The Marigold Mark

She shut her phone off with finality.

"That the list?" Jack asked, pointing. She shifted the paper to him. Jack snapped a picture with his phone and sent it over to Sarge.

He pocketed his phone and carried dinner out to the dining room. He served the kids first, then when serving Mary, flicked some onto her shirt. To a casual observer, it looked accidental, but he winked at Mary before he did so, making a big ado about getting her a new shirt so it didn't stain. She followed him to the threshold of his bedroom. He pulled an oversized thick rugby shirt from his armoire and offered it to her. "Should cover up a missing wet bra," he said. "You can use my bathroom to change."

Through the closed door he asked, "How'd the call or text go?"

"I texted him that we'll talk tomorrow."

Mary took a deep sniff of the musk clinging to the shirt, wondering why Jack needed to smell so distractingly good. She opened the door and Jack leaned against the jamb taking her in.

"You want morale support or kid distraction?"

He didn't move to allow Mary past. "Kid distraction."

"You got it. By the way, I don't know if Sean told you enough, but you are one very sexy woman."

Mary bowed her head in thanks.

Jack turned to let her pass. She left her bra and shirt folded on his vanity.

Dinner was lively; the kids talked about schoolmates, Jack innocently suggested a trip to the zoo tomorrow, providing a reason for Mary to leave them when she went to confront her husband.

Jack answered his phone and met Sarge at the front door for the large container of belongings for overnight. Mary slipped out to confirm everything was accounted for and blushed as she saw her vibrator in a shoebox with her toothbrush. She slammed the lid and Sarge winked at her. Jack looked between them suspiciously.

"Thought you said 'unusual' boss. Seemed pretty typical to me."

"Thank you, Sarge," Jack said clearly dismissing him.

Mary mouthed a thank you as Sarge backed to the door.

"Anything else, Boss-man?"

"Not tonight, Sarge," Jack said tersely between clenched teeth. Whatever was going on between them was upsetting Jack. Mary let them be and returned to the dining room with the kids.

Jack slipped outside to address Sarge privately. At the dinner table Ollie was showing Jenny how to fold the napkins into tiny hats.

Sam and Kara were telling knock-knock jokes and were stuck on their favorite banana one. When Sam pinched Kara, she finally said, "Orange you glad I didn't say banana," resolving the joke.

Mary held out Snuggly Bunny and Dear Deer and her daughters ran to grab them from her. She hoped they'd never grow out of that stage of wanting a figurative security blanket. She could use one herself.

Ollie whispered something into Jack's ear as he was showing everyone to their rooms, and Jack chuckled. "I know buddy. Only the girls are bunking together."

Sam was next to Ollie, the girls next to Sam, and Mary was down the hall across from Jack with her own private bathroom.

She showered and contemplated the vibrator as she brushed her teeth. Why the hell not? she thought to herself snuggling under the covers.

She was close to her climax when she heard the door creak open.

"What's up kiddo?" she asked by rote, shutting off the vibrator.

"I knocked and you didn't answer. Please don't stop on my account," Jack's voice scratched from the door, obviously aware of what she'd been busy doing.

"Oh no, I'm sorry. That was disrespectful of me."

"A beautiful woman orgasming in my house is never a disrespectful thing," Jack countered. "I just came to let you know the kids all seemed settled in and to make sure you were as well. I have my answer. I'll see you for breakfast. Blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes good for the kids?"

"Yes, Jack. The kids will love it. I don't think I've thanked you, nor apologized for interrupting your night and weekend."

Jack slipped into the room, shutting the door behind him. "Then thank me by letting me watch you play with yourself."

Mary's heart thumped loudly. She could count on two hands the number of times she'd ever climaxed in front of someone, all of them with her husband under the sheets in the dark.

"Take the covers off, Mary," he commanded.

She did as instructed before her brain caught up to her.

"Good girl. Now, place your vibrator on your clit."

The glow of the nightlight in the bathroom and hallway light seeping under the crack of the door illuminated the room enough that she saw Jack advance towards her a step. "Now, Mary."

Again, her brain forgot to function. She flicked it on and placed it right where she liked it. As she got close, Jack advanced again until he was standing over her. "Look at me. When you come, I want you looking at me."

Mary merely nodded, staring up at him. She came moments later.

