Four Year Itch

Bill Yates and his wife Joan lived in a rented apartment in center-city. They were both twenty-six. They had been married at twenty-two and had just celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary. Bill was slim, 5'9" tall and had thick wavy light brown hair. Joan was 5'5", not as slim, but with a good figure. She had light brown hair and looked like the girl next door, who was out of local guys' league.

Bill was a plumber. He made good money, because here in the city no one could even clear a clogged drain. Work was more than steady. There was always a backlog. Joan had just graduated law school, and had been hired by a medium large firm. She also made good money, although not as much as Bill. Their marriage was, by all accounts, a good one. Of course, both were busy people. But they made a real effort to see each other, in and out of bed. Bed was almost always very satisfying, sometimes explosive. Joan had had a few hook-ups before meeting Bill. Bill was a little more experienced. Women seemed attracted to him. He was taken with Joan, though, the first time he saw her at a club. They were twenty-one. Married about a year later.

The two of them had plans to start a family. Both were from large families, and wanted to make a large family. Joan knew that getting pregnant was not going to sit well with her firm, but she had her priorities. Their plan was to put aside some money, have her go off birth control, and move back to the western part of the state for her to have their first child. Bill was confident that he could always make money as a plumber. They decided that they would make the move in about six months, around the New Year.

As the year moved on, Joan became a little uneasy. Two things. She felt as if their plan would lock her in, in a way that could not be altered thereafter. And she had been hit on at work by another lawyer. Jake Beatty was thirty-six. He was tall, handsome and personable. He was working at the firm on loan from the main office. Joan was quite attracted to him. She loved her husband. So she made it clear to Jake that she was unavailable. Nevertheless, he persisted. He had gotten as far as a brief hug and kiss, after a lunch that they had, together, alone. Joan had been stand-offish until then. The kiss was revelatory. She didn't understand how or why she let it happen. She was in no doubt that if she gave in to Jake, she would have a spectacular time in bed with him. The rub was that Jake was on loan. He would head back in two weeks, a thousand miles away. After that, he might never return.

Bill was troubled by what he saw as a change in the marriage, just lately. Joan seemed preoccupied. When asked, she explained that she had a work problem.

Jake made a proposal to Joan. The weekend before he left, they would go off to a lake resort, have three days of sex, and that would be it. Jake, who was married with one child, would depart. Joan would continue with her plans for a family. Joan immediately said no. She simply said that she would not cheat on Bill, nor lie to him. She already felt guilty because she had not mentioned Jake to Bill. Jake said that she should simply ask Bill for permission. Tell him that she needed a fling before she settled into kid making. Just the weekend, then no more. She might learn new stuff that would help them in bed. She just listened to this. She was getting wet. If Bill loved her, he might agree. Jake knew that he had convinced her. He had no idea if her husband would go along. It seemed to him, though, that it was his only shot. He had tried all the tricks that normally work, to no avail.

On Sunday night, the projected Friday departure to the lake with Jake was only five days away. Joan and Bill were heading for the bedroom, when Joan turned and gave him a super-hot kiss. That led to super-hot sex, with Joan having very intense orgasms, and Bill being pulled along by her. Joan was thinking about Jake the entire time. After they finished, they were lying in bed, with Joan spooned around her husband. She whispered in his ear.

"That was so great. You're so good to me."

"I try, thanks." He kissed her.

She started hesitantly, "Bill, I met a guy at work. He's a lawyer from the central office. He's been with us for five months." She felt Bill stiffen.

"Why are you saying this, especially now?"

"I was thinking how you have much more sexual experience than I do. I wanted...well the guy is hot. He's invited me to be with him at a resort for his last weekend here before he goes back to the main office. I wouldn't cheat on you. He said maybe you'd agree. I'd like a little fling before we settle and have kids. But if you say no, I won't do it."

Bill sat straight up in the bed, turned to look at his wife, really to see if she was serious. He did look. The searing pain he felt when he saw she meant what she said flashed across his face, for just an instant. His whole world destroyed in seconds. Joan saw it. She was horrified. His face became a mask. He bolted up and went into the bathroom, locked the door.

Joan was desperate, "Bill, I won't do it. Bill, please." She tried the door and found it locked. The shower went on. She went and sat on the bed, waiting for him to come back out. She thought that maybe he was thinking over his reply. She knew different, though. She'd seen that look. She was terrified.

Bill stood in the shower, his life as he knew it was over. He hurt so bad. Joan was his life, and first love. He washed himself, and it seemed that doing that washed away not only their sexual debris, but his love. Gone down the drain. He knew he needed to get away, before he ended up in jail.

He turned off the shower, dried himself. Brushed his teeth, and packed up his toothbrush, razor and floss into his kit he kept under the sink. He heard Joan sobbing outside. He wrapped his towel around himself, opened the door, went directly to his dresser. Joan rushed to him, and he pushed her back away from himself and onto the bed.

"Billy, I won't do anything. Billy, please, please. It's nothing. He's nothing. Please come back to bed."

Bill ignored her sobs as he dressed. He put his brush and comb into the kit. He got out a duffel bag, packed extra clothes into it. He zipped it up, put it over his shoulder. He took one more look at Joan, who was staring at him, in a trance. She had stopped crying.

Bill went and got his phone and lap top, a Pepsi, and walked out the door. He slammed it. He jogged away from his building, and hailed a cab. When he got in, he asked for a car rental place. The cab took him to the airport, where he got some cash, and rented a sedan. He started driving west.

His phone started buzzing, and he turned it off. He drove for two hours, pulled into a Motel 6. He slept fitfully. In the morning he paid off the room and was sitting in a diner for breakfast when he saw yesterday's paper on the seat. It was turned to the want ads. His eyes focused on the word plumber. It was a help wanted ad for a firm in Mountain City. He called.

On his way to mountain city, Bill took the battery out of his phone. He stopped at a convenience store and bought a cheap phone. He drove fifty miles to Mountain City, a town of fifty thousand. He found the plumber and got the job.

Bill used the new phone and the computer to do some business. He notified his boss that he was quitting, and had his last check sent to his parents' house. He emailed his parents about what he had done, and made arrangements for them to get the check.

He dropped by a bank, got a new account. Then he transferred money from his old account into his parents' account. He emailed them about what to do with the money. He also made if clear that he did not want ay communication with Joan. He rented a room near his new work.

The next day he started his new job. That morning, he made an arrangement with a friend to have him monitor Joan's activities for the week. He noted that Joan was emailing him. He opened a new email account.

There were twenty emails from Joan. They started out apologetic. Gradually they got desperate, then angry. He trashed them.

Joan was frantic for a day or so. She spoke to Jake about what had happened. She told Jake that her husband had walked out on her without a word. He was amazed, sympathetic. He said that Bill would probably see the light. He asked her if she was still game for the weekend. In the end, she went. What did she have to lose? The sex was just as good as with Bill. She had expected better.

On Saturday, Bill got in touch with his buddy who was tracking Joan. He got a picture of her with some tall guy at a pool. He went on Google and was able to identify the man as Jake Beatty, a lawyer with Joan's firm. After work the next Monday, Bill got in touch with a lawyer in Mountain City about suing Joan's firm. The woman said she would look into it.

Another week went by, and Bill's mother called. She wanted Bill to listen to Joan about getting back together. He declined.

"She says she told you she wouldn't go with the guy. Is that so?"

"Yep. That's what she said."

"Then why did you leave? You could have just said no."

"Think it through, Mom. How could I still be married to her when she wanted to fuck some other guy? Won't happen."

"But she didn't go with him."

"Yes, she did."

"Oh. How could you know?"

"Had her followed. Also tracked her phone. She really didn't try to hide it. We're toast."

Bill settled into his job in Mountain City. He got an apartment. He started dating. Of course, he didn't trust any woman too much. But they liked him, and he needed sex and some socializing. A year went by, and Bill checked in on Joan. She was still at the firm. He had his buddy go by her new address. It was a room near her work. Bill instructed his lawyer to file a suit against the law firm, and to file for divorce.

Bill had his buddy send the pictures from the resort, with Joan and Jake, to his wife, in and unmarked envelope at her work. There was a note about the law suit and why it was filed.

Then he forgot about all of it for a while. He liked his work. He liked a new woman he had met. He was financially stable. And he liked Mountain City.

The divorce was uncontested. The law suit against the firm settled for $75k. Jake's wife divorced him, and he was demoted at work. He was a complete fool to go through with the weekend when he knew that Joan's husband had walked out on her. What did he think would happen?

Joan thought back on her mistake, when the divorce was granted. She could have been a mother, or a mother to be by now. Instead, she was going out to singles bars. She never expected Bill to react the way he did. She realized that he hadn't spoken one word to her after she made her pitch. Just walked away. She was tempted to tell herself that he must not have loved her. But she knew better. She could still see that anguished look flash across his face. It haunted her.

The end.