Ed! I Want You to Have an Affair

I was sitting in my office late on a Friday, reviewing a few applicants who had heard an opening was coming up within our office staff. I worked as the regional head of a Chemical company that supplied chemicals for weed control, fertilizer and water containment for the soil. Our livelihood depended on the farmers who grew or fed what we ate. With the push to go green, we were the first company to have our products proclaimed to be one hundred percent environmentally safe.

Two of my office staff husbands' had been promoted by their employers and as a result, they had given their notice. Both were moving away within the next three months. The scramble was on to replace them as soon as possible. Our sales team covered eight states here in the heart of flyover country. Our sales growth this year was well beyond expected.

Cathy my executive assistant stuck her face into my office and said, "Ed, all eight have confirmed their appointment times to be interviewed for Monday. I'm heading out so good night."

Every Thursday I would head out to one of the states under my area to hold a half-day sales meeting on Friday and then head home. Thursday night, as a result, had become my wife's night to go out with the girls. Over the years it had cost a lot in babysitter fees.

My weekly trips gave our sales rep a needed personal contact to help them with problems related to the job and their performance. Over the years it had paid big dividends. In eight years, I had not lost one man and that was considered a company achievement. I had just made it back today in time to check over a few things before going home.

The company had been trying to get me to give up that part of my job for years. But I found the time alone gave me time to think things out in my own way. Having a know it all wife and three children the quiet time I got driving was priceless. Besides, it saved our branch from having to hire a sales manager. I had a record of coming under budgeted expenses and wanted to keep it that way.

With our children all in junior and senior high school, the oldest a girl my pride and joy would be graduating and starting Southeast Missouri University in the fall things were looking good for us as a family. She had been awarded a full scholarship from my employer.

My youngest daughter had just turned sixteen and was busy studying to get her learners. Grace my wife of twenty years was the Executive Assistant to the District Attorney and had been since a year before our youngest was born.

He had just been offered a new position as a lawyer for the federal government and he had accepted it. The feds seemed to like his no-nonsense hard-line approach. He would have been a fool to refuse it as it was double the money. He would be starting in four months. I had never been able to figure him out. He was about the same age as me, yet he never had married. I didn't know for sure but contrary to the rumors I did not believe he was gay.

Every second weekend of the month for the last fifteen years my three children had been picked up by my parents to give my wife and me some quality time together. When they had started doing that, my wife and I were both at a crossroads in our marriage.

My parents felt we needed private time without the kids around. I have to admit that was the greatest gift they could have given us because it gave my wife and me the time to find ourselves again. Without them doing that we would have been another divorce statistic.

They had about three months before this would have to come to an end as Amy my oldest was going to working in our senator's office in Washington for over the summer, before starting her post-secondary education in the political science field.

A while back, my dad on a lark had bought our three children each a kit from Ancestry.Com. with my permission and had submitted it as a joke. Under their instructions, we knew that there would only be a match if someone related to them had submitted their DNA into the same program.

My children had talked to me about it and I had given my approval saying we all have distant relatives we don't remember or know about. Maybe it will expose us all to a new adventure. It was Amy that suggested we keep it as a surprise for their mother until we got the results. We knew that it could take up to five or six months to get an answer.

This weekend we were headed down to Nashville to take in the Grand Old Opry and would return home on Sunday. My wife was the one who had planned this special trip as a way for us to build another memory in our walk of life.

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I had met my wife Grace during the last year of university at a football game. No, I was not one of the players in the field I was one of those never known grunts selling food at inflated prices to the patrons in the stands. She was one of the medical coaches' youngest daughters, so she always had free tickets supplied to her.

She got into an argument with her date for the day over some stupid thing one of them took the wrong way. With pushes comes shoves. I got caught in the middle. She pushed him and stepped aside. He did see her move and hit me with all his weight from the backside. Down I went rolling down the concrete stairs my food tray tumbling with me. The next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital with my head all bandaged up. According to the doctor I had twenty-five stitches because of a spit forehead.

I guess Grace felt guilty because she showed up every day to make sure I was alright. She had met my whole family before I began to see daylight once again. I was told later that I had been in a coma for almost a week because of internal injuries.

As the fog surrounding my vision began to clear I saw an unknown Goddess standing before me. At first, I believed I had arrived at the pearly gates and she was my guiding angel. Then my girlfriend became clear as light standing beside her. Esmeralda was not impressed by the vision standing beside her.

I closed my eyes and drifted off back into sleep praying that Esmeralda would not be there when I woke up and that this was all a dream. When I awoke the dream was still there, but Esmeralda was not. Esmeralda had decided she had to find herself a new honey to dote on her. God had granted a favorable prayer to me.

Grace stood by me, asking nothing as I slowly got my life back together. I never asked her, but we ended up dating. One thing led to another. Once we had graduated I went into sales and she found her first job as an Executive Assistant. At one of her family functions her little cousin asked her why she wasn't married yet and she responded because Ed hasn't asked me.

