A Smart Set Of Cheaters

Don sat and thought once again. Finally he said to George, "No George. I have asked myself that same question and once I think I might have been able to do just that. I think if this had just been a game and they hadn't had sex, if they had only gotten together in an emotional, or better yet, a pretend affair I could have overlooked it. I think at first perhaps it was just Vicky being upset because I derided her about her belief there could be a smart cheater. She just couldn't accept my statement that there were no smart cheaters and that it was a foregone conclusion that eventually cheaters would get caught. If she had not taken the final step and let Steve make love to her I could get past her cheating. This has just gone on too long. I mean damn it, six years! Even if the sex was piss poor and they didn't enjoy it as much with each other as they did with Jasmine and Me, it was still adultery and she has to pay the price."

George sighed and said, "Well, it's your life. I just hate to do this to you. I have the papers ready to file. When do you want to have her served?"

Don smiled and said, "Well George, she and Steve are on the east coast this week. She should be back late Friday afternoon. Can we serve her at work Friday? I believe her plane lands at noon so she should be in her office by say 3:30 or 4. I would like her to be served and be given a tape I have made up for her. It is of her conversation where she and Steve are talking about quitting. You can listen to it of course but at the end I say, You lose. Like I said, cheaters always screw up and get caught."

Friday morning Don had all his crews meet in his office before they left for the work sites. He explained that he and Vicky were divorcing and why. He told them that they were to take no orders from her and to tell her nothing else about the business or his personal life. When they left Laura, his secretary, said, "Oh, Don I'm so sorry. I just can't believe Vicky would do something like this. I still remember how she hates cheaters."

Laura laughed and continued, "I mean some of the comments she used to make when we would see someone we knew doing something like that...DAMN."

At 4:10 that afternoon Don got the call from the attorney saying the papers had been served. About 4:30 that afternoon Don got the phone call he had been dreading. He could see from caller ID it was Vicky.

Don picked up the phone and said, "Hello Vicky."

He heard sobbing, then a small, weakly wavering voice said, "Don please can't we get past this? You know I love you with all my heart. I know I was so stupid now but you made me so damn mad that night when you used your superior manner to hammer me for saying a smart cheater could get by with it. Don for the first year all we did was plan and meet just to show we could do it. I know you heard me when I told Steve I didn't love him and the sex wasn't even very good. You know we were going to stop. Please Don don't do this to us! I still can't believe you actually found out after all those years. I'd love to know how in the hell you did it."

"Vicky I didn't do this to us. You did. Now I have to end it. I thought we were in total agreement on cheating and affairs. I thought, hell I knew we neither one approved of cheating. We agreed cheaters got whatever they deserved in the end. I guess I... No, I just wonder how you could have ever done something like this, how you could ever justify doing this feeling like we both do."

Don decided to take pity on Vicky in one sense. He decided to tell her how he got onto the affair. "Vicky I wasn't ever going to tell you how I caught you but now I think I will. You were partly right when you said you should never have both gone to Denver together. That Thursday before you got home I was in the office and Jasmine Sloan came in. She wanted us to build a deck and landscape her back yard afterward. She let me use Steve's office and I saw the picture of you with him and the trophy his car won in the State Classic Chevrolet Car Show. She told me you were one of his old girlfriends. I almost bought that until I realized you looked old enough in the picture that it had to be recent. Also you were wearing jewelry and clothes that I knew were only about two years old."

"I was almost ready to dismiss my fears and assume you had dated before we became a couple and had just somehow ran into him at the car show. I changed my mind when Jasmine and I talked a little more and I found out you were both in Denver that week. We decided to hire an investigator and have you followed. We followed you both the next month and except for one dance at your girl's night out you had no contact. We were going to stop the investigation and chalk it all up to a coincidence that you had just happened to see Steve and pose with him for the picture. By that time Jasmine and I were trading all types of information on the two of you and I remembered she had told me Steve was going to be in San Antonio and you had told me you were going to be in Austin. We decided to have you followed for that week. If we hadn't found anything we were going to drop it. But we did find something didn't we?"

