Getting Back Ch. 03

If you have not read Chapters 1 & 2, perhaps you should. As a reminder to those who have, the story so far – Georgina rebelled against her bullying husband Wayne and he left the flat after their fight. He went to Georgina’s sister Harriet, with whom he had been having an affair that Georgina had never even suspected. Georgina packed her possessions and left her old life behind. Her subsequent celebration of freedom led to group sex with three men who mistook her for a prostitute – and paid her for their pleasure. She ran from the scene horrified by what she had done and what they had thought of her.

CHAPTER THREE Sexual confusion and murder

Georgina's flight ended in a park. It was late afternoon. She sat on a bench and tried to calm herself. She watched others walk or sit, singles and couples, old and young. Normal people with normal lives. She felt different from them. Lost. They knew who they were. She didn't even know why she did what she did.

Gradually she relaxed. She blocked the thoughts of what she had done with thoughts of what she should do. She was still firm in her resolve that she would never go back to Wayne. There was no life for her there. And she wished to become alive again. Her own person. Not the half person she had been as Wayne's wife. Not the person she had been for the afternoon either, not a whore, her own person, whatever that was. She needed help. She needed someone to talk to who would care enough to give her support.

There was only one person to turn to. Harriet had always been strong. Always been her own person. That was the next step as surely now as it had been when she left the flat intent on finding a real life.

She walked slowly to Harriet's house, watching other people moving past her. They all seemed to be traveling in the secure knowledge of where they were going. She wanted that same security.

Harriet was at home, Georgina could see her sitting in the kitchen drinking a cup of tea. She tapped on the glass of the back door, opened it and stepped in.

Harriet sat where she was, her face registering no surprise and no concern. She looked as though she was waiting for her.

"So what's going on?" she asked. "Why is your luggage in my hall?"

"I've left Wayne," Georgina said. "I put the bags there this morning." It seemed like an incredibly long time ago.

"According to him, he left you. He came round. He's looking for you. Where have you been? And why are you dressed like a tart?" Her tone was flat with disinterest and disdain.

Georgina looked at her sharply. "I dress the way I want. I've been out. I'm an adult."

"Then try behaving like one. What happened, PMT take over? Wayne said you went mad and started throwing things just because he was home half an hour late."

"What?"

"He said he had to leave the flat to give you time to calm down."

"I did throw things - well, a cup of tea. And I did go mad. Then I went sane. I've left him, for good."

"Don't be stupid, Georgina, you've had a row, you've made a fool of yourself, now it's time to go back and sort it out. You can't end a marriage just because your husband's half an hour late home." The flatness of tone was changing. Harriet now sounded irritated.

"I've left him because I don't like him hitting me."

"Hitting you? If I was Wayne I'd smash you into a pulp. Look at the way you dress. You always were stupid but do you really believe men like their wives to look like tramps? He told me what happened. He said you hit him."

"I did," Georgina answered.

"Then what the hell do you expect? You always were a spoilt, bad tempered brat. He's quite calm about it. Though I don't know why. He wants you back. He's worried about you, and very upset that you left. He should be back at the flat by now. You can use the phone. Tell him you've come to your senses."

"I have come to my senses. And I'm not going back to him."

"Oh? So what are you going to do then? Because you're not staying here. You have a flat of your own and you have a marriage to sort out. So get your bags and go home."

"I'm not going back." Georgina was almost in tears.

"Three years of marriage. Not quite till death do us part. He was the only decent bloke who ever showed any interest in daddy's little princess. He's got a good job, a nice flat, gives you everything you want. And what do you do? Give up work, waste money, keep the place like a pigsty and dress like a slut. You're a waste of space with the morals of a tom cat."

"He made me stop working." Georgina was shaken by Harriet's indictment.

"And for that you want to leave him? You're a selfish little cow. Now take your stuff and get back to him before he changes his mind."

The logic was too annoying. Damned if you did and damned if you didn't. Harriet had always been the same, always judgmental, always knowing best.

"I've left him. I'm not going back!" Georgina was shouting now. "I should have known you'd take Wayne's side. He's a bastard and I'm not going back to him. Not ever."

