Chapter 2: The Homecoming

I didn’t reach home until almost nine that evening. The plane trip took seven and a half hours. I lost three hours going west to east, and the taxi ride home from the airport was longer than usual due to the snow left by the storm.

Before I reached the door to our house, it opened. Our daughter, Connie, was waiting for me. She gave me a big hug, as did my son, Tom. They told me they missed me and were glad I was home.

“What was that for?” I asked.

“Mom called late this morning. She told me which plane you would be on and when you were expected to arrive. She said you had a bad time on the way home and would be down in spirits. She said we should give you a big hug for her and say how much we missed you.”

Connie then sat me down at a plate of lasagna she had spent her afternoon cooking. It wasn’t a school night. It was Friday, and I let them stay up until almost midnight, talking and telling me everything they had been doing while I was away. It all seemed so normal. How was I to tell them that this home we had was almost certainly about to disappear?

Would they want to stay with their mother and her new man, or would they stay with me? The house we were in had a big mortgage. Even with my recent windfall, I doubted I could keep it alone.

“Oh! Grandmom and Aunt Mary came by earlier. They said they were checking to see if we were all right,” Connie told me, but then she added, “They asked me if I had heard from you, and when I said that I hadn’t, they seemed relieved. I told them you wouldn’t be here until around eight or after.”

I was glad my in-laws were looking out for my kids, but I wondered how much they knew. I sent the kids to bed and tried to get some sleep myself. I was exhausted after being up all the previous night and getting only fitful sleep on the plane.

The following day, Saturday, I didn’t get up until almost 9:00 a.m. Connie had plans for the day. She wanted to go ice skating, so I took her and Tom to the rink in the park. Afterward, we had a late lunch and went to a movie. In the evening, Kate’s sister-in-law asked how I was doing and suggested she take the kids overnight. “I’ll keep them tomorrow and get them to school on Monday.”

“I assume you know more than you’re saying, Mary.”

“Richard, don’t rush to judgment. Give Cathrine a chance to explain. She expects to be home by six tomorrow.”

Connie had already packed their things for a stay with the aunt and uncle. I wondered how much our daughter knew about Kate’s activities while away.

The following day, Sunday, I called Ted Barker, a friend from law school who did matrimonial work, and set up an appointment for Tuesday. Then I spent my time writing my report on the Bismarck arbitration. Even though it was settled, a record of the proceedings needed to be made.

Just after 5:00 p.m., the front door opened, and a moment later, my wife appeared at the door of my home office.

“We need to talk.”

“Sit down then,” I said.

“No, I’ll meet you upstairs in the bedroom. We need to do this the usual way.”

“I’ll just finish this paragraph and come up.”

I found her on the bed in the lotus position. Reluctantly, I climbed onto the bed. With our knees touching, she took my hands in hers and said, “Okay, ask.”

“How long has the affair been going on?”

I thought I knew the answer to that question and was testing whether she would be honest with me. Her answer shocked me.

“I’m not having an affair. I was Donald Hastings’s escort for that occasion. He paid me seventy-five thousand dollars for Tuesday through this morning. I’m a professional escort. It’s how I make my living; how I pay for this house and Connie and Tom’s private school.”

I hadn’t expected this. It took me a minute to absorb it.

“Same question! How long has this been going on?”

She looked me straight in the eyes, saying, “A little over sixteen years. Since that time, we first sat like this, and I shot down your crazy MMA idea. I didn’t see that I had a choice. My mother was a high-end call girl. It was a short step to running the escort service for herself and others.”

“But the modeling!” I demanded.

“Some modeling does go on, but it’s a pittance. Men pay to pretend that we are their girlfriends or their fiancées. Still, I won’t lie to you: most want what is called the girlfriend experience, which involves sex. Don Hastings didn’t pay me seventy-five grand not to sleep with him.”

How could I not have known? My wife was a high-end prostitute, following in her mother’s footsteps. How did I miss it?

“Am I just the stupidest man alive?” I groused.

“Richard, you’re not stupid. I went to great lengths to insulate you from my business. I only have a few clients. I’m extremely exclusive. The clients pay more because I’m not available to everyone. This allowed me to keep all my jobs far out of town. Currently, I have only four customers. Don, you know. Then there’s a man in Atlanta, one in Miami, and another in Denver. I keep them far away from each other – and you.”

“How nice of you,” I snarked.

“Please don’t be like that. I only did what I thought was necessary to support and protect my family.”

“Why didn’t you stop when I started working after law school?”

She smiled, and I knew she thought she was getting to me. “To answer why I’m still taking escort assignments. Simple: you don’t make enough money to pay for this house, cover the private school tuition, save for Connie’s and Tom’s colleges, and provide us with a retirement. But I won’t lie. The second reason is that I like what I do, and believe I’m the best escort in the business.”

“So, you have no shame but hide what you do from me?”

“Because you would never have agreed to let me do it. You are far too protective to let me do this kind of work.”

“When did Connie find out?”

For the first time, her eyes couldn’t meet mine.

“Our daughter is a smart girl. She worked out that my mother was in the business, and it was a short distance to get to me.”

She paused and then turned directly to me. I could see tears starting in her eyes. “We had a long discussion when she discovered what I do. I think she came to understand. I was going to ask her not to tell you, but she surprised me by demanding that you never know. And you wouldn’t know, except that for no reason I can think of, you showed up in Las Vegas.”

“There was a snowstorm, and I was just trying to go the long way around to get home. But now that I know, what do we do?”

She leaned into me until our noses were touching and our gazes locked. It was the way these discussions always ended. Her next move was to kiss me, and then we would make love. Oh, how I wanted it to end that way! But I wasn’t going there this time.

I got off the bed and turned to leave, saying over my shoulder, “I have a report to finish, and I’m seeing a lawyer on Tuesday.”

I heard her gasp and murmur, “No!” She jumped from the bed and grabbed me about the waist from behind. I turned in her grip, intent on pushing her away, but we ended in an embrace, facing each other.

“You can’t just threaten divorce as you walk away,” she argued.

“What else is there for me to do?” I demanded.

“Talk to me,” she shot back. “Be the wonderful man I married and understand the choice I made because I love you.”

“You love me, but you betrayed me. Made a farce of our marriage. I won’t be your submissive cuck.”

“I’m not asking you to like my choices or agree with my position. I only request understanding and that you believe that I love you and always have. What I do and what I’ve done for this family has never hurt you or taken anything from you. I’ve done the opposite. I’ve cherished, supported, and given everything I had to give.”

“You lied to me. Made me a fool and a cuckold.”

“Cuckold is just a word and not one suited to our situation. What I do with other men is work. I didn’t tell you only to protect you. But you are right, I should have been honest with you. I’m sorry. Now come back to bed and let’s work this out,” she pleaded and tried to pull me toward the bed.