I’d no idea school mums were swingers until I saw party pair having sex on garden bench & I got hit on by a coked-up dad

RELAXING on the plush velvet sofa I was careful not to spill my third glass of wine. I was at a party to celebrate my friend Gina’s 50th birthday yet the vibe in the room was flirtatious and playful, a prelude to the startling events which were about to unfold. Natasha, 50, from South London, was left stunned after what she thought was a regular birthday bash was actually a swinging party (stock image) Credit: Getty When Natasha arrived, she immediately noticed the room had a flirty vibe – but only realised people were having sex when she heard stranger noises from behind a door (stock image) Credit: Getty Gina and her husband Freddie, 52, were neighbours and I had been swooning over the outside of their townhouse since we moved to the area ten years ago. Tonight was the first time I’d been inside because we were more likely to meet up at the monthly school mum get togethers at the local pub, or exchange pleasantries when I picked up my daughter Sophia, 13, from school as she was collecting her girl Sylvie, who is the same age. It was a Saturday night last December, and the house was exquisitely decorated. Gina, a full-time mum, looked sensational in a tight black midi-dress, her long, dark hair pulled up into an elaborate up-do. Freddie looked handsome in navy chinos and a linen shirt- and bore a strong resemblance to the actor Colin Firth. For years I had joked with my best friend that I fancied him a little, although my husband Sam, 51, and I barely knew him. There was free-flowing booze, the tables were laid with posh picky bits and the vibe in the room felt flirty – but I put it down to the fact that it was a ‘no kids allowed’ invite. Looking around I saw the familiar faces of couples I recognised from the school run, and by the time we arrived at 7pm, everyone seemed tipsy. I quickly latched onto the fact that Freddie, who works in theatre production, was doing cocaine – around his neck he wore a tiny spoon and he made excuses to use the loo frequently throughout the night. Sam joined me on the sofa, cradling a giant glass of red wine and looking a little rattled. I hissed: “Freddies’s doing drugs!” His eyes wide, Sam whispered: “Really? And there’s definitely something frisky going on upstairs.” He explained how he’d gone to the loo. “One of the bedroom doors is shut, with strange noises coming from behind it.” Shocked, I got the gist of what he was saying, that couples here were having sex. It soon became clear why Gina had shipped her daughter off to grandma’s house. Freddie, a man who Natasha joked she fancied to a pal, was doing cocaine at the party – and she ended up kissing him (stock image) Credit: Getty Natasha lost count of how many drinks she had because her glass kept being topped up (stock image) Credit: Getty Staggered, I started questioning what Sam thought was going on, but he squeezed my knee and said: “This wine is about 300 quid a bottle, let’s just have some fun.” It was true that Sam and I rarely went out. We’d got stuck in a rut watching endless Netflix box sets and it felt nice to be surrounded by people who were obviously up for a wild time. I helped myself to another glass of wine from the kitchen island, and got talking to a few of the mums I knew from the school gates about a new pilates studio that had opened nearby. Soon, I lost count of how many drinks I’d had because my glass kept being topped up. I went into the garden to get some air. The garden was strewn with festooned fairy lights, and Freddie was relaxing on a stylish rattan sofa. He asked me to sit. He had intensely blue eyes, and a warm charm – I could see why Gina was with him. Natasha admits her and husband Sam are stuck in a sexual rut and she loves him – but kissing another man felt amazing (stock image) Credit: Getty My mind was still reeling that the school mums I knew likely had sex with other men, says Natasha (stock image) Credit: Getty This was their second marriage and whenever I saw them they had their hands all over each other. Out of nowhere, he blurted: “Gina’s upstairs, and you might have seen a couple of other people heading up there earlier?” My ears ringing with the awkwardness of the clarification that this was in fact a swinger’s party dressed up as a birthday celebration, I swallowed and couldn’t reply. With a jolt I realised he might be testing me to see if I was into sex with people other than my husband. My mind was still reeling that the school mums I knew likely had sex with other men – all these women who seemed so ‘normal’ were swingers. Changing the subject I downed the last of my wine and remarked on how gorgeous the garden looked. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a couple at the bottom of the garden, they were kissing passionately. It was light enough to see that it was two neighbours, but they weren’t with their partners. Sharply, I looked away. “Oh don’t worry about them,” Sam laughed, sensing my shock. “Daphne’s husband is up in the bedroom too. It’s just a bit of ‘adult playtime’.” I should have got Sam and headed home, but before I knew it, Freddie was leading me down the garden. Suddenly we were holding hands as he took me inside his office nestled inside an outbuilding. I was shocked at myself for not shaking him off. Next, Freddie closed the door and we were alone – then he was kissing me.It was wrong but felt amazing, and his hand was on my thigh. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered in my ear. But I heard a noise and quickly pulled away. I should’ve felt guilty, Sam and I had been happily married for over 20 years and I’d never even thought about kissing another man, but there was something about Freddie that was enigmatic. “It’s nothing serious,” he said. “We can just have a kiss?” Natasha has socialised with these women for years but never noticed any signs they were into swinging (stock image) Credit: Getty Natasha saw one school-run couple getting frisky on a garden bench. File picture Credit: Getty I was a married 50-year-old woman with a teenage daughter. “Sorry I have to go,” I said and raced up the path, just in time to see that the couple on the bench were now clearly having sex. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so shocked, as it turns out it’s more common than I’d thought. A YouGov survey has revealed a whopping seven per cent of UK adults had experienced a consensual non-monogamous relationship, and nearly a quarter of UK adults are open to the idea. But I’m not one of them. I’ve been for nights out with the mums at this party since the children started school – eight years earlier – and I had not spotted the signs they were into swapping partners, at all. Back in the kitchen I filled a large glass with water and went to find Sam. People were coming down the stairs, a man I recognised from the school run and the woman who taught Pilates at the new studio. Trying the handle on the downstairs loo, I heard Sam’s voice inside saying: “Sorry, I’ll just be a second.” For a terrible moment I thought someone might be in there with him.But he emerged on his own, looking slightly worse for wear, a patch of red wine on his shirt. He pointed at a bowl on top of the toilet cistern: “I thought they were mints, but they’re condoms. And a woman just propositioned me.” I sobered up immediately. “We need to go, I’m not feeling good.” I said. Could I explain to him later what had happened just now? “But it’s fun, we never go out,” he said, giving me a drunken hug. But I was far too neurotic to ever become part of this swinging scene. These were people I’d see in the school car park on Monday. While I never confessed my kiss to Sam, I’d be devastated if he ever did the same. I’m glad Freddie doesn’t pick up from school because I don’t know what I’d say to him in the cold light of day. And, I still see Gina but nothing about the night has been mentioned since. Perhaps she knows I had a cheeky snog with her husband, and secretly gets a thrill just thinking about it. *All names have been changed.