She was Right

......................................

Charlie was a lot calmer when we returned, assuring the officer she wouldn't have to respond to any more outbursts. It was that she loved me so much this was tearing her heart out.

"I'll tell you the same thing I told him. Put the welfare of the children first. How you act as you go through this will influence the way they look at both of you for the rest of their lives. And ma'am, it's just a separation, not anywhere near the divorce stage yet. I can't answer the question about going to court to get it rescinded, you need a lawyer for that. Good luck to both of you."

She waved to the officer as she drove off, before turning on me and hissing. "Living room! Now!"

She stomped into the house and I took the opportunity to go back around the house, lock my gate behind me, and go inside. I'd put two deadbolts and three safety latches on the upper door. She'd have to use a battering ram to get through. It was the same on the newly installed lower door, plus I'd chosen it for its' soundproofing rating. She could stand at the top and scream her head off, and we would never know.

The girls stayed with me until bedtime. I assured them Mom was fine now, and as soon as they walked out I called her. "Shut up and listen! The girls are coming through the front door in a few seconds. How you act around them right now could well determine how close you'll be in later life. So do what I did, suck it up and think of them."

I hung up. The girls never called, so it must have been a quiet night.

Charlie did indeed get a lawyer, maxing out the one card I'd left her, and wrangled an in chambers hearing with a judge. She was a woman in her late forties with tired eyes. Seeing families tear each other apart and use their children as pawns constantly must take a lot out of a person.

"Mr. Sayers, why did you file separation papers?"

"Because your honor, my wife is currently involved with another man, by her own admission for at least nine months now. When I found out, she told me she has no intention of ending the affair, and I would just have to live with it. Maybe I could have done it if it was just us, but we have two girls, eleven and thirteen, and I wasn't sure I wanted to expose them to this type of lifestyle at such a tender age. If my wife disputes any of this, I can give you video and audio proof, Your Honor, all legally obtained."

She looked at Charlie, who hung her head. Turning back to me, she seemed to smile a little.

"I hear you moved out of the home, Mr. Sayers. How far away would you estimate you are from your daughters?"

"Twenty-six steps, Ma'am. I remodeled our basement, turning it into an apartment. It's completely separate from the rest of the house. I have no reason to go into the house except by invitation, and my wife has the same restrictions. Invitation only."

She turned to Charlie. "Well, it seems you have to make some decisions here, Mrs. Sayers. If you really want to keep your marriage, you need to reflect on your recent choices. If this were a divorce action, I would recommend counseling. However, it's just a trial separation, you may end up back together when it expires, so I see no point, or find any legal basis to rescind it, so I won't order it. The separation papers were filed and in order, so they stand. At the end of the ninety days he can renew it, drop it, or file for divorce. I wish you both the best of luck."

We were ushered out of chambers and found ourselves in the parking lot.

"You're really angry, aren't you?"

What a stupid question. "I am, though not to the degree I was. What I feel most now is sadness. I always thought the only way we'd ever be apart was when one of us held the hand of the other as we passed. Now I know that won't ever happen. My anger wants me to tell you I wasted my years with you, but we have the girls, so it could never be a waste."

I was in the car before she could respond. I looked in the rear view mirror as I pulled out of the lot, seeing her in her car weeping violently. In past times, I would have been cuddling her, telling her it didn't matter what happened, we would always be there for each other. Now, I just sighed and turned right.

..................

For the next three weeks we coexisted, her upstairs, me down. Charlie was upset when the girls refused to let her in to my apartment, trying to pressure them, but they held firm.

Finally one day I knocked on her door. She seemed surprised to see me. I hadn't seen or spoken to her since court. Before she could speak I gave her instructions.

"Follow me. The girls have been learning to cook on the gas grill, and made us dinner. So come on, and don't screw this up for them."

She followed meekly. The girls, in oversized aprons and chef hats they'd picked up somewhere, hugged her and led her to our picnic table. where we feasted on herbed roast chicken, grilled veggies, corn on the cob, and a tomato salad. They even had dessert, a cheesecake they'd made from a mix.

