We went out for a meal in the evening, so the oldies could have a drink, I drove. Towards the end of the meal Shellie 's phone started that annoying giggling frog. She didn't even look at it, she just turned it on to vibrate. That's the thing about texts you can get around to them when you have time. The food was great and the company was excellent. On the drive home I could still hear her phone vibrating.
We got in and had a few more drinks. David had got me some Crafty Old Hen, so I had a couple of bottles of that. The other three were a little bit tiddly when they went upstairs, it had been a good evening. Although I wondered about the texts from Dee, there had been quite a few. We got to bed, and Shellie was feeling a bit amorous. It didn't feel right doing it with her parents in the next room, which was strange because when we were courting, we would do it anywhere we could and sometimes they were in the next room wide awake, not asleep like now.
It was about one o'clock when the Crafty Old Hen hit my bladder and I made my way to the toilet. Shellie's phone was on the dressing table, and I heard it vibrate and it lit up. I shouldn't have done, but I had a look at it. It was from Dee, at that time of the morning, what was she up to? It was just the preview. "Oh my God he is fantastic, you have got to try him, even if it's just the once. I'll..." that was where the preview ended. I know I shouldn't, but I took the phone to the toilet with me. We knew each other's passcodes. I opened up the messages folder from Dee. There were only the previews, none of them had been opened so Shellie hadn't seen what was happening, but it was obvious from what I read she was with Harold overnight, and all that that meant. I wondered if this weekend away was arranged as some sort of spa weekend and that's what Frank was told. I didn't have his number so I couldn't confirm anything with him. I didn't open any of the messages. I did my business in the toilet. I didn't flush, I didn't want to wake Shellie up or to let her realise I'd seen her phone.
I was up early on Sunday to finish a few things I wanted to do around the house for David. I had the tea made when they all got down at about nine. As Shellie dropped her phone on the induction charger it lit up. From what I could see she hadn't looked at any of the messages from Dee, but I couldn't be sure
"Dee and Frank must have been busy last night with all the messages you kept getting, anything interesting?" I asked.
I think up until I'd mentioned it, she'd forgotten about the messages. She looked at her phone and then quickly disappeared into the other room. It sounded like she was talking to Dee, but I couldn't understand what they were saying. When she came back her face looked flushed.
Something had happened.
We got everything sorted, packed the car and headed home. Once we got settled on the M5 heading north I said to Shellie. "Sounds like Dee was busy this weekend?" I didn't mention Frank's name, just Dee's.
"Yes, I think they've had a good weekend."
We were nearly home, not a lot had been said in the car. Shellie seemed to be concentrating on something. We'd left the motorway, and we were stopped at some traffic lights. I'd been bothered, so I tried to clear the air. I thought I would come straight out with it, no pussyfooting around. I turned in my seat and faced Shellie, I said. "If I find Dee's been shagging Harold this weekend and you've helped her by arranging this visit to your Mum and Dad's, I will never forgive you and I will think seriously about our marriage because I warned you not to do it." The lights had changed and the car behind me was beeping his horn.
The next 10 miles drive home was utterly silent. When I glanced at her she was looking down at her hands in her lap. Shit she was guilty.
We got home and I decided it was time for a beer, probably a tad early. Shellie went upstairs and unpacked and put the dirty clothes in the washing hamper. When she came down, I think she'd been crying. Her eyes are a bit red. She offered to go and get a Chinese take way for tea to save cooking. I agreed, as I had already had a beer, I let her do it.
She came back with the Chinese and as it's next to the supermarket she bought me some more Crafty Old Hen. I did wonder if she had spoken to Dee whilst she was out. I had got the plates and everything ready.
She was quite subdued when we sat down to eat. Halfway through she said to me, "Sweetheart I haven't helped Dee, but I did tell her we were going away this weekend. This was not a special thing. I arranged this so you could do the little jobs for Dad with his hands playing up. I didn't arrange it so she could go off and have sex with Harold, but I think she's taken the opportunity knowing that you and Frank don't mix in the same circles. I'm sorry sweetheart I didn't think she'd do it. But I've had enough text messages and talks on the phone to know that she has. I don't know what to do? Do I tell Frank or do I keep out of it. She's my best friend and she's ruined her marriage."
