Another Anniversary Dance

"Please," John said. She picked up her phone, called and made an appointment for him. When she finished, she smiled and looked at John.

"Dr. Sykes said she can see you this afternoon at 4:00 pm," Jenny said. "Will that work for you?" John looked at his watch, then nodded his head.

"That'll work, thanks," John said.

"Good," she said. "Here's some things you need to take care of right away," she added, handing him a sheet of paper with a list of things he needed to get done. Most of it involved the bank, so he decided to take care of that after his appointment with Jenny.

"I'll take care of this right away," he said.

"Terrific," she said. "Listen, I know this has been rough on you, so I want you to rest, relax and let us take care of things, you understand?"

"I do," he said.

"Good," she said. "Don't worry, John, this will all work out and you can move ahead with your life." He thanked her and left after leaving a healthy retainer. From there, he went to the bank, paid and closed out their joint credit cards, and withdrew everything but 10 percent, then opened a new account in his name only and applied for a new credit card.

From there, he stopped at Donna's parents' house and explained to them what happened, showing them the email chain between Donna and T-Bone. They were shocked when he told them what he knew.

"This is sick," Donna's mother, Marsha, said. "I can't believe she'd actually do something like this. Are you sure you didn't cheat on her?"

"Marsha, I loved Donna with all my heart, and I never even thought about cheating on her," John said. "She saw a picture of me having dinner with my baby sister and thought we were having an affair. She didn't even bother to read the report. If she had this probably wouldn't have happened." She shook her head.

"I don't know what to tell you, John," she said. "I'm truly sorry this happened to you."

"Me too," John said.

"Just do me a favor and stay in touch, okay," she asked. "We've always thought of you as the son we never had."

"I'll do that, Marsha," he said. "By the way, her car is still at that guy's place. I'll give you her keys if you want to go pick it up. I'll bring her stuff by later today or this weekend sometime."

"Okay, thanks," she said. He handed her the keys and gave her the address. By then he had just enough time to get to his appointment with Dr. Sykes.

Dr. Sykes -- Rhonda to her friends and patients -- listened to John's story and said nothing until he was finished.

"I've heard about your condition, but I've never met anyone who was actually diagnosed with it," she said. "And you say you've been using martial arts training to help keep it under control?"

"Yes," John said. "Breathing exercises, mostly. That, along with medication to help my blood pressure. It usually works pretty quick and until recently I've hardly had to use it at all."

"Are you still taking martial arts training?" she asked.

"Yes," John said.

"Maybe we should take a look at some exercises in meditation," she said. "Would you be open to that?"

"I would," John said.

"Good," she said. "We've got a lot of work to do, John, but I think we can help you through this without any more medication."

"I would prefer that," John said.

He left and went back home, where he bagged up Donna's things, including all their wedding photos and her wedding dress. He looked around and boxed up some trinkets she had collected over the years. They meant nothing to him now and he wanted nothing in the house that would remind him of her.

That weekend, he changed the locks on the house, took Donna's things to her parents, and did his usual weekend yard work. On Sunday, he found an app that said it would help calm him, so he downloaded it to his phone and listened to the sound of rain as he went through a regimen of breathing exercises. After a half hour of that, he felt like his old self and decided to go into work the next day.

Things were quiet for John over the next few weeks. He went to work, went home, watched television, relaxed and went to bed. The place seemed much quieter without Donna, and he enjoyed being able to do what he wanted without her constant accusations.

The therapy sessions with Rhonda helped quite a bit and he found the relaxation techniques she suggested helped a lot. He stayed in touch with Jenny, who said she was going to wait until after Donna's trial to have her served. Her thinking was that the divorce would go smoother if she was a convicted felon.

The day of Donna's trial came around and he was asked to testify, which he was more than happy to do. The jury was shocked when the DA presented his evidence, which included John's testimony. They were so shocked that they came back with guilty verdicts on all charges in just a couple hours. The judge had no sympathy for her, either, sentencing her to the maximum possible under state law -- 20 years. She would be eligible for parole in 15 years, the judge said.

As she was being led out, a process server stepped forward. He verified her identity and handed her a manila envelope.

"You've been served," he said. Defeated, Donna signed the papers and handed them back. "Have a good day," the server said as he accepted them. She looked at John with tears in her eyes, but he simply looked away. The deputies escorted her out and took her to the van that would transport her to the state women's prison. A couple months later, John learned from Jenny that Donna had gotten pregnant from her gangbang, but had suffered a miscarriage. Too fucking bad, John thought to himself.

The trials against T-Bone and his crew took quite a bit longer. Detective Jones found a treasure trove of evidence which suggested they had victimized up to 15 men over the last 13 months. They found what appeared to be releases signed by the husbands they had targeted, but the men they had tracked down said the releases were signed after the fact and under duress. Making matters worse, the site owners had also posted personal information about the men they targeted. At least three of the victims had committed suicide as a result of what was done to them.

By the time it was all said and done, all of the men involved were sentenced to 25 years hard labor, the site was torn down and all of the victims -- or at least all of the men Jenny's team of attorneys could locate -- received a huge sum of money, which bankrupted T-Bone and his associates. The hosting provider settled with the men, which added to the pot. John nearly broke down crying when Jenny presented him with a two million-dollar check. While he appreciated the restitution, the money did very little to soothe his broken heart.

"You're a good man, John Hurly," she told him. "There's lots of good women out there who would love to be with you. You'll find her."

"Thanks, Jenny," he said. "Maybe one day."

John continued seeing his therapist, who helped him deal with his issues. Over the next two years, he buried himself in his work and dated periodically, but it has only been in the last couple months that he dated the same woman more than once.

"He's got a lot of issues to deal with," his therapist wrote as she transcribed her notes. "But on the up side, he hasn't had any more episodes and seems to be moving forward. I think he'll do just fine in the long run."

At least, I hope so, Rhonda thought.

...

Notes: According to my research, 46 states and the District of Columbia have laws against revenge porn sites. Unfortunately, victims and legal professionals have found a lot of those laws unsatisfactory because they don't have effective laws against online distribution.

Worse yet, internet laws like Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provide loopholes that allow so-called "interactive computer services" to escape responsibility.

As far as I know, there is no website with the name I used.

As for the medical condition mentioned in this story, while there are stories of people who have experienced "super-strength" as a result of a rush of adrenaline, I am not aware of any actual verified medical condition similar to what I described, although I am certain there are some anecdotes that might lead some to believe a condition like this exists. In that regard, I exercised a bit of artistic license. As I mentioned earlier, this is a work of fiction and not reality...