A Throuple Of Things

Trying not to panic I walked out through the door to find Ed in his shirt smoking a cigarette alone. "Any idea where Helen is?" I asked a little frenzied.

"Oh yeah Sam and I walked her to your car. She was a bit worse for wear. Where the hell were you? You missed quite the show." He said with a shit eating grin on his face.

"Is she ok? What show?" I asked.

He pulled out his phone and showed me the video he took. I felt the blood run from my face as I saw a very drunk Helen dirty dancing and lifting her dress. That thong that was for my eyes only was no longer only for my eyes, and if you recall, they were pretty much non existent "Oh fuck..."

"It's not all bad. Sam and I took her away to stop her. I took the video to show you. Look I'll delete it. Not many people saw. Seriously, take her home and I'll do as much damage control as I can."

The vibe I got was that he was being honest. I was still incensed that she'd shown herself like that at my place of work but I took Ed at his word. At that very moment I would have put good money on her actually being completely serious about going to the party naked. "Send me the video before you delete it." At the car she was on the back seat, head on a rolled up jacket and a blanket over her. I felt better that they'd had the decency to look after her and make her comfortable. I tried waking her but she was gone. So much for making it up to her when we got home.

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"Urrgghh"

I turned over in bed and looked at her. Still pretty if just a bit messy. "How's your head?"

"Urrgghh"

"Coffee?"

"Urrgghh"

Peeling the covers off I swung my feet out and pulled a pair of jeans on. My phone was on the bedside cabinet. The video of her dirty dancing was on it.

Just a quick view.

It started with her enjoying the music. Dancing away by herself, entirely uninterested in the lack of company. Some of the men were looking on and drunkenly goading her. In the video I could see Sam on the other side of her looking over into the camera, looking at Ed while he took the video. He was gesturing and pointing at her as she ran her hands over her velvet covered body. I heard Ed's voice on the video "just wait a minute, Greg needs to see this."

My feeling was right. As the video continued her dress, which wasn't exactly long, rose to uncover the sheer black thong which hid absolutely nothing of her intimate folds. She may as well not have been wearing them. The video went black but the audio continued.

Ed - "Helen. Come on let's get you some fresh air"

Helen - "Nooo, I wanting to dance. I'm hav, havening fun."

Sam - "I don't think that's the kind of fun your husband would approve of."

Helen - "Hehe, Greg doeshn't own me. I can have an any fun I like. He keeps tellening me I can do whatenever or (pause) whoever I like."

That was a paraphrase. We have had that conversation, and I did say that if she was open about everything she could be with someone else. I definitely didn't say she could do whoever she likes.

Ed - "let's just go outside and see if we can clear your head, ok?"

Helen - "ohh. You just want to taken advantage of me. Hmm. Come on then."

Ed - "No I just want to make sure you don't embarrass yourself or your husband."

At this moment during the audio she must have realised, even in a drunken stupor, how she'd acted. I wondered how much she might remember when she woke.

Helen - "Shit I completely forgotten we was at work. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Did I making it all a mess?"

That's when the audio cut off. At least they tried to protect her dignity. I had no real idea how many people saw her act that way or if word had spread. I had to trust that Ed did as he said he would and mitigate the damage.

One other outcome of her little escapade was a rather hard appendage in my jeans. Coffee would have to wait. Poison needed to be released. I remembered her white panties were still on the floor of the bathroom..

The smell of the coffee was strong and fruity. I didn't know whether she'd prefer black or white given her hangover so I left it black and brought milk too. I included toast, butter, jam, a bagel, some biscuits, paracetamol and if she wanted I'd go back and do pancakes or even a nice fry up. Given her fragility I guessed toast was about the limit.

"I brought you a coffee baby."

The familiar grunt was accompanied by movement and realisation. "Why am I naked?"

"You're not completely naked." I replied. "I took your dress off when we got home. You weren't wearing anything else other than your underwear, if that's what you can call them."

"Jesus, how much did I drink last night? I don't remember spending any time with you at all."

To be fair that wasn't inaccurate. Maybe if I'd been there she wouldn't have drank so much. But then again she is a force of nature. "You had a few.... too many."

"Oh god I don't remember. I didn't do anything stupid did I?"

'Might as well get it out of the way.' I thought and showed her the video.

