For You

Disclaimers

If you find any errors, please remember that I am striving to include something for everyone, and some people are always looking for mistakes.

This is a story. It is not a story about what you would do in this situation, or even what you think should be done. There would be no point in writing a story where everyone's reaction is the same. This overlooks the individuality of the characters and what they, as created by the author, would do. That may not align with what you would do. Please try to keep that in mind when reading.

No sex in this one. Sorry.

Word Count: 3,344

* * * * *

Gretchen Johnson considered the worst possible scenario.

The explanations were reasonable. Her husband, Cameron (Cam for short), was recently having to work late a couple of times a week, and was also often unavailable to speak with her at lunch, being told he was in meetings. He was a junior vice-president in his company and both he and the company saw him with a bright future.

He told her that they were just busy, some new clients they were trying to sign were making demands and he was being asked to accommodate them. It was for his future, their future, he told her, and she wanted to believe him, but for some reason she didn't. Call it a gut feeling, call it women's intuition, but she was sure there was more to the story.

She didn't want to believe he was cheating on her but she couldn't help it. She would get a whiff of perfume, just a whiff, but when she smelled his shirts while doing the laundry there was nothing there. Had she imagined it? There were no strange charges on the credit cards or money missing from the bank account. Nothing except a feeling.

Until.

Until Maria stopped by one morning after Cam had gone to work. She had been at dinner with her husband last night and had seen Cam at dinner with a woman. She was very beautiful and dressed to kill. Cam had been in his suit, though his tie was missing. They were sitting alone in the back and speaking quietly, intimately.

It could have been a business meeting, but the woman's dress screamed sex, not business. On the other hand, there were no intimate touches across the small table, no gestures of affection except a brief kiss on the cheek when they parted ways at the end of the meal.

Gretchen worked part-time. She considered being Cam's wife to be her primary job, but she also wanted to contribute to the finances herself. Cam didn't ask her to contribute to their monthly expenses, so she used the money she made to treat herself. A new outfit now and again, or a spa day. Perhaps lunch with her friends. She felt better about herself when she made the money she spent on herself.

But Maria's report was fueling those fires. Gretchen knew she was an attractive woman but Cam was, oh God, Cam was a wet dream. They had been married for 12 years and she loved him more every day. His love for her had never seemed to falter, even that fateful day 4 years ago when the doctors told them she couldn't carry children.

Had that changed? Had Cam decided he needed a child and was seeking her replacement, or at least someone that could give him a baby? Would he leave her for the other woman? Or worse, expect her to raise his child, her failure as a woman being thrust in her face every single day?

She didn't spend all her money. She had a tidy savings, thinking she might want to do something special for Cam one day and wanting the funds available, whatever it might prove to be. Did she want to take the next step? Had things gone so far that she needed to have her husband followed? She didn't want to believe they had but the anxiety was eating at her.

She had to know the truth and asking him would do no good. He'd obviously created the cover story -- new clients, meetings, work-related -- and that would be his answer now as well. No, she would have to take that next, horrible step and hope that it was nothing.

She had no idea how to hire a private investigator. She decided it would be like anything else these days: find it on the internet. There were several listings and she just looked at them over and over until one stood out to her. She hadn't thought about it ahead of time but selected one that specialized in female operatives. She wasn't sure why but suddenly that seemed important. She called and was invited to come by that afternoon.

Gretchen signed the contract and paid the fee. She provided Cam's picture and information about his work and regular schedule. She felt terrible even as she did it but she had to find out the truth. She prepaid for a week of surveillance and they would decide if anything further was needed after that.

The week went much the same as the last several had gone. Cam had some meetings during lunch and a couple of evening ones as well. The pictures from lunch seemed like business meetings, in the sense that both Cam and the woman were dressed professionally. And again, no intimate touches except for the cheek kiss at the end.

The woman was pretty, no doubt about that. Her hair was dark blonde, almost brown, and had an attractive face that didn't have, nor require, much makeup. The business suit she wore didn't give much away about her body. She seemed to have decent sized breasts and was certainly slimly built, but no detail could really be discerned.

