An Honorable Deception

In reality, she was about to be surprised.

They opened #1 and saw several 8x10 pictures clipped together with numbered tabs on the side for viewing in order. The first picture was of Greg with the bimbo. The next picture was exactly the same except Jen's face was on the bimbo's body and Trent's was on Greg's body. The third picture was of the bimbo again and some other guy she didn't recognize. The remaining pictures were of her and Trent entering and exiting various rooms in that hotel and had been date and time stamped going back several months.

Envelope #2 contained a letter.

Jen,

If you are reading this, then you decided that you don't want to be married to me any longer. I really was willing to go to counseling with you, even after you've been fucking Shithead (Trent) for at least a couple of months. I loved you that much.

If you haven't deduced the answer yet, allow me to help. That video wasn't real. It was a deep fake. At the first link provided below, you will find another video exactly like the one you saw two weeks ago, except your face is on the bimbo, and Shithead's face is on the porn star. The original video is at the second link below. It took me two weeks to find a suit that matched the porn star's. The CEO's daughter is actually a very nice and proper young lady.

All you had to do was be truly remorseful, and we would have worked on fixing our marriage, together. At least we would have tried. Remember me saying that I'd like to be somewhere near the top of your list? I shouldn't have ever been behind Shithead.

Have your attorney contact mine, and we'll split everything as fairly as we can. A proposed settlement is included along with the petition.

Greg -- 1POSOB

She was already in tears when she opened the third envelope to see the divorce petition.

Upon opening the fourth envelope she and Trent were both stunned to see date and time-stamped pictures of Trent entering other hotel rooms with another woman. She would later realize that she shouldn't have been surprised.

Shithead asked, "Do you think he's going to keep these quiet?"

Jen laughed out loud. "Do you mean is he going to share them with your wife or the firm's managing partner, who also happens to be your father? I have no idea. But thank you for thinking about yourself while my world is burning down. I must be the most idiotic woman on the planet. I traded a boring but wonderful marriage and a solid man for exciting but mediocre sex with someone that can barely spell orgasm after half a dozen tries. Jesus, I'm so stupid."

"Well, fuck you. I didn't hear you complaining while you were bouncing up and down on my cock."

"It was fun, you idiot. It didn't mean anything. I kept hoping it would get better, but it didn't."

"Yeah. Right. Keep telling yourself that. Maybe you'll eventually believe it. Since nothing is happening today. I'm out of here." He began walking towards the door to the hallway. Over his shoulder, he called to her, "Tell your husband that he needs to keep those away from my wife, or he'll be hearing from me."

She shouted back at him, "You best pray that you don't hear from him on some dark night."

Trent waved his hand dismissively at her as if what she said wasn't of interest to him.

As soon as he opened the door to leave, Jen heard Charla call out, "Trent Allen Thornton. You've been served."

Jen smirked. "You go, Charla...and Greg. I hope Trent's wife takes everything from him."

Normally, Jen was an intelligent woman. As she sat on the edge of the bed with all the pictures and documents spread out, she was trying to find some path, some way that she might be able to convince Greg to give her another chance. She struggled to think of any logical way that he would. The best she could come up with was begging, hoping, and praying.

She checked on her phone and, unsurprisingly, she didn't see Greg's location anywhere. Once again, he had removed her ability to locate him.

She gathered everything, stuffed it back into the envelopes, and began walking towards the elevator...defeated and a little bit, no, suddenly, very scared, not knowing what the future was going to bring.

___________________

Liz knew she was coming. Just like two weeks ago, she could actually see her on the Tile app on her tablet. Realizing that Jen was leaving her cell phone in her office during her liaisons and having those calls forwarded to her burner phone, Greg had slipped a Tile tracker into her purse.

It all started just over a couple of months ago. Liz's brother, who now lived in Hamburg, Germany, had come to visit for a few days. On his last day there, she had finished eating a late breakfast with him and his wife in the hotel restaurant, and when they stood to leave, she saw Jen come strolling through the lobby and get into the elevator. Jen walked over and watched as the elevator passed the 2nd floor which contained the conference rooms and stop at a high floor.

After seeing her brother off, she was conflicted about if she should say anything to Greg. She knew that Jen had been working very long hours for a trial she was involved in, and that Greg and her marriage had been struggling for some time.

She wondered if this was one of the reasons why it was struggling, or did Jen have a legitimate reason for being there. Using her brother's phone, she tried to call Jen's office. Her assistant said she was in a meeting until 2pm. No, Liz didn't want to leave a message.

When she arrived back at the office, she asked Greg if he could locate her on his Find-my-friends app, which showed that she, or at least her cell phone, was in her office. When he called her assistant, he got the same response, but they both knew she was at the hotel.

Thus, began the investigation, which led to the discovery of her every-other Wednesday affair. Then Greg spent a couple of weeks thinking about what he was going to do. The deep fake video and hope for counseling were what transpired.

Now, with her having been served, Liz and Greg expected she would look for him at his office. She did.

As angry as she was at Jen for wounding Greg so deeply, Liz felt a tinge of sadness seeing the crushed woman enter her area. Only this time instead of on-fire, she was very demure.

Once again, Liz shook her head, "He isn't here, Jen. Feel free to check his office, but he hasn't been in all day."

Jen barely nodded her head. "You know where he is though; don't you?"

"At this moment? No. But I do know where he's going to be."

"Knowing how you feel about cheaters, I'm sure you cannot stand the sight of me right now, but could you deliver a message to him?"

"Umm. This is my job, Jen. That could get me fired. I need this job."

"I know. I know you do. He won't fire you. He needs you more than he needs me. I'll...I'll pay you... $10,000 if you'll deliver a message for me. Seriously. I will. I'll write you a check right now."

"You know that even if I hand him a message, he may not read it."

"I know, but..." she was fighting to hold back the tears. She had been so foolish. "but, I have to try, Liz. Don't you see? I have to." The first tear escaped. She really was struggling to hold on.

Liz wasn't about to comfort her, but she did say. "If you are serious, write me a check right now, and have the text or email here before 4:00 pm. I'll print it and drop it off where he's staying for the next couple of days. But make it count because I can't do it again. Understand?"

Jen nodded her head more definitively this time. "Okay. Thank you, Liz. I appreciate it."

Jen wrote out a check for $10,000. Afterwards, Liz watched a hurting and embarrassed woman shuffle away from her office that afternoon.

While waiting for the email or letter to arrive, Liz took a late lunch and deposited the check. Jonathan could use a new computer or tablet for college, and she planned to pay for it as soon as he picked it out.

At 3:30 pm, Liz returned holding an envelope with Greg's name handwritten across the front.

After Jen left and once Liz could see that she was more than a few blocks away, she decided to call it a day. She made a fast stop at Home Depot on the way home for an innocent display of affection she had in mind and then pointed her vehicle towards her house. She was playing the long game.

When she opened her garage door, Greg's SUV was already there, as she knew it would be. Her best friend planned to lean on her for a few days just as she had leaned on him and Ron in the early days of her coming to work for them.

Even before she went inside, she could smell food cooking. Upon opening the door, she was overwhelmed by garlic and onions. Her mouth was watering already. She hid her purchase inside her satchel and placed it by a chair at the kitchen table.

Greg turned to see her enter and smiled. "How did it go?"

She walked up to him and squeezed him tightly and kissed him on the cheek.

"Fine. I'll tell you about it over dinner. I'm assuming you are cooking dinner for us."

"I am. Let me pour you a glass of wine."

She chuckled, "You do realize that when a woman comes home to a man cooking her dinner, she's very likely not going to let him leave. I'm going to chain you to the handle on the stove, or maybe the refrigerator door."

He smiled. "I don't mind cooking. It's been therapeutic for the last year or so. It lets me focus on something besides my problems."

"Speaking of problems. Jen paid me $10,000 to deliver this to you."

She placed the envelope on the kitchen island. He picked it up and looked at it briefly, then tossed it into a corner on the floor.

"I'll pick it up and put it in my bag later. I don't want it to distract us while we eat."

She helped him finish up, and when they sat to eat, she could see the letter still lying on the floor. She paused for a second, "Now that you've actually had her served, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Why the fake video? Why did you want her to think that you cheated?"

He gave Liz a sad smirk and let out a long breath, "Well...Two reasons, actually. First, I was giving her every opportunity for us to tackle our problems together, as equals. Prior to her cheating, I think we were both failing our marriage. Sure, I can blame her hours, but honestly, once the kids moved out, we both struggled. I wanted her to see that we both made mistakes and would approach counseling on equal footing. I love her and didn't want her to go into it thinking this is all on her.

Liz offered, "That was rather magnanimous."

He shrugged and continued, "Second, and most importantly, I wanted her to know how it felt to be cheated on. The anger bordering on rage. The frustration. The hurt and self-doubt. If we had gone to counseling, I would have told her that I faked the movie, but without experiencing the betrayal, she never would have understood where I was coming from during those counseling sessions. She would have seen it as simply a mistake and not the extinction-level event that it felt like."

She inquired, "Why did you have them served separately?"

"Divide and conquer. Her being served first would make him wonder how he was going to be impacted. I'd be surprised if he was worried about anyone but himself in this mess. His wife told me that they were about to start trying to have kids. She dodged a bullet there, but she was NOT a happy camper."

"So what now? Are you still planning to buy one of those condos near the office?"

"Probably. Or something else near there. Eventually. We have to finalize the division of assets, and that could take a while depending on if she fights the divorce or not. I have enough liquid assets for a large deposit right now, but if I wait a little longer for our real estate to sell, then I could pay cash for it."

"You're going to sell your vacation house? That's such a shame. I enjoyed taking Jonathan there those times that we joined you and your family."

"Yeah. It's a nice place."

Liz had been hesitant to ask this, but the comment regarding the vacation house gave her the perfect opportunity.

"Why don't you try and keep it, and instead of buying something new you could just live here, for now...or at least take some time before listing it."

"You're just trying to get me to cook more for you."

She chuckled and grinned at him, "Absolutely. This is the best thing I've eaten in a while."

"Thanks. We'll see."

They enjoyed sharing their dinner together. They cleaned up, together, and watched a movie on TV. Halfway through the movie Liz moved over and sat next to him and snuggled into him. She said, "I'm not starting anything. I just want you to know that you are loved and appreciated."

He gave her a gentle squeeze but did not push her away. He didn't finish the movie. Emotionally exhausted, he passed out on the couch.

________________

The next morning, Jen woke in her own bed, alone, remembering why she was by herself. She was equating her current situation as having neglected car maintenance for a long time, and then she did something stupid to actually break the car. She had no idea if the car could be fixed, and it would take Greg wanting it to be fixed, also.

The trial that she and Trent spent so much time preparing for had kept them together for months. Late hours. A lot of meals. They had developed a real camaraderie. He flirted outrageously, and she just laughed at his efforts but never really discouraged him. Following years of marriage neglect, she was enjoying the attention. After celebrating their trial win over dinner and wine, they ended up in a hotel room with him ravaging her. Of all their times together, it was probably the only time he had given her an orgasm. She guessed it was from the excitement and illicitness of the encounter. It was all downhill from there, as the few remaining ones she had came more from her efforts than his.

Sitting up in bed, she checked her phone and seeing no messages from anyone, decided to get ready to go to the gym and then work since that was all she had at the moment. With Trent having been served divorce papers, that was likely to create a ruckus in the office, but maybe, just maybe Trent's wife wasn't mentioning her in the divorce, and she would stay relatively unscathed at work. Hopefully.

Even if she did escape an immediate mess at the office, unless Trent, son of the managing partner, was let go, which was unlikely, her long-term prospects there would have to be managed carefully, with Trent likely to take over one day. She thought that she might need to very discreetly float her resume to avoid having to deal with that. She could try to raise a sexual harassment suit, but if she lost the suit, her career would be over.

Now she knew why Greg had used the CEO's daughter in describing his fake affair. The example was similar to her own situation.

Sad. She knew it was all perfectly avoidable; though, she guessed these things usually are.

Maybe she could at least save her marriage. Maybe.

_________________

At Liz's, Greg woke on the couch laid out lengthwise with a blanket covering him to his waist, several hours after he fell asleep. He didn't see Liz, so he guessed she was already in bed. His watch told him it was nearly 2:30 am.

As he stood to walk to the ground-floor guest bedroom, he felt something on his ankle. He looked down and saw a fuzzy, pink Velcro handcuff attached to his ankle. Attached to the handcuff was a flimsy, thin chain that extended towards the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen he saw it tied off, not locked, to the door handle on the oven.

He smiled at the thought and went to bed in the guest bedroom.

The next morning, early, Liz awoke to the smell of something being cooked in the kitchen. That brought a smile to her face, and she quickly threw on her knee-length robe, brushed her hair, and swished some mouthwash before descending the stairs to the kitchen.

Upon entering, she saw Greg preparing French toast. He had reattached the pink handcuff and chain for her benefit.

He didn't even jump when she walked up behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and crushed her boobs into his back. He enjoyed that feeling.

"Trying to make me fat?" she asked.

"Trying to earn my rent?"

"You don't have to worry about that"

"Neither do you," he replied. "I like your pink handcuffs. Makes me imagine all sorts of possibilities."

She let out a long laugh, "You just keep imagining. It'll help you heal."

He chuckled also.

Once sitting and eating, he asked, "You going into the office this morning?"

"I am. My boss is off today, so I may be a few minutes late."

They both smiled at that.

She followed with, "However, I am taking off tomorrow."

He raised his eyebrow over that revelation, and said, "I'm laying low until Monday, so any work I do will be from here."

"I know. I'm picking up something for us to cook tonight, and tomorrow we are going to get out and do something. I don't care if we walk around the park, go hiking, visit a museum, or just lay out at the community pool."

Greg had seen her in a swimsuit before, so he knew that could be a treat.

"I appreciate your looking after me. I'll try not to be too whiney while I stay here."

"You and Ron have taken good care of me and Jonathan over the years. I've been through one divorce and lost my second husband. So, I know all about loss. Ha. As I told you, growing up in Russia, loss or at least difficult times are expected. But it is no fun going through it. I may not be your best friend, but you are MY best friend. I hate why you are in this situation, but I love having you here and hope that you won't be in any hurry to leave. Stay at least until the divorce is final. There's no rush."

"You know that could be three to six months."

She shrugged her shoulders and nonchalantly replied, "Okay. So?"

"Seriously. I don't want to wear out my welcome."

"Seriously. You aren't going to."

They stared at each other for a few moments. He was trying to think of what to say next.

She started, "Let's try to keep your mind occupied. You enjoyed your cooking class, and I'm enjoying the fruits of that. Why don't we take one together?"

He pondered that thought a moment and remembered how much more fun it was when he wasn't doing it alone and replied, "Sounds good to me. What did you have in mind?"

She didn't think he was getting where she was going, but she was okay with that. They would get there together, eventually, hopefully. "You've already taken a Mediterranean cooking class. Let's take a baking one together, or maybe one that focuses on Thai or Indian food. Or...I know, you used to talk about going on a tour of Italy. While you've been working with the language app to learn Italian, so have I. We could take an Italian class together. Or something like that."

She could see him thinking and considering a moment. "We could go to Buenos Aires and take tango lessons. Two rooms, of course."

She nearly spewed out her coffee upon hearing that, but in for a penny, in for a pound. She rebutted, "Hell. If we're going to do that, let's go all the way and take Spanish lessons in Argentina while we are also taking our tango lessons. Two rooms, of course." She had a lascivious smile when she said the last part.

"Why don't we have those as goals and see how the local activities go first?"

"Deal." She looked at him, smiled, and added, "Breakfast was wonderful, and I'm not just referring to the food. Thank you. I need to go get ready."

"Okay. I'll clean up."

When she began walking toward the stairs, he was admiring her form and her walk. He appreciated her personal tale, and tail. He called after her, "Liz?"

She turned to look at him, "Thank you. I'm feeling better already."

"Just you wait Greg West. I'm not so arrogant as to think that I can stop the pain or heal your heart, but if you let me, I can help."