Indiscreet

"I'll be more than happy to hold off firing those two. It will give me a chance to start looking for replacements. Also, yes, he's at work right now, why do you ask?"

"Because I need to share this video with his wife, so she can make an informed choice."

Guy nodded and said, "That's only fair. Best of luck to you Sam. What's next for you and Lizzie?"

"She wants to go to London and Paris, so we leave on Saturday. If you need to get ahold of me, this is my cell number." I gave him my number and then made my way to see my attorney.

My next stop was to my lawyer to tell him that I had my proof and that I wanted to divorce Julie using the nuclear option. I asked if it would be possible to have her served at work on Friday. He assured me that it would be done. I, also, told him that Lizzie and I were going to Europe for Christmas break, that we would be back on the 5^th of January and if he needed to reach me he could call my cell phone. As I left him he told me he was sorry that our marriage had failed. I thanked him for his concern and left the office.

Last on my list was Chad's wife. I really wasn't looking forward to this one, but felt it was my duty to share the info with her so she could make an informed decision. I rang the doorbell and after a few moments a pretty woman answered the door. "Yes, may I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Sam Butler are you Mrs. Simmons?" She nodded and said that she was. "Well I'm afraid I have some bad news for you." She looked at me with concern but didn't say anything, so I continued. "To be blunt, your husband and my wife are having an affair and have been for a while. May I come in for a moment?"

She ushered me into their living room and told me to make myself comfortable. I sat on the couch and set my laptop computer on the coffee table. She then asked, "So, do you have proof of their infidelity?"

"Yes, I do. I may as well start at the beginning. Do you have about an hour to spare, Mrs. Simmons?"

"I have all day until Chad comes home and please call me Alice."

I smiled and said, "Okay Alice, please call me Sam. So, on the 14^th of December, the bank had their annual Christmas party. I attended as usual despite my wife's pleas for me to stay home so I wouldn't be bored. Anyway, I noticed that she and your husband were spending an inordinate amount of time together and that my wife was looking at your husband the way she used to look at me when we first fell in love. To say it was disconcerting would be putting it mildly. So, I left the party early telling my wife I was going home and then moved my car into a remote part of the parking lot and waited to see what happened when they left. This is what I saw."

I played the video I made with my phone in the parking lot. Alice watched in shock as the couple began kissing and then they told each other of their love. She then began crying, so I put an arm around her in an effort to comfort her. When she had calmed down, I said, "After that, I decided that I needed to take action and get actual proof of their infidelity, so I installed miniature cameras in my house on the off chance that they would have a tryst there and then told my wife I had to go to my home office for a few days, but, in fact, remained in town. The moment I left the house, my wife called your husband to set up a meeting in our house. I followed your husband that day to his office and then later to my house. I waited outside for an hour and then went inside and caught them in the act. I videoed my approach and what I discovered on my cell phone and that footage is also included on this thumb drive. I just want to warn you that the video is pretty graphic."

I pulled the thumb drive from my computer and handed it to Alice and said, "I'm very sorry you had to learn about your husband this way, but I thought you deserved to know what was going on without getting blindsided. If there's anything I can do to help, please feel free to call me." I gave her the name of my lawyer and told her that he would do a good job for her. I, also, explained that I was going to make their lives as miserable as possible.

"I do have one favor to ask, Alice. I was going to have Julie served on Friday at the bank and I thought it would be a good idea to have Chad served at the same time, so if you can call my lawyer now and set things up that would be great. They will both be fired from their jobs on Friday as well, so I would suggest that you take any savings and checking money you have and open accounts in only your name. You may also want to get checked for STD's just in case your husband or my wife had other partners we don't know about because they didn't use protection while they had sex."

I packed up my laptop and stood to leave. Alice stood as well and said, "Thank you for thinking of me. I'll call your lawyer as soon as you leave and I will definitely get checked though we haven't had sex together for over a year. He just lost interest in me. I think my kids and I are going to my mother's house tonight. Anyway, I'll stay in touch." I told her that Lizzie and I were going to Europe, so I asked her to make sure of the time differences.

Next, I went to my doctor and told him I needed to be screened for STD's and that he should text me with the results.

