Mary frowned, staring at her day planner. Under the day’s date there was one entry, “AUDITION 1 P.M.”. It was unmistakably her own handwriting, she just couldn’t remember writing it. Audition? What possible audition could that be? Occasionally she had gone in for amateur dramatics, but there was nothing of that nature on the go now.

She grabbed a pen and crossed the entry out, using, strong, hard strokes that practically went through the page. This wasn’t the first strange thing to happen in quick succession. Yesterday she had received a padded brown envelope through the mail. In it had been a small figurine of a couple entwined and a short note, a computer print-out.

Dear recipient,

A well-wisher has chosen you to receive this exceptional gift. Enclosed, you will find a special figurine. This figurine will enable you to experience your deepest sexual desires. All you have to do is kiss it, and recite the incantation below. After that, place the figurine in a prominent place in your home and wait for your desires to be fulfilled.

Enjoy!

Could there be a connection with the strange entry in her diary? She couldn’t think how that could be, but went through to the lounge and stared at the figurine where she had placed it on one of the wall units. Under any normal circumstances she would have treated the cheap ornament and the missive with the derision they deserved and binned them.

Circumstances hadn’t been normal, though. Mary still had fleeting recollections of a dream she’d had. She’d been tied to the bed she shared with her husband, Geoff. She’d been blindfolded and had something in her mouth too, some kind of soft ball, she dimly recalled. Geoff had brought his personal assistant home and fucked her there in the room with Mary tied to the bed. While Geoff had fucked the personal assistant, she in turn had licked and fingered Mary, who had climaxed, twice. She thought she really had climaxed in her sleep. Oddly, when she woke up she also felt a strong taste of sperm in her mouth.

The dream wasn’t hard to understand in itself. The sad truth was that Geoff and she hadn’t had sex in ages, and Mary was afraid it was indeed because he was shafting some nubile assistant behind her back. Everything had conspired to make her take the stupid letter and figurine seriously. She had kissed the thing and read the incantation before placing the figure on the wall unit. Geoff hadn’t noticed there was anything different, of course.

Mary gave a huge sigh. Things were getting unbearable, but she wasn’t ready to make a move. What she really wanted, really, really wanted, was for things to get back to how they were in their first year of marriage, when they’d shared life and laughs and danced a lot as the prelude to endless hot sex.

She shook her head and went about her daily tasks. As a housewife with no children, there wasn’t much to do, especially not since Geoff had hired a cleaning lady who seemed to turn up as if by magic at the slightest hint of dust. By midday Mary was feeling insanely bored, and decided to go for a walk after she’d had lunch. She was rummaging in the fridge when the doorbell rang.

Heaving a sigh, Mary went to answer, expecting it to be one of those insufferable trophy wives who lived on the street. Why Geoff wanted to live here, she couldn’t imagine. But he’d always had ideas, wanting to “get ahead”, as he put it.

The woman on the doorstep looked like a housewife, but it was no-one Mary recognized. She looked to be in her 40’s, wore her blonde hair immaculately permed, and wore a nice blue and white patterned dress.

“Mary?” the woman said.

“Yes,” Mary said. “Who are you?”

The woman smiled. “I’m here to take you to your audition,” she said.

Mary frowned. Curiouser and curiouser. “What audition?”

The woman smiled indulgently. “The one that will give you want you want.”

Mary shook her head. None of this made any sense. “There must be some mistake,” she said.

Now the woman steeled up. “We don’t make mistakes,” she said. “You kissed the figurine and recited the incantation. The time has arrived.”

“N-n-n-no,” Mary stuttered. “I mean, maybe I did, but I don’t understand how… what… an audition?”

“You do want your husband to fuck you, don’t you?”

Mary blushed, unable to bring herself to speak. The word sounded doubly obscene coming from such a decorous looking woman.

“Then this is how it must be,” the woman said. Then she smiled, her tone lightening. “And we must be on our way. Can’t be late. I’ll explain more in the car.”

Mary would never be able to explain to herself how she had ended up in the woman’s car. Somehow or other she had felt that there was no other course of action available to her. She would remember sitting silently as the blonde woman drove, before steeling herself to ask.

“What’s this audition about?”

The woman didn’t answer at once, giving an enigmatic smile. Then she said, “You have to understand, Mary, that very often we don’t really know what it is we really want, and even when we do know what we want, it’s mixed in with a lot other things that we don’t allow ourselves to realise.”

Mary frowned. “I don’t understand,” she said.

“You will,” the woman replied. “Just remember that everything that happens to you happens because it’s stored somewhere in your own head.”

Mary could vaguely follow this from some of the self-help books she’d been reading lately. She just couldn’t work out how anything in her head could just materialize, which seemed to be what the woman was suggesting. “OK,” she said, slipping into silence again as her thoughts worked overtime.

At length they pulled up in a dingy car park behind some dingy brick buildings. The blonde woman led Mary across the car park to a steel door with a handwritten sign next to it, which just read, “AUDITION 1 P.M.”. There were other arrivals there, all of them looked younger than Mary, who was hardly old herself. There were a lot of short skirts and flesh and clothes that were like clingfilm. Mary didn’t feel at all as if she belonged here, in her loose-fitting mauve dress and black leggings.

“Don’t worry,” the blonde woman said, leading her into the building. “It’s what you do that counts.”

It was as if the woman could read her thoughts, Mary thought and it unnerved her. But then everything about this was unnerving, like the man with the clipboard who asked her name, and told her she was on third.

As the blonde woman led her further into the building, Mary realised she didn’t know her name. Again the woman answered without Mary having to ask. “I’m Sandra.”

“How do you do that?” Mary said.

“Do what?”

“It’s like you can read my thoughts.”

The woman smiled but said nothing. This was unsettling too. Mary felt out of place and there was so much movement. They were in a room where the provocatively dressed young women mixed with people who seemed to be there in some official capacity. Everything was a blur, impossible to make head or tail of. “Drink?” Sandra asked, indicating a table.

“I’m not sure I should,” Mary replied. She never drank in the middle of the day, but then she thought this was hardly your run-of-the-mill middle of the day and picked up a glass anyway.

“Now I know you’re nervous about this,” Sandra said as Mary sipped at the beverage, “but really you just need to go with the flow.”

“Go with the flow?” Mary said. It sounded like useless advice since she didn’t even know what would be expected of her.

“Yes,” Sandra smiled. “It shouldn’t be difficult. Remember, everything that happens is buried deep in the recesses of your mind anyway.”

That was impossible, Mary decided. None of this was in her nature at all; this place, these people. There was something sharp and calculating about them all, far from the head-scratching indecisiveness she was accustomed to from am-dram.

“You may not want to believe it,” Sandra said. “But remember, this is an opportunity to learn something about yourself.”

It was pointless arguing with the woman, Mary decided. But perhaps she had a point. After all, how otherwise to explain that she was here at all, that she had voluntarily got in the woman’s car and travelled here? And how to explain that she was still here, that she hadn’t walked out? There was nothing stopping her from doing that, after all.

A voice came over the speaker system, announcing that they were ready for Kylie to appear on stage, whoever they were. A young woman with black stockings and more bum than skirt leaped to her feet and skipped towards the door. A surge of apprehension made Mary’s stomach churn.

There was another wait. Still she and Sandra did not speak. It seemed as if there was nothing to say. Twenty minutes passed, during which time Mary treated herself to another drink without feeling in the least bit inebriated; she was far too nervous for that. When the voice came over the speaker system calling for Linda, Sandra nudged Mary in the ribs. “Shall we watch from the wings before it’s your turn?”

Mary nodded. At least she might get some idea of what she was expected to do. So she and Sandra followed a blonde girl who Mary had already decided thought far too much of herself through a couple of corridors until they were backstage, where people with headsets and clipboards communicated in half-whispers. They watched from a little alcove just to the side of the curtains as Linda bounded onto the stage, gyrating to loud music.

And now Mary began to get seriously worried. From where they were standing it was clear that there was a fair-sized audience, offering up loud applause as Linda appeared on stage. “Are there supposed to be this many people at an audition?” she asked.

“You tell me,” Sandra said. “This is all in your mind.”

This was still much more than Mary could bring herself to believe. Her ability to think seemed to shrink as she tried to get her head around what she was watching, what might be expected of her. What she saw worried her. Linda was bouncing about the stage in time to the music, but not just dancing, touching herself too, in inappropriate ways. The response was, however, rapturous.

Mary came over in a hot flush. There was a pole in the middle of the stage, and now Linda was giving it her attention, rubbing her body against it, even giving it a quick lick with her tongue. This too brought rapturous applause, but it was as nothing compared to the roar that went up when she wrapped her legs around the pole and dry humped it.

Mary turned, thinking that she had to leave, but Sandra was blocking her way. “I can’t do that,” Mary breathed.

“Just go with the flow,” Sandra said, taking Mary by the shoulders and spinning her round so that she could see the stage again.

The stage where the nubile Linda had just pulled her top down to display her naked breasts. There was more applause, wolf whistles cut through the deafening noise. The girl’s breasts weren’t that big, but the nipples were swollen and adorned with something that sent out flashes of reflected light, so Mary assumed she’d been pierced. Linda drew her fingers across the bejewelled nipples before bouncing about the stage again in time to the music.

And now she was getting serious. Mary could hardly watch as the girl removed garment after garment during the course of her dance, until she was stark naked. That too was greeted with loud applause. Then Linda was back in time with the music, thrusting her naked pussy against the pole in time to the beat. Mary felt embarrassed just from watching. There was no way she would be able to go out on that stage.

Linda backed up. There was a raised podium towards the back of the stage. The girl rested her buttocks against it and drew her hand across her pussy before heaving herself up on the podium and lying down on her back, legs spread, her cunt aimed straight at the crowd. The girl put her hands between her thighs, pulling her pussy lips apart.

A woman sped in from the wings. To her amazement, Mary saw that she was holding a dildo, which she now offered Linda. The girl snatched at it, stuffing it into her pussy immediately. Mary half turned, covering her face with her hands. This was much too much. She couldn’t watch, not as the girl used the dildo on herself. Somehow her lusty, exaggerated moans had come to be transmitted over the sound system too, mingling with the music.

“Sandra, I can’t,” Mary whispered.

A speaker-enhanced voice boomed out, saying, “Thank you, Linda!” as the crowd applauded. There was a short pause as the music pumped on, then the voice sound, “Now, would you please welcome Mary!”

“You’re on,” Sandra said, giving Mary a push. It wasn’t a hard push, but Mary stumbled a little. The noise from the crowd was a deafening roar in her ears. She couldn’t possibly do this, but her feet were carrying her onto the stage.

She wasn’t at all prepared for the brightness of the lights. She was no stranger to the stage, of course, but she’d never been blinded quite like this. Somehow not being able to see the audience made her feel less ill and ease, and her feet began to pick up the rhythm of the music. There was renewed applause as she moved to the pounding beat. She felt flattered and her movements became a little more assertive. It was a long time since she’d danced. Geoff never took her dancing anymore, and she missed it. Of course she’d rather be dancing with him then alone on a stage, but still…

When the first wolf whistle sounded, that too made her feel obscurely flattered. It shouldn’t really, she felt. If someone had whistled like that in the street, she would have been offended. But what with Geoff never showing any signs of finding her attractive, she felt that the attention wasn’t entirely unwelcome. Her body moved freer still as she felt strangely liberated.

There was more applause, more whistling. She glanced towards the pole, and suddenly it didn’t seem quite so scary. She danced towards it, grabbing it, swinging herself round. The noise of the crowd increased. She grabbed the pole in both hands, moving behind it, feeling her breasts graze it through bra and dress. Through the noise of the music and the sound of the crowd, Mary could sense a tension. Perhaps it was just her own.

