Balancing the Scales Ch. 02

I'm not sure why I even answered the phone. I know we're done. I have no idea what to do next. I realize that at the core of this mess, I'm at fault. If I hadn't fucked Jayden, I wouldn't be here. If I hadn't told Denise, I wouldn't be here. If Ellen wasn't such a man-hating bitch, I wouldn't be here. If Denise wasn't such a vindictive person, I wouldn't be here. I'm trying to find someone else, anyone else to blame. I try to blame Mike, I try to blame the booze, I try and blame Denise. It always comes back to me.

The worst part is that James and Kelli are going to feel the brunt of their parents' poor judgment. My mind is unsettled. It oscillates between the possibility that I could stay with Denise for the kid's sake, and the certainty that there is no way that staying together would work. Nope, the only choice I have is to sever our relationship. Fuck!

My anger seethes. I can only think of revenge. The more I think about what I'm losing, the more I want to hurt Denise.

Balance the scales, my ass. All I want to do at the moment is to beat Ellen, and Mike, and Denise to death with those fucking scales!

Ding.

My email notification brings me back to reality. Figuring that it's Denise taking another run at me, I cautiously open my phone to see an email from Mike. It reads:

> Thought you might like to see your whore wife in action.

Then there was a hyperlink to his cloud storage folder.

> I told you I was going to fuck her one day!

I launch the phone across the room and sit immobile, pissed and fuming. My hate is solely directed toward Mike at this moment. He's going to need to pay. Dearly. I fall into a restless sleep feeling depressed and alone.

Denise:

I'm sitting at the table still looking at my non-responsive phone. I need some support; I need a comforting smile. I open my phone to a group text that includes Ellen and Aimee.

Denise @ 10:42 [I did it]

Aimee @ 10:58 [Did what?]

Denise @ 10:58 [I slept with Mike. Kevin's friend.]

Ellen @ 10:59 [How was it?]

Aimee @ 10:59 [You dumb bitch!]

Denise @ 11:00 [Not worth it.]

[Kevin left me.]

Ellen @ 11:01 [That prick, doesn't he know it was his fault?]

[He deserved it.]

Aimee @ 11:02 [I told you he wouldn't put up with it. You wouldn't listen to me, now you're alone!]

[Fuck, now what?]

Ellen @ 11:03 [Shut up Aimee!]

[She couldn't leave him in charge that way. She had to get even.]

Aimee @ 11:03 [Well, now she's even and alone. Good job friend.]

Ellen @ 11:04 [If you're not going to help, just leave her alone.]

Aimee @ 11:04 [Fuck you Ellen]

[Denise, I'll be over in the morning.]

Ellen @ 11:06 [Denise, I'm on my way now.]

Denise 11:10 [Thanks]

I didn't exactly get the results I wanted from my friends. Why didn't I listen to Aimee instead of Ellen? I leave the door unlocked and trudge my way back into the bedroom. Seeing the stripped bed, I cry again. I retrieve the duvet from the floor, crawl up onto the bare mattress and envelop myself.

Kevin:

I wake to the intrusive noise of my phone. It's early but the hour isn't uncivilized. I figure that it's Denise intruding, but it isn't. I'm surprised to see messages from her cousin Aimee, asking me to call. Aimee and I are on speaking terms, but since we don't talk much, so now I'm worried that something might have happened to my not-for-long wife.

"Hello?" Aimee was groggy.

"Aimee, It's Kevin. I saw that you called. Is Denise, okay?" I'm sure my panic was evident in my tone. I hate that she's so calm when I'm sure something is wrong with Denise or the kids!

"As well as a stupid bitch can be," she says. "I'm going to see her later this morning. I called to check on you. How are you doing?" I give a sigh of relief; we sit on the phone as my heavy breathing returns to some kind of normalcy.

"it's all fucked up Aimee. I'm sure you heard about my one-night stand." I felt depressed again.

"Yeah, I heard. Then I also heard about Denise sleeping with some guy last night. I can't believe she was that stupid!"

"Me either, she really nailed the coffin shut sleeping with Mike. He's such a prick; the bastard even sent me a video of them fucking."

"No! Really?... Have you watched it?" her voice raised an octave as I detected astonishment.

"Yep, he sure did. I have no plans of watching it."

"Are you at your mom's?"

"Yes."

"I'm on my way. I'd like to see that video." I could hear the rustling as she gathered her stuff and prepared to leave her place.

