A Costly Mistake

Dan replied: "No of course not."

When he informed Susan that night, she didn't seem that surprised or concerned. Courses weren't common but they happen once or twice a year, it just felt too convenient to Matt. He went to the Den; his intention of planning a way out predicament was losing a battle against a blinding headache. As he came back up the stairs to find some pain killers, he could hear Susan on the phone, catching her side of the conversation; he wondered who she was talking to and listened to her part of the conversation.

"What are you doing, sending Matt on a trip?"

"No, it's a bad idea, this is not working out and you coming over will make things worse."

"No he hasn't thought of anything else yet, it seems like he has given up and accepted things."

"It's not how I thought this would go, he's devastated."

"You know I like our time together."

"I know it was my idea, but I didn't expect him to be this distraught. It was supposed to be a safe alternative to us having an affair, with no risk of being found out. I didn't intend all of this."

"I didn't help things with the kissing and breakfast and you have been an arrogant prick at times, smirking and rubbing his face in it."

"OK you can come over during the trip, but then I think we will need to scale it back and be more discreet or maybe even end it."

"If you suggest an end to the arrangement because you can see how it's impacting Matt, then you can be the good guy and we can go back to normal."

"Maybe, if you are discreet we could still meet occasionally."

"We'll speak later, but I really do need to fix things with Matt, I still love him."

Matt staggered back down the stairs feeling like he had been punched in the guts. Did he really just hear all of that; he couldn't quite comprehend all of the implications.

No wonder Dan seemed to pre-empt all his plans, Susan was telling him in advance. And it was all her idea in the first place. She had suggested it and convinced Matt to borrow the money against his better judgement. That would also explain how Dan found the discrepancy in the first place, it was so buried, he didn't think even audit could find it. Far from being married to a saint preventing him from going to prison, he was in fact married a cheating conniving bitch. His mind raced to thoughts of revenge and violence. Everything crowded in on him, he knew he had to calm down and think rationally... he needed a plan, preferably one where they started to feel some of his own unease.

Matt avoided Susan for the rest of the night and following morning. When he saw Susan on Tuesday night, he never mentioned the overheard call but he said he'd heard Dan at work boasting about getting some prime pussy. Matt continued saying he could only pray he didn't mention Susan by name. Matt left early for the trip Wednesday, with Susan saying she loved him. He managed a brief smile and pretended to be distracted by checking the schedule on his phone as he set off.

Dan arrived at Susan's later Wednesday morning, she immediately asked about the boasting but Dan denied all knowledge of it, accusing Matt of stirring things up. Susan wasn't sure who to believe, she couldn't see any reason for Matt to make that up, maybe Dan was less discreet than she thought which would be problematic. Between the bouts of sex they discussed the situation and what they could do about it. Susan was missing the emotional connection she had with Matt, what she had with Dan was purely fucking. Before leaving on Thursday afternoon, Dan persuaded Susan to continue their affair, but Susan made it clear this would be there last time together until they had things back on track with Matt.

As Dan left the house, he stopped short; he couldn't quite believe what he was looking at. Perfectly puncturing the gleaming hood of his Aston Martin was a large kitchen knife standing upright. He looked around but no one was there, all four tyres were slashed as well, he went back in and told Susan. They both began panicking, could Matt have come home early, what did he know. It had to be him, unless it was kids or someone jealous of the flashy car, it wouldn't be the first time it had been vandalised.

Susan phoned Matt, asking how the course was, he casually confirmed it was exceeding dull, that he didn't need to be there and was just starting to make his way home, he sounded calm and never asked about Dan. Susan said she couldn't wait to see him and finished the call. She recited the conversation to Dan, saying he didn't sound upset, maybe it was just some kids after all. Either way they needed to get it towed before Matt got home which caused some frantic calls and costly fees.

Things seemed normal when Matt returned on Thursday night; Susan tiptoed around him playing the dutiful wife. It was a surprise when Dan messaged confirming he wanted to come over Friday but just to discuss their situation. Susan smiled thinking Dan was going to call a halt to things, maybe the car had freaked him out enough for him stop things.

