Fallout 01: Wife's Office Party

"You're really suing us?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "Especially since you've been violating your own morals clauses for the last year while you've been destroying my marriage."

"Look, man, this was all just in fun," he said. "We didn't intend to destroy your marriage."

"Well, what the hell did you think was going to happen?" I asked. "Did you honestly think I was just going to sit back and applaud you for fucking my wife and using her as a goddamn sperm receptacle? Sounds to me like you've been reading too many stories on the Internet."

"Look, man, we can work through this," Ben pleaded. "A lawsuit like that could ruin us."

"Not my problem, asshole," I said. "You shouldn't have turned my wife into your whore. Goodbye." I slammed the phone down and grabbed a beer, then headed to the balcony for a smoke.

I didn't hear anything from the cheaters until Wednesday, when they were served at Simone's office.

"I don't believe you actually did it," Linda said. "You didn't even give her a chance to explain. Do you have any idea how humiliated she is right now?"

"I really don't give a shit," I said. "She didn't care about humiliating me with her cheating, so I simply don't give a fuck. Goodbye, Linda. Don't call here again," I added, slamming the phone down. God, that felt so good. A few moments later, I got another call. I recognized the number as coming from Ben's office.

"WHAT?" I yelled as I answered.

"You motherfucker," he hissed. "I'm going to kick your ass. How dare you sue me! Simone wanted to fuck us all, you stupid shit. Maybe you should've taken care of her better."

"Bring it, asshole," I said. "How dare you fuck up my life. Now I'm going to ruin yours." I slammed the phone down and called Jenny to tell her about Ben's threat.

"Good," she said. "I'll file for a temporary restraining order against Simone as well as her cohorts today. I'll make sure you get a copy of the order. Remember what I said. Don't do anything stupid."

"What if he comes after me?" I asked.

"Make sure that you have witnesses and don't instigate anything," she said. I understood what she meant. Later that afternoon, there was a knock on the door. True to her word, Jenny had filed the TRO and a courier had just delivered my copy.

I decided to hedge my bets somewhat and purchased a small motion-activated camera to cover my front room. I also had a nice Louisville Slugger close to the front door just in case. I figured if Ben or his accomplices intended to make good on their threats, I needed to have something for evidence, and I needed some means of protection.

Things remained relatively peaceful for the rest of the week. Thankfully, I didn't hear anything from Linda, Simone or her boyfriends. Until Saturday night, that is. I was sitting on my balcony nursing a beer and a cigarette when I heard my doorbell. That was followed up by pounding on the door.

I ground out my cigarette and went into the front room and looked out the peephole in the door. Sure enough, it was Ben, and I could make out someone with him. The pounding continued.

"Open up, Jacobs," he shouted. "I can hear you in there. Open up so I can kick your fucking ass."

"You're violating a restraining order. I'm calling the cops right now, Ben," I said as I dialed 911 on my phone.

"You wouldn't dare," he yelled. "Open up now, Goddammit!" he yelled. "Take your medicine like a man, you little wimp." When the 911 operator came on, I told them what was happening at my door.

"We've gotten a couple calls for that area and have already dispatched a couple cruisers to your location," the operator said. "In the meantime, do not open the door until officers arrive."

"Thank you," I said before ending the call. The pounding continued and I began to wonder if he was going to break the door down. I clutched the bat tighter and waited.

"Goddammit, open up before I break this fucking door down," he yelled as he pounded on the door. I heard a commotion and looked through the peephole. I saw two very large police officers putting cuffs on Ben and the other man with him. One of the officers knocked on my door.

"Police," the officer said. I opened the door to see the two men in cuffs. Ben looked at me as the officer led him back to his cruiser.

"I'm not finished with you, wimp," he yelled. "I'm going to come back and kick your fucking ass." I looked back at the officer.

"Do you know this man?" he asked. I nodded my head and showed him the copy of my TRO. He read it over and spoke into his radio before addressing me again.

"We'll be taking them downtown," he said. "They'll be spending the night with us. Can you tell me what this is all about?" He took copious notes as I told him my story. "Thank you for your cooperation," he said when I finished. "I don't think he'll be giving you any more trouble for a little while." I closed the door and locked it before heading back out to my balcony with a fresh beer.