Three months later I stood at the alter watching the goddess walk towards me. At five foot eight inches with long blonde hair, deep blueish almost black eyes and a figure that men drooled over. Grace and I got wed. By year five we both had reached the spot where we were both ready to walk away. To date, I couldn't understand why or how we were being pushed apart. As far as I knew neither had she.

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We had just left Lamberts on the way back home. A restaurant to me that was living off its rep. The biggest thing going for them was the tossing of their huge buns across the room through the air to be caught by the customers because the rest of their food was outdated over cooked crap. We had stopped at the tourist trap because it reminded my wife of her mother's home cooking. Need I say more.

For some reason, my wife reached over and turned our sound system off. When she did that it meant she had something serious she wanted to discuss. I reached into my jacket pocket and turned my voice recorder on. It was a trick I used for private conservation when I thought I might need to be able to verify what I said later on.

"Ed," My wife Grace asked, "Have you ever thought about having an affair?"

My first thought was what brought this on. My second one was why is she asking this? Is she having one or does she know someone who is? Why does she now consider this important enough to talk about right now? I had to clear my mind of the questions before I could speak.

"Grace let's be honest here," I said. "Everyone has thought about having an affair. The better question would be, have I ever acted on it and the answer to that would be no."

"Why not?" Grace asked.

"Because I said my vows when we got married," I said. "They meant something to me and still do!"

"With the changing views of society," Grace said. "Marriage vows no longer hold the value they once did. I think you should let go of them and seriously consider finding a female lover that you would be compatible with. If it's your own guilt your worried about consider this my personal permission for you to go ahead and have one with my unconditional blessing. Having one might help you appreciate our relationship even more plus give you a deeper understanding of us being us. That way you can freely get the full value and pleasure out of the relationship when you find the right woman you would like to have one with without the burden of guilt."

I had a problem with her new point of view because it came across that using other people for our own pleasure and gain was acceptable to her. For me, it was not. This was a side of her that I had never seen. It caused me to change my view of things considerably.

"Answer me this my loving wife," I said. "Why is my having an open affair with your approval so important to you? Have I done something so disgusting to you that you want to find an excuse to end our marriage?"

After five minutes of silence, I turned the sound system back on. The non-answer to me was speaking volumes. Grace always had an answer for everything. Now she was silent. I was asking myself why?

I now believed that there was definitely a reason my loving wife wanted me to have an affair. But why? Regardless of the reason, I now firmly believed that something in our life was seriously wrong. I knew I had to find out what. I drove for about an hour we were now about forty miles from home when I saw my wife turn off the sound again.

I reached into my jacket and turned the recorder back on.

"I'm sorry Ed," Grace said, "I guess I have been reading to many Harlequin Romance Stories. Those ideas must have come out of the left-field somewhere."

With that said she turned back on our sound system figuring that was the end of that. The problem was that our three children and I all knew she hated those books because they had been her mother's favorite. All her life she had referred to them as trailer trash and she was better than that. Every time her mother had passed the latest ones on to her Grace had brought them home and threw them in the trash.

Driving the last forty miles I realized that the only thing I did not know much about was her Thursday night out with the girls. It was just something we had never found important or serious enough to worry about. On those rare occasions when I was home, she willingly changed her schedule, so she was home with me too.

Until today I had no reason to question those nights because I had trusted her fully. The problem I had to deal with was because of the conversation we had just had I now had reason to question what those Thursday night girls night was all about. Was she going bar hopping with the girls and developing questionable relationships like one night stands? I knew by the time I got home that I had to find out what was going on during her girl's night out.

We pulled into our driveway just as our kids did with my parents. After we got into the house, I got both my parent's a rye and coke. They told me about what they and the kids had done over the weekend.

To my parents the quality time they had with their grandchildren was priceless. As they said it was the grandchildren that helped to keep them young and up to date. Each event was designed to what they wanted so my parents were being exposed culturally to things they had never done before. They stayed about an hour before heading home. I walked them both back to their car.

"Ed," My dad asked quietly. "When would be the best time for us to drop in your office tomorrow to have a private chat."

"I've got job interviews all day," I said. "Let's say around three o'clock. Whatever the problem is I'm here for you."

"The problem is not about your Mom and me," my dad said in a whisper. "It's one that deals with your wife and her youngest daughter. I best not say anymore, as your wife is watching us."

"Ok, Dad I can do that I will stop over after work and we should be able to fix it in half an hour," I said quite loudly to make sure Grace could hear it through the window.

After watching them pull out I went into the house and grabbed the car keys. I then grabbed my toolbox and threw it into my trunk.

"Hey honey," I said, "I got to stop off at dad's tomorrow and fix something for him after work so I might be a few minutes late."

"I heard you from the window," Grace said. "Don't worry about it we can eat a bit late."

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My dad showed up right on time with mom. They were escorted into my office. After sitting down, we waited for one of the staff to bring us a coffee. Once it was served Cathy closed my office door on the way out.

"Ed," my dad said. "I regret big time my stupid stunt of sending our grandchildren's DNA in. They found a DNA match for April. She has a grandmother on her father's side is who looking for her son and his offspring's."

With that, he pulled out the form from Ancestry.Com. It revealed a lady's name and phone number. I was devastated. My father just by looking at me knew just how badly the news had hit me.

