We were sitting at the dining room Table. We had just finished dinner when she sprung it on me.

“John Carter asked me to have dinner with him tomorrow. He’s been real upset since his mother died and I thought a night of dinner and dancing might cheer him up.”

I looked at her stunned.

“What the hell Darlene! Have you lost your mind?”

“Oh don’t be so dramatic Bill. It isn’t going to hurt us. I love you and you know it. I’m never going to leave you.”

“Some love! You love me so much that you are going to date another man. I’m telling you straight out Darlene I won’t stand for it. You do it and we are as good as done.”

“Horse hockey Bill. You aren’t going to throw away a twenty year marriage over my going out on a simple date. It doesn’t mean anything. All John wants is a dinner companion for the evening.”

“Bull shit Dar! He knows you’re married and the only reason John Carter wants you as his date is so he can get in your panties before the night is over.”

“You have so little faith in me that you think I’d let that happen?”

“It isn’t a matter of faith Dar. There are seven single women where you work, but he asks the married one to be his date for dinner? The asshole wants to add you to his list of conquests and he will do it by hook or by crook. I’m not going to mention her name, but at your last company Christmas party one of your single co-workers warned me to never let you be alone with John.

“According to her you are the only woman in the office he hasn’t bedded and his ego demands he make a clean sweep. You know it. I know you and the girls you work with talk about John and his activities when you stop after work for drinks. I know this because m source told me.

“What I think is going on here is a combination of John’s need to nail the only women in the office he hasn’t had and your being upset that John didn’t think you were desirable enough to go after long before now. He is determined to get you and you are determined to show him he should have come after you before getting all the single girls.

“My source also told me that two of the girls John scored think he used a date rape in order to get them. They can’t prove it, but they think he did and I know that you know it because my source tells me it is talked about when you girls get together. Knowing that and you are going to go on a date with him? The problem here is that I don’t own you and you are free to do whatever you want, but believe me when I say there will be consequences if you go through with it. Dire consequences.”

“You are doing your usual Bill; over thinking things and looking for the bad side. This won’t hurt us at all. There will probably even be a big benefit for you. I know he will try and having a young man after me will charge me up and I will come home and rock your world.”

“I’ve said my piece. You do what you want. Just make sure that before you do that you can handle the consequences.”

I got up and left the room and went into the spare bedroom that I had turned into a combination home office and den. I sat down at my desk and stared at the wall in front of me. After twenty three years with Darlene, twenty one of them married, I thought I knew all there was to know about Darlene, but apparently I was wrong.

She apparently didn’t know all about me as well. She didn’t know that I wouldn’t stand still for what she intended to do. Where she got the idea I had no backbone and she could do whatever she wanted and I would accept it I had no idea, but she was dead wrong. Something she was going to find out the next day. I decided I wasn’t going to wait and see if Darlene was going to go through with her plan. I believed in being proactive and not reactive.

I fired up the computer and played solitaire until I knew that Darlene had gone to bed and had time to fall asleep. I shut off the computer, went to the bedroom, stripped down to my briefs and got into bed, being careful not to wake Darlene.

My inner alarm clock woke at four-thirty a usual, but I didn’t go on my morning run. I dressed quietly and headed out before Darlene woke up. I hit the Village Inn for breakfast and then went into work. The company didn’t get their money’s worth from me that morning as I constantly weighed the pros and cons of what I intended to do. If it went wrong I could very well end up in the hospital or maybe even in jail, but I convinced myself that it needed to be done.

At one o’clock I entered the offices of Marcus, Durwood and Conely, said hi to Megan, the receptionist who, assuming I was there to see Darlene, waved me on back to the individual offices and cubicles. I knew the layout from the many times I’d come to take Darlene to lunch.

I walked unannounced into John Carter’s office. He looked up from his desk and it might have been my imagination, but I thought his face paled a bit. Leaving the door open and speaking in a voice loud enough to be heard outside his office I said:

“Just here to give you a warning asshole. I have no idea of what caused the brain fart to let Darlene agree to have dinner with you tonight, but you and I both know what your goal is. I’m here to let you know if you so much as kiss her on the cheek I’ll come find you and stomp you into a bloody puddle on the floor. Do you understand me?”

He stood up and said “You have no business being here and...”

I interrupted him and said “You invited me here asshole when you asked my wife for a date. Hitting on a married woman is all the invitation a husband needs to pay a visit to the asswipe who would do such a thing. Once more, so I leave absolutely no doubt in your mind, inappropriate behavior on your part toward my wife this evening and I will pay you another visit and you won’t like it at all. Are we clear?”

“I’m not afraid of you. You just might be the one left on the floor.”

“Think so? Then let’s just do it now and get it over with. Come on asswipe! Get out from behind that desk and let’s get to it.”

“This is a place of business and not a place for rowdy behavior. You need to leave.”

“I’ll go, but best you understand that I meant what I said. You cause me to come back and hiding behind that desk won’t help you.”

I turned and left his office to find Darlene and several of her co-workers standing there. I looked at Darlene and said:

“Enjoy your dinner date tonight” and I turned and left.

My next stop was to see Dale Hartmann. Dale was a fraternity brother who had gone into law and I assumed he could steer me to a private detective. I told Dale what I needed and why and then asked him for a recommendation. Hopefully one who might be available on short notice. He made three calls and then gave me the name and address of the one who said he was available that evening.

My meeting with Burt Jackson of Spenser Investigations got me just what I needed and I went back to work. My mind freed up by what I’d done over my lunch break I was able to get a lot accomplished by quitting time.

Rather than go home and microwave something for dinner I decided to stop at Duke’s Steak House for dinner. After the eight ounce sirloin with baked potato I moved to the bar and had a couple of drinks before going home. I watched TV for two hours and then I went to bed.

Darlene made enough noise when she came home that it woke me up and I rolled over and looked at the bedside clock. It was 3:49 pm. I rolled back over and pretended to be asleep and Darlene was careful to try and not wake me when she got in bed.

I was out of bed at five and went on my morning run. When I got back home Darlene was sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee. As I poured myself a cup I said:

“Up already? I would have thought given how late you got home you would be in bed until noon.”

I didn’t wait to hear her reply, I just took my cup of coffee and went out into the garage. I changed the oil in the lawn mower and then took it outside and cut the front and back lawns. Next I weeded the flower beds and deadheaded the plants that needed it.

Basically what I did was find things to keep me busy and out of the house so I didn’t have to talk to Darlene At least until I heard from Burt Jackson. He was going to call me and let me know how Darlene’s night out went.

I was washing my pickup when the call came. Burt gave me the run down on what happened from the time Darlene and Carter left work together until Darlene got home. He told me I could pick up the written report at his office on Monday and I told him to just mail it to me.

I finished washing the truck, put everything away and then went into the house. Based on Burt’s report I decided to keep my mouth shut and let Darlene say to me whatever she was going to say. I’d make no comment on it one way or the other, but it was going to be a cold weekend at Casa Billingsly. Mr. Billingsly was going to leave no doubt, absolutely none, about how he felt about Mrs. Billingsly going out with another man.

Once in the house I ignored Darlene and went up to the bedroom, showered, dressed and went back through the living room and headed for the front door.

“Where are you going?”

“Out.”

“We need to...” whatever she was going to say was cut off by the door closing behind me. I went to the Denny’s on Wilcox and had a late breakfast and as I sat there eating I thought about what I was going to do. I went over the possible outcomes and decided that I could live with whatever happened.

I went home and went into the den. I’d no sooner sat down than Darlene walked in.

“I hope you are satisfied with how you embarrassed me in the office yesterday. That was a rotten thing to do.”

“Maybe, but it wasn’t as effective as I hoped it would be. You still went out on your date with the asshole.”

“And nothing happened on it. We had dinner at the Algonquin, went dancing at the Boom Boom Room, had pie and coffee at the Waffle House and then he took me back to the office so I could pick up my car. Nothing at all happened.”

“So you say, but then I would expect that you would tell me anything else.”

“Jesus Christ Bill; over twenty years together and you don’t know me any better than to think I would go out and cheat on you?”

“I guess I don’t Dar, but that brings up the other side. You don’t know me any better after over twenty years together than to believe I would just accept you going out on a date with another man? And not just any man, but a man that you yourself know is a serial sexual predator?”

“I doubt it. I’m thinking all the stuff I’d heard from the girls was just made up stuff. He was a perfect gentleman.”

“So you say, but I’ll wait until I get the report from the private detective on Monday.”

“You didn’t! You put a private detective on me?”