This one is about two people with differing points of view about an important part of their marriage. There are no sex scenes. There is just a nod to the BTB folks.
Have you ever gotten the feeling something wasn't right, but you just couldn't put your finger on the problem? Well, I've been getting that feeling at home and it's driving me nuts. I have a sneaking suspicion that Amy, my wife of 7 years, is cheating on me, Tom Matson.
I have talked to her about our relationship and she assures me everything is just fine. I even went so far as to hire my unemployed cousin to follow her around for a couple of weeks. I put him in a rental car and gave him a nice video camera to record her. He did a decent job of recording her as she went about her daily routine, but didn't uncover any extracurricular activities.
My job as a Senior Project Manager with a large bank keeps me tied to the office all day. I seldom travel and never work on weekends. It's rare for me to have to work late, so Amy has never complained about me being away too much. I make pretty good money as a 29-year-old SPM, so we have a nice house and drive nice cars. We have no children, as yet, but have pretty active lives. We socialize with several sets of friends, including, neighbors, my coworkers, and our old friends from school. We both enjoy cycling, so we sometimes hang out with a few other couples that are members of our bicycling club. In short, we look like the storybook couple.
I have racked my brain trying to come up with a reason for thinking Amy would be cheating on me, but have failed. We BOTH said we wanted to wait until she turned thirty to try having kids because we wanted to be financially secure. Also, we BOTH wanted to have fun and enjoy each other before we spent 20-25 years raising kids.
Amy is about six months younger than I am and works as a dog groomer. Her degree in Fine Arts didn't do much for her in the job market, so I suggested she just start a business doing something she loves. Well, she loves dogs (we have two), so we bought a custom-made trailer that she hooked to her SUV, and voila, she was in the dog grooming business!
She has a few dozen regular clients and drives to their houses about once a month to groom their pets. Her heated and air-conditioned trailer has hot water, a vacuum system, a blow dryer, and everything else she might need for dog grooming. Like us, a few of her clients have a pet wash/mud room off their garage, so she uses it rather than her trailer.
Amy has the little square thing that allows her to take credit cards, but it seems most of her money/tips come in as cash. I know this because I helped her with her books and filing her tax forms.
So, what makes me think she is cheating? Fuck if I know! We have a great sex life. Amy is willing to do just about anything my perverted mind can think of and I can't remember ever saying no to anything she requested. We are both home nearly every evening and weekend. We always socialize together, we do our cycling together and go to the gym together, so when could she be cheating?
The only time we really spend any time apart is when we are working, hence the reason I hired my cousin to follow her for two weeks. He actually surprised me by bringing me a full report on her activities, including times, locations, and videos of her coming and going to each appointment and everywhere in between. There were no unexplained, missing time lapses, all her time was fully documented. I even checked her receipts against her appointment calendar and they looked correct.
Still, there was just something ... something in her eyes, in her smile, in her voice, something was just off and it had been that way for about six months. I just couldn't come right out and accuse her of anything because I had nothing of which to accuse her! Maybe I'm just paranoid or losing my mind.
I watched her when we were out with friends and she mostly hung out with the other ladies. I never saw her in whispered conversation with another guy. She never disappeared at parties or left with anyone on an hour-long beer/ice run.
I tried to be casual about my observation of my wife, but Brad, one of my oldest friends, picked up on it at the last big party.
"Tom, man you have got to loosen her leash! You won't let that poor girl get more than 20 feet from you! What the fuck, Dude?"
Embarrassed, I asked him to keep his voice down, "Brad, I ... I have a feeling she may be playing away from home, so I've been trying to keep an eye on her."
"You're fucking kidding me, right? AMY? You think AMY is cheating on you! You are some kind of fucked-up, man! There is no fucking way Amy is messing around with anyone at this party!"
"How do you know? How can you be so sure she isn't screwing any of these assholes."
"Brace yourself dude, about half the guys here have hit on her because she is so fucking hot. I mean, look at her, ... lean, toned, nice tits, great ass, gorgeous legs, beautiful face, and a smile that lights up the room. Fuck, you are one lucky bastard!"
"Okay, See! All these guys hit on her, so which ones got lucky, huh?"
"None of us! Yeah motherfucker, I said "US" because I hit on her every time chance I get! Never once has she done anything but laugh in my face! The other guys say the same thing. She always acts like it's a joke and just laughs us off. ... God, what I wouldn't give to be you just one night!"
"Jesus, Brad! Am I going to have to kick your ass to keep you away from my wife?"
"That's what I'm saying, dipshit! You don't have to, she's untouchable!"
"So you say, but something is going on, I just know it."
"Look, Tom, I love you like a brother, but if you fuck up and piss her off enough to dump your stupid ass, I will step on your face as I race all these other fuckers to her door!"
I threw up my hands. "Okay, Okay, I'm being stupid! I love her with all my heart and I don't want to lose her. Please, Brad, don't say anything to anyone about this and I'll try to do better."
Brad laughed and pounded me on the back. "You just go home and treat her right, or I'll be knocking on your door!"
So that was my wake-up call. I took Amy home that night and she fucked me silly. I decided I was just wasting my energy and making myself crazy for no fucking reason. All my investigations showed nothing and she was still treating me like a king. I told myself I was done playing detective and needed to start trusting my wife.
AMY
When I got to Brad's house for "Buster's" monthly grooming, I could tell he was nervous. "What's up?"
"How has Tom been since the party? Is he still acting weird?"
"No, it's only been a few days, but he seems fine, Why are you asking about Tom?"
"I saw him staring at you at the party. I'd had a bit too much to drink and I started busting his chops about spying on you."
"What! You moron, now he's going to have his dumbass cousin watching you!"
"NO, NO, I played it off like I was concerned he'd lost his marbles, just like we discussed. I told him we all hit on you, but you always shot us down and he had nothing to worry about. Now, what's this shit about his cousin?
"I told you, I saw him like four times in the last couple of weeks and I'd never seen him around town before. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I think he may have been following me."
"That's weird. I know he suspects something is going on, but can't figure it out. Has Tom said anything to you?"
"No, not since the last time he asked me if we were okay. That really upset me! I love him, but he'd never understand, so he can't know what we've done."