On Thursday, the boss came down to the lunchroom to have lunch with the crew. Jon immediately, like everybody else, knew that something was happening. Jon already knew that orders had been slow and he had discussed that with some of the others on the shop floor. They all agreed that if their boss was thinking of putting someone off then most of them preferred to work a shorter week than have a man sacked.

After lunch, before the work whistle blew, the boss stood and told them that he had bad news. They all nodded because they knew, but no one said anything.

“The situation with orders is such that we have to reduce manning,” he said. “The reduction at this stage need only be one job. I have worked the numbers over and over again, but I can’t find any other solution. Today, I’ve come down to deliver the bad news to allow you all to think about it. There may be other solutions if we can all work together on it, but at this time, it appears as if I have no solution other than to dismiss one person.”

Everyone nodded. There was not one employee in the shop who did not have immense respect for their boss. They all knew how difficult it must be for him, so no one wanted to make it harder.

“I apologize to you all. We have tried to secure extra orders, but the whole market is suffering right now. If a person is dismissed, I want you all to know that their job will be available to them once things pick up. You have all stood by the company, and the company wishes to stand with you, but this must happen, or there may not be a company in six months’ time.”

Jon stood up. The boss looked across at him. “Was there something you wanted to say, Jon?”

“Yes, I’ve discussed how difficult things are getting with the guys and those that I’ve talked to would choose to work shorter hours rather than see someone lose their job. Is that an option that you would consider?”

The boss smiled. “Definitely, that is the reason why I’m here talking to you. I want to hear from anyone who may have a potential solution and the one you put forward definitely has merit. I would need to do the numbers, but if you guys are willing to work with me, then I think it could work. I thank you, Jon, for putting that forward.”

Jon continued, “I have to tell you that it was not solely my idea. Definitely, I had input but it was the majority of us that contributed to the solution. Tony has done some numbers that you might like to talk to him about. What it would mean is for each job saved each one of us would have to take an afternoon off per week. To get the ball rolling, I volunteer to take this afternoon off.”

“That’s admirable of you, Jon. What about the order that you’re working on?”

“My order is finished and packaged. If I stayed, I’d move down to the workshop to help them out, but usually when I do that, they don’t really welcome any of us because they understand the situation as much as the rest of us. They are worried about their jobs as well.”

“Okay, let’s give it a go. I’d much rather you guys found and implemented your solutions. It just shows me how committed you are to the company. I admire you all for understanding and finding a much better solution. I’ll sleep better tonight knowing that you will all be here with us for the future. I hope there is a turnaround in the economy and people start buying our products again shortly.” He looked at his watch and stated, “Now, I’ve taken up some of your lunch breaks, so take another fifteen minutes each to make up for it.”

The boss turned and left. As he turned around at the door, not one man was still sitting. They were heading back to work. A tear ran down his cheek, knowing how lucky he was to have a workforce so dedicated to the success of the company.  What he didn’t understand was their dedication was to him not the company. They were repaying him for his concern over the years for their welfare.

Jon put his tools away, said his goodbyes to his workmates and headed to the bus stop. He was looking forward to spending the afternoon with Ida.

The bus didn’t go up his street. It stopped at the shopping centre. To reach his street, Jon had to walk past the local shops. As he did so he looked into the window of the coffee shop to see if there were any of his neighbours there for him to wave to.

His mouth dropped open, and he stopped dead in his tracks. He was shocked but nowhere near as shocked as Ida was. She almost dropped her coffee. Josh looked at her and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Before she could answer, he followed her line of sight, and disappearing across the road was a man. It took Josh a moment to realise that man was her husband, Jon. Josh jumped up and ran from the building. He caught Jon within two hundred meters. He placed his hand on his arm but Jon shook it off.

“Listen to me, Jon,” he said. “It’s not what you think.”

Jon turned to him and told him, “So what is it that I think?”

“She is not cheating on you. We’re just having a cup of coffee. We’re talking, that’s all. We’ve been talking about you.”

“That’s a likely story. If I had not come home early, I would never have known.”

“That’s not true. We would not have tried to ring you if we were trying to do this behind your back but you didn’t answer for some unknown reason. Check your phone. It will confirm what I’m telling you.”

Jon realised that he had turned his phone off at work because the boss wanted to talk to them and he had not turned it back on but he was not willing to concede, not yet at least. “Why are you here trying to explain to me? Why is my wife not talking this through with me?”

“She’s not here because I told her to stay in the coffee shop. I caused this so I have to pick up the responsibility. She told me that you would be angry if you didn’t agree to our meeting to talk, but I convinced her that you would do the same if the tables were turned. I owe you Jon, big time. We both do, but if you insist, then I will walk away and you and Ida will never hear from me again. But before you make that decision I’d like you to look at your phone and listen to my message to you.”

Jon was on the spot. He could get angry and walk away or he could look at his phone. Logic said that he should check his phone. He decided to check it first then if there was no record of a call he was going to punch this big man out for trying to take his wife away from him. He reached into his pocket and pushed the start button. The phone lit up.

Both men waited patiently for the phone to go through its start-up sequence. Jon had never realised before how long it took. It seemed like an hour. He eyed off his opponent, his wife’s lover thinking of where best to strike him. He knew if it came to a fair fight, he stood little chance, so the first hit had to count.

Josh knew the danger he faced. He had already conceded that if Jon was to strike him, he would not hit back. He could see that Jon was seething inside and he was surprised that Jon had not struck him when he placed his hand on Jon’s arm. His attention was on how to minimise the damage that Jon might cause him. He also knew that if he did any damage at all to Jon, then Ida would never want to see him again.

The phone gave a ‘bing’ as it finished its start-up sequence, then, ”You have two messages.”

Josh smiled. Jon was not capable of smiling but he opened the first message from his wife. Ida’s voice said, “I have called Josh to discuss you coming with us on our date on Saturday night. He wants to have coffee with me to discuss it. Can you call me back?”

 Jon’s expression didn’t change, but the pressure and anger inside him started to subside. He opened the second message. “Ida says you want to come with us on our date. I asked her to have coffee to discuss it. I wish you could be there with us but… “The message ended.

“But what?” Jon asked him.

“I’ve sent you a text message. Check that.”

“Why can’t you just tell me what it says?”

“Jon, you’re concerned. I understand that, so if you don’t read the message that I sent, you will think that what I tell you is just an excuse to hide my behaviour. I’m happy to discuss it with you, but you need to read my message first.”

Jon was snookered, and he knew it. He wanted to be difficult but he knew that if the message explained things then he had no right to cause trouble. He lifted the phone up again and opened the text messages. Once more, there was one from Ida. He read that first. 

“Jon, I’ve tried calling I need to talk to you urgently but your phone seems to be turned off. Please call me as soon as you get this message. I’m talking to Josh about you coming on our date with us.”

Jon nodded. Josh realised that this was a good sign. Jon opened up the second message, which was from Josh. “Jon, I know that I should not meet Ida for coffee. We have tried to make contact with you but your phone seems to be turned off. Ida tells me that you are suffering because you spent the night alone when we last met. I don’t want you to suffer but I do want to date Ida again. We need to find a solution if that is to happen so I wanted the three of us to meet. I’m flying out tomorrow morning and I won’t be back until Saturday afternoon so it has to be dealt with today. I hope you forgive us for meeting Ida for a coffee without you. I promise you that I will not make any advances to Ida without your permission no matter how much I want to. Josh.”

Jon nodded but once more said nothing. Josh smiled at him and Jon raised a small grin. He felt like an idiot but his pride would not allow him to concede that he was wrong. It was left to Josh to smooth the waters.

“I’m sorry to cause this stress and concern, Jon. I wish it had happened differently.”

Jon nodded to confirm he had heard but still said nothing so Josh continued.  “I need to tell you something which you might not like but it is important that you hear it. What I say you must never tell Ida. Is that okay?”

Jon nodded his head. He had an idea of what Josh was going to tell him, but if he was right, then he had to respect the man for being honest. “Alright,” he mumbled.

“After I’ve told you, then as Ida’s husband, it is your right to send me away and I will promise that if you tell me not to see her again, I will do exactly what you ask. But…” he hesitated, “I think we can work this out so that we all end up winners.”

Jon nodded again, so Josh continued.

“For me, this is not about sex. I’m emotionally involved. I admire your wife, and I want to spend more time with her, but in doing that I don’t want to hurt you or your marriage. That is why I said that I will leave and not come back if that is what you want.”

Jon’s mind told him he should tell Josh to leave, but at the same time, the erection in his pants told him to hug the man and invite him to his home. The erection alone would not have overcome what his mind was telling him, except behind the erection, there were feelings of extreme sexual stimulation. Somehow, he wanted to give his wife this opportunity for complete sexual fulfilment. 

Jon shook his head, and Josh thought it was over but the head shake was about the desire for him to not only allow his wife to continue to experience what Josh could do for her but a desire to make sure it happened. His mind was having trouble dealing with that. He knew how crazy that was. Jon’s mind was a methodical and logical brain but this defied all logic. It was just not practical at all. What Josh had proposed was not a one-night stand or even a case of “I want your wife in my bed for a week” type thing. This was a proposal that was likely to become long-term.  

Josh waited. As time passed, he decided there was no chance, so he went to turn to return to his car. He was a man of his word, and he had given his word that he would walk away if Jon wanted him to. He desperately wanted to continue with Ida but he had destroyed that possibility by asking for her husband’s permission. He felt that he had made a massive mistake.

He took one step before Jon said, “Let’s join Ida for a coffee. She must be getting worried by now.”

Josh turned and smiled. He couldn’t help himself. He took the smaller man in a bear hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Jon.”

Jon chuckled. “I haven’t agreed to anything yet, Josh. Let’s have our coffee and then I’ll slip home to cook dinner for us. I had planned to cook for Ida and me, but it’s not much trouble to add a little extra for a third person.”

Josh weakened his grip on the much smaller man and looked down at him with a smile large enough that Jon thought his face could break in two.

“Don’t you dare kiss me, Josh, or you won’t be coming home for dinner.”

With that, they both burst into laughter and made their way back to the coffee shop where Ida had been watching them through the window.

…

Jon drank his coffee and then made his way up the street to their house to start preparing for their dinner. After Jon was out of sight, Ida asked her lover, “What happened? What did he say?”

“He said yes,”

“He said yes to what?”

“He said yes to you and I being lovers.”

“He said yes to us being lovers, but for how long?”

“There was no talk about how long. It was about what I wanted. I told Jon that I was falling in love with you and then told him I would walk away if that is what he wanted. He didn’t ask me to leave, and now he has left us alone while inviting me to dinner with you. I’m assuming from that he accepted that we can continue our affair.”

“Did he say that he wanted to be with us when we… you know.”

“No, but I told him that you and I will do whatever we can to make sure he is not left out.”

“But he just left us alone?”

“Yes, and I’d love to take you to my unit and make love to you again, but that would be deceiving him, and we must not do that, not yet anyway. That may change if we decide over time. For now, he will need to be present if we make love or have sex.”

“I’d enjoy slipping off to your unit too.”

“Yes, I know, but I don’t think your husband is stupid. He will know that you are emotionally involved so he will want to keep an eye on things.”

“I guess. You worked it out, so I guess that Jon will too.”

“No, he doesn’t have to work it out. He already knows. We should head over to see how his cooking is going.”

“Yeah, I guess. I need to clean myself up when I get there so you will need to keep him busy so he doesn’t know.”

“Alright,” Josh said as he picked up his coffee to finish it.