“Guilty as charged. I wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“So why didn’t you come to bed?”
He sighed. “Because I was still mad and, given the last thing you’d said to me, I didn’t think you’d want your pimp in bed with you.”
She gasped, her mouth dropping open. She put her mug down on the counter and grabbed the edge for support. “What did you say?”
“I didn’t think you’d want me there.”
She glared at him and forced herself to relax. “That wasn’t what you said, not exactly.”
He moved to the other side of the breakfast bar and pulled out a stool.
“I didn’t think it wise to resume the argument at two in the morning.”
“At two o’clock I wouldn’t have. Hell, at three o’clock I thought you were sitting on the chair in the corner and I called to you to come to bed.”
He half-smiled again.
“I heard you. I left the spare room door open in case you came looking for me.”
She sighed. “I wish I had, but you should have come to me.”
“Why? My wife just called me her pimp. That was hard to take.”
“Telling me I’d probably messed your career up wasn’t easy to take, either.”
He sighed and looked down, then looked up. “Unfortunately, from each other’s perspective, both are probably true.”
“You’re not my pimp.”
“I know, but someone else might see it that way. Someone important and puritanical enough.”
“You mean Jake?”
“Not so much Jake. I think he was, if anything, also embarrassed last night. But if he says anything to his father, the head honcho, well, he’s as uptight a right-wing WASP as can be. Only, in his case the P would stand for Puritan.”
“Oh.”
“So, yeah, Houston, we may have a problem there.”
“You think your job might be on the line?”
He nodded. “Pretty much. They’re slimming down now the fracking plants are taking off. Not so much equipment needed to pump it. Don’t need so many engineers.”
“God, Max. Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged. “Because I didn’t want you to worry. Besides, I’m not the bottom man on the totem pole, so there were others who’d get cut long before me. Now…”
“Why was he staying at the Marriot? I thought he’d be at the Excelsior where we were having dinner. If I’d known he was staying there, I’d have made sure the girls went somewhere else. They’d have understood if I said I didn’t want to run into my husband’s boss.”
“Never gave it a thought. I thought you were going to Paco’s.”
She forced a smile, still feeling awful. “I guess both of us need to work on our communication skills.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
The conversation stalled but Julia was grateful they were at least talking to each other again—that was a good sign.
A few minutes of silence followed and then Max spoke up. “Listen, what I said about breaking the marriage vows…”
She looked up at him. That particular barb had bitten deep and had sparked her furious pimp retort.
“…I didn’t mean it. As far as I’m concerned, you never have broken your vows.”
“But…”
“No buts. I mean that. To me, what we do is for fun, and doesn’t affect the marriage at all.”
“It’s not fun if it threatens your career.”
“There are always pavements to sweep in this city.”
“Don’t go there!” She shuddered. “My salary is not enough to cover the mortgage.”
Suddenly he grinned. “What mortgage?”
“This one, the one on this house.”
He shook his head. “Whatever severance pay they come up with would clear that, so no, we would still have a roof over our heads.”
“You sure?”
“Of course. You think I’d not check that out as soon as rumors started to surface? If I had to take a lower grade job, we’d manage. We’d probably not even have to change out lifestyle much. My 401K is healthy too. So no, it wouldn’t be a financial problem.”
“Unlike our marriage.”
“Sorry?”
She looked up and sighed. “Unlike our marriage. How could you stay with me if you lost your job, you being punished for my transgressions? It couldn’t work. It would destroy us as a couple.”
They fell into an uncomfortable silence until once more Max broke it. “Hey, I forgot. I got doughnuts.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.” He trotted across the kitchen and grabbed the bag, reached in and pulled out a carton, bringing it over to the breakfast bar. “I guess neither of us has bothered with breakfast so…ta-da.”
She looked down at the thickly glazed dough rings and shuddered. “That’s gross. No way that’s breakfast.”
“Of course it is. Perfect, high carb, give you a boost to the start of the day.”
“If you’re an engineer. For an office worker it’s a good way to spread your seat over more of your chair.”
He smiled and grabbed the chocolate one with the sprinkles on top.
“Get a plate.”
“Nope. Best way.”
She shuddered again but had to admit they did look tempting. Against her better judgement, she reached into the box and broke a pink iced one in half and started to eat the half.
In the end, she managed to eat two of them, and Max had no trouble eating three. One left, white icing over cinnamon, but she pushed it away and Max refused too. She waved her sticky fingers at him and he disappeared into the downstairs cloak and came back with the washcloth. She’d been doing a lot of thinking while they ate the sticky, sugary breakfast. Now she reached a decision. As he resumed his seat, she rose from hers and walked around the end of the breakfast bar toward him. As she approached, he rotated his stool so he was facing her. She came to a stop as her legs brushed up against his thighs. As he was sitting down, they were just about the same height.
“Max.”
“Yes?”
She smiled, almost shyly, and put her hand on his knee. “If we’re going to get past last night, then we need to do something.”
