The Affair

2. Screwdriver logic

Saturday, April 11th 2020

9:05 PM

Still Driving

"Well, this is a stupid question, hungry, Sam?"

"I'm starved."

"Heh, so what's new? How about Chinese? It'll have to be take out this late at night."

"Oh, yeah! Are you tired Freddie? Feel like watching a movie? Yakking?"

"No, I'm not at all tired. Let's go to my place, it's closer and I was just getting ready to light a fire in the fireplace when you called. I even have some Stoli and OJ so you can have a screwdriver if you want. We haven't talked in ages, sounds good."

"Here we are Sam, 'China to go'."

Fred parked and they went in, they made their selections, and Sam paid. Fred staggered out to the car holding his chest.

"Alright Benson, I shouldn't ask, but what's wrong with you?"

"I must be having a heart attack! Samantha paid for food! In my presence! It must be the end of the world."

"Oh shut up!" She said smiling.

Fred got a right jab to the mid section that would have flattened lesser men. Having had a lifetime of training by being Sam's punching bag, he carried on as if nothing had happened. It really was just a friendly tap in Sam's world.

It's not much further to Fred's house, about five miles on the freeway. His house seems to be the gathering point for the three of them. Sam and her ex had always lived in a small apartment. It was hard for them to do outdoor things there. Carly and George owned a new-ish house in Bellevue, but Fred's place had character. Everyone always schedules their functions at his house. All the summer Bar B Q's, holidays or not, for Carly and Sam's immediate and extended families were held there. New Years Eve, Christmas parties, everything. While he was married, Shelly took care of the social planning. Now Carly reserves the house and or back yard. She emails him the schedule at the beginning of each month. He really doesn't mind. At least he gets to eat decent food on those occasions. Whenever he cooks something the neighborhood cats try to break in the house and bury it.

Fred parks under the car port and they go in the side door. Sam goes to work getting plates and silverware. Fred gets the fire started and mixes Sam a screwdriver. He pours himself a couple fingers of bourbon on the rocks.

Sam yells from the back of the house "I'm raiding your closet, nub. Grab the food, it's ready."

Fred gets the heaping plates from the kitchen counter and puts them on the coffee table with the drinks and utensils. Sam comes out from the hallway dressed in one of his sweat suits, grinning like the proverbial Cheshire Cat.

"Comfy now Sam?"

"Yeah, am now."

They ate, and chatted about family, and their Godson Larry. Larry is Carly and George's boy. Larry was two now, and a real handful. They cussed and discussed their ex's and talked about anything else one of them would think of.

The late dinner had finished some time ago, they had cleaned up the dishes and went back to the front room and sat in their respective chairs. Sam has 'her' overstuffed rocker in the corner, next to the fireplace. Fred's black leather club chair is on the other side of the room, with a better viewing angle for the TV. Carly's rocker matches Sam's and is on the other side of the fireplace. The gals helped him pick out and arrange the furniture, and put their personal touches on everything. While he was married to Shelly, things got moved around a bit. After the divorce, Sam and Carly moved all the furniture back to their original places.

The subject of discussion eventually came back around to their ex's.

"I can't believe the cheating piece of shit I was married to was doing the slut you were married to?"

"Gee Sam, why don't you tell me what you really think of Shelly and Phil."

"Well, am I wrong, Freddie?"

"No, your description pretty much matches mine. Now that I think of them, I wonder just how many affairs they really had. I wonder how many we didn't catch them at."

"Yeah, the bastards… But you know something Benson? I'll bet it's really exciting to have an affair."

"What? How can you say that Sam? It's betraying your partner and their trust."

"Oh, I know that. I'd never do it if I was married or in a relationship. But now that I'm single, I think it might be fun! Sneaking around, you know, all that sneaky stuff."

"Samantha, an affair implies that you're cheating on someone."

"Fredward, that's a pretty narrow view of it. Don't you think an affair could also just mean your trying to hide the relationship from someone?"

"Hmmm, I really can't shoot any holes in your logic, Sam."

"Ok then Freddie, let's have an affair."

"Oh, yeah right, who with, Sam?"

"Us."

"What! Did you say us? Like in you and me?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Well for one thing, at best that would be the proverbial 'friend with benefits' thing. Other than that it would make us 'fuck buddies' and I really can't see using you that way. You're much too good a friend for that, Sam. I really wouldn't ever want to use you."

"Well, before you shoot the idea down completely, hear me out. Ok?"

"OK, Sam, but it won't be easy to convince me to do this. Go ahead."

"What did you think of the club this evening?"

"Sucked, except we each picked up a hundred bucks."

"Do you like dating?"

"Hell no. Dating is a pain as an adult."

"First and foremost is trust. After going through the cheating and lying with Phil, I find it hard to trust anyone at the moment. Of course there are two exceptions. That is you and Carly. Do you feel the same about me?"

"Yes Sam, I know I could trust you with anything. You know that, or at least you should."

"My point exactly Freddie, we have known each other since we were kids. We know more about each other than most people know about their spouses. Don't you agree?"

"Of course, another good point Sam, go on."

"Ok, now you have to be totally honest with the next couple answers to my questions, alright?"

"Ok Sam."

"Ok, you and I have been in serious like mode for years. Not love, but like, correct?"

"Sure, we both knew that. Yeah, I agree with that."

"Alright, now you've got to be honest. Last question; didn't you ever fantasize about you and me doing it?"

"Jeez Sam…"

"C'mon Benson, quit trying to be so damn noble, answer the question."

"Yes Sam. Yes, I have. How about you? Have you ever…"

"Of course! I mean we are human, Freddie."

"Wow, yeah well, it's just odd to say out loud though. But it is normal I would imagine."

"Sure! Now back to the being used thing. As far as you using me or me you, that's a load of crap. We're only using each other if that's all we see it as. I see this as the perfect solution for both of us. I feel the same way you do about dating and clubs and all that garbage. We like each other. We're used to each other and we can sit and talk for hours. You and I are better together than most married couples. You can't deny that. So why shouldn't we turn to each other for all our needs? One thing I would demand is exclusivity. We can't start dating someone and continue it. That would be using one another. Agreed?"

"Ok Sam, assuming I agree to the entire idea, I'd agree to be exclusive. Why would you want to call this an affair? Who would we be hiding it from?"

"Carly, and the rest of the world, so she won't find out. Carly would never understand this. We can hang out together; she wouldn't see that as odd at all. If she found out about the physical part though, it would bother her. She would be upset that were not running off to get married and make 2.5 babies."

"Yeah, she would come unglued. But what about us, I mean that opens up a whole new dimension to you and I. I really worry that we could shred our friendship."

"I don't see it like that. I think we would be even better friends because of everything we've shared. Don't forget, we would be having an affair, not dating. But, if you don't want to, you can just start hanging out in the clubs and bars. Trying to find someone that isn't the same as what we were both stuck with before. So, what's it going to be, Benson?"