The summer raindrops are fat, falling heavy against the windshield. Oliver is silent in the passenger seat except for offering the occasional driving direction. “This is a terrible idea,” he says.
I feel like screaming I’m just trying to fix us! over the sound of the pounding rain, over all his doubt, over the slow disease that is spreading through our marriage. But I stay silent and focused on the road. The buzz of arousal still tingles in my veins, giving me a sort of hope that I feel compelled to chase.
As I pull into the parking lot of the strip club, Oliver’s knee bounces up and down. “We didn’t bring an umbrella.” We stare out into the dark rainy night together. “We don’t have to do this. Now you’ve seen the place.”
“Let’s go.” I open the car door and make a break for it, not turning around to make sure he is following.
Inside, it smells like sharp perfume and stale beer. I squint in the dim, pulsing light. I can’t make out the faces of any of the men. They seem to merge into the walls, the booths, the barstools. But my eyes travel to each of the women in the room, each seeming lit up by their very own spotlight. The sparkle of their makeup makes them flicker.
“Which one is she?”
“We should sit down, not just stand here.”
We stop at the bar to order drinks and we take them to a velvet-covered half- circle booth with a sticky cocktail table in the center. The chill of the air- conditioning gives me goosebumps; my clothes and hair are damp from the rain outside, sticking to me. I shift in my wet jeans. I see one woman who looks different from the others, a little older and rounder, with less makeup on. Long blond hair. She wears short black shorts that hang low on her hips and a paper- thin tank top.
Oliver sees her too. “That’s her.”
“Invite her over.”
“Diana.” Oliver sounds petulant, like I’m asking him to get up and close the window even though I’m the one who is cold. “You invite her if you want to meet her so badly.” But even as he says it, he waves his hand in the air like he is ordering a drink. Amanda flashes a wide smile when she sees him.
“She’s pretty,” I say.
Oliver refuses to respond.
“Hey, you.” Amanda leans in so close to Oliver that she might be about to kiss him. But then she stops, just inches away.
“Amanda,” Oliver says, sounding so formal that Amanda might laugh if she wasn’t so frozen and confused, “this is my wife, Diana.”
Excerpt from DIRTY DIANA by Jennifer Besser and Quiet Girl Productions. Copyright © 2024
Diana Wood has a job she likes and a husband, Oliver, she loves. Together, they have a daughter they adore. She and Oliver spend so much time together, they even carpool to work in the same office. They’re in married love, which isn’t exactly the same as love love, but it’s fine.
Or is it? Is fine good enough?
Diana and Oliver haven’t had sex in months and their intimacy seems more like a memory than a reality. The cozy trappings of Diana’s life in Dallas, Texas have become ever-more confining. She is restless, growing more distant from Oliver by the day.
A trip to see an old friend in Santa Fe prompts Diana to remember the woman she used to be: an aspiring artist; someone devoted to creativity, spontaneity, sensuality. In her past—especially with Jasper, the dashing photographer with whom she once had an unforgettable love affair—Diana let herself fantasize, she let her body lead the way. She was wholly…alive.
Returning to Dallas, Diana decides to rediscover the deeply feeling woman she once was. She begins interviewing other women, painting their portraits as they speak. She encourages them to give voice to their secret desires as she captures their deepest, innermost fantasies. But is it possible for Diana to reclaim her more sensual self and maintain the marriage she committed to? What if connecting to her own desires means dissolving the safe life she’s so carefully cultivated?
Contemporary Women's Fiction [The Dial Press, On Sale: November 19, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9780593447666 / ]
Lifelong best friends Jen Besser and Shana Feste met as eleven-year-olds in California and have been collaborating ever since. Dirty Diana, first launched as a podcast starring Demi Moore, debuted at #1 on Apple, was nominated for Podcast of the Year, and won the Ambie for Best Fiction, Screenwriting. Shana is the award-winning screenwriter and director of several feature films, including Country Strong and Run Sweetheart Run. Jen is a fiction editor and publisher. They now live thousands of miles apart and talk every day. This is their debut novel.
Lifelong best friends Jen Besser and Shana Feste met as eleven-year-olds in California and have been collaborating ever since. Dirty Diana, first launched as a podcast starring Demi Moore, debuted at #1 on Apple, was nominated for Podcast of the Year, and won the Ambie for Best Fiction, Screenwriting. Shana is the award-winning screenwriter and director of several feature films, including Country Strong and Run Sweetheart Run. Jen is a fiction editor and publisher. They now live thousands of miles apart and talk every day. This is their debut novel.
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