Paper Matches

He didn't smoke, and normally he would never have a use for matches, so it was somewhat unusual that he took a look at the matches before putting them onto the shelf with the candles. There were a couple of matchbooks already there, ones that his wife must have acquired to use with her scented candles.

The matchbook in his hand was very plain, pure white with writing on one side, but no other identifying features. The writing was in a fancy cursive style and simply said 'The Puma's Den'. It seemed like an odd name to him, and it was probably for that reason alone that he would be able to remember what had been written on the matches. He placed it with the others on the shelf.

++++++++++++

It was during his morning coffee break on Monday that Bill remembered the matches he had found on the countertop in their bathroom. He was seated with four other men and two women, all of them enjoying coffee together as was normal for their group. When there was a lull in the conversation Bill spoke up.

"Has anyone here heard of something called 'The Puma's Den'? I saw the name on some matches, but I can't say I've ever heard of it."

His answer was a random combination of the word 'No' and the shaking of heads. Within seconds the conversation in the room had shifted to a new topic.

Later in the morning, during a pause in the workday, Bill checked the Dayton and Area phone books for 'The Puma's Den', but he found nothing listed. He was beginning to get curious now, and did an Internet search with the same results.

Most people would have dropped it after that, but Bill was known for his attention to detail on the job, and an unanswered question became a challenge regardless of how insignificant it might have been. It was now firmly in his mind that he wanted to track down the source of the paper matches he had found in his bathroom.

+++++++++

As they were having their dinner Monday night a thought came to Bill's mind and he asked his wife, "So how did I happen to miss you on Thursday night when I called? Obviously you got my message, and thank God for that, considering the welcome home that I got."

He laughed and got up to get some steak sauce from the refrigerator so he didn't notice the momentary flash of panic that crossed Linda's face when he asked his question. By the time he closed the refrigerator door and was turning to retake his seat at the table she was ready with her answer.

"Just after I talked to you, I went for a shower before bed, and I didn't hear it ring. I got your message in the morning. I gather from your call that this is a permanent change to your return flight."

Bill laughed and said, "The woman at the airline that I spoke with says it is a change to their schedule. I was so used to the old time that I am definitely lucky I spotted the change on my ticket, or I would've missed my flight home. I wasn't usually at the airport until well after their new departure time."

They continued with their meals and were soon having their dessert, chocolate cake that Linda had baked on the weekend. It was while they were enjoying the cake that Bill remembered the book of matches.

"Oh, Linda. When I was cleaning up the candles in the bathroom on Saturday morning, I found a book of matches from some place called 'The Puma's Den'. What is that? I've never heard of it."

This time he was looking his wife's way as she heard his question, and he did notice a very momentary look of shock, or possibly panic, pass over her face. It was a fleeting change to her otherwise composed features, and it struck him as unusual.

She quickly answered him with, "I have no idea, Bill. I don't even know where I got those matches from. I must've picked them up somewhere, most likely at work." She had finished her cake, and as she began to speak she decided to stand up and collect some of the dirty dishes still on the table and carry them to the dishwasher. He was unable to watch her face as she completed her answer.

If it wasn't for his inquisitive nature he probably would've dropped it at that, but instead he again filed it away for further investigation. He wasn't sure, but he was almost of the opinion that his wife wasn't telling him everything she knew about the matches. He knew Linda's normal demeanor, something he was used to after almost 10 years of marriage, and her reaction hadn't been what he considered normal for her.

+++++++++++++

The next morning Bill stuck the book of matches in his pocket before leaving for work, thinking that perhaps someone actually seeing them would be able to identify them more easily. They stayed in his pocket for most of the day.

It was late that afternoon when he was reminded of the matches, after he stuck his hand into his pocket to retrieve his pocket knife. He had a chip in one of his fingernails that was annoying him, and he wanted to pare it away with the knife. When he felt the matches he took them out of his pocket and looked at them once again.

