Temptation Pt. 02

Anna was stunned. She knew, that he sometimes went out for lunch instead of eating at home, but he never mentioned going with another woman. She still didn't want to believe that he was cheating on her, but the evidence was starting to become overwhelming. Anna didn't know what to say, so she thought it best to get whatever information she could.

"Are... Are you sure? Are you sure it was my husband?" she queried. "What did the woman look like?"

Anna was trembling as she listened. Kendra knew that Anna was taking the bait, so decided to set the hook as hard as she could.

"The woman? She was... well she was tall, almost as tall as Gary." The tone of Kendra's voice sounded sad, almost whimpering. "She looked like a slut, like big boobs, tight ass in yoga pants kind of a girl... I'm so sorry, Anna."

Anna didn't know what to think. The woman she had described sounded just like the one she saw at the gym. She didn't want to believe what she was hearing, but a large part of her was beginning to. She closed her eyes, counted to ten in her head and opened them again. As she sat, she looked around at all the people, wondering if any of them had issues like hers.

This spiral needed to stop. Anna desperately wanted this roller coaster to come in to the station. She had no idea what to do about this new information, but decided that she would confront her husband, once again. She just hoped that he had better excuses, this time. Honestly, she wasn't sure if she would believe him or not, but she wanted to. Anna thought back to when they were newlyweds and had promised each other that they would never cheat on each other. They both had witnessed relatives that had divorced bitterly over cheating, and vowed they wouldn't fall into the same trap.

Yet, here they were, a few months away from celebrating their 6th anniversary and she had doubts about his fidelity. As she sat and thought, she did recognize that her flirtations with Jake were getting out of hand, but she hadn't cheated on Gary with him, yet. Anna could feel a long, hard night ahead of her, but put it out of her mind.

"Kendra, I know we haven't always gotten along and only recently have we been able to become friends. Thank you for caring about me enough to tell me this. It must have been hard, and I appreciate it."

Kendra simply nodded her head, smiled and said, "You're welcome. I feel terrible that we just started getting along and this had to happen. I'm so sorry..."

With that, the women finished their food and drinks in relative silence, then both tossed some cash on the table and left. The drive back to the office was somber, neither saying much. As they parked and Anna shut off the engine, Kendra turned to her.

"I'm so sorry, again, Anna. You don't deserve any of this, and I want you to call me if you ever need a shoulder to lean on. Promise me?"

"Okay, I promise. Now, let's forget about this madness for a few hours anyhow, and go get some work done," Anna said, with more confidence than she felt.

Kendra was elated. Things couldn't be going any better, as her plan unfolded. It was only a matter of time until her revenge would be complete. On the way into the building, she heard some muffled noises coming from the supply closet again, guessing it was Jake and Melinda going at it. Those two should have stopped their affair a long time ago, but it wasn't her problem to worry about.

Anna sat behind her desk, looked long and hard at the picture of Gary, eyes starting to water. She thought of him with another woman, and the imagery spinning around in her head made her nauseous. She would let her stomach settle and give him a call to check up on him. She was starting to seriously doubt her trust in him, which didn't bode well for her marriage.

She took a deep breath, picked up the receiver and dialed the house number. He picked up after it rang twice.

"Hey, babe! I miss you... How's your day going?" he asked by way of a greeting.

"Tired and not very happy right now. Gary... Who did you have lunch with yesterday? Who is she, that woman from the gym again?" Her words were succinct and dripping with the venom she felt.

Gary was silent for about ten seconds and then went on the defensive. "Honey, don't you have any faith in me at all? I thought we trusted each other completely... This is like the third time you have grilled me about being around another woman. I'm really getting worried about us..."

"So you don't deny it then?"

"Anna, have I ever given you any reason to think I would cheat on you? You're all I need, PERIOD! I would die without you and can't even think of doing anything with another woman. That you are seriously thinking about me cheating on you hurts more than you can possibly imagine. YES, I had lunch with Alexia, the girl from the gym. I have made it clear to her..."

"I knew it!" Anna interrupted. "I'll bet that little tramp joined that gym just so she could get you into bed!"