"What you have to do is to think about it and make your own decision. The one you'll be able to sleep with at night, and look at yourself in the mirror and say 'I did the right thing', and most importantly, look Frank in the eye next time we see them out together."
We watched a spot of telly. I had a couple more of those beers and we went to bed. No sex, just cuddling and I'm certain just before I went to sleep, she whispered. "I'm sorry sweetheart."
She was late home from work on Monday and despite the fact she phoned me and told me, it still worried me. During dinner she told me she had a long chat with Dee, she got some of the gory details, but she wasn't going to share them with me. That was good. She warned Dee that she wouldn't tell this time, but next time if she found out she would not do the same thing. Also, if Frank asked her a direct question, she would not lie.
She told Dee that she would not help her cheat on her husband and warned her if she carried on, it would ruin her marriage and Frank would leave her. Although she had laughed at the slippers comment at the Christmas party, Frank did not laugh back, he was deadly serious. Dee told her it was only intended to be the one-time thing. It was good but she wasn't going to risk it anymore. And if Harold's wife found out she would divorce him. So, he wasn't keen for a rerun either. It appears Harold's father-in-law was distrustful of Harold and there was a prenuptial agreement.
Things settled down in the house for a few months. One lunchtime I had gone to the local newsagents and got a car magazine and went into a coffee shop to have a quick read away from the noise of the office when I saw one of the young lads from our office, Martin, come in with one of the ladies from sales. She was a bit older than him and looked good. He was a good-looking lad himself but had always thought him a bit naive. They got their drinks and sat in the booth behind me. I heard her apologise for the mix up at the weekend, but her husband had got suspicious, and she had had to call off the Saturday night. She told him there would be no late night working for a while. She said how careful she had to be about the clothes she wore and her time with him. She told him her husband picked up on the clothes she wore to work, and that she felt guilty, so she was having more sex with her husband to put him off. It wasn't very good with her husband. Martin was better, he filled her needs better than her husband ever did.
I bumped into Martin when he was alone by the printer, well I made a point of it. I told him what I'd heard. I warned him to be careful, but it was none of my business. He told me that she told him her husband was abusive and she couldn't leave him because of the children. Once I started the conversation, he went on about the problems they had getting together and what they did to hide their meeting from the husband. He let it all out, it was almost as if he was glad to get it off his chest, he had to keep it under his hat with his workmates, but as I had found out it didn't matter. I warned him that although the company didn't care as long as it didn't affect their work, if the husband found out it would cause shit to hit the fan. It gave me a sort of cheater's guide.
I started getting worried when I saw Shellie 's phone. It had Dee's icon but not the annoying frog sound. Why had she changed it? After my chat with Martin I was forewarned what to look for. I watched how she dressed, make up, everything. Nothing changed in fact there was no variation. Always the same style of skirt and the same set of blouses. Similar shoes. In the past it changed with the weather, but now it was studiously all the same. She was never late from work without a phone call. When she did go out with the girls from the office she never stayed late and often asked me to pick her up. That was something I generally offered to do but this time she made sure I did it. This had been going on for the last five weeks or so. Something wasn't right. However the sex was good, that was another worrying thing. Although I wasn't complaining too much about that.
I tried to look at her phone, but she had changed her passcode. I asked her about that, she told me somebody at work had seen her put hers in, so she changed it and forgot to tell me. She told me there and then what it was. It would be too suspicious to check her phone in front of her. She often left it on charge overnight, so that was when I checked it. Nothing obvious.
The hairs were standing up on the back of my neck, it got worse at their bank summer BBQ. Frank wasn't there, he was off playing golf for the weekend. So, Dee hung around with us all the time. I had decided that we would get a taxi home, so I appeared to drink a bit more than normal and spent a lot of time going to the toilet. I got them to think I was a little drunk so they would let their guard down. It worked.
I went to get more drinks, there was no queue at the bar, so I was back much quicker than I had been before. When I went back Shellie and Dee had moved to a quiet section of the garden. Why did they do that? As I walked up quietly behind them they were looking at Harold and I heard Dee say. "Look it's all arranged, it's foolproof you can't get caught. We've put everything in place, care with dressing and timings, and from what you tell me the sex side as well. I have even got you down for the symposium, the fact you won't turn up and I will make an excuse for you is simple. I have arranged the travel and I have booked a room in the symposium hotel under your name in case Rob checks. Anyway, it's only the once."
