Unknown Territory by Annie O'Neill

Author:Annie O'Neill [Annie O’Neill]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ebury Publishing
Published: 2010-07-31T00:00:00+00:00

9

‘Come home and meet the parents.’

The phrase fills me with dread. It signifies an inspection ceremony – parade the girl/boyfriend in front of the parents to see if he/she passes muster. No, no, no, no.

Alistair and I have . . . well, I don’t know that I even call it a relationship. We meet once a fortnight, usually, have dinner/go to the opera/ballet/races, and then we fuck. It is straightforward, and it works.

I don’t know anything about him. I know virtually nothing about his background, practically nothing about his work, or his social life when I’m not around, or what he gets up to at weekends or holidays. I don’t know where he went to school, what he studied at university, how he got into banking – nothing. It’s not lack of interest. The fact is Alistair and I come from very different backgrounds. It is my privilege to spend time and share his bed with him. And that’s it. Whatever conversations we have had have been about trivial, unthreatening things. I don’t know how his mind works, I don’t know what’s important to him and what’s not. And that’s just fine.

And I know that if this ‘arrangement’ were to change, in any way, then it would stop working. The more you get to know about a person, the more possessive you risk becoming. And that’s where jealousy – the horrible green-eyed slug – starts slithering in under the door and wrecking your life.

So I ring Alistair and says thanks, but no thanks. I try to explain, but he doesn’t get it. He thinks, I think he thinks, that I think I’m not good enough for him, that I’m scared his parents won’t like me, or approve of me, or something. No matter how hard I try to tell him, I can’t persuade him otherwise. Well, so be it.

I have invited Number Six to my place for an evening of seduction and unbridled sex.

I have my ‘tools’ ready: the candles, the wine, the video, the determination, everything but the vibrator, which I hope I won’t be needing. I’ve cooked a meal for him – I hope he realises how privileged he is.

We get the meal over with first. He talks about architecture, which he seems to know quite a lot about, though happily he keeps off the subject of symmetry and balance.

I fill his glass at every opportunity. By the end of the meal we’ve got through a bottle of wine between us and the atmosphere is definitely mellow.

We go next door, to the living room, where I light the candles.

I am wearing a loose black dress with buttons down the front. It doesn’t look obviously like a seduction outfit, but I happen to know that I can undo those buttons in three seconds flat to reveal, beneath, nothing but skin.

He settles down among the cushions.

‘This is extremely nice,’ he says.

‘Good. I’m glad you’re feeling relaxed.’ But not too relaxed, hopefully. ‘Do you want to watch a video?’

He narrows his eyes slightly as he looks at me.

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