Tricks of the Trade

***All characters are over 18 and are fictional. Any resemblance to any real-life persons or situations is purely coincidental.

...

It was a busy night at the club. Very busy for a Thursday night compared to most places. It was busy because it was also ladies' night, where women got in free and got discounted drinks. The owners were OK with lowering costs like this because it helps to bring in more customers in the middle of the week. More women come in for the perks of ladies' night, and more men would come to meet those women.

Alec learned this from the club's owner, Derrick, who has been a long-time friend of his since their freshman year of college. Alec has also been Derrick's personal lawyer for about that time as well. When you own a popular nightclub where some alcohol-related incidents occur, that can bring on a few lawsuits. When that happens, Alec swoops in and takes care of it all. Most of the time, he can convince the plaintiff's lawyer to get their client to drop the lawsuit, or he can convince the judge that it's not legit enough to go to trial. On the rare occasion that it does have to go to trial, it doesn't last long since he presents an iron-clad case for his client that gets the jury in their favor.

That's not to say that Alec has never lost a case. He lost a few for some of his other clients. He once looked into it and found that he won about 84% of his own cases. But for this club, he had a 100% winning record. Because of that, he always got in whenever he wanted and drank for free. He didn't always take them up on that offer since he was a busy man. But when he had some free time, he would come here for the royal treatment.

But there is one other big reason he enjoyed coming to this particular club is because it's the best place he could go to cheat on his wife. The location was far away enough so that he wouldn't be recognized if anyone saw him, and the club owners, who were serial cheaters themselves, were able to keep his secret. In fact, sometimes they would get together afterwards to brag about their conquests.

He didn't do this in the beginning of his marriage, he was a very faithful person at the time. Then he and Emily were having marriage troubles, and he moved out of the house for a little while. During that time, he got drunk with a female coworker who was also having marriage troubles of her own, and they ended up sleeping together. They regretted it at first, but then started an affair lasted a couple of months before things got better between them and their spouses and they mutually decided to end it and keep it all secret.

After that, things between him and his wife were perfect, and she got pregnant with twins soon after they got back together. Alec tried to be faithful to Emily, but when she was in her final trimester, she was not in the mood to help him fulfill his sexual needs. He couldn't blame her because of what she was going through with the pregnancy, but during that time he was getting incredibly horny. Eventually, he cheated on her again with a female client of his. It was very unethical and he could've been fired for this if it was discovered. Luckily for him, she was also married and wanted to keep it all a secret.

After that, it became much easier for justify his actions. Alec didn't always do this, mostly because he was too busy with the law firm, he worked at kept and spending time with the wife and kids. He was doing his best to be a husband and father who provided for his family. But whenever the opportunity arises, he will sleep with other women.

Like most people who cheat on their spouses, Alec had his own excuses to justify his actions. He thought he needed this because he had additional sexual needs that he couldn't expect his wife to satisfy all the time. He thought he was doing her a favor by fulfilling those needs elsewhere, so she wouldn't have to be burdened with fulfilling them all when she's already busy taking care of the household and the kids.

He also used the excuse that he wasn't looking for another relationship with those other women. Some men he knows often start relationships with their mistresses, which can lead to problems. He just wants to have his fun and move on from those women, and only wanted to be with his wife.

After representing enough men in court who were being divorced or sued for their infidelity (and a few women also, because some of them can be just as bad), Alec learned from their mistakes. He saw what they did to get themselves caught and made sure he wouldn't make those same mistakes himself. He knew which type of woman to go after, what to say to them, where these affairs should take place, how to cover his tracks and so on. He had been married for almost ten years, had been cheating on his wife for eight of them, and had never been caught once. He was very positive that Emily had never suspected anything; or if she had, she didn't have enough evidence to prove it because of how careful he was.

Tonight, was a good night for Alec, because Emily was away at her parent's house for a week and she took the kids with her. It was near the end of the summer and the kids were going back to school soon, so she wanted them to spend some time with their grandparents, who were living in another state, before they got too busy for them with schoolwork and activities.

