The musky smell of semen joined with the piquancy of her mother’s sex and assaulted her nose.There were rustling and mutterings as her mother pulled...on her knickers and they adjusted their clothing to make themselves decent.Mary stirred and feigned waking up. She reached down to the carpeted floor and found her pop bottle. The sweet liquid was sickly warm but she forced herself to drink it.“You ok love?” her mother called across the room.“I’m fine mom. I think I might go to bed,” she smiled. “I came back to see why you’re late, Diane, and to find out if you had any idea where Chad went. I am, apparently, a brilliant detective, having solved both puzzles. I’m at a loss for what to do about it.” Me, too, I thought. I considered what I knew about Chrissie. Of the gossip and rumors that passed for conversation in the teachers’ lounge, it was believed that Chrissie had marriage issues and hadn’t had sex with her husband in a long time, perhaps years. She might be a little or a lot. "I'll take it" I said. I changed back and the assistant packed the dressand accepted my payment."Please come again, we really have some lovely clothes that would suityou so well" She said. I thanked her and left the store.As I drove home, I realised that this was certainly another turning pointin my life. I looked so pretty and elegant in this dress, surely thismust be the way forward for me. I modelled the dress for Mum when I gothome. She insisted we went out to dinner together to show me. You might wanna get one of your own at some point." "Michael! Shut the fuck up about lawyers and all of that. We're not divorcing, and you're coming home right now. Am I understood?" she said. "Oh you're understood right enough, lady, but you are not gonna be obeyed. I'll miss what we had. Well, I'll miss what I thought, what I imagined, we had. I won't miss being married to the village whore. That's for damn sure," I said. "Mikey, why are you being so cruel?" "Look, Lily I'm tired as I'm.