Caught on Camera Ch. 01

Alice and I crashed down on the beach towel, laughing our heads off. For a second, I just drank it all in. The warmth of the sun heating our cold bodies, fresh from the ocean. The sight of my beautiful wife lying next to me, golden hair cascading out haphazardly like a silken corona. Her heaving chest as she and I recovered our breath. Just... everything at that moment was perfect. Of course, nothing lasts forever but if I could go back to any moment in my life, it would be then. Everything was... right. Yes, right. Things would change for us in the next few weeks, but then... yeah, that would be my time.

"That was... fun!" she breathed, turning her to look at me. There were other people around, a few other holidaymakers revelling in the Caribbean sun, but for me there was only Alice and myself. She rolled onto her side, looking into my eyes.

"I do love you, you know," she said, smiling in her innocent way. She ran fingers down my chest, rubbing my stomach. I winced slightly, knowing I'd put on a bit of weight recently and embarrassed by it. Alice didn't seem to mind - she had a model's figure and, indeed, I often encouraged her to try doing some. Tasteful stuff, of course. I didn't want anyone else to share my wife's assets, as it were. They were mine and for me alone. Old fashioned, maybe... but I loved her too much to share her. There was another reason for my possessiveness too, but I didn't want to think about... her. About my first wife, Melody. No, I wouldn't let those memories intrude and spoil these precious moments.

I smiled back, saying the words back to her. She sighed happily and turned back to stare at the blue sky.

"Halfway through the holiday now," she mused. "Time does fly, doesn't it? It feels like we only just got here!"

"I know," I said. "It's been so nice to get away from work and all that. It's been so stressful... well, you know about that. No shop talk! I promised myself!"

"I know, honey," she said and I saw her glance down at the lower half of my body. "Perhaps... well, later on... we can try again."

"I'll do my best," I said, trying not to worry. In recent months, we'd been trying to have a baby. We've been married three years now and we're both secure in our jobs - Alice works as a lecturer at the local university and I'm an architect. We're pretty well off for money, as you can imagine... but stress can hit anyone, no matter their circumstances. Just after we'd decided to try for a child, I was suddenly hit with a tonne of work that has had a deleterious effect on my mental and physical health. I used to hit the gym all the time but now I've just not been able to find the time.

I won't go into all that, but my body has... er, filled out a bit in the wrong ways and, most agonisingly, I've started to suffer from erectile dysfunction. Just when I needed to be at my best, I was laid low. No matter what, I just couldn't maintain myself long enough to do the deed. A vicious circle formed - my desperation merely fuelled by lack of ability and the stress of work just piled on top until... we had to escape. I knew those on high would be unhappy at me taking time off at this crucial time in the projects, but they were also understanding enough to know that if I collapsed, they'd have to waste a lot of time getting someone new in to take over and keep all those plates spinning.

So, they let me go for two weeks. We'd decided not to pressure me for a little while, let it all happen naturally... but I guess even Alice's remarkable patience had worn thin. She wanted sex, she wanted a baby and I was going to try to make it all happen for her that night, it seemed. At least, I was going to try to try, if that makes sense.

She sighed again, but I noticed that this time it wasn't happily. The problem was that every time I realised I was letting her down, it just exacerbated the problem. I'd considered using performance drugs, but my doctor had strongly advised against them because of a heart condition I have. It isn't threatening, but... some medical thing, I don't recall the details. Essentially, they were a no-go. I had to do it the natural way and for once in my life, I was failing.

"How about we go get a bite to eat, honey?" I said, trying to change the subject. "I saw an interesting local place down the beach a ways, perhaps we could try that out?"

"I guess," she said, still sunk in thought. She sat up, took one last look at the ocean, before joining me. I took her arm in mine and she smiled at me. She knew she was putting pressure on me and I forgave her for it. All unspoken. We were that close, you see. I could read her thoughts and she could read mine.

Getting to the place, we sat outside and waited for a waiter to come over. Finally, one did, an enormous black man, easily 6 foot 6 inches, dressed casually and sporting a rather dishevelled notepad. He looked me up and down then spoke... to Alice.

"What can I get for you today, sweetness?"

I flushed slightly, unhappy with how he was looking at her. She didn't seem to mind though... or she just didn't notice. The man took our orders, barely glancing at me the whole time.

"I'm not sure we should stay, honey," I said when he'd slunk off. "I... I don't like it."

"Come on now, it's fine," she said, touching my hand. "Men will look at me, you know. It is the way of the world. I'm sure women look at you sometimes too. I just know you're all mine and so what if other people look? You're not going to run off with anyone else, are you?"

She laughed as I looked shocked. "No! Of course not, I would never..."

"Relax, come on, he's already got the drinks."

The waiter was indeed returning, brandishing two cocktails on a tray.

"For the prettiest customer I've served today," he said, gingerly placing my wife's glass on the table. "And your one too."

He didn't take any care with mine and some of it even sloshed out onto the table. I flushed again but didn't say anything as he walked off again.

