My Path

"I promise I won't cause you any problems. I'm sorry. When you say it like that, it sounds bad." Jane Rose begged me, literally.

"Jane Rose" I replied. "There was never a moment I wasn't going to agree to do it. You are my friend, and if this helps you, then I'm happy to do it, but I do think you owe me the full truth if I agree to do this."

"Ok. What do you want to know?" she asked me.

"What is your job?" I started with.

"I'm a cam girl." Jane Rose said, without hesitation. She wasn't lying. A cam girl basically shows her body on camera for money. Actually, a lot of Filipinas do this work. Not good, but I can understand as she makes a lot more money than she could have otherwise.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" I followed up with.

"I have dated guys and girls (surprise), but I am not currently dating anyone. I don't have time. All I do is work now." she explained. At least she was being honest with me. I figured that was enough for now. She had been through a lot, so I won't push her.

I told her I would agree to her plan. She seemed happy, but I don't think she really believed me. Or she was just very tired. It was hard to tell. I printed out the required form and filled out the information. She gave me her information, as it was needed to complete the form. She had not lied about anything. Everything else she had told me was true.

Three days later, I showed her the Fed Ex receipt where I sent in her application. That seemed to cheer her up a little more. She wanted to know EXACTLY what I paid for everything. The fees and even the Fed Ex cost. She said she was keeping track of it all and would repay me. Every dollar.

I know you guys are all thinking "Simp" and maybe I am one, but I truly believed she is my friend. She could have gotten money from me if she wanted, but she always refused. I do believe she was telling me the truth, and I'd do anything to help my friend.

Each step of the way, I shared the news with her, and she started believing that it might really happen. She did her medical exam and had her interview. Otherwise, she worked a lot. Like 16 hours a day. I could go on-line to the website she worked for (in Europe), and see she was online, but I never tried to open her cam. I didn't want to. She repeated over and over to me that work was just work, and not the real her. I didn't want to know that version of her. I wanted to keep the image of my friend in my mind intact.

9 months and three weeks after I applied, Jane Rose received her visa. It is still the happiest I'd ever seen her. I bought her a plane ticket and we negotiated an amount for me to send her for her sister's care. It would be at least two months before she would be eligible to work in the US, and her sisters had to eat and go to school in the meantime. Jane Rose had calculated it all out, to the penny, and told me the amount. I sent a little extra, knowing she would not accept a huge amount extra, but if it was a little, she would not argue.

Jane Rose was both happy and sad. She was happy knowing she would be able to provide everything for her family now. Her sisters would go to college and have a good life. But she was also sad because she loves her family, and she hated having to be away from them. I promised her that she could visit often.

I was happy the day she arrived. When I saw her, I instantly felt kind of bad. Everything she owned would have fit in two Walmart bags. A realization of just how poor they really were. They literally lived on the edge of starvation every single day. I blushed when she hugged me at the airport in front of all those people. I took her bag and we walked to my car. We went home and I showed her around my house before showing her the guest bedroom I had set up for her.

I gave her a week to get her feet under herself. The jetlag coming from the Philippines is HORRENDOUS, so I let her sleep a lot and took her out a little at a time. We went to the grocery. The mall. The Asian store to get some of her comfort foods. I showed her the town I lived in. All the normal things. About a week after she landed, she told me she was ready. I made an appointment for the next day with a Justice of the Peace. Better to get it done so she can start processing her paperwork. We literally went from the Justice of the Peace to Office Depot to copy our marriage contract and send out her papers requesting permission to work and change of status form.

That night, we drank champagne to celebrate her progress. I was very careful to choose my words right. I never tried to push on her to be anything other than her friend. I didn't celebrate our "marriage", as it was not a real marriage. We just toasted her advancement to residency.

We went to bed, and I was laying there in the dark, thinking about everything that had happened when my door opened. Jane Rose was at my door, and she was naked. She closed the door behind herself and walked to my bed.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"Ssssssshhhhh. You talk too much." Jane Rose said to me.

Then she climbed on the bed and pulled the covers down. She straddled my legs and pulled my pajama bottoms down, then moved up my body. Her hand touched my penis, and I was already hard just seeing her naked. Not impressive knowing I'm pathetic in that department too. She guided me into her pussy. It was warm and wet and felt amazing. She leaned forward on me and I came right then. I could not help it. She was just too sexy.

She never stopped though. She just moved her hips slowly back and forth. Then she leaned over and grabbed my face with her hands (it was completely dark). She kissed me. My first kiss ever. She whispered in my ear, "Thank you". She slowly moved back to a sitting position and kept moving her hips until I came again. Then she slowly slid off me, pulled my pajamas back up and left my room. We never talked about it and I never brought it up again, but it is a memory I will never lose until the day I die.

Jane Rose was definitely a smart person. She made a list of everything she needed to do and went about doing them. I admire her for not just relying upon me. I told her she would need to learn how to drive. She downloaded the driver's manual and studied it herself. She took the permit test online and passed. She asked me to give her driving lessons, and I did. When she got proficient enough, she signed up for a driving instructor and practiced with him. She even had researched how much discount she would get off her car insurance if she completed the course and told me it would pay for itself in 16 months. She completed the course and took the driving test in my car.

I surprised her when we arrived home after her successful test by telling her that my car was now hers. Not just in words, I had actually transferred the car to her name. I had bought a new car, and had it delivered while we were out. She initially refused but relented when she agreed that having a car is necessary in the US. She would need it when she worked. She looked up the value of my car and added it to her list of money she felt like she owed me.

