You Really Got Me Good!

"Shut up slut!" I shout in my anger. "I don't want to hear it!" I turn and walk quickly back down the street holding my aching hand. I look back and see them checking on Greg as I round the corner, get in my car, and drive away.

My phone rings and I see it's Amelia. I reject the call, pull over, and block her number as well as Sam's. I figure they probably called the police by now, fortunately I wasn't going home.

I get to Dave's and pull my car into a guest spot in his apartment lot. Inside I put my hand on ice and tell Dave about what happened.

Tuesday, April 2nd

Fortunately my hand doesn't seem to be broken, just swollen. I call in again to work. Before noon I drive close enough to my house to see that Amelia is home, probably took off work waiting for me to show up. I call the lawyer and direct the process server to deliver the papers to our house. He says it will be done about 2pm.

I get some lunch and come back to park down the street from our house by 1:30pm. Just after 2:00 I see a car pull up and a man walks up to our door. The door opens, Amelia appears, and the man hands her the envelope. She is visibly shaken and crying. I drive back to Dave's.

--------

At 7pm there's a knock at Dave's door. He opens it a crack. It's Amelia.

"Dave I'm here to see Brett."

"He's not here."

"Damn it I know he's here."

"Go away Amelia" Dave says, but she jams her foot in the door.

"Brett! It was a joke damn it! A stupid April Fool's joke!"

Dave manages to kick her foot out and close the door. She bangs again.

"Go away Amelia! Or I'll call the cops!" Dave shouts. The banging stops.

We wait a few minutes and Dave peeks out through the viewport in the door.

"She's still out there." He says. Then he comes over and sits.

"Brett, what if this is some kind of sick joke?"

"If it is then it's the most cruel and twisted joke I can imagine."

We open another beer and sit for a while mostly in silence. After about twenty minutes Dave peeks out again.

"She's still out there, she's sitting on the ground near the door."

I don't say anything for several minutes. Dave speaks up again.

"Brett. If there's a chance at working things out with Amelia you should take it. Talk to her. Look at me man, I'm living in this shitty apartment with no woman in my life and it sucks. What can it hurt to hear her side of the story."

"Okay." I say.

--------

I open the door and walk outside.

"Amelia."

"Honey. I'm so sorry. This is so screwed up. It was just a joke! A stupid, stupid joke!"

"Let's go get a cup of coffee and talk" I offer.

We drive to a local quiet shop and sit.

"How about you start at the beginning." I say.

"Okay. You know how we are always taking opposite sides on moral subjects, and we've also been talking about having kids soon. I've been concerned about teaching them moral values and got it in my head that my values were the right ones and yours were the wrong ones. After we had that argument last week I had an idea. I knew that the conference was coming up over the weekend and that it was also April Fool's, so I stupidly thought it would be an opportunity to teach you a lesson."

She pauses then goes on.

"I got Sam and Greg to agree to help me. I wanted to build it up slowly so first I said we had to share a room, we didn't actually, I had my own room. Then I pretended that I was drinking too much, being too flirty, and dancing inappropriately with other guys. In reality I didn't drink much and turned down all the guys that asked me to dance slow songs. Then I made up the story that Sam and Greg are swingers in an open marriage, they aren't. And finally that we had some kind of threesome which we didn't. It was all just a joke to get you to realize how morally incorrect that kind of behavior is, at least in my eyes."

Another breath then she goes on.

"I now see how cruel and stupid it was. All three of us do. Putting myself in your shoes I would have reacted the same way or worse. I am so so sorry. I also need to apologize for trying to make you think the way I think. That was wrong. Can you forgive me?"

I can hear the sincerity in her voice. I sit and digest what she said.

Finally I stand up, walk over to her, and pull her into my arms.

"Don't ever, ever play another practical joke on me." I say.

"I promise I won't!"

"So it Greg okay?"

"We took him to the ER but he is okay now. No broken bones or permanent damage."

"Am I going to be arrested? Does he want to punch me?"

"No charges were filed. He realizes how we drove you to hit him."

Epilogue

I moved back into the house and undid my divorce plans. It was an expensive misunderstanding.

Amelia is doing her best to make up for her mistake. After I commented on the lube and anal she let me do that for the first time. Things are good again.

Amelia stopped taking the pill and we are trying to get pregnant. We don't have heated discussions any more about social moral issues, compared to our relationship they just aren't that important.