As far as Tuesdays went this one sucked big time. I was ten minutes early and not even at my desk yet when my boss hollered at me to come into his office. I was no sooner in the door when he threw a piece of paper at me and said:
“What the hell is this shit?”
I looked at it and saw that it was an e-mail from the XYZ Corporation telling us that we were being removed from their list of preferred customers. I had no idea of what kind of response was expected from me so I just shrugged my shoulders and handed it back to him.
“How the hell did you let this happen” he asked.
“How did I let it happen? What the hell do I have to do with it? You are the boss. You are the one who promoted that idiot Chambers when everyone warned you not to do it and then you compounded that mistake by giving him the Southeast Region. You need to get him in here not me.”
“I can’t get him in here. He is on vacation. Find out what the problem is and fix it.”
I knew damned little about the region and nothing at all about the account so being saddled with the problem had me in a pissed off mood before my work day had even started. But then that really wasn’t true. I was pissed off before I even left the house. My wife and I had had another argument about her job. She was putting in more and more hours and spending less time with me and I wasn’t happy about it. So I wasn’t in that great a mood when Tom dumped the XYZ problem on me. However, the problem did give me something I could bury myself in which pushed my personal problems to the back of my mind.
Half a dozen phone calls found out what the problem was, but I had no clue as to how to go about fixing the damage. What made things really bad with the mess was that I was going to have to dump the whole damned mess back on Tom’s desk. Tom didn’t like messes and he had a tendency to shoot the messenger. Oh well, what was the saying? That’s what you get paid the big bucks for? Except that I wasn’t being paid the big bucks.
I took a deep breath and walked into Tom’s office and cut right to it. “The problem with XYZ is that Chambers tried to get them to give him a kick back. XYZ says they don’t do business that way and they don’t do business with companies that allow that sort of behavior. On a hunch I called four other customers in the Southwest Region and told them we were doing an in-house audit after one of our suppliers complained and two of them told me that Chambers had tried to get kick backs from them also.”
“How do you propose fixing the problem?”
“By dumping it back on your desk. Chambers is not in my chain of command and my feeling is that XYZ is gone unless you get on the phone and tell them personally that you have corrected the problem.”
“Why can’t you handle it?”
“Because I don’t have the authority to fire Chambers and I’m not high enough in the food chain here for a call from me to anybody at XYZ to mean anything to them.”
“So what do you suggest I do?”
“You call the head man at XYZ, tell him about the e-mail and that you had the matter looked into. Tell him what was found; what you did to correct the problem and give him your personal assurance that nothing like that will ever happen again. Next, you hold an all hands meeting here, describe what happened and then let everyone know that such behavior will not be tolerated.”
“You do it.”
“Do what?”
“Everything you just said.
“Weren’t you listening to what I just said? I am too low on the totem pole to do any of it.”
“Not any more. As of right now you are the executive vice-president in charge of something or other. I’ll come up with a proper title later, but you do what needs to be done.”
I stood there staring at him like he was someone who had just escaped from a looney bin. He saw the expression on my face and said:
“Listen Alan, I’m a salesman, a people person, and I built this business by smiling a lot, shaking hands and being an all around nice guy. Oh I know I rant and rave a lot and can sometimes be a bear to be around, but it just isn’t in me to fire somebody and I would be no good in crawling to someone, hat in hand, and begging them to stay with us. So you do it. When you are done come on back and we will talk salary, perks and stuff like that.”
“You are serious about this?”
“Yes Alan, you handle it.”
As I left Tom’s office I pondered on how a bad day could become a good day in such a short time. But then I reined myself in. If I didn’t save XYZ for the company my vice-presidency could be gone just as quick as it had arrived. The other problem, firing Chambers, would be no problem at all. I didn’t like the son of a bitch and getting rid of him wouldn’t bother me at all. I’d just have to be careful not to show too much joy when I did it.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
First order of business was to try to save the XYZ account. I called XYZ and asked to speak to Jim Hanson, the president, and I was put through to his secretary. I identified myself and surprisingly I was put right through to him. I told him who I was and that I had a matter of some sensitivity that I needed to discuss with him, but that I didn’t want to do it over the phone and I asked him if I could schedule a meeting with him. I was hoping for sometime during the coming week, but was surprised again when he told me that the only time he could fit me in was at lunch time that day and asked me if I could meet him at the Marriott at noon.