"Rub the vibrator through your juices, Mary."

Once she had, he held out his hand and took the vibrator from her, licking it clean. "You taste amazing. Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning."

The click of the doorway closing finally broke Mary's trance. What had she done? Was that what hypnotism felt like? Jack had her vibrator! She had masturbated for a relative stranger. She had moved into a stranger's house. Sleep did not come. She tossed and turned replaying the strange conversation with Sarge, and then the earlier interactions from before she caught her husband in flagrante. Fuck this was bad. After the zoo, she'd take the kids to a hotel.

Around six, with the early rays creeping in through the windows, she caught about an hour of sleep before three kids pounced on her bed.

"Mom, there are pancakes!"

"Mom, the beds are so soft, can we stay here forever?"

"Mom, the shower here is so much fancier than at home."

The comments came en masse, Mary chuckling at their obvious glee.

As she propped herself up against her pillows, Jack entered carrying a plate of pancakes. He produced a bed tray and served her. "I worried you might not have slept well after yesterday, figured I could afford you another couple hours of sleep, but I could only distract for so long. Kids, we'll be heading out in about ninety minutes to the zoo."

He left her in the room with her kids, where she bit eyeholes into her pancake and held it up against her face like a mask earning youthful giggles.

They took turns telling her what they hoped to see at the zoo. At least Jenny and Sam would be happy. Mary let Kara know that woolly mammoths had been extinct for a very long time. That devolved into lessons on fossilization and taxidermy and Jack finally knocked on the door letting the kids know they should get dressed.

Jack handed Mary a key and reminded her that his house was hers as long as she needed.

Her own house, the three-bedroom ranch, looked smaller than she remembered. The paint color she and Sean had compromised on by going with his selection mocked her. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Sean practically tackled her at the door pulling her into a suffocating hug. Then he looked behind her.

"Where are the kids?"

"At the zoo with a classmate and his family."

Sean released her and demanded, "Who the fuck was Sarge and those goons he brought with him?"

Mary brushed past him and sat in the chair that faced the couch, giving Sean only the option to find a seat on the couch as he followed her across the room. "They were just some employees of my new friend. Do you want to talk about what you've been doing with Gabriella or just talk around it?"

"I'm sorry, Mary. It was meaningless with Gabriella. You know you've always been the only woman for me."

"It didn't sound like it was meaningless to your whore."

"Don't call h—"

Mary cut him off with a raised eyebrow.

"You're right. You can call her whatever you want. I don't want to be with her. I never wanted to be with her, I just told her that I did so she'd..." Sean trailed off.

"So she'd what, Sean? Keep sleeping with you? Let you get away with being an adulterous man? Or was it something else?"

Sean bowed his head in disgrace. "That's about it," he mumbled to the floor.

"Well, I won't get in your way anymore. I'll find a lawyer first thing Monday and begin the divorce paperwork."

Sean snapped his head up to Mary's, pain in his eyes. "I don't want a divorce. I want you and the kids back home. I want a second chance."

"Sorry. You don't get a list of demands here. You decided you wanted a divorce when you stuck your dick in another woman. By the way, is she clean? Do I need to test myself for diseases?"

Sean shrugged, looking miserable. "I never thought to ask."

"The kids and I have temporary accommodations, so you can stay here. I'll bring them by after school Monday through Friday so you can see them when you get home. After that we'll figure out how often they come by. I suggest you find a lawyer as well. I've never been a vindictive woman, but I'm not walking away from this without compensation for investing the last twenty-one years in you instead of myself."

"I'll fight you for the kids."

"I expect nothing less. Now make yourself scarce while I pack some things for the kids for the week."

Mary stood and busied herself gathering backpacks, clothes for all temperatures for the kids, a few activities that avoided electronic screens and the half-finished book on Sam's nightstand. When she got to her room to pack her belongings, Sean stood in the doorway.

"Mary, don't do this, don't treat me like I'm the only person who's ever done something regrettable." He drew himself to his full height. "Susie said she saw you getting cozy on the side patio last week. How long have you been sleeping around?"

"Ha!" Mary laughed. The neighborhood busybody. "You mean the guy who pointed out his son's interest in our daughter? Susie needs her eyes examined if her definition of getting cozy is talking quietly so the kids don't overhear us."

