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Cufflink Ch. 01

By: fawguy88



This story has little sexual activity so if that's your bag, please try elsewhere.

Cufflinks

This is a very ordinary tale in many respects. Similar stories abound, but its different when the events are real and you are the husband finding out too late just what it's like to be shafted by your wife and employer. This happened to me just in the last twelve months and the fallout from her affair still rumbles on.

My name is Craig Anderson and at the time this story started I was aged thirty three. I am the team leader of a sales team comprising of myself and three others. I work for SAM Engineering and until recently I have been happy to work there. The company was founded by Samuel Peters and we have a proud reputation in the machine tool market. Our machines are used by many companies both at home and abroad. My wife, Kirsty also works for SAME, but in a more senior position than me. She was the one who first interviewed me when I applied to work there. She was in HR and during the following ten years rose to be the head of department and she now sits on the board of the company. Until the events that have led to my present situation, we both reported to Sam Peters our MD along with the Operations Manager, Colin Dawes and Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Darren Malloy. The company wasn't huge but we employed almost two hundred and fifty manufacturing staff and an office staff of forty five, covering my group, Sales and Marketing plus Procurement, HR, Accounts and Finance.

Kirsty, is a pretty, smart lady and at 36 years old is the embodiment of a successful working mother and wife. After I was offered the job with SAME, we started seeing each other regularly culminating in our marriage eight years ago. We have only one child, our son, Andrew or Andy for short who is eight years old. Yes, I can do the maths as well and Kirsty was very pregnant when we got hitched. Some months after Andrew's birth, Kirsty suffered some complications and as a result we were advised not to have any additional children. We discussed it and decided that I would have a vasectomy as this is less intrusive an operation. We were both devastated as we had originally planned on having three kids, but we had to be satisfied with just the one. 

In common with most couples, our sex life in those early years was explosive! Anytime, anywhere was our mantra and that led to a few close encounters with strangers almost catching us in compromising situations. Kirsty has an exhibitionist streak and we both liked to have sex in circumstances where we may have been observed. As our responsibilities grew, that lust for new and exciting sexual encounters diminished and our sex life is now what I consider to be very tame. Kirsty and I have talked about pepping up our love life, but that's about as far as we have got. Something always seems to get in the way and if one pre-plans these things, the result is never as good as the spontaneous couplings we used to enjoy so much.

Our problem started when Kirsty warned me that Sam Peters was intending to cut back on his working hours. His wife Viv had been diagnosed with cancer and he wanted to be there for her during her chemotherapy treatments. Sam had instructed Kirsty make a job offer to Jeremy Todd. Sam was best friends with Jeremy's father and knew the family well. Jeremy started and within a few months had shaken up nearly every department. Don't get me wrong, some of the things he introduced were long overdue, new accounting practices, modernising the manufacturing tools and equipment were his early successes. Until now, he had left my Sales and Marketing to our own devices. We had our sales targets and as a team, we delivered them! I thought that we, as a company were working well as a team and maybe that led to a bit of complacency on my part. We lost one of our established customers to our main competition and Jeremy led the resulting debrief session. It turned out that we had lost out not on customer care nor on any quality or delivery problem, but on a straight forward pricing! I, as Sales leader could not complain, I had the discretion to negotiate on price as long as we made the target profit, but Gary Border, our Sales Representative responsible for this particular customer had not briefed me on any price problems. He believed that we were on course to get a renewal, but I should have personally verified the situation and I failed to do so, so the buck stops with me!

So until this business setback, things were rolling along pretty nicely as far as my career and family life was concerned. That changed when we lost that contract. It was not a major loss, the revenue from that contract only made a slight dent in our figures and we would soon more than recover the ground lost with the new business we had won, but it must have made Jeremy rethink the Sales operation. He started to take a far greater interest in my department, constantly asking questions and meddling with our internal procedures.

It was during this time that my relationship with Kirsty started to suffer. I was working damn hard to ensure that we had no more reverses on our existing customer base. This meant a lot more travel to visit our established customers and generally keep on top of their current issues. Kirsty too, was spending longer hours in the office, planning for the future was how she described it. I wasn't formally on the board on SAME, but I was normally kept appraised of what was being planned. Not anymore! I was being squeezed out of the decision making process and I resented it in some ways. In others, it was an advantage because I could use the time to develop new contacts with an eye to future sales. It didn't bother me too much as Kirsty was always there and she would tell me if anything important affecting me was planned, or so I thought!

The first sign of the troubles to come arose when I received an angry call from one of my best customers, Jack Simmonds of Simmonds Industries. He was furious about a letter he had received from SAME regarding our future terms and conditions. He emailed me a copy and I immediately saw why! I apologised and told him that it was all news to me too and that I would sort it. I asked him to give me a few hours to get back to him. He told me in no uncertain terms that he was intending to tender his business regardless. He had been intending to simply renew our contract, but was so upset about the letter that he was determined to 'test the market' as he put it.

Now, I was furious, the loss of this business would hurt us badly. Simmonds Industries represented about fifteen percent of our turnover and that was serious! The real annoyance was that I had discussed this renewal with Jack only the month before and was confident that he would renew our contract. Now we would have to prepare and submit costly a costly proposal in terms of man hours and there was little chance of us procuring the business such was Jack's anger!

Clutching the letter, I stormed into Jeremy Todd's office and was surprised to see Kirsty and him sitting with their heads close together, discussing something. They looked up with a surprised look on their faces at the intrusion. It was then I noticed another man sitting opposite them with a smug look on his face.

Jeremy said, "Ah Craig! Just the man. I was about to call you and invite you to meet your new boss, but you have saved me the bother."

That stopped me dead in my tracks! New boss! I looked at my wife with the unasked question on my lips and she had the grace to blush and just nod her head slightly in confirmation. I was to get a new boss and she must have recruited him and didn't think to tell me that it was happening! I was stunned more than angry. I felt betrayed that she had gone through what had to be a long recruitment cycle and never a word to me about it! She must have known how I would react to that and the fact that she had not even hinted that it was happening hurt me more than anything else. 

Jeremy interrupted our silent communication by making the introductions. "Craig, this is Alex Young and I have recruited him to expand the Sales and Marketing side of the business. The economy is recovering and getting more buoyant. We are entering into a major expansion of the company and I think that Alex is the right man to lead this exciting development."

Alex Young stood up and offered his hand to me. More from force of habit than any desire to be friendly, I shook his hand and mumbled something about wishing him well. I then turned back to Jeremy and threw the letter down on his desk. As he picked it up and scanned it I demanded, "Did you send this out?"

He confirmed that he had and I replied, "Well Alex here has his first challenge! He will have to find some new customers to replace Simmonds Industries as a client. I have just had their MD on the phone and he is livid about the content and tone of that letter! We were going to get an automatic renewal letter this week and now, thanks to you and that letter, he is determined to go out to tender! I don't need to tell you just how much business Simmonds represents to us but if you had told me that you were about to issue major changes to our T&C's, I may have been able to sugar coat the pill a little. Have you sent it to any of our other customers?" 

Without waiting for his response I ranted on, "Because if you have, I can expect a lot more calls like the one from Jack Simmonds. What were you thinking of?"

It was an angry Jeremy Todd that stood up and came around his desk to plant himself in front of me. He pointed his forefinger at me and stopped just short of stabbing it into my chest, "Don't you dare challenge my decisions! You are just a salesman and it's your job to secure our customer base and that includes any T&C's that we introduce in the best interests of the company. If it wasn't for your wife supporting you, I would have seriously considered your position. In my opinion, the Sales group have not been pulling their weight and you, as team leader must carry the can for that! Now I expect you to work with Alex here to redeem the situation with Simmonds Industries."

Well at least I now knew I had no future at SAME but I had a mortgage and family to support, so I managed to keep my temper in check with great difficulty. I backed one step away from him before I said or did something I would later regret. Instead I turned to Alex Young and said, "Best of luck with your new job. I wish you every success. With a boss like him, you're going to need it!"

Kirsty sensing what I was about to do, grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the door, "Please Craig, don't do anything rash. You are upset, that's understandable, but please wait until tonight when we can discuss the situation rationally!"

I looked at my wife and for the first time since we had met, I loathed the very sight of her. I felt betrayed and angry, so angry that I simply said, "You're wrong about that! I'm not upset at our illustrious leader, we all make mistakes of judgement, there are extenuating circumstances relating to the Sales team performance and both you and Sam Cummins knew and accepted them. But I am fucking angry that I have been blindsided by the woman who purports to love me! That's what really hurts! I don't give a shit about Alex Young's job, in light of what's happened here today, he's welcome to it. No my issue is with you and your attitude to me. Whatever made you think that I would accept someone coming in over my head, especially when my wife was responsible for recruiting him and never let on to her husband that it was even on the horizon?" I hissed at her, trying unsuccessfully to keep my voice low.

Jeremy Todd must have heard because he interjected, "Kirsty had no choice, she was sworn to secrecy. I made the decision not to tell anyone until the deal was done. If word had gotten out about Alex joining SAME, it would have placed him in an untenable position with previous employer. In hindsight, I was wrong, I should have brought you into our confidence and for that I apologise. I also apologise for issuing that letter without consulting you. It was a crass misjudgement and we need you to work with us to placate our customers."

I was somewhat placated myself by his ready admission and apology. A boss who could realise his errors and be man enough to face up to them, was a man worthy of respect. It still didn't absolve my wife who had been listening intently to our exchange and I noticed that she was looking at Jeremy Todd with a look that she had once reserved only for me! It was a look bordering on adoration and when she noticed me watching her, she quickly changed her expression to one of sympathy for me. I didn't want her sympathy, I wanted her love and trust and she had withheld her trust in me or maybe both, love and trust. I just wasn't sure anymore.

I turned and left the office without replying and with Kirsty hot on my heels. She caught up with me and pleaded with me to calm down. I told her that we would talk later at home, meantime I had some thinking to do.

