This is one of my 'You can love more than one person' stories. Unfortunately, it is not always reciprocated. Like most LW stories, nothing new here.
I had the day off work and invited my best mate Dave for a drink in the Plough. I found a quiet corner to sit in. He would probably only be having a soft drink because he was on night shift starting at six. We worked alternate shifts for the same paper making company. We were waiting for my wife Jenny to join us. I was annoyed, but I kept it in check. Dave did not seem to notice my short sentences as we talked.
We had been friends since Junior School along with Jenny, we basically hung around and grew up together. We liked Dave, he was a good friend, he could be a bit unreliable. Even from those early years we knew he was a player. His word was as firm as a lump of warm jelly, my word was my bond.
But as time moved on my feelings for Jenny grew. And it appears, her feelings for me did as well. The friendship grew into love. And we got married, we were both 23. We get together on weekends, Jenny, me, I'm Craig and Dave with his latest girlfriend.
Dave was always there to help, he may be a little, or occasionally, a lot late but he always got where he was going. It was obvious from our early teens' Jenny loved me as I did her, it was expected that we would get married. All the parents could see what was happening and they were happy.
Dave was my best man at our wedding, he was also the bugger that put me on a train to Scotland with no money on my stag do. Fortunately, I guessed something like that might happen, so I tucked some cash and a credit card into my sock. The credit card was a little uncomfortable at the start but after several shots I was feeling no pain. He was surprised when I turned up for work the following day. He'd already made excuses for me.
Jenny had always flirted from a very young age. I am sure at the start she did not know she was doing it. But as the hormones took over, she fully realised. But she kept it under control. Just a coquettish look and a smile. Never touching. That would be wrong.
Why do you flirt with other men? I asked early on, "It's fun." It was only gentle flirting, not full on court press. She even did it with Dave. I had just sort of grown up with her doing it, it would be strange if she did not have a little flirt.
One day walking home from the pub after we had been married a few years I asked. "Why do you not flirt with me?"
"Where is the fun flirting with your husband in public, I do that for you in the bedroom." And she did, our sex life was good.
Our company was expanding and Dave and I got the chance of promotion to shift boss of our respective shifts. A course was involved. Dave went on his and a few weeks later I did mine. It entailed a weekend away. Dave told me of the antics he got up to, him being a single good looking chap. I was married and behaved myself, okay I may have drunk too much Saturday evening and was not too bright on Sunday morning.
The pay rise with the promotion meant Jenny and I would soon have enough saved up for a deposit on a house, the plan was once we got settled in we were to start a family.
We had talked about it, and we were looking forward to the ceremonial flushing of the birth control pills down the toilet, that's what people do.
I had noticed a change in attitude in Jenny about three months ago just after I got back from my course. It took me a while to pin it down. Initially it was just subtle, the increased sex, which I put down to being away for over a week, then the decrease in sex to almost nothing for a few weeks. I also noticed the flirting had slowed down when we went out, she still did it, but it was not as blatant as it had been, a tad more subtle.
There were other little things. The house wasn't as tidy as it usually was. Clothes washing was now being done at the weekend, normally she would do that in her off time during the week. Other things that she had done during the week were now being done at the weekend eating into our time. Something was going on. I was looking for stuff now. She normally showered when she got in from work, nothing unusual except the showers took twice as long now.
I also noticed her wages had dropped, so I guess she was not doing as many shifts. When I asked her about it, she just said there were less available as the supermarket was recruiting some young people. That was strange when I had visited the supermarket, I saw no extra 'young people', just the same usual old farts. In fact, there was a big recruitment poster up.
That was when it hit me, she was having an affair, more than likely with someone at her work. I couldn't afford a private investigator and my time was busy with the new job. I could get the odd day off, but that would probably not be enough and Dave would hear about me having time off and ask me about it. I didn't want to admit to him I thought Jenny was stepping out on me. I needed more information. I got some small spy Wi-Fi cameras off eBay and put them in our bedroom and the living room.
I tracked her phone using the tracking app.
Three weeks later I had seen nothing. I realised I needed help, so I turned to Dave. I told him that I thought Jenny was having an affair and asked if he would help me. He was incredulous. He wouldn't believe it, he said she loved me so much she would never cheat on me.
But he offered to help, he could follow her around in the evening when he was on day shift, when he was on night shift he went to bed in the morning and could keep an eye on her in the afternoon. He would pass anything he found at shift change over. She worked in a supermarket stacking shelves, I told him I suspected that was where she would cheat on me. It would be difficult if they were doing it in the supermarket.
Well after a few weeks Dave told me he found nothing, and he was certain there was nothing going on. He had a friend in the supermarket and there was no gossip of Jenny having an affair, other people, but not Jenny.
But by now I was even more convinced, the telltale signs, the extra cuddling, the morning blowjobs, the sexy underwear, then the following week there would be nothing. She didn't dress differently, but she brushed her hair more and there was more makeup.
It was a Saturday evening and we went to our local, the Plough, they had a small disco. Normally Jenny danced with both of us. Me more than Dave.
But this time it was nearly all me. Only a few with Dave. Then it struck me immediately. She had stopped flirting with Dave. She was having an affair, and it was with Dave.
I had been so stupid, the two people I trusted the most in this world after my parents.
That was what gave it away when I worked it out. How stupid had I been!
I needed more information, this time on my own. Jenny arranged her shifts to coincide with mine, it worked a lot of the time, but we had to give work the priority sometimes. Her shifts and hours varied so we kept a calendar with dates and times on. I went back and cross checked the video of when she left the house with her shifts on the calendar.
That was it. She was leaving our house about ten ish even though her shift did not start till two. Then I saw she was leaving her phone at home. She would have to pass our house to get from Dave's to the supermarket. What a dull twat I had been.
The following Monday I was on days and Dave on nights. Her shift did not start until two. After I left home I called in sick. Jenny had the early afternoon shift. Today should have been four hours according to the calendar. So she would be home at the same time as me. I watched as she left our house about an hour after I left for work and drove to Dave's, then she left just before her shift time. No wonder our house wasn't as tidy, she was spending most of the day at Dave's place. I photographed her going in and coming out.
I had to make sure, it could be innocent and I would look a twat if I accused them without proof. I went out for a walk on Monday evening. I knew where Dave hid his spare key. I took the two Wi-Fi cameras. He would not notice them amongst the mess he lived in. I even managed to get one in his bedroom. Although recently I had noticed that his flat was a bit tidier when I called round. I had assumed he was seeing someone else as well, but he hadn't mentioned anyone to us. You couldn't invite a girl back to the usual bachelor pad mess he normally lived in.
I caught them the very next day, Jenny turned up there, but it wasn't the welcome kiss of a friend, it was a full on snog. I heard her berating him for the state of the flat and she started tidying up. Once she got that done he took her by the hand and took her into the bedroom. They didn't come out for two hours, that was enough for me. I didn't look to see what happened in the bedroom. I didn't need my heart to break anymore. I just saved the recording for later.
That was last week. I told her I was feeling a little sick and not in the mood for sex. My parents had moved to the South Coast and I suggested to Jenny we go and visit them over the weekend. There will be no sex down there. Doesn't seem right doing it in your parent's house and I was loath to have sex with her after what I had seen. There was also something I had heard Dave say on the phone in one of the recordings that piqued my interest.
We got back on Sunday and neither of us fancied cooking, so I suggested Chinese take-away when we got back. I went to fetch it. I got close enough to Dave's house to be able to download the Wi-Fi. My suspicions were confirmed.
