Busted

I'd also like to give a huge thanks to rnebular for once again taking the time to edit and give suggestions to improve this story. The more editing he does, the more I notice the difference in Canadian versus American colloquialisms. Since majority of the readers seem to be American, I go with rnebular's correction of my Canadianisms along with his other great suggestions.

This one is based on a real-life experience described to me by an anonymous reader, who asked me to turn it into a "happy ending" (i.e. reconciliation, so apologies upfront to the btb crowd) because reality didn't go that way. It was an interesting premise, with the true events having twists I'd never come up with. As well, I can relate to the technological side, so I agreed. I offered to let her read it before submitting, but she declined, just wanting to read the final published version. Ms. Anon, I'll just apologize for the delay as this request came shortly after "A Cruel Trick" was published April, 2019. I hope it was worth the wait. For everyone else, I hope you enjoy.

-HP

*****************

When the Apple iPhone came out, I never imagined learning some of it's interesting quirks would lead to discovering my wife had betrayed me. Sadly, that's exactly what happened.

I guess this is a good enough as anytime to describe my wife, Janna. Janna is what we called in my high school a California blond. Long dyed-blond hair, dark bronze tanned complexion from yearlong tanning booths, long lean legs, and big boobs - 36DD in Janna's case. In short, unbelievably beautiful and even though I'm often told I'm quite easy on the eyes as well, I felt so lucky I managed to woo that woman.

Thinking back, I thought Janna and I were so happy. Honestly, it was being so blindsided that made it so much more painful - and me so upset. We'd be married nine blissful years and had an eight-year-old son, Aiden, and a four-year-old daughter, Eva. We met and starting dating in college, getting married shortly after I graduated with my degree in communication. Janna got pregnant a few months after that, and settled for a certificate in office skills with the classes she'd already completed towards her degree. I started working right after graduation, at a small regional college in Keypid, the city next over from our hometown. We settled there, and Janna got an administrative assistant job at an insurance company after Aiden turned one. Six years, and one beautiful baby girl later, I was the communications director of Charles Francis Community college, and Janna was still happily working with the same company in the same position.

Because I'd done a lot of work with graphic templates for the college, one of my first 'college graduate' purchases was a good Mac Desktop Computer. Janna initially thought it was a frivolous, until she started playing with all the photo-editing software. It quickly became

our

Mac computer, and then

her

Mac that I just got to use from time to time. Photography was always a big passion of Janna's. Every social gathering or vacation, there was Janna with her camera. Of course, this only increased when she became a mother, and our house quickly became an art gallery with the walls of every room filled with different size prints of her photographs.

A few years after Aiden was born, the wife of one of my co-workers introduced Jana to scrapbooking. That's basically elevating your typical photo album to works of art with fancy paper, stickers, cutout cardboard letters and whatever else. Already being a shutterbug, Janna very easily became almost obsessed with scrapbooking, spending a lot of money on supplies and even attending workshops or crops. I had no clue what a crop is other than something farmers plough. Apparently, a scrapbook crop is where a group of scrapbookers gather in one location, usually a church basement or community center, and work on their scrapbooks together and socialize. At some crops, there was even alcohol allowed.

While I was at first apprehensive about Janna's new obsession, I quickly changed my mind. It made her happy and it allowed her a break from family in a positive way as opposed to when Aiden was a baby. I did miss her when she'd go to the weekend long crops, which cut into our Saturday date nights, but those were only maybe twice a year. Generally, they were just once a month on Friday night, and the kids and I looked forward to seeing Janna's work the morning after.

On the faithful Friday, I'd just put the kids to bed while Janna was away to her monthly scrapbook crop. There were no sports on, and I didn't feel like watching a TV or a movie at that moment. I double-checked both kids were sleeping and went to the bedroom we'd converted into an office and decided to watch a little porn on the Mac.

As I mentioned at the start, the Apple iPhone had just been released, and of course, Janna just had to have one. I was still using a Blackberry, which was still the only real smartphone out at that time. Janna had just gotten her new phone the night before, filling it with a bunch of music to listen to at her crop instead of her iPod.

Anyway, there I was, dick out, and getting ready to stroke it to the image of Sasha Grey getting double-teamed, when suddenly a bubble popped up at the top right corner of the screen:

Jayleen: Urs is so cute. U going to fuck him? I'm taking mine home now.

At the time, I didn't know, and of course neither did Janna, that iPhones have a feature that when they're synched to a Mac computer, you can get iMessages from another iPhone user directly on that computer.

While I didn't know immediately that was happening, I was immediately upset that Janna was receiving any messages from Jayleen. Jayleen was an old college friend of Janna's who hated me for stealing her 'wing man.' Jayleen was one of those really arrogant bitches that thought she was a lot better looking than she really was. I found her nose too big as well as her gunt and thighs. She also thought girls 'as hot' as she was should never have to buy drinks. She would go to clubs and flirt to get free drinks all night, and pick one of her suitors to take home. Fine, it's her life and she can do what she wants. However, it's when Jayleen wanted Janna to help attract more drinks that I had an issue.

Shortly after we were engaged, Janna promised me that she would stop hanging out alone with Jayleen in clubs. Either I joined her, or she stayed home. This led to Jayleen throwing a tantrum and not speaking to Janna for years - even missing our wedding when she was expected to be a bridesmaid.

I never heard Jayleen's name again, until after Aiden was a toddler. Janna needed 'adult time,' so I watched our son so she could go hang out with girlfriends. I trusted my wife back then, so didn't think anything off it. She came home a little drunk one weekend, and extremely drunk the next with some guy's number written on her hand.

When I confronted Janna, almost ready to pack a bag and leave, she said, "I never did anything but dance with him. I was just hanging with Jayleen."

After three of the hardest weeks of our marriage up to that point, I ended up forgiving Janna but set down some strict conditions. The primary one was no going out at all with Jayleen. And, again, Jayleen through a hissy fit and cut off all contact with Janna, which suited me just fine. After the years went by without even a mention of Jayleen, I had thought she was out of Janna's life forever. That is, until that message bubble popped up.

As I said, just seeing a message from Jayleen was enough to get me upset. Before it really sunk in what that message meant, there was another one from Jayleen:

U nasty girl ;) K. have fun and I want details! ttyl.

At that moment, my dick felt like someone dumped ice water on it. I quickly adjusted my pants as I clicked around to figure out how I was seeing what had to be Janna's texts on the computer. What I really wanted to know was the answer to Jayleen's question about fucking whoever she was referring to.

I figured out how to open Janna's iMessage folder, which only had one conversation - the one with Jayleen. I literally felt sick to my stomach as I went through at least thirty messages between the two. Janna planned right from the beginning to meet Jayleen at a dance club across the street from the community center where her crop was. Even worse, it sounded like this wasn't the first time. My hands were shaking, I was so angry as I skimmed forward to the last exchange between the two.

Urs is so cute. U going to fuck him? I'm taking mine home now.

Maybe. JK, lol. Just going to grind a bit more on the dance floor after finishing this drink. He is a great kisser.

U nasty girl ;) K. have fun and I want details! Ttyl.

Ttyl.

What happened after is going to make me sound like the worst father ever, but I was so upset, I really wasn't thinking clearly. I double-checked that Aiden and Eva were still sleeping and headed out to confront Janna at the club. At the time, I figured I'd only be gone forty minutes at the most, and they'd be fine. Yeah, I know I could've gotten into an accident or a hundred other things. My head just wasn't in the best place.

I arrived at the block where both the club and the scrapbooking crop was located. I parked in the twenty-minute loading zone of the community center and ran across the street. I lucked out there wasn't a lineup - another thing that I didn't consider when leaving my children alone, and I was able to go right in. The small club wasn't packed, but there was enough people that I was having difficulty locating Janna. I must have circled around three times and was about to give up when I noticed two guys exiting the guy's washroom. The smirks and headshakes, while glancing back towards the door just gave me a funny feeling - call it intuition.

