himself as he watched her. Janey felt awfully slutty being there. She was a married woman after all. But she also delighted in the attention that she was getting from Henry, and the revenge she felt she was getting on Benjamin for his cheating.
She continued to finger herself and she looked back at Henry. His large cock was in his hand and he was stroking it slowly, up and down.
—That’s beautiful, Janey, Henry said.
—Do you want me to do more?
—What do you mean.
She looked at his penis.
—I could suck you, she said.
—Oh, Henry said.
He sounded surprised, as if it had never crossed his mind that she might actually make contact with him.
—Are you getting bored? he asked. I’m not doing enough for you.
—No, Henry. Gosh. Please don’t think that. It’s just, I thought you might enjoy it.
He nodded his head.
—I understand, he said. Of course you want to make contact. You want satisfaction. It’s only natural. I’ll tell you what. You stay right there. I’ll make a phone call.
—What do you mean? Who are you calling?
—A friend. Don’t you worry who it is.
—Oh, Henry. You can’t.
—Hush, child. He’s a good friend.
—But Henry, I thought this was just something between you and me. I thought we were doing this together.
—We are, Janey. Believe me, this means the world to me. It’s just, I’m not ready for physical contact. I’ve been through a lot of pain in my life, a lot of emotional grief, and I’m unable to give you what you may be in need of.
He spoke slowly and awkwardly. He was afraid of not being able to satisfy her. He was shy, and timid. It was strange, given how confident he seemed when he told her what to do.
—Henry. You have nothing to be afraid of. I want to touch
you
. I want us to do this. Please don’t be afraid of me. We can take things as slowly as you like.
He shook his head and looked down.
—You don’t understand, Janey. It’s been a very long time since I’ve been with a woman. I’m simply unable, right now. Maybe some time in the future I’ll feel differently, but right now I’m not able to make the leap toward full contact. It’s too much.
She looked at his sad, lonely eyes. She wondered how long it had been since he’d felt the comforts of a woman. She knew it had been over ten years since his wife and child had died. She didn’t want him to know that she’d read his life history so she said nothing about it. She thought, that was the reason for his inability to make contact, though.
—Are you sure you don’t want me to suck you, Henry? I’d be glad to do it. I
want
to do it. My husband’s been cheating on me for months. I
need
to do it for my own sense of self-worth.
He shook his head.
—I know, Janey. You just stay put. I’m going to make a call and take care of this.
He got up and left the room. She felt foolish in the room now that she was alone. She was naked and alone in her elderly next door neighbor’s house. She got up off the bed and looked across the lawn at her house through the window. What was she doing over here? She was being incredibly reckless. She knew nothing about Henry other than what she’d read on the internet and now she was naked in his bedroom while he called a friend. It was ludicrous. She should get out of that house right away. Before Henry returned she should leave. She could be home in two minutes and out at the gym or the mall or something, doing what a normal wife should be doing, within the hour.
She pictured what her day would be like if she left and she knew she wouldn’t go. She didn’t want to be one of those forgotten, mistreated women whose husband’s left the house in the morning to go fuck other women. She was a lot of things, maybe even a slut, but at least she wasn’t sitting at home watching television or going to the mall and buying clothes that no one would ever care about.
Henry came back into the room.
—I called a friend, he said.
She turned and looked at him from
Amanda A. Allen, Auburn Seal