Time to Trade Up

"If you treat her mean, she will have a difficult time reconciling with you. One thing for sure, keep your dick in your pants. If she doesn't cheat and you do then it will be big problems for your marriage. She may resort to revenge fucking and that adds more problems for you. You two are great together, I want you to get this marriage problem resolved not destroyed."

"Great ideas Roger, I knew you could help me out" was Marvin' reply.

Roger said "No problem Bro, you know all about how to take care of bank accounts before she gets to them don't you? Plus get as much data, messages and emails from her devices as possible prior to her leaving. It will tell you if she is screwing around or just getting ready to screw someone other than you."

As Roger walked him out of the building Marvin noticed a black BMW 430i convertible sitting in the lot. He asked Roger if that was his and Roger replied "Yes so far, the buyers at the used car auction this week were not paying attention and I got a good deal on this barely used beauty."

Marvin said "Great, I'll take it. Does it need any work? If not then have your guys clean it up and I'll pick it up tomorrow. No haggling, just give me a decent price."

While looking at Marvin's vehicle Roger said "Are you trading up from your Honda."

Marvin relied "I may do more trading up than that this year." Marvin drove to the office to review what needed to be done that day. Everything could wait a few days so he told the staff he would be at home attending to another non-business-related crisis, but they could call him if needed.

On the way home he saw Betty's car was at the travel agency so he stopped to clean up the aborted Paris trip. When Betty saw Marvin walk in the door she jumped up, squealed and said "How was the red envelope surprise? I'll bet she loved it."

He tried to retain his composure while he said "Cheryl says she is leaving me. She's moving out this weekend so there will be no dream trip to France. What do I owe you for all the work you did on preparing this wonderful package?"

Betty slumped into her chair, shook her head and said "No, no. It just can't be. Cheryl never says a single bad word about you. She loves you. I don't know what to say. I am so sorry. What happened?"

Slowly he said "She says she needs her space to become her own person rather that the wife of a guy everyone in town knows and respects. Her words, not mine. It's almost like she already has a boyfriend that she will be spending time with as I am out of the picture. Betty, she is one of your good friends, has she given you any clues about her becoming involved with someone else?"

Betty thought for a second and replied "She did remark that a new cute young guy had started in the counseling department. That was her only comment. Then she never spoke of him again. Not even a mention of his name. As far as cost goes you do not owe me a thing. I learned a lot about this kind of trip and will use it as a guide for my other clients."

He requested "Please do not tell her the trip has been canceled. It was to be a surprise, only I was the one surprised."

As he got into his car, he noticed his phone acting like a bumble bee. It had been on mute this morning and it had calls and texts waiting for him. All the texts were from Cheryl saying "please call me". Heeding Roger's advice, he dialed her number.

Immediately she answered "Marvin dear, where are you? I missed you so much this morning. Can you talk now?"

"Good morning Cheryl, I had a lot on my mind after our conversation last night and I thought a drive would help" is what he said.

She said "I can take the day off and talk now if you want. I know I shook you to your foundation last night and I am worried about my wonderful husband. Tell me what you want to do; meet now, at lunch, at dinner, after dinner? I need you to be with me as I am scared of what I think I want to do. I need your wisdom. Please Marvin."

Almost being offended by her worry about him, he spoke softly with "I need more time to digest the ramifications of your separation plans. I'm going to go to the office, close my door, turn off my phone and contemplate the future. Let's plan on having dinner together tonight, normal time and discuss this further. I'll stop and get something for us to eat so you don't have to cook or clean up the kitchen. Is that ok with you?"

She jumped at the chance and said "That would be great. I will look forward to seeing you. I love you."

"Love you too" escaped his mouth before he had a chance to say anything else.

Next stop for Marvin was the bank. He paid off the joint credit cards with checking account funds and canceled those cards. The savings accounts for travel and Christmas funds were divided and put in two envelopes. Final step was to divide and close the joint checking account.

