1 Chapter 1. Little Hints of Betrayal

She wasn't sure what was actually said but she thought she had overheard an intimate conversation between her husband and her best friend Deanna. She had been in the shower for the first part of the call and reassured herself that they were probably rehearsing for one of the plays being presented at the local community theater. After all, they both performed there regularly and often practiced their lines on the telephone. That being said, John's voice had a very different ring to it, one that she had heard a few years ago (when they first met.)

As Donna finished dressing for bed, she put a little of John's favorite perfume in all the right places and hopped into their large overstuffed king size bed. John had surprised her with the bed as a wedding gift on their honeymoon trip to Ireland. It had cost a pretty penny, not to mention the shipping! Oh well, she thought, as pretty as it was, it had not been used by the two of them for several months now.

Not being able to sleep, she began slowly repeating the words she thought she had heard. No, she was sure that it was nothing. Deanna was not that kind of friend! She and Deanna had known each other since their Sophomore year at the University of Texas (Hook 'Em Horns).

Trying to dismiss any more thoughts of the phone call, Donna started slowly drifting off but when feeling the coolness of the soft satin sheets against her body, she suddenly remembered that these sheets were given to she and John for Christmas by Deanna. Deanna had smiled and winked at John as she jokingly said "Maybe these sexy sheets will start some real action up once again."

Donna had thought the sheets a strange gift and Deanna's words even stranger, but was glad for the soft lavishness of lying on them flesh to satin. Not that John had noticed. He was too busy designing a new high-rise in Seattle. His hours got longer and longer away from home and he was constantly back and forth to Seattle. She knew one thing, she would be so glad when the Seattle job was completed! It seemed to her that it had really put a strain on their marriage, especially their love life. With that, she slowly closed her eyes and drifted off into another world, a world of pleasant dreams.

"No, please don't!" she awoke startled by her own words and once again that feeling of doom surrounded her. It was like a black cloud of smoke floating just above her head waiting to drop on her at anytime! Okay she reasoned, This imagination of mine has gone far enough!

She jumped in the shower, styled her hair, brushed her teeth, dressed in her Nurse's uniform and was ready to go out the door in 35 minutes, a new time record. She had quickly checked on John but he was still sound to sleep in the bedroom next to his office. He had convinced Donna that he would be up all hours finalizing the plans on the high-rise and didn't want to disturb her so she reluctantly agreed. Lucky man to be able to sleep in on such a cold day she thought, then she gave him a quick kiss, and off to work she went.

After all, today she would meet the new head of the hospital at a reception held in his honor. The reception welcoming him to the hospital was scheduled for 2 p.m. sharp with mandatory attendance required. Later that afternoon, she would introduce him to her nursing staff and have a Q&A time for the nurses to get to know him.

Donna quickly looked down at her watch after her last patient visit for the day , and decided to freshen up before the 2 p.m. reception. In her haste to get to the ladies room, she dropped her tube of lipstick and watched it quickly roll across the floor in the main lobby of the hospital abruptly stopping at the feet of a very tall, handsome man wearing a beautiful blue suit and matching tie. He was dressed to the nine's with baby blue eyes and cold black wavy hair! My, she thought, if I weren't married but I am, so that ends that.

By the time that fantasy resolved itself, she was bending down to get the lipstick at his feet. Being a true gentleman, Wayne held out his hand to lift her up. Donna blushed every color in the rainbow when she saw the name tag and vaguely saw Head of Hospital Wayne Reagan.

"No, no" she thought, not me. "Hello Ms. Jamison, is it?" "Why yes it is but how did you know my name?" "I make it a point to memorize the names and faces of my employees, especially one as beautiful as you."

That's really sweet of you Mr. Reagan, right? "

"No, please call me Wayne. Donna flashed him a sweet smile and said thank you for the compliment Wayne." I know this is short notice, Donna, but would you consider going out for coffee after work?" "I'd love too but we might have to check with my husband first, right?" "Right, I mean wrong. I'm sorry I didn't realize you were married", Wayne said with a sheepish grin on his face. Wayne knew that he was not supposed to flirt with his employees but Donna was so beautiful he couldn't resist. Just his luck, married, he thought as he promised himself to be a little more cautious with the employees in the future.

