"I know that, and, well I'm not immaculate in this matter," Robert confessed. "I, well, I had a strange encounter the night of graduation. I've been worried about how to tell her about it, too."
"Everybody's got guilty secrets, I guess," Charles offered. "It's the way the world works."
"I'm not angry, really, just pissed that I wasn't let in on the secret," Robert admitted. "I feel like some kid in grade school who didn't get invited to the party."
"You did get invited to one party," Charles said. "Patty came clean to me, too. She told me about you guys watching us from the yard."
"Hey, I'm . . ."
"Don't sweat it. I figured she'd set something like that up sometime. She dearly loves to show off. I'm glad she didn't tell me right away, or I might not have been able to get it up," he admitted.
Robert thought about it a bit. Yes, she had let him in on the secret to a certain extent. It was partly his fault for not asking more questions when his normally circumspect wife began acting like a hormonal teenager. She had tried to tell him.
"It's all pretty stupid," Robert said then.
"You know what's really stupid." Charles asked. "Neither Terry nor I have had sex with someone of the opposite sex since we got married. Terry's nervous as hell about it. Can you imagine that? She wants me at the party to help her get through it. And you know what else? The reason I don't want to go to the party is because I'm afraid I'll freeze up and not be able to perform. I'm afraid I won't get it up when I know that someone else can see me."
"That is a problem, isn't it?" Robert said. "This party was starting to sound good till you mentioned that."
"Yeah. Man, I'd gladly go and dive right in with Terry. I'm just, well, I guess I'm shy."
"We're going to have to fix everybody's problem before the party." Robert said. "I want to be brought up to speed, and we all have to get over our shyness. Right?"
"Sure. What do you suggest?"