Time to Trade Up

With that Handy said "Have a nice evening and walked off. Tara whispered in his ear "I owe you big time."

He responded by saying "Just being here with you is more than enough repayment for me. Shall we sit down and eat?"

Their table of eight was the liveliest at the event as Marvin was in his element with stories, jokes and laughter. This was the most enjoyable time that he had experienced since Cheryl had walked out of their home and possibly out of their marriage.

As the band started to play the first song, he asked Tara to join him on the dance floor. With a grin she offered her hand as she got up from her seat. They danced several fast songs and when a slow song started, they moved together. Marvin's arm went around her until he touched the silky bare skin of her back. He quickly moved his hand lower to not touch her bare skin but not so low as to be on her ass. Her smooth skin reminded him of Cheryl and the good times they had.

Moments after moving his hand Tara looked at him and said "I know and I understand. I was there two years ago but my world has changed. And changed for the better. I had friends that helped me through the rough spots. Can I be one of your friends that helps you recover?"

He moved his head to touch her head and nodded yes as he could not talk.

The rest of the evening was full of dancing, laughing and good times. When the party was over at 11pm she asked Marvin if he would drive her around in the convertible with the top down. She wanted the fresh cool air to rush through her hair and to cool her down so she could hug Marvin to warm her body and her heart. She asked him to walk her to the door to which he readily agreed.

Marvin grinned and said "I have not had this much fun in a long time. I can't decide if it was because of you or 200 of my friends being around us. In order to find out which it was, can I take you to dinner some night next week? It's cheaper than paying for dinner for 200 people."

She laughed and said "I don't know anyone who can make me laugh at such a simple thing of asking me out. For that reason, I accept, let's go out Friday night." She gave him a hug, longer than he expected and as she pulled away, she kissed him, quickly. Then went inside.

Marvin kept the top down and roared home. He had warmth in his heart.

Cheryl went with her friend Patty to one of the clubs for some entertainment. Patty had been divorced several years and understood the party scene. She knew that Cheryl was pretty enough and fresh enough to draw a number of guys to their table that night. And she was right, as the two walked in several guys took notice, came and asked Patty who her friend was. After introductions, Tim, Dan and Harvey bought the girls a round of drinks with the promise of dancing soon.

Tim and Cheryl took the floor for several fast songs. When the slow song came up Cheryl was unsure of the protocols involved with first physical contact during slow songs. Tim knew what to do, he put his arm around her and pulled her close, so close that her ample breasts smashed against his chest.

She thought, "well he now knows my tits are real." She also thought his lips were too close to her ears. It had been years since any other man had been that close. She reminded herself that this was the interaction she was looking for, being with unknown people with unknown agendas. That thought changed when she recognized Tim's agenda by the enlarged cock he was pushing against her mid-section as they danced. She enjoyed the closeness and warmth but did not want to go any further than this, not tonight anyway.

During the evening she received the names and numbers of several men who would like to go out with her. This made her feminine ego purr as she thought; "I am still desirable to men; I can pick and choose who I want to be with." Both she and Patty went home late in the evening without male companions.

WEEK 9: On Wednesday several of the women in Cheryl's office came to her carrying a portion of that morning's junior college inhouse media. The article about Tara Wilson being a major part of the success of the Children's Charity event on Saturday night was the lead story. There were several pictures of Tara and her unnamed date in the article. Very timidly they asked if it was her now estranged husband next to and dancing with the extremely attractive Tara Wilson. Numbly, Cheryl starred at the picture of her husband as the other women waited on her answer. She mumbled "Yes, that's him."

Thursday Cheryl went to see Betty at the travel agency and asked for a big favor; "I really need to talk to Marvin; can you call him and ask him please can he talk to me. I'm not lonely, I'm not sad, it's just my kids won't talk to me and maybe he can get the kids to contact me."

Betty said "I will not get involved with the two of you. I will call Marvin and ask him if he will talk to you. If he does, I will give you the phone and go into the next office. If no, then I will thank him and hang up. Any questions?"

Cheryl answered "No questions and thank you for doing this for me."

