Clarice

"Where are you staying?"

"With Clarice, at her apartment." I added hoping that he'd believe that this was a platonic arrangement.

"You could do worse, you do realise that she's had the hots for you for yonks?"

"She told me, and I've come to realise that, hidden among the other junk that's been rattling around in my head, I've had suppressed feelings for her. They're out in the open now and I couldn't be happier."

"I just hope that it doesn't affect your work."

"That's not likely to happen, now that we're both happy we seem to work better together."

It was true, since yesterday we just clicked better and our thinking and working together reached new levels.

"Well, it's all out in the open, they all know about us, even Roger." I said as I walked back into her office. This message was accompanied by a kiss.

"And he approves does he?"

"Very much so, especially as I told him that we are working better together now that we are together."

We slipped out during our lunch break to go back and collect some of my clothes. Maureen was there and she looked worse for wear. "What is she doing here?" She hissed, pointing to Clarice.

"She came to help me pick up some of my stuff." I probably should have left it at that. "You look like shit, don't tell me that you've been dumped again."

The floodgates opened. "You bastard, how callous can you be. Yes, if you must know, it has ended. I was too distracted by your rejection and my heart was no longer in it. He realised that."

"I hope that you aren't going to lose your job over this."

"Job, what has my job got to do with this?"

"Didn't you tell me that you made love to your boss, or was that a lie?"

"Oh."

"Yes 'oh'. Someone once said that if you told the truth you wouldn't have to remember what you had said."

Clarice came out of the bedroom with a large case of my stuff. "This should keep you going for a while."

"When I get better sorted I'll be back to pick up the rest of my stuff. You can stay here for the time being, but I'll probably have to sell the house when we divorce."

"So that's how it's going to be is it?"

"Afraid so. Take care of yourself won't you." Her eyes followed us as we left but I don't think that our leaving registered.

It wasn't long after we'd returned to the office that it started. "You're fucking that bitch aren't you?" She knew the number of my direct line so had by-passed the main switchboard.

"Which bitch are you talking about?"

"That bitch of a PA of yours, what's her name, Clarice, I caught the smug look on her face. Trust you to rub my nose in it. I guess that I deserve something like this."

"Please don't call me at work."

"When can I call you? I need to talk to you, to sort out our lives."

"I think that we should let the dust settled, it is too emotional a time to have any sort of rational discussion."

"How long will it take before we can talk?"

"I don't know, what I do know is that you have hurt me badly over the years and my motivation right now is on revenge for past hurts as well as this recent hurt." I heard her sob as she hung up.

I rang the reception desk and asked that all calls to my direct number be redirected to Clarice's phone.

It was the third call that brought matters to a head. I couldn't hear what Maureen was saying but Clarice was only just holding it together. "Listen to me Maureen, for you to have any chance of reconciliation with James you are going to have to stop these harassing calls. Then you should seek marriage counselling. I will discuss with James about him also seeking counselling with the view to a face to face meeting between the two of you." There was a pause. "I'm taking a chance helping you and James to repair the rift between you, but I want to see him happy, and he is not happy right now."

I noticed that not all calls were patched through to me and assumed that Clarice had fielded several calls from Maureen. It was mid-afternoon when I heard her say to, presumably Maureen, "I will not put your calls through to James, he is much too busy to take personal calls. Please do not call him again."

It got to be very distracting after that, Clarice began to vet all calls using the answering machine. The calling number ID helped, she could block all calls from Maureen until she changed the phone she used, and then when a new number was used, this was also blocked.

It was almost a week before Maureen gave up on trying to talk to me, but we knew that she was not finished.

Two months after that fateful night I received a summons to appear before a Family Court Mediator. The upshot of this was that Maureen had to agree to see a Psychologist and, based on the Psych report a further hearing would be scheduled.

It took a further six months before a mediation session was called. Life got interesting. "Mister Scott, in your own words, could you relate the circumstances that led you to leave the family home and move in with your Personal Assistant." The inference was that my actions were premeditated, I assumed that this was what Maureen had told the Psychologist.

"I did not move out of the house and move in with Clarice."

"But you are currently living with her, are you not?"

"Yes, but this came about after I had moved into a hotel. I did not plan to leave at all, it was only after Maureen arrived home from a night out with the girls, and the evidence was that she had not been with the girls at all, that I decided that enough was enough, and that I was to leave."

"You claim that you have evidence that she had not been with her girlfriends, what evidence was that?"

"She went straight into the bathroom and when I went in to speak with her that I found traces of semen in her underwear and on her leg."

The Mediator looked at the Psychologist who looked at Maureen, the inference being that this did not fit with what she had told them.

"You stated that you decided that 'enough was enough', what did you mean by that?"

"This was not the first time during our marriage that my wife had been unfaithful. There is a limit to the amount of hurt that I should be expected to bear."

"But you forgave her previous indiscretions, didn't you?"

"Yes, on her promise that it would not happen again, a promise that she obviously had no intention of keeping."

"I gather from this that you have no wish to repair your relationship with your wife?"

"I do not, not because I don't have feelings for her, I do, but it would take a serious form of masochism to subject myself to a relationship with someone that I feel that I can never trust again."

"Ms Scott, you have heard your husband's description of the events of your marriage, is his recollection of events true?"

"No, I have never been unfaithful to him during our time as husband and wife."

"So, when he told us that he found evidence of your infidelity on your undergarments and on your person, he was lying?"

"Yes."

"And your revelation that you had spent the evening with your employer, that too was a lie?"

"No. We had dinner together, that's all. We discussed some problems that we were having at work and formulating a course of action to overcome those problems."

"And that was all that happened?"

"Yes."

"Your employer, will he verify that?"

"I don't know, I no longer work for that company. The breakdown of my marriage had a devastating effect on my life and I have been unable to cope. I was dismissed as a result. I am currently unemployed."

"If I may make a statement in regards to this evidence."

"What is it Mister Scott?"

"I have here a deposition from her previous employer,"

"What?" Maureen was shocked to hear this.

"In which he states that he did not have dinner with my wife on that night and that her statement had placed him in the difficult position of having to explain to his husband that nothing of the sort had happened."

"I beg your pardon, did you say husband?"

"Yes, Maureen's former employer is gay, he is the 'wife' of the relationship." The cat was running amok in the pigeon house. "In fact this deposition states that her employment was terminated because of her lack of veracity. The company had a policy that does not support employees being untruthful in any situation.

The further this mediation discussion progressed the more it became obvious that Maureen had been less than truthful.

"Mister Scott, do you see any future in attempting to save your marriage?"

"None whatever. I believe that marriages must be based on love and trust, without one you just cannot have the other."

"So you see divorce as the only option?"

"Unfortunately yes, there can be no future for us."

"It's because you're shagging that fucking bitch." Maureen shouted.

"Ms Scott, I must ask you to abstain from outbursts like this."

"Ask him, why don't you, if he's shacked up with that bitch of a PA of his."

"That is not relevant to this discussion." The Mediator said in a calm voice.

"It is true that I am presently living with Clarice Morrow who is my PA, but this came about after the breakdown of my marriage to Maureen."I said.

"See, I knew it. I bet that he was shagging her before he left me!"

"Ms Scott, you are doing yourself no favours with these outbursts."

"It is not true that Clarice and I were intimate before I left my wife." I said.

"Hah!"

"I am going to have to adjourn this meeting until after Ms Scott has completed a psychiatric evaluation. I am of the opinion that she has anger management issues that need to be resolved before we are able to reach an amicable solution to this matter."

I arrived back at work feeling not very positive. "Come here my love, let your Clarice ease your tension."

We somehow managed to ease my tension without it becoming sexual.