Charlie, to her credit, said nothing negative, complimented the girls on their culinary skills, and helped clear the dishes. Echo showed her around the apartment, including their room. Marissa had gotten into the habit of sleeping downstairs most of the time. Echo stayed upstairs except on weekends.

I knew the apartment was a lot smaller than what they were used to, so in compromise I gave them limited access to the Mancave. They had hooked a gaming system to the monster television, and most Fridays and some Saturdays they would have friends over for the night, camping out on air mattresses. It was mostly girls, but occasionally there would be boys for the evening, and a mother or two would stay with them until the boys left. Sometimes it was Charlie. Most nights it was pizza, but every once in a while the girls would grill, under my watchful eye, serving burgers and hot dogs mostly, but if it were just a few, it would be chicken or pork.

Summer was coming, school was almost out, so I splurged and bought an enormous above ground pool, which made them more popular than ever. Most parents knew of our living arrangements, but never commented. Some of the moms hinted around, and one just outright told me she would not be resistant to exploring a relationship. I thanked them all as graciously as I could and promised to keep them in mind if it I was ever unattached.

This steamed Charlie no end, especially when they did it in front of her. She chastised me badly one night after the parents and kids left. "What were you thinking? That slut all but climbed into your lap while you were eating. Do you know how embarrassing that was for me?"

"Not really. Do you think it was as embarrassing as finding out your spouse was fucking someone else, and all her friends knew and even provided alibis and places for them to further ruin a marriage? If it is, I can emphasize. Besides, we may have been a little close, but the picnic table was kind of crowded, and her daughter and both mine were right there with us."

I shoved the knife in and twisted it a little, enjoying her reaction. "Besides all that, I told you going in that I wasn't planning on being celibate. Did you know she has three tattoos? One of them is definitely naughty, good thing it can't be seen except when she's nude."

Alison was a big flirt, and I knew about the tattoo because she had joined her daughter in our pool, along with six other mothers and two dads, for a swim party the girls had hosted. Let's just say there was a wardrobe malfunction that left a little more of her exposed than she cared for. She retied her top, flaming red, while me and the husbands grinned.

Charlie looked stricken. In all her carefully laid plans, this was not a situation she expected to have to deal with. It was all bullshit, of course, I was not going to do anything to give her ammunition in the divorce, when it came. Still felt good yanking her chain.

I tried to avoid any contact at all with Charlie, although I still monitored her phone calls and video taped her daily life. Apparently going from having two lovers pretty much any time she wanted to none at all for three months was taking a toll. She masturbated, a lot. Seems she had an extensive toy collection that I was never aware of.

It was kind of funny after a while, but sad in many ways. After she got her release, she often cried herself to sleep. She still had her burner phone, unaware I had bugged it, and had taken the restrictions off her regular phone. I remember seeing the shock on her face when a telemarketer called, and her hastily calling everyone she could think of to verify it was fully functional.

She took it as a sign I was thawing, and things would get better, instead of what it was, the death knell to our marriage. If she had thought about it, the fact that I no longer cared if she talked to her lover or not would have given her pause.

The elections had come and gone. The county manager had retired, and the new appointee promised the commissioners he would trim the fat out of all the county budgets.

Bob was quietly let go. He railed at the manager, and appealed to the county commissioners. They met him in a conference room, and played the clip I had given them of him masturbating in what was plainly his office while screaming in graphic detail what he was going to do with Charlie when they got together next.

"There you have it Bob. The holder of this video has threatened to go public with it, and sue the county for allowing a manager to conduct an affair, and using county computers and phones to play sex games. To make it go away, all we have to do is fire you without recommendation. If we don't, we all get embarrassed, probably have to pay the man a chunk of change to make it go away, and we'll make sure you're charged for as many things as our attorney thinks we can make stick. Your chances of ever working for another county or municipality would go to zero, and private sector jobs in any management capacity would be very, very hard to come by. Do us all a favor, Bob, consider it a lesson learned, and walk away."

He had absolutely no choice, and the local paper didn't even make a note of him leaving. He basically just disappeared. Charlie called me, waffling between anger and remorse.

"Did you have to do that? He's got young children, how is he going to support them?"

"Shouldn't he have considered all that before he decided it was a good idea to fuck you? And I'm sorry about his children, but his wife has a pretty good job now, and with child support, she should be all right."

"His wife is a stay at home Mom."

"Not any more. Seems she has a degree in accounting. and a local company hired her pretty quickly. I hear it's a really nice job."

"Who would have hired some one that has been out of the workforce for six years and give them that good a job?"

"Me." I said, before hanging up.

.........................................

Bob's wife was a plump, pretty little woman with a perpetual smile on her face. It took me destroying her world to finally knock it off.

"What will I do now? His was the only income we had. How will I take care of my children?"

Her oldest was at school, and the three year old was busy trying to climb all over me while I tickled her.

"You'll come to work for me. Word has it I'm a pretty good boss. Even if you don't, I'll help you. It isn't my fault he betrayed your marriage and put you in this position, but fault or not, I feel a responsibility. This is a no strings attached offer. My kids are older and already know, but it still affects them greatly. I'm doing my best to minimize the pain, but I can't take it away."

"That is, of course, in case you want to leave. If you want to stand by him, you have my prayers. But I have to tell you, this all seemed too smooth and practiced for it to have been his first time. I thank you for your patience, and apologize for the information I had to give you. If you decide to divorce, I can help you with evidence."

I left her trying to fight back the sobs as she held her daughter.

She called me three days later. In a tight, controlled voice, she told me he wasn't going to tell her he was terminated, or that it was over an affair, until she threw it in his face.

"I thought he was going to hit me, and I grinned and told him to go ahead. The bruises would make it easy to get him a jail cell and me a restraining order. I told him it would be a fitting end to a terrible situation. He stormed out, and I haven't seen him since. He doesn't have running money, though, because I cleaned the accounts out the same afternoon you told me what was going on. And it wasn't done for spite, well, not much anyway. He has two small children, and they have needs. I wasn't going to let them lack for anything because of his mistakes. I've got enough to live on for three months. Is that job offer still open?"

She started, part time, the next week. I was delighted to see how sharp she was, and we worked out a deal where she would be in the office half the time, and work from home the remainder of her hours. This helped her tremendously when it came to child care.

My staff weren't idiots, and when Charlie's picture disappeared off my desk, to be replaced by more of the girls and me, they understood, even offered cautious condolences. All but one.

Misty despised Charlie, because she thought Misty was trying to come on to me, and made a huge scene at a company party. Misty left in tears, and I chewed Charlie a new ass the next morning when she sobered up. Looking back, I realized it was just after she started her affair with Bob. Transference, I guess. If she was screwing around, then so was I. It took me threatening to cut Charlie off for a month, financially, before she came to the office and apologized to Misty. Misty accepted it, and they hugged to show there were no hard feelings. I was in a position to see most of their faces, and the pats on the back looked like they were looking for a soft spot for the knife.

She came into my office grinning. "I just heard. You can fire me if you want to boss, but I'm glad. You're too good a man for that bitch. You never saw it, but she was always catty as hell to the women here when you weren't around. We're going to cut the cards over who's going after you first. I never told you, but I was a dealer at the casinos on the coast during my college years, and if I get my hands on the cards those other hussies won't have a chance. I like romantic movies, French food, and long slow massages with warm scented oils."

Misty was a trim redhead, busty, confident, and knew how to dress to get noticed without violating office standards. She was twelve years younger than me, in a serious relationship with a nice guy I figured she was going to marry sooner or later. I'd already promised I'd walk her down the aisle and pay for the honeymoon, within reason. So I knew she wasn't serious.

I shocked her by bantering back, since we were alone.

"I might just take you up on that. I've always wondered if your carpet matches your drapes."