Betty called Marvin and asked if he wanted to talk to Cheryl and he answered "Not really, but maybe I should. You can put her on the line and I'm sorry you are put on the spot Betty."

After taking the phone, Cheryl said "Good morning Marvin, I hope you are having a good day."

He said "I was. What do you want Cheryl?"

She asked "Can we get together and talk. I really need to talk to you. It's hard to talk over Betty's phone. Please, can we meet for just a few minutes?"

He responded "So we are going to violate one of your iron clad rules for your convenience. I can't contact you but you can contact me. It's all about you changing the rules I thought we were to live by isn't it."

She said "Please Marvin."

Reluctantly he said "Alright, today for lunch. Someplace we usually don't go so people don't think we are getting together."

She responded "I can make you lunch at my apartment."

"Absolutely not. I do not want to go into your shrine of sexual experiences. Alberto's near the interstate, I'll be there at noon. Anything else?"

"Thank you so much Marvin." She said as he hung up the phone.

Marvin saw Cheryl in a corner booth as he arrived at Alberto's. As he got near the booth she rose, opened her arms and hugged him. It was awkward as he just stood there with his arms at his side while she hugged him. She started the conversation on what she thought would be a light note. "You look very fit, cooking your own meals must be doing you good."

Dryly he said "It's not my cooking. Seems like every other night some woman brings me a meal and asks me how I am doing. One night they were lined up three deep to bring me home made food. I am very well fed and cared for by the local ladies."

This pissed Cheryl off and she asked "Was that slut Mary DeFalco one of those ladies. She was always eyeing you whenever she was around us."

With a smirk he said "Yes she was one of the first to stop by and I have got to tell you she makes the best lasagna I have ever had. She is welcome any time."

She gritted her teeth and moved to the next topic. "Marvin, I know I have disappointed the kids and they do not understand what I am trying to do but I do miss the contact with them. Neither has talked to me in weeks. Did you tell them not to have any contact with me?"

"When they were down here, I told them you were still their mother and should treat you with respect" was his reply.

She quickly asked "They were here to see you and not me. That really breaks my heart."

He snapped "Yeah there seems to be a lot of that going around." Then he just glared at her for a moment. Cheryl stared at a spot on the table.

He then said "I'll call them this week and ask them to please call you. I will not make them call you, I will ask them to call you. Speaking of "Call you", you may take offense at some of the names they will call you. So be prepared."

Cheryl was now 3 for 3 in negative responses she did not want to receive so she moved to the next subject. "I saw your picture in the paper with Tara Wilson. Are you two dating?"

His response was "She did not have a date for that charity dinner dance so she asked me to be her escort. I have not had that much fun in a long time. She is a very pretty lady."

"She asked you?" She queried.

"Yep, hard to believe a beautiful, talented, smart young lady would ask me out. Isn't it?" he said as he looked directly into her eyes. Even though he was staring into her eyes he could sense the large "Gulp" that came from her throat.

"Marvin, there were a lot of items that I did not budget for and I am running short on funds. I know how you always kept my bills paid current so I would have a good credit score and I want to maintain that rating. But with utilities, new health insurance, rent deposits plus moving and storage expenses I am in a bind. Can I borrow $2,000 from you please? I will pay you back, I promise."

He did not say a thing. He just looked at her with disappointment and irritation. Slowly he took out his checkbook, wrote her a check and pushed it across the table.

She said "Thank you so much, I am embarrassed to have to ask you for this. My plan was to become more of an independent woman and so far, that has not happened."

"Are we done now? He asked.

"One last question" Cheryl responded "Can you tell me about a trip to France that Betty and Cindi told me you arranged?"

Another big sigh by Marvin then, "What's to tell. I planned a trip for us so you could go to France. I knew that was something you always wanted to do. I had the paperwork with me the night you told me you were leaving me. I canceled the trip since it appears you are no longer in my life."

Trying to hold back tears Cheryl said "That is the most unselfish wonderful thing anyone has ever done for me. You really are a wonderful and considerate husband. And I love you for it. Please remember I am not leaving you. When we get back together, I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

"Are we done now?" he asked.

