Chapter 2

Wednesday April 16, 2003

6:30 AM

Tom and Lisa moved about the house getting ready for work Wednesday morning without speaking to each other. This was the first morning since they had married that they didn't speak and they both felt the loss. It made Lisa especially sad because Tom was not only her husband but he was also her best friend. Now when she needed a friend more than any other time in her life she couldn't turn to Tom.

For his part Tom was dealing with similar feelings and he was also dealing with anger. For the first time since he had met Lisa he was truly angry with her. He had told her to trust him but she refused.

Although Tom and Lisa worked for the same company they didn't ride to work together. Tom was in the habit of going into the office earlier and coming home later that Lisa so they each drove themselves to work. This morning was no exception and Tom left for the office a full half hour before Lisa.

When Tom got to his office that morning, he closed his door and sat in the dark and tried to figure out what was happening. Who had called Lisa and what pictures could he possibly have? If someone was taking picture of him, how could he not have noticed?

For her part Lisa buried herself in work and avoided conversation with her friends around the office. Having as little information as she had, Lisa wasn't ready to discuss the problem with anyone else.

At home that evening Lisa tried to talk to Tom about the lie he told her but he got angry and rather than argue with her he went out to a local bar for a drink. When he got home Lisa was in the bedroom with the door closed.

Thursday April 17, 2003

1:15 PM.

Lisa had eaten lunch by herself in her office and had just tossed her lunch bag in the trash when her computer beeped signifying that she had received an e-mail. There were six new notes in her reader. Five were work related and from people that she knew but the last note was from a hotmail address that Lisa didn't recognize. Notes from unknown addresses always made Lisa uneasy as she had already had her computer infected with a virus once before and didn't want to have to go through that again but this note worried her even more. The subject line read, "Important Information for Lisa Boyer."

Lisa felt herself breaking into a cold sweat. Could this note contain the pictures the caller had said he would send her, the proof that Tom had cheated on her? Lisa closed and locked her office door before she opened the mail.

The e-mail contained the following note:

"Mrs. Boyer, I know that you didn't want to believe this and I am truly sorry to be the one to bring you this bad news. The link on this note will take you to a web page where you will find the pictures I told you about. The woman in the pictures is my wife. I had suspected her of having an affair for several months so I hired a private investigator to find out. His investigation has been ongoing for five weeks. Although the evidence he has gathered is damning, he has so far not been able to catch her in the act. The pictures I m sending you are from Las Vegas and while they are not explicit, I think they will convince you as they did me that your husband has been having an affair with my wife. Again, I am sorry but I thought you should know."

The note was unsigned.

Lisa felt her skin crawl as she read the note. She thought, "Please, this can't be true. Tom would never do that. Not to me. Not to us."

Lisa's stomach was churning as she clicked on the link. The web page opened with a large picture of a very pretty blond in a red dress. There was a caption next to the picture that read, "This is my wife." Under the picture were two links titled 'Picture Set 1' and 'Picture Set 2.'

Lisa clicked on Picture Set 1. The page opened with several small pictures of Tom and the blond woman. There were a couple of pictures of them in a bar, two of them in front of the Treasure Island hotel, a couple that looked like they were together in the convention center during the conference. While these pictures were upsetting they didn't necessarily mean that Tom was having an affair with this woman.

Lisa then clicked on Picture Set 2. These pictures tore Lisa's heart out. The first picture showed Tom entering a hotel room and the blond was right behind him. This picture was captioned, "Caught going into Boyer's hotel room."

Tears were pouring from Lisa's eyes as she looked at seven different pictures that showed Tom and the blond either going into the room or coming out of the room. The last picture was the worst of all. It showed Tom was stepping into the hall with an ice bucket while through the open door the blond was visible standing in front of the mirror completely naked.

At that point Lisa broke down and cried. What would she do? Tom was the only man she had ever really loved and he had betrayed her. A part of her still refused to believe it. There had to be some other explanation but what could explain that last picture. Lisa hoped that Tom could explain everything. She had to talk to him before she could make any decisions.

Lisa did a print page for the two sets of pictures and the large picture of the blond. The prints weren't as clear as the images had been on her computer but you could still identify Tom and the blond in all of them.

5:05 PM

After seeing the pictures Lisa decided that she needed to talk to someone before going home to confront Tom, so she called Shandra and asked her to meet her after work at O'Neil's.

5:20 PM

Lisa walked into O'Neil's and found Shandra already sitting in a booth near the windows. When Lisa slid into the booth, Shandra said, "Okay girl, what's going on? Why are we here?"

"Let me get a drink first," Lisa said.

Shandra waived at the waitress and she came over and took Lisa's order. The two women sat quietly until the waitress returned with Lisa's drink. As the waitress walked away Lisa took a big swallow of her drink.

"Tom cheated on me." Lisa just blurted it out.

I can't believe it. Tom wouldn't do that," Shandra said.

"Believe it. I have proof," Lisa said

"You do?"

"Yes. I have pictures," Lisa said and then reached into her handbag for the printouts she had made. Without another word she dropped them on the table in front of Shandra. Shandra picked them up and examined each one carefully.

"Oh, my God. What are you going to do?" Shandra asked.

"I don't know yet. I am still in shock," Lisa said.

"Holy shit. How could he be that dumb? I am sorry Lisa but your husband must be a complete asshole."

Lisa said, "I think you're right."

Lisa went on to tell Shandra about the phone call and how she had told Tom about it. She also told her that she knew Tom was lying when he told her he spent his evenings in his room reading and now these pictures proved that he was lying.

Just then, Lisa saw Brad walk into the bar. She quickly put the pictures back in her handbag. "If Brad comes over to the table, don't say anything about the pictures," Lisa said.

"I won't say a word."

Brad sat at the bar and ordered a beer. He was watching the sports news on the television when the bartender returned with his beer. Brad sat sipping his beer until the sports segment of the news ended and then he looked around the bar and spotted Lisa and Shandra. Brad picked up his beer and walked over to their booth.

"Mind if I sit with you two gorgeous girls? I hate drinking alone, even though it's better than not drinking at all."

Shandra laughed but Lisa didn't show any reaction at all.

"Lisa, are you feeling any better today?" Brad asked.

"What? Oh... yes."

"You don't look like you're feeling better. You want to tell me what's going on?" Brad said.

"Tom cheated on her," Shandra said.

"Yeah, right. Tom cheat? Never happened," Brad said.

"It's true," Lisa said.

"No. He wouldn't do that. He is crazy about you. He would never cheat on you," Brad said.

"Don't be so sure," Lisa said as tears started to pour from her eyes again.

"If he did, I'll kick his ass for him... What am I saying? I am sure he didn't do anything. I just can't believe he would be that stupid," Brad said.

"Lisa, you need to teach him a lesson," Shandra said. "Show him how much it hurts. You know what I think you should do?"

7:00 PM

Tom was pacing around the house wondering why Lisa was so late. It wasn't like Lisa to not call if she was going to be late. She's upset, Tom thought, but she still should have called. Tom poured himself a drink and then picked up the phone and dialed Lisa's cell phone. The phone rang several times and then her voice mail answered.

Was something wrong or was Lisa just not answering his call?

7:05 PM

Lisa's cell phone rang and when she pulled the phone from her handbag she saw that it was Tom calling her. She put the phone back in her handbag.

"I think I better head home now before he comes looking for me," Lisa said.

On the way to the door Shandra said, "Think about what I said, you need to show him how it feels."

Lisa tried to smile at her. "I'll talk to you tomorrow," Lisa said.

7:30 PM

When Lisa walked into the house Tom was sitting at the kitchen counter with a drink in his hand.

"Where were you?" Tom asked. "You had me worried when you didn't call and then you didn't answer your phone when I called."

"You had nothing to worry about. I wasn't having an affair. At least not yet," Lisa said.

"Don't even joke around about that. I didn't have an affair in Las Vegas so just knock it off," Tom said.

"Damn it, Tom, I saw the pictures. When are you going to start telling the truth?" Lisa said.

Lisa's refusal to believe him made Tom angry again.

"At this point I don't care if you believe me or not. Just don't do anything stupid. Don't do anything you can't take back," Tom said and went up to the guest room and closed the door.

Friday April 18, 2003

11:00 AM

Lisa was at her desk trying to keep busy when Brad stepped into her office.

"How are you doing?" Brad asked.

"I'm trying to stay busy," Lisa said.

"Do you really think Tom cheated on you?" Brad asked.

Lisa reached into her handbag and pulled out the picture of the blond and set it on the desk in front of Brad. His expression never changed as he looked at the picture.

"Have you ever seen her before?" Lisa asked.

Brad said, "No, I don't believe so."

"Are you absolutely sure? "

Brad picked the picture up and studied it again and said, "No, I can't say that I have ever seen her."

"What did you guys do in Vegas at night after the conference was over?" Lisa asked

"Some of us went gambling each night," Brad answered.

"Did Tom go out to gamble with you?" Lisa said.

"Not this trip."

"Where did he go?"

"He told me that he spent the evenings in his room reading," Brad said.

"He stayed in his room to read?" Lisa said.

"Yes," Brad said. "Why?... Oh shit. You don't think Tom was messing around with that blond in Vegas?"

"Yes, I do."

"What did Tom say?"

"He denies everything," Lisa said.

"Maybe he's telling you the truth," Brad said.

