Love Me Tender - Please Pt. 03

Part III -- Ray's epiphany

Chapter 32

It was after midnight before Karen came home on Tuesday. Ray heard a car pull up and when he looked out of the window he watched as she got out of her SUV and retrieving her bags from the back, she headed towards the front door. Ray got back into bed and watched as she crept into the room so as not to awaken him.

He watched her hang the garment bag in her closet and then carry her overnight bag into the bathroom. From what he could see in the dim light, she was wearing different clothes than she wore when she left that morning.

He lay quietly when she came back out in her sleep tee and crawled into bed with a tired sigh. He could smell alcohol on her breath and she had distinct body odor when she raised her arm to stuff her hand under her pillow in her usual sleep position. Waiting until her soft snores indicated that she was asleep, he slid out of bed and went into the bathroom.

A black dress was hanging on the back of the door and her underwear was piled on top of the hamper. He sorted through them looking for any signs of sex. He could not find anything that gave him any indication that she had had sex that day. Her panties were slightly stained and smelled only of sweat and urine but there was no semen or anything that he could detect.

"I must be nuts," he laughed silently when he caught his reflection in the mirror. "Sniffing my wife's underwear to see if she's fucking around. Go to bed fool."

It was a little after nine o'clock the next morning when Karen came rushing down the stairs and into the kitchen. Ray was sitting on the patio reading the morning paper and enjoying a cup of coffee. When she spotted him through the screen, she came stomping out onto the patio in her bare feet.

"It's after nine! Why didn't you wake me up? You know I have to be at work."

"I know no such thing," he calmly replied. "I have no idea what you do with your time. Your appointments and your life are not of my concern. Remember?"

"Don't pull that shit on me," she retorted. "I'll talk to you when I get home."

"Uh, honey?" he called after her in a sarcastic tone, again emphasizing the word honey. "Any idea of when that might be? Thursday? Friday? Remember the party on Saturday. Try and make it, OK? Oh, never mind, honey. The kids and I will take care of ourselves. Have a nice day."

She turned and opened her mouth as if she were preparing to say something. After a few seconds, she just glared at him, turned, and left.

Melody and Brian were still asleep so he did not bother them as he went about his daily chores. He enjoyed keeping the house clean and he hummed to himself as he vacuumed and dusted. At one point, he realized he was singing aloud. Stopping for a moment, he marveled at how relieved he felt now that he was sure, or almost sure, of what she was doing. It was the unknown that had bothered him up until now.

"I've got to think of every detail just like I'm writing a script," he said into the noise of the vacuum. "I want it to be a big surprise and I want it over quick."

While making the bed in their bedroom he paused with the pillow in his hand.

"It's not our bed anymore," he thought. "It's just a bed now."

Deciding to continue to look for evidence, he searched the overnight bag that Karen had carried with her on her trip to Tybee Island. There was nothing in it that suggested she was not on a business trip. The garment bag that she hung in the closet was his next target. He unzipped it and pulled out the clothes she had worn when she left yesterday morning.

The last hanger held a sheer blue, nightgown. It had a string of elastic just under where her breasts would be and it did not even pretend to try and hide the flesh underneath. The flimsy spaghetti straps looked as if they might break under the slightest strain.

Hanging on the same hanger was a matching, sheer blue g-string panty that was really just a totally see-through little triangle of mesh. Both the nightgown and the panties still had the Victoria's Secret tag on them. The bottom of the bag contained a pair of high-heeled mules with a little fluff of matching blue on the open toes. The last item in the bag was a still-packaged pair of Victoria's Secret sheer, blue stockings.

"She was really planning on having an exciting night. I wonder what happened?" he muttered as he replaced the items in the bag and hung it back up where he had found it.

With his chores finished, he started to put his plan into action.

Donna answered the telephone by calling him by his name after the third ring. She seemed out of breath but pleased to hear from him.

"Caller ID is a wonderful invention," she laughed. "I'm naked. I just got out of the shower after working out. How are you? I haven't seen you in a long time. What can I do for you? I hope it's the same thing that I want to do."

