Revenge, Really?

Tom walked in the front door of his suburban home mid-morning on Wednesday. He hadn't been there since the previous Sunday. All he wanted to do was pick up a few things and leave again. He had expected his wife, Peggy, to be gone to work. Tom went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee and noticed the handcuffs and the strip of duct tape still lying on the counter where he had left them. The dish towel was still on the floor where he had tossed it after wiping his face. The camcorder still sat on the tripod next to the kitchen table. The chair he had broken and knocked over was still lying on the floor. Instead of coffee opened the refrigerator and got a bottle of Diet Coke.

"Where the hell have you been?" Peggy asked angrily as she entered the kitchen.

Tom didn't look at her or answer. He started past her to go to the bedroom to pack some clothes and she grabbed his arm.

"I asked you a question," she said angrily.

Tom stopped and turned to look at her, the woman he had married seven years earlier. The woman he loved, but now, the woman who had devastated him.

"Let go of me," he replied, softly.

Peg looked at him. His face held no expression. Tom's eyes appeared dull and lifeless. She let go of his arm and let him pass. Peg picked up the handcuffs, tape and the dish towel then walked over to the trash can and unceremoniously dropped them in. She walked to the tripod and unscrewed the mounting bracket, placing the camcorder on the table, then collapsed the tripod, laying it next to it. Peggy walked to the bedroom. Tom had a large suitcase open on the bed and was packing.

"What are you doing, Tom?"

"I'm packing," he replied, as he continued.

"Another 'business' trip?" she asked snidely.

"No."

"Where are you going then?"

Tom stopped and looked at her. His expression was still blank.

"What difference does that make?"

"You're my husband. I have a right to know."

"Peg, you gave up that right last Sunday afternoon."

Tom added a few more items then closed the bag. He picked it up and carried it to the living room, placed it near the door then walked to the den. Peggy followed him. He put some papers from the desk in his briefcase and closed it then packed his laptop and the power cord in his computer bag. Tom walked to the kitchen table and picked up the camcorder. He opened it, finding the SD card still in place.

"Is this what you recorded Sunday?"

Peggy smiled, "A souvenir of your payback."

"Very thoughtful. Thanks." Tom was still expressionless.

"Tom, dammit! Talk to me," she shouted.

Tom looked at her. His face flushed.

"Like you did to me?"

"Why are you leaving?" she asked.

"Peg, sit at the table with me,"

Tom opened his computer bag and put his laptop on the table then sat in front of it. He motioned for Peggy to sit next to him. Once she sat, he put the SD card in the slot.

"Let's watch this. Then we'll talk." Tom started the recording.

The view on the recording showed a chair sitting back from the kitchen table on the right and the empty kitchen table on the left.

"Welcome home, baby. Come in the kitchen, I have that surprise I promised you on the phone."

Tom entered the scene smiling. Peggy walked to him wearing a short thin robe. Her hair and makeup were immaculate and her legs and feet were bare. She was holding handcuffs and smiling.

"Sit in the chair."

Tom sat grinning at her. Peggy walked behind the chair and squatted to put the cuffs on him. Her robe fell open revealing nothing underneath. She put one wrist in the cuff, threaded the chain through the back of the chair, then secured the other wrist. Peggy stepped out of the picture then returned a moment later and placed a strip of duct tape over his mouth. His smile was apparent even with the duct tape in place. She stepped in front of him and dropped the robe to the floor. Tom's eyes widened in appreciation of the sight before him.

"Ready for your surprise?" she asked smiling. Tom nodded.

"We're ready in here," she called out.

A moment later footsteps could be heard walking toward them. Tom turned his head toward the sound. A man stepped into the room wearing Tom's robe. Tom's smile was replaced by a look of shock.

"Honey, you remember Joey from my work, don't you?"

Peggy walked to Joey and untied the belt on the robe then slipped it off his shoulders, tossing it in Tom's lap. Joey was nude underneath the robe. She knelt in front of Joey and took his semi-erect cock in her mouth.

"Oh fuck, that feels good," Joey moaned.

Peggy removed it from her mouth and looked at Tom.

"Tastes good too, Joey. Are you watching Tom? I wouldn't want you to miss any of this," she asked with an evil grin on her face.

**********

Tom stopped the tape and looked at Peggy.

"Why?"

"You know exactly why."

"Peggy, I have no fucking idea what you're talking about." Tom was still expressionless.

"Before we got married I told you I'd do it."

Tom was puzzled.

"You're making no sense. What was this all about?"

"Before we were married I told you that if you ever cheated on me I'd get a revenge fuck and do it right in front of you. You remember that don't you?"

"That's what this is all about?"

"Yep, your payback. I promised and I delivered," she said very matter of factly.

"You think I cheated on you?"

"I know you cheated on me, asshole."

"Okay, I'll bite. Peggy, when did I cheat on you?"

"Don't try and pull that crap on me. You know exactly when, where and who."

Tom took out the SD card and put it in his bag. He closed the laptop and slid it in the bag then zipped it closed. He turned facing Peggy directly.

"Either tell me what the hell you're talking about or I'm walking out right now." Tom was frustrated.

"Fine, act innocent! While you were on this, so called, business trip last week, Jerry's wife, Jill, called me. She told me you and Jerry spent the week shacked up with a couple of whores."

"Jill told you that?"

"She did."

"What evidence did she give you?"

"Quit the poor victim crap, Tom. You know what you did."

"So, you revenge fucked me based on a phone call?"

"From someone I trust. Yes, I did."

"With only her word? No actual evidence?"

"I didn't need any."

"Peg, you handcuffed me, sucked and fucked a man right in front of me. Belittled me then spit his cum in my face all based on what someone told you?"

"Payback, that's exactly what I did."

Tom shook his head, still puzzled.

"You didn't tell me why. You didn't talk to me about it. You decided I was guilty and deserved punishment then carried it out without any proof whatsoever?"

"Yes, so now we're even."

"Even?"

"Yes, even."

"Not that it matters now, but there are a couple of things I'd like to say."

"Go ahead, I'm listening."

"I was at a conference all last week. Jerry wasn't even there. He was fired from the group two months ago for having an affair with a secretary in the office and I haven't seen or heard from him since he left. I was a speaker on the panel at the conference. I sat at a table, on stage, from seven am until ten pm every day of the conference. The entire week was recorded on video. After the meetings the panel met daily until midnight to review and plan the next day. I have multiple witnesses as to my whereabouts. I never left the hotel until going to the airport after it was over."

"You're denying it then?"

"Completely."

"I don't believe you."

"Obviously. I have proof of where I was and what I was doing the entire time and you 'do' have a phone call, from someone who wasn't even there, as your proof. Sounds like a pretty crappy case in my book."

"But I believe her."

"What we believe doesn't make it fact. I believed I was married to the most wonderful, loving woman in the world. What I learned Sunday is that I'm married to a vicious, spiteful woman who thinks so little of me that she both physically and emotionally degraded me with no actual evidence of any wrongdoing."

Peggy didn't respond.

"I'm leaving now. You'll hear from my attorney in the next few days."

"I'm not divorcing you. That's what this was all about. We're even now."

"Peggy, I didn't cheat on you. Haven't you been listening?"

"I'm not an idiot! Of course I've been listening."

"You still think what you did was justified?"

"I do."

"Then we have nothing further to discuss. Just for the hell of it, call Jill and see what her evidence was. I'd really like to know. Actually, it doesn't really matter now."

Without another word Tom left the house. He went to his hotel room and burned the video to three DVDs. Tom had already scheduled an appointment with his attorney and went there where he began the divorce process. The reason for filing would be adultery. He gave a copy of the DVD to his attorney. The prenuptial agreement would be in effect and solid with the DVD evidence. Tom would serve the papers to Peggy himself when filed. The attorney made suggestions about financial matters that should be taken care of immediately and Tom saw to those right after leaving the attorney's office.

His cell phone had been turned to silent mode and when he got to his hotel room he checked it. The first call from Peggy had been about five minutes after he left then nothing for about two hours. The calls after that were about every five minutes. He listened to only one voicemail. The first after the two hour break.

"Oh my God, Tom. I finally got through to Jill. She was drunk. Please call me. I made a mistake. Please, call me."

Tom deleted all her calls and voicemails without listening and then deleted her text messages and e-mails. The calls, texts and e-mails continued. He screened the numbers as the calls came. Tom also got calls from Peggy's father, mother and sister. He returned the call from Shawn, her father.

"Hi Shawn, it's Tom."

"I know who the fuck it is. You aren't the only one who can read. What the hell did you do to my daughter?"

