Wednesday Morning

 

Steve was woken by Kay as she got up and went to the loo. He climbed out of bed and walked through to the bathroom. She was sitting on the toilet and she looked terrible. Her lip was swollen, she had a big bruise on her forehead and her eyes told of a thumping headache. But worse was her left breast which looked angrily purple around the nipple and the sticking plaster which the nurse had applied to the gash below it.

 

“Hello,” he said quietly.

 

“Mmmm. Hello,” she replied croakily.

 

“How are you?”

 

“Hmmm. I’ve been better.”

 

“Can you remember what happened?”

 

“Emm, I fell over didn’t I?”

 

“Well that’s a very generous way of putting it.”

 

“Genewouth? What do you mean?”

 

“Well you fell down the steps because some idiot didn’t tell you they were there.”

 

“Did I? Oh well, that’th good. I wath feeling a complete plonker fow it. Fuck. My tongue dothen’t theem to work pwoporly.”

 

“That’s it? ‘Oh well that’s good’. That’s all you’ve got to say? You could have been killed Kay, and all because I was stupid and careless.”

 

“You thtupid? I think I wath the one who wanted to wear a thilly hood and thkirt. Don’t wowwy about it. I’ll be fine. Might not be able to thuck your cock fo a few dayth though.”

 

“Kay, this is serious. We can’t just ignore what happened.”

 

“Okay, but pleathe not now. My mouth is thore and it hurtth to thpeak.”

 

The conversation was interrupted by a knock at the door. It was the nurse who had come to check on her patient. She changed the dressing on Kay’s breast and gently rubbed cream into her bruises. Other than her tooth, she said Kay looked like she would be fine and just needed some rest. As the nurse was leaving, Kay saw Steve step out into the corridor with her. She could hear them talking but couldn’t really make out what was being said, except for one question that Steve asked.

 

“Why did you athk if I am well enough to twavel?” she asked Steve when he returned to the bathroom.

 

“Emm, because we’re leaving.”

 

“Oh Thteve, pleathe not thith again. I fell over that’th all. It dothen’t change anything.”

 

“The hell it doesn’t. I knew something like this would happen. I tried to tell you didn’t I? And yet I let you bully me into playing along. And yes, it was sexy and fun, but look where it’s got us to. You could have been badly hurt, or worse. So we’re out of here today. No arguments. No discussion. No windsurfing races. If there’s no boat we’ll get the helicopter. I don’t care how much it costs, I’m getting you away from here.”

 

“Thteve, pleathe…”

 

“I’m not talking about it. You’re not going to change my mind. If I had stuck with it on Monday and we’d left, you wouldn’t be all beaten up like this, and we’d be safely on the mainland. But I gave in to your temptation. Well not this time. We’re going just as soon as I can arrange it with Mr Yens. In fact, it’s nearly nine o’clock. I’m going to see if he’s in his office right now and that will save your sore mouth having to argue pointlessly.”

 

Steve got dressed quickly and left the room before Kay could summon up the energy to argue with him about it. She was too tired, too sore, and now too upset to argue anyway. Yesterday everything was so perfect, and it had all turned to shit.

 

Steve hadn’t been gone long when there was another quiet knock at the door. Kay got up and opened it tentatively, almost expecting a porter looking to collect her bags, but it was Jason and Jocelyn.

 

“Hi, you’re up,” said Jason. “We just came to see how you are and if there’s anything we can do. Get you two breakfast or anything?”

 

Kay invited them in and then sat down on the bed and burst into tears. She told them about Steve’s new plan to drag her away.

 

“Shit,” said Jason. “That sucks. Shall I go and try to find him? See if I can talk to him?”

 

“Would you? Oh thankth Jathon,” Kay replied.

 

“You want to stay here Joss and look after Kay?”

 

“Of course. That is, if that’s what you’d like Kay,” said Jocelyn.

 

“Oh yeth pleathe. Shame what I weally need ith a big hug.”

 

“Well sorry I can’t oblige that, but by the looks of your boob you need to be careful of hugs. I can do a kiss if your lip is up to it.”

 

“Oh you bet it’th up to it.”

