The aftermath of a 'February sucks' style betrayal.
Yes this is another take on the betrayal in George Anderson's famous 'February Sucks' as retold by many other authors. I wrote to him for consent to use his characters but have heard nothing. I understand that broad consent has been granted through the site but I have changed the name of the main characters and omitted names of all places in order to avoid errors or contradictions with the original story. This endeavour begins where the mc finds himself standing outside a Nightclub after his wife has run off with a celebrity. The more I thought about the principle of a wife leaving her husband without a word, the more it seemed to me that it wasn't just a wife having an affair. My contribution has no violence or sex, only reference to the latter. It is not a BTB or RAAC. There are around 8,500 words. By its very nature, this story will inevitably have elements that overlap with other good works, please accept them as an appreciation of the original.
Tags: infidelity, abandonment, celebrity, drugged, errant wife, deserted, forsaken, discarded.
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Ben
It was one of those horrible nights in February and I was standing outside the Nightclub feeling sorry for myself and trying to make sense of what my life had become in the last hour. To add to my misery it started to rain heavily and I made a dash to my car, I was already drenched by the time I got the door open. I sat there feeling even more miserable wondering what to do next, 'come on man get a hold of yourself' I tried to tell myself but I couldn't make sense of what had happened.
On our special night, my wife had been swept off her feet by some celebrity sportsman. I didn't follow sports that closely so I had no idea who he was. As far as I was concerned she had met some guy and ran off with him. When I tried to do anything his friends stopped me and then the nightclub refused to help. Should I call the police? No that wasn't right, they would just say she left of her own volition. Hell, I thought, he and his mates could be plying her with drink and drugs by now, calling over other teammates to do who knows what to her. Jeeze! That didn't bear thinking about. Then another thought struck me, suppose she divorced me and tried to take my kids. I realised then that she had abandoned her marriage and ran away without any regard for her family. I steeled myself, 'come on man how would you act if she had died, what's the difference between abandoning and dying?' As far as those left behind are concerned they are just gone, often without warning. I started the car and headed to the Hotel.
I tried hard to cancel my reservation for the night but the staff would not relent, it aggravated me that I should have to pay for nothing all because some jerk stole my wife. I went up to my room and contemplated using it anyway but then I thought of the kids, I felt lonely and abused and I needed to be with someone who loved me. I decided to pack the bags. I did so without much regard for her things, they only added to my woes as I thought back to the anticipation before that night that was now dead and gone. In the end I just threw all her fancy stuff in her case then made my way down to reception. I signed out and left her bag with them until she picked it up. As I walked out of the door I felt like I had just drawn a line under the life I had led so far and I took a deep breath before stepping down to my car.
I rang the babysitter and told her I was picking up the children early as the weekend had turned out to be a disaster. I could tell she wanted to ask what had gone wrong but I didn't give her a chance. It was unfair on the children I knew, because they were fast asleep but I told myself that this was a one off exception. It was selfish but sometimes it's the only way to get through one day and into another. At home I put them in my bed with a space in the middle for me to cuddle them.
At about 3 o'clock in the morning I decided that I had to do something, it had been going around and around in my head for hours, humiliation, anger and distress in various combinations. In the end I realised that there was no point hiding from the humiliation, I might as well tell everyone what had happened, at least then people would understand my future actions.
I was also becoming paranoid having realised as I tossed and turned that I must secure our money against anyone who might get into our accounts while she was drugged up to her eyeballs. That became a major consideration as in my imagination I foresaw any number of awful things she might do or be coerced to do. After all she had been easily convinced to leave me on our special night without a bye or leave. I thought that I had known my wife as well as anyone could know another person but I had been shamefully proved wrong. By the time this had gone around in my head a few times I was starting to panic. We aren't wealthy, we managed to meet our mortgage and other payments each month and put a little aside for holidays but if I were to lose what money we had I would surely be up shit street without a paddle.
So by three o'clock I was downstairs in our tiny office, online and phone, trying to make our accounts inaccessible. I reported our cards missing. Opened two new accounts, one in joint names and one in mine. I totalled up all our monthly outgoings and put enough money in the joint account to cover it. I put the remainder in a savings account in my name only. It took me several hours so that I was still at it when the kids came in asking where Mummy was and when they could have breakfast.
I felt that I had done well so far, the only things that I hadn't changed yet were automatic payments to things that only my wife benefited from. Apart from her car payments and insurance there wasn't much else that mattered. The credit card bill would be paid off when it arrived and then I would leave her to make her own arrangements thereafter. It struck me then that when her friends finally dumped her she would have no income whatsoever, she was a stay at home Mum and I had been proud that I could provide a stable homelife for our children; until now. It just added to the sense of loss, and I had to make a supreme effort to be normal around the little ones. I broke one of our rules that morning and took them to breakfast at a famous fast food joint. They were great, I explained that Mummy had had to rush off to see a relative who was seriously ill. I hated that lie, it was so hard to come back from, but I couldn't come up with anything else that might justify a long period missing. They shook it off as kids do sometimes and dug into their 'forbidden food.'
An idea had been going around in my mind, I needed to let people know. At first I thought that it would be embarrassing but in my most angry moments I asked myself, 'why should I be the only one to be humiliated,' why not the so-called celebrity and my ex-wife. So I decided to write an open letter that set out the facts and implications. Back at the house I bolted the front door and attached the security chain. I wasn't going to be able to change locks on a Sunday but I could use the garden door at the rear to come and go. Neither of us usually carried the rear door key so this seemed like a good temporary solution. Once back in my study with the door open and one ear listening out for the children who were watching a film on TV, I began my letter.
Dear Relatives, Friends and anyone who knew Sarah.
I have to tell the story of how she disappeared on Saturday night when we were supposed to be celebrating a special weekend away with friends. Until that night I thought that we had a loving and faithful marriage. I have done everything I can to make her happy, perhaps that was a mistake. Is it that women get tired of a steady home life and are looking for a new thrill? I found out tonight.
I went on then to describe how she had been spirited away by the celebrity with the help of his friends. I named the friends who helped the abduction and those of my so-called friends who prevented me from stopping it because it was a famous person. I also told how the Nightclub had prevented me from doing anything about it and forcibly evicted me when I made a fuss. I speculated what might happen to her, how celebrities thought themselves above the law and how drugs such as date rape might lower her inhibitions, I also wondered what might happen when they tired of her and threw her out.
What I wrote was probably a little over the top but I didn't accuse, just put the ideas out there and then ran with all the awful things that could happen because some rich people thought they were untouchable and didn't have a moral code. Then I let my words and mind wander over the possible impact on myself and the children. It wasn't hard to tear at the heart strings on this because it was regurgitating worries that I really had.
This led me very nicely on to the things that I would have to do to protect my family. When I finished I began by sending to our relatives and friends. We had never been secretive from each other so it didn't take long to get into her social media contacts and send to all. My mind started to widen the circle and having posted the letter on my own Facebook I began to search out anything to do with the celebrity, a copy went to every email I could find connected with him and his club. Next I searched out the TV, Radio, Newspapers, the Scandal Mags and the Sports Publications. I knew that most would ignore my story if they even read it but it would only take one to take notice, I even emailed podcasters for what that was worth. Having exhausted every option I could think of, I decided to call my Dad. I realised that there was nothing left for me in this town, but where to go?
Dad had already read my letter and must have taken the phone somewhere Mum couldn't hear. He went straight to the point of asking what I needed, he was brilliant in that way of being supportive no matter what. I said, "Long term I want to go somewhere else, but I don't want to make it difficult for you and Mum to see the kids. If you were to retire early, where would you like to live?" For a minute he thought I was suggesting he should retire straight away, I knew he wanted to, he always said he wanted to quit in his fifties while he was still relatively young and fit. Once he twigged what I was getting at I heard a smile come back to his voice and he asked, "So what's the short term plan?"