"I didn't do anything to her other than not answer her calls."

"Oh bull shit, she's hysterical. What the hell's going on?"

"Shawn, if you want to know what happened you'll have to talk to Peggy."

"I'm talking to you goddammit!" He was angry.

"You're wasting your time. Talk to her." Tom remained calm and pleasant to him.

"Did you fuck around on her or something?"

"Talk to Peggy."

"You son of a bitch, I should come over there and kick your ass."

"Shawn, listen to me. If you want to find out what happened, you'll have to get that from Peggy. I won't discuss it with you or Mary or anyone else. Talk to Peggy."

"You prick! You did fuck around, didn't you?"

"Goodbye Shawn." Tom ended the call. Shawn called back almost immediately and Tom ignored it. That was followed quickly by a call from Mary, her mother. He deleted their voicemails then went out to dinner and returned to his room for the night.

Thursday morning he got a new cell phone but kept the old one too. He went to his office and took an extended leave of absence. He also gave them his new number but asked them not to share it. After driving to the far side of town he rented a small furnished apartment and signed a six month lease. Tom went to the grocery for some food and household supplies. By the end of the day he had set up housekeeping.

Friday morning his attorney called. He met his attorney at the courthouse, signed the documents and after filing he was given a copy for Peggy. Her copy didn't require signature but the attorney told him to be sure that there was an impartial witness that she had been served. Tom called Peggy and they arranged a lunch meeting at a restaurant they often visited.

When Peggy arrived Tom was already waiting at a quiet table in the back. She was dressed and dolled up to the nines. Peggy looked good. When she arrived he stood. Peggy hugged him and when she tried to kiss him he presented only his cheek. This wasn't what Peggy was hoping for and that was apparent in her expression. She sat facing him at the table.

"Tom, I made a mistake. I want us to put this behind us a move forward."

"I agree. It's time to move forward." Tom waived for the server. It was Lynne, they had known her for a long time.

"What can I get for you to drink?" she asked, smiling.

"Two Diet Cokes," Peggy responded.

"Lynne, stay for a minute," Tom requested.

He reached beside him and picked up the divorce petition then handed it to Peggy.

"Peggy, this is a petition for divorce. Lynne is my witness that you've been served. Thanks, Lynne."

Peggy paled as she looked at the papers. Lynne went to get their drinks.

"Tom, you said you wanted to put this behind us and move forward."

"That's exactly what I'm doing. I'm moving forward."

"But Tom, I made a mistake. This isn't what I meant."

"Peggy, we've been married over seven years. Until Sunday, they were the most wonderful years of my life. I loved you like I've never loved anyone and probably never will again."

"Don't throw that away, Tom. We have a wonderful marriage."

"Had, not have. You destroyed both our marriage and my love last Sunday."

"I made a mistake. Can't you see that?"

"Let me tell you what I see when I look at you or when I close my eyes. I see the woman that I loved sucking another man's cock six inches in front of my face. I see her telling me how good it tastes. I see her being fucked by him on the table in front of me and telling me how she loves his big cock and how much better a lover he is than I am. I see her lover take is hand from her pussy then smear her juices all over my face. I hear her begging him to fuck her like a man should, not like I always did. I see her take him in her mouth again then showing me the cum on her tongue. I see her rip the duct tape off my mouth and try to kiss me with her mouth still full of his load. I see her spit it in my face when I refused the kiss then laughing with him about it. That's what I see now, Peggy. Not the woman I cherished. You killed her that day."

"But Tom, it was all a mistake."

"No, it was very intentional. The reason you did it was a mistake, not the act."

"I told you if you cheated on me I would have a revenge fuck in front of you. You knew what would happen and even agreed to it."

"Yes, I did, knowing it would never come to that. What did I tell you would happen if you cheated on me?"

Peggy looked down at the table. "You said you'd divorce me."

"Did you agree to that?"

"Yes, but I didn't cheat on you."

Tom handed her a DVD. "This is for you. It's a copy of your 'not cheating' romp with big dick Joey."

"Tom, that wasn't cheating. It was revenge."

Lynne returned with their drinks and took their lunch orders.

"Peggy, sex outside the marriage is adultery and unless both parties agreed to it that makes it cheating."

"We can work this out, Tom. We'll go to counseling."

