It had been several months since my wife Karen and her frenemy Linda had each bet their clothes on a college football game and things got out of control. Since then, every time we saw Linda and her husband Alex, the wives would start things up again, trash talking each other's alma mater and talking about another bet. Linda just couldn't let their rivalry go. Karen thought the bet would've put an end to Linda's taunting and attitude, while Linda blamed Karen for what had transpired.
Among our other friends who had been at the party, the men would occasionally ask me if I thought this kind of thing might happen again.
Their schools weren't in the same conference, so the odds of them playing against each other again that year were nil. We reached a point where it looked like each team might make it to one of the bowl games, though they wouldn't be playing against each other.
We were all at Jack's place one night, playing board games. There were three other couples there: Rick and Angela, Frank and Nancy, Alex and Linda. When Linda started in on Karen again. Jack finally lost his temper and said it was time for the two of them to put up or shut up. They asked what he meant.
"Look, ever since you two made that bet you've been a real pain to deal with and I'm pretty sure I speak for everyone when I say we're tired of it," Jack said.
The rest of us nodded in agreement. Jack suggested that Karen and Linda make another bet. Whichever of their teams gets a bowl game, the other one has to host the party as a servant. The winner would choose the costume and they would each put up a small fortune that they would forfeit if they failed to comply. Karen and Linda didn't say anything, but they both seem intrigued.
Jack said that if each of their schools were in bowl game, he would cover both bets in cash and he would host a party. While Karen and Linda's schools wouldn't play against each other, if Karen's school won and Linda's lost, Jack would pay Karen in cash and Linda would be servant for a Super Bowl party that he would throw. If Linda won and Karen lost, the situation would reverse. Either way, Jack would choose the costume that they would wear to pay off the bet, and he would set the rules.
"How much do we bet?" Karen asked without hesitating.
Linda was more reluctant and looked to her husband Alex for guidance. He thought for a moment and suggested $500.
"You really think I would go through with something like that?" Linda asked.
Karen proceeded to goad Linda about not supporting her team and noting that Linda had been talking for months about a "rematch" on their previous bet.
"If we're really going to make sure that someone honors a bet, it ought to be more than $500," I said.
The others joined in and it looked like this would really happen.
"Tell you what," Jack said. "Make it $5,000."
Linda nearly choked on her beer, noting that it was a lot of money to bet on.
"If one of you fails to honor the bet and act as our servant, you have to pay $5,000," Jack said. "I'll also make a side bet with each of you. If each of your teams makes it to a bowl game, I'll give you double or nothing if your team wins. If your team wins a bowl game, a cut you a check for $10,000. If you lose, I'll have a sexy costume for you to wear for the Super Bowl. If you renege, you cough up the $5,000."
There were plenty of mouths hanging open at this suggestion. I asked what would happen if each school makes a bowl game, but loses.
"Then we'll have two servants for the party," Jack said with a shrug. "Tell you what, if we make it that far and one of you reneges I'll give double to the other one for honoring the bet. That's $20,000."
Jack was really well-off and we knew he could cover the bet, but this was a lot to process. Jack suggested we take a break and each couple should discuss it privately before we continued.
Karen and I retreated to one of the bedrooms, but I was pretty sure we knew the answer.
"You going to go through with this, aren't you?" I asked.
"Are you kidding me?" Karen said. "If I win, I could finally put that bitch in her place. Oh, I'd love to see what kind of costume Jack would make her wear."
I asked Karen what would happen if she lost, and she replied that it would be impossible. I didn't understand, considering that she didn't follow sports and actually had no idea how good her school's team was that year.
"Well, wouldn't it be a shame if I had to wear some sort of sexy maid outfit in front of.... who knows how many people?" She said with a grin. "If anyone complains, I'm just honoring a bet."
I wasn't the least bit surprised, considering that Karen loves to show off and enjoys finding excuses to do so.
Karen and I returned to living room to find Jack sipping a beer by himself. Karen said she was going to go for it, which didn't surprise him a bit. When the others returned, Karen jumped up and got right in Linda's face.
"Do we have a bet?" Karen said as she reached out her hand.
"Look Karen, I support my school, really, but," Linda said.
Karen goaded her relentlessly, saying that Linda actually didn't support her team and if her school was as great as she claimed, she would have no problem making the bet. I was surprised when the other wives joined in, though I figured they were tired of Linda's attitude. If she backed down, maybe that would temper her for a while.
Eventually, Linda relented and shook Karen's hand as Alex gasped.
Jack, being a lawyer, suggest we set out the details of the bet on paper so that everyone was clear on the terms. He typed it out on the computer and printed it so we could all have a look. It seemed pretty straightforward, though a bit convoluted. At Jack's suggestion, we all agreed that if either school failed to make a bowl game, that would also count as a loss.
I didn't say anything, but I realized this would dramatically increase the odds that between Karen and Linda, at least one of them would lose. I started to think that Jack had plotted this whole scheme out in advance.
Jack also added a list of rules that the servants would have to follow. Jack would decide what his servants would at each moment of the party. They would have to serve food, drinks and entertain the guests. They would do his bidding without question, and failure to comply at any moment would mean a forfeit of the money.