Sideways

One of the police officers called in and verified the claim. Traci was shocked.

"Dickhead was just the victim in a poor schmuck story, Traci," Victor said. "He was just in the wrong place at the exact wrong time. Besides, why would I ever want to go to jail for your skank ass? You think way too highly of yourself."

Traci dropped her head as she blushed deeply. The two cops were getting ready to leave when Lance asked them to witness something. He handed Traci the manila envelope and told her she was served.

"I'm not sure I want a divorce, Vic," Traci rasped. "I really thought you killed Gary... but since you didn't, maybe there's hope for us."

"Are you out of your fucking delusional mind, woman? You cheated on me. Forget everything else. Forget even the fact that your cheating cost me more than four months in jail. Four months!" Victor screamed.

"You told the kids he was a better man, a better lover. Well, I don't need to take Gary Finchell's leftovers!"

******

Vic wasn't sure how he'd ever be able to thank Alan Siegel, his business partner, and his wife, Marilyn, for all the support they gave him during his wrongful imprisonment and divorce. The Siegels visited Victor in jail at least every other week, and Alan worked 50 and 60-hour weeks picking up Victor's patients while he was in jail.

Victor took a week off to get re-acclimated to his life, then went back to work. He was amazed with how well he was treated by people, many of whom went out of their way to wish him well. Several women even approached and gave him slips of paper with their name and number on it. He was embarrassed, but he took them nonetheless, not wanting to offend anyone. He never realized the power of the press and social media. His kids and Alan and Marilyn all told him how sympathetic the press had made him, at the same time making Traci and Gary look like villains.

******

"What's going on, Vic? It's been two years. Your head's in the game, but not your heart," Marilyn Siegel said as she took Victor's hand in the high-end restaurant in which the two sat.

Victor looked up at Marilyn. She and Alan had been his rocks these last few years, along with his daughter, Dee. Marilyn, in particular, had made Victor her personal project, often hovering over him like a mother hen. She locked eyes with him and waited patiently. He thought about giving her a trite answer before good sense smacked him in the face.

"Nothing will ever be the same, Mar," Victor said. "I can talk to women, I can take them to bed, but there's nothing. There's no connection. I know there can be sex without love, but that's not who I am."

"Vic, there's not going to be a connection on the first date... or the second or third. Remember when you fell in love with Traci? You dated her for a long time. You got to know each other. It didn't happen overnight. You're pushing it, expecting 'the one' to just show up magically in front of you. You go out with a woman once, twice and then move on. It doesn't work that way," Marilyn said.

"But I'm 52, not 22, Mar. I don't have time..."

"Time for love?" she interrupted. "Geez, dumbass, it doesn't go any faster just because you're older. And if it's not meant to be, that's okay, too, but you have to give it a shot first."

Marilyn huffed, then looked askance at her friend. She didn't realize it, but she was probably the one person to whom Victor would listen.

Coincidentally, Marilyn and Alan started holding small get-togethers at their home every few months, always managing to find several single women to be at the events, along with Victor. Victor wasn't clueless enough not to realize what Marilyn was doing, and he noted to Alan that Marilyn had very good taste in women.

"You had better watch your Ps and Qs, buddy, because if she ever throws you over, she's got a whole lineup of pretty women she could pick from," Victor said.

"Don't think I haven't noticed that," his friend said.

She was reaching up to light one of the four citronella torches around the edges of the Siegels' expansive deck when Victor spotted her. In truth, he spotted her ass in those tight jeans and a large expanse of smooth skin along her back as her top lifted up while she reached. When she turned around, he was standing there quietly, a small smile on his lips... until he realized she was looking directly at him.

"Uhhh," was all that came out of his embarrassed, addled brain.

The woman in front of him was probably not an inch over five feet and 100 pounds, but half of that weight seemed to be in her chest, Victor noted. With her arms now down alongside her body, he could see about three inches of toned core muscles under those imposing breasts.

"I get that a lot," she said confidently.

"Huh?"

Vic's brain finally caught up with his ears. He finally looked at the woman's face, realizing she was Asian-American, with large eyes and shoulder-length straight black hair.

She saw recognition finally register on his face.

"I... don't... have..."