 

“Well, I’ll just go and find Steve and leave you two to err, comfort each other,” said Jason and he got up and left the room.

 

“Doth he emm, know about uth?” asked Kay when he had gone.

 

“Sure he does,” replied Jocelyn. “I wouldn’t have offered to kiss you if he didn’t.”

 

“And he’th okay with it?”

 

“He’s fine with it. If we were planning to run off together I think he’d object, but us having a little holiday crush just hits his kinky spot.”

 

“Oh. And ith it jutht a little holiday cwush?”

 

“Shush. That mouth of yours sounds much too sore to talk. I might just have to kiss it a little better.”

 

 

After a while Jason returned to find the two women sitting out on the balcony.

 

“Did you find him?” asked Jocelyn.

 

“Yes. He was in Mr Yens’ office haggling over the cost of the helicopter. He was trying to say it was a medical emergency and therefore he shouldn’t have to pay, but Yens wasn’t having any of it. He did what he could to try and make Steve stay, but I guess he’s a bit limited. If one of his guests wants to leave, he can’t really stop them. He made Steve pay top whack for the chopper and said it would take two hours to get it ready. I think that’s bullshit and Yens is just creating a delay to allow Steve to cool off and possibly change his mind. He’s a shrewd operator is our Mr Yens. One thing he did offer Steve that was interesting was a chalet out in front of the hotel. He said the two of you could stay there away from the rest of the guests and away from any ‘rules’ if you wanted.”

 

“A chalet?” asked Jocelyn, trying to save Kay from having to speak.

 

“Yes. He said there’s a few of them. They’re mainly for if he has contractors staying over, or for if some of his guests can’t get on with the theme of the week. They’re in the trees around the inlet where the jetty is.”

 

“Thteve refuthed it though?” asked Kay.

 

“Afraid so.”

 

“But does that mean that Kay could stay even if Steve goes?” asked Jocelyn.

 

“I don’t know. Would you want to stay on your own Kay?”

 

Kay looked at Jocelyn. “Maybe,” she said. “If nothing elth it givth me thomething to bahgain with.”

 

“Jason, phone Yens and find out,” ordered Jocelyn going into army officer mode. “And where’s Steve now?”

 

“I sent him to the restaurant to get some breakfast and cool down,” said Jason as he disappeared into the room.

 

“If you stay,” Jocelyn said to Kay, “you won’t be on your own. We’ll come and keep you company.”

 

Kay smiled weakly back at her.

 

“Yens says yes,” said Jason, returning from the room.

 

Before anyone could answer, the door opened and Steve walked in.

 

“A deputation of plotters, scheming to change my mind?” he said dryly.

 

“We were just seeing how Kay is. And saying goodbye,” replied Jason awkwardly. “Come on Joss. These two need to be alone.”

 

Jason led Jocelyn to the door. As she passed Steve, she stopped to say something, but changed her mind and walked on. Steve watched them go and closed the door behind them. Kay meanwhile was summoning up the energy for the argument that was to come. The news of the possible chalet had strengthened her position considerably, as not only did it offer a compromise that she could offer Steve, it also meant that he couldn’t force her to leave. She drew her line in the sand. She wasn’t going. Anything else was open to discussion and compromise, but she wasn’t going.

 

For the next half hour Kay argued vainly with Steve. She fired in all her pre-planned reasons for staying. From ‘she was too ill to travel’ to ‘stop being a self-righteous prick’ and everything in between was thrown into the ring, and Steve variously dismissed, refuted, or just ignored every one of them. He just kept packing their bags. Kay’s arsenal was depleted and she had got nowhere. She had just one option left; the nuclear option, and she considered it very carefully before pushing the metaphorical red button.

 

“Steve,” she said quietly, making extra effort to get her swollen tongue to work properly and emphasise the gravity of what she was about to say. “What state do you think our marriage will be in by the time we get back to London if you drag me away, or fly off and leave me here?”

 

That was it. The missiles were launched and the bombers were airborne, but Kay hoped that by phrasing it as question, it invited more discussion rather than sounding like an ultimatum. Just a tiny hint of desire for conciliation from him and she would call back the bombers and press self-destruct on the missiles. But instead he retaliated with his own nukes.

