Karma is a Journey

"Yes, and she told me how much she enjoyed it," I revealed, knowing this was what he wanted to hear. He looked pleased. It was all I could do to keep myself from smashing his face in. Instead, I forced a blank look with a faint smile.

"Would you like to see me do it again? Because I've decided she deserves to keep that necklace if you watch."

'Face the starkness. Embrace the horror. Remember it!'

Did I want to watch them? Fuck no!

I guess Duke sensed my hesitation and leaned in for the kill. Her perfume was still all over him. A mix of Lori's and Gail's at that. How lucky he must have felt. He had convinced the wife of a person he saw beneath him to give herself so easily. And the greedy husband was all too willing to let it happen for financial gain. But that was not enough for Duke. He wanted to rub it in.

"Admit it - you want to watch me fuck Lori, don't you?" he hissed as his eyes bore into mine.

"Maybe," I said with feigned trepidation.

"Good! I want you to watch how much she enjoys it as well. And feel free to take photos and videos to record the pleasure I will give her. Just no face shots of me. Will you do that?"

"I might," I replied as if we were just discussing business. "I find the business aspect of this very promising."

"Oh yes," Duke replied. "Trust me. You will not regret having my account in your portfolio."

"I like this. This is business. Purely a negotiation," I replied with a nodding smile.

"Yes. Yes! Now you are getting the gist of all this. Me fucking your wife was just the door opening into a whole new world Brett."

I touched my chin and looked away as if I was weighing the options offered.

"Good," Duke chuckled, assuming I had agreed.

Taking a small silver pill box from his pocket, he produced a blue pill from it. He sipped down his Viagra with some more champagne.

"I am going to make sure I can fuck her for hours!"

I sat back looking at this man who thought life and other men's wives were his for the taking.

"And from this moment, you will follow my instructions Brett," he continued. "You cannot put a stop to anything, intervene, touch her or enjoy her in any way unless I tell you to, or until I say I've finished with her. I want you to be absolutely sure that you understand you're handing over your wife to me completely. OK?"

I acted s if I was agreeably thinking about it. Then came my next surprise.

"By the way, I offered Lori to Grant and Davis in exchange for meeting up with you sometime. I thought it might be good for your business. Lori agreed and has promised to show them a good time."

"So let me get this straight," I replied, now staring back at him the way he had before.

I noticed a slight surprise in him at my last-minute hesitation.

"This is business, after all, Duke, and the negotiation has just begun."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, you got to fuck my wife. She got an expensive trinket out of it...."

"Wait just a moment..."

"No, you wait, Duke," I replied sternly. "You make a scene here, and people will know what you have been up to. Do you want that out in the open?"

I saw both surprise and irritation in his gaze at my insolence. I would tell that Duke was not used to people arguing or talking back to him when he had the upper hand, which he thought he did. He reluctantly waved for me to go on.

"Now, as I was saying, you got my wife's pussy. She earned her 30 pieces of silver. But I have yet to state my terms for this business alliance you are speaking off."

"What terms? You don't get to...."

Once again, I interrupted.

"Duke, you sampled something tonight without my approval."

He bristled.

"Lori..." he tried to say.

"You and Lori negotiated the price of her pussy," I cut him off again. "I did not."

"You knew," he cut in. "You had to know."

"Duke, when you do a business deal, do you agree and then let the other party dictate the terms and details after?"

"No, of course not. What does this have to do with this?"

"I'll explain," I replied. "Do you go to a car dealer, sign on the contract and then have him decide what your car will be, the options and the price?"

"No, of course not! But..."

"But you expect me to? Yes, Lori negotiated the price of her cunt with you."

"Don't be vulgar."

"Says the man who just fucked another man's wife and wants him to watch as he and his buddies want to do it in front of him. Shut the fuck up, Duke."

I looked down briefly, and he followed my gaze. He looked down to see my hand holding a steak knife dangerously close to his crotch. All of a sudden, he was not so on top of the world as he thought.

"You can't..." he tried to say.

But I moved the knife closer, sticking it in his pants to touch his thighs. He looked back at me in surrender.

"What do you want?"

