98 comments/ 122439 views/ 33 favorites Paper Matches By: jake60 Chapter 1 Bill Phillips leaned back against the headboard of the bed as he looked at the item that had led to the painful situation he now found himself in. It was so simple, and still very common, although not as common as they had once been. Not quite 3 inches wide by 2 inches high, and if you looked at it from the side it appeared to be in the shape of a small wedge. An everyday package of paper matches. He opened it and counted the remaining matches inside, and came up with 35, the same number he always arrived at when he went through this ritual. Five were missing; another number that never changed. He wondered why he took the time to count them again, and considered that maybe it was a sign of his depression. This particular package was plain white in color, both inside and out, with fuchsia printing on the flap that opened to reveal the matches inside. When he first saw the package he thought of the color as sort of a light purple, but a secretary at the office had told him that no, it wasn't purple, it was fuchsia. Someone else told him later that the printing was magenta, and when he checked it out on the Internet he found that the two names were synonymous. It didn't really matter; although he sort of thought that every time he would see the color in the future it was going to bring him feelings of sadness and loss. There wasn't any phone number, or address, or map to show you how one would find the place it was advertising. All that was printed on it, in fancy script, was 'The Puma's Den'. When he first saw that name he had no idea of what it meant, and by this time he sometimes wondered if it might not have been better if he had never learned of its significance. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss. Bill had almost another hour to wait before he made a promised call to his sister Sandy, and he decided to once again spend his time going back over everything that had happened since his first exposure to this plain book of paper matches. It had all started just over two months ago....... +++++++++++++ It was Thursday and almost 9 p.m. Eastern Time, time for Bill Phillips to make his normal call home to his wife Linda. He made the call at the same time every evening when he was out of town in Colorado Springs. It was only 7 p.m. Mountain Time, but he had already eaten, and would probably watch some sporting event on TV when he got off the phone to his wife. Bill Phillips was 37 years old, a ruggedly handsome man of almost 6 feet in height, with brown hair and blue-gray eyes. He knew his wife Linda, who was a year younger than him, would be sitting near the phone just as he was. He could picture her as clearly as if she was sitting there beside him, with her short dark brown hair, her dark eyes, dimpled smile and her well proportioned 5 foot 4 body. He found himself smiling in anticipation of being at home with her again the next night. During the last week of every month he made a trip to his company's Colorado Springs facility to check, test and upgrade the computers and servers that his IT department was responsible for. Bill relied on the local manager during the rest of each month, but Bill was the one in the company that had the expertise to ensure that everything was being done according to the specs of the equipment and software manufacturers, and to the strict requirements the board of directors he reported to insisted on. He'd been making these trips for almost 18 months, ever since their company, Abstract Devices Inc., had purchased one of its main competitors, a firm that had their offices and manufacturing facility situated in this lovely city in Colorado. His trips always started the same way, leaving Dayton, Ohio in the afternoon on Wednesday and returning home from Colorado late in the evening on Friday. Full days on Thursday and Friday would ensure that all of the software had been properly upgraded to the latest revision levels, and the antivirus programs were up to date with the latest virus signature files. It was also important that all of the firm's networked computers contained nothing but the software they should contain. The two buildings, one for manufacturing and the other containing office facilities housed several hundred terminals as well as their controlling servers and the devices interconnecting everything. It took a lot of time to ensure they were all compliant. Their company manufactured electronic devices for the military, and the last thing they would need was a surprise visit by the military that found something out of order with their computer security. It was a given that the military would check at least once per year without giving them any heads-up. It was his job to make sure those inspections never found anything that was unacceptable. Bill had phoned Linda on Wednesday evening, letting her know that he had arrived safely, and that the weather was wonderful compared to the rain they were experiencing in Ohio. The conversation lasted for approximately 15 minutes, the usual amount of time they would spend on the phone. They had exchanged their normal 'I love you' messages at the end of the call, and he had spent the rest of the evening answering corporate emails. Bill finally called it a night about three hours later, shut off the television and the lights, and then crawled into bed. Now it was Thursday evening and he only had this one night left to pass before he would head back to Dayton. He was watching the clock, and finally it was close enough to 7 p.m., the time that he normally would make his call. As usual his wife answered on the second ring, and reported that as usual, she was fine, but had had a busy day at work. She was a sales manager at a large furniture store in the Dayton Mall, located not too far from where they lived. There were four other locations around the Dayton area, and her job entailed overseeing their sales forces as well. There wasn't much of great importance to talk about, because he had only been gone from Dayton for a day and a half. Instead they took turns joking with each other about who had the most difficult job, but soon they exchanged their customary messages of love and he hung up the phone. Within 15 minutes he was getting comfortable on the bed, watching baseball, when he realized that he had not told his wife that his return flight would be getting him home at the unusual time of 7 in the evening, instead of what had been the more normal time of 10 o'clock Dayton time. The airline's scheduled flight from Colorado Springs had been permanently moved forward by three hours, a change that he welcomed wholeheartedly. He was lucky he had checked his ticket in time, as he had just naturally assumed his flight would leave at the time that he had become accustomed to. When he phoned to confirm the change he was told that in order to accommodate new routes the flight from Colorado Springs to Dayton by way of Indianapolis had to be bumped up to the earlier hour. Sometimes change was good, he decided. Since he was going to be that much earlier getting home he had intended to ask Linda if she wanted to go out for a drink, and maybe some dancing, for a couple of hours after he got home. This wasn't something they were usually able to do on Fridays anymore, and it had once been their most usual way to spend a Friday evening. It was 9:20 when he called home for the second time, but