 

“And if I leave because I won’t be a part of causing you any more injury, or worse, and you prefer stay here on you own, stuck outside the hotel and not allowed in, like some sort of diseased leper, well what does that say about the state of our marriage? I’m going up to the heli-pad to wait for it to be ready. You can come or you can stay. Your choice.”

 

He picked up his now packed bag and headed for the door.

 

“Make sure you phone for a porter for your bag,” he said, pausing at the door. “You don’t want to be carrying stuff in your state.”

 

With that, he was gone leaving Kay reeling in shock. That was not how it had been supposed to go. She had declared war in order to make him back down, but instead, he had just declared war back. And now a hundred MIRVs were cruising through the thermosphere waiting to rain down destruction on her life and marriage. Now it was she who had to back down, or else face the Armageddon that she had initiated. Wearily Kay opened her bag which Steve had packed while they argued. She pulled out a tee shirt, skirt and the only pair of vaguely sensible shoes she had with her. She dropped the hotel dressing gown she had been wearing all morning and got herself dressed, wincing as the tee shirt rubbed over her left nipple. She picked up her handbag and walked slowly down to reception.

 

“Ah, good morning Mrs Williamson,” said the cheerful receptionist. “Mr Williamson has already gone to helicopter area. Would you like porter and buggy to take you there too?”

 

“Ah, yeth pleathe to the porter. There’th a bag in two twenty five. And no thank you to the buggy, but I will have a key for one of the chalets out fwont pleathe. Mithter Yens hath said I can move in there while my huthband ith away.”

 

 

 

 

Wednesday Afternoon

 

For contractors’ accommodation, the chalet was actually pretty luxurious. It had a big, soft and comfy looking bed, a large wet-room bathroom and an outside wooden deck that peered out over the ferry inlet through the ubiquitous cypress trees. Best of all it had the same well stocked mini-bar as the other hotel rooms. It was only the chest full of sex and bondage toys, conspicuous by its absence, that indicated any difference in the intended clientele.

 

Kay threw her handbag down on the bed and headed for the mini-bar. She helped herself to a couple of bottles of peach Archers and as she closed the fridge door she thought how easy everything suddenly was now that she had arms and hands again. Easy, but dull. She headed out onto the wooden deck and sat down on a sun lounger to contemplate all that had just happened. Had she really thrown away nine years of marriage just for the chance to play at being a slave for a few more days? Not that she could even do that on her own out here, unless she was content to tie herself up and order herself to masturbate. Her marriage was not dead yet of course. She hadn’t heard a helicopter take off and so there was still a chance that Steve would walk through the door and they could make up. And even if he did fly away, by the time she got home to London they would both have cooled off, and could try to work things out. Right at that moment though, she didn’t want to work things out with her pompous, self-righteous, hypocritical prick of a husband, who had buggered off and abandoned her when she was hurt and needed his support. What she wanted was to hear that helicopter and know he was gone. She was halfway through the first bottle of Archers when she got her wish.

 

Kay suddenly felt very alone. As the sound of the helicopter faded, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She had got so close. They had been having such a good time. Steve was enjoying the game. She was loving the game. All was looking rosy. And now this. Alone and sore, and with ridiculous white arms and hands. She decided not to cry, but instead to focus on fixing her crazily multi coloured body. As soon as the porter delivered her bag, Kay began to carefully smear her brown bits with factor 30 and her white bits with factor 5. The purple blotches would just have to sort themselves out. Then after a quick check to make sure the deck was secluded enough for naked sunbathing, she got on with the arduous task of evening up her body colour.

 

Kay had hardly got started on her tanning when she was disturbed by a knock at the chalet door. Obviously it was Steve who hadn’t got on the helicopter after all and had now come to make up with her. But when Kay opened the door she wished she had put some clothes on because it wasn’t Steve, but Mr Yens who stood there. There was an embarrassing few moments while she found a robe and then invited him in. Mr Yens had just come to check that she was all right, and express his sympathies that Steve had indeed left on the helicopter. He also expressed his gratitude that she had decided to stay. After he had gone Kay wondered why she had got so embarrassed when he saw her naked. He had seen her many times walking around his hotel with all her private parts on show and that hadn’t bothered her, so why was it any different at the chalet? Normal life with all its hang-ups seemed to have returned very quickly.