Lisa put the rest of the pictures on the desk.

"Do you still think he was telling me the truth?" Lisa asked.

Brad studied the pictures and then shook his head in disbelief.

"Would it help if I talked to Tom? Maybe I could get him to tell me what happened in Vegas," Brad offered.

"No, I'd rather you didn't. He needs to come to me on his own and tell me the truth," Lisa said. "If he can't do that, there is no chance for us."

"Lisa, you know how I feel about both of you. I would hate to see the two of you break up so if there is anything I can do to help you let me know," Brad said. "If you need to talk to someone you can call me anytime."

"Thanks, Brad. I appreciate that."

6:30 PM

Tom and Lisa had dinner together but, when Lisa asked Tom if he was ready to tell her what really happened in Vegas, Tom got up, took a beer from the refrigerator and went up to his room.

Saturday and Sunday April 19th and 20th

Tom and Lisa spent the weekend avoiding each other around the house. Tom began to realize that it was going to be up to him to try and fix things. He would have to somehow convince Lisa that he didn't have an affair. The pictures that Lisa said she had would make it very difficult but he was going to have to find a way. Tom hadn't seen the pictures yet. Lisa hadn't offered to show them to him and he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of asking to see them. Tom knew that he was going to have to find out who sent the pictures to Lisa and why.

Monday April 21, 2003

12:15 PM

Tom waited until he knew that Lisa had gone to lunch then he snuck into her office and opened her e-mail files and found the note she received on the 18th. Knowing that he didn't have much time he forwarded the note to his own e-mail account. Tom then erased the note he had just sent to himself from Lisa's outgoing mail folder and left her office.

1:30 PM

After having lunch with Zack, Tom went back to his office and opened the e-mail and read the note. As Tom read the note he could feel the tension building. It felt as though his spine was twisting like a rope.

Tom tried to remember if he saw anyone taking pictures but he couldn't. How could somebody have taken pictures of him without him noticing? Then Tom clicked on the web link and looked at the pictures. He was shocked at what he saw. Who had taken the pictures? How could he counteract the note and those pictures? Maybe if he hadn't already lied to Lisa he could find a way out of this but she would never believe anything he had to say now.

2:25 PM

Bill Werner was sitting at his desk watching his new HP printer as it created the document he had been working on when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"It's me," the voice on the phone said. "You did good in Vegas?"

"Thanks, I had a good time too." Werner said.

"Did you hear from your friend?"

"Yes. She is at the hotel waiting for me." Werner said.

"Have a good time but make sure you get the job done first."

"No problem, I have it covered," Werner said.

Before Werner could say anything else the phone went dead.

"Jesus, what an asshole," he said to himself. "Well, at least I'll get another piece of Brandi."

5:00 PM

Lisa called Tom just before he left for home and told him she was having dinner with Shandra. Tom wasn't happy that Lisa wasn't coming home but at least he would have some time alone to think about what he needed to do to fix things. He knew it was going to be very difficult to overcome those pictures. Tom now regretted that he hadn't told Lisa the truth right from the beginning. He was sure she knew he was lying when he said that he spent his nights in his hotel room reading. No one would have believed that lie. He wondered again why he had said anything that stupid. It made it so that it would be nearly impossible to get Lisa to believe anything he had to say.

6:15 PM

Shandra and Lisa were sitting in Shandra's kitchen eating Chinese take out.

"Have you thought about what I suggested you do?" Shandra asked.

"I am so pissed at Tom now that I am beginning to think seriously about doing it," Lisa said.

"It will certainly get his attention." Shandra said.

6:30 PM

Tom stopped at a local Applebee's restaurant to have a beer and some dinner before returning home. Tom's mood was a bit sour and he didn't enjoy his meal that evening. On his way out of the restaurant he bumped into Bill Werner.

"Hey, Tom, how you doing?" Werner asked.

"Good, Bill, what brings you out to this end of town?" Tom said trying to act more cheerful than he felt.

"Got a dinner date and she wanted to meet here," He said. "It's a little out of my way but she's worth it."

Tom noted the book in Bill's hand. "You always bring a book when you go on a date?" He said.

Bill Werner held the book out and said, "No. This is a gift for my girlfriend. It's a book she has been wanting to read."

Tom thought it was odd the way Bill was holding the book out in front of him. Did he want Tom to see the title? Well, he was not interested. Tom wasn't in the mood for talking so he said good night to Werner and went to his car. As he backed out of his parking spot and headed out to the road Tom saw Werner still standing in front of Applebee's but now he wasn't alone. There was a blond woman with him. Tom couldn't see her face but she looked like she had a pretty good body. It looked like Bill was holding the book in front of him as he talked to her. Tom wondered, if the book was for her, why didn't she take it from Bill?"