The Next One Ch. 05

Allison took the job and I have to give her credit; she did not let the job interfere with our home life other than being gone a lot.

Maybe a year after the wedding Vangie started asking me how the marriage was going. I told her fine and asked her why she was asking.

"Just wondered."

"Come on Vang; there has to be more to it than that."

"You will laugh at me."

"Probably."

"You know that Sarah got so upset at your getting married and not to her that she lost her mind and eloped to Vegas and got married."

I nodded a yes and she said, "Even married she still talks about you a lot with her dad. She asks how you are doing. She asks if he has heard how your marriage is doing. He asked her why and she told him if it went bad and you suddenly became free she would be on you like a duck on a June bug."

"You have to be kidding. It has been almost four years since she cut me loose. And what about her hubby? How is she going to come after me if she is married?"

"I get the impression that her marriage to Melvin isn't all that great. If you were available I bet she would drop him like a hot rock."

"I don't believe it."

"I know, but I know from the surveillance tapes that she misses you and knows she made a bad mistake in letting you go. If your marriage went south I could still end up as your mother-in-law."

"Never happen. I would have to give you up and I won't do that."

"Why would you have to give me up? I'd be willing to bet she won't give up her father."

"There is a major difference. She knows what we were doing and she knows I know she knows. She has no clue that we know about her and Russ. Knowing our past she would watch me like a hawk when I was around you while working her ass off to hide what she is doing with Russ. Not to mention John, Larry and the frat house boys."

"She hasn't done the frat house thing in over two years."

"But she is still doing John and Larry, right?"

"Still doing them."

"Only way I could end up your son-in-law would be for Sarah to come to an agreement with me that I could stay your lover in return for me not saying anything about John and Larry. I wouldn't let her know that I know about Russ, but I would find some way to 'discover' John and Larry."

"All I can say lover is that stranger things have happened."

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

About three months after that conversation I saw a side of Vangie I didn't know existed. Allison was on a two day trip to Chicago and it was Wednesday evening -- Russ's Fraternal Order of Eagles night -- and Vangie was resting after giving me her ass. She seemed a little distant and I asked her what was wrong. She said "nothing" but I knew something was there so I kept after her.

"It's Sarah. Someone got her pregnant and she got rid of it and had her tubes tied at the same time."

"So?"

"So it means that I'm never going to have grandbabies. I've always looked forward to having grandbabies."

I found that surprising. If that was the case why had she gone out of her way to break up every romance that Sarah got into? If you wanted grandchildren you needed for your daughter to get married so she could have kids. But I kept my mouth shut. I wasn't about to say something that might cause Vangie to leave and not come back. Still, she did seem down on knowing that Sarah wouldn't give her grandchildren. But not so down that she didn't ask me to butt fuck her a second time."

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

My willingness to work all available overtime and tackle any problem that came up was seen as 'go gettedness' by management and I was give a promotion to section manager and it was a promotion that had far reaching effects.

Three months after the promotion all management level personnel had to attend a management seminar. It was being held in one of the meeting rooms at a local hotel and since it was being held during regular working hours I didn't bother to mention it to Allison. About two I left the room to use the restroom and as I was coming out of the bathroom I was looking in the direction of the elevators when the elevator doors opened and I saw Allison in the elevator with her boss. They were kissing. They walked out of the elevator holding hands and headed for the entrance.

I walked over to the registration desk and asked the woman behind the counter if my uncle had checked in yet.

"His name?

"Amos Campbell."

She tapped a few computer keys and then said, "Yes; I have him in room 346."

I went back to the seminar, but I'm not sure I got much out of the session since my mind seemed to be elsewhere. When the session was over I stopped for drinks at the hotel bar with several others more to delay going home that for any other reason. I had a couple beers while we dissected the seminar and we all seemed to have reached the same conclusion; that the 'so-called experts' who put on the seminar had no idea of went on in the real world.

