How High A Price - Anon

He was off the couch and on them in less than a second.

"No, Noo! Please Nooo!" Susan wailed, holding her aching head. "Not now, not like this."

Alan Jenson was impatiently waiting in the car in front of Susan's house, when John Stickner, arms flailing for balance, came staggering out backwards through the broken front door, followed by Susan's husband Early, screaming obscenities, and windmilling punches.

A roundhouse right haymaker caught the off-balanced lawyer on the side of his head and spun him in an almost perfect three-sixty pivot on one toe. He might have completed the circle had not Early's roundhouse left stopped his momentum completely, and dropped him to the ground.

"Shit!" Jenson thought, he knew breaking the door down was not a good idea, but Stickner had seemed like a man possessed, and Jenson wasn't sure he was going to be able to pull the enraged husband off of him. He jumped from the car while speed dialing 911 and sprinted across the lawn. Alan was simultaneously yelling the address to a confused 911 operator while trying to push Early Conroy from the bloody and battered John Stickner.

"Mr. Conroy, Mr. Conroy, Early! Listen to me!" Alan pleaded. "We'll fix your door, John got too excited, we'll get it fixed, and pay for it. Please! Please just calm down. He thought something was wrong, and over reacted." He became aware that a naked Susan Conroy was also pulling on Early, and blubbering incoherently.

"My God Susan! What happened? Put some clothes on!" Alan Jenson was trying to get his coat off to cover Susan, his hand still clutching the cell phone that had become tangled in the sleeve.

"Yeah Susan, tell him what happened," sneered Early. "Ask the big boss if he can fix our marriage when he fixes the front door."

"Look Mr. Conroy, Early, let's all go inside and talk about this." Alan had finally extracted his hand and phone from the coat turning the sleeve inside out.

"Explain to me what's going on here, I think there's more to this than a broken door." He looked directly at Susan who was clutching desperately on Early's arm hysterically begging for forgiveness while he tried to push her away, brush her off.

Early finally gave her a hard push towards Alan who caught and steadied her keeping her from falling, and trying unsuccessfully to get his coat to cover her nakedness with the sleeve turned inside out. Susan started shaking Alan Jenson and started blubbering about her special gift, but she stilled loved her husband, and it wasn't John's fault, but he loved her and she loved him, but not like she loved Early, and Early was being jealous, and John was her mentor...

The more Alan Jenson heard, the more he felt like throwing up. This was a disaster in the making.

Early interrupted her ramblings and screamed, "John fucking Stickner FUCKED MY WIFE, AND SHE LET HIM DO IT!" He casually kicked the dazed John fucking Stickner in the balls.

Stickner immediately grabbed his crotch, rolled to one side, assumed a fetal position, and started retching onto the grass. With a shriek Susan threw herself on top of the helpless lawyer, shielding him with her body.

"Please Early, don't hurt him anymore, hurt me, don't hurt him anymore." She wrapped her arms around him, pulling his head protectively towards her naked breast. "It was my fault! Hurt me! Don't hurt John anymore," she whimpered pathetically. "I never wanted anybody to get hurt. It was all my fault, I started it. It wasn't his fault"

Early felt his blood run cold, there it was, the ultimate betrayal. The woman who was his soul-mate protecting her lover. Telling him that she betrayed him intentionally, telling him she had willingly given herself to another. Reminding him of the sounds he had heard, and the brief glimpses he had caught at a distance, as he had tried to sneak in around the back of John fucking Stickner's house. The forest was thick, with steep hills, but he had seen and heard enough to know she had shared body and soul with John fucking Stickner, her betrayal was complete.

Susan was no longer able to look Early in the eye, but looking down at the poor battered face of John, her heart broke once again. Knowing that it was her selfishness and unfaithfulness that caused her lover's painful injuries, and her husband's injuries whose pain went much deeper than flesh and blood.

Early unzipped his pants and started to pee on Susan and John fucking Stickner. It felt good. He was relieving more than his bladder, he was emptying the taint from his soul, by soiling that which had tainted his soul, and best of all soiling the one that she now held most dear.

Alan Jenson reached for Early. "Ah, Mr. Conroy, I, uuuh, don't think this is appropriate, we can deal with this in a more civilized manner." Early batted his hand away and glared at him. Jenson saw the look in the eye of the much younger man, took a couple of steps back, and wondered when the cops would get there.

