That Sunday Afternoon

I looked at my boarding passes as I was about to board the plane and saw that I was in seat 4B. The gate agent had given me first class seats on both flights. I guess it does pay to be patient with the gate agents during times of stress.

I wasn't able to call Sonya before the flight to Memphis left and decided not to call from the Memphis airport because she would already have a house full of guests. I would just surprise her when I got home.

The Raleigh Flight arrived right on time and I was out of the airport and in my car making the twelve mile drive to my house by 10:15. I got to the house at 10:35. There were several cars parked in front of the house on both sides of the street but luckily no one parked in our driveway so I was able to pull the car into the garage. I left my luggage in the car and went into the house.

There were no guests in the house they were all in backyard sitting or standing in groups talking. When I walked outside the first person I ran into was Julie.

Julie said, "Well, you made it after all. Sonya will be happy to see you. I don't know what was wrong with her but she was very upset when you said you wouldn't be back in time.'

I said, "I got lucky and found another way to get here. Where is Sonya?"

Julie said, "The last time I saw her she was headed into the house to use the bathroom. I guess she's still in there."

I went back into the house to look for Sonya. There was no one on the first floor so I went upstairs to look. I ran into Cory, one of our neighbors, coming out of the guest bathroom on the second floor but there was no sign of Sonya up there either.

I figured she must have gone down to the basement. I finished off our basement to include a space for my home office and an old sofa and a television. I also put a bathroom down there. Often when we had a party Sonya and I would use the bathroom in the basement and let our guests use the other bathrooms.

I went back downstairs and through the kitchen to the door that leads down to the basement. I opened the door and when I looked down the stairs I saw faint bluish light coming through the partially opened door at the bottom of the stairs and I could hear music. It sounded like the television was on the satellite easy listening channel. The light was from the television screen.

The door at the bottom of the basement stairs is usually left open so I was a little suspicious as to why the television was on and the door closed so I moved down the stairs slowly and quietly. The door wasn't closed completely because it was warped a little and wouldn't latch when you closed it. This allowed me to peek into the room without having to open the door further. When I looked in I saw two people leaning against the back wall. At first it looked like they were looking at the television but as my eyes adjusted to the dim light I could see that they were involved in a different activity. I felt my stomach turn as I realized I was looking at Sonya and Tony Kaplan.

Tony was leaning with his back against the wall and Sonya was leaning against Tony. He had his left arm around Sonya's waist and seemed to be kissing her on the neck. I was about to charge into the room screaming but I realized that I didn't know if Sonya was a willing participant or if Tony was forcing himself on her. I had to watch long enough to find out. I had to know if Sonya would do that willingly.

When my eyes had fully adjusted to the light from the television I could see the two of them much more clearly. I could see that Sonya was wearing a long sun dress that had a split in the front that came halfway up her thigh. I could also see the expression on her face and she did not appear to be upset by what Tony was doing.

My heart rate increased dramatically and was thumping so hard in my chest that I was afraid that I might have a heart attack as I watched as Kaplan moved his left hand up to cup Sonya's breast. As he began to massage her breast he used his right hand to turn Sonya's face to him and then he kissed her. It was a long hard kiss. I don't know why I didn't charge into the room immediately but I didn't. I guess I just wanted to know how far Sonya would go. I had already seen enough to know our marriage was in big trouble now I had to know if the damage was irreparable.

The emotions running through me had my whole body shaking. I was angry about what she was doing to me, I was hurt by the betrayal, I was humiliated that she would do this while all of our friends were at our house and I felt the frustration of not knowing what I should do. My stomach was doing flips and I broke into a cold sweat and all I could do was watch them.

They were still kissing when I saw Kaplan drop his right hand down and he reached into the slit in the front of Sonya's dress. He ran his hand up the inside of her thigh raising the front of the dress as he did. When I saw Sonya's panties come into view my mouth got so dry I had no saliva to swallow which made my throat tighten up. I was also clenching my teeth so tight that my jaw was beginning to ache.