"Kidding. I'm kidding," the woman said. "You're not the first person to take a while to figure out I'm Asian. It usually takes a bit for men to look me in the face."

"No. No. I'm not that guy either," Vic protested, a bit too loud as several people turned toward the pair.

She motioned with her hands for him to lower his voice. He blushed deeply.

"Dr. Vic Washington," he said, reaching out to shake hands. "I'm Al's business partner. Have been for a long time."

"Yeah. Thanks to the news, I know who you are," the woman said, catching Vic's grimace. "I'm Lainey Brand, a friend of Marilyn's, mostly.

"I didn't mean to offend you with my comment about the news. I guess for you, that's about like guys not looking into my eyes when they're talking to me."

"Fair enough," Vic replied. "How about we get a drink, then I'll talk to you while looking at your face, and you can pretend that you're not thinking I'm a pathetic sucker whose wife made him look like a fool nationwide."

It was the woman's turn to be tongue-tied as she realized she must have been as obvious as Vic when he was staring at her large breasts.

"O... kay," she said, giving him a shy smile.

The two talked for the next hour before Victor realized he was monopolizing the woman. He apologized for being socially awkward and said he would let her mingle with other guests. She told him she enjoyed his company, then the two split up and mingled with others, although Victor surreptitiously kept her in sight for the rest of the night.

"You know you're going to get neck strain if you keep trying to look over your shoulder to watch her," Alan said to him at one point. "Why don't we just trade spots so you can look straight at her over my shoulder. It'll be much easier."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Vic muttered. "And here I thought I was being so cool, so sneaky."

"Just to let you know, bud, drooling isn't cool, nor sneaky.

"What do you want to know?"

According to Alan, Lainey was three years younger than Vic. She was a long-time friend of Marilyn's who worked as a reference librarian. Her 20-year marriage ended when she caught her then-husband cheating with a co-worker. She had been single for the last several years.

"How does a woman who looks like that stay single for this long?" Vic asked. "She a prima donna or something? I mean... wow!"

"From what Mar says, she's just... a peach," Alan said. "But she's a picky bitch. She doesn't feel the need to be married a second time, especially if he's not the right guy."

"Hmm. I get it."

Lainey and Vic never hooked up again the rest of the night, and she slipped away without Vic getting her number. He wasn't worried, though, as he knew Marilyn had it.

Vic waited two days before he called Marilyn. He didn't have to tell her why he was calling.

"You, sir, have amazing restraint," Marilyn said instead of starting with the usual pleasantries. "Or you are a fucking idiot."

Vic was somewhat taken aback. Marilyn rarely cursed, and hardly ever used the "F-bomb."

"I was trying to be cool, not look desperate," Victor said.

"Did you really greet her with an 'Uh?'" Marilyn ridiculed. "Then why would you be worried about looking cool to her? You blew that with one little two-letter word. Or maybe it was the drool?"

Victor was glad Marilyn couldn't see how red he was turning.

"So, are you going to call her right away, or are you going to spend two days debating the right and wrong way to do it?" Marilyn said. "You are a master debater; we all know that."

Marilyn giggled.

"Always a funny joke, Mar," Vic said. "Can you give me her number now?

"Sure, but remember what I already told you about building a relationship, not just expecting it to fall into your lap," Marilyn said.

The very next day, Victor invited Lainey to dinner and a movie that coming Friday. He took her to a very upscale Russian restaurant, then let her choose the movie.

"So are you trying to curry favor with this restaurant? Lainey asked. "Did Mar tell you I was one-quarter Russian?"

"No. I didn't know that, honestly," Victor responded. "I just wasn't going to take an Asian woman to a Chinese, Japanese or Korean restaurant."

"Well, I am three-quarters Chinese; but it's from that other quarter that I got these," she said as she straightened up tall and gently shook her breasts. "I know, when you think Chinese, you think gymnast, right. You definitely don't think double D."

Victor blushed, although he wasn't exactly sure why. He guessed he wasn't used to a big-boobed woman talking so openly about her... "gifts." When he looked back up from the table, she was looking directly at him with a slight smirk.

"Sorry, I can be a little direct. Didn't Marilyn warn you?"

"Actually, no. Although I'm pretty sure she always makes sure there are a couple of single women at each get-together, she never tells me a thing about them. Says I've got to do some work on my own."

