Vendetta

I asked, "Who was the happy guy?"

She replied, "Samuel Albertson. Is he a friend of yours?"

What could I say? Off all available single men she had choose to date the worst creep, Ass-Hole-Albertson, who had really done his best to impress on her. The musical had been sold out for many months, so the tickets must cost him a fortune on the black market. Though my own date now sounded like a cheap budget alternative compared to his I decided to continue my own race as planned and not care about Albertson, so I replied, "I know him rather well but wouldn't be honest if I called him a friend."

She didn't ask me more about him and I doubted it would be of any advantage for me to say anything negative about him at that moment. Instead we talked about our trip.

Both Erica and her son Elliot were in a good mood on Saturday morning when I did catch them at her parents' house. Erica must have told him about the animals because he talked a lot about them during the drive to the zoo park. During our walk around the park we had a coffee break at a café where we got a table next to a couple with a boy the same age as Elliott and they began to play and had fun together.

When we walked into the restaurant for lunch the family we met at the café was already sitting there and waved us to their table. We joined them and now even we adults began talking with each other.

Most visitors walked thru the large park via a suggested path and the Svenssons and we decided to walk together thru the remaining area we hadn't seen yet. The small boys had fun together.

During our walk Anna Svensson told Erica that they were living in a small village without any other small boys in their son's age. Then she asked Erica, "Anders and I would be glad if you, your husband and Elliot could come to see us during a weekend so the kids can play together. We have a small guesthouse on the lawn near our house."

Erica's reply caused confused looks in their faces when she replied, "I regret to say that my husband and I have filed for divorce and can't do anything together for the time being. My friend Michael here is not involved in my divorce; my husband caused it and had his secretary to assist him."

Anna replied with a laugh, "I thought you and Michael were newlyweds, you look so happy together."

I said, "I can only hope that we will be that some day."

Anders said, "I'm sure Erica won't say no thanks to a nice guy like you. What about the weekend Anna suggested?"

It would be perfect for me so I replied, "It would be a great pleasure. What do you say, Erica?"

She smiled and said "Many thanks for your kind invitation. Of course we will accept it." (Wow! One date and she's ready to jump into bed with him? That seems awfully quick!)

One more weekend booked with Erica. The family theme was okay for me. During our drive back we agreed that Anna, Anders and Emil were a nice family and both of us expected it to be a pleasant weekend. Then Erica told me that Samuel had invited her to go with him to Manchester in England to see a football (soccer) match with Manchester United and for some shopping and she had accepted. Albertson and some friends of his had rented a private plane because one of his friends who had the flight-certificate needed flight time. I didn't comment on that.

Ass-Hole-Albertson didn't save any efforts to outshine me in this competition, which would not be difficult even with their second date. Of course, what was a barbeque with friends and a night in small guest-house at a small village compared with a flight in a private plane to England and a high-class hotel there. Albertson was sure that he could impress Erica and win her with his expensive dates but I'm thinking that she feels much more comfortable together with Elliot, our new friends and me.

When we planned our date, Erica and I even agreed to have dinner at my house when we were back in our hometown. I had prepared most of the food in advance and did the rest of the cooking while Erica got Elliot ready for the night.

The dinner was rather romantic with good wine, candlelight and soft music. We talked of many things, except Albertson, until Erica said, "I hope you will understand that sex is out of question for me until my divorce is final. Samuel and I had a little quarrel about it when I refused to share a room with him during the last weekend, but I'm sure he knows better for our next date."

"I understand."

"I'm sure you do. It was so sweet of you to tell Anna that you wanted to be newlywed with me."

"That's true. There's something very special about you."

"I'm only a divorcee with a kid?" "Elliot is a great kid and he has a great mom. I really like both of you. Your ex must have been crazy when he messed up with you."

"Elliot likes you too. I'm glad for that."

"Glad to hear that and I would be twice as glad if even his pretty mom would like me. "

"Of course I do, very much indeed."