We did talk at home and she eventually persuaded me that she could not and would not break her word after she had given it even if it led to problems in our marriage. One part of me could understand where she was coming from, but the other part could not accept what I felt was her betrayal. When we eventually retired for the night, the issue was still unresolved and Kirsty took it upon herself to prove that she loved me. The make up sex that night was terrific! We even had sex al fresco on the garden swing the next night when the weather was really too hot inside.

My situation at SAME was difficult to say the least. Word of my blow up at Mr Todd was common knowledge as was his assessment of the Sales team performance. I tried to look at his assessment objectively and our performance had been OK but no more than that. We met our targets, but the targets were set by Sam Cummins and were not particularly hard to achieve, so in some respects I was guilty of being lax in not driving the team for greater market share. Sam Cummins was perfectly content with his Company's size and lacked the ambition to make it grow. That's probably why he brought in Jeremy Todd I reflected. All this introspection made me realise that I was not cut out for higher management, I was a damned good salesman and decided to concentrate on that.

Alex Young was a good looking man several years younger than me. He was suave and persuasive and soon had all the females in the office hanging on his every word. His first priority was to repair the damage caused by that letter so he had me take him round all our major customers and he did a good job smoothing the ruffled feathers. The exception was with Jack Simmonds! What Alex failed to mention to me was that several years ago he had been engaged to be married to Jack's daughter, Annie and he had dumped her just a week before the wedding! I had phoned ahead and Jack on hearing that I was bringing my new boss to meet him. In the course of our conversation, he recognised Alex's name and asked me some questions to confirm his identity. He never expanded on his reasons for the questions, but I assumed that was why he had abruptly terminated our conversation. Alex and I drove down together in my car and he used the time to quiz me on my colleagues and our customers. When we arrived at Simmonds Industries Reception, Jack came to reception in person and in front of everyone in attendance, blew Alex off! There were representatives from one of our competitors there in reception and they witnessed this exchange It embarrassed me to have to stand there and listen to one of my customers and a man I regarded as a friend berate my new boss publicly! I know that if I had been one of the reps from our competitors, I would have been pleased to see the confrontation. It clearly exposed that there was a serious flaw in our previously solid relationship with Simmonds and if I had been in the same situation, I would have exploited that rift!

Alex was clearly embarrassed also, but he still tried to charm his way into Jack's good graces. Jack rounded on him and said in a loud voice to his Security Guard, "This man is not welcome on these premises! This is my Company and I want you to email every employee of mine not to communicate with or discuss anything appertaining to our business with him. You can attach a photograph to the email, so everyone will be able to recognise him. Now please escort him off the premises!"

I turned to leave with Alex when Jack then turned to me and taking my arm led me through the security door and into his office. As we exited the reception I glanced back to see the Guard escorting Alex out of the building. It was pouring down with rain and I had the car keys, so he would have to wait until our business was concluded before he could seek the shelter of my car. My phone vibrated and I sneaked a glance to see that Alex had tried to call, but I looked at Jack watching me and he smiled and asked, "Mr Young, I presume?"

I smiled back and said, "Yes. He's going to be very wet and pissed off when we conclude our business. It's an awful shame, isn't it?"

We both had a laugh at my new boss's expense and I took the opportunity to ask Jack why he had taken such a dislike to my new boss. He revealed the circumstances about his daughter's engagement. He had made it his business to discover all about Alex Young and he advised me not to trust the bastard! His words not mine, but I had to agree with him after the stories that Jack revealed about Alex being a notorious womaniser, married or single females were all fair game to him and Jack also revealed that his daughter nearly had a nervous breakdown because of Alex Young. We talked about the letter and I managed to smooth things over. The T&C's that had caused the storm was not so much what they represented but more it was the way the letter had been worded that had upset him. He subtly hinted that he would probably renew our contract without going to tender, but that he wanted to listen to what our competitors had to offer first. He did say that he would not meet with or discuss our contract with Alex Young and insisted that all communications between SAME and Simmonds would be through me. We concluded our business and before I left, he asked me some questions about Jeremy Todd. He had met him briefly at a business function some years ago and wanted to know how I felt about working for him. I tried to be as non-committal about him as I could. I told Jack that it was early days and I had yet to make up my mind, but I would let him know.

I never said a thing to a very wet Alex Young on the return journey about my meeting with Jack and he never offered any explanation to me either. He was still damp and subdued when I dropped him off at his home.

The next week Jeremy called me and informed me that Jack Simmonds had signed the new contract. He quizzed me about why Alex was persona non grata at Simmonds, but I was discreet and simply said that Jack took an instant dislike to him. Alex announced the renewal at our next staff meeting and all but claimed that it was due to his influence with Simmonds that SAME had the new contract!

Over the next few months, Alex started introducing his changes. He wanted every sales person to compile a weekly prospect sheet bearing all the data relating to our bid including our best guess on converting the lead into a contract. It was time consuming and at our monthly reviews, he would look at the actual versus predicted result. It was time consuming and led to a lot of resentment from my former staff, now my colleagues. Alex became obsessed with each sales person pipeline, what we were working on and where our next prospect was. I never worked like that and it became a bit of an issue between us. I kept my prospects close to my chest until the customer was about to issue the documentation. Many of my leads came from informal chats over a beer or round of golf and many of these hints were in confidence and only given to me because of the relationship I had developed with the customer over the years. 


Cufflink Ch. 01



One tender that I did share with him was a major contract for a major defence industry manufacturer called CDI for short. If we were successful in our proposal it would increase our revenue by over thirty percent! At our normal review Alex told me not to waste my time, we had no previous dealings with them and no point of contact within CDI. He rated our chances of success less than I did. I argued and eventually he consented to let me work on it but warned that he would not be cutting me any slack on my other prospects!

During this same time period, my relationship with Kirsty was becoming under pressure. She was moody when she was at home and where she once would have shrugged off her work issues and take me to bed, she now just found excuses for not making love to me as frequently as in the past. I wasn't happy with this, but I recognised that she was working extremely hard. A number of our workforce were at or nearing retirement age and she was busy recruiting their replacements. When I was in the office, usually about twice a week, Kirsty and I always had lunch together. We never went far from the office for lunch if we went out. More often than not, we shared a sandwich in Kirsty's office. After having to argue my case about CDI with Alex, I needed to vent with someone and I immediately thought of Kirsty. She was always my sounding board and since she had cancelled our last two lunch dates at the last minute, I decided just to surprise her and take her favourite sandwich and coffee in to her. Her secretary informed me that she was working in Conference Room 1 on a special project, so I just breezed past her secretary and up to the conference room door. I tried to enter the room, but found the door was locked. I could hear voices within but I wasn't really paying attention to what they were saying. I wrapped on the door and loudly demanded to speak to my wife! 

I could hear a scuffle that sounded like chairs being pushed back and Kirsty's order to wait a moment. Two minutes later the door was unlocked and Kirsty let me enter. I noticed that she had a flushed look on her face and she refused to meet my gaze directly. Her normally luscious lips were devoid of lipstick, but she had a tendency to chew on her lips when she was concentrating on a problem. The top button of her blouse was undone, but it was well above the start of her cleavage in any case, so nothing to make a fuss about. She saw my glance down and hastily restored the button to its proper place. Apart from those three details, there was nothing to suggest that anything untoward was going on. Jeremy was also in the room, sitting watching us with an amused expression on his face. I noticed that whatever they were working on was covered by a piece of flipchart paper and that the flipchart itself was covered hiding any information upon the other sheets.

I held up the sandwiches and coffee containers and said, "Since you've been dodging my last few invitations to lunch with me, I thought I would surprise you so we could have lunch together."

"I have not been dodging your invitations!" she responded heatedly. "We have an important project nearing it's conclusion and I need to focus on that. I'm sorry about lunch, but Jeremy and I have a working lunch planned and our food should be here any minute."

As she said that, the catering lady came round the corner with a buffet lunch on her trolley. I retreated after telling her that I would see her at home later should she manage to get home in time for once.

"I will be home when I have finished here! If you can't handle Andrew on your own, just give my mother a call." she replied testily.

"I'm glad you still remember that we have a son. It's been a while since he's seen you before he goes to bed!" I snarled back.

The door to the conference room slammed shut and I never discovered whether it was just the wind from the open window or Kirsty that caused it. She was home before Andrew's bedtime and she spend some quality time with him. She never mentioned our earlier spat and I thought that that in itself was significant. We used to always have the ability to talk through our issues, but that too seemed to have slipped. Maybe she just didn't care to try anymore.

As our marriage started to ebb away, so too did our love making. Kirsty was always a very sexual woman and for the first time I started to wonder if she was taking her relief elsewhere? I dismissed that idea telling myself it was just the pressure of work, but the seed was planted and I started to question her more often about what she was working on late into the evening. She took it in good humour to start with and simply told me that the Project was very demanding and would soon be over. I tried to curb my suspicions and back off on my questions but I guess I wasn't very successful at that because she soon became irritated if I even raised an eyebrow towards her when she came in late.

So we continued to cohabit and I forced myself to be civil towards her and pretend nothing was wrong. I even attempted to woo her with special meals and flowers. I talked our situation over with her mother and she suggested that I prepare a special meal for our anniversary. She told me that she was sure that Kirsty loved me and she would soon be back to her old self.

My own special Project was going well. I had submitted our tender response and had heard that we were shortlisted for the contract on the eve of our wedding anniversary. My first instinct was to inform Alex Young, but decided that it could wait until the following day. I wanted to tell Kirsty about it first! So, I checked with her secretary and asked her not to put anything in Kirsty's diary that evening. I also asked her to remind Kirsty that it was our anniversary that evening and she promised to do so. I left work early and prepared a meal fit for a queen. I had the meal ready for seven, the table set, lighting subdued and candles waiting to be lit but no wife to share it with!

At half eight, I rang her mobile and when she answered I could hear the noises that one usually associates with a barroom. I asked her where she was and was informed coldly that she was just taking 'a quick refreshment' and would be going back into work for a few more hours!

"Have you forgotten our wedding anniversary? I asked sarcastically.

"That's not until tomorrow." She insisted and then she went silent. I don't know if she thought I had hung up or if she missed the stop button on her phone but, I heard her say to someone who must have been beside her, "Shit I've forgotten my fucking anniversary, he'll be furious. We will have to cancel tonight. I'll make it up to you both another time."

I hit the end button this time. I was gutted and just wanted to be sick. There was no other interpretation that I could put on that conversation, she was cheating on me. My instinct was to lash out at her, but I needed to know more facts, firstly, the who, then the when and lastly, the why. Don't ask me why I needed the information, maybe I was a masochist or something, but at the time it seemed to be very relevant.

After a few moments thought, I decided I was taking the following day off. I needed to see about getting proof of Kirsty's infidelity and had a friend who had left the police to become a PI. I called him and set up an appointment for the next morning. Then, I called Alex to inform him. He was stickler for procedures and monitored holidays and sickness closely.

Besides, I had to tell him about the shortlisting by CDI. I speed dialled his mobile and when he answered, I heard the same noises that had accompanied my call to Kirsty. I hung up but he called me back a few minutes later.

The background noise was gone, so he must have found somewhere quiet to make the call.

"If you're looking for Kirsty, she's just left for home." He said as an opening. I wondered why he had the balls to call me and realised that he was unaware of my overheard conversation. Good I thought, he won't be on his guard about his affair with my wife. It was easier to catch an unsuspecting rat than a cornered one. I told him the good news about CDI and he was immediately excited.

"Great news! I knew that was a super opportunity. We will meet tomorrow morning, nine o'clock in my office." He ordered abruptly.

He was really pissed off at me when I told him that I would not be able to make it and he started to berate me, then he tried the soft sell, but I refused to be swayed. I don't respond well to bullies or bull shitters and he was both. I wondered briefly what Kirsty saw in him? I terminated his call when I heard the garage door opener operate.

Kirsty rushed into the kitchen just as I was scraping the charred remains of the meal I had painstakingly prepared into the rubbish bin.

She looked into the dining room and saw the prepared table settings and she went as white as a sheet. "Why didn't you remind me?" She cried, trying to put the blame back onto me.

"Kirsty, I checked with your secretary and asked her to keep your diary clear for tonight. I also asked her to remind you and gave her a card to give to you. Are you trying to tell me that you never got either?"

"I did, but I was sure that you had gotten the date wrong and that our anniversary was tomorrow. I've been so busy lately, I have lost track of the days. I'm sorry my love. I know that sounds trite and stupid, but I genuinely misplaced the day! Believe me nothing would have prevented me from being here with you tonight."

When I refused to respond, she went on, "And you prepared a meal and everything! The table looks wonderful too. I can only apologise and beg you're forgiveness? Please Craig, say I'm forgiven and I promise you that I will make it up to you later in bed."

She approached me and tried to embrace me. I avoided her and simply turned my back and went into the lounge.

She followed me and tried again to engage me in a dialogue that I didn't want to have. I was angry and she kept trying. Finally, she resorted to tears continuing to beg me to forgive her, in between the sobs and tears.

When I couldn't take any more, I raised my voice in order to be heard over her sobs, "Just shut the fuck up and let me be! I don't want your pity sex. In fact I can't remember the last time we made love as if we were still in love! On the rare occasions that we have had sex lately, that was not making love, that was simply two people satisfying a need!"

She stopped abruptly at that. I never talked to her in that tone at any stage of our marriage and she must have decided that it was better to go on the offensive when your situation was lost anyway and she snarled at me, "If that's what you want, then you've got it! Sleep in the spare bedroom tonight, because I don't want you near me in bed!"

Not to be left wanting for the last word, I snarled back, "If you want to sleep alone, then you take the spare room, because I fully intend to sleep in my own bed tonight and every night until this issue between us is sorted!"

Well, we did share the bed, but she kept as far away from me as possible and I her. The following morning she tried again to beg my forgiveness. I had slept on it and decided that I still didn't have anything concrete to accuse her of! Suspicions? Yes, but proof, No! If I wanted to find out exactly what was going on, I would need to suck it up until I had the proof I desired. I made a tentative approach towards her and she responded. We kissed properly for the first time in months. I would have taken it further, but she was late for work and told me we would get together later that evening and she would prove that she loved me more than ever!

I told her that I was taking the day off to work on my golf game and she accepted my story without comment. I never said a word about the CDI shortlisting, but she would doubtless be told about that when she got to work. I met with my PI and told him about my doubts about my wife's fidelity. He tried to persuade me that I had insufficient pointers to make employing him worthwhile. Eventually he agreed to do some preliminary investigation work and if he felt that it was worth continuing he would say so. After a week he reported back that there was no evidence to support my suspicions so we decided to call a halt. I paid him and felt much relieved at the outcome.

I tried to get back on an even keel in my marriage and Kirsty tried too. We started making love again, but the spark that used to drive our passion seemed to have disappeared. I always took my time and tried to ensure that she reached at least one orgasm when we did the deed, but I felt that she may have been faking it occasionally.

Prior to our shortlist presentation, Alex Young intimated that he would attend this crucial meeting and do the introduction. He felt that it was important to demonstrate SAME's management commitment to the CDI Contract. He had the answers to the expansion of our premises and Kirsty would be in attendance to address any recruitment or training issues raised. Colin Dawes, SAME's Operations Director also present to detail our production strategy should it prove necessary. So we had a full management team there to represent SAME. I felt as if the whole show was being taken out of my hands and insisted that the detailed presentation on our proposals should be left to me. I argued that I was the one who understood CDI's requirements best and that I had written our detailed response to the tender. I felt that I was the only one capable of fielding their questions safely. I tried to sugar the pill by saying that it was great that I was now getting the senior management support on this bid, but they were not familiar enough to the tender specification that detailed CDI's requirements and close questioning may expose Alex, Kirsty and Colin's ignorance of the fine detail of CDI's requirements. As you may imagine that did not go down well, but Jeremy backed me on that and told them to leave the bulk of the questions to me to respond to. They were only to respond when I specifically asked them to!

Naturally, we had no sooner completed our presentation and taking questions when Alex jumped in to answer a question and made a complete hash of his answer. The client that asked the question looked dumbfounded by the answer, so I stepped in and clarified what Alex was trying to say. The difference being, I gave the correct response. I turned and glared at Alex and he frowned back at me, but he learned fast and kept his mouth shut unless invited to respond.

The rest of the session went reasonably well and we left CDI with the feeling that apart from Alex's cock up, we had done well. Once we were safely back in my car, I rounded on Alex and vented my anger. He was sitting in the back with Kirsty, a fact that I later got me into a heated discussion with her. Colin had volunteered to sit in the back with Alex, but Kirsty insisted that he should sit in the front with me. I was annoyed because she was wearing a pretty short skirt that left her long legs exposed right up to her mid thigh. That in itself wasn't the problem, but the fact that she twisted in her seat so that she was facing Alex. This position caused her legs to spread slightly and I could see her panties when I tuned round to reverse the car out of the parking bay. She saw me looking and parted her legs even more. She had to be aware that she was giving Alex a grandstand view of the deep V of her thighs. There wasn't much that I could do about it as I was driving, but when she tried to defend Alex's actions at the presentation, that was too much and even Colin had to intervene and say that Alex had been out of order and should never have fielded that answer. As it was, we were fortunate that I had recovered the situation so well. For his part, Alex tried to argue his corner, but his heart wasn't in it or he had other things on his mind, maybe Kirsty's legs, for we soon lapsed into silence for the rest of the trip back to base.

Jeremy wanted an immediate debrief on the meeting, but I received a call from CDI with a few supplemental questions that had arisen from their meeting with our main competitor for the business. By the time I returned to the meeting there was only Alex and Colin there and Jeremy made a point of telling me how good a job I had done, then Jeremy said, "We are going to have a management meeting to make preliminary decisions on expanding our facilities to cope with the anticipated increase in work. I'll see that you get a good bonus if we win this contract." He then shook my hand and led me to the door and patting me on the back said, "Don't forget your Dinner Suit for the Christmas Party."

That was a pretty clear dismissal and as I left, the whole management team were gathered waiting to enter the meeting room. I was dismissed. Clearly I no longer had anything worthwhile to contribute.

The Christmas Party! It was just a week away and I had forgotten that it was a formal affair this year. All the management team were stopping at the Holiday Inn overnight at SAME's expense! With Kirsty part of the management team, I would be stopping overnight as well. My mother had agreed to take little Andrew for the weekend, so we had no problems from that direction. The rest of the office staff could stop if the so wished, but would have to pay for their own rooms. SAME were hiring mini buses to get them from their homes and back again after the festivities. In previous years, this party was always hosted by Sam Peters and his wife. Sadly, she had passed away several months ago and Sam had become a virtual recluse. Kirsty told me that he had been invited again this year, but he had failed to respond.

With the party was only a day away, I got the call I had been hoping for from my CDI contact, Peter Wilson. SAME had won the contract! All my misgivings suddenly evaporated and just for a few moments I forgot about my marriage as the implications sank in. We would have our contract signed and delivered by courier and addressed for my attention. I was a little surprised at this as our submission clearly identified Alex as Sales Director and as the prime contact for any contractual matters. Reading between the lines of the comments that Peter had made, they were less than enthralled by Alex, but the rest of the SAME team had impressed them with their professionalism and commitment. We agreed to meet before Christmas and discuss our plans for implementation in more detail.

