Every Picture Tells a Story

The email popped up all over town, to relatives, friends, housewives, professionals, factory workers, doctors, lawyers, educators, priests and preachers, even Facebook friends, all they had in common were Amy Taylor and/or Josh Long.

"Hi!" it read, "I'm Ben Taylor, husband of Amy, your daughter, sister, friend, and coworker."

"I know most of you don't know me, and I thank you for your time. I have information to share about my loving wife and her friend, information some of you already have, some of you suspect. I've decided to remove all doubt and share what I have. Most won't like it. Some will hate it, more will hate me, but it's a price I'm willing to pay. Please see first attachment."

A picture popped up of Amy and Josh fully clothed but still kissing passionately.

"A Prelude" the caption read.

"This was taken at her company picnic three months ago. They thought they were being careful, but a friend of mine was looking for his kids, and saw them. He snapped several pictures and gave them to me, thinking I'd need them. What a good friend, and I'm not being facetious."

"I'm ashamed that after that I was the classic insecure husband. I had to know, even if it killed me. And it did."

"Killed me, I mean. Our promises to each other, and God, in front of friends and family, meaningless. Negated by lust, I hate to think it was love."

"Of course, I beat myself up wondering why. Maybe it was the long periods I left her alone while my Seal team and I did covert ops for the CIA. No, wait, I've never been in the military, and the only seals I know are the ones that sun themselves in the harbor."

"Maybe it was because of the time I left her alone when I traveled on business. That can't be right, I never travel on business. And I work almost no overtime, I'm home by five thirty at the latest, every night."

"It must be the neglect from all my hobbies, running off and leaving her and the kids alone while I enjoy myself, missing birthdays, holidays, anniversaries... Nope, that's out. The only hobby I had was trying to make her happy. She seemed to enjoy the little surprise gifts and getaways, and she had to keep an eye on me to make sure I didn't go overboard on these occasions. And thankfully as it turns out, we hadn't gotten around to having kids."

"I wasn't cruel to her mentally or physically, I didn't neglect her, always made sure she knew I loved her, spent as much time as possible with her. Luckily she had a job, or she would never had time to be with Josh. It helped tremendously that he was her boss, made their little get togethers pretty easy during the day."

"I was shattered when I got proof positive. It was a little expensive, probably illegal, but I never planned to use it in a court of law. I decided to plead my case in the court of public opinion."

"Ah. Proof of what you say? Why their affair, of course. The next attachments are pretty graphic, so don't open them if you think it will offend you."

The next two images popped up. The first was a picture of Amy taken at a downward angle. She was looking up, lovingly, while her mouth was filled with cock. She's Really Good At This was the caption.

The second was of them having sex doggy style, with a split screen leaving no doubt he was buried into her ass. Their faces portrayed lust and happiness. What She Wouldn't Do For Me was the title.

"Sorry if I offended you, but I wanted to remove all doubt. Why would I show you those pictures? Because I filed for divorce using irreconcilable differences, not adultery. Now I've avoided most of the sympathetic looks, the occasional smirks from assholes of both sexes who knew already, and the inevitable conversations. You know what I mean."

All her friends asking if I'm sure this is what I want, it was a mistake, get counseling, she's sorry, it will never happen again, try to get over it. Her mom, who I loved as much as my own mom, won't try to guilt me into a sit down, or her father, who I respect but never really liked, trying to talk some sense into me. I apologize to all of you for being caught in this mess. My firmest desire is that you leave me alone. This is strictly between my wife and me."

"Well, not entirely. I do have Josh to consider. I have to apologize to his wife Sunny, you shouldn't have had to deal with it, or your two kids. They're what, eight and five now? Maybe he'll change, maybe you can forgive him. It's your choice."

"And I apologize to his company and the upper management, for dragging through them through the upcoming lawsuit. After all, all their joining were at their office. I guess purchasing knows the reason now he had a couch put in to his office. Just a tip, if you give the couch to someone else, make sure it's thoroughly cleaned first."

"I know I can't use the pictures, but all my lawyer has to do is depose their coworkers. I doubt seriously they'll take a fall for the company. All in all, and a lot of people will lead pretty miserable lives for awhile."

"So, to wrap it up, this is why I did it like this. To remove all doubt, and to keep from wasting time. After all, every picture tells a story, doesn't it? Amy will be served with divorce papers. That should happen any minute now. I'm going to try a build a new life without her."

