Not Today! Ch. 02

Ed note: The first part of this tale, Not today, contains two errors, one of which readers pointed out both mercilessly when the story first appeared. I used the name "Cindy" twice in the exposition, both as the name of "Tim's" wife and mistakenly in place of "Maria," the correct name for Joe's wife. I apologize for missing this in my proofreadings, and your points to use an editor are well-taken, though I'm probably to stubborn and proprietary a son-of-a-gun to do so. The second error was in not including the footnote "to be continued..." at the end. Tim's actions at the end of the story were intended as a teaser for part two, so actually I am pleased that you objected to Tim's dinner plans. I hope you will read on!

Tim had spent an entire year running the events of his night of torment over in his mind. He had questions that needed to be answered, loose ends that begged to be tied. He had removed himself from their clutches on his own terms, his own power. Still, part of him felt empty.

It wasn't the absence of sex getting to him. Cindy had always satisfied him, but since their split, he had discovered other women were at least her equal. There were many flavors to sample, and he found several to be enjoyable. Still he had remained single.

It wasn't that he was lonely. He ran a successful business, and had poured himself into building it into something he could not only be proud of, but something that had brought him considerable financial security. Building that business resulted in an active social life, with parties, golf outings, and business trips all over the country.

There were also his friends at the health club where he continued to swim, and he had become an avid racquetball player. He had installed a lap pool in his backyard, but still he loved the gym.

There was also Cindy's family, who still treated him like a son, though they avoided contact with Cindy. Cindy's little sister Cathy had just finished law school, and had moved back home to join her father's offices. She frequently joined her parents at Tim's when he had his weekly Sunday dinner, enjoying both the nostalgic ambience of a Sunday afternoon in her grandmother's old house, and enjoying Tim's company.

Tim had moved on with his life, but there were those nagging loose ends begging to be tied. His first act as Monica and Jake's landlord was to answer a request from them to repair their pool. It was an old pool, installed many years ago by a former owner, and the walls were crumbling in many places. Having to be at Monica's beck and call left Tim feeling he'd lost the upper hand he'd so cleverly achieved. Word got around to Joe and Maria, as suddenly their front walk needed repair. Janet and Teddy also discovered small problems and made a point of calling him often.

He was able to solve this problem by retaining a handy man to make all the repair calls. The guy was a maintenance guru, and Tim gave him a bonus to make sure he always had the stinkiest cheese or fish available for lunch when on call to one of these houses. Tim snickered when he imagined the look on his "tenants'" faces when the pungent smells lingered for days.

Still he decided he needed to cut those ties. He planned to sell the houses back, and carry the mortgages until he could sell them to a third party.

Monica was a puzzle to Tim. She was the only one of the bunch that he couldn't fugure out. It was clear Maria and Janet were just happy sex toys. Although very catty when they had visited Cindy at his house prior to the incident, they were never smart enough to instigate and only followed Monica's lead. Monica was devious, and calculating. She obviously thought there was something in Tim's character that was an invitation to be controlled and humiliated. What was it Monica had read in Tim that caused her to move so aggressively and quickly into the role of domme?

Was there a plan working in the background, and if so, for how long? Who shared the conspiracy? Were the husbands in on it beforehand? Or did they just go after the chance for a sexual feast featuring m ex-wife Cindy as the fresh meat?

Then there was Cindy. This was the agonizing point Tim struggled with. And he had struggled mightily for an entire year. He thought they had shared everything, but now knew she hid much. At least she hid from him her desire to enjoy sex with a larger penis than his. Had she hidden other occasions when she might have stepped out for other men? Or women?

Tim put the sizeable research resources of his company to work. He had several college interns that he couldn't keep busy enough, so he put them on the job of finding out everything they could about his tenants.

"Only look for public information, or sources in our own databases." Tim instructed. "I don't want you to be snooping anyplace that you don't legally belong."

Tim's first dinner "date" with Cindy arrived. She came over early on a Wednesday evening. She felt so out of place ringing the bell. As a child she had always just run right in, usually to find the comfort of her Grandmother's hug and a freshly baked cookie. As a wife, she had always just sauntered in to find the comfort of her husband hug and a kiss sweeter than any cookie.