Jeremy's secretary, Mary took one look at my face and the fax of the contract in my hand when she shrieked for joy and rushed around her desk to give me a hug and a kiss smack on the lips! It seems that everyone knew the decision was imminent and what the new business would mean for SAME. I was still firmly held in Mary's arms and over her shoulder I could see the door to Jeremy's office open and an alarmed MD standing in the door wanting to know what the noise was about. He quickly sized up the situation and bounded over to congratulate me. Behind him in his office I saw Kirsty carefully reapplying her lipstick before joining in the congratulations. It took me some time to register that she looked a little flushed in the face and was clearly flustered at my unexpected appearance, but I was so wrapped up in my moment of glory that I dismissed her discomfort until much, much later.

After a hectic Friday during which I was repeatedly congratulated and asked numerous questions regarding the CDI contract I finally managed to get away in time to prepare for the Christmas Party. I kept my suit carrier in one of those drawers beneath our bed and as I dug it out in readiness for my Dinner Suit, I pulled out a single gold cufflink with it.

Cufflinks were something of a rarity these days and as I picked the one I had found I realised two things. Firstly, it wasn't one of mine and secondly, the only person I knew who wore cufflinks as part of their everyday dress was Jeremy Todd! Closer examination of the cufflink revealed an ornate pattern on the face of the jewellery in the shape of JST with the S intertwined with the other two letters. JST and I may not be the quickest person on the uptake, but JST nagged at me until I managed to put a name to the initials. Jeremy Stuart Todd! That begged the obvious question. What was one of his cufflinks doing in my bedroom? The answer was obvious, he had spent some time in there and that could only be at the behest of my loving wife, Kirsty! One more piece of circumstantial evidence but hardly a smoking gun! I had a feeling that things were about to come to a head and with me as the loser all round. If Jeremy was her lover, not Alex, then he held all the face cards! I had no Ace in the hole or Joker to play. Again, the sick empty feeling filled my stomach as I stood there motionless and in some kind of paralysis.




Cufflink Ch. 01



Speak of the devil and she appeared and berated me for not being ready to leave. For once she was ready early and clearly eager to get to the party. I recovered from my temporary paralysis and quickly slipped the cufflink into my pocket before preparing my overnight bag and dinner suit. We travelled to the hotel with Kirsty chattering away about how excited she was and how certain she was that Jeremy would recognise my contribution and leadership on the CDI contract. I said next to nothing lost in my own thoughts about what to do.

Once we checked in and were in our room that was almost a suite with a veranda and view over the river far below. I questioned Kirsty about this room, it was very grand and she assured me that after my success with CDI, it was well deserved. She swept into the en-suite to bathe and prepare herself for the nights celebrations. I was naked waiting patiently to use the shower as she emerged from the bathroom with just her tiny flesh coloured silk panties on. I had an instant erection and when she asked me to assist in zipping up her white evening dress. I nearly fell over my own feet in my eagerness to get close to her. I pressed myself against her backside as she stood there with her beautiful dress puddled at her feet. I bent down and slowly pulled it up over her thighs and as it reached her breasts, I couldn't resist caressing her pert naked breasts and rigid nipples. There was no way that she could wear a bra with this dress and with my erection pressing into her backside, she slipped away, out of my groping hands and told me to save my erection for later that evening.

Lust overrode my earlier misgivings about her and I was ready to whatever it took to get between her thighs once more. I stood back and admired her and told her that she was the most beautiful woman and that I loved her more than ever. She smiled and kissed me and then I told her that wearing that dress I would be the envy of every man there tonight. It was true! It was the sexiest dress I had ever seen her wear and she looked absolutely stunning! The only thought that crept into my mind was, just who was she wearing it for?

Rebuffed, but still rampant, I told her that I would hold her to her promise and completed my dressing quickly. I escorted her down from our 6th floor room and into the function suite where the party was being hosted by Jeremy and the rest of the management team. There were a few moments of complete silence as our colleagues stopped and stared upon our entrance. The men faces were filled with lust and some envious glances by their wives and partners. Jeremy broke the hush that descended by taking Kirsty's arm and giving her a very chaste kiss on the cheek. His wife, Marie followed suit and then we were separated as Kirsty attended to her meet and greet socialising duties. I made my way to take a look at the seating plan. There were ten round tables of eight settings plus the top table for the management team. I noted that I was seated at the end of our table, next to Colin Dawes wife, Angie. Kirsty was seated between Jeremy and Alex towards the middle of the table. I was a bit pissed off about the seating arrangements! No disrespect to Angie, she was easy to look at and talk to, but I really wanted to be seated next to my wife, in line with most of the others on the top table, but since it was only for the meal I didn't make a fuss.

During the meal, it was hard to keep a close watch on what was said and with only Angie to talk to the conversation was stilted and a little strained. Angie, bless her picked up on my mood and was loudly and openly critical of the seating arrangements until Colin ordered her to tone her comments down. Brandy was served when Jeremy stood up and made his speech. Pretty standard stuff until he openly praised Alex for his leadership skills and for being instrumental in winning the CDI contract!

He started the clapping himself and everyone stood up to applauded as well. Colin and I looked at one another and he just simply put his finger to his lips, telling me to ignore the slight. I was in no mood for that and rather than make a scene, I took the opportunity to slip way while everyone was standing and clapping. I don't think anyone other than Angie and Colin made anything of my disappearance. As I exited the room, I heard Jeremy mention my name, but I was too angry to be bothered to return and listen to what he said.

I sat in the bar and ordered another brandy and played with my mini tablet. I had prepared some words on the facts and figures about the CDI contract just in case I was asked to make a short address and had used my tablet to record the bullet points. I didn't want to miss out any of the people who deserved thanks for their support in compiling our tender. The meal was over and everyone started to crowd into the bar while the hotel staff cleared the room in preparation of the band and dancing to follow. Colin came over and commiserated with me saying what a cunt Jeremy was! This was the first time that I had ever heard him use foul language or openly criticise a fellow director and though his words of consolation were genuine and nice to hear, I was determined not to make a scene and spoil the party for the rest of my colleagues. Colin nudged me and pointed as Kirsty exited the bar followed by Jeremy in close attendance. I let them leave the room, excused myself and followed them into the reception area in time to see them enter the lift arm in arm!

It was in my mind to follow them and confront them, but what was the point, she had made her decision and maybe I could get the proof I desired. I'm a self confessed gadget nerd. One of the things that I purchased recently was a little four wheeled motorised accessory that was used to dock my I phone. Using blue tooth, I could activate this device and my phone and command it respond. I hadn't found a use for this up until now, but the thought struck me as I stood in Reception watching the lift ascend until it stopped at floor 6! I sat down in a little alcove that gave me a view of the lift lobby and using my tablet, activated my phone. I had left my phone on its little motorised cradle in the room, I wasn't anticipating any need to make or receive calls that evening. I switched the phone to video mode and manoeuvred the picture until it was centred on the bed! 

I didn't have long to wait as Kirsty and her lover practically rushed over and fell on the bed scrabbling to shed clothes. Jeremy was too impatient for that and simply pulled up Kirsty's beautiful dress and practically tore off her panties!

Kirsty was so eager for him, that she parted her legs and all she said was, "Quick, get it in and fuck me hard! You need to hurry! We don't want to be missed and I don't want Craig to wonder where I am!"

Well, if she wanted it quick, that's what she got! Jeremy hammered away at her for several minutes before groaning and releasing his seed into her swollen cunt. As he withdrew I could see the strands of his semen still adhering to his softening prick as he rolled to the side. There was so much of their combined juices, it was running out of her and down onto the back of her evening dress! Kirsty must have noticed it immediately and said, "Shit! You didn't use a condom! What if you get me pregnant? Bugger, I'll need to change my dress before coming back down! You had better make an appearance downstairs while I clean up the mess here!"

He kissed her and told her not to be long before fixing his clothing and departing. I watched as he exited the lift and met up with Alex Young. They said something curt to each other before Jeremy passed him the blue keycard that operated the room door! Clearly, little love lost there, I thought idly. Alex jumped into the lift just as the doors were closing and up it went, stopping again at the 6th floor. A few moments later, I watched as he entered the room and slipped out of his trousers and lay on the bed. Kirsty emerged naked from the bathroom. She had a towel held to her face so couldn't see who she was addressing when she said, "Have you forgotten something, maybe a cufflink or some......"

Then she recognised that it wasn't Jeremy waiting for her but Alex. She smiled, dropped the towel and staring at his erection said, "You too! Look we really do need to make this a quicky! Craig must be searching for me by now!"

Alex smiled back and just pulled her on top of him and groaned as she guided him into her swollen, wet cunt. They started to fuck seriously and I watched long enough to see her start to spasm and I picked up the house phone and rang my room.

She almost fell off him as the shrill sound of the phone interrupted their rutting. He grabbed her and tried to continue, but she reached over and picked up the phone.

"Where are you, darling?" I said trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice, "I've searched everywhere and you seem to be missing. Nobody seems to know where you are?"

I could her clearly, as with her hand over the mouthpiece, she hissed to him to stop what he was doing, but the phone was too far away to pick it up clearly. It had the desired effect and he stopped moving. I had to give her credit, she thought quickly and said, "I had to come up and change my dress. Some idiot has spilled something onto it and its probably ruined! Luckily, I brought my black cocktail dress with me tonight. I'll be down directly."

How appropriate I thought a COCK TAIL dress. She had both tonight! I said, winding her up a little more, "No need to hurry, I'll just come up and meet you. The party's over as far as I'm concerned. Did you hear that prick praise Alex for his leadership? What a fucking joke that is! See you in a minute!" and I hung up.

If it hadn't been so serious, I would have laughed at their attempts to get themselves presentable and before she could even get her little black dress on he had vacated the room and left her to face the music.

