Deidra, David and Jillian

I answered, "Don't worry about it, Dee. I really don't want to talk. I wanted to tell you face to face that my attorney filed for divorce on Friday. I was going to give you a copy of the paperwork and instructions from Phil on how to avoid being served at work."

"Divorce? Are you crazy?" She was barely speaking coherently. "Please Dave..." Were the last words I heard as I ended the call.

=======

As Connecticut has one of the most efficient, fair and customer friendly court systems in the United States, it was the middle of July (four months later) before I heard from my attorney. "I spoke with Dee's attorney yesterday. She is going to demand counseling. I suspect that the court will go along with her demand, when we finally get in front of a judge. Do you want to start now and get it over with?"

I sighed and told Phil, "Set it up. I don't care when the sessions are scheduled. The earlier the better. I've got a feeling that Dee will sign the divorce petition after the first session."

"Why the hell would you think that?" Phil wanted to know.

With a sinister kackle, I answered, "Let's bet a bottle of Tito's for you against Knob Creek for me."

"Are you going to tell me more?" He asked.

"Nope."

Three weeks later, at 2:00PM on a Tuesday afternoon, I gingerly walked into the office of Doctor Allison McCoy, Marriage Counselor. After slowly and carefully lowering myself into the offered chair, Dee explained to the Doctor, "David is a landscape architect and occasionally tweaks his back at work."

"Can I get you anything to make you more comfortable?" The 50ish attractive, but overweight therapist asked.

Grimacing, I shook my head and told her, "If I sit still, I am fairly comfortable."

With a bit of a laugh, Allison said, "At least I can be confident there won't be any fist fights in my office today."

Her joke caught me completely off guard and I laughed and immediately cringed. "Please don't make me laugh, Doc. It hurts." was my earnest plea.

After reaching over and lightly patting my knee, she began, "I've read the divorce petition, as well as the questionnaires that you completed. I want to thank each of you. I rarely receive completed questionnaires as detailed as yours. It's equally rare that the two spouses agree on the grievances."

Allison looked back and forth between us before continuing, "May I summarize the situation?"

We each nodded and Allison said, "Ultimately, we are dealing with trust issues. Can David trust Deidra to not give herself a hall pass, after explicitly telling him that she wished that..." Allison looked down at her note pad, "...Marc LaValliere had picked her for a night a sexual passion on that Saturday night at the dance club."

I thought our problem was more nuanced than that, but I had an agenda and didn't want to slow its implementation. Deidra and I nodded in agreement with her statement.

Allison asked me, "Can you think of anything Deidre can do to start the healing process and regain your trust."

My nod caught both women off guard. Looking between the two, I said, "Deidra can agree that we won't have children."

Dee slid forward in her chair and was about to explode, when Allison's interceded.

"If I'm reading the room correctly, you and Deidra have discussed having a family and you are changing your mind?"

"Deidra wants five kids, I always thought two would be a good number. Until recently, I figured we would settle on three," I explained.

"I'll assume that the reason you've changed your mind are the events of the March date night. Can you explain to Deidra and me your thoughts?"

"It's easy. Over the last several months, I've been crippled by the thought of Deidre publicly humiliating me and going off with a celebrity for a night of sex. It happened to my friend and Deidra wishes it had happened to us instead. Or rather, she wishes she had the affair and great sex, and I was left dealing with the reality of being an unwilling cuckold. I doubt she even considered the consequences.

"My friend has two children. They are the only reason he's remained with his family. Truthfully, I don't think I'm as strong as he is. Either that or I can't comprehend the amount of love he has for his kids. Either way, I've decided that I will never let myself be as vulnerable as my friend Jim."

"It sounds like Jim and his lifestyle has had a great impact on this part of your life."

Dee jumped into the discussion and argued, "Jim has cut off all communication with his friends. You don't have any idea how he really feels."

"I've been checking-in with Jim weekly," was my simple answer.

"Linda told me that Jim isn't talking to anyone," Dee argued, which was immediately followed by Allison asking, "Can you tell us how those conversations have gone?"

