Time to Man Up Pt. 01

This one ended up a bit long, so I've broken it up into two parts - which seemed to work. The final part is already written, just in the proofing stage, so I hope to have it up here before too long. While this is a work of fiction, it was inspired by discussion I had at a social event with a business executive in terms of success being measured solely by finance and power. He didn't think much of teachers and that coaches were all just failed athletes. However, being an educator and growing up in a football town, I strongly disagree. I still should that the guy for giving me the inspiration for this story. I hope you enjoy.

*****

It still so surreal to Joel that his life had gotten to this point. He was sitting on a chair in the executive reception area of Grinberg Holdings. He was flanked on either side by behemoth security guards who looked like they belonged either on the football field or running a prison yard. Both kept glancing at Joel with big smirks on their faces.

It took all of Joel's self-control to keep his face as emotionless as possible and not give them the satisfaction of seeing him upset. That was, of course, the whole purpose of Regis Grinberg asking him to be there.

Grinberg's administrative assistant wasn't at her desk, but the speaker on her phone was on. Loudly through the speaker was the obvious furniture creaking and flesh slapping sounds of two people fucking.

Over top of those sounds, and a man grunting was a woman moaning, "Yes...yes...god yes...fuck me...mmm...please...yes..." and so forth.

That woman was Judy, who up to that point, had been married to Joel for what he thought was ten blissful years. Never in his wildest dreams, did he think it would come to that moment.

Joel met Judy through a mutual friend. Actually, Tommy, his best-friend, and his now wife, Wendy were on a double-date with Judy and another guy. Wendy was trying to set Judy up with a guy she worked with. A few weeks prior, she told Joel about this friend, a few years older than him, who was coming off a bad break-up and really cute. Being a brash twenty-year-old who was very particular on the looks of woman he picked up, Joel declined. When he saw the four of them sitting around the table at the bar, he was kicking himself in nuts - on the inside. Judy was this tall, really slender, hottie with long dark hair, piercing eyes, and amazing face with cheekbones of a supermodel. He didn't think he's ever seen a woman more beautiful in person in his life.

Pretty much all his life, Joel considered himself 'the' alpha-male. He was the starting quarterback on his high school team. While attending college to become a teacher and coach after injury cut his career short, he was one of the managers at the bar. Joel didn't consider himself a pussy hound, and did respect woman - something his mother (RIP) drilled into him growing up - but Joel was confident that any woman he wanted, would be his.

Joel was not subtle, and Tommy was trying not to laugh at how pissed off the unknown blind date was in having his date flirted with in front of him. Unfortunately, Judy also didn't seem too impressed and suggested the four get going to their late movie. Joel figured she might actually be a woman too good for him. He couldn't contain his excitement when Wendy told him the next day Judy thought her date was a dud right from the start, and was persuaded in giving Joel a second chance.

On their date, Judy pretty much let him take control - even order for her. She did talk about herself, an economics major in her final year of college, who also was an only child with one living parent - in her case, her mother. From what she discussed, Joel was optimistic how similar their interests and goals were. It was a little irritating that any decision of the night, she let him make. That is, except the last one, when he kissed her at the end of the date. Her one arm went around his neck and the other rubbed his cock through his jeans. He was the one who said he was coming up to her place, but she clearly was who decided. The fact she wore matching underwear and condoms waiting on her bed were another big clue.

They practically were living together after a month, engaged three months after that, and married just short of the anniversary of their first date. Even with the wedding, Judy let Joel make most of the decisions - refusing to accept him saying, "Whatever you want, babe."

Lying in bed naked, on their honeymoon, in Florida, Joel finally asked her why she lets him make all the decisions. Judy's response was that she trusted him and agreed with most of his choices anyway.

Joel took her hand in his and looked her seriously in the face, "Judy, you are my world and I love that you consider me the man who looks after you. But, we are partners in this, both of us. We'll both be much happier making decisions together. Shit, you're probably going to make way more than me; this isn't the seventies with the submissive doting wife. I want you to be my equal in this, okay?"

Judy promised to be more assertive in their relationship, but it obviously was difficult for her.

