Fallout 03: Assumptions

Fallout 03: Assumptions

This is the third installment of a new series called, "Fallout" that deals with the consequences of cheating. The current plan is that each entry in the series can be read as a separate story.

The following was inspired by Captain Steve's 2003 story, "A Perfect Martini," about a wife who tells her husband she is going to sleep with his business partner in revenge for him allegedly sleeping with his partner's wife. The names have been changed and the outcome is different, but the basic premise remains.

Many thanks to those who offered comments and constructive criticism on my previous stories. For those who want to say this or that would never happen, remember this is my universe, a place where nearly anything can, and often does, happen. At least on paper...

Please refer to my profile for more on my personal policy regarding comments, feedback, follows, etc. (Yes, I DO moderate comments) And please remember, this is a work of fiction, not a docu-drama...

...

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Here I am at a major Chamber of Commerce function about to receive an award and Rhonda, my wife of ten years, just whispered in my ear that she was going to leave with Gerald, my business partner, for a weekend of sex in Las Vegas immediately after the award ceremony.

"Are you out of your mind?" I asked quietly so as not to be heard by anyone else.

"Only with lust," she whispered back. "For him. Right now, I'm feeling his hard cock through his trousers and soon, I'll be putting it in my pussy."

"We need to talk," I told her. "But not now. Later, after we get home from the ceremony."

"No, Ron, I'm telling you how it's going to be," she said. "If you want to talk, you can give me some ideas or maybe remind me of the things you've always wanted me to do with you but refused. I'll be home Monday evening and we can talk then if you still feel the need." This was the start of a three-day weekend and I knew she didn't have to be back to work until Tuesday.

"And you plotted this with him?" I asked quietly.

"Of course," she said. "His wife also knows." I looked and saw my soon-to-be ex-partner and friend sitting next to Rhonda with a shit-eating grin on his face. I wanted to punch the fucker out, but not here, not in front of all these people, these so-called "pillars of the community." I looked at Judy, his wife, who sat next to him. She didn't look too happy at all. Apparently, she also knew about this.

My mind was racing, but I focused back on the present when I heard my name called by the Master of Ceremonies. I got up, shook his hand and accepted the award, holding it for a second as a photographer took a picture. I gave my prepared acceptance speech and noticed as I did that Rhonda's hand was in Gerald's lap. I decided to make an impromptu change in my speech.

On my notes, I had included an acknowledgment of my wife, but I ended my speech a bit early, not even mentioning her name. Instead, I thanked the community for their support and the Chamber for the award, then ended my speech. I didn't know if anyone would notice the slight, but Rhonda mentioned it after I sat back down.

"What, didn't I even rate a mention?" she asked sarcastically as I took a sip of my now tepid drink. I simply glared at her, not saying a word. "So, that's how it's going to be, huh? Well, like I said, we'll talk Monday evening when I get back." Gerald got up and headed for the podium, deliberately bumping into me on his way up.

"If you go through with this, don't bother coming back," I whispered to Rhonda as Gerald spoke. "There'll be nothing here for you to come back to." To emphasize the point, I slipped my ring off my finger and handed it to her. She smirked as she dropped it in her purse.

"You know why I'm doing this?" she asked. "Of course you do," she added. "It's for what you did with Judy. Don't lie. I know all about it. I have pictures. So you'll say or do nothing, let me do this and we'll talk when I get back."

"Don't do this, Rhonda," I said. "Nothing happened between Judy and I except dinner. We can talk about it after the ceremony."

"Too late," she said. "It's going to happen. The tickets have already been bought. The reservations have already been made. I'm going to give Gerald my naked body this weekend. I'm going to let him do whatever he wants to me and there's nothing you can say or do to stop me."

"What if I told you he's HIV-positive?" I asked. She laughed.

"I wouldn't believe you. You'd say or do just about anything to keep me from going," she said.

"Don't say I didn't warn you," I told her. "I guarantee that if you do this, you'll regret it for the rest of your life."

"Look, just enjoy the weekend without me. Go play golf or something. When I get back, things will go on as before," she said. I couldn't believe the nerve of this woman.

"No, they won't, Rhonda," I told her.

