The Tale of Two Affairs

"You forget, I had wild and passionate the first time; all I want for the rest of my life is steady patient lovemaking."

"Have you made love with Bill yet?"

"Yes."

"Good, I am glad for both of you. So, I am going to tell Bill before dinner tomorrow night. Can I tell him to come see you afterwards?"

"No, I will be there with him when you tell him. Then I will take him to my house for the night."

"Alright. The one thing I want to ask is do you think I can ask him if I can buy his part of the house out. That is all I want. Rod is just renting his house and we need a place to live."

"That will be up to Bill. If he agrees then that will be good for both of you. If he doesn't, I don't know what to expect."

I didn't hear the rest of the conversation. I had heard all that was important to me. Now I just had to last one more day before I could do what I really wanted to do. I drove out of the restaurant and drove awhile until Luce called me. When I answered, all she said was, "My house; thirty minutes." I looked at the clock and stopped at the liquor store and bought really good bottle of chilled champagne and two crystal flutes. Then I drove around and was in her driveway next to her car at the thirty minute mark.

I was expecting a smile when she opened the door but I was met with a serious look. She took the bag and my hand and led me to the sofa and then took the other things into the kitchen and put them in the refrigerator. When she came out, she straddled my legs and sat on my lap.

"We talked but I am not going to tell you what she said. She will talk to you tomorrow after work. You are staying here with me tonight. I brought your clothes for work tomorrow. Now, have you decided that you want and what are you prepared to do about it?"

"I expect that tomorrow's talk is about our future. Frankly, if she doesn't ask for a divorce, I will. I am prepared to give her the house as long as it is a simple, straight up no fault divorce. If she wants more than that, I will probably fight her and it might get ugly."

"Alright; if it happens as you want, what do you want to do after that?"

"Immediately, I want to come to wherever you are and spend the weekend with you. Beyond that, sometime between then and the divorce being final, I am going to ask you to marry me. So between now and then, you better make up your mind what you want because I intend to sweep you off your feet and not let you get up until you say yes."

The look in her eyes told me the whole story so I smiled. She asked, "What if I told you yes tonight?"

"It won't count because I don't have the ring on me. When I hold out the ring and ask you, then it will count."

"Asshole. How long have you known what you want?"

"Since our first official date. You swept me off my feet although I was already almost ready to fall before that."

"I ought o spank you for that. You haven't said a word to me about it."

"Then you are going to get paddled because you have been tighter than a lawyer with a percentage case on the line."

"Oh you shouldn't have said that. Get your ass in the bedroom and wait for me."

"Bring the champagne and glasses with you." I pulled her off of my lap and dumped her on the sofa and got up.

"Hey, you haven't kissed me yet."

"Well, you haven't kissed me yet either." She jumped up and I grabbed her and we solved that problem right there and then. Then she pushed me toward the bedroom and said, "Naked."

I replied, "Lose those damn clothes too and don't forget the champagne."

I went in the bedroom and took my clothes off and lay on top of the bed. She came in a moment later wearing a smile and carrying the champagne and the flutes. She handed me the bottle which I deftly opened by sending the cork off of four walls. I poured is each a glass while she straddled me again but this time nestled herself firmly onto my anchor. "Now just how sure are you that I am going to say yes when you get around to asking me?"

"Sure enough to tell you in advance to not do something stupid like second guess yourself after the fact."

She rose almost all the way off of me and then sat down again. "But I am a lawyer and we never second guess ourselves."

"I know but I read that they were going to start teaching lawyers how to think in law school. I personally don't think that it will go over well."

She rose and fell again. "You are trying to push my buttons, aren't you? But it won't work; I love lawyer jokes and tell them all of the time."

"Do you know what they call a lawyer who is riding the cock of the man she is going to marry?"

"No, what?"

"Luce."

"Asshole. I stepped into that one. Do you know what they call a man who is fucking his soon to be fiancé on the night before he finds out if he is getting divorced?"

"Bill, I guess."

"No silly, they call him a man in deep trouble for the rest of his life."

She rose and fell again twice. "You need to call the office and tell them that you won't be in until at least Tuesday."

"Why?"

"Because tomorrow you are going to be so broken up about your impending divorce that I am going to have to take you away for the weekend to console you."

"Ah, and where are we going?"

"To Houston of course. We have things to take care of."

"Oh yes, we do have to figure out what we are going to do with all that stuff, don't we?"

"No, not exactly. We have a bunch of stuff in the garage to move down there and Monday morning, you can take me to the closing of our little love nest on the water."

"And we need this love nest so we can...?"

"Why go down there frequently and practice sailing while we decide on what boat we want to buy. I am thinking a thirty foot cruiser that we can sail on the Intercoastal and perhaps off shore after we take the navigation course."

"Certainly, I knew that. I just wanted to see if you knew that."

"Good. Now do you know how close I am to coming?"

"You better be as close as I am or we might have a problem."

"Shut up then and fuck me."

That loving problem was resolved within minutes. We drank some more champagne and discussed what we were taking to Houston. It was then that I told her that I would probably resign after the first of the year and that I wanted to set up my own consulting business. She just smiled and said, "Do whatever you want to do, my love."

The next day, I had brief discussion with my boss and told him what I intended to do. He smiled and said, "I understand. I might turn mine in before Christmas, but I'll wait until it gets closer and make the final decision then." We shook hands and went back to work like business as usual.

At two in the afternoon, a serious sounding Crys called and asked me to come home at seven and that she needed to talk to me. I asked if I should bring dinner. She replied to just come and that dinner could wait. I tried to call Luce but she didn't answer or respond to my text. I had the feeling that she didn't want to get involved until after we had our discussion. So, I had one errand to run and then an hour and a half to kill before things would be on the table.

I arrived at seven and was met by a serious Crys and an equally serious Luce. Luce handed me a glass of wine even though neither of them had anything but coffee in front of them. I looked back and forth between them but neither of them would meet my eyes.

Finally, I said, "What's up?"

Crys took a deep breath and then said, "Bill, I have loved being married to you but I have fallen in love with another man and want to marry him. I am asking you for a divorce. I know that this is a shock to you but I want it keep it simple and just get it done. I am prepared to buy out your half of the house. Luce is here as a witness but also as our friend. When we are through, she wants to take you somewhere for the weekend so you two can talk. That is what I want." She fell silent.

I waited a few minutes before I spoke. "Crys, I have loved being married to you too but I have also felt a change in you recently and kind of expected something like this. I will agree to the divorce and I too would prefer to keep it simple. The only problem I have is that I don't want you to buy my part of the house out." Crys looked shocked. "Rather, before the divorce is final, I will just sign the deed over to you. I want you to own the house. I don't know the guy who you fell for but I want you to always have a place that is yours. Agreed?"

Crys sputtered but then she said, "Bill, I don't understand but yes, if that is what you want, I will accept it and I promise that I won't ask for anything else."

I turned to Luce and asked, "Luce, is this simple and straight forward enough to write up the decree for us to sign and get the ball rolling?"

She looked at me and said with a straight face, "Yes; I won't do the work but one of our other lawyers can prepare the paperwork. Are both of you sure that this is what you want?"

I looked at Crys who smiled at me and we both said "Yes" in unison. Luce smiled for the first time and said, "I will get the paperwork started on Tuesday and if you both sign it, we can file it on Wednesday. In sixty days, you will be divorced."

Crys said, "Bill, I can't tell you how happy you made me. I thought that you might be hurt or upset but I'm glad that you don't feel that way. I want you to be happy too."

"Thanks Crys, I want to be happy too. Now if you really feel that way, I am going to do something that will make me happy." Without waiting, I knelt before Luce and took the ring out of my pocket and said, "Luce, I have loved you for a long time but as we have been together, I have learned that I love you more than I ever say. Will you marry me?"

Luce looked stricken. "Bill...uh...are you serious? I mean you are proposing to me in front of Crys...And...and you two just decided to...Oh shit!" She buried her face in her hands.

They next thing we heard was Crys breaking out in peals of laughter. "Luce, you idiot; this is more than perfect. I couldn't have expected this but I love seeing this happen. I think that you need to answer his question."

Luce looked at me through her fingers and said, "Why now?"

I replied, "Because just like Crys said, I can't think of a better time or way to ask you than in front of your best friend. And by the way, I expect that this friendship between you two to continue. Neither of you hate each other over what is happening and I don't have a problem with either of you. So, there might be a few clumsy spots, but I can see is no reason that the two of you and your friendship has to stop. Maybe I can be included too."

Crys squealed again and then she said, "Luce, Bill is on his knee holding a ring waiting for you to answer. As your friend, I suggest that you turn your lawyer bullshit off and tell him yes. Then take him somewhere for the weekend and fuck him as punishment for putting you on the spot."

Luce looked at Crys and then at me while the smile finally started showing on her face. "Bill, in spite of your irrational act of impetuousness; yes, I will marry you but I am going to take my friend's advice and I will be punishing you severely all weekend." I was going to slip the ring on her finger but she moved first and put the ring around her finger before I could move. Instead, I pulled her up and took her in my arms and kissed her with all of the passion I could muster.

Crys finally broke the moment by saying, "You two need to go get a room before I change my mind. Oh and Luce, I hope you come back from the weekend totally pregnant."

Luce replied, "I would like that too but it will have to wait a year until I get my practice organized but I want to be pregnant on our first anniversary. Now my fiancé, take me to my house; I have to start punishing you."

Crys walked us to the door and said as we were leaving, "Bill, I'll have your clothes and things ready for you to pick up next week when you get back. Take good care of my friend or I will punish you in a very different way than she will."

"Don't worry about that. If I ever hurt her, I will be punishing myself far worse than anything you can do to me." We drove our cars to Luce's house but we didn't leave for Houston until the following morning as she punished me in bed for well over four hours. I really did enjoy the punishment.

The next two months went by quickly. We closed on the condo on Monday. By Wednesday, I had my things moved to my new home. Three days after the divorce was final, Rod and Crys got married. She was just beginning to show her baby bump. Luce was her maid of honor. I declined the invitation to go however. They both understood. Three weeks after that, Crys was the maid of honor at our wedding. Rod declined attending and that didn't bother me at all.

Luce and I went to Houston at least twice a month for long weekends and when winter started to set in, we bought a really nice 35 foot cruising boat and had it taken into the shop for a compete checkout and upgrading of several systems. We also took the offshore navigation class. We decided that for our first anniversary, we were going to take a week and sail to Corpus Christi and back.

Crys and Luce got together for lunch at least once a week during the fall and winter. Crys had gotten a promotion after the merger was complete. She came over occasionally so I didn't see as much of her as Luce did. She had the baby in March and named the little girl Lucille but called her Lucy.

I turned in my resignation in January well after the yearly bonus was announced and the stock was posted in my account. Then I sold most of the stock at a very high price before the market changed its mind and reinvested the money in a more stable series of stocks that paid good dividends and were not on any body's volatile list. Luce was making a great salary from her partnership deal and I was now worth close to $2 million. I also quickly found that there were many medium sized companies who want a consultant who was a solid performer rather than a high flier. I was happy with working with six companies and having time for other projects.

Luce and I didn't talk about it very often but as we were about to pull in the lines to start our anniversary cruise, she called me to her and said, "Honey, I just want you to know that in about eight months, we will have to add a cradle berth to the boat. I am hoping for a girl. What about you?"

When I finally closed my mouth and found my voice, "I am perfectly happy with that as long as we name her Cecillia and call her Ceci."

Luce responded, "We'll talk about that."

I replied, "I'll talk about anything with you." Then I took her in my arms and kissed her. She still made me tingle every time I kissed her.

The only downer of the whole thing started six months after our anniversary as Crys became a more frequent visitor at our house. I knew her well enough to know that something was wrong but she never said anything with me around.

About a month before our daughter, who was going to be named Ramona and be called Romy, was due, Luce told me to sit down because she needed to talk to me.

"Bill, something is going on with Crys that you need to know about. She has known for some time that her boss, the vice president, would be retiring and she felt that she had a good chance of being named to his job. What she found out recently was that Rod had somehow found a way to be considered also. That was a surprise but didn't bother her all that much. But last week, it came out that he was being considered because he was fucking one of the women senior executives. Crys was devastated and yesterday, she told him to pack up and get out. He is moving this weekend."

I thought about it for quite awhile while she held my hand and looked at me. Finally she said, "What are you thinking, my love? I can see the wheels turning."

"Luce, I have been organizing my life so that when Romy arrives, I can be a stay at home Dad. My daughter isn't going to be in daycare if I have any say about it. I can do what I need to from here with only an occasional visit to my client's place. So I intend to be basically become a house husband unless you object."

"I would never object to anything that you want to do but what does this have to do with Crys?"

"Crys will get that job and she will be good at it but she will also be working late a lot and traveling frequently. I want you to talk to her about bringing Lucy over here and letting me take care of her too. She is a great baby and I have learned a lot about children from just being around her. That is what I am thinking."

Luce had a huge smile on her face as she replied, "I wasn't expecting that at all but as you talked, it doesn't surprise me either. I'll talk to her tomorrow. You are truly wonderful in case you didn't know it."

"I'm just a guy who loves his wife, his career choices and is looking forward to the future with eager anticipation. If that makes me wonderful, then so be it."

Luce talked to Crys the next day at lunch. Then she called me and said that they would be here for dinner because Crys wanted to hear me say that to her in person. She couldn't believe what I was offering to do. They arrived at six and Crys looked at me suspiciously as I picked Lucy up and tickled her tummy with my nose. She liked it when I did that. She giggled and held my head. Crys started to say something before I cut her off with, "Dinner first, then talk. Here is a glass of wine for you and a glass of juice for my wife. Go sit down and wind down. Dinner will be in about an hour." Crys came to get Lucy and I shook my head, "You go unwind; I'll feed her and she can help me with dinner." Luce had to drag her to the patio but she was successful.

Lucy was ready for her dinner, so I fed her the usual strange goop that we think young kids like. I had been reading about making our own baby food and was prepared to start making it for Romy when she was ready. By agreement, Luce was going to breast feed her at home and use a pump to keep fresh milk available for her during the day.

Crys held Lucy while I put our dinner on the table. Lucy played with her mother's hair and occasionally still reached for her breasts. Luce smiled at the scene but I was too busy to notice. By the time we were ready to eat, Lucy was asleep and Crys put her down on the sofa while we ate.

When diner was over, I started speaking before Crys could say anything, I said, "I don't know what Luce told you but what I told her was that you were going to get busy in your new job and that rather than putting Lucy in day care, you should bring her here and I'll take care of her. If you need to travel, she will just stay here with us. She isn't my biological child be she is the daughter of my friend who I care about a lot and I won't take no for an answer." Crys broke down in tears and cried as Luce consoled her.

When she finally settled down, she went through a long string of apologies and thanks and appreciations before she finally loaded their things in her car and went home after agreeing to bring Lucy over in the morning.

When she had gone, Luce took me by the hand and led me to the bedroom, "I can't give you want I want to give you tonight, but I am going to drain your balls with my mouth. Get naked." The truth was that I loved Luce's blow jobs but usually I wanted the rest of her so badly I didn't let her do it very often. But tonight, I let her have her way with me and I went to sleep totally satisfied. As we did every night, the last words we said to each other were "I love you."

Lucy came the next morning along with the usual variety of toys and clothes and we began a regular pattern of eating, play and nap time. I made a place in my study for her to play while I worked. Things worked well as Crys was named vice president a month later and had a series of out-of-town meetings to go to. It was fall before her life settled down and she began to stay at home most of the time. Her divorce was also final from Rod. He had resigned and taken a job in Chicago with another company and moved there with the young photography girl. He didn't make much of an effort to see Lucy but he did send a child support check every month which Crys put in Lucy's college fund account. From what Luce told me, Crys went out occasionally but only to business functions and was home early.