Preoccupied

Thanks to the Hip and Knee doctor for editing assistance.

*****

"You have to remember, John, that I will be preoccupied most of the night. There will be plenty of people there to talk to, and I am expecting you to mingle and be sociable."

Tonight was the first night in two years that I agreed to go with my wife Darcy, to one of her monthly social gatherings. I am not a gregarious person and usually avoid social functions whenever I can. Darcy was bubbly and outgoing: just my opposite. I knew about her monthly get-togethers before we were married, and she made it perfectly clear that she would marry me only if she could continue seeing her friends. She always made sure that I was welcomed to come along, but I always declined. To be honest, I didn't have a clue what these people could talk about for four hours every month. I wasn't into sports, culture, politics or the arts. Darcy assured me that everything would be all right as longed as I relaxed and went with the flow.

"Things will be very casual for the first hour, John. They will have wine and mixed drinks if you need to relax. I will be preoccupied with my friends most of the night, so you will be on your own."

There was that word again: 'preoccupied.' What happens after the first hour?

"I will be okay, Darcy. I promise to stay out of your way. I should be able to find someone to talk to."

"Oh, I can guarantee that. Since you are new to the group, you should have no trouble making friends."

I wasn't sure what she meant by that.

It was a big house: a mansion. Thank goodness there were plenty of places to park. There were at least thirty cars there when we arrived.Darcy was dressed in a sexy manner, but casual. Tonight, she spent more time dressing me for my debut than she did for herself. I was a lucky man to have found such a delightful spouse.

After we entered, she turned to me one more time. "Remember John, I am expecting you to take care of yourself tonight. Try and act as if I am not even here. I am leaving you alone now until we are ready to go. If I can't find you, I will call you on your cell phone when it is time for us to leave. Okay?"

I nodded as I watched her walk across the room through the crowd. There were at least fifty people busy chatting away. It looked like a scene out of a Hollywood movie. I spotted the bar and tried to look as if I belonged. A few moments later, I was sipping a cold long neck as I watched Darcy talking to a David Beckham want-to-be. I didn't mind the talking, but she seemed to be a little touchy-feely also. A gorgeous little creature interrupted me before I got to finish my beer.

"Hi my name is Carla and you must be John."

Here was where my social ineptness would come into play. Rather than answer her, I just nodded.

"Darcy said she was going to try and convince you to come along and she asked me to make you feel comfortable."

"Please, don't feel obligated. I don't want to keep you from having a good time."

"Relax, John. I enjoy meeting new people and you are the only newbie here tonight. You are all mine."

I wasn't sure what that meant, but Carla and I actually had a very nice conversation for about forty minutes. Her husband was around also and she pointed him out to me, across the room. Darcy was still chatting away with the sporty looking dude.

I am not a big drinker, so I switched to a coke after the second beer. At about that time the lights all flashed twice.

"Oh, that was fast." Carla was commenting about the flicker. "It looks like pre-emission is over."

"Pre-emission?"

"It is like the intermission signal at a play. It alerts the people that things are starting up."

Sure enough, the mood in the whole room started to change. The people who were standing around talking were now moving around. It was hard to determine what exactly was going on, but I could not see Darcy anywhere. In fact, Carla had also disappeared. As I wandered back over to the bar, things started to clear up in my head. Boy was I stupid. The large group of people in the main room was now less than half of what it had been. Warm bodies seemed to have evaporated into thin air.

"Look, John, I scored a key." Carla seemed proud of herself as she held up a room key with a brass, number six, tag attached. My suspicions were correct.

"Do you know where Darcy is?"

"She is preoccupied now, John. I am sure you will find her later."

There was that damn word again. I told Carla that I would meet her in room six in ten minutes, and quietly left the building.

I was cursing myself the whole way home. How could I have been so stupid? For two years, Darcy had been meeting friends here for casual sex and I was unaware of it. I will never know how long she was doing it before she met me. Three hours later, after I had finished loading all my clothes and personal items in the car, my cell phone rang.

It was Darcy. "John, where are you? Are you having a good time?"

"Everything is fine, Darling. I am just preoccupied at the moment."

I assumed that she thought that I was still with Carla.

"Okay. I'm glad you are enjoying yourself. I will meet you in the main room when you get done. Don't hurry."

Ten minutes later, I was on my way to a local motel. Tomorrow morning was going to be busy. I was going to be preoccupied: closing accounts and talking to an attorney. Boy was I stupid.