Who's to blame?

***

A big 'thank you' to Jujuma. His editing skills make this story way better.

Who's to blame when a marriage is falling apart?

***

Driving home, I glanced at Gina and wondered why our marriage was falling apart. This Saturday evening was the first time I seriously considered a divorce.

There were already small cracks in our marriage, but tonight, the cracks widened. We have been fighting for months. We fought over the tiniest issues and didn't get along anymore.

We were returning from a party hosted by our friends Greg and Donna. They celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary in their garden with a band, drinks, and bites. They had just moved into a small mansion with five bedrooms and three bathrooms. Greg must be doing well financially.

Gina and I didn't stay close. She talked with the other women, and I accompanied the men, discussing work and sports. Gina kept her distance from me, which was fine. It was a way to prevent fighting.

During the evening, I noticed Gina was drinking more than usual and said, "Gina, maybe you shouldn't drink so much."

She gave me a hateful look, "Fuck off, you can't say what I can or can't do," and angrily walked away.

It got worse when I went looking for her. I found her dancing and flirting with Jeremy. Jeremy had been a good friend of mine until his wife Sophie caught him cheating a month ago. Now, they are in the process of getting divorced. Gina told me Sophie smelled an unknown perfume when she washed his clothes, checked his credit card expenses, and knew enough. I thought we sided with Sophie, at least until today.

They both found it funny to embarrass me, danced closely, kissed, and he squeezed her boobs. He made sure I saw him sniffing his finger, which undoubtedly had been in her pussy.

I felt humiliated and angry and wanted to intervene when Donna put her hand on my arm, "Patrick, this is not the moment. You won't gain anything. Keep your cool. Talk to her tomorrow."

"You're probably right, Donna. Could you tell her that I'm leaving now? We have to get back to the babysitter. If she wants to stay, you can look after her."

I guess Donna was not too keen to have a drunken Gina around and convinced her to return with me. The asshole was still smirking.

In the car, Gina started a new fight. She was venomous now, "You pathetic loser. Why did you have to act jealous? Finally, I had some fun, and you just had to ruin it. I hate you!"

I didn't react. It would only lead to a much bigger fight.

Back home, Gina immediately went upstairs to our bedroom. I paid the babysitter and got myself a drink.

She might be drunk, but her last statement that she hates me seemed genuine.

The cracks were widening.

***

In the past nine months, Gina turned from a loving wife to a complete bitch. It started with small things. When you live long enough with a partner, you always have little annoying things. These annoying things were now causing arguments, like leaving a wet towel on the bathroom floor or not putting the garbage out.

Six months ago, the criticism and belittling started. I didn't react well to it, making us fight more. Gina has a high-pressure job, was promoted quickly, and makes more money than I do. She also has to put in more hours while I have more flexibility to care for Tommy, our son.

Once, I asked Gina to pick up Tommy. I had a late business meeting. She answered, "Sorry, I have a real job to do," which led to a new fight. Ultimately, I arranged for Tommy to stay for dinner with a friend. But Gina and I didn't talk for over a week.

Another time, after Greg told us they had bought the new house, she asked me when I would start to make some money. That didn't go well either.

The last three months were worse. We didn't talk. Gina only snarled at me, and I ignored her. Our sex life no longer existed. Up to a few months ago, we were trying to get pregnant, and now we didn't even kiss goodnight. The prospect of having another child with Gina wasn't appealing at all.

The last month was even worse. Gina kept being angry at me, and I got fed up with her behavior. It was not the life I'd signed up for.

***

Gina and I have one son, Tommy, five years old, who loves dinosaurs.

On Sunday morning, Tommy and I got up early. He was watching cartoons, and I made breakfast.

Gina stayed in bed, which might be for the best. After last night, we would have ended up in a new fight anyway.

"Tommy, shall we go swimming?"

That got his attention. Tommy always wants to go swimming. In our village, we have a large municipal swimming pool. Every Sunday morning from ten to half past noon, kids who have swimming lessons can go practice and play.

Gina was gone when we got back from swimming. We ate sandwiches for lunch, and Tommy, tired from swimming, watched cartoons.

Relieved that Gina was gone, I took a cup of coffee and made my decision. If things didn't change, I wanted a divorce.

In the afternoon, there was no sign of Gina. I decided to take Tommy to the movies. Tommy had gotten some Lego for his fifth birthday, and a new Lego movie was playing. After the movie, I made us a simple pasta for dinner. There was still no sign of Gina.

During the day, Tommy didn't ask me once where his mommy was. It made me wonder, how much impact have our fights had on Tommy? What example were we giving him?

When I went to bed, I noticed several of Gina's clothes and toiletries were missing. The bitch had left us!

I couldn't sleep and kept worrying about my life falling apart.

***

Gina and I met on a Friday night at a bar called 'Wilhelmina,' located in the city center of Eindhoven. I was with a friend, Bart, when he asked if we could go to 'Wilhelmina.' The previous weekend, he got together with a girl, and she would be there.

While Bart talked to the girl, I noticed her friends. One had creamy white skin, brown eyes, large breasts, wide hips, luscious lips, and long dark brown hair. She was the equivalent of a delicious whipped ice cream with dark chocolate topping. After one taste, you want more.

She had two beers and smiled at me, "Do you want one?"

Without waiting for my answer, she gave me one beer, and we started talking. We talked ordinary stuff like, "What's your name, what do you do, and where do you live." Her name was Gina, and she was studying business economics and living in Eindhoven, like me.

She oozed sex, but at the end of the evening, I only got her phone number.

Three days later, I gave her a call, nervous if she would even recognize me. She picked up, and when I introduced myself, she replied, "I wondered whether you would call."

I joked, "A girl who offers me beer? Of course, I will call you."

We agreed on a date for the following Sunday. It was a beautiful day in early spring, and I took her to the beach for a picnic. I had packed a blanket, sandwiches, drinks, fruit, and a bottle of prosecco. We had a blast, leading to a new date. Slowly, we progressed into a relationship.

It took us a few more weeks before we had sex for the first time. Feasting on Gina's large milky breasts, diving in between her thighs, she even tasted better than I had imagined. Although we were both no virgins, you could tell we were both inexperienced. We were clumsy but had a lot of fun.

Soon, we were having a fuckfest almost daily. We both liked oral, giving, and receiving. We were not afraid to say what we liked. For instance, when I went down on Gina, she told me to put two fingers in when she got close.

We got to know each other better. You may say that opposites attract. But not for us. Gina and I were both hot-tempered and stubborn as mules. We had lots of arguments over nothing due to our stubbornness.

The arguments were mostly about little things, like whether we would stay at her place or mine, who would do the grocery shopping and cook, or which movie we should go to.

After about seven months, we had an argument that led to a fight. The fight spiraled out of control, with Gina accusing me of being controlling and manipulative and me accusing her of being dishonest.

The argument started when we couldn't agree on what to do on a Saturday evening. She wanted to go to a band with friends, and I wanted to go to a bar with friends. One of her friends was a guy behaving too friendly towards Gina for my taste. And I found Gina too friendly towards him.

When she proposed we each do our own thing, I got angry, "Right. Like you going out with that guy, without me, is going to happen."

Now she got angry, "I go out with whomever I want to."

The fight lasted for a week. It should have been a warning, but I was in love, and we made up with a lot of kisses and sex.

Two weeks later, I arranged a surprise date with tickets for a band that would be playing at a local music venue called 'Effenaar.' It was my attempt to make up for our fight a few weeks before. I got the tickets from a friend who knew the band's singer. I hadn't told Gina what we were going to do. At the very last moment, Gina called me to cancel the surprise date, claiming she needed more time to prepare for an upcoming exam. So I went with a friend, Bart, the same guy who was with me the night I first met Gina.

Bart spotted her first, "Isn't that Gina?"

She was standing near the stage, close to the band. The same guy we fought over a few weeks ago had put his arm around her waist. Gina must have noticed Bart, turned, and was shocked when she saw me.

We had never discussed being exclusive, but when our eyes met, it was clear, and we both knew it. Our relationship was over. I would never trust Gina again.

Quickly, I took a picture of the two with my phone, "To remind me who broke off our relationship."

Gina protested, "We're here only for the concert!"

"Yeah, right," I turned around and walked away.

For the following weeks, I ignored Gina. Not that she was trying hard to contact me. I got two messages where she asked me to contact her because we needed to talk. I didn't know what we needed to talk about and just deleted them.

