Just Small Changes

7. Any money left over after meeting household and parental obligations shall be ours to do with as we wish with the exception of if it conflicts with anything above. So you can't buy another VCR, gym membership, diet pills or anything that might break any of the prior rules.

I could tell Jane was not happy as I was reading the list. Angry looks of pure hatred are a dead give away. What I could not believe was that she was letting me read the whole thing before she erupted. She was a ball of nervous energy just waiting to explode but she was doing a much better than expected job of controlling it.

"You really expect me to live this way?"

"Well I hoped you could because I don't want the alternative but it has come to this. So yes I do expect you to live this way if we stay together."

"Well you're a fucking idiot. Since when do you tell me what to do? Just because I want to keep my looks and you don't mind letting yourself go means that we have to get divorced? I take it back. You are not a fucking idiot, you are a selfish, fat, over the hill shithead."

"Look Jane I know it is hard for you to understand that things have changed but calling me names isn't going to help things any. I still love you! I'm doing this to try and save our marriage. You just don't seem to understand that the only reason you had control of this marriage in the first place is that I loved you and gave it to you freely because of that. I want you to lose weight and keep your looks but more important I want you to keep your health. You were right in that I had let myself go and wasn't happy with that. If you haven't noticed I have lost almost as much weight as you I am just doing it slower. Those pills you are taking are not safe or healthy and in the long run you can't keep taking those and losing weight or keeping it off for that matter."

"Zach why do you keep going on about pills. What pills? How do you know I have been taking any pills?"

That was a little much for my anger to handle right now and I lost it. I marched over behind her chair and grabbed both hands and drew them behind her back where I held them with one hand. Then I took my other hand and reached into her jeans and drew out the plastic pill box.

"Okay Jane, since you haven't been taking any pills then you won't miss these right?"

"Give me back those you son of a bitch! You have no right to take my property. Are you the one that took my bottle of pills out of my purse?"

"Yeah damn right I was the one that took it. If they are your property then how come Ernesto's name was on the bottle? It's illegal to give other people pills that are prescribed to you. Maybe I should alert the police about what's going on?"

"You better not do anything to get him in trouble you bastard! They aren't even a real prescription anyway. He gets them on the internet and has them mailed to him."

"Oh, well that changes everything. Come on Jane get serious. You know this shit is not good for you. I can show you how to lose weight and get in shape without pills or a gym membership and for damn sure without a personal trainer."

So saying I walked over to the kitchen sink and poured the pills down the drain and then ran some water and the garbage disposal. Goodbye mother's little helper.

"No you asshole, son of a bitch, shithead! I will never forgive you for any of this. Forget about ever having sex with me again."

"Well believe it or not Jane, that is one of the things that this is all about. Whether it was because of you fucking Ernesto or the effect of the little white pills or whatever, I had almost forgotten what sex with you was like. Not just sex. We have grown apart in every way. Either we change that or you know what happens."

So that was the first shot in the battle that was going to be bigger and last far longer than I thought. Jane slept in the spare bedroom that night and every night for the next two weeks. I gave John the bottle of pills with Ernesto's name on them for him to use as evidence in our law suit against the health club. He was really excited when I told him that I had found them in Jane's purse. Now we not only had their employee seducing my wife but endangering her health at the same time. John had contacted their management and he had a preliminary meeting with them at the start of next week to show them what we had.

John had also hired a private detective who had gotten some of the employees at the club to talk to him without them knowing who he was. He had secretly taped those conversations during happy hour at a bar they all went to on Friday's. They all said that Ernesto had bragged about fucking Jane. It was also well known that if his clients complained to him that they weren't losing weight fast enough, he would try to get them to take the diet pills so that they wouldn't drop him as a trainer. They had all warned him that the pills weren't safe and that sooner or later something was going to happen and he would be caught but he was too arrogant to listen.

During all this time I kept trying to get Jane to talk to me and for us to start trying to work our way through our differences. She was nothing but stubborn however. When I provided her with her first bill for her share of the mortgage and other bills, she refused to pay and told me to go fuck myself. Instead I fucked her and had the locks changed while she was at work. I made sure the kids were upstairs in their room with music on loud before she came home. I thought I had seen her get angry and cuss me out before but it was nothing compared to the tantrum that she threw when her key didn't work. She banged on the door and screamed and shouted for a half an hour before she took a deep breath.

I then told her through the door what was going on and that if she wasn't going to pay for her share of the household expenses then she wasn't going to live in the household. She finally responded by saying fine she would just go rent a room at a hotel with a hot tub and swimming pool. I then pointed out that her swimming suit and indeed all of her clothes and most of her cosmetics were in the house and that she wasn't getting in to get them either. They were being held as a deposit until she paid up.

Man did that woman have a powerful pair of lungs. I really wasn't surprised when a cop car pulled up a little later because the neighbors had complained about the noise. They asked me to come out and I did but immediately locked the door behind me so she couldn't run past me and get in. When I explained the situation I could tell that the cops thought it was funny and wanted to laugh. However they kept a straight face and then told Jane that if she didn't stop making so much noise they would have to arrest her for disturbing the peace.