“Oh, what?”
She could see the way he was thinking but that wasn’t what she meant. Still, it felt like a small victory for him to be thinking that way.
“If you’re going to be punished for my indiscretion, then it’s only fair that I get punished too.”
“Punished?”
“Yeah.”
“What kind of punishment?”
Julia shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you make me take my three favorite dresses out of the wardrobe, cut them to shreds and then burn them in the incinerator.”
“That’s harsh.”
“So’s messing with your career.”
“Try something else.”
“Maybe you keep my car keys for a month so I have to take the bus.”
“You hate the bus.”
“Exactly.”
“The last time you caught the bus because your car was off the road for a service, it took you over an hour and a half to get home.”
“That would make it a punishment then, wouldn’t it?”
“It would punish me too, worrying about you.”
She tried to choke back a sob but, from the look on Max’s face, some part of it escaped.
“Calm down, honey. You’re over-dramatizing.”
“No, I’m not. What I did was wrong.”
“No, it was an honest mistake.”
“Which costs us. So punish me.”
“I don’t think disposing of your wardrobe is a punishment. It would simply give you room to buy more dresses.”
“I wouldn’t!”
His arms wrapped around her and his legs parted as he pulled her close. Being right there at that moment felt like heaven to her and she felt like she could melt; meld to him for ever.
“
Look, honey, I can’t see any way I can punish you like that.”
“Find a way. I mean it.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked into his eyes. All the hurt and anger of the day before was gone. All she could see in the depths there was his overwhelming love for her. She sobbed for real and quickly dropped her head to his chest.
Max held her, letting her cry it out for several minutes and then, when she pushed against his chest, he let her up and she dashed into the washroom to try and repair her tear-ravaged face. She’d always hated him to see the aftermath. Not that she cried that often. He was still sitting there when she returned.
He held his arms out and she almost skipped as she ran across the room, wrapping her arms around him and pushing herself against him. The stool rocked and, laughing at his expression, she kissed the end of his nose.
“I love you.”
“I love you too, honey.”
“But I still feel I should be punished.”
He shook his head. “No.”
“Yes. I mean it.”
“How?”
“I don’t know. You find something appropriate.”
Max just looked at her for a minute then slowly nodded. “Okay, if that’s what you want, but I’ll pick when and where.”
She smiled.
“Good. Now that’s out of the way, there’s something else I need to do.”
“What’s that?” She’d been aware his erection had been forming since she’d grabbed hold of him, crushing her body to his.
“What I want to do…is…my wife in bed…now.”
She hugged him tighter. “Oh, please, yes.”
* * * *
Nothing more had been said throughout the day and Julia was torn by that. Part of her was content that their happiness together had been reaffirmed, but part of her was a little apprehensive about exactly what her husband had meant about her punishment being delivered when and where he wanted. She felt like she’d given him too much power. Whatever he came up with would be, no doubt, appropriate.
Her thought must have reflected in her face as she met Josie for lunch on Monday.
“What’s up, girlfriend?”
Julia sighed. “You don’t want to know.”
“Spill. Don’t mope on me.”
“Well, you know Max and I were going to have dinner with his new boss on Saturday night?”
“Which is why you weren’t drinking on Friday night. So, how did it go? Don’t keep me in suspenders.”
Julia chuckled. It was another of their in-jokes. Josie would wear stockings but only hold-ups, never garters—she hated them. Julia, on the other hand, preferred them to the elasticated hold-ups.
“It was bad, I mean really bad…awful.”
“Why, what happened?”
“You remember Friday night?”
“Oh, yeah…!”
“I guess you enjoyed yourself with Tod.”
“Ted. His name was Ted. But, yeah, he was good. What’s that got to do with it?”
“Max’s new boss is called Jake and he was staying at the Marriot.”
“Jake…Jake…”
Julia watched as realization dawned in her friend’s eyes.
“Jake, Ted’s mate, is Max’s new boss. And you fucked him?”
Heads swiveled in the coffee shop as Julia tried to get Josie to lower her voice. She waited until people looked away again.
“No, I didn’t. Thankfully.”
“Oh, so you’re in shit because you didn’t. Maybe you should have, girlfriend.”
“Don’t go there. No, I’m in deep doo-doos because Jake’s father is the head honcho and he’s a Puritan and Jake heard you talking about everything I get up to.”
“Shit!”
“Yeah.”
“Fuck, honey, I’m sorry. That must have been embarrassing.”
“It was more than embarrassing. He recognized me straight away and seeing as he knew Max knew…well, he mentioned it.”
“So Max knows his new boss knows that his wife can be a slut when she wants to be?”
“Don’t put it like that.”
She shrugged. “True, though, Julia, if you look at from Jake’s eyes.”
Julia felt her shoulders slump. “Max’s place is cutting back. He’s worried this might put him in the firing line.”
“That’s a fucking crime. He’s the best they’ve got.”