When Cheryl nodded, Marvin got up, paid the bill and left.

Later that afternoon Marvin called Tara to ask if she was still willing to go out with him Friday night.

Tara said "Yes, it is on my calendar and I am looking forward to it. What do you have in mind for the evening?"

He replied "Since your junior college has a double header baseball game Friday night and the forecast is for a perfect spring evening, I thought it would be fun to go to the ball game, eat ballpark food and watch the games. How does that sound to you?"

She replied "How fun is that. What a great idea. Do you want me to get 2 of the faculty box seats for us?"

He said "No because then it will be like work for you. I'll pick you up at 4pm and we'll get seats when we get there."

"Great I'll see you then."

Marvin got good seats on the third base side of the field. First order of business was to get a supply of sodas and popcorn. As they started to munch on the popcorn Marvin asked "I took a chance on asking you about the baseball game tonight. I did not know if you were an outdoor or sports person."

Tara answered "I love all sports I did play softball in high school and some in college. This is a perfect evening for this. I have been here 2 years and have never come to a game. Thanks for thinking of it."

He asked "Is your son also a sports fan?"

"He has played some sports but now he is thinking about golf but the logistics and transportation gets complicated by my work."

Marvin thought for a few seconds and said "Our country club has a junior golf program this summer that is wonderful. Five hours on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week from 10 am to 3pm. First hour is instructional golf, second hour is playing 3 or 4 holes and at noon time they get hot dogs and hamburgers. After lunch they go to the pool until parents come to get them."

"Oh my gosh, that would be perfect for him but what does it cost?" asked Tara.

He said "The only cost is his food. The club has this plan of making this so much fun for the kids they hound their parents to join the country club. You do not have to be a member now as I will sponsor you until you decide if you want to join. If you are interested, I will get you the information."

Tara gushed and said "That would be great. Thank you for thinking about him and me on this."

The balance of the late afternoon and evening was watching two fun baseball games and consuming hot dogs and popcorn. They laughed and talked like two high school juniors as they learned about each other. As the evening progressed Marvin was glad he had brought a blanket. Not so much as to keep them warm, but to have an excuse to snuggle up to Tara. Which she did not seem to mind. The evening ended with a hug, a short kiss and a promise for next week.

Week 10: Sunday the country club golf course was closed for the first Spring golf tournament. It was to be a scramble format where everyone on each team gets to hit each shot and the team uses the best of the four shots. The golf pro sets the teams by using handicaps to determine A, B, C and D players. Marvin was a B player and was very surprised to see Greta Gustafson as their A player. Greta played on the LPGA tournament tour for about 10 years.

During those 10 years she was one of the most photographed players on the tour. Not for winning events but for what she looked like. At 5'10" with long blond hair and an hour glass figure that was amply displayed with her shorts and tight golf shirts. She was a native of Sweden and her voice was soft with a sing song cadence. She had used her winnings and endorsement money to purchase and expand to be the largest insurance agency in town.

After introductions the four players got on their carts and headed to the first tee. Marvin was pleased to see he was carted with Greta. He said to her "We have not met before but I have seen you here many times.

Greta replied "I know who you are because of you giving the President's Report at annual meetings. It's nice to meet you."

The D player gets to hit first and followed by the C, B and finally A player. As Greta bent over from the waist and put her tee into the ground it was obvious why she had such a following on the tour. That ass was absolutely the most beautiful back end of a woman Marvin had ever seen. With a twist of her torso, her long arms swung rapidly creating a large "Whack". The screaming ball went 250 yards down the middle of the fairway. Greta smiled as she put her club back in her bag.

As she got in the cart Marvin said "Det var mycket bra". ("That was very good.") in Swedish. With that Greta's head snapped around with a startled look.

Greta replied "Du tolar Svenska?" (You speak Swedish?)

He smiled and said "Ja" (Yes in Swedish) Then in English he said "That's about the extent of my Swedish. Both my parent's families were Swedish immigrants in 1868, thus the family name of Johnson.

