Misplaced Jealousy

I'd like to thank Capshroud2000 for all his help in catching my errors and making the story flow a lot better.

*

When I was in my middle to late teens my hormones ruled about ninety percent of my brain. If I wasn't thinking about sex I was dreaming about it. Doesn't every teenage boy? A Playboy magazine or the glimpse of a little cleavage almost always put me over the top. What made up the other ten percent? Why cars and motorcycles of course. School was also in there also, but at about two percent it was just enough to get me through.

I spent my twenty's in lust of every female that walked the planet. I lost my innocence and virginity on my twentieth birthday and screwed every girl I met, at least in my mind. I tried college but ran out of money after only one year. I met the love of my life, Ann, went into the Marines for two years, and then married her as soon as I got out.

My sex life was something out of a wet dream. We tried every thing and christened every room of our one bedroom apartment at least twice, including the counter tops. Our playground was a king size waterbed that took up eighty percent of our small bedroom. As I said, I was in lust with Ann and her with me.

After two years of marriage we went in debt up to our eyeballs, after buying a small two-bedroom house. To my horror, Ann came up pregnant and gave birth to our first son nine months later. Someone had shut, let me rephrase that, someone had slammed the friggin door shut on my carefree life and I wasn't happy about it.

In those days if you found out you had a bun in the oven, you didn't "take care of it." You just sucked it up and went on with your life. Our cute two-seater was replaced with a "family" car and we no longer went somewhere just on a whim. We had to plan for it and take the house with us now. Lovemaking went from nine times a week to about two or three; a new baby will do that to you.

"Oh well, it will get better when he gets a little older," I thought. But it never happened. Such is life.

Our thirties were spent trying to make ends meet. We now had one more son and a new and larger home; because two bedrooms were no longer enough. Along with a larger home came a bigger mortgage, which meant longer work hours. Overtime was no longer a luxury but now a necessity. We now didn't buy everything we wanted. A new word had been added to our vocabulary; needs. Needs not wants now ruled our lives. We planned and saved for each purchase. Any left over cash at the end of the month was put away for a future emergency or to pay down one of our credit cards that had suddenly come out of nowhere. We were a happy family, but my stress level was on an all time high. Lovemaking was now something we had to work into our busy schedules. It wasn't that great sex of old. More like, "hurry up," or "not so loud, the kids will hear us," type of sex.

Our twice a year "Date Weekends" where one of our parents would watch the boys were now spent getting to know one another all over again. Ann complained that she had lost her shape and was going to go on another diet, which meant that I would be on the diet with her. At 5'3" and no more than a hundred and thirty pounds she was still hot in my eyes. I thought her long nipples and thirty-four C breasts still looked great and even though she no longer had a twenty-one inch waist, her muffin top gave me something to hang onto when we made love.

Since she did all the cooking, my portions went from decent to dismal. I'd put on a few pounds and was no longer the skinny runt I'd been in my twenties and early thirties but was far from being fat. The sex was still good. However, we now did it only once instead of the two or three times a night like we'd done when we first met. Over a forty-eight hour period that weekend, we did it five times and Ann accused me of trying to wear it out.

"I'm not as young as I used to be," she complained. "I can't do it all night like we used to."

Neither could I, but at least I didn't need that little blue pill yet.

Our forties were spent trying to get the kids out of the house. With our pay increases over the last ten years we now had a little more disposable income even with two boys in college. Thank God for school loans. Luckily they both went to the local college so we didn't have to pay room and board but their other expenses sky rocked.

It was all worth it when they both graduated and moved out of the house. Yes! Empty nesters at last. However Ann replaced the kids with other activities ranging from going to the gym, dance classes and finally diving into politics. From our thirties to the forties, our lovemaking never increased, but it also never decreased either.

"My time was coming again," I kept telling myself.

The fifties were suppose to be "our time." The kids were off the payroll and for the first time in years we could do what ever we wanted. We took a couple of cruses and I thought we'd be in for the time of our lives. Then something hit I'd never planned on, menopause.

"It wasn't fair, it just wasn't fair," I kept saying over and over to myself. My wife went through her change and I went through one of my own.