“Mary!” The voice booming forth from the speakers made her start and lose her rhythm for a moment. “If you could just put your tongue out a sec, tease the pole!”

It was more than enough to make a girl blush, and Mary went hot all over. But she also poked her tongue out swiftly, letting it touch the hard metal. There was rapturous applause as she danced away from the pole. The crowd seemed to like it, she thought. And she liked it that they liked it, so perhaps…

A few twirls, and she was gyrating her way back to the pole. This time she kept her legs moving as she pushed her torso up against the metal, her breasts dividing. There was yet more applause, further wolf whistles. The speaker voice said, “That’s great, Mary! Now, can you undo a few buttons for us?”

Judging by the roar of the crowd, this was an idea very much to everyone’s liking. And why not? It couldn’t hurt, could it? Mary bounced back a few paces, undoing some of the buttons that ran down the front of her dress until a little bit of cleavage revealed itself. The response was rapturous and gave her renewed impetus. She remembered how Linda had dry-humped the pole. Mary was never going to be able to do that, but she moved back to it and wrapped one leg around it. When this too was met with cheers, she felt a little more daring.

Relieved that she always wore nice underwear, Mary felt it couldn’t do any harm to undo a couple more buttons. When she pushed her torso back against the pole so that it once more divided her breasts, there was fierce and unequivocal approval from the crowd. Even above the music and a few wolf whistles, she could hear someone shout, “Get your tits out!”

Somehow this too felt flattering, though Mary would normally slap anyone who said that – other than Geoff of course, but he never showed any interest in her curves these days.

She bounced back a few steps, then set off dancing across the stage again. Without being quite sure how it happened, she found herself undoing the remaining buttons in her dress. Thinking that it would be strange to keep her leggings on, Mary turned her back to the crowd, pulling them off, trying to keep to the beat, but unsteady on her feet all the same. She expected to hear boos, but when none were forthcoming, she quickly got back in her stride, debating with herself before deciding there wasn’t much point in not discarding the dress in its entirety.

Mary was down to her underwear now. The lights were burning her eyes, but somehow it felt as if she could see the crowd anyway, looking at her with lust in their hearts and trousers. There were cheers, applause, whistles, and shouts that she couldn’t quite decipher. She returned to the pole, rubbing her buttocks against it, then wrapping her leg around it as she did the old trick of letting it divide her breasts. She heard the voices from the crowd come together as one, and could suddenly make out the chant. “Show us your tits! Show us your tits!”

Suddenly it seemed churlish to deny them. Mary bounded away from the pole, turning her back on it while she unhooked her bra. When she turned round, exposing her full mammaries to the crowd, a roar went up, almost frightening in its intensity. Glancing down, Mary saw that her nipples were unbelievably swollen. Unable to believe it, she reached up and touched them, and this produced an even more intense response.

Breasts swinging, Mary bounced back to the pole. She was behaving on instinct now, all thoughts, all doubts gone as she pushed her body up against the metal. With legs parted, she rubbed herself against the pole, pushing herself up against it, one breast on either side, hands coming up to fondle herself, tongue extended to lick the pole.

The roar from the crowd was ear-splitting, the music receding into the background. Mary couldn’t help but respond to all those voices, all those men who at that moment desired her utterly. Bouncing back from the pole, she imagined that her knickers were suddenly very damp. She put her hand between her legs to check, and the response from the crowd was immediate, as immediate as the realisation of just how aroused she was.

The voice boomed out of the speaker system again, “That’s great, Mary! Wonderful! Now, make everybody want you! Make them want to fuck you!”

Hot flashes shot through her. There was nothing to do, she thought. If they didn’t want to fuck her now, they never would. But the gist of what the man meant was clear. She moved to the front of the stage, still blinded by the lights, unsure of where everyone was. Moving to the music, she slipped a hand down inside her panties. Wild cheers erupted as she was, even now, taken by surprise at how slippery her pussy was. A hand emerged from the brightness. She couldn’t see the man, just his arm and hand as he touched her thigh.

