CHAPTER 1

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Simone, my wife of five years, was topless, bouncing on the lap of one of the guys in the hot tub below. From the look on her face and the look on the guy's face, it was pretty clear to me they were actually fucking. What the fuck? Angry, I pulled out my phone and took a short video.

I thought about changing into my swim trunks, but changed my mind. I sat on a chair in the room and thought back. No wonder she didn't want me to come to this party with her. She had been working as a secretary for S&G Funds, a hedge fund company, for about a year or so, and she really seemed to be happy. Now I know why.

Earlier that week, I saw a text come up on her phone, letting her know there would be a company Christmas party this weekend, and she was allowed to bring a "plus one." When I told her about it, she tried to dissuade me from going.

"Oh Carl, you'll just be bored anyway," she said.

"I don't get it," I said. "Why don't you want me to go with you?" I asked. "Are you ashamed to be seen in public with me or something?"

"Of course not, silly," she said. "It's just that these are financial gurus. There's probably going to be a lot of boring talk about money and stuff and you'd just get bored."

Her company had a habit of holding these parties about once a month, and they had always been staff only. Most of the time, Simone was gone until late that night, or even sometimes late the next day. I never made a fuss about it, but now I had a better idea of what actually went on at these things.

"I see," I told her. "Well, maybe I'd like to spend the evening with you anyway."

"Have it your way," she said. "If you're going, you'd better get your tux cleaned. But trust me, you're probably not going to have a lot of fun."

The day of the party, she suggested I bring a pair of swim trunks. Swim trunks? For a Christmas party? It's December, for crying out loud, and it's cold outside.

"Swim trunks?" I asked her. "It's awful cold outside for swim trunks, don't you think?"

"Nah," she said. "We usually end up in my boss' penthouse after the main party and he has a real nice hot tub."

"I see," I told her. "So, you do this often, then?"

"Yeah, pretty much every time," she said. "Now, promise me you'll be on your best behavior tonight, okay?"

"I always am," I told her. This didn't sound too good. Why would she tell me this? "Why are you telling me this?"

"Oh, it's just that these parties can get pretty wild sometimes," she said. "I don't want you getting upset with anything you might see. The guys there are quite friendly and can get pretty handsy, if you know what I mean."

"Well, as long as everything passes the husband test, there shouldn't be any problem, right?" I asked in response. She smiled and said nothing, but gave me a kiss on the cheek.

When we got to the main party, Simone introduced me to a friend of hers, Linda.

"Linda, this is my husband, Carl," she said. Linda looked me over and smiled.

"Husband?" she asked. "This is going to be fun. You really are a wild and crazy girl, you know that?" she asked with a smile. I wondered what she meant by that. Simone smiled as she giggled.

"I gotta go mingle, sweetie," Simone told me. "Could you get me something to drink? Maybe some wine. C'mon, let's go," she told Linda without giving me so much as a backward glance. I made my way to the bar and got her wine and a beer for myself. I looked around but I didn't see Simone anywhere. I walked around, looking for her, but to no avail.

After a half hour, I sat at an empty table and hoped she would come look for me. In the meantime, I watched as everyone danced and had a general good time. No one said anything to me and walked around me as though I wasn't even there. I guess she was right -- I wasn't having any fun at all, and I was getting more than a bit pissed off that my wife would simply abandon me like this.

After nursing my beer for a couple hours, I said 'to hell with this shit,' and got up. I figured if Simone wasn't even going to spend any time with me, I'll just go home and leave her to her friends. I started walking to the entrance when Simone and Linda came up to me. There were three other guys with them, and one had his arm around Simone's waist. Simone didn't bother to make any introductions.

"Oh there you are," she said. I could tell she had been drinking. "We were looking all over for you." Yeah, sure you were, I thought. When she kissed me, I could detect the taste of tequila and something else.

"Yeah, I was just getting ready to go home since you abandoned me two hours ago," I said. "Where were you?" She blushed and looked down as the guys with her smirked at me. I felt like punching them in the teeth.

"We were just having a few shots," Linda said. Simone looked at her funny. I wondered what the hell was going on here.

"Shots of what?" I asked Simone. "I can taste tequila, but there's something else."

"Oh nothing," Simone said. "Hey, listen, we're all going over to Ben's place. He's got the hot tub warming up. Are you ready?"

"I guess," I said. "Am I going to get to spend some time with you or are you planning to abandon me again tonight?"

"Oh, don't be silly," she said. "You'll see me later. I'll ride over with Linda and the guys if that's okay with you."

"Why not ride with me?" I asked. One of the guys grabbed her by the hand and pulled her away.

"You can follow me, dude," he said in a tone of voice that pissed me off even more. Simone and Linda followed the guys and I could hear them laughing as they left. I got my car and followed them. When we arrived, I saw that Simone had already changed into her bikini. What the hell was going on here?