Not IN Love Ch. 09

Disclaimer:

This is a fictitious story. All characters are fictitious and any resemblance to real people is coincidence. Do not take any information in this story as health advice.

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This chapter is an interlude. It explains how Joe and Jenny help Tracy, Jenny's tennis coach, with her divorce. It doesn't have any sex in it. If you wish to read the next chapter you won't miss out on any essential details if you skip this chapter.

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One evening, both Jenny and Joe didn't feel like cooking so Jenny suggested that she would shout Joe dinner at the restaurant where they'd been for Lucy's eighteenth birthday. Joe accepted so they dressed reasonably well and went to the restaurant. They both wanted to drink so they caught a taxi there.

Jenny and Joe had almost finished a bottle of Moscato between them when Jenny heard, "Jenny?" Jenny looked around and saw Tracey, the lady from the tennis club, "I thought it was you. How have you been? I haven't seen you for a long time."

Jenny replied, "Oh I've been keeping a low profile," she then said, "Tracy, do you remember Joe, Lucy's boyfriend? Joe, this is Tracy. Tracy runs the Woman's Tennis Club. You met her a Dan's memorial."

"Yes, I remember," answered Tracy, "How to you do?"

Joe replied, "Well thank you Tracy and how are you?"

"Oh I'm just catching a bite to eat." answered Tracy, "I love the food at this restaurant. Do you come here often?"

"No, not often," answered Joe, "In fact this is only the second time we've been. The first was to celebrate Lucy's graduation and birthday."

Jenny was happy that Joe was doing the talking for both of them and gestured for him to continue.

"Are you dining alone?" asked Joe.

"Yes," answered Tracy, "My husband is working late again and so I thought that I couldn't be bothered cooking so I ducked down here for a meal."

Jenny stated to warm to Tracy and felt that she should say something, otherwise she might seem rude so she said, "We both couldn't be bothered cooking so we did the same."

"Oh, so you're not celebrating?" asked Tracy.

"No, no. Just out for dinner," answered Jenny. Tracy nodded her head and looked like she was about to leave. For some reason Jenny felt sorry for Tracy so she asked, "Would you like to join us?"

"No, that's alright," answered Tracy, "I'll leave you two alone."

Jenny now thought that she should insist to curb any thoughts that Tracey may have that she and Joe were a couple, so she said, "Please, I insist. My shout."

Tracy said, "No I don't want to intrude."

"What could you possibly be intruding?" asked Jenny. She was starting to get annoyed so she said almost demanded, "Please Tracy, join us."

Tracy felt that she would insult Jenny so she accepted. Joe called over the waiter and said, "This lovely lady wishes to join us. Could you please move her setting from that table to ours?"

The waiter of course agreed and moved a chair over for Tracy to sit on. Once he moved the settings, Joe said, "and please add her bill to ours," the waiter nodded and left.

"You're so generous," said Tracy, "I really don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense," said Jenny, "now stop apologising," Joe gave Jenny a look and so Jenny said more gently, "I'm sorry. I've just had a little bit too much to drink. Please forgive me."

"Of course," answered Tracy with a smile, "I've had a couple myself."

They chatted small talk and drank their wines. Joe ordered another bottle to go with their meal and the conversation became more pleasant as all three often laughed at some small joke.

Jenny couldn't help noticing that Tracy still seemed a little bit upset so she tried extra hard to enjoy herself and make it more pleasant for Tracy. She thought that she might have hit the bone when she asked, "Is your husband joining us later?"

"No," answered Tracy, "He'll be late home tonight."

"If you don't mind me asking, what does he do to have to work back so late at night?" asked Joe.

"He's a lawyer. He often has to help people with bail, bonds and things," answered Tracy.

"I know a lawyer, his name is Tony Rudd, he's not your husband is he?" asked Joe.

"No." answered Tracy, "I know of Tony QC. He's in competition with my husband, Kevin Abbott."

"Oh," said Joe faking a worried look, "Sorry to mention the enemy."

Tracy laughed and said, "That's alright. Those things don't bother me and Kevin's not here to worry about it."

All three were quite tipsy by the time they finished dinner and it was getting quite late. Tracy then said, "Well, I'd better get going."

"Tennis tomorrow?" asked Jenny.

"No," answered Tracy, "I just think that you two would like to go home."

"Well," said Joe, "I was going to suggest that we go down to Tossy's for Tiramisu. Why don't you join us?"

"Yes, please do?" said Jenny as she touched Tracy's hand, "According to Joe it's the best in town."

"Oh," answered Tracy reluctantly, "That's very tempting and I agree, they do make the best Tiramisu... Okay, I'll join you."

Jenny paid for dinner as Tracy and Joe waited outside the restaurant. Tracy asked, "Are you sure that I'm not intruding?"

Joe touched her arm and said, "Not one tiny bit. I think it's good for Jenny to go out and meet people. Besides, I'm the sort of person who would tell you if you were intruding."

Tracy somehow felt reassured by Joe and said, "Then it's my shout for dessert."

They walked down the street towards Tossy's. Jenny on one side of Joe and Tracy on the other. Both held Joe's arm. They laughed and joked until they passed a small cafe. Tracy froze and stared inside. Jenny asked, "Tracy, are you all right?"

Joe looked inside and then gently eased her past the cafe window. He asked, "Is that man in the blue suit your husband?" Tracy nodded.

Jenny looked into the restaurant and asked, "He's your husband? He looks so old?"

Joe continued, "Did you expect him to be with that woman?"

"No," answered Tracy, "That's Felicity, according to Kevin, she's the office bike."

Jenny asked, "What, like a gofer or something?"

"No," answered Joe, "Like everyone rides her," Tracy nodded in agreement.

"Oh," said Jenny as she put the back of her hand to her mouth, "That's... that's disgusting. He's looks old enough to be her grandfather," She then said when Joe gave her that look and she realised that Tracy was very upset, "Maybe there's a simple explanation."

"No," said Tracy, "Maybe once, but when I find her style of lipstick on Kevin's underpants and shirt collar and the smell of her cheap perfume on his jacket, that's no longer a coincidence.

"I've suspected he's been having an affair for a long time but..." and then her shoulders dropped, "I've also been denying it. Well this proves it. There's no logical reason for him to be dining with her and especially for him to be holding her hand like that."

"What do you want to do?" asked Joe.

"Divorce him," answered Tracy spitefully, "He's an arsehole and I'm dumping him."

Jenny held Tracy's arm and said, "Good on you woman, you're too good for him. I just don't believe that husbands could to that to their wives."

Joe asked, "This is a good opportunity to catch him red handed and get further evidence for the divorce. Do you want to do that? We'll help you if you do and we'll be witnesses."

Tracy looked at Joe and Jenny and asked, "Would you do that for me?"

Jenny said, "Definitely, you know how I hate lairs and infidelity is the biggest lie of them all. What do we do Joe?"

Joe explained what they should do. He explained that Reynaldo was the name of the man at the counter and that he and Joe have known each other for a long time. They used to go to karate together. Reynaldo's wife had cheated on him and, because of that, would probably be supportive of Tracy's cause. If not, there was plan B. Jenny would record everything on her phone as evidence.

Joe sent a text to Reynaldo and when he saw Reynaldo read his phone, smile and look towards the cafe door he felt that Reynaldo was going to help. They went over the plan again and when they were all sure of their roles, Jenny sneaked in to start recording and Joe entered the restaurant with Tracy holding his arm. They were both laughing.

"Joe," called Reynaldo, "How have you been? I haven't seen you in ages. Did I scare you away with my fighting skills?" and he imitated a few punches, "and who is this delicious woman you have with you?" as he winked at Tracy. Tracy was noticeably embarrassed. She was playing her part well or it was just a natural blush.

"Reynaldo, I'm very well thank you," answered Joe. He was worried that Reynaldo was over doing it but the man did have a reputation for being boisterous, "Tracy, may I introduce you to my friend Reynaldo? He used to TRY and beat me up at karate," Reynaldo laughed, "Rey, this is my new friend Tracy. We've only just met again after a long separation," He then winked at Rey and said, "We've been drinking a bit."

Jenny recorded Kevin's movements. At first he released Felicity's hand and tried to hide when he noticed Tracy enter with this young man. He then seemed to straighten up. He stood up, "Tracy!" he exclaimed, "Who's this you're with?"

Tracy turned and laughed. She said, "Kevin? This is my friend Joe. Joe, this is Kevin."

"Oh" said Joe, "So I meet your grandfather?"

"How dare you?" said Kevin, "I'm her husband."

"No," said Joe, looking shocked.

"Tracy, so you go out with this gigolo while I'm hard at work earning us a living?" asked Kevin.

"What?" asked Tracy still laughing, "He's just a friend. Hold on, a moment, who's that you're with?" Joe was especially impressed with how Tracy was handling herself.

Kevin looked over to Felicity and looked uncomfortable. He said, "That is not the point. You are gallivanting around..."

"He's just a friend, Kevin," said Tracy. He's Jenny's, daughter's boyfriend and the three of us bumped into each other at a restaurant."

Joe chimed in, "I'm not a gigolo I don't sell myself. At least sir, I don't have to resort to prostitutes," and Joe gestured towards Felicity.

"She's not a prostitute," answered Kevin.

"She must be," replied Joe, "Why else would she be with you. You're old enough to be her grandfather."

"How dare you," retorted Kevin, "I'll have you for that," and threw a punch at Joe.

Joe easily dodged the punch and said, "I'll not respond. You're too old and I don't want to hurt an old man."

This riled Kevin even more so he started throwing punch after punch which Joe easily avoided. Eventually, Joe caught one of Kevin's punches, twisted his arm behind his back and held him there to face Tracy.

Tracy said, "That's Felicity Credlin isn't it Kevin? I seem to remember you calling her 'the office bike'. Isn't that right?" Joe released Kevin when he stopped struggling.

Felicity seemed shocked. She stood up and said, "Office bike? You arsehole!" and slapped Kevin's face. Kevin immediately slapped her back. Felicity narrowed her eyes and started to leave the restaurant.

Kevin turned to Tracy and said, "Look what you've done!" and went to slap her face but Joe managed to block his arm.

Kevin humphed and left the restaurant, apparently after Felicity. Tracy called out, "Don't even think of going back to my home Kevin."

Joe went over to Reynaldo and asked, "Is it okay if we get the CCTV of that incident?"

"Of course, of course my good friend," replied Reynaldo, "That was most entertaining, I'll watch it a few times myself," and then to Tracy, "My dear lady, I will even testify in court for you if you wish. Those two have been her together on other occasions."

"Thank you, Reynaldo," replied Tracy, "You've been most helpful."

"Yes, thanks a lot Rey. I'll catch you later," said Joe.

Joe then said to Jenny, "Did you get all that?" Jenny nodded. Joe then said to Tracy, "We'd better get to your home before he does and barricade you in," so they left to find a taxi. On the way they noticed Kevin trying to talk to Felicity who seemed to be telling him to get lost.

The taxi dropped Jenny, Tracy and Joe off at Tracy's home. It was a very big home in the newer part of town. There was a tall wall across the frontage with a rolling gate for vehicle access and a cast iron gate for personal access. Tracy pushed some buttons on the lock and the gate opened. "Good," said Joe, "He's not home or he hasn't changed the combination. Can you do that from here?" he asked Tracy.

"Yes," she replied and changed the access combination to something different.

"Now for the other gate," said Joe as he inspected the electronics, "It looks like we can keep this closed if we disconnect the power. Let's get inside."

Tracy unlocked the front door. Joe said, "I'd better go in first, just in case," Joe entered Tracy's home but it appeared to be empty. He then asked Tracy, "Are all the doors keyed alike?" Tracy nodded yes so Joe said, "Okay, I'll have to watch this one but first, let's push a chair up against it," Tracy ran to the dining room and brought back a dining chair which Joe jammed against the front door.

Joe then said to Jenny, "See if you can do the same with the backdoor. Okay?" Jenny nodded and left towards the dining room. He then said to Tracy, "Where's your main power board?"

"Down here," replied Tracy as she led him to the power box and Joe opened it up.

Joe inspected the board and said, "Perfect. There's a circuit just for the gate," he then switched off that power circuit, "We'll check it later. I suppose the garage doors are automated?" and when Tracy nodded he said, "Show me where the garage is please."

Tracy led Joe through a door into the garage. There were three individually operated tilt doors. Joe switched off and unplugged the power leads to each door. He said, "That's stopped those working. We'll sort out access for your car later."

Jenny returned to them and said, "I've jammed a chair against the laundry door."

"Well done Jenny," He then paused to think and then asked, "How many swinging doors are there to the outside?"

Tracy asked, "I don't know, what do you mean?"

Joe realised that Tracy was starting to panic a bit so he said, "It's alright. We're just going to make sure that Kevin doesn't stay here tonight. What we're going to do is stop all access from the outside. Are there any outside doors that slide?"

"Yes," answered Tracy, "Over here," Tracy led Joe to the lounge room window.

Joe inspected the window and curtains and said. "I'm sorry to ask you this but do you mind if I break off some of the curtain tracks? I want to use them to jam the door shut, unless you've go some rods laying around?"

"Ah," hesitated Tracy, "No that's alright, use the curtain rods. I can fix them later can't I?"

