A Perfect Marriage Ruined Pt. 01

"I like the sound of this! I can't wait to get my hands on her!" Hank said in a devious tone.

"No," Chris suddenly piped in firmly.  "You can look, but don't touch. She's not yours to touch. She's a good friend of mine, and married, I'll add."

"Fair enough, but I can't promise you she won't touch me!" Hank said with a roaring laugh.

Chris had no doubt Anna would find Hank repulsive, but even just the thought of her coming on to Hank made his blood boil. Chris thought, if anyone - not named David Hutchison - was going to get their mitts on Anna it was going to be him.

"Like I said, look but don't touch," Chris said. "I'm sending her your way Monday morning, so be prepared.". With that he hung up, not waiting on a response.

*****

Chris rang Anna to tell her that - based solely on his recommendation - Hank was happy to hire her; all she had to do was turn up the following Monday morning. Although she was surprised that she didn't need to formally interview, she was overjoyed that she found a job.

She thanked Chris repeatedly, thinking about how great of a friend he had turned out to be. She had always been skeptical of his intentions, but now? He was a hero, trying to help better her life and her marriage. She had a whole new perspective on Chris, and she wondered to herself how someone so wonderful was still single?

While Chris explained over the phone how to get to the office location, she was preoccupied with thinking about how this new job could really jump start her marriage back to normal. She wondered how David would respond to the news that she found a job. 

Sadly, David was still less than enthusiastic when she shared her happy news with him. As unreasonable as she thought he was being, she tried to understand his position and empathize with him. It was tough to do, but Anna figured getting her first paycheck would heal any wounds he had about his wife being the bread-provider in the marriage and about her going back to the office environment that had led to their marriage problems in the first place.

Chapter 9

David was at his wits end.  His inability to get a job was getting him down. Even as a kid he'd always been busy doing something, and he hated it now that he couldn't find work. He felt worthless. The job he'd chased down yesterday had proved to be a waste of time. And now his wife had landed a job before him, which was humiliating to him.

There was also the added worry of coping with Anna's return to work at an office with men who undoubtedly would lust after her.  He knew they needed the money, but he couldn't shake the feeling of disquiet that invaded his thoughts as he watched Anna rush upstairs to dress for her first official full day at work.

He was in the kitchen supervising Sophie's and Grace's breakfast when she entered.

"Do I look okay?" she asked.

He glanced up. Gone was the slightly frazzled look of a mom with two young kids that he'd become accustomed to seeing, replaced by a vision of stunning beauty. He felt an unwelcome knot form in the pit of his stomach, and thought, the dress is too tight. Men might think she's trying to be a tease and get the wrong idea.

She was wearing a purple dress she'd bought for Grace's christening. It showed no cleavage, and lengthwise it came to her knees, but even so, the fabric clung to her curves like a second skin highlighting her now more than prominent breasts and curvaceous ass due to her recent childbirth. She had on her three-inch heels that matched the color of her dress.

One day earlier, she had made an emergency salon appointment, so her blonde hair looked fabulous. She put on just enough makeup to accent her elegant features, while not appearing too daring. Finally, she had affixed her silver dangling earnings to her soft ears.  She looked great, and he knew he wouldn't be the only male to think so.

"Erm... don't you think it's a bit revealing?" he said.

She cocked her head slightly to one side, her brow furrowing into a frown. "It's a dress I could wear to church, David," she snapped. She turned to look at herself in the mirror, twisting from side to side to appraise her look. Her breasts did look big in the dress, but they would look that big in anything she owned. "There's not a lot I can do about my boobs."

She turned back, not waiting for a response from David. "I have to go," she said.  She leaned over to kiss Sophie and Grace. "You two be good for daddy," she said with a smile, "and I'll see you later."

She turned to her husband and leaned forward to kiss him goodbye. He returned the kiss without enthusiasm, which was another punch to the gut for Anna. It saddened her to think back at all the times he gave her glowing compliments about her appearance before she departed for work.

