My wife and I attended a fancy celebration a few weeks ago. The party was sponsored by her company, Ribald Consulting Inc, high lighting a recent accomplishment by one of the firm's older executives. It was a high priced affair, held at the ballroom of a local Hilton Hotel.
As usual at this type of event, my wife was dressed appropriately in a classic little black dress, sleeveless and short to display her lovely legs, and low cut in the front to reveal a bit of cleavage between her small breasts. I wore a plain dark blue suit, with a white shirt and tie, which seemed to be the uniform of many of the men in attendance.
We made the rounds as we entered the huge room. I have to admit I was impressed by how many people were there. It seemed there were over two hundred people there already, and more arriving every minute. I knew that Ribald Consulting was in a very lucrative business. It was clear it had grown quickly over the past year. But I never expected there would be hundreds of employees and their guests in the huge, expensively decorated ball room.
Sarah had worked for Ribald for over a decade, so I knew a few of her coworkers from past parties. We entered the party as many people greeted her and smiled in recognition. She seemed to know everyone, and as we made the rounds, Sarah introduced me to her friends from work that I didn't know. When the host of the event asked for everyone to take their seats, we took our assigned seats at a large round table near the front. As soft music played over the loud speaker we spoke with the people at our table. Most were younger than us, but they seemed friendly and soon I was having a good time chatting with people, while listening to my wife interacting with the people she knew from work.
After a delicious steak dinner, Sarah and I sat through a few boring speeches which proclaimed the honored older man's efforts in securing some lucrative contract. Once the formalities were finished, no doubt to enable the firm to write off the evenings cost as a business expense, the CEO of Sarah's firm welcomed the gathering and invited everyone to enjoy the evening dancing to the band and drinking from the free bar in the corner of the spacious room.
The band started out with a few "oldies", and I was glad of that. I was afraid they would start playing some annoying rap music. But thankfully they didn't. As the band struck up a slow song I recognized, I took my wife's hand and whispered in her ear, "Shall we dance my Dear?"
Sarah looked around to make sure we weren't the first to break the ice. Then she nodded with a smile and I escorted my attractive wife out to the floor. There were already a dozen couples dancing so we just blended in with them.
We attended events like this many times during our fourteen year marriage. My company sponsored a few parties a year, although none as sumptuous as this luxurious ballroom. With the growth of Sarah's company they were having events like this several times a year. Some were simple Department celebrations at a local Bar and Grill for Happy Hour. Others were expensive events such as this big party. Sarah considered the frequent celebrations a benefit of her employment and also a chance to network with other important people in her firm. I just tagged along and enjoyed the free food and drink.
During the evening Sarah and I were together most of the time. However there were times when she was asked to dance by other men, and she usually accepted. I didn't mind because our relationship was solid. We both knew that cheating was completely unacceptable to both of us. After discussing it early in our marriage, the subject hardly ever came up again.
I could tell that my wife was enjoying herself, and I was glad. Even in her forties my slim blonde wife had a nice figure and enjoyed dancing. She was still an attractive woman and I loved her, even if she's a bit of a flirt. I saw her flirting as harmless and always assumed she'd attract men's attention whenever we went out in public. I'm two years younger than my 42 year old wife and still in good shape. So I was never jealous of her having a good time, even if she was dancing with other men.
However later into the night, my blissful attitude was shaken a little by something I noticed. Sarah had returned from the dance floor a few minutes earlier. She was sweating a little and was sipping her wine as we both sat silently watching the dancers on the floor. It was during that silent interlude that I felt a presence emerge from the crowded floor, and advance directly to our table.
Over the loud music a tall, rather large black man walked up to us and flashed me an insolent smirk. Then he smiled at my wife and silently held out his hand as if expecting her to immediately respond to his wordless offer. I was caught a little off guard by his arrogant, annoying gesture. As I turned to my wife to ask who was this creep was, I found her gazing up at him with a weird smirk on her face.
Immediately my bull shit antennae went up. I hadn't seen that look in quite a while, but I was very familiar with it.
That "look" is supposed to be reserved for her husband, alone. I had seen it directed at me when we were first married. But early in our marriage I had noticed that "look of lust", on Sarah's face at one of the after work parties we attended. It was directed at some young guy she knew, who I later found out she was having an inappropriate relationship with.
A few weeks after that party when I caught her flashing the look of lust, I was very suspicious. That night we were at a bar and met up with her friends, and that same guy was there too. That night I noticed her drinking more than normal. When he asked her to dance, she again flashed that damn "look of lust" as he accompanied him to the floor. I watched her closely and found her dancing way too intimately with him. I pretended to drink too much and acted like I was nearly passing out as they flirted together. Later when she thought I was too drunk to notice, she snuck off with him using a back entrance. I found her in the guy's car making out with him, letting him feel up her tits. I didn't know how far they had gone, or how far she intended to go. Probably all the way I suppose. I let her continue her indecent activities and simply confronted her when she got home. I made it clear that I intended to divorce her if she didn't dump that asshole.
