Sherri Wynn left the country club two hours late. She told her husband, Bill, that she would be back at eight. It was ten o'clock when she got behind the wheel. She had two more gin and tonics than she told her husband she would have.
She didn't care. She was having fun gossiping with her girlfriends and flirting with the college age sons of the rich men who were members there. Bill would probably have fallen asleep in front of the television by now. She could make it look like she was only 30 minutes late.
Her husband hated the country club. He only joined for professional reasons. It was good to play golf with clients and to be seen playing golf by partners at his firm. The truth was he hated golf. He was an introvert. Sherri was not. She was a social person, and she loved to spend time at the club. Staying two hours later than she told Bill was her way of declaring independence.
The only problem with the club was that you had to drive over poorly lit and unmarked roads to get there. It was kind of out of the way. But Sherri wasn't paying much attention as she drove home. She was thinking about those dreamy college boys and their shyness around older women.
And then, in the space of a maybe ten seconds, things started to happen. First, she noticed that she was lost. Then, she realized she was driving on the wrong side of the road. Her car had drifted into the left lane, only it wasn't a lane because the road wasn't marked. Third, there were colored lights in her rear view mirror. A cop was pulling her over. The following thoughts raced through her mind as she slowed her car down and parked it on the right shoulder:
One. Bill, her husband, would be extremely angry at her.
Two. She had two recent violations: speeding and making an illegal left hand turn. She wasn't sure but she was pretty sure that a third ticket meant they would take her license away.
Three. If she didn't have a license then she couldn't drive the kids to school. Bill would have to do it, making him late for work. He would be very mad.
Four. The gin and tonics! She had finished four of them. Most likely, she was legally blitzed. That's not a ticket, or a suspended license. That's jail. Bill would be- she could not complete the thought.
Five. There had to be a way out of this.
Sherri had the ability to distance herself from any situation she was in. Her friend Melanie had taught her a trick years ago. When something is so scary or confusing or chaotic that you can't even think, don't try to repress it or stifle the thought, that won't work. Instead visualize it as "over there." Near where you are, but not on top of you. Instead, in the next room, or around the corner.
It was just a way of tricking your mind but she found that it worked. As the cop got out of his car she took numbers 1-4 and mentally placed them on the side of the road, just beyond her headlights, in the tall grass she could barely see. "Over there." She focused on number five. There had to be a way out of this.
Instantly, she relaxed a little. The cop was coming toward her. She was rolling down her window. By the time he got there, she had the beginning of a plan.
Sherri Wynn was an attractive woman, 38 years old, a brunette with long curly hair that always looked a bit wild, suggesting a woman that might be a bit unrestrained herself. She was voluptuous but not fat. And she filled a 38 F bra. She had been a D cup in the ninth grade and a 36 DD in college. She knew a lot about distracting men from their tasks.
The first thing she did when her car stopped was undo the seat belt. Then she tucked her white blouse in so that it stretched itself smoothly over her boobs. Then she undid a button, so that from the angle the cop would be at he could see a lot. Then she straightened her back and sat up in her seat. Then she smiled and waited for the words she anticipated.
"License. Registration. Proof of insurance, please."
Here's where Bill was a great husband. He had everything organized in the glove compartment.
"The registration and insurance," Sherri said, handing them to the cop. A few seconds later she produced her license from the wallet in her purse. Then she waited. In her mind's eye she was picturing the view he had as he leaned in from his position standing outside the car. By her calculations he could see a generous helping of cleavage, the top of her lacy white bra and the curve of her boobs as she inhaled a little to make them stick out more.
When she was satisfied with that image, she put on her best twinkly smile and for the first time looked right at the policeman who had stopped her. He was returning her registration and insurance card to her. As she extended her right hand to retrieve them, the top of her arm pushed her right breast in toward the middle, making her cleavage pop out another inch or so. And she made sure that when her hand took the papers, their fingers touched just a little.
The county cop was younger than she thought he might be: early 30s. He looked like he might be ex-military, or a former football player. Clean cut, square jaw, barrel chest, thick, muscular forearms. He did not smile, even a little. He did not explain why he had pulled her over. "Wait here, please. Turn the engine off." Then he went back to his car, almost certainly to check her driving record.