this time Linda didn't pick up the phone, and eventually he had to leave his message on the answering machine. The answering machine would pick up after only four rings, so he made his message long enough that she would have a chance to get to the phone if she had heard it ring. He wondered why she had been unable to take the call, but finally assumed that it was because she was probably doing the laundry and hadn't heard the phone. She would often tackle mundane chores like that later in the evening when he was away on his monthly trip. In any event, he was soon engrossed in the ballgame, and the fact she hadn't answered his call was just as quickly forgotten. +++++++++++++ The earlier departure from Colorado Springs had forced Bill to skip his usual lunch at a nearby restaurant, having to settle instead for a sandwich from a vending machine, but other than that it had been no problem for him. He had also managed to have a quick snack in the Colorado Springs Airport while he waited for his departure. Bill traveled light, and it didn't take long for him to get out of Dayton International Airport and into his car that had been left in the long term parking area. The route home was down I75 south to the Miamisburg Centreville Road exit. It was just before 8 o'clock when Bill Phillips got to their home on a quiet street in West Carrollton, a suburban area southwest of Dayton. It was a nice area, and he and Linda loved their home. As an added bonus neither of them had to drive very far to get to their jobs. Originally their home had belonged to Bill's parents, but when his parents decided to move to Florida for their retirement, they had given the home to Bill and his sister Sandy. After some friendly negotiations Bill had bought out his sister, although doing so had required him to take a mortgage out on the property. It had been his home for over 10 years. He had owned the house for a year before he and Linda decided to marry, and it was natural for them to make the house their home together. With three bedrooms it was large enough that they wouldn't have to move right away when they decided to have children. As he pulled into his space in the garage he wondered if Linda had considered the message he had left for her, and whether she would want to go out for a quiet drink at least. He could see she was home because her new model Chrysler was in her spot, right beside his more pedestrian Ford sedan. He hoped that if Linda was agreeable to going out that she would give him time to shower and change. He had been busy and rushed for most of the day, especially with the need to get to the airport earlier than he was used to, and he needed to freshen himself up. It shouldn't be a problem, as he could get ready quickly. He entered the house through the kitchen entrance, left his laptop on the kitchen table, and went down the hallway towards their master bedroom. The door was almost closed, and he pushed it aside gently before stepping into the empty bedroom. He could see that a dim glow of light was visible through the slightly opened door to the ensuite bathroom. After carefully setting down his suitcase he quietly slipped off his shoes, jacket and tie, and walked to the bathroom door. When he opened it slightly he could see his wife relaxing in the tub under a swath of bubbles. Her brown eyes were closed and he could tell she was probably in a state of semi-sleep. There were about a dozen candles of varying sizes and shapes scattered around the bathroom. "You look comfortable, my dear. It's been a while since I've seen you relaxing in a bubble bath. I almost feel like I should join you." He laughed quietly, knowing that his offer would be refused, again, as it always was. Linda didn't open her eyes before replying, "I've been waiting for you, but I think you can go have a shower in the bathroom across the hall and then come back to join me." Now she did open her eyes, and quickly turned towards him with a radiant smile before continuing, "I didn't mean join me in the tub, either, Bill. We'll need a bigger tub before you can do that." She let out a little giggle after implying that she wasn't totally opposed to the idea. Bill was already removing his shirt and unbuckling his pants as he answered, "I'll be right back! Don't you go anywhere." Linda giggled again and said, "I wouldn't dream of it. Get back here as soon as you can and I'll give you your reward for getting home so early." +++++++++++++ Bill wasn't a rocket scientist, but it didn't require that level of knowledge to realize that Linda had something in mind. She often did feel especially playful after relaxing in a warm tub swathed with bubbles and breathing the air sweetened by the aromatic candles she enjoyed. Within 10 minutes Bill had returned to rejoin his wife in the bathroom. His prominent erection led the way as he entered the room, and it didn't escape Linda's notice. "Mmmm, is that for me? I like it when you bring me a gift from one of your trips." She was smiling, and Bill thought he heard her giggle again, but very softly this time. Bill laughed and replied, "It sure is for you." He then added suggestively, "Where would you like me to put it?" He pretended to leer at her as he spoke. Linda tapped the edge of the tub and said, "Move a couple of these candles and then sit here." She began to move her slender body around in the tub so that she would be facing the spot she had indicated. Masses of bubbles were clinging to her from the neck down, but gravity was causing them to slowly slide down towards the water. After he did as instructed and sat facing her with his feet in the tub on either side of her, she leaned forward and without hesitation or fair warning she inhaled his manhood until he felt the head of it reach the opening of her throat. "Oh God, Linda! That feels wonderful! It's been so long." She began to fellate him slowly, and his natural reaction was to place his hands on her head, but she quickly pushed them aside, preferring to keep their only physical connection his cock in her mouth. She was using her tongue to great advantage, tickling the underside of his erection as she slowly moved back and forth. She was varying the amount of suction she was applying, and he found this added to the eroticism of the moment. When he tried to take hold of her head a second time, and again was rebuffed, he placed his hands palm down on each of his thighs while he closed his eyes, deciding to simply enjoy the experience. Linda continued her actions, but now combined them with variations that included sometimes stopping with the tip of his erection trying to enter her throat, and other times making only short movements while she twisted her head from side to side. She carried this on for almost 5 minutes before Bill was forced to say something. "Linda, you had better stop now. I'm about to cum." He knew she wasn't a fan of catching his cum in her mouth, and had only once to his recollection ever swallowed. He fully expected her to finish him off with her fingers. A few seconds later he said, this time more urgently, "You had better move, quickly." She didn't stop, remove her mouth, or even indicate that she had heard him. Instead she began a slightly more rapid motion, and it seemed to him that she had increased the suction on him slightly. Within seconds the outcome was beyond his control. He had opened his eyes and was watching her now, still expecting her to pull her head away