"To negotiate, of course."

He stayed silent, letting me continue.

"As I said, you did your negotiating with Lori, not with me. You just assumed that I signed a contract and that you got to tell me the terms after. You wouldn't do that yourself. Why would I?"

He looked bewildered. People who are on top one minute and on the bottom the next are usually that way. Denial is reduced by helplessness and inaction.

"You took a free sample of Lori. Now I want one of Gail."

"You are out of your mind!" he protested. "This is about doing business with me, not trading wives. That is for amateurs at swinger clubs."

"Oh, so your wife is out of bounds while you get to have mine? Is that right?"

"Brett," he said in exasperation. "In return for your wife's charms, you get my business and that of my closest friends. Damn you man! You will be rolling in dough in a week from just our three accounts. And there are more here I will send your way."

"Clients who will want to fuck my wife to sign the deal. Maybe have her on call if they decide, right?"

"Brett. Brett," he implored me. "This is the nature of our world. Wake up. Today you give in and surrender your wife to your new clients and me. But you have staff. And you can hire staff whose wives are as good looking as Lori or better. Just as Gail does for me, Lori will help you seduce these women, and you will have more pussy and money than you ever thought off.

And after tonight, you will be part of our exclusive club. You will never have to watch Lori do this again if you chose not to. Think of that. Don't ruin a good thing."

"Duke," I replied, leaning in closer to him. The knife, still by his balls. "The way I see it, before we ever do business, you owe me a fuck with your wife, Gail."

"Not until you pass our test Brett," he replied. "Not until you show us what you are made off. If you want to manage our accounts, we want you to be ruthless in that endeavour. Not a pussy. Prove yourself, and we'll talk about Gail and the other guy's wives."

Just then, the women started to walk back from the restrooms. From where Duke and I sat at the back of the ballroom, they saw what they thought was their husbands talking.

"Smile," I said to him. "Wave them off. We're not done."

He did as I told him and then turned to me when the women sat at a table away from us. Duke was trying to control his facial expressions, but I could tell he was scared. And to be honest, I had enough of this game.

"Yes, sir," I finally continued. "You owe me a shot at Gail's fine pussy. It's been a while I banged a super-model. But then, just as the decision to let you in her pussy was Lori's, so will it be with Gail when I collect. And you will have no say in it."

"You're not listening to me Brett," he said, shaking his head.

And he was right. I wasn't. The rage I felt at him taking my wife under my nose infuriated me.

"Now, in case you have any ideas about calling security on me, my cell phone has been recording our conversation. Including the parts about you banging my wife, how good it was and how you wanted to whore her out to your buddies."

"It doesn't have to be this way," Duke implored me. "Don't do anything you will regret. If you hurt me in any way, you will end up in jail."

"I wouldn't do that to you," I replied with a smile. "I owe you."

"You what?" he asked, confused at my retort.

"You made it possible for me to see I was married to the wrong woman," I said, nodding to him as I stared at the person I thought I loved when we came into the room. "This was all a test Duke. And she failed it. You made that possible. But you still owe me for one wife fuck."

Taking a towel with my other hand, I began wiping any of my fingerprints from the knife and stealthfully placed it back on the table -- to the right of the plate. After all, etiquette must be observed. Duke was looking at me with relief and also disappointment.

"You stupid boy," was all he said and pushed away from me before I could threaten him again.

Standing up, I looked at the woman who had broken my heart one last time and turned to leave.

"Brett!" I heard her say, but I was no longer listening.

I walked out at a brisk pace and made it to the elevators before I heard Gail call out this time. I stepped away from the closing doors and leaned against the wall after pressing the ground floor button. The doors could not slide close fast enough.

***

Aftermath

Not knowing if Lori had followed me home, I moved fast when I entered our house. It was no longer our home. My first stop was our wall safe, where I removed all the documents we had from stocks to the mortgage papers and even our marriage certificate.

I stuffed them all in my laptop carrier then went to the bedroom. I tossed as much of my clothes in the two suitcases we had and filled a trash bag with all my toiletries. My shoes went in another, and then I took all of it to my SUV outside. I left everything else inside. I needed no pictures nor my wedding ring that I left with a note on the bed.

