Company Holiday Party

COMPANY HOLIDAY PARTY

My wife and I attended her company holiday party last evening. She's a vivacious woman, medium height, medium build, dirty blonde hair, brown eyes, and a great smile. Melanie Bolden. I'm Bob Bolden. We're both thirty-five. I'm 6' tall, slim, quite fit, dark hair and eyes. Some people say I have a dark side. I don't see it that way. I try to be fair. Sometimes that means harsh. Sometimes not.

Mel works at a real estate agency, doing their paperwork, accounting, and general legal work. She's not a full lawyer, but has special training in the material she needs for her job. She's had the job for six years, since our youngest of two children started school full time. We have a boy, Johnny, who is thirteen, and a girl Jennie, eleven.

I work from home, mostly, as a troubleshooter for a tech company. At times I travel, but only for a week at most. Maybe three times a year. Since I'm the parent who's at home the most, I have day to day responsibilities for the kids. Mel works pretty steadily five days a week, from eight to five. Not much late work, and no travel. When I'm gone for work, her folks take over for me at home.

Well, back to the holiday party. We've attended every year since she went to work at J & J Homes. The firm employs forty people, what with staff and sales. Mel has an assistant for the administrative stuff. Until recently, that had been Jane Norworth. But she retired. A month ago, the firm hired a guy to take Jane's place.

I found this out at the party. Not before. When we got to the venue -- a hotel event room -- Mel left me to circulate. I went to the open bar and got a beer. I spoke to several people that I had met before at other functions. One was Sally Bennett. Sally and Mel started at the firm about the same time. Sally was cute, but now about fifty.

She came up to me and I gave her a short hug.

"How's it going for you, Sally?"

"Pretty well. Kids are all off at school. Harry and I are having a good time, by ourselves."

"Sounds great. Are you going to travel?"

"Undecided at this point. College is expensive. So...what do you think about the new hire?"

"Who's that?"

"Oh," she paused, looked over at Mel. "Mel's new assistant, William Newson. That's him talking to Mel now."

I looked over. Mel was speaking to a young man of about my height. He had blonde hair, and a stocky build. He was, to my thinking, in her space. I watched for a minute or so. Mel didn't move away.

"Sally, I never knew about the new hire. And....I think you knew that, somehow, right?"

"Bob, I did wonder. He's been here to replace Jane, for a month."

"And....c'mon, Sally, I see you have something to say. Say it, please."

"They're quite friendly. They go to lunch, outside, maybe twice a week. But....Bob, they don't stay long. You know what I mean."

"You mean she hasn't had sex with him at lunchtime. I assume that's what you mean. Don't resort to euphemisms."

"I'm certain they haven't done the deed. I'm not sure how long that will last. Especially since you haven't even been told about him."

"Think I'll walk over and introduce myself." I walked casually toward Mel and her friend. Neither saw me coming.

I stood next to Mel. I said, "Hi, Mel. Can you introduce me to your friend here?"

Mel flushed. "Oh....sure, this is Bill Newsom. He works at the firm now. Bill, this is my husband, Bob."

Bill was looking at me with what seemed to be curiosity. He reached for a handshake. I hesitated a second, then grasped his hand. He squeezed, apparently as hard as he could. I smiled at him and hurt him at the same time. He jumped back a little. I let go.

Mel was quiet, but she had noticed the macho shit. I looked at her. Music started to play. There was a dance floor. I took her elbow and guided her there. It was a slow dance, and we held each other medium close. I leaned back and looked at her.

"Why didn't you mention that guy? Apparently, you work closely with him. Being as he took Jane's place."

I felt her stiffen. "He is my new assistant. I was sure I mentioned that."

"Mel.....I find myself uncertain of many things, like I've never been before. Are you fucking that guy?"

"NO!" This was said with a certain ferocity, and people around us noticed.

"Well, I know for a fact that you never mentioned him. I didn't know Jane was gone. And I certainly didn't know about this guy. How close have you gotten with him?"

"Not close. We work together, most days. That's it."

"See, Mel, you just lied. You wanna tell me about the lunches?"

"Shit. Someone......"

"What? Ratted you out? That's a telling response."

"Bob, I haven't done anything with him. I swear. The lunches....well...he's pleasant. He asked me, and, you know, it's only lunch."