I watched as the bastard used his fingers to make small circular motions on the crotch of Sonya's panties and as he did this Sonya spread her legs a little farther apart. He said something to Sonya but I couldn't make the words. Right after he spoke to her, Sonya reached down with her right hand and pulled Tony's hand away from her panties.

I thought, "Thank God, she is going to stop him."

My relief was short lived as Sonya was only holding Kaplan's hand so that she could use her left hand to lift the front of her dress. She raised the dress above her waist and held it there by trapping it under her arm and holding it against her body. Then Sonya pulled on the right side leg opening of her panties and lifted the cotton material enough so that she could guide Kaplan's hand inside. When I saw that he was fingering her it was all I could take. I had allowed this asshole to put his fingers in my wife's pussy but there was no way I was going to give him a chance to fuck my wife in my house.

I didn't want to make a big scene at the party. I just wanted to stop the proceedings. I decided that I would deal with Sonya later, after our guests had all gone home. I quickly moved back to the top of the stairway and stopped at the kitchen door and then I turned on the stairway light.

"Sonya, are you down there?" I yelled.

Then I very slowly but loudly clomped down the stairs making sure they would have enough time to straighten out their clothes before I came into the room.

When I entered the room Kaplan was standing there by himself.

I said "What are you doing down here?"

Kaplan stammered a little. "I... I'm waiting to use the bathroom."

"Have you seen Sonya?"

"Yea, she's in the bathroom."

I could see that Tony was uncomfortable but not anywhere near as uncomfortable as he had made me. I wanted to go over and punch his lights out but instead I just leaned against the wall and waited for Sonya to come out of the bathroom. I made no attempt to make conversation.

"I thought Sonya said that you wouldn't be able to get home until after midnight tonight," Tony said. "You had some problem with your flight?"

"Well, I got home early and it's a good thing too."

I could see that comment worried him.

"Oh and why is that?"

I said, "Because I wanted to get home early enough to make love to my wife tonight."

"You know," Kaplan said, I think I'll go upstairs and use the bathroom."

He walked casually to the stairs and when his back was to me I gave him the finger. It was a meaningless gesture but I had to do something relieve some of my simmering anger.

When I heard the water running in the bathroom sink I knew that Sonya was about to come out and the knot in my stomach got tighter. I had no idea what I was going to say to her and I wondered if the expression on my face would give my thoughts away. I didn't want her to know that I had seen them yet because I didn't want to deal with it until we were alone.

When the bathroom door opened Sonya was standing there staring at me. Her face was pale and she looked like she might have been crying. Sonya started to walk toward me and she forced herself to smile.

"You made it home sooner that you expected," she said as she approached me.

"Yea," I said, "I was able to make it home just in time."

Sonya stopped for a moment and just looked at me, trying, I guessed, to understand the meaning of my last statement.

"I made it here before the guest started to leave," I said. "I didn't want to miss the whole party. Have you had a good time tonight?"

I could see the relief in her face when she believed that I wasn't talking about her little escapade. Sonya came over to me and put her arms around me but I didn't let her kiss me.

"I am so glad you got here when you did," she said.

I wondered what the hell she meant. Was that her private sarcasm? Her way of telling me she was pissed that I had interrupted her fun with Kaplan?

"It's after eleven o'clock," I said. "I think it's time to break up this party. I am too tired to deal with these people right now and the neighbors are probably tired of listening to all the noise."

Sonya seemed to have completely regained her composure. If she was nervous about almost being caught she wasn't showing it. The only sign that something might be wrong was that she didn't look at me when she was taking to me.

Sonya said, "I guess you are right, let's go say good night to our guests."

"Why don't you take care of that," I said, "I have a headache. I think I'll take a couple of aspirin and go up to our room."

"I'm sorry you have a headache sweetheart," Sonya said. "You go ahead and I'll say goodnight to everyone for you."

I wanted to say, 'Wish everyone a goodnight except for that asshole Kaplan. Tell him to go straight to fucking hell.'

"Okay, I'll see you upstairs when every one has left," I said.

Before I could leave Sonya pulled me to her and kissed me. I didn't pull away but I did not kiss her back either.