The next day, the news of Ben's arrest hit the papers. "Hedge Fund CEO Arrested," the headline read. The short story below didn't go into a lot of detail, but something told me this was just the beginning of his downfall.

Over the course of the next few days, more articles came out, saying that a number of S&G's clients were leaving the company. It seems their clients felt they couldn't trust a company that ruined their employees marriages. Naturally, this had an impact on the company's bottom line. Good, I thought.

I went back to work the following Monday. It was difficult, but I managed to get some work done. I never heard from anyone for about three weeks. Then I got a call from Jenny.

"Good morning, Carl," she said. "How are you holding up?"

"About as well as can be expected," I said. "Any word from Simone?"

"Yes," Jenny said. "She's gotten an attorney and they've petitioned the court for marriage counseling. The judge agreed and has ordered six sessions beginning this week."

"They can do that?" I asked.

"Yes," she said. "And it would be to your benefit to show up. If you don't, the judge can hold you in contempt of court and even put you in jail."

"There's no way I'm reconciling with that bitch," I told her.

"I understand," Jenny said. "But you need to show up anyway. If the counselor sees there's no hope for reconciliation, she'll let the judge know."

"Okay," I said. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes," Jenny said. "Her attorney tells me that Simone is pregnant. If that's the case, the court won't do anything more until paternity has been established."

"So I have to wait another eight or nine months?" I asked.

"As of right now, yes," Jenny said. Crap. "If it's your child, you'll be ordered to pay child support. On a positive note, however, the judge has agreed to a legal separation, at least until she gives birth."

"Wonderful," I said. Jenny gave me the address for the counselor and wished me luck. I wrote down the information and put it on my calendar. I decided that I would make it clear in no uncertain terms there was no way I would ever reconcile with the cheating slut.

When I got to the counselor's office, I was ushered right in. A somewhat older woman looked at me over her glasses. Simone sat across from her in a love seat looking somewhat forlorn. I had a very bad feeling about this.

The counselor introduced herself as Dr. Abigail Farnsworth and indicated I should sit next to the slut on the love seat. I chose instead to sit in a smaller, wooden chair placed at a 45 degree angle to the love seat.

"Good to see you could make it, Mr. Jacobs," she said.

"I understand I have no choice," I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"True," she said. "Still, I'm glad to see you here." She turned to Simone. "Tell me, Mrs. Jacobs, what do you hope to get from these sessions?"

"I want to get back together with my husband," she said. "We're going to have a baby and I want to be a family again." I snorted in derision as she said that. Abigail looked at me.

"And what do you hope to get out of these sessions, Mr. Jacobs?" she asked.

"What I want is for you to realize there's no way I'm reconciling with... that," I said, nodding my head in Simone's direction. I saw her recoil when I did that. Abigail nodded her head.

"Not even for the sake of the child?" she asked me.

"I honestly don't think it's my child," I said. "If by some miracle it is, I'll pay child support and I'll do everything I can to be a father to it. But there's no way I'm reconciling with her. Period, end of sentence."

"Not even for the sake of the child?" she asked. I pulled out my phone and brought up the videos that were sent to me. I showed them to Abigail. She was clearly disgusted with what she saw. When they finished, I put my phone back in my pocket.

"I see you're married, Doctor," I said. "Tell me, if that was your husband in those videos instead of her, would you want to reconcile? And what if you learned he had been doing that to you for more than a year, and actually did it in front of you? Would you reconcile then?"

"This isn't about me," she said. "This is about the two of you. And now you have a little one to think about."

"Wrong, Doctor," I said. "She has a little one to think about. I don't believe her child is mine. In fact, I'd be willing to bet on it. I would like a few answers from her, though." Abigail thought for a moment, then nodded her head and looked at Simone.

"I think he's entitled to some answers, don't you?" she asked Simone. She looked down, sheepish, her face burning with embarrassment. She finally looked up at me before answering.

"I... I guess so," she said. Abigail looked at me before speaking.

"The floor is yours," she told me. I nodded my head in thanks nd turned back to Simone.

"The night of the party, you knew what was going to happen, didn't you?" I asked. She nodded her head.

"Yes," she said.

