Change of Life

"It won't be long now," Miranda thought as she listened to another, louder, set of moans from Ralph and recognized both the signs of awakening and an approaching orgasm. She wondered at the same time if he would be able to get it up a second time so that they could have an early morning fuck.

Then, just as he was about to climax in her mouth, Ralph woke up. His eyes opened with a reaction that while explosive, was hardly the one Miranda had expected.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he yelled as he pulled the sheet off of the two of them and looked down at his wife. His voice carried more than a touch of anger in it.

"If you don't know, I must be doing it wrong," Miranda laughed as she lifted her head from his cock just long enough to answer. It was incomprehensible to her that he was actually serious in his anger.

"Don't you think we're a little old for this nonsense?" Ralph asked as he lifted his body and pulled away from her.

"Nonsense?" Miranda repeated, realizing that he might not be joking as she first thought. "You're kidding, right?"

"I most certainly am not," Ralph said as he climbed up out of the bed and reached for his bathrobe.

"Don't you think it might be fun to spend the morning in bed like we used to?" Miranda asked. "After all, the kids are all grown and we do have the house to ourselves. Don't you miss those days?"

"No, actually, I don't," Ralph said as he tightened the sash on his robe. "Oh I'll be the first to say that they were a lot of fun and I'm glad we had them," he went on, "but there has to be a point where you finally grow up."

"Grow up?" Miranda asked, unable to believe he actually felt that way.

"Yes, grow up," Ralph said once more as he put on his slippers, "after all, we're practically grandparents for Pete's sake." he added as he alluded to their daughter's recent pregnancy.

"And grandparents don't fuck?" Miranda thought but didn't say. Instead she asked, "Wouldn't it be fun to spend the morning in bed and cuddle like we used to?"

"Not when I have way too much to do," Ralph replied. "I want to be down at the store by nine."

"But it's Sunday," Miranda countered.

"We're having a big sale tomorrow," Ralph explained, "I want to go over everything and make sure those kids they hired labeled everything right."

Miranda started to say something more, then thought better of it. No amount of talking was going to change things. Their life together had undergone a transition and she hadn't even noticed it happening. The thought sent a sad feeling through her.

"Don't you think you should put some clothes on before someone sees you through the window?" Ralph said, making his only reference to her nudity. "The streets already full of kids playing ball."

"At least one of them might be interested in looking," Miranda thought as Ralph exited through the doorway and she reached for her own robe.

-=-=-=-

The events of that Sunday morning weighed heavily on Miranda's mind all the following week. She didn't mention them again to Ralph, and it was pretty obvious that he considered the matter settled. Nor did she broach the subject with her sister, Alice, both out of a reluctance to admit to her that she had been right, and a fear that she might have to listen to more of her exploits. Or worse, walk in on one of them again.

No, she told herself repeatedly, she had to accept the fact that her sex life was now a thing of the past. It was strange, she pondered, that such a thought bothered her as much as it did. After all, it wasn't as if she and Ralph had been burning the sheets these last few years. In fact, as she had told Alice the week before, they hadn't made love more than three times in the last three years. Yet somehow, the prospect that they might fall back into the habit at any time had made it okay. Now, with that possibility gone, she felt that she had lost something very precious.

Other than that, the week went by quickly enough, as she spent the better part of her days working at Office Barn. Like she said many times before, it might not have been the best of jobs, but the people she worked with were first rate.

"Showtime, girls," Mandy Clark said to her two co-workers as they enjoyed their late afternoon coffee break. "It looks like Josh is setting himself up for a fall again."

All three sets of eyes, those of Mandy, Lois Parker, and Miranda turned to watch Josh Allen walk up to Jennifer Forrest. Josh was a cute kid, most would say, five seven and about a hundred and thirty-five pounds. He had short sandy hair and the sort of average build that was so average that you never really took notice of it. His only real drawback, most would agree was a baby face that made the nineteen year old look like he was still a high school freshman.

Jennifer, on the other hand, always looked older than her eighteen years, due partly to having physically developed at an early age and always dressing to show off her assets to her advantage. Long brown hair ran down her back, draping over a near perfect body who's only fault was that her breasts were just a bit too large for her frame. Few men, however, were about to complain about that.