After some further talking about other subjects she asked, "Why did you and Anna-Lena split up?"

"I caught her cheating."

"Any plans to forgive her?"

"No, it was too humiliating. She did it after we had been talking about wedding, honeymoon in Hawaii and children."

"Why Hawaii? It sounds exotic."

"Not only Hawaii, we even talked about Las Vegas, Grand Canyon and California coast road because both of us wanted to go there. Now it is written in the stars if somebody wants to marry me and if she is interested in that trip."

Now she gave me a bright smile, laughed and said, "I would like go to Hawaii."

"Marry me and we are on the road."

She continued laughing and said, "It's a temptation but I'm already married for the time being."

She slept in my spare room and during breakfast we decided to spend even the Sunday together at my house. It was a pleasant day; we played with Elliot, went out for lunch and took a long walk.

We had no date booked during the next week. Erica had a date with Albertson on Tuesday and then they would fly to Manchester on Saturday morning and be back home on Sunday. Therefore I had a real surprise when she rang my doorbell about eight o clock on Tuesday evening.

It wasn't difficult to see that she was very angry for some reason. I asked her to come in and she sat down at the kitchen table and told me, "I have some questions for you and want to hear the truth. Lie to me and you can forget me."

"What's the matter? I've been honest with you so far and of course I'll continue to tell you the truth."

"Samuel says that you use to call him Ass-Hole-Albertson behind his back and now even several other people have began to using that awful nickname. Is that true?"

"No, of course not. That's not a nickname because Ass-Hole-Albertson fits perfectly on that creep. Of course many others and I are using it in front of him. Did he tell you where and why he got that name?"

"He says that you are calling him that because you envy him and hate him."

"Of course I hate him, I hate him very much, indeed. But I will never envy him. Did he really send you here to complain about his damn name? Do you want to know the truth?"

Erica hesitated for a while before replying, "No, he begged me not to do that, which I promised him. But I was so angry and disappointed about you that I couldn't resist finding the truth already this evening. Do you really think you can win my love with such dirty slander? I didn't expect you to be on such low level."

"My dear Erica, the truth is that I have avoided saying anything negative to you about your dear friend Albertson. Haven't I? The truth is that there was no need for me to do that because a clever woman like you would, sooner or later, hopefully sooner find out what a creep that man really is."

"If you have anything to say about Samuel, I want to hear it here and now and only the truth."

"There is no need for me to tell you any lies about Ass-Hole-Albertson because the truth is bad enough. Please let me tell you the whole story before you dump me. Can you promise me that?"

"Yes, I'll do my best. Go on."

"There is no doubt that Albertson is the best tax expert and accountant in this town and that he has great social skills. But I have a fair reason to hate that man. My first quarrel with him was when I stopped him from becoming the chairman of the Marina Club because I knew he had already accepted bribes to let his friends sneak past the long waiting list for membership. He swore to pay me back with interest."

I continued, "Of course he managed to do that. As a rich, generous, verbal and good looking guy he is probably the most successful pussy hound in this town with several divorces, even his own, on his personal record. He got his chance when the company hired him where my ex-common law wife Anna-Lena works and he assisted her with their new accounting system. He began courting her, first in rather innocent ways and then slowly increased his efforts when he noted her responses. Of course, I did my best to warn her of Albertson and the consequences she would get of letting him go too far with her."

"But I neither wanted nor could make any attempts to watch her at her job and, when I went skiing for the annual V75 players week in the mountains, he decided to use that great opportunity to get into her panties. But as usual he couldn't resist the temptation of bragging to his cohorts that his prey was ready to be laid and he would do that in her damn spouse's bed as soon as he had left for vacation. One of them told his wife, who told her sister and the gossip went on until even I knew their plans."

I went on with my story, "I decided that if she let that infamous pussy hound Ass-Hole-Albertson visit her in my house when I was away, she had lost my confidence and if I surprised them in action, she would be out. Due to very bad weather and traffic problems I came back home too late to catch them in action but I found both Anna-Lena and him sleeping naked in our bed."

Erica remained quite and I gave her the photo of Anna-Lena and Albertson naked in a bed before I continued, "That was the end for Anna-Lena's and my relationship and, as usual, Albertson didn't give a shit about Anna-Lena after I dumped her. By the way, his pet name or nickname Ass-Hole-Albertson comes from the license plate on his BMW, which begins with AHA and it was a member at the golf club who gave him that name after Albertson had caused a very tragic divorce for a nice couple there."

Looking her straight in the eyes I continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if Albertson even whined about me and his ex-wife Charlotte, since it is true that we went together to the Marina Club spring ball, but it was totally innocent and she asked me to escort her because the ball is for members and their spouses only and I don't have a spouse and she is not a member, so it was a simply a practical solution."

I said, "I have one more serious thing left to tell you about Anna-Lena, Albertson and me. She is pregnant and I believe that Albertson is the father, but it will be a case for DNA testing."

Now I remained silent and Erica asked me, "Did you tell me the truth?"

"Yes, I told you the truth. If you don't believe me, ask people in town."

"Why haven't you told me anything before?"

"Because I hoped to have enough with my own advantages to win your love. That's why I chose to date you in simple ways, which gave us a fair chance to really know each other before we went further. Albertson preferred to date you in a different manner and it is up to you to decide whom you prefer over the other or if you don't like any of us after what I told you."

"I can tell you that I had much more fun during the date with you and I really look forward to the family weekend with Anna and Anders."

"So, I'm not dumped yet?"

"Obviously not. I really hope you didn't lie to me."

"No, I didn't. By the way, you never told me why Albertson began whining about his pet name."

"We had tea and shrimp sandwiches at the small restaurant besides the bank when two couples came in there and one of the women almost yelled with a loud voice, "There is Ass-Hole-Albertson seducing some poor bastard's silly wife. Dear bitch, skip that damn asshole before it's too late for you."

Erica said that several of the other guests had laughed loudly but Albertson had not dared to say a word before the couples were seated at the other end of the restaurant. Then he had begun to accuse me of creating his nickname and spreading nasty lies about him.

Erica left and to my surprise she was back at my house on Thursday and told me that she had asked lot of people about Albertson, even his ex-wife and all of them had confirmed what I had told her. Albertson had told her that the other guys had refused to take a woman with them on a football trip, so he cancelled their date and he hadn't been too sorry because he sold her seat in the plane and the match ticket for a high price to one of his friends.

Erica told me that Elliot was with his dad that weekend and asked if she could spend the weekend with me at my house. Of course I agreed and even offered to take her to a nice hotel somewhere but Erica said she preferred a lazy weekend at home.

After a very romantic dinner on Friday evening we ended up necking. I got horny as hell and noted that even she was hot, very hot indeed. But she whispered in my ear that she intended to let the sex wait until she was divorced.

During all my adult life I have always remembered what an old man said to me when I was a boy, "Everything is possible if you try damn hard." I did my very best to keep her hot and after a long intensive kiss I whispered in her ear, "I love you and I'm dreaming about being your husband, but it's fair that we'll have some practice before our wedding night so everything will be perfect then."

Erica's reply took me with total surprise when she whispered, "I must agree to that."

Thereafter it was only a question of a few seconds before both of us were naked in my new bed. Of course, we didn't need any practice because the sex was great from the very beginning. I was convinced without any doubt that it was some of the very best sex I ever had taken any part of. Even Erica must have felt the same because she was totally wild until our dual orgasm and afterwards, as soon as she was back to normal breathing, she said, "You must marry me. You must do that. Promise me that. Do you?"

I proposed and she said, "Yes."

I was suspicious about how easy I had won against Albertson but expected him to keep a low profile until he sooner or later found some excuse to try again with increasing courting of Erica if we became a couple.

