Revelations

And yes, they were no longer watching the after-dinner TV news. Perhaps that was the first direct casualty of her affair of so many years ago. This was also not lost upon his wife because after dinner, he would now head straight for the guest room while Vanessa would stay in the kitchen for a long time thereafter with a drink in her hand. He wondered how the cuckolded doctor and his adulterous wife were doing. Was he also sleeping in the guest room like him now that the whole world knew that the General had claimed his side of his bed for his own?

A day before the children were to arrive home, Vanessa pleaded with Victor to move back into the master bedroom. Victor initially refused but then later acquiesced. He saw no reason for having his humiliation and cuckoldry paraded in front of his grown-up children and their spouses; nothing good would come out of it.

Finally the kids arrived home and for a while all the bitterness was forgotten or set aside. He hadn't seen their children for almost six months and it was nice to have them back home. It was even better hearing and watching the grandkids rushing all over the place. It was Karen who first noticed the change in her mother. It's uncanny how girls can latch onto the smallest of changes in attitude and manners.

"Mom, you don't seem to be your normal exuberant self. I hope you are having your medical checkups done regularly," she said with concern in her voice. Karen had always had a caring side to her nature; trust her to catch onto the undercurrent of raw emotions.

"Hey, Dad, I hope you two haven't been squabbling over something like little children," she continued. It had been a light-hearted remark but Vanessa straightened up sharply and stared at her daughter's back. She had the look of a deer caught in the glare of headlights.

"Hey, look! It's that cuckold and the General's concubine," shouted out James. All along he had been glued to the telly, not paying much attention to what his sister had been talking about. It was now Victor's turn to be shocked. So far nobody else had been saying that "cuck" word in the house but him. To hear his own son shout it out made him briefly lose his self control. Victor swung around to see that his son had been watching the TV news.

The news channel was showing the cuckolded doctor and his adulterous wife walking together on the gravel path at their friend's house where they had planned to spend their Thanksgiving holiday. The woman was wearing a pair of dark glasses and had her coat's collar pulled up, no doubt to protect her from the chilly winds and the unwanted cameras. Victor remembered seeing her before on the same TV channel in more fashionable dresses. The thin drawn lines around her mouth were clearly visible. To cheat was one thing but to be caught cheating by the world media at large was no fun.

Victor looked at his wife from the corner of his eyes. She was standing in exactly the same place he had last seen her a few seconds before. It was as though she had been immobilised from head to toe. The deathly pallor was back on her face and so was the pain in his chest. The painful memories of the last few days and the cruel images of his wife's cuckoldry in the photos and CD, sent to his wife by her lover as a final gift, were back in front of his eyes. "Why? Why, God, dammit! Why did she cheat on her family? After taking her marriage vows and entering family life did she not realise that her life was no longer hers alone, just like his life was no longer his alone? Why, God, dammit!"

But it seemed she was not a unique woman; that woman on the TV news definitely belonged to her club. Her husband seemed so different in appearance from the devilish General. The cuckold was a professional, a doctor by profession, a life saver, and it showed in his demeanour. Too bad his wife went for the soldier boys, one of whom had just incurred some collateral damage to her family by permanently altering the sweet innocent childhood of two young children who were not even aware of the way their life was being played around with by adults.

"Oh, those children are so sweet," gushed Karen, once again showing her maternity instincts.

"One look at that dowdy cuck and the whole world can understand why his wife replaced him with the cavalier General," said James, who was totally engrossed in the news.

"C'mon, James, we don't know the whole story, do we? Perhaps she felt the General, to whom the free world had given the responsibility of spreading their ideas and thoughts in an underdeveloped and wild part of the world, needed the comfort of a friend, a good friend, as he was so far away from his family and loved ones. Perhaps some would say that the doctor should not mind it at all and carry on with their so-called blissful life," countered Victor, closely watching his wife at the same time.

"Blissful, my foot! The doctor has been insulted enough. The woman is very ambitious and I bet this is neither the first time nor the last time that she will be spreading her legs to get what she wants. If the doctor is smart enough, he will cut his losses as soon as possible and move on. Of course, he should also take the kids with him as the woman doesn't have an iota of goodness in her soul. The doctor was taking care of their kids and attending to his patients while his wife was having sex with her lover all over the world. No, sir, she's a bad woman and he should cut her out from his life as soon as the media hype dies down. But first things first, he should have his kid's DNA checked," finished James vehemently.

"My thoughts ditto," thought Victor. He then looked briefly towards his wife. She was still standing frozen and was holding onto the back of a chair in front of her as though her very life depended upon it. Maybe she was taken aback by her son's vehement outburst. The pupils of her eyes were darting from one family member to another and then back to the first one.

"Perhaps she developed feelings for the General during the course of her extended interactions with him, running into years. No doubt she is a very strong and ambitious woman, as is apparent from her high school and West Point records which the press has so thoughtfully dug out for their dear readers. Perhaps as her interactions continued with the General, she saw him as her very own perfect male," reasoned Karen. She seemed to be taking the same stand as her mother, thought Victor. Did all women think alike?

"No way, Karen," said Janet, Victor's daughter-in-law, who had just joined them after checking on the kids. "She's committed in a relationship called marriage and has her own family. Even if she had developed some feelings for another man, she should not have crossed that invisible line. She selfishly broke the trust and faith bestowed upon her by her family. To that extent she has, in a way, already abandoned them and moved on in her personal life where there is not much place for her family and definitely nothing for the father of her children. The family should also move on," continued Janet.

"Atta girl!" thought Victor. At least there was one lady in his house who begged to differ. His son was a lucky guy. He had a good life partner in Janet. His daughter-in-law had a good head on her shoulders. It was now two against one. Victor turned toward his wife.

