A Charity Ball

Sarah sat in the back of the car trying to calm herself. She was nervous and excited and a small part of her wondered if she could really go through with it. She settled her mind with the fact that right up until she ended up sleeping with him she could walk away at any moment and it not like Jim wasn't really attractive. She took a deep breath and decided to just enjoy the evening and see where it went.

Shortly before she was due to arrive she received a message from Jim telling her he would be waiting outside the venue for her. The venue itself turned out to be a beautiful old hotel just on the outskirts of the city. As the car pulled up she saw Jim looking very good in his immaculately tailored dress suit. The driver stopped the car and opened her door for her. She took his offered hand her eyes locked on Jim and she was delighted to note that he couldn't help but break his eye contact to clock her long, shapely legs. He leant in and kissed her cheek his hand intimately but not inappropriately touching her waist. He stood back and looked her up and down with a pleased look on his face and Sarah couldn't resist striking a little pose. "You look better in that dress than I could have possibly imagined when I picked it out" he said.

Sarah smiled, enjoying the compliment "You have excellent taste. I'm not sure I would have have picked one this nice."

"Don't thank me, thank the boutique assistants. I know a good suit but cocktail dresses are out of my area of expertise."

Sarah ran her fingers through the fabric of his lapels "I can tell you know a good suit, you're looking pretty darn good yourself." She flattened out the front of his jacket and enjoyed the feeling of his firm chest beneath it before looking up. There eyes met and he smiled at her before lifting her hand to his mouth and kissing the back of it.

"Well in that case I think we will be making a handsome couple. Shall we?"

He offered her his arm and they walked into the event. As they walked he explained that the ball was in aid of a charity the company was a public supporter of and the whole thing had been organised by the bosses young wife. This meant that it was important for Jim to attend and be seen at the event and be seen to be spending money as the hotel were donating a percentage of the profits. "So seriously, order whatever drinks you want, I recommend the champagne list for some ridiculously over priced refreshment." There was an auction followed by dancing but before that there was shmoozing and smooth jazz.

They wandered around together for a while with their eye wateringly expensive drinks chatting with groups of indeviduals. In other circumstances Sarah would have felt very awkward but she felt so liberated walking around with this man who was not her husband knowing her husband was encouraging it gave her a feeling of confidence she had never really had before. She was open and chatty and kept no secrets even mentioning her husband to one couple whose eyebrows shot up like fireworks at the mention of him whilst looking at the casual way Jim had his arm around her. She found it amusing rather than upsetting, she just didn't care what these people thought of her but then...

"Sarah!"

They turned to see a very surprised Phil and Jo standing behind them. "Jo? Phil? What are you doing here?" asked Sarah.

"It's Phil's company do, what are you doing here and why are you with Jim? Where's Tom?"

Jo was looking shocked, Phil looked thunderous. Sarah turned to look at Jim and he looked tense. Jim looked back at her and she could tell he didn't know how to deal with this situation.

Sarah decided to jump on this before it could start. She went up to them both and kissed them on the cheeks in greeting while she said "I had completely forgotten you and Jim worked at the same company Phil. So lovely to see you both. You both look stunning." She took Jo by the hand and started to sweep her away "You boys talk business or whatever everyone's been talking about tonight, we need to powder our noses." Jo gave a fleeting shrug to Phil and the ladies left the men making tense small talk.