"Absolutely marvelous woman you have here, Ed. Everyone at the club was absolutely wild about her and I had to swear I'd bring her back again!"
"Of course, George, I don't pick anything but winners," Ed Waring jubilantly agreed as he handed McHenry a frosted martini he had just mixed. "Lynn, for heaven's sake, take George's coat and we'll get him warmed up a little before he has to go out into that blizzard again!"
Lynn was still in the doorway to their house, trying to stamp the wet snow from her thin shoes and frost-red ankles. It had apparently been snowing all the time she and McHenry had been in the Executive Club, and she felt chilled to the bone from having to fight her way through the blistering wind and soggy flakes that were still pouring down from the sky. Now, she looked up at Ed and tried to flash him a look of warning, but he either did not see or ignored the expression on her face.
"Thanks, son, but I don't want to impose right now," George said, smiling expansively as he pulled off his leather gloves. "The reason we came home early was because Lynn wasn't feeling too chipper and, much as I'd like to stay and enjoy her lovely company for a while longer, I think I'd better go home so you can tuck her into bed."
Lynn saw the expression of irritation that clouded her husband's face and knew he was worrying if she had somehow insulted McHenry by cutting the evening short before he was ready to leave. "Oh, don't worry, darling, it's nothing major," she quickly chimed in, stepping into the living room after hanging her wrap beside Ed's own dripping overcoat. "I'm afraid I drank a bit more than my limit and I wanted to leave before I did anything I'd regret later." She tried to place special emphasis on her words so that Ed would realize that the evening had not been quite as innocent as he now assumed, but rather than even notice she was trying to tell him something, he turned on her with a look of accusation that she knew was not entirely in fun.
"I certainly hope you didn't embarrass us at the club, honey," he murmured, his ominous tone of voice belying the smile he wore. Then, turning back to McHenry, Ed went on in a more apologetic tenor. "George, I'm really glad I got home early enough to see you. I want to apologize for my wife. I should have told you she's not used to drinking much, but I promise it won't happen again. If you ever want to take her to the club again, I'll make her promise to stay on ginger ale before she leaves the house."
Lynn's back stiffened and she stared at her husband's face, wondering if she was hearing him correctly. After all she had been through tonight, was she going to have the added humiliation of hearing her husband apologize for her, when all she had done was try to preserve her fidelity to him? Was he so hungry for that promotion that he would unthinkingly jump on the idea that she had made a fool of herself this evening, without even giving her an opportunity to tell him the unbelievable insults she had endured from this man he was fawning over right now? And now, he was already trying to set up another date for her to that… that sex club!
"Darling, I wouldn't think of embarrassing you," she said from between clenched teeth, straining to keep her voice sweet and wife-like. "Why don't you and George talk in the office tomorrow? I really don't feel well and I think I ought to go to bed, if you don't mind terribly."
McHenry's eyebrows lifted in surprise as he heard the tiny blonde call him by his first name. He had asked her to call him "George" several times this evening, but she had coldly ignored the request, clinging to the more formal "Mr. McHenry." Now, he knew that it was a sign that she was either softening toward him, or so upset that she had forgotten herself. If it was the latter, he decided he would have to talk fast if he still wanted to get this enticing little morsel into bed because, no matter how ambitious young Waring was, there was no telling what might happen if his wife told him what had happened tonight before George had a chance to get to him and give him a slightly-altered version of the night's events.
"Look, sweetheart, if you want to sleep that badly, go on, and George and I will just enjoy our drinks. Okay?" Ed was advising his obviously distraught wife, a look of dismay on his face that she would be so openly inhospitable to their important guest. "But you're going to have to learn how to stay up a little late if I get that -"
"Now, now, Ed. Calm down," McHenry interrupted, seemingly concerned about the argument budding between the two young people. In fact, it was exactly what he'd hoped for and expected. "Sometimes, wives just have to be pampered a little. I was just going home anyway," he added, putting what he hoped was the right amount of disappointment in his voice.
"Oh, no, George. Stay a while longer," Ed urged him as visions of a lost promotion filled his brain. Turning to his wife, he snapped, "For God's sake, Lynn, stop indulging yourself and make up a few more drinks. It's not going to kill you to stay up a while longer."
"Ed, please -" his young, visibly upset wife pleaded, trying to tell him with her eyes that it was desperately important that she talk to him, before McHenry had a chance to commit her to another evening like this one. She could still feel the warmth of McHenry's fingers as they had tried to force her legs apart under the table at the club and she shuddered in horror at the thought of having to go through that again.
In his agony of doubt in wondering if all his aspirations to executive status had been ruined by his wife's silly selfishness, Ed did not even acknowledge her plaintive cry. Instead, he went hurrying after McHenry who was already moving toward the door, pulling his gloves back on as he walked. Stumbling anxiously behind his departing boss, Ed could not see the secret smile of triumph that already wreathed George's face.
"Look, George, I'm really sorry about this evening," the handsome young husband nervously repeated. "I just don't know what could have gotten into Lynn to make her act so rude."
"Well, son, she's barely more than a teenager," George shrugged, with a trace of regret in his voice. "Perhaps, she's a little young to carry all the responsibility that goes with being an executive's wife…" His eyes darted back to the tiny blonde who was struggling to restrain her fury in the middle of the living room. It was all he could do to keep from rushing back into the room and tearing the clothes off that "youngster" right now. Obscene thoughts of how tight her wet little pussy would be shifted through his mind. He could see by the stricken look on Waring's face that he thought he had lost the promotion and George had no doubt that Ed would hand over his young blonde wife without a thought right now, if he thought it would get that third vice-presidency back again.
