Savior

The happy couple left and things started breaking up. It was an eighty mile drive to get home and I knew I wouldn't want to make the drive after the drinking I expected to do at the reception so I'd taken two rooms at a local motel. When we got to the motel I gave Joleen the key to her room and she looked at it and said:

"What's this?"

"The key to your room."

My room? You expect to sleep in another room? Why two rooms? You knew what I meant when I told you I would make it worth your while."

"A gentleman never presumes."

"Bullshit Sterling. Best you see if you can get your money back on the second room."

I couldn't, but I didn't care. The night I had in room 131 was worth the cost of ten rooms. Ten rooms for a week even. Joleen finally got that fifth time out of me.

When I took her home I figured that would be the end of it. I carried her bags to her door and set them down. She took me in her arms, gave me one hell of a kiss and then said:

"I'm free all of next week. Give me a call."

I got one more kiss and she went into the house.

++++++++++++++++++++++

I did call her and we went out three of the nights and ended up back at my apartment on all three of them. The following week we went out four times and the week after that it was five. Suddenly it seemed that we were a couple in everyone's eyes.

After three months she told me that her mother wanted to sell the house and move to Akron where she could live with her sister.

"I can get an apartment or I can just move in with you. What do you think I should do?"

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out my answer to that question. Joleen moved in with me and six months later we were married.

The next five years flew by. My initial contract was for three years and in my second and third year I made it to the Pro Bowl. I was offered a lucrative five year contract and I took it, but arranged for deferred compensation spread out over eight years. It saved me a ton in taxes, but the real beauty of it was that I got paid even if I got injured and couldn't play. The pay checks would keep on coming for eight years. It was also a good deal for the franchise in that it freed them up and helped them with the Leagues salary cap.

By the end of the second year of the contract I'd come to realize that if I made a million dollars a month it would never be enough for Joleen. The woman could spend it faster than I could make it and that wasn't the way I wanted to live. My plan was get the money now, invest it and spread it out so I could live well after football and I don't mean live well for a couple of years, but live well for the rest of my life.

Accordingly, knowing Joleen's penchant for spending, I started hiding things from her. I didn't explain the deferred compensation package and I decided to shock her into curbing her spending. I told her that my financial advisor had made some bad guesses (he hadn't and in fact he was doing extremely well by me) and that I had lost a bunch on the stock market. I told her that we needed to tighten the purse strings a bit.

It didn't faze her at all. Two weeks after I told her that she went out and bought a new Cadillac Escalade. As far as she was concerned we still had money in the bank, right? Well I've done some dumb things in my life, but I'm not stupid. Or at least I didn't think that I was. I remembered Joleen's track record back before we hitched up. The way she bounced from one well off guy to another and I concluded, rightly or wrongly, that Joleen jumped on my wagon because she saw the big bucks that I could pull down as a Pro.

In short – was it me or my money? My heart was yelling at me that it was me, but my mind was telling me that it was the money. She was a great wife and other than her out of control spending I really had no complaints. God knows that she continued trying to fuck me to death.

Joleen had never put her degree to use. Why bother. We didn't need the money that her job would bring in. Instead of going to work Joleen became a social butterfly. Perhaps I'm not being fair in using that term, but Joleen seemed to feel the need to be out and about and seen in all the trendy places and with the 'in crowd.'

She joined all sorts of organizations from "Save the Barking Tree Frog" to "Prevent Earthworm Abuse." She got on committees and volunteered for all sorts of things. Scarcely a week went by when her picture wasn't on the society page of the paper.

A lot of the money that Joleen was going through was going to the committees and groups that Joleen belonged to and I wasn't happy about it. My financial guru kept telling me to calm down a little because it all went to Charitable Deductions at tax time, but the way Joleen was going through money I was wondering if I might not end up a charity case myself in my later years.

When the "Lost a lot on the stock market" ploy didn't work I tried to think of some other way to slow her down. It was almost as if The Fates heard me and decided that I was worthy of help. I was injured in a game against Kansas City. It wasn't career ending, but I let Joleen think that it might well be. I told Joleen that with no money coming in we needed to be frugal. As with the stock market ploy it didn't do any good.

I took a deep breath and then took drastic steps. I called all the companies we had credit cards with and I cancelled some and put lower credit limits on others. I emptied the savings account and closed it and then I took all but five thousand out of our join checking and moved all the money to a new account in my name only. I changed my payroll direct deposit to my new account.

When I had all that done I sat down with Joleen and told her that since she seemed incapable of being financially responsible I'd taken steps to see that we remained solvent. I told her what the new limits were on her credit cards and that our only income would be about five thousand a month from my investment accounts and that would probably end in about sixteen months when the accounts were drained.

"Hopefully by then I'll be back on my feet and able to find a job."

Joleen sat there and listened and didn't say a word until I finished. Then she said:

"I can't believe that you did all that without talking to me first" and then she got up and left the room. I got up and hobbled after her and when I got to the bedroom I found her moving some of her things into one of the guest bedrooms.

"Why are you doing this? And don't tell me that it is because you are upset with me for not talking to you. I told you we needed to tighten up when we lost all that money in the stock market and you didn't listen. I told you that things had to tighten up when the injury happened and you didn't listen then either. I did what I had to do to keep us from someday having to go to that homeless shelter you are on the committee of."

She ignored me and kept moving her things so I said "Fuck it" and went to the family room and turned on the TV.

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Things were frosty around the house for the next month. Joleen went out almost every night for some committee meeting or other and ignored me when she was home. I wondered how long it was going to last and then – suddenly – I didn't care.

It was a Saturday and Joleen had gone to one of her committee meeting. I had my injured leg propped up on a footstool and I was watching the news on the TV. They showed some footage taken at a charity event and there was Joleen with a few other committee members. One of the members was Jason Arnold who was the President and Chairman of the Board of the Apex Group.

Jason was standing just behind Joleen with a big smile on his face. Joleen also had a smile on her face. I noticed Jason's posture. His right shoulder was dipped just a tad and I probably wouldn't have thought anything about it except for Joleen's smile. I knew the woman. Intimately. That smile was the smile of someone who was smiling while thinking:

"You clods don't know it, but I'm getting away with something right before your eyes."

And then it registered on me. Jason's shoulder was dipped to allow his hand to be on Joleen's ass.

It all came together in my mind in a rush. Phil and his money were history so move on to Harry. Harry's down and out so move to Justin. More than likely the same pattern played out when she was back east. Come home, hook up with Brad until she spots her next target and then head off with Rolex guy. Hook back up with Brad since it looked like he was headed for the big bucks. Now that the indications that we were not going to be as well off as we were it was time to look for the next sugar daddy.

The decision on what to do next was made before Joleen's image had faded from the screen

++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next morning I met with my financial guy and he began moving money. By the end of the day I would have an account in an offshore bank and money from my investment accounts would be moving toward it. That afternoon I met with Stan North of Orbit Investigations and turned him loose on Joleen. I honestly hoped that he would not find anything and it was all just my imagination running wild.

Joleen was there when I got home. She was sitting on the living room couch and it looked like she was waiting for me., but I didn't give her a chance to say a word. I went right by her and up the stairs to my bedroom. I took off the three piece suit I was wearing and got into the shower. When I came out I found Joleen sitting on the bed waiting for me.

"What are you doing in here? Your bedroom is across the hall."

"We need to talk honey."

"No we don't. You have gone out of your way to ignore me for over a month now and I've found that I like it. Just get out of my room. I'll let you know if and when I want to talk, but don't hold your breath while you wait."

Joleen sat there and looked at me open mouthed. I had never before talked to her like that and she didn't know how to take it.