Her hormones went crazy and her mood swings went off the charts. She tried for a while to control everything through food and herbs but that failed miserably. Finally she went to the doctor and got "drugs" to control her body chemistry. She still had the temperature fluxuations and didn't cry at the drop of a hat, but still had occasional mood swings and night sweats. All of this was bad, but the final nail in the coffin was when Ann lost her sex drive. Not all of it mind you, just enough that once every three weeks was more than enough for her.

I had suffered through my thirties and forties knowing I had something to look forward to and I kind of felt cheated.

I'd done my job for the last twenty years, and could now do it in my sleep. I'd advanced to a point, that my pay was now over double from when I'd first started and all the stress from years back was now gone.

I was like a "reborn" teenager. My wife couldn't get pregnant no matter what I did. We had no more money issues and my sex drive was now off the charts again. Ann had basically kept her sexy shape and I was always trying to get a little of it.

Hell, I was trying to get lot!

"For Christ's sake Steve, can't you control yourself? I'm trying to make dinner and can't do that and fend you off also," she yelled at me.

"Then let's skip dinner and have a little fun. Remember when we used to live on love?" I said trying to get a kiss.

"Back off bucko or you're never going to get any," she replied trying to finish our dinner.

"Was I upset? Yes. But what the hell was I going to do? Cut her off?" I said to myself. So after a while I just let it slide. I didn't make any advances and waited for her to be the aggressor just to see how long it would take. Or how long she could hold out.

After about a month, Ann told me she appreciated me not being all over her and grabbing her every time she walked by.

"I can't believe it," I said to myself. "She thanking me for not having sex with her. I needed a plan," I said to myself.

Ann and I went to spinning on Thursdays and Fridays and the gym usually together on Monday's and Tuesdays. I was pretty friendly with two women at spinning and one at the gym so I decided to see if they'd help me get my sex life back on track.

"You want me to do what?" Beth asked as Cindy looked on.

"I need you to flirt with me," I told them. Not right in front of her but when she's there, if that makes any sense," I told them.

"Let me get this straight, you want us to make Ann jealous? And you think that this is going to help you how?" Cindy asked.

"I just want her to think that other women find me attractive and desirable, so maybe she'll appreciate me a little more," I told the two of them.

"So this is all about sex?" Beth asked. "I told you he wasn't getting enough Cindy," Beth laughed out loud. "Look Steve, Ann and I are friends and I don't want her pissed off at me. We'll play your little game but only for a short while. And if it gets out of hand, we're done. Ok?"

"Thanks guys, it shouldn't take too long. It's just that I'm trying to jump-start our sex life, that's all," I told them and it wasn't a lie.

Tammy from the gym also said she'd go along with it and thought it might be fun. She like me was a runner and we'd run and talked on the treadmills more than once. I didn't know exactly how old she was, but was younger than I was. She had the typical runners body, tall, slim, small boobs and short blonde hair. She was good looking, in great shape and was sure to get Ann's attention.

We decided that it would be best if we met at the gym and went out together for a run. This way we could both get in our normal workouts and be together outside of Ann's prying eyes at the gym.

My plan was all coming together.

Cindy and Beth made it a point to talk to me before and after class. I helped Cindy adjust her bike and Beth asked if she could share my water bottles because she'd forgotten hers. It took about two weeks before Ann started to really notice and finally said something one night after class while I was talking to the two of them.

"Come on Steve, I'm hungry and I want to get home," she yelled to me.

"Just a second hon," I said as I went back to talking to Beth and Cindy for another ten to fifteen seconds. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," I told them as I turned and walked over to our car where Ann had been waiting.

"What took you so long she asked?"

"We were just talking about the class and comparing Chris's to Jamie's class, that's all."

"Well I'm hungry so lets get moving," she said looking at me.

When Tammy asked me to go out for another run in front of Ann, I thought she was going to have a cow.

"Hon because of your knees you can't run anymore and it's nice to have someone to run with for a change. I'll just meet you at home when we're done," I told an agitated Ann.