She shocked that I knew what she had done. She was also very apologetic and promised never to do that again. She said she loved me and that this guy was just a fun distraction, someone she knew from her past. She claimed he was just a guy she flirted with and got caught up in it, and let it go too far. She said they never had sex, that she had already dumped him and it would never happen again.
I guess I believed her. But had a difficult time forgiving her. Also the trust I had in her was definitely damaged. Our marriage was Sarah's second marriage as her short first marriage ended in divorce. This was my first time tying the knot, and I was flabbergasted she could disregard our marriage vows and behave this way. We did go to counseling, but it still took several months of therapy to get our marriage back on track.
Now that "look of lust", was back on her face, and it wasn't meant for me.
I watched helplessly as Sarah reached out her hand with that same yearning, lust filled look on her face. It wasn't exactly a smile. Her face was beaming though and her thin lips were twisted in a subtle half smile. As she gazed at him her blue eyes were twinkling. She eagerly accepted his request as she took his hand, rose from her seat, and without once looking at me left the table with him.
As I sat there feeling quite left out, the big man covetously held her hand, and with a triumphant look, escorted my star struck wife out onto the dance floor. I pulled my eyes away from them long enough to glance around the table and found the other couples just as interested as I was in what happened.
It was a very awkward moment. I glanced around for some explanation from my table mates and found that none of them wanted to make eye contact with me. The couple next to me immediately got up and went to the bar. The woman next to me suddenly pulled her husband to his feet and led him out on the dance floor. I shot a few of them questioning glances to some who were still seated, and realized very quickly that no one was going to clear up my confusion.
I felt a pang of jealousy rise up inside me, but forced it down. I tried to rationalize my feelings, telling myself that my suspicions were absurd. Sarah loved me and I loved her. She had danced with other guys all night. Other than that one mistake years ago, she had been a good, faithful wife and partner. I was positive she wouldn't do anything to jeopardize our marriage again. Surely after all these years she had learned that I would never accept any foolishness.
For a moment my jealousy subsided. I took solace in the fact that we had built a solid, loving marriage over the years. But as I watched my slender, middle aged wife dancing a fast song with her tall partner, I couldn't help noticing her adoring glances up at his dark face. Sarah is a good dancer and her slim body moving sensuously around the tall man had drawn many people's attention.
When the song ended I breathed a sigh of relief. I expected her to thank the man for the dance, as she had done all night, and return to my side and the privacy of our table. Instead as the next song came on, the man pulled my smiling wife into a close embrace for the next song was a slow, romantic one. It was obvious that neither of them had any intention of ending their dance.
I wanted to go out and interrupt them. But I eventually decided to just let this play out. Her actions proved that she cared little about my opinion. As the man held her against his body I noticed that his hands had drifted close to her buttocks, keeping her hips grinding against his. She didn't object to his embrace or wandering hands at all. On the contrary, she seemed to be enjoying herself very much. It was obvious she only had adoring eyes for her tall dance partner. I was pissed, but knew if she was doing something inappropriate again I would find out soon enough.
As the song continued, Sarah and her partner slowly drifted further into the crowded dance floor. I could no longer see them, but had suspicions that whatever they were doing wasn't something she wanted me to see. When that song ended, another slow song started right away. As I expected Sarah never came back. In fact it was five more songs before the crowded dance floor thinned out, and I saw my flushed, giggling wife, still in a tight embrace, dancing with her friend.
As I waited impatiently for her return, some of the couples at my table returned. They were still glancing sheepishly at me and acted like they were embarrassed about something.
Unable to wait, I turned to the woman next to me and asked, "Who is the tall guy that Sarah is dancing with?"
I knew the woman worked with Sarah. She looked a bit agitated at my question. She cast me what I can only describe as a look of pity, before her expression softened. Then she sighed in resignation and answered my question.
"That's Mr Jackson." The woman told me. "He's the new Assistant Director of Sales that started with the firm a few months ago."
"Jackson huh? Does he have a first name?"
"Trevon. Trevon Jackson." She answered, adding, "Sarah works for him now."
"He's her Boss?" I blurted out with surprise.
I wondered why my wife never told me about this.
"How long has she worked for him?"
"I think its been a few months." The woman said. "Probably since he started working here. He's some ex college athlete, football I think. He was sent from another office and seems to be a favorite of the CEO. Since he's been here he's taken over another department and seems to be on a fast track to upper management."
The woman then said she had to use the ladies room and excused herself. I think she just wanted to get away from me before I questioned her further.
The music was still playing, this time a fast song. When I scanned the dance floor, which had thinned out considerable, I couldn't see Sarah anywhere. Then I glanced around the room and spotted her at a table across from the dance floor, sitting at Mr Jackson's table.
She had left me alone so she could join her black friend. I was pissed. There were several other couples at the table with them. Several black men and three white, giggling females. Sarah was laughing too at some amusing story that Jackson was telling the group.
