In the End It was Frank's Game

Frank was trying to control his emotions and deal with his unbelievable situation.

"Okay, so, you're going to LaValliere's house and have sex with him tonight. Then tomorrow he's bringing you home and we'll just pick up and continue to be a happily married couple as if this affair has never happened. Is that what you're telling me Brooke?" Frank asked.

"It's not an affair! It's just one night and, yes, tomorrow I will be home and I will have experienced this dream come true. And I'll be happy and you'll be happy that you supported me and let me have this experience, and we'll move on with our lives," she replied.

She was hoping that Frank was buying in to what she was explaining, but when she looked at him he rolled his eyes and gave her a look that said he couldn't believe what she was saying.

Seeing the look on his face Brooke knew that this was not going the way she imagined.

"So, you're tossing me aside so that you can have sex with your prince charming who is a much better man than me," he said.

"Damn Brooke, this really hurts me."

"Are you telling me that I'm not special?"

"Are you telling me that I'm not a real man?" He asked.

"No! No! No! I didn't say that and I don't mean that," she said in a panic-struck voice.

"Well, Brooke, what do you mean?" he asked her.

"Frank you are special and you are a real man, but...,"

Frank cut her off.

"But I'm not a fucking professional football player and celebrity who really knows the secret of how to satisfy a woman sexually, is this what you're telling me Brooke?" he asked.

Brooke was looking down at the floor.

"It's more than that," she said.

"Then what is it? Are you tired of me? Are you bored with me?"

"No, no, no Frank, you are the best. But...,"

Frank cut her off again.

"I'm the best, but you still need someone different," he said.

"Yes," she said while starring down at the floor.

"So tonight you discovered that Marc LaValliere is the someone that you need?"

"Yes," she said, still looking down at the floor.

"So, you're going with Marc LaValliere and have a fairy tale night of love and sex with him?"

"It's not love! It's not love! I don't love him! But, yes,... I'm going to have sex with him and have an experience that a lot of women dream about," she said with some certainty and confidence.

But she quickly added.

"Frank I'm not tossing you aside, you're my husband and I would never toss you aside, but just for tonight I won't be with you, I'll be with Marc. And, I'm hoping, no, I'm begging you, please understand my feelings and needs. And, please Frank, I'm begging you, please don't make this a bad situation," she said.

Frank took a deep breath.

"Why Brooke? What on earth makes you think I can be okay with you having sex with another man and then come back to me like it's no big deal?" he asked.

"Because you've always had an open mind with me. And you've always been understanding and considerate of my emotions, and my feelings and my needs. And I'm hoping that once you realize how special it is for me to have this night with Marc that you will control your anger and handle this like the savvy, worldly, sophisticated man your are," she told her husband.

"Handle it? Handle it? Please explain to me how I'm supposed to handle knowing that tonight you will be in Marc LaValliere's bed and he'll be taking you. How can I handle tomorrow when he drives up with you in his car and I know that you two have been intimate, not just once but all night? How can I handle looking at you and knowing that you've given yourself to another man? Tell me, how should I handle all of this?" he asked.

"Frank, I can't answer that. I'm just hoping that you will work all this out in your mind and we will move on. I know you're angry with me but can't you understand how important this experience is to me?" she asked.

"Brooke, what you mean is that you hope that I will just suck it up and accept your fling with LaValliere," Frank said.

"It's not a fling!" She screamed.

"And no Frank, I don't want you to just suck it up. I'm asking you to consider my feelings and my needs and be okay with this because you love me. And because you're my best friend, you're my soul mate and you want me to have this very special experience. An experience that I may never have a chance at again. Frank, that's what I want from you darling," she told him.

Frank thought for several moments about Brooke and what she was asking him to accept. He couldn't believe that she actually thought that he could handle her having sex with LaValliere. And the more he thought about it he realized that she really didn't comprehend the magnitude of this situation and the impact it would have on him and their relationship. Obviously she was having a delusional experience brought on by an evening of dancing with LaValliere.

He needed to snap her out of her delusion.

"Brooke, what do they call a man whose wife has sex with another man?" he asked her.

Brooke thought for a moment and then answered.

"A cuck-old," she struggled to say the word.