At eleven fifty-five I was at the Marriott and I told the maitre de that I was there to meet Mr. Hanson and he informed me that Hanson was already there and had left word that he was expecting me. He led me to the table and Hanson stood up and we shook hands. As we sat down he said:
“They do a pretty good prime rib here. Now, what is this sensitive issue that couldn’t be handled on the phone?”
“I suppose it could have been handled over the phone, but I felt a face to face was needed if my company is going to continue to do business with XYZ.”
I explained the situation to him and informed him that Chambers would be terminated as soon as he returned from vacation.
“And from me you want?
“We want to keep your business.”
“That’s it? You just want to keep my business?”
“That’s it.”
“Could have been done with a phone call.”
“Well, all I can say is that I couldn’t be sure of that and your business is too important to us to be treated lightly.”
The major topic out of the way we ate our lunch and made small talk until he said:
“What’s got your attention on the other side of the room?”
“I didn’t know I was being obvious. I was looking at that couple in the booth under the window.”
He turned and looked and then said, “That’s Sam Wycliff. He’s an attorney with Biddle, Biddle and Walsh and the woman is his current girlfriend.”
“His current girlfriend?”
“Yeah. She’s been with him about three months now. That pretty much means that she is a short-timer.”
“Short-timer?”
“Sam rarely stays with the same woman more than four months. Actually, I’m surprised he has stayed with this one as long as he has. She’s married and he usually doesn’t keep the married ones around this long.”
“Are you sure she is his girlfriend? I know her and her husband and I thought they had a strong marriage.”
“According to Sam the husband doesn’t get the job done where it counts - in the bedroom.”
“No possible mistake? Could he just be blowing smoke? You know, bragging to make himself look like a stud? No chance that this is just a business lunch?”
“Could be a business lunch, but as to the other? No, no mistake. She is what he says she is. I saw them at a party two weeks ago and she was all over him. You going to tell the husband?”
“No, I don’t think so. He’s a hell of a nice guy and I don’t want to be the messenger bringing him the bad news. If, as you say, she is a short-timer maybe it will be over with and he’ll never find out. Maybe it is just a fling on her part and once it is over she will go back to being who I always thought she was.”
“You are a curious fellow.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Tom picked you to handle the Chambers problem and that means that he thinks you are a hard ass. And yet you are willing to let this thing with your friend and his wife slide.”
“What can I say? You have to keep the job and your personal life separate. Why do you say that Tom thinks I’m a hard ass?”
“It takes some big stones to make a cold call on someone like me to try and clean up a mess like the one you have with Chambers. Most wouldn’t want to face me; they would try to do it with a phone call and they probably would have stalled a couple of days trying to work up to it. You got the problem this morning and here you are. Tom picked you to see how you would handle it.”
“You sound like you knew I was coming.”
“Not really. Tom hoped you would handle it face to face.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve known Tom for almost twenty-five years and he and I cleared this up last week. This was just a test Alan; he wanted to know if you were ballsy enough for the job he wants to give you. I guess I’d have to say you passed.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
As I drove back to the office I thought about what had just happened. Seeing my wife having lunch with another man in and of itself would have meant nothing. As part of her job she had lunch with clients all the time. I wondered if she had seen me sitting there with Hanson. If she had I wondered what she thought I was thinking seeing her there with another man. I thought about what Hanson had said about her being Wycliff’s girlfriend.
Was it true? Or was Wycliff one of those guys who bragged about things that never really happened to make himself look like a super stud to other guys? I’d known a dozen like him in high school and then in college; guys who bragged about fucking every girl they took out on a date even though they didn’t.
But then it would help explain the problems Laurie and I had been having lately. What had Hanson said? That she had been Wycliff’s girlfriend for about three months? It was about three months ago when Laurie started putting in all of those late nights. Hanson also said he had been at a party two weeks ago where as he put it, “She was all over him.” Two weeks ago was when I was out of town on business. Another man’s girl friend? Was she or wasn’t she, that was the question.
