Chapter 1: Betrayal!

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Terry, my new wife, was naked in our bed with her old roommate Nancy. I took the scene in with mounting anger because the two of them were sweaty and disheveled, with their hair wild and obvious surprise in their eyes.

“You’re early!” Terry gasped.

“No shit. I thought I would take you ... Never mind. God damn it, you married me five weeks ago, and you’re back to fucking around with Nancy? Tell me why!”

“Charley, it’s my fault...”

“SHUT UP, NANCY! I don’t want to hear from you. Terry?”

“I’m so sorry. I should have talked to you first. It’s just, well, I missed her, and she missed me.”

“Yeah? Well, now you’re going to miss ME,” I spat. I stepped toward the closet, grabbed a suitcase, and started loading it with clothes. Nancy started crying, and Terry started wailing.

“No! No! Charley, I’m so sorry; let me explain. PLEASE!”

I was shaking; I couldn’t remember ever being so angry. Nancy did the smart thing: she gathered her clothes of the carpet and scooted out of the room, keeping as far away from me as possible. I assume she dressed in the front room and drove off.

“Charley, I fucked up. I know I did. You didn’t deserve this. I love you. I’ve made a terrible mistake. I can’t imagine how angry you must be. Please, come sit on the bed with me, just for a minute. Talk to me. You should not be driving when you’re so upset.”

“What? Don’t I have a right to be upset? Are you nuts?”

“You have every right. I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Hurt? For fuck’s sake, Terry. Of course I’m hurt! I never imagined feeling pain like this! I promised you! Faithful until death, for fuck’s sake.”

My eyes spilled over, and I angrily wiped the tears away with my shirt sleeve. Which was stupid because my shirt was dirty from working on car engines all day. In the mirror over our dresser I could see my face had black marks, like I was coming out of a locker room.

“Terry, how could you do this?”

She could probably hear in my voice that I was coming down from that first white-hot burst of fury, slipping towards grief. Until now, I never imagined a man like myself could end up with a beauty like Terry. I should have known better.

“So quickly you’ve given up on us, Terry.”

“NO! That’s not true, not at all. I love you!”

“Already, you’re going to her for sex. I’m going to leave while I have a little self-respect left.”

I tried to get back on my feet, but Terry held on tight to my arm, making the motion awkward.

“No-no-no! You don’t understand! I love sex with you. I come and come with you; you know I do. There isn’t a man on the planet I would choose over you.”

“You’re not making any sense. Why was she in our bed if I was pleasing you? Can’t you just be honest? I was better off not knowing you’ve been faking it all this time.”

“I NEVER faked an orgasm with you, Charley. Never once. I’ve gone into the restroom at work and jilled off, just because I was remembering our previous night in your arms.”

“I want to believe you, but minutes ago I saw Nancy in your arms, all sweaty. Just ... Just let go of my arm so I can leave.”

“Stop, please. I know I’ve done a terrible thing, and I’ve hurt you. Give me five minutes. After that, if you say so, then *I* will leave. It’s your house, Charley; I’m not going to stay here by myself while you leave.”

“It was our home, Terry. You’re showing me the truth; you’re going to leave here to move back with Nancy.”

“NO! Nancy is homeless; she’s been staying on a friend’s couch. The place we shared is rented to other people now. When I moved here, Nancy couldn’t afford the rent and turned in the keys.”

“You don’t want to move back in with her? Then why...”

“This didn’t go the way I wanted. Charley, can I have the five minutes? I really want to explain. I’ll get you a beer; I need one myself.”

“Before we met, Charley, I lived with Nancy for, uh, eighteen months. We met at the community college; I was taking the vocational nursing courses, and she was taking basic science classes, so there was some overlap. We did some studying together and hit it off, and when I needed a place to live, I started sharing a little apartment with her.

“I know I’ve told you this before, but hear me out. What I didn’t tell you was the place was a small studio with only one bed, which we shared. I was on my own after living with my dad, and I hadn’t been social in high school. Nancy had a different background with lots of experience, and I couldn’t resist asking her all kinds of questions. She would tell me all kinds of stories about lovers (of both genders) and having sex. Also Nancy never seemed to wear clothes when she was at home with me, so neither did I.