Hotel Reception Confrontation

"You were just too perfect. You were never late, even by one minute, that's not like you. You're sometimes five or ten minutes late when it doesn't matter. You always phoned well before time if you were working late and I'm sure if I checked you were always working. You asked me to pick you up when you went out for the evening, you've never done that before. I generally offered but you almost insisted and you're always waiting for me. I didn't have to ease you out like I normally did. And when you went out for an evening you dressed down, dowdy, not smart like normal.

"You even asked me to help you pack your clothes so I could see there was nothing sexy in there. You've never done that before. Did Dee have your sexy lingerie then?"

"No there wasn't any, I just took the nightgown you saw me pack. I normally sleep naked, you know that but that didn't seem right with another man."

She looked down at her tea and said quietly. "So, we weren't as smart as we thought we were. Shit I feel so stupid for following Dee's advice." She looked at me and carried on. "And you warned me so many times. What an utter fool I have been." Tears were pouring down her face dropping into her tea.

She pulled herself together, took the sip of the cold tea and grimaced. "I was having doubts about going through with it, when that receptionist looked at me, she could tell that I was going to cheat on my husband. And if she saw it so would you, you would know and it would hurt you and you would leave me. Then it hit me that it was so wrong on every level.

"Sweetheart, I'll do anything, I'll sign a postnuptial agreement with a solicitor sorting it out, I will leave with nothing. I'll do anything. I'd rather not but if you insist, I'll even tell my Mum and Dad and yours and if you take me back it will make me look bad and you look better."

I wouldn't do that to the oldies, any of them.

Shellie carried on. "It's no excuse. I can't even say I didn't know what I was thinking, I knew exactly what I was thinking. That you would never know about it. It would not hurt you and it would be an experience for me. I like planning, you know that, and I got wound up in the planning for this, but not seeing where it would end, and every time I had doubts Dee had a reasonable alternative reason or excuse. I'm sorry sweetheart I was so wrong,"

The big question. "Why?" I asked.

"It was for the experience. You would never find out and you would never get hurt. Dee ensured me it would be safe and fun. I've never had anybody but you and it was only going to be the once. Dee convinced me it was worth the risk as the risk was so low, as long as we planned it carefully. Because she had done it, we knew all the pitfalls. I now think Dee was probably drunk on the fact she got away with it, and it would be the same for me, and that she would have company somebody who cheated on their husband with Harold. Sorry, that's just hindsight that's just come to me."

"So what were you going to do when you decided not to go through with it?" I asked her.

"I don't really know, my initial thought was to get a taxi and go to the symposium, there is a room there for me anyway, and I wouldn't have to tell you what a fool I've been. But then I realised that would just make it worse, a funny thought flashed through my mind, I just hoped you could get off work and come and save me. I know this sounds all made-up because I got the letter and you knew all about it. But those are the things that were rushing around in my head. Sweetheart, I was so confused. I felt so guilty. I'm still trying to get it sorted out in my head now. I was so stupid to even let it get this far. I'm sorry sweetheart."

I sat and pondered a bit, I knew what I wanted to do, but what did she want?

"What do you want to do now?" I asked.

"I want my husband to take me home so I can start making it up to him. To apologise for being a stupid cunt. For not taking his advice and being foolish enough to think I could get something over on him. I never disrespected him, but from his point of view that is what it will look like and finally, I have to start building trust. I know it won't be easy and I'm not sure how to do it yet, but I can't do that if I'm not with him.

"Please I am begging you, I'll get down on my hands and knees here and now but please give me the chance to build that trust and make my stupid mistake up to you."

She took a deep breath and carried on. "I need to get rid of Dee from my life and I think I've probably lost my job. I'm not sure yet what I would do about that but if you take me home it'll give me some time to think."

We got back in the Land Rover, and I again headed South. Shellie just sat in the corner crying until I reached the next junction where I went round and back onto the motorway and headed North, she noticed. She swung round in her seat, looked at me and said. "Sweetheart thank you so very much, you will not regret this. I promise with all my heart and soul." She carried on crying but I think this time they were tears of joy.

We had been on the motorway for about half an hour when Shellie said to me. "Can I ask you a question please." I just nodded my head. "If you knew all about it, why didn't you stop me?"

"I believe you are your own woman, and you have to make your own choices. I did warn you so many times. But you chose to ignore my warnings. You know how I feel about cheating. So, it had to be your choice. Fortunately, in the end you made the right choice, but you damaged me, our marriage and my trust in you. But if I didn't think our marriage could be saved, we would still be heading South."

I heard sobbing coming from the other side of the Rover.

I knew it wouldn't be easy, but she had seen her own faults, and once you've seen your faults you know what you can do to counteract any mistakes they let you make.

It was late when we got home. All I wanted was a quiet beer just to let the day's troubles fade away, for now.

Shellie went to bed, when I went up I slid in beside her, she turned over and wrapped her arms around me. I was tired and I fell into a deep sleep.

Shellie was up early in the morning and she brought me a steaming hot cup of tea to bed. She was dressed for work. I was still tired, she leaned down, kissed me on the lips, stroked my face and said. "Thank you, my sweetheart. I love you."

I had already arranged for the day off work so I just pottered around the house and garden.

I didn't know what time to expect Shellie home, but I got a text 'be home around two'. That was early for her. I wondered what had happened.

When she got in, she got herself a large glass of red wine and me a beer, it was a little early. But she looked like she needed it. She told me what she did when she got to work. Dee saw her walk in and go to her manager's office, Dee went white. She told her manager what had happened and why she wasn't in Coventry. HR were called in and she repeated what she told her manager. She told me she stood up straight, held back the tears, and just told them everything.

She told them she had probably lost her marriage and she was willing to resign. She was sent home and told to wait for a phone call. She walked out and didn't look at Dee. She told me she visited our solicitor and managed to get an appointment in the afternoon with a junior solicitor and she had a draft post-nuptial agreement. She laid it in front of me. It stated If she had sex outside of our marriage, she would get nothing. There was no mention of me playing outside the marriage.

She had hand written underneath the typing 'Plus 1 free pass to make up for my mistake.' I added 'threesum, 2 women+ me'

She added 'as long as one of the women is me'. She showed it to me, I nodded and pushed it back to her. She signed my addition.

I took the pen off her and scribbled out all the handwritten notes. She smiled at me.

She took a large drink of wine and asked. "Will you help me? What do I tell Frank? He's not a friend, just an acquaintance, the husband of a former friend. I don't know what to do."

I told her in my view was that we would have to tell Frank But in the end it was taken out of our hands. Dee got sacked the following Monday. There was no one month's notice, something about using the bank funds to book hotel rooms for sexual liaisons, Sherrie and Harold's was not the first time she had booked rooms. She was sacked on the spot, she lied to Frank about the reason. Somebody ratted on her and told him the real reason. It came out about her sex with Harold, and it was often, not just the once. Frank, true to his word, divorced Dee. She wasn't laughing now. She moved away, we do not know, nor care where.

Harold got divorced and lost almost everything in the prenup. He met with an accident, wasn't me. I found out later Frank was away for a golfing weekend with some very good mates when it happened.

And us, we made it. Due to Sherrie coming forward she did not lose her job but was reprimanded. She worked extremely hard to rebuild the trust with me. I had more faith in her than she had in herself now that Dee was gone. I did keep an eye out on her friends.