Suspicion Ch. 01

Dear readers, this story contains very little explicit sex. It might have easily been submitted as a Non-erotic or even as a Romance category story. I have chosen Loving Wives because that is how I consider Kathy, the wife in this story. If you want a story with a lot of sucking and fucking please do yourself a favor and skip this Loving Wives story.

sus•pi•cion (sU-spi-shUn) (n. )

-The act of suspecting something, especially something wrong, on little evidence or without proof.

-The condition of being suspected, especially of wrongdoing.

-A state of uncertainty; doubt.

The Webster Dictionary definition ofsuspicion is rather lacking in its ability to clearly denote the insidiousness which effects the ensnared mind. At its inception, suspicion is more like a tiny worm that bores its way into the psyche and takes up residence there. It can lie dormant for weeks or months, but it never dies. It hibernates quietly in the recesses of the mind waiting to be fed with more doubt.

Suspicion is the dark side of the mind. There is no joy or happiness where suspicion is present. It can paralyze its victim into non-action or crate a state of numbness which robs the victim of their ability to reason correctly.

Why am I so obsessed with the word suspicion? The simple answer is that all the devastating events of the past 3 months started with a small unexpected observation which planted the worm of suspicion in my mind. Up until that event occurred, I would never have had the slightest doubt of the faithfulness of my wife of 16 years.

Five days of the week I am awake before my wife and the children. I have formed this routine which has me slipping out of bed and moving quietly into the exercise room located in the basement. I have several modern exercise machines which permit me to work-out undisturbed for a half hour or more while the rest of the family is sleeping upstairs. A vigorous workout on the bench-flex machine and the treadmill wakes up my entire body.

It was a Thursday morning when I woke up a little earlier than normal. Rather than lie in bed for another 15 minutes I got up and headed down to the exercise room. I finished my workout early and headed back upstairs to shower and get dressed for work.

Kathy was not in the bed as I walked into the bedroom. I opened the bathroom door in one quick motion and stepped inside. Kathy was standing there about to put on her bra. Her smooth firm breast were rising slowly as she breath in and out. I smiled at her and then my eyes caught the sight of a strange dark black and blue mark on Kathy's left breast near her aureole. The mark was oval shaped about the size of a half dollar.

My eyes flashed up from the dark mark and locked on to Kathy's surprised face. There, in the space of about 20 milliseconds, was a look I had never seen in Kathy's eyes. Those eyes flashed a strong sense of guilt as her mind registered the fact I had just seen the dark mark on her breast. It was as if I had caught her in some type of lewd act. The look of guilt quickly changed to a look of shame as she turned her body away from me and proceeded to put her bra on.

No words were spoken in that very brief but embarrassing moment. Kathy smiled as she moved past me and out of the bathroom. I stood there dumbfounded trying to get my mind around the situation which took place in that very brief encounter.

My mind would not let go of the sight of the dark mark on Kathy's breast. It sure looked like a love-bite, a 'hickey' caused by an intense sucking on one spot of flesh. What was it really? Why was it there? Did Kathy bruise herself in some manner to get that black and blue mark? My mind was not willing to accept the other alternative explanation for the origin of her bruise.

The warm water washed over my body as I stood in the shower. I tried my best to expunge the incident from my mind. The best I was able to do was to push it back inside my mind as I began to think of the work day that lie ahead of me.

At the breakfast table Kathy was her normal upbeat self as she hurried around getting me and the kids ready for the new day. Jason and Christi had their usual sibling nit picking at each other while they finished their breakfast and headed out the door to catch the school bus.

"I saw you looking at the bruise mark on my breast in the bathroom." Kathy said as she finally sat down across from me at the table.

"I injured myself yesterday at work. There was a open file drawer I bumped into and hit my breast against it. It was really dumb of me and it left a small black and blue mark." Her face was calm and nonchalant as she shrugged her shoulders as if to indicate there wasn't anything more to say about the bruise.

Normally, I would not have given the matter anymore thought except there was the momentary look of guilt in Kathy's eyes when I first saw the bruise. It wasthe look that her explanation could not satisfy in my mind. I just nodded my head and finished eating my toast.