Her friends and my friends knew what had happened. I used that knowledge to take the guy down who took Gina to the concert. In Gina's group, a lot of girls had boyfriends. I sent the picture I took of the two to each boyfriend with the message, "This guy made my ex-girlfriend cheat. Is your girl next?"

It rattled enough people, and slowly, he got expelled. One evening, he reacted when I entered a bar; he came to me, drunk, shouting, "Leave me alone. I haven't done anything with Gina. We just went to the concert as friends."

"Yeah, that's why Gina and I separated. Because you did nothing."

Gina later waited for me, yelling, "You're a pathetic, vindictive loser."

"That might be, but I don't cheat!"

Those were the last words we exchanged.

***

Over the next year, I had some dates and short flings, but nothing serious. Mrs. Right was nowhere yet to be seen.

Mostly, I went out with a group of student friends. Besides Bart, who was studying electrical engineering, there was Jonathan, who was studying law. Later, Greg and Jeremy joined us. They knew Bart from university. Greg and Jeremy were housemates, studying software engineering and working on an IT security start-up.

It all changed when Greg and his new girlfriend, Donna, arranged a blind date dinner. Greg met Donna at the tennis club, and I liked Donna. She was a genuinely nice girl. Donna had a new colleague and wanted her to hook up with me, "Because you are the same."

We were supposed to have a cozy dinner at Donna's place on Friday evening. When I entered the living room, I was shocked to see Gina sitting there. The shock was mutual, and her face paled.

Maybe you thought Gina and I could have a polite and friendly dinner amongst friends? Not. Within five minutes, we were yelling and screaming at each other. I admit that the opening shot might be mine, but I guess I still had a lot of anger.

It kind of went like this, "Hi Gina, does your current boyfriend know you're here? Or is he waiting at home for you, having no clue? Did you break a date with him for this one? What's today's excuse? Having another exam tomorrow?"

"Fuck you, Patrick, you never even tried to find out what happened. After eight months, you just dumped me."

"Me dumping you? You dumped me! You choose to be with someone else. I was the poor chap to find out you went out with another guy behind my back."

Donna and Greg were looking at us, totally flabbergasted. They had hoped for two people to have a nice blind date. Instead, they found themselves watching two people fighting.

I turned to Donna, "Sorry, Donna, I know you put much effort into this dinner," and left.

That night, I got stupid drunk. I realized I was not over Gina, although our breakup had been over a year ago. All the girls I dated after Gina couldn't hold a candle to her.

The following day, I went back. Donna opened the door, clearly not happy to see me, snarling, "What?"

We stood at the door, "I want to apologize to you. I acted like a jerk."

Donna softened a bit, "Why did you do it? Was it so hard to keep yourself together?"

Tears were welling up in my eyes, "Donna, I'm still not over her. I think about her every day. It shocked me when I saw her sitting at your table."

"When you think about her, what do you think exactly?"

"She was the one, Donna. I loved her."

I was turning around to walk away when another door opened in the hallway. It was Gina.

"Patrick, I heard what you said to Donna. Is it true?"

I nodded.

Donna took my arm and pulled me inside, "Come in, you two need to talk."

That afternoon, we finally talked. Gina had the same feelings as I had, but we both had been too stubborn to make a first step. From that moment, we were back together.

We discussed the event leading to our breakup, the concert where she went with the other guy, breaking a date with me. Gina swore she went only with him to the concert because she wanted to see the band. Even today, I find it hard to believe her story.

We had another difficult moment when I realized she gained a lot of sexual experience during our year apart. She now had all sorts of lingerie, toys, and even a hot nurse outfit.

It was hard for me to accept that she made her sexual discovery journey with other partners when it should have been us. Gina understood my feelings and patiently guided me through our own sexual discovery journey.

After two years, I popped the question and fondly remember the day we got married. I was so proud of having Gina as my wife.

Married life was blissful and got even better with little Tommy joining us until the last six months.

***

The following week was a nightmare.

On Monday and Tuesday, there was still no sign of Gina. I tried to call her on her mobile, but she blocked my calls. At her work, they refused to forward my calls to her. My text messages stayed unread.

On Monday evening, I had to explain to Tommy that Gina had left, "Tommy, it looks like Mommy will be away for a while. So, it's going to be just the two of us."