On Friday morning Matt went to work as normal. At 11am he phoned Susan from work in a panicky distressed voice, saying that there was something she needed to see.

Matt explained he had just received video clip via their personal email and she needed to see it.

Susan opened their email on her phone, found the message and opened the video clip. The quality was poor and only lasted 20 seconds but it was unmistakably Susan and Dan having sex. The sender was an anonymous address.

Matt: "Jesus is that our bedroom? It's hard to tell, but it looks sunny, like mid-day so I'm not sure when that would be from."

Susan knew exactly when it was from, she could vividly recall Dan pounding her on all fours just like that on the Wednesday but replied:

"I'm not sure, maybe it's edited and they messed with the light."

Matt "That is you isn't it... you seem to be enjoying it."

Susan let the comment pass; she had more important things to worry about and could explain her enthusiasm to Matt later as part of an act for Dan.

Matt went on: "What's Dan playing at, is that what he wanted to discuss tonight. Is this just another form of torture, you didn't fall out or threaten him with him did you."

Susan immediately denied it, but then remembered telling Dan of her intention of stopping things; maybe he reacted badly and intended to use the video to keep things going. He must have set up a video at some point, he had plenty opportunity to do so over the 2 days.

Matt said Dan wasn't at work so he couldn't ask him. Susan desperately wanted to contact him and still hoped to cover their activities in the previous few days.

Just then Susan's phone pinged with an 'urgent call me now' message, it was her sister Diane. She told Matt she had better answer it, hoping it would give her some much needed thinking time. She ended the call with Matt and called Diane, only to be greeted by a barrage of questions and expletives. When Diane finally paused for breath, Susan managed to establish that her sister had received the same video clip. Her phone kept bleeping with attempted calls, from most of her close friends and even her mum. My God had they all received the clip? This was an absolute disaster. There was no way Matt would do this to me, it had to be Dan.

Susan was irate; she tried calling Dan repeatedly but couldn't get a reply.

The reason she couldn't contact Dan was that Matt had picked his phone up at work whilst he was in a conference meeting; he threw the battery in the bin and kept the hand set and sim card. He also left an envelope on Dan's desk, before making the call about the video to Susan and then quietly leaving work.

When he got home, Matt thoroughly enjoyed watching his wife's angst and confusion at what was happening. She was distraught that her mum would have seen the clip and all her family and friends would think she was having an affair. Matt played along making various useless suggestions on how to limit the damage, throwing in his own confusion about when the clip could have been possibly been taken. Susan still wasn't admitting to Dan's mid-week visit.

Susan:

How had this gone so horribly wrong? She had never thought about having an affair, until she had gotten drunk at a party and flirted a little too much with Dan. He was handsome, engaging and obviously interested. After that night he had been on her mind a lot. Over weeks she managed to convince herself that she deserved some excitement but wouldn't dare risk her marriage to Matt. She had seen a friend's marriage end after a similar affair was discovered, but she had always been smart and thought her plan was a clever way to avoid all the pitfalls of an affair being discovered. I mean how could Matt discover something he already knew about! Working out the details became a challenge and all part of the excitement. From her perspective it was a great arrangement, but she had never fully considered the impact on Matt.

Now she was in a world of pain, everyone liked Matt and would know she had cheated on him. She was dreading trying to explain her way out of things, no one would ever believe Matt knew about her having sex with Dan. None of that mattered though as long as she could convince Matt this wasn't her fault.

Dan's screeching tyres announced his arrival at Matt and Susan's home, he was greeted by Susan trying to attack him, Matt did nothing to stop her, noting an impressive scratch mark across his cheek. Eventually Dan managed to pin Susan against a wall long enough to speak. Dan had heard about the video, but insisted he hadn't taken or sent it. Susan fumed:

"But if it wasn't you, then who..."

Matt started laughing: "I guess that would be me then."

Susan and Dan looked dumbstruck; it was Dan who caught on first:

"So you worked out about us meeting this week?

Matt: "Alas I did."

Susan started to try and justify it as a continuation of 'the arrangement'.

Again it was Dan who caught the full implications of the video. He knew they had discussed the whole situation and suspected Matt had it all taped. He tried for some damage limitation.

