Pauline parked the car in the garage and depressed the clicker for the doors to close. She left her high heeled shoes on the floor of the car and walked to the connecting kitchen door, her feet clad only in hose. It had been a long, long day at work. As she entered the kitchen, she was greeted by the sight and smells of her husband cooking. "Hello, gorgeous! What's cooking?"
Richard crossed the kitchen and hugged her, giving her a wet kiss. After two and a half years of marriage, Pauline learned the value of the simple things in life. Having a husband greet you with a home-cooked meal after a hard day at work was definitely a good thing in her life. Richard's cooking was delicious, even superior to most restaurants they tried. "I hope you don't mind, I've pulled out all the stops. We've got company tonight." Richard said nodding towards the hallway. Pauline's gaze lingered at the foodstuffs spread out on the kitchen island, for just a dreamy moment, before she looked to the hall. In the doorway to the kitchen stood her nemesis, Mark.
Pauline merely stared at the smiling face of her husband's ex-boyfriend. Mark was a gorgeous guy with a great sense of humor and virtues that outweighed his flaws by a lot, but Pauline could not stand the very thought of the man. Mark and Richard had been boyfriends throughout college, each being the other's first significant romantic attachment, and worse yet, Mark had been Richard's first ever.
It wasn't the fact that Mark was gay, or that he reminded her of the fact that her husband is bi, which meant to Pauline she had twice the chance to be cheated on some day. The thing she hated about him was the shared history, the sexy and hilarious stories Richard and he recounted on the few occasions they were together. The cherry on top of that bitter cake of hate was the fact that the two of them broke up by virtue of their careers pulling them to separate coasts, rather than any kind of disagreement or indiscretion. The sad twinkle Pauline could detect in Richard's eyes whenever he thought of Mark did not help matters in the least.
Pauline greeted Mark with a smile she did not feel. They exchanged empty pleasantries for a few minutes. "What occasions the visit? Are you in town for long?" asked Pauline.
Mark swallowed the mouthful he was tasting, with an appreciative moan at Richard, before dropping the nuke. "Actually, my stay is indefinite." Pauline did her best not to show her shock as Mark continued, "The company is becoming bicoastal, opening a branch right here in town, and I've been asked to be the deputy head."
Pauline excused herself to freshen up, then shot back a brief congratulation on the apparent promotion. Upstairs she splashed cold water in her face and took a long hard look at herself in the mirror. She tried to tell herself that everything will be alright, but she couldn't make herself believe it. She and Richard had been together now for as long as he had been with Mark, but that was trumped by Mark being that first, tragic love.
She now regretted postponing having kids until they were thirty, a kid might stop Richard from leaving her, at least on paper. A divorce would net Pauline a big, empty house and a big alimony check, but it would also bring her a gaping hole in the heart. The things didn't matter to her if she was to be alone. Stripping Richard of all his possessions and dignity would bring her little to no comfort. Pauline suppressed her panic and dismissed those dark thoughts of divorce.
Her imagination was just running amok for a spell and she looked at the positive side. She was married to Richard, and she just had to stay that way. Mark was here to stay, and the fight for Richard's affections had apparently begun. "Well," thought Pauline, "the first round is on MY turf." Pauline rushed into the bedroom and pawed through the wardrobes. She never changed clothes so quickly in her life. Her makeup was deftly adjusted in record time. With a last look at the full length mirror, she came down the stairs just as Richard was about to call her down for dinner.
The looks on both the boys' faces told her she nailed the 'this is how I look at home, when I'm dressed for comfort and not trying to look hot, yet wind up looking spectacular all the same' look. "Fifteen, love." thought Pauline as Richard pulled out her chair for her. The dinner was excellent, but Pauline concentrated on the conversation. She thought of it as a verbal battlefield and countered each story of Mark and Richard's past with one that extolled the virtues of married life, and building a life together.
Mark started agreeing with her sentiment, and then bemoaned the fact that, because most people could marry freely and build a future as a couple, they never understood the plight of those that were not allowed to. Richard agreed heartily.
"Fifteen all." counted Pauline to herself, and steered the conversation to lighter topics. The wine was flowing freely and they were opening the third bottle just after dessert. Pauline skipped off to the kitchen to make coffee and returned to find the men on the couch, Richard's hand on Mark's knee. She choked down her anger and remembered the old adage: "You catch more flies with honey than vinegar." She poured the coffee bending down at the waist, giving the boys a good view of her cleavage. A view, she noted, even Mark took in. Then she planted her tight, supple buttocks in Richard's lap. She knew that drove him wild. She leaned back on Richard and sipped her coffee as relaxed as if she was sitting in the empty armchair opposite. Richard put his hands in her lap. "Thirty, fifteen." was Pauline's smug thought as she put her head back on Richard's shoulder with a cuddly moan.
