The Tangled Web is a story spanning several years and is based on the complicated lives of Sara and Sam, lovers who are brother and sister, and those they live with. Set in the English Midlands, the tale is told through a series of interlocking short stories. Although designed to be read in sequence, I have tried to make each chapter stand as a complete and satisfying story in itself.
* * * * *
Sara's boyfriend David slammed his empty beer glass down on the pub counter in frustration. He turned and looked around the bar for the twentieth time. Nothing! He had waited for nearly an hour for Paula to arrive as they had arranged that very morning, but now it looked like she had stood him up. Again! Frustrated, he had already downed two pints of bitter while he waited and, ordering a third, he went to the corner to play the fruit machines, quickly losing over ten pounds in the process. He was not a happy man.
David had been really looking forward to spending another evening with Paula. He had worked hard with Sara on his alibi - a staff meeting after school that would certainly go on late - and after all that effort he felt he deserved more than just being ignored. Again!
He had mostly been looking forward to an evening of uncomplicated, undemanding and wildly uninhibited sex and Paula was usually glad to provide this. Since the twins had been born, Sara had become even more frigid than before she had got pregnant, he thought bitterly. The rush of hormones during her pregnancy that for a few blissful weeks had made her almost insatiable had sadly not survived the birth. What was worse, knowing Sara could be so wildly sexual it had made him even more horny if that were possible and shown him what his life with her could be like if only....... But instead Sara had denied him her body for months afterwards and even then their lovemaking had been sporadic and passionless on her part.
David calculated mentally. It had been three, no nearly four weeks since their last unsatisfactory attempt at lovemaking and a man with his natural endowment couldn't be expected to wait forever. Thank God for Paula and her needs - needs David was more than happy to satisfy whenever she demanded - and she demanded often – but even she was more interested in her earnings as an escort these days.
But Paula wasn't coming this time. Or at least, he thought with a wry smile, if she was coming it was with someone else. He slammed his palm in frustrated anger against the fruit machine's gaudy glass front and stormed a little unsteadily out of the pub. The cool air hit him, sobering him a little. He would go home now, early. He would say the meeting had been cancelled. Or there had been a fire alarm. Or something. Sara would be there, babysitting the twins. They would have sex this time. And it would be good - for him anyway. David wouldn't take no for an answer this time. No Sir!
So, determined, he drove quickly out of the car park and sped towards their flat, his erection already firming in his pants.
* * * * *
Sara sat quietly on the sofa in the flat she and David lived in, her slim legs tucked neatly underneath her, her long brown hair pulled back into a short pony tail. In the corner of the room the television droned quietly so as not to wake the twins, Simon and Samantha, who were asleep in the nearby bedroom.
Sara's pretty face frowned as she watched the news programme. The world was a dangerous place to bring up children, she thought, listening to the amplified sound of her own twins breathing heavily in their sleep through the baby-listener. She could never remember feeling so happy, she reflected. Having the twins by her brother Sam had been the second best decision of her life, she truly believed, second only to her decision to make her affair with him a permanent part of her existence.
Her only real regret was that they could never make their relationship public. She dreamed often of a time when they could live together openly, unafraid of the consequences, but doubted that that time would ever come.
The twins had been hard work that night and with David out yet again, she had been forced to deal with two crying babies on her own. She was tired. Leaning back on her cushions she was just beginning to doze a little when the telephone on a side table next to her chair suddenly began to ring. Sara jumped, roused from her dozing, then leaned over to answer it.
"Hello?" She said sleepily.
"Midge? It's me."
"Sam!" She brightened immediately, sounding pleased. "I hoped you'd call. I was just thinking about you." She said suggestively.
Sam missed the nuance entirely. His voice was anxious. "Can I come round to see you, Midge? Now?"
"What's wrong, Sam? Has something happened?"
Sam laughed hollowly. "You could say that. I'll tell you when I get there. Can I come? Please Midge!"
"Of course. David will be late tonight anyway. I'd love to see you. But tell me what's happened?"
There was a long pause, then Sam's voice sounded cold and hard.
"Lynn's left me."
"What?"
"She's going to Australia with Sandy."
"What?"
"I can't repeat it Midge."
"Of course not, Sam. Come over right now."
* * * * *
Half an hour later, Sam was sitting next to Sara on the sofa, a half full wine glass in his hand. He sipped it thoughtlessly, passing it from one hand to the other and back. Blessedly, the twins were still in bed, fast asleep in the room next door.
Sara was leaning forward alongside him, her feet once again tucked underneath her, her glasses on her nose, silently reading the short hand-written letter he had thrust into her hands.
My Dear Sam
(it ran)
There is no easy way to say this so I will save both of us pain and be direct.
Sam, I'm leaving you. I'm going to live in Australia with Sandy. We are in love.
I have never made a secret of my affairs before I met you and I have tried hard to be the wife you wanted, but I now know I can never be that wife.
