The Talk Before She Goes Too Far

This is inspired by Ohio's 'talk before the talk'. That was written a while ago. I reached out to him to ask if he minded if I use his premise. he has replied. Thanks, mate, hope you like this. There is nothing new here in British English.

This is just fiction, not everything that is told in this story is real. Please just enjoy the story.

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I was out with my mates on Friday night. Joe, Phil, Kev and me, Frank.

Joe had just had some bad news. He'd found out his wife Olivia had been cheating on him for the last three months with somebody from her work.

He told us his story. He talked about how he missed all the signs. How she started talking about the new bloke, her boss; how dynamic, charismatic, and how handsome he was. Their sex life ramped up a bit, then dropped off. Next came the new clothes using the excuse she's going for a promotion so she had to look the part. Her mobile phone never left her side, and she was getting messages all the time, when he asked her about it, she just said it was work stuff.

Next was the late nights working, the girl's evenings out which finished later than they used to. The missed meals, rushing to the shower when she got in late from work saying she was very sweaty. Then she got her promotion and that entailed the occasional overnight stays. The sex life dropped off to nothing, she was always too tired with the new job, how she had to prove her boss right in promoting her, or she was just not in the mood, even on the weekends. She promised him it would get better soon, telling him constantly she loved him.

Finally, he said she was always grumpy with him, picking on him for any minor thing. He put it down to the stress at work with the new job.

He'd been fat, dumb and happy and thought everything was okay. There appeared to be a good reason for everything.

After a particularly frozen breakfast to try to cheer her up he called in at her office with a bunch of flowers. She worked in a publishing house in town. He noticed the receptionists giggling and smirking to themselves when he asked for her. When Olivia came down, she was quite angry with him for turning up unannounced. He thinks being told off in front of the receptionists was when he grew a backbone and decided to investigate what was actually happening.

The next time she said she was working late he borrowed a mate's car and sat outside the office all day. He didn't want to miss a thing. He told us he even ended up pissing in a milk carton. At about three o'clock she left with this bloke. He followed them to a hotel then inside. They went into the restaurant. He was hopeful it was just a working lunch, although it was a little late for lunch.

He went to the bar and found somewhere he could see the lifts. After about an hour they came out of the restaurant and went to the lift. Two hours later they came back and she was giving him a kiss like she used to give him when the lift doors opened.

He had discreetly videoed everything he could. As the couple walked arm in arm towards the exit he stood up in front of them and said to her. "The children need picking up from your Mother's. We will talk about this later."

The smirk on the bloke's face disappeared and Olivia burst into tears. That was all he saw as he walked away.

He told us how when she got home with the children, she had all the excuses. She did it for them, the promotion meant better money so they could retire earlier. She got carried away. The promotion went to her head. She had stopped it, it was the last time. They could give the children nice things, she loved him, she was sorry.

He told us he lost count how many times she said she was sorry. She went on about how there was no love between her and her boss. That was all Joe's, it was just sex. It meant nothing to her. She'd get a transfer and if they wouldn't give her a transfer to another office, she'd resign.

He gave a small, sad smile as he showed her the video of her giving her boss a smouldering kiss and he said to her. "You somehow seem to have forgotten to kiss me like that." He warned her she would now have no time for gallivanting around, because she'd have two children to look after.

He told us he got her and her boss reported to HR, but there was nothing against it in the company policy and they both got a reprimand for taking time off work to have the affair, but that was all.

Joe told us that he was thinking of contacting the boss's wife, but the boss had told Olivia that they had an open marriage. We all tutted and drew deep breaths through our teeth like tradesmen did when they're going to give you a big estimate for a job. We all suggested he checked the open marriage thing if he could.

That was when a tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm going to fucking miss my kids." That was when I guessed he wouldn't leave her.

Then he said, "That's what you get for trusting someone you love."

That's not quite true I thought to myself, but I could see where he was coming from.

He had looked at me accusingly all evening possibly because my wife Katie and Olivia worked at the same place, but in different departments.

The poor man never saw it coming, I felt really sad for him.

He wanted our advice. Phil said divorce her, Kev said think about the children. His parents got divorced when he was six, we all knew he didn't have it easy growing up. I suggested we were the wrong people to talk to. He needed to talk to her, find out the real reason why she did it and he would have to live with the decisions he made. However, we would support him in whatever that was. But talk to her, talking is important, maybe a marriage guidance counsellor, and it still might end up in divorce.

Phil, Kev and I agreed to support him whatever he decided.

We offered to beat the shit out of the boss or smash his car, the usual sort of stuff. He declined.

We also offered to be his alibi. He said he would let us know about that and gave us a small smile.

We were all in our mid 30s and had known each other since that first week in secondary school. We were unimaginatively known as the Four Musketeers. We got into, and thankfully out of, quite a few scrapes together.

On my walk home I thought. Did Katie know about Olivia's cheating, and there were so many similarities to my life recently.

Shit! Was Katie cheating on me?

I was going to ask her if she knew about Olivia's cheating, I decided not to just yet.

I thought back about a year ago when a new bloke started as her supervisor, Gerald. I'd met him about nine months ago just after he arrived and a few times since then. He seemed a nice bloke, a bit older than us, quite debonair, but very quiet, withdrawn. He had an easy way about him. I knew he had a wife, I'd never seen her and I didn't even know her name.

Because Joe and I were mates Katie and Olivia worked at the same place, they were friends, not best buddies, just friends. They sometimes went out together with the other office staff. Did she know about the cheating? After the way Joe was treated by the receptionists, was it common knowledge in the company, or just a few people?

And there were similarities in our house to what happened to Joe, but I hadn't noticed them until he listed them. I'd thought nothing of it, just like he did. The change in intimacy sometimes up sometimes down, the looking off into the distance, clothing, and working time.

Did she think her friend Olivia got away with it, so she could too? Some things were noticeably different. Katie's mobile phone when she came in, she dropped it on the induction charger and didn't pick it up until somebody rang her or the next time she went out. Also, there was no rushing off to the shower when she got in from work like had happened to Joe.

But, there was something lying just underneath the surface and I would have to find out what it was.

But what did stick out to me most of all was her eating habits. I made lunch for her to take to work every day at the same time as I made mine.

I remember how she had gone on about Gerald, all those months ago and then stopped. One difference between Katie and Olivia was Katie didn't go on about his attitude and looks, just he was good to work with, had new ideas and his gentle accent. I had assumed she just got used to him and there was nothing new to talk about him.

I thought back to her other excuses. I asked her about how she dressed differently and she said she felt a bit frumpy and wanted to look a bit smarter. Then the meals, I used to make her sandwiches so she could sit and chat with the girls at lunch, then she told me she was eating too much so on Tuesdays she would just take an apple and a bag of crisps and the same on Thursdays. Then there was the occasional getting home late. Up until the last six months ago she got in regularly at a quarter to five and now it could occasionally be as late as half five. When I asked her about it, she said she had things to catch up at work or called in some shops on the way home.

I noticed when it was her turn to cook on a Tuesday or Thursday she would have a smaller portion, and if I cooked on those days she just poked her food around the plate saying she wasn't hungry. When I tackled her about it and asked if there was anything wrong with my cooking, she smiled and said. "Of course not."

There was additional intimacy. She didn't often come on to me, but I felt it was a bit over the top. She even offered me her backside. She'd never done that before. It was almost as if it was guilt. We tried it. I wasn't a fan.

It was the next Tuesday after Joe's revelation I was waiting outside her building at half past eleven. I had a baseball cap, hoodie and sunglasses on as a disguise. I took the sunglasses off, it wasn't sunny and I looked silly in sunglasses and a baseball cap with no sun shining. That would draw attention to me. It was just before twelve when I saw her leave the building. She walked down the steps around the corner and a couple of minutes later Gerald came out. He met her away from the main entrance of the building, she linked his arm through his and they walked down a side street. He was on the inside of the pavement, not a gentleman then!

I followed them and they went a couple of hundred yards down the road before they into a quiet pub. I followed them in and found a quiet corner so I could watch. They sat in a dark corner. I saw them order food, I couldn't see what she ordered, no wonder she wasn't hungry when she got home. I sat and watched for a while, had a pint and then waited outside. They left just after one they walked back. But they stopped before they got onto the main road where the office block was and she gave him a small hug and a kiss on the lips. Not a passionate kiss, their lips just touched. It crossed my mind that it was not the kiss you give to a friend. They separated. He walked down the side of the building and she walked into it. I was confused, so I stood and watched for a couple of minutes. Later he came from the other direction. He'd walked all the way around the block. They did not want to be seen there together.

I went home and dug out my recording pen, it was something I had taken to interviews. I carried out an experiment; I put it at the bottom of one of her handbags and talked. I replayed it. It was all muffled and I couldn't make out a single word. I spent the rest of the afternoon searching the Internet for discreet audio recorders. I ordered one that looked like a flower. It was purple, her favourite colour.

She was half an hour later I guess to make up the time she spent with Gerald as they left before 12 and got back after one. Again, she pushed the food around her plate. I asked her how her day went, did anything special happen? She told me it was just the same old stuff, nothing new.

A thought crossed my mind, was the kiss a regular thing or was it a one off? That would be one of the questions when all this came out, because as sure as dogs shit, it was going to come out.

Apart from the one kiss and linking arms that didn't appear to be any sort of intimate contact, they looked like work colleagues sharing lunch. But why leave and enter the building separately? What were they trying to hide? And from whom? Had she known about Olivia's cheating and has learned from her.

That evening, she suggested sex again and even a little kinkiness, so unlike her. The corset and stockings came out that night.

Was it guilty sex?

When the audio recorder arrived, it was a bit big. It didn't look that big on the screen. Friday morning over tea and biscuits for breakfast I gave her the flower. She was amazed, she liked it, she said it was a bit heavy to wear. I told her it was designed to go on her handbag strap. I helped her to clip it in place. She was impressed; I got a kiss and the promise of something special over the weekend because I'd been so nice to her.

I stayed up late that night when she went to bed. I got the flower and checked that it had recorded something. I had a quick scan though it just seemed to be office jibber jabber. But Friday wasn't the day she went out with Gerald.

The weekend was very quiet, we just got on with the usual household jobs. On more than one occasion Katie asked me why I was so quiet? I didn't realise I had been. I just said I was thinking over some problems my mates had, I didn't expand. That caused her to raise an eyebrow. I think she tried to make me happy at night in bed, it sort of succeeded until she fell asleep and I laid there awake wondering.

Tuesday evening it was my turn to cook. She poked her food around again. I didn't ask, I didn't talk about it. When I woke up for my three o'clock visit to the toilet I went downstairs, retrieved the flower and downloaded the recording. I didn't listen to all of it, but I managed to find a bit where Katie and Gerald were talking just to make sure I had something with them.

I didn't get much done at work on Wednesday. I spent most of my time listening to the recording and making notes. Actually, there weren't many notes to take. There was nothing untoward. They just talked about the weather, problems he was having with his wife and there was talk of counselling, but Gerald said his wife refused to go. The idea entered my head that perhaps Gerald or his wife had been cheating and Gerald wanted to try marriage guidance counselling to fix their marriage, they didn't go into details. I was mentioned, but not in a derogatory way. After that it was mainly plans they had for a new book that was being published that took up most of the talking. On the face of it, it seemed innocent. But why go to the pub to talk about it? I skipped through the office jibber jabber but there was an interesting bit after she got back from her lunch. It sounded like Katie had left her desk and people talked about how she had changed, she was quieter and dressed differently, smarter, more risqué, they were quite catty about it. They thought she was having an affair, but it was not with Gerald. Somebody called Simon, who I'd never met. They'd put two and two together because Katie no longer joined them to chat on Tuesday and Thursday lunchtimes and Simon was very quiet around her.

I got the Thursday lunchtime recording. It was pretty much the same apart from Gerald asking if I suspected anything? Katie sounded a little confused when she replied. She wondered why I would suspect anything, she always covered her tracks.

She knew Gerald wanted it kept a secret. They talked about their plans for the weekend. What Katie said was pretty much what we had planned. Gerald had nothing, just some household jobs as Shannon wasn't doing much around the house these days. Then he said, "Or anywhere else, if you know what I mean." There were several seconds of silence. Katie wished him and Shannon a good weekend. She hoped he got some progress, he replied he didn't think they would as things hadn't changed much in the last few months. He said the only decent interaction he had was with Katie as Shannon was so withdrawn. I was confused by what he said, hell I was confused by all of it. I assumed Shannon was Gerald's wife.

Friday.

I knocked off work early on Friday. I went home to think. I sat at the kitchen table. My hands wrapped around a mug of tea and looking down at the notes I'd made, there weren't many. I went over what I knew and what I suspected which generated a whole bunch of questions. I came up with a plan.

Hoping it was nothing, but expecting the worst, I researched the divorce laws. It appears it's quite simple: you can just apply online and in six months it's all over. Let's hope it doesn't go that way but that will depend on her answers and what else I could find out.

Normally on a Friday night when it was getting cold like it was now, I would light a fire and we would sit in front of it with dinner on a tray. Something simple, comforting, spoon food. Like stovies, chilli and rice or maybe a shepherd's pie with wine for her and beer for me. We would discuss the week then talk about what we had planned for the weekend. After that just sit comfortably watching something on telly. Some Fridays we would go to bed early because we felt like a little loving.

But not this week. When Katie got in, I had the kitchen table set and a takeaway. There were wine glasses and wine. When she saw this, she raised an eyebrow.

This was not normal for a Friday.

Next to my plate was an envelope, I saw her eyes flicker towards it. It was empty, for now. That was good. I wanted her on edge.

Because of the things I had thought about on my walk back from the pub after Joe's revelation I hadn't told her I knew about Olivia's affair.

We talked about the usual things we did on a Friday, but I changed the order around. I talked about the plans for the weekend. There were the leaves to clear from the gutter, cars needed to be washed. There was laundry to do and shopping for the next week's supplies.

Katie had settled down when I said. "Joe thinks you knew about Olivia's affair, did you?"

She'd been looking down at her plate trying to snare the last noodle. Her head shot up. But she said nothing.

"You hesitated, you had to think. Don't lie to me! Did you know that Olivia was shagging her boss?"

She looked down and then back at me and said. "Yes, I suspected."

I thought she might fudge around it or deflect the conversation, but she hesitated again.

I'd planned this bit. "Fucking bollocks."

It came out harsher than I wanted. Katie was shocked and leaned back in her chair startled.

She recoiled at me using the 'F' word, something I very rarely did at home.

I think the look of shock on her face made her realise how much shit she was in if she carried on lying or at least fudging the truth. "You either knew or you didn't. When Joe went to see Olivia at work, all the reception staff giggled at him when he walked in. He felt it was common knowledge. You're friends with Olivia so how much do you know? Did you cover for her? Why didn't you tell Joe if you suspected she was cheating on him?" I lowered my voice. "Or did you know she was?"

She put her fork down, the noodle still on the plate. "It's complicated."