Lainey laughed uproariously. Victor found out as the relationship grew that Lainey had no problem belting out a hearty laugh when she was amused.

"That's my girl!" Lainey enthused.

Vic also found out that Lainey also had no problem crying when the mood hit her, like at the end of the chick flick she picked. Apparently, her father had died from cancer as had the female lead's father in the movie. Victor didn't know this until Lainey filled him in later when the pair went to a restaurant for a late dessert and coffee.

Victor waited two days to call Lainey for another date. She eagerly accepted for the following weekend.

The pair wound up in Victor's bed at the end of their fifth date.

Marilyn went out to lunch with Lainey about a month later. It only took about two minutes after the pleasantries for her to ask how the relationship between Lainey and Victor was progressing.

"How could his ex-wife have been so stupid? He's handsome, well-built, a gentleman and... so much more," Lainey said, a pinkish hue coming over her face and neck.

"Hell, he even looks me in the eyes... well, most of the time. Except when I wear that red silk dress. I'd commit suicide if any man wouldn't spend most of the night looking at my tits in that dress."

Both women smiled. Dr. Victor Washington might as well have claimed he was a married man at that point.

In reality, the wedding didn't occur for six more months.

The announcement of Dr. Victor Washington's wedding shouldn't have gotten more than a slight mention in the local newspaper, let alone the large article it got in newspapers throughout the country. The news media just couldn't let the marriage of the "Jilted Husband" pass by without a full review of the whole sordid mess.

"Goddamn bastards!" yelled George Barile to Arthur Clark over the phone as he threw a newspaper across the room. "Every time one of them does something, there's another article in the papers about 'Jilted Husband,' and then the press comes nosing around again.

"That cheating slut still works for you, right?"

"Yeah," Clark answered, not sure where this conversation was going.

"Bury that bitch!" Barile hissed. "Send her someplace where the press will never find her!"

Two weeks later a very unhappy Traci Washington was managing the firm's two-person office in Paducah, KY. Continuing press coverage had made her unemployable anywhere else that paid a decent wage, and while she did okay financially in the divorce, with no family and social life to speak of, her job was all she had left.

******

Vic wasn't expecting a note from George Barile to be sitting in the middle of his office desk when he got into the practice on a Monday morning. It was a sealed note, and Vic didn't know who sent it until he read it.

It was an invitation... if one could call a request from Barile an invitation... to meet the Mafia chieftain in his office for lunch that day at noon. The meeting would be just the two of them, the note said.

Vic had never met Barile in person, but he knew, as many did, of the supposed connection between Barile and the death of the man who was cuckolding him. He was wondering why the summons, but he certainly wasn't about to ignore it.

After a thorough frisking, Vic was ushered into Barile's office by a man-mountain who didn't appear to be having a good day. He was led to a table off to the side that was already set with what appeared to be a sumptuous lunch of Italian food. Barile introduced himself, shook the dentist's hand and led him to a seat.

"It's just us in here, and this office gets swept for bugs daily, so we can both speak freely," Barile said. "I owe you an apology of sorts. As I'm sure you are aware, I'm the guy who changed the course of your life. It was a mistake of epic proportions... I can assure you. You were never to have been impacted. Hell, I didn't even know who you were... who your wife was..."

"Mr. Barile, if I can interrupt you..." Victor said, puzzling Barile with a brilliant smile. "There's no need to apologize to me. In fact, you did me a great service."

Barile looked at Victor like he had grown a second head. Victor stopped, took a sip of the shot of Pappy Van Winkle 15-year-old bourbon Barile had poured, and smiled again.

"Aah. That really is fabulous," Victor said while Barile drilled holes in him with his eyes, waiting for him to explain.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry. So, as I was saying... Like I told the cops, I really had no clue my bitch of a wife was cheating on me. So you not only alerted me to that, but then you did something that I could only dream about when you had her lover ki... eliminated. And having his balls shot off was such a great touch. God, I hope your guy waited a bit before putting the second bullet in him.

"Four and a half months in prison was well worth the price for having him dead. So, thank you, and I mean that sincerely."

"Well... I guess if you're good with it, then I will stop feeling guilty. Salut!"

The two men nodded at each other, finished their shots and slammed their glasses on the table.