The French Exit

Sal edged as close as he was comfortable, he was concealed in the bushes in the dark of the evening. The pavilion wasn't lit, but there were ground lights pointing from the outside in, up onto the canvas giving a pleasant, soft light to the people in the pavilion. Those lights made it difficult to see him hiding in the dark behind them. He found a good spot where he could see most of what was going on and got his camera out ready to start taking pictures.

He hadn't looked for his wife or anyone else. He didn't want to until he had the viewfinder of the camera in place. That'd make it easier to see what was happening. Sal didn't want to react or be in shock or any other emotion. This was just a job for him, this was work. He wanted to capture what was going on in as much detail as he possibly could. He brought the camera up made sure that it was set right and there was no risk of a flash going off or any noise and then began to zoom in and take pictures.

There were fifty to sixty people there. About a similar number of men to women and ages ranging from early twenties to late fifties. A number of people were asleep, curled up in each other's arms. They got photographed. There were staff replenishing the food and waiting the bar. They got photographed. There were men pleasing other men, women pleasing other women. They got photographed. But the highest frequency were women and men together. Usually in little groups of interlinked couples or women pleasuring more than one man at once. They got photographed.

He found his wife, took a couple of photographs of her, and continued on. He'd come back and get more of her, but he wanted to capture the whole scene first. He had some distance shots and some wide-angle shots. He then concentrated on getting the groups of people. Trying to make sure he got clear shots of the faces as well as what they were doing with their genitals. He wanted as complete a set of pictures as possible.

His marriage was over. He had the proof he thought he was going to get. The first picture he got of his wife was her sat on Donald's cock whilst sucking another man. Reuben was in shot watching avidly as she enjoyed herself. Sal focussed on her and her group and captured picture after picture for nearly an hour until they finally stopped fucking and lay spent on the ground. Other men had joined, sampled her delights, and then left, leaving their semen behind. Donald had remained a constant and Sal had to admit a small measure of jealousy.

He was big. He could see what Lucienne was talking about. He had the biggest penis that Sal had seen outside of porn and he'd stayed with Alice as she'd pleasured other men. Reuben had played his part, on at least one occasion cleaning her up with his tongue after a nameless man had come over and used her for his pleasure. Sarah wasn't with them; she was curled up asleep around another woman. Her hand possessively on the woman's breast. Sal zoomed in and got as many pictures as he could. He could see the hickies and bruises on her flesh showing her participation in the evening.

When Alice finished and lay down, waiting for Reuben to bring her and Donald a drink, Sal went around the activities of the pavilion. Capturing patiently the activities of the partygoers in as much detail as he could. The pictures would be fine, the resort had set up the lighting well so it was diffused, no glare or bright lights to ruin the pictures. Instead, soft clear light enabling him to get the detail and clarity he was looking for.

As Alice sipped her drink, cuddling into Donald, he took his leave from the scene walking carefully back to the beach. So much for her being distraught, she looked fine to him. She didn't look like she'd been drugged or was being forced. She looked like she was aware of what was going on and at some points, very much enjoying it. He parked the thoughts of her as he concentrated on getting out of there. He wrapped his camera up carefully, he stowed it so it wouldn't get wet then he put his canoe into the ocean and pushed it out. When it was far enough out and the tide at the right moment, he carefully got in and began to paddle out into deeper water.

It was a struggle and it took a lot longer getting out of the beach area and into the open sea than when he'd come in. Once he was a distance out, he got his flashlight and began to turn it off and on again as he rotated around against the dark sea. There were stars in the sky and a moon so it wasn't totally dark, but his visibility was low and he couldn't see the boat. He kept paddling out then taking a few minutes to flash his torch before paddling again.

About the fifth time, he saw an answering flash in the distance. He flashed a few times and then adjusting his course he began to row hard in that direction. It took a good ten minutes before the boat was close enough for him to move carefully up to it. He passed across his camera gear before coming about himself. Lastly the two men hauled in and stowed the canoe.

Sal didn't feel like talking much on the way back. He had a drink of cold water and sat down as the boat took a couple of hours to come back to the port. He tipped Archie generously, over his protests and bade his farewells. He'd paid his driver to wait for him and he woke him up so he could get back to the resort. He dropped Snoopy a quick text so that she knew he was back and everything had gone to plan, he didn't want her to worry. He arranged an early pick up the next day and made his way to bed.

He set an alarm and went for breakfast. He was the first person there and was able to eat without interruption. He went back to his room and quickly packed. He didn't touch any of Alice's stuff, just his own. Once packed, he checked the time and walked out of the resort for good. His Black ring was left on the table. Alice could return it when she checked out. He didn't leave a note or anything, fuck her.

The car took him to the airport. After tipping his driver and thanking him for his help, Sal walked into the air-conditioned building. He found the desk for his airline and began to hassle for a quicker return flight. It cost him, but he was able to leave on a flight before his wife would be returning to their resort. That was his main goal.

With the few hours that he had before his flight, he saved the pictures onto his laptop and into cloud storage. That way regardless of what could happen, he had it covered. He gave Snoopy a quick call and chatted about the end of his marriage. She agreed to book him in with the divorce attorney she'd found for him.

It wasn't how he'd imagined his holiday ending. As he sat in the coffee shop waiting for his flight to be called, he did wonder how it had managed to go so badly wrong.

He'd met her for the first time at a wedding where he was the photographer. He'd been doing the posed shots and found himself drawn to the beautiful blue-eyed, girl with the honey blonde hair. A friend of the bride. She was totally out of his league, he was honest enough to admit that and apart from giving her a smile each time he saw her that day, nothing else happened. He did notice that she had a tall young man, a prosperous young man, that she seemed attached to.

Over the course of that summer, he'd seen her at a few weddings. Smiles changed into conversations and then a date. He'd taken her down to the beach and they'd spent an evening there. He'd guessed that wasn't the kind of date she was used to and he'd been right. She had a lot of fun and he got some good pictures. His camera came with them wherever they went, a gooseberry on their different dates.

He prided himself of taking her places others wouldn't think of and he made sure that he didn't make a move on her. Part of that was a sense of respect for women that came from his upbringing. His mother was a capable woman and with older sisters, he'd learnt to treat the women in his life with real respect or things could get painful quickly.

So, he hadn't put any moves on her. He wanted her to let him know when she was ready. He was calm, patient. Always respectful, always reliable. He was at her door ten minutes before he said he was going to be. He always had a small bouquet of flowers for her mum and he always looked clean and tidy. He didn't take her to fancy restaurants or to expensive places. He took her hiking, to the beach, to the funfair. Different dates from what she normally got. Dates that made her laugh. She wondered each time where they'd go and what they'd be doing.

He wasn't her usual type of guy and from the start she wasn't exactly optimistic about their future together. He came from a solid, working-class background. He didn't have money; his parents didn't go to the country club or play golf with the right people. He hustled and he worked. She could respect his graft and his desire to be a photographer, just as she could see that he didn't fit in to her world.

But he was good looking, although, he was short. He was toned and fit and he dressed well. He didn't embarrass her; his manners were absolutely on point and time spent with him was relaxed and easy. She found herself genuinely liking him and looking forward to her dates with him. She liked the photography side as well. He had a good eye for a picture and he took some great photographs of her. He even sneaked her into a high society wedding as his assistant and she got to hang out with the real movers and shakers in society.

That summer had been fun for them and their relationship had moved more physical. They'd started holding hands and kissing and a week before college re-started, he got to have sex. She'd intended it as a nice way to say thank you for a fun summer. A lovely way to end their relationship. She'd enjoyed him and he'd enjoyed time with her, but with her return to college, it was never going to work. But the sex was great and she didn't want to end it, she wanted a bit more.

He'd worried about her return to college and whether their relationship would survive, but they'd had sex and that had worked far better than he imagined. She hadn't ended things, he'd been kind of expecting her to, but she hadn't. Maybe it was going to work.

It didn't. It ended quite badly. He'd written letters, clever, thoughtful letters. He'd made telephone calls. He'd been patient when she wasn't able to be found or didn't write back. He'd gone up to see her, to catch her by surprise. He'd packed a picnic, done a bit of research on a few nice places to go and he'd taken some time off. When he got to her apartment, she'd not been in. A roommate had looked puzzled at what he was doing there and a bit out of sorts when he asked where she was.

He waited nearby for a few hours and she'd returned, on the arms of another guy. They'd obviously been spending the day together and he walked into her apartment building with the ease of someone who'd been there before. It had been a heart-breaking moment. He'd been afraid this was going to happen. He'd hoped it wouldn't and done what he could in terms of letters and telephone calls to sustain the relationship. Evidently, he'd not done enough. She'd moved on and not bothered to tell him.

Sal was a phlegmatic guy; he knew there was always going to be a chance of this happening and he'd steeled himself as much as he could against it happening. But it still stung like hell when it did. They'd not been together so long that he was falling in love, but he'd started to go down that road and her casual disrespect of his feelings felt insulting. He knew he couldn't compete with some college guy; he was never going to be able to. He didn't have the money; he wasn't here and proximity drives attraction.

As he queued for the bus back, he reflected on the painful lesson and started the healing process. It was better to cut the cancer out of his life early rather than let it grow and perhaps consume him. He'd found out early before he got too committed. He could go out now, knowing he'd behaved. She was out of his life; she'd had her chance and was fooling around behind his back.

He got back home and let the different people around him know as her name came up. He'd get asked what he was doing at the weekend and he'd tell them, they'd ask if Alice was going to be there and he'd let them know about the breakup. The first few times he said it out loud were painful but it got easy quickly. He didn't struggle with offers from other women. They'd heard about the dates that he'd taken Alice on and realised that here was someone who was quite good fun, imaginative and possessing a sense of humour. He was a keeper.

Alice called him a few times; he didn't answer. He didn't see any reason to. She hadn't had the courtesy to tell him he was replaced, why should he let her know that he'd moved on. He did wonder if she was intending to string him along. See him from time to time, but whilst she was away enjoying herself and the freedom that she had from him. Either way, he wasn't going to worry. He'd had a good time with her, he'd enjoyed the dates and he had a few new ones in his repertoire for when he was next embarking on a relationship. It was done. After about a month, the calls stopped and she became a memory.

A year later, at another wedding, he got to meet Alice again. He'd seen her as she arrived with her family. He'd done his set-up shots of the church and he was watching the guests arrive and snapping shots here and there. Alice had walked in with he guessed her family. He sighed; he had a feeling he'd see her at another wedding.

His name had a certain level of recognition and he was getting business based on recommendations. That was great it meant he didn't have to advertise and he was turning down work which was a lovely situation. He was working about every day of the wedding season. He was a photographer with the New York Times during the day and a wedding photographer on the weekends. His apartment was his and he was paying down the loan on it as fast as he could. He'd already made significant inroads into it and was doing well.

His boxing was good, he was Division two and his coach reckoned he was good enough to go further, take a step up into the semi-professional league. He wasn't sure that he wanted to do that, but he was still enjoying fighting and whilst he enjoyed it, he was going to continue doing it. His love life was a pleasant mixture of short-term relationships. He wasn't looking for anything serious, he was enjoying the variety that a large city like New York offered a young man.

Now seeing Alice, he felt a stab of frustration. She was there as part of a family group. There was a man with her, clearly her date. It wasn't the man he'd seen her with that day at college, it was someone different. She looked good, wearing a blue dress that brought out the colour of her eyes and contrasted beautifully with her hair. He didn't capture them; he ducked his head in acknowledgement and looked past them to the next people wending their way through the churchyard towards them.

He lifted his camera and moved towards them to make sure he didn't get caught in conversation. He saw a slight scowl on Alice's face as she recognised him. Screw her. He had a job to do and he was busy. He ignored them as they sat down in the church and he carried on. He did take a photograph of her entire family at the end of the wedding when the bride and groom were taking their posed shots. They were one of the friendship groups that formed up, got ushered into position. Their photograph was taken and they moved away as the next group of friends came up.

