The Video Blowjob

"No we didn't," she snapped sarcastically. "That is all you. I just said okay to keep the peace, because I get sick of arguing."

"You know how I feel about that, Chelse. I want our kids to have all the things I never had. We agreed to wait until we owned our own home, had money in the bank."

"At the rate we are going, we will never be able to have a family."

"After seeing that video, that's probably a good thing. At least we won't have a custody battle in our divorce."

"No," she sneered. "We just can't afford a divorce."

I opened a bottle of wine and poured us both glasses. "How are we going to do it then?'

"Why does anyone have to move? Look, you can't afford to live somewhere else either. Two sets of bills, it doesn't make sense. We could both stay here, I'll move into the second bedroom, you can have the master. We could take our time, talk, see if we can make it work. If not, nothing is lost."

"I don't like you at the moment, Chelsea. We walk around staring angrily at each other, you don't like being around me any more than I like being around you. God, we can't even be civil to each other."

"We could be if you just tried. We have two years left on this lease, couldn't we just try?"

"Okay, Chelsea, let's talk about how we could get through this. What am I supposed to do when you bring Clark here for some rumpy-pumpy? Am I supposed to just pretend I don't care? Turn the other cheek and take it?"

"Don't be daft. Clark was finished last week."

"What about the video?"

"I don't understand that, I told him last week it was over, that I wasn't going to see him ever again. He agreed, but perhaps he got angry, and sent that out of spite. I don't understand it."

"I'm not staying here to watch you shagging a long line of blokes."

"I'm not shagging anybody. I am suggesting we live as flat mates if you like, while we try to see if there is any possibility of making this work."

"I don't know, Chelse, Don't you understand? I'm angry. I hate you at the moment. I don't see how we can live together, it doesn't make sense."

"Solly, if we get divorced, we lose everything. That doesn't make sense either. We are both going to walk away with nothing. There's not even enough money in our account for me to move back home. I'll be stuck here."

"I might end up bankrupt, but at least I'd have my dignity. At the moment, I don't even have that."

"What has dignity got to do with this?"

"You're fucking another man. You don't think that's slightly humiliating for me?"

"No, I'm not. That ended. We had sex twice, that's all."

"That's all. Shit you make it sound like it was nothing."

"I'm not trying to trivialise anything. I made a grave error of judgement. I did a disgusting thing. I let you down, I let myself down, and I let our family down. I am now, and will always be, regretting my actions. I'm sorry Solly. I've hurt you badly, I know that. I'm not asking for you to forgive me, or to forget. In truth, I don't know what I'm asking for. I just don't want to lose you."

"Well, finally. Thanks for the apology. Just explain how you think this could work?"

She smiled, a thin twitchy smile. "We live here as friends, or at least try to rediscover why we liked each other in the first place. We live as flat mates, we share all the costs as we do now. We learn to be friends."

"The divorce?" I asked.

"We put it on hold, try to sort out our finances. If you decide you want a divorce after the two years, we do it then."

"So we live together, for financial reasons."

"Yes."

"What do we tell our families?"

She winced, "I don't know. Do we have to tell them anything?"

"No I suppose not." I sighed.

After a few moments of silence I snarled. "I'm going to kick his arse. I'm going to see him tomorrow, and we are sorting it out."

She winced, her body shivered as she absorbed my words. "Are you going to tell Sophia?"

"No, she's my friend, I don't want to hurt her. She should know what an arsehole she's married to, and what a shitty friend she has, but no. I decided to let that mess sort itself out."

She sighed, giving me a very dark glare.

She spent the night moving all her clothes and shit into the second bedroom. It wasn't a lot smaller, the only thing it didn't have was an en-suite.

The next day I finished work early and drove over to Clark's place of work. I pulled into their multi-level car park. It took me several minutes driving back and forth to find his car. Hard to miss his bright orange old Camaro. He thought it was such a shit hot car. I parked, walked over and stood by it. The bright orange annoyed me.

I didn't have long to wait. I saw him walking towards the car. As soon as he spotted me, he gave me a wave. "Hey man, how's it hanging?"

I said nothing, my blood bubbling. I heard the clicker go as he unlocked the car. He tossed his briefcase in. "What's happening man, you look upset."

"No sense beating around the bush. You've been fucking my wife."