"Well I'm not going to be a part of breaking up your marriage. It's time for you to grow up, little sister. Get a hold of yourself. You can't run to Daddy this time. Daddy's little princess has to sort out her own life now."

The venom in the tone shocked Georgina almost as much as the casual reference to the death of their father.

"Harriet!"

"Harriet!" Harriet mimicked. "Stop being such a soft selfish bitch. Grow up and fuck off home to your husband. You aren't staying here. Got it?"

"I got it," Georgina said. "I have grown up. And I'm not going back to my bastard husband. And if you don't want to help me, then fuck you! Since you like Wayne so much you can have him with my blessing. It's time you got another man in your life you sanctimonious bitch."

She was surprised when the flat of Harriet's hand struck her cheek.

"Don't speak to me like that you pathetic little slut or I'll give you a slapping that will make you realise how gentle Wayne is. Take your fucking belongings and fuck off out of the house. And don't come back till you can behave yourself."

Georgina took her bags. Anger carried her and the bags out of the house and down the street.

Then she realised she had nowhere to go.

Wayne arrived half an hour after Georgina left. He found Harriet in a strange mood.

"Still looking for your little wife then? She's been here. Why didn't you sort it out this morning?"

"She'd already left the flat when I got back. I knew she'd come here. Where did she go?"

He sounded as though he cared and that irritated Harriet. She shrugged. "I don't know, and I don't really care either. I chucked her out and told her to go home. She said she isn't going back to you though."

"Where will she go then?" Wayne sounded genuinely worried.

"I don't know. I don't think she knows either. She'll go back to you in the end. She hasn't any gumption and she's got nowhere else to go. Maybe a night on the streets will do her good. Has she any money?"

"I don't think so, maybe a few quid, but that's all, unless she took the cheque book and went to the bank."

"Good. Then don't worry about it. A night walking the streets carrying her luggage will do her good." She laughed. "She was dressed for it.”

"Maybe I could find her." Wayne half turned towards the door.

"Don't bother looking." Harriet said. She smiled at him. "Let her sweat for a while. Or better still, let her shiver. She deserves it. She was nasty and upset me. She upset you too. I think we should make each other feel better."

"I ought to try to find her. I have someone to see as well."

"Someone to see?"

"Business," he said.

"That can wait too. I want to burn off some of my anger, and I've just thought of a very nice way of doing it." She undid the top button of her blouse.

"I really ought to go," Wayne said.

"Don't be a silly boy." She undid another button and another. Wayne didn't move. She pulled the blouse free of her skirt and held it open. "Have you started thinking about something other than my stupid sister and your stupid business?" He didn't answer.

She stepped closer to him and put her hand to his crutch. She squeezed gently and felt him thicken. She lowered her hand and cupped his balls. Again she squeezed, increasing the pressure until the expression on his face told her she was close to causing pain. She smiled at him again. "Now you know I don't like arguments." While the hand maintained its grip on his balls her other hand moved to undo the top of his trousers and slide down his zip.

"I want you upstairs and naked on that bed. And I want it now. OK?" She squeezed a little more.

"Not so hard," Wayne said.

"Tell me what you are going to do," Harriet whispered.

Wayne grinned sheepishly. "I'm going upstairs."

She pulled his penis free from his underpants and stroked it. "And then?"

"I'm going to take off my clothes."

"Good boy," Harriet said. She stroked his penis again, then released him. "Up you go."

She smiled as she watched him clutch at his trousers and head for the stairs. She didn't want him to find Georgina yet. Let the bitch have a few really miserable hours before she had to crawl back home. It would make her all the more sensible in future. Harriet wanted to keep Wayne, but on her terms. And that meant Georgina had to be his ever loving wife. There would be no fun in it otherwise.

She followed Wayne upstairs. She intended to enjoy a long and playful session. He would be begging for release before she let him finish.

Wayne stripped quickly while Harriet watched.

"Hands and knees," she said.

Wayne grinned and went down on all fours.

"Good boy." She smiled at him. "You deserve a reward." She removed her blouse and bra. "Shoes."

Wayne crawled over to her and removed her shoes.

"Knickers and tights."

His hands went under her skirt and pulled her knickers and tights down, then worked them off her feet.

