Live from the Game Ch. 02

I needed some leverage on Crystal, and boom, there it was, because she was as much of a cheating slut as apparently my wife was. It made me want to run home, get my kids and just move to Alaska, where the nearest neighbor was fifty miles away.

I just couldn't really get my head around the whole situation. Was anyone I knew not screwing around?

I adjusted the phone and put it back into camera mode, and at that exact moment, the door on the motel room opened. I was out of the car like a flash, and had them framed on the doorway. He'd lost his jacket and tie, and the back of his shirt was still out the back of his pants.

She was buttoning the last of the buttons on her blouse, and then they gave each other a big full on kiss. And I was getting it all on video.

I've never really understood why people who are cheating stand in doorways and kiss each other. Well, I've never really understood the whole cheating thing at all, but this particular behavior blows my mind. Lets announced it to everyone! Look, I'm kissing this person at a motel in the middle of the afternoon. And I'm tucking my clothes in as I do it. I wonder what we've been doing! And we probably aren't married to each other either! Otherwise, why would we be at a motel?

It just seems really dumb and stupid. But then here I was being basically a peeping tom, so what do I know?

Alvin grabbed his jacket and tie from inside the door and walked to his car, got in and took off. Crystal got in her car and pulled out her phone and started talking and I saw my chance. Strike while the iron is hot, element of surprise. To be honest, I was just tired, frustrated, pissed off and I wanted answers. Now.

So I walked out, opened the passenger door of her car and just climbed in, looking over at her and smiling.

She looked at me, with a very false smile and said to the phone call, "I'll call you back. Something came up," and disconnected the call.

"Hello Ryan. What a surprise! What can I do for you?" she said, politely, while quite obviously wishing I was anywhere else. The dread in her eyes was evident, but she was obviously going to try bluffing it out.

"Oh, I don't think you can do much for me right now Crystal. You are probably tired. Quite a work out eh?" I said, nodding to the motel room door.

She went red and said, "I'm sure I don't know what you mean. I was meeting a client. He has meetings in the area and he stays here when he does."

"Yeah, I'll bet he does. I wonder why though Crystal. Alvin only lives in Rolling Meadows, and we are less than ten miles away from there. Why do you think he's staying in a motel? And why did he leave when your 'meeting' was done?"

Crystal opened her mouth and closed it again, eyes darting around as she considered what to say.

"Tell you what, there's a bar down here somewhere. Lets drive and go get a drink. I'm sure you need one to settle your nerves and besides, I'm sure you are dehydrated."

She continued to just look at me undecided, until I put on the seat belt and barked, "Drive!" and she jumped.

She hastily put the car in drive and we drove off the Under The Sea Saloon. The bar was every bit as disgusting as it sounds, the kind of place where your shoes stick to the floor. But it had no windows, lots of high backed booths and low lighting -- it was perfect for the interrogation I needed to perform.

We parked, went inside and I ordered myself a club soda and her a brandy. That was her tipple I remembered. But not top shelf. She didn't deserve that.

We sat down and I immediately got my phone out, fiddled with it and then presented it to her.

"Before we even get going, I want to show you this. I've already copied it to myself, and at the touch of a button, Charlie gets this."

She watched aghast as she exited the hotel room, kissing Alvin hard and buttoning up her clothes.

"While we are on the subject, I'm pretty sure Charlie would like to know about that secret account you have as well. I'll bet he doesn't right now, does he?"

That was a total shot in the dark, but worth trying. The way her face tightened up and her hands grasped the glass with the brandy in it told me I'd hit home.

"How did you know about that? What do you want?" Crystal hissed at me.

"You know what I want," I said. I didn't really think about how it sounded, until she recoiled from me.

"I will not sleep with you. I'm not making this worse."

I couldn't believe it. I was so wrapped up in my own woes I'd not considered the situation or how she'd take that comment. I should have known better.

"Crystal," I said, in measured tones, "I do not want to fuck you. I wouldn't put my cock or anyone else's anywhere near your gaping cunt right now. God knows, it's probably got cum seeping out of it as we speak. Why the fuck would you imagine I would?"

