Fit to be Tied

"No. I think he probably thinks I am cheating on him. And looking back I should have put it together before all of this happened."

'What do you mean?"

"Two weeks ago after we played, I took a shower in the downstairs bath to avoid waking Donny. When I was halfway up the stairs, I realized that I had forgotten to bring my dirty clothes to the laundry hamper. I figured I'd get them in the morning since Donny never uses that bathroom. In the morning when I went to shower, I couldn't find any towels in the en suite bath. I went to get one from downstairs and saw my clothes, and took them to the hamper. My panties were missing."

"Why would he take your panties?"

"At first I couldn't remember if I had hidden them or if maybe I threw them in the hamper. Now I think about it they were messy and if he found them he might have taken them to use as evidence."

"And looking back my behavior had to look suspicious. The rope was leaving marks so I got to the point where I wouldn't let him see me naked or without long sleeved shirts on. I might as well have had "Hey! I'm sneaking around!" tattooed on my forehead.

Brett's mind went back to the day after one of their play sessions. He had gone into the office later than usual since he'd had no appointments until noon. Kate as usual had been gone long before he got up, so he cleaned the apartment. He had everything done except for vacuuming the living room carpet.

He liked to do that last so that it would be pristine when he returned from work. He got ready for work and vacuumed the floor, leaving the vacuum next to the door when he left. When he returned that evening he could see that someone had walked across the room.

He looked all over the apartment and found nothing missing. The only thing out of place at all was the carpet. On closer inspection it even looked like someone had moved his roll top desk, but he could fathom no reason why someone would. The only thought that struck him was that Kate might have come home for some reason during the day, but it didn't make sense that the walking seemed to be to his bedroom and the desk.

He'd planned to ask Kate about it but he remembered that she'd gone to Laramie Wyoming for three days. By the time she got back he had forgotten all about the carpet, but he knew that when he got home this evening he'd look the apartment over and talk to Kate if she happened to be up.

He didn't want Jesse to worry so he kept the carpet tracks to himself. "So what is your plan of attack?"

"I'm hoping to talk to Donny. If I explain what we were doing he'll see that we never had sex. He might be mad that I didn't talk about this before, but he'll see I'm not a cheat and we'll work through it in therapy if need be."

"Therapy would be an excellent avenue to get him to understand you. My roomie actually specializes in sexually dysfunctional couples. Maybe she would handle it."

"Where's her practice?"

"She doesn't practice. She builds buildings. She stopped actively seeing clients when a couple of the male clients became infatuated with her and sabotaged their marriages. The wives sued her. She was exonerated in both cases but she got out of the business. She still privately counsels a few of old clients through rough spots, so maybe she'll do me a favor here and help you."

They talked idly until Leslie returned. "I couldn't get your stuff Jess. I started unlocking the door when the dogs started barking. I'm sorry but I didn't want to chance being bitten."

"Donny wasn't there?"

"No. He's probably out with whatever tramp he's leaving you for."

"I doubt he's leaving me for a tramp. After I talk to him I doubt he'll be leaving me at all."

*****

"She what?" Donny screamed into his phone. Most of his work crew tuned their attention elsewhere. They knew what he was going through and gave him space and understanding.

"God damn it Joe, you told me we wouldn't have to do that."

"Fight it damn it. What the fuck am I paying you for?"

"If it needs to be done; fine. Just make sure I don't have to be there."

He hung up the phone and yelled "Shit!" as he sent the phone flying into the side of the Ready Mix truck waiting to deliver its load to the foundation crew that Donny was checking up on.

Rick came over and picked up the pieces of the phone and handed them to Donny.

"Are you sure you don't want to take some time off until this shit is over?" he asked.

"I'm positive. Damn it! It does look like I need to buy another damn phone though. Fucking bitch."

"What's going on now? You offered her everything you thought she'd want. What's the hold up?"

"She keeps changing what she wants. I offered her everything but my share of this business; next the cunt will want the business. Joe says mediation is just about unavoidable now."

"First she wanted counseling."

"Yup. But Joe convinced them I would never get a fair shake with any counselor since they are all in cahoots. Sure he painted me like a paranoid conspiracy theorist, but it worked.'

