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Authors: Lesley Gowan
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to students in the introductory art history class I was teaching. It was time to give real life a little attention, but I missed Jeanne the moment I left her house.
The yearning was intensified by having no idea when I’d see her again. Jeanne seemed to want me. She couldn’t get enough of me over the past seven days. But she doled out information on a strictly need-to-know basis, and I had but a low-level security clearance. If an invasion were planned by Jeanne, I’d know about it when the bombs began to fall, and not a moment before.
Jeanne’s body language told me a fair amount though. I had no experience in being a submissive, but I did have experience with lovers. You can tell when someone is being truly intimate, whether they’re drowning you in kisses or tanning your behind. There was something there with Jeanne. But to give her interest in me some scale, I had to know if she was the same way with others, particularly Adele. But questions about Adele were strictly verboten.
Several days after my last visit to Jeanne’s, I ran into Adele on campus. I’d been trying to steer clear of the studio buildings and other areas where art students could be found. Ever since Adele tried to get me to disappear from Jeanne’s life, I sought to avoid a confrontation. I didn’t know where she’d been over the past week, but I could only guess she knew I’d been visiting Jeanne. Mrs. Kirchberger probably told her. As I was leaving campus after my afternoon class, I saw Adele running toward me, looking like she’d tackle me if I tried any evasive maneuvers. She stopped in front of me and grabbed my arm, pulling me off the sidewalk toward a nearby bench.
“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t see Jeanne anymore,” she said. She was pissed off.
“We did not agree.” I was a little pissed off too.
Adele looked incredulous. I shook her hand off my arm and stepped back, taking note of the wild look in her eye.
“Adele, I don’t want to fight with you about a woman. Can we talk about this calmly?”
“This woman, as you call her, is the person I live with. My significant other, as you might say. I can’t believe you’ve just swooped in and tried to steal her from me.”
I sat on the bench and tried to count to ten. It was one of the very small handful of things my mother taught me to do. Restraint of pen and tongue she’d say. I’d had very little restraint of tongue over the past week. In fact, my tongue was very sore. But I was tempted to get into it with Adele, which probably wasn’t a good idea. Part of me understood her desire to protect what she thought she had, but most of me just disliked her for it. She was complicating things.
“Here’s what I don’t get,” I said. She remained standing, glaring down at me. “You’re acting right now like you and Jeanne are the everyday sort of girlfriends who obey the rules of monogamy and expect everyone else to respect you as a couple. Yet you were the one who served me up on a platter to Jeanne. It doesn’t appear that either of you are monogamous. I was there when Pat fucked you silly, remember?”
“That was for Jeanne. It wasn’t my choice.”
“But you clearly enjoyed it. You’re being hypocritical.”
Adele slashed her arm through the air in frustration. “You don’t understand anything.”
“Tell me, then. What am I not getting? I’m not suggesting you stop seeing Jeanne. Why would you suggest I do?”
“Because you’re the first woman I’ve seen her with who is taking her further away from me. The other ones didn’t matter. I told you that.”
Like before, this news sent a thrill through me. If Adele meant this to motivate me to take some kind of high road and exit the scene, she was just shooting herself in the foot. Every hint that Jeanne cared for me made me more determined to be with her in any way I could.
I stood and looked Adele in the eye with as much compassion as I could muster. “I don’t know what to do in this
The yearning was intensified by having no idea when I’d see her again. Jeanne seemed to want me. She couldn’t get enough of me over the past seven days. But she doled out information on a strictly need-to-know basis, and I had but a low-level security clearance. If an invasion were planned by Jeanne, I’d know about it when the bombs began to fall, and not a moment before.
Jeanne’s body language told me a fair amount though. I had no experience in being a submissive, but I did have experience with lovers. You can tell when someone is being truly intimate, whether they’re drowning you in kisses or tanning your behind. There was something there with Jeanne. But to give her interest in me some scale, I had to know if she was the same way with others, particularly Adele. But questions about Adele were strictly verboten.
Several days after my last visit to Jeanne’s, I ran into Adele on campus. I’d been trying to steer clear of the studio buildings and other areas where art students could be found. Ever since Adele tried to get me to disappear from Jeanne’s life, I sought to avoid a confrontation. I didn’t know where she’d been over the past week, but I could only guess she knew I’d been visiting Jeanne. Mrs. Kirchberger probably told her. As I was leaving campus after my afternoon class, I saw Adele running toward me, looking like she’d tackle me if I tried any evasive maneuvers. She stopped in front of me and grabbed my arm, pulling me off the sidewalk toward a nearby bench.
“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t see Jeanne anymore,” she said. She was pissed off.
“We did not agree.” I was a little pissed off too.
Adele looked incredulous. I shook her hand off my arm and stepped back, taking note of the wild look in her eye.
“Adele, I don’t want to fight with you about a woman. Can we talk about this calmly?”
“This woman, as you call her, is the person I live with. My significant other, as you might say. I can’t believe you’ve just swooped in and tried to steal her from me.”
I sat on the bench and tried to count to ten. It was one of the very small handful of things my mother taught me to do. Restraint of pen and tongue she’d say. I’d had very little restraint of tongue over the past week. In fact, my tongue was very sore. But I was tempted to get into it with Adele, which probably wasn’t a good idea. Part of me understood her desire to protect what she thought she had, but most of me just disliked her for it. She was complicating things.
“Here’s what I don’t get,” I said. She remained standing, glaring down at me. “You’re acting right now like you and Jeanne are the everyday sort of girlfriends who obey the rules of monogamy and expect everyone else to respect you as a couple. Yet you were the one who served me up on a platter to Jeanne. It doesn’t appear that either of you are monogamous. I was there when Pat fucked you silly, remember?”
“That was for Jeanne. It wasn’t my choice.”
“But you clearly enjoyed it. You’re being hypocritical.”
Adele slashed her arm through the air in frustration. “You don’t understand anything.”
“Tell me, then. What am I not getting? I’m not suggesting you stop seeing Jeanne. Why would you suggest I do?”
“Because you’re the first woman I’ve seen her with who is taking her further away from me. The other ones didn’t matter. I told you that.”
Like before, this news sent a thrill through me. If Adele meant this to motivate me to take some kind of high road and exit the scene, she was just shooting herself in the foot. Every hint that Jeanne cared for me made me more determined to be with her in any way I could.
I stood and looked Adele in the eye with as much compassion as I could muster. “I don’t know what to do in this
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