and let his ejaculation join the last of the bubbles that were slowly sliding down her breasts. It didn't happen. Instead, he saw her swallow twice before she brought her fingers up to begin milking the last of his semen from his shrinking erection. Her head had been down so that he couldn't see her eyes during all of this, but finally after one last suctioning kiss she removed her mouth from his member and looked up at him, a grin on her face. Before he could say anything, she opened her mouth to let him see there was still some of his semen on her tongue before she closed her mouth and made a show of swallowing a third time. "Wow, Linda! What brought that on? I sure hope we can do this again." He was grinning as he looked at his pretty dark-haired wife who was grinning back at him. She giggled and said, "Don't get your hopes up. I'm not going to promise to give you a blow job every time you get back from Colorado Springs." Her face took on a little more serious look as she continued, "I just thought it was time that I got a little more adventurous." Bill bent over to kiss his wife, and she immediately brought her tongue into his mouth, letting him get just a small taste of himself. That had happened once before in his life, with a previous girlfriend, and while he had been initially shocked that first time, he had quickly realized that there was no reason to be put off by the taste. When the kiss ended he said, "What prompted the decision to become more adventurous? Not that I'm complaining!" His wife smiled at him and answered, "I read a long article on how to please your husband in one of the women's magazines, and it mentioned how much men enjoy the... full treatment." She paused before adding, "I asked Denise about it, too." With the mention of her friend's name, Bill lost most of his smile. Denise Grady was a longtime friend of his wife's, a divorcee who spent most of her time when she wasn't selling real estate trying to seduce any man she came close to. She'd even grabbed his ass in front of Linda, and then had simply laughed at him when he objected. Denise was what his dad would have called a bottle blonde, 38, with a figure that had been enhanced with silicone to give her a 38D chest to go along with her otherwise slim build. She was reasonably pretty, but it was her chest that attracted a lot of men. He just found her willingness to go out with a married man as quickly as a single one off-putting. He and Linda had disagreed more than once about the fact that he disliked having her hanging around with Denise. "So you're suggesting that I owe Denise a thank you for this wonderful experience we just shared? You know what I think of that idea, Linda." Linda stood up in the tub and began using a hand sprayer to rinse the bubbles from her body before she answered her husband. "I know you don't care for Denise, but she's not so bad. I just asked her if it got easier to swallow the more often you did it, and she assured me that in time I would even enjoy the taste." With that said, she started blowing out the candles, a job that Bill joined her in. When they were done he helped her to step out of the tub and then enjoyed the task of drying her with one of the fluffy towels she had laid out on the counter. He gave her perky 36B breasts maximum attention, before making sure that her mons didn't require shaving. At first she tried to convince him that she had just finished shaving before getting into the bath, but as his attention moved more to the area of her clit she quit trying to convince him, and instead began to moan in appreciation. Not wanting to continue in the confines of the bathroom, he finally took her hand and led her to their king size bed. He didn't get any argument. ++++++++++++++++++ On Saturday morning Bill was the first one awake. He lay there thinking about the night before, when he and his wife seemed to have tried everything sexual they could think of, and even tried some things twice. They had drifted off to sleep more from fatigue and satisfaction than from anything else. He smiled as he thought about how uninhibited his wife had been. He had been awake a couple of minutes, trying to mentally relive the night before, when he realized that he needed to have a pee. He got up carefully, making sure that he didn't wake up his wife. Once he was in the bathroom he relieved himself and then washed up and brushed his teeth. It was as he was putting his toothbrush away that he saw the candles still scattered throughout the room. He began to collect them and put them on the shelf where Linda usually kept them. When he did that he noticed five burned matches stacked on the vanity. At first he thought that Linda may have scorched the surface with them, but when he picked them up he could tell that they were damp, and that she had probably put each one of them out by running water over them. He added them to the contents of the garbage can and then picked up the book of paper matches that had been lying beside them. Paper Matches He didn't smoke, and normally he would never have a use for matches, so it was somewhat unusual that he took a look at the matches before putting them onto the shelf with the candles. There were a couple of matchbooks already there, ones that his wife must have acquired to use with her scented candles. The matchbook in his hand was very plain, pure white with writing on one side, but no other identifying features. The writing was in a fancy cursive style and simply said 'The Puma's Den'. It seemed like an odd name to him, and it was probably for that reason alone that he would be able to remember what had been written on the matches. He placed it with the others on the shelf. ++++++++++++ It was during his morning coffee break on Monday that Bill remembered the matches he had found on the countertop in their bathroom. He was seated with four other men and two women, all of them enjoying coffee together as was normal for their group. When there was a lull in the conversation Bill spoke up. "Has anyone here heard of something called 'The Puma's Den'? I saw the name on some matches, but I can't say I've ever heard of it." His answer was a random combination of the word 'No' and the shaking of heads. Within seconds the conversation in the room had shifted to a new topic. Later in the morning, during a pause in the workday, Bill checked the Dayton and Area phone books for 'The Puma's Den', but he found nothing listed. He was beginning to get curious now, and did an Internet search with the same results. Most people would have dropped it after that, but Bill was known for his attention to detail on the job, and an unanswered question became a challenge regardless of how insignificant it might have been. It was now firmly in his mind that he wanted to track down the source of the paper matches he had found in his bathroom. +++++++++ As they were having their dinner Monday night a thought came to Bill's mind and he asked his wife, "So how did I happen to miss you on Thursday night when I called? Obviously you got my message, and thank God for that, considering the welcome home that I got." He laughed and got up to get some steak sauce from the refrigerator so he didn't notice the momentary flash of panic that crossed Linda's face when he asked his question. By the time he closed the refrigerator door and was turning to retake his seat at the table she was ready with her answer. "Just after I talked to you, I