I called it quits after the second beer and got up to head for the house. I had no idea what I was going to do or say when I got there. Not that it mattered. When I got home Allison wasn't there, but in the center of the kitchen table was a six pack of Bud Light with a note leaning against it. The note read:

"I thought you might need the beer." Interesting I thought; no "Dear Frank" or any other type of salutation. The note continued:

"I'm pretty much of a coward so I'm taking the easy way out. I saw you this afternoon and I know what you saw. I was also outside looking in when you went to the front desk so I know that you know. I'm sorry. I hoped that you would never find out although after my visit to the doctor on Monday it is inevitable that you would. Amos and I got careless and I'm pregnant. So as I said, I'm taking the coward's way out and you get this note instead of a confrontation. Again, I'm sorry Frankie, more than I can say" and it was signed Allison.

That changed everything. Given what I had going with Vangie there was no way I was going to be hypocritical and go all Attila the Hun on Allison. We would have talked it over and worked by it somehow (without my mentioning my long term affair with Vangie of course) and our marriage would have gone on.

But her being pregnant changed all that. I reluctantly went along with what she wanted where children were concerned even to the extent of putting myself under the knife and she lets another man knock her up? Well fuck her! I went instantly from the "We can work it out" mode to the "Scorched Earth" mode and my first step in the process was to call my mother-in-law. When she answered the phone I said:

"Congratulations grandma."

"Frankie? Is that you?"

"Indeed it is. Just calling to let you know you are going to be a grandmother after all. Allison is pregnant."

"I thought you weren't able to do that."

"I'm not, but her boss was able to do it. She packed up and left me so if you can find out where she is maybe you can get to her before she decides to get rid of it. Got to run. Bye."

A quick check of the house showed that all of her clothing and personal items were gone. I debated calling a locksmith and having the locks changed, but by then I had calmed down. Allison had as much right to the house and what was in it as I did so I wasn't going to lock her out although I did hope she wouldn't come by anytime soon.

I opened one of the beers Allison had so thoughtfully provided, sat down and thought about what I needed to do. There would be a divorce, but we lived in a no-fault state so everything would be divided up equally so I didn't bother with cancelling credit cards, but I would do something about our money to make sure I didn't get put into a bind. I had a separate account that my Guard pay had been put into by direct deposit and I had never closed it out.

I got on the phone and did some electronic banking. I transferred all the money in our savings into our joint checking and then I figured out what he next month's house payment and utilities would be and subtracted that from the total in checking and then I took that amount and half of the remaining balance and transferred it into my Guard account. I don't know what a lawyer would say about it, but the house was in both of our names and the payments would still need to be made until the divorce was settled so all I had done was to insure that the next month's payment would be available and I doubted that the courts would find anything wrong with that.

Thinking of money reminded me of something and I went to the bedroom that we had made into a home office and opened the safe in the closet. All six of the certificates of deposit were there so either Allison had forgotten about them or she was intending to play fair in the breakup. To be on the safe side I took three of them and left the other three in case she came back for them. I'd take my three and get me a deposit box at the bank for them.

I finished the second of Allison's beers while I fixed myself some dinner. I was just sitting down to eat when the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"That was a rotten thing for you to do."

"And good evening to you to Allison."

"Why did you call my mother?"

"You didn't want me to share the good news with her? You know how much she wanted to be a grandmother. I just wanted her to know that she had gotten her wish."

"That was a mean and nasty thing to do."

"Probably. Just as mean and nasty as what you did to me. However, on the bright side, at least as I see it, I can do even more mean and nasty stuff. I can sue Amos for alienation of affections. I can sue your company for not enforcing the morals clause in your company policy and procedures manual and allowing a relationship between a supervisor and some one who works under his direct supervision.

"I think it is ironic that the baby you wouldn't let me give you because it would interfere with you career was given to you by some one who was part of that career and that the baby he gave you will end that career."

"What the hell does that mean Frank?"

"When I sue Cutter and Sons do you honestly think they won't fire both you and Amos?"

"You wouldn't!"

