It's Only Dinner

Disclaimer - Mature themes, adult language, sex, violence. This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this story are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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It's Only Dinner - by gstein

She told her husband that it was only dinner but it was more than dinner. This is the anatomy of a wife's dinner date with another man.

It was while they were eating breakfast on Wednesday morning when Emily presented Mark with another piece of a puzzle which Mark had been trying to figure out for over a week.

"Damon is going to call you today," Emily casually mentioned to Mark.

Mark was surprised and asked, "Why is he calling me?"

"Because he wants to talk to you and make sure that you're okay with us having dinner."

"Why?" Mark asked in a surprised tone of voice.

"What do you mean, why?" Emily asked.

"Why does he want to talk to me? You've told him you'll go with him. And you've told me you're going with him. So it's a done deal, you're going to dinner with him. So why is he calling me? And why is he calling now?" Mark asked sarcastically.

"Because he's a gentleman and he wants to do the right thing."

"Oh now he's going to call me and ask for permission to take my wife on a date and that makes him a gentleman?" Mark asked in his sarcastic tone of voice.

Emily stared at Mark with an irritated look on her face.

"Mark! I've already told you this dinner isn't a date! It's only dinner! It's only dinner with a man I'm working with on the city's climate change project! That's all it is and nothing more! Please stop saying it's a date because it's not! Stop trying to blow this dinner up into something it's not!" Emily almost screamed but didn't.

"Okay. Okay. I hear you. I got it," Mark said. But then he added, "But what if I say no?"

From across the kitchen Emily glared at Mark and said to him, "What do you mean, what if you say no?"

"I mean when he and I talk and he asks me for permission to take you out to dinner, what if I tell him no, that's what I mean," Mark said.

Emily was now getting irritated with Mark.

"First, he's not going to ask you for permission to take me out to dinner. And second, we're both adults and we don't need your permission. This is just a courtesy to you. He's simply going to feel you out and make sure you're comfortable with he and I having this business dinner...,"

Mark interrupted her and said, "And what if I say no?"

"Mark, I know you and I know you're not going to tell him no. I know you'll be a gentleman and tell him you're okay with us going to dinner. So quit trying to make me upset. Just talk to him. Be pleasant and courteous with him. Be the cool, worldly and sophisticated man you are and set him and yourself at ease with this dinner, okay?" Emily said.

Mark really didn't like the idea of talking to Damon but he knew he had no choice. Because by now Mark had figured out where he fit in to her puzzle and that was to support his wife's dinner date with Damon Washington. So he would talk to him and see what he had to say and what he could learn.

Damon Washington was an internationally recognized thought leader and consultant in the field of Climate Change. He had written many papers and published at least six books on the subject. He spoke on Climate Change at many of the Universities across the United States, in the United Kingdom and across Europe. He was a frequent guest commentator on CNN, FOX News, BBC, Sky News and the major US television networks. His social media blog was had close to a million subscribers. And he had testified before both Senate and House committees on Climate Change. So needless to say, Damon was a celebrity, at least in the sphere of climate change.

Now what made this dinner a puzzle was because Emily at first told Mark that she was going to have a dinner with her Climate Change Strategy project team. The whole team. But then, just a few days later, she told him the dinner would be with just a few team members, not the whole team. And then, just a last week, Emily told Mark the dinner was with just Damon Washington because they were going to use the time to discuss some strategies and ideas they wanted to present to the whole team but they needed time together to privately discuss their ideas.

And to Mark all of these different stories sounded fishy and he became suspicious. And now, with Emily telling him that Damon was going to call him to make sure that he was comfortable with their dinner, Mark was even more suspicious. But there was nothing he could do but play along.

"Okay, tell him to call me, but tell him I'm busy and if I don't answer to leave me a message and I'll get back in touch," Mark told Emily.

"Mark!"

"Yes?"

"Mark, when he calls please answer him. He's very busy and doesn't have time to play phone tag with you. So please answer and talk to him," Emily implored.

"And I'm not busy? Have you forgotten that next week I'm leaving for India for four weeks and I have a lot to do to get ready for that trip?"

