Rocket Man

"You did the right thing Jack," said Hank. "Forget about it. And you Cassie, I never thought I'd have to warn a big city woman about this, but you're too used to dealing with the people in our little town. You have to be more careful. There are some seriously fucked-up people out there. I have a feeling this guy has a history of shit like this and he's gonna ..."

Before Hank could finish his lecture, he noticed that my lip was stuck out, and I was heading for Jack.

Jack turned to me, and I slapped the shit out of him. "I heard what you said, asshole," I screamed.

"Well, I'm gonna leave you two ta discuss this," said Hank heading for his car.

"What did I say," asked Jack grabbing his face.

"That shit about him doing it again," I screamed. "Have I ever given you any reason to believe that I would ever do anything with any man other than you?"

"Well, no, Cassie," he said. "But we aren't married, so technically you could ..."

"Technically, Jack, I could beat your ass for even thinking anything like that," I hissed. "I love you stupid. You are my heart. You're my soul, Jack. And you have been for longer than you know. Back when we were in space, I had the biggest crush on you even then. If I had known that you were having trouble with your marriage, we could have started the two hundred and fifty mile high club in that capsule. However, all I kept hearing about was your hot wife, and how much you loved her.

"When I got back to earth, I went ahead and married my asshole boyfriend. I figured that you were only a crush, and that I had a life to live. It was a mistake. But you know what? I think that even if the senator hadn't sent me to you, I would have found you somehow. I ... I ... Grrrr ... I just love you so much Jack. And God damn it you love me too. I heard something else that you said. You've only been married once, right Jack? So what did you mean when you called your skanky blond wife your first wife? You meant that I'm your wife didn't you? That's how you see me isn't it, Jack? And you're right. I am your Fuckin' wife Jack. And I'm the last one too! No one and nothing will separate us ... Ever!"

He grabbed me and hugged me, and I let him. His touch caused most of my anger to melt. I felt so good wrapped in his arms. "I love you, Commander," I said. "You won your fight, but it was stupid. No man could ever take me away from you, idiot. Now it's my turn."

"Huh?" he said. And I told him about meeting Ellie and what was coming our way.

* * * * * *

Elizabeth

I had the biggest smile on my face as I stared at the ceiling. No matter what their station in life, men were stupid. Their egos always got them into trouble. They all wanted to believe that the little sticks between their legs gave them some kind of special power. They all wanted to believe that they were better than the other boys.

Even Jethro wanted to believe. As he huffed and puffed on top of me, the smile on his face told me that he believed the smile on my face had something to do with him. The problem was that I was barely in the room. My mind was going over how things with my husband would go after the show tomorrow.

Jack is as hard headed as he can be. Even though he's alone and miserable, he would pretend that he would rather be alone than have me back. Jethro used the Internet and several private eyes and data mining services. Jack had bought his current house and property five years ago just after our divorce, the property was in his name alone. He had also never remarried. He must've been some kind of hermit too. Jethro had sent Ellie out to meet people in the town and he himself had spoken at length to the local reverend.

Most of the people in town wouldn't talk about Jack. That led us to believe that they probably didn't know him. He was also not married. They did know that much about him and didn't seem to like it. Several women mentioned trying to fix him up, but he had refused their help. That told me all I needed to know. Jack was still mine, whether he wanted to admit it or not.

The show tomorrow would force Jack to forgive me and probably to admit to himself that we were not done. But once again he was pretty God damned hard headed. We would probably start slowly. It would take a while for us to get back together. I would probably have to do a lot of the heavy lifting in getting us back together. However, that was only fitting since it was, after all, me that tore us apart.

Those were the thoughts that went through my mind as Jethro humped away at me. He was really funny. All of his talk about how the sex between us was only a physical thing and meant nothing. But the smile on his face told me that not only did he really like fucking me, it was important to him to believe that he had me hooked on him. The reality was that I could get up from this bed and walk away from him without either one of us finishing just for a chance to see one of Jack's old shoes. Jethro, sex with Jethro, his religion, his church and everything else in the world meant nothing compared to Jack.

