Half an hour later, the conversation had taken a lighter turn. Erica called Mac to say Emily was fine, and now asleep.
"Is Sandra still there? You could always come back for a couple of hours."
"No, I'm home now. I paid her and let her go."
More lager and wine was bought, and Will and Mac took it in turns to dance with Tabby.
Mac was holding her as a slow one started.
"Mind if I cut in?" asked Will. "This is our favourite song!"
Tabby beamed and melted into his arms. Mac grinned and stepped back with a slight bow, only to be grabbed by the blonde in the pink dress again.
Back at the table, after 'their song', Will went to the toilets. Mac was now dancing another slow one with Miss Pink. His hand was in place on the top of her buttock. Pretending to be checking text messages, Tabby took a couple of photos of them. Will returned from the Gents' and pushed a white wine in front of her.
"Get that down you and I'll get another round in."
Tabby knocked it back and then looked at the glass.
"Oh, that wasn't mine. Wrong colour lipstick."
"Erica probably left it then. Don't worry, you won't catch anything! Here's yours behind the table lamp."
Tabby drank that too, and her head started to spin slightly. She noticed the blonde in pink again and reached for her mobile. This time she zoomed in. The hand, resting on one buttock, now slid downwards. A moment later, it was squeezing her bottom tightly enough to lift the hem of her dress six inches. They turned, with the girl's back towards Tabby, who took more close ups. So, Erica was right to be suspicious; the dress was showing her panties now and Mac's hands delved under them. The girl's hand had left his shoulder and was out of sight between them. It could only be fondling his penis. Tabby put her phone camera away and got drunk.
Next morning she sent the photos to Erica's phone, attaching a quick text detailing what she'd witnessed. Erica was making coffee and Mac was still in bed. There was a flurry of texts confirming that Mac had come home in the same taxi as Tabby and Will, and had not gone out again. Erica had gone to bed early. No, Tabby did not think Mac could have slipped away long enough for sex with the blonde.
Erica was now recalling exactly what the girl in the toilets had said. The dishy tall guy might book a room to have sex with her, if he could get away from his wife. But of course he could always do that on a different night. It was unrealistic to imagine Mac would sneak off during a foursome night out; he'd do it later. Last night had just been groping and making arrangements. Erica felt stupid now. She'd been so dismissive with Tabby; her smug comment came back to haunt her. 'I trust him.' Tabby had always been a bit of a goody two shoes, and now she would be gloating.
She sat down with a coffee and wondered what she should do. Usually she'd have taken one up to Mac by now, but he could damn well come and get his own. She went out onto the rear decking and sat in a lawn chair. Had he cheated on her already? Maybe this had been going on for years. Or was this his first time? Was there a way to stop him straying? And was there any way she could find out if he had? Erica couldn't think of one. And if it had been going on for ages, how could she prove it? That in turn got her to thinking about how to go about getting a divorce.
She and Mac were well off. A straighforward fifty / fifty split seemed fair. She didn't care which one of them kept the house. Could she begin a new life on her own? Definitely. Her slight concern was custody. Mac earned more than her, but Emily was a mummy's girl, so Erica would almost certainly get custody of her. Girls usually stayed with their mums, and she was the wronged party after all. And manage on her own? Yes, she was still an attractive woman. 'There's life in the old dog yet!' she muttered under her breath.
There was Patrick, for a start, who made no attempt to hide the fact he fancied her. He worked in the same office as her at Branston's. OK, he must be fifteen years younger than her, and they had never done anything. Well, except for a grope and a passionate kiss under the mistletoe, at the last Christmas party. His flirting, and constant asking her out to lunch was all very light-hearted.
But she wasn't stupid. Beneath the joke flirting, Patrick was serious. Now she started wondering what it would be like to have sex with a younger, stronger man. Probably very vigorous. And exciting. She found she was squirming in her chair, and went in for another coffee. Mac was downstairs now, and pouring one himself.
"Well, that was fun last night. Pity you got called away. Is Emily up yet?"
"No, she usually sleeps like a dead thing after one of her dreams. Good job there's no school today. So, what did you get up to?"