Except that I didn't go up to join her. Instead, I joined my colleagues enjoying the dance music. I watched as she re-entered the function room, her eyes searching for me. I avoided her and spent a few minutes playing with the room's audio visual system before the band leader announced that they were taking a short break. I took the opportunity to jump into the stage and pick up the microphone and tapped on it to attract everyone's attention.

They quietened down and I started, "I won't interrupt your festivities for too long. This will probably be the last opportunity I have to talk to you en-mass. I just have a few comments to make before I leave. Tonight should have been the most satisfying of my career! Instead, it has been an evening that has seen me get shafted both in my career and in my marriage."

There were gasps from some of the audience and Jeremy tried to make his way up the steps leading to the stage, but was prevented by Colin Dawes, who simply blocked his passage.

"You all heard our MD, Mr Toad...., I'm sorry Mr Todd speaking tonight about our new contract with CDI. He seems to have been misinformed about Mr Young's contribution to that bid process. His contribution almost lost us the bid! I'm here to tell you that I was specifically told by Young not to waste my time responding to the tender. I had to work on that tender, without his support right up until we were shortlisted. At this point I would like to thank all those that supported me during this time. Colin Dawes and my wife Kirsty were instrumental in putting the bid together and for that I thank them both. I had to sit here in this room tonight and listen to that little shit taking the credit for something he didn't do, when in fact, the little shite could have lost us the business!"

There were gasps at that and some rumbles from my former sales colleagues. I looked at Young and he refused to meet my gaze. I shifted to my wife and she was sobbing openly and that was before I even got started on my next revelation.

"I said earlier that I had been shafted in my career and also in my marriage. Well, I want to share with you how the second shafting came about!"

There was more sobbing and cries from Kirsty for me to stop, but I ignored her pleas and continued, "Tonight most of we gentlemen wear a dress shirt with cufflinks to hold the cuffs together. There is only one man here that I know regularly wears them in everyday life. Well, earlier tonight, at home, I was in my bedroom when I found a gold cufflink! It wasn't one of mine and it bore the monogram JST. I guess it doesn't take a genius to know to whom I am referring. JST, Jeremy Stuart Todd! Then, here tonight after the meal and speeches, I made this little video."

I stopped speaking and pointing the tiny control to the A/V system I started a short segment of the video of my wife, Kirsty and Jeremy Todd fucking. There were gasps of shock and even louder cries from Kirsty for me to stop the video. Jeremy Todd was going mad trying to get at me, but he soon had other worries when his wife hit him over the head with a champagne bottle!

I then switched the second clip of Kirsty with the little shite and there were more gasps when I said, "This happened less than five minutes after Todd vacated my hotel bedroom!"

I switched the video off, I had made my point. There was no need to pander to the lecher's in the audience. I could hear the still sobbing Kirsty and looked down at her. She refused to look at me until I shouted at her. She looked up and I said, "I guess this is the strangest resignation notice you've ever received, but I will formally write to you to confirm it. I will also send you the divorce papers as soon as they are drawn up."

I looked at my former colleagues and said, "I apologise if my announcement has spoiled your evening, but I would like to say one more thing before I leave you. I have been with SAME for ten years, most of them extremely happy ones. During those years, I'm proud to say that I have been privileged to know and work with you all and until these recent events, I never thought that I would be leaving in such a fashion. Thank you all once again for your support over the years and I wish you and the company every success in the years to come."

I shut off the mike and made my way out of the building. There was no applause, I didn't expect any. Nobody tried to stop me or speak to me. I guess they were too shocked to make any decisions like that. I didn't even bother to collect my possessions from our room, let her sort them out. I collected my car and as I started it up, it dawned on me that it belonged to the leasing company and went with the job, so I had another thing to sort out tomorrow!

At home I reflected on the events of the evening. In the course of a few short hours, I went from being a suspicious husband to a confirmed cuckold. I had resigned from my job and in the process had revealed my innermost thoughts and weakness. I would like to be able to say that my speech had a cathartic effect on me, but the truth was, it hadn't. It had been a humiliating personal admission of failure in both my career and private life. I tried to plan my next steps but I was too emotionally upset for that to happen that night. Instead, I called my mother and suggested that her either she or her husband go to the hotel and collect their daughter. Naturally that led to more questions and I answered them by simply saying that Kirsty and I were divorcing for personal reasons and that she would explain. I refuse to say any more and hung up.

The home phone started ringing shortly after that, but I did not want to talk to anyone, so I removed the jack plug from the socket. I spent a restless night and must have fallen asleep sometime in the early hours. I was awakened by a hammering on the front door. I checked the bedside clock and saw that it was almost noon. I peered out the bedroom window and recognised the car parked next to mine on the drive. It was an old Jaguar XJS and the person who owned it was the one pounding on my door. I opened it and let him in. Sam Peters followed me into the lounge and asked me for a cup of tea. My ingrained hospitality took over and I made the tea. During all this, not a word was spoken. I gave him his tea and we sat silently as we both sipped on the brew. Finally he said, "I hear you tried your best to fuck up my company last night?"

I looked up at him, an indignant response was demanded when he smiled at me and I remembered all the good times had working for him. I smiled back, but with great sadness in my heart. It had taken my crisis to bring Sam Peters out of his reclusive period.

"I have spent all morning trying to get to the bottom of what the hell happened last night. It was a bit difficult because my MD is still in hospital with concussion! My Sales Director has disappeared and you have refused to answer your bloody telephone! Fortunately Colin Dawes was able to brief me on what happened and you should know that I have also talked to Kirsty."

Sam paused for a moment and said quietly, "Firstly, can I do anything to make you change your mind about resigning?"

"No." I replied, "Too many things have happened and I could not face my colleagues again knowing that they all were sniggering behind my back. Many of them have lost respect for man that cannot keep his own wife satisfied, or at least I imagine that's what they will be thinking. I wish I was leaving under different circumstances, but we are where we are and its best if I go immediately."

He looked at me for a few moments and then said, "There's something else going on here. I have heard whispers about it. Have you heard anything?"

When I told him that I was not privy to the internal management machinations, he looked me in the eye hard and then clearly seeing that I knew nothing, he continued, "I will be taking over as MD once more, but I will need your help during the transition with CDI. You will not need to come into the factory, only be available for the implementation meetings and so on. I will pay you a retainer as well as a consultancy fee for your time. Mr Todd will be leaving, he doesn't know that yet, but his services are no longer required. Did you really call him Mr Toad?" he asked with a smile.

I nodded and burst out laughing. It felt good to laugh again. It was something that hadn't happened much lately. "It seemed appropriate at the time and I will be happy to be your consultant."

"Good." Sam said, "Now what about your marriage? Can you see any way that you and Kirsty can get back together?"

"No, that's not going to happen. If it had been a one off event, perhaps but she deliberately cheated on me and openly lied about her love for me. A wife that fucks not one but two men one after the other after promising me that she......" I ran out of words at that point and felt myself begin to tear up.

Sam handed me a tissue and then asked, "So if you are not going to work for me, what are your plans?"

"I haven't had time to think about that yet. For God's sake give me a chance, this only happened last night!" I replied angrily. 

"When you have had time to think things through, I suggest you give Jack Simmonds a call. I know he was after you several years ago, but you turned him down back then. I think he will be interested in employing you now that you are available."

That caused me to pause. I thought nobody knew about Jack's approach. The only person I told was Kirsty! Of course! That was it, she would have passed that titbit onto Sam, she could hardly keep that information to herself in her position.

"I may just do that. Thanks for that." I told him.

"The only other thing I want to say to you is this. Talk to Kirsty and let her explain how this all came about. It may not help you right now, but in the future, it may just help you forgive her."

The nerve of the guy! He wanted me to talk to that cheating bitch! Not a chance I thought. But then he said, "You have little Andrew to think about. Your divorce is going to mean major changes in all your lives, but most of all to his. You will have to move if you go to work for Jack Simmonds. 150 miles is a long way and you and Kirsty will need to sit down with him to explain these changes to him. You will also need to agree the issue of custody and access rights. In all probability, she will gain custody and that means some long commutes for you to see him. It's better if you can sit down together and come to an amicable solution. I know that you don't want to see her at the moment, but sooner or later you will have to talk to her. My advice is to do that sooner rather than later. If you leave it too long, then positions become entrenched especially once the lawyers get involved."




Cufflink Ch. 01



As always, he had given me some good advice and deep down I could see the sense of it, but not right now, not today!

"I'll think about your advice, but I can't get the picture of her with them out of my skull. Until recently, she was my rock, my wife, my lover and my best friend. Now in the space of a few weeks, she has turned that rock to so much dust! You said that you talked to her today?"

"Yes, I know her parents very well and they called me first thing this morning. It was they who put me wise to some of what went on last night. I went over and met them both. Kirsty was brave enough to face me and give me a first-hand account of what happened. She didn't try to make excuses or gild the lily! She explained without going into the detail of her affairs but she admitted that it was her fault and her affair and failure to support you when it really mattered lies heavily on her conscience. She looked a wreck and before I left she handed me her letter of resignation."

He waited to see if I was going to respond to that and then said, "She has done a very stupid thing and knows she has no excuses that could mitigate her behaviour. We have all made mistakes in the past and I admit to being very selfish when I tore her letter up! The Company will need her more than over now. We have some positions to fill and will need a major recruitment drive it if we are to meet the CDI contract timelines! I told her that if she had the guts to stand up and face down the inevitable gossip, it would soon blow over. As far as I'm aware, what happened between her and her lovers, never took place on Company time or on Company premises. Any liaisons they had, until last night at any rate, she said there were only a handful, took place well away from town and out of office hours."

He stood up then and shook my hand. "I wish you the best of luck with your new career. You're a terrific salesman and have been a far better husband than she deserved, but please let her try and explain her behaviour to you soon."

He left and I sat there for most of the afternoon just thinking about what he said. At around five, I called mys and asked if I could come and see my son. It was time to start the rest of my life.

