still, they never discussed it. They never talked about much of anything, and Chloe liked it that way. It was merely an escape from the monotony of her life—an overdue vacation from her unchanging script of housewife and mother, a way to affirm that she had more to offer than folding laundry and helping with homework, even if that affirmation was only to her carpet installation man.
One night while reading in bed, Mel finally noted his wife kneeling over all the carpet swatches that she had strewn across their bedroom floor. She had been to The Carpet Depot—twice in two days. Mel hadn’t remembered a time when Chloe took such a keen interest in anything, much less carpet samples. Chloe forced a smile. She was determined to replace the carpet in their master bedroom, a cheap tufted carpet originally installed by the developer. It was beige, horrible and ugly, and scratched her bare feet like pebbles every time she walked across it after her shower.
Instead, she considered the three swatches to replace it: Adobe Dust; Honey Buff; Sailor Blue. She considered how each texture would feel against her shoulders, lower back, and ass when she would ask Tommy to pin her hands over her head and forced his way inside her. She thought about how “Sailor Blue” would complement his eyes when she mounted him in the missionary position and climaxed from atop. She savored the idea that its plush 100% heatset polypropylene fibers would cushion her knees rather than skin them off like sandstone.
Chloe settled on Sailor Blue. Later, she confirmed it was the correct choice. She did, after all, fuck Tommy twice that day. That morning, she watched him rip up the cheap bedroom carpet with his hand-chisel, chipping away the glue from the subflooring, his bare hands peeling up the frayed beige layers like dry skin. It was a new beginning. A process of rejuvenation. And Chloe loved watching him work. She loved watching the muscles in his forearms flex and contract. She loved the way he balanced himself on one knee. She loved the way his veins bulged in his wrists. And she loved the anticipation within their silence as he rearranged her bedroom furniture, toppling over her queen-sized mattress and bedframe against the wall in order to make way for their Sailor Blue sex adventure.
After he lay out the carpet, he approached her with determination. They both knew what came next. It was an unspoken understanding. Their eyes locked. He ripped open her blouse, popping off buttons like scattering pearls. Chloe held her breath; the violence of his desire shocked and excited her. She had intentionally worn that blouse, imagining him tearing it off her body, the same way he tore off old fragments of the carpet from her subflooring. Now, she panted with titillating fear. With one fierce motion, he had exposed her tits, the pump arcs of her breasts and nipples popped out of the ivory cups of her satin bra. His arms constricted around her waist, an anchor towing her down onto the sailor blue carpet as if he was pulling her under the sea. He grabbed her hair from behind, allowing her scratch his forearms with her nails as his tongue forced itself deep into her mouth, releasing her for air only when she unzipped his fly and cupped his cock in her palms. He was always swollen, firm, determined to thrust his way inside her. Chloe loved the fact that she caused instant excitement in him. She never caused that kind of excitement in Mel, not even on their wedding night, when Chloe came out of the bathroom in her black corset and matching thong panties only to find Mel drunk, face-down, on the waterbed of their honeymoon suite. But with her carpet installation man, she always felt the proof of his excitement between her fingers, and it made her wet and wanting more.
Tommy spread her out on her back, her long black hair fanning outwards like a mermaid, and peeled up her A-line skirt past