Ray could hear her chuckling at her own joke and for a split second, he considered taking her up on her offer before coming to the point of his call.

"I'm sorry to bother you but I'm trying to track down the top to Karen's new bathing suit. She thinks she left it at your house the day of the party. Did you happen to come across it?"

"I didn't but someone else may have," she said laughing loudly at her own joke. "What makes her think she left it here?"

"She can't remember where she left it, that's all."

"I don't remember her wearing it when she came out of the grotto," she said. "Maybe she left it in there. Do you want me to look?"

"The grotto? Why would she leave it in a grotto?" he responded. "Where's that?"

"In the pool," she answered. "Why don't you come over and we'll check it out. You won't need a bathing suit. No one else is here. Remember what happens in the grotto, stays in the grotto."

"Donna, please stop talking like that. It embarrasses me. OK?"

"I've got a movie I'd like to show you some time. Maybe we can watch it together when Karen goes to Vegas. In the meantime I'll check around for her bra but I don't think its here anymore."

"Thanks, Donna. Good-bye."

He heard another laugh as she hung up the phone.

"What's she talking about? A grotto? A movie? I've got to stay away from her. She's bad news and I don't need any more bad news."

He could hear music and that meant the children were getting up. He waited until they came down and while they ate their breakfast, he got them lined up for their chores. There were a few things that still had to be done in order to get ready for the graduation party on Saturday.

After the kids left on their errands, Ray sorted the material he had retrieved from the safe. His list included everything he could think that would be necessary to start the divorce process. He would wait until the kids were gone and if he could not talk her out of going to Vegas, he would continue with his plans.

The problem was that he had no real proof of anything. Vincent would have to advise him on what the next step should be. He felt strangely calm but he was still worried. As a final thought, he changed the combination on the safe so that she could not open it.

Karen came home from early. She was carrying bags of stuff she had bought for the party. They acknowledged each other but there was no hug or welcoming kiss offered by either one of them. Melody showed up with pizza for dinner again but Ray was tired of pizza so he opted for a cold luncheon meat sandwich and a glass of milk.

After a quiet dinner with the conversation centering on the upcoming party and the trips, Ray went into his den to watch television. He heard the front door close and got up to investigate to find Karen lugging a cardboard box full of folders and binders. He took it out of her hands and put it on the dining room table for her.

"What's all this?" he asked glancing through the papers.

"It's an operations manual that I've been working on for the past few months. Mike and the others reviewed it and made some minor edits. I'm going to do give it one more pass before I get it printed. The office never had one and since I won't be the secretary anymore I suggested getting the duties and the processes down in writing."

"I didn't know you could write anything like that," he commented.

"I'm not stupid, you know," she responded with sarcasm.

"I didn't mean you were stupid. I just meant that I ... I mean you ... I mean I didn't know you could do anything like that."

"You meant that I'm stupid. That's what you meant and now you're trying to get out of it."

"No, no. Oh what the hell. You're not going to believe me anyway," Ray stomped out of the room towards his den.

"I've got a lot of work to do. Will you clean up the kitchen?" she asked.

Ray was relieved that she was giving him a way out of the no-win argument so he quickly agreed.

"It's not like this isn't what I do anyway," he muttered while crushing the pizza boxes to put in the trash.

They spent the rest of the evening in the same house but without any conversation. He got tired of watching television and went out into the garage to putter around. When he came back in after about an hour, he found that Karen had gone to bed.

She was either asleep or doing the same thing that he had taken to doing -- pretending to be asleep so they would not have to talk to each other. He lay quietly on his side of the bed listening to her breathing. His mind started to dredge up everything that had been happening for the past few months. Each thought led to another and he was afraid that he would be up all night thinking and worrying again. Making a conscious decision to go to sleep he felt his mind start to quiet down and before he knew it, he was asleep.

Chapter 33

It was raining when Ray woke up on Thursday morning. He listened to Karen in the shower and wondered if he was doing the right thing. He was afraid of jumping the gun without proof to back him up. After a few minutes of indecision, he convinced himself that he had to stop waffling and to get on with what was the only way he knew to resolve the mess that his marriage had become.

