This is not a Love Story Ch. 09

"You're wrong, Mike. Trucks (semis) of DAF/Paccar are developed and produced in Eindhoven."

"You don't drive a DAF truck in Formula One."

"That's correct, Mike, but you don't drive a Volkswagen in Formula One either."

*** FEBRUARY ***

Carnival. Mike, Kurt, and I would miss Carnival. Denise would go to Germany for one day to Katja and Gabrielle, one day they would be together in Eindhoven, and the other days would be just like other years with their friends.

The machine was giving us headaches. It would run at full speed for a few hours, and then the machine would slow down. It impacts the whole production line. Restarting it would bring it back on full speed.

The French customer was patient. He understood the complexity and the complex process of getting it running. Some employees of the customer were less patient. It was part of my job to keep everyone on the same page.

It stressed me out. Mike noticed first, and Denise noticed during our video calls.

"Honey, you look tired. Please look after yourself."

Then she brightened me up by showing her five Carnival outfits, and every time she changed, she gave me a strip tease. For sure, it improved my mood.

At night, I got a restless sleep. A few times, Mike woke me up, "Mark, you're having a nightmare again."

This situation continued for two more weeks. We weren't getting closer to a solution. Meanwhile, the girls had a blast during Carnival.

One night, Mike and I got a video call from a drunk Katja and Denise, "We have a little secret."

Then both giggling, "Gabrielle isn't drinking alcohol. Do you know what that means? Kurt has Gabrielle knocked up."

Katja fell outside our view, Denise still giggling, "Yeah, no more boyfriend for the week. Business is out of order."

We heard Katja laughing out loud, "Closed due to construction work."

Denise also laughed out loud, after which she fell outside view too. The phone probably fell because the connection ended. Mike and I looked at each other, high-fived, and called Kurt to congratulate him.

Kurt was glad and not surprised when we called, "Hi guys, we already thought you would figure it out. Gabrielle, not drinking, is giving it away. It is still early, and we hope all goes well."

***

After the Carnival, I couldn't get hold of Denise, which worried me. On Friday morning, I got a text from Sandra, "Get back home asap. Something has happened."

When I called her, she told me Denise was okay, but something had happened, and Denise was staying with her parents. I was worried sick. What if she had made some drunk mistake? Or worse? I was in total panic.

I needed to go to Eindhoven. It would be an eight-hour drive, at least. With traffic jams, it would be longer. Mike offered to drive me, but I declined, and he needed to be at the work site.

Around two in the afternoon, I drove back to Eindhoven. In the car, I phoned Sandra. She refused to say anything. She only told me that she would schedule a session with Karin. It made me worry even more.

I arrived back in Eindhoven after midnight. The house was empty. I got one more text from Sandra while I was on the road, "Appointment with Karin tomorrow morning at ten o'clock."

That night was my worst night, with almost no sleep. My fears and demons were having a ball in my head. Would she hurt me again? Did she find someone else? Did I lose her this time for real?

***

I was five minutes late for the appointment. Arriving home late at night, worried sick, and not sleeping during the night had made me oversleep in the morning. I knew I looked awful.

Denise and Karin were waiting for me. Denise looked like she had cried for days. Part of my brain was already thinking, "Serves you right bitch."

My other part was still thinking more reasonably, "Let's wait what they've got to say."

Karin started, I was expecting some bullshit story, but instead, she asked me, "Mark, if you are afraid of heights, what would you try to do to overcome this fear?"

The question surprised me, "Jump out of an airplane."

Karin glanced at Denise and continued, "And if you were afraid of spiders?"

"Catch some, to experience they don't hurt me. Why? Why do you want to know?"

Karin glanced again at Denise, "So, if I understand you correctly, you'll face your fears, right?"

I didn't understand why she asked these questions, "Yeah, that's right."

Karin's face changed, got empathetic, "Then tell us about your nightmares."

What? My nightmares? How did she know? Mike had ratted me out!

"There is nothing much to tell."

Karin nodded to Denise, and Denise pressed her phone. The phone played a scream. Denise stopped the recorded sound.

We all three were quiet for some time. Karin and Denise knew it was me, having a nightmare. Karin's face got serious, "Tell me, when did these nightmares begin?"

I was dumbfounded. I was expecting to get shocking news. News that my girlfriend had cheated or worse. Instead, they made me listen to a nightmare of mine, recorded by Mike.

"Dunno, around the time we got back together."

Denise still hadn't said a word, and Karin continued, "Do you have them only when you're separated?"

"Yes."

"And are they getting worse?"

"I guess. I still don't understand where this conversation is going. Why are we here?"

Karin again nodded to Denise, and she played a different recording of my voice, saying, "No. Denise, don't, Don't leave me. Don't go. Stay with me."

Apparently, I talked in my sleep.

Denise took over, "The first time Mike told me about your nightmares, I just couldn't believe it. He made the records on my request.

When I heard them on Wednesday, my world crashed. I did this to you. I hurt the love of my life more seriously than anyone thought.

When I played them to Mom, she immediately contacted Karin."

Karin, with a serious face, "I knew she had hurt you, Mark, but now it is destroying you. Your brain is overreacting. We have got to fix this before it's too late, or you will risk a major burnout."

Denise sat down in front of me, taking my hands in her hands, "I made the mess. I'll clean it up."

I was still slow in catching up, "Wait. What? How?"

Denise looked into my eyes. Karin said softly, "By letting you face your fear."

I almost thought it was a bad joke if it wasn't for their seriousness, and I got angry, "No way I'm going to let my girl fuck other guys!"

Denise turned backward to her phone and pressed again, and another scream, with even more agony and pain, filled the room. She turned back to me, whispering, "You will be there. We are already preparing. It will be next weekend."

My anger was still rising, and I turned to Karin, asking, "Did you arrange this? Do you get off on this?"

Karin responded softly, "No, Mark, you do."

I got up, angry, and left the room.

***

I went home, grabbed a sports bag, and took my bicycle to the gym. At the gym, due to my anger, I overdid my training. I hadn't eaten since Friday morning, and combined with the lack of sleep, I got nauseous and had to throw up in the toilet.

Jean was waiting for me outside, "You, come with me, now!"

Together, we rode back on our bicycles. At home, Denise was already waiting for me, "Thanks, Jean, I take it over from here."

She directed me to the shower and put me to bed. It was still early afternoon, but I was exhausted. She sat next to me on the bed. Her beautiful eyes were looking at me. She took my head on her lap, "When I realized you were having these nightmares, I cried for days. You have to let me fix you. I need you to get better."

We both talked some more before I drifted off to sleep.

In the evening, she made me dinner. After dinner, we talked some more. We were both afraid of next weekend. Would our relationship survive? Would it help me? When we went to bed, we only cuddled. It had been a few emotional days for both of us.

Sunday morning, Sandra visited us, checking up on us. She gave me a big hug and was glad to see me. Sunday afternoon, I needed to go back to France. We knew what would happen next weekend. She cried when I left.

***

During the ride, a remark from Karin kept bouncing in my head, "Your brain is overreacting."

I decided to call Mike, "Hi Mark, on your way back to France?"

"Did you have to inform Denise?"

"Yes. Denise needed to know."

He was right, and I decided to drop the subject.

"Mike, can we start the machine tomorrow morning without the extensive logging? Only logging the bare minimum?"

Mike was silent for a few seconds, "Yes, it's possible, but then we can't find the problem."

"Mike, we can't find the problem now either. Just a sanity check to test it's not the logging functionality that is biting us."

Back at the hotel, I booked another room for the week. I would also pay for Mike's room. With the upcoming weekend, I was afraid I would keep him awake with my nightmares. Mike was okay with it, almost like he knew what was happening.

On Monday morning, the production line started without extensive logging. The machine kept running at high performance without a problem. At headquarters, they were happy it worked, angry we had decided without discussing it first, and frustrated they couldn't measure all parameters. It took us the rest of the week to find the actual problem.

Denise and I had video calls every day. We were both nervous. She had arranged to make it happen on Saturday but refused to share details. Karin and Sandra called me a few times, checking up on me.

I still had nightmares.

***

Friday afternoon, I got a text, "Tomorrow evening, eight o'clock," and the address of a hotel. The hotel was at Düsseldorf Airport in Germany.

Mike insisted I roomed with him again on Friday night. I hadn't told him anything, but he said, "You're not sleeping alone tonight, and tomorrow I'll drive you to Düsseldorf."

So, he knew.

The following morning, we took his car. Although we didn't have traffic jams, it was a long drive. During the trip, we talked about everything. We didn't discuss what would happen tonight. I felt sick, and Mike gave me some worried looks. We arrived at six in Düsseldorf and decided to grab a bite first. We both stayed away from the alcohol.