"Mark, I know you're busy, you're both busy, but please answer his call and you two talk and set each other at ease about this dinner Friday night, okay?" Emily asked.

"Okay! Okay! I'll answer when he calls!"

And after that awkward moment Mark and Emily moved on from talking about her and Damon's dinner to talking about their plans for the day and then they got on with their business.

Of course Mark spent his day anticipating the phone call from Damon that eventually came in just before 4:00 PM. Both men were polite and Mark told Damon that he was comfortable with him taking Emily to dinner. And Damon assured Mark, in a roundabout way, it was just dinner and business and nothing else. That he would pick Emily up at 6:00 and they would have dinner at an upscale restaurant and she would be back home by 10:00 PM at the very latest.

And what he and Damon talked about sounded proper and on the up and up. But after the call Mark was not comfortable. Instead the conversation left him feeling even more certain there was more to this dinner than met the eye. That something was going on with Emily and Damon that wasn't quite right. He could just feel it.

Wednesday evening was uneventful and Thursday came and went without another revelation or discussion about the upcoming dinner. In fact neither Mark nor Emily even mentioned it. The couple were normal as usual but Mark's nagging sense of dread would not subside. Figuratively speaking, it was now screaming in his head that this dinner meeting was just a cover for a tryst. That Emily and Damon were engaged in some promiscuity right under his nose and they had manipulated him into approving it.

Now when the sun came up Friday morning Mark was already out of bed and in his home office and drinking his second cup of coffee. The dreaded day was here and Mark Taylor was already struggling with it. His persistent suspicions of Emily's dinner with Damon had awakened him early and forced him to get up and out of bed. And now sitting alone in his office he wanted to scream - NO! - to the top of his lungs, but he knew that screaming in protest of this dinner date would be a futile act because it was going to happen regardless of what he wanted.

Then a few minutes before 9:00 AM Emily stepped into Mark's office to tell him she was going for a hair and nail appointment and she would be back after lunch. And before he could ask or say anything to her she was gone. And while she was gone Mark struggled with getting any work done because he couldn't get his mind off of Emily seemingly getting her hair and nails done just for...him.

Several hours later Emily returned from the salon looking absolutely stunning with a new hair style and a striking red nail color. And after stopping by Mark's office to get his opinion and approval she hurriedly went upstairs to their bedroom and bath where she spent the remainder of the afternoon primping and preening.

It was now painfully clear to Mark that Emily was consumed with making herself beautiful for Damon Washington. And that just added to Mark's suspicions of this supposed business dinner.

The afternoon went quickly by and at around 5:30 PM Mark moved from his office to the living room to await the arrival of Damon Washington.

And while waiting for Damon he mentally practiced how he would handle welcoming him into his home. And he silently rehearsed what he would say to Damon when he arrived. And what he would say to Damon and Emily when they were leaving.

So it was around 5:50 PM when Mark heard a car outside in the driveway and after a couple of moments he forced himself to get up from his chair and peek out the window to see Damon Washington getting out of his car. And upon seeing Damon Mark steeled himself for the dreaded encounter that was now walking to his front door.

Now rather than just opening the door and greeting Damon, instead Mark let him go through the steps of ringing the doorbell a couple of times and then knocking before he finally opened the door and invited Damon inside.

Mark tried not to make it an awkward moment but it was awkward moment. Because here was a man who, in Mark's mind, was taking his wife on a date, and a Friday night date at that, and he couldn't stop it without making a terribly nasty scene, which, by the way, he was fully capable of doing. Mark Taylor was no wimp by any stretch of the imagination.

So, as the say, - the men cordially greeted each other - because they both knew it was the right thing to do. Neither man wanted a confrontation. Damon just wanted to get Emily and leave. And Mark just wanted to get beyond the moment without making a scene. So they played nice. But Mark didn't play nice completely because he didn't invite Damon to take a seat but instead had him stand just inside the front door while he went upstairs to fetch Emily.

"Your date is here," Mark said as he walked into their bedroom.

"Do I look all right?" Emily asked her husband.

And the fact was Emily looked stunning. Her perfectly coiffed long blonde hair hung seductively on her shoulders and around her face and gave her a glamorous and alluring and mysterious look.

Mark studied her and asked, "Is that a new dress?"

Emily reluctantly told him, "Yes."

"And the shoes, are they new too?"

"Mark, this is a new outfit I bought to wear when we go out and I thought I'd wear it tonight just to see if I like it" Emily explained. And then she asked, "How do I look?"

"Well you actually look like you're going on a hot date," Mark answered her.

Emily said, "I just want to look nice."

"Well, you look nice but you also look very sexy."

Emily didn't respond to that comment.

So Mark thought for a moment and then asked, "Is that your intention?"

"Is what my intention?"

"To look sexy for this guy." Mark said to her in a very deliberate tone of voice.

Emily answered, "No, I don't want to look sexy. I just want to look nice."

"Well, you look very nice but you also look very sexy. Actually, you look like you're dressed to seduce him," Mark said to her.

"Mark, quit imagining things. We're just two business colleagues having dinner. It's nothing more than that. And I want to look nice. Please get your head out of the gutter." Emily said.

"Well, he's waiting for you, so you need to go. I'll walk you down like I'm your daddy taking you to meet your date."

"Mark! Stop it! Stop it now! This is not a date. Now stop acting like this," Emily scolded him as they started down the stairs.

Waiting in the foyer, Damon exclaimed, "Damn Emily! You look stunning!" as he watched her come down the stairs.

Now Emily continued on down but Mark stopped on the stairs and just observed the scene playing out below him.

"Well, thank you Damon. You look very nice yourself." Emily said as she gave him a friendly embrace.

Mark thought the embrace was out of place for business colleagues. But what the hell did he know? He wasn't into this climate change culture shit. But it was suspicious.

So after watching the two colleagues exchange greetings Mark came on down the stairs and after a few minutes of small talk the three of them walked out to Damon's car. And like the gentleman he was, Damon opened the car door for Emily and she slid into the passenger's seat showing Damon and Mark a lot of leg and more in the process.

Mark was gobsmacked by Emily's stockings and thong show and at that moment he wanted to step in and put a halt to their going out but he reluctantly just let it go. He didn't want to cause a scene. And he didn't want to embarrass Emily. And he didn't want to create a situation between him and Damon.

But what he did do was walk with Damon to the driver's side of the car and bluntly told him, "Don't make this dinner date a situation that you'll regret."

A little astonished, Damon just looked at Mark in the eye and told him, "We're just going to have dinner and discuss our project, that's all. There's not going to be any situation and there's not going to be anything to regret."

"We'll see." Mark replied in a cynical tone of voice.

Damon was taken aback by Mark's attitude but he shook it off and said, "We've got to get going," as he opened the car door and slipped into the drivers seat.

Mark stood in the driveway and watched them drive away.

And after they were out of sight Mark went inside and tried to busy himself with work to get his mind off of Emily being out with Damon. But it didn't work. He couldn't get Emily's impetuous exhibit of her lower extremities out of his mind and he couldn't get his mind off of what she might be doing with Damon. And with those thoughts in his mind it was an anguishing evening that seemed to just crawl by as he waited for them to come back from their dinner.

As 10:00 PM approached, Mark was feeling anxious. He had hoped Emily would have already been back but that hadn't happened. So now he was waiting to hear Damon's car pull into the driveway at any moment. And that didn't happen. And when 10:30 came, and Emily still was not home, Mark was feeling a combination of worry and hurt and anger.

And anger was winning out over worry and hurt.

So rather than try to track her down, instead of calling or texting Emily, he decided to wait and see when and how this evening would eventually play out. Because he knew it would play out one way or another and he was prepared for whatever the outcome.

And when 11:00 PM came around and Emily still was not home, and he had not heard from her, Mark decided to go on to bed. He was stressed and mentally fatigued from dealing with this anxious situation that Emily had put him in. So he laid down and for close to an hour he tossed and turned. And then around midnight he finally got settled and dozed off.

