"What?" Jessie screamed. "How could you think such a thing? How dare you accuse me of cheating on you?"
"I'm not accusing you of anything," I said quite shocked by her reaction. "I was just curious."
"Just curious? Just curious about whether I'm having an affair? Get off me!" I groaned as she slammed her elbow into my ribs. The moment I lifted myself up she shoved me onto my back and dashed to the bathroom. The door crashed shut behind her.
Never had she been so mad. Her cursing was so loud that I was afraid she would wake the children. Her words were very clear, words like bastard, pervert, worthless, sonofabitch, asshole. After a while, her volume subsided until I couldn't hear her. Then she began to cry loudly and uncontrollably. The sobbing continued for at least fifteen minutes. Another five minutes passed before she opened the door. She was wearing her robe, something she ordinarily does only when checking on the children. Her eyes were red and puffy. "You can go clean up now," she said blankly.
She still had the robe on when I got back to bed. Silently I debated whether I should put my arm around her. My ribs still hurt from the jab she gave me. I rolled onto my side facing her, and she turned her back to me. "I'm sorry," I said softly.
"Go to hell!" she snapped.
"Let me explain."
"Like that's possible."
"After I read my email tonight, I clicked on the last used list to bring up that game site I was on last night. The affairs site we saw a couple months ago was on the list." She turned and stared blankly at me. "I hadn't brought it up."
She rolled over to face me. Her lips trembled. Tentatively she reached her hand toward my cheek, then drew it back. Again she extended her hand and drew it back. "Frank, I...I don't know what to say. I just looked at it. I didn't join. You have to believe me." I didn't respond. After a minute, she pleaded, "I love you."
I folded her in my arms and kissed her. "I love you too."
"You must think I'm a terrible person."
"Not at all. Since we were both virgins when we got married, I figured you were curious about what other men would be like. I'm not the biggest guy in the world. Haven't you ever wondered if you've missed out on anything?"
"Not really. My friends envy me for having such a wonderful lover for a husband. All that porn we watched was very good instructional material. What about you? Have you...?" She stopped and her eyes lit up. "I see where this is going. You have thought about it, and you want permission to play around."
"No, no, it's nothing like that. It's just intellectual musing."
"In other words, you've already done it. What's she like? Or is it what are they like?"
"There is no one else."
"And you've never been curious about other women? I don't have the biggest boobs in the world, or the tightest pussy."
"I wouldn't know about the pussy."
"So when are you going to find out?"
"I wasn't planning to. Are you suggesting we have affairs? I don't get it. First you get all bent out of shape over a question, and now you're.... I'm confused."
"I had never thought about other men before, but now I am curious. And it's all your fault."
"I'm not the least bit curious about other women. I have all the woman I need right here."
"Maybe you're right. I could get an oversized vibrator and see how that feels."
Neither of us said anything more about affairs for three weeks. Our love life returned to its passionate routine. No more images of Jessie with other men entered my brain. I thought the subject had been dropped. Candidly, I was relieved.
I got word from my boss on a Thursday that I was to work in a different plant for a week. I would be staying in a hotel. I would drive to the other city Sunday and come home Friday evening. Friday, I suggested leaving early Monday morning to save the company a day's rent on the room, but they countered with the need for a good night's sleep before working in an unfamiliar environment. I was trapped. That I was unhappy about an extra night away from Jessie was an understatement. She, on the other hand, seemed delighted.
Later that morning at work, I signed onto the cheating website. I decided to try to make at least one sex date while I was away. I responded to five postings from the town I was going to. Fantasizing that I could be extremely lucky, I suggested a different night for each one. By two o'clock I felt like I had won the lottery. All five had responded and had accepted their respective nights.
Sunday came and I had to go. It was a four-hour drive to where I would be working. I stalled as long as I could, but finally Jessie forced me out the door at three.
I checked into the hotel at seven-thirty. My first order of business was unpacking and hanging up my suits and shirts. I was almost finished when there was a knock on the door. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before opening the door.
A tall redhead stood before me. She was definitely Monique. She looked exactly like her picture, except she was dressed. Well, sort of dressed. Her micromini shirt barely covered her bottom, leaving her long legs fully in view. Her blouse was buttoned only up to the lower edge of her breasts. They were definitely bigger than Jessie's, and there was no doubt she was braless. "You must be Frank," she said sweetly holding out her hand.
"Yes," I said timidly as I shook her hand. "Please come in." She entered the room and surveyed the furnishings. "I was unpacking. I only have a couple things left."
"Let me help you," she said and set her purse on the dresser. She grabbed a shirt from my suitcase and headed to the closet. I followed with my last shirt. She gave me a hanger and put the shirt she had on another one. Nervously I struggled to get mine onto the hanger. When I finally got it straight, she took it and put it on the rod. Monique scooped up my underwear and socks and put them into a drawer. I closed the suitcase and stuck it in the closet.
` "What brings you to our fair city?" she asked as she sat down.
"I'm a bookkeeper," I said. "I'm filling in for someone who is on vacation this week."
"And this person comes to your town when you take your vacation?"
"Yeah." My voice trembled.
"Why are you so nervous? You aren't a virgin, are you?"