He surprised me by not reacting. How much had our fights damaged him?

On Tuesday morning, I called a friend, Jonathan. He's a family law lawyer, and I wanted to know where I would stand in case of a divorce.

"She just left?"

"Yes, she wanted to get away from us. Maybe she needs time for herself. No notes, no nothing. She even didn't say goodbye to Tommy."

"Did you call her?"

"She's blocking my calls and not responding to my texts."

"Do you know where she is?"

"No, and at the moment, I don't care."

Jonathan took a deep sigh, "Listen to me, Patrick. For now, you don't want to involve lawyers. You should be worried about the Youth Care Office. You have a little boy and need to act as the responsible parent if you don't want to end up being a part-time weekend dad. You need to be open for counseling and mediation, so the Youth Care Office has no reason not to grant you joint custody if you divorce. I'm assigning you to Nigel, our mediator, and Karin, our family therapist. I want you to find out where Gina is and how to get in touch with her."

He took a moment before he continued, "And Patrick?"

"Yes?"

"You do as they say, understood? No stubborn foolishness. Be serious and let them help you."

As a business consultant, I have a lot of freedom at work. Late Tuesday afternoon, I left work early and parked near Donna and Greg's house. Half an hour later, I saw Gina's car passing by. I was relieved, knowing she was safe at Donna's house.

Donna and Greg have two children, Lori, eight years, and six-year-old Justin. Their kids often stayed with us, and Tommy with them. Justin and Tommy are about the same age and get along well. I always considered Greg and Donna my friends, but I was angry that they hadn't let me know Gina was staying with them.

Tuesday evening, I called Donna and asked, "Donna, do you know where Gina is? Is she staying with you?"

Donna played dumb and denied, "No, Patrick, I have no idea."

She didn't know that I had already spotted Gina at their house and decided to play dumb myself, "Then I assume she's with that Jeremy asshole. Killing our marriage."

Donna gasped, "Patrick, Gina wouldn't do such a thing."

"Donna, I don't know what Gina does. I do know that Jeremy cheated on his wife, and you still invited the asshole. I don't trust him, and I don't like him sniffing around my wife. Next time, don't expect me to show up."

"Patrick, Jeremy is Greg's business partner. We have to invite him."

"You do what you want, Donna. Hope Jeremy doesn't fuck Greg over like he did with his wife. Don't count on me anymore."

With that, I ended the call.

Jeremy was Greg's business partner, and I wondered how much impact the divorce with Sophie might have on their business.

On Wednesday morning, I called Nigel. He informed me that he and Karin would try to talk with Gina and promised to keep me posted.

On Thursday, Nigel called me back. They couldn't get in contact with Gina. She just ignored them.

I provided him with Donna's contact details, "Nigel, Gina is staying with them. Donna is Gina's friend, and maybe you can contact Gina through Donna."

On Thursday evening, I asked Tommy, "Tommy, do you miss Mommy?"

He started to cry, and I tried to console him, "Tommy, Mommy loves you. You'll see her soon," although I had a bad feeling.

On Friday afternoon, I got a text from Nigel. Nigel and Karin had spoken with Gina, and he would get back to me after the weekend.

When I was preparing dinner for Tommy and me, I got a phone call from a frantic Donna, "Patrick, Gina has not returned today. Do you know where she is?"

Shit. Now, I was both angry and worried.

"Donna, why did you lie to me about Gina staying with you? Never mind, I don't know where she is, and I haven't seen her since last Sunday morning."

With her promise to notify me when Gina got back, she hung up.

During the evening, it got worse. Around ten, I got a text message from Gina, "Spoke with your people. Do you want to dump me? Here's some incentive."

Next, I received a selfie of a woman's face, taken from the side. The picture was dark, and she had her hair hanging loose. To strangers, she would be unrecognizable. Her beautiful lips were wrapped around the base of a cock, the men's balls almost resting against her chin. Cum dribbled out of the corner of her mouth.

It would have been a beautiful photo if the woman hadn't been Gina.

I was about to throw my phone against the wall when a ping alerted me of a new incoming photo.

It was another selfie of Gina, now taken from the front and a bit from the side. She was on her knees, resting on one hand. Her face was again unrecognizable, with her hair hanging loose in front of her. You could partly see a man behind her, his cock buried deep in her pussy.