Janet stopped and stared at her husband Dave. For a moment she thought he was going to strike her, it was something he had never done but the thought passed her mind briefly.
The look in his eyes was intense, he had both hands on her shoulders, holding her back slightly. She saw the mixture of anger, but there was something else.
_
All the way home Janet had been torn with how to tell Dave the truth, how to explain what she had done. The thought of blaming her period of depression, her decision to not take the medication the physician had prescribed crossed her mind.
She just could not, the decision had been her own. When the tall man named Randy had asked her for a dance that time more than a year earlier, then begun his rather obvious attempts at seduction, even now she had no idea of why she had not just cut him short.
The man was quite skilled at it though, every comment, every single mannerism, every tip of the head and every touch was blended to perfection with one goal in mind.
She knew that from the outset, and had responded anyway. Even from those totally innocent very first dances, she had responded mildly, his comments made her feel warm and happy.
But he had gotten exactly nowhere that time.
When Randy had walked her back to their table, Dave was sitting there looking at her with a smile.
Dave had never even really noticed the man, he had instead watched his wife and how beautiful she looked out on the dance floor. She was smiling and laughing, her motions graceful, just seeing her like that had excited him, it always did.
His expression was enough, she recognized that. She had felt her loins flush. Forgotten instantly was the man she had danced with, she was flooded with love for her husband. She and Dave left quickly, barely made it to the car. They had made love there in the parking lot in the back seat, hidden in the darkness, delighting in each other, in the nearly obscene naughtiness of the moment. The condom was forgotten.
Then nine months later little Sarah was born, the result of a beautiful moment between lovers, mates. Sarah was a completely unintentional but welcome child.
All the plans they had so carefully made, all of the things they wanted to do, to see? So close before, now those were set aside, little Sarah was their world now and took all of their attention.
But that horrible mood swung over her mind again, like a bank of darkened clouds sweeping in off the ocean.
Running into Randy the second time had been pure chance, it had been over a year, and she had never even thought of him. He had been a man she had danced with, that was all.
She left the class reunion early, feeling all alone without her husband there, stopped on impulse at the night club that she and Dave went to sometimes. Her only intention was to sit and think, sip a drink. She knew she had been neglecting her husband and family, and wanted a solution. But the dark clouds hung over her and seemed to stay there.
That Friday before, Dave had planned to take her out for a fancy dinner, some dancing. Janet loved that, she loved to dress up in pretty conservative outfits, and have her husband twirl her across the floor. Saturday, the next evening was her class reunion, Janet had looked forward to that for weeks. She would get to show off her fine man to all of the people she had gone to school with. She had been a bit of a wall flower in high school, not overlooked really but often looked past?
Now she was married to a fine handsome man. Successful, with three beautiful children. Her life was perfect, except for the periods following each one's arrival. After the first two she had struggled with that for a few weeks, then it had all passed.
This time it had gone on and on for months, until finally she and Dave had gone to see the Doctor. He had a name for it, Postpartum depression he called it. Medicine, pills, was what he had prescribed.
Those helped some but made her feel dull. She had decided to quit taking them, and just tough it out until she felt better on her own.
In the long decade and a half of marriage, and the idea of having an affair had never really crossed her mind. Of course she had met other men, and she found some interesting, attractive. She knew her husband Dave also found some other women attractive too, things like that just did not bother her one bit.
That was all normal. Perfectly normal.
When Randy stepped up to her to say hello, she was happy to see him, she remembered him, the brief dances. Sitting all alone, engrossed in her own thoughts was not helping.
She waved towards the seat next to her when he asked if he could join her.
He was very polite, and he managed to make her laugh. It felt good to laugh. They had a nice long visit, all perfectly innocent, he even bought her several drinks. He did ask for her phone number, and not thinking Janet gave it to him, her thought was simply that they might chat some more if he called.
Then Janet went home, she was wondering about her husband Dave and when he would be back. She was missing him terribly, the bed felt enormous without his comforting weight by her side.
Dave was good about calling, she sat and waited by the phone the next day, willing it to ring. It was the high point of her day now when she could hear his voice. He finally did, they had a very long chat. Janet did notice he never asked about how the class reunion went, she found that odd since he knew it was important to her.
Randy called the next day, they had a long telephone visit. That was also fun, she told him all about how her husband was out of town working on an important job for his company and that he would probably be home by Tuesday.
Then came the call from Dave, telling her he was heading to Dallas. That made her miserable again. She was almost crying when Randy called later, he asked her if she would like to share a meal with him the next evening, so she thought "Why not?"
She figured Dave wouldn't mind, he knew she could be trusted and it was just going to be dinner with a friend. She called her Mom to take the kids, of course her Mother delighted in that.
She left her cell phone on all the time that next day and evening, expecting Dave to call. The telephone was her last remaining thread to her reality. She even thought of calling him, but she knew he might be underneath some huge machine and didn't want to distract him.
It was still on when Randy stopped by to pick her up. It was all very nice, and another good time. They danced more after the meal, Janet noticed that Randy held her a bit closer, his strong warm body felt good. She allowed it, unconcerned. It was innocent, just dancing.
Later in the evening, Randy asked her if she would like to see his apartment since he needed to stop and check his emails.
She agreed, knowing even then the likely thoughts in Randy's mind.
There was no real intent in her own, though. He had been a perfect gentleman, she figured that a simple NO would suffice should he make any real advances.
Just check his emails, then he would take her home. But her home was empty, no one there. She didn't want to be home all alone.
In the apartment, Randy checked his computer, then turned to her with a smile. He leaned down and lightly kissed her. She allowed that, next he was touching her.
It wasn't an intimate touch, he rested his hands gently on her hips, then stroked her back mildly as they hugged.
"Thank you for joining me for dinner." He smiled. Then he kissed her again, his lips puckered.
Janet allowed that also, even puckered her lips back but she didn't really know quite why. Finally she disengaged and walked over to where she had set her purse.
She reached into her purse and picked up her cell phone, there were no messages. She started to push the button to call Dave. She held it in her hand for a moment, then turned it off, mildly upset.
She turned back to Randy, he took her into his arms.
Everything was like watching a film after that, she felt her clothing being removed and did not resist. Then she felt his hands working at the top edge of her panty, she lifted her hips to assist him as he stripped them down and off.
Somehow she was pressed back onto the bed on top of the covers. The room was darkened, the unfamiliar body close to her was long and muscular. One hand first fondled her bare breast, then it slid downward and cupped her between her legs.
Janet realized that Randy was completely naked also, she had no idea of when or how he had undressed.