With all of those chores done I turned my attention to my house. I changed the locks on the doors, called the post office to stop our mail while Lizzie and I were gone and then asked a friend to keep an eye on the place until we got back. I then drove over to the school to pick-up Lizzie as I had arranged with her in the morning.

I arrived just as school was getting out and just as I saw Lizzie I saw Julie head her off and try to hug her. Lizzie, for her part, pushed Julie away and screamed, "HOW COULD YOU HURT DADDY THE WAY YOU DID? WHY WERE YOU FUCKING THAT OTHER MAN? I HATE YOU AND NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

I ran up to Lizzie, pushed Julie away and pulled her into a hug. I turned to Julie and said, "Stay away from us. We will discuss later when you can see her, but for now just go away!" We had quite a crowd watching us as I escorted Lizzie to my car.

When we got home, I asked Lizzie, "Are you okay?" She nodded with a smile, so I said, "I have a couple of things for you. First is our new house key, I changed the locks today. Second, is this cell phone. I don't want you talking on it all of the time because it's for emergencies and calling me. Okay?"

Lizzie smiled and said, "Yes Dad. I promise to use it only for emergencies."

Finally, Friday arrived. The day that Julie and Chad would be served divorce papers and the day they would be fired. When the deed was done, my attorney called me to say that once the papers were served and the bank president fired both parties, total chaos ensued. The lovers screamed at each other blaming the other for the mess they were in. They were then escorted off the property by security.

That evening while Lizzie and I were packing for our trip to Europe, the doorbell began ringing over and over. I looked at Lizzie and said, "I'm guessing that's your mother. I would recommend that you not listen to our exchange because it may get pretty nasty, but I think you are old enough to decide for yourself." Lizzie nodded at me as I left the room.

When I answered the door, Julie looked at me with fire in her eyes. She screamed, "WHY THE FUCK DID YOU GET ME FIRED FROM MY JOB? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE? WHERE AM I SUPPOSED TO LIVE?"

If Julie had fire in her eyes, mine were shooting bullets. "I didn't get you fired, you did! The night of the Christmas party, I pointed out that you and your asshole fuck buddy were probably cheating on me with each other and Guy said that the bank had rules about that. As to where you live, I don't give a shit. Go live with that piece of shit you cheated on me with. You are not my problem anymore. Now I want you to turn your slutty ass around and get off my property or I'll call the police.

Julie screamed, "FUCK YOU! THIS IS MY HOME TOO!"

"Not anymore! Now leave us alone. Neither of us want you in our lives anymore. How could you do this to us?"

Just then a police cruiser zoomed up to the house with lights flashing. I was just as surprised as Julie was as the police officer walked up to the front door. "Someone named Elizabeth called and said that a Julie Butler was violating a restraining order." He looked at Julie and asked, "Are you Julie Butler?" She nodded and then he said, "You need to leave the premises immediately. If you don't leave I will be forced to arrest you. Also, if you return to this house at anytime while the restraining order is in effect, you will be arrested and subject to 5 years in jail. Do I make myself clear?"

Julie nodded as tears flooded her eyes, turned and left. The policeman then asked, "May I speak with Elizabeth please?"

Lizzy stepped out from behind me and said, "Yes?'

The officer looked at my daughter and asked, "Did you call to report this?"

"Yes. She's not supposed to be around us. She's a cheat and she hurt my Dad and me."

The officer looked at her for a moment and then said, "I see. Well, you did the right thing. Please call us at any time."

As the officer left, I asked Lizzy, "Why did you tell him we had a restraining order because we don't?"

"Well, for two reasons. First, I never wanted to see her again and second, I was afraid you would do something and get thrown in jail. I love you Dad and don't want you to get thrown in jail."

I grabbed Lizzie, pulled her into a hug and said, "Thank you. I love you too. I know I was angry, but I would never strike a woman, even though I want to slap some sense into your mother. So, let's finish packing. Are you excited about our trip?"

"I'm very excited, but we need to change one thing."

"What's that?"

"I don't want you referring to that woman as 'my mother.' You can refer to her as 'that woman', 'her' or 'the slut', but she's not my mother anymore."

Wow, I thought! I really do need to get Lizzie some counselling. I'll do it first thing when we return.

The next day found Lizzie and I sitting together in the business class of a United 787. Lizzie was very excited about everything and was telling me about the things she wanted to do. "In London, I want to go to the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's cathedral, the National Gallery and watch the changing of the guard."

I laughed and said, "That will keep us pretty busy. How about Paris?"

"Well, in Paris I want to go to the Louvre, the Musee D'Orsay, the Eiffel Tower, the Champs Elysee and just walk around a lot. What about you? What would you like to see in those places?"

God, I loved my daughter. With her it wasn't all about her! "Well, I hadn't thought of anything. I was just planning on going to where you wanted to go. I want this to be the best trip for you."

"But, Dad, I want you to have fun too."

"I'll have fun just being with you and I'm sure I'll discover some stuff I want to do."

"Do you promise?"

"I promise."

Heathrow was a chore to get through with long lines at immigration. Luckily, people who sat in better class of seats had lines that were considerably shorter. Once we got through, I stopped at an ATM and got several hundred 'pounds' for cash. We then got on the Heathrow-Paddington train which is an express train into the city. Friends had told me the cost was worth it because riding the tube was a long boring slog with many admonitions to 'mind the gap'!

Once in Paddington, we lugged our stuff to the tube station and took the Bakerloo Line to Embankment. We then walked several blocks to our hotel near Trafalgar Square. It was fairly early in the morning, so it was too early to check in to our room, so we left our luggage and then decide to walk around for a while. We enjoyed watching the people in Trafalgar Square for a while and then walked west down Whitehall St. which was the center of the British government. We could see down Downing St. to number 10, the home of the Prime Minister. We continued our stroll down to Westminster and saw the house of Parliament, the tower of Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.

We stopped and ate fish and chips, which we both enjoyed immensely, and then we decided to go back via the other side of the River Thames. We rode on the 'Eye of London', the giant Ferris wheel and enjoyed the view. By the end of the ride, I could see that Lizzie was fading and could use a nap, so we headed back to the hotel.

We managed to get our room when we returned. We stowed our bags and then I told Lizzie, "Okay, it's 2pm now, so we will take a three-hour nap and then get up and look for someplace to eat dinner. We can't sleep too long because we have to get acclimated to our new time zone. We need to try and stay awake until 10 or 11. You might want to take a shower now too."

I watched the BBC news while Lizzie was in the bathroom. Unfortunately, my mind drifted to the scene where my wife was fucking her boyfriend and awoke with a start as Lizzie came into the room. I could feel my anger, but didn't want Lizzie to see it, so I gave her a quick peck on her forehead and headed into the bathroom for my shower. When I had finished, I felt better and the dream I had was forgotten...mostly. I saw that Lizzie was fast asleep, so I crawled into my bed after setting the alarm on my phone for 6:30 and was out in no time.

We had a fabulous time in London. We saw all of the sites that Lizzie had listed, plus we managed to do some shopping on Regent St. and around Oxford Circus. We were going to spend Christmas day together in our hotel, but were invited to the house of the lady clerk of our hotel we saw every day. Her family was very welcoming and Lizzie and I had a wonderful time.

A couple of days after Christmas had us on the Eurostar train on our way to Paris via the 'chunnel'! The ride was quick at just over 2 hours and we were dropped off at the Gare du Nord in the heart of Paris. We rode on the Metro to St. Michel and then walked several blocks to our hotel near the Sorbonne, the University of Paris. When I was in college I had studied for 6 months at the Sorbonne as part of an exchange program with my University. I had many fond memories of Paris and was very happy Lizzie had chosen it as part of our trip.

As we walked to our hotel, I explained to Lizzie about living here and pointed out places of interest. Lizzie had been studying French in school for several years, so she wanted to make a pact to use French as much as we could. I agreed, though I told her mine was quite rusty. We checked into our hotel and as I spoke, I found the words came to me easier than I thought they would.

We dumped our luggage and then crossed over the river to Ile de la Cite and wandered through Notre Dame for a while. We then walked over to the Louvre and cut through the courtyard to the Tuilleries and on to the Place de la Concorde. We watched the insane drivers for a few minutes and then made our way onto the Champs Elysee and strolled all of the way up to the Arc de Triomphe. Lizzie was loving everything despite the cold.

