Chapter 7

As luck would have it the next time I went to the gym Carl was there. He was waiting to use a rowing machine and was taking the opportunity to have a drink of water. I engaged him in conversation. It seemed he went three times a week on a regular basis. I made sure I was there two days later when he arrived for his evening workout. I said that I'd only just arrived too, so we went round together. After we'd showered I asked him if he fancied a drink and we ended up having a couple of beers in the bar. He seemed a likeable enough chap, perhaps a bit flash, but he did have a sense of humour too. He told me he had his own business in computer equipment. I told him that my department was in the process of upgrading and that there might be an opportunity for him. I invited him to lunch and said that I would bring someone else so that we could discuss matters more fully. We agreed to meet in a smart Italian restaurant on the following Thursday at noon. In the evening I told Kelly that I wanted to take her to lunch to thank her for her understanding when I had been so busy with the take-over. (The irony was wasted!) I knew of a very nice Italian restaurant and had already booked a table. I said I would be taking a taxi and would stop by her office on the way.

Kelly and I arrived at the restaurant twenty minutes after the appointed time. The poor punctuality was deliberate, so as to ensure that Carl would already be there. He was, and was sitting at a table with his back to the window. I ushered Kelly into the restaurant and walked up to Carl.

"Hello, Carl, so sorry we're late. Can I introduce you to my wife, Kelly! Oh! How stupid of me! I forgot, you two already know each other, don't you?" Carl's jaw dropped, his face was ashen. Kelly looked as if she was about to cry. "It's all right," I said, "I'm not about to make a scene, but I think we ought to talk."

It would have been pedantic to point out to Carl that I had invited him to lunch to discuss matters without actually specifying what those matters were. I had not got him there under false pretences, and I could not be responsible if he had jumped to the wrong conclusion. Likewise with Kelly, I had not said it was a lunch for two! Just then the waiter came up. Neither Carl, nor Kelly was in a fit state to order, so I ordered for the three of us. When he'd taken the order I resumed talking, pausing between each sentence.

"Carl, I know what's been going on between the two of you. Kelly and I have discussed it at some length and she has informed me that she would like it to continue." She actually blushed at this point. There was a longer pause. I carried on, "And so would I!" The silence was deafening. No one wanted to speak, so I continued. "I just don't want it to be behind my back, that's all." I looked at Carl, "Look, I'm not saying that the two of you cannot see each other alone," Kelly blushed again, "but occasionally, I would like to be present!" My throat was dry and my heart was pounding as I made this confession.

Kelly was the first to react. She held my hand and said, "Oh, Ben!"

It took a little while for the significance of what I had said to register with Carl. He looked around the restaurant to ensure he could not be overheard and then he spoke. He had a questioning look on his face.

"Let me get this straight. When you say that you want to be present, do you mean what I think you mean?"

"What do you think I mean?"

"That you actually want to watch?"

I nodded, "Yes. That is exactly what I mean." I could feel the lump in my throat as I waited for his reply.

"Are you taking the piss?"

"No, I'm deadly serious." There was no doubting my tone.

Carl looked at Kelly. "He is straight, isn't he?"

She nodded but her face showed her anxiety. She could see I was getting annoyed.

I spoke very deliberately. "You don't need to ask Kelly. You can ask me. Of course I'm straight, Carl. You've heard of voyeurism, haven't you? Well, being a voyeur doesn't mean you're bent. I don't suppose I'm the first husband to be turned on because his wife has been to bed with someone else."

Carl raised his hands as if to surrender. "Sorry, Ben. I wasn't casting any aspersions. It's just not what I expected we'd be discussing over lunch. And it was a bit of a shock, Kelly being with you."

Kelly was looking from one of us to the other and her relief was self-evident. Moments earlier she had been afraid that Carl and I would end up brawling in the restaurant.

"If it's any consolation, Carl, Kelly had no inkling, whatsoever, that we were meeting you for lunch and is probably just as shocked as you are. And, as far as the subject matter, we've never ever discussed such a thing before." I looked at her and she nodded in affirmation. "But now, I've put my cards on the table; you both know what I want. Whether or not I get it depends upon you two. It's your decision. And whatever you decide, there'll be no repercussions; that's a promise."

Carl let my words sink in and then he looked at Kelly. "How do you feel about it, Kelly?"

She looked first at her lover and then at me. "Well now that I've got over the shock..." There was a slight hesitancy in her voice; she was still weighing it up. "Er... I suppose it would be all right." Then she made up her mind and there was no more equivocation. "If that's what it takes to makes you happy, Ben," she smiled, "I'm prepared to do it, but I can only speak for myself. Carl has to make up his own mind."

"Well if it's okay with you, Kelly, it won't be a problem for me, that's for sure."

Kelly spoke for the two of them. The soft smile was still playing on her lips. "Well, Ben, it seems we all agree."

The waiter then arrived with our order and we commenced eating. We had a very nice Bardolino with our meal. There was far less tension now and we were even able to laugh occasionally. We ordered port with our coffees. Carl raised his glass. "I'd like to propose a toast to the three of us; 'the eternal triangle'. Or do I mean 'the equilateral triangle'?" He smiled at both of us.

Kelly, catching the mood at once, did likewise. "The Bermuda Triangle."

I wasn't about to be outdone, either. "Trafalgar Triangle!"

It was Kelly that asked the inevitable question. "Surely you mean square?"

"No, Kelly, of course not. How can you have a square triangle?"

This was getting a bit silly but it was a sign that the former tension had disappeared and that we were now at ease, hardly the case when we had first sat down. Being up front and open had helped bring about the change, but the alcohol we had consumed was also responsible for our relaxed state. In fact, we were not far from becoming as relaxed as newts. I asked the waiter for the bill.

As Kelly and I got up to leave, Carl said something about us all meeting on a Saturday night. He also told me that to pull a stunt like this, I had to have balls. Maybe I did, I thought to myself, but they weren't like his, though.

In the taxi on the way back, Kelly made it clear that she was none too happy about my subterfuge. (Isn't there a saying about people in glasshouses?) But it didn't matter, no harm had been done, and at least now everything was in the open.

That same evening the phone rang. I answered it. It was Carl and he asked if he could speak to Kelly. I suggested she take the call in the study where she could talk more freely. They must have been on the phone about fifteen minutes or so. When she returned she planted a long wet kiss on my cheek.

"He's going to come round on Saturday night. I told him he could stop over."

So, it was going to happen! My mouth was dry, and my heart was thumping as the full impact of Kelly's words began to register. I tried to speak calmly. "So what did he say to you, Kelly?"

"He just wanted to be sure that I was happy to go along with it. I told him that I was."

I kissed her. "Do you want to spend the night with him, Kelly."

"Would you mind if I did?" She was biting her lower lip.

"No. You can hardly invite him to stay and have him sleep on his own, can you?"

"Ben, you are wonderful!" She kissed me again.

Wonderful, or just a fool! My mind was in turmoil. There was, of course, intense excitement but there was real anxiety too. I was actually encouraging their relationship. Kelly was already aware of this and now, following our lunch, so too, was Carl. Kelly had said that it was just a mutual physical attraction, but there was a risk that it could become more than this. Anyway, I reasoned to myself that they would continue to see each other, with or without my sanction and irrespective of whether I was there or not. It was not too difficult to persuade myself that the pros far outweighed any cons.