"No, Peg, we can't. You showed me a side of you that destroyed the woman I loved. You murdered her just as surely as if you'd cut her heart out. But you didn't, instead you ripped my heart out."

"I don't want a divorce. I'll fight you."

"You showed me another side of you on Sunday. I have another side too. You don't want to see it."

"What other side?"

"The side when I become as vicious, uncaring and spiteful as you were on Sunday. I won't use mistake as an excuse. I'll take full responsibility for what I do."

"You aren't like that and you know it."

"Funny, I thought the same thing about you."

"Damn it, Tom. It was a mistake."

"No. It was an intentional act of revenge. What have you told your parents?"

"I told them we had a spat and that we'd work it out."

"A spat over what?"

Peggy looked down at the table and didn't reply.

"Over what, Peggy?"

"I told them you were having an affair."

"You never told them the truth?"

"No."

"Why?"

"They wouldn't understand."

"Understand what?"

"They wouldn't understand how it was a mistake."

"Maybe it's finally sinking in."

"Tom, I know what I did to you was wrong. I based it on judgement rather than fact. I know I hurt you deeply but we can get past this. We can put our marriage back together. We can put this behind us."

"We'll put the marriage behind us alright. The woman I loved doesn't exist anymore."

"I'll fight you every step of the way. I'm saving our marriage."

"There's nothing to save. It's over. Don't force me to bring out my other side. You won't like it."

"You're bluffing."

"Don't push it, Peggy. Get an attorney. Have them review the petition. Have them contact my lawyer if you have issues. You'll be single and can have all the Joey you want in ninety days."

"It has nothing to do with Joey."

"Sorry, that was rude of me. My apologies."

"I'm not giving you up."

"Peg, you already did. The settlement is fair. Take it and move on."

"Not a chance in hell!"

Lynne brought their meal. Tom handed her his charge card. She left then returned a moment later with the check to sign. Tom signed then stood. He had never touched his food.

"Enjoy your lunch, Peggy. I lost my appetite last Sunday when you spit on me."

Tom walked away and drove to his apartment.

**********

On Tuesday, Peggy saw her lawyer for the first time. She was a hard charger that had been recommended by a friend.

"Have a seat Mrs. Givens, I'm Roni Savage. How may I help you?"

"My husband's trying to divorce me."

"Has he served you papers?"

"Last Friday."

"May I see the papers?"

Peggy handed her the papers, Roni glanced at the the first page.

"He's citing adultery, is that true?"

"No, it was a misunderstanding."

"Did you have sex with someone other than your husband?"

"Yes, but it was a mistake."

"Did your husband agree to your having sex with the other individual?"

"Not specifically that person, but he agreed to my having revenge sex if he cheated on me."

"So your husband cheated on you and you had revenge sex?"

"Well, yes and no"

"Mrs. Givens, can you please clear this up for me?"

"I did have revenge sex but afterward I found out he hadn't cheated on me."

"Your husband didn't cheat but you had revenge sex anyway?"

"Yes."

"Mrs. Givens, that's called adultery."

"But I thought he had cheated."

"What evidence did you have?"

"A friend told me he did it."

"But apparently, your friend was mistaken?"

"Yes, finally, someone that sees it was a mistake."

"Mrs. Givens, based on what you've told me, I'm seeing a woman who had revenge sex on her husband based on hearsay evidence. Does he have proof you had sex with the other person?"

"Yes, I handcuffed him to a chair and made him watch."

"Then it's his word against yours. Is there any actual evidence?"

"I recorded it all on video."

"Do you have a copy of the video?"

Peggy handed her the DVD that Tom had given her on Friday.

"May I watch this?"

Peggy nodded. Roni put the DVD in the player then after watching just a few minutes she stopped it.

"I'll need to watch the entire thing but I can do that later. Let me go over the petition first. She began reading. After several minutes and flipping through multiple pages Roni looked up.

"I see that you signed a prenup and from a brief look it seems pretty solid when it comes to adultery. If he'll change the complaint to irreconcilable differences we can avoid that part of it. That, I suspect will be a difficult task. Even with the prenup, he's offering you considerably more that the law requires. Without the prenup you can likely get a considerably larger cash settlement."

"I don't want a cash settlement or a divorce. I want my husband back."

"Have you told him that?"

"Yes, he won't even consider it."

"Contested divorces can get very expensive for everyone involved. If we request counseling it can't hurt."