"Fucking bollocks. Olivia was cheating on Joe, he's our friend, you knew about it and you didn't tell him. To me you're condoning her affair."

Katie took a long drink of her wine, looked at me and said. "Only a few people in the office knew. The boss's secretary, Olivia's friend Vicky and me. I'm guessing the receptionists saw them leaving together and put two and two together and they worked out they were having an affair." She looked down again.

"If I remember rightly, you gave Joe some excuses the other week, were you covering for her?"

I could see tears coming from her left eye.

"Just the once." She said in a murmur. I think she was starting to realise the shit she was in.

"Was it just the once?"

"Only the once I knew of." She said quietly.

I waited, I slowly took a drink of my wine. I marked time, Katie said nothing, so I waited some more. All that could be heard was the ticking of the clock. And then I waited some more until she lifted her head and looked at me.

Quietly I said. "So, you think cheating, breaking marriage vows is acceptable. When were you planning to cheat on me?" Her face looked aghast. It was either the fact she was truly aghast at the thought that she would cheat on me or that I had caught her cheating.

Time will tell.

"I love you, I will never cheat on you." She said quietly.

I replied in an equally quiet voice. "But you helped your friend cheat on her husband who is one of our friends." I carried on with a quiet voice but with a bit of a growl in it. "A friend that helped us move into this house, someone who came to help us when our car broke down in Devon and you needed to get back in a hurry for work. Someone I've known for nearly 20 years and you've known 10." I stood up, looking down at her I said. "How do you think it looks from my point of view?"

I left it at that and walked through into the living room taking the envelope with me. There was no fire. I just turned the television on.

She joined me a couple of minutes later after clearing away the table. It crossed my mind if she'd finally eaten that last noodle. Strange things go through your mind when you're upset.

She sat on the sofa next to me. "I'm sorry, I got it wrong. But it was a promotion thing, Joe would never find out." She paused a little bit and said quietly. "And it was kind of exciting, being attached knowing something few other people did."

"So, your friend Olivia is a prostitute, she had sex to get a promotion. But from what Joe tells me it didn't stop there and she carried on seeing this arse wipe of a boss. Did you cover for her then?"

She shook her head and carried on in a quiet tone of voice. "I told her to stop now she had the job. That's what she told me she would do once she had it. But she said it was so much fun, and her boss, Ralph would do stuff that Joe didn't. You know Joe, he's not very adventurous."

She was right, Joe had never been very adventurous. If the four of us did something, the first time he would hang back but after we'd done it once he was all for it. Like the time we slung our sledges on our backs and rode our bikes to Queensdown Warren in the snow. One of our school friends had been down the hill in the summer on his bike. He and his bike parted company and he ended up with a broken arm and leg. His bike was trashed as well. So, we wouldn't do that. We did go down it on our sledges. Phil, Kevin and I set off. We were about a third of the way down before Joe followed us. Once we got to the bottom, he was first back up the top and then first down again.

Then there was the time we swam to the island in the lake that had a sign on it that said, 'Private Property'. Joe followed us out when we got halfway there. Kev 'accidentally' knocked the sign over on its front so you couldn't see it. We had some fun on the island. We discovered smoking, made us all puke, we didn't do that again. We also discovered it wasn't a wise thing to get drunk on cider and have to swim back. Phil, ever the sensible one, said we should only have one bottle of cider if we swam out there. I suggested we make a raft. I found some bits of wood and we made one. It saved us from getting too wet as well.

I smiled to myself. That was where I discovered I liked tonic water. Joe's parents had lots of these bottles around so they wouldn't miss two. We discovered tonic water wasn't alcoholic. Later I found out that tonic water is even better with gin.

But Joe was an absolute brick. If he said he was going to do something you could count it would get done to the best of his skill, he was brilliant at fixing cars as we found out in Devon. He was solid, steady and reliable.

I had to stop thinking otherwise I would get even angrier at Katie.

Katie took a long swallow of her wine and looked at me. I wasn't sure if this was going to be a lecture or a string of excuses. "It started off when she asked me to cover for her, she didn't tell me the truth. She said she wanted to go shopping to get something for Joe's birthday. I believed her but when she asked me a second time the following week whilst we were out shopping, I thought something was wrong. So I asked her and that was when she told me it was just lunch with Ralph, her boss. I accused her of having an affair, she said she wasn't. She was getting to know him to help her get the promotion. She insisted she was not having sex with him, and it was only an hour Saturday lunchtime, they wouldn't have time to do anything. I've known her for years, I've never known her to lie to me, so I believed her. She left me to go shopping and was back just over an hour later. I suppose they could have had sex quickly, but I didn't think about it at the time." She poured a measure of wine into each glass and drank hers. I didn't touch mine.

"A few weeks later I saw her leave work with Ralph at lunch time when I checked she didn't go back to her desk until late afternoon so I confronted her and she admitted threw a bunch of tears that she was sleeping with Ralph but it was only for the promotion and she would stop it as soon as she as soon as she got it."

Right, here comes the rest of the story I thought to myself. "We were out celebrating her promotion between the office staff, Ralph was there and I asked her if she'd cut it off with him. She admitted she had been planning to, but she got caught up in the excitement, the challenge, the difference and Ralph was good, he was better than Joe.

"She admitted she didn't love Ralph and she did love Joe with all her heart, but this was different and exciting. It was just sex. It appears Ralph is quite kinky; he even tied her up a couple of times. She found she quite liked that and she tried to get Joe to do it to her. But he wasn't interested. Olivia told me they were doing it in the back of Ralph's car and nearly got caught, the risk of doing it outside, doing it in Ralph's house whilst his wife was at work was all new and she found it all extra exciting to her.

"Joe was always tired and didn't want to try new things, so she gave in asking and basically tried new things with Ralph.

"After she said that, I told her to stop or I would tell Joe." She took another sip of wine. I felt it was a pause to gather her thoughts, "she pointed out to me that I had covered for her a couple of times even though I didn't know about what she was doing and it wouldn't look good if I told Joe now she was cheating on him and it would imply I knew before and didn't tell him. She promised me she would never ask me to cover for her again and in two months she would stop. She just wanted two months more of the excitement. I felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. I told her I would give her a month and then I would tell Joe If she didn't break it off and I would take the hit. But what I was really worried about was you finding out that I knew and didn't tell Joe. That would, and has as I thought, upset you, I'm sorry sweetheart, I got it wrong, I should have told her to stop or I would tell Joe the very first time."

She poured some more wine into her glass and took a sip. The bottle would soon be empty.

"But I will admit up until the time she got found out I got caught up in the excitement. She told me some of the things she and Ralph did in bed. It wasn't much different from what we do, but it was completely different from what Joe and Olivia did.

"She admitted she had ramped up the sex with Joe and even convinced him to do some of the things that Ralph and her had done, she said having the affair was improving their sex life and I must admit I got dragged along with it. They could never get caught, they were so careful. She was certain Ralph had done this sort of thing before. I told her, one month.

"I started bringing up things that Olivia told me she and Ralph did. I even offered you my backside. Olivia said it was fun the second and third time after she got used to the discomfort. Joe even liked it. But of all the suggestions Olivia gave Joe that was the only one he would do." Then she whispered. "Olivia really likes being restrained, she says it takes away all the guilt of enjoying herself."

Well, that explains the part of my conundrum in increased sex, if I believed her and I wasn't sure I did.

She reached her hands across to me.

"I know that was wrong, but like Olivia having sex with Ralph, I never expected to get caught. I know it might be hard for you right now, but please trust me I would not cheat on you."

