Rob, Harry, Suellen and Mellissa

I grabbed a rag and cleaned my hands and then headed for the stairs. I heard Suellen laughing as she came through the connecting door to the garage and then I heard:

"Are you sure this is all right?"

"Don't worry. I took him to the airport myself."

"I can't help it. I still think we should have used a motel."

"What? And pass up a chance to do this on my own bed? Come on baby; you know you want to do me on my own bed."

I stood there frozen on the bottom step. I was too stunned to move. It couldn't be! It just couldn't be! I shook it off and then started up the steps and then stopped. What was I going to do? Suddenly a calm came over me. This was quite obviously not their first time so there was no need to hurry up the steps and break things up. I already knew more than enough to know what the outcome was going to be so there was no hurry. Besides, I'd like to see the looks on their faces when I walked in on them. I'd give them some time to get into it before I made my appearance.

I gave them ten minutes and then I went up the stairs. I could hear them as I approached the bedroom.

"That's it baby, push it hard; push it hard and deep. God you feel so good in me."

"Better than your hubby?"

"Oh God yes baby, much better. You fill me up so much better."

"I can't get over how tight you are. He must have a dick the size of a pencil."

"Forget him baby; fuck me. Fuck me and make me cum."

Neither one of them saw me come through the door, but when I said, "He won't forget me. He will remember me for the rest of his worthless fucking life" both turned to look in my direction and I saw fear on both of their faces. I moved quickly to the bed and pulled Harry off of my wife and then I proceeded to stomp the living shit out of him while Suellen screamed and tried to cover up.

Harry was unconscious on the floor and I was kicking him in the ribs and balls when Suellen grabbed me and tried to pull me away.

"Stop it! Stop it Rob. You're killing him."

I lashed out and hit her with a backhand across the face and she stumbled back, tripped and fell to the floor as I gave Harry a couple more kicks. I bent and grabbed his ankles and pulled him from the room and down the stairs. I had the satisfaction of seeing his head bang on each step as I drug him down the stairs. When I got him to the front door I opened it and pulled him out to the center of the lawn and then I left him there and went back into the house. I locked all the doors so he couldn't get into the house and then I spotted Suellen's purse sitting on the table. I got her car keys out and hit the little red "panic" button on the keyless entry device and the horn on her car started blaring. It was in the garage, but it was still plenty loud enough that it would eventually draw attention. I wondered what the neighbors would do when they saw a naked man lying on my front lawn.

I headed up the stairs to take care of Suellen. She had pulled on some sweats and was sitting on the side of the bed sniffling when I walked into the bedroom.

"Don't say a fucking word you whore; not one fucking word. All you have to do is listen and do what I tell you. Pack what you need for a few days and then get your worthless cheating ass out of this house. I will pack the rest of your shit and put it in the garage and you can come and get it the day after tomorrow. I'll give you thirty minutes to pack and get out. If you are still here thirty-one minutes from now I will physically remove you." I looked at my watch and said, "Time is running. Better get a move on."

I went downstairs and looked out the front window. Harry was curled up in the fetal position with both hands over his crotch and there were two of my neighbors standing on the sidewalk looking at him. I went to the kitchen, got a beer and then sat down and started to make a list of what I was going to have to do. I'd just finished my beer when the front doorbell rang. I got up to go see who it was and as I passed the front window I saw a police car sitting outside with the lights flashing. I pushed the button to silence Suellen's car horn and then I opened the door. There were to cops standing there. I did not unlock the screen door and ask them in.

"Sir, what can you tell us about the naked man in your yard?"

"What? A naked man in my yard?"

I looked out, but I didn't see Harry so I said, "I don't see a naked man in my yard."

"We have him in the back of the squad car. Are you saying that you know nothing about how a naked man came to be in your yard?"

"No idea officer. You might ask the people three doors down. They throw some pretty wild parties. He might be one of theirs."

"Sir, it is a crime to impede an investigation. Are you positive that you know nothing about this?"

"Well now that I think about it he just might be the man I caught in bed with my wife."