A few minutes later when he went into the outer office he brought them out again and asked several of his coworkers if they recognized them. No one did, and about all he learned was that the printing was done in the color fuchsia, although someone else in the office argued that it was magenta.

During the last half hour of his day he had to drop in at the Technical Services Department to advise them of a new software version that would have to be installed on each individual computer in the building. It's not a job he would actually be doing himself; he had technicians to do the job.

There were three technicians in the office at the time he arrived, and just before he left he took out the matches and asked if anyone knew where they were from. Jason and Carl, two men in their 50s, took a quick look before shaking their heads and then going back to their work, but Jim, a young man who had been hired only a month before, right out of college, grinned when he saw them.

"Oh yeah, I know that place." Jim looked closely at Bill before saying, "Where did you get them? I would very much doubt that you were there." He chuckled after saying that.

Bill was a bit confused and said, "Why do you doubt that I would have been there?"

The young technician grinned again and replied, "You're not a match with their clientele. You're either the wrong age or the wrong sex."

This confused Bill even more and he said, "I think you'll have to explain it to me, Jim. I found these matches, and I was curious about them. I'm not even sure what this name signifies. Can you enlighten me?"

This time Jim laughed before answering, "Well, a puma is a wildcat, but it's also another name for a cougar." He looked at Bill to see whether this triggered a reaction, and when he saw that Bill's face hadn't registered any recognition he continued.

"You know... a cougar. It's what they call an older woman that likes chasing younger guys. 'The Puma's Den' is a bar on the east side of town. It's on Indian Ripple Road, just after it changes from East Dorothy Lane; just west of where I675 crosses."

A belated look of understanding had appeared on Bill's face, and he asked, "Have you been there? You seem to be pretty well acquainted with it. I tried to find out what it was, but I couldn't even find it in the phone book."

The technician answered, "Oh yeah! I was there a few times. I got more than one bruise on my ass from being pinched by an aggressive cougar. I had more than a couple of them take me home for the night."

"Actually, I went home with one of them every time I was there. Then I met my wife, and I quit going to 'The Puma's Den'. I hadn't thought of it for a couple of years; talking about it brings back some old memories."

"As for not finding them in the phone book, the place is sort of playing on the privacy angle. They don't even advertise on their sign that it's a bar, and the sign is pretty small. I think they depend on word-of-mouth advertising. One of the guys in my dorm told me about it. "

He could see that Bill was quite interested, although he also seemed to have paled and become strangely concerned, and so he continued, "It's like I said, you're the wrong age or the wrong sex. Their clientele is single or divorced women from about 35 to probably 60, along with young guys; they call them cubs, up to their mid to late 20s."

Bill interrupted and said, "Did you say the young guys are called cubs?" He thought for a second and then added, "I guess that makes sense when you use the cougar analogy."

Jim continued again, "Yep, that's where the name comes from. A lot of the frat boys from Dayton University or Wright State go there to get laid. The ladies usually even buy them their drinks."

"It's not a big place, maybe room for about a hundred or so, but it's usually hopping later in the week. For some reason Saturday night is not the busiest night. I used to think that Wednesday to Friday were the best nights to be there." He stopped speaking and gave a wry smile, as though he was remembering something their conversation had triggered.

Bill had a question and asked, "Is that their only clientele; older women looking for younger guys? Are they all single or divorced?"

"Yeah, I'd say that's all their business caters to. The drinks are pricey, probably because once one of the ladies hooks up with one of the 'cubs' they generally like to get out of there. There have been some pretty foxy women come in there, and when a guy hooks up with one of them he wants to get her out of there quickly, before some other guy cuts in on his action."

He laughed before adding, "It's a bit cutthroat sometimes. There are quite a few ladies who like to hang around and dance to the jukebox, but they're all there for one thing, and I think most of them leave once they find a guy they want to get to know a bit better, if you know what I mean."