I went to her parent's house and they embraced me. They wanted a word with me before they let see Andy. They begged me to let Kirsty have her say. Their obvious question was whether there was any hope of us staying married and I confirmed my intentions to seek a divorce, they didn't try to change my mind. Thereafter, it was mainly more of the similar advice I received from Sam about allowing the opportunity to explain her actions.

It seemed that everyone wanted me to listen to the details of her infidelity. It wasn't for my needs, I told them it mattered little to me now why she cheated, what mattered was that she had! If I was honest with myself, the truth was that they were right. It did matter deeply to me though for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why. What difference did it make if she had only fucked them once or a hundred times? I tried to brush off the why as if I didn't care, but the demon inside me had to know the why. Was it some kind of vicarious thrill that drove me try and find out or was I just a masochist who wanted to revel in my own misery? Whatever the truth of the matter, I had to know. I told them I would speak with her sometime before I left town.

That caused a whole new set of questions and also brought Kirsty storming into the room. She must have been listening from the hallway as I talked to her parents. She was crying and through her tears and sobs she begged me to give her another chance. I couldn't help myself, I laid into her calling her a slut and a whore and other such names as I could think of. I eventually ran out of steam and calmed down a little. Once I had vented my frustration and anger, I was able to conduct myself in a more rational manner and confirmed to her that there was no chance of reconciliation. She told me that she would accept my decision, only she wanted to try and explain first. I told her that she could move back into the family home right away. I only wanted to pack up my stuff and that I would stop with my mother until I left town. She thanked me for my understanding about how important it was for Andrew to at least have the continuity of his own home surroundings at this time. She asked if it would be all right if they came back with me today and I said OK. Since the sole purpose of my visit was to see my son, I asked where he was and she said, he was at the swing park with his friends and would be back shortly. They felt that it would be best if he wasn't around at our initial meeting just in case things turned ugly.

When we got home, we sat together and explained to Andrew that his mummy and daddy were going to be living apart, but that we both loved him very much. He seemed to accept it all too easily, but with around 50% of all marriages ending in divorce, he must have had classmates at school in similar predicaments. When he was in bed, Kirsty tried to explain why and I just listened without comment. I was angry still, but thought that if we got it over with, we could both move on.

We sent Andrew to bed and sat there silently, both of us contemplating the next step. I wanted a divorce, I could not see me forgiving her and certainly the trust was now gone. I remembered the advice I had been given, to hear her out and told he the floor was hers if she wanted to try to explain her behaviour. 

The following is her explanation. It revealed a lot of things I knew about and some I wished I hadn't ever got to know!

To be continued.



Cufflink Ch. 02



Kirsty's Explanation

Craig's told you about how we got together after I had interviewed him for SAME. I just want to say up front that he was and is the love of life. Why I allowed myself to be drawn into that scenario with Jeremy, God only knows.

It was exciting and so dirty! I had orgasms the like of which Craig and I used to have many years ago. Craig and I would fuck just about anywhere where there was a risk of being caught and exposed! Mostly it was me that was the instigator of this. I loved the exhibitionist element and the chance of being observed or even interrupted drove me wild. I got pregnant shortly before we wed and my pregnancy could be attributable to the night we were fucking in the back of Craig's car when somebody started to rock the car harder than the efforts we were putting in to making it rock ourselves! Two lads were hooting and peering at us through the windows. I was practically naked and the fact that we were being observed pushed me to try even harder to make Craig come. Normally, Craig would pull out of me when he got close and I would finish him with my mouth. I wasn't on the pill in back then and had an allergic reaction to the latex or the lubricant on them. We never did find out which. The greater the risk, the more I loved it! That night, with the two guys watching, I rode him to completion. He tried to pull out but I was on top of him with my legs either side of the seat and I refused to let him withdraw.

My pregnancy went well, no morning sickness to speak of and we were duly delivered a son. Right up to the day Andrew was born, we continued to explore my exhibitionist tendencies. I like to think we both loved having sex with a hint of danger. Then the Doctors told us that I would be putting my life at risk if I conceived again. They said that I could have had my womb removed, but that would entail pretty major surgery. Craig didn't hesitate in volunteering for a vasectomy and I was relieved of the responsibility. Our sex life recovered, but our young son, caring for his needs and putting him first resulted in curtailing our adventurous escapades! As the years passed, we got into a routine, our sex was frequent and mutually satisfying, but it has lost that va va boom of out early years.

Maybe, I should have mentioned it to Craig for I certainly missed that wild side of our sex life. I regret now that I didn't for I have come to realise that, that almost subliminal desire was only dormant within me and not dead!

Ironically, I never set out to be unfaithful to Craig. I guess a certain set of circumstances arose that unleashed everything that happened thereafter and ultimately destroyed our marriage. 

It all began so innocently. Jeremy and I attended a graduate fair at a large University Campus in Manchester. We were there to recruit young engineering graduates interested in a career in manufacturing. It was far enough away to warrant a two night stay in a hotel in the city centre. Jeremy and I traveled up together in his car and for me it was a rare opportunity to escape the everyday mundane life that had been starting to wear me down. I swear the thought of cheating on my husband never entered my head. We had booked in the night before the first of the interviews in order to be at the University venue early. We checked into our hotel and arranged to meet at seven in the lobby.

I showered and changed from my business attire into a dress that had buttons all the way down the front. I never gave a thought about how sexy this dress was. I suppose one could call it a mini dress as it had a deep cleavage and stopped at mid-thigh. I also had donned a fresh bra and matching panties, but they were anything but sexy, just the normal attire of a working mum, almost utilitarian! Jeremy suggested we go into the Chinatown district to dine. I loved Chinese food and Jeremy, in his hometown knew the best restaurants. The one he took me had its entrance at street level, but the steps led down into a cavernous basement. The food was delicious and we enjoyed each other's company without once discussing work. He was charming, witty and very entertaining as he related tales from his student days in Manchester. We started to walk back to the hotel when it started raining and he pulled me into a disused shop doorway to shelter until the shower stopped. I had a light raincoat and wasn't to bothered about the rain, but he had only his jacket with him and it made sense wait in the darkened door way.

As we sheltered in the tight doorway, my phone rang and it was Craig. Oh my God! I had forgotten to phone him earlier and now he was checking up on me! I turned my back on Jeremy and started speaking to my husband. I felt Jeremy's body move close to my back and he started to nuzzle my neck and ears. That's one of my major erogenous zones and I tried to step away from him without alerting my husband that anything was up. Jeremy countered that by encircling my body with his arms and holding me captive as he continued to bite at my earlobes. The more I squirmed trying to evade him, the tighter he held me. I could feel his erection on my backside as he pressed himself into me. His hands were busy too! He had unbuttoned my raincoat and his hands were roaming freely over my breasts, tweaking my nipples and sending me wild with desire. Craig must have heard the change in my voice as my lust took over, but I just told him that I was a bit distracted by the antics of Jeremy trying to attract a taxi! Jeremy took this for what it was, a signal that I wanted more! He started to unbutton my dress and I stopped trying to prevent him. I ended the call to my husband telling him I loved him and surrendered my body to Jeremy's wandering hands!

It was as if I was in a dream, back to those heady days when Craig and I played games like this! Once he had my dress fully open, he started caressing me between my legs and I was so aroused that I was opened my legs wider to give him free access. The one concession he made to preserve my modesty was to turn me round to face the boarded up, graffiti covered door. I suppose this hid his actions from the occasional pedestrian that passed by, but when I felt his erection pressing against my hole seeking to gain entrance to my wet pussy, I reached down and guided him in! He started to fuck me, my with my hands on the boarding to brace myself to accept his thrusts, all thoughts of my husband banished by my lust for this man's hard cock!

For a knee trembler, it wasn't bad. I had at least one orgasm before I felt him explode deep inside me. It was only then that I remembered that he had not used any protection! I was not on the pill as Craig had his vasectomy many years since and I started to panic as I scrabbled to refasten my dress. Jeremy shielded my from the street as I did all this and then spun me round and kissed me once more. I wanted to struggle, but truth be known, I loved that feeling after sex so I kissed him back. We walked back to the hotel, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

At the door to my room, he tried to kiss me again and asked to come in with me, but I firmly pushed him away and said, "That should never have happened! I have never cheated on my husband before and you didn't use any protection! I could be pregnant for fuck's sake!"

"What are you more concerned about, cheating on Craig, shagging in the street like a slut or getting pregnant? Don't try to kid yourself, you fucking loved it! You were so wet that I hardly felt any resistance as I took you and you came so hard that you almost collapsed there in the door way!" he snarled.

I didn't answer him for I knew that he was right! I did love it and it must have showed in my face as he continued, "That's it isn't it, you like risky sex? The chance of getting seen or caught, turns you on doesn't it?"

Without waiting for my response, he grabbed my arm and half dragged me into the fire escape and pushed me up against the landing railing, facing the next flight of steps. I didn't resist as he lifted my coat and dress and pulled my panties down. He spread my legs and the next thing I felt was his hard cock entering my dripping pussy once again. He lasted a lot longer this time and fucked me to several massive orgasms before depositing another load of semen into me sopping cunt! When he was finished, there was no kissing this time, he simply zipped himself up and walked away leaving me to pick up my panties and make my own way back to my room with his juices running down my inner thighs. I passed another man on the way and he looked at me closely as he made his way to his room. I was mortified! I was sure he could see the evidence of my infidelity and the smell of a recently fucked woman! As it happened, he made no comment and I was able to reach my room without hindrance.

My emotions were all over the place as I showered and tried to wash away as much of his secretions from my twat as possible. I even tried to push the shower head up into my pussy on an effort to wash away the evidence of my sins! I was alternately crying for my betrayal and the next moment, relishing the moment of our coupling in the shop doorway! I skipped breakfast the next morning and after a sleepless night I met up with Jeremy in the foyer. He was a bit nicer to me that morning and took me to a pharmacy. He ordered me to buy the morning after pill and I felt very embarrassed to be standing in the queue alongside druggies waiting to get their daily dose of methadone. I got the pills and a lecture from the pharmacist about practicing safe sex in future! She must have seen her fill of students and the like asking for the same thing and seeing a mature woman in the same situation, she vented her anger at me!