He stepped back, his eyes narrowing as he stared at me. "Sorry man, look, it was only a couple of times. It's no big deal."

"It is to me, Clark. I'm here to kick your arse?"

"Oh fuck, don't be like that, Solly. Nobody wins from that shit."

"Before I do, why did you send me that fucking video?"

He flinched. "Video... What are you talking about?"

"The video of her sucking you off. Why the fuck did you send me that?"

"Mate, I never took any video, and if I had, I certainly wouldn't send it to you. Sorry, man, but I don't know what you're talking about."

"Jesus, you're a piece of shit, you couldn't lie straight in bed."

He stepped back as I walked towards him. "Come on, Solly, let's not do this."

I didn't say another word. I swung hard, not at the face. It was deep, up under his ribs into the stomach. He lifted his arms to protect his face, he wasn't expecting my punch. He sucked in, his diaphragm trying to suck in air. I felt his knees wobble, but he didn't go down.

As he leaned over, I swung another blow, this time hoping for the face, but he still had his hands up, and my blow deflected. He swung a return blow landing one on the side of my temple sending me reeling. Shit he hit hard. He stood up, and he swung again, this time I moved and he missed. My uppercut hit him more in the throat than the chin. He reeled, and I hit him again.

He staggered falling against his car. As I closed, he swung hard and caught me flush, I felt my lips split, the blood filling my mouth. We traded blows like an old time movie. His face bloody and pulped.

I was shocked when I felt big arms circling me, dragging me away. Then we were surrounded by a mixture of security guards and cops.

"All right, what the hell is going on here?" the lead cop snarled.

It was Clark who answered as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "Just a disagreement. Nothing more."

The cop glared at me. "What about you, anything to say?"

With a shake of my head I moaned. "Nope, just a disagreement."

They helped us stand apart. They took names and details. "Look, you two numbskulls, we're going to forget we got called to this. If you can't act like adults, take your shit somewhere else. If we get called back, somebody's going to jail, probably both of you."

Clark gave me a sad sideways glance. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry, mate."

"Fuck off, and stay out of my way, or this will get repeated." I walked off to my car and drove home. Did I feel better? No not really, nothing was gained. All that changed was, now I needed to see a dentist.

Walking in at home, I heard Chelsea groan, as her face descended into a worried grimace. "Oh shit, Solly. What happened?"

She walked towards me, I put my hand up to stop her progress. "Leave me alone, I'm going to take a shower."

"You're a bloody idiot," she called to my back as I walked up the hallway. I just gave her the fingers.

The shower tray was soon flowing red, the piping hot water washing away the blood. Apart from the loose tooth, there was no serious damage, just bruises and lacerations.

I dried off and laid back on the bed to rest. A little later, Chelsea knocked on the door and popped her head in. "Dinner is served."

When I walked out, she was already seated and eating. I chewed painfully on the steak. She chose the wrong night to cook my favourite meal. Jesus, my mouth hurt.

Seeing my pain, she sneered. "That'll teach you. God, how is Clark?"

I shrugged. "About the same as me."

"So what was gained, do you feel better?"

Frowning, I shrugged, lied actually, just for her. "Actually, I do."

She shook her head. "Bullshit."

As we ate, she said, "I wonder what Sophia is going to think?"

"I hope the dickhead has the balls to tell her the truth."

She sighed. "Oh god, I hope not." Sipping her wine she sighed. "She is my best friend, Solly. Shit, things have been hard enough lately. She's been so distant and cold. We have hardly talked at all lately. That's probably my fault, just the guilt. I'll be devastated if she finds out."

"Well brace yourself, Chelsea. Clark said it wasn't him who sent me the video. If that's the truth, it means somebody else did."

Chelsea shivered as the realisation settled over her. "Shit."

We cleaned up after dinner, the conversation almost non-existent. It was tense, and felt impossible. How the hell were we going to do this, how could we live together?

Chelse tried, but, everything she said rubbed me the wrong way. I couldn't help snorting and grunting like a wounded bear. With every grunt, she grimaced a little more. In the end she sighed. "I'm going to bed. I can't take this."

Every day got a little harder. The tension, grew, the uncomfortable silences endured, lingered, weighty and painful. Things weren't going well for her at work. She came home every night with a tear stained face, her eyes puffy and red.

I could see she needed some comfort, a hug, a consoling word, but I couldn't do it. The anger still bubbled away inside me. I would rather slap her than give her a cuddle.

I started hanging out with mates after work, just so I didn't have to go home to the hell that awaited me there.

Chelsea was going through her own hell. Whatever was happening at work was really getting to her. I got home one day and found her bawling hysterically. There was no escaping it that night. She was absolutely certifiable.

I sat beside her, my arm draping over her shoulder. "What's going on, Chelse?"

"It's Sophia, she is being such a bitch. She snaps at me all the time, she questions everything I do. She berates me in front of clients. She is being absolutely hateful. I hate going to work at the moment."

"I hate to point the finger, Chelse, but maybe if you weren't banging her husband, you would have a legitimate complaint. At the moment, I don't think you can really complain."

"But she doesn't know."

"Are you sure?" I queried. "Maybe dickhead manned up and told her."

She shook her head as she wiped away tears. "No, he was terrified of her finding out."

"Then why is she being so aggressive?"

"I don't know, Solly, but people are noticing, and she has been vituperated by management. It's just unpleasant. God, I hate it. If we didn't need the money so badly, I would quit."

"Well, if you quit, I'm not hanging around. You made your bed, now you have to lay in it. Let's not forget, it's your own fault."

"Do you have to keep reminding me? Yeah, I get it, you're still mad at me, but gee, nobody's madder at me than me. I did a dumb thing. I fucked up. I'm sorry, but you saying it over and over, isn't helping."

"What do you want from me, Chelse? You must realise, this is a dumb idea. We shouldn't be living together. I'm not on your side. I don't care what you say, she must know. You two were glued-at-the-hip besties. For her to behave like this means she must know."

"God, I hope not. I hope Clark is being a dick, she's frustrated at him, and taking it out on me."

I kept thinking about that damn video; if it wasn't Clark or Chelsea, then who the hell was it? Nothing made sense, the act itself didn't make sense. Chelse wasn't one of those flirty provocative women. She was just a normal wife. Okay, we had been fighting a lot, and i know she was frustrated with me, but that didn't excuse her actions.

I guess things did ease up a bit. You would have to be superman to sustain the levels of hatred I felt after seeing the video. I could have killed that day. After several weeks, the hate faded, seeping away to become, an icy indifferent coolness.

*****

The usual day to day things began to normalise. We sat together watching TV in the evenings, and of course, we shared similar tastes, we laughed at the same jokes, sighed at the same dramatic moments, and that brought out conversation, even if it was just about the show we watched; the laughter, such a rare occurrence at the moment, did bring about a feeling of normalcy.

Then, her car broke down, and she needed a ride to work. Being forced together again brought out more conversation, more chances to talk. We never touched on the testy stuff, just work, finances, which with the added costs of the car repairs, took a dive, and of course, family. That was the one that forced us into conversation. My sister was in hospital; it wasn't serious, but it was worrying, and Chelsea was on the phone to her every day.

My mother, who is an incredibly intuitive woman, realised things weren't right between Chelse and me. They obviously talked, I think Chelse was closer to my mother than she was to her own. I knew to expect a call from Mum, and she didn't disappoint. "Hello, Solly." It started warmly enough, but it didn't take long before she delved a little. "What is going on, Son? Chelsea seems so sad, when we talk these day's. Are you still fighting about starting a family?"

"Something like that, Mum. We aren't in a good space, things aren't good."

"I gathered that, my love. Can I help? You know you can talk to me about anything."

"I know, Mum, but not at the moment. We will sort it out." I hated lying to my mother, but I couldn't face telling her. She would be devastated, and I don't know whether she would ever rebuild any sort of relationship with Chelsea. Why did I care? My mother loved Chelse, and I didn't want to destroy that. Why bother, it wouldn't change anything, except make everybody unhappy, and it would cause me more grief. Rightly, or wrongly, I kept it to myself, kept it bottled up.

Still, there was that unanswered question, the bloody video.

Sophia must know, I thought to myself. On any given week, Sophia, Clark, Chelse and I got together for dinner parties, or just drinks and movies. The fact there hadn't been so much as a call or text meant it was unusual. Sophia, the difficulties at work aside, was missing in action.

Chelsea leaned on me a little more, relied on her other friends at the office.

*****

The mystery was solved a couple of days later. I'm surprised it took that long really.