A new checking account was opened in just his name and he deposited his half of the funds into that account. Cheryl will receive her half in cash tonight.

Marvin drove by the junior college just to make sure Cheryl's car was in the parking lot. He put his business card on her windshield with the note "Looking forward to seeing you tonight." He remembered Roger's advice to be as nice as possible until things become impossible. Keep the ego in check, she hasn't cheated yet.

At home he started to gather the information that he needed. He knew her passwords were in a small book in her desk. He reviewed all of her emails; received, sent, trashed, favorited, and archived without an apparent boyfriend. He made a copy of her entire Contacts list, reviewing each name for clues.

He looked through all files that have had activity in the last 60 days. The history of web searches on different search engines were reviewed without any unusual activity. There were several articles in women's magazines about starting to recover your self-esteem from being overshadowed by your significant other. He noted those articles for further study so he can know what her thoughts might be.

Cheryl's cell phone was part of a bundle of services including internet and cable. It was easy to get all her texts for the past 60 days plus frequently called phone numbers. He wrote down the numbers of the five most texted numbers. All were on her contacts list and the only name on her list of contacts that was unknown to him was Roberto.

Marvin left the house to go back to the office to list out his concerns, thoughts and comments for the most important meeting of his life.

Later that afternoon as he was pulling into the driveway Marvin could see that Cheryl's car was in the garage. He approached the front door and remembered Roger's admonishment. Be nice until it was impossible. He opened the door to see his wife walking toward him with a glass of wine.

She looked at him and said "I heard the garage door open and could not wait to hold you in my arms." At which time she threw her arms around his neck and pushed her lips onto his. He returned the favor because it was the first bit of passion he had experienced in several months. And he was going to enjoy it.

She broke their embrace and said "Why did you get an 18-inch pizza? Together can't eat that tonight in one night."

"I know" he said. "The leftovers are a start of me having to feed myself in the evenings."

"Ouch, I forgot about how much that will change your life."

"Yeah, it's obvious you are not thinking about the changes to my life" he groaned.

The first glass of wine and slice of pizza was spent talking about who they spoke with that day and what was going on around town.

Breaking the ice, he said "So tell me about the apartment you have rented?

Showing her excitement about her big move she said "It's a 1,200 square foot, 2-bedroom apartment on the third floor of the new apartment complex being built north of Nealy on 46^th street. It comes with a parking garage, clubhouse and pool. It is building number one of a five building development."

"They needed quick revenue so I got a nice price on a 6-month lease. They figure that all buildings will be completed in 6 months and they can start raising the rents then but needed cashflow now. By then I will be back in this house."

He complimented her with "Now that is smart money management Cheryl".

He asked "Does it come furnished?"

She grimaced and said "No, I may have to rent some furniture for 6 months."

He said "Take what you need from this house. What is here is too much for me to use. Especially take the master bedroom furniture as you have that special mattress for your back. Take the bedroom tv also, you are the only one who watches tv in bed. We can work out a plan for other furniture so you won't have to rent so much."

Grinning she said "Thank you for being so considerate. You really are a great person."

He wanted to sarcastically say "Yeah, look what all that consideration is getting me, a wife going out the door" But he didn't say it.

He did say "I don't think you can get all your belongings into a 1,200 square foot apartment. What are you going to do with the overage?"

"Yeah, I thought about that too. I guess I'll have to leave it here for the time being."

Marvin said "I don't think that will work. If you leave, all of you leaves. You can't have this being base as you start a new life."

Pleading she said "I don't have a place for it to go. My apartment is too small for everything I have here. Why can't you keep it here? I'll be back in six months; it wouldn't hurt you to keep it here."

The reply was "As I said before; you leave, your stuff leaves. I don't want to see your mementoes while you are out partying with other guys. It leaves a bad feeling in my gut."

Coldly, she said "You can be so considerate as to make sure I get my bed but then be such a jerk about my unneeded stuff. A real jerk. What can I do with my stuff but leave it here?"

"Since you want to become independent why are you asking me? You are leaving me for that reason but now you want my help. You can rent a storage unit. They are all around the city. By the way who are you having move your stuff to your apartment?"

She asked "You have a pickup truck in the garage so I thought I would get you to move my stuff to the apartment. Can you do that for me please?"

"Here we go again, you desperately want to leave me but yet need me to do things for you. You leave; then you do not get either of my moving or storage services. I will tell you this; if we agree for you to come back to this house, I will help you move back in. If we agree." said Marvin.

"What do you mean 'If we agree'." Cheryl snapped "That is a given that I come back here! Where else would I go? My plan is to come back here a better wife, more confident person and experienced lover for you. It will put us on new and better footing for the next 25 years. "

He replied "Lots can change your established plan. One; you get enamored with one of your new boyfriends and decide you want another 6 months, a year or 2 years to play house and expect me to wait patiently for you.

Two; you have so much fun and have so much great sex with lots of guys that I would consider you as 'used goods.' No normal guy wants to have the town slut for his wife.

Three; While you are getting your thrill machine going, do you think I am going to sit in my garage waiting for you to drive up and join our marriage again? No way is that going to happen."

"Cheryl, I have done some soul searching myself since our first talk on this topic. While I don't have a wife around, maybe I need to be considering if I should trade up."

"Trade Up? What does that mean?" she questioned.

Marvin explained "Just like when your car gets old and doesn't perform, you "Trade Up" and get a new model. I would look to trade up too, a younger more entertaining wife instead of my old one." Marvin really wanted to say "trade up to a younger, thinner, prettier wife" but thought it would not be helpful.

"Listen Buster." she snarled "I'm doing this to improve my wifely performance for you. You don't need to be out on the marketplace for a new wife. I do not like this idea at all."

Calmly he said "And I do not like your idea either but you told me I have no say in your decision. You were going to do this no matter what I say. You gave no thought to my feelings about having a cheating wife. So, as you do what you want with the next six months, I will do what I want for six months. We'll just have to see how this all ends up."

Cheryl began sputtering "The two are not the same. I am looking for other men for sexual interaction, I look to you for intimacy. Sexual interaction is purely physical, with little or no meaning."

She was on a roll and said "Intimacy is where you have heart to heart love. We already have our intimacy and will continue it upon my return. You just can't do this Marvin, you just can't. I need you to be there when my six months is up."

Sternly he said "Thanks for letting me be your Plan B in case your free pass does not work out for you. You can stop me from trading up by not moving out. You move out, then I consider myself as unmarried as you do with your probable dates."

Cheryl thought this is not working out the way it was supposed to. The husband is to be sensitive to his wife's needs and allow her to explore her potential opportunities and adventures.

In order to change the subject Marvin handed her a large envelope and said "I used our joint checking account to pay off our joint credit cards and then canceled them. Then I closed out all of our joint accounts and your half of the money is in this envelope along with the documentation of division of the proceeds, 50-50.

You will need to open new accounts with the cash. I did not touch the credit cards you have in just your own name."

"You are making this too difficult and too structured for me just taking some time away from you" She replied. "It's not that big a deal."

He replied "But it is a big deal to me. When a wife leaves her husband it's a very big deal. While we are working on the logistics of a split up you will need to get a health insurance policy from the junior college. My policy will cover you for the rest of the month but you will need to get that in place."

Continuing he said "You wanted to be a big girl and do big girl things by yourself. Well, this is what big girls do when they are on their own. They do not have a man looking over their shoulder to help out when needed. You said you wanted to be away from me so you can grow and expand your experiences."

Cheryl grimaced and said "Is there any more shit you are going to unload on me? Or are you going to wait and spring it on me?"

Solemnly he said "Yes, there is one more thing. Probably the worst thing of all. The day after you pack up and leave, I will file for divorce under the grounds of abandonment. Before you stab me to death with your fork let me finish."

