Thanks for all the feedback ( and error spotting) after this story was posted a couple of weeks ago. I've gone through it and fixed up the name screw-ups and the gender of the lawyer - lol.
I'm working on editing a couple of other stories, as well.
I continue to appreciate constructive criticism. Thanks and enjoy.
Final point - no one has permission to use any of my work for their own commercial purposes.
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So, tonight is my wife's night to spend with her boyfriend. Yup; a boyfriend. How do I know that she has a boyfriend. Well, she pretty much told me. I couldn't mistake those words.
She told me after I saw some text messages between her and her boyfriend on her cellphone. She had forgotten to click it off; the kids were shouting for her, and she put the phone down on the kitchen counter to attend to them. I was passing by and noticed that she had been texting someone identified only by 'S.' It looked odd, and I picked up the phone and looked at some of the text messages between my wife and 'S'. It didn't take long to add it all up and then I knew that my life and the life of my family was destined to change. That was several months ago. These have been difficult months. A lot has changed in these months. A lot.
So, tonight she was dressed very nicely and had a small overnight bag with her as she went out. She said goodnight to the kids and told them to be good for me and then looked my way. She tried to give me a kiss, but I deflected by turning my head so that all she got was my cheek. I still had trouble accepting that she was going out to meet another man and have sex with him. What kind of a loser does that make me?
This is the 21
st
century I know, and we should be well past those archaic notions of what constitutes fidelity; but...call me old fashioned.
In the process of accepting that Laura was going to see another man to have sex with him, I went through several stages of grieving before coming to the decision that I couldn't do much about it, so I had better find a way to live with it.
Don't get me wrong; I'm not at all happy about it. Not one bit. My problem then is how do I deal with it and what will be the consequences. More about those consequences later.
Let's step back for a bit so that I can give you a bit of background. Hello, my name is Jason Fairburne, and my wife is Laura Staples. She chose to not change her last name when we got married. We have two children, both girls; Beth and Janey.
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The Lawyer visit
So, not long after finding out that my wife of twelve years was cheating on me with another man, I went to see a lawyer. I needed to know what my options were.
I went armed with all the outrage over this that I could muster and trust me when I tell you that it was a lot. My learned counsel looked at me, nodded her head and after some questions about Laura and I and the kids, she exhaled deeply, sat back in her chair, and started. After I had finished venting, she quietly said, 'are you done now?' and started to educate me on what a divorce would mean to me.
Despite the fact that every man, woman and child in Texas has 2.2 guns, Texas is pretty much a no-fault state when it comes to divorce. It's highly illegal to shoot your wife when you catch her cheating, or the person she is cheating with . In fact, every state of the USA is a no-fault state now. But with this the scales of justice get tipped, a lot, in favour of the woman; the reason for that is if there are children of the marriage. Unless the mother is a serial-killer-crack-whore, family court judges pretty much always give custody to her, and then they figure out where the money will come from to support those children and the mother.
So, in the wisdom of Texas family law, which eschews the use of any kind of weaponry (notwithstanding that every crazy motherfucker out there is carrying one or two) mothers normally get the children and then the house, the furniture, the better car and a shit-ton of money to make it all work. As the man initiating the divorce all I would really do would be taking myself out of the house and away from my kids, save for one night a week, every other weekend and two weeks in the summer. My wife would have everything else, along with my money to pay for it.
In essence, I would be paying my wife a generous reward for her fucking some other guy, then I would, one night a week and every other weekend, look after my children so that she might have some uninterrupted quality time to go out and fuck whomever she wishes.
In the meantime, I'm lounging uncomfortably in my very spacious and not-so luxurious refrigerator box under the bridge, with all the other divorced fathers who threw themselves under the proverbial bus wheels, waiting anxiously for my few precious days with my children, who all the while are slowly forgetting about me while being introduced to my ex-wife's new boyfriends. Yeah, right! Like I'm going to let that fucking happen.
I asked my lawyer if I could punt my wife's ass to the curb. She actually frowned at me. "That's a really bad idea, Jason. All she would need to do would be to get her lawyer to go to court, get a court order letting her back in the house and then forcing you to leave because of an obvious 'hostile environment detrimental to the welfare of the children.' Then you would be out on your ass, with virtually no way back. Nope. That's not a good idea."
So, I'm fucked.
My lawyer, god love her huge retaining fee, advised a tactic that I'd heard about before, but thought it was just a ridiculous rumour, told by people that don't know what the fuck they're talking about. The plan is really summed up as 'cheaper-to-keep-her,' or 'look the other way.' Yup. Isn't that just great? Fucking great!
The tough reality was that if I were to stick it out with her, look the other way with her part-time boyfriend, I would get to spend time with the kids and keep my home and my money. I tried to visualize that, and it certainly had its advantages. I tried to visualize the other side of the equation, the one without the kids and my home, and that picture, rolling around in my brain, was more like a nightmare. I shuddered as a chill went up my spine and I knew then and there, that being without the kids and my home was not an option.
With that little bit of hard reality, then it was down to how do I manage my life knowing that the woman that I promised to love, honour, cherish, in good times and bad, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for better or for worse, until death do us part; had decided that parts of our marriage vows or agreement, or whatever it's called now, weren't really what she wanted anymore. Yeah.
Marriage vows are only words. A general guideline that can be adjusted whenever it is necessary to suit the occasion or conditions; like wanting to have sex with someone other than the person that you married. Really; it's okay. I think this with a very high degree of sarcasm in my thoughts.
To quote the famous character Roy Kent, 'FUCK!'
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So, a few weeks later, after I was able to calm down and resist the temptation to choke the shit out of my lovely cheating wife, I sat down with Laura to talk to her about our marriage. She was remarkably cool about it. I got myself a beer. We sat at the kitchen table.
I started, "So, I'm having a hard time figuring out how we stay married if you want some other guy."
"Jason, you don't get it. I'm still your wife and I still love you and we're still gonna be together for life. This thing that I'm doing with Scott is only once a week and only because it's something that I need that you, try as you might, you can't give me right now."
I shook my head and rolled my eyes. "What the fuck?! Do you have any clue how that makes me feel? I don't make you feel good anymore? Jesus, Laura!"
"No, that's not what I mean..."
"Well, it's what you just said!" I was shouting now.
"Jason, what I meant to say, if you'll let me talk, is that I love you and I will never deny you anything...'
"...Oh, well, thanks, that makes all the difference. It's all perfectly fine now. I'm really happy to get pity sex once in a while." There was that deep sarcasm again.
I turned away and went into the kitchen. I had the sudden desire for another beer. I popped the top off, put the cap in the garbage and sat back down. Laura came over and put her hands on my shoulders.
"Jason, I've gone about this all the wrong way. Let's go up to the bedroom and I can show you the right way how much I love you."
"Why would you want to do that. You made it very clear, just a moment ago, that I don't satisfy you; you just said it. Why don't you pack a bag and go see your boyfriend. I'm sure that you'll find that much more enjoyable than trying to please me."
I got up from the table and walked away. I couldn't take any more right at that point. I wanted to break something. Instead I went to the basement office and shut the door. Fuck.