Bounced Check

It came in the mail two weeks ago, an envelope containing a monthly statement that changed my life completely. It showed a past due balance of $435.00 from The Woman's Health Clinic in our state capital.

It also raised a lot of questions in my mind as to why there should be a bill to begin with. We have great health insurance, paid for by my wife's employer and we never have to pay a dime in co-payments. If there was some thing wrong with my wife, why didn't she charge it to her insurer and tell me about it? This has to be a mistake, so I gave the clinic a call. The answer I got was totally unexpected.

"No sir," the bookkeeper explained to me, "it's no mistake. The patient was Margarita Simpson. I have a copy of her driver's license in front of me and it shows the address to where we sent the statement."

"But we never got the bill; I don't know what it was for."

"It was paid for by a third party when the procedure was done, but the check bounced. I have a copy of the bill here in front of me. It was for a D & C. $400.00 and the additional charges are $25.00 for the bounced check and $10.00 for late payment. Your wife wanted to pay with cash but we have been held up three times this year so we stopped taking cash. For some reason she didn't want to use her credit card or her personal check so a woman behind her in line volunteered to pay with her check and took the cash for herself."

Sure, I said to myself, we have joint banking and credit card accounts. She didn't want the Woman's Health Clinic showing up on our statements.

Then I asked, "What's a D & C?"

"It's a euphemism we use for an abortion; people don't like to see that word on their bill. I have her record here in front of me. She was ten weeks pregnant. There were no complications from the procedure. Would you like to pay for it now with your credit card before it incurs additional charges?"

An abortion? Ten weeks pregnant? I had a vasectomy after our fourth kid was born and that was years ago. How could she get pregnant? Of course I knew how, the old fashioned way, that's how. She had to be fucking around on me. I just sat there with the phone to my ear, not able to speak.

"Mister Simpson? Are you there? Hello."

"Oh, yes, I'm here." I was knocked for a loop, but I was here, just struck dumb by the revelation. "No, please send me a copy of the bill with a copy of the driver's license and I'll send you a check."

OK, but please send it promptly or I will have to charge another $10.00 at the end of the month."

A $10.00 late charge was the least of my worries. What the hell was going on with my wife? Maggie and I have been married for eighteen years. Eighteen good years, two kids in high school and two in middle school and I would have done it the same way all over again if given the chance. Why would she jeopardize a perfectly good marriage like that?

She works as sales person for a pharmaceutical company, she does missionary work. When the company comes out with a new drug or test kit, she goes out to all the hospitals to see their doctors and apprise them of the benefits of the new product. Several times a year she has to go to seminars at headquarters, to be educated enough to pass on the proper information. She was away from home and her office almost every working day. She has plenty of time and opportunity to cheat.

It was just a fluke that I got this statement instead of her. She was at headquarters today for an unusual overnighter; they had a lot of new product to push. Usually she brings in all the mail since she is almost always home before I am. Doctors don't like to stay later than they have to, so she rarely has to make a sales call after four o'clock. So I decided to wait until the bill came from the clinic to see what she would do about it. As expected, she never told me that it came.

A week after I got the statement I placed it in front of her. She paled when she got a good look at it. "What is this for she asked?"

"It's a statement for an unpaid bill."

"Why are you showing it to me?"

"It's addressed to you."

"Oh yes, I didn't notice. It must be a mistake, I'll call the about it."

"Didn't you get a bill from them?"

"No, why should I get a bill, I don't know what this is for. I told you, I'll call them and straighten this out."

"You don't have too; I already called and told them we never got the original bill. They said they would send a copy. Did you get the copy?

Her demeanor changed from trying to play dumb, she changed to trying to bluff it out. I could almost see the wheels spinning in her head. I didn't give her a chance to regroup.

I asked, "What's a D & C?"

"Nothing to worry about, just a woman's problem. It hit me when I was at headquarters so I just took care of it there instead of waiting until I came home."

"Why didn't you let our insurance pay for it? That's why we have the insurance."

"I didn't want you to know that I was having a problem so I paid for it with cash. "

"The clinic said it was paid with a check that bounced.

"I don't know anything about that?"

"Maggie, you are tripping all over yourself telling me lies. Let's go back. Why were you at that clinic?"

All I got in reply was stubborn silence.

"It was to have an abortion, wasn't it?"

That was when the tears started but that was all the answer I got.

"We both know it wasn't my child you killed, we know it couldn't be. We also know that means that you have been cheating on me. The question is, was it a one time thing or an affair. Was it one guy or a series of one time stands?"

That brought on a bout of hysteria and I could see that I wasn't going to get anything out of her at the moment. She ran off and locked herself in our bedroom.

I went into the family room to think. I knew our marriage was over, I wasn't going to be her cuckold and I wasn't going to countenance her fucking around. It was just too God damned complicated. Four kids, one ready to enter college. How the hell was I going to handle the expense of a divorce and loss of her income? How could she do this to me, to us?

We have a pull out bed in the family room and I slept there in my underwear. I woke, in the morning, to the clatter of Maggie making breakfast. I walked right past her on my way to our bedroom, neither of us saying a word. No kiss good morning,

In the bustle of breakfast, with none of the kids seeming to notice that all the conversations were between themselves and their parents, but none between Maggie and me. The kids finally left and we were left with a crushing silence. Maggie was at the sink finishing the dishes her back was to me.

I saw her stiffen when I asked, "Are we going to talk about this?"

"I don't have time; I have an early appointment,"

"What's more important, your appointment or your marriage?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Because if I don't know any more than I know now, then my first stop on my way to work will be at a lawyer's to hire him to file for divorce on the grounds of adultery."

"But you can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because I love you and our family, I don't want a divorce."

"Maggie, you were carrying another man's child. You aborted it. Does he know what you did?"

"No, of course not, I never told him I was pregnant. He's Catholic and would never have let me do that."

"But you let him fuck you. How long has this been going on?"

Tears were falling down her face again; she shook her head, meaning she didn't want to answer. But I was insistent.

"How long Maggie?"

No answer. I rose to my feet and started for the door.

"Almost six months," she hastily blurted out.

Six months. That stopped me in my tracks. Six months, and I never had a clue. How blind could I have been not to see that? I was blinded by my love and trust in her, that's how. Then I had to ask the question I knew would hurt me because now I knew why our love life had slackened of late.

"How often?"

"Please Jerry." she pleaded. I turned to leave again.

"Once or twice a week," she hastily answered.

Once or twice a week for six months! Thirty or forty times! Jesus, he was getting more pussy than I was!

"Any overnights?"

"Once, I told you it was a seminar. That's when I think I got pregnant."

Sure, they must have been fucking like rabbits. No need for a one shot quickie, just fuck all day. He just forgot put on a rubber once or twice or probably he just ran out because he used up his supply.

Once again I turned to leave and once again she stopped me.

"Where are you going? What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to see our lawyer and get his recommendation for a good divorce attorney. I want to see what my options are."

"Please don't do that. I told you I love you, I don't want a divorce."

"You love me? Do you love him too?"

No....Yes...Maybe....But not like I love you. I'll give him up. I'll never see him again."

She'll give him up? Never see him again.? Damn, even after her abortion, she hadn't stopped fucking him.

"When were you supposed to see him again?"

She didn't answer, her embarrassment was written on her face. I could tell, he was her early morning appointment! She had been planning to see him and still wanted to fuck him again. That made up my mind, she just said she wouldn't see him again but she would have kept her date with him.

"Call him."

"I don't know if he is available."

"Call him now. You're late for your date. He'll be available. Call him now and tell him it's all over."

I listened to her side of the conversation.

"Hello Brian.........No, I can't make it today.........No,......Never again.......I can't see you anymore........Don't say that..........Yes it was good..........But my husband knows......No, I love him........No, please don't make this any more difficult......I'm sorry....Goodbye Brian........No, don't call me again........Goodbye.

There were tears in her eyes when she put down the phone

"Who is he?" I demanded

"Please Jerry, its over. You heard me tell him, never again."

"WHO.... IS.... HE?"

I was shouting at her. I don't think she ever saw me so angry. She flinched as if I was about to strike her. I had never raised a hand to her the whole time we have been married but I wasn't sure that I could control myself either. The tears were streaming down her face again.

"WHAT'S HIS NAME?"

"Brian," was her answer and then she continued, when she saw the look on my face, knowing that that that was insufficient, "Brian Costello."

"When and where did you meet him?"

"At the hospital, St. Mary's, he's a nurse there. I had made a call on a doctor and I stopped in the cafeteria for lunch. It was crowded and I was seated at a table alone. He couldn't find a place to sit so he asked if I could share it with him. I couldn't refuse a reasonable request like that so he sat down and we got to chatting. I finished before him and left, never thinking of him again.

I was back there again several weeks later, when I again went to the cafeteria for lunch. This time it was I who was looking for a place to sit.. He saw me and called to me and invited me to join him and I accepted. We talked as we ate and I told him I was there showing a test kit we had developed that nurses were qualified to administer. He asked me to show it to him. But it was too busy and crowded there in the cafeteria so he took me upstairs to an empty private room.

