Making It Up As We Go: A Sequel

He finished his work by the time I was done, so I paid him and gave him a $100 bill for his trouble. It was a holiday weekend, after all. He smiled as he pocketed the note and we shook hands. On the way out, I pulled off my wedding ring and placed it on the kitchen counter.

Meanwhile, Rebecca and the others continued to call or text me, and I continued to ignore their efforts to speak with me. As far as I was concerned, I no longer had a family. When I got back to the hotel, I ate a quick lunch and went to my room. My phone rang while I was going through the financials and I saw it was my father. I decided to take his call.

"Hello," I said in a monotone voice.

"Jimmy? Is that you?" I heard my father ask.

"Yes. What do you want?" I responded.

"Where are you? The whole family is worried sick about you," he said. I snorted at that.

"Family, huh?" I asked. "I wasn't aware I had one of those."

"That's not fair, Jimmy," he said. "I've always been in your corner." That much was true. As far as I knew, he had always taken my side, at least when I was around.

"I suppose that's true. At least in my presence," I said.

"So, where are you?" he asked.

"Away," I said. "Some things have come to my attention, so I'm dealing with them. You taught me to stand up for myself. That's what I'm doing."

"What things?" he asked.

"I think you know full well what things," I said. "Maybe you didn't agree with them, but you knew. Tell me something."

"What?" he asked.

"That woman you married... What did she do to you?" I asked.

"It's a... long... story," he finally said.

"She cheated on you, didn't she?" I asked. "Had a child by her lover and got you to raise him as your own."

"That was a long time ago," he said. "How did you know?"

"I figured it out," I said. "It took a while, but I finally figured it out after what I saw and heard these last few days. I always wondered why Max and I were so different in so many ways. And I often wondered why Mom treated me like dog shit on the bottom of her shoe. Now it all makes sense."

"Jimmy, please. It's not like that," Dad said.

"Bullshit, Dad," I said. "Don't insult my intelligence by lying to me. Not after all these years."

"All right, son," he said. "I won't. But I need to tell your mother something. What would you like me to say?"

"Your wife made you a willing cuckold, and she tried to make me one as well. You can tell your wife that as far as I'm concerned, my mother is dead to me," I told him. "And so is my alleged 'brother' and my soon-to-be ex-wife." I could hear him gasp as I spoke.

"I can't tell them that. All Hell will break loose, you realize that, right?" Dad asked.

"So what," I said. "They set out to destroy me first. I was just too stupid and trusting to see it at first. They drew first blood."

"What about your children?" Dad asked. "This will be hardest on them, you know."

"I don't have any children, remember? Your three amigos saw to that," I said. "Let Rebecca and your wife explain to them that their Uncle Max is really their father. Besides, from what I saw they'd rather be with Max anyway."

"What are you going to do?" Dad asked.

"Whatever it takes to protect myself," I said.

"I know this is hard to take, Jimmy, but please, don't let this change you," Dad said.

"Too late for that, Dad," I said. "My eyes are fully open now. I know exactly where I stand in this so-called family, and I'm not going to sit still for it. Goodbye, Dad. I'll talk to you later." With that, I ended the call and went back to what I was doing. Not long after that, my phone buzzed again. This time it was Mary, Dad's wife. I reluctantly answered the call.

"Hello," I said.

"Jimmy, this is your mother," she said.

"I'm sorry, my mother is dead," I told her in a monotone. I heard nothing for a few seconds, then a slight sniffle.

"Jimmy, that's not even remotely funny," she said. "I am your mother and I want to speak with you."

"That's Mr. Foreman to you," I said. "You may have given birth to me, but you're not my mother. She's dead to me. What do you want, Mrs. Foreman?"

"So, it's Mr. and Mrs. Foreman now, is it?" she asked, the bitch starting to unsheathe her claws. "Alright, Mr. Foreman. I was going to apologize to you for the way things went this weekend. I had hoped we could have a nice time, but you ruined it by leaving us. We were concerned that something might've happened to you." Yeah, right, I thought as I chuckled.

"Yes, something DID happen, Mrs. Foreman," I said. "I saw the truth. I discovered that most of the people I grew up with are nothing more than lying, backstabbing snakes. And I suspect something about the woman I married that I simply cannot live with. So, I decided to extricate myself from the untenable position you all put me in so I could figure out how to deal with things."

