June Cleaver?
My story starts off in much the same way as many, I suppose. A friend called me at work one afternoon to ask if we could meet for coffee. There was something he needed to talk to me about. Paul Jameson and I had been friends from high school. Although we weren't best buddies, we always got along well, and had socialized a lot over the years. He always had a kind word, regardless of the situation. If he wanted to get together, I'd be there.
"Sure. When and where?" I told him.
We met the next morning at a little restaurant down the street from my office. After a bit of chit chat, he came out with it.
"The reason I wanted to talk to you is that I'm pretty sure Stacey is fooling around on you." That caught my attention. Stacey and I had been married for eight years and a bit, and as far as I knew, we were doing great.
"I was at a meeting at the Hilton two days ago. The meeting ran fairly late, so my boss decided to spring for dinner for he and I and our client. As I walked through the restaurant, I spotted Stacey and a guy in a booth,and they were acting very friendly. Inappropriately so. If you two have recently decided on going the open marriage route, you can tell me to bugger off and mind my own business, but..." He paused and waited for a response that wasn't forthcoming. "Anyway, I though about it and decided that, as a friend, I should tell you. I'd want you to do the same for me. I'm sorry, man..."
To say I was stunned would be an understatement. I thanked Paul, and walked back toward my office in a daze. I didn't accomplish much the rest of the day, but rather sat and thought about how and why she might do this to us, and more importantly, what I was going to do about it.
I tried to recall if there had been any signs that something was amiss. The frequency of lovemaking in our marriage had dropped somewhat over the years, but thinking about it, I couldn't say that there had been any recent changes in the way she acted towards me. Was this something that had begun very recently? Could it have been something completely harmless, something she might have an explanation for? I hoped to find out soon.
You sometimes hear of a couple who have fallen into a situation like this, and one spouse goes to great lengths to document the other's infidelity. Private investigators, electronic surveillance, and the like, but I knew right off the hop that I wouldn't need to do any of that. I was going to confront Stacey that evening. Stacey could never lie if asked directly. It just wasn't in her nature. Then I thought, she's had to have lied to me at some point for this to have happened. It may be that she hadn't lied, but had simply omitted to tell me things. That I wouldn't put past her.
The one thing I was really concerned about, if our marriage fell apart, was the issue of custody of our daughter, Reilly. She was my special sweetheart, my pride and joy. She was only three, but she was a smart and pretty girl already. What would happen to her?
I arrived home at six as usual. Stacey picked Reilly up at daycare at six, and was usually home shortly afterwards, unless she had a client to see in the evening. Being in real estate required that my wife work evenings quite often. I wondered if the 'date' that Paul had witnessed was originally set up as a work evening, or had I been duped in some other way. I couldn't remember which nights she'd worked, it happened so often.
I started supper, and a few minutes later Stacey and Reilly arrived. Stacey greeted me with her usual smile and a tender kiss, while Reilly wrapped her arms around my legs and begged me to pick her up and spin her around the room, as I did every evening. Stacey helped with supper and we ate quietly, except for Reilly's chatter. Once our little girl was put down for the night, I asked Stacey to join me at the kitchen table.
"I saw Paul this morning for coffee. He called me because of something he'd seen a few nights ago at the Hilton."
Stacey's expression changed to one of concern.
"He said that he saw you in a restaurant booth with a man, and that you and he were making out. What's going on?"
"I...I... He was just someone I know..."
"Come on, Stacey. You can do better than that. What's his name?"
"Serge. Serge Drabinski. He works for the company that manages our signs."
"Did you fuck him the other night?"
"Jesus, Matthew! What kind of question is that?"
"One that I want a truthful answer to."
"Oh, God! I knew that this would happen." she paused and looked at me as if searching my face for a sign as to how I'd react. "Yes, I fucked him."
"You bitch!" I snarled. "How long has this been going on?"
She closed her eyes, and tears ran down her cheeks. "With him, about a month..."
What do you mean, with him? God! Are you fucking someone besides him?"
She simply nodded and stared at the floor.
"Yes."
I was completely taken aback. I didn't know what to think. Here's my wife, who, until that morning, had been, in my mind at least, loving and faithful.
"Stacey, tell me, who else? How many men are involved?"
"I don't know." she whispered.
"What the...? You don't know? How could you not know?"
She took a deep breath, "Matthew, I have something to tell you." she paused, "and it's not good."