Judy graduated first and, as Joel predicted, had a mid-level job with a stock company that paid way more than he was going to be getting on a teacher salary. She was the main breadwinner as he finished his degree. He was hired by a local school before he received his degree to teach history and be the head coach of their football team. Not only was it apparent he was quite good at both things, Joel loved it.

Once he became settled, both decided they were at a position to afford Judy going on maternity leave and focused on starting the family they both wanted. Joel almost was disappointed it only took one cycle of multiple sex sessions during peak fertile times to get Judy pregnant.

Nine months later, seeing Judy holding little Julie, Joel knew his wife had changed forever and for the better - he thought. Some people told him adjusting to being a father wouldn't be as hard as adjusting to now being married to a mother - and they couldn't be more correct. Judy was a momma bear, and any decision to do with her daughter's life was hers without question. Joel quickly learned that in that aspect of their life, their roles were now reversed.

Seven years later, Joel lived by the motto to not sweat the little battles. Now with seven-year-old Julie and four-year-old Ariana, Judy was the undisputed ruler of the household, making majority of the decisions. Honestly, just as Judy once said to him, Joel agreed with most of her decisions so went along with them. Besides, happy wife, happy life.

Unfortunately, since Julie was little, that extended to their sex life. Joel began to accept that with her stressful job, and caring for the kids, if Judy wasn't in the mood when he initiated sex, it wasn't happening. The flipside was, when she was in the mood, she made sure he knew. Since they rarely went more than a week without having sex, Joel just accepted that was her decision when it happened. At least during the actual act, they both controlled things, so he was more than happy with their sex life, and figured Judy was as well.

While Joel didn't sweat the little things, there were some times where he did want to make the decision and really dug his feet in if Judy didn't agree. This was stuff like going to a concert of some band from his teens, getting pay-per-view of some fight, or having a poker party. These moments were rare, and often resulted in a bit of a yelling fest between the two of them, but Joel never lost an argument.

Though Judy wore the pants in the house, as his friend Tom teased, outside the house, Joel was still used to being the alpha. He took classes on the side, and worked his way to being one the youngest high school principals in the district. That promotion was bitter sweet since it also meant giving up coaching high school varsity football, which he had a long list of great achievements in a relatively short time. It also meant more time with his family, and he was volunteering as a coach in little league on the weekend. True, Judy still made more than him, but now not nearly as much as in the first six years of their marriage. He was a proud and respected leader in the community for both his coaching and education career. That and being close to his family meant more to him than making big bucks - more than Judy knew.

The start of the downfall, and when he began to see the problem, was when Judy was offered a position at Grinberg Holdings as the supervisor of a financial analyst team. The position came with, of course, a big raise, but with the exception of the occasionally late meeting, Judy said that she'd have way more time at home. She seemed so ecstatic about this job, that Joel was so happy for her. After the first week, what he was less than ecstatic about was how she talked about Regis Grinberg: how fantastic he was, what great taste in restaurants he had, how she was so lucky he took her under his wing. It was like she lit up every time she talked about the guy.

By week two, Joel started to have a funny feeling about all this, and asked her how many of these lunch meetings were just her and him one on one. Apparently, it was almost all, but then she tore a strip out of Joel for suggesting her boss probably was interested in more than her work abilities. It probably was one of the worst arguments they've ever had. A week after that fight, Judy still hadn't even given him more than a peck on the cheek.

Friday, Judy came home all excited. "Joel, I have a sitter tomorrow night. We're eating at Flank!" Flank was a fairly expensive fine dining restaurant. The type that took reservations a month in advance.

"Wow, what are we celebrating?" Joel said, hoping this meant the cold spell was over.

"Nothing, Reggie is taking us out," Judy said, almost gushing, "He wants to meet you - and you meet him so you see how silly your jealousy was. Can't have the two important men in my life not getting along."

The fact she was saying that less than a month, putting 'Reggie' at the same level as Joel, was creating more red flags than putting his mind at ease.