"And what have you decided?" she asked. I could hear the sneer in her voice.

"I don't believe that's any of your concern, Mrs. Foreman," I said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to do."

"Wait," she said. "Jimmy... Mr. Foreman. I know you're upset, and I don't blame you. If I saw and heard what you did, I would be upset, too. Just know that we all love you. And you have two beautiful children who need you."

"Is that right? Well, I'll keep that in mind, Mrs. Foreman," I said, ending the call. I poured myself a cup of coffee and went back to what I was doing. It wasn't long before my phone buzzed again. Won't these people just leave me the hell alone, I asked myself. I looked and saw it was her -- my soon-to-be ex-wife. I considered letting it go to voice mail, then realized I had promised her we would talk later. So I answered the call.

"What?" I asked, a bit perturbed.

"Jimmy?" Rebecca asked.

"What do you want, Rebecca?" I asked in an unfriendly tone.

"I... I just wanted to see if you were alright," she said nervously. "We're all very concerned about you."

"I'll bet you are," I said sarcastically.

"Please, Jimmy, don't be like this. The kids miss their father."

"Really? Weren't they just with him?" I asked.

"What?" she asked, surprised.

"You heard me," I said. "They couldn't get away from me fast enough to be with him. And they spent Friday with him at the club. I assume you were there as well."

"Jimmy, I don't know what you're talking about," she said.

"Bullshit, Rebecca," I said. "Come on, get with it. Why did you call? Really?"

"I... just wanted to let you know that we're getting ready to leave the hotel," she said. "I have to get back to work next week. Will I see you when I get home?"

"No," I said.

"No? Where will you be?" she asked.

"None of your concern," I said.

"Jimmy, what's wrong? You don't even sound like yourself," she said. "Please, Jimmy, talk to me. I'm concerned about you and I love you."

"Is that a fact?" I asked. "Sure could've fooled me. Despite what you, Max, and Mrs Foreman think, I'm not stupid."

"Mrs. Foreman? You mean, your mother?" she asked.

"I don't have a mother. She's dead, as far as I'm concerned," I told her. I could hear her gasp as I said that.

"You can't mean that," she said.

"Yes, I do, and you know why," I said.

"Jimmy, I don't know what you think is going on, but we need to talk when I get back," she said.

"We'll talk, alright," I said. "Just one thing."

"What's that?" she asked.

"Adultery is still a misdemeanor in Georgia," I said. "You can go to jail for a year if you're convicted."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"You're a smart girl," I said. "You figure it out. Goodbye." With that, I ended the call. The phone rang again a couple of minutes later. I looked and saw it was Max. I declined his earlier call, but decided to take this one, figuring it would be interesting to hear his response to what I told Rebecca.

"What!" I exclaimed when I answered.

"Jimmy, it's me, Max. Your brother," he said calmly.

"I figured that when your name came up. What do you want? I'm busy," I said.

"Look, Jimmy, I think there's been a major misunderstanding," he said. "I just wanted to clear the air."

"You're right. After what I heard at dinner and what I saw at the pool. AND Rebecca hardly giving me the time of day, you bet its major," I said. "And I'll deal with it."

"Rebecca passed on what you told her," he said. "First off, I don't know where you got your information from, but no one has been convicted of adultery in Georgia for 100 years. Second, it's highly doubtful any law enforcement officials will get involved even if you do file a complaint.

"Mom and Dad told me what you said, and I must say, I'm hurt deeply. Mom is absolutely crushed. I understand you're upset, and I can't say that I blame you under the circumstances. But you have a wife and two children who love you deeply and care a great deal about you.

"Listen, I'll be flying back to Atlanta with Rebecca and the kids. When we get to your house, why don't you and I go somewhere, have a drink and talk like brothers. Been a long time since we did that. Maybe we can work through this -- clear the air, so to speak. What do you say?" he asked.

I realized I was letting my emotions do the talking, and that could set them off too soon. The last thing I needed right then was some low-life acquaintance of Max hacking my computer with child pornography. I had to keep them thinking I was just suspicious. I needed to placate him just a little bit; sound just a little uncertain. I needed to strike first, and for that I needed them to think I was just throwing an adult tantrum. I took a deep breath before responding.

"We will talk at some point, Max," I said flatly, through gritted teeth. "But it will be at a time and place of my choosing."

