La Suite (12 page)

“But you only
ever met Jérôme at dinner parties or at the gym!” Gaëlle
protested.

“And it
entertained both Eric and myself to watch you, and wonder what
you’d been up to or what you were planning. I’ll give you an
example. Do you remember Eric’s fortieth birthday party? Think back
to February three years ago.”

“Three years
ago! Only very vaguely.”

“What were you
wearing?”

“Ouf! No idea.
Nothing special that I can remember.”

“You had a dark
blue silk dress, not your shortest, I’m sure, but still quite
showing a lot of leg.”

With the dress
as a clue, Gaëlle recalled the occasion. On their way to Maya’s,
for some reason, or perhaps for no reason at all, Jérôme had
suddenly stopped the car by the roadside, whipped Gaëlle’s dress up
and her knickers off and buried his face in her sex. She’d had a
glorious orgasm.

“What was all
that about?” she’d asked when she’d recovered.

“Nice dress,
nice body, lovely lady,” he’d replied. “I just felt the urge and
hoped you wouldn’t mind.” Gaëlle came back to the present and
frowned. How could Maya have known about that? She opened her mouth
to ask, but Maya got there first.

“You think I
don’t recognise the scent of a woman on a man’s lips?” Maya said.
“When you arrived and Jérôme kissed me, I knew straight away what
he’d been doing, and very recently, too!”

Gaëlle blushed
crimson.

“And you hadn’t
had time to put your knickers back on!” Maya said. “Once I’d
guessed what you’d been up to, it was easy to spot them, scrunched
up in your hand.”

“I was very
conscious that we were late. You must’ve thought we were awful,”
Gaëlle said, as she turned onto the road where Maya lived.

“Not at all. It
just confirmed what I’d always suspected about you two. But let’s
find a time to have our conversation properly, shall we? I’ve got
meetings all this week, but we’ll fix up a time for me to come
round to your apartment after work, and you can tell me anything
you want.”

Gaëlle stopped
in Maya’s drive and was promptly submerged in a tide of small
children. Maya clapped her hands, teacher-style, and her
eight-year-old twins, plus their three little friends, formed a
neat line for kisses from Gaëlle.

“Auntie Gaëlle,
will you come and say hello to the puppy?” chorused the twins. She
was dragged off to the kitchen and dutifully admired the little
dog.

“Gaëlle. How
nice to see you,” Eric said, coming through the back door carrying
a fuel can. He kissed her on both cheeks and gave her a quick hug.
“I gather that the twenty-first century has defeated Maya yet
again,” he added with a twinkle. “Thank you for rescuing her.”

“The car’s out
of juice?” Maya asked, incredulously.

“I imagine so.
Again,” Eric confirmed. “I said three days ago that it was very
low. For a competent professional woman, you have the most amazing
ability to ignore the fuel gauge in your car.”

Gaëlle took
Eric back to the stranded vehicle. He poured fuel into the tank.
The engine started first go, and he drove off. Gaëlle went home,
wondering just what she was going to say to Maya the following
Monday.

Chapter
Fifteen

“So, just what
is it you want to tell,” Maya asked, settling herself in an
armchair facing Gaëlle, who was in her usual place on the sofa.
Maya had arrived later than she’d hoped, caught out by yet another
school emergency. Gaëlle had had to calm her friend with tea. She
couldn’t face opening herself totally while Maya was exuding so
much nervous energy.

“Well, as
you’ve already guessed, Jérôme and I had a very intense sexual
relationship,” she began.

“Would it be
easier if I tell you what I know and what I’ve deduced?” Maya
asked. “As long as you don’t get offended if I’m wrong.”

“It might save
time,” Gaëlle agreed. “Off you go.”

Maya cleared
her throat. “When I used to teach history, we always started by
examining the evidence,” she said. “So, here is an analysis of
Gaëlle, a woman who is successful, attractive and intelligent and
is a good friend to more people than she realizes. When dressed for
work she’s a model of professional decorum. However, we have
visible proof that there is another side to her personality. She
takes great care to maintain her body. Nothing unusual there, many
of us do. However, when she’s naked in the changing rooms, it’s
impossible to miss that she depilates her pubic hair entirely.”
Maya paused. “I know that the last bit isn’t true at the moment,
but that’s how I think of you.” She went on. “At least one
witness—that’s me by the way,” she interjected— “has observed that
sometimes there is a glint of gold down there, hinting at some
jewellery, perhaps?” She looked up at Gaëlle. “Correct so far?”
Gaëlle nodded.

“So we go on,”
Maya continued. “Now for some less tangible bits of evidence. One
witness, that’s me again, has noticed that whenever there is a
nice-looking woman getting changed, Gaëlle takes more than a
passing interest. She’s even been seen to hurry into the showers to
get a closer look!”

“Do I do that?
I’d no idea!” Gaëlle exclaimed, blushing.

“Don’t panic.
I’m pretty sure nobody else has noticed,” Maya reassured her.
“Next, we move to when Gaëlle is dressed to go out. She leans
toward little dresses that cling, or reveal, or are rather short.
Given the body and legs she has, that isn’t surprising. She enjoys
having her body on display, it seems. If that’s true when out with
the girls, we can only speculate on how she might dress on those
occasions when it’s just her and Jérôme.”

“You’re
speaking of Jérôme as if he were still with me,” Gaëlle
commented.

“Oh, he’s still
with you all right, just not physically. That’s why I’m happy to
have this dialogue with you, although it seems to be turning into a
monologue. Sorry, but in case you hadn’t noticed, I’m a
teacher.”

Gaëlle couldn’t
help laughing at Maya’s gift for defusing potentially intense
situations.

“I view the
past year as an anomaly in your life, from a physical viewpoint,”
Maya told her. “And if this tête-à-tête allows you to pick up where
you left off, I, for one, will be only too delighted. Finito.
Right, your turn.”

“Your analysis
is quite accurate as far as it goes,” Gaëlle said, examining the
lacquer on her toenails. She wasn’t ready for eye contact yet.
“First, to confirm your guesses, yes, the depilation was a sexual
preference. And yes, I did have a piercing, through my clitoris
hood as a matter of fact, although it’s healed up now. I used only
to wear a small ring whenever I was at the gym, so I could tuck it
away. I didn’t think anyone had noticed. It’s true that I like
attractive women, but looking is only the initial element. You’re
quite correct about the clothes. I have some very revealing things
that I wore for, shall we say, special occasions with Jérôme…and
sometimes not only Jérôme.”

As she was
speaking, Gaëlle felt a lead weight forming in her belly. This was
the moment when Maya either ceased to be her friend, told her she
was a fantasist, or accepted her for what she was, a woman who
enjoyed sex with other people even though she was married. She
looked up at Maya, whose face was thoughtful.

“This
discussion is becoming more serious than I was anticipating,” Maya
said. “I was expecting you to tell me that you were missing having
sex with Jérôme, and asking what I thought about your having sex
with someone else. And of course it would be fine, if you ask me.
But it isn’t as simple as that, is it?”

“Not at all
simple. Shall I tell, or would you rather not know?”

“Oh, Gaëlle,
Gaëlle! I’m your friend.” Maya shook her head. “I love you dearly,
but how little you know me. How can you think I wouldn’t want to
know anything that helps you?”

“Forgive me.
I’m ashamed. I’d never realised quite what a good friend you are to
me until this moment,” Gaëlle exclaimed.

“Forget shame.
When you and Jérôme were together, you hardly noticed anyone else.
It was lovely to see, even when you were struggling to keep your
hands off each other,” Maya teased. “Now tell me what you want me
to know. I’m all ears.”

“Right…So…My
sexual experience started when I met Jérôme,” Gaëlle began. “But he
always insisted that what I did was my own responsibility. Now, I
want to find out if I’m brave enough to do some of the same things
on my own.”

“Such as?”

“Can I ask you
a question or two, first?”

“Go ahead.”

“Have you ever
been naked in public?”

“Does topless
at the beach count?”

“Not
really.”

“Then it’s no,
never. Why would I?”

“I have, and I
can tell you it makes me tingle all over. Have you ever dressed in
a way that allowed people to see more of your body than you usually
show?”

“Not since I
was younger, before the children. Once.”

“Was Eric with
you?”

“Oh, yes. It
was all his idea. He’d bought me a very short dress with a plunging
neckline. I wore it to a party, at his insistence. I spent the
evening heaving it down to cover my knickers, then hoisting it back
up to cover my bra! Mind you, if Eric had had his way, it would
have been my bare bum and my boobs I’d have been trying to hide,
because my underwear would have been at home, on the bed!”

Gaëlle joined
in Maya’s laughter.

“I’ve worn
dresses like that,” she commented. “It’s a wonderful sensation.
Jérôme wouldn’t have insisted, he never had to insist, it was my
pleasure.”

Maya looked
pensive. “How did you avoid being arrested?”

“I learned very
fast to recognize who would appreciate seeing and who might be
shocked,” Gaëlle said. “You’d be surprised how many people seemed
to enjoy looking at me.”

“Surprised?
Whyever? If a body is going to be put on display, then yours is
well worth a second look,” Maya said. “And just how much of this
sexy body of yours did you put on show?”

“Usually it was
one part at a time, but there’s nothing that hasn’t been
exhibited,” Gaëlle said. She was starting to relax, now that she
knew Maya wouldn’t judge her. “At first it was just a flash of bare
breasts. The first time I did that was so scary!”

“You aren’t
known as Bare Tits for nothing, are you?” Maya joked. “But when
Leila gave you that name, I bet she had no idea how accurate it
was! So you went on from there?”

“Yes, I did,
once I’d gathered enough courage. Going out with no knickers on is
a fantastic feeling for me. It was especially nice when I was
wearing a short skirt or a floaty dress.” A shiver ran through
Gaëlle. “And then, when I was confident about showing everything, I
wanted to know how it would feel to be touched by some of the
people who’d seen. That happened sometimes.”

“What a
surprise,” Maya said, ironically. “An attractive woman lets a man
see she’s wearing nothing under her dress and that he’s allowed to
touch. Of course, he’s going to say no thank you and walk
away!”

“It’s true. But
not just men. Some women liked it, too.”

“Hence the
interest in women on your part?”

“No, I think
that was always there. Bisexual, I suppose, if you need a
label.”

“Is that where
the piercing came in?”

“No, that came
a lot later. I’d had a lot of experiences before I was
pierced.”

“What sort of
experiences?”

“You remember I
said I’d worn some extremely revealing things when I was out with
Jérôme?”

“Yes.”

“Well, on some
of those occasions…” Gaëlle paused, then rushed through the rest of
her sentence. “I had sex with more than one person. Always with
Jérôme as well, though, or nearly always.”

“With another
man? A threesome?” Maya’s tone of voice revealed, if not quite
shock, then certainly surprise and intrigue.

“Or another
woman. And a few times with several people at once, or one after
another.”

Maya sat back
and breathed deeply. “And there was I saying you were the one who
didn’t know me! My best friend’s hobby is enjoying group sex and I
have no idea! Whoo!” She blew out her cheeks. “And now? You’re
looking to have some more multiple-partner sex?”

“That makes it
sound terribly cold and soulless,” Gaëlle interjected, although she
was feeling a warm glow. For Maya to think of her as her best
friend was very flattering. “It wasn’t like that for me…or for
Jérôme.”

“Sorry, I
didn’t mean to sound coarse,” Maya said. “It’s rather an
eye-opener, though.”

“I’m quite
amazed that you’re still sitting there, to be honest,” Gaëlle
confessed. “Most people would have fled from this dreadful depraved
woman.”

“Never say
that!” Maya said forcefully. “Nobody has the right to judge you and
I certainly don’t.”

“Thank you,
Maya. The thing is, I have an urge to start again. I’m thinking
that one day soon, I’m going to be walking down the street with no
underwear, to remind me of how it feels. It’s quite possible I
could be tempted to let people see, too. But what I really want you
to tell me is this, the body I have to put on show, is it still
worth looking at?”

“Haven’t you
been listening, Gaëlle? I’ve already said this evening that you’re
an attractive woman, and I’ve referred to your sexy body, too.
Provided that you can be sure whoever sees you will enjoy the view,
then why not? It wouldn’t be my thing, but who am I to judge?” Maya
laughed. “Eric would be delighted if you flashed him, I can
guarantee!”

“And that
wouldn’t bother you?”

“Eric has a
permanent bruise on his arm, from where I punch him whenever I
catch him eyeing up pretty women,” Maya said. “But no, it wouldn’t
bother me at all if he saw you stripped off. The only problem would
be that if he caught sight of you half-dressed, he’d be pestering
me to do the same, and I don’t have your confidence.”