She hoped Susie hadn't informed him of the almost-kiss. Sean's sullen face indicated Susie had not witnessed that. "Now that that's settled, please allow me to gather my belongings."

Sean grabbed her face and planted a kiss on her mouth. Mary tried to push him off, but even though he was not a buff man, she was slighter, and he quickly overpowered her. He threw her onto the bed, and she scrambled to get away, but he grabbed her by the ankle. "This isn't the end for us," Sean pleaded, pulling down his threadbare sweats and exposing his penis.

Mary kicked at him meeting air and he yanked her closer. "Get off me, you bastard."

Sean yanked at the waist of her yoga pants and pulled them down enough to expose the top of her mons. Mary batted at his hands and Sean tugged again. "You're my wife."

"Not anymore. Get your hands off me." Sean grabbed her wrists in one hand and got between her legs yanking the waist down until the seam began to tear and he finally exposed her pussy.

He had his dick out a second later.

Mary screwed her eyes shut hoping it would be over quickly, it usually was.

A booming voice filled the room. "Is there a problem here?"

Mary opened her eyes to see Sarge filling the door.

"Not until you broke into my house," Sean screamed.

"Sorry, miss. Boss-man told me to stay close by in case you needed me. If you're okay, I'll see myself out." Sarge wasn't so gentlemanly to avoid looking at her exposed vagina and leered.

"He's trying to rape me!" Mary yelled.

"I can't rape you if you're my wife," Sean insisted as two large hands picked him up by the shoulders and pinned him face-first against the wall.

"She's my wife," Sean screamed over and over into the wall while Sarge politely asked if Mary needed help with anything else.

She packed a bag and changed her torn pants in her closet, grabbed her phone charger and laptop from the nightstand and told Sarge that she just needed to bring all four duffels to the car, and she'd be done.

Sarge kept holding Sean against the wall while he screamed and raged.

"I'm all set now, Sarge," Mary told him with the last bag slung over her shoulder.

"I'll be right behind you, miss. Go on and get out of here."

Mary nodded at Sarge and backed out of the garage. When she got halfway to Jack's house, she began to shake. She pulled over to the side of the road heaving in deep breaths. When that didn't work, she opened her car door and hurled onto the pavement. A black SUV pulled up behind her. Sarge got out and walked up to her door avoiding the puddle of vomit.

"I owe you big time, Sarge. I don't know if I can thank you enough for your intervention."

"Don't worry about it, miss. I'm good at this stuff."

"My name is Mary. You can call me by my name."

Sarge scratched the back of his head. "I'll have to check with Boss-man on that. You need me to drive you? I can have Jorge get your car."

"No, I think I'm good now. Hey, what's your deal? Are you like Jack's personal assistant?"

"I do what Boss-man can't."

"What does that mean?"

"I do what Boss-man can't do himself."

"Got it," she said, not getting it at all.

"I'll follow you back to the manor," Sarge said walking back to his car.

Sure enough, the black SUV followed her all the way to the driveway and then disappeared once she parked.

She set the duffels in each of the kids' rooms and sat on her own bed rehearsing what to tell the kids.

She turned on her phone and dismissed every notification that had Sean's name attached.

She was left with a text from Jack that suggested she help herself to whatever drink she wanted, he'd heard from Sarge what had happened - or almost happened. Attached was a picture of the four kids posing with a zookeeper and very large snake. They were all smiling.

A drink would help with her next conversation, she reasoned and downed a heavy pour before dialing her parents.

"Mary, is that you, I don't have my glasses," her mom yelled into the phone.

"Yes Mom, you don't need your glasses to talk on the phone."

"Are you colluding with your father again?"

"I'm doing nothing of the sort. Are you home, can you and Dad both go on speakerphone?"

"Bobby, pick up the house phone; it's Mary!" her mom yelled into the phone. Mary slapped her forehead. For people in their sixties, basic technology was really confusing to them.

"Mom, the house phone won't work, since I called you on your cell phone." It was like talking to a brick wall.

"Mary, your father says he's getting a dial tone. These phones are finicky lately. We'll call you right back."

Mary's oldest brother, Ben, texted her two minutes later that their parents were trying to call her. Mary's other brother, Matt, texted her two minutes after that. Mary waited for the text from her sister, Abby, which came right on schedule. Her phone finally rang shortly after that.