Then I found the real reasons why Albertson gave up the competition about Erica. Her ex had been promoted to a real top job and wanted her back as one of the "Leading Ladies" in our county. No doubt that Albertson expected to get a good laugh at my expense when she left me. Especially now after he had managed to get a new gorgeous girlfriend, a lawyer who would work one year at the local law firm. She could be described as 9 points of 10 available.

However, Erica, Elliot and I had a very pleasant weekend together with Anna, Anders and their son Emil. Erica and I even got in some quickies while Elliot slept.

The next week was a difficult time for me because Erica was going to see her ex during the weekend and discuss the possibilities of canceling the ongoing divorce and go on with their marriage and give Elliot a fair chance to grow up with both of his real parents. I kept a low profile and told her that it was her own decision.

Ass-Hole-Albertson had sent her a nice card wishing her and her husband good luck. But Erica said that she had sent it back to him with a comment that suggested he put it up in the place advised by his pet name. Obviously she didn't like him very much any longer, probably because he had dumped her when he cancelled their England date.

Erica left early on Saturday morning. She gave me a hug and was gone, probably forever. I had a feeling that she really wanted to save her marriage, but I couldn't blame her.

We had agreed that she wouldn't contact me before she was back again, either to collect her belongings or to stay forever with me. It was long sad day for me. My V75 friends shoved up after lunch so we could follow our gambling on one of the commercial TV-channels. Though we had all seven races right and won a fair amount, equal to around 23,000 in US$, I couldn't show any happiness at all, which made my friends seriously worried. They had seen me go further after a number of crushed relationships before, but never before seen me so wrecked, not even after my separation from Anna-Lena.

Lex said what all of us knew, "You really love this woman with all your heart."

I wasn't in any mood to go out celebrating, so we rang for Chinese food and stayed at my house. About ten o'clock in the evening all of us were really surprised when Erica came back with a big black eye. After she had told me that she intended keeping her part of our wedding plans and after she and I had hugged and kissed for several minutes she told us that it was her ex who had hit her.

After my friends had left us Erica told me everything about the meeting with her ex. When they met he had taken her on a tour of his new office and bragged about all included benefits. Then he had taken her to a big old house in one of the best-regarded expensive old areas with a nice view over the local lake. The house was for sale and the present owner had agreed to show it to them. Erica didn't like the old area because there were no other kids of Elliot's age. She even disliked the house; it was too big for their needs and even in need of much maintenance. When she had told her ex about her doubts he only said that she could work part-time and use the remaining time to assist the maintenance people. He had left an offer with the broker and if it were accepted, the house would be his.

Already his selfish choice of a house that Erica didn't want to live in had put her in very negative mood against the whole idea about forgiving him and continuing their marriage. When she asked him about the price and monthly expenses for it he had told her that it wouldn't cost her anything at all because he intended to keep it as a private investment.

After the house tour the ex had told her about his plans for the evening. He had rented a room and booked a dinner at the best hotel in town and suggested they go to the room for some rest before dinner. Erica had refused to do that and told him that she had an appointment with a friend. She hadn't but now she knew for sure that she didn't love him any longer and had no interest in any hotel-room sex before the dinner with him.

When they met for dinner he had immediately asked her if she had met a new man.

She said, "Yes, I have and today I have been convinced that he is my love and there is no possibilities to repair our marriage because you and I have drifted too far apart. Let's be happy for all the good times we had together, part as friends and go forward in our new lives."

He hadn't agreed. Obviously he had been drinking too much before the dinner and now he showed his very bad temper and began to call her names in a loud voice. When she had left the table he had followed her to the parking lot where he hit her but was interrupted by a man who had seen it and rushed to her assistance.

Erica, Elliot and I had a good family life in my house. Her ex must have regretted his bad behavior very much because he gave her a fair settlement for their divorce and offered to let me adopt Elliot. Erica and he agreed about their divorce and then Erica, he and I met and all three of us agreed that Erica and Elliot living as a family with me would be the best solution for Elliot.