One Way Love

"Anyway," said Christina. "It all kind of worked out. Terry, I don't want to hurt your feelings, but I've realized that what happened between us was ... uhm a mistake."

"Christina, you're making a fool out of yourself.

Britney's head whipped around, and she looked at Christina angrily. "I can't believe you fucked my husband," she hissed. "You just couldn't wait could you?"

"He ain't exactly your husband anymore," supplied Bert. Britney stood up from the chair she had been sitting in. I noticed what looked like a huge watch around one of her delicate ankles. I also noticed that her leg was bandaged heavily.

"Britney, what's wrong with your leg?" I asked.

"She got shot, Sherlock," said Bert. "Am I going to have to fix all of this shit by myself?"

She looked around the room. "God damn it, I guess I am," she said. "Okay, Terry, Christina feels bad because she loves you..."

"Nooo!" screamed Britney.

"Britney, sit your crippled ass down and shut up," spat Bert. "If you interrupt me again, I'll tell Ray you were trying to remove your tether."

Britney's eyes filled with tears, and she sat down. She clearly didn't want to hear about me and Christina.

"Now, as I was saying. Christina feels bad because she loves you, but she cheated on you last night and the night before while you were knocked out. I've been hoping that she would figure it out, but I guess you're going to have to help me, Terry. When you had sex with Christina, what was it like?" asked Bert.

"It was warm and comforting. It made me feel good," I said.

"Do you have any desire for her?" asked Bert. "Are you hot for her, or did you just do it because she wanted to?"

"I didn't want to hurt her feelings," I said. "Because I do love her." Britney started sobbing, and Bert glared at her.

"Love without desire," said Bert. "You love her like a sister, right?"

I thought about it and realized that Bert was right on the money.

"And Christi, tell the truth. Think about it. You felt the same way didn't you. The sex was comfortable and loving, but it wasn't like what you got last night or the night before with the other person was it?" asked Bert.

"I guess not," said Christina.

"And if you really loved him the way you think you do; I don't think you'd have cheated on him this early in the relationship. Shit, it took Britney five years to cheat on him," said Bert.

"But they still had sex," whined Britney. "I don't care if it wasn't good..."

"Who said it wasn't good?" asked Bert. "Both of them really liked it. They were rubbing each other, and they did it with a lot of gentleness and compassion. Christina kept talking about it."

"But I never got any of that from Fred," said Britney. "All I got was pounded on five or six times. I got caught up in lust and ended up being used like a whore. And in exchange, I lost everything. I lost the man I love to his fucking secretary. He falls in love and all I got was rough sex. It was exciting the first couple of times, but after a while I just felt trapped and used. Terry, I didn't love Fred. I've never loved anyone except you."

"You humiliated me just the same," I told her.

"Never," she snapped. "I just got caught up. I made a bad decision, and it just snowballed. By the time I realized what was going on you had thrown me out of the house. You wouldn't even talk to me. For a man who swore to love me forever, you kicked me to the curb and jumped in bed with Shitstina pretty quickly."

"Why shouldn't I have?" I asked. "As far as I'm concerned our marriage was over long before Christi, and I slept together. And at least what we did was between two people who have feelings for each other. I didn't just give it up to any person who came down the pike."

"So what would you call what we did?" asked Bert.

"Terry you slept with her too?" asked Britney.

"Who slept?" said Bert. "We fucked all day long. For like ten hours, all we did was fuck and slept to get more strength to fuck some more. I've had that thing of his in every hole in my body. And they were all awesome. He's like the energizer bunny of fucking. He kept going and going and going. And I kept cumming and cumming and..."

"I get it," said Britney. Her eyes were so full of tears that she could barely see.

"No, I got it," said Bert. "You caused it. And I would do it again in a heartbeat. It was the best sex I've ever had in my life. But Honey, you have nothing to worry about from me. What Terry and I did was just sex. We never kissed once. It was just two hot, sweaty bodies slamming together. He loves you ... not me and not Christina. At least not in that "in love," kind of way. But I don't love him either. I love his car. But he loves you."

