There are 3 types of cheats. There are the cheats who know they’re cheats and, as such, they simply don’t even bother embarking upon any monogamous relationship. A selfless act, really, when you consider that even the most hardened cheat must feel lonely at night sometimes. Then there are the cheats who know they are cheats but do it anyway. They’re selfish. They want the best of both worlds – the freedom to sleep with who they want and when they want but a safe haven of a relationship to go home to when they stumble out of the bed of the latest one night stand.

The third type – well that’s where Tommy came in. The unintentional cheat. The cheat who cheats just once, but cheatsnonethe less. The cheat who makes a fatal error and it costs him everything – his wife, his children.

He sits in a bar sipping his eighth or maybe ninth whiskey, his eyes planted firmly on the pert ass of the brunette at the pool table. She’s bending over the table at his angle – deliberately. He knows it. She knows it. And tonight he’s going to take her home and fuck her. In the morning, she might try to hang around. She looks like the type. But he’ll get rid of her the way he always does. He’ll stuff a wad of cash into her hand and tell her,

“Darlin’ you were worth every penny.”

She’ll be so offended that she’ll storm out of the house and hope never to set eyes on him again. If she’s principled, she’ll leave the money behind. But most take it anyway, making enough of a scene about how offended they are first they they think it masks them pocketing the cash. Everyone has their price. For some, it’s just higher than others.

Whether she takes it or leaves it doesn’t bother Tommy. Cash isn’t what’s lacking in his life.