The following night, before leaving, Judy was fussing over what she was wearing, and then what Joel was wearing. Honestly, the suit she picked for him wasn't one of his nicer ones blue with a silver tie - it was bought when he let himself go a bit when Ariana was really little. The color matched his football team uniforms, so he only wore it for team events. He felt frumpy in the suit and out of place with how Judy looked in black dress he hadn't seen before. Plunging neckline, and slit up to her hip, which showed off her taunt figure and long toned legs.

They were seated at a table with four chairs. Joel sat down, and was surprised when Judy sat across from him.

She must have caught his facial expression. "What?"

"Nothing, I just assumed we'd sit together," Joel said knowing full well Reggie wasn't sitting beside him.

"This way, I don't have to turn to talk to you..." Judy said, "Please, just relax and don't embarrass me."

In walked Regis Grinberg, and it might as well have been Brad Pitt. Judy jumped up, excitedly and gave him a big hug that went too long for Joel's liking and then sat down.

"Joel, this is Regis Grinberg," Judy said gesturing with her hands.

Regis was a bigger man, over six feet and well over two hundred pounds of mostly muscle. By his laugh lines and greying hair, Joel guessed he was around late forties or early fifties. He was wearing a sharp black suit that matched with his wife's dress perfectly. Joel couldn't help wonder if this is why Judy didn't let him wear one of his nicer dark suits.

"Joel, call me Reggie," the older man said extending his hand to shake Joel's. Joel wasn't surprised he was the type to squeeze unnecessarily hard. From his experience in college, and teaching in high school, Joel knew a bully when he met one. "I mean, from all the stories Jude's told me... I feel like we're already friends." And he already had a 'pet-name' for Joel's wife.

Judy became a different person as soon as Reggie got there. After all that talk about not wanting to turn and talk to Joel, she spent the majority of the time looking right at Reggie. Joel felt uncomfortable like a third wheel.

"Jude, have the Wellington," Reggie said, "The Vosne-Romanee goes perfect with that." He raised an eyebrow and looked at Joel. "Shall I pick for you as well?"

"Considering I command a staff of sixty and responsible for the wellbeing of two thousand youth daily, I think I can handle ordering," Joel said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Right, Jude said you were a gym teacher," Reggie said laughing and Judy laughed with him.

"High school principal, actually. And former history teacher," Joel said coldly.

Judy actually turned to him and patted his hand. "Relax, Reggie knows. He's just a bit of a tease."

"Really, that sounded more condescending that teasing..."

With that, Judy gave him the 'stop or I will be really mad look.'

The rest of dinner continued just as awkward, and Joel could not help noticing Reggie lightly touching his wife's hand or arm during the night. Sitting on the side of her open slit, he was sure Reggie touched her bare leg at times.

Right after Reggie ordered dessert for him and Judy, she excused herself to the washroom. As soon as she left, Reggie looked at Joel with a smirk that was almost taunting.

"Look, Joel, you seem like a smart guy," He said in a soft but confident voice, "I'm sure we'll have no problem with you being... cooperative."

"Cooperative?" Joel said with a little bitterness.

"Cooperating with your wife's career. You know what I mean..." Reggie smirked and turned towards where Judy left. "Attractive woman like Judy could have a big future in my company if you do... If you don't, well your marriage could be over or her career. Think of your kids, Joel. So, do the smart thing and just go along with it."

"No offense," Joel said lowering his voice, "Fuck you and if you try to lay a hand on my wife..."

"Afraid, you don't have a say in that..." Reggie said, "Women believe and trust who they respect...A man who can't even earn as much of his wife? Tsk Tsk."

The ride home was a yelling match. Joel told Judy to never be alone with Regis ever. She said it was part of her job, and he said to quit. She accused Joel's childish jealousy of causing him to mishear what Regis said... She already told Regis about Joel being jealous over nothing and insisted he just meant Joel needed to man up and trust his wife.

Joel, by choice, slept on the couch. Early in the morning, before the kids were up, Judy woke him up walking by in heels clicking on the hardwood floor. He saw she was dressed in a nice skirt and blouse, not something she'd normally wear to work, but on a night out.

"What is this?" He said.