The two teenagers exchanged a few words too low to be overheard. Then, true to form, Josh walked away a few seconds later, a look of dejection on his face.

"Kerplunk!" Lois laughed softly.

"Doesn't that boy ever get tired of being rejected?" Lois said as she brought her cup up to drain the last of her coffee.

"Evidently not," Mandy laughed.

"You'd think he'd realize by now that Jennifer was way out of his league," Lois added.

"You'd think, wouldn't you?" Mandy replied.

"I actually feel sorry for him," Miranda offered. "He really is a nice young man."

"I never said he wasn't," Lois agreed, "I just said that if he had any sense at all he'd stop wasting his time and give up the chase."

"Maybe he thought she might feel guilty about letting him take the fall for her when she screwed up that supply order last month and finally say yes when he asked her out for dinner," Miranda suggested. "After all, Josh got docked a day's pay for that."

"You think she'd really care that he was that stupid to stand up for her?" Mandy asked.

"Yeah, like there was any chance Bob Carpenter was going to blame Jennifer for anything she does wrong," Lois added.

"Am I missing something here?" Miranda asked.

"You mean you don't know?" Mandy asked, lowering her voice.

The look on Miranda's face said that she had no idea what they were talking about.

"Jennifer is fucking Bob Carpenter," Mandy whispered.

"No way," Miranda replied.

"Okay, then she's just bending over and spreading her legs while he sticks his cock in between them," Lois grinned in a low voice.

"Damn," Miranda said as she let out a long breath.

"Well time to get back to work," Mandy said as she looked up at her watch and tossed her paper cup into the trash.

Miranda stood behind a few moments longer, looking across the store at Josh. It really was a shame he had such a crush on a heartless bitch like Jennifer. Imagine letting him take the rap for her when she knew Bob wouldn't even say a bad word about her mistake.

The image of the store manager put an even more depressing thought into Miranda's head. Bob Carpenter was just about Ralph's age and obviously, he had no problem with his libido. Was it possible that Ralph had his own 'Jennifer' at his store? Or was he telling the truth when he said that he'd lost any interest in sex? The only thing she was certain of was that, either way, he had no more interest in her.

-=-=-=-

The rest of the day passed quickly and before they knew it, quitting time was just about there. Mandy, Lois and Miranda were closing out their registers, they usually wound up on them at the end of the day, when they heard Bob Carpenter call Josh over to the customer service desk behind them.

"I'm going to need you to stay late next weekend to help with inventory," Bob said to the junior associate. "I just thought I'd let you know now in case you'd made any plans."

"But I stood for inventory last month, Mr. Carpenter," the sandy haired nineteen year old said, his voice showing respect for his boss mixed with a measure of disappointment. "According to the schedule, this is supposed to be Jennifer's turn."

"I have a special project that I want Jennifer to work on," the store manager said in way of explanation. "Something that she's uniquely suited for. So you'll just have to take her turn as well. That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

"No sir," Josh said.

"Good boy, I knew I could count on you." the older man smiled as he turned and walked away.

"A special job that she's uniquely suited for," Mandy parroted after Josh had walked away. "I can imagine what that entails."

"Maybe she should stop next door at the hardware store and pick up a pair of knee pads," Lois suggested. "I bet she could charge it as a work related expense."

Both women laughed at the joke, but Miranda was still feeling sorry for Josh. At least this time he didn't automatically let Jennifer walk over him, at least figuratively. Maybe he was finally getting over her.

"Still feeling sorry for Josh?" Lois asked, interrupting Miranda's musings.

"A little," Miranda admitted.

"Well you better save a little bit of that for yourself," Mandy advised.

"Excuse me?" Miranda asked.

"In case you haven't looked at the scheduling board lately, guess who else is supposed to be pulling inventory duty this month?" Mandy smiled.

"Oh shit, I forgot all about it." Miranda replied.

"Yeah, I bet," Lois grinned. "And don't even think of asking either one of us to do it for you, Mandy and I have tickets to see 'Grease' over at the community college and we have no plans to miss it."

