invents this ‘Will’ character, and she’s telling me that she might sleep with him, and then in actual fact she’ll sleep with Connor, is that it?”
Lucy said, “She wanted to make sure you were experiencing the fact of her having sex with another man for the first time—having your fantasy made real. She just didn’t feel ready to open up about doing it with Connor.”
Hugo sighed. “I guess I see the attraction to the idea that it’s forbidden, it’s not exactly what I wanted, but I can see she’s not actively trying to hurt me.”
“No,” Lucy said. “She’s definitely not trying to do that.”
“But why bother to invent the whole Will thing? She could just have kept the whole thing quiet, told me she was going out with you whenever she wanted to see him.”
“It was a possibility,” Lucy said. “But you have to see she’s conflicted—she wants the whole forbidden fruit thing, but then she also wants you to know about her, because she knows it’s your fantasy. So her idea was to pursue Connor, and have you imagine she was just going on random Internet dates.”
“But now you’re telling me all this. Does Madeleine know you’re telling me?”
Lucy took a sip of her drink, then shook her head. “Not really,” she said. “It’s complicated.”
Hugo chuckled. “So explain—we’ve got time, haven’t we?”
It was past eleven o’clock by now. Hugo was acutely aware of the time, having watched the hands circulating the dial on the clock back in the diner, and now the one tucked away behind the bar, wondering every minute what Madeleine was doing, how their date was going.
Lucy said, “When we were talking after that appalling first date of hers, we kind of figured it would be nice if Madeleine could date Connor in secret, but that you would approve of it. Then she’d reveal all when she was ready.”
Hugo couldn’t help but smile. Madeleine wanted to have her cake and eat it, that was clear enough.
“So how would you engineer that?” he asked.
He felt that familiar tingle of arousal between his legs, a warm glow building inside his chest. It was actually quite hot to think about Madeleine pursuing an affair, with him finding out about it.
“You like the idea, don’t you?” Lucy said. “I can tell. You don’t have much of a poker face.”
Hugo took a huge sip of his vodka tonic. He said, “Okay, so Madeleine would have her affair—then what? She’d have you tell me about it?”
“We didn’t really come up with any kind of plan,” Lucy said. “We just left it at that—wouldn’t it be nice if she had her affair, and you had your little insights into a straying wife, albeit some time later.”
“But you’re not doing it that way?”
Lucy sipped her drink, and he could see her trying to find the words to explain herself. Finally, she said, “Okay, right now, all she knows is that I’m here helping you pass some time until her date is over. As far as she is concerned, I’m not supposed to tell you anything about the date.”
“Oh.”
Lucy continued, “But what I was supposed to do was to talk to you about hypothetical things, and make sure that you could understand her version of the fantasy—you know, in purely theoretical terms—and approve of it.”
“You were going to make me approve of her having an actual affair, thinking she wasn’t having one yet?”
“Something like that. Then if I wasn’t able to persuade you, if you really hated the idea, I’d just text her and she’d break it off with Connor until we figure out something else, something you’d be happy with.”
“But you are telling me about her actual affair.”
Lucy shrugged. “It’s not your fantasy to have it as a secret. Your fantasy is to know all about her tryst with someone else. So what if you know? The important thing is that she doesn’t know that you know.”
Hugo scratched his head. “This is in danger of turning into some kind of an SNL skit. So wait… you are
Lucy said, “She wanted to make sure you were experiencing the fact of her having sex with another man for the first time—having your fantasy made real. She just didn’t feel ready to open up about doing it with Connor.”
Hugo sighed. “I guess I see the attraction to the idea that it’s forbidden, it’s not exactly what I wanted, but I can see she’s not actively trying to hurt me.”
“No,” Lucy said. “She’s definitely not trying to do that.”
“But why bother to invent the whole Will thing? She could just have kept the whole thing quiet, told me she was going out with you whenever she wanted to see him.”
“It was a possibility,” Lucy said. “But you have to see she’s conflicted—she wants the whole forbidden fruit thing, but then she also wants you to know about her, because she knows it’s your fantasy. So her idea was to pursue Connor, and have you imagine she was just going on random Internet dates.”
“But now you’re telling me all this. Does Madeleine know you’re telling me?”
Lucy took a sip of her drink, then shook her head. “Not really,” she said. “It’s complicated.”
Hugo chuckled. “So explain—we’ve got time, haven’t we?”
It was past eleven o’clock by now. Hugo was acutely aware of the time, having watched the hands circulating the dial on the clock back in the diner, and now the one tucked away behind the bar, wondering every minute what Madeleine was doing, how their date was going.
Lucy said, “When we were talking after that appalling first date of hers, we kind of figured it would be nice if Madeleine could date Connor in secret, but that you would approve of it. Then she’d reveal all when she was ready.”
Hugo couldn’t help but smile. Madeleine wanted to have her cake and eat it, that was clear enough.
“So how would you engineer that?” he asked.
He felt that familiar tingle of arousal between his legs, a warm glow building inside his chest. It was actually quite hot to think about Madeleine pursuing an affair, with him finding out about it.
“You like the idea, don’t you?” Lucy said. “I can tell. You don’t have much of a poker face.”
Hugo took a huge sip of his vodka tonic. He said, “Okay, so Madeleine would have her affair—then what? She’d have you tell me about it?”
“We didn’t really come up with any kind of plan,” Lucy said. “We just left it at that—wouldn’t it be nice if she had her affair, and you had your little insights into a straying wife, albeit some time later.”
“But you’re not doing it that way?”
Lucy sipped her drink, and he could see her trying to find the words to explain herself. Finally, she said, “Okay, right now, all she knows is that I’m here helping you pass some time until her date is over. As far as she is concerned, I’m not supposed to tell you anything about the date.”
“Oh.”
Lucy continued, “But what I was supposed to do was to talk to you about hypothetical things, and make sure that you could understand her version of the fantasy—you know, in purely theoretical terms—and approve of it.”
“You were going to make me approve of her having an actual affair, thinking she wasn’t having one yet?”
“Something like that. Then if I wasn’t able to persuade you, if you really hated the idea, I’d just text her and she’d break it off with Connor until we figure out something else, something you’d be happy with.”
“But you are telling me about her actual affair.”
Lucy shrugged. “It’s not your fantasy to have it as a secret. Your fantasy is to know all about her tryst with someone else. So what if you know? The important thing is that she doesn’t know that you know.”
Hugo scratched his head. “This is in danger of turning into some kind of an SNL skit. So wait… you are
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