The Anniversary Dance

Something a bit different from my usual fare. Remember, this is a work of fiction and not a docu-drama. All constructive comments are welcome and appreciated.

*****

It was mid-January 2003 and in three weeks, my wife, Addie, and I would be celebrating our first anniversary as a married couple. Of course, that was assuming we were still married. As of now, I wasn't too sure that would be the case.

I thought back over the last year as I drove down the freeway to my next service job. To me, Addie was perfect in almost every way one can imagine. Standing at 4 foot 10 inches, she had a great figure with well-toned legs and a perfectly proportioned set of breasts - not too big and not too small. Her dark brown hair came past her shoulders, framing a face that lit up when she smiled. Even her eyes seemed to twinkle when she looked at me.

I met her a couple years ago in college. I was getting a degree in electronics and IT and she was finishing up her nurse's program. We met in the school library quite by accident. She was having trouble getting her computer to do something and was becoming quite frustrated. I was sitting just a few places down from her, so I went over to see if I could help. It turned out she wasn't clicking the right thing. No problem - I helped her and got a hug in return.

We spent the rest of our time in the library talking and before you know it, we were out on a date. One thing led to another and we ended up married.

I was hardly a virgin when we became exclusive, having spent four years in the service. Addie, on the other hand, was a virgin, and insisted on waiting until our wedding day to have sex. That was fine with me. In fact, it made me respect her even more.

After graduating, Addie went to work for a hospital and I got a job doing field service for a local company fixing everything from copiers and computers to printers and fax machines. My day was usually spent on the road going from company to company, but at least I was home every night. Addie's schedule, on the other hand, could vary wildly from month to month.

We got married a few months after graduating and were able to take a few days from our jobs for a honeymoon. At the time, she was almost 23 and I was 26. We ended up driving to Las Vegas and had a great time together.

Except for one thing.

It turned out that Addie had some peculiar ideas about sex, thanks to her mother. No, she wasn't wild and crazy - just the opposite. Apparently, her mother had taught her that "good" girls never let a man see them naked. And "good" girls only have sex with their spouses once or twice a month to procreate. That's it. Anything other than missionary sex for the purpose of procreation was forbidden in her view. That meant no oral - nothing. It was simply, 'get in, get out, quit fucking about,' if you know what I mean.

The idea of a couple bonding together in the act of love was taboo to her.

Addie was even horrified that I would want to sleep in the same bed as her.

"I love you dearly, Joe," she said, "but I don't think I can do that."

What the hell, I thought.

"Didn't your parents sleep together?" I asked her.

"No, mom and dad never slept in the same bed," she told me. I couldn't believe what she was telling me. I realized that I had my work cut out for me. I loved this girl with all my heart and there was no way I'd leave her or cheat on her, but this really threw me for a loop. What was I to do?

After thinking about it, I decided to work with her and maybe show her what it was husbands and wives do...

"Addie, you're a nurse, right?" I asked her. She nodded.

"Of course," she said.

"So you know how the human reproductive system works, right?"

"Don't be silly," she said. "You know I do."

"Well, dear, how do you think you came into the world?"

"I know, my parents had sex. But you don't understand. My parents never slept in the same bed, ever. They only had sex a few times to have children."

Wow, I thought.

"And how many children did your parents have?" I asked.

"Just one," she said. "Me."

"What does that tell you?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Maybe they would've had more kids if they actually slept together. Tell me, how close were they?" I asked. I never met her father since he died a few years ago, but I had met her mother. She was nice enough to me - polite, even - but didn't seem like the type to be overly friendly or loving. By the time we were married, though, she died from a heart attack.

"I don't know," Addie said. "I never saw them fight or anything, but they never seemed to be real close. They basically tolerated each other and that was about it. He went to work, came home and watched TV and Mom would cook and clean the house. That's it."

"Did either one ever cheat on the other?" I asked. Addie seemed horrified.

"Not that I know of. They both hated cheaters with a passion."

"Surely you've seen enough on television and in the movies to know husbands and wives sleep together, right?" I asked. She seemed to be embarrassed.

"Maybe, but I never really thought about about it. Mom was pretty uptight about stuff like that," she said.