"And what did you do to him?"

"Why nothing of course. He panicked when I walked in on them and he ran, tripped and fell down the stairs and then he ran outside. I assumed that he jumped in his car and left. I had no idea that he had collapsed in my yard. I was too busy with my wife to pay him any attention."

"And how is your wife?"

"She is an emotional wreck as you might imagine."

"Did you do any thing physical to her?"

"Of course not."

"We would like to come inside and verify that she is all right."

"I'm sorry, but unless you have a warrant I'm not letting you in the house."

"Sir, I must insist."

"Insist away, but you are not coming in without a warrant. If you want to see how she is go sit in your car." I looked at my watch. "I gave her half an hour to pack a bag and get out. She has five minutes to go. You can check her out when she leaves the house."

"You realize that it makes us wonder why you don't want us in your house."

"I'll tell you why. I don't trust you. In this day and age the man always gets fucked over by the courts and the cops where something involving a woman is concerned. I'm not going to give you people the least little bit of leeway. Now I need to get upstairs and make sure that she isn't trying to pack something she shouldn't."

I closed the door on them. I hollered up the steps:

"Times up Suellen."

She appeared at the top of the stairs with two suitcases and I went back into the kitchen and got myself another beer. Suellen came into the room and started to set the suitcase down and I said:

"Don't! Just get the fuck out."

"We need to talk Rob."

"No we don't Suellen. I heard enough while you were in the bedroom playing and old pencil dick doesn't want to hear another fucking word out of you."

She teared up, but picked up her suitcases and went out into the garage. I heard the garage door open and I walked into the living room and watched her back down the drive. The cops got out of their car and stopped her and I turned and went upstairs and ripped the sheets off the bed and put clean ones on it. When I next looked outside Suellen and the police were gone.

Suellen tried several times a week to call me, but I wouldn't take her calls and she finally gave up. She didn't fight the divorce.

Harry must have felt that he had his beating coming because he never pressed charges. He did make sure that he stayed out of my way. Twice I saw him at a bar and he got up and left as soon as he saw me.

About a month before the divorce was final Hal asked me if I would be willing to relocate to Kansas City to run our office there and I said yes. I was in Kansas City the day my divorce became final and I went out and tied one on. My head hurt in the morning, but I felt that it was worth it.

++++++++++++++++++++

The next three years skated by and then I got a call from Hal. He was going to retire and he wanted to know if I would come back and take his job. Vice President of Operations? Damned straight I'd take his job.

So there I was, three years after the meltdown of my marriage, back in the town where Suellen and Harry still lived. I would have thought that they would have gotten together after the divorce was final, but I guess that they never had. I heard that Harry was married and I heard that Suellen had stayed single. The word was that she dated from time to time, but never got serious with anybody.

I eased into my new job and when I was settled in I went looking for a place to live. I knew that in my new position I would entertain a lot so I was looking for a suitable place. I found a four bedroom on two acres with an in ground swimming pool and a tennis court and by paying cash I got it for a pretty damned good price.

I reconnected with friends and started hitting the places I used to frequent. Occasionally I saw Harry at one of them and as soon as he saw me he would leave. I'd been back just a hair short of two months and I was sitting in Haggard's ye Olde Bar and Grille. Not a misprint. That was the name of the place. The sign actually read "ye Olde Bar and Grille." Anyway, I was sitting at the bar nursing a Pabst Blue Ribbon and watching the ball game on the TV when a fine looking dark haired beauty took the bar stool next to mine, extended her hand and said:

"I'm Mellissa."

I took her hand and as I shook it I gave her my name and asked her if I could buy her a drink. She accepted and after taking her first sip of it she said:

"May I ask you a question?"

"I suppose, but I reserve the right not to answer."

She gazed at me intently for a moment and then she asked, "Why is my husband so afraid of you?"

"Not knowing who your husband is makes answering that question a bit difficult."

"Harry Wilson."

I took a closer look at her and said, "I'd heard that Harry had gotten married. I see that he did rather well for himself."