Melody drove Brian to school since she had to attend graduation practice that afternoon. Both she and Brain were excited about the end of school and even more excited about their upcoming vacations away from their parents. He gave them permission to go to the mall with their friends after school. The fact that Melody was always willing to have Brian tag along with her made him feel good.

"We must have done something right if our kids get along so well," he thought.

While the kids were gone, Ray did all he could think of to get the house ready for the party on Saturday and when he finally had a chance to sit down he fell asleep in his chair in the den. Sometime later, he awoke to the sound of something being dropped onto the floor behind him.

He was about to sit up when he heard the distinctive sound of Karen's cell phone ring tone followed by her voice.

"Hi, I'm glad you called. No, it's OK. He's not here. He must have taken the kids somewhere," followed by a pause to listen to the person on the other end.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out. I didn't realize who she was. I'm sorry."

Ray could only hear her side of the conversation and he had to guess at what the other party said.

"Yes," she laughed. "I guess I was more embarrassed than you were. Mike and Donna saved my ass when they volunteered to drive me back to my car. Did they say anything after I left?"

"Good. If I'm going to work there I don't want to start off on the wrong foot."

"No, I can't. My daughter is graduating on Saturday and we are having a party for her. Why don't you come up?"

"No, don't worry about it. It'll be all right. He won't suspect anything. The house will be full of people."

Her voice lowered to a husky whisper.

"Me too. It was fun. I really enjoyed it even though it wasn't in the best place. I felt like a teenager again. A forty-year old woman making out in a car."

"He was really pissed off but I think everything's OK now. See you Saturday?"

"Good. Bye, bye."

Ray listened as her cell phone clicked closed and he heard her walking up the stairs to the bedroom followed by the sound of the kids coming in the front door.

"Anybody home?" Melody called.

"I'm up here," Karen answered. "Where's your father? Is he with you?"

"No, we left him here. Isn't he around?"

Ray stayed in his chair until he felt, rather than heard, someone enter the room behind him.

"Ray? I didn't know you were home," Karen said in a quiet voice from the side of his chair.

"Oh?" he asked trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"Uh, yes. Did you just wake up?"

To Ray, her voice sounded fearful.

"No, I've been awake for awhile. Why?"

"Uh, nothing. I was just wondering. I brought Chinese home. Do you want some?"

"That sounds good. Let me wash up first."

Ray pushed the footrest down and stood up facing Karen who took a step backward as if she was afraid of him. She had changed into a pair of shorts and a tee shirt and carried her cell phone in her hand.

"Expecting another call?" he asked indicating her cell phone with a nod of his head.

Her face blanched.

"Uh, no. I ... I'm going to put it on the charger in the kitchen. I'll get dinner on the table. Melody? Brian?" she called. "Dinners ready."

"Yeah, the battery doesn't last long when you talk on them a lot, does it? What's this?" he asked looking at a cardboard box near the doorway of the room.

She searched his face for some hint of whether or not he had heard her telephone conversation but she could not read anything on it.

"That's the operations manual I wrote. They printed up some sample copies today. Everybody loves it. I got a lot of good comments today."

"I'll bet you did," he snorted and went upstairs to change.

Karen was shaken by the realization that Ray may have overheard her conversation with Montrell. She remembered to put her phone on the charger and she set out the cartons of food before sitting down to wait for the rest of her family. While waiting, her mind drifted to what had happened with Montrell and she thought back to her new relationship with another man outside of her marriage.

"Relationship," she mouthed the word as she said it in her mind.

She did not consider her incidents with Trey as a relationship. They were more of an impulse thing, an experiment. She trembled a little when she remembered how degrading it was for her when Trey physically hurt her in the gym that morning.

Fast-forwarding her thoughts to the episode with Ray the other night, she admitted that she had overreacted and had used it to put him on a guilt trip. Her ass had really hurt but some Neosporin soothed it and helped it to heal.

Her feeling of regret quickly went away when she thought of Montrell.