"The first couple of weeks, he didn't answer the phone or return my calls. After five or six weeks he'd answer my call and we'd talk for a few minutes. Eventually, we started meeting for a beer. Sometimes we would sit silently and watch whatever is on the TV hanging over the bar and other times he needs to talk. I simply listened."

"What has Jim told you that's made you change your mind about children?"

"I don't think I'm going to tell you."

"Why?" Allison had a confused look.

I'd been expecting the question but hadn't spent much time trying to discover the complete answer. "Because Dee and Linda are friends. I don't trust Deidra to keep my confidence. Anyway, we're getting off track. My offer remains the same. I'll stop the divorce if Dee agrees that we won't have children."

"We will put off having children, until things are comfortable between us."

I sighed, looked Dee in the eye and explained, "I didn't hurt my back at work, like you assumed. I had a vasectomy yesterday. I'm sterile and will be tested early next month to make sure I am. I don't want children."

I thought Dee was going to faint. Her mouth seemed unhinged. After collecting herself, she muttered, "I can't believe you would do this to me," and burst into tears before jumping from the chair and running from the room.

I shrugged and told Allison, "I know children are important to Dee. I expect she's going to let the divorce proceed." I stuck out my hand and said, "It was very nice meeting you Allison."

======

Two months later, my attorney and I were in a small conference room with Dee, her father and her attorney. Presiding over the meeting was the Honorable Charles Flick. "Everything seems to be in order. Mrs. Deidre Wilson agrees to the divorce based on irreconcilable differences."

Dee hissed, "Yeah, the asshole got a vasectomy."

With lightning-fast reflexes, Dee's attorney grabbed her wrist, as Judge Flick scowled and said, "I'll only tell you once, watch your language!" He stared at her a moment, before turning and signing the documents ending my marriage. "Your divorce will be final after a ninety-day period. Good luck to everybody."

Dee's father, Michael thanked the Judge before asking, "Would you mind if we used your conference room for a few minutes? Although I expect our talk will be contentious, I commit that each of us will behave like ladies and gentlemen."

After a short nod, Judge Flick said, "My next two cases are in my courtroom. Please keep your discussion to thirty minutes, so my Bailiff can take his full lunch." Looking at the Bailiff, Judge Flick continued, "I'd like you to stay here until their meeting is over. We will be in courtroom seven, after lunch."

After the Judge left, Michael began, "I will never forgive you for the way you've treated my daughter and the embarrassment you've caused my family. Having a vasectomy was a despicable act and the sign of a weak selfish man."

I had expected nothing less from the pompous blowhard. I smirked and glanced at my attorney. He shrugged, so I explained, "I agree that having a vasectomy under these circumstances would be selfish, that's why I never had one. I'm not a selfish man. And ultimately, I want children. I just don't want to share them with your daughter."

There were astonished and bewildered looks from the other side of the table, before Dee's attorney questioned, "You lied to a Judge?"

I noticed that the Bailiff's eyes were huge. "I didn't lie to the Judge. I lied to my Marriage Councilor while Dee was with us. Dee repeated my lie to the Judge. I was never asked to confirm it."

My usually talkative former family was speechless, as I turned our discussion to a different topic.

"I know I've thanked you Michael for recommending a forensic accountant, after my father died. I wasn't nearly as prepared as I should have been, in all aspects of the business. Not only did the accountant help me wrap my arms around the nuances of my company, but he also saved me nearly fourteen thousand dollars a month in wasted expenses. The savings increased my cash-flow, which allowed me to add two crews and three trucks. Those additions added to sales."

To say that the people on the opposite side of the table were confused by the ramblings about my business was an understatement. I continued, "I was so impressed with the accountant that I hired him for a second in-depth evaluation. He recommended that he do a cursory evaluation of my personal finances, as Dee and I were starting our divorce. The only thing that he found, that was a bit out of order, was a secret Discover credit card in Dee's name."

Dee leaned into the table and urged, "We don't need to get into this."

I smiled at her, before turning my attention back to Michael. "He couldn't tell me anything more about the card, unless I was able to get him the card number, expiration date and CVV code. I was curious why my wife had a secret card, so I snuck into our house, early one morning around 2am."

"You disregarded the restraining order?" Her attorney nearly bellowed.

I answered, "There never was a restraining order, Idiot. Anyway..."

