7 Tales of Sex and Betrayal (5 page)

‘Would you really have rung me? I bet you
didn’t expect to hear from me!’ Sally said with triumph.

Suddenly Kevin looked tired and nervous. He
sat down in the armchair opposite Sally.

‘Okay. Maybe I wouldn’t have called to say
I’d been delayed, but you have to believe I was at Judy’s just to
pick up the file. Look, here it is, in my briefcase.’

Sally rolled her eyes heavenwards which
annoyed Kevin, whose voice became more irritated.

‘I don’t know how many times I have to tell
you, but I love you. You’ll have to get over that crazy idea of
yours that I married you for your money. Okay, it helped buy the
apartment and the partnership, but it’s for us both. I’m committed
to you, and you know it. But, I don’t know how long I can take your
suspicion. You torture yourself and me and it’s all nonsense.
Besides, I’ve never given you any cause to suspect me.’

‘It’s little things Kevin, you don’t pay as
much attention to me as you used to...’ her voice trailed away.

‘Sally, you know I’m busy, I’m preoccupied –
give me a chance. Once things settle down and this deal goes
through, I promise I’ll be your knight-in-shining armor.’

‘But, what about Judy?’

‘What about Judy? She has a boyfriend she’s
mad about. He lives with her in the apartment, except he’s away for
a few weeks now. Why would Judy give me a second look – she’s got a
young lover. We do work together well and she’s an asset to the
firm, but it goes no further. Now do you believe me?’

Sally sat silently. She was confused. With
Kevin in the room and his soothing voice reassuring her she was
unsure what to believe. Part of her desperately wanted to believe
there was no Judy, no other woman, yet, there was a niggling doubt
still.

‘Honey,’ Kevin was next to her now, putting
his arms around her and kissing her cheek. Sally had no inclination
to pull away, although something told her she should have. Her
resistance was now down.

‘Sally, honey,’ he said with warmth in his
voice, `These stupid suspicions of yours are making you ill.
Perhaps you need to see a psychologist, you know, about that
inferiority complex you know you have. Maybe it all stems back to
your childhood. Look, tonight was just a coincidence, you do
believe me, don’t you? If you’d phoned ten minutes earlier or
later, I wouldn’t have been there – it was just pure coincidence.
Look at me and tell me you believe me.’

‘Yes, I believe you,’ she whispered as she
lay her head on his chest.

‘I want to hear you say you believe there’s
nothing between Judy and me, please, honey, say it.’

‘I believe you Kevin, and I believe there’s
nothing between you. It was just my silly suspicion. I should have
known better and trusted you.

Kevin tried to conceal his surprise as he
looked down at Sally. Maybe she was changing at last. Sally’s
obsessive jealousies and suspicions had come close to ruining their
relationship before. But this was new. In the past, it had taken
days to get her to renew her trust in him. As they sat cuddled
together, there was no sense of any discomfort or unease about the
future.

She was smiling at him now. He put his arms
around her tenderly and kissed her.

‘You know I love you Sally – I always have,’
he whispered.

‘Yes, I know. And I love you too,’ she
replied.

‘Why don’t you slip into something more
comfortable. I’ll dash out and get some champagne – and then we can
really celebrate. Do you feel like being ravished?’ he added
mischievously.

Sally walked into the bedroom and opened her
lingerie drawer. Yes, she had just the right sexy underwear for
their celebration. She saw her reflection in the mirror and smiled
wryly. She still looked good in black lace and she was in a mood to
be appreciated! How wrong her instincts had been. How could she
have doubted him? He was right, her suspicions had been silly and
unfounded. Maybe she should take up his suggestion and see a
psychologist.

Down in the street, Kevin looked around
quickly and headed for the nearest telephone booth and dialed
568-000.

Suspicion – 2008 Style

She put down the phone and smiled to
herself. She’d done it and she felt vindicated.

It had been all the tell-tale signs that had
given him away. They always think they’re being subtle but really
they’re showing their hand even as they think they’re being so
clever. Men!

Sally sat back and contemplated her options.
Revenge at its most ugly was not her style. There would be no
putting prawns into his underwear drawer or slashing his entire
wardrobe of designer shirts and suits. Too crude for her taste. No,
she’d have to come up with something much more quietly stated, but
much more hurtful.

She looked down at her notepad and took in
the words she’d jotted down: ‘Your husband was seen leaving a
woman’s apartment on six occasions over the past two weeks’. As
she’d suspected. Despite his strong denials and protestations,
she’d known it in her bones. He was seeing another woman. The
private detective had been referred to her by a friend who’d used
him to check on her husband. Soon, she’d have all the evidence she
needed. She would have the full report on her husband’s activities
over the past month in her inbox. It would make for some
interesting, if irritating, reading.

Fighting back her tears, Sally thought about
their five years together. How much she’d given up, all to support
him in his career. Okay, it had been her choice, of sorts, but she
had expected some loyalty from him. Was that unreasonable of her?
Of course not. If she had given up some of her career ambitions to
support his, she was well within her rights to expect something
back. Fine. She had a nice life and she worked part-time as a
teacher. But what about all that talk about children? How could she
plan to have children with a lying, cheating bastard of a man?

What was worse, she’d believed him when he
came over all misty-eyed and said how much he loved her and wanted
her to be the mother of his children. Only a few months ago, she’d
gone off the Pill and they were ‘trying’ for a baby. At least she
was trying for a baby. What had given him away initially was his
increasing lack of sexual interest even when she’d told him it was
the right time of the month and they should go at it harder for her
to conceive.

Excuses, she’d heard them all. He was tired.
He had to work back. He had an interstate conference to attend. He
had a week-end away team building session to run. He wasn’t feeling
well. He had even pleaded a headache! Now there’s a turn-up for the
books, because in popular thinking it was only women who resorted
to the headache excuse. She was almost getting used to his clichéd
responses.

The final piece of evidence to fall into
place for her was his change in showering habits. Where once he
showered in the mornings, he now showered in the evenings, often
immediately after getting home. To remove her scent, she thought.
But he wasn’t as clever as he thought.

Last week, he’d worked back almost every
night or so he said. She’d like to know what kind of work he was
doing. Working on
her
, she suspected. He’d waltzed through
the door, in that way of his, so easy-going, so casual, so
deceitful and given her a quick peck on the cheek. And that was
when she smelled the remnants of a cloying scent. There was no
mistaking it. She’d gently pulled him back to her and he’d
reluctantly given her a more decent kiss and her suspicion was
confirmed. It was Obsession.

She knew this because she used to wear
Obsession once. How appropriate! A scent named Obsession and he
probably very obsessed with this woman. Sally tried not to think of
the woman as her rival, but every now and then, the thought sneaked
in.

Reframing, Sally said to herself: ‘No, she’s
not my rival. She’s a slut who wants my husband and is doing the
dirty on another woman.’

Sally snorted to herself when she thought
about Judy. Judy Spring was the woman’s name. Talking aloud, Sally
said, ‘Judy Spring doesn’t deserve the label of ‘rival’. A rival is
someone you can see, you can challenge and may the best woman
win!’

Letting out a sigh, Sally wondered about her
mental health. She knew that whenever she was feeling vulnerable
she talked out loud to herself. Gritting her teeth, she was
determined to not let her cheating husband push her over the edge.
She had to maintain her control.

‘You’re strong Sally,’ she said to herself
and smiled. Yes, she was feeling strong and determined to win.

Sally was feeling strong because she knew
something about her husband which she suspected he didn’t suspect.
She was sure that he was completely in the dark about her knowledge
of his fooling around. Smiling to herself, she relished this idea
of having the upper hand.

When he came home tonight, she’d be all
sweetness and light. There would be no ugly scene, nor any
questioning. She was not going to give her hand away.

Sally moved to the study and unlocked the
drawer where she kept her personal and financial papers. She pulled
out a set of photos, every one incriminating and one more revealing
– huh! she laughed at such an appropriate word – than the next.

The previous private investigator she had
hired had done his job well. Several dozen photos plainly showed
her husband in compromising positions with four different women.
He’d always been a greedy man but when she’d learned he had been so
busy – imagine having four women in three months – even she was
taken aback.

Of course he’d denied it all. No. He had
admitted to one affair, which he’d called a ‘sad mistake’. Sally
hadn’t showed her stash of photos to him. Her challenge had been
verbal. But now, she couldn’t wait to share her photo
collection.

Selecting an elegant ecru-coloured envelope,
she chose six of the best – photos in which her husband’s face as
well as the sexual activity was well presented, and placed them
neatly in the envelope. She thought about sending it anonymously,
but then had second thoughts.

In her beautiful hand – Sally had always won
the ‘best handwriting’ prize at school – she wrote out her personal
message. As she licked the envelope and pressed it closed, she
wondered what the recipient would think.

Her husband had sent her a text saying he
would be home around 8 o’clock. She had 20 minutes.

Sally got her coat and left the apartment.
It was only a short stroll to the nearest post box. Before dropping
the envelope into the slot, she stopped and savoured the
satisfaction of certain victory. Judy Spring would get a surprise
she wasn’t expecting. And Sally would have her husband back – until
the next time. To Sally, it had become a challenge, almost a game
and she was sure she’d always have the upper hand.

Her husband had always said he hadn’t
married her for her money. But it was her money that kept him
coming back to her. Yes, she felt like the winner.

Fortunately, he’d forgotten his keys that
morning. She would have to let him in.

When he rang the doorbell, she adjusted her
hair, smoothed down her dress and answered the door with a
welcoming smile. She would bide her time, until she was ready to
end their relationship. There was no point in alerting him to her
recently acquired knowledge and hard evidence. Just when he least
expected it, she would call it quits. The very thought of her
husband’s shock at losing his comfortable lifestyle made her smile
all the more.

‘Hello, darling,’ she cooed as she pulled
him in towards her. She imagined she felt the relief in his body as
she pressed herself against him. He responded by kissing her
tenderly.

‘How was your day?’ she asked without
missing a beat.

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