Alec had to stay behind because of a couple of cases he had to work on, which were all true, but he made sure he would use this time to go out and have his own fun. He found that when they were away, it was less problematic for him to come up with excuses for why he couldn't come home on time, or have to work late, or any other excuse he had to come up with. So, with his family being out of town, it was perfect timing for him.

He got lucky when the cases he was working on ended quickly. One ended in mediation, where the two parties found a compromise for a land dispute, and the other ended when his client agreed to a settlement with the person he was suing. He, of course, told his wife that the lawsuits were still ongoing, so she wouldn't guilt him into coming over to visit them. He was looking forward to being able to go out tonight and have his own fun before his family came home.

To be sure nothing would go wrong, he texted his wife that he would be busy at the office tonight working on his cases so she can't call or text him for anything. It was a good enough excuse to make sure she doesn't disturb him with any calls while he was out meeting other women.

That night, he dressed in something stylish but casual to impress some of the women he wanted to meet without looking like he was trying too hard. He didn't want to look like a married man or a lawyer; he wanted to look like a regular guy who liked to go out and have fun. Alec was about 34, but looked younger, with a good head of hair, a youthful face. He always kept in shape and had good muscle tone. His looks, plus his career, made him very appealing to the women he met.

Before he left the house, he removed his wedding ring before he left the house that night and put it in a secure location. He didn't have to worry about tan lines on his ring finger. On occasion, he would take off his ring for several hours to make sure the tan line didn't form that well. There's always a little line, but he would use some of his wife's makeup to cover it up. He learned from Emily which type of makeup can stay on longer without having to be reapplied constantly. Alec was aware of the irony of using his wife's makeup to help him cheat on her.

Occasionally, the ring line could still be seen. When a woman does notice, he tells her that he's been divorced for some time. The line is faded enough to make it look like it had been a while since he took off that ring and the line was still in the process of fading away. Because Alec was a good lawyer, he was able to make that story sound very reasonable to believe. He thought about saying his wife had died, but he felt that was going too far.

Alec took an Uber car to the club in case he found himself drinking too much that night. When he arrived at the club, the bouncer recognized Alec right away and let him in ahead of the dozens of other people waiting in line, much to their aggravation.

He was immediately greeted by Derrick, one of the clubs owners he's friends with.

"What do we owe the pleasure of the world's best attorney?" Derrick asked.

"The wife's out of town," said Alec. Derrick already knew about how Alec liked to have some fun on the side, so there was no need to lie to him about it.

"You don't have to say anymore," he responded with a slick smile. "You picked a good night for this. We've got plenty of college babes coming back to their dorms early and before they want to get down to study, they want to go and get naughty."

Derrick always reminded Alec of every party boy from an 80's movie. It surprisingly worked well for him, as he now owns four successful clubs and gets laid all the time.

Alec took his time observing the other partying patrons. Because it was ladies' night, there were a lot more women for him to choose from so he had to narrow down his options. Besides the college girls, there were plenty of older women in their mid or late twenties as well, and he noticed a few who were more likely in their thirties.

The younger girls can be more naïve and like to party more, so they know how to have a good time; he's done well with them in the past, but knows that they're not as easy as movies about college life make them out to be. The older ones have more experience and like to try to stay young as long as possible; many of them like to go for a one-night stand, but just as many have experience enough to know when they're being played.

Alec's best course of action was to take his time. If he went in fast, he could screw up. If he took his time, he could assess his situation and come up with a game plan. He did the same thing in the courtroom, and it always worked out for him.

Alec managed to get a conversation going a few of the college girls he ran into. They saw how he was able to skip ahead of the line and were impressed by how he knew the owner. They were impressed even more when he started buying them drinks. He got free drinks, so it was no problem for him, but they didn't know that. He always tipped the bartender well to make them think he was putting the drinks on his nonexistent tab.

