Lying Eyes

"So why don't you meet me somewhere and we'll spend the entire day together," he said.

"I just need to call in and go home and change," I said.

I spent the entire day with Todd. We drove around and talked a lot. It was the same kind of thing we used to when we were in college. We ended up in a motel. He fucked me for most of the afternoon. I kept feeling like there was something missing. Then I realized that there was something going on with him.

"Spit it out Todd," I said. He looked at me oddly.

"What do you mean?" he asked looking away from me.

"Todd there's something wrong here," I said. "I feel like there's something you're not telling me."

"Well there are two things," he said. "But, I only want to tell you about one of them."

I looked at him. "Seriously, Constance, the second thing is my problem not yours."

"Well let's start with the first one," I said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small ring. It had been through better times. There was a small stone in it that was dwarfed in size, color and clarity by the ring I wore on my left hand.

"Will you marry me Constance?" he asked. The fire in his eyes was hypnotic.

"But Todd..."I began.

"I know you're married to Mr. Moneybags," he said. "But, he doesn't love you the way I do. I'm working on an idea that while I won't be as rich as he is, I'll be able to take care of you, Connie. So when I accomplish my dream, will you divorce him and be with me forever?"

I looked at the small cheap ring he held out in front of me. It was the answer to all of my problems rolled into one. It would tie Todd to me legally and I'd be with a man who didn't love me so much that I could control him. There was just something about the thought of it that appealed to me.

"Yes, I will," I said. "As soon as your idea works out, I'll divorce Danford and marry you."

"So you love me more than him?" he asked. I knew that men always needed to hear that they were winning. They needed to know that they were the better lover and had the biggest dick and all of those other stupid things.

"Yes, Todd," I said. "I love you more." I really should have been paying more attention to what was going on around me. There were a couple of guys not too far away from us who were taking pictures of a woman in a bathing suit. But they seemed to have camera's aimed at us as well as the ones that were pointing at her. I also should have noticed the smile on Todd's face.

I guess I did what I did that afternoon, was only to keep the wheel rolling. The sex with Todd hadn't really been that good. He did last for a long time but it wasn't good. I chalked it up to my residual anger over Jo Anne's shit not allowing me to relax and enjoy the sex. But I guess the guilt also had something to do with it. Ashley's advice kept coming back to haunt me. I wish she was here so I could tell her how wrong she was. Sure Danford loved me, but Todd obviously did too.

"So Todd," I said. "What else are you so worried about?"

"Like I said, I have a great idea that will eventually make me a fortune," he said. "I've been working my ass off and lining up investors but I'm still just a bit short of having my seed money. I can probably come up with the rest of it. But then I'd have to take on more investors and that wouldn't keep me in control of the project or the company."

"How much do you need?" I asked.

"Only about thirty thousand dollars," he said.

"If I could come up with thirty K, would you give me a share of the company?" I asked. Truthfully the idea appealed to me because it would mean that I'd have my own source of income and I wouldn't be beholding to Todd or Danford for income. I was sure I could get the money from Danford or one of our accounts without too many problems. As a matter of fact, I was sure I had an idea of how to get the money from Danford without his knowledge and then pay it back."

"How much time would I have to come up with the money?" I asked.

"Oh, a couple of days," he said. Then he rolled me over and started sucking my breasts again.

When I got home that night, I was a little bit late. Danford acted as if he hadn't noticed. I was sure that he was just glad I was home. I still couldn't put my finger on it but in the back of my mind I had an itch. There was something different about the way he looked at me. Normally when he looked at me, this is crazy but he gave me the same look that he gave that Lone Star Mustang of his. That night he just looked at me and made polite conversation. It wasn't like he was angry at me. When he got pissed, like if I went out with my friends in an area that he thought was too dangerous, or I wore clothing that he thought was too revealing, Danford usually left the house until he got his temper under control. He'd go out for a drive in that car and when he came back he was usually calmer.

He taught me how to dress in an unusual way. I'd worn a skirt that was too short. So he went out for a drive. When he came back he took me by the arm very gently and took me out to a bar a few miles from our house. We sat down at a table. People as I've said are drawn to Danford and when he gestured a couple of guys came over to our table. Dan put two one hundred dollar bills on the table.

"One question gents?" he asked. They looked at him and at the bills. "What color are my wife's panties?"

"Green with a little pink heart," said one of the men taking a bill.

"And she's a natural blonde," said the other as he snatched his.

Danford just looked at me and his point had been made. I was very embarrassed and ready to leave but he made me stay there for the rest of the evening with people pointing and staring at me.

When we got home it was worse. Danford went to my closet and threw away every skirt I owned. He threw out every dress I had that was shorter than knee length. He also somehow contacted the credit card companies. I don't know how he did it but no one in town would sell me any dresses or skirts. As soon as I walked into my favorite women's clothing stores they started pulling out pant suits. It went on for months until I learned how to pick my clothes. It took me a while but I learned that I can be just as sexy in longer skirts. Now I have a few short skirts but I'd feel like a whore wearing things like I used to.

Anyway Danford wasn't treating me like he was angry at me, this was different. As we ate dinner, I told him about my day, the way I always did. He was really interested, but it just seemed like he was interested differently. Normally he listened to see what I'd done and if anyone had done anything to hurt his baby, he'd ask me if I wanted him to do anything about it. When I told him about Jo Anne and what she did to me. His face didn't react at all. In fact, I had the impression that he thought it was funny.

"Dan, aren't you going to do something about her?" I asked.

"Why?" he asked. "You took care of it yourself. You got her fired."

I watched some TV, alone. That was a first. Usually we did things together. Either we went out, or we took drives or we just sat around and talked to each other. Apparently Dan had some things he hadn't accomplished at the office that he needed to look into in his home office. This wasn't really unusual, it had happened a few times when he had a really big deal to consider. There were even a couple of times when he wanted me to sit beside him and hold his hand while he went over the contracts. I thought that was cute.

Danford came to bed really late. He also didn't roll over beside me the way he usually did. When I awoke the next morning, he was already gone. It had been the sound of his Mustang starting up, that let me know he was out of the bed. That was another things I didn't understand. Danford had several cars. He had enough money to drive whatever he wanted. He told me that there was just something about Mustangs that he loved. The car just screamed cowboys and freedom and America in a way that no other car did. Muscle cars were a purely American item.

There were lots of countries and companies around the world that produced very good sedans and or very good sports cars or economy cars or SUVs. But there was something different about brash, overpowered sporty cars that had way too much horsepower and were only good at going very fast in a straight line.

I jumped out of bed and called his cell phone.

"Honey, it's Saturday, where are you going?" I asked.

"I have some things I need to take care of," he said. "I figured you'd go shopping with your girlfriends or go out to visit your friends."

In a way I was grateful for the time. It would make doing what I had to do easier. But something was gnawing away at me too.

I showered and dressed. Then I called Andy Summers. He was Dan's financial wiz. He, Stewart Copeland, who was Dan's Attorney and Dan's head of security, Gordon Sumner, took care of everything that had anything to do with our finances.

"Andy I know it's a Saturday," I said. "And I know it's early still but I need to talk to you about something."

"I'll meet you at my office in twenty minutes," he said. The tone of his voice was one that I was used to. It was that, "I don't want to fucking do it, but since my boss is crazy about you, I have to suck up to you if I want to keep my job," tone.

"Thanks Andy," I said.

He was already in his office when I walked in. He was dressed in cargo shorts and a polo shirt. He'd obviously had plans for the day when I called.

"I hope I'm not taking you away from something," I said.

"Just an outing with my kids," he said. "If we start out later, we'll just stay longer."

"Well," I said. "I have a plan for a surprise for Danford's birthday. I want to buy him a car. But it's going to be a surprise. As you know Shelby is making a very limited number of one thousand horsepower Mustangs, this year only. And I want to get Dan one of those."

"That's a great idea," he said. "Dan is Mustang crazy."

"So I need you to give me thirty thousand dollars for the down payment," I said. "But you can't let Danford know about it."

