24 Hours to Decide

"Now Mother, that's a different kettle of fish. She will either accept you, and the decisions that you and Kim have made, or she will stab you with a kitchen knife. So I suggest you don't have any sharp objects around when they visit. It will be a bit of a squeeze getting them all in here though, I'm sure you'll manage"   

I could see him thinking. "But, why can't we have your house?"   

"It's rented and I'm not paying the rent for you to live in my sin with my wife. I expect you will want to marry her as soon as I'm gone. But here's the problem. I don't believe in divorce. When I said those words 'for better or for worse until death do us part' I meant them. But I will bow out and I'll let you take my place as head of the family."   

"I will just disappear. I can get work anywhere, so if she wants to divorce me to marry you, she will have to find me in this big old wide world. Oh, if you don't marry her, you won't be able to adopt the children, or maybe you will, you might have to look into that."  

I had my fingers crossed under the table for the whole of my speech. The house was not rented, so I fibbed. In fact, quite a lot of what I said was a fib, and there were some contradictions in there too, I don't think he noticed. He had other things to think about.   

I carried on. "Just so as you know, I'm a carpenter by trade, but that means I can turn my hand to anything. Anything that needs cutting, screwing or nailing. From tin roofs on sheds to decking and kitchen fitting. I can easily find a job somewhere else. I might go back home to Kent." I giggled at that, I don't think he saw the funny side.   

He was looking seriously worried now. I stood up to leave and I put my hand out to shake his. I didn't try and crush it   

It's only been an hour, so I drove back via the park. She is still there, and she is still sitting on the park bench, but she has a coffee with her. I carried on home. I have some work to do and a cabinet to finish.   

I phoned the children to have a chat with them. Then my Mum and Dad and her Mum and Dad and update them on where we were.   

Hindsight is great. I had a think about the attitude of the staff in the shop. Then it hit me. This was probably Kim's first time, but I bet she had been egged on by others. The women in the store were probably going through the trainee managers. It was like a knocking shop. Mmm the local paper would be interested in that, even if it wasn't true. I stored that thought away.   

I asked the grandparents if they would keep the kids until tomorrow whilst I sorted this out. They were more than happy to babysit.

There aren't many hotels in our town, and she would use the cheapest and probably near the park, so it didn't take much to find her. I went and sat inside. She came down to eat. I was hidden in the corner. She didn't eat much, just pushed the food around the plate. I watched her all night. Nobody talked to her, a few men tried to chat her up. But she refused them, she doesn't look well. She went upstairs at about half nine. I headed home but drove past his place. Just out of curiosity   

In the morning I had a few jobs to do. I carried on with the cabinet, I managed to get it finished and it was nearly 12:00 o'clock. 

She came in, she did not look well. This is going to be hard.   

I was sitting at the kitchen table ready, and as the clock struck 12, I looked at her, she was crying, tears were pouring down her face.   

"Him or me?"   

"I'm really sorry, but it's him. I love you equally but he's younger and fitter. This is purely practical, he's got great promotion prospects, he could be running his own store in a couple of years and the pay is good for that. Your job is just the same. I know it's been enough, but I'm sorry it's him. I do love you, and I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry it's come to this. I was hoping we could carry on the way we were but, after you told me you had noticed, we hadn't been as discreet as we tried to be. You were right, I had to decide."   

I had two envelopes over on the worktop, one marked 'H' and the other 'M'. I went and picked up the one with H on it and gave it to her. It was the divorce papers, she just opened them and signed them. If I was her, I'd have read them first. Especially as I'd spent a time folding them so the crucial words were on a crease. 

She looked at me. "Can we, one last time?" She looked at the stairs. Why not? I loved her. I took her by the hand and led her up to our bedroom for the last time. I would do my damnedest to make it a good one. I undressed her, it was normal clothing. At least she hadn't dressed to go to him, with what she wore for me yesterday. I lay her on her back and kissed her breasts teasing her nipples with my teeth. One hand stroked her belly and found its way to her pussy lips. Opening them slightly I pushed them in getting them wet, she gasped. I pulled them out and used the lubricated fingers to excite her clitoris. It worked; it always did.     

