The Elephant

The way you notice things can be strange. Against a familiar background you might not see an elephant. But look at an unfamiliar background! Things that are commonplace jump out.

That Monday started great. My best client gave my firm a new project. To thank them and as a kick-off, I took the high mucky-mucks out to lunch at a very nice restaurant. The restaurant was in a different part of the city than their offices. We had some cocktails and an enjoyable conversation that took us well past one o'clock.

I was signing the credit card slip. A movement caught my eye. I looked up and saw the side of my wife's face go by and then turn away towards the restrooms. I still saw her auburn hair for an instant but then she was gone. Why was she here? She hadn't mentioned a special lunch and this is not a place she would go with her friends for a casual meal.

When I got home that night, I couldn't wait to tell her about the project. "Honey, Genuine gave us the go-ahead for the tracking project! We start in two weeks. I'll probably be working late for the first four to six weeks to get everything up to speed, but it's going to be really profitable." Why had I said that? We had started today with some people already in place and the schedule was very reasonable.

We talked about the project as she served our dinner. "How was your day," I finally asked.

"Oh, Mr. Nasty called and I had to go down there to run some reports. He wouldn't even let me go to lunch before I ran them. It was after one o'clock before I got to eat." My wife considers her primary job to be babysitting our first grandchild, a two-year old, on the days that our daughter-in-law works part time. After that she has a part time bookkeeping business herself with several small firms as clients. Mr. Nasty was her nickname for a particularly disagreeable client who paid top dollar for about six hours per month.

I tried not to show my relief. The restaurant where I had eaten was very convenient to Mr. Nasty's office. "So what did you have for lunch when you finally got it?"

"Just my usual salad in the food court," my wife replied.

Maybe I hadn't seen her in the restaurant. It was just a quick view. Forget it. Enjoy her company.

The next morning I dragged myself out of bed at 5:30 to hit the gym. Three years ago one of the managers at a client dropped dead of a heart attack. He was about five years older than me and smoked like a stove, but the event caused a reassessment of my lifestyle. I joined a gym and began to work out three or four days a week. I dropped 40 pounds getting back to within five pounds of when we were married. With the weight training that I was doing, my waist was actually an inch smaller than back then. I tried to be quiet as Ann grabbed her last 90 minutes of sleep.

As I passed through the kitchen going to the garage, I noticed my wife's planner open on the table. She has always kept meticulous, even obsessive, records, but her business as bookkeeper to multiple firms has made her more compulsive than ever about recording every hour billed and mile driven. I turned the page back to the previous day. There it was, Mr. Nasty, but from 10AM to noon. A second entry showed only a single letter at one o'clock, L. Something was out of kilter. I turned the planner back to where it had been opened and went to the gym.

What was going on? I remembered yesterday's sighting as I put down 45 minutes on the treadmill. Ann hadn't been wearing her normal business attire. She normally wore pants suits or sometimes a dress suit. Yesterday, the person I had noticed was wearing a figure-flattering dress that was upscale for the kind of clients that Ann saw. I couldn't make sense of Ann's planner entries and everything else. I put it aside as an aberration. Why stir up things that I had probably misunderstood.

That night when I got home, Ann had fixed a nice meal. With the kids gone, most of our cooking was casseroles that would last the two of us for several meals. If we wanted something special, we would go out. Tonight she had cooked salmon with a special glaze and broccoli with a hollandaise sauce. After dinner she made us sundaes with hot fudge, caramel and nuts.

A little while later I heard the bath running. Sex on the weekends was a given, but an early bath on a weeknight was our signal for unscheduled sex. Normally I was the one making the signal. Shortly Ann came out dressed in a one of her "ready to get laid" nightgowns.

"What's the occasion?"

"Well, my hubby got a big contract yesterday and I wanted to reward him."

"Pavlovian training?"

"Definitely!"

When I got out of the shower, she was in bed reading. I pulled on my pajamas and crawled in beside her. I began kissing the side of her neck. Often she would ask me to wait until she had finished the current page she was on. Tonight she closed the book, turned off her light and rolled toward me.