"Good dog. Up on the bed."

He took his position on all fours on the bed.

"What a pretty dirty dog he is." Harriet lent against the door frame and smoothed her hands over her breasts. She smiled at him, then moved beside the bed and stroked his back. Her other hand went under his belly to hold his cock. She pulled on it until it was hard.

"I think I'll have you tied. Lie down."

Wayne lay on his back. She tied his ankles and wrists to the corners of the bed.

"And now we shall begin. I'm going to play with you until you're exhausted."

The suitcase seemed to have doubled their weight by the time Georgina found a small hotel. She registered. It was not a cheap place but she needed a haven to give her the time to stop and think. She was irritated by the look the receptionist gave her and by the request that she pay in advance, but she managed to contain her anger.

She was shown to a small room with a very small double bed, but at least it had its own bathroom. She stripped and stood under the shower. The hot water running down her body washed off some of the anger and loneliness she was feeling. She noticed flaky patches on her breasts and realised what they were. Dried sperm. She scrubbed her whole body clean, fighting the thought that her sister was right, that she was a slut. That she had the morals of a tomcat.

Once out of the shower she lay on the bed and wept. She wept for the loss of Wayne. Not for the Wayne she left, but for the Wayne she thought she'd married. She wept for the loss of her sister. She had been so sure that Harriet would support her in her decision, would listen to her story of married life. She wept for the dress that cost sixty pounds and the return of sixty pounds that the dress had brought about.

After her weeping she felt more calm. She also felt hungry. She had hardly eaten all day. She dressed in jeans and sweatshirt and left the hotel to get something to eat. Her eyes felt puffy and she didn't fell like being seen by the other guests.

The reluctance to be seen by others made her postpone eating. It was seven o'clock. She wandered the streets for a while, then came to a decision. She would talk to Harriet once again. She just needed to talk quietly and calmly and explain the truth of the marriage she had left. Wayne had poisoned Harriet's mind before she got there. If she explained quietly and reasonably, without calling her sister names and shouting at her, then they could work it out. Georgina did not want to feel totally alone in the world.

It didn't occur to her to use the front door. She went round the back. The door was unlocked so she walked straight into the kitchen and through to the living room, calling out Harriet's name as she went.

If she'd heard the noise before she called out she would have left quietly and returned later, but she'd already called when she noticed the noise of bedsprings and heard the moans.

She was still going to leave, hoping she hadn't been heard, when the noises from upstairs stopped abruptly.

"Who is it?" Harriet's voice.

"It's only me."

"I'll be down in a minute." Harriet's voice again. She sounded breathless.

Georgina grinned to herself, "Morals of a tomcat she says, and she's bonking some bloke's brains out."

There was a scurrying upstairs and some whispers. The trouble with modern houses is that they're not intended for real people to live in. Footsteps on the stairs, and Harriet in a dressing gown.

"I was just running a bath," she said.

"I heard." Georgina grinned at her. If you'd told me that was why you didn't want me to stay I would have understood."

Harriet looked frosty.

"It's OK, I'll go. I only wanted to say sorry for losing my temper. I'll come for a chat some other time if I'm allowed."

"I don't want you using the back door again." Harriet said. "I'm entitled to some privacy. Have you decided what you're doing yet?"

"Yes, I told you, I'm not going back to Wayne. Now you get back to your fancy man, I'll come and see you some other time." She grinned and waved, then left by the back door.

She had almost walked out of the street when she realised what she had seen. Even then she had to go back and check. It was Wayne's van, parked a little way down from Harriet's house. She looked up at the bedroom window in time to catch the glimpse of a face before it ducked out of sight.

Harriet was bonking her Wayne! Well she wished her joy of him. She gave a V sign to the house, kicked the van door and stomped away.

She marched back to her hotel, her only possible place of refuge, hardly noticing the tears that ran down her cheeks. She went straight into the bar and ordered a double gin and tonic, then sat in a corner and nursed her drink. She felt truly alone. She had lost her husband and was glad, lost her sister and was sad. She had no job and limited funds. Nothing seemed worthwhile. She bought another double gin.