The 2 o'clock meeting went great with everyone welcoming Wayne. Toward the end of the meeting, Donna and her nursing staff were introduced to Wayne and were to stay for an additional 15 minutes for their own private meeting with Wayne.

Right at the beginning of the nurses' meeting, Wayne told everyone, he had already met their boss earlier. Then he looked straight at Donna as he flashed a huge smile and and winked at her. At the same time Donna's face turned bright red; she was sure all her nurses saw him wink at her.

On Donna's commute home, she revisited the day's events and decided that all in all, it was a great day, especially meeting Wayne, Mr. Reagan that is. Wayne replaced Mr. Axel who recently retired after 30 years with the hospital. Mr. Axel had been such a sweetheart and would be greatly missed but then it would be nice to have new blood with new ideas. Yes, Wayne Reagan would fit in perfectly. Besides all her nurses already had crushes on him.

It was Friday and all the nurses were talking about their weekend plans. Donna had thought she would have some weekend plans also but around 2:30 p.m., John called and told her he had catch an afternoon flight to be in Seattle so that he could be there first thing Saturday morning for a unscheduled building site inspection This was due to some last minute problems with one of the contractors not passing the general contractors requirements for materials.

So after work, Donna, down in the dumps about the weekend without John, stopped by her favorite fast food Chinese restaurant and picked up her favorites, and headed home ready to spend another lonely night. She had even called Deanna but she said she was headed out of town to visit her sick aunt and if she had time, an old friend of hers, and wouldn't be back before Monday or Tuesday night. It seemed like every time Donna called to speak with her these days, she was out for the night.

The same old Deanna, Donna thought as she let her mind drift back to she and Deanna's college days. Deanna went out on dates as often as she wanted to and even turned dates down. Admittedly, Deanna was both pretty and popular, as was Donna, but that much dating wasn't for Donna. Besides, Deanna was always the party animal at college not Donna.

After college, Deanna up and surprised everyone by marrying Jim Evans, one of the wealthiest men around. He had old money from his family and had done well himself so Deanna no longer had to work. She quit her job at a local advertising Agency and stayed home except when she and Jim were socializing, since she neither had to work or wanted to work.

Jim had been a great guy and was so in love with Deanna but after several years of marriage, Deanna came over crying one afternoon and said Jim had accused her of seeing another man. Deanna denied it saying Jim just had a vivid imagination but the next day when she came back over Deanna said he had gotten up early and left her a note saying he was filing for divorce. It all happened so fast. The way Deanna was taking it so well made Donna wonder if maybe there was a little truth to that story.

Deanna finally admitted that their marriage hadn't been that happy after all, for the last year or so and that there had been someone else but it didn't work out either. Deanna smiled and said "Oh well unlucky in love, lucky in finances" as she laughed.

Donna finished reheating her Chinese takeout and ate. Then she took her makeup off, showered, and changed into her comfy old flannel gown, the one she had tucked away because John had never seen her in it and as long as she lived and breathed, her sensual side would never subject him to that part of her!

Donna decided to drop thinking about Deanna and to watch an old movie on television instead soon fell asleep.

When she woke up only an hour had passed. It was still daylight outside and she felt the sudden urge to see John. She so hated not being able to touch and hold him as much as they used to do. Oh, she knew that after your first few years of marriage, things settle down but still their love life had stayed active, even with their busy schedules with their jobs.

Now with this new development in the high-rise job, nothing has stayed the same. They had had several arguments all about John having to leave so often with his job. Donna had wondered if John's moving to the bedroom by his office had caused part of the distance she seemed to be feeling. Had the bedroom switch been such a good idea? It didn't seem like it. As she was thinking these things, tears suddenly begin to run down her face and after a good pity party of one, she dried her tears and then it happened! The best idea of all!