"Where did you get that?" She asked in shock.
"Really? I show you a clear picture of you passionately kissing another man on the dance floor with his hand on your breast and your hand on his ass, and the very first thing you have to say is to ask where I got it? Does it matter where I got it? Would my answer to your question alter the fact that you're cheating on me with him?" I asked my wife of seven years.
"Honey, I know it looks bad, and I admit that we did kiss but it's not cheating. As you can see in the picture, we're out in the open with many others. We weren't having sex, obviously," she volleyed.
"So that's your primary defense? No explanation about who you're kissing so passionately nor why? You assume that since you aren't fucking him in this picture on the dance floor, then everything's perfectly okay? I need to know, Traci. Is this your definition of honoring your wedding vows?"
"Brian, I can see that you're very upset over this. It's nothing for you to worry about, I swear. We were simply caught up in the moment and it happened. You need not have any concern about this. You're not helping things by blowing something innocent out of proportion!" She said emphatically.
"Innocent? Out of proportion? You still haven't even told me his name! Why should I be upset about someone I don't even know?" I spat sarcastically.
"Does it matter what his name is? If I told you, you might go and do something stupid like picking a fight and he'd wipe the floor with you. I won't let that happen," she countered.
"I see. Thank you for your honesty and transparency. You've made your choice, so now I'll make mine," I responded heatedly.
I turned around, bounded up the stairs, and began packing a suitcase to last me about a week. She followed quickly, "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing?"
"Packing a suitcase. But why?"
"Because I can't tolerate another minute of your lies and deceit. I need to get away and do some thinking before I say or do something to you that I might regret," I seethed.
"Don't be silly, Brian. I know you'd never hit me in a million years."
"Well until today, I knew you'd never cheat on me in a million years so I guess we must not know each other as well as we thought."
"Cheat? Who said I cheated on you?" Traci shouted. "Kissing him wasn't cheating on you and you know it. I never cheated on you."
"And there it is," I said sarcastically.
"There's what?"
"The blatant lie."
"But I never lied to you, Brian. I did not cheat on you with him or anyone else!" She yelled.
"Oh? Then what do you call this?" And I handed her another picture taken that same night. "That's a rather nice shot of you sucking his prick, wouldn't you say? And in case you try to pull a Bill Clinton on me and say cock-sucking isn't sex, how about this one? His prick appears to be buried deep inside your cunt doesn't it?"
".....But where?......How?....."
"There you go again. Does it matter where I got that picture or how I came by it? Would that knowledge somehow alter the fact that you DID cheat on me and just now lied to my face about it?"
She dropped the pictures to the floor and began sobbing as she tried to hug her husband. "Stay away from me, Traci. Communication is a two-way street. I've given you the chance to be honest with me about everything and come clean but you must not deem me worthy of the truth. I might have stayed and tried to talk through this with you for the sake of our son if you'd only been honest but it appears as though that's asking too much of you. I'm taking my phone. If you call me even a single time for any reason other than an emergency with little Bobby, I'll block your number. Am I clear about that?"
She nodded her head and I walked out fuming, disappointed and hurt beyond measure. This was Friday night as I checked into the motel. I figured I'd take the weekend to consider my next steps. Were I to divorce her, which was my instinctive impulse, then Bobby would come from a broken home and I'd end up paying child support and alimony. Basically, I'd be paying her to have sex with other men. I wish she'd have given me some kind of explanation or an apology at least. Perhaps she hadn't had time to think. That's why I thought it best for us to be apart and think about the direction our lives will go from here. The absence of my wife and son impacted me greatly and the loneliness was intolerable. I cried myself to sleep.
Shortly before noon the next day, the texts started rolling in.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
After receiving my college engineering degree a while back, I was employed by a local chemical laboratory which was the packaging facility for a large chemical concern. After five years of paying my dues there, I was offered employment as Facility Manager for their flagship research and development center a thousand miles away. With increased responsibility came a very significant pay increase so we jumped at the chance, uprooted, and made the move. We both left all of our friends and family behind.
Traci took a job at a call center for a large credit card company. There were over 1200 employees at the call center, most of whom were women Traci's age. A year after our move little Bobby was welcomed into the world. I encouraged her to become a stay-at-home mom as I was well paid but she loved the company of her work friends. Her work friends quickly became 'our' friends. We were part of a loose group of six to twelve couples who would get together bi-monthly on average, sometimes at a home, often at a restaurant or club. The girls were her coworkers and the guys, like me, consisted of their husbands.
That's not to say that I had no friends where I worked. But Traci worked tirelessly to see to it that our social calendar consisted primarily of her coworker group. I had no objections as they all were nice enough. The women were all stunningly attractive as well as the husbands. I almost felt out of place with the debonair and dashing men of the group but they all treated me the same as the others. It was primarily from this group that my current barrage of texts consisted.
It was clear that Traci had not only informed them that we were having problems but she had told them the details and they were all urgently requesting that I give them an audience to help quickly defuse the situation. I shook my head in amazement at how she had kept her tryst secret from me, yet freely shared the details with our friends. Now I was wondering what kind of friends they truly were. I detest other people knowing my business, especially regarding my personal life and intimate details of my marriage. This situation in and of itself was unsettling to me. About the only person who hadn't called or texted me was Traci. She knew I'd make good on my promise to block her.
Cassidy seemed to be spearheading everything from what I gathered. She was Traci's best friend and they were thick as thieves. She wanted me to meet up with the group at her house Sunday evening at 6:00. My analytical mind surmised that it may be some kind of a trap. My car could get blocked or the guys try to prevent my escape should I decide to leave the meeting before they wished me to. I texted back that I'd meet them at the Angus Steakhouse Restaurant instead, take it or leave it. I could park my car where it couldn't be blocked and in the public restaurant setting, leave whenever I wished. Reluctantly, they acceded to my request.
I agreed to the meeting for a couple of reasons. One was to perhaps get some answers as to why Traci did what she had done. Secondly, I was curious about what our friends thought about infidelity. Whose side would they be on? And thirdly, I wondered if any of them were somehow complicit in her tryst. Did they know? Did they set it up? If they were aware of her extracurricular activity, none of them had shared their concerns with me. I never back down from confrontation. I deal with nearly every kind of problem imaginable as a Facility Manager and can comport myself well in practically any setting. I looked forward to learning more to enable me to make an informed decision or put them in their place.
I left my car in the parking lot of a nearby store and walked over to the restaurant. I gathered that the group had arrived much earlier than our agreed time to discuss strategy and prepare for the confrontation. This amused me. There was only one seat at the arranged table and it was next to Traci. She immediately rose to meet me as I approached. I stopped her before she made it to me.
"If it's alright, I'd just as soon sit at the far end of the table away from her if you all don't mind. But if you do mind, then I can comfortably sit at another table," I explained.
Cassidy quickly spoke before Traci had a chance to respond. "Of course, that's fine Brian. Jerrod, how about giving Brian your seat at the end of the table? Please, Brian, have a seat. You're our guest tonight, so your dinner is already paid for. Why don't we all go ahead now and place our orders?"
Our group was in a separate dining area of the restaurant utilized for overflow seating. They must have arranged to secure it for privacy. Everyone placed their orders quickly and that task was out of the way. Before allowing Cassidy or anyone else to take control of this talk, I was determined to get at least one answer before going any further. I passed out two copies of the picture of Traci and the mystery man kissing on the dance floor, one to my left and the other to my right.