As Jethro ramped up his movements in preparation for his orgasm, I began to whine and moan as if he was ringing my chimes. In reality, there wasn't even a tingle.

But neither of us would get off that evening. The door abruptly opened, and Ellie came in. She looked at us on the bed and screamed in shock. Then she ran into the other room. I could tell that even though she'd told me it was okay with her; she'd been lying.

I didn't care. If things went well, she'd have Jethro back with her alone in less than twenty-four hours. I knew that Jethro had a dream of Jack, and I becoming some sort of celebrity members of his church. He also figured that he and I would hook up from time to time, with me doing it out of gratitude because he got Jack back for me. If that failed, he probably thought that he could blackmail me into doing it out of fear that he would tell Jack what we'd done.

None of it would happen. I would kill Jethro if I had to. And Jethro had his dreams of becoming a famous televangelist. What he forgot was that if he told Jack on me, I'd tell the world what he had done. He wanted to be famous more than he wanted my pussy. My pussy ... That was funny, it was Jack's. It always had been. My mistake had been in sharing it with others because of my anger at Jack going to space so often. I'd been so upset that I'd forgotten what was really important. That would never happen again.

I got up and started to dress. "Aren't we going to finish," asked Jethro.

"I did," I lied. "And it was really good. The best ever. I'm going to miss our time together."

"Maybe not," he smirked. He reached for my tits. They weren't huge, but that was a good thing. On my slim form, large breasts would have been out of place. Another good thing is that they were too small to sag.

I moved away from his touch. "Don't forget you have to go over the details of the service with the TV people," I said. That got his attention. He switched direction and headed for his closet. I knew he would pick out one of his probably fifty suits for the one that he thought would look best on TV.

I headed back for my own hotel room. I needed to find something to wear too. I chose a dress that covered me completely, yet was form fitting enough to show off my slender curves. Jethro provided a makeup artist and hair stylist too. They spent hours making me look like an angel, although one that didn't wear a lot of makeup. It always mystified me how they could put tons of chemicals on my face to make it look like what people saw was my natural, bare skin.

I went over to the huge tent that had been erected for the event. I got there early so I could see everyone who entered it. When I got there, except for the TV crew, there was no one in the tent. They were worried about the sound from the generator fed air-conditioning units that were used to keep the tent cool against the Arizona heat. They did a few tests and decided that it wasn't the air conditioners making the noise it was the generators. So longer cables were brought in, and the generators were moved another thirty feet back.

People started to fill the tent. I listened to their conversations and almost gagged. They talked about the most boring, mundane things. I wondered what had made my husband, who could have lived anywhere on earth, choose this place. Just before the time for the broadcast, I began to worry. There were only a hundred and eighty people who lived in the town. There were more than three hundred people in the tent. A few people from out of town must've shown up too. But I hadn't seen Jack yet.

Ellie came in and immediately gravitated towards a tiny but spectacular redhead. I was glad that woman was seated far away from me. I needed to be the one drawing all of the attention and with her standing near me, I wouldn't have. She had long red hair that flowed nearly to her ass. The red was a fiery color what seemed even more vibrant when compared to the pallor of her skin.

She had that peaches and cream complexion that probably didn't tan, even in the heat and sun of Arizona. This was an unlikely place for a woman like that. She also seemed too ... sophisticated for this town. But there she was waving and chattering with all of the rest of the hayseeds. I just shook my head.

Her body was incredible. She had the tiniest waistline I had ever seen. It made her boobs seem huge. Her legs, although they weren't as long as mine, seemed to be extremely well-shaped, and her ass had just the right amount of roundness and tone to make it interesting. I think if I was a man, I'd want to fuck her.

But there was more to it than that. She seemed to have an inner glow. Those green eyes of hers were bright enough that I could tell what color they were from across the God damned tent. I might have to have Jethro get rid of her before Jack showed up. It would be just my luck to have Jack come in, take one look at that bitch, and fall for her.