"But, Mel, you have to have this stuff pulled out of you. Don't mess with me, Mel. We have kids. If you have something going with him, you have to stop that. And.....how's that gonna happen if you work with him all day?"

The music stopped, and a faster song began. There was no band, just a DJ. I swung Mel out from me, and looped her into a swirl. She smiled at me. We danced that one. We were both good dancers, and enjoyed it. We stayed out there for a rock number. We separated, danced to each other, separated, whirled around each other. The dance we were doing was sinuous and sexy. We ended up entwined as the music stopped. I stepped back from her, and we went over to the drink table, got some water.

"You dance so well, Bobby. I can't.....I won't mess up. You're my man. No one else." She was kind of whispering this as we walked away with our bottles of water.

"I'm happy to hear that." We were talking to her boss, John Stevens, when Bill walked up.

He said, "That was quite a dance exhibition. Do you guys take lessons?"

Mel said, "No." She resumed talking to John. I looked at Bill, smiled. I waved him over to walk with me. As we walked away, I heard John Stevens say, "Is there some problem here between Bob and Bill?" I didn't hear what she told him.

I walked Bill over to an exit that led to a balcony, about ten feet off the ground. Whether he would stay on the balcony was up in the air, right then.

He said, "Bob, I...I don't want any trouble here. Melanie and I are friendly, and that's it."

"I hear your words, but I don't believe them. I want to make something very clear to you, so as to save problems later. I suspect that you and she have bonded in some way that goes beyond what I could be comfortable with. In fact, I know that. The two of you have to back off that...but I don't know how to accomplish that if you're working with her each day. Have you any suggestions?"

"I...I do like her. I think she likes me. As a friend. But just now she was curt to me, almost rude. I know Mr. Stevens noticed. I need this job. So, I'm going to be mindful of this situation. It may be....uncomfortable.... But I'll just be a work colleague."

"Hmmm. Okay. If I have any reason to suspect otherwise, I'll have to take some action. Please don't get us into that situation."

"I won't"

I walked back into the big room. Mel was talking to Sally. It looked like they were having a bit of a tiff.

I again was able to walk up to Mell without her seeing me. Sally did see me, though. And she stopped talking abruptly.

I said, "Hi, ladies. Is everything okay?"

Sally said, "Sure. Just a little discussion."

"About Bill, though."

Mel said, "Bob, I saw you and Bill leave for the balcony. Is he....still on the balcony?"

"Yep. We had a frank discussion." The DJ started up again, and I guided Mell out to dance. We did three more, ending with a slow song that had us plastered to each other. I was erect, and she was hot. It must have showed, because when it was over, we had some applause. A little embarrassing.

We left the party soon after that. The drive home was okay. Not much said. When we got through our door, she attacked me, kissing me and shoving me onto the couch. The kids were at her folks' house. I responded. After some necking -- just like in the old days -- I picked her up and carried her upstairs.

And I ravished her, totally. It was one of those times when I treated her just like a fuck toy. She was so aroused by that. She just kept on coming, until I flipped her over and fucked her from behind. I came soon after, and so did she -- again.

"Only you, big boy. Only you for me."

"Good to hear. Seems I had to work for it though."

She smiled at me. "Maybe I should arouse your jealous side more often. It seems to have gotten me well fucked."

After that evening, I was less worried about Bill. But not completely at ease with the situation. Two weeks went by, and I dropped in on Mel's work at lunchtime. Sally saw me come in the door. She seemed uneasy.

"Hey, Sally, is Mel around?"

"Sure, I'll get her."

"Don't bother, I'll surprise her." Now Sally was looking back at Mel's door.

I walked down the hall, opened her office door. She and Bill were on her couch, next to each other. Close, thigh to thigh. His arm was along the back of the couch, but not directly on Mel. But her hand was on his knee.

I said, in a flat voice, "Don't the two of you look comfortable." When they saw me, they looked far from comfortable.

Mel said, "Hi, Bob. What are you doing here?" Her voice was shaky.

"Checking......to see if you had a lunch date, or wanted to eat with me."

"I...I'd like to go to lunch with you."

I turned to Bill. "You and I are gonna have a serious talk, Bill. This afternoon after work. I'll meet you out front."

Bill said nothing. He looked spooked. The three of us stared at each other. John Stevens walked in the door. Sally's doing, I believe.

