Cherries Jubilee

All characters are over 18 years old.

This story is totally fictional, no relation to reality, any similarity to anyone alive or dead is purely ridiculous as it is all complete fiction. This is a tall tale, if you are looking for super realism, it's not here! Yes, it is over the top, way, way over! It's all for fun, try to read it that way. Please be gentle in your comments. Fantasy should be fun, not the evening news.

Keep tongue in cheek while reading. Please keep all arms, legs and tentacles in, rides about to start.

Cherries Jubilee

I was still shaken from my now ex-wife's treachery. I did not understand how we could have been so close, and best friends, besides lovers and spouses- and Mary still did this to me! We went from that directly to forever enemies, with no apparent intervening steps, just as if we were suddenly turned into someone the exact opposite of ourselves. It really hurt. I wound up leaving our once happy home for a cheap furnished apartment.

It still broke my heart that she had stabbed me in the back, time after time, and Mary said it was in explicit retribution for what I HAD DONE. I had done nothing. Absolutely nothing! Her hateful duplicity had come out of nowhere, and led to the complete and utter destruction of our once happy marriage. I was just devastated by her actions. Her name was Mary. I don't know what her demon-from- hell-name was, but I am fairly certain she was one!

She gave me no reasons for the divorce, but she had gone out of her way to make sure that I knew of all her fucking infidelities. She called them her "revenge fucks". Revenge for what? What the hell had I ever done to merit this damn mistreatment? I had never ever been with another woman since we became exclusive and that was way before we took our vows.

I was just destroyed all over again and again by her latest perfidy. She sent me pictures and videos of her fucking. If she wanted to hurt me, she surely had done so. I did not think that I could be hurt any more. I was wrong. I was hurt even worse.

I was hurt once again when my daughter and my son told me that they were disowning ME for my alleged "affairs", and I would never see either of them again. What in hells name had I ever done to merit this total fucking disregard and outright slander? The way I was treated was worse than any poor damned leper.

This was a whole new level of pain, and total disrespect from my own children. She had totally destroyed our marriage, and then poisoned my relationship with my children. Her revenge against me was complete and I was a broken man. I contemplated suicide. I decided to find out just what I had done to merit this malevolent outcome.

I contacted a local private investigator and asked him to see what he could find. I paid upfront several thousand dollars and after three weeks he still had absolutely nothing but a few rumors from the nurses Mary worked with.

The one rumor was that Mary was fucking some rich brain surgeon, but the PI had nothing but hearsay to back up that theory. He made the suggestion that a good defense was a great offense. He thought perhaps Mary had been having an affair and decided to throw ME under the bus with nary a thought of evidence to bolster her claim. How is it my kids, now adults, bought her story hook line and sinker?

Well I didn't know what to do. I simply wrote my kids a very simple letter. I then explained that I had never, ever cheated in the whole of my marriage to their mother. I had been summarily convicted without a trial, and with no evidence, or even a chance to answer or refute a single question. I pointed out that their mother had made it clear that she had sought out other men to have multiple revenge trysts to DELIBERATELY hurt me.

It had worked too. I was very hurt. I was hurt in the tragic loss of my whole life, my entire world had come crashing down, like a house of cards, but in reality it was the sum total of ME that was broken... with no hope of any repair. Mary had beaten me.

And she did it on purpose! These acts of calculated malice and preplanned emotional savagery made it a foregone conclusion that our marriage was now just a thing of the past... a wonderful memory up until she then decided to destroy it. I wish I could figure out why on earth she had done this to me, to us both. She had the 'nuke' button in her hand and she seemed to enjoy pushing it repeatedly!

I let my kids know that I still loved them and forgave them for whatever bad ideas they got into their heads. I wished my children well, and prayed that they might look more closely at the so called "evidence" of my behavior.

And that was it. All family interaction stopped. I was virtually alone in the world. Her evil plans had worked to utmost perfection, and I was removed from my son's and daughter's lives. I might as well be dead and buried. As far as my children were concerned I WAS DEAD TO THEM. How nice of them.

I have yet to hear back from either one of my grown children. I guess I must have done something really bad in a former life to be this mistreated in this one. But I was now a total pariah, insofar as my former wife and my now estranged children were concerned. I had been cast out, flung into the fire as it were. I was alone in the world. Like many a dirty politician, she kept repeating the lies again and again, until people who should know better started to believe them. The fabrications took on a life of their own, even though they had no basis in fact, she screamed about my cheating as if it were gospel. How do you fight crap like that?

With no clear way to clear my name or defend myself from any of the bullshit charges, I simply gave up and walked away from the whole disgusting mess. This was a situation that I simply had no way to win, and the outcome was already predetermined. I had no idea what to do, other than just try to start my own life over again.

I was not a churchgoing man, but with no other option, I went to church and prayed to God for his help. I have spoken to the pastor and told him the whole story. I don't know if he believed me or not, but at this point, why would I lie? He has prayed with me.

I met his brother, an ex cop who now had his own detective agency. He said he would be happy to take my case for a $5000 fee and $200 a day in expenses. I said no thank you, even if I wanted too, I didn't have that kind of money laying around. I had already paid a PI, with nothing but rumors for my several thousand dollars. I decided not to waste any more money on the bitch. She obviously wanted things as they were; these were her true feelings, evidence or not. She wanted to be divorced! Why try to catch her in a lie? Why bother?

I mean after all the hatred and retaliation adultery I have suffered, what would be the point? Even if I had cleared up my name, after what she's done to me? But the fact is, she is never, ever coming back to me, and my bastard pissant children have not spoken a single word to me this whole entire time. I'm pretty sure one of the ten commandments deals with bearing false witness, so those two and their mom will have to answer for it eventually. Lord have mercy.

The thing is, even if it is possible to prove to my ex-family that I am not the bad guy that I am alleged to be, would I take them back? This is the crux of the matter. Would it even matter to me? Could I ever forgive the pack of nasty serpents they had become? As far as I was concerned, the three of them were pure evil.

It's a difficult question to answer. I'm thinking NOT. The good book tells us to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies and to forgive the way Jesus forgave us, but... I just don't have it in me! I have prayed to God for help, and I have yet to hear back, so I guess I have His final answer.

Perhaps this is like the trials of Job, but just a different version of the test. I suppose I have flunked out of the good Lord's rules. Lord knows I have tried, and I will continue to try. Will I pass the test? Would I take them all back? Hmm. I'm not so sure. The point is moot unless and until I am able to clear my name. Would I take the fuckers back?

The answer is still no. And unfortunately my answer to the forgiveness issue is also NO. They have hurt me way, way too badly. I don't know how this happened or why... But it did, and I have had enough punishment. I have had enough for a fuckin' lifetime. I am done!

It is time to move on, try not to think about them anymore and to start a new life. My old life is dead. My ex wife Mary has seen to that. I am lucky that I have my faith in God to carry me, because I don't have a lot to live for.

I suppose that I should be grateful that God has shown me my wife and my family's TRUE feelings towards me. Who would have believed it? It's all over now except for the lawyers and the tears.

I can't stand it anymore. I beg for mercy from these hurtful, evil hearted people, well not from them, but that God would help me in this trial to clear my name and show these former family members who they really are. Give them each a mirror, so to speak.

But alas the Lord works in His own good time. I might be dead and buried before I see justice, or the ability to forgive the vipers my family turned out to be. Perhaps my mom was right, we only get our reward in heaven. Does our need for justice fall into that category as well? I think I will leave it all up to Him. Not that I really have a lot of choices. I have faith that everything will eventually be okay. This too will pass. Time to hit the bricks and get going. How's the song go? "Hit the road Jack, and dontcha' come back no more, no more! Hit the road Jack- and don't you come back no more!" With great thanks to Ray Charles. I was gone, gone, gone. I hit the road. My life was in a new, lighter sleigh. It was sans one horrid ex-wife and two nasty adult kids.

~~~~~~~◇~~~~~~~~

Six months have come and gone since this nightmare started. I have received an official notice that I am no longer married to the cold and calculating bitch my wife Mary had unfortunately become. We are done! I am a free man again.

I guess I should be happy, but I'm just so sad. What a waste. How many years of my life were wasted with the woman who I thought loved me as well as I loved her. How wrong I was! God has shown me that in no uncertain terms.

But the memory of her, Mary as she used to be, and our life together before this all took place... It still torments me. I miss my kids. They are all grown up, but the fact that they no longer love me... It is my own personal hell. I miss my original wife Mary, the one that existed before the armageddon took place and she was replaced by a she-devil! Was that just a dream, a lie? It seemed real enough. Did my children hate me even then? I will probably never know the answers to these questions.

What a joke the divorce court was. She presented no evidence, reiterated again and again that she knew I was cheating, and since we were in a no fault state, the divorce was filed under 'irreconcilable differences' and that was that. The alleged cheating did not even matter.

I never even got the chance to confront her, or even hear what is alleged to have occurred. My lawyer pointed out that she did not have to prove anything. Did I want court ordered counseling? No. Not with the way she has been behaving. In hindsight, maybe I should have pressed for it, but moreover, these were her real TRUE feelings! Why fight what cannot be fixed or repaired? Why stay married to someone who wants you dead?

She was going to get a divorce regardless of my feelings, or even any evidence for that matter. It was a done deal apparently. Too late to do anything about it even if I wanted to. Fuck me.

I was amazed at how fast it all went. The destruction of our lives together was swift and sure, a legal wrecking ball that made short work of that. Fifteen minutes and it was done.

Our society has made divorce into a cottage industry, and the outcome is pretty much preordained no matter what you want to do, or your spouse for that matter. Fill in the forms, sign here, sign there, write the check, here's my bill. Have a nice day, you're divorced. Final papers, in six months. Just like that and you're done.

My ring was mailed to her with a letter that echoed what I had told her kids, for what it's worth. I seriously doubt she even glanced at my heartfelt letter. Probably just burned it. The kids really were no longer my kids by their own doing. I missed them terribly, but since their minds were poisoned, they sure don't miss me. All of their minds were made up already. I was just mud in their eyes. This was just a waste of time. My marriage and family life was dead. Dead and buried.

The house was sold quickly and all of our assets were evenly divided. I was on my own. After the settlement, which was a simple fifty-fifty split from the no fault state we lived in, I was not in a bad way for money. Our home had actually accrued substantially in value over the years, and I had paid off the mortgage back in year fifteen of our now defunct marriage. She was making very good money as an operating room nurse, so she didn't request any maintenance (alimony) from me. Thank God for small favors!

My lawyer pointed out that I could request support FROM HER because she was pulling down way more dollars than I was! I declined his smirk filled suggestion. I'd rather die than take one red cent from the ex.

I wanted nothing more to do with the evil bitch. That was blood money as far as I was concerned. It was tainted by her evil attitude, and I wanted none of it! Was it a stupid attitude on my part? Maybe, but it was who I was, and if that comes with a price, then so what? I will still be me.

My stuff was delivered to my new cheap apartment, and I had the same moving company take most of it to the thrift store for donation. They were happy to do so for a modest fee. That was it. Everything was settled and we were done and divorced. The end.

As far as the money went,

I did have to pay taxes on the capital gains, but so what? You know what they say about death and taxes. Better to just pay it and be done with it! Uncle Sam will always get his. Even after taxes, I had a pretty sizable nest egg. I would use it to move on with my life.

I took a leave of absence from my job. I had just wanted to quit, but my boss and his boss begged me to return after I had done some serious soul searching and healing... and much hard thinking.

Both men had been through the crucible of divorce, and knew how much I was hurt. It seemed there is a kind of kinship with men who have gone through the grist mill of divorce. We know just how bad it really hurts.

I appreciated the complete understanding from both guys. They knew from sore experience just what I was going through. It was going to take some time to heal.

I had so many lovely nice memories from my life here in town that I just had to leave. Too many things triggered too many fond memories! The good memories were like a torment, here is what you used to have, but not any more. It's been taken away from you forever.

~~~~~~~

My company had really loved me. I was a sort of unicorn. I was an engineer in sales. That is almost a total contradiction in terms, as we all know that most salesmen always puff up their wares. It's "the best" or "the most" this or that, or even, "the cheapest". Not lying, just not always 100% true. A little bit of huge exaggeration. To put it mildly.

Engineers work in exactly the opposite way, always needing absolute truth to make sound decisions and plans. Truth is as necessary to an engineer as is oxygen.

We engineers liked our truth to be at least four decimal places!

I did not work the way that salesmen work. I was 100% honest with the customers. The results were really completely astonishing. I did ten times the sales of our (former) number one sales guy. Ten times!

Thing is, I was not even trying! And the sales figures went up as word of my total and complete honesty got around. Even though I was brokenhearted from my marital collapse, I just simply told the truth. The clients could not sign up fast enough. I got orders even if our bid was high, because I made damn sure it was 100% accurate. My bids were correct to the penny.

So me having these terrible emotional issues... I made no secret of my problems or my feelings, just told the truth if they asked me. Why try to hide stuff that you know will come out eventually?

All my clients, customers and even some vendors were extremely sympathetic to my marital difficulties. I was still an emotional train wreck, even though I was officially divorced. You can't just stop feelings like a faucet. I wish you could!

Well the company paid big bucks for a shrink, and the leave of absence was more than just a hail Mary to try to keep me in the fold. They genuinely wanted me to get better, and hopefully return to them. I suppose it was a bit of a gamble on their part, but if I did return, I would make it up to them many times over.

I was grateful for the support and understanding. In the end, I just had to go. Would I ever return? I'm not so sure. I was completely honest with my bosses, and my gratitude was genuine. They both hugged me and told me to remember that I was always welcome home with them.

One beautiful woman, Lou Anne Gresco, heard that I was leaving and she got very emotional and burst into tears. She has been making passes at me since I started with the company. I have always politely turned her down and just reminded her that I was married. Lou Anne seemed seriously distraught that I was walking out the door sort of permanently. She flung her arms around me and begged for me to take her with. I was very polite, but I told her I was a true basket case since my divorce. I needed to heal. She gave me her phone number and begged me to call her. I made no promises. She was very attractive, but a bit scary. I did not need any more problem women in my life. It was nice to know that someone did care for me. Too bad she was borderline batshit crazy. Yeah, I did not need another one of those, gorgeous or not.

I got on a plane to Florida and upon arrival, got a nice business suite for three months. I was shocked that my old company had picked up the tab for that! I had just let them know where I was staying, and they had called up the place and paid for the stay by corporate card over the phone. Bless their hearts, I might go back there now. That was damn nice of them!

Meanwhile, I just went to the beach, got a health club membership, and paid for a real trainer to help me lose the spare tire that I had developed over the years, and I built a little bit of muscle. I was determined to get back in shape, and I was going to make the most of the recovery process as I could. I felt that nobody could love a depressed out of shape man...

So I spent a lot of time in the gym. Every single day for at least an hour, sometimes two or even three hours to pound myself back into shape! I was determined not to be that out of shape schlub that just got divorced. I removed the television from my living room! I bought a guitar, and took lessons. I love playing guitar. It soothes my soul a little.

Between working out, running for cardio, and learning to play the guitar, I had no time for tv in any case. Funny, I don't miss the mind numbing box at all. I do love the feeling of being productive. I am rebuilding ME. I am going to improve myself. I was in the process of picking myself up and dusting me off. I was truly healing. You can see my abdominal muscles a bit already. I had to buy new clothes as my old ones didn't fit anymore. I was shocked one day when I happened to catch a woman LOOKING AT ME, I checked that I hadn't spilled something on me or something. She just smiled.

I found a therapist and saw her three times a week. She had started me on some antidepressants, that did seem to help me, but I looked forward to the day when I wouldn't need them. Who wants 'happy' out of a bottle?