"THAT'S ABSURD!" Gary yelled back, his anger coming through the phone loud and clear. "I haven't done anything with her, or anyone else for that matter, but you know what? If you are THAT jealous of me talking to other women besides you, I will quit that gym and stop being nice to her. Are you happy now?"

Anna started crying just then, sniffling as the tears ran down her cheeks. "Gary, I don't know what's happening to us, but I miss you. I miss..." and she sighed deeply. She had run out of steam, so decided to end the call. "I'll see you when I get home, okay?"

Gary sensed her frustration and wholeheartedly agreed with her unspoken sentiment. He too was frustrated beyond words, so simply said, "Okay, honey. I love you, just remember that."

"I love you, too," replied a very subdued Anna.

They ended the call, and she put the phone back down. For the first time since being back to work, she flipped the picture of Gary face-down on her desk. She laid her head down on her forearms and cried, until she was able to calm herself down, almost ten minutes later.

Anna cleaned up her face and got back to work, going through the motions. She was able to complete all her notes that would accompany her to the hearing she had on Monday, then shut down her computer for the day.

As she was cleaning up her desk and putting the paperwork all back into their respective folders, she heard a knock on her door. Without waiting, Jake opened it and poked his head in.

"Hey, Anna, I heard you could use a friend right about now."

Anna silently thanked Kendra for caring about her, just hoping she hadn't told the entire office about her problems. She looked up at him, nodding and waved him to come in. She wiped her eyes with a tissue as he moved in and shut the door behind him, locking it.

"Jake, it means a lot to me that you're here for me to talk to. Between you and Kendra, I am lucky to have such good friends."

"Don't mention it, really. You listened to me when my girlfriend left me, so it's the least I can do to help you out."

Anna smiled brightly, as if there had been a storm and the clouds were breaking to let the sun shine again. She felt truly blessed, even with the storm that was still brewing in her marriage.

"Well thank you anyhow, Jake."

Jake saw that she was very vulnerable now, and decided he should use that to his advantage. He moved over behind her chair and started to run his fingers through her hair, as if brushing it out after a shower.

She loved the attention and enjoyed it as he continued. Brushing her hair had been one of Anna's favorite things to do with her mother when she was younger, and she missed it dearly. She could have used the sage advice of her wise mother, to listen to her troubles and comfort her. Right now, Jake would have to do.

He continued the work his hands were doing and moved up to rub his fingers into her hair, working his way up to give her head a massage. Jake opened his palms, fanning his fingers out as he did this, working them into her soft hair. He massaged her scalp, pushing small circles around with just the right amount of pressure. She moaned lightly as he pushed his fingers down the back side of her head, moving on to her shoulders.

She was tense and her muscles ached in places she forgot existed. Jake expertly pushed the stress out of her shoulders and neck, moving his hands down her arms on the outside of her blouse. He applied more pressure as his fingers moved deftly back up her arms, reaching the base of her neck. His nimble fingers smoothed over her soft skin, then turned to move down the middle of her back. Anna leaned forward to give him better access to her lower back.

Jake's hands moved lower, until he was almost wrapping his hands around her waist, pushing around to the front. Anna moaned, realizing that she had been much tenser than she realized. Jake moved his hands up her sides, so that his fingers lightly brushed the undersides of Anna's bra encased breasts, once again pulling backwards to rub up the center of her spine.

She leaned back in the chair, as Jake's hands moved forward around her again, cupping them under her magnificent breasts. He began kneading them lightly, pushing upwards and rubbing the middle of his palms over her engorged nipples, poking out clearly through the material of her bra and blouse.

Anna cocked her head backwards, closing her eyes. Jake leaned over her, and slowly moved his lips down to hers. The contact was so slight that it felt like a feather tickling her on her lips, but the electrical charge she got was unreal. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing her tongue to touch his, just barely at the tip. He smiled and lifted away from her mouth, concentrating once again on relaxing her muscles.

Jake was still lightly massaging one breast, while the other hand began roaming her side and down to her hips. He slid his hand down her thigh and as he leaned forward further, Jake resumed the gentle kiss they had shared.