He said, "Some problem here? Maybe the same one from the party?"

"Yes. I believe there is a problem." I spoke in a somber voice.

Mel said, "There is no problem, Bob. Nothing is going on."

"You two sure looked cozy, before you saw me." I turned to John. "Have you noticed them being cozy, John?"

He looked around at all of us. "Bill, your employment here is terminated. You were on probation. Now you're not."

Mel stood up quickly, "No, John. This isn't a solution. He's good at his work. There's nothing else between us."

John said, "Mel, I'm not an old innocent. I see what I see. Since the party I've been expecting that something like this would result. And, the fact that Bob came in today just moved the timing of this up a bit. There's something unhealthy developing here, and I'm not going to allow that in this company. Maybe nothing very bad has happened yet. But, Mel, can you honestly say that nothing ever would?"

"Mr. Stevens," said Bill, "I have not done anything with Mrs. Bolden but do our work. This isn't fair."

Stevens said, "Do you two -- you and Melanie -- really want to go further in this discussion?"

Mel said, "No."

I said, "Why not? What's happened?"

Stevens told Bill to clean out his desk. Bill left. He turned to Mel. "Well, you or me?"

Mel said, "Bob, Bill and I.....we had a hug and kiss the other day. Mr. Stevens walked in as we were separating. He didn't say anything then. I'm so sorry. I don't understand what's gotten into me. But, Bobby, that's all that happened."

I said, "Let's go to lunch. Maybe you could get the afternoon off." She did. We went in my car to an out of the way place with Mexican food. No one from her office would be there.

We ordered. I asked Mel, "So, I would like an honest explanation. Because, despite my warning, and the fact that we have these young kids, you were headed toward that guy's bed."

"I did like him. I was very attracted to him, and I am not sure exactly why. But I have gone out of my way to avoid...awkward situations. As much as I could."

"Mel, you had the hug and kiss, and today the two of you were making out on the couch before I came in. Sally was so uncomfortable when I showed up."

She blushed. "He's gone now. He was the temptation. The only one in our entire marriage. Now that he's gone, I'll be okay."

"But is he gone? He just doesn't work with you. But he's still around somewhere. He knows your number, where you live, where you work. How do I know...."

"Bobby, I love you. This was a one off. Maybe I should go to some therapy to see why. I'm certainly not dissatisfied with you, sexually or in any other way."

I nodded and we finished the meal. We went home and I fucked her to several orgasms before I had to get the kids. That night I did it again. More loving this time. When she was asleep, I went downstairs and cloned her phone. I also installed a silent-tracker and text monitor. I didn't have anything that could get voice calls. The next day after Mel went to work, I messed with her laptop, so I could see on my phone what was happening there.

I had absolutely no trust in her. Sure enough, she got a call from Bill, at about eleven am. It lasted six minutes. I rolled around to her work, staked it out. At 12:30 she came outside, and drove away. I let her go, because of the tracker. She ended up at a Starbucks across town. Billy was there waiting for her. She and he discussed something for about twenty minutes. Then she left. I followed him along. He went to an apartment complex, and I assumed he lived there. I checked, and he did. I watched until I had to go to the kids, and he never left.

When Mel came home that night, I asked how her day was, after Bill was fired.

"It was okay. I'm interviewing to fill that position tomorrow."

"Anything else? Did he try to get in touch with you?"

"He called."

"And?"

"He said he was leaving town, going to his home town. He asked me to meet him for coffee. I did. I told him goodbye. I left. I felt that I owed him a face to face."

"Okay. When's he leaving?"

"I don't know exactly. But it's no longer any of my concern."

"Okay."

That was a Monday. I had a work trip set for the next Monday through Wednesday. I decided to take precautions. I felt that it was close to the end of our marriage. I wasn't going to spend my days on pins and needles, wondering when Mel would fuck this guy -- or some guy. But it would be so difficult for the kids, and for me if I didn't get custody. Also, I loved her. But for this one thing, she was nearly a perfect wife, and a great mother.

The rest of the week produced no further contact between them, that I could see. Mel and I had a great weekend with the kids, and in bed three nights. She was a firecracker. I never got tired of her.

I had two guys I knew monitoring the situation when I went on the trip. It was to Pittsburgh, a four hour drive away. I spoke to Mel about the trip.

