Jim and Natalie had been married for 6 years.
For the past 18 months Jim had been working long hours, getting his accountancy software business off the ground. He often got home late from his office, working hard to improve on his product and satisfy his slowly expanding list of clients. He could have worked from home some of the time, but he didn't want his work to impact too much on the time that he did manage to spend with Natalie.
Jim was devoted to his wife and was trying hard to provide a good lifestyle for them to build on and raise a family. He was close to sealing a deal with a major software publisher to take his accountancy product forward.
Natalie had been giving Jim a hard time recently because of the long hours he worked, she wanted to be taken out and wined and dined occasionally, as it had been when they were courting and in the early days of their marriage, she also liked to go dancing. She resented the fact that Jim was so intent on his work that they didn't really have a social life anymore and didn't even have the sort of sex life that she wanted. She knew that Jim was trying to set them up with a good living which would enable them to have a good time in the future but she wanted some fun now, and this had become a bone of contention between them.
Then a few months ago things changed at home. It seemed to Jim that it had finally dawned on Natalie that a bit of patience now would give them ample rewards later, her demeanour changed, and she became much easier to live with. Jim didn't question it, he was pleased that Natalie seemed so much happier.
At her workplace Natalie had a number of girlfriends. Her best friend Stacey was married to Ted, who often had to travel with his work.
A few of the women working with Natalie, including her best friend Stacey, had started socialising together and going out for 'girls' nights' once or twice a week. Just dinner at a nice restaurant then dancing at a local club. If they were out midweek they would usually be home by eleven, as they had to work in the morning, but if their nights out were on Fridays they would often get home later, often after midnight.
There were usually a few men at the club who danced with the girls, no more than that, just dancing. The girls had invited Natalie to join them, so she'd asked Jim if he minded her going along. When he said he had no objection she agreed to go. There were now eight women in the group including Natalie, all similar ages and good friends.
Just recently when the girls' group was at the dance club, two of the men there had spent a lot of time dancing with Natalie and Stacey and they had become very friendly. Stacey had encouraged it and had drawn Natalie in with her. Their husbands wouldn't have been happy if they'd been aware of it.
The men bought drinks for the girls, as well as dancing and generally socializing with them. Some of the dancing had become quite close between the two men and the two women. The other girls had remarked on it and even spoken to the pair about it. Stacey had said that if her husband would spend so much time away, she felt that she was entitled to some other masculine company. Most evenings when they were at the dance club, Stacey would spend some time outside with one of the men, and she'd been seen making out in his car in the car park.
Stacey had talked to Natalie about what she was doing and how it helps her to stay grounded by having some close male companionship when her husband was working away. It meant that she didn't get frustrated and take it out on Ted when he was home.
Stacey often told Natalie that she should do the same thing with the second man if Jim continued working long hours and coming home very late in the evenings. She kept pointing out that Natalie was missing out on the sexual attention she should be enjoying, because even when Jim was home he was often so tired that he just wanted to sleep.
After a while Natalie began to think that Stacey was right, she did deserve to have some fun, so she also started spending 'alone time' in the car park with her man friend. At first it was just chatting, then it became a bit of kissing and cuddling that led to making out with him in his car, where they eventually had sex. She still made sure she got home before her husband, and she was able to shower away any evidence of her cheating and be in bed when Jim got in. In this way Jim had remained unaware that anything untoward had gone on.
Then one Friday evening Jim phoned Natalie just before she went out with the girls, to say that the system he was working on was almost completed, and although he'd be working late that night he expected it would be the last late night on the project. Natalie thought she'd heard it all before and wasn't convinced.
That night the group of girls went to the club as usual. Stacey and Natalie met up with their men friends and later in the evening went outside with them.
Whilst the four of them were chatting and kissing in the car park, Stacey told them her husband was away until the following week on business, and she'd be home alone. Why didn't the four of them go back to her place for the rest of the evening? She has plenty of drinks there and they could have fun in comfort.
The two men agreed, and they and Stacey did their best to persuade Natalie that it was a good idea. "If we do this," Natalie said quietly to Stacey, "You do realise we'll end up in bed fucking properly, not just a quickie like in the car." Stacey replied that she damned well hoped so, they both deserved a bit of excitement, and their husbands would never know about it. Natalie decided that her friend was right, they deserved a good time and this was their chance to have it.
With Natalie now in agreement the two women went back into the club to get their coats and tell the other girls where they were going, swearing them to keep it a secret in case their husbands should find out. Then they went to Stacey's place in the men's cars.
Later, as the club was closing up for the night, Jim arrived outside. He'd completed his work and had decided it would be nice to surprise Natalie and pick her up from the club to take her home. As it wasn't very late it might even be nice to go for a drink together, before they went home.
As Jim arrived outside the club, he saw the other girls from the group leaving and walking towards the pick-up point for their taxis. He noticed that Natalie wasn't with them, so he stopped and asked where she was, had she already gone home or was she still inside?
The other girls, who'd been chatting together, went quiet, then one of them said, "I think she's already gone home and is dropping Stacey off on the way."