Tim answered the door. "Hi Cindy." He stepped aside to let her in.

"Hi Tim."

She couldn't read his expressions or his voice. He didn't seem angry or cold, but he really didn't appear delighted to see her either. The past year had been miserable for her. Someone had talked about the event and rumors had spread around town.

Not being able to face the many mutual friends she and Tim shared where she worked, she had left her job. She was unable to find anything comparable, and had gone to work checking out groceries just to try to save enough money to get her own apartment. Her family was civil if they met by chance, but never called, and didn't answer her calls.

Monica and Jake had tolerated her living in their house, and had been civil. But Cindy was a daily reminder of their failure. Monica had never had a slave turn on her in a way that caused such damage, and the experience had left her quite perplexed and a bit depressed.

Neither of the other two couples present that night ever spoke to Cindy. Though they did get together with Monica and Jake regularly, it was always at one of the other houses, and Cindy was left alone that evening.

It wasn't as if no one paid attention to her though. She couldn't go into town without noticing the stares and hearing whispering behind her back. Men seemed to come out of the woodwork, constantly hitting on her when she was around. Some propositioned her as if she were a common street whore.

At first she turned down the advances with vigor and wit, but as the weeks dragged on she became numb to them. She would continue about her business as if the men didn't exist. She withdrew into the relative solace of a house where she wasn't wanted.

When Tim offered her the condo, it was like the heavens opened and rays of sun came shining down just for her. Movers had delivered furniture and boxes which he had sent from her Grandmother's house. As she unpacked each treasure and found a new place for it in her home, she felt her life returning to her.

Her home. The phrase resonated in her mind. She had spent a year as an unwelcome guest, and now she was home. She attacked the boxes with a determined glee. As she emptied the last of them and looked around at her own new space she realized it was still empty. Now she knew what her apartment missed. He was leading her to the dinner table.

He had decorated the house beautifully. Although there was a masculine touch Grandma would never have considered, it was so tasteful Cindy was sure Grandma would approve.

"Can I get you a drink?" Tim asked?

"I'll have a white wine." Cindy responded.

"Cindy, I want to talk to you with our minds clear," He said, "Can I bring you a soft drink?"

She paused to consider what his hidden agenda might be. She noticed that although there were candles in the room, they were not lit, that the lights were not dimmed, and that the music Tim had selected was not the soft jazz or R&B he used to love when setting a romantic mood.

"Uh, ok, sure that'll be fine." She stammered.

He retreated to the kitchen, giving her time to look around. He had done so many of the home improvement projects they had discussed over the years, including a lap pool in the back yard surrounded by a beautifully landscaped patio.

"As much as I this," she thought she was whispering to herself "he gained."

"What do you mean?" Tim asked. He had returned with her soft drink.

"Oh Tim, I was just thinking out loud! I didn't realize you were even there."

"It's ok," He said. "But you should know that I lost an awful lot. I had the American dream, a nice home, a devoted beautiful wife, a good business, two cars in the garage. Now it is empty."

"That's just the word!" she said. "It is exactly the way I've felt this year."

He looked at her sadly, "It isn't all that comforting to know you feel the same way, Cindy. For me the past year has bee a struggle to understand how that disaster happened. I need you to help me, Cindy. Help me understand. What went on before the party that led us into this mess"

He led her to a seat at the table, and took the chair beside her. He began to dish out dinner while she spoke.

"Monica was always a control freak," she began with a sigh. "When we were in high school she had this little geeky loser named Henry Wilson who had the biggest crush on her. He would do anything for her, and she got him to do much of her dirty work, even though she humiliated him every time she saw him."

"It was Henry who spied for her in the locker room and found out Jake, Joe and Teddy were the best hung guys in the school. When he told this to Monica in a crowded lunchroom, she pulled his head so his face was directly between her breasts and shouted 'Mommies boy has been sooooooo good today.' Henry got all redfaced, and pretty quickly a wet spot emerged on his pants where he had cum from the excitement. The entire class heard and saw this and erupted with laughter and jeers."

"Henry ran running from the cafeteria with tears streaming down his face. For the next week he was so badly teased and bullied, his parents pulled him out and sent him to a ritzy boarding school."

"Monica decided then and there she would have Jake, for keeps. She also declared that Maria and Janet would have Teddy and Joe, so all the big dicks would be kept in our circle of friends. She told me I'd have to wait until another stud moved to town. Maria and Janet never found thinking to be their long suit, so they happily went along with Monica sucking and fucking their way to marrying their studs."

"I guess I wasn't that shook because I did have a brain, and wasn't keen on either accepting Monica's manipulations, especially when it came to picking a sweetheart, or a husband. I always felt bad for her victims, especially Henry"

"Did you ever feel bad enough to help them?" Tim asked

Cindy hung her head, "No. I couldn't. No one could ever stop Monica, until you. It was amazing what you did, Tim. You broke free from the pool, thrashed three huge men, gave Monica the only rejection she's ever known, actually backhanded her, and had the law on your side the next day. We didn't know what hit us."

"There was nothing amazing about it Cindy. The pool walls were crumbling on their own and the three guys were only big between their legs. They were all out of shape and drunk, and since they came at me one at a time. Together they might have had a chance. They were too busy fucking and drinking to think clearly. As for the law, I had done nothing wrong, why shouldn't it be behind me."

"Just like in high school, Monica picked on someone she perceived as weak. I could have cared less about my penis being smaller than those guys. I wasn't ashamed, so how could I feel humiliated?"

"But you seemed humiliated," she countered.

"I was watching my wife dissolve our marriage before my very eyes. How many other feelings along with humiliation do you imagine I felt. How about desolation, despair, rejection, broken hearted." He looked at her with pity. "I wonder, did you ever worry about Henry after he went to boarding school?"

"No," she answered.

Tim's interns had turned up a good deal about Monica and had talked to many people about wha happened with Henry. Monica had a history of overstepping her welcome with men, but she was somehow a good luck charm for those who stood up to her. It seems those that she had humiliated did lie broken in her wake, but those few who had resisted and even fought her domination instead rose to become quite successful. This was the case with Henry too.

"Henry Wilson joined the wrestling team at his boarding school. He became so strong he won their league championship in his weight class. He wrestled through college and was named All-American in his senior year. He was a brilliant businessman too, and now owns a financing company. Yesterday, I sold him three mortgages. Guess whose houses Henry holds title to as collateral?"

"You should have seen his face when we closed the deal. Remember their mortgage contracts contained a clause that I could call the note at anytime, and they'd have to pay it? Henry is determined that Monica and her friends will pay for her high school antics, and he is very much in the driver's seat."

She remained quiet, taking it all in.

"Cindy," he looked her square in the eyes, "I need to know some things."

She looked up, responding to his increasingly serious tone.

"When did you stop loving me?"

"Never," she whimpered on the verge of tears.

"Then why?"

His blue eyes pierced her as he waited for an answer. It didn't come quickly, in spite of the nervous agony his gaze was causing. She wished with all her being for that moment to pass, but he held her in his gaze. She realized there was no way out, and she'd have to talk.

"Monica had her eye on you since they moved back. Jake was as dumb as they come, and though he filled her up when they had sex, he couldn't hold his end of a conversation, and certainly offered her no challenge as a domme. She was bored, and had played with Joe and Teddy enough that she was tired of them too. She had been manipulating Maria and Janet since we were in grade school, so she needed new blood."

"We were that new blood, Tim. All my life I had resisted her. Before the party, she had steered our little chats to sex, and eventually penis size. I thought the girls were exaggerating when they described Jake, Joe and Teddy. I had always been happy with our love life, so I let it all go in one ear and out the next. I really didn't care."

"So I thought! Visions of huge cocks began to creep into first my dreams, then my daydreams. Eventually it became more than a fantasy, I became obsessed. When the party developed as it did, I couldn't stop looking at Jake's big dick. I couldn't stop wanting him, and got so wet. When I looked for you, you were already bound and looking down. I thought Monica had defeated you, and someplace between my fantasy and all the wine I believed your submission signaled consent."

"Tim it was such a blur, and happened so fast. When Jake penetrated me, it was so painful yet felt amazing, and it was all I could think of. I didn't plan on it to happen, and I wish it hadn't. I can't believe I said the things I told you, about loving you but having to go through with my desires. I watched a copy of the video which my father submitted when he filed the divorce papers. It makes me sick to think about what I destroyed."

"Everything about our relationship could be a lie for all know," he said. "I find myself wondering how often you saw other men while we were married, while we were dating. I find myself wondering how much of my torment was planned before the party, and how much you may have had a hand in it. After all, did you hear how quickly they picked up your pet name for me, 'little boy' and twisted it into such a sick reference to my penis size? Did you notice how smoothly everyone fell into their roles? They even planned to jump me while Monica conveniently had those restraints right at hand,"

"I know I betrayed your trust Tim," she answered. "But I really never did anything with anyone else before that night. You were my one and only, and I had nothing to do with advance planning. I suppose all the wine I drank played a role in what I did, in the heat of the moment. But I couldn't have continued with any plan to hurt you even if I had been in on it. I suppose Monica could have contrived something with the others, but I couldn't have carried it off."

"I don't know what to say," Tim replied.

"The worst thing when I saw the tape was how they abused 'little boy.' I loved calling you that, and never meant it as anything but a playful way of reminding you I was older. They twisted it into something so ugly I shuddered to hear it on the video. Losing that tease was just such a bitter parallel to losing you."

Tim looked down at his plate. Strangely Cindy desired his eyes, craved the gaze that had withered her a minute ago.

"You were my best friend," he said quietly.

You could hear a clock ticking in the kitchen it was so still as he paused.

"I wanted to raise a family with you," he continued. "I trusted you. I adored you."

"I know," she sobbed through tears which were now flowing freely. "I am so sorry. I miss what I've given up. Can you find it in your heart to forgive me?"

"I loved you too much to hold a grudge forever Cindy," Tim answered gently. "I will forgive you."

"Is there hope for us to be a family again? Do you have a second chance for me in your heart?" she continued hopefully.

"There is no one in the world just like you Cindy. Still as much as I would like to bring you back home to me, there was a betrayal of love and trust I just can't get past."

"I learned over the last year that light comes from darkness and strength grows from weakness. Tables have a way of turning. I do want you back in your family where you belong."

She looked at him, stunned.

"I talked it over with your parents and your sister, and they agree. We want you to start by joining us for Sunday dinners here in your Grandma's house," he continued. "You've suffered for your choice, and no doubt you will suffer for a long time. You'll have to live with your own demons. We just don't want to be those demons."

She was speechless. Suddenly a wave of warmth washed over her. There was a hope alive in her heart.

"Tim," she began excitedly, "you won't be sorry. I will do anything for us to be ok again, and maybe someday I can earn your trust. Who knows, maybe we can even resume those efforts to make our own family."

He looked at her sparkling eyes.

"Cindy, I don't think that can happen," he said. "There was actually another thing I needed to talk to you about."

"What now?" she wondered.

"I told you I could never meet someone just like you," he began. "I have however met someone. She has your eyes, which was the first thing I noticed, and maybe the first thing I fell for. She talks like you, walks like you, has similar tastes. She is so much lke you, I fell in love quite fast."

"Now I don't know what to say," she began to sob again. "I guess I expected too much, Tim. I thought there was a chance for us still. I am happy for you , happy you found love."

She inhaled sharply, then exhaled slowly as she collected herself. She was determined to be strong in this. It was all the result of her own actions after all, and Tim was being kind by all he had done, setting her up in a home with such familiar cozy furnishings. He had intervened with her parents and sister, and she would now finally be able to be at home with a family. As much as she resented the new woman in Tim's life, she loved him dearly for setting her back on the path to respectability.