I doubt very much if I’m the perfect husband. I have
a stressful job and I know I sometimes come home a
little grumpy. Maybe I’m not the best provider, I’m
certainly no millionaire, but we do alright. We have
a nice home, two luxury cars, my wife has a closet
full of beautiful clothes and our eight year old
daughter, Jennifer, has tons of expensive toys.
I also love my wife and daughter very, very much. My
wife, Linda, and I have been married for almost
twelve years. For the most part, they’ve been twelve
wonderful years. The last six months, however; I’ve
seen a change in Linda. She’s been very irritable
and, instead of me being able to let off a little
steam after work, I have to listen to her bitch about
something or another.
Another area we’ve been having a problem in is the
bedroom. I’ve always tried hard to keep our love life
spontaneous and exciting. It seems lately though,
nothing seems to please Linda. She has not been in
the mood lately or she has the proverbial headache.
Little by little I’ve been getting frustrated with
her, and with our marriage as a whole.
I started going over things in my mind at work when I
had a minute or two and as I started putting two and
two together, I was coming up with three, Linda, me,
and a lover.
I wondered if it was possible. I’d tell myself no,
she would never do that to me, but then I would
think, for what I know about affairs, all the
symptoms were there. I thought of hiring a private
detective, but I had no evidence, all I had were
suspicions and certainly nothing to warrant the cost
of a P.I.
So, I started to investigate on my own. I did little
things like call the house in the middle of the day.
Sometimes she would be home and sometimes not. I got
a hold of an old, outside surveillance camera and
mounted under the eaves of the garage with and tape
unit inside the garage. I wanted to see if any
strangers were coming to the house, but after two
weeks, there was no one.
I did see my wife leave the house sometimes, then
tell me she was home all day, but that’s not really
proof of an illicit affair.
Time went on, and although I still had absolutely no
proof, my suspicions deepened. Her moods were getting
worse and we hadn’t made love in over three weeks. I
was getting pissed!
Our twelfth anniversary was coming up and I wanted to
go out and have some fun. It had been a long time
since Linda and I had gone out for a night of dinner
and dancing and I was ready.
Linda also seemed to be up for it and I had high
hopes of a fun night out, and an even more fun night
once we got home. We arranged for Jennifer to spend
the night at my folk’s house so we could really enjoy
ourselves with no time restraints.
We went to Linda’s favorite restaurant and had a nice
time, although Linda was still a little quiet. She
looked like she was more anxious to get on the dance
floor so after dinner we went to a little place were
Linda and I used to dance the night away years ago.
I’m not a bad dancer, if I do say so myself, in fact,
that’s one of the things that brought Linda and I
together. We got a table for two, a couple of drinks,
and then it was on the dance floor. We were both
having a great time.
After we were both a little tired after dancing for
almost forty five minutes straight, Linda excused
herself to go to the ladies room. I watched her
graceful walk as she left. I thought I also saw her
make eye contact with a good looking guy sitting at a
table in the back all by himself. I thought it was
strange that a guy would come here by himself, but
then I thought, like Linda, his date was most likely
in the ladies room.
I watched for my beautiful wife to return. Again, as
she walked past him, I could swear I saw them both
grin to each other. I was starting to get suspicious
again wondering if they knew one another.
Linda sat down and asked me to get her another drink.
Rather than get up and go to the bar, I happened to
catch one of the bar maids and ordered us both
another. I looked back over my shoulder and saw that
guy was still sitting alone. He was, most certainly,
there by himself.
Just as our drinks came I saw Mr. lonely walk up to
our table. He looked straight at Linda. “May I have
this dance?” he asked her.
I piped right up. “No thanks,” I said.
He looked at me and said, “I was talking to the
lady.”
Just then Linda chimed in. “Harry,” she said, “you’re
being rude.”
“I’m being rude? Let me explain something. This guy
just walked up and asked my wife to dance without
asking my permission. That’s not only being rude,
it’s being extremely disrespectful. If he had come to
me and asked if I mind that he ask you, I would have
probably said okay, but now…not a chance in hell.”
“Harry,” she said with a edge to her voice, “we’re
married but you don’t own me. I’m not you slave and
if I want to dance with him, I will.”
“Now you get this straight,” I said getting more and
more angry by the second, “this guy was rude and
showed me no respect by passing me up and asking you
directly, to dance. That’s one thing. If you go ahead
and dance with him against my wishes you are, not
only showing a flagrant disrespect to me, but to our
marriage as well.”
“Harry, I just want to have some fun,” she said.
“Linda it’s our anniversary, I want to have fun too,
but with you, and sitting here watching you dance
with someone else is not my idea of fun, especially
when I’ve asked you not to dance with him. Now you’re
right, I don’t own you and I can’t stop you from
dancing with him, but if you do, you better get him
to take you home because I’ll be gone.”
I could see the anger in her face, I was surprised
she couldn’t see the same in mine. “Well I’m going to
dance with him and we’ll talk about this when I come
back,” she said.
The jack-ass had a smirk on his face as he stretched
his hand out for her to take as she rose up from her
chair and they walked out to the dance floor
together.
I’m sure they didn’t even see me leave because I was
out the door before they even started dancing. I was
already six blocks from away when my cell phone rang.
“Where the hell are you?” asked Linda in a very
contrite voice.
“I’m on my way home to pack a bag, why?”
There was a pause. “What the hell are you talking
about…pack a bag, where are you going?”
“I don’t know yet, all I know is I’m getting the hell
away from you,” I said. “I’ve had enough.”
“You can’t be serious, Harry, it was just a dance,
one lousy dance. You’re going to throw twelve years
of marriage down the drain over a dance?”
“It has nothing to do with a dance, Linda. Why would
you ever want to stay with a man you don’t respect? I
told you at the table that was what this was all
about. I’ll be honest, I haven’t caught you, but I’m
pretty sure you’re cheating on me. I suspect with the
jack-ass you just danced with. I saw the look you
guys gave each other when you went to the bathroom.
Then he came over to our table he gave me the same
amount of respect a guy would give to the husband of
a woman he’s fucking…none.”
“Harry,” she said, now with a softer voice, “I would
never cheat on you, why would you even think that?”
“You got to be kidding. We haven’t made love in over
three weeks! When we do your heart’s not in it.
You’ve been short tempered and grumpy for the last
six months. If you’re not having an affair you’re
doing one hell of a good imitation of it.”
There was a silence from the other end of the phone.
Finally…”I’m sorry Harry, I didn’t realize we were
drifting so far apart. Please, just come back and
pick me up, we’ll talk about this.”
“Nope! As I said, I’ve had it, at least for now. I
told you if you dance with that guy you would have to
find your own way home and I meant it. I’m pulling in
our drive right now. I’ll be out of here by the time
you get home. I’m not sure where I’m going or how
long I’ll be gone. I’m not even sure I’m coming back.
If you are having an affair maybe you should just go
to him and forget about me.”
“Honey, please believe me, I’m not having an affair.
Please, look I’ll grab a cab home, but please just
stay there until I get home. We have to talk this
out. I’ll be home shortly.” She hung up.
I pulled into our drive, went upstairs, and packed a
bag. I was out of the house in ten minutes flat. I
wondered if she was really going to take a cab home
or if jack-ass would drive her so I drove down the
block, turned off my lights, and waited to see. About
twenty minutes later a Yellow Cab pulled into the
drive, Linda got out and ran into the house. I saw
what I wanted to see so I took off for a motel.
Almost immediately my phone started to ring again. I
turned it off. I still had no proof of infidelity,
but I had very strong suspicions. I was almost
positive Linda and the guy she danced with knew each
other. I thought now might be the time for that
private detective. If I wasn’t home, she may go to
him for consoling.
The next day I went through the Yellow Pages and
found the P.I. with the best ad. I went down to his
office and gave him a retainer. After that I went
into the office. My secretary told me to call my wife
immediately. She said Linda had called twenty times
already and something was definitely wrong.
