...../2

A couple of weeks later, I saw her again.

Same bar. Almost the same seat. This time she smiled before I’d even reached her.

“I was wondering when you’d come back.”

“Funny. I was thinking the same thing.”\

We picked up where we’d left off, but this time there was less pretending. The conversation was flirtier, the eye contact lasted longer, and there was an obvious curiosity between us.

Eventually I asked about the ring. She looked at it, smiled, and took a moment before answering.

“Yes, I’m married.”

I wasn’t sure what to say.

She seemed to find my expression amusing.

“Don’t look so worried. It’s not quite the story you’re imagining.”

She told me that she and her husband had a very different relationship from what most people would assume. They were happily married, but they also enjoyed exploring outside their relationship — discreetly, honestly, and on their own terms.

Then she looked at me.

“I don’t normally do this,” she said.

I smiled. “I’m beginning to think that’s not entirely true.”

She laughed.

There was something incredibly exciting about discovering that the woman I’d met by chance had this completely different side to her life.

Before we left, she gave me her number.

“Don’t message me tonight,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Because I want to know if you can follow instructions.”

I smiled.

“I’ll try.”

She walked away laughing.

I waited until the next morning. / .......3