April's Fool

Dear reader,

I originally dreamed this story up to participate in the April Fool's Contest, but in reading the requirements for that contest, it doesn't meet all of them. Maybe next year with another one, but I hope you enjoy this one as it is.

SouthernCrossfire did his magic again and turned it into a readable story which I appreciate more than most people can know. If, dear reader, you like to read a proper good story, I suggest that you read one of his.

Thank you, like so many times before, SC.

Before I forget, all likeness to persons, institutions and companies in the story are completely incidental.

Nothing in this story has any relation to reality.

Oh, and of course everything and everybody engaged in any sexual activity is 18 years or older.

______________________

Prologue.

April was sitting at a table in a restaurant. Her three children were with her parents because she needed some time on her own to cool down.

She was more than a little aggravated and very disappointed. Her husband, Paul, had to work the holidays as well. He'd already worked a double shift on Thanksgiving due to that stupid Covid and now three of his colleagues were down with it and her family's holidays were ruined too.

The asshole! She thought. The idiot fool, with that stupid job of his. Never at home when I need him, always working. Morning-shifts, evening, and night-shifts. And on top of that; complaining because I took the children to celebrate at my parents.

She was shaken out of her dark reverie by a voice asking, "Is this seat taken?"

April looked up into the eyes of a handsome dark-haired man.

He smiled and went on, "You look like you need some cheering up. Am I correct?"

April nodded. She was a bit taken aback that it was so obvious that a complete stranger noticed.

The stranger seated himself and introduced himself, "My name is Charles Marsh, pleased to meet you."

Almost automatically, without thinking, April replied, "April Fowler."

Charles said, "Now the introductions are out of the way, why are you looking so gloomy?"

====

A few days later.

April was waiting in the park. Charles had asked her out for a walk after she told her tale of woe, complaining about Paul, who was always working and never there for her. He commiserated with her, looked at his watch and, "Oh dear. I need to get back to work. Can we do this again? A stroll in the park maybe?"

At first April was reluctant to go out with a complete stranger but Charles gently insisted and she gave in.

Now she was looking around anxiously, finally spotting him when he came walking in the entrance of the park.

Charles smiled when he noticed April standing nervously at the agreed place. He was late on purpose so he could assess her reaction. On approaching, he took her hand and kissed it, just a little longer than necessary.

"Shall we walk?" he asked. When she didn't object, he took her arm.

====

Two weeks and several meetings later, Charles had accomplished his purpose when they said their goodbyes following their latest rendezvous. By that time, he had April's phone number and address. He knew where she lived and had inveigled himself thoroughly in April's mind.

He waited a bit to let her wonder, perhaps to even miss him a bit. Then the texting began, a gentle hello at first and then, as the days passed, more pleasantries and an occasional compliment as the link he was establishing strengthened.

====

Saturday night, a few weeks later.

Ping. Ping.

April looked at her phone and smiled.

== Hello Beautiful. What are you doing?

== Movie @ Netflix.

== Is he working? AGAIN?

== Yeah. Covid.

== So, he says. And you are handling everything else. He doesn't deserve you.

== Have you called work?

== No. Why?

== Maybe he's busy with other things. I would call if I were you.

== Maybe I'll just do that. I'll come back to you.

One and a half hours later her phone chimed Paul's ringtone. She took the call, "Hi honey."

"You called? Is something wrong? Something with the children?"

April heard Paul's anxiety and felt a little guilty, but he wasn't in his office when she called.

She prodded, "Nothing is wrong, I just needed to hear your voice, but you weren't there."

Relief flooded Paul's voice, "You scared me. I was at the platform, handling a problem with a flight, when they told me over the message system that you called but I didn't have my phone on me."

They talked for a minute and rang off.

== HI, took a while to get him on the phone.

== And did he tell why?

By the end of that chat session the seed of distrust was sown next to the tree of discontent and it was thriving.

======

About three months later.

