My Wife Climbed Mountains

I went online to investigate the riverboat and found they were looking for employees. I scanned the list of available jobs and saw that they needed chefs. I wasn't a chef, but I know my way around a kitchen, so I applied.

A week later, I was notified that I could join the boat next time it landed in New Orleans.

On board, I was given the primary job of working on the grill during dinner and running the hamburger and hot dog stand on the top deck during the middle of the day. They were both roles I was comfortable with and enjoyed.

I grilled steaks and burgers on that boat for two years, learned some secrets from the real chefs I worked with and never went back to my hometown during that time. There were weeks when I never left the boat. My truck, loaded with most of my meager belongings, stayed in a secure area on company property. In my two years, I put less than 500 miles on it and had to jump start it when I was in town and needed to drive it. I had to buy a new battery when I quit the job because the old one wouldn't hold a charge. That was okay, however, because I rarely spent any money and had saved the vast majority of my salary. Everything I needed was on board and my salary, which wasn't huge, went into my investment portfolio along with the money from my marriage and the sale of the house. At the end of my two years, I was very comfortable, money wise.

I hadn't been home, so I headed west. I had no idea what I was going to do after taking a break, but it was good to be home. Nobody brought up Lori for the first month I was there. When it happened, it was my sister, and only because Lori was in the newspaper and on TV. It seemed she and her climbing crew were stranded on Denali in a snowstorm. They could neither go up nor down, and no one could get to them to rescue them. They were stuck for over a week, were running out of supplies and two of their tents had been destroyed by the storm, so six people were huddled into one very small tent. I figured that probably wasn't a first for them, but the other times had been voluntary, not Mother Nature induced.

I felt sorry for them because their lives were at risk. It was a very dangerous situation with no letup in sight. A last ditch rescue plan was being worked out for them, but it would put the lives of the rescuers in danger, as well.

The storm abated enough for the rescue party to get to them and bring them down. They were national news for two days, and more when they made it home. The local press and TV swamped them for three more days.

My sister, her husband and I were in my old bar having a burger when Julie and three of the four men in her crew came in. We saw each other but said nothing.

My former boss and the owner of the bar sat with us and chatted for some time. He told us he was getting the urge to retire.

Less than a week after their rescue, Lori and her crew were in the news again. It seems one of the group's phones was found at their campsite on Denali after their rescue, and it was sent to the wife of the owner. John Marchand was part of the original group and his wife, Kris, like me, had no idea of the sexual component of the group. Whoever found the phone obviously looked through it and found pictures of the group cavorting before the storm hit. Whether by accident or intent, he left a picture of Lori and Liz being fucked, so as soon as the phone was opened, that picture would be there.

After Kris received John's phone, she opened it and saw the picture the finder left. She found other pictures showing the group cavorting in the nude in the snow, and pictures of Lori and Liz being fucked by all of the men. The snow pictures were obviously taken before the storm hit them. She also saw pictures of their adventures on the other mountains. She turned some of them over to the local news outlets and TV stations. The rest, she gave to her attorney.

Within hours, Lori and her crew were back on national news being called the "Mile high sex club," not because they had sex in airplanes, but because the photos showed them having sex on mountains over 5280 ft of elevation, thereby technically qualifying them for the club.

None of the group could leave their houses for days without being pounced upon by photographers and reporters. They weren't the only ones to be hounded. As Lori's ex, I was hounded almost as much, with them wanting to know if her having sex with those men was the reason for my divorcing her. I answered "no comment" to all of their questions, so they finally left me alone.

The week or so the "Mile high sex club" was in the news gave me an opportunity to think about my future. I remembered my old boss saying he was considering retiring, so I talked with him. Three months later, I owned Geaux Joe's. I moved out of the apartment I was renting and converted the space above the bar into living quarters.

I finally found my niche. I kept the staff that was working when I bought the place, and I went back to the kitchen and the grill. The person who had been working the grill in my stead, stayed, and together she and I continued to make the best burgers in town. As a result of my two years on the boat and exposure to legitimate chefs, we added steaks and other items to the menu.

By the time I bought the bar, Lori's crew and their mountain sexcapades was old news and their lives went on. I heard through customers that Liz and Jim were pregnant, weren't sure which of the four men was the father but they had no plans to separate or divorce. Likewise, Lori was also pregnant and engaged to be married to Tony Lazaro, one of the two men whose cock she was holding in the picture on Denali; Jim was the other. I grinned when I thought about the possibility of Tony being the father of both kids. I had also heard that Lori's parents had basically disowned her and cut her off with no money.

I tended to believe that, because I knew her parents; besides that, I thought I saw her driving a Lexus, a big downgrade from the Maserati she used to drive. I'm sure she wasn't broke, but she was denied access to unlimited money like she had all her life.

I also heard that her groups' mountain climbing had been curtailed. In large part, I assumed, because of the two women being pregnant.

I had owned "Joe's" for about six months before she and Tony came in. My bartender alerted me to their being there. I looked through the food pass-through window and saw them. They hadn't been there ten minutes before they started arguing. Their waitress told them to settle down or leave. When their burgers and fries were ready, I took them out to serve them. Just as I got to their table, Tony jumped up and stormed out, leaving Lori in tears.

"Are you okay?" I asked her as I put the tray of food on the table.

She looked up at me, stood, threw her arms around me and bawled. I'd never seen her cry like that. I stood there with my hands on her waist, not knowing what to do other than try to calm her down. She cried for a couple more minutes before realizing who she was holding. When she did, she pushed herself away from me and ran out.

The burgers, fries and the rest of their beers got dumped.

She came back three days later and wanted to talk with me. I took her into my little cubby hole of an office, where we sat and I waited for her to start. The first word she spoke was followed immediately by tears, and they kept up for some time before she collected herself. "He's an asshole." She started. "I thought he loved me, but all he wanted was money. That's all he ever wanted. Since we were kids he used me. Now, when I need him, he leaves."

"What do you mean?"

"The bastard took off. I'm pregnant and he took off."

"Is he the father?"

She looked at me scornfully. "Of course. Who else could be?" I wanted to say it could be any one of her four "mile high" friends, but I didn't.

"Do you know where he went?" I was fumbling for something to say and failing miserably.

"To Colorado, I think."

"Are you going, too?"

"Fuck no. The bastard left me."

"Any idea what you're going to do?"

"Get an abortion and hope that bastard falls off a mountain."

I chuckled and she scowled at me. "What's so funny?"

"The image of him falling off a mountain is what's so funny. Especially since that's where you cheated on me with him."

She looked at me. "Oh, Jamie. I was screwing him and the others long before we were married, and we never stopped. You never had a chance because I had no intention of stopping. I just thought you would never find out. But you made out all right in the divorce. You got the house, your car, and lots of money. That bastard Tony gets nothing."

"Then why did you marry me?"

"For public consumption. You were a middle class 'everyman,' and my parents thought it would be good for our family image. I just thought you were an easy going schmuck I could boss around and who would be easy to control because of my money. You started out that way, but changed."

Christ, I thought. Was I really like that? I answered my own question with, apparently I was. Then I asked her a question. "What was the attraction with your group?"

"We all started in school and just stayed together. Tony was the first boy I slept with. Jim was next and Mikey was the third. John was last only because he had a girlfriend, but he came around eventually. Then he married Kris and stopped for a while, but he couldn't resist when we got on a mountain. Liz and I got together just to amuse the guys. They liked to watch and we didn't mind, so she and I just kept it in our group. You were the first one other than the group for me to sleep with. And I only fucked the others when we were on a mountain and away from prying eyes. It must have been something Freudian with me. It worked out pretty well until you sent those pictures to Mikey's wife. We had her fooled just like you." She had been looking at me, but now looked away. "I said you were the first for me outside of the group. You're also the only one, and Tony is the only one at all since we disbanded."

If I felt bad before, I felt worse then, but I slogged on. "How can you give up on Tony so easily after so many years?"