She had lighted some candles in the bedroom. Even after the harsh lights were out, I could see the desire in her brown eyes. We melted together in a kiss. I could feel her breasts push into me. At fifty-two after almost thirty-one years of marriage she had only gained fifteen pounds since our wedding day. Since she had been skinny when we met, those pounds had only added sensuousness to her figure that made her even more desirable now than when she was younger.

I ran my hands slowly down her back. I loved to feel her soft skin underneath the nylon. We continued just necking for five or ten minutes but I became impatient to touch the treasures that were hidden. I scooped up the hem of her gown with one hand while kissing down her neck. I lightly caressed the outside of her breasts and then moved to brush my lips over one nipple.

"Oh, you tease me so good," she breathed into my ear.

I moved to the other nipple and flicked it with my tongue. Then I slowly licked and kissed my way back to the first nipple. I made this circuit several times then I veered lower. Licking, kissing and gentle bites tracked down to the hair covering her pussy. I blew some hot puffs of air between her legs but I didn't remain there. I continued down her thigh to her knee.

Ann is on the tall side for a woman. To me, her slender legs were the best part of a 5-foot, 7-inch body. Shifting between her legs, I began licking back up her other thigh. As I moved higher she gradually spread her legs opening herself to my tongue. I licked and sucked gently on the outside of her lips until I could no longer stand it. I plunged my tongue into her hot, wet center and then upwards to circle her clit.

When I moved back down, Ann let a small cry of disappointment out. I reversed direction and again circled her clit. Her sweetness was intoxicating to me and I knew that I couldn't leave that nub again. I began to slowly flick it. Ann started to pump her hips in time to my licks. I inserted two fingers inside her as I increased the speed of my tongue. Soon, I felt a few small contractions around my fingers. Then the pulses increased and Ann thrust her pussy up into my face and held it there while using one hand to pull me into her.

"Unnhhh, unnhh, unnhh, UUUNNNHH, unnhh," came from Ann's mouth. That distinctive combination of moan and laugh made me feel proud. I knew she had had a terrific orgasm.

She relaxed back into the bed and then pulled the back of my head. "Now, I want you in me."

I moved up to enter her and leaned over to kiss her. She kissed me back fiercely. As we broke, she licked the juices off my face like a mother cat cleaning a kitten. She often did this and I'm sure she sensed that I liked it. The tongue washing excited me because it fueled my fantasy of seeing her with another woman. Of course, I had never told her that or spoken of my fantasy to her, but she knew that I liked the girl-girl scenes in the soft porn that we occasionally watched on Cinemax.

"No, wait," she said as I returned to trying to enter her. She wrapped her arms around me and pulled to one side. We rolled over and she straddled my stomach.

"Let me do the work now." She inched backwards while reaching between her legs. Grabbing my cock, she rubbed it up and down her slit getting the head lubricated. Then she pulled it to her and began inching down. She knew she was teasing me. When I tried to thrust up, she shifted upward.

"Remember, slow and steady wins the race." Her eyes were laughing at me.

"But fast and furious will get you off," I replied.

After more teasing she finally dropped down fully against me. She began a rhythm moving up and down in small arcs. I watched her face. Her eyes were closed and I could tell that she was savoring the delicious friction.

"Your cock feels so good in me. My pussy around your cock, delightful." Ann is vocal sometimes and likes to describe things to me.

As her speed slowly increased she leaned forward putting her hands on my shoulders. The faster she moved, the lower she let her torso drop until I could feel her breasts rubbing across my chest. I could no longer stay still and started thrusting up in sync with her movements.

"Ahh, Bill. So good. Sooo goood." I felt her muscles spasm around me. This sent me shooting towards the top and in the next minute I spilled into her. After a few minutes I softened. Feeling me begin to slip out, she reached under her pillow and pulled out some Kleenex that she always stashed there. Rolling to my side she placed them between her legs and snuggled against me.

"Sure is nice to have a wife that initiates sex," I thought as I lay there. Ann had become more amorous recently, asking for sex in the middle of the week several times in the last month or two. "Must be the spring season," I reflected before going to sleep.

Next Sunday evening we were reviewing the upcoming week. "I've got Billy tomorrow," Ann reported.