Dee interrupted again. "Please," she begged.

"My accountant was able to identify, seventeen charges over the last year and a half. Obviously, his methods were illegal, but it doesn't matter. I'll never use the evidence in a courtroom setting. We found eight charges at Victoria's Secret and two days after each purchase was a charge for a four-hour afternoon stay at the Starlite motel on the Meriden end of the Berlin Turnpike."

Michael's face turned white, while Dee's turned beet red. Their attorney had an expression that told me he wanted to be anywhere other than the conference room. The Bailiff was having a grand old time.

"I hired a private investigator, and he was able to get surveillance footage from business' surrounding the Starlite Motel, where Dee had her afternoon fuck parties. We identified eight different married men that Dee had affairs with, and we've sent the evidence to their wives. They should be getting the evidence today and I expect your sweet innocent daughter will be named in several divorces."

The room was quiet for several moments while everyone worked through the ramifications. I continued, "That's sixteen of the seventeen charges."

Dee jumped from her seat. "Please Chris...if you ever loved me..."

"The remaining charge was for $1,360 and payable to Planned Parenthood of Connecticut. The charge was for an abortion." Focusing like a laser on Dee, I asked, "Do you know if you killed my child or the child of one of the assholes you were fucking?"

She remained silent as her eyes filled with hate.

I shrugged, looked over at Michael and told him, "I'll never know if your daughter killed my child, but we all know for certain, she killed your grandchild." I stood from my chair and together with my lawyer, I left Dee and her retched family behind.

=====

I closed our facilities for the winter in early December. I decided I needed a break and, like my parents had done for decades, travelled to Florida. Using Airbnb, I started in Pensacola and every Saturday moved to the next southern city along the Florida Gulf coast, until I arrived in Miami. After a week in Miami, I started north along the states Atlantic coast, moving each week and finally, at the end of February, I flew home from Jacksonville.

I'll admit to doing a great deal of unhealthy things during my vacation. I drank way too much, ate fattening restaurant food and bedded more women in three months than I had in the previous thirty-two years. The one good habit I developed was a daily visit to the gym and a three-mile run on a sandy beach. I hadn't run in almost a decade. It was incredibly difficult to start, as my entire body ached, but after a few weeks, I craved my new early morning ritual.

========

A few weeks, after my return from Florida, I was running down the beach. My daily run consisted of a half mile run in the sand to downtown Mystic, a two-mile jog around the downtown area and I finished by retracing my steps along the beach.

As was my habit, I started a silent prayer, as I passed Simon's Grocery store on First Avenue. If today, was like the last number of days, a stunning woman would be jogging around the corner of Steeple Drive, a quarter mile in front of me. It may sound silly, but the highlight of my day was saying a cheery "good morning" to the woman of my dreams, as I passed her.

My smile was ear to ear, as I saw her round the corner and start toward me on the opposite side of the street. Today's outfit was a tight orange and black top that ended just above her belly button and tight black running shorts. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and it swung from side to side with each step. Her body is magnificent with small B-cups, a flat stomach and legs that were long and athletic.

About halfway to me, she veered toward the middle of the street, as she ran around a car parked at the curb. Instead of turning back toward the curb, the woman continued to my side of the street and when we were thirty yards apart, she stopped, spread her feet and put her hands on her hips.

I slowed as I approached her and then stopped, smiled and said, "Good morning!" As I'd done daily.

She looked at me and questioned, "Good morning?" When I didn't respond she squinted her eyes and in exasperation repeated, "Good morning?" I was flummoxed. With pity in her voice, she asked, "Don't you have 'game'?"

I had several answers on the tip of my tongue but knew that none of them were right. She continued, "I mean, any 'game' at all?"

I honestly don't know how it happened, but I stepped into her and without a coherent thought, kissed her. She didn't pull away and I didn't either. My hands eventually grasped her waist and hers were placed over my shoulders. And we continued kissing...for minutes. I thought I'd won the lottery, when I felt her tongue. I spread my lips and our tongues tangled together. Neither of us tried to reach the other's tonsils, we just stood pressed together, in the early morning hours at the side of the street with our lips touching and our tongues playing. We kissed for several more minutes.

