What If Tomorrow Never Comes?

Here is a little short story about love, sex, and survival.

What If Tomorrow Never Comes?

As I was driving back home that afternoon, my mind was trying to sort out all of the details of what had happened. The news of two situations that suddenly sprang up in my life were weighing heavily on me. Sitting on the seat next to me were two large envelopes containing the details of the two things I suddenly had to deal with. I was devastated by every thing that had happened. If it is true that bad things come in threes, then I may be in for even more bad times ahead.

Before I describe what happened, let me give you a little background. My name is Scott. I am a 50 year old retired petroleum engineer. Yes, I am retired. I made a lot of money early, and invested wisely. Two years ago I inherited a small ranch, and a considerable amount of money from my Dad. My mother had passed away a couple of years before that.

After my Dad died, we decided to move to the ranch. I retired and became a full time rancher, a life I truly loved.

My wife Jerri is 49 years old. We will have been married 25 years this summer. It has been a wonderful 25 years, almost like a fairy tale. We have had very few arguments, and share the same taste in wine, food, and music. We have a daughter who has graduated college, and works in Washington DC for a US Senator.

Jerri does have one obsession, her job. She loves her job, and has spent the last fifteen years proving herself, and working her way up the ladder. She is out to prove that a woman can do just as good, or better than a man in management. She refuses to retire with me because she loves it so much.

She works for a grocery store chain that is quite successful. She has her degree in business management, and has risen up into corporate management.

Jerri is strikingly beautiful. Not only a great figure, but a pretty face, and her long blond hair makes her look like a hollywood starlet. We have always made sure we had time for each other. Our sex life has always been outstanding. Never routine, and rarely rushed. I please her, and she pleases me. Even after 25 years, I wouldn't change a thing with my wife.

I guess I should go back to a week ago when I had my semi annual check up by my dermatologist. I spend a lot of time in the sun, therefore I started worrying about skin cancer. I wear caps, and use sunscreen now, but I didn't in my younger years. I have had a couple of cancerous places removed, so I have my check ups to make sure of early detection. The two I had removed were done in the early stages, so they were not a problem.

Last week I had a place removed, and of course the doctor did a biopsy. My appointment today was to take out the stitches, and let me know the biopsy report. She acted like always, in that it was no big deal, and would probably come back ok.

On my way to her office, I got a call from Mary Johnson. Her husband is Larry Johnson, the Executive Vice President of the company my wife works for. I have met them both on occasion at some of the company gatherings. Mary's dad owns the company, and I think Larry is the Executive VP simply because of his wife being the owner's daughter.

She said she needed to meet with me. For the life of me I couldn't figure out why she needed to meet with me, and she wouldn't say on the phone. She just said it was urgent we get together today. So I agreed to meet her at a coffee shop after my Doctor's appointment.

I was sitting in one of the exam rooms when my Doctor finally walked in. She examined the area, then removed the stitches. She normally talks a lot, but this time she wasn't saying much.

After she finished, she handed me a large envelope. This had never happened before.

Then she said, "Scott, this envelope contains the lab report, and some instructions. I am afraid that your cancer was malignant, and it has spread into your body. The other test we ran on you also confirm it has spread. This has become a serious issue that will require drastic treatment. You will need to start chemotherapy right away."

The first thing that came into my head was that I was going to die. I was fifty years old, and soon I would be dead.

"Am I going to die, Doctor?"

"Scott, we are going to do everything we can for you, but it has spread, and there are no guarantees. I think you have a good chance of beating this. You are strong, and in good health otherwise. The chemo is going to be very hard on you, and your wife."

What was Jerri going to think? This was going to be hard on her. She also had her job to think off. I know there was an opening for a high level management position, and she had her heart set on getting that promotion. It was all she had been talking about.

She had interviewed with Larry Johnson a few days ago, and had seemed really out of sorts the past few days. I had to do everything I could to make sure my treatments didn't interfere with her job.

I left the office really feeling down. I was going to have to tell Jerri, but I didn't want to. I also had to face the fact that I might die because of this. I had to get everything in order.

I almost forgot about meeting with Mary. I made it to the coffee shop about ten minutes late. She was there waiting on me. We got a coffee, and sat down outside.

Mary spoke, "Scott, I am going to get right to the point of my calling you. You know my husband Larry is your wife's boss. I have suspected Larry of cheating on me for quite some time. I hired a PI firm to get me evidence. A few days ago your wife was in his office supposedly to interview for an upper management job. They had sex in his office."

I wasn't sure I heard the last part right. I asked her to repeat it, and sure enough she had said that my wife fucked her boss Larry. I was almost a hundred percent sure my wife had never cheated on me in the 25 years of our marriage. I found this hard to believe.

Mary tossed me a large envelope. I opened it up, and pulled out the pictures. There was also a CD which I assumed contained the video.

Mary went on, "I had the PI set up video in my husbands office. Larry basically told your wife that if she would have sex with him, she would get the job. She refused at first, but he threatened that if she didn't, she would never rise above where she was. It was simply her ambition that clouded her judgement."

"Isn't that illegal what he did? I asked.

"Yes, and he is going down. He did the same thing with a couple of other ladies in the office, plus he has a couple of married ladies he is screwing at a motel. He will soon be out of a job, a wife, a house, and money. My father will also be prosecuting him for sexual harassment in the workplace. His fairy tale world is about to end."

"So what do you think I should do, Mary?"

"It's up to you Scott, but don't let this ruin your marriage. Jerri is a good lady, and a good asset to our company. What she doesn't know is that my father wanted her for that job all along. Larry didn't have any say in who got hired. My father was going to tell her today the job was hers."

It was hard, but I did look at the pictures. One thing I did notice is that there was no look of pleasure on my wife's face. In fact, she looked disgusted. I was ready to kill Larry Johnson, but I figure he is about to have all the shit he can handle. I want him to to suffer as much as possible, but if I ever meet up with him, I will beat the shit out of him.

As I drove home, I tried to figure out what I should do. How do I tell Jerri about my day?

Hey honey, I'm dying of cancer, and I know you fucked Larry Johnson in his office so you would get promoted.

I loved her too much to file for divorce over this. We would have to talk about it, and maybe work through it. I know now why she had been acting funny the past few days. She was feeling guilty. I think she wanted to confess, but was too ashamed.

I got home around 2:00 and saw Jerri's car in the driveway. She is never, and I mean never home from work this early. It's usually around 5:30 or 6:00 before she comes home.

I walked into the house with my two envelopes, and the weight of the world on my shoulders. I was trying to figure out how I was going to start, when I heard Jerri in the kitchen.

"Scott honey, I need you to come in the kitchen and sit down."

Her voice was shaking as she spoke. She didn't even ask about my visit to the doctor. She was sitting at the kitchen table, and had a chair waiting for me next to her.

She looked very serious, and very nervous. I sat down without saying a word. I wasn't real sure what she was about to say, but I had a good idea.

"Scott, I have something I need to tell you, and your not going to like it. I did something pretty bad, and it's eating away at me. Please let me finish before you say a anything."

I nodded for her continue. I guess she was going to confess. I was not expecting this. I thought I would have to confront her.

"Sometimes my ambition concerning my career gets in the way of my good judgement. You know I have been talking non stop about the upper level management job open at work. I wanted it so bad I could hardly stand it."

Tears were starting to roll down her cheeks, but I let her go on. She needed to get it out.

"A few days ago, my boss Larry called me in to interview for the job. He said his recommendation to Mr. Burns, the owner, would be who he chooses. He told me that he had always been attracted to my beauty, and really envied you Scott. He said he would like to be you for one night, and get to sleep with me. I started getting very uncomfortable. I didn't like where I thought this was heading."

She paused a minute to collect herself.

"After complimenting me more on how beautiful, and sexy I was, he basically said that if I would have sex with him there in his office, the job was mine. He said if I tried to report him, he would say I came into his office and offered myself to him for the job."

