Ria's

Since returning to the UK after living abroad for four years, Ria had found that splitting her life between two countries wasn’t as ideal as she first thought. It meant it was hard to keep friends because life has a habit of moving on. It was the same for Dan, of course. But Ria felt it most. They had now planted roots just down the road from Dan’s parents and got to see them most weeks, but Ria’s mother was living down south with her new husband, and Ria’s father and brother lived aboard.

So, Ria felt she had only a small social circle. Dan was aware of this and had tried to get her to meet his colleague Emma who he felt was a similar woman at a similar stage in life but It hadn’t worked out.

But for Ria, things were slowly starting to change socially. There were three other young female managers in the hospital where she worked as an operations manager. They worked on the same floor and would often exchange smiles and slowly they were starting to include her in their group chats and office gossip.

So… without further ado, let me introduce you to Ria’s colleagues.

Kath

‘Cautious’ Kath oversaw the medical secretaries. She was a tall pretty brunette who had lived in LA for two years and was in a long-term relationship with a American who had come back with her to the UK. She had a Latin vibe going on and was full of passion and energy but not one to take chances. For the most part Kath was secure in her relationship but over the past year had started to feel frustrated that her boyfriend wasn’t man enough to ask her to marry. To be honest, the frustration was threatening to become resentment.

Kath had gotten to know Ria after being seconded to work under her for a few months. She is the closest one to Ria personality wise. Natural friends.

Noreen

‘Naughty’ Noreen was a PA for the hospital director. She was bright and bubbly if slightly unhinged. But all in all, Noreen was a very lovable British Iranian. She was married with a daughter, but she had a wild side and loved to party. When drunk she has the habit of getting her tits out. Both Noreen and her princess of a daughter give her long suffering husband a hard time. She was a tad shorter than she would have liked but has curves and knows how to dress provocatively. Got to know Ria on a training course they once shared.

“Ms Angry” Aimee

And finally there was the HR manager Aimee who was a buxom blond. She married her childhood sweetheart but after fourteen years of marriage now felt unloved and unsatisfied. She was secretly on the market for a new man but had to get rid of her husband first. Has tried to introduce the idea of swinging into the relationship even if she didn’t really want to, but she wanted to **** her husband out.

Every month or so Ria would come to work on a Monday and would hear stories of the three girls getting drunk together and all the fun and scandal involved. Sometimes Ria cringed, other times blushed but most of all it made her feel lonely.

Ria felt lonely because she had never been asked to join the girls on a night out. Ria had never been a big drinker, so wouldn’t usually be overly bothered, but the longer it went on without being asked, the more she felt she was missing out.

As the months rolled by without an invitation, Ria began to feel there must be something wrong with her. Being Hindu, she would have thought it was her race, but Noreen was bloody Muslim!

But then one morning Noreen came to Ria’s small office that she had somehow manged to cram in a desk and two chairs… but also half a dozen indoor plants. Noreen knocked on the open door then stepped inside beaming... but Ria continued typing. “Ria. It is my birthday on Wednesday, and me and the girls are having a meal out then a few drinks afterwards.”

“Uh huh.”

“We would love for you to join.”

Ria suddenly felt interested and looked at Noreen, wondering how a married Muslim could get away with some of the things she did. “Wednesday. Erm… hang on one minute while I check.” She wanted to jump at the chance but pretended to scroll the diary on her smartphone. “Sure. Wednesday evening looks good for me.”

“I’ll warn you though, me and girls like to get messy.” Noreen winked. “Hope you’re up for it.”

“Gosh.” Ria chuckled. “I might end up under the table.”

“I wonder who the lucky man would be?”

Ria felt shocked but then laughed heartily. “Excuse me. I’m a married woman. Plus, since we’ve been married I don’t even give head to my husband.”

“Inly give Ali BJs on his birthday or when he gets a pay rise.” Noreen chuckled then admitted “By the way, we’ve been meaning to ask you out for a while. It’s just we weren’t sure you’d say yes. As you seem very prim and proper. Maybe even a little aloof. But once you get chatting you’re actually rather cool and laid back.”