Crystal was taken aback at the venom in my delivery. In fact I was too. The anger I had inside over Deanna was coming out and Crystal just happened to be in the cross hairs right now.

Give her her due though. She clenched her teeth, then said, "I'm not the one trying to blackmail you."

Touche. I rolled my eyebrows at her to acknowledge her point.

"Well, I'm not the one cheating. And that's what I need to talk about."

"Look, it doesn't mean anything. You can't tell Charlie. He wouldn't understand."

"No, I'll bet he wouldn't."

"It's just sex. It's just a sweetner on the deal. To...consummate it, so to speak. The money is for our retirement. We are retiring to Florida. Eventually. I want to be sure we have what we want."

"I really don't need your justifications, Crystal. I don't care. You've made your bed, you lie in it, sweaty and stained as it - and you - are. I'm not interested in your sordid little affairs. Your revolting little reasoning that allows you to go home to a man who loves you and works his ass off for you, after you've spent the afternoon with another man's cock in you is not my business."

"Then what do you want?" she asked, defiantly. "Money?"

I scrunched up my face in distaste. "Like I said, you know what I want. I want to know about Jordan Lawler."

Crystal stared at me and then murmured, "Oh shit." She took a gulp of the brandy and avoided my eyes.

"Yes, Crystal. You are about to throw Deanna under the bus, or your marriage will be over before that drink is done. I shouldn't imagine your partners at Royal Realty will be that thrilled with you, either."

"Oh, I think some of them would be proud," she said, quietly.

"Really? Think the devout Mormon couple would be happy to hear about how you're screwing clients on company time? About your little nest egg? Oh I think they'd have quite a lot to say about that, don't you?"

Crystal just stared at me.

"So spill Crystal. Tell me about my whore wife and this fuck face ass wipe. Tell me what you know. I already know a lot, and you don't know what I know or not. One lie, one omission, and this video gets sent out. So do whatever you need to do to get over it, but TELL ME NOW."

I thumped the table at the end of the rant, anger starting to flow. I'd done what I thought was a good job of controlling myself, but now the details were in sight, I wanted them, with no waiting around.

Crystal took a deep breath and, then trembling, said, "OK. Jordan Lawler is a client of mine. He has a loft downtown that he bought last year that he's trying to shift. It's been on the market a few weeks and not moving, so I brought Deanna in to stage it. I've shown it several times, but nothing was clicking. It needed...arranging. She did what she always does, but this guy was home while she was doing it. I don't know the details, we don't go into those. Something clicked between them -- they've been, I don't know what you want to call it, fucking, dating, falling in love. I don't know. She's into him, he's into her. She knows it's short term, or at least that's what she's said to me. She knows he's going back to Philly when the job is done, and she's determined to enjoy it while he's here. There. Is that what you wanted to know?"

Crystal was still trembling. I could see it from her point of view. Delivering the truth to me wasn't going to make me love what she'd been doing any more. Truth might well unhinge me to the point where I pushed that button on her marriage anyway. And she was right to think it, too.

I was trembling too. Here was the proof. The details. The data I needed.

"How long?" I asked, simply.

"I don't know exactly. At least six weeks now. Possibly more."

SIX WEEKS! Jesus. And I'd not suspected anything. Was I an idiot or what?

Apparently my thought processes were displayed on my face. Crystal actually reached out and grabbed my hand.

"Look. It's not you, ok? The little we have talked about it, she's made that clear. She loves you. I know it doesn't seem like it, but she does. She's doing everything possible so you never find out, although she is indulging in high-risk behavior. From what I gather, apparently that's part of the attraction. They've fucked in some strange places, elevators, bathrooms, places like that, where they risk discovery. That's part of the allure for her, from what she's said. She's said you've never go with that -- this is her way of getting that high with no risk to her marriage."

I just looked at her, in shock.

"Yeah, now I say it, I hear how stupid that sounds, too. The whole point of high risk is that is a risk to your marriage," said Crystal, with the facial expression of something smelling a nasty fart. "How did you find out? The jumbotron, right?"

I nodded. She released my hand. "I told her this morning how fucking stupid that was. She just laughed and said there was no way you'd know -- none of your friends are sports fans, and you certainly wouldn't be watching. Besides, it was only on the screen at the stadium."

"No, it wasn't. It was on national TV," I said in a dead voice.

Crystal closed her eyes and winced. "Jesus," she said, "I don't think she's aware of that. She just said it turned them on and they fucked hard afterward."

I sat there, frozen, just listening.

"Is this guy anything special? He good in the sack or something?"

"I don't know," said Crystal. "It's not like I fuck every client."

"Just some, right?" I said, with a touch of bitterness. She looked away and didn't respond to that.

"Look, Ryan, I could go on about it only being sex but I don't know what it is with her. I would never have thought she was someone to do this. When she told me what was going on, I was shocked. I mean, me, I can see it. I've always had straying tendencies. Her? She's Ms. Mom. When I said that to her, she just smiled and said 'not right now I'm not.' I don't know what to say. When I've seen them together, they look like they are in the early stages of love. I hate to say this to you, but I really think this is trouble. In a way, I'm glad you caught me. At least I can be honest with you about this."

I just sat there and scratched my head, not entirely comprehending what I was hearing. My life was crashing around me and I was sitting in a bar and not having a clue what to do next.

"Lots to take in, yeah? I can tell you this Ryan -- she's never done it before. The kids are yours."

That hadn't even occurred to me yet. I looked at her sharply. She put up her hands in front of her. "It's going to occur to you at some point. Those kids are yours, there's no question. She told me she'd never thought she was the kind of woman who'd cheat, which is why she surprised herself.

"Something else I can tell is that she loves you. She's successfully separated out her life with you and this...fling. She's very careful about it never coming home to you. It only happens downtown with him, where there is no chance of you being around. She douches afterward -- you've never gotten sloppy seconds from her. She's never given you a cream pie and she's never done anything with this guy that she hasn't done with you. It's quite strange -- she's very concerned to ensure there is parity here between what you get and what he gets. She says she doesn't want to 'disrespect you' that way. I dunno what to make of that. She has her own way of looking at things, that's for sure. Me? The sex is just that. Sex. With her, it's integrated into the relationship."

"Doesn't want to 'disrespect me'? Apart from sleeping with some other guy, developing a relationship with him and lying to me about it for weeks, you mean?" I was both bitter and indignant.

'Um, not really sure how to respond to that Ryan. I don't think anything I can say will help."

"Oh you've helped enough already," I said, angrily. "Where do you think she got the idea that cheating was ok? Oprah? There you are, her friend, her example in the business world, and what are you doing? Fucking clients to get ahead, then sweetly going home to the man who gets up at 4am to provide for you."

I was laying it on a bit thick here -- Charlie did his radio show because he was a massive show off, but while the point might be labored, but it was still valid.

Crystal recoiled a bit, then her face softened.

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to explain this to you, Ryan. But at root, It's. Just. Sex. I don't know how else to put it. Oh wait. I do. You play tennis, right?"

I looked at her and said, "Do I LOOK like I play tennis Crystal? Seriously?"

"Well, you've played at some point right?" Crystal was exasperated. She was trying to prove a point and I was being facetious. Well fuck her. I nodded anyway.

"Look, when it's just sex, it's like playing tennis. You both get hot and sweaty, everyone has a work out, you feel the burn, and best of all, no one loses. And it means as much. You wouldn't be upset about Deanna playing tennis with someone right? So this is the same. You let her have this, and it gives you leverage and the ability to go out and do it yourself, and she can't say shit. Isn't that every guys dream?"

I just stared at her. I couldn't honestly believe I was getting into the finer points of cheaters philosophy with Crystal Riggs. It was like going over the deeper implications of Warp Theory from Star Trek with the Pope.

"Where to begin? I don't honestly want to deal with this, but some of your justifications are almost certainly going to get trotted out by my soon to be ex wife, so what the hell, might as well deal with them now."

Crystals painted on smile evaporated when I said "Soon to be ex-wife". I probably shouldn't have jumped the gun on that, but I was pissed.

"Firstly, while your argument is logical and well pointed out Crystal," She preened and smiled at that, "it's still crap. You don't play tennis to make children. Sex is intimacy between two people. It's the sharing of bodies. It's the promise that what you share stays between you. It's the giving of yourself to another, in an exclusive deal. It's symbolic of your exclusivity that it's not shared with anyone else. It's not a sweaty afternoon in a motel 6, despite the way you want to look at it.

