When the front door finally opened, I lay motionless. Of course I had heard the car pull up and the door as it shut. I waited, bristling with anxiety, as I hung on every stray sound, any slight indication of what she was doing as she entered the house. 5:13 in the morning the clock said in stark red lines. My brain screamed as I recognized each sound, cataloging her progress step by step. The keys hit the kitchen counter. A purse or shoes or something else dropped somewhere. Long moments before the refrigerator opened. A cupboard opened, a glass on the counter. Another long wait. The glass on the counter again.
My heart panicked in my chest, jumping to a frenetic pace as her footsteps reached the stairs. She was coming up. I lay still, undecided yet. Should I react? How could I? I feared the sight of her as much as I longed to see it. Would I be able to tell anything? Would the evidence be unmistakable? Did I really want to know?
I realized I had put myself in that position. I had no one to blame but myself. Whatever happened, she could not be at fault. This was my doing, my inadequacy, my failing. I pretended to sleep. If anything, it would avoid confrontation.
She was in the room before I really decided on anything. I was too afraid to turn, to acknowledge her presence. Just be asleep. Put off the inevitable. With my heart beating almost out of my chest I tried desperately just to breathe normally. It wasn't working well. She probably knew. Still, she didn't say a thing. I listened as I heard her moving, clothes slipping off. She entered the bathroom and closed the door. I let out my breath.
The fear of seeing her, of facing her, ached inside. Slowly I turned, confirming the room was empty. The light beneath the bathroom door glowed in the otherwise darkened room. With the bedroom door standing open as always, only the dim light from the nightlight in the hall offered any more illumination than that. Sitting up further, I could see her black dress piled on the carpet. The shower started. A moment later, the toilet flushed. When I heard the shower door slide closed, I mustered the courage to move.
I had been a mess all evening. The last text at just after 11 pm last night had read,
Don't wait up
, followed by a heart. Sure. The two before that were,
Staying a little late, sorry.
Love you
, and
Having fun.
Be home after midnight I expect
. Then the final word from her.
Don't wait up.
Of course, I had no choice. I could not sleep, uncertainty gnawing the inside of my skull. Feverish visions kept me awake. My wife is a beautiful woman. At 31, she possessed all the loveliness of her youthβlong legs, ample hips, trim waist, and pert breastsβyet added to that the confidence and poise of her age. She had recently given blond highlights to her brown hair, and the effect had been dazzling. When she went out with a black party dress, stockings and heels, and the red lips to match, I had no doubt as to the number of heads she would turn. For the rest of the night, my own had been spinning.
At 35, I also managed to keep myself in shape. Never a bulky man or muscular by any stretch, I at least maintained a decently slim figure. I ate healthy and jogged most mornings and since my youth have never been inclined to adopt much weight. Though Lynnette always told me how handsome I was, I never quite felt satisfied with myself as the man I wanted her to have. I tried protein shakes and weights, but all I ever managed to do was tone myself up and trim myself down even further. I don't know how many times we joked together about saving money by sharing the same clothes.
As far as being the man, I had my reservations about that as well. Despite all my wife's insistence that I was 'manly' enough for her, I understood too well my own shortcoming. Even when I watch porn and beat myself into a full, aching need, I could barely call my erection four and a half inches. When you have to use a half size just to feel a tiny bit better, you know it's not good. Only by pressing the ruler into my groin and straining a full hard on did I ever manage to pass the five inch mark.
But Lynn always said it did not matter. "Size is just a number" she insisted. The size of my heart, she assured me, was all she cared about. Still, understanding that the average erect penis should be closer to six inches than four, my feelings of inadequacy persisted. That, I suppose, more than anything, was how I ended up where I was. I had pushed her away from my small dick because I just couldn't believe she was ever truly satisfied by it.
With the shower running and splashing sounds muffled through the door, I slunk from the bed like a prowler in my own home. I normally sleep in pajama bottoms or sometimes boxers, but this night I had laid down naked. I had masturbated a few times, never to the point of cumming, but as I pictured my wife at the club in her black dress and heels all night, I could not help the desire to touch myself. It had been odd, really, a strange flame brewing within me as I fondled myself. I wanted her there with me, stroking my cock so I would not have to. I was a married man, and sex when I wanted it should have been a foregone conclusion. But it wasn't; it had not been in a long while.
It was jealousy, of course, the true emotion flaring through my brain. I was jealous that my wife was out, not home with me. I was jealous that she looked so beautiful and desirable for the benefit of others and not for me. Or was that envy, in truth? Either way, the same thoughts, the same flickering images hounded my imagination all evening. As a result I could neither sleep nor stay awake without going crazy. I touched myself because it was there, because I felt my desire stirring, even though doing that went counter to my emotions. I felt dirty, disgusted with myself in a way. I should be mad. I should be calling my wife and telling her to come home. Instead I was jerking off in bed alone. She was out partying and I was at home masturbating.