Contamination

Pretending to hang up my phone, I said to the unnamed vixen who had approached me, "Please excuse me, ma'am. A fire needs to be put out in the office. Yes, I agree, it is a lovely day. The table is all yours now." I quickly made my exit without another word. Gloria just stood there stunned. She was unaccustomed to rejection. She walked over to the P.I. who was seated nearby and shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe next time," she said. Meanwhile, the P.I. took several pictures of her for his own collection.

Of course, I had no office to report to since I had formally resigned from my position. The P.I. and Gloria both knew that they couldn't reveal their knowledge of my unemployed status without jeopardizing their plans to trap me, so the P.I. called and reported the details of their unsuccessful encounter to Thomas. He and Leslie were both confused by this information, wondering if I had indeed managed to snare another job without disclosing it to Leslie. Thomas tasked her with finding out what she could from me that evening at home.

I was hoping to sow confusion and chuckled to myself wondering if Leslie might quiz me about a new job. I would continue to stir things up as much as possible and bewilder them all. Upon my arrival home, Leslie casually inquired, "So how was your day honey? Any luck yet finding another job?"

"Nope, not even a nibble but I'm sure something will open up for me eventually," I retorted encouragingly.

Perplexed, Leslie once again mused, "Are you sure you haven't found something and are keeping it from me because you may be embarrassed that it doesn't pay as well?"

I sternly replied, "Now why on earth would you ask me something like that? Are you accusing me of lying to you now? You know I'd never lie about something like that!"

"No, no, honey. I'm not accusing you of any such thing. I guess I'm just a bit concerned is all. Without your paycheck, things will get tight for us financially, and I just want to make sure we're both on the same page, is all."

She never knew me to lie to her before, so she felt I was being truthful. But she wondered, if that was the case, then why did I lie to Gloria so abruptly about having to get back to my job before she could make a pass at me? It just didn't add up. But she couldn't reveal to me her awareness of my brief contact with Gloria without revealing her complicity. I knew that each failed attempt and daily surveillance would be costly to fuck-head, and I wasn't going to give away the fact that I was onto their game. I figured his combined expenses to be about 2 grand per day for both the P.I. and Gloria's escort services. Early the next morning, I made a couple of sandwiches at home and surreptitiously slipped them and a couple of canned drinks into my briefcase so that Leslie wouldn't know what I was planning.

As I slowly drove around under the pretense of job hunting, I led the P.I. team on a wild goose chase all over town, never stopping at any specific destination. I stealthily ate my lunch while driving in the car, never stopping for lunch, thwarting their efforts. The next day, I invited several of my former coworkers to lunch with me and made sure that all of the seats at my table were filled, frustrating them once again. I changed tactics daily, always one step ahead of them, and always playing it safe.

On Friday, I arranged to meet one of my old retired golf buddies, Cecil whom I had not seen in a while to meet for lunch at a nearby hotel restaurant. After we were seated, I quickly explained how I wanted him to assist me. Of course, Cecil, being widowed and single was always up for spending time with a gorgeous woman. Sure enough, as we finished our salads, and the entrees were being delivered, the vivacious Gloria made her anticipated appearance. Her million-dollar smile enchanted Cecil from the outset. He immediately rejoiced, and was only too happy to help me out with such a lovely assignation.

"Please forgive me, fellas, would you mind if I joined you for just a moment?" said Gloria oozing with exotic breathiness.

Cecil immediately remembered his cue and took the lead saying, "Please, a lovely lady such as yourself can sit with us and stay just as long as you like," Cecil fawned as he took her hand.

"You gentlemen are just so nice, thank you. It's just that I have never been here before, and what you have ordered looks so tasty, I thought I'd be brave, and ask you how it was, for your recommendation of course," as the syrupy words flowed from her luscious lips.

I never even looked her way as I spoke to Cecil, "Hey buddy, can you keep this lady from leaving our table while I visit the restroom? I'd sure love to give her my thoughts on this place. I'll be right back."

"Sure old man. Don't you worry, I'll do my best to keep her company until you get back", Cecil said with a knowing grin.