*****

The first week on the job passed by in a blur of activity as Anna got to know the people she worked with. The drive wasn't as bad as she anticipated, and even though the location was in a seedy part of town, the building itself was fairly nice. Her boss Hank was quite a character who she felt had an uncle quality to him, but she kept her distance as he definitely had a creepy aspect to him and reminded her of her very first boss from her job at the mall when she was in High School whom she'd tried hard to erase from her memory. There were other men around the office who were quite flirtatious as well, but all it took was a flash of her wedding band to keep them at a safe distance.

Each morning during the first week, she received the same sourpuss attitude from David about her choice of clothes. It almost made her cry at one point. Anna always valued dressing well on the job, something her mother had instilled in her going back to her first job. But she was thirsty for David's attention and approval, so she began opting for her least provocative apparel and even ended up shopping for some items of cheaper clothing that weren't too revealing.

David definitely noticed her new clothes looked boring and cheap. A part of him felt sad and guilty that he was the catalyst for Anna dressing more like his mother than the classy wife he'd always known.  But at the same time, her new attire helped his insecurities about her being around men all day.

As a result of her wardrobe change, he was more pleasant towards her in the mornings, and soon they were getting along better than they had in quite some time. He had even found a temporary job that paid well, which only increased their happiness. For the first time in a long time, David was feeling more optimistic about their marriage.

After some weeks had gone by though, he'd noticed that she'd gone back to dressing in her more expensive and revealing outfits she had been accustomed to wearing at MPMS.  He dearly wanted to question her motives for this change, but he couldn't bring himself to do it and risk rekindling any arguments, considering how happy they'd been of late.

Instead, his mind wandered, and he started thinking up bad scenarios of what his wife might be up to at her new job.  Old wounds that he thought may have been healed opened because she'd begun to dress more attractively. It came to a crescendo when he saw her go to work in one of her shortest skirts and a tight turtleneck that accented her boobs.  Was there someone she was trying to impress?  How he wished he could be a fly on the wall at that office.

In desperation he turned to Chris for help. He knew that Chris spent a lot of time at the office of Lowery Finance and Loans looking after their IT systems, so this made him the perfect person to keep a wary eye on his wife for him. Chris could talk to people he knew there and get the latest office gossip. Having not played tennis in a while after Chris had beat him, he figured it was past time they play again.

Chris hadn't been talking much with Anna since she started the new job, and she had all but stopped contacting him. From what he could gather, perhaps she and David had made progress patching up their marital woes and were happy again. This irked him in that he felt used, as if Anna only reached out to him when she wanted intel on David.

During their tennis match, Chris was surprised when David asked that he check in on Anna at her job, to see if anything strange was going on. David essentially wanted Chris to spy on her to see if her sudden change in wardrobe had to do with any men in her office. Chris now considered that perhaps they hadn't healed their marital wounds after all.

He was noncommittal to David's request as they continued to play the match. It seemed like a hassle to him if he were being honest. But after David whipped his butt in the last two sets to win the match - followed by David brashly stating that he was back in the winner's circle - Chris decided perhaps spying on Anna wasn't such a bad idea. He was already acting unofficially as Anna's spy, relaying David's thoughts and moods to her, so being a double-agent could be interesting.

He was now very curious as to how Anna was getting on at her new job, and so when saying his goodbye to David, he agreed to snoop for him.

Chapter 10

It had been quite a while since Chris last visited the offices of Lowery Finance. He planned his visit knowing Anna wasn't going to be around. As much as he wanted to see her, the goal of his visit was to get some intel about her, so upon arriving he went directly to see Hank. After they got the welcoming platitudes out the way Chris jumped straight in.

"So, how's Anna getting on?"

"She's getting on good now," Hank smiled back, "now that I've got her to loosen up a bit more."

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

"As you told me she's certainly eye candy. But apart from the dress she wore on her first day, her clothes started getting fucking awful, not showing off her body at all."

Chris was surprised. He couldn't envisage seeing Anna in anything other than her usual classy attire. She had a great sense of fashion and the clothes she wore always showed her sumptuous body at its best. It must be David's influence, he concluded.