We did our usual hug and kiss as I walked out of the kitchen and into the garage. Kathy would leave for work about 15 or 20 minutes after I left. There was a lot on my mind about the customer meeting which was scheduled for this morning. The bathroom encounter and Kathy's explanation dropped off my radar screen as I drove to work. But unknown to me, the worm of suspicion had been planted in my mind. It just borrowed itself inside and went to sleep.

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Kathy, my beautiful 39 year old wife , and I live what many would call the ideal American Lifestyle. We live in a nice neighborhood of upper middle class suburbia. We are both college graduates and have professional careers which we constantly balance with each other and our two children.

Jason, our oldest child is 13 years old. He is a bundle of energy that rivals the EveryReady Bunny. There is middle school, music lessons, swimming, soccer practice and soccer games which keeps him very busy.

Christi, is our 11 year old daughter. She is her daddy's little princess. Even during her early years, she had mastered the feminine skills that can bend and wrap me around her little finger. Just as in most other father-daughter relations, I know I am being manipulated, but I am helpless to defend myself when she turns on her sweet charms.

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My name is Paul Matthews. I am a year older than my wife. I have been employed at the Equity Corp for the past twelve years. My current position is that of Section Manager responsible for the maintenance department located at the corporate headquarters. There are 24 people in my department who have maintenance assignments ranging from heating and air conditioning equipment to computer and telephone installation. It isn't a very stressful job for me. I have very talented people working for me who know their jobs better than I do. Rarely do I have to do any business traveling. Once or twice a year, I attend a conference or seminar on new innovations in building maintenance. Kathy has gone with me on several of these out of town business trips.

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Kathy is the director of Human Relations of the local TV cable company in our area. The high level of job responsibility makes Kathy feel very good about herself. In addition, her job has also done wonders for her self esteem.

After our daughter was born, Kathy thought her professional life was over and she would be relegated to the status of "Suzy Homemaker" and a stay-at-home Mom. By the time Christi was three years old, it was obvious that Kathy would need to get some outside activity which would challenge her more than cleaning up after toddlers and making meals.

At first Kathy was torn between her guilt and depression. She felt guilty that she could not cope with the demands of being a full time mommy. Yet, she was depressed over the fact that all of her college education was ebbing away without ever being fully utilized.

All of that changed when Kathy's sister, Evelyn, moved into the same neighborhood. Evelyn and Kathy were total opposites. Evelyn Hunter was the consummate mother and homemaker. She had no desire to challenge the world with her business acumen or to be some eye-candy at a receptionist desk. Motherhood suited her just fine. Having her husband Todd being the principle bread-winner was the way life was supposed to be in Evelyn's mind.

The Hunters have three children, a boy and two girls. Allan was the oldest followed by Alexis and Alyssa, his twin sisters. It didn't take long for our two children to become "adopted" by their Aunt Evelyn and for them to spend much of their free time at their cousins' house. This was a blessing for Kathy. She and Evelyn worked out an arrangement which allowed Kathy to begin pursuing a professional career while her sister would be the den-mother.

That was eight years ago. Kathy landed her ideal position with Cablenex, the local TV cable company. She was hired as Human Relations manager reporting the Regional Managing Director. The job was everything Kathy had hoped for in a job. It gave her a sense of accomplishment and at the same time gave her some freedom away from the office. One of her major job responsibilities was the interviewing of potential subcontractors for Cablenex. She had to ensure that any subcontractor hired by Cablenex complied with all of the State and Federal hiring guidelines.

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Several weeks after the encounter in the bathroom with Kathy's bruised breast, I was reviewing the proposal specifications for a new telephone exchange system for the corporate offices. I discovered a number of important items had been overlooked in the draft proposal. I took to task the two employees directly responsible for writing up the specifications. Although it was unusual for these two employees to screw up, I gave them a good dressing down and I sent them off to correct the draft.