We made our way to the venue and had a pretty successful first day with several likely employees identified. The activity had slackened around lunchtime and Jeremy decided to show some of the city he knew so well. I was reluctant to go, but he fixed me with a stare me that clearly told me that he would brook no nonsense from me. We collected his car and he drove us around showing me the sights of his home city. We stopped at the Western Cemetery and he told me to get out.

We walked around the gravestones until he stopped at one bearing his name. "This is my mother's grave." He told me and then after hesitating for a few moments, he continued, "You and she have a lot in common. She was a slut too and died when one of her lovers strangled her!"

At a loss for words at his revelation, I wandered off angry at his name calling. He caught me up and pulled me into his arms. He held me tight and told me he was sorry for calling me a slut. He assured me that he didn't mean it and that I was the most desirable woman he had ever met! A girl likes to hear things like that and it had been a long time since my husband had paid me compliments like that. I let him lead me over to a small shed that I assume the workmen use to store their tools and such. Beside the shed there was a pile of old gravestones stacked against the side of the shed. I think that they must have been vandalised and awaiting to be replaced in their rightful positions. He kissed me then and I realised what he really wanted. Me! I thought briefly about Craig and what would happen to my marriage if he ever found out about this, but by then, Jeremy had my coat unfastened and was starting to pull my blouse out of my skirt. I didn't even bother to protest, I didn't protest at all in fact I started to help him unbutton it. When he had it open, he roughly pulled my tits out over the top of my bra cups exposing them to the cool air. I wanted this now and fumbled with his belt to unfasten his trousers. He was sucking hard on my tits and occasionally biting my nipples. They went even harder and desire started coursing through my body! I was getting wet between my legs and when his fingers found my hard nub and tweaked it, I shuddered and moaned with desire.

Finally, I managed get his trousers lowered to his knees and released his throbbing member. He released me and I took a quick look around to see if anyone was watching us, but luckily the place looked deserted. I don't think it would have made any difference if there was, I was in lust and all I desired was to be fucked hard! I dropped to my knees and started to suck his cock until he pulled me off him and sat me up on top of the stack of wet, cold grave-stones. He went down on me and started to tease my clit until I was screaming at him to fuck me. When I screamed so loud he must have been conscious that if he didn't stop me, we would have the police arriving. He took my wet panties and shoved them in my mouth to silence me and then he fucked me hard once more. I had several orgasms before he spent himself inside me again! He stepped back and I saw three lads watching us from about twenty feet away. They shouted to Jeremy asking if I was ready for some more! They were holding their crotches and making obscene gestures towards us, but thankfully Jeremy told them to fuck off and find their on pussy to fuck!

We sorted out clothing and I wanted to go back to the hotel and shower before returning to the University, but he told me we didn't have time for that and I would just have to go as I was.

I protested that I had his sperm running down my legs and must have smelled like I had been thoroughly screwed! He smiled and said, "Just the way I want you to look!"

I refused to get into the car until he agreed to let me clean up and he must have understood that I was serious and he found an old towel in the boot and told me to use that. I wiped up as much of our juices as I could and when I went to put my panties back on, he grabbed them and shoved them into his jacket pocket. I pleaded with him but he refused to hand them back.

"I want to see you conducting your interviews this afternoon knowing that I am watching you and wondering when and where I'm going to take you again! I want you to remove your bra as well and I sure you'll find that your lack of underwear will make it an even bigger turn on, especially if you accidentally flash our interviewees in the process."

I was shocked and mortified at his suggestion. It was not enough that I had let him fuck me three times now and in situations that could have got us both arrested if we had been caught! Now he wanted me to conduct these interviews without any underwear! With the clothes I was wearing today, my breasts would be fully visible and a naked pussy with the remnants of his semen still oozing out, I would be behaving like a slut! Totally the wrong impression to present to our prospective employees! I refused point blank and told him he needed to back off on his demands or he would be undertaking the interviews on his own!

To his credit, he did back down and when we returned to the venue, I made a bee line for the ladies to try and mop up the evidence of our lunchtime quickie and there was loads of it. I had never had a man that had so much spunk! I tried hard to rationalise my behaviour, but when faced with whether I enjoyed it or not, I had to admit to myself, it was the best sex I'd had in years! I tried to rationalise what I was doing to my marriage, but that was the difference, it was just sex not making love. Love making I received from my husband, but somewhere along the road, we had lost the lust that drove us to do crazy things! I liked both and foolishly thought that as long as I was careful, I could have both.

However, I knew that I was risking everything if I continued, so I did a deal with myself, I would only let Jeremy have me once per month and a times of my choosing. When we returned home and I approached me suggesting we get together, I rebuffed him. Not cruelly or hurtfully, just gently and suggested that we may be able to meet, as long as it was not locally, he set to with a vigour that left me gasping. The very next day he told me that there was a conference of manufacturing industry leaders coming up in early November that we really should be represented at. I told him to book it. He did that but came back later to rather sheepishly inform me that Alex Young had overheard him making the booking and put him in a position that he had to invite him as well! I thought about it and said, "We'll just need to be extra careful not to arouse any suspicions."

We did attend that conference and I got myself well and truly screwed. Again, when we coupled, it was always in a situation where we were at risk of being compromised! Jeremy soon realised that the risk of exposure was what really stoked my fires. The first time, he had me in the alley behind the hotel and the second time, in a public toilet! We both thought that we had been so careful not to let Alex see what we were up to, but somehow he found out!

Alex kept quiet about this knowledge until we were back at work. I was in my office, on the phone to Jeremy. We discussing the offer letters that we were due to send out to two of the graduates we had interviewed the previous month when Alex just walked in without knocking. I hung up and that's when he hit me with it. He showed me his phone and the picture of me and Jeremy in the public toilet! I felt as though the whole world had crashed in on me.

A sick panic spread through my body and only stopped when he said, "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell Craig." He said smiling.

I immediately started to hope that he would simply destroy that image when he said, "I won't tell your husband what a cheating slut you are on one condition. I just want to join you and Jeremy the next time you plan a bonking session!"

I felt myself flush and started to think of a way out when he turned and locked the door. He walked over to me and unzipped his trousers. He pulled out his semi hard cock and waved it in my face.

"Suck it, slut!" When I hesitated, he snarled, "Come on bitch, after what you and Jeremy have been doing, it shouldn't be too hard for you to expand your horizons a little."

To my eternal shame, I did as he ordered and he must have been really worked up as he spent himself into my mouth with a few minutes. He then zipped himself up and said before leaving, "I know how to be discreet and I won't be demanding much from you, but I want you to be onside when I make my move!"

Seeing my confusion he said, "Look we all know that Sam Peters is a basket case and the death of his wife has driven him to openly talk about selling the business and retiring. This is a good business and I know that Jeremy has already lined up some backers to finance the buy out! I have inside knowledge that he does not have sufficient funds available to do this on his own, but also have some support in the financial markets and if we turn it into a management buyout we will all benefit! I want to be appointed MD when Jeremy moves up to be Chairman and will need your support in the Boardroom. As to the other side benefits," he said leering at me, "Just think of the opportunities we'll have for those once we have full control of the business!"

I was mortified and full of guilt, not only an unfaithful wife, but now I had compounded it by taking yet another man. I had gotten myself into a situation that was rapidly running out of control! True to his word, Alex made no demands on for sex and I continued to rebuff Jeremy when he tried to set up situations where he could exploit my weakness. One day, Jeremy complained to me his frustration about Sam Peters and his lack of involvement or ambition to grow his business. I commiserated with him and he then confided his plans to take over SAME. I revealed that Alex also had similar ambitions and that I too would be interested in becoming a shareholder! If he was shocked with what I had disclosed, he covered it very well for he said that a management buyout could be the best solution and would be an easier sell to our customers. I also told him about the other condition that Alex had put on me and Jeremy said, "As long as I get you first, I have no problem with you fucking him as well. Maybe we'll get round to double teaming you sometime!" Something about that suggestion started my juices to run and I had to resist the temptation to have him do me right there and then! The office was too risky a place for that kind of behaviour especially during working hours. Maybe later after everyone has left, I wondered?




Cufflink Ch. 02



After that, we had several meetings, that last of which took place at my home. I was working from home that day when out of the blue, Jeremy an Alex turned up to finalise our plans. After the meeting, Jeremy took me to the bedroom I shared with my husband and had me there. Their was something very erotic about fucking my lover in the very bed I shared with my husband. Alex was impatient awaiting his turn and he rushed Jeremy into finishing quickly before he too mounted me. I was coming like an express train and when they had both finished with me, I was totally replete. Jeremy kept uttering about his missing cufflink and I told him I would find it later and return it.

It was at this last meeting the we reached an agreement on how to approach Sam and whether to include anyone else from the current board. We decided that our Financial Director, Darren Malloy was nearing retirement and was too conservative share our ambitions to drive the company forward. Likewise, Colin Dawes our current Operations Director was too close to Sam Peters and involving him ran the risk of tipping our hand before we had all our finance lined up. To have any chance of success, we would need to make Sam an offer that would take his breath away. In short, we needed the element of surprise if we wanted to bounce Sam into accepting our offer. Sam felt sure that he was so far out of touch with what was happening within the company he had founded and built up, that we could bounce him into agreeing to our buyout proposal. We had valued the company at a much lower price than its true market value and were confident that he would jump at the chance to cut and run. He was a near recluse in any case, so it was with come confidence that we built our business case. Craig's name kept coming up during these discussions, but to my shame, I resisted any proposal to involve him in our plans. I was confident that when the time came, I could persuade him that our actions were in both of our best interests. 