"Did you change your number?" her father asked when she picked up. She assured him it was the same one she'd had for almost twenty years and then took a deep breath.

"So, I have some news to tell you both."

"You're pregnant again!" her mom exclaimed.

"No Mom, I'm not pregnant. Actually, Sean and I are getting a divorce."

The vacuum of space was louder than the other end of the phone.

"No." It was her mother who spoke first.

"This isn't up for a debate. I'm letting you know as a courtesy."

"We won't allow it," her father spoke with simmering rage.

"Have you tried counseling?" her mother suggested a modicum more helpfully.

"That wouldn't change the fact that he cheated on me."

"Oh sweetie, I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"You're sure he didn't mean to stick his dick in his co-worker's cunt on several occasions?"

Her mother gasped. Not at what Sean had done but at her coarse language.

"That's quite enough out of you. I won't tolerate you making this grievous mistake nor speaking to your mother like that. You follow through with either and we write you and your kids out of the will."

"Not a problem. I wasn't counting on a penny from you anyways. I'll send you my new mailing address when I'm settled. You can send your religious propaganda to the old house until then. Sean can figure out how best to burn it himself."

Mary hung up before they could chastise her further. She threw back another very large glass of the scotch.

She snapped a picture of the label so she could replace it. Her internet search told her the bottle cost over a grand, and she carefully placed it back in the cabinet.

It had been years since Mary didn't have chores or kids' activities or any of the myriad things that consumed any chance at leisure. She felt listless. Wandering the house felt intrusive so she donned a light jacket and began to scout the bucolic backyard. A small path wound its way back from the corner of the yard through mature pines, oaks, ashes and maples. Part way down the path, Sarge appeared ahead of her holding out an orange vest.

"Never can be too careful out in the woods," he said, helping her into the vest. "The land is private, but hunters have been known to stray if their prey does. Wouldn't want you mistaken for a target, miss."

"Where did you come from?" Mary asked, linking her arm with the offered one from Sarge. Realizing how rude she sounded, she quickly added, "I mean just now. You came from the other direction."

"Boss-man lets us hang at the little cabin when we're not actively working. The path'll take us there."

"How many people does Jack employ? Seems like a lot for someone semi-retired."

"I'm not allowed to talk about work stuff with you."

Miffed, Mary said, "Too much jargon for a simple-minded stay-at-home mom? I have a college degree you know."

"Boss-man says work-stuff is off limits for you. He says he's protecting you. And his word is final."

The more Mary talked to Sarge, the more she worried that Jack was into something very illegal, like he was a mafia boss or something.

Sarge led her to the cabin and knocked. A man unlocked the door and they entered. The cabin consisted of a wood burning stove, a microwave, hot plate, sink and a bedroom with a hastily-made bed that covered most of the square footage. The rest of the cabin was taken up by five folding chairs and a poker table. The man who introduced himself as Jorge offered her a swig of his whiskey. She recognized the bottle as about as cheap as one could find. She took a swig and the man named John opened up a chair for her, bumping her knees with it so she sat. She sat between the last man, Joe, and Sarge. Of the three newly met men, Jorge was the friendliest. He offered to deal her in, and she refused on account of not knowing the game and worrying about the cost of a lawyer.

Joe seemed preoccupied, and she learned why when he pressed a hand to his ear and informed her the kids were back. Sarge escorted her back to the house and told her where she could find vests in the house if she ever wanted to visit again.

Three sets of arms wrapped around her midriff, all clamoring to share the best of their adventures with her. Finally, Jenny asked when they were going home.

Mary asked her kids to follow her into the parlor. Jack slid closed the pocket doors for privacy and she told them the abridged and child-friendly version of events that would keep them at Jack's for a little while. She'd need to figure out with Jack if his hospitality extended further or she needed a hotel by tomorrow night.

There were tears all around, but her kids all left to play with Ollie with a semblance of grins on each of their faces after they'd talked through their fears and concerns.

Mary found Jack busying himself in the kitchen. He was making tacos for dinner.

"Jack, I can't begin to thank you enough for your hospitality. You have gone way above and beyond the call of duty on my behalf and opened your home to me and my kids. I can't believe I'm about to ask this, but can we stay for a few more days, while I figure out my next steps? Once I get a lawyer, I'll have a better sense of things."