The Bank

In fact, that was another thing I needed to talk to him about. When we first moved here, Lucas and I had compromised on our finances and a few other things. We'd disagreed about a lot of things. I wanted a house in town. Lucas wanted the farm. I needed to pay off the rest of my student loans and the money my parents had given me. Lucas wanted to buy the farm and take out a small business loan. We couldn't agree on anything and as much as I hated to admit it, Lucas had been right.

I hadn't wanted to be saddled with any more debt. So Lucas had bought the farm and taken out his loan alone. Though I lived on the farm with him, it was in his name only. Lucas had also never incorporated or registered formally as a business. Basically he was the business. He paid taxes on everything he did and he had an accountant in town to help him with that. I'd offered to on several occasions, but I think that Lucas still resented the fact that I hadn't sided with him from the beginning. I wish to God that I had now because if we'd split everything down the middle like most married couples, we'd have paid off my loans years ago. As it was, I struggled to make the minimum payment each month.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the tapping on the door. I got up and opened the door for Ted Granger our security guard. He smiled at me and told me good morning.

"You look nice, Angela," he told me. It was the same thing every fucking day. I never looked hot or pretty or sexy. I just looked nice. God damn it Ted, I thought. A fucking 8 year old looks nice. A four hundred pound sixty five year old woman can look nice. You aren't lifting my spirits at all.

"Thanks Ted," I replied. Ted went off to do his jobs including opening the vault which he'd need my help and my key to do. We'd do that just before we opened as usual. That way anyone with a safe deposit box could get access to it during the day.

By nine o' clock all of the tellers were at their windows and we'd opened the doors. The bank was a flurry of activity since most of the usual businesses made their weekend deposits on Monday morning before they opened. This weekend had been busier than usual since Friday had been the day we'd celebrated the Fourth of July. It had seemed strange to me since normally all of those Holidays were celebrated on a Monday. But this year the fourth had actually fallen on a Friday.

I smiled at most of the customers and constantly looked around the bank to make sure that I wasn't needed for anything. I knew that I wouldn't be. Things were so boring in this town that watching grass grow was exciting.

At eleven forty five, I crossed the bank and spoke to Marge Blair. She'd been working at the bank for so long it seemed like she'd always been there. She'd been the one who trained me. She looked up as I approached and smiled.

"I already know," the old lady said sweetly. "You're going home to have, "Lunch," with your husband. I'll see you when you get back."

"Maybe you should have that cute husband of yours come here for lunch every once in a while," interjected Mary Clark. She smiled at me too, only her smile and words got a different reaction from me. I got pissed. Mary was one of the tellers who were fucking the manager. She was a step above being the town slut. She was only twenty two, with long blond hair and big fake boobs. I was not happy about her taking an interest in Lucas.

"Ooh that would be nice," chimed in another teller. That just fucked up my morning, all of these stupid women that I couldn't stand, talking about how cute my husband was. I figured that the sudden interest was probably stemming from yesterday's race. I just smiled and nodded and left.

I got into my car and drove away from the bank but I didn't drive home. I drove to the Stafford motel on the other side of town. When I got to the motel, I was already excited, but I had a weird feeling as well. Maybe it was those stupid bitches back at the bank making me feel guilty. I tried to banish those thoughts from my head by reminding myself that Lucas had been the one who turned me down last night. I therefore had a right to go out and find what I needed somewhere else.

In the back of my mind I wondered how I'd feel if he did that and suddenly I was pissed off all over again. Did what I was doing give him the right to do it too?

The door opened and Jerry grabbed my hand and dragged me inside. As forceful as he was being, I could tell that he was excited too.

As soon as I got into the room, he started kissing me. "So how are things going at work today?" he asked. That was another great thing about Jerry he always asked me about the bank and my day. He didn't ask me about Lucas or his stupid car. He didn't ask about the fucking race. He was interested in ME. He asked me all about the bank and the armored car as he rubbed my tits, I was on fire. But it just felt weird for some reason.

I pulled Jerry's pants down and attacked his limp dick. That was strange too. Lucas was always ready for me. I had to play with Jerry and suck his dick to get him excited. That had always seemed strange to me but I chalked it up to differences among men.

As I started sucking on Jerry's dick, I just felt strange. It wasn't anything physical, it was just that nagging feeling you get, like when you forget something. After a few moments Jerry pulled me onto the bed. He lined himself up between my spread legs and just impaled me. As usual Jerry just humped away at me quickly. I hadn't even bothered to take my clothes off. I'd just pulled my skirt up and we went at it. As soon as he was done he was back on his feet and looking at his watch.

That was just like Jerry, he was always thinking about my schedule and what time I had to be back at work. "Shhh," he said, as he crossed the room to go to the door. Jerry had a habit of looking out through the door to make sure no one saw me coming from his room. I'd seen him do it lots of times but it was still funny to me. He acted like we were in some kind of spy movie or something.

All of the previous times though hadn't prepared me for this one. As soon as the door opened, I heard a sound like something smacking into something else. Jerry flew backwards into the room. I was still lying there on his bed trying to use a napkin to clean myself off. I looked up in shock and saw my husband standing over Jerry who was cowering on the floor. Lucas kicked Jerry so hard that Jerry's entire body moved, and then he looked at me and shook his head. Lucas didn't say a word. He just turned and spat on Jerry and then left.

I jumped up and ran out of the room screaming for Lucas to come back, but he kept walking. People on the street were looking at us so I turned around and went back to Jerry's room. Jerry was still on the floor groaning in pain. His nose was swollen and twisted to the side. It looked like it was broken.

"Jerry, are you alright?" I asked.

He just looked at me like I was stupid. "Do I look alright to you?" he asked. "Just get out of here Angela. I'll call one of my friends and go to a clinic in the next town. You should just go and take care of your problems."

"Jerry, I guess we probably won't be seeing each other anymore," I said.

"Ya think?" he smirked. Then he shook his head and picked up his cell phone. I left the room and went out to my car. I got in and started the car but didn't drive off. I called Lucas on his cell phone and he didn't pick up. I called the house and left him a message telling him how sorry I was and that I was going to give him some time to calm down before we talked. I told him that I was sorry again and that I loved him." Then I tried to compose myself and drove back to work.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful except for a few jokes about me smelling like I hadn't had time to shower after my, "Lunch."

At three thirty I got a call from a lawyer in one of the nearby towns. He told me that he was representing Lucas in our divorce and he wanted to talk to me for a few moments. I took his number down and went into my office and called him right back.

"Mr. Mason," I said, when he picked the phone up. "There has to be some kind of mistake. My husband and I aren't getting a divorce. We had a little incident today, but it's nowhere near serious enough for that. As soon as we talk I'm sure he'll tell you the same thing."

He was very polite over the phone. "I believe you Mrs. Blue," he said. "You don't have to convince me. In fact I'm hoping that everything works out just as you've said it will. But in the meantime, I've been asked to give you some instructions from your husband. Do you have a pen or something to write with?"

"Yes I do," I said.

"Very good," he said. "According to your husband, you are to retain an attorney ASAP. He suggests that you pick one from one of the surrounding towns and not your own to avoid embarrassing either of you. He is also giving you three days to move out of the farmhouse. During that time, he'll live in the barn that he converted to house his business. He went into town and bought a small refrigerator and a microwave for the barn so he won't be coming into the house while you're there except to shower or use the bathroom..."

"But where will he sleep?" I asked.

"I'm sorry but I don't know the answer to that question, Ma'am," he said. "I can only tell you what I've been instructed to say."

"I want to talk to Lucas before this goes too far," I said.

"I will certainly relay that message, Ma'am," he said. "As soon as you have retained an attorney, please give him my contact information so we can get the process started. I have a meeting scheduled with your husband later today so we can go over his proposed property division. Is there something that you'd like him to consider while we draw up the papers?"

"Yeah," I said. "I'd like him to consider that I love him and I made a mistake. I'm very sorry for what I did and I don't want a divorce."

