My name is Tom and my wife is Lisa. We're both 45 years old and have been married 26 years. We live in Houston and have two kids, Jim and Susan. Jim graduated from college last year and lives in Austin. Susan just graduated and accepted a job in Little Rock.
It's very early Friday morning and I'm sitting in the back of Lisa's Honda Odyssey reading the owners manual, trying to figure out how to remove the back seats. It seemed so simple when the salesman demonstrated it. Susan was ready to load the van with what appeared to be all her worldly possessions and head to Little Rock. We were going to need all the space we could get.
I finally got them out and noticed a huge storage compartment beneath the back seats. I opened it, hoping I could put some of her stuff there. Wrong, it was packed. Lisa had a 1st Aid Kit, jumper cables, rags, towels, jackets ... you name it. She was prepared for anything. I was about to close it when I noticed a small canvas bag pushed back in the corner. Something made me pull it out. I opened it and looked inside. I was stunned. I must have sat there staring at the contents for 5 minutes. Inside was Lisa's best negligee. It was black and very revealing. I had given it to her this Valentines Day. Next was a box of condoms and a small bottle of KY. I had a vasectomy about 10 years ago, so the condoms weren't for me. And finally, a note pad from the Marriott. On the pad she had written a room number and a list of dates going back 3 weeks. This could only mean one thing, Lisa was having an affair. I couldn't believe it.
I finally snapped out of it when Susan yelled and asked if I was ready to start loading the van. We needed to leave soon. She didn't want to have to unload in the dark. I quickly put the bag back where I found it and closed the lid. This wasn't the time to confront Lisa, not in front of Susan. And we had to get her moved.
We finished packing and left. I was glad Lisa rode with Susan in her car. I don't think I could've ridden the whole way with her. During the drive, I searched my mind for anything unusual between us. I couldn't recall any major changes in her behavior toward me. Our sex life had dropped off and she seemed a little preoccupied. I mentioned it and she said she was just trying to get everything together for Susan's graduation and move on top of her responsibilities at work and the hospital. For the past 3 years Lisa has been volunteering at our local hospital almost every Tuesday night. She said it was all closing in on her. I told her I would help anyway I could. She thanked me but said there really wasn't anything I could do to help. I suggested that maybe she should stop volunteering until things settled down. She immediately said she couldn't, they needed her. That was it! She must have taken my advice and stopped her volunteer work. That freed up Tuesdays to meet her lover.
We got to Susan's apartment and unloaded everything before dark. We were exhausted. We got something to eat, took our showers and went to bed. Susan offered her bed to Lisa and me, but I refused and slept on the couch.
We spent all of Saturday and until mid-afternoon Sunday setting up her apartment. Leaving was difficult, especially for Lisa. Now both kids were on their own. And truthfully, it was hard on me too. If you're a parent, you know how hard it is to let go. We pretty much drove in silence. When we got home I said, "Lisa, you know we've spent most of our married life raising our kids. I think we did a great job preparing them to be on their own. Not that there weren't some problems along the way, but nothing major. We have two intelligent, responsible young adults. That's something to be proud of, especially in these times. I want to thank you." Despite what it seemed she had done, everything I said was true.
She said, "You're right, we did good. But, it wasn't just you or me. It was both of us. We provided them a loving and stable family. That makes all the difference."
I said, "It's late, we're tired and you have to go to work tomorrow. Since I took tomorrow off, why don't you take my car and I'll finish unloading everything tomorrow. I'll put the seats back in the van and get it washed and cleaned." She thanked me and we took our showers and went to bed.
Monday morning I finished unloading the van, put everything away and after consulting the owners manual again, managed to get the seats back in. I took it to the car wash and had it cleaned inside and out, and got the oil changed. I got home about 11am and ate a sandwich.
It was time. I couldn't put it off any longer. I got her bag from the van and emptied the contents on the kitchen table. I looked at Lisa's negligee. She always looked so sexy in it. Now it was ruined. How could she wear my gift for another man? I noticed several dried cum stains on it that obviously weren't from me. It made me sick. Lisa had a package of 6 condoms, 4 were left and there was a small bottle of KY. The note pad from the Marriott had 3 dates and the room number written on it. I got a calendar and as I thought, all 3 were Tuesdays and dated back 3 weeks. So this has been going on a month tomorrow. I took pictures of everything and made a copy of the note pad. I downloaded everything to my computer and printed several copies. Then I put everything back in the bag and put it back in her van.
I decided not to confront her when she got home. I wanted to see if she intended to "volunteer" Tuesday.
I had dinner waiting when she got home. She thanked me for fixing dinner and taking care of her van. We finished eating and she said she was still exhausted from the trip. She was going to shower and go to bed. I told her I would finish cleaning up.
