I want to thank Wolf Vixen for her help with catching all my errors. This story is all fiction but asks the question "What would you do if." Some will like it, others won't because everyone has their own tastes and ideas of what is right.
I can't believe I actually did it. I'd been drinking but wasn't drunk, or did I do it out of revenge because my wife was cheating on me, quite the contrary. Our sex life before this was completely satisfying and we usually did it four times a week even with a three year old in the house. I wasn't unhappy and wasn't out there looking for an affair, it just happened; or that's what I've been telling myself for the last two months. Now I can't even look my wife in the eye, I'm depressed as hell and considering telling her what I did, even though it'll probably end my marriage.
I know what you're saying, why fuck up a good marriage because of a one-time lapse in judgment, especially since I don't plan on making that mistake ever again. But with my wife, Shannon, it's black or white and no gray areas. Once a cheater always a cheater is her motto.
Hell it was over before I even finished, but I guess that wouldn't make any difference to my wife if she was to find out, but there's no way that's ever going to happen. The woman in question is three states away and will never in a million years run into her. Hell, I only met her twice and how she talked me into doing it I'll never know. I was supposed to be helping her out and now I've put my marriage in the toilet in the process.
I know I'm babbling on, but I don't know what to do anymore and my wife keeps asking me what the heck is wrong with me and why don't I love her anymore. You see the worst part about this whole thing, is every time I try to perform in bed now I go limp. I've tried everything, even getting drunk to block out what I did but nothing works, literally. All in all, I've basically fucked up my life but good.
Shannon and I had been happily married for five years. I met her when she was on the rebound from a boyfriend she dumped for cheating on her; sound familiar? She had gone with the guy for almost a year and they were getting serious. Then he did a typical stupid guy thing. Went to a stag, got drunk and one of the strippers gave him a blowjob. Somehow it got back to Shannon, one of the other guys opened his big mouth, and she dropped him like a hot potato. It happened so fast he never saw it coming. No discussion, no sympathy, she just slammed the door and they were history.
We met at a party and had a pretty good time that night. So much so, we started going out and within three months were exclusive. She saw me about two weeks later having coffee with an old girl friend. She never said a thing about it until Friday night when I tried to get a little friendly. She'd been cool all evening and when I tried to kiss her she stopped me.
"You sure it's me you want to be kissing? Maybe you'd prefer someone a little taller with, lets say, blonde hair." Shannon has dark brown hair.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"I saw you out with your ex-girl friend Steve. What am I, not enough woman for you all of a sudden? What are you doing? Getting a little extra from her on the side when I'm at class? You men are all alike. You just can't keep your dick in your pants can you?" she screamed at me.
I just stared at her in amazement.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked for the second time.
"I saw you Steve. I saw you with Tammy Tuesday night. Do you deny it?" she, now said standing with her arms crossed in front of her.
"No, I was having a cup of coffee with her, that's all. I stopped in, saw her sitting there and went over to say hi. There was no kissing and I sure as hell didn't screw her on the damn table," I said more than annoyed. "Why in the hell didn't you just come up and say something right then and there instead of letting it fester all week? For Christ's sake, I love you Shannon, I'd never cheat on you," I said giving her a big hug. "If you want, we'll go see Tammy together and you can get her side of it, if that's what it takes."
"I'm sorry Steve," Shannon said looking into my eyes. "It's just that I didn't want to get hooked up with a guy I can't trust again, I'm sorry," she said kissing me.
She was sorry, and she more than made it up to me that night. It wasn't makeup sex, more like rape, but I loved every minute of it.
After that night, it was never brought up again. We progressed and a year later we tied the knot in front of God and everyone. We pledged ourselves to one another and were as happy as two people could be. When Danny came along we were the family we'd both dreamed of. The only thing that was missing was the cute little house with the white picket fence and we got that a year and a half later. Damn it, we had it all.