But Ellie latching on to her told me that wouldn't happen. Ellie pulled the little fire-crotch whore up to the front row with her. They were animatedly yammering even as Jethro and the local preacher entered the tent and took all of the attention. For some reason, maybe it was because of what I knew was going to happen, I had the idea that everyone in the tent was focused on me.

Even people, who were not looking in my direction, seemed to be focused on me. So it was almost expected when the redhead and I made eye contact. It wasn't just a brief thing either. For a very long moment, our eyes locked, and I felt a sort of recognition. It was as if I knew her. In fact, I was sure that we had a connection.

In the same moment, I felt as if she was assessing me. And then the bitch smiled and looked away. To me, it felt as if she had measured me and found me inadequate or unworthy. It pissed me off. The innocent, angelic, and sorrowful expression I was supposed to keep on my face vanished at that moment.

I could feel Jethro's eyes on me across the tent. He kept pointing to his face. It was his way of telling me to fix mine.

Jethro had been telling me how body language and facial expressions have a lot to do with the way people perceive a person and their intentions. If my facial expression said that I was contrite and miserable, the crowd would be on my side. They would urge Jack to forgive me because they would feel my pain. But if I went out there looking like I was pissed off, they would perceive it as hostility, and they would meet my hostility with their own.

I couldn't help it though, that little redheaded bitch had pissed me off. I looked back across the room at her, and she was smiling. I was tempted to throw that little bitch a really snarky look right back. Or better yet ... I should just walk over there and slap the shit out of her.

I decided right then, that as soon as the service was over and Jack was mine again; I would step outside, find that bitch, and knock her teeth out. I had never in my life felt the sort of antagonism I felt about that redhead. It made no sense. We had never spoken a single word to each other. It made perfect sense.

If love at first sight exists ... If two people could meet, lock eyes, and fall madly in love, the first time they met, like Jack, and I did, then the opposite must also be possible. And for me that little redheaded bitch was it. My hatred was so strong that I could almost feel my fist making contact with her face.

And then ... She was forgotten as if she'd never existed. Jack stepped into the tent, and every eye in the place went to him. He needed a shave. And his hair was a bit out of place ... But he still looked better than everyone else in that tent. His suit was the wrong cut. His shoes still had rounded toes instead of the more fashionable square cut toes that all of the guys were wearing. None of it mattered. As soon as he stepped into the room, he owned the place.

Jethro was waiting to be introduced by the local minister. I could see him seething with anger as even the minister stopped talking when most of the locals turned to greet Jack. Jack even threw a salute to the minister who threw it right back. Then Jack took a seat near the back of the tent, and things settled down. I did notice a few women changing their seats though. I was becoming angrier by the second. First that redhead in the front and now a bunch of these small-town heifers were trying to put the moves on Jack before I got him back.

As bad as things were going for me though, they couldn't have been better for Jethro. I had to admit the man was in his element. From the moment he stood up, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand. His sermon was perfect. He spoke about a new religion for a new age. He spoke of making the church more relevant to the modern era. He talked about how difficult it was in modern times to have true faith. But more than anything else he talked about forgiveness.

He had that crowd eating up everything he said. They passed the collection plate, and the choir sang a song. The local minister spoke about some things that had happened locally. While he spoke, Jethro texted me to fix my face before I ruined everything.

I texted back asking him who the fuck his wife's new best friend was. His eyes met mine across the tent, and he looked puzzled. The local minister continued to speak. He pointed out several people in the community who had done good things both for the town as a whole and for individuals in the community in particular.

He made sure to point out several things that Jack had done, that should be noted. He especially wanted to point them out at that time since Jack rarely if ever came to church. Before turning the floor back over to Jethro, the minister also pointed out that someone named Cassie had been doing amazing things to help out. When that redhead stood up and nodded, I swear Jethro licked his lips.

The funny thing though was that most of the local men barely reacted to her. Sure, they looked at her. But not nearly the way they should have looked at a woman like that. Then I realized that she was probably already married. None of the local guys would waste their time on a woman who was already spoken for, no matter how pretty she was.