I got back to the office and with out telling Tom that I knew he was testing me I told him that the XYZ matter had been taken care of and that they were still with us. He then told me that Matt Kincaid, the vice-president of Sales and Marketing, would be retiring at the end of the month and that I would be Matt’s replacement. Until then I would be carried on the books as vice-president of Special Projects with my first special project being Chambers and having the “all hands” meeting I had suggested. We discussed salary and perks and I went back to my office feeling pretty good.
That feeling lasted for all of five minutes. My butt no sooner hit the chair when the situation with Laurie jumped back into my mind and it wouldn’t go away. The seed had been planted and the only thing for it was to fine out for sure if it was true or not. I got out the Yellow Pages, found what I was looking for and picked up the phone.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That night I did my best to act normal around Laurie which wasn’t all that hard since she was still pissed at me over our argument that morning. She made no mention of seeing me at the Marriott so I figured that she hadn’t seen me. When she told me that the project that she was working on was behind schedule and she would probably be working late the rest of the week I shrugged and said nothing. I finished eating, rinsed off my plate, put it in the dishwasher and then went down into my basement workshop to putter around with some woodworking projects until bedtime.
When I went upstairs to go to bed Laurie was already there and when she pushed the covers down I saw that she was naked. Since she always slept in a nightgown I knew what she wanted. As she reached for my cock she said:
“I don’t like fighting with you Alan.”
All I could think of is what Hanson had said. “According to Sam the husband doesn’t get the job done where it counts - in the bedroom.” I turned away from Laurie and for the first time in our nine year marriage I said:
“Not tonight Laurie, I don’t feel like it.”
It was dark in the room so I didn’t see her face and I wondered if it showed shock or if there might have been the first trace of worry that I might suspect something.
The rest of the week drug by. I was up in the morning and gone before Laurie got out of bed and when she got home from “working late” I was already in bed and pretending to be asleep.
Friday afternoon found me sitting across the desk from a man who had just said, “I’m sorry” as he slid his report and the envelope full of photos across the desk to me. “I’m sorry too” I said as I wrote out the check for the balance of his fee.
I took the report and the photos and headed for home. Laurie had already told me that she would be working late so I’d be alone and could go over the report and look at the pictures. It spelled out in detail what the detective had already summarized. Her evenings working late had been spent at Wycliff’s condo. I didn’t have any pictures of them “doing the deed” but I did have time stamped photos of her entering and leaving. I didn’t really need explicit photos to know what they were doing and truth be told I’d rather not see explicit photos.
I stuffed the report and the photos back in the envelope and put it in my briefcase. I made myself a stiff drink and then sat there in the den and thought about what I needed to do next. Confrontation followed by forgiveness was not an option. I loved Laurie, but she had betrayed my trust. It was as simple as that. It didn’t matter what her reasons were for doing what she did, it was still a knife in my back. The trust was gone and there was no getting it back.
I wondered what made her do what she was doing and then I thought of all the chances I’d had to stop being a faithful husband. Chances I hadn’t taken because I’d meant what I’d said when I spoke the words “Forsaking all others.” I wondered if some of those chances were still available.
But first things first. I needed to get through the weekend and then see an attorney on Monday. I knew that we lived in a no fault state and that unless I could prove fraud or some other criminal activity everything would end up being a fifty/fifty split. The house would have to be sold and the proceeds split and that would hurt. I’d put a lot of myself into that house and had quite a bit of ‘sweat equity’ in her. On the plus side, Laurie loved the house and she would be forced to give it up.
I checked the clock and saw that it was almost time for Laurie to be getting home so I headed up to bed so I could pretend to be asleep when she got there.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I had a standing golf date for Saturdays and I was up and out of the house early. It was two in the afternoon when I got home and Laurie wasn’t there. She’d left a note in the kitchen saying that she had gone to get her hair done for a party we were going to that night. After reading the note I wondered if Wycliff did hair. I wonder if she left early enough to swing by his condo for a visit before she got her hair done. Maybe the hair appointment was early enough that she could get her hair done and then swing by Wycliff’s so he could see her new ‘do’ before coming home.
I was in the garage changing the oil in my car when she got home. She stuck her head out of the connecting door to the garage and reminded me of the party and told me that I should really start getting ready. I wanted to scream “Fuck off” at her but of course I didn’t. It was going to have to be life as usual until after I’d talked to an attorney.
Laurie looked absolutely stunning and it brought to mind the reason I had pursued her in the first place. I wonder what she thought when I didn’t comment on how good she looked like I usually did. In the car on the way to the party Laurie said:
“Is something wrong Alan? You seem so out of it lately.”
“Nothing wrong Laurie, just some problems at work that are grinding me down.”
“Well just put work out of your mind tonight sweetie and relax and have a good time. When we get home tonight I’ll try and make it all better.”
There was silence for several minutes and then she said, “It isn’t me and the hours I’m working again is it?”
“Let it go Laurie.”
“That’s it isn’t it?”
“Just let it go Laurie, just let it be.”
The rest of the drive was in silence. Once at the party I wandered off in search of the guys who would be talking sports and left Laurie to her own devices. Hopefully I wouldn’t see her again until it was time to go home.
Luck was with me and when it was time to go home Laurie was drunk on her ass. I was looking at her and debating on how to get her out to the car. I decided that the “fireman’s carry” would be the most embarrassing when word got back to Laurie as it surely would and I was just getting ready to do it when one of those “chances” I’d passed up on came up to me and said:
“Doesn’t look like she’s going to do you much good tonight. Why don’t you load her into your backseat and follow me home. You can come in for a night-cap while she sleeps it off in the car.”
“One of these days Steph I just might surprise you and take you up on your offer.”
“Oh goody. You have my number.”
Indeed I do I thought as I picked up Laurie and headed for our car. When I got her home I undressed her and got her in bed and when I lay down next to her I was already planning on how to avoid her the next day.
It was easier than I thought it would be. Laurie usually wasn’t a morning person on the weekends anyway and with her hangover she was even less of a one. She stayed quiet and out of the way most of the day and around dinner time she came out into the garage where I was working and told me she wasn’t hungry and asked if I would mind if she just called for a pizza for me. I told her not to bother; that I had to go to Home Depot anyway and I’d get a bite to eat while I was out. I managed to stay gone four hours and when I got home Laurie was in bed.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My appointment with the divorce attorney was less than rewarding. As a no fault state, baring any criminal wrong doing it would be a fifty/fifty split of all assets and I would be liable for attorney’s fees and court costs. If Laurie chose to fight and got an attorney the odds were that I would end up paying his fees also.
“Why would she fight it? Our marriage obviously means nothing to here or she wouldn’t have done what she’s been doing.”
“Yes, but you don’t know why she is doing what she is doing. Is it to get back at you for something real or imagined and if it is she would likely want to cause you even more grief by fighting the divorce. It could drag on for quite a while and legal fees would build up. Even if she chose not to fight she still could hire an attorney just to make sure that her interests were protected.”
“So basically you are saying that I’m hosed.”
“Well, there is another way that would be less expensive for you.”
“What would that be?”
“Do nothing.”
“Do nothing?”
“Yes, do nothing at all as far as divorcing her. Let her do the divorcing. If she sues she has to be the one to pay attorney fees and court costs. You don’t fight it and you don’t have any attorney’s fees to pay. Except for this initial consultation of course.”
“So how would I go about getting her to divorce me?”
“Simple. Do to her what she is doing to you. Stop having sex with her, get yourself a girlfriend or two and when the wife finds out let her be the one to get the divorce. The big thing is to stop having sex with her. If she throws your indiscretion at you, you can throw hers back at her, but if you exercise your conjugal rights with her AFTER finding out about her affair you will, in effect, have condoned what she did.”
So that is just what I decided to do.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That Afternoon I called Steph and asked her to meet me for a drink and she said yes. I met her in the bar at the Hilton and she looked at me as she took the first sip of her martini and said:
“Are you teasing me tonight or is something nice going to happen?”
