Β© Bad Hobbit 2018
"Stop staring at her tits!" I hissed.
Graham turned to me with an exasperated expression on his face. "I am
not
staring at her tits!" he hissed back, emphatically. "Even though she's encouraging it," he added,
sotto voce
.
And it was true. Chloe had a spectacular bosom, which she seemed determined to flaunt. Tonight she was in - or mostly out of - a skimpy white halter-necked dress to accentuate her deep tan. The clingy garment plunged toward her navel, leaving an impressive (and probably silicone) valley open at the front, while the narrow strips that covered not a lot more than her nipples left plenty of space at the side to admire the curve of her golden globes. Obviously, given that the dress was backless, there was no sign of - or need for - a bra. And just to make sure that everyone got the picture, the sides of the clingy, short skirt were just a set of elastic cords, opening several inches and providing clear evidence, through the strip of tanned flesh visible from her waist to the hem, a few inches below her taut bottom, that she wasn't wearing panties either.
But it was her party, and she was free to make herself the centre of attention. I suppose I couldn't blame Graham; Chloe seemed to be saying that it was all on offer, to whoever was man enough to claim it. I just wished he wasn't being so blatant about it.
Chloe had been happy to use her looks to pay her way through college, through ad-hoc modelling jobs; we suspected glamour, rather than fashion. We had the impression, no actual evidence, that she'd also earned a lot of the cash that she always seemed to have through - shall we say - more
intimate
services. Chloe was always the one who stood out in our group, even before the implants that Adam had paid for after they were married, though the rest of us - Rachel, Jess, Tara and me - were all pretty enough in our own right. But put Chloe in our midst and guys seemed to flood in from every direction, like moths around a 200-watt lightbulb.
I guess I can't really complain, because the ones that bounced off the atmosphere of planet Chloe often ended up in orbit around one or other of her satellites. Graham was one such. Very good looking in a rather angular and lean fashion, he and I had met in the final year, became an item within a week or two, and got married when we'd both landed decent jobs and were able to afford our first mortgage. Ten years on from graduation - the ostensible reason for tonight's party - and we were doing OK. We were both earning good money, living in a nice house - though not on the level of Chloe's place - and were happy enough together.
But Graham had never seemed comfortable around my girlfriends, or even with their partners. He would occasionally come to reunions, but he usually sat, nursing a drink and looking sullen. I was surprised that he'd agreed to come along tonight, but I guessed it may just have been to check out Chloe's amazing house - or perhaps just ogle its amazing owner.
The house had come as the divorce settlement from Chloe's marriage to a hedge-fund manager ten years older than her. The relationship had lasted only a little over three years, and Chloe and Adam seemed to have spent barely half of that actually together, but the house - a big six-bedroom place in about an acre - was now hers. Rachel, who worked at an estate agent's, once said, rather bitchily "A million pound house for less than two years actually together. I hope that Adam thought the sex was worth it. Even if they did it every night, that would work out at well over a grand a fuck."
I guess I shared Rachel's resentment of my rather larger-than-life friend. At 32 she owned a house most people would have been delighted to have at retirement. She had a high-powered job in HR with (apparently) enough cash to support an appropriately-plush lifestyle, and she still had the men swarming around her like ants circling a beautiful but deadly mantis. Perhaps I was just jealous, or maybe it was because I felt that my husband was behaving like a complete tosser in her company.
"Close your mouth," I shot back at Graham, "you're drooling."
He gave me a withering look, and then said "Look, Abi, I've had enough of this fucking show. I'm going home."
"But we've only just got here," I protested. I looked at my watch; it was barely half nine. "I've not even had a chance to talk to Tara yet. Or Rachel, for that matter."
"Look, if I stay here, with you in this fucking mood, I'm just going to drink and I won't be able to drive back, so I'm going now and I'll resume the drinking when I get home. Frankly I'd rather watch Match of the Day than Chloe flaunting her fake tits at everyone."
"Look, Graham, please. I don't get to see my old mates very often. I can't leave now."
He pulled his wallet from his pocket and handed me two Β£20 notes. "When you're ready to come home, get a cab. Or if Chloe has a spare room, crash out here and call me in the morning; I'll come out and pick you up." He smiled - a rather forced expression. "You enjoy it, love. It's just not my scene. See you later, or in the morning. Up to you." He kissed me and walked out to where the car was parked.
'Oh well,' I thought, 'at least I can stop worrying about him making an exhibition of himself,' and went off in search of my old college buddies. Rachel was - predictably - in the kitchen, glass in one hand, half-full bottle of Pinot Grigio in the other. When she saw me, she smiled. We kissed, as old friends do these days.
"Hi Rach. How's things?"
"Great to see you, Abi. Not bad, not bad at all. Work's improving - I'm actually getting some decent properties with good commissions, and a bit of respect from my colleagues. The way it was at the previous place you'd think I was either the tea-girl or the local tart."
"Great. And how are Mark and the kids?"
Her smile faded a little. "Mark - he's okay. He's spending a lot of time abroad on business at the moment. Still, he's earning good money - he's just got himself a new Audi - and we're thinking of moving to a bigger place closer to Alice's school. You heard she got in at St. Matthew's?"
I nodded. "Yes. A very bright girl. And Aidan?"
"Oh, quite a handful, but he's fun - always coming out with things that make us laugh, a bit like his dad used to be. It's a relief that he's at school now; he was becoming exhausting. Now his teachers can take on the challenge of wearing him out!" Despite her smile I could see a shadow cross her face, and guessed that two kids and two high-powered jobs were not totally compatible with a loving relationship with her husband.
Now Graham and me, we decided really early on that we never wanted kids. It was very much a conscious decision, and I've never regretted it, though I'm not sure that Graham always feels the same. Still, it's given us a lot of extra freedom, not to mention disposable income. Other people's kids were of passing interest to me, but not so much that I thought I should be competing with them in the regular "hasn't my kid done well?" fest that was often the nature of meetings with my female friends.
"Have you seen Jess or Tara yet?" I asked.