally adopted when working on her laptop.
Of course the laptop wasn't the only reason for her bad back. Her two kids under four had more than their fair share of blame for the ache in her shoulders. The fact that she had to punish her back further, when they weren't around, was just another part of being a working mother. She didn't like it, but she had to make do.
The fact that she was able to work in her current environment was a luxury that took the edge off. If only slightly.
Rachel and her husband could only afford nursery two days per week for the kids. On Thursdays, her mum had them at her house and on Fridays Rachel didn't work. Tuesdays were a different matter. Her mother-in-law, while happy to have the kids, wasn't comfortable with them at her own house. She insisted on being at Rachel's home with the kids. This wouldn't have made much of a difference... if not for the fact that Rachel worked from home.
She tried sealing herself off in a different room, but as long as her kids (and more importantly her mother-in-law) knew she was in the house, Rachel was continually bothered.
After a while, if only for her own sanity, they came up with a solution: on Tuesdays, she would drive to the hotel down the road and work in the bar.
In the middle of the day it was busy enough that she didn't feel alone, without it being too overwhelming. The change of environment was a welcome change. The sofas and armchairs, around the edge of the lavish space, were comfortable and usually empty. And it also meant that she could treat herself to a nice lunch once per week.
She was also close enough that she could quickly head home, if there was a problem with the kids.
But, realistically, the benefit she liked the most was the peace.
Fingers massaging her neck, while leaning her head against the plush cushion of the armchair, Rachel breathed in slowly through her nose. Work that morning had been intense and she'd barely had a chance to look up. When she got started on something she had to finish it.
Across the bar, she could see a throng of people leaving the conference room opposite from where she was sitting. It was a sight Rachel was used to seeing. The hotel had several rooms that accommodated all sorts of events - usually in the mornings. At midday, when they finished, Rachel could see the attendees of the room opposite the bar leaving, chatting amongst themselves.
From the board set outside the door that morning, she knew the people leaving had attended a seminar on cyber security. Men in suits and smart-casual business attire, and women styled for the office all came streaming out. Seeing how they were dressed she sunk back slightly into her chair, self-conscious of her own outfit.
When she worked, Rachel dressed for comfort. She was currently wearing a pair of gym leggings, a t-shirt, Converse All Stars, and an oversized jumper. There was a toothpaste stain on her shoulder from where her toddler had fallen asleep on her the night before, and she had to carry him to bed. Rachel was planning on putting a wash load on that night, so there was no point getting out a new jumper, just for the sake of a bit of toothpaste.
Rachel yawned and lifted one hand in front of her mouth. The kids had been up all night -- the toddler because he was teething, and her three-year-old, because her brother had woken her with his cries -- and Stephen hadn't gotten up once with them. He'd slept through the whole thing, leaving her to get the nurofen and fight against a tiny terrorist not open to negotiations.
He hadn't been pulling his weight for a while with the kids. Rachel understood. Kind of. He worked long hours to make up for her own part-time necessity, but even on weekends he would sleep in on both days. Which left Rachel to get up early and entertain the kids, while he had a nice lay in.
Even just one morning a week would be nice. She wasn't asking much, really.
Maybe then she would have considered putting sex back on the table.
It had been about three months since they'd done it. But if she was being honest, resentment towards her lazy husband was only part of the issue.
Rachel was body-conscious.
After having two kids, she'd gained a fair amount of weight and hadn't been able to shift it. She had no time for the gym, so all she could do was follow along to YouTube workout videos at home, or go for an occasional run, if Stephen was home after the kids had gone to sleep. Before the kids Rachel had been petite -- maybe seven stone -- but then she'd put on weight and her hips had expanded, which left her with stretch marks on her bum and thighs, and a scale which read nine stone seven pounds. She knew she wasn't the biggest woman, but standing at five foot two, the extra weight in her bottom half made her think that she was shaped like a butternut squash. Her bum was way bigger than she would have liked, and her mummy tummy was something she covered whenever she could.
Then there were her boobs.
Rachel chose to wear large jumpers for a reason. Before the kids they'd always been conservative -- a small B cup -- but firm. Now they were a C but sagged.
She just didn't feel sexy anymore.
Stephen still tried it on with her, yes. But Rachel got the feeling it was more so he could get off than because he found her attractive. The rare occasion when they did have sex, it felt like a formality. Like it was just
something
to do.
And because she didn't feel sexy, she didn't want to have sex.
And because he didn't help with the kids, she resented Stephen, so she didn't want to have sex.
She still thought about it a lot, though.
Rachel checked the time on her laptop and figured that in fifteen minutes she would stop for lunch.
As she settled down, with the computer back on her lap, she noticed one of the guys from the seminar come back into the hotel. He seemed in a bit of a hurry, jogging back into the conference room. Intrigued, Rachel waited a few moments, peering over the top of her screen at the door. The man emerged with a second guy, talking and waving his hands in an animated fashion, and the pair walked through the lobby, and out into the car park.
When they didn't reappear for several minutes, Rachel shrugged and went back to work.
Lunchtime rolled around and she closed her laptop, setting it down on the coffee table. She rose and made her way to the bar, to order her usual, when she noticed the guy who had run back into the hotel lingering there, looking at a menu.
Closer to him now, Rachel took a moment to glance him over. He was almost a foot taller than her and dressed in a three-piece suit, with a paisley patterned shirt and plain tie. His hair was dark and curly, flecked with a decent amount of grey. His face was framed by a short trimmed beard, while his muscular neck was clean shaven, below the jaw. His shoulders were broad and he looked solidly built. At a guess, she put him in his early forties.
Waiting next to him for a moment, Rachel looked over the bar at Maria, the bartender. The younger girl glanced sideways at the guy and just shrugged.
"Erm, are you waiting?" Rachel asked him. "Or is it okay if I just...?" She pointed at Maria to indicate she wanted to order.
"Oh!" He flushed and broke into a charming smile. It touched his eyes, which creased with the motion. Rachel thought he resembled Heath Ledger, from Ten Things I Hate About You. Only older. Same smile, though. A childhood crush of hers. "Sorry! No, you go. I'm just loitering."
"Thanks," she smiled, before turning to Maria. "They got you back on Tuesdays now?"
"Yeah," Maria replied. "But it's fine. I wanted more hours, because I'm saving up for a car."
"Well, don't work too hard!"
Maria laughed and turned on the point of sale screen. "What do you want? Same as usual?"
"Yeah, a tuna sandwich and a Pepsi."
"You come here a lot?" the man asked, glancing down at Rachel as she paid. For a moment, she felt like his eyes were roaming over her, but she quickly dismissed it. She looked a mess.
"A fair amount," she replied, pushing her jaw-length copper hair behind her right ear. Rachel caught the flirtatious motion after she'd already done it, quickly pulling her hand back down to the bartop. "My mother-in-law has my kids on a Tuesday, and I can't work from home with them all there. So I come here. I don't live too far."
Rachel saw his eyes move to the white gold and diamond engagement and wedding rings on her left hand, also set down on the wooden surface. She felt herself relax a bit. When guys knew you were married with kids, the conversations tended to be a lot more platonic.