"Now she keeps upping her demands every time to give her what she wants. I think she just wants to get you face to face. Samantha thinks so too."

"I'm sure that's what she wants. I just can't stand the thought of looking at her; man. I think she's crushed me quite enough and I don't mean to give her opportunity to grind me with her heel. I'm heading over to get a phone. Hopefully I'll be back before lunch."

"Take all the time you need. I've got a handle on it."

Donny got into his truck and headed for the nearest wireless store. Deep inside he knew that he'd have to face Jesse before this divorce was all over. His attorney Joe Lepone had made all of the necessary court appearances so far so that he wouldn't have to see her.

So while Donny was buying a new phone, Joe was in court fending for him. It had taken a week of motions and argument to get the judge to relent on the counseling. Since then though, Jesse's demands kept getting more and more unreasonable.

Donny had offered her three quarters of the bank account and savings, and 60% of the proceeds from the sale of the house. Jesse had then demanded 90% of all accounts and her retention of the house, or going through with the counseling.

When Joe returned to the conference room and told them that Donny had agreed to the 90%. Jesse then demanded 60% of the business as well as $3500 a month in alimony for fifteen years.

Joe didn't say a word and walked out into the hall to call Donny. He was about to dial when Jesse's attorney Anne Isaacs came out of the room and approached him.

"Look Joe. We both know that this isn't going anywhere. I can't talk my client into any reason. All she wants is to talk to your client. If he will meet with her, on his terms, as long as it's a minimum of 30 minutes, my client will drop the ridiculous demands and sign the original offer."

"I can't promise anything, but I will strongly advise him to take that deal."

"OK Joe. I don't want this to go to mediation if we can help it."

Joe smiled to himself as he dialed Donny's number and Anne returned to the room.

Inside the conference room Anne and Jesse patiently waited.

"I hope he takes my offer. Once he talks to me I'm sure the whole thing will be dropped and we can get on with healing our relationship."

"Me too. If we end up in mediation you could end up paying him alimony."

"It's not about alimony, property, or the business. It's about him hearing me out. He thinks I cheated and I didn't. Once I explain it to him he'll have to drop the petition."

Anne looked through her appointment book to see what she had going on later. She didn't think Jesse would get her face to face. She fully expected Joe to come through the door and tell them to get bent and go file for mediation.

She was quite shocked when Joe came in and said, "We have a deal. I am meeting with him later on and will fax you the stipulations as soon as I can. And the deal is she keeps her money, he keeps his and they split the house 50-50, correct?"

"Yes that is correct counselor," replied Anne.

Jesse broke into tears as Joe left the room. Anne patted her back and said, "Ok, you get your half hour. Make the most of it. I'll call you when I have the details."

Three hours later Joe looked at the man sitting across from him as if he'd just said he wanted to ass-fuck the president of Iran.

"Donny, I have to warn you. While you do enjoy attorney client confidentiality, I am obligated to report any fore knowledge of a crime. Now knowing that are you sure this is the way you wish to proceed?"

"Absolutely. And no worries Joe, I am not going to harm a soul. But I am going to enjoy someone's discomfort a hell of a lot."

Joe then had his assistant type Donny's stipulations and fax them to Anne. They now had the time and place. Joe and Donny were keeping the attending therapist's identity secret until the day of the session. They didn't want Jesse to have a chance to pre arrange anything with the doctor.

"And you're sure you aren't going to cause anyone harm, I mean this sounds insane to me."

"Joe, all I want is to be away from that cheating whore permanently. And this is the last thing she'd ever expect me to do."

Ten minutes later across town Anne's assistant Carrie called Jesse to inform her of the date and time of the counseling session. When Jesse asked who the therapist would be, Carrie informed her that she wouldn't find out until the session began.

Jesse hung up and cried tears of joy. She was positive that once Donny heard her side of the story, he'd drop the divorce. She never thought he'd join in rope play with her, but he might allow her to explore that avenue. She went to sleep full of hope for the first time in months.

*****

Jesse sat in the conference room fighting the urge to run to the lavatory to make sure for the hundredth time that her hair and make-up were perfect. Anne patted her shoulder, "Calm down Hun. You're acting like a nervous teen before prom."

"I feel like a nervous teen before prom. Are you sure my hair looks ok?"

