Frank and Jean

"I don't see how."

"Well I'm going to let it be your choice, but it is either reduce household expenses or give up your car. The payment, plates and insurance are about the same as a third of the household budget. You decide what you want to do."

"That's not fair. I need my car."

"Then trim the budget. The bottom line is that we have a third less coming in that we used to have and we have to deal with it."

"I don't se...."

"God damn it Jean! It has to be done. Get used to the fact we will not be living high on the hog anymore. Just fucking do it and stop arguing about it and pray that things don't get worse. There is still a chance the company could fold and then we would really be in deep shit."

I left her sitting there and went down in the basement to work on a few things. I went back upstairs an hour later and asked what was for dinner.

"I was hoping that we could go out tonight."

"Jesus Christ woman! Are you fucking brain dead? I just finished telling you that we are in financial trouble and need to trim the budget. Get the words in your head Jean. Budget, budget, budget!"

She ran out of the room crying and I smiled and got busy fixing dinner. When it was ready I called the kids in from playing and as we ate we talked about their day at school. They asked where their mother was and I told them that mommy wasn't feeling well.

"Something didn't agree with her so she is in the bedroom resting."

After dinner I played with them until their bedtime and then I headed for the bedroom. Jean was awake when I came into the room and she looked up at me and said:

"You didn't need to talk to me that way."

"Yes I did. That go out for dinner garbage showed that you are not taking it seriously when I say we have less money coming in now and we have to adjust accordingly and that brings us back to the household budget or your car. Make your choice by Sunday night and let me know or Monday I'll make the choice."

I slid under the covers, rolled over with my back to her and fell asleep with a smile on my face. There was no doubt in my mind she would chose budget over car, but I had a small hope that she wouldn't say anything to me by Sunday night and Monday I would get rid of her car.

She was quiet at breakfast so the table talk was between me and the kids. I asked them what they wanted to do that day and when they didn't say anything I said:

"How about we go to the park?"

Jean, thinking by 'park' that I meant amusement park spoke up and said:

"I thought we had to budget?"

That gave me an opening to take another shot at her.

"The park is free Jean. You don't have to pay to use the swings, slide or the jungle gym."

I spent half a day at the park with the kids and then we went home and I did some yard work until dinner time. Dinner was a quiet affair. The kids were worn out and Jean apparently had nothing to say. After dinner I watched some TV until I felt ready for bed. Jean was already there and asleep or faking it which suited me just fine.

Sunday morning I said I needed to go into the office and go over the books to see if there wasn't some way to cut our costs and stay competitive. An hour later I was buried in Kathy and she was crying out for me to do her harder and I sure tried.

That night Jean gave me the answer that I was expecting. She would keep her car and work at trimming the budget. She was cool toward me and I guessed she wasn't over my calling her brain dead and I was okay with that. As long as she was cool toward me she wouldn't be trying to have sex and I wouldn't have to make excuses as to why I couldn't or didn't want to.

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

Monday morning I stopped at the bank and opened a new account in my name only. We had direct deposit at work for our paychecks and I moved the check deposit from our joint account to my new account and then made arrangements for an automatic transfer of two thirds of my check deposit to the joint account I held with Jean.

That afternoon Kathy and I attended a meeting at the Hilton with representatives from Matheson Manufacturing and after the meeting we went upstairs and spent a very pleasant hour before going back to work. Just before quitting time I got a call from Alan.

"I've got something that you need to hear right away. Can you stop by on the way home?"

"I'm on my way. See you in ten."

When I got to his shop he took me into his office and told me to have a seat.

"What I have is all from her purse device. She visited him Saturday and yesterday, but their conversations were mostly him pushing her to get money and her telling him she couldn't because of your pay cut and you putting her on a budget. She saw him again today and the conversation moved onto a different plane. You aren't going to believe this."

He pushed some buttons on his desk and from the speakers on the credenza behind him I heard:

"We have another option. How much life insurance does he have?"

"About a million. He has a five hundred thousand dollar policy that he pays into and another five hundred thousand dollar policy from work."

"Any of them double indemnity?"

"Both of them I think."

"So an accidental death would get you two million?"

"About that I'd guess."

"So we need for him to have a fatal accident."

"How do we do that?"

"We will have to give it some thought, but I'm sure with both of us thinking on it we can come up with something."

"I wouldn't even know where to begin."

