Brent Blake is a happily married man, both proud and satisfied with his wife of four years and she indicates satisfaction with him. But is she proud of him? He suspects not; she's given him the impression she'd married less than top shelf – or beneath herself as it used to be called.
That's why Brent Blake considers himself a happily married man without indicating he's in love with his wife. It's difficult to love someone you suspect doesn't really love you.
Wife Rachel is a librarian and wears glasses when with her books. That's the signal when she's home looking severe with the glasses indicating the do-not-disturb sign is out. Brent finds that rather boring and had come to believe this 'intellectual cloak' makes Rachel appear she's ageing ahead of time.
Rachel is twenty-nine.
So, is Brent exciting? Good question because even he doesn't think so. The thirty year old is an accountant; has there ever been an exciting accountant on the Planet?
Even so, there remains a youthful spark in Brent so he's not necessarily finished appeasing his libido. In other words, Brent is what sociologists call, "Prime material to sink into an affair – the word 'sink' used to inject a moral overtone of disapproval.
Brent, bless him, has no idea he's a prime candidate for falling right of centre, sexually speaking. The truth is he'd find such an assertion 'preposterous' – a word belonging to his father's era. All in all, chances of Brent getting a bit on the side to lift his pulse rate and change his vision of life into Technicolor look less than promising. On the other hand – who knows?
Brent Black, financial controller at Bing, Phillips & Watership Ltd, exporters of processed sheep skins to the world from its factory just north of Auckland, New Zealand, left his office with his eighty year old personal assistant (fifty-three actually) and they parted in the parking lot - his PA walking across it to catch a bus home and Brent to his pride and joy, a ten-year old American Ford Mustang. Oh yes, the zeal of youth still runs deep within Brent.
Rachel was guest speaker at a book club so Brent felt aimless so drove aimlessly and almost ran down a woman running across the road to a bar in downtown Orewa; in truth Orewa is a seaside village but it does have bars.
The thirty-something froze, awaiting her death. Brent chopped down to 1st gear and stood on the brakes. She looked at him petrified; he looked at her and thought, Oh my, I wonder what she'd like in bed?
Seconds later she was at the driver's window, so he wound it down.
"You crazy driver, you should be banned from driving, your car turned into scrap and the Court impose a sentence of making you spend 2000 hours painting pedestrian crossings."
"That's length of time seems a bit excessive," Brent scowled.
"I beg you pardon?" said madam.
"There's no pedestrian safety crossing here."
The woman's face darkened, she raised an accusatory finger to point to the said pedestrian crossing only to see no evidence of one.
"Oh, for goodness sake; there is no safety crossing. My mistake and I'm terribly sorry for bawling you out. How you managed to stop I'll never know."
"That's okay, ma'am. I apologize for upsetting your dignity. Forever walk across streets in peace. Vehicles behind me are becoming agitated so I'd better move on."
"Please allow me to buy you a drink."
"I'm not sure I'm permitted to drink with a nubile woman."
"I'm a little older than you, married and anyway am offering only a drink. Oh, what am I saying?"
"Well, okay, Brent said magnanimously. "Just the drink will suffice."
She blushed and said Jake's Bar. Bret drove till he found a parking space.
"Hi, I'm Tracy Ball," she said, extending a hand elegantly.
He kissed it.
She blushed and looked confused.
"Hi, I'm Brent Blake, happy to have saved your life. You look so grateful."
"Yes, I am. But Brent Black seems an unlikely name. Are you expecting some kind of liaison as a gratuity?"
"I don't think so. I'm not sure I'd know how to handle it."
"It?"
"A non-momentary gratuity."
"Ohmigod, you're meaning my body, don't you?"
"I wasn't aware of your body and I must say I'm not in the habit of sharing mine with women with a tendency to risk hurling themselves under cars in desperation to get to a bar."
She ignored that, instead saying, "You're married aren't you?"
"Yes."
"So you have affairs with women who don't risk hurling themselves under cars?"
"No, I've never had an extra-marital affair. I'm not even sure I have the stomach for it."
Tracy looked at him speculatively. "Then why are we talking sex?"
"I'm not."
"Nor am I," Tracy said, "so one of us must be."
Brent shook his head as if clearing his mind. "Please allow me to take this from another tangent. Are you married?"
"Yes, five years."
"Do you have affairs?"
"No."
"Are you thinking about having an affair?"
At that Tracy's face turned pink.
"I rest my case."
Tracy lowered her head and said she didn't know how to start the ball rolling.
"Do you have a lovely body?"
Appalled, Tracy placed her arms across her breasts and pulled her shoulders inwards.
"Well?"
"I shouldn't answer such an outrageous question."
"But you will?"
"I believe I have a beautiful body and it responds to appreciation and likes being stroked and breathed in by hot breath."
"Ohmidgod."
"Pardon me?"
"Tracy, if you don't mind I'll go without your complimentary drink for me being a hero. I think I'm over-heating. Here's my card. Contact me if you wish to begin an affair with me."
"But I'm not seeking an affair with you," Tracy said indigently, throwing the business card back at Brent.
"Very well, but please keep this in case your black heart turns back to healthy red," Brent said, picking up the card and deftly thrusting it through her neckline to rest between very firm, rounded breasts.
They parted without saying another word.
Two days later, mid morning, Brent received a call. "What sort of liaison?"
Tracy!
"Plutonic is out for me." he said. "If I'm to transgress I want it all. Whenever, wherever and as many positions we can physically manage at our age."
"Oh."
There was a pause and Brent waited patiently. Finally she whispered, "You mean unbridled sex?"
Moping his forehead he said yes, she should be responsible for conception protection, they both have tests to produce an all-clear in respect of STDs and they then embark on a relationship of debauchery.
"Is that what you want?"
He'd figured why not; at present he was inhibited by more 'don't do that' instructions than 'Oooh, I like that.' So in on the verge of breaking out, why not ask for absolute sexual freedom. He replied "Yes, but nothing really kinky and definitely nothing abusive."
"Okay, those parameters sound fine but I'd like to add one thing, "If I say no, no means no."
"Fine, providing the same applies if I say no."
"Agreed," she said.
"Right, let's meet this Friday night and rip one off; yummy!"
"You juvenile," she shouted, terminating the call.
Huh, Brent thought. What's up with her?
An hour later when he snatched some thinking time he'd analyzed the problem: He'd verbally unzipped much too fast; she wanted the preliminaries of a soft waste of time, being endowed with unnecessary expenses and only then being romanced to bed to the sound of ancient music even older and more and musically refined than 'The Beach Boys'. With that sorted he guessed that was the end of Tracy: she'd never want to talk to him again.
But romance moves in unexpected ways. The next day he saw Tracy emerge from a restaurant with two other women around her own age. She saw him, smiled and said, "Oh hello."
Brent thought he must not let this last gasp chance slip by so walked up and kissed her on the lips. Ignoring her surprise he said, "Hi Tracy. Long time no see; I'm just back from three years in Africa."
"Oh Africa," one of her companions said excitedly. "The falls and big game watching I suppose, how exciting."
"No, a United Nations public health posting in Chad," Bent fantasized. "The only animals I saw were domestic dogs, cats and rats, probably spreading disease."
"Oh, how gruesome," the no longer exited woman said, kissing Tracy goodbye.
"Goodbye Tracy," said her other companion, with more kissing.
The two ignored Brent and walked away.