Yes. Champagne and An Uninvited Guest

The community center was all lit up when they pulled up into the parking lot as the sun began to set in the distance. Thankfully a neighbor’s husband agreed to take the kids for the night as he wasn’t much for fancy outings and it gave his wife a night out and away from the kids. Honestly, Thomas would’ve liked to have done the same, but he was being a good husband and wanted to be here to support Rachel for her big night. Plus, as he had aged and matured, the idea of putting on a well-tailored suit had started to become less of an inconvenience. It was probably the novelty of it, something he didn’t have to do everyday and like many grown men his age it made him feel like James Bond. Yep, all men are still little boys at the end of the day. The scenario was already playing out in his head. Someone had plans to infiltrate the gala, a sabotage or an ****, but Special Agent Weston, Thomas Weston, was there and ready.

“Thomas. Are you okay?” Rachel asked. “You look very serious.”

He snapped out of his brief daydream. “Yeah, just trying to remember if I left the oven on.”

Rachel scrunched up her face. “You didn’t cook anything.”

“Then I guess we’re good,” he teased.

Rachel shook her head and then shared a look with Aubrey before they all got out of the car. Both women looked amazing, but Thomas had to make a conscious effort to not look at Aubrey for too long. He knew she was going to be a showstopper, even if she wasn’t actually in the show. After spending most of the week helping set up he was happy that his only role for the night would be as a supportive husband and supporting co-host. Rachel and her business partner were the women of the hour, but Special Agent Weston would make sure nothing went awry.

As they walked across the parking lot and into the community center Thomas caught a few husbands letting their eyes linger on Aubrey in her form-fitting dress and many of the same ones eyeing his wife in her equally attractive red dress. It was sort of an odd feeling having another man look at his wife with some sort of lust or at least admiration in their eyes. It wasn’t quite jealousy nor was it a turn on of any kind, but more of a ‘yeah, I’m a lucky bastard’ sort of feeling. The whole hotwife thing never really made sense to him. He understood the concept, but Thomas always thought of himself more of a participant than a spectator. In some ‘never gonna happen’ fantasy world he and Rachel would be swingers, but nothing wild, just a few close couples they enjoyed spending time and having fun with. Of course, he knew that was only for his wildest dreams and fantasies.

“Rachel!” Rachel’s business partner, Shelly, called out in a slight panic. “I’m so glad you’re here. A couple of the girls bailed out and I need to fill in some gaps,” she said, lowering her voice as she pulled Rachel aside.

Thomas smiled at a few guests as they made their way in toward the main hall. He could feel his own anxiety building knowing that Rachel would be scrambling to figure out what to do next. He knew better than to doubt his wife or her calm under pressure, especially in professional situations, but he was more worried about her being stressed out later once she got a chance to breathe. He was about to ask Aubrey to check on Rachel, as he knew she had a special way of keeping her calm-- a skill Aubrey magically had with him and his family, but somehow she had read his mind and he found himself standing alone among the crowd.

Thomas did his best to schmooze with a few guests who came up to him, asking about Rachel or the show, but small talk wasn’t his favorite. He wasn’t sure what the status of Rachel’s situation was, but he deflected enough by letting people know that Rachel was taking care of some last minute details and final touches. For the most part people understood and he was grateful that he had brushed up on the general business model of Rachel and Shelly’s business so he could engage in some conversation, but he was no business partner and he could use a bailout.

Just as he was fumbling through another exchange with a potential investor the lights in the room dimmed and the stage lights brightened. Thomas’ phone then buzzed in his pocket as Shelly came out and started her introduction.

Rachel: Sorry, we got roped into the show. Ugh.
Thomas: We?
Rachel: Aubrey and I. She was harder to convince than me.
Thomas: Can’t wait. ;)
Rachel: :(
Thomas: What better way to advertise than to model your own products?
Rachel: It’s distracting.
Thomas: People will love it. But is that what took so long?
Rachel: We had to make some changes. The girls who couldn’t make it aren’t my size or Aubrey’s.
Thomas: Well, I tried to run interference out here. You ship to Singapore and can fulfill 10,000 units by next week, right?
Rachel: That’s not funny. :P
Rachel: Gotta go. It’s starting. Love you.

Thomas smiled and shot off a “I LOVE you.” reply before slipping his phone back into his pocket.

“Now the real show begins,” Greg said as he slipped in next to Thomas.

“Greg. What did I say about tonight?”

Greg had volunteered to help out the last few days, mostly for free beer and the hopes of chatting up one of the models, but it had mostly been him and few other husbands and boyfriends setting up the last week and the models mostly stayed busy with Rachel and Shelly.

“Hey, I promise I’ll be on my best behavior. Scout’s honor.”

“You were never a boy scout.”

“Lucky for me then,” Greg replied with a mischievous grin. “Speaking of, where’s that nanny of yours?”

“Greg.”

“Oh come on. You said your contract with her is almost up. Nothing wrong with two lonely people finding companionship.”

Thomas shook his head but also felt an odd twinge of jealousy at the thought of Aubrey going off with Greg or any other man. She wasn’t his and he was married, but something about the idea of it stirred up something primal inside him. He tried to not sound annoyed, but his tone came out more gruff than expected when he replied, “Is that what you call it?”

“Holy shit, is that her up there?”

Thomas was thankful that Greg hadn’t picked up on his tone and diverted his attention to the stage. His friend was right, there she was, walking the catwalk as if it were the most natural thing in the world. It was mostly casual athletic wear, but Thomas knew that if anyone was thinking of investing in Rachel’s company they’d remember Aubrey. Technically the brand was for all women; of all shapes, sizes, and ages, but even in those campaigns companies often looked for the most attractive people in those categories to model the clothes. He knew because he had worked on a few websites and ad campaigns for similar companies.

A few other women came out after Aubrey, but then came Rachel out with a big introduction from Shelly which elicited several cheers and hollers from the crowd which caused her to blush and burst into a fit of laughter, which broke her intended catwalk model façade. Thomas let out his own playful whistle and Greg joined in right after. The two men laughed and Shelly continued to play the crowd as Rachel left the stage in a fit of giggles.

The rest of the show continued as planned and the crowd cheered when Shelly wrapped up and made her closing remarks. The night wasn’t over but the rest would be a bunch of meet-and-greets and chit-chat with Rachel and Shelly. Thomas breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Rachel would be happy for the show part of the night being over, but then something caught Thomas’ eye as he looked up near the stage again.

There was a man standing by the stage who looked oddly out of place and unlike the rest of the crowd. Not only did his stoic expression set him apart, but he was dressed in casual jeans and a worn flannel shirt, very dressed down compared to everyone else. For whatever reason Thomas’ danger radar went off and he found himself moving through the crowd to see what the man was up to, maybe even say “hello” just to see his response.