Three Sides to Every Story

As for the emotional fall-off, Traci often thought back to her marriage with Roger. She missed the little things that she shared with Roger; the light touches, the whispered sweet nothings after sex and at the breakfast table. She and Joey often shared stretches of time living at each other's apartments, but the pair moving in together just never seemed to happen.

Traci began to suspect that Joey was seeing other girls. The pair hadn't discussed being exclusive, but Traci assumed that would be the case after Roger filed for divorce. When a burning pain in her private parts was confirmed to be an STD, Traci knew her suspicions were confirmed.

"You freaking bastard!" Traci screamed at Joey when she got confirmation. "I gave up my marriage to a good man for you!"

Joey didn't have a rejoinder. He just smirked back across the table. The light went on above Traci's head.

Two years later, with her STD long-ago cured, Traci stood up to greet her date and kissed Fred Myers chastely on the cheek. She noticed when she leaned in for the kiss that Fred was wearing Superstitious aftershave by Frederick Malle, the same high-end aftershave Roger always wore. She hadn't thought about Roger in about half a day, she chuckled to herself. Talk about fucking up...

******

Joey definitely enjoyed fucking Roger Xixuachrat's wife. She was prettier than most of the other men's wives he had fucked, and she was a great lay. So many women just lay there like dead fish; Traci wasn't one of those. She seemed to really get off on the illicit sex, too.

That excitement started to decrease when Roger filed for divorce from Traci, Joey noticed, but her dependence on him emotionally seemed to grow. At first Joey enjoyed the closeness, but then started to view it as more of a burden. After being exclusive with Traci for about two years, the itch to date -- fuck, to be more accurate -- other women started rearing its head. He started dating other women every now and then on the sly, but since he always preferred bareback sex, it wasn't too long before he picked up a case of syphilis. He didn't get a chance to tell Traci before she found out on her own that he had passed along his problem to her. She was not pleased with getting an STD, along with what the illness meant for the pair's relationship.

Joey didn't lose a minute's sleep over losing Traci.

******

It was a grand 25^th anniversary party for Roger and his wife, Bunny. Roger surprised his wife by renting a party room at a favorite restaurant and inviting friends and family, including the couple's 23-year-old son, Daryl, and 21-year-old daughter, Abigail.

No one was more surprised than Roger when a favor for his ex-mother-in-law turned into his second wife. Five years after Roger divorced Traci, Marie asked him to help out one of Traci's bridesmaids who was coming back to town after a stint in the air force. Lunch turned into a relationship, but it wasn't until a couple of months in that Roger found out he had been dating Traci's younger cousin. He didn't know that Bunny had been divorced and her last name was now Donaldson, but prior to that it had been Stengel, the last name of Marie's sister and brother-in-law.

"You set me up, Mom," Roger said with a crooked grin when he met Marie after finding out about Bunny. "I only met her the one time before, and I didn't know she was family. It was a real good plan, Mom."

Marie smiled broadly and chuckled. Roger look confused.

"It wasn't a plan, Roger. I swear," Marie said softly. "I only asked you for a favor. I never expected it to go past one lunch. I knew you weren't dating much since the divorce, but I never figured...

"I can't tell you how happy George and I am. You know we have always thought the world of you, and we love Bunny to death. We know you will do right by that girl, the way you always did right for Traci when you two were married."

"Whoa, Mom. You're moving a little fast now, aren't you?"

"I don't think so, Roger," Marie answered. "You two look right together. She's got your heart, doesn't she?"

"You do know me well, Mom.

"So let's say this does happen. Who do I call Mom, you or your sister, Grace?"

"How about both of us? Grace may deserve the title, but I'd be incredibly hurt if you called me something else after all these years."

Marie was right, Roger admitted to himself. Bunny had his heart, and about 13 months after their first lunch, the pair tied the knot. No, Traci wasn't invited, by mutual agreement between Bunny and Roger. Marie and George only mentioned the slight once, and that was to say they understood completely.

Roger got his first child a year later, and a second two years after that. He thanked Bunny with expensive jewelry after each birth.

"You're not trying to convince me to go for a six-pack, are you?" Bunny asked quietly after receiving her gift after the birth of the couple's daughter.

Roger and Bunny were on the dance floor two hours into the party. Her head was on Roger's shoulder, and she was securely nestled in his arms when Roger suddenly stopped moving and looked deeply into the eyes of his partner of 25 years. He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small box, a box that once upon a time held a diamond necklace. Roger had gone into the back of his sock drawer, pulled out the necklace and looked at it for a long time before coming to some sort of a decision. Two days later he went back to the jewelry store where he had bought the necklace many years earlier and traded the necklace for a pair of diamond earrings. He was more hopeful this time that he would get the chance to actually gift it to his wife.

******

Traci eventually found a man with which to grow old. She was 52 when she married Franklin Jameson, a widower who had two grown children. She admitted to herself that while Franklin was nothing special, at this point in her life she was probably not going to find anyone special and would have to be happy with someone who seemed to be a good man who loved her with all of his heart.

In her most private moments, Traci admitted to herself that she threw away her "special" someone with her own selfishness and stupidity. She fell for Joey's good looks and youth and her own lustfulness, mistaking lust for love like a foolish schoolgirl. Despite having 11 good years with Roger, he didn't give her any slack once he found out she was cheating, and that didn't give her any time to examine her options. Who was she kidding, she thought to herself, she was too hung up on the powerful feelings she got from the illicit sex to see that she was actually trading down.

Her parents loved Roger as one of their own and tried to make Traci see the truth of what she was doing. It took her more than two years to admit to herself that she was thinking with the brain below her belt. Getting an STD was an eye-opening experience for a woman who thought she was in control.

Roger marrying her younger cousin, Bunny, was a blow to Traci, especially when she found out her mother had been the one to put the two together.

"She's family, Mom. How could you do that to me, set her up with my ex? He dumped me, for Christ sake," Traci whined.

"You deserved to be dumped," Marie yelled at her daughter. "You CHEATED ON HIM! I would have divorced your ass for that, too."

"Whose side are you on, Mom? You're supposed to be on mine. You're my mother!"

"No, I can't condone cheating. I raised you better than that," Marie said softly. "Roger deserves a good woman, even if she's your cousin."

"And what's with Bunny not even inviting me? She was one of my bridesmaids," Traci said.

"She was respecting Roger's wishes," Marie said. "I think everyone agreed that his feelings counted way more than yours."

Considering that Roger and Bunny and Traci lived in the same city, they occasionally crossed paths. Roger was at best civil when he encountered Traci; the cousins barely did more than glare at each other.

******

Joey eventually settled down and got married. His choice of women was not what it once had been. His mugging when he was about 35 had left him with a permanent limp, and his once-tight muscular body had degenerated into a doughy dad-bod. His patter seemed to lose some effect on the women as his physical presence declined.

In his more reflective moments, Joey knew that he no longer had the top choice of pussy any longer as he moved into his 40s. He settled on an average looking woman with an average body who seemed to truly love him for himself. Even when he cheated, the women didn't seem quite as good as they had several years back, he noted.

Police questioned both Roger and Traci after Joey was mugged. The pair of detectives was convinced that the muggers seemed to take way too much pleasure in hurting Joey rather than robbing him.

As she had figured, nobody questioned Marie Hewson about Joey's mugging. After all, why would the police suspect a sweet, gray-haired grandmother, Marie correctly figured. While she blamed Traci for her own mess, she knew that Joey was at least partly to blame for destroying Roger and Traci's marriage, so he deserved some of the punishment. Although she didn't tell either Roger or Traci about her intentions, she figured this might be something they would have both agreed upon.