"Alright, Jimmy," he said. "If that's the way you want it. I'll always be here for you."

"That's the way I want it," I said. "In the meantime, leave me be. No more phone calls. No more texts. I'll contact you all when I'm ready and not one minute before."

"No more calls or texts. Got it," Max said. "Would you like to speak with Mom, Dad or Rebecca?"

"No," I said. "I've already said my piece."

"Alright, Jimmy," he said. "We'll talk later." With that, I ended the call and put the phone down. I fought to control my breathing, which was strained, and my heart beat, which was pounding. Through a red haze I wondered if Max was taunting me or if he was so arrogant he didn't even realize what he had done -- the bastard hadn't denied a single thing. After I calmed down, I decided to grab a quick bite to eat, then plopped on the bed to get a few hours of sleep.

I knew it would take an hour or so for the flight to reach Atlanta. Factoring the roughly two-hours it would take to get through security and the hour or so it would take to drive home from the airport, I figured I had about a four-hour wait, and I wanted to monitor the security system when Max and Rebecca arrived at the house.

When I got up, I checked the time and figured they would be walking in the front door at any time, so I brought up my laptop and logged into the system. There was no activity anywhere, so I figured they probably stopped for gas and food on the way. I made a pot of coffee, used the restroom and sat back down.

About a half-hour later, I watched the front door to my house open. Rebecca and Max came inside, each carrying a sleeping child. They looked around the darkened room, then turned on the lights.

"His car's not here," Rebecca said. "I don't know if he's been here or not."

"Let's get the kids to bed and we can look around," Max told her. I watched as they carried the children to their rooms. They came back downstairs and Rebecca went into the kitchen.

"Why don't I make us a pot of coffee?" she asked.

"That sounds good," Max said as he sat down on the couch. Rebecca walked into the kitchen and turned on the light. That's when she saw my ring in the middle of the counter by itself. She gasped as she picked it up.

"He's been here," she said, holding the ring. Max got up and walked to her side.

"This doesn't change a thing," he said dismissively. "He's just blowing off steam."

"How much do you think he knows?" she asked apprehensively.

"He doesn't know anything. Trust me on that," Max said.

"I don't know," Rebecca said, setting the ring down carefully, as though it might explode. She looked a little shaken, despite Max's confident words. "He seemed to know quite a bit when we talked."

"He was just trying to goad you into making an admission," Max said. "He's been clueless for seven years, and he's still clueless."

"But you've never seen him work before," Rebecca said. "I'm afraid you and your mother may have underestimated him."

"Look, we've been hanging the horns on him for seven years," Max said. "He still hasn't figured it out and he won't if we're careful."

"I know we've been extremely careful over the years, but his dad was right -- we were pretty blatant this weekend," she said.

"Trust me, sweetheart. We could fuck right in front of him and he'd never figure it out," Max said.

"Why do you and your mother hate him so much?" Rebecca asked.

"It's not a matter of hating him," Max said. "He's what you'd call a 'beta' male. Which means he exists to serve his betters."

"Like you?" Rebecca asked.

"Something like that," Max said, shrugging his shoulders. "C'mon, let's look around, see if anything's gone." I watched, shifting camera views as they went from room to room, looking to see what I had taken -- or left. I considered that perhaps I should have tipped the tech more; they didn't trip across any of the cameras even though they were searching the house as they went from room to room, looking to see what had been taken. They met back in the front room.

"Well?" Max asked.

"His computer is gone and there's some files missing from his desk," Rebecca said. "A lot of his clothes and toiletries are missing as well."

"What files?" Max asked, showing a the first flash of concern, mild though it was. Rebecca shrugged.

"Beats me. Jimmy handles all the paperwork. It was probably work related," she said.

"Was there a note?" Max asked. "Did he destroy anything?"

"No, and no, he didn't destroy anything," she told him. "Do you think we should call the cops?"

"No, they won't do anything unless he's been gone a couple days or so. And chances are they won't do anything anyway," Max said. "Look, it's getting late. Why don't we go upstairs, go to bed and start fresh in the morning."

"You just want to sleep in Jimmy's bed," Rebecca said with a smile.

"Of course, especially if his wife's gonna be in it," Max said. "It wouldn't be the first time we've done it in his bed with the kids down the hall."

