The Race: Fallout

He decided to leave responses active, and replied himself.

It seems that a few people decided to preach reconciliation but forgot in their haste to unfriend me as requested. I understand you had meant to but couldn't find the right button to press. I have now taken care of that for you.

Once again, there will be NO RECONCILIATION, there will be NO SECOND CHANCES, there was NO MISUNDERSTANDING.

Jason approached him, beer in hand.

"To sluts when they aren't your wife," he said. Geoff laughed, a pained and joyless laugh.

"Fuck sluts, but not in the good way." Geoff replied.

The day drew on, and Geoff considered that Mary's plane would have landed by now. He shed a tear for his lost love and his lost marriage. "Hey kids, who wants to go out and play at the park and get pizza for dinner?"

With three very eager affirmatives, Geoff bundled his brood into the car, took a quick look around and then departed the house. There was no way he wanted to be here if Mary arrived, either with her parents or without. That confrontation could wait until another day.

It was less than an hour later that Robert, Debbie and Mary arrived at the house. Mary had screamed at them to take her home once she found that Geoff wasn't there to pick her up. He hadn't been answering his phone for the last few hours, and even when he had in the morning, he'd been instantly dismissive of all the calls. Then that Facebook page, and setting his status to single. Mary was distraught. It had all been a terrible mistake she'd made, she couldn't really blame the alcohol or drugs, even though they helped lower her inhibitions, nor could she really blame the peer pressure she had felt, she was the oldest in the group, 36 years old. She shouldn't have folded so easily.

But she did, she had. She was willing to take full responsibility, to take any metaphorical lumps that Geoff might want to dish out, but she was damned if she was going to give up on the marriage that easily.

She did love Geoff, she loved her family. She was stupid and seflish, of that she had no doubt. But Geoff needed to let her make it up to him, to them all.

Robert hadn't wanted to bring her home, but when she hadn't stopped yelling, and crying, and when Debbie started in on it, he just gave up.

"If I was Geoff, I'd do the same thing, you both know that, right? I am ashamed to be your father, Mary. Utterly ashamed."

When they pulled up to the house, it appeared quiet. Mary's car was parked on the road, and the doors were all closed and blinds drawn. The three got out and approached. Debbie and Robert slowly, Mary by running as fast as she could.

She never noticed Jason sitting on the small garden seat off to the side.

"You won't get in with those keys," he said. Mary jumped, startled.

"Jason, what, what are you doing here?"

"Changed the locks for Geoff. He has the only keys. I thought you'd turn up here, so I came back. They're all out, Geoff didn't want to be here when you arrived, because he knew that he couldn't trust you to stay away like he asked, like a decent person would do in the circumstances."

Debbie and Robert had moved up behind their daughter, Jason nodded to them, "Good afternoon Mr and Mrs Henry, how are you on this sad day?"

"Hello Jason," Robert started, before either of the women could get a banshee's yell in, "Where is Geoff and the kids?"

"Not here, they've gone out. Geoff did ask Mary here not to come to the house, and given all that she's put him through, I would have thought the least she could do would be to honour that."

Jason rose, and approached. Robert moved to intercept, curling his right hand into a fist, but not raising his hand. He had to be wary. He didn't expect trouble, but that was when it was bound to find you.

Jason stopped, and raised his hands in peace. "I'm not going to fight you Mr Henry, you'd kick my ass," he laughed, "but she," he pointed to Mary, "broke my brother's heart. Stomped on it. Please, if there is any decency here, take her away, take her away for at least a couple of weeks. Do the right thing."

Mary cast her head down, and turned to her parents. Her mother nodded and started moving her to the car.

"Have a good evening Jason," said Robert sadly.

"You too, Mr Henry, if possible."

Geoff and the kids returned later that night. He turned his phone back on, to find too many missed calls and text messages to care about them anymore. He skimmed through a few of them, before setting his phone to silent, and tossing it onto the table once more. He was tired, alone, and done. He couldn't believe how his marriage had blown up so spectacularly and so quickly. He never would have expected anything of the kind, not from his Mary.

The days wore on. And the fallout continued.

Nobody knew who put that fateful punishment in the jar, at least nobody was owning up to it. And in the cold hard light of being sober and cognizant of their actions, none of the women could believe that they had actually thought that sending the evidence to Geoff was a good idea. What's the saying, 'A person is smart, but people are dumb." Or something like that. The whole concept of the Sexual Olympics itself had been fraught and incredibly stupid, irresponsible and disrepectful to their partners.

But their admission of wrongdoing was only going to go so far. It didn't matter, they should have known better, and what was done was done.

None of the attached women who went on the party weekend survived unscathed. Amanda and Brian's wedding was off. At least for the foreseeable future. Brian had pause for concern, and none of Amanda's words had stopped his doubts about her fidelity.

One of the married women, Simone, was now facing the same kind of situation that Mary was. She had photos and videos on her phone, of engaging in a competition during the Sexual Olympics. One of the other party goers had taken the footage whilst Simone was pegging a fat, older man with an enormous strapon.

Two of the other marriages were on life support, and one boyfriend, that of Abigail, the "Dick Sucking Machine" as she herself put it, decided that he could now fuck her sister, which didn't go down well, and they had broken up.

Mary was contrite, but still fought for her marriage. But time was not wearing down Geoff. If anything it was hardening him. Eventually, after months passed, she realised that he was not going to forgive her. She had been seeing the children, he had allowed that when he had calmed down, and when she had stopped breaking into hysterics at the drop of a hat, but that was as far as his compromise and compassion went.

Geoff and Mary were hurtling inexorably towards a divorce, and nothing she, or anyone else could do would slow it down. Geoff wouldn't even speak to her, and ignored her apologies. And any time someone spoke of reconciliation, he walked away, or hung up. Soon the message was received loud and clear by all who would play at cupid.

To make matters worse, when she would text him to some grovelling message, he would respond with one of the more graphic pictures.

When Brian finally walked away from Amanda permanently, and Simone and Meghan also lost their marriages due to the party, to couple with Abigail's and Mary's situation, it had turned out to be a disastrous weekend away.

Eventually, time can heal all wounds. And once the divorce was granted, after a year of separation, Geoff made a final show of deleting all the photos and videos that he had been holding. Mary did manage to get a decent payout, and eventually she attained primary custody of the children, something that Geoff wasn't unhappy about, she was an excellent mother and had far more time on her hands than he did. Her final sum could have also been more. But with Geoff threatened to report the incident to the police for public indecency, and also claimed the drug use could bear a factor in any custodial hearing. Mary backed down and took her the primary custody and her punishment, the greatest of which was the loss of her once loving husband and beautiful family life.

"I forgive you, Mary," he had said, with a quiet resignation. She brightened at his words, but only momentarily as he continued, "If only for our children. They don't deserve to see these photos, whether by accident or design. I forgive you, but never again will we be friends. We are acquaintances now, nothing more."