As Steve walked into his house at 5 pm he was expecting to find his beautiful wife, Mary, getting ready to go to the mall with him to buy a new outfit for their son's high school dance the following night. Instead, she was napping on the couch.
It was a hot and steamy Tuesday in early June. Steve quietly walked over to the couch and bent down to Mary. Her eyes opened and she smiled at him. Their lips met and to his surprise she gave him a soft, alcohol infused, warm, sultry, and salty, kiss.
Steve was instantly aroused. Her lips were warm and her body was warm too, he thought, as if she had been working out in the heat.
Mary then sat up and explained.
"I'm sorry. I got home at 3:30, and laid down on the couch. I guess I fell asleep."
He was not completely surprised by the scent of alcohol. That day, as often the case, Steve was at work and pondered what plans his gorgeous, redheaded, wife had for her day, before their evening together at the mall.
At 11:15 am, he sent Mary a heart emoji and wrote, "I love you."
She responded with the same emoji and wrote back, "I love you."
Then she wrote, "I'm having a spur of the moment lunch date with Connie."
Steve thought that this was unusual as she and Connie are only friends through other friends. But he knows Mary likes to connect with a wide range of people. She does not shy away from new experiences, even with people she rarely sees or barely knows.
Besides, that previous Sunday, Steve and Mary saw Connie at the local arts festival. Mary and she chatted for a while. That meeting probably inspired the sudden lunch date, Steve thought.
However, Steve barely knew Connie. From his impression of her, she did not strike him as much of a day drinker and he could tell that Mary had had more than one drink that afternoon.
Steve, 55, and Mary, 51, had been married for 14 years. Each had prior marriages that did not end well. They were a good looking couple, but Mary, a part time lingerie model as a younger woman, was striking with her toned, near perfect, medium body, and long, flowing, red hair.
People gravitated to Mary and often seemed to want to be in her orbit. This was especially true of the men with whom she attended high school. Steve knew most of them by now. Actually, they were originally introduced by one of them, Dirk, a mutual friend. Whether she needed a handyman for household repairs, tickets for a hot show, or free legal advice, she always had a contact.
Steve had been insecure about their relationship for a while now for a variety of reasons. He even recently went out and bought her a bigger rock for her wedding ring, which she told him she appreciated, and happily showed off to her friends.
"Where did you two go for lunch?" Steve asked.
Mary responded, "We went to O'Mally's."
O'Mally's is an Irish pub, which is a familiar place to Steve, as they had been there together in the past.
"Connie even picked me up and did all the driving."
Steve thought it strange they went to a pub about seven miles away as Connie lived less than a quarter mile away and plenty of closer options were available.
Walking into the kitchen, Steve opened the fridge and saw a paper bag with a half a store bought hoagie in it. He had not seen that in the morning before leaving for work.
Time was tight. They needed to get organized and go to the mall. Steve and Mary both changed clothes. Mary put on her blue sundress and slipped into her matching blue sandals with three inch heels. She went into the bathroom and washed her face, brushed her teeth, and gargled with mouthwash before brushing her hair.
They departed for the mall, bought the outfit and window shopped before uneventfully eating dinner in the food court. When they got home, Steve turned on TV. Mary quickly fell asleep.
The next day, Wednesday, was one day before Steve's routine colonoscopy. As a result, he was on a restricted diet, could not drink alcohol, and faced an afternoon of unpleasant prep. He still had some lingering questions about what happened yesterday but was more focused on the matter at hand.
Steve's curiosity got the better of him, "Mary, what did you order at O'Mally's?"
"I had the O'Mally Special, of course."
Steve knew that because that is all she orders when they go there. Steve also knows that the sandwich is famously made on a round roll, not a hoagie roll.
Wednesday afternoon Mary had gone grocery shopping as Steve moved the laundry along between trips to the bathroom. She got home and came downstairs with her phone in hand telling Steve that she had stopped at her friend, Jacqueline's, for a drink before coming home, which Steve had already assumed.
She rather sloppily held out her phone while she told Steve a story about her visit, which he struggled to follow. He zeroed in on her phone which had recent phone calls up on her screen and saw two calls from Tommy Robbins.
"Silly me," Steve later thought as he didn't immediately put two and two together.
He thought to himself, "When would she have spoken to Tommy?"
Tommy Robbins is an Irish immigrant who works as a bartender at a high end establishment. He was Mary's first real boyfriend after high school. They worked together at a shore town bar and had quite the romance. Eventually she moved on while Tommy stayed in the business and did quite well.