Work out a plan w/ your husband in case you don't feel right about your date.
Hi Ms. Melo-Jenny,
Melo-Jenny said:
Today is my "first date".
Congratulations! (I assume you mean, your first date as a married woman.)
Melo-Jenny said:
Hubby set up a date with a potential lover.
Cool! Your cuckold-in-waiting has the right idea, and has been sufficiently bold and outgoing to act on it.
Melo-Jenny said:
We've e-mailed and talked on the phone with him for the past few weeks, and finally agreed to meet for drinks tonight. I'm very nervous, not sure what to expect.
E-mailing then talking on the phone (given, I gather, you didn't mind your candidate learning your phone no.) with him was very important. It enabled you to get a better feeling for what he is all about than e-mails alone would have yielded.
Melo-Jenny said:
Hubby seems quite excited and not so nervous, but I'm still not sure.
That's entirely reasonable, since you will be "the center of the action." So, it's OK for you to be "not sure." The purpose of your date is to enable *you* to learn whether you want to proceed further with him. You can decide either way. If you find you have an uneasy feeling about him (or find you straight-out don't like him when you meet him in person), tell him "it was a pleasure to have met you [your candidate], but you don't feel quite right about this".... or something similarly polite; i.e., don't insult him. Then, wish him luck with his continuing search for married women and tell him goodbye. In other words, go with your intuition. This sort of thing is, in part, what "women's intuition" is for.
Melo-Jenny said:
I don't want [my husband] to flip out into a jealous rage tonight.
No, of course not. So, during the course of your date, monitor the behavior of *both* your candidate and your husband. Include your husband in the conversation; make eye contact with him (frequently), not just with your candidate.
Here's something you should do. *This is important.* Set up a pre-arranged signal for your husband to use (tapping your leg twice with his leg, under the table?) if he doesn't have the right feeling about your candidate. Or, if you don't have the right feeling about your candidate, give your husband the same signal. Then, bring your date to a close (along the lines, say, suggested above), with the support and cooperation of your husband.
Melo-Jenny said:
I'm not even sure what is expected of me.
As a married woman interviewing a potential lover in your husband's presence, you should guide the action. I don't know if that's "what's expected" of you, but it's what you should do.
Melo-Jenny said:
Hubby was excited with the sexy e-mails and phone sex but in the end that's all fake.
It wasn't fake, Ms. Melo-Jenny. It was what enabled you to get a good enough feeling for your candidate for you and your husband to decide you wanted to meet him in person, as I mentioned above.
Melo-Jenny said:
I'm not sure how [my husband will] take the real thing.
Finding out how he's responding "in reality" will be one of the purposes of your date.
Melo-Jenny said:
Plus, I'm not even sure me and this other guy will get along so well in person either.
Finding out is the primary purpose of your date. Remember, follow your intuition. If you don't have the right feeling about him, end your date in a polite, reasonably-kind way and move on. There are many "candidate lovers" for you "out there."
Melo-Jenny said:
What if this guy is a psycho?
If he is, that won't become evident, necessarily, during your date. People who are psychopaths (not to be confused with sociopaths) can be very smooth and seem totally "normal." One of your husband's roles in this — and it's a critical role — will be to protect you. If you *and* your husband decide to move to the next step — i.e., renting a hotel room for the night and taking your candidate as your lover (at least, for the night or evening) — make sure your husband is THERE, IN THE ROOM.
In connection with self-protection, during the "conversation" phase of your date it will be entirely appropriate — in fact, I recommend this — to casually ask your candidate if he "normally" carries a gun or knife, then pay close attention to how he answers. If he says "no" but you don't have the right feeling about how he says it, END your date. If he says "yes" (meaning, he considers that a reasonable and normal thing to do), then DEFINITELY END your date.
Melo-Jenny said:
I'm looking forward to tonight but I have a million things running though my head right now. It's kinda scary when you think about it.
Yes. It's entirely reasonable and appropriate for you to have "a million things" running through your head right now. But, by taking the above approach, I suggest it should be possible to ensure reasonable safety for yourself and your husband. Remember, it's *very* important to agree in advance with your husband on a set of signals for *either* of you to use if either of you does not feel right about your candidate.
Good luck! I hope your date goes well for you.
—Custer