"Thank you for the compliment, but are you going to answer the question?"

"What makes you think that your husband is afraid of me?"

"Whenever you show up and we are there he suddenly has to get up and leave. If we are invited somewhere he won't go if he thinks you might be there and a couple of times I've even heard him ask if you were going to be there."

"I don't know that he is afraid of me; it may just be a case of his not having the balls to face me or it could be that he is just too embarrassed to be around me."

"The question is still why?"

"How long have you been married to him?"

"A year and a half."

"How long did you know him before you married him?"

"About six months."

"And in all that time you haven't heard about Harry and me?"

"Just that you have known each other for a long time."

I thought about it for a couple of seconds. I sure didn't owe Harry anything and I didn't know his wife at all so I didn't feel any need to hide things from her so I told her the whole story."

"That's kind of a cliché isn't it? I mean the wife and best friend thing."

"It is a cliché when you hear about it or read about it, but not when you live it."

"That's true I suppose, but back to my question. When you and Harry wind up in the same room you aren't going to go after him?"

"No. I've put the asshole behind me."

"What did you do to your wife?"

"Kicked her out and divorced her."

"Why didn't you beat on her? She was as much to blame as Harry."

"Well she did get a bruise when I backhanded her as she tried to pull me off Harry, but beating on women is just not something I can do."

"Did she ever tell you why?"

"No and I never asked. The why never mattered; only the doing mattered."

By then her drink was empty and I asked her if she would like another.

"Better not. If I sit here much longer I might give the impression that I'm trying to pick you up."

"To whom? I didn't see Harry here when I came in."

"Harry isn't here. I'm here with a bunch of girls I work with and they all have dirty minds. I wouldn't doubt that a couple of them all ready see the two of us bedding down."

"Well, for the record, if I were out looking tonight you would be what I was looking for. I'm partial to dark-haired beauties."

"And the fact that I'm Harry's wife wouldn't even enter into it, would it."

I had not had that thought at all, but when she said it I realized that what I would really love to do to get back at Harry was to use his wife as he had used mine and right then I decided that I was going to do my best to seduce Mellissa and then let Harry find out. As the first step in that seduction I did an "Aw shucks, who, me?" I looked Mellissa right in the eye and said:

"I would never stoop so low as to use a woman to get some petty revenge. When I go after a woman it is because I want that woman and not for any other reason. That said, you would still be at the top of the list. Nice meeting you Mellissa."

She left and went back to her friends and I had another drink before leaving and as I drove home I started making plans.

++++++++++++++++

The first thing I needed was information. The next morning I got out the Yellow Pages and picked out a detective agency. I called and made an appointment and that afternoon I gave them a check and turned them loose to find out everything there was to know about Mellissa Wilson.

Three weeks later I was sitting at my desk reading the report. A few things jumped out at me right away. She belonged to a gym and worked out three days a week after work and before she went home and she stopped at "ye Olde Bar and Grille about once a week with the girls she worked with. There was more about where she shopped and had her hair done and stuff like that, but none of that stuff would do me much good. There was a limit on how many times I could "accidently" bump into her at the store without her figuring things out. But the gym and "ye Olde Bar and Grille" showed promise.

I kept the detectives on Mellissa and concentrated on what I had to work with at the present time. First there was the gym. It wouldn't hurt me any to join and get myself back into shape while I worked on my plan to get back at Harry. I didn't want to run into Mellissa too soon or she might get the right idea as to why I was there. I joined and started going in every morning at five when it opened.

Meanwhile I started stopping in at "ye Olde" three or four times a week. That wouldn't seem strange to Mellissa because that is where she came up to me in the first place. She only came in occasionally with the girls she worked with, but I wanted to establish that I was a regular if she ever looked into it.

The second week after I started stopping she came in with four other girls. After she had been there about half an hour she noticed me sitting at the bar and came up to say hi. She looked around and then said:

"Pickings seem to be pretty slim tonight. Can I call on you if necessary?"

"Necessary to what?"

