She Wasn't Mine Anymore

She wasn't mine anymore ... but I traded up.

It was difficult to pick up a newspaper or watch a TV news show without some famous couple getting divorced. Most celebrity marriages, it seemed, last months instead of years, and soon after their divorce one or both of them were getting married again. It also seemed that their divorces were pretty much taken in stride. There are exceptions, however where celebrity couple stay married or together for many years just like average people. I always believed that long celebrity relationships were special because they had to work harder to maintain them. But then again I could be wrong. If you were truly in love it wouldn't take much effort to maintain a relationship. I stopped reading about, or listening as the talking heads on TV described celebrities as though everyone on earth should be concerned and worried about the them and their relationships and lifestyles. Their lives meant nothing to me or anyone around me.

I had, however, occasionally wondered how I would act if my wife ever wanted a divorce. Would I explode? Cry? Beg? And what would be the cause of either of us ever wanting a divorce. As far as I knew we were happy. We did things together. We had date nights, which we both enjoyed and we both had jobs we enjoyed. Everything in our lives was damn near perfect; until I was told I was going to Korea for a year without my wife.

I was a Captain in the Army at the time. William (Bill) C. Christopher is my name. Lois Diane Christopher was my wife's name. She sold cosmetics for a nationally known company. She was doing pretty well because she had several other women whose sales Lois received a percentage of. I don't think they were considered employees of hers, but they somehow bought their cosmetics through Lois and reported all of their sales to her and she received a cut of everything they did.

They also had conventions every year and Lois never missed them. I went with her twice, but vowed I would never go again. Thousands of dedicated, screaming women in a convention center was more than I could handle.

We both knew that a short, unaccompanied tour was in the cards for me, but we always hoped against hope that I would get lost in the shuffle of bodies and be forgotten. It was not to be. I was alerted for a 13 month tour in Korea. The day I left was a sad day for both of us, as it was for all the other soldiers who had done it before me.

My initial assignment was to Headquarters, Eighth Army, as a project officer in the Operations Office. I had been there less than three months when I was moved to the staff of the Commanding General. It was a huge promotion for me. Not in rank, but in prestige.

Lois and I maintained communication. We talked almost daily about how lonely it was and how much we missed and loved each other.

One day she told me she was going to her company's convention. She hadn't missed one so I fully expected it. It was going to be in Hawaii and she bought two new bathing suits to take with her. She sent pictures of her modeling them for me, and when I saw her in them, I missed her all the more. If you're thinking "who took the pictures" I'll tell you that three of the women in her group were with her in the pictures.

I was in my office which was two doors away from the commanding general's when his secretary brought in his travel schedule for the next month. Those were always classified "Until the event" which meant simply that only those people with a need to know knew of his travel plans. After they happened, nobody cared so the classification went away.

So his schedule said that he was attending a three day conference in Hawaii then going on leave for a week before attending meetings in Washington. He was to be gone a full two weeks. I looked at the calendar on my desk and two of the days overlapped Lois's convention. I immediately put my name on the manifest of the General's plane. I was going to Hawaii.

I arrived two days before she was scheduled to get there. My plan was to surprise her, spend the convention with her, then fly back home for ten more days. I would meet the General's plane in Washington, D.C. to fly back to Korea. There was room at her hotel until the conventioneers started coming in so I asked for a room. I told them I was meeting my wife there as a surprise. They checked her reservation.

"It won't be much of a surprise, Dr. Nichols. She already has you registered."

I was taken aback. "She does?"

"Yes, sir. I can go ahead and put you in that room if you would like."

"Let me get back to you." I almost ran getting away from there. Who the hell was Dr. Nichols? I could call her and find out what was happening, but if something were going on, she would have time to change it. I felt like I was stepping into one of those romance novels where the husband sits in the lobby of the hotel waiting for his wife and her lover to appear and confronts them. Either that or he catches them in their room fucking or just starting to fuck or just finished fucking.

On the other hand, I could be overreacting and everything was perfectly innocent; and if I really believed that, I was dumber than dirt.

So I had almost two days to figure out what I was going to do. The hotel she would be in could give me a room until the ladies started checking in then I'd have to move so I might as well check in somewhere else. That was easier said than done. No hotel in Honolulu had a room. Then I remembered the military had a hotel. I found their number and called. They had a room so I took a taxi over there and checked in.

An hour later I was sitting on the beach wondering what to do. I finally went to bed at three in the morning. The next day found me shopping in the morning, but back on the beach in the afternoon.

Lois was due to arrive early afternoon so I dressed in what I thought was appropriate for what I had planned and went to her hotel. The hoodie I bought the day before was pulled up over my head and my sunglasses were so big, they covered not only my eyes, but practically my whole face. When I got to the hotel front desk, I took my sunglasses off and pulled my hoodie back just enough so the clerk could see me, but if there were any cameras on, they would not be able to positively identify me: at least that's what I hoped.

"My sister is coming in for the convention. Could you tell me her room number, please?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but all the people here for the convention who are staying with us have already been pre-registered and their keys are at the registration desk at the convention center next door."

"Thank you." I put my glasses back on and pulled my hoodie up. There were likely to be fewer cameras in the convention center, but I kept my hoodie and glasses in place anyway. I stood in a long line and asked the lady at the registration desk the same question. She looked in her files. She's in room 1286 and it looks like she and her husband just checked in."

"Thank you." I said and walked away. There was a big bulletin board on the wall across the room and it had a big banner across the top "Find Your Group" is what it said. I went to it and found Lois's group. She was scheduled to be in some sort of advanced skin color class in two hours. It gave the room number of the class. I found the classroom along a long corridor with benches lining both walls. A constant stream of women were up and down that corridor and I never heard such chatter. A dead person couldn't sleep there.

About ten minutes before her class was scheduled to start, I saw her coming with two other ladies. I had my glasses on and my hoodie up, but the only thing she was focused on was the discussion she was having with the ladies.

So she was there. Now to find out if Dr. Nichols, whoever the hell that was, was with her. I went back to the hotel and sat in the lobby, not knowing my next step. I watched as two security guards walked around and finally went through an unmarked door. A few minutes later one of them came out in civilian clothes and I had an idea. I walked into that room and looked around. There was an office of sorts with nobody in it. There were two doors leading out of that office. One marked Male the other Female. I went into the male room. I heard the shower running and looked around. On a bench in front of a row of lockers was a guard uniform. I picked it up, searched the pockets and found several key cards on a chain. I put them in my pocket and left, making sure my hoodie and glasses were in place.

I left the hotel and walked until I felt it safe enough to look at the key cards. I looked around me and there were cameras all over the place. I went into a wild Hawaiian shirt store and straight into their men's room before taking off my glasses. Sure enough, one of the key cards had MASTER written on it. I smiled.

I assumed that once the guard discovered his cards missing, every camera in the hotel was going to be on continuously, so I'd have to be more careful. I put my glasses back on and went shopping. I found a blond wig and went back to my hotel where I dressed in slacks and sport shirt with my blond wig and sunglasses.

I headed back to the convention center and checked to see where her group was. She was still in class so I headed up to her room. I knocked and said Hotel security. I did it twice. No response, so I went in. Her suitcase and carryon were there. I knew they were hers because my handwriting was on the luggage tags. The other suitcase and carryon had a different name. Dr. Richard C. Nichols. The bed looked as if there had been a riot on it so I assumed they had taken time for a quickie before heading out. His clothes were scattered about as were hers, but then hers always were. He must have been either at the pool or the beach because his wallet and everything else you would expect to find in a man's pockets were on the bathroom counter.

It didn't take me long to gather up everything they had, stuff it all in to one suitcase or the other until there was nothing else to stuff. Even her makeup case fit. They must not have had much packed because I never needed either carryon. I put a pair of her panties and a pair of his shorts on the bed. I put his wallet in my pocket, adjusted my wig, put on my glasses and left. All the way down the hall, in the elevator, thorough the lobby, and out to the taxi stand I kept my head down.

The first taxi driver in line loaded the two suitcases in his trunk as I sat in the back seat. "Airport, please."

He took me there, I paid him and took the two suitcases and stood outside. I stood there and cancelled all of Lois's credit cards; even her business one. They didn't ask a single question just agreed to cancel it. I also cancelled her phone. All effective immediately. Then I cancelled all of Dr. Nichol's cards and phone. I took the next taxi back to my hotel. I called the Air Force Base to see if there were any flights going back to CONUS (Continental United States). There were occasionally empty seats so members of the military and their families could hop a ride for nothing. There was one leaving for McDill Air Force Base in Florida very early the next morning. I booked myself on it.

When it got dark, I took the two suitcases down the three flights of steps, out the back door where there were no cameras, because I had checked, tossed them in the dumpster and returned to my room to nap and get ready for my flight to McDill.

The flight was long with no inflight service except sharing the crew's coffee and the snacks they carried for their own use. I had some cheese crackers and a couple of candy bars, but they weren't interested.

At McDill, I hitched a short ride to the Tampa airport passenger terminal and booked a flight to Cincinnati. It was the earliest flight I could get anyplace close to Elizabethtown, KY and home. In Cincinnati, I rented a car at the airport and took off. At home the first thing I did was call a moving company. The second thing was to Google Dr. Richard C. Nichols. He was a pulmonologist in Elizabethtown and was married to Dr. Georgia Nichols, a pediatrician, also in Elizabethtown.

I looked around Lois's stuff and opened her computer. She had two of them. The small one she had with her constantly for her business. There were lots of emails between her and Nichols going back six months. I had been gone eight. They started innocently enough. Apparently she had trouble breathing one day and our clinic referred her to him. They started emailing shortly after that then they stopped and started messaging. I hadn't thought of looking at his phone for messages, but I'm glad I did. Neither of them pulled any punches when it came to describing what they wanted to do to each other and what they did.

If I had any doubts about their relationship, his phone dispelled them. It was a full-blown sexual affair. The only times I was mentioned were when they talked about my coming home and they would end the affair. Neither was in love with the other, they just liked the sex.

He asked her if she would find another lover at our next duty station and she said probably not, unless I went on another unaccompanied assignment. He told her that if that happened she could come back to him. She told him no. When they were over, they would be over. He then told her they would have to make the best of the next few months. When the convention came up they both thought it too good an opportunity not to take advantage of so they planned to go together. He could easily say it was medically related and his wife wouldn't have a problem with it.

The moving company came the next day and everything I wanted went to a local storage facility. Everything else went to Lois's parent's in Texas. We were in Government provided housing so I called them and said I was getting a divorce and was vacating quarters and that was that. When she came back the next day, she wouldn't have a place to live.

My next mission was to Mrs. Dr. Nichols' office.

"I'm sorry, sir, but you need a referral to see Dr. Nichols."

I handed the receptionist Dr. Richard Nichol's wallet. "This is my referral. I'll be walking out of here in five minutes." I looked at my watch. Three minutes later I was being ushered into her office.

"Where did you get this?" she asked.

"In my wife's hotel room in Honolulu."

"What was it doing there?"

"Just sitting there with the rest of their things and a really mussed bed." I handed her his phone. "You might want to look at his messages before they get home tomorrow."

"How will I tell my husband I got his wallet?"

"You're a smart lady. You'll think of something."

"Thank you and I promise to keep you out of it."

Lois's car was provided though her cosmetics company so I couldn't touch it. Mine, however, was mine and I had it towed to a garage for storage. The towing company left a notice on the door of the house she no longer lived in, but would see when she got there.

I went to the Visiting Officers Quarters (VOQ) on base and took a room for the time I had left on my leave. I checked with the airline schedules and had an idea when she would be back, so I sat in my rental car and waited. It was early evening when her car pulled up. Junior officer housing didn't have garages so she parked on the street. She jumped out of the car and ran to the door. The notice from the towing company was on the door. She took it down and read it. She unlocked and opened the door and I saw her buckle to her knees when she saw the empty room. The front door stayed open as she apparently ran through the house. She stood in the doorway and took her phone out and called someone. The call didn't last long and she had a look of panic as she rushed to her car. She left rubber when she tore down the street. I had no idea that car would leave rubber.

My family was all from Louisiana so I had no one close to confide in. There were still some friends from before I left to go to Korea, but none close enough to tell about my coming divorce. I felt alone.

It took me two days to find an attorney. I wanted her served while I was still there so I gave him her phone number and when the papers were ready, he called her to come to his office. All he said was he had some papers for her. I was in his conference room watching on closed circuit TV when she came in.

When she was served, she passed out. When she came to she asked where I was. My attorney didn't answer. "He caught us in Hawaii, I know. I don't know how, but I know it was him." She said then asked when she could see me. That question he could answer. "Whenever he shows up, I suppose."

"When you see him, tell him, it didn't mean anything. It was just sex."

He showed more than just a bit of irritation when he spoke again. "I have handled hundreds of divorces, and with few exceptions the cheating spouse never says they cheat because they fell in love. They invariably say 'it was just sex'. Well, it's never just sex. Someone always gets hurt so it's always about the relationship and something wrong in it. If you love you partner, really love them, you never need 'just sex'. If your relationship is strong, you never need 'just sex'.

"You messed up Mrs. Christopher. You took a perfectly good marriage to a perfectly good man and for 'just sex' threw it away. I think you need to determine what it was that drove you into the bed of Dr. Nichols and try to fix it. Not in this relationship because it's too late for that, but maybe for your next one."

She left his office walking slowly with what the military calls a thousand yard stare; that blank, unfocused gaze of emotional detachment combatants have from seeing the horrors around them.

I felt no satisfaction in seeing her like that. She never called me so I hung around town for another couple of days before going to catch up with my ride back to Korea.

Three months after my return to Korea, my tour was up and I was back in the states and at Fort Knox. I moved into Bachelor Officers Quarters (BOQ) and retrieved both my car and personal items from storage. The first person I contacted was my attorney. We were still a month or so away from a court date for the divorce.

My first few times driving through town I halfheartedly looked for Lois's car, but never saw it. Most of my dinners were eaten at the Officers Club (O Club). It was my fourth or fifth time there when I saw her. She was having a very intimate dinner with another officer. I recognized him as living in the BOQ also. I had never actually seen her with Dr. Nichols, so this was the first time I'd seen her with another man and it stung a bit.

I wanted to finish my meal without continually looking at her, but it was difficult. At one point, I thought she saw and recognized me, but she made no outward sign of it. When I was mostly finished with my meal, I signed my check and left. I saw her with the same officer two nights later. That time she definitely saw me and her reaction told me she hadn't seen me two nights before.

Later in the dayroom of the BOQ, I was talking to another officer and two other officers sat near us. One of them was the man I'd seen her with both times at the Club.

"She's a prick tease I tell you." He was talking. "Tonight was our third date and not even a fucking kiss. She's dated other guys and they all say the same thing. Not one has said he's gotten in her pants. All we hear about is some imaginary husband in Korea."

"If she has a husband, why is she even going on dates?"

"Who cares? All I want is pussy. I don't care who it comes from."

"That's pretty pathetic, Major. Trying to sleep with the wife of a fellow soldier who's overseas."

"Come on. He's in Korea for Christ's sake. Not some sand dune someplace. In Korea he can get all the pussy he wants."

"Maybe he doesn't want any. Maybe he loves his wife."