"Mel, any contact between you and Billy boy would be ill advised."

'Oh, don't I know it. He's probably gone by now anyway. And so are my folks, so I have the kids. I do understand that you don't trust me."

"Well, you're correct about that, for now. Trust can be regained."

Mel and Billy had absolutely no contact during the trip. When I returned, I had a report that Bill was still living at his apartment, but just was job hunting, as far as my guy could tell. There were no calls between them, either. One thing, though. Mel had stopped at a Seven-Eleven on the way home from work Monday. The guy said she came out with a soda and a bag.

I came home on Wednesday. Mel greeted me at the door, with a big hug and kiss. The kids ran out of the TV room and smothered me. I was happy. We ate dinner, put the kids to bed, went upstairs. Mel said how happy she was to see me. and she showed it, several times. And.....I became quite suspicious. Her reactions in bed were....a little off. I couldn't put my finger on it. Although I did put my finger on her. But when she went to sleep, I crept out of the bedroom and did a whole house search -- with a device -- for electronics. I found a burner phone. It was in a drawer in the kitchen, with some plastic food containers. I took it out, activated it, and cloned it to my small device. I was virtually certain that my marriage was over. Because, why else would she have done this?

It was two am. I looked over the material on the phone. There were several calls to Bill's number. There were two texts back and forth. Mel texted Billy on Monday with her new burner phone number. Billy called her just after that. There was a text on Tuesday, and calls. The text suggested that they would meet on Friday afternoon, at Bill's apartment. One thirty.

Bill was a no show. I watched as Mel buzzed up to his place. I watched her become increasingly upset when there was no answer. She began to ring other buzzers. Someone let her into the building. Ten minutes later she came back outside. She looked around, slumped, went back to her car and drove away. I took no pleasure in the whole thing. It was simply something that had to be done. No one should mess with a marriage.

Mel was in the dumps for a good while after Billy stood her up. She texted him, and called him. He never answered. His cell phone was no longer operating. His landlord emptied his apartment after he failed to pay the next month's rent and never answered the door. It turned out that his parents, who lived on the west coast, reported him missing. But it was a low priority case, and police here never seemed to have bothered with it.

I had a buddy in the police department. I found out that the parents did get in touch with his prior employer, and were informed that he had been sacked just a short time before he disappeared. His wallet and identification, and credit cards were never located. One card, though, had been used several times in Phoenix, Arizona. Then it was cut off for possible fraud. The bills were never paid. Bill had closed his checking account, and taken the cash, just days after he was fired. The cash was never located. It was eleven thousand dollars and some change. A tidy sum, not to be ignored.

All in all, it was a dead end. The case died.

Mel kept the burner phone. She still has it, but she's stopped checking it, like she did when he first stood her up.

That night, Friday when he didn't show, I asked her if she wanted to go out to eat with me and the kids. She said she felt unwell. I made her some soup. I took the kids for pizza.

She was unwell the entire weekend. She stayed in bed. I slept with her, but left her alone. She didn't sleep well.

Mel went to work that next week. Each evening she checked the burner phone, but nothing. She was still down.

That next Friday after work and after the kids' bed time, I asked her what was up with her.

She just looked at me. For an uncomfortably long time. I didn't look away. I was interested in what she had to say.

"I guess I'm a little bummed out by what happened to Bill. I liked him. I hope he's okay."

"I'm sorry, Mel. But maybe it has saved our family. You had some....I don't know...serious issues about him. Why?"

"Bob, my issues..." She started to cry. Not wracking sobs. Just years coming softly down her face.

I said, "Oh, Baby. He won't worry too much about this job. Or about you, either. He was only wanting to get into your pants."

"He's a nice guy. I made some mistakes with him, getting close. I'm sorry. It just sort of crept up on me. I....felt I needed....I felt like you didn't give me any space to deal with him."

"If you had space, we'd likely be getting divorced now. Is that what you want? I'm sure you could find him and join him. It could be arranged."

"Oh. That was never what I wanted. I had some connection with him. Like a little magic in my life. It was never a threat to you. Well....not really."

"You were going to fuck him. That would have ended us. I would not have stood for that."

"It wasn't about sex. You give me great sex. I cannot imagine better. But...he's just so nice, engaging."

"Yeah. Did he press you for sex? I bet he did."