With a deep sigh of relief Cornelius Paulus Fowler, Paul for short, was carefully maneuvering his RAV4 through the dense traffic at the airport. In 5 minutes, he could take the airport's service road that took him to the motorway and home.

It had been ten grueling ten-hour-long night shifts in which bad weather and Murphy's Law played havoc with the daily operation of the airline he worked for. It was his job to prevent or solve these problems and this time it was seven of the ten shifts that had been touch-and-go. Now he'd finally been relieved by a colleague who had just recovered from Covid so he could go home early for once and enjoy a few days off.

After another quarrel, April, his wife of fifteen years, was staying for the duration with her parents at St. Christopher's Crossing. She'd argued angrily that he was an almost absent father anyhow when he worked night-shifts, so she might as well enjoy some time with her parents. Her father was a retired teacher so homeschooling was no problem.

He was almost dead on his feet when he opened the front door. Paul had slept badly for the last few weeks, mainly because of the stress. April was constantly nagging about everything, his work, his income, their car, and whatnot. It seemed that nothing was deemed good enough anymore.

Yet he earned a very decent salary and was paid handsomely extra for the late and night shifts. It was called inconvenience compensation and there was a promotion on the horizon, though the last he kept to himself; it wasn't in the bag yet.

The house was paid for and both cars were as well. When April became pregnant with their eldest daughter, he had set up a study fund and now it was big enough that all three children could draw on it.

Though Paul had to drive for about 45 minutes to get to his office at the airport, the family lived in a suburb next to a nature preserve. The location wasn't really inconvenient; the city center was easily reachable by public transport.

The house was nice, too, bought by Paul in an auction two years before he met April. It was big enough for the five of them plus there was a spare room because he'd transformed the attic into a spacious room by building a dormer into the roof. Next to that room was also a utility room with the laundry machine and dryer. The house had been constantly upgraded over the years with the last addition being the solar panels.

Paul dumped his bag on the table, went to the kitchen, made himself a sandwich and poured himself a small drink.

An hour later, he collapsed into his bed and went out like a light.

His alarm clock woke Paul from a restless 3-hour long slumber at 11 am. With an effort he hauled himself out of bed. Immediately he sensed the familiar hollow pit in his stomach. His eyes were gritty from fatigue and he felt feverish. Paul knew these symptoms very well. It was akin to jet lag but on steroids and he suffered from it after every stint of night-shifts. Only because now, he worked ten shifts in a row, instead of the usual four, or five, the symptoms hit him with a vengeance. The only remedy was working through it.

Today promised to be a beautiful spring day so he decided to start with a sedate trail run. He made himself a cup of coffee and a light brunch and after eating he slapped some cold water in his face. After donning his running gear, he took off, straight into the woods.

====

Two hours later he was back. Looking at his watch, he thought, Eleven miles in two hours, not bad, not bad at all. He was content with that, knowing that he lost one or two miles an hour after night-shifts but his stamina and overall condition were improving. He walked through the door, picked up the mail and went for the shower.

Back from the shower he started lunch, not that he was particularly hungry, the hollow feeling in his stomach was still there, but he had to eat. With a plate in his hand, he remembered to check the mail.

Bill, advertising, trash, what's this? Paul wondered when he had a thick cream-colored envelope adorned with a gray border. Someone died?

He opened it. The world went silent and slowly dropped from under his feet when he read the contents.

at St. Christopher's Courthouse. Pilgrim's path 7. Hoghamshire.

The front of the card was adorned with a picture of the loving family in better times.

====

Paul crumbled onto the couch, staring blankly at the funeral card.

Sometime later, he snapped back into reality, his mind starting to function again.

That explains the cold shoulder, the nagging and derogatory comments, he was thinking.Now what?

Paul found himself irresolute and directionless. The only thing he could think of at the moment was to await developments and try to decide how to respond.

