Barry Fox

"So you never saw anything wrong with the way you manipulated these women?" Dr. Haverty asked.

"So I manipulated them. I gave them a fantasy and helped them live it out. They had great sex while they were with me and I'll bet it made them better wives too." I said.

"How do you think that made them better wives?"

"The guilt that they felt for cheating would make them be nicer to the husbands to make up for their screwing around with me." I said.

"That's an interesting idea. We may come back to that later," Dr. Haverty said. "What about the marriages that broke up because of your affairs?"

"There weren't that many and it was usually the woman's fault she got caught. I was always very careful to make sure I didn't do anything that would raise the suspicions of the husbands," I said.

"Did any of these women leave their husbands because they were dissatisfied with their marriages after they got involved with you?" She asked.

"Perhaps two or three," I said. "That's not my fault if their husbands couldn't satisfy them. I will admit that it would be hard for the husbands to compete with me."

"Why don't you tell me about Mrs. Harris now?" Dr. Haverty said.

So once again I began my narrative.

*****

Once I had told Tracy that I wanted her to meet me in the bar at the Marriott at seven o'clock Tuesday evening I didn't contact her again. I had told her that I was going to get there Monday but I drove up from Paducah on Tuesday.

After I checked into my room I called room service and had them send up a bottle of Champagne on ice and then I went down to the bar. There was only one other person in the bar when I got there so I ordered a beer and walked around the room. I found a table that looked like it would give us some privacy so I could start warming Tracy up before dinner. I went over to the bartender and asked if he could put a reserved sign on the table and then told him that I was meeting a woman here at seven o'clock.

I said, "If I am not here and a woman asks you if Barry Fox has been in, send her over to the table and tell her I will be there shortly."

The bartender said he would take care of it and I gave him a ten-dollar tip. Then I walked around to the far side of the bar where the only other patron was sitting. He was sitting there nursing a drink and he gave me a strange look as I sat down next to him. I ordered another beer and just to kill time, I struck up a conversation with the guy.

We mostly talked about baseball and then at 6:45 I ended the conversation. I said, "I have to run up to my room and get cleaned up for my date. I have a hot one meeting me here in fifteen minutes." I couldn't help bragging a little.

I went up to the room and made sure there was enough ice in the Champagne bucket. Then I shaved for the second time that day and put on a clean shirt. At seven o'clock I left my room and headed for the elevators.

I got to the bar just a few minutes after seven and I could see Tracy sitting at the table I had reserved. I knew from the way she was dressed that I was going to get laid. She was dressed in a short black cocktail dress with black stockings. The top of the dress showed enough cleavage to make my mouth water. She looked really hot.

I waited a couple more minutes before entering the bar. I walked to the table and leaned over to kiss Tracy but she turned her head at the last second and I had to be satisfied kissing her cheek. Tracy seemed more nervous than I expected.

"It's great to see you again Tracy," I said as I sat down.

"Barry, I'm sorry but there has been a change in my plans for this evening," Tracy said. I can't have dinner with you tonight."

This was a shock to me. I asked, "Why not?"

"I have to meet my husband for dinner at eight o'clock." She said just as a waitress came to ask for our drink order.

We ordered drinks and as soon as the waitress left the table I said, "Tracy. How could you let your husband screw up our plans for tonight?"

"My husband didn't plan this dinner, I did. I should never have agreed to me you in the first place. I don't know what I was thinking," she said.

I couldn't believe that all my planning was falling apart. I wasn't about to give up that easy. Her statement was a bit of a shock to my system and I suddenly had to pee.

"Tracy, I have to make a visit to the men's room. You will be here when I get back won't you?"

"I can stay another half hour but then I have to leave."

I was washing my hands and looking at myself in the mirror and said out loud, "What the fuck just happened?" When I couldn't answer that question myself I decided to go back and ask Tracy that question.

When I walked into the bar I saw a guy leaning over the table talking to Tracy. I thought, "What the hell is this? I leave the table for two minutes and some other guy starts hitting on her?'

I walked over to the table and said, "Hey man, she's with me... Is he bothering you, Tracy?"

The guy turned to face me and I recognized him as the guy I had been talking with at the bar earlier.

"Oh, it's you," I said. "Sorry but she is already taken. I told you I had a hot date tonight."

"That you did, Barry," he said.

I was sure I had never told him my name.

"How did you know my name?" I asked.

"Let me introduce myself," He said. "I am Allen Harris as in the Mr. Harris to her Mrs. Harris."

I thought, 'Oh shit,' and I stepped back from the table in case he took a swing at me.

"I am sorry, man. I didn't know," I said.

"Didn't know what?" He said. "That she was married or that I was the wimp that was supposed to be at home talking care of our children while you were seducing my wife?"

He looked over at Tracy and back at me.

"Why don't we sit down and have a little conversation," he said. I couldn't believe how calm he sounded.

I had encounters with jealous husbands before but none of them ever scared me the way this guy did. He seemed so calm but there was a fire in his eyes. It was like the fire from a gas torch, extremely hot but totally under control. I knew just by looking that this guy could kick the shit out of me, so I decide not to piss him off anymore than he already was.

"Listen, I don't want any trouble," I said. "I'll just leave and let you two work this out."

"Barry, stop worrying so much," he said. "There isn't going to be any trouble tonight so just sit down."

I sat down and he pulled a chair over from another table.

"Allen, this isn't what you think," Tracy almost shouted.

He stopped Tracy and said, "Tracy, I don't know what to think this is. I only know that it is not proper for a married woman to be on a date with a former lover."

He stopped Tracy from speaking again.

"I know what you want to say, that this was just going to be dinner between two old friends. I just can't accept that explanation. If that were true, I would have been invited to have dinner with the two of you and you would not have lied and told me you were going out with your girlfriends and if this was truly just dinner and conversation, you certainly would not have dressed like this. I have to say that you do look beautiful, which is very upsetting for me to think that you would dress this way for another man," he said.

I butted in and said, "That is all it was. I was just in town for the night and I didn't want to dine alone. There was nothing else to this."

He laughed at me. "There is no way you drove all the way from Paducah to Cincinnati and paid two hundred dollars for a hotel room just to have dinner with my wife," he said.

"I had to be here on business anyway so I gave Tracy a call..." I started to say but he cut me off.

"Barry, we both know that isn't true. Assistant warehouse managers don't take business trips now do they?" He said.

I was fucked. How did he know? Did Karen or Eva find out what I was up to and call him?

I just sat down and kept my mouth shout. After that Tracy's husband very calmly delivered a speech to her. I wasn't listening to him but I did hear him refer to me as a piss ant. I didn't like that but I figured that I better keep quiet.

When I heard Tracy begin to cry I decide to start listening to what he was saying to her.

"The next move is yours, Tracy. It is 7:30 now and I am going home. I will give you until 8:30 to get home. I think an hour should be long enough for you to say good-bye to Barry and get home by 8:30 but it is not enough time for much of anything else. If you are not home by 8:30 I will consider our marriage to be over. I don't want to waste any more of your time," he said, "so I'll get out of here. Maybe I'll see you at home Tracy."

He had given her an hour to get home. I wondered how much time that left for me to spend with her.

Tracy started to get up to go after her husband and yelled, "Allen, please don't leave now."

I grabbed her arm to keep her from going after him.

"Tracy, you can't go after him like this. He is too angry right now. I am afraid he might harm you. Let him go home and calm down," I said, trying to sound supportive.

Tracy looked at me and said. "I have to get home."

"How long will it take you to drive home?" I asked.

"Thirty-five to forty minutes at this time of day," she said.

"Okay then, you have twenty minutes to calm yourself down and let him calm down," I said. "You need to give him time to cool off."

"I don't have twenty minutes. It will take me ten minutes to get to my car. Oh God, I really screwed things up. I have to get out of here."

Tracy broke down and sobbed. I pulled her close to me and hugged her. She seemed to be getting herself under control until I kissed her. Then she bolted from the chair and said, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm sorry I was just trying to comfort you," I said.

"Well, don't. You are partly to blame for this, so just keep your distance."

"Okay. I am sorry," I said. "Please sit down. You can't drive in this condition. Why don't you finish your drink?"

"That's the last thing I need. My stomach is a mess. Alcohol is not what I need right now. I need my husband. I have to go."

"Tracy, look at me," I said. "Are you sure you want to drive in your condition?"

"I have to go," Tracy said and stood up and headed out of the bar.

I followed her out of the hotel and started down the street.

"Where is your car?"

"It's a couple of blocks from here in a parking garage."

I got in front of her and walked backwards as I kept talking to her. I was getting in Tracy's way to slow her down. I needed to get her attention so that I could get her to listen to what I was saying. At one point I put my hands on her shoulders to make her stop.

"Are you sure you should go home tonight? He was pretty angry. Aren't you afraid he might get violent when you get home?"

"I don't care what he does to me as long as I can save our marriage. I have to make him understand that there was no way I would ever have had sex with you!"

That was a slap in the face. She may have thought that was true but she did come to the hotel and she would have gone to bed with me if she hadn't changed her plans and decided to have dinner with her husband. Of course his showing up at the bar screwed everything up for both of us.

"Barry, stop slowing me down," she said and pushed me aside.

I could see that she was beginning to panic as we arrived at the parking garage. Tracy stopped just inside the entrance and looked around with a bewildered expression on her face.

"Oh God," she said. "I don't remember where I am parked."

"What kind of car are you driving?" I asked.

"A silver Honda Odyssey."

"That shouldn't be too difficult to spot." I said.

There weren't many cars in the garage so a mini van should be easy to spot. It took us a couple of minutes to check out the first level and verify that it wasn't there. Tracy was so upset that she was having trouble focusing. She was trying to remember where she parked the van.

"Did you have to drive up several levels when you got here or did you find a space right away?" I asked.

"Stop talking, I am trying to think," she said.

"I am just trying to help," I said.

"I know but you are making it harder for me to concentrate."

We walked up the stairs to the second level and spent a couple more minutes looking around there. No silver van. I could see that Tracy sensed that she was running out of time and not finding her van was making matters worse. By the time we got to the third level Tracy was crying and had to use a tissue to wipe her eyes every few seconds. There were so few cars on level three that we could see the whole level from the stair well entrance. I spotted the van to the left at the far end of the building along the same wall the stairwell was on. Before Tracy had a chance to look to the left I stepped in front of her and blocked her view.

"It's not on this level," I said as I pulled her back into the stair well and headed up to the fourth level. I looked at my watch as we stepped out onto level four. It was already eight o'clock. There was no way Tracy could get home on time now. Tracy saw me look at my watch and she asked what time it was. When I told her she said, "Shit!" Then she hurriedly looked around the lot and when she didn't spot the van we headed for level five.

We were just stepping out of the stairwell when Tracy yelled, "I remember now. I parked on level three."

She turned and started down the stairs. I guess she remembered exactly where it was because as soon as we got back down to level three Tracy turned to the left and started to run toward the van. I heard her saying, "How did we miss this when we looked here before?"

I chased after her and when we got to the van Tracy started to fumble around in her purse looking for her keys.

"Can you drop me back at the hotel?" I asked.

"I don't have time," she replied. "I would have to circle all the way around the block to head back to the hotel and then circle around again to get headed in the right direction to go home."

"Are you sure you really want to go home. He may throw you out anyway," I said. "Why not stay with me tonight?"

The look on Tracy's faced answered that question. As she pulled the keys from her purse she dropped them and I bent down and picked them up before she could.

"Give me the keys Barry," she said.

"First, you have to agree to see me the next time I come to Cincinnati."

"Barry I have to get home. Give me the Goddamn keys."

"Not till you agree."

"Barry, I never want to see you again. Now give me those keys!"

"If you won't see me again at least kiss me before you go."

"Why are you doing this to me?" She asked. "I am going to be late because of you."

"All you have to do is kiss me and the keys are yours." I said as I leaned my back against the van and held the keys over my head.

"Okay. Just one kiss then I am leaving," she said.

