The Invite
Sinclair or swim
"Honey, I'm home," Cate bellowed, entering the house and casually tossing her keys in the bowl. "How was your day? Get any writing done?"
"It was pretty good thanks. I've been fairly productive and I got quite a bit done. How about you? Okay day?" Tom asked, closing his laptop, intercepting his wife in the hall and welcoming her home with their usual loving kiss.
"Oh, it was great. Hit the gym early and then met up with Ruby afterwards to hammer out a few things for some upcoming shows. After that we met up with Selena for lunch at Loretta's," she answered.
"Sounds like a great day, baby. I trust Ruby and Selena are well?" asked Tom.
"Yup. All good. They both said to say hello and give slurpy kisses. Hey, you'll never guess who texted me on my way home."
"You're right, I'll never guess, so I give up. Who?"
"None other than the beautiful Sasha Sinclair," answered Cate, looking at him wide-eyed. "How about that?"
"No shit. Wow. You haven't heard from either of the Sinclairs in some time, have you? You mentioned Sasha hasn't been able to attend any of your burlesque classes for a while. What's the deal there?" Tom asked.
"Yeah, the charity she runs has a big event coming up and that has been taking up a lot of her time. And well, full disclosure... I actually did hear from Jason about a week after the dinner at their place. It was a quick call that he said was just to check in with us. He wanted to make sure we were both okay with what happened that evening and he actually apologized for being so, as he put it, 'single-minded', and hoped that neither of us was offended by his behaviour.
"I told him there was no need to apologize and that we were all complicit in the events of the evening. I added that maybe he even deserved an apology from me for teasing him so mercilessly. I said that we were both fine with what transpired and that the evening's proceedings actually fuelled further... um... amorous adventures... for us, both in the car and when we got home. Much to my surprise, he did not ask for any details or make one crude reference. Not a single double entendre, off-colour comment or inappropriate remark. He actually sounded sincere, respectful and even a little contrite. Surprised the shit outta me. I had to look at the call display to be sure it was the same guy. I didn't tell you about the call because...well... to be honest... I completely forgot about it until just now. Sorry," Cate informed him.
"That's okay. It's no big deal. Intresting. So, what was his response to your apology?"
"He said there was no need to apologize for the teasing, was glad we were okay with the evening's events and was happy we enjoyed dinner. That was it. He said goodbye and hung up. Can you believe it? Shocking."
"Well, that's s certainly out of character. Maybe you just wore him down instead of the other way around. Way to go. He's a broken man," Tom joked. "So what was the gist of the Sasha text?"
"No details. She just asked if I could give her a call when I had a moment. She said it was nothing pressing but wanted to run something by me and catch up at the same time. Gonna go give her a shout now. I'll be back when we're done yakking. Keep you posted. Mmmwa, love you."
Cate retired to her office to make the call to Sasha while Tom went back to his laptop.
"This oughta be interesting," he mused.
***
Forty-five minutes later Cate returned to the living room to fill Tom in on her conversation with her friend and student. She seemed very excited about something and took a seat beside him on the couch.
"So, this is kinda cool. Sasha and Jason have recently purchased and renovated a lake house and are wondering if we'd like to be their guests for a couple of days if we can manage the time. It's about an hour and a half away, and apparently it has everything one could want in a getaway... gym, pool, hot tub, steam room, sauna, games room, screening room, hiking trails, tons of bedrooms, the whole nine yards. Sounds like it's the perfect place to kick back, relax and leave the stress of the grind behind. She said that they would love to have our company for a couple of days and that we would need to bring next to nothing. Swimsuits and casual clothes. Maybe something nice to wear for dinner. Bring your guitar if you want. Their cook will be there to do all the meals for us and they have oceans of booze and tons of gummies. What are your thoughts? Would we be interested?"