"Please, excuse me," I said as I stood and headed toward the restroom without saying a single word directly to Gloria. I never looked back as I rounded the corner. I figured I could get a fifteen-minute head start as I slipped out the rear entrance and to my car. I evaded the attention of the P.I. and exited from the rear parking lot.

I got away clean. Things just weren't going their way and Tom's expenses continued to accumulate. I chuckled at my success in playing their game. Cecil later told me that he kept her occupied for nearly a half hour before she frustratingly left. He also saw a man he believed to be the P.I. with a camera follow close behind her. Cecil thanked me for helping him get so close to such a raving beauty because it inflated interests that hadn't stirred in him in a while.

Things weren't improving any on the home front. I busied myself every evening occupying my time totally with the children. My bond with Marla and David was growing ever stronger, while Leslie stomped around the house as a petulant child. She had been told to expect things to go much differently than the direction they were going. Listening to her conversations with the asshole nightly, I could tell they were becoming increasingly frustrated at their unsuccessful efforts to trap me with Gloria, and the asshole was complaining about the expense. Tom all but accused Leslie of warning me but she swore she never did, defending that she wanted this every bit as much as he did. But without any evidence, Leslie remained powerless to confront my unfulfilled infidelity to justify hers.

Two days later, I decided to shut down Gloria once and for all. I was lunching in the crowded mall food court. I made sure that I was surrounded by plenty of witnesses when Gloria suddenly made her predicted appearance.

"Excuse me, may I join you? It's quite crowded today and you look like a very nice guy," she oozed with sexuality.

"Of course," I responded flatly completely ignoring her while eating my Philly sub and fries.

After supplying the most inviting smile, she claimed, "I'm fairly new in town and just happened by this mall. This seems to be a safe place to meet nice people such as yourself." I remained silent, ignoring her remark.

"After we finish having lunch," she continued as she suggestively licked and sucked her fingers, "Would you mind showing me around town a bit? Just the major highlights. I don't mind telling you that I find you extremely attractive, and I'd like to show you my appreciation for helping me out. I believe that both of us would greatly benefit," she asserted as she reached for my hand.

I quickly grabbed my napkin and wiped my mouth with one hand while picking up my cup of soda with the other to prevent physical contact between us. It wasn't merely what she said but it was the way she said it that made her a very dangerous woman to unsuspecting red-blooded males. Were I not privy to the circumstances, I would have already fallen into her trap. Then Aragorn's quote from the movie, 'The Return of the King' came to my mind as an emboldening stalwart. "A day may come when the courage of men fails... but it is not this day!"

"Lady, you and I are never going to happen, not in a million years," I volleyed.

"What? Why not?" She retorted in shock.

"I'm gay, and because I'm gay, you're ugly and repugnant to me. If you were a handsome man then it might be a different story but you're seriously barking up the wrong tree. You and I compete for men, therefore you're my enemy. Quite frankly, I've lost my appetite. I'm sure there are plenty of straight men here that you can ply with your charms," I said as I stood up and walked away. It was perfect. She had no comeback and was unprepared for what I'd just confessed. I wish I had thought of this earlier. Now she can't approach me again without being obvious and outing herself. Although we both know for certain that I'm not gay, she can't publicly argue the point.

It took everything I had to contain my laughter when later that evening, Leslie asked me, "Do you like men? Sexually I mean?"

I withheld my amusement but couldn't contain my smile. "Why on earth would you ask me such a question? I don't have any problem with gays but as for me personally, there's not a gay bone in my body. I'm as straight as an arrow." She simply walked away perplexed.

With that, I'd finally had enough of their game and decided to shake things up by being proactive instead of reactive. To stir the pot, I had Leslie served the divorce petition at her work the following Monday afternoon.

When her expected call came, I decided to go ahead and have our conversation remotely, rather than face to face. This way the children would be spared her vitriol. I had not forgotten how our son David had reacted to her ranting against me. I didn't wish for little Marla to become involved either.

"What the hell do you mean humiliating me by having me served divorce papers at work?! Do you know how many people overheard that? Vernon, I don't want a divorce, ever! Don't you see? Everything SHOULD be going our way now but instead, it all seems to be going to hell. Why, Vernon, why now?"

I took a deep breath seeking inner peace, and calmly maintained my resolve to be patient with her by not raising my voice. "You say you don't want a divorce? Well, I don't want an unfaithful wife. Don't lie to me, Leslie. Are you still having sex with shit-head?"

She paused, "I don't see what that..."

"It has EVERYTHING to do with it, Leslie. You are giving to another man what you vowed would be mine and only mine. You kiss him, give him hand jobs, suck his dick, and fuck him whenever he wants, and that is unacceptable to me. I won't stay married to a slut whore, and that is what you are to me, Leslie. That is what my wife is in my eyes. Had I known from the beginning that you had this in you, I would have never married you in the first place!"

"You can't mean that," she said wailing. "Everything I did, I did for you, for us, to make our lives better, to improve our relationship."

"Well, how's that working out so far, dear wife? Huh? Tell me," I asked with composure.

"To be honest, it's turning to crap because of your fragile male ego. You just won't see things our way you stubborn ass! Honey, what will it take for you to stop this silly divorce? We need to get back on track, back where we were before you went all ape on me."

"You want to know what it will take? To be honest, I don't know if our marriage CAN be salvaged or not after everything you've done to destroy it. But for starters, you need to quit your job and end things with fuck-face cold turkey, no contact ever again. I have many more demands that need to be met for us to continue but there's no need to get into them until I learn that you've met these first two. So what's it going to be Leslie? Tell me."

All I heard was weeping for a while before she continued, "You asshole, why can't you be more like my daddy and suck it up? Be a man for a change, and accept gifts when they come your way, instead of quitting your job and throwing away our marriage like it is nothing!"

I hesitated and was thinking... 'Should I tell her?' I pondered. 'Apparently, she needs another shock to her system. The threat of divorce seems to bother her but it has not broken her spirit yet'. I decided to go for it.

"Okay, Leslie. Since you seem to be fixated on the sacrifice your father made swallowing his pride about your mother working for her former lover, let me tell you something that you may not know about that. After you shoved that nugget down my throat a while back, I decided to verify your story to see if it was true. I'm here to tell you that what you believe about your childhood is totally off base. Do you already know? Or do you want to hear more?"

"What are you talking about you moron? That's MY childhood and MY parents you're talking about. I'm sure that I know WAY more than you do about that. Just exactly what is it that you think I don't know?"

"Are you sitting down? Because if you aren't, I suggest you do. I know what YOU said about your parents but here's the real truth. When I left our house the first time after you blindsided me about your cheating, I met with your father to discuss the story you told me about him, and this is what he told me."

I then filled her in on everything her father had related to me concerning his marriage to her mother, and her parentage.

"So you're right about one thing at least, Leslie. You ARE just like your mother. You're a cheating slut whore just like she is. Congratulations!"

"That's a lie and you KNOW it! You're just trying to deflect from your own failures, and put them on my parents! Well, it won't work, you ass. For your information, I got my information directly from the source as well, my mother."

"I expected as much, so here's what I suggest you do. You can verify what I've said in one of 3 ways.

#1, you know your blood type. Find out what your parents' blood types are and do some research to see if they are compatible.

#2, you could do DNA tests and get a definitive answer once and for all that could never be disputed.

Or #3, you could confirm everything I've said from your father for yourself. He said he would not come to you with this information but if I revealed it to you, he promised to back up the truth of everything he told me. That being the case, you just may have to rethink your whole life and what you believe about your parents."

Leslie was screaming out loud as she yelled into the phone, "You can just go to hell you degenerate! I don't know why you're telling all these lies but I don't believe a damn word you said!" And she hung up on me abruptly.

I thought to myself, well, that could have gone better. I guess only time will tell if she will investigate the bombshell I just dropped on her. I almost feel sorry for her....almost. The next few days ought to be interesting.