went for a shower before bed, and I didn't hear it ring. I got your message in the morning. I gather from your call that this is a permanent change to your return flight." Bill laughed and said, "The woman at the airline that I spoke with says it is a change to their schedule. I was so used to the old time that I am definitely lucky I spotted the change on my ticket, or I would've missed my flight home. I wasn't usually at the airport until well after their new departure time." They continued with their meals and were soon having their dessert, chocolate cake that Linda had baked on the weekend. It was while they were enjoying the cake that Bill remembered the book of matches. "Oh, Linda. When I was cleaning up the candles in the bathroom on Saturday morning, I found a book of matches from some place called 'The Puma's Den'. What is that? I've never heard of it." This time he was looking his wife's way as she heard his question, and he did notice a very momentary look of shock, or possibly panic, pass over her face. It was a fleeting change to her otherwise composed features, and it struck him as unusual. She quickly answered him with, "I have no idea, Bill. I don't even know where I got those matches from. I must've picked them up somewhere, most likely at work." She had finished her cake, and as she began to speak she decided to stand up and collect some of the dirty dishes still on the table and carry them to the dishwasher. He was unable to watch her face as she completed her answer. If it wasn't for his inquisitive nature he probably would've dropped it at that, but instead he again filed it away for further investigation. He wasn't sure, but he was almost of the opinion that his wife wasn't telling him everything she knew about the matches. He knew Linda's normal demeanor, something he was used to after almost 10 years of marriage, and her reaction hadn't been what he considered normal for her. +++++++++++++ The next morning Bill stuck the book of matches in his pocket before leaving for work, thinking that perhaps someone actually seeing them would be able to identify them more easily. They stayed in his pocket for most of the day. It was late that afternoon when he was reminded of the matches, after he stuck his hand into his pocket to retrieve his pocket knife. He had a chip in one of his fingernails that was annoying him, and he wanted to pare it away with the knife. When he felt the matches he took them out of his pocket and looked at them once again. A few minutes later when he went into the outer office he brought them out again and asked several of his coworkers if they recognized them. No one did, and about all he learned was that the printing was done in the color fuchsia, although someone else in the office argued that it was magenta. During the last half hour of his day he had to drop in at the Technical Services Department to advise them of a new software version that would have to be installed on each individual computer in the building. It's not a job he would actually be doing himself; he had technicians to do the job. There were three technicians in the office at the time he arrived, and just before he left he took out the matches and asked if anyone knew where they were from. Jason and Carl, two men in their 50s, took a quick look before shaking their heads and then going back to their work, but Jim, a young man who had been hired only a month before, right out of college, grinned when he saw them. "Oh yeah, I know that place." Jim looked closely at Bill before saying, "Where did you get them? I would very much doubt that you were there." He chuckled after saying that. Bill was a bit confused and said, "Why do you doubt that I would have been there?" The young technician grinned again and replied, "You're not a match with their clientele. You're either the wrong age or the wrong sex." This confused Bill even more and he said, "I think you'll have to explain it to me, Jim. I found these matches, and I was curious about them. I'm not even sure what this name signifies. Can you enlighten me?" This time Jim laughed before answering, "Well, a puma is a wildcat, but it's also another name for a cougar." He looked at Bill to see whether this triggered a reaction, and when he saw that Bill's face hadn't registered any recognition he continued. "You know... a cougar. It's what they call an older woman that likes chasing younger guys. 'The Puma's Den' is a bar on the east side of town. It's on Indian Ripple Road, just after it changes from East Dorothy Lane; just west of where I675 crosses." A belated look of understanding had appeared on Bill's face, and he asked, "Have you been there? You seem to be pretty well acquainted with it. I tried to find out what it was, but I couldn't even find it in the phone book." The technician answered, "Oh yeah! I was there a few times. I got more than one bruise on my ass from being pinched by an aggressive cougar. I had more than a couple of them take me home for the night." "Actually, I went home with one of them every time I was there. Then I met my wife, and I quit going to 'The Puma's Den'. I hadn't thought of it for a couple of years; talking about it brings back some old memories." "As for not finding them in the phone book, the place is sort of playing on the privacy angle. They don't even advertise on their sign that it's a bar, and the sign is pretty small. I think they depend on word-of-mouth advertising. One of the guys in my dorm told me about it. " He could see that Bill was quite interested, although he also seemed to have paled and become strangely concerned, and so he continued, "It's like I said, you're the wrong age or the wrong sex. Their clientele is single or divorced women from about 35 to probably 60, along with young guys; they call them cubs, up to their mid to late 20s." Bill interrupted and said, "Did you say the young guys are called cubs?" He thought for a second and then added, "I guess that makes sense when you use the cougar analogy." Jim continued again, "Yep, that's where the name comes from. A lot of the frat boys from Dayton University or Wright State go there to get laid. The ladies usually even buy them their drinks." "It's not a big place, maybe room for about a hundred or so, but it's usually hopping later in the week. For some reason Saturday night is not the busiest night. I used to think that Wednesday to Friday were the best nights to be there." He stopped speaking and gave a wry smile, as though he was remembering something their conversation had triggered. Bill had a question and asked, "Is that their only clientele; older women looking for younger guys? Are they all single or divorced?" "Yeah, I'd say that's all their business caters to. The drinks are pricey, probably because once one of the ladies hooks up with one of the 'cubs' they generally like to get out of there. There have been some pretty foxy women come in there, and when a guy hooks up with one of them he wants to get her out of there quickly, before some other guy cuts in on his action." He laughed before adding, "It's a bit cutthroat sometimes. There are quite a few ladies who like to hang around and dance to the jukebox, but they're all there for one thing, and I think most of them leave once they find a guy they want to get to know a bit better, if you know what I mean." A few seconds later he added, "I don't think they check ring fingers at the door, so there probably could be