"My lawyers will contact you for a divorce."

I spent the night at a Holiday In Express after turning my phone off. The one thing that kept coming back to me was how lucky I was not to have children with Lori. Sleep did not come easy. My mind kept replaying the events of the night in my head without my permission.

I woke to some knocking on the door by the housecleaning staff. I let the woman clean the room and fix the bed as I called my college friend Roger in San Diego.

"About time you called," he said. "Have you finally considered my offer to come out here?"

"I'm ready," I replied.

"Is Lori coming with you? Or have you two split up?"

"All finished but the paperwork," I replied.

"I'm sorry to hear. What happened?"

"Long story that I'll tell you after we have a few drinks at your place," I said, not wanting to talk about it on the phone.

The thing is, I was still processing everything, and it still hurt too much to talk about it.

"I know Georgia weather is nice, man, but San Diego is better," Roger had been talking while my mind was elsewhere. "Plus, we have incredible sunsets."

"I'll catch a flight as soon as I can and let you know the flight before I leave. I'll catch an uber to a motel or something."

"Now you're insulting me," Roger replied. "You're staying with Meredith and I."

"I don't want to impose," I replied. "I won't be good company."

"Fuck you, man. You were never good company, but you're my bro. I'll send a limo to get you. Nothing too good for my new VP."

"VP! I hope I do good by you Roger," I replied.

"I know you will," he replied. "And Brett..."

"Yeah."

"You deserve better than Lori. Come out here. We have plenty of good women."

"So long as they fuck good is all I care," I replied.

Eventually, I hung up and made reservations to fly out west the following evening: Goodbye Atlanta and helo San Diego.

Before I left, I contacted my attorney and dropped off all the papers from the safe. They would copy them and deliver them to Lori when she was served. I left them my RIDE and keys. My SUV was parked on their lot and would be there when I returned when the divorce was finalized. I would not be there to see the in-between process, nor did I care.

As I checked in for my flight, I was glad to be leaving and get a fresh start at life. Why did I not confront Lori? What would have been the point? She had made her choice, and I was making mine. If there was ever to be a confrontation, this soon after that night was not the time. I was still hurting and needed to process and recover. What I knew for certain was that Lori would not be part of my future.

While waiting at the airport, I had gone through all the accumulated emails, texts and social media posts of the last two days.

To say Lori had sent many would be an understatement. They were typical. From "where are you?" to "please talk to me," "I love you," and "it was only sex." Actually, the last one I agreed with her on. I'm not a prude and could tell the difference between love and sex. No, they are not the same.

But betrayal is stark and brutal. Lori had acted as an individual that night. Not as my partner in life. Again, I was glad to find out before we had kids. Having her do that to me after would have been a nightmare.

I forwarded all her messages to my attorney just as he had asked me to and then deleted them from my phone. Then I blocked her number. I was not interested in confrontation, long speeches by either of us, remorse or revenge.

***

"When something is over, make sure it's over and move on," Patricia had said once, and it was as valid now as it had been then.

You see, Patricia and I had a friendship with benefits relationship. When I started developing feelings for her, I knew it was over. You can't have a relationship with a woman still in love with her dead husband.

I had left her a note that I had an opportunity in Atlanta and would visit Boston whenever I could. We had talked on the phone a few times, but that faded as she found a replacement, and I started dating Lori. In the end, we were just exchanging Christmas cards. But I never forgot her. Patricia was the best lover and friend I ever had. Too bad nothing more could happen. But then life is like that.

***

Drained from all the turmoil, I slept from Atlanta to Chicago, where I transferred for the Sandiego flight. When I landed, my new life started.

***

Life 2.0

The next six months went by surprisingly quickly. Roger made me VP of government relations. We did a lot of work with the DC crowd and the local politicians. We helped them write banking regulations and laws while they paid us handsomely.

I lived in a beautiful condo overlooking the bay, drove a jag and dated a lot! Wanting to forget the Lori debacle in Atlanta, I threw myself into work and the social scene of work and the politicians I dealt with.

