physical relations only

They had consented, mutually, to physical relations only – both were already involved in emotional relations with extant partners and were happy, in their way, or at least unwilling to lose the stability they offered. They felt a very serious if wordless attraction to one another that had always felt somehow inevitable, and it was pointless to try to resist it any longer. Though neither experienced any real sense of excitement at the prospect, and if anything were rather frustrated that their bodies were backing them – as it were – into this adulterous corner, they committed themselves to the task of allocating sufficient time out of their respective schedules for what they referred to as the necessary, which they then engaged in routinely and very regularly with the no-nonsense quality of a smooth online transaction.

After weeks had passed they had unsurprisingly developed some further affection for one another as often happens after repeat acts of a physical nature, and when reason dictated a necessary end to the physical relations some days after that – for guilt was a surprisingly debilitating condition that had engulfed the both of them – both had felt great sadness, and they shook hands warmly, but not excessively so, and kissed a final time, trying to communicate everything they had never said and now never would within the structure of the kiss and failing of course.