"I'm really sorry Matt, I just couldn't resist Susan. I never meant this to hurt you so much. I made a major error of judgement and just got carried away. I'll end the arrangement and overlook the financial irregularity."

Matt: "Ah that's so good of you, but it's all a bit too late I'm afraid, you'll find my resignation on your desk. "

Susan piped in with "You can't Matt, how will we pay for the house?"

Matt: "Don't worry about that Hunny, its going up for sale tomorrow."

Dan jumped in: "There's no need Matt we can put this behind us, I really need you at the firm, you know the business and the clients inside out."

Matt smiled: "I guess that's true, it's probably why your main competitor has offered me a job. I suspect some, maybe even most of the clients will move with me. You owe more leave than the 4 week notice period, so I won't be back"

Dan's fake smile faded, Matt continued:

"I suspect a good few of the workforce will be on their way as well, I told them I was leaving and most don't seem to think you have what it takes to keep the company going."

Dan rallied: "You need to think this through Matt; you can still go to prison."

Matt: "Oh I don't think so, would you want to implicate your lover, she received half of the benefits of the fraud. Anyway you have committed blackmail and thanks to your little tryst here I have that admission on video. It's amazing what electronic devices you can buy these days, the recording is with my lawyer. In addition you may find some of your files have been erroneous deleted and I know you didn't backup anything remotely. It does pay to have colleagues who like working with you, but I guess you wouldn't know that."

Dan sneered: "That recording will never stand up in court."

Matt replied: "Funnily enough my lawyer said the same thing, but I can use it in others ways and by the time it's sorted you will already be out of business. On the bright side, my new firm may be willing to buy you out. I hear their new Chief Operating Officer is a decent guy."

Susan realised than Dan his business and his money were in serious jeopardy. She decided to blame it all on Dan. Dan listened in disbelief as Susan launched into impressive act of the wronged woman.

"I love you Matt, this was all Dan's idea, he made me do it. I admit I got confused and a bit carried away but I was just going along with it to save you from prison. I didn't really have a choice and because of that my life is in ruins, please Matt I love you.

Dan muttered "You two faced lying fucking bitch."

Matt smiled at the rather apt description:

"Ah my dear loving wife, in addition to the video, you're over- looking the fact that I overheard you on the phone admitting this was all your idea, a rather elaborate and cruel cover for an affair. You will find divorce papers in the envelope in the kitchen draw. You're leaving tonight and will agree to the terms of the divorce or more of those video clips might find their way to family and friends. I'm sure your mum will love to hear that not only are you a cheating slut but the extent to which you plotted and blackmailed."

Susan burst into tears and slumped to the floor.

Matt looked at Dan: "Do you want to take her with you?"

Dan: "Not a fucking chance, more trouble than she is worth."

Matt: "Well on that we are agreed."

Dan: "This isn't over Matt."

Matt: "That's true."

At that Matt swung for Dan, he wasn't sure who was more surprised as his fist crunched squarely into Dan's jaw felling him on the spot.

"It's over now!"

Epilogue:

Matt had listened to the recording repeatedly, most was agony to hear, but he liked the part where Dan and Susan were worrying if he had found out and gone insane, the knife in the bonnet was wonderfully melodramatic, doing it provided his first smile for weeks.

Matt did take up the new job with Dan's rival, customers and employees followed. Dan held on bitterly but eventually had to put his firm into administration and there were rumours of personal bankruptcy. Shortly afterward he moved out of the area.

Susan ended up living in a small flat with money from their house sale but no other income from Matt. As a result and with few qualifications or experience she was working two temporary jobs as a domestic and waitress on zero hours contracts. Her former friends shunned her and she was barely talking to her mum and sister.

Matt's increased salary and bonuses meant he could drop to a three day week and make time for the sports and outdoor interests which he had neglected during his marriage. He hadn't realised how much Susan had influenced his decisions including buying a large house and filling it with 'stuff', he wasted no time in selling it. He remained in contact with Susan's mum and sister, Diane in particular kept apologising for her sister's affair, suggesting she would never make the same mistake. Matt wondered exactly what she meant by that statement, thinking it might be fun to find out at some point, especially as Susan would be furious.