"We girls stop here to have a few drinks and relax after a hard day at the office. We like to dance and I don't see much in the way of dance partners here tonight. Can I call on you if necessary?"

"I'm not sure that would be such a good idea."

"Why not?"

"Because of my relationship with your husband."

"That is between you and him."

"He might not think that way."

"Too bad. I'm not asking you to go to bed with me; just a dance or two if none of the other guys here want to."

"Too bad. I just might agree to that first part."

"Don't be a pig."

I laughed and said, "You are the one who opened the door on that."

"You know what I meant."

"Yes, unfortunately I do."

"So, can I call on you if necessary?"

"No thanks. I have to watch myself real close when I'm around dark haired beauties. Maybe if I'm still here when the need arises I might dance with one of the girls you came in with."

She gave me a look I couldn't read and went back to her table. I finished my drink, had one more and then I left and went home.

+++++++++++++

I waited two weeks and then I made sure that I was in the gym working out when Mellissa got off work and came in. I was halfway through my set on the leg press when she walked up to me.

"This is getting to be too much of a coincidence. First the bar and now here."

"What does that mean?"

"I'm starting to think you have set your sights on me."

"Well I did mention that I had an affinity for dark haired beauties and I did say that you would be at the top of the list if it wasn't for who you are married to, but you are an untouchable as far as I'm concerned."

"I'm not sure that I believe you. You seem to show up where I'm at a lot lately."

"No, you seem to show up a lot where I am. If you check with the bartender at Haggard's you will find out that I stop in there almost every night when I get off work and as far as this gym is concerned I didn't even know that you worked out here. I'm usually here every morning at five when they open the doors and I do my workout and take a shower before going to work. I'm only here this afternoon because I couldn't make it this morning. You are a good looking woman Mellissa, but don't flatter yourself. As long as you are married to Harry I'm not the least little bit interested in you."

I could almost read her mind when I said that. The look on her face said that she didn't believe me and I would have bet that the thoughts in her head right at that moment were "Oh yeah? We might just have to see about that."

Two days later when I walked up to the door of the gym at five in the morning I saw Mellissa standing there with her gym bag. I put on a half assed smile and gave a little chuckle and she said:

"And just what is that supposed to mean?"

"I seem to remember a recent conversation about who seems to show up at a lot of places."

"Is that what you think? That I'm here because you said that you were always here at this time?"

I just looked at her and shrugged.

"It just so happens that I have something to do after work tonight and so I won't be able to come in. I decided to do my workout this morning instead."

"If you say so."

Before she could reply Nancy was unlocking the door to let us in. I didn't look directly at Mellissa while I worked out, but I kept track of her out of the corner of my eye and she rarely took her eyes off of me. I didn't think she really had an interest in me. I think it was probably more of a "How can he say he isn't interested in me" attitude. I'd spiked her pride and she had to prove me wrong. Or maybe I was wrong. Maybe she was just there to satisfy herself that I hadn't been lying to her when I said that I was there every morning. That brought up the question of why it was important for her to know that.

It wasn't going the way I thought my seduction of her would go, but I wasn't about to press forward with my plan if she was going to keep on going the way she was going. I might have been wrong, but I was beginning to think that Mellissa had an agenda. I decided to sit back and see what she was up to. I could always return to my plan.

+++++++++++++++

Things kicked up a notch the next morning when Mellissa showed up at the gym the next morning at five.

"I didn't know it was so un-crowded and quiet in the morning."

I didn't say anything; just gave a sort of half-assed smile that said I didn't believe her. Again, as I had the previous day, I kept her in the corner of my eye and she always seemed to be watching me. I had no idea what she was up to, but she was up to something. She was interested in me for some reason and further proof of that, at least to me, was the fact that not only did she move from her regular afternoons to the mornings, but she also went from her three times a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to all five days.

Four days after starting to work out in the mornings Mellissa asked me to spot for her while she did some work in the free weight area. It was the first time she had spoken to me since my seeing her at the gym door on the second day, I said I would and as she was working out she said: