Note: This story was dynamically reformatted for online reading convenience.
 
 Chapter 1 - Departure

   Eric Oswald felt a flutter of excitement when he pulled his car from the
curb of the airport terminal.  He had just delivered his wife, Candice, to
the gate, helped her unload her bags containing a week's worth of clothing,
kissed her good-bye and waved as she walked through the automatic doors. 
She was invited to a woman's spiritual retreat in the Pocono's by her best
friend.

   This was not the first time Eric had felt the titillation from her
absence.  She had attended many business expos that pulled her away from
the city over the years, but this was the first time he would be left alone
for more than a couple days.  Even during her brief excursions, Eric would
experience an electricity in the air for days before she left.  He would
fantasize about all the possibilities that came without her presence.  More
often than not he would end up visiting an adult bookstore, buy a porno and
jerk off.  But he would always consider how it would be to fulfill those
desires that she refused to acknowledge.

   Driving away from the airport heading south down the interstate, Eric
was massaging his crotch through his pants and thinking about what he would
do that night.  Ideas waded through his mind, each one more lurid than the
previous.  Should he go to a nightclub and test his luck with the ladies?
Visit a strip club and vent his sexual frustration with a barrage of lap
dances?  Hire an escort and guarantee some action?  He decided that the
last two were rather pricey and chose to test his luck.

   He started to get that pang of guilt-what if Candice found out?  Would
he be able to remain the same after adultery?  would some intuition of hers
give him away?  What can of worms would he open up by taking this route? 
Cold feet froze him to the ground.  His disappointment in himself grew and
he settled on the idea that he would once again have his freedom filled
with a visit to the adult bookstore and a subsequent week of masturbation.

   Looking at his watch, he realized that it would be a few hours before
he'd even get a phone call from his wife.  He glanced up to see a billboard
for the Galaxy Adult Bookstore.  Abiding by the fates he changed lanes to
the off ramp.  "Why fight it when it can't be avoided," he thought to
himself as he pulled off the interstate.