New Years, New Tears, New Start

"You're just going to leave me here?" he asked incredulously.

"No, Ted," she said. "Aren't you going to go home while I take a shower? That way it won't seem suspicious. If we show up at about the same time even Bonnie might think about it."

"Fuck no," said Ted. "I'm not going back there so she and my parents and her parents can all gang up on me because I popped her one. She had it coming. Fuck them."

"Well you're going to have to go to a bar or a movie or somewhere," she said. "Try to get back here by about eight. I'm not done with you yet and we need to talk about my plan."

"I don't have any money to go to a bar," whined Ted.

Francine crossed the room and pulled a few bills out of her purse. "Here," she said. "Just make sure you earn this when you get back."

* * * * * *

Bonnie

Except for the fact that Ted hadn't come home, or maybe in spite of it, it had turned out to be a wonderful Christmas dinner.

With the help of my mother and my mother in law, the turkey and the dinner had been great. The dads had come back, only an hour after they left. They pulled bag after bag inside the house with them. "Santa told us to tell you that he's sorry he was late, Bobby," said my dad. "But here's the rest of your stuff."

Bobby looked at the two of them as if they were crazy. Then they started pulling all kinds of toys and games out of the bags. He didn't know what to do. He just stood there looking at all of the toys in a daze. He'd never had anyone do anything like this for him before. As the dads finished, they pulled an envelope out of the last bag.

Ted's dad handed it to me. "Oh thank you, Dad," I said. This time I didn't mind the way my face stung when the tears hit the bruise. "Should I open this one for him?"

"Uh, Honey, this one's for you," he said. It had been so long since anyone did anything for me for Christmas or any occasion that I didn't know what to say.

"Thanks Dads," I said.

"Open it," he said. I opened it and inside there were several Gift certificates. One was to a spa, another to a hair salon and a couple of other ones were for clothing stores. The last thing in the envelope was five crisp one hundred dollar bills.

"Do you know how many of our bills I can pay off with this?" I asked.

Ted's dad shook his head. "None," he said. "Not one bill. Bonnie, the money is for your emergency fund. Just in case you ever need something in a hurry or for a special occasion or a problem. Do not tell Ted that you have it. The gift certificates are all to stores and businesses that cater only to women. They can't be redeemed for cash and they can only be redeemed by the person named on them. They're worthless to Ted. He can't use them and he can't sell them. He also can't cash them in to buy liquor or anything else."

I hugged both dads and told them both how much I loved them.

After dinner, Ted's parents took Bobby to spend a few days with them. I was glad because it would give Ted some time to calm down. As Francine and I spoke after they left, she reminded me of something I'd forgotten about.

Our ten year high school reunion was only a few days away. The reunion was going to be held on New Year's Eve at the old high-school down town.

"You simply have to go," said Francine. "It'll be a hoot to see all of those guys we haven't seen in the past ten years and find out what they're up to. Shit, Bonnie, high school was the best time of our lives. When we were in high school we ruled the world, or at least our part of it. You were the prom queen, the head cheerleader and the homecoming queen. You won the triple crown our senior year. Don't you want to relive your glory days?"

"Oh Francine, those days are over with. Real life intruded on our dreams. I doubt that anyone's life turned out the way they thought it would. Why should we go hang out with a bunch of people that we don't really know any more, just so they can laugh at the way our lives turned out and say they're better than us?"

"Because honey, it's a sign," she said. "Your dad gave you everything you need to make yourself beautiful for something. It's a cinch that Ted isn't going to take you anywhere that you need a salon or a spa for. And whatever beautiful dress or shoes you buy, you'll be able to wear more than once, but now you have a reason to buy one.

"Besides, Honey, with us dressed up and looking like a million dollars, none of those idiots will know what we do for a living or where we live. For one night we can make up anything we want to about our lives. We can be anyone we want to be. I'm sure Ted would love to relive his glory days too. He did kind of, uhm peak back in high school."

"Well, I'll go if Ted says I can," I told her. She smiled and said that she was very sure that he'd agree to it. The problem was that Francine just didn't know how volatile my husband could be at times.

When Ted finally got home that night, it was very late. He looked tired and he still had liquor on his breath but he wasn't drunk. I'd waited up for him and he looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face. "I don't suppose there's anything around here to eat is there?" he asked.

"Of course, Honey," I said. "I made sure to save you some of everything." I busied myself in the kitchen making a plate for him. As I put the plate and a glass of juice in front of him he looked at my face. When he saw the bruise he looked down at the floor, but said nothing.

He started to eat and then took a sip of his juice. "What the fuck is this shit?" he said.

"It's apple juice," I said. "It's really good."

"Do I look like a fucking kid," he sneered. "Bring me a beer."

"We don't have any beer, Ted," I said. Even as I said it I realized that he'd be angry. I wondered why it had never crossed my mind.

Ted exploded. He threw the dishes containing his food across the room. "You bought all of this shit and didn't buy any fucking beer? You spend all of my fucking money on having a lavish dinner for you and your fucking friends and never once considered your own God damned husband?" He was on his feet angry enough to spit out nails. I backed away from him.

"Ted, I'm sorry," I said. "We didn't have any money for that. I only bought a small turkey, a can of cranberry sauce and that car for Bobby. That almost wiped us out."

"Then where the fuck did the rest of this shit come from?" he screamed.

"Our parents," I said. "Our dads went shopping together and bought more food and some more toys for Bobby." I had backed up away from him as far as I could. He glowered at me.

"So you had them buy all of this shit and didn't tell them to buy any beer?" he asked.

"I didn't tell them what to buy Ted," I offered. "They just got up and went shopping. I didn't know what they were doing until they came back."

"But they did buy a bunch of shit for your kid, didn't they?" he sneered.

I nodded. "Ted, he's your son too," I said.

"You never fucking let me forget that," he screamed. "One God damned mistake and I'm forced to suffer for it my whole fucking life. I told you they'd buy the kid a bunch of shit didn't I?"

"Yes Ted," I said. "You were right."

"I'm always right," he said. I flinched away and he looked at me strangely.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked. "You act like you're afraid of me."

"I'm sorry Ted," I said. "I thought you were going to hit me."

He slapped me so hard I heard bells ringing. "You lying bitch," he screamed. "I've never hit you in my life. Why are you always plotting against me?" I got up and ran into the bedroom and locked the door. The door slammed just before he got to it. He started pounding on the door. I looked around for something to block the door and for the phone. Ted kicked the door and I heard the wood start to splinter.

"Ted, I'm sorry," I screamed through the door. "I'm sorry," I screamed again.

"Fuck it," he said quietly. I heard the sound of him opening the door to the outside, but it never closed. A few moments later he was back. I heard the TV on and nothing else. I looked out into the living room a while later and saw Ted slumped in a chair in front of the TV drinking from a huge bottle of liquor, while he watched TV.

I started trying to clean up the mess he'd made throwing his food and the dishes across the room. I picked up all of the broken dishes first. It wouldn't do to have our son come home and cut himself on the broken glass. Then I began to clean up the spilled food. Ted looked at me and smiled. It was as if he was seeing me for the first time.

"Bonnie, I'm hungry," he said. "Do we have any food around here?"

"I'll get you some right now, Ted," I said nervously.

"You've got another bruise on your face," he said. There was a strange tone in his voice. "How did you get it?"

"I uhm, fell," I said looking at the floor.

"You always were kind of clumsy," he said. "But I didn't marry you for your gracefulness."

"Good night, Honey," I said.

"Don't you want to sit up and watch TV with me," he asked.

"Ted, I'd love to," I said. "But I don't have your energy. I'm exhausted. And I have to go to work tomorrow. Tomorrow night we'll watch TV together for sure."

"That's part of the problem with you," he sneered. "You're getting old really fast. You never want to have any God damned fun. Go on to bed, Granny." I quickly left and went to bed.

As I lay there in bed last night, for the first time I began to wonder about my marriage, my life and my future. How had things gotten so bad? Did Ted really mean the things he said? Or was it just the liquor talking?