The girls were cute and seemed interested, but Alec knew it wouldn't go anywhere with them. He saw that a couple were very feminist and wouldn't be taken advantage of, and a few others liked him but weren't naïve enough to fall for all of his lines. Basically, they got free drinks from Alec before they all moved on from each other.

He danced and bought drinks for a few of the older women. The same situation was happening there as with the college girls before them. He could just tell whether or not they were really into just having some no-strings-attached fun. He did enjoy their company, and gave one of them his business cards because she was looking into suing her employer for sexual harassment. After hearing her out, he knew she had a good solid case and he could help her get a big settlement. Alec was well aware of the irony of taking a case like this, despite what his intentions for tonight were going to be.

Finally, he saw the perfect woman. A beautiful redhead in an amazing revealing black dress was sitting at the bar all by herself and had just finished drinking a martini. From the way she was dressed and how she was sitting by herself, she was obviously waiting for someone to make their move on her. But that didn't necessarily mean she was going to be easy. Alec still had to talk to her to assess her situation to accurately plan his next moves.

He walked up to the bar just in time for the bartender to stop by that area and leaned against the counter next to the mysterious woman. As he got a closer look at her, he noticed how green her eyes were and the cut beauty mark she had on her left cheekbone. She also had a tattoo of a butterfly landing on a rose on her forearm; Alec wasn't a fan of tattoos but thought the artist had done a good job on her arm.

"We'll take two whiskey sours," Alec told the bartender.

The bartender nodded and left to make the drinks.

"And what makes you think I wanted that?" said the woman.

"Because you're sitting here waiting for someone to buy you a drink," Alec answered.

"That's true. But what makes you think I'll like what you ordered?"

"Have you ever tried a whiskey sour before?"

"No."

"Then it's a good time to try something new," said Alec.

The bartender came back and gave them their drinks. Alec told him to put it on his tab; the bartender knew that meant the drinks were going to be for free. The bartender was OK with it because the cost wasn't coming out of his pocket, and he knew Alec would still leave him a good tip.

Alec and the woman took a sip of their drinks and set them down on the counter.

"Not bad," she said. "I mean, it's not something I'll start ordering, but it's still good."

"I'm Alec, by the way."

"I'm Vikki," she said, giving him a very sultry smile.

"Nice to meet you, Vikki."

They drank some more.

"What brings you here?" he asked.

"How about you tell me what you're doing here on ladies' night?" she asked in return.

"I'm just looking to meet a nice woman I can enjoy some company with."

"And what does your wife say about that?"

Alec was a little surprised by that question. This was the first time someone he was hitting on called him out on being married.

"I'm not married," he said.

Vikki took Alec's hand and began playing with his fingers.

"This says otherwise," said Vikki as she pointed out the ring finger that still had a little ring line on it.

"I'm divorced," said Alec. "I only recently took off my ring"

He knew he was caught, but he had to at least try to go with the lie.

"No, you're not," said Vikki as she continued rubbing Alec's fingers. "This is a good cover up though. I'm guessing you used some of your wife's make-up. Is that right?"

Alec didn't say anything. He was too nervous to respond. He had never felt this way before because he had never been caught like this before.

"It's OK, I'm not judging you," Vikki assured him. "You and I are one and the same."

Vikki held up her ring finger and showed him the ring line on it. This made Alec a little more relieved because this meant that she was at the bar for the same reason she was.

"OK, I'm married," Alec finally admitted. "And so are you, apparently."

She drank more of her whisky sour.

"So, what's your reason for stepping out on your wife?"

"A reason?"

"We all come up with our own reasons for doing this," said Vikki. "It's the excuses we use to justify why we do this, despite being fully aware of how wrong it is."

"So, what are your reasons?"

Vikki took another sip of her drink. "I'm married to a rich man 40 years older than me, so I could be his trophy wife, but he can't satisfy me in bed. So, I fool around to satisfy my own needs."