He was busy, it was a long day. He'd go to the reception with this particular wedding and take shots of the arrival of the wedding party, the greeting of the guests, the speeches, the cake cutting and the party afterwards. It'd be after midnight that he'd get to finish. He didn't see realistically how he was going to avoid Alice for all that time. It'd be too easy for her to track him down and corner him.

At the reception as he was shooting the receiving line of guests, he saw them again and this time Alice's mum stepped out of the line to come and speak to him.

'Good afternoon, Sal. Its lovely to see you again, I hope you and your family are all well.'

'Good afternoon, Mrs Tyler. I'm sorry not to have said hello earlier. It feels wrong seeing you and not giving you flowers.'

She laughed at that.

'You're the only one of Alice's boyfriends that was courteous enough to do that. I quite miss it. I do recommend that you do it for the mothers of the other ladies that you date. It does make a very good impression.'

'Thank you, Ma'am. I always enjoyed coming to your house.'

Alice walked over to join them, as she did, her mother noticed her and made her apologies.

'Hi Sal.'

'Hey. How're you? You're looking beautiful. That gown picks out your eyes.'

'Thank you.' She paused, looking down at the floor.

'I am sorry. I didn't figure it out straight away, but then I was talking to Mel and she made some comment about you. I asked her how she knew that and she told me she'd met you when you came down to see me. It clicked and I realised what I'd done.'

Sal shrugged. 'We're young. It hurt at the time, not just that you were playing around, but that you didn't think enough of me to end it.'

'I'm sorry. I really liked you, I still really like you. You're so different from all the other men I know.' She waved her hand loosely in the direction of her date who was busy talking with her father.

'You gave me the best dates; you always were so well mannered. My mum adored you.'

'I know, I don't quite fit in your world.'

'Sal, that sounds so snobby when you say it.'

He shrugged. 'It's the truth. I was never going to work out. I was kidding myself with you. I was punching way above my weight and sooner or later I was going to get knocked down to earth. The way that it happened was what it was, but the inevitability of it. Well, that was a foregone conclusion.'

'Why? Because girls like me don't end up with boys like you?'

'Exactly that. Our backgrounds are too different, our aspirations, our home lives, our ambitions. On every level I see you as out of my league. I got lucky, for a short while I lived my dream and then it came crashing down. Truth is I was lucky it happened before I got too emotionally invested and I got really hurt.'

Alice was shaking her head at his words. 'You're not being fair to either yourself or to me. I wasn't with you out of sympathy but because I genuinely enjoyed your company and liked being around you. Those clowns.' She gestured at her date who seeing her looking at him gave her a small wave.

'I date them once or twice. They have money, they have ambition, they have good grades and will end up with good jobs. But there's nothing to them. They're fake. I like the real that you brought into my life. I liked dates on the beach, going to the funfair. Not the extravagant stuff, but you making me laugh, making me feel special.'

'I'm sorry, I was too immature to know what to do with a man like you. I liked you, but I saw you being like the others, something I could use when I wanted. I'm sorry, it says more about me than it does about you.'

Sal stayed quiet. She'd shown real remorse and maturity in the way that she'd spoken to him.

'Look, I need to get on. I appreciate you coming over and saying what you said.'

'Sal, I am sorry. You're a good man.'

She gave him a kiss on his cheek and walked back to her table. Sal shook his head to clear it and then got back on with shooting the wedding. She came over when her family were leaving and gave him a kiss and another gentle 'I'm sorry.' Murmured in his ear.

Life went on. He saw her at another wedding or was it two that summer and they spoke, laughed and she stopped apologising to him. He found himself looking at her again, seeing the woman that he'd been falling in love with. Not the cheating or the deception, but someone who he had feelings for. She had a different guy on her arm each time. He didn't ask her for a date, he wasn't either that brave or that daft. He thought about it, but he knew it'd be a silly thing to do. She was still at college and he knew that it wouldn't work, they just weren't meant to be together.