While I was talking I was putting on some casual clothes and I finished dressing and left the room. I noticed her standing at the top of the stairs looking down at me as I walked out the front door. The look on her face was priceless.

I drove over to the Landing Strip Lounge and nursed a couple of beers while I shot pool with a couple of guys I knew. When I got home the lights were out so I guessed Joleen had gone to bed.

In the morning I was up and out of the house without seeing Joleen. I went to the gym and worked on my upper body for a couple of hours and then hit IHOP for a light breakfast. Next was my physical therapy session after which I went home. I got there around three and noticed that Joleen's car wasn't there.

I spent the rest of the afternoon making lists. One of what I wanted when the split came. One of what I was going to take regardless of whether Joleen wanted it or not and the third a list of charities to which I could donate what neither of us wanted. Was I that certain that the private eye was going to find that Joleen was cheating? Damned straight skippy!

I managed to avoid Joleen all week. It wasn't all that hard. I got up and left the house before she got up in the morning. I was watching for her when she came home at night and when I saw her turn into the drive I got into my car and left. She as in bed when I got home and if she wasn't I walked right by her without saying a word.

Friday I received a call from North and he told me that he had something for me. That something was three meetings that Joleen had had with Arnold that were not committee meetings. One at the Hilton on Tuesday afternoon. One at the Marriott Thursday afternoon and one at the Hilton Thursday evening after a committee meeting.

He had photos of Joleen and Jason kissing as they went into room 306 at the Hilton and two of them at the Marriott. One going into room 507 and one of them coming out two hours later. The photos were proof enough for me, but they were not good enough for what I wanted to do.

I asked North if he could get me explicit photos and he said he probably could, but it would be extremely expensive and the photos would not be able to be used in court because he would be invading the privacy of Joleen and Jason in order to get them.

"I would need to watch them until I could see a pattern and that could take weeks and even then it might never happen. I need them to use the same place repeatedly and then I can spread some bribe money around to get them checked into a room that has been previously prepared with recording devices. Once again I need to warn you that you whatever I get can't be used in court."

"I don't want to use it in court. I want to use it as incentive."

It didn't take North as long as he thought it might. He quickly discovered that the Hilton and the Marriott were the favorite haunts of the pair. Several hefty bribes got the adulterous duo checked into rooms where their play was saved for posterity. One week later I had what I needed to allow me to do what I wanted to do.

Reviewing the DVDs showed that I was lucky to catch on to what was happening when I did. Joleen was planning on doing a Pearl Harbor on me. What North got for me would allow me to act first.

The recording was from a Wednesday evening assignation at the Marriott. Jason had just finished fucking Joleen doggie style and they were relaxing when Joleen said:

"Maybe we should cool it a bit. Brad isn't stupid and he might already suspect that I'm cheating on him."

"As long as you keep screwing the socks off of him why would he suspect anything?"

"That's part of the problem. I'm not making love with him."

"That's not wise. A slow down or a change is sexual habits is one of the signs of infidelity."

"It isn't my fault. I haven't cut him off. He just won't have anything to do with me. I can't even get him to sit down and talk with me."

"Then end it now. Leave him so we can get on with our lives."

"I don't want to do it yet. I need to wait and see if he is going to be able to play again. It will make a difference in how much I can get when I divorce him."

"I don't understand your reasoning. I have more money than the two of us can spend in five lifetimes. You don't need a dime from him."

"I just feel that it is important to have money of my own."

"You might want to re-evaluate. If he gets suspicious and starts looking and finds out about us it could cause us serious problems. If he does find out and then comes after you for infidelity what we have been doing might get out and I can't have that. That sort of information would do me some serious damage in my social circles. If you just divorce him for Irreconcilable Differences there won't be any stigma attached when we announce our engagement."

"Okay. I'll see an attorney on Monday and get it done. But right now you need to ring my chimes again."

Joleen was in for a hell of a surprise.