"Of course I would Allison. Right now I'm pissed off enough to do almost anything."

"Don't do it Frank; please don't do it. If you sue Amos his wife will leave him."

"So what you are saying is that it is okay for him to fuck up my marriage, but not okay for me to screw up his? Sorry Allison, but I'm not buying it."

"Don't do it Frank; please don't do it. I'm begging you."

"Goodnight Allison" I said as I hung up the phone. It started ringing almost immediately and I took it off the hook and went back to eating my dinner.

I drank the third of Allison's beers while I ate dinner and thought about the situation. I had no intention of suing Amos or her company, but she didn't know that. It would be a useful club to hold over her head to insure that she didn't give me a hard time over the divorce, but I was right when I said that a suit would most likely cost her her job and I saw no real reason to do that to her. She would need that job after the divorce.

My anger wasn't over what she was doing with Amos. God knows my skirts weren't clean when it came to marital fidelity and I'm sure that we would have been able to get by what she did with Amos, but there was no way to get by the pregnancy.

After I had cleaned up my dishes and was on the fourth beer from the six pack when the door bell rang. I went to the door, opened it and found Allison standing there. I turned and walked back into the kitchen, sat down at the table and picked up my beer. Allison walked into the house, closed the door behind her and followed me into the kitchen.

"What the hell did you ring the bell for? You have a key to the house."

"I didn't think I would be welcome."

"If you thought that why the hell are you here?"

She sat down across from me and said, "When you started talking lawsuits I knew I had to get over here and try to talk you out of it."

As she was talking she reached for one of the two beers left in the six pack and I snarled:

"Get your hand away from my beer. They were given to me so I could use them to morn my failed marriage and I'm not going to share them."

Allison snatched her hand back like she had touched a hot stove.

"And why would you think that you could talk me out of lawsuits?"

"I don't know if I can, but I have to try. If you divorce me I'm going to need a job."

"If I divorce you? You have doubts?"

"No, I guess I don't."

"Tell me why I should spare Amos, and for that matter why would you worry about his wife leaving him? If she did you could be together and wouldn't have to sneak off to hotels during the day."

"I don't love Amos. It was a mistake that we let carry us away. It was a fling that would most likely have ended in another couple of weeks."

"Until you slipped up. How is Amos going to explain his new little one to his wife?"

"I doubt he will ever tell her. She will never know unless you sue him and it comes out."

"Okay, so we are back to why I should give a shit about Amos's marriage after he fucked up mine?"

"Because it isn't his fault. I seduced him. He didn't come after me; I went after him and don't look at me like that. It had nothing to do with love and you should know that. At least you should. I've been in love with you since I was six or seven. I didn't screw Amos because of love, but because I was horny. I love you Frank; always have, always will."

"Whatever Allison. Love or lust; it just doesn't matter at this point."

"It matters to me Frank. I love you and I need you to know that. I need you to know that it wasn't anything you did that made what happened happen. It was on one of those rare week long trips I went on. Amos and a couple of others were on the trip also. Every night we would go back to the hotel, have dinner and a few drinks together before going to our rooms and one night I had a few more drinks than I should have. The hotel lounge had a live band and I drug all of the men in the group out onto the dance floor. The guys had drunk enough that they were in a good mood and the dances got a little raunchy. I got felt up some and by the time it was Amos's turn to dance with me I was just a little bit horny from all the touching. While dancing with Amos his cock accidently poked me a time or two and it tripped a switch in me somewhere and I seduced him.

"Don't blame him Frank. He's a man and he has a dick and when a man's dick is hard his dick does all of his thinking. That's true of all men Frank, even you, and once a man's dick starts doing the thinking a woman -- any woman -- can take him down. Six weeks later we again ended up on a trip together and on the second night I was horny so I said "why not, it didn't hurt anything the first time" so I went after Amos again. After that every time we were on a trip together -- maybe once every three months or so -- we did it. Until today it was only on trips."

"What was different today?"