It wasn’t out of shock or fear that Mary retreated. She was remembering how Linda had used the podium, and stepped backwards in time to the music cupping her breasts. Leaning back against the podium, she slid her hand back down inside her panties. There were loud cheers as she moved her hand. Suddenly none of this seemed strange or unnatural. Loving the attention, Mary slid her hand right down so that she could open up her labia. The men couldn’t see the two fingers sliding into her, but they could certainly determine that’s what she was doing.

All doubts gone, Mary finger fucked herself for a short while before bringing her hand out and sucking on her fingers. The loud whoops and cheers spurred her on. Moving forward, she turned around. She poked her arse back at the crowd and wiggled at as she slowly slipped off her panties. The crowd went wild when she turned around and began moving towards the pole. They spectators were still invisible to her, but that didn’t matter.

Mary grabbed the pole, grinding her body against it before holding it with both hands and leaning back. Straddling the thing, she brought her pussy up against it, grinding in time to the music. The cold metal pushed against her labia, the crowd roared, Mary could smell her own arousal, invisible clouds of it rising to her nostrils.

One last time, she pushed herself against the pole so that it separated her breasts, then bounced back to the podium. Resting against it, legs parted, she began rubbing her pussy, grinding her hand between her legs, making her labia sing. The crowd cheered, whistled, howled. She had no idea how many randy men were there, cocks erect, wanting her, desiring her. She thought she caught an obscene voice over the top of the others, but couldn’t be sure. In this context it seemed entirely appropriate.

She became aware of someone at her side, a man with headphones and a microphone. He was holding out a large blue dildo. When Mary had seen Linda offered the same, she’d found it impossible to watch; now she took the thing gladly. Smiling at the crowd, she licked the tip, kissed it, then licked it again. The applause was enough to make her slide the dildo into her mouth, sucking on it in an exaggerated fashion.

A chant erupted. Mary couldn’t make out if they were calling, “Fuck that cock,” “Suck that cock”, or even “Suck my cock!” She had a sudden vision of herself taking on the entire auditorium. The thought scared her, but it excited her too. Using one hand to move the dildo in her mouth, she touched her pussy with the other, sliding a finger inside herself, feeling the slippery juices flow as the crowd went into a collective swoon.

A voice rose above the others, “Mary, can I take you home with me?”

She couldn’t help but smile, removing the dildo from her mouth to do so. Go home with one of these men, and do what? Well, obviously… The dildo was hovering next to her thigh, and without thinking about it, Mary let the finger in her pussy slide out so that she could push the thick dildo into her drooling snatch. Her head tilted back, her eyes closed, and she let out a long “Aaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”

She was amazed to hear her own voice over the speaker system, mingling with the music. The man must still be there, hovering with the microphone, but all she cared about was the way the crowd responded. She thrust the dildo deeper inside herself. She was so wet, so horny. She hadn’t been filled like this since… She couldn’t even remember, but her mouth was open and she was moaning again, hearing the sound of her own sex-starved voice coming back at her.

The dildo was obviously a vibrating number, and Mary had no trouble working out how to switch it on, feeling the thing send shockwaves through her, her own shriek of delight going out loud and clear over the speakers. She pulled the dildo out, sliding it up to her clit. The vibrations instantly shunted her excitement on a few furlongs. She teased her clit with the dildo, hearing her own moans over the speakers. The noise of the crowd was an undifferentiated blur in her head as she teased and teased before once more shoving the dildo into her sopping wet cunt.

She imagined she could cum quite easily just from fucking herself with the dildo, but she wanted the appreciation to last forever. So when she became afraid she was about to climax, out the dildo came and went into her mouth. She made sure to shape her lips as seductively as she could, hearing her own mouth-watering slurps obscenely amplified.

