‘It’s worth another shot, don’t you think, my love?’ Thomas said to Elsie in the dark.
The sound of her voice came from close to his face on the pillow. ‘I suppose you’re right.’ Her breath tickled his nose, spearmint-sweet.
‘I know you’re sad, but we can try again. And keep trying.’
‘Okay.’
‘Maybe this time it will work.’ Thomas gathered his wife close into his arms and kissed her. She was warm and soft beneath his hands, as he cradled the rises and falls of her. Her nightgown was twisted around her legs and he made a less than suave effort at untangling it. But Elsie, bless her, seemed unaffected by his fumbling. She had always been that way: forgiving, sweetly amenable. The first time he kissed her, his teeth had knocked painfully against hers but she had simply laughed and planted her hands either side of his face to guide him. The first time they had made love he had felt he might shatter into a thousand pieces, he’d lost all track of time and gravity, but she had wrapped her arms around him and kept him whole.
Thomas rolled over and brought his wife beneath him, and the cloud-cover moved away from the moon and illuminated her face on the pillow. Her eyes were directed away, towards the window.
‘Are you okay?’
She nodded, smiling, and squeezed him with her knees. Convinced, Thomas regained his rhythm but, when he opened his eyes to gaze upon her sweet face, he found her inattentive again.
‘My love? You seem distracted.’
‘No, of course not, darling. Keep going.’
Thomas didn’t need to be told twice, and off he went again. The end was close, he could feel it coming, the inexorable swell of it. What about her? Her thighs gripped him, her hands pressed his shoulders, but where was her attention?
Exercising considerable restraint, Thomas paused again and managed to say, ‘Is this good for you?’
‘I don’t know where Aida is,’ she said.
Thomas stopped. He propped himself on his elbows. ‘Aida?’
Elsie’s eyes glimmered. ‘She won’t answer the door. I . . . I miss her.’
A threefold quandary came upon Thomas. His wife was upset, and he wanted to comfort her. He also wanted, rather urgently, to keep going with his present occupation. And finally, why had his wife’s thoughts strayed to the young woman living next door when her husband was making love to her?
But Elsie, his darling wife, his beloved, came to his rescue by suddenly thrusting her hips at him. She grabbed his face in her hands and pressed her mouth firmly against his.
And then, oh goodness, for Thomas, it was swiftly over.