Daniella's wedding was the best thing that happened to our own marriage. We were finally closing the loose end in order to let our guilt disappear.
To understand how the 3 of us were intertwined you need to know that this was all my doing. As an up and coming lawyer at a top firm in DC I was aggressive about everything - from the clients I took to the guys I fucked, everything was about me.
So when I found Henry recovering from his early retirement from football, I decided to make him mine. I wined him, dined him, sucked him, fucked him and wed him in 2 years. He was a small town guy that was hit by my tornado. Two kids and three promotions later I was queen of the world.
But somewhere in our eleventh year of wedded bliss I realized that everything wasn't as perfect as I imagined.
For years my husband, the embodiment of virtue and loyalty, would spot weak individuals within my firm. He had a sixth sense for people that didn't have our best interest at heart. And he was almost always right because we would find a paper trail of misdoings from the people he called out. However there were two women that had no such trail. But I trusted his input so I didn't worry.
Then one day I caught a glimpse of Henry in the security camera at our front desk. He was waiting on the elevator to come up when a new attorney walked up to him. She was a little too close in my opinion, so I watched this silent film play out. Her hair flip and facial expressions were clearly a pass at Henry. Unmistakably aggressive, I watched her use every move in the book - the book I'd written - in that 90 seconds. Mind you I was observing all of this while entertaining Gerald, our security guard, with a conversation about his lovely granddaughter.
Outside I was chill. Inside I was fuming.
But when they exited the elevator there was no sign from either of them that anything had happened. Henry smiled and said "have a good day" to her as he came over to greet me.
Now I already knew that Ms. Homewrecker was a goner from the firm, but I couldn't figure out Henry's take on the situation. Was he complicit in the flirting but knew that the cameras were on him? Was he simply trying to save her job? Was he not picking up on her signals?
Later that night, Henry finally said something before we went to bed.
"I'm not sure that compliance specialist is a good fit for the firm," he stated randomly before a quick kiss and a lot of snoring.
That was it. That was why there was no papertrail on those previous two women. He knew that I couldn't trust them but he didn't want to share why. My relief in seeing his actions turned to guilt in realizing something bigger.
As Henry slept I realized that those three women smelled the nature in my man and simply went on the attack. He was oozing sexuality in a chemistry that animalistic women could not ignore. These pheromones were a combination of healthy diet, constant exercise and - what I constantly preyed on in my youth - the lack of good pussy at home.
My mouth dropped as I realized I was not fucking my man correctly. Or enough. Whatever. I knew that we were having less sex. I was busy prioritizing mergers and clients for possibly two years. I hadn't given him a blow job in 6 months.
And this man said nothing.
But I realized something else that had been missing for the last two years.
Henry was always jacking off when I wasn't in the mood. He didn't hide it because I loved seeing it. It was only about once a week but it was always in plain sight. He'd catch a glimpse of me in the shower or laying next to me in the bed. Boom. He was proud of it and I enjoyed watching every stroke as he performed for me and on me. He was marking his territory and every inch of me belonged to him.
But I hadn't had a show like that in months. Either he wasn't interested or he was sparing me the sight of his lust so I could focus on my fucking work.
My fucking work.
I felt so guilty at that moment for neglecting my stud. My loyal stud. I knew he was jacking off to himself so that I wouldn't feel guilty. He knew I wasn't interested in joining or had the energy.
My libido wasn't really interested.
I know me. As much as we fucked like rabbits in the early years, I was totally disinterested in the topic. I'd read all of the books that said I might need a little 'newness' but none of that interested me. Or her. Or us. I didn't want a new man. I didn't want any man.
And my man knew that.
A week after that realization my assistant Daniella caught me looking at self-help sex books. For 3 years Daniella knew everything about me so I wasn't embarrassed. She was with me when we got food poisoning in Bangkok. Hand-in-hand we shared quite the experience.
"At least you can keep a man," Daniella laughed nervously.
"Thomas?" I asked with a hint of confusion because I really wasn't sure who she was dating.
She smiled softly to let me know I was way off base. "Juan. He cheated on me, too," she said with a sigh that felt like it was all her fault.
"Sorry," I said for not remembering her latest boyfriend. "But this job doesn't leave much room for love."
"Honestly, I don't think it's that," Daniella said as she slouched in front of me. Normally an overachiever, this was a new look from her. "The bedroom is not my best skill, if you know what I mean."
My eyebrows nearly touched the ceiling. I realized that Daniella knew everything about me, including Henry, and I knew nothing about her. She had probably shared things but I was too self-absorbed to retain any of it. I even realized that she had full access to my phone that had the occasional image of Henry naked. She knew everything. Maybe even before I did.
"Well, I can't remember the last time I sucked Henry's dick," I laughed in order to ease her tensions.
"His birthday," she stated flatly. She was right. I highlighted his birthday in my calendar but I never asked Daniella to buy anything. That's how she knew. Worse yet, we were becoming a sex-only-on-birthdays couple.
"I wish he would just fucking get a mistress so I could not have to worry about it," I joked.
Daniella laughed so hard she snorted.
We just looked at each other.
"That's why I can't keep a man," she said as we laughed again.
And that's when I asked her the last time she'd been tested.
"After I caught Juan," she answered knowingly.
"How would you like to learn to be better in the bedroom?" I asked.
"I think I would like that," Daniella replied.