"Have you ever cheated on Carol?"
It was the type of question that Scott was used to from his best friend Nate. They'd known each other for many years and, even if they weren't enjoying a few beers at their favorite sports bar, were comfortable asking such intimate questions.
"No," Scott replied nonchalantly. "Haven't had a reason to."
"Let me give you some reasons," Nate said, holding up his hand and pointing to fingers as he spoke. "You've been married for twenty years. You're forty years old. You're still good looking. Our office is full of eligible babes."
"I'm not interested in any of them," Scott answered.
"The hell you aren't. You watch Ellen Chandler walk past until she's out of sight. You'd probably do Cathi from Accounting on top of your desk if she let you."
Scott smiled and said, "Ah, there's the key. If she'd let me."
"I hear all you have to do is tap her on the shoulder and she starts stripping off clothes," Nate said, taking another long drink. After a pause, he asked, "So, would you prefer somebody older or younger?"
Scott shook his head in disbelief, but responded, "Younger."
"How much younger?"
"Since we're daydreaming here," Scott said, "old enough to know what sex is about, but young enough to have a body worth seeing naked."
Nate nodded. "OK, that still leaves plenty of girls at work for you. Don't you get bored having the same sex with Carol all the time?"
"I didn't know you were an expert on our sex lives, Nate. You been seeing her on the side?"
Nate knew his best friend was only needling him. There were no secrets between them.
"It was a lucky guess," Nate told him. "We're all in the same boat at this age. It's when you begin to realize you won't be young forever and time is running out on certain experiences you may want to have, if you know what I mean."
Scott knew and he said, "No thanks. I'm just fine."
"I'll send a pretty young thing your way one day and we'll see what you say then," Nate said with a nod.
Scott had answered every question honestly. He was happily married to Carol and never approached another woman with cheating on his mind. Sure, he looked at women at work the same as he did anywhere else. Some of them may have even flirted with the tall, handsome man, but Scott never wavered from his choice to stay faithful.
However, Nate had hit on a nerve that Scott would never admit to. The sex in his marriage was routine, unimaginative, and boring. The time and place it occurred was predictable. Scott and Carol believed they knew what the other liked and stuck to it without ever discussing alternatives. Carol had no idea that Scott wanted more oral sex and he was clueless about Carol's fantasy of being taken by surprise in the kitchen or family room.
A legitimate roadblock to spontaneous sex or having it anywhere other than behind their bedroom door was the presence of Angie, their eighteen year old daughter. Until she left for college—which was three months away—Scott and Carol had a natural excuse not to broaden their sexual horizons. Angie came and went at all hours of the day and night now that she had graduated from high school. She roamed the house at will and seemed to have no sense of privacy.
Part of that came from the fact that she was extremely popular in school and was used to being the center of attention. Her exceptional beauty, long blonde hair, and brains made her a favorite from the time boys first noticed such things. She was physically and emotionally mature beyond her years. Add to that a penchant for adventure and it was safe to say Angie's life was never boring.
Carol was constantly rebuking her daughter for dating older guys, but it never worked. Angie became accustomed to mingling with an older crowd than her high school cohorts, which meant she was subjected to a somewhat higher standard of social intercourse. She was being taken to fancier nightclubs with a more mature clientele. She had to grow up fast.
This all resulted in a girl who was coddled by adult friends and treated like the teenager she truly was at home. It was inevitable that the two lifestyles would eventually collide.
Carol often traveled out of town with girlfriends during the summer. It was an early Friday morning when she headed for the airport about the same time Scott was going to work. She reminded him she would be home late Monday night and Scott drove to work content in the thought of having the house much to himself, assuming Angie would be out partying late or sleeping in.
When Scott arrived home after work, he saw Angie's car and knew his 'free' time would not start until later in the evening. He tossed his briefcase onto a bar stool as usual and began to take off his tie while walking up the steps to his bedroom. The house was silent as he made his way down the hallway.
Angie's bedroom was the first on the right and Scott naturally peered inside the open doorway as he passed. He saw Angie stretched out on the bed, lying on her stomach staring at her phone, with one leg bent upward. In that split second he couldn't help but notice she wore only a t-shirt and panties.
"Hi," Scott said loudly as he passed.
"Hi, Dad," Angie answered, followed by, "Hey, Dad, come here."
Scott quickly turned and looked into her room again. Angie had rolled onto her side, facing him.
"How long is Mom going to be gone this time?" she asked.
"Until Monday night."
Scott's eyes scanned the full length of her long, lean legs, clear up to the tiny panties and beyond, to the ample cleavage visible at the top of her t-shirt.
"OK," Angie replied. "Most of my friends are gone, too. So I might be here most of the weekend."
