Ry POV
We sat in the waiting room of a security and investigation firm. Jess said a friend of his had told him they got excellent results; it specialised in cases like ours. A tall young man with round glasses came out of an office and called my name. I was dreading talking to someone about my situation, but I needed help.
Jess got up and took my hand. “Come on, we need help, and this firm is the best.”
We followed the young man into the office, and behind the desk sat a stunning queen with long blonde hair and a tight, sequined black dress; it was like she’d just stepped off the stage at one of our favourite queer nightclubs.
“Darling, I’m Miss Conduct. I’m a private investigator, a drag queen, and exceptionally good at finding things people desperately wish would stay hidden,” she said, her deep voice not matching the vision in front of us.
“Hi, I’m Ry, and this is my friend Jess,” I said.
She shook our hands and asked us to sit down.
“Okay, I’ve got a few details here.”
“Ry, you’re the client who has the cheating husband and Jess, you’re the brother of the cheating husband,” she said, giving me a sly look.
Jess piped up, “I’m Ry’s best friend, and there’s nothing I won’t do to help him. Just because Mick is my brother doesn’t mean I have to like him.”
“Okay, honey, got it,” she said, giving him a side glance.
“Look, we deal with a lot of infidelity cases here; unfortunately, men are scum (present company excused, of course), gay or straight, they think with the dicks. It’s a fact: men cheat; we see a lot of it.”
“What you have to do is protect yourself. What’s your endgame here? Do you want proof? Do you want to know who he’s cheating you with? Do you want a divorce? Do you want him back?”
“Fuck, I don’t know,” I said, starting to tear up again. “I only found out last week. I don’t even know who this guy is. It’s been 2 or 3 weeks, and he’s got Mick twisted around his finger.”
Miss Conduct grabbed a box of tissues and handed them to me.
“Okay, Ry, honey, I know this is a shit situation, but here’s what you are not going to do. You are not going to fall apart on me; you’re the victim here, and we are going to find out who this little cunt is fucking your cheating husband.”
She walked to a bookshelf and grabbed a small box.
“This is part of our security kit we use in most of our investigations,” she said.
Inside was a small, flat tag: “You’re going to attach it to the inside of his wallet; he won’t know it’s there.”
There were three other small squares, a little larger than a die.
“Okay, these are our mini cameras; they are small but powerful. They have night vision and sound. You’ll hide one in the lounge room, one in the bedroom and one somewhere near the front door, maybe in a pot plant or somewhere that he won’t notice.”
“My associate Billy, nodding towards the young man, will be working with me, doing some surveillance, following your husband for the next week, to see what he gets up to. If he meets up somewhere while he’s meant to be working, we’ll find him. Nobody thinks twice about seeing another drag queen on the strip in this neighbourhood,” she laughs.
After we get more details on what is actually going on, we will reconvene, and then you’ll have to decide what you want to do.
A little advice, honey: get your finances in order. If you don’t have a separate account, get one now.
1 Week earlier at the Tin Pot Restaurant……
I looked at Jess, still not really believing this was happening.
“Tell me everything,” I said.
“I never meant to keep anything from you, Ry. You know I love you; I thought Mick would stop. That dickhead brother of mine sounds like he’s got himself involved with this Andy that turned up at the bar a few weeks ago.”
“When you mentioned his name, I knew he hadn’t stopped.”
“What do you mean, hadn’t stopped? How long has it been going on?” I asked.
“At least two weeks.”
Fuck, two weeks ago… things started to make sense: the unusual work texts, like he was checking in, the out-of-character dinner with wine.
I stared at Jess across the table, food forgotten, the words coming out of his mouth not making sense. My brain was taking a while to catch up with what Jess was telling me, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
“Two weeks,” I heard myself say, “he came home early, that Friday night, said the club was quiet…”
“Yeah,” Jess said, “that was the night I caught him with Andy, coming out of the toilets. He said it was just a blow job.”
The waitress appeared with more drinks; I was definitely going to need more drinks tonight. I waited until she left, my fingers wrapped around the glass.
“So, the dinner and the wine?”
“That sounds like damage control,” Jess said.
“He probably felt guilty and felt he had to do something nice or something that made him feel better.”
“When I caught them coming out of the toilets, I confronted them. I told Mick he was fucking idiot, and that if I ever saw Andy in the club again, I would tell you straight away. I thought that would be the end of it, and you would never have to know. I hated keeping that secret from you,” Jess said.
“So he’s still seeing him,” I said.
“Yeah, it sounds like it,” Jess said.
I think I was in shock; my hands were shaking a little as I lifted the cocktail to my lips, but those words were still echoing in my head: “Still seeing him.”
The alcohol was doing its job; it was keeping the tears away, but I knew they would come.
“How many times?” I asked.
Jess looked at me. “I don’t know, Ry,” really.
All I know is that after that time at the club, the next day Mick came and saw me at my place because I wouldn’t answer his calls. He wanted to make sure I wouldn’t say anything to you. I asked him to show me his phone; I wanted to see if he was still in contact with Andy, and he wouldn’t show me.
“So that was the day he kept texting me, checking in; he was trying to see if you’d said anything to me,” I said.
“So, he wouldn’t let you see his phone,” I said, taking another sip of my drink. “No, he looked scared when I asked him that, and he told me to fuck off; he got real defensive and said he wasn’t showing it to me.”
“Fuck, it could only mean one thing. There’s evidence on his phone that he didn’t want you to see, probably text messages and maybe pictures and videos if he’s stupid enough not to have deleted them.”
I slowly started to realise that the man I’d thought I’d known for the last eight years, and the last three of those as my husband, was a stranger.
The waitress delivered our food. I’d lost my appetite, but knew I had to eat something or the drinks would wipe me out.
Jess looked at me with a worried expression. Maybe I wasn’t reacting as I should after being told your husband was having an affair, but all I felt was numb.
“You don’t have to face him right now, Ry. Come back to my place; you need time to think. You need a plan.”
“Okay,” I said. “Thanks, that sounds like a good idea.”
Jess reached over and took my hand in his. “I’m sorry, Ry,” I really am. “You’re not alone in this. I know he’s my brother, but you’re my best friend.”
“I’m just sorry I didn’t tell you sooner,” he said.
“I know you were in a difficult situation; he’s your brother. I understand,” I said, “but you told me, when you couldn’t keep it inside anymore, that’s what matters.”
We asked for the check, even though we hadn’t touched our food; it was time to get out of here.
Mick POV
It had been ages since Ry had gone to have lunch with Jess; I was starting to get worried.
I knew it was wrong to have brought Andy to the house, but shit, he just does something to me that makes me so hard; I just couldn’t help myself. I mean, it was only for an hour; Ry would never know.
I was watching the footy on TV when my phone buzzed with a text message; it was from Ry: “We had too many cocktails with lunch, I’m going to stay over at Jess’s tonight.”
That was nothing out of the ordinary when those two got together, I thought.
I texted back: “Okay, sounds good. See you tomorrow. Love you.”
Andy’s idea of getting away for a few days, just the two of us, sounded wonderful. I’d need a good excuse for Ry not to be suspicious, though.
Maybe a small-business-owner convention for the hospitality industry would be a good excuse. There were always conventions going on that you could attend as a small business owner.
I could say the convention was going to be in Sydney in a couple of weeks’ time, a chance to network with other business owners, and find out what the current hospitality trends were; I’m sure he’d buy it. If I made it out that it was for the benefit of the bar, he’d be supportive, I’m sure. Then we could fly off to Auckland instead, and no one would know.
The thought of lying to Ry did make me feel guilty.
I settled on the couch with the footy commentary in the background. I reached for my beer and took a long drink, trying to drown out the guilt.
Ry staying at Jess’s meant a little breathing space. I could message Andy without worrying whether Ry would see. I could think about the Auckland trip without Ry sitting around and making it hard to decide.
I texted Andy: “Ry is staying at Jess’s tonight; do you want to meet?”
Andy responded quickly: “Sorry, not tonight; I’m catching up with a friend, but I’ll see you soon.”
I deleted the text and relaxed back on the couch; my cock was already getting hard at the thought of Andy fucking me again. Just the way he handled me, the way he fucked, made me feel like I was the only one he wanted; it was so different from what I felt with Ry.
Ry POV
The next week was difficult. I got home on Sunday morning, knowing I had to play the devoted husband even though I knew Mick was cheating on me.
Unfortunately, once you know, you look for all of the little things. He may be texting someone, and you automatically think he’s texting Andy.
I’m not proud of it, but when he left his phone around, I checked his messages. He must have been deleting them, as I didn’t see anything other than work texts from Donna and other staff.
Work was busy that week: a few Mornington Peninsula Winery tours and a Great Ocean Road Tour.
I kept thinking about the last eight years and how I could have got it so wrong; I thought Mick loved me.
By Thursday, I was just drained; you can only pretend that everything is normal for so long. I’d get home and make normal conversation; Mick seemed happier for some reason. I guess it was because of Andy.
Jess texted me Thursday night. I’ve made an appointment for you to see someone at the PI firm. We need to know what we’re dealing with. She comes highly recommended. See you Saturday morning; no excuses, I’m coming to get you.
Jess was right; I couldn’t stumble ahead blindly. I had to know what I was dealing with. If Mick was going to leave me for this guy, I needed to know. I needed a professional.