Don could hear sniffling in the background then Vicky said, "Don? Don I love you very much. I don't want to lose you. Can't you just please forgive me, just this once?"

Don sighed and replied, "No Honey I just can't. At least I can't right now. I think I could if you hadn't fucked the bastard but... I just can't accept you fucking him and the length of time you had the affair."

"But Honey, don't you see? It really wasn't an affair. I was... Well it was more like a game. I just had to prove that it could be done. The sex, well the sex was because we were away from home and we got so damn horny. You know it was almost like we used each other to masturbate with. We didn't make love or as far as I remember ever tell the other one we loved them. It was always about playing the game and then the last four years just getting some sexual relief."

"Vicky it doesn't matter. All that matters is that you did it. You planned to make a cuckold of me and you did it. You had to meet Steve somewhere and plan to get together with him. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it wasn't at one of your Girl's nights out either. Wasn't it?"

Vicky sighed and said, "Yes Don it was. At the time we were just talking. He had come up to the table and asked me to dance. The girls and I were talking about a couple we saw in the bar that we worked with. They were all over each other and I made the comment we always made about Smart Cheaters and how there weren't any. While we were dancing I filled Steve in on the conversation and what you and I believed. Before he took me back to the table he said, "You know I bet we could beat that rap. I travel a lot and if I could find someone who did the same I bet we could meet in a different town far away from home and could cheat without anyone ever catching us."

"We danced several more times that night and decided to try it. I found out he traveled as a Manufacturer's Rep and he found out I did the Compliance Reviews. We compared notes and found we would be in the same general area about three weeks later so we agreed to meet. At that meeting we began planning our, at that time, perfect, non-sexual affair. We agreed never to call each other at home or on our cells. We mostly used disposable cells and called from work or lunch but then only to set up the next meetings. We got the false ID's and I got the new credit card and had the bill sent to a PO Box near my Parent's home. You know how often I go see them so I could check the box regularly. We covered all the bases except for the picture. I just had no idea he had it taken."

Vicky gave a halfhearted laugh and continued, "I guess it's like we always said, just one little slip will get a cheater caught. I'm so sorry Honey. I guess I just got so tied up in the intrigue... I love you." Don heard a click as Vicky hung up the phone.

He was surprised to feel tears running down his cheeks. He leaned back in his chair to contemplate. He never knew when Laura told him good night. His next recollection was being startled that it was dark outside.

Before the final decree of divorce and at different times both sets of parents tried to talk Don out of divorcing Vicky. Perhaps the most heartfelt plea was from her parents. They called him one Saturday and asked if they could come to his house and visit the children. Naturally he agreed.

After they had visited with the children a while all three adults were sitting in pool chairs in the shade while they watched the kids in the pool. Vicky's mother turned to Don and said, "Don we all know my daughter has made a total ass out of herself. When she came to our home that first night she was devastated. We could hardly get out of her what was wrong. She was hysterical and said she had ruined it. We finally got her calmed down enough to get the story out of her. She let us see all the evidence you had on her."

"Don I must say if I had caught her father doing what she did I would have dumped his ass too but can't you do what I say instead of what I would do? I know she loves you very much. I can see it every time she looks at you, every time she talks about you, every time she sees a picture of you. Her problem is her damn intellectual superiority. She has been so used to being the smartest woman around that she had to prove she could get by with something like this. Don, did you ever think that just maybe you sort of drove her to do this? She told me about the argument you had about your friends just before she decided to prove she could have an affair and not get caught."

Don looked over at his Mother in Law and said, "Yes Mona I have thought that I maybe contributed to her affair. I think because of what I said that if she had only met him and had not had sex I could have gotten over this but she didn't. You know how we both said we felt about cheaters before we were married. You know how adamant she was about the codicils in the Pre Nuptial agreement that dealt with cheating. Then she did something like this. No, I just can't let this go. I am tearing my heart out over this but... I just can't."