This incident had frazzled my already tense nerves. The entire order would have been seriously compromised if I had not caught the error in the draft. I decided I needed to get out of the office for the rest of the day and do some stress-relieving exercising at the gym. As I left the office, I told my secretary I would be gone for the rest of the day and to only call me if a 9/11 type tragedy happened to the company. She smiled at me and just nodded her head.

The next two hours were spent in a heavy workout at the gym which included swimming a hundred laps in the large pool. Several minutes in the steam room and a nice hot shower made me feel like a new man. It was 2:10 in the afternoon when I walked out of the gym. For a quick second, I thought about returning to the office. My refreshed mind quickly squelched that idea. Let the group run itself for the rest of the day.

As I was driving home, a nasty thought flashed across my mind. I had read and heard stories about husbands returning home unannounced to find their wives in the bedroom with a lover. I smiled at that thought. Kathy would never be unfaithful to me.

Then the little worm of suspicion in my psyche wiggled its ugly head and the thought of the guilty look in Kathy's eyes gave me a twinge of doubt for a split second.

I pulled into the driveway. No strange cars in the driveway. The garage door went up. No cars in the garage either. The children were still at school and Kathy would be at work for another 3 hours. Peace and quiet all for myself as I entered the silent house.

After quickly changing into some sweat pants and shirt, I went into the den and put on some smooth jazz. I no sooner sat down in my recliner to relax, when the phone began to ring.

"Damn-it anyway!" I thought to myself as I got up to answer the phone. "It better not be the office calling!"

"Hello." I said as I picked up the phone.

"Is this the Matthews' residence?" A female voice on the other end spoke. My mind first jumped to thinking this was a telemarketer making one of those annoying sale solicitation calls.

"Yes it is. Who is this calling?" I sounded annoyed as I challenged the caller.

"Oh, I'm sorry to have bothered you, I was wanting to talk to Kathy Matthews." The female voice sounded very apologetic.

"She's still at work. Can I take a message for her?" I wanted to end this interruption and get back to my solitude and my glass of Jack Daniel's.

"Would you be so kind? This is Nancy Cobb. I wanted to call her and tell her about the cost to get my car repaired."

My mind jumped for a minute. Kathy didn't mention anything to me about a Nancy Cobb.

"Can you give me the information, Nancy?" My voice had now changed to a more pleasant tone as my curiosity had peaked.

"Yes. Tell Kathy the body repair shop said the cost would not exceed $550 for the tail light and dent in the fender." Nancy's voice sounded like a middle aged woman.

"All right, Nancy. Tell me more about the accident and what happened." My voice was nonchalant hoping that Nancy would fill in all the details.

"Well, it was last week Tuesday when Kathy backed into my car in the parking lot. She didn't do any damage to her car, but the edge of her bumper smashed the tail light lens and made a small dent in the fender. It wasn't very bad, so Kathy told me to get an estimate and she would pay the cost of repair. She didn't want to report it to the insurance company. I can understand why she wouldn't want to do that. Those insurance companies will raise your premiums at the slightest chance." It sounded to me like two woman solving all the world's problems in a parking lot.

"So, I imagine they have these kind of accidents all the time in the mall parking lot." I said to Nancy as I scribbled a note for Kathy.

"Yes, I imagine the mall parking lot accidents occur all the time." Nancy said as I was about to end the conversation. "But, this one occurred at the Pine Tree Motel parking lot."

Wham!!! My mind snapped up at that last statement.

"So, Kathy was at the motel a week ago on Tuesday and she backed her car into your car. Is that correct, Nancy?" I tried to make my voice sound natural. And not convey the tightness that was gripping my chest.

"Yes, that's correct. I had gone over to see my sister who was staying at the motel. My husband does not like my sister at all. So I have to meet her at the motel whenever she comes to town. I was getting out of my car when Kathy backed out of her parking space. She must not have seen my car behind her when she bumped into it. It was a good thing she wasn't going very fast or the damage would have been greater."

I thought for a moment about what question to ask Nancy next. Too much chaos in my mind so I just asked. "Is there anything else about the accident you can remember, Nancy?"

