I Chose You Sweetheart Ch. 01

This is part of my 'You can love more than one person' series. I had affections for two women at the same time. I chose, it was a difficult choice and years later it turned out to be the wrong one. You make your decisions on the information you have at the time. I used to wonder what my life would have been like if I had chosen the other one. Later on, I had to make that choice again. I got it right the second time and 40 odd years later I still think it was the correct one.

I like happy endings as most of you know and I can be a bit soft on my characters. I do not think so this time, I am sure you will let me know if I was too harsh or not harsh enough.

The Oxford English dictionaries define fiction as "something that is invented or untrue." So please do not tell me 'It would not happen like that'. Because you are correct It probably would not.

Dictionaries also tell me there are several meanings for the word fantasy. This is the one I have used. 'The faculty or activity of imagining, impossible or improbable things.'

This is fiction, with an element of fantasy.

It will be plainly obvious I know very little about commercial banking.

I have tried to make it entertaining and I hope you are entertained by this little tale.

Normally in my tales a woman called Dee is a despicable character. I thought that would give the name a reprieve this time, well some of the time.

The warning signs may have been there at her company function in September for winning some account or something like that, I do not understand commercial banking. Actually, in hindsight I don't think there was anything to see back then, it was all innocent, it was later things started to change and that made me think back to that party. I was introduced to Gerald, the new chap she was mentoring at the bank. He seemed okay, a bit younger than us and a little bit arrogant, but I expect that comes with youth. I may have been similar before I met Cheryl.

I was brought up on a farm, and it was great fun as a kid, running around, shooting pests, then when a bit older driving and operating all sorts of farming machinery, I loved that. Driving tractors and operating machinery gave me a confidence other kids of my age did not have. But I recognised farming was hard work as an adult. So I went into engineering. I was working as an Engineering Project manager for a farm machinery manufacturer, with my farming and engineering background.

I met Cheryl at a mutual friend's party and we hit it off. We married eighteen months after we met. She was in commercial banking. Life was good, Cheryl was twenty-eight, I was twenty-nine and we had been muting about starting a family, we had been married for six years, it was time. All of our parents thought so as well.

We had bought a 'do up' three-bedroom house about six years ago just after we got married with a little help from both sets of parents, plus an employee's discount on a mortgage. The work was pretty much finished. One of the two spare bedrooms was already starting to look like a nursery, that was always the plan. We had done most of the work ourselves. It had taken a while but we had made this house everything we wanted. We absolutely loved it.

At the party I thought Cheryl and Gerald were dancing together too much and I felt like I was being slightly ignored, not too much, but enough that other people noticed. I mentioned this to Cheryl. She instantly apologised saying she hadn't realised what she was doing, but Gerald was new and had only been with the company a couple of weeks and he didn't know many people, to which I replied. "Well, he won't get to meet many people if he spends all his time dancing with you."

She looked at me, smiled and said. "You're absolutely correct. I'm sorry, I'll tell him that."

We were standing around drinking and chatting with her friend Dee, they both worked at the same bank, they were both mentors for new starters in the bank. Dee was between boyfriends at the moment, I found it hard to keep track of Dee's love life, she was more of Cheryl's friend than mine.

I had to pop to the little boy's room, and I told the girls on the way back I would pick up some more drinks. When I left the bathroom Dee was standing alone and Cheryl was again dancing with Gerald, it was a slow one and they were getting too close for me to be comfortable. I headed towards them because I was getting fed up with this.

Dee stepped in front of me and asked me to dance, she could see I was angry. She said to me. "It's just a dance, don't worry."

I looked at her and said. "He is dancing with a married woman, you're single, why is he not dancing with you, or any of the other women here to get to know them?" She spluttered something, but at that moment Cheryl looked across and saw me.

She disengaged herself from Gerald and came towards me with a smile holding her hands out to me. "Come on sweetie, it's your turn."

I took her in my arms and whispered into her ear. "I didn't realise I was taking turns here, I thought we came here to enjoy the celebration together."

She pushed me gently back so she could look me in the eyes. "I'm sorry darling." She said. "He asked me to dance, I couldn't refuse."

"Yes, you could, I told you how I feel. Dee is single, why is he not dancing with her or any of the other women? Or even just circulating with other people from the bank."

She pulled herself back into my arms and kissed me on the cheek. "You're right, again, no more dances for anyone but you tonight, but you have got to promise me to have at least one with Dee."

"Okay, if I must."

She giggled, the next dance was a faster one, we separated and threw ourselves around a bit. She dragged me off the floor after that.

I had the obligatory dance with Dee, but I kept an eye on Cheryl. It was not long before Gerald turned up beside her. He held his hand out; she shook her head. They stood next to each other. Gerald leaned into her and talked. Cheryl did not seem to reply.

Dee and I finished dancing and left the floor, as soon as he saw us coming Gerald walked away. I did notice Cheryl followed him with her eyes until we got close, then she smiled at me. That piqued my interest.

Later I noticed Gerald head towards the bar. He was at the front waiting to be served. I excused myself as I pushed past the crowd explaining I just wanted a word and wasn't buying a drink. That met with some grumbles, which I ignored.

I stood next to Gerald and said. "Be careful around my wife."

He looked at me and said "Surely, she's a grown woman, she can make her own choices of who she dances with. Sorry, that came out a bit wrong, she has helped me a lot and I was only thanking her for her help, however, I hear you, I apologise. Would you like a drink?"

"No thank you." His comments threw me.

He nodded and turned back to the bar.

I returned to Cheryl and Dee.

Ten minutes later Gerald walked across to us. He looked at me and said. "Do you mind?" As he held his hand out to Cheryl.

Before I could reply Cheryl said. "I think I have danced enough with you. You need to meet other people. All my dances are with my husband for the rest of the evening."

Gerald smiled and gently nodded, then he looked at Dee, almost as if he was seeing her for the first time. He held his hand out to her and they disappeared onto the dance floor.

Cheryl slipped her arm through mine, leaned into me and whispered. "I'm sorry if I upset dear, I didn't realise I was paying him so much attention. If I've upset you, d'you want to go home so I can make it up to you?" She kissed my cheek.

"That is a very good idea." I said. She took my hand and led me towards the exit; she caught Dee's eye and waved goodbye to her as we left.

