I was in New Orleans waiting in line at the coffee shop near the convention center and noticed a familiar voice a few persons in front of me. I couldn't place it and being hundreds of miles from home it made me curious. Finally as the man turned to leave with his order I recognized a face from my past. It was an older version of a college dorm mate and friend who I had not seen in over a dozen years.
I quickly yelled, "Hey Buck." That was his nickname from college for obvious reasons as it suited his personality and passion for womanizing to a tea. He had graying sideburns and had put on 10 pounds or so but otherwise looked the same.
We greeted each other and quickly grabbed a table for a catch up visit. We were both in town for the same convention, Buck as one of the team members who managed the convention and myself as an attendee of the pharmaceutical convention. Bucky seemed to be doing well and had a senior position in a company that did major conventions. He traveled frequently to Chicago, Vegas and New Orleans for major conventions and lived in Phoenix. He still golfed and played buckets. He showed me a picture of his six year old but indicated that he was divorced a couple of years ago and was back in the hunt. That was Buck's specialty in college. He had a charming personality and was blessed with good looks that he worked hard to maintain. He liked the women and let everybody know.
I had updated him on my career and just as I was about to cover my family situation when he mentioned that he had been in Chicago a few weeks ago and had seen Wendy Austin's profile on a dating site. He said, I thought you were going to marry her that's why I never made a pass at her in school. I would have loved to have gotten my hands on her and the challenge of getting in the panties of the shy ones was always my specialty. When did you break up with her?"
I regrouped quickly hoping that Buck didn't notice the surprised look on my face. I had married Wendy two years after Buck graduated but I had no idea why he would have seen her profile on a dating site. I brushed it off indicating that we had gone our own ways after college and I had met and married a wonderful woman shorty after and now had two grade-schoolers and was living in a suburb of Milwaukee.
I asked Buck, "Where did you see Wendy's profile? I would like to check her out and see how she aged. I'm surprised she is on a dating site as she was the marrying type."
Buck grinned and said, "You are right about her being the marrying type, I saw her profile on the MarriedHookup web site - a site for philandering. Since my divorce I occasionally hook up with married women out of town as I am not ready to get serious yet and the horny housewives are discrete and usually interested in a little company, a nice diner out and hot sex not serious relationships.
When I saw the screen name I looked at the photos and while she had giant sunglasses on, the photo of her hot ass and reference to being an avid Bears fan had me convinced it was her. Next time I am in Chicago I am going to try and hook up with her." Now tell me about your family."
I had all I could handle to not walk to the rest room and heave my stomach. I quickly said things were great but that I had to get to a conference session. I exchanged cards and indicated I would get in touch.
I could hardly concentrate the rest of the day. A million thought went through my head. Was he wrong? How long had this been going on? Could my shy, family-focused wife really be on a cheaters' web site? What could have motivated it? Was I really that out of touch? Maybe it was a prank? Is there some way she could be forced or blackmailed into doing it?
I couldn't wait to get through my meetings and back to my room. I quickly dropped my dinner plans and struggled through the days' worth of meeting with hardly a memory of what was being covered.
I wondered if I should call or text my wife. I envisioned being divorced and throwing her out of the house. How would the kids react? Did they know anything? Surely she would be discrete - but then again I hadn't expected her to cheat so who knows if she is having strange men over to the house when I travel. The thought of my wife wanting to be with other men was crushing to my ego. Was I not romantic enough? Was I not a good enough lover? Why hadn't she said anything?
I grabbed takeout at a fast food restaurant and headed back to the room. I was quickly logged on the computer and searching for information about the website MarriedHookup. I remembered seeing their advertising slogan in a magazine - "Looking for an Affair?" and seeing a news story that the busiest day for cheating websites was right after Valentines when people reacted to the lack of romance in their own relationships by seeking out others. I read a few stories about the site and then logged on. I probably spent 45 minutes creating a profile and learning about the site.
Of course I needed to come up with an alias. Even the email address I used was from a new account that I didn't use for anything else. The site recommended having a photo so I browsed the web looking for a photo to include with the profile I was creating. I pasted sunglasses on the image of a model from a men's sportswear catalog. As I was halfway through creating the profile it struck me that I should create a profile that would be attractive to my wife. But then again maybe I didn't know my wife that well anyway. Who wouldn't like tall, rich, and athletic?
I called my wife wanting to say good night to the kids before they went to bed and to see how her day had gone. I was anxious about making the call. I was even more anxious when the babysitter answered. She mentioned Wendy was at a school function and would be home shortly. I couldn't help but wonder if she was really hooking up with some guy - taking advantage of the fact that I was out of town. I talked with both kids briefly getting no hint that anything was out of the ordinary at home.
I went for a 3 mile run, twice my normal distance, hoping to burn off some of my anxious energy and relax. Even while running I was thinking about Wendy. I had images of her dancing with another man who was taking liberties with his hands. I had visions of a half-naked man burying his face in her cleavage as he unhooked her bra and unzipped her skirt. I heard her moaning as a large man pummeled her in the missionary position. I had an erection that made it hard to run. The conflicting emotions were driving me crazy.
By 9:30 PM I had showered and logged back in to the website. I finished the profile, purchased some credits, and began looking at Women's profiles. Buck had mentioned he saw her profile when he was planning to travel to Chicago so I searched that area first. I was stunned at the number of women who were on the site. I probably spent over an hour looking at various profiles. Most were married women most claiming to be looking for a little excitement on the side. Many were attractive. I had trouble wrapping my head around the idea of that many supposedly happily married woman were actually seeking out an affair for no reason other than sexual excitement - yet, I knew several guys who did just that and it didn't surprise me at all. I guess I still have a different standard for men and women when it came to extramarital sex.
I searched for Wendy using several aliases including her maiden name, nickname and hometown - all with no luck. Maybe Buck was mistaken or she had come to her senses and had pulled her profile. I finally decided to text Buck and ask him if he recalled Wendy's screen name. It was after 10.
Sure enough, 10 minutes later I got a text from Buck, "WillingWendy - I only remembered it because it seemed so out of character for the shy Wendy you dated in college. Good luck."
