Clueless Henry

"I chuckled and said, "That's the feeling I had when I saw you in my attorney's office."

"That's right! That is where I saw you."

"But when I saw you there I had the feeling that I had seen you somewhere before. Do you live in this area?"

"The twelve hundred block of Wilcox."

"That's just six blocks from me. I probably saw you out walking or in one of the local stores. If I'm not hitting on a sore subject what did you need legal help with?"

"Getting rid of an abusive husband. You?"

"Getting rid of a wayward wife."

"Making any progress?"

"Should be final in another sixty days."

"That quick?"

"She isn't fighting it."

"Wish I could say the same."

"Not going smooth I take it?"

"Jules isn't fighting the divorce itself, but he has spent months fighting over every stick of furniture, every nickel and dime and who gets what photos out of the photo albums. He is even fighting over who gets the fish in the aquarium."

"Not meaning to get too personal here, but why don't you just say to hell with it and let him have what he wants? For one thing, if you keep it around after him making such a fuss over it it will only remind you of him. The other thing is that he is probably just fighting over the stuff to piss you off. Take that away from him. Or you could give him part of what he wants."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You are fighting over the coffee table? Cut it in half with a chain saw and give him his half. Photos in the album? Cut everything you don't want him to have out of the pictures and then give him the albums. I don't know much about aquariums, but I can't see where you could come up with any great degree of affection for the fish in it. Unplug it and let it sit for a couple of days and then tell him to come and get it or better yet have it delivered to him."

"I don't know that I can be that mean and nasty."

"It isn't mean or nasty. All you would be doing is giving him back what he is giving you. All he is doing is deliberately trying to piss you off. He is having fun making you suffer. Do you honestly think he gives a rat's ass about an easy chair or a fish? Why waste your energy playing his game? You can buy a new coffee table and one without his memory attached to it. You can copy the photo albums before you give them to him and you can replace the goldfish for a buck apiece. The object of the divorce is to get rid of him. Letting him stay around and continuously fight over stuff that doesn't mean squat in the long run just doesn't make any sense."

"You would think that my lawyer should have told me that."

"Why would he? He became a lawyer because as a lawyer he could make good money. He might be working for you to get you your divorce, but the longer it drags out the higher his bill. Why would he care if you and hubby want to fight over furniture and drag out the process?"

"I guess I should have had a flat tire sooner."

"I have lots more good ideas if you would like to talk about them over dinner tonight."

It was a shot in the dark and I had no expectation of success, but she surprised me and said hat she would like that very much. When I picked her up at seven I was again surprised. When she had said the twelve hundred block of Wilcox it hadn't registered on me, but that was a pretty exclusive neighborhood. The house I walked up to had to be in the million five range and I wondered why she hadn't mentioned the house in the squabbles she was having with her ex.

We ate at Alfredo's and over veal scaloppini and Chianti I told her my story and got hers. Hers was simple. Her husband got violent when he drank and more often than not she ended up his punching bag. He was always guilt ridden and apologetic the next day and swore that it would never happen again if she would forgive him, but of course it did until she had finally had enough.

She had called the cops several times on him so his abuse was on record when the final time came. He beat on her, passed out and she called the cops and he woke up in jail. She refused to bail him out and when he was released he was served with divorce papers and a restraining order which he promptly violated. He came to the house drunk, hit her several times and then passed out again. She took a cast iron frying pan and beat the fuck out of him with it and he woke up in the hospital. When he was released he was given ninety days for contempt of court for violating the restraining order. He was warned when he was released that the next time it would be six months and a third time would get him a year. He decided that he didn't like jail and settled for harassing her over furniture.

After dinner I suggested going next door to the Black Mushroom for drinks and a dance or two and she said okay. I got her home about one in the morning and walked her to her door. I told her that I had enjoyed myself and that I would like to do it again and then she asked:

"Can you do me a favor and kiss me?"

"I'd love to, but why is that doing you a favor?"

"Don't look, but just down the street is a red and white Ford F-150. I want the asshole to see you with my tongue halfway down your throat."

"Shouldn't you be inside calling the cops?"

"I can't. The restraining order says five hundred feet and where he is sitting is five hundred and twenty-five feet. I know because I've measured it."

"What if he gets pissed and says to hell with the restraining order?"

She opened her purse and showed me the Llama .380 she had in it and said:

"I'd almost welcome it if he did."

I took her in my arms and kissed her. It was a long one and she held nothing back. When we broke the kiss she said, "Call me" and she went inside.

I made it a point to avoid looking at the pick up truck when I pulled out and left. I wasn't at all surprised when the truck pulled away from the curb and followed me to my place. He didn't slow down as he drove by but I would bet that he memorized my address. It would be interesting to see what he would do with it.

I dated Tammi three times over the next two weeks and I learned a little more about her. She owned her home outright and it was hers before she married Jules so he had no claim on it. She was what she called a 'trust fund baby' in that her parents and grandparents had been very wealthy and they had set up several trust funds for her that she came into when she turned twenty-one. I also found out that she worked as an unpaid volunteer for several of the charities in town.

