Sex at 40 - 2 of 10


Half an hour later she was dressed and ready to head next door. She
took a bottle of wine so as not to go empty handed. Taped to the front
door, she found a note. "I'm in the back yard. Follow the path. Maria
XXXXX"

Kathleen smiled at the row of kisses and did as she was instructed.
The property was beautifully landscaped, and she made her way through
the shrubbery until she came into a secluded garden with beds of
flowers and vegetables, fruit trees, and a pergola. Maria was on the
deck, an expansive construction, high up, that gave a view of the
entire property. It was divided into two levels, one slightly offset
from the other, and a flight of steps lead up to the first level.

Kathleen joined her host, who was alone, sipping a drink. "Hi," she
said. "I brought you this. " She offered the bottle. "Wasn't sure if
you're partial to wine. If not, I have other things back at the
house."

"No," Maria countered, enthusiastically. "This is fine." She rose.
"What can I get you?"

She pointed to Maria's glass. "What's that?"

"That is my own recipe. Gin and tonic with cubed ice and the juice of
half a lemon."

"Sounds wonderful." Kathleen followed her host into the kitchen. The
house was identical in layout to her own, but arranged in a slightly
more practical manner, Kathleen felt. She would stamp her own ideas on
her new house, but it would take time.

"Peter's still at the office," her host explained as she mixed the
drink, pouring in a huge measure of the alcohol into a tall glass. She
studied Kathleen for a moment. "Are you by yourself tonight?" She
seemed perplexed.

"I'm by myself every night," Kathleen explained. "My husband left me
two years ago."

"Ohhh. I'm sorry." Maria spoke softly, with genuine compassion. "Me
and my big, stupid mouth."

"No. It's O.K. Single woman buys a big house. Doesn't make a lot of
sense," she admitted.

They moved outside again into the warm sunshine, and Kathleen took a
long, grateful sip of her drink. "Look, let me give you my standard
speech," she began. "I'm fine. I've forgiven him. He's good about
money. I don't want another guy to look after." She drank some more of
the cocktail. "Too much maintenance. Way too much." She paused,
intrigued by the look on Maria's face. "What?"

"Oh," Maria said, and sighed. "I'm a lawyer. I read people all the
time. If I was in court and you said that, I'd just know there was a
'but' just around the next corner."

"A what?"

"A 'but'. You know, I'm fine, don't worry about, I'm over it, guys are
too much maintenance." She had described the works in the air with her
hands, but now she paused for effect. "But..."

Kathleen laughed. "Yeah," she admitted. "You're right."

"So? What's the but?"

To hell with it. Why not tell the truth, just for once? "O.K.... But,
some mornings I wake up and I really, really need a guy." Kathleen
felt herself blushing but Maria seemed to be enjoying the
conversation.

"You are a very good-looking woman. You must have someone who'd help
you out."

Kathleen shook her head. "I wish I did. I'm getting a boob job. This
morning, when the doctor was examining me..." Kathleen was too
embarrased to continue. "Well, he was a cute doctor," she said,
blushing a deeper shade of pink.

She was relieved when Maria changed the subject. "You must get through
a lot of batteries."

"What do you mean?"

Maria stared at her, aghast. "You serious?"

Kathleen nodded. "Yeah."

"You do have a vibrator, don't you? You are kidding me?"

Evidently, Kathleen's innocence showed. "I wish I did," she said, for
the second time. The strong drink was beginning to make its mark. She
would never normally have spoken like this to a comparative stranger.

Maria appeared to be making a decision. "Look," she said. "Do you know
what a Sybian machine is?"

When Kathleen shook her head, her host rose, decisively, and offered
an inviting hand.

"Follow me," she commanded. She lead the way upstairs to the master
bedroom. It was cool in there and it smelt wonderfully fresh, and
Kathleen felt very slightly awkward to be in someone else's bedroom.
The bed was a king, like her own, and there were 'his' and 'hers' walk-
in closets, a nice touch that her own house lacked.

Beside the bed, on the floor, was a device that Kathleen had never
seen before. It was black, perhaps two feet long, and shaped like a
saddle. At one end, on the upper surface, was a white, rubber
addition, irregular in shape. A cable snaked away from the machine to
a simple remote control.

Maria pointed. "That," she announced proudly, "is a Sybian machine."

"Uhuh." Kathleen nodded, and an uneasy silence settled on them both.
"What does it do?" she asked.