Slowly taking small bites of dinner, enjoying her cooking as much as Chris, Lana listened to him fire questions at her.  She didn’t detect any suspicion or anger, just true curiosity over the situation.  Lana didn’t have a rebuttal ready, so she stalled a bit for time by continuing to eat and having a bit of water as she thought of her response.<br/><br/>Typically, she didn’t have to explain herself to Chris, so knowing she had to come up with more lies to sway him, she felt a trace of guilt.  Not enough to make her change course, just enough for her to realize she needed to be smart in her reply.  Chris knew she was intelligent, so she needed to spin this away from herself just a tad.<br/><br/>“Oh, don’t worry, baby, my grades are fine.“ Her voice was reassuring as she started, then turned more matter-of-fact as she continued. “The Professor feels that having some of us with the higher grades involved in some makeshift tutoring would help some of those with lower grades.  I consider it a compliment.”  She finished with that, trying to make her husband proud of her, and less questioning.<br/><br/>Addressing his last question with a smile, she reached across the table, rubbing his forearm with her hand as she winked at him and said, “I promise I’ll make it up to you for being so understanding.”<br/><br/>Hoping that would make him happy, she went back to her dinner, finishing what remained.  As she stood with her plate, walking to the sink, she said nonchalantly, “So, it’s ok with you then, right?”<br/><br/>Pretending to be engrossed in rinsing off her plate, she waited for his answer.