Chapter 1 - new friends

Had Jenny been attracted to Damon from the start? Yes, she could certainly remember finding him very good looking when they first met. Jenny had been with her husband Jake for almost ten years by the time she met Damon. They had met in college and had never really wanted anyone else. They moved straight from the college dorms into a rented apartment in the city and never looked back. Jenny and Jake against the world; stuff like that made Jenny feel bad when she thought back now.

"We should start hanging out with more couples who don't have kids," Jake suggested one afternoon after a particularly painful day with a collection of their coupley friends and their collective small children running amuck. "Not that I don't love all of these little darlings!" he grumbled, pulling a crayon away from a particularly grubby looking baby who seemed determined to eat it. "There's a girl in work who has been with her husband for almost as long as us. She's quite fun. I've never met her husband, but maybe I should suggest we all do something some time?"

Jenny nodded enthusiastically. It still surprised her how hard it was to make friends as an adult. But, equally surprising, it wasn't all talk, and the following weekend, Jake's colleague Fran was coming over with her husband Damon.

"What sort of things do they like to eat?" asked Jenny, concerned. "What are they like?" She wanted to make a good impression, but it was hard when she had never even met either of them before.

"Just relax, I don't think they're that fussy," soothed Jake.

That Saturday, the doorbell rang and Jake hopped up to get it, bringing the happy couple in to the kitchen to meet Jenny, who was slaving away. It felt rude, but Jenny knew that her cheese sauce would catch any moment if she left it.

Fran was shorter and more athletic looking than her, with a pretty face under glasses that suited her perfectly. Damon on the other hand, was tall with a large frame and piercing blue eyes. He was a little stockier than Jake; which probably would've put some people off, but to Jenny, Fran had done pretty well for herself. After a hasty handshake, Jake took them off to the living room whilst Jenny finished off the cooking.

Five minutes later, in came Damon, smiling away enthusiastically. "They're already talking about work in there!" he said, shaking his head mockingly. "I'm so bored and thought you might need a hand in here. Please say you need a hand!" he implored theatrically, making Jenny chuckle. He looked around at the items that were already prepared, picking at the foil over the hot foods and marvelling. "Smells amazing!" he cried.

Jenny was grateful for the help. She'd taken on far too much this evening and was already feeling a little stressed. She set Damon to work plating up items as they came out and, although it was only a little help, things seemed to go much more smoothly after that. Whilst they worked in the kitchen, Jenny and Damon chatted fondly about favourite foods and their passion for good eats. By the time they had both served up, they already felt like firm friends.

Jenny had made far too much food. She looked at it all, realising that she and Jake would be eating it for the next week as leftovers. But, sat at the dinner table, it gave her a chance to get to know Damon's other half, Fran, better.

Pretty quickly, it was quite clear that Fran enjoyed talking about herself and after fifteen minutes of it, Jenny felt quite guilty that she found Fran rather boring. She wasn't the only one by the looks of it either; her own husband Damon was too busy picking away at all of Jenny's food to even want to contribute. He rolled his eyes theatrically at Jenny when Fran started on about their strange company policies, making Jenny want to laugh and have to take a sip of her wine in order to not do so.

Thinking back, that was probably the first time Jenny had felt aroused by Damon, watching him continue to eat well after everyone else had finished. His greedy eyes scanning from each thing left in the centre of the table and his decisive fork piecing them all in turn until it was all gone. Not a single thing left over. Jenny had never seen a man with a better appetite. Fran only seemed to notice that her husband had eaten everything when Damon finally put his fork down; she had been so busy talking about herself. She looked at Damon confused and Jenny could see that they were sharing a look that only they would understand. If Jenny had to guess though, Fran was probably feeling a little embarrassed about what a pig Damon had just made of himself in front of their new friends.

"Who's for dessert?" asked Jenny, collecting the plates. She wouldn't have seen it, had she not been up on her feet reaching over the table, but there was Fran squeezing Damon's thigh as if to warn him.

"I will, but Damon is okay thanks,' answered Fran. Jenny glanced over at Damon, who looked a little disappointed, but nodded in agreement with Fran.

Jenny could see who was boss in their house.