After dinner that evening she sat on the floor between my legs while I massaged her neck and breasts. "I have something for you to read."

"What is it?"

She reached under the lounge chair and extracted a cardboard box from which she took a rather battered diary. "Do your remember that I told you that I've been in love with you for all but the first week after I began working with you?"

"Yes, I'm struggling to believe that this is possible?"

Without a word, she handed me the diary. It was a revelation. On the Monday of her second week on the job she had written; 'What is this that I am feeling? As soon as he walked through the door I got this tingling feeling through my entire body, and then he spoke, 'Good morning Clarice, how are you feeling this morning, are you ready for the mountain of work that we have to get through today?' My god he remembered my name. If we're busy we'll be working closely together.

'Yes sir, where do we start?'

'Relax, there's not a lot to do. First things first, when there's just the two of us you can call me James, and then you can get both of us a coffee while we plan the day ahead.'

'Very good sir, I mean James, white with no sugar, because you are sweet enough.'

I couldn't believe that she had written down what we said. It carried on and with each day her feelings toward me became more intimate. By the end of the second week she was thinking of what life with me would be like.

On the following Wednesday her entry read; 'My god, it happened, he was looking at what I was typing into my computer and rested his hand on my shoulder, and I just about creamed my jeans!' This is a figure of speech because she never wears jeans to work. It means that she almost had an orgasm.

About halfway through this diary she had written; 'Something has happened, he is so sad today. I wish that I could hold him to me and caress away the problem that he is having. I bet that he is having problems with his wife, it can't be with work because this is perfect in every way. When we are together he will never have the problems that he's having now, I will never do anything to worry him in any way. I love him so much.' This was ended by a heart with CM for JS for ever and a row of crosses.

I noticed that there were markers at varying intervals throughout the diaries, these corresponded with the times that I was going through dramas with Maureen and they progressively documented that our relationship was getting closer. 'It seems as if she's giving him a hard time again. I could see that he was upset and as soon as he went into his office I followed him and hugged him until he began to relax. One day I will tell him how I feel but not yet, I'll just let him know that I'm there for him whenever he needs me.'

I thought about this for a while, and yes, I did notice that she was becoming closer to me and I actually began to look forward to her cheery 'Tell Aunty Clarice all about it' that prefaced her comforting me when I was feeling like shit.

"Have you never thought about finding a man of your own?" I asked as I closed the diary.

"No, never. I knew that if I waited long enough it would end between you and Maureen and I'd be able to show my true feelings to you. There is no man more perfect for me than you."

"Come here you wonderful person." I would have said more but was prevented from speaking by her kiss.

One thing led to another, and another and then a contented sleep with her head on my shoulder and arm across my chest. In the early hours of the morning, in that state between asleep and awake, a thought crossed my mind, this contentment that I was feeling was something that I had never experienced before. I remembered Maureen once complaining that she had never had an orgasm the whole time that we were married and I now know the reason why, she never put any effort or feeling into our sex, she just accepted the presence of my cock in her pussy until I came and that was it. My attempts at foreplay were rebuffed, apart from letting me play with her tits. I was not allowed to put my finger into her pussy. I kicked myself for not realising that I had someone who loved me close at hand and did nothing about it out of some misguided sense of obedience to the vows I made when I got married.

"Mmmm," A contented sigh came from her as she slowly surfaced in the morning. Her hand slid down my belly to my cock that was hard from my thoughts. "My, he's anxious this morning." She slid over on top of me and fed him into her pussy. For some time she laid there, her lips kissing my neck, before she began to move. After about five minutes, but don't quote me on that, I lost track of time, she pushed herself up and I was able to pay attention to her breasts and nipples. Her pace began to quicken until she pushed down on him so that he was fully inside her. It was about then that he decided that it was time to empty his load into her. "Mmmm," she sighed again.

Five minutes later she was wide awake. "We'd better get out of bed if we want to get to work on time." I told her.

"Spoilsport." We got out of bed and showered, dressed, had breakfast and headed for work.

A couple of months later I said to Clarice during our lunch break, "It's coming up to twelve months since I split from Maureen, this afternoon I'll contact my lawyer and get him to file the necessary papers for the divorce, and to contact her lawyer and advise him that I will be looking to refinance the mortgage so that I can buy out her share of the house."

"She's not going to like that." Clarice said. "She'll have to look for somewhere else to live and her share will not buy much. I doubt if she has any money saved."

"Knowing her, you could be right. I'll have to get a valuation so that we can work out how much I need to get to refinance."

"I can help, I live frugally, and the money that I've saved by not going to bars trying to snare myself a short term bloke has all gone into my bank account."

"We'll wait until I have the numbers and see what extra we need."

The shit hit the fan the day that the divorce papers were served on her. Being rejected by her short-term lovers was bad enough but the rejection by her husband, even though we had been separated for the best part of twelve months was something else, it had a finality that she was unprepared for. "How could you do this to me?"

"Maureen, think about it, we have been officially separated for twelve months and, if you think about it, unofficially for much longer than that. It is time that you move on with your life and allow me to move on with mine."

"I suppose that it's because you've got her pregnant that you're going through with this."

"No, Clarice is not pregnant, and even if she was, that is not the reason why. I feel that it's time that we made the ending of our marriage official. I will be looking to refinance the mortgage so that I can pay you for your share of the house, I would like to move back in as soon as this is over."

"You bastard, you're thinking only of what you want, what about what I want." Christ, that's the pot calling the kettle a very dark shade of grey. "I was hoping that you'd tire of your little slut and come back to me and we could be together again." One thing that I did learn about Maureen was that when she knew that she was in the wrong or that things weren't going her way, she went on the offensive, lashing out at me in the hope that I would back down and she would get her own way. Not this time baby, you've done your dash.

"That is not going to happen, I am not, and will never grow tired of Clarice, and for your information she is not a slut." I was going to add that I was sure that Clarice wouldn't be shacking up with different blokes to prove to herself that she was still attractive to them, but thought better of it.

We had a date set for the hearing in the Family Court. In Australia we have such a thing as a 'no fault divorce' where partner's indiscretions are not considered when the spoils are being divided. Because there were no children involved my lawyer and I were of the opinion that an even fifty/fifty split was a fair enough outcome, and that the hearing was merely a formality to settle the deal. How wrong we were. Maureen's lawyer, even though he had agreed to the split, at the last minute decided that she deserved at the minimum a seventy percent of the joint property on the basis that I had abandoned the marriage.

My lawyer countered this claim by stating that the terms had already been agreed to and that this outcome was equitable to all parties.

Maureen decided at that point to put her two cents worth into the proceedings. "James abandoned me for that slut." She pointed to Clarice. "He left me with nothing, I had no source of income and no funds to cover the utility bills, and now he is offering me far less than market value so that he can buy me out and move back into our house, our marital home, with his whore." Her lawyer told her that her input was not helping. "You are supposed to be looking after my interests so why don't you do just that, after all I am paying you to get the best deal possible for me."

"Ms Scott," The Magistrate interjected.

"Don't call me that, I no longer recognise that name."

"As I was saying Ms Scott and that is the name on these legal documents, you have already agreed to the terms as set out in these divorce papers, it is too late to change your mind."

"But I thought that he would see sense and agree to reconciliation."

"Did you raise that point when these proceedings first began?"

"Yes."

"And what was Mister Scott's response?"

"He told me that this was not going to happen."

"But you now state that you do not accept this decision of his?"

"She has put him up to it, she wants the house, she wants him all for herself."

"My decision in this matter is that the join property, as agreed upon by both parties, will be divided equally between the two parties and that the marital home be sold and the proceeds divided in a fair and equitable manner." He banged his gavel to signify the end of the proceedings.