Thought I would also try a different take on George Anderson’s story ‘February Sucks’. One change to the premise is that Jim and Linda, the main married couple, have been married longer. My story starts after Marc LaValliere has left with Linda. I have included five paragraphs to help transition from George’s story.
***
“I wanted to dance with my wife, but thanks to you and her and Asshole, that doesn’t seem to be an option, now does it?” I turned my back on Dee and stalked back to our table.
The talk at the table stopped abruptly when I appeared. The averted eyes told the tale: all of our friends now knew that my wife and Asshole were at that very moment making a cuckold of me.
“Uh, Jim, are you going to be okay?” Dave asked hesitantly after he seated Dee. I wanted to tell him what Dee had said and ask if he would be okay, but I couldn’t force the words past my throat. I guess I hadn’t gotten over being the good guy yet. I would have to work on that.
“It depends on what you mean by okay.” There were a couple of nervous giggles.
“I mean, yeah, that was a shitty thing to do, but you two are going to make it, aren’t you? You’re not going to divorce Linda over this, are you?”
***
I sat back, surveyed the room and wondered. So many beautiful women in the room. Why did Marc LaValliere pick my wife? Why did she say yes? Why did she throw me away? Our kids were getting older and more self-sufficient. They would be out of the house soon and Linda and I had already been discussing what we wanted to do when the kids were out of the house. Many months ago, a small part of my mind had considered what the relationship between Linda and I would become. Of course, I assumed we would get to spend more quality time together, becoming closer. Then it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks, Linda’s future plans may not include me. I felt like I was a fool. The thought evaporated all my sorrow and disappointment leaving me with only my anger.
By the worried looks around the table I realized the expression on my face was giving them the impression that my head was going to explode, or I was going to do something really, really stupid.
Dee asked nervously, “Are you alright Jim?”
There were four beautiful young women sitting in a booth across the dance floor. I could see them just over Dee’s shoulder. Why hadn’t Marc LaValliere picked one of them? I watched the four ladies for a moment. Then, I started laughing. Very loudly. Everyone at the table looked frightened by my laughter. I was laughing so hard people were looking at our table. I had tears running down my face, I was laughing so hard. As my laughter finally died, I wiped the tears from my face and gave everyone a big smile.
I realized my life had just dramatically changed. I was no longer in a monogamous relationship. I no longer had to worry about my wife’s feelings, because my wife no longer worried about mine.
Everyone was staring at me. I smiled at Dee, slid my wedding ring off my finger and handed it to an astonished Dee. “Give that to Linda when you see her. I have things to do.”
I stood up and dropped a ten on the table. “That will pay for my drink. Since you encouraged Linda’s cheating so much, you can pay for it.” As I walked away from the table, my ex-friends called out my name. As I walked out of the club, I wondered what I would say to them if they tried to follow me. The only thing I was sure of, if any of the husbands followed and didn’t heed my warning, I was going to break their nose.
As I walked back, my mind was racing. Linda was going out to selfishly have her fun, I would selfishly have mine. Arriving at the hotel I asked the young woman behind the desk if they had any full-sized suites available. She told me no, but if I was looking for a larger room, the bridal suite was available. She listed off many of the amenities available in the room. “I’ll take it.”
“We will not be able to upgrade the room you are currently in, since it is so late in the night.”
“I want both rooms. My wife will be staying in the original room, and I will be staying in the suite.” The young women gave me a momentary odd look which said, ‘I thought you were doing something special for your wife?’ After she gave me the key card to my new room and directions to reach it, I told her “If my wife requests a key to my room, do not give her one. In fact, can you please leave specific instructions that no one is to tell my wife that I am still in the hotel, if she asks.”
The young girl had a curious look along with a smile on her face. “I will make sure the hotel staff is informed of your request.”
I went up to my old room and gathered my clothing, leaving all of Linda’s clothing and personal items in the trash cans. I took the elevator up to the top floor. The Bridal suite was huge and even had a Jacuzzi on a large balcony overlooking the city. I had brought an expensive dinner jacket, just in case we decided to get late night drinks in one of the more upscale restaurants nearby. I put on the jacket and headed back to the club, stopping by the ATM machine to withdraw cash.
When I got back to the club there was a long line to get in. I walked up to the doorman like I owned the place. He asked if he could help me. I smiled at him and gave him a hundred-dollar bill. He smiled back and opened the door and let me in.
My ex-friends were still at the table when I walked in. I scanned the club hoping to still see what I had seen earlier. The table on the side of the dance floor with four beautiful young women sitting at it. There were no men sitting with them, so it must be some type of girl’s night out. Perfect for me.
I made my way across the club. Dee spotted me as I was passing nearby the table and tried to wave at me and call my name. I couldn’t hear her, but I saw everyone at the table turn to look at me. I didn’t acknowledge them as I crossed the floor and casually walked up to the table with the four ladies.
“What’s the occasion for four beautiful ladies to be sitting unaccompanied?”
The four ladies all smiled at me. The taller brunette laughed loudly and said, “Our girl here, stupid boyfriend, dumped her for some skank, and we are cheering her up.” The brunette was definitely tipsy.
“Well, if you ladies don’t mind, I would love to dance with your friend and a chance to cheer her up.”
Four pairs of eyes turned towards the petite redhead. She smiled and held out her hand for me to help her from the booth.
As we began dancing, I asked her name.
“Samantha.”
“My name is Jim. How could you date such a moron that he could let such a beautiful woman go?”
“Because he is an asshole.”
I laughed and smiled at her. We talked a bit during the dance. She was going to college to become a nurse and she grew up nearby. The song ended and a slower song started. We continued to dance.
With the music not as loud, Samantha asked, “Are you married Jim?”
“Separated.”
“Was that your wife dancing with Marc LaValliere earlier? I noticed that she disappeared after that dance.”
“You noticed that huh?”
“Everyone in the club noticed that, Jim.”
I smiled my best smile at Samantha. “I guess you found out I was separated the same moment that I found out.”
Samantha gave me warm smile and we both danced very close the rest of the song. We were both recently hurt by someone we cared for, and it felt nice holding each other.
When the song ended, we went back to Samantha’s table. Samantha told the others at the table, “I know we said no men were to sit with us, but I want Jim to stay with us.”
The brunette, obviously trying to play with me and Samantha. “I don’t know, we agreed no guys.”
“How about I buy a couple bottles of Champagne to make up for it?”
“I don’t know, a deal is a deal.”
Samantha smiled at all three and said, “Marc LaValliere left with his wife earlier.”
Three voiced yelled out, “No shit!” at the same time. The three ladies slid around the booth to make room for Samantha and me.
Before I could get any names, the blonde next to Samantha asked. “Do you guys have an open marriage?”
“Absolutely not.”
The other blonde then asked, “What did she tell you?”
“She didn’t, she told me she was going to the bathroom and snuck out the back of the club with Marc.”
The brunette then yelled, “That cheating skank!”
I pointed my thumb over my shoulder without turning. “And all my asshole EX-friends covered for her.”
At that point the waitress came up. I asked if everyone liked champagne, and everyone smiled. “Two bottles of your most expensive champagne.” The girls cheered. Before they could ask me another question, I introduced myself. Their names were Kim, Christie and Suzan. They were all studying to become nurses with Samantha.
After the Champagne arrived and everyone had a full glass, Christie (the brunette), asked me what I was going to do about my wife.
“As far as I am concerned, we became separated the moment she walked out the door.”
“Do you have any kids?”
“Unfortunately, yes, a boy and a girl, fifteen and thirteen. But in a few more years, they will be on their own and I am looking to trade up in the wife department.”
Samantha put her arm through mine and loudly said, “To hell with her, you are with me tonight!”
We all clinked glasses and drank our champagne.
I told the girls some jokes. They told me some jokes. We laughed and drank. They danced with some guys and with each other. Samantha stayed sitting with me the rest of the night, with her arm looped through mine.
Near the end of the night, Christie got a mean look in her eye and jumped up from the table and took off. We all turned to look at where she was going. It looked like Dee had decided to come talk to me, but Christie headed her off near my ex-friend’s table. We couldn’t hear what was being said, but we could see them talking to each other loudly. It ended after Christie began poking Dee in the chest several times, yelling straight into Dee’s face. Dee started crying and sat back down. Christie then unloaded on everyone at the table. All the tables around them were laughing at my ex-friend’s embarrassment. When Christie got back, Kim and Suzan high fived her.
Christie drank her champagne, smiled at me and said, “None of those assholes will be coming anywhere near this table the rest of the night.”
I turned around and looked at their table. They were all getting up to leave. Jane and Dee were both crying. None of them would look in our direction.
“What did you say Christie?”
“I saw THAT woman getting up the nerve to come talk to you. So, I headed her off and let them know what I thought about people who enable cheaters.”
“You made quite an impact. They obviously wanted me to forgive Linda, to ease their consciouses. I owe you a kiss for that.”
Samantha grabbed my head and said, “Oh no you don’t”, and gave me a huge kiss on the mouth while the other three girls cheered her on.
After finishing her kiss, Samantha smiled at me sweetly.
Kim said, “Get a room you two!”
“Well actually,” I said, “I have a suite in the hotel down the block and you ladies look like you are in no condition to drive. If we hurry, we can still order more champagne at the hotel.”
After I paid the bar tab, we all four headed to the hotel. Samantha hung on to my arm with the other three hanging on to us for support. At the front desk I ordered four bottles of champagne for the room. When I told the clerk my room was the bridal suite, all the ladies started giggling. On the way up the elevator the three ladies began singing the wedding march. Samantha turned beet red but held on to me even tighter. When we got to the door of the room, the ladies started laughing, saying that I had to carry my bride across the threshold.
Samantha looked up at me with her big, beautiful eyes and said, “You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
I pushed open the door, swept Samantha into my arms and carried her into the room. As I stepped into the room, Samantha put her arms around my neck and gave me a big kiss. The ladies thought it was hilarious. They stopped teasing us when Christie spotted the jacuzzi on the balcony. Before I could put Samantha down, all three had stripped down to their bra and panties and were sitting in the jacuzzi.
I set Samantha down. She kept holding my hand and smiling up at me.
There was a knock on the door. It was room service with the champagne. We took the champagne out to the ladies. They were making jokes and giggling. Suzan told me I was over dressed and needed to take it all off. I laughed and told them I was keeping Samantha company. They yelled for Samantha to get in, but she just smiled and pulled me back into the suite. We crossed the suite to the Bridal room with her friends singing the bridal march from the balcony, while laughing hysterically.