As we were leaving Cheryl popped into the little girl's room, she was very quick and was smiling like a Cheshire cat when she came back. She hung onto me whilst we waited for a taxi. As she slid across the seat her dress rode up a bit. I was expecting her to pull it down, she didn't. As the taxi set off, she took hold of my hand and placed it on her bare thigh. She must have taken her tights and knickers off when she went to the toilet. "I thought we could get a head start. This is my apology for not paying you the attention you deserve my love." She whispered to me as she placed her hand on my cock, it got all confused with all the hands, arms and seat belts. I managed to get my hand between her legs, but she was not yet moist.

I offered my fingers to her mouth, she moistened them, simulating what she would do later on in the evening, I hope. There was a sparkle in her eyes.

When I put my fingers back between her legs, I had enough moisture to ease her lips apart and start paying gentle attention to her clitoris. We had played this game before, it was fun. I kept my eyes steadily ahead to see how much attention the taxi driver was paying to what we were doing, fortunately not much. She gave a little gasp and her hands came off of my cock and grabbed hold of my wrist. Now she was wet. It was only a twenty-minute ride home.

She whispered to me. "I'll pay, I don't want the driver to smell your fingers." She was giggling. We were quickly indoors, she turned and grabbed hold of me and said. "I love you, please, I can't wait."

I turned her around so she was facing the wall. She placed her hands up on the wall, I took a pace back, so she could stick her backside out. It did not take me long to unzip my trousers, get my hard cock out and impale her. She kept on thrusting back at me. I moved my hand around the front and whilst buried deep inside her, I used my still moist fingers to play with her clitoris. I know that is one of her favourites. I have to hold her around the waist because when she comes, when the orgasm hits her, her legs tend to collapse. She came hard and fast. She stood upright; my hard cock sliding out of her pussy.

She smiled at me and took hold of my hard cock and pulled me gently towards the stairs. We were no sooner in the bedroom than she pushed me back onto the bed and took me into her mouth. I love it when she looks up at me with my cock in her mouth, her eyes sparkling with love. She could feel me starting to twitch, perhaps through the gentle caressing of my balls she could feel I was starting to come.

She pulled off, standing up she said. "I think we should both get naked." It did not take long.

She lay on her back as I entered her. I know what she likes, long, deep and slow. I rested on my elbows and kissed her neck and nibbled her ear, she loves that. I felt her starting to come, she wrapped her legs and arms around me holding me deep inside her. Her body shuddered; the pulsing of her pussy brought me off. I lay there just kissing her.

It was not too late, Cheryl went down and collected two glasses of wine, we lay there in that comfortable postnuptial glow sipping wine. "I'm a bit sorry we left the party early" I said to her.

Cheryl looked up at me and said. "I'm not, I liked playing around in the taxi. The risk of getting caught was good, and if you keep having me just inside the front door like that, I'm going to have to get you to put a couple of handles there."

It was not the first time we had done that. We finished the glass of wine, cuddled each other and went to sleep.

I was up first in the morning; I made tea and took a cup up to Cheryl. As I passed her handbag her phone made a noise, an incoming text message, I recognised it as being from Dee. I took it up to her, she accepted the tea and gave me a kiss, she looked at her phone and said to me. "Bloody hell. Dee spent the night with Gerald, that's a turn up for the books. I didn't think he was interested in her."

"No, he seemed more interested in you than Dee." I said.

"I just helped him. He's more used to personal, not commercial banking and he's changed banks as well, we have completely different systems. I think he's got the hang of most of it but he is struggling with one aspect. He was saying how grateful he was."

"He seems alright, just be careful." I did not add there was something about him I did not like, I just could not put my finger on, nothing wrong, just a feeling.

We had a pleasant weekend, the following week was normal. Friday when Cheryl got home she asked if we could go out with Dee and Gerald Saturday evening. I could not see a problem. We had a good time with them. I did not change my mind about Gerald, he was okay. He could be funny at times, laughed in all the right places, got his round in and paid his way. He mainly paid attention to Dee, she was all over him. I suppose you could say he was a good looking chap. Not that I was a judge of what women thought of how men looked.

We settled into a comfortable foursome going out every two or three weekends or so. Gerald was alright, but I had reservations. He was not a mate, not someone I would play golf with, if I played golf that is, but someone I would be happy to ask for a hand to do something or give him a hand if he needed it.

It had been about two months of us going out as a group when I started to notice how Gerald would look at Cheryl, his look would linger and a small smile would creep across his face. Cheryl did not seem to notice. But it had me a little concerned. I started to watch Cheryl and after a few weeks, I noticed Cheryl's lingering looks at Gerald.

I thought back and tried to remember if anything else was amiss, but there wasn't. No change of clothes, no working late unexpectedly, no sneaking around with her phone, the passcode had not changed, no strange unexpected happenings at all. I was just being paranoid, I thought to myself.

I didn't think anything had happened between them. They would not have the opportunity to do it at work, not with Dee and Gerald being a couple. But I was going to stop this before anything could start.

We had got back from an evening out with Gerald and Dee and a couple of other people from the bank. I had noticed a couple of lingering looks from both of them, but not much. I did not think anybody else noticed. They did seem to get on well together, at times it was like they were sharing a personal joke.

It wasn't a late night and I was making a cup of cocoa. We were sat in the lounge and I said to Cheryl. "You seemed to be getting on well with Gerald, how is his training going?"

"Oh, it's mostly done, there are one or two things he's having problems with, getting his head around but the rest of it he's got wrapped up. He's having a bit of a problem getting variable interest rates for different loans for different purposes and different amounts, it's the risk calculations he gets wrong."

"How about on a personal level? You were laughing and joking. Quite often to the exclusion of everybody else, like you had personal secrets between the two of you."

"Well, he is funny, and we have been working a lot together, what's this all about all of a sudden?"

I exaggerated a bit. "Well at times you were chatting to each other ignoring everybody else, it's as if we weren't there, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if some of your work colleagues think you're having an affair with Gerald."

She put the cocoa she was holding down and looked at me deadly serious. "I would never do that to you, you don't think that do you?"

"Well, you do seem very attracted to him and I've seen the way you look at each other. Answer me this honestly, do you find him attractive?"