====

Over the next two days his numbness slowly turned into anger and Paul knew that if the anger got the best of him, he wouldn't think right.

He made his first decision since opening that envelope. He would return to Tai Chi Chuang, the sport he practiced before he married April. April had once witnessed Paul competing and was abhorred by the welts and the bruising from the punches he received. She begged him to stop practicing so with pain in his heart, he had obliged as he did with so many things she had demanded.

Now he needed to relearn to focus again and find an outlet for his anger before he started to lose his self-control.

====

Paul came home, sore from a strenuous training session at the dojo. Noticing the card, he had another look and this snapped him out of his lethargy. He decided to check out Charles Marsh so he fired up his computer.

Later that evening and a few hours' drive away, April was kissing that same man goodbye unbeknownst that her mother was watching them from the bedroom window.

June Nelson already suspected that her daughter was well on the way to ruining her marriage and now, to her dismay, her suspicions became reality. With a deep sigh she turned to the bed where her husband Jack looked at her. "I recognize that sigh. What is our daughter up to now?"

"If things go as they seem, it might be that we will have a divorced daughter and three children missing their father in the foreseeable future. I'm afraid she is seeing another man and the affair is steaming up."

"It's that bad, isn't it? Do you want me to talk to her, or do you?"

June replied in a sad voice, "I'll do that. With your tact, it's a mission impossible anyhow. The only thing we must decide on is what pressure we can use."

"If you can get the name of that bugger out of her, I can check his bonafides. As far as pressure goes, she's cheating, so I refuse to take her side in a divorce. I'm not going to pay her lawyer either. She's on her own. I'm not forcing my son-in-law through a prolonged hell. He'll suffer enough as it is even if there is a chance of a reconciliation."

June looked a little anxious and Jack quickly continued, "No, I won't leave her on the street, homeless. We have our grandchildren to take into account regarding that, but she is going to pay her keep if she comes to live here. She'll have to find a job here. And a house after a while too; their house was bought by Paul before they even met."

He paused for a moment. "There's one more thing I just thought of. I made Paul and April sign a prenup. In case of a separation, everything acquired during their marriage is split evenly. In that case, April's funds from your mother cannot be touched, nor Paul's house. But," he added, "and this is a big one, if one is cheating, the cheater walks away with what they brought and basically the clothes they wear without any right to further financial support whatsoever. The cheater wouldn't be likely to get the children so there probably wouldn't be any provision for them to the cheating party either. There will be no split of goods or money acquired during the marriage. That time, I never expected that April would be the one...." Jack left the rest unsaid.

June was taken aback and asked, "Why did you do that? It's quite draconian. Why, and when did you dream that one up?"

"Honestly, I was the one who didn't trust Paul at all, at that time. He proved me wrong though and now I actually quite like the chap. He's a good man and would sorely miss him."

====

Paul entered "Charles Marsh" in an internet search engine and there were numerous hits. He started checking out the man's Facebook page and immediately found the motherlode. Did that asshole ever hear of privacy settings? Thank you, Lord, he silently thought.

There were pictures of April and Charles playing the happy family with his children, one taken with April and the asshole in an embrace (that one alone was enough for a divorce for some), and many other pictures of them together besides. Shaking his head, Paul quickly downloaded them, along with the comments which showed an absolute disrespect for April and her marital status. To Paul, it looked like the man got his kicks out of breaking up families.

The pictures shook Paul out of his indecisiveness too. He now was certain that his wife wanted out of their marriage. It didn't matter whether she'd actually cheated or not, he would oblige her.

====

The next morning, several things happened simultaneously.

Paul received a text from April.

== It's spring holiday and I decided that I will stay at my parents for the duration.

He texted back,

== OK. I'll mourn our marriage in silence.

April hardly looked at his reply and didn't comprehend the meaning. Without thinking she replied with a sneer,

== Don't be a fool. You will be away anyhow. Maybe even working.

