Laura and I always had a close relationship. My son, John's wife was five years older than he, and had been married briefly, before they met. Much to my dismay, John was not as considerate and respectful of Laura as I thought he should be. It was clear to me that their marriage wouldn't last, unless he cleaned up his act. I tried to stay relatively neutral, so that, at least John would listen and not shut me out completely.
After nearly ten years of a stormy marriage, I believe Laura was right to file for divorce. What I didn't realize until much too late was that John was addicted to meth. In fact, he financed his habit by helping set up labs and selling meth and other drugs. He's managed to avoid going to prison, so far, but he's made a sorry mess of his life. Laura had desperately tried to protect John from being discovered, and kept urging him to get help.
Laura and I would usually have lunch together and visit, when I drove out to see John. She said that she wanted to stay in touch with John's family, no matter what happened to their marriage. I continued to visit both of them, whenever I could, though we felt it was best to avoid having the two of them in the same room at the same time. No point in throwing gasoline on the fire. Laura always greeted me and said good-bye with an affectionate hug. As disappointed as I am with John, he's still my son and I can see that he's at least trying to stay clean now.
I've always had very erotic fantasies about women I know personally. Of course, I'm constantly aware of the distinction between what a man carries around in his head, and what he actually does. Almost from the first time I met Laura, I had to suppress what I was really feeling. Though there were only a few times in nearly ten years that we were ever by ourselves. I noticed that she seemed unusually nervous when no one else was present. I wondered if she somehow sensed the terrible lust I was hiding.
As soon as John and Laura separated, and during the time John spent in jail, I found that Laura was far more relaxed. Obviously, their relationship had been stressful for her. As we got to visit more, Laura began to talk openly about the problems they'd had. I reassured her that she didn't need to put up with any more abuse. John's attitude and some things he said about her gave me a clear picture of what was really going on. I know John all too well and have seen his destructive anger. Laura was very relieved when I told her that I understood and that I supported her decision.
One day, after they'd been separated a few months, Laura and I were talking and she asked if we could continue our conversation at a nearby park. As we sat in the cab of my pickup, she began to reveal some very intimate things about herself. I'm very open-minded about sexuality, but I had to ask her, "Why are you telling me all this?"
