Caught In The Act 1

CAUGHT IN THE ACT BY GODFREY EMUZE

CHAPTER ONE

Jenny is a writer who works from home, when her husband Charles, who works as a real estate agent asked her to quit her job as an Editor and become a stay at home wife, she didn't think twice about it. Truth be told, she loves working from home, it gives her the flexibility of time and been a best-selling author rakes in enough income to make her comfortable. Charles earns a good pay at his real estate firm but Jenny loved earning her own income. She and Charles have been married for five years and though they had no kids yet, they were seriously working towards having one though that doesn't seem to be working out well lately

It's been a while they had an intimate moment together so this morning, Jenny had taken extra care and put things in place to execute her plan. As she made breakfast in the kitchen, she hummed a love song to herself with a smile on her face. No matter what happens, she'll definitely get some few minutes of good time from Charles this morning, no excuses.

As if on cue, he stepped into the living room already holding his briefcase but Jenny won't have any of it.

"Honey, breakfast is ready. I was just about to call you so we can eat," she said with a smile.

"Oh dear! I'm really sorry but it looks like I'll have to take the breakfast with me. You know how traffic is on weekdays. I have a meeting by 9am and I still need to finish up my presentation," he said looking apologetic.

"But you spent all night working on that presentation last night that you didn't even have time for me so I was thinking we'll have a few minutes to ourselves this morning," she said with a disappointed look on her face.

Charles shifted feeling uneasy, "errrmmm…honey, please I'll make it up to you," he managed to say but Jenny wasn't about to let him go so easily. She moved close to him and planted a kiss on his lips as she started unfastening his belt. Charles looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"hmmm…baby…I would love to do this right now but I really have to go," he said pulling his hands away gently.

Jenny felt slightly disappointed, she wondered if her husband was no longer attracted to her. She decided to take it a bit further, she pushed him to the sofa and kissed him deeply, she heard him moan and she knew she still had some power over him. She deepened the kiss and he kissed her but when she reached down to grab him, he suddenly jerked up and slightly pushed her away.

Jenny was quiet and he could see the disappointment on her face, "I'm sorry babe, I promise I'll make it up to you tonight. I'm sorry," he said and planted a quick kiss on her cheeks as he arranged his shirt and tie that has now become loose.

"Alright honey, tonight then," she said with a weak smile, as she helped him adjust his crooked tie she noticed her lipstick stain on his lips so she reached into his inner pocket for his handkerchief, as she brought it out the other contents of his pocket spilled on the floor. She thought perhaps he had kept receipts or business cards there so bent down to pick it up. As she got a closer look, her face went pale in shock.

"char…les…what is the meaning of this?" she blurted out holding up several sachet of condoms.

Charles looked everywhere but at his wife, he looked like a child caught stealing meat from his mother's pot of soup. "honey, I can explain…" he stammered.

"yes, Charles, please explain. Tell me how this is part of your presentation that you have this morning," she said trying to control her anger.

"please I'll explain later but I have to go now," he said as he hurriedly reach for his briefcase trying to escape his wife's angry stare.

"you are not going anywhere until you explain why you have condoms in your suit pocket while going to work," she yelled, she grabbed his suitcase to prevent him from leaving and as they struggled for it and the contents spilled on the floor, they both looked shocked at the slip of paper on the floor. They both reached for the paper at the same time but she was faster so she grabbed it first and stared at it in shock.

"why do you have two plane tickets from lagos to Abuja?," she said in a quiet voice as if scared of confirming her suspicions.

Charles sat down quietly on the sofa as if unsure of what to say, "I'm sorry," he said in a whisper.

Jenny was fuming as she angrily squeezed the plane ticket she was still holding, "sorry for what? Sorry that I found out?," she said angrily.

"I didn't mean for you to find out this way."

"find out what? Is there someone else? How long has this been going on?," she asked all at once.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to get this far, things just sort of got out of control,"

She let her hands fall to her side, feeling exhausted, "so you are having an affair with a married woman? A woman you claimed was your friend's wife. All these while, you've been having an affair with her right under my nose,"

"please don't say it like that," he said looking torn.

"so this is why you've been avoiding me in bed, because you were getting it from somewhere else! You lied to me and you betrayed my trust,"

"please, let me explain," he pleaded.

"No! there's no need for that anymore. I've heard enough. You should leave now, after all you have a plane to catch" she said as she stormed out of the room.

He followed her to the bedroom, unsure of what to say he just stood at the door pacing uneasily, "can we please talk about this?,"

She couldn't look at him as she fought back angry tears, "there's nothing left to say, two can play that game,"

He looked at her, confused "and what is that supposed to mean?,"

She continued rearranging knickknacks on the dressing table trying to keep calm, "it means, you are not the only one who's been finding solace in the bosom of another," she couldn't see his reaction but she could feel his angry stare boring a hole into her back.

Charles frowned with pure anger in his eyes, "so what are you saying?,"

"nothing! Just go away, I want to be alone please," she said calmly.

"I'm not going anywhere until I know where this is headed. Is there something you want to tell me?"

"I don't know Charles, is there something you want to tell me?"

"this is not the time for word plays Jenny, I'm not one of the characters in your novel, I'm your husband!"

She snickered, "don't make me laugh, when last did you pay attention to my writing? You want to play the husband card? If you were really my husband, you wouldn't need to ask what I meant."

"Jennifer!" he said firmly

She couldn't hold in her tears anymore so she let them fall freely, "My husband left the day my baby died. You do have his name but I do not recognise you anymore. You can't be my husband, you are not the man I married. You can't be my ally and I'm still alone in this fight, we live in the same house but I feel so lonely and alone. You left me too long; you left me too soon Charles." She stood up, picked up her towel and went into the bathroom. She turned on the shower head as she cried some more letting the water wash away her tears.

Charles could not believe his eyes, his world was falling apart. He never meant for things to get this far and he certainly never meant for Jenny to find out. It was just supposed to be a one-time thing but then once became twice, thrice and before he knew it, he was in too deep. He went into the living room and sat quietly on the sofa thinking about what to do next. His throat felt lumpy so he loosened his tie.

'What have I gotten myself into? How do I resolve this mess' he thought, he pondered over the possibility that his wife had been unfaithful too.

'Is it possible she was seeing someone else, who could that be? Who is the bastard that dared to touch my wife?' he thought with anger rising in him. He started pacing from one end of the room to another as if the space was suddenly too small to contain him. He heard his phone ring, a quick glance at the screen and he knew who was calling, he didn't bother picking up. The phone kept ringing for a few minutes before it stopped and at the same time he heard the shower stopped running. He knew Jenny must've finished so he decided to go back and talk to her. He stepped into the room and she was already dressing up.

He stood in the middle of the room feeling nervous, "Honey, we need to talk about this,"

She glared at him, "now you want to talk? In the five years of our marriage we've done nothing but talk and see how well that worked out for us." she said with sarcasm. She brought out her mini box and started tossing some of her clothes into it.

"Jenny, please don't do this, I beg you! We can work this out," he said with pleading eyes.

"I can't do this right now, I need some space, I need some time away from you, away from here"

"how much time? How long?..." he asked nervously.

"I don't know, as long as it takes" she said as she finished packing her things.

"what does that mean? Are you divorcing me?,"

"divorce…nah, that would be too easy. I'm not divorcing you, I'm just leaving you the same way you left me," she said as she headed for the door dragging her box behind her.

He tried to stop her by grabbing her hand, "please Jenny, don't leave me!"

"don't worry, you won't be alone. Now you can take that flight to Abuja and you don't have to return home today, you can stay for as long as you want. Now you have all the time in the world to enjoy her company," she said with a half-smile, she broke free from his grip and made her way out of the door.

Charles stared at longingly at the door that is now closed, suddenly the house felt empty and cold. He felt a tightening in his chest as a lone tear rolled down his cheeks. He quickly wiped the tear away as if he didn't want to be caught crying. He plopped down on the sofa with his hand over his face, his phone rang again and this time he picked without checking the caller ID.

"hi sweety, I've been waiting for you," a female voice said.

"I'm sorry but I won't be able to make it today. Something came up,"

"really? You don't sound so well, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I just need time to sort out some things, I'll call you soon."

"alright, be fine. Talk to you soon," she said and the call ended.

Charles shredded the flight ticket, 'I'm so sorry I hurt you Jenny, please forgive me' he muttered. He decided to dress up and go to the office instead. Perhaps work will keep him distracted long enough to forget the mess that he has made of his life.