I met Cassandra in college during my sophomore year. I'd seen her around campus since my first day as a freshman, but our paths had never crossed. One night I was at a party and there she was, surrounded by a platoon of male admirers. We made eye contact, I smiled, she looked away and I went and got myself another beer.

I was outside on the back patio catching a breath of fresh air. It was a clear night and I was looking up at the stars when a voice behind me said, "Which one do you think I should have named after me?"

I turned and saw Cassie standing there. "Which ever one is the brightest of course," I said.

She smiled at me and said, "Why haven't I met you?"

"We don't seem to travel in the same circles."

"I saw you looking at me inside. Why didn't you come over and introduce yourself?"

It was my turn to smile at her and so I gave her my biggest and brightest and said, "I can't stand crowds."

She stuck out her hand and said, "Hi, my name is Cassandra, but my friends call me either Cassie or Cass."

We talked for a bit and then I asked her out, she accepted and so began my on again, off again relationship with the woman who would one day end up as my wife.

Cassie and I dated off and on for about three months before deciding that we should give it a go as a steady couple. Three months into our steady relationship I arrived at Cassie's sorority house to pick her up for a planned evening out. One of her sorority sisters handed me a note that Cassie had left for me and it said that something had come up and she would call me the next day. I went out, had dinner and caught a show. After the show I decided to stop and have a drink and I went into a place just down the street from the movie house.

I was sitting at the bar sipping a Coors Lite when I heard a familiar laugh behind me. I turned and saw Cassie sitting in a booth holding hands with some guy. Somebody dropped a few quarters into the jukebox and when the music started Cassie and the guy got up to dance. He pulled her close, she tucked her head into his chest and he dropped his hand to her ass and I saw her smile as his hands moved over her ass while they swayed to the music.

I finished my beer, got up and left. I am a somewhat curious kind of guy so I drove over to the sorority house, parked and waited. Seven in the morning came and Cassie still hadn't come home.

I was in my apartment when Cassie called, but I let the machine pick up the call. I went out that evening and when I came home at three in the morning the machine had three more calls from Cassie on it, all of them asking me to call. I let the machine take four calls from her on Sunday and it wasn't until Monday afternoon that we connected.

I had two hours to kill before my next class and I was sitting in the student cafeteria sipping coffee and reviewing my notes from my last class when Cassie dropped into the seat across from me. I looked up at her and then back down at my notes. When I didn't say anything Cassie said, "I've been trying to reach you all weekend. Where have you been?"

"Out trying to drown my sorrows."

"That sounds pretty serious. Dare I ask?"

"I saw my girl in a bar Friday night. She was dancing real close with some guy and didn't seem to care at all when he dropped his hand to her ass and left it there. In fact, she smiled and buried her head in his chest when he did it. But even though it didn't seem to bother her, it bothered me. Hence, I've been drowning my sorrows."

"I can explain baby."

"No you can't Cassie. You had a date with me and you stood me up to go out with another guy. There just isn't any good explanation for that.

I looked at my watch, "Got to go. Time for my next class" and I got up and left her sitting there.

Cass was sitting on my doorstep when I got home that night. "Can I come in? I'd like to talk."

I shrugged and stepped aside to let her in. I motioned for her to take a seat and then I sat down and motioned for her to go ahead.

"First off Bob, you don't own me."

I didn't say anything, just sat and watched her.

"I know that we are going steady, but I'm young and when I meet someone I think I'd like to get to know better I'm going to want to go out with him. I'm not ready for marriage sweetie and I want to look around while I can. What's wrong with that?"

"Not a thing Cass. It is the way you did it. You had a date with me. I had reservations made for dinner and I had already purchased the tickets for the movie so we wouldn't have to stand in a long line. All of that went into the toilet when you stood me up. You want to date other guys — fine — that's your choice, but make a date with another guy and then fuck over me to keep it? No fucking way Cassie. Speaking of fucking, did you fuck him?"

"Don't be silly."

"What did you do?"

"We had dinner and then went to the bar and had some drinks and danced and then we sat in his car and talked for a while. He had me back to the sorority house by midnight."

I stood up and walked over to the door, opened it and turned to her, "Leave Cassandra. Just get your lying ass out of here."

"I'm not lying Bob."

"Oh yes you are Cassandra. I was curious about you and your date so when I left the bar I drove over to the sorority house and waited for you to come home. I was still sitting there waiting for you at seven in the morning before I finally accepted the fact that you were probably in his bed and gave up waiting. Get out Cassandra. It is bad enough that you did it to me, but I'll be fucked if I'm going to sit here and be lied to."

"Bob, I swear..."

"Out Cassandra, just get the fuck out!"

Three weeks went by and one day I came home from class to find Cassie sitting on my doorstep again. She wanted to talk so I let her in. We sat down and she said, "I've missed you. I know I screwed up honey and I'm sorry. Not seeing you for these three weeks has made me realize that you're my guy. Can we work it out honey? Can we put it back together?"

She was gorgeous, she was a fantastic piece of ass and I was so in love with her that I couldn't think straight when she was around so I forgave her and we got back together and in doing so I planted the seeds of what would come back later to haunt me.

It was four months before it happened again, but Cassie had learned. She called me on a Thursday and told me that she had met a guy who "was really cute" and she wanted to get to know him a little better and she had agreed to go out on a date with him.

"We don't have anything planned for this weekend so I told him I would go out with him Saturday. I just wanted you to know so that you don't think that I'm sneaking around behind your back."

Things were a little 'chilly between us for the next couple of weeks, but eventually I let her persuade me that it was me she really loved and things smoothed out. Cassie did that to me six more times before we graduated and each time we ended up back together. I guess that I was pussy whipped — Cassie was that good.

A month before graduation (and two months after her last little "walk about") Cassie asked me when I was going to get around to asking her to marry me. I might have been pussy whipped, but I wasn't stupid.

"I hadn't planned on asking you to marry me."

Cassie sat there and looked at me with a stunned expression on her face. "What? But I thought we had something going for us. I thought that you loved me."

"I do Cassie, but being in love doesn't automatically mean that I have to be stupid. I'm not about to marry a woman who always seems to find a really cute guy that she wants to get to know better. You have been doing that to me for as long as we have been keeping company and I love you so much that I always ended up forgiving you for it and staying with you. That was something that I could do as long as we were single, but there is no way I would put up with that if we were married and quite frankly, I don't think you will ever change."

"You can't mean that baby. You know you are my guy. Sure I've checked out other guys, but isn't that what a girl is supposed to do? Make sure that she picks the right guy before getting married? I've looked honey, and you're the best there is. You are my guy baby, the search is over."

"That is what you are saying now Cass, but I've been through this too many times now. Each time I get the "You're my guy" speech and I say okay and let it go, but two or three months later you have another cute guy that you just have to check out. I don't believe that you are ever going to change and I'm not about to get married to a woman I can't trust."

"Okay then, how about this. We live together for one year and see how it goes. I'm serious about this honey. You're my guy and I know it so just give me a chance to prove it."

What could it hurt I thought and besides, I really did like having her around.

We graduated, found jobs and set up housekeeping together. Everything seemed to be working out well for us and I began to think that maybe I was Cassie's guy after all. About six months into our arrangement the company sent me out of town for two days. The day I got back I went straight to the apartment from the airport and as I came in the front door the phone started to ring. The telephone answering machine took the call before I could get to the phone:

"Hi Cassie, this is Daren. Hey listen, I had a great time last night and I'd like to do it again. Give me a call, okay?"

He gave his number and hung up. I dropped my bags and walked over to the machine and looked down at it. Should I erase the message and not let Cassie know that I knew or leave it and see what happened? I opted for the latter and went into the bedroom and unpacked.

When Cass got home I was in the kitchen and she came in and gave me a big hug and a kiss. "Welcome home Tiger. It's only five-thirty, but are you ready for bed?"

"In a little while maybe. You have a message on the machine."

Cass went over and hit the PLAY button and I saw her face cloud over when she heard the message. She looked over and saw me watching her, "It isn't what you are thinking honey."

I just stood there and looked at her while the message played out. When it was over Cassie hit the DELETE button and then came over to me and put her arms around me.

"It isn't what you think. One of the girls I work with asked me to stop after work and have a drink with her. You were gone and I didn't want to come home to an empty apartment so I said yes. While we were there she got a call from her boyfriend on her cell phone and she told him where we were and to come on over. He got there and we had a couple of drinks and then a friend of his came in, saw him and came over to join us. The four of us were sitting there talking when a band came in, set up and started to play. We had some drinks, I danced with both guys a couple of times and then I got up and left. He must have gotten my number from Sarah. Honest honey, that's all there was to it."

I must have looked a little skeptical because she said, "Come on baby, give me some credit for brains here. If I were doing what you are thinking would I have given him my home phone number? No I would not have. I would have given him my cell phone number or my number at work. Come on baby, it's been two days now, take me to bed."

It sounded reasonable so I put it out of my mind and forgot about it. The rest of the year went by quickly and Cassie again brought up marriage and so I asked, she said yes and we tied the knot.

A year went by and Cassie and I were doing great. Our relationship was strong, we both had good jobs and we liked what we were doing. We had settled into a comfortable life style, bought a house, furnished it and fell into a routine. She stopped with the girls from work one night a week, usually on a Tuesday because that was the night I bowled. I played cards one night a week with my buddies, usually on a Thursday because that was the night Cassie played cards with her sorority sisters from college. The only other times she went out were the nights when I was out of town. On those nights rather than sit home alone she would have dinner with one or two of the girls she worked with. And then one evening I found out just how stupid I really was.

I came home from work just in time to see Cassie grab her purse and head for the door. "We going somewhere?"

"Not we honey, just me."

"Where are you going?"

"I've got a date."

"You have a date?"

"Yes. Sarah introduced me to a friend of her boyfriend and he asked me out."

"You are serious? You are actually going on a date with another man? Cass, has it occurred to you that you are married now, not single and back in college?"

"It will be all right honey, trust me" and she walked by me and out the door.

I was sitting up waiting when she came home at three in the morning. "Oh, you're up. I expected you to be in bed."

"Not hardly. We have some talking to do."

"Oh well, all right. Come on, we can do it while I undress" and she headed for the stairs. I followed and sat on the bed and watched while she took off her clothes.

"I want an explanation Cassie. I thought we had a good marriage and I would like to know why you just tossed it on the trash heap."

I saw the hickey on her neck as the turtle neck sweater came off and I saw the love bites on her tits when her bra came off and I knew what I would find if I took the time to look at the crotch of her panties.

"Don't be silly honey. I haven't thrown anything away. I'm here aren't I? You can always trust me to come home to you."

"I can't believe the attitude you are taking. You are here, you came home, so it's all right?"

"It always has been in the past. I mean you always sulk and pout for a while — I suppose that it has to do with ego or male insecurity — but we always end up back in each others arms. You're my guy baby, you've always known that."

"That was different; we weren't married then."

"Oh come on Robert. You know very well that I've been doing it since we got married and you have turned a blind eye to it."

"No Cassie, I did not know."

"Of course you did. You know full well what I do on Tuesday nights and some Thursdays and you know what I'm doing on the nights you are out of town. I know that you like to pretend otherwise because it soothes your masculine pride, but you know that you have known."

"Have you forgotten why we lived together for a year Cass? It was to make sure that you were through with running around on me. Why would I have done that Cass if your running around was something that I was willing to suffer through?"

"Baby, baby, baby. You know I was still doing it. You heard that message on the recorder and you let yourself believe what I told you even though you knew what was going on. Now come on and stop this foolishness and let's go to bed. I want you to make love to me."

"Haven't you already had enough dick tonight?"

"Don't be crude honey. Yes, I have had sex tonight, but now I want to be made love to."

I walked over to the dresser and opened the drawer where Cassie kept her sex toys, grabbed a dildo and tossed it to her. "Here you go Cassandra, the only lover that you'll have in this house" and I left the room.

I spent an hour sitting in the living room just staring at the wall and shaking with anger and then I got up and went to the spare bedroom and tried to go to sleep. I tossed and turned a lot, but I finally did manage to fall asleep. When I woke up Cassie was in bed with me, one leg over mine and an arm around me. I pulled myself away from her and she woke up.