And then it clicked What does he mean with mourning? What do you know? Besides, it's just a fling. I'm not taking the man to bed. Yet! But if you keep on behaving like this, I just might think about it.

Paul was wonderingWhat does she mean with 'Maybe even working'? It's the only thing I do. Nothing else..

Paul called the legal services from his company and asked if they knew a good family lawyer.

Just after April received Paul's reply June and Jack entered the kitchen. Both looking tired and grumpy.

"What happened to you? You look like you haven't had any sleep."

Jack growled before June could utter a word, "You happened, yesterday evening late. Is that why we have to look after your children! Just so you can mess around on your husband?"

April was shocked by her father's tone. "Dad, what are you talking about? I don't mess around."

June decided to interfere before the discussion got out of hand. "Don't lie to us dear. I saw you yesterday with that man, who is he by the way? Anyway, your behavior with that man absolutely failed the spouse test."

April went beet red and blurted, "Charles Marsh and it's just a harmless fling. That fool of a husband of mine is at his work all the time, so he tells me. I think he's the one cheating but I can't prove it. So..."

Jack snorted and growled, "Paul is working. Trust me. It is really the only thing he does. Working and taking care of his family, nothing else! That fool, as you call him, is working his ass off for you and the children and you think that because of that you can have a fling? Did you forget that besides teaching my grandchildren, while they are here, I'm your accountant too? I get to see his pay slip every month. You ought to know that he can't get off the premises without using his pass and that his comings and goings are always recorded by someone. It's shown on an appendix attached to his pay slip. He's been averaging sixty to eighty hours a week for the last few months. For what? So, you can play housewifey and run around on him? Are you out of your bloody mind?" he concluded angrily.

Again, June butted in. "Jack, please. There are children in this house too. They don't need to hear all this. Yet!"

She turned to her daughter and said, "When dad is busy with the children, you and I are going to have a long and serious talk and I will tell you something about our past. If your father agrees."

With that she looked at her husband. Her husband looked back at her and April noticed that in that short moment an entire discussion had been held and a decision taken. She wondered, How do they do that? Can they read each other's mind, or something?

====

That same morning Paul was sitting in a lawyer's office waiting for his appointment. His employer had a contract with this law firm and was able to arrange an early appointment with one of their family lawyers.

A beautiful woman walked up to him and introduced herself as Lydia Coleman. "I'm Mr. Green's legal assistant. Do you mind if we go through the preliminaries before Mr. Green will join us?"

Paul answered affirmatively and followed her into the office. There he laid out what he had as evidence on his cheating wife including the funeral card that had started it all.

Lydia excused herself after Paul finished and walked out of the room. Paul's presentation was too close, almost a confession of her own sins of years earlier. She still felt so much remorse and regret from what she had done to her ex-husband. She wiped her tears, looked in the mirror and said to herself, "Come on girl, get yourself together and help that poor man."

When she calmed down, she reviewed what Paul had gathered and told him she would call her boss, Ben Green. She was employed by Fabian Small, a man who had, while in prison, befriended Isaac Manner, her ex-husband. A few years later, Ben asked her to come and work for him, giving her a chance to atone for her sins by helping others. That was the best thing that happened to her since her betrayal of her ex-husband.

====

That evening June told April to sit down.

"The relationship between your dad and me that you are witnessing now is a result of years and years of successfully battling insecurities."

June took a deep breath and plunged on. "What you don't know is that both your father and I were cheaters. Not on each other, mind you, but we both ruined our first marriage."

April gasped. This was something she never suspected. She always thought that they never had any other relationships prior to the one with each other.

June went on, "I can see that this shocks you. But I need to tell you this because you must know the consequences beside the pain and misery you heap upon Paul, the children, and on yourself.

"I cheated out of pure lust; when my first husband found out, I used all the infamous excuses like 'it was only sex' and 'it was once and only once,' all to no avail. I lost the man I loved because of my stupidity, too much to drink, and hormones."