“Not for me,” said Amanda. “I’m driving, plus I have work and Mr Maybury doesn’t like people hung over around him in his office.”
“And I am working too,” said Sara.
“Then it’s just you and me, Natasha.” Grinned Abby.
“I will have one more glass and that is me done for tonight.” Tasha turned to Amanda, “Mr Maybury doesn’t like drunk people around him in his bed either.”
“He was never too keen on people being drunk, none of the Mayburys are, but after Esther he has got worse,” explained Sara.
“Lucky me to be the wife after the alcoholic,” Tasha mused.
“I bet you know just how to get round him though,” suggested Abby.
She shrugged. “He only allows me to get round him on the things he wants me to. He does sometimes tell me that he has overindulged me when he regrets letting me get round him.” She hoped this didn’t class as indiscretion.
“I always had the kids as leverage and I think because we were quite young when we got together neither of us had figured out what we wanted from the other completely, although he was alwaysthe boss,” Sara revealed.
“And because I was an affair and he really was my boss that was always the premise of our relationship. We just took that home with us,” said Amanda, suddenly opening up a little.
“So he was still married to number four when you started seeing him?” Tasha asked.
“Yes. He was obviously having second thoughts when they returned from honeymoon and we had always got on okay, quite well really, but always professional. Anyway, he came back to work and seemed sad and a little preoccupied for a few days and a few months later I’d just had a huge fight with my boyfriend of the time and was a bit upset so he invited me out to lunch to cheer me up.”
“And?” asked Abby as the three women listening to Amanda sat on the edge of their seats waiting for more details.
“We had lunch and I explained that my boyfriend was being a dick and how I was unfulfilled and unhappy with him and Mr Maybury said he felt the same with Alison and we somehow ended up booking into a motel for the afternoon and that was the start of our affair.”
“Wow,” said Sara as Tasha stared at Amanda.
“Please say something, Tasha.” Amanda sounded nervous.
“Like what?” Tasha felt awkward and thought she probably sounded and looked it too.
“Like, what was the sex like?” asked Abby as a rather embarrassed looking bartender appeared and placed a silver tray with a bottle of wine on it down on the table they surrounded.
Tasha howled with laughter at Abby’s bluntness, but was just as desperate for Amanda to answer the question as Abby appeared to be.
“Abby!” Sara sounded slightly outraged but laughed all the same.
“What?” asked an unrepentant Abby. “I’m the only one here who hasn’t been in the sack with Jim, so I’m curious. Come on Amanda, spill.”
“It was good, better than good.” Amanda smiled, unnerving Tasha slightly when she realised she could never unhear or unknow details once they’d been shared.
“Did you dump your boyfriend for Jim?” Tasha tried to keep an even tone.
“We spent the afternoon and evening in the motel then we both went home as if nothing had happened, but I couldn’t get Jim out of my head and the next morning I went into the office as normal and tried to act like nothing had happened. It was slightly weird, especially when I took his coffee in and we ended up having sex on his desk.”
“The desk he has now?” asked Tasha. She had been on that desk with him and suddenly she could see why her being in his ex-wives club was potentially a bad thing.
The others were all staring at her until Abby laughed and appeared to be crossing things off an invisible list. “Find out if Tasha has screwed Jim on his desk at work. Check.”
“Sorry,” Tasha looked at an embarrassed Amanda who drained her glass of wine.
“Not his current desk, no,” Amanda said to a relieved Tasha. “He insisted that if we were going to continue seeing each other I had to dump my boyfriend and he rented me an apartment in a better part of town and when he and Alison separated about six months later we were engaged.”
Tasha wasn’t sure what to say or do so was almost glad when number three reappeared. Almost.
“Sorry to interrupt, but maybe you could pass this onto Jim for me.” She addressed Tasha, offering her a card with her number on. What was it with exes and phone numbers?