"We'll see about that," she said. A minute or two later, Gerald returned and took his seat. Rhonda turned to him and I could see she had placed her hand back in his lap. Disgusted, I turned away from her. Finally, the event was over and we got up to leave.

"This is your last chance, Rhonda," I said. She and Gerald smirked as they looked at me.

"We're leaving now, Ron," she said. "I may call you. Or not. Either way, I'll see you Monday."

"No hard feelings, partner," Gerald said. "I promise not to damage her too badly for you."

"We're done, Gerald," I told him calmly. "As partners and friends. I don't ever want to see or hear from you again."

"We'll see about that, partner," he said as he guided Rhonda away. I turned and looked at Judy, who had tears falling down her face.

"Do you need a ride home?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"No, I have an Uber coming for me," she said. "Thanks for asking anyway."

"Didn't you tell them that nothing happened between us?" I asked. "That it was just a dinner and a conversation?"

"I tried, but they wouldn't listen," she said. "Gerald has pictures of us at the restaurant and Rhonda insists it was a prelude to an affair. You know how she can get sometimes." Yeah, I knew, all right. Until now, the only complaint I had about Rhonda was her uncanny ability to act on false assumptions. And once she got something in her head, there was almost nothing anyone could do to change her mind.

"I see," I told her.

"I'm sorry, Ron," she said. "You don't deserve this. I only hope he thought enough to bring condoms."

"It doesn't matter," I said. "Whether he uses a condom or not is immaterial. The fact that she's going to let him screw her is all that matters. No, I'm finished with both of them."

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"What I need to," I told her. "What about you?"

"I told Gerald if he went through with this I'd divorce him," she said. "And that's exactly what I intend to do. This isn't the first time he's cheated on me, but by God, it'll be the last."

"Good for you," I said. "Let me know if there's anything I can do. If you like, I can refer you to a good lawyer."

"Thanks, Ron," she said. "I appreciate that." With that, she left and I followed shortly, making my way back to the car. On the way home, I thought about the last ten years with Rhonda. We married about five years after Gerald and I went into business together.

Gerald introduced me to her after we had been in business together for about four years. By then, he and Judy had been married for three years. Rhonda and I dated, fell in love and got married. Gerald was the best man at our wedding, and I never would have believed he would be capable of doing something like this. I never thought Rhonda would, either.

By the time we got married, the business was growing significantly, so my lawyer suggested I have her sign a prenuptial agreement to protect my assets, which included my home, and the business. She didn't like it, but she signed it anyway. I made sure the agreement was equitable, and included a clause for infidelity.

I had a lot to do and not a whole lot of time to get it done. It was still fairly early in the evening when I got home, so I called my lawyer, Jim Simpson, on his cell.

"Hey, Ron," he said. "I thought you and Rhonda would be celebrating your award tonight. What's going on?" He listened as I told him what happened earlier in the evening. "Oh my God, Ron, I'm so sorry to hear that," he said when I finished. "You want me to start drawing up papers?"

"Yes, Jim," I said. "I want a divorce for adultery based on our prenuptial and I want you to draw up papers dissolving the partnership." When Gerald and I drew up the partnership, we included a clause that said the partnership could be dissolved if one or more of the partners engaged in morally unacceptable behavior that could significantly impact the operation of the business. I felt this certainly fell into that category.

"Are you sure about that?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. "Absolutely. I want it reorganized as a sole proprietorship if possible. I know we had talked about incorporating it as a limited liability company before. Maybe this is the time to do that."

"Alright, I'll get the ball rolling on that," Jim said. "It's going to take some time, though."

"I know," I said. "But I want the partnership dissolved as fast as possible. And I want my losses mitigated as much as possible."

"Consider it done, my friend," he said.

"Thanks," I said, ending the call. I knew that under the terms of the agreement, I would have to pay Gerald something to get him out of the company, so the less I had to give him, the better. I knew Jim would come through for me. A couple hours later, I got a call from Rhonda.

"I just wanted to let you know we're at the hotel in Vegas," she said. "And I'm so ready for a weekend of hot sex."

"Rhonda, you should know before you do this that Gerald is HIV-positive," I said. "If you go through with this, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Stop this nonsense and come home right now. If you do, then maybe, and I do mean, MAYBE, we can fix our marriage."