"Because he and Liz are leaving together, so I didn't give up on him, he gave up on me." I started laughing out loud at that point. "It isn't funny, Jamie. Stop laughing."

I couldn't and didn't. In fact, I laughed even harder and was still laughing as she jumped up and stormed out.

She did have the abortion and dated a couple of men before apparently giving it up. They knew her reputation and just wanted to fuck her or get their hands on her money... or both. I spent too much time in Joe's to date much. I'd had a fling or two, but nothing serious. Lori came in for a burger, fries and beer about once a week and we talked. She even helped bus the tables when we got busy. Her parents had forgiven her, and she was again driving a Ferrari. I still had the pickup truck I bought with the money I got when I sold mine.

Occasionally, she had a beer too many and ended up in my apartment upstairs. At first, she claimed that she didn't want to drive her car "buzzed." The first three or four times it happened, I slept on my couch, but then figured what the hell, and joined her in bed. Sometime during those nights, nature took her natural course.

We both enjoyed it, but had no plans to make it any more than it was.

She rarely visited her family's house in Colorado, and her climbing gear was gathering dust in her basement.

Lori was at the bar one evening and we were really busy, so she grabbed a big plastic tub we use to bus tables and started working. She was leaning over, wiping a table when Tony came in. He saw her and walked over to her. "Hello, Lori," he said.

She stopped, straightened up, looked at him, slapped him hard across the face, and walked out. We heard the roar of her Ferrari and the squeal of rubber.

We also heard the crash that followed.

The bar almost emptied at the sound. I wasn't the first to get there, but I was close. We all rushed up the street toward the crash. When we got there, Lori was out of her car and talking to the driver of the closer of the two cars in front of her, which had collided.

She turned as I got to her. "We need an ambulance," she said. "His head is bleeding." She indicated the driver.

"I'm on it," someone said, and as I looked, he had his phone out.

She started to the other car, but others were already there so she stopped and looked at me. "Another second and that would have been me," she said.

"We thought it was. We heard you peel rubber, then heard the crash."

"It wasn't. It was that green car. She slammed on her brakes to keep from hitting this car, but it was too late." By then we heard the sirens and the paramedics and police took over. "I guess they need to chat with me since I saw the whole thing."

Nobody was seriously injured, and the policeman took statements from everyone who saw the accident. He ended up citing the driver with the bleeding head. Witnesses said he ran a traffic light. After all the excitement died down, the crowd dispersed. My customers went back to their now cold burgers and fries, while I stayed with Lori to make sure she was okay.

After it was all calm, I asked her if she wanted to come back to the bar. "Is that asshole still there?"

"Which asshole would that be?"

"Tony, you jerk." She halfheartedly slapped my chest.

"I don't know. We can go back and see."

"Not me. I'm going home. I never want to see him again." She started for her car and I followed. I opened her door for her and watched as she sat in it. Watching a woman wearing a skirt or dress get in a low Ferrari is always a treat. Unfortunately, she was wearing jeans.

She settled in, lowered her window and fastened her seatbelt. I leaned in with my hands on the door where the window would be. "Are you okay?" I asked.

She put a hand on one of mine. "I'm fine. Thank you for your concern." With that, she started the engine and I watched as she drove off.

Back inside, I saw that Tony was sitting at the bar. The bartender had just given him a beer and had taken his money. I walked up, took the money from the bartender, put it on the bar in front of Tony, and took his beer. "Get out and don't come back."

He looked at me. "You can't do that."

"I just did."

Sammy, my bartender spoke to Tony. "You heard the boss. Leave, or we'll toss you out so hard your ass will land in Texas." Tony blustered a bit, but left. "I never liked that guy anyway," Sammy said as he poured Tony's beer down the sink and tossed the bottle in the trash.

I chuckled and went back to the kitchen.

It was several days before Julie came back. Sammy was on break and I was behind the bar. She saw me and sat on the stool at the end of the bar. I automatically opened a bottle of her favorite beer and put it on a napkin in front of her. "Are you okay?"

