A Tale of Ants and Termites

The deal was simple. Gaynor needed a favor and if Mandy would do it he would give her the photos and the video. The favor was an afternoon with one of his customers. She had, just had, to get those pictures and the video that went with them and given what she had already been through what was one more? One more and she would be out from under the hammer. She would still tell me what happened, but she would tone it down some - like maybe confine it to Baxter - but the big thing was that I would never see the pictures and the video.

She agreed to do the one time favor, spent the afternoon in a hotel room with his customer and Gaynor gave her the photos and the video from the cocktail party. She destroyed them and then started to work up the courage to face me and tell me about the cocktail party and what had happened. I had worked overtime that night so her confession was going to have to wait until the next day. The next day Gaynor called her and told her that he needed another favor. He had another customer who needed to be taken care of. She had laughed at him and told him no way and to forget it. He had no hold over her now that she had the photos and video. Then Gaynor told her that yes, she did have the originals, but he had copies and he also had the tape that he had made of her when she took care of his customer the previous afternoon.

From then on she had been Gaynor's whore. To forestall any attempt she might later make against him by going to the authorities over his blackmailing her he started paying her a commission on sales that happened after she took care of one of his 'friends' and he did it in his rented apartment so he had her on tape taking the money and putting it in her purse.

The setup in our house had a dual purpose. One, to tape her meetings at the house and two, Gaynor wanted to keep an eye on me to see if I ever got suspicious and started checking up on Mandy. He had a good thing going with her, especially with guys like Baxter and Billings who kept coming back for more, and he didn't want to lose it so he kept an eye on me so he could adapt if I began to suspect something.

Mandy finally woke up to the fact that if he could use the tapes against her she could use them against him and she started making two copies of everything she took off of the receiving unit. She kept one set for herself and when the time came she was going to tell Gaynor "no more" and when he threatened her with showing me the tapes she would tell him if he did she would blow the whistle on him to every guy he'd had her do.

"And when was that going to happen?"

"As soon as I had a hundred thousand dollars. I was going to tell you what I had done and I wanted to have enough money to fall back on if you threw me out."

"If I threw you out? You thought that maybe I wouldn't?"

"I had hopes that you might love me as much as I love you and you would understand why I did what I did. I didn't want to lose you Rob and I couldn't see anyway that I wouldn't if you ever saw that video tape. I had no choice Rob. I didn't dare gamble that you would stay with me after seeing the video. I was uncertain over the outcome if I just confessed to the cocktail party, but without the video I thought I might just have a chance. There was no chance at all if you had seen me with Baxter and those others."

"How many times did you have to do Phil to get him to give you all that time off to go play in hotels?"

"The only time I did anything with Phil was the night of the party. He let me have time off, with pay, anytime Gaynor said he needed me. He didn't really want to, but Gaynor had shown him pictures of Phil and me doing it and had hinted that it would sure be a shame if Phil's wife were to get a set."

"I suppose Phil will let you go now that I've blown the whistle on everyone."

"No. Phil and I have talked about things and we are both holding our breath to see what Gaynor might do. He can't hurt me anymore and he has no reason to hurt Phil, but who can tell? Phil knows I wasn't myself that night so we have been able to get back to a good relationship."

"Is that it? Anything else before you leave?"

She hesitated for a few seconds and then said. "I was hoping that I could convince you to give me the money that you took from my closet. Now that you have kicked me out I could use it."

"Sorry, but you are just going to have to consider that as the price you paid for stabbing me in the back. I might consider giving you some of it if you agree to testify against him if I end up taking him to court."

"Of course I will and I'll do it for nothing."

"I'll let you know" and I stood up to signal that as far as I was concerned her visit was over.

She looked up at me. "Is there no chance Rob? Isn't there any chance at all that we can work through this and stay together? I love you Rob; God knows that I do."

"I can't see how Amanda. There might have been a chance if you had told me about the cocktail party right after it happened, but now, all these months and all these men later? I don't see how."

She had tears in her eyes as I walked her to the door and there were tears in mine as I watched her drive away.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The next day I went to Maxxim's in-town office complex and made my way to Gaynor's office. I walked right past his secretary who jumped up and told me that I couldn't go in. I smiled at her and said:

"Its okay sweetie, he is expecting me."

He was sitting at his desk and reading some papers when I walked in. He looked up and I saw recognition register on his face.

"Mr. Gaynor I believe" I said, "I'm Mandy's husband, but I expect that you already know that."

He started to stand up and I said, "No need to get up, I won't be here that long."

I dropped an envelope on his desk and said, "You weren't the only one with hidden cameras in my house. You will find four things in that envelope. One is a copy of the video of you giving my about to be ex-wife an envelope full of money in exchange for a recording of her evening with Billings. The second item is a copy of that evening with Billings. That's just there to let you know that Amanda made herself a copy of everything that you had her do in our house so your hidden cameras could record it. Item number three is excerpts from a tape that Amanda made for me last night and those excerpts will let you know she has agreed to testify against you if things end up in court which is exactly where things will end up if you do not make use of the fourth item which is a card with my attorney's phone number on it. I would strongly suggest that you call him and let him know that you are going to settle the lawsuit I have against you. If you do not make that call I will drop everything that I have on the District Attorney's desk this coming Friday."

I turned to leave the office and when I reached the door I turned back to him and said, "Hey; you have a fine day now" and then I left.

The next day I got a call from my attorney telling me that Gaynor had called him and agreed to settle out of court. I waited until all the checks had cleared and the dust had settled and then I made six copies of everything I had and sent one set to the president and CEO of Maxxim and one copy each to the five man board of directors. Three days later I got a phone call from a very pissed off (and, as it turned out, a recently unemployed) John Gaynor.

"You mother fucking bastard! You said if I settled you wouldn't do anything."

"No, that is not what I said. I said if you settled I would not give it to the District Attorney so he could file criminal charges against you. I didn't say anything about not telling your boss. And just so you know; it is all about revenge. You fucked me and I got even."

I hung up the phone and Mandy asked, "Who was that?"

"Your ex-pimp. He is upset because somehow his boss found out what he was doing and it upset him so much that he fired Gaynor."

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Yes, Mandy is back in the house. Not back in my good graces, but back in the house. She is sleeping in the spare bedroom until we can see if we can put things back together. I'm not at all sure that we can. I do love her and I do believe she loves me so I'm willing to give it a try, but I don't know if that love will be enough. There are issues that have to be addressed, trust being one of them. One of the others is that Mandy was right when she said she thought we might have a chance as long as I never saw the video of her taken at that cocktail party. I never did see that video, but I watched every one of the other videos that she had hidden in her closet and the images of Mandy with those other men are burned into my brain and every time I look at Mandy they start playing in my head.

I told her I would try and I will. I will try really hard. But I'm not making any promises.