Coincidence at Forty?

He gave her a perfunctory kiss on the forehead. He said, "I only need a quick sandwich. You remember I have a game tonight. At seven. Home by eleven."

May was annoyed, but she had been told about the game. Normally they didn't play on Fridays. This was a make-up game.

She said, softly, "I'll wait up for you, eagerly."

Rick tried his best smile. May smiled back. But she found his reaction unsettling.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No. I won my case."

"Great. Oh.....but you don't seem so happy about it."

"Another guy on the street who should maybe be locked up. Well, let me get ready."

Rick took his baseball bag and left soon after. He drove to Mel's house, and picked him up. They played men's baseball, on the same team. It was a hoot. They used metal bats, and played on high school fields. Lots of home runs. But it was a little dangerous, especially to pitchers.

Rick was uncharacteristically silent on the drive. Mel asked about it as they parked.

Rick said, "I'll talk to you about it after the game."

It was a rousing game, won by their team - the ZZZ's - 10-9 in the final at bat. Mel scored the winning run.

They got to Rick's car. He opened the back for their bags. When his was down, he unzipped a small pocket on the side and pulled out Mel's underwear.

Rick held the underwear up for Mel to see. He tossed the garment to Mel.

"Yours, I think."

Mel felt a sense of dread. It had always bothered him that he hadn't left the house with the clothes he came with. He knew.

But he said, "Thanks."

"They were under my bed. You fucked May when I was in New York."

Mel's heart skipped. He backed away from Rick. He said, "I couldn't help it. I....she was after me from the start. I'm so sorry. Jesus."

"You're only sorry because I found out. I bet you had a great time. And her, too. Right?"

"Rick, we...we've been friends for a long time. I've known her for over twenty years. I always wanted her. Until that day, she never....made any indication to me. But you're right. I can't say I'm sorry that it happened."

Rick looked at Mel, his best friend, who had betrayed that friendship. As had he.

He said, "I fucked Jane in New York on that same night. And the next morning, too. Many times. It was great for both of us."

Mel was stunned. He balled up a fist. "You....you....damn! What can I say? Shit! I can't even....we're just as guilty."

Rick said, "The bitches set us up, Mel. It was a swap, except we weren't consulted."

Mel sat down on the pavement. He started to sob. He said nothing. Rick let him cry. Rick was surprised that he was crying. Rick was used to seeing the worst of people. Just not so close to home. He had had more time to consider the matter, and hadn't reached any conclusions. But his big strong buddy was devastated. It was a sad thing to watch.

Mel stopped crying. He said, "The bitches. What do we do?"

"Can I trust you not to go home and hurt her? I mean, I want to confront them both at once. Tomorrow night."

"Geez, geez, Rick. I'm not like you."

"Tell her you're ill. Threw up at the game. I can tell May the same thing."

"Okay."

And that's what Mel did. He wasn't a good liar. He played sick, and slept in the guest room.

Rick told May that Mel had some food thing. But that he'd invited Mel and Jane over for a cookout tomorrow at six. May looked a little disconcerted.

Rick was not going to have any sex with May that night. Maybe not ever again. He was absolutely not amused by their perfidious plotting. When he thought about it, he only got more furious. So, when May wanted loving, he didn't come across. And May started to worry.

The next morning Rick got up at five. May pretended to be asleep. She heard him sneak out. She watched him run down the street, in his exercise outfit. Something was wrong. Rick never set up social engagements. Yet this evening Jane and Mel were coming for dinner.

Rick was in and out all day, shopping, checking in at the office. Then he mowed the lawn, and edged around the sidewalk.

Mel woke late, and Jane was downstairs. She asked him how he felt.

"Pretty good. We'll be fine for dinner."

"What dinner?"

"Rick asked us over for a cookout today at six. I said okay. Before I got ill."

"Ah...a cookout. Mel?"

Mel said, "He wanted to try something. We just have to see. What's up with you today?"

Jane had been intending to go shopping and check in at work. Now, she thought something was wrong.

She peered at Mel. "That's..." She stopped. She said, "I'm going to shop for an outfit, check work."

Mel was relieved. He showed it. Jane saw that. She had a chill down her back. But she went and dressed to shop. Mel refused breakfast, so she left. As soon as she got away from the house, she called May's cell."

She said, "May, its' me. Mel's acting funny. He was okay before he went to the game. He said he was ill. But he's not a dissembler."

May said, "Rick didn't want sex last night. He's out now. They cannot possibly know. They would never talk about it, admit it. What?"

Jane was fairly sure that something had happened. She didn't want to cause May to panic. She said, "Well, we can only see what happens. I'll see you at six. Please don't give Rick any reason to suspect us. But, May...wear something sexy tonight. We may need to improvise."

Mel and Jane rang the bell at six sharp. Rick answered the door. Mel was wearing khaki shorts and a Hawaiian shirt. He wasn't a suave dresser. Jane was wearing a summer dress, tight on the top, loose on the bottom. High heeled sandals. She looked.....magnificent. Rick immediately suspected chicanery. It was his métier and he knew it when he saw it.

He ushered them in, and May came downstairs. She was dressed to fuck. She had a tube top, and a short wrap around skirt. High heel sandals, as well. Now Rick knew they were in for a wild ride. He had not decided - not firmly - what he wanted to do. Underneath his calm, though, he was red with rage. It made him tight.

Mel wasn't quite so aware. He and Rick had no plan. Mel didn't know what he should do. But he was aware of May. His eyes were constantly drawn to her, as Rick served drinks.

Rick had found the IPA in the fridge, and taken it out to warm. He gave one to Mel, and a Pinot Grigio for the women. He drank a Stroh's.

Rick had rockfish and fingerling potatoes to cook. It wouldn't take long. He served up at six forty-five. The four sat on the patio to eat. So far, the conversation hadn't been spectacular. But Jane had come up to him as he cooked at the grill.

"What's going on, Rick. I hope everything's okay."

Rick looked her in the eye. "Why are the two of you dressed like that, is something happening here?"

She looked away. "Please Rick. Mel....he....I don't want him hurt."

Rick laughed at her. He didn't respond. Instead, he served up dinner.

The conversation at dinner was strained. Jane and Rick said little. Mel and May chattered nervously. Rick cleared away dishes, and brought out some cookies.

The he tossed Mel's underwear onto the table.

"Found these under the bed. They belong to Mel. He left them when he fucked you, May. In our bed. What was it? You conniving bitches!"

He looked right at May. She said, "You fucked Jane. We're even."

Rick looked at Mel. "Are we even, Mel?"

"No, no way. They set us up. I'd never have agreed to a swap."

Rick said, "Me either. So, May, this is it for us. One night of fun. We're done. Fun and done. Rhymes."

Jane said, "Rick, what are you saying? For God's sake. One night. And you had fun. I know that for a fact."

"Yes. No doubt. One of the last fun evenings of my life you rotten, evil, scheming witch." His voice was vicious. He turned to May, "Bitches, I should say."

Jane was completely shocked at Rick's reaction. She looked to her husband. She said, "Mel, I hope you don't hate me. I was trying to liven up our lives. And I succeeded. You and I have been fucking like rabbits since."

May started sobbing, a quiet sobbing. She knew her marriage was over. She knew Rick was right about what they'd done. She got up slowly and walked into the house. Rick didn't follow her.

Mel looked at May leave. He asked Jane, "All worth it, then?"

Jane was frozen. She didn't see this coming. When she considered what might happen, she thought they'd probably swap some more, once she could manipulate that. Now.....she would try desperately to save her marriage.

Mel got up. He went inside the house. He turned as he reached the door. "I'm leaving without desert. You can get an Uber to wherever you'll be staying." He disappeared inside. A minute later they heard the car start.

Jane and Rick were sitting silently. She said, "You could have kept your fucking mouth shut. It would have been great. We could have swapped. Or we could have forgotten it. But you had to.....screw it all up."

"I couldn't allow it. Tricks and lies. I can likely never trust another woman, as long as I live. That's what you've done, Jane. You and my self-entitled wife."

"You did it. You made this way worse that you had to. You asshole." She pulled out her phone, walked inside. He waited until he heard her leave, and the car pull up.

Rick sat outside for a while. He had a cookie and another Stroh's. But he knew he'd have to see about May sooner or later.

She was on the bed in their bedroom, still fully clothed. She seemed to be asleep. Rick stared at her. Married to her such along time. Not stupid, normally. He didn't understand. He went to the guest room, where he'd moved some of his things before the dinner. He didn't sleep well.

He awoke, if you could call it that, at five am. It was dark outside. He tossed on some running clothes and went out the back door. He ran five miles, and felt better for it.

May was in the shower when he returned. It was Sunday. Rick went downstairs to the basement bathroom, showered there, and dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

He was in the kitchen making coffee when May came down. She looked at him. She'd been crying again. She said, "What can I do to heal us, Rick? I don't want to split up."

"Then you shouldn't have plotted and schemed to fuck my best friend."

"You got Jane. You always wanted her."

"May, why did you do it? After all this time? I don't get it."

"Jane and I have always talked - you know - about sex. We got hot when we talked about our husbands. Now we're forty, Rick. We're old. I...we...wanted to spice things up, and maybe to see what it was really like for each other."

"And you thought to trick your husbands."

"Neither one of you would have agreed. We knew that."

"Right. What would have happened if I turned Jane down? Or if Mel turned you down? I resisted Jane, until I couldn't."

"I don't know. We knew we could get what we wanted. Men are weak. That's what Jane said. And we thought you'd never find out."

"May, was it worth what it will cost?"

"I don't know what the cost will be. But even if we stay together, it won't have been worth it. I know I destroyed the trust we had."

"Yep. Never to return, May. Never." He paused. "But you'll always have your warm memories of getting royally fucked by Mel. And I have mine of Jane."

"You....are we splitting up? You said that last night."

"I was very angry last night. Still am. But I can see no way forward with you. Maybe not with anyone."

May sobbed again. And Rick, though moved, didn't move. When she realized that he wasn't going to comfort her, she went back up the stairs.

They didn't talk much for the rest of the day. Rick was outside fiddling with the garden. He was mulling his options. This was a woman he had loved deeply for over twenty years. And he believed, until now, that he knew her. Now, he wondered who that woman was. Because, the woman he married never would have fucked him over like this.

On Monday Rick consulted a family lawyer with offices near his. He found out that they'd likely split the property in a divorce, and that he wasn't likely to owe alimony. They could sell the house and use that money for different living spaces.

He told the lawyer, Jennifer Moran, to draw up the papers, based upon irreconcilable differences. He told her not to have them served quite yet.

He called Mel. Mel was at work, but in his office, putting in orders for supplies.

Rick asked, "How are you doing?"

"Okay. Well....not so much okay. I miss her. Why did they have to do it?"

"You'll have to ask her. May said she always wanted you. Why did you screw her?"

"She.....she took me, sort of. She's sexy. As you know."

"Mel, our wives, I think, enjoyed the sex with us more than they enjoyed marital sex. Partly because it was new and different. And because we were better with them when we were cheating. Only, I can't get over the idea that May's best sex memory of our marriage is with you."

"You mean your marriage is over?"

"I can't see any other solution. I'm letting it sit for a while, though. And you?"

"She's coming to dinner tonight."

"Well, good luck. Do you already know you want her back?"

"Almost."

"Aren't you....enraged?"

"I was. Not now. The sex with May was a gift. And Jane gave it to me."

"I see. Well. Seeya." He disconnected quickly. And he thought that not only was he losing his wife, but his buddy. That last answer killed the friendship.

And that conversation also was a big factor in Rick's decision to tell Jennifer Moran to file and serve.

Monday evening, Rick didn't go home. He went to a cheap motel and turned off his phone. He filed a motion to continue a short trial he had coming up, for personal reasons. He made a list of what he had to do.

He slept okay, after he got used to the noise outside.

May was sad, and frantic, when Rick didn't come home from work. She had made his favorite meal, meat loaf and cole slaw. She waited, and then she tried calling, but the phone was off. She ate a little and put the rest away. She didn't sleep much. But she had to go to work the next day.

Rick went to his bank when it opened. He split the accounts. Then he went by his old house, after May usually went to work. He packed up a bunch of things, and left her a note that said he was going to relocate.

Then he did relocate. He found a one-bedroom apartment near his office, and rented it on the spot. He carried what he had into the place, and ordered a simple double bed from Amazon. He got an air mattress for that evening, at Walmart. Some pots and pans, sheets, towels, glasses and dishes. The lady at checkout asked, "Are you leaving her?"

"How did you know?"

"You have a ring. But you're buying for an apartment. Think twice, though. I've been through it, and it isn't pretty.

When he carried the stuff into the new place, he took off the ring, and put it into his briefcase. He phoned his baseball manager to tell him that he'd not be playing anymore.

The manager, Ray, asked, "Why?"