"I found out I was pregnant and had to let him know and talk about what to do." There was a short pause and then she said, "It had nothing to do with you Frank. I swear to God that nothing you did or didn't do caused me to do it." Another pause and then, "So I'm asking you Frank; no, I'm begging you. Please don't start any lawsuits."

I stared at her for a bit and then said, "I'll think about it, but as long as you are here there are some things you need to know." I explained what I'd done money-wise and then said, "I'm going to open a new account at the bank and call it the household account. This is the cost of maintaining the house for a month."

I slid a piece of paper with the numbers I'd come up with across the table to her.

"From now on you need to put half of that amount into the account every month until the divorce decides who gets what. Tomorrow I will make an appointment to see an attorney and after talking to him I'll let you know about what I'm going to do lawsuit wise. Now, if you don't mind I have two bottles of beer to finish before I go to bed. This is still your house until the final decisions are made and you can have the spare bedroom if you would like. All I ask is that you do your best to avoid me when we are in the house together."

"I can't do that. I can't be around you and not want to be close."

She got up and headed for the door and when she got to it she turned and said:

"I'm sorry Frank. I'm really, really sorry" and then she left the house. I finished the six pack that she had provided and then I went to bed.

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

The next morning I called and made an appointment with an attorney and he informed me that I was correct in what I'd thought about no fault divorces. Assets and liabilities would be split fifty-fifty; each side would be responsible for their attorney fees, but that since I was the one filing I would be responsible for court costs. I told him to go ahead and write it up and I'd let him know where he could have Allison served.

The phone calls started around three. The first was from my mother asking me to stop by the house after work. When I asked why she gave me a song and dance about how it had been a while since she had seen me and wouldn't I like one of her home cooked meals.

The second was from my mother-in-law asking me if I could stop by and see her after work. I knew what was going on so I told her I would be at moms after work "and you both can take your shot at me there."

The third was from Amos. He said he realized he was not on my 'favorite persons list', but he would like to meet me for a drink so he could personally apologize to me and he said there was also something he wanted to discuss with me. He had balls I'd give him that. It took some pretty big stones to call the man you had fucked over and ask him to see you for a drink. I told him that the anger and rage that was boiling in me at the time would almost guarantee that I would go for his throat if I came within fifty feet of him so a meeting between us would not be a good thing and I hung up on him.

Five minutes later the phone rang again and it was Allison. "I understand you hung up on Amos."

"News travels fast."

"I was sitting across the desk from him when he called you. Actually I put him up to it since I didn't have the guts to do it myself."

"What do you want Allison?"

"I want you to meet with Amos and me. We need to talk to you."

"What could we possibly talk about? I know what the two of you did and I know the outcome. I can't see what else you could tell me other than the details and I can assure you that I don't want to hear those."

"It's none of that. Please Frank, it won't take up much of your time and I promise you I'll leave you alone after we meet."

I really didn't want to sit down with Allison and Amos, but there is just something about curiosity that pulls you into things you don't want to get into.

"All right. The Denny's on Hawthorne at five."

"We don't get off until five and then it takes ten minutes to get there."

"I'll be there at five and if I'm still alone three minutes later I'll be leaving."

"Oh come on Fra..." I hung up the phone, called my mom and told her I'd be there around six and then I made the most important call of the day.

"Hello?"

"Hi. It's me. I'm sorry, but something has come up and I won't be able to see you tonight."

"Damn baby, mommy was so looking forward to seeing you."

"Well I do have some good news for you. We will be able to see each other more often starting tomorrow."

"Oh? What's going on?"

"I'm about to be single again. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow."

"I can't wait to hear about it. Kisses lover."

"Back atcha. Bye"

I got to the Denny's at three minutes to five and saw that Allison and Amos were already there. They were sitting in a booth opposite each other. No way I was going to sit next to either of them. I wanted to be looking at both of them when they brought up whatever it was they had in mind. When I got to the booth I pointed at the other side of the table and said to Allison: