A quick little flash story that I hope you find as much fun to read as I did writing it. Nothing new or socially redeeming here...

*****

On Friday, August 24, 2018 at 5:00 p.m., my wife Julia pulled into our driveway, just as she said she would. As she got out of her car, she had a huge smile on her face, as if she was glad to see me. She still looked good - after 23 years of marriage, holding a full time job and raising our daughter together, she could still turn the heads of much younger men as she walked by.

She came rushing up to me on the porch and wrapped her arms around me. She tried to give me a kiss on the lips, but I turned my head away, and she got my cheek instead. I think that move might have been the one that started her to think I wasn't as thrilled to see her as she was to see me.

"What's the matter, Barry?" she asked. "You should be happy I'm here, because that means that after my time away, I realize even more than before that you are the man with which I want to spend the rest of my life!"

I laughed, but it wasn't sincere, and she knew it. I wasn't going to say anything just yet, and finally the silence was too much for her, since with the silence was a noticeable chill in the air of the otherwise hot August afternoon.

"Barry, what is wrong? I'm here, aren't I? I know that I sprung our trial separation on you rather suddenly, but I really felt it was necessary for me to go away and do some serious thinking about us. Perhaps it was hormones that affected me, but more than anything else, these past three weeks have shown me what an amazing man and husband and father you are. If anything, Barry, these three weeks have strengthened my resolve to devote myself to you for the rest of our lives!"

I still didn't say anything, and it was about that time that she noticed the two suitcases sitting on the porch next to the door. Perplexed, she looked at me again and asked, "What are these doing here? Barry, what is going on?"

At that point, I knew it was time for me to speak. Calmly, I said, "Well, Julia - now that you are back from your trial separation, it's time for me to go on mine."

Judging from her facial expression, I could tell this wasn't what she expected me to say. "Your trial separation?" she exclaimed. "Why do you need a trial separation?"

I laughed again, and said loudly, "Who says I NEED a trial separation? I don't - just like you didn't NEED a trial separation either. But it was obviously what you wanted, and considering the fun you had on yours, I think I want to try my own. I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it. The beautiful blonde sales rep I met at my convention in Atlanta that first week you were gone seems to be interested in trying to sell me some more product, and I'm hoping she going to use some VERY aggressive tactics to persuade me. It's amazing how those vendors know how to hire salespersons that make you want to spend time with them."

The color drained from her face, and for a minute I thought she was going to lose her balance. The realization of what I was going to do must have scrambled her mind, because she opened her mouth to speak, but all that came out was, "But...Barry..."

I reached over and patted her pale cheek. "Don't worry, honey - I haven't done anything with her yet, although we did enjoy a couple of meals and maybe an evening together dancing in the hotel club. I'm sure she could "feel" my interest in her. But since your separation meant you were going to sample different men, I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to my separation."

"But Barry, what are you talking about? I told you I went away for the three weeks to do some soul..."

I put my finger to her lips and cut her off. "Now Julia, don't say anymore, because I don't want you lying to me. I know that you at least waited until my plane was off the ground Sunday afternoon to start your sampling. I know that you spent the night in a stranger's hotel room that Sunday night and then again the next night, and Thursday you found another stranger to do the same thing. After that, I called off the private investigator I had hired to follow you. She was prepared to work the entire three weeks if necessary, but after those first three nights you spent in someone else's hotel room, I called her off, since I didn't need to know any more about what you were doing."

With a meek voice, Julia asked, "You had me followed?"

I sighed and said, "Of course I did. Did you really think I was going to buy that story of you finding yourself? I don't know why you thought you needed something or someone else, and honestly, I don't care to know. I just know that you were telling a very suspicious story, and I wasn't about to rely on you telling me the truth when you came waltzing back."

I think by now the big picture was starting to come into focus for Julia. She couldn't deny that she spent those three nights in the rooms of other men, and while I didn't have audio or video evidence that she was cheating, I was pretty sure they weren't reading Bible verses to each other out of the Gideon Bible in the nightstand. She couldn't really stop me either, because I wasn't doing anything that she hadn't already done, and even though that sounded petty, I didn't give a fuck at that moment.

All she could say was, "Barry, can we at least talk about this?"

I shook my head no. "Like we talked about what you did to me three weeks ago? Your mind was made up, and now mine is also. Honestly, I want to thank you for suggesting a trial separation, because after the rules you made up on yours, I can hardly wait to get my cock - you remember, the cock that I promised would always be faithful to you, just as you promised always to be faithful to me - inside the hopefully tight pussy of another woman. And I have you to thank for it!"

She sat down on the porch steps with her face buried in her hands. I think she wanted to cry, but maybe she was finally realizing how much she screwed us up. So there were no more words, and no more tears - just the pathetic form of a sad and confused woman who knew her husband was going to do what she had done, except he was admitting it openly, while she had tried to hide hers.

I picked up my suitcases and carried them to my car, putting them in the trunk. Before I opened my door, I called out to her one more time. "Don't worry, honey - in exactly three weeks, I'll be back, right at 5:00 just like you did, and we can talk then."

She looked up at me, and our eyes met as I smiled and said one more thing...

"Maybe..."