Each date ended with one of her hot kisses and on two of the three dates the F-150 followed me home. I was on the edge of sticking my nose into Tammi's business and calling the police on her ex for stalking along with giving them notice that if they didn't do something about it I would when suddenly it didn't matter any more.

I had a date with Tammi on Wednesday and we did the kiss thing for the asshole in the F-150 and then I left, but this time he didn't follow me. I didn't think anything of it figuring that by then he knew who I was and where I lived. I got a phone call from Tammi at work at nine-thirty. She wanted to know if I could come down to the police station and pick her up and give her a ride home. I asked what was up and she told me that she would tell me when I got there.

It turned out that there would be no more arguments over furniture or fish. Ten minutes after I had left her place her about to be ex kicked in her front door and three steps into the house Tammi had put six .380 holes in his chest. The EMTs who hauled him away said he smelled like the inside of a whiskey barrel. She had called her attorney while waiting for the police to respond to her call and she had spent most of the night at the station going over her story with the detectives. When it was over she was asked not to leave town and told that she might still have to talk to someone from the district attorney's office. Her attorney told her that she had nothing to worry about and had offered to give her a lift home, but she decided that she would rather call me.

As we pulled away from the station house she asked me to take her to a motel.

"I can't face the house right now. There is blood that needs to be cleaned up and right now I just can't deal with it."

"No motel. I'll take you to my place. I don't think you need to be alone for a bit."

She didn't protest so I took her to my place, fed her some breakfast and showed her to the master bedroom. I got her a nightgown that I had overlooked when I had packed Claudine's stuff, showed her where things were and then told her:

"Get some rest and if you need anything just give a shout."

She turned to me and said, "I do need something. I need to be held."

I kicked off my shoes and lay down on the bed with her and held her until she fell asleep. I eased my way away from her, went to the phone and called my secretary and told her that I wouldn't be back that day and then I stripped down to my boxers and got back in bed and cuddled up to Tammi.

I woke up to a very pleasant sensation and I found that Tammi had my cock out of my boxers and was holding it in one hand while licking it. I moved and she looked up at me.

"We would have reached this point sooner or later, but I need it now."

She had already taken off the nightgown and she moved over me. She took me in her right hand, lined me up, but then stopped and said:

"Last chance to say no."

I grabbed her hips and pulled her down on me and then I took my hands off of her and let her go. She rode herself to two orgasms and then I put my arms around her, rolled her onto her back and gave her a third orgasm on the way to getting mine.

When it was over she said, "I'm sorry. You must think I'm a slut, but it has been six months for me and when I woke up you had morning wood or maybe I should call if afternoon wood and I just couldn't help myself."

I kissed her forehead and said, "I don't think you are a slut. I needed it just as bad as you did, but I had intended to wait until my divorce was final. I'm a little old fashioned about some things and I did make some vows when I married and I'd thought I should keep them until I was legally released from them."

"Oh God Henry; I'm so sorry. I didn't know."

"No harm done sweetie. You did say that we would get to this point sooner or later and while I wasn't all that sure that it would happen I certainly wanted it to."

We showered together and that led us back to bed which meant another shower only that time I told her to go by herself or we would never get out of the bedroom. She smiled at me and said:

"That's a bad thing?"

While showered I fixed us something to eat. We ate and then I showered. After dressing I got the Yellow Pages and went looking. Believe it or not there are companies that clean up crime scenes and I found one that could have a crew at Tammi's the next morning. We set a time to meet them and then I asked Tammi how she wanted to kill time until the next day. She told me that she needed to call her attorney and let him know of her new circumstances. She called him and he told her to come down to his office and sign some papers. I drove her over to her place and dropped her off to get her car and told her that I would have dinner ready at seven. She kissed me and then said:

"I have a favor to ask."

"Ask it."

"I don't want to go into the house, but I need a change of clothes and some other things. Would you please go in there and get them for me?"

I told her that I would and she gave me a list and told me where to find them, kissed me again and drove off to her appointment. When I got to the front door I saw that the door jamb was splintered where he had kicked the door open and I also saw that the screen door had three holes in it. The Llama .380 had a seven shot clip and if Tammi had put six into her ex's chest a couple of them must have gone through him. I never thought that a cartridge that small could have that much power.

I wasn't sure about the legalities of stepping over the crime scene tape, but Tammi did need some of her things so I opened the door and went inside and immediately saw the large red stain on the floor. I worked my way around it, found the suitcases where Tammi said they would be. I found the items that she wanted and then I got out. When she got to my place I told her to cal the detective in charge of her case and find out about the crime scene tape so we could let the clean up crew know if they could get in the house the next morning or should we reschedule. She did and was told that the tape would be removed by morning.

After dinner we sat in front of the fireplace, sipped wine and talked until bedtime. I offered her the spare bedroom and she told me that she would rather have a warm body near. We undressed and she looked at me with a questioning look on her face and I knew what it meant.

"I'm taking my cues from you Tammi. You get to set the scene."

She smiled and said, "In that case there really isn't any doubt, is there?"

It was a very exhausting night.

