***Willow Pond***
Jennifer and Jonathan are at home, having breakfast together.
"Darling, you know we have the McMillan's dinner party this week."
"We do?"
"Yes, on Wednesday. And the Stewart's on Saturday".
"Any chance to dance with you, I'll take".
She smiled at him.
It had only been a few weeks since he had been back at work, but so far, he was handling it well.
Jennifer had been nervous, but once they got through the first day, she was ok.
She was doing the breakfast dishes, when he came over to tell her bye.
"See you tonight, darling. I love you".
"Oh, I love you too. See you tonight. Take it easy today".
He nodded.
She kissed him a few times, and then the phone rang.
She picked it up, as he left.
"Hello?"
"Jennifer? It's Miriam Davis".
"Hello, Miriam. How are you?"
"Fine. I was calling to invite you to our Wednesday ladies lunch. It's at my house this week, at 11. Can you make it?"
"Sure. Can I bring anything?"
"Just you. Dress is casual, and I can't wait to see you".
"Thanks, see you then".
She hung up and went about her day.
That afternoon, she went shopping, and purchased a few things, including a couple new evening gowns.
She got home just before Jonathan did. They decided to cook dinner together.
Tonight was grilled salmon with lemon and dill, and a chopped salad with cauliflower rice.
She told him about the ladies lunch invitation.
"Well that sounds wonderful".
"We will see".
They went upstairs to bed fairly early, and he gave her one of his famous massages with the tingly stuff.
"Darling, has anyone at the office asked about why you were gone so long?"
"Not really. They just say they are glad to see me back".
"That's good, I suppose".
"Yeah. I thought about telling them, but then they would fawn over me. And you are the only one who's allowed to do that".
She giggled.
After her massage was finished, she grabbed something off the nightstand.
"Ok, sailor, now it's time for your surprise".
She put the blindfold on him, and had him get settled on the bed.
She went and slipped into the new lingerie that she had bought that day, and came back to the bed.
She straddled him, and placed his hands on her right where she wanted them, and then reached up and took off the blindfold.
She was wearing a new teddy in see-through black lace, with a plunge halter neckline.
"What do you think, Sailor?"
"I love it. You are so beautiful".
She leaned forward and kissed him, as she scooted down his body.
They laid there kissing for a little bit.
"Darling, I love you in this, but I love you in anything you wear, you know that".
"I just thought that since you worked all day at the office, you deserved a treat".
"I worked really hard, darling."
"I know".
She kissed him.
She unbuttoned his pajama top, and kissed his chest.
Within minutes they were both naked, and making love.
They fell asleep in each other's arms, all snuggled up.
***Wednesday***
It was the day of Jennifer's ladies lunch. She had gotten up with Jonathan and fixed him breakfast.
They had spent a long time saying goodbye that morning. Ever since the thing with Harold, they had been more loving with each other.
She showered and dressed and got ready for her lunch. She wasn't sure what to expect, as she hadn't been invited to lunch with these ladies before. Miriam Davis was a member of the country club they belonged to, and she assumed other club wives would be as well.
***Davis residence***
Jennifer pulled up and parked, and rang the doorbell.
"Come in, come in".
"Thank you".
She was shown to the patio, where the other ladies were. She was surprised to find that it was just 4 other ladies.
"Jennifer, welcome. So glad you could join us. You remember Allyson Walker, and Teresa Owens, and Julia Myers and Stacy Tipton".
"Hello, yes, lovely to see all of you".
"So, we get together each Wednesday, and have lunch and shop and do whatever. Sometimes, we go on adventures, but not all of us at once".
"This is so nice".
"How is Jonathan?"
"He's very well, thank you".
Teresa spoke up then.
"Jennifer, my husband is Harold Owens. He told me that your husband had been out of the country dealing with an emergency".
"He's back now, and he's fine". Jennifer said nothing about the incident with Harold. She didn't want to argue.
They ate a nice lunch and asked her lots of questions about her daily routines.
"Ladies, I feel like I'm at an interview".
They all chuckled.
"Sorry, we don't have new people in our group very often".
"Well, why me?"
"We just thought that with Jonathan being gone, you would be in need of companionship".
She nodded.
"So, we rotate out who gets to go on adventures".
"What do you mean by adventures?"
"Well, we go into the city and we take in an afternoon show. And one of us, gets to meet her boyfriend during that time. The others of us cover".
"Ladies, I am flattered, really. But I would never cheat on Jonathan ever. And he would never cheat on me".
Teresa gave Jennifer a very pointed glare. "Never say never".
"When it comes to Jonathan and I cheating, I always say Never".
Jennifer returned the pointed glare.
"Well, ladies this was fun. I am up for lunch and mani/pedi's and shopping whenever, but that's all. I am not up for adventures, but thank you for the invite".
They all nodded, and Jennifer saw herself out.
She got in the car and immediately drove to Hart Industries.
***Hart Industries***
Jennifer walked into Jonathan's office. He was working on paperwork at his desk.
"Hi darling".
"Well hello. This is a surprise".
She wrapped him in a very loving embrace.
"How was your luncheon?"
"Bizarre".
"How so?"
"Apparently, these ladies go into the city and see a show or go shopping, and one of them each week meets her boyfriend for a quickie while the others cover for her. And one of them is Harold's wife, and he had told her that you were out of the country."
