Fat Chance Ch 04 05

After cocktails, dinner and dancing afterwards, the bankers and other guests started back to their rooms in pairs. Not only in pairs, there were a couple of other combinations and swap-rounds happening in those hotel rooms, which raised some eyebrows in our suite and encouraged Max to rub his hands together Fagin-like. Apparently, his website was divided up into several different categories and some of the videos would apparently fit more than one area of interest.

Sure enough, Maisie and Marshall-Hobbs retired to his suite after dinner and I'm afraid there was nothing I could do to stop them. Adrienne worked my Mac computer for me and the precise moment when the scene reached, what Max termed as the "money shot", then one of the photographers, Barry, broke the fire alarm round the back corridor of the building where there were no CCTV cameras.

Everyone was ready in place with their cameras to get stills and movies of couples emerging together from their rooms in various states of undress, without making their capture too obvious. In the panic, the subjects of our attention were too intent on finding safety to notice the cameras. Lots of people ended up milling around in the vicinity of the assembly points. The fact that it was raining heavily was an added bonus.

Gordon and I got out of the hotel quickly down the back stairs and along the street to a bus shelter I had scouted out earlier, to avoid being recognised. We sneaked back to the edge of the car park, when the rain eased off, and Gordon took a series of shots of my wife and lover, with their arms around each other, as they waited in the cool and damp night air for the fire service to give the all-clear.

After the Fire Brigade had checked the building out thoroughly, everyone was allowed to file back in and once again we all took photos of the couples two by two, or whatever combination they returned in.

Looking at the resumed transmissions from the pinhole cameras, showed a number of couples whose ardour had been dampened by the alarm, but others managed to provide feedback as further fodder for Adrienne's editing talents and Max's thorough satisfaction.

My Mac worked overtime as my wife and the double-dealing double-surname continued to add to Max's revenue stream.

We set the second alarm off about three in the morning, which the camera group were all expecting, and got more movie and still evidence of the barely-clothed couples, multiples, etc. Again, Gordon and I made ourselves scarce while the rest of the guests shivered at the edges of the car park. After filing back into the building we dozed in shifts until first light.

It was amazing the footage we got in very good lighting conditions early in the morning. Some of the couples were even hard at it during the day, while the bankers were supposed to be attending the conference and training meetings.

Adrienne had managed to grab a few hours' sleep for the latter part of the night and Max scooted back to open the shop with his assistant and to cope with the usual Saturday rush.

When Adrienne stirred, I asked her who was looking after the children and she said with a smile that it was Gavin that was staying in the house. He was without transport, as Adrienne used the family car to get to the hotel. She laughed as she said her parents were also keeping her sister on a short leash.

"What does Gavin know about this sting operation we are running?" I asked.

"Nothing," she said, "he thinks I am having a weekend away with some girl friends, which is what I told him. He also knows that, when I get home on Sunday morning, he'll have to get his butt out of our house again!"

Adrienne laughed when she finished saying, "By now, Gavin must have heard from my Mum about the rude man who was at the house on Thursday, because they are both curious about you. Gavin quizzed me about whether I would be seeing any male friends and had got quite heated when I said there was a distinct possibility of that happening."

"What did he say to that bombshell?"

"Gavin asked straight out if I would be sleeping with anyone, while trying to contain his jealousy. I had replied that I might doze for a while but I wasn't expecting to be doing much sleeping!"

We both laughed at that little joke at Gavin's expense. We talked about her marriage and what she wanted for the future of her family. She had three young children with Gavin. She still wanted Gavin back in the family but very much on her terms, to ensure he kept on the straight and narrow. Gavin seemed to be genuine in promising that he would do anything to put his past behind him and be the family man that Adrienne was looking for. But then he was saying all this before his affair with Adrienne's sister came to light. So Gavin seemed to have a chasm to cross as far as honesty was concerned, if Adrienne was going to be confident in allowing his return.

Adrienne wondered what my plans were, following Maisie's exposure.

I told her, "I've resigned my job and am in the process of selling up all our assets. I'll have to split them between Maisie and myself, of course. Then, I expect I will move abroad, probably to France, somewhere warm and sunny."