Leslie didn't come home that evening after work. I tended to the kids as usual and told them that their mom had to work late, and I had no idea when she would get home. They seemed okay and unconcerned with that explanation. I had no idea where the bitch was, nor did I much care. She could be spending the night in asshole's arms in a motel somewhere to be consoled, or she could be at her parent's place or getting drunk for all I know and at this point, it didn't matter. I finally turned in at midnight without a call or text from her. I wasn't about to poke the hornet's nest again, so I didn't try to initiate any communication with her either.

The next morning when the kids asked about their missing mother, I told them that she must have risen early and headed off to work. Since I was so casual about my story, they just went with the flow, for which I was glad.

Tuesday evening after I had put the children down for the night, Leslie finally dragged in about 10:30 pm. She looked like death warmed over, and I could tell that she had done a lot of crying because her eyes were red and puffy. I weakly smiled at her but said nothing, not knowing if she was still a ticking time bomb.

She said, "Can we talk for a bit without arguing and yelling? I don't want to upset the kids and we need to clear the air about a few things."

"Yes, of course, we can. Let's sit in the kitchen, and I will get you a glass of wine."

"No. No wine for me. The kitchen is fine but I want to keep a clear head, okay?"

"Sure thing." We sat opposite each other. Neither made a move to hug before being seated. Things were tentative before she began.

"I don't mind telling you that I was white-hot pissed at you after you dropped everything on me yesterday. First the divorce and then your out-of-the-blue story about my family. That was over the top by the way. Why didn't you tell me about that as soon as you found out? Why keep it from me?"

"To be honest, I was trying to honor your father's wishes, and not blow up your world unless I found it absolutely necessary. As much as I hate you cheating on me, I still loved you enough to not want to hurt you any more than necessary. But during our little chat on the phone, I felt that I was painted into a corner, and I needed to reach you on a fundamental level to get through to you. I needed to shake up your world so that hopefully you would rethink everything that's transpired lately, and evaluate your behavior in a new light. If I went too far and destroyed whatever love you had left for me, I accept that. I just didn't know what else to do."

Tears appeared on her face as she realized that even after the hell that she had put me through the last few months, I'd just confessed that I still cared for her, and she was moved to tears.

"I was certain you were wrong about what you said but I spent the night at my parents' house last night, and we had a come-clean meeting. My dad confirmed his conversation with you, and mom very reluctantly acknowledged his story. She apologized and we all cried over the consequences of her affair. I wish like all get out that you had been wrong but I can't ever recall a single time that I believe you blatantly lied to me. I have always loved and admired your honesty."

I wasn't sure where she was going with this but the signs were hopeful. I handed her another tissue as she continued.

"Mom recounted how much she regrets reconnecting with Henry Davenport, my biological father. She said doing so cost her the love of the finest man she has ever known. She said she was in awe of dad's sacrifice when he decided to stay with her to help raise me in a two-parent home, even after learning that I wasn't biologically his. Many people would call my father a cuckold wimp if they were aware of the situation that he reluctantly accepted. But in my eyes, he is a man's man standing 100 damn feet tall. I'll love him beyond measure for what he did for me until I draw my last breath. Though I hate the way you thrust that information into the light, I'm grateful to you because we had a family breakthrough. Decades of pain melted away, and some wounds were healed. Mom and dad may never be lovey-dovey as they were before all this happened all those years ago but they are in a much better place than they would be otherwise, and for that, I thank you.

I started to speak but she smiled and quickly said, "Please, hear me out. I have much more to say if that's alright." I nodded and she continued.

"Tom appeared in my life at a point where we were at a lull in our marriage. We had become a bit stale in our lovemaking and intimacy. That's not a put-down against you by any means, please know that. But after eleven years of the same old same old, the luster had faded, I think you will agree. Unknowingly, that made me vulnerable to a predator. I say predator because I honestly now believe that is exactly what Tom is. I responded to his charming ways and yes, he charmed his way into my pants, and I couldn't be more ashamed now of anything in my life. I'm sorry Vernon. I humbly apologize to you from the bottom of my heart. I realize now that I hurt you beyond measure and then dumped on you for not responding the way Tom said you should. You are ten times the man Tom will EVER be. I don't know that it's possible for me to ever make it up to you but if you'll give me the chance, I'll either get back into your good graces or die trying.