Distractions Read Online Free PDF

Sally. Sally and Emma, together, alone. How much could one woman fit in her life? thought Emma. She wanted to remain Sally’s lover. She didn’t want the presence of Sally’s husband, or her own, to force them to name what they had. Her desire was to have her cake and eat it too. Puritans can have the dilemma all to themselves, she’ll own a cake shop.
    ‘I think we should run over to the mall and pick up some meat. The boys can barbecue for us tonight. What do you think?’ asked Sally.
    Emma leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. ‘Brilliant,’ she said, sitting back down. ‘There’s no rush is there? I feel happy and it’s too lovely to move.’
    ‘No rush. Do you want some more watermelon?’

    ‘Yes, please.’
    Emma took another slice from the plate offered by her friend. She noticed both of them were seated in the same way, almost squatting rather than sitting on the chair, their heels on the edge of the seat, knees up and spread. They ate their fruit between their knees. She wondered who had influenced whom. The position was very childlike. Cute. Sally’s toes were splayed and the tendons in both her feet were stretched.
    Emma would have liked to see photos of her and Sally naked and entwined. The contrast of their skin tones would have been delicious.
    She couldn’t stop herself from feeling jealous of their time together. She knew such moments were fleeting. ‘I wonder if I should accept that this is how I want to live my life. I have tried being the good wife. I’m not good at it. We crossed a line last night, didn’t we?’
    ‘Does last night count?’
    ‘How can we tell what counts and what doesn’t?’
    ‘Last night shouldn’t count.’
    ‘The way I’m feeling now I think last night counts more than anything else.’ Emma looked at Sally. ‘Maybe we should just be who we are.’

    ‘I don’t think I can.’
    ‘You won’t have to give anything up, you’ll just have to make room in your life for more. We’re co-conspirators now, Sal. There’s no going back. We can do whatever we want to do.’
    Sally was silent.
    Emma stretched and yawned. In a way there were too many delights in her life. How could she fit them all in?
    She ate her slice of watermelon and began to think about David. He was loving, and yet so strong. A frighteningly attractive combination. Love and strength.
    She reached out a juice-covered hand and touched Sally’s knee, drawing on the shiny brown skin with the juice, making dark wet circles. She wanted to suggest that she and Sally try to find a way to get David into bed. They were allies now, weren’t they? But after what had happened she found the words would not come. It suddenly seemed too real. She wondered what David would make of it. Few men would reject such an offer, but David had certain scruples. He didn’t like to shit where he slept, to put it crudely.
    The reason she had never suggested a threesome had more to do with her friend’s sentimentsthan her husband’s scruples. The friends had married within months of each other and Sally had wasted no time becoming the very model of a dutiful wife. There would have been little chance of turning Sally’s head back then, as there really was only one man in her world, Mark. Emma found this kind of love charming in others. But was glad to see that by close and regular exposure to Mark his spell over Sally had been broken naturally.
    ‘It will be strange with the boys around,’ said Sally.
    ‘Shall we call them and tell them to go to hell?’
    ‘Yeah,’ said Sally, putting the watermelon rind on the table and stretching out. She looked across at the family on the beach. They were all down at the water’s edge. The two adults stood facing the ocean while three little ones splashed and dashed about at their feet.
    ‘But do you know what I was just thinking?’ asked Emma, her heart began to beat wildly. She liked that feeling. Life burst open.
    ‘No, what?’
    ‘I was thinking how lovely it