"Yes, he's a good looking man, he's funny, courteous and pleasant to be around. But he's just a friend, just like Dee. Anyway, why would he chase after me, he's got Dee?"

"Okay, perhaps I am worrying too much. You know my feelings on infidelity, you cheat you're out that door."

She slid across the floor to me and hugged my knees and looked up into my face. "My darling, my sweetheart, my soulmate. I love you. I would never cheat on you. Yes, I will admit I find him attractive and to be honest if I wasn't with you and he wasn't with Dee I might see if there was something. But I'm spoken for and so is he." She paused, held my hands and squeezed them. And said quietly. "I know one of your earlier girlfriends cheated on you, I know your feelings. I could not put you through that pain and I think the retribution you would give me would be beyond anything I could dream up."

Standing up she held her hands out and said. "Come on, let me show you how much I love you." She tilted her head to one side and gave me that smile, that cute smile I loved so much. I took her hands and followed her upstairs. It was a passionate night. I woke up at the usual three o'clock having to empty my bladder, when I got back into bed I thought about the conversation over the Cocoa. I believed her, but had I warned her and they would hide it better if there was an affair, well I would have just have to look deeper, just to put my mind at rest.

I kept an eye out, but like before the conversation about her and Gerald, there was nothing I could see that was wrong.

Things went well for the next four weeks, but in the fourth week Cheryl got very quiet. I kept asking her what was wrong. She told me it was nothing, just a few little problems at work. We hadn't been very intimate this last week, there was the usual love making, but not the little touches, the little smiles, the little strokes as she walked past me. She seemed distracted.

I was a little concerned about her and as she told me it was a problem at work I gave Dee a phone call to see if she noticed anything wrong there. All she said was that Cheryl seemed a bit quiet but apart from not being her usual bubbly self, nothing. As a bit of toe in the water, I asked her how she and Gerald were getting on? She laughed and told me he was just his usual annoying self. I asked her if he was the 'one', she giggled and told me she didn't think so, but he is fun, but he's slightly distracted most of the time. She wished he was the 'one' as she was getting very attached to him.

She was just going to have fun with him whilst he was here, although, she was hoping he would stay so she could work on him, otherwise she will just cry on my and Cheryl's shoulder and get over it.

There was nothing wrong that I could find, no affair with Gerald. I pondered on it for a few days and decided to try to cheer her up and show my love for her. I arranged to finish work midday Friday, planning to surprise her at work and take her to lunch. Over breakfast in the morning, I asked if she had anything planned for lunch, she told me she had nothing. In the back of my mind, I would also be sort of showing my affection for her in front of her work colleagues. Including Gerald and Dee. I picked some flowers, they were only supermarket flowers, but they were the colour she liked.

Just as I got to the bank, I saw Gerald and Cheryl leave together. They walked down the road to a pub. I followed them after dropping the flowers in a bin. I managed to find a corner of the pub after getting myself a drink, I got my phone out so it looked like I was doing something. The pub was full of Friday afternoon drinkers, people who knocked off at midday and went for a drink. Cheryl and Gerald were just talking whilst they had their dinner, but two things struck me, I decided to save them up for later when I talk to her and show her the video I took and then see what she has to say.

As I had my phone out an idea came to me and I sent Cheryl a text asking her what did she want for dinner or shall we go out. She picked up her phone, looked at it and I saw her typing something, the message appeared on my phone. 'No, stay in, I'm out at the moment in the Bell having lunch with Gerald, will explain later'. Well, she was not keeping any secrets. Either that or she had seen me.

I followed them out of the pub, they did not hold hands or walk close together. I saw that Cheryl noticed the bunch of flowers of her favourite colour sticking out of the top of the rubbish bin, she stroked them as she walked past. She appeared to notice the attached card that said 'Love you'. If she recognised the handwriting she did not show it.

As I was home early I started clearing up the garage, I came across one of my old toys that I used to use to get rid of pests on the farm, rats, the odd pheasant and rabbit, some of the rabbits and pheasants ended up in the pot. Mice were too small, I kept missing and losing my ammunition, I left the mice to the farmyard cats. I called my toy Terminator. The memories of living on the farm as a kid and the good times I had then brought a smile to my face. I went into the garden and practised with Terminator, reliving the old satisfaction of hitting a small target many yards away. I was bigger and stronger now; I soon got the knack back and I had a greater reach. I had to be a bit careful, I didn't want to break it. It looked in need of some TLC. A quick Google search, eBay and PayPal sorted that.

Cheryl got in from work at her usual time, I decided on scrambled eggs on toast as she had had lunch.

"That's a good idea, babe. That is not too much, as I messaged you, I went out for lunch with Gerald, I'll tell you all about it after dinner, how was your day? She asked.

"I finished early, I had some jobs I wanted to do, one was to surprise my wife for lunch, but it appears when I got to her work, she wasn't there."

"Oh, I'm sorry if you had told me you were coming, I would have put Gerald off."

I dished out the food and we sat eating it, I did not want to wait so I asked. "What was so important you had to go out for dinner with Gerald that you couldn't do it in the office?"

"He's having problems adapting to our working practices. He can't get the variable interest rates coupled with risk right, and I didn't want to do it in the office. I wanted to tell him before the weekend to give him time to think about his future. He may not be suited to commercial banking."

I did not tell her I sat in the corner watched and videoed them. I saw how they looked at each other. She looked at me like that, she had put her hand on the table, he reached across and touched it, stroking it gently, she did not pull it back. I will save that information up for now.

She seemed better now that she had talked about it, and I felt better too. She suggested making babies with that cute smile she had. I agreed and tried my best to make a baby with love.

Cheryl was up before me on Saturday morning. I was not late out of bed myself. We had a list of jobs to do for the weekend and I wanted Sunday to relax.

When I got downstairs the tea and the toast were ready with a pot of strawberry jam. I sat down and poured the tea with just a splash of milk for both of us. Cheryl looked like she had not slept well. She sat opposite me; she had a serious look on her face. I did not think I was going to like this.

"Darling, I have to admit something to you."

Oh shit, here we go she's been shagging Gerald.

