Whatever

"Fine, Carla. I'll go up tomorrow for the wedding. If that's what it takes to make you and your family happy, then I'll go."

"Well, I also told them you'd pick up Amy after she got out of school and take her as well. Her car isn't too reliable. Aunt Shirley said she had room for her to stay Friday night."

Matt Clements knew not to argue about any of it. He and Carla had been together for 4 years and married for the past two years. At least he could pick up her cousin, Amy for some company for the four hours drive north to Fresno. Matt, Carla, and Amy all lived in Long Beach and the drive to Fresno was approximately 4 hours...up to 5 hours if the traffic was backed up due to an accident along one of the freeways. Leaving around 3 pm on a Friday afternoon virtually guaranteed a very busy freeway.

Amy Hester was a nursing student and nearing graduation. She had never been close to Carla and wasn't particularly close to her cousins in Fresno. However, she was making the trip to keep peace in the family; the same reason that Matt was making the trip. Plus, Matt was tirelessly trying to keep peace with Carla, although it seemed like a hopeless endeavor most of the time.

Matt had met Carla when they were both seniors in college. Matt was preparing for a career as a history professor and Carla was preparing to be a kindergarten teacher. 4 years later, they had both achieved their goals...professionally at least.

Matt had a great job at Long Beach State University and Carla had secured a job as a kindergarten teacher. However, the marriage wasn't too solid at all. Then Carla suddenly dropped her career as a teacher after two years and went into the real estate business. In a short time, her career had accelerated and she was earning significantly more money than Matt.

Matt was a self-admitted nerd. He wasn't anti-social, but he enjoyed reading and learning. He enjoyed modern technology and was often a useful resource for friends and family when it came to computers or any other kind of communication devices.

He never understood why a stunningly beautiful woman like Carla was so interested in him. By his own admission he wasn't so great looking. He was 5 feet ten and 160 pounds. His curly dark hair had already begun to recede. At 26 years old, he looked more like a man in his 30s. He wasn't particularly muscular although he was a decent athlete as evidenced by his tennis success in high school. He was also a fairly good golfer.

Carla was just the opposite. She was only 5 feet 2 but was perfectly built. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in to a ponytail and her 34B cups were perfectly proportioned to her body. She also had an ass that any woman would envy and every man admired. Matt knew that she could have had any guy she wanted, yet she wanted him.

In reflection several years later, he still didn't understand why. He didn't understand why she wanted him and he still fumbled around in his mind as to why he married her. Before they married the sex was great and plentiful. After their honeymoon, it was if her libido had been shut off.

Matt had been raised in a very strict and fundamental Baptist home. He knew that his parents would have been upset if they knew that he and Carla had participated in premarital sex. They would have been livid if they knew that it happened several times a week...often a few times each day.

Finally, just a week ago, she dropped the big bombshell on him...she didn't want any children. They had agreed to start a family once they bought a home but suddenly Carla changed that. Matt, a man that dearly wanted a family, was crushed. He began to question her commitment to him and even his own commitment to her.

That would create even more problems with his parents since they were vehemently opposed to divorce. Matt's older brother, Luke, had been happily married for 5 years and had a 2 years old daughter that Matt adored.

Carla's mind was made up. Any time Matt tried to approach her about it, it only started a heated argument. This wasn't the same person he met 4 years ago. She was often very distant to him and seemed to argue about nearly everything. Matt suspected she may be having an affair but had no concrete evidence to support that hypothesis...a lack of sexual desire didn't necessarily mean that she was cheating on him. However, knowing how she had craved sex in the past, he had to assume the worst.

The wedding in Fresno was put together quickly. Carla's cousin, Katie, had discovered that she was 4 weeks pregnant and the family put together a quick wedding so that no one would suspect that the baby was conceived out of wedlock. Exactly two weeks later, there would be a wedding and only a handful of people were aware of the need for the hurried ceremony. That didn't stop the whispers of those that thought the wedding was too hastily planned. They really weren't fooling anyone.

It was late in March and to complicate matters, there was a chance of snow over the Grapevine; the main freeway artery that connected Southern California and the Central Valley that included Bakersfield and Fresno. The forecast of snow wasn't expected to be too bad and there was no threat of a road closure.

