Choosing Her Lover

Part Three Of‘Choosing Her Lover’

The Gathering of Storm Clouds

Michael charges up the stairs, two at a time. From upstairs comes the sound of uproar: the shriek of a woman’s voice, a male roar of rage, banging and thumping, a crashing noise…. perhaps furniture being overturned?

I hesitate, then follow Michael upstairs. Perhaps I can help to calm down the irate Ben.

Michael bursts through the door at the top of the stairs, sounds of chaos beyond as it swings open. After a hesitation, I follow him.

Charlotte is standing in the far corner of the room, a sheet wrapped around her but obviously naked underneath. Red-haired and demon-green-eyed, her face is livid with rage. She shrieks at Ben who is in his turn, screaming incoherently at James.

James, wrath writ across his features, is naked, his erection still at full mast. Clearly Ben caught the two very much ‘in the moment’. Not that I haven’t seen James in this condition before, at the Club, but right now I feel very inappropriate.

What do I say? James and Charlotte weren’t doing anything they shouldn’t. The three of them have got it arranged between them….

I’ve come into the room behind Michael, but now…. what on earth am I doing here? I retreat into a corner, trying not to be noticed.

Michael, striding up behind his brother, grabs him by the shoulders. “What the fuck do you think you’re playing at, Ben?”

Ben swings back to him, his expression amazed. “What am I doing? What about them? I’ve caught your wife and your so-called best mate in the act, and you ask what I’m doing?”

Michael is clearly trying to keep a lid on his fury, but his voice is strained. “As my brother,” he says, “you have many privileges, but bursting into the bedroom on my wife is not one of them.”

Ben’s jaw drops. “You can see what they were doing!” he shouts, waving a hand at James and Charlotte, “And yet it’s me you’re angry at?”

“If you believed there was a problem, perhaps you might have talked with me first? Let me handle it?” asks Michael, his words icy. “This is your answer? To barge in, interfering in my family life?”

Ben gapes at him. “Michael, your wife and…. and …. him, have been fucking behind your back. Why are you angry with me?”

swipes a hand through his hair…. His indecision clear. He

everyone

Is this wise?

turns to me, murder in his eyes. “What? What the fuck’s it to do with you,

and wishes. You made it my business. So, you can

background, I see Michael start to protest my words, then apparently think better of it. James is pulling on his pants, watching me in slit-eyed silence. Charlotte simply stands, wide-eyed, enveloped in her sheet, lips parted,

Not everyone lives the same way you do, or the way you

and sweating, the whites of his eyes showing

you noticed the rings

What

two sets of rings; one set like Michael’s and the

Then he looks at Charlotte, who holds up her left hand, with its collection of intricate red, yellow and white gold spirals; then at James, who also holds up his left hand, displaying a ring in intertwined red and yellow gold. Ben turns to Michael, who likewise, displays

is writ across his forehead, I see Ben dismiss the evidence of what he is seeing. He stalks towards me, his face no longer red. I’ve heard the phrase ‘white with rage’. This

brother would ignore it when another man

that what you think

be? One

the hell do I

don’t think he’s got the emotional equipment to deal with

hand on his arm. “Ben…” Ben brushes him away, still moving on

fixed on me. His voice is low; threat drips from every

Jeez…. I should have

could I? I’m

already against the wall. Flustered, I look away. “I don’t

just pretend you didn’t. What did you mean, she’s wearing

getting tight. “I mean, you wear someone’s ring because it…. it…. it binds you

“That’s disgusting. How dare you talk about my family like

to interrupt again,