Thank God it was a Near Miss!

THANK GOD IT WAS A NEAR MISS!

A baby monitor leads Luke to a crushing reality

Luke Wallen was a really nice guy. Anyone who knew him would tell you that. He was always willing to give you a smile, listen to your story, and give you a positive word or two when you needed it. He was extremely quick and witty, had a dry sense of humor, and a quick intelligence about him. Anyone who knew him would also tell you not to piss him off. He had a high tolerance but when he'd had enough, then look out because he could get exploding mad! When anyone brought that up, he would agree and say, "Yeah, I'm working on that."

Luke had decided to save money on his college plan and work as a machinist while attending the community college in the evenings, working toward his business degree. His ultimate goal was to own his own machining business, turning out the precision stainless steel hardware that medical manufacturers needed for their multitude of products and designs.

It was during one of these night classes that Luke met Willow, yes, you read that right, Willow Larson. Her parents were free spirits and wanted Willow to be able to float and meander through her life and experience whatever the fates brought her. She on the other hand was smart enough to know that she needed an education to help her afford the life she wanted to live. She was taking business classes with a goal of getting into Pharmaceutical sales and making some good money right out of school. And there was no question that she could sell. If her smile and crystal blue brilliant eyes didn't capture you, then her poise and incredible body and legs would hold your interest.

Luke and Willow met one rainy evening coming out of class when Luke asked Willow if she wanted to share his umbrella on the walk to the parking lot. They crowded in close and Willow started to size Luke up and was impressed with what she saw. He was tall, muscular yet lean, and had long blond hair and a stubble of a red beard. "Wow, he's a Nordic God" Willow thought to herself as they walked through the rain.

Luke was similarly mesmerized by Willow's sensuous voice, her smile, her personality, and a body that was as tight and fine as any he had seen. He just breathed her in as they walked together, trying to decide how to make this moment last. He needn't worry.

By the time they made it to Willow's car she had already set up a lunch date for the next day and invited him to a small happy hour group Friday evening. The luncheon assured them that they had compatible personalities, and likes, but it was the sparks that flew on Friday night that led them to became almost inseparable, getting together 4 or 5 times a week. They loved to be active; hiking, biking, playing tennis, kayaking, but just hanging out was good too, sharing dinners, and having incredibly passionate and sensual love-making long into the night.

It didn't take Luke long to know that this girl was the one for him and he wanted to spend his life with her. Willow told him she felt the same way, and they decided to plan a wedding with the financial help of her parents. They decided on a traditional church wedding, and then a reception with 100 or so guests, an open bar, a dinner, a DJ, and dancing. Luke's parents lived across the country, so they weren't much involved in the planning and they were on a tight retirement budget but they did send him $5,000 to help with the bar tab and his tux.

Luke asked his older brother Todd, to be his best man, and he asked longtime friends Jack Nichols and Dennis Long to be in his wedding party. Willow asked her best friend Linda Miller, who was now also a very close friend of Luke's, to be her maid of honor, along with two other friends, Brenda Johnson and Molly Webster, to serve in her wedding party.

Todd lived about four miles from Luke and they were very close. Todd was a six-foot four-inch solid rock of a man and he was a mason which kept his body extremely fit lifting and placing bricks, masonry, and landscape blocks for 8 hours a day. Todd's wife Evie was pregnant with child number two and he had asked Luke to come see him after work.

When Luke pulled up on his Harley, Todd came out with a baby monitor in his hands. "Hey Luke, how you doing man? You going to sell that death-trap motorcycle after you get married so Willow isn't stuck taking care of a vegetable for her married life, supporting you in sickness and in health?"

"Okay old man, let's not do the Motorcycle intervention right now. I need this thing for stress relief the way Willow and her parents are going crazy with these wedding plans. I basically don't get asked an opinion, and only occasionally am told the latest about the plans. All I know is I'm supporting the open bar and they are doing the rest. Except of course for our tuxes, which by the way, did you get fitted yet? Your likely a special order unless they outfitted a football team recently."

"Yeah, funny stuff little man. I'm getting measured next week. I'm still working on plans for your over-the-top bachelor party with Dennis and Jack pitching me ideas. So, is everything smooth sailing in the love world of Luke and Willow?"

"All systems are go, and the sex lately has been incredible. Willow just can't seem to get enough. She says it's the pre-wedding jitters and sex is her best relaxation! Who am I to disagree!"

"Okay that's TMI. I'm in the deep freeze here with a 2-year-old kid constantly barging into the room, and an 8-month pregnant wife who hasn't seen her feet for four months and blames me for her condition. So, I really don't want to hear about sex exploits! I'm dying here man. I'm lucky to get a hand job at night if I catch Evie in bed before she passes out from exhaustion."

"Hey Todd, talk about TMI, you just exceeded anything a soon to be married man wants to hear. Hey, but don't worry, only another 18 years to go before you will have the place to yourselves and be able to make wild animalistic sex in every room like Willow and I did last weekend."

"Enough shithead! Here make yourself useful." Todd handed him the two-piece baby monitor he had carried out with him. "This fricking thing doesn't work anymore. It's got new batteries, so I'm not sure what the deal is, but knowing you can fix just about anything, I figured I'd try you before springing for a new one."

"Hey no sweat. I'm headed home early right now, probably no one home yet so I can get into it right away."

Luke drove off on his Harley and when he arrived at his rented two-bedroom house that Willow and he shared, he pulled the motorcycle back around the garage and parked it under the back eave as the forecast had called for rain later. He went into the house, knowing Willow wasn't home yet, and plugged the base monitor into the wall and then went down into the basement where he had a small workbench set up and opened up the hand-held receptor. Luke quickly found the problem, a wire solder-joint going to the speaker had broken, and he had it resoldered and working withing 5 minutes.

As Luke was finishing up, he heard the door open upstairs via the baby monitor and he could tell that Willow was on the phone when she walked in the door. He listened to her half of the conversation through the baby monitor and knew it was fixed and sounding good. He was just going to go upstairs when he heard Willow say, "Dennis, Luke isn't home and probably won't be for about an hour. How about you pick me up and take me somewhere that you can fuck my juicy pussy. The wedding is coming up fast and we don't get many opportunities to fuck each other so can you get here quick and take care of me?"

Luke couldn't hear what Dennis said, but what he had heard Willow say crushed him into a sort of shock; gasping for breath, and feeling so feint that his legs buckled and he sank to the ground. "It can't be true. How could she be looking for sex with one of my groomsmen and supposed good friends four weeks from our wedding day? That fucking Bitch!"

He was drawn back to her conversation as he heard Willow say, "No Dennis, I'm not saying we for sure can't do this after the wedding, I just don't know yet. Right now, I feel like it's okay for you and I to fuck because we aren't in love, it's only sex, and I'm just sowing my last wild oats before I'm married. But if we do get together after I'm married, it will have to be a very controlled and safe situation, as I can't possibly risk having Luke find out. You and I know it's just getting our rocks off and enjoying the sex, but to him it would mean everything and probably destroy him, and I can't hurt him like that. I love him so much."

After a long pause Willow said, "Okay Dennis, I'll meet you out front. Pick me up in that hot classic Mustang of yours and we can do it again in the back-seat. I can't wait to suck that cock of yours again!"

With that he heard Willow run out the door. He couldn't believe his ears. His imagined future life of a longtime soulmate, kids, growing together and being partners through life, was just thrown under the bus and crushed. There was absolutely no way he could ever imagine or believe that Willow was already cheating on him, right at the height of their engagement, that is typically the hottest sex and the highest degree of infatuation a couple goes through. He thought, "Just wait till she gets bored; she'll be out fucking multiple guys every week! No fucking way I'm living like that with no trust for the woman I love."

He walked slowly upstairs and through the front window saw his soon to be ex-friend, fucking Dennis Asshole Long, pull up in his red Mustang and a squealing Willow ran to the car, hopped in the passenger seat and gave him a big wet kiss before they took off down the block.

Luke in a state of rage, sprinted out to the garage, grabbed a tire iron, ran behind the garage, hopped on his Harley and pulled out onto the street; following them at a safe distance. They drove through a couple of intersections before getting on a county highway headed out of town. About 4 miles out of town, there was a large park with rolling hills and a lake, that had various parking lots. Luke and his friends were all familiar with one particular deserted lot, protected from views from the road or other parking areas, so Luke assumed that was where Dennis was going. The back lot was lined on three sides by a forest of trees and the road curved around the trees before the lot opened up for parking.

