It was late morning when she got the phone call. A fine, warm day and Celia Portman had just finished hanging out the washing. There was always plenty of it; with Tom, Celia and their three children. Daniel was the oldest at seventeen; Roz was aged 15 and Mandy 12 years old. No name came up on her cell phone.
"Hello; Celia speaking."
"Hi Celia. It's Julia Morris here."
"Oh...Julia. Hi! What can I do for you?"
Celia recalled Julia as being a former work colleague of her husbands. They'd met and conversed at a number of work gatherings.
"Well...it's a little bit difficult. I've wrestled with this for a while, but feel I need to let you know."
"Oh! Need to know what Julia?" Celia asked, wondering what this woman she only vaguely knew had to tell her.
"Look Celia...it's Tom."
"Tom! My Tom?"
"Yeah Tom. It's me and your Tom really. Look, I don't know how to say this, so best I just come straight out with it. Tom and I have just finished an 18 month relationship."
Celia said nothing. She hadn't really registered what she'd just been told.
"You there Celia...?"
"Y...yes. Did you just say relationship?"
"I'm sorry Celia, there's no easy way to put this. Tom and I have been lovers for the past 18 months. He's...we've...just broken it off. I've felt guilty for so long and feel it's only right that you know."
"Oh...ok...that's good...I guess...thanks Julia..." Celia mumbled and immediately disconnected.
Celia slowly began to fully register what she'd just been told. Her legs went weak. She slumped onto a kitchen chair. Tom had been her husband for 20 years. She viewed him as dependable and a good father. They had three lovely children, a nice house, in a good neighbourhood. Tom's job brought them an income large enough that she didn't have to work.
Celia began to sob, the tears streaming down her face. All sorts of thoughts raced through her mind. First there was anger; the next minute concern that her husband might leave her; then thoughts of her children. She began to mull it over, trying to work out when Tom would have had his trysts with Julia. She recalled how attractive Julia was and she dwelt on her own looks. Finally she just sat there entirely deflated.
"I've just thanked a woman for telling me she's been fucking my husband for over a year," Celia mumbled, between sobs.
It was two hours later when Celia finally rose from the chair. She felt washed out and went to the bedroom to lie down. She felt very tired, but couldn't sleep. She increasingly drifted toward self-blame.
"I'm just not as glamourous as Julia. I'm an okay Mum, but probably don't try hard enough in bed. I used too, but..."
Celia tried to recall the last time she'd made love with Tom. At first she couldn't and thought this was a bad sign in itself. Tom rarely pushed for sex in recent years, leaving it up to Celia to initiate.
"He probably had no need to push it, with that bitch taking care of his needs," Celia thought, with a flash of anger.
She finally recalled it being around four weeks previous. All the children were out staying at friend's houses and she'd cooked a nice meal for her and Tom. Afterwards they'd watched a movie and it had some sex scenes. This had aroused her and she'd determined to have sex with her husband that evening.
At the conclusion of the film Celia had run her fingers across his trouser front and announced she was going up to bed. She told him to close up and not to linger. It was code for, 'You're going to get some tonight.'
Once in the bedroom Celia recalled following her usual routine of stripping naked and leaving the covers down to expose her breasts.
"Tom likes my breasts," she thought. "Or at least he used too."
He'd always complimented her on their size and firmness. Displaying them was her signal that she was ready for sex.
Tom had smiled knowingly, stripped naked himself and climbed into bed. They'd engaged in some mutual touching. He'd sucked on her nipples, while she reached for his cock. She recalled being happy to feel him harden under her touch, because that didn't always occur. She'd quickly opened her legs and he'd moved above her, entering her quickly.
Celia recalled enjoying having him in her, but hadn't orgasmed. Her husband had fucked her vigorously and soon cum with a long groan.
"He seemed to enjoy it," she thought between sobs. "Maybe I should have taken him in my mouth. I'll bet Julia does that."
It'd been many years since Celia had taken her husband's cock in her mouth. She hadn't minded oral sex when younger, but they'd just seemed to grow out of it. It was the same with varying their positions. Their love making had become very functionary.
Acknowledging this made Celia begin to weep again. She drifted off into a turbulent sleep. Upon waking she felt angry again. She got out of bed, determined to confront her husband. She picked up her phone, called Tom and told him he needed to come home immediately.
...
Celia had a feeling Tom knew what he was coming home too. He gave a large sigh, looked down and made no effort to deny what Julia had said.
"It's over you don't need to worry about it. I called it off. She wasn't happy about that and now she's being vindictive," he merely said.
Tom denied that he wanted to leave her, which came as a relief to Celia. Nevertheless her anger continued to build during their discussion. Tom wouldn't answer any of her queries about when and where, or if he'd ever told Julia he loved her. This infuriated Celia.
"We need a break," she finally blurted out." You'll have to go."
"Go where? This is my home."
"I don't care where you go. You're always going away for a week somewhere or other. Probably with that tramp Julia. Tell the kids you're off on one of your business trips. Just stay away, so I don't have to see you for some weeks."
Tom agreed to leave for two weeks from the next day. That evening he nonchalantly told the children he was away in San Francisco for the next fortnight. Their father travelling away for work wasn't unusual, but Daniel wasn't happy.
