"I'm sorry, honey," I said, giving my wife a guilty frown. "I just need to get a bit more done before we leave."
"What the fuck, Sam?" Silvia exclaimed, her voice sharp with agitation. "I've been driving for five hours to pick you up here in the middle of nowhere. And now I have to sit around and wait for you?"
"I'm really sorry. Just another hour. Two at the most."
Silvia raised her sunglasses up to her forehead, making sure her deep brown eyes had my full attention. "So at least three then?"
"No, probably not. I just need to complete my part so Joel and Mark can finish the script over the weekend."
I felt the guilt creeping into the back of my mind. I knew I was disappointing her, but I didn't want to stop now that I was on a flow. Going up to this cabin with my two friends and co-writers had proven to be a great idea. The three of us had been trying for ages to write a script for a TV series pilot. We had struggled before, but had a massive breakthrough over the past week, inspired by the combination of fresh air and lack of other distractions. Throughout the week, we had come up with a plot for a crime drama with enough twists and angles to make it unique. Finally, we were getting somewhere.
Silvia stared at me in silence, her jaw tense. "Fine," she said eventually. "So, what am I supposed to do while I wait for the almighty genius to finish?"
The sarcasm made me somewhat relieved. It was the silence I dreaded.
"I think Joel and Mark are going for a swim," I said, loud enough that my two friends could hear me from inside the cabin. "Maybe you could go with them?"
As if on cue, Joel and Mark emerged.
"Hello Mrs. Anderson," they greeted her, kissing her on the cheek.
Like myself, my friends were just in their board shorts. The weather had been great all week, and none of us had bothered to put a shirt on.
"We were just about to head down to the lake," Joel said. "Do you want to join us?"
"That sounds good, right honey?" I chimed in enthusiastically.
Silvia sighed "Well, we were meant to go on a tour around the wine district, remember? So I didn't exactly see any reason to pack my bikini. Now, if you had told me we were going to hang around here I..."
"Couldn't you just go in your underwear? Or if you prefer, I'm sure no one would mind if you skinny dip," I joked in an impetuous attempt to divert the attention from my shortcomings.
I regretted it straight away. Joel and Mark laughed nervously, but Silvia didn't seem amused in the slightest. She stared at me with fiery eyes, raising her finger at me. As she parted her lips, I braced myself for one of her rants. They usually included a mixture of English and Italian curses.
But instead she just lowered her finger. "Fine. I'll leave you alone." She lowered her sunglasses back to her eyes, making her expression difficult to read. "What way to the lake guys?"
Mark stroked his beard, something he often did in times of uncertainty.
"It's just down this way," Joel said hesitantly.
Without a word, Silvia turned and headed down the track towards the lake, her raven black ponytail bouncing with her stride.
"Shall I put your bag inside?" I shouted after her, trying to get back on her good side. "It's going to get stinking hot in the car."
"Yes," she said, not looking back.
The guys gave me a confused look, and I mouthed a "thank you" to them. The way I saw it, I had gotten off easy. They followed Silvia down the winding path into the surrounding forest, and I returned to my laptop.
"Now where was I?" I muttered out loud to myself.
I stared at the text I had been working on before Silvia arrived, trying my best to concentrate. But my own text no longer seemed to make sense, words just blurring into meaningless statements about a fictional innuendo I no longer cared about. The focus was gone. I had disappointed my wife, and I knew she wasn't happy with me.
Sometimes I thought she was too good for me. She couldn't have been more supportive when I decided to quit my dead-end job and pursue my lifelong dream of becoming a writer. Sure, she had a hot temper, but that was just part of what made her so enticing.
I tried to shake the distractions out of my head to focus on the script. But I couldn't even remember what the story of the pilot was anymore.
"
I'm sure no one would mind if you skinny dip.
"
My own words kept spinning in my head. I should have known better than to say stupid things like that. Sure, I had bantered along those lines in private before, teasing her to show off a bit. It was my own awkward way of letting her know just how privileged I felt to have such a sexy wife. But now I had said it in front of my friends. Surely she understood that it was just a stupid joke?
As if reading my mind, I heard my wife giggling in the distance. At least she seemed to be in a better mood already.
I tried one last time to focus on the script, but soon gave up.
"Ah, fuck it!" I said as I slammed the laptop shut. The inspiration was long gone.
Weighing my options, I decided the best thing to do was to chase after my wife and tell her that we could leave straight away. Hopefully she would forgive me and we could continue with our planned weekend of wine tasting.
I hurried down the path to catch up with Silvia and friends, making sure not to trip on the uneven ground. It seemed no one maintained the path, and it was just trampled by visitors to the cabin.
My stupid joke reappeared in my head. "
I'm sure no one would mind if you skinny dip.
" Why on earth had I said that? Surely I didn't expect my wife to go for a naked swim with my friends? And how would I react if she actually did it?
It appeared they hadn't been in much of a hurry, and I soon spotted them up ahead. They were standing near the edge of an outcrop, overlooking the panorama view of the lake and surrounding forest. I had gone there a few times during the past week with my friends, and I knew the scenery was stunning. Joel seemed to be pointing out some of the sights, and Silvia stretched her neck to look in the direction he guided her.
I found myself taking in a different sight — the enticing view of my beautiful wife. She really was a stunning woman, and I admired the curves of her ass as she leaned over to look down the cliff they were standing on. I couldn't help smirking to myself when I noticed that Mark, who was standing a bit further back from the edge, did the same.
Silvia wasn't exactly dressed for a stroll in the forest. She wore a tight black skirt, accompanied by a fashionable red blouse. Even from a distance, I could see her painted toenails sparkling in the sun. Her delicate sandals were far from the casual model my friends and I were wearing, the straps reaching up to clasp her slim ankles. They also provided some elevation under her heels, which did a great job of accentuating her slender legs, but was probably less suited for hiking rough terrain.
It was strangely thrilling to observe my wife from afar. I approached them with careful steps, hoping to get a bit closer before they turned around and spotted me.
But my plans changed as I accidentally stepped on a dry twig. Acting on instinct, I ducked behind a rock as I heard the cracking sound.
"Did you hear anything?" I heard my wife ask.
"Yeah, probably a deer or something," Joel said. "They are quite common here."
Silvia seemed to accept the answer. "OK. Shall we continue? It's getting pretty hot."
I sighed deeply at my own stupidity. What could possibly have prompted me to hide like that? My intention was to get back on my wife's good side, and now I was spying on her like some pervert. Or maybe like some obsessive and jealous husband? Was I subconsciously attempting to find out if she was actually on her way to go skinny dipping with my friends?
Either way, I had to put a stop to this foolish behavior. But on the other hand, I couldn't just jump up straight away from behind the rock — then she'd know I'd been spying on her. I couldn't risk that if I wanted to have a nice weekend with my wife. Thus, I waited until they had disappeared into the forest path again before emerging. As I followed them, I convinced myself that nothing out of the ordinary was going on. I just had to apologize to my wife and we could be on our way.
I soon heard their voices again.