I began to take out my demonstration model when he whirled around and he kissed me. I protested, but his mouth covered mine and his tongue filled my mouth. I'm sorry Jerry, but I responded to him. I know, we have been married for eighteen years, but we pretty much take each other for granted. I love you, I really do, but his eagerness and his desire for me was just overwhelming. I succumbed to his passion, I let hem make love to me. I admit it, I got carried away. I forgot all my responsibilities and my duty to you and our family and I made love to him. Just like I did to you on our honeymoon.

It happened so fast that I never really had time to think, to realize what I had done until he left me. He had to get back to work. It was then when the guilt hit me, when I realized how I had betrayed you. To make up for my behavior I came on to you every night that week. If you remember, we even joked about how horny I was. You asked if I was trying to fuck you death so I could collect on your insurance."

She had stopped her narration, the tears had stopped too. She was looking down at her hands; she couldn't raise her eyes to look at me. She was wringing her hands. She had stopped her confession.

"Why did you stop? I asked.

"Because this is the bad part."

"The bad part? What has it been up until now? A fairy tale to put me to sleep? What could be worse than what I heard?"

"I didn't see him for several weeks so I called him."

"You called him? Why?"

"All the love making with you was making me want him again. My mind was filled with thoughts of him, of what he did to me. I just wanted to experience it one more time but......then, I couldn't stop going back. It was exciting."

"I don't understand."

"Don't get me wrong, making love to you is wonderful, you always take me to completion. You're tender and caring and that's why I love you."

"But?"

"There is none of the fire, the passion, the desire, that he shows me. He needs me, he wants me, and he can't keep his hands off of me. He makes me feel young and desirable again. I couldn't get him out of my mind. I was infatuated with him, with the way he made love to me."

"So, he's better than me."

"No, no, just so different, not better." and then she added with a wistful smile on her face, "and he can do it more times than you can."

"More times? How old is this paragon?"

"He's........ twenty three."

Twenty three? Holy shit, no wonder we are back to once or twice a week. I'm forty one with an expanding waist line and loosing my hair. How in world do I compete with a young stud?

"When did you have time for these multiple romps?"

"He works in the emergency room. He took the night shift permanently. We met during the day at his place.

"How many times a week did you say?"

Now she was really embarrassed, "Two or three."

God Damn! I was the one getting sloppy seconds or maybe she was just throwing me mercy fucks. Two or three times a week? Two or three times every time they met? He had to have fucked over two hundred times in less than six months. I had had it. There was no way I could stand still for this. I just turned and left.

I could hear her calling after me, "Don't go. I told you every thing honestly. Tell me you forgive me. I love you."

But I couldn't forgive her. The wound was too deep. Her affair had gone on too long and she had continued it even after her abortion. I saw the lawyers and set the wheels in motion.

I didn't want to screw her on the financial settlement. We lived in a rented condo apartment so the split was easy, I wanted the condo and there was no alimony. The kids stayed with me because they were pissed off at her for how she betrayed us, so there was no child support. She had contributed as much to our marriage as I had so we went for irreconcilable differences and a fifty-fifty split of the little savings we had left. That left all but the bill from the clinic. I threw it on the table after all the other negotiations were finished declaring, "I'm not paying half of this."

Because of all the aggravation caused by our separation and divorce the bill had never been paid. It was now up to $495.00 and came with a threat of turning it over for collection. So Maggie not only got screwed by Brian but also by the woman who took her money.

It didn't even end there; she had spent so much time in his bed during her working hours that the sales in her territory fell off. When her company did an audit on her sales log they found out that she had been falsifying her entries by listing sales calls that she never made. She was fired.

She had moved in with Brian after being served with the divorce papers but that only lasted until she lost her job and couldn't continue paying her way. Or, maybe because the thrill of new and illicit sex wore off. Or more than likely, because he found younger and fresher pussy. She was after, all fifteen years older than him.

I see her occasionally, mostly when something is going on with the kids. But less often at chance meeting at parties or social events. She even intimated that she would like to get back together with me again, but there's no chance of that. She got another job but not nearly as good as the one she once had and she lives alone in a studio apartment. She has let herself go and put on weight. She doesn't look near as good as she used to either.

As for Brian, there wasn't much I could do about him. She only lived with him for a few months and when they parted he left town for a job at the hospital at the State University Medical Center. Plenty of young pussy there.

I still envy him.......two or there times every time they fucked? I never could do that!