Her hand raised to her mouth in shock. "Oh, Jesus, fuck a duck. I'm so sorry. I, I, oh shit."

I let her stew for a few seconds before saying it was fine. Actually I had no idea if it was fine or not, but I only had another hour or so to find out as I had to go into the office. I hadn't even had a chance to tell her about my promotion.... oh shit, my promotion. What if that was on the line now. I shook my head, grabbed a towel and headed for the shower.

By 8.50am I was walking in through the door of the foyer to see Kelly the receptionist's smiling face. "Hi Greg."

"Hi Kelly, any news or gossip?" I asked.

"Actually yes. Mr Worth wants to see you about it asap. He didn't say what it was about."

Shit. That'll be the video that's got around and he's going to bend me over by the front door and shove his longest pointiest shoe directly up my.... "Greg. How's the wife's head this morning?" Sam was wincing sympathetically.

"Oh she's, recovering. Please tell me things are ok."

"As far as I can tell not many people saw what happened. Most that did were as drunk as Helen was so they won't recall properly or even remember at all. There were only three that were open eyed enough to remember. Ed, me and Adrian."

My eyes involuntarily shut as I saw big neon letters flashing "GAME OVER".

Adrian the smarmy, lazy junior with big ideas of where he was going. If I was the branch manager he'd be one of the first to go, but I wasn't the branch manager yet and he was the only person who might stand in the way of that, and boy would he stand in the way. Fortunately no one knew I was even in the running never mind actually being guaranteed the job.

First things first. Mr Worth.

This time the door was shut so I knocked and waited. After a minute or two the door opened and Mr Worth beckoned me in. "So last night was a success!?"

Was that a question or a comment? "I think so." Shit had Adrian been in first and buried me already?

"I hear there was a little.... incident!"

Here it comes. No promotion, no big salary, in fact no salary at all just destitution and poverty from here on.

"Some of the men made a real mess of the night by causing a nuisance as they left. I believe two of them ended up fighting each other. I'd like you to deal with them."

I sighed a heavy breath. "Yes ok. Who were they and what do you want me to do with them?"

"Well, young Greg. I'll leave that to your discretion. If it were me I'd probably can the two of them and be done with it. That being said you're closer to them and know their true value to the company. It's down to you. Here are their names." He said as he passed a folded note.

"Leave it with me. I'll deal with it now."

"Oh, Greg. Less alcohol for the wife next time!" He said with a wink.

As I closed the door I felt sick. He'd obviously been told by someone but he didn't seem bothered he couldn't have heard the whole story. I opened the note. Two names appeared. Edward Ferguson, the guy who helped us out the night before, and Adrian Helton, the same Adrian who stood between me and my promotion. I was in at the deep end and I had to learn to swim fast.

"Kelly, is there a room free anywhere for the next hour?"

She looked through the diary before saying "interview room three is available until 10am so that's only forty five minutes. Any good?"

"It'll be perfect. Thanks, Kelly. Could you page Adrian Helton please and tell him to meet me in there asap please."

As I waited for the uncomfortable conversation to start I wondered how I would handle it. Hard fast and full on or gentle and humble. The knock on the glass door made me consider a third option.

"Close the door and have a seat." I said to him as he kept his smarmy fucking smile plastered across his punchable face. So last night..." I paused waiting for him to reply.

"Oh yes," he started, "what a night. Highly enjoyable. Got quite the eyeful of something too. I managed to capture some video on my phone and it shows everything." He leaned forward. "EVERYTHING!"

He obviously thought this was his moment to get one up and his smarminess grew. "And that's what you think this is about?" His smile crumbled a bit before he rebuilt it thinking I was bluffing. "Well, Adrian why don't you pass me your phone and we'll go from there?"

"There is no way you're getting my phone or MY video of your wife showing the world her see through knickers. She's got quite a cute snatch that woman of yours. I wouldn't mind getting into that myself. Maybe that's something you could arrange, unless you want the video to get out."

My heartbeat and blood pressure were through the roof. I could hear my pulse in my ears, feel it in my teeth. I just wanted to pick up my laptop and smash him around the head with it. I looked at him, surprised at the size of his bollocks, but he had no clue what was coming. "So let me get this straight. You're trying to blackmail me into arranging a fuckdate with my wife or you're going to, what? Show the world a video of her dancing and accidentally flashing?"

"Hmm. Yeah. That's about the size of it."

"So you think that this is about a video that you took last night?" I asked making him wonder.

"What else would you be asking me in here for?

I smiled and leant on the desk. "You don't recall having a falling out with Ed after you left the party?" Watching his jaw drop and the greyness fall across his face he finally knew why he was there. "Anything else you want to say?"

"Yes. If you want to take this further I'm simply going to show everyone the video." His confidence only slightly knocked by my knowledge of his fight. "Go on, what are you going to do now?"

"Take it further?" I replied. "No I'm not going to take it further. I'm as far as it goes. You see I've been given authority from..." I pointed upwards. "and you're fired. You're lazy. You're a snide little prick. You picked a fight with the wrong person and you made a threat of blackmail. So that's it Adrian. You're done!"

"Fine." He said still holding some confidence. I'll post the video over work email and put it up online for the world to see and then we'll see what..." he pointed upwards. "thinks." His huge grin said he felt like he'd won and he thought that although he may have lost his pissy job he'd at least be able to take me down with him, coupled with the added embarrassment caused to Helen. He swaggered towards the door still smiling.

"Where are you going?" I asked before he opened the door. He paused as I moved from behind the desk and approached him. Backing away a step of two his smile began to fade just as mine grew. "You seem to be forgetting something." I said gesturing to his phone. "That's company property and since you're no longer employed by the company you're required to turn it in." My hand held flat in front of him, there was no longer any remnant of a smile on his face.

Slowly his hand raised and placed the phone in my hand. "Now get the fuck out before I have you thrown out." I said as I opened the interview room door. As he exited I simply whispered in his ear. "Prick!"

I instantly deleted the video and called over to Kelly to page Ed to come to the room.

In the time between Adrian leaving and Ed arriving I gave Helen a call to see if she was feeling better. "My head is banging, I can't get back to sleep and I feel so ill. How are things there? Any blow back from last night?"

"Don't worry about it, baby. I'm dealing with it. I'll be home in a few hours just try and rest and I'll look after you when I get there."

Ed came in and asked if Helen was ok. A stark contrast from Adrian. His meeting went rather different to Adrian's. I didn't ask him why the fight happened. I almost certainly knew it was about Helen's dance. I just told him to say he had defended himself after Adrian started the fight.

Adrian was out of the picture. The evidence of Helen's indiscretion was gone and Ed kept his job since he'd actually looked after her the night before. The rest of the day was the usual sleepy sales meetings and calls.

At least tomorrow was Sunday.

As 4pm neared, the sun again dropped in the sky touching the horizon and lighting the clouds on fire. Hues of reds, pinks and oranges. The glowing embers of clouds brightly beaming over the earth but my mind was on Helen. I picked up some flowers that matched the sky and drove home.

As I entered the house I didn't call to announce my arrival in case she was asleep. I put the flowers in the kitchen and went to check on her. As I closed in on the bedroom I could hear her breathing heavily and thought she must have been sleeping deeply but when I saw the reflection of her lying on the bed in the bedroom mirror I saw my lascivious wife enjoying her own company, immensely. The sheer black thong had been discarded allowing a view of her fingers pleasuring herself as I secretly watched on.

The light was dimming slowly in the room as her fingers moved frantically, chasing the prize of a climax, building as she writhed on the bed. She must have been feeling better and although I was enjoying the show I was a touch jealous that she was going solo. Over the next few minutes she quickened and slowed playing the climax as if she was trying to land a heavy salmon on a weak line. Giving slack and then reeling in until finally the bliss she sought was in the landing net. And at that moment she called out "ED!"

My eyes widened as I heard her say his name. What the hell was that? I decided to go back to the front door and make another entrance. "Home!"

"I'm in the bedroom, honey."

"How are you feeling? I called down the hall.

"Much better now. Thanks."

Oh I was sure she felt better, thinking about Ed while rubbing one out. I thought he was honourable. Had I really made a huge mistake by keeping him on? I thought he'd looked after her but what if in her stupor he had really taken advantage of her, if he'd... why was I hard again. I'd never really thought about her with another man. Sure we've had that conversation but it wasn't active in my mind. More of a passive musing that stayed exactly where it was. In the past. But this was a flame that was burning now.