As soon as I was through the doorway, I could hear it coming from one of the stalls. The unmistakable sound of two people having sex with the woman loudly moaning, "Uh...uh...yes, fuck me...fuck me..." A voice that I easily recognized as Janna's.

I saw from their visible shoes they were in the first stall closest to the door. I got my phone ready to capture the moment and carefully stood on the toilet in the adjacent stall. As angry as I felt, the pain of looking over the top of the stall and seeing Janna getting fucked by some stranger was almost overwhelming.

She was still wearing the same blouse and jeans that she left the house with, except her jeans and panties were down to her knees as she leaned forward with her hands on the tank lid. Her paramour also had his jeans shoved down as he thrust into her with a tight grip on her hips. While the guy was definitely younger than me, he wasn't any taller and had a bit of a beer gut. His face wasn't anything special and his cheeks were covered with acne scars. It was almost like a slap in the face that Janna cheated on me with someone like that.

Trying to keep my composure, I quickly snapped several pictures including one that showed his spent cock pulling out of my soon-to-be-ex-wife. That was the icing on the cake. I was snipped, so Janna wasn't using any birth control. At that moment, the guy looked up and saw me.

As his face turned into a scowl, he snared, "Fuck off before I kick your ass, fucking pervert."

At that moment, Janna glanced up. I snapped one last picture of her wide-eyed look of shock immediately before she screamed. If she said anything after, I didn't know because I quickly jumped down and was out the door of the club in less than a minute.

I didn't see Janna's purse, so on another hunch, I went back across the street to the community center and walked in. Like a typical crop, there were about twenty women sitting at different tables working on their scrapbooking while visiting. I saw the empty table where Janna should've been. I saw her purse tucked under the table partly hidden by the carrier she brought her supplies in. I waved at Brenda, the wife of my co-worker that introduced Janna to scrapbooking in the first place, as I grabbed the purse. Brenda was frowning, probably knowing Janna was up to no good, but didn't say anything. I confirmed Janna's wallet, debit card and keys were there, and then left taking them with.

I raced home, knowing I probably didn't have much time until Janna managed to get a ride home. I received several text messages, but turned off my phone. I arrived home to, thank God, both children safely sleeping. I went on our Mac and quickly transferred the pictures I took onto a USB. Seeing them again was just as hard as watching Janna cheating in person. My anger took over and I went on Facebook, knowing her password was saved. I posted the pic of the guy just pulling out as well as the one of Janna staring at me on her page with the caption, '

I am a soon-to-be-divorced- cheating slut

.'

I quickly packed a couple of suitcases, knowing she'd probably be home any minute. I debated grabbing the kids as well, but figured enough shit was coming their way. My primary concern was getting the fuck out of there so I didn't have to talk to Janna. I loaded my truck and waited inside it, engine running. I kept alternating from glancing down the street to inside the house in case one of the kids got up. I put my truck in gear a couple times for false alarms until Janna showed up in a cab. I pulled out and sped away as I saw her waving her arms frantically in the rearview mirror.

The four months after that night were so surreal. While absolutely refusing to be anywhere near Janna in person, I managed to move out and into my elderly parent's basement - I was an

oops

when my parents were both in their early forties. They still lived in my hometown two hours away. I was able to have three afternoon visits with my children in that time as well. I lawyered up and was already given the heads up that if I went through with the divorce, it wasn't going to go great my way financially or custody-wise despite the concrete proof of adultery. After a long talk with my parents, who agreed to let me stay there rent-free until I got on my feet, I decided no matter the consequences I could no longer remain married to Janna. In my mind, it was two-strikes and she was out of my life.

While we didn't meet in person, when I made my final decision to go through with the divorce, I thought after nearly ten years I owed it to her to tell her myself. The phone conversation was more crying and pleading from her with me resisting the temptation to just hang up. It was all the clichés: nothing like that ever happened before, she was drunk and not thinking clearly, and Jayleen led her astray. The kicker was when Janna admitted that she did get pregnant that night but had gotten an abortion during our separation. I just told her it was over and never to contact me again. If something was going on with the kids, she could contact my parents. Anything else, she could contact my lawyer. Four months, almost to the day I caught her cheating, Janna was served at home.

