Live from the Game Ch. 02

I sat there, open mouthed, staring at her in shock, and she warmed to her theme.

"I mean, is it any surprise she's interested in someone else? Look at you. Not exactly making me want to jump your bones. Can you blame her for going to a bit of stranger, who's younger and cuter?"

I closed my mouth, and then I just laughed. Crystal looked disconcerted. She'd had a good little rant there, at my expense.

"Oh my god. Is that what they are teaching in cheaters school these days?" I asked, incredulous. "Seriously? That's it? A good offense is the best defense? Jesus Christ Crystal, you can just fuck right off with that. When we got married, and when you did too, there was nothing in the fine print about being true to each other, unless your spouse maintained a constant 34 inch waist. There was nothing in my vows about being faithful, but it was ok to cheat if one or the other wasn't in the gym every night.

"I mean, of course you are right. I've just let myself go. I should be in the gym way more, obviously. I could do it on Wednesday night -- oh wait, no, I can't. I'm taking Jamie to his Karate lessons then. Hmm. How about Thursday? No, wait, Deanna is at her stupid book club. Lets see, how about Monday? Oh wait, no, that's payroll and I have to oversee that, or people won't get paid.

"Yes, of course, it's my fault that I'm turning 40 and not Brad Fucking Pitt. I should be wearing a lot more Armani, obviously. Maybe get my teeth bleached, so they have little reflections from the sun when I smile. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU EXPECT Crystal??"

My voice raised a bit and the barman glanced over and I forcibly dialed it down. Crystal had recoiled, clearly afraid at my rant.

"I'm forty. I have three kids. I work sixty hours a week because if I don't the company will fail and forty three people will be out of work. I do the very best I can -- I spend time with my kids as much as I can. I tell my wife she is pretty. I buy her flowers. I compliment her on her dress sense. I work my ass off to bring in cash, so she can play at working by staging houses. And you know what? I also take my wedding vows seriously. Jesus Christ, what a monster I must be. I can't believe she's still with me, since I wear rumpled suits. Jesus Fucking Christ Crystal, don't you EVER fucking tell me this is my fault because I'm not George Fucking Clooney. She's not Meg Ryan either, but I find things to love anyway."

I was really angry and Crystal could tell. She just sat there while I took another sip of my drink and calmed down. I had no idea why I used Meg Ryan as an example -- Amy Adams would have been a much better one, since Deanna had a lot of what Amy Adams has. Showing my age I guess.

"Even if everything you just said was true, it still doesn't make it ok. You don't just ditch your vows and betray the man your promised to spend your life with because he's not exciting enough any more. You fucking talk to him. You tell him that. You ask him to do something about it. Again though, it's not thought out. Imagine how you'd feel if you caught Charlie with your sister and he said to you 'Oh dear, she's just younger than you. You are getting on and she's just much tighter'. Think that would fly for a second?"

I stopped again and took another drink. Crystal just sat there, with the deer in the headlights look.

I took a deep breath, calmed down some more and said, "So, now, with all that out there, what are we going to do with you?"

Crystal eyes went wide at that, afraid.

"I can destroy your marriage, you know that."

Crystal looked thoughtful, and said, "You know you are holding Charlie to blackmail more than me. I do ok, I earn, if our marriage exploded, I'd survive. Charlie, given his right wing leanings, would be eaten alive. Even if I was the bad guy, he'd be made to look a fool. All his political aspirations would just evaporate. You want to hold him to ransom too?"

I honestly believe that Crystal thought I was born the week before. Again, I just stared at her, wondering where to begin. All my statements about what her behavior does to other people and she went right back to using them to get what she wants.

"Crystal, sure, you can look at it that way. But the fact is that all the juice I have is on you. Nothing on Charlie, just you. You've manufactured this situation, not him. Sure, he would get hurt by the fallout, but that would happen because of what you've done. Nothing he's done. You are one hundred percent responsible for this. And if he gets damaged more than you, again, you are responsible for that. The question is, do you really want to wander the earth knowing what you did to him? And you did do this to him. If it wasn't me that caught you, what if it was someone you couldn't attempt to guilt into something? The fact is that right now, you have no bargaining power, and now you are using a threat to someone else -- someone you are supposed to love beyond anyone else - to wriggle free of your own responsibilities.

"Crystal, you are supposed to care more about Charlie than anyone else alive. Why the hell aren't you offering to do anything to avoid hurting him any more than you already have behind his back? Jesus woman, who the fuck are you? Do you know why you are able to get away with all that you have?"

She looked at me for a second then shook her head.

"Because he trusts you. Absolutely and completely. He's not checking up on you or looking into what you are doing. Whatever you tell him he accepts. What you've done with that Alvin fuck -- and with god knows who else - has made that trust something bad. I can't even being to tell you how that feels. You'll never know, because you are the one doing it. You'll never know the agony of understanding that you've been betrayed, and the only way it happened was because your trust of another person was preyed upon. If this comes out, you'll have destroyed his ability to trust in any woman, for years. Deanna has already done that for me. Why would you want that for Charlie?"

There was silence between us for a moment and we both took a drag on our drinks. When Crystal put hers down, she muttered, "Well, you are way deeper than I thought you were, that's for sure. You could guilt mother Teresa for wiping her ass."

I actually gagged at that and spat some of my drink across the table. What the hell, sue me, it was funny. I had no idea I could even still laugh. It was good to know I could.

I quit coughing and put down my drink carefully and said, "Ok, so what do we do about you Crystal? I'll deal with Deanna later, but you? Well, this can't go on as it is. So here's what I propose. I actually read this in a story on a website and I thought it was a great idea. You want to get laid? Terrific. Fuck your husband. Often. With malice of forethought. I like Charlie, and I want to hear him talk about how happy he is. I want you to use imagination. You want seedy motel meets? Fine. Set them up with him. Go buy nasty underwear and porn. Try new things. If he likes them, do it some more. Bring in another woman. Hell, take him to a swing club for all I care, then you can both get some strange, but at least he will know. You are going to make him so happy that he tells all his friends, because Christ knows, I'm not going to ask. And if I don't hear about it, then a video gets released. Are we clear?"

Crystal sat there in shock, eyes wide, and then just nodded vigorously.

"I can do that. I'd... I'd like to that."

"I don't care if you'd like that or not Crystal, you will do that. And added to that, you will refuse to cover for Deanna any more. Tell her you're a born again Christian, tell her the guy has a disease, or he's gay, or your gay and want her yourself. I don't really care. Make it convincing, but you are no longer going to provide my wife with an example, except for the one that states 'what she is doing is very very bad.' Do you understand? And no hint of our conversation gets back to her, or boom, your marriage explodes. And lastly, the cheating on your part stops, obviously. Are we absolutely clear here?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad to hear it. You got off light here Crystal. Now fuck off out of my sight. I've had about all of you I can stomach for one day."

Crystal grabbed her bag and almost jumped out of the booth. She was just about to turn and go, when she stopped and turned and said, "You really are a decent guy Ryan. I honestly don't know why she is running around on you. Oh, and they do the game thing on a Wednesday every week -- you know, at Wrigley Field? It's like 'their thing' now. If you want to catch them, that's where you need to be."

When she finished that, she hustled out of the bar, not looking back. I checked my phone and was glad to see the recording of the conversation was still running. I'd got it all. Just in case.

Two things occurred to me as she left. The first was that a germ of an idea had formed. It would basically end my marriage, but in my current mood, after hearing what Crystal had to say, it was done anyway. At some point I'd need to know why from the horses mouth, but right now, I was just seething. Funny how my indecision turned to contemplation of direct action when hearing all the facts.

The second was the fact that Crystal had brought me here, and my car was still parked at the motel. I sighed, picked up my phone and looked up taxicab numbers.