"Dad I don't think they made a mistake, so let's see what we all can find out," I said.

Using the office phone, I called the number and threw both the record feature and the speaker on. I wanted to make sure that I had a permanent record of the conversation. It rang twice before it was answered.

"My name is Edward Paul Adams and I'm looking for a Mrs. Beatrice Smith concerning a DNA match found thanks to Ancestry.com," I said. "Could I speak to her please."

"You're talking to her young man," the lady said. "What can I do for you?"

"It's complicated," I said. "long story short my youngest daughter I just learned is your granddaughter."

"Are you referring to April Marie Adams," she asked.

"Yes, I am," I replied.

"Then perhaps you might know my son who I had to give up for adoption when I was just fifteen," she said.

"I might if I knew his name," I said."

"He was adopted by a family with the last name of Barrow, his given names were at the time Luke Robert," Mrs. Smith said.

My face went white. My parents both had tears in their eyes because we knew the name well. Her honest straightforward remark had just become a nightmare from hell for me.

"He is alive and well," I said. "He's currently the district attorney here in Cape Girardeau County Missouri. He is also my wife's boss. I can tell you that he has never married and now I think I know why?"

"He's my only child," She said. "I've got stage four lung cancer and don't have long to live. Would you allow your daughter April to visit me before I come to an end? If you can't afford it, I will gladly pay for the ticket. I would like to meet her so I can pass on my estate to her."

"Mrs. Smith under the circumstances I will let you work it out with my parents. Since you are only a state away they will take her on a special weekend trip this weekend so you can meet her," I said. "I don't think this a trip that I would allow my daughter to make by herself. Is there anything else you would like me to do.?"

"Get me a Notary statement allowing my lawyer to have a DNA test done." Mrs. Smith said. "Because of the value of April's inheritance, he will want that to verify for himself that she is who we believe she is before he will change my will?"

"No problem I'm going to turn this call over to my dad," I said. "He can work out the details and get directions on how to get to you."

I got up and went outside my office and handed Cathy my personal recorder saying. "Get both my conversation on this and the phone call I'm still recording transcribed and Notarized. I will need them done that way for the divorce court."

"You want me to get the authorization for the DNA test drawn up to," Cathy asked?

Cathy was smart, she had remembered that when I turned the record on, she was to silently listen in. Doing that in the past had resolved a lot of conflicts quickly.

"Yes," I said. "But we need to keep it quiet for a number of weeks. I want to find out what my soon to be divorced wife has been doing on her Thursday nights."

I walked into my assistant's office and said. "David, I need to talk to you with your wife as soon as possible. I'm going to be needing both your cooperation because of a personal matter."

David looked at me and knew right away that what I ever I was needing help on was a very serious matter.

"She about due to get off from dispatching shorty," David said. "I will text her to come right over."

I went back into my office and we worked it out. Using the house key, they had for my house, they would pack some clothes for April and head out next Friday. I would have her pulled out of school and drop her off at their place by ten o'clock.

I was seeing my parents out the door when David's wife came in. I told her to go into his office and I would join them shortly.

Thanks to modern communications methods Cathy had copies made out and transcribed already. I gave a copy to David and Cheryl to read. I suggested that they read my wife and my conversation first. I gave Cathy the paper my dad had given me to make photocopies of what my dad had received. For my lawyer's file that we were now creating and told her to find me the very best.

Both Cheryl and David had known my wife and me for years. Both took the discovery of what was learned today very hard. Cheryl and Grace had grown up next door to each other. Although they had never been close, they had naturally known all about each other. It had shocked her to discover for herself the reality of what until now had been unknown.

"Do you still think there's a possibility that their still lovers after all these years," Cheryl asked? "Or was it one of the situations where they got caught up in and later realized their mistake?"

"I don't know but I'm going to need both your cooperation to find out," I said. "For the next few weeks, I need David to take my company car to go on the sales meeting trips. Cheryl I will need to drive your car because no one will be looking for it. That means I will need you to drive David's. I will let the corporation know we are doing this as part of your cross-training David so I'm afraid you're going to be stuck doing it for the next three months."

"You're going to follow your wife on Thursday nights and record whatever you can," David said. "Because your wife will still believe you're on your weekly trips."

"My gut is telling me it's still going on because why would my wife suddenly suggest that I should have an affair with her blessing," I said. "If Barrow was not changing his employment nothing would have changed. I believe that Grace might be planning to move with Luke Robert Barrow when he begins to work in St. Louis. If Grace could prove I was having an affair it would justify in her eyes filing for a divorce."

"Shit," Cheryl said. "I can see Grace doing something like this. It's now acceptable in our society to accuse the opposition of something you have already done. It's an effective way of getting eyes off of your own conduct."

"Ed, if you find proof during one of these Thursday nights," Cheryl said. "Call me and I will get dispatch to get a couple of the blue's to call on her and her lover saying you have been in a car accident. That way I can get you a detailed police report about their state of dress or undress and where they were finally located. A few of the police officers would like to get a bit of payback on the District Attorney for some of the things he has done against them in the past."