The Wife And The Girlfriend

Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter — What if? Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers prompts —

The Exercise —

A man is having an affair with his secretary. He goes to bed with her in a motel room. When he wakes up in the morning, he’s in the same motel room, but the woman next to him is his wife. Two pages of dialogue. A few lines of action. We can assume the description is already in place.

The Objective —

A writer needs to be able to imagine an improbable scene and bring it to life. This is a separate issue from making up a story.

OMG! How did we get here? The last thing I remember was that I was having dinner with Marcene. We were reviewing some work nonsense, and the next thing I knew, I was in our hotel room with my wife!

Donna, wake up. How did we get here?

“You got drunk and did your usual, and when I got to the restaurant, there you were, slobbering all over poor Marcene. Your secretary puts up with so much from you. You really need to get some help for your drinking!”

“When she offered to give us a ride home, I told her that was okay, and she could go ahead and go home. She had done enough for this evening.”

Someone had to have put something in my drink. I only remember having a couple, and now this. What are we doing in this hotel room?

“You insisted we come here, and the guy at the desk seemed to know you. I saw him give you a wink out of the corner of his eye.”

Yes…, um… he works days for me. I suppose he thought I was bringing a girlfriend in here.

“Well, all I know is you continued your drunk stuff and passed out, but not before you called me Marcene a few times!”

So I suppose, now you think I am having an affair with Marcene? That was the last time I remember, was working with Marcene at dinner, waiting for you to arrive. Of course, I would say Marcene.

“You are just lucky you didn’t say Marcene while we were in bed. And you were expecting me? I just happened in as I thought I would pick up a couple of dinners for a friend and me. I never know just how late you are going to work when you say that you are working late.”

Didn’t Marcene let you know we were working there and that you should join me for dinner? Lucky break for me that you came along. I believe I was drugged. Could it have been Marcene?

“It wasn’t the first time you have gotten so drunk that you don’t remember. It’s called a blackout! I have been checking out some open AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meetings, and I have decided to start attending Alanon. It is for families and friends of alcoholics.”

“When I listened in, it sounded as though alcoholics lie all the time. I was thinking that sounds about right. Let’s go home now, Bill.”

What? Now you think I’m an alcoholic? I was drugged. I probably only had a couple of drinks!

“Well, let’s get you a blood test to see if you were drugged? If there is still alcohol showing, you probably had more than a couple of drinks, right?

Okay, then let's go home. It is clear that you don’t believe me.

Six months later —

Donna said, OMG, Bill was telling the truth; he was being drugged. It turned out the waiter in the restaurant was Marcene’s boyfriend and wanted her boss out of her life for good. He was drugged that night, and he was drugged many other nights.

“What happened to Bill?” questioned a family friend.

I just thought he was drunk and that he needed help with his drinking. He was drugged, and he died from that! They performed an autopsy and found drugs in his system that were responsible for killing him. After I told the police what happened that night, we ended up in the hotel, and what he said, they investigated Marcene and the waiter.”

“It is not your fault, Donna. How could you know!”

Poor Marcene is going to prison as an accomplice. It didn’t even seem like she knew anything about it, but her boyfriend threw her under the bus to try to get out of his sentence of life in prison.

“It sounds like they both got what they deserved! Poor Bill!”