"When do you need the money?" he asked. "I'll move up the limits on your credit card temporarily but it will take a few hours for the changes to go through. I may not be able to do it until Monday."

"Andy," I crooned leaning over him and making sure that he got a good view of my breasts. "You know that Danford goes over my credit card statements and checks them online to make sure I'm not going over budget." What Andy didn't know was that if I did go over budget, Danford just used it as an excuse to spank me and then gave me more money. It was just a game."

"So what do we do?" he asked.

"Give me the money in cash," I said. He looked dubious. So I pouted.

"It'll take a few hours Monday morning," he said. "I should be able to swing it by ten a.m. Come back here then."

"Thanks Andy," I said. "It's going to take them a few months to make the car depending on where we are on the list, but we should have it by Dan's birthday. Have fun with your kids."

I left the office and headed for the mall to meet Ashley and Eva. No one knew where Betty had slept last night.

"So did you get your daily dose of dick?" asked Ashley. "You seem happier."

"In a way," I said. "Todd and I had some motel time yesterday."

"Todd?" said Ashley loudly. "I thought we decided that you were going to concentrate on your marriage instead of giving free pussy to losers. It's a nice thing to help out the homeless, Constance, but if you're fucking them you're going to wind up homeless yourself when Danford kicks you out."

"How was it?" asked Eva.

"It was okay," I said. "But the important thing is that Todd has an idea that can make us a lot of money. I'm tired of depending on men for my income. It's time I made some money on my own."

"So what's the idea?" asked Ashley.

I looked at her sheepishly. "I don't exactly know," I said. "But he said that it would make us a lot of money over a short period of time."

"Constance, the two of you never change," said Ashley. "I thought you'd grown up and got smarter."

"What Ash?" I asked. "I thought you were supposed to be my friend."

"I am your friend," she said. "I love you Honey, like a sister. But even in the old days you were known for planning things out and forgetting most of the details. Remember the cheerleader's party we had where you rented the site, hired the band, printed up the tickets, sold the tickets and then discovered five minutes after the people arrived, that we had no food or liquor? And Todd was known for his get rich quick schemes where he never actually got rich or quick. Working with Todd was like throwing money down the toilet, except you didn't get splashed and you didn't even get to hear that cool flushing sound."

"I'm just saying that you may not be seeing the big picture here," she said.

"Then Ashley, please enlighten me," I said.

"Well you're trading a known future with a man who loves you and treats you well, for one that's uncertain with a guy who treats you like shit, because you like the way he used to make you feel back when we were too young to know what was good for us," said Ashley. "I just don't think it's smart."

"Don't forget that the sex wasn't great," threw in Eva.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful. Danford spent Sunday washing his Mustang and I was sure that something was wrong.

* * * * * *

Danford Richards

Sunday, I washed my car. Sundays were usually my favorite days of the week. More often than not, Constance and I would lie around in bed together and not actually get up until after lunch time. We'd do a brunch at one of our favorite restaurants and just enjoy being together without thinking about work or any other responsibilities. It was just an "us," day.

This Sunday though, I was up and out of bed early. I drove out and went to a restaurant and had breakfast. The restaurant turned out to be the same café that Constance ate in every morning. I wondered why I picked that place for a while and then it hit me. I guess I was looking for a friendly face. Then I remembered that Joe Anne no longer worked here. She worked for me now and I'd be seeing her tomorrow. I decided that I'd call her later on that day to see how she was doing and if she had everything she needed to start working tomorrow.

After breakfast, I drove back home and luckily Constance wasn't awake yet. I left my car outside of the garage and got the water hose, my Rigid shop vac, and everything else I needed to wash my car ready.

I farted around the house for a while waiting for Constance to wake up. The idea was that as soon as I heard her get up, I'd go out and wash the car. That way I had something to do so I didn't have to spend any time with her. Over the past few days I'd gone from totally crazy about her to just crazy.