The crowd went into overdrive, and Mary could stand it no longer. She wanted the appreciation, but she was also desperate to cum. The dildo went back in her pussy, she moved it hard and fast, hearing her own loud “Aaaaaahhhhhhh! Oooooooooh!” blend with the pumping bass. Using her free hand to pinch and tease her erect nipples, she could clearly hear the entire auditorium chant, “Cum! Cum! Cum! Cum!” She would shortly, too. She was tightening and tightening, her cunt dripping. Any second now.

And then suddenly, above the noise of the music, the crowd, and her own moans, she heard a voice: “Oi! What’s going on here? What are you all doing gawping at my missus?”

Geoff? No, it couldn’t be. Mary froze. This was too horrible to contemplate. She may be a bit angry at Geoff for not showing any interest in her, but she hadn’t wanted to hurt him in any way. Certainly not like this.

She saw Geoff emerge from the mass of blinding light. He was coming towards her with a face two parts bewilderment to one part hurt and another part fury. Mary stood paralysed as he came towards her. Her husband picked her up, literally sweeping her off her feet. Then he carried her off the stage.

Mary was taken past the howling crowd. She could see faces now; angry faces booing and hissing at Geoff, who hardly seemed to care less. He’d slung her over his shoulder as if she were no more than a sack of potatoes, and carried her out of the auditorium and down a corridor. She hung naked in his arms as they passed through a foyer and out into the street. She saw people stare and point, some laughing someone shouting, another whistling.

She could hardly recall being more embarrassed than being carried naked down a busy street. It was a relief when they reached the Mercedes. She couldn’t wait to get inside, safe, if still naked, visible to other road users, especially if they were higher up, like bus passengers. But she didn’t look, just stared straight ahead as Geoff drove.

There was silence in the car. There were plenty of things that could have been said, but Mary didn’t want to speak. Better to let Geoff start, then she could tell him, if only he’d paid more attention to her, if only… Should she explain about the figurine? Of course not. Geoff would never believe her, never believe any of that.

Back at the house Geoff at least pulled up close enough to the door to spare her blushes from the neighbours’ prying eyes. She was inside in no time, turning to Geoff as soon as the door was closed behind them, but all he did was grab her by the arm and drag her along the hallway, ending up in the large reception room.

There he shoved her down on a three-seater. This seemed to be the time to try. “Geoff…” she said.

“Shut up and spread your legs!” Geoff snarled. Well at least he was talking to her. As an afterthought he added, “Whore!”

Well, she probably deserved that, Mary decided. There was so much going on in her head that she couldn’t focus properly on any of it. She understood that all this was happening because of the figurine, because somehow she wanted it. She wasn’t sure if that made any sense to her or not, but Geoff was stripping off, and she let her legs part. This was, after all, exactly what she’d wanted; for her husband to see her and want her, even if she hadn’t envisaged these exact circumstances.

When his underpants came off, Mary got the shock of her life. His cock was huge. To be sure she hadn’t seen it in a while, but she thought she would have remembered if it had been that big, as thick as her wrist. She couldn’t understand it. Nutrients? Surgery? Different emotions collided within, but all Mary could think of was the little trickle she felt. She glanced down and saw a small stain on the sofa.

There was a sneer on Geoff’s face. Mary felt she should say something, words coming out of her that she was shocked to hear herself say, “I’m sorry, Geoff. About… I’ll do anything to make it better. I’ll do anything for you. I’ll be your whore forever, Geoff. Really. Anything. Let me be your whore!”

In an instant Geoff was over her, pulling her into position. As the huge cock touched her labia, Mary was afraid it would split her in two, but as it made its way into her, stretching her wide, she felt nothing but extreme rapture. Her husband began moving, shoving his cock back and forth, still with a furious, lecherous look on his face. His cock was so big it felt like it was filling her entire body.

Instinctively she placed her hands on her husband’s buttocks. Teeth dug into a nipple and she screamed out, “Yes! Yes! Oh Geoff! Fuck me! Fuck me, Geoff! I’ll be your whore, Geoff! Make me your whore!”

Her husband was saying nothing, just panting vigorously as he hammered his cock into her. Mary felt her lubrication like a flood, the juices washing over her as Geoff’s cock forced them out of her. For that matter, the huge organ seemed to force every ounce of sense out of her. She tried to buck her body, still screaming “Yes! Yes! Fuck me, Geoff! Make me your whore!” She stared into his fierce eyes as he dug his fingers into her breasts. It was like being ravaged by a wild beast, and she couldn’t remember feeling anything like it, ever.

There was so much wet, the three-seater would never be the same again. Nor, Mary, imagined, would her vagina. She was becoming tighter, but Geoff’s huge cock just kept on fucking and fucking, hard and fast. Soon she must burst, be ripped apart from within, but she couldn’t stop moaning, “Yes! Yes! Fuck me, Geoff!”

The way he was fucking her, it was as if he was trying to pound the climax out of her. Staring into those fierce eyes again, Mary felt that was indeed what must happen. There was no way to stop it now, she decided, as her mouth fell open. She was howling like an animal herself now, feeling herself tighten until it felt as if she could take no more.

The climax was like a series of electric shocks to the brain. After two zaps, Mary became aware that Geoff had pulled his cock out, but she was still cumming and cumming. And so was her husband, who was pumping his cock with his hand. Huge spurts cascaded over her. This was no ordinary ejaculation, matching, if not exceeding the size of Geoff’s cock. So great was the sheer volume that he managed to cover her breasts and stomach with his semen. An endless delivery of sperm slid down her body and trickled over her cunt onto the sofa as she came and came.

Mary imagined she must have passed out, for suddenly Sandra was standing over here, and there was no sign of Geoff. Her body was still, however, awash with sperm.

“What…?” Mary began. “Where’s Geoff?”

Sandra smiled. “At work, of course.”

“I don’t understand.” Mary swung her body round to sit up, the thick spunk sliding down her skin acting as a reminder of how wonderful everything had felt. She felt a twinge in her pussy.

“Just a little loophole in the time-space continuum,” Sandra said patiently. “At least I think that’s what it is. They explained it to me once, but I never was much good at physics. Anyway, nothing to worry about. It’s all completely normal.”

Normal? There was nothing normal about this, Mary decided. Out loud she said, “So what’s the time?”

“Just after noon,” Sandra replied. When Mary said nothing, she continued. “I hope all this was to your satisfaction.”

Mary nodded. She wanted to ask if it was actually real, but the heaps of semen still slipping across her skin gave her the answer to that, even before Sandra cut in.

“It was all very real, but the only person who will remember anything about it is you.”

Mary was trying to understand, but failing.

“However, I’m obliged to tell you that the system has not yet been entirely proofed against overspill.”

“The system? Overspill?”

Sandra smiled indulgently. “Technical jargon. Don’t worry about it.”

“But I don’t understand,” Mary said.

“All you need to know,” Sandra went on, “is that your husband may retain some vestigial recollection without knowing where it’s from.”

“Meaning?”

“He might have the hots for you again.”

Sandra was smiling, and now Mary smiled too. Well that would be a bonus. Before she had time to say so, Sandra was holding out the figurine to her.

“Now, I need you to kiss this and decide who should have the benefit of having their deepest sexual desires fulfilled next.”

“But I don’t… I can’t…” Mary said.

“Just kiss it,” Sandra said. So Mary took the figurine and pressed her lips to it. No sooner had she done so before Sandra said, “Interesting!”

“What’s interesting?”

Sandra smiled. “Sam next door. Lucky for you he turned 18 five days ago or it would be against the rules.”

Mary just stared. “Sam? What rules?” It was impossible to understand any of this. She still wasn’t aware that she’d even thought of Sam, the boy next door. His father was an investment banker, and Geoff used to wind the kid up by calling him Sammo, which he hated. That was all Mary knew. Well that and that Sam probably had the pick of the girls his own age, with that air of dark self-confidence. Why had she come to think of him?

She looked to Sandra for some kind of answer, but all the woman said was, “Now I’ll leave you to get cleaned up. I wouldn’t worry about the sofa. I’m sure it’ll work itself out.”