Adrienne carried on running through editing more videos, which were coming in all the time. She was building up files for each cheating couple, as well as feeding them through to Max to deal with. Gordon had prepared spreadsheets, with a printed copy on a display board, so we were able to tick off whether we had still, films and completed files foe each person, cross-referenced to their respective partner or partners. Gordon was running a slick operation, leaving me more or less as a spectator.

Max returned early Saturday evening and he checked through and uploaded the files that Adrienne had provided. From the complimentary comments they were paying each other, it looked like the pair of them had negotiated some rates of pay for the work she had done and for future work. Lucrative business, the porn industry, apparently.

Saturday night was much like Friday night, although we didn't bother with the fire alarms any more. Every hotel room taken by the bank staff was an individual studio set for the biggest porn shoot ever. Mind you, no-one for a moment considered contacting the Guinness Book of Records!

Mr M-H and Mrs Cox managed to excel their exploits of Friday night and were worthy of star bidding on the web site. They produced three excellent long clips, so they tell me, I couldn't bear to watch. Adrienne worked her magic with piecing the feeds together and started outputting CDs and DVDs of each couple, for labelling up and passing onto their spouses and the bosses at the bank.

The majority of the photographers melted away home during Saturday night and Sunday morning, including Gordon, who received heartwarming thanks from me. After all, the fantastic organisation of this massive sting operation was down to him. I wished him all the best with his wife Josephine and promised I would definitely see him at Kylie's birthday, if not before.

Yawning madly, drinking black coffee as if it was about to disappear from the shelves, I stuffed CDs and DVDs in pre-addressed padded envelopes for mailing off later. That was Operation Wallop and we were keenly waiting for the inevitable fallout once these were received by the partners of the guilty parties and their bosses on Tuesday.

We had a nice file of non-X-rated stills of couples emerging from hotel rooms in dressing gowns or otherwise on Friday night and this was loaded as a slide show on the bank's own website. I hacked into that site on Sunday morning, thanks to some passwords that Gordon had managed to secure earlier in the week. I rigged the slideshow of images as a default to the home page. That was the culmination of the exercise which I had termed Operation What A Picture!

Adrienne called it a wrap as far as she was concerned at that point. She hugged Max, now her business partner, and saved a special hug for me, enquiring if I was all right with what we were doing.

Of course I said I was, even though I wasn't, and sent her off with a playful smack on her bottom and wishing her well for her coming event next Saturday. For a while she had forgotten all about it, and said now thought that Gavin would be allowed to stay on the sofa for the rest of the week and she would play the outcome of Saturday night by ear.

She was looking forward to that night with a positive attitude for rebuilding her marriage. I was looking forward to the coming week being the total destruction of mine.

During the morning, the bank contingent started to drift away. Max used his skeleton key to enter the empty rooms and remove his cameras. While he was doing that we called him on the mobile, advising who else was on the move through reception, so he managed to get them all out in a surprisingly short space of time.

We checked out, when we were ready to. I settled all the outstanding food, drinks and calls bills using our remaining joint credit card. I noted with some humour that none of the rooms I had rented, for the comfort and refreshment of the camera club, had watched any of the porn channels available! I posted off all the bulky envelopes of CDs and DVDs at several post boxes in the area before heading home.

My mobile phone received a call on the way back home, from Maisie. I answered. She was home and opening the mail and was surprised to receive confirmation from the bank that the limit on her credit card had been increased without her knowledge.

"Yes," I replied, "that it was my doing, honey. I wasn't expecting the notification to come through yet. I didn't want it to spoil the surprise."

"But why increase the limit? We always pay the balance off every month."

"OK, it was meant as a surprise for you, sweetheart and I wanted to use one of the cards that we didn't usually use, to ensure that what I'm getting for you, is going to be the surprise of a lifetime."

"Ooo," she said, as excitedly as I had heard her recently, although nowhere near the level I understood she regularly peaked during the weekend, according to Adrienne. "I wonder if I can guess what that is?"

"If you guess, Maisie, then it won't be a surprise, will it?"

"If I can't guess it, can you give me a clue, sweetheart?"

"All I can say, dearest," I almost but not quite choked on the last word, "is that you will get everything you deserve, for being my one true wife for twenty years. I am on my way home, now, honey."

"See you soon," she replied. "I'm so tired after the conference that I am going to have a long soak and sleep all afternoon. Can we eat later tonight?"

"No problem, I'll try and keep quiet and not disturb you when I get home."

On the way back, I popped into see Gordon and Josephine and gave him a disk which Adrienne had prepared. It was an edited highlights, which gave an overview of what generally happens at the quarterly seminars.

Josephine commiserated with me about Maisie's sex tapes, saying that Gordon had told her that I wasn't able to watch. I said I lacked the backbone to do that and she held me close and said I was the bravest person she knew and that Gordon and she were determined that they would keep each other working towards staying together.

I told them I admired them both and wished them every hope for the future. I promised not to be a stranger and was definitely coming to Kylie's birthday party before leaving the country for good and moving to France.

When I got home, the house was quiet and Maisie was in bed fast asleep, although I had the evidence that she had not exactly been as angelic as now she looked in repose. Amongst the mail I found the unopened letter from the family planning clinic. I was in the clear infection-wise, which was a relief. I hid the letter away.

I put the dinner on, roasted lamb, roast potatoes (half in goose fat and half in fat-free spray), roasted vegetables (again, roasted in two separate trays) and some steamed vegetables. I made one lot of gravy made with all the fat drained from the meat, and had my own dinner dry. I served them up on plates and covered them ready to microwave when Maisie eventually surfaced from her catch-up sleep. I noticed that all the wine had gone from the fridge, but I had another case in the van, along with a couple of bottles of vodka. I topped up the larder and put three bottles in the fridge after twisting the caps, pouring away a generous glassful and topping up with vodka.

She woke up in the early evening and had a shower. I served up the dinner, with full-fat yoghurt and fruit for her as afters. She polished off the first bottle of wine and broached the second. I stuck to a non-alcoholic beer, which tasted revolting. Then I showered and went to bed. I was physically and mentally exhausted and knew that I was going to need all my strength come the morning.

Chapter 5 - Wallop!

I got up early on that Black Monday and was out of the house before Maisie awoke. I drove down to the mobile home and aired the place, doing a bit of general tidying, before shopping at the local store to fill up the larder for the following week or so. I included plenty of wine and chocolate as well as those really big bags of crisps and corn chips. The weather was bright and warm and sunny, and the caravan park deserted, at the beginning of the week, following the activity over the wet weekend. It was the lull before the storm, though, come Friday the place would fill up with people enjoying the first full spring bank holiday weekend, with many staying for the whole of the following week.

I was expecting a call from home at some stage and it was shortly after eleven o'clock, as I sat on the sunny deck enjoying a cup of coffee, that the call came through from Maisie. I recognised her number.

I answered it brightly, with a cheery, "Hi Honey! What can I do for you on this lovely day?"

She hesitated. I think she had intended giving me a blast for ruining her life but I had instantly disarmed her by being so cheery. I could almost hear her brain tick over, wondering if it was me that caused the storm she must be having at work or not. If it had been me blowing the whistle, she must've reasoned, then our marriage would be over and I wouldn't even be on speaking terms, let alone be so cheerful.

"I was just wondering if you were at work today?" she said slowly and haltingly, as if she only had a part of her mind doing the talking, the rest of her brain matter scheming how she could safely ride the storm blowing around her ears.

"No, I'm not, hon, I'm at the caravan," I replied, keeping my voice as upbeat as possible, "I've loved coming down here at the weekends and it was so quiet at work that I have taken a couple of days off. I was going to call you later and let you know about having to fend for yourself for meals for a couple of days. Anyway, why the call?"

"Oh, there's a big enquiry going on at the bank, at area level rather than branch, but it is creating a horrible atmosphere. So, I thought I'd like to take the rest of the week off and come down to the caravan early."

She sounded upset, I wasn't at all surprised. She continued, "I'm so upset, I don't even think I can drive myself down, can you come back'n pick me up, sweetie?"

