Temptation Pt. 02

"Baby, I have no idea who could be calling. I have never seen these before in my life," he said as he held up the thong. "There is this one girl, at the gym that might have put it in there by mistake. I don't know why she would though. I work out with her, as friends. I told her that I was happily married..."

"Gary I want to believe you, I do. If there is some woman stalking you at the gym, you can either find a new workout partner, or a new gym," Anna replied, the finality in her tone evident.

With that, she turned and stormed out of his office, before he could even respond. He was flabbergasted. Where the heck had those panties come from? Why the heck did his bag smell like perfume?

The next day, she was cold to him, only saying goodbye to him before leaving for work. Anna drove to work very upset. She sat in her office, having no idea what or how to think. 'Could he really be cheating on me? I thought he loved me?' she thought.

She called her sister, Denise, for advice and to vent. Denise was sympathetic, but also tried to talk some sense into her younger sibling.

"Anna, you need to talk to him more than simply demanding he leave the gym. There has to be an explanation for what you saw..."

"I know, Denise. I find it hard to believe, too, but I have no idea what he does during the day usually, and why did he all of a sudden decide to go back to the gym?"

"Maybe to get into better shape again, for you? He used to be pretty fit, but the last time I saw you both, he was looking a little flabbier than normal."

"Yeah, I guess you could be right. Thanks Sis, I needed this chat."

They hung up and Anna felt better after that call. She looked at the desk picture of her family, and then turned to look out the window. It was sprinkling outside, 'How fitting,' she thought. Anna actually spaced out for a few minutes, staring out at the trees and rain.

As if timed on purpose, Jake poked his head into her office. "Hey beautiful, how's it going? Is everything all right?"

She turned around and shook her head slightly. He came in, shut the door, and sat down in front of her. She talked for a while, sharing her fears with him. Anna was glad that she had a friend she could talk to about it. Of course, Jake saw this as his chance to move in.

"Anna, I refuse to believe that he would cheat on someone like you. You're perfect in every way! He'd have to be an idiot to hurt you like that! I could never do that to you."

He stood and came around the desk. Anna was tearing up, so he pulled her out of her chair and hugged her tight. She snuggled into his embrace and cried openly on his shoulder, her sobs shaking them both. Apparently, she hadn't been as calmed by her sister as she had hoped.

"There, there, it's going to be okay," he comforted her.

Slowly her shaking ceased, and eventually, the tears stopped flowing. Anna lifted her head and turned towards Jake. They shared a long look into each other's' eyes, before she leaned back from him. She felt a shudder as she imagined that strong embrace with Jake, without clothing.

"Thanks, Jake, I really needed that."

She hugged him once more and then went back to sit behind her desk. Jake walked to the door, turned around and said, "Anytime, Anna. You are much too beautiful to be crying like that. If you ever need another hug like that, just come find me."

Later, at lunch time, he came to her office again. They walked down the street to the now regular sandwich shop, and sat together at a table. Jake sat next to her this time, instead of across from her, as he usually did.

"Anna, you deserve to be happy, you know? You are a great person, and should be enjoying life, not sad and depressed right now," Jake soothingly said.

"I know, thank you, Jake. It means so much to me, that you are here to help me out," she replied.

"I will always be here for you, Anna. Always. Should we order now?"

With that, they ordered and ate their lunch, talking about other work related topics. Jake was careful not to allow the conversation ever get back around to Gary. Now that Anna was depending on Jake for a shoulder to cry on, he wanted her to really feel like he was helping. Eventually, he wanted to help her in every way possible, but he was a patient man. On the walk back to the office, she held Jake's hand for part of it, until she realized what she was doing. She let go, blushing, but smiled at him nonetheless.

Anna made it through the rest of the afternoon, somehow, without too much further interruption. Gary had called her once, while she was out to lunch with Jake. He left a message that he really wanted to talk with her, to try to figure out what was going wrong. He ended the call saying that he loved her, and couldn't wait to see her.

'How can he not know what's bothering me?' she thought, incorrectly.

Neither of them had any idea that he was being setup. With no other ideas, Anna decided that she was going to take matters into her own hands and left the office early.

********************************

Garrison wrapped up his trading for the day, after having a fairly successful day. He was pleased with himself, but sadly still not sure what to do about Anna. She was obviously troubled about his gym bag and he was still baffled as to how the panties ended up in that side pocket.

He went to the gym and began his routine on the treadmill. Gary didn't wait for Alexia to show up, and being honest with himself, he wasn't exactly sure what to say to her. He wanted to grill her about the panties, to get a real answer about what the hell was going on, but also was worried that maybe she was innocent and had nothing to do with it. He hadn't actually seen her do it, after all.

The treadmill was winding down as he stepped off it, when Alexia walked over.

"Hey, Gary, you started without me?" she asked.

He forced a smile, "Yeah, sorry. I had a lot on my mind today and just needed to get going. I hope you don't mind."

"It's okay, I can skip the warm-up. What's on the menu for today?" she asked, while licking her lips.

"Um...Uh..." he stuttered, "I was planning to work legs today."

Alexia enjoyed torturing him so, after getting to know him a little better. He really did seem to be a nice guy, and was quite the hunk. She enjoyed working out with him, and would be lying to herself if she claimed she wasn't staring at him. She nodded, and followed him to the first machine. After several machines, they were going to finish on the leg curl machine.

She got down on the bench, on her stomach, and put her left leg through the padding. He moved the pin to the right weight amount and she began lifting upwards in long repetitions. Every flex of her leg, made her ass cheek flex. Gary was trying to be modest, but couldn't help staring at her ass. It was hypnotizing him, watching it flex and release.

Alexia finished with her left leg, and swapped for the right one. She worked that leg, and again, he stared at the flexing buns in front of him. As she got up, done with her set, he replaced her and told her to adjust the weight.

Gary decided to push himself, using a higher weight than usual and really groaned as he lifted it a dozen times. He let it clang back to its starting position, before swapping to his other leg and repeating the process. Once done, he sat up slowly, woozy from the massive amount of blood flowing to his leg muscles. He tried to stand, but nearly fell, only to be held up by a concerned Alexia.

"Hey, Gary, take it easy all right?"

He nodded, and she helped him until he was walking sturdy again on his own. Gary walked to the water fountain, and took a deep drink. He went out to his Jeep, deciding to shower at home that day.

"That was a hell of a workout, thanks, Alexia."

"No problem, Gary. Are you okay today? You seem really out of it..."

"Thanks for caring, Alexia. I'm not sure why, but my wife has been acting really strange lately. It seems her emotions have been going crazy lately, and just yesterday, she confronted me about some pink thong panties that were in my gym bag. I have no idea how they got there, but why doesn't she believe me when I tell her that?"

Alexia smiled inwardly that their plan seemed to be working. Outwardly, she frowned. She moved in to Gary and gave him a hug.

"You looked like you could use one," she apologized. "I'm sorry that things seem to be rough at home. Want me to try to talk to her, you know, girl to girl?"

"Thanks, but no. That would probably just make things worse. I just don't know what I'm doing wrong anymore. I really hope she and I can talk about things tonight, but thanks for offering to help. It means a lot to me," he said.

They parted and each walked to their separate cars, to drive home. Anna, sitting in her car across the street, was fuming.

"THAT ASSHOLE!" she yelled at her steering wheel, pounding on it twice for good measure. "How DARE that little TRAMP hug my man!"

She watched her husband drive off and decided to follow the hooker, to see where she went. She stayed about a car back, but never lost sight of the other woman. She pulled into the parking garage for a high-rise condo building, and Anna made a note of the address.

Anna was livid. Gary told her nothing was going on. While she had been pissed and suspicious, she still wanted to believe him. Now, after seeing him with that slut, she was having serious doubts. She drove to his parents' house to pick up Lilia, as it was her day to get her on the way home. When Anna was greeted by Martha, the other woman could immediately tell something was wrong.

"Anna, dear, is everything all right?"

"Oh, I will probably be okay, just a lot on my mind," Anna responded distractedly.

"Well you could tell me about it, if you wanted to..."

"Thanks, Mom, but I think I am just going to go home and rest. Can I stop by tomorrow maybe?"

Anna had no desire to talk with her mother-in-law, right then, about the possibility that Martha's son was cheating on her. Relaxing sounded nice. Perhaps she would take a long hot bath, to do her best to forget her troubles for a bit.

"Okay, but please do. I am always here for you..."

"Thanks. I really appreciate it."

Anna grabbed up her little girl and headed for home. When she got there, she had no clue what she was going to do about her husband. She both wanted to hug him and strangle the life out of him. She was furious, but decided the best thing she could do was wait until their daughter went to bed and confront him. It was ironic that she failed to connect her recent behavior with Jake, to what was going on between her husband and this woman from the gym.

Gary greeted his ladies at the door, and after letting Lilia run passed him, he stepped in close and gave his wife a hug. She returned it, but not very lovingly. Immediately Gary sensed her discomfort.

"Hey, what's the matter? Did you have a bad day today?" he queried.

"Yeah, you could say that. I had some startling revelations today that made me question a few things that are important. I will tell you about it, after Lilia goes to sleep. For now, I just need a nice hot bath, with a glass of wine."

"Well damn, that sucks. I'm sorry you had a crappy day, honey. I can arrange the wine for you, if you get your bath started."

Anna just nodded, and walked off towards their bedroom. She was undressing as Gary went into the kitchen to get her a glass of the Riesling he had picked up the night before. He poured two glasses, and carried one back to his wife. She was just getting into the tub, as the water still filled it up.

"Ahhhh..." she groaned, relaxing quickly in the hot water.

Gary left her the wine and went out to finish making their dinner. She came out almost thirty minutes later, in her normal sweatpants and t-shirt. They had dinner as a family, and part of her wondered how long this would last between them. 'How can it feel like my family is falling apart?' she asked herself. 'We had it so good, I thought.'

They finished their dinner, chatting lightly about the things they all did during the day. Gary could sense something was off, but didn't press his wife. He figured whatever was bothering her, he would find out after their little girl went to bed.

Later, after reading with Lilia for twenty minutes, Anna tucked her in and kissed her goodnight. She went out into the living room and sat on the couch, next to her husband. He turned the T.V. down and turned to face his beautiful wife.

"Honey, I don't know what has been bothering you, but please talk to me..." he opened with.

"Who is she, Gary?" Anna asked in a clipped tone, her anger barely held in check.

"Who is... who?" Gary asked, stunned.

"The woman from the gym. Who is she? Do you love her?" Anna asked, now trying her best to hold back tears.

"WHAT!?" Gary responded angrily. "What the hell are you talking about? I don't love anyone but you, you know that."

"Do I?" she asked, again with the anger flaring up.

Gary was flabbergasted at his wife's accusing words. He had already told her before that he didn't know why the panties were in his bag, but now she sounded surer of his guilt than anything.

"Anna, you have to believe me. I have no idea why, but someone must be trying to set me up. I go to the gym, work out and then come home. THAT'S IT!"

"I went to the gym today, to surprise you, but saw you hugging some woman in the parking lot. I SAW... so DON'T tell me you don't know who the FUCK I'm talking about!"

Gary was stunned. She must have seen him hugging Alexia, but that was an innocent hug. She had been comforting him, because of the drama lately surrounding his family. He tried his best to tell his wife again.

"Honey, nothing is going on with that woman. I told her about what you found in my bag, and she was just giving me a friendly hug. She actually asked me if I wanted her to talk to you about it, to let you know that I haven't done anything wrong!"

Anna was so frustrated now, to the point of tears. She lowered her head into her hands, and started crying openly. Gary was at a complete loss and stood up to go comfort the love of his life. 'How can things get so bad, so quickly?' he thought.

"Don't cry mommy..." said a sad little voice from the hallway. Apparently, their daughter had woken up from their strained conversation.

Anna shot up and ran to her little angel. "Oh sweetie, it's okay. Momma's just had a hard day today..." The girls hugged in the hallway, as Gary got up and wrapped his arms around the two most important people in his life.

They tucked Lilia back into bed, and then retired to their own bedroom. Neither Anna nor Gary got a decent night's sleep, waking to begin their day as tired as when they went to bed. Lilia knew her parents were having a bad morning when they both forgot to give her a kiss after waking up. Anna said goodbye to her family and went to work. Gary started his normal routine and dropped his daughter off with his mom.