I slipped down between her thighs. I used my tongue, I sucked, I licked. I kissed. She screamed at me to let her come. I did, but it wasn't finished. I rolled her onto her belly and pulled her up onto her knees. I grabbed hold of her wrists behind her back, and I used them for leverage to pull myself into her, not hard, just firm all the way into the hilt. I picked up speed, she was coming. I knew just what she liked and I did it all. When she left, she would have no doubt who was the better lover. I gave her a playful slap on the backside. She will have to teach him to get the slaps just right, not too hard, not too soft. I looked at her bum hole. Should I? I've never been there. I wonder if he had? Too late now I was about to come. I gave her an almighty slap across the backside. She screamed. It would leave a handprint, and if he had her tonight he would see that. And the two love bites I had left on her thighs. He would know he was getting sloppy seconds.    

There had been no kissing on the lips.   

It was good. We collapsed onto the bed and untangled ourselves. She got off the bed and headed towards the bathroom, she smiled at me and said. "One last shower together?" I looked at my watch.

"Sorry we don't have time, you'd better phone Gerald let him know the good news and I will drop you and your stuff over there on my way to pick up the kids."   

She looked sad, I didn't care. She spent a few minutes in the bathroom cleaning herself the best she could.   

As we went downstairs I told her to come round tomorrow evening to collect the rest of the stuff, and we could sort out the children's lives. She agreed.   

I gave her back her phone. She walked into the kitchen. At least she had the decency to walk into another room as she phoned him. She came back in 2-3 minutes. She was looking at the phone "It says service discontinued, his number's not working."   

"Perhaps he's at work then." I offered.   

"No, He took yesterday and today off to deal with this." 

"Perhaps he's gone in without you to start squashing the rumours, that was your plan, wasn't it?" 

She looked at me and said, "Thank you, that's a good idea." She didn't go into the other room this time and I heard half the conversation.    

"What do you mean he's already been in?   

"He's resigned and just walked out. He can't do that he has to serve notice.

"A family emergency in Scotland. He's not Scottish, his family lives in Devon."   

"Thank you, no it's nothing important." So, she could lie as well. I knew that.  

She looked at me. "I'm going to his house."   

"Let me take you. You can move in with him now and we will sort all the other stuff out later."   

Her bags were still by the front door. I picked them up and put them in my car and we drove to his house. I didn't ask for directions, and she didn't query how I knew where he lived. I wished I could have seen the look on her face as we pulled up and she saw the 'For Rent' sign. She rushed out of the car. She had a set of keys in her hand. I had sort of assumed she'd have keys to his house. She crashed in through the door. I followed her carrying her bags. It was empty. Oh, it had furniture, but there's no crockery or even a kettle. Her ornaments and pictures were still there, he left them behind.  

It would have been interesting seeing him getting that telly in the Lotus.    

I dropped her bags, turned round and walked out, no lover, no husband, no children and no house. She really should have read the divorce paperwork.   

"Please sweetheart, can I come back home? We can sort this out."   

I looked at her. "What the fuck do you think? I will not be your fall back option.   

"You've already signed the divorce papers. It'll be 90 days."   

"Well at least you know a place you can rent now." I said as I turned round and walked away.   

Epilogue   

She talked to her parents, letting them know that I had tricked her into signing away the children. I had already told them from what I'd seen, he didn't want them, and he wouldn't make a good father. I'd told them everything I planned to do, about the two sets of divorce papers. They told her to let it go, just accept the fact she chose the wrong one and at least she still has access to the children and be part of their lives. The envelope with the M on it, I was still going to divorce her, but we would have shared the children and joint custody and worked something out about the house. And maybe, over time we might have got back together because she had chosen me. We will never know. But now I have full custody and she has to pay maintenance, she really should read what she puts her signature to.   

The headlines in the local paper read 'Supermarket teaches new managers more than stock keeping in sex scandal'. Well, it was a rag.   

I found I had Jackie's phone number in my work diary. She'll get a call after 90 days. I think she heard on the grapevine and she called me first.   

Kim pops around to see the kids and sometimes she stays the night. And she always asks if she can come home. I always tell her the same thing. "The not enough prospects fall back option says 'No'."   

I didn't bother chasing him, I couldn't be arsed, he wasn't worth my effort.