If a Tree Falls...

This is just a little note to my favorite "Annie" who likes to point out that I write the same stories over and over again. You know, the nice guy husband gets cheated on but makes a nice comeback with his second wife while the cheating wife either gets hers or doesn't. I'm not going to tell him he's wrong. This is a hobby for me, so I write what I enjoy writing. If you don't enjoy reading my stories... then don't. Simple as that.

Or... here's two challenges for you: first, grow a pair and pick an ID. Second, under that ID, write your own stories and post them.

Yes, another story that's been done before by multiple authors. Three of the best of this story have been done by Nici, Cinical and Cagivagurl.

Ken Jennings had just read a question in the "Hodgepodge" category on Jeopardy when my wife mumbled something that I hoped I didn't hear correctly.

"Pardon me?" I asked in a halting voice as I shifted my gaze from the television to my wife of 25 years.

"I said I've been having an affair with Tony Green for the last year."

My stare turned into a glare as I continued looking at her. My brain replayed her statement.

"What the fuck are you talking about? You've been fucking Tony Green for a year?" I yelled.

She jumped in her seat one place away from me on the sofa. Tears sprang up in her eyes and her delicate hands balled up into fists. I wondered if she was going to start sobbing or attack me.

"You don't have to be crude about it. Yes, Tony and I have been intimate for about the past year," she said in the voice she used when she was trying to be official.

"Crude? Oh yeah, I have to be crude about it, bitch! You've just told me you've been cheating on me. Did you expect me to be civilized like some English nobleman? 'Let's put on the kettle and talk about this,'" I whined at a high volume.

She rolled her eyes at me, which she had to know would incense me even more.

"If you can't speak civilly to me, I guess we don't need to continue this conversation."

She started to rise from her spot, but I grabbed her arm and shoved her back down. That was the closest I'd ever come to hurting her, and for the first time I could see real fear in her eyes.

"You will sit there and we will continue this conversation, regardless of how I speak to you. You've just blown up my world, so you don't get to dictate my civility... unless you're ready to be looking for a different place to sleep tonight.

"Now... start making sense... you cheating slut."

She wrung her hands and looked around the room, carefully avoiding my eyes. She looked... terrified. Frankly, I was terrified, terrified that I might actually do her real physical harm. I was on the verge of hitting a girl for the first time since I punched Susan Mang in kindergarten for stealing my red crayon from my Crayola box.

"I-I have been seeing Tony Green for a little over a year now, and we've been intimate for about the last 12 months. I had to tell you, because the guilt has been killing me," she said quietly, finally looking into my eyes as she finished what I assumed was her confession.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. You had to tell me because the guilt has been killing you, not sorrow for cheating on me? What the fuck am I missing here, Traci?"

"I... umm... I'm not sorry for cheating on you, RJ. I'm sorry I kept it from you for so long. I didn't have the courage to tell you... because I'm not going to stop, at least for a while."

I got up from my spot and sat in the La-Z-Boy across the room, figuring that putting distance between us physically would decrease the chances of me physically assaulting the stupid bitch.

"I love you with all my heart and soul, RJ, but Tony has given me something that I didn't realize I needed, and I'm not ready to give that up anytime in the near future. It's not anything you've done wrong. It's that I've found something out about myself, and I want to keep exploring this."

I was pretty sure there wasn't enough Alka-Seltzer in the world to cure my sudden indigestion... or was this the way it felt when someone ripped your heart out of your chest while you're still alive... at least for a few more minutes. Yet as bad as my stomach felt, my brain suddenly felt like it was slowing to a crawl. I heard the words. I understood the words. But I was struggling to process what they meant in real time.

"How can you tell me you love me right after you tell me you've been cheating on me and are going to continue to do so?" I queried. "You cheating on me certainly isn't loving me..."

"My not telling you for so long was because I love you," she interrupted. "I knew this would hurt you terribly, and I didn't want to do that."

"Obviously, I didn't have a clue about your affair, so why did you tell me after a year? To rub it in my face that you got one over on me, or to brag that you could attract somebody better... somebody more handsome, more well-built, maybe having a bigger dick. What the fuck, Traci," I said.

