This is the conclusion from the first three parts of "Lights Out," which I recommend reading first, as there's no recap or much given on the back-story. As well, this is a work of fiction. This is no way intended to be morality story or represent how things should happen in real life - it's just how things happened to these characters in a fictitious scenario. I hinted in the previous part that I expect many not to be happy with the ending; I know there is some polarization on here- especially about the consequences of wives going behind husband's backs. By some of the comments, I think some are not going to be too surprised; I did try to leave some breadcrumbs to where this was going. Right from the beginning, I knew where the middle and ending of this story was heading. I did debate for while changing the ending, but rereading the first parts, I feel this was the path I set the characters on and stuck with it. Thanks to all who have read the first parts.
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A thing about traumatic or emotionally painful events is that a person's reaction is unpredictable. The same person can have two similar events happen to them and react in two completely different ways. For Harrison, his first really experience that was so sudden and painful that is falls into the traumatic category was discovering his first wife, Cecilia with their neighbor. Even though he lost both his mother and father to cancer and heart-attack, respectively the same year after he married, it didn't bother him nearly as much as his wife's betrayal.
Harrison met Cecilia the same year in high school that he met Marc. It sounds like a cliché, but Cecila was the head cheerleader who was five foot eight, blond, blue eyes, and perfect figure. Marc was the quarterback of the high school team, at least backup until grade twelve. Harrison played defense and was the starting middle linebacker by grade ten. Even when Marc started at quarterback, everyone knew Harrison was the real leader of the team, and also who received sports scholarship offers from several schools. However, he fell in love and Cecilia wasn't the type to go to a big university. After high school, graduation, he went to the local college with Marc, and quit football so he could work part time to move in with his fiancé. They were married a year later, when Harrison knew his mother was dying. Cecilia worked fulltime in retail until Harrison and Marc graduated from college. After his ceremony, Cecilia surprised him with sex in the back of her car right in the parking lot. She also revealed she was no longer on birth control and planned to be quitting work to be a stay at home mother.
Both Harrison and Marc jumped into middle management jobs in their current company, and both showed they would only be moving up. Even though they were truly a team, it was clear Harrison was the leader - even though Marc was the brains. Though, sleeping with his assistant wasn't smart, and nearly cost Marc his job. Harrison always wondered if that's why Marc rushed into the marriage to avoid the scandal.
Speaking of marriage, after almost ten years and two wonderful kids, Harrison thought his was perfect. Cecilia was a wonderful mother, fantastic housewife, and even more amazing lover. He was warned how things really slow down after the babies arrive, but that never happened. Of course, an infant keeping the house awake at night slowed down their sex life, but it only slowed down briefly with both kids, and then back up to what they had back in that first apartment after college. Their big house that they bought a year after college had enough spread out rooms that it was fairly easy to discretely get away from the kids for a quickie. Harrison was successful, in love, and happy. He thought he was the luckiest man around, knowing that Marc's marriage was fairly rocky. Unfortunately, when things are that good, it just makes the bad that much worse.
It was uncommon, but not unheard of for Harrison to drop by home at lunch. He'd occasionally have meetings out of office and really nobody ever questioned if he occasionally took an extra half hour or hour. Harrison did worry initially how Cecilia would occupy herself now both kids were at school. However, she had her gym, housework, and started photography as a hobby. Harrison knew she was going to be home at lunch because she was cooking some care-meals for their forty-three-year-old neighbor, Dennis Rhodes, whose wife recently left him. It was his drinking that caused the marriage to end, but Cecilia never did like the wife and felt sorry for poor old Dennis. One Friday, he decided to drop by and surprise her with her favorite gourmet coffee, and sample some of the food she was making for Dennis.
When Harrison came in, he was surprised that no cooking had started in the kitchen, and the television was blaring loudly downstairs. His wife wasn't much of a television person, so neglecting her cooking plans to watch a movie wasn't like her. Still thinking he wanted to surprise her with the coffee, Harrison removed his work shoes and quietly went down the stairs to their big den. At that time, the couch that he fucked Riley on was facing away from the stairs and to the side. On the wall opposite the stairs was a big mirror, which at the right angle gave a good view of the couch to someone coming down the stairs.
Harrison looked into the mirror and dropped the coffee cup. On the coffee table in front of the couch were two empty wine glasses and what seemed to be an empty bottle of wine. Cecilia was sitting wearing the same summer dress she had on when Harrison left this morning with her eyes closed. Beside her was all five-foot seven and one hundred and ninety flabby pounds of Dennis. His wife had one leg draped across his thigh. Dennis's baldhead was nuzzling the cleavage of her dress, which had several buttons undone. His hand was between Cecilia's legs, with her dress hiked up, and inside her panties. From how it was moving, and the look on her face, Harrison knew he had at least a finger inside her pussy.
The sound of the coffee cup hitting the stairs and spilling caused both to jerk up, and start to compose themselves. Before either of them could say something, Harrison grabbed the shorter man by the shoulder and punched him in the face as hard as he could, feeling his fist break the nose.
"Get the fuck out of my house before I kill you," snarled Harrison.
Cecilia was crying saying something, but Harrison couldn't hear a thing as his mind went into autopilot and there was just static in his ears.
Dennis fell down from the impact of the punch, and looked terrified, with blood running down his face and shirt. He scrambled up and was fleeing without a word.
Cecilia, seemed to think Harrison would hit the man again, and grabbed his arm saying something. Harrison pushed her away, drew his arm back, and for the first and only time in his life, struck a woman. The backhand blow to her cheek caused Cecilia to stagger.
Again, Harrison didn't hear any of the words she was saying as he quietly walked out of the house and returned to work. Just before his shift was done, he emailed Marc to go out for drinks. Over five pints, Harrison told Marc what happened - minus hitting his wife. He crashed at his friends place and returned home shortly after three the following afternoon.
Cecilia was completely distraught, and nursing a large bruise on her face - which she claimed came from falling on the stairs. She claimed it was nothing to be jealous about, and Dennis was so broken that she got drunk with him and felt sorry for him. She claimed it was pity that she let him fondle her, but it never was going further than that. For the next three weeks, Cecilia did all she could to convince Harrison that she loved him, and he treated her like crap.
Finally, after another night drinking with Marc, Harrison decided his marriage worth more than his pride with his wife fooling around with someone like Dennis. He came home, drunk, expecting to make love with his wife to show he forgave her, but there was a sitter and a note. She left him for Dennis.
At their son's high school graduation, he had an awkward moment alone with her. After some insults and comments from him about her abandoning her family, Cecilia told him that the only reason she left was he drove him to live with Dennis because she had no where else to go. Harrison had poisoned everyone's opinion of her. She was living with him for two months before the relationship became romantic. Harrison figured she was just trying to hurt him for seeing him so happy with Beth.
Oh, Beth, the much younger woman that he found a kind, wise soul kindred to his own. After Cecilia, Harrison had basically decided to make up for the single life that he never had when he left high school. It was a string of one-night stands, until the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen approached him while he drank with Marc, and then hit on him. He actually thought for a moment Marc was setting him up, but as they flirted, he knew it was legitimate and she was special. She looked eighteen, but carried herself like a woman closer to his age. He made the decision before she deposited her underwear into his suit pocket that he needed to know her better; she was not one-night stand, but relationship material.
As wonderful as he thought his marriage was with Cecilia, it was nothing compared to Beth. It was living with his best friend, who made him a better person, and had sex like he was a teenager again. Harrison life was on such a high, especially about to take the next stage of his life, with his kids now on their own.
Beth's betrayal was just as shocking as Cecilia's, and even worse as it wasn't a drunken moment of weakness. This was a long-term part of her life that she hid and tried to suck him into. After Harrison nearly punched Marc, he remembered what his former best friend said about Beth not being Cecilia. No, she was worse, but if he reacted like he did with Cecilia, it would end the same. He truly loved Beth, and still lusted for her. Part of him was still hung up on how fantastic the sex was the night before. Despite what she did, he knew he needed to remain calm if there was any chance to remain married.
Harrison decided to give her a chance to come clean; if she did, he would try to get over her deceiving him.
In reality, Harrison stopped being angry, but never did forgive his wife or their friends. Instead, he just ignored it and buried his feelings about it. Beth didn't help; almost every moment alone she was initiating sex. She was trying to ease her guilt, make things up to her husband, but distracting them for dealing with their real issue. Harrison was living his teenaged sex fantasies, and started thinking like a teenager. Willing to ignore his wife cheating on him just for the opportunity to keep having sex with her. What was worse, he was willing to share her, despite how much he really didn't want to, for the prospect of having sex with her friend that he was equally attracted to.
The only time he had to ever think clearly about this was on the forty-minute drive to and from work. Anytime Harrison thought how much he wasn't okay with how things were, it made him feel physically sick. He'd dismiss the thoughts, and focus on how lucky he was to have such a beautiful, younger wife and his marriage was worth it. It was, however, starting to affect his health. Beth didn't know, but two weeks before she surprised him with the threesome with Riley, his doctor diagnosed him with a bleeding ulcer and high blood pressure.