Six months after leaving Atlanta, I flew back to the Peach State for the court hearing of my divorce. My attorney and I walked in the courtroom expecting to have to argue the divorce Lori was contesting. Instead, her attorney informed us that Lori wanted a few minutes with me to talk, and she would sign. I only agreed to it if both lawyers were present. Something which they agreed to as they would be charging us by the minute to do nothing.

Lori had dressed demurely for court. An expensive business suit. I wondered who had paid for that. But I could tell her makeup was professionally done, as was her hair, cut short and styled perfectly. Short heels completed the professional, no-nonsense look that still showed her attractiveness.

"How are you Brett?" she asked with what was supposed to be a pained look.

I dispensed with the pleasantries and got right to the point.

"There is no turning back Lori. Just sign the papers."

"You disappear for months and won't even tell me how you are? Or how you have been?"

"You want conversation?" I cut her off. "Go talk to Duke. You and he do that quite well. I have a flight to catch."

My lawyer kicked me under the table. I was not supposed to reveal my whereabouts to her.

"Where are you going? Where have you been? Do you know how crazy I went looking for you?"

I knew my lawyers had informed her that I was fine and just wanted space until the divorce.

"Just sign the papers," I replied, trying to keep my irritation down.

We stared at each other for a few seconds in an impasse. The lawyers started fidgeting but knew better than to interrupt.

"OK, I'll tell you why I did it," she blurted out.

I hadn't asked as I didn't want to hear her answer. Probably something about how Duke was better looking or more of everything.

"I know why you did it," I replied. "You told me as we danced - no point repeating it."

"Before we went to the gala, I searched online who would be there and who they were. The men and women there were some of the wealthiest people in Georgia. People of power and wealth that you and I would never amass in a lifetime."

My first instinct was to yell at her to sign the papers and stop the bullshit. But as she spoke, I realized that she was honestly telling me why she had done what she did. My curiosity to hear it from her got the best of me.

"I saw the kind of life they had and knew that it was the life I wanted for us Brett," she continued leaning over the desk. "I wanted us to have the great house, the expensive cars, the pools, tennis courts, exclusive club memberships, private yachts, European vacations and the extensive asset portfolios and the power that went with them.

"Duke was just the step on the staircase to the new life Brett. You and I had talked about swapping with couples. So the concept of sex with someone else should not have shocked you. All you had to do was play along with Duke and his friends fucking me, and you and I could have been rich by now.

"But your ego wouldn't let you did it? One night Brett. That was what all of them had to endure. One night of watching them fuck me, and you would have been in the club. You said to Duke that I sold my pussy for 30 pieces of silver. I assume your biblical reference is tied to my letting him fuck me for the 96,000 dollar necklace. Ninety-six fucken thousand dollars for a night of fucking Brett! Selling that alone would have bought us stock or let us expand your business.

"The guys would be your clients and invite you to their parties and fuck their trophy wives. So they got in my pussy. So what? You would fuck their young wives and send them back wanting more from you. And we would have been rich. Rich Brett! But you had to ruin all that and run off to where ever the hell you went."

"Did it ever occur to you to discuss this with me?" I asked. "A couple who love one another respect each other to do things like this together."

"There was no time Brett," she replied. "I had to act right away. It was Duke's rules or nothing. Gail explained it all to me in the restrooms. She has told me since that she explained it all to you. So did Duke after he gloated."

"You did it all alone Lori," I replied. "You made the decision and acted on it without even bothering to explain. You had the opportunity to. You could have told me when we texted back and forth. But you didn't. You could have danced with me and explained the plan.

"Instead, you did everything alone. I was just the guy to take the humiliation then be your servant after. The guy to do all the work as you fucked man after man while I waited for them to be finished with you. To remind me how much you had begged them to cum in you. Do you know how demeaning that is?"

"No, Brett. You have it wrong. The demeaning part was mine to do. I was the one to get on my knees and suck their cocks. I was the one to swallow their cum. I was the one to bend over and take their dicks or spread my legs for the same. I was the one to let them rut my ass and cum in me. All of that Brett, so that your dreams would come to be.