"Okay, well, that was probably uncalled for," Alice smiled. "At least they're efficient. Come on, let's not let him spoil anything. See, the food's here already too!"

I had to give them that, they were remarkably quick. We tucked in and, halfway through, the waiter came over again with some more drinks. As he put mine down, I swear he deliberately let it fall and completely soak my shirt.

I stood up sharply, knocking my chair over, glaring at him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the waiter said, though I didn't think he could have been less apologetic. "You can change in our restrooms if you want."

It was fortunate indeed that we had purchased some spare beach shorts earlier that day and I grumpily walked off with them to the toilets. Returning a few minutes later, I was dismayed to find the waiter sitting next to my wife, chatting to her. There were other customers about, why was he wasting time with her? Unbidden memories threatened to flood back in again, but I pushed them aside. I strode purposefully back to our table and coughed. Then coughed again as neither of them noticed me.

"Oh, hi dear," Alice said, spotting me at last. "Shaun here was just telling me about this wonderful restaurant in town we should go to later. He says it is one of those places the tourists don't really know about, so it is nice and traditional... but it isn't like a dive or anything. It is really nice. His uncle runs it."

"Did he now?" I said, suspiciously.

"Yeah man, you should definitely go check it out," the waiter said, standing and looking down at me from his lofty perch up in the clouds. My goodness, he was tall. "Tell Uncle Sammy that Shaun sent you, he'll give you a nice discount."

"Er, yeah, sure, we might do that," I mumbled, sitting back down. Suddenly, my appetite wasn't what it was, but at least I'd got that man away from Alice. That was something.

I was just raising my glass to my lips - the waiter had brought me a new drink - when I heard a woman shriek behind me. I jumped and almost spilled my drink again, but what I saw when I turned to see who it was chilled the blood in my veins.

It was Melody!

"James! James! Oh, my word, it is you, isn't it?" my ex-wife bellowed as she came over to our table. "My God, how long has it been? Five years? Six?"

"Er, yes, about that. Hello, Melody," I said, glancing at Alice, who was looking at us, slightly bemused.

"Sorry, Melody? Are you... THAT Melody?"

"For my sins!" she chuckled. "Yes, I'm sure you've heard lots about me from... you must be Alice, right? Our James is such a charmer, managing to get himself two gorgeous wives in one lifetime. My, my, James, you fell on your feet with her."

"Er, yes, thank you," Alice said, frowning slightly. "But no, James hasn't told me much about you. I respect his privacy with this, I know it was a difficult period in his life. I know that there was... another man, I think he said. But no, I could see it wasn't something I should press him on."

"Ah, dear sweet Alice," Melody said, sitting with us despite not being invited to do so. "But no, it wasn't a man... it was men, plural. And women. Lots of them. Really quite a lot indeed..."

She grinned at me and I shrank into myself.

"Me... Men? Women?" Alice's turn to look flustered.

"Oh, don't worry, this isn't really the time or the place, is it?" she said, reaching to put her hand on Alice's. I watched with cold fury as she left it there just a hint too long, looking at my wife.

"But yes, anyway," she said, leaning back in her chair. "I am amazed to find you two here! This is one of my favourite little places on the island, they do such lovely food."

I hadn't thought it was particularly special, but I wasn't an expert or anything.

"And, of course, there are some... extras on the menu here that a girl just can't get enough of!" Melody said, eyes twinkling. "Oh... dear Shaun, how good to see you again. My, you are looking buff as ever!"

He bent over to hug my wife, much to my surprise and then - as Alice and I watched in shock and horror - proceeded to French kiss her for at least a minute! Right in front of us both!

After what seemed like forever, they removed their tongues from each other's mouths and carried on as if it hadn't happened.

"I'll see you later, I think, if you've got any more of that... local sausage you keep back especially for me...?"

"We got plenty of that, ma'am," Shaun grinned at my ex-wife and then looked at Alice. "For whoever wants it."

Alice shuddered slightly, but I wasn't sure what the man was trying to say.

"Er, yes, thank you, Shaun," I said. "I think we'll probably be going now. We've got a tour of..."

"Oh nonsense!" Melody interrupted. "Look, you can't expect a girl to come away on holiday without going shopping, right? I remember you, James, you weren't one for shopping sprees... and I think little Alice here, she likes to indulge occasionally, am I right?"

"Well, I do like it from time to time," Alice admitted. I wasn't happy where this was going.

"Hey, so, why don't I take lovely Alice here on a big shopping binge, get souvenirs, clothes, all that stuff... and you go play golf. You still play, right?"

I had to admit the idea was tempting. Golf always relaxed me, regardless of how well I played. Maybe it would help with...

"Okay, sure, I can do that. I'll ask at the hotel, see if there's anywhere I can go play."

"Fantastic! Oh, we're all going to have such a wonderful time, aren't we, Alice?"

"Er, yeah, I guess? You sure you're okay with this, darling?"

See, if I'd had as much skill reading my wife as I said earlier, I'd have seen she was looking for a lifeline, a way to back away from this overpowering woman that had entered her life and re-joined mine. But I was distracted by the golf idea and so I missed this cue. I look back on it now and... yeah, I kinda wish I'd spotted it.

So off I went back to the hotel, my wife tagging along meekly with Melody, who was talking and using her arms expressively as she did so. You know, I said before that I wouldn't... but now I guess I should probably tell you about her, now she has entered my tale. I first met Melody in the local library of all places when I was 22. She was 19 and enrolled at the university. They had a far superior library, of course, but she said that she liked the feeling of the local one in our town more than the big place on campus. I guess I could see that and one thing led to another and we went on a date.

This might surprise you, but she was really shy. And really bookish. She was pretty, but she did it behind loose clothing, conservative hairstyles and so on. Still, there was something about her that attracted me - other than me not having had a girlfriend for quite a while at that point. I'd like to think I helped her out of her shell and, over the time we dated, she started to become more confident in herself.

Eventually she graduated, but she didn't want to go home. She wanted to stay with me... so we married. We were both so happy and I marvelled at the confident young woman my Melody was becoming. However, as can happen with this sort of thing, the girl I'd first met was growing to become someone else as she blossomed. As I've said, she started to wear more... confident clothing, stuff that showed more flesh than I was comfortable with. One day, I came home and found her sunbathing on the balcony of our flat in the nude!

I didn't say anything because I'd always wanted her to be confident in herself, to be bubbly and outgoing... but this struck me as maybe a bit too much. I resolved to keep an eye on her. I didn't have to wait long for the next incident - again I came home and found her nude on the balcony... but this time her friend Janet was there. And she was naked too! I cried out in surprised when I saw them and Melody raised her sunhat from her eyes, saw me, smiled, then put it back in place. Janet didn't even blink, just continued lying there, soaking up the sun.

For an hour I paced up and down in our bedroom, running crazy thoughts all through my mind. Was she a lesbian? Was she having an affair with a woman? Was she just so comfortable now that she didn't care about people seeing her body? I remember the first time I saw her naked, it took a long time to get her to that point. And she kept instinctively covering herself! And now she was lying outside with a random woman!

Ironically, it was me that was becoming more introverted, shyer. I ended up not confronting her about it, afraid of upsetting her or jeopardising our marriage. I think she took it as an acceptance, but maybe she didn't care. I mean, she had every right to do what she did... that time, anyway.

Not the next time, however. A week later, I came home and she was in our lounge, clad only in an almost negligible bikini ensemble, chatting with two men! I'd never met them before, but Melody introduced them as Clive and Roman. I was uncomfortable, but she didn't pay any attention to that. She said they were her "new friends" she'd met in town that day. Well, I mumble a hello and then disappeared with the groceries into the kitchen. She made no move to help me.

I was packing away the things when Roman came in. Bold as you like, he opened the refrigerator and helped himself to a beer. Cracking it open, he took a big gulp then, noticing I was looking at him, turned to speak to me.

"Ah, I think you are being... James, yes?" he said in an eastern European accent. "Yes, I remember name... you are Melody's... flatmate? I think she say that."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and was just about to reply when something stopped me. I don't know what and maybe it would have been better had I corrected him. Instead, I said nothing.

"Hmm, yes, your friend Melody. Very nice girl, very nice. She came to our bar - we run bar in town - today and said she wanted... oh, I forget words... sorry."

I shrugged, not knowing what to say.

"Yes, I remember now," he said, raising his beer and taking another swig. "She wanted to meet more men in neighbourhood. Make friends, yes? She very friendly. We say we be her friends, but she also want... er, camera? Yes, make video."

"A video? What of?"

He ignored my question. "She said we do video later this week. We just come around to... do measure for angles and stuff."

"I'm... I'm confused, sorry. Why did she go to a bar to ask to make a video?"

"Ah yes, apologies, she... girlfriend of Melody tell her we also make videos for people, it is good money. She already pay us good money, so we make video, yes?"

"Wait... money? Why... never mind." I was bemused. I was still starting out in my career and she didn't have a job at the moment, so blowing money on... videos? That was very unusual. Reckless, even. I couldn't just ignore this... but also, how could I even broach the subject?

"Yes, we bring the people she wants here next week in morning. We do video, clear up, everything done nice and easy."

"Er, yeah, sounds good..."

"Yes, I go back in now. Will see you later, flatmate man, I am sure."

He left me alone and, slowly, I packed the rest of the stuff away. What the hell was going on? I decided (again) not to mention it to Melody, instead hatching a plan to discover what was going on myself. She didn't mention the video once, but I had to think she was unconcerned as to whether I knew about it or not. So, would she be angry if I were to come in and disturb whatever was happening? Maybe it was a surprise for me? I cudgelled my brains for a few days thinking about what I could do and then it hit me - I would video the video.

I've always been a dab hand with electronics, so it was simple to install a couple of hidden cameras in the flat while Melody was out. I had them all recording and feeding the captured footage through to my computer, which I would monitor remotely from my office. I tested it a few times it worked well.

All I had to do then was wait.