PTA

"Please, just give me one more chance. I know it was a terrible thing to do, but women need to know that they're attractive, and that they're still able to turn a man on."

"Dana, did I ever do anything to make you feel unattractive? I've always told you that I wanted us to grow old together. You and I were about more than just appearance and sex, I really loved you. You didn't just cheat on me. You cheated on our daughter, all of our memories, the vows we made to each other and all of our dreams of a future. For the past two months you've treated us like shit, but now it's over," I said calmly.

"Well what about that girl, you were just kissing. You're doing the same thing," she snapped.

"No Dana, it's different," I said. "That was the first time I kissed her. We haven't had sex yet. And I only met her as a result of your lies."

"What lies?" asked Dana.

"Gianna is Sasha's teacher," I said. "If you actually had gone to the PTA meetings for the past 2 months, I'd never have met her."

"Here's how this will work," I said. "Tomorrow my lawyer will have you served with divorce papers. She made up 2 sets. Which set we file is your choice Dana; either you sign the nice ones, which list the reason for the divorce as irreconcilable differences, or we go hard. The papers leave us with a 50/50 split of all of the accounts. I keep the house since it belongs to my parents and you can't have it anyway. We have joint custody of Sasha, with her living with me and you visiting her as often as you want."

"Luke I don't want a divorce, please," she begged. "I'll do anything. I just want one more chance. You can fuck that girl a few times for revenge. And then we'll just move on and get over this."

"You and Chuck were just sex right?" I asked. Both of them quickly nodded.

"Well Things with Gianna are a lot more than that," I said. "As soon as I'm free of you, I'm going to marry her."

"Why don't the two of you talk this over after I'm gone," said Chuck.

"Because she's going with you, Chuck," I snapped. "Either you take her with you, or your marriage will be over before you get home."

"I know that you're hurt, Luke," said Dana. "I'll go and stay with my mom for a few days until you calm down, and then we can talk."

"Dana, you're a grown woman, do whatever you want, as long as it involves leaving here," I said. Then I went into the kitchen to get something to drink.

The next few weeks were interesting. I concentrated on spoiling my daughter and getting to know Gianna better. We did all kinds of things together but we didn't have sex. We were saving that for our wedding night.

Dana called me at work and at home several times a day. I never took any of her calls or returned any of them. I did let her have Sasha whenever she wanted. I didn't want to try and keep her from spending time with our daughter.

Her mother and father also called me to try and see if there was any way I'd take her back. They told me that it was a crime to break up a family over one stupid mistake that Dana would regret for the rest of her life. Dana had a right to raise her daughter and have a happy life. I told them that I had a right to a happy life too and I couldn't be happy with a woman who had cheated on me. Especially not with one who did it for over a month, and might be pregnant with someone else's child.

Dana went to see Gianna at school and begged her to let us have one more try. Un-believably they sat down and talked about it. Gianna told her about how her first marriage had broken up and how it felt to do everything you could for someone, just to have that person cheat on you for no reason. I think that gave Dana the idea of what I was going through.

I think what hurt Dana the most was coming over to the house to talk to me and seeing me and Gianna sitting in our long porch swing together. Gianna was sitting up grading her papers while I napped with my head resting in her lap. Sasha sat on the first step with the phone glued to her head talking animatedly like all pre-teens do about some TV show or other. We looked like a family. Like a family that loved each other and was very comfortable being together. Then it started to sink in what she'd thrown away.

She started crying as she looked at us. I was asleep so I didn't see it but Gianna woke me up by kissing me and pointed at Dana's retreating back.

"Go talk to her," said Gianna.

I got up and caught Dana before she got into her car.

"Dana, did you need to see me for some reason?" I asked. I really tried but it was hard for me to pretend to care. "Why haven't you sent the papers back yet?"

"I guess I came to talk to you about us," she sniffled. "You're not doing this right at all, you know."

"I'm not doing what right?" I asked puzzled by her statement.