"And I bet you're using the excuse that you're doing this for your marriage. You get this out of your system, then go home to be a loving trophy wife."

"No, I do this because I enjoy it," said Vikki. "I couldn't care less about my husband; I just want to be taken care of by a rich guy. I just don't want to be caught doing this or else he will cut me off."

Alec was surprised by how brutally honest she was about her situation.

"So, what is your excuse for fucking other women?" Vikki asked. "Let me guess. You love your wife, but she can't satisfy all of your needs, so you go and fuck other women just to get it out of your system. In fact, you think you're doing your wife a favor by doing this because she wouldn't have to be so burdened by always having to satisfy you sexually, and afterwards you can focus only on her."

"Damn," said Alec. She completely figured him out.

"But like I said, I'm not judging. In fact, this is a perfect situation for the both of us"

Alec smiled at her and drank some more of his whiskey sour.

"Because we both have something to lose if either one of us gets caught," said Alec. "So, neither one of us will get too attached to the other and won't say a word about it afterwards."

"Exactly," she said, giving him a very devilish look.

They both finished their drinks at the same time.

"Should we get out of here?" Alec asked.

She didn't say anything as she grabbed her purse off the counter, got off her barstool and took Alec by his arm as they both made their way to the entrance. Derrick saw Alec leaving with Vikki and gave him a very approving nod and smile. Outside, Alec ordered an uber on his phone and saw that it was coming in a few minutes.

"Where are you taking me?" Vikki asked.

"To a hotel, I got ready in case I was going to get lucky tonight."

Vikki laughed. "And what were you going to tell the lucky girl who gets chosen by you that you're taking her to a hotel."

"I was going to use the 'I'm just in town for business for a few days' excuse."

"I guess that would work on someone stupid enough to fall for it," she said. "Which hotel are you taking me to?"

"The Radison on 5th Street."

"Damnit," said Vikki. "I can't go to that Radison. I got in trouble with them a while ago and can't go back."

"Don't worry about it. I'll sneak you in; nobody will notice."

"No, I mean I legally cannot go there," she reiterated. "I cannot say what trouble I got into, but now I have a restraining order saying I can't be within two hundred feet of that place."

This was very shocking for Alec to hear.

"How about your place?" he asked.

"We can't, my husband is there, and he already thinks I'm at my sister's place helping her plan her wedding. I am helping her out with that, but just not tonight."

"Well, we can't go to my place either."

"Is your wife home right now?" she asked.

"No, she's gone to her parents for a week with the kids. She won't be back for a few more days."

"So, what's the problem then?"

"That's where my family lives. It doesn't feel right to take you there."

Vikki put her arms around Alec, pressing her tits hard against his body as she hugged him.

"Come on. She'll never know," she said in a very seductive voice. "Do you really want to give up on this because of one small detail?"

She stood up on her toes to raise her height enough to give Alec a good kiss on the mouth. Alec sighed. He knew it was a bad idea and very risky. But he was really getting into this woman.

"You can't stay the night."

"Of course not," she said. "I have to get back to my sister to change back into my regular clothes so I can get back to my old-man husband in the morning."

"Just making sure we're on the same page about this."

Before the Uber came, Alec changed the destination on his phone so the driver wouldn't be surprised by it when he arrived. The car came, they both got into the back seat and then left the club behind them.

It was going to be a 30-minute drive to his house. They spent some of that time joking and laughing with each other. At one point, Vikki took out a big silver flask from her purse and drank nearly half of it before putting it back into her purse. Alec was impressed by how much she was drinking in one setting.

When they were about ten minutes away from his home, Alec began to get nervous about the idea of taking her back to his place. His affairs were always risky, but he never took large risks like this. He had always been careful about how to go about it up until this point.

"Is something wrong?" Vikki asked.

"I'm starting to regret this," he whispered to her, so the Uber driver wouldn't hear him. "I'm afraid someone might see me bringing you to my place."