Resolving My Marriage Pt. 01

As I understand it a game is a sequence of behaviours to recapitulate a known situation to achieve similar feelings positive or negative. If she wants me as part of a marriage with Rob I am not into it. Yet he has no long term prospects. Clearly the intention now is to drive me away so I do it and do it fully. I want out of the game and all the agony of the last 8 years. It ends now."

Claude said, "OK guys, time to give it a break. I will write down my predictions of what will happen. So far, you are spot on but I don't think it's a good idea to tell you or it will not play through as intended. However my prediction is that you will stay here overnight." He laughed.

He smiled and pointed at my briefcase and said "Carol will be here shortly, as she cannot cope with the suspense. Go to bed, Dan. I will wait up and let her in. Also, don't call Zelda before 11 tomorrow."

I fell into a deep sleep. In the morning Carol was in the bed with a leg over my stomach. She couldn't be holding me any tighter. Claude was shaking her to wake her up and send her off to work.

She apologised again to me. Begged me not to leave and went downstairs to shower and dress.

I called work to take the day off, and booked a time to see Zelda in the afternoon. I made sure I called after eleven.

At two, I went into her office after a hug and a kiss from gorgeous Delia. Delia said she was so sorry.

What did she know, I wondered.

Zelda peered at me over her half glasses.

"So what is it you wanted to see me about so urgently?"

"I'm thinking about a divorce and need some advice."

"Carol was in at the crack of dawn this morning, after calling me incoherently last night. Dan, you know I love you, but I must say..."

"Yes, I guess she saw you first and I cannot use your services"

Zelda looked at me and paused.

"No" she said, "It's much more complicated than that. Her father came to see me in this regard before you two married. Well, in this regard, but more specifically in relation to the management of the family trust he was putting together. One of my duties which I assumed was to act only in the capacity of legal advisor to both of you but not in the interests of one or other of you alone under any circumstances. He left your prenuptial agreement and statement of debt with me sealed to be opened only if your marriage reached the stage where one or other of you mentioned the word divorce. In that case, I had to undertake a series of specific actions that are specified in those documents. When I opened those documents this morning, they were puzzling in the extreme. The first, the statement of debt, is written in obscure English. There is also some Latin. The second the prenuptial document is over a hundred and fifty pages long and is written in a mix of plain English, as well as ancient English. This is odd stuff even in my experience.

Delia is currently engaged in the task of interpreting these documents. She is an expert on contracts and has a PhD in early English. She has left now to consult her professor at the University. She wanted to see you before she went. Why I don't know. Why you signed a 150 page prenuptial agreement without legal advice I don't know either. I suppose you didn't consult me on the other and I know you didn't, you dill!"

She got up and hugged me and softly patted me on the back.

"Now I have some more facts to tell you. I have been responsible for the administration of this trust for close to ten years. I have specific initial instructions about what I need to advise you about divorce"

I sat there with my mouth open. I knew Carol's father was well known for detailed planning. He had groups of people responsible for strategic issues in his business. Well, it was more than that. He had a team dedicated to me and Carol. She told me that the legal team had been drafting the prenuptial agreement from the first inklings that we might marry. It was not her firm but a legal group that specialised in those contracts alone. It would be watertight, she said.

"What did the trust say about divorce advice," I asked."

"Yes," she said vaguely. Then she added, "This is complicated, even for me." She opened a document from a folio.

"In the event you are to seek divorce, the decision about whether it will be contested will be up to Carol. She has informed me that she would contest any divorce that you instigated. So we will continue down that route. In the case that she contests the divorce, the provision in the prenuptial agreement will determine what the trust does. Delia says it will take two weeks to know that. It's Tuesday today and have to let that analysis occur, if you so ask."

"What will that cost?"

"Don't worry, its covered by the trust" sighed Zelda.

"Bloody Carol and her family are master game players. I am sure no one else could have even conceptualised this kind of plan. Carol has always had me five steps behind her. Her father is worse than Claude, five hundred steps ahead of anyone else. So what do you advise, if you can?"

"Have a great weekend at Amanda's" she said seriously, then giggled before she broke into raucous laughter.

"Despite your troubles this is the most amazing legal situation I have ever encountered and it converts a serious situation into a problem from the twilight zone."

"That wife of yours is also an amazing woman. She loves you more than she loves her own life."