Anna was adrift in a sea of emotion and felt more relaxed than she had in a long time. It felt like every nerve ending in her body was pulsing in tune to the smooth motion of Jake's fingers. He moved his hand up her thigh and towards her waist. He slid his hand around in front of her, rubbing her stomach and waistline. He moved back and forth along the waistband of her pants, pushing a few fingers inside to rub the bare skin of her midriff.

She moaned again, and Jake slid his hand slowly down under the hem, down the front of her silky smooth panties, trailing a line down the curve of her very moist center. He felt like his prize was finally within reach.

A sharp knocking on the door snapped Anna out of the trance she was in, and immediately she stood up, moving away from Jake. She looked at him with fear in her eyes, not knowing how or why she had let him touch her the way that he had been.

She quickly fixed her pants and blouse and waved for Jake to open the door. Jake walked towards the door, and opened it. Anna's face was flush with her recent excitement and she was deeply ashamed that she lost control of herself like she had. She took a sip of water to help calm her nerves.

Melinda came in, followed by Kendra and Thomas. The three were all carrying some paperwork and began talking almost at the same time.

"Anna, this needs..." "We need to file this..." "What should we do about..." they all started at once.

"STOP!" exclaimed Anna. After everyone stopped talking, she looked at them all. "Okay, now one at a time. Thomas, what've you got?"'

"It looks like Mr. Clark Middleton's alibi has fallen through. The deposition we took of that woman he said he was with, turned out to be false. She was lying, and the D.A. has evidence that she was elsewhere. If he wasn't with her, that means he could have been with the woman accusing him of the assault." Thomas was sharp, and Anna was glad he was on her side and not the District Attorney's side.

She had finally caught her breath, and settled her nerves from the insane lust she had been going through just moments before. She had an unsettled feeling about her resolve, and how weak she had been in the face of Jake's charm.

"Thank you Thomas. Does he still swear that he was out of town? If so, can we at least find some record of it, like hotel receipts or security footage?"

"I will look into that and get back to you," he replied.

Anna turned to Melinda, "Okay, Melinda, what do you have?"

Melinda smiled, "We have confirmed that the woman accusing Mr. Middleton has a history of claiming sexual harassment and abuse, of at least three former employers. All of them were settled out of court or completely dismissed. She appears to change jobs about once a year, and has been found guilty of contempt of court, once, for lying under oath. I think we have a real shot at completely discrediting her..."

"Wow, good work. Get what proof you can, including previous case documents and police reports. We can use that information for sure."

Thomas and Melinda got up and walked out of the office, Jake quickly turning to follow. He winked at Anna once he was safely behind Kendra, who was now sitting in the chair across from Anna's desk.

After clearing her throat, Anna went on. "All right, Kendra, you're up."

"Anna, first of all, I'm sorry about earlier and dropping that bomb on you like that."

Anna simply nodded her head and waved her hand to indicate she could continue. She really had no words to describe how she felt, so she just wanted to put off thinking about it until later.

"Second, I found some evidence that might make a difference in the case. According to my source in Traditional Finance, there have been some questionable investments made in the last six months. Based on what I was told I think Mr. Middleton may have been setup by someone at the company. The source said that he might have been having an affair with his secretary, who is married to someone else in a different department. I am still trying to get proof of all this, but it would make for some sensational headlines, don't you think?"

"Wow, Kendra, nice work! I agree that this type of information could greatly help our case, but we must be certain that it's true. We need to be absolutely sure, with evidence, that he in fact was setup. If we take this information to court and it turns out to be just a rumor, their lawyers could tear us apart. We could lose the case, and cause so much bad publicity for Traditional that they drop us as their legal counsel."

"Anna, please, I won't let you down on this. I am still digging for the proof, but once I get enough evidence, we can go to the partners with a request to speak with the D.A.'s office about getting the charges dropped."

With that, Kendra stood and smiled before leaving Anna's office. Anna sat back and thought about the possibilities around her client. What was it Kendra had said, that he might have been having an affair with his secretary?

