Double Standards

"No - it just ran out of steam. At first I was upset when they started to ignore me but then I suddenly saw that I had been caught up in six months of madness and I also realised that neither of them were very nice people after all. They should never have taken me with them and I don't really know why they did. The first five days were fantastic, in fact everything that I had hoped they would be but then everything changed."

"What happened to cause that?" I prompted.

"Helga turned up," Zoë said bitterly. "Going back, when Eleanor first told me about Helga she said that my taste was chocolate fudge, she thought of her own as caramel but Helga was pure vanilla. 'You are really going to love her," El said and I was really looking forward to our first meeting. That Wednesday her flight was cancelled and there was never another mention of us three getting together - I know Helga did not get many layover's in this country but I did start to suspect that Eleanor had changed her mind and was keeping Helga to herself. Then, six days into the fortnight, Helga suddenly arrived on the island for a week's holiday and Eleanor just cleared off to share the Swedish girl's bed leaving me with Jerry. At one time that would have suited me down to the ground but I had already begun to notice his limitations."

"So you spent the rest of the holiday just with him?" I asked, making myself smile cheerfully and suppressing the gut wrench feeling in accordance with my new philosophy.

"That would not have suited me at all by then but it apparently it didn't suit Jerry either because he cleared of as well after another couple of days. Tony I've got to tell you about Jerry. At first he seems like the best thing since sliced bread but after a time his appeal starts to wear a bit thin. For a start he never uses his tongue either for kissing or you know what. His sex technique seems fantastic at first but he follows exactly the same game plan every time - he is not at all versatile like you. He is perfect for a once a week thing and I reckon that he is a wow with new conquests but to be honest, I was getting rather bored by him and I was pleased when he went."

"So you spent the second week just sitting around waiting to come home."

"Not really," Zoë told me looking away. "I screwed around quite a bit - you see it seemed important to show that I didn't need them for my entertainment. I can't remember much about the men except that one was a local with a cock even bigger than Jerry's. Last night was fun though. I took on two lads; both of them were under twenty and came from somewhere in Wales. They were very enthusiastic but both rather inexperienced - I had a great time and it is nice to think that I gave them a rather special memory. Well that's how I felt last night but on the plane I realised that I had been selfishly trying to ease my hurt feelings and as a result I've been a complete slut and made your forgiveness even harder to expect."

"I don't mind," I told her.

Zoë stepped forward and gave me a very loving kiss. "You do mind and you are entitled to," she said softly. "For the last six months I have behaved like a selfish cow and I don't know how you have managed to put up with me. I feel so ashamed because you have, you have been like a rock - and you have remained completely faithful when it would have served me right for you to give as good as you got. I won't ever cheat on you again."

This was a lovely speech and what I had wanted to hear for so long but at that moment it left me with my big confession placed permanently on hold and a large hole in my bank account that needed to be filled without her knowing about it.

It is a year since the events related above and this is the 'happy ever after' update. We are both happy and Zoë is even more passionate than at the height of her affair with Eleanor. There are only two small blots on the landscape. My wife has made friends with a young married woman across the street called Mavis. Mavis is either at my home on Wednesdays when I get home or there are signs that she has been and evenings when the lady's husband is not home, Zoë often says, "I think I'll pop over and keep Mavis company for a couple of hours." On a different front, she now often works late when previously her hours were set in stone and last month, for some reason, she had to accompany one of her bosses to a weekend conference on the south coast. All this could be perfectly innocent but I have developed a rather suspicious mind. Zoë would certainly tell me the truth if I asked but I won't - I just don't want to know.