In the previous chapter, I explained how a play had led to my wife Jess and I separating. This is the next chapter.
*
My eldest son phoned me and asked what the fuck was going on. All his mates were watching his mother getting screwed on U Tube! I also checked the social networking sites and discovered that someone had put a short video from the final act of our little play out there. It was asking the question 'Well did she or didn't she?' It starred Jessica, Gerry and of course me as the stupid cuckold husband. Thankfully, my back was to the camera, so I was not easy to identify, but anyone who knew the situation would know it was me. I didn't know whether to be angry or not, I really didn't care how embarrassing it was for Jess, that was her problem.
The number of hits already reached 20K and it was proving to be very popular. With nothing else to do, I went for a walk and returned to the web later and checked how her performance was being rated. It must have been a slow day or something as the number of hits went viral and the comments were split. The local bookmakers were taking bets on whether she had fucked him or not. With the background of a local amateur dramatic play and her position as a deputy head teacher, guaranteed a lot of local interest.
Jess was still bombarding me with emails and as my phone was switched off, that was her only means of trying to communicate with me. I bought a pay as you go phone and decided to use that. I knew all the phone numbers of those people I needed to contact and set them a text informing them of how to get in touch. No sooner had I sent that out and it started ringing. Most of them wanted to know if she had actually done it or was I aware of the video flying around the web? Those I deleted without response. I thought, you sure find out very quickly who your friends are when the shit hits the fan. My true friends, I acknowledged their expressions of concern and one in particular from my best friend, Jimmy asked if I wanted some company and offering me a bed for as long as I needed. He obviously knew that I had left her. I told him I was good for the moment, but would be in touch if the need arose.
The next morning I went into work and my work colleagues were either too embarrassed to say anything or smirking as I passed them en-route to see my boss. I didn't need to explain the situation, it was common knowledge and my boss offered me sympathy and also authorised a couple of weeks compassionate leave, without pay. Generous to a fault was my boss. I told him I would take the two weeks as my annual holiday and left. I didn't care if he approved it or not. With my skills I would find another job fairly quickly. As I left the building I was confronted by reporters from the local TV and Radio stations. They were pressing me for an interview about my marriage and I kept to the 'no comment' statement.
Next stop was my lawyer (James Patterson) and I explained the situation. He advised me to talk to Jess and hear what she had to say, but I told him that I was not ready for that yet!
James also said, "You do not know for certain that she had sex with Gerry. You have valid grounds for suspicion, but until you sit down with her and thrash it out, you'll never know for sure! What if she never actually had intercourse with him? How would you react to that?"
He gave me a moment to think on that then said, "You realise that the media has gotten hold of your story now and it will probably get worse before it gets better. In the dog days for news during the Parliamentary Summer recess the media are desperate for a juicy story to boost their circulation and this one is tailor made for them. It has all the right ingredients, sex, a beautiful woman, a cuckold husband and most importantly, nobody confirming or denying what actually happened! They will run with this until something breaks. You want to consider whether you wish to issue a statement not."
I told him that I would not be saying anything to the press, I gave him my new phone number and email address before I left. I also authorised him to proceed with the divorce, if not for adultery, then irreconcilable differences.
With the caravan once more hooked up to my car, I pulled out of the park and went on holiday! I just drove and when I was tired I stopped at the nearest touring caravan site. I kept up with the news via the internet and our story was gradually losing its appeal. I had received several emails from one of the larger tabloid newspapers offering me first of all £5K then £10K if would sell them my story. I refused.
There was an interview with Gerry published by the same paper and I was gratified to read that he had refused to confirm or deny whether he and Jess had sex that night. His only quote about the affair was to say, "A gentleman never discloses any details of an intimate moment."
I thought that was fair enough until it struck me, he had added more combustible material to the fire. After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity in his profession and by keeping quiet about whether or not they screwed, he was keeping his name on the gossip columnists lists.
That interview was on the Thursday of my first week on holiday and I was still no nearer being ready to talk to my wife. At Friday lunchtime I received an a call from James telling me to tune into Channel 2 and watch the programme. Jess was scheduled to appear and talk about 'that play' and the aftermath. The programme was a woman's talk show and I found a corner seat in the site entertainment centre where I could watch the show in anonymity. The show was hosted by Sheena Eaton, a famous or sometime famous celebrity now past her first youth and she went through the usual preamble before finally cutting to the chase and reminded everyone about the background to her first guests leap to fame an subsequent notoriety. The, did she or didn't she question would be answered today by the woman in question and introduced Jess.
She was dressed very conservatively, almost dowdily I thought. Before she even asked the first question, she paused and the video clip taken from the wings was played once more. I cringed at the sight and when it was finished, the camera focussed on Jess. She had tears in her eyes and quickly brushed them away. She looked defiantly at Sheena and waited for the inevitable question.
Sheena was very sympathetic and asked Jess to explain from her point of view what had transpired that evening. Jess related the facts fully and frankly without embellishment. Sheena then asked about the underwear, did they actually remove the underwear they were wearing? Jess confessed they did, but only for the sake of the play and she was at a loss to explain why the prop underwear was missing.
One of the customers at the bar said loudly, "Why are we watching that slut trying to justify her cheating on her husband? She's a cheating whore and she deserves to be castrated!"
I said nothing but continued to watch the TV. Sheena then asked, "Are you denying that intercourse took place on stage that night?"
"Yes!" Jess said empathically. "I did not have sex with Gerry that night or any other for that matter."
Sheena persisted, "Are you telling us then that no contact of a sexual nature took place?"