I woke up in the morning with Samantha wrapped around me and three other naked ladies laying across the king size bed. They must have climbed in after Samantha, and I went to sleep.
I slid out of the bed. Samantha was watching me. I smiled at her, and she smiled back.
“Did you have fun Jim?”
“Yes. The best night of my life.”
“Any regrets?”
“Absolutely none.”
“Come, take a shower with me.” Samantha slid out of the bed and pulled me into the bathroom. “I want you again this morning in the shower.”
Wanting to do something I had never done with Linda, once we were in the shower, I picked up Samantha and set her on my dick while standing. I then pinned her against the wall while she wrapped her legs around my waist. The standing position was exhausting, but I had one of the best orgasms of my life. Samantha came very loudly twice before me.
When Samantha and I got out of the shower we found our loud love making had woken up the ladies. They were hung over but happy eating away on room service and drinking Mimosas. Christie said, “I can’t wait to get into that shower. You two made it sound like the best shower ever made.” All three girls burst out laughing when me and Samantha smiled at each other.
After each of them took a shower they all left. Except for Samantha who had asked if I would give her a ride home.
While driving her home, she snuggled up to me.
“Jim, I know what your wife did last night was terrible, but you still may get back together with her. If you don’t, I would love it if we could see each other again.” Samantha smiled hopefully up at me.
“I would love that, Samantha. At this point, I have no intention of remaining with my wife.”
“I really had fun with you. Your what I need right now, so call me if you think we can be together.”
I kissed Samantha at her door. When she opened it, Christie was sitting on the couch. Christie gave me a smile and a wave. As I left, I realized I had put off making a decision about what I was going to do about Linda. Going back to the club had been a knee jerk reaction to Linda’s infidelity. It hadn’t solved my problem with Linda, but it did make me feel a whole lot better about myself.
After I got home, I took a break and slumped into my living room chair. I didn’t bother to turn on any lights, as I thought of a way to end my trashed marriage with the least harm to my children. After a while, I have no idea how long, I heard a car in the driveway, then a key in the lock.
“Jim? Jim, I’m home.” She sounded just like she always did when she came home from running errands. She closed the front door and turned on a light. I turned to look at her.
She looked exactly the same. The blue dress still did everything for her that it had done the night before. Her dark hair fell down her back the same way; the poise of her head, the set of her shoulders, her face, the rings on her finger, were all exactly the same as they had been the night before. As if nothing had changed at all. As if she hadn’t spent all night and all morning betraying me with an asshole. That shouldn’t be possible, I thought. There should be some visible difference, something to indicate what she had done, at least some shame on her face. There wasn’t.
“It’s still just me, the same old me as always,” she said with a tender smile. Of course, she knew what I was thinking. “There’s nothing different; nothing has changed. My love for you is just the same as it was yesterday.”
“I wish I could say the same thing.” Hearing myself, I realized how emotionless I sounded.
“Jim…”
With a dead pan look, I stared at Linda while I pointed towards our bedroom. “Don’t start. Go take a shower.” After trying to say a few words while I continued to point at our bedroom, Linda finally went.
After her shower she came back down. “Jim, where are my clothes from last night?”
“I guess still in the hotel room where you left them.”
“You didn’t bring my clothes home?”
“Nope, why was there anything important you left behind?”
Linda looked as if she were going to say something when she realized her next statement was going to be something about how inconsiderate I was being. Instead, she sat silent when she realized how incredibly stupid that would sound.
“Why did you do it Linda”.
Linda sighed. “It was Marc LaValliere. He’s rich and famous and can have any woman he desires. I felt like the most popular girl in the room last night when he asked me to dance. He made me feel special.”
Linda still was glowing about last night. As she said it, I could see her disconnect from our conversation, as she fondly remembered the moments from last night.
This was the moment. The moment I knew it was truly over. Linda would always cherish her time with Marc Lavalliere more than any moment with me. I was only an afterthought.
“Do you love him now?”
“No, I don’t love him. It was only sex. I love you, Jim.”
“Me and you have a completely different understanding of how you treat the person you love.”
By the surprised look on Linda’s face, I could tell she still felt justified. I was just being a crybaby because my ego got hurt. Which was sad because she crushed my ego, solely to feed hers. “I came back to you Jim, because I love you.”
“If he asked you to stay, to be his girlfriend or wife, would you be here now?”
Linda hesitated then saw me watching. “Of course not, I love you Jim.”
“You hesitated Linda. I know what that look means. You would still be there if he had asked.”
“It was just one night! It was just sex!”
“Discussion is over. I have a lot to think about. Pack some bags for you and the kids and stay with them at your parents. You are going to stay there with the kids this week.”
“But Jim…”
“Discussion is over. If you really want to push the issue right now, with the way I am feeling, you will not get the results you are hoping for.” This time there was anger in my voice and in the look in my eyes.
Linda packed a bag and left. As soon as she was out of sight, I began my plan. I had an epiphany when I saw Linda standing in the entry way, in her blue dress, looking completely unchanged. I knew something had to change, if I was going to be able to move past this. I called my boss and told him I needed two weeks off. I then went and rented a moving truck and bought some supplies from the hardware store: wood, sheetrock, paint and 2 external doors.
Once home, I grabbed my crowbar and began to work. First, I removed the front door and the windows surrounding the door. Cutting a larger empty space, I installed two front doors. I put the old front door on the right side and a new front door on the left. I then framed a wall straight down the main entry way in the middle of the house and put-up sheetrock. I now owned a duplex.
I installed a new back door on the left side, where the new kitchen would be. The new kitchen would overlook the living room, just like the other side. The office became the third bedroom on the left side, my side. The dining room became the third bedroom on the right side – Linda’s side. When I was done each side of the duplex almost matched exactly, except for the detached garage on Linda’s side. I would build another garage on my side later. I changed the lock on the garage and garage door code so only I would have access. I also put up a fence in the back yard, cutting the back yard exactly in half. I now owned a duplex.
I called the kids every day and told them I was working on the house. Linda kept asking to talk, but I kept telling her I was not in the mood to hear what she had to say.
I called Samantha after a few days to just hear her voice and maybe a chance to spend more time with her.
“I thought you had forgotten about me.”
“I can’t stop thinking about you.”
“You going to invite me out on a date?”
“Nope.”
“Quit teasing me.”
“Nope, I really am not going to ask you out on a date. I was thinking more of a weekend getaway, just you and me.”
“REALLY?”
“Yes.”
“Where too?”
“The Bahamas sound nice. Can you get away this weekend? Fly out Thursday and come back Tuesday?”
“YES, YES, YES!!!”
“Just bring your phone and your passport. We will buy everything we need there.”
After telling each other how much fun we were going to have, I had to let her go so I could get the plane fare and hotel lodgings booked. Last minute to Bahamas was not cheap. But, what the hell, if Linda divorced me, she would get half of our savings and my salary for child support. I smiled when I realized it was as if Linda was paying for Samantha’s half.
I moved our savings account into a bank account that I opened only in my name. I also changed my paycheck to be deposited into the account. I didn’t think Linda would cancel the credit card, but just in case, I wanted to have access to money.
I worked sixteen-hour days to get all the walls in place, just not finished on my side. I was able to get the center wall finished and painted on Linda’s side on Wednesday. I knew I would have to get the power, gas, and water separated from Linda’s side later. But, since Linda’s side was using the same gas and electricity, Linda could not disconnect my side.
On Wednesday night, I told Linda to bring the kids home in the morning. Thursday morning, I locked up my side of the house and sat in a chair out front waiting for them to arrive. When they arrived and got out of the car, they all stood stupefied on the front lawn.
The first to speak was Emma, “Dad, what did you do?”
“I turned our house into a duplex. Don’t you like it?” All three turned to look at me like I was an idiot. They stood there with their mouths hanging open.
“Don’t worry guys, I finished the right side and moved your stuff into your new rooms.”
I showed the kids around the left side of the ‘new’ house, while I had Linda put the kid’s bags into their rooms. They were gob smacked. Our short tour ended up with all of us in the living room on the right side of the house.
Tommy, “But dad, the living room is much smaller.”
“Don’t worry guys, you will never notice the difference. In fact, I have to get a garage installed on the other side of the house and when I do, I am going to have a pool with a jacuzzi installed.” That got smiles from the kids.
Linda told the kids to unpack their bags. She gave me the look that she wanted to talk to me, but I followed the kids helping them to put away their stuff and make sure they had what they needed.
After they put their stuff away, I pulled out some sandwiches I had bought from the local deli, and we ate lunch at the kitchen table.
Emma asked me, “What brought this on dad?” but she was mostly watching Linda’s reaction. Having spent the last few days with Linda, Emma and Tommy obviously knew something was wrong and that their mom had been avoiding their questions.
“Oh, we are getting closer to becoming empty nesters. I realized things were not going to stay the same forever. Just getting ready is all.”
“Gee dad, you could have at least discussed it with us first to see how we felt about it.”
“Well actually it was your mom’s idea. She said that she had decided that we needed a change, and she needed something different.” With a smirk on my face, I stared at Linda. Linda looked astonished.
“Mom, why would you make such a huge decision and not discuss it with us?” asked Emma.
Tommy, “Yeah, Mom. Don’t you care what we think?”
Linda looking uncomfortable, “It was just a miscommunication. Your dad just misunderstood how I felt.”
“I don’t know honey, you made your intentions very clear at the time. In fact, once I saw you fully commit to your decision, I knew there was no going back.”
Linda looked like she was going to cry and left the room. Tommy asked, “What’s up with mom lately, she’s been crying over everything.” I shrugged my shoulders and told them they should ask her.
Before Emma could ask another question, I told them I had a trip out of town planned and I would be back in a few days. I told them I would not be reachable during my trip, but that I would call them every night. I gave them kisses on their heads and quickly headed out the door. I wondered if they noticed that I didn’t say goodbye to their mom who was still in the bedroom.
I picked up Samantha from her apartment and we headed off. It was one the best times of my life. We flew first class, stayed in a five-star resort, and were pampered like royalty. A weekend of fun, sun, sand, waves, food and drinks. And even better, Samantha was very appreciative and tried constantly to show how much she enjoyed being with me. By time we left, we both had all over tans, and I knew every inch of Samantha’s fantastic body.
On Tuesday, I dropped Samantha off at her apartment. Samantha gave me a very passionate kiss at her front door.
“Do you want to spend one more night with me?”
“Yes, I would, but I have to face the music sometime, and you have class tomorrow.”
“Call me at bedtime. I need to hear your voice before I go to sleep.”
I gave her one last kiss and said, “I would love that.”
I drove home smiling to myself. Samantha had told me on the last night that she ‘could see herself falling for a guy like me.’
As I drove down the street to my house, I could see Linda’s car was in her driveway. I parked on the road in front of my side of the house, wanting to avoid dealing with Linda. While I was unpacking, Linda knocked on my front door.
“Your back.”
“Yes I am.”
“Can we talk?”
“Sure, what do you want to talk about?”
“Can I come in?”
“No. You are not allowed on my side. To be clear, this is my personal living space, and you are not welcome on this side. Ever.” Linda, visibly shaken, stared at me for a moment before turning to go back to her side. The reality that I was not going to be living on her side of the duplex just became real.
We both sat at her kitchen table. “Jim, I love you and want things back the way they were.”
“Not going to happen.”
“Why not.”
“Because, if you had not noticed, you did things that permanently changed what I think of you.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way.”
“Actually, it does. There is no undoing what you did and how I feel about it.”
“But I love you.”
I collected my thoughts. “Let’s say we were out on a date, as a couple, with our friends. You walked away from me and left with another man and spent all night and the next morning fucking him. If you’d done that on our first date, would there have been a second one?”
“But Jim, it was Marc…”
“I don’t care who it was. You chose someone else over me.”
“Jim, I keep trying to tell you, I didn’t choose Marc over you.”
“So, you didn’t CHOOSE to sneak out the back of the club? You didn’t CHOOSE to fuck Marc LaValliere?”
“It was just one night!”
“You had your whole life to show me how much you love me. The moment someone more famous talked to you, I became leftovers. Does this mean I have to keep you away from all famous athletes? Famous actors? Famous politicians? You know there is a marathon this weekend, are you going to fuck the winner?”
“Jim that’s not fair.”
In a quiet even tone I said, “So, there it is. You now want ME to be fair. You want a fair chance to minimize your betrayal. A fair chance to talk me out of my anger over what you did. A fair chance to shame me for feeling betrayed. A fair chance to guilt me for not putting our family ahead of my own pain. Seems I am the only one expected to be fair in this relationship.” I reached across the table and held her hand. She smiled and held my hand in both of her hands.
I looked deep into Linda’s eyes, knowing this was going to hurt her. Linda needed to know exactly how our new relationship was going to be going forward. And yes, I was also excited about getting a chance to let her see how it feels.
“Too late Linda.”
“Too late?”
“Yes. Too late. I have found someone else.”
“No!” Linda jerked her hands away from my hand as if my hand was on fire.
“You know who it is. I’m sure Dee and your friends told you who I was with that night after you left. The redhead who I danced with. The one who held me tightly while we danced. The woman who replaced you on the anniversary you threw away.”
As the words ‘replaced you’ and ‘threw away’ sank in, I looked into Linda’s eyes and saw sadness. I realized Dee must have sent Linda pictures of Samantha and I dancing slow together, looking like lovers.
With simmering anger in her voice Linda said, “Are you doing this to get back at me? Throwing some twenty-four-year-old in my face to get even?”
“Twenty-one actually. I spent the last four days with her down in the Bahamas. You know that dream vacation you and I always wanted to go on? It was spectacular.” I knew I had a big smile on my face as I said it, but I couldn’t help myself. The weekend really had been spectacular.
Linda stared hard at me after I finished speaking. I could see my words made her very angry. I knew the smirk on my face, that I was left with, added to her anger. I reminded myself of the kids and after taking a deep breath, I forcefully relaxed my face so my smirk would disappear. With a heated look in her eyes that I knew was going to be followed by some soul incinerating condemnation, Linda opened her mouth and pointed her finger at me. But when she saw my smirk reappear, she realized, I knew every word she was about to say. Linda froze. She then slowly exhaled, closed her mouth and dropped her hand to the table. A feat I had never witnessed before. We sat quietly staring at each other.
I knew Linda wanted to yell at me, to burn my ass, to put me in my place over what I had done. But she realized she had zero moral high ground left to stand on. The leverage she had been accustomed too in our relationship, relied on love and trust. The very love and trust that she had casually erased, for one night of sex.
It was finally dawning on Linda that what she had done was costing her more than she had imagined. I’m sure that night, when Linda was deciding to sleep with Marc, she thought she was just cashing in a few chips from our years together. She was finally getting an inkling that she had stupidly bet it all.
Linda sat quietly for a moment staring at her hands folded together on the table. “It doesn’t matter, I still love you.”
“Yes, you keep saying that Linda like your love means something special. Why would you consider your love to be important to me after what you did? It’s quite obvious my love for you means nothing to you, so why should I cherish your love?”
“But I don’t want to lose you.”
“Well, I don’t understand why you thought you could absolutely destroy my trust in you and expect to keep me. You took me for granted and now you don’t deserve me.”
Linda looked bewildered.