"Shit man," Hank continued. "You told me she was beautiful. And she is. But her clothes? Couldn't see her boobs, couldn't see her legs or her ass. And to make matters worse she wore flat shoes. I mean... what woman wears flats to work?"

"So what happened?" Chris asked. This ought to be interesting.

"I told her to dress better if she wanted to keep her job."

"Wow... so did she?" Chris asked, his eyes opening wider in anticipation of the answer.

"Oh yeah. She told me she needed to earn more money because her husband was unemployed, so I told her that in order to do that she needed to dress better. She caught on quick. Man, what a transformation."

" Told you she's got a great body," Chris replied with a smile.

"Great body ain't the half of it. Once she started dressing appropriately, I offered to promote her into a sales position. She's bright and talented - you failed to tell me that - so I knew she'd do alright, and I told her that's where she can make the big bucks. She was all about it and accepted the promotion.

"I put her in the spotlight with a desk right by the window so that people passing by will have a great view of her body, especially her legs. For a novice, her sales were okay, but after a couple weeks she comes to see me a second time asking about how she can improve her numbers to make more commission. I tell her that she'd write more business if she showed the male clientele a lot more boob and leg... if you know what I mean. She would have them drooling and more than willing to sign up with her. Hey, I know it's sexist but if you've got it - flaunt it!"

"And she went for that?" Chris asked, incredulously. She's not a tease. How did Hank pull this off?

"Fuck no - not at first. She certainly had her doubts, even seemed repulsed by it. She gave me the - men, is that all you think about - spiel. So I said to her I know how men's minds work and if she showed a bit more flesh, I could guarantee they would buy from her. Voila, more sales would equal more commission and more money for her. But she still didn't seem completely convinced.  I told her to give it a shot, and if I'm wrong, she could go back to dressing like her grandma." 

"And she came around to your way of thinking?"

"Like you wouldn't believe," Hank grinned lewdly. "Look, I even got some pictures of her," he added as he pulled out his cellphone.

Chris looked at the first photo. Anna was at her desk totally immersed in her work and clearly unaware of what Hank was doing. Her smart black blouse gaped open, unbuttoned enough to expose the top of her lacy bra and reveal her stunning cleavage. Chris gulped as he drank in the amount of boob flesh on display, her breasts were positively bulging out of her top.

"Wow," Chris breathed hoarsely. Look at those tits! Having another baby did her right.

"Yeah, she's got a great rack," Hank enthused, "and her legs ain't bad either." He scrolled down to another photo and turned his cell phone to show Chris.

It had been taken at a distance as she sat at her desk. Her skirt had ridden so high up her thigh that it barely covered her modesty. He then flicked idly through more shots of the same. Different skirts and dresses but all with the same effect. All were so short as to show off her stunning legs at their curvaceous best. Her tops allowed for cleavage to show.

"Nice work! So, tell me, has she been extra friendly with anyone around here in particular, if you know what I mean?" Chris asked with a wink. "I know how many dogs you have working here."

"I assure you none of the guys 'round here have been able to bed her because I'd be the first to know, but not for a lack of trying," Hank said, thinking about how many times a day the guys were politely rebuffed by sweet Anna when they tried to flirt with her.

"Well do make sure you tell me as soon as you hear differently, if ever," Chris said getting up from the chair to leave.

Chapter 11

It had been a while, but Anna was once more back with her therapist Theresa Coleman. After catching up a bit, Theresa wasted no time in getting straight to the point.

"How has your sex life been since we last met?" she asked.

I figured this is where she would go first, Anna thought.

"Nonexistent," she replied grimly. "And not because I don't want to."

Anna had been in such need for loving affection and attention lately that her libido seemed quite elevated. This made sense - after all, physical touch and words of affirmation were by far her biggest love needs according to the results of a survey administered by her previous marriage counselor. David clearly hadn't been providing these.