A few seconds later he added, "I don't think they check ring fingers at the door, so there probably could be some married women in there, you know, wives interested in getting a little bit on the side."

They had pretty much covered the subject, and Bill thanked Jim for the information before he took his leave, sticking the matches back into his pocket. He was worried now, concerned about how Linda had obtained the matches.

He couldn't for one second believe that she would've been to the place, although her friend Denise Grady sounded like a definite match for the female patrons.

Bill had told his wife many times about how much he disliked her friend, and now he was wondering if his concerns could have been too well placed. He still felt he could trust Linda, but he certainly didn't trust Denise. Maybe if he was lucky Denise had simply left the matches at his home.

As Jim turned to walk away he could see how a woman would be interested in him. Jim was a handsome man with the popular bad boy look enhanced by an intricate tattoo on his left forearm, and a small soul patch on his lower lip. He tried to imagine Jim with his wife Linda, but he just couldn't do it.

Chapter 2

Bill got home slightly before his wife that afternoon, and the first thing he did was to put the matches back in the bathroom on the shelf where they had been. Until he thought more about this he didn't want Linda to realize that he was interested in her paper matches.

That evening they went out for supper at the Alibi Club, and had a good time together. Linda was even interested in having a drink in the attached lounge after their meal, and they spent an hour and a half there, getting up and dancing several times while they nursed a drink each.

When they got home she once again tried to show him how practice makes perfect when it comes to blow jobs. Once again he got to taste a trace of himself when his wife tried to swallow his tongue just as she had swallowed his cock and his semen a few minutes earlier. She managed to take his mind completely off the matches and the bar they came from.

++++++++++++

Bill might not have constantly wondered about the significance of the matches, especially when his wife managed to take his mind off them, but thoughts of cougars, and young men, and matches were never too far from his conscious mind for the rest of the first two weeks that he was home.

He realized as time passed that he thought about the situation more and more often, but he was unable to accept the idea or the conclusion that Linda had been to 'The Puma's Den' herself. It was also hard for him to imagine how else she had managed to acquire them.

Eventually Bill had come back to the tentative conclusion that Denise must have been responsible for getting the matches, and then had either forgotten them at his house when she visited his wife, or perhaps had even offered them to Linda to use with her candles.

He could also imagine Linda asking Denise for the matches to stick on that shelf in the bathroom, so that she would be sure to have a supply of matches when she needed them; at least that is what he tried to convince himself of. He was only marginally successful, though, and his confidence level varied to the extremes.

++++++++++

It was Monday morning, 10 days before he was to make his next trip to Colorado Springs. Bill had just spent most of the weekend busy in his backyard while Linda did some major housecleaning, but he was also trying to settle in his mind once and for all the question of whether he had any reason to doubt his wife's fidelity.

In fact, his concerns had kept him awake for hours during most of the last couple of nights until finally, at 2 a.m. on Monday morning, he had made the conscious decision to try to prove to himself that he had nothing to worry about. With the decision made, he had finally been able to get some much needed sleep.

At just after 10:30 in the morning he went down to the Technical Services Department to consult with Jason Shields, the senior man in that department. He knew that Jason had expertise with surveillance equipment in the past. It was equipment that their company had installed to monitor the parking lots, building entrances and strategic locations inside their offices and manufacturing facilities.

Jason was alone in the office when he arrived, but still Bill requested that Jason join him in one of the conference rooms for a private discussion. That wasn't a completely unexpected situation in a department that handled things like security surveillance and also computer security for a company involved in military contracts.

Jason was a tall man, almost 6 foot 2, with dark hair that was graying at the temples. He had craggy features and a rough voice, and a first impression could be that he was intimidating, but Bill knew that this projection of toughness disguised a friendly and very knowledgeable man.

He quickly got to the point. "What's this about, Bill? Do we have some security concerns somewhere?"

