"What?"
"Which house you and I live in. Do you want to live here or at my house?"
"Why do I get to choose?"
"Because they are the offending parties. They cheated. We get to pick."
Before she could respond Alex and Mary walked into the room. I pointed at the other couch and they sat at opposite ends. Helen gave up on the spot and came over and sat next to me on the couch.
Alex started to speak. Helen held up a hand. He stopped. She looked at me.
I asked, "Alex, do you love my wife or is this just fucking?"
He looked down for a long time, then at Mary and said, "I think I love her."
"Mary, do you love Alex?"
Her answer was quicker. "Yes."
"If you were not married to us would you live together?"
Alex spoke, "I don't want a divorce."
"Oh? You want my permission to keep fucking my wife? You want Helen to clean up your cum on the carpet here in her home? What do you want Alex?"
"I wanted you to never know what we were doing. I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I don't want my marriage to end."
"Alex, would it be Ok with you if I had an affair?" Helen asked. Her voice was cold and controlled but we all heard the acid.
"No. You're my wife!" His eyes went wide as he looked at Helen.
"Alex, would it be Ok with you if I fucked Helen right here on your living room carpet?"
"No! I mean, it isn't supposed to be like this! Wait! Are you fucking my wife?"
"No. I have never fucked Helen. Wouldn't it be fair if we did fuck and had the two of you watch? Then you would have some idea what an emotional jolt it was for us when we discovered we were being cheated."
"Nick, I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you." Mary said through the tissue she held to her face.
"You did hurt me. The evidence says you planned and went to the Marriot at least twenty times so the two of you could fuck someone else's spouse!"
"Alex, I'll give you five minutes to get a suitcase packed. Six minutes from now you need to be out the door. You can make arrangements through my lawyer to come back for the rest of your stuff." Helen looked at her watch. Alex didn't move.
"Mary, I am going to our home when I leave here. When you get there you get five minutes to pack and go. You can make arrangements with my lawyer to come back and get the rest of your things. If either of you come to your homes without making arrangements through the lawyer I will send the pictures to everyone we know, including the kids."
"Four minutes," Helen said. Alex jumped up and disappeared into the bedroom. Helen counted down the time. When she said, "One minute" I got up and went to the bedroom door.
"You do not want to be in the house when time runs out!" I yelled. Alex closed the suitcase and fled. He didn't say anything to Helen or to Mary.
"Mary, walk out the door. Helen lock up the house when we're gone. If Alex comes back call me and the pictures will be on the internet before he can get in the house."
"Be careful. I don't know what Alex is going to do."
I followed Mary out the door and she followed my car to our house. I opened the door and held it for her.
She was crying. Inside she sat down in the kitchen and sobbed.
"I am sorry, Nick."
"Good. You should be sorry. You started fucking Alex in January and stopped having sex with me. Am I a bad lover? Have you hated sex with me for twenty-two years?"
"No! I... I just felt so wanted and needed by Alex. You don't need me. The kids don't need me. You can and do everything around here. Alex said he needed me."
"He didn't even say good-bye when he left the house. He doesn't want a divorce. That means he doesn't want you. You were just a convenient cunt for him to fuck! You know what that makes you?"
She looked up at me and I answered my question. "A woman who has sex like you did is a slut! An immoral woman who ends up alone! I hope he was very good. It has cost you a marriage, a home, a future with me and maybe it will cost you your children as well."
Mary sat in the chair and sobbed. I got a Diet Coke from the refrigerator and sat across from her. When she stopped crying I looked at my watch and said, "You have the five minutes I promised. They start now."
I set the timer on the oven and said, "When that rings, don't be here."
There were twenty seconds left when the door closed behind her. I watched as she got two suitcases into her car and drove off. I saw Alex's car follow her.
In my office I turned on the tracking monitor and saw they both pulled over two blocks from me. I turned on the audio monitor and heard a car door open and the sounds of Alex sitting down. Mary was crying.
"They won't really divorce us." Alex said.
"Yes, he will. There is no way he will take me back! He called me a slut! I am a slut! I was a good married woman and now I'm a slut! I'm your slut! You did this to me!"
"What will you do?"
"See! You don't even ask what we will do! We got caught fucking and now you abandon me! You bastard! If I could send the pictures to your kids and not mine I would! I won't because I can't bare the thought of my kids seeing me with your cock in me!" She sobbed and after a few minutes I heard the car door open and close. I heard the muffled sounds of a car starting and driving off. I shut off the audio. My box of tissues was used. I was angry and hurt but I still hated that Mary was hurting so badly.
Out in the garage I found a set of locks I bought a few years earlier but had never installed. I installed them and the keys Mary had would no longer fit my house. I called Helen.
"How are you doing?" I asked.
"That hurt. Are you coming back here?"
"Yes. When Mary left here Alex met and talked with her. He abandoned her. Right now, he is driving towards your house. I'm leaving my house so it shouldn't be more than ten minutes and I'll be there. Call my cell if he approaches the house. Ok?"
"Yes. Alex is a bigger shit than I thought. He just abandoned her?"
"He wants you and he wants to be able to fuck around. Mary was just for fun."
"Bastard! He isn't getting back into my life! Not now and not ever."
"Sit tight. I'll be there soon. I love you."
"I love you too." The phone went dead.
I drove the speed limits and pulled into the driveway. Alex's car was parked at the curb. He was standing on the porch talking. When I closed the car door he stopped and turned to face me.
"Let me talk to Helen. She's my wife."
"No. She was your wife. You heard me tell you not to come back and here you are. Remember what I said I would do?"
"Don't do it! I just want to talk to her."