"Yes of course," answered Joe. He reached up and pulled the curtains back. He then grabbed the sheer curtain track and yanked it. It came off easily. He then broke it into two. Checked it's length against the door track, broke it off at the right length, put it into the track and tried to slide the door. The door opened a little bit but not enough to allow anyone through the gap.

Joe then said to Tracy, "Show me all the doors please. We'll start at the front door and go right around so that we don't miss any. Again Tracy nodded and she led Joe to the front door.

Tracy said as she walked anticlockwise around the rooms, "You just did this one. The next room is over here."

Joe used the leftover piece of curtain track to secure that door and systematically used the sheer curtain tracks to secure all the other sliding doors. When they'd finished the lower level of the house they then did the same upstairs. When Joe was satisfied that all the doors were secured he said, "It looks like that the only outside doors that swing are the front door and the laundry door, so I'll watch the front door and you two watch the back.

"The sliding doors are all secured and the garage doors are switched off. Oh yeah, the car gate. We'd better test that. Do you have a remote or something that usually opens it?"

Tracy nodded, "In my car, this way."

Joe went with Tracy back into the garage and said to Jenny on the way, "Loudly yell out if you hear anyone moving around," Jenny nodded.

They returned with the remote. Joe went outside and tested that the gate wasn't operating. He came back inside and said, "Right, I think that the place is secure. I'll send a text to my lawyer, Tony, to see what we should do next, in a legal sense. I'm going to have to give him a lot of details. Are you okay with that?" Tracy nodded so Joe sent a text to Tony quickly explaining the situation hoping that Tony would get onto it first thing in the morning. Moments later Joe's phone rang and so he answered it.

"Tony, that was quick. I was hoping you'd ring me in the morning... No rest for the devil huh?... Yeah, my friend wants a divorce... Tracy Abbott... Yes, that's right Kevin Abbott... Oh I see, well, you having fun IS an added bonus. So will you do it?... No, no way would I try to stop you... So, what do we do? I think that we've secured the house. At least I'll hear him trying to get in...

"Tracy had her suspicions and they were confirmed tonight... Ah, he tried to slap her tonight. Does that count?... Assault?... Really? The police?... Geez Tony. He didn't actually hit her... I stopped him... Ah yes, I think he would have hit her... Restraining order? Wow, ah, if you say so... Okay...

"Yes, video evidence of him with another woman at a restaurant. I believe records of lipstick on his underwear and shirts and perfume on his jacket... No, just a record of when it was discovered... Yes the video shows him trying to hit her and the shop owner said that he'd give us the CCTV footage... Oh, ah, about five other people?... Okay...

"Oh yeah, she was really pissed off, especially when he slapped her... Yeah, yeah although she slapped him first when she found out that he called her the 'office bike'... Felicity Credlin she works where Kevin works... I don't know? She might be on his side... Maybe not?... Okay...

"Sure... Sure... Yep... no worries... No mate, he's pretty slow and weak. I can take care of him... No I won't... I only met him tonight... I twisted his arm behind his back when he kept on trying to punch me... I wouldn't call him violent. He's a pussy... Okay, we'll let the courts decide...

"All good and Tony, thanks so much for getting back to me so quickly and for all your help... Okay... Bye."

Joe then said to Tracy, "Tony said that he'd love to represent you for divorce proceedings, he's going to take out a restraining order on Kev because he was violent and tried to harm you, you should call the police if he tries to get inside and I can repress him until they get here, stay safe and he'll call me in the morning to make an appointment to see him tomorrow afternoon. Oh yeah, and he said to gather as much evidence as you can to help prove his infidelity and not to worry if you can't find it before tomorrow's meeting, He'll sort it out."

Tracy said, "I need to sit down," and walked into the lounge room, "Assault? He's never been violent before...

"Are you going to stay the night?"

"Yes," answered Joe, "and I'll escort you to Tony's office."

"I'd better check the guests' rooms," said Tracy as she stood up.

Joe said, "Sit down for a while and rest. I'll rest on the lounge so that I can hear if Kevin is trying to get in. You'd better write your address down for me in case I have to call the police. Jenny, you can stay in the guest room if you like?" He gave Jenny a nod that Tracy didn't see to indicate that she should do that.

"Okay," said Tracy a bit dazed, "Thank you, thank you both for helping me. I hardly know you and... and you're doing all this for me. Thank you."

"I don't give hugs as good a Joe but I'm willing to try," said Jenny as she gave Tracy a hug, "It's okay. I hate lairs so it'll be a pleasure to see one get what he deserves. I just find it so hard to believe that a man would treat his wife like that. I know I'm naive but it seems so wrong?"