"That's right Brooke, they call him a cuckold. A man whose wife is fucked for pleasure by another man. Well, Brooke, I'm not going to be made a cuckold by you and Marc LaValliere," he said firmly.

Brooke's looked up at Frank and her eyes were filled with tears.

"So, you are not going to let me do this?" Brooke asked him.

"No, Brooke, I didn't say that. I didn't say that I won't let you go with him. I won't hold you back. You're a grown woman. You're an adult and you can make your own decisions. So whether you do this or not is not up to me, it's up to you. If this is something you need to do, then go and do it. Go with him. Give yourself to him. Let him have you. Go and experience a night of love and sex with him. I want stand in your way..."

Brooke interrupted him.

"Frank, I've already told you, it's not love! I don't love him! I love you Frank! It's just sex, it's just sex! I have a sexual attraction to Marc! I don't have a romantic attraction to him! " Brooke screamed.

"So in your mind you've separated love and sex?"

"Yes, yes I have Frank. I'm going to have sex with Marc because I'm attracted to him sexually, but tomorrow, I'm coming home to you because I love you, you're my husband, my best friend and my soul mate, and because we have so much more together than just sex," she said to him.

"Well, Brooke, I'm not going to argue with you about the difference between love and sex but like I said, I won't stand in your way of having sex with LaValliere."

Brooke looked up at Frank. "Is he accepting this?" she thought to herself.

"Brooke, if this is what you want to do then do it, but...,"

Frank stopped talking and was thinking about what he was about to say to her.

"But what? But what? But what Frank?" She implored him to tell her the rest.

"Look at me Brooke."

Brooke looked up and they were looking at one another eye-to-eye.

"But before you walk through that door we will dissolve our marriage right here and now," he told her.

Panic overtook Brooke.

"Dissolve our marriage? What do mean dissolve our marriage?" She screamed.

"I mean that when you walk through that door we will no longer be married. You will no longer be my wife and I will no longer be your husband. We will remove our rings and disavow our union right here and now. We'll get lawyers to handle the technicalities later, but as far as I'm concerned our marriage will end before you walk out that door."

And before Brooke could say anything, Frank quickly added.

"And tonight when LaValliere takes you he will not be cuckolding me because you won't be my wife." Frank told.

Suddenly Brook was hysterical.

"No! No! No! No! No! I won't do that Frank! I won't do it!" Brooke screamed.

"No? Well, that's the deal Brooke, so what do you want?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said exhaustedly

"Bullshit, of course you know what you want. You want it both ways. You want to spend the night in Marc LaValliere's bed and then come home to me," Frank told her.

Brooke was crying uncontrollably.

"You really mean this, you're really serious aren't you? If I go with Marc for just one night you will divorce me?"

"Yes," he said, matter-of-factly.

Brooke's mood suddenly changed from panic to anger because she saw that her rationale for having a night with Marc had unraveled right before hers eyes.

"Honestly Frank, does my feelings and emotions mean so little to you that you would just automatically end our marriage over this and not even give us a chance to work this out and move on with our life together?" she asked.

"Brooke, there is nothing to work out."

"Look, understand this, there are some things in life that are non-negotiable and my wife having sex with another man is one of those things. I will not agree to a deal where you get to have sex with LaValliere and then you come home and we just carry-on like it's no big thing."

"So my feelings and emotions and needs must mean nothing to you." She said sarcastically.

"Brooke, just a few minutes ago you walked off and left me, you actually did toss me aside, and with no explanation. If I hadn't caught up and stopped you, right now you would be in Marc LaValliere's car and heading to his house for a night of sex. So, how much do my feelings and emotions mean to you, obviously not very much. So why should your feelings and emotions mean anything to me," he said to her.

The reality of her decision finally hit Brooke.

"Oh god Frank! I'm so sorry! I just wasn't thinking," she exclaimed.

"God dammit Brooke! Don't tell me that you weren't thinking because you were thinking. But all you were thinking about was getting naked for LaValliere and all the sexual things that he was going to do with you."

Brooke was crying again.

"And you certainly wasn't thinking about me and how I was wondering why you had left, where you were going and what you were doing," he said to her.

