A Man Called Asshole

I told him. He continued to think out loud. "Maybe she or you should go on the trip but alone. A break might do you or her good. Do you think you could go together? No? I guess that is a lot to ask but it would slow the rumors a little. Well, anyhow, I have a lot of fires to stomp out. Please go do what you were going to do before you came in here. I suppose you have some wedding plans to cancel."

I went back to my office. I sent Lisa a text. It was short and to the point. "The honeymoon is prepaid. Why don't you take yourself and someone else and go enjoy yourself. I see no need for me to use the tickets. Maybe Jimmy needs a vacation."

For some reason I didn't receive a reply.

I called the pastor and the church and cancelled. Same with the caterers and the cake baker. Since the cake was already finished I had it delivered to a homeless shelter. I had used my own savings for the wedding to reduce the strain on Lisa's parents' modest income so it was mostly my pocketbook that took the hit.

I did notify Lisa's folks about what I had cancelled. They were paying for the flowers and the photographer. I was sorry for them but it was their daughter who had cheated and contrived to be the village slut.

While I was involved with this last bit of crap a visitor strode into my office. No, it wasn't Lisa but her friend, Margo. She didn't pause or take a seat but leaned on my desk. This was not going to be a pleasant or friendly visit. I finished my text message before acknowledging her.

"Ms. Travis, what brings you to my office? I do not remember needing extra secretarial service at this time. When my team gets back there might be some Dictaphone stenography needed but that does not demand a personal visit."

Before she could let loose her barrage at how nasty a male I was being, I put my hand up to stop her and blatantly put my voice recorder on the desk between us. I also pointed up at the corner of the room. She looked and saw the small camera there. Then she quizzically looked back at me. "I have found that recorded visits and conversations greatly reduces misunderstandings during negotiations. While few other offices have this capability, at this time, I do. So, now that you understand, please continue."

She deflated a little. "I just want to know why Lisa is sitting at my apartment and crying her eyes out. She keeps blubbering that you cancelled the wedding and broke the engagement. I fear for her mental wellbeing. Based on her history of poor choices and your background of fucking any pussy that isn't yet cold and dead, I figure you got found out."

She went on and on until she was out of breath and almost ready to cry herself. I forced Asshole down and let her work herself down. When she seemed receptive to a response, I gave it to her.

"First, and foremost, since I started to date Lisa, have I given you or her or anyone else cause to believe that I am still catting around. No, I don't regret or deny that I was a male slut or stud, however you want to phrase it, but I have not had any sexual contact with any other woman except what little Lisa has provided since we started to see each other."

She shook her head.

"Okay, now we have that out of the way. Second, did you or did you not believe that I fucked the stripper at my bachelor party?"

She looked a little chastened. "Lisa said your friends all swore you did have sex with the stripper while off the camera. Why else would you have not been in any of the later photos or video from that night?

"For the simple reason that when she started to fuck all the other guests, including some of Lisa's friends and relatives, I got bored and went down to the bar. I stayed until last call nursing a few drinks and had a long conversation with the bartender. His name is Charlie and you can check that out."

I paused to let that sink in. "My turn again. Did you or did you not fuck all my friends the next night at Lisa's bachelorette party?"

She looked shocked. "Oh, God! How did you find that out? Lisa said you would never know. Your friends would never admit to our little orgy."

I had to chuckle. "I have piss poor friends. They couldn't wait to lord it over me that they had fucked my fiancé and her friends. Guess what, they aren't my friends anymore. As a matter of fact, they know to run if they see me." I clenched my fists until she could hear the knuckles crack. She looked down at them and blanched a little. I was wearing my usual suit and tie but maybe, just maybe, the tightening of my muscles made an impression.

She gulped a little but continued. "She regrets that night. I know she does. Can't you forgive her this little indiscretion?"

"Oh, I am sorry. Hasn't she told you the rest of the story?" She shook her head. "She not only fucked my best man, Jimmy Deeds, at the party but she has continued and was going to continue with the rest of them up until the wedding ceremony. She planned to show off all the marks put on her body by my FUCKING FRIENDS on our wedding night. Then she was going to announce that we had an open marriage and would fuck around anytime she pleased."

I slammed the desk when I said "FUCKING FRIENDS" and Margo jumped. I think she got the message. She shook her head in denial. "No, Lisa would never do something like that. She is too nice a person."

"Oh, so she didn't say why she wasn't staying at my apartment? She didn't tell you that Jimmy sent me a text message announcing her slutdom? She didn't tell you that I drove back from Craterville last night and caught them in bed? She didn't tell you that I let out ASSHOLE and kicked the shit out of him after pulling him off her fucking cheating lying slut whore body? She didn't tell you that I dragged his naked ass to the elevator and sent him to the top floor so he could be a spectacle all the way down for anyone to see? She didn't tell you that I then kicked her out wearing only what she put on after I beat on his ass? She didn't tell you that tonight I will be throwing out the bed they desecrated? She didn't tell you that I pulled her engagement ring off her adulterous finger?"

Margo had a shocked look on her face. She also knew how Lisa had been dressed when she made it to her apartment last night. She shook her head but I assumed it was not in denial but in disgust about what Lisa had pulled.

I reached into my drawer. "Here, take this fucking ring. I don't want it. I am sure she was wearing it as she stroked that fucker's cock. It is desecrated and needs to be given to someone who doesn't know its history." Margo was slow to reach out and accept the piss poor symbol of love.

She tried to salvage the conversation and get it headed her way again. "You weren't married yet. This can be survived. You two love each other and can get by this. All of us who had sex that night are just as guilty as she is."

I actually laughed. It was more of a sinister laugh than a mirthful one. "Like I told Lisa. Love is only one of the pillars that a relationship is made of. Maybe love isn't a pillar. Maybe it is more like the seat of a three legged chair. Faith, Trust and Respect are the legs. Knock off one and you might balance on the other two but you certainly wouldn't be able to relax or lean back. But once you break faith you also lose trust and you definitely show a lack of respect for your other half. Suddenly you are sitting on your ass on the ground. Love certainly isn't cushion enough for that relationship to survive. You are lying if you think otherwise."

I let that sink in before continuing. "Do you know why people get engaged?"

Margo went with the easiest answer. "That is so you have time to plan for the wedding."

"Bullshit. Well, maybe a little. Actually it is where the couple pledge to be true to each other as they really get to know each other better. It is to be treated the same as marriage but, traditionally, you still lived apart from each other. It certainly didn't mean fucking others right up to the wedding ceremony."

I stopped for a moment. "You know, I might have forgiven a night of drunkenness or, maybe, drugs that can reduce your inhibitions. But I certainly don't forgive a person who believes relative strangers over me. Especially when I have done nothing to deserve such disrespect."

Margo kept sputtering until I held my hand up to stop her. "You need to leave. If you do not, I will lodge a complaint with HR about creating a hostile work environment. If you see me in the hall do not acknowledge me. Don't speak to me. I will be taking my breaks in my office from now on. I will also leave the building for meals or eat here so that I do not infringe on your right to congregate. If I hear any derogatory rumors about me I will assume they come from you and file a complaint. Do you understand?"

Margo nodded and turned away. I stopped her. "Oh, and one more thing. For some reason Lisa has it in her head that I have been having an ongoing affair with one of my team members. I have no idea where she got that assumption. But, hear me and hear me well, if there is any rumor about any of my team members having some kind of illicit relationship, then things are going to get very ugly around here. I will do my utmost to completely destroy anyone who burns an innocent person. Do you understand that little bit of news?"

She gulped and nodded again. This time I didn't stop her from leaving.

One down, hundreds to go. This was shaping up to be ugly. The girls Lisa had roomed with also worked here. Each would have her own thoughts about what happened. Various groups of personnel routinely got together for drinks. With the added alcohol, there was no telling what fertile minds would come up with. I was starting to look forward to being absent next week.

My team returned and we had a debriefing with Conrad in one of the conference rooms. As I had told him, the negotiations had been a success and a strike had been averted. Both sides seemed happy with the outcome. Afterward Conrad took Heather to his office for a private meeting. I hoped it was going well as I left.

I went down to the nearest bedding store and found a new bed. I arranged for delivery the next morning and they would also get rid of the old bed. I wouldn't even have to lift a finger to help. I did, though, take great pleasure in disassembling the old bed after I got home. I also searched the apartment for anything and everything that Lisa might have moved in. Clothes were easy. It was the small stuff. She had used some of her time, when not fucking Jimmy, to put out knick-knacks all over the place. I had to go and find cardboard boxes from the dumpster behind a superstore to get enough packing materials to properly pack all her shit. I was not going to let myself in for accusations of petty revenge by breaking her stuff. So, I spent the rest of the night packing it all up.

After another night on the airbed, I texted Lisa when she could pick up her stuff and managed to get it all into the storage area assigned to the apartment and gave the key to the manager. Now I wouldn't need to be absent when she came to collect her stuff. I added her parents and Margo in the message so that no one should be able to accuse me of not letting her know.

The furniture store employees showed up on time and soon had the old bed out of the apartment and the new bed installed. Yea, no more nights on the air mattress!

Now, what do I do with myself? After all the planning for the wedding, making sure that every little detail was planned for and accounted for, and the detailing of every day leading up to the ceremony, I was at odds with little to do. I sat down and realized that I had not grieved at all at the loss of the love of my life. I had matured during my pursuit of the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I no longer felt like hanging with a bunch of studs who were out to drink, carouse, and chase women.

No, I wanted the one woman. The one woman who would accept me as I now was. A simple, flawed man who had a shitty past when it came to women. A former bully and asshole. And someone who could be pushed too far and would get retribution as needed. I wanted to be loved.

Suddenly my future looked bleak. No woman who loved and trusted me. No, I attracted a woman who had a low opinion of men and proved it by believing a bunch of assholes, like I used to be. Was this my penance? Was this my fate, to only attract women who either only wanted short term affection or who couldn't trust or have faith?

Hell, a few weeks from now I might be looking for a new job. If it all went to hell at work, the administration would cut ties with anyone and everyone involved. That way no outsider could point the finger and yell favoritism.

I looked around me. All I had to show at nearly thirty years of age was an apartment and a car. Yes, I had some investments and some savings but they had taken a hit with the wedding preparations. I would recover but it was kind of an empty feeling.

I debated finding enough alcohol to get drunk but my new maturity told me that oblivion through alcohol was not only just a temporary thing, it was also a painful hangover tomorrow. Why put that physical pain on top of my mental anguish? So I just sat and went over the entire timeline of my relationship and tried to figure out where I went wrong. Was I too laid back? Should I have pressured Lisa more for sex? Would getting her into bed even helped?

The questions just went round and round. There didn't seem to be any answers. I guess I could have just blamed it all on her and my shitty friends but there was always the nagging thought that I failed myself and her somehow. Damn I needed a drink.

I roused myself and decided that there was too much daylight left. A quick drive to the city's largest park and I was soon wandering the paths. I stopped to watch some kids play on the playground but left soon after as I realized that fate wasn't allowing me to have my own, at least at any time soon.

I watched a softball game. It was coed. Damn, another thing Lisa and I might have gotten into together. More depressing thoughts about what might have been. I wandered over to where the ducks, geese and a few swans were swimming. There was a food kiosk near the water's edge so I spent some coins and sprinkled treats for the water fowl. That killed a few minutes of time.

After eating a hotdog from a street vendor and an ice cream cone from another, I finally decided it was time to do something positive. I was aimless at the moment. Well, I was not getting married so I didn't need to work on anything in that direction. I was not welcome to come back to work for at least another week so there was nothing to work on there. I had no friends anymore. Shit, the way I felt, if I ran into any of them, someone was going to be hurting and I had no plan for it to be me.

