First Reaction

If he didn't have the same name as I guy I worked with, I might not have noticed.

We have instincts for a reason.
Gut reactions have saved my life since then.

A new character turned up in Les' stories about soccer. She went into great detail about how much she didn't like him, what an ass he was. She didn't do that with people that had actually wronged her. Each night, she returned home after soccer with another story about what a jerk Mike Baker was.

Each night she returned home a little later.

Suddenly, soccer was an every night of the week activity. Scheduled games. Practice. Pick up games.

I didn't really mind. I was pretty comfortable at home alone.

But it did cause an itch in the back of my mind... And I am a man that is inclined to scratch an itch.

She was an elected official in her league. This meant that she had files. I looked him up.
Name, address, phone number, social security number... photograph.

A trip to the soccer fields confirmed that there was no soccer game.
Her car parked outside his address confirmed that there was a game of another sort going on.
We had one computer, in my room.
A little guessing got me her email password.

And it was all there.

Initial flirtatous missives. Disparaging remarks about me. Insults to his fiance. Recaps of encounters together. Upcoming plans.

My reaction was one of anger and gratitude.
I was thankful that I now had an exit. My wife was having an affair. I could divorce her honorably.

My anger came from the insult. Not from her, but from him.
He had never met me. He knew nothing about me.
But he took every opportunity to insult and belittle me in his emails to my wife.

It was obvious that he didn't know me. If he had, he would have recognized that I am a potentially very dangerous person.

I am a gentle man.

I do not like violence.

That said...

I am exceptionally good at it.