Unfaithful (5 page)

She flung cherry tomatoes in with her lettuce and attacked the cheese with equal venom. Rebecca sawed into the cucumber with as much force as she had sliced the cheese and lettuce.
He must think I'm an absolute moron
, she thought
. I always knew he was a flirt but I never imagined he'd actually cheat on me, after everything I've done for him, the wonderful life we've built together and he throws it all away on his secretary.

~~**~~

Rebecca cast her mind back to the utter desolation she had felt when she had discovered Mark's affair about a month previously. They'd been going through a stressful period; she'd been preoccupied with her sick mother and he was worried about the business. Relations between them had been quite strained for a few months and they had rarely made love during that time. They'd barely had a proper conversation for weeks, just exchanged a few short words, mostly by telephone as Rebecca was spending most of her days and late into the night looking after her mother. She had noticed that Mark had seemed withdrawn and distant but she had been too busy and too tired caring for her mother to talk to him about their issues.

Anyway, she'd gotten home early one afternoon and had decided to have a mass cleaning of the house. The place looked like a pig sty it was in such an untidy mess. She'd gone through Mark's gym bag, which stunk from his sweaty tee-shirt and joggers that he hadn't bothered to put in the laundry basket.

A mobile phone had fallen out of the pocket. She'd stared at the phone where it had fallen on the floor, knocking the battery out. She'd never seen the phone before. Mark only ever bought the latest, top of the line gadget and this was a cheap, simple looking model, not his usual iPhone.

She kept staring at it as if it was some sort of a radioactive device. She knelt down to pick up the battery. It clicked easily back into place. She held the phone in her hand for some minutes, trying to decide whether or not she should switch it on. She wiped it clean with a towel and considered putting it back in Mark's gym bag, where she could pretend that it didn't exist. She could continue living in blissful ignorance, unaware of the possible secrets that the simple mobile phone might hold. She sat there on the floor, knowing that her life might be about to change dramatically at the touch of a few small buttons.

She took a deep breath and switched it on. It felt like a lifetime until the screen lit up. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she had butterflies in her stomach. She thought she might vomit, but she willed herself to carry on. She owed it to herself to know the truth.

She had a quick look at the time. It was half past three. Mark wouldn't be home until after six o' clock and Christopher had gone to Sligo, surfing with his friends for a few days.

The screen prompted her for a pin number
.

Sneaky bastard
, she’d thought to herself.

Her mind raced and after trying several four number combinations she got the right pin on the third attempt. The pin number was the year of their marriage; 1990. She sighed at the irony.

The phone was now on its main menu. She went to the message section and had to force herself to read the texts in front of her on the screen. There were at least ten texts from someone called Shona and one or two from someone called Penelope. Rebecca's heart sank.

She opened and read the texts. The messages were mostly of a very flirty nature. She was absolutely gutted at the words in front of her and felt as if someone had punched her full force in the stomach.

How could Mark treat me like this?

She felt dirty and humiliated and very alone. The life that she and her cheating husband had built together suddenly seemed a lie, a joke, but the joke was on her.

She sat there on the floor until her legs started to cramp before finally stumbling to her feet. She’d switched the phone off and put it back in Mark's gym bag, flinging his dirty joggers and tee-shirt on top of the phone. Then she kicked the bag unceremoniously into the corner.

Rebecca didn't want Mark to know that she had discovered his affair. She needed time to get her thoughts together before she told him anything because she knew that he would somehow try to talk his way out of it. She went downstairs and made herself a strong cup of tea which she sipped slowly, the hot liquid calming her jangled nerves.

Her mind was racing. She was hurt, confused, scared, angry and worried. She didn't know what to do. If Mark was standing in front of her right there and then she would have quite happily battered him with a frying pan. Something told her not to tell him that she knew about his betrayal. She was a firm believer in following her instincts. She knew she had to pull herself together before Mark came home and realised that something was wrong.

He was very perceptive of her moods, the result of a marriage of almost twenty years, Rebecca thought wryly. The kitchen clock chimed five o' clock. She decided to have a quick shower to clear her head and ordered an Indian takeaway for dinner.

~~**~~

Rebecca was amazed at how she had managed to maintain the status quo this past month, since she'd discovered Mark's secret mobile phone. He didn't seem to have an inkling that anything had changed for her.

Well, he's in for a rather unpleasant surprise,
and she smiled smugly at the shock she had in store for her husband.

She was slowly formulating a plan to teach him a well-deserved lesson. She smiled wryly and thought that when this charade with Mark was concluded that she should take up acting. She never realised what a natural talent she had for it and felt that she was giving the performance of her life.

It was all she could do sometimes not to murder Mark as he slept beside her in bed. Some nights, when he was snoring his head off beside her, she'd lean over him and look at his peacefully sleeping face. There were several nights when she could barely restrain herself from grabbing her pillow and suffocating him. She'd catch herself fantasising sometimes about how she could murder him and get away with it and had gained a huge interest in detective programmes, especially when there was any spouse killing involved. She couldn't stand to be in the same room as Mark and it was all she could do not to punch him.

She buttered two slices of rye bread to go with her salad and made her way into the living room to join Mark, who was stretched out on the couch, watching sports. He playfully smacked her bum as she walked by him and she had to fight an almost uncontrollable urge to break his fingers.

"You're being very healthy these days," Mark turned to his wife.

"I'm just on a bit of a detox at the moment dear," Rebecca replied shortly through a mouthful of cheese.

