I was kind of surprised Ellie could make it on short notice but we had a few drinks after work.

Being nosey, and somehow feeling like I’m kind of her mentor, I asked loads of questions about: what was it like, is he wild on the inside to make up for being quiet on the outside etc etc. Disappointingly it turns out he’s not, and their sex has been very conventional, and she says it’s not really all she hoped for, but she really likes him so it’ll have to do. That doesn’t sound like a great recipe long term.

Anyway, I told her loads of gossip. Firstly all about Russ and Alison, and she listened with a big open mouth and we wondered how many people everywhere have these secret sex lives that you’d never guess. And I had to admit that I was one of them, although she said she could have guessed that already, but then I told her about Mark and Ana, and she was completely floored. And she also said she was really jealous, not just about how much fun it sounded, but that nobody seemed possessive about each other between us. She said the idea of a threesome sounded like a load of fun but she could never stand Stephen making eyes at another woman, let alone anything else. She knew it was okay with me because we were friends, and I had to ask her if she was suggesting a threesome, and she said definitely not! Which is probably the right choice as Stephen is definitely not the type.

I said I was quite jealous that she and Stephen seemed to be going steady, because I could do with some steadiness in my life right now.

After all that we had some dinner and I was home soon after ten.