“I know that, he knows that, but if Mister-fucking-Puritan Redonla gets hold of the fact I’m prepared to step out in the right circumstances, then he’s toast. And it’ll all be my fault.”
“Shit!”
“Too right.”
“Look, I’m sorry if I made it worse.”
Julia patted her friend on the hand. “Not your fault.”
“So what’s he going to do?”
“I don’t know, I really don’t.”
“But you two are talking to each other, right?”
Julia managed a weak smile, knowing she hadn’t really fooled her friend. “Yeah, we’re talking… I guess we stopped shouting relatively quickly. Although I have told him he should punish me, somehow.”
“Punish you? What the hell do you mean?”
“I don’t know. I suggested throwing some of my clothes away, or even my favorite heels.”
“What makes you think he wouldn’t choose something kinky?”
“Max. No.” She giggled. “He told me he wouldn’t spank me because I’d enjoy it too much.”
Josie just shook her head and then rose to her feet—it was time to get back to work.
* * * *
Julia took one look at the black suitcase standing packed and ready just inside the front door, dropped her purse, and screamed.
Max was there in seconds.
“What’s wrong? Honey? What’s wrong?”
She worked her mouth but nothing came out. He grabbed her, pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. She tried to get her heart to slow down. She felt sick, too hot, and her vision seemed to cloud.
“What the hell is wrong? Talk to me or I’m calling nine-one-one.”
She couldn’t speak, just raised her hand and pointed a very shaky finger toward the case sitting against the wall.
“Wha…?” After a moment, understanding seemed to dawn in his eyes and he held her at arm’s length. “Stop it, stop it right now! I…I…am…not…leaving…you.”
She gasped in relief and grabbed hold of him once more.
“You scared the shit out of me screaming like that. Did you honestly think I was leaving?”
“I didn’t know what to think.” She bit back a sob and looked up into his face.
“Honestly, you’re an idiot. A total idiot.”
“Then…why the case?”
“Because I found out at four o’clock that Jake wants me on the eight o’clock flight back to head office with him. Tonight. I’ll be back Wednesday.”
“Oh. Why?”
“He wouldn’t say. Did you really think so little of me that I’d run out on you without saying anything?”
She stifled another sob and shook her head. “No. I guess not. I just…”
“Didn’t think.”
“Sorry.”
“I’ve been home an hour, got the dinner on, had a shower, and got packed. Not bad for me, that?”
She smiled. “No, not bad.”
“That means you’ve got twenty minutes to shower before dinner’s ready, and once we’ve eaten we’ve got about thirty minutes for…other things…and then the taxi will be here.”
She could feel her cheeks flush as she smiled. It wasn’t embarrassment. “Sounds like a plan.”
“Silly girl.”
“Sorry.”
“Maybe I should spank you for being silly.”
She pressed herself against him. “Sounds like a punishment you might enjoy giving.”
“You mean one you’d enjoy receiving.”
* * * *
Monday night and then Tue
sday without Max at home felt even worse than most times he was away, but at least it was a short trip. He claimed not to know why they wanted him on the East Coast, but she wasn’t sure if she should believe him. He’d texted to confirm safe arrival, and again on Tuesday to say he loved her but was too busy to ring, and not to worry.
At least the texts helped to calm her but she slept so little she felt like a zombie on Wednesday morning. At least Simon took pity on her and let her leave early to pick Max up at the airport.
She threw her arms around his neck as she ran up to him as he exited the terminal. “Welcome home, darling.”
He tried to hold her too, but he had his case in one hand and his laptop bag in the other. “Glad to be home too, honey.” She kissed him hard, oblivious to the stares from the people passing them. A security guard coughed and looked meaningfully at her car parked in the short stay restricted zone and she nodded to him as she grabbed Max’s arm, leading him to the car.
“So how was the trip?” She powered out of the parking bay and headed for the loop road.
“It was good.”
“Yeah? So…do…do you still have your job?”
He laughed. “Yes, I still have a job.”
Relief rushed through her as she tried to concentrate on the road. The main reason she’d been unable to sleep was for worrying that her indiscretion on Friday night had destroyed his career, let alone his job.
“When we get home…”
“When we get home, I want a shower.”
She chuckled. “Maybe I’ll join you.”
“Honey. I’ve just had a long flight, following two grueling days. Let me relax, okay? Let me shower alone.”
She pouted but nodded.
“I take it you’ve not been home yet.”
“No.”
“Then let’s order in. Pizza sound good to you?”
“Sure. Are you trying to fatten me up? Doughnuts for breakfast Sunday, lasagna on Monday, and pizza today.”
“No. I just fancy pizza. We can both starve tomorrow to make up for it.”
* * * *
When they got home, he showered while she ordered the pizza, and as soon as he was dressed again, she showered while he waited for the delivery. It arrived just as she wrapped a towel around her head and she slipped on her silk robe and went downstairs to eat.
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