"I guess you're right," she said coyly. "It's been a few hours since I've had that monster dick of yours inside me anyway." They laughed as they walked up the stairs, hand-in-hand. I switched cameras until I got to the one in the master bedroom.

As I watched, they undressed and slid under the covers as though they had done this a million times. I noticed that Rebecca took her rings off and tossed them in the drawer of her nightstand. They wrapped their arms around each other and kissed deeply.

I saw my wife suck his cock, taking all of it in her mouth until he exploded, filling her mouth with his semen. Then she greedily swallowed every drop. She had done that to me before as well, and I knew what Max was experiencing. I fought down the hollow ache in my gut. I am a guy; I've seen porn before, but this was the first time I had a personal stake in the script.

After she got him hard again, she sat on top of him and guided his cock inside her as she lowered herself on him. Then she began riding him the way she used to do with me. It was bad enough seeing her fuck this asshole, but what she said cut me to the core.

"Oh God, I love this cock inside me," she moaned. "So much bigger and better than Jimmy's. Fuck me harder. Give me another baby for Jimmy to raise." Max chuckled and met her thrusts until he filled her pussy. She climbed off and I could see his semen dripping out of her, but to me it was like watching blood dripping out of my murdered marriage; the messy dismemberment of all my romantic illusions.

"Too bad Jimmy couldn't be here to watch this, huh?" Max asked with a smirk. Rebecca laughed back, tossing her hair out of her face.

"Yeah," she said. "Then he'd get to see how a real man fucks his woman." I couldn't take any more of this and shut my laptop down. At that moment, whatever love might have remained for Rebecca was gone. I hated her. I hated the bastard she was with. I hated the woman who gave birth to the bastard. And to a lesser extent, I hated my father for not dealing with her years before.

I screwed my eyes shut and groaned as tears fell down my cheeks. It's one thing to be told your spouse is cheating on you, but it's another to witness it. The only saving grace is that I wasn't there to see it in person. There's no way I could've handled that.

A part of me wanted to kill them both, slowly, for what they had done. I knew that if I had been there when this happened, I would probably be in jail right now, or the hospital. At least I wasn't headed for the mental ward. I knew more than they thought and I was planning revenge. I swore to make them both pay for this.

Then I thought of the children. What do I do about them? There was no way I wanted custody -- they were Max's offspring and his responsibility. Yes, I loved them from the time they were born, but now they were a constant reminder of my family's treachery, and I honestly didn't believe I could ever look at them the same way again.

I went downstairs and sat in the bar, drinking a gin and tonic. I had one more and decided to hit the sack. I had had enough drama for one 24-hour period and was mentally and physically exhausted.

The next morning, I got up, did my morning business, showered and ate breakfast. I checked the surveillance video from my house and saw the two cheaters had already left for the day, after getting the children dressed and off to day care.

I did notice one thing, though. Both of the kids asked their mother where I was and James cornered her with another question.

"Mom, why were you and Uncle Max in Dad's bed?" he asked.

"Oh, sweetheart, your Uncle Max was tired from the long trip yesterday, so he stayed overnight," Rebecca said.

"But why didn't he stay in the guest bedroom?" James asked.

"We were talking about some things," Rebecca told him.

"Are you and Dad getting divorced?" James asked, his bereft, little boy tone tearing at my heart. Rebecca looked at him, shocked.

"Of course not, sweetheart," she said.

I copied the video to my thumb drive, called my office to let them know I would be late, and left. My first stop was Angela's office. When I got there, her receptionist ushered me inside Angela's inner sanctum. I saw Julie next to Angela's desk and nodded my head.

"Good morning, Jimmy," she said. "How are you doing this morning?"

"I'm getting by. I wish I could say I was numb by now, but I'm not. The blows just keep coming," I said. "I've got video and the breakdown of my finances," I told Angela, handing her the thumb drive and a printed spreadsheet. "If you need more, let me know."

"Thanks," she said. "This will do nicely," she added, looking at the spreadsheet and the filled-out form. "I'll look through this video and call you if anything crops up."

"Thanks," I said before leaving. I went to the office and instructed Sheila, my PA, to block any personal calls.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

"Not particularly, but I'll manage," I told her. I did my best to focus on my work, but it wasn't easy. I got a call from Angela about 2:30 pm.

"How are you doing, Jimmy?" she asked.