We had to close the deal before the result of our bid the CDI contract was submitted. At this stage Alex was still down rating Craig's efforts to win the contract and dismissed any speculation as pure fantasy. Craig had confirmed that CDI were delaying any decision until January, so we planned to make our move just after the Christmas Party.

We had just put together the final financing package and it was time to bring Craig into the team. I needed to bring Craig on-board to get my share of the investment cash. It was going to take all of our savings plus I was going to need to convince Craig to re-mortgage our home as well but I was sure that I could convince him and that he would accept, especially if I used my feminine wiles to help persuade him. So confident was I that he would see the benefits that I accepted an invitation from Jeremy and Alex to go out and celebrate the completion of stage one of our take over plans. I knew from Jeremy's body language that he wanted to celebrate by a special fuck! He had been hinting all week that he wanted me and that I needed to consummate our new partnership in style. I promised them both that after we had a few drinks, if the situation was right, I would give them both a night to remember!

With all the excitement of our planned takeover of SAME and the prospect of some wild sex that night, I totally forgot it was my wedding anniversary! We were still in the bar having a little celebratory drink when Craig rang me. I was stricken with guilt and remorse when I realised what I had done. I rushed home to find Craig clearing the remnants of what was to be our meal and a candle strew table just awaiting my presence. I tried to apologise and made some feeble excuse about getting my days mixed up, but even I didn't believe me! When Craig ordered me to 'shut the fuck up' I was stunned! Craig had never spoken to me in that manner before and after that one thing led to another and we had an almighty row that only reached some form of truce the next morning. We still made love, but something seemed to be missing. It was as if Craig knew about my indiscretions, but I refused to believe I could have been found out. We had been so careful both in the office and when we went out for lunches and so on not to give anyone any reason to suspect there was anything going on. In total, I had only let Jeremy have on those two days we were in Manchester and again when we attended the conference. Apart from giving Alex a blowjob, I had not stepped out again except for the day I was working from home and Jeremy dropped by and had me in the bed I shared with Craig. He never stopped complaining about that lost cufflink for days afterwards.

Then came the shortlist presentation to CDI and thanks to Craig we left there more confident than ever that we would win the business. They assured us at the presentation that their decision would not be made until after the Christmas break. The timing of their decision would be critical to the success of our planned buyout.

With the Christmas party only a couple of days away, Jeremy told me that he wanted to have a private celebration after the meal and before the dancing started! I knew precisely what he meant and promised him that I would be ready. I was so excited on the night of the dance that I was ready long before Craig. On the way to the hotel, I was conscious that I was chattering away but that was only to fill the silence that pervaded the car. I was excited, but Craig seemed very subdued when he should have been full of it. After all he had won the CDI contract and even if it screwed up our buyout plans, Jeremy was confident that he could con Sam into selling to us at a knock down price, maybe not as cheap as it was before CDI, but still a great deal for us.

Once in our mini suite, I disappeared into the bathroom to do my face and when I asked him to help me with my dress and Craig wanted to start fooling around, I had to dissuade him from having me there and then. I promised him that I would take care of him later that night and the very thought of being shagged by my lover and then by my husband started my juices running.

We caused a sensation when we entered the function room. I was so proud of Craig and knew that I positively glowed. The dress that I was wearing had exactly the effect that it was meant to and I reveled in the lust on the faces of the males present. I had drawn attention to myself and then I belatedly thought that it was going to prove rather difficult to slip away unnoticed tonight, but that was a problem for later, right now I had to fulfill my obligations as co-host of the party. When I saw the table seating plan, I was annoyed and I knew that Craig would be furious! Then came that awful speech by Jeremy. Who had briefed him on what had happened at the CDI Meeting? It had to have been Alex! the fucking idiot had claimed the lion's share of the kudos for the successful sale! I could imagine what Craig would be thinking and tried to attract his attention, but his seat was empty!

Jeremy caught me just as I was about to go hunting for my husband and told me that he wanted me right now. I was still annoyed about his speech and tried to put him off, but he grabbed my arm and practically frog marched me into the lift and up to my room. He kissed me in the lift and started to caress my breasts. Before the lift reached the sixth floor I was so aroused that I would have let him have me right there, but he told me he wanted me in the bed I would share with my husband that night!

He was so aroused that I never even had time to get my dress off! He just threw me onto the bed and pushed my dress up before mounting me. It was quick and nasty and he was so rampant, he came within a few minutes. I didn't get even close to a climax when he pulled out and started to fasten himself up! I felt the wet, coldness of his semen on the back of my dress and laid into him, he inconsiderate bastard, but he just looked at me with contempt before leaving the room.

I hurried to the bathroom to have a quick shower and when came out with the towel over my head, I heard the sound of a zip being pulled. I thought it was Jeremy back for more and started to say something, when I looked over at the bed to find Alex lying there with an enormous erection! I checked the time and thought that we probably just had enough time for a real quick one and maybe I could get off!

After all, I told myself, Jeremy had left me high and dry earlier. I mounted Alex and we had just got to the brink when the fucking phone rang! It was Craig and he was searching for me. I had to think fast and told him that I had to change my dress after some clumsy sod had spilt something on it. Well, it wasn't a lie was it!

When he said he was on his way up, I panicked and literally threw Alex out of the room before hurriedly wiping myself and donning my black cocktail dress. Thankfully, Craig never appeared. I thought he must have been detained somewhere and went in search of my husband thinking that I had got away with it once again!

I entered the function room in time to see Craig arrive on the stage and pick up the mike. At first his speech was perfectly fine and then he started to tell the truth about the CDI deal and my world started to crumble. I knew what was coming next and his words, full of anger and venom. He branded me a slut in front of everyone and he was right! I collapsed onto my knees and someone ushered me away from the melee that accompanied the end of Craig's speech. I did catch his final words about resignation and divorce! I guess I was too stunned to react as I was led away and found myself back in the room where I had betrayed my husband. The 'gentleman', who had helped get me back to my room was one of the lads from the Print Room, tried to get my dress off. He had me unzipped and was pulling the straps down when I came to my senses and pushed him off me. I guess he thought that I was fair game and after what he had seen on that video, I knew he was right! I screamed at him to get out and thankfully he did as he was told and left me alone.

The rest you probably already know. My parents answered my distress call and came for me. I was honest with them without going into details and my father called me a stupid bitch! He had never even raised his voice to me until that moment and I was shocked at the vehemence with which he uttered it. My mother, as usual tried to see both sides and said, "You should have talked to Craig if you were unhappy and not go out to seek your answers elsewhere."

I knew she was right and cried, "But he won't talk to me and let me explain!"

My dad said icily, "Why should he? You're mother's right! You should have talked to your husband first, but you didn't and to be honest, I don't see him forgiving you no matter how good your explanation is. You admit you cheated on him and not just the once, but several times. If I was Craig, I wouldn't waste anytime getting to a lawyer. We will try and get him to speak with you, but don't hold your breath."

Then the phone rang and I rushed to answer it, hoping it might be Craig. It wasn't him but it was my old boss, Sam. I answered the telephone rather nervously for the man had become a recluse, almost a hermit. He had taken little or no interest in his company and now suddenly he wanted to talk to me! Did he know about our scheme to snatch the company away from? For a brief moment my personal troubles were banished and I tried to answer professionally.

"What the hell have you been up to?" he demanded. "Your husband has resigned, your MD is in Hospital and your Sales Director is nowhere to be found! Just what the hell happened last night? Never mind, I'm coming round and you better be ready with some sort of an explanation!"

I made an attempt to make myself presentable before his arrival, but one look from his piercing eyes and I simply dissolved into tears. I confessed everything to him, my cheating and our plan to take over his company.

He asked if I wanted to remain married and I said, "God, yes, but I doubt if that will happen! I've done things that are unforgivable and Craig, for all his compassion will not forgive or forget."

After another cross examination, he told me to pull myself together, he was going to need me to recruit all the new staff and replacements for our two missing sales professionals. I told him that I would start work right away and he left.

When Craig came round to my parents that evening to see Andrew, I knew immediately that our marriage was finished. I made no attempt to dissuade him. He did allow me to move back into our home with our son, Andrew and for that I will always be grateful to him. I tried to explain my actions to him, but it was only after writing everything down that I was able to set the matter straight with him. He accepted that I had made a mistake, but was adamant about our divorce. I didn't fight it and he was very fair about the house and everything.

Epilogue

Kirsty and I got our divorce and I did phone Jack Simmonds regarding a job and he offered me a package that was better than what I was earning before. I moved down closer to his factory and soon settled into my new job. I had unlimited access to my son and visited him just about every weekend and Skyped him at least twice a week.

Jack's daughter, Annie also worked for her father and we found that we were mutually attracted. I asked her for a date and we started going out together on a regular basis.

That was four months ago now and as yet we have not done anything more than kissing, but those kisses are getting more and more passionate.

Kirsty came to see me just as our divorce was final. I saw immediately that she was pregnant and I asked, "What are you thinking about? You know what the Doctors said after Andrew was born. You could kill yourself by having that kid."

I was stating the obvious and she replied very calmly, "I will not murder the child I'm carrying and I'm prepared to take my chances. I just wanted to be sure that if the worst does happen, you will give Andrew a home and raise him respecting me and not hating me for this decision."

She had tears in her eyes when she said this and of course I told her that I would never let Andrew forget who his mother was. We reminisced about the good times we had shared and ended the conversation there on a good note. I think we were both filled with regrets about what had caused our divorce, but the good times were the predominant memories we retained. That was the last time I spoke with her face to face. Three weeks later she was rushed into Hospital. The complications that the doctors had warned us about caused her to start haemorrhaging internally and she was dead on arrival at the hospital. 

Andrew now lives with me and Annie and I have an appointment to see a specialist about reversing my vasectomy.