"I felt guilty about going behind your back. I knew I needed to tell you so I... could feel better about myself."

"So dropping this bombshell on me is all about you being able to feel better about yourself, despite the fact that you're a cheating slut? You can't be fucking serious."

"But I am serious. Now that you know, it won't be cheating anymore."

Her smile was as innocent as that of a virgin sitting on a swing in a pristine garden. Somehow, she really believed the bullshit she was trying to sell me. What happened to the woman I married a quarter-century ago? Up until a few minutes ago, I would have said she was sitting next to me on the sofa; now I was pretty sure she had been replaced by some alien.

"Knowing about your affair doesn't mean you're not cheating on me. I didn't agree to you having a lover; that was your decision unilaterally. You went outside of our marriage, outside of our vows. Therefore, you're cheating, and have been a cheating slut for a year, by your own admission," I growled.

"So you're saying that it would have been better if I would have kept my own secret. That what you didn't know wouldn't have hurt you?"

"Yes. No. I guess truthfully, if I didn't know I wouldn't be hurt, but that's not the point. You shouldn't have cheated on me in the first place, especially if you love me as much as you say. You lied to me... at least by omission and probably in deed, and you disrespected me, in addition to breaking our wedding vows."

She hung her head at my pronouncement, at least for a few seconds.

"But the reason you didn't know about the sex with Tony was because we were incredibly discreet so we wouldn't hurt you, and so no one else would find out so you wouldn't be embarrassed. You never knew, and I never denied you anything in the bedroom. If anything, I think our sex life has probably improved in the last year, in part because I feel so much better about myself sexually and feel so energized."

"Admittedly, our sex life has been better in the last year, but that's probably because of what you've been doing with your lover. Don't you think it would have been better for us if we had done things together, as a husband and wife, instead of you stepping outside of our marriage to 'get energized.'"

I made little air quotes with my fingers to emphasize that last point.

"If a tree falls in a forest and there is no one there to hear it, is there still no disrespect?" I asked.

She dropped her eyes again, then looked up at me. She didn't answer my question.

"So... can't we just continue on as we have been?" she asked in a small voice. "It won't be forever... and we will continue to be discreet. You will never know."

I truly loved this woman, but there was no way I could live with the current situation. I wasn't one of those guys who could share his wife, whether I knew it or not. To me, sex is never "just sex" when it involves my wife.

"You've got to be kidding, Traci. It was bad enough when you were doing it behind my back. No way I'm letting you and Tony Green continue this affair. I'll have to think real hard about not divorcing you for the fucking you've already done with him."

She looked shocked at first when I mentioned divorce. Then her look morphed into what I would call a smirk.

"You won't divorce me, RJ. I know this hurts, but I also know you love me. And you're smart enough to know that if you divorce me, I'll get half of our stuff and I'll still be having sex with Tony. And you will be alone."

It was my turn to look shocked. Considering she loved me so much, she had apparently been doing some homework. The look on her face when she announced that to me told me something as well.

I spoke with an attorney a few days later and he told me that Traci's assessment was correct. Still, there was no way I could ever look at myself in the mirror if I just let her affair continue. Sooner or later, I would have to kill her lover. Divorcing her and being alone seemed to be a better option than killing her lover and spending the rest of my life in a jail cell, maybe trying to avoid gang rape in the showers if what the movies say is correct.

Traci worked as a physical therapist at the local hospital. She went in at 7 AM and finished at 4 PM. I worked from 8 to 6, sometimes later, as a bookkeeper for a small steel factory at the edge of town. That gave Traci more than enough time every day to have her affair, whether I knew it or not. Previously, I was a happy idiot, secure in my life due to my cluelessness. Now I felt like each day was a challenge. I began to chew Tums like candy. I flinched every time she tried to kiss me, wondering if another man's dick had been in her mouth hours--or even minutes--before. The very thought of having sex with her would anger me on my good days, enrage me on my bad ones.

"I always clean up. I would never give you sloppy seconds," she said one night after I turned her down again for sex.

"Always? There's never been a time where I haven't had seconds... or hasn't been a time where maybe you haven't had a good long shower?"

She dropped her eyes and didn't answer. Fuck. Holy shit. The very thought that I may have eaten another man's cum from her pussy sent me scrambling to the bathroom to lose my dinner.

She was sitting up looking perturbed when I came out of the bathroom. She reminded me that I had eaten her out several times after first coming in her.

"Don't act like you don't realize there's a difference between tasting my own cum and eating out another man's load. Would you be okay sucking my dick after I had it inside another woman?"

"Like you could actually attract a hot 20-something," she giggled.

Traci would never know it, but that was the moment that everything changed for me.

Traci giggled again as I got back into bed. I could see a look of ridicule on her face as she thought about her last statement. I'd like to think I'm a pretty good-looking guy and I'm pretty fit for my age, but both Traci and I know that she is way above my pay grade in the looks department. I was fully cognizant that I'd probably never be able to attract a pretty 20-something, but it's not like I'm a troll and couldn't attract anybody decent.

I turned my back to my wife and did some thinking before I drifted off. Okay, I couldn't get a 20-something, but what was wrong with some 40-something pussy? Yeah, that could work, I thought to myself as I drifted off.

My plan was simple. Traci had several friends who were single, most of those being divorced. It would take some lying on my part, but then again, considering the lying my wife had done to get us to this point, I had no qualms doing. I just needed one of her friends to agree.

Allison Rosario was a beautiful dark-haired, full-bodied woman in her early 40s who had been one of Traci's close friends for about two decades. We didn't interact too often individually, but we had always gotten along pretty well. I could tell she was surprised when I called.

After some quick pleasantries, I got right to it. I explained to Allison that Traci was cheating on me with a younger man, and we had decided to open our marriage to make it fair to me. I inquired if she wanted to go out with me... and maybe see where the evening led.

There was complete silence on the line. She gasped when I said Traci was cheating on me, so I could tell she was putting the pieces together in her mind, which is exactly what I wanted her to do. I was throwing my cheating slut wife under the bus while asking one of her best friends to sleep with me.

"We'd need to be completely discreet here, Allison," I added in my most sincere tone. "The deal is we don't talk about our extracurricular activities."

"Wow. I'm kind of shocked here, RJ," she said. "Miss Prim and Proper Traci has been cheating on you? Who with? For how long?" she asked rapid fire.

"His name's Tony Green. I guess she works with him. They've been going at it for about a year, she recently told me."

"She told you? You didn't catch her?" Allison asked.

"She told me," I said. "She liked the sex but she didn't feel right going behind my back. We talked about it and decided to open up our marriage, to be fair to me. So... you're my first ask."

"I guess I'm honored, RJ, but I'm still shocked that Traci would have cheated on you. Can I call her or something to confirm this?"

"I guess you can confirm her cheating, but then we won't be going out. Those are her rules. You know I'm telling the truth about her cheating. You know I'm not a liar," I said while lying.

"Yeah, Traci always said you were one of the most honest people she'd ever met. I'm intrigued. Give me a few days to think about it. Traci and I may not be best friends, but I don't want to hurt her."

Allison couldn't see my smile. This lying thing was a lot easier than I figured it would be.

Our date on Thursday night a week later couldn't have gone much better, once I got Allison off the fact that Traci was a cheater. She seemed to be as shocked as I was at that development. She knew who Traci's paramour was, and said that she could see why my wife would choose him for what we both assumed was her first affair.

Always a good dresser, Allison certainly didn't disappoint me when I picked her up at her apartment. She was wearing a tight sweater with the top three buttons undone, resulting in her showing a good amount of creamy white breasts. Her chic, skintight jeans showed that she kept herself in "fighting trim."

Continuing on with my new skill of lying, I had told Traci that I had a late meeting and would be home no later than midnight and that she shouldn't wait up on me. Allison and I had a good meal, then went to a quiet bar for a nice drink and conversation. After that we adjourned to her apartment and, after some initial butterflies, we wound up in her bed with her riding first my face and then my dick like a rodeo star, providing play-by-play as well.

She got off four times before I couldn't hold off anymore and came like a freight train, that being the first time in quite a while for me. Afterward, we lay entwined on her bed giggling and playing kissy face like teenagers. She told me I was the first man she'd had in several months, and I made her wait worthwhile.

"So you're saying we should do this again?" I inquired.

"Oh yeah. If Traci is willing to share you...well, I'm not going to pass that up."

"Okay, then, I need to make some arrangements," I said.

In the next few weeks, I supposedly joined a Tuesday night bowling league and began going out with my co-workers for drinks on Thursday nights... at least that's what I told Traci. She readily agreed that I needed to have some time on my own, probably thinking she could have more time with her lover. With my eyes now completely opened, I recognized her altruism for what it was. Still, what was good for the goose...

I enjoyed Allison's body several times over the next several weeks, and I know she enjoyed mine equally. I know she also enjoyed getting one over on Traci, even though they were supposedly good friends. She expressed the fact that Traci had always talked about how important fidelity was in a marriage, and here she was being a slut. She wondered aloud if Tony was her first lover. Believe me, that was the very same thing I was pondering in my head.

Despite being married for 25 years, I apparently had no clue about what goes on in the female brain, because what came next threw me for another loop. After a robust lovemaking session with Allison, she told me she had to go away for a week... but then she offered up another of Traci's close single friends for an alternate.

"S-seriously?" I stammered, completely blown away by that offer.

"Absolutely. I know several of Traci's friends would absolutely kill to have a shot at you. They just wouldn't ever make a move on you, though, because you are Traci's husband, and friends don't fuck friends' spouses... unless, well, it's something crazy like this. I mean, if you were single, I know a lot of her friends would be lining up to... date you," she giggled, wiggling her eyebrows.

"I can give you a few numbers, and let you do your thing... except there's one caveat. You and I have been going bareback, but if you still intend to play with me, you've got to wear a condom with the others. I love the girls, but who knows who everyone has been with. This way we're not taking any chances. Having fun is one thing, but there's no reason to be careless or stupid."

Hmm. Somebody has been giving this some thought... actually, a lot of thought. My plan just got upgraded and upsized. God bless you, Allison.

Allison's list had five names on it. All the women were decent-looking and nice. None were supermodels or could probably compete with 20-somethings, but that's not what I was looking for. I was simply looking for a good sex partner to get some revenge on my wife.

I decided to go through the list alphabetically. Grace Hansen, a mid-40s blonde with a few extra pounds and the tits of a goddess, was up first. I gave her the same opening spiel I gave Allison, and she announced she was in before I finished. Like Allison, part of her agreement came because it was a way to stick it to my wife, who, I was finding out, was kind of a smug bitch around her divorced friends.

"She's not necessarily subtle when she throws her marriage to you in our faces," Grace said. "Who would have thought Little Miss Goody Two Shoes had a dark side. And the chance to get a shot at you... hell yeah, I'm in."

I made up my mind that I would enjoy every woman for what each had to offer. I wouldn't compare any of them, because not only wasn't it fair to them, it wasn't fair to me. I would treat each woman like a fine meal to be consumed at a leisurely, enjoyable pace.

All five of the other women said yes to my inquiries about sex. I have to admit it was an exciting time in my life... having regular sex with six different women. The women helped bolster my "fragile male ego," reassuring me that Traci's decision to cheat on me was probably not my fault, as she had said. Traci's friends repeatedly told me that I still had it.

Probably because she had been living such a great life fucking her boy-toy several times a week, Traci never said a word to me about the fact that we hadn't had sex in almost six months, until one day she finally did. We hadn't slept in the same bed since she told me she was cheating on me, and she only tried to initiate sex with me once or twice early on after she told me. I turned her down harshly, so I knew she wouldn't try it again anytime in the near future. The near future turned into the far future as well, until my wife remembered she and I were supposed to be more than just roommates.

"How about we go out and see if we can't resurrect something of a sex life, RJ? Go to a restaurant, maybe hit a club, then come home and play the night away. Come to think about it, it's been a long time since we've done anything. You've got to be building some big muscles in that right arm of yours."