"I've spoken to several of my friends, who're divorced," she said. "You're supposed to have gotten angry, at me and fought over me. Then we're supposed to argue over everything including custody of Sasha. Then you're supposed to move out and into a shitty little apartment. You're supposed to be miserable and lonely. And When I feel like it I'm supposed to offer you a mercy fuck or two. Then we're supposed to work our way towards getting back together with the clear understanding that I love you but you're not enough for me. So occasionally I'll take a lover and you won't find out, or you'll pretend that you don't know, because you don't want us to go through the pain of almost losing each other again. Maybe you'll take one too, but it's supposed to just be sex." She was crying now.

"Chuck was only sex Luke. He wasn't as good as you are, and your dick is bigger. I guess that I just wanted someone to make me feel nasty, and just fuck me like when I was younger. I'm tired of feeling old. For a while I had it all. I had him for the rough nasty stuff. And I had you for tender and loving sex. Then over the last few weeks, you stopped sleeping with me and I noticed it and got cranky about it," she said.

"I knew it was wrong so I ended it, but you'd already stopped having sex with me, and I got desperate. So I called dickhead one more time. When I saw you come home with Gianna that first time, I was irate. Then when I calmed down I realized that maybe just maybe, it could be good for me. I figured that if you were having sex with her, when it was over we'd be even and I could get you back," she said.

"I went to see her at school last week and spoke to her about it. And she told me a lot of stuff not only about you guys, but about myself. Then I realized that I was really in danger, this isn't an act. She really loves you, probably as much as I do. She's never going to give you up. So I figured that my only hope would be to appeal to you. We've been together for 16 years and married for 14 of them. We have a child together, and until the past 2 months have been happy. That has to count for something. I'm not going down without a fight."

"Then I came over to talk to you today about it and see if we could work something out. I wanted you to drop the divorce. In exchange for that I'd give you 2 months with her, and then we'd put our marriage and our family back together. But I realize now that you'd never go for that. You love her too, and you're happy. She even has my daughter following her around. You guys look like the family that we never were." The tears were flowing freely down her cheeks.

"I really fucked up. This isn't the way it was supposed to go at all. Chuck never loved me; he just used me like stupid cheap pussy. I found out that he's fucking one of the secretaries now. He tells everyone that I'm only good for my tits and he was done with them. Everyone else at work fits into two categories. The nice people who are friendly but serious about the job won't have anything to do with me. And all of the sleazy guys either married or single think that they have the right to just maneuver me into a corner and try to feel me up, because I'm such a slut. I'm living in an apartment with my parents, and sleeping on their fucking couch. I'm the laughing stock among all of our old friends."

"Remember Sheila, her husband Bert, told her that she should have an affair like I did, so he can upgrade like you did. Half of the wives in town are afraid to even talk about seeing someone on the side, because their husbands might become the next you."

"Every time I call Sasha, she asks me what I want. When I tell her I just want to spend time with her, she asks me why. I lost my Husband, my best friend, my lover, my daughter, my home, my marriage, my future and the man I wanted to grow old with for a stupid fling."

"Chuck got out of this free and clear, he hasn't lost shit. You and Sasha seem like you're better off. And the people around town got something else to talk about and laugh about. I'm the only one who suffered," she cried.

"Isn't there any way for us to fix this?" she asked.

"I'm sorry Dana," I said. "You made a lot of points. Of course you missed even more of them. Like, it doesn't really matter what people told you what was supposed to happen. Every situation is different. You were never going to get the house because it was in my family before I ever met you. I was never going to get angry at Chuck or fight for you, because supposedly when we got married that made you mine. The only person who had to fight for you was Chuck. He needed to fight to take you away from me, but as soon as you cheated on me, I no longer wanted you, so there was nothing to fight over. I busted Chuck's face up because he was looking at Gianna. She's someone I do want."

"But don't worry about Chuck he'll get what's coming to him and then some. As far as the way people are treating you. You're kind of getting what you deserve. I was hurting just like you are when I found out about what you were doing with old Chuck. Only I hadn't done anything to deserve it. When it comes to all of the things you lost. You didn't lose them so much as just throw them away. And they were simply picked up by someone who it seems values them far more than you ever did." I paused and looked at her.

"And lastly sometimes when you break something, it just can't be fixed, Dana. The best thing to do is to move on, and don't make the same mistake again. It doesn't matter whether you love someone for 14 years or 14 seconds, when you rip their heart out it hurts like hell. And it doesn't matter if you thought it was going to be a fling or a long term affair. When you break your promises to those people that you love, you risk losing that love."

"Dana right now, I know that this is hard for you, but especially with Sasha, you're her mother and you always will be. I'm never going to try to prevent you from seeing her, and you're always welcome to come over anytime. You can have dinner with us or spend the holidays. Gianna won't mind. But there isn't ever going to be a chance for us again."

Dana signed the papers, and our divorce went through. I then sued Chuck Connors for the emotional distress he put me and my daughter through. I also sued the company that he and Dana worked for. Dana and Chuck were both fired. Chuck's wife took him to the cleaners and he ended up running out on her. We never heard from Chuck again. Dana ended up living permanently with her parents. She rarely went out, and became kind of a recluse. My daughter Sasha visited her often and they were never quite as close as Sasha was with Gianna, but they were better than they'd been before. I guess I never got over the way Dana had hurt me so I never trusted her again. Though Gianna had more than healed my broken heart and gave me so much love that I never looked back, I could never bring myself to forgive Dana.

Dana and Gianna became friends over the years and Gianna was one of the few people who could actually get Dana out of the house. It took twenty years and a very tragic set of circumstances for me to spend any time with Dana.

Sasha had grown up and gotten married and had a family of her own. I spent twenty wonderful love filled years with Gianna. We never had any kids but it didn't matter because Gianna loved Sasha like she was her own. One morning, I was shocked to wake up and find Gianna, cold and still beside me. It later turned out that she'd had a cerebral hemorrhage while she slept. She died with a smile on her face cuddled up in my arms. The doctors all swore that she'd probably died instantly and never felt any pain.

I withdrew into my shell and didn't speak to anyone or go out for a long time. Sasha stayed with me for about six weeks, but finally couldn't convince me to come home with her and her family. Shit I was 55, I was still young and healthy but I just couldn't motivate myself to do anything. Without Gianna's smile, life seemed pointless.

I drank too much and ate too little for the first two days after my daughter returned home to her family. I promised her that I'd call her every day. And take care of myself, and also that I'd come and visit her if I got too down on myself. I did none of these things.

On the third day after my daughter left me, it all changed. I awoke to the smell of bacon cooking. Since I hadn't eaten in days the smell was mouth watering. I wanted bacon like never before. I got up and staggered into my kitchen.

"What the fuck are you doing here?" I growled.

"Our daughter made me promise to take care of you before she left. She was actually the second of your women to ask me to do that. Gianna always told me that if anything ever happened to her, she expected me to force my ass back into your life. So here I am."

"What if I don't want you back in my life?" I asked. "Why don't you just get out of here...but leave the bacon."

"No," she said simply.

"What do you mean no?" I asked.

"Luke, I know that you still hate me," she said. "I really screwed up. I betrayed you with a man who was cheating on his own wife with me. Not because he loved me, but because he just wanted to use me for sex. I gave up the love of my life, to have some guy who just wanted to maul my breasts. I lost you, our daughter for a while, and the wonderful life I was supposed to have." She started crying a bit here.

"Do you know that I went a little crazy for a while? I was in therapy, and it didn't help. I was bitter and angry for a long time. Then I made a new friend. She helped me see that even though I had made what was probably the biggest mistake of my life. I hadn't ended my life. My life had to go on. I had to pick myself up and move forward. She got me to start dating again after a while. Those dates, I did go out on them every so often, were usually disastrous."

"At first it was because I could tell the guys didn't really want a serious relationship with me. They just saw big boobs and a big butt, and wanted to have sex with me. I'd already been there, and that mistake had cost me my happiness, so I wasn't going to put up with that again."

"Later on I did go out with a couple of really nice guys, one of whom wanted to marry me. But Luke, I couldn't do it. My friend, whom I'm sure you know was Gianna, told me that the reason I couldn't commit to any of them was because I still loved you. She and I cried about the tragedy of the whole situation. It was sad for both of us. I cried because my stupidity had cost me the love of and my life with, the only man I've ever truly loved."

"She cried because, she was really my friend. She cared about me, and felt my pain but there was no way that she'd ever give you up. She loved you far too much to ever do that or even share you. Finally she told me that if anything ever happened to her, I'd need to take care of you, and maybe then I could get you back." I still didn't want to even look at Dana.

The first few days were awful. Dana came over to the house every day. She threw out all of my liquor. She cleaned the house, made me meals and even made me shave and clean myself up. At first she only stayed for a little while, but as time went on the visits got longer and longer.

After a month or so, I guess I just got used to her being there. After two months she stopped going home. She just slept in the guest room. She cleaned the house and did everything she could to make my life better and then returned to her room. There were of course a few incidents. I'd go into the bathroom, and see her in there. Or see her coming out after a shower, and catch a glimpse of her partially naked body.

Three months after Gianna died, Dana made me wash my car. I was still driving a Mustang of course. I had four of them now. Over the years I just couldn't bring myself to sell them or trade them in.

"Why do I need to wash my car?" I snapped at her.

"Luke tomorrow will be three months since Gianna died. I know it's painful but you haven't been to see her grave since the funeral. That's another big step towards you coming to terms with this. It won't be easy. It's going to hurt like hell, but you have to do this, to move on with your life. She'll always be a part of you and you'll always remember her, but you still have a lot of years ahead of you before you join her in heaven," she said.

"That's a long time away though so you have to come to terms with it and move on. I'll probably die before you get to see her again. Of course I'll probably go to hell. There has to be a special place in hell reserved for people who cheat on the love of their life," she said. "Just think you and Gianna sitting on a cloud, wearing wings and playing little harps, while I'm roasting my ass off, down below," she said with a hint of a smile.

"Don't worry," I smiled back. "If that did happen, I'd piss on you to cool you off."

That was a big break-through for us. After that we did start talking more and doing things together. It wasn't romantic. It was more like we were just good friends, but we were both happy with it. It took more than a year before we ended up in bed together. It was her birthday and I'd forgotten it. When a card from our daughter came in the mail, and reminded me of it, I felt awful. I was going to rush out to the store and try to get her a last minute crappy present, but she told me that there was something better I could get her.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"One hour, tonight, fully clothed in your bed with your arms around me," she said nervously.

"That's not a present," I said.

"It would mean more to me than anything else in the world," she said. "I'm not asking you for sex, I just want you to hold me."

So at bed time that evening, we went to bed early. Dana came back into the room that had once been ours. She had on a long very thick flannel gown. She slid in next to me under the covers with the biggest smile on her face. I wrapped my arms around her and she sighed. Nothing happened that night except that we slept together for the whole night because we both fell asleep.

I woke up the next morning with one hand on one of her tig old bitties, and a raging hard on that Dana was pushing her butt into. We got out of bed awkwardly, but for the next few days Dana walked around smiling. About a week later Dana, twisted her ankle and I ended up taking care of her. It was the least I could do after all that she'd done for me. Besides we lived in the same house and I knew that neither of us wanted her to go back to the house she'd inherited from her parents when they passed.

After the first night of her constantly calling me during the night from her room, I just moved her into my room. That way I could hear her easier. Her ankle was sore for a couple of weeks, and I truly believe that she milked it, to stay in my room longer. It just seemed like she enjoyed having her ankle sore.

After two weeks of sleeping together Dana just never moved back to her room. Neither of us ever brought it up. One night about a week later, in the middle of the night it happened.