"The Mountain," she said quietly feeling a warmth move through her belly and spread through her body. "He's like a mountain, all right. Solid rock."

She had never heard the name Montrell before and when he told her the meaning of his name, she was awed at its appropriateness to him.

"I weighed fifteen pounds and four ounces at birth," he told the group sitting around the table in the restaurant that night. "My mother said she knew things were big in Texas but she felt like she had pushed a mountain out of her body and that's where my name came from."

After Mike and Donna had left, Montrell held her hand on the way to his SUV. He opened the door and when she moved to climb up onto the seat, he turned her to face him. Holding her by her hips, he lifted her bodily onto the seat. He was so tall that they were face-to-face and sliding his hands up and gently grasping her arms, he urged her forward until their lips met.

Letting the alcohol and her infatuation with him take over, Karen kissed him. His lips were soft and when he touched her lower lip with his tongue, she wrapped her arms around his neck and sucked it into her mouth.

The kiss took on more intensity and she allowed him to pull her towards him to the edge of the seat and move his body between her legs. Her skirt stopped her legs from spreading all the way and she broke the kiss to pull the hem up over her thighs so their groins could meet.

Their kisses continued and she was almost at the point where she was willing to pull the crotch of her panties aside and let him into her when a voice, followed by a rapping on the side of the van, said, "Get a room! This is private property and you can't do that here."

Montrell pulled back and they looked at a security guard standing there with a nightstick in one hand and the other hand on his hip.

"Move on kids," he said, turned, and walked away.

"I haven't been called a kid in a long time," Karen giggled into his mouth as Montrell leaned forward for another soft kiss before swinging her legs into the vehicle and closing the door.

They leaned across the center console and shared another kiss after he started the engine and got ready to pull out of the parking lot. Karen held his face with her palm on his cheek and stared into his eyes as their lips parted. She flattened and curled her tongue for him and when his tongue encountered hers, he stopped for an instant to understand her offering.

"Shit, where did you learn that?" he whispered and matched her tongue with his.

Karen giggled.

"Goddamn that's hot," he said into her mouth and moved back in to continue their necking.

"I don't know if I should be doing this or feeling like this but on one level it feels right and I haven't felt like this in a long time," she admitted when they finally broke from the kiss.

"If it feels good and it feels right than it must be right," he reassured her.

They shared some more kisses and she let him feel her breast while they sat in her driveway. She knew it was dangerous but she figured Ray would be asleep and what he did not know would not hurt him.

Karen remembered the feel of his body against hers as they stood in front of her door and continued their necking. She was not thinking when she turned for one more goodnight kiss after she got the door open. Taking her shoes off so she would not make any noise, she was creeping up the stairs when she caught sight of Ray sitting on the steps. She was so startled she almost lost her balance and fell backwards.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Melody and Brian walked into the kitchen and started talking about their day. Ray and Karen were silent during dinner as they listened to the kids chatter about the upcoming graduation and their upcoming trips. She caught him observing her several times but when she tried to read his face, she could not tell what he was thinking. He volunteered to clean up the kitchen again and she did not protest. She volunteered that she wanted to do one more quick read of the manual before approving it for the printer.

Karen spent the next several hours working on the final edit of her manual and when she finally came up for air she realized that it was almost ten o'clock. Collecting the marked up pages she put them back into the box and turning out the lights in the den she walked out into a silent house. Ray was not out on the patio or in the garage and going upstairs, she found him asleep in their bed.

Chapter 34

Lying awake in bed on Friday morning, Karen reminded herself that she had taken the day off to get ready for the party. It was barely light outside but she felt wide-awake and rested. She looked back on the last few months and felt a sense of pride and satisfaction at what she had accomplished. Intermixed with her happiness she felt a sense of anxiety for what was happening with her marriage and family. She knew she was on shaky ground with Ray and deep down she knew that she deserved it.

The latest episode with Montrell had shaken her more than she had at first realized. She felt torn between the excitement and unbridled lust she felt when she was with him and her commitment to Ray and to their marriage.