"Is Beth working all day or just the 3 to 11 shift?" Our daughter-in-law is a nurse and her part-time schedule varies week to week.

"All day. I'll get Billy at 9AM. Then I've got some errands to run."

The next morning I was on my way to the gym when I noticed Ann's planner again. Curiosity killed the cat. My curiosity wasn't lethal but the results weren't good. Ann showed Billy at 2PM. At 11AM was the cryptic, L.

I worried all day, but I didn't know what to do. Finally, I tried to push L and Ann out of my mind. A thirty-year marriage wasn't going up in flames over a suspicion.

Tuesday evening, Ann set freshly cooked food on the table and took an early bath. I didn't ask about the occasion. I didn't want to know.

"Leave those off. They just get in the way," Ann spoke after my shower as I pulled my pajamas out to put them on.

Wednesday morning I called Herb. "Look, I've got an employee that I think may be having an affair with one of the client employees. I normally wouldn't care, but I think he's doing it between 8 and 5 AND charging the client company for his time. Do you know anyone who might do some tracking and surveillance?"

I hope I didn't sound too pathetic. Herb was a retired captain from the local police who I knew at church. After thirty years of listening to lies, he could probably guess what the real problem was. After all, as the employer, I could just read the riot act to one of my employees and there would be no more problem.

"One of my detectives used to do some of this on the side. Let me call him and see if he's still doing it or can recommend someone," Herb responded. "Are you going to Empty Nesters tomorrow night? I can tell you then."

"Yeah, we're going, but keep this super quiet. Don't even tell Ann. In case I'm wrong I don't want any hurt feelings." If you believe this, Herb, I've got a bridge to sell you.

The Empty-Nesters group at church was half couples and half singles all in the same age range from about 50 to 70, all with the characteristic lack of kids at home. Ann and I entered together but we both started circulating and speaking to our friends. As always, my first task was to get Ann a glass of wine. At the wine table I ran into Dave. He was getting wine for Judy, his wife. Since Dave is a computer jock, too, we always have things to talk about. We talked about the upcoming Microsoft release and whether that might jumpstart the computer market again.

I delivered the wine to Ann and wandered off to talk to other friends. I was trying to keep an eye on her location so that I could approach Herb without Ann being close by.

The first person Ann stopped to talk to was Karen. Karen had created a brief sensation the year before. We had met Karen and her husband when they moved to town about 10 years ago. He worked at the Super Cola headquarters and she was a CPA. About five years ago, he had dumped Karen for a much younger woman at SuperCo. She had finished raising their two kids. Two years ago the last child had gone to college out of state. About a year ago Karen had begun showing up with a friend at services, a female friend. The two of them had even gone on the Spring Retreat together, sharing a room. Several months later the 'friend' had disappeared and Karen was back to coming by herself. As you might expect from this age group, there were many disapproving comments. Ann, though, had stood by Karen. For one, Karen had referred some nice clients to Ann. More importantly, Ann believed everyone should have her own choice of companion and be accepted as she was.

As I continued to unobtrusively work my way to Herb who was in the far back corner of the room, Ann moved on to Linda and Larry Freeman. A handsome couple of about sixty, they ran a home-based business. Ann helped them with quarterly reports and year-end summaries of data for their CPA.

I finally got to Herb. "The guy's name is Joe Delaney," Herb said as he slipped me a piece of paper. "He's expecting your call."

Herb and I moved on to other subjects. When I looked for Ann again she had moved on to talk to Ben Larrimore. Ben had moved to town last year after a divorce. He was a vice-president at a local bank. He had been through several women just in this group during the last year. Was he L?

Ann and I continued to circulate until grace was said over the evening meal. Then we found a table together. It was an enjoyable evening.

Detective Delaney was working the evening shift this week, so I called the number that Herb had given me mid-morning. I briefly described the problem of needing to track a female.

"Look," Delaney started. "I'm on the evening shift for the next two weeks so I can't track anyone for you right now. If you are willing to do some tracking yourself, I can tell you where to get some equipment that will help."

That afternoon I was at Police and Security Supply. Gary, the owner and a retired policeman himself, was very knowledgeable and helpful.

"How much gear do you need?"

Delaney had said that if I could afford it, I could get a device that would show the location of a car on a map of the city provided the car didn't go too far into the suburbs. " I want to make sure that I can follow a car in the dark. An acquaintance recommended the Tag-UR-It with map."

"That'll run you about 850 plus tax."

"You take American Express?"

Gary was very helpful, showing me how to put the tracer button on several different cars. "One thing that you have to be careful about. The range on the tracer transmitter is only about two miles. Beyond that, you will probably lose the signal."

Gary also reviewed some techniques to prevent detection when following. Finally, he made me practice setting everything up and taking it down again. Then he even let me follow him in his car while a clerk watched the store.

I had reminded Ann Thursday morning that I was going to be working at Genuine headquarters across town Monday through Thursday evenings until 10:30 or 11 and that I would eat out those nights. On Saturday while she was grocery shopping I looked in her planner again. Monday she noted Billy at 9AM. Tuesday, Ann was at one of her clients all day. Wednesday she had no appointments. Thursday, Billy 2PM. Friday, a client at 9AM. Maybe I had been wrong. What was I going to do with a useless $850 toy?

Monday morning I was heading out to exercise. I saw her planner. I decided to take another look. There it was: Wednesday, 4PM L. When had she made the arrangements? We had been in each other's company all day Sunday. Ann liked for us to go to church together. A family should worship together, she always said. Afterwards, we had brunch with friends. Then we worked in the yard and relaxed.

I had looked in her planner on Saturday. OH YES, while she had gone grocery shopping. I had offered to go with her but she reminded me that I usually went for a jog. "Then when I get back, we can spend the rest of the day together, maybe take in a movie." Ann had kissed me on her way out.

Wednesday I rented a car, a small inconspicuous model. That afternoon I parked in an apartment complex about a half-mile from where our street turned off the main drag. It was three o'clock. I wanted to be early and I wanted to check on Ann one last time. I called her on my cell phone at our house. I often called during the day, especially when I was going to be out late.

"Hey, what'cha doin?"

"What a coincidence. I was just getting ready to call you," she replied. "I finished up stitching those new curtains for the guest room. I think you'll really like them."

After some more small talk, "Well, I'm heading over to Genuine now. I'll see you about 11. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye"

About 3:20 her car started to move. She passed the apartments in about 10 minutes. I would have had to hustle if she had turned the other way, but since this was the direct route to the area where I had seen her in the restaurant, it was an easy guess. I pulled out onto the road a minute later, keeping one eye on the traffic and another on the Tag map. After another ten minutes I was sure that she was going to the same area as the restaurant. Her car stopped in the parking lot to Mr. Nasty's office building. The parking lot also serviced an upscale mall, so I entered from another way. I cruised closer until I could verify her car. It was 3:55, and she was in the car waiting for someone. I parked the rental and got out, moving to the end of the row of cars I was on. Crouching behind another car, I took out the small binoculars that I had brought and focused on Ann. She was wearing one of her Basic Blacks and the pearls that I gave her for Christmas.

I glanced around and decided that I was too obvious to shoppers coming from the mall. I didn't want to get rousted as a stalker or pervert. I moved quickly into the middle of another group of cars. Just as I got set up again, Ann got out of her car. She waved and started walking toward the office building. I scanned in the direction that she was heading. Several people were coming from the building but nobody stood out. I focused back on Ann. Suddenly a man appeared in the field of view and they kissed briefly. I couldn't see him clearly. The happy couple walked to another car and he opened the door for her. When he turned to walk around to the other side, I could see his face. It was Dave Lytel, my computer buddy from Empty Nesters. I started to get mad but then I realized that if I wanted to follow them, I'd have to do it by eyeball since they were taking his car. I quickly scanned it again for make and model and I could see part of the license plate. Then I ran back to my car.

I managed to catch up to them at the first traffic light. I was one car back but I could see that Ann was turned towards him and chattering away. I remembered how she used to do that on our dates before we were married. They turned into the restaurant where I had first seen Ann. As Gary warned me, I drove past the restaurant and around the block. I finally found a place where I could see the entrance and Dave's car at the same time.