I'm going to tell you a true story and let you decide whether my behavior can be forgiven. It happened several years ago. My husband turned out to be cheating, just as I feared at the time. We're still together and making things work, but it was complicated then, as you'll see.
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We'll start the story in the middle, at its most crucial point. It's about 10:30 p.m., toward the end of a daylong party at a suburban estate. The wine and spirits flowed freely and I am definitely drunk, although fully aware of what is happening. I am in a wooded area beside a small pond, somewhere in the back part of the estate. I am wrapped in a blanket that was actually a triple-size beach towel. I am lying on my side, talking with the guy who is the host of the party. He's lying across from me, on his side. He's wearing the swimsuit and casual top he's been wearing all day because much of the party happened, and is still happening, at the swimming pool behind the main house. Under my beach-blanket wrap, I am stark naked.
The relationships are complicated in this story. I'm Mindy. Jack is the guy on the blanket with me. He's a business associate of my husband's, but they've crossed swords a couple times and don't really like each other. Jack's wife Marcia works for my husband Dan, likely the real reason we were invited to the party. My husband had spent major party time flirting with Marcia, dancing several times, disappearing for awhile. I had become more and more pissed, causing me to keep filling my rum punch glass.
Jack asked a fair but complicated question, "So how did you wind up here, tonight."
I laughed. but uneasily. "You wrapped me up, picked me up, and carried me."
"That's not what I was asking, but you'll have to admit you needed some help."
He was right about that. My husband had found me sitting alone by the pool and made up some reason that he needed to leave the party for awhile. So off he went, pissing me off worse than before. I thought about him and Marcia and the near certainty they were off somewhere behaving REALLY badly. And I hatched a plan I still can't quite believe that I hatched,
I went up to the house, found a laundry room, pulled my cover-up over my head, then unfastened my bikini top and pulled it off, too. I paused for a moment, not too drunk to realize that my next decision was a big one. And I slid my bikini bottoms over my hips and stepped out of them.
Here I need to pause to re-emphasize that I was amazed then, even though tipsy, and am amazed still. in hindsight. All I can say is that Dan had REALLY pissed me off, and I played the role of woman scorned in a way I had never thought about before. Well, okay, I may have thought about it, but never thought I would actually do it.
I gathered everything up, and found a storage shelf. Then I opened the laundry room door, marched down a hall to the back door, and marched without looking left or right, down a sloping hill to the pool where the remaining party seemed to be happening.
There were maybe ten people around the pool, mostly guys but maybe a couple women, I didn't really care at that point. I got a couple whistles but more like, "WHOAH, what the hell?" I didn't say a thing, just marched down the walkway at the side of the pool, climbed onto the diving board at the far end, paused for a few moments -- possibly for dramatic effect, as I was aware that all eyes were on me. And I dived into the pool and swam a couple laps, aware of the cold water, aware that my bare ass was in full view. After swimming a few more laps, occasionally shifting to a backstroke that was well received by my audience, I decided that I had made whatever statement I needed to make but realized that I had absolutely no plan for my exit. Dan had taken the car somewhere. No chance to hide there. Walking naked back up the hill toward the house felt embarrassing, maybe even humiliating.
That's where Jack and his blanket-wrap come in. He showed up at the edge of the pool and held it open. I figured out his offer -- or at least part of it -- climbed up the small ladder to the awaiting blanket, and let him help wrap me up. It seemed like a gentlemanly thing for him to do, but in hindsight I remember that he made a bit more physical contact than was likely necessary.
I was surprised when he picked me up, but plenty drunk enough that I didn't analyze carefully or protest in the least. We started toward the house, as I expected, but about halfway up the slope, he turned left and headed toward the wooded area with its hidden pond. I was surprised enough to say, "What are we doing?" He said something like, "I'll give you a minute to dry off and get yourself together." It didn't make a lot of sense, but once again, no alarm bells went off in my head.
He laid me beside the pond, and unwrapped just enough blanket to give himself a place to lie beside me. And now you know how I got here and why Jack had asked what motivated the moment.
"I was pissed at Dan, really pissed," I said.
"Well that makes two of us, dear Mindy." His tone had gone harsh. I didn't really need to ask why, so just said, "What's going on with them?"