"Oh god Frank, please believe me, I wasn't going to leave you not knowing where I had gone. When I got to Marc's house I was going to text you and explain where I was and what I was doing."

"Text me?"

"Text me?" Frank asked with a laugh.

"You mean that while you were in bed having sex with LaValliere that you were going to text me?"

Frank was laughing.

"What were you going to text me? Frank, sorry I left the party but I went home with Marc LaValliere. I'm having sex with him tonight so I want be home. Have a good night and I'll see you tomorrow," Frank said to her sarcastically.

"That's cruel," Brooke said.

"Cruel?"

"Brooke, what's cruel and shocking is that you made a spur of the moment decision to toss me, your husband, your best friend and soul mate aside to spend the night with man that you just met." Frank said to her.

Brooke cried.

"And what's really cruel is that you expected me to be okay with it. Like it's no big deal! That's what's cruel Brooke!" Frank exclaimed.

"I'm so sorry Frank. I'm so sorry. I just wasn't thinking." She declared.

"Well, Brooke, it doesn't matter now what you were or were not thinking. And it doesn't matter what you would or would not have texted because I caught up with you before you walked out the door, and now I know your intentions. And, now you know my intentions. Neither of us has to wonder anymore. Now we just need to get to the heart of the matter."

Brooke looked up at Frank with a quizzical look on her face.

"And what's that, what's the heart of the matter?" she asked.

"Brooke, the heart of the matter is this, here's the door and LaValliere is waiting out there for you. I imagine that he's getting impatient. This is your decision," Frank firmly said to his wife of twelve years.

Brooke didn't hesitate a moment.

"Frank, I'm not walking out that door."

"I'm not going to give you up for him."

"I'm not going to give up our life together for him. I'm not that stupid." Brooke said to him.

Frank studied her.

"Well, fifteen minutes ago you were hellbent on walking out this door and going with him, so what's changed or has anything changed other than you don't want to divorce?" Frank asked.

"I mean, can I believe that your raging urge to have sex with LaValliere has suddenly gone away," he said.

"Or are you going to wait until next week when I'm in Europe and then hook up with him?" he asked her.

"No! What makes you think that?" Brooke screamed.

"Are you going to cheat on me behind my back?" he asked.

"No! No! No! I've never cheated on you! I would never cheat on you! I love you!" she screamed.

"Well, you were on your way to cheat on me tonight. If I hadn't stopped you, you would be cheating on me right now," he said.

For the second time in just a few minutes reality hit Brooke right between the eyes and she came face to face with what she decided to do with Marc.

"Oh god! No! No! No! What was I thinking!" she cried.

"So what happened?" he asked.

"I don't know! I don't know, Frank. I'm so confused," she told him.

"I don't know what came over me to make me think that I could go with Marc and it would be no sin and you'd be ok with it," she said.

Frank was listening to her but she saw that he had a skeptical look on his face. She had to tell him all of it.

"Honestly Frank I don't know what came over me. It started the first moment that Marc came to our table and asked me to dance. When he got me out on the dance floor he came onto me so fast and so bold. He kept telling me how much he wanted me and how much I would enjoy sex with him. Then he started holding me tight, and then he kissed me, and then he started feeling of me and Frank, I didn't stop him, I didn't stop him. I didn't stop him," she said crying.

"So you encouraged him," Frank said.

"Yes, yes, I encouraged him. I'm so sorry Frank," she cried.

"Then I convinced myself that going with him is the right thing to do. And then I convinced myself that you would understand and be ok with me going with him," she told him.

"All I can say is that I know that I've messed up really bad and I'm sorry. I'm so very sorry," she cried.

Frank was listening to Brooke and at the same time he thought about the note the waiter gave him.

Frank reached in his pocket and pulled out the note.

"Here, read this," he said.

Brooke took the note, read it and then looked at Frank.

"Where did you get this? Is it for real?"

"A waiter slipped it to me during dinner," he told her.

"This is just a game he plays?" Brooke asked.

"That's what the note says."

Brooke was incredulous after reading the note.

"I can't believe this, I just can't believe this," she said.

"Brooke, you can believe it, he picked you out of the crowd and downright seduced you. He manipulated you and wrapped you around his finger," Frank said.

Brooke continued to read the note over and over again.

