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So that's where he is!

My cheating fella's phone gave away his dirty secret


Published by: Rachel spencer & Amy Thompson
Published on: 21st April 2011

Don’t ask me how, I just knew something was up with my boyfriend, Dave.
When we’d first moved in together six months earlier, he’d been my perfect fella, leaving little love notes on my pillow, having flowers delivered to the pub where I worked.
But now…. ‘Where are you?’ I sighed, struggling to hear his reply over the dodgy reception on my ancient mobile. He was two hours late home from work – again!
‘Sorry… meant to call… really busy,’ his voice crackled down the line.
‘But you worked late last night,’ I started, miserably.
‘Can’t hear you, babe,’ he said. Then he cut out.
I frowned at my phone. Blasted thing! I couldn’t wait to get my upgrade the next day.
The sad truth was though, I knew even if the line hadn’t been bad, Dave, 26, would’ve given me the same old excuse.
He worked as a plasterer and was normally home by 4pm unless he had a job to price up. But even then he wouldn’t work past 6pm.
So why the sudden long hours?
Short of shining a light in his eyes as I questioned him, or following him around all day long, I wasn’t going to find out the answer, though.
All the next day, I racked my brains for what the problem could be. I didn’t stop fretting, even when I was waiting in the phone shop to get my mobile sorted.
Suddenly, a thought occurred. Dave had always liked a trip to the bookies. Was he doing all this overtime to fund a gambling habit? Please God, no.
‘Can I help?’ a man’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
‘Oh… I’m due for an upgrade,’ I replied.
Smiling, he jumped into his sales patter.
‘The new iPhone is brilliant,’ he said, pulling one off the shelf. ‘You can get all sorts of free applications – games, music…’
‘Yeah, my boyfriend has one,’ I said, having a good look at it.
‘Great, so you know how it works,’ he beamed. ‘There’s this really cool new app called InstaMapper, too, you can locate your phone from your computer using its GPS signal.’
Suddenly, I was all ears. ‘You mean if I lost it, I’d be able to see exactly where it was on a map?’ I asked, an idea forming in my head. 
‘Precisely,’ he nodded.
I didn’t need to hear any more. This was definitely the phone for me – and it was going to help me get to the bottom of what Dave was up to!
That night, I put my plan into action, showing my fella my new phone and the great new finder app.
‘Wow!’ Dave whistled. ‘That would have been handy on my old phone. Remember when I lost it on a job?’
‘I can put it on your iPhone,’ I offered casually. ‘That way you’ll never lose it.’
‘Great,’ he smiled, handing it over.  Perfect!
The next day, when he left for work, I was straight on my laptop, logging on to the account I’d set up for him.
‘Right,’ I rubbed my hands together. ‘Let’s see where you’re off to today, Dave McClusky.’
As a moving dot popped up on the map, I felt a thrill of excitement. This was like being a secret agent! Okay, I knew spying was wrong. But not knowing why he was getting home late recently was doing my head in. 
Over the next week, though, Dave was exactly where he said he’d be. Maybe I was just being paranoid, after all.
The following week, though, something grabbed my attention. ‘Eccles?’ I frowned, staring closely at Dave’s location on the map. ‘What’s he doing all the way over there?’
When I’d called him 10 minutes ago, he’d said he was on a job in town, but Eccles was a 50 minute drive away. Why lie?
All that week, Dave showed up at the same address around the same time. I had to find out what he was up to…
Driving to the street Dave had been visiting, I waited. Sure enough, a few minutes later, his van pulled up. Ducking down behind the steering wheel, I peeked over the top to see him knock on someone’s door.
A blonde woman I didn’t recognise answered.
I stared, transfixed, as he flashed her a cheeky smile. Then watched in horror as she pulled him in for a kiss! As I struggled to take it in, they disappeared. Next thing I knew, the bedroom curtains upstairs were being closed.
I swallowed the lump rising in my throat. He wasn’t gambling – he was cheating on me!
For two hours I sat there, waiting, hoping to see something that would prove me wrong. But the second Dave sauntered out, the red mist descended.
‘Oi! I shouted, leaping from the car. ‘Likes a bit of rough, does she?’
Trembling with anger, I pointed at his scruffy work clothes. Dave’s easy smile vanished. ‘Fern!’ he gasped. ‘W-what are you doing here?’
‘Funny, I was about to ask you that!’ I shrieked.
‘It’s not what it looks like.’ He held his hands up. ‘I’m pricing up a job.’
‘On the job more like,’ I snorted. ‘You’ve been coming here all week. You could’ve plastered the entire house by now.’
‘How do you know that?’ he gasped. He looked stunned as I pulled out my phone.
‘I’ve been tracking your phone, Dave,’ I said. Before he could feed me more lies, I stormed up to the woman’s front door and knocked.
‘I’m Dave’s girlfriend,’ I announced when she answered. ‘I don’t know if you know about me. But we’ve been together almost a year now….’
‘No, I didn’t,’ she frowned. ‘Come in.’
While Dave drove off, I talked to Lisa. She told me how she’d met him at the gym three months earlier.
‘I’m really sorry. He told me he was single,’ she apologised. ‘I’d never have gone anywhere near him if I’d known about you.’
Single?! The little… Anger bubbled inside me. Dave had been playing us both for fools for the past three months!
My gut instinct had been spot on when I’d thought something funny was going on. But I’d never dreamed he’d cheat on me. To think I’d actually been worried about him!
I headed back to the flat, expecting Dave to be full of remorse, begging for another chance. Well, he could forget it. He’d made his bed.
But when I got in, Dave wasn’t the least bit sorry – he was angry! 
‘I can’t believe you spied on me!’ he fumed. ‘That’s nuts!’
The nerve of him!
‘I can’t believe you thought you’d get away with cheating,’ I shot back. ‘Go wherever you like from now on, I couldn’t care less.’
With that, I packed my bags and moved back to my mum’s.
‘You’ve had a lucky escape,’ she soothed as I burst into tears.
It didn’t feel like it, though. I was heartbroken. I’d thought Dave was my perfect man. But thanks to a phone I avoided a very close call!

Dave McClusky, 26, said:
‘I can’t believe that Fern did what she did.
‘Things between us had gone a bit stale and I should’ve finished it before starting to see Lisa.
‘But I’m annoyed that she followed me to Lisa’s and messed things up for us.’

Lisa Collinson, 27, said: ‘I genuinely believed that Dave was single, and I’m sorry about what happened.
‘I’m glad Fern did what she did because I was able to see what he was really like.’
Fern Rowbottam, 23, Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester