Husband and wife go to bed. Out of the blue, the husband brings his wife a glass of water and an aspirin. "What's this for?" the wife asks. Husband says "It's for the headache you're going to have about two minutes from now"...
sw
The instant you feel a "fine" coming on, rush over to her, grab her hands (gently, hoss) get a stricken look in your eye and ask "what? what did I say wrong? what did I do? I don't know what I did, please tell me!"
You may get a 'five-minute' explanation of what you did, but you will be able to skip all the rest. Dinner and other activities will proceed on schedule.
Even if she saw you stomp the cat on purpose.