She then went crazy again and started yelling at the cops wanting to know how I could keep her out of her own home and why didn't they arrest me. They informed her that there weren't any laws that said a spouse couldn't change the locks and keep another one out. That was a civil matter they said and she would have to hire a lawyer and pursue it through civil court. When she started to yell again they told her this was her last warning and that if she didn't quiet down they were going to arrest her and she would spend the night in jail and have to pay a hundred dollar fine in the morning.

Well if finally got through to Jane's addled brain. She shut up and reached in her purse and brought out her check book and wrote me a check for the amount I had specified. I then said okay I would let her in now and the cops took off. Jane went to her room and slammed the door. The kids came out concerned but I finally quieted them down and let them watch TV while I fixed a quick dinner. When it was ready I went up to Jane's room to let her know she could join us to eat. As I approached her door I could hear her crying and when I knocked she just yelled at me to go away, so I did.

At the time I wrote it off to her being in withdrawal from the diet pills and that she would come around. So I still had confidence that the process I had put in place was going to work. By the end of the third week after our confrontation, I thought I detected some thawing around the edges of our relationship and we started talking again. Nothing serious, just small talk between her and the rest of us. She would also eat dinner with us now and would do her part and clean up the kitchen if I had cooked.

After the first week she had started taking part in other household chores like laundry and helping get the kids ready for bed and school the next morning. Jim and Alice warmed back up to her and were giving and getting hugs and kisses. Just them however, nothing for me yet. I was trying to be patient but it was going on two and a half months since we had had sex together. So I had mixed feelings when Jane came to me and asked if I would go to a party with her. It was being hosted by some of the people she worked with at the property management office. She had worked there for seven years and I had met most of the people that would be at the party.

I almost refused out of resentment and anger but decided I would just be shooting myself in the foot. Besides maybe if she got a little drunk and had a good time at the party she would feel like finally giving me a little when we got home. Shows how much I knew.

The night of the party, I sat downstairs waiting for Jane to finish getting dressed. The kids had already been dropped off at Jane's mothers house and I was wearing new slacks and a shirt that took into account the weight I had dropped. When Jane finally came down it was obvious that she had bought some new clothes also. She was wearing a tight short dress that I had never seen before. It stopped two or three inches above her knees and clung to her butt. It was a little looser on top and was held up by a strap that circled her neck and attached to the middle of the bodice. Her back was bare in a V shape down to right above her ass crack. I could tell she wasn't wearing a bra because if you were standing to her side and she bent over at the right angle, the dress would flare out a little and you could see just about all of the side of her tits.

It was the most provocative thing she had ever worn in public and there was no doubt she looked fantastic. A little too fantastic perhaps. I mean who was she wearing this for? Her husband she hadn't had sex with for two and a half months or was she just showing off her new figure for her co-workers. Was I just going as a prop, an expected accessory? Or did she really want me to be with her? It turned out my paranoid misgivings were not out of place at all.

It started two minutes after we got to the party. After a quick introduction and a little chit chat with the host and hostess at the door, Jane was off to the races. She just took off without a word to me and went over to a group of her friends. So that was the way it was going to be I thought, regretting that I had ever agreed to do this.

The hostess, a woman named Marge that I had met twice before, could tell that I was a little put out by the way Jane just left me there.

"Jane certainly has changed over the last few months hasn't she?', Marge said while giving me an inquisitive eye.

"Oh yeah, you got that one right and not for the better either. At least not from my standpoint anyway."

"Well try not and let her get you upset. She is obviously going to enjoy herself so you should also. Let me take you around and introduce you to some folks."

I did meet some nice folks, some of whom I remembered from previous get togethers. One guy I knew, Herb, shared an interest with me in ancient history and we got caught up in a long conversation about the Maya. We had both been down to the Yucatan in our youth and seen the great temples in person.

So it wasn't until forty five minutes later that I started looking around to see where Jane was. I finally spotted her on the other side of the room surrounded by three young guys. She seemed to be getting the attention that she so desperately wanted. Herb noticed the direction of my gaze.

"Jane is your wife isn't she? Those three just started working with us about three months ago. They are rental agents and Jane has to get information from them so she can put it in the monthly report she compiles on all of our rentals. I personally think they are a bunch of arrogant jerk offs but I guess Jane sees them different."

"Jane looks absolutely great tonight and you can really see how much weight she has lost. But to tell you the truth I liked her better before she lost the weight. She seemed friendlier and happier then to me."

"Yeah, I know what you mean Herb. Me too, me too!"

So I went over to the bar and refreshed my drink and then walked over to Jane and her fan club. Jane had her back to me and didn't see me approaching and as I got half way there she dropped a napkin on the floor. When she bent over to pick it up I could see one guy checking out her ass in that tight short skirt while the other two were looking inside her dress at her tits. I was enjoying this party less and less.