Talk about an understatement. After a bit more coaxing, she agreed to sleep with me but only if she could wear her pajamas.

"Can we just, you know, cuddle and kiss and maybe watch some television for a while?" she asked.

"Okay," I said. I loved cuddling with her, but I had been hoping for more - much more.

It took some doing but I was finally able to coax her into letting us have sex, but only if I wore a condom. I took it slow and easy with her so it wouldn't be painful. She insisted on wearing a long t-shirt and wouldn't let me touch her pussy. Her mother told her that was something dirty that only sluts and whores let men do. Needless to say, our first sexual encounter would have had to improve to suck.

Still, I loved her so I decided to be patient with her. I figured it wasn't her fault that her mother raised her to be frigid.

I got more insight into the problem after speaking with her only living relative, a cousin named Mario who was about 13 years older than her. He and his wife, Jenny, owned a strip club on the outskirts of town. It so happened that he had purchased all of his office equipment from the company I worked for, so I got a chance to see him every so often whenever he needed something fixed.

"So, how's married life treating you, Joe?" he asked one day.

"Okay, I guess," I told him.

"Who are you trying to convince?" he asked. "Me or you? Come on, spill it."

"Well, things aren't too good in the bedroom, if you know what I mean," I told him.

"Not surprised, really," he said. "My aunt had some real strange ideas about sex, you know. I honestly don't know how my Uncle Orville put up with it for so long. She didn't even let him sleep with her. I'm not sure where she got her ideas from, but I'm not surprised that Addie's taken after her mom a bit. At least she lets you sleep in the same bed.

"You know, if you really need to, you can hook up with one of the girls here," he told me. Mario had good tastes and the girls who worked for him were the very definition of "hot." I shook my head.

"Thanks, Mario, but I could never do that to Addie," I said. "I love her too much and I'd never cheat on her."

"Good answer," Mario said. "Look, I know it's hard, but just be patient with her, okay? And if you need to talk, just come by."

"Thanks, Mario, I appreciate that," I said.

I thought about what Mario said on the way home and considered ways to get Addie to open up a bit.

Addie could sense my frustration and once asked me tearfully if I regretted marrying her. Of course, I didn't. I love her more than life itself, I told her. And it was the truth. It still is, for that matter. But I wasn't going to go my whole life living in a sexless relationship, I decided. Nor would I ever cheat on her. That was out of the question. She even suggested it to me once.

"I know you have needs," she said as we sat on the couch watching television, "and I'm sorry I'm not able to meet those needs. If you want, you have my permission to go have sex with another woman. It would hurt, but I would understand."

I looked at her and noticed the tears in her eyes. I held her to me tightly.

"No, Addie, I'd never do that to you," I said. "I love you and I took a vow to forsake all others and stay with you for better or worse. I'd never hurt you like that." She began crying, hugging me tighter.

"Joe, I love you so much. Thank you for being so patient with me," she said. "I'm sorry I'm such a failure as a wife."

"You're not a failure, Addie. You're the best woman a guy could ever want. You're kind, considerate, loving, not to mention beautiful. We just have some issues we need to work through," I said.

Except for the lack of any meaningful sex, things were good between Addie and I over the next few months. We got along well, hugged and kissed each other every chance we got and Addie was always attentive to my daily needs. I knew the lack of sex bothered her so I didn't make an issue of it, and neither did she, although we did discuss seeing a marriage counselor. She was open to it, but it never happened.

That's because her shift changed, drastically, as it did from time to time. Now, she was working a split shift - fours hours on, fours hours off and another four hours on. She left for work at 8:00 am, worked from 9:00 - 1:00 pm, then went back to work from 5:00 - 9:00 pm. It was 10:00 pm by the time she got home, which was about the time I went to bed.

That's when things started to get, well, strange.

The thing about working field service is that you never know where you're going to be from one hour to the next. There were a few times I was fairly close to the hospital where she worked. I tried to arrange my lunch so I could swing by and surprise her with a quick mid-day "date." I was unsuccessful most of the time but one day a couple months after her shift change I made it into the parking lot just a little after 1 pm.

What I saw threw me for a complete loop. I spied Addie coming out of the hospital wearing a short dress that didn't look like anything she would normally wear. It was extremely short and showed off quite a lot of cleavage. I had never seen her wear anything like that before since she normally wore long nondescript dresses or jeans, so I took a couple photos with my phone, which was quite clunky compared to what we have today.

As I watched, she threw her scrubs into the back seat of her car, then drove away. I followed her for a bit but had to break it off so I could get to my next call. I had no idea where she was going or what she was doing. I tried calling her cell phone but it went straight to voicemail.

I sent her a text telling her I wanted to meet for lunch but just missed her. I got nothing in reply.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked myself. "Is she cheating on me? And if so, with who?" At that moment, I felt like my whole world was crumbling around me. I could never imagine Addie cheating on me, but if she was, that would mean the end of our short marriage.

I finished the rest of my day but my mind wasn't on work. I decided to take Mario up on his offer and stopped at his club on my way home.

"Hey, Joe, how's it hanging?" he asked. He saw the look on my face and waved me to his office.

"You look like someone just crapped in your Wheaties," he said. "What's the matter?"

"I saw Addie today," I told him. "I think she's cheating on me." He poured me a drink and sat me down.

"What makes you think she's cheating?" he asked. I pulled out my phone and showed him the pictures I took earlier.

"I went by the hospital, thought I'd surprise her with a lunch date and saw this," I said. Mario looked at the pictures.

"Ohhh, that's not good," he said. "Look, I know my cousin better than anyone else, Joe, and I find it hard to believe she'd cheat on you."

"Why else would she be dressed like that?" I asked. "That's not exactly normal hospital wear. That's a dress that screams, 'fuck me.' And she wasn't wearing it for me."

"Did you see where she went?" Mario asked. I shook my head.

"No," I told him. "I started to follow her but I had to get to my next call, so I have no idea where she went."

"Did you see her with anyone?" he asked. Again, I shook my head.

"No, I didn't," I said. "But that doesn't mean anything. She could've gone anywhere. Hell, she had four hours to kill." Suddenly, it hit me.

"My God, Mario, maybe she's been seeing her boyfriend every day. No wonder she doesn't want to do anything with me," I said. About that time, Jenny showed up.

"Joe, is everything okay?" she asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. I felt like crying as I repeated what I had told her husband. I even showed her the pictures I took of Addie earlier that day.

"Wow, that is a short dress," Jenny said. "I can see why you'd think she would be cheating on you."

She sat down in a chair and pulled close to me.

"Joe, trust me, Addie is madly in love with you and worships the ground you walk on. I can't believe she'd ever cheat on you. I know these pictures look fairly incriminating, but let's be honest. Just because a pretty girl like Addie is wearing a short dress doesn't mean she's cheating. Maybe there's another explanation. Have you talked to her?"

"No," I said. "I called and texted her but heard nothing back."

"Well, maybe you should talk to her first and see what she says," Jenny said.

"Jenny's right, Joe," Mario said. "Believe me, if I thought she was cheating on you, I'd put her over my knee and give her a good spanking. Maybe you should have a talk with her and see what she says."

"Okay," I said. "I'll talk with her. Maybe I'm making too much of this."

Mario and Jenny looked at each other for a moment before addressing me.

"Just don't do anything stupid, okay?" Mario asked. I nodded my head. "Promise us you'll let us know what she says."

"I will. Thanks," I said.

I got back to my truck and headed home, my head filled with images of Addie in that dress, with another man. My phone rang just as I pulled into our garage. It was Addie.

"Are you okay," she asked. "I just got your message. Sorry I missed you, I didn't know you were coming by today or I would've stayed."

"Yeah," I said, "I guess I'm okay. I just miss you so much."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I was just going to meet up with some of the girls to kill time before I had to come back to work."

That made sense to me, so I didn't mention the dress I saw her wearing. Still, it was a bit hard for me to believe.

"I'll see you tonight after I get home, okay?" she asked. "I love you so much."

"I love you, too," I said before hanging up.

Addie made it home at her usual time, wearing her scrubs. I'd read the stories online about women cheating on their husbands and how they would sometimes rush to the shower or come home hot and horny. Addie did neither of those things but she was tired after being on her feet for so long.

She sat down on the couch next to me, wrapped her arms around me and gave me a kiss. I detected nothing that would suggest she was anywhere other than the hospital where she worked. I decided to tread lightly just in case.

"You know I just missed you today," I said.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I just changed out of my scrubs and met with some of the girls. I didn't know you would be there."

"I always try to come by when I can," I said. "It's hard with my job and all. I just miss spending time with you."

"I miss being with you as well," she said.

"I didn't know you had extra clothes at work," I said. "When did that happen?"

"Well, when they put me on this split shift, I took a few things down to keep in my locker so I wouldn't have to get my scrubs dirty," she said.

"So, where did you go today?" I asked.

"We just met at a Starbucks down the road and had some coffee, then did some window shopping," she said.

'Starbucks, my ass,' I thought. I saw her drive right by that Starbucks just this afternoon. I had just caught her in a lie.

"See anything you liked?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Not really. Besides, what I really want is right here," she said, patting my chest. Nice save, I thought.

"Come on, it's late," she said. "Let's turn in for the night." And with that, she got up and went to the bedroom. It was late and I had to get up early so I followed her to bed with the realization that I would get no answers tonight. Maybe Mario and Jenny were right, but she did lie about going to Starbucks.

The next day I stopped off to see Mario and Jenny after I got off work.

"So how'd it go with Addie?" Mario asked after we went into his office.

"She said she went to the Starbucks down the road and window shopping with some of her girlfriends," I said.

"Well, see? What did I tell you?" he asked.

"Except I know she never went there. In fact, she drove right by that Starbucks," I said.

"Look, Joe," Mario said. "I know you're hurting right now, but let's think this thing through, okay? How long have you known Addie?"

"A couple years, maybe a bit more," I said.

"Well, I've known that girl all her life. I've even changed her diapers. She's like my own daughter. I happen to know for a fact that she absolutely adores you and would rather crawl through 100 miles of shit and broken glass than cheat on you," he said.

"But why would she lie to me?" I asked.

"You guys have an anniversary coming up in what, two or three weeks? Maybe she's out looking for something to surprise you with. Look, you're like a son to me and I know you guys have some issues but please believe me when I tell you there's no way she would ever cheat on you. Just sit back and let her work this out, okay? Be there for her and let her know you love her and trust her. Will you do that?"

"Okay, Mario, I guess you're right," I said. "I'm just so frustrated and seeing her out like that really pissed me off."

"I can understand that," he said. "I'd be a bit pissed off, too. So, have you gotten anything yet or made any plans?"

"Not yet," I said. "I know how much she likes unicorns and I saw this really nice unicorn ring with some small diamonds so I put a down payment on it. I'll be picking it up the day before our anniversary."

"That's nice," Mario said. He reached into his pocket, pulled out an envelope and handed it to me. "Promise me you'll take her out to a nice restaurant, maybe get some surf and turf. On us, by the way."

"Wow," I said. I knew that a good steak and lobster dinner could be expensive. "Thanks, Mario, I appreciate that." He smiled and winked.

"My pleasure," he said. "Besides, I think your wife's got something really special cooked up for you."

"Oh?" I asked. "Like what?"

"Oh no," Mario said. "You'll just have to wait. But trust me on this, she's put a lot of thought and effort into it. I'd better not say anything else. Look, just go home, hold your wife, kiss her, tell her how much you love her and stop worrying."

"Okay," I said. It wouldn't be easy, but I promised myself I'd put on my best performance. Besides, deep down, a part of me knew Mario was right. Still, my mind kept going back to seeing her in that dress...

I'd read a bunch of stories on the Internet about cheating wives and ruled out a private investigator. For one thing, I knew they were extremely expensive. Other than that one lie and a couple of photos of her in a skimpy dress I really had no proof. I decided to take a look through her things to see if I could get a clue.

There wasn't much in the closet, just her usual dresses, so I looked through her dresser drawers. I did find a few skimpy pairs of panties I had never seen before but that by itself wasn't proof of anything other than she had bought some new underwear.