"And that's the real reason you didn't want me to go with you, isn't it?" I asked.

"Yes, it is," she said. "I tried to warn you that you wouldn't have any fun."

"And you were right," I said. "It was the absolute worse night of my life. When you kissed me at the party, you deliberately made sure you had those two men's cum in your mouth when you did, didn't you?" Her face burned red for a bit.

"Yes, I did," she said.

"Why?" I asked. "Did I do something to deserve that kind of humiliation?"

"You did nothing," she said. "We just thought it would be... wicked and exciting."

"So all of you planned to humiliate me, didn't you?" I asked. "And you intended to humiliate me even further at Ben's place, didn't you?"

"Yes and yes," she said sheepishly.

"How long have you been screwing those guys?" I asked.

"Pretty much from the time I joined S&G," she said.

"Again, why?" I asked. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Because I liked it," she said. "It was fun. It was naughty and exciting. They made me feel sexy."

"How many times did you give me sloppy seconds or kiss me with their cum still in your mouth?" I asked.

"I don't know," she said. "A few." I felt like throwing up after hearing that, but managed to keep myself under control.

"How many men did you have sex with since you started there? Not counting me," I said.

"I don't know," she said. "Maybe four or five... dozen."

"Four or five DOZEN?" I asked, shocked. "You've fucked 48 to 60 other men over the last year? My God, woman, are you out of your fucking mind? Haven't you heard of STDs? What, were you trying to kill me off with something? Do you even know who the father of this child is?"

"Not 100 percent," she said.

"But you expect me to raise it and pay for it, don't you?" I asked. "You're a real piece of work, you know that?"

"But I love you," she said quietly.

"Well I don't love you," I said, my anger building. "Not anymore. In fact, I hate your guts right now and I hope you rot and die of fucking AIDS." Both of them looked at me, shocked. Simone looked as if she was about to start crying, but I didn't care. In fact, I wanted to hurt her even more with my words and started to say something else, but Abigail stopped me.

"That's enough, Mr. Jacobs," she said. "You've made your point. I see you're determined to throw away five good years of marriage."

"I didn't throw anything away," I said. "She did, the first time she spread her legs for another man. And it wasn't five good years. Four, maybe. The last year, she wasn't really my wife. She was just a cum dump for everything she could get her hands on. You heard her. She screwed 48 to 60 men over the last year. She doesn't even know who the father of her child is. No, I will never, ever, reconcile with that."

"Alright, I think we've heard enough for today," Abigail said. "I want to have a session with each of you on an individual basis, then we'll go from there." We scheduled our appointment for the next week and left. I heard Simone call out to me when we got to the parking lot, but I ignored her and went to my car. As I pulled out, I saw her slumped over her steering wheel, sobbing. Good, I thought. Let her feel some pain for once. That night, I got a call from a very angry Linda.

"I hope your fucking happy," she yelled.

"What do you mean?" I asked in response.

"Simone is in the hospital," Linda said. "She had a miscarriage. She told me what you said and the way you treated her."

"So, what do you want? Sympathy? I simply told the truth, which is a lot more than she did this last year," I said.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Linda asked. "Your wife is in the fucking HOSPITAL! Don't you care about that?"

"Frankly, no, I don't," I told her.

"My God, you really are a bastard," she said quietly.

"Well, you guys only have yourselves to thank for that," I said.

"The very least you can do is go down and give them your insurance information," she said. "Legally, she's still your wife and you'll end up getting the bills anyway." I calmed down for a moment and remembered what Jennie told me.

"Alright," I said. "What room is she in?" Linda gave me the information and I went to the hospital. When I got there, I made my way to her ward and conferred with the nurse. I gave them my insurance information and briefly spoke to the doctor.

"Any idea what caused this?" I asked the doctor. He shook his head.

"It's hard to say. There's a number of things that can happen in a pregnancy," he said.

"How far along was she?" I asked.

"I'd say maybe nine or ten weeks along," he said. That meant it was possible the child could've been mine. I would never know, however. It didn't matter, though. As far as I was concerned, her miscarriage only meant the divorce could proceed.

"How is she doing?" I asked.

"She'll be okay," the doctor said. "I want to keep an eye on her for a little bit, but she'll be able to go home in a couple hours or so."