"Personal problems. I wouldn't be able to play with Melvin, anyway."

"Oh. Well, keep us in mind. I hope you change your mind."

He went to the grocery and got food to cook.

Then he sat down and cried his eyes out for forty minutes.

He turned on his phone, then. There were many messages, mainly from May. But also from her parents and his parents. Jane left a message to call her. The girls also left that message.

The last message from May was after she had been served, at home when she came from the school.

She was sobbing again. "Please, please, Rick. I love you so much. Oh, this is too much." He could hardly understand her.

As he was picking up the messages, the phone rang. It was Jane. He answered.

She shouted, "You fucking asshole! You'll kill her. Jesus, get over it. Mel and I are back together. He's not being a baby about it all."

"Hello to you, too, vicious witch. May and I are over. Get used to it. Maybe you can share your husband with her. You don't seem to mind that."

"Asshole."

"For a high-priced lawyer, you have a limited vocabulary."

"You're being a baby. You need to...."

"What? I need to see the last of all three of you. And that's what I'm doing. Walking away from a nightmare."

Jane calmed down. There was the sound of heavy breathing as she did it. Then she said, "Rick, it's too soon for you to make this decision. It's too raw for you. You need to back off."

"Jane, it's too soon for Mel to decide to stay with you. He needs to rethink."

"No, he doesn't. Sure, I fucked up. I fucked you. But, asshole, you were the only man in the world I would ever have done that with. And now, there's no one. He's safe."

"Jane, that's just sophistry. If some charmer came along, you'd hop right into bed with him. Then try to hide it. May, too."

"I can see you thinking that about me. But not May.

"But she did hop right into bed with Mel. She did it. He wouldn't have ever tried it on with her."

"He's different. We've all been friends, close, for so long. No one else....I mean, no one else is close to her like Mel is."

"Not good enough. I need to move on. I'm divorcing her. Stay out of it."

"Someone from my firm will represent her. You're gonna talk to her, believe me."

"Leave me alone. You, Mel and May - leave me alone." He disconnected.

Two nights later there came a knock at Rick's door. It was both of his daughters. He opened the door and gave them both hugs.

Sarah, the oldest by three minutes, took charge. "Dad, what are you doing? Mom's shattered."

I said, "Me, too. Has it been explained to you?"

Jen said, "Mom told us that you and Mel and Jane swapped mates for a night. Then you got angry."

"Well, Jane and your mother cooked up a plan to seduce me and Mel. Jane followed me to New York, and....and she succeeded in seducing me. You mother called Mel to our house and basically took him in our bed. They thought it was so neat. We'd never know all of it. Only our own part. But I found out."

Sarah gasped, "You mean that...they ambushed you?"

"Yes. And, much to my discredit, I fell right into it."

Jen looked at her dad, "But it's over. Can't you...forgive and forget?"

"No. No, I'm not....not that sort."

"Mel and Jane are back."

"Mel was - he said this - he was happy Jane gave him the gift of fucking your mom. So, we're no longer buddies."

"Jane says that you're being a wimp. A bruised ego. Because mom liked it with Mel."

"So? Maybe. That's part of what you risk when you fuck around. Maybe your spouse will have a bruised ego, and never get over it. Wanna beer?"

"No. We have to drive back. Coffee?"

He gave them coffee and sent them on their way.

Jane's firm, in the person of Carl Pearson, a partner, filed a reply to the divorce petition. May opposed the divorce, stating that she believed the marriage could be saved. But Rick knew that if he wanted it, he would get it. And he did want it.

At the first court date, the judge ordered eight counselling sessions and a report to the court. Rick had been warned. He and Ms. Moran agreed to one of the marriage therapists. Elizabeth Borden. (Lizzy?)

The first session was preceded by a case of nerves for Rick. He arrived five minutes early, and May was there in the waiting room.

He nodded to her. She smiled at him, "Is that it, all I get after twenty years?"

"Yes. The first nineteen plus were good. Then....." He shrugged as Ms. Borden opened the door.

She was a well-dressed woman, fifty or so, small but pretty.

She explained her role, which was to explore the situation and report to the court about whether the marriage might survive.

She asked Rick, "I've read a synopsis of the facts. Why have you asked for a divorce?"

"Because May plotted with her bestie so they could fuck the other's husband. They knew neither of us would agree. Treachery in my book."

"May, what could have caused you to do this? It does seem underhanded, to say the least."