“That depends.”
“Depends on what?”
“On whether or not you have been teasing me.”
“Why are we wasting time on a drink?”
“I gambled and got a room.”
She put her glass down, stood up and said, “What are we waiting for?”
We were no sooner in the elevator when Steph turned into me, put her arms around my neck and kissed me. Her tongue darted between my lips and I sent mine searching into her mouth. Her arms left my neck and I felt her hand on my zipper and the next thing I knew she had my cock out and was stroking it while her tongue fought with mine.
I felt the elevator start to slow as it approached our floor and I tried to pull back from Steph so I could put my cock away, but she held on. When the bell made its little ‘ding’ to announced that it had arrived and the door started sliding open Steph giggled and let go of me and stepped back so the young couple waiting to get on could see me hurriedly trying to tuck myself back into my pants. The young couple grinned at me as Steph and I got off the elevator and as we walked down the hallway I muttered:
“You are an evil bitch.”
Steph laughed and said, “Yes I am and you are going to love it.”
Once in the room I moved to take her in my arms, but she pushed me away and said:
“We aren’t here for romance honey. We both know what I’ve been after since I started flirting with you so let’s just get to it shall we?”
She started unbuttoning her blouse as she moved toward the bed and I grinned as I thought, “She’s right; we both know why we are here” and I got busy getting my clothes off. She got her skirt and blouse off and I saw that except for thigh-highs she had nothing on underneath her clothes. She saw the look on my face and said:
“I may not be a Boy Scout honey, but I do believe in always being prepared. Hurry up and get those boxers off.”
By then I was on the bed and she reached out and grabbed my hard on, lowered her head and started licking it. She looked up at me and asked:
“You like this?”
I smiled down at her and said, “I did until you stopped to talk.”
She grinned at me and then licked my cock up and down the shaft and then sucked me into her mouth. I felt her tongue move around on my cock as her head moved back and forth. She cupped my balls in one hand and used the other to stroke the part of me that wasn’t in her mouth and I felt shivers run through my body. She took more of my cock in her mouth and after two minutes I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hold off much longer. Steph picked up the pace with the back and forth motion of her head and my hands moved to hold her head as I groaned. She clamped her lips tight around me and her hands grabbed my hips and she pulled me deep into her mouth just as I exploded. She gulped and swallowed and didn’t lose a drop.
I pulled my softening cock out of Steph’s mouth and pushed her down onto her back and then I bent and licked her nipples. I paid equal attention to the right and the left and then I began kissing my way down her body. I kissed and licked her belly, teased her ‘innie’ with my tongue and my fingers went down and parted the lips of her pussy. She moaned when my mouth found her clit and went to work on it. I worked on her pussy with fingers and mouth until I felt her body tremble with what I hoped was an orgasm. I pushed her legs back, knees against her tits, and then greedily ate her pussy while her body thrashed and she moaned.
Her juices dripped from her cunt and I hungrily lapped them up. When her tremors eased I pulled back and gently turned her over and pulled her up onto her knees. By then I was hard again and I moved up behind her and my cock probed for her opening. I rubbed my cock up and down against the folds of her pussy and then I pushed it home. My hands gripped her hips and she pushed back hard as I drove my full length into her. I started fucking her with slow hard strokes and she moaned:
“Harder, fuck me harder.”
I picked up the pace and I was slamming my cock into her and she was crying:
“Make me cum damn it, make me cum again.”
“You like this?” I panted, “You like a hard cock pounding into you?”
“Oh yes, oh sweet Jesus yes. Fuck me! Fuck me hard, make me cum.”
I rammed my cock into her as hard as I could for seven or eight minutes and then with her cries of, “Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes” ringing in my ears I groaned and filled her with my load. We remained locked together in silence for maybe thirty seconds and then we pulled apart and she fell forward on the bed. She rolled over and looked up at me and asked:
“Again?”
“Not until I can get it up again.”
“I can help you with that lover” and she changed position and took my soft, juices covered cock into her mouth.
Two hours later as we dressed to leave Steph said, “I hope that this isn’t what the Brits would call a one-off.”
“That’s strictly up to you. I’m willing if you are.”
“You have my number.”
“Indeed I do sweetie, indeed I do.”
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Where have you been” Laurie asked when I got home.
“Had to work late.”
“Why didn’t you call?”
“Didn’t expect you to be here. Didn’t you have to work late tonight?”
“No I didn’t. I came home to see if we couldn’t have a nice evening together.”
“Sorry, but you are always working late so I didn’t even think you would be home.”
“Please Alan; can we not talk about my job and my late hours?”
“Laurie, you have my promise that I will never mention it again.”
I got up and headed for the stairs and she asked me where I was going. “I’ve had a long, hard day Laurie. I’m going to take a shower and hit the sack.”
When I came out of the shower Laurie was already on the bed. She was naked and waiting for me. I ignored her as I got into bed and rolled over onto my side.
“Alan?”
“Yes dear?”
“We haven’t made love in days.”
“Sorry honey, I’m just not up to it tonight. Maybe tomorrow night.”
“I’ll have to work late tomorrow.”
“Too bad. Maybe the day after tomorrow” and then I faked falling asleep.
That set the pattern for the rest of the week, Laurie “worked late” and I pretended to be asleep when she got home. When she told me she would be home early I worked late. And I did. Work I mean. Staying up with Steph’s insatiable sexual appetite was hard work. Enjoyable, but still hard work. One night I made the comment that I should dump Laurie and take up with Steph and she laughed and said:
“No way lover. I’m too much of a slut to tie myself down permanently to one man. If we got together I’d be running around on you before the year was out.”
You had to give the girl credit - at least she was honest and up front about it.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
That weekend when I came home from my standing golf date I pretended to be drunk and to reinforce the act I parked my car half on the lawn. Laurie raised hell over me driving while drunk and I told her to “Fuck off” and leave me alone and that took care of the rest of the weekend since she was so pissed off at me for swearing at her that she wouldn’t talk to me.
The following week I went out of town on a four day business trip and on my second night I met a recently divorced woman in the hotel lounge and spent two nights in her bed. She made me promise to call her the next time I was in town and I told her I would.
Laurie was waiting for me when I got home Friday afternoon. She threw her arms around me, kissed me, and told me how much she had missed me. She had a nice dinner prepared and a bottle of wine opened and ‘breathing’ on the table. In a time BSW (before Sam Wycliff) it would have been the start of a romantic evening and I’m sure that is what Laurie was planning, but I was having no part of it. I made it through dinner by ignoring most of her small talk and keeping my answers to her questions short and when I finished eating I told Laurie I had some contracts that I had to review and I excused myself and headed for the den.
I faked a cold over the weekend and then Monday night I worked late (with Steph). Tuesday I was in bed pretending to be asleep when Laurie came home late. Wednesday we were both home early and after dinner I went down to my basement workshop and stayed there until I knew Laurie had gone to bed. I thought she would be asleep when I went into the bedroom, but she was up and waiting for me.
“I need this lover” she said and she reached for my cock. I pushed her hand aside and said:
“Not tonight, I don’t feel like it.”
“It seems that you never feel like it any more.”
“I was in the mood last night, but you weren’t here.”
She had no answer for that and I rolled over to go to sleep. Thursday Laurie was home early, but I stayed late at Steph’s place and Laurie was in bed when I got home. Friday Laurie was home early, but I had planned on seeing Steph that night. Steph called me at the office and begged off so I hit a lounge just down the street from work to have a couple of drinks and ran into three girls from accounting who had stopped for drinks. I joined them and we partied till midnight and then I headed home with two phone numbers and a date for Saturday night.
I was out of bed and gone to play golf before Laurie got up and when I got home around two Laurie wanted to know where I was the previous night and I told her that I had stopped for drinks with the guys after work and lost track of time.
“Well you could have called me.”
“How was I supposed to know you were home? You usually aren’t so why should I waste my time.”
That set the tone for the day and when I grabbed my coat at four and started to leave she wanted to know where I was going and I told her I had been invited to a poker game.
“I’ll probably be late so don’t wait up.”
She swore at me and slammed the door behind me and I smiled all the way over to Julie’s place.
Dinner, drinks and dancing until eleven-thirty and when I took Julie home she invited me in for a drink. She had a nice apartment, very tastefully decorated, and as I was admiring some of the art work on the wall Julie asked me if I wanted my drink before or after. I said, “Before or after what?” and turned to look at her. She had removed her clothes and was standing there in nylons, garter belt and high heels.
“Before or after I fuck your brains out.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely.”
“Why me?”
“Because I like being with married men. There is no expectation of anything other than sex - lots of fucking and sucking - so how about it sweetie, before or after?”
I took in the sexy body, looking all the more erotic because of the heels, hose and garter belt and said, “After” as I started taking off my shirt. Julie said:
“Follow me sweetie” and she turned and led me toward her bedroom. She got on the bed, spread her legs wide and said:
“Come and get it sweetie. Use me. Fuck my mouth. Shove your cock deep in my pussy. Plunder my ass. Use me like the slut I am.”
And Jesus God did I ever. She was a fantastic piece of ass and it was all I could do to tear myself away from her and go home. It wasn’t until I was halfway home that it dawned on me that I didn’t have to tear myself away from Julie. I could have spent the night with her and the next day if she would have let me. That was the whole point behind what I was doing, right? To get Laurie to go for a divorce! Why was I hiding what I was doing? Wasn’t the object to get caught - to be found out?
But even as I asked the question I knew the answer. I had to let things fester in Laurie’s mind. No, that wasn’t true; I wanted - I NEEDED things to fester in her mind. I wanted the bitch to suffer! I wanted her to keep trying to get me to have sex with her so I could keep pushing her away and the longer I could do it the more satisfying it would be.
It was four in the morning when I got home and I hit the bed exhausted.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nothing was said the next morning and all day Laurie tried to “make nice”. That night she tried again to get me to make love to her and I told her I wasn’t in the mood.
“I can get you in the mood baby” and she started to lower her head towards my cock. I put both hands on her shoulders and pushed her away.
“God damn it Laurie I said no. Whenever you say no because of a headache or whatever I always take that no to mean just that - no! Please do me the same courtesy.”
She got out of bed and stomped out of the room and spent the night on the couch. I fell asleep with a smile on my face. That set the pattern for the next two weeks. I worked late with either Steph or Julie three or four nights a week and started arguments every time I was home with Laurie.
Then I was out of town on a four day trip and I hooked up with a cocktail waitress who kept me busy three of those nights. She thought I was crazy when I asked her to smudge some lipstick on my shirt collar and spray a little of her perfume on the shoulder of my suit coat. I was getting tired of playing games so I thought I’d give Laurie a nudge.
I flew home Friday and beat Laurie home. I tossed the stained shirt in the dirty clothes and put the suit in with the dry cleaning. We had the dry cleaning done at a place just down the street from where Laurie worked so she always took it in and dropped it off on her way to work. Then, while waiting for Laurie to get home I moved all of my stuff out of our bedroom and into the spare bedroom. I left the last load piled on the bed and waited until Laurie came home and then came upstairs to see what I was doing and then I picked it up and carried it to the spare bedroom.
“What are you doing” she wanted to know.
“Things haven’t been going well between us Laurie and I don’t know why. I’m giving myself a little space. You know, sit back and analyze and see if I can pin-point the problem.”
“The problem is you Alan. You are avoiding me - pushing me away.”
“Yeah Laurie, you might be right. That’s one of the things I need to figure out. Why am I doing that? I’m not saying that I am, but it is something for me to look at.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
And then suddenly Laurie wasn’t working late anymore. I remembered what Hanson said about Laurie probably being a short-timer and I figured that Wycliff had cut her loose. Not that she told me that of course. No, what she told me was that her marriage meant more to her than her job and she was going to spend more time at home with me.
Another two weeks went by with me ‘working late’ four nights a week with Steph or Julie and going to Saturday night poker games at Julie’s place.
