Dinner with Stan.

The rest of the day progressed without incident. You finished your work somewhat late and arrived home past seven o'clock. Emily was already in the bedroom getting dressed for dinner at Stan's house. You exhaustively undressed and began to pick out clothes before glancing at Emily who sat comfortably on the bed, adjusting her top. It was very low cut and showed off plenty of cleavage, though you didn't want to speculate or bring up her attire in fear of an argument.

"Ready hun?" You eventually asked once you were sure she wasn't getting changed into anything else.

"Yes of course, I was waiting on you." She replied before leading you out the door and into the car.

You soon arrived at Stan's house and knocked firmly on his door, which eventually opened to reveal Stan, standing proudly in his silhouette wearing the same big stupid grin.

"You're finally here! I thought you'd changed your mind." He exclaimed, greeting Emily with a warm hug which she returned unnaturally. There was a strange tension between the two. Stan greeted you with a nod and allowed you both passage by standing away from the door.

It was obvious Stan lived alone. There was no 'female touch', so to speak. The place wasn't untidy, but it certainly wasn't neat. His furniture was plain and there wasn't anything that really stood out, other than maybe the nude calendar he had hanging on the wall.

"Nice..." Emily commented.

"I think so too... But not as nice as yours." He grinned stupidly, eyeing your fiance's cleavage. She quirked a brow but showed no signs of embarrassment. It almost felt like a weird, unspoken competition between the two.

"You could only guess." She remarked in return.

"Hm, I suppose so." He dismissed her comment and made his way to the kitchen. You and Emily followed after him.

"... So what are we having?" You asked eventually.

"I'm not much of a home cook so I've ordered Chinese... And we have wine of course. To indulge our alcoholism." He laughed as he served up food and poured copious amounts of wine into wide glasses.

"Oh, I drove..." You explained slowly.

"I guess it's just me and Emily drinking." He grinned as he passed her a glass.

The three of you sat and ate, chatting idly for some time. You tried to engage in conversation but felt that whatever you said was in another language, because Emily and Stan almost entirely directed their words to each other the whole night. You took a sip from your wine glass as you listened to the two chat over the now empty plates. They were well onto their fifth glass of wine.

"You see that's the problem with most marriages... There's a lack of understanding." Stan firmly stated. They were talking about the rate of failed marriages which made you feel pretty uncomfortable, though Emily seemed to humour the subject.

"Maybe, though I think Mark and I have a pretty good understanding of each other by now." She replied coolly.

"Hah, you mean Mark just goes along with whatever you say." Stan quipped.

"That's not really..." You began to say before being spoken over.

"That's not true, we just both agree on most things and so we don't need to argue." Emily explained. You paused and nodded your agreement, wondering whether it was entirely true.

"Whatever you say, Emily. I'd suggest doing your best to keep what you have... After all, men are usually more dominant than women." He said, his lips curling into a smile.

"Maybe once upon a time." Emily replied then took a deep drink from her wine glass.

"I doubt I'd ever be submissive to any man, though." She smiled slyly.

"Who knows. There's always a pecking order." Stan muttered under his breath.

"...Anyway, I think it's time we left. It's getting late." You eventually spoke up and stood, hoping that it was enough to end the evening. Thankfully Emily complied with your motion and got up too.

"Alright, drive safe. It was good seeing you, Emily... Until next time." Stan said as he led you both to the door.