"He does?" asked Britney. Her entire mood brightened from that one statement.

"Britney, the man took a bullet for you. Why the fuck else would he do that?" asked Bert shaking her head.

"I don't love her anymore," I said angrily. Bert just laughed.

I was kept in the hospital for three more days for observation. Britney came to the hospital every day. The first day we just glared at each other for the first hour. And then she burst out crying.

"You did things with her that we never did," she cried.

"What does that matter?" I asked.

"Because all I ever did with him was just regular sex," she spat. "I only gave him one hole, and only one way. It was all I could take. His dick was so big that it hurt any other way. He just put a condom on, fucked me until he came, and it was over. We weren't very experimental. And he didn't last very long."

She had been watching my eyes as we spoke. "You didn't use any protection did you?" she asked.

I didn't say anything at first. "Uhm ... Bert is on the pill," I offered.

"Even as out of control as I was, I never risked getting pregnant. If a baby ever comes out of me it will be yours," she hissed. "What do we do if you got one of them pregnant?"

"Since there's no we ... you don't have to worry about that," I hissed. After that we went back to just staring at each other.

The next day she was late. From the time that visiting hours started, I wondered where she was. When she came in through the door, I was finally able to relax.

"You don't have to waste your time coming here," I said.

"I'm sorry I was late," she said. "I had to give more testimony to the DA. If I don't, I go to jail. And it takes a while to drive all the way downtown from my mom and dad's place."

"Why aren't you staying at the house?" I asked.

"I didn't think you wanted me there," she said. "You'll obviously get everything in the divorce, even if I stay out of jail." She started crying then.

"Britney ... calm down, " I said.

"Terry, I ... Fred promised me that you wouldn't be hurt badly," she sobbed. "You were just supposed to be bruised up enough that you would need me to take care of you. I thought it would work, and I could get you back. I swear it. All I wanted was to get you back."

"Britney, I'll call Ray," I said. "I won't press charges against you."

"Terry, I'll go to jail, gladly if you'll wait for me," she cried. "I'll spend the rest of my life in jail happily, if you don't divorce me."

"Britney, I..." I said.

"Terry, I know that you still love me," she said. "I made a mistake. I made the worst possible mistake, and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I was a spoiled ungrateful bitch, but I've learned my lesson. I swear I'll be the best wife ever. Can you just think about it?"

Later that day Britney showed me the wound in her leg. I told her that she could have plastic surgery to hide the scar, but she said that she needed it. She needed to be able to look down at her leg and see the scar, so she could remember now she got it and why.

When I was released, Britney showed up to drive me home. She fussed over me like a mother hen. She came to the house every day and stayed with me all day. One evening I could see how tired she was.

She ended up falling asleep upon the sofa and apologized for it the next morning. I told her I didn't mind, and that she could use the guest room while we sorted things out.

Ray and I both testified on Britney's behalf, and she ended up getting two-years probation. The leniency was based upon the fact that she had worked with the DA to help bring Fred's mechanic in and because Ray, and I spoke up for her. It was also the first time that she had ever been in trouble.

As the strength in my shoulder returned and my headaches started to fade, I went back to work. Britney still came every day. She even came to my job and brought me lunch.

One of those days while we sat together in my office, I was surprised to see Bert show up. Surprisingly enough, Bert was there to see Christina. The two of them were living together. What surprised me even more was that the mysterious person that Christina had sex with was Bert.

When we got home that night, I decided to offer Britney a better settlement in the divorce. She freaked out.

"Britney, I'm just trying to make you happy," I said. "If you want the house you can have it."

"Terry all I want is you and one more chance," she said. "I love you Terry. If you want this divorce, I'll give it to you. But I won't make it easy for you. I won't help you leave me."

