I love and trust my husband. I really do. We have been married for years and I can say we are happy. We both work a lot, so there has not been time for kids, at least not yet. There can be periods when we do no see each other that much, but we both give priority to career, and we agree that is the price to pay.
Recently he had such an overtime spell, working long evenings. He has done that before and I have never had the feeling that he was actually seeing another woman. Maybe the thought may have crossed my mind once or twice, but it never stuck. This time it was a little different, I can't say why.
He said they were preparing a tender for a big contract; it could be a breakthrough for his not-so-large IT consulting firm. And the late evenings was no surprise. What was surprising was that I found out he was working with a woman. He never told me about it, but for starter I overheard a phone conversation with her. They were talking about work alright, but wasn't the tone a bit too friendly? He knew I was nearby, and he would hold back any signs of emotions anyway.
What is different this time is that I have found out there is a woman at work, and maybe he might fall for her. They must have much in common from work, and during weekdays he is seeing her a lot more than me. And as it has been recently, week-evenings and some week-nights. And he has been at office week-ends too, but at least he got home for dinner every time.
I have checked his mobile in secrecy and found out that they are making a number of calls every day. Not many SMS, and they were only about when and where to meet. I did not want to believe he was cheating on me, but this time the suspicion did not go away. Now it stuck in my mind. So his announcement gave me shivers down the spine.
- Dear, I will be off for two days next week to finish the tender. Sorry but I need to be near the client's office to make the finishing touches on the documents and to be able to deliver signed copies to them.
I couldn't think of anything to say but to agree.
- Sure, you have to do your work. I'll miss you but have things to do on my own.
First I did not know what to do. Then I felt I needed to know, the suspicion was getting to me. I contacted a detective agency for a price, they answered that not much could be done for less than thousand euro.
That was a bit hefty, but then I knew how much I could spend and still make a bargain. For that amount I could afford a bit of spying on my own!
The next day I started my preparations by shopping for some clothes. I was looking for smart stuff at good prices. I needed to look discreet but smart. He would be staying at a business hotel for the finishing work. I would have to look like a woman staying at such a hotel to blend in, I thought. Not unlike the stuff I usually wear, but I had to find new styles such that I could move around without my own husband recognizing me! Not an easy task, but now I had set my mind to do it. I could do this for less than a thousand bucks!
I started off by finding a coat and some high-end blouses in a second hand store. I also picked up a new briefcase that I could use instead of my purse. I also found two pairs of sunglasses that looked ok. I had a lot of stuff already and way below budget!
Not only was I scratching that itch of jealousy, but I had a fun shopping spree too!
Then I found a nice pinstripe business suit at a sale in a boutique. They had a white suit too, it did not pass as discreet but maybe I could use it as myself at some time. The price was really low, white was the color of a past season. Got that too.
At home I took a good look at my shopping result and then made sure to hide it properly.
The next day I was ready for the next step of preparation. Wearing my pinstripe suit, I headed for a wig shop. Changing hairstyle seemed to be the key to this operation. There was a large shop available and I made my appointment to have sufficient time to get it right.
It was a lot of fun trying them on. I really took my time and had a blast. But I was also making some decisions. My first pick was a plain long black wig, going a bit below my shoulders. I looked really realistic and casual.
Then I picked a light-brown slightly curly wig at about the same length. It looked really casual too. And natural.
Then I had a long blonde one too. It was cheap, but really different from the others. At least from a distance it would be passable.
All three were longer than my own hair, making them different in an obvious way. But I was intrigued by a short platinum blonde pageboy wig. It screamed attention, but it was cheap and did not add much to the budget. I bought it too, but could not really say why.
My husband would be away for two hotel nights, and left Tuesday afternoon in our car. I had the evening for myself and could spend my time packing. I had a strange feeling about this project, but it was started. And I was still worried about what he was up to. So no backing off, but I was nervous about the whole thing and did not get much sleep that night.
On Wednesday I worked a short afternoon and took the train to the city where the action was. I had booked the same hotel just to be close. I was counting on the clerks to not make connections about our surname being the same.
When checking in I was wearing my long black wig and black pinstripe suit with my new coat over. With sunglasses on I felt completely safe, and could remove them at the desk. I left my luggage in the room and went to look around. I did not find anyone. Could I find him? And if he was up to something bad, wouldn't he be in bed with that woman? My heart sank a bit as I thought of that.
I sat down in the lobby with a book, choosing a remote corner with a cozy armchair. I may have been there for about 30 minutes when I realized my husband was at the reception asking for something. Then he went back into the conference area. I quietly followed him. I could see him walk into one of the smaller conference rooms. I had looked there earlier, but the door was closed. Now it was slightly open and I could have a peek.
Him and a woman were sitting at a large table with lots of papers spread and their laptops running. It was clear they were busy at work and I felt a great relief. But I did know they did work together, he could still be cheating on me. Right?
I stepped out of the line of sight and tried to listen to their talk. I could not hear words, but it sounded work-related alright. I waited a while but then I walked about just to not cause suspicion. I went to a nearby bathroom and could relax for the first time in some time. The wig was getting really warm, but I did not want to take it off, it would be a job to get it to look good again. And I did not have a brush in my briefcase.
I went back to check them out. But they had left the room and I met them in the corridor. They were busy talking and did not look my way, but my heart was beating like mad. I had to be careful, but I kept telling myself that my husband would not spot me. At least as he would never expect me to do what I actually was doing. For the first time I felt a bit like I was letting him down. But I still had to know more.
I turned around and followed them at a distance. It appeared they were going for dinner. I quickly got my coat from my room and waited for them in the lobby. They met and went outside. I followed them, carefully but did not want to loose the sight of them.
They entered a nearby restaurant, a quiet cozy Italian diner. I waited outside to see that they were seated. But as they had seen my current outfit, I did not dare to enter.