'Why does it bother me that he might be having an affair with his secretary?' she thought.

Anna didn't know the man beyond meeting with him as he gave his deposition, but he seemed a decent sort of man. He had looked to be in his late 40's to early 50's, some slight greying in the hair, but still mostly dark brown. He was a little overweight, but not so bad as to be considered obese, more like some excess love handles.

For the sake of their case, she hoped that rumor was untrue. If he was guilty of an affair, the case of harassment would be very tough indeed. The members of a jury would be easily swayed if the defendant was guilty of cheating on his wife.

Anna closed her eyes and laid her head back against her tall chair's headrest. She counted to twenty silently and then sat up straight. She got up and left the office for the day, still more confused than ever before.

She was hurt and angry, that her husband might be having an affair. She wanted to believe him, but the evidence wasn't going in his favor. Her case was giving her stress, and the situation with Jake was getting out of hand. Anna silently berated herself for letting him get away with touching her like he did, but she had to admit that she had enjoyed it immensely, a small part of her even wanted it to continue.

Anna left for home, still in the same state of mind. She wasn't sure how things would go with Garrison when she got there, but she at least could look forward to her little angel hugging her. As she drove, her thoughts turned once again to Jake and his strong fingers, smooth lips and hard body pressed up against her back. She got wet all over again, thinking about it, reliving the sensations.

'Okay get your shit together, Anna. I need to make things better with Gary if I can...' Anna thought as she pulled into the driveway.

Gary came to meet Anna at the door, Lilia in his arms. The toddler reached out, almost yelling, "Mommyyyy Upieee!"

That long and incorrect way of saying UP had been her favorite since she began speaking. Lilia loved being picked up and carried, almost as much as she liked running around the house.

"Hey, sweetie! Mommy's home now," replied a happy Anna. Little moments like that one really made her day.

Anna dropped her things and retreated to the bedroom. She changed out of her business attire, trying to decide what to wear. She had taken off her soaked panties and work bra, deciding that she could try to wear something nice underneath her usual sweats and t-shirt. Maybe they could have a breakthrough tonight and make tender love, like they used to. She really needed his loving after the day she'd had.

She dug through her drawer until she found what she was looking for. After she got dressed, she went into the kitchen to see what Gary and Lilia had cooking up for dinner. She found Gary working on something that looked like stir-fry, only he was using some egg noodles instead of rice to go with it, like he usually did. Lilia was sitting on a stool next to her daddy, pointing and asking questions, like the curious little toddler always did. She was a little sponge, soaking up everything she could.

"Hey, honey, could you go watch some TV for a minute while Mommy talks to Daddy?" Anna asked the little girl.

"Sure, Mommy," she replied.

Lilia ran off to the living room, while Anna walked up behind her husband and hugged him tightly. Gary wasn't going to argue or push her away, even if he was still very confused about her emotions lately. She had gone from hot to cold so fast, and so many times recently, that his head hurt.

"Mmmmm, I might have to cook this dish more often for hugs like that," he said as he turned his head to the right, to glimpse at his beautiful wife.

Anna snuggled her head into his back and purred. "I'm sorry I haven't been myself lately. I just get so spun up about things at work, and then that shit with you and the gym..."

"Hey, hey, now. It's okay, babe. Whatever it is that's been going on with us, we can get through it. We can get through anything..."

She sniffled more and hugged him tighter. She wanted to believe him and decided that she was going to give him the benefit of the doubt this time, especially as her own guilt started to rise up. "I love you, Gary," she said meekly.

He spun around and hugged her tight, lowering his lips to her cheek to kiss away a tear. They hugged for a few more minutes until the timer beeped on the stove. Anna went to the bathroom to clean herself up, while Gary and Lilia set the table. The three of them sat down to a nice dinner, the adults listening to all the fun things Lilia did with Grandma and Grandpa during the day.

After dinner and a very long bed time story, they finally got little Lilia to sleep. They didn't make love that night, but did spend several minutes kissing and making up, in their own way. Both were still toiling with their inner doubts and fell asleep with Gary spooning behind Anna, hugging her tightly.