The Bank

"What do you mean?" I asked in my confused state.

"Well," she smiled again. "The professional law enforcement part of me thinks that having her in a place that we know about with you to watch her could prevent her from trying to skip town before we get to the bottom of this. I'm sure my uncle would appreciate it too."

"But the just plain old Tanya part of me likes hearing that you're seriously trying to get that bitch out of your life and move on."

"Ohh," I smiled.

"So that's what I wanted to talk to you about," she said, sitting down next to me. "I think there's something going on with us."

"Is there?" I asked.

"Definitely," she said. "But I need for you to know a few things." I angled my head and looked at her.

"First off," she said. "This isn't me. I do not under any normal circumstances go after married men; even when they're getting a divorce. And I especially avoid them when they haven't had time to get over their wives. I also do not go around kissing people I barely know. I do not have sex with men on a first date or the second date or any timetable like that. It is simply not something I would do. I don't interfere with marriages whether they're solid or not. I'm a good girl and I always have been."

"I believe you," I said. "I'm not like that either."

"But..." she said. "I've spent most of my life being a good girl. And all it's ever gotten me was pain. And I have the feeling that you're meant to be something very special in my life, so there's no way I'm going to let you get away. I have to grab onto my chance at happiness with both hands no matter what people think about me. I've had so much pain already in my life that I know when something is good for me. And I think you are. So I just need you to tell me one more time...are you really going to divorce Angela?"

I didn't say anything for a long moment.

"Am I talking to Officer Bradley or my plain old Tanya?" I smirked.

"Both of them are listening," she said. "And I never said I was YOUR plain old Tanya."

"Well officer," I said. "It is my intention to divorce the former Mrs. Blue immediately. Her actions of late have driven her from my affections and done irreparable damage to the state of our marriage." I got up and went over to my desk.

I came back and put a copy of my divorce papers on her lap. "I have already retained counsel and have had the aforementioned former Mrs. Blue served with these papers."

"Okay," she said smiling. "Officer Bradley is satisfied of your intentions. She's gone. Now what did you want to tell Tanya?"

I grabbed her and kissed her again like the one we'd just had. When we came up for air I said, "I couldn't tell this to the officer. It would be admitting the possibility of me committing a crime. But I'd shoot Angela in the head myself for a kiss like that."

"You don't have to," she said. "You can have as many of them as you want. But that's as far as we're going until you're fully divorced."

I looked at her and smiled. I could see two enormous nipples showing through her uniform top. She looked down at them herself when she saw where my eyes were. "Probably..." she said.

Then her phone rang and she answered it, she smiled and put the phone on speaker. I heard the Sheriff's voice loud and clear.

"Damn it Tanya," he said. "Just how long does it take to drive two miles and hand a phone to someone?"

"Keep your shirt on, Uncle Steve," she said. "You only want me back because you want to go to lunch. Everyone in town knows you have a thing for that waitress."

"MY shirt IS still on," he yelled. "But I'm wondering about yours."

She filled him in on the hospital situation and he agreed with her that I'd be doing the community a great service by allowing Angela to stay at my house for a while. So I agreed to do it.

As I walked her to her car, Tanya looked up at me, "Where's she going to sleep?"

"Probably, in what used to be, our bedroom?" I said.

"Where are you going to sleep?" she asked through narrowed eyes.

"I've been sleeping out here," I said. "I will continue to do that."

"Doesn't your house have more than one bedroom?" she asked. I nodded.

"It has three or four," I said. "We use three of them as bedrooms and one as a home office."

"Then why were you sleeping out here?" she asked.

"Tanya, I have never cheated on Angela and I never would have," I said. "...Even with someone gorgeous. When I found out that she'd done it to me, I just couldn't stand to be in the same house with her. I moved out here to give her a chance to pack up all of her stuff so I wouldn't even have to look at her."

"Oh my God," she said, putting her hand over her mouth. "And I kept forcing you to be around her." She gave me another kiss to pay for it. "I'll be by here later to check on you," she smirked.

As soon as she drove off, I called the hospital and told them I'd be there at three to pick up Angela but they'd have to make sure she was ready when I got there because I had to be home by four. They assured me that they only had a few moments worth of instructions for me regarding her care and I could be in and out in minutes.