The 911 operator never did get the address or even a clear idea what the call was about from the garbled message Alan Jenson had attempted while running across the front yard, and then muffling everything through his coat sleeve. However in these upscale neighborhoods police patrols are frequent, and when officer O'Hara happened by in his unmarked unit and noticed a possibly inebriated individual urinating on a prone naked woman cradling a man with obvious facial injuries he immediately radioed for a back up and an EMT wagon.

He approached the crowd, opening the latch on his holster. "Everyone stop what you're doing! What's going on here?" he asked.

Jenson believed this was the result of his 911 call. "It's a mistake, officer. John thought something was wrong with Susan and kicked the door in. He only meant to help."

The officer saw the damage to the door frame, and the scene with the near naked woman on the ground, holding a battered older man. "Who are these people?" He asked the speaker, since the man standing in the suit seemed like the only one capable of talking any sense. "And will somebody get some clothing on that woman, and tell me what the Hell happened?"

Alan responded carefully. "I'm not certain. We needed some papers that Susan had. When we got here, John knocked on the door for a while, and then kicked it in. A minute later John came out of the door, stumbling, and Early followed, yelling at him and hitting him. Susan came out naked a few minutes later, begging forgiveness. That's all I know." Jenson felt ill-at-ease, in the middle of what was obviously a family struggle. He hated the idea that whatever was happening would reflect poorly on Jenson, Sharone and Anderson. He'd spent far too much time and effort getting where he was, to let some idiot's indiscretions give his business a black eye.

Officer O'Hara looked at the drunken man standing over the mismatched couple on the ground. The woman had succeeded in getting a coat on, covering most of her nakedness. "Is that about what happened?" the officer asked Early.

"Kicked my door in!" Early screamed, not even aware that's what had happened until Jenson told his version of what happened. "He was all over my wife, touching her. So I threw John fucking Stickner out of my house. I've got a right! Fuckin' walkin' in my house like he owned it, breaking my door down! Fucking my wife, like he owned her too!"

Susan sat on the grass crying, sobbing drunkenly, holding her head. John Stickner, was finally becoming aware of the situation. It was a PR nightmare. He might be able to charge Early with battery, but once the story got out, his goose was cooked. It was one thing to discretely engage in relationships, but to get caught in an affair with a subordinate, charged with breaking and entering, that could be devastating. To top it off, Alan Jenson was there to witness all of it!

The officer was inspecting the damage to the two people on the floor. The older man had taken some punches, that was obvious. No weapon from the looks of it. It fit the story. The woman on the other hand, had a bad bruise forming on her face, that looked wrong. "Ma'am, what happened to your face. Did your husband do that?"

She shook her head, and pointed to Stickner.

"This is a simple misunderstanding officer," he said as he got unsteadily to his feet, wiping the urine off his face. "There's no need for police involvement. Nobody's been injured. I'll take care of the damages. I thought that Mrs. Conroy was in distress when I spoke to her on the phone. It was out of concern for her that I entered the home, when nobody answered the door."

Alan had his phone out. He realized they were never going to make the Melrose meeting. That was bad, the situation had been all but lost, when John and Susan managed to somehow pull it together. "Mr. Melrose, Alan Jenson here. I'm sorry but we're not going to be able to make the meeting on time-"

He was shocked when Early yanked the phone out of his hand and started to scream into it, "-because John fucking Stickner was trying to fuck my wife again, and I kicked his ass!"

Jenson grabbed at the phone, trying to salvage the situation, while Early turned his back on him. "That's right. John fucking Stickner fucked my wife Susan and was trying to do it again. Honorable John Stickner. Trustworthy Susan Conroy." Early threw the phone to the side, and walked back toward the house. Jenson scrambled for the phone, trying to save a terrible situation. He put the phone to his ear, "Hello?"

The voice at the other end didn't seem happy. "You can't make the meeting, Alan, because Mr. Stickner is having sex with Mrs. Conroy?"

"No, William. They're not having sex now. It's just a mistake..." Jenson tried to explain, watching the entire deal go up in smoke. What a fucking disaster. Melrose was a huge account, their third largest. This one was going to hurt.