"Amy, I'm sorry I wasn't enough. If you had come to me at the beginning, said you had feelings for someone else and left, it would have devastated me. But I would have respected you. Instead, you were the classic cake eater, wanting to have it while you continued to consume it. Well, the cake is gone, Amy, I'm pretty sure you're going to have a pretty bad case of indigestion."

"Then again, maybe not. Maybe you're glad I found out, so your lover and you can run off into the sunset. Whatever. You and I are done. I've moved out of the house, took what I wanted. The rest is all yours."

"All contact will be through my lawyer, it is my steadfast wish to never speak to me again. I don't want an explanation. I don't want to know why. I don't want to hear talk about second chances, because they're not even going to be considered. Go away, Amy, leave me alone."

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

The whole office heard Amy scream, before she slid out of her chair in a dead faint. Her coworkers rushed to her aid. Unfortunately, she had fainted at the image of Josh buried in her ass. Soon the buzz started, after one of the receptionists found the email and opened it. Work pretty much ground to a standstill.

Josh was unaware of what was happening, and was surprised to see the Human Resources director standing in his door.

"Is it true?" he asked without any preamble.

"Is what true?" Josh asked, not knowing what he was talking about. The director came in, slamming the door.

"Is it true that you and Amy were having an affair? Here? In the office?"

Josh went pale. The director thought he might pass out. That pretty much confirmed it. Too bad, he had always liked Josh.

"You idiot! Do you any idea of the damage you two have done? Most of our biggest clients are religious charities. How do you think they'll feel knowing two of our senior people were committing lewd acts on company time and property?"

He paused, out of breath, before continuing.

"I just left a conference with upper management. The CEO called, demanding verification. He's already had a call from the Archbishop, the President of the Baptist charities, and Rabbi Friedman. Things are not looking so good."

Again he paused, looking at Josh.

"I want you out of here in fifteen minutes. You're suspended, pending investigation. No, wait thirty minutes. Amy is being escorted out as we speak. And I take it you haven't seen it, go to you email, look at the one from her husband."

He turned without another word, slamming the door again on the way out

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

His fingers trembled when he hit the button. When he got to the picture of him buried in her ass, he got physically sick, vomiting in his trash can.

It was just supposed to be fun, just a one off with no one the wiser. But they both liked it so much they kept on, promising each other their spouses would never find out.

Sunny must be devastated, he thought. Then it him.

"Oh My God! Sunny!" he actually screamed aloud, before hitting her number. He was surprised when she actually answered. Maybe she hadn't seen it yet. She seemed calm.

"is it true?" she asked, in a cold, emotionless voice.

"Is what true, honey?"

"Josh, you have one chance to tell me the truth. One. Deny it, or I catch you in a lie, and the lawyers will do our talking. Now, is it true?"

He felt the walls closing in. He really did love her. And he also knew he had no choice.

"I'm so sorry, Honey. Yes it is, but....."

She cut him off.

"I'm packing two suitcases for you, your favorite things. They'll be in the garage, please come and get them while I pick JJ up from school. I'd leave myself, but one of us has to be the responsible adult here. They're children involved, after all. Until I decide what I want to do, I'll tell them you had to go away on business. Understand something, if I decide not to try to salvage this, you get to tell them why daddy doesn't live here anymore. They won't really understand right now, but a few years down the road they'll get it. I hope it doesn't turn them away from you. I'm going now, don't try to contact me. If I decide, I'll call you."

There was a few seconds of silence. Then the scream came.

"Damn you!" she wailed, hanging up. He stared at the phone like it was a snake before dropping it. It rang immediately. He looked at the name. Amy.

"Hello?" he said hesitantly.

All he heard was crying and snuffling for a minute, then she spoke, in a voice so tiny he almost didn't recognize it.

"Josh, Josh, what are we gonna do? He's my life. We were going to try for a baby next year. I can't lose him, I can't."

He felt terrible sadness for about the twentieth time that day. What had they done?

"I feel the same way about Sunny. But honestly, Amy, I don't see a happy ending for either of us. If we had been in love, we could have embraced our freedom and be together. But while we like each other, we didn't want to be together. You know our jobs are toast, if not now then soon. Sunny threw me out, I don't know if we'll ever be together again. I'm sorry about Ben. Do you think if I talked to him, tell him there was no love, that we didn't mean to it would help? I'll do it."