The evening shots, however, were something different. While Cam was dressed as Maria had described him the time she had seen him, with his suit still on but the tie off, the woman, the same woman, was dressed much different. The clothes weren't slutty, just more 'night out' than 'day at work'.

Gretchen gleaned more about her physically from these pictures. Her breasts were definitely on the larger side, probably C's but maybe small D's. The skirt went to her knees but the calves that extended to her CFM heels were slim but muscular, and well-shaped. She was a very attractive woman and Gretchen certainly couldn't fault Cam for his choice. Not that it made her feel any better.

They always went their separate ways at the end of the meal. No motels, which Gretchen already knew, but no trips out to the car or back to the woman's place. She assumed they were doing it somewhere else, maybe in his office (there was that couch...) or hers. The PI couldn't follow them there.

The operative had tried to get some sort of damning audio, but the conversations were all benign in nature. At lunch they spoke mostly of business, and the woman talked about some health issues her father was having. Her name was Allison and she appeared to be around 30 years old. Cam and Gretchen were each 35, with Cam just 3 months older. The conversations at dinner weren't much different, although the transcripts showed Cam had mentioned her a couple times in passing.

It was clear that the evening meetings Cam was having were with this woman, and when he let her know that Tuesday that he would be having another evening 'business meeting' she was ready. She didn't plan to go in guns blazing, but a confrontation was called for and it would be a spectacle.

Over the course of the week they'd used different restaurants for their meetings, so Gretchen arranged to borrow a friend's car and waited outside Cam's office. She had pulled her hair up and was wearing dark glasses, neither of which she was prone to do normally, and she hoped Cam wouldn't recognize her.

He came out of his office a little after 6:00 and went to his car. She followed him as close as she could, not wanting to lose him but not wanting to be spotted. She breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled into the parking lot for Devereaux's, a steak and seafood place. She parked where she could see the entrance and watched Cam walk in.

She waited about 15 minutes for the woman to arrive before deciding she had probably already been inside. She got out of the car and walked to the restaurant, but rather than going inside she went around the building, looking in windows to see if she could find where they were sitting and make sure they were there.

She finally saw them, seated near the back. She felt a tear leak from one eye as she gave in to the sadness for just a moment. Intellectually, she could understand Cam's desire for a woman that could give him a child, but why did he have to do it like this? Why couldn't he have been honest with her and given her the dignity of a divorce rather than sneaking around.

She made a mental note of where they were seated and made her way to the front entrance. She caught the eye of the hostess and let her know that the party she was meeting was already seated and she would find her way. The hostess just smiled and nodded her head.

Gretchen made one wrong turn but soon saw the table where her cheating bastard of a husband was sitting with the husband-stealing slut. She was still about 10 feet from the table when Allison...that was her name, right...saw her coming. The look on Gretchen's face must have telegraphed her destination because Allison never lost eye contact and then said something to Cam. He turned around and saw his wife storming toward them, and smiled

What the fuck? Why in the hell was he smiling? Or was it laughing? Was he laughing at her? No matter, she charged ahead.

"This is damnedest business meeting I've ever seen, Cameron!"

"Gretch, what are you doing here?"

"Catching you cheating on me, you bastard."

"It's not what you're thinking, Gretchen." Allison tried to interject.

"Shut up, slut!" Gretchen screeched.

This wasn't how Gretchen wanted this to go. She had wanted to remain relatively calm and retain some decorum, but her emotions had gotten the better of her. She was aware of some staff coming her way to deal with the confrontation.

"Gretchen, please," her husband said, in a calm and reasonable voice. "It really isn't what you think."

"You're sitting here in an expensive restaurant with a hot, younger woman after telling me you'd be in a business meeting and you really expect me to believe it's not what I think?"

Allison stood up quickly, holding her hand up to the approaching restaurant staff to forestall their charge, and spoke quietly and firmly.

"Gretchen, please just sit down and have a drink and listen before you say or do anything you'll regret."

Cam quickly grabbed an empty chair from a nearby table and slid it behind Gretchen, bumping the back of her knees ever so slightly to get them to bend and cause her to sit down. She plopped into the chair, the fight seemed to leave her, and she started to cry. Allison ordered her a glass of wine, one Gretchen may have ordered for herself. She assumed this was a coincidence.

Cam was rubbing his wife's back to help her calm down. Gretchen was trying to get herself together. She had been angry with how she had lost control. She hadn't wanted to come off as desperate to keep her husband but that was exactly how she appeared, at least to her. She was so embarrassed, probably far more so than Cam or Allison were. There was no way he'd want to stay with her now.

"Are you okay, Gretchen? Have you calmed down so we can talk?"

This from the slut, but she was being very kind and concerned that it was hard to think of her like that. Maybe she was the nice kind of man-stealer, one that wouldn't fuck the man until she had completely taken him away. Now that was a ridiculous thought.

"I...I guess so."

"Cameron and I met about a month ago," Allison said as she seemed to be searching for something on her phone. "It started when he posted a profile and a picture on a dating website."

"What the hell?" Gretchen grunted, trying to keep the volume down so the staff wouldn't come toss her out. "You're a married man, Cameron! The least you could..."

"Gretchen, look," Allison interrupted her rant.

Gretchen took Allison's phone and stared at it for a minute. The picture was of a woman, so Gretchen first thought this was Allison's profile. But she looked at it closer and couldn't make sense of it.

"What am I looking at?" Gretchen asked, confusedly.

"That's the profile he posted," Allison responded.

"Do you recognize the underwear?" Cam asked gently.

Gretchen looked at it more closely and her memory banks started to connect the dots.

"That's the set you gave me for our anniversary. That's one of your favorite pictures of me."

"Yes, it is. And do you see the category at the top?"

Gretchen looked to the top of the screen and there it was, clear as day.

Women seeking Women

She felt Allison's hand gently appear on her arm.

"I'm not for him, Gretchen. I'm for you."

Allison pressed a button on the phone screen and the display changed. Her picture was no longer there and it was replaced by a bunch of words. Gretchen read the screen.

The woman in the picture is my wife. I love her very much and am seeking a girlfriend or lover for her. In the interest of full disclosure, she does not know I'm doing this and I am unsure how she'll react. But I know this is something she wants, maybe needs, and won't do for herself.

"I don't understand, Cam. Why would you do this?"

"Do you remember several months ago when you asked me to get that virus off your laptop?" She nodded. "Well, when I was doing that I stumbled on the lesbian porn you had saved. The obvious reason it was there was because you liked to watch it. That was the source of the virus, by the way."

"But that doesn't mean..."

"And then I found your electronic diary."

"You read my diary!" Gretchen nearly yelled, managing to restrain herself at the last moment.

"In it I found that you loved me very much but your desire to be with another woman again was growing more and more intense."

Gretchen lifted her head to look her husband in the eyes.

"I was with women in college. I liked it a lot, but didn't realize how much."

"You wrote that you didn't want to do it behind my back but couldn't bring yourself to risk our marriage by bringing it up. You found yourself fantasizing about women you'd seen, and even some of our friends, and you were masturbating to those thoughts."

"Oh my God, I'm so embarrassed."

"You don't need to be, baby. I understand completely."

"You do?"

"Yes, I do. I'm sorry for having lied to you but I wanted this to be a surprise. After communicating with a few women, most of whom thought it was a scam of some kind, I got a message from Allison. She believed me and was interested, and we started meeting so I could get to know her to see if you two were compatible."

"I thought you were cheating on me."

"You made that obvious earlier. We were just starting to make plans to introduce you to each other. I guess tonight is as good a time as any."

Cam excused himself and left the women alone to talk.

"I'm sorry I called you a slut."

"Yeah, well, you weren't necessarily wrong. I'm just not that kind of slut."

They both laughed, breaking the tension.

"I was so scared he was leaving me."

"Gretchen, he loves you so much. What he did should tell you that. I promise you that man will never leave you. And I believe I can say the same about you."

"I'm his forever. So, what now?"

"Cameron's ad said he was looking for someone for you long-term. Meaning he's not just looking for someone for you to have sex with but for someone you can have a long-lasting relationship with. That's why we met so many times, so he could be as sure as he could that we'd be compatible."

"Can I ask you some questions?"

"Of course."

"Are you married?"

"No. I was married for two years and I've been divorced for five. I learned that living with another person wasn't for me. I don't want other people in my space, at least not permanently. That's why Cam's ad appealed to me. You and I can go out, spend some time together, and at the end of it I go back to my place."

"How old are you?"

"31. 32 in 2 months."

"You're a lesbian?"

"I guess bisexual would work best. I prefer women, certainly, but I've had sex with men and enjoyed it."

"Were you married to a man or a woman?"

"A man. I was in heavy denial about my sexuality for a long time. I thought I had to marry a man and have kids to be of value. Let's just say I don't speak with my parents much anymore."

"Allison, I'll be completely honest with you. I'm excited about this, I really am. You're beautiful and I trust that Cam thinks we're compatible. But I wouldn't be comfortable having a part of my life that didn't include him. Would you be comfortable with including him sometimes?"

"You mean sexually?"

"And probably just spending time together, too, but I was asking about sex."

"He's a good-looking guy, Gretchen. As long as you don't have a problem I certainly won't have a problem with it. In fact, I've got quite a collection of toys that we can use to really make things interesting."

* * * * *

Cameron was just relaxing in bed. It had been a couple hours since he had left his wife at the restaurant with Allison, and he considered this a good sign. They must have hit it off.

His heart had broken when he read Gretchen's diary. It spoke to the pain she felt at finding out she couldn't bear children, but how much his love had sustained her. As time had passed she found herself growing more and more interested in being with a woman, but she couldn't possibly repay her husband's steadfast dedication to her by doing something like that. So, she had suffered in silence, watching lesbian porn and satisfying her urges as best she could, when she could.

He was just about to call it a night when he heard the front door open. He waited eagerly to hear how things had gone but patiently allowed time for his wife to join him in the bedroom. He was surprised when both women entered through the bedroom door.

"I brought her home to join us."

"I got her for you, Gretch, not us."

Gretchen walked over to her husband, who was now sitting up, and planted a long, hot kiss.

"This is a community-property state, Cameron. That means that whatever is mine is yours, too, and I intend to share her very fairly."

Gretchen went back to Allison and took her hand, pulling her over to the bed. Cam watched in wonder as the clothing both women had been wearing tumbled to the floor, followed quickly by their bras and panties. Cam was tenting the sheets as two beautiful naked women crawled over to him like lioness' on the hunt.

* * * * *

As they lay in the bed enjoying the afterglow, Gretchen was truly content, like she hadn't been for a long time. She was finally able to really express herself, and she had her husband to thank. Her wonderful, glorious, understanding husband.

"I love you Cameron."

"I love you, too, Gretchen."

Allison listened to the expressions of love of her bedmates and she, too, realized she had found a place that suited her, where she could bask in the love of people she cared for and yet retain her independence. She was looking forward to a long, fruitful, and mutually beneficial relationship with both Gretchen and Cameron.

* * * * *

La Fine

* * * * *

Afterword

Inspiration: The idea for this came from various stories that included a misunderstanding. In some cases, the wife assumed the husband was cheating on her and got revenge prematurely before finding out they were mistaken. Or husbands who thought their wives were cheating only to find out there was an innocent explanation. Or whatever.

Permission: I hereby give my permission to anyone interested in writing a follow-up or alternate version of any one of my stories. Please just remember to give credit where credit is due. I'm not always very diligent about checking my email for permission requests.