"Let's just go home, Michael. Come on," Alice said, reaching over to run her fingers along his arm. "You know what kind of mood I'm in, I told you that when I got up this morning. I really just want to go home, get naked, share a shower, and have sex with you for about an hour or four."
"Alice," Michael said, with a sigh, "you know we can't do that. I have to meet Mark and Brenda here, I promised them that we'd have dinner with them and discuss the Symbion deal. It's a major thing, and if we don't get some of the details hashed out, we're never going to get the thing closed."
"All you ever think about is work any more," Alice said, pulling away from him and looking out the passenger side window as they drove over the bridge. She watched the lights reflecting on the water below, and saw the restaurant where they were supposed to be eating in 20 minutes. It was a huge old place that had been built directly into the side of the rocky slope that dropped down to the side of the river, with a large outside deck surrounded by small lights and ultra-fine netting to keep the bugs at bay but not block the view. There were people out on the deck dancing, but Alice knew that they would spend the whole night at some table in the back of the restaurant, where Mark and Michael would talk endlessly about the accounting department's role in the merger, the research and development reports on the new products, and how old man Winters was such a pain in the ass. Brenda would drink half a dozen whisky sours in the first 20 minutes they were there and then spend the rest of the evening pushing broccoli from one side of her plate to the other, lost in a drunken stupor, unable to have a conversation with Alice about anything other than when the waitress was bringing her next drink.
Unfortunately, Alice had woken up that morning after a particularly erotic dream, one that left her tingling in all the right places for most of the day. Granted, she'd masturbated in the shower that morning before work, hoping that it would take care of the tingle, but instead it only made it that much worse. And with Michael out of bed and off to work before her alarm clock even went off, there was no chance of a morning quickie to try and alleviate some of the desire.
Hell, it was no wonder she was having those dreams. Between her overtime for the summer season at the dress shop and his involvement with this Symbion deal, they only saw one another awake for an hour, sometimes two, in the evenings. Even weekends had been destroyed with Michael having to work on Saturdays, because when Sunday rolled around, all he wanted to do was sleep, watch sports on television, and be left alone. On the rare occasion that he was in the mood to do something, or when she begged for some attention from him, the session usually lasted 15 minutes and started to break down when one or both of them realized they'd rather just go to sleep than be bothered with pretending they were having fun.
"Honey?" Michael said, quietly. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Michael, I'm fine," Alice answered, just as quietly.
"I promise," he said, "this weekend we'll spend time together. Just the two of us. I won't go in to work tomorrow, I'll tell them I have something else I have to do. We'll go have a picnic or something nice. And I'll make up for tonight. You'll still be in the mood tomorrow, I'm sure, and we'll play a little then."
"Yeah, ok," Alice said, very noncommittally. "Whatever you want to do." Alice continued to stare out the window as they parked the car and got out, walking across the parking lot, not even holding hands the way they would have when they were first married. Instead, Michael walked a step or so in front of her, head down, silent.
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"Stevens, party of four," Michael said to the maitre d' when they got inside, and the man checked his reservation sheet.
"Oh, yes," he said, nodding. "You must be the Carpenters. I have a message for you, sir. Mister Stevens called to say that he would be a little late, and that you and Mrs. Carpenter should please take a table and have a drink while you were waiting for them. He said that he would call when he and his wife were on their way. If you'll follow me, please, I'll seat you."
"May we have a table out on the deck?" Alice asked suddenly, and Michael shot her a look of annoyance. He knew that there would be music, bright lights, and more people out there – a less-than-conducive atmosphere for talking about mergers and acquisitions and accounting and research and all the other crap that Michael and Mark would be hip-deep in this evening. But Alice was damned if she was going to sit there staring into her empty salad bowl while the men ignored her and Brenda tried not to pass out before dessert was done. At least this way she could watch the river, the people, and enjoy a little bit of the evening.
"Of course, madam. Right this way, please," the host said, leading them past a number of empty – and very silent – tables.
"What are you doing?" Michael hissed, and Alice simply smiled.
"I'm trying to not stink up this lovely restaurant," Alice answered, under her breath. "Because I'm pretty god damned sure that I will be dead from boredom before the appetizer is over and I'll be rotting by dessert."
Michael shot her a look as they moved past tables full of laughing, chatting people to a table somewhat away from the crowd but still with a good view of the river.
"Mister Stevens said that you would need a quiet table where you could discuss business," the host said, laying menus on two of the four plates at the table. "I believe this should be quiet enough for that. Is this alright?"
"It's lovely, thank you," Alice answered, before Michael could object.
"Very good, madam. Have a lovely evening, and enjoy your meal," the host said, and turned back to the main portion of the restaurant.
"Thank you," Alice said to his back, as Michael pulled out a chair and sat down, not even waiting for her or helping her with her chair.
"You're going to be a pain in my ass all night, aren't you?" Michael said, as he picked up the menu. "You're going to give me shit because I wasn't in the mood to skip a business discussion that could net us well over half a million dollars. All you care about is having me get naked and get it up so you can get a piece. Thanks, Alice. Thanks so very fucking much."
"I'm not going to be a pain in your ass, Michael. You and Mark should be able to have a perfectly fine conversation out here, and we're close enough that if Brenda gets as drunk as she usually does, when she falls over the railing, the cold water of the river will wake her right up."
"I can't believe you just said that," Michael said, staring her down. "That's just mean."
"It might be mean, but it's true. Give me a break, just figure out what you want to eat and leave me alone. Who knows, maybe I'll meet some nice guy out here who wants to dance with an old, ugly married lady."
"You aren't old, and you're not ugly," Michael said, rolling his eyes. "And I won't be baited into giving you the compliments that you're fishing for, so drop it."
They looked over the menu in silence, ordering drinks and telling the waitress that they'd wait a while before ordering food, since they were still waiting on Mark and Brenda to arrive. The waitress nodded, leaving their menus, and went back inside. After a few minutes, she came back outside with a Bloody Mary for Michael and a whiskey and cola for Alice.
