* * * Sam's perspective * * *
On Monday I left the house telling Gerri I would see her later and went out the door without kissing her. I decided that I would not allow Gerri to have time to even talk to Mark also I wanted to get the work in the attic done before the temperature had a chance to rise much. So I scheduled my activities to be at Sharon's by nine o'clock. Sharon's kids were playing in the yard when I got there, and Sharon greeted me at the door. I gave her a grin and said, "Hi Sharon, sorry about Friday night." She didn't know how to respond and before she could say anything, I asked her to show me where she wanted the new jacks. As we passed Mark's room I could hear the shower running, so I knew he was there and awake.
I told Sharon that I would have to get into the attic to install the lightning equipment and not to worry if she heard me crawling around up there. I went into the attic and started the installation of the small amount of wiring needed for the surveillance equipment. I had worked about a half hour when Gerri yelled up to the attic, "Hi Hon. When do I get to see you?" I yelled back that I would be down in about 15-20 minutes. The kids called up too and naturally wanted to know if they could come up. I told them that they couldn't.
I heard Mark come out of his room and apparently he wanted to avoid any possible contact with me because he drove off almost immediately. I completed the work in the attic and went down to install the phone jacks. Gerri came into the garage where I was working and told me they were headed for the park and wanted to know if I could join them for their picnic lunch. I told her I would be happy to. She came to give me a hug and/or kiss and I just turned back to my work and said, "See you there."
As soon as she left, I went to Sharon's bedroom and installed the cameras and then into Mark's bedroom. After finishing all the installations, I drove back to our house to verify everything was working properly. I went back, made final adjustments and then turned to a piece of dirty work to make life less comfortable at Sharon's
Earlier I had confirmed that the house had an electric water heater. I hooked a garden hose to the water heater, turned off the cold water inlet to the water heater, and opened the drain valve to drain the tank. After a few minutes I opened the valve to let water fill the tank again. I put the garden hose away and went to the park having burned out the heating elements in the water heater.
I ate, played with the kids for a few minutes, and then called over to the picnic table, "Gotta go, see ya later," and left. I didn't go near Gerri because every time I thought of her and what she was doing I either got mad or I felt sick. Usually it was a combination of both. I was having a very hard time trying to be friendly to her. I think I could have found some relief if I were able to just slap her across the face hard enough to knock her to the ground. After supper I puttered in my shop until almost 1 a.m. The facts were there, Gerri was fucking Mark. I now needed the absolute proof. The question I was wrestling with was: What do I do? Or what should I do now? If it weren't for the kids, there would be no question. Then I would lapse into depression and hurt as I would ask: Why? What was wrong with our marriage that made her do this? How much is that bitch Sharon involved in this? How long has this been going on? Why hadn't I picked up on the earlier clues?
The answer to the last question was easy; I loved Gerri; I trusted her, and until now I had no reason to suspect she was fooling around.
By the time I went to bed I had cried my eyes out and concluded that: One, there were no extenuating circumstances that could excuse Gerri's betrayal. Two, I could never trust her again. Three, and most importantly, I didn't see anything that could be used as a starting point for repairing our marriage. And, finally, the gut wrenching decision, a divorce was the only viable solution. Underlying it all I kept asking myself: How can she profess to love me and yet be doing this? And: What had I done to drive her to this?
Gerri was asleep and I lay down quietly with a very heavy heart. I knew that our life together and sharing a bed was about over. I now needed the verifying proof of her infidelity and we were done.
* * * Gerri's story * * *
When we got to Sharon's house on Monday, Sam was up in the attic and Mark was just leaving. I was relieved that Mark would be gone but I was frustrated because I needed to talk to him.
Sharon and the kids and I went to the park while Sam was working. When we left I went into the garage to ask Sam to join us for lunch and he told me he would. As I started across the garage to give him a hug and a kiss he just turned his back on me, said see you later, and went back to his work.
At the park I told Sharon that I was getting worried, that Sam definitely was not himself. Sam joined us for lunch, but he sat with the kids between us. After lunch he played with the kids a few minutes and then without coming back to the table he headed for his tuck calling out that he had to go. I pointed out to Sharon his cold departure without any hug or anything. In fact, as I thought about it more, I couldn't remember when I had heard, 'I love you' last.
That night Sam was still distant. He still played with the kids and I know that they could see no difference because there was no difference when he was with them. This should have been a red flag to me but I was still wrapped up in the layoff scenario.
When I tried to talk with him after supper, he brushed me off and said he had things on his mind. When I tried to press with more questions, he simply told me to back off. He would get things worked out. I finally point plank asked him, whether he was about to be laid off. His surprised reaction and the manner in which he answered told me I had been barking up the wrong tree.
Now I was really baffled and scared. Sam was definitely troubled and he wasn't being laid off. Shortly after dinner Sam said he was going to his shop. He has an enlarged closet off the garage where he has a bunch of electronic equipment. He is always puttering around with the stuff and a year ago he received a two-thousand dollar award from the company for developing something that they needed. Whatever it was he developed, he did it in his shop.
At 10:30. I went out and knocked on the door to the shop. There is no door knob and you have to use a key to open the door. He answered and opened the door. I told him I was going to bed. He said, "Ok, I'll be along in a while," and closed the door. This time it was like he had slammed the door in my face. I was hurt and now I was beginning to understand that I was involved in whatever was bothering him. I called in, "I love you," but after waiting a minute, and hearing nothing, I left.