We walked upstairs together and then Sonya went outside to start getting the guests to go home. While she was doing that I when to the bar that had been set up in the kitchen and poured myself a double bourbon. I was putting some ice in it when Julie came into the kitchen.

"Too bad you couldn't get home on time," Julie said. "It was a great party."

"Oh, I got home just in time," I said. "By the way, have you seen Tony Kaplan in the last few minutes?"

"Tony left five or ten minutes ago," she said. "I thought you had a headache. Since when does aspirin come in a bourbon bottle?"

I forced myself to laugh.

"If I don't have a headache now," I said, "I will in the morning."

I gave Julie a kiss on the cheek and headed off to my room with my drink.

Chapter Three - The Confrontation

It took Sonya about an hour to round up all the guests and get them to head home. During that time I thought about what I had seen and tried to make sense out of it. How long had this been going on? Had they been together before? Had she spent time with him over the last two days while I was out of town? If this was the first time what do you call it? If you defined sex as having intercourse then they didn't have sex, but he had his fingers inside her. The biggest question on my mind was if I hadn't interrupted them would she have let him fuck her? I believed that she would have.

I thought about how I would start the conversation. I kicked around a lot of ideas but none of them seem to work. They came across to me as being either too calm or too angry. I knew anger would not get me answers to my questions and if I was too calm Sonya might not understand how upset I was. In the end I decided to wait until she was in front of me and then just say whatever came to me.

When Sonya finally came into our room she didn't even look at me. She just went to her closet and started getting undressed.

"It was a good Party honey," Sonya said. "Everyone seemed to have a good time. The house and the yard are a mess but I am too tired to deal with that now. We can clean things up in the morning."

"I know you were having a good time," I said.

Sonya looked at me as if she was trying to read my face. I didn't say another word as I watched Sonya remove her panties. She dropped them on the floor at her feet and when I looked down at them I imagined that I could see Kaplan's finger prints on them. I felt a strange pressure that seemed to be crawling up my spine. I felt like I was going to explode but I managed to stay under control.

Sonya had slipped into her night gown and was starting to get into bed.

She said, "Honey, aren't you coming to bed? I thought that you said that you had a headache."

"I am getting one," I said. "I need to talk to you about something and I think it would be better if we went downstairs. Besides, I need to freshen my drink anyway."

"I you have a headache you don't need another drink. Can't this wait till morning," Sonya said. "I am really tired."

"No. This can't wait till tomorrow," I said. I needed to talk about this now."

I tried to speak calmly but I wondered if Sonya could hear the growing anger in my voice.

Sonya got out of bed and started coming toward me.

"What is this about?" She said. "What is so important that it can't wait till tomorrow?"

I didn't answer her and I didn't wait for her to reach me. I just turned and headed downstairs.

I went into the kitchen and even though my stomach was already burning I poured more bourbon into my glass. I didn't even want anything more to drink but I needed something in my hands to keep them from shaking.

"Do you want a drink?" I asked Sonya."

"No. I have already had more than enough to drink tonight."

I took my drink and joined Sonya in the living room. She was sitting on the sofa and she patted the cushion next to her indicating that she wanted me to sit next to her but I chose one the chairs facing the sofa and sat there instead.

This seemed to tip Sonya off that something was wrong. I could see the worry in her face as she waited to hear what I had to say. I took a big swallow of my drink not because I wanted to but to give myself more time to think of how to start this conversation. As the warming sensation of the liquor spread through my body providing none of its usual comfort I made my decision. I had thought about slowly working my way around to what I had seen but I was afraid that Sonya would see where I was headed and it would give her time to start making up lies to tell me. I decide on 'Shock and Awe.' Hit her with the worst of it right up front and then keep her off balance so that she can't make up a coherent lie to cover what she did.

"Wasn't it fortuitous that I was able to catch an earlier flight?" I said.

Sonya looked puzzled. "Yes, I was very glad you did."

"You were glad that I caught an earlier flight? I don't think so," I said. Tell me this; if I hadn't arrived when I did, were you going to fuck him?"