A couple of times during the day I'd felt as if he hated me, or at least that he was out of his mind. I've read that when most people are drunk, it just lowers their inhibitions. They don't do anything that they wouldn't ordinarily want to do. The liquor simply stops them from thinking about the consequences of their actions.

Could that mean that Ted really doesn't love me or our son? Does he really feel trapped by us? There were other things that bothered me as well. For a few weeks now, Ted had stopped pestering me about sex. When we first got married, we did it all the time. He was always on me. Day and night, he expected me to just drop and strip. After I got pregnant I got a break. Ted could barely stand to be in the same room with me while I was pregnant.

We did have sex a few times after that but Ted complained that it felt different. He said that I wasn't as tight. Realistically, I'd begun to suspect then that he was getting it from someone else. I'm not stupid. A man doesn't go from needing it on a daily basis to once or twice a month overnight.

I guess like everything else, I figured it was just something he was going through. I was sure that sooner or later, love would bring him back to me. Then the drinking and staying out late started. And now it was worse. As I lay there waiting for sleep to take me, my mind drifted. It was near the end of one of the most special days of the year and I allowed myself to wonder what my life could have been like. I saw myself and my son living in a bigger, nicer house. I saw my son spending time with a man who loved spending time with him. I saw them playing catch with a football and actually talking to each other.

I saw myself come out of the house and call them to eat dinner that I'd made in a nice kitchen. I knew by looking at myself that I didn't have to even consider whether to buy milk or eggs. We could have both all the time. We could have bacon or sausages and cereal and all of those other things whenever we wanted.

I couldn't see the man's face because he kept the sun behind his back, but I knew that he loved me. In some parts of the dream he had on shiny silver or gray armor and he rode a big white horse. I knew then that I was dreaming. My life had never been and probably never would be like that.

All of that brings me back to the present. As Ted snores in our bed, I look at myself in the mirror. I'm beginning to look older than I really am. Ted was right about one thing last night though. I haven't been much fun lately. Maybe it's because I'm constantly working double shifts, while worrying about leaving my son with a neighbor. Maybe it's because I'm scraping and trying to put food on the table while the majority of Ted's money goes down his throat.

It wasn't always this way. When we first got together, Ted was always doing any and everything he could for me. He did everything he could to impress me. If another guy even looked at me Ted got angry. I fell in love with him, not because he was this big, good looking football guy but because he loved me so desperately. He used to sit with me and just plan out our life together. Of course our lives always revolved around him making it to the NFL.

Well in a way we did make it. We went from ruling our high school, to working and scuffling while Ted was in college and we finally ended up in our No Fun Life. That's as close as we'll get to the NFL. These days Ted doesn't even watch football on TV. It pisses him off too much to see guys he played with and against in college, who are in the pros.

I decided then and there that Francine was right. I needed to at least have one night of fantasy. Just one night to look back and see what the other people I'd gone to high school with were doing. Whether Ted went or not, I was going to that reunion.

* * * * * *

Steve Perkins sat at his desk. It was eight o'clock in the morning and he was going over the latest sales results. He heard a beeping sound coming from his computer that indicated that he had mail. He checked his Microsoft Access account and his inbox was empty. Then he remembered that he could also get mail from his personal account too. When he checked it he saw four new spam messages and one that looked interesting. It was a reminder about his high-school's reunion dinner that was coming up in about a week. He'd already decided to go. He was looking forward to it. He'd agreed to give a speech.

Apparently, he was one of the more successful people from his graduating class. He'd been voted most likely to succeed and he had succeeded. He was vice president of marketing for Barrier Corp.

The company made a lot of different software products, including the world famous Barrier firewall. The company's slogan, "Put a Barrier between your computer and hackers," was very famous. As one of only three vice presidents, all of whom were equal, Steve was only outranked by the company's CEO/President and its mysterious owner, who was rarely around.

Since the owner was again, rarely around, Steve was technically the number two man in the company or at least vying to be number two with the other VPs. At work, his word was law. He had a reputation for not suffering fools and for being very decisive. His moods were mercurial and his few long term underlings quickly learned to see which way the winds were blowing before confronting him.