some married women in there, you know, wives interested in getting a little bit on the side." They had pretty much covered the subject, and Bill thanked Jim for the information before he took his leave, sticking the matches back into his pocket. He was worried now, concerned about how Linda had obtained the matches. He couldn't for one second believe that she would've been to the place, although her friend Denise Grady sounded like a definite match for the female patrons. Bill had told his wife many times about how much he disliked her friend, and now he was wondering if his concerns could have been too well placed. He still felt he could trust Linda, but he certainly didn't trust Denise. Maybe if he was lucky Denise had simply left the matches at his home. As Jim turned to walk away he could see how a woman would be interested in him. Jim was a handsome man with the popular bad boy look enhanced by an intricate tattoo on his left forearm, and a small soul patch on his lower lip. He tried to imagine Jim with his wife Linda, but he just couldn't do it. Chapter 2 Bill got home slightly before his wife that afternoon, and the first thing he did was to put the matches back in the bathroom on the shelf where they had been. Until he thought more about this he didn't want Linda to realize that he was interested in her paper matches. That evening they went out for supper at the Alibi Club, and had a good time together. Linda was even interested in having a drink in the attached lounge after their meal, and they spent an hour and a half there, getting up and dancing several times while they nursed a drink each. When they got home she once again tried to show him how practice makes perfect when it comes to blow jobs. Once again he got to taste a trace of himself when his wife tried to swallow his tongue just as she had swallowed his cock and his semen a few minutes earlier. She managed to take his mind completely off the matches and the bar they came from. ++++++++++++ Bill might not have constantly wondered about the significance of the matches, especially when his wife managed to take his mind off them, but thoughts of cougars, and young men, and matches were never too far from his conscious mind for the rest of the first two weeks that he was home. He realized as time passed that he thought about the situation more and more often, but he was unable to accept the idea or the conclusion that Linda had been to 'The Puma's Den' herself. It was also hard for him to imagine how else she had managed to acquire them. Eventually Bill had come back to the tentative conclusion that Denise must have been responsible for getting the matches, and then had either forgotten them at his house when she visited his wife, or perhaps had even offered them to Linda to use with her candles. He could also imagine Linda asking Denise for the matches to stick on that shelf in the bathroom, so that she would be sure to have a supply of matches when she needed them; at least that is what he tried to convince himself of. He was only marginally successful, though, and his confidence level varied to the extremes. ++++++++++ It was Monday morning, 10 days before he was to make his next trip to Colorado Springs. Bill had just spent most of the weekend busy in his backyard while Linda did some major housecleaning, but he was also trying to settle in his mind once and for all the question of whether he had any reason to doubt his wife's fidelity. In fact, his concerns had kept him awake for hours during most of the last couple of nights until finally, at 2 a.m. on Monday morning, he had made the conscious decision to try to prove to himself that he had nothing to worry about. With the decision made, he had finally been able to get some much needed sleep. At just after 10:30 in the morning he went down to the Technical Services Department to consult with Jason Shields, the senior man in that department. He knew that Jason had expertise with surveillance equipment in the past. It was equipment that their company had installed to monitor the parking lots, building entrances and strategic locations inside their offices and manufacturing facilities. Jason was alone in the office when he arrived, but still Bill requested that Jason join him in one of the conference rooms for a private discussion. That wasn't a completely unexpected situation in a department that handled things like security surveillance and also computer security for a company involved in military contracts. Jason was a tall man, almost 6 foot 2, with dark hair that was graying at the temples. He had craggy features and a rough voice, and a first impression could be that he was intimidating, but Bill knew that this projection of toughness disguised a friendly and very knowledgeable man. He quickly got to the point. "What's this about, Bill? Do we have some security concerns somewhere?" Bill didn't quite know how to broach the subject, but he finally said, "I have a situation that's more delicate than most. It's a personal request, not for something here at Abstract Devices. I'm hoping you can give me some advice, strictly off the record." Jason didn't hesitate to answer, "I don't have any problem with that at all. You've been more than fair with me over the years, and I'd be very happy to help you with anything, if I can." He stood there expectantly, waiting to hear what Bill had on his mind. Now that the moment had arrived where he would have to put his fears and suspicions into words, and actually share them with someone else, Bill was suddenly unsure if he should take that step. He realized he was almost afraid that by speaking those words he could somehow make them come true. "Well... I'm not really sure what I want; I guess I'm hoping you can suggest something to me. I'm wondering... I'd like to know... if there's an easy way for me to bug my own home." He became even more nervous and hesitant before continuing, "I need to know whether anything... suspicious... is happening around my home when I'm out of town." Jason caught on quickly and immediately replied, "I think I know what you're getting at, Bill. I'm not sure if you know this, but I got divorced about 18 months ago. It was surveillance equipment that I installed that gave me what I needed in order to prove my wife was having an affair with our next-door neighbor, a man that I had considered a good friend." Bill quickly nodded his head and said, "That's what I need. I don't think there's anything going on, but I have to know whether my suspicions have any foundation in fact. I'm afraid I'll drive myself crazy with the uncertainty, even though my reasons for being suspicious seem to me to be pretty slim." The older man nodded at two of the chairs and said, "Why don't we sit down here, and you can tell me what's got you feeling this way. I went through this with my wife, so I guess it could perhaps give me some small measure of expertise on the subject, although I know that everyone's circumstances are different." The suggestion seemed logical to Bill, and he quickly spilled out his concerns. "I don't really have anything concrete. It all started when I found a package of matches in my bathroom that advertised a place I didn't recognize. It's a bar called 'The Puma's Den'. I finally found out what it was all about from Jim, the new man in your department." "Long story short, it's a bar catering to... middle-aged women who want to hook up with young guys. I can't imagine Linda, that's my wife, going to a place like that, but that's what I have to find out. She also has a divorced friend who potentially could be a really bad influence." "Last week I was doing some research on the Internet, searching for ideas on what to look for in the way of suspicious things a cheating spouse might do or say. Only a couple of them struck home. The big one is that lately my wife has been much more aggressive sexually. According to what I read, that might mean she's trying to avoid suspicion, or maybe she's trying to make up for something she's already done." Bill hesitated, but he finally continued, "Another thing I read was that a change in sexual practices might be a sign of infidelity. Lately she's apparently overcome a long-time aversion to oral sex... and to... swallowing my semen." He laughed nervously and added, "I know, you're going to think I'm crazy to be complaining about that." The younger man quickly returned to his sober state and said, "There was also the night I phoned home while I was out of town and she wasn't there to answer my call. She gave me what seemed to be a plausible reason for that, but I have no idea if she was telling me the truth. Last but not least, I'm pretty sure she lied to me when I asked her about the matches from 'The Puma's Den'." He squirmed uncomfortably in his chair before saying, "I know it isn't much, and I've probably got everything all wrong, but this is eating at me now. I really need to find a way to prove to myself that I'm wrong about all of this." Now that he'd made his explanation, Bill leaned back in his chair and relaxed, having just realized that he was hunched forward awkwardly and was completely tensed up. Jason didn't say anything at first, but finally he began, "I don't think you have as much to go on as I did, but I don't mean to say that you're wrong to be concerned. I also looked into what the clues for infidelity might be, and in my case the big one was that my wife started working more hours, 'overtime', but I could see her checks weren't any larger when they were deposited in the bank." "I installed some little surveillance cameras, one in the living room and one in the bedroom, along with a digital recorder on the telephone line. I was finally able to tape her phone conversation with the next-door neighbor, making plans to meet him at the Red Roof Inn over by I75. I think it's over in your direction, isn't it?" Paper Matches Bill nodded his head and said, "I know the place. I see their sign every time I drive to work, or when I go back home." Jason continued, "I never did get anything from the cameras, but I was able to use the information on the audio recording so that I could be waiting there to get film of the two of them going into and coming out of the room one evening. It was enough, especially when it showed them kissing and feeling each other up in the parking lot." He shook his head and looked sad as he said, "22 years, down the drain just like that. At least the kids took my side, and have basically disowned her. They're both in University, and these were supposed to be the start of the...our... golden years, I guess. I don't know where she moved to, somewhere near Detroit I think. She has a sister there." "The neighbor got divorced too, but he had no interest in a long-term relationship with my ex. His wife took him to the cleaners, because they had a prenup that she was able to use against him; something about an adulterer hardly getting any of the family assets." He seemed to realize that he was getting away from what they had been discussing and quickly laughed before continuing, "That's enough about what my problem was like. You're here for my help with your own situation, not the other way around." Jason thought for a couple of moments before he said, "I think I know exactly what you need. There's some new equipment that just came out, and I just read about it the other day. High definition, audio and video capable, and connects to a computer using WiFi. They're small, and they give a very high quality output." He quickly got up and said, "Let me go get one of the trade publications that's on my desk. I'll show you what I mean." Before he left the room Jason stopped and added, "You know, I'd loan you the two cameras I used, but I gave them to a friend. I do have the telephone recorder, though, and I'll bring it to work with me tomorrow. It works well, and you can just give it back to me when you're finished with it." +++++++++ It took Jason a little longer than planned to find the publication he was thinking of, and Bill used the time to once again think about where he would be able to place surveillance devices. He thought he had that all figured out, but everything changed when Jason returned. Jason seemed excited when he reentered the conference room. He was waving the trade publication as he came in and sat down across from Bill. He opened it up to one of the pages and turned it so that Bill could see the information. "This little baby is quite the camera. It uses WiFi to send audio and video to a PC or network server, and it accepts programming from the PC. It can be run by battery or an AC adapter. There are also versions that come built into things like a working clock radio, plug-in air freshener or Carbon Monoxide detector." The two men looked over the information provided in the advertisement and then Jason left to grab his laptop so that they could visit the corporate website of the manufacturer. They found even more information on options and features on their website. Bill had a small smile and was nodding his head as he said, "This equipment looks ideal for me. Do you have any idea how long it would take to get it? I'd like to have it up and running before my next trip in 10 days." Jason did another quick check of the website and found that there was a distributor in Cincinnati. "I deal with this supplier from time to time. I would think we could get them to ship whatever you want overnight. Delivery won't be a problem." "In fact, I should have a good working relationship with their sales manager. Her name is Heidi Westerback, and I knew her years ago when we were teenagers and both of us lived in Xenia." Jason paused, and it was obvious that he was doing some thinking as his gaze was fixed on the end wall of the room. Bill was just about to say something when Jason continued, "I think I heard she had been widowed a while back. Maybe I can use your order as an excuse to get to know her again, not as customer and client, but as man and woman. You know, we actually dated years ago." Quickly returning to the present from his trip down memory lane he said, "Let's figure out what you need and we can order it by the end of the day, and hopefully you'll have it here in the morning." The two men discussed the possibilities that Bill had settled on, and ended up ordering four of the high-end devices. Bill was back in his office before noon, with the order having been placed and charged to his credit card. When he left Jason he was at his desk, engaged in a pleasant personal conversation with his old friend Heidi. +++++++++++ Bill's order of surveillance equipment arrived the next day, and he spent his free time inspecting it and reading the enclosed literature. If it hadn't been prevented by their company's security rules, the ones he had written himself, he would have installed the software and practiced with the equipment right