The only awkward moment we ever had was when we ran into a coworker of mine at a store one day. He asked who Jane Rose was, and I introduced her as my friend. She didn't say anything, but when we got to the car, she asked me why I introduced her as my friend and not my wife.

"Because I am not going to interfere in your love life, and I don't know who you will want to date." I used her own words on her. "It's not my business who you go out with, and people won't want to date you if they think you are already married, so better to just introduce you as my friend. Besides, nobody will ever believe you are my wife."

She didn't like my answer, but she also couldn't argue with me. It was our agreement, and I just affirmed I would abide by it.

Jane Rose got her approval to work and had a job that same afternoon. She was a waitress at the Hooters down the street from where we lived. Every day she worked she left me money on my desk. My estimate is she was giving me half of what she earned in tips. She sent the rest of the money to the Philippines for her sisters. I don't think she kept much, if any, for herself.

We settled into this routine. Jane Rose worked hard - often 50 or 60 hours a week. She never turned down a shift. Occasionally, she would go out, and I never asked her who sent went out with. She had made friends in the city and I knew she was dating a little, but she always came home at night. I know because I waited up for her every night until she was safely back home. Not because I was jealous, but because I was concerned. She is a beautiful woman, and I was worried something would happen to her.

Two years passed, and Jane Rose got her unconditional permanent residency. She was in the US to stay. I anticipated her moving on at this point, but she didn't. She never left, she just continued working and putting her sisters through college. We went and visited them every year, and sometimes twice a year. Jane Rose insisted I go with her every time. Her sisters were very grateful to Jane Rose, and I admired how close they were.

Eventually, both of her sisters graduated college. Jane Rose was very proud of her sisters, and shortly after her middle sister graduated, she got married. We went to the Philippines for the wedding, and despite not being related to her, she asked me to walk her down the aisle. I felt honored that she asked me to do this instead of one of her Uncles. Jane Rose told me that it kept them from arguing over which one of them should do it, and it honored me for helping her family all these years.

About this time, Jane Rose started dating a guy named Raymond. Raymond was different. I think Jane Rose was actually serious about him. He insisted upon meeting me and hearing me tell him that Jane Rose was free to date whom she wanted. I guess technically we were still married, but she had explained our arrangement to him. However, he would not keep seeing her unless he confirmed what she had told him was true. I respected him for that. Raymond was actually a good guy. Later we became friends, but I never interfered in their relationship. I was glad she was happy. That Christmas, she spent three days with him, on a minivacation. The only nights she had ever spent out of the house. She had even asked my permission before. I scolded her a little for doing that. She was a grown woman who was free to do as she pleased. She didn't need my permission. They started spending a lot of time together.

The next year, Jane Rose's youngest sister got married. Again, we went to the Philippines for the wedding. It was a great and a happy event. Her youngest sister stayed in their house with her new husband. Jane Rose and I talked on the plane ride back. For the first time since she was 13 years old, Jane Rose didn't have to take care of anybody but herself. She admitted that she felt relieved. It was like a whole new chapter of her life was beginning. Otherwise, she was unusually quiet. I knew her well. I knew something was up, and she would tell me if she wanted to.

When we got home, she went out with Raymond. She had been in the Philippines for three weeks, and he was impatient to see her. About midnight, she arrived back home. I was still up, playing in my office when she came in. She was drunk and visibly upset.

"What's wrong?" I asked her.

"Nothing. Everything is ok." she replied.

"Jane Rose, I know better." I pressed. "Did Raymond do something?"

She sat down in the chair beside me. She was shy to look at me and clearly nervous.

"Raymond asked me to marry him." Jane Rose admitted.

"That's so great!" I said jumping up out of my chair. "Congratulations!"

"Thomas." Jane Rose replied.

"Oh, wait here. I have something for you." and I ran off to the kitchen.

"Thomas. Listen to me." Jane Rose said at my back.

I returned with an envelope and gave it to Jane Rose.

"What is this?" she asked.

"I've taken every dollar you ever gave me and put it into an account. I'm not a great investor, but I did ok. I cashed it out today, assuming you would be moving on soon. Something to help you start your new life with." I told her.

"Thomas!" she yelled at me. She had never once raised her voice to me in all the years we lived together. I stopped talking about the envelope and sat down beside her.

"What?" I asked.

"I told him no. In fact, we broke up." she told me, tears running down her face.

"Why?" was all I could ask.

"Because as nice as Raymond is, he isn't you. Raymond didn't save my family. Raymond didn't take me in when nobody else wanted me. Raymond didn't tolerate me when I was too immature to realize that I loved you. Dammit Thomas, it's you. It's always been you. Nobody else has the heart you do." she sobbed.

I didn't know what to say. I mean, what can you say to that.

"When we were in the house for my sister's wedding, my (dead) mother came to me as I was sleeping. She asked me what the hell I was doing dating him. She told me to stop being foolish, and she was right." Jane admitted. A little spooky, but Filipinos are really spiritual like that.

"Now I'm going to do what I should have done years ago." She grabbed my hand and pulled me to follow her.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"We are going to bed, so I can finally be the real wife you deserve and to give you a son." she sobbed again.

And she was a real wife to me. She was more than any man could have wanted. Certainly, more than I could have ever dreamed of.

So now, I'm 61 years old. Watching Jane Rose fix the makeup of our oldest daughter before she graduates high school. She's the valedictorian. I thank God every day our two daughters look like their mother. Without a doubt, amazingly beautiful. I've never seen Jane Rose wince while looking at me again. All I ever saw from that day forward is true love in her eyes. She tells me every day she is proud to be my wife. I'll never know why she talked to me in the first place, but I'm eternally grateful she did. I didn't save her. She saved me.