Infidelity- The tale of a pampered wife

Larry and I have been married for twenty-two years. He was the best thing that had happened to me. I was twenty five when I got married to Larry, while he was thirty. We both hailed from wealthy homes. I remember our wedding ceremony; it was the talk of the town, and a benchmark for our friends who subsequently got married. Larry and I have always had everything we wanted, our marriage has been blessed with four children, three boys and our youngest, my little princess Jessica. I love my husband, or so I thought until I met Victor three years ago. Victor is ten years younger than I am. I met him three years ago during our family trip to The Hague. We were originally destined for Seychelles; however Larry had been scheduled to attend series of business meetings in The Hague, so as a supportive family we changed our holiday destination. This was the only way I could be with my husband, and my children could be with their Father. Ever since Larry started working at the United Nations, we saw less of him. Larry was missing for most of Jessica’s early years that at some point, she thought the chauffeur was her father.

            I had just returned to the Hotel with Jessica when I decided to go have a drink at the hotel bar. We had been touring the city, while the boys, John, Justin and Jonathan, who were 18, 17, and 14 years old respectively, had stayed back in the hotel. Larry was attending to work as usual.

“Jess go and be with your brothers in the suite, I’ll join you all later on” I said.

“Can we order room service” she asked

“Yes love, order anything you want”

“Can we swim in the pool too?”

“Hmmm yes, but only if your brothers want to”

Jessica was twelve years old at the time. She ran off excitedly. I sometimes felt sorry for her, her brothers enjoyed bullying her, which was why she was always more than happy to hang around me.

“Lovely wristwatch you’ve got there” I heard someone say from behind me. I turned around to confirm that the comment was directed at me.

“Lovely watch you’ve got there” the speaker repeated, this time pointing at my wristwatch.

“Thank you” I said

“I’m Victor, are you lodging here?”

“Yes I am” I did something strange at this point. I was wearing a pair of shorts which had pockets behind. I found myself sliding my wedding ring into my pockets. I had never had to hide my wedding ring, but seeing Victor made my heart palpitate. The last time I felt that way, was when I met Larry.

“Are you here with company?” he asked

“No” I stuttered.

“Then I guess you can join me for a drink or two” he said

“Sure, I was just heading to the bar”

 Victor and I had a lovely conversation that afternoon. It had been a while I had a calm conversation; I was either shouting at my children, or angry with my husband for running off to work, but with Victor I laughed. He had a good sense of humour and he made me feel attractive.

            We spent three weeks in The Hague, and I met Victor on the second day. I found myself making excuses to leave my children in the hotel suite, and I was more than happy when Larry regrettably informed us that he would be spending most of the days in Berlin. That way I could spend the day with Victor. I had created reasons for not feeling guilty about my relationship with Victor, after all we were just friends, he listened to me, we shared jokes, and that was it. There was no physical intimacy between us. There was absolutely no reason to feel guilty, no reason until one late afternoon when I went to meet Victor in his hotel room. Now I knew I should not have gone there that evening, but Larry was still away, and the children were getting on my last nerves with their usual nitpicking. Spending time with Victor was just what I needed. This was three years ago, so I had been married to Victor for nineteen years, so for the first time in nineteen years, I cheated on my husband. I felt so guilty that I began to cry.

“What’s wrong, did I hurt you” Victor asked. He looked so worried that I was forced to tell him the truth about my marital status.

“I’m not only married, but I’ve got four kids” I said, my head buried in the pillow

Victor laughed.

“What’s funny?’ I asked, looking puzzled.

“I know” he said

I looked at him, completely stupefied.

“I spotted you and your daughter earlier, she’s your daughter right?” he said.

At this point I felt embarrassed. I got out of the bed and started to put my clothes back on.

“Irene” he said, placing his hands on my waist. I shook him off. “You don’t need to feel guilty, I’m also married”. I looked at him, still shocked but felt less guilty.

“This stops right now” I said pointing at him and then at myself.

“Irene, I know that’s not what you want, you feel guilty which is alright, but don’t deny yourself from happiness”.

I walked over to the door, I knew I should have gone ahead and left the room, but Victor was right. I had been unhappy for so long and the few days I had spent with him were delightful, moreover, I had already slept with him, and he made me feel more of a woman than Larry ever did. I shut the door and walked over to Victor.

            Larry never suspected me while at the hotel; of course he was always tired when he returned from Berlin. We would order room service, and he would sleep off before the food was delivered. We checked out of the hotel before Victor did. I had met him at the lobby with Larry and the kids and he walked up to say hi to me. I thought he was crazy for doing that, but Larry did not suspect anything.

            A year passed and I did not speak with Victor. He lived in London with his family while I lived in Chicago. We did not contact each other until when Larry was posted permanently to The Hague. With London less than an hour away by air, I contacted Victor. Victor came to see me the following weekend to rekindle our romance. Thereafter, he came every weekend, except weekends when Larry was in town. One time when Larry was away for three months, I went seeking for Victor’s love. The Children were away in school; John and Justin were freshmen at the University of Pennsylvania, while Jonathan and Jessica were at a boarding school in France. I had told Larry I was going for a fashion course in London. Larry who knew how much I wanted to attend fashion school, was more than happy to rent me an apartment in London for the three months duration, as I had told him the course was going to last that long.

            Victor and I still spend weekends to date. I’ve met his wife, and he has also met my husband, however both our spouses believe we are distant cousins, and suspect nothing since we are both married. Larry is still as busy as ever, and the children are becoming more independent by the day. Victor is suggesting that we both get divorced so we can get married and stop feeling guilty about our relationship. I however cannot leave Larry, we have come a long way, and he has never hurt me but rather has turned me into the pampered woman I am today.