This is a typical cheating wife story, written in a hurry to fill a void because my favorite authors, The Wanderer, DG Hear, The Troubadour and others haven't been submitting too often lately. It might be the summer blahs but I thought someone should fill in. This plot has been in my mind for some time so I thought I'd use the time to put it in the PC. Please, no cries of anguish or retribution.
*
I sat in the den reading the evening newspaper and watching after our two daughters while my wife did after dinner clean up in the kitchen. It was her turn tonight as we took turns at many household chores. Like most working couples we shared the responsibilities of living as befitted our individual aptitudes. I could handle laundry, vacuuming, dusting, painting, baby sitting, bed making, dish washing and home maintenance. She handled many of the same plus cooking. She liked to cook and I didn't. I liked to cut the grass and maintain the house and cars and she didn't like to do it. She was a CPA and looked after our finances. I was and insurance agent working from a home office and looked after our children. This really has nothing to do with this story except, I hope, to show that I was a thoughtful husband ready to work with my wife as a partner as well as lover and friend.
An article in the paper caught my eye regarding divorce and their causes. I wasn't really surprised to note that although most divorces were granted on the basis of irreconcilable differences, that the real basis for many was cheating by one partner or the other. More men cheated than women. I thought back to my divorce from my first wife, five years previously. That hadn't been the case then as I had caught her cheating on me.
Looking back I remembered the day I discovered the first clue of her adultery. The day was a Friday and we were supposed to go out with friend to dinner. I had showered and dressed and was sitting in the living room waiting for her when she called down stairs.
"John, will look in my purse for my lipstick. It's on the kitchen table."
Walking to the kitchen I opened her purse and tried to find the lipstick by groping around inside to feel something cylindrical. Not feeling what I was looking for, I dumped the purse out on the table and there it was, a condom in its wrapper. It was an extra large size. Now, since I had had a vasectomy two years ago after our youngest daughter was born it seemed very strange to find it there and I immediately became suspicious. About that time she hollered down to see if I'd found her lipstick and with a shaking hand I found it and try to appear normal when I took it upstairs to give it to her. When she saw me she looked at me funny as I handed it to her.
"Are you feeling alright darling? You look awfully pale."
"I may be coming down with something."
"We don't have to go out if you don't feel well. I'm sure the Johnsons wouldn't mind if we called it off."
"Maybe we should cancel. I wouldn't be much fun feeling like this."
I didn't think I could handle meeting other people right now. It was imperative that I sit down by myself and think this out. What was I going to do to confirm my suspicions? I turned and went back to the kitchen where I quickly returned all the objects, including the condom back into her purse. Hesitating a moment with the condom I thought about whether it might have fallen from the open side pocket in her purse and decided that that was probably where it came from as Jane was a very organized person and wouldn't drop something she might have to find in a hurry into the bottom of her purse. I hoped I was right as I didn't want to let her know I was suspicious as she might start covering her tracks if she were guilty. Slipping it into the side pocket I closed the purse and left it on the table then went out to my office in the garage annex.
We had built the annex onto the back of the garage when we'd built the house so I could conduct my business from there. I not only did my business from here but I was also a stay-at-home dad and primary care giver to our two daughters, Beth 5 and Anne 2.
Sitting at my desk I sat and stared at the wall in front of me trying to get my thoughts in order. What the hell was going on? Is the discovery of one condom the catalyst to get hyper and initiate something that can't be rectified? After some time I realized I would need to talk with a lawyer and determine my options. Some of my clients were lawyers and one, Adele Simpson, was a hard nosed divorce lawyer. It seemed like a good place to start on Monday; I'd just have to survive the weekend without alerting Jane.
About the time I made that decision the door to my office opened and Jane stuck her head inside.
"What are you doing out here? You should go to bed if you aren't feeling well. By the way I called and canceled the sitter and canceled with the Johnsons."
I thought, how solicitous of her that she may be carrying on behind my back but still acting the loving wife. I brushed these thoughts aside and determined that if she could act the good wife I could act the good husband.
"Thanks for your concern sweetheart, I just wanted to come out here for a minute to check something. I'll be along in a minute."
She left and I sat there for a few minutes and then went back into the house.
The weekend dragged on and I tried to keep my emotions under control. I played my illness up a bit so she wouldn't be expecting me to initiate sex between us. I would try to prolong avoidance as long as I could.