There was a moment of silence as the atmosphere changed. Ria sat up straight on her leather chair. “You think I’m aloof?”

“And a little intimidating.”

“Excuse me?”

Aimee walked past the open door to Ria’s office. She had obviously been eavesdropping near the door so stepped in, pulling a bumbling Noreen back as step. “Sorry Ria. I think what Noreen is trying to say is, because you’re so beautiful and intelligent we thought you might not be interested in hanging out with the likes of us.”

Ria picked up a pen and twiddled with it as she leaned back in her chair. “Ladies please. Believe me when I tell you this. If a person’s appearance or face mattered so much… I wouldn’t be married to my husband.” She smiled as Noreen and Aimee almost fell over laughing. “Bring your fancy frocks and dancing shoes. Ladies. I have a feeling it’s going to be wild one.”

~

It was Tuesday evening and Ria had broken the news to Dan about her new friends and her upcoming night out. In the study that doubled as the laundry room, Dan smiled as he watched Ria. She was without makeup and dressed in a red dressing gown while ironing her clothes for the following day. He thought she looked beautiful. “I’m really happy you’ve met a few friends.”

“I’ve always had friends Dan. Just not around here. I was really popular before I met you.”

“Ouch.”

Ria sniggered. “You know what I mean.” She then qualified her response. “Living between here and the Island. Not ideal for relationships. “

“True.” Dan sat down on the office chair and asked, “Will you be taking the car tomorrow?”

“I’m thinking about it. Probably, yes.”

“But I thought you said the girls were drinkers. You should let your hair down and relax. Get on that dancefloor with them. Have a good time.”

Despite what she had earlier told Noreen, Ria was planning on an early night. “They are, but I was planning on only having one drink then coming home.”

“It’s shit that I don’t drive, I wouldn’t think twice about picking you up. Damn eyesight.” Dan then suggested. “Get the train to work, and a taxi back.”

“Too much bother. It’s thirty miles away, a taxi back would cost a fortune. And I don’t do public transport, Dan. You know that.” Ria shrugged her slender shoulder while ironing her little black dress. “Anyway, Kath has told me I can park the car at her house and sleep in her spare room if needed.

Dan raised his eyebrows. Since marriage they had never spent a night apart. “It’s up to you, like.” He then noticed Ria had already packed an overnight bag. “You’ve already made up your mind.”

“I’m just organised.”

“And by the looks of it very excited.”

Ria heard Dan’s mobile vibrate. She teased. “Your phone is rather busy. I think that I must not be the only one who is popular.” Ria could see that Dan suddenly looked awkward. “Who is it?”

“It’s just Emma texting me about a project our departments are contributing to.”

Ria could see that her husband was distracted. His attention was fully on another woman. “Is she still with Pete?”

“Yeah. But it’s going nowhere.”

“Shame.” Ria picked up on a defensiveness in Dan’s voice. “A shame indeed.”

That night Ria picked up Dan’s phone while he was asleep. Snooping is not something she usually does but she had notice how stressed he gets when she asks to use it, and lately he had been getting more messages than normal. She opened with a password and saw it was open on Emma’s Facebook page. She felt her anger swell inside but kept it down. After all, it was only stalking. But what riled her more was that Dan was talking about Emma more and more. Innocent things, but recently it really felt like it was Emma, this, Emma that. Emma, Emma, Emma.

Of course Ria had met Emma and enjoyed her company. But what worried her was that she could tell Emma enjoyed Dan more than she should… she believed Emma wanted him. Was chasing him.

Ria suddenly felt threatened.

Ria opened the tabs on Dan’s phone… then saw he had a Word doc open. She read a few lines but quickly felt complelled to keep on reading. Her heart broke with every sentence. He had written an erotic story about called The Affair… and the characters names where too close for comfort.

Ria felt betrayed.

But Ria didn’t confront Dan. She wanted to choose her moment.

Tomorrow she was going to let her hair down, dance the night away, and get all the attention she craved. She was going to get more than even with Dan.

This called for payback. Ria’s style.

~

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