“You mean like a safe word?” Dan asked. “I’m going to insist on the condom. I’m putting that genie back in the bottle. Other than that, I’m not entirely sure.”
“Are you going to be there?” Sarah lifted her eyes from her glass to look into her husband’s, “You know, like in the room with us?”
“I think so,” Dan said, “I mean, I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to see it. It’s been awhile, and it’s been like torture knowing it is happening but not being there for you.”
“Okay, good, I want you to be there,” Sarah slid off the counter and leaned into her husband, “It’s not the same without you. Sure, I might enjoy it, but I really love watching your face and seeing your reaction. That’s probably the hottest part of all of this.”
Dan kissed his wife’s forehead. They stood there silently together until the doorbell rang. Lester had arrived.
“I’ll get it,” Dan said as he gently eased his wife off his body. He headed to the door and opened it. Lester stood there wearing a cheap-looking tuxedo that didn’t fit him properly. The sleeves were too short, even though it appeared oversized on him, “A rental?”
“Yup,” Lester stood impatiently as Dan waited, stock still in the threshold. After an uncomfortable few seconds, Dan eventually stepped to the side and gestured for Lester to come inside.
“What’s the occasion, Lester?” Dan asked, “I’ve never seen you dressed up before.”
“I thought it was appropriate,” Lester said smugly, “Since we are celebrating tonight, after all. The hospital is free of its ransomware.”
“Right, well, come on,” Dan shut and locked the door. “Let’s get on with it then.”
Sarah appeared and leaned against the doorway to the kitchen. “Nice tux. So, what outfit of mine did you want me to wear tonight? I’ll go get changed.”
Lester grinned and pointed towards the table against the wall, “That one.”
Sarah and Dan’s eyes followed Lester’s fingers to the arrangement of family photographs on the living room table against the wall. There were several photos he could be pointing towards. Dan and Sarah both walked towards the table to see which one he was talking about.
“I thought you meant like a lingerie set, not some everyday outfit,” Sarah said.
“The wedding dress,” Lester breathed. “Not an everyday outfit.”
Dan turned and looked hard at Lester, “That’s not what we agreed to. You said an outfit you haven’t seen in a long time.”
“Actually, when we shook on the deal, what I said was that it was an outfit she hadn’t worn for some time.” Lester grinned triumphantly.
“That’s not happening,” Dan said.
“It’s been years. I probably don’t even fit into my wedding dress anymore,” Sarah added.
“We shook on it. And I quote, you said that we were ‘sealing the deal.’ I held up my end of things. I didn’t bother Sarah at work once, and I took care of the hospital’s problem. Are you really going to renege on the deal now that I’ve done all the work?” Lester said.
Dan could feel his muscles tensing. He thought he had every angle covered here and was already allowing this Chicago bridge troll into his house to crawl between his wife’s legs. Then he felt Sarah’s soft hand on his back and it immediately slowed his heart rate.
“Shit,” Sarah said quietly. “We agreed to this. I don’t like it either, but we can’t back out now.”
“We can, though. It’s your wedding dress,” Dan said, “It’s not just some outfit.”
“I know. Like I said, I probably don’t even fit into it. I’ve had two kids since then, for god’s sake.” Sarah said. “I can’t imagine getting into that dress again. Especially for something like this.”
“You only wore that dress once, for me, on our wedding day,” Dan said, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose.
“And now she is going to wear it tonight for me.” Lester grinned.
“Lester, do me a favor and go sit in the kitchen for a second while I talk to Sarah upstairs,” Dan said pointing in the direction of the kitchen. “Come on, Sarah.”
Dan led Sarah upstairs and around the corner before speaking in a hushed voice, “Are you okay with this? It’s your wedding dress, Sarah. Don’t you want one of the girls to wear it in their weddings one day?”
“Maybe. But they’ll probably also have their own style of dress,” Sarah said, “Dan, it’s just a dress. It’s been collecting dust at the back of the closet for years. Yes, it is special to me and to us, but you know how Lester is. He makes an outrageous demand like the dress that he knows you’ll have a problem with so that you compromise for something else that he really wants. The way I see it, this is our way of coming out ahead.”
“I still don’t like it.” Dan felt like punching a hole in the drywall, “He’s pushing things too far.”
“Well, I guess we don’t have to like it, but we just need to get it over with.” Sarah put a steadying hand on his chest to calm him down. “I suppose next time we should get all the details up front before agreeing to something with him.”
“Next time,” Dan scoffed. “You know, when I came back here the other day, I thought I finally had the momentum to control him and control this, but now I feel like I got outplayed, and the rug’s been pulled out from under me.”
“Hey, you still got this,” Sarah smiled up at him reassuringly, “It was super hot the other day how you came in and took control of things. Don’t let him rattle you. We got most of what we wanted from that. This is just a speed bump. Don’t forget, it’s you and me here. Lester is just a guest, and we’ll remind him of that.”
“What do you mean?” Dan said. He watched as a mischievous smile appeared on his wife’s face, and her hand descended until it reached his crotch.”
“Hmmm, all this wedding dress talk clearly has had an effect on you.” Sarah’s hands had discovered Dan’s hardening cock. “Don’t be ashamed. I know how it is for you. What I mean is, this whole thing is because of something we did together, and we can do that again tonight. I’ll think about you and just focus on you there. Let’s just look at Lester like a sex toy for something between us. Nothing more than that.”
Dan sighed. He liked that reframing, and that viewpoint could get him through tonight, “Okay. I still don’t have to like it, despite what my dick might be saying to the contrary.”
“We can still back out. Maybe we can buy some more time to think up something else? Sarah smiled at him reassuringly. “What do you think we should do?”
“Let’s just get it over with,” Dan sighed. He was already breathing quickly, anticipating what the night would hold. “I’ll just make sure we get it dry-cleaned in the morning.”
“Okay,” Sarah winked and stood up on her tippy toes to kiss her husband. “Go back downstairs and get yourself a drink. I’ll get changed quickly for you, and we can get this over with.”
“Alright. Thanks for calming me down,” Dan said as he turned back towards the stairs. “I was ready to throw him out on his ass.”
“And I would have liked to have watched that,” Sarah said, backing down the hallway, “But I would be worried about what would come after.”
“Like his ass would break the side walk,” Dan said under his breath. He nodded to his wife as he walked down the stairs. Lester was sitting patiently at the kitchen table, staring at Dan as he entered. Dan went to the cupboard and made himself a drink. He purposefully didn’t offer Lester one.