Pete and Jane

Author's Note: I originally posted this story under the name zeke81. Time has passed and I've had several suggestions about improving this story so I am submitting this revised version. Please feel free to read the version posted under zeke81 and let me know which version you think is better.

ZENDO_ARGOS

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Pete and Jane had gotten married when they were both 18 years old. They had 3 children early in their marriage, and after 25 years of marriage it seemed to Pete as if he had the perfect life.

Then he got sick.

Pete didn't think it was that big a deal at first; he was sure he'd be over whatever it was in a few days, but after a while he started to realize that things were getting worse and not better. Pete had been able to hide the sickness from his wife Jane because he didn't want her to worry about him when there was no need.

Pete finally went to the doctor for a full exam and tests to determine what was wrong with him. Two days later the doctor called Pete and asked him to come to his office so they could talk about the results.

The family doctor that had taken care of Pete and Jane's children when they were younger had recently retired and this new doctor was a younger man that Pete had never met before he got sick. As Pete sat down in the doctor's office he wished his old friend Doc Roberts was there, because he knew that Doc Roberts would tell him the truth, he wasn't sure about this new kid.

"Mr. Miller, thank you for coming in, I felt it was better to do this face to face then over the phone." Dr. Evans says.

"Am I going to be okay Doc?" Pete asks.

"Yes, you're going to be fine. I'm going to put you on some antibiotics for a couple weeks and they'll clear this little problem all up. Mr. Miller, when was the last time you and your wife made love?" Dr. Evans asks.

"What the hell kind of question is that?" Pete asks angrily.

"Mr. Miller, it's important." Dr. Evans says.

"A week or so before I started feeling sick I guess, why?" Pete asks.

"Mr. Miller, I'm afraid you have an STD and given when you last made love to your wife I am going to have to strongly suggest that you have her come in to be checked out as well. Oh, and any other partners you might have should be told to consult their doctors immediately." Dr. Evans says.

It seemed perfectly clear to Pete that either Dr. Evans assumed that Pete had been cheating on his wife and picked up an STD or he was trying to be nice and not suggesting that Jane was having sex with someone else.

Pete knew that he had never cheated on his wife and he didn't want to believe that Jane was cheating on him, but he had to have gotten the STD from Jane so what other explanation was there?

"Doctor, my wife has no idea that I came here today, she certainly doesn't know that I have an STD, is there any way we could have her checked out without having her know what you're looking for?" Pete asks.

"Mr. Miller, I understand your concern. This is a tough situation that must be handled delicately, but if your wife has been infected it is important that she starts treatment immediately. I know how difficult it will be for you to talk to your wife about this, but for her sake you have to do it." Dr. Evans says.

"Yes doctor, I understand." Pete says.

Pete leaves the doctor's office and drives home. When he gets home he parks in the driveway and can't bring himself to get out of the car. He just sits there gripping the steering wheel and starts crying.

It's over an hour later before Pete finally heads inside.

Nobody is home; the house is dark and quiet. Pete sees the picture of him with Jane on their wedding day; he takes the picture off the wall and looks at it. The pain is terrible in Pete's heart. Pete can't believe it, but Jane has been cheating on him.

As he stands there looking at the picture of their wedding day questions begin running through Pete's head.

Who gave Jane the STD that she had now infected him with? Was it a one-time thing or was it a long-term affair? Was that guy the only one she'd been with? If it was an affair; how long had Jane been cheating on him? Was he somehow responsible for her cheating? Did Jane have any idea that she had infected Pete with an STD?

Pete walked over to the liquor cabinet, pulled out a bottle, poured himself some Scotch and drank it down. He filled the glass again and took several drinks of the Scotch as he thought about his life with Jane. He tried to think of any signs that she might be cheating on him, he couldn't think of any. Pete had no reason to believe that Jane was unhappy, no reason to believe that she didn't love him, and no reason to believe that she had found their sex life unsatisfying.

As Pete drank down his third Scotch the front door opened and Jane walked in.

Jane saw Pete standing there with a bottle in one hand and a glass in the other and the bright bubbly smile that was always on Jane's pretty face immediately became a look of concern.

"What's the matter honey? Is everything okay?" Jane asked.

Jane walked up behind Pete and wrapped her arms around him lovingly. Pete usually liked it when she did that, he enjoyed feeling the warmth of her body against his back and he liked to smell her perfume drifting forward encompassing him in a fragrant cloud of happiness. Today however Pete was saddened at her touch and the perfume only caused his stomach to churn.

"Pete sweetie, maybe if you tell me what's wrong I can fix it." Jane said.

"No, I don't think you can fix it this time." Pete said.

"Are you sure? I'm pretty good at fixing things, come on, tell me what's wrong." Jane said.

"Okay. I went to the doctor today." Pete says.

"I thought that it looked like you weren't feeling well. Are you okay sweetheart?" Jane asked.

"No, Jane, I'm not okay. I'm much sicker than I thought." Pete says.

"Oh god, is it cancer? There are new treatments coming out all the time, we can beat this together." Jane said.

"No, it's not cancer." Pete says.

"Well I'm glad to hear that, but if it isn't cancer then what is it?" Jane asks.

"It's an STD." Pete says.

"Oh." Jane says somberly.

She releases her tight hold on Pete.

"I take it by your reaction that you have a pretty good idea and aren't really surprised that I have an STD. Am I correct?" Pete asks.

"Yes." Jane says in a near whisper.

She starts to cry.

"I want to know everything; so start talking right now." Pete says.

"Are you sure?" Jane asks through the tears.

"I think I'm entitled to know the details. After all you have repaid my more than 25 years of faithful love and devotion to you by having sex with someone else and then giving me an STD. I think that gives me every right to know." Pete says.

"You're right Pete; you do deserve to know...I just don't want to hurt you more than I already have." Jane says.

"Jane!" Pete yelled angrily.

"Okay, Pete, I'll tell you. For the past 8 years I have been working as a call girl." Jane says.

"You mean you're a fucking prostitute?" Pete asks angrily.

Pete turns around and looks at Jane angrily. Jane is noticeably shaken and scared to see his reaction. She hangs her head and holds her hands over her eyes.

"No, I'm not a prostitute Pete. I don't walk the streets looking for anyone that's willing to pay me for sex. I have been having sex with people for money, but I work through a service that screens out clients to try to ensure safety." Jane says.

"I'd say that they should try to be a little more thorough." Pete says.

"This is the first time that I'm aware of that a problem like this has occurred. If you have it I need to get in to see the doctor too." Jane says.

"Jane, I don't think I want to know this, but I need to; how and why did you get involved with this?" Pete asks.

"I got involved by talking to Grace, the woman across the street. She owns and runs the service that I work for." Jane said.

"Grace is your pimp?" Pete asks angrily.

"Pete please calm down. You wanted to know how I got involved and I'm trying to tell you, but we won't get anywhere if you keep reacting to everything like that." Jane says.

"You're right, it's just that this has me very upset at the moment, it's hard not to react to things like that. Please continue." Pete says.

"When the kids were growing up Grace and I used to get together for coffee a few times a week so that we'd have someone to talk to instead of being home alone all day. One day we were talking about sex and she told me about the agency she ran. She told me that most of the girls that work for her were married women that enjoyed having someone other than their husbands find them desirable. I was a little bit shocked that married women were accepting money to have sex with other men, but I was also curious so I asked her a few questions. She told me that none of the women denied their husbands anything, they were still loving attentive lives, they just filled their daytime hours by having sex with men that were willing to pay a good deal of money for their company. Before she left that morning Grace asked me if I was interested in working for her." Jane says.

"She asked you to have sex with other men for money a few minutes after she told you about it and you said yes?" Pete asks.

"She didn't ask me to work as a call girl. She wanted me to work as an agent, scheduling things for the other girls and screening potential clients. Well, I wasn't working at the time, she offered to pay me in cash, and I could do it during the day when you were at work and the kids were at school so I took the job." Jane says.

"So when did your job title change from agent to call girl?" Pete asks.

"For the first six months I helped screen new clients and set up the dates, but then one day a situation came up where one of the girls was injured in a car accident and Grace desperately needed someone to fill in. A very special high paying client was in town on business and wanted some companionship. I fit the type of woman that the guy was looking for so Grace asked me to do it. I'm so ashamed of myself Pete, but I let myself be talked into it. Working with the girls for so long and hearing them talk about it had me curious so I let Grace talk me into it. I went and met him at his hotel suite. You were the only man I had ever been with so I was scared to death the first time, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The sex wasn't great, but it wasn't bad either; and that's all it was, just sex. As I said he was a high paying client so I got paid $2,000 in cash for that one time. As I thought about it afterwards the whole thing had excited me just as much as it had terrified me so when Grace asked me if I would consider continuing to do it I thought about it for a few days then told her that I would. I've been doing it ever since. I usually meet with between 8 and 10 clients per month. It pays really well; in the last 8 years I've made quite a lot of money from it." Jane says.

"What have you been doing with all of this money? You keep asking me for money to go shopping with so it must not be around here; where is it?" Pete asks.

"Grace has it set up so that we get paid in foreign wire transfers that take place completely outside of the country. That way we don't have to pay taxes on what we make and it means that the money can't be traced back to how we're getting it in the first place; because obviously what we do is illegal in this country. So other than the cash tips that some of the more generous clients have given me, all of the money I've made over the last 8 years is in a bank account in the Cayman Islands." Jane says.

"What were you going to do with it down there? Leave me and go live like a queen in the Caymans?" Pete asks.

"Oh Pete, please don't think anything like that. From the very beginning I was trying to think of a way to bring the money into the country without the government asking a lot of questions. I wanted to find a way for us to get the money without you being suspicious about where it came from. I finally decided to have my mom give it to us when she died." Jane says.

Pete looks at the floor, shakes his head, and takes a deep breath.

"Jane, did you know that you had given me an STD?" Pete asks.

"No Pete, I swear I had no idea. I always take as many precautions as possible to prevent from getting them myself. I insist that the clients always wear condoms and I always wash thoroughly with antibacterial soaps afterwards. Pete I am so sorry about this." Jane sobs.

"Am I correct to assume that since you meet with other men 8 to 10 times per month that you have had sex with me on the same day that you had sex with one of your clients on more than one occasion?" Pete asks.

"No Pete; I have made love with you on days that I've had sex with one of the clients, there's a difference. With them it's just business, with you it's so much more than that. I hope you understand that." Jane says.

"Do you like what you do Jane?" Pete asks.

"What?" Jane asks.

"Do you like what you do? Do you like having sex with other men for money?" Pete asks.

Jane hangs her head, unable to look Pete in the eyes as she gives her response.

"I don't really know hot to answer that question Pete. As far as the sex part goes I don't mind doing it. You of all people know how much I enjoy sex, and sex is all it is, there is no emotion involved, I hope you believe me." Jane says.

"Did you enjoy fucking other men with me being completely oblivious to what you were doing?" Pete asks angrily.

"Pete, I've never been the least bit happy about keeping my job secret from you. That's the one part of the whole thing that I really hated. I've always been concerned about what it would do to you and to our marriage if you were to find out." Jane says.

"Considering that you've been doing it for 8 years I'm sure you really cared about what you were doing to me and to our marriage." Pete says coldly.

"I did care about you and our marriage Pete; honestly I did. I know that it sounds completely stupid and selfish, but if I had thought for one second that you'd ever find out about what I was doing I never would have done it." Jane says.

"You're right, that may be the stupidest most selfish thing I have ever heard. You were okay getting paid to have sex with other men as long as I didn't know. It sure sounds like you enjoyed doing it behind my back to me." Pete says.

"I hated it Pete, but it was something I could deal with because I thought there was no way that you'd ever know. So what do we do now that you know what I've been doing?" Jane asks nervously.

"You're done with this right now. It's over, no more working as a call girl, no more meeting with clients, none of it. Do you understand?" Pete asks.

"Of course Pete, I never should have done it even when I thought that you'd never know about it and there's no way I could bring myself to do it again now that you do know. I'll go over and tell Grace that I can't work for her anymore right now." Jane says.

Pete looks up at Jane with an evil smile on his face.

