Au Revoir Mon Amour

As I hung up the phone I could hear shouting from the dock. It looked like both Emily and Janice were going to have a stroke. I called down to the boat's galley. "Kelly, can you come on deck?" Kelly was a young lady I met last year at a party given by my Microsoft customer. She teaches school in Florida and was spending three weeks of her summer break with me cruising the islands and need I say -- she is model knock-down-gorgeous. We were friends with benefits and that's all we'd ever be; she would definitely end up as a millionaire's wife someday, but was spending her twenties getting her wild oats sown.

As Kelly started up the ladder from the galley I stopped her. "Babe, do you mind before coming up on deck, would you take your top off?"

Kelly gave an impish smile, slipping the top off. She was wearing my favorite bikini bottoms, a tiny triangle in the front and a thin strip up the back. "Do you want me to take the bottoms off, too?"

"No, that's just overkill."

Kelly climbed the ladder and stood on deck.

"See those three people standing on the dock? Could you please wave to them?"

And as Kelly stood waving with those perfect tanned breasts bouncing on her chest, I started the motor and headed back out to sea. A week later I received an email from Fred apologizing and telling me he didn't blame me at all for what I did. He and Emily spent the week on the island, but Janice flew back home after spending the rest of that day in tears.

So maybe I could consider that phase four. And maybe after reading that scene you the reader might be thinking I was finished, but I wasn't. As I said, the best revenge is served cold.

It was my fourth year in the Caribbean and I was doing a remodel job in St. Bart's for a wealthy French couple. I know a lot of Americans can't stand the French, but my experience has been very positive. I've taken the time to learn some French and my feeble attempts at conversation has been appreciated by those I've met.

The job was going to take me at least a month and the owners went back home after the first week. Two days later their daughter showed up. I took one look at this woman and my heart and mind just melted. I don't know what the French call it, but my Italian mother called it "thunderstruck". What's more, as this young lady put down her suitcases she looked at me and gave a smile with both her lips and her eyes.

"Bonjour Monsieur Messina. My parents warned me you would be here working, but assured me that it would be all right as long as I stayed out of your way."

I was close to replying that all I wanted in the world was for her to stay in my way.

"Pardon, Mademoiselle. You have me at a disadvantage; you know my name, but I don't know yours."

"My parents didn't tell you I was expected?"

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Then please accept my apology. I am Simone. Say the word and I will get a room in town while you are working. It would not be that great an inconvenience."

"Please Mademoiselle, feel free to stay here. Your parents had no issue with staying in the house while I worked. That is, if the noise of my working doesn't bother you. I've been sleeping in the guest house, but I can move back to my boat at the marina if you're uncomfortable."

"My parents told me you were a polite man and they would not have allowed me to come if they were concerned with my safety. Please continue to use the guest house while you're here. In fact, I'll probably be more comfortable knowing a gentleman is nearby."

The next few weeks were something out of a dream. Simone is the classic French woman, at least in the movies I've seen. She is 5'4", small breasts that fit perfectly on her slim figure, short black hair with an Audrey Tautou (Amelie) face. She moved with a dancer's grace. I was heads over heels in lust.

And best of all, she was a wonderful person. Although she was raised in a wealthy family, there were no airs about her. Most days I was greeted at midday with lunch which she had prepared herself. She'd join me on the patio and we ate together. We joked during our first lunch about the similarity in our names. Simone had a wonderful sense of humor and I did my best to try and make her smile or laugh, just to watch her joyous face.

I stayed in lust and before the second week ended I was in love. She broke the stalemate.

"Simon, I see how you look at me and I'm certain I know what it means. I'm also certain you are aware of the difference in our stations in life and I believe that's why you have kept your distance. Let me tell you what I see. I see a wonderful man who has made a success of himself despite the nasty events of his life that were out of his control. They haven't turned you into a bitter person, you still seek the joy de vie, the joy of life.

"I know I'm beautiful and rich, but I haven't accomplished much on my own. I try to be a good, kind person and I think of am.

"What I'm asking is to please don't think of yourself unworthy of me; look at me as a woman who has fallen in love with a beautiful man."

How could I be so lucky? This incredible woman was asking me to give her a chance. I didn't give her an opportunity to change her mind. I immediately held her in my arms and kissed her. We kissed for a few minutes before she said, "Let's go to your room."

We made love. We made love and we had sex. I pulled out all the stops, everything that Janice had ever taught me about pleasing a woman. I smiled as she screamed, "Oh, mon Dieu" over and over. It went on for hours until we both fell asleep from exhaustion.

I woke up the next morning with Simone planted on my morning hard-on and looking down at me with her smile. She wasn't moving anything but the muscles inside her vagina and paid me the ultimate compliment. "Where did you learn to please a woman? You make love like a Frenchman."

I probably could have let it go, I was that happy with my new life, but there was one last shot in the barrel. Five years after marrying Simone, ten years since I left Janice, I mailed a photo to Janice from our home in Paris. It was a photograph of me, Simone and our two children -- yes, we went the in vitro route - on the beach taken the month before when we were visiting Simone's parents in St. Bart's. As always, Simone looked absolutely dazzling in her bikini and both Jules and Juliette showed their radiant smiles.

The caption under the photo simply read, "Me, my bride and MY two wonderful children wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year."

Phase four was now completed.