"Thanks," I said, before going into her room. She looked like hell, laying there in the bed. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. Linda stood at the end of her bed.

"Are you happy now?" she spat at me.

"Shut the fuck up, bitch," I growled. Linda shrank back from me before leaving the room. I looked at Simone.

"I guess we're really through, aren't we?" she asked. I nodded my head.

"Yeah, we are," I said.

"Do you really hate me as much as you said earlier today?" she asked.

"Right this second, no," I said. "But there's no way I'm taking you back. You've proven that I could never trust you out of my sight. Every time you went to the store, I'd sit at home wondering if you're fucking the clerks at the checkout stand. Besides, I simply can't get past your blatant disrespect. I don't get it. I treated you like a queen all those years. Did I do something to make you turn your back on me all of a sudden?"

"No," she said. "You were the best husband and lover a girl could want."

"Obviously not," I said. "Or you would've told those clowns to fuck off."

"It wasn't you," she said. "It was me. They brought out the slut in me, told me that every guy wants to see his wife get fucked by other men. I guess I just bought into their bullshit. I saw the other girls doing it and thought, why should I miss out on all the fun. And that's all it was. Just fun."

"Yeah," I said. "It's all fun and games until the spouse finds out." I waited a few moments before continuing. "Look, the divorce is going to happen, no matter what you do. All you're doing is wasting your time and money. End this charade and move on, okay? We're done. I'm never taking you back."

"Alright," she said quietly, tears falling down her face. "I'll tell my lawyer tomorrow."

"And don't ask if we can be friends," I said. "I don't see that happening." The tears kept falling down her face.

"I'm really sorry," she said quietly. I looked at her for a few moments.

"Yeah," I said as I began to leave her room. "Goodbye, Simone." I could hear her cry as I walked away. Tough shit, I thought. Good riddance.

A few days later, I got a call from Jenny. True to her word, Simone dropped all of her objections to the divorce. Abigail wrote a report that said reconciliation was impossible. She included a suggestion that I go through anger management, however. The judge agreed and made the same recommendation, although she fell short of making it an order.

Jenny managed to get settlements from S&G Funds as well as Ben and Dale about a month later. She handed me the largest check I had ever seen in my life.

"That's minus my take, of course," she said.

"Of course," I responded. I deposited the check and went on with my life, such as it was.

Epilogue:

S&G, or "Sodom and Gomorrah," as I tended to think of it, closed its doors about six months later. It seems that its customers felt they couldn't trust the company with their money. Wonder why, I wryly asked myself.

I never heard from Ben and Dale after that day at the apartment. They both spent 30 days in the county jail for their stunt and apparently didn't want to go back. Their reputations in the community destroyed, they left for greener pastures on the West Coast.

Simone and Linda continued living in the same apartment and ended up working in a strip mall retail store -- one of those places that specialized in women's clothing and cosmetics. I saw them around from time to time, but never acknowledged their presence.

I stayed single and dated periodically over the next couple of years. I finally met Claire Hansen, a recent divorcee, and we dated for a few months, each of us taking it slow and easy. Like me, she had been burned by a cheating spouse, and was still hurting from that. I understood her pain and did all I could to support her.

The first few weeks, all we did was talk, or go out for dinner and a movie. She was bit more fragile than I was at the time. We spent a lot of time holding hands and walking through the park. I was quite attracted to her and decided to let her make the first move.

One night, after a delicious lasagna at her condo, she looked at me as if studying a specimen under a microscope.

"Do you find me attractive?" she asked. I smiled and looked her in the face.

"I find you very attractive," I said. "In more ways than one. Why?"

"I was just wondering," she said. "You've never made a move on me. I was beginning to think that maybe you don't like girls."

"Oh, I like girls just fine," I said. "It's just, once burned, twice shy, I guess."

"I can understand that," she said. "But we're not all like your ex-wife."

"True," I said. "And we're not all like your ex-husband. I happen to believe in the sanctity of marriage." She smiled.

"I know you do," she said. "I hope you realize I feel the same way."

"I do," I said.

"So, what are you going to do with this little bit of information?" she asked. "Do you think you could manage to do more than give me a kiss on the cheek?"