After her shower I said, "Lisa, things have been very hectic the last month or so. Our life has completely changed. It's just us again, like it was before the kids. Why don't we go to a romantic restaurant tomorrow night to celebrate? And when we get home, we can celebrate other ways. It's been well over a month since we made love."
Lisa looked at me and didn't know what to do. Finally, she said, "I can't, not tomorrow night. I've got to be at the hospital."
I said, "Come on. Why don't you just tell them you can't? It's only one time. They can make do."
She said, "No, I can't. They need me. They count on me."
I said, "I need you. I need to be able to count on you."
She thought a few seconds and finally said, "I'm sorry. I just can't, not tomorrow. We can go Wednesday."
I said, "Never mind, just forget the whole thing. Obviously, you have higher priorities than me." I left the room. That told me everything I needed to know. The next morning, I left for work before Lisa was up so I wouldn't have to talk to her.
Tuesday evening, I left work early and waited for Lisa across the street from her office and when she left, I followed her to the Marriott. She got out of her van and went in. I couldn't see if she took her bag in with her. I assumed she did. Then I went to the hospital and asked the receptionist if Lisa was working tonight. She said she wasn't there, in fact, she hadn't been there the last month. Lisa told them she had some personal obligations she had to take care of. I had all the information I needed. I went home and waited for her. I was going to confront her when she got home.
About 8pm, I heard the garage door open. I wasn't expecting her until 9:30pm or 10pm. That's when she usually gets home from the hospital. I wondered why she was early. She could've fucked for at least another hour and a half. She came in the door looking worried and upset. Her makeup was messed up and it looked like she had been crying. I said, "You don't look good. Did you have a bad evening?"
She said, "Something like that and I'm afraid the worst is yet to come. I'm going to go shower and then we need to talk. Why don't you make some coffee?" Then she walked to the bedroom. I was curious. What did she want to talk about? Maybe she was going to leave me.
I started the coffee and when I heard the shower, I went to the garage to get her bag out of the van. It wasn't there. I looked all through the van, but it was gone. I went back in and got the pictures. When she turned off the shower, I poured each of us a cup and sat at the kitchen table.
Finally, she came in and sat down. She wasn't in her nightclothes. She was wearing a t-shirt and shorts. She took a few sips of her coffee and said, "This is going to be extremely difficult and I don't really know how to say this or what will happen. I think it would be best if you let me talk until I reach a stopping point. Then you can ask questions. OK?" I nodded. There were tears in her eyes and she said, "Here goes. I've been having an affair. For the last month, I've been seeing another man. I had sex with him 3 times, on Tuesday nights, when I was supposed to be volunteering at the hospital. I'm so sorry."
Even though I was all but certain she was having an affair, actually hearing her say it hit me hard. It felt like someone hit me in the gut as hard as they could. She could see the physical change on my face and the tears that formed in my eyes. She dropped her head and sobbed.
After a minute, she stopped and said, "His name is Paul. We worked together for about 6 years. We became good friends and talked about everything; what our kids were doing, what was going on in our lives, the achievements and the problems. Then one day he told me that he caught his wife in their bed with another man. Talking and confiding in me helped him get through it. Shortly after his divorce, he was promoted and relocated to our office in St. Louis. I was happy for him. He deserved it and it would give him a chance to start over in a new location. This was about a year and a half ago. We stayed in touch mostly with email. And until a month ago, I had been completely faithful to you. Please believe that."
She continued, "About a month ago, he called and said he was coming to town for 6 weeks to supervise a special project. He showed up at my office the next Monday morning. It was so good to see him again. We talked briefly before he had to go to the job site. I asked if we could get together for lunch to catch up but he told me he would be in the field every day. He asked if we could meet for dinner. I thought for a minute. I realized that I never told you about Paul. I don't know why. But, telling you I was going to dinner with a man you knew nothing about might give you the wrong impression. So I told him we could meet Tuesday night. I would tell the hospital I wouldn't be in and you would never know. I didn't like doing that, but at the time, I didn't know what else to do.
"After work, we met at his hotel and ate in the restaurant there. We had a nice dinner and a few drinks while we filled each other in on what had been happening in our lives. I told him that Susan was about to graduate and take a job in Little Rock. He said he enjoyed his new job and liked St. Louis, but he hadn't found anyone special.
"After we finished eating, we went to the bar for another drink and to continue our conversation. Then the DJ started playing music. We listened for a few minutes and he asked me to dance. I didn't see any harm in it, so I did. After several fast songs, they played a slow one. I started to go back to the table but Paul held me and we started dancing. I was a little hesitant at first, but I relaxed and we began holding each other tighter. I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. I felt like a teenager again. When the song was over, he leaned down and kissed me lightly on my lips. I didn't stop him, so he kissed me again with his tongue and I responded. We hugged and kissed a few seconds before we went back to the table, got my purse and went to his room. I knew better, but I wouldn't stop myself.