In the morning I told her to sleep in and I went over to her place and let the cleaning crew in. I was looking at the door jamb trying to figure out what I would need to fix it when the clean up crew supervisor came up to me and told me that fixing the door and replacing the screen in the screen door were part of what they did. I gave him my cell number and told him to give me a call when they were done and he told me that they would be out of there by six that evening, but that it would be best to give the carpet at least twenty-four hours before walking on it.

++++++++++++++++++++

The next day Tammi's home was ready for her to go back to, but even so she spent two out of every three nights with me at my place until I told her the closing was upon me and that I was going to have to start looking for an apartment.

"Nonsense. I have plenty of room and we are spending most of our time together anyway so it just makes sense for you to move in with me."

She had a point and so I moved in with her. I dreaded going to the closing on the house. Claudine would be there since the house was in both of our names and her signature would be needed on the papers. She had called me at least once a week since she'd moved out asking me to reconsider and to cancel the divorce. I kept saying no and she kept telling me that she loved me and that we could make it if only I would give her a chance. It was hard on me because I know that she did love me and I did miss her at times, but there just was not any way that we could be together and make it work. The night of the Christmas party we probably could have worked through, but not the rest of it. Love her, miss her and yes, even want her, but there was no way I could ever forgive or forget what she had done.

She was there and I could see that she had taken the time to make sure that she would be heart-stoppingly beautiful for the meeting. She was waiting for me outside the room where the closing would take place. She smiled at me and said:

"We could leave and skip the closing Henry. I could be moved back in by tomorrow."

I could have smiled, shrugged and walk by her and into the room without a word, but I did feel the need to hurt the woman who had ripped out my heart and so I said:

"Sure Claudine, and then I could spend all my time trying to catch you with whoever you found to take Mike's place. Doesn't sound much like the kind of life I want to lead so thanks, but no thanks. I think I'll pass on your idea" and I walked by her and into the room.

The signing went off okay and we each left with a check for forty-three thousand dollars. She had been fired along with Mike and she had sued the company claiming sexual harassment. She claimed that Mike blackmailed her by telling her that if she didn't give in to him he would fire me and that the company knew what Mike was doing with her and did nothing to stop it. The company settled with her for an undisclosed sum. She left town the day after the closing and hasn't been heard from since.

++++++++++++++++++++++

The day my divorce was final Tammi and I went out to celebrate. We had dinner and then stopped at The Cave for some drinks and dancing. When we got home she fucked me into exhaustion and we feel asleep wrapped around each other. In the morning Tammi asked me what I planned to do now that I was single again.

"I'll enjoy the few days of freedom that I have until I can change my status back to married."

"A few days of freedom?"

"Well let's see. We have to have the blood test results before we can get the license and then there is a three day waiting period after we get the license so I'm guessing that I will be a free man for maybe eight to ten days. Oh wait! I forgot part of it. Will you marry me? I will of course sign a pre-nup."

Her face lost its smile and she said, "We have a wonderful relationship and I really very happy with things the way they are."

"I take it that's a no?"

"A no to marriage Henry; not a no to what we have going for us now."

"I don't understand Tammi; if what we have is fine what is wrong with making it legal?"

"Marriage changes things Henry and not always for the good."

"Is this about Jules?"

"He was everything a girl could want Henry. The nine months we were together before getting married were perfect. The first two years after we were married were marvelous and then Jules changed and the last three were an absolute hell. What we have is working Henry so lets leave it be."

She had said no so I dropped it, but just as she was afraid that marriage would change things her "no" also changed things. I liked to think that I was a pretty level headed guy and while a part of my mind understood what Tammi was saying I am human with all of the inherent flaws that humans have. The part of my mind that understood where Tammi was coming from was a very small part of my mind. Much larger parts saw thing differently. One part saw her no as rejection of me personally. Another part saw me lumped together with Jules and Jules had become an asshole after she married him so I would become an asshole too. Another piece saw her rejection of me as her keeping my gold digging hands off of the money in her trust fund and still another saw the rejection as Tammi seeing flaws in me that she did not like.

+++++++++++++++++++++

Slowly our relationship began to change and from where I stood I could only see it going downhill. I decided that before I let things get to the point where we wouldn't even be friends I'd make a change.

Friday over dinner I told Tammi that I was going to start looking for an apartment the next day.

"There is no need for that Henry. Things are fine"

"No they aren't Tammi. Maybe you haven't seen it yet, but I have"

I told her exactly what I had been thinking and that the time for me to get out would be while we were still friends.

"I don't want you to leave Henry. I know you will never be like Jules and I know you aren't after me for my money. I just don't want to get married. We can live happily together for the rest of our lives Henry and marriage won't make it any better than it is right now."

"Maybe not Tammi, but in the back of my mind is the thought that you won't marry me because there is something wrong with me; something that you don't like and can't or won't bring yourself to mention. I will lie there and fester and eat at me and cause God only knows what and like I just said, I would rather end things while we can still stay friends."

She stared at me for almost a minute and then said, "You are forcing me to do something that I had hoped that I would never have to do. Show you the reason why I can't marry you. Go out to the family room and sit down on the couch and I'll be there in a minute."

"What? Why? I mean why should you need to show me anything."