Office Christmas Party Finis

Joyce didn't try to call me but did text about bedtime. "I miss holding you and you holding me when I sleep." That was all it said. Well I missed her presence too but I didn't tell her that. As a matter of fact I deleted the message.

Chapter Five

It was still three weeks before Christmas break so the girls had to get up and get ready to head out for school. I dropped them off a block away. You know it doesn't look good if your parent is driving you to school, even in middle school. I watched them join a bunch of friends and then head down that last block before entering the prison called school. Actually the girls enjoyed school. It was my old memories of being bullied that tainted my perceptions.

At work Lisa showed up and had to explain to everyone how she came to be bruised up. She apparently hit the same obstruction my wife had experienced as her explanation mirrored Joyce's. A couple of people looked sideways over toward my side of the large open office area as Lisa was spinning her tale of clumsiness so I imagine a few questioned her story.

It would do no good to correct Lisa's story as it had happened in my bedroom and not at work so I didn't try to set anyone straight. Besides, if Lisa was being groomed to take over the company, then I shouldn't antagonize her at work and publically. Mentally I revised my resume. I would not be working for this company for long if Lisa became my boss.

The rest of the day was busy with catching up. Sales routes had to be redrawn and people sent out to make contact with existing customers. I would wait a week before assigning new sales goals. We were still in an upheaval.

The day went without other distractions. After work I headed home to catch up on the day's events with the kids. They weren't quite as open with me as with Joyce but I was making every attempt to listen carefully but not judgmentally. It was so hard to just listen and not try to fix everything. I hope the girls appreciated it.

They called Joyce and spent an hour telling them the same things they told me. I decided to work on supper. I got out a cookbook and tried for something a little above burgers and fries. It must have worked as the girls thought it was good. They did the cleanup and then said they would do supper on Tuesday if I did the cleanup. I agreed.

Joyce texted me again just before bed. Once again she told me how much she loved me and missed our closeness at night. The cynical part of me wondered if she just wanted me at night when she went to bed. Did she even think about me any other time?

As if she could read my mind a second text came through. "I miss you in the morning, too. I long to wake up next to you again."

I guess that answered my mental question. I settled down to sleep. I slept deeply and rested well.

Chapter Six

The rest of the week went without incident. There were minor emergencies at work but overall we were all seeming to settle in for the long haul. I identified some people to be groomed to replace the Fab Four (sorry John, Paul, George and Ringo for stealing your name) and we were getting ready to start interviews. The shipping and receiving department was running smoothly under my trusted right hand.

I was starting to see how redundant I was getting to be. Once the new managers were hired I would not really be needed here. More need to get my resume done and out to other companies. My time seemed to be limited.

I started to discreetly check on the habits of Mister Les Tinker. I had thought it over. While there might be merit to the plan Jerome had laid out I was becoming more and more sure that I wasn't cut out for gay sex and I sure wasn't up for drugging, kidnapping, or raping anyone. I would deal with Les without anyone else being involved.

Friday Jerome called and said that Bill was ready for his interview. I agreed to come over to Jerome's pad on Saturday night. I figured the girls could be home alone for a while.

On Saturday morning Joyce called to ask if she could come over. I agreed and she showed up about 11:30, our agreed on time. It let me go out earlier and get whatever I needed for my ToDo list before she arrived. It took almost the entire time I had since I also had to do the grocery shopping for the family now. Being a single parent was hard but it beat the humiliation of being a cuckold husband.

Once again the girls and Joyce had a long sit down get together. All of the recent gossip had to be hashed and rehashed. They had a great time while I was getting the Christmas lights up. After a lunch prepared by Joyce and the girls we then put up the Christmas tree. It was a great day over all.

It was made even better by the fact that Joyce didn't try to entice me into the bedroom to show off her newest adornments. Instead she whispered to me what her tattoo now looked like while we cleaned up the boxes from the ornaments and garland. I sincerely don't know why she seems to think that I am excited by her body modifications. I wasn't included in the idea, the planning or the implementation. I was just the final one to know about it all.

She left about six after a light supper and the girls planned on joining her in church in the morning.

At 8:00 on the dot I was at Jerome's door. He opened on the first knock and let me in. I had to stop in amazement. Bill was on his knees, nude with his hands behind his back in some kind of supplicant position. I looked over at Jerome. He was grinning.

"There he is, the little fuck who helped kill your marriage. His body is smooth and hairless as you ordered. His mouth is at waist high so you can fuck it to your heart's content. I already lubed his ass in preparation for your hard fucking."

I nodded at Jerome and walked around hapless Bill. I was right, his goatee had hidden his weak chin. He must have a terrible overbite. He would have to grow it back to regain some machismo. Right now he looked like a weakling ready to have sand kicked in his face on the beach.

I suppose if I were attracted to men that his pert ass would attract me. I couldn't hold it any longer. I started to laugh. Even Jerome was surprised. I laughed even harder. I completed my circuit of one of my wife's lovers. I was laughing so hard that I actually had tears. The look on his face made me laugh even longer. I guess even masochists can't handle this kind of ridicule.

I laughed even harder. Damn I was ready to piss my jeans. I had to get control. Finally I gulped a couple of times and got control. "Damn, Bill, you are a sight. Is there nothing you won't do to get your job back? Would you run naked through the Super Dome if I demanded it?"

He looked downfallen. "You fucked my wife you piece of shit. I don't know or care why. You just showed no respect for me or my family or the sanctity of marriage. You went along with that asshole Mark and did whatever he directed. Now you have lasered off all of your body hair to try and get back into my good graces. You are pathetic and deserve whatever happens."

I looked over at Jerome. "Thanks for allowing me to have my revenge and also a little regaining of my manhood. I appreciate that."

I stopped for a moment. "Why are you in the mail room and not up in the upper floor as a manager? You are wasted where you are."

He surprised me with his smile. "Maybe you just don't know the power we have down there in the basement. I am doing fine right where I am. And anyhow, Jim calls me now to find out more of the office politics than he ever did before. He needs me to keep him up to speed."

I shook his hand and left. I felt good. Now to chat with Mister Les. I wonder if I could catch up with him tomorrow afternoon.

Sunday morning dawned cloudy and dreary. We don't get much snow here but the rain can and will become freezing drizzle and make life a miserable mess. The girls were slow to rise and get ready for church. Only the comments about seeing Joyce got them going finally.

We entered the church just before services started. Joyce must have waited outside in her car before we arrived so she could come in with us, thus maintaining the illusion that we were still a happy family. Once again Lisa was accompanying her. I shrugged and we found a pew where we could all sit together. I kept the girls between us again and Lisa sat on the other side of Joyce. I wondered if Joyce was bothered in the least when the sermon was about fidelity even though the main point was fidelity to the Bible. I, for one, equated the entire message to marital fidelity.

After church the girls, Joyce, and Lisa sat and talked for a bit while I greeted other acquaintances and spoke to the pastor for a short bit. That was a little uncomfortable. He is a perceptive man and had noticed that Joyce and I didn't seem to be as close as we once were. He was also a little curious about Lisa and her role in our marriage as it seemed Lisa and Joyce were closer acting than Joyce and I.

I stammered some kind of explanation about Lisa being new to town and wanting a chance to get to know people and that we were helping her some. He nodded and made sounds like he agreed but I knew that he wasn't satisfied. I decided to make an appointment to see him for some personal counseling during the week.

We all went out for Mexican food for lunch this week. Afterwards Joyce and Lisa went home. To do what I don't know and didn't want to speculate. I was rapidly coming to the point where I didn't care either.

The girls started working on their homework. We planned it so that they would work on the long report for an hour or so then play a card or board game for a break then back to work. By late afternoon they had progressed a long way on their report and other homework. As the dreary world turned to dusk I went out for a walk.

My checking on Les's routine paid off. I was walking by his house as he exited and headed for his car parked at the curb. It was an older beater so I figured, rightly, that it wasn't locked. As he started the car and put it in drive I opened the right hand door and slid inside. He started to sputter and demand that I get out but I told him rather emphatically to go ahead and drive. Since Les is pretty much a coward he shut up and drove.

I directed him to the rear of an old factory that was overgrown with dead weeds. He stopped where I indicated and then started to bluster. "What do you want from me, Mr. Fuller? I don't know why you made me drive here. What is going on?"

"Come, come, Les. You know what is going on. You have been disrespecting me by fucking my wife and treating my little girls like shit. It's time for your day of reckoning. Get out of the car."

The dumbass did it. He actually got out of the car leaving the key in the ignition. What a dummy.

I got out after grabbing the key and went around to his side of the heap. I decided to try a line from a movie I liked. "Head or gut?"

As expected he said, "Huh?"

I repeated myself, "Head or gut?"

"I don't understand." I hit him in the gut and he bent over. I hit him in the kidney while he was doubled over. I wasn't going to skin my knuckles on his face unless I had to.

He cried a little from the pain. I circled and hit his other kidney. He went down to his knees. I should have kicked him in the head but instead aimed for his nuts from behind. A good solid kick to the gonads and he was screaming in pain and then puking his guts out.

I let him recover a bit. This wasn't even a challenge. What had Joyce seen in him? Did he have a 10 inch cock or five inch tongue? I came around to his front and raised his head. I wasn't going to hurt my hand on his face but my knee got a quick workout. He was dripping blood from his nose and mouth when I let him drop to the ground.

I took his car and drove it back to his parents' house and parked it in front and left the key in the ignition. I quickly wiped any spot I may have touched even though I had been wearing gloves. I then completed my walk whistling a little tune of satisfaction.

I fully believed the word would go out to any other unknown lovers of my wife and they would start to walk a wide berth around me. When I got home I laundered all of the clothes I had been wearing and put on completely different looking clothes.

As expected the police showed up a while later. It seems my neighbor's boy, Les, had been beaten and he had implicated me. The only problem was that there was no physical evidence and Les had not been able to come up with a motive, at least one he could tell the police. It wouldn't look good to say that he had received a beatdown for fucking my wife so he wisely kept motive out of his information for the police. I just stuck with my story of going for a walk at that time. They checked out my hands and saw that there was no swelling or abrasions so they left me alone after a while.

Chapter Seven

Soon it was time for the annual Christmas party. It was always held on the Friday night before Christmas. I suppose it was so that there was plenty of time for recovery for those who might imbibe a little too much.

Joyce had continued to call and text me nightly. The gist was all the same. She missed being in bed with me. She missed our companionship. She missed being able to talk to the girls at any time she wanted. She . . . The only thing that never passed her lips was any statement of wanting me and only me as a sex partner. She never apologized for her behavior or attempted to tell me that she was done experimenting.

I had met with the pastor a couple of times and let him know everything that I knew. He had tried to get Joyce to meet with him without any success so he didn't get her side of the story. He didn't have much advice for me except the passage about turning the other cheek and forgiving seventy times seventy.

He also couldn't tell me what he would do in the same circumstances.

Yeah, I guess I should forgive the bitch and let her move home and just let her have her space to continue to explore herself. At the same time I would not be given the same right to explore my sexual horizons. That had been made clear by Joyce when I brought up why she should be able to fuck around all she wants. This was all about her horizons. Mine be damned.

The day before the party Lisa had stopped by my office. "Are you going to invite Joyce to attend the party?"

"I hadn't given it much thought. Except for the fact that Jim has insisted that I attend and be the Master of Ceremony I am not looking forward to it. I plan on being there for the speeches and handing out of bonuses and then letting everyone else continue to party hearty."

"But surely Joyce is going to attend as your wife?"

"Why, so she can find a way to fuck with me?"

"That is not her intention. She wants to show that she belongs with you."

"Yeah, I'm sure of that. If I hadn't caught you all at my house those few weeks ago you were planning on hanging horns on me again during the party. Don't try and spin it any way else. I was to be 'kept busy' while the gang of you fucked her in the conference room. I don't know if you were in on the way I was to be 'kept busy' and I don't care. The fact that you were intending to have sex with my wife, in a room next to where my coworkers were having a celebration, making sure that they all knew what was happening, and trying to keep me in the dark is damning enough."

I paused. "By the way, Joyce's company Christmas party was last Wednesday night. I never got an invite from her to attend. Did you go in my place?"

Lisa at least looked a little embarrassed. "I thought so. So again, why should I invite her?"

She left the office and I got back to finishing some reports. When I finished I looked around and took stock of the office. I really had not done anything to personalize the space. There were no certificates or awards on the walls. There were no personal pictures on the desk. It had only been a couple of weeks but I had not moved in at all. It fit my personal expectation of my longevity with the company.

On my way home that Thursday I went by the warehouse and cleaned out my old office of my personal belongings. Some had been moved to the periphery so my number two could feel a little at home. Come Monday I expected her to have a permanent promotion.

Now for the party. I wore my best suit and tie. The party followed the old tried and true itinerary. First there was an open bar to help pass the time until all were present. Then came the catered banquet. Our main floor had been designed as a large open area to welcome potential clients into the building so it was cleared and the banquet was set up in one half while the social area occupied the other half. Not all employees were invited to this party. This was more for management and office help at the main office.

The blue collar workers had their own party at a convention hall downtown on Saturday night. A few managers and Jim would attend that one tomorrow night. I was expected to be there but I wasn't planning on it.

After all had eaten their fill of the steak and potatoes it was time for the speeches. I got up and introduced each department manager. That manager then was expected to stand and give a short speech about the way the department did in the last year and bonus checks were handed out. Most everyone got a check. If you weren't getting one it was suggested that you not attend. Most who were not performing well passed on the party.

Then it came time for me to speak for all of my areas.

I stood up and began from my prepared notes. "As you all know I am wearing many hats this year. Due to a change in leadership I have taken over all aspects of manufacturing as well as sales while still being in charge of shipping and receiving. It has been a time of great stress for all of us and myself in particular."

"I need to recognize the efforts of many people who have helped in this transition. Preliminary results show that our clients have also been patient with us at this time and sales have actually increased. With these sales there have been no layoffs in the manufacturing side this year. This is the first year of no layoffs in the last ten years. Historically during this season of celebration sales usually slump and don't pick back up for at least two months so the blue collar workers get to enjoy their Christmas party followed by a ten to fifteen percent reduction in force a week later. This year all get to celebrate and no pink slips are anticipated."

I paused for applause. Tomorrow night's applause would be louder as there were seldom layoffs at the management level, only at the workers' level. When it died down I continued. "Now for the rewards of this great team effort." I called out the names of those getting bonuses and others wended their way through the crowd to deliver the checks. Propriety dictated that no one open their envelope until later.

I continued. "This upheaval in the upper management has created some opportunity for change. Next week promotions will be announced and a timeline will be set up for the transition of internal promotions and for the introduction of the few outside hires." All of the hopefuls looked at each other and wondered who was going to be promoted. I really didn't know who was going to replace the Fake Four and that had been at my own insistence. Since Lisa was going to be promoted I didn't want any selection by me to be tainted and under extra scrutiny. Jim had reluctantly agreed.

"Now for some personal information. Most of you knew last year about the relationship between my wife, Joyce, and Mark Williams, Chuck Adams, Bill Jenkins and Ted Branson. I was very disappointed that no one had the loyalty to tell me about it but I understand the reasoning. If you felt that I knew and approved then I might not want everyone to know about my cuckoldry." The silence was deafening.