The divorce was finalized and for once Don was glad they had the Pre Nuptial agreement. They had some investments they had to split. They also owned the house together. Since his business was in the family name and the only shares of it he had were considered gifts to him Vicky didn't get any part of it. Don let Vicky take the value of her share of the house out of the investment account so he owned it free and clear.

Don was always nice to Vicky when he saw her and never gave her any hassle over visiting the children. He still longed to hold her when he saw her but knew he could never trust her again. One day he had the children over at the restaurant for supper when Jasmine came into the building. She stood in the door and looked around. She seemed unsure of herself. The hostess walked up to her and asked about seating. Jasmine held up one finger.

Don saw that and jumped from his chair. He intercepted the hostess and Jasmine before they got to her table. "Jasmine it's great to see you," he said. "I saw you tell Patty you were alone. If you want, I just have my children with me. We could share a table..."

Jasmine looked at Don for a moment then smiled. He felt his heart lift and the whole room seemed lighter. She stepped to him and gave him a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. "Thank you," she said. "I think I would like that. I've been so alone since..."

After Jasmine was seated Don introduced her to his children. Before she even got the menu opened his father was beside the table and said, "Don have you been holding out on me? Who is this beautiful lady?"

Don laughed and Jasmine smiled. Don turned to his father and said, "Dad, this is Jasmine Sloan. It was her husband... Uh her mother was Donita Horton. They used to come in here when I was a kid."

Mr. Patterson smiled and said, "Oh, yes. I remember you now. You look so much like your mother I can't believe I didn't recognize you. How are your parents? I haven't seen them in years."

Jasmine looked up at Mr. Patterson and said, "They are both fine I suppose. I talk to Dad on the phone occasionally. After the divorce he moved away and is in Kansas City now. I see Mother a couple times a month. She lives north of town."

"Well you have a good time tonight. I hope you'll come back more now that you have remembered where we are."

After Jasmine ordered Don asked, "How have you been? I'm sorry I haven't called more but summer is my busy time of the year. I guess maybe I used that for an excuse though. I could have found the time. I'm sorry."

"Oh, don't be silly," Jasmine said. "I know you're busy and I didn't call you either. In fact, I'm here tonight to celebrate. Steve finally gave up and my divorce was final today. We had to sell the house and we split everything 50/50. He fought the alimony and drug the divorce out because of that but since he was the one who didn't want me to work I finally won in the end. I had to rent a dumpy little apartment but as soon as I find a job I will get a better place."

After the meal the kids kept getting more and more restless. Don and Jasmine were talking and they had even ordered a second bottle of wine. Finally Don said to Jasmine, "I guess I need to go before these two hellions get me banned from this here place. It's been really great to talk to you again. Maybe we can do something like this again?"

Jasmine smiled and nodded her head. She said, "I'd like that. Lets." She flagged the waitress down and asked for the bill. The waitress smiled and said the bills had both been paid.

Don laughed. He said, "That old Bastard. I usually pay and he knows it. I think he's trying to set us up." He reached into his wallet and placed an appropriate tip on the table for the waitress then stood. "Come on kids. Go tell your grandparents good night and let's go home."

Don helped Jasmine from her chair and offered her his arm. "May I escort you to your chariot my lady," he asked.

Jasmine smiled, took his arm and said, "You may good sir."

While they were waiting for the kids to come back Don turned to Jasmine and said, "You know I really don't want this night to end. Before you came in I was hoping I could get home in time to just sit beside the pool and relax. All I had to look forward to was a night alone with the kids."

Jasmine looked up at Don and said, "Me too. Except we don't have a pool at my apartment and I don't have any children."

"Jasmine it's still early. Would you like to come to our place and visit some more after I get these two into bed?"

Jasmine smiled and nodded her head yes. She whispered, "Yes, I'd like that very much."

After the children were in bed Don filled a cooler with wine, beer and soft drinks and ice. He placed it between their pool chairs and told Jasmine to take her pick. He reached for a Pepsi and leaned back. Jasmine took a Pepsi also.