"Put your mind to it; something will occur to you. Maybe nothing workable, but maybe your idea will trigger something in my mind or maybe something you think of will work with something I think of."

Alan switched it off and said, "I'll give you a copy so you can listen to the entire conversation later, but I felt that you needed to hear that part right away."

I sat there silent for a bit and then said, "This changes things. The Russians used to have something the KGB called 'wet work' and right now I would dearly love to know someone who could do that kind of stuff."

Alan looked at me for several seconds and then he picked up a pen and wrote something on a pad of paper and slid it across the desk to me. I read it and looked up at him in amazement and he stared back at me with no expression on his face. The pad said:

"Twenty thousand each."

I reached over and picked up the pen and scratched out the each and wrote "Andy." Then I slid the pad back to him and said "Go." He smiled and said, "Consider it done."

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

It was hard for me to act normal around Jean that night when I got home. Dinner was mostly me and the kids talking about their day. After dinner I helped them with their homework and then we watched their favorite DVD – The Lion King – and when it was over it was their bedtime. Jean was in bed waiting for me on top of the covers and she was naked except for a pair of super sexy high heels. There was a time when the sight would have had me tearing off my clothes and ravishing her, but I just looked at her, slowly undressed, got in bed and slid under the covers. I rolled onto my side with my back to her and closed my eyes. After about five minutes she got off the bed and a couple of minutes later she got back in bed, got under the covers and we fell asleep.

I didn't sleep all that well and I got up early. I was dressed and gone before Jean woke up. I had breakfast at the IHOP and then headed into the office. Around ten I called Pat and asked her to meet me for lunch. Over taco salads I told her that I was going to tell Jean that I knew about her and Andy.

"I know you don't care about her anymore, but I thought I should let you know."

"You're right; I don't care, but what about you trying to keep your kids?"

"I think I can keep them. Jean likes her lifestyle too much to walk away from it especially since Andy isn't going to be able to do much for her. She can stay and be the mommy, but it will mean separate bedrooms and pretending to be a loyal and loving wife in public. I think she will go along with it. I have a club I can use on her if she doesn't."

"Oh? What is that?"

"All the video and audio tapes I have of her and Andy. She plays my game or the world will get to see what kind of a whore she really is. How is your divorce coming?"

"He isn't fighting it so it should be final in about three months."

I wished her well and went back to work. I called Jean and told her that I had to work late and not to hold dinner for me and after work I took Kathy out to dinner and we ended up at her place for dessert. I got home at midnight and Jean was in bed asleep. Once again I was up and out of the house before Jean woke up. When I got home that night Jean was red eyed from crying and I found out why the next morning when Alan called me.

"Just wanted to let you know that I heard that your wife's friend's husband died yesterday afternoon. The story I got was that someone, one of the nurses probably, didn't clear the air out of a needle when they changed one of his IV bottles. An air bubble reached his heart and it just stopped beating. Some people have all the bad luck. You might want to let your wife know so she can call her friend and offer support."

"I'll do that. Thanks for letting me know."

When I got home that night Jean was not in a good mood at all. I was a half an hour later getting home than usual and when I walked in she said:

"Would it have killed you to call me and let me know that you'd be late?"

The tone of her voice was just what I needed to set up what I was going to do.

"Don't get snappish with me! I've about had it with you. After the kids go to bed you and I are going to sit down and have a little talk and get a few things straight."

I walked away from her to wash up for dinner and left her standing there with a stunned look on her face.

Ten minutes after putting the kids to bed I told her to meet me in the den. She was sitting on the leather couch when I walked in and I took the chair at the desk.

"First off, I know why you and Pat aren't speaking and I know who Andy was fucking around on her with."

I saw surprise and then anger wash over her face and I was pretty sure I read it right.

"Pat didn't snitch you out. She said she wouldn't tell me if you talked Andy into not fighting the divorce, She didn't tell me; I told her" and as I said that I hit the play button on the VCR and Jean got her first look at the material I had been gathering. I let her watch a minutes worth and then I fast forwarded to the place where they talked about Pat's trust fund.

"It was when I saw this that I told Pat about you and Andy and showed her this footage. Why I have been sitting on this and doing nothing about it is none of your business. All that matters is that I have now decided to act. You have three options and only three.

The first is that you pack and leave and I'll go for a divorce with you getting nothing and me getting custody of the kids.