That feeling was reinforced when Jane, far from acting happy to see me, shortly excused herself to go to the bathroom. The one downstairs was busy so I saw her start up the stairs to the one on the second floor. There was a very awkward silence and it was obvious that the three had nothing to say to me and I had nothing to say to them so I made my excuses and headed out to the backyard patio to get some fresh air. As I turned around to slide the patio door shut, I saw two of them head up the stairs also. Now that was not good.

I stood there for a couple of minutes desperately trying to decide what to do. If I went charging up there and nothing was going on then I was just going to alienate Jane even more than I alreqdy had. On the other hand if something was going on she was going to be pissed that I had interrupted her fun. No win for me either way. Then I thought about that. Why was it me that always had to make her happy? I was her husband. She should want to be with me not someone else. If that wasn't the case then did we really even have a marriage? Had Jane really been trying to put our marriage together again or was she just putting up a good front so I wouldn't kick her out again?

Fuck it I'm going upstairs and see what was going on. With that thought I downed the rest of my drink in one swallow and headed inside and up the stairs with the alcohol burning in my throat. I wasn't familiar with the house so when I got to the top of the stairs, I didn't know where the bathrooms were. I figured they were usually accessed through the bedrooms rather than the hallway so I started opening doors to see what was what. The first room was very dark and I didn't see anyone or anything so I moved on to the next. Bingo, the bedroom was dark but there was a second door inside with light leaking out from underneath. As I approached it I heard voices from within.

"Hey give me some of that you bitch. You've been sucking on that thing for a minute now."

"Yeah right big boy. You probably want me sucking on something of yours."

What the fuck was that? To the sound of laughter from within I threw open the door. The toilet seat was down and Jane was sitting on that with her dress hiked up almost to her crotch showing her sexy legs. She had what looked like and smelled like a joint in her hand. One of her fellow workers was sitting on the tub next to her and had one hand on her bare thigh up toward her pussy and the other was reaching for the joint. The second guy was sitting on the floor in front of her looking directly up her dress at her panties. At least I thought she had panties on, maybe not.

They all jerked in surprise when I threw open the door. Jane dropped the joint and yelled when she did. As she bent over I could see her whole left tit all the way to the nipple. I knew the guy on the other side had a similar view of her right tit.

"Hey man, you ever heard of knocking.", one of them said.

"Zach what the fuck are you doing here?, the darling Jane said.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here behind a closed door with two guys instead of being downstairs with your husband. You remember, the guy you asked to bring you to this party."

"I was just having a little fun and getting stoned. You remember fun don't you? It's why you come to parties."

Ah she was going to take the aggressive attack stance. Tough shit honey, I am tired of being ignored and humiliated and you just don't have any leverage anymore.

"Well the fun is over for tonight. I am going back downstairs and say goodnight to our hosts and then drive home. If you aren't there when I do then you know what papers I will be filing next week."

With that I turned and stomped out of the room and down the stairs. I pride myself that I didn't ever look back. I spotted Marge and her husband right away and went over to them and started to thank them for a great party but I was tired and was going home.

"Where is Jane?" asked Marge.

I guess that told me she wasn't coming down the stairs behind me.

"Oh I think she might stay a while longer and get a ride with someone else I said."

So saying I went out the front door and headed over to our car. I had just strapped on my seat belt and started up the engine when Jane came flying out of the house. She ran toward me and jumped breathless into the passenger seat. I looked over at her with disgust and didn't say a word. I wondered what had caused the delay. Maybe she had to put her panties back on and couldn't find them at first. Mysteries are everywhere these days.

The drive home was in complete silence and we both went to our respective bedrooms when we got there. So much for my hopes of getting laid. I was so pissed that I tossed and turned for hours before finally falling asleep. The next morning I felt like hell and was as depressed as a dog looking at his balls after he had just been neutered.

I made a pot of coffee and damn near drank the whole thing. Then I took a blissful hot shower for what seemed an hour. Feeling almost human again I threw on some light shorts and t-shirt and went to pick up Jim and Alice from Jane's mothers house where they had spent the night. Jane's mother took one look at me and knew something wasn't right. Of course she had known that ever since I told her that her key wouldn't work on our house anymore and just stared back at her when she expected me to be handing her a new one. We had given her a key in case of an emergency and she either needed to get the kids or some of their things from the house when we weren't there.

I wasn't about to air our problems with her however and bustled the children out of there as fast as I could. We went through a drive through to get some breakfast sandwiches and then headed over to the park and I watched them play for an hour and then we went for our walk. When we got home Jane was still sleeping or else she was hiding out in her room. At that moment I just felt kind of dead inside and didn't really care. The kids asked for permission to go over to a neighbors and play and I said yes and then just sat there thinking.

School would be ending for Jim and Alice at noon the next Thursday. They would then be off for the summer. I had tons and tons of vacation and comp time that I had accumulated. It would be great to go back to the lake and see Marcia and her family again and fish and swim and take it easy. Maybe stay two weeks or even longer. Hell yes, I just needed to get away from Jane and all of this bullshit! It seemed like I could just go ahead and file the damn divorce papers now. Jane wasn't showing any sign of regret or remorse and still seemed to be obsessed with retaining her youth. And part of that plan seemed to be hanging out with young guys not the old dude she was married to.