I'd caught Peter's eye at Friday evening drinks not long after I had started with the stockbroking firm. He was high up in the IT section while I was running the Middle Office, and we struck up a friendship over subsequent drinks. Peter was the quintessential family man, married for 25 years with three kids, and was happy fixing mundane IT issues. Me, I was not in any relationship, but actively on the prowl and enjoyed several hot encounters with the local office girls on those same Friday evening drinking sessions. Ah last decade, such fond memories!
So, this one Friday night during the height of a Perth summer, a few us, including Peter, had exhausted the company-provided drinks and had decamped to the Moon & Sixpence, a trendy drinking hole in the city. Everyone was having a cracking night, with dancing and flirting happening everywhere.
I was chatting to one of the paraplanners, a single mother named Jacinta and my prospects were looking good. She was feisty and flirty. My cock remained in a state of semi-tumescence at the thought of a night of hot sex either my house, her place or - heck - even on the boardroom table. I tried to steer our conversation to matters sexual, but this MILF was far too wily, and she dismissed my clumsiness with ease. Just when I thought I'd made
the
breakthrough, Jacinta pointed to the taxi outside the pub and told me she was going home.
"Alone?" I asked, hoping.
"Alone!" Jacinta replied firmly but softened by leaning into me and kissing me furiously, before adding, "Who knows about tomorrow. Call me."
And with that, she was gone in a flash.
I was dejected, gutted and horny but not surprised. I was always slightly awkward at dating and employed somewhat crude methods that instantly triggered the bullshit detectors of many an experienced woman. Indeed, on one occasion at the Subiaco Hotel, a woman told me, in no uncertain terms, that I was a hot guy but I ought to tone down the lascivious language, and my chances of scoring would improve. Alas, old habits die hard.
I watched the taxi zoom off down the road, and my luck go with it. I glanced back towards the bar and looked at my empty bottle β time for a refill. I saw Peter in the queue and yelled over to him to grab me a beer, and I handed him the cash. Seconds later, his order was filled by a ginger-haired bar maiden wearing a tartan waistcoat. From Scotland, I guessed.
Peter handed me the drink and motioned me to a table occupied by some of his IT nerd colleagues. The conversation wasn't enthralling enough to distract me from Jacinta and my full balls that needed emptying. I kept on glancing at my phone wanting to text Jacinta, but with the word "tomorrow" emphasised, I withheld contacting her not wanting to ruin my chances.
"You luck out with Jazz?" Interrupted Peter. Jazz was Jacinta's office nickname.
"Tonight, for sure," I answered and took a swig.
"So tomorrow then?"
"Maybe," I said, somewhat sceptically.
"A meal, some wine and dancing will help your cause."
"How do you know this?" I asked Peter with some surprise.
"We chat all the time. We've been friends for an age."
"Have you...?" I let the question tail off.
"No, no." Laughed Peter, "We just share tales of sexual frustration in our lives."
"But you're married!" I said, incredulously.
"I sure am." Came the reply, with a raised eyebrow that hinted of something not quite right at home.
"Things not good at home?"
"Everything's fine but the missus' appears to have lost all interest in the bedroom."
"Are you looking for other outlets?" I asked, wondering if Peter and Jacinta had some history I should be acquainted with.
"Yes and no." Came the ambiguous reply.
"What does that mean?" I asked, this time with an eyebrow raised.
"Well, if I seek something outside the marriage then I'm looking for something very different."
"Like what?" I asked, my interest fully piqued now.
Peter hesitated, as if wanting to betray something of great import but unsure if others might hear.
"Let's just say that I'm want to be dominated."
Big deal. Hookers, and there's no shortage of those in Perth, can accommodate most fetishes. Indeed, personals advertising as much can be found in the newspaper.
There the matter rested for a while, and the conversation drifted back towards office politics and sport. I kept looking at my phone, hoping Jacinta had left me a text. Alas, I was disappointed.
Soon, however, the office revellers began tiring out and going home. I was thinking of the same, going back to watch some porn and some self-relief. But then, Peter dropped another beer on the table, thereby encouraging me to stay on a little longer.
After acknowledging my thanks for the beer, Peter asked me if I was going to take Jacinta out. I replied in the affirmative, but in reality, all I wanted to to do was fuck her. There was a bit more back and forth about my intention with and for Jazz but, through the alcoholic fog, I sensed that there was something Peter needed to get off his chest. And dancing around the issue was becoming irritating.
"So, what are you looking for outside your marriage?" Peter went a shade of deep crimson at my lack of subtlety and struggled to reply.
"I'm looking to explore some fantasies." Came a protracted reply.
"Such as?"
A long pause and an almost complete swallow of a beer.
"Erm...I want to be done by a man." Came the awkward reply.
I recognised that this confession would have been hard for a married man living in a heteronormative environment. I also appreciated that such a disclosure would have been met with revulsion by many men who knew this. I was not fazed by this information, a little surprised by it because it was unexpected but not disturbed. Having had many bisexual experiences in the past, I could understand the attraction to male-on-male action. The other surprise to me was that I had forgotten about this attraction having focussed entirely on women since my last bi encounter almost a decade earlier.
"Does that disgust you?" Asked a terrified Peter, given my contemplative silence.
"No, no," I answered, scrambling for words to stem his embarrassment. "I've been there and done that."
"Really?" Peter's eyes grew wide.