"No! I think the best thing you can do right now is stay as far away from us a possible. Every time he looks at you he'll remember what we did. He's never been violent, but he's never been hurt this bad before. I'll talk to you later, if you think it's a good idea."

He thought carefully.

"No. I don't think it's a good idea. All either one of them has to do is find out we're communicating and it would undermine everything we're trying to repair. I'm sorry it came to this, Amy. You know I never wanted you hurt."

"I feel the same way. I hope you can work it out with Sunny, I know how much you love her. I can't believe we were ever this stupid. Goodby Josh, and good luck. I think we're both going to need it.

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

Amy got home. She knew he wouldn't be there, but she hoped against all odds. It was the same house, the same furniture, the same pictures on the wall. But it seemed hollow and empty, and she knew why. A quick check of the closets revealed that all his things were gone. She looked farther, going into his storage shed and workshop. They had been stripped, all the tools removed.

She wondered when he had had the time to do it, and then remembered she never went into them. They could have been gone for weeks and she would never had known. She looked for a note, any kind of message, but felt nothing.

She sat down at the kitchen table, in her regular chair, and looked sadly at his empty place. She lowered her head to the table, and for the first time that day, but not the last in the days to come, she cried.

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

True to his word, Ben never spoke to her again. He refused conferences. He refused to go to court ordered counseling, presenting himself to the jail at the time he was to meet at their office, to serve his contempt of court charge. Confused, the police took his statement that he was willing to go to jail, and sent him home, since no warrant had been issued. The judge took a dim view and had him jailed the following weekend, letting him out on Sunday night so he could work. He spent three weekends in jail before Amy finally conceded to a lost cause and cancelled the sessions.

It took almost a year for the divorce to go through. Amy still hoped against hope he would come back to her, but when her mother saw the announcement of his upcoming wedding, she gave up. The day of his wedding she got drunk, the first time in two years.

Time may not heal all wounds, but it does make the pain bearable. She finally started dating again. She had two serious relationships that ended when she told them about her past, before she finally met a man that loved her enough to consider her past her past, and to concentrate on her future. She married him and they were happy. She was very careful in her dealings with other men, especially where she worked. They called her the nun, because she never went out for a social drink, and she hardly spoke to men except professionally.

The only thing that marred her happiness was seeing Ben once, by accident, two years after she married. He had moved out of town, after receiving an undisclosed amount from her old company, settling, desperate that it not go to court.

He was back in town for the twenty fifth anniversary party being given for his sister and her husband. She saw him by accident, sitting on a park bench. She wasn't sure at first it was him. He was thinner than she remembered, and his hair had a touch of gray. She was at a stoplight, and decided she wanted to talk to him, hopefully to finally apologize for her actions.

She changed her mind when a tall woman with flaming red hair walked up, with a boy that couldn't have been more than two and a little girl about six or seven. The girl had her mothers' red locks, while the boy had dark hair.

The girl jumped into his lap while she picked the smaller child up. He rose, carrying the girl, kissed the woman, and walked away.

Amy was surprised to feel the tears, then realized she had looked at a future that should have been hers. She wiped the tears, and went home to fix her husband his favorite dinner.

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

Josh and Sunny managed to reconcile, after fifteen months of living apart. She made him go through counseling, alone and jointly, and sign a pretty harsh postnupt. He apologized so much she finally lost patience and told him if he said he was sorry one more time he was gone for good.

He was a changed man. He rarely went anywhere without her or his children. He worked hard, his new job didn't pay anywhere nearly as well as his old one, but because of his hard work he received promotions and bonuses. It still took him six years to return to his old level. Sunny had to take a job to make ends meet, and she refused to quit when they reunited. It broke his heart when she sometimes went out for drinks after work, or when she left for the quarterly training seminars her job required. She never did anything remotely unseemly, but her steadfast refusal to talk about them bothered him greatly, a emotion she secretly got a lot of satisfaction from. Their life was nowhere near what it was before, but they worked towards building a better one, for them and their children.

Josh figured it up once. They had had sex about twelve times, thirty to forty five minutes on average. Using the high figure, it came out to about nine hours, balanced against years of his family suffering and the destruction of Amy's marriage.

Was it worth it?

"HELL NO!"

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

As always, I thank you taking time and reading this story. It was based on two friends who pretty much did the same thing, with the same consequences.

Q