Gerry recognised that she was a great asset to his firm. Amelia had managed to snag quite a few contracts when she became a partner; after all, she was a very hard worker. This had, of course, required expansion and a more significant workforce as well as larger surroundings. One of the side benefits of the business trips was that they were often in places where no one knew them, and they did not have to hide their relationship with each other. All those who saw them walking around probably thought they were just a happy couple on holiday.
They were on a business trip to Brighton, where they supplied flowers to a large percentage of the hotels. When booking into hotels, however, they always took separate rooms for appearance sake, leaving one slightly used looking but staying together in the other one. Not that anyone would be overly interested in this day and age, but they thought it best to look professional.
However, it is not always easy to hide sexual attraction in the workplace. There is always at least one person who will notice something amiss and be indiscrete. One such person was a man who had been taken on as the business began to grow named Peter; Peter was a drinking buddy of Richard, Amelia's husband. They had met at the employment office whilst looking for work and struck up a conversation. Being of a similar disposition, they soon began spending their dole money on drinks and complaining about their jobless situations.
After Amelia became a partner in the firm, Richard had been offered a job but decided he did not want to work for his wife. He had grown ever more disagreeable at what he deemed an unfair world. He resented that Amelia had become the breadwinner in the relationship and felt like less of a man and turned to drink for consolation.
On their last drinking session, Peter told Richard that he was sure something was going on between Gerry and Amelia and should keep his eyes open. Richard called him a lying cunt and told him to fuck off, not wanting to accept a further assault on his manhood. It did, however, begin to pray on his mind that perhaps there was something in what Peter had said.
Richard's alcohol intake had risen drastically over the period he had been unemployed. With it, his appearance also became more dishevelled, with the result that this dissuaded prospective employers from hiring him. This all took a heavy toll on his personality, and Amelia had begun to tire of it, especially as she was now in love with Gerry. Nevertheless, she remained with Richard out of a sense of loyalty to what had once been; she still cared for him, despite the changes in his personality, but the love was no longer there.
Richard had decided to follow them on their next business trip and verify whether there was any truth to Peter's drunken ramblings. He did not know what the outcome would be if Peter was correct in his suspicions; he just knew he had to find out one way or another.
Amelia had always told Richard which hotel she would be staying in when she went away. This had, until now, always allayed any suspicions he may have harboured. So after Gerry picked her up from home to drive to Brighton, Gerry had spruced himself up and taken a train there, arriving about two hours after they had checked in.
Richard had called the hotel to speak to his wife only to be told that she was not in her room and was asked if he would like to leave a message. He said that he would not leave a message but would appreciate it if they could give him the room number and direct line to it as he would try again later. So they gave him the number for her room, and Gerry's too in case he wanted to try that one as well, the receptionist knowing that they were there together for business.
Already having established that Amelia was not in her own room, Richard entered the hotel. Then, having gotten the information about which rooms she and Gerry were in, he decided he would go to Gerry's room and confront them there. In his tortured mind, he had already accepted that they were indeed having an affair.
He knocked on the door of Gerry's room and changing his voice slightly, he said;
"Room Service"
Gerry opened the door slightly to say that he had not ordered any room service but was shocked to see Richard there. Richard noticed that Gerry was not wearing a shirt as he peered around the door; he pushed the door open and barged into the room.
Though he had been expecting it, the sight of Amelia lying naked on the bed of Gerry's room was like a punch in the stomach. Then, turning, he noticed Gerry was naked, but, because of this intrusion, his cock was dwindling; it was just so obvious as to what had been going on. Richard tried to punch Gerry, but he was not fast enough nor fit enough. Gerry had no problem in avoiding his attempts to hit him but refused to attack Richard back.
Amelia, who up until now had been in shock at Richard's arrival, now found her voice again.
"Richard, what the fuck are you doing here?" she whimpered.
"I think that should be my question to you, you cheating bitch! don't you?" Richard angrily replied, trying to hold back tears of grief.
"Richard… we are very sorry; we never meant for this to happen," Gerry said.
"You, you just shut the fuck up, you dirty bastard," Richard screamed; if looks could kill, then with the look of disgust and anger on his face, Gerry would have dropped dead right there.
Turning back to his wife, Richard asked her how long this affair had been going on, saying he wanted the truth and no lies. Amelia began to weep whilst trying to get dressed. Gerry likewise started to get dressed, hating himself for doing this to Richard.
"Well, woman, damn you, how fucking long, have you been fucking, this cunt?" He asked through his now clenched teeth. "I just bet you have been laughing behind my back, laughing at what an idiot wanker I am."
"Richard, it has never been like that; you weren't giving me any attention at…" Amelia tried to say before Richard cut in with another accusation.
"I have never cheated on you, not ever, and you have the nerve to say I never gave you attention at home; that was not my fault; you know I have been depressed since being out of work."
"Richard, I just..." Gerry interjected.
"I told you to shut the fuck up, twat head," Richard replied, once again moving towards Gerry in a threatening manner. "I want to talk to my, my …. Loving wife, not you, can't you understand that?"
Gerry half-closed his eyes and bowed his head, letting out a sigh as a sign that he understood.
"Well, Amelia, my darling wife, how bloody long has it been going on?" He asked again.
"A year now." She replied
"A year, a whole fucking year, a whole fucking year, swinging on his dick, a whole fucking year making a fool out of me, how could you do this to me?"
"Richard, I am a woman with needs," Amelia replied.
"Richard, I am a woman with needs," Richard repeated in a voice mimicking hers. "If you were unhappy, why did you just not talk to me, and we could have sorted things out?" Richard sadly replied.
"Gerry, can you go to the other room, please, and let me and Richard talk?" Amelia asked with tears in her eyes.
Gerry looked at them and then turned and left the room with a look of sadness on his face.
Richard slumped into the armchair in the room and looked utterly broken, and placing his head in his hands, began to cry. Amelia was at a loss as to what to do next; her mind was racing. She felt guilty about what had happened between her and Gerry. She wondered if she could now do anything to obtain Richard's forgiveness, knowing that she would never again enjoy his trust.
Taking the stool from below the dressing table, she sat opposite him and reached out her hands. She placed a hand on his knee, only to have it swatted away.
Looking at her through tear-filled eyes, he once again asked her, "Why?" His voice was now quiet and sad.
Amelia knew that whatever she said would sound meaningless, and hanging her head in shame at how she had hurt Richard, she too began to cry.
After a short while, Amelia turned to Richard and said, "I could say I will stop seeing Gerry, but I do not think I can." However, she told him that she would understand and not contest it if he wanted a divorce.
"It's not that I do not love you, Richard, but I cannot live without sex anymore; I am a woman with needs." she continued.
"So you said," Richard replied. "What about if I clean my act up? If I stop drinking and I give you the sex you need, will you forget him?”
Amelia sighed; "I think it has gone beyond that point, Richard, please understand; I still care for you, but, and I don't mean to hurt you by saying this, Gerry is the best fuck I have ever had." Then, kneeling down and looking into his eyes, Amelia said, "Until you lost your job and got into the state you are in now, you were the best husband in the world. I would never have thought of cheating on you."
"So, it is over between us then," Richard replied, resigning himself to the fact that she would carry on having sex with Gerry regardless of her marriage vows.
"I think it is Richard; I really do, I just wish things had been different, but they are what they are.”
"Very well," Richard replied; "Enjoy your life with that son of a bitch."
"He never wanted this, you know, I was the one that pushed for it; it's all down to me," Amelia responded. Richard took one last look at Amelia as he stood up and walked to the door and out of her life, saying nothing.
Amelia headed to the other room to find Gerry; she discovered him nursing a whiskey with a look of despondency on his face. She began to tell him that they would no longer need to hide their feelings for each other as she and Richard would be getting a divorce.
Gerry looked at her incredulously. "You do realise," he said, "that we have just shattered your husband's life - how did I never see what a heartless bitch you have turned into?"
"Gerry, what, what are you saying?" queried Amelia.
"What I am saying, my dear Amelia is that I never wanted this in the first place; like most men, I let my cock rule when I should have allowed my brain to do the thinking. You knew my parents split because they both had affairs, and now, as a result of our indiscretions, your poor husband's life is in ruins."
"But, but…" Amelia stammered.
"I am sorry, Amelia, but we are through; I can not be with you anymore knowing what a dreadful thing we have done; I do have a conscience even if you do not."
She had always known that Gerry had a sensitive soul; it was one of the things she found attractive in him. However, she had not expected this outcome and now wondered what her options were.
"I do not think you should come back to the firm," Gerry said, "You have been a partner now for ten months. However, there is a clause in the contract. It states that if either partner decided the contract was not working within twelve months, the majority partner would buy back the minority partners shares."
Amelia looked stunned as Gerry continued, "I will repurchase them at a profit to you, of course. As, after all, I must recognise that you have been a boon to the business." Amelia did not know what to say to this and felt flabbergasted by what Gerry had said.
"Very well," she whispered, "If that is what you want."
"Things are what they are," Gerry responded.
Gerry wondered why Amelia began to laugh at that and asked her what was funny.
"Nothing, she replied, absolutely nothing is funny about any of this." She thought of the irony of Gerry saying to her the very phrase she had said to Richard when ending their relationship. "Karma really is a bitch that comes and bites you on the ass," she thought.
She had lost both of the men in her life on the same night; Gerry's buy-back option on her shares would on paper leave her financially independent, at least for a while. Her life, however, was for the foreseeable future going to be in turmoil. She wondered if she would manage to hide her coming financial windfall from Richard and his divorce lawyer. But she felt that Gerry would make sure he knew about it to allay some of his guilt over their affair.
To be continued...
