As they climbed into the car in Sara's parking lot, Marie put the key into the ignition then stopped; turning to Paige she said, "God that was fun! I had a feeling it would happen, but it was much better than I imagined! And...you're amazing, Luv!"
Paige took Marie's hand, "I think that too; know what?"
"What?"
"My life is certainly different since we met!"
"Any regrets?"
The redhead blushed but replied evenly, "Are you kidding?" She squeezed her hand and continued, "Start the car, we're late!"
When they were stopped by the light at the entrance to the McCullers' neighborhood, Marie asked, "Will it make you too late if we pick up Michelle first? It's on the way."
"That's no problem, I just told my mother I'd be home by 5:00."
After picking up her daughter, the way back to their houses went by Chad's place. As they approached it a woman was walking out his front door dressed in a Maxpro polo and slacks. Marie read Paige's mind and slowed the car. The woman was tall (everyone was tall compared to Paige) and very pretty. Her hair was black and to Paige she looked Hispanic.
"Who's that?" asked Marie.
"I have no idea, but speed it up please; I don't want her to see us."
Marie did, "I wonder why an employee would be at Chad's house?"
"Who knows? Dropping off something?"
"Ya think?" Marie grinned at her friend, "Maybe she was dropping off some 'Afternoon Delight?'"
Paige laughed nervously, "That's kinda funny since we just had some ourselves!"
Marie split up, "I bet ours was better than his!"
They both laughed some more, "I'll find out tonight. I do have to call him about our remodeling meeting this morning."
"Of course you do!"
When Marie dropped her off, Paige hurried into the house and found everything quite peaceful; there was no sign of any children. Her mother was preparing dinner in the kitchen, "Hi, Mom! Where are the kids?"
"The girls are in their room, and Jimmy and Jamie are playing in the yard. "How was your meeting?"
Paige smiled, "Perfect! The McCullers are proving to be a great resource. I like how things are going!"
"That's wonderful; go say hi to the kids, and then...could you peel these potatoes for me?"
When she returned, Trudy said, "I think you should know, Olivia spent an hour and a half talking with a boy on the phone. It would have gone on longer, but I made her hang up."
"Oh my God! Has it started already?"
"She wasn't happy with me, but I just said, 'You're twelve, Olivia!'"
"I'm thinking I need to have a talk with her, huh?"
"I'm not going to be the bad person on this one, Dear! You are!"
Paige laughed, "Yes, It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it!"
That made her mother giggle, "You and I had the talk; you sure didn't like it either!"
"What? I was the perfect child!"
Trudy guffawed, "Yeah, right!"
*****************************************************************************************************************
That night she called Chad, "Hey! How was your day?"
"Awesome! It started out with a great breakfast meeting and looks like it's finishing with a call from you!"
"You're sweet!"
"Of course I am; how was your meeting today?"
"Unbelievable! But Chad, you can expect a phone call Monday or Tuesday. Sara McCullers said that they will give you a chance to bid on their five bedroom remodel in River Oaks!"
"Wow! I guess it pays to have a fiancee who doubles as a real estate agent!"
Paige giggled, "I have a particular set of skills, for sure!"
"Fuck yes you do; if you keep this up, maybe I can retire early!"
"I'm happy to be of service! But I do have to ask you; on the way home at around 5:00, Marie and I saw one of your associates leaving your house. Who was that?" There was silence; Chad said nothing. Ten seconds seemed longer, "Chad?"
"I'm here."
"Who was that?"
"Babe, that was Sylvie Rodriguez one of the sales girls, we were discussing strategy for the holiday sales period."
"At your house?"
Five more seconds passed; just as Paige was going to say something else, Chad spoke up, "Babe, we just had this talk a few days ago. I think I understand the objectives, but I'm not very good yet on the protocol."
"What does that mean?" she asked. The redhead was almost positive about what happened, but how could she be upset? Because she wasn't!
Chad continued, "Here's the set up; Sylvie is the one who I told you about; the one I had sex with before we got engaged."
"OHHH yes, she's very pretty!"
"Yeah, she is! Anyway, she came into my office this morning and congratulated me on the wedding announcement. I thanked her and then she asked, 'Does this mean you're officially off the guys who are available list?' I said, 'Yep, I think it does.' And she says, 'That is really too bad, I haven't gotten laid since our last encounter; I could really use some of your perfect dick!'"
"She actually said that?"
"Word for word."
"So you invited her over." Paige tried not to giggle at the irony. Both of them were fooling around with others at the exact same moment.
"You don't sound ptssed, Paige."
"Should I be? We had that talk. But I do need to know, would you have told me about her if I had not seen her at your house?"
"That's what I mean by 'protocols.' Again, it sounds like everything is okay as long as there are no secrets, right?"
"Pretty much, and OUR relationship comes first. Our sexual energy should always be available for each other. Do you agree?"