Peter bounded up the stairs of his home, two at a time. “We’re going to be late…” he warned, panicked as his homebound train had been delayed – not an uncommon occurrence these days.

Shirley was in their en-suite, peering into the mirror and applying makeup. “We’ve got plenty of time yet, dear. There is still another half an hour until the taxi arrives. More than enough time for you to get changed.” She was her usual calm and unflappable self, but instead of reassuring him like it normally did, it only made him more irritated and stressed.

“What about the girls? Who’s looking after them tonight?” He reached inside the wardrobe and pulled out his best suit from inside its depths. “I hope it’s not Mrs Kent again, she lets them get away with murder.”

“Peter!” Shirley stopped applying mascara to poke her head around the door in amazement. “Clare is sixteen and Michelle is almost fourteen – both are old enough to baby-sit OTHER people’s children! They don’t need anyone to look after them for one evening. If we were going away for the weekend, then maybe…”

He interrupted in shock. “You’re leaving them here on their own?!” He left off the unspoken, “are you insane, woman?”

“They’ll be fine. Mr and Mrs Kent are in next door in case of any trouble, I’ve asked them to keep an ear open. We went out this afternoon after school and picked them up some easy microwave junk food, popcorn, chocolate and rented some videos. They’ll have a fantastic time. It’s a Friday night, so it’s not the end of the world if they don’t get to bed before we do.”

“But… oh never mind, I haven’t got time for this. Do I HAVE a clean shirt in here?” he said in an exasperated tone.

Shirley went back to her makeup. “Airing cupboard. On a hanger. Ironed this afternoon for you.”

He stomped off petulantly, finding the shirt instantly he opened the airing cupboard door. Pulling it on, he now stood by his tie rack assessing each one’s merits and impression it would give on his boss. “You know this is an important evening, don’t you? It’s really important we give a good impression. This could be a turning point in my career.”

“Don’t worry, I promise to try not to embarrass you in any way whatsoever. I will mingle appropriately and engage all the senior wives the right social climbing sort of conversations. I also swear not to get raging drunk and hit on your boss.”

“I’m glad you find me so amusing.” He inspected himself in the full length mirror on the wardrobe door. “How do I look? Will I pass muster?” He turned around to face the bathroom and was completely silenced by Shirley’s appearance.

She was wearing a very simple outfit: royal blue satin dress – short sleeved with a scooped neckline, ending mid-calf in a slightly flared skirt which swirled around her legs seductively as she moved. Combined with subtle makeup and an understated hint of jewellery, she looked absolutely stunning and Peter was completely taken aback. She moved forwards smiling, pleased with the effect on her husband, and affectionately straightened his tie, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek when she was done. “You’ll pass,” she said.

He twirled a ringlet that had fallen loose from her carefully pinned and lacquered french twist. “You missed a bit,” he murmured.

She laughed, moving away and self-consciously patted her hairstyle. “It’s supposed to be like that, a few wisps to soften it a bit.” A distant car horn made her start. “That’s the taxi, we’d better get going. Can’t be anything more than fashionably late to your big evening!” She draped a long coat over one arm and picked up a small clutch bag with the other hand. As they moved downstairs she called out towards the living room. “Night girls, have a good evening. You’ve got Dad’s mobile if you need it?”

“Yes. Bye Mum, bye Dad! Have a nice time!”

They ran through the cold night to where the taxi was waiting.

Presently, the cab pulled up into the driveway of Brian and Marie’s home, a fairly large detached house in a popular suburb. An estate agent would probably call it a “character property”, Tudor-style built in the 1930s. Peter felt a little nervous and looking over at his wife he could see that she was a little intimidated too. He gave her hand a little squeeze before they left the cab.

“Peter! Glad you could make it! And this lovely being must be Shirley.” Brian took her hand briefly and gave it a polite kiss, then shook Peter’s hand. “May I introduce my wife, Marie.”

“Hello, hello! Come inside! It’s not warm tonight, is it? Let me take your coats and Brian will sort you out with some drinks.” Marie ushered them inside into the hallway, placing their overcoats in the downstairs closet.

They moved into the living room where some couples were already gathered, with most of the husbands discussing work with their wives pretending to hang on every word at their elbow. Peter was not good at this sort of thing and they were both severely out of practice. He hoped that together they could bluff their way through the evening.

“Right,” said Brian. “What can I get you both to drink? Wine? Spirits? I’ve got a reasonably large drinks cabinet so I should be able to cater to most tastes!”

“Oh… a white wine spritzer for me please, Brian.” Shirley helped herself to some pretzels from a small dish on the coffee table.

“Coming right up. Peter?”

“Martini please, no ice.”

Shirley turned to Marie. “You have a lovely home. The colour you’ve picked out for this room is gorgeous, I’d love it for our bedroom – what’s it called?”

