Many thanks to Charlie, who helped me with suggestions and editing.
*****
My marriage reflected the classical picture of a happy marriage. It was pretty much the same as every other couple around the world it was for the want of a better word average. My wife Miranda and I had been married for about 16 years, Miranda being 38 and I 40 years of age. We had two children both girls one 10 and 12.
Miranda works as a dentist's receptionist at the local dental surgery in town.
I am a carpenter by trade, and run my own business which I run from our home. The workshop and storeroom sits behind our garage. Financially we were OK. Not wealthy but we were getting by. The bank still owned at least half of our home.
We live in a little seaside community of about 20 houses. It's a suburb of a nearby town of about 20,000 people. It wasn't a village as such it was more just a collection of houses. The sections were large offering great privacy and incredible vistas of the coastline. Our place in particular sits atop a high grassy outcrop that has perhaps the best outlook of the whole group. The views of the beach and the coast are nothing short of magnificent.
We had been living in our place for about eight years. It was a rundown wreck when we brought it, but over time have remodelled and renovated until it is probably the best house in our little enclave.
If asked about my marriage I would describe it as the best thing that ever happened to me. Before meeting my wife I was a little bit wild and always managed to find a way to get myself in trouble. Miranda was a steadying influence and gave me a Feeling responsibility. I now had someone to build a life with. Miranda and I met at the local college. At the time I was taking an adult night class in design and Miranda was taking a business management class. We met, dated, fell in love and married. The rest as they say is history.
Our lives have centred around the kids. Both girls are talented netball players and both have made their respective age group representative teams. Both were excelling as students as well. So between school and sport the kids take up a huge portion of our spare time. We always go to their games and school activities.
Our lives seemed blissful well to me at least. Our little community was really tight. All the families got together once a month to socialise laugh, dance and just have a good time. We rotated the venue, each family holding the get together at their home by way of an informal roster. We all got along so well that it worked out great. There were other kids in the group the same age as our two. In fact our daughter's best friends were amongst the crowd. Some of the other families were our own age as well. The group was entirely made up of married couples and families. That changed when a single guy moved in a couple of doors up from us. He had just moved into the area having taken up a position with the local District Council, as the district planning engineer. He was a really fit young guy about 28 or so. He was always cycling, surfing or running. His truck always had a surfboard strapped on the roof.
When he moved in Miranda and a couple of the other wives invited him along to the regular monthly bash.
He seemed a likeable guy, friendly and outgoing. The only thing I didn't like was Miranda was like a star struck teenager around him. She fawned over him, running after him like a little schoolgirl with her first crush. It was Brad this, or Brad that she was smitten by him. It drove me to distraction.
Miranda is a very attractive woman not a stereotypical sex bomb or model. But she is one of those fortunate creatures who doesn't have to try too hard. She never seemed to go overboard with makeup or revealing clothes, but what she did wear was always fashionable and chic. Lately though she seemed to have slipped into a little funk. Not depressed but maybe disillusioned with life. I put it down to the approach of the big 40.
Brads arrival on the scene seemed to fire her up that's for sure. She brightened and smiled when he was around. Suddenly she was getting dressed up for our social gatherings. She became alive, bright and luminous especially when Brad was part of the gathering.
I teased her about her new crush but she just fobbed me off complaining I needed to grow up!!
That didn't stop her from inviting him to every event we had. He spent more time at our place than he did at his own. Miranda would spend ages in front of the mirror picking out her outfit. She was trying not to be too obvious but I picked up on it. She didn't go for revealing sexy clothes but she always picked the sexier ones from her collection. It should have pissed me off but I was able to see why she was attracted to him, he was young fit and a bit of a charmer. I could see why women found him attractive. He didn't help the situation whenever he was around Miranda he complemented her all the time; he always seemed to notice she had just got her hair restyled, even although I missed it!!
He never failed to tell her how pretty she looked. She was enjoying being made to feel special. Probably something I should have been doing.
In the end it got a bit much and I had a whinge to Miranda about it. She protested that all she was doing was trying to make him feel welcome as he didn't know anybody in the area and he was all alone. I didn't see the point in arguing about it I decided to just accept the upside which was Miranda was taking extra special care of herself and looked better than she had in years. The other plus was she had become extra loving in the bedroom.
Miranda's improved spirits flowed into our everyday lives. She took up running again and was out pounding the pavement everyday rain or shine. She was just happier and you know what they say happy wife happy life.
So with the upsides I put up with having Brad hanging around all the time. He had somehow managed to ingratiate himself into our family; it was like he was part of the furniture. The girls were as bad as Miranda they both ran after him; they definitely had a crush on him. They were always giggling and gossiping about him.
I didn't mind having him around the place he was a likeable guy. He seemed polite and respectful.
The one thing that pissed me off was Miranda constantly talked about him and what he was doing. We couldn't have a conversation or a family meal without Brads name being the main topic of the conversation. It was Brad was doing this, or Brad was going here or there. It was suddenly like he was the centre of our universe or something. The girls were infatuated, as was Miranda. He was the main topic of conversation all the time. We couldn't have friends over without inviting him as well. If we were having something as simple as a family barbeque there was Brad.
Even with all the positives it was starting to wear a bit thin with me, the only saving grace was the improvements in Miranda's moods and the huge upswing in our sex life.
So it was at one of our family barbeques when Brad complained that he had to go to the mayor's ball in a week or so.
The moment he mentioned it Miranda gasped, "Wow that should be awesome. It's one of the social highlights of the year." He moaned that it wasn't really his scene, but he had to go. He had been instructed by his boss, plus he griped that he didn't even have a date.
Both our daughters immediately volunteered to go with him but much to their chagrin I shut them down straight away. They both sulked and Brad laughed apologising, "Sorry girls!"
Bridgette our eldest then piped up with her bright idea, "Mum why don't you go?? You know you love to dance; you have always said you wanted to go to the ball!"
Brad grinned broadly, "Wow would you Miranda that would be awesome."
Miranda looked at me and stuttered, "uuuummmmm that's not really a good idea girls I don't think it's appropriate for a married woman to be a young man's date."
Bridgette blustered, "Don't be silly mum, it's only a date."
Miranda looked across at me, and I could see by the look in her eye that she wanted to go. She does love dancing and yes she has said at least a million times she would love to go to these types of functions.
Brad looked across at me, "You wouldn't mind would you Gordon?"
I was trapped, if I complained I would look petty. "I suppose it would be OK if Miranda wants to go of course."
Miranda face brightened and she smiled, "Really Gordy you wouldn't mind?"