He let out a big sigh and said "You want a 6-month free pass. A divorce will take at least six months. At the time your exploration in self-awareness is supposed to be over, the legal proceedings will be finishing up. If we agree to get back together again, then we do not sign the final divorce decree. The legal action is dropped and we stay husband and wife."

Continuing he said "If you decide you have found a new life or love, we sign the divorce and neither of us needs to wait out the time of a divorce. This being said, let me reiterate this to you again. I do not want to divorce you. I love you and want you to stay with me. Grow old with me. But I will not stand by while you have sex with others without having the divorce proceedings in place. I want it to be public so I am not viewed as Cheryl's cuckold husband sitting at home while she experiences new boyfriends. Can you understand my position?"

Quickly she countered "No one will know who or even if I am having sex with someone else. No one will ever know."

Right away he said "Just like no one will know that you and Roberto go to lunch a couple of times a week."

"Are you following me?" Cheryl shot back.

"I have had no reason to follow you. People I know just said they saw you with a young Hispanic guy. I presume it was Roberto. It was him, wasn't it?"

Ignoring the question Cheryl snorted. "You are a real asshole. An absolute asshole. I try to improve myself and you throw up all these road blocks. It is just not fair. Not fair at all. It appears I am making the right decision to move away from a jerk like you Marvin Johnson."

With that, she stormed out of the house, slamming the door and driving off. He thought, "Typical, when she does not get her way and has no come back remark to bring to the conversation she jumps in the car and leaves. This time it may be a while before she comes back. And if she doesn't, that's ok because she was leaving anyway."

Marvin spent the remaining evening taking pictures off the walls. Any picture that had his wife in it was carefully placed into a box, hopefully she may see the light and cancel her 6-month odyssey. He did not want to create an irreparable problem. Included in the box were their wedding pictures and wedding album. Any pictures or nick knacks he wanted to keep he took down so her movers did not get them into her moving boxes. The house had an empty, cold look with the picture boxes stacked along the living room wall.

He was also glad that she thought his giving up the master bedroom furniture was generous. It was not out of generosity; he thought her favorite French Provincial furniture in a Mid-Century Modern house was completely out of place. He was glad to be rid of it.

The accusation of being a jerk stung him. He did not want to come across as being that kind of uncaring guy. Afterall, he really did not want her to leave, he did not want to divorce her either.

However, he was not going to let her fuck other guys then walk back into his life like nothing happened. He did not want to be at a table at a club when one of her former lovers came over to take her out to dance and try convince her to leave with him that night as cuckold Marvin sat at the table.

There was a supermarket just three miles down the road that had a florist shop. He jumped into his Honda and sped to the supermarket and bought a dozen long stem roses. He set them in a location that she would see as soon as she reappeared. A peace offering, a let's tone down the rhetoric offering, to calm things down.

Around 10 pm he heard the garage door open and he could tell the car door was shut with an attitude. The door opened with force and she stomped six steps into the house and stopped. Marvin was watching the news and looked up and pleasantly said "Good evening Dear".

After a few seconds he heard her say "The flowers are beautiful, are they for me?"

"Of course they are. You are the only one around here that deserves them." He responded with a grin.

"I appreciate the thought and am very glad you did that. I was afraid we were going to start fighting again as soon as I got in the door."

He responded "I did not like how that conversation ended and wanted to tone down the volume while still working through your proposed adventure. I understand what you are trying to accomplish but we need to talk about your having sex with someone else. Are you ok with that?"

"Of course I am. But first, aren't you going to ask me where I went?

He said "I don't need to know where you are. I only want to know you are safe."

She explained "I was safe in the local Starbucks, wondering what I am going to do. I have lots of things on my mind, heavy things, decisions that will change the direction of my life for as long as I live. I know what I want to do but the consequences could make my life wonderful or just fuck it up permanently. I just don't know what to do just yet."