"Well, you know I would hon, like a shot," I replied evenly, "but it has been so nice and warm and relaxed down here that I have tied on a few cold beers and a long, cool Laophroag, that I don't think I will be legal to drive again until late this evening, sweetheart."

"Perhaps we better leave it until the morning then," she said, "pick me up about eleven?"

The post usually arrives by ten to ten-thirty, so I thought she would probably intercept the thick padded envelope I had anonymously posted to myself by then. I had planned for her to find it, open it and hide it from me.

"Sure, hon," I agreed, "that'll make sure I miss the morning rush hour down here. So sorry the job is getting you down but big companies like High Street banks are always having regular shakedowns, so don't worry about it. Have a good night's kip and I'll pick you up in the morning. I'll see if I can get the rest of the week off as well, so we can make a fortnight of it. It's so lovely down here at the moment. Hey, maybe we can have some nice romantic walks along the cliffs."

Yuk! I thought, I'd rather chuck you off the cliffs, but this thing wasn't over yet between us yet.

"Sounds sweet, sugar," Maisie breathed, trying to sound sexy and failing miserably, believing me to be ignorant of the shit storm she was in the midst of, "I am really getting fed up with the time this job is taking up and keeping me away from you. I might even quit. Look forward to seeing you in the morning. Love you!"

Yeah, right! I rang Gordon's mobile for an update on what was happening at the bank.

"Hi Gordon, has the S hit the F?" I laughed.

"Yes, you could say that," he replied, "Mrs Cox and Aoife, the girl that went away this weekend, have both been suspended and were escorted from the building about ten-thirty this morning. I think they must've taken the keys of Mrs Cox's BMW, too, it's a company car. The website has been closed down since about ten past nine. Everyone was looking at it when I came in this morning and the IT boys clearly couldn't do anything about it other than pull the plug. You made a good job of that, Jerry. The photos of the couples came out really well, the photography club members are craftsmen, and the way Adrienne put the videos all together was fantastic."

"I'll tell her you said so when I speak to her," I said, "had any problems, yourself?"

We had both discussed the possibilities of what this scandal would do to his career, in the days leading up to this. We were both aware that he could be out on his backside. I was pleased he had been so willing to put his arse on the line but I was worried for him, as well as little Kylie, Josephine and the baby on the way.

"I was hauled into the office as soon as I came in. I was interviewed by a couple of goons from head office, people who I'd never seen before. They were speaking to all the staff who had ever been on these quarterly training sessions. I was upfront with them straight away. I got the feeling that the couple of people they spoke to before me had been hedging and not completely honest. I told them that Mrs Cox jumped my bones as soon as we got to the conference centre back in January and that she had blackmailed me to continuing our affair for months afterwards. I told them that I had owned up to my wife a couple of weeks back and had stalled on having any late night meetings for the last week with Mrs Cox. I advised them that Aoife had been blatantly boasting for the last few weeks that she was going to enjoy the fringe benefits of the weekend, so the scandal was common knowledge throughout the branch. I admitted that I had taken some of the photos at the hotel and had enlisted a dozen or so of my camera club friends to help me out. I said that my first thought was that one of them must have put the photos online. I told them I just wanted to expose what Mrs Cox and some of the other managers were doing to corrupt their helpless subordinates. Then I put my hand in my pocket and pulled out the CD. I told them that in the post tomorrow everybody, and I pointedly emphasised everybody, would be getting this CD and a DVD for those wives or husbands who perhaps didn't have access to a computer. Then I got up and told them I was going back to my desk and trying my best to keep the customers we have and concentrate on damage limitation and suggested they keep that in mind, because the one person they didn't want as an enemy is me!"

"Great, Gordon, I would have enjoyed seeing that!" I said.

"You can, actually," he laughed, "Max and I were in the bank all Sunday afternoon putting those same cameras in the meeting rooms and Mrs Cox's room. My PC has been picking them up and uploading them to some private folders on Max's website. You have already been given permission to view them, just add a stroke plus the word 'bank' to the website URL. The password is 'Gerry01' with a Gee instead of a Jay. Sorry, that was just the way that Max set it up."