Her Other Life

I felt lightheaded and even when I closed my eyes, I could still see little sparks across my vision. I must have swooned because the next thing I knew it was just after 10:00p.m. I picked up my phone from where it had fallen on the floor, swapped to the received texts folder and pulled up the response Dave had sent after receiving my original lie. "Too bad. Going out for my birthday with friends." Was that my doom as well? To have a hollow celebration of my big day with friends? What friends? The only one I still had from my old work group was Wendy, and she was obsessed with trying to get her husband back. Of my new work friends, only Peta had showed anything like friendship since everything exploded and even she hadn't visited or offered a shoulder to cry on for God knows how long.

I spent a few minutes feeling sorry for myself. Then my self-preserving delusions gave up the fight. Dave was replicating exactly what I'd done to him on his birthday. A wave of nausea came over me when I remembered what I'd been doing at 10:15p.m., on the night of his birthday. I'd been in bed with John. I nearly passed out again. No way. Dave would never do that to me... but he probably thought exactly the same of me. I screamed. I screamed until the sparks were back from lack of oxygen. Then I slumped sideways on the couch. I have no idea how long I lay there, running the movie that was my memories of the last four months. One stood out as odder than the rest. When I'd come out of the bathroom naked, in a hotel an hour and a half from home, to find Dave sitting on my bed, the loop strap of his little digital camera sticking out of his pocket. I'd taken no notice at the time. Why a camera? It all fell into place. He'd known all along. He'd used the find-a-phone function to come into my hotel room in the hopes of taking photos for evidence. I hadn't wondered at the time how he'd got in. He must have been issued a key by reception. Luckily, John wasn't there at the time.

I remembered Dave's behaviour that night. After a room service dinner, he'd cuddled me to sleep. So, he only suspected me at the time. No solid proof. Otherwise, no way could he have stood to cuddle me. I imagined him quietly opening the door and creeping in to that hotel room, intending to quietly sneak out after he heard me in the bathroom, before repeating the whole process later. The heavy hotel door slamming shut accidentally, preventing his quiet withdrawal. Was it possible he still only had suspicions and this was all just an exercise to show me how it felt, for the person you love to forget your birthday? It's amazing the straws a desperate mind will clutch at.

Thus, partially relaxed, my brain remembered both our phones had the find-a-phone function enabled. I went online to see how it worked and tried it. Nothing. Five more minutes' research showed it didn't work if the target phone was turned off. If Dave was replicating my behaviour, minus the sex, I fervently hoped, he would turn his phone back on tomorrow morning, send me an apology and turn up about midday. I had no intention of dancing to that tune. I did some more research and initialised another function that sent me an alarm when his phone was next turned on. Then I would go to wherever he was. It didn't matter if I had to pull him over between here and his jobsite. I was going to drag him into the bushes on the side of the road and fuck his brains out.

I must have zoned out for a while because I was roused by an unfamiliar chime from my phone. There was a map and flashing point on the screen. I glanced at the clock. Nearly midnight. It must be another coincidence that on THAT night, I'd checked my phone about the same time. There was plenty of fuel in my car to drive the two or so hours to where he was working. I zoomed out to see what town he was in. The cheeky prick was in our town. He must have checked into a motel to play his trick. There were no motels in that neighbourhood though. He must be staying at a friend's. No matter, I could drag him out and either do the deed in the back seat of his truck or wait until we got home.

Suddenly, the map disappeared. His phone had been turned off again. No matter, I'd remembered the street name. I'd just cruise it until I spotted his truck. Which was parked in a driveway, next to a familiar looking car. Must be one of his friends. All the lights were off, but I rang the doorbell anyway. It was almost a minute before a very bedraggled Dave answered the door. His hair was matted with sweat and his face glowed. He was shirtless but in the nylon boxers he used as pyjamas. As I glanced down, I noticed the impressive tent effect that every other time I'd seen it, instantly made me wet. This time, however, the implications were horrific. I slumped against the doorframe. It was either that or fall over. Dave looked at me with a grim smile. I can only guess at the stricken look on my face.