I drove my jeep to the hospital to pick Angela up. From the moment she got out of the wheel chair she was leaning against me trying to make as much contact as she could. She called a couple of the bank's employees to find out what was going on in the bank. She found out from them that the bank wasn't reopened yet. Customers were using the ATM machines for deposits and withdrawals. Commercial customers were using the commercial deposit chute.

I drove straight home and dropped her off at the house. The UPS truck pulled up a few moments after we'd arrived so I went out to help the driver load the boxes of parts. I went back to the house to see Angela.

"I'm so glad you changed your mind about letting me come home," she said. "Now that you're being more rational, do you think that we can talk?"

"What would you like to talk about, Angela?" I asked.

"Well, you know. I want to talk about us," she said.

"Angie, there isn't any us anymore," I said. "There's only you and me. We ceased to be us the moment you brought Jerry into it."

"But don't you see," she said. "That wasn't me. That was all him. He tricked me. He seduced me out of purely malicious intentions. He used me. He just wanted information about the bank."

"Angela, you're a grown woman," I said. "You know all about right and wrong."

"But Lucas..." she began.

"But nothing," I said. "Did he drug you?"

"No," she answered. "At least I don't think he did."

"Did he get you so drunk that you lost control?" I asked.

"No," she said again.

"Did he force you?" I asked. "Maybe he had a gun to your head?"

"No," she said again.

"So you had a choice, Angela. You always had a choice. You just made the one that ended any hope of an us."

"But Lucas," she said. "I made a mistake. I've admitted it and I'm ready to do anything you want to make up for it. Why does this have to be the end of everything we've worked for all of these years? Why throw away everything we have on one stupid mistake that only a handful of people know about anyway?"

"We've already gone over this Angela," I said. "YOU made a mistake. YOU were bored. YOU hated the bank and your job there. YOU got seduced or tricked. YOU obviously enjoyed it. Or YOU would have stopped before YOU got caught. Now YOU want to make suggestions on how YOU can fix this."

"Every fucking word out of your mouth was about YOU. This whole thing was about YOU. It wasn't about us as you said. We had nothing to do with it. So Angela, to even things out we have to bring me and what I want into it right?"

She nodded her head. "Well I want YOU the fuck out of MY life. I want to find someone who'll love ME the way I want them to. And YOU have only proven that YOU aren't that woman. So I'm divorcing YOU."

"Lucas, you're not really serious about that," she said. "You're just angry at me and hurt. That's why I haven't even bothered to look at those stupid papers you sent me. We'll get over this in time. Just watch."

And that was the way things went for a couple of weeks. I made breakfast for Angela and left it for her. I stayed in the barn running parts and writing programs for new jobs. I made her lunch and returned to the barn. I made her dinner and went back to the barn. Most evenings I wasn't alone. My barn seemed to have its own branch of law enforcement making sure that everything was okay.

I was finally able to convince Angela that we needed to have a meeting in my lawyer's office. I'd proposed it several times and even had him send her letter's in writing. But something changed because Angela went out and got her own lawyer. She also agreed to a meeting to discuss the divorce. She told me that she had a few things that needed to be noted in the case that might lead to me dropping the divorce but she wouldn't say what they were.

We drove over to the lawyer's office in my jeep the day of the meeting. "Lucas?" she asked. "It's a nice sunny day. There's no chance of rain. Why aren't we driving your Mustang? You love driving that car?"

The jeep is more comfortable for you," I said. I was really thinking that my car has a built in whore detector and she couldn't get in it, but I kept my mouth shut. After all, she was going to the lawyer's office so I was getting what I wanted.

An hour later, I left the office so angry that I forgot Angela had ridden over there with me. I just drove off and left her there. Her performance was masterful. She worked it to the hilt. She looked over the papers and agreed to everything I'd proposed. Her lawyer told her that she shouldn't settle for what I was offering. I offered to split everything we had in the bank and our investments with her fifty/fifty excluding the house and the business. Since roughly a third of my money was allocated for the business, only our personal accounts would be involved. He thought that we should have to split EVERYTHING fifty/fifty. My lawyer and I showed him the papers where Angela had signed off on not being responsible for the house and thereby my business.