"Oh, the usual you know. Took a young blonde out the back for a knee trembler. Only had time for a quick blowjob with the two darker girls. Tabby Toogood was watching most of the time!"
'And that must be how it's done.' thought Erica. 'Mix up the truth, lies, and fantasy. Make a joke of it and throw me off the scent, would you?'
"Score any cocaine?"
She might as well continue in the same vein.
"Not at the George dear. I usually go to the The Fountain for that!"
The rest of Saturday progressed normally. The three of them went shopping and had lunch at Pizza Hut. In the afternoon Mac mowed the front lawn and then had a short nap. He couldn't deal with hangovers as quickly as he had in his youth. Erica baked some bread, mostly as a distraction; plenty of time to think, while waiting for it to rise.. Emily spent a couple of hours on the phone to various friends, telling them what she'd bought in town. Mac and Erica settled in front of the tv for the evening movie.
"You ok?" he asked. "You seem quiet."
"Just thinking about Emily." she replied.
Which was partly true.
Erica found herself looking for clues on Sunday, but didn't really know where to start. She cried off going to the cinema, so Mac and Emily went on their own, which gave her the opportunity to search the whole house. He even left his mobile phone behind and she scrolled through that. There was nothing; not even a section that needed a passcode. His clothes, everything, revealed nothing untoward. Erica thought she'd better stop this and calm down. It was driving her insane. Emily was full of Disney details when they got back. She sat on Erica's lap.
"You should have come mum. It was great."
She was inclined to agree; she should have.
She couldn't bear the thought of making love with Mac just yet and put him off. By Wednesday morning he was getting irritated with her. The only conversations they seemed to have were him saying 'Is something wrong?' and her replying 'No, nothing.' Erica knew this getting ridiculous. She could end up driving him into having an affair. And it was possible he hadn't done anything. He usually left for work later than her, but today he was up early, making his own breakfast. She prepared herself for more 'What's wrong?' questions, but he ignored her.
There was a clunk from their letterbox and she walked towards the front hall. But Mac was already there and was shuffling through post. He dumped it on the hall table, except for one white envelope. She could just make out a 'Private and Personal' hand-written under the address. Mac frowned, put it in his jacket pocket, and left, leaving Erica worrying about what it could be. It was rare that either of them received a real letter. She decided to try and get a peek later. She didn't have a good morning at work, thinking about it. If he left no clues, and there was nothing on his phone, that letter could be the way he kept in contact with the blonde.
Mac was not having a good morning at work either. He sat at his desk and read the letter for the third time. The shock was not getting any easier though. He picked up the phone and dialled the number it gave him.
"Hello. This is Macintyre Davis. You wrote to say I might want to call you."
He just said 'Mm' and nodded agreement a few times, as he listened to the woman on the line. She reiterated, in detail, the letter's contents.
"When and where?" he asked, and made a note of her instructions. "Friday, the Leicester Marriot, at noon. Fine. Will she be alone?... Good. Tell her I'll buy her lunch."
Then he buzzed his secretary and queried availability of trains to Leicester. She answered almost immediately.
"East Midlands run trains from St Pancras to Leicester every 20 minutes. The journey takes just over an hour."
"Thanks June. Book me one before ten am on Friday would you please? And a taxi to get me to the station?"
"Will do."
"Thanks. Is Cameron free?"
Cameron was co-director. Cammac was their company.
"Cam, I've got a bit of a situation. It's personal, but I'll probably be in a position to tell all next week. Meanwhile I need to take Friday off and go up to Leicester."
Cam knew better than to ask any questions. They'd known each other since grammar school and if Mac said it was personal, Cam didn't need to know the details.
"All I can say at present is I must meet a young lady. Later on, I'll probably need to see her parents too."
"Take as much time as you need. You the boss!"
"Thanks mate. You the boss too!"
Their little joke.
"One last thing." said Mac. "Again, I can't tell you everything yet, so don't read too much into this."
"Go on."
"Erica has been acting very, shall we say, strange and distant. Ever since last Friday night when she was called away from our usual foursome."
"Was that when you went dancing with Will and Tabby?"