 

She took another bottle of Archers from the mini-bar and was just getting settled again on her lounger when there was another knock at the door. Feeling exasperated, this time she made sure she was covered up before she answered it, only to find that naked would have been just fine for her new visitors. They were Jason and Jocelyn. And Jocelyn looked like Kay had never seen her before. She was normal! She had arms and hands and she looked fabulous in a one-piece swimsuit and wrap around skirt.

 

“Oh wow! Look at you,” said Kay in surprise. “You’re, emm…”

 

“I do hope ‘gorgeous’ is the word you’re looking for,” said Jocelyn with a smile.

 

“How are you Kay?” said Jason. “Yens says Steve went on the heli.”

 

“Yeah, he went. I couldn’t talk him out of it this time.”

 

“And you’re staying by the looks of it.”

 

“Well I couldn’t go with him. That would be like admitting he’s right. And I couldn’t face the thought of being stuck with him all day travelling. But anyway, come on in and check out my new pad and its rather natty sundeck.”

 

“Look at me,” said Jocelyn comically. “I can close the door behind me.”

 

“Enjoying the novelty of having hands again? I’ve been doing that, but it does make things a bit, well, unchallenging.”

 

“Well don’t get too used to it Slave,” said Jason to his wife. “Back in bondage by tonight for you.”

 

“You can’t call me Slave this side of reception. Kay and I are ladies out here, aren’t we Kay.”

 

“We certainly are. And there’s two of us to only one of you, so we’ll have none of yer male superiority stuff here.”

 

“Oh, yes Ma’am. Your voice is sounding a lot better. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing though.”

 

“I think all those anti-inflammatories I took have kicked in. My tongue’s not nearly so swollen now.”

 

“Oh goodie,” said Jocelyn enthusiastically. “Erm, well, it means we can chat, that’s all. If that is, you’d like some company this afternoon Kay. We understand if you’d rather be alone.”

 

“Alone? Oh fuck that. Yes, I’d love some company. Especially if ‘chatting’ is a possibility. While we work on our tan lines that is.”

 

“Yes, I need to sort my neck out. Can’t do a roll-neck jumper or a scarf in an army uniform.”

 

“No, I guess not. Your white bits don’t look as white as mine though.”

 

“I do a few sunbed sessions before we come out. After our first time here, I looked like a bloody zebra. The neck you can explain by claiming it’s a wetsuit line from doing watersports, but the gag lines… I remember standing in the shower with a fake tan spray and masking tape when we got home.”

 

“It was worth it though Joss, wasn’t it.”

 

“Well we’ve come back here another seven times now.”

 

“Anyone want some lunch?” asked Jason, changing the subject. “I assume we can get room service out here.”

 

They ordered a generous spread of lunch which was promptly delivered by a friendly porter. Kay hadn’t had any breakfast and had wasted most the previous evening’s dinner, so she tucked in gratefully, although carefully to avoid aggravating her tongue or lip.

 

“You managing that all right?” asked Jocelyn. “We can get some soup if you want.”

 

“Mmmm, I’m okay thankth,” she replied through a mouthful of de-crusted cheese and salad sandwich. “As long as I take it gently. I’ll stay off the crusty bacon rolls for now though.”

 

“Is your tooth going to be okay?”

 

“I was looking at it before. It looks easy enough to cap. I’ll get Leo to do it when I get home. If he makes an arse of it, I’ll sack him.”

 

“You’re the boss then?” asked Jason.

 

“Well it’s my practise, so yes that sort of makes me the boss.”

 

The first gust of the afternoon wind drifted across the deck and Kay looked out at the water of the inlet, noting the patches of ripples.

 

“The wind’s here,” she said. “You mustn’t let me keep you off the water.”

 

“Ah, so you want to get rid of me so you can have your wicked way with my wife, do you?”

 

“Jason, behave,” scolded Jocelyn lightly.

 

“The thought hadn’t even begun to consider that it might be able to take hold in my head,” joked Kay, realising she was feeling much better now. She was still on holiday, she still had her new friends, and the sun was still shining. She was going to enjoy the next couple of days and not dwell on anything else.

 

“Well I am going to hit the water soon,” said Jason, “but I think I’m going to give the windsurfing a miss and try to trapeze one of those RS things they’ve got.”

 

“That’ll keep Max’s rescue boat busy,” said Jocelyn.

 

“Mmmm. And I’m sure he won’t be the only one who’s ‘busy’ while I’m out there.”

 

“Don’t be so tactless Jason. Can’t you see Kay’s injured?”

 

“I’m not that injured.”

 

“And getting better by the minute by the looks of it,” sneered Jason comically. “I’m going to get changed and head out. I’m sure you two will be more than okay here together. You don’t mind if I abandon this one here do you Kay?”

 

“Mind? What do you think?”

 

“I thought not. Well don’t enjoy yourselves too much and I’ll see you later.”

 

“Enjoy ourselves? Pfft,” said Jocelyn. “Just getting a day off from your tyrannical rule will be enough.”

 

 

 

“Does he really think we’re going to spend the afternoon shagging each other?” asked Kay after Jason had gone.

 

“It’s just his way of telling you that he’s fine with it if you want to,” replied Jocelyn. “He knows we’ve got the hots for each other.”

 

“Maybe we should stay for next week.”

 

“What’s next week?”

 

“I think it’s lesbians only.”

 

“Lesbians? Never thought of myself as one of those before. It does sound tempting though, but the army takes a dim view of unauthorised absence.”

 

“And I’ve got mouths booked in for my attention. And a sharp tooth to get fixed before it goes near any delicate body parts.”

 

“Ooh, ouch.”

 

“Would you though? If there was no work and stuff to get in the way.”

 

“Hmmm. Maybe. Depends who gets to be the dom. I like the idea of ordering you to go down on me.”

 

“We could take turns.”

 

“Yeah. That sounds good.”

 

“Maybe next year eh? After we’ve fixed our tans from this one.”

 

“Amen to that. Do you mind if lose this cozzy?”

 

“What do you think?”

 

“Okay, and some cream on my back too?”

 

“Yes Major. Coming right up.”

 

“That’s yes Ma’am. You’d only call me Major if you’re a higher rank.”

 

“And who says I’m not?”

 

“You can’t be, because you’re a civvy, and that’s only a step away from a skivvy.”

 

“Ooh, I hope I get to do a root canal on you sometime. I might just go a bit light with the anaesthetic.”

 

Despite all the earlier innuendoes, Kay and Jocelyn didn’t actually spend the afternoon having sex with each other, and although there was plenty of ‘chatting’, it was all of the verbal variety. When Jason returned from his waterborne activities with a large tray of tea and cakes, he found his wife and her new friend stretched out naked across three loungers that they had pushed together leaving a small gap between two of them, through which one slightly dodgy and three perfect breasts were hanging down unsquashed, while the sun cooked away the multiple strap lines across their backs. They roused themselves rather enthusiastically at the sight of Jason’s tray and its tasty contents. As they tucked in, there was a cheerful atmosphere between the three of them, with more chatting and joking. The butt of many of the jokes was of course Steve and it was only Jason who seemed to be at all sad that he had left. When the cakes were reduced to crumbs, the teapot was empty and the sun had disappeared behind the surrounding trees, Jason and Jocelyn said their au revoirs and headed back into the hotel to get ready for dinner.

 

Left on her own again, Kay started to feel a little lonely and she wondered where Steve would have got to. Dubrovnik airport seemed the most likely, in which case sitting out on her deck watching the orangey light fading to evening while perusing the room service menu and listening to the crickets in the trees seemed infinitely more agreeable. She certainly didn’t feel like a diseased leper who wasn’t allowed into the city of light, but more like a heretic not allowed into the church. And that wasn’t too bad, despite the fact that her mini-bar was unable to supply any more bottles of Archers. So instead, Kay pulled out a bottle of unpronounceable red and settled down to get herself happy with a mix of wine and pain killers.

 

She had got less than a third of the way through her wine bottle when there was a knock at her door.