I couldn't help but smile at her as she came close to me. I bent forward to deliver a kiss that I hoped she would remember for a long time but in a flash I felt her knee make a violent connection with my balls. It was as though time froze for a moment. I didn't feel anything for three... four... five... seconds and then the pain hit. My legs turned to rubber and I slid down the side of the van to the floor and grabbed my crotch as Tracy bent down and ripped the keys from my hand.

"You bastard," she screamed at me. "You did this on purpose. You did everything you could to make sure I couldn't get home before 8:30 didn't you?"

"I think you may have caused some permanent damage to my balls," I moaned. "You need to take me to the hospital."

"Fuck you Barry. I hope your balls swell up like grapefruits and then fall off," she screeched at me.

Tracy grabbed me by the collar and dragged me away from her van. The she climbed into the van and squealed the tires as she drove away leaving me lying on the floor of the parking lot. I could not move for ten minutes and it was five minutes more before I could get up and start walking back to the hotel.

I guess I should have known better than to try and stop her. It was obvious that she was determined to go home to her husband and there was nothing I could do about that. My only hope was that I had managed to break up their marriage. That would at least give me some satisfaction after what happened to me.

*****

Dr. Haverty stopped me here.

"So you felt that you needed revenge on Tracy and her husband? Why? Because Tracy kicked you in the testicles?" She asked.

"Not just that," I said. "I drove four hours to get to Cincinnati and spent more than two hundred dollars on a hotel room because Tracy said she would have dinner with me but then Tracy canceled our dinner date ruining my plans for the evening. Then her husband shows up and intimidates and insults me. He called me a piss ant. Getting kicked in the balls was just the final straw."

"So you don't think that you had any responsibility for what happened?"

"What do you mean? If Tracy didn't want to get together with me all she had to do was say no when I asked her to meet me at the hotel. If she had said no I would have stayed home and none of that would have happened. I see it as being all Tracy's fault."

"So, were you successful in breaking up Tracy's marriage?" Dr. Haverty asked.

"No. The following day I decided to see if I could get Tracy to talk to me so I sent her an e-mail and didn't mention what happened in the parking lot. I tried to make it appear that I was not upset by what happened. The note read, "Sorry about the mess the other night. How did your husband know you were going to meet me in the hotel bar? Anyway, I will be back in Cincinnati in a month. Can we try and get together then?"

Tracy wrote back and said, "Agreeing to meet you was a big mistake and I don't plan to make that mistake again. I think I was able to save my marriage and I don't want to put it at risk again. Do not try to contact me again."

"How did you feel about that? About being rejected again," Dr. Haverty said.

"I don't know. I guess I was kind of expecting it. I was hoping to hear that they had a big fight and were splitting up. I still think that Karen and Eva had something to do with fucking this up for me."

"Since your meeting with Tracy have you had any other encounters with any women?" She asked.

"No. She was the last. Since then I can't even get a woman to talk to me. Until the night that bitch Aileen poured her frozen drink in my pants I had never gone more than five days without having sex with someone. Now it's been five months and my balls are starting to hurt."

"Barry. Let me review the outcome of all of your years of womanizing," Dr. Haverty said. Your wife divorced you, Eva, your rich girlfriend with the big house, kicked you out and you not only lost all of your lovers but they turned on you and contributed to the barryfoxisacreep.com web site. In addition to that you had a frozen margarita dumped inside your pants and you were kicked in the testicles by a woman you were sure would go to bed with you. Now you can't even get a date. Is that accurate?"

"That's about right," I said. "When you summarize it like that it sounds even worse than I had imagined."

"Why do you think you ended up here?" Dr. Haverty asked.

"In your office?"

"No. In the situation you are in now," she said. "Think about your life and how things have turned out. Why do you think this has happened to you?"

"It happened because those bitches Karen and Eva got together and decided to ruin my life."

"So you don't think that your actions, the way you treated all those women, had anything to do with the way things turned out?" Dr. Haverty said.

"I didn't do anything to those women that they didn't want. Karen should have been satisfied just divorcing me and Eva didn't lose anything so I don't know why the hell they had to ruin my life."