Are You For Real?

A very short story of a man confronting his wife after contracting a STI

It is written in British English and it is a work of fiction so don't take it too seriously.

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"Why don't you go and watch some TV, Champion so I can talk to mummy?" I told my son, putting him back down and ruffling his hair with a smile. I watched him run off into the lounge and when I was sure the TV was on, I closed the door and looked at my wife of seven years.

"What's wrong, Alex?" my wife Kelly said to me with a furrowed brow.

I picked up a small envelope on the table and slid over to her. My smile had completely disappeared and I now had a look of thunder on my face.

Kelly started to look worried and when she picked up the envelope to read the contents and looked at me with a mixture of fear and shock,

"Alex? You got HSV-2? Are you serious? Oh, my god, I don't believe this. You cheated on me!" Kelly then started to cry. "You bastard, Alex. Did you cheat on me? Have you given me an STI?"

All I could do was laugh at her reaction. That was the most ridiculous of all the reactions she could have given me.

"Are you for real?" I asked her, shaking my head. I then slid another larger envelope across the table and the colour drained from her face as she looked at the contents. "I think that shows how we both got herpes, Kelly."

Kelly now looked nervous and began biting her bottom lip, "Alex, I'm sorry," was all she could say. She had the look of someone who had been caught red-handed. There was no excuse, explanation, or any other comment that could get her out of it. It was all there, text messages, photos, dates, hotel receipts.

I suspected she was having an affair when I saw a payment from our joint account to a hotel a few miles away. It was on a weekend when she said she needed to see a friend and was going to stay overnight because they were drinking. I then began to notice more payments to the same hotel and they were nights she was supposed to be staying with another friend overnight.

This went back three months. I had no idea. I then thought about it and realised that she had been texting her friends a lot and had been evasive about who she was texting and what about. I didn't question it because I loved and trusted my wife.

The idea that she was seeing and having sex with another man made me feel sick to my stomach but I knew that although in my gut she was having an affair, I needed proof.

I waited until she was asleep and went through her phone. Any idea of invasion of privacy never entered my mind, I just needed to know for sure. Her phone didn't let me down. It showed her affair in black and white. The guy's name was under a woman's name but it was obvious it was a guy she was talking to because Kelly was telling him how much she loved his dick.

I then became my own private investigator as I followed Kelly around taking pictures

If Kelly's cheating wasn't bad enough, she invited him over to stay the night when I was away on business,

"You brought him over to our house, Kelly, and slept with him in our bed while our son was asleep! You brought a strange man into our home with our son here! What is wrong with you? The fucking guy had herpes, what if Charlie got herpes, Kelly! What were you thinking?"

"I don't know, I'm sorry," Kelly began to cry. "You're not going to ask me who he is are you?"

"Seriously, you're going to protect that asshole?"

Kelly looked away from me, shamefully. She wrapped her arms around herself.

"It doesn't matter, I know who he is. His wife's a nice woman. There is no way she deserves to be cheated on. Especially with the number of women he has been with."

"What?" Kelly looked confused.

"Did you think you were the only one he was seeing?" I slid a third envelope over to her. She began to shake when she saw pictures of him picking up prostitutes, and kissing other women.

"Shit!" Kelly sobbed as her legs gave way and she had to sit down as the full impact of the consequences of what she had done.

"So, now we know where the fucking herpes came from and you know you and Charlie are going to have to be tested. It never goes away, Kelly! You get it for life! Charlie could have herpes for life and he is only six!" I started to well up and my voice began to crack.

"I'm sorry, I am so sorry!" Kelly was in pieces knowing her actions had put our little boy in danger.

"Why, Kelly? Why did you do it? Why wasn't I good enough for you?"

"You were good enough. You are good enough. I love you, Alex."

"You can't have otherwise you wouldn't have cheated on me!"

"I do, I do love you!"

"Then why?"

"Because I needed excitement,"

"Excitement?" I said incredulously. "You gave me herpes and maybe our son for excitement?"

"I-" Kelly was lost for words now. She knew that putting our son in danger of getting an STI was unforgivable.

"You know I'm going to have to give all this to his wife," I told her.

Kelly was about to protest but that an STI was being spread around by her lover changed everything, "I know," she muttered shamefully.

After several moments of silence, she looked at me for the first time,

"What are you going to do? What are we going to do?"

"Is there are we anymore, Kelly? How can we stay married after this?"

"I don't want to get divorced. I want us to stay as a family. What can I do?"

"Whether we stay married or get divorced, you have to cut off all contact with that clap-ridden asshole. Charlie can't be anywhere near someone who is close to him."

Kelly nodded, reached for her phone, and because to use it.

"Give it to me!" I demanded.

"Why?" Kelly said looking worried. "I deleted his number."

"I don't trust you, Kelly. I want to make sure you actually have done it. If you don't give me the phone then we are done and I'm taking Charlie to my parents with me."

Kelly handed over her phone reluctantly, knowing for well I would carry through with my threat. I went through her phone and my temper subsided slightly as I saw that the number, she used to call him was no longer on the phone.

"You need to let me see your phone every day. If I find anything unusual or recently deleted then we are done. You are going to sleep in the spare room and you will leave your phone with me overnight."

"Oh my god, Alex!" Kelly protested. "You're controlling my life!"

"Well, you should have thought about that before you betrayed me!"

"Is this how it's going to be from now on?"

"It does if you want to stay married," I told her in no uncertain terms.

"Is there anything else?" she asked. She knew she was beaten.

"I want you to tell everyone what you did."

"No! Please, Alex. I can't. I'll lose all my friends and my family will make my life hell!"

"Again, you should have thought about that before you betrayed me!" Kelly looked devastated. "We will stay together for Charlie for now but if he has herpes because of you then we are done and I will go for full custody of Charlie. I doubt a judge will give custody to a parent who gives their child and STI, will they?" Kelly slowly shook her head.

With that, Charlie burst through the door in tears, "Mummy, my willy is spotty and it hurts!"