Luke pulled over and waited for about ten minutes to try and calm himself down and let them get started so he could see how far his cheating Fiancée would take it. Then he drove to the turn off to the lot, parked his bike, and walked through the tree line around the lot until he came up to Dennis's parking spot. He pulled out his camera and started a video, and crept up to the rear of the car. He could hear Willow sucking and Dennis moaning in the back seat.

He held his phone up and was filming through the widow as he heard Willow stop her sucking of Dennis's cock and squeal, "Put that fucking hard cock in me Dennis. Fuck me like the wild slut I am for the next four weeks. Leave your cum in me and fuck me harder! Harder! Faster! Oh yeah, oh God, it feels so good!"

Luke couldn't contain himself as his rage exploded and he stood up, looked in the window and screamed, "You fucking whore!"

Willow was on her back, naked, and Dennis was on top of her pumping away when Luke got up and screamed at her. She opened her eyes and whimpered back, "Oh God, No. No. Stop Dennis, no this isn't right. You can't fuck me."

Luke couldn't believe the pathetic attempt to play innocent by the slut. By now Dennis was rolled over looking at Luke through the window and trying to pull his pants up. "Luke, man. It isn't what it looks like. It's no big deal. Luke, she loves you, not me. This is just some pre-marriage harmless fun."

Luke burst in a painful emotional reaction and screamed as he wielded the tire iron over his head and smashed out the back window. Dennis went to open the door and Luke screamed, "you open that door and step out here and I'll break your ribs and smash your head in." One look at a crazed Luke and Dennis knew he was a dead man if he jumped out of the car.

With that Luke walked around the car, smashing every window as he went. The safety glass exploded and sparkled as the sunlight caught it flying everywhere like shrapnel. As he continued forward, he knocked off the side mirrors and broke out the headlights. As he walked the other side of the car, he scrapped the tire iron against the side of the car, peeling the ruby red paint job off down to the metal.

When he got to the back side window, he again broke it open with the tire iron, but as Dennis tried to slide away from the window, Luke yanked open the door and grabbed Dennis by the hair and pulled him out of the car. Luke cocked his arm back and took a massive swing and hit him in the side with the iron and as Dennis keeled over in pain, Luke hit him with his fist, across the jaw, as hard as he could. He heard a satisfying cracking noise and Dennis screamed out in pain and went down.

Willow was pressed as far away from the open door in the back seat as she could be; looking at Luke with fear and guilt and sobbed to him, "Please Luke, please don't hit me. I'm sorry, please. It doesn't mean anything, please forgive me. We need to be strong and get through this and get married, baby! I love only you, Dennis is just a fuck toy, like a human dildo. Luke, really it means nothing to me. Come on Babe, take me home and I'll show you that you are the only one I love."

Luke looked at her with disgust, looked down at Dennis and said, "Fuck you Willow and Fuck you, Dennis. What a piece of shit, fucking my fiancée even though you pretend to be a close enough friend to be my groomsman? Well fuck you, don't ever let me see you again or I'll snap your neck."

"As for you, you fucking slut, how could you fuck me over like this? I thought we loved each other so much that we could never hurt each other, but I guess that was all fucking bullshit, wasn't it? Well, fuck you. Right now, I hate your guts. Stay away from me."

Willow cringed and sobbed at hearing those words and shouted, "No Luke, please don't walk away. Let me explain. I love you; I'm your woman. Please oh God don't leave me."

Luke just said, "Yeah it really looks like you're my loving woman. Save your bullshit excuses Willow!" and walked back across the parking lot to his motorcycle and drove away. As he looked back, he could see Willow on her knees, hands to her face and sobbing. Dennis was still laid out on the ground amongst the glass and paint chip carnage from his beloved Mustang.

Luke took off, not aware of where he was going, but just pushing the Harley down the road at a crazy high-speed. He eventually got control of his stress and pain and hours later ended up at his brother's house. When Todd heard the Harley pull up, he came to the door, and was shocked to see Luke sitting on the steps, curled into a ball, and crying like a man whose life was just destroyed.

As Luke recounted the story to Todd the big man sat down and put his arm around his younger brother and said, "Well, that really sucks man. I'd have never predicted that to happen in a million years. I know Willow loves you and I can't figure out how we all could have missed her character so badly that we would never realize that she could cheat on you. I'm so sorry Luke. And if I see Dennis, I'm going to break his nose, given that you took care of his jaw. But I guess I have to say thank God you found out now and not a few years into the marriage. Better a destroyed wedding than a messy divorce down the road. Especially, God forbid, if you had kids. A near miss is much better than a direct hit. So, what are you going to do?"

"Well one thing is for sure; don't bother getting fitted for the tux and I'll tell Jack the same thing. I guess I'll call the parents and tell them to cancel their flight. There is no fucking way I'm marrying someone who is already cheating on me before we even walk down the aisle. I'd give that marriage a 100% chance of being a disaster and no way I'm wasting years of my life wondering if my wife is out screwing someone and thinking it's okay because it's only meaningless sex and not a love affair. Wow, what a crock of bullshit!"

Luke's phone started ringing and he saw it was a call from Willow, along with a few missed calls and a voicemail. He also saw a missed call from a number he didn't recognize. He declined her call and it rolled to voicemail, and as he was putting the phone away, he got another call from the number that wasn't in his contacts. He answered that one with, "What do you want?"

"Is this Luke Wallen?"

"Yeah, who wants to know?"

"This is Lt. Gerard from the 4^th precinct and I have a complaint of assault and property damage from a Dennis Long identifying you as the perpetrator. I want you down at the precinct in the next half hour or I'll put out a warrant for your arrest and an APB. I already have a black and white sitting in front of your house. You need to come in and talk to me."

Luke looked at Todd and silently mouthed, "Oh Shit, I'm fucked!" before responding to the police and said, "Okay Lieutenant, I'll be there in 30 minutes. Do I need a lawyer?"

"You'll probably end up seeing a judge today and it's your decision regarding what you want to do about a lawyer. But, hearing about the car's damage and the fact that your friend is in the hospital getting his jaw wired shut, I'm guessing you are going to need a lawyer, so if you have one, have them meet you at the station. If you don't have one, the county will appoint one for you. But don't keep me waiting."

Todd hearing the conversation pulled out his phone and called his friend Mikey that he went to school with and played on the same softball team with. "Mikey, my brother is getting charged with assault and property damage and will be at the 4^th precinct in 30 minutes. Can you show up and represent him?"

Todd nodded at Luke as he hung up and said, "Mikey will be there and I'll bail you out as soon as they figure out where this is going. Just let Mikey do all the talking and be cool and calm as an ocean breeze and hopefully you'll get out of this without having to do any jail time. You should have just taken the video and backed off and left the revenge to a much better plan, but then again, I understand. If I was in your shoes, I'd have killed Dennis on the spot and torched his car. So, I understand now isn't the time to suggest any should-a, would-a or could-a alternatives. We are where we are and we have to deal with it."

It was the next morning that Todd picked up his brother at the jail; Luke having spent the evening in lock-up, and finally seeing the judge in the morning. As anticipated by his lawyer Mikey, Luke was ordered to secure a $10,000 bail bond or stay in jail. Mikey suggested that Luke talk to Dennis about dropping the charges, apologize, and pay for the damages to the car and the hospital deductibles but Luke just said, No Fucking Way.

Luke went back to his house and seeing that Willow was gone, went in and packed up all of his clothes, personal hygiene items, his CD's and his stereo system, and moved it all into the guest bedroom at his brother's house. He also grabbed the baby monitor on his last look around the house and brought it to his brother saying, "Works like a charm. In fact, maybe it was my lucky charm, stopping me from making a major life mistake!"

One week later, Luke still hadn't responded to any of Willow's calls or voicemails. He cringed at the variety and stupidity of her messages, where she used the same old tired excuses and downplayed what a big deal it really was. At first, she said that Dennis took advantage of her and she was only going to kiss and make out one last time before being a committed and loving wife to Luke. He knew that was bullshit from hearing the original phone call. On another call she said that Dennis didn't mean anything to her, but she had dated him in the past and she was confused and worried about being with one man for the rest of her life, so she was going to have one last sexual fling to say goodbye to her single life knowing that she would never cheat on Luke when they were married. He didn't buy that excuse either.