Childhood friends meet as man considers seeking woman for illicit encounter married dating affair

I met my childhood buddy, Alex, at a little coffee bar just off Oxford Street in London. Now married, looking rather bald, his dark suit and short fair hair was as dishevelled as when he'd played dating games with me - my princess to his prince - hidden away in the Tree House of my parents Hampshire garden all those years ago.

His masculine cologne briefly overcame the busy cafe smells of espresso coffee and croissant in a bear hug that seemed to go on forever.

He leaned close to me, confidentially, but also to be heard above the noisy chatter all around.

"Jenny, it's good to see you. It's been so long. I really feel guilty about dragging you all the way to London but I didn't know who else to talk to ... Who else to trust."

His voice was measured, firm and professional - each word carefully chosen but with a strong underlying tension.

I disentangled myself from his arms and squeezed onto a nearby stool. I'd chosen a simple brown suit for my visit to the City. It matched my page boy brown hair and was a million miles away from the jeans I normally wore. (Designer fashion was hardly appropriate to feed the goats, geese and chickens of our Cornwall small holding - my husbands passion before he discovered it didn't pay and returned to teaching.)

Muggins, as always, picked up the pieces and kept the small farm going. I didn't mind. Looking after the animals quite fitted in with my work as home-based web designer but, sometimes, I missed meeting people and my husband, Mr Serious, worked increasingly long hours. Modestly, I tried to smooth the short skirt wishing I'd chosen something with more length.

"Conversation provided by goats and chickens is pretty limited," I said, with a nervous smile. "Having an excuse to come to London is a refreshing change."

"That's good," said Alex, looking preoccupied, then pointed towards the window. "Quick, there's a place."

We made it to the small coffee table just before two large ladies with Harrods shopping bags who complained loudly to each other as they returned disappointed to the bar waiting area. Our table was tiny, squeezed in amongst others, and looked out onto fascinating streams of cosmopolitan people dodging between each other, London taxis and red buses, each one intent on their brightly coloured fashionable lives.

Alex focused his blue eyes on me. There were newly grown smile lines in the corners that I'd not noticed before.

"You're looking good, Jenny. No grey hairs. The country life obviously suits you."

(Nice to be complimented, I thought - well, it was the nearest thing to a compliment I'd received for years. I almost blushed.)

"Alex, I'm dying to know what this is all about. Sudden telephone calls and so mysterious. You wouldn't say but it sounds important. How's Liz?"

"She's all right. Busy leading her own life. We hardly talk. OK, I suppose."

Did I see a brief expression of pain and frustration cross Alex's face at the mention of Liz? He continued.

"I needed more than a telephone call and I couldn't talk to my friends - well - because it's personal."

"Ooh, this sounds intriguing." I tried to keep my voice light, as if hearing confidences was my everyday experience, but I could feel my throat contracting and butterflies were already flapping in my stomach.

"You were the only one I could talk to, Jenny. We've know each other since childhood and we've not got the baggage people get when they've dated and had a relationship. We're almost like brother and sister."

I eased my hands from between his. Brothers and sisters don't hold hands. Somehow now I felt deflated.

Our order arrived and Alex tucked into his croissant with gusto chatting away but now inconsequentially. I sipped my Latte wondering if I'd got enough money to do some clothes shopping later.

Suddenly this meeting seemed less fun and London was beckoning with its shops and tempting pleasures.

Until Alex one hundred percent grabbed my attention by saying

"So I thought I might join a dating agency - you know, the sort for married men and women who feel there is something lacking in their lives and want an affair."

"What!" My eyes widened and I could feel a blush coming on. God, how I hate my blushes ... What woman in her thirties blushes for goodness sake!

"An online web site that caters for 'illicit encounters' or 'married but looking'. I don't know what people call them. Basically, it's for people who want affairs with absolute discretion. They don't want to rock their marital boat but need a soul-mate."

Alex hesitated and started to blush too. That made me feel better, although I was still completely dumbstruck.

"The problem is, when I got this idea, I went steaming ahead but now I'm having second thoughts and just don't know what to do. I've even leased an apartment in South Kensington for the secret liaisons but now I'm not sure whether to go ahead. It all seems so tacky and, perhaps what I really want is not the - er - you know - the physical side - but to talk intimately and be close with someone who cares."

Alex took a big swig of his chocolate latte and stared at me defiantly. He hadn't tried to take my hand again. From the expression on my face he could see that I disapproved.

Inwardly, I was rationalising. Alex had always been a good person. Surely, his decision to join an online married dating agency was only done as a last resort. His decency was proved by his second thoughts. These were big pluses and I was trying not to let my country bumpkin prejudices get in the way of helping a special friend.

From what seemed far away, I heard myself say.

"The women that join these dating agencies may feel the same as you. They may be willing to agree to the physical side but may really be looking for intimate and loving companionship too."

Alex leaned forward, eagerly.

"Do you think so? I mean, could you as an ordinary common or garden woman imagine having a secret affair if it was guaranteed to be completely discreet?"

(I flinched inwardly at the reference to 'common or garden'.)

"Well, who knows? I suppose there may be many 'ordinary women' out there that day dream about the thrill of a new relationship and the loving attention and passion they could receive. Probably, it's often the fear of discovery - and perhaps not wanting to lie and cheat - that holds them back."

"You speak as if you could empathise with these women, Jenny."

"I can understand - in an abstract sort of way." My voice seemed to be getting tighter and tighter.

"Tell me what to do, Jenny. Tell me what to do. Should I pay the money and join one of these married dating agencies? Should I seek out these introductions and take them back to my apartment. I just don't know what to do. You were the only one I could turn to who I could absolutely trust and was outside my usual circle of friends."

My chest was now constricted so I could hardly speak. Alex continued.

"I've decided to make my decision this afternoon. I'm going back to the apartment to decide. It's really nice and leads out onto it's own private garden," he added lamely.

I noticed, Alex had enclosed his hands around mine again.

"I'd like to show you the apartment, Jenny. You would like it, I know you would."

The butterflies in my stomach were flapping about as if they were in a hurricane and inside my far too warm suit, I was now totally overheating.

"Perhaps," a voice far away said, "it would help you to have a second opinion on that apartment."

As we pushed through the crowds waiting for a table and emerged outside into the sun, fumes and bustle of London, I felt Alex guiding me with a protective hand that somehow had slipped under my jacket.

Suddenly, I longed to turn into his arms and be kissed and one thing had just became clear to me. When we arrived back to his apartment, kissing was only part of the yearnings I'd be unable to resist.

.......................

Later, lying on a huge king size bed beneath a casement window that looked out over a small but well tended walled garden, in the afterglow of lovemaking, and as Alex gently slept, I wondered if the story about the illicit encounters and married but looking dating agencies had been a cover story for Alex's real intentions.

Somehow, now, it just didn't seem to matter and I no longer cared.

I traced a lock of his hair with my finger and lowered my lips down to his. They tasted sweet and manly then his arms reached around me.

The End

Enjoyed this short story? You may also enjoy Blackberry Jam - a short story about infidelity, marriage and separation.

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Bye for now

Rob Hopcott - online fiction author

This short story about romantic encounters and married dating, marital infidelity and illicit meetings, online introductions and secret rendezvous is copyright Rob Hopcott 2008, all rights reserved. All characters and places in this short romance story and other short romance stories on this site, are fictitious and no reference is intended to any person or organization, living or otherwise.