We stopped at a bistro off of the beaten path and had lunch with hot tea. Lizzie fell in love with my favorite sandwich of ham and cheese on a baguette. On our way back to our hotel, we stopped at a patisserie and bought some cakes and a baguette and then stopped in a fromagerie and bought some cheese. In a store I bought a bottle of wine and a bottle of soda for Lizzie and then we took all of our purchases to our room and had dinner there while we watched French TV. Our favorite part of the TV programming was the commercials which we found to be very funny.

As we were getting ready for bed, Lizzie surprised me and threw herself into my arms, hugged me and said, "Thank you, Dad. I know you are going through some nasty stuff, but this trip has been wonderful so far. I love you more than anything and I wish we didn't have to go home!"

I kissed her forehead and said, "I love you too, honey. I've had fun as well, but we can't avoid reality forever, so we'll have to go home eventually. Tomorrow, I thought I would show you where I had classes, where I used to live and then we'll go to the Eiffel Tower."

As Lizzie released me, she said, "Ooh, that sounds like fun. I'm curious about when you lived here. Maybe I can do a semester abroad here when I'm in college."

The next morning after we had our croissant and baguette hotel breakfast, Lizzie and I walked up the hill to the Sorbonne. I pointed out what the various buildings were and when I got to the one I was in most of the time, Lizzie asked, "Can we go in? I'd like to see it."

I told her it wouldn't be a problem and if anyone asked, I would tell them I was looking for a particular professor. We entered the building and walked through the hallways. The building was quiet because students were off for the holidays. At one point I was explaining about one of my professors when a woman had approached coming up the hallway. I didn't pay any attention to her until she said, "Sam? Sam Butler? Is that you?"

I looked up into the beautiful face of the woman an instantly recognized her. "Oh my god, Genevieve?"

She had a huge smile as she walked up to me and gave me a big hug and the classic two cheek kiss. "It's so nice to see you! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'm on holiday with my daughter. Lizzie, this is an old friend Genevieve DuClos. Genevieve, may I introduce you to my daughter Elizabeth, but she likes Lizzie."

Lizzie stuck out her hand, but Genevieve pulled Lizzie into a hug and did the two-cheek kiss and said, "It's nice to meet you Lizzie. I liked to be call Gen, okay?"

Lizzie smiled brightly as she looked at Gen and said, "Thank you. So, you knew my Dad when he was in school here?"

"Oh yes. Your Dad and I were great friends. It broke my heart when he had to return to the States. How long are you going to be in Paris?"

"We arrived yesterday and are here for a week before I have to get Lizzie back in school. So, do you work here now?"

"Yes, I'm an adjunct professor now. I teach all of the medieval history and reformation classes. Are you teaching at a University in the States? You were always so brilliant."

When Lizzie heard that she looked at me with surprise as I replied, "No, I couldn't find a position in the area I needed to be in, so I branched out into computers and work for a firm that provides computer security. I have been teaching at a community college a couple of days a week just to keep my hand in."

"Oh! Too bad you didn't find a teaching position because you would have been great. Look, I need to be somewhere real soon, so why don't you and Lizzie come to my place tonight for dinner? I live at 10 Rue de Mirbel just off Rue Monge. It's just up the hill a bit. Why don't you come by at 7?"

I looked at Lizzie who was smiling and nodding, so I said, "We'd love to. Should we bring anything?"

Gen laughed and said, "Just yourselves."

Lizzie and I gave Gen two cheek kisses and said we'd see her tonight. Gen continued down the hall while Lizzie and I watched her walk off. At the door at the end of the hall, Gen turned and waved to us with a big smile and we waved back.

As Lizzie and I left, my mind was flooded with memories of Gen and I in school. I had a crush on her while I was there, but she seemed to be way out of my league. She was incredibly beautiful, friendly and fun, but I was only going to be in Paris for a short time, so I never pursued my obsession because I didn't want to fall in love and then have to leave, not that I thought I had a chance with her. So, Gen and I remained friends during my stay and when I left that was it.

While I was thinking back to my school days, I felt Lizzie pulling on my arm and heard her crying out, "DAD! DAD!" I stopped and looked at her and she said, "Dad, you were in some weird place. I called your name several times and you didn't hear me."