Mary was eying up the small cakes in the coffee shop display. She already had a buttered muffin on her tray to go with the latte she had ordered, but there was a nagging desire to grab something with cream or icing as well. She was resisting because she knew it was comfort food but her resolve was weakening as she felt she needed some comfort right now.
"Honey!" Slender bare arms wrapped themselves around Mary's waist, fingers with too many rings clasped to hold her and deep red lipstick was deposited on her cheek by the woman leaning over Mary's shoulders.
It could only be one person.
"Hello Kat," Mary grunted, prising herself free from her friend's grasp.
"Oh .. naughty. No donuts unless you're going to join my aerobics class." Kat said grabbing her own tray and dumping a piece of chocolate cake on it.
"Sigh, I know. Straight to my thighs."
"Hey, why so down?"
"It's .. personal."
"Do tell." Kat grabbed a fruit juice so that she wouldn't have to wait for a coffee as Mary's had just arrived. "Okay, a quiet little booth and then you can tell."
Any other day, thought Mary, and she would have been glad to see her friend. Then she thought about it and realised that Kat was probably just who she needed. The pair took their lunches out onto the little balcony that overlooked the street and the noise of cars passing provided the privacy they needed.
"It's Geoff. He's having an affair."
"What!" Kat looked genuinely surprised. "Are you sure? How do you know?"
"Well .. it's little things .."
Kat jumped straight in. "So you've no proof."
"No. But it's lots of little things. He's spending more time at the office, he comes home tired, he .. we .. we're not making love any more. He's lost interest."
"Um, reality check." Kat frowned, knowing her friend wasn't going to like what was coming next. "You put your love life on hold, remember?"
Mary blushed. She really did tell her friend everything, all the things she was too embarrassed to tell her husband. "The infection's cleared up now, but even though I've hinted Geoff isn't interested."
"You didn't tell him about the infection, you didn't tell him why you didn't want to have sex and now you're wondering why he's not picking up hints? Mary - no wonder you're not getting shagged."
"Or he's having an affair." Mary said, stirring another spoonful of sugar into her coffee.
"If he's having an affair. Do you have a suspect?"
"Devon, his boss. She's so pretty, legs up to .."
"I know her," Kat cut in. "We met at that dinner party at your place last month."
"Oh yes. You two really got on with each other." Mary murmured. "So you know what I'm up against. She's gorgeous and she wears those slutty outfits."
"Like me?" Kat joked, then became serious again when she saw the pain clearly etched on her friend's face. "Look - proof before you worry yourself into the ground. If he's late tonight ring his number and see if he's in the office, and if he is, ring Devon's number and see if she's there too. Go through his pockets.
"We'll meet here for lunch tomorrow, and if he is having an affair .. well then we'll work on a battle plan to deal with it."
Mary smiled. She was so glad that Kat hadn't dismissed her fears out of hand.
##
Mary was even more depressed the next day as the pair took their balcony table again.
"I have proof," she said simply, and stuffed a spoonful of mud cake into her mouth.
"He was at the office with Devon. He even admitted it, made up some story about Devon asking him to stay late to help her move furniture."
"Well, suspicious but not impossible."
"So I went through his jacket pockets while he was in the shower and I found a pair of panties, red satin with black lace. Not even fresh, they needed to be washed."
Kat started to come up with possible explanations but she could see that Mary had already made up her mind so she shut up.
"What am I going to do, Kat?" Mary whispered. "I still love him but I can't compete with Devon."
"Yes you can!" Kat stated emphatically. "I promised you yesterday that we would have a battle plan and we will. As I see it you have three options; divorce, surrender or fight.
"Divorce - you gather some more evidence and take him to the cleaners .."
"No."
"Surrender - you go on being the good little wife and accept that your husband is making love to another woman."
"No."
"Then that just leaves fight. You have to compete with Devon and you have to win."
"I can't compete with Devon," Mary protested. "She's better looking than me, she has that fantastic body, the hair, the clothes .."
"You can compete. Devon isn't that much prettier than you .."
Mary had enough self-image to look hurt.
".. the hair comes out of a salon and you have a definite advantage in clothes."
"No I don't. She has all those dresses with cleavage and splits and things. I have nothing like that."
"Which is part of the problem," Kat teased her. "But you do have an advantage in clothes; Devon's limited to what she can wear to the office - you are limited to what you can wear in your house." Kat arched her eyebrows suggestively.
"You don't mean I should lounge around the house in a frilly nightie like some old tart?"
"No." Kat stated firmly, waited until Mary's tense posture relaxed, then hit her with the finisher. "I'm thinking baby-dolls, stockings, six inch heels, some lingerie that doesn't cover all access points."
Mary almost fell out of her chair. Her mouth opened, closed and opened again without her saying anything.
"Right," Kat said. "Call your work, tell them you're taking the afternoon off and then we're going shopping."
"I can't," Mary finally found the voice to protest. Kat reached into Mary's bag, took out her cell phone and easily fended the smaller woman off as she hit 2 on the speed dial.
"Hello. This is Dr. Patton. Mary can't come in to work this afternoon because of a personal problem. I would be glad to tell you what it is in detail .. very well then. Thank you."
Kat switched off the phone and smiled impishly at Mary who looked absolutely horrified.
##
"So, how'd it go? What did you wear?" Kat demanded, leaning over the table.