So he had been napping for about two hours when he was abruptly awakened by a car's headlights that lit up the bedroom when it pulled into the driveway.

Emily was finally back.

Mark got himself awake and then queried the Amazon Alexa device for the time, "Alexa, what time is it?"

"The time is 2:21 AM" the Alexa device announced.

"Damn! Fuck this shit!" Mark shouted out loud.

Mark didn't get up but laid in bed and listened to the sounds of Emily and Damon's unintelligible voices in the driveway below the bedroom window. Then he heard the front door open and then close. And at about the same time he heard a car door close and a couple of moments later the car's headlights moved away and the bedroom went dark.

Damon had dropped off Emily and left. He wasn't hanging around to explain to Mark why they were so late getting back from their dinner. Emily was left alone to face Mark's wrath.

So, so much for Damon being a gentleman.

And as Mark listened to the sound of Damon's car fade away into the early morning darkness he heard Emily walking up the stairs and then step softly and quietly into their bedroom.

"Emily" Mark said in a calm but firm tone of voice.

Emily was startled and said in an anxious tone of voice, "Oh Mark, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to wake you! I'm sorry it's so late!"

"What time is it?" Mark calmly asked her.

"It's late. Go back to sleep. I'm coming to bed in just a minute." Emily nervously answered as she went into the bathroom.

"Alexa, what time is it?" Mark queried the Amazon Alexa device.

"The time is 2:27 AM." the Amazon Alexa device loudly announced.

Mark heard Emily mutter, "Oh my god!"

A few minutes later Emily got in bed and snuggled close to Mark.

Then again Mark queried the Alexa device for the current time.

"The time is 2:34 AM." the Amazon Alexa device answered.

For a few moments the bedroom was deadly silent but then Emily's whimpers broke that silence.

"Mark, I'm sorry. We were talking and time got by so fast and we didn't realize it was so late. Please don't be mad. Please don't be angry with me and Damon. We didn't mean to be this late. It just happened. Please Mark, please understand," Emily implored Mark through her tears.

"Go to sleep, it's late. We'll talk in the morning," Mark told her as he turned his back to her and pondered about her coming home at almost 2:30 AM.

Of course Mark was wondering if she was telling the truth. But he couldn't imagine what they had to talk about that would keep them out to the wee hours of Saturday morning. To him it didn't seem right. And of course he was suspicious. But for the moment Mark was undecided.

But laying in bed beside his wife it didn't take him too long to reach a decision because he smelled some damning evidence that Emily and Damon may had done more than just talk.

It was Damon's Acqua Di Giò cologne by Armani. Now Mark knew that scent very well because one of the magazine editors he worked with used Acqua Di Giò, and he had smelled it when Damon came to pick up Emily. And now he was smelling it in his bed and the scent was strong and it was coming from the body laying next him. And he knew Acqua Di Giò didn't get on Emily's body from simply sitting across a dinner table and talking. No, Acqua Di Giò got on her body via direct skin-to-skin contact. It was obvious Emily wasn't telling the truth. She and Damon had done more than have dinner and talk. They had been together.

And Mark's suspicions of them had been borne out.

Now Mark eventually fell back to sleep. But at sunrise he was awake and ready to get up. But before he got out of bed he smelled of Emily, who was soundly sleeping off her night with Damon, and he confirmed the scent of Acqua Di Giò was all over her body. There was no mistake about it, Emily and Damon had to have been intimate.

So Mark now had a pretty good idea about what really happened the night before. And with that in mind he got up and dressed and left the house and drove away. And he didn't care where he was going as long as it was away from Emily.

And after aimlessly driving around for more than an hour Mark pulled into a Waffle House restaurant to get breakfast. And it was with his scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast and coffee that Emily's puzzle came together for him and the thing that stood out the most was the person who he believed was his loving and devoted wife was really nothing but a treacherous woman.

He saw it clearly, with intent and purpose Emily had thrown him over for a tryst with Damon. She played him, lied to him, deceived him, betrayed him and humiliated him.

"She did all of that to me just so she could fuck that guy." Mark thought to himself. "Shit!"