Don looked at the pool glistening in the muted lights, sighed and turned to Jasmine. He said, "You know I think your mother is partly responsible for my divorce. I...Oh, Shit, I'm sorry Jasmine. I shouldn't have said that. I was just thinking... Well I mean..."

Jasmine was sitting looking at him with horror. He thought he saw a little tear in her eye. Don struggled up from his chair and sat on the edge of Jasmine's. He wiped the tear from the corner of her eye and said, "Let me explain now that I've made an ass of myself."

"When I was 16 I had only been working at the restaurant for about three weeks when your mother came in with a strange man. They had supper then went into the bar to drink and dance. I always thought your mother was the most beautiful woman in the world—that is until I met you. Anyway, I couldn't keep my eyes off her and my father not only saw me staring at her but he heard me saying I had to tell my friends about what I had seen when we got to school the next Monday."

"Whew, I still remember the dressing down and the lecture I got that night in his office. I think that evening though colored my thinking and beliefs about marital fidelity to this day. You know Vicky later came to work for us and she got the same lecture. We used to talk so much about our experiences and what we saw at the restaurant. I thought we were in agreement with my father's philosophy. Maybe though I was too stubborn about fidelity for my own good. I was just thinking my seeing your mother that night started me down the rigid path I took throughout this affair. I'm sorry and before you ask, no. No one in my family or our employ ratted your mother out. I don't know who did but it was almost a year after that time before your parents divorced and as far as I know that was the only time she and her man friend were in the restaurant."

Jasmine looked at Don and said, "Well, maybe something good came out of that mess then, or not, depending on how you look at it. You know she married that man and they lived together until he died in a car wreck several years ago. I'm not sure but I think she was cheating on him too though. I've always heard once a cheater always a cheater."

After Don was sure Jasmine was over her tears he moved back to his chair and they began talking about more interesting things. He learned she had an accounting degree and had worked for a while in accounting. He smiled to himself because he remembered his mother complaining about wanting to take more time off and not being able to since she kept the books for the bar and restaurant as well as helped supervise the wait staff. He had also been thinking he needed to hire some help for Laura. Maybe..."

The next Wednesday Don hadn't been home from work long enough to do anything but get a glass of water when he heard a banging on the front door. He opened it and was hit in the chest with something soft yet heavy. He focused his eyes and saw a crying Jasmine hanging onto his neck trying to kiss him. She said through her tears, "Thank you. Oh, thank you. Your parents called me and offered me a job. I went for the interview and the test and they hired me. I start tomorrow. They're paying me way too much and ..." she broke down crying again and Don just held her to his chest while he stroked her hair.

Over the next several months Don and Jasmine became closer and closer. He began taking the kids to the restaurant for supper four or five times a week and he seemed to time the visits so the book keeper/accountant was free to dine with them. Christmas came and Jasmine was invited to the Patterson's for the meal. Don and Jasmine both helped work the bar's New Years Eve Party. His father and siblings kept complaining that they weren't much help. Every time they looked for them they found them hugging and kissing. All was said in good fun though. By now they were a recognized couple. Every invitation one of them got automatically included the other.

Valentines Day arrived. This was another big day for the restaurant and bar so once again Don and Jasmine were called upon to work. After most of the patrons had left the restaurant Don came into the restaurant part of the building and said, "Jasmine can you come to the bar for a minute please? The band is on break and I need you to help me on the stage for a moment."

Jasmine smiled and said, "Sure. I needed a break from this place anyway."

When they got to the stage Don had Jasmine hold the microphone stand and he got on his knees. He was pulling at the base of it, and then raised his voice. He said, "Hey I need some light over here can you get it for me?"

Jasmine was looking around for a light when one of the spots shone down on both of them. Don said, "Jasmine." The microphone picked up his request and broadcast it all over the room. When Jasmine looked down at him she saw he was holding something out for her to take. It was a square of black and she thought it was maybe part of the black microphone stand. The lights were bright enough she couldn't see very well.