I was tempted to utter the name Gerald, but I decided to wait. I wanted this thing sorted out first.

"You're right it is hard to trust you I'm going to have to think about this, but I'll tell you now if I find one indiscretion we are done. Understand?"

She said nothing.

I said louder. "Understand?"

"Yes."

The wine bottle was empty. I went to fetch another one and some beer for me. I don't remember drinking my wine, but the glass was empty. When I sat back down Katie reached across, brushed my arms and said. "Are we good?"

I didn't look at her when I said. "I don't know," looking straight at her in the face I said. "You covered for Olivia's cheating, you didn't tell Joe. So, from where I'm sitting you're okay with cheating, so when are you going to cheat? Why should I wait around for you to cheat on me?"

"I'm not really, trust me I'm not. I would lose you if I did that."

"To fucking right!" I growl at her. That was the end of the discussion that night.

It was cold in the house for the next couple of hours, when we went to bed she stroked my arm and for the first time ever in my life I said. "Not tonight."

As I lay there in the dark, I went through what she had told me about Olivia. I was going to put that on the back burner for now, then I thought of the approach I would take in the morning. I would find out about Gerald. I was starting to have doubts that she was having an affair, but I had to clear this up. I did not sleep well and from the fidgeting on the other side of the bed, I don't think Katie did either.

I got downstairs first, put the toast on and made the tea. Katie wasn't far behind me. I had dressed for dirty outside jobs. I wanted to get the leaves out of the gutter whilst they were still in one piece and not turn into mush. Katie was dressed to go shopping.

We sat at the kitchen table and went over our plans for the weekend again. I had put the envelope on the table again. I would wash the cars using warm water to keep my hands warm, then clean the guttering when it warmed up a bit. Katie will put the laundry in the washing machine and then go shopping. She asked me to hang the washing out if the machine finished and if my hands were clean. She asked if there's anything special I wanted while she was out. I wanted to say 'a wife that doesn't cheat on me', but in the end I just said something nice for meals over the weekend. I suggested I cook hunters' chicken and my special chips for tea tonight. She smiled and wrote something on her shopping list. Looking at me, she said. "Beer?"

"Some more wine would be a good idea. I have a feeling you're going to need it."

A frown crossed her face. I don't think she knew how to take that. She was about to find out.

We had both finished our tea but there was more in the pot if we needed it. It was far too early for strong drink.

"Can I ask a question?" I asked.

She looked confused. "Yes of course."

"What is the worst thing I could do to our marriage?"

The frown returned to her face. "I don't know"

"Oh, I'm sure you do. It's quite a simple question, what is the worst thing I can do to our marriage? Okay, if there is one thing, what would it be?"

"I don't know, I can't think. This is all a bit confusing, where are you going with this?"

She had a very worrying look on her face.

"How about if I cheated on you?"

I didn't give her time to think. "Would it be the actual act? Let's say a woman slightly older than me, let's call her Geraldine. She could even be in my management chain, came on to me."

There was a startled look on her face when I used the feminine version of her boyfriend's name. I don't believe Gerald is part of her management chain, but Olivia's boyfriend was.

She looked shocked but I carried on.

"Would it be the actual sex or the lies leading up to it? The planning, the secret meals, the working late, the lies I told you, going behind your back. Where does the cheating start? Where does the disrespect to our marriage vows and my spouse start?"

Katie's mouth just hung open, but she didn't say anything, so I carried on. "What if Geraldine approached me and said she fancied me, she'd seen my work and was impressed. She knew I was married but she invited me to dinner anyway. I didn't tell you about that. Then at her suggestion I started dressing better, ditching the rugby shirts, fleeces and trainers. I started going to work in a shirt and tie with trousers. Having my haircut, shaving every day. I told you I wanted to look better because of a promotion prospect was coming up, more customer facing. Then I started working late, missing meals, and more evenings out with the boys."

Katie hadn't done some of those things but according to Joe, Olivia had, and I was pretty certain Katie knew more about her antics than she had let on last night.

I think she realised where this was going. Tears were appearing in her eyes.

I didn't let up. "Of course, being a co-worker and my supervisor, we wouldn't want this getting out so I would have to lie to you. Then of course there's the disrespect I will be showing you going behind your back."

She was a blubbering mess now.

"Do you remember our wedding vows?" I asked quietly. There was a framed print of them hanging on the wall in the lounge

She nodded her head.

She realised I knew about her and Gerald, I was holding up a mirror, and I felt she didn't like what was reflecting back at her.

"We didn't use love, honour and obey, that's not relevant these days. We both used the words 'Love, honour and protect, in sickness or in health, for better or for worse, forsaking all others until death us do part'. She had a frown on her face; she was wondering where this was going. I continued, "things change, I get that and if we want to change those vows I can take them down and we can cross out the words you don't want."

I don't think she noticed I changed from 'we' to 'you.'

"However, if you're not going to remove forsaking all others, I will remove protect from my vows." I paused letting it sink in what I'd said. "Should I take it off the wall and cross out the words that no longer apply?"

I could see a look of confusion on her face. There were things going round in her head. She was taking too long to answer. She shook her head.

"That's good because if you had, I would have done it, it would break my heart and I would be off to print the divorce paperwork, arrange to sell the house and split everything 50/50 and we could go our own ways, because I meant till death do us part."

She was looking down, the silence was heavy. I waited for her to say something, but she didn't. When I thought I had waited long enough I said one word.

"Gerald?"

Her mouth hung open. "What do you mean, what are you on about? I'm not cheating on you with Gerald. We just talk, he's having problems at home." She looked up at me, her eyes wide open, it all came out in her rush.

There you go, she mentioned his name. That's it, blame it on the home life. The wife doesn't understand me, all that sort of guff.

"So, what's the reason for all the secrecy, the meals down the pub?"

"We wanted somewhere away from work," as she said that, a frown passed across her face. How did I know about the pub?

"Why the deception, leaving and returning separately?"

"Gerald wanted what we talked about kept secret, it's personal. We didn't want any gossip getting out, you know what happened to Joe. At the time I started having lunch with Gerald we didn't know what happened to Joe, but it is obvious from other things that happened that the girls on reception watch things and make up stories."

"Or because you didn't want it getting back to me that you were having an affair."

"I'M NOT." She shouted.

I think that was when she realised that I knew an awful lot more than I was letting on. How did I know about leaving separately and the meals?

"It certainly looks like it from where I am sitting." I said quietly.

"I'm not, really I'm not. We were just talking and we got friendly. That's all, he's having problems with his marriage."

I had to stop myself guffawing. That old ploy. This one was much better than Ralph, much more subtle, worked slower. He probably learned from his previous mistakes and that was why his wife didn't want to go to counselling. She had given up after all his other affairs. Maybe that was why they moved from Belfast, perhaps he had to. Git.

"You fell for that old trick? I thought you were much more intelligent than that."

"It's not a trick, I've met his wife Shannon, she's a mess."

"Okay, let's assume for a second I actually believe you. Why the kiss on the lips?"

Her face fell. "You saw that?" She carried on. "That was a mistake."

She didn't give me a reason I thought to myself.

Tears were pouring from her eyes. I passed on my handkerchief, I guessed this would happen, I came prepared, I even had a spare. "You want a drink?" I asked. She just nodded her head. I made a fresh pot of tea. It would give her time to compose herself with the threat of divorce hanging over her head. I don't think she'd lie, she didn't know how much I knew. Actually what I've told her so far was all that I knew.

I placed a tea mug in front of her. "OK tell me the story he spun you."

She pushed the plate of her half-eaten toast to one side, pulled the mug in front of her and wrapped her hands around it like she was trying to keep warm. She took a breath, lifted her head, looked me in the face and told me the story.

Gerald and Shannon had moved across from Northern Ireland, Belfast, about a year ago. She was expecting their first child, but after being here for two weeks she had a miscarriage. She was devastated. All of her family were still in Belfast, they came across to help. About five months later she got pregnant again and they were extremely careful this time. Gerald had to go back home when his father had an accident, he was an only child. Shannon was 26 weeks along by then.

Gerald left on Friday morning, Friday evening Shannon felt ill, she felt something was wrong with the baby, it wasn't moving as much. She couldn't contact Gerald so she phoned her sisters. They told her to wait until the morning but if things didn't improve by the morning to go to the Hospital.

She woke up in the morning feeling a little better, but the baby wasn't moving. When she managed to get in contact with Gerald he was having problems with his father. She didn't want to bother him. He promised to be back home Sunday night or first thing Monday morning after he'd arranged some help for his Dad. Gerald got in late Sunday, took one look at Shannon and took her straight to A&E. She told the doctors that the baby hadn't moved since Friday evening.

It was a still birth. Katie went on to explain that before 24 weeks is a miscarriage. Babies have been known to survive outside the womb after 24 weeks. After 24 weeks it's a stillbirth.

Katie went and got some more tea for both of us after she sat down and carried on the story. "Shannon went to pieces. She realised that if she had gone to A&E as soon as she felt something was wrong they could have taken the baby out and it may have survived. But because she waited, she felt guilty that she had killed her baby and then she carried a dead body around inside her for two days."

Tears were pouring down her face, we've never had children, they weren't in our plans, but I could understand Shannon's pain. And I believed Katie. This was far too convoluted not to be true. Granted I would still check with Google.

Katie carried on. "Gerald is trying to get her to go to grief counselling, but she won't, she still blames herself for not acting sooner. She's also all alone; she doesn't have any friends; all her sisters are still in Belfast.

"Sweetheart I've met her she is a mess, she needs help, but she won't accept it and it's affecting Gerald. He loves her and it's tearing him apart to see her like this, but she won't accept any help from anyone."

I just sat and digested everything she had said.

"Are we good?" She asked.

I thought about it. It was more than just Gerald. I looked at her, lifting my hand up and placed my thumb and forefinger about an eighth of an inch apart. "You're about this far from a divorce." Her mouth fell open again. "And if I find out there is one lie in what you've just told me that is where we're heading."

She wiped her tears away from the back of her hand.

"Let's look at it from my point of view, you may have your own." I said.

"Let's for now just say I accept your excuses for Gerald. I'm not sure I do, but I will just go with it for now."

She nodded her head but said nothing.

"You knew about Olivia's cheating, and you even covered for her. So as far as I'm concerned, you're condoning cheating. There's been a change of attitude in this house in the last four months, the change of clothes, the working longer hours, and sex, you blow hot and then cold. I never know if I'm going to get a kinky steamy sperm swallowing blowjob or a cold shoulder. Then there is the attitude, it's as if you don't want to be married to me anymore. Oh, it's not big, it's subtle things you may not even know you're doing, but after the chat with Joe the other week when he pointed out all the things he missed about Olivia's cheating I realised I had seen you do similar things but I missed them too. Add to that the fact that you covered her cheating and it is like you condoned it means that you will cheat as well and I'm not going to wait around."

I took a sip of my tea to let that sink in.

Then I continued. "In a nutshell for whatever reason you lied to me about Gerald, the meals, working late, add to that you didn't tell Joe his wife was cheating on him, so you condone cheating. What else am I to think? if you're not cheating with Gerald now, how long will it be before you do. You're practised at lying, you condone cheating. You may not have had an affair with Gerald, but there's lots of other men out there who would take up with a pretty MILF. You just have to bide your time."

Katie's mouth just hung open.

I leaned forward, placed a finger under her chin and closed her mouth. Quietly I asked. "Simon, who is Simon?"

Katie didn't hesitate. "He's an arrogant cocky, obnoxious prat who joined the company a couple of months ago and thinks he's God's gift to women. He came on to me a couple of months ago making inappropriate suggestions. I just kneed him in the bollocks and told him to stay away. It was quicker than talking to a HR about him, but I threatened I would if he continued to chase married women. He got very quiet around me."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I handled it and you would probably do more than knee him in the bollocks."

Maybe she was right on that point.

"People think you're having an affair with him because he goes quiet around you."

"No, he goes quiet around me because his bollocks hurt." She said quietly.

Then I was underhanded. "If it's not Gerald or Simon, who have you got lined up to have an affair with?"

She just sat there sobbing, shaking her head saying. "No, no I would never cheat on you please believe me not with Gerald, Simon, anyone."

"Why should I believe someone who's been lying to me?"

Looking across at Katie, the one I loved, part of me felt pity for her, part of me felt angry at her. Now that was all out, I didn't know what to do.

Fuck.

We couldn't just sit here, life had to go on, things needed doing, gutters still needed cleaning, food needed to be bought.

Shit.

I stood up. "I'm going to get the car washed." I was intending to wash it myself but decided to go to the local supermarket and get it done there, then go for a coffee and think. Supermarket cafe coffee was bad, but their tea was worse.

Sitting in the cafe I realised I needed more information, but where would I get it from. Then it struck me, Olivia! I could verify at least some of Katie's story.

I gave Joe a phone call and asked If he wanted a pint? It was a little early, but Wetherspoons was open. When we got to the pub I told him my dilemma, he was sympathetic, but said he had his own problems. I told him it wasn't his help I needed. I realised he had enough on his plate and I didn't want to make it any worse. I wanted to know where Olivia was? He told me she was at home because she had nowhere else to go, he added that he was sleeping on the sofa. More fool him, she was the one that cheated, she should be on the sofa. I told him that. He nodded his head. I guess Olivia was going to have uncomfortable nights now.

We walked to his place, he let himself in and I followed. I could hear their children in the back garden, I wanted to make this as quick as possible. Olivia looked a mess, she offered to make tea. Joe told her to sit down as I had some questions. He warned her not to lie to me, she was on bloody thin ice. He said he would do the tea. I asked if I could have coffee, I was up to my gunwales in tea.

"Olivia, I have a couple of questions, but my biggest problem is my wife covering for your affair, so to me that means she thinks cheating is okay. I need to know, I really need to know. Has Katie cheated on me?"

Her head shot up. "No, definitely not." There was no hesitation, that bode well.

"Was she tempted?"

She didn't answer quite so quickly this time but that could have been her marshalling her thoughts. "She might have been, I don't know, she never said she was."

"Were there any rumours around that she was?"

"We don't work in the same department, and you know how gossip is. It's like Chinese whispers," she wiped her eyes. "I think that's how the rumours got out about me and Ralph."

For her and Ralph, the rumours were true.

I noticed the door to the kitchen was open and Joe would hear everything that was said. Olivia carried on. "There was something about her and Simon, the new bloke but that seemed to get shut down quite quickly. Anyway, he's a knob and everybody could see right through him."

Joe bought the coffee in. "The problem I have is." I said, "Is that she covered for you, she hid your affair, in my mind she should have told Joe and tried to get you to stop it. So to me she thinks cheating is alright."

Olivia went on to tell me how she had got Katie to cover for her when she went shopping on a Saturday. She told Katie that she wanted something special for Joe and at the time Katie didn't know about Ralph. She admitted she got her to cover for her again.

Then one drunken evening she let on about Ralph, she needed to share. Katie was aghast and told her to stop and was going to tell Joe. But she went on about how much fun it was, but she promised she would stop. Olivia told me that Katie was going to tell Joe, until she pointed out that Katie had covered for her several times already even though she didn't know she had, and she wondered how that would look to Joe and to me.

She confirmed that Katie had given her a month's grace to get it out of her system. She was going to stop because it would be too risky to carry on and if she got caught Joe would divorce her. She looked up at Joe as she said that and another burst of tears came from her eyes.

Olivia admitted that if Katie told Joe about Ralph, she would tell me Katie had covered for her several times and knew about the affair. She felt bad about doing that, but she wanted that last month.

That did back up most of what Katie said. It didn't have to match exactly. It was close enough if it had been word for word, I would have been more worried.

I do wish Joe hadn't been there for this next question, "Katie told me you talked about some of the antics you got up to. It sounded like she enjoyed the discussion?"

She glanced across at Joe. "Yes, she did seem to enjoy talking about it, it was as if what I was doing with Ralph she would do with you. I thought she was using my experience to liven up your sex life."

I really don't know how I kept my cool.

"Did she tell you what we did in bed?"

"No, I asked but she said that was between you, her and the headboard. I didn't understand what she meant about headboard. I was hoping she would tell me some of her secrets so I could take them to Ralph."

I knew what she meant about the headboard and I calmed down a tad.

I thanked her and stood to leave. She reached for my hand, I let her take it. "Please give her a chance, she's made mistakes, but she hasn't cheated on you."

A thought crossed my mind. I hadn't asked a question. Looking down at her I said. "Gerald?"

There was confusion on her face. "Gerald. Do you mean that quiet chap from Ireland? He's very sad, he seems to be struggling. No, definitely not him." She seemed very sincere and she had no reason to lie.

"Please give her a chance. She hasn't fucked up her life like I have."

That was a matter of opinion. Joe followed me to the front door.

He said quietly as we went into the hall. "If I had done the things she asked, maybe she wouldn't have gone with Ralph, I blame myself."

I turned on him and said sharply. "Don't you fucking dare become the victim in this, she cheated. She made that decision not you, yes maybe you should, but she shouldn't have opened her legs, promotion or not. It's not your fault."

He took a pace back, shocked. "I suppose you're right."

"Too bloody right I am." His confidence was shattered. A job for the Musketeers. "Look mate, I've got my own problems to sort out, but I'm still here for you if you need a chat or anything else."

He nodded, he knew what I was talking about. "'Spoons' 12 tomorrow, tell Olivia you're going to be late."

He nodded, I did something I had never done in the 20 years I'd known him. I hugged him. Then I walked away.

I phoned Phil and Kev, told them the problem and they agreed to be in the pub at 12 on Sunday. As I walked to my car I thought about my problem and I had no solution. Perhaps I should get drunk tonight. The problem would still be here in the morning but at least I might get a night's sleep.

When I got home, Katie's car wasn't there. There was a note on the kitchen table. 'Gone shopping.'

I got the ladder out, put it up against the side of the house, grabbed a bucket and climbed up. I had been up there for about 15 minutes when I heard a car arrive. It sounded like Katie's. That was confirmed when she popped outside and said. "I'll make some tea. I've got something to talk about."

It was about 10 minutes later she came out with a tray with biscuits and tea. I would have preferred beer but that wouldn't be safe going up and down the ladder. I'd had one already.

"Okay you want to chat out here?"

"You're not coming indoors till you take those dirty clothes off." She was smiling as she said it. We sat on the garden wall with the tray between us. I saw there were dark chocolate hobnob biscuits. My absolute favourite. I took one and dunked it in my tea. I did it on purpose. I know she hates that.

Looking at me Katie said. "I can't fix this but perhaps I can make it better. What I did with Olivia and Joe was wrong. But Gerald is a different matter. I have a suggestion but please let me finish." I nodded, I had a mouthful of biscuit. I try not to talk with my mouth full. I manage it most of the time.

"This is going to sound like a strange suggestion. Shannon is always feeling down, I suggested to Gerald that he take her out somewhere quiet, discreet, nice and I suggested the Royal George. They are going there tonight at seven. So you can see the state of Shannon and there's nothing going on between me and Gerald, I would like us to go there tonight. Make it seem random, which will be difficult as Gerald has told me he was going there at my suggestion. And you will see nothing is going on." She took one of the biscuits, she didn't dunk it.

"As for your other complaints, they are well founded. I didn't lie to you, I just didn't tell you. Until today I hadn't looked at it from your point of view. But that's the same thing, and when you put two and two together, I lied to you and the way I treated Joe I can see where you're coming from."

She took a bite of her biscuit, swallowed it and continued. "I think that the looking off into the distance, I was probably worried about Gerald. Dressing up," she gave a little giggle. "That was actually just for me. I just fancied a change. Sorry it is as simple as that. The hot and cold sex well that was because I had the need and I realised I was cold to you at the times I was worried about Gerald, so I warmed it up. I felt guilty turning you down so often so I made up for it." She did the sip of the tea thing. "And after talking to Olivia, I wanted to try the bum thing. Shabby excuses I know, believe me sweetheart, they are the real reasons. But I say again that the way I treated Joe was absolutely wrong."

I thought about her suggestion. The Royal George was my favourite restaurant in town. The food was excellent and sometimes they had a quartet playing and that could be a little dancing. It would put a lot of things to bed. "Pass me your phone please." Without hesitation, she walked indoors and came back with her phone. "I know you have difficulty trusting me right now. There is nothing on there to see. You can go online and get a report of all my phone calls. If you look up Gerald's phone number you can check it online, I have not phoned him today."

I sat there pondering, letting the warmth of the autumn sun warm me. "OK let's give this a try, but I give you no promises."

She leapt up, came across to me and gave me a kiss. There was a smile on her face and this time it reached her eyes. "Right, I'll book it now." Looking at me, she said. "Please look at my phone my darling, you will find nothing because there is nothing to find. Oh and by the way, I haven't answered your question this morning about the kiss. He just looked so sad it was only a touch of the lips, not a proper kiss. But it was still wrong."

She took her phone back as I clambered back up the ladder with my bucket. I heard talking. She called up to me to tell me she had a table booked for half seven. "And make sure you take those dirty clothes off before you come into the kitchen."

I finished cleaning the gutters, getting rid of the leaves and put the ladder and bucket away. Standing on the back doorstep I took off my shirt, dropped my trousers and left them by the back door. I hate standing there in underpants and socks. So, the socks joined the trousers and shirt. As I went in, Katie was there, she walked up to me with a smile on her face. "Good boy for leaving all your dirty clothes outside. That deserves a reward."

I was confused until she sank to her knees, pulled my underpants down and took my cock into her mouth. She moved up and down for a few seconds, I was getting hard. She looked up at me, took her mouth off my cock and said. "Yes, this is an apology, a guilty blowjob, please just enjoy it."

She is very good at this. She gently pushed me back until my backside was resting on the kitchen table. It didn't take me long, I was glad I had the kitchen table to hang onto, my legs nearly gave way as I came. She looked up at me, smiled, opened her mouth, closed it and then swallowed. "Shower for you, I've got your suit ready."

I didn't know what to say. So I said nothing. I went upstairs to have a shower and shave. I know she hates me between her thighs with stubble. Just in case I get the chance to return the favour if things go well tonight, anyway it looks better.

Katie looked smart in a loose skirt and blouse, her make-up was nice, her hair shone. She did a twirl, I could see her stocking tops. She looked at me and said with a giggle in her voice. She looked bloody good. "I hope you're going to be a good boy this evening." I knew what she meant we had played this game before, but this one was different

We arrived at the Royal George early.

As we walked across the restaurant Katie said to the maître d'. "George, excuse me, that's our friends over there, we're just going for a chat, we can find our way to our table." He gave a slight nod and pointed to a table in the corner for us.

We headed towards Gerald and Shannon. Gerald's face was a picture. He could see us coming, he didn't know what to do. I saw Katie give a very slight shake of the head. We got to the table and Katie said "Hello Gerald, Frank's bought me out for dinner as a surprise." She looked at Shannon. "Hello Shannon, nice to meet you again, how are you?"

Gerald stood up and offered his hand, he still looked nervous. I took it firmly but not overly so.

I looked at Shannon and offered my hand. That was the first time I got to see her. She was an amazingly good-looking woman, the features, the cute nose, the cheek bone structure, the long blonde flowing hair. But the smile was forced.

Her handshake was soft, like week old lettuce leaves, her eyes were empty. She was a shell of a woman. A thought flashed through my mind no wonder Gerald was trying to get my wife into bed. Then I looked at Gerald and saw how he looked at his wife. The man was heartbroken. Katie looked at me with a question in her eyes. I didn't know what it was. She turned to Shannon and said. "Do you mind if we join you?" I could see fear flash across Gerald's face but nothing from Shannon. "Don't mind."

Katie slid in next to Shannon, she looked up at me and said. "Darling, would you be so kind as to ask George to set two more places please?"

If she had suggested that as we walked up to the table, I would have carried on walking. Then I worked out this was her plan all along. How could I make a judgement sitting on the other side of the restaurant? I can be a silly bugger at times. But one look at Shannon and Gerald I had to give her a chance.

Two extra places were quickly set at the table. It was a tad cosy. Whilst that was being done I could see Gerald was quite nervous. I saw Katie slip her hand onto Shannon's and give it a squeeze. She leaned in and said to her, "how are you feeling now?"

"Alright." Said Shannon, but without any enthusiasm. "Better, yes a little bit better I think." There was no conviction in her voice.

Katie launched into a conversation which I was having problems following about what she had done and asked what Shannon and Gerald had planned for the weekend. We two men sat there like a pair of lemons until Gerald suggested we get drinks. I think he wanted to get away from the table. When we got to the bar I apologised for interrupting their evening and their dinner. He looked at me and with a wane smile said. "No, don't worry about it, I was struggling." I thought it was time to come clean. "Katie has told me about your problems. I'm really sorry."

He gave a small smile. "Thank you," he gave a little sigh. "If I can't get this sorted out soon we're going to have to go back to Belfast. I think they've still got my old job there. It would mean a demotion and loss of money but at least Shan will have some family."

He didn't seem in a hurry to get back to the table. We were halfway back when he stopped and said to me. "Frank, I assume you know about the dinners?"

I just nodded.

Gerald continued. "You don't know me, but please trust me, I know what you might think but nothing is going on. I love Shannon with all my heart. I'm devastated to see her like this. Katie was helping by giving me suggestions on how I can get Shannon to see a grief counsellor. Unfortunately, none of her suggestions have worked." He gave me a small smile and carried on towards the table.

Either Gerald and my wife were either bloody good actors or what she had told me and what he had just said was true.

The women chatted, well, Katie did. Gerald and I talked about our work. He didn't work in the same department as Katie, so he had different things to talk about. I knew what she did at work. We became quite comfortable by the time dessert came round I had noticed that Shannon gave a little smile every now and again.

One of the reasons we like the Royal George on a Saturday was the quartet. We're not very good dancers, I'm bloody useless, actually we just shuffle around the floor. The table had been cleared, and I thought it might be time to give Gerald and Shannon some time together, so I suggested to Katie that we attempt to trip the light fantastic. She laughed at my joke and said yes let's go for a shuffle. I think Shannon gave a small smile at my poor attempt at humour.

We shuffled around together to the music and after a while Katie said to me. "What do you think?"

"I'm still pissed off about the lying, and you're not forgiven for that. But I can see they're having problems, so I understand why you had the dinners, just not why the lies."

"And I'm afraid I don't have a very good excuse either, the only poor reason I can come up with is that Gerald didn't want the still birth to get out at work and I got used to not talking about it. Sorry, shabby I know. All I can say is I was wrong. I won't do it again. I will earn your forgiveness if you let me."

"We'll see but for now let's see if we can entice Shannon and Gerald on the dance floor?"

We went and sat back down. The next semi lively one Katie turned to Shannon said, "Come on let's go and throw our bodies around a bit show these men what we can do."

Shannon shook her head, but Katie reached down and gently touched her hand. Shannon gave in and stood up and went to the dance floor. After a minute or two I said, " Gerald, shall we join the ladies." He shrugged his shoulders. I think he'd been giving up too. What had happened was wearing him down. I stood up and he followed me. We gently moved ourselves in front of the women and then fortunately a slow one came on. I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around Katie. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Gerald do the same thing to Shannon, she seemed reluctant at first. We did our usual shuffle and then I noticed towards the end Shannon's arms were around Gerald's neck and she was resting her head on his shoulder.

It wasn't late, but I suggested one for the road and headed towards the bar. Gerald followed me. I was standing at the bar and I said to Gerald. "I don't mind you having lunch with Katie, but I suggest you do it somewhere more public and no more kissing on the lips." I was glad he didn't have drinks in his hand, he staggered back.

"I'm sorry that was a mistake, I should never have done that. It was wrong as soon as we did it, but Shannon spent all night crying, I was feeling so bad." He put his hand out. I took it. "Thank you, you're right." He said.

"It's none of my business. I don't know much about your HR know about your problems, but I know my company is very sympathetic to situations like yours. Katie has told me everything that's happened."

Gerald gave a small smile. "I'll think about it but no more dinners in private and definitely no more kissing. I'm sorry." With that he picked his drinks up and walked back to the table.

We finished our drinks and headed home. Katie was driving. It was silent in the car. I was thinking. I was absolutely 100% certain there was nothing going on between Gerald and Katie after watching them and the way Gerald hovered around Shannon the man was in pain, as was she.

"What did you talk to Shannon about?" I asked Katie.

"Nothing in particular, just idle chatter about work, weather, clothes, shoes. She liked my black peep toe sandals. She's got a pair just like them," she gave a little giggle. "Hey, you know us girls and shoes."

"Was that your plan all the time, to sit and talk to them?"

"No. But when I saw Shannon, I felt so much pity for her. What have I got to lose? You didn't mind, did you?"

"I wouldn't have learned anything sitting on the far side of the restaurant, so no, not really."

"Do you believe me now, nothing is going on?"

I paused. "I'm still going to have to think about that."

I had no idea how many pairs of shoes she had. You could only wear one pair at a time. Then Katie said quietly. "I think we made a difference, I think Gerald is more comfortable and I even got a laugh out of Shannon." She glanced at me. "She even smiled at your joke about shuffling."

We got home and sat downstairs. I had a beer, she had a glass of wine, we just sat there pondering on the evening and the week. I heard Katie put her glass down, she stood up and said to me. "When you have finished your beer I will be waiting for you."

She knew I needed time to think. It was about 20 minutes and another beer when I followed her upstairs.

She was under the covers when I got him to the bedroom. I undressed and slid in beside her. I leaned over and kissed her on her forehead. She said, "Please sweetheart not tonight, but I promise you tomorrow corset, stockings, ropes and shoes, but tonight please just cuddle me."

With so much going round in my head I didn't mind.

Sunday evening was everything that I could want from a woman. I had problems walking Monday morning. I skipped the toast and just had tea for breakfast as my jaw was still aching from the attention I gave to her lady parts. And she would have to wear a long blouse to cover the marks on her wrists by the way she pulled at the ropes that tied her to the headboard. She told me she had problems coming down the stairs because her legs were so weak.

Sitting at the kitchen table Katie tilted her head to one side in that cute way I like and said. "I'm expecting a delivery today. You know your fantasy of a home invader." She took a sip of her tea. "I have a PVC catsuit on order to make your fantasy come true. I wanted a latex one, but they looked too expensive if it didn't work."

She paused and said. "It's my first step in making it up to you."

I might like that, there are lots of scenarios that could play out.

I got in from work Monday evening. Katie had cooked tea, it was her turn. She told me Gerald had thought about what I had said in the Royal George and he's been to HR and told them his problems, they're looking into it for him. He also suggested we restrict our lunch to Wednesdays and in the foyer so we can be seen.

Wednesday over tea at the kitchen table I asked her how lunch went. She told me that it was very interesting, a couple of ladies walked up to them and one of them said to them. "Out in the open now is it?"

Gerald just looked up at the woman that worked in his department and said. "Katie's helping me sort my mind out after my wife had a miscarriage and still birth." Katie told me one woman's hand shot to her mouth the others shot over her eyes and had there been a third person it would have probably been the three wise monkeys.

One of the women said. "Shit that's tough. I had a miscarriage years ago, yours is so much worse." Then Katie told me Gerald did something completely strange. He invited the women to sit down and talk about it, saying he wanted somebody else's point of view. They did, they were all late back from lunch, nobody said anything.

I was looking forward to a Friday in front of the fire and maybe another early night as the catsuit had turned up. Probably my turn to be tied to the headboard. It was Katie's turn to cook, she cheated, she bought a takeaway in. Before we ate she showed me her phone. There was a message from Gerald, 'Shannon enjoyed last week, can we go out again sometime?'

We talked about it and I had a suggestion. We ended up going to the Earl of Northampton, a country pub for Sunday lunch. It wasn't far from my work and I guess a few of my workmates might be there with their families. It was obvious Shannon had made more of an effort. I wanted to say something, but I was saved when Katie complimented her on how she was dressed. She looked a little better than last week. Maybe she was moving in the right direction.

I was a bit worried as there were children around. I thought it might have been a bad idea. We had just finished the main course when Charlotte turned up at our table, she is a project manager who I was working with. She knew Katie and said hello to us both, we introduced Gerald and Shannon as our friends. At the mention of the word friends Gerald's head spun round.

What saved the day was when Charlotte said to Shannon. "I do love your dress, it suits your hair, where did you get it from?"

I suggested to Gerald we went and got some more drinks. I offered Charlotte a drink. It's always good to stay on the side of your project managers. She accepted, bugger I wasn't expecting that.

Gerald said to me as we stood at the bar. "Are we friends, I thought we were just acquaintances?"

It's a bit difficult to introduce somebody that you're having dinner with as an acquaintance, but the truth was and I told him that as he was a friend of Katie's and she was trying to help him out with a problem, that's what friends do and any friend of Katie's was a friend of mine, as long as they don't cross the line. I don't think he needed that warning.

We took the drinks back and stood to one side whilst the girls chatted. Charlotte stood, thanked me for the drink and told me not to be late for the meeting tomorrow. My time keeping for meetings wasn't always the best and that was probably the main reason for her visit to our table. Never mind, that's tomorrow.

It had been a pleasant afternoon.

Again, Katie drove home. We were sitting at traffic lights when she said to me. "I have something to admit."

All the doubts came flooding back for a second or two. "Carry on." I said.

"I was a bit worried when I saw the children in the pub, I thought we'd cocked up. But I saw Charlotte in the toilet, and I asked her a favour, that's why she came over to talk to us. So don't you be late for her meeting tomorrow."

Phew!

We became quite friendly with Gerald and Shannon. Shannon started teaching Katie to knit, Gerald liked rugby, well he would coming from Ireland. I liked cricket. Neither of us particularly liked football. We both had an interest in old cars.

It was a month after that first meeting in the Royal George, a Wednesday, we were out of sync. I was cooking although it was Katie's turn, she came bouncing through the door, she came up to me and threw arms around my neck. "We did it!"

I was confused, what did we do?

Katie tilted her head slightly to one side, looked at my confused face and said. "Silly, Shannon's going to grief counselling. She had her first session on Monday; Gerald went with her. It was hard, but he thinks it's going to work."

Then Katie said something strange. "Right, just Joe and Olivia to sort out now."

I pushed her back, looked her in the face and said firmly. "No! They have to sort that out themselves. We will support them but it's their decision. Anyway, I have news on that front as well. They are going to marriage guidance counselling." I paused. I think Katie knew what was coming next.

She interrupted me. "I will never make that mistake again. I will be completely open about any cheating or even suspected cheating I see, that is a mistake I will not make again."

Happily, I returned to making cheese on beans on toast for tea, still pondering whether to put the cheese or the beans on the toast first.

Life returned to normal, the PVC was replaced by latex, it had the added advantage it needed shining, that was a fun job too. Especially when her hands were tied over her head and she couldn't stop me playing.

Epilogue.

It was a couple of weeks later and the Musketeers were in the pub. Kev asked Joe the question that we had all been skirting around. "How are you doing mate, what's your way forward, are you divorcing her?"

In an uncharacteristic way for Joe. No hesitation, he said. "No, I will miss the kids, and it might screw up their lives. But I've taken steps. I've made her sign a postnuptial agreement," he held his hand up to me, we had talked about that. He carried on. "They're not worth the shit if you can't enforce them and she knows that would take money she doesn't have. But she doesn't know that, and she will do anything, absolutely anything to stay married. I made her tell her parents what happened and they've said if she does it again, they will disown her. They have even volunteered to babysit the children if I get custody. And we're going to marriage guidance counselling."

"So," Phil said. "You didn't go with my chastity belt idea then?"

Kev looked at him and said. "Chastity belt, how bloody mediaeval..." Something flashed across his face. "Or how bloody kinky are you and the misses?"

Kev laughed, "I know we know each other well, but you will never know how kinky I am because I don't know how kinky you lot are, and I don't want to bloody know! It's your round Joe."

Joe had admitted to me quietly that he had extended his repertoire in the bedroom. He said no more than that, but he gave a slight smile when he said it.

Ralph found dents in every panel of his car and a large flint resting on the bonnet, and words scratched into the paintwork. 'a warning'. Perhaps he had enough to worry about with losing his job. After Olivia reported her affair to HR they looked into Ralph's expenses, and it turns out he was using the company credit card to pay for the rooms they were meeting in. They told her that they suspected that the sex may have had something to do with her promotion, but they had no proof. Neither Olivia nor Ralph admitted to that. Ralph was also having to deal with his divorce; it appears his wife heard about the affair when he got sacked. It turned out Ralph and his wife didn't have the open marriage he told Olivia about.

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For the naysayers out there who like to make up their own stories, that's fine. But it's my story and in my story, Katie was guilty of hiding Olivia's affair. She did not and was not going to have an affair, even emotional with Gerald or anyone else.

Daily she saw her vows on the wall and that reminded her of them.

She felt truly sorry for Gerald and Shannon. Miscarriages and stillbirths are an awful thing to happen to any family.

Katie was a faithful wife, unlike Olivia. I have struggled to come up with a suitable punishment for Olivia's cheating that didn't affect Joe and the children excessively so that is my usual reconciliation, however, should she cheat again she will lose everything, husband, children and parents.

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