I'm Margaret (Maggie) Grey, a fifty four year old widow and mother of two; these events took place on my birthday in May last year. Well, not precisely on my birthday, I was on a cruise ship heading home from Madeira on that day, but at my birthday party the following Sunday; that was only a small affair, my daughter Zoe, her husband Tom and myself.
My husband Bill died almost three years ago; he was somewhat older than I, but sixty-one is no age, particularly for someone so seemingly fit and healthy. Bill fell foul of aneurysm while sat at his desk at work; nobody had the slightest inkling there was even a problem and the best guess -- it was never anything more definite -- was that it might've arisen from an old rugby injury?
I was well beyond my shock and mourning now and while I've since 'dated' two eligible gentlemen and rather more who most certainly weren't, I'd by now resigned myself to the single life. It wasn't the men's fault entirely, but during these last three years I'd come to realise just how frustratingly messy and untidy men can be; with hindsight, even Bill.
The only real downside has been a lack of sex; I'm still active and relatively healthy added to which I'd been... spoilt. Though Bill was ten years my senior, he'd been equally active -- he'd played seniors rugby until his mid fifties and ran five miles, damned near every day of his life - and when it came to the bedroom, Bill had been inventive too.
Don't misunderstand, I've had plenty of offers since Bill died but the two that I'd accepted had both proved a great disappointment: A man I'd met while on holiday last summer had talked the talk, but really couldn't walk the walk; even with the assistance of his 'little blue friends'. While the second, whom I'd met on last week's Madeiran cruise had proven worse:
He was a little younger than I; rather handsome in a very upper-class English sort of way and more than adequate between the sheets. Sadly, only after the event did I discover that for him, our liaison was a... professional transaction. He was a gigolo who spent his life entertaining ladies on cruise ships; I hadn't realised such creatures existed in the real world.
The whole episode had left me with a rather bruised ego, angry rather than upset... I wasn't some ancient harridan who needed to pay for male attention; I'd garnered enough interested glances while aboard ship to confirm that. Zoe noticed my discomfiture when she'd collected me at the dock, so I'd had to fess-up, but she was sworn to secrecy.
Closer to home the choice of male companionship had proven sparse, when you're my age the good ones have all been snapped-up long ago and their wives are protective, watching we single ladies like hawks. I can hardly complain, as on reflection I was no doubt equally possessive with regards to Bill.
That didn't mean there'd been no opportunities and several men in our social circle -- perhaps suggesting that they weren't quite so 'good' as they appeared - had made oblique enquiries as to my... availability. However, sleeping with a friend's husband behind their back was a total red-line for me, while Bill had never strayed, I'd seen the fallout when other husbands had.
Aside from the ruckus in the immediate aftermath of discovery... And adulterers always get caught out by their spouse eventually, were the longer term consequences. That does seem to be one area of life that sexual equality has failed to reach:
Amongst the men an errant husband is seen as a lucky so and so, a bit of a jack-the-lad, but for the lady involved, be she married or single, you're forever damned. At best pushed to the periphery of your social circle, never again to be fully trusted, but for a repeat offence, or even the first if the group so decides, you'll find yourself ostracised forever.
Not for me thank you very much and especially not within our social circle, ours like all others revolves primarily around the husbands, their businesses and male centric social clubs, Round Table, the Masonic Lodge, Rotary and the like. So, with Bill having been ten years older than me, so too were most of my friends' husbands.
One might think that I might be better served going in search of a 'younger' man, but that was fraught with even more danger: Now my own kids have flown the nest, the only ones I seem to come into contact with are the offspring of my own friends; the rage of a wife whose husband you've... dallied with is as nothing compared to that of a mother who catches a predatory cougar with her cub.
I'd driven across to Tom and Zoe's on the Sunday morning; there's a wonderful gastro-pub only a few minutes walk from there house. Dining there meant we could all enjoy a few glasses of wine and if it turned into more than a few, I could stay overnight and unlike Tom and Zoe, not have to worry about getting to work on time the following day.
The meal was as good as anticipated and we did wash it down with 'more than a few' drinks; once we'd walked home Zoe even had Tom open another bottle. Having raised yet one more toast to my birthday, Zoe dropped her bombshell: "I couldn't find a decent present for you in the shops mum, so I'll give you Tom instead."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You can have Tom for the afternoon, I'm sure you'll find him much more useful to you than a bunch of flowers or a box of chocolates"
I glanced in Tom's direction and he appeared as a nonplussed as I was myself "To do what exactly: useful how?"
"To shag your brains out... That'll put a proper smile back on your face."
I was so surprised that I almost dropped my wineglass; I got it safely onto the worktop, though most of its contents spilled out, in the moment before I grasped the worktop's edge as my legs wobbled beneath me. Staring open mouthed between Tom and Zoe, I saw that my daughter grinning like a Cheshire-Cat, while Tom looked as gobsmacked as me.
"I... We... Tom can't... He's your husband."
"True, but I'm guessing your need is greater than mine and I've no concerns that Tom hasn't got enough fuel in his tank to see me right too."
"But... But... You can't just... You're pimping Tom out and you've not even asked him; I can see that from the expression on his face."