I looked out the window at the freshly fallen snow. Up and down the street the houses were all decorated for the season. Santa's and reindeer on the roofs, Nativity scenes in front yards, outside trees strung with lights and inside trees shining through windows. Holiday spirit was everywhere, everywhere but in my house. I turned from the window and took in the scene. The tree lying on the floor, shards of glass from broken light bulbs and shattered Christmas ornaments. I suppose I should have seen it coming; Candy always did have a temper and she hadn't liked her Christmas present. She hadn't liked it at all. But what is it they always say? It isn't the gift, but the thought that counts? I took one last look at the mess and decided that cleanup could wait until the morning and then I went up to bed.

Candy and I had been married for five relatively trouble free years. I was her second and she was my third. We both had jobs in middle management and the two paychecks, along with no kids, meant that we were able to maintain a pretty good life style. Candy and I were party people and come the weekend you could almost bet that we would be at a party, throwing a party, or out on the town drinking and dancing.

Candy was a beautiful and sexy woman and she attracted tons of male attention in staid circumstances and dressed conservatively. At parties where the liquor was flowing, the music is loud and the inhibitions lowered and she was dressed to kill the attention she was paid bordered on the outrageous. She was constantly hit on and men spend considerable time trying to separate Candy from the herd and get her to a place where some privacy would give them a chance to try their luck. Candy would fend them off good naturedly, but that never stopped them from coming back and trying again.

And me? As with most men who have the great good fortune to have as desirable woman I had to learn to live with it. This is not a hard thing to do when you have absolute trust in your partner. I'd sit back secure in the knowledge that Candy was mine and that regardless how persistent the men were she would shrug them off.

Candy had a best friend. Marlene and Candy had known each other since grade school and were closer than most sisters. I didn't know Marlene all that well, but I didn't like her. There was just something about her that did not sit right with me. When I met Candy and we started dating Marlene always seemed to be around and I know it sounds silly when I say it, but whenever Marlene was around I felt 'bad vibes'.

Fortunately, for my piece of mind, Marlene got married about six months before Candy and I did and Marlene's husband took a job in another state and they moved. Marlene and Frank were married in a civil ceremony and of course Candy just had to be there and I got drug along. I remember looking at Frank and wondering just what a together guy like him could possibly see in Marlene. Even though I barely knew either one of them I would have given odds of twenty to one against their union lasting.

Frank and Marlene flew back to be there when Marlene and I married and I could not help but notice how haggard Frank looked and I wondered if it was caused by his new job or his new wife.

Marlene might have been out of state, but that didn't mean she was out of Candy's life. The two of them talked on the phone two or three times a week and some of their weekend calls lasted for over two hours. One Sunday, after one of those two-hour calls, Candy asked me if I would mind if she took a couple of days and went to visit Marlene.

"I have some comp time coming and things are not going well between her and Frank. She needs some cheering up."

"Do you really think it wise to go down there and inject yourself into the middle of their problems? You just might make matters worse."

"She is my oldest and dearest friend honey, but I'm not blind to her faults. She can be a little hard to live with and maybe my being there will take some of the pressure off Frank."

I didn't think her going was a good idea, but I was smart enough to know that my trying to talk Candy out of it would only put a strain on our marriage so I just said:

"You know her better than I do sweetie and if you think visiting will help go ahead."

Candy was gone for five days and when she came back she seemed troubled about something. I assumed that her visit had not gone as she had expected, but I didn't pry and after a couple of days had gone by she was back to her old self.

Six months went by and then Candy again asked if I would mind if she went to visit Marlene. I didn't want her to, but I didn't have a good reason for saying no and I knew I couldn't get away with just saying, "I'd really rather you didn't." All that would accomplish is having Candy ask me why and, "Because I don't like her" would not have been an acceptable answer. Candy was gone four days and when she came back she was a little out of sorts just as she had been after her first visit. But as with the last time after a couple of days she was fine.

Over the next year Candy would take a three day weekend once every three or four months and go visit Marlene and she always came back just a hair out of whack, but after a couple of days whatever funk she was in would go away.

Then one day Candy came to me and said:

Baby, can I ask you for a huge favor?"

"I don't know why not. I never say no to you, do I?"

"You just might this time."

"Why would I do that?"

"I'm not blind baby. You've never said a word to me about it, but I know that you don't care for Marlene."

"I thought I hid that rather well."

"Maybe from others, but I know you too well."

"I take it that this huge favor has something to do with Marlene?"

"She and Frank have split up and she's moving back up here. Can she stay in the spare bedroom until she can find a job and a place of her own?"

I didn't want to say no — I wanted to scream "Hell no!" but all that would have done is make things uncomfortable between Candy and me. To keep the piece I had no choice but to say okay. A week later Marlene moved in and she hadn't been there a week and things started to change. Nothing major at first, just Candy and Marlene spending a lot of time together in the kitchen laughing and talking, which in itself was nothing, but it always seemed to taper off or stop when I came into the room.

Next, Marlene and Candy started going out one night a week for a 'girls night out.' Next it was the two of them taking off every Saturday and Sunday to look for an apartment that they never seemed to find. The one thing that it took me weeks to notice was that when returning from the night out or the apartment hunt Candy would be just a bit distant from me, just as she had been when she returned from her visits to Marlene. It never more than a day, but it was there and I noticed it.

I was at work one day when my secretary told me that there was a Frank McBride on line three for me. Frank was Marlene's husband or rather her ex-husband so I took the call. After a quick change of pleasantries he cut right to the chase.

"I've agonized over this, first telling myself that it was none of my business and thinking that maybe you already knew — that you and Candy had one of those open marriages — but the more I thought about it the more I knew I had to call you. I wouldn't want it on my conscientious if you got AIDS."

"What are you trying to tell me Frank?"

"I'm not going to tell you anything Hal, what I'm going to do is send you a package. You can check it out and make up your own mind. The fact that Marlene is up there with you says that I have made up mine. I mailed the package this morning so you should have it by the day after tomorrow. Take care and good luck" he said just before he hung up.

I couldn't for the life of me figure out what Frank was trying to tell me. I wasn't brain dead of course so it was obvious that whatever was in the package concerned Candy as well as Marlene and it was equally obvious that Frank didn't think I was going to be happy with what was in the package. His comment about an open marriage and AIDS gave me a hint of why he and Marlene split, but I had the utmost trust in Candy.

The next two days dragged. Thursday morning a package arrived at my office. I told my secretary that I didn't want to be disturbed and I closed my office door and opened the package. The box contained videotape and an 11x14 manila envelope. I opened the envelope and found two dozen 8x10 pictures and a copy of a report from Simpson Investigations. The photos were of Marlene, Candy and three men and they had obviously been taken in a bar. The lighting was poor, but the photos showed the two women and the three men either dancing or sitting in a booth. The dancing photos that had Candy in them showed a man's hand on her ass as she smiled at him, a man's hand on her right breast as she smiled at him and two photos of a man's leg between hers and pushing against her crotch. Only one of the booth shots showed Candy clearly and in it a man had his arm around her and she was smiling at him.

The other photos showed Marlene kissing the three men, being felt up by them and in a couple of the booth shots you could see a man's hand down inside her dress and on her tits as she smiled at him. In another you could actually see her hand on a man's cock as it stuck up out of his fly.

The report from Simpson Investigations stated that they picked up the subject (Marlene) and an unidentified female companion (Candy) at 1945 hours at the subject's residence. The subject was followed to Harry's Bar and Grill where the subject and her companion met three as yet unidentified males. The report went on to say that the two women were observed being "exceedingly friendly" with the three males.

"At one point the subject was observed stroking an exposed erect penis in the booth where the five were sitting."

"At 2215 hours the two women and three males left Harry's and walked across the street to the Venus Motel and entered room 116 where they remained until 0130 hours. The subject and her female companion were then follow to the subject's residence arriving at 0205 hours."

It looked as if my 'absolute trust' in Candy was a little bit misplaced. I took the videotape and went down to the conference room where we had a TV/VCR set up. I locked the door behind me and watched the tape. All it showed was Marlene and Candy walking from the bar with the three men to room 116 and going inside at eight-fifteen and it showed them coming out of the room at one-thirty.

I had been married twice before and both marriages had ended when I caught my wives cheating so I already knew about how denial worked and how much waiting around hoping things weren't really all that bad and would get better would hurt in the long run. I called my friend Roger, who was also my lawyer, and asked him if he could spare me a few minutes of his time. He said he could fit me right in and so I went right over to his office. He pretty much told me what I had already figured out for myself. I didn't have a case, at least not based on what I had. He went over them point by point:

"The photos mean nothing by themselves. We don't know what transpired in the instant before the picture was taken or in the instant after. The photo could have been taken the very instant that the man placed his hand on Candy's ass and the very next instant she could have shoved the hand away or slapped the man. The same goes with the photo of the man's hand on her breast or the man's arm around her. We don't know what happened immediately before or after and the investigators report doesn't mention Candy or what she did. Their subject was Marlene and that is who they concentrated on.

"The tape proves nothing more than the two women went into a motel room with three men. They didn't go from the bar to the office and rent a room, which means one or more of the men were already staying there so you couldn't show intent to commit adultery. Once in the room we have no idea what they did. They could have played cards or watched videos for all we know.

"What we believe went on doesn't matter, only what you can prove in court and you have no proof. What you have is a very strong reason to believe that your wife is cheating on you. You have two options: confront Candy and hope she admits it or hire your own investigator to get the goods on her."

And so that is what I did. I hired a firm of private detectives and turned them loose. They quickly established that on the 'girls night out' Candy and Marlene hit the bars, picked up men and took them to motels. Because it was never the same bars or the same motels the investigators were having a difficult time getting good audio or video proof.

"Do you have to travel as part of your job?" the lead investigator asked me.

"Frequently."

"Could you take a long trip, say four or five days, or fake a business trip of that length?"

"I could, but why?"

"Both women live in your home. It is where they are most comfortable and I believe that if you were gone for several days they would take the men they pick up to your house rather than a motel. It will be fairly easy to wire your house for audio and video."

At dinner that night I told Candy that I had a business trip coming up the following week. "I'll be leaving Monday and won't be back until late Friday or maybe even Saturday so you have your work cut out for you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean between now and Monday morning you have to give me enough loving to hold me for a week."

Candy smiled, "I can do that."

And she did. She exhausted me almost every night until Monday came around. She even passed on her night out with Marlene just to stay home with me.

Monday morning I kissed Candy goodbye, told her she could reach me on my cell phone if she needed me and I left the house on my pretend trip. I drove across town and checked into a hotel and then went to work. Marlene had found a job so Monday after both women had gone to work the detective agency went into the house and wired it. Tuesday morning the detective called me and told me that the two women had gone out, picked up two men and had gone to a motel. Tuesday night was a repeat of Monday night except the two women took the three men they hooked up with to a motel.

The Thursday morning call told me that we'd hit pay dirt. The women had picked up two men and had taken them to the house. Thursday night it had been three men. The detective told me I could stop by his office on Friday afternoon to pick up the report and the tapes. I told them I would be there that afternoon and then I called Candy at work and told her I would be home that evening.

That afternoon I went to the office's of Myron Investigations to pick up the report and the tapes.

"Have you viewed them?"

"Yes, we have viewed the product of both evenings."

"Did we get what I need for a divorce?"

"That's hard to say."

"I don't understand. Did we or did we not get evidence of my wife cheating?"

"Again, that is hard to say. You will have to view the tape and make up your own mind."

"Oh come on. You either have her on tape fucking another man or you don't."

"Well I can be clear on that. Your wife did not, on either of the two nights we have tape for, have sex with another man."

"What are you saying, that she isn't cheating on me?"

"Again, that has to be your determination. You will have to view the tapes and make up your own mind as to that."

I paid the bill and then I took the tapes and went back to my office. Everyone had cleared out for the weekend so I went into the conference room, locked the door behind me and sat down to watch the tape. The Wednesday night portion started with Candy, Marlene and two men coming into Marlene's room. Marlene and the two men immediately undressed, but Candy went over to a chair, sat down and watched.

Marlene went to her knees in front of one of the men and started sucking his cock. The other man walked over to Candy, waved his cock in front of her face and said:

"Come on honey, get your clothes off and let's have some fun."

"Sorry, but I told you before we even left the bar that I don't cheat on my husband. You knew before we even got here that it was only going to be you two and Marlene."

"What is it? You get your kicks from watching?"

"Whatever. The only thing you need to know is that you aren't going to get lucky with me."

The tape covered a three hour period and I fast forwarded through most of it and through it all Candy sat in the chair and watched as Marlene took both men in all three of her holes. I did stop the fast forward at one point and watched as Marlene took one of the men in her pussy and the other in her ass. I didn't like Marlene, but I couldn't deny she had a great body and looked sexy as hell taking it in two holes. Just listening to her was as erotic as watching. She had just finished sucking one man hard while the other was over waving his cock in Candy's face and trying to get her to play and Marlene had hollered:

"Hey, stop bothering her and get over here. I need that cock and she doesn't want it."

The guy reluctantly left Candy and walked over to Marlene who told him to get on the bed on his back and when he did she climbed over him and lowered herself down on his stiff cock. She leaned forward, almost lying on his chest, and then said to the other guy, "Okay Stan, you know what to do." The other guy moved up behind her and pushed the head of his cock at her butt hole.

"Easy Stan, go slow, take it easy and let me get used to it. Oh yeah, oh yeah baby, like that. Jesus that feels good. Slow baby, slow and easy, slow and easy" she moaned as he eased his way into her shitter. When he had it all in Marlene moaned, "Just hold it there baby, just hold it there and let me get used to it. Okay, slide it back, oh yes baby, like that. Now in baby, slow and easy. A little harder now, a little harder, a little faster."

While she was doing all that moaning the man under her was pushing his cock up into her pussy. It took a couple of minutes, but the two men finally got a rhythm going and then Marlene really got vocal.

"Oh yes, oh yes, oh sweet fucking Jesus yes. Harder, harder damn it, fuck me harder, make me cum, get me off, please get me off."

The guy on the bottom didn't do a hell of a lot except lie there and let Marlene work her pussy on his cock as she moved back and forth on the cock in her ass. Off to the side Candy had a hand up her skirt and she was obviously fingering herself as she watched, but that was the only sexual thing she did in that room that night.

Finally Marlene cried out, "I'm cumming, I'm cumming, oh yes, oh god yes yes yes yes YES!" and she fell forward and just laid on the bottom man's chest until the man I her ass spent himself and pulled out. The bottom man wrapped his arms around her and rolled her over on her back and then he fucked her fast and furious until he came. That was it for the two men and they got up and dressed and Marlene walked them out.