Reluctant Cuckold (33 page)

I stopped in a bar along the way. “A shot of tequila, please,” I said to the young woman bartender.

“Would you like anything with that?”

“No, just the shot. Actually, wait … can you make it a double?”

“Was it that kind of day?” she asked as she brought it over.

“No,” I replied, “but it’s about to be that kind of night.”

“Oh, hey, Jim, good to see you,” I muttered to myself, one block before the bar, “nice night out. I can’t believe it’s about to be September. At least football will be starting soon. You a Giants fan?”

I paused at the top of the stairs to look out at the deck. I spotted Tamara first, getting up from a table. Then I saw Jim Murta talking with a few of his sales buddies by the bar.

They have business casual Friday’s where Ashley works. Jim was wearing a polo shirt tucked into his jeans. Tamara was wearing a skirt and halter top.

In my suit, I was going to stand out even more.

I went downstairs and found the bathroom, and washed my face and told myself to be confident. I ordered a beer, so I’d have something to drink when I showed upstairs.

“Let’s do this bro,” I said to myself.

I focused on Tamara standing near the bar and beelined for her.

“Hey Tamara,” I said, “great to see you.”

“Hey, Dave,” she said smiling, “I’m so glad you made it. How are you?”

“I’m doing great, Tamara, and what a beautiful night.”

“And it’s Friday,” she added.

“Hi,” I said, turning to her friend and offering my hand, “I’m Dave Martens, Ashley’s—”

“Hi Dave, I met you a few months ago, nice to see you again.”

A few minutes of social pleasantries later, I turned around and faced the Jim Murta music that I knew was behind me.

Just rip the band aid off and say hello to these punks.

“Hey, Will, good to see you,” I said, shaking his hand.

Then, “Hey Ralph, how you doing?”

Then “Hey, Jim,” as I shook Murta’s hand, smiling and managing to make eye contact.

Then, “Hi, I’m Dave Martens,” I said to a guy I hadn’t met before. “What an awesome night to be on an outdoor terrace.” Now I was addressing all four of them. “But I have to say, I’m jealous. You guys are dressed all casual, and I’m wearing this monkey suit. But hey, I’ve got a beer in my hand, so I can’t complain.”

They laughed politely.

“Well,” I said to Jim and his sales buddies, “I guess I arrived a bit late. Everybody’s already settled in. Ashley’s here, right?”

“At that corner table,” Jim said, pointing.

Of course he’d be the one to answer that question.

“Oh yeah, I see her, cool. Well, talk to you guys in a bit.”

A splash of relief. I walked up to Ashley, who stood up and gave me a kiss. I looked around the table, making eye contact and nodding hello.

“Do you want to sit down?”

“In a bit,” I said. “I just want to say hi to everyone.”

And that’s when I headed for Craig and his IT team.

“Glad you made it,” Craig said.

“Yeah, good to see all you guys,” I said to the group. “What a great bar to chill out at on a night like this.”

Craig and his IT team were bantering back and forth and I was just glad to be cocooned in the conversation. When the Yankees came up, I chimed in, but made sure to do more listening.

A few more sales guys showed up and joined Jim by the bar, but I had my spot, my place, and was grateful for the way IT and Sales were siloed.

When the waitress walked over, I bought Craig and his team a round. I could stay put where I was.

After a while, I saw Ashley talking to Tamara up at the bar. Five minutes later, Jim and his buddies were talking up T & A. I had never thought of that abbreviation for Ashley and Tamara before. I wondered if that was how the sales guys referred to them.

I watched them continuing to talk. Jim leaned into Ashley to say something and I saw her laugh.

Jesus Christ
, I thought to myself, apparently all has indeed been forgiven.

I knew I had to man-up. I could hear Mike telling me to go over and join them and exude cool confidence. So I took a big chug of my beer and walked over.

“Hey Dave,” Tamara said, “having a good time?”

“Oh sure,” I said, “but when those IT guys start going off on Citrix servers and dot-xml-asci codes, I knew that was my time to leave. How are you all doing?”

Everyone responded with versions of good or great.

“Do you need another drink?” Ashley asked.

“Probably not,” I said, “I have to meet my friend.”

“Oh, have another drink,” Tamara said.

“Well, twist my arm, why don’t you Tamara. Oh, OK.”

Ashley was telling some story about a flakey client and I just laughed along, acting as comfortable and interested as I could. I glanced over at Jim a few feet away in our circle, but looked away and back to Ashley when I saw him staring at me.

His stare said “I fucked your wife.” In that moment, there was no way to really look back at him. He’d shot his sperm inside her. Both he knew it and I knew it. I’m sure he continued staring, but my eyes were focused on anyone besides Jim fucking Murta.

Then Tamara broke out her camera and said, “Let’s get a picture.”

I knew immediately what she was up to. I wasn’t paranoid. She wanted a photo of me with the guy who fucked my wife.

“I’m going to pass on photos,” I said, “I look ridiculous enough wearing this monkey suit on a summer Friday night..”

“Oh come on, Dave, you look sharp,” Tamara replied.

“Well, I appreciate the compliment,” I said, “but I’ll rain check for the next happy hour.”

“I’ll rain check as well,” Ashley said, “I’m getting called back to the table as it is.”

“Oh come on. It’s one little photo. Humor me, it’s the last happy hour of the summer.”

