I was sitting at the kitchen table when my wife came home from grocery shopping. She saw the legal pad on the table in front of me and the pen in my hand and asked:

“What are you doing?”

“I decided to take you up on your challenge.”

“I don’t remember any challenges.”

“Remember last week when we were reading those stories on that internet site? I commented on how bad some of them where and said even I could do better than that. You said I couldn’t. You said I didn’t have a creative bone in my body.”

“I guess I did say that, but my comment was bases on what I know about your grades when we were in school. You always got B’s and Cs on your papers in classes that required written reports and you got a C on the paper you had to do for Business Research and Report Writing.”

“Well, I think I can do better.”

“Whatever. Come help me bring the groceries in.”

I helped her bring the bags in and helped put some of it away and that sat backdown at the table to write. As she was preparing dinner she asked:

“What’s it about?”

“I’m not telling. I’ll let you read it when I’m done and you can critique it before I post it to the site.”

I didn’t think it would be too hard. Yes, all the stuff I did in college didn’t get great grades, but then I didn’t expect them to. I only did what I had to do to get by in those classes. I didn’t want to be there in the first place, but I was more or less blackmailed into it by my parents.

Dad wouldn’t let me come to work in the family business unless I had a Bachelor’s in Business Management. I’d worked there after school and during the summers since I was thirteen and I wanted to work there when I got out of high school, but dad said no. “Not without the degree. That is a must for you to come to work here full time.”

So, I sucked it up and went. Got the degree and went to work in the family business.

I looked down at the pad, picked up my pen and started

My name is Josh Barnum. I am an aircraft mechanic for a major air carrier and I’m married to Melinda Barnum. Melinda (I call her Melly) is an office manager for an insurance company. Melly and I have been together for a little over eleven years, nine of them married. We met in our sophomore year in college and for me it was love at first sight. For Melly? Not so much.

It took me three months to get a date with her. We clicked. On our seventh date we made love for the first time. After that we were a steady couple and usually made love two or three times a week. At least until the summer between our sophomore and junior years.

I had a summer job working for my Uncle Bill who owned a landscaping company. I was working ten- and twelve-hour days Monday through Saturday. As a result, I could rarely date Melly during the week. After three weeks of only seeing me on Sundays Melly started dating other guys. When I bitched about it I was told to live with it or lose my Sundays.

It was a defining moment in our relationship. I’ve already said that when it came to Melly it was love at first sight so I gave in rather than lose her altogether. I didn’t realize it at the time what a mistake that was. It showed her that as far as I was concerned she could get away with a lot and I would let it go.

It was three weeks later on a Friday and I had only put in six hours before calling it a day because of heavy thunderstorms. I called Melly to see if she would go out with me that night and she told me she already had a date. I hung up on her without saying another word.

I called around to see if anything was happening and found out there was a party at Mike Mattson’s place. I called and found out I was welcome so I decided to go. Bad move on my part. I walked in just in time to see Melly embrace and then kiss Dick Moore. Then they moved out onto the make-shift dance floor where Melly molded herself to Mattson as they slowly danced to the song. Mattson had both hands on her ass and was pulling her tight against him. Melly had her arms around his neck and pulled his face down and gave him a hot lingering kiss.

When the song ended they seemed reluctant to pull away from each other, but when they finally did Melly saw me. She said something to Dick and then headed my way. I turned, walked away from her and left the party. She might have had my number as far as stringing me along went, but I’d be damned if I was going to stick around while she made out with someone else.

The weather wasn’t bad on Saturday so I ended up putting in a twelve-hour day. I had learned not to waste my time calling Melly on Saturday evening to set up a date for Sunday because she would be out dating someone. Normally I’d call her on Sunday around ten and arrange to do something that afternoon and evening.

But that Sunday morning I didn’t call. One thing to know she was dating when I wasn’t available, gut it was something else all- together to know she was making out with her dates. If the heat I’d noticed between her and her date was any indication they were probably fucking too.

That planted a bad thought in my mind. According to what Melly told me she didn’t date any one guy for more than four dates the question I was asking myself, after seeing what I saw at Mattson’s, was Melly fucking all of them?

If she was I could be in trouble as we usually made love on our Sunday dates and I’d heard, and believed, when you were having sex with someone you were having sex with everyone that person had sex with. I thought maybe getting tested for STD’s might be a good idea.

Thinking that since Melly didn’t hear from me on Sunday morning she might call me I got the hell out of the house and stayed gone all day. When I came home in time for dinner my mom told me that Melly had called twice and wanted me to call her when I got home.

I waited until I finished eating dinner to call her. She went right at it.

“Why didn’t you call me this morning?”

“I just figured, given the way you were making out with that guy last night, that I’d been replaced.”

“We’ve already had this talk Josh. I’m not staying home on prime date nights just because you can’t make it.”

“I know and I accepted it when I thought they were just platonic dates, but what I saw last night was way, way beyond platonic. I thought we had something special Mellissa, but I’m not so sure anymore.”

“Don’t be talking like that Josh. We do have something special. We need to talk baby. I don’t care how late you work tomorrow, but when you get off come see me. Will you do that?”

“I guess I can.”

“Promise me?”

“Okay; I’ll be there when I get off.”

Monday was a twelve-hour day so I didn’t get to Melly’s place until a little after eight. Her mom answered the door and told me Melly was out on the patio waiting for me.

Melly was talking on her phone with her back to the door when I stepped outside and what I overheard before she closed her phone did not bode well for our relationship. What I heard was:

“I loved what we did Friday. Can’t wait to see you Tuesday. Got to go. He’ll be here soon. Bye.”

I stepped back into the house and then made a lot of noise sliding the patio door and she turned and saw me coming out of the house. I didn’t give any indication that I’d overheard anything, just walked over to the table and sat down. I just looked at her and waited. She finally figured out that I wasn’t going to start the conversation so she said:

“What’s wrong Josh? You agreed to my dating when you couldn’t get the time off.”

“That is when I thought those dates were things like going to the movie’s and maybe a milkshake at Harry’s after. Or maybe a party like Mattson’s where you would dance and socialize with our friends. Simple stuff. Behaving like you were still my girl. Not like what I saw at Mattson’s.

“The way you swapped spit with that guy and let him run his hands all over your body without you even trying to stop him pretty much told me that if he wasn’t already fucking you he soon would be. Not exactly the way I was expecting my girl to behave in front of my friends.”

“That’s a rotten thing to say to me!”

“If the shoe fits.”

“Maybe you had better just leave!”

“That would probably be best. After what I saw and not knowing whether or not that’s the way you are with all your dates I’m thinking it might be a good idea to get myself tested.”

I got up and left her there with a shocked expression on her face. I made it all the way to my car before she caught up with me.

“You don’t really think that of me; do you?”

“What I saw Friday night was pretty raw Melly. I don’t want to take any chances.”

I got in the car and drove off with her standing there watching me go.

I did get tested and I came out clean, but I never called Melly and let her know. We avoided each other for a little over a week and then on a Thursday while I was eating lunch in the student cafeteria Melly came up to my table sat down and said: