On the Hook

Special thanks to my editor and Sweet Inspiration blackrandl1958. NoraFares also gave me an insightful Beta read.

Some who follow my comments may be a bit surprised by this one!

I arrived home to find Sally sitting in our living room, and she didn't look happy to see me.

"Hello, Sally," I said, going over to give her a kiss. She flinched away.

It didn't appear as if I was going to be having a pleasant evening.

"What's for dinner?" I said, "I don't smell anything cooking."

"I know," she said. There was an uncomfortable silence.

I wracked my brain, trying to see what offense I might have committed this time, but couldn't think of a thing.

"Know? I have no idea what you think you know."

Sally slid a photo across the coffee table.

I could see why Sally was upset; it was hot. Lucy was naked, propped up against a headboard with pillows, one leg out straight, the other bent giving a clear view of her pussy, bare, except for a landing strip.

That was another strike against me; Sally had asked me before if I would like her to shave, but I always said no, that I preferred the natural look.

Lucy was tweaking a nipple with one hand, fingering her pussy with the other, with a look on her face that I had found extremely sexy, but I'm sure that Sally failed to share my opinion.

"You got some 'splainin' to do about Lucy," she said in a terrible Ricky Ricardo accent.

Fuck, I thought, where did she get that picture? Then I realized that she must have found my chat with Lucy. I was in deep shit.

I was sweating, but also felt a sense of relief; I knew that I hadn't "really" done anything that bad.

"She's just a friend I chat with sometimes; we've never even met."

"Yes. I've read those chats. I never knew that I was frigid, or that I couldn't give a blow job to save my life. Funny, I don't remember hearing any complaints."

Shit, I thought, just how much did she read? I hoped that she hadn't read . . .

"And since when do you have to masturbate? When do you find the time, we're fucking at least four nights a week!"

"Um, um, it turns Lucy on to think that I masturbate to thoughts of her. I just say that for her benefit."

"So, you lie to your slut, too. Must be a character flaw. Of course, you'd have to have character for it to have a flaw."

I felt myself sinking lower and lower.

"I also saw where you were trying to get her to let you visit her, even though she lives in California. Just how did you expect that to happen, 'Harry?'"

Shit, shit, shit! She knows I don't let anyone call me Harry, it's always Harold, but Lucy insisted. She wanted something that was just for her.

"I think you should sleep in the guestroom for now. No need to put up with a frigid wife. Give you a chance to practice your masturbation technique.

"Oh, and I'll take this," she said, closing up my laptop. "I'm sure "Lucy" will find some other suckers to chat with. Speaking of suckers, I'd better not find out that you've sent her any money."

"No, no, I'd never do that, you know that!"

"Do I? I thought I knew that you would never have an intimate relationship with another woman. I guess I was wrong there, so who knows?"

"It was just chatting. It meant nothing," I cried.

"You forget, I've read ALL of your chats. I think you should go to your room before I do something you'll regret."

"D . . . Don't you mean that we'll both regret?"

"I know what I meant. Just go."

I hesitated just a moment, then made my way to the guestroom.

I sat on the bed with my head in my hands. What was I going to do? I loved Sally, I really did, and didn't want to lose her, but what I had, or was that used to have, with Lucy was something special. I truly believed that we were soulmates.

I tried to drop subtle hints about maybe meeting in person, but she was very clear that was never going to happen.

"I'm sorry, Harry," she said, "I'm very fond of you, and I value our friendship, but we have no future together. Besides, I could never live with myself if I broke up your marriage."

No matter how many times I tried to convince her, she wouldn't budge. Part of me was glad. I did love Sally, and I wasn't really sure what I would have done if Lucy had agreed to see me.

Now, Sally knew about Lucy, and I might be losing her anyway, and not having Lucy, either.

One thing I knew for sure: I needed to talk to Lucy. But how? Sally had my computer, and would surely be monitoring my chats.

The first order of business was getting a new computer, and not leaving the fucking thing where Sally could see it. Then I'd need to get a new ID and reach out to Lucy.

With the seeds of a plan in place, I stripped down and went to bed, trying to figure out a plan to get back into Sally's good graces.

After my morning shower I went down to the kitchen, and it was obvious that it would be a chilly morning, even though it was the middle of August.

"Sally, I'm sorry, it was just a silly infatuation that got out of hand. I love you, and I'm completely satisfied with our love life," I lied.

Sally seemed to soften a bit, but I could see that she still had her doubts. I was going to have to tread carefully until I was ready to make my move if I didn't want to lose what I had.

I was glad that I had had the foresight to set up a secret account with whatever spare cash I could come up with. There wasn't much in it, but there should be enough for my immediate purposes.

The first order of business after withdrawing some cash was to hit BestBuy and get a new laptop. I suppose I could have used my phone, but I'm terrible typing with my thumbs, and I wasn't sure about what Sally might be able to track.

I used the free Wi-Fi at Dunkin' Donuts to set up dummy email and Facebook accounts. The tricky part was getting Lucy to accept my friend request. I would have liked to have used my old ID as a mutual friend, but that would have meant risking Sally noting the activity.

Once I had reestablished communications, I was disappointed in my limited availability to Lucy, but that simply couldn't be helped since I could no longer chat at home. That did have the benefit of limiting my exposure, but it was still frustrating.

Lucy was upset when she heard what happened.

"Harold (that was her way of telling me she was upset or disappointed with me), maybe we should end this. I don't want to harm your marriage. This has been fun, but it's not worth your relationship with Sally."

"NO!" I actually nearly shouted out loud, drawing stares from the other customers.

We soon eased back into our easy banter. I could tell that she was trying to keep things chill, but she couldn't fool me, I knew she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

I realized that I had never asked her a very important question.

"Lucy," I asked, "are you married?"

There was a pregnant pause before she answered.

"Yes, Harry, I am, and John and I are very much in love."

Ha! Methinks the lady doth protest too much. She probably knew that if we ever met she wouldn't be able to resist me, but didn't want to break her husband's heart.

"Lucy, why won't you let me come see you? I know that once we meet you'll see that we were meant to be together."

"No, Harry, I told you, I'm happily married, and I don't want you messing things up."

So, she wanted to play hard to get. I guessed I would just have to try harder.

I used Whosis to get her IP address. After that, it took a little digging and more cash than I really wanted to spend, but I got her address.

I was at a turning point. I had to either make my move or forget about Lucy forever, but I knew that was never going to happen.

I'm afraid I took the coward's way out. I gave my notice at work, paid the penalty and cashed in my retirement account.

I waited down the street until Sally left for work, then went in and left a note telling her that I was sorry, but I had to go find my one true love.

I signed over my share in the house, took off my wedding ring and left it on the note.

A quick stop at the bank to take my half of our checking and savings accounts, and I hit the road for California.

Around the time Sally would have been getting home from work, my cell rang with Sally's ringtone. I wasn't going to answer, but I figured I might as well get it over with.

"Hello, Sally."

"Have you lost your mind? What were you thinking, or WERE you thinking?"

"Yes, Sally, I'm fine, how are you doing?"

"Don't be a smart ass. Did it ever occur to you that this might be a scam? That she might just be catfishing you?"

"Catfishing? What's that?"

"That's where women pretend to be something they're not, to fleece suckers out of their money. She's probably got another dozen guys on the line just like you."

"Ha, that shows how much you know! She's never asked me for a dime, and you've seen her picture."

"Yes, I saw that picture, and in five minutes I did a Google search and found a dozen more just like it. If she hasn't asked you for money, it's either because she's waiting to set the hook, or she just gets her jollies yanking the chains of fools like you.

"If you turn around and come right home, maybe we can still salvage something out of this mess, but don't bother crawling back here when she fucks you over.

"I hope you make the right choice. Good-bye, Harold." She disconnected the call.

The "right choice." The right choice for her maybe!

The drive to California was uneventful, and I found myself on Lucy's street, just a half-block from her house.

My palms were sweaty. I was nervous and was jittery with doubt. What if Sally was right? No, that couldn't be. I had been talking to Lucy for months. I knew her, I trusted her, she would never do anything like that.

I finally realized that I had pretty thoroughly burned my bridges. If this was a royal fuck up I'd just have to live with it. Meanwhile, all my hopes and dreams were behind that door.

I drove up, drew a deep breath, strode with more confidence than I felt and knocked on the door.

When the door opened, instead of the gorgeous redhead that I was expecting, there was a mousy woman with drab brown hair. Probably a friend.

"Hi," I said, "Is Lucy home?"

She cocked her head and looked at me puzzled as a big drooly dog pushed by her. He sniffed at my crotch, getting drool all over my pants and shoes, then lifted his leg and peed on me!

The woman seemed to regain her composure and looked back into the house.

"Lou," the woman said, "there's another one. I wish you'd stop this stupid game already. Haven't you yanked these guys around enough yet?"

Before I realized what she was saying, a guy who looked like he could play on the line for the Patriots came to the door, and without saying a word, punched me square in the face, knocking me down.

"Consider that a "kiss" from Lucy," he said, shaking his head in disgust.

As I tried to get up, the dog growled and chomped on my ass, sending lightning bolts of pain through me.

"Mitzi, come," the brute said. The dog released me and pranced back into the house as if nothing had happened, and the door slammed shut.

I dragged myself back to the car and wondered what I was going to do.

I thought about calling the cops, but I could see that wouldn't go anywhere; they would just say that I was an intruder, and what was I going to say? That I was looking for a woman that I met on the Internet? I had enough embarrassment for one day.

I hadn't thought to line up a job before I came out here, and had used up most of my cash just getting here. I had no idea how to get back home, and didn't think I'd find any welcome there if I did.

Man, was I fucked, and not in the way I had planned.

Sally, was right; I was a sucker!