Then I explained to him how Angela had not contributed a dime of her income over the years into the household. Most of her money went towards her personal needs and paying off her college debts and paying back her parents. He saw it our way. He tried to argue for some type of alimony. I ignored him and told Angela that I'd hate to use the video. She knew what I meant and told him to let it drop. She grabbed a pen and signed the papers. She handed them to my lawyer and said she did need to ask him a question.

She asked him whether we could negotiate child support and visitation after the baby was born. Both my lawyer and I were floored. Angela reached into her folder and brought out the results of her latest checkup. I'd taken her only two days before and waited to bring her back home. Angela had been smiling non-stop since then. Now I knew why.

Both she and I knew that everything would have to be renegotiated now so the papers she'd signed were worthless. No judge would sign off on them.

I drove home and went straight to the barn. I intended to bury myself in work and then when I'd calmed down enough, to wash my car.

About a half hour after I got home, a cab drove up. Angela got out and asked me to pay the driver. I just gave him some money and waved him off. He could keep the change I was in no mood to talk to anyone.

Angela walked into the barn.

"Get the fuck out of here, Angela," I said.

"I just came to ask you if you wanted to sit down and talk about things," she smiled. "We have a lot to talk about, now."

"Like what?" I hissed.

"Like which room we're going to convert to the nursery," she said. "Or baby names. I can't get the ultrasound done for a while yet so we'll have to make a list of both girls and boys names." She was smiling and had her hands over her tummy.

"To tell you the truth, I like Pauline, like my mom if it's a girl and Lucas junior, if it's a boy. What do you think?"

"I think that Jerry is going to be really pissed if you name his kid after me," I spat. Her eyes got bigger and she staggered and sat down on the couch in the corner of the barn.

"Lucas, God damn it. Don't make jokes like that," she said. "I almost had a heart attack."

"Think about it Angela," I told her, looking deeply into her eyes. "You and I have been together for a long ass time. You've never been on the pill because you had problems and complications from them. We don't use condoms. We've always used the spermicidal suppositories. The only time you didn't use them was when you were with Jerry."

Her mouth dropped open. "How far along are you? I asked. "Probably around two months right?" She nodded.

"So, more than likely, you and Jerry are going to be the proud parents of a very nice puppy soon. That's even more reason for you to help me hurry this divorce along. I will not be supporting a murderer's kid," I said.

"But maybe the spermicidal failed," she said. "Lucas, I'm sure that this is our baby. It's the baby we've always planned. Well, at least, it's the first one. Okay maybe it's a year or two earlier than we wanted but we have everything we need. We have the house and the town and the money. There's no reason why we can't just go on with our lives, just like WE always planned."

"Yeah, there is," I said. "In fact, there are three reasons. They're the three most important reasons in the world. I don't love you anymore. My life from now on doesn't include you and it's not my baby."

"But Lucas, it can be your baby. No one else would ever know. And if you tried forgiving me we could be happy again. I need you in my life. I don't love Jerry. I love you. The baby, no matter whose baby it is, will need to have a good father in his life and that isn't Jerry, Lucas, that's you. I've already made the biggest mistake in my life I ever will. I'll spend the rest of it making it up to you. It will never happen again. I swear it," she said. Then I saw her face change. I turned around just in time to see Tanya drive up.

"What the hell are you doing here?" asked Angela. "Is the Sheriff's department making it a habit to harass innocent citizens?"

Every man out there who knows his woman can tell how she'll react in certain situations before they ever occur. I knew that Angela had just poked the bear and was about to get clawed.

Tanya walked right past Angela and didn't even acknowledge her presence. She got up on her toes and kissed me like her life depended on it. Angela's mouth dropped open in shock.

"I really needed that with the day I'm having," said Tanya, wrapping her arm around me protectively. She turned to Angela and said, "I'm sorry, did you say something?"

Angela was already shocked about our talk about the baby and the chances of our marriage continuing. This just added fuel to the fire. She erupted. Her voice came out as a high pitched scream.