"Yes, that's exactly how I felt when I found out about you and John."

I knew my mouth was opening and closing as he led me, speechless, into the house and installed me on the couch. He went into the kitchen and returned with a glass of water and an A4 sheet of paper. The side facing me was blank.

He didn't say anything as I guzzled the water. Just sat opposite me, with a neutral expression on his face. My mind raced. What did he know for sure? It may have been two or three minutes before I was settled enough to try the only path I had left. Bluff on a very weak hand.

"I... I don't know what you think you know about me and John."

With a sigh, my husband turned the sheet of paper to show me the other side. It was a photograph and I clearly recognised an overhead view of my own bed. Dave's bed. It showed John's torso leaning over my back, mercifully obscuring his cock buried in my anus. His left hand was gripping my kidney area. The right was firmly on the back of my head, pushing it into the pillow. Dave's pillow.

Instantly, every argument I could, or ever would come up with, was blown out of the water. I knew everything but surrendering to his mercy was a complete waste of time. I knew that with the same surety that I knew if I held my breath, I would pass out two minutes later. I just dropped my gaze from the disgusting sight and awaited my fate which I now knew was well out of my hands.

"I warned you about him, didn't I? But you thought you were too clever to get trapped, didn't you?"

I didn't even consider answering that.

"For the record, I knew instantly when you returned home that first time. I didn't need to hear you shout, "No, John", when I came home and tried to start something that night. I'd just returned from screwing your friend Julie as a thank you for her telling me she'd seen John groping your ass and kissing you in his office. I was disappointed when you turned me down that night. I'd always wanted to fuck two girls in one day. No, that had to wait until I came back from screwing Paula as a thank you for telling me what happened at the bar. You remember that night, don't you? It was the night you had four flat tyres. I was going to give it to you as soon as I got home, but decided that was a little cheeky. So, I waited until you were asleep, washed up a little, then banged you. I have to say, that as an experience, it's a little over-rated. Christ, Lisa, were you so self-absorbed you didn't even notice that I suddenly just banged you like a whore?"

He stopped so I could answer but I was still staring at the floor, too totally overwhelmed to talk.

"Glenda and Jackie were happy for just a grateful fuck when they told me about you proudly walking through the office with John's cum on your lips. That was a relief. Your old friend Sophie was hoping for a relationship with me after I fucked her. That was the night you were sleeping off your bonus celebration. Come on, Lisa. You can't have been stupid enough to think you could come home from girl's nights with different panties on than you'd left with and not smelling of alcohol? Do you think me so unobservant that I didn't hear you yell out, "Come in, John", when I came to the hotel that time, or see you come out of the bathroom naked, or the dress you'd laid out to wear? Also, for the record, I know your period starts when your pills tell it to, not three days before. How stupid do you think I am?"

His voice was starting to rise, so he paused to settle down. I wondered if the pain he'd been feeling was anything like as big as that which I was right now.

"I'd like to say it was tearing me up, watching your fear and guilt eating you alive, while I was banging my way down your friend list, completely guilt free. But I'm not that good a liar, Lisa. I'm about as good as you at that. It was one of the things we shared that I always used to treasure."

This time when he stopped, I instinctively knew he was going to stay silent until I responded. He was calm and in command again. My desperate mind, however, was spinning like a flywheel that had broken its mount—erratically and completely out of control. Slowly, the chaos subsided and focused on one faint glimmer of hope. Dave had let my guilt be my punishment, and in case that wasn't enough, had had as much revenge sex as he could handle. Thus assured I would never do anything like this ever, ever again, he'd brought things to a head so we could move forward.

"So, we're going to be alright, aren't we, Dave. We can get past this?"

Finally, his self-possession snapped. He leapt to his feet and shouted this time.

"No, of course not, you stupid bitch! What part of our relationship ever made you think it could survive an affair? Especially after I'd warned you about John? I consider our marriage ended months ago. This is just the execution."

He slumped back on his chair and I heard him struggling to get his breathing back under control. That gave me time to think. Not about the future though, that was too painful.

"If you've known that long, why didn't you say something? Why didn't you leave me?"

He'd obviously managed to rein in his emotions. His voice was again deadpan and... cold.

"I've seen men who leave in a huff and live lonely miserable lives. Loveless, trustless and alone. I was getting my meals cooked, my house cleaned, sex with my wife whenever I chose and all her friends. Plus, I felt destroyed, so I enjoyed hanging around to see my destroyer, destroy herself. It was cathartic. Plus..."

He paused at that point for a long moment. I knew there was more unpleasantness to come.

"Have you checked our bank account lately or checked our mortgage statement? No, of course you haven't. You've been so obsessed, keeping your little secret that you've done nothing else. Today just happens to be the three-month anniversary of when I withdrew just enough from the mortgage account that the house will break even when we sell it. Then I donated the cash from that, plus most of our savings to charity. We're both starting again with nothing, Lisa. My lawyer says those donations can't be clawed back after three months. Good luck trying."

If Dave thought that would devastate me, he was wrong. I didn't give a shit about material things. Only about him.

"So, if you knew about my affair months ago, why did you only stop sleeping with me in the last month? What changed?"

"What changed was when my new girlfriend asked me to stop sleeping with you. In fact, it was that insistence that showed me what she was really like and made me sure she was the one I wanted to settle down with. She has the same values I have and the same values you used to have. I'll tell you, rumours weren't enough for her. She demanded proof you were cheating before she even let me consummate our love. That brand new smoke detector with a camera in it above our bed and one fishing trip was all it took. Embarrassingly easy really. I must say, you haven't missed one opportunity to disappoint me in the last four months."

Bizarrely, I knew the blame was 100 percent mine but I was getting angry. I like to be the one in control; you've probably figured that out by now. I'd accepted that I'd been played by John, a master schemer, for four months. The fact that Dave had manipulated me, like a pawn on a chess board, as well, just made it all so unbearable. I lashed out to show him, and myself, I suppose, that he would never fully control me. Fuelling that anger was the knowledge he'd never given me, us, a chance. I was written off on day one. It was my turn to get angry.

"Well, don't try to get me fired and don't even think about telling John's wife to try to split them up. He's already told his wife you've gone mad and will try to level false accusations against us. She'll never believe you."

I stared defiantly at him, hoping to see some sign I'd got through that hard, controlled exterior. No such luck. He just sighed again.

"Yes, that was a challenge. I think you'll be impressed with the way we solved that particular problem, or should I say, how you solved that particular problem for us. You'll find out soon enough."

We stared at each other across the gulf that separated us. This was the end and we both knew it.

"Why don't you just walk away, Lisa? Let's stop now and preserve whatever memories we can."

This was said in a sad voice that spoke directly to my soul. I dropped my eyes again and nodded. Steeling myself, I stood and headed for the door. Dave beat me there and held it open. I walked through and half way down the path to the gate. There I stopped and turned around. If I had any doubts that the situation could ever have been salvaged, they ended there and then. David was staring after me, eyes glistening with tears. Wrapped around him, keeping him on his feet, was Peta, staring daggers at me. As I watched, she turned a look of pride towards him. Her man had done a difficult job of work, and done it well.

I drove home, beyond tears. I raced into our, no, my house and went straight to the liquor cabinet and drank myself unconscious as quickly as possible. It would hurt tomorrow, but tomorrow was another day. I had to survive the night.

I woke early the next morning to a pounding head and an even louder pounding on the front door. I stumbled to the latter, wrenched it open, and immediately shielded my eyes from the bright light. That's what saved me from the full impact of the slap John's wife aimed at my face. Stunned, I dropped my guard.

"Slut! Just because you confessed your affair with my husband last night, did you think you weren't going to get what's coming to you?"

Even if I'd not been severely hungover, I would still have been confused as all hell. I figured out later, that some woman, probably Peta, had rung John's wife, pretending to be me, and confessed to having an affair with John. With my mental and physical guard down, her next slap lifted me off my feet and deposited me on my ass in the hall. Ironic really. Now both husband and wife had bruised my ass. All I could do was watch as she strode away towards the street and her car. Halfway back, she faltered, then fell to her knees sobbing. Three small figures jumped from her car and rushed to her. Two boys, between about five and seven, beat a girl of about nine. They all wrapped themselves around their grieving mother. The girl looked at me with an expression of pure hate. I'd often thought of the effects of my affair being discovered on Dave and myself. I'd even spared a thought for John's wife every now and then. I'd never once thought of her children. It was a look I knew I'd remember for the rest of my life. The way my mind was feeling at the moment, that probably wouldn't be that far away.

The rest of that week was just a blur. I was roused on the Tuesday, I think, by the new manager of John's company. She fired me over the phone. Bugger. Now I was awake and sober. I'd vowed not to do that until the pain had gone.

On Wednesday, there was an article on the front page of the local newspaper that was on the porch. The headline read WIFE SACKS HUSBAND SUES FOR DIVORCE AND DAMAGE TO COMPANY REPUTATION. I guess John's wife had some hard feelings for him as well.

It must have been at least two months later that I next saw David. At least there were spring bulbs flowering in the park where I saw him. He was sitting on a bench with Peta and John's wife. The eldest two children were playing on the playground. The youngest boy was being bounced violently up and down on David's knee. Squeals of delight, and shouts of, "Faster, horsey, faster," were echoing around the park. Even from a distance I could see the looks on David and Peta's faces. They would be parents as soon as possible. I put my head down and re-started towards the liquor store.

EPILOGUE

Ten months later.

"Good evening, sir, madam. Welcome to our annual party. I'm Susan Smith, can I ask your names?"

"We are David and Peta Ferrand."

"Ah, our VIPs."

"VIPs? Why? To tell you the truth, my wife and I are a little confused why we were even invited."

"Surely someone told you, sir. You were one of our major benefactors last year. Your loan of capital netted us over $24,000 dollars in interest. That allowed us to provide beds for at least six homeless people all year. You're here to be spoiled and hopefully gently pressured into leaving it with us for another year."

"Ah, that's it. I'm sorry to disappoint you but we'll need at least some of it back. We'll be needing a bigger house soon, as you can see."

"Yes, I can. Congratulations. Ferrand? Ferrand, where have I heard that name recently? Do you have any relatives around here, David?"

"No, none at all."

"I've got it now. It's one of our clients. Well, you have a lovely evening, people."

~THE END~

Friends. This is my second attempt at writing a story about a woman that has an extremely stressful affair while her husband is guiltlessly banging her friends after he finds out. I keep getting distracted and don't know if I've succeeded yet. Perhaps you can comment.

Maybe some of you will not like that Dave surrendered the moral high ground by screwing around while still married. To be honest, that twinged my conscience a little when writing it. I guess that begs the question: At what precise moment are vows negated and a marriage end?

See you later and stay loyal.

The author known as Vandemonium1.

Now lighten up.

An 18yo goes for a job in a general store. It's Friday. The owner asks him if he's done sales before. No is the answer.

The owner tells the kid that the secret is to not only sell them what they want, but something ex--tra-- as well. A customer walks in and the owner demonstrates.

"Good morning, sir. Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for cladding nails."

"Here you go, sir, they're $2.50. What is Sir building?"

"A shade house."

"Can I interest you in this weeks' special, shade cloth?"

Five minutes later the customer walks out with $200 worth of shade cloth. The owner goes up to the boy.

"See, he came in for $2.50 worth of nails and ended up buying $200 worth of shade cloth. You have a go at that customer over there."

The boy does as indicated.

"Good morning, sir. Can I help you?"

"Yes, I'm looking for tampons."

"Here you are, sir, that will be $3. Can I interest you in this weeks' special, lawnmowers?"

"Why would I want a lawnmower?"

"Well, your weekends' screwed, you may as well mow the lawn."

😊