Edward stepped out of the shower cubicle dripping water all over the shaggy white bathroom carpet. The water had been cold enough to jolt him out of the confusion of the heated exchange with Gladys. What had started as an erotic interlude had ended in tears and hurled accusations on both sides. Just thinking about it again got his thoughts in a spin.
He hung up the wet towel on its rack and padded into the dark toned bedroom. The unpacked luggage from his last trip almost tripped him up and he stared at it with baleful eyes. That was the reason Gladys had come back with him, but they‘d become distracted and hadn‘t made it to the bedroom. Edward sighed again, betrayed by the train of his thoughts. He swore as he began to fold clothes into the tall wardrobe; the rest would have to be hung up in the closet.
He was still jet-lagged from his last trip and now he was worried about his relationship with Gladys. They‘d been dating for over six months, so what exactly was her problem? He‘d brought up marriage in their discussion but she wasn‘t impressed. In fact that had back-fired big time. She thought he was out to take advantage of her. He appreciated that she was a virgin, but maybe that wasn‘t such a good thing. He was really very frustrated. It was two weeks to Christmas and almost a year since he had last had sex. He picked up his phone.
“Ole boy, why are you calling now? It‘s almost midnight.” Kanayo‘s voice was groggy.
“Sorry about that but I just had to speak to somebody.”
Edward heard him yawn. “OK shoot, I‘m all ears. Hope you‘re fine though?”
“Your pal is roasting from frustration, men. I just woke up from a bad dream.”
“Bad dream my foot,” Kanayo laughed. “But I know what you mean. So you guys are not doing the do yet? After a night out she should stop over at yours for some loving, no?”
“No,” Edward replied shortly and began to pace the width of the room. “We went to her Christmas party together and came back here. But I had my driver drop off Gladys a couple of hours ago, and went right to sleep. So I was in bed all by myself.” He decided not to share details. This wasn‘t a topic he would‘ve thought to discuss with someone else, but he and Kanayo had become closer in the past year, especially since he started dating Gladys.