How I managed to survive four years living in my parent's basement was beyond me. I think it was hard for my parents - especially my dad - to understand that just because I was back living in their house, it didn't mean that I needed to be parented. I didn't need to be lectured for staying out late or not coming home at all on the weekends. I definitely didn't need to be reminded that the job I got shortly after returning home was a dead-end. Working as a glorified proofreader while receiving barely sixty percent of my former salary was enough of a reminder of that.

I couldn't complain since they were basically giving me room and board free, so I could make my alimony payments and get a little ahead to get my own place. Because Janna had primary custody of the kids, she got the house while I still had to make the mortgage payments for five years - unless she remarried some other sucker, which I prayed to happen but didn't. Honestly, it was exactly as I was warned before I filed for divorce, but I chose my self-respect over financial comfort. I also had to be extremely grateful for my parents being the middleman between Janna and I with the kids. I had not seen her in person since I drove off, and we hadn't spoken since the final phone call.

Speaking of my kids, there wasn't a day I didn't feel bad for what they had to go through - while never forgetting it was all Janna's fault. I had to admit Janna could've been a lot worse in how often I saw Aiden and Eva. However, she let me have them for alternating Easter, Christmas, and Thanksgivings, as well as spending their entire summer holiday at my parents. We tried to focus on just enjoying the time we got together. I never pried about how their mother was doing. I'd like to say I didn't care, but it was just easier to not think of her.

Unfortunately, while they were with me, I'd often have a flash of rage and say something bad about Janna. Eva would just look at me with a shocked face, but Aiden would look right at me with just as much anger in his eyes as I had when I made the comment. I'd say something like,

I shouldn't say that in front of you

, but never apologized. Besides, I was sure Janna was bad mouthing me much worse.

As you can imagine, living at home stuck in practically a clerical job wasn't the best for attracting a new soul mate. I got out, mostly with old friends from high school, and was having my share of one-night stands. However, I never met any available woman who was anywhere near as beautiful, smart, or fun as Janna was during our good times. When you are used to having filet mignon all the time, it's hard to settle for nothing but pork chops. Besides, I gave up taking good care of myself. I was drinking a little too much beer, eating crappier food, and no longer went to the gym several times a week. In fact, the closest thing I had to a workout since moving home was chasing down the neighbors' poodle when it escaped. I certainly wasn't the catch I once had been. As forty was starting to creep up, I was accepting I would probably never remarry.

Even though my parents talked to Janna at least biweekly, to keep me apprised of how Aiden and Evan were doing or arrange my phone calls with the kids, they hardly mentioned her at all. I knew both thought I was being stupid by still avoiding my ex-wife and holding a grudge so many years later. However, they were polite enough to not make that one of the things they lectured me about.

One Friday, everything just seemed to be going to shit. I found out that I was going to be laid off from my job at that shitty independent publishing company. They told me to pack my things and my remaining vacation days were my notice. That meant I would be at risk of not being able to make my alimony payments. I dealt with the news of struggling to find work during a recession by going alone to the bar and getting shitfaced.

I stumbled upstairs about two in the afternoon the next day to my dad looking over the paper with a frown that I was getting tired of seeing.

I sighed, and held up my hands. "Okay, let's hear it."

"What?" My dad mumbled glancing back at his paper.

"You're going to say it anyway. Just get it over with."

My dad let out a loud nasally breath. "Well, Todd, I don't think you get it's not Janna punishing you - you are punishing yourself. You are the one who let yourself go, you are the one who stuck in a job you hate. You are the one who won't get over what happened. Nothing wrong with forgiving Janna and getting on with your life."

"Well," I said in a snarky tone as my hangover was not helping my mood, "First off, I've been downsized out of that job I hate so much, which very much could lead to Janna punishing me again when I can't afford her alimony. As far as letting myself go, you're one to talk. You of all people should know that things start falling apart as you get older. I'm sure Janna's gained a few pounds over the years as well."