I was still going to kick her ass, but it was time for me to concentrate on Jack. I thought about how sad I would be if this didn't work. I thought about how stupid and sad I felt when Jack had embarrassed me on National TV. And that did it. Jethro threw me a quick nod to let me know that I was good.

Jethro stood up and began talking again. He took a few moments to weave his spell on the crowd again before starting his end game.

"Brothers and Sisters," he said. "In the old days down south they used to have revival meetings. Some carpet bagging out of town preacher would set up a tent on the edge of town and start preaching hellfire and brimstone. He would put on a show. He would have a few accomplices scattered through the audience and pretend to heal them. He would pretend to make lame men walk. He would pretend to make blind men see. By the time they left that tent he'd have the crowd so high and ramped up on their own adrenaline that they would all feel like they could walk on water. And ... It was all Bullshit!"

Several of the people in the audience's eyes opened in surprise. Others felt their jaws drop open in shock.

"You heard me," screamed Jethro. "It was all Bullshit! Let me hear the church say Buuullllllsheeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiit"

"Buuullllllsheeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiit," screamed the crowd.

"Bullshit," screamed Jethro!

"Bullshit!" Echoed the crowd.

"Then the guy would stand there in front of the church and tell the congregation that the secret to harnessing his faith ... The secret to right any wrongs, cure any afflictions, and improve their lives was contained in the ingredients he had formulated into a secret serum that he could sell to them. And those suckers ate it up. They'd be so amped up by his presentation that they'd buy his God damned snake oil ... Like it was going out of style."

Jethro paused then. It was so quiet in the tent that you could hear a pin drop. The TV people were confused. With all of the profanity in Jethro's sermon, they weren't sure how to handle it.

"But none of that would work on you people," said Jethro calmly and almost quietly. He knew that if he lowered his volume, people would strain their ears to hear him.

"None of you will fall for ... That kind of what," asked Jethro.

"Buuullllllsheeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiit!" Screamed the crowd.

"Exactly," screamed Jethro. "But brothers and sisters, I am not here to hype you up or to charge you up. I am not here to defraud, depress, or delude you. But I am here to raise your spirits. I am here to make you feel uplifted! But the uplifting and enlightenment I give to you today comes not from any pharmaceutical or any pill, serum or elixir. The uplifting I give to you all today comes from within your very soul. Today I have come to talk to you about forgiveness. I have come to demonstrate the power that doing for others gives to us."

"Over the past few days, I have come to know several individuals in this beautiful little town of yours who are suffering. They are truly miserable human beings who feel like the weight of the fuckin' world rests atop their narrow shoulders. Brothers and sisters, they are CRUSHED beneath the weight!"

Everyone looked around wondering who they were talking about. "I did not plant any shills among you," said Jethro. "These are people you know and talk to every God damned day!"

"Every God Damned day," yelled a man in the fifth row.

"Crushed beneath the weight," yelled Jethro.

"Crushed beneath the weight," echoed the crowd.

"Sam Drucker come on down," yelled Jethro. A wiry old man stood up and scratched his head. He looked confused.

"Come on down," yelled the crowd. Sam headed up to the podium wondering what the hell was going on.

"Gomer Pyle, come on down," yelled Jethro.

"Shazayam," said a confused looking man in the third row.

"Sam for a long time you have hated this man," began Jethro.

"He left me high and dry," spat Sam. "I trusted him and he deserted me."

"I joined up with the US Marine Corps to serve my country," said Gomer. "I knew that you'd be angry, but I never expected you to stay mad for all of these years. I am truly sorry Sam."

"Sam Drucker, you have an opportunity before you," intoned Jethro in a deep and solemn voice. "You can choose to forgive ... Or you can continue to suffer and struggle. Will you fly high and free or remain crushed beneath the weight of anger?"

"I forgive ya, Gomer," said Sam, his voice cracking because of the emotions he was feeling.

"Hug it out," said Jethro. Gomer walked towards Sam. Sam stuck out his thin wrested arm to shake hands. Gomer grabbed him in a bear hug."