Bill didn't quite know how to broach the subject, but he finally said, "I have a situation that's more delicate than most. It's a personal request, not for something here at Abstract Devices. I'm hoping you can give me some advice, strictly off the record."

Jason didn't hesitate to answer, "I don't have any problem with that at all. You've been more than fair with me over the years, and I'd be very happy to help you with anything, if I can." He stood there expectantly, waiting to hear what Bill had on his mind.

Now that the moment had arrived where he would have to put his fears and suspicions into words, and actually share them with someone else, Bill was suddenly unsure if he should take that step. He realized he was almost afraid that by speaking those words he could somehow make them come true.

"Well... I'm not really sure what I want; I guess I'm hoping you can suggest something to me. I'm wondering... I'd like to know... if there's an easy way for me to bug my own home." He became even more nervous and hesitant before continuing, "I need to know whether anything... suspicious... is happening around my home when I'm out of town."

Jason caught on quickly and immediately replied, "I think I know what you're getting at, Bill. I'm not sure if you know this, but I got divorced about 18 months ago. It was surveillance equipment that I installed that gave me what I needed in order to prove my wife was having an affair with our next-door neighbor, a man that I had considered a good friend."

Bill quickly nodded his head and said, "That's what I need. I don't think there's anything going on, but I have to know whether my suspicions have any foundation in fact. I'm afraid I'll drive myself crazy with the uncertainty, even though my reasons for being suspicious seem to me to be pretty slim."

The older man nodded at two of the chairs and said, "Why don't we sit down here, and you can tell me what's got you feeling this way. I went through this with my wife, so I guess it could perhaps give me some small measure of expertise on the subject, although I know that everyone's circumstances are different."

The suggestion seemed logical to Bill, and he quickly spilled out his concerns. "I don't really have anything concrete. It all started when I found a package of matches in my bathroom that advertised a place I didn't recognize. It's a bar called 'The Puma's Den'. I finally found out what it was all about from Jim, the new man in your department."

"Long story short, it's a bar catering to... middle-aged women who want to hook up with young guys. I can't imagine Linda, that's my wife, going to a place like that, but that's what I have to find out. She also has a divorced friend who potentially could be a really bad influence."

"Last week I was doing some research on the Internet, searching for ideas on what to look for in the way of suspicious things a cheating spouse might do or say. Only a couple of them struck home. The big one is that lately my wife has been much more aggressive sexually. According to what I read, that might mean she's trying to avoid suspicion, or maybe she's trying to make up for something she's already done."

Bill hesitated, but he finally continued, "Another thing I read was that a change in sexual practices might be a sign of infidelity. Lately she's apparently overcome a long-time aversion to oral sex... and to... swallowing my semen." He laughed nervously and added, "I know, you're going to think I'm crazy to be complaining about that."

The younger man quickly returned to his sober state and said, "There was also the night I phoned home while I was out of town and she wasn't there to answer my call. She gave me what seemed to be a plausible reason for that, but I have no idea if she was telling me the truth. Last but not least, I'm pretty sure she lied to me when I asked her about the matches from 'The Puma's Den'."

He squirmed uncomfortably in his chair before saying, "I know it isn't much, and I've probably got everything all wrong, but this is eating at me now. I really need to find a way to prove to myself that I'm wrong about all of this."

Now that he'd made his explanation, Bill leaned back in his chair and relaxed, having just realized that he was hunched forward awkwardly and was completely tensed up.

Jason didn't say anything at first, but finally he began, "I don't think you have as much to go on as I did, but I don't mean to say that you're wrong to be concerned. I also looked into what the clues for infidelity might be, and in my case the big one was that my wife started working more hours, 'overtime', but I could see her checks weren't any larger when they were deposited in the bank."

"I installed some little surveillance cameras, one in the living room and one in the bedroom, along with a digital recorder on the telephone line. I was finally able to tape her phone conversation with the next-door neighbor, making plans to meet him at the Red Roof Inn over by I75. I think it's over in your direction, isn't it?"