By two o'clock that Friday Matt had finished teaching his last class for the week and he went home to pack for an overnight trip to Fresno. Amy was home and ready to go by 3:30 that afternoon.

As expected, there were a few delays on the Long Beach Freeway and then again on the Golden State freeway. It wasn't until after 5:30 before they began their ascent up the mountain. As they looked toward the north, the skies were extremely dark and ominous looking. Still, the forecast was mostly for rain at the elevation that he would be reaching.

The weather forecast couldn't have been more wrong. The radio broadcast mentioned that the roads heading northbound were closed at least for a few hours after the Gorman exit. Matt took the last exit and parked in front of a diner that catered to travelers; including truck drivers.

Matt and Amy sat at a table for over an hour enjoying their conversation. They had both ordered a salad and a Pepsi. The diner was now crowded since no other travelers could get much further up the road.

About that time, a highway patrol officer came by their table and informed them that the road would likely be closed for several more hours. He had just come from across the street and the motel still had two vacancies. He suggested that they grab one of those rooms before they were gone.

Matt thanked him, paid their bill, and he and Amy walked across the street immediately. There was another young couple in line in front of them. Matt was disappointed when he got to the counter and there was only one room available that had a queen sized bed.

"Dang it. I need a second room. Nothing else is available?"

"No sir, the other two motels are booked. This is the last one. I'm sure you and your girl can share a room for the night."

"She's not my wife, ma'am," Matt stated firmly. This is my wife's cousin and we're just traveling together to Fresno. That's why this is so uncomfortable."

The older lady working the front desk seemed sympathetic to their plight but was helpless to do anything else.

"Sir, I'll send some extra blankets and pillows to your room. One of you can sleep on the floor. Would that help?"

Matt shook his head in the affirmative. It was better than sleeping in the car. He agreed to take the floor. He thanked the older lady for her understanding and paid the tab for the night.

"Matt, I don't mind taking the floor. You've paid for the dinner and paid for the room. I don't have that kind of money. You've earned the bed."

Matt wouldn't agree. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I allowed the lady to sleep on the floor? Take the bed, Amy. Seriously, it's the right thing to do."

Amy accepted Matt's offer reluctantly. She knew that he was being sincere in his convictions about being a gentleman. She had admired that quality in him since Carla first introduced her to him.

Selfishly, Amy had wished for the relationship to fail. She had known Carla since they were small children and never wanted to get too close to her. She saw Carla as a perpetually petulant child that would get angry and vengeful when she didn't get her way.

She never understood why Matt would settle for someone like her...except for her obvious physical attributes that were undeniably desirable to any normal man.

It's not that Amy wasn't attractive in her own right. She wasn't a classic beauty and she was acutely aware of it. She was a tall, stringy, 5 feet 9 inches tall with small breasts, small waist, and narrow butt. There was just enough in her hips to give a slight womanly look to her.

She did have beautiful, long red hair that was kept in either a ponytail or braided. Her hair fell down about 3 inches past her shoulders. Her best feature seemed to be her glistening green eyes which always seemed to be smiling, if that were possible, and sparse freckles on her face.

She was able to appreciate her physical shortcomings with her own witty self-deprecating humor. She also liked to joke about the reputation about redheads having a fiery temper. She was just the opposite and was able to bring humor to a conversation by faking a temper tantrum then smiling and blaming it on her red hair.

Matt had liked Amy from the beginning as well. He knew that she was determined to be a surgery RN and admired her work ethic. Amy was a senior in high school when he first met Carla, but she seemed much more mature than the average high school senior.

Still, Matt was a devoted husband in spite of his frustrations. He had always been faithful to Carla although he had suspected that she hadn't reciprocated that loyalty in the past year, if not longer.

The plan had been for Amy to spend the night with her aunt in the Fresno area and Matt was going to stay in the hotel room with his wife. He had hoped that being away from home and agreeing to go to the wedding would put her in the mood for some amorous activity that night. That thought was now gone and he would be spending the night in the same room with her cousin and using a lot of self-discipline to not act inappropriately towards her.

Not only did he like Amy personally so well, he found her quite attractive. That desire had grown over the past four years as he got to know her better. Still, they would enjoy a night of conversation and TV. There was hope that the roads would be reopened by the early morning. If so, they'd still make the 11:00 wedding in time since according to his GPS they were only two hours away.

Matt called Carla to let her know the change in plans.

"So, you're going to share a room with my cousin?"

"Yes, I got the very last room available. The lady at the desk arranged to have more blankets and pillow delivered so that I can sleep on the floor."

"Whatever. Same room with Amy? Should I trust you?"

That remark angered Matt. The grip on his cell phone tightened and the fact that he had her on the speaker phone allowed Amy to hear both ends of the conversation.

"Trust me? I can't believe you said that. Tell me ONE time I've ever given you a reason to not trust me? Just one. I dare you."

"Well, tonight is one, Matt. You're sleeping with my cousin."

"I AM NOT SLEEPING WITH YOUR DAMN COUSIN! I'M GOING TO BE ON THE FLOOR." Matt was now yelling and Amy sat at the desk chair in absolute silence. That perpetually happy look in her eyes was replaced with fear and sadness.

"Whatever, Matt."

Matt knew that her saying "whatever" meant that she had nothing more substantive to say and that any further arguing would be fruitless.

"It is what it is, Carla. If you choose to not trust us, then that's something you have to live with. I've been a good husband to you but I can't say that you've been as good to me. Goodbye."

"Whatever."

Matt hung up the phone before she could respond. She tried calling back several times in the next hour then Matt finally put his phone on the silent setting. Anything else of importance and the caller could leave a voice mail. One voice mail came in within two minutes after he put it on silent...it was Carla.

"Dammit Matt. If you're going to screw Amy, go for it. She's probably already naked for you anyhow. Shit, go home for all I care."

Matt had played that message over the speaker phone. Amy's eyes told the story of her anger.

"I'm sorry Amy. This is what I have lived with for the past two years of marriage. I've never given her any reason to mistrust me. She's just insecure and paranoid."

Amy looked up at Matt and saw that he was nearly in tears.

"Matt, there may be one reason why she doesn't trust us together...although it's not a good reason. It's based more on ignorance, willful ignorance, than anything else."

Matt looked at her with both confusion and wonder. "What reason could that be, Amy?"

"Matt, first of all, I'm not a virgin, or close to it."

"So what Amy, that doesn't make you a whore."

"I know that Matt. What Carla knows about me and my family...and that she's probably never told you is that my brother Art and I were raised in a nudist home."

Matt's eyes widened.

"You see Matt, we're used to nudity. It's natural to us. We've been members of a resort near Corona for years. Once my brother and I became adults, we joined on our own accord. Just don't take that to mean that I'm some sort of sexually charged tramp that can't control my desires."

Matt wasn't sure what to say but he couldn't resist painting a mental picture of Amy without her clothes.

"Look Matt, neither my parents, my brother, nor myself are promiscuous. My brother is married to a fellow nudist and they have a monogamous relationship. My parents have been married for over 26 years and have been the same. They aren't swingers or sexual deviants. They do have a more open attitude about sexuality, but they choose a mostly monogamous lifestyle."

"Mostly? It either is or isn't Amy."

"What I mean is that they have some friends, John and Judy, that have been friends with them for at least 15 years. They became friends at the same nudist resort. Neither of the four of them want to venture into the swinger's lifestyle but they have a unique relationship between the four of them. I can respect that and I can't look at what they do as being promiscuous...I admire their unique friendship."

"Amy, I believe you. I've never seen you behave in a way that would make me think that you were some kind of promiscuous woman. I can also assure you that I am not going to act in any way tonight that would violate my vows to Carla."

"And you won't, Matt. We're going to stay in this room tonight. I'm going to keep my clothes on. I packed a long t-shirt that I had planned on wearing at my Aunt's house but there was going to be nothing underneath it. I'm keeping that in the bag. I'm not going to make you uncomfortable in any way, okay?

"Thanks Amy. It seems strange that you're telling me that you're only staying dressed because it's what I want. That is odd to say the least. Usually it's the guy trying to get the girl undressed and the girl resisting."

Matt couldn't help but laugh at his own comment. In spite of his anger at Carla, he always enjoyed conversations about everything from sports, politics, religion, or current social changes. Now she brought up nudism. That was one subject that he had no expectation of discussing.

"You know what Matt? I only told you that so you'd understand why Carla might be uneasy about this. She probably expects me to strip us both down and do whatever we want. That's just the ignorance on her part...although it's willful ignorance because she's been invited to join us and find out on her own. My mom has invited the family before but they just insist that we're a bunch of perverts."

"It's strange that she never mentioned that to me," Matt responded. "Maybe she figured that knowledge would make me pursue you? Who knows with that woman. I'm tired of figuring her out. I'm just this close (with his index finger and thumb less than a half inch apart) to getting an attorney Monday after work and divorcing her. I know my parents won't approve because of their religious beliefs, but they don't live with her, I do."

"Is that what you really want to do, Matt? Do you not see a scenario where you two could get counseling? Look, when I get married, it's going to be for a lifetime. No offense, but I plan on being more careful. Someone's going to have to accept me for what I am, not what they can change me to be."

Amy wasn't finished.

"All I know is that if a guy had cheated on me prior to my wedding day, there would have never been a wedding. I don't care about who had made travel plans and how much money had been spent. I'm surprised that you went through with it."

Matt looked at Amy as if she had thrown a brick at him.

"Who cheated?"

Amy realized that Matt had no clue what she was talking about. She remained quiet.

"No, Amy. Let me know who cheated? Was it Carla?"

Amy looked down at the floor. She was still sitting in the same chair at the small round desk.

"Tell me, Amy. Tell me what you know. Don't you think I'm entitled to know if it was Carla. Am I not entitled to know who it was with?"

"Jerry Bridges."

"Jerry Bridges?" Matt knew the name. It was son of the pastor that performed the ceremony. The same guy that was on leave from the Air Force. The same guy that had moved to Florida just two months prior to this day. The same guy that had recently become engaged to some woman from the Philippines.

"Yes, Matt. Jerry Bridges. Florida Jerry Bridges. Mail order bride merchant Jerry Bridges."

"How do you know this, Amy?"

"To be honest Matt, I thought you did. It's not a well-kept secret. I guess it was kept well enough from you. You had gone golfing that day with your groomsmen and Amy was at your house. Jerry took advantage of her being alone at your house and we assume made his moves. Maybe she alerted him that she'd be home alone...who knows."

"Well, my mother went by your house to deliver some music that your aunt was going to sing for the wedding and she needed it for the practice that night. She knocked on the door and no one answered. The door was locked so she walked around towards the back and was able to peek inside your bedroom window. There was no question about what was happening."

Matt sat in stunned silence. He felt betrayed by Jerry as well as foolish for being so oblivious about something that had obviously been at least common knowledge for a lot of people.

"There's so much going through my head right now Amy. Forgive me for acting strange. I just want to go home. My mind is made up."

Matt grabbed his phone and called Carla. She answered on the first ring.

"Hi Matt, are you ready to apologize yet?"

"Apologize? For what. I think you're the one that owes an apology."

"For what? I'm not staying in the same room with another guy tonight?"

"Jerry Bridges." Matt said nothing more.

Silence on both ends. Deafening silence.

Neither party hung up but neither knew what to say.

She was on the speaker phone again. Matt wanted Amy to hear the entire conversation.

"What do you know about Jerry? Why would you accuse me of that, Matt?"

"Do I need to call Amy's mother and ask her? She seemed to have a good view of what happened."

Again, Carla was silent. Then she gave her classic response.

"Whatever."

"That's the best you can do, Carla? Your marriage hangs in the balance and all you can say is whatever?"

"Why not, Matt? You can go fuck Amy and get even, okay?"

"I'll never get even with you Carla. I'm more convinced than ever that you're been messing around on me for at least a year. Your lack of interest in the bedroom is now understandable. You've gotten plenty elsewhere."