Officer O'Hara was no rookie. He'd seen a lot of family squabbles, some of them quite ugly. He hated those calls, never knowing how they were going to turn out. He didn't hold out much hope for this family. But he had to admit, this one was pretty entertaining.

"Mrs. Conroy," he said to the woman on the ground. "Maybe it would be best if you went in your house and got dressed. See to your husband perhaps, unless you no longer want to be with him."

The woman shrieked, "No! I love Early! He has to forgive me. He has to, it meant nothing. It was just a gift," she whined, struggling to her feet.

"Do you think he's going to appreciate you taking your lover's side, after the man broke into your house?"

Officer O'Hara had seen it all. He knew his best hope was to get the aggrieved spouses calmed down and talking. The last thing he wanted was to get called back for a shooting later in the evening. It seems like they got at least one of those every month. A shooting, knifing or beating. Family disturbances were the worst.

Susan looked at him in anguish. "Oh God! What have I done!" She turned and raced toward the house, screaming. "Early! Early! I'm sorry!"

Alan Jenson put his phone away. Mr. Melrose had told him exactly what he thought of cheaters, and using that as an excuse for missing a critical meeting was the worst he could imagine. He was currently calling the other partners to vent his anger. Jenson was angry too, pissed that Stickner would jeopardize this deal, and maybe even his own position within the firm, by fucking a married woman. Even worse, a subordinate. He wanted to take his own shot at the senior partner, but that would be almost as stupid as kicking in the door of a house where the woman you were committing adultery with lived. Not with a police officer standing there witness.

John straightened his coat. "I believe we have this under control, officer," he said casually, trying to minimize the issue. "Your services won't be needed." Stickner brushed his hair back, standing tall.

O'Hara's back up appeared, lights flashing, pulling up to the curb. He hated cheaters. Police officers had one of the highest divorce rates, and his own first marriage was no exception. The snobbish bastard dismissing his so readily just pissed him off. He saw Dave get out of the black and white, calling his position in.

"Cuff this guy, Dave, and read him his rights. We have a clear case of breaking and entering, and I need to see if the owner of the house wants to press charges." O'Hara said.

John stepped backward, waving his hands. "This isn't necessary. We can work this out. It was a case of misunderstanding! I just need to talk to the Conroys."

Officer Dave Nolan didn't know the situation, but he'd let the first man on the scene call the shots. Besides, O'Hara was a good guy, and had seniority. He broke out the handcuffs, and started telling the man his rights.

"No, you have to let me talk to the Conroys," Stickner whined. This was the last thing he needed. He backed up toward the house, determined to get Susan to call this off. The next thing he knew, he was on the grass again, pinned by the two officers, a knee on his head, his arm being yanked behind his back.

"Looks like we're going to add resisting arrest to the breaking and entering."

Alan Jenson thought about interceding, but decided to stay out of it. Stickner had got himself into this mess. The Melrose account was toast. This was going to get ugly, and the best he could hope for was avoiding as much of the fallout at possible. Stickner might be damn good at his job, but he'd made this bed. He was already thinking about who to offer a position to in his place.

Inside the house, Early was trying to calm down. The adrenaline rush of his battle with Stickner, combined with a night's rest, had burned away much of his drunkenness. At the moment he was trying to hold off his clingy whore of a wife.

"Please, Early," she whined. "I didn't do nothing!"

"You chose him. Chose him to fuck, and chose him just now out on the lawn. You chose that bastard over your own husband and marriage, you cheating whore. Get inside and put some clothing on!"

She reached out for him, and he stiff armed her again. "No. Don't touch me. You don't get to touch me. You stink. Go get cleaned up!"

Susan dragged herself to the bathroom, dropping Alan Jenson's coat along the way. Early heard the shower start, as the police officer knocked on the open door and entered.

O'Hara hoped things would remain calm. "Seems like quite a mess you have here," he said.

"No shit. Cheating whore wife, and that damn John fucking Stickner, fucking up my marriage and my life." He looked over at the open door. "Now my house too, the bastard."

"You want to tell me what happened?"

"Don't know. I was sleeping. Woke up to a loud crash, and John fucking Stickner had his arms all over my naked wife, and she was crying hysterically, holding her head. I saw the door was broken open. She was screaming something about 'no, not like this,' and I told the bastard to get his hands off my wife and to get out of my house. When he didn't I made him."

"We've got his confession that he broke in, and a witness to the event. Do you want to press charges?"

"Can I?"

"Breaking and entering, and criminal trespass, to start, if you told him to leave and he refused. Did your wife invite him in?"

"Hell, she didn't say a word, just kept screaming and crying. Once I was on him, she asked me not to hurt him," Early explained.

"Can I speak with her?"

Early nodded toward the bedroom. "She's getting dressed."

"Would you have her come out here?" O'Hara asked.

"SUSAN!" Early shouted. He no longer heard the shower running. She appeared a few seconds later, wearing shorts and a t-shirt. She still looked like crap.

"Early?" she whispered nervously.

"Mrs. Conroy, I have a few questions for you. Is that alright?" Officer O'Hara asked, speaking in a calm, steady tone.

She nodded, slowly sitting down on the couch next to her husband. He quickly moved as far from her as he could.

"Did you ask Mr. Stickner into the house? Did you invite him to kick in the door?"

"N-n-no. I heard pounding on the door, and the doorbell ringing. When I was about to answer it, the door crashed open and hit me. I was scared." Her hand reached up unconsciously to touch the soreness on her forehead and cheek.

That explained the mark on her face. "Did you want him here?"

"No," she answered slowly, trying to remember the conversation on the phone. Not in the house with Early. That would be dangerous. "I told him I was sick, but he kept calling."

"Thank you, Mrs. Conroy." He wanted to lecture her on her behavior, but knew it would do no good. He could only pray he wouldn't get a call-back to this address.

~ * ~ * ~

Stickner had a good attorney represent him. No surprise. He was able to avoid the breaking and entering charge, since there was no evidence of intent to commit a crime after entering. He also escaped the sexual assault charges. The criminal trespass wasn't so easy, and he was found guilty of a Class A misdemeanor, was fined $4000 which didn't bother him, but the six months of jail-time was devastating. He pleaded no-contest to resisting arrest charge, another Class A misdemeanor, when the prosecutor told him he'd be able to serve the sentences concurrently.

Life was hard for lawyers behind bars. Especially ones nearly 60 years old.

Susan was served with the divorce papers. She sought out her husband. "You...you promised we'd try to work it out," she whined. It had only been three days since Stickner's stupid decision. It had already been a bad day, finding out that not only was she not going to get her promotion, and the Melrose account was a complete fiasco, but she was called down to HR and written up for her behavior. The entire Melrose debacle was blamed on her, for not showing up with the papers.

"You chose him, Susan," Early explained calmly. "After all of it, you chose your lover. Every step of the way, when it came to a choice between that bastard and me, you chose him. I can't accept that. I won't."

"No, Early," she pleaded. "It was a mistake. I love you. I just didn't want you to hurt him anymore."

"You chose him." Early stood up and walked away.

Early's lawsuit against Susan's company was settled out of court. Both Stickner and Susan were soon out of a job, and by the time John fucking Stickner was behind bars, Early had a settlement check in his hand. His divorce papers declared their joint property to be split, and assured that no earnings beyond the date of the signed agreement were subject to division. There was no alimony, since their earnings were equitable, and each kept their own retirement accounts.

After lawyer fees, Early only kept a little under $400,000, but that was far more than Susan was getting out of their joint property. He paid off her equity in the house, and redecorated it with the assistance of one of the many young women in his office that were interested in making sure that Early recovered from his divorce well.

Susan was eventually able to find employment, but it took some doing. It seemed that every law firm in the city had received word of why she'd been let go. Between being labeled an office slut, and incompetent for wrecking a huge deal, she had to settle for what she could find. She earned less than half of what she had previously. She lived in a small apartment, wondering how it all went so horribly wrong.

"Why couldn't he understand?" she asked herself, drinking the cheap gin, and looking through her old photo album. "It didn't cost him anything. It was something I felt I had to do, that was all. Why couldn't Early understand?"

~ * ~ * ~

Epilogue:

Early was only on the market for 16 months, before he met a woman who understood. She was part of the other company's negotiating team, six years younger than him, and had suffered her way through a divorce of her own. Together they negotiated their way to three children, seven grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren, a beach house, and 52 years of happiness, before she lost Early. He regained his sunny disposition with Ellen, and rarely thought of his previous life. He no longer cared what had happened to Susan or Stickner. He moved on.