He tried to concentrate on the TV as the wife slipped on a black dress. The Cubs were playing the Giants and the husband hoped betting on the winner would occupy his mind. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her through the bedroom doorway. In the bedroom mirror, she examined every flaw and imperfection on her face and tried to correct them.  She adjusted her dark brown hair, hoping it would align a certain way. He took another sip of his whiskey, feeling more liquid courage, and the wife came out of the bedroom. She looked exotic, and for a moment she was still all his. She gave a smile of confidence and spun in her dress, proud of what she had become.

     “You think this is good?” she asked.

     “I’m sure. As long as it’s new.”

     “Oh, it is,” she replied as if that struck up a sweet memory.

     The husband took another sip of whiskey and gave a silent nod. He reminded himself this part would be over soon.

     “Stop drinking so much. I need you here. It would make me feel safe,” she said.

     “I won’t go far.”

     “Just stop drinking,” she demanded.

     “You want me here or not?” he asked. She sighed and crossed her arms.

     “Should I put on different heels? Or maybe more eye shadow? How about--”

     “--Darling, you look fantastic. Everything will be fine,” the husband said as he put a hand on her cheek. She gave a forced smile, remembering to play along.

     A knock echoed through the house. She turned towards the front door as the husband closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He knew this needed to be done. It was for the best. The wife strutted to the doorway, fixed her hair one last time, and opened the door to David.  The husband heard the muffled voices of casual chit-chat and niceties. The kind passed between colleagues who walked past each other at work. The husband knew David would be the right choice. David would help.

     They came into the living room. David wore a charcoal suit with a black tie. The husband wore an ugly plaid button-down. David’s hair was dark, full, and parted perfectly to the side. The husband’s hair was graying.

     “Nice to see you again,” he said to David.

     “You too, man. I’ve never really done this sorta thing before so…”

     “You and me both!” the wife cackled as if David had said something funny. “We’ll figure it out together!” She pulled David by his tie into the bedroom and started kissing him. She lingered against his face before closing the door behind them.

     The husband closed his eyes, and he was back on the beach. The waves crashed against the shore and the soft breeze filled him. The cold water pinched his toes. Lila embraced him as they had done before, so many times and the wife had not noticed. She hadn’t dared to care. He kissed her and felt her soft red hair caress his shoulders. He imagined her taking off her 50s style apron and rushing into the water with him, as they had done before.

 

     He heard the wife say David’s name. The ocean waves ceased. Lila had vanished. The husband opened his eyes and the sound of the Cub’s game returned. But the sound of thumping pierced through the living room. The husband looked towards the bedroom and smiled. He knew this was good for the wife. She had never been with another man before, and he knew she wanted to experience more. David would solve the child problem too. David probably wanted children, so she could have them with him. David would solve the money problem too. David probably made more in his corner office. The wife would be able to buy whatever she wanted, and not complain about how the husband only wanted to go to that same 50’s style diner on Blackshear Avenue. She wouldn’t complain anymore about how things use to be better in the past, and how cold the husband had gotten, and how she wished to be young and free again.

     The thumping stopped. The husband looked towards the door and heard the shuffling of clothes and panting breaths. The door opened and he darted his eyes back to the TV. David walked out, buttoning up his white button-up. His pants sagging from a lack of a belt. Traces of make-up were smeared across his face.

     “Mind if I go out for a smoke?” David asked with a smile.

     “Go right ahead.”

     David took a pack out of his pocket and went outside. The wife, only in her lingerie, examined herself in the bedroom mirror.

     “Do you feel better honey?” the husband asked.

     “It’s not what I expected, I think I still need to test,” she replied as she put on new red lingerie.

     The husband breathed with relief. He pulled out his phone. Lila answered. Her voice was as sweet as the last time he saw her on the beach.

     “Hey,” she said with surprise. He heard light rain on her side.

     “Are you cold?” he asked tenderly.

     “A little. I forgot my umbrella, and I just got off work.” He pictured her in her work clothes, with her red hair in a ponytail, drawing every man’s attention as she jogged to her car parked outside the diner on Blackshear Avenue, her body swaying hypnotically. "I didn’t think you’d call again. Are you okay?”

     He saw the wife in her new outfit, pulling David inside the bedroom again.

     “Yeah, I'm great. Do you have any plans tonight?” The husband got up and picked his keys off the kitchen counter.

     “I was going to watch a movie, why?” she asked as she looked towards the busy street.

     The husband turned to the bedroom doorway and took the phone away from his ear. He heard the wife say David’s name again, and he smiled. He had done it.

     “Let’s go to the beach,” he said to Lila.