Now what she did was wrong, and she should have been smarter, but I felt sorry for the situation that asshole put her in. She went on.

"Of course I refused, and told him no, but he continued to work on me. He explained that it was just sex, and that you would never know. He said no one would ever know, and it would only be this one time. There would be no blackmail, and this would be the end of it. I would get the job, and he would get his fantasy."

"So what did you do?" I asked.

She lowered her head as she continued to cry.

She said, "I am so sorry Scott, but I agreed to his proposal. I don't why, but I did. I knew I should have walked out and went straight to Mr. Burns, the owner. I was blinded by my own ambition and selfishness."

She was crying pretty hard.

"Scott, it had nothing to do with me being attracted to him, or dissatisfied with you. I won't give you the details, but suffice it to say that he got what he wanted, and it didn't take him long."

I wanted to comfort my wife, because I did feel sorry for her, but at the same time I was angry with her.

"Jerri, you should have called me, or as you said, go to Mr. Burns. What that asshole did is illegal. You could have saved yourself a lot of guilt,and humiliation."

"Oh Scott, I am so sorry for what I did to you. I just hope that you can forgive me, and also understand what I went through. Please don't divorce me. You are my life, and I can't bear to think of what it would be like without you."

I guess it was time for me to do some explaining to her.

"Jerri, I have a couple of things I need to tell you now. First of all, I found out about you having sex with you're boss this morning from his wife."

She looked up with shock. "What do you mean?" She asked.

"Mary Johnson met with me this morning, and gave me this envelope. It has pictures, and a video of the whole thing. She has suspected her husband of cheating for some time now. She had a PI gather evidence on him, and his office had a hidden camera."

"Oh my God," she said with a horrified look on her face.

"You aren't the only one he tricked into submitting to him. He also has a couple of married women he is screwing all the time. He is a player, Jerri.

He promised a couple of other women in your company job promotions for sexual favors also. His wife is about to nail him to the wall."

"He probably already has been. I had been feeling so guilty the past couple of days, I decided the job wasn't worth it anymore. I went into Mr. Burns this morning and told him everything. I also resigned effective immediately. I decided my place was here with you if you still want me," she said.

This I was not expecting.

"You mean you quit the job that you love so much?"

"The job I love so much doesn't even compare to the love I have for you. I wish I could turn back the clock. I would have resigned right there when Mr. Johnson made his proposal to me."

"What did Mr. Burns say?" I asked.

"He tried to talk me out of it. In fact, he said he had already decided I would get the promotion, and was going to tell me today. He said Larry Johnson wasn't even involved in the decision. I stuck with my decision to quit."

"There is something else I have to tell you Jerri. You know that last week I had minor surgery to remove a possible skin cancer. Today was my follow up visit to get the stitches out, and the biopsy report."

"Oh my God Scott, I forgot all about that. I was feeling so sorry for myself I didn't remember you had an appointment today. I am assuming it was nothing, like the last two?"

"Not exactly," I said. The biopsy showed it was malignant, and had spread into my body. I have cancer Jerri, and I will be starting chemotherapy tomorrow."

With that I broke down and cried. I cried because my wife had cheated, and because I was dying. Jerri ran to me and took me in her arms. We both cried for several minutes.

Finally I said, "when I first heard about you and your boss, I thought you would leave me for him. I don't want to die alone Jerri."

"Oh my God Scott, you poor, wonderful man. What I told you is the honest truth. I only did it for the job, which still made it wrong. I am so sorry. You are not going to die. We will beat this thing. You will get your chemotherapy, and you will be a survivor. I will be with you every minute to take care of you."

We both hugged, and cried, and talked for awhile. I decided to put what happened with her boss behind us, and so did she. The focus would be on me beating this killer in my body.

Mr. Burns fired Larry Johnson that afternoon. He was also served divorce papers, and kicked out of his house. He won't have much left after Mary gets through with him.

It took Jerri awhile to overcome what he did to her, but I made sure she understood that I still loved her very much. I just tried not to think about, or picture what he did to her.

