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Zero Tolerance Ch. 01

By: K.K.



Author's Note: Once again I want to thank Techsan for taking time from his busy schedule to edit this story for me. Please provide feedback. It is the only payback we authors get for our efforts. Thanks.

*****

I hadn't been to Jimmer's for more than a month but there I was sitting at the bar at two o'clock on a Wednesday afternoon talking to Jim Lucia, the owner of Jimmer's Bar and Grill. Jimmer's is the bar I had been stopping at after work at least once a week since I had started working at Dyson's Electronics twelve years earlier. During that time Jim and I had become pretty good friends.

Jim had asked me why I hadn't been in recently and why I was there in the middle of the afternoon when I should be at work. I asked him if he wanted the long version or short one.

"Start with the long version," Jim said. "If the story gets boring I'll ask you to switch over to the short version."

"I'll try to keep it from getting too boring," I said. "Of course you know Fred Lydon."

"Yes. Mr. Wonderful." Jim said. "He still comes in here but not as often as he used to. I think he wore out his welcome with the women that come in here."

"I guess you can only fish in a small pond for so long before all the fish are gone," I said. "Anyway this story really started when I met Fred. That was in 1992. I had just started working at Dyson's and Fred was my first friend. Fred is the one who started me on the bad habit of coming here almost every night."

"That wasn't a bad habit," Jim said. "It was a welcome routine to help you unwind after a hard days work."

I laughed and said, "Well, whatever it is, Fred started it."

That afternoon I told Jim the story I am about to relate to you.

It was less than a month after I started at Dyson's and Fred and I were sitting in Jimmer's one evening having a drink. The place was just starting to fill up when two very attractive women came in. They looked to be a few years older than us but that didn't matter to Fred. When he saw the women he looked at me with his smarmy smile.

"Check that out," he said. "Looks like I am going to get laid tonight."

I wasn't interested in looking for one-night stands with older women. I just wanted to have a couple of drinks before I went home to my apartment so I just sat and watched as Fred approached the two women and started talking to them and managed to get himself invited to join them. 

Some more Dyson employees arrived and I joined them at a large table. It was about an hour later that I saw Fred leave with one of the women. As they walked by the table I noticed that the woman was wearing a wedding ring. 

Later when I was leaving Jimmer's I saw Fred sitting in the back seat of his car. At first it appeared that he was by himself but when I got closer I could see that the woman that he had picked up in the bar was bent over in the back seat giving Fred a blow-job.

I had to laugh to myself. That was the first time I had seen Fred in action. I didn't think Fred was really serious when he said he was going to get laid that night but there he was receiving sexual favors from a married woman in the back seat of his car. 

The next evening Fred and I were again sitting in Jimmer's having a beer and I asked him how he knew he would be able to score with the two women from the previous evening. 

"I knew because they were two married women out in a bar without their husbands. I was sure at least one of them would be looking for some action," he said. "That's why I like picking up married women rather than single women."

"Why?"

Single women are always looking for Mr. Right and are mostly interested in long term relationships," he said. "They very seldom put out on the first date. When you find a married woman out without her husband she is probably looking for some excitement and it doesn't take very long to find out if they are interested in having a little extramarital fun. In my experience if you get a married woman to leave with you, she wants to have sex."

That was the day I formed my low opinion of Fred Lydon. 

It was a couple of months later that I met Susan. She worked in the accounting department at Dyson's and I was in sales. Susan was tall and blond with beautiful blue eyes and I was hooked from the moment I met her. We dated several times before we had sex and that came with some serious strings attached.

It happened one night after I took Susan on a very romantic date. Flowers, dinner, dancing and a moonlight walk. I did the whole bit and then we went back to Susan's apartment.

We sat down on her sofa and began necking. We were both pretty aroused when Susan stopped me from sliding my hand up under her skirt.

"You know I like you very much and I am tempted to say I love you but I think it's too soon for that," Susan said. "I know we are both ready for this next step but for me making love to someone requires a commitment. If we are going to go any farther with this relationship I have to know that you will not be dating other woman. I need you to understand that I will have zero tolerance for any infidelity on your part. I will not be unfaithful to you and I expect the same from you. If you ever decide that you need or want another woman just know that it means we are through. I would rather you just break up with me than to find out you had been sneaking around behind my back."

I was so horny at that moment I would have committed to anything so that I could make love to her but the fact that I was already in love with her made it even easier. I had no problem committing to her that I would always be faithful.

After I promised, Susan placed my right hand back on her thigh and then put both of her arms around my neck. We began kissing again and I moved my fingers to the inside of her thigh and started sliding my hand up under her skirt. The farther I moved my hand up between her legs the more passionate Susan's kisses became. By the time I pressed my fingers against the warm damp crotch of her panties, Susan was attacking my throat with her tongue.

When I slipped my fingers inside her panties and brushed them lightly over her vulva, Susan moaned and then she sucked my tongue into her mouth. I began trying to open her shirt with my left hand but I wasn't having much success so I had to give up teasing her hot sex and use both hands to remove Susan's shirt. When I had all of the buttons undone Susan leaned forward so that I could slip her top off her shoulders and remove it completely. 

I planted little kisses all over Susan's neck and slowly worked my way down to the small bit of her breasts that were exposed above her bra. I kissed and licked the soft skin as I pulled the top of her bra down just enough to expose her nipples. When I sucked one of her nipples into my mouth Susan let her head fall back against the back of her sofa. She was breathing hard and making funny little sounds in the back of her throat.

I continued to suck on her nipples as I reached around her to unhook her bra. I have never been very good at dealing with bras but Susan didn't seem to care. She seemed to be enjoying what I was doing with my mouth and was oblivious to everything else. After a few minutes of fumbling with it I finally got her bra unhooked and remove it. Susan's breasts were beautiful. Their shape was perfect and they stood up proudly. For the next fifteen minutes I made love to Susan's breasts while at the same time I moved my right hand back under her skirt and up into her panties.

When I touched the soft lips of Susan's sex I found that they were wet and slippery. I ran my fingers all around her excited entrance spreading her sexual lubricant all over my fingers and her pussy. 

I had one of her nipples in my mouth when I finally pushed a finger up inside her and then started teasing her clitoris. As I did this Susan pulled my face up to hers and kissed me passionately and then just hung on to me while I explored the most personal and private part of her body. Susan was breathing hard and began sticking her tongue in my ear and talking to me. 

"Oh, God, that feels good. I want you now. I want to feel you inside me now."

I pushed Susan down on the sofa and pushed her skirt up around her waist. Then I removed her panties and quickly removed my own pants and shorts. 

When I lay down on top of her and pushed my stiff cock inside her I was amazed at how wonderful it felt to be inside her. I was not inexperienced. I had had a few girl friends over the years but I had never felt that way inside a woman before.

I had been stroking into Susan for a couple of minutes when it occurred to me that I wasn't wearing a condom. 

"Oh shit, I'm not wearing a condom," I said. "I better stop and put one on."

"I'm on the pill and I trust that you are safe," she said. "I want to feel it when you come inside me."

That comment almost put me over the top but I was able to control myself and I kept stroking into her at a nice slow pace bringing her to one long orgasm before I finally climaxed.

Afterwards as I drove home I felt wonderful. I knew I was in love with her and that we would always be together. 

After that night we had sex almost every time we were together which was very often. There were certain nights during the month when we just talked and watched television. A year and a half later we got married.

We both had good jobs so we didn't have to struggle like so many couples do when they first get married. We had only been married a year when we were able to buy our house in Charlotte.

The day we moved into the house we met our neighbors Ed and Linda Monroe. Ed worked for a large bank in Charlotte and Linda was an elementary school teacher. They were about our age and we shared a lot of the same interests so Ed and Linda quickly became our best friends. 

For the next several years of our marriage everything was great. Susan and I were still very much in love and the sex was still hot. We had almost everything we wanted. We had good friends, a nice home, two cars and a boat. Our life consisted of meeting the obligations of our jobs during the week and often stopping at Jimmer's for a drink before going home or out to dinner. On the weekends we spent a lot of time out on the boat with Ed and Linda or visiting at each other's houses for dinner or to play cards.

It was about three years ago that some things started to happen that were upsetting to me. When we first got married Susan and I made a decision to wait a few years before having children. After seven years of marriage I thought it was about time we started a family but when I asked Susan about it she said she wasn't ready yet. When I tried to discuss it further with Susan she cut me off.

"I will let you know when I am ready," she said.

The way she said it let me know that the conversation was over. I was a little upset with her unwillingness to even discuss children but I let it go. Everything else in our relationship seemed to be fine so I wasn't all that concerned. After all it was Susan that would have to go through the pregnancy so I guess it was only fair to wait until she was ready.

A few weeks later we were at a Dyson company party. I had gone to the men's room and when I returned I found Fred Lydon talking to Susan. Not just talking but standing very close to her and he had his hand on her arm as they talked. 

I got pissed at Fred when I saw that. I knew that I could trust Susan but I didn't like the idea that Fred would hit on my wife. It showed a lack of respect for me. 

By the time I got back across the room to where they were standing Fred had seen me coming and had moved a little farther away from Susan and was no longer touching her. I didn't say anything although I wanted to tell Fred to stay away from my wife but I didn't want to make a scene. After all, nothing had really happened. They were just talking.

I decided that night when we got home I was going to have a talk with Susan about Fred. I had never told her about Fred or his philosophy on dating married women. I wanted her to know about him, figuring if she knew what he was like she would avoid him. The problem was that I could not think of any way to bring that up in conversation without making it sound like I didn't trust Susan. I didn't know how to start the conversation and I had become sullen and quiet. It didn't take Susan long to notice something was wrong. 

"What's the matter, Mark?" Susan asked. "You haven't said a word since we got home."

"Something is bothering me but I am afraid that it will come out wrong and I don't want to upset you."

Susan suddenly looked tense. "What's wrong, Mark?"

"I guess I'll just say what's on my mind and we can discuss it until I can clear up any misconceptions. It's about Fred Lydon."

The expression on Susan's face changed. Susan had many facial expressions to express her moods or what she was thinking and I could always tell from her expression if she was happy, sad, nervous, angry, or whatever but every once in a while an expression came over her face that I could not read. That was the expression on her face that night. 

"What about Fred?" Susan asked.

"I don't know if you know this about him but he has a reputation as a ladies' man."

Susan laughed. "I know. I've heard all the stories about him at work. The girls at work think he is just a big joke. Fred is a flirt but I don't think anyone takes him seriously, least of all me."

"Susan. This is not funny to me," I said. "Fred preys on married women."

"You can't possibly think I have any interest in Fred," Susan said with a tinge of anger in her voice.

"No. I am not worried about you. I trust you."

"So what you are saying is that you don't want me to talk to Fred anymore, is that it?" Susan asked. 

"If you wouldn't mind," I said.

"Well, I would mind. I think he's funny and I enjoy talking to him. There is no way I would ever have sex with him so I don't understand what you are worried about. I don't like it when you act jealous." 

I wasn't happy with her response but I didn't push it any farther. She hadn't done anything wrong and my reaction was probably out of line. I was worried that Susan was really pissed at me but when we went up to bed she kissed me and whispered in my ear.

"Forget about Fred. You're the man I want inside me." 

It was just two weeks later when Susan and I planned to meet at Jimmer's after work and then go out to dinner. I was a half hour late getting there and when I walked in Fred was sitting with Susan and he had his hand on her shoulder as they talked. I could feel a knot forming in my stomach. I wanted to go over and grab Fred's hand and twist his wrist around behind his back and tell him to stay the hell away from Susan but I couldn't. I knew that if I said or did anything wrong, Susan would be pissed at me and accuse me of being jealous and she would be right.

It seemed like, after that, any social gathering we attended where Fred was, he would be sniffing around Susan.

One Saturday evening as Ed Monroe and I were cooking steaks on the grill I told him about Fred hitting on Susan every chance he got.

"Have you said anything to Susan?" Ed asked.

"Yes. She accused me of being jealous and told me I had nothing to worry about. I am afraid if I bring it up again it will sound like I am telling her that I don't trust her and that is not the case. I would just like Fred to stay away from her."

"Then why don't you just tell Fred to stay away?"

"I thought of that but I am afraid if I did that he would tell her I told him to stay away from her. That would make things even worse."

"If he was hitting on Linda like that," Ed said, "I would just tell Linda that I don't like him hanging around her like that. I would tell her about his reputation and say that it is not that I don't trust her but other people that know his reputation are going to wonder why she spends so much time talking to him. I know Linda would understand that and would let Fred know in no uncertain terms that she was not interested in him."

I thought about what Ed said for a minute and could see how that might work. I decided that the next time that Fred hit on Susan I would have that talk with her. 

The following weekend, Susan told me that her car was giving her a lot of trouble and that since it was seven years old she wanted to go shopping for a new car. I started to suggest that we just fix her old car and she gave me a dirty look.

"Your car is only two years old and I have to drive around in that old piece of junk," she said.

I knew right away that there was no way I was going to win any arguments about her car so I gave in. 

"What kind of car would you like?" I asked.

"I want a mini-van."

"A mini van? Why would you want a mini-van?"

"I just want something with more room in the back for carrying groceries and stuff," she said.

"You always make fun of the soccer moms with their mini-vans and now you want one?"

"One of the girls I work with has one and it is really nice. So I decided I would get one," she said.

I knew that Susan did deserve a new car and I decided that if she wanted a mini-van that's what we would get. That Saturday we went out and bought a new Honda Odyssey.

That Monday evening after work I asked Susan what her friends thought of her new car.

"Everyone loved it. I took the girls out to lunch today and they were all very impressed," she said. "When we got back to the parking lot Mr. Fisher walked over to me and asked if he could take a look inside. He checked it out and said that he really liked it and asked if I would give him a ride in it sometime. Then he said that he wondered if I would loan it to him some weekend so he could use it to go up to his cabin at the lake."

"No fucking way," I said. "No way we are loaning anyone a brand new van for a weekend," I said almost shouting.

"What are you getting so upset about? I have no intention of loaning him my van," Susan said.

I apologized to Susan for snapping at her and told her I was just a little tired, which was partly true but wasn't the reason for my outburst. There was something about Mr. John Fisher, head of human resources at Dyson, that I had never mentioned to Susan. I knew where his so-called cabin at the lake was. It was more like a house. A few years ago some friends of mine from work and I had taken my boat up to the lake to do some fishing and we saw John pull up to his cabin with a beautiful young girl. John is in his mid thirties and this girl looked to be about twenty. 

I pointed them out to my companions and my buddy Shawn said, "That's Jackie Sullivan. She just started working at Dyson a couple of weeks ago. She's one of the secretaries in my department."

Then Lenny, one of my other buddies said, "She's just one in a long line of beautiful new hires that have seen the ceiling of John's bedroom. He likes to bring new hires out here to indoctrinate them."

Everyone laughed. I asked if they knew for a fact that he was doing that and Lenny said that he was told by a couple of the women he hired that coming to the cabin was almost a condition of employment. They said they never complained because they wanted the job and John treated them well and only made them come out here one time. The guys made several off color jokes about John Fisher and his cabin. I was the only one not laughing. I was wondering if Susan had made the trip out here to John's cabin when she was hired into Dyson. That possibility was painful to think about even though if it did happen it would have been before I had met her. Just the thought of Susan possibly having slept with that scumbag was making me sick.

That night when I got home from the fishing trip, while I was cleaning out the boat, I decided not to ever say anything to Susan about John Fisher or the games he was playing with new hires. I was not going to let whatever Susan might have done before we met change the way I felt about her. 


Zero Tolerance Ch. 01



*****

Two months ago Mr. Dyson announced that Clay International Electronics was interested in buying Dyson Electronics. Mr. Dyson said that the deal was dependent on our second quarter results that were due out in one week. Mr. Dyson also said that if Clay International did buy the company we could expect some changes but he didn't think anything would happen immediately.

As it turned out our second quarter results were exactly what Clay International wanted to see and they planned to move ahead with the purchase of Dyson Electronics. When Mr. Dyson informed us of Clay International's decision he invited all 185 employees of Dyson Electronics to a party at his house to celebrate the sale of his company. Mr. Dyson has a big place out in the country with a large swimming pool, lots of big oak trees and beautiful gardens and he likes to show it off. 

While Mr. Dyson was ready to celebrate the sale of his company, most of his employees were worried about what would happen to their jobs when Clay International took over. 

On Friday, the day before Mr. Dyson's party, I was told that I would have to go to Atlanta Monday for a contract negotiation. It was not unusual for me to be sent out to do contract negotiations but I usually had more advanced notice of an upcoming trip. That evening I was telling Susan about the upcoming trip when she told me that Ed and Linda were going to stop over later for drinks. For Susan and I this visit was a welcome diversion from our worries about what was going to happen after Clay International took over Dyson's. We did talk about the coming take over and our concerns but we also talked about taking the boat out the following weekend and other happier topics.

We had just opened our third round of beers when Ed told us about a purchase he and Linda had made.

"Linda and I were up in Concord Thursday evening and we found this great antique roll top desk. The price was right so I just had to buy it," Ed said.

"He was writing the check before he thought to discuss it with me," Linda said.

"You said you liked it." 

"I do like it but it is so big where are we going to put it," Linda said.

"We'll figure that our when we get it home," Ed said.

"Great plan," Linda said.

"I have to go pee," I said and got up. "I hope you two are done fighting by the time I get back."

"You call this fighting? Linda and I don't consider it a fight unless one of us has to go to the hospital," Ed said.

"And it is usually Ed that ends up in the hospital," Linda said. 

We were all laughing and Ed said, "That's true."

When I got back from the bathroom they were all silent. I looked at Ed and then at Linda before I sat down.

"I guess the fight ended in a tie," I said. "No apparent injuries to either party."

We all laughed and then I turned to Susan.

"Susan, I almost forgot. I am going to have to go into the office tomorrow to finish some reports that are due next week," I said. "I have to get them done before the party tomorrow." 

"Why do they have to be done tomorrow?" Susan said.

"Did you forget already? I will be in Atlanta until Wednesday or Thursday next week," I said.

"Will you be done in time for the party?" Susan said.

"I don't know. We may have to go late."

Ed and Linda went home around eleven o'clock and Susan and I headed for bed shortly after they left.

*****

Mr. Dyson's party was scheduled to start at three o'clock in the afternoon so Saturday morning I got up early and ate breakfast with Susan. As I was drinking my second cup of coffee Susan said, "Before you go into the office, would you do me a favor?"

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Would you remove the seats from the back of my van? I told Ed and Linda they could borrow it to pick up that antique desk they bought."

I was about to say something but Susan stopped me. "It's my van and if I want to loan it to our friends so they can pick up their new desk I don't need your permission."

"I never said you did. I was just going to say that I will take the seats out before I leave for the office." That wasn't what I was really going to say but it was the better part of valor.

I finished my breakfast and then went out to the garage to remove the seats from the two back rows in Susan's van so Ed and Linda would be able to get his antique desk into it. Then I went into the office to finish several sales reports that I wasn't going to have time to do the following week. At one o'clock I was still sitting in my office working on the reports when Susan called and asked me if I was going to be home soon. I looked at the stack of reports I still had in front of me and told her that I had at least another two hours before I would be finished. Then I suggested that she go ahead to the party and I would get there as soon as I could.

It was four o'clock when I finished the last of the reports and headed to my car for the hour-long drive out to Mr. Dyson's house. I was going to call Susan once I got on the road to let her know when I expected to get to the party but like a fool I had left my cell phone at home that morning. I arrived at the party shortly after five o'clock and I went into the house and looked for Susan. There were several people in the house but Susan wasn't among them.

I asked a girl I knew from the accounting department if she had seen Susan.

"I saw her earlier," she said. "She was out in the yard talking to Fred Lydon."

I immediately felt a knot in my stomach. I was going to have to talk to Susan about Fred again and I wasn't going to wait till we got home. I went out into the back yard and looked around but didn't see Susan anywhere. I asked a couple of people if they had seen Susan and one of them told me that they had seen her but that was more than an hour earlier.

I was beginning to get upset. I was sure that Susan wasn't doing anything wrong but not being able to find her was worrying me. I walked around asking people if they had seen Susan and most said that they had seen her earlier but hadn't seen her in a while. I walked over to a guy who was standing watching people in the swimming pool and asked him if he knew Susan and he said that he didn't. Then I asked him if he knew Fred Lydon.

"Yes, I know Fred," he said. 

"Have you seen him?" I asked.

"I saw him heading to his car about an hour ago."

I don't know what made me ask. "Was anyone with him?"

"Yes. He was with a tall very attractive blond," he said. "I think they came together."

Suddenly I felt myself begin to panic. Had Susan come to the party with Fred? Had she left with him? I just couldn't believe that she would do that. Not Susan. I spun around hoping to see Susan somewhere in the yard but I didn't see her. I hurried back though the house and out to where the cars were parked and looked for Susan's van. It wasn't there.

I felt all of the energy drain from my body and I felt like I just wanted to go lie down somewhere. I went around to the far side of my car where no one would see me and I slumped to the ground. I put my head between my knees and took deep breaths and tried to calm myself down. There had to be some other explanation for why I could not find Susan. I knew she had come to the party because at least three people had seen her there. I also knew that she had been seen talking to Fred Lydon. I also knew that Fred had been seen leaving the party with a woman that fit Susan's description. These things did not add up to a happy conclusion. Part of my brain was telling me that Susan would not do that to me. She would not cheat on me. The other part of my brain was asking me how I could be so sure that she wouldn't cheat. 

As I tried to think of what to do next the term 'zero tolerance' flashed into my head. I pushed that thought out of my head. It would not come to that. I refused to believe that Susan would do anything that would cause me to leave her. 

I knew that if she did leave the party with someone she would have to come back eventually because she knew that I would be there soon. The only thing I could do was to go back to the party and wait for her. 

To be continued... 



Zero Tolerance Ch. 02



I walked through the house in a daze and went out into the back yard again. I needed to try and eat something to settle my stomach and get my nerves under control while I waited for Susan to return. I was at the food table trying to decide what foods my stomach could handle when I heard a voice behind me. It took me a minute to realize the voice was directed at me. When I turned around I found Mr. Dyson standing behind me.

"I see you finally made it, Mark," he said. "Where is that lovely wife of yours? I saw her here earlier."

"I don't know," I said. "I haven't been able to find her."

"Did you try calling her? I know she had her cell phone with her."

"I forgot my phone so I wasn't able to call her."

Mr. Dyson pulled his phone from his pocket and handed it to me and said, "Here, use mine."

I wondered why I hadn't thought to just ask someone if I could borrow their phone. I punched in Susan's number and waited nervously for it to begin ringing. I wondered where she was and what I would say to her when she answered, if she answered.

Susan answered on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Susan, where are you?"

"I am at Dyson's where are you?"

"I am here in the back yard but I don't see you." I said.

Then I saw her as she stepped out from behind a large oak tree about a hundred feet away from me.

You cannot believe the relief I felt when I saw her. I handed Mr. Dyson his phone and headed back to where Susan was waiting. When I got there I found that she had been sitting with two of the girls she works with and their husbands and to my great relief there was no sign of Fred. I couldn't believe that I had completely missed Susan sitting behind the big oak tree with her friends. If I had only had my phone with me I could have saved myself a lot of distress.

"I didn't see your car out front when I got here," I said.

"Brenda gave me a ride. She called me to ask when we were coming to the party and I told her that you were working and that I was going to come by myself and that you were going to meet me here. She said that she could give me a ride out here so we wouldn't have to go home in separate cars."

"That was nice of her," I said. "Now let's get a drink and something to eat."

I was suddenly feeling much better but Susan seemed a little uneasy. I asked her if she was all right and she said she had a bit of a headache. An hour later Susan seemed to be feeling much better and we had a good time during the rest of the party. 

On the ride home I started thinking about how I had felt when I thought Susan might have gone off with Fred and I felt my stomach start to tighten again. Then I remembered being told that Susan was seen talking to Fred at the party and began to wonder about the blond that was seen leaving the party with Fred.

Could it have been Susan? Had she gone somewhere with him and returned before I got to the party? I was starting to make myself crazy. How was I going to find out without causing an argument? I had to know.

I waited until we were home before I carefully broached the subject.

"Did anything interesting happen at the party before I got there?" I said.

"No. I just walked around talking to people for a while and then I sat with Carol and Janice and their husbands. 

"I didn't see Fred at the party. Was he there?" I asked.

"Yes, but he left before you got there. Why are you asking me about him?"

I was torn. I was angry with myself for even entertaining such suspicions but I was driven to pursue the answers to the questions that had been on my mind every since I had arrived at the party and couldn't find Susan. I had been trying very hard to act like I was only interested in what had gone on at the party but my next statement gave away my real intent.

"I was just surprised that I didn't find Fred at the party talking to you. That is where I usually find him if I leave you alone for a few minutes."

As soon as I said it I wanted to bite my tongue. I waited for Susan's angry reaction but it didn't come.

"I saw him right after I got to the party and we talked for a while."

There was something about the way she looked at me when she made that last comment that bothered me. It wasn't guilt that I saw. It was more a look of sadness.

"Really?" I asked.

Susan's expression quickly changed and she laughed at me and said, "Really. I sense that there is something still bothering you that you are not telling me. You are not still worried that Fred is trying to seduce me are you?"

There was no anger in her voice as she spoke. It was more like she was laughing at me but then I saw that sadness again. What the hell was that?

"Mark, why don't you tell me what's really on your mind," she said, " 

"I'd rather not," I said, "I am ashamed of myself for what I thought."

"Now you have to tell me," Susan said. "I am not letting you get away with a statement like that and not tell me everything."

"You have to promise not to get mad."

"I'll wait till I hear what you have to say before I make any promises."

So I told her the whole story about how I couldn't find her when I arrived at the party and how I was told that she was seen talking with Fred. I told her that someone told me that they saw a tall very attractive blond leave with Fred. I told her about the panic I felt and how sick it made me. Then I waited for the anger but it didn't come. Again, I saw the brief look of sadness but it was gone as quickly as it appeared. I wasn't even sure if I had really seen it.

"You thought I might have gone off somewhere with Fred?' This Susan said not with anger but with impatience. "I told you before, Fred doesn't mean anything to me. I just get a kick out of the way he is always trying to flirt with me. It hurts me that you actually thought that I might have been with him today. Fred is no threat to you. I can't believe you still don't trust me."

"You're right. I shouldn't have doubted you," I said.

"Well, it should make you happy to know that Fred came to the party with a date. She was tall, blond, attractive and married. They only stayed for a short time."

Susan kissed me and said, "I guess this is partly my fault. I knew you didn't like it when Fred flirted with me and I should have been more sensitive about your feelings. I'll make a deal with you. If you don't act jealous anymore I will stay away from Fred. Okay?"

I agreed.

"Why don't we go upstairs," she said, "and you can thank me." 

Thank her? I wasn't sure what she meant by that.

As I followed Susan up the stairs I couldn't help staring at her wonderful ass in her tight shorts. It was right in front of my face. When we got to the top of the stairs I pulled Susan's shorts and panties down and stuck my tongue between her nicely rounded globes. I took her right there at the top of the stairs and then we went to bed and made love again very slowly. 

Afterward as we lay in each other's arms we began to talk.

"Don't you think it's time we started a family?" Susan asked.

"I am ready if you are," I said. "You're the one that has wanted to wait."

"I know but I am ready now," Susan said. "I stopped taking my birth control pills last week."

"You did? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't tell you because I wanted to wait until I was fertile again, like I was tonight," she said. "So it may already be too late for you to change your mind about wanting a baby."

I kissed Susan and said, "I hope it is too late."

*****

Sunday morning I went out to the garage to put the seats back into Susan's van when I noticed that the passenger side had a lot of mud splattered on it. I decided to take the van out to the self-service car wash and clean it up for Susan. She hated to drive the van when it was dirty. I could have washed it at home but I had another reason I wanted to slip out of the house.

I went into the house and found Susan doing laundry and she looked up at me as I approached. 

"Why don't we ask Ed and Linda to come over for drinks tonight?" Susan said. 

"That's fine with me but remember I have to go to Atlanta in the morning so they can't stay late."

"I almost forgot about your trip," Susan said. "How long will you be gone?"

"If everything goes well I'll be home Wednesday night, if not Thursday night," I said. "Why do you ask? Are you planning to take a lover while I'm gone?"

"Only if I can find one that is better in bed than you." Susan was laughing as she said that.

As I headed back out of the house I called back to Susan, "I'm going to take the van out to get it washed. I'll be gone a couple of hours."

"You don't need to do that. I was going to clean it myself later," Susan yelled.

I pretended not to hear and I left Susan to deal with the dirty underwear and I headed out to run my errand. In addition to washing the truck I wanted to stop by the mall and buy a gift for Susan. The gift was to be part apology for thinking that she might have gone off with Fred and it was part thank you for understanding my feelings about Fred and finally agreeing to avoid him in the future. It was also something I wanted to do for the mother to be even if she wasn't pregnant yet.

The stop at the mall didn't take very long. I already knew what I wanted to get. It was a pair of diamond earrings that Susan had said she liked. I also stopped by the Hallmark store and bought a card to go with the gift. With my purchases made I left the mall and headed off to the car wash.

I pulled up in front of the vacuum cleaners and started with the front seat and when that was done I opened the side doors to clean the back. Behind the drivers seat I found a bag from MacDonald's. The bag was lying on its side and there was a wet spot on the floor around it. Apparently Ed and Linda had stopped at MacDonald's when they went to pick up their antique desk. I wished that they hadn't left the bag in the van. When it tipped over the melting ice in their drink cups spilled out and soaked through the bag. I just hoped it didn't leave a stain on the carpet. 

When I picked the bag up the wet paper split open and two drink cups, two Big Mac wrappers, one super sized French fry container with a few fries left in it, two used napkins, four empty ketchup containers and a tissue spilled out onto the floor of the van. I was cursing Ed as I used one of the cups to gather up the trash that had fallen out of the bag. I had everything in the cup except the tissue, which I really didn't want to handle because I figured one of them had blown their nose in it. I carefully picked the tissue up by the corner and I got a real shock when a used condom fell out of the tissue. Luckily, the condom had been tied to keep its contents from leaking out but that didn't make finding it any less disturbing.

