PTA

Ann also told me that I should listen to the audio conversations on the second disk if I hadn't already, because Dana had been thinking of ending things between her and Chuck. Ann wanted to know if it made any difference to me, and I told her "nope."

I told her that I needed a day or 2 to figure out how and when I wanted to serve the papers. She thought that we should do it at Dana's job. The embarrassment and humiliation that it would cause if done there were excellent. It would also serve notice to the company's higher ups that trouble was brewing.

I hung up the phone, and though I guessed that I should be happy, a smile was the furthest thing from my mind.

I don't know how I made it through the weekend. On Saturday I took Sasha and a couple of her friends to the zoo. On Sunday I washed and polished my car again. Monday I couldn't stomach sitting through another day of work so I called in sick and took my Mustang to a collision shop to have the chin spoiler installed.

The instructions said it was simple, and anyone could do it. But I didn't want to risk it in my state of mind and fuck my car up.

While I waited for the techs to install it, I called Ann and told her she could have Dana served at work Wednesday.

As soon as I hung the phone up it rang again. The caller I.D. showed Dana's number.

"Why aren't you at work?" she asked.

"I'm still not feeling well, so I decided to have some work done on my car," I said.

"Why didn't you at least tell me so I'd know where you were, and not look stupid calling your office?" she asked. "We are supposed to be married, you know."

"Sometimes I can't tell," I said slowly.

"Luke you know I love you," she said. "And I know that I caused this, but I don't know how to fix it without making it worse. Can't we just promise each other to never let work stresses interfere with our family again?"

"Okay Dana, no more work stress at home," I said.

"Me neither," she said. "Never again, I promise."

"What a crock of shit," I said as I hung the phone up. I couldn't believe she thought I'd fall for that work related stress bullshit. She really thinks I'm stupid.

The phone rang again. I was about to really let Dana have it since I was so pissed at her, but it wasn't her.

"Why aren't you at work?" said Gianna. Just hearing her voice made me feel better.

"I'm depressed," I said. I explained everything to her, and told her where I was.

"Okay, that isn't why I called," she said abruptly.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring you down with talk about my life in ruins," I said.

"You're not bringing me down," she said. "And I'm willing to listen to anything you want to talk about. I'm just afraid that if we start talking about our problems to each other all the time, that we'll become friends."

"Oh," I said, suddenly feeling worse. "I kind of thought we were friends already."

"Oh hell no," she snapped suddenly. "Get that thought out of your mind right now."

"Well, I'm gonna let you go," I said sadly. "I don't want to waste any of your time."

"I called you, Luke," she reminded me. "I wanted to ask you about our second date."

"What second date?" I asked. "I thought...!"

"Luke, you don't ever want to be a girl's friend. And I don't want you to ever think of me as your friend either." she said seriously.

"When I got my divorce, I had a lot of friends. Most of them were female but, there were a few guys too. A lot of my friends would call to make me feel better during my divorce. Even the guys would call me. The problem is once a person is in that friend zone it's pretty hard to change their status. I never once gave any thought to fucking any of those guys I thought of as friends. I don't want you thinking of me as a friend."

"Okay I'm confused," I said. "What..."

"Don't worry about it," she smiled. "I'll handle it. You're still shell shocked. I'm just trying to make sure that in a few weeks when you're really ready to move on, that I'm the first person in line."

"What line?" I asked.

"You work for a relatively large company right?" she asked. I agreed.

"That means that when the news of your divorce gets around, there will be plenty of women sniffing after you. And they'll all be behind me," she smirked.

"Uhm Gianna, if you're in line, there won't be a line," I said. "I'm not stupid enough to let you get away."

"Ooh, finally a little flattery. Now that I know that you're interested, let's talk about that second date," she said. "I'm torn, you know."

"Torn about what?" I asked. I was still really confused. No wonder women think we're all clueless.

"Well, the second date is a little bit early for a romantic dress up date. But it's great for another little fun get to know you type thing. The big decision is do we bring Sasha along?" she asked. "Because I know she likes me, but after the second date, we should have our first good night kiss, and I'm not sure she likes me that much. Seeing some woman plant her lips on your father can be rough."

"Are you planning on planting your lips on me?" I croaked. The tightness in my pants made me really glad I was in my office alone.

"Most definitely," she laughed. "We must follow the protocol after all. It was all I could do not to kiss you in Pizza Hut."

"So when is this going to occur?" I asked. This woman had a way of making me forget about everything going on in my life, except her.

"The sooner, the better," she said. "What about tomorrow after practice? I'll pack a picnic lunch, and the four of us can just have a picnic right there in the park after everyone goes home. We can even roast some Marshmallows."

"Uhm, what four are you talking about?" I asked.

"You, me, Sasha and her best friend Beth," she smirked. "That way Sasha has someone to hang out with while we have the talk."

"Okay," I said, hoping my head would stop spinning.

"See you then, Bye," she said. That, "bye," emphasized the sultriness of her voice and that accent. If all of the country girls were like her, I wondered why anyone ever left the south.

While picking Sasha up from school, I scanned the parking lot but I didn't see Gianna's Jeep.

"She's not here, Dad," laughed Sasha. "She had to do some shopping, you and I both know why." I looked at Sasha and she was smiling. I guessed that things were okay with her.

When we got home, Dana was in the kitchen, cooking dinner. Sasha and I both looked at her, as if she was an alien.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.

"We didn't know you could cook," said Sasha.

"Why are you home?" I asked.

"I just decided not to do any overtime tonight," said Dana, smiling. "I just wanted to spend some time with my family."

"When are they coming?" asked Sasha. "I'm kind of busy tonight, I have lots of homework."

"I'm going to take some pictures of the car with the new chin spoiler on it and maybe take it out to the roads around the airport where there's not a lot of traffic and try it out," I said.

Sasha walked into the kitchen and grabbed a couple of slices of the Pizza we'd brought the other day. She warmed them up in the microwave while Dana glared at her.

"Later, Dad," said Sasha retreating to her room. That left me standing there alone with Dana.

"I've been thinking," she said smiling at me. "What would you think about having another baby?"

It was one of the hardest things I've ever done in life, but I managed to keep a straight face. I didn't laugh in her face, and I didn't retch or throw up either.

"I'm going to get the camera and take my pictures now," I said.

"What about my idea?" she whined. "I wanted to get started on it as soon as possible."

"Uhm, I'll think about it," I said, heading out of the house.

I shot off about fifty pictures of the car from several different angles with my digital camera. I had pictures of the car at every stage of its development from bone stock, until the present. I hated to leave my daughter alone with Dana, but I really needed to get away from there.

As I drove along the road I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. There were only two reasons for Dana to be so lovey-dovey all of a sudden. Either she was really trying to save our marriage. Or she was trying to pull even more of her shit on me. If she was really trying to save the marriage, didn't I have to at least give her the chance to try?

Then there was this sudden desire to get pregnant again. Was this another tactic aimed at saving our marriage? Did she somehow suspect that I knew about her affair, and she thought that by getting pregnant again it would keep me from leaving her cheating ass. Or was there something even worse down the pipe. Was she already pregnant with his child and trying to get me to fuck her so she could claim it was mine? That was even more reason why I wasn't going to have sex with her.

Then of course there was the guilt. Was I suddenly so adamant about kicking her out of my life because she had hurt me and broken our marriage vows? Or was it because I had someone better lined up?

Since we were still married, wasn't I as bad as she was? I had apparently started dating before I filed for the divorce. I hadn't initiated anything, but I was still doing it.

I guess it all boiled down to timing. Dana had been cheating on me for over a month. In my mind as soon as she spread her legs for Chuck Connors, our marriage ended. So it was at least to me, perfectly within my rights to seek happiness somewhere else as well.

As far as any babies went, if Dana was pregnant, we'd have a DNA test done. If it was my child I'd pay child support for it, and be a part of his or her life, but Dana and I were still done. There was no going back after what she'd done.

I drove around for far longer than I needed. I loved being in my car but eventually I had to go home. Naturally Dana was still awake. "Ready, daddy?" she asked.

"No," I said honestly. "Dana, our problems are a lot more serious than you think. You treating me and Sasha like shit for nearly two months, and then deciding that everything is fine doesn't work for me. I don't see how having another child would make an already shitty situation any better."

She looked genuinely hurt. "But, Luke I love you," she said.

"I love you too, Dana," I said. And I meant it. "But I don't think this is something we can fix over night." She looked really hurt then.

"Don't worry Dana," I said. "It's not like you're already pregnant. We haven't had sex in a few weeks. So don't worry about it."

"I guess that's why I'm so horny," she said. "I miss you." She hugged me and rubbed her hand across my crotch.

"Dana it's not going to happen, now get away from me," I snapped. I went into the bedroom and left her there crying.

The next morning all of the tension in me was gone. Dana was still in the living room. She looked awful. I got a shower, dressed and went to work.

After work I changed clothes at the office, went to pick Sasha up and went to practice. The kids and the parents were gathered there as usual. I noticed a few of the women looking at me. Some of them were married, but they still looked. Was there something in the fucking water around here? Married women going after strange dick seemed to be an epidemic.

"Hey you," said Gianna. "Remember that I'm the first one in line,". She ran her hands around my waist in a friendly yet intimate manner. There was nothing inappropriate in it. It wasn't even a hug, but it was familiar enough to let the women there know, that she was staking a claim.

We did our same group run as last time but we upped the pace a bit. Just to the point where all of the kids could maintain it but some were uncomfortable. The one's who easily held the pace would probably be our track team. The others would stay in the club until they were ready to move up.

After practice most of the kids were tired and couldn't wait to get into their parent's waiting cars. Of course most of the fathers wanted to stay and ogle Gianna for as long as they could, but eventually there where only the two of us and Beth left. Beth's mom wasn't picking her up; she was spending the night with Sasha.

We walked up to our cars and drove over to the picnic area. Sasha and Beth sat on a bench and played games and watched videos on my iPad, while Gianna and I set out the food.

Then the magic started. We laid down a blanket and sat down on it. For a long time we just stared at each other. She had a look in her eyes that I'd never seen in Dana. I don't know how to describe it. Maybe longing, mixed with desperation, with a bit of hope thrown in for good measure. All of it directed towards me.

"Too early," she said. Then she nodded her head towards the girls. "But hold that thought.

We talked about our lives and what we wanted out of them. We talked about dreams and why certain things were simply non-negotiable. Among those things were fidelity, honesty and trust.

I asked her why any man in their right mind would ever cheat on her. And she told me that most of the guys she'd gone out with only saw her for her looks. Once they got used to her looks, she became just another woman to them, and there is always someone prettier. So what she was really looking for was someone who loved her for her soul, not someone who liked her for her looks.

She really loved her job, but she really had her heart set on was simple. She just wanted to be someone's wife and mother.

We also talked about what I wanted. My needs were amazingly similar. The girls came over several times to grab snacks and ended up just sitting down on the blanket with us.

"Dad is Ms. Marshall your girlfriend now?" asked Sasha.

"I think she is," said Beth. "But maybe they're just friends, because they don't kiss. My mom has 3 boyfriends and they all kiss her, all the time."

"Well, I guess it's time for us to get home," I said.

"I'll see you at practice Thursday," said Gianna getting up.

"Unh uh," I said, "You have to follow me home. It's time to move this along."

"Move what along?" she asked.

"The divorce, and the rest of my life," I smiled.

We loaded the kids into Gianna's Jeep and drove to my house. On the way home I called Chuck. He was just getting home which meant that Dana should be on her way as well.

"Chuck, this is Lucas McCain," I said cheerfully.

"Do I know you?" he asked. I could hear the tension in his voice. I was sure this dickhead knew who I was.

"There's no need for us to play any games Chuck," I said. "You've been fucking my wife Dana for about two months now, so we should be old friends considering what we've shared."

"It was her idea," he quickly said. His voice turned into a whine.

"Chuck, I don't care whose idea it was, I just think that as adults, it's time for us to all sit down and discuss our options. So unless you'd like me to visit your wife and discuss all of this with her, you should come over to my house right now. I'll be home in about 10 minutes. If it takes you longer than 15 minutes from now to get there, I'll come and visit you at home."

Dana actually got home before we did again. I saw her car there as we pulled up. As soon as Gianna's Jeep stopped moving the two girls got out of it and ran up to the house. I stayed back to talk to Gianna.

"This should be interesting," I told her.

"Luke, don't do anything crazy," she said. She scooted up onto the hood of my car and pulled me between her legs.

"Trust me," I said. "I'm not planning on anything silly. I have nothing against Chuck. He didn't betray me, Dana did. And all I want from her is my divorce so I can move on. This should go really easily."

"Well, you forgot something," she said. Then she leaned over and kissed me. For one very long moment, the world stopped turning. Time stood still, and everything around us just ceased to matter. The only thing that broke the spell was the sound of Dana's screaming as she ran at us from the house.

"What the fuck are you doing?" screamed Dana.

"Moving on," I said cheerfully.

"Moving on with what?" hissed Dana. I stuck my hand up to caution her.

"Oh good, Chuck is here," I said as he pulled into our driveway. Chuck got out of his car and almost tripped as he looked at Gianna. He couldn't take his eyes off of her.

I hugged her one more time and she got into her car and backed out of the driveway. "My God that woman is beautiful," said Chuck. Dana just sat there growing paler by the second.

"What are you doing here Chuck," she snapped. "Did I leave something at the office?"

"I invited Chuck over," I said. "Let's go inside the house where we can talk calmly."

We went inside and into my living room.

"Who was that woman?" asked Chuck as soon as he sat down. My plan for staying calm and rational suddenly went out of the window. Chuck was about 3 inches taller than me and had me by about 20 pounds but it didn't matter. I slugged him as hard as I could. His nose erupted and he fell back so hard he took the chair with him. He reached up and felt his nose and saw blood and glared at me. He tried to get up and I kicked him in the chest putting him back down again.

"Why'd you hit me?" he screamed.

"Because I called you over here so we could talk," I hissed. "You're a real piece of shit, Chuck. You're already married, but you go around trying to fuck other guy's wives. You've already ruined my marriage with Dana. But before we can even talk about that, you're sniffing around like you're interested in Gianna." I glared right back at him and he backed down.

"You wanted Dana, you've got her. But Gianna is off limits. If you ever even look at her, I swear I'll kill you. She has far more sense than Dana has, but just the thought of you looking at her pisses me off," I said. "Chuck I have nothing against you. You didn't betray me, my wife did. If there's anyone I should be angry at it's her. But I'm not angry at anyone. As a matter of fact I'm happy. Dana is yours. Take her and have a great life."

"Are you kidding?" he said. "I don't want Dana. I've already got a wife. A better looking one too. It was just sex, and it wasn't even any good. I just like those big old tits. The rest of her isn't worth anything. Trust me if it wasn't so easy to get her, I wouldn't have bothered."

"You asshole," screamed Dana. "I don't want you either. That's why I broke it off with you the other day. I started thinking that Luke knew something was going on, and you weren't worth my marriage."

"Then why did you call me today, you old slut," snapped Chuck.

"Because, Luke hasn't slept with me in over a week," she said.

"Look you guys can work this out when you get back to Chuck's place, or wherever you're going," I said.

"What are you talking about, Luke?" asked Dana. The fear suddenly replaced the anger in her voice.

"I already told you, the two of you have been carrying on for over a month. Whatever it is or was doesn't have to end. I hope the two of you can be very happy together. I truly mean it. If the three of us all pitch in packing her stuff, you too can probably be out of here in 20 minutes. Or you can just pack some of her essentials, and come back for the rest tomorrow, while I'm at work," I said.

They both looked at me as if I had three heads. Confusion was written all over their faces and it was hard to read on Chuck's the way his nose and cheek were swelling up.

"I'm not taking her anywhere," he said.

"Oh yeah, you are, Chuck," I said. "I don't care where you take her, but she's yours now. You can move her in with your wife and kid or pay for a motel room for her, or buy her an apartment. But if you don't want to lose your marriage tonight, you need to do something."

"Luke," said Dana slowly. "I swear to you, that I only love you. Chuck was just a mistake. It was never about love. He just caught me when I was feeling old and vulnerable. He flattered me a lot and made me feel better. You know how self conscious I've always been about my height and my figure." I saw tears begin to trickle down her cheeks.