Is it foolish to voluntarily go to the house of the other woman? I didn’t go there to confront her but was invited by my husband since she was having a party. I was not a kid or even a young adult; I was 31 years old. To this day, I don’t know why I did it, but I will let you decide if this was a good choice or a foolish one.

Let me set the scene for you.

I was returning home from a work trip and texted my husband that I was heading home. He had left me about a week prior. I wanted to talk with him and try to save our marriage. He cheated on me with a married co-worker and held to the dream that she would also leave her husband for him. At this point, she was still with her husband, so this gave me hope. He let me know that she was having a party at her house, and if I wanted to stop by, I could. I weighed my options for the hour and a half drive and felt that I could be an adult and show him that I was willing to work with him. When I pulled into the driveway, I was a nervous wreck.

Evan, my husband, was standing outside the opened garage talking with a young brunette. She had long straight hair and was petite like me. Anyone was short standing next to Evan’s 6-foot 4-inch height.

I took a deep breath and got out of the car, thinking, ‘I'm here. I might as well meet her.'

'If that's her, I'm screwed,' I thought as I walked toward him.

"Hi, Evan," I said, ignoring the young brunette.

"Lainey," he said, sounding surprised.

I smiled at his surprise and noticed the daggers shooting me from the blue eyes of the brunette. Just from her look, it let me know that she was the other woman, Ivy.

"Um, Lainey, ah," he stammered, "This is Ivy. Ivy, this is Lainey."

"Hi," she said with a definite chill to her voice.

"Hi," I said back in my own frozen tone.

"How was the drive?" he asked.

"Same as always, just with less conversation. It's been a while since I have gone out of town without you," I said. "I stopped at our usual spot out of habit, but without you, it was just not as fun."

I watched his face change color and shot a grin at Ivy. Her lips drew into a sharp line as she caught the innuendo. She looked up at Evan, huffed as she turned on her heels and walked away. I couldn't contain my smile.

"That was mean, Lainey," Evan finally said.

"Oh really, that was mean. You slept with her and probably are still sleeping with her. She and I will not like each other no matter what your mind tells you."

"You don't have to be petty," he said sharply.

"If I were to being petty, I would have told her how I felt about her," I paused, "and you. Instead, I answered your question politely. I never wanted to talk to you here. Me being here was your idea."

He sighed, "Yeah, I know. I'm rethinking that idea."

"I bet you are."

We stood there in silence for a few minutes; all I could think about was how I was going to try to get him to leave. Every scenario I thought up didn't seem like it would work. I was finally out of ideas and tired of the silence.

"Are we gonna stand like this all night?" I asked abruptly.

"No," he barked. "Let me introduce you to some of the others."

As Evan introduced me to a few people noticed that they were looking at me strangely. It finally dawned on me that they all knew about Evan and Ivy. I wondered if he had lied to me about the duration of the affair. After making it around the small group, Evan asked if I was going to leave. I told him I was there to talk with him then offered to go somewhere else to talk. Evan told me he didn’t want to talk then left to find Ivy. As he walked away, I shook my head and sighed.

'Ass,' I thought. 'I really do not like you right now.'

"Hello." I jumped out of my thought and spun around.

Still clutching my chest, I squeaked out, "Hello."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the smiling man said.

"It’s fine. I was just thinking too hard.”

“I’m Jeff,” he said, offering his hand. “Ivy is my wife. I thought I should meet you.”

“Hi, I’m Lainey,” I said, taking his hand, “the other woman.”

Jeff smiled and said, “Good, I was wondering if you knew about them.”

“I’ve known for about a week, you?”

“I think I knew before she told me, but I’ve officially known for about a week too.”

“I’m not giving up on him. I don’t know why I’m not since he just left me with strangers to find her,” I rolled my eyes as I said ‘her.’

Jeff laughed and said, “I know the feeling. Let me show you around.”

We walked into the garage, then the house talking about Evan and Ivy and what we had each done when we found out. When we entered the house, he gave me a quick tour of the upstairs. At his office, he stated that he had emails between Ivy and Evan and asked if I wanted to see them. I declined. We ended up back downstairs.

“That is Alan’s room,” he said, pointing at the door just off the living room. “He’s our roommate and watches our daughter when we are at work. Let me show you the backyard before the sun goes down; plus, I want to check on the fire.”