With my BS in business, I was working as a coordinator between our purchasing staff and the field installation crews. I scheduled the workflow and materials to the jobsites; and was pretty good at it. I was detailed oriented and had a knack for dealing with difficult customers. I was always looking for potential problems and in that way; I was never caught off guard. We were always on time and sometimes even under budget.
The only problem was every couple of weeks I had to visit one jobsite or another. I was, at the most, gone one night maybe two. It was a small price to pay for the money I was bringing home. Shannon was working, about three quarter of the time, at a small law firm and her mother was more than happy to care for Danny when she was at work.
Sound like the perfect life? It was until my trip two months ago.
The project had just finished up and I was doing a final inspection prior to the state inspectors visit. I found a few minor problems and had to call two guys back to fix them. I called work, then Shannon and told everyone I'd be out an extra day, but not to worry I'd make sure everything was completed before I left. So now I had nothing to do for the next two days but twiddle my thumbs until the repairs and inspection were done.
The hotel had a nice bar and restaurant so at 5:30 I was sitting in the bar sipping a cool one when she walked in. She wasn't a knockout but not bad looking either. She looked to be some where around my age, twenty-eight, and even from twenty feet away you could tell she was stressed.
She sat on a stool about three down from me and ordered a glass of wine. She chugged that one down and ordered another.
"Looks like some ones not having a good day," I thought to myself as I glanced up at the TV behind the bar, watching the news.
When she started quietly sobbing, I tried hard not to pay attention, but finally when I glanced over, our eyes met and that's all it took.
"You alright?" I asked. At first she said nothing just looking at her empty wine glass before starting to sob again.
"No, I don't think I'm ever going to be alright ever again," she said softly looking at me like a puppy caught in the rain.
I knew I should have run, but being the nice guy and having a soft spot for puppies I told the bartender to get her another wine and moved over to the stool next to her.
"You ok?" I asked again.
"Not really, I'm having a really bad day and I don't know what to do," she told me.
"My name is Steve, Steve Moore," I said. "And you are?"
"Mrs. Chris Martin, or I was until a couple of hours ago," she sobbed. "Now I'm not so sure anymore," she said with tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, I don't want to bother you with my problems."
"Don't be silly Chris, maybe I can help," I told her opening up a door I should have left closed.
We talked for the next hour and a half while she told me her tale of woe. I suggested we have dinner because I told her she shouldn't be drinking on an empty stomach. By 9:00 I'd heard it all.
Her husband, Keith, was a salesman and had been having an affair for the last couple of months with a customer he was calling on. Chris said Keith came clean and told her everything about it, but that his customer was giving him a hard time about breaking it off. She wanted to continue the affair and went so far as to threaten her husband with telling his boss about it.
"I know he didn't intentionally do it, but even now he doesn't understand what it's done to me. He keeps telling me to get over it, and that we need to move on and put it in past," she told me. "But he doesn't understand the pain it's caused me. Every time I think about it, I feel like someone's punched me in the gut. I don't know how I'm ever going to get over it?" she kept saying to me.
I knew I should have kept my mouth shut and just listened. Hell, that's all she was doing, using me as a soundboard to get it off her chest before she went nuts. By 10:30, she said it was time for her to get some sleep. She'd taken a room at the hotel if for no other reason than to try and get some sleep, because all they did at home was argue.
"Maybe I'll see you at breakfast," Chris told me as we went to our separate rooms.
I called Shannon and told her I missed her and I'd see her in two days. I don't know why, but I never said anything about Chris. Maybe it was because I thought Shannon wouldn't approve of me having that type of a discussion with another married woman, I don't know. Whatever the reason, I now wish I had said something. Maybe then it would have raised a red flag and brought me to my senses.
I did see Chris at breakfast.
"You look a lot better this morning," I said as I was just finishing my coffee.
"Thanks to you I got my first good nights sleep in a week."
"I'm glad I could help. You going back home today?" I asked.
"Nope, I've got my room for one more night and for the first time I'm starting to think straight and see how I want to handle my situation," she told me. "Maybe I'll see you later and we can talk again," Chris said with a smile.