So I started the treatment. It was going to last about six months, but would be administered in intervals. I would take it for awhile, then get a rest, then back to treatments. All my hair fell out after about four weeks.

The treatments involved several drugs, and I felt like the chemo was going to kill me. I began to feel so bad. I lost weight, and could barely get around. Jerri pretty much had to take care of everything. I just kind of felt like my life was slipping away.

I caught Jerri crying at times as she sat by my bed. She always seemed to be there with me.

We had just about finished the six months of treatment, but I felt I was much worse instead of better. I was skin and bones. I knew I must be approaching the end.

Jerri was sitting there holding my hand. I had her come closer so I could tell her something.

"Honey, I just want you to know that I love you so much. You have been a very good wife, and the past few months have been as hard on you as it has on me. I don't think I'm going to make it, so I want you to find someone else after I'm gone. Find yourself a good man who will love you as much as I did."

I broke up and started crying. Jerri hugged me and said, "I want you to listen to me Scott. You are not going to die. I am going to love you for many years to come. You are the only man I ever want to love. You just need a little more time for the chemo to finally get rid of that cancer. We will beat this thing."

I drifted off, as Jerri continued to cry. Then something really strange happened. I felt as if I was floating up, and looking down on myself and Jerri from the ceiling. My body was still laying on the bed, but Jerri had gotten down on her knees.

She was saying a prayer. She was praying out loud. She asked God to put his healing hands on me and get rid of my cancer. She even offered that He could take her if He wanted, just spare me. I was watching all this like I was floating up above the whole scene.

At the same time I noticed the room becoming very, very white. I can't describe it, but I also felt this wonderful peaceful feeling that everything was going to be ok. Was I dreaming, or was this really happening?

She finished her prayer, but stayed on her knees for a little while. Then another strange thing happened. The whiteness that had engulfed the room, started to fade. I felt myself coming back down to the bed. The next thing I know is that I am laying in my bed, feeling very sleepy.

I went to sleep for awhile. When I awoke, Jerri was still there holding my hand. I squeezed her hand and smiled, then said, "hi honey, how about a little something to eat."

She hugged me, kissed me, and told me how much she loved me. She went into the kitchen to make me some eggs, sausage, and toast. I ate it all, and was feeling better.

Over the next few days I started eating more and feeling better. I don't know if the chemo finally took its toll on the cancer, or if there was Divine Intervention, but I felt much better.

The following week I went back to see my Doctor. They ran some test and pretty much concluded that my cancer was in remission. She seemed kind of baffled by my sudden turn around, but said you never really know how the cancer will respond. I had to go back and see her every few months for a follow up.

One year later she pronounced me completely cancer free. I gained back some weight, and got my hair back. Jerri and I even got back to a very healthy sex life. In fact, probably even more so since we were both at home all the time.

You may wonder if we ever had a discussion about her incident with her boss. Well, yes we did. Shortly after my recovery, we sat down one night and talked about what happened, and why. She told me everything that happened.

This was what she said. "When I finally, and reluctantly agreed to have sex with him, this is what happened. He had me undress and stand there. Then he undressed, and tried to kiss me. I refused, and said I would not participate in any act of intimacy. He tried to suck one of my tits, but I wouldn't let him. I was not turned on, and I didn't want him sucking my tit.

He sat me on his couch and put his dick in my face."

"You will suck my dick, or there is no promotion," Larry said.

"So I did suck him, but not very long."

Then Larry said, "ok, let's do this. Come over here to my desk. I am going to rub some oil in your pussy, then I am going to bend you over the desk and fuck you from behind. You just relax and enjoy, maybe have an orgasm or two."

"He put on a condom, rubbed in the oil, then had me bend over his desk. He got behind me and worked his dick inside. I can tell you Scott that he was about half your size, maybe four inches. I was glad we weren't missionary, because I didn't want to look at him. It didn't take him long to finish, which I was glad. It was a horrible experience, and I felt so guilty the next few days."

She was really crying now, so I put my arm around her, and told her that I loved her very much.