"Gerald overstepped the mark yesterday at lunch, and I've been struggling with what he said, he admitted he had affections for me, and he would like to take it further, and he felt that I reciprocated those feelings for him."

She was twirling her hair with her fingers, this was not going to be good. She continued, looking into my face. "I will admit to having some affection for him, as I said to you before. If he was not with Dee and I was not married to you I might explore those feelings."

She put a firm look on her face. "Sweetheart, you can have feelings for more than one person. You told me that you fancied two girls at college and had to decide which one to make the effort to get to know better. This is not quite the same, but it is similar. I am attracted to him, but I love you. You do not need to worry, I will not cheat on you. I chose you seven years ago when you asked me to marry you, and I still choose you. Please do not worry." She reached across the table and took my hand. "I have told Gerald it is inappropriate. There is no bank policy about physical liaisons, but if he persisted in talking to me about his affections, I would report him for sexual harassment.

"That's why I have been distracted this last week, also if he doesn't improve in the next week or so I am going to recommend he goes back to public banking. Thing is, there are no vacancies in our area. So, it's a difficult choice.

"I'm sorry my love but I have to be honest with you." She said.

I believed her. That almost, just almost explained the looks and touching in the pub. I would not have to use the video I had recorded. But that did not mean I would be less wary and I may just have to have a word with Gerald. It may be a good idea for him to move on or at least stay away from my wife.

The following week I asked Cheryl how Gerald was treating her? She told me that he had stayed away from her pretty much unless it was business. She told me she thought he had taken her warning seriously, which was good she added because she was serious and she would report him. She did mention that Dee seemed a little distracted.

The bits I wanted for Terminator turned up early in the week. It took a few minutes to fix it and get some practise in. Even with the new kit I had lost none of my skills.

We were up early on Saturday and I helped Cheryl tidy the house and we did a spot of shopping together. All of the jobs were finished by lunchtime and we looked forward to a pleasant afternoon, possibly a walk in the park and then an evening just relaxing at home. Just after one o'clock, Cheryl had a message from Dee asking us to go out tonight with her and Gerald. Cheryl told me she would rather stay in with me and have a few drinks and an early night. I was up for that. She declined Dee's invitation. We had an early, loving night.

We had a bit of a lay-in Sunday morning and a leisurely breakfast. There were a few little things that I wanted to do in the garage, tidy up my tools and put Terminator away.

About eleven Cheryl came into the garage with her phone. "It's Dee, have you got time for a chat." I nodded. "Go ahead Dee you're on speaker."

Dee's voice sounded off. "Sorry you couldn't make it last night. Gerald wanted to have a chat. He wanted to ask Cheryl's advice on his future and he would have appreciated John's input. He also said he wanted to apologise to John, but didn't say what for. Do you have any idea John, has he upset you?"

"No." I said. Cheryl raised an eyebrow as she looked at me. That was a lie, could I blame Gerald for having feelings for my wife? Not really, the heart has feelings for who it has feelings. But telling my wife about it and telling her he wanted more. Abso-fucking-lutely. I was planning to have words, with a baseball bat if necessary.

Dee carried on. "Cheryl, we know Gerald is struggling and he says you have helped a lot. He knows he is not getting it and wants your advice on what to do next. He can't stay in his current job, he knows he is not getting it." She paused a bit. "Pity, I'll miss him, he's fun, I was hoping it would get serious. Do you think you could give him a call and have a chat? Although face to face would be better."

Looking at me Cheryl replied. "I'll have to think about it and see what John suggests?"

"Thanks, I appreciate it, I might get a few more evenings with him, see if we can work something out if he doesn't move too far away, I'm kinda getting a bit keen on him."

"Sorry Dee, there is a placement, but it's in South Wales, it's about a hundred and fifty miles away. I made a few phone calls Friday afternoon, of course he could try to go back to his old bank. That's only twenty miles or so. I told him that Friday afternoon before we left work."

"Please Cheryl, have a word, see what you can do for him, local would be good, well for me anyway."

"I'll do what I can, I'll have a chat and get back to you if I have any news, hopefully Gerald will phone you. Bye for now."

Cheryl hung up.

We went through into the kitchen and she put the kettle on for coffee.

Handing me my cup she asked. "What do I do?" I saw her ponder a bit then she answered her own question. "I can give him the options, but he needs to make his own decision on what he sees as his future, whether to move to Swansea with our bank or try to get his old job back in Winchester, I am not sure if they have filled his position yet. I can only help point out the pros and cons of each option. I know which Dee would like"

She looked at me. "Would you mind if I went to see him in his flat and talk it through with him?"

I had been thinking. "It's your decision." I told her. "But I would rather you didn't. He has become a friend, not just a work mate and he is going to be emotional, so are you. He has already professed his affection for you and wants more, you have admitted to me you have feelings for him. With all the emotions swimming around I don't think it is a good idea."

"Do you trust me?" She asked quietly.

Actually, I was not sure, but what could I say. If I said 'No' it would damage our relationship, if I said 'Yes' but didn't mean it she would see. So, I fudged it. "I don't trust Gerald not to take advantage of the situation."

"My Darling, I may have feelings for him, but I love you. Trust me. I would never cheat on you. We are starting a family, why would I risk that."

"Okay, if you go, shall I come with you? Dee said he wanted to apologise to me for something."

"You could, but I think you being there might distract him from his real problem.

"I am asking you to trust me, nothing will happen, it's just a talk, to show him some support and help him make a decision."

I was standing, resting my backside on the kitchen table. She came up to me, stroked my arm, lifted my wrist, looked at my watch and said. "Look, it's just after a quarter to twelve, it should not take long to talk about his options. I will quickly change out of my work clothes and be at his place just after twelve and I will be back in this house before one, I promise. And then we can get a takeout this evening and have an early night to carry on making babies, what do you say?"

"Okay, but be careful, I would be fibbing if I said I wasn't concerned."

She leaned up and kissed me. "You have nothing to worry about. Please trust me, I love you." With that she went upstairs to change. I followed her out to see her off, she was wearing jeans and a big jumper.

I felt frustrated. I went and got the Terminator and took it out on some small targets.

I was expecting her to leave Gerald's at about a quarter to one to keep her promise to be home by one o'clock, okay she might be a few minutes late.

I tracked her phone. Gerald lived in a nice upper-floor flat in a townhouse opposite the park, we had been there a few times. It was about ten minutes away by car, slightly longer by bike.

It was five to one and she was still there, she would not make it home before one as she said. I sent her a text reminding her that she said she was going to be home by one o'clock. There was no reply. Just after one, I called her, after eight rings it went to answerphone. I left her a terse message. So much for her promise, what other things had she reneged on?

I tried Gerald's phone, that went to answerphone too. I left him a message telling him to send my wife home.

I worked out that If they ignored their phones, they would ignore the doorbell as well. I was not too keen to be seen throwing stones at his windows to attract their attention, they would probably ignore that too. Well, they would not ignore the Terminator. I picked up the Terminator and the bar magnet that held the ammo, larger than I would have used for small pests.

I got my bike out and was at the park opposite Gerald's flat less than fifteen minutes later. I saw where Cheryl's car was parked down the road a bit from Gerald's flat, parking was difficult on that road at the best of times.

I put my bike just inside the park gate that was nearly opposite Gerald's flat. My intention was to send a message through Gerald's window, they were double-glazed and would take some breaking, I would have to hit the corner, not the centre where any projectile might just bounce off.

I moved opposite his flat when the front door opened. Cheryl and Gerald were just inside the doorway. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in, she placed her left hand on his chest and then they kissed, a kiss on the lips, not a friend's kiss. After a few seconds Cheryl pushed him away, I saw her say something to him. I stared. I could not believe what I was seeing. It ended my marriage there and then and it was not the kiss.

They left the doorway and walked towards Cheryl's car. Gerald went to take hold of her hand. She pulled it away. Was the cheating slut ashamed to hold hands in public. I took the Terminator, my hunting catapult out of my pocket. There was a gap in the row of parked cars where one had left. I took up a boxer's stance, slipped the one inch two-ounce steel ball bearing into the pouch, extended my left arm, gripping hold of the pouch with my right hand I pulled it fully back tucking my thumb under my cheekbone, my forearm parallel to the ground, sighted and released the shot. I hit Gerald in the groin. The second shot was aimed at the same place, but by now his right hand was covering the area. I heard the crack as the ball bearing contacted the back of his hand. I saw the ball bearings roll away.

A thought crossed my mind, I could recover those. Then muscle memory took over. Next shot, left shoulder that spun him around a bit, right shoulder that straightened him up. Centre of the chest, he took a pace back and nearly fell over. I was aiming for the centre chest again when he fell forward and the next shot caught him in the side of the face, his head snapped backwards and he collapsed on the floor. I had run out of ammunition and I could see the ball bearings lying on the floor where they had bounced off him. I undid the laces of my trainer, removed it and slipped the bar magnet inside and put it back on. That was difficult. I limped hurriedly across the road. Cheryl was on her knees next to him; she took no notice of me. She was concentrating on her phone.

I shuffled my feet along the floor, looking down I could see the ball bearings attached to the outside of my trainer. I reached down and retrieved one ball bearing from Gerald's clothing. Cheryl had her phone to her ear. I looked at her and confirmed what I had seen when they kissed. I walked away gently, not wanting to lose any of the ball bearings that were on the outside of my trainer. I got to the far side of the road, collected the ball bearings and removed the bar magnet from inside my trainer. Good, that was bloody uncomfortable, but if anybody saw me, they could say they saw a limping old man. That was how I felt.

I rode gently home wondering how she was going to explain what I had seen.

Cheryl must have seen and heard the messages from me. It was a quarter of an hour later when she phoned. She was crying and out of breath. "Sorry I'm late, there's been an incident. Gerald's been hurt and I'm on my way to the hospital with him."

I waited a few seconds. "John, are you there?" She said.

"Yes, but not for much longer unless you come home right now. I give you a choice. Be in this house in half an hour or don't bother coming home at all. You have another choice to make, your lover or your husband."

"He's not my lov..." That was all I heard before I hung up.

I needed help, I needed advice but first a cup of tea, coffee would not cut this. I was on the phone when twenty minutes later Cheryl came bursting through the door. I just laid the phone down without hanging up.

"I'm sorry darling I didn't hear the phone, I didn't get your message. We got carried away talking."

"You promised me you'd be home by one o'clock, when I tracked your phone at five past and you were still there. So much for your promises. You two were so carried away you ignored my phone call and my text message, where was Gerald's phone. I left him messages too. Is that what you're calling it these days, talking."

A worried look passed across her face. "We were just talking about what options he had."

"What options are there, to move to Wales or to Winchester so he could keep screwing you?"

Her face was aghast. "What are you saying, we've not had sex."

"Oh, was it making love then?"

I could hear sounds coming from the phone. I ignored them.

I had had enough. I raised my voice. "Standing in this very kitchen you said to me, and I quote. 'You have nothing to worry about. Please trust me, I love you'."

I paused. "Cheryl, show me your left hand."

Her face fell and she shook her head.

I shouted angrily. "LIFT UP YOUR FUCKING HAND AND SHOW IT TO ME." The sound coming from the phone had gone quiet.

Cheryl flinched, she had never seen me this angry, I do not think I had ever been this angry. She slowly lifted her hand. I said in a loud voice. "Would you be so kind as to tell me where your wedding and engagement rings are? I hope they're not on Gerald's bedside table."

She shook her head. "It was, it was just a..." With that she collapsed into the chair and burst into tears. She looked up at me and said through the tears. "I'm sorry, he asked if we could make love just once. I told him I was married and held up my left hand to show him my rings. He took my hand, removed the rings and said to me 'For the next hour you're not married'. I'm sorry sweetheart, I shouldn't have done it. Please forgive me, I'll make it up to you."

She put her hand in her pocket and took her rings out and started to put them on.

I reached across and took them off of her. "You lost the right to wear those when you had sex with Gerald."

I picked up the phone. "Harry, Margaret you had better come and collect your daughter. I will get her to start packing her suitcase."

I heard Harry say. "We are just getting in the car right now; we will be there in about half an hour."

I hung up.

"My parents, you told my parents."

"No, actually you did."

There was a loud knocking at our front door and the bell was ringing. Somebody was in a hurry. I went to the front door, it was Dee. She pushed past me into the kitchen. "Can one of you take me to the hospital please, Gerald's been hurt, my car won't start."

I took my car keys from my pocket and gave them to her. "Take mine, we're busy."

Then she noticed the atmosphere in the place. "What's going on here, it's like an icebox in here?" Looking at Cheryl crying Dee said. "Why are you crying, what's wrong?"

"We know Gerald's been hurt, Cheryl was just there." I said.

Cheryl burst into tears again.

"What were you doing there, how did he get hurt, why?"

"It appears she went to talk to him like you asked, but it went further, much, much further."

A realisation seemed to grip Dee, she growled. "You didn't, he's my boyfriend, you didn't, did you? You slept with him?"

Cheryl slowly nodded her head.

The slap from Dee around Cheryl's face was so hard she nearly fell off the chair. Dee looked at me and handed me my car keys back saying. "I won't be needing these, thank you." With that she stormed out the front door leaving it open.

I poured my tea down the sink. It was cold, I poured another lukewarm one from the pot and drank that. "So, you wanted to make love to him?"

"No, but I do have feelings for him. And he's poorly, he is not well. I felt sorry for him. It was wrong, I'm sorry, it was wrong." Tears were still falling from her eyes.

"Why did you let him take your rings?"

She looked down and started talking quietly. "I don't know, for some reason I couldn't stop him. I told him that on Monday I was going to recommend that he change from commercial to public banking, it would mean a change of branch and he knew I had found him a place in Swansea, it was a long way from here or he could try to get his old job back in Winchester.

"He told me he was going to accept the place in Swansea. He stepped up to me and held me and he asked if we could have just one afternoon, just one time together. I reminded him I was married, I held up my hand to show him the rings, he took hold of my hand and he took my wedding and engagement rings off and said to me 'look you're not married now. Please just once to consummate our love and then we will separate and never talk again'. And I felt sorry for him with his illness. I'm sorry, I've admitted to you I have feelings for him, and I gave in., and I didn't feel married when he took my rings off, I felt sorry for him being ill, I let my emotions get the better of me. I'm sorry. You warned me. I was wrong."

"That's shite, you didn't want to stop him, you wanted to show him your love and affection, even if it was only for an hour, or did you want his affection because mine is not enough."

She was looking at me shaking her head.

I controlled my anger. "How do I know it would just be the once? If he went to Winchester, would you start sneaking off to your other love. What about the times you would look off dreamily into the distance and relive your hour of passion and then compare me to him, what then!"

"I wouldn't do that, I love you"

"You might love me, but you love him as well. You can't have both."

"I don't want both, I want you, just you. I like him, but I love only you."

"You can say that now you've had both of us, what, was he no good and you want me now?"

"Did you think I wouldn't notice?" I asked. But I had other concerns.

Quietly she said. "It was only going to be the once, you would never know."

"Oh bloody hell, are you so stupid, is your memory so short? You said you would be back within the hour, you were still in his flat at the end of that hour, you were with the man who you admitted you had feelings for, and said he had feelings for you and he wanted more. Neither of you answered your phones. Did you not think I would put two and two together and work out you had been shagging, and do you really think you could have kept it from me. The guilt would have shown all over your face."

She was shaking her head.

I told her to go and pack, her parents would be here in about ten minutes. If she did not do it I would, she did not move So I went to our bedroom and started throwing clothes into a suitcase. When I had packed what I could get in I carried it to the front door, as I got there her parents came in, Margaret gave me a hug, it looked like she had been crying all the way over. Harry just stood there looking sad. He saw the suitcase. They followed me to the kitchen. Cheryl had not moved.

She did not acknowledge her parents.

"I'm sorry, please my darling, it was a mistake, forgive me please, give me one more chance, please." She was rambling.

I was still controlling my anger, it was hard work. "WHAT! You are sitting there within two hours of getting out of his bed, with another man's sperm in you and you are asking me to forgive you. Are you pissed or what? Just get out."

I think her parents could see where I was coming from.

Harry helped her out the door, Margaret carried her suitcase. I closed the door behind them, cried and then got drunk, very drunk.

The following morning, I was awoken from my sleep by the doorbell ringing and a knocking on the front door, not good for the splitting headache I had. I had slept on the settee. If it was Cheryl she could just fuck off. But the only way to stop the noise was to open the door. I managed to stumble to the door and open it. Dee stood there. She was holding up her hand with a packet of some kind, my eyes would not focus properly.

Dee said quietly. "I have brought pain killers, strong ones. I thought you might need them."

She was not wrong.

I went and sat back on the settee, I put my hands over my ears to deaden the cacophony of noise coming from the kitchen. All of a sudden there was a glass of water and two pills in front of me. I knew what was good for me and popped the pills into my mouth and washed them down with the water. I was thinking gin and tonic would have been better, easy on the tonic. I lay back down. Sometime later I was nudged on the shoulder and there was a cup of tea. I drank it when it was lukewarm. I was starting to feel better.

I sat up and there sat opposite me was Dee. She looked like she did not have a good night either. She spoke, but not loudly, I was grateful for that. "You had better phone work today, you're in no fit state to go in, let alone drive. Plus you're probably going to get a visit from the Constabulary quite soon. I had one yesterday evening about Gerald's 'incident'. It appears his testicles are badly damaged, he's heavily bruised around the groin and has several broken bones and other injuries, it looks like a revenge beating to me. The police said Gerald told them he felt like he was being punched by an invisible boxer. I told them about Gerald and Cheryl so they will probably come and ask where you were about one yesterday. I assume you were here."

I wasn't sure whether to speak or nod my head, which would hurt less. I decided to nod gently. It was a lie, I was not that drunk.

We just sat there for about an hour, I had gained enough ability to move so I went and found my phone and called work to let them know I would not be in. When I had finished there was a fresh cup of tea waiting for me.

"Are you going to divorce her?" Dee asked.

"Yes, she cheated on me, she betrayed me, my trust and she gave her love to somebody else, and she betrayed you." I explained the conversation we had before Cheryl left and when she got back, I told her about her not wearing her wedding and engagement rings. I repeated Cheryl's reasons and excuses.

Dee snorted. "I knew they liked each other, but it is just like him, he would have pressured her into it. He's very good at talking people into doing what they don't want to do. He can be very convincing." She gave me a small smile. "I've had a sore bum to prove it." I think she was trying to lighten the mood. "But I agree with you, it was her choice and she chose wrong. She could have said 'No'. Do you want the name of a good divorce lawyer?"

"I don't know, I need to Google how to get a divorce, it's not something I've looked up before. I never thought I would need to."

"You've got no kids, it's probably quite easy."

The front doorbell rang. "Do you want me to get that?"

Again, I just nodded and Dee went to the front door. I heard somebody at the front door say "Hello again Miss Harris, is Mr Smedley here?"

Dee put her head around the door and said. "It's the police, are you up to it?"

I probably wasn't, but it would be a good idea to get it out of the way. "Yes, please show them in."

I asked them to sit down and enquired if they would like a drink. I could already hear Dee in the kitchen. They both declined.

The younger one who looked like he had just left school started. "Because Miss Harris is here we assume you are aware of the incident that happened to Mr Gerald Harper yesterday. We gather from Miss Harris that your wife had a liaison with him yesterday afternoon. Your wife was present when he was assaulted. We have spoken to her. Mr Harper gave us her name. I am sure you realise we need to eliminate you from our inquiries? Can you tell us where you were yesterday afternoon at about one PM?"

"Surely, if my wife was there, she can tell you who did it? She can tell you it wasn't me."

"She could not identify the assailant." I suppose that was true.

"Yes, I was here, waiting for my wife to come home. She should have been here by one and when she wasn't by one thirty, I gave her a call she got here about a quarter to two. Unfortunately, I'm afraid there's no one to corroborate that I was here. I was alone."

By now Dee returned with tea and biscuits for me. I was not sure I could face food, even biscuits. The elder of the two policemen asked quite brazenly. "Can you tell me the relationship between you and Miss Harris?"

I heard Dee splutter into her tea. We had never been interested in each other that way, and until Gerald came along, I didn't see her very often.

I explained about her being my wife's best friend and coming to get a lift to the hospital yesterday, finding out that Cheryl had slept with her boyfriend and then she left. She came around this morning to find out what was happening. She found me incredibly hungover and explained to me I was probably getting a visit from them. They seemed satisfied with that.

As I escorted them to the front door, I asked them about Gerald's injuries, they told me he had damaged groin area, they did not expand. Several broken bones in his right hand, dislocated right shoulder, broken left collar bone, two broken ribs and fractured jaw with massive facial bruising. They added he would have to stay in hospital for probably a week, his jaw would have to be wired until it healed and the doctors were concerned about his groin injury.

Dee made me some toast, I pushed it away, I could not stand food yet. I found my way in front of the computer and typed into Google, Divorce Laws UK. I opened a separate Internet window and typed into Google, divorce lawyers near me. Whilst I was doing that another cup of tea turned up by my elbow. I had had enough tea, I wanted something stronger, but I was too polite to turn it down. I made some decisions on what I found on the Internet, I made some notes and turned to see Dee sitting on the settee, just looking at me. I would have thought she would have gone home by now.

"John, do you mind if I stay, I don't want to be alone at the moment. And I don't think you should be either."

I got a phone call from Margaret early in the evening, she asked how I was? I told her I was still recovering from a huge hangover. She said she understood and she would give me a call tomorrow to see how I was. I had the impression she just wanted to see if it was time to talk. I was in no fit state.

Dee did stay, she slept on the settee. I went to work the following day. I was not much use, everybody could see that something was wrong, but did not want to intrude.

I got home that evening and applied to the courts for a divorce, now we would have to see if Cheryl was going to contest it, if she did I would have to contact a solicitor. Dee gave me the name of one she recommended. I did not ask how she knew it was a good one.

When I got home on Thursday Margaret was waiting for me in front of my house. I invited her in, she declined my offer of a drink. We sat at the kitchen table.

I opened my mouth to ask what she wanted as if I could not guess. She held her hands up. I closed my mouth again. "John, Harry and I love you and as much as we both want to, we are not going to interfere, it will have to be your decision. However, we want you two back together; that is where you belong. Yes, she screwed up, she got it wrong, I will not make excuses for her and I will not support what she did. We will go with whatever you decide. But please, can we get together, sooner rather than later to sort this out, to find a way forward. We unashamedly want you to stay together but we realise that may not happen."

"I don't know Margaret, It's still very painful after what she said to me and then went behind my back and had sex with him. But yes, tomorrow. Come here tomorrow about six. That way I can spend the rest of the weekend drunk trying to forget this fucking nightmare."

She did not flinch at my use of the 'F' word. She gave me a kiss on the cheek before she left.

I got home from work Friday to find Cheryl, Margaret and Harry in my kitchen. I forgot Cheryl still had keys to the house. I could see tea being poured and smell the coffee, it was a bitter smell.

Harry started. "John, we've had a lot of time to think and talk about this, but we are not sure if you've come up with a plan or what you are planning to do?"

Margaret carried on. "As I said, we want you back together. Is there any way you can work something out? Counselling maybe, for her not you, she will need your help though. As far as we can see, you have done nothing wrong."

Cheryl spoke quietly. "He hasn't. It was all me."

It was Harry's turn. "Is there anything we can do to help you two? She knows she did wrong, and she tells us she will do anything to make it up to you. Naturally you will have to sort out what that means. We are not asking you to forgive her, that may come in time. We are asking you to give her a second chance. Please have a talk, just the two of you."

I could see tears in Margaret's eyes, I was, unfortunately, going to put a few more there. I drank my tea and stood up behind my chair.

"Whilst I have been drunk most of last weekend to try and dull the pain of her betrayal. It failed, by the way; I did do some thinking, and I am afraid the pain is too much. She gave her body and her love to another man."

Looking up at me Cheryl said shakily. "I have to admit I let him have my body and that was wrong. He never had my love, yes I had some affection for him but never my love. That is all yours."

"A fine way of showing your love for me by making love to another man." I replied.

"No it wasn't making love, it was a, a well a sort of farewell, a farewell..." she stopped talking, unwilling to go on.

I'd had enough. "If you mean a farewell fuck, if that is what you mean, say it."

