Seeing the Signs

He's an army captain. He's going to make a conference presentation and he's working to obtain some needed information about our factory.

He's presently assigned to the Pentagon but will be leaving for duty in Europe soon. He will be working with NATO to incorporate our new components into their equipment.

He volunteered for the NATO assignment because he's going through a difficult divorce. Rumor has it that he caught his wife cheating.

Finally, according to the proposed schedule, which Mike had just received; Steve will be doing his conference presentation right after I make mine.

Mike then took me next door to meet Steve. We both mentioned that we have seen each other at the office. Steve tells Mike that, "We've 'how-deed' but we haven't 'shook'." I laughed at that, thinking, "This guy is not only gorgeous; he has an easy-going sense of humor. Wow."

So, we "shook" and engaged in some small talk. Mike excused himself, saying that he had a meeting to attend.

As Steve and I talked, it came out that we are going to be giving very similar presentations. I will be covering the new security features that we have added to the G8, G9, and G10 systems. Steve will be covering how the military will be changing its procedures and protocols to take advantage of the new security measures.

Out of the blue, Steve asks me if I would like to have lunch with him. It's time for lunch and he would like to continue our conversation. He says that what I've told him today has given him a much better understanding of our new security measures. He's considering changing some things in his presentation because of what he has learned from me.

"OK, Steve. Let's head over to the cafeteria to continue our conversation."

"Janet, it's not that I don't like your cafeteria, but it's a very noisy place. Why don't we go over to the Hilton for lunch? It's just around the corner. It's also much quieter and, to tell the truth, the food is lots better. Our unit is staying there for the conference and I can put our lunch on my expense account. How are you going to beat a deal like that?"

"OK, Steve. I have to agree with you about the food at the Hilton. It's a little out of the budget range for our little group of girls that usually lunches together, so that will be a special treat for me. Thanks for the invitation."

"No problem, Janet. I enjoy having good company to go with good food."

I stopped by and told Beverly that I would be having lunch a little early today. "I'll be dining at the Hilton for a working lunch with our mystery man." I also told her what I had discovered about Steve. I know that the information will be common knowledge by the time I get back from lunch. That's the way the water cooler information system works!

The lunch at the Hilton was in a whole different league. Our cafeteria wasn't even in the competition. The conversation was good too. Both of us learned from each other. It was beneficial for both of us to get a broader perspective on the new systems.

The most memorable part of the lunch was the dessert cart. I selected the carrot cake and Steve had the chocolate cake. He surprised me by offering me a taste of his cake on his fork. I was not comfortable with that, but I didn't want to offend him either. I thought it was somewhat weird, but "no harm, no foul."

Manners seemed to indicate that I should offer him some carrot cake from my fork, so I did. He accepted and said that I had probably made the best dessert choice since I chose something really tasty that was also a vegetable. That drew a laugh from me and a little tap on his arm. I was thinking, "There's that sense of humor again!"

When we had finished our dessert and coffee, Steve asked if I would like to see the room where we would be giving our presentations. I said, "Sure, Steve. I've never seen the Convention Center here."

He signed the check. Pretty cool that just his signature sufficed as payment. We exited the restaurant through the back door, which led to the hallway. We passed the downstairs rooms, one of which Steve pointed out was his room. When we reached the end of the hall, we walked into the Convention Center.

I was impressed by the venue. It seated many more people than any of the meeting rooms in our office, plus every seat had a good view. We walked onto the stage to get a feel for how it would be next Tuesday. I must admit that I felt some jitters. If I was nervous now, would I be a basket case next Tuesday?

As we walked back to the office, I couldn't help but think about what a nice guy Steve had turned out to be. In addition to being very handsome, reminding me of a younger Brad, he was a good conversationalist. He was a great listener. He was easy to talk to. I remember saying to myself: "Self, I like this guy."

As I returned to my office, my thoughts were not on the conference or even on my solving the big mystery about Steve. My body seems out of control and so does my mind. The thought that kept running through my brain was that if I ever wanted to have an extramarital affair, this was the perfect setup.

Steve sure appeals to me. My body, for some reason, wants him! He's unattached, so to speak, since he has a divorce pending. He doesn't work for us or even near us. He will be leaving right after the conference. He will be out of the country soon. There would be no strings attached and virtually no chance of being caught. As I said before, it's the perfect setup!

My god, what's wrong with me? What am I thinking? How could I consider, or even dream about doing something like this? What about Brad and my family? My god, get over it girl! It's lucky for me that I still have a conscience that talks to me about avoiding all of this weirdness. Yes, I have a conscience that waves red flags in my face. Am I ignoring them?

As I sit in my office pondering these things, Beverly sticks her head in the door and asks if I saw Brad.

"No, was he here?"

"He called a little before noon. I think he wanted to have lunch with you. I told him that you had taken an early lunch today but that he might be able to catch you at the Hilton lunch room."

"Thanks, Beverly. He didn't come to the Hilton, so I guess it didn't work out. I'll give him a call."

I called his office. They told me that he was at Central Engineering for a meeting. Central Engineering is only a few blocks from our office. I wish that he had joined us. I'll have to ask him about it when I get home.

An hour before quitting time, Steve knocked on my office door.

"Janet, I have a proposal for you; an idea that I would like to run by you."

I nod my head, and Steve continued.

"What would you say to us combining our presentations? As it is now, you give your presentation about the new security features in all of the systems. When you finish, I cover the same systems from the military perspective. The problem with that approach is the delay between the two sides of the coin, so to speak. By the time I cover what we need to do with the G8 system, you have already covered the G9 and G10 systems.

"Wouldn't it make more sense for you to give your presentation about the G8 security features and then turn the floor over to me to cover the G8 system from the military perspective? That way, what you told them would still be fresh in their minds when I give them the military side. We could give them the whole picture on each system, both sides of the coin, before moving on to another system. Wouldn't that be less confusing and make more sense all around?"

"You have a really good point there, Steve. I like that proposal. The problem is, we are only a few days away from presentation time. Do we have time to make a change like that? Also, how would we handle the equipment? I use my assigned projector, computer, and wireless microphone for my presentation, then it's all removed and your equipment is put into place. We can't make those changes for each system, can we?"

"We won't have to, Janet. I have adapters that I've used before. They allow us to parallel our equipment in a completely seamless manner. We wouldn't have to change anything in the presentation transcripts that we have already submitted except for the order in which we cover the systems. It will work, Janet. As I said, I've used these adapters before. They make joint presentations a snap."

"Steve, I need to run that by Harry. It sounds good to me, but he would have to make that decision."

"I understand that, Janet. I would be happy to go with you to talk to Harry. Also, if there is any concern about paralleling our equipment, we can do a dry run at the Hilton Convention Center. I can set that up."

"Steve, let me talk to Harry informally to get his take on this unofficially. If he is supportive, then we can give him a formal request to combine our presentations."

I submitted a request to see Harry about an important matter concerning the conference. Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting in Harry's office telling him about Steve's proposal. Harry was very supportive and said that he would handle the details of replacing our two presentations with one joint presentation. He thinks that a dry run would be appropriate to make sure there are no unforeseen problems.

I rushed over to Steve's cube and told him that we had a "go" for his plan. Harry wants us to do the necessary testing to make sure there are no surprises, but he's behind the proposal 100%. Steve is ecstatic about Harry's response. He gives me a "thank you" hug. Then he says that he will get with the Hilton management right away to schedule a test. He also invited me to lunch again. He wants us to have a working lunch tomorrow so we can go over the details of our joint presentation. I accept his invitation without hesitation.

So, I arrived at home thinking about what will be happening soon. Tomorrow, I will have lunch with Steve again. At some point, we will be performing a dry run of our joint presentation. All of this will happen at the hotel where Steve just happens to have a room. What could possibly go wrong, right?

These are not thoughts that I should be having. I need to put those thoughts aside quickly. This is our night for prayer-meeting. Brad makes sure that we never miss it. Needless to say, I need to get my mind into a different place ASAP.

The mental transition proves to be harder than I expected, but I manage to be in the right frame of mind by the time we arrive at the church. Would you believe that the lesson for tonight is about forgiveness? There's quite a discussion about the adulteress that Jesus forgave. I feel like the lesson has been aimed directly at me.

When we arrived back home, Brad mentioned that he had called me at the office today

"Oh, that's right! Beverly told me you had called. I tried to return your call but they told me that you were attending a meeting at Central Engineering."

"That's true. I called to see if we could have lunch together. I was told that you had taken an early lunch over at the Hilton."

"That's right; I was invited to lunch by an army captain that I met at the factory. Mike introduced us because the captain and I are both going to be giving presentations about the same systems. I will be covering our new security features and the captain will be covering the military side, such as the required changes to their procedures and protocols.

"We started a discussion about our presentations. Time flew by. We were still discussing and comparing notes when lunchtime arrived. The captain invited me to lunch at the Hilton where we could continue our discussion in a place quieter than our cafeteria."

"So, you had lunch with this captain at the Hilton. Do you think that was appropriate?"

I had been careful not to mention that the captain was a man. I guess Brad just assumed that the captain wouldn't be a woman.

"It was certainly appropriate. It was work-related. It was a working-lunch"

"So, it was work-related when you fed each other dessert with your forks?"

Oh, crap. He knows! I knew at the time that the dessert sharing was a little much. It had made me uncomfortable. Now, it had my husband all upset!

"My God, you were there? Why in the world didn't you join us?"

"Well, for one thing, you were sitting at a table for two. The restaurant was full. There was a long line, and as I said, you were already eating dessert. I waited for you by the door. I intended to talk to you and meet your lunch companion. It so happens, you didn't go to the front door. He took your hand and led you out the back way."

"Oh, that's right! Sorry, Brad. I wish I had known you were there. We would have made sure to talk with you and I could have introduced you to him."

"What is he, about Randy's age?" The veins are standing out in Brad's neck. He's really upset!

"He's about ten years younger than me; not quite young enough to be my son!"

"Well, that's a relief. I wouldn't want you robbing the cradle."

"Wow, Brad; are you jealous of him? Do you honestly think that a young hunk like that would be interested in an old biddy like me? He probably has young women falling all over him. His only interest in me is what I can tell him about the new security features of our systems."

"Don't be so sure. I've seen those 'pretty boys' go after anything in skirts. Especially, if there's a wedding ring on her finger. That seems to make it even better. What would you say if I asked you not to associate with him anymore?"

"I would say that would be extremely difficult since we have been asked by Harry to combine our presentations for the conference. We will be making one joint presentation. We will be forced to work together to get that done. I have no choice but to associate with him if I want to keep my job. Are you saying that you don't trust me?"

"I mostly don't trust him. Can't you do your work at the office while you are on the clock instead of on a date during your off-duty time?"

"Damn it, Brad, it was not a date! Am I supposed to say "my husband won't allow it," when a colleague invites me to a working lunch?"

I could see that Brad was more than a little upset by my behavior at that lunch. There was no way that I was going to tell him that I had already agreed to lunch with Steve again tomorrow.

"Forget it, Janet. Do whatever you have to do. I'm going to bed. I'm tired. It's been a long and eventful day."

As Brad walked away, I knew that he was mad and I was between a rock and a hard place. I needed to work with Steve, but that lunch was quite obviously bothering Brad. I guess Steve and I had behaved sort of like a dating couple at that lunch. I made a decision right then to avoid any more dessert-sharing with Steve. I would just decline dessert and tell Steve that I needed to cut down on sweets.

