When I got up the next morning, I felt better. My ego, which had been severely beaten with the discovery of Barbara's cheating, was well on its way to healing. A beautiful woman had taken me to her bed and I had satisfied her not once, but five times, according to her unprompted testimony.
With the discovery that I was still attractive and desirable to members of the opposite sex, the pressure that had been building inside escaped. Since I could play the same game, I could take my time resolving THE PROBLEM as I now thought of it.
Wednesday I called Barbara about 6:30. After some chatter about how the project was going, I asked her about her day.
Some people who do dangerous things become addicted to the thrill or maybe the adrenaline. They will unconsciously increase the danger just to keep the thrill going. Barbara must be that way.
"Johnny must be starting to teethe. He's not sleeping regular hours and he fusses a lot. I'm probably going to spend tomorrow night at Diane's so that she can get some rest. I'll be back over here about 5:30 to shower and relax before going back. If you don't call then, please don't call me at Diane's and wake him up."
Doesn't she think that she's running this alibi into the ground? Does she want me to suspect something? Is she just trying to push and see how gullible I am? We finished talking a little while later.
Thursday morning I talked to Sandra as soon as I was in the office. "Can you leave about three this afternoon?"
"Sure, I guess so. What's up?"
"I'd like to take you to dinner tonight - in Atlanta."
"Why?"
"I think Barbara will be out on a date tonight. I'd like to take you to the same place."
"I don't want to get in the middle of some fireworks in a restaurant."
"No fireworks. I just want to have dinner at the same place. I plan to let Barbara see us."
"Won't she throw a fit?"
"What can she do? She'll be there with a guy who isn't her husband. Is she going to accuse me of cheating? What if she does? I'm taking a client to dinner. What's her excuse?"
"Okay. I've got to see this and I'll get dinner out of it."
At 6:30 we were parked across the street from the entrance to Beth's condo group. I had called earlier and talked to Barbara briefly. She reminded me that she was staying at Diane's that night. Sandra was sitting beside me in black silk slacks and a white silk blouse unbuttoned far enough to tell that she wasn't wearing a bra. With the pearls she was wearing I was almost tempted to call this off and just go to a motel with her. Then I saw Harry's car.
About fifteen minutes later Harry and Barbara left and I trailed them to a nice restaurant. The restaurant didn't seem too busy, but after ten minutes Sandra stuck her head in the door to make sure that they had been seated. She told the maitre 'd that she was looking to see if her friend had shown up yet. He let her walk around and she saw where Barbara and Harry were seated.
Sandra then went back outside and pretended to wait for me. I showed up in about a minute. When we asked for a table, we were able to ask for one in a spot where Barbara and Harry would be able to see us across the room. I sat in a chair that exposed only my back and part of my side to Barbara.
Sandra and I talked and put in our orders. "I think she's seen you," Sandra said. "She's looked over this way about three times in the last two minutes. Now, she's talking to him and he just tried to pretend to casually look over here."
Sandra continued to report on what was happening. "She's getting up. She's going towards the Ladies Room but she's taking a long way. Shift over so she can't get a good look."
I simultaneously leaned forward and moved in my chair to present more of my back to the room.
"I don't think she got a good view, not as much time as she took looking while she was walking."
When Barbara came back she took a different route but I had remained in a position where she couldn't get a good view. However, she had seen enough. They finished their dinner in about thirty minutes with no dessert or coffee. As soon as they left, I called our waiter over and gave her a handful of bills that I was sure would cover the meal and tip.
Sandra and I hurried outside just in time to see the direction that the car was going. We were lucky enough to catch up to them at the second stoplight. Then it was easy to follow them to Harry's house.
His house was at the end of a cul-de-sac and had an empty lot on one side. Behind it was another empty lot. I parked the car there.
"What are you doing," Sandra asked as I got out.
"I'm going to see what they're doing," I replied.