Zero Fifty or One Hundred, a sequel

On June the 2nd in the year of our Lord 2016 it came to pass that aspiring writer Ahazura penned an open ended Loving Wives story titled "Zero, Fifty or One Hundred" and put out a call to his fellow Lit-authors to come up with an alternative conclusion for it.

Very well Sir - challenge accepted.

SL

Btw dear reader : The following will obviously only make sense if you read Ahazura's original story first.

Zero, Fifty or One Hundred - The Strange Conclusion

Sharon slumped in the chair across from Bob, her mind racing to comprehend the situation she suddenly found herself in.

How did he know all these details?

She shivered under his piercing gaze and realized that she was witnessing an entirely new side of her loving husband. A side she had never encountered before or even imagined existed. The force of his determination hanging almost like a tangible wave of dread in the air between them, she harbored no illusions regarding the precariousness of her situation.

Bob was serious as a heart attack.

Oh yes, she did not doubt that he meant every word. Who was this stranger staring out from behind her husband's normally so gentle eyes, she wondered.

"I am so sorry honey. I know I screwed up," she said in a sad voice and lowered her gaze in defeat. Bob was getting it all wrong. She had to do something to make him understand, but what? How could this shitty situation possibly be saved without jeopardizing everything?

Desperately she leaned close to him and mouthed in a barely audible whisper, "Please trust me. I love you so much..."

Bob wasn't swayed though. She might as well have attempted to sweet-talk a brick wall.

"Zero, fifty or one hundred Sharon?"

Sharon took a deep breath.

"Bob honey. Listen, You have the wrong idea here. Can't we just ..."

"CHOOSE!" he roared and banged his fists on the table so hard he almost knocked over the vase.

"Hundred," Sharon gasped as she recoiled in shock. "God in heaven Bob! I choose hundred."

Without further ado he rose to get his coat leaving his wife shaking and flustered at the table. What had she done? Her reliable husband who rarely lost his composure was completely out of it.

****

They drove in silence with Sharon lost in thoughts. What could she do to save this? She was cornered and she knew it. Checkmate. The fat lady was already singing. She was heading steadily towards her doom with 50 mph and no possibility of turning back or diverting the looming disaster. The way Bob stared straight ahead and held the wheel in a white knuckled death-grip told her that much.

She realized that she probably owed this shitty situation to Vicki. Her, and her doting husband Ron, were her best friends and she loved them both dearly. But they were the consummate picket fence couple, and for Vicki the world was a simple place. She saw everything in black or white, and Sharon could easily imagine that she had jumped to conclusions and shared her moral musings and observations with Bob.

And the worst part was that she probably did so hoping to save her friend's marriage by intervening. No, she certainly wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but Vicky didn't have a mean bone in her body. Whatever she had done, she invariably did it with the best of intentions.

"The road to Hell is paved with good intentions," Sharon sighed to herself. "That well-meaning idiot had no idea what she had unleashed with her self-righteous action. God damn it Vicky! Couldn't you just have minded your own business this once?"

One thing Sharon was dead sure of: If Bob were to confront Luke, everything could easily be over right there and then. Their life together, their happy family, everything could end in a flash. Right now that looked like a distinct possibility and that realization scared her out of her mind.

Sharon was brought back to reality by a sharp jerk as Bob brought the car to an abrupt stop in front of the Sheraton. Without a single glance in her direction, he exited the car and strode towards the entrance to TGI Fridays, obviously expecting her to follow. In a last ditch attempt she rushed after him and grabbed on to his sleeve.

"Bob honey, please stop! This is not what it seems. I really have to tell you...."

He broke his stride and glared at her with eyes that could have frozen lava, and the rest of the words she had planned to say suddenly got stuck in her throat.

"Shut the fuck up Sharon," he growled in a voice dripping with menace. "This is the consequence of your own actions. You chose to go for the 100-option and thereby a chance to remain married. Fine! But unless you want to reconsider that choice, I don't want to hear ANYTHING out of your lying mouth, except for what you are going to tell that asshole Luke in a few minutes. GOT THAT?"

Without waiting for an answer he walked off and made it to the entrance before she caught up with him.

"Lead the way," Bob sneered.

Resigned to her fate Sharon skimmed the crowd and quickly spotted Luke at a corner table in the back of the room. Bob followed her gaze and started making his way to the table.

Luke smiled and raised his glass when he recognized her, but almost immediately the smile disappeared when he saw who she had brought along. When Bob slid into the seat across from him and dragged his troubled wife down beside him there was no trace of levity left on Luke's handsome face.

"Good evening Luke," Bob said in a deceptively controlled voice. "My wife has something she would like to say to you. Go ahead Sharon. The floor is yours."

Luke stared at her with the wide-eyed expression of a cornered rat.

"What the fuck is this Shar? You treacherous bitch! You double crossing cunt! You fucking ratted me out, you..."

"No Luke!" Sharon almost yelled. "I didn't tell him anything. It wasn't me."

"Shut the fuck up tramp," Luke growled and she heard the distinct ratch-ratch sound of a pump action shotgun from somewhere under the table.

"Better keep your cuck on a leash Shar. There is a loaded 12 gauge pointed at your guts, and I have absolutely no problem stepping over a few corpses in order to get outta here."

"You got that too cuck-boy?" Luke asked rhetorically in the direction of the shocked Bob.

"What the hell..?" he gasped. "A gun? You're seriously pointing a gun at us? What do you think you are doing you crazy asshole?"

"No business of yours cuck. Just sit tight and I won't have to blow your useless ball-sack through the back of your seat."

Bob looked confused at Sharon, who nodded and said quietly, "Do what he says honey. He is not bluffing. There will be a massacre if you don't."

Luke nodded with a satisfied expression.

"You know me well Shar. Now lets continue our conversation in a more private atmosphere, shall we? You two get up and start walking towards the exit. I will be right behind you... and don't forget that for one second. One wrong move and lead will fly."

Sharon grabbed her husband's hand and pulled on it.

"Come honey. We need to go now."

Almost as a sleepwalker the still shell-shocked Bob got up and let himself be guided away from the table towards the exit.

"This ain't happening.... this ain't happening..." he kept mumbling.

"Unfortunately it is happening all right," Sharon said sadly and squeezed his hand. "Please stay with me Bob. Don't freak out, ok? I need you."

The walk to the exit felt like a stroll down the green mile with the hustle and bustle of the restaurant seeming to fade into the background. They were right in the middle of a festive crowd of happy people, yet at the same time completely alone and left at the mercy of an armed thug.

Sharon took comfort in the warmth of Bob's hand and focused her mind on evaluating their options. Making a run for it or doing anything inside the restaurant would likely start a bloodbath. However once they got outside they would be at the mercy of Luke, and she had no illusions about his intentions. From his file she knew all about his reputation for never leaving witnesses.

That left only option C. So when they reached the door Sharon sprung into action.

"MENDELSSOHN!" she suddenly screamed while simultaneously hooking Bob's elbow in some sort of judo hold while kicking the backside of his knee, and sending them both sprawling over the side of the small stairway between the entrance and the parking lot.

Luke reacted lightning fast and had the shotgun out from his jacket before they hit the ground. But somebody else was faster.

"THE FUCK..!"

... was all he managed to yell before a laser dot appeared on his forehead, immediately followed by an explosion of blood and brains as his life was ended abruptly by a sniper's bullet.

Luke's terminal curse was the last thing Sharon heard before she hit the ground with her husband on top.

"Go to Hell Luke and enjoy your stay," she thought happily and slipped into unconsciousness with a smile on her face.

****

As she opened her eyes she was blinded by the sudden brightness and felt panic rising in her chest.

"BOB!" she yelled flailing her arms wildly.

"I'm here Sharon, " his calm voice sounded from somewhere beside her. She saw the blurred outline of her husband getting out of a chair and a moment later felt his comforting embrace. And for a few minutes she let herself go and cried against him.

"Casey!" she suddenly exclaimed, her fear returning.

"With my parents. She's fine."

Sharon felt herself calming down. Her family was safe.

"What time is it?" she enquired after having regained some of her composure.

"Noon. You were out all night. You had a pretty nasty landing and... I... I guess I kinda fell on top of you. Sorry love."

She smiled. "You can make it up to me in orgasms. Since you just used the L-word I assume that will be an option in the future?"

Bob sighed noncommittingly.

"What's really going on here Sharon? I don't understand shit. Nobody will tell me anything, and we are currently locked inside this room with a fucking armed guard outside the door. This feels like a crappy Uwe Boll movie..."

Just then the door opened and a sour faced man wearing a cheap dark suit that oozed "government official" entered the room and strode over to the bed as if he owned the place. He ignored Bob completely and instead addressed Sharon in a terse manner.

"You fucked up soldier. Our only lead is on a slab in the morgue missing half his brain, and the operation is a total loss. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sharon felt a surge of anger, amplified by a throbbing headache.

"Firstly I am NOT one of your soldiers any more Brad, so cut the crap," she retorted. "Secondly, if I hadn't given the abort code for the snipers to intervene there would almost certainly have been civilian casualties, and your ass would be grass."

The man she called Brad clearly wasn't used to being berated and now looked even more sour faced.

"Either way we didn't get what we wanted, so you failed your mission ex-captain. Therefore the deal is off."

The man turned and looked at Bob.

"Consider yourself under arrest."

"Huh?" Bob exclaimed. "What the hell for? And who the hell are you anyway and how dare you talk to my wife like that?"

"You are under arrest for treason," the man sneered. "And who I am is none of your business. Your wife used to work for me and I will talk to her in any way I damned well please."

Sharon could tell that Bob was about to launch a fist at the man's face, and she grabbed his hand and shook her head. Bob noticed the gesture and managed to recover his composure through sheer force of will.

"I wonder if uncle Dave still works with the Board of Overseers in the National Intelligence Committee," Sharon said staring daggers at the sour faced man. "I haven't talked to him for a while and we should catch up soon. I am sure he would love to hear a story about how an inept colonel blackmailed a retired former operative back into active duty by threatening to arrest her husband on trumped-up charges."

Bob was so taken aback that he forgot his anger.

"What the hell are you talking about Sharon? What charges?"

"That's classified..," the colonel began, but Sharon interrupted him.

"It is about that military project you have been working on honey. Apparently top secret details and plans have leaked from your company to certain foreign interests, and Brad here is blaming you. Although he has no evidence to the fact. Not even of a circumstantial nature."

"Of course he hasn't!" Bob almost shouted. "This is the first time I hear about any of this. I know nothing about no goddamned leak!"

"You worked with those plans," the colonel said accusingly.

"So did everybody else in the fucking department. Why am I supposed to be responsible for your guys' shit? I'm not security."

"He has nothing on you," Sharon interrupted. "But he needed my help to entrap Luke, who was a known connection to an information broker. Even a baseless accusation could have caused you problems and gotten your clearances revoked, so I agreed to help out under the condition that he backed off."

Bob was furious.

"This asshat blackmailed you to fuck Luke for information?"

Sharon smiled reassuringly.

"Don't worry honey. That was never in the cards. I used to work as an expert in interrogation and information extraction, and I don't need to have sex with people in order to make them spill their guts. And I wouldn't do it with a creep like Luke if he was the last man on Earth. I was only teasing him and stringing him along feeding him bull in order to gain his confidence."

"I think I get the picture," Bob said in a low voice shaking with anger. He looked at the colonel with the same icy stare that Sharon has experienced the evening before.

"Ok colonel Who-gives-a-fuck. You got what you came for. Now get the hell out of this room and stay the hell out of our lives."

"And if I don't?" the man replied with a snark.

"Then I will launch a barrage of civil suits against you for personal harassment, the likes of which will make your nappy buzzcut turn white. How much does a colonel make these days? You may be a bigshot in the military, but I bet that my lawyer can clean out whatever private assets you may have stashed away for a rainy day or retirement."

"And I will take care of the military side of the issue," Sharon added. "I know everything about you Brad and I know how the system works. You don't want to press this issue. Trust me."

The colonel stood for a moment with a dark expression, his jaw moving as if he was chewing his own tongue. Then he briskly strode back to the door. With his hand on the knob he turned around and addressed Bob one last time.

"Does she still make that stupid squee-sound the first time you shove your cock all the way inside her cunt? It used to annoy the hell out of me y'know..."

And without waiting for an answer he left the room and slammed the door behind him, leaving Bob to look questioning at Sharon.

"We dated years ago," she explained with a blushing face. "You could say that he is an old ex of mine. A very old ex."

Bob relaxed.

"So why did you guys break up? Couldn't you handle his endearing personality?"

Sharon smiled, reassured by Bob's sarcasm.

"He already had another lover by the name of Uncle Sam who always came first, and I want my man to be mine exclusively. Which leads us to another question. Are we all right Bob?"

"Answer me one thing first Sharon. Why didn't you level with me? I would have helped and supported you - you know that. Why all the lies and the subterfuge?"

"I couldn't risk it honey. I knew that our house, cars and phones were bugged, and that it had to be either Brad's men or Luke's gang. I didn't know who were responsible. But they were all dangerous people, and by exposing anything I would have endangered not only myself, but you and Casey too. I did try talking to you after we got out of the car in front of TGI Fridays, but you were too angry to listen..."

"I still wish that you would have trusted me more Sharon. Surely you could have found a way to let me know despite the surveillance. And what's more, I would never had allowed that asshole to push you around like that."

"Which is another point," Sharon said carefully. "I didn't actually mind going out in the field one more time. In a way I kinda needed it."

Bob frowned.

"I see. So are you saying that you are bored with our life together? You regret being married to me?"

"Oh no honey! Definitely not. How do I explain this the right way..."

Sharon took a moment to choose her words. Then she continued.

"When I married you, I married a superman. A strong and successful man. A man that can do everything and fix any problem. A man that I am proud of being married to. But because you are that perfect man, I sometimes stand in your shadow and feel.... well.... un-used."

"Un-used?" Bob remarked with a dubious expression.

"Yes honey. You see, I am also strong. I am also smart. I am also resourceful. And I have skills and abilities too. As much as I love being your wife and Casey's mom, it isn't always enough. Sometimes I feel that I could contribute more. Maybe make a difference somehow and accomplish something that could make you proud of me, in the same way that I am proud of you."

"Like going back to that military job of yours?"

"No way honey," she stated shaking her head. "That life belongs in the past. If I had any nostalgic feelings towards my former career, I can promise you that I was cured of them yesterday. That line of work, and the life-style that goes with it, is no longer for me. But I won't deny that I was excited and flattered to be needed for something important. Despite the fact that everything ultimately blew up in my face and landed me in a hospital bed with a splitting headache, I got to feel the thrill of the challenge and the rush of accomplishment again. At least for a little while."

Bob sat pensive for a few seconds carefully absorbing and processing his wife's confession.

"I hear what you are saying Sharon, however I have never stopped you or forbidden you to do anything. I would certainly prefer that you don't do stuff that might get you killed, but I am definitely not the one dictating how you spend your free time. You are a grown woman. If you want more challenges in your life, please be my guest. There is no reason for you to lie about it and go behind my back. That's what I am pissed about. Not what you did, but how you did it."

"I know honey, and I can't say how sorry I am," Sharon said and looked down at the floor.

"But the whole situation is so absurd that I am inclined to accept your explanation on the strict condition that you swear never to lie to me again. Seriously. Never again Sharon. I mean it!"

Sharon looked solemnly at her husband and raised her right hand.

"I swear by everything that is holy to me and everything that I hold dear. I will never lie to you again Bob."

"Then we are good," Bob declared with a smile and bent down for a kiss.

"And what about your 15 minutes alone with Luke?" she whispered teasingly between bouts of tongue gymnastics. "That was one of your conditions, and you never got them. If you insist, I could probably pull some strings and give you access to the morgue..."

Involuntarily Bob shivered by the mention of that cursed name.

"The time I spent with a gun to my back felt like 15 fucking years! I have had enough of that asshole for a lifetime. Let him rot."

She laughed and kissed him again.

"So instead of staff secretary you were really a badass interrogation expert?" Bob inquired curiously.

"Mmmm..."

"In that case you probably know a lot of secret seduction techniques and kinky methods of torture, eh?"

"Seriously Bob! You perv! Get your mind out of the gutter right this minute!" Sharon exclaimed in mock outrage that soon ended in a giggle.