Anna got to the office and did her best to forget about her problems at home. She met with her team to get an update on their progress and was impressed. In such a short amount of time, they had effectively gotten the SEC case against Traditional thrown out, mostly on technicalities. She would have to go to court for some initial hearings regarding the harassment case though, which was starting to worry her.

A little before lunch time, Kendra showed up at her door. Anna really wasn't in the mood to deal with her, but plastered on a fake smile anyhow and said, "What can I do for you, Kendra?"

"Anna, I was wondering if we could get some lunch together. I really need to talk to you about something."

They had recently had some sort of breakthrough in their relationship, so Anna reluctantly agreed with a nod. The other woman smiled briefly, and then left the doorway. Anna returned to typing up her notes for the first hearing, when there was a knock at the door. 'Oh great, now what?' she thought.

"Hey, beautiful," greeted Jake.

"Hey, kinda busy right now. What's up?" Anna asked.

Jake came into her office, and shut the door. He moved in and came around her desk, to stand next to her.

"Anna, I worry about you. I know you are working pretty hard, but I still feel like you are under a lot of stress. Is there anything I can do?"

As he asked this, he moved in behind her, beginning to rub her shoulders. Anna knew it was wrong, but all the tension that had built up in her neck and shoulders seemed to start to melt. She let out an involuntary moan, as he worked his magic.

"I just worry that you have all this responsibility here and at home. Does Gary help you at all with any of this? He should do more..." He left the slight dig hang out there.

Anna knew instinctively that her husband was great, and totally supported her. Her mind was telling her that right now, Gary WAS the source of half her problems. What she failed to realize, was the other half was her fault.

"He helps, but sometimes it doesn't seem like enough. I just wish I knew what was going on with him. I'm good looking, right?" she asked.

Seeing that her resistance was lower than usual, Jake began rubbing her arms lower, down the sides. He worked back up to her shoulders, and down the front of her collarbone. She moaned and leaned her head back, against his hard abs.

"You are amazing and very beautiful, Anna. Anyone that says differently is a fool."

Anna was comfortable, but realized she might be getting too comfortable with Jake. She sat up, turned around and smiled.

"Thanks, Jake. I'm glad to have friends around. Hey, did you get that information I requested yet? We need to get that woman in for a deposition, but her lawyer has been stalling."

"Um... Yeah, it's out on my desk. Let me go get it," he answered, a bit put off by her change in attitude. He felt like he was really getting somewhere with her. Maybe he was, but his patience was running out as he felt close to the finish line.

He left her office allowing Anna to breathe again. She felt hot, and unbuttoned the top button of her blouse, to fan some air on herself. She knew that she was getting turned on, in a big way, which was why she had asked him to go get the report she had asked for.

She looked at the picture on her desk, taken on a sunny Saturday afternoon. The three of them looked so happy together, Garrison's arms wrapped wide around his girls. 'That's my man,' she thought. She shook her head, and wondered what the hell was happening to her perfect family. She was starting to doubt herself and her husband more than she ever had before. She resolved to have a sit-down talk with him that night, to try to straighten things out.

Jake came back, giving Anna the folder she asked for. "Here you go, Anna."

"Thanks, Jake. I'm going to lunch with Kendra today, but we can do lunch together tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure thing, boss," he said, reminding her of her position. His gaze lingered and he looked to her long slender legs, up to her perfectly round ass, as she walked back behind her desk. Anna caught him staring when she turned around and had the decency to blush when he smiled at her.

Noon came faster than she realized, and she went out to meet Kendra at the reception area. After a minute of indecisiveness, they decided to go to Applebee's for lunch. Kendra seemed very apprehensive, which was starting to make Anna nervous about whatever it was she wanted to talk about.

The ladies got seated in the bar area, but hadn't said more than five words to each other since they left the office. Kendra looked into Anna's eyes, then down at the table, before speaking.

"Anna... I don't know how else to tell you this... Yesterday, when I went to lunch with Melinda, I saw your husband. I recognized him from the photo on your desk. He was... with another woman."