"No, you won't. I'm going to go over to tell Grace that you can't work for her anymore. In fact I think I'll do that right now. You should stay here by the phone; she might call the cops and I'll probably need you to come down and bail me out of jail in a little while." Pete says.

"Pete, please don't hurt her. This isn't worth you going to jail for. Besides it's more my fault than it is hers. She only gave me the opportunity to do it, but I'm the one that said yes. If you have to take it out on someone, take it out on me." Jane says.

"Even with what you've done Jane I could never bring myself to hit you. I have to take it out on somebody, and since I can't take it out on you I'm gonna have to take it out on her." Pete says.

Jane hangs her head and cries.

Pete goes to the garage, gets his sledgehammer, crosses the street, walks up onto the porch of Jane's pimp Grace Johnson's house and rings the doorbell. Grace is in her early 40's just like Jane.

"Well hello Pete, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Grace asks.

"Grace, would you please step outside for a little while; I don't want you to get hurt by any of the debris that will be flying around." Pete says.

"What are you talking about Pete?" Grace asks.

Pete brings the sledgehammer out from behind his back where he'd been holding it and puts it up on his shoulder.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about Grace. I just found out that you've been making money on my wife's 8 years of infidelity, including getting paid by whichever one of them gave her the STD that she passed on to me. Needless to say I'm pretty pissed off by all of this, so since I'm not willing to hurt her or you I'm going to have to settle for venting my rage by destroying your house. Now if you would be so kind as to wait outside so I can get started." Pete says.

Grace is stunned to have been found out. She is also afraid for her safety as Pete is a big strong guy that's really pissed off and he has a sledgehammer in his hands.

Grace steps out onto the porch, down the steps and into the front yard. She turns to look back at the house once she's in the yard. Pete walks inside and starts swinging the hammer wildly.

Jane, who is still crying, comes across the street and stands next to Grace.

"I'm so sorry Grace." Jane sobs

"It's okay Jane; how did he find out?" Grace asks.

"He hadn't been feeling well for over a week so went to the doctor. It turns out that he's got an STD. I'm the only person he's ever had sex with in his life so he knew that I am the only one that could have possibly given it to him, which meant that I'd had to cheat on him with someone to pick it up. When I got home he told me he was sick, told me had an STD, and demanded to know the truth. I told him everything; I told him all about how I started working for you, I told him about the money that I have in the Caymans, everything." Jane says.

Grace gives Jane a hug and sighs.

"I suppose this was bound to happen sooner or later, one of the girls' husbands finding out I mean; this STD business is a shock to me. We've taken a lot of steps to keep something like that from being a problem. Do you have an idea of which of your clients might have given it to you?" Grace asks.

"I can't be certain, but I've narrowed it down in my head to two. They should all be told immediately just in case." Jane says.

"Pete probably is the only one that got infected. He's the only one that you have sex with without using a condom." Jane says.

"Well I couldn't exactly ask my own husband to wear a condom when we make love. That would have been a dead giveaway that something was going on. Besides, I don't want anything to ever come between us when we're making love." Jane says.

"Unfortunately making love to Pete without protection has landed us in our current situation. I'll see to it that all of the clients are informed tomorrow when I go to the office. I want to know which one it is that gave it to you so that I can have him pay for the damages that your husband is doing to my house right now." Grace says.

"I'll pay for all of the damages Grace. Pete knows about what I've been doing and about the money. He's a proud man; even if he doesn't divorce me I don't think he'll want anything to do with the money knowing what I did to get it. I'll gladly pay for all of the damage he does in there." Jane says.

"I won't hear of it Jane. You earned that money, and you might need it. Now that Pete knows about what's been going on for the last 8 years you obviously won't be able to work for me anymore, unless he divorces you." Grace says.

"Which is a distinct possibility; and I won't even pretend that I don't deserve it. As my husband Pete has every right to do to me what he's doing to your house right now after what I have done to him. I have been cheating on him for money for eight years. I could see it in his eyes before he came over here, he wanted to hurt me, maybe even kill me for what I've done. Oh god, how was I ever stupid enough to think that it was okay for me to do this as long as he didn't know?" Jane asks.