With a beautiful smile she said "I'm looking forward to our game today. You are the first person in this town I've met that knows anything about Sweden."

The remaining 17 holes were stages for laughing, joking and discussions of Swedish customs. Their laughter could be heard as they sang Swedish nursery rhymes. Marvin knew the words his grandmother taught him but did not know their meanings, which made it all the funnier.

With Greta's long drives and Marvin's putting, the foursome collected the first prize money of $100 per person in pro shop shirts, pants and golf equipment. Greta turned to Marvin and said "Playing golf with you was more fun than winning. We must do this again."

Smiling he agreed and said "Absolutely. How about here Wednesday afternoon at 1pm. Then I'll buy you dinner. It will be cheaper for me than paying you at a dollar a stroke difference in our scores"

WEEK 11 and 12: Cheryl initially told her sorority sisters she would not attend the 25^th anniversary of their graduation. After threats of a kidnapping and intervention by her friends she reluctantly agreed to join them. They knew of her struggle with Marvin accepting her empowering herself in the modern woman's image. They wanted to be there to support their friend in her time of need and reclamation of her femininity.

Cheryl welcomed the three-hour drive to Dallas as it gave her time to detox from her stresses at work and in life in general. She moved her thoughts to the young women she started college with and where their lives were now. It will be interesting to talk to these long-time friends.

They had rented a corporate retreat building that had six main bedrooms, kitchen and central meeting room with sofas and stuffed chairs rather than tables and desks. The six bedrooms were split so each person had their own room with bathroom. Outdoors was a patio and hot tub that looked out over a golf course.

Friday was scheduled to be a travel day and get together evening. The plan was reservations for a sushi dinner with a pajama party back at the retreat afterwards. Cheryl took the afternoon off so she was at the retreat by 5pm. She could tell that most of the ladies were there by the laughter and squealing. When she walked in the door there was a wild exclamation of delight that she had finally arrived.

Many of the girls had started drinking, evidenced by the large number of liquor bottles on the counter. She was shown to her bedroom and invited to join in the frivolity in the central room. Comments were made about the latest member of the group to get a boob job or have liposuction. A contest was held as to who had the least scares from her boob job. Cheryl was one of the 4 women that had not inflated her chest with either saline solution or silicone. Four of the women who had spent the most time at the bar gladly pulled up their shirts for group inspection. One woman was chosen and she became the boob job queen.

The Uber ride to the sushi restaurant and back was a raucous disorganized trip that had all the women laughing. All were told to put on pajamas and go to the central area. After a round of margaritas from the kitchen blender each woman was required to talk about their career, children, marriage and lovers.

There were happy stories, sad stories and stories without an ending so far. Cheryl was one of 3 that did not have a conclusion yet. All saw the possibilities of wonderful or terrible things happening for the 3 women.

More than half of the women have been divorced at least once. The majority of those who spoke told Cheryl that she was on the right path. She was to take control of the marriage and tell her husband how it was going to be. He should comply happily or just deal with it. It was his choice but his best choice should be to make his wife happy and quit whining.

The ladies applauded Cheryl about how she took control and told her ungrateful husband she was moving out for six months as she empowered herself as a strong modern woman. They liked the "No contact" rule and her living as a single woman; not held to the constraints of matrimony.

They gasped as she said Marvin filed for divorce and was taking the opportunity to look into "Trading Up" with a different woman in his life. She told of his date with the young, beautiful Tara Wilson and trading up in his Honda for a BMW convertible as a sign of his seriousness.

Even the most rebellious girls toned down their rhetoric about making the husband "deal with it". Most of the women said that after their divorces their ex-husbands married younger women and they married older men. Consensus was to tread lightly and not force him into a choice she did not want him to make.

After the late night, the group did not get started on their shopping trip until 11am. The plan was to lunch and shop until 4pm when they return to the retreat and rest for the balance of the afternoon and early evening. They had reservations at an Italian restaurant and they planned on clubbing after that. Each woman was told to wear their best "Man Catcher" dress and put $20 into the margarita blender with the woman who caught the best man would win the $240.