"I'll tell him that," he said. "Would you like to have the papers served at home? Your husband thought that doing that would save you the embarrassment of being served in a public place."

"Mr. Mason, can I ask you a question?" I said.

"Of course Ma'am," he said. "And please, call me Perry."

"In a case like mine, I'd imagine that the husbands are often in shock for a while. They're running on raw emotion and they make decisions that they haven't thought out. In a lot of cases it's really the pain that's making them do the things they do. Is that a fair assessment?" I asked.

"In most cases yes," he said.

"What about my case?" I asked.

"Mrs. Blue, your husband walked calmly into my office. He'd taken down notes on what he wanted and had assessed the situation very calmly. He had also brought in some of your financial papers pertaining to his home and business so we could discuss the division of the assets. I don't think your husband is acting without thinking. I think that he's simply put his pain aside for the moment and thought about what he wants very calmly and with a cool head."

As I hung up the phone, the tears started to fall. I worked for the rest of the day and as usual, I was the last person to leave the bank. I dreaded going home for the first time I can remember. I pulled into out driveway and saw that the lights were still on in the barn. There were no lights on in the house though. I did notice that the lock on the door had been changed but it had been left open for me. I put my briefcase down on the floor and turned on the lights in the house.

I looked around the kitchen and noticed that it was clean. Normally, even if he was working late Lucas would have made us something for dinner. Shit, normally, Lucas would have been in the house to welcome me home by wrapping those big old arms around me and trying to hug the life out of me.

It's funny how you never remember or appreciate anything until it's gone. I looked in the fridge and grabbed too cold beers. On a night like this Lucas would probably welcome a frosty Dos Equis enough that maybe he'd talk to me. As I headed for the barn, I noticed that I didn't hear the sounds of the machines humming and clanking as they made whatever parts he was working on. That was a good thing because it meant he'd have time to talk.

I reached for the door handle and found that it was locked. I knocked on the door and waited for him to answer it. While I waited, I heard the sound of water coming from the other side of the barn. I shook my head because some things just don't ever change.

I walked around the barn and found as I'd expected to, Lucas washing his car. It was almost fitting that since he didn't expect to be spending any time with me, he'd use his time on the other thing that he loved.

He didn't even look up as I approached him. I reached for his headphones, smiling like I always did. Before my hand touched them, he dropped the cloth he was polishing the car with and intercepted my hand all in one smooth motion.

"Don't touch me," he snapped. If I thought that I'd been shocked when he knocked Jerry back into the room that was nothing compared to this. As I looked into the eyes of the man I'd loved for so long, I expected to see anger. I thought that this early in the situation maybe there'd be hatred or resentment. I wouldn't have been shocked to see pain, frustration, confusion or even tears. But I saw none of that. All I saw was resignation. I saw the very same thing I saw every time Lucas had to do something he didn't like or want to do, but had to because it was necessary.

When I asked him to take out the garbage, I got that look. As soon as he'd taken care of whatever unpleasant duty or task he had, his smile came back. Right now, I was the unpleasant thing that had to be taken care of. Things were far worse than I'd ever imagined.

"Did Mr. Mason give you my messages?" I asked. He just nodded as he went back to polishing his car.

"Lucas, I'm really S..." I began before he interrupted me. Again there was no anger or pan in his voice at all.

"Just because I got the message, doesn't mean I agreed to it," he said. "I have no reason to talk to you."

"You have a very big reason to talk to me Lucas," I said louder than I intended. "I'm your wife. I love you. You love me. We have a problem that we really need to talk about. There has never been a time since we met that you and I couldn't sit down and work out our differences. We need to talk about this Lucas. No matter how angry you are we still have to talk. When did we ever get to the point where we couldn't talk?"

He dropped the rag and stood up to face me. Again, I expected anger, but it wasn't there. "How about yesterday after the race when I asked you who that asshole was and instead of us "TALKING," you lied to me," he said. "Or how about today, when I caught you fucking the same asshole in that sleazy motel?"

I had to do something so I tried to lie about it. "Lucas, I shouldn't have been in that room with him but we weren't fucking," I said.

Lucas just smiled at me. "That's why we can't talk," he said. He pulled out his iPhone and pushed a couple of controls on it. Then he stuck the phone in my face and I saw that he'd actually had time to record video of me and Jerry.

"There's no point in talking when you'll only lie," he said. "You only have two days left to get all of your stuff out of my house. Don't waste it."

"This is my house too Lucas," I said. "I've lived here since the day we moved in."

He just smiled at me again. "Remember how upset you were about the cost of the house and the loan?" he asked. "You made me sign a paper that removed you from responsibility for any part of the debt I picked up buying the house. That also removes you from any degree of ownership."

"Lucas, where will I go?" I asked him.

"I don't care," he said, "as long as it's away from me. And please get yourself a lawyer. You'll get your papers tomorrow. I'd like to wrap this up as quickly as possible."

"Then why can't we talk?" I asked. "Lucas, I don't want a divorce."

"You should have thought about that while you were fucking other guys in motels," he said. "You knew that I'd never put up with that, so it obviously means that you wanted a divorce."

"Lucas, I've been unhappy for a long time," I said, with tears beginning to form.

"Well, now you're free to go out there and make yourself as happy as you can," he said calmly, while rubbing what he thought was a smudge on his paint.

"Lucas, I wasn't unhappy with US," I said. "I was just bored and I hate my job."

"You weren't cheating on the bank in that motel," he said. "You were cheating on me. If you wanted to cheat on the bank you could have stayed home and spent time with your husband. Or you could have called in on days that you weren't really sick. Or you could have just quit. We have more than enough money."

"Lucas, after all of the time we've been together, can't you give US a chance?" I asked.

"Yes I can," he said. "But it's the same chance you gave me, when you discovered that you weren't happy and you started fucking strangers. That means it's no chance at all. I really have to finish this, so any further talks will have to happen in the lawyer's office."

"You'll be waiting for a long ass time then," I snapped. "I'll fight this with everything I have."

As I walked away Lucas didn't even bother to look up or to reply, he simply kept polishing his car.

* * * * *

Jerry

I woke up and looked around. The room I was in wasn't my motel room. Then the throbbing in both my face and my side reminded me of where I was. I sat up, painfully. The aching in my side threatened to knock me out again. I swallowed a couple of pain pills.

"Here dumb ass," said Arnie's gruff voice. "You really fucked this one up."

"We can still go through with it," I said. "There was no police report filed in either town. No one knows that we exist. Although with all of the trouble brewing in old banana tits' home life, maybe we should move the timetable up."

"Like up to when?" he asked.

"Like tomorrow," I said. "Today all of the little businesses in town will make their mid-week deposits. It's also the time when all of the payroll cash will be in the bank for all of the people who work for the bigger businesses around the area. That little bank will be full of money and that way we can get the fuck out of here before I get named in a divorce action."

Arnie laughed. "Hey, maybe you ought to bring the little woman with us."

"Get real," I said. "That bitch means nothing to me. I had to take Viagra around her and still couldn't get it up sometimes. I'd rather fuck her husband's car."

"Don't even think about it," said Arnie. "The last thing we need while we're trying to blend into the woodwork is a bright green car that's so loud you can hear it in the next town."

* * * * *

Lucas

Angela was supposed to have moved out yesterday. Four days had passed since I'd given her three days to leave. I'd called my lawyer early this morning and he'd told me to calm down. He said that the verbal notice I'd given really couldn't be enforced. He'd draft a legal notice and give it to her today. He also hadn't received any communication concerning the divorce papers he'd delivered to her. He told me that sometimes people tried to simply bury their heads in the sand hoping that the situation would rectify itself or go away.

Angela constantly called me and left messages for me. She was trying to come up with every possible solution she could. The only one I'd even responded to was when she suggested that I go out and fuck someone else for a month so we'd be even. The only reason I responded to that was because hearing that she'd been fucking that guy for a whole month hurt me even more.