Sarah’s a beautiful woman, by any man’s standards. Apparently though, she’s not The Duke’s wife, or his girlfriend. Stunned, I asked if Mrs. Austin is home.
“There is no Mrs. Austin,” Sarah replies, “unless I’ve missed something huge. I’m Duke’s roommate, and I’ve been living here for a little over a year. Oh Shit! What is this about? I mean, is he messing with your woman or something?”
“Yeah, or something. Why would you guess that? Have other husbands been knocking?” I ask.
“No…I mean, I shouldn’t say.”
She tries to cover her own curiosity and complicity. She had just confirmed for me that she’s the pretend Izzy, and probably would have covered for the Duke if I’d settled for just a phone call.
“It’s okay, you just did. Have a good day.” I say as I turn to leave.
At least now my suspicions are confirmed. Time for a follow-up talk with The Duke of Fucking Austin.
“Did you go to his house,” Dee asks nervously, “Did you talk to Duke’s wife?”
“Well, I would have, if he’d ever bothered to get married.” I could tell Dee didn’t exactly believe me.
“A woman named Sarah claims to be his roommate. I believe her. She seemed too genuinely shocked to be pretending.”
“Now what?” Dee asks.
“Now you tell him one more time, to leave you alone. No more lunches, no more sitting in my truck.” I order her.
“That’s not a problem. I’ve blown him off every time he’s asked since the day you were watching us. What about you? You’re not going to do something stupid are you?” At least her face shows concern.
“Stupid, no. Something, absolutely.” I pause here. “If he doesn’t get the message, then we’re going to HR together. He’s not only seducing you, he’s also your boss. However, there’s a risk to you as well. I mean, you’ve probably been seen together in your truck at lunch, so he could claim that you invited him. That would be easy to believe. You’ll have to say it was friendly, and then he wanted more.”
“And you’re not going after him?” she inquires.
“No.” I state flatly. That’s a lie.
“Dee, we still have problems here. You let this…lothario get in your head, but I don’t think that’s all of it. I’ve known you most of my life. There’s something going on in here,” I point to head and circle it with my finger, “that needs addressing. I’m not going to be with any woman I don’t trust, and right now, I have no idea if I can trust you again.”
My wife looks at me, stunned, then with horror. I’m getting tired of seeing that look, so I continue. “We need to deal with The Duke of Fucking Austin, first and foremost. Then, like I said the other night, you and I need to see someone…a therapist. I need to know why this started and what we can do to stop it happening again. That’s if you want to. I won’t live like this, waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Dee comes into my study a few hours later with a hand written piece of paper. “Here are the names of three that sound decent. I’d like us to see a woman, only because I feel like a female can give me better insight about my feelings, and how I went so off the rails.”
She pauses, looks down and then back into my eyes. “Devon, I’m sorry I did this to us. I’ll do whatever I need to do to prove my love, and earn back your trust. That sounds hollow, I know, but I’m committed to getting the help and some solutions. I appreciate you dealing with Duke, even though it didn’t seem like it earlier. You’re right that he has had some kind of hold on my emotions, but I think you’re also right that it’s in my head, and not all about him. I’ve chased hundreds of players away over the years.”
She comes tentatively towards me, and now I take her into my arms for a hug. “Dee,” I whisper in her ear, “I believe you, for now. Thanks for taking the initiative. I’m committed just like you, but if you break your promises about Duke Austin, I think I’ll have to leave. It’s not an ultimatum, so don’t take it that way. I’m just being honest about how I feel right now.”
“Hi Duke.”
This fucker always walks with his head down. He looks up with that same smirk. It’s time to do something about that.
“You here for more talk, or do you want to get to it? I’ll show you a few tricks I learned in the Navy.”
I’m thinking, who the fuck talks like that. What a waste of human flesh. “Nope,” is all I say.
“Well, what then?” he asks me indignantly.
“Just a simple question, actually. You ever see that movie ‘Se7en’?”
He’s perplexed, and a little put off. I can see he was expecting to ‘duke’ it out.
“What?” he asks stupidly.
I sigh for effect. “The movie, you know? Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Brad Pitt. Did you ever see it?”
“Yeah, I seen it, so what?”
“That’s ‘saw’ dipshit. Anyway, if we were the characters in that movie, you’re Brad Pitt.” I halt again, hoping he has some smart ass comment to say about that comparison. He doesn’t.
“You’re Brad Pitt. Tall, handsome, debonair, slick talker. You’re also too quick on the draw. You’ve got issues. Maybe even premature ejaculation. Me? I’m more of the Kevin Spacey type.”
“Fuck off Devon. I’ve got better things to do, like figure out my next conversation with your wife.” He’s back to goading me. Good. I ignore him and continue.
“Yeah, see, the thing is, just like Kevin Spacey, I already have it all figured. I have probably sixteen ways to punish you, already planned and keeping myself out of trouble in the process.” I didn’t actually have sixteen, but it sounded appropriate. It doesn’t seem to faze him though.
“Me too, Devon. I have your woman eating out of my hand. I’ve been sure to be seen with her, during our lunches, so no one can accuse me of anything. We’ve never been intimate, but that’s coming. So take your sixteen, and shove them up your ass. You can’t touch me at work. You can’t kick my ass. Basically, you have no hope. No choice, but to accept it. Don’t worry though. I’ll send her back in one piece, although I doubt she’s gonna want you on those nights.”
I cannot remember a time, ever, where I actually wanted to kill someone so bad. The truth is, in normal conditions, The Duke could probably take me without much effort. These aren’t normal circumstances. But, it isn’t the place either. So I force a smile.
“Duke, let me break it down for you. My wife already knows you’re a liar and has told you to back off. I met your wife, Sarah, yesterday. She wasn’t exactly keen on the name Izzy, or the title. She didn’t seem too happy to see me at the door either.”
“You’ll never see it coming when your genitals are ground into mincemeat. It will be on my schedule, and may not come for a long time. I’ll be somewhere else. Probably in a room full of alibis. That’s just for starters. It’s going to continue time after time, until you get the message, pack up and leave. Move, quit, I don’t care. Then, there’s this flashy car. Your roommate, your family, some of the other wives and their husbands. I won’t stop. You’ll end up being my little bitch, when I’m finished.”
“Maybe I should just pound the shit out of you now? Show you what’s up.” He’s upset that his intimidation isn’t working out. Time to show him Gwyneth’s pretty head.