Emma

"NO." The fact that I had hidden his card with my porno tapes instead of throwing it away did not alter the fact that I never wanted to see that man again.

"I know that he was not very nice to you tonight. If he comes again, I will make him promise to treat you properly," she argued, having misinterpreted my reluctance.

"I just think that we should stick to the rules," I said vaguely unable to voice my specific objection.

"If you let him fuck me again then afterwards I'll suck you off and let you do anything you want to me. Only in this bed and on those nights ... you know," Emma bribed, her qualification showing me that it was not carte blanche that she was offering.

If I had been a strong man then I would never have got into this mess in the first place -- the trouble is that I seem to find new weaknesses as I go on. Emma has been out looking for Max on three nights since and the men that she did bring home tended to be short changed due to her disappointment. That telephone number is burning a hole in my mind but I know in my heart of hearts that if I once ring it then the end result will be inevitable.

***

At this point Mark subsided into silence and I knew that he had told me all that he had to tell. In subsequent conversation he asked for my advice and I realised that his motivation for meeting me was the hope that I would tell him what to do. The trouble is that I am a researcher not an agony aunt so offering gratuitous advice is well beyond my remit. From personal pride I would dispute the contention by Max that all wife watchers are closet gays but at the same time I can recognise the passive latency that he saw in Mark.