Is It Still Worth Fighting For?

"Fuck you Steve," she yelled back at me. "It'll be a cold day in hell before I ever ask you again," she said storming out of the house. Life for me stopped at that moment. I no longer had a loving wife, more so a roommate.

It was about a month later when Kelly never came home at all. I stayed up all night waiting for her and when she did finally show up about nine o'clock in the morning I was waiting for her. We had still been 'sleeping' in the same bed but I'd all but had it and this pushed me over the edge.

She came out of the shower and went to her closet and found it was empty. She opened her drawers and they too were empty.

"If you're wondering where your clothes are, they're all in the spare bedroom. There's no point in having your stuff in this room anymore, you're never here anyway," I told her. "Maybe you should just get a cot for your office, that way you wouldn't even have to come home anymore," I told her. "But since you're not getting sex from me anymore, why don't you give who you are getting it from these," as I threw her an opened box of condoms as I walked away. I wasn't sure she was cheating on me, but with her old sex drive, she should be figgin crazy by now.

"You asshole I'm not cheating on you, but since your not using it, I know a ton of other guys who'd love to have a shot at it; do you hear me?" she shouted but I was out the door on my way to work.

We went on for the next two months like two strangers. Even roommates said hi to each other when they saw one another, we didn't. When she came home on Friday and asked for a trial separation I wasn't surprised.

"I guess you can now move in with Kenny and you won't have to do it behind my back anymore," I told her.

"I'm not cheating on you," Kelly replied.

"Not yet, but you probably soon will. You see I've had you followed for the last three months. I know all about your lunches and dinners with your new buddy Kenny. The little hugs and kisses, if you want, I can send you copies of all the pictures," I told her.

"Well, if you've followed me, then you know I haven't slept with Kenny or anyone else," she shot back at me. "He's just a friend, someone to talk to; that's all."

"I guess since you never talk to me anymore, you needed a shoulder to cry on."

"He's just a damn friend Steve, you're my husband and I love you, not him."

"You could have fooled me Kelly. When is the last tome we made love anyway? Can you remember? However, you can't count the times where you just spread your legs and told me to hurry up because it was late. Because, if you can, you've got a better memory than I do. I can't even remember the last time anymore. So you can have your damn 'trial separation' for all the good it will do us. We about done and I've got an attorney working on paperwork as we speak. So get your head and ass wired together, if you can, but you don't have much time left. Life is too short to stay married to a bitch."

She started to cry and ran out to her car. I could hear the tires screech all the way in the house as the kids looked out the window.

"Are you and mom getting a divorce?" my kids asked me.

"Can't answer that question right now kids. I don't want to, but I may not have a choice any longer. No matter what happens, we both love you and that will never change." I guess I wasn't too convincing as they both looked at me like their best friend died. It was a quiet dinner tonight, but I was getting use to then at this point. I wanted my old life back and wasn't going to go quietly into the night.

"What did Steve say when you told him about the trial separation," Kenny asked Kelly over lunch.

"He said he's got divorce papers being prepared. I don't want a damn divorce; I just want him to understand what I have to go through everyday."

"Kelly, he bluffing. He knows very well that you'd take him to the cleaners and get custody of the two kids. He'd be an idiot to push the issue," Kenny said pumping up Kelly.

"I'm not so sure, you didn't see how angry he was," she said a little teary eyed.

"Don't worry, it'll all blow over," Kenny told her hoping that it wouldn't. You see, he'd become attached to Kelly and was having some real feelings for her. It had started out as just a casual lunch and after a while Kelly had started to tell him her problems. When she teared up his shoulder was always there and when she broke down once, he was there to kiss her tears away, literally. They'd kissed on more than one occasion. It was a thank you kiss but now he wanted more.

"You're such a sweetheart and friend," Kelly told him holding onto both of his hands as they sat at lunch. "I just don't want to burden you with my problems."

"Kelly, don't give it a second thought, what are friends for?" he said smiling back at her.

"Enough is enough," I told myself after the next round of P.I. photographs.

I sat in the hospital administrator's office with a manila envelope in my hand. This wasn't just a little disagreement anymore; this was an attack on my marriage.

"I'm sorry about the delay, it just seems to never end."

"I've heard those exact words more than once over the last few months." I replied.

"Well, Mr. Moore, what can I do for you today?"

I passed him the envelope.

"I don't know what the hospital's policy is about this kind of thing, but I want to nip it in the bud before I have to go to the next step. I don't want anyone fired, and I don't think it's gone beyond what you see there, but I'm here to make sure it doesn't. I know my wife does a good job for you but I don't know this Kenny from Adam. My marriage means too much to me to let this son of a bitch ruin it, I'd rather see them both fired."

"Don't worry Mr. Moore, this will be taken care of today, you have my word on it."

We shook hands and as I turned to leave, his phone was lit up like a Christmas tree. You couldn't pay me enough to put up with all that bull shit.

I didn't have a clue when or if Kelly was coming home tonight. Like always I prepared dinner, burgers on the grill, salad, fries and blueberry pie for desert. We were all sitting at the table when Kelly flew in the room.

"We need to talk, now," she shouted at me.

"Not until after dinner. So why don't you sit down and have a nice dinner with your family for a change," I told a hot Kelly. "There are burgers and fries in the oven and for dessert we've got pie with ice cream.

The kids were nonstop with questions and telling her what happened in school. I sat there looking at Kelly as she ignored me and centered on the kids. After the dinner dishes were cleared I brought out the hot pie and ice cream.

"Sorry we don't have any waffles, but I wasn't sure you were coming home tonight."

She said nothing, just stared through me. I had one helping but the kids had two each. All in all, it was an almost normal night and we hadn't had one of those in a long time. I was doing the dishes and cleaning up when she walked up behind me.

"We need to talk."

"No problem, but if you're going to start screaming and yelling I'm telling you up front, I'm going to throw your ass out the front door."

"Steve, this is my house as well as yours. You can't kick me out of my own house," she started to shout at me.

"Watch me," was all said looking right at her. "Now, if you want to act like an adult we can talk, but let's do it in the den where we can be alone."

We went in the den, closed and locked the door. I took a seat on the couch as Kelly took a seat on the chair across from me.

"How could you go behind my back, to the head administrator no less? Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was when he called me into his office? He showed me the pictures you must have given him and told me I had two choices. I could either stop seeing Kenny or look for another job. He told me that he wasn't going through another lawsuit because a wife couldn't keep her legs together. I thought I was going to die. Do you have a clue what you've done? I'm never going to get promoted again and after Kenny came out he wouldn't even talk to me. I hope you're satisfied, Steve."

"You and Kenny still have your jobs don't you? I think if I would have pushed the issue, you both would have been asked to clean out your desks," I said going over to the bar and opening up a bottle of wine. "You want a glass?"

"Pour me a glass and bring the bottle," Kelly shot back at me.

"At least the pictures were a lot better than the last batch. For what I paid him, they should have been Mona Lisa quality," I said sipping on my glass as Kelly chugged hers and was refilling her glass as I spoke.

"Steve, nothing happened between us. NOTHING. How many times do I have to tell you that," she said now raising her voice.

"Let's see," I said opening up my folder. "This one you're holding hands and laughing, this one you're dancing with his hand on your ass, this one you're walking back to the table arm and arm and finally, this one you're giving him a kiss. Now tell me Kelly, if your mom were standing next to you would she think this is appropriate behavior for a married woman? Maybe I should e-mail these pictures to her and ask her," I said leaning forward. "No matter what she thinks, in my book you crossed the line and I won't stand for it. How many months has it been since I've had my hand on your ass?"

"I offered but you turned me down."

"You were throwing a hungry dog a bare bone and you know it, so don't even try to go there."

"Steve, where do we go from here, because I'm at a loss right now."

"Kelly, the reason you are at a loss, is that you put someone in between us. All those lunches and dinners should have been with me, not Kenny. You have a problem with me, how is talking to Kenny going to solve our problem."

"He knows how the hospital works and the pressure I'm always under. You didn't seem to care and your response was always, let the people do their job. What happens when they don't do it?"

"You do the same thing I do, I can their ass. People are hired to do one thing, their job. If they can't do it, you find someone who can. In this economy there are a million people out of work, you're telling me that your people are irreplaceable? I doubt that. Everyone is replaceable. Kelly, it's a damn job, it's not rocket science. You tell them that if they don't do what they were hired to do there out of there. Nothing personal, just good business."

"I can't do that, I can't be so hard core and cut and dry."

"Then, my friend, you will never be a good manager and your workers will never respect you. They'll walk all over you, you'll get frustrated, do their job for them and they'll win and you'll lose. Babes they're playing you for a damn sucker."

"But Steve."

"No buts about it. For Christ's sakes Kelly it's a fucking job not your goddamn life. Are you willing to throw away your marriage for a fucking job? For Kenny? Because that's what you're doing. So forget about that horse shit about a trial separation," I said going into my desk drawer and pulling out the divorce papers. "Here is some light reading for tonight. Today is Thursday, I expect an answer by Saturday morning what the hell you want to do. If I don't hear from you by then, I'm filing the papers Monday morning and we can both move on. I don't want that and I don't think you do either, but I won't live another week like we have been. Now, if you'll excuse me I'm tired and I need a good night's sleep for a change," I said unlocking the door and walking out.

I got the kids into bed and found myself staring at the ceiling for the rest of the night. No one was up when I left for work. I guess I should have looked in to see if Kelly had even slept in the house. Just to be on the safe side, when I got to work I called home to make sure the kids were up; thank God they were.

The day dragged and I was basically useless. About four o'clock I called it a day. I picked up a few things at the store and made it home just before five o'clock. The kids were playing video games and arguing as usual. I changed, started up the grill and pulled out some chicken. I was on my second Corona by the time Kelly got home. She looked at me, said hi and went upstairs to change. There was no kiss and no hug, but that wasn't unusual for her anymore.

After dinner I cleaned up, as usual, Kelly just watched me not saying a damn word. I finished, grabbed a glass of wine and sat down at the kitchen table.

"Well?" I said if for no other reason than to break the silence between us.

"Steve, I don't want a divorce that much I know for sure. But we've grown apart and I don't know how to bridge the gap anymore. I'm just so damn tired. I'd like to go to bed and sleep for a week. Maybe then I could figure out what to do," she said tearing up.

"Go to bed. Turn your damn phone off and get a good nights sleep and we'll talk in the morning. You look like shit and so do I. If we push it tonight we may say something we're going to regret and I don't think you want that. So go upstairs and I'll see you tomorrow."

I told the kids we were both going to bed and to hold the noise down to a dull roar. I brushed my teeth and crashed five minutes later. I can't ever remember going to bed at eight-thirty at night but it helped al lot.

I woke up just before eight o'clock the next morning. The kids were already downstairs watching television and playing games.

"Anyone want breakfast?" a stupid question as they gave me a list of what they wanted. Then I informed them of what I was making; they were ok with it. I was still cooking when Kelly made her appearance. She looked rested and still had chicken hair as the kids pointed out. I was just finishing up the sausage links and poured Kelly a cup of coffee.

"Not black, cream and sugar," I said as I gave her the hazelnut liquid creamer and a sugar packet as she looked up at me. I walked over to the oven and pulled out a tray of hot waffles and put them and the sausages on the table. Going over to the refrigerator I pulled a carton out of the freezer and put it on the table. "Waffles and vanilla ice cream," I said smiling as I sat down at the table.

Everyone chatted about what they wanted to do as they ate their fill. Fresh blueberries and strawberries along with hot maple syrup about did me in as I needed a third cup of coffee to cut the massive amount of sugar I'd consumed. Within twenty minutes both kids were out the door saying something about dinner but I never caught it all as they ran out.

I started to take the dishes to the sink and when I turned around Kelly was gone. She appeared moments later with the large envelope I'd given her last night. I didn't think she could do it but she ripped the envelope in half.

"I never even looked at it last night, there was no point. I want another shot at this marriage with you alone, no one else. If we can't go back to where we were before, then I'll tape together the papers and we'll call it quits, but not before I give it my best shot. The waffles and ice cream was a nice touch, I thought you'd forgotten."

"Are you kidding? Remember, we put it on our gift list and ended up with three? How could I forget?"

"We've still got a lot of work to do but today I want my clothes back in my closet and dresser. If we're married, we act like a married couple and a happily married couple doesn't sleep in separate bedrooms. So let's get our asses in gear because I want this done before tonight."

We spent the entire day together for the first time in months. We weren't the lovey dovey couple just yet, but it was a start. We rearranged the bedroom, and took one of our nightstands out to the garage to give us more room. After about four hours of sweating we ended up in the shower.

I washed her hair as she pressed her forehead onto my chest. We washed each other over and over again and again until the hot water started to get cool. With me in my boxers I put on clean sheets, pillowcases and a lighter comforter. I figured with her body heat, I wouldn't need the heavy one tonight or maybe ever again. Admiring my work I heard Kelly clear her throat. Turning around I saw a naked Kelly standing in the bathroom doorway.

It had been a long time; hell it had been months since I'd seen what was mine and mine alone. When she got closer I noticed the change and she smiled.

"You like?"

"Give me two minutes and I'll show you how much I like," I said pulling her into my arms. We kissed forever as I felt the warm lips I'd missed for so long. I licked them to get them wet and pulled on them with my lips before mashing mine against hers. We exchanged spit and tongues as I caressed her back and down to her ass.

I literally carried Kelly to the bed and thought twice about throwing her down onto the bed before I gently laid her down with me on top of her. We kissed before I made my way down to her breasts and nipples. It was just short stop as I made my way down to what I'd seen for the first time in our marriage; almost a hairless pussy. It wasn't shaved but was cropped very short. I licked her outer lips before using my nose and lips to separate them.

I licked, sucked and fingered her pussy until she cried uncle and then I did it some more. I was going to make her remember this night for the rest of her life as I flipped her over on her stomach and entered her from behind. I pounded her pussy until I was even sore and even slipped a well-lubricated finger in her ass as she climaxed for the third time. I couldn't hold back any longer as I finally shot my load into her pussy, and kept pounding it until I'd drained my balls and started to get soft. I rolled over on the bed next to her and with my chest heaving I told her I needed that.

She never said a word as she just crawled over to me, kissed me on the lips and put her head on my chest. I could hardly hear her breath, as she lay there almost motionless for the next twenty minutes.

"This is where I belong. This is where I want to spend the next fifty years of my life," she told me. "I never ever want to give you a reason to question my love for you and I only hope that we stay in love as much as we are at this exact moment." With tears in her eyes she kissed me for the next twenty minutes before grabbing me and falling asleep. I guess you could say that we started the healing process that afternoon.

After four weeks I pitied the poor sons of a bitches that worked for her. By Monday afternoon she'd read them the riot act and by Wednesday she'd given two their walking papers.

"I can be the best boss you'll ever have or your worst nightmare. You were hired to do a job and if you can't or won't, leave now because you're not going to make it working for me." She was brutal. Within two months she stopped getting phone calls at home and after three we took a weeklong summer vacation and her phone never rang once. She was given added responsibilities, with monetary compensation, and proved to be a better manager than most of the men managers.

The big joke at the hospital was that if you pissed Kelly off, she'd rip your head off, spit down your neck and put you on the graveyard shift until you got your head and ass wired together; she took no prisoners.

Now when she came home there was a, "hi lover did you miss me?" After that she would give me a full mouth kiss with just the right amount of tongue. We now make love every chance we get and are back to everyone telling us to get a damn room. Do we argue, hell yes, but we don't fight anymore. We both realized what we had is what we wanted for the rest of our lives and we now know how to keep it.