England, early twenty-teens.
Gail: thin, blond woman in her early thirties. She has that sort of intense, stringy look of a woman who is desperately neurotic. And she is. She is head of a charity organization that runs safe-houses for abused domestic partners. Despite this she can be judgmental in an attempt to cover her own deep insecurities.
Kenneth: Gail’s long-term partner. Mid-thirties, an affable athlete who’s going a bit soft in the middle but still quite fit. He is CEO of a small privately held tech company. Everyone thinks he is controlled by Gail as she runs the household. The truth is a bit more complicated. Kenneth is biracial, Black and white.
Mitchel: Kenneth’s best mate and next-door neighbor. In his early thirties Mitchel is a thin nerd type and long-distance runner. An outgoing introvert he uses his solitary runs to recharge, among other things. He is very smart, attractive with dark hair and blue eyes, and can be quite arrogant about it. Kenneth is Mitchell’s boss, something Mitchell is resentful of.
Dani: short for Daniela. In her mid-twenties she is engaged to Mitchell whom she hooked up with in university. She has just received a prestigious fellowship in the creative arts and is the first Black woman to do so. Everyone is quite proud.
Chloe: Mid-twenties. Works with Mitchel. French and of Indian ethnicity.
They are all in the living room of Kenneth and Gail’s home after a party Kenneth has thrown for his employees. The caterers are almost finished in the kitchen and back garden and Gail is finally starting to relax as she is, of course, the one who made all of the arrangements for the get together. Kenneth does have a capable assistant for that kind of thing but for events in her home Gail prefers to be involved. If Gail is involved, she is inevitably in charge. Curled up in an oversized chair with an equally oversized gin and tonic she half listens to the conversation.
Chloe has given up on waiting for her friend to pick her up and has contacted a ride-sharing service. Unfortunately, the closest vehicle is still thirty minutes away. Through no fault of her own Chloe is the only one who knows that Dani is having an affair with Kenneth and Mitchell is hooking up with Gail.
Chloe is having a very shit night.
Gail fucks Mitchell in part because, as Kenneth’s best friend, fucking Mitchell is as close as she can get to being intimate with Kenneth. Kenneth and Gail still have sex, regularly. But it feels to Gail that she need not even be in the room. She might as well be a real doll, something he pumps himself into a couple of times a week, for all the affection he gives her during this most intimate of acts.
Fucking Mitchell is also exciting. That fear of being caught, the tasting of the forbidden. Plus, it gives her an ego boost that he is having sex with her rather than Dani, a woman almost eight years younger than she.
Mitchell fucks Gail because Gail is very attractive and fucking Gail means fucking over Kenneth. Mitchell feels that he and Kenneth should at least be partners. In his opinion the company runs on his ideas, not Kenneth’s. He half hopes the two of them get caught, which adds an extra frisson of excitement to their ever-riskier encounters. Mitchell can be kind of a dick.
Kenneth is fucking Dani because he wants her. He’s wanted her since the first time he laid eyes on her. In fact, he is the reason she and Mitchell met. It was early on in the days of the company and Kenneth would have meetings at the book café where Dani worked in university just so he could be in her presence. It was just a crush. He was already with, and deeply in love with, Gail. His focus on Dani, he was sure, was just a result of stress. The company was really starting to grow, and Gail was pregnant with their first child. Soon Dani would graduate and move away remaining nothing more than a fantasy.
Only she didn’t. She started dating Mitchell and over the years his fascination has grown into something courting obsession. They began to talk to one another. First about themselves, then about their relationships. He started to touch her. When he finally kissed her, he was still surprised that she kissed him back. Hungrily. He still loved Gail. He loved the family that they had made together. But his passions were his company and Dani, in that order.
Dani is fucking Kenneth because he wants her in a way that makes her body ache. She likes his intensity; the way he fucks her almost reverently. Winning the fellowship should have been a moment of glory. Instead she feels a stress laced dread. She’s only twenty-five but feels twice that age. Questioning her life and the choices that got her here. Including saying yes to Mitchell when he asked her to marry him. She seriously contemplates taking the money from the fellowship and running away from it all. Except she might be pregnant and has no idea whose it is.
Because she works with Mitchell Chloe has known about Mitchell and Gail for months. They were not particularly subtle. She just learned about Dani and Kenneth that afternoon when she opened the wrong door at the party. Seriously, people involved in illicit affairs should learn to lock their fucking doors. Chloe desperately checks her phone again only to discover a mere two minutes have passed.
It was stupid. So stupid. But even thinking about it made her labia bloom and glisten. Adjusting her skirts Dani crosses and curls her legs in an effort to hide and control her arousal. Fucking Kenneth in his house, during a party. What was she thinking? But she can’t help nibbling on her lower lip as she remembers the feel of him inside her, his hands or her breasts, his fingers on her clit. Gail is asking her a question.
“I asked if anyone needed a drink. Or anything. I’m going into the kitchen to wrap things up with the caterer.”
“No, thank you. The party was wonderful, but I think I passed my limit two drinks ago.”
“Come on Dani,” Kenneth wheedles. “One more for the road?” The look in his eyes lets her know that he isn’t talking about drinks. She is grateful her dark complexion hides her reddened cheeks.
“Why not? What’s one more g&t? In for a penny, in for a pound.”
His eyes not leaving hers Kenneth replies, “That’s my girl.”
Ugh, think Dani and Chloe both rolling their eyes. Their eyes meet and they both smile. Chloe moves to the window to check for a car that is still twenty minutes away. She both likes and hates these people.
“Honey, I wish you’d let one of us drive you home. Or at least call a taxi.”
“Thanks, Gail, but a taxi would take at least as long to get here.” And you’re all drunk, she thinks. With a forced smile she continues, “My ride should be here soon. I’m tracking it on the app. I’m so sorry my friend flaked.”
“Don’t worry about it.”
“Let me help you with the drinks.”
“Thanks. I’m also popping up to check on the kids. Do you want to come?” Gail knows that Kenneth isn’t interested. To him the children are playmates. He only likes them when they are interactive. The minute things become difficult or uncomfortable with them he passes them over.
“Oh, yes.” Chloe replies. That will keep her gone longer. Plus, five-year-old Jack and two year old Marissa are adorable. Especially when they are sleeping. The two leave the room.
Mitchell announces, “Going to the toilet.”
“You don’t need to report it,” Dani observes.
Kenneth responds, “You know your way.”
Mitchell likes to roam Kenneth’s home. It reminds him of how much he is owed. Almost before the door closes behind Mitchell Kenneth has his hands on Dani.
“Are you insane?”
“Yes,” he replies kissing her.
She briefly kisses him back before pushing him away and moving across the room. “Not here. Never again.”
Gail and Chloe come back with the drinks as Mitchell returns from the bathroom. Gail is holding Kenneth’s phone. Chloe looks like she would rather be on fire.
This dream is a bit hard to parse as on top of the complex character development from here there are some fantastical aspects. Including a literal emotional rollercoaster.