I followed him through the sliding glass doors and into the tree-lined yard. The fire was burning in a stone pit about 10 feet from the house. One man sat near it, prodding the wood with a sturdy branch.

“Hey, Alan. How’s the fire coming?” Jeff asked.

“It’s coming along nicely,” the man said, not taking his eyes off the fire.

“This is Lainey,” Jeff said.

“Hi,” the man said with a pronounced accent as he glanced at me.

Right away, I knew he was military, the haircut, and that he was not local. I didn’t get to see much of him since the glance was so quick.

“Daddy,” came screeching from the house.

“Um, that’s my daughter,” Jeff said, looking toward the screech. “I better see what’s going on before it becomes a full-on yell.”

“I’ll entertain her for you,” Alan said flatly.

“Sounds good,” Jeff said with a nod toward him. “Lainey,” he said toward me and whispering, “I do want to talk to you later.”

“Ok,” I replied, thinking it was strange that he was being so secretive. ‘Maybe Alan doesn’t know about Evan and Ivy,’ I thought.

I watched Jeff return to the house then walked toward the seat next to Alan. Before I could sit, Alan looked up at me.

“Wait,” he said sharply. I stood there confused as he brushed his hand along the base of the seat. “Glass,” he stated.

“Oh, um,” I stammered, “thank you.”

When he finished brushing off the seat and returned his gaze to the fire, I sat down. I watched him stoke the fire, and it was apparent he knew quite a bit about fires. It reminded me of watching my Dad build fires when we would go camping. I took this time to think about a conversation to have with this man I didn’t know.

“Um, Alan,” I said, breaking the silence, “where are you from?”

“Texas originally, but I’ve lived in several places lately.”

“Are you in the Air Force?” I asked due to his haircut.

“No,” he said, sounding offended.

“Sorry,” I said quickly. “It’s the haircut, and well, there is a base close by.”

“Well, darlin’,” he said, looking toward me, “I was in the Army.”

“Really?” I was delighted to have a topic now. “I was too, and so was Evan.”

“I know Evan was in the military, but he doesn’t act like it. How do you know Evan?”

“Evan is my husband,” I said with a bit of tension in my voice.

“Then why are you here?” he asked.

“I’m not sure I can answer that questions with any certainty.”

He leaned closer to me and asked, “Do you know that he is cheating on you with Ivy?”

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Yes, I do.”

“You are one strong woman, darlin’.”

“I don’t know about strong. I feel more like a joke right now.”

“The three of them are a joke,” he said mostly under his breath.

“The three of them?” I asked, wondering what Jeff had to do with it.

“Yea, the three of them,” he said, turning to me. “I met Jeff at a bar picking up a girl.”

“Really,” I said, looking toward the house. ‘Now I definitely want to know what he wants to talk about later.’ I thought.

After the revelation about Jeff, we talked about what he knew for a while. When I ran out of questions, Alan and I spoke of the town and things he had done and some things he should do. I loved his accent, and it was easy to talk with him. Our conversation spanned several topics from our families to the military to movies and books to general topics as the sun set below the trees and the fire burned higher. Others joined us around the fire, but they didn’t matter to me. I found this young man interesting.

When I say young, I mean seven years my junior, yet he didn’t act his age. Alan never seemed his age. He was well-spoken and knowledgeable. The ultimate example of well-rounded, but I sensed a dark side to him. His ‘dark side’ is for another time.

“What does Evan see in Ivy?” Alan asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “She’s young and pretty.”

“Pretty physically, but what she does makes her ugly. Young yes, and she acts even younger,” he said with an edge to his voice.

“Do you think she will actually leave Jeff for Evan?” I asked, wanting his opinion.

“Never,” he said, looking me in the eyes, “She’s using him for his money, and they have a daughter. She couldn’t live away from her daughter or the money Jeff makes.”

I smiled, “Evan thinks she will leave Jeff for him.”

“Well,” Alan grinned slightly, “he’s in for a shock. I don’t see why he’s with her when he has such a beautiful wife.”

I blushed, looked away, and thanked him. I didn’t believe him, but it was nice to hear. I could see that the fire was smaller now. Alan had not added to it in a while, and I realized that we were alone again. I looked at Alan and let my mind wander.

‘Why couldn’t I have met you when I was not married?’ I wondered. ‘You are a wonderful man, and I hope you find a woman that loves all of you.’

My train of thought derailed when I heard, “Lainey, can I talk with you?”

“Ah, Jeff, sure.”

“Thank you for entertaining me, Alan,” I said as I stood.

“Darlin’, it was my pleasure.”

“Actually, I think I might need you too,” Jeff said.

The three of us walked silently back to the house. Alan and I followed Jeff to his office. Jeff sat at his desk and said he wanted to hack into Evan's social media. I told him that I didn’t care what they discussed and refused to give him the passwords. Jeff asked Alan if he knew a way to get into the accounts. Alan also declined to help him.

“Darlin’, would you like to talk more downstairs?”

“Sure, but where is Ivy?”

“She said she was going out with friends tonight,” Jeff replied as he stared into my eyes. “I think she’s with him.”

I wanted to run and cry myself dry, but instead, I took a deep breath. It was then that I decided he was not worth the tears I had shed or the ones that I wanted to shed now. Instead, I left the room with Alan.

Alan and I sat on the couch and looked through the movies. I don’t think either of us wanted to watch a movie, but it was a reason for me to stay. What we decided to watch is not important since we talked most of the time. I only remember one title because the movie was such a stupid sci-fi movie, but to this day, when I see the title, I remember this night.

We faced each other, both rested an arm, outstretched, on the back of the couch. Our fingers were close but not touching. As we talked, we shifted and inched closer together until we finally touched. I remember that it was just a brush, but it was not enough; I wanted more. I can’t remember when it happened that our entire hands were touching, but it did and brought a flare of desire inside me that warmed my whole body.

It’s hindsight that lets you see things in ‘movie drama,’ but a movie never can portray the emotions involved. That warming desire led to our first kiss. That light, soft kiss let my passion bloom like a delicate rose that scented my mind and soul with joy. I had had so many days of grey sadness since Evan told me he was leaving me for another woman; that I wasn’t sure what this joy was. As I looked into his hazel eyes, I let the cloud dissipate and embraced the warm, scented fire inside me. Being a southern gentleman, he left it at that one kiss before returning to our movie, but he still let me curl up with him. My rational mind cooled my inner fire.

I played with my ring staring at the heart-shaped bluestone, and it brought Evan to my mind along with my internal whys. ‘Why am I here? Is it loneliness, sadness, jealousy, or am I just a hypocrite?’ I felt my body tense, but if Alan noticed, he didn’t move or even ask. I have never asked him if he knew about my internal debate. ‘Evan is a lost cause, and if I feel this is right, I need to see it through,’ I decided. All my worries lifted, and I never looked back.

I looked up at Alan, smiled, and let him lean down for another kiss. He must have wanted more than conversation because we were soon wrapped up in each other. I felt nervous like you do the first time with anyone, but I wanted to see where this would lead. We explored each other, finding spots that seemed to increase the kiss.

His hand against the skin of my side, my hand on his bare back, his fingers laced in the hair at the back of my neck, and my hand flexing on his shoulder. I wanted him to explore further, so I pushed his hand up higher on my side. He took the obvious hint and was soon holding my bra-covered breast. ‘He’s a breast man,’ I thought, feeling his arousal increase. ‘I like that.’ As he grew bolder and squeezed my breast, I flexed my hand on his back. I didn’t like that he broke the kiss and sat up. He offered me his hand and led me to his room.

The room was considerably basic, just a bed and nightstand. I watched Alan close the door and turn to me. He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear and kissed me. ‘What are you doing?’ echoed in my head. I ignored the thought.

“Not that I want to stop but are you sure you want to do this?” he asked softly. “We don’t have to do anything tonight.”

Cupping his cheek, I simply said, “Yes.”

As I stood there, shocked by my response, he lifted off his shirt and then mine. Before my mind could catch up, I was lying on the bed. I was only wearing my panties with his lips against mine. It was a jolt that he was only in his shorts, but it was not unwanted. I must have jumped because he stopped kissing me and rose above me. I smiled at him.

“Do you want to stop?” he asked softly.

“No,” I said and reached up to pull his lips back to mine.

Where his skin touched mine, I felt little fires began roaring to life. They reignited the desire I felt earlier. I grasped the back of his neck in one hand and his back with the other. He lowered his head and kissed my nipples, making me gasp and then moan as he started sucking on one. When he lifted his head, his breath brought my nipple to a stiff peak and made me sigh. I watched as he grinned and shifted to the other breast, kissing, sucking, then letting his breath stiffen my nipple. I moaned again. His hand grasping between my legs diverted my attention. I was so engrossed in watching him that I hadn’t noticed him slipping his hand down to my panties.

Our eyes locked as I watched his hazel eyes as he kissed down my stomach as he lowered my panties. I inhaled deeply when his breath increased the heat rising from between my legs. He softly kissed my mound as he slipped a finger inside me. I broke our eye contact, fluttering my lids closed and rising to greet his finger. As his pace continued, I clutched the bed coverings and breathed in pants. He had me writhing and so out of sorts that I almost didn’t hear his question.

“Do you want something else here?” he asked, then driving his finger as deep as he could and rubbing his thumb against my clit.

“Yes,” I said breathlessly.

“Good,” he said.

I opened my eyes to see him above me, leaning down to kiss me. When his lips touched mine, he entered me. I gasped into the kiss. Slowly and rhythmically, he drove into me, bringing moans from both of us. Each of his strokes stoked the fire inside me until I was burning up. I had a fleeting thought that he shouldn’t be inside me, but as I said, it was fleeting. His hand on my breast, pinching my nipple, lured me closer to the boiling point. I ran my nails lightly down his back, making his back arch and drive him deeper inside me. We both moaned. I caught his eyes and lost myself in them.

“Cum with me, please, cum with me,” he said, pulling back then pushing in deep.

My breath caught in my throat and when I could breathe, I said, “Now.”

I felt him erupt inside me and my muscles clench against him. We rolled along with the wave together until there was no energy in either of us. He fell atop me then moved to his side, taking me with him. He touched my cheek lightly and ran his fingers through my hair.

We stared at each other and kissed softly for quite some time before getting nestled under the covers. Alan rested his hand against my breast and kissed the back of my neck and shoulder as he lay behind me.

“Are you ok?” he asked quietly.

“Yes. More than ok really,” I replied just as quietly.

“Good. Me too.”

I fell asleep in his arms until I heard the door open. Still in sleep haze, I wondered how he could open the door and still be lying behind me. My eyes flew open and standing in the doorway was not only my husband but the other woman, Ivy. I pulled the sheets up to cover myself and felt Alan shift.

“What the hell,” Evan said, but his eyes held the pain that I had seen in my own reflection recently.

“Get out, now!” Ivy yelled, then slammed the door shut.

“Shit,” Alan exclaimed as I said, “This is not good.”

Alan was up before me and halfway dressed as I started looking for my clothes. We dressed in silence. My mind roiled with thoughts ranging from what just happened to this is what he deserves to what do I say to Alan. I settled on ‘what do I say to Alan’ since it was the more immediate concern.

“Sorry,” was the only word that came out of my mouth.

“What are you sorry about?”

“I think you were just kicked out. Do you have somewhere else to go?”

“Not really, but I’ll figure something out,” he said, not giving too much confidence.

“You can come to my house,” I said, not thinking about what I was offering.

“Are you sure?”

“Um, well,” I said, searching for the words, “I think so.”

“I need you to be sure.”

“I’m sure,” I said without any hesitation.

The rest is, shall I say, history and another story for another time.

____________________

So, my dear readers, I pose my questions again: Was it foolish of me to go to the other woman’s house? Was it crazy to cheat on a cheating husband?

Not to influence your responses, but It has been many years since that night and I can’t see my life without Alan. He was then and is now the best man I have ever met. As all couples do, we have had our ups and downs, but he has never raised his hand to me, nor has he even really raised his voice. I love him very much, and honestly, he makes me a better person. My actions that day may be the definition of foolishness, but the final result could not have been better. I even left my home and family to move south to be near his family for a while; I might add one of my better decisions. If I had to do this over, I would not change a moment.

In case you were wondering, I did get the better of the deal. Evan and Ivy are not together. As far as I know, she is still married to Jeff. Ivy did have a daughter less than a year after this and yep, she is Evan’s child. She then had another child with her husband. I don’t know and don’t care where Ivy and Jeff are right now. I don’t even care where Evan is, but I do know. That again is another story, but I won’t write that one.

I have one parting thought for you. Sometimes one act of folly can lead you down the path you are meant to travel; you just need to know when to act a fool.