“I am going home. I have plenty of work left to do on the house. I will come back over to eat dinner with you and the kids. Please do not bother me until then.” I got up and went back to my apartment.
Linda was crying when I left. Walking away from Linda was horribly painful. In my heart, I wanted to hold her and be like we were before. But in my mind, I knew that there was no going back to what we were. The Linda that I thought of as my wife, did not, and would never exist again. All I would ever have with her, would be a painful reminder of all we could have had, all that she had casually destroyed without a thought or ounce of guilt.
Before dinner, the kids and I went over to my side of the house to look around. I showed them the new kitchen area and how I was going to knock out the back wall and make it all glass to overlook the new pool. They looked concerned as they stared at the fence splitting the back yard in half. They realized that this side would be dad’s side.
I then showed them where their new rooms would be on my side of the house.
“Why do I need two bedrooms in the house dad?” asked Tommy.
“Because, this side will be my house, and that side will be your mother’s house.”
Emma, “Are you and mom getting divorced dad? Mom won’t say anything whenever we ask.”
“Nope, just separated. I don’t want to be a weekend dad, so I thought I would just split the house and you two can live on whichever side you feel like that day.”
Before we could go any further, Linda stuck her head in the front door to announce dinner was ready.
We ate in silence. Linda was tense. She could tell that the kids had learned more about what was going on.
Tommy blurted out too loudly. “I’m living on Dad’s side as soon as he finishes my room.” Linda had a shocked look on her face. “Dad said you are separating?”
“We are not. This is just a misunderstanding, and we haven’t finished discussing it yet.”
Emma slapped her hand on the table and shouted, “WHO CHEATED? I WANT TO KNOW!” Emma and Tommy looked back and forth between Linda and me. I stared at Linda. Linda stared at her plate.
When Linda began crying. The kids got their answer. I told the kids their mom was tired and needed some rest. I helped Linda up and walked her down to her bedroom, undressed her, and put her to bed. I gave her a quick kiss on her forehead like she was a small child that had woke up from a nightmare. I turned off the light and closed her door.
I focused on feeling for Linda as I would for one of my children. A grown-up child that had had committed a heinous crime and had been sentenced to prison for the rest of their life. I would still love my child, but they would no longer be part of my daily life or thoughts.
I first went to Tommy’s room. He was laying on his bed texting his friends. I asked him if he wanted to talk about it. He said, “No, not really.” I gave him a fist bump and went to Emma’s room.
Emma was angry crying. “Why did she do it dad?”
“You will have to ask her.”
“Can’t you just forgive her?”
“Then I would never be able to forgive myself.”
Emma sighed. “I know, but I want us to stay together as a family.”
“We are pumpkin. I just won’t be sleeping in the same room as your mother anymore.”
I gave Emma a hug. We told each other we loved each other, and I went back to my side of the house.
This became our new norm. I had always left for work before the kids got up, so our morning activity did not change. Linda and I still split our time chauffeuring the kids to their friend’s houses, band and sports. We still had our normal family dinner together, when we could, on Linda’s side of the house. Linda tried to talk to me about once a week about us, but I shut her down saying I did not want to discuss it.
The other obvious change was school functions. I never stood or sat near Linda during our children’s school events. If Linda sidled up to me, I would immediately excuse myself and go to the restroom. When I returned, I would sit or stand somewhere else. I was never alone very long, as at least one of the single or divorced women we knew, would quickly be near my side. And yes, they always asked, and my answer was, “Separated.”
During the next month, I bought new clothes, new appliances, new kitchen cabinets, and new furniture for my side. My side became a slick new bachelor pad with a giant TV and a new entertainment system. When I bought a new top end convertible, Linda tried to question me about our finances.
“Jim, can we afford all these things? That car must have cost a fortune.”
“Well Linda, my car was eight years older than yours, and I needed a new one. You have always bought a new car twice as often as me, so I just put a few of those missed years into my new car. As for the all the other new stuff, you really didn’t expect for me to live in a hovel, did you? And the furniture? I thought I was being considerate by not making you give up any of the beloved furniture you bought to decorate your house.”
“I would have been happy to share our furniture.”
“That’s all right, I never cared for your taste in furniture.”
“You never said anything before?”
“I never said anything before because I wanted you to be happy and it wasn’t a big deal to me.” I let her reflect on that statement for a few moments. “Don’t worry, we have plenty of money. In fact, the house is paid off and once the kids move out, my side will be too big for my needs. I’ll rent out my side of the house for additional income, so money will not be a problem.”
Linda gave me her best smile, her ‘someone is going to get lucky tonight’ smile and reached out to squeeze my shoulder. “I’m not complaining, I like your new car. You’ve been working out and you look sexy in your new clothes.”
“Thanks. I can’t take all the credit, Tommy and Emma wanted me to get the convertible so they could drive it, and Samantha helped me pick out my new clothes and furniture. We have very similar tastes.”
Linda’s smile disappeared at the mention of Samantha and her hand dropped from my shoulder. “Oh, I was just wondering.” Linda then turned and walked away.
I didn’t try to throw Samantha in Linda’s face, but Samantha was becoming a big part of my life. I also realized that I was now thinking of Samantha quite often and very little of Linda’s feelings.