then and there. Jason had brought in the telephone recorder as promised, along with the instruction booklet for it. It was a simple device that was installed in the telephone line by plugging it into a wall jack, and then plugging a telephone into the recorder. A quick look at the specifications showed that the replaceable batteries would record hours of conversation to a standard plug-in memory card. He was very impressed with the apparent quality and sophisticated features of all of the industrial grade equipment. Before the end of the day he had booked the next day off, time he intended to use for installation and testing of the cameras. ++++++++++ That was how he found himself in a nearby IHOP restaurant the next morning, having a light breakfast while he waited a sufficient length of time to allow his wife to leave their house for her job. He hadn't told her about his day off for obvious reasons, and he hoped to use the time to install and fine-tune the surveillance system. By 9:15 he was back in his house, his car safely hidden away in the garage. It didn't take him long to get started with the installation. The first device was a simple freestanding camera housed in a black metal box approximately 1 inch by 2" by 4" deep. A short WiFi antenna extended from the back of it, and a small power adapter plugged into a jack in the back as well. This camera was soon attached with double-sided tape to the side of a piece of their stereo equipment in the living room, its power source plugged into the power bar that the rest of their home entertainment system used. Bill felt that it would provide a pretty good view of the entire living room, the entrance way, and part of the kitchen. His next camera went into their master bedroom. It was a different version of the device, and was housed inside a completely normal looking and fully functional clock radio. He suspected that there was some additional shielding inside to protect the electronics from interference, but otherwise it looked nothing like surveillance equipment. It got its power from the AC plug used by the clock radio, and the only real difference from the standard clock radio it replaced were slight changes on the front of it, and a stubby WiFi antenna that folded out from the back of it. Their old clock radio ended up at the bottom of a box in the garage. Once it was in place Bill doubted that his wife would even notice it wasn't the original one. Both of them had long since quit using the alarm feature of their clock radio, depending instead on their cell phone alarms. About the only use it ever got was to show them the time if they were to awaken during the night. A third camera, identical to the one he installed in his own bedroom went into the guest bedroom. It had never had a clock radio in the past, but he doubted that it would attract any significant attention from his wife in just a couple of weeks. In fact, Bill felt it was unlikely that Linda would even realize there hadn't been a clock radio in the guest bedroom. The fourth camera was installed in the recreation room in the basement. They didn't use it very often, usually only when they had company, but he wanted one there anyway. It was another of the non-disguised versions, and he attached it to the side of the TiVo unit on their television stand. If he hadn't known it was there, he likely wouldn't have noticed it at all. Bill had decided to install the telephone recorder downstairs as well because there was an older extension telephone there that was rarely used. The wall jack was located behind the sofa in a location that was completely hidden. When they were all installed, Bill stopped for a cup of coffee and a short break. When that was over he walked into each of the rooms that now had audio and video surveillance installed, trying to see how well the units blended in. None of them appeared to stand out in any way. ++++++++ It didn't take too long for Bill to install the software and familiarize himself with how everything worked. By noon he was watching a live feed from his own living room. The picture quality was good right from the beginning. By one o'clock he had pretty well mastered the adjustments available to him to maximize picture quality and properly set up the motion detection. The camera would only come on when it detected motion and would then stay on for two minutes after motion ceased. His next test was to enable video capture to his hard drive. When he had everything set up to what he felt would be the optimal settings, he reset the system. It would now wait until motion activated the camera. He decided to test it by going to the kitchen for a snack, and then wandering around in the living room for several minutes before leaving the room. He went back to his home office where the computer and surveillance system was set up, waited the requisite two minutes for the video capture to stop, and then reviewed the video of himself. The video system worked like a charm, but he could see that the audio could only be pushed to pick up audible conversations within about 15 feet. He took his time, and as a result almost another hour passed while he worked to set up the three remaining cameras, test them, and then review the results of each. Again, everything worked exactly as he had hoped. His final test of the surveillance system was to spend a few minutes in each of the four monitored rooms and then review the total results he had obtained. Again everything seemed to work well. It did occur to him that free space on his hard drive could theoretically be an issue, and he decided to let the system run for a couple of days to test that concern. To test the telephone recorder he used the kitchen telephone to call his secretary, a simple call to find out whether anything important had come up. As a second test he called his home number with his cell phone and engaged in a sham conversation with himself. It only lasted about a minute, but he felt that that was enough. Jason had given him a spare memory card for the telephone recorder, so a quick swap of memory cards allowed him to plug the one containing his test calls into his home computer, where he was able to confirm through a set of headphones that the telephone calls had been recorded perfectly. He knew that his wife wouldn't likely be home before five o'clock, but to be on the safe side in case she left work early, he decided to leave the house much earlier than that. It didn't happen often, but Linda would sometimes leave work early so that she could avoid the traffic. With everything apparently under control he reset the capture files, restarted the program, and left for an hour and a half. He spent the time at an out-of-the-way Internet café, reading news sites while he sipped a cup of coffee. +++++++++++ The rest of that week and the following weekend went by smoothly and quickly. Linda didn't notice either of the new clock radios, nor did she give any indication she had spotted the other two more conventional surveillance devices. In any case, Bill was ready with an explanation if she questioned either of the clock radios, prepared to say he had run into a good sale when he stopped in for a moment at a discount store. If she spotted either of the other two units he intended to try bluffing his way through it by saying they were an idea of his for home security. He would claim to have heard of a rash of break-ins in the area. The four cameras had been