"Jesse, you'll have to beat him back with a stick. You look incredible."

Jesse was looking at her watch, as she had done every twenty seconds or so for the previous ten minutes, when the door opened. She was immediately disappointed to see Donny's attorney enter the room without Donny.

"Did he weasel out of this somehow?" she asked with her voice rising in pitch with every word.

"Relax Ms. Hudson, he just ran to the bathroom." Jesse bristled a bit at being called by her professional name by her husband's attorney. It symbolized to her that Mr. Lepone didn't believe that she could save her marriage.

He sat and pulled out a yellow legal pad which he set face down in front of the chair next to him. A few minutes later Donny came into the room. Jesse jumped up and almost ran to him, but Anne grabbed her in the last instant. Jess took her seat again with a reddened face.

She hadn't physically seen him since before being served with the divorce papers. She had since realized that he had been avoiding her in the days leading up to it. She often chastised herself for being so caught up in what she and Brett were doing that she had missed all signals that her husband was less than happy.

Reality had come crashing down on her three days after she'd been served. She heard her phone playing "Unchained Melody." That had been her ring tone for Donny. She wasn't sure what to say, but she answered the phone anyway.

"Hello?"

"Look Jess, I am going to make this short." His voice had the same sound as her depression patients' voices did. Before she could voice her concern he pressed on. "I have moved all of my things out of the house, so you might as well stay there until it is sold. I have the dogs with me so you won't have to deal with them."

"Why are you doing this?" she asked. She was dismayed to hear the tremors in her voice. "Is there someone else?"

"You know there is. But no one for me. I hope you and he are happy together, I'm sorry I wasn't enough for you."

"I don't have anyone else baby."

"Yeah and I don't have pictures of you with some fat fucking dork." He paused as his to collect himself. "Look, stay in the house or don't. I'm not there so you can use it. Good bye Jess, I hope Frodo was worth it."

She opened her mouth to protest but he'd hung up. He knew about her games with Brett. He didn't know though that she had never let Brett have sex with her. All she had to do was explain that to him and she knew he'd forgive and they could move on.

"You are looking well Jess." Donny said as he approached the table. He then offered his hand to Anne. "You must be Ms. Isaacs," he said as she shook the offered hand.

"We seem to all be here except your chosen counselor Mr. Bauer."

"He should be here in five minutes. He was given specific instructions not to show up until he knew we were all here."

"May I inquire as to all of the secrecy surrounding the counselor Mr. Bauer?"

"Isn't it obvious? I didn't want Jess to pre ordain him with her opinions and viewpoints. He'll come in here as unbiased as I can hope to get. Now," he said as he flipped the legal pad over, "Ms. Isaacs and Mr. Lepone. Would you be so kind as to exit the room? I believe you can get the paperwork finalized now that you are assured that I will fulfill my end of the bargain."

"Paperwork?" asked Jesse. "What if we decide to not get divorced?"

"In that event the paperwork won't be turned over to the courts," said Anne, but the look on Donny's face was anything but re-assuring to Jesse.

As soon as the door closed Jesse felt completely alone. She was just about to start talking when the side door opened. If the president had walked through the door she couldn't have been more surprised.

She hadn't talked to Brett in a few days. He had approached Kate about counseling Jesse and Donny, but Kate had turned the idea down. It seemed she was helping one of her co-workers through a rough patch and didn't want this on her plate too.

Brett had told her he'd talk to her when it was done if she needed a friend. And now here was Brett walking through the door. The look of surprise on his face mirrored her own. She then looked at Donny and saw a blank expression.

"Please Dr. Wilson, have a seat," Donny said as an astonished Brett sat at the head of the table. As soon as Brett was seated Donny said, "Dr. Wilson, I'm sure you are highly curious as to why I requested that you be the counselor here today."

"You could say that."

"It's simple. I agreed to an hour. I see no need for the counselor to spend half of that time listening to the "he said, she said" bullshit and having to sort through to find the truth. You already have intimate knowledge of the situation and therefore don't need to be filled in."

"Mr. Hudson, I er..."

"Bauer," said Donny interrupting Brett.

"Pardon?"

"My last name is Bauer, and coincidentally so is Jesse's. For some reason unbeknownst to me has always gone by her maiden name professionally. It is what it is, and my surname is Bauer. So maybe she wasn't all that honest with you either, eh lover boy?"

"Honey, you always knew I.."

"Yes I knew," he said interrupting her. "We're not here to talk about your infatuation with hyphenation. Were here to talk about your infatuation with a fat assed dork."

"Mr. Bauer, insulting me is.."

"Is better than what I should be doing to you. You are simply here to play a role. Role playing ought to be right up both of your alleys."

"Neither Dr. Hudson nor myself need to sit here for this."

"Wrong fat ass! If you walk out of this session I will take this to the St. Anthony's ethics board. And Dr. Hudson needs to be here because it is the only slim thread of hope she has of not being single by nightfall."

"But honey, all I need to do is explain..."

"Explain what? Explain why you felt a need to sneak around behind my back for several months?" Both Brett and Jesse were surprised to find that Donny knew this information. A smile hit Donny's face as he saw their shock. "You didn't think I knew huh? Let's see," he took a moment to flip a page of the legal pad and read the contents. "First meeting was at the China Moon motel on West Colfax," he looked up over the top of the pad, "Really? China Moon? Shit even the hookers and crack heads avoid that shit hole. Next meet was at the No-Tel Motel on East Colfax, cheap fuckin doctors can't pony up for Motel 6?"

Jesse just sat there looking at her hands. To hear her husband spilling out things she thought no one knew made her feel cheap and tawdry. Brett felt indignation that someone could have such information. "How can you know all of this? Privacy laws protect us from this kind of intrusion."

"My PI buddy Herman dug this stuff up, and by the way he got lots of photos and video as well. Don't worry Pork Chop. He won't splash those vids of you fapping all over the net if you don't piss him off. Oh, before you start looking to make problems for any PI named Herman, I have told you this in a court recognized counseling session and therefore it is covered by doctor patient confidentiality laws."

Brett was mad, but he knew he'd been painted into a corner. "OK Mr. Bauer, if you are looking for me to admit that I had sex with your wife, I admit it."

"I wasn't looking for your admi.."

"We did not have sex!" yelled Jesse. "Honey, his penis never penetrated me at all. Yes I was naked in front of him. Yes he tied me up. And yes, he inserted sex toys into me. I can see why you might feel that I betrayed you, but I never did anything to break our vows."

Brett suddenly felt like a kid in the principal's office. "She is telling the truth. I never penetrated her, not that I didn't want to." A look from Jesse froze him in his tracks.

"See honey. I'm sorry I never came to you about this, but I didn't know how you'd respond."

"You wanted to be tied up." Donny stated in a matter of fact manner. Jesse nodded and Donny continued. "You wanted to try a new kind of sex, but never thought to clue your husband in. Instead you go out and hook up with fucking Grimace in sleaze ball motels and lie to me about it."

"But we never had actual sex Donny."

"What fucking color is the sky in your world? God damn it this is reality, not fantasy. I might not be as smart as this fat fuck, but in what way did this ever seem ok to you?"

"I have several clients who allow their wives to play separately from their marriage. The wife gets to do things she likes but the husband doesn't."

"I'd be willing to bet money that they actually talked the shit through before making a dumb assed agreement like that. And just how the fuck do you know I wouldn't tie you up and play these games with you? Did you ever approach me to feel me out on the subject?"

"I remember you getting mad at the husbands on that show about swingers that we watched. You called them fags, and cuckolds, and wimps and said you would never be put through that. I figured that if I ever wanted more than vanilla sex I was screwed. When I figured out that I wanted to be tied up I knew better than asking you about it."

"So because I said I would never participate in swinging or wife swapping or any of the sick shit those queers do, you thought that I wouldn't try something new with you? I can half way see that point. What I don't see is where you figured I'd be ok with you running around behind my back when that derelict behavior is what I said I wouldn't tolerate in the first place. That would be just like me deciding I wanted to try anal sex, but knowing that you'd say no I go and butt fuck your sister."

Jesse looked up with a fire in her eyes, "That's not even close to the same thing. I never had sex behind your back. I'm sorry as hell that I have hurt you. Ok I should have talked to you first. I didn't. I messed up. But I don't see why we can't work this out and stay happy."