Holly was just about to reach for her phone again to check her texts when she saw the cherries light up behind her. Looking down at her speedometer - 68 - she knew she was in trouble.
"Aw shit," she said.
When the State Trooper asked where she was headed, she got a lump in her throat.
"Just to Shullsburg to meet a friend," she said meekly, trying not to show any shakiness in her voice.
And while the trooper took her license and registration back to his squad car to write out the ticket, she turned everything over in her mind.
"
I'm glad I didn't lie to Curt about where I was going
," she said to herself. "
Antiquing in Shullsburg
...
Almost didn't even tell him I was taking the day off from work... Not like he'd know
."
Curt was Holly's husband and she was on her way to Shullsburg to meet a married man for a morning of frolicking in a motel room. Curt likely wouldn't know if she took the day off from work, but she gave him the antiquing trip to Shullsburg as a safety net. And with this speeding ticket, she was glad she did.
She checked her texts and sure enough, there it was.
"Room 6," it said. "Far-right side. This place still uses keys. Door is open. Just come in."
And from that, Holly felt a little jolt of adrenaline. The text was from Martin, a co-worker with whom she had started an affair a few months earlier. After their work-related emails ultimately drifted into flirting and then sex at an overnight conference in Milwaukee, Holly was in full-blown affair mode. Today was a birthday celebration (hers) and they decided to meet at a motel halfway in between her town and his, a 45-minute drive for Holly. They both figured it was far enough away that they wouldn't have to worry about bumping into anyone they knew.
She sent a message back that she'd be a few minutes late and explained the speeding stop. She expected a smart-ass reply but fifteen minute later, when the trooper gave her the $268 speeding ticket and told her to be careful, she still hadn't gotten anything back from him.
"
No biggie
," she thought. "
Hope he didn't fall asleep
." She chuckled and drove off, now just fifteen minutes away.
When Holly pulled into the small motel's parking lot, there were surprisingly about a dozen cars taking up all the available spots out front. After parking at the side of the motel near room six, she took a second to look around, just to make sure. "
Can't be too careful
," she thought.
She got to the door and gave a little knock as she turned the door handle and pushed the door open. She took one step inside and was a few words into her apology for being late and then she stopped.
There were two men in the room, neither of whom were Martin.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, "this isn't the right—"
"You should check your phone," one of the men said, pointing at his own phone.
At that instant, her phone jangled and she didn't recognize the number.
"You can come in," said the same man, as he walked over and shut the door behind her.
Startled, she tapped her phone and gave a curious, "Hello?" into it.
"Good morning, Holly!" said a cheerful woman's voice. "You don't know me, well, at least we've never met." Holly's heart sank and she felt her face flush as she knew what was coming next. "I'm Sharon, Martin's wife. Martin won't be meeting you today, or any other day, for that matter."
"Ahh... OK," was all Holly could say. A big lump gathered in her throat.
"I'm sure your poor little heart must be racing right now, huh?" Sharon said in a voice dripping with sweetness. "Well, no matter there."
Holly noticed the other two men - both Black, both very tall and very fit - were busy checking their phones, seemingly oblivious to anything else going on in the room.
"I'd suspected for the longest time that Martin was up to something," Sharon continued, "and last night he left his phone unattended for a little too long; a dumb mistake for someone doing what he was doing. By the time he discovered I was reading his texts, I was well into where you two were planning the fun at the conference in Milwaukee last month."
Holly was at a loss for something to say.
"Are you still there?" Sharon said.
"Ahh, yes," Holly stammered out. "I'm here. I just..."
"Yeah, I can imagine the shock you must be feeling," Sharon said. "To say the least, it was an interesting and very long evening at our place last night. Ultimately, dear Martin gave up the chat account he used and the work emails you two exchanged. It's a wonder either of you got any work done these last few months. And, by the way, he knows of the affair you're having with Steve, yet another co-worker, and Korey has also been sharing the rather bold emails you've been sending him. Rather flirty emails. You really spread yourself around, sweety."
Holly let out a sigh and noticed the two men were now looking at her.
"You've no doubt seen the two men in the room," Sharon said. "They are Deion and Kevin. I'm an attorney - not sure if Martin told you that - and I met them when I got a very unfair underage drinking charge against them dropped a year ago. They also go to the same health club where I work out and we've gotten to be friends. They haven't had an easy life and I help them out with things like finding employment. They're only twenty and neither has much of a home life. And - oh, happy birthday by the way - since Martin can't attend your birthday celebration and didn't give you any notice, I've sent Deion and Kevin in his place. Say hi to them quick!"
"Um... hi," Holly said simply, giving a wave to them. They smiled in return.
"They know all of the details of your affair with Martin and they gladly agreed to take Martin's place," Sharon said, her voice still sugar sweet.
"Take Martin's place?" Holly said, her voice stronger now. "What do you mean by that?"
Well," Sharon said, "the whole point of meeting Martin today was to have sex, right? Don't tell me you were planning a day discussing incoming shipping containers."
Holly couldn't think of anything to say and only sighed in response.
