Who Is this Woman I Married?

"Hello, honey, sorry I forgot to call."

"That's okay. Are you going to be home soon? I'm hungry and ready to eat."

I heard some murmuring on the other end. "Honey, Jenny and I are going to grab a bite while we are out, okay? Be home around 9."

"Okay, tell Jenny I said hello. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye"

I went and made myself some dinner and was in the middle of watching a college basketball game when Anne came in. I had lost track of time and it was now almost 10pm. When she came in she looked at me and started crying. I was stunned.

"Anne?" I stood up and went to her. "What's the matter? Are you okay?" She let me take her in her arms and hold her as she collapsed against me and sobbed into my chest. "Honey, what's going on? Is everything okay?"

There was no answer for a while and then Anne looked up at me. "I'm sorry, honey. I'm so, so sorry."

I took her upstairs and sat her down on our bed so that we could talk. I knew that it was important because she had never acted like this.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

She stared at the floor. "Yes."

"Then please tell me what is going on. You are on an emotional roller coaster and I can tell that there's something serious here." I went over and sat down next to her. We had never kept secrets from each other and I could see that she wanted to tell me something. I put my arm around her and braced for the worst. "You can tell me anything, you know that. I love you."

She turned her head up to me. "Can I?"

I stared at her. "Of course you can! Honey, we don't keep secrets. We have always been straightforward and honest about everything. Just tell me what it is." I was trying to remain calm, but my heart was racing and I was about to break into a sweat, waiting for her to say something to see if it was going to rip my heart in half. I had to remain calm or she would never tell me what it is. I'm sure she could see my unease and concern. I continued to stare at her for a while.

"Will you love me always and forever?" She looked at me with such guilt that it hurt to think about the source of it.

"Always. Forever."

"Mike...." She trembled as she started but she couldn't say the words. "I'm so sorry."

There, she said sorry again and was acting guilty. It suddenly hit me. She was feeling guilty and already apologizing. It must be because she was having an affair... or almost did. We had been a little distant the last few weeks, but I had been so absorbed in work that I didn't recognize the signs until now. I suddenly remembered how uninterested in sex she was the last couple of weeks. Did she do it or not? I tried to lick my lips, but couldn't, my mouth was a desert. I looked at her, returning to the present.

"You're having an affair." I stated breathlessly.

She looked up for a second with fear in her eyes, the tears brimming in them, and then buried her face in her hands. "Yes." She managed to get that out just before the sobs started.

I was in shock. I thought that might be it, but her confirmation hit me like a sledgehammer. I fled the room and I could hear her call out after me. I raced down the stairs and into the back yard. I was still in shock. My wife, who I loved dearly, who I thought loved me, and who told me that wedding vows were sacred, had cheated on me. I found myself breathing hard, my hands on my knees as I bent over. I was almost hyperventilating.

I grabbed my keys and got in my car. I started driving, trying to think what I was supposed to do. I loved that woman. She and I seemed to share the same feelings about what a marriage meant when we talked about it. Why would she just piss on that? There was more to it than that. I could feel that she had been so emotional for a while, so something was eating at her. Was it just guilt? Was she feeling bad because she had cheated on me? When did it start? Was Jenny involved? They were always going out 'shopping'. Was that just a ruse for them to go out and pick up men? I had to find out more, but I couldn't face her right now. I heard my cell phone ring and looked down at it. It was from home. I couldn't talk to her right now, so I let it go to voice mail. She called three times in the 15 minutes it took me to drive to Jenny's. I don't know why I wanted to see her, but I couldn't get past the fact that this had started when Jenny showed up. I was going to get the truth from Jenny about what they were doing and why Jenny was covering for her.

Jenny answered the doorbell almost immediately. She answered in just a robe and she, too, had been crying. Her face was tear-stained and her eyes were red. She looked terrible.

"What do you want?" She was hostile.

"I want to know if... no, I know you know that Anne is having an affair. I want to know if you know who it is and why you've been covering for her."

She stared at me and didn't invite me in. "She didn't tell you?"

"Didn't tell me what? I figured out she was having the affair on my own, but she didn't tell me who or why. Just tell me what you know."

Jenny stared at me for a second. "I'm the one she's having the affair with." She slammed the door in my face.

To be continued...