When Ashley hesitated, Tamara put her arm out for her to move in. Now Ashley was standing beside Jim Murta.

“Now come on Dave, pose next to Ashley.”

I felt fucked and didn’t know what to say. Tamara reached her arm out to me saying “C’mon, get in there, you look great.”

Suddenly I’m standing beside Ashley waiting for Tamara to snap the photo.

“One more time. Ashley was blinking.”

And so I grinned and endured it again. I put my arm around her and then Jim put his arm around her as well.

“This looks great,” Tamara said as she showed it to us.

I took a quick glance at the five of us posing and passed the camera back to Tamara. I acted like it was no big deal. It was just a photo. But Tamara had a self-satisfied grin. I suspected she had been waiting for that opportunity to pose Ashley between me and Jim fucking Murta.

Ashley asked if I wanted to join her back at the table and I told her I had to go, that my friend would be waiting.

Then I turned back to Tamara and said the same thing, giving her a good night hug. Then I said goodnight to the sales guys, shaking everyone’s hand—including Jim Murta’s—like I was late and in a hurry. I went back to Craig’s group and did the same.

Out on the street, I called Mike.

“That’s awesome,” Mike said as I told him about the evening at the bar. “Sounds like you handled things perfectly.”

“Yeah, Mike,” I said, “but—”

“But what, Dave?”

“Something happened at the end.”

“What?”

“OK,” I said taking a hearty sip from my drink, “when I was about to leave, I saw Jim Murta talking to Ashley.”

“Sure and?”

“Well I figured I should go over there.”

“Good for you, Dave, that was the right call.”

“Well yeah, it was” I said, “but then Tamara pulls out her camera and wants our group to pose. I didn’t want to. Even Ashley didn’t want to.”

“And?”

“I wound up posing for the fucking photo.”

“Yes, so?”

“Tamara photographed Jim and me posing beside Ashley, like we were bookends.”

“It was just the three of you?”

“No, there were five of us, but if you cropped them out, Tamara had me posing with my wife and the guy who fucked her.”

“OK, I get it. Was Tamara taking photos there in general, or do you think she pulled out her cam just for that?”

“She was taking pictures before, but c’mon, I’m not naïve, I know what’s she’s up to—that was a way for her to rub it in.”

“OK, but it’s just a picture right?”

“Mike, you know what’s going to happen Monday? Tamara will send a link to some photo site to everyone who was there, so they can check out pictures from tonight. Everyone knows the rumor. How the fuck is that going to look? People will laugh their asses off. ‘There’s Dave Martens posing with the guy who fucked his wife.’ But how was I was going to turn down Tamara telling me to pose beside my wife?”

“OK, so you sucked it up and posed for the photo. You were gracious about it.”

“But don’t you see what people will say?”

“Fuck those people,” Mike said as he ordered us another drink. “Where’s Ashley now?”

“Still at the party.”

“Are you comfortable with that?”

“I kind of have to be, don’t I?”

“Do you want me to go there now and keep an eye on what’s going on? I know what Ashley and Tamara look like. They don’t know me.”

“Well my friend Craig said he was hanging out there for a while. I planned on calling him in the morning.”

“And you trust him to tell you if he saw something?”

“Yeah, on this, I do. And even though Ashley’s forgiven Jim, I don’t think she would risk her reputation by being seen walking off with him or anything like that.”

“OK, I hear you,” Mike said. “Here’s what I think: Forget the photo, Dave, that’s a distraction. So people see it, and people who snickered before, snicker again, no big deal in the grand scheme.”

“I guess, but it confirms what a scheming little bitch Tamara is.”

“Oh yes, it does,” Mike said. “She’s going to continue to be that. And you can’t prevent them from hanging out when she works with her.”

“I know, and Ashley would be pissed if I even suggested that.”

“No, that would exacerbate things.”

“I know.”

“What makes me wonder is, why is Ashley even talking to the guy, especially when she knows you can see her? Fuck everyone else; that alone is a red flag.”

“I know,” I said.

“That’s what you need to focus on. Look, I’m sure nothing will happen tonight, but I think if it did resonate with her like you said, something very well may happen, if not next week, then maybe next month, and who knows what she was doing at the party where she wore that t-shirt.”

“Mike, believe me, I know.”

“I think it may be time for Plan B.”

“Plan B?” I said.

“You said you guys are leaving tomorrow for the Jersey shore, right?”

“Yeah, in the morning.”

“When are you getting back?”

“Sunday evening.”

“And you’re both going to be in town next week?”

“Yeah.”

“OK, are you free Monday night to meet up for a drink?”

“Yeah.”

“OK, so let’s you and me meet up on Monday and figure out a plan for the three of us having a drink next week.”

“You, me and Ashley?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know.”

“Dave, it sounds like Tamara’s on sabotage patrol. There’s a real urgency now. I can read women extremely well. I’m good at detecting body language. Women betray what they’re trying to hide. But maybe I’ll see that she’s not hiding anything, and that it was a one-time fluke thing. And if so, I would want to give you that peace of my mind.”

“So what, like you would observe us out together?”

“Yeah, exactly, we’d all have a drink or two together.”

“Meaning you would talk with us?”

“Yeah, exactly.”

“How would that happen? You’d just come up to us and start talking?”

“No, trust me, I did this once before for a buddy. He learned he had nothing to worry about. That was four years ago and they’re still together, happier than ever.”

“Not sure I’m getting this, Mike.”