I left Monday on a three day trip and when I got home Laurie was waiting for me when I came into the house.
“You bastard!” she snarled. “What do you have to say about this” and she thrust an envelope at me. I opened it and found a private detective’s report and photos of me and Julie. The report told how he had followed me from work to a bar where I met Julie and it told of how we kissed and danced close before going to her apartment where I stayed for five hours.
“Well? What do you have to say for yourself?”
I took one of the pictures and looked at it closely and then said, “He didn’t get my best side.”
I put everything back in the envelope and handed it back to her. “Here” I said, “You can put them in the family album.”
I went upstairs and unpacked and then came down and headed for the front door.
“Where the hell are you going? We need to talk.”
“Got nothing to say to you. I’ve been gone for three days and I haven’t seen Julie since last Saturday” and I walked out the door. I spent the entire weekend at Julie’s and when I went home Sunday night Laurie was gone and there was a note on the kitchen table telling me she had gone to stay with her mother. I couldn’t believe my luck. I got out the Yellow Pages, found a twenty-four hour locksmith and by eight in the morning all the locks on the house had been changed.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was the following Wednesday when the man walked into my office and asked me if I was Alan Thompkins. I said that I was and he handed me an envelope and told me that I had been served. I don’t think he was expecting the smile he got as I took the papers from him.
I didn’t fight the divorce and things pretty much went as the lawyer I’d seen said they would. Even though I didn’t fight the divorce there were some hassles along the way and I did end up having to hire an attorney to get a restraining order to keep her away from the house unless her visit was supervised by someone from the court. Her attorney claimed I had no right to lock her out and I countered that by serving me papers and then going to live with her mother she gave up her free access and that I was justified in changing the locks to protect the marital assets until the courts could decide. The courts went with me on that one.
All the talking was done through Laurie’s attorney. I never spoke to her again after leaving the house to go to Julie’s so I never told her that I knew what she had done.
The only really nasty bit came when Laurie’s parents asked me to meet them for lunch. I had always been close to them so I agreed to meet them. They of course wanted to know what had happened and why I had done what I had done to Laurie. I gave them a copy of everything I had gotten from my private detective and then told them:
“I was just getting even.”
That night I got a call from Laurie calling me every name she could think of.
“How could you show that to my parents?”
“It was either that or have them think I was an asshole for treating you bad. Now they know you are a cheating slut and they don’t think so badly of me any more.”
“Why didn’t you tell me when you found out? I would have quit. It was just a fling Alan. It happened at a time I was feeling down on myself. I loved you Alan and I loved being your wife. We could have worked it out. All you had to do was tell me.”
“Listen to yourself Laurie. You can’t possibly be that stupid. No way could you have lived with me as long as you did and not know how I would respond to catching you cheating. The day I found out about Wycliff our marriage was dead.”
“Then why didn’t you divorce me instead of playing games for three months?”
“Because if I sued for divorce I would have had to pay for it. By playing those games I got you to be the one to go for the divorce and you had to pay for it. Only fitting since you were the one who killed the marriage in the first place.”
“You are such an asshole Alan.”
“And you my dear are a lying, cheating whore” and I hung up on her.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
There was one more act to play out. As expected the court ordered a fifty/fifty split of the assets and one day I got a call from Laurie’s attorney. He had the house appraised and it came in at $348,000. We still owed $169,000 on it which meant that there was $179,000 in equity. Laurie proposed paying me $89,500, assuming the mortgage and keeping the house. I declined and insisted that the house be put on the open market because I believed that the house was worth a lot more than $348,000. It was listed at $365,000 and two days after the house was put on the market an offer of $360,000 was made. When all was said and done the house was owned by Phoenix Investments, LLC. Phoenix (as in rising from that ashes) Investments had one stockholder - me! I would love to be a fly on the wall to see Laurie’s face when she finds that out.
It has been six months since the divorce was final and Laurie is still telling people that she loves me, but that I never gave her a chance to explain. When people tell me that I say:
“Explain what? She cheated, she got caught and the trust was gone. Once the trust is gone it is over.”
And yes, I’m still seeing Steph and Julie.