Chapter 3: Janice’s Story (continued)

The Aftermath

I wasn’t expecting to spend the night with Todd, but I didn’t regret it. The sex Todd and I had was amazing. There was no way I could have had any more. I was hoping to make love to Roy to make up for going out with Todd, but I couldn’t do that now. I was a little sore, and totally satisfied. Roy was great in bed, but he had nothing on Todd. I knew I could be a good wife for Roy now. I just needed this experience. I knew it was a one-time thing, and I knew it was now over and that I would be totally faithful to my husband forever more. I had been faithful to him for over twenty-four years. They were happy years too. Our sex life had been going downhill, but I figured that I could get it back now. The past two weeks I had greatly enjoyed Roy’s attentive loving.

Before long, I reached our house and pulled into the driveway. I climbed out of the car and walked gingerly to the front door. It was still early, and I hoped that Roy wasn’t up, as I really didn’t want to face him just yet. I walked into the house and noticed that it felt different. It felt ... empty. I brushed aside that feeling, and went to the kitchen to start some coffee. While waiting for the coffee, I noticed a glint of gold on the kitchen table. When I looked more closely, I saw that it was my husband’s wedding ring. My husband hadn’t taken the ring off since I put it on his finger twenty-four years ago. My heart started racing and I couldn’t breathe.

Suddenly, the realization of the insanity of what I had done the night before flooded my feeble brain. The euphoric sex-spell was broken, and I was faced with harsh reality. ‘I just cheated on my husband. I just committed adultery. I am a whore, a slut who has cheated on her husband. This wasn’t a toy. It was another man. I had an affair. WHAT IN GOD’S NAME WAS I THINKING?’

I ran upstairs and saw Roy’s dresser drawers half open and obviously empty. One look in the closet showed that his clothes were gone.

Tears began to stream down my face.

I grabbed my phone and called Kathy. She answered on the second ring.

“I hear you had a great time last night,” she started.

I wondered how she’d heard that.

“Kathy. Roy left me. He took all his clothes and left me. What am I going to do?”

“Divorce him,” she said gently.

“I don’t want to divorce him. I just wanted to play one night. That’s all. I fucked up.”

“Yes, you did girl. You should maybe have asked him first. Or even lied to him. But now it’s over isn’t it?”

“Kathy, we’re best friends, why aren’t you being more supportive?”

“I was your best friend Janice. You were never mine.”

“I helped you through your divorce. You cried on my shoulder...”

“Yea, I dumped that loser for one reason: to win your trust. Now that I have, and you did what you did, I’m going to become someone else’s best friend.”