Chapter 1

When my wife and her lover stepped out of that hotel elevator, they had no idea what was in store for them.

Lisa’s behavior slowly became ‘different’ starting about nine months earlier. I almost didn’t notice, but then I did. She said she was stressed at work. We’d been married for sixteen years and together for three years before that, so I just rolled with it at the time. I thought her attitude would change yet again as it had in the past. She’d had an occasional ‘mood’, but this one seemed to last more than the few days of her prior out-of-normal behavior.

She got some new job responsibilities and started to work later than usual a day or two a week, when she’d make it home for a late dinner, or on Saturday morning when she’d work at our dining room table finishing up one week and preparing for the next. Weeknights, I’d typically feed our two teenagers, although they were old enough to forage for food in our kitchen, provided we had the ‘right’ groceries.

Lisa had a job as an inside sales rep for UltraPharm, a specialized pharmaceuticals company. She had a wide range of duties, everything from remote client contacts using phone, video, text, and emails, to account management and lead generation for the field reps. She made input to the company’s website, but was not a technology geek.

Our dinner conversations were often about the latest drug, contraindications, dosages, benefits, side effects, and compliance with FDA regulations and labeling protocols. She was an expert.

Lisa would occasionally travel, meeting up with one of the many field reps in our region to visit key doctors or hospitals, helping to make the pitch for what UltraPharm was pushing. She was making good money, as I was, so we were living the good life, albeit a busy one. She was a sharp dresser, and so attractive that I often saw other men checking her out.

Recently, she’d been having more overnights away than earlier in her job. She explained that her marketing trips took her just far enough away that she couldn’t comfortably get home and then back to her job the next day. I shrugged at that point.

Lisa and I had reclaimed more of our social life as our children – Brett and Brenda – moved into their early teenage years. I’d been steadily involved myself in their activities since they were toddlers, and on weekends often played chauffeur to their friend’s homes, athletic games, or other school-related activities.

One Saturday, I arrived home from a cancelled game that Brett was to have played, and found Lisa on her phone. That wasn’t a surprise, but her reaction to our sudden arrival back home surprised me. She quickly ended the call and looked guilty, as though I’d caught her with her hand in the cookie jar. I almost teased her about it, but caught myself. Instead, I asked, “Everything okay?”

She brushed off her reaction and hastily reminded me of our plans later that day – too quickly, I thought. “Yeah, fine, and John, don’t forget we’re going to Mitch and Ellie’s party at five p.m.” Her use of my first name seemed unusual.