The Envelope

I arrived at the hotel at 5:00pm and had a 15-minute chat with the Dave, the man who would be running the media booth. I gave him a CD filled with music he could start playing at 5:30 and a DVD. I gave him a $100 bill and told him that when he received my text he should begin playing the DVD. I also warned him that at some point people might be yelling at him to turn it off. He said for another $100 he would make sure he was deaf until it finished playing. "Good man!" I told him as I slipped $100 bill into his palm.

By 6:00 p.m., everyone had arrived and I had personally thanked them for joining me on this very special night. As I looked at all of them I realized two things: First, they were all members of Susan's family or her friends that had become our family and friends. I realized that over the years I had focused my entire life on Susan and her world. (Silently, I promised never repeat that mistake) My second realization was that all of them were good people and that I would miss having them in my life.

As was appropriate for a 15th anniversary, Sue wore a very short black dress that sparkled with light due to the hundreds of Swarovski crystals sewn into the material. The crystals edged a long deep neckline serving thereby emphasizing her 36C breasts. The 4" stiletto heels combined with the short skirt provided momentary flashes of her stocking tops as she moved. When I looked at her, she was the most beautiful and sensual woman in the world. The only woman I had truly loved.

As she entered the room, Susan was greeted with a spontaneous eruption of applause and good wishes from all those who loved her. She was clearly surprised by the crowd and enthusiasm so I gave her a moment to take it all in, before moving towards her. Giving her a quick kiss, I turned her towards the tables and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen my wife of 15-years Susan."

Over the next hour I played the part of the happy husband, moving from table to table with Susan, thanking them all for joining us. Later after the food and been consumed and the sweets eaten. I gathered everyone's attention and gave Susan her anniversary gift. It was a 1.5" crystal heart hanging from a platinum chain. As I hung it around her neck, I told her that she now wore my heart. What she didn't know, was that I had this heart made especially for her. You see, crystal hearts are easy to find, but I learned it is very hard to make one that contains a significant crack running through it, and that is what it had. The heart she now wore was as completely broken as mine.

Susan told the crowd that I whisked her out of the house so fast this morning that she hadn't thought about taking my big anniversary gift with her. As she handed me a plain white envelope with the hotel logo on it, she told the crowd, but that didn't mean she had come to the party empty handed.

As everyone looked on, I extracted a hand written note, "My Dearest John, You have filled this day with wonderful surprises so I hope you will find my gift equally surprising. My anniversary gift to you is my ass. You have always wanted to fuck it and I have always refused. Tonight when we get home I will happily give it to you. Love, Sue" Reading the note I felt my face grow hot. Everyone noticed and started laughing, understanding that my wife had just given me a very naughty gift. Susan even laughed at my reaction. What they didn't realize was that I wasn't red faced from embarrassment but from anger. Here she was on our anniversary, giving me a gift that she no longer valued. What she was offering me was a second hand gift that had already been used by another until it was no longer wanted.

I encouraged everyone's misconceptions and plastering a smile on my face, made a big show out of folding the note and putting it in safe place. Everyone seemed to appreciate that gesture too, as it started another round of laughter and cat calls.

When my watch showed 8:40 Susan was sitting at the head table happily chatting with 3 of her friends and I was paying my respects to her aunt and uncle who happened to be seated very close to the exit. At 8:45 I left the ball room and exited the rear entrance of the hotel. I got into the back seat of the limo and fired up the lap top that was waiting on the seat. Once I had connected to the hotel's Wi-Fi, I sent the PLAY DVD text message to Dave.

Sitting in the limo, I watched as a video camera located in the media control room, streamed images onto my screen in real time. My only purpose for tonight's party was to show this video. After all the time and money I had spent to make this a reality. I was anxious to see its impact.

---------- THE DVD ----------

It opened with an empty champagne flute ringing a single note as a silver knife lightly tapped it sides. "Attention, if I could have all of your attention for a moment." My voiced flowed out through the room's sound system. After a brief pause, my voice over continued. "I had to step out of the room for a moment, but that's not a concern because I have left my virtual self to provide this tribute to my beautiful wife Susan."

I watched as everyone took their seats and stared up at the nearest screen.

"As you all know 15-years ago today Susan took me as her husband and I took her as my wife. At the time I thought I was the luckiest man alive, I suspect you all still see me that way." As my voice over continues images of the first 14-years of our marriage appear and melt into view. "In the first 14-years Susan helped me to become a better man and better husband. Together we learned what made the other sad and what we could do to make the other laugh. In better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, Susan was there for me. Forsaking all others she was my perfect complement, my partner, my best friend and my lover."

Besides her love, during those first 14-years she gave many gifts but the two I have always treasured the most are these." As I continue speaking the screens fill with the matching images. "The first of these is my wedding ring. Since she stood at the altar and placed it on my finger I have proudly worn it every day. I will admit to you, that with all the travel my work has required there were many lonely nights and on more than one occasion I was offered the solace of a temporary companion. But I always refused, not because my needs are less than any other man's, but because that ring was a constant reminder that everything I needed was waiting for me when I got back home."

"The second most memorable gift was a Mount Blanc pen. Susan gave it to me on our 10th Anniversary. She told me she had ordered it a year earlier and that it was a one of a kind. If you look closely you will see that instead of a single floating diamond that usually sits atop this model, there are two stones suspended in such a way that they appear to face each other. My birthstone is bloodstone and it is the one that sits on top. The emerald below it is Susan's birthstone. I loved this pen the first time I saw it. I loved it for its uniqueness but more importantly because of the love that went into designing it and getting it made. In the last 5-years, I can honestly say, that every time I have used this pen, I have thought of the woman who gave it to me and how much she means to me?"

Once again the giant LCD screens show a champagne flute, but this time it is being filled with champagne. As fingers grip the stem and start lifting it out of view my disembodied voice asks everyone, "Join me in toasting my wife Susan who showed me what love can be." The screens show the empty glass being lowered back to the table.

"I have just shared with you my special memories from the first 14-years of my marriage to Susan. But this is our 15th Anniversary and I must tell you, that this has been the most amazing year of all. This year Susan gave me two more gifts that I will never forget and I would like to share them with you now."

"The first was the gift of wonder and surprise. You see it was just a few months ago that she explained to me why oral sex had gone from being a frequent part of our play to a semi-annual event. After 14-years of marriage she had surprised me with how little I really knew about her."

"The second gift she gave me this year was this." An old style Viking helmet appears on the screen. "You see, this year my loving wife gave me a set of horns to wear. As you can all see they were big and heavy." Watching the crowd at this point I could see that the older men suddenly took more interest, but the majority still didn't get it.

"After giving this a great deal of thought, I have decided that these are just too heavy for me wear so," In the ball room every one watched the monitors as the horns were sawn off one at a time. Finally, the monitors show only the disfigured helmet.

"Everyone here has been a good friend to Susan and me. Over the years we have all shared many happy moments. To my wife Susan who I loved with all of my heart and all of you, it is my hope that your life will be filled with happiness, that your constant companion will be contentment. Susan to you and to all our friends I say with a sad heart, Via Con Dios."

As the screens fade to black, I watch a solitary figure stand up and move towards Susan. I see him speaking and after she confirms her identity, I see him withdraw from his pocket two plastic bags which he places in front of her. The first one contains the remains of a destroyed Mount Blanc pen. I watch as she holds up the second bag trying to understand what it is. From her reaction I can tell the instant she recognizes that the 4 separate pieces are what is left of my wedding band. I smile at the thought, that no one had noticed it missing from my hand. Finally, the man draws an envelope from his pocket and informs her she is officially served. As I continue to watch the man quickly turns and heads toward the exit. I see Susan following behind screaming at him, when the monitors come back to life.

My final narration was brief and delivered in stark somber tones, "What would you do, if this was your wife or your husband?" and with that, the raw images of Justin Holmes and Susan were presented for all to see. Focusing on Susan's reactions, I think she finally realized how much I appreciated her anniversary gift, because when she saw the close up of her gaping asshole oozing Justin's cum, she collapsed to the floor.

The party was all I had hoped, so I shut down the laptop. Thirty minutes later I tipped the driver and walked into "Terminal C" of DFW Airport. An hour and three scotches later, I was in the air.

---------- Epilogue ----------

I spent the 3-months immediately following the party in the Florida Keys, where I rented a shack on the beach and spent every day in or under the water. Before I left, one of the things I knew for a certainty, was that there are many women who consider a good blow job a wonderfully fun way to play.

The 4 months I spent on the QE2 were spectacular and worth every penny. Seeing the world through television is one thing, but it doesn't compare to seeing the actual wonders with your own eyes. As for companions, an unusually large percentage of passengers turned out to be fascinating people and they made every meal worth participating in. And although there were few single women on board, there were even fewer single men. So I never lacked for companionship at dinner or on the dance floor or when I went ashore.

During these 7 months my divorce was finalized and because I followed excellent legal and financial advice, I managed to retain the majority of our previously joint assets. Of course the photos and video helped too. There were two surprises during this time. The first was that Stella and Justin settle my lawsuit for $500,000. The second occurred 5-months after the party. My lawyer contacted me and informed me that Susan would agree to all of our terms, but only if she could speak to me face-to-face. The counselor recommended very strongly that I do so. I countered by saying I wouldn't meet with her, but that I would agree to a 15-minute video call. So on the appointed day, I found myself in the ships video conference room, looking at Susan for the last time.

After she said hello, I deliberately started the timer of my watch and said, "It's your 15 minutes." She spent 10 of them explaining how it was a big mistake, how she had been stupid and that it would never happen again. I just stared at the screen remembering how her lips tasted, how she loved to be kissed, and how much I missed her. She spent the rest of her time, begging me to come back home. When her time was up, I asked my lawyer if I had met my obligation. He exchanged looks with Susan's lawyer and then said "Yes, John you have." "Good." I said. Then I looked directly at the camera, knowing that to Susan it would appear as if I was looking directly at her. "Susan I gave you everything I had to give and I thought you had given me all of yourself in return. But once I saw you with your lover, I knew that I had never had more than a small part of you. Seeing you together I understood that you had shared more of yourself with him than you ever had with me."

After a slight pause I continued, "Susan, my entire professional career has involved negotiating agreements and one reason for my success is that I have always tried to create an equitable agreement. I always sought contractual relationships where both sides received as much value as they gave. Knowing this, do you believe I could ever accept a relationship where I gave everything and my partner gave less than the same?" She looked down, and shook her head. Standing up from the chair, I said "Neither do I Susan."

Looking up quickly she asked "John, why did you stop calling me Sue after all these years?" With a sigh I sat back down so that once again she could see my face, "Sue was the wife that waited for me to return home, she was the one who took joy in being my companion and my lover. Susan was the whore who got picked up by strangers and fucked in the ass." As I saw tears start to roll down her cheek, I stood up saying "Good bye Susan, and Sue via con dios, via con dios my love."