I finally decided that the only way to get my job done while keeping peace in the family was to just not tell Brad everything that happens between Steve and me. I don't like keeping secrets from my husband, but what's my alternative? I just hope that I'm not putting my marriage in jeopardy.

BRAD:

On my way to work, I thought about the changes that I had noticed in Janet's behavior. Could it be my fault?

I have heard that the main reason most women give for cheating is that their husband is not doing the little things that he used to do. They think that he's taking them for granted. He doesn't make love like he used to. They feel neglected and unappreciated.

I give that some thought and decide that since I'm going to be near Janet's office for a meeting this afternoon, I'll take her out to lunch. I need to let her know that I appreciate her and love her as much as ever.

When it got close to lunchtime, I gave Janet a call. Beverly answered the phone and said that Janet had taken an early lunch. When I asked her where they went, she told me they were lunching at the Hilton.

Hearing that, I decided to drop by the Hilton to join them. When I got there, the restaurant was full. There was a long line. I looked around the room until I saw Janet. She was sitting at a table for two with a handsome younger man. They were engaged in an animated conversation and were pretty much oblivious to everything else.

At about that time, their dessert was delivered. They began eating their dessert and continued their conversation with eyes only for each other. I waved at Janet, but she didn't even glance in my direction. He offered Janet a fork of his dessert. It was apparent that she liked it. Then she reciprocated, feeding him a bite of her dessert. They looked, for all intents and purposes, like a couple on a date.

I decided to wait by the door to intercept them when they left. I wanted to see how Janet would handle the situation. The joke was on me. They left through the back door. There was no way that I could catch up with them. I wondered why they went that way when the front door was the best way to get to her office. Perhaps they know a shortcut. Then there's the chance that they weren't going directly back to work. I didn't want to think about that.

I needed to get to my meeting, so I decided to put the whole thing on the back burner. I would wait until tonight to confront Janet about her "lunch date."

When I got back to my office, I located Jim and asked him about his "cheating list." Of course, he wanted to know why I wanted to know.

I don't like to discuss my sex life with friends. I've never discussed my sex life with anyone; not even Janet. Maybe I should be talking with her about the things I've been noticing.

I did tell Jim about those things. He confirmed that a lack of interest in sexual activities is one of the first signs of infidelity. The "closed eyes" treatment is a biggie too. He confirmed that in all likelihood, it meant that she was thinking about someone else while having sex with me.

He gave me a copy of the list. He told me to take notice of the times when she's late getting home from work. Anytime that happens, I should try to kiss her right after she walks in the door.

He says that if she won't submit to kissing until she's brushed her teeth and gargled, I should be able to guess what that means. Also, if she washes her clothes at unusual times, like right after she gets home late, I should beware.

He continued, "If at all possible, examine her underwear for telltale signs. If it is wet and sticky around the crotch area, well, you get the picture. In the same vein, if you notice that she's wetter than normal during sex, that's very bad. You don't want to be getting sloppy seconds. If that happens, she isn't even trying to hide her actions anymore. That's one of the worst signs."

I'm not sure how much confidence I have in Jim's list. I'm certain that I won't see any of those signs. I think she's just out of sorts for some reason and will return to normal soon.

When I tell Jim about Janet's "lunch date" with her handsome young man, that elicits an immediate reaction from Jim. He tells me that to be on the safe side, I should immediately hire a private investigator. He has some business cards from the guy that he used back when he caught Lois cheating.

Jim insists that the sooner the investigator starts, the better the chances of catching her or, better yet, of proving that nothing is going on.

He says that either way, I would have more peace of mind. He thinks that it's the "not knowing" that keeps a person awake at night.

He tells me that Lois never did admit that she had cheated. He predicts that Janet will probably play the same game. Most women play that game, he says. He insists that I'd better call his PI, Ray Sampson, right away.

He is certain that the evidence Ray gathered against Lois was the reason that he got a good settlement, even though Lois contested the divorce and never admitted to cheating. He is certain that the evidence Ray gathered told the story and proved just what a big liar that Lois was.