+++++
Monday morning I called Adele and made an appointment for early afternoon. After giving the kids their lunch I took them over to my parent's and went for my appointment with Adele. Telling her the reason for my suspicions didn't surprise her or that I was concerned after the discovery of a single condom. She told me that it may be an innocent prank by one of her friends but the discovery of an affair had been determined in other instances by less evidence and if I'd confronted Jane with it she just might have shut down the affair till I'd cooled down. She recommended that I get a licenced and bonded PI to monitor her activities for a week. I told her that if there was an on going affair it must be taking place during the day while she was away at work as she was home most evenings. She asked me about any changes that I might have observed in her behavior or had there been any unexplained expenditures. I told her that there might have been a slight change in her attitude toward me in the last couple months but I couldn't say that there was any change in our finances as she looked after those things. Also, Jane had her own checking account and credit cards that I never saw. Our other accounts were in both our names.
She asked about her change in attitude and I thought for a minute and said it seemed to be a little loss of respect for me and a shorter fuse to anger. Our sex life may have fallen off too but I'd attributed that to over work. Adele just nodded and said that if I didn't mind she'd arrange to have a PI she'd had good experiences with monitor Jane for the rest of the week at work. I agreed and I gave her particulars on where Jane worked and the work hours she normally kept at the company where she worked. She asked me to email a recent picture of Jane too.
Before leaving she asked me to think about what I might want to do if she were having an affair. To think about the children and the affect on them of a divorce. I told her it was in my mind and I would have to determine the extent of the affair, whether she loved him and other variables before I could make a decision.
The rest of the week I just continued my routine except it was hard to act normally around my wife. Maybe she sensed something was wrong. On Thursday evening she asked if anything was wrong and I tried to explain it away as a touch of flu I couldn't shake. She seemed to believe me and sympathized with me. I couldn't tell whether it was acting or she was truly concerned.
The following Monday morning I received a call from Adele asking me to come in for a meeting with the PI. Taking the kids over to my parents I went to Adele's office and met with PI. His name was Jack Pagano, an excop who had branched out into his own business. Jack had a large, manila envelope which he opened and proceeded to remove photographs. I knew it was bad news right away as I doubted if he would have taken pictures of anything innocuous. He told Adele and myself that on Tuesday and Thursday he had followed Jane and Bob Simpson at lunch time from the building where they both worked to a cheap motel where they took a room, spent an hour and then returned to work. I had met Bob a couple of times at her Christmas parties and had been impressed by his large, athletic body and personal charm. He was probably five years younger than Jane and I could see why she had fallen for him. He worked with her in the same finance group.
I could just nod my head at what he told me. Adele said, "I think this supports your suspicions John. She is having a deliberate affair. Now, have you thought about what you want to do?"
"I have given this some thought the past week and even though I believe there will be some impact on our children I would like to proceed with a divorce. What are my chances of getting custody of them?"
"Since you're the primary care giver for the children I think your chances of gaining custody are good. The judge will make a decision based on what's best for them and I think since you work at home you are there to meet their needs on a twenty four hour basis. I suppose you would like to proceed with a divorce based on irreconcilable differences. That is the way these things are usually handled."
"What would be involved on using adultery as the basis?"
"That gets terribly messy and could be very expensive. We only have pictures of them going into and out of a motel room which is pretty weak. Let me ask you again though. Do you really want a divorce or would you consider marital counseling? I would strongly recommend counseling. I know your probably mad but there will still be an impact on your children and you You should confront her and see if she wants to continue your marriage or if she loves him. You have to know."
I sat and thought awhile then said, "Alright, I'll confront her and see what she wants to do."
"That's good John. I think that's the best way."
+++++
After leaving Adele's office I went home, leaving the children at my folks for the night as I didn't want them around when we had our confrontation. Late in the afternoon I ordered a pizza to be delivered about the time Jane usually got home. The actual delivery coincided with Jane's arrival. After paying the delivery man I took a deep breath and turned to greet Jane as she came through the door from the garage.
"Pizza tonight John? What's the occasion?"
"I thought we needed a little time to our selves."
"Where are the kids."
"They're over at my folks. I asked them to keep them for the night."
"What are you planning for tonight? Something for the bedroom?" she asked as she reached up to kiss me but I turned my head so she kissed my cheek.
She looked at me kind of funny, "What's going on John?"
"We need to talk Jane, but I'd like to eat first if you don't mind."
She suddenly looked pale and withdrawn as she stared at me.
"Alright John."
We ate in silence and I noticed she wouldn't look me in the eyes. When we finished I took her hand and we went into the den. She sat on the couch and indicated she wanted me to sit beside her but I took a seat facing her.
"I don't know how to start this but to just come out and ask; are you cheating on me."