"Zelda, I know that, at one level. I cannot understand all this screwing around on me, her loving Bob and provoking this crisis. I am working on it with Claude and Hester but I am still confused. I was so angry and upset yesterday but today I feel a bit better. I don't know why I should be feeling better, but I am. She no doubt told you what happened when she saw you, and I did ask Hester to speak to you, if you were available before, I saw you. She said she spoke to you so you have a lot of information."

I groaned and stiffly sat up.

Zelda asked if I wanted to stay with them that night. She invited me for dinner but I said I wanted to go home and think, and was not up to socializing. I sent regards to Harry.

Chapter 7

On Thursday evening I walked to Amanda and Rob's apartment and knocked on the door at six as instructed by Carol.

Amanda opened the door wearing an apron, smelling fantastic as she kissed me on the lips and pulled me through the door. Taking my case up the passage to their room, she said, "I'll just drop this off here for now, come through to the kitchen. I'm just getting dinner ready."

She was wearing a short skirt that revealed her lovely legs clad in black-seamed stockings. She sat me at the Island in the middle of the kitchen. She said she was aware, in part, what had happened between me and Carol. She patted me on the cheek and hugged me from behind. "You poor lovely man" she mumbled, a tear coursing slowly down her cheek. "Rob is a registered scumbag of longstanding so what she wants with him, I don't know" she said.

This is new I thought. It's the first time that I have heard her be disloyal to him or criticise him.

"Forget the arsehole, he is not worth wasting our breath on. Lets just get on with it. We're alone for four days. The children are with my parents and we have the time to ourselves... and I intend to seduce you and make you feel better about all this mess. That is if you want me?" she said, suddenly looking worried and uncomfortable for the first time in the year I've known her.

I sat there with my mouth open as she slowly came round the table like a predator ready to pounce. As I smiled, she kissed me passionately. Wow. I felt her body press tightly against me and felt quite light headed as she continued to kiss me more gently, nibbling my lips with her lips and teeth. She felt my erection with her fingertips and laughingly said, "Happy to meet you too!"

Then, suddenly all businesslike, she said "But we must move on before desert."

She bent over straight legged as often as she could, revealing her stocking tops and on one occasion peeking upside down through her open legs, checking to make sure I was checking her out!

This was an Amanda I did not know existed.

The kitchen had been redone in the last month and was beautiful, with all the best of top end German Ovens and magnificent cupboards. The surfaces were granite and all implements stainless steel. It had a sophisticated country kitchen feel however, warm and inviting with direct lighting on the surfaces but also areas where you could sit, without as much light, in seclusion. It was cosy and intimate. Other than on the direct preparation areas the lighting was subdued, so that when looking at Amanda, there was more of a hint of her figure, which made her even sexier.

I was suddenly overcome with guilt and then the whole business with Carol hit the pit of my stomach. I felt faint and light headed. I quickly climbed off the chair and sat on the floor with my head between my legs. I felt waves of grief hit me and I sobbed convulsively.

"I can't handle all of this" I said.

Amanda was holding me and rocking me, squatting next to me. Her perfume hit me as she held me with my head between her soft breasts that were bursting from her blouse, which was now open nearly to her waist.

"Oh my darling, lets sit and eat and talk"

So she sat me at the table. It was a full silver service with cut crystal glasses and candles in silver holders.

After asking her what she knew, she said that Carol told her I had walked in and found her and Rob in bed, and was very upset. She said that she would tell you the rest.

Amanda said that Carol asked her to be very gentle in looking after her man but gave her permission to "console me".

Despite my distress I enjoyed the meal. We had eaten with Rob and Amanda a number of times and had lovely meals. This meal was up to the best standard I had ever eaten. It told her with each course how exquisite it was. A different wine accompanied each tasting portion, and despite how I felt, I mellowed out and told her more than I had told anyone before.

I explained about our marriage and all that I had told Claude, Hester and Annie.

"What I had not realised till today, was that this whole year, watching the emerging relationship with Rob, was filled with pain because I had believed we were reaching resolution and could have children.

"Last year was the best in our marriage, despite Carol's father being ill and dying. Her relationship, sexually, had been only with me for a year. I felt that the reserve and self protection that I had was dropping and I that could enter that wonderful level of trust and intimacy I felt with her in the first month of our initial relationship, before I discovered about her compulsive need to have these constant brief sexual liaisons.

You know, they are truly weird. When I suggested we move them to our apartment, I watched a number of times and listened to try and understand what was in it for her; what was it that I didn't give her?"