"Why would he have told her that?"
"I don't know, but they thought I needed companionship, so that's how I got invited. And I got the distinct impression, that he told her I cheat on you, based on the way she was glaring at me".
"Well, if that's what she chooses to believe, so be it. You and I know the truth. Maybe that's what he told her about the incident at our house and why he was charged".
He kissed her.
"I would never cheat on you, darling. Nobody could ever be as good as you".
"At what?"
She squeezed his chin. "Anything".
They shared a few more passionate kisses.
"I better go, so you can get back to work. I love you".
"I love you too, Red".
She kissed him again and then left.
***Willow Pond***
Jennifer was getting ready for their dinner party when Jonathan got home.
She was about to put on her gown. She had decided to wear a strapless sweetheart lavender gown with a thigh-high split. It was covered in jewels at the top of the bodice, and eventually petered out to lavender silk at the bottom. She was wearing silver sparkly peep toe heels, and she had bought a silver metallic clutch to go with it.
He came in and kissed her.
"Hi beautiful".
"Hi yourself. You are just in time to help me get into my dress".
She shimmied into her dress and then he zipped her up.
It only took him a few minutes to get into his suit. By the time he was ready, so was she. Her hair and makeup were flawless, as always.
They headed out for their dinner party.
***McMillan residence***
Jonathan and Jennifer came in and found their assigned table. They went and got a cocktail and mingled with a few people before heading to the dance floor. He spun her and dipped her and kissed her and they moved on the floor like nobody else was there.
After they were done dancing, they went and got their plates. The buffet was quite impressive. Crab legs, hamburger sliders, fresh veggies and hummus, fruit and cheese plate, mini tacos, mini quesadillas, chicken wings, Chinese short ribs. It was all there.
They were sitting at the same table as Allyson and John Walker.
Jennifer and Jonathan had been sitting there for a little bit when Allyson came and sat down.
"Hi, how are you?"
"Hello".
"Jennifer, I want to apologize for lunch today. We were out of line, to interrogate you like that. And I see that now, in light of what happened".
"In light of what happened? What do you mean?"
"You didn't hear? I heard it on the radio on the way over-Stacy Tipton was found dead in a hotel room in downtown Los Angeles".
"Dead? Oh, that's so tragic".
"Yeah. It was her day to be adventurous. And she never came back. We finally had to leave her and head back to Miriam's. The radio said she had been found by housekeeping".
"That's sad. Poor Brent. He must be devastated".
The announcement part of the dinner party started then. After it was over, Jonathan and Jennifer went to go dance once more.
"Darling, Allyson just told me that Stacy Tipton died this afternoon. She was at the lunch with me".
"Died? Did she say how?"
"No, she said she heard it on the radio, that she was found in a hotel in downtown Los Angeles by housekeeping".
"That's sad. And kind of surprising".
"Yeah. I never figured she would cheat on Brent, but I guess you just never know what goes on in someone else's house."
After a few dances, they headed to the dessert table, and then headed home. Everyone got a leftovers box to take with them, as was customary.
***Willow Pond***
They came inside and Jennifer headed to put their leftovers in the fridge.
She came back out and joined Jonathan, who was at the piano.
"Ready to go up, darling?"
"Absolutely".
She kicked her shoes off, and held his hand as they went up the steps.
***The next day***
Jennifer was working on her article at home that day. When Max's cuckoo clock went off at 10:45, she took a break. She went and made herself a veggie wrap and then turned the TV to The Young and the Restless. This was her guilty pleasure. She had watched on and off since college.
It was only an hour show, but sometimes it was so good that she wanted it to go on forever. Today was one of those days.
She was all up in this storyline about a long-time couple where the wife was in a coma and had been for years. The husband had moved on with someone else, and on the day of a big wedding happening in town, the wife was coming back. Nobody knew she had woken up, or that she had left her facility days before and hitchhiked back to town. Just as they were going to say their vows, she walked in. It was big, and Jennifer was glued to the TV for every second.
When it was over, she got up to turn the TV off so she could go back to her article.
"Breaking news: police are looking for this man, 42 year old Kenneth Masterson, in the death of socialite Stacy Tipton. Kenneth reportedly works at a male strip club in downtown Los Angeles, and hasn't been seen since yesterday afternoon".
Jennifer watched the report and then turned the TV off.
She got back to work on her article and worked on it till Jonathan got home at 5.
She ran to him.
"Hi, darling". She kissed him.
"Hi gorgeous".
He kissed her back a few times.
"I brought dinner home, hope you didn't already make something".
"What did you bring?"
"Chinese. No msg".
"Good boy".
She kissed him again.
"How about we eat it in our pajamas under a blanket?"
"Best idea I have heard all day".
Jennifer went upstairs and put on some more new lingerie, and put her robe on over it.
She came back downstairs and got them plates and beverages while Jonathan changed into his pajamas.
They sat down on the couch under the blanket, and ate dinner.
"Darling, there was a breaking news alert today, that they are looking for a dancer in connection with Stacy Tipton's death. It's just so shocking to me".
"I know. But it's like you said, you never know what is going on in someone else's house".
"I can't explain it, but I just feel like there is a piece missing."
"How can you tell, you don't really know how many pieces there are supposed to be?"
"Just call it a gut feeling".