"Well, nothing other than to thank the man who came over to look at the damage and tell me that my car was still very driveable. But, he said I should get it fixed before the police gave me a ticket for driving with a broken tail light."

"Was Kathy upset by the accident?" I could hear her take a deep breath as she thought for a second.

"Yes she was. That was until the kind gentleman came over to assess the damage. He was so helpful about the incident that he calmed us both down."

"Did the man work for the motel?" I asked.

"No, I don't think so. In fact, I think Kathy knew him although she didn't say that she knew him."

I wanted to ask her what thiskind gentleman looked like, but that might have raised some suspicion on Nancy's part. She might think she gave me more information than she should have.

"Well, thank you Nancy. I'll give this information to Kathy when she comes home. Does she have your telephone number?"

"I gave her my number when she gave me her business card. I asked her for her home number also which she wrote down on the back of her card."

"Just in case she lost your phone number, Nancy, could you give it to me again?"

"My home phone is (512) 343-2552 and my cell phone number is (512) 734-8762."

"Thank you, Nancy. I'll give this information to Kathy as soon as she gets home this evening."

We said our good-byes and hung up. I sat back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling. My thoughts were bouncing around inside my head.

What now?!?!? What was this all about? Kathy had not mentioned anything about a car accident to me. That was something she would have surely told me as soon as saw me. Also, why would Kathy be at the Pine Tree Motel on a Tuesday afternoon?

The answer could be a simple as her interviewing a new subcontractor at the motel restaurant. There didn't have to be anything clandestine about her being at the motel in the afternoon. I was trying to rationalize this latest bit of unsettling information which had just come to my attention. There could be a hundred different harmless answers which could explain her being at that motel.

Still in the back of my mind, the worm of suspicion stirred once again.'Maybe it is the worst possible answer. Maybe Kathy has a lover. How would you ever know for sure?'

It took two more Jack Daniel's to calm my nerves. By then the kids came racing in from school. They gave their usual'Hello Dad' and headed upstairs to their rooms. Christi came down about a half hour later and went into the kitchen to start the supper that Kathy had prepared before she went to work.

I was still sitting in the recliner trying to relax when I heard the garage door open and Kathy came in. She walked over and kissed me on the top of my head.

"You're home early, Paul. Anything wrong at work?" She asked as she rubbed her hand along my cheek.

"Nothing major. I just left early to go to the gym for a workout and a swim. I needed to do some stress relieving." My smile never gave any hint of the turmoil going on inside my mind.

Christi shouted out that supper was just about ready to put on the table. So Kathy turned away and went up stairs to change clothes.

Supper time was the usual chatter among the four of us as we ate and talked about our day. Jason was giving an update on the science project he was working on with his school friend Ethan. Christi was chattering away about her English class and the book report which was due next week. It was the typical suburban family enjoying each other and sharing the important things of the day. Kathy mentioned that her company was expanding their coverage territory and she was very busy lining up subcontractors to help with the cable installations.

I sat there taking in all this wonderful chatter, thinking what a wonderful family I was a part of."What about you, Dad? How was your day?" Christi asked as she gave me her 'Daddy's little girl' smile.

"It was a little more stressful than usual at work. There was a major mistake in the latest telephone specifications. I nearly blew my top at the group. Instead, I gave them instructions on what needed to be fixed and then I left the office for the rest of the day. I went to the gym for a good stress busting workout and then I came home to relax with my loving family." I smiled back at Christi. "Tomorrow will certainly be a better day in the neighborhood." I winked at her as she giggled at my remark.

I looked across the table at Kathy and then spoke. "Oh by the way Kathy, a Nancy Cobb called this afternoon while I was here to tell you she got the estimate to get the damage to her car repaired." Nothing in the tone of my voice gave any hint of my concern.

Kathy almost choked on the food she was swallowing. Our eyes locked for a second. There again was a surprised look of guilt in her eyes. The same look that appeared when I walked in on her in the bathroom and saw the bruise mark on her breast. Her facial expression was one of shock and instant fear.