"The second is that you can stay here and be a mother to the kids and a housekeeper for me. You will move all your things into the guest bedroom. As far as friends and family are concerned we will continue to appear as a loving couple, but there will be no, and I repeat – no – sexual contact between us.

"The third option is that you can say "Fuck you Frank; I'm taking the kids and I'll fight to get everything out of you that I can." If you go that route I'll take this little snippet to the police" and I hit the play button again and she got to listen to herself discussing my upcoming accidental death with her lover.

"That is called 'conspiracy to commit murder' and in this state it will get you up to twenty-five years in prison. While you are locked up I will divorce you, get custody of the kids and they will be grown up and out on their own before you ever see them again. Those are your choices and I want your answer before I leave for work in the morning. One last thing. Tomorrow you get your ass down to the hospital and tell Andy when he is released he had best catch the first plane, train or bus out of town because I'll be coming after him. If you care for him as much as it seems it may help you decide on either option one or two because option three puts him in the jail cell next to you."

"I can't."

"Can't what?"

"Tell him. He died in the hospital."

"When?"

"Sometime late yesterday afternoon."

That's too damned bad. I was looking forward to putting him back in the hospital when he got out. You know what upset me the most? Not you fucking Andy, although that did really piss me off, but what really was the pits for me was that when he proposed my death you didn't say "We can't do that" or "I won't be a party to anything like that." You just went along with it. Get out of here and move into the guest room and don't forget I want an answer by the time I leave for work in the morning."

She got up and left and I ejected the CD from the player and put it in my briefcase which I took upstairs and into the bedroom with me. I wrestled the dresser over to block the door so that I wouldn't get a visit in the middle of the night while I was sleeping and then I went to bed and slept well.

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

In the morning I found Jean sitting red eyed in the kitchen. I poured myself a cup of coffee and then said:

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What's your answer?"

"You already know and don't pretend that you don't. I can't give up my kids and I don't want to go to jail."

"Okay. We will go over the details when I get home tonight. Don't hold dinner because I'll be working late. One thing to keep in mind. It should be obvious to you that I having you watched. The first time there is any indication, however slight, that you are planning on taking the kids and running I will drop the hammer on you. Understood?"

"Yes."

I had a great day at work and of course my 'working late' was a euphemism for spending time in Kathy's apartment. I got home around nine and found Jean watching TV. I just looked at her and said "kitchen" and walked into the den and put my briefcase down on my desk. When I got to the kitchen Jean was sitting at the table. I sat down opposite her and said:

"The rules are simple. You will continue to be the mother that you have always been. You will maintain the house as you always have and you will act normal where I am concerned when the children are around. When we are out in public or with friends and family you will play the part of an attentive and loving wife. The excuse for our separate bedrooms will be that I snore so loud that you can't sleep.

"As far as you having a sex life is concerned I'll leave that up to you, but you will never bring another man into this house. Whatever you do you will make sure that it does not become public and cause me humiliation. That shouldn't be a problem for you since you have had plenty of practice. You managed to keep me and Pat in the dark for over six years. You follow these rules and nothing will change for you. You will still have your credit cards, access to the checking account and you will still have your car. The only change in fact is that you will no longer have a loving husband, but that shouldn't matter because you didn't want him anyway. Any questions?"

"Just one. How long?"

"Until the kids are eighteen or set out on their own."

"What then?"

"Who knows? That is ten years away and a lot of things can change by then. You can also choose to take option one any time you decide you want to. I will even soften it some. I give you five grand for every year you stick it out and if you make it for at least five years I'll throw in a new car for you to drive away in."

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

That was seven years ago and things have worked out well. To all observers Jean is a devoted wife and mother. She has had a series of boyfriends, but she has kept them all under the radar and I doubt that any of our friends and family know about it. Except for my parents of course. I told them all about her affair with Andy and I've told them about my current relationship with her, but I've never told them the story about how I got her to agree to the relationship. Her current boyfriend is serious enough about her to put a private detective on me, but how serious she is about him is something that I don't know and I'm not about to ask.

Dad has announced that he is going to step down next year and turn the company over to me. When that happens I might make some changes. Maybe cut Jean loose and give her ample visitation. Another option, and one I'm leaning to, is that there is a house on five acres that has a guest cottage next to the four car garage. I could buy it, get a quiet divorce from Jean and let her live in the cottage so she would be close to the kids. I think Kathy might like that. She hasn't said anything, but I know she would like a more permanent relationship and for that matter so would I.

Oh well, in a year we will see.