"What he did with me is just a game?"

"Yes."

"All the things he said to me is just a game?"

"Yes, Brooke, it's just a game he plays."

Brook was destroyed.

It was sinking in that she was simply the catch for this week's game. A trophy specimen of the female species to satisfy LaVallieres sexual appetite for married women. Last week it might have been a woman named Debbie. Next week it might be woman name Sandi. But this week it was Brooke. She's the one who took the bait and got caught in Marc's game.

And a sick feeling came over her when it hit her that she put her marriage to in jeopardy.

"Frank, I'm sick," she said as she turned and ran from him and into the restroom.

She threw-up a couple of times and then went to the sink to wash her hands and face. Looking at herself in the mirror she saw that she was a mess, just like the whole damn evening.

Brooke came out of the restroom to find Frank still standing in front of the exit. She actually ran to him and threw her arms around him.

"Oh god Frank, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. Can you forgive me for being so stupid and gullible," she asked him through her tears.

Frank looked at her and then told her, "Brooke, LaValliere caught you unaware. Then he seduced you to a point where you believed that you could have sex with him and there would be no fallout. That I would be okay with you having a night of sex with him. But now you've found out differently. Now you know. So, promise me that we'll never be in this place ever again."

"Oh god Frank, I promise you that, after all of this, I'll never let a man near me ever again," she said.

Frank looked at her for a couple of moments and then said, "Good, and when we're out, like tonight, I'll try to help you keep that promise. I should have intervened before LaValliere got you to this point. But I didn't, so some of this is as much my fault is it is yours. And it's all LaValliere's fault because he shouldn't be going after and seducing married women. So Brooke, I forgive you and I forgive myself, but I don't forgive LaValliere and I'll deal with him later."

"Oh god Frank, thank you for understanding. But Frank, please, just let Marc go. We'll never see him again and it's not worth the problems that you might encounter," she said.

After that comment Frank looked at Brooke and thought it odd that she didn't want Marc to experience any consequences. After all, LaValliere almost cost Brooke her marriage. Why wouldn't she want him to experience some discomfort for trapping her in his game.

"I'll think about it," he told her.

Then Frank asked her, "Do you want to go back to the party?"

"No Frank, let's go home," she told her husband.

"You're sure?" Frank asked her.

"Yes, please, let's just go home!" Brooke exclaimed.

Frank and Brooke walked back up the hallway and into the restaurant.

On their way to the door Frank noticed that LaValliere's two teammates were still seated. And they were watching him and Brooke.

"Brooke, wait right here. I need to talk with LaValliere's buddies."

"Frank, please, just leave it alone. We don't need anymore trouble," Brooke told Frank.

"No, Brooke, I'm not going to leave it alone."

And with that, Frank left Brooke standing alone and walked over to LaValliere's teammates.

"Sir, we don't want any problems," one of the teammates said.

"Good, then do exactly as I tell you."

"Tell your buddy LaValliere that he lost the game tonight. Tell him that he's a loser. Tell him that Frank Walker is going to spread it around the world that Marc LaValliere is a loser."

Both of LaValliere's teammates stared at Frank with stunned looks on their faces.

"Sir, we can't tell him that, he would kill both of us."

"Gentlemen, do you want to deal with me or with him," Frank asked them.

"Sir, we don't want any problems with you."

"Good choice, now one of you pick up your phone and tell him what I said. Do it now!"

"And tell him that when I walk through that door he had better be nowhere in sight."

One of the men picked up their phone, dialed LaValliere and told him exactly what Frank said. Frank couldn't hear the conversation but he figured that LaValliere was beyond angry because his friend told him not to do anything stupid. And then the call ended.

"What did he say?" Frank asked.

"He said he was going to kill you," the teammate told Frank.

"Good," was Frank's reply.

And with that Frank left the two teammates, collected Brooke, and they walked out of the restaurant and lounge.

Outside Frank handed his parking ticket to the valet and then they waited with several other couples for their car to be brought around.

While waiting on their car an SUV roared up, slammed to a stop in front of them, and the passenger side window came down. Inside the SUV was an angry Marc LaValliere.

"Come on Brooke, you said you wanted to go with me, now come on and get in the car!" Marc shouted.