“Thank you,” Marie replied, “it’s called something exotic like ‘First Light’ or ‘First Dawn’, I forget which, I’d need to look it up on the chart again. To be honest, I fell in love with those cushions on the couch and ended up completely redesigning the living room, buying a new sofa and new carpet just to coordinate them in. Isn’t that delightfully silly?”

Shirley agreed good naturedly and took a sip of her spritzer that Brian had just passed to her.

Nursing his drink Peter’s attention wandered, tuning out of the conversation. Brian, having performed his drink duties, had left to greet some new arrivals, and Peter was bored with the home improvement discussion.

“…isn’t that right, darling?” Shirley asked, raising one eyebrow at her husband.

“Hmm, sorry?” He had no idea what had just been said.

Shirley patiently repeated. “I was just saying to Marie how pleased we were with the conservatory we had built this year.” She turned back to Marie. “The only thing I would say is, make sure you go for under floor heating. It costs a little extra, but it does mean you get more use out of the room during the colder months. It’s lovely to go in and have a cup of coffee on a bright morning in there, even in November! It was worth every penny.”

“Yes, every penny,” Peter echoed nodding. He touched Shirley’s elbow. “If you’ll excuse me ladies, I’ve just noticed Martin arrive. I must go and say hello.” He smiled at Shirley, “enjoy yourself.” He turned and walked over to the new arrivals and soon lost himself in more congenial conversation.

Every now and then, he would glance over at Shirley to see how she was doing. It looked like she was having a fantastic time, mingling with different groups and talking animatedly. She was so much better at this than him, and she was so eye-catching this evening. Had she always been this beautiful? Hell, it was so hard to tell these days, she was always in slacks and a casual top, hardly ever wore makeup. Tonight she seemed to light up the room with her smile and it threw him off balance.

Perhaps they had both taken each other somewhat for granted as the years had gone by. What they needed was some time together to strengthen the marriage. After he returned from his weekend away with Sue, he would have a talk with Shirley and discuss how they could carve some more time away from the children. Strangely, Peter saw no dichotomy between looking forward to spending time with his mistress and his desire to improve his marriage. He returned his attention to a conversation about the proposed European constitution, the resolution forgotten about in the heat of the debate.

A bit later on, he glanced back over to see how Shirley was doing. She had gone full circle, and was back talking to Brian and Marie. She looked slightly pale and tired, and no longer looked like she was enjoying herself. He glanced at his watch. It was getting on a bit, and she wasn’t used to these sorts of social functions. Perhaps it was time to make their excuses and leave. He hoped Brian hadn’t said anything to upset her, his boss did have an awful repertoire of jokes in bad taste, it would have been just his style to have made an inappropriate remark. Peter said his farewells to the group he was talking with, and moved over to be with his wife.

“Well Brian, it’s been a fantastic evening, but I do believe it’s time we made a move.” Peter threw an understanding smile at his wife. “I think we’re both a little tired, it’s been a long week.”

“Oh, that is a shame.” He turned to his wife, “Marie, could you call a taxi firm for Shirley and Peter, please? Thanks, sweetheart.” Turning back to his two guests, he continued, “it was lovely to see you both, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed yourselves. Hopefully, it won’t be too long until we can do something like this again.”

Peter agreed effusively and got embroiled in small talk with his boss for a few minutes until Marie returned with their coats and informed them that their taxi had arrived.

“Well that was fun!” Peter said enthusiastically once they were homeward bound in the cab, “but I was expecting there to be more food – I’m ravenous! Maybe I’ll raid the fridge when we get in – fancy some bacon sandwiches?”

“Peter dear, it was a cocktail party. You only get nibbles at a cocktail party. I’m surprised you didn’t pick up something to eat on the way home from work.” Shirley’s voice sounded ever so slightly irritated.

“Are you okay? You were a bit quiet towards the end. It gets a bit exhausting being sociable after a while, doesn’t it?”

“Mmm, something like that. Think I will go straight to bed when I get in. I’m not particularly hungry. I suppose you have to leave early in the morning for that training thing?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. It probably would have been easier going this evening, but it seemed a bit churlish to miss the first cocktail party we’d been invited to by my boss. Still, I know you’ll want a lie in tomorrow after all those white wine spritzers, so I’ll be as quiet as a mouse when I get ready. Promise!” Peter leaned over and gave her hand a friendly squeeze. “You looked absolutely gorgeous tonight. I was really proud of you.”

“Thanks.” Shirley gave Peter a strained smile and was silent for the rest of the journey home, staring out of the window of the cab, deep in thought.

Not that he really noticed. He was too busy planning a romantic weekend’s itinerary for him and Sue. Once they arrived back at their house and the fare had been paid, Peter went straight towards the kitchen on a food hunt, while Shirley climbed the stairs to bed without another word.