"Oh Ron," she said with a laugh. "Are you still on that? Get over yourself. This IS going to happen. I am going to let Gerald fuck my brains out all weekend long. And yes, I am going to let him cum inside my mouth, pussy and ass as much as he wants. In fact, I'm getting wet just thinking about it. Maybe if you're a good boy I'll feed you some of his cum when I get home."

"Rhonda, I'm warning you," I began to say, but she had already ended the call. That was it. I had warned her, but she refused to listen.

The rest of my now-screwed up weekend was spent exorcising Rhonda from my life. On Jim's advise, I went to the bank on Saturday morning and took care of things there, paying off her credit card before canceling it.

I got three voicemails from Rhonda and a few text messages over the weekend. She was doing her best to get me riled up.

"Oh yeah," she moaned in one of her voicemails. "Gerald's cock is buried balls deep in my pussy right now, Ron. It's so much bigger than yours and feel so much better. In case you're wondering, I've swallowed his cum several times already. I know I've never done that for you, but his cum is just soooo delicious. I've also let him cum inside my pussy and my ass at least five times since we got here. Maybe I'll let him get me pregnant. I know I'll be bringing home a load so you can eat it out of my pussy. Gotta go now, he's getting ready to cum inside me again. Bye now, bye."

The other voicemails were very similar. I forwarded all of them to Jim so he could have them as proof of Rhonda's adultery. I also forwarded them to Judy so she could use them in her divorce from Gerald.

I called a locksmith and had all of the locks changed on the doors. I wasn't worried about keeping the house, as I had bought it before we got married and the mortgage was in my name only. I tossed all of her clothes and prized possessions into trash bags and crammed them into her car, leaving enough room for her to drive. I pulled the car out of the garage and left it in the driveway.

I pulled down all of the photos that included Rhonda. I broke up the large wedding portrait that hung over the fireplace before placing the broken pieces inside to be burned. By the time I was finished, there was no evidence that she had ever been in the place.

After listening to her voicemails the next morning, I called her mother and said we need to talk. She invited me over for lunch, so I went. After eating a sandwich, she asked me what was going on, so I told her -- everything. I even played the voicemails Rhonda had left. By the time I finished, she was inconsolable.

"That stupid, stupid girl," she said. "I can't believe she would do something like this to you. I'm so sorry, Ron. Of course, she can stay here until she gets back on her feet, but I'm going to tan her hide for this."

"I'm sorry as well, Mom," I told her. I always thought of Rhonda's mother as "Mom," especially since my own mother died from a stroke a few years before. "She's going to need all the help and support you can give her."

"Of course," she said. "But I'm still going to put her over my knee." I chuckled and gave her a hug. "Please stay in touch, Ron," she said as we broke the hug. I promised I would and left. She was still wiping tears from her face when I left. From there, I went to a tavern that served the juiciest burgers and enjoyed one with a couple beers.

Jim called me on Monday to say he had the paperwork drawn up, so I went to his office. Everything looked good, so I paid his retainer and left. The papers would be filed with the court the next day, which was Tuesday.

"Where would you like her served?" Jim asked.

"Preferably at her place of work," I said. "She humiliated me in public, so I think it's only fair I return the favor."

"Okay," he said before I left. I got a couple more voicemails from Rhonda that day, the last one letting me know she was on her way home. I got a good laugh at that.

Gerald dropped her off that evening about 5:30, then took off. Apparently, he was a bit too cowardly to face me after what he had done. I waited and heard her come onto the porch. I heard her trying her keys, but none of them worked. Finally, she rang the doorbell. I ignored it for a few minutes, and she began pounding on the door.

"Let me in, dammit," she yelled. I got up and walked to the door. I opened it and stepped outside. She looked at me before trying to walk inside, but I stopped her. "What are you doing? I live here too."

"No you don't," I told her. "Not anymore. You gave up that right when you left Friday night."

"But I told you I would be back and we could discuss things if you still wanted to," she said. "And why is my car in the driveway? Why isn't it in the garage? And what's all that stuff in it?"

"That's all your stuff, Rhonda," I said. "Like I said, you don't live here anymore."

"Look, I know you're upset," she said. "We can talk about it if you want."

"I wanted to talk with you on Friday, but you weren't interested, remember?" I asked. "I practically begged you to listen to me, but you flat out refused and insisted on spending the weekend with Gerald."

"That's right," she said. "Since you fucked his wife, I figured I deserved to get some revenge."

"And what proof do you have that I had sex with Judy?" I asked. "Show me." She pulled out her phone and showed me a picture of Judy and I at a table in a restaurant.

"What's that?" she asked.

"That's two people talking over dinner," I said. "There's no sex in that picture. And nothing happened between Judy and I. For that matter, I have never been with another woman since you and I became exclusive."

"Then why were you having dinner with her?" Rhonda asked. "Surely you expected something afterward."

"There you go again, making false assumptions," I said.

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about on Friday, but you refused to listen to me," I said. "Tell me, did Gerald ever use a condom this weekend?"

"Of course not," she said. "You know I hate condoms."

"I see," I said. "And I guess you let him finish inside you multiple times."

"That's right," she said. "I still have some of his cum inside me right now. I was going to let you clean it out of me. And if you were repentant, I was going to let you have sex with me, but I don't think that's going to happen."

"So, you were planning to kill me, then," I said. Her eyes grew wide.

"Of course not," she said. "Where did you get that silly idea from?"

"Do you remember a few months back when he said he wasn't feeling too well?" I asked. "That was just a few weeks after he returned from a trip back east."

"Yeah, I remember," she said.

"I suggested he go see his doctor and get checked out," I told her. "He never told me what the doctor said, but Judy learned he tested positive for HIV. You wanna know how she learned about it? I'll tell you. She learned about it because he infected her. She tested positive just recently. That's what we were talking about at dinner that night. At the time he infected her, he didn't know he had it. But he sure as hell knew this last weekend when he was screwing you." I handed her a copy of Gerald's test results Judy had given me the night we had dinner. Rhonda's face turned white and her eyes widened. "I even told you on Friday, but you refused to listen."

"Oh my God," she said, feeling nauseous. "You were telling the truth. I'm going to get sick." She doubled over and vomited in the front yard. I stood and watched as she retched several times in the front yard. When she finished, she looked at me, scared. "I'm going to die, aren't I?" she asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I'm not a doctor so I don't know," I said. "Judy said her doctor told her it's not the death sentence it was a few years ago, but it's still pretty rough. At any rate, I suggest you go see Dr. Barnes first thing in the morning and let him know. Have him run some tests on you. Maybe if he can catch it early enough, he can do something. But I do know that our marriage is dead."

"Where will I go?" she asked, tears falling down her face.

"Your mother said you can stay with her until you get on your feet," I said.

"My mother? You told my mother?" she asked, shocked.

"Yes," I said. "She deserves to know the truth, don't you think?"

"I guess," she said.

"And you'll be served with divorce papers at work sometime this week," I told her.

"Please, no," she said. "I don't want a divorce. Can't we work through this?"

"No," I said. "We probably could've if you had talked to me on Friday instead of leaving me to spend the weekend with him in Vegas. But you just had to have things your way. You made your bed, Rhonda. Now you get to lie in it."

"So what were you doing with Judy in that restaurant?" she asked.

"I already told you. Talking," I said. "She got her test results and wanted to talk to me. She asked if I had any idea he was positive. Of course I told her the truth -- I didn't. I was trying to find a way to help the two of them get through this, but it seems Gerald decided to have her followed. He got those pictures of us in the restaurant. Naturally, when you saw them, you made your usual false assumptions, and here we are. I hope it was all worth it to you."

"Please, can't you just give me one more chance?" she begged. "I'm dying here."

"I've been dying since you walked out on me Friday night," I said.

"But I love you," she cried. Yeah, right, I thought. "Don't you have any love for me at all?"

"Love you?" I asked. "Right now, I don't even like you. Now, GET OFF MY LAWN!" I walked back inside and slammed the door, locking it behind me. I looked through the window and saw her, sobbing as she knelt on the lawn. She looked totally defeated and forlorn, but right then, I didn't care. Eventually, she turned and slowly ambled to her car, still crying. As I watched, she backed out of the driveway and drove off, still crying.