"Look, if both you and your partner feel the same way about it, then fine, sex can mean whatever you choose it to mean. If it's something you give away freely, then that's up to you, between the two of you. But in this case, it isn't, is it? Charlie has no idea you are playing tennis, as you put it, with some douche bag who owns a construction company. You know this is wrong, or you'd be up front about it with Charlie. You know how he'd react, so while you seem to be extremely 1963 in your outlook, you know damn well Charlie is not, and you know how society treats this kind of thing. And the fact that you ignore that, that knowing how he'd feel about it, you do it anyway, just shows the disrespect you have for him and your marriage. You've carefully constructed this really stupid idea that 'it's ok' because there's no feeling in it so it's of no threat to anyone. And that might even be true for you, but you also know that Charlie isn't going to feel that way, or you wouldn't be sneaking around.

"It's exactly the same as Vegans who go on and on about artificial bacon, quite missing the point that they know bacon tastes awesome, which is why they are trying to replicated with fucking Tofu.

"The bottom line is that the construct you've just put out there is a way to push the blame on to Charlie. Effectively you are saying 'Sex means nothing to me, so it's your problem if it means more than that to you.' Charlie being upset because you've been fucking some other guy is, in your twisted little rational, his fault, not yours.

"And lastly, even if everything you think is true, that's not the case with Deanna, is it? You've already said you have no idea where her mind is at. Well, I can tell you one place its not, Crystal. It's not at home, with her family. She's out having a childfree time, getting laid and feeling wanted and we are at home, doing the normal family thing. She's lying to us, she's deceiving us and she's betraying us. All of us. Safron, Jamie, Paula and me. She already made her choice, in front of all of her family and friends when she married me. She doesn't get to make it again and then say 'Well, I can change my mind and you'll never know, so it doesn't matter.'

"And it's worse because she's indulging in high risk behavior in order to get her self off. I highly doubt she's using any form of protection, and she's also risking someone else's marriage at the same time.

"You say she's compartmentalizing and as such, still loves me as much as she ever did. I say bullshit. That's horseshit. It's the kind of crap cheaters say to themselves in an attempt to not feel as guilty. 'What he doesn't know won't hurt him.' FUCK OFF. Because they always know. Deep down. When you choose to cheat, you know damn well there is a fair to middling chance it's going to come out. When you start loving someone else in that way, you aren't loving the other person as much. Sure, when it comes to kids, love is limitless. When it comes to loving a spouse, it is not. Priorities and desires and fucking time limitations come into play. It's fucking bullshit and I won't accept it."

I stopped, chest heaving after delivering this rant. Crystal looked like she was about to burst into tears.

She just said, "I...I never... that's a different way to look at it."

"No, I'm sure you didn't. But lets be honest, even if it had crossed your mind you'd have found some way to suppress it. You're a cheater, Crystal. You don't hold anyone else's emotional state as important as yours. The bottom line here is that you, like that bitch of a wife of mine, haven't really considered the import of your actions. You've never really sat down and thought about what would happen if Charlie discovered what you've been doing. You've never really contemplated how he is likely to react, and if you have, you've just created some internal 'I'll make it up to him' bullshit that you people tell yourselves so you can feel ok about what you are doing. What do you think he's going to do, Crystal? How do you think he's going to feel? Put yourself in his place for a second. Lets imagine he's been fucking his PA at work."

Crystals faced paled and she looked angry, then her faced changed to a stricken one.

"Right, I think we might be getting somewhere. You can't even begin to imagine the pain and hurt and damage to his ego your slutting around is doing. You just can't. And to protect your own whoreish desires, you've done a really good job of avoiding thinking about it. And now you've got Deanna believing it too."

Crystal's nose wrinkled, and she hesitantly said, "Well, Ryan, lets be fair here. Have you looked in a mirror lately? Do you understand how other people perceive you? Your middle aged, used up, balding, a bit overweight and you wear a rumpled suit twenty four / seven. You aren't exactly lust material."