Her hormones still seemed out of whack since having Grace, and she was prone to mood swings, some of which found her horny and craving intimacy. She recently read a comment to an article online by a mother of two, who explained that she had an extreme spike in sexual appetite several months after having a second child.

Anna could definitely relate to this woman based on how wild her own hormones had been of late, and she wondered whether it was strictly biological and something she couldn't control, or if it was because David wasn't providing the affection she needed? She wondered if the woman had a loving husband to quench her sexual appetite, or if she was like Anna, longing for affection because of an emotionally distant husband? She wished she could reach out to this woman.

"Is David aware of your desire to resume sexual relations?"

Anna nodded her head sorrowfully. "I've tried to initiate it a number of times, but he seems so distant. I've tried to talk to him about it, but he won't open up. He tells me he's okay, just tired." She paused in thought for a bit. I hope he still desires me. I've worked so hard to please him and get my body in top shape, surely that can't be it? If he doesn't desire me, I don't know how I can ever be happy. She shook her head in sorrow again, her eyes beginning to water up, and spoke. "So, what now? How do we get through this?"

"You HAVE to open up dialogue with each other. If you can't or won't communicate you will never resolve your problems," Theresa said as she set aside her notepad and pen. "We therapists are here to guide you, to give insight and clarity to your muddled feelings, but ultimately it comes down to both of you talking through your issues to reach and make that final decision regarding your relationship."

"But if David doesn't want to open up to me about it, what can I do?" Anna asked, her tears still welling up.

Theresa picked her words carefully. "Well if that is the case, maybe subconsciously he's already made his decision. He just doesn't know it yet or want to admit it to himself... or you."

Anna began to shed tears as Theresa's words began to sink in.

Theresa handed her a box of tissues and thought, I should probably change the subject.

"How's your job going Anna?" Theresa said suddenly, "was David supportive of your decision when you decided to go back to work?"

Anna wiped away her tears and recovered before she spoke. "He... erm... well he wasn't completely happy at first. I guess he's a little bit old fashioned. You know... man must provide and all that..." Anna knew her cheeks had turned bright red with embarrassment. She could feel the heat radiating from them. She must think David is terrible.

"Really..." Theresa said with barely disguised sarcasm. Great, another asshole man prohibiting women from progressing.

"He was upset with the way I dressed at first, saying my outfits were too provocative. They aren't meant to be provocative, but since my second pregnancy my boobs and butt gained some weight that didn't leave after I had Grace, so now my outfits fit tighter and show more skin. And I make sure to exercise nearly every day, but my boobs and butt haven't gotten smaller! So, I started wearing drab stuff to make him happy, even having to shop for drab, baggy clothing. I felt so inadequate wearing it!"

"How'd David feel about that?"

"It pleased him," she said without emotion. "Things started to get better, actually. He seemed to start treating me like a wife again, instead of like I was his teenage daughter going out on a first date."

"But?" Theresa said, realizing Anna didn't seem happy about something that was - for once - seemingly positive in their relationship.

"My boss. Well... he didn't seem happy about my outfits. He said I could help the business by dressing more... stylish. Like what I'm used to wearing."

"I thought you were in a clerical position?" Theresa said. Did she lie about her job? Or is her boss simply a pig?

"Yes, but I sit in the front where the customers enter," she answered.

"I see," Theresa said, understanding the situation. He's a pig, but can I blame him? In a male-dominated profession like finance, it makes sense to parade a stunning blonde with a gorgeous face and friendly demeanor.

"But it's more than that," Anna continued. "I've talked about our financial strain. Well, my boss offered me a promotion in sales, but again, he insisted that I dress better. At first, I was not pleased with his implications about using my looks - not my brain - to gain business. But after thinking it through, it does make sense. And, as he pointed out, I can use both my looks AND my brain, so it's not all bad.

"Circling back to our financial strain... it seemed like a no-brainer to accept the promotion. The potential commission from sales is... wow... it's really great! And it's not like I'm going to compromise my morals. I'm simply dressing in a way that attracts men to our company."

"That makes sense, but David..." Theresa said, letting it hang.