Samantha started becoming a regular on my side of the house. At that point Tommy and Emma started spending most of their time on my side. Tommy had already moved to my side as his main bedroom. Emma who had been staying mostly on Linda’s side, began hanging out with Samantha more and more. Samantha seemed to become Emma’s ‘cool’ older sister.
Samantha soon began spending every weekend and most weeknights at my place. The only disagreement that Linda made was when I insisted that Samantha come with me to our family dinner, a second time. Linda was courteous, but everyone could tell she did not want this to become a regular thing.
The next day Linda confronted me as I was leaving for work. “Jim, I appreciate that you are socializing, but I would like for you not to bring your girlfriend over during our dinner time. That is our time to be a family with the kids.”
“That’s fine. In the future, I won’t be coming to dinner when Samantha is over. But I will also have an open invitation to the kids to eat with me and Samantha, if they choose to.”
“That’s not fair Jim. That is the only time we can be together as a family.”
“So, were doing the ‘fair’ thing again Linda? All right to be fair, Samantha is becoming a large part of my life and I want her to be included more. Samantha and the kids get along great. I don’t think excluding Samantha from our family dinners is fair to her, fair to me, or fair to the kids. If you want to exclude her, you’re going to be excluding me as well.”
“But Jim…”
“Linda, your ‘fair’ has always been you getting your way, screw how I feel. I bet you thought you were being ‘fair’ when you snuck out that back door to go fuck Marc LaValliere.”
Even though we were no longer living together, it was amazing to see how easily Linda thought she could still manipulate me. Linda thought she still had leverage over me beyond the kid’s welfare.
‘Linda, you threw ‘fair’ out the window that night. So, if you don’t like it, the ‘fair’ thing would be to start having all the dinners on my side and I’ll let you visit when we have them. Samantha is an excellent cook and loves to do it.”
Teary eyed, Linda said, “I’m sorry I brought it up. Samantha is more than welcome any time she wishes to come to dinner.”
After the pool and jacuzzi were completed, Tommy especially liked having Kim, Christie, and Suzan come over to hang out at the new pool. They flirted with Tommy shamelessly. I know they were having a friendly contest to see who could make him blush the brightest. They first started competing by wearing skimpier and skimpier bathing suits. In the end, Christie couldn’t really compete, because her big breasts wouldn’t allow anything too small, or they would fall out. But Christie won after she kissed Tommy in the pool, while pressing her large breasts against him. Tommy couldn’t get out of the pool for a good ten minutes, even with the water being so cold. Tommy definitely was the actual winner in their contest.
As a result, Tommy gained more confidence with girls and got a girlfriend at school. Once they met Tommy’s girlfriend, the girls stopped flirting with Tommy and treated his girlfriend like the luckiest girl in the world. Samantha has some great friends.
And no, I never let Linda come over to my side of the house. I did not want Linda complicating my relationship with Samantha.
But unfortunately, a few years later Samantha graduated, and we broke up. I could see it in Samantha’s face when we went together to Suzan’s wedding. I knew I was basically becoming her sugar daddy due to our age difference. It didn’t matter to me, but I could tell it mattered to Samantha. Don’t get me wrong, we got along wonderfully. We spent every weekend together and I had met most of her family. We went on many vacations together, sometimes with the kids. When she mentioned she was thinking of moving, I proposed to her. She told me how honored she was that I would ask her, but that she wanted to try the family thing. I told her I would love to start another family. She never said it, but I saw the conflict in her eyes. I was the perfect man for her, just not the perfect age.
Sadly, I felt like another woman took me for granted for being a great guy. As subtly as I could, I tried to make Samantha realize that her long list of standards were becoming a wall that no man could climb. Trust is the foundation of a healthy relationship. Finding someone who doesn’t just give lip service to it, is a hard thing to find. But like with Linda, I was a victim of my own success. I could tell that Samantha thought guys like me were a dime a dozen. I pointed out to Samantha that Linda thought the same thing and look where she is now. When Samantha replied, “I would never be that stupid,” our fate was sealed.
In the end, I told Samantha I understood, and if she changed her mind, I would always be there for her. Maybe we will meet again later in life when she feels the age difference is not so important. I don’t regret one moment I spent with Samantha. And at least she had the decency to have an honest discussion with me, instead of sneaking out the back door of a club.
As for Linda’s friends, my ex-friends, I would still occasionally run into them, and they would try to re-convince me that I should get back with Linda. After they vented their tripe, I would always end with, “Sounds very convincing. Now tell me how you feel when your spouse cheats on you, because from what I saw that night, not only do they feel cheating is acceptable, but they also encourage it. In fact, I don’t think it was an accident that we were in the club that Marc Lavilliere was known to frequent. I just happened to have the hottest wife.”
Karma being what it is, I heard months later that the girls decided to move their girls’ party to a new dance club that Marc Lavilliere frequented, without telling the husbands. One of Dave’s work friends mentioned to Dave that he had seen Dee at the club dancing with Marc Lavilliere. He even mentioned that Marc Lavilliere disappeared after about an hour, about the same time the table full of ladies left the club. Dave’s friend did not see Dee leaving with the group.
