Hot Tub

This is a 2008 story that has been reedited.

There is no sex in this story; sorry.

***

"The hot tub: definitely, the hot tub. I'll call you before I get there. Bye."

The kids had just left for school, and I just picked up the tail end of a private conversation my wife was having. She was standing in the kitchen, with her back turned to me. I was downstairs a little earlier than normal, because of an early morning meeting. I watched as her fingers danced over the cell phone keypad, erasing all calls. She set the phone on the counter and called up to me, not knowing I was already downstairs.

"If you are about ready honey, I'll start your eggs."

She turned as I ducked into the kitchen, with an innocent look on my face. "Sorry dear, but I have an early meeting. I'll grab something later this morning."

Sarah and I had been married for almost twenty years. We had two sons, Josh and Terry, who were both in high school. I keep myself in pretty good shape by jogging three times a week and entering a few five and ten K races throughout the year. Sarah didn't like running, but spend several days each week at the gym. We were both in good shape for our ages. You could never tell Sarah had two children.

"Well, I am glad I didn't start them before asking. Have a good day darling."

Rather than get in the car, I waiting in the garage for a few minutes. Sarah was a creature of habit. Every day, after she cleared off the breakfast table, she took a morning shower. Since the master bedroom was over the garage, I could hear the shower when she turned it on. In less than five minutes, I was back in the empty kitchen, with her cell phone in my hand. She always deleted incoming and outgoing calls, as soon as they happened. I am not sure why. I didn't hope to find anything that way, but I did want to look at her phone number list. There were only eight numbers preloaded in her phone: the home phone, my cell, both of the boys, both of her sisters, her mom, and her nail salon. Why did my wife have her nail salon on speed dial? I wrote down the number and entered my cell number in its place.

I still had plenty of time to make my meeting. About ten o'clock I called Sarah.

"John, what a surprise. I don't get too many calls in the middle of a workday. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I wanted to see if you were free for lunch today."

"That's sweet, but I already made plans to meet Janice at the Marshall Mall. Can we make it tomorrow?"

"Sure, I hold it open for you."

Living in a relatively small town made it easy to locate the motels that had hot tubs. The Casablanca had two, and both were available. The Deska motel had three, but one was already rented for the day. That made things easy. Since Sarah wasn't going to be available for lunch, I figured that was when she was meeting the guy who rented the room. After I loaded the phone number of the nail salon on my cell phone, I took the rest of the day off.

Rooms 112,114, and 116 had the hot tubs at the Deska. There was a black Mercedes parked in front of room 112, so I figured that was my best bet. I wrote down the license number, and parked a few slots away, to wait. About eleven-thirty my cell phone rang. Caller ID showed it to be Sarah. I answered the phone as I got out of the car.

"Yeah?" I was trying to use a generic masculine voice without really saying anything.

"I am just pulling into the parking lot, lover. Get the wine uncorked and the hot tub ready."

As she drove to the rear of the motel, I was leaning against my car with the cell phone in my hand. Her car slowed down and I could see her eyes go wide. "John, is that you?"

"Yes dear. Are you surprised?"

Her phone went dead.

I waited while she tried to figure out what to do. Finally, she pulled into a slot near mine, but far from the Mercedes. She got out and approached me.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were at work."

"I should ask you the same question. What are you doing here?"

It seemed forever until she came up with an answer. "I am meeting Janice here. We decided to just take one car to the mall."

It was so stupid that I didn't even try to respond to it. I lifted my phone and dialed the number for the nail salon.

After a man answered, I said "Hi. I just wanted to let you know that Sarah was not going to be able to make it today, and I think your car is being towed."

Sarah was standing with her mouth wide, looking at me. The door of room 112 was suddenly opened. Thom Singleton, a local real estate agent, who was also a family friend, came out to check on his car. He was as shocked as Sarah was when he saw me standing there.

"No sense wasting a good bottle of wine, Sarah. Have a fun afternoon. I'll see you at supper time." I got into my car and drove off. Both of them were in my rearview mirror as I left.