"If you hadn't made an ass of yourself, I would've told you last night," Judy said, "I have an all-day session today - planning our strategy for the upcoming fiscal year."

"Alone with Reggie..." Joel said in a sarcastic happy voice.

Judy made a face. "Well...yes. I mean just in our meeting. There's going to be other people too, his assistant for one..."

Joel sat up. "You're attracted to him... It's not just him wanting my wife, you like him too..."

Judy made the same face. "Of course, he's a very nice looking man and sharp dresser. Any woman would be - you can't tell me you don't find any of the teachers or students at your school attractive."

"Have any of them basically told you that they're going to fuck me and you should just accept it?" Joel snapped. "Seems like a big fucking difference to me."

"I'm not going through this again..." Judy said, "Reggie is touchie-feelie, but our relationship is professional. Your stupid, insecure jealousy made you jump to conclusions of what he said last night."

"Come on, Judy. You're the smartest person I know," Joel said louder, "You know damn well this is more."

"First, you're going to wake the girls," Judy snapped, "Second, maybe I like the company of someone who likes to take charge for a change."

"Yeah, not a lowly gym teacher," Joel said coldly, "Fine, get it over with and fuck him, then. The sooner you do, the sooner we can file for divorce."

Judy shuddered and tears were in her eye. "This job is the best thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life and you have to shit on it? Just because your macho feelings are hurt by Regis' success? How dare you..." She stormed out and slammed the door, which woke both kids.

Joel enjoyed a Sunday with the kids and playing husband, but felt nauseous. He was starting to think the affair had already started weeks ago. Judy rarely, except after giving birth, went that long without sex. He did regret what he said to her, even though he meant every word. He texted her several times, but received no response. He asked if she was coming home for supper, no response. He even tried calling the office, but just got voice mail.

It was seven at night, and he'd still heard nothing and was really starting to worry. Right before putting the kids to sleep at nine, all he did was pace.

Nine-twenty came the text. Joel didn't recognize the number, but recognized the red lace panties the hand in the photo was holding. He bought that pair two years ago for Judy for Valentine's Day. They were incredibly sexy, but uncomfortable so she only wore them for special occasions - like a full day with Reggie. The text with the picture said, "I should be done fucking your wife by ten thirty. You should come pick up her then as she'll be in no condition to drive. Maybe even have trouble walking ;) You're welcome to wait outside my office. Security will be expecting you."

Joel immediately called Tom and asked for two favors: could Tom and Wendy come over immediately to watch the kids, and could he stay at their place indefinitely after tonight while he figured things out.

When Tommy asked if things were really that bad, he forwarded Regis's text to him

Wendy knocked and walked into the house about fifteen minutes later. She ran up and hugged Joel. "She loves you more than anything... I know that. There's got to be more to this..."

After another twenty minutes, Joel was sitting impatiently waiting for the lovers to finish.

After it sounded like Judy had her third orgasm from him pounding into her, one of the guards nudged Joel in the arm. "Gotta love Viagra, eh? Mr. Grinberg can fuck those married bitches for an hour."

Finally, after what seemed forever, Joel heard Regis slow down and let out a final groan. There was a pause of both of them breathing heavily.

"I can believe I let that happen..." Judy said in a breathless voice, "But it was incredible..."

"You are incredible my dear, and as promised, I will recommend you for a seat on the board," Regis said.

"This was a mistake, I mean... if Joel found out, it would kill him," said Judy sounding a little guilty. Too little too late, Joel thought.

"No offense, but you can do better than that loser... In the meantime, tell him you're going to be working late more often...a lot more."

"For this? No, no, this is one-time. Shouldn't have even happened once... fuck..."

"Shhh... relax, Jude. Even if he did find out, Joel will have to accept this is your life now. We are so beyond him. Me and you are at a different level than people like Joel. Welcome to the big leagues."

"I can't go home like this... I need to shower... It's already really late. Fuck...fuck...fuck...Where's my phone." Judy sounded really worried, "Can't find my panties..."

"Jude, you're going to calm down and put on that robe," Regis said in a commanding voice, "Fold up your clothes and carry them. I've arranged for a ride to take you somewhere to clean up."