But George had better plans and no matter how much he might enjoy the idea of ramming his hardened cock up into her soft little belly right this minute, he knew that it was going to be infinitely more interesting to watch Waring selling his pretty young wife down the drain, without ever suspecting what he was doing.
McHenry allowed a few more minutes for his ominous pronouncement on Lynn's potential as an "executive wife" to sink in, then listened with apparent disinterest as Ed began to beg for another chance, just as George had expected.
"Really, George, you've got to understand that this was just a bad night for Lynn… I mean, you said that everybody at the club liked her… she's just awfully wound up about all this excitement about the promotion," Ed defended, rushing his words out in hopes that he could change McHenry's mind before he had a chance to sleep on his decision.
"Mmmm. That's quite possible I suppose," the balding man murmured with seeming thoughtfulness. He seemed to ponder some question in his mind for a few moments, then looked up at Ed with a condescending smile. "Well, son, let's try it again then. Why don't you and your wife come to the club with Marian and me next Saturday night? Do you think Lynn would be feeling better by then, or should we postpone it for a while?"
This was what she had been dreading, and Lynn didn't even have to listen to know how Ed was going to respond to the second invitation.
"She'll be just fine, George. Don't you worry about a thing," Ed almost shouted with joy.
"I've got nothing to worry about, son," McHenry said pointedly, in a low tone so that Lynn would not hear. Then, he looked back to where she was sitting and fuming on the couch and waved his hand in a friendly farewell. "Goodnight, my dear, and thank you for your company."
"Good-night, Mr. McHenry," Lynn bitterly replied, barely managing a weak smile to accompany her farewell. She had never expected Ed to act so cruel and selfish and now she had no idea of how to tell him what had really happened. She watched him cheerfully say good-bye to McHenry, then wearily rose from the couch as her husband closed the door behind his boss. The only way to explain things was to just tell him exactly what had happened, she finally decided, and she might as well get it over with right now, so that Ed would have an opportunity to figure out a way to withdraw gracefully from the date he had made with McHenry.
"Listen, darling, you just wouldn't believe what -"
"Oh, Christ, honey, I'm too tired to listen to your complaints now," Ed angrily interrupted her. "You put me through all kinds of hell just calming you down enough to go out tonight – then I've got to try to keep the martinis from getting to my brain at a really important business dinner and then I come home to this! Do you realize that for a few minutes there, I had lost the promotion! I don't know what made him change his mind, but it certainly didn't help to have you sulking on the couch like a spoiled little girl. Why don't you grow up!"
His harsh words brought tears to her eyes, but Lynn struggled to keep back the sobs until she could explain. "Ed, you don't understand! That man -"
"Oh, the man made a pass at you, I suppose," he sarcastically broke in. "Lynn, we knew he was going to do that before you left, but we'd already decided that you could gracefully say no without injuring anybody's pride. Honey, those things happen in real life! This isn't a fairy tale it's business! My career!"
Oh, but we didn't know about the obscene "floor show" and the people taking their clothes off and making love in front of everyone else, she thought to herself. Lynn knew Ed was too furious to pay attention to anything she had to say, but she had to tell him now!
Swallowing her resentment, she quietly asked, "Ed, would you please give me a chance to tell you what happened at the Executive Club?"
"Good God, that's the last thing I want to hear now!" he growled. "Look, the fact is, you made a mess of things tonight. That's all I need to know. You'd just better pull yourself together, though, enough to do things right on Saturday night. Because if this promotion passes me by, I might not get another chance!" With that, he whirled away from his stricken wife and stamped off into the rear of the house.
"Ed!" she cried mournfully after him, but the sound was lost in the loud slam of the bathroom door.
Stunned by the force of his anger, Lynn collapsed tearfully on the couch again. Of course, she had known he would be upset by what had happened tonight, but she had never imagined that he would take McHenry's side over his own wife's protests. Though she tried to excuse Ed in her mind by thinking about how nervous he was about the vice-presidency, she couldn't help but get angrier and angrier. His career, his career – that was all he talked about anymore, all he seemed to live for. What about his marriage, or didn't that count these days?
The pretty blonde noticed that the hem of her dress had pulled up to the tops of her legs when she had sat down and she automatically made a movement to pull it back over her shapely thighs. Then, as she looked down at the low-cut neckline of the provocatively-styled dress Ed had bought for her to wear tonight, her tears began to dry and her bright blue eyes sparkled with renewed resentment. Suddenly, she realized that Ed was as much to blame as McHenry for trapping her in that horrible situation this evening!
After all, she reasoned inwardly, it had been Ed who had bought her this alluring dress because he knew very well that McHenry's interest in her was more than strictly business. In fact, Ed had admitted it tonight, saying that they had already discussed the possibility of Lynn having to fend off a "pass." Well, she would just let her disbelieving husband see what kind of pass she had had to deal with, she abruptly decided with a smile of bitter amusement on her lips. If Ed didn't want to hear about what had happened to her tonight, how she had made such a "mess" of things, he would just have to find out for himself.
In fact, she was already looking forward to watching Ed react to Marian McHenry's shameless lewdness and the floor show that McHenry had said was even "better" on weekends. What was "better" than four black men raping a helpless girl, especially to a mind like his, Lynn didn't even want to try to imagine, but whatever it was, the tiny blonde was certain it would shock her husband back into realizing that what was best for his career was not always perfect for their marriage.
And, then, maybe, she would be married to a husband again – and not Amalgamated Industries.