When confronted, all the wives denied even being there and there must have been a mistake. A few days later Dave’s friend sent a picture of himself with his girlfriend in the club together. In the background you could clearly see Marc Lavilliere talking to the wives at the table. The wives finally confessed, but they all said that no one left with Marc Lavilliere. Of course, their stories didn’t match, and the true story finally came out. But, not wanting to ‘out’ their friend the wives refused to say who was the one that left with Marc Lavilliere. Unfortunately for them all, when they all finally named Dee, it was too late for each of them. Too many lies and the trust was broken.
From what I was told, when the husbands all met to compare the wives’ stories, Dave’s final comment summed it up. “How long have they been covering for each other. They all too easily lied for each other right to our faces. This is not their first girls’ night out. How do we know this wasn’t just Dee’s turn to have some fun with Marc Lavilliere or someone else for that matter.”
Each husband had seen the look on their wives face when Marc Lavilliere had approached our table that night. All had heard their wives condoning Linda’s behavior and how lucky she was to get this chance. After the first girl’s night out that Linda attended, all the guys knew their wives were horny afterwards, because Linda had recounted her sex with Marc Lavilliere.
At first all the husbands were happy to get some extra excitement in the bedroom. But a couple of months later, one of the husbands joked to another how much he hated sleeping on silk sheets. After comparing notes, both husbands realized that the silk sheets were new and both sets were white. A conversation with the other husbands discovered 4 beds with new white silk sheets. The final nail, all 4 wives’ favorite new sexual position had become cowgirl with their eyes closed, while their husbands thrust up into them. Each wife had been very explicit that they had to fuck them from below. The husbands were also told to shut up until their wives finished.
At first, the husband’s realized they were just dildo substitutes while their wives fantasized about Marc Lavilliere, which was bad enough. But after Dee’s night with Marc Lavilliere, the husbands worried their wives were reliving their own nights with Marc Lavilliere. All four couples divorced within a year.
I found all this out because Dave was the first one divorced and he apologized to me after recounting what had led up to his divorce. Later each husband personally apologized to me for their part during that night with Linda. Each basically said, ‘If I had stood up for you that night, maybe I would have sent a clearer message to my own wife, and we would still be married.’
As for Marc Lavilliere, his picking up married women finally pissed off the wrong person. No one knows who did it, but when Marc Lavilliere came out the back of a club with his latest conquest, someone in a ski mask tasered Marc. Before Marc could recover the guy pulled out a hammer and hammered Marc’s privates. While Marc was screaming holding his crotch, the guy literally pulverized both of Marc’s kneecaps. Even though they had video, no one was ever prosecuted. There were too many husbands who had reason and opportunity. Marc Laville lost the ability to walk and probably the ability to get an erection, or even piss normally.
As for Linda. We last spoke about ‘us’ on the day Emma moved out. We were already divorced, and I had already rented out my side of the house and moved into a condo in the marina. While still standing in the driveway, Linda asked if she could talk to me after Emma pulled out of the driveway to head off to college.
“Jim, I still love you. I made a horrible mistake and I have regretted it every day since then. I have not even dated or even looked at another man since then. I know you have not been serious with anyone since Samantha, and I would love for you to move back in with me. Just to see how it goes?”
Linda then pulled a necklace from around her neck and held it out to me. Hanging from the end of it was my wedding ring. The ring I had given to Dee the night Linda had abandoned me. Linda looked at me with hope in her eyes.
“You still don’t get what went wrong do you Linda. That night, you thought you could test my love for you, when really it was a test of your love for me.”
“But I really do love you.”
“No, you love what we once had. You loved that you had the perfect marriage, the perfect husband, the perfect kids. You loved that I didn’t treat you like a possession, a trophy wife, that we shared important decisions. You loved that our love making, though less often, was as intense as when we were first dating. You loved that I always cared how you felt ahead of everyone else. You loved that I gave you financial security to do what you wanted. But more than anything else, you loved that I trusted you without doubt. You love me more now than you did, because you know you will never find anyone else that will make you as happy. No one will be as in love with you as I once was.”
Linda did not move. She still held the necklace out, but her hand had gone white as she held onto it with a desperate grip.
“You didn’t appreciate what you had and now it is gone. I can’t be there for you anymore. I will never put you in a position to do what you did to me again. I always thought it was ‘us’ against the world. But you killed ‘us’ when you snuck out to be with Marc Lavilliere.”
Linda began crying, “How many times do I have to say I’m sorry I went with Marc LaVilliere.”
“It has never been about Marc LaValliere, Linda. You thought you got lucky that night when Marc LaValliere asked to take you home, but I got lucky too. When I was at my lowest and your friends were trying to convince me, I was a fool for getting upset, I realized you showed me that we were indeed a wonderful couple. But not because of you, but because of me. You had left because my love was so strong, not yours. My love would never have even considered doing what you did. My love was the music that we danced too, that made ‘us’ so special.”
“As I sat at that damn table, being angry, thinking these things, I saw Samantha across the room looking sad for me. When she saw me looking at her, she smiled. Her wonderful smile reminded me that I was still a man, and I still had a chance at being happy with someone. That I could put my love and commitment into a new ‘us’, a different ‘us’. That night, you opened my eyes and set me free.”
With that, I climbed into my convertible and drove away with a huge smile on my face. I was eager to get home. Samantha had quit her out of town job and moved in with me last week. Since then, she was doing a superb job convincing me she needed me back in her life. Trust is a wonderful thing.