“You are?”
“Yes.” Abby shot Marcy a small smile and placed a hand on hers. “I thought a lot about that talk we had, and well… I brought it up with Fred.” She bit her lip as she hesitated. “And I told him I’m physically attracted to women. He was shocked at first and we avoided each other for a while, but last week he wanted to talk.”
“Oh?” Marcy sat back and took a sip of her wine. “How did it go?”
“He said he loved me no matter what and that he’d thought long and hard about it.” Abby’s smile widened. “And he told me that if this is what I need to be happy in our marriage, then maybe we should look into bringing someone in, occasionally.”
“Wow.” Marcy’s eyes widened. “And how do you feel about that?”
“Well, great, of course,” Abby said. “I never wanted to leave him, I just needed something more, physically.”
“Are you sure? Because you need to think this through properly. Have you pictured your husband with another woman, or just yourself with another woman?”
“Just me,” Abby admitted. “I get what you’re trying to say, and I have no idea if I’ll get crazy jealous. Maybe Fred will get jealous too, but there’s no way of knowing unless we try it.”
“That’s true.” Marcy squeezed her hand. “That’s very brave of you and I really hope it works out.”
“Thank you. I hope so too. It’s all so exciting and new, I feel like we’ve got married all over again, even though we haven’t actually tried anything yet.” Abby kept one eye on the gallery door to make sure Delia wasn’t on her way back out. “Needless to say, this is strictly between us.”
“Of course. Have you found someone?” Marcy asked.
“We’ve signed up to this app and we’ve been chatting to a couple of women who are open to the idea. Funny enough, most of them are my age, which surprised me.”
“They’re probably on the same journey.” Marcy leaned in and lowered her voice. “So, you’re going to do this?”
“I think so.” Abby’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
“That’s great. I’m here if you ever want to talk about it.” Marcy leaned in and raised a hand. “Only if you want to. I have no intention of intruding in your private business.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that. You’re the only person I’ve discussed this with, and Fred obviously doesn’t know about you and me.” She paused. “He doesn’t know anything apart from how I feel and what I desire, but I want full transparency from now on. I’m going to be honest with him.” Abby leaned in now and whispered. “You have no idea how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have known why I was unhappy. Now I know, and I can do something about it, together with my husband. We can solve this, as a team.”
Marcy nodded. She really hoped it worked out for them, because Abby was her friend and she wanted her to be happy. Her mother’s laugh rang through the gallery, and she inched back when the door opened. “Well,” Marcy said, painting on a smile. “I’d better get back; I have an early start tomorrow. I’ll see you both soon.”
61
“This flat comes fully furnished with a shared garden and pool.” The estate agent opened the double doors to the balcony adjacent to the living room. “And another bonus, of course, is this private south-facing balcony.”
“It’s nice.” Zoe glanced around the living room and the kitchen. The one-bedroom flat was exactly what she was looking for. A pleasant, no-nonsense place to put her stuff and enjoy quiet mornings on her days off. The kitchen had all the appliances she needed and the communal laundry room in the building’s basement even offered a reasonably priced laundry service. It was walking distance from work, close to the beach and although it was a little above her budget, it was well worth the money. “What’s the minimum term of the lease?”
“Eighteen months. I’ve already had five viewings this week, so if you like it, I wouldn’t think about it too long.”
Zoe nodded but didn’t allow herself to feel pressured. Eighteen months was a long time and she had to be sure. “I’ll still have to think about it. If it’s gone, it’s gone; there will be other flats.” She took a couple of pictures of the interior and the balcony with its rather uninspiring view over ugly hotel rooftops, and sent them to Marcy with the caption,‘What do you think?’Although it was unlikely that they’d spend a lot of time here together as Marcy’s place was much nicer, Zoe still wanted her opinion.
“Of course. Just keep in mind that it’s a great deal. This building has had a ninety-five percent occupancy in the past two years. That’s quite high for the area.” The estate agent followed her outside and handed her an information pack. “You have my number; please let me know what you decide.”
“I will.” Zoe thanked him and headed for the nearest café, where she settled in the shade to read through the pack over a coffee. Her phone rang and she smiled when she saw it was Marcy.
“Hey, gorgeous. What’s with the pictures?”
“It’s a potential rental,” Zoe said. “I viewed four flats this morning and this seems to be the best option. I was just wondering what you thought of it.”
“Oh…” Marcy paused. “You’re looking at flats…”
“I told you I was planning on moving. I just hadn’t had the time to view anything in person yet.” Zoe frowned, uncertain as to why Marcy seemed so unenthusiastic.
“Yes, you did tell me, but I guess I thought it was more of a long-term plan.”
“I’m living with my parents; I can’t do that forever. I’m not in a hurry either but I’m sleeping in a single bed in my old bedroom littered with teenage paraphernalia.” Zoe chuckled. “So, what do you think? It’s got an eighteen-month lease, which seems fine to me.”