We didn't talk any more about the divorce after that. A few days later, I went back to work on the 67. When I opened the garage to look, the first thing I noticed, was that all of my parts were neatly arranged. My tools were laid out nearly too. All of my plans and drawings had been neatly mounted on the wall where I could look at them.

I turned to go inside the house to thank Britney, but she was already standing there.

"Is it okay?" she asked. I just nodded. Britney stepped into the garage, and I saw what she was wearing. She had on one of those light-blue shirts that gas-station attendants and mechanics wear. It even had her name sewed over the left-side breast pocket.

"I'm your assistant," she said. I just nodded and began stripping the remaining parts from the frame. Britney handed me tools.

"You're wrong you know, about me. It's not just one way."

"Huh?" I asked.

"The first day that I came home after you sent me to my parents, you were singing a song. This song," she said. She pressed a button on the stereo in the garage.

The song was, "One Way Love," that came from the movie "Better off Dead."

I remember humming it while I tried to ignore Britney.

"Remember the line, "I fell too hard, I guess I ain't the one" she asked, handing me a screwdriver. "You were always the one, Terry. I fucked up, but I never stopped loving you."

"Staring the night away, don't know where you are,"

"Calling out your name, this crazy feeling, I'm a one way love."

"It took me a while to figure that part out," she said. "You thought that you loved me more than I loved you. And in the old days that might have been true. I was young and spoiled and didn't really think about anyone except myself. But now that I know what being without you is like, that's all changed. I need you Terry. And I love you a lot more than you could ever love me."

"Do you remember when that idiot, Fred started shooting at your ghost, and I tried to jump in front of it?" she asked. "I had been listening to the song, and I thought about this part."

I listened to the chorus of the song.

'I'd rather be a fool. I'd be lost with someone new.

I'd be better off dead than to live without you,

I've been searchin' everyday, tryin' to find another way,

I'd be better off dead than to live without you.'

"That's why I jumped in front of the bullets," she said. "I'd be better off dead, than to live without you, Terry."

There were no words after that. I took her hands in mine and pulled her down to me on the floor. I unbuttoned her work shirt and found that she was naked under it. If this had been one of those romance movies, we would have had earth shaking sex right there on the garage floor. However, that floor was made of concrete. After a few very tender kisses and some exploration, I lifted her in my arms and carried her to our bedroom.

We lay in each other's arms, kissing and fondling in the way that only two people who really love each other can. It wasn't frenetic. It wasn't brutal, but it was very intense. Just before I entered her, she pushed against my abdomen stopping me.

"Terry, I don't want to trap you into anything, but this is my most fertile time. So you might want to put something on," she said. "I'll go back on the pill if you want, since our future is kind of up in the air and we..."

I pushed myself back inside of the warmest, wettest place it had ever been. All it told me was that we belonged together. The sex with Christina was gentle and loving. But it wasn't nearly as good. Sex with Bert had been like something out of a porno, but it had nothing on this.

However, from the second that Britney and I connected, I knew that there would be no divorce. I also knew that neither of us would ever love anyone else with that degree of intensity, and I was wrong.

* * * * * *

Epilogue

Two years later, I was in a church, holding on to Christina's hand. Christina was finally about to become the latest Mrs. Stevens. She was becoming Mrs. Ray Stevens. Christina was marrying my brother, and I was giving her away.

It was our second wedding of the summer. Five weeks earlier, Bert married Christina's brother Alvin. As the reverend went through his lines, I looked into the third row and saw my heavily pregnant wife Britney, next to the only person, I loved as intensely as I loved her. Our almost two-year-old daughter, Terri.

Britney and I were fine. I wish I could say we lived happily ever after, but until we do, we can never really say that. I think that is one of the reasons why our marriage is so strong. We know first hand that anyone can slip and make a bad decision that costs them everything. Britney knows better than most wives, what would happen if she slipped again. And neither of us is willing to risk it.

Either one of us would rather be a fool. We'd be lost with someone new. We'd be better off dead...you know the rest.

The end.