Margaret piped up. "That's not called for John, but if that is what it was it's over and done with now." I was about to say what I had in my mind, but Margaret carried on. "Yes it was still wrong, I will not defend what she did, she should not have done it. But it was a one off, she promises us she will not do it again." She took a breath. "Yes, yes I know she promised that to you in front of family and friends six years ago, but she has learned from her mistakes and won't do it again."

I was getting angry at Margaret now, and that was not fair to her, they were on my side, they did not make excuses for her, but were trying to help. But it was not helping, and I had an answer to her last statement. "Yes, she will learn from her mistakes. She will be more careful not to get caught next time, that's all."

That was a little unfair of me because I believed she had no intention of sleeping with him when she left here otherwise she would not have promised to be home before one o'clock. Something must have changed her mind, not that it mattered, she did it and that was enough, plus the other thing which I am sure was about to come up.

"I believe you will receive an email, just respond and in twenty-six weeks we will be divorced and we can get on with our own lives. We are going to have to work out splitting our stuff, the house and all that." Looking at Margaret and Harry I said. "Sorry."

Cheryl started crying. "Please don't divorce me. I'm sorry, it was a mistake."

I had become quite calm now.

"Okay, even if I agree it was a mistake and I am not saying I do, but for that mistake to have happened, you had to make a choice, in fact several choices. You let him remove your wedding and engagement rings, you could have stopped him, you chose not to. You could have refused his request to make love, you chose not to. You could have chosen to uphold our vows and my trust in you, you chose not to."

I did not let up. "Did you use protection?"

She slowly shook her head, her mother was aghast. I think she could see where this was going.

"So, you could be pregnant by him?"

She nodded.

"And if you are pregnant, you wouldn't have known it was his or mine because we made love the previous few nights. Because if you remember correctly, we said it was time to start a family."

Cheryl started. "I have..." I held my hand up, anything she said would not matter right now.

I looked at her. "I choose not to remain married to the woman who cheated on me, on my love for her, betrayed my trust and maybe carrying another man's child."

Margaret realised that was it. Cheryl was crying, Margaret went to her and helped her up and out the front door. Harry followed after giving me a hug, no words were spoken, none were needed. I went and checked my stocks of beer and gin. I had plenty.

I was awakened from my drunken slumber again Saturday morning to more loud knocking on my front door. I made my way downstairs, at least I had made it to my bed this time. It was Dee again.

She prodded me in the chest. "Margaret phoned me, she guessed you would do this." Then she pushed past me. I made my way to the settee through the detritus of last night's drinking binge. Then there was a hand with tablets and a glass of water in front of me. "This is the last time I am doing this. You're going to have to look after yourself."

I just nodded; however, she did not stop. Bloody hell did she launch into me for how I was responding to what had happened. I was drunk, smelly, dirty, unshaven, basically a bloody mess.

Standing in front of me, her hands on her hips looking down she said, far too loudly for my hangover. "Clean this bloody place up. I am coming back tomorrow at five and you better have dinner cooked ready for me as a thank you for bringing you the painkillers." She lowered her voice, thankfully, but it had an icy edge to it. "John, you are better than this, you need to pull yourself together and carry on, you have friends and family that can help. So bloody hell get your head out of your arse."

She went to the front door, turning, she looked at me and said. "The best thing you can do now is to live your life the best way you can with what you have learned." I think to emphasise the comment she slammed the door on the way out. That hurt.

Epilogue.

I sat and thought, she was correct, I cleaned up, shaved, showered and made rough plans for my life, and planned tomorrow's dinner. She turned up, with wine. We talked long about what happened and what we planned to do. She told me Margaret had told her what I had said to Cheryl. She agreed with my sentiments.

Dee came around a few times and we went out together. Both crying into our beer. We did not end up in bed, we just didn't see each other that way, there was no spark.

About a month after the event a hand-delivered letter came through the letterbox. I opened it. The first typed words had me worried.

"Dear John, please excuse this being typed. A letter of this sort should be hand written, however I am right-handed and my right hand has not fully recovered after the revenge attack on me. I am guessing it was for some previous transgression, I am certain that is what it was. I just do not know who from, all I know is that it hurts and it prompted me to have a good look at my life and I did not like what I saw."

Now I knew who it was from. Gerald.

"I gather you have started divorce proceedings against Cheryl, please reconsider..."

That was when I gave up reading. The anger came back. I will not be told what to do by the man who had a hand in destroying my marriage. I just threw the letter on the kitchen table and made a coffee.

Dee came around later that day, she saw the letter I had thrown on the table. "Did you read it?" she asked.

"No, I will not be told what to do by the man who helped ruin my marriage and my life."

She held her hand up, there was a letter in it. "I have one too. Guessing yours is similar to mine, you really should read it, you know."

I picked the letter up from the kitchen table, screwed it up and threw it in the bin and stormed off into the living room.

I heard the fridge door close and Dee came in with two beers. We just sat and after a while talked about our day, just shite.

After my comment about her maybe carrying another man's baby, I think Margaret and Harry had a word with Cheryl. She did not contest the divorce and I arranged a mortgage to buy her half of the house. Strangely enough, Cheryl managed to get me a good deal on a mortgage. Some sort of staff employee's discount.

I found out later that she was not pregnant and she had her period as normal, but that wasn't the point. The point was she risked it.

Thirty weeks later the letter finally dropped onto the front door mat to tell me I was divorced. The second saddest day of my life. I tried not to cry or get drunk; I failed on both counts; Dee was there with me.

The following week Margaret and Cheryl came round. I made tea, then Cheryl surprised me. "I know I don't deserve it, but can I have my rings back please? They will be a reminder of the good times we had, a reminder of you, and also how I screwed up."

"They're tainted. I have no use for them, do what you like with them."

I got them and passed them to her.

I think Margret was only there to give Cheryl moral support. When they left Cheryl wanted to give me a kiss, I did not let her, however I accepted a hug and a kiss on the cheek from her mother.

Right, time to get on with being single. I was not looking forward to it.

Google supplied the information that catapults, sometimes called slingshots, can project ball bearings at speeds of between 70 and 100mph. I am not sure how much damage would have been caused by a 1-inch 2 1/2 ounce ball bearing striking a lightly protected human body at those speeds. So, I have used a bit of poetic licence. I am certain it would hurt.