It's Not What You Think

There is no sex in this story. It's a story about what can happen if you jump to conclusions without getting all of the facts.

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When John Stevenson got home on Saturday afternoon he was immediately shocked. As he pulled his '67 GTO into the driveway he saw that his big new Chevy truck had been trashed.

John got out of the car and was speechless for a few minutes as he walked around the truck surveying the damage. The truck had dual rear wheels and all 4 of them as well as the 2 on the front had been slashed. All of the windows had been busted out. The body had obviously been severely beaten with the sledge hammer in the driveway...his sledge hammer. The mirrors had been busted off. Inside the leather seats had been slashed as had the headliner. The radio had been smashed as well. Whoever had done it did a very thorough job of trashing the truck.

John couldn't think how anybody could have done it with his wife Emily at home the whole time. John began to fear that something might have happened to Emily as well. He rushed to the front door. When he got inside the house was a mess.

"Oh God. Emily! Emily! Are you here?" John asked.

John searched through the house. Every room had been torn apart. That didn't matter to John he was only concerned about his wife. When he got to the bedroom he found that the bed had not been torn apart but the rest of the room had.

On the bed John found a hand written letter from Emily.

"John, you son of a bitch how could you? I've been so good to you for so long and that's how you repay me? If she means more to you than I do fine, I'll go. I hope she's worth it. I also hope you enjoy the mess I left for you. I always kept a neat house for you, but you were always leaving things where they didn't belong. I figured I'd get you started on living your life as a slob before I left. You'll notice that the bed is still perfectly made. That's because I've never sullied my bed by sharing it with anyone but you. You'll be served with divorce papers tomorrow at work. Fuck you John. I hate you so much for this. Emily" John read.

John was blown away. Emily thought that he'd cheated on her. John never would and never could cheat on Emily; he'd rather die.

"I've got to find her...I've got to make this right." John said.

John hurried downstairs, grabbed the phone and the little phonebook that they keep friends and family's numbers in. He dialed Emily's parents first.

"Hello?" Mary asked.

"Mary, it's John, do you know where Emily is?" John asked.

Mary just hung up.

"What the hell?" John asked.

He dialed the number again.

"John, don't ever call here again." Mary said.

She hung up again. Apparently Emily had told her that John had cheated on her. He dialed Emily's sister Lisa's number.

"Hello?" Lisa asked.

"Lisa please don't hang up. There's been a misunderstanding; it's not what Emily thinks." John said.

"I don't know John; it sounded pretty convincing to me." Lisa said.

"Please just tell me where she..." John said.

Lisa hung up before he could finish. He dialed Emily's brother Adam; he and John had always gotten along really well.

"Hello?" Adam asked.

"Adam, I need to know where she is. It isn't what she thinks." John said.

"I don't want to have anything to do with you John; not after what you've done to my sister." Adam said.

Adam hung up. He dialed Emily's friend Beth.

"Hello?" Beth asked.

"Beth if you talk to her tell her it isn't what she thinks. Tell her I can explain it all." John said.

"Oh I'm sure you've got a good batch of lies all worked up John. How the fuck could you do that to her?" Beth asked.

Beth hung up. John couldn't think of anyone else to call so he just sat on the floor in the kitchen and cried. Somehow Emily had heard about or seen him going to the hotel every day and assumed that he was cheating on her. Her note said that he'd be served with divorce papers at work the next day.

John didn't sleep that night; he just sat there in the dark and sobbed. The next morning at work John's friend Mark saw that he was looking pretty down so he came over to talk to him.

"What's up John? What's got you looking like this?" Mark asked.

"Unless I'm wrong he does." John said.

John pointed towards a man in a suit with a large envelope in his hands talking to another co-worker that had just pointed towards John. The man walked over to him.

"John Stevenson?" The man asked.

"Yes." John said.

"I am here to serve you with these divorce papers on behalf of Mrs. Emily Stevenson." The man said.

He handed John the envelope and turned to go.

"Wait, I need to see her. There's been a misunderstanding." John said.

"She does not want to speak with you Mr. Stevenson." The man said.

He left. Mark looked at John as he stood there with his head hanging for a moment.

"Damn buddy, what happened?" Mark asked.

"Emily jumped to a completely wrong conclusion about something. She thinks I was cheating on her." John said.

"You? No fucking way, you'd rather die than cheat on Emily...right?" Mark asked.

"Of course. I could never do that. It's just...never mind, I'd rather not talk about it." John said.

"Sure buddy. Why don't you take off and go talk to a lawyer or something. I'll tell Dan what's going on." Mark said.

"Okay. Thanks." John said.

John went outside, got into his car and drove over to the office of Ben Thompson. He'd made sure that Ben hadn't been the one to prepare the divorce papers so he hoped Ben would be able to help.

Ben was an old friend of John's father Thomas so when he saw John walk into his office he immediately smiled, but when he saw John's face his expression turned to one of concern.

"John, my boy, what brings you here, looking like that?" Ben asked.

"This." John said.

He held up the envelope.

"Are you being sued for something?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, by Emily, for a divorce." John said.

"What? Oh my God, what happened?" Ben asked.