++++++++++++++++++

The next morning I saw an attorney and put things in motion. Joleen and I managed to avoid each other over the weekend and on Monday after my physical therapy I stopped by the attorney's office and finalized things.

Tuesday night I was sitting in the family room when Joleen got home. I told her to have a seat.

"It is time for us to have that talk."

"Why now?"

"It will become apparent in just a second."

I hit the appropriate buttons on the universal remote and Joleen's face turned pale when she saw herself on the TV with Jason's cock buried in her ass. I handed her an envelope and told her to read what was in it and sign it.

She read the papers and then looked at me and said, "This is a joke, right? There is no way I'm going to walk away from this marriage with a lump sum payment of fifty thousand, my car and my personal effects."

"No joke Joleen. You take what I've offered and walk away and nobody else will ever see what you are watching on the screen."

"You forget that I'm not some bubble headed bimbo. What you just showed me can never be used in court."

"Don't intend to use it in court. You will notice that I have filed using Irreconcilable Differences and not adultery. You sign and walk and the Board of Directors of the Apex Group will never see you playing with Jason. You sign and walk and none of the committee members of all the committees that you are on ever see you cheating on your loving husband. You sign and walk and your parents will never see it. None of Jason's family and social circle will ever see it.

"You sign and walk and you will never have your own porn web site and the thousands of sites that show amateur porn that is sent into them will never post it for all to see. You sign it and walk and the day the divorce is final I burn the original and any copies that I may have made. You don't need to sign it just this minute. Talk it over with Jason if you like, but if I don't have the signed papers in my hand by this time tomorrow I'll start mailing out copies. And you should be aware that what you just watched is only one of the four meetings that you had with Jason that I have recordings of. I'm tired. Physical therapy is wearing me out. I'm off to bed. Twenty-four hours Joleen. Not one minute more."

I turned off the TV, stood and left the room.

++++++++++++++++++

I was up and out of the house before Joleen got up in the morning. Of course she could have been up, but was avoiding me. I hit the gym and worked out until it was time for my therapy and then I killed the rest of the day running errands. I had the oil changed in the Honda (yes, I still had the Prelude) and I got a haircut.

I was home watching TV when Joleen got home. She came into the room and sat down across from me. She just sat there and watched me and I ignored her. Finally she said:

"I don't want a divorce."

"Get real Joleen. I heard you tell Arnold that you were going to hit me with papers this week."

"I changed my mind. I finally realized that I'm where I'm supposed to be. I love you and I don't want a divorce."

"Too late Joleen. We were history the minute you spread your legs for Arnold the first time. And don't give me the "We love each other and we can get past it" speech. Anyway, I don't believe that you love me or even loved me when we got married. I believe that I'm just one more of the guys you hooked up with because of the money you expected that I'd be making. The proof of that, at least in my mind was how quick you were to hook up with Arnold when money started getting tight around here."

"That's not true!"

"Oh yes it is Joleen. Look at your past history. Always going from one guy to another who had more money. But none of that matters. What matters is that you cheated on me and I caught you. There can be no working to get by it. No way I can live with a cheating wife. Have you signed the papers yet or do I have to go into my Attila the Hun mode and start pursuing a scorched earth policy?"

"God damn it Brad; I'm not lying. I love you. Don't push me away."

"Have you signed the papers?"

"No chance?"

"Not a one."

She took the papers out of her purse, signed them and handed them to me and within two days she was moved out. Watching her back down the driveway and out of my life was one of the hardest things I ever had to do. I loved her. I still loved her.

Two months after the divorce was final Joleen married Jason Arnold.

I was not invited to the wedding.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Eight months after Jolene signed the papers and moved out I was back on the playing field. I finished the season with good stats and in the next two years I made it back to the Pro Bowl twice.

Contract renewal time came and I was offered a hell of a sweet deal, but after serious consideration I turned it down and left football behind me. I had more than enough to give me a good life and I saw no sense in waiting for another injury that was bound to come along. I set myself up in business and got on with life.