"I wouldn't even have thought of asking," Miranda lied, thinking how much she hated inventory.

With that, the clock on the wall struck six and their workday was over.

-=-=-=-

Miranda's main concern with having to work late over the weekend was how would Ralph react. He wasn't that happy that she had kept her job after the kids finished college in the first place, and practically went ballistic the last time she had worked late doing inventory. It turned out to be the same weekend that was his turn to host the rotating poker game.

Luckily, all she got out of Ralph was an unintelligible grunt after she told him. Rather than play poker at home next weekend, he and his buddies were headed up to Lake Armstrong to fish and play cards. It was, Miranda knew, a chance for them to also get very drunk and not have to explain it to the wives the next morning.

So early Saturday morning, Miranda got up and helped Ralph pack the car with his fishing gear and provisions for the overnight trip. Supplies that included a case of beer, a six-pack of which was already cold in the cooler. She wished him luck, knowing that if he planned to bring home any fish from his weekend excursion, they would be coming from Peterson's fish store out on Route 8. In all the years he had been making these fishing trips, Ralph had yet to bring home enough to cook as a meal. Of course there were always the stories of the big one that got away.

Knowing that her work day didn't begin until noon and would run until the early evening because of inventory, Miranda decided to go back to bed and get a few more hours sleep. When she got up again a little after nine, she was glad she did. The three extra hours had made a lot of difference.

Office Barn closed at noon on Saturdays, so there was no reason to dress as she would if she was expected to deal with the public. So instead of a nice blouse and skirt combo, Miranda laid out sneakers, a pair of jeans and a comfortable red sweatshirt before heading for the shower.

The cold water helped her shake off the last vestiges of sleep. After drying off, she put on the clothes she had selected and was ready to face the day. Walking into the kitchen, Miranda opened the refrigerator door to get some eggs for breakfast, then remembered that she'd forgotten to pick any up when she went shopping the other day.

"I could just have cereal," she thought as she closed the door, "but why not treat myself." It had been a while since anyone had treated her to anything.

Picking up her purse and transferring her essentials to the fanny pack she then strapped around her waist, Miranda headed out to the car. Cara's Breakfast Nook ran a weekend special until eleven and her French toast was a delight to behold. Since it was only two blocks from Office Barn, she had plenty of time to enjoy breakfast and still get to work with time to spare.

-=-=-=-

"Can I get you another refill on that coffee?" Ruth Hasset, one of the waitress' at the Breakfast Nook asked as she looked down at the empty cup in front of Miranda.

Miranda glanced down as well, both at the empty cup and the small remnants of what had been a truly enjoyable breakfast. She then checked her watch and decided that she still had plenty of time.

"Just a half a cup," she said to Ruth who dutifully poured just that amount, then wished her a good day and went on to another of her tables.

Miranda brought the cup to her lips and was enjoying the rich mix when a male voice from behind her also wished her a good morning. It was a voice quite familiar but nevertheless unexpected.

"Jim," she said in surprise, almost spilling her coffee as she looked up at the white haired man standing next to the table.

"Something wrong?" the fifty year old asked as he saw that he had startled her.

"No, I just didn't expect to see you, that's all," Miranda smiled.

"I don't know why not," Jim smiled in return. "Gary and I have been having breakfast here every Saturday for the last twenty years. You know that."

The mention of the second man's name drew Miranda's attention past Jim's shoulder where she saw another man about the same age standing at the register and paying their bill. Now she was even more confused. Jim Collins and Gary Paris were half of Ralph's poker playing circle, and had been for over a decade. If they were here, who had her husband gone fishing with? Or were they planning a late start to just take part in the game tonight?

"I guess I just forgot for a moment," she said, the puzzled look on her face helping her explanation.

"Yeah, we're all getting to that age," Jim laughed as Gary caught up to the two of them and handed the other man his part of the change.

Gary said hello as well, asking her how she was doing and remarking that he hadn't seen her sister around lately. Something that was unusual since he lived just down the block from her.

"What did she do, pick up a new hobby?" he grinned.