"Why the fuck are you kissing my husband?" she screamed.

"Ex-husband," snapped Tanya. "And in case you missed it, he was kissing me back."

Angela couldn't think of anything to say. For a second it looked like she was going to pick up one of the large wrenches that I used for making adjustments to the machines. She thought better of it when she noticed that Tanya had her gun on her.

"Anyway..." said Tanya. "Besides getting my kiss, I came out here to tell you both that Rodney Shorter has been captured. He was in a bank in Kansas. He'd started up a relationship with another STUPID woman there. I guess this time it took him a little bit longer to get HER in bed. One of the other bank employees remembered seeing him on one of those internet lists of wanted criminals and called the police while Rodney took her out to lunch. They caught him right at the hotel with her. God damn it, that guy should just go into porn. He's always getting caught screwing some SKANK. Maybe he should just do that for a living. He'll be back here in town in a couple of days."

Angela just stood there with her mouth open. I pulled Tanya to me and kissed her again. "Sweetie, when they bring him in, make sure you get a DNA sample," I said.

"Why?" she asked.

"It'll speed up the divorce," I said.

After Tanya left, Angela started right in again. "That bitch is going to be really disappointed," she said. "...Because WE are not getting a divorce." I just shook my head and walked away.

Two days later, the Sheriff himself came to the house. "Hi Sheriff," I said. "What can I do for you?"

"You can start out by calling me Steve," he said.

"Okay, Steve," I said. "Why didn't you just send your deputy?"

"Because she would have enjoyed this too damned much," he smirked. "I'm here to arrest your wife."

"Okay, I'll get her," I said. It was hard keeping either the joy or the smugness out of my voice.

"Don't you want to know why?" he asked.

"Not really," I said. "But if you want to tell me, I'll listen."

"Shorter had some very interesting things to say," said the Sheriff. "Of course, I don't believe him any more than I can believe most of what your wife says but I have to take her into custody while we find out what's true and what isn't."

"Okay with me," I said. "If you guys hadn't needed me to give her a place to stay here in town, I was on the verge of getting a court order to have her removed."

"Things are that bad?" he asked. I just nodded.

"There was a time when I loved Angela with all of my heart and soul. She hurt me pretty bad by what she did. I tried to do the nice thing and split our assets with the exception of my house with her fifty/fifty even though she had nothing to do with my business and she kept her own salary to herself. She refused to leave. Now it turns out she's pregnant. Apparently I'm the only one she used birth control with. So much for her she only loved me claims."

"Man, that's rough," he said.

"You're so full of shit your eyes are brown," said Angela, over my shoulder. "I did love you and I still do. This is just something that happened to us. If I had gotten a disease or been in an accident, would you dump me then too?"

"Of course not," I said. "But that's different."

"How is it different?" she asked.

"Because a disease is something you develop without your control or consent. An accident is something that occurs because of circumstances. It's not something you had a conscious choice in. You chose to spread your legs for another man and now you're unhappy with the results of your actions so you're trying to get a do over," I said.

"Remember back at your race?" she said. "You gave that guy in the Camaro a do over. Why can't you give your wife one?"

"That guy in the Camaro made a mistake," I said. "I didn't want to win because he wasn't up to his best."

"That's what I've been saying since the beginning," she smirked. "I made a mistake."

"But your mistake only became a mistake after you got caught," I snapped. "Your actions were intentional. You intended to sleep with that guy and you did it for a fucking month. The guy in the other car's mistake was unintentional. He was trying to do his best and he was either nervous or his hand slipped. He wasn't trying to lose."

"Well, folks this is where I read Mrs. Blue her rights," said the Sheriff. "You can come too if you want, Lucas."

"Not necessary," I said. "She knows her lawyer's number. Besides I have a real date scheduled tonight."

"Oh, anyone I know?" he asked. I nodded again. "Be good to her."

"You never have to ask that," I said seriously.

As he started telling Angela her rights, she kept asking him what was going on and screaming and interrupting him until he had to tell her to shut the fuck up so he could do it correctly. Then she started in on me. I walked away happily thinking about spending time with Tanya.