Ava dropped her keys on the table by the door and kicked her shoes off with a sigh, wiggling her toes in the deep carpet.  She headed for the bedroom to dress, wishing there was some way she could get out of this dinner.  She'd tried to find an excuse, but she felt a bit guilty that she'd been neglecting her husband a lot of late as things at work got so busy.  In the end, she'd agreed.<br/><br/>She opened her closet and shuffled through the clothes hanging there, settling for a simple black dress that hit her legs in just the right place above the knee and showed off her toned arms.  She frowned as she looked in the mirror, happy with her figure but realizing that she spent a lot of time away from her husband at the gym, too.  You had to have "presence" in the corporate world, and she always felt that looking good and feeling energetic were a huge part of that.  Still, it wasn't helping their sex life any.<br/><br/>She twisted her long, straight blonde hair into a loose knot and put on a little fresh makeup, using a light touch.  She frowned again, wondering where her husband was.  She hated being late.  And she had reports to look over later.  She was the youngest assistant vice president at the company, and she wasn't going to make full vp by socializing, as much as she liked Trent and Katrina from the couple times they'd met. She looked at her elegant watch and went to the closet to find the right shoes.