"Well, dear, what do you have to say? Was it an affair of the heart that should have been consummated, as Karen thinks, or should it have just remained an affair of the heart, as Janet thinks?"

All eyes in the room turned towards her. She stood with eyes wide open, lips trembling, and mouth open to form a small "o". In essence, she looked like a hunted animal caught in a corner with guns pointing between her eyes.

"Just leave them alone!" she finally cried out, taking her audience by complete surprise. The waterworks had started by now and tears were coursing down her cheeks, damaging her makeup beyond repair. "What the hell does it matter what they do or don't do?" she continued in a shaky voice. She was also visibly trembling, the dim room light throwing crazy shadows across her face.

"Mother!" cried out Karen in alarm. She made to move towards her mother but Vanessa gestured for her to stop with an outstretched arm and then quickly walked away, leaving everyone astounded. Karen's husband Dave walked in from the patio. He had been on his mobile all this time and had missed out on the family drama.

"Hey, I heard some loud voices. What gives?" he asked quizzically.

"Nothing, Dave. I hope nothing," replied Karen softly, her eyes still staring at the door through which her mother had just made a hasty exit. By now her maternal instincts were fully turned on and she could sense something was amiss. She then turned to look at her father with an unsaid question in her eyes. Victor put on a neutral face and shrugged his shoulders.

Nothing was said the next day about the General and his concubine or about the near nervous breakdown Vanessa seemed to have had. The children and their respective spouses and kids said their goodbyes and by late afternoon, Victor and Vanessa had just each other for company. In another time, they might by now have perhaps found themselves in the bathtub, totally naked and sharing a glass of wine. But now there was nothing to share except some more awkward questions and some more denials.

Vanessa's eyes had deep bags and were red and puffy. It had been less than two weeks since the courier had arrived and she looked like she had lost some weight also but her attitude continued to be a cause of puzzlement for Victor.

With nothing much calling for his attention, Victor dug out a bottle of his favourite whisky and poured out a large one for himself. By late afternoon the bottle lay by his side on the couch, nearly empty. He sat gazing at the TV screen thru his drunken stupor. Vanessa was also in the room and had a disapproving look on her face but she wisely kept quiet. Victor didn't care whether she approved of his drinking or not; after all, she didn't ask his opinion before spreading her legs open for her boss.

The TV news was showing some pictures of the General's married lover taken in some distant, under-developed Asian country. She had draped a scarf over her head to cover her hair and was standing amongst a group of smiling local children. Victor thought that to be real funny.

"Why's she covering her hair with a scarf?" he slurred out.

"As per that country's society norm, a lady has to keep her head covered and that's what she's doing," replied Vanessa, happy that her husband had at least spoken to her directly.

"And why was she sleeping with the General over there? Is that also some kind of a social norm for that country?" continued Victor drunkenly.

"I wish I had all the answers to your questions," whispered back Vanessa after a thoughtful pause.

"And pray tell me what social norm of our great country called upon you to share your body with your boss to bring him back from the world of the living dead," shouted out Victor drunkenly, the pain of betrayal evident in his voice. Vanessa stared wide eyed at her husband. Tears had already begun to fall from her red- rimmed eyes.

"Victor, I'm sorry for the pain and misery I have inflicted upon you. If I had the power to turn back the clock and make amends then I would have done that. But Victor, we'll have to move ahead and I know we can do it." By now Vanessa was sitting in front of him on her knees, her hands resting on his thighs.

"Move ahead? Us? What's there ahead of us that makes you sound so bloody optimistic?" growled Victor.

"Darling, we've spent all our lives together. We have two lovely children as proof of our mutual love, and our grandchildren too. It's like there was this sapling which we tended to, watered it, gave it fertiliser and watched it grow. Now that tree has become tall and strong and is bearing fruit ... fruits of our labour. Just think of all that lies ahead of us ... in a sense, our lives have just started. Some of my actions in the past seem to have hurt you badly. Well, Victor, supposing I had gotten into bad company and become a drug addict? Then would you not have tried to hold on to me and move forward in life?"

Victor's alcohol soaked brain tried to come up with an answer. If his wife had become a drug addict, what would he have done? Screamed at her? Ranted at her? Or tried to help her kick her habit and become normal? So was she a sex addict? Did she crave for something new? Is this what she was hinting at?

"So you admit you're a sex-starved nympho. How many men have been there in your life other than me and good ol' Harry?"

"Victor, there has been no other man in my life except you," shot back Vanessa. "And I'm not a sex-crazy nympho. You know me well enough and should have stopped to ponder before throwing such a cheap accusation at me," she went on with a trace of anger in her tone.

"That's exactly what the problem is," replied Victor. "The photos show you having sex with your boss. You yourself admit to having an affair with your boss. Yet you go on to claim that there has been no one else in your life apart from me."

"Victor, I just used my body to help a sick and grieving soul. I think I deserve better judgement than you are dishing out."

"I think I need some fresh air," replied Victor exasperatedly. He got up and staggered into the guest room and fell upon the bed face down.

The next morning Victor awoke early with a splitting headache. The churning in his stomach reminded him that he had not eaten much last evening. He was surprised to see Vanessa asleep in the easy chair by his bed. Then the memories of the argument they had last night came back to him and he felt sick. Yes, he needed fresh air. In fact, he needed to be alone with his thoughts to try to figure out the best way forward.

He glanced again at his wife's sleeping form. The empty glass on the table beside her chair meant she would be out for some time. Victor quickly stuffed some clothes and other essentials in a duffle bag and quietly stepped out of the house. He decided he would stay at their cabin by the lake for a few days; he deserved a break. He left a note in the kitchen for Vanessa telling her where he would be.

To Be Continued ...

ALEX

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