When we finally stepped back, half out-of-breath, I said, "Hi. I'm David...Dave Wilson."

She laughed in a way that filled the early morning downtown street. "Hi David...Dave Wilson, I'm Jillian McBride. I'm glad we've finally met." With another laugh, she admitted, "God, I hate running; however, I enjoy seeing you every morning."

"Not that I'm complaining, but if you hate running, why are you out every day... and why do you have so many different running outfits?"

Jillian looked at me for several seconds. It seemed as if she was trying to size-me-up. I'm not sure what she saw in my eyes, but it must have been something good. "Three weeks ago, I got to work," she pointed behind me and down Front Street. "A car had damaged the sign in front of my pediatric medical practice, and it was leaning at an angle. Three days later, when the handyman I hired to fix it arrived at my office, I saw that someone had already repaired the sign. The sign was straight, and the tire tracks had been raked out.

"After seeing my last patient, I reviewed my security camera and saw you running down the street at the same time every day. One day, I saw you examining the sign and taking notes. The next day at the same time, you were back with a few tools and spent almost forty-five minutes straightening the sign and repairing the damage to the lawn. I decided I needed to meet you.

"As far as the outfits are concerned, I'm a girl and wanted to look my best. I've spent a small fortune trying to get you to notice me."

I'll admit, my ego doubled and at the same time, found myself at a loss for words.

Jillian blushed, smiled and realized she needed to explain. "I'm not really a runner. I've synched my phone to the security cameras, and I wait on Steeple Street until I see you pass my office. I wait for another minute and start jogging. We run by each other, smile and greet one-another and I run two more blocks, before turning and walking home. I really do hate running. My knees have been screaming the last two days, so I forced the issue this morning." She was smiling proudly.

My heart was pounding in my chest. "I've had a pretty good week at work. I plan to treat myself at Queenie's tonight. Would you join me?" Queenie's is a local lobster shack that serves the best lobster rolls and fried fish platters in the area. There isn't any seating inside the shack, but there are forty or so picnic tables scattered around the property.

Jillian may have hurt herself; her smile was so big. "I'd like that. I'd like it a lot."

"I'm working in Fairfield County today and won't be getting back until seven fifteen or seven thirty. Queenie's kitchen closes at eight. Would you mind meeting me there? I promise I'll be there before it closes, but it will be tight."

Jillian leaned in and initiated our second long kiss. When we parted, she said, "I can't wait."

She turned and started to jog away. She was half a block away and I had just turned after admiring her sleek figure, long legs and world class ass. She yelled back, "You know I'm a doctor. What do you do for work?"

I hollered, "I sell rocks."

I saw her forehead crease as she asked, "You sell what?"

Scanning the street quickly, I spotted and picked up a one-inch rock. Holding it toward her between my thumb and forefinger, I yelled, "I sell rocks. This is a nice one. I'll sell it to you for three dollars."

Jillian's laugh bounced off the downtown buildings. She waved and said, "You're going to be fun! See you tonight."

Heavy rain hit Fairfield County, in the southwest part of Connecticut in the early afternoon. I shut down our job and everyone headed for home. I was home in Mystic by five thirty and watched from my deck as rain clouds appeared over Long Island, New York.

When I heard thunder in the distance, an hour later, and knowing Queenie's shuts down when it rains, I headed out early. I didn't know Jillian's preferences, so I bought a good deal of food. I ordered a lobster roll for each of us, a fried shrimp, fried scallop and fried clam platters, along with a large order of tater-tots covered in cheese and bacon.

I was back in the truck for only a minute, before the sky opened and we were hit with torrential rain. The parking lot emptied quickly, and I sat listening to a country music station. My truck was the only vehicle left in the lot, when a sporty red Mini Cooper raced in. It stopped in the middle of the parking area. As I was the only vehicle left, the car cautiously approached my pick-up.

"I was so looking forward to a lobster roll tonight," Jillian shouted above the sound of rain hitting our vehicles.

"I finished work early. When I heard the thunder, I came over and ordered enough food to feed an army."

"My Knight in Shining Armor!"

I jumped from my truck and quickly handed Jillian my driver's license, before diving back inside the cab. It didn't matter how fast I was. I was soaked.