operational for the full five days, and Bill was a little concerned about how well his hard drive would handle the volume of digital data. He found time to check the free space on his hard drive daily, as well as doing things that he would normally be expected to do on his computer. Late Sunday evening he swapped the memory cards in the telephone recorder and quickly transferred the sound files to his iPod. It was a capability mentioned in the instruction book, and what he found was that the option performed flawlessly. He didn't bother listening to his recordings that night, instead he had decided to check them out at the office the next day. He simply didn't have time to fully check the video files themselves, and actually didn't want to run the risk of his wife catching him while he reviewed a video taken in their own bedroom. He was pleased to note, however, that it didn't appear they would overwhelm his hard drive, especially over the comparatively shorter three-day duration of his upcoming Colorado Springs trip. On Monday he made time to visit with Jason Shields, anxious to let him know how well the cameras and their software were working for him, and how well they fit his requirements. "I want to thank you for all your help, Jason. It appears that your friend in Cincinnati carries high quality merchandise, and maybe you could let her know that someday. Your telephone recorder works really well. I have the sound files for the last five days on my iPod, and I've been listening to them already today. So far everything sounds like normal conversations, thank goodness." Jason shook the hand that was offered to him, and then started grinning. "I should be thanking you, Bill. I spoke with Heidi a couple of times since we placed that order, and we have a dinner date for Friday. I'm going to take off part of the afternoon to get ready and get down to Cincinnati, and I'll pick her up at her condo at 5:30." "If we hadn't gotten onto the subject of cheating wives, or in your case a suspected cheating wife, I probably wouldn't have thought of trying to get to know Heidi again, at least not right now anyway. Hell, if I'd waited, since she is a recent widow she might have met someone else. You never know about these things." Bill joined Jason for a good laugh about the circumstances, and how they had played out. "If everything goes as hoped for by each of us, we both may be very happy about our conversation. You may be reconnecting with Heidi, and I may be exorcising the demons that have been making me suspect Linda." Jason nodded his head in agreement, and the two men parted with smiles on their faces. Both of them knew that by Saturday they would likely know something about what their futures might hold. ++++++++++++++++++ Later Monday afternoon, at 3 p.m., Bill left work early, ostensibly to take care of some personal business. In reality he wanted to check on the audio and video files he had been recording since the previous week, verify that they worked properly when left unattended, and then delete them to recover some hard drive space. He had already listened to the entire file that he had transferred from the telephone recorder to his iPod, and there was nothing in any of his wife's phone calls that seemed in the least way suspicious. He knew it didn't cover the entire range of possibilities though, because perhaps she would have used her cell phone for any call that she didn't want him to accidentally overhear. Everything checked out perfectly. He was able to review portions of all four of the files, fast forwarding through large sections of them, and satisfying himself that the system would do what he needed. Again he noted that not all of the audio was picked up if the speech or conversation was further than about 15 feet away from the camera's audio pickup. When that was done he deleted all of the stored files and reset the system. He decided that he would reset it again in a couple of days, before he left on his trip. At least now he knew there would be no hard drive capacity problems. The fact he had to delete the video of the two of them making love in their bedroom sort of annoyed him. Later he realized that he owned the equipment now, and could always devise a way to convince Linda it was obsolete equipment he had obtained from work, and they could create all of their own erotic movies. He hoped she'd be okay with that idea. Linda came home at her usual time, and didn't have any reason to suspect that her husband had been home earlier than was normal. Together they prepared a nice meal, and spent the evening watching a movie they had TiVoed on the weekend. When the movie ended they remained on the sofa in their living room, talking about what they had watched. "That was a fun movie, wasn't it Bill. I really like movies with children as some of the main characters." "I really enjoyed it too, Linda." He slid his arm around his wife before continuing, "Usually these movies with children don't have much adult romantic content in them, but this one did. Did it give you any ideas?" He caressed her cheek with his fingers, and when she turned his way he began to kiss her. She quickly responded. That first kiss seemed to get them both warmed up, and it carried on for a lengthy time. Finally Linda broke the kiss and said, "I've wanted to talk to you about something, and that movie brought it back to my mind again. Lately I've been thinking we should get serious about having children of our own. What would you think of that idea?" After asking the question Linda had not given him time to answer before she tried to swallow his tongue and count his teeth with her own tongue. It was another minute before she released her husband. "Wow, Linda. You haven't kissed me like that in a while. We should watch movies with kids in them more often." He was smiling when he said it, and while he hadn't forgotten her question, he didn't get a chance to answer before she spoke. "It has been a while, Bill, but that's not all my fault you know. You've been pretty wrapped up in your job for quite a while. But you haven't answered my question. What do you think?" Bill pondered his answer for a few seconds before he replied, "I've always wanted to have kids, Linda. You know that. If you're serious, you won't get an argument from me." He laughed and added, "I'm not the one taking the birth control pills." Linda gave him another kiss, this one quite a bit shorter and involving a lot less tongue before she said, "I am serious, Bill. I know we've talked about this in the past, and you've always left it up to me, but I think I might be ready now. My job is starting to get annoying at times, and I wouldn't mind quitting. Maybe the time is right to decide to have children." That was the way they left the discussion, and they soon got back to swapping spit on the sofa. When Bill started undoing her blouse and pushing up her bra, she quickly suggested that they continue their conversation in the bedroom. It wasn't long before she was demonstrating her oral skills once again, while enthusiastically accepting Bill's oral efforts as they 69ed on their bed. Mutual oral satisfaction was followed by the standard penis in vagina coupling in several variations, before they ended their lovemaking with Linda kneeling astride Bill, with her providing most of the required motion, and Bill providing some very welcome breast stimulation. They both agreed it was a most satisfactory session.