Her hand flew to her mouth and she giggled as she fled to the door. Turning back, she looked me dead in the eyes.

"It would match, but I took the carpet up, deciding I liked smooth floors better. If you don't believe me, ask Jerry."

I promised her it would be our first topic of conversation the next time we were together, and listened as she laughed all the way down the hall.

It made me grin the rest of the day, and I wasn't nearly as serious as I was before. The other ladies noticed, and Misty must have blabbed, because every time I got maudlin or angry, one or the other would say something that cheered me up. I knew it was out of control when our sixty year old receptionist told me she was from a different generation, and how did I feel about shag carpet?

..................

Charlie was getting desperate, climbing the walls, alone, no lover, no husband, no outlets at all except lunches with her friends. And after I almost destroyed the marriage of her best friend by telling her husband all about his wife letting Charlie use their home to continue the affair, none of them would even talk about her situation, and damn sure wouldn't be aiding and abetting. The husband had talked, and her remaining friends were on pretty thin ice as far as Charlie was concerned.

A month later I answered the door to see Charlie on her knees, begging me to just talk to her. I considered about twenty really cruel responses before I opened the door wider and walked back into the living room. She followed a few seconds later, looking around cautiously, like she was afraid of an ambush.

"Beer?"

She nodded, so I got a glass and poured one for her. She tasted it and gave the glass a closer look.

"What is this?"

"It's a true bock, imported. If you don't like it, I have several more varieties you might find interesting."

"Have you turned into a lush?"

I looked at my watch. Three and a half minutes before she managed to piss me off.

"No, I haven't turned into a lush. I've decided instead of quantity, to go for quality. These and sipping beers, not guzzling beers. It usually takes me about two weeks to go through a twelve pack. I'm afraid to say it's rubbed off on the girls. If you were to look into my fridge, you would see craft sodas, root beers and exotic fruits flavors being the most popular. What about you? Been hitting the wine harder?"

I knew from the cameras she was knocking almost a bottle a night out, far more than she drank when we lived together.

She blushed, surprising me by being honest. "Yes I have. I find it helps me get through the lonely nights. But I realized it, and I have been cutting back."

"Why would you be lonely? Lover boy is officially semi-single, why not go out and play? Scratch the itch, as it were."

She looked appalled. "Wouldn't that bother you?"

"No more than when you did it while we were still living together. As least you're legally separated and he's in the process of divorce, so the stigma will be considerably less."

She looked down, in shame, I hoped.

"We haven't been together in a long while. To be honest, the thrill is gone. The sex, especially since we had to sneak around to have it, was pretty good. I think now it was more the rush of a dirty little secret than the actual act. I know the few times after you found out it wasn't nearly as satisfying."

I knew Bob was long gone, taking a job in a small county half a state away. The pay was about two thirds of what he made here, and his child support was based on his old salary. Bet it was a strain, making those payments every week.

If she wanted to play, one of them would have to drive three hours, minimum.

"Besides," she said, "I know by now you know a lot more than you admit, so I'm sure you know he's out of the picture. To be honest, the thought of being with him again kind of turns my stomach. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't give him the time of day. He was nowhere near worth what he cost me."

"He didn't cost you a thing, Charlie. You racked up that bill when you threw him in my face and threatened to take everything away from me if I didn't agree to let you continue."

She was snuffling now, little sobs that threatened to turn bigger. For some reason it pissed me off.

"Stop it, Charlie! All the crying in the world isn't going to fix this. You must have come down here for a reason. What do you want?"

She raised her head, a surprisingly determined look on her face. "I want one thing. You. I want you back. I want you to snuggle me and nibble my ear like you used to and tell me everything will be just fine. I want you and the girls with me, all wrapped up in quilts on that big couch, eating popcorn and making fun of the movie we're watching, until they fall asleep, each holding onto one of us. I want to feel loved again, not empty and hollow, just marking days. I know my promises mean nothing to you now, but I'm begging you to give me a chance, to start fresh, to make it up to you."