I wandered from the park to a couple of local bars. I shot a few games of billiards. Shuffleboard kept me going for an hour at another bar. Darts was the game of choice at a third. Finally, after a beer or two in each place, I was ready to hit the rack.

I had spaced the beers out and, by walking through the park again to get to my auto, was not legally impaired for my drive to my apartment. I checked my phone for messages when I got home as I had turned it off when I left the apartment. Lisa's parents had responded. They were disappointed in the cancellation but understood. Lisa had told them the truth about what had happened. They were going to insist on counselling so she might have a little more faith in her next relationship.

The manager also left a message that someone had come for Lisa's things and he had my key to the storage area.

My co-worker Heather had also left a message. It seems she was not pleased that Lisa thought we were having an affair. Part of her message was, "I feel your reputation as a male slut contributed to the rumor that we were fucking. My husband is not happy. I have asked to be put on another team as I don't trust you." I guess I could understand a little of her animas, but again, here I was innocent but being blamed for something I had nothing to do with.

Well, I guess that was the final straw. Having decided my next step, I actually enjoyed my first night on my new bed and got a good night's sleep. Well, two nights of shitty sleep might have had something to do with it.

In the morning I was refreshed and ready to make the next change in my life. Nothing like over a week of being free to get that change going. And, all it took was a single phone call. I called an employment service that was well known for being headhunters and let an agent know I was available for a change in job and locale. By that afternoon, the day that had been planned for my marriage, I had two interviews scheduled even though it was a Saturday. Damn, they worked fast and on a weekend to boot. One interview was only a few hours away and the other a plane ride to a city a couple of states away.

That evening Margo let me know that she and Lisa were using the honeymoon tickets. I wished them well. Lisa then sent a Paypal payment partially compensating me for the tickets. I sent back a thank you but I didn't wish her enjoyment on the trip. Yeah, I guess that was petty of me. I'm not that mature yet.

On Sunday, I rose late, had brunch and then made a road trip to an amusement mecca. I tried archery, went to the gun range, (had fun blowing up a silhouette of a woman), rode a few rides, ate too much sugary shit and developed a gutache, and then came back to the apartment and spent the rest of the evening nursing my gut.

I didn't think about the wedding and reception for a minute. Well, maybe an odd ten minutes every other hour but not just a minute. I tried to not dwell on the fact that Margo and Lisa were now probably living it up partially on my dime. Yeah, and there is a bridge with my name on it somewhere.

Every day was a little better. I shed very few tears but did hit the gym a lot and even managed to piss off my sensei at the dojo. I was intent on harming something and couldn't get my mind right for him.

Anyhow I survived. Both interviews went well. The one farthest from home would be the better company to work for. I actually felt comfortable in their surroundings. The city was a little smaller than I was used to but close to a major metropolitan area. This small company was looking to expand into union negotiations and was looking for an experienced team lead. I spent a few days there looking around and had a firm job offer before I returned home.

Going into work the next Monday was not pleasant. Conrad called me in as soon as I clocked in. "Trey, I know this is going to be hard but things happened while you were gone for the week." When I didn't respond he continued. "First, a couple of rumors got started. I finally had to send Heather home until things cooled down. One of the secretaries made the comment in the break room that Lisa had called off the wedding because of your shenanigans. Heather put her on her ass and explained a couple of facts of life to her and threatened to beat her ass if Heather's name came up again in conversation about you."

I nodded.

"I also moved Heather to another team. She came in after the confrontation in the break room and demanded it."

"She left a message for me concerning that. Even though we are both innocent, she felt, very strongly I might add, that she could not work with me. I guess her husband was also a little upset that her name was associated with me."

Conrad contemplated his fingers for a moment. "Yes, well, there were some other rumors that management had to deal with. Since Lisa took Margo with her on vacation, some other crackpots, mostly male, decided that you cancelled the wedding as it was obvious Margo and Lisa were lovers. Why else would they go off together?" He shook his head. "That one took a company wide meeting to deal with. I hope we headed off the worse of all of the rumors with that meeting. We shall see."