"You've lost weight, I think," he continued, "it suits you." She managed to smile at him, while thinking
"patronising git."

They sat there in silence watching sports for a while.

"You're very quiet," Mark said, breaking the silence at last.

"I'm tired, that's all," Rebecca yawned, as if proving her point.

"Me too actually," he yawned in response. "I think I'll hit the hay. Want to join me?" He looked at her invitingly.

"I'll be up in a while. I need to load the dishwasher."

He stood up and helped his wife to her feet. He put his arms around her suddenly and hugged her close. She allowed herself to relax in his arms for a few minutes, in spite of herself. He always smelled so good. She sighed a long, slow sigh, gradually feeling the tension that she had held in her body this past month beginning to evaporate.

"I do love you, you know," he whispered in her hair.

"I love you too.” Right there and then in that moment she meant it. All the doubts, worries, stresses and strains of the past month seemed to melt away as he held her in his arms.

"I want you," she whispered, before she could stop herself.

"Come to bed," he whispered, looking into her eyes which were dark with lust.

She felt something stir within her as his eyes lingered on her breasts. He kissed her mouth then he took her by the hand and led her upstairs to their bedroom, the same bedroom that they'd shared for the last twenty years. She felt as if she was in a trance and all she could do was follow him. He closed the door behind them and drew the thick velvet curtains that hung at the huge bay window. He moved towards her and took her in his arms once again.

He kissed her softly on the lips and nuzzled her neck. He unbuttoned her shirt and undid her lacy bra, releasing her huge breasts. He was amazed at how firm and high they still were. She moaned quietly as he took her nipple in his mouth, teasing the pink peaks between his teeth. He kissed her stomach before moving slowly lower. Then he pulled her jeans and panties off. He moved his hand between her legs and cupped her for a few moments, gently massaging her clitoris with his fingers until he could feel her growing wetter and hotter. He knew her body so well and exactly how to play it.

Then he kissed and caressed every part of her, until she lay on the cool sheets of their bed and begged him to make love to her. She took him full in her mouth, savouring his hardness that would soon pleasure her. She flicked her tongue along his shaft and teased him with her tongue. She pulled him onto the bed and straddled him, sinking on to his wonderful erectness. He moaned with pleasure beneath her.  She rode him and bucked against him. He put his hands on her hips and moved himself faster within her, her breasts bouncing with her every movement. She closed her eyes and rocked back and forth, losing herself in her own building ecstasy.

He turned her over on to her back suddenly. She gasped at the change in tempo and arched her body towards him. He hovered over her for a moment, teasing her, before pushing himself deep inside her once again.

"You're so wet for me, baby.” His voice was husky with desire. She groaned with joy as he filled her. It had been months since they'd made love. She needed him, wanted him more than anything or anyone else in that moment. She didn't care what he might or might not have done with other women. All that mattered was that he was here, with her, right now, deep inside her, on top of her, taking her to places that only he had the power to control.

All that mattered was this mind-blowing frenzy that he was giving her and she was taking. She wrapped her legs tight around his back and he sank further into her hot wetness. He kissed her and probed her mouth with his tongue. It had been too long since they'd kissed properly. He savoured the sweet taste of her. His hands were on her buttocks, pushing his hardness deeper and more forcefully into her with long purposeful strokes. She moaned in satisfaction, feeling the slow waves of her orgasm beginning to increase within her.

"Faster," she cried as he brought her to the edge, increasing his rhythm.

"Not yet, baby, not yet," he whispered.

"Please!" she cried, "Mark, please!" She screamed as each wave finally washed over her. He drove into her harder and faster, finally exploding deep inside her.

Afterwards, he held her close, their damp bodies entangled around each other. He kissed her and soon dozed off into a blissful, peaceful sleep. Rebecca turned her back to him and cried silent tears.

Chapter 5

“What does love mean anyway?” Shona asked Jackie, as she viciously bit into her juicy quarter pounder beef burger.

They'd decided to meet for a quick lunch on Shona's break from work and were sitting by the window in McDonald's tucking into their Big Mac meals.

“Oh, God, Shona, I don’t know,” Jackie mumbled, in between bites.

“I read in a magazine article today that most people exist in a bubble of mutual co-dependency, which they mistakenly think is love.”

“That's a bit cynical,” Jackie frowned.

“I think there could be a lot of truth in it,” Shona declared, in between mouthfuls. She took a big gulp of her diet Coke.

“The example of co-dependency that springs to my mind is the situation between Mark and Rebecca. Mark loves me, but because he has spent so long with his wife, he's finding it difficult to move on.”

“Hmmm,” Jackie sighed.

Shona had agonised over the details of her affair several times during the past few weeks. Jackie was tired of hearing about the affair and her sister's attempts to convince herself that what she and Mark shared was in some way special. She found it difficult to comprehend how naiive her sister was being about the whole situation.

It was quite clear to Jackie that Mark had no intention of ever leaving his wife and that he was just stringing Shona along. She was bored of trying to give Shona advice and was starting to get annoyed with her sister's incessant attempts to justify how much they loved each other. She didn't want to argue with her sister over Mark, he just wasn't worth it, but she privately hoped that Shona would end their affair sooner rather than later.

“I know, I know, you don't want to talk about Mark and me.” Shona nibbled on a few French fries.

“He doesn't deserve you. You're way too good to be having an affair with a married man. There are so many single, available men out there who would be thrilled if you were their girlfriend.”