I got home from work to find Chelsea totally freaked out, bawling her eyes out on the sofa. Okay, I hated her, but I still felt for her. "What's happened this time?"

She looked up through tear filled eyes. "You were right. Sophia's the one who sent the video. She suspected Clark of cheating. Apparently, I'm not the only one. She was so determined to catch him out, she had cameras set up around the house."

"They're getting divorced," she added as an afterthought.

"Well, surprise surprise. If you had bloody listened to me, I told you what a fucking sleazy bastard he was."

"Solly, the last thing I need tight now, is to hear I told you so, okay? Sophia ripped me up at work today. She started yelling and screaming hysterically. The whole office heard. The boss sent me home early, because he couldn't get Sophia to stop screaming. Jesus, Solly. Everybody is going to hate me."

I nodded, it made sense. "Good on her. She's well rid of him."

"Oh, for god's sake, Solly. Weren't you listening... She hates me. My best friend hates me. Christ, I feel awful."

"You can't be surprised, what did you think was going to happen?"

"I don't know, Solly, sometimes you do stupid shit. You don't think about consequences, or who will get hurt. I remember your mother telling me a story about you and your brother jumping off the house roof with bed sheets for parachutes."

I winced at the memory. I don't know which hurt more, the broken leg or my mother's hand slapping my arse for being an idiot.

If I thought the place was gloomy before. Well, now it was positively tomb like.

Chelse never went out, she hung around the house all day. Weekends were the same. She just stayed in. All her friends at work dropped her like a hot potato. Now she really was alone. Apart from shopping for essentials, she went to work, and straight back home.

I did get a surprise call from Sophia. "How are you going, Solly?"

"Hi, Sophia, I'm doing okay. What about you?"

"Not so good, but getting better. Did I do the right thing sending you the video?"

"Yes, I would have preferred if you'd called me, told me yourself."

"Sorry, it was gutless. I couldn't face you. I felt guilty."

"Why? You had no reason to feel that way."

"My husband destroyed your marriage. Of course I felt guilty."

"Not your fault, Sophia."

"Are you and Chelsea working it out?"

"Hah. Oh, hell no. At the moment, because of our dire financial situation, we are flat mates, nothing more. It's not like... we are not trying to rescue our marriage."

There was a pregnant little pause before she replied. "You might not be thinking like that, but Chelsea is. I heard through a mutual friend that she hopes you will reconcile."

That surprised me. "We eat together, do chores around the house, but that is the limit of our interactions."

Her disapproval was apparent, I heard it in her voice."That must be very uncomfortable. I couldn't live like that."

"Yes, it is, but until business picks up, we are stuck in groundhog day."

"Good luck. I'm sorry, Solly."

"Yeah, me too. I wish you well, Sophia."

*****

Life goes on. We were stuck, and it was just a case of trying to make the best of it. If Sophia was right and Chelsea was hoping for reconciliation, she never mentioned it.

I have to say though, I was impressed by Chelsea's committent. She kept going in to work, she never wavered, as much as she hated it. She held her head high, and fronted, day after day. She was reassigned at work, she and Sophia were pretty much separated as much as it was physically possible to do so.

Everybody talks about time, and how it is the great healer. It's true, I felt it myself. my anger had long since dissipated towards Chelsea. The anger was replaced by cold indifference. The days turned into weeks, then months. We at least found friendship, I still missed the intimacy. Lets be honest, the sex, our love life, had always been fiery and passionate. We both enjoyed sex, now though, all I had for company were the hard working, Mrs. Palmer and her five daughters.

Masturbation gets you by, but it's no substitution for the real thing.

I assumed Chelsea was doing the same; she certainly wasn't seeing anybody else.

It was gradual, but I sensed a thawing of her relationship with Sophia. It was way more than six months after the big bust up, but suddenly, dinner times, Sophia's name popped up. She was doing this, or something else. I didn't pry, but I was surprised. Sophia did seem very bitter and angry. Was this just Chelsea, showing her optimism? Maybe she was wearing her rose-tinted glasses?

She wasn't there one night when I got home from work. Normally, she was home ages before me. I had been putting in long tedious hours at work, pushing every boundary, trying like hell to grow my business. It was slowly, but surely paying dividends, I was gradually building a much stronger client base, and pieces of a much bigger puzzle, were falling into place. I just lacked that one big client.