A man in his fifties sat near to her with his pint of beer. He nodded as he sat down. "You look a bit fed up," he said.

Georgina scowled at him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. Only trying to be friendly."

"I don't want to be picked up."

"That's good, I've got a bad back." He grinned and she was almost able to raise a smile in return. "Anyway, I'm too old to pick up young girls in pubs. Are you all right? You do look very miserable you know?"

"I feel miserable. And I'm not in the mood for company. So just leave me in peace please."

The man nodded and adjusted his chair so that he was looking out at the bar rather than towards her.

Georgina sighed. She was miserable, but even a few words with a stranger had lessened her loneliness. She finished her drink and went back to the bar for another. When she sat down again she felt bad about being so abrupt.

"I'm sorry for being rude," she said quietly to him. "I am feeling very miserable."

The man turned to her. "No matter," he said. "We all feel like that sometimes. You're staying here aren't you?"

She nodded.

"Hotels are very lonely places."

Georgina nodded again.

"How much longer are you here?"

"I don't know." She needed to find somewhere. She needed a job.

"I'm off tomorrow, Three days in one place and off to the next. I only spend three nights at home each week. At times I get really bored with the traveling." He shrugged. "Then again, at times I get really bored at home. Have you eaten yet?"

Georgina shook her head.

"I'm going somewhere else to eat tonight. This place is all right, but I like a change to shorten the evening. I'd be glad of some company if you're not too worried about being seen around with an old man."

"Are you trying to pick me up?" Georgina asked. "Because I'm really not in the mood."

The man smiled. "If you would like me to pick you up, I'd be thrilled. But if you'd just like some company and you're willing to have diner with me, I'd be very pleased. I'm not sure if I know the difference, but I do know when a woman's happy to chat and when she's willing to do more than chat. And I don't press my attentions where they're not wanted."

"I am hungry," Georgina looked at him very seriously, "and I would like some company. But that's all."

"Fine by me. Do you want to change? I want to get out of this suit and have a quick shower."

Georgina nodded.

"What room are you in and I'll give you a knock when I'm ready."

She told him. They finished their drinks and went to their rooms.

Georgina felt a bit unsteady from a surfeit of gin. She chose a skirt and blouse. She had just finished dressing and doing her face when there was a knock on the door. She opened it.

"Ready?"

"Almost." She stepped back to let him into the room while she brushed her hair.

"Now that's a nice dress," he said. He was looking at the dress Georgina had bought the day before, it was hanging over the back of a chair. She looked at him in surprise. He grinned.

"I know my dresses. I travel in women's clothes." He waited for her response.

She laughed but failed to return the joke. He shrugged. "Not many women can get away with a dress like that. It's the sort of thing many want but few can wear."

"You mean it looks tarty."

"I mean it looks beautiful if you have the body for it, and you say it looks tarty if you haven't." He grinned at her.

She thought of Margot and Harriet, both of whom were a bit chunky. She giggled.

"I would like to see you wearing it, it's not often I get the chance to see my best lines worn by the people they're designed for. Are you ready?"

Georgina nodded. She put down the hairbrush and picked up her purse.

"Then let's go."

"Are you sure you don't want me to change first?" she asked, with thinly veiled sarcasm.

He grinned. "You look exceptionally beautiful as you are. I am honoured to escort you."

Georgina did a mock curtsey and followed him out of the room.

Her new companion finally introduced himself as Roger. He chatted easily, talking about the clothes he took round a variety of the smaller and more exclusive shops. They settled on an Indian restaurant and Roger ordered a large and varied meal. Georgina drank little, and gradually the effects of the gin wore off. After the meal they went to a pub and took drinks into the garden.

"So," Roger asked when they were settled, "what is the problem? You really are upset about something."

The easy conversation and good food had a relaxing effect on Georgina and she was able to tell him about Wayne and the breakdown of their marriage. He cheered loudly enough to make her feel a little embarrassed when she got to the part where she knocked Wayne to the floor.

"I don't see why you're miserable, you're well shot of him."

Georgina nodded. "I'm not miserable about that. It's my sister." She explained how her sister had told her to return Wayne, then how she had found Wayne and her sister in bed together. And he laughed.