She took a sip. "Yeah. I'm fine. I had a couple of bad days, but I'm better." She looked directly at me. "Seeing him again after what he did to me made me realize how badly I must have hurt you. I am sooo sorry, Jamie. Please try to forgive me. I was too busy having fun and couldn't have cared less about you. You should never have married me."

I chuckled. "You're right. I shouldn't have. I think I loved you enough to think I could change you, but I was wrong. Then when I found out you were fucking everything on those mountains, including the yeti's, I wasn't really brokenhearted. I was hurt and disappointed, but my heart never broke. I guess I didn't love you any more than you loved me, so in a way, we probably deserved each other. The only difference is, you knew you didn't love me, but I had to find out the hard way." We chatted until Sammy came back from his break. "I have to get back to the kitchen. See you later."

"Sure."

Sometime later, one of the servers came into the kitchen. "Lori's drunk again. Want me to take her upstairs?"

"Yes, please. And put her to bed."

"Okay, boss."

It was late when we closed and I went upstairs. In my bedroom, I heard Lori breathing as I stripped down and went to shower. I could still hear her as I stood by my bed and dried off. I had an urge to climb in beside her like I had done on other occasions, but I resisted. I put on my PJs and lay on my couch. The sun was coming up as I finally fell asleep.

It was almost noon when I felt her lips on mine. I kept my eyes closed and heard her whisper. "I love you. I know it now." I didn't open them until I heard the door close.

I didn't see her again for a month. I found myself taking every opportunity I could to leave the kitchen to see if she was in the bar. It reached a point where every time an employee came into the kitchen, they would either shake their heads or say "no," meaning she wasn't there.

I worked a lot of hours and rarely left the bar. It was a labor of love and I didn't miss the life outside of it. I started feeling tired and had no energy. A visit to my doctor revealed that I needed to take some time off and rest. I kept telling him I would... soon, and I was true to my word. Unfortunately, it came not as a result of choice on my part, but rather in the form of a chest pains that sent me to the hospital in a 911 dispatched ambulance.

I was told that it was a warning sign and the next time it happened might very well be the last. I was also told that I would spend a week in bed either at home or in the hospital. I opted for home with the promise that nothing short of a full-blown emergency in the bar would get me down there.

I had just gotten home and was sitting in my favorite chair when the knock came on my door. It was Lori, with a suitcase. "Sammy called and told me what happened. Your whole staff took a vote and decided that I should come over and make sure you stayed in bed, or at least away from the bar, so here I am."

"Now, look..."

"Don't give me any shit. Just shut up, lie down, relax and enjoy the next week."

I did enjoy most of it. The part I didn't enjoy was the part where she slept on the couch because she didn't want to sleep with me and get me too excited and screw up my heart. That lasted the first six days. On the sixth night, things changed. She told me to shower, as usual, but my PJs weren't laid out on my bed as they had been when we were married and for the previous five nights. I looked in my PJ drawer and it was empty. Even as dense as I am, I could take a hint, so I crawled into bed and waited.

It didn't take long. She had a bath towel wrapped around her as she approached the bed. She pulled the covers down on the other side of the bed and got in beside me. "Are you rested enough for some playtime?"

I smiled.

The ensuing night was a long night of unparalleled sexual exploration and pleasure. I didn't recall ever having a night like that with anyone. At one point, I thought of her on a mountain with four cocks which she had at her pleasure, and my cock started to wilt. She seemed to know what I was thinking. "This is your pussy, Jamie. Nobody else's. It's yours. Take it, sweetie and own it," she whispered. "I just never knew it before." With that, she started moving her hips up, down, and sideways, making me feel all of her inside and allowing her to feel all of me. "Fuck me, Jamie. It's just you and me, the way it's supposed to be. Fuck me."

I smiled again as I started the age old move associated with fucking. In and out my cock went as my hips moved up, down and sideways, just as hers were doing.

The suitcase she carried in is still in my little apartment above the bar, along with another one. Half of my single closet has her clothes in it, as do two of the drawers in my chest of drawers, and the counter in my little single sink bathroom is crowded with a combination of her and my things.