Thursday Cindy touched my arm while laughing at a supposed joke and Beth gave me a hug for helping her adjust her foot pegs at Friday's class. Ann just stood there looking at us and when I came back to the car I could tell she was ready to exploded.

"They're getting way too friendly," she said starting in on me.

"What are you talking about? Ann, it's Beth and Cindy. For Christ's sake, they're just being friendly. I'm not sleeping with them am I?"

"I just don't like them touching you. Neither one is married and I don't want them getting any ideas," she said to me as we pulled up to our house.

"Ann, listen to yourself will you? You feel threatened by Cindy and Beth?"

"I guess you're right," she said still looking at me.

When I came home twenty-five minutes late from the gym after a run with Tammy I was bomb barded with questions. How come I was late? Where did we run? And why didn't I call if I knew I'd be late?

"Ann I don't carry a cell phone with me when I run and it was such a nice night we decided to do an extra mile," I told her. "We swung around by the hospital and then ran by her apartment before stopping in for a glass of water before coming home," I told her.

"You stopped at her apartment?" she asked.

"Yeah, just for a second so I could get some water," I told her in my most sincere voice. "She really has a nice place and though it's a little small, she has a huge bedroom."

The seed was planted.

"What the hell were you doing in her bedroom?" Ann yelled back at me.

"She just gave me the tour while I finished my bottle of water. What's for dinner?" I said intentionally changing the subject.

"I don't want you in any damn girl's bedroom, do you hear me?" she now shouted.

"Ok. No more bedrooms. Happy now?" I asked. "Now, what's for dinner?"

It had been a while since we'd had sex, and when Ann asked if I was interested that night, for the first time in our marriage I begged off.

"You don't want to have sex with me tonight?" said a flabbergasted Ann.

"I got a cramp in my leg on my run today, and it's starting to tighten up again," I told her. "If you want, I can get you off with my fingers or tongue, but that's about it. Why don't we wait for a day or two until I up to snuff," I asked.

"Shot down for the first time ever. How does it feel Ann?" I thought to myself.

"Fine. That's just fine," Ann said to me. "Just let me know when you're up to it," she said in an annoyed voice. It was another four days before she brought it up again.

"How come we never have sex any more?" Ann asked Thursday night after dinner.

"What are you talking about? We have sex all the time," I replied.

"It's been twenty six days since we last had sex, I've kept track."

"God it doesn't seem like it's been that long. Are you sure?"

She threw a calendar at me. "Look for yourself. April 16th is the last time we had sex."

I looked at it and April 16th was circled in red.

"I'm not saying you're lying, it just doesn't seem like it's been that long," I told her.

"You don't kiss me, hug me or even imitate sex with me any more," she said in an accusing manner.

"Hold it a minute. Aren't you the one who was always complaining about me being all over you? That I was acting like some loved starved teenager and you wanted none of it? Or, maybe it was someone else who thanked me for leaving her alone," I said sarcastically. "Make up your damn mind Ann, either you want sex or not. Which is it?"

Not to be upstaged Ann took the offensive. "Well if you're not getting it from me Steve, who are you screwing? I'll bet it's that tramp Beth or maybe you're doing the tour of Tammy's bedroom again," she said getting even angrier.

"Ann, I'm not getting sex from anyone but you, and not much of that either it looks like," I said with a smile hoping to defuse the situation.

It didn't work.

"If I even think your cheating on me I'll cut the son of a bitch off," she yelled back at me.

"It was a joke hon. It was just my own sick way of making a joke," I tried to tell her before she stomped out of the room.

I tried to initiate something that night but all I got was her back.

"Maybe you should call Beth or Tammy. Maybe they've got the damn time!" was all she said.

Ann was pissed right through the whole weekend. I tried to apologize a couple of times but got nowhere. Hell my plan was worse than a failure. At least I was getting "something" before, now I was getting less than nothing.

Tuesday I went on a run with Tammy. At least I had a friendly face to look foreword to every other night when we ran together.

"Tonight I need you to push me hard. I've got a 10K on Sunday morning and I want to see just how fast I can run it," Tammy explained.

We'd been doing her pace for the last month, and today she wanted to do my pace. I started off a little slow for the first half mile and then picked up the pace for the next mile and a half.

"Have you gotten old on me Steve or is this the best you've got?" she mocked me.

"Alright girl, hold onto your thong and see if you can keep up with me," I shot back.

I took it up more than two notches as we did the next three miles at almost race speed. At a quarter mile from the finish I started yelling at her to pick it up.

"Come on girl, move it. Don't wimp out on me now." I yelled at her. When I could see her apartment building I started to sprint. "Come on Tammy, push it, don't leave anything in the tank, I yelled as we both gave it our all."

I thought she was going to puke when we hit her parking lot.

"Nice job," I told her as we both walked around trying to get our breath back. "If you run like that Sunday, no one will touch you," I said giving her a high five before she gave me a big sweaty hug.

"Thanks, I needed that. Sure I can't talk you into doing the race with me Sunday?"

"I told Ann, I'd take her to brunch at Tony's, to make amends. She's been on the rag for the last two weeks and I'm trying to get on her good side, and maybe in bed to," I said with a smile.

"Well come on up and I'll get you some Gatorade and send you home," she said as we walked arm in arm into her building. After two small glasses, I headed out for the two mile run back to my house.

I didn't see Ann when I came through the door so I headed up to take a much-deserved shower. I showered, shaved and brushed my teeth. I was just getting out of the shower when I saw Ann in the doorway.

"Washing away the evidence?" she said with her hands on her hips.

"What?" I said not believing what I thought I'd just heard Ann say.

"You heard me," she said turning around and walking down the hall.

"Now what the fuck did I do?" I said as I finished drying off.

I found Ann pacing back and forth in our bedroom. "I can't believe you slept with her. You're almost old enough to be her father."

"Ann, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me. I'm not that stupid," she shot back at me. "I followed you two today. After your run I saw the two of you heading for her apartment arm in arm. I waited for you to come out and left after ten minutes. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what the two of you were doing in there."

"Ann have you lost it? Just listen to yourself. I went in to get a couple of glasses of Gatorade, that's all. There was no hugging, or kissing and certainly no sex. If you want lets go to bed right now, I'll show you I've still got a full tank."

"You're never going to touch me again," she spit back at me.

"I guess I should have thought before replying.

"What else is new," I said which only pissed her off even more.

Our emotions took over as we traded insults like a couple of little kids trying to hurt the other as much as possible.

Her small dick shot brought out my unintentional knockout punch.

"How would a dried up shell of a woman like you know anyway? Bad move Steve," is all my brain said. I tried to back track for the next twenty minutes after the bedroom door was slammed in my face.

I sat down in the hall, with my back up against the door, and listened to Ann cry non-stop for the next two hours. After that it was quiet. I knocked on the door a few times but got no response. I went down stairs to the kitchen, fixed something to eat and spent the night on the couch trying to figure how to get my ass out of this one.

I woke up somewhere around 6:30 and went upstairs to an empty bedroom. The bed was messed up but she was gone. Sometime during the night Ann had she snuck out of our house and went somewhere. I showered and got dressed for work.

It was a long day. I e-mailed her at work a dozen times asking for forgiveness not before filling up the voice mail account on her cell phone, without getting a reply. After work I drove around looking for her when I came home to an empty house.

Ann walked into the gym and looked over the workout area before spotting her. Tammy was just getting off the stepper, wiping the sweat off of both her and the stepper when she felt the blow that put her to her knees.

Ann had come up from behind her and swung with all her might from somewhere out in left field.

"Leave my husband alone," she shouted. "Find your own man and quit sleeping with mine you slut."

Ann had picked on the wrong girl that's for sure. She was starting to turn away as Tammy got to her feet and cold cocked a surprised Ann, laying her flat out.

"Bitch, don't you ever lay a hand on me again or I'll clean the floor with you. I'm not sleeping with your damn husband, but after this if he asks me, I'll be more than happy to oblige him. It's not my problem you can't keep your man satisfied," Tammy said as she walked away.

Ann lay there for about twenty more seconds before one of the trainers helped her to her feet.