I hadn't gotten as far as I had in life by crying over spilled milk. I knew that I'd loved Constance and I now know that my feelings most likely, weren't reciprocated. I was in fact almost twice her age and I was sure the money was a big factor. In the modern world even when you're talking about love, money is always a factor.

And as much as I hated to admit it, the money was a factor for me now as well. As much as I wanted to run up the stairs and grab Constance by her hair and drag her ass down the stairs and kick her out of my house, I couldn't. As much as I wanted to make her tell me who the fuck she was sleeping with, I couldn't. The PI's the PAC had hired had turned over all of the information from their investigation to me. I had hired them to continue gathering evidence for me that I could use to retain the majority of my assets in the divorce. So I actually knew who she was sleeping with. I actually knew that he wasn't the first, or the only one, but he did seem to be the one she couldn't get enough of.

Some of the news had hurt me badly. In the end it really didn't matter how many there had been or how long she stayed with them. The only thing that mattered was extricating my-self from the situation, with as much of my net worth intact as possible. Revenge could be taken care of at my leisure.

My cell phone rang then. I answered it and spoke into it quietly. I didn't want the sound of my voice inside the house to wake her. The longer she stayed in bed the better.

"Dan, are you alone?" asked Andy Summers.

"Yeah Andy, what's up?" I said.

"Okay, I have a problem of a sensitive nature," he said. "You and I have always been friends besides our working relationship and my loyalty first and foremost is to the trust you've put in me. Your wife has asked me to do something on her behalf for you and not tell you. She wants to buy you something expensive for your birthday and not tell you about the money."

"Constance has a Visa Black card with no spending limit," I said. "Why did she even bother to ask you?"

"Because she needs the money in cash and by tomorrow," he said.

"How much is it?" I asked.

"Thirty thousand dollars," he said. I smiled. It sounded to me like Constance was planning on running away with her boy toy. If she did it would make the whole thing easier. As soon as she left I could file for divorce for abandonment and then change the locks and revoke her security access so even if she did change her mind or try to run that I was confused bullshit she wouldn't be able to get back in.

"Give it to her," I said cheerfully. "But make sure you give her marked sequential bills that can easily be tracked."

"Yes sir," he said. "Please don't let Mrs. Richards know that I've told you. It's supposed to be a surprise for your birthday."

"Mum's the word," I said. Even as I hung the phone up, I smiled. Things were getting better by the minute. It was starting to look like I might be getting rid of the cheating whore sooner than I thought. If I couldn't get her for abandonment maybe I could get her for embezzling or theft. Even in a marriage, one partner couldn't just take money out of their spouse's accounts without permission. It was still considered theft. I could either embarrass her into giving me a quick divorce under the threat of pressing charges against her and destroying her name and her family's, or in the worse-case scenario, I could actually have her prosecuted and put in prison.

"Stealing that much money would make it a felony, so her being imprisoned would get me divorced from her and I'd get to keep everything. My mood was considerably lighter.

I called the PI and let him know what was going on. He asked for a meeting with me because he was sure that Constance wasn't doing what I thought she was doing. He had tapes of her tryst with her old college lover and he was sure that he knew what was going on. He wanted to sit down and compare notes later this afternoon. If we put all of our information together, he was sure that we could come up with a better plan. I could hardly wait.

I started cleaning out the inside of my car. I lost myself in the joy of applying the different cleaning and protecting agents to the interior's multiple surfaces. I used Turtle wax products for everything from leather cleaner to carpet cleaner and even for the UV protectants. Then I got my handy little Rigid shop vac, that I'd bought at Home Depot strictly for cleaning my car out, and used it to suck out every particle of dust I could find.

After a few minutes, Constance showed up leaning in the doorway and softly calling my name.

"Danford, when did you get out of bed?" she asked. "I woke up and I was alone."

"Uhm, I got out of bed hours ago," I said. I have a meeting to go to later on with a gentleman from a company I'm working with.

"Do you want to have breakfast together?" she asked leaning forward and making it fairly obvious that the thin, short baby-doll nightie she was almost wearing, was her only item of clothing. Since she hadn't slept in it, she'd obviously put it on purely to tease me or to seduce me.