At home, it was different. Steve's wife controlled everything they did. She'd been cheating on him for years. He'd caught her twice, only to have her turn around and file for divorce.

Both times she'd simply told him that they lived in a community property state. No matter who was at fault she'd get half of their assets and then some. Even his lawyers told him that all of the proof his investigator had dug up would only cost him more money. No matter what he did, she'd get half of their assets plus child support for their two sons, plus alimony since she refused to work. Their two boys were as different as night and day. Neither one of them looked like Steve. He didn't like them and they both hated him too. The worst part of it was that Jessica no longer looked like the lingerie model she'd been when they married.

He'd met her during his senior year at college. There, just like in high-school, Steve had played football. He'd been the quarterback. He majored in marketing because the classes were pretty easy. That way they didn't interfere with football or partying. Steve was also smart. As the quarterback, his job was to make split second decisions and manage the team. A stupid man can't handle it. So when he broke his leg in four places during his senior year and saw his hopes for the NFL go up in smoke, Steve simply went with his back-up plan. With his degree in marketing, he quickly found a job and worked himself up through the company. When the chance at Barrier came, he quickly jumped ship and continued his rise.

He'd met Jessica at a party on campus. She'd been short and thick like a lot of the girls in the rap videos. Her piercing blue eyes and long black hair attracted him almost as much as her big round butt and tiny but pert breasts. It had been lust at first sight. Now seven years later Steve couldn't stand to look at her. She'd gained probably fifty pounds and her attitude had degraded. She'd had so much plastic surgery over the years to try to remain looking like a twenty two year old that Steve couldn't tell what was real and what was plastic anymore.

Her skin was a dark orange color from too many tanning sessions. Her boobs were huge now and quite visibly fake. Her big round booty that looked so good in thongs and skirts when they met had changed too. It looked like a giant bowl of orange cottage cheese, complete with dimples and cellulite. It still jiggled when she walked. But sometimes it continued to jiggle long after she'd stopped moving.

Steve had to admit that he was actually glad she'd begun cheating on him. If she wasn't having sex with other men, she'd probably want to do it with him. The thought of it frightened him. The only reason thus far that he hadn't divorced her, wasn't because of her sons or any residual emotional baggage, it was financial plain and simple. He was just trying to come up with a way to get out of the marriage without having to give up a substantial part of his assets. As soon as he could do that, she was history.

As Steve read the email, he remembered some of the women he'd gone through school with. Some of them were beautiful and he really wondered what they'd turned out like. He was also dying to reconnect with some of his friends from the team. He looked through his briefcase and pulled out the invitation. There were several names of members of the reunion committee on the letter that came with it.

Steve sent a reply to the email. He told the woman he'd written to, Francine Scott, that he'd definitely attend. He remembered Francine. She'd been cute but chunky. She was built the way a lot of the cheerleaders were. She had big boobs and a big butt even back then. She hung around with another girl though that even Steve couldn't get close to. Bonnie something or other was her name. That girl was beautiful. She was like movie star beautiful. Steve couldn't do anything about it then because she was the girlfriend of one of his linebackers. Boy was that son of a bitch lucky. Steve wondered what she looked like ten years later. She was probably a fat assed old house frau with five sniveling little varmints, like all the rest of them. He was looking forward to the reunion.

* * * * * *

Francine's plans were shaping up well. She already had four guys lined up for Bonnie's coming out party. She only needed a couple more to make it really special, but she could roll with the four if necessary. She'd already promised and convinced Ted of the benefits of the plan and he was on board with it. She had trouble believing that a man could have so little regard for the woman he'd married. She knew that she'd have to keep him on a short leash. But for now she was actually looking forward to having Ted at her beck and call.

The plan was simple. They'd go to the reunion and have a good time. The three of them would go together. Ted would spend the next few days convincing Bonnie to go. Once at the reunion, they'd doctor her drinks and when she was woozy, Francine would lead her to a room where the men would all get their chance to fuck Bonnie. Ted would of course come in and make a big scene. That way he'd have a reason to divorce her and all of the sympathy would be on his side. He could leave her and move in with Francine.