"Nothing, that's just the problem. She thinks something happened, but nothing did." John said.

"Am I to assume that she thinks you cheated on her?" Ben asked.

"That's what she thinks, but it isn't true." John said.

"Of course not. So do you want me to represent you? I usually don't handle divorces." Ben said.

"All I really need is someone that can get her to talk to me. I can make everything alright if I can get her to talk to me. As of right now I have no idea where she is and none of her family or friends will tell me anything." John said.

"Well, I suppose if we were to challenge the conditions of the settlement they propose we could try to get them to agree to a face to face meeting." Ben said.

"Do whatever it takes Ben. I need to see her. I can make this all okay if I can get her to talk to me." John said.

Ben looks at the proposed settlement.

"These seem like fairly reasonable terms if this divorce were to really happen. I'll try to ensure that they want to meet with us by pushing for 100% of everything. Obviously we'd never get them to agree to that so they'll want to negotiate. I'll insist that both you and Emily be present." Ben said.

"Whatever it takes Ben, I have to see her, once it's explained this can all be over." John said.

"Just out of curiosity if you weren't cheating on her what were you doing that might lead her to think that you might have been?" Ben asked.

John explains it to Ben. Ben nods his head as he understands how it could be misinterpreted.

"Okay, I'll push them for a meeting and you'll get to say your piece." Ben said.

Two days later John and Ben are sitting in Ben's conference room when Emily and her lawyer Nancy walk in. Emily looks at John with contempt. They sit down across the table from John and Ben.

"I hope you've had a chance to review our counter proposal with your client." Ben said.

"I have and it's completely out of the question. My client will not walk away with nothing after what has happened." Nancy said.

"My client is prepared to back off on the terms if he is allowed to speak to Mrs. Stevenson to explain the truth behind what she thinks she knows." Ben said.

Nancy and Emily whisper.

"No deal. Your proposed settlement won't hold up in court and my client has no interest in hearing what Mr. Stevenson has to say." Nancy said.

John leans forward.

"Emily, if you'll let me explain and you still want to divorce me you can have everything. I'll walk away with just my clothes, my car, and what's left of my truck. You can have the house, all of the money, everything, if you'll only let me explain." John said.

"John, I don't think..." Ben said.

"No Ben. If she still wants to divorce me after hearing what I have to say then she can have all of it. Will you please let me explain?" John asked.

Emily and Nancy whisper for a minute.

"Very well, she will hear what you have to say." Nancy said.

"Thank you. Emily, I gather that either someone told you that I was going to the motel at the edge of town or you happened to see my car there or something; is that right?" John asked.

"That's right. I saw you come out...I saw your tramp...I saw you hug her and kiss her." Emily said.

"I don't deny what you saw, but I wouldn't sleep with that woman in a million years." John said.

"Oh sure then what the hell were you doing in that hotel room with her every day?" Emily asked.

"We were talking." John said.

"You honestly expect me to believe that you went to a hotel room every day and just talked to a woman that you hugged and kissed when you left?" Emily asked.

"Yes. Did you notice that I never kissed her on the mouth?" John asked.

"Yes." Emily said.

"There's a very good reason for that." John said.

"Oh? And what's that?" Emily asked.

"She's my sister." John said.

Emily and Nancy are taken aback for a moment, then Emily fires back.

"She is not. I've met your sister Julie; that was not Julie." Emily said.

"You're right, it wasn't Julie. It was my sister Kelly." John said.

"Kelly?" Emily asked.

"Yes. I've told you about her before. She took off on her 18th birthday and had been gone for a long time. I don't know how she got my number, but she called me. She told me that she wanted to come home, but didn't know how mom and dad would take it. Mom and dad are still pretty bitter with her about the whole thing. She and I had been very close so when she came to town and got a room at the hotel she called me again. She wanted to see me, and I wanted to see her. When I saw her that first day she asked me not to tell anyone that she was in town until she was ready. That's why I didn't tell you what was going on. Well she's ready to tell someone now. Not to tell mom and dad, but to tell you. Kelly." John said.

Kelly walked in from the next room.

"Hi Emily, I'm John's sister Kelly. I can't let you divorce my brother because of what you think he did with me. It's easy to see why you jumped to the conclusion that you did. The circumstances fit what you thought was going on, but that's not what was happening. John was helping me come home. He was helping me build up the courage to go see mom and dad; to tell Julie that I'm back in town. I'm still not ready for that, but I had to tell you. I couldn't be responsible for ending John's marriage. John loves you and would never cheat on you." Kelly said.

Emily's eyes were filling with tears.

"Nancy, I guess I don't need your services anymore." Emily said.

"Okay." Nancy said.

Nancy left. Ben got up and walked out of the room to leave the 3 of them alone.

"John." Emily said.

"Yes sweetie?" John asked.

"I'm sorry about what I did to your truck." Emily said sheepishly.

"It can be fixed. I'm just glad you agreed to meet with me while we could still be fixed." John said.

"Me too. So Kelly, can you come over for dinner?" Emily asked.

"Sure." Kelly said.

"Well then, let's head home." John said.