Friday was horrible for me. I felt so ashamed and guilty for what I had done. My mind went back and forth debating if I should confess to my husband. I was so afraid of losing him but I couldn't bear the burden of my illicit affair. I had given in to temptation but worse yet I continued down the deceitful path by ensuring that I would be tempted again. I hardly slept at all that night.
By Friday afternoon my mind was made up and I was going to tell my husband I had cheated. I was going to tell him everything. I was nervous about how he would react, but I hoped he would be able to forgive me. I was at least hopeful that my confession and honesty about what happened would in some way keep him from losing complete faith and trust in me, but I was fairly sure that would be a stretch. I cried on and off during the whole day. I was angry with myself for getting into a situation like this and the reality of what I stood to lose was overwhelming at points. Over ten years of marriage, of my life, could be erased by one deed.
Ed was a wonderful husband. He was always gentle and kind with me despite his iron fist reputation that followed him from his days in the military to his position at work. He was a sensitive lover and a good listener. He refused to let me work, insisting that I deserved to be treated like a princess. For over ten years I never worked a day, instead volunteering at local organizations, which helped me feel some sense of self worth.
However, there were times were it felt like I was little more than a trophy wife. As long as I looked good and clung to him, in turn making him look good, he was happy. He made a point to include me in many of the social functions for his Job, especially the ones where his superiors were there. There is nothing wrong with him including me. In fact it was nice most of the time, but in those situations he assumed a much more dominant role often subtly belittling me around the top brass, making me out to be little more than a fancy and expensive decoration for his bed. There were times I could hear him, as I walked away, making suggestive comments about his sexual prowess with me, almost always inflating the truth. Ed's good points far outweighed his bad ones, and over time I grew to accept his work persona.
I was anxious about which Ed I would get once I told him the truth. I was hoping it would be the sweet and tender Ed, but I had a sinking feeling that it would be the Iron Fist that I so rarely got a glimpse of. When Ed finally got home Friday evening, he was drunk, literally stumbling over his own feet. He was home less than an hour before he passed out cold. I was ready to tell him everything, but it was going to have to wait until tomorrow. Part of me was relieved but most of me was more scared than ever.
I sat on the couch staring at the TV but not watching it, consumed by my mind as it toiled and tried to predict how Ed would react. I was unable to shake the thoughts of it and, out of almost sheer necessity, made a drink to help calm my nerves. I sat back down in the living room, right where I had committed the very act that now troubled me endlessly.
The buzzing of Ed's phone brought me back to reality. I headed towards the source of the vibrations and picked it up to read the screen. It was a text message from someone named 'D'. I pressed the button to read the message and waited for the screen to change. 'Monday, usual place and time?' was displayed on the tiny screen in my hand. I fiddled through the menus and marked the message as unread then put it back on the table.
I had sat back down on the couch but was still thinking about the text message. The simple and brief message seemed to loom in my head. I picked his phone back up and started looking through his inbox. I scrolled through it and there was just that one message from 'D'. I checked the contact list and found the only things populated were the First name which was 'D' and the phone number. I was in the process of putting the phone back down when I thought about checking the 'sent items'.
As soon as I opened the sent folder I found many messages sent to 'D'. The first one listed was sent a few hours ago, not long before Ed got home from work. As I read the long list of sent items, I was quickly putting together the pieces of the puzzle. Although the messages were short and non-descript It became apparent Ed was having some form of a relationship with 'D'. Entries went as far back as almost a month ago, less than a week after we moved back to the States.
I became furious, my guilt turned to rage and my nervousness turned to fury as read over the sent items repeatedly. I gulped my drink down and fell flat on the couch, crying and sobbing hysterically for a long time. Eventually I sat up and dried my eyes, deciding right then I was going to follow Ed on Monday, even if it meant I had to go sit at his office and wait all day for him to leave.
I played it cool all weekend, avoiding Ed as much as I could though, not wanting to lose control of my emotions and fall apart. I was afraid I would lash out at him and throw my own affair in his face, just for spite. Deep down I knew I was really no better or worse than Ed for what I had done with Jim. Both of us, it appeared, were cheating but from what I could tell his was more than an innocent occurrence, it was plotted, repeated and downright devious.
I called his office on Monday morning and got his secretary, she told me without hesitation that he was in the office until around four. He had meetings and calls booked throughout the day. I left the house at three and by twenty after I was parked with his building in view. I sat outside of the entrance and exit to the parking lot waiting for his car to lead the way to his rendezvous. I kept glancing at the clock in my SUV, watching the time slowly pass.
At almost four thirty his car pulled out of the lot and I followed, trying to keep a safe distance so as not to be spotted, I kept imagining him looking in his rear view, catching a glimpse of me and aborting his secretive meeting. I let out a half hearted chuckle, laughing at myself, thinking I was a product of too many Hollywood movies and bad television.
My suspicions about him cheating were all but confirmed as I watched him pull into a hotel, park, and head in to the lobby. I stopped on the street and waited about fifteen minutes, wondering if every woman that I watched walk in or out of the hotel was his mistress. I felt a bit irrational at points while I waited, but reasoned with myself through each bout.
It dawned on me as I walked towards the lobby that I had no idea what I was going to do. I had imagined catching him like this, but my imagination always put me right at his door and I would bust it wide open, catching him in the act. I was totally clueless on exactly what to do next but continued towards the front desk anyway.
The young man at the front desk was very nice and I only had to show him my license to have a new keys made for 'the room'. He remarked that it was odd that we had lost our keys so quickly, but after he saw my ID, he handed me a set of new keys. He told me to throw the old ones away if we found them, as they were now useless. I looked at the envelope he handed me, with the number '217' written on the front, thanked him and looked around until I located the elevator.
The ride up, even though it was only one floor, seemed to take forever. I followed the signs along the hallway until I was standing outside room 217. I was sweating heavily, my palms were soaked and beads of nervous perspiration dripped down my forehead. I wiped my brow and tried to calm my shaking as I pressed my ear to the door. I couldn't hear much but I was able to make out Ed's voice, it sounded like he was moaning more than saying anything specific. My anger grew as I listened to the son of a bitch enjoy whatever it was he and his mistress were doing.
I struggled, fumbling to get a key from the holder to unlock the door. I slid the key into the slot and quickly pulled it out. A green light appeared near the handle letting me know I was clear to open it. I grabbed it and started turning it slowly. It let out a faint clicking noise as the handle came to a stop. I took a deep breath and pushed very gently against the door, opening it as slow and quietly as possible.
I heard the TV from inside the room get louder as the door gave way but it was only open a couple inches when it stopped, refusing to go any further. I was guessing that security lock was keeping it closed. I could hear Ed clearly now, he was moaning and offering words of encouragement to the mystery woman. "Oh yeah, just like that!" he said as I started to peer through the gap in the doorway.
Ed was sitting on the bed, with his legs towards the hallway side of the room, leaning back on his arms. I couldn't see much around his waist, there was a lamp blocking my view, but as I crouched lower, his lover came into view. The unmistakable sight of a head bobbing up and down on Ed's penis evoked a sudden and powerful feeling of nausea. In a violent rush I threw up, vomiting all over myself and the door. I was no longer hidden. Ed quickly realized I was there and shut the door on me, slamming it closed. I fell to my knees, leaning against the door, sobbing hysterically. I tried to pull myself together, but just couldn't.