"Okay. Why?"

"I've got to see for myself if she actually went through with it."

Twenty minutes later Aimee and I are sitting around my mom's dining room table with cups of coffee in hand.

I pull the email up on my laptop, click on the link and I'm directed to a folder marked 'Bitches'. I'm surprised to see five videos there and concerned that all five are Denise. That bitch fucked him five times!

I groan and look away, it's like Aimee is reading my emotions as I hear her gasp. "Oh, shit Kevin," it's a flat statement. "Oh. Oh. Ok, it's ok, they're not all Denise." We both sigh in relief.

I look at the screen as Aimee takes control of the mouse clicking on the first video. The screen is filled with a close up shot of someone taking an average sized cock in her ass, I see right away that it's not Denise's ass—it's not thick enough. The shot zooms out and I see the woman's reflection in a mirror.

"Oh shit, that's Sarah, Mike's wife." We watch her anal escapade for a few seconds, if I weren't so devastated by the last twenty-four hours, I think I would be turned on, but I wasn't. Sarah is a good-looking woman, sexy actually. She's not in Denise's league but she's very attractive.

Aimee adjusts in her seat; I think she's getting low-key turned on. She licks her lips and takes a sip of her coffee, without taking her eyes away from the scene before us. I click the video off because I'm uncomfortable watching porn with Aimee, especially when it involves people I know.

Aimee clicked on the second video; I can tell the video is different. The camera mounted across the room shows Mike as he pulls another attractive woman in front of the camera for introductions. I look at Aimee, she shrugs as I state the obvious, "I don't know who she is."

"Me either, not that I would expect to." I go to click it off, "Hold on, let's see what happens." she says as she holds my hand back from the mouse. We watch for a few minutes, this woman is definitely turned on and responding to Mike's seduction, I feel myself starting to harden. Good sense takes hold after about three minutes into an awesome blowjob, I exit the video as Aimee guff's. I look into her flushed face, her breathing was ragged, oh my God, she's getting turned on!

I recognize the third woman from the thumbnail as her face expands to fill the screen, "That's Krista Roberts!" It comes out a little more excitedly than I intend. Aimee gives me a confused look, "She's John's wife, a good friend of mine, and I thought, Mike's."

Krista appears happy and obviously turned on as she introduces herself to the camera as she hangs off of Mike. Her nipples are little bullets, I have always found Krista sexy so seeing her turned on like this didn't help my softening erection. I know better than watch Krista's sex tape, I figure I'll want to continue! I turn it off just as the seduction starts, much to Aimee's disapproval.

The next video was of an older woman who was still rather attractive. I have that nagging feeling that I know her from somewhere, but I can't quite place where it was.

I notice Denise's thumbnail is next. The last four videos all follow the same format, filmed from across the room on a stable platform. It looks like Mike had improved his technique where it mattered. He learned to cover his ass by having the woman identify herself and give permission to be filmed.

Denise's video followed the same format except that hers was quite a bit shorter than the others. We fast forward through most of it and watch just enough to make sure she actually had sex with the bastard. I am amused with Mike's muttering as he dressed, "Damn right, you prick. I'm going to fuck you up." Aimee gave me a strange look when I swore at the video. I retrieve a portable hard drive I keep in my briefcase and download Denise's video.

"It was awfully nice of them to give me the evidence I need for the divorce."

"Is that where this is going?"

"Yes Aimee, I don't see how I can stay with her after this. If it were with almost anyone else but him, I would think about it."

"I told her not to do it. It was Ellen who figured this would make you guys even and give Denise an edge over you in the marriage."

"I actually figured that, who's idea was it to give me divorce papers?"

"What divorce papers?"

I pull out the papers and dump them on the table. I hadn't gone through them last night, just enough to get an idea of what she was thinking. Aimee and I spread them out and take a deeper look.

"I don't see a lawyer's name on these anywhere, do you see one?" I'm looking at the stack Aimee is holding.

"No. There's a website URL in the footer, though." I enter it into Google and reach a site that offers do-it-yourself legal forms to non-lawyers. With deeper inspection, we conclude that Ellen and Denise must have purchased a set of divorce paperwork and filled it out themselves as insurance that I would go along with their stupid idea. I don't know why, but I'm relieved that Denise didn't see a lawyer and have the forms drawn up formally.

I turn to Mike's 'Bitches' folder again and decide to save all of the videos he shared just in case I need to prove anything to anyone. "I want to tear Mike's balls off; he doesn't know it, but he's handed me exactly what I need to fuck him over. Thanks, Mike."

Aimee is watching the files download. "What are you going to do?"

"To start, I wonder if Mike's wife knows about these videos and the women he slept with." I smile at Aimee as she catches my drift. I guess I'm not the only one who is going to go through a divorce.

I grab a thumb drive to save Krista's video. I'm not sure how he'll take it, but I know I'm going to share it with John Roberts, Krista's husband. I'm conflicted though. Krista's a very kind person but a little bit of an airhead

But John is a friend. We've been friends for years and I'm pretty sure he doesn't know about the video nor his wife's shenanigans. John is a former Marine, a badass with a temper; I have no idea what he will do to Krista, but I know Mike is in for an ass kicking.

"Can you save me a copy of your dumb wife's, uh, transgression?"

"Why?" I'm perplexed that Aimee would want to watch her best friend get fucked by a scumbag.

"I want to show my stupid cousin how she looks on video. She's going to hate the way her ass looks." I stifle a laugh; Denise has always been self-conscious about her ass. I pull out another drive and save Denise's acting debut onto it for Aimee.

I tell Aimee, "Go see Denise but please don't mention the other four videos, she already had her show and tell. I figure her ignorance of the others might work to my advantage somehow."

We say our goodbyes and she headed out. I'm left with my own thoughts of both self-pity and vengeance.

Denise:

I wake to Ellen holding me in my otherwise empty bed.

"I did what you said, and he left me." I can feel the tears coming again. "You said he would beg me to take him back, you said ..." The dam breaks.

"He'll be back. If he genuinely loves you, he'll return and do anything you say." She pulls me further into her embrace.

"What if he doesn't?" I nuzzle deeper into her cleavage as she holds me tight, trying to put the broken pieces back into place.

"Then he doesn't love you the way he should. You've done nothing wrong."

I lift my head and look into Ellen's eyes. "How stupid are you? I cheated on my husband."

"You didn't cheat, he did; you just balanced the scales."

"They don't feel very balanced." I reply as I get up and go into the bathroom. I shower and find something to wear. By the time I get to the kitchen, Aimee is having a cup of coffee with Ellen.

"Aimee, please don't start ... I'm already feeling like shit as it is."

"I bet, no worse than what Kevin is feeling."

"You've seen Kevin?" I'm surprised and pissed all at once. My fucking marriage isn't even cold yet and that bitch is trying to steal my man.

"Yeah, I reached out this morning to see how he was doing, he's not well, I should add. Did you know that that bastard Mike sent him a video of you and he fucking last night?"

"You let him video you!" Ellen shouted; she had finally joined the conversation. "You are so screwed. He'll use it in the divorce for sure."

"Denise, you have no idea how screwed you are. Mike will show that video to anyone and everyone just to humiliate Kevin." Aimee and her damn reasoning.

"I was drunk. I wasn't thinking clearly." Not much of a defense, but it was all I had.

"Clearly."

My head throbs as we bicker back and forth. We discuss what would happen if that video got out and how it would destroy Kevin more than I had already. We discuss how it will affect me. We discuss the possibility of a divorce and the effect it will have on the kids. Aimee asked about the divorce papers, and we admitted to downloading a DYI divorce and filling it out 'creatively'. We wanted Kevin to feel helpless.

"Aimee, did Kevin say what he's going to do? His note said he would divorce me, but when I talked to him, he asked me to give him some time."

"He was firmly non-committal. I think divorce is definitely on the table." She pauses for a second, then continues, "I just don't understand how you ever thought this was a good idea."

"It wasn't my actual plan; I was going to meet Mike for a few drinks at the 'Tap and Cue'. Then let the gossip that I was on a date circulate and let Kevin's imagination do the rest. But then Mike started to tell me how Kevin's been cheating on me for years and this wasn't his first time."

"Told you." It was Ellen, but at the same time I heard screeching coming from Aimee.

"Nooooo fucking way! He was lying to get into your panties, and you fell for it!" Shoving her forefinger in my face she stood, started pacing, shaking her head.

"I know, he kept buying me drinks and sweet talking me, and then I was in bed with him."

"Denise, I love you but sometimes you are a stupid cow." Aimee stops pacing just short of the table and stares at me with disgust in her eyes. Aimee never intimidated me before, but at this moment I think she might be homicidal. Her tone cut me to my core. I know that I screwed up, but her expression forces me to realize how much I just lost. I feel the tears well in my eyes.

"Hey ..." Ellen tries to come to my rescue.

"And you, you stupid bitch. How could you tell your best friend to fuck up her life more than it already was?" Aimee spins and stares Ellen down as she speaks, "I guess you deserve whatever is coming your way." And she walks out.

Ellen and I continue to talk, and I start to see how demented she is. I can't believe I followed her advice.

I'm in a somber mood after Ellen leaves. I text Kevin, I tell him how much I love him and how sorry I am. He responds, "me too."

We solve nothing.

Kevin:

I'm just surviving. I exist in a continuing daze. I bounce back and forth between nuking my wife and forgiving her but every time I get close to forgiving her, I look at my computer and remember the video. Then I'm back to nuking her.

This morning brings a tough conversation with my boss. I need to take the week off to get my ducks in order.

The first item on my list is an attorney. I make an appointment with a lawyer for later in the week to explore what my options are.

I text John and set up a late lunch with him. I'm not sure how I'm going to approach him yet but just that I need to. I figure honesty is my best approach.

We meet in a little diner on the edge of town. We sit in a booth.

"You look like shit," John smiles.

"I feel like shit, and it's just going to get worse."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"I fucked up John, I had a one-night stand in Texas. I confessed to Denise, and she got even by fucking Mike Killion."

"No way... Dude, I'm so sorry."

"Yep, the fucker even recorded it and sent me a link to the video." I watch his face as I look for courage to go on. "There was another video in the file, John..."

"No." It was strange hearing the pain in this big man's voice. It was strained, and an octave higher than the masculine voice he normally uses. It was like he already knew.

"I'm afraid so. It was Krista." I hold up the thumb drive and sit it in the middle of the table. John just shakes his head.

"Nonono, tell me this is a sick joke."

"I'm afraid it isn't." Figuring he might need to be convinced, I had my laptop already to go, I plug the drive in and go to Krista's introduction. I can see the anger flash across his face, and I get a little nervous. I'm just the messenger and not the perpetrator, I'm afraid that John may not separate the two. We sit in silence looking into Krista's frozen face on the screen till my computer times out and goes dark.

"I'm going to fucking kill them." It was flat, cold.

"I understand that I feel the same way. Except, in my case I was the one who started the shit storm. Denise just piled on it and made sure our only outcome was a divorce.

"You are divorcing her?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure." We sit there looking at each other in silence. "Other than killing them, what are you thinking?"

"Divorce is the first thing that comes to mind. I'm pretty sure Mike isn't the only guy she's fucking. Must be why she never wanted to start a family, at least with me."

"Can I ask a favor, John?"

"You can ask."

"Would you hold off on any action against Mike until I get a chance to figure out what I want to do myself?"

"Why? What are you thinking?"

"I want to show Mike's wife the files on his own drive. I want her to know what he's been up to."

"OK. I'll wait till Sunday. Are you still planning to come to Will's barbeque?" he asks.

"Yes."

"Okay, have your shit together by then. Mike will be there and I'm afraid he might be in for a rude awakening."

"Oh, don't do anything stupid, John. Landing in jail won't help anything, even if Mike does end up in the hospital."

"No promises." John pulls the drive from my computer and heads out the door. As I watch that monster storm out, I think I sure wouldn't want to be Mike right now!

My afternoon isn't complete yet. I make a stop at Mike's house. I'm happy to see that he isn't there yet, not that I was expecting him to be, but Sarah is.

The conversation goes as well as can be expected. She doesn't believe me of course, but I pull up Mike's 'Bitches' folder on his cloud drive. Sarah's body language changed, her lips pressed tightly, I can see the tension set into her shoulders, I'm sure she's convinced now. I think she's more pissed about her own video being on there and about being called one of his bitches. As we go through the videos, she recognizes the second woman as her best friend. She also recognizes both Krista and Denise, but the shock comes with the fourth.

"That's Wendy, Mike's dad's third wife!"

"Ahhh, of course. I thought she looked familiar, but I've only met her a time or two at parties!"

"What a dirtbag. I'm dumping his stupid ass so hard and fast." I've hung out with rough around the edge's guys before, but the string of profanities I just heard from this petite proper woman lets me know that she's obviously pissed now. This shitbag is going to trash at least five marriages.