We entered the hotel just before eight. Mike seemed to know the floor and room number. He held my arm, asked me if I was ready, and knocked softly on the door. I'm sure my face had turned green. To my surprise, Katja opened the door.

She hugged Mike, "See you later downstairs," and pulled me inside the hotel room, "Denise is in the bathroom, and I will join her. You can't see her yet."

The hotel room was large and had a sitting area with a sofa. I was waiting when I heard another knock on the door.

It was Gabrielle, with two nervous-looking guys, and she hugged me too, "Hi stud, tonight is your show."

She eased the two other guys into a chair and gave us a beer. While the guys and I were nervous, Gabrielle was surprisingly relaxed, "Don't you worry, boys, you just gonna fuck a hot girl tonight, no big deal."

She winked and went inside the bathroom.

Katja appeared from the bathroom, and the guys seemed to know her. She made small talk and disappeared outside the hotel room, leaving us three guys. Both guys were looking at me like I was an alien. They had the decency to introduce themselves. One even apologized, "Sorry to hear about your nightmares."

At the same time, Gabrielle came out of the bathroom, grinning, "Showtime, time to strip boys."

One of the things that I remember well is how Gabrielle acted. She did have fun that night!

We guys removed our clothing. Gabrielle continued, "Okay, boys, here are some rules.

First, I'm the boss. You listen only to me!

Second, we keep it safe, and we use condoms.

Third, this is about making my friend," and she pointed to me, "make better, so no humiliating or unnecessary remarks. If you don't like that, you can leave.

Fourth, tonight you won't be getting me," and made a gesture across her body, "but you get the next best thing," and pointed to Denise, who had walked out of the bathroom.

She looked gorgeous. High heels, expensive lingerie, hair done, looking like a classic movie star. You could see both guys react, not believing they could have her tonight.

Denise walked to me, hugged me, and asked me in the ear, "Color?"

We were both very nervous, and I responded, "Almost red, and you?"

"Almost red, too. Let's do this before we chicken out."

She kissed me, and her hand touched my forehead. It was a loving gesture and got noticed by the others. One guy turned and asked both Denise and me if we were sure.

Gabrielle reacted sharply, "Yes, they both want to do this."

She handed out some collars with different texts on them. She handed out one collar to the first guy, "You took my anal cherry, so you're Ass boy."

Then to the other guy, "You like blow jobs, so you're BJ boy."

Then to me, thinking out loud, "A for Ass boy, B for BJ boy, what will start with a 'C'? Oh wait, I know, your girlfriend is going to be fucked by other guys, you're Cuck boy," and gave me a collar, with Cuck on it.

For herself, she had a collar, "I'm hot, I'm a wife, and I've fucked other guys during my marriage, so I'm a Hotwife."

She had one remaining collar in her hand, handing it over to Denise, "You have a boyfriend and are getting fucked by other guys, so you're a Slut."

Gabrielle clapped her hands, "First, we're going to do a favor to our Slut, she wants her boyfriend to suck cock, and tonight we'll turn this fantasy into reality.

'BJ boy,' get your ass over here and put a condom on."

The guy came over to us, wearing a condom. Gabrielle pushed Denise and me to the ground, "On your knees, you perverts," took the guy's dick and moved it to my face.

Denise was looking at me, fascinated. I knew Denise had this fantasy, but I never expected it would happen for real, especially not tonight. I looked at her, waiting for her to tell me to skip this part.

Instead, I got a friendly smack from Gabrielle, "Go on, you want her to fuck two strangers tonight, so surely she can expect you in return to suck some cock."

I looked at the guy, and he had his eyes closed. Probably fantasizing it was Denise taking his cock in her mouth. Gabrielle smacked my head once more, and reluctantly I started to suck his cock. After about ten seconds, Denise moved my head away, sucked his cock, and then put it back in my mouth. We repeated this a couple of times, and although he was wearing a condom, I swear I could already taste the guy's pre-cum.

I turned to Denise, "Red."

She blinked her eyes, and immediately Gabrielle intervened, "Enough, time to get the Slut ready."

She took Denise by her collar to the bed and made her lay on her side. She led me to the bed and whispered, "Get her ready as much as you can."

I licked and kissed Denise's sensitive spots. Gabrielle led BJ boy over, and he started to caress her pussy. Then Gabrielle leads 'ss boy over to prepare her ass. Denise was looking at me when Gabrielle took me away, back to the couch, "Sit and watch."

Gabrielle walked back to the bed, put a finger in Denise's pussy, "Yep, the Slut is ready," slapped her on the ass, and commanded, "On your knees." Denise turned on her knees.

Gabrielle walked behind me and put her arms around me. Both guys, wearing condoms, moved, BJ boy moved in front of her, and she started to suck his cock again. Even worse was Ass boy. He moved behind her and started to push his cock in Denise's pussy.

I was getting very agitated. My heart rate was increasing, and I wanted to get up and leave. Gabrielle noticed and held me close, arms fixed around me, asking me, "Color?"

Somehow, she knew our color coding, "Deep red."

She whispered, "Good, hang on, face your fear," hold me even firmer, and called, "Guys, get the Slut ready for a DP."

On the bed, they moved position. BJ boy lay on his back on the bed. Denise climbed on him. She didn't even acknowledge me. Then Ass boy started to enter her ass.

I gasped, my vision blurred, my head was exploding. How could I allow this? Why didn't I stop this? Why didn't I run away? Gabrielle was almost choking me now.

I cried, "Red, Red, Red. Black!"

Gabrielle kept whispering and repeating softly, "Stay with me, face your fear," almost like a mantra. Denise was in a world of her own.

The guys were fucking her hard and tried to hold off as long as possible. When they both had come, they helped Denise climb off and turned her on her back on the bed.

I don't know what happened to them afterward, and I only focused on Denise.

Gabrielle took my hand and guided me to Denise, "Mark, here she is, the love of your life. She has just fucked two guys to help you face your fear. Now I want you to make love to her. Let her know and make her feel that she is all yours. Make love to her!"

Denise reached out for me, and I climbed on her. She guided my cock in her pussy. In the background, I heard Gabrielle talking and the guys leaving. It was irrelevant. Now, it was between Denise and me.

It was weird. I tried to gauge Denise's feelings, but she kept looking at me with those beautiful, bright eyes. What was she thinking?

I made gentle love to her. She was the only one for me. Denise made love to me. Her hands touched my sensitive spots, her voice whispering sweet words.

After I came, I heard a little applause from Gabrielle, "Yeah, I love it when a plan comes together."

Denise was lying under me, my cock still in her, her face turning in a bright smile, looking down, then looking me up in the eyes, "Honey, you made the mess, and you need to clean it up," and started to push my head down to her pussy.

At that moment, I realized she hadn't had an orgasm yet all evening and went to work. It didn't take me long, and we got another applause from Gabrielle, "Good job, Mark. Next time, I should send Kurt to Denise for extra training."

Denise smiled, "In your dreams."

***

After showering and dressing, Gabrielle took us downstairs. Kurt, Mike, and Katja were waiting. Gabrielle, holding our hands, "May I introduce you to Mr Cuck and Mrs Slut."

They gave us big hugs. They all knew what had happened that evening and why it had happened.

Kurt and Gabrielle drove with their car back to their home, followed by Mike, Katja, Denise, and me in Mike's car. Denise and I would stay with Kurt and Gabrielle that night. During the drive, Mike had to ask, "Mark, did you suck a cock?"

Denise responded immediately, pointing with her thumb to me and making a blow job gesture with her other hand. The car exploded in laughter.

Later that night in bed, we heard Gabrielle and Kurt having sex. Denise was grinning, "I bet Gabrielle was a bit jealous tonight. She wouldn't have minded taking two cocks at once too."

I was wondering about Gabrielle too, how at ease she had been this whole evening. Then I fell asleep.

***

The following morning, I woke up in an empty bed. All were having breakfast, including Mike and Katja.

Denise kissed me, "Morning sleepyhead. Needed to catch some extra sleep? Hungry?"

"Yes, and yes."

Gabrielle was fixing me a coffee, and I congratulated her on her pregnancy. She hugged me and asked me, concerned, "You're okay? Do you think it will work?"

The breakfast table went quiet. For me, it was also a question mark too.

"According to our therapist and what I could find online, the chances are good. But there is no guarantee. Now, could I have that coffee?"

Gabrielle squeezed my cheek and gave me my coffee. During the rest of the breakfast, we talked about the pregnancy of Gabrielle, and the upcoming wedding of Mike and Katja. Denise asked Katja if she had plans for her bachelor party.

Katja answered calmly, "Yes, I got the phone numbers of the guys you fucked yesterday. I think I'm going to have a private party with you, Gabrielle, and them," and continued with her breakfast. Mike paled and turned white, and Kurt and I looked at each other. Then Gabrielle and Denise started bursting out laughing.