I told her Linda and I were having problems. I was
not going to return Linda’s calls and, for now, if
she calls back to tell her I will call her when I’m
good and ready. I also called the receptionist in the
front of the building and told her not to let Linda
come back if she should come by. I wanted to give the
P.I. a chance and see what he could come up with. Now
it was just a waiting game.
A little later that afternoon I got a call from
Andrea, our neighbor. I knew it would be about Linda
but I didn’t want to seem rude so I took her call.
“Harry,” she started, “Linda told me what happened.
She also told me you suspect her of cheating on you.
I’ve lived next door from you guys for years, I
believe I would know if Linda was cheating on you and
I have never seen any evidence of that. Harry, she
knows dancing with that guy was wrong. She said she
got angry because you said she couldn’t dance with
anyone, but she thought about what you said and she
knows you were right. She loves you, Harry, if you
don’t know that, I do.”
“Andrea, thanks. I think you know me well enough to
know it wasn’t only the dance that got me so upset.
Our marriage has been falling apart for the last six
months. I have tried and tried to pull things
together but it seems the more I did the further
apart we were. That night dancing was just the last
straw. I haven’t decided yet, just what I’m going to
do.”
“Please Harry, please talk to her”
“Andrea, do me a favor, tell her I’ll call her at the
end of the week. I still have some thinking to do.”
“Okay Harry,” she said, “I’ll tell her but please,
please call her then, will you promise me, please?”
“I promise,” I told her. We said our good byes and it
started me thinking again. Andrea and her husband,
Don were good friends. I can’t picture Andrea lying
to me. If Linda was cheating on me, she was being
very discrete about it.
I waited until that Friday. It had been five days
since I hired the private investigator. I called him
for a complete report. It was very boring, not one
thing to indicate Linda had a boyfriend or that she
was cheating on me at all. He told me he had
investigated a lot of cheating wives, some were
extremely cunning but he could always tell if they
were cheating. He told me to stop the investigation
right now and save my money.
I thanked him and decided to call Linda. Her voice
was weak and shaking when she answered. “Hello.”
“It’s me,” I said. “Are you okay, you don’t sound too
good.”
There was a short pause. “Harry, I just don’t know
what I’m going to do if you don’t come back to us.
I’ve tried to stay strong for Jennifer’s benefit, but
all I do is cry. They say you don’t know what you’ve
got until you lose it, that’s so true, Harry. I guess
I just started to take you for granted. Harry, I’m so
sorry, so very, very sorry. You were right, I should
have told that guy I was with my husband. I showed
you no respect and I don’t know why because I do
respect you, respect and love you. I swear, Harry, if
you give me another chance I’ll never make that
mistake again… never!
“Okay, okay,” I said, “just stop talking.”
“My God,” she almost broke down, “you’re not coming
back are you?”
“Yes, I am,” I said. “I just don’t need any more
apologizing, that’s all. I have to go to the motel
after work and get my stuff but I’ll be home
tonight.”
“God, oh God, thank you,”
I still wasn’t sure I was doing the right thing. I
was still pissed and I still had my suspicions about
that guy she danced with, but both my neighbor and
the P.I. I hired were sure she wasn’t cheating. There
was also more than just Linda and me to think about,
there was Jennifer too.
After work I picked up my clothes and went home.
Jennifer came running and almost tackled me at the
door. She asked where I had been. I explained I had
been out of town for a few days. She obviously knew
nothing of our problems. Linda was right there too.
She put her arms around me and showered me with
kisses. I kissed her back, passionately. I still
loved her. In the end that was the driving force
behind me going back home, I still loved my wife.
***
That was a little over a year ago and married life
has been wonderful again. Linda was again the woman I
married, both in and out of the bedroom. A couple of
months ago she gave me a surprise birthday party, a
holiday we hadn’t celebrated in many years, although
we had always celebrated hers.
Last night was our thirteenth wedding anniversary. We
went out for dinner and the theatre. We then went
home and made love all night long. To this day I
don’t really know if she was cheating on me or not.
I’ll probably never know for sure; I do know I’m glad
I decided to come back home.