"I'm just using the bathroom and I'll be there." I called.

The images running through my mind of Ed and Sam with Helen while she was drunk were strong, potent and almost overwhelming. I imagined them either side of her helping her to walk while getting their opportunities to touch her. Imagining them loading her into the back seat of the car. Having the chance to get a handful of breast or sneaking a finger inside her while she was, for the most part absent and while it was dark. Could they have done more? Did they? Would she have liked...uuughhh...

With the poison again released the thoughts subsided. I thought they might remain subdued at least until I'd spoken to Helen.

"So you're feeling better?"

"Much better, honey. How was your day?"

It was an interesting day for sure. "I, I may be getting a promotion. I spoke to Worth last night and he told me he's chosen me to replace Cecil. Then today he told me to deal with a situation that arose after the party last night."

"Nothing to do with my dance?"

"No, nothing to do with you flashing all my work colleagues, not directly anyway. Although your dance did influence the outcome quite drastically. I fired one of the men who saw and videoed you as you showed the room your best feature. And I had to have a word with Ed about the fight he had with the same guy."

"Ed? Cute, tall, gentlemanly? He had a blue suit on?"

"That's the one. Seems like you remember him quite well?" I asked digging for a reason for her outburst.

"He makes quite an impression. I spent a little time later on in the night talking to him while you were out of the room. He seems very nice."

"Well he and Sam came to your rescue. He was the one who stopped you flashing and got you to the car to sleep it off. Did, uhhh, did anything happen that you can remember?"

She pondered the question for a moment before answering. "I think I might have kissed him but I don't recall clearly. I'm sorry, I wasn't, me."

"That's ok. I won't hold a kiss against you."

"Does that mean I can do it again?" Her expression was sort of playful, sort of fishing.

"I don't own you!" I reminded her. "Just... we'll talk about it. Are you hungry? Feel like a take out?"

"Oh I could just eat Chinese now. Want me to order?"

I agreed and went back into the bathroom.

The evening was uneventful. We watched tv, played on phones and I drank a beer. Unsurprisingly Helen didn't drink anything. She really needed the detox. I ran a bath for her and washed her back while admiring her front. For a woman entering her thirties she could easily pass for early twenties. It was no wonder all the men at work were absorbed by her beauty. As I sat next to the bath admiring her youthful lines the idea of her being with another man again came to my mind.

"So you fancy Ed?" I asked, unsure of why I'd let the words leave my mouth.

"Ed? From what I can remember he was nice enough. Not the usual full of shit guy who thinks a woman is an object to own. A lot like you actually. Fancy him? Hmm, maybe. I might have thought about him earlier while I was alone."

There it was the admission that she'd been thinking about him.

"But honestly, the whole night after you left the room is hazy. From what I remember he was good looking and tall. His image in my head is a little bit vague."

I told her to lay back in the bath. I wasn't thinking about what was in her mind, I was thinking about what was in mine. "What if that image of him asked you on a date?" I asked as I soaped a sponge and began washing her shoulders and neck.

"If he asked me on a date? Would you even let me go on a date with someone else?"

That reality hit. A real question. How the hell would I answer? Honestly! That was the only way to answer. "I think I would be ok with him taking you on a date. As long as you were open and honest about everything. I can imagine you both sat across a table from each other, drinking laughing, having a good time."

"And what if he kissed me again? How would you feel if he did that?" Her right hand moved down beneath the bubbles and cloudy water. "What if he wanted more than that?"

"I think I could handle him giving you a kiss. I can imagine it and it doesn't make me feel jealous, we'll not very jealous. Anyway, whether he kisses you or not isn't my decision to make. What if you went out on a date with him and he didn't fancy you?"

"There are plenty of other men who fancy me."

The pulse was in my ears and teeth again. The feeling of adrenalin was intoxicating. Would it be within the realms of possibility that I would let my wife go on a date with one of my colleagues, my friend? Actually I didn't feel at all anxious about the idea, and I was hard, again. I didn't understand it but I didn't care. Often times she was far more than I could handle. I often felt like I was letting her down because I just ran out of steam during our love making and she would have easily carried on. Would it be so bad to allow her to have someone else to help her out once in a while? After all. I really didn't own her.