All of the color drained out of Sonya's face.

"Who… What are you talking about?" She stammered.

"I am talking about Kaplan. Were you going to fuck him if I hadn't shown up when I did?"

Sonya was scared.

"Where on earth did you ever get an idea like that?" Sonya asked.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it was when I found the two of you down in the basement alone when everyone else was outside."

Sonya said, "We just went down there to use the bathroom. Tony was just there waiting for me to come out."

It was obvious that Sonya hadn't figured out yet that I had seen them together.

"There was nothing going on then?" I said.

"Yes. I mean no. There was nothing going on. It was just a coincidence that we were both down there at the same time."

I said, "That's a relief. I am sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusion. Can you forgive me?"

Sonya said, "Well, it's very upsetting to be accused like that, but I love you and I'll get over it."

Sonya said this without once looking at me.

I said, "It's just that when I saw Tony put his hand inside your panties it didn't look like you were getting ready to take a piss."

Sonya's eyes quickly filled with tears as she muttered, "Oh God no. Oh please God."

"It looked to me like the two of you were getting ready to fuck," I said. "So let me ask you again, if I hadn't arrived when I did were you going to fuck him?"

Sonya covered her face with her hands, bent forward and began sobbing loudly. I didn't say anything and for about two minutes the only sounds in the room were the ticking of the grand father clock and Sonya's sobs. Finally Sonya lifted her head up and looked directly at me.

Sonya said, "Yes. I am so sorry. I never meant... I never intended for... Please give me a chance to explain."

"Yes, what?" I said.

"Yes I... I was going to have sex with him."

"Do you love him?" I asked.

"No. Well... No. I don't love him," she said. "Not the way I love you."

I said, "What the fuck does that mean?"

Sonya said, "I don't think I could ever explain it to you. It's just too complicated. I am not sure I understand it myself."

"Well, you better fucking try," I said, "because if you don't I am out of here and our marriage is over."

Sonya said, "Is there a chance you could ever forgive me?"

I said, "I don't know. Maybe if you can explain how this could happen there could be a chance, but without an explanation there is no fucking chance in hell."

Sonya put her head into her hands and began to sob again.

"I never intended for any of this to happen," she said. "I am so sorry I hurt you. I want to be able to explain this to you but I can't seem to concentrate right now. I don't know how to begin."

"You can start by you answering some questions for me," I said. "How long has this been going on? How many times have you fucked him?"

"Tony? She asked. "I have never had sex with Tony."

I said, "Come on. I saw you guide his hand inside your panties. I watched him push his fingers inside your cunt. So don't tell me you never had sex with him."

"Please don't talk to me that way. Tony and I never did anything more than that," she said. "He has never been inside me?"

"Are you saying that Tony never fucked you?"

"Yes."

"But he has had his hand in your panties before?"

"Well... Yes, but..."

I cut Sonya off before she could finish.

I said, "You told me earlier that if I hadn't come home when I did you would have fucked him tonight. Now you're telling me that he has had his fingers in your cunt before tonight but you expect me to believe that you have never fucked him before?"

"It's the truth," she said. "He has never been inside me. Please John, when you talk to me that way it sounds so hateful."

"Right now a part of me does hate you," I said. "Did you ever suck his cock?"

"No. Absolutely never."

"Has he ever gone down on you?"

Sonya said, "No. The farthest we have ever gone was his hand inside my panties."

Sonya said that this asshole had his fingers in her pussy more than once, and by her own admission she would have fucked him that night. She also said that they had never fucked. It didn't make sense but somehow I believed her or at least I wanted to.

"So, how many other men have there been?" I asked.

"What?"

I said, "Other than that asshole, how many other men have you fucked or did you only let them finger you?"

Sonya said, "John, please stop. You know I'm not like that. Other than what happened tonight I have never been unfaithful to you nor have I done anything that would hurt you or our marriage."

"Other than tonight?" I said. "You already told me that you let that asshole get his hand in your pants before which means that you have cheated on me before tonight doesn't it?"