"Something like that," Miranda replied, thinking that her neighbor would be shocked to know what that hobby was.

"Well you tell her I was asking about her," Gary said.

"I will," Miranda replied as the two of them turned to leave her to finish her coffee.

They had only gone a step or two further, when Miranda asked them a question she was almost afraid to get the answer to.

"Are the two of you going up to the lake this weekend?"

"Up to the cabin?" Jim asked in turn, to which she nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"The lake's been put off limits for fishing until next month at least," Gary said, answering for his friend. "They had some kind of spill there over the winter and they want to make sure it's totally clear before they let anyone fish again. Not that we ever really catch anything."

"Oh, I didn't know," Miranda said.

"Well we'd better get going," Jim now chimed in. "Say hello to Ralph for us as well. Tell him the next time he decides to skip our game to go on a business trip, he could at least just send the money he usually loses." he added with a laugh. "That way he won't be missed as much."

With that, both men were gone, leaving behind a now quite concerned Miranda.

The rest of the coffee grew cold in her cup as she silently sat there. Her first impulse was to call Ralph on his cell phone, then decided against it. She wasn't sure that she wanted to know where he really was at this moment, or with whom.

Leaving Ruth a tip, she picked up her check and headed to the register herself. She was so dazed at the moment, she didn't hear Ruth say goodbye as she walked past her, or notice anyone around her as she walked to last two blocks to work.

-=-=-=-

The question weighed heavily on her mind the next few hours as she, Josh and two other employee's did the store's inventory. Distracted as she was, Miranda knew she wasn't really doing her share, but Josh seemed more than willing to pick up the slack. Miranda promised herself she would make it up to him another time.

"Tony and Karen are going over to TJ's to grab a pizza," Josh said to Miranda as he found the aisle where she was working. "Want to come along?"

The question made Miranda look at the large clock on the wall. She hadn't realized it was already after six. The last few hours had just raced by.

"No thanks, Josh," she smiled at the sandy haired young man, "but could you do me a favor?"

"Sure, what do you need?"

"Can I borrow your car for a little while?" she asked. "I took the bus to work and I really need to run a little errand."

"Do you want me to drive you?" he offered.

"No, you don't have to," she replied, "and I won't be long, I promise. I just have to run over to my husband's store and pick something up."

"No problem," Josh said as he handed her the keys.

-=-=-=-

As she pulled out of the parking lot and quickly covered the twelve blocks to Crazy Al's, Miranda had to admit that she had no idea what she was doing. Or what she expected to find.

The store was still open, as was the norm for a Saturday, and no sooner had she entered when Artie Davis, the assistant manager, met her. The forty-one year old had a smile on his face, but behind it he had a feeling of concern.

"What brings you here this time of night, Miranda," he asked. "don't tell me that after all these years that Ralph doesn't trust me to run the place when he's gone and sent you over to make sure everything is okay?"

The question had been said with humor, but Miranda knew that there was some truth in it as well. She knew that Ralph worried about Artie, but not for the reason the younger man thought. He was constantly worried that the owners might realize that the assistant manager was better at the job than his boss and that they might decide to do something about it.

"No, I'm not here to check up on you, Artie," Miranda smiled reassuringly. "I just wanted to check Ralph's desk and see if he left some papers that he was supposed to sign. I can't find them at home and thought that he might have left them here."

"Well you know where his office is," Artie replied as he stepped out of her way, only half believing her explanation.

Miranda took a few minutes to check the drawers of Ralph's desk, at least the ones that he didn't lock. She really didn't expect to find anything, but at least looking was something.

"Find what you were looking for?" Artie asked when he saw her come out of the office.

"No, maybe he still has them with him," Miranda mused, hoping that would satisfy his curiosity. "Do me a favor, don't tell him I came by, okay. You know how he can be about people going through his stuff, even his wife."

"I understand," Artie said with an knowing grin, "you were never here."

"Looks like you're having a pretty good night," Miranda said as she changed the subject to the large number of customers in the store.

"Yes we are," the blond haired man agreed, "I just wish we weren't short handed as well."

"Someone not come in?" Miranda asked, hoping it didn't sound like more than idle curiosity.