I was a little pissed at Ed and Linda. I didn't really care that they had a quickie with their lunch in the back of the van but they should have had the decency to get rid of the evidence. Susan was almost obsessive when it came to keeping her van clean and I was sure she would have a fit if she knew what Ed and Linda had done in it. I decided to keep the condom and give it back to Ed that night as both a joke and a subtle hint that they should have cleaned up after themselves.

I used the tissue to carefully picked the condom up and drop it into the empty drink cup and put it under the driver's seat and then I got rid of the rest of the trash. After that I finished cleaning the inside of the truck and then washed it. Later, when I got home I didn't mention my discovery to Susan. No reason she would ever have to know about it. 

At six o'clock that evening I went up to my room to pack for my trip. Once I had my bag packed I wrapped Susan's gift and I was getting ready to sign the card I bought when I heard her coming upstairs. I quickly hid the gift and the card in my bag just before Susan came into the room.

She had a strange expression on her face when she came into the room but she didn't say anything. She just stood there looking at me as if she expected me to say something.

"What?"

"You better get changed. Ed and Linda will be here in about a half hour," she said and then left the room.

I was sure that something was bothering Susan but I had no idea what it might be. I quickly washed up and changed. I went back downstairs and found Susan fixing some snacks. When I entered the kitchen she looked up at me as though she was again waiting for me to say something. 

"Is something bothering you?" I asked.

"No. Should there be?" 

"I don't think so but you keep looking at me as if I smelled like dog shit." I said.

Susan laughed. 

"No, you don't smell like dog poop. I was just wondering if you were going to make love to me tonight. Just in case we didn't make a baby last night."

"It would be my great pleasure to make love to you tonight," I said.

Susan seemed to have returned to normal. She was smiling and relaxed as she continued to fix the snacks. 

Ed and Linda arrived a few minutes later and we all went out onto the deck where I had an ice chest full of beer and we sat around and relaxed. There seemed to be two different conversations going on all the time. I would be talking to Ed and Susan to Linda and then it was me talking to Linda and Ed to Susan and only occasionally were all four of us talking about the same thing.

After finishing two beers I went into the house to use the bathroom. As I stood there relieving myself I decided that saving that used condom was a little sick so instead of returning to the group on the deck I slipped out to the garage to get rid of it. I opened the side door and reached under the driver's seat but the cup wasn't there. I put my head on the floor so I could look under the seat but couldn't find it. I thought that it must have slipped out while I was driving so I searched the whole inside of the van but still could not find the cup.

I thought back over my actions and tried to remember for sure what I did with that cup. I was absolutely certain that I had put it under the seat. Then it occurred to me that Susan must have been in the van looking for something and found the cup. I hoped that she had tossed it in the trash without looking inside. I opened the trashcan in the garage but neither the cup nor the used condom was in there. That's when it hit me that Susan must have seen the used condom. She knew I took the van to the car wash so there shouldn't have been any trash left in the van. Susan must have wondered why the cup was hidden under the driver's seat with a used condom in it. Then she probably would have wondered why it took me two hours to get the van washed.

Those odd looks she had been giving me earlier suddenly made sense. Susan must have wondered if the used condom in the van belonged to me. Could she have been thinking that I had been messing around with someone in the back of the van when I was supposed to be at the car wash?

I should never have brought that used condom home with me. In order to convince her that the condom wasn't mine I would have to tell her it was Ed's and then I would have to explain why I had saved the used condom. What kind of sicko keeps someone else's used condoms? 

My one hope was that Susan didn't look inside the cup but just took it out and threw it in the trashcan outside. I wondered if I should just keep my mouth shut and wait to see if Susan said anything. I knew that wasn't a good idea. If she didn't say anything I wouldn't know what she was thinking and I didn't want to leave town for three or four days if she was thinking that I might have cheated on her. I was going to have to address it with her as soon as Ed and Linda went home.

When I went back out on the deck Susan gave me another of those looks.

"Where have you been?" She asked. "We were beginning to think you fell in."

Somehow I sensed that she knew what I had been doing. She knew that I had gone out to check on the prize I had hidden under the seat. I decided then to hint at what Ed and Linda had done in the van and hope that Susan would catch on. 

I started by asking Ed about their trip to Concord.

"How was the trip up to Concord yesterday?" I asked.

"It was fine," Ed said.

"Did you have any fun on the trip?" I asked.

"Fun? What kind of fun can you have on a trip to Concord?" Ed responded.

It seemed to me that Ed was determined not to admit to anything and when I looked at Linda I saw no sign of embarrassment on her part. If I didn't know better I might have thought that they didn't leave that condom in the van.

It's funny how we move through our lives. We make decisions about where we want to be years from now and then make plans on how we are going to get there. Everything moves slowly and you always think there is plenty of time but them something happens that changes everything in the blink of an eye. That's what happened when I asked my next question.

"Did you have any trouble getting the desk into the van?" 

"Oh, we didn't use the van. I wasn't sure if the desk would fit in your van so I had my father drive me up to concord in his pick up truck."

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Susan was looking at me. When I looked up she turned away but before she did I saw that she had the same expression on her face as she did when she came into the bedroom as I was hiding her gift. 

I felt sick for rest of the evening. I just wanted Ed and Linda to leave so I could talk to Susan about what I found in the van. 

Ed and Linda finally left around 10:15 PM. Susan started cleaning up the kitchen while I got rid of the empty bottles and took some papers down to the trash can. I looked around quickly to see if Susan could see me and when I was comfortable that she couldn't I made a quick search of the trashcan. There wasn't much in it, just a few food wrappers and a Macdonald's cup. After another look to make sure Susan wasn't looking I reached in the can and pulled out the cup. The condom was not inside. I looked around inside the trashcan but there was no sign of that condom. I wondered what Susan had done with it. 

I went back into the house full of trepidation. As hard as I tried I could come up with no reasonable explanation for finding that condom in Susan's van.

When I walked into the kitchen Susan gave me that look again. Was it guilt? Was she waiting for me to ask her about the condom so she could start confessing her sins? I knew that I was going to have to pick the time for this conversation. I had to make sure that I was calm enough to handle the answers to my questions. I was still holding out hope that there was an explanation that would not destroy our marriage. 

I decide that I would wait until we got upstairs and then say something like, "Did you throw away the cup I had under the seat in the truck? I found it while I was cleaning out the van. Do you know how it got there?" The question wouldn't be in the form of an accusation. It would give her a chance to answer me calmly. Then it would be up to me to decide if she was telling me the truth or not.

While Susan was filling the dishwasher I headed upstairs to the bedroom. I was getting nervous when it seemed to be taking Susan longer than it should to finish loading the dishwasher. I listened at the top of the stirs for a few minutes. I could not hear anything for a while and then I heard the squeak of one of our kitchen chairs as Susan got up. I guess she had been sitting there trying to decide how to handle things. 

Finally I heard Susan approaching the stairs so I ducked back into the bedroom and pretended to be finishing my packing when she came into the room. Susan stood at the door looking at me with that strange expression on her face again and then without saying a word she came over and kissed me. 




Zero Tolerance Ch. 02



It was a deep tongue kiss that started the blood flowing into my soon to be erect cock. For the next couple of minutes I kept waiting for Susan to pull away from me and to either confess or wait for me to ask her about the condom. 

After the kiss Susan didn't say anything so I knew it was up to me.

"Susan, did you throw away the MacDonald's cup that was under the seat in the van?" I asked.

I felt Susan's body stiffen and she hesitated a minute before she said, "Yes. I was looking for my sunglasses and saw the cup under the seat."

"Did you happen to see what was inside the cup?" I asked.

"Yes. I have been wondering how that got there." She answered quickly.

"I found it yesterday when I was cleaning the interior of the van. It was in a MacDonald's bag along with food wrappers and drink cups. The bag was wet from the melted ice in the cups and when I tried to pick the bag up it broke open. The condom had been wrapped in a tissue. I thought at the time that Ed and Linda must have had a little party on the way to Concord but they didn't use the van yesterday."

"Why didn't you throw it away?"

"I don't know," I said. "I was a little pissed when I found it. I was going to say something to Ed about it tonight but decided to just forget about it instead."

"Good thing you didn't confront him with it. That would have been embarrassing."

Susan seemed to be relaxed as she started getting undressed. I wondered, if she was innocent, why wasn't she questioning me about the source of that used condom?

"So Susan, where do you think that condom came from?"

Susan's face flushed red as she began to speak. "You promise not to get angry?"

"How can I promise that when I have no idea what you are going to say?" I said as calmly as possible.

"Yesterday, after Ed and Linda left for Concord with Linda's father John Fisher called and asked me if he could borrow the van for a few hours to run some errands. I said he could. I can't believe he left that mess in the van. I will give him hell for it next time I see him."

"Jesus, why the hell would you let him borrow the van." I almost yelled.

"Don't get like that with me. That is my van and if I want to loan it to a friend I will," Susan yelled back at me.

I didn't like the idea of Susan loaning her van to John Fisher but at least that explained the used condom. Banging one of his new hires in the back of the van was just the kind of stunt he would pull. 

Susan striped off her bra and panties and put a sexy nightgown and then said she was going down to get a glass of water and asked it I wanted anything. I told her to bring me a glass too.

When she left the room I got her gift and the card out of my bag and started looking around the room for a pen. I couldn't find one and when I heard Susan coming back up the stairs I took the gift and the card into the bathroom and hid them in my drawer.  

I went back into the bedroom as Susan was setting the glasses of water on the bedside table. 

"Do you have a pen up here?" I asked.

"I think there's one in my handbag. Why."

"You'll see in a minute," I said as I grabbed her handbag off the floor and headed into the bathroom.

It always amazed me how much junk Susan had in her handbag. I had to pull a lot of stuff out before I found a pen. I quickly signed the card and began stuffing things back into her bag and wondering why she never throws anything away. It always struck me as being funny that she would be obsessively neat in some areas of her life and a slob in other areas. Her handbag was a perfect example of the latter. During this process of putting things back into her bag I dropped something on the floor. I looked down I saw a five dollar bill and two one dollar bills folded together. When I picked them up I noticed that there was a piece of paper folded up with that money. That was typical of Susan. She would buy something and when she got her change she would just roll the bills together with the receipt and stuff them in her bag. 

"What's going on in there?" Susan shouted from the bedroom. "You've been gone fifteen minutes."

"I'll be there in a minute," I said.

I guess it was probably another ten minutes before I went back into the bedroom. 

Susan was lying on the bed when I came into the room and she stood up and moved toward me as I approached the bed. Susan kissed me and said, "Are we going to make a baby tonight?"

Susan kissed me again and pushed her hand inside my pants and started stroking my semi-erect member. Susan sat down on the edge of the bed and opened my pants and pushed them down and helped me step out of them. She did the same with my underpants and then took my cock into her mouth and was soon bringing me close to a climax. I managed to control myself and pull away from her. I picked Susan up and dropped her on the bed and then I striped off my clothes I joined Susan on the bed and began to explore her body with my hands and tongue. 

I kissed and licked her neck as I watched the goose flesh pop out on her thighs. I opened her nightgown and moved down to take a nipple into my mouth as I slowly inserted a finger into her pussy. I would have thought by the way she came after me that she was already hot and very aroused but I was somewhat surprised to find that she wasn't very wet. I worked my finger deeper into her sex and began to tease her clitoris with my thumb. Soon Susan's love channel began to respond coating my fingers with her natural juices. When Susan began to breathe hard I moved down and began to give her oral pleasure and I enjoyed the taste of her hot sex. I sucked Susan's clitoris between my lips and flicked my tongue across it until she erupted into orgasm. 

After her orgasm I rolled Susan onto her stomach and lifted her hips up so that she was on her knees and then I pushed the stiff blood engorged cock into her from behind and pounded Susan until I felt my climax begin to build. When I knew that I could hold back no longer I pulled out of Susan's dripping pussy and began stroking my cock by hand as I shot my load of hot semen onto her ass. 

When I was sure that my balls were empty I got off the bed and went to the bathroom to wash my cock off. Then I returned to the bedroom and began to get dressed as Susan watched me with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Why did you do that and why are you getting dressed?" she asked.

"Why did I do what?"

"Why did you pull out and cum on my butt? I can't get pregnant if you don't cum inside me," she said.

I didn't say anything until I slipped my shoes on.

"I have to go. I am going to stay at one of the hotels out by the airport," I said.

"What's going on?" Susan asked. "You are beginning to scare me."

"If I stay here things are likely to get a lot more scary," I said.

"I don't understand. Tell me what is going on."

"Okay. You want to know why I pulled out? I pulled out because I don't want to have a baby with you," I said.

Somehow I managed to enjoy the look of shock on her face.

For a moment Susan looked like she might start crying. "I don't understand. Why are you acting this way?" she asked.

"I decided to let your other lover get you pregnant. After I leave you can call him and tell him that he no longer has to use a condom when he fucks you. That should make you both very happy," I said.

"Mark, what are you talking about?"

"Susan, it's over. I know that whoever used that condom used it to fuck you."

The look on Susan's face was one of her unreadable expressions. I couldn't even tell if she cared that she had been found out.

"Where would you get an idea like that, Mark? How could you think that I would ever cheat on you?" Susan said.

"If you bothered to clean out your handbag once in a while, you might have gotten away with this," I said and pulled two slips of paper out of my pocket and threw them at her. "Do you know what I was doing all that time I was in the bathroom? When I went out today I bought you those diamond earrings you like so much. I wanted to give them to you tonight to express my love to you. I also bought a card to go with the gift. That's why I needed a pen."

Susan was totally confused. She still didn't know where I was headed with my ramblings.

"I found the pen in the bottom of your bag. I also found these two receipts. The first one was issued at 12:30 PM yesterday at MacDonald's. I thought it was quite a coincidence that you bought two Big Macs, one large order of fires and two medium drinks and I found a MacDonald's bag in the back of the van with the remains of that exact meal. 

"Being the trusting husband that I am I searched the rest of your bag looking for anything that would prove me wrong. So what did I find? A receipt from Thompson's Pharmacy dated yesterday afternoon. Imagine my surprise when I saw that you purchased a package of condoms and a tube of vaginal moisturizer. Now why the fuck would you need those items?"

Susan's eyes were opened wide and her face had gone complete white. When she didn't say anything I bent down and finished tying my shoes. That task completed I straightened up again and I looked over at Susan. She was staring at me seemingly unable to speak.

"By the way. I will be returning the diamond earrings," I said. "Somehow I don't think you deserve them."

As I picked up my bag and started out of the room Susan finally found her voice.

"Please don't go. Let's talk about this."

I gave her a look like I thought she was crazy. "Talk about what?" I asked. "You fucked someone behind my back and then tried to lie to me when I found the evidence. You cheat on me then tell me you want to have a baby with me. How can you calmly sit there and act like we have anything more to discuss?"

"You can't go out of town being mad at me. We need to talk about this."

"What the fuck have you been smoking? You think I am just supposed to forgive you for fucking some guy in the back of your van? What, do you think your still a fucking teenager?" 

"Mark, I know you're upset but let me explain..."

"There are three things I don't want to hear from you right now," I said. "I don't want to hear you say that you can explain. I don't want to hear you say that you are sorry and I don't want to hear you say that you didn't mean to hurt me."

I still couldn't read the expression on Susan's face. I thought I saw a tear but she appeared to be so calm that I doubted it. I would have expected her to be crying and begging me for another chance. I was beginning to think that she really didn't care. How could she have been the sexual dynamo she had been the past two nights as she told me how much she loved me and that she wanted to have my baby and then turn around and tear my heart out? Had all that been just an act? Had she just stopped loving me?

"Mark, please stay and talk to me."

"The only thing I want to know before I leave is how long have you been cheating on me?" I asked.

"Yesterday was the first, last and only time but I wasn't really cheating. Not the way you're thinking," she replied.

I didn't know what the hell she was trying to say and I really didn't care. I looked at Susan to see if I could get any kind of hint as to what was going on inside her head but nothing in her expression gave me any kind of clue. I wasn't sure that it would have made any difference anyway.

"Good bye, Susan," I said as I headed for the stairs.

"Why are you leaving?" Susan asked and for the first time I could hear a little panic in her voice.

"Do you remember the discussion we had before we had sex for the first time? When we swore to each other that we would never be unfaithful."

"Yes," she said, "Of course I remember that."

"Well, I guess I believed you meant it, because I did. There were two words you used that night that I have lived with all these years. Do you remember?"

Susan didn't answer.

"Zero Tolerance," I said and then I walked down the stairs and out of the house.

To be continued... 



Zero Tolerance Ch. 03



I stayed at the Hampton Inn near the airport that night and left for Atlanta in the morning. The four days I spent in Atlanta were very painful for me. I managed to keep myself together during the day while I was working but when I got back to my hotel room at night I was a mess. I couldn't help but think of Susan and all of the wonderful times we had together over the years we had been together. What made her change? Why would she suddenly feel the need to take another lover and of all people, why Fred? 

By the end of the four days I was mentally drained. I returned to Charlotte that Friday morning and went straight to the house. I knew Susan wouldn't be there because I had called the office and checked to make sure she was at work. I spent about two hours packing as many of my clothes as I could and then checked into a cheap motel near the office and began looking for an apartment. 

"Jim, I haven't spoken to Susan since I left the house that night," I said. "It almost kills me when I see her at work. I know I still have feelings for her but I can't get past what she did to me."

"I wondered what was going on," Jim said. "I have seen Susan come in here several times over the last few weeks. She doesn't stay long. She has a drink and then leaves. I wondered why you weren't with her," Jim said.

"Susan has been trying to get me to talk to her but I don't return her calls and I avoid going anywhere that I might run into her. That's the reason I haven't been around here lately," I said. "This morning she cornered me in my office and begged me to meet her here this afternoon so we could talk. She said that if I would talk to her today she would not bother me again."

"Oh, shit man, I am really sorry things have gone so bad for your marriage. I would never have believed that Susan would cheat on you," Jim said.

"I wouldn't have either."

Just then Jim looked up over my shoulder. "Here she comes now," Jim said. "Why don't you go take a booth and I'll come over and get your drink orders. That will give you more privacy."

"Thanks, Jim."

I got off the bar stool and turned to meet Susan. As she approached me I pointed to a booth and said, "Why don't we sit over there?"

Susan didn't say anything, she just turned and walked to the booth and sat down. I slid into the booth on the opposite side. Although she was still a beautiful woman, Susan looked sad and tired. I didn't feel any sympathy for her. The pain she had caused me left me unable to feel anything.

"How are you, Mark?" she asked.

"How do you think I am? It's only been five weeks since you destroyed my world."

"I'm sorry," Susan said. "That was a stupid question."

"You will forgive me if I don't ask how you have been, because I really don't give a shit," I said.

The expression on Susan's face told me that my last remark hurt her. Good.

"This is your meeting," I said. "What is it you wanted to say to me?"

"I know this probably doesn't mean much to you," she said, "and you have made it clear that this is not what you want to hear from me but I have to say this. I am sorry that I hurt you and I am sorry for what I did. It was stupid but I didn't do it for the reasons you think. I want to explain what happened so please just listen to me." First, I want you to know that I never stopped loving you."

"I think perhaps you did at least for a few hours that Saturday afternoon."

"No. It wasn't like that. Let me try to explain," she said.

"I don't think there is any explanation for what you did to me," I said, "at least none that I would ever understand. Are you in love with him?"

"In love with him? No, of course not. I love you."

"You see? That's what I will never understand," I said. "If you were in love with me, why would you fuck him? At Mr. Dyson's party you looked me in the eye and lied to me. You said that he came to the party with a date. The truth was that you were his date that afternoon, weren't you? Did you think you could just fuck him and no one would ever find out?"

"About whom are you talking?" Susan asked.

"You know very well who I am talking about. Your boyfriend Fred."

"Fred? It wasn't Fred. I didn't lie about him. It was John Fisher I was with Saturday afternoon," she said.

I was stunned. I had never considered that it might be John that she was with. "John Fisher? I guess it should have occurred to me that it was John. After all, you did say that John had asked to borrow the van that day. You just failed to mention that he borrowed you as well." I said. "So how long has this affair been going on?"

"It was just a one time thing, not an affair," she said.

"When did you decide that it was a one time thing? Was that something that you both agreed upon before you fucked him? Or was it something you decided after I found his cum-filled condom in the back of your van?" I said. 

'Mark, please stop talking to me that way. I am trying to explain this as best I can. Please at least hear me out," Susan said.

"I am sorry if my earthy description of what you did offends your delicate sensibilities but if you get to explain your actions I should at least get to vent my anger," I said.

Susan looked down at her hands and was quiet for a moment. I took that opportunity to signal Jim to come over and get our drink orders. Susan ordered her drink without looking at Jim and didn't say another word until he went back to the bar.

"Mark, I want to try and explain why this happened. It will be difficult and it probably won't make any difference in how you feel about me right now but you have to hear me out," she said. "It is just as important for you to know this as it is for me to tell you."

Before Susan could say anymore Jim returned with our drinks. Susan waited until Jim left and then cleared her throat.

"Mark, I know how this is going to sound but it's the truth," Susan said. "What I did with John I did for us. At least that is what I thought I was doing at the time."

"You did it for us?" I said. I felt my face getting hot along with my temper. "What the fuck does that mean? How does your fucking someone else help us?"

That was about all I could handle. I started to get out of the booth to leave but Susan grabbed my arm. "Please stay and let me explain."

I reluctantly sat back down. I decided that no matter how difficult it was for me that I would sit and listen to Susan's explanation without comment. I would wait till she finished before saying anything more. I said, "Okay, go ahead."

*****

The following is what Susan told me.

"Some of what I told you before was true. That morning Ed came over and thanked me for offering to let him use the van but then told me that after looking at it he didn't think they would be able to fit the desk into the van. He said that his father had a big pickup truck and he was going to help them get the desk. 

"After he left I got a phone call from John Fisher. John said that he had something important he needed to talk to me about and asked me to meet him at the MacDonald's restaurant on South Tryon. I tried to get him to tell me what he wanted but he just kept telling me that it was important to you and me and he didn't want to discuss it over the phone. I certainly wasn't planning to have sex with him. The thought had never crossed my mind.

"When I got to McDonald's John climbed into the van with me. He asked if I had eaten lunch yet and I told him that I hadn't. He then suggested that I drive around to the drive through window and we could order lunch. After we placed the order John told me that he didn't have any cash with him and asked me to pay for the food. When I looked at him he said that what he was ready to do for us was certainly worth the price of a lunch at McDonald's. So I paid for the meal.

"We parked in the parking lot and as we ate our food John started telling me why he had asked me to meet him."

"'Susan, you can't tell anyone about this conversation or what I am about to tell you, do you understand?' John said."

"'I don't know if I want to hear this if it is that confidential,' I told him."

"'This is important to you,' he said. 'Last week I met with the head of Human Resources from Clay International. They wanted to talk about the plans they had for the takeover of Dyson.'"

"I told John that I didn't think he should be sharing any information from that meeting with me."

"'This is important to you and Mark so just listen,' he said. 'The guy from Clay said that when they take over next month they plan to trim the work force at Dyson by thirty percent. They asked me to make a list by department of the employees that I felt should be kept on board after the take over. I have to tell you I was stunned. I was being asked to play God with people's lives. How do I make decisions about who should stay and who should go. I didn't like it but I knew if I tried to refuse the assignment I would be one of the first to be let go.'"

"I asked John how many people he had told and he said that I was the only person he had spoken to about this. I asked him why he was telling me."

"'Susan, I have always liked you and Mark and I want to help you. I don't know what condition your personal finances are in but if you are like most people in your income bracket you are probably only four or five paychecks away from losing your home. I would hate to see that happen to the two of you. I want to put both of your names on my list of people that should be kept on board.'"

"'I appreciate that, John, but why are you telling me this? It makes me very uncomfortable,' I said."

"'You need to understand that there are a lot of people in the company that would be desperate to get their names on that list,' he said."

"When John said that, I started to worry about where this conversation was going. 'What are you trying to say, John?' I asked."

"'It's just that I am willing to stick my neck out here for you and Mark but I need something from you in return,' John said."

"'Something in return? Like what?' I asked."

"'You know, Susan, I have always thought that you are a very attractive woman,' he said."

"'John, please don't do this,' I said."

"'Susan, come on. We have a little fun and you and Mark have your jobs protected. Quid pro quo. We could go back to your house and have a quick tumble and it's over. Just a one time thing and Mark will never know what we did. It will be our little secret how you saved your jobs.'"

"I was feeling sick and angry but I was also worried about losing our jobs. I knew that John was right. If we lost our jobs it would only take us few months to burn through all of our savings. We would lose the cars, the boat and then the house. I didn't know how to handle this. I didn't want us to lose our jobs but I didn't want to have sex with John either." 

"The first idea that popped into my head was to stall for time. Then I might be able to set him up so that we could force him to put our names on the list. 'I need time to think about this,' I said. 'You caught me off guard and I can't make a decision about something like this on such short notice. Let me think about it over the weekend and I call you on Monday and let you know what I decided.'"

"John smiled at me and I thought for a moment that he would agree to give me time to think it over. 'Susan, I can't give you time to try and find a way to set me up. Right now you and I are the only people who know about this conversation so I can deny any claims you make. My offer is only good for this afternoon. If you want to save your jobs you know what you have to do,' he said."

"I was in a panic. I didn't know what to do. I know now that if I had time to think about it I would have told John to go to hell but instead I found myself negotiating with him."

"'What would I have to do?' I asked him."

"'Have sex with me,' he said."

"'Where?'"

"'At your house.' he said."

"'No. Absolutely not,' I said."

"'Then we will drive out to my house at the lake,' he suggested."

"'That's too far. I have to get to Mr. Dyson party in time to meet Mark,' I said."

"'Okay then, we'll do it right here in the van,' John said."

"'Right here?'"

"'No. I know a nice private place not too far from here where we can park and no one will bother us,' he said."

"'If we are do it I want to keep my clothes on,' I said."

"'No. I have always wanted to see your sexy body. You have to take your clothes off,' he said."

"'All right, I'll take my clothes off but there won't be any kissing or oral sex.'"

"'No kissing? No oral sex? I don't think I can agree to that,' he said."

"'Then I guess this discussion is over,' I said."

"'Wait. Okay, no kissing or oral sex but you have to let me suck on your tits,' he said."

"I hated the thought of him doing that but as long as I didn't have to kiss or suck anything of his I agreed. 'The last thing and this is not negotiable, you must wear a condom,' I said."

"John smiled at me and said, 'That's fine except I don't happen to have any with me. You will have to go buy some,' he said."

"'I think you should buy them,' I said."

""If I have to use a condom you have to buy it,' he said."

"The whole conversation was surreal. I had just negotiated terms for having sex with another man and at no time had I thought what I was doing wrong. I mean in terms of our marriage. I wasn't doing this for any kind of a thrill. It was something that I didn't want to do but I felt I had no choice. It didn't seem to me that I was cheating on you because I was trying to protect our jobs. By making him agree that there would be no kissing or oral sex and insisting that he wear a condom I had managed to set things up to be as sanitary and unobtrusive as possible. The big test would be to see if I could go through with it and if he would stick to the agreed upon rules."

"We left the van at McDonald's and walked over to Thompson's Pharmacy. John went with me to make sure I didn't call anyone. I bought a three pack of condoms because that was the smallest package they came in and then I bought the vaginal moisturizer because I knew that I would have a problem getting enough natural lubrication to keep him from hurting me."

"We left the drug store and went back to the van and John had me drive out of town about three miles and then turn down a dirt road into a wooded area. When we stopped John and I climbed into the back of the van. 'Go ahead and take your clothes off,' John said. 'I want to watch.'"

"I hadn't thought of that part. Getting undressed in front of John was humiliating. I removed my shoes and pants and then my top. As I was unhooking my bra I noticed that John had opened his pants and was playing with his dick as he watched me. I was thoroughly disgusted with John and with myself. I put all thoughts out of my mind other than what I needed to do to get through the current situation. I removed my panties and then rolled my pants up and used them as a pillow as I spread myself out on the floor of the van." 

"John just sat watching me as he played with himself. I hated the idea that I was going to have to touch myself in front of him but I had to use the moisturizer before I could let him try to enter me. I put some of the moisturizer on my fingers and started rubbing it on the outside of my pussy and then slipped my fingers inside just long enough to spread the moisturizer where I needed it."

"When I looked at John again, I could see he was ready. 'Put a condom on and let's do this,' I said."

"John put his hands on my breasts and said, 'First, I have to taste these nipples.'" 

"He then began sucking on my nipples and squeezing my breasts. I don't know how long this went on because I had closed my eyes and was trying to concentrate on anything except what was happening at that moment. Mark, you'll just have to believe me when I say that I didn't enjoy it one bit. At one point I was afraid that I was going to be sick but I managed to keep myself under control."

"Finally John put one of the condoms on and climbed between my legs. The lubrication I had used made his entry into me very easy with no pain or discomfort for me. I have to tell you this was the strangest experience I have ever had. The fact that I was not in the least aroused, I was well lubricated from the moisturizer and that John was wearing a condom made it seem as though I wasn't really having sex. I could hear John grunting as he pushed into me and I could feel his weight on my chest but that is about all I felt. I certainly wasn't getting any stimulation from his being inside me."

"It seemed like a long time before John finally climaxed and rolled off me. When he was done he smiled at me and said, 'Now that wasn't so bad, was it?'" 

"I smiled back at him and said that it was fine but that we would never do it again." 

"'I told you that it would only be once and I am a man of my word,' he said. 'I will put Mark's and your names on the list.'"

"I turned away from John, as I got dressed, trying to be as modest as I could under the circumstances. As soon as I was dressed I started that van and tried to back out of the spot were we had parked and I slid off the dirt road in some mud and almost got stuck. That's why there was mud all over the side of the van. When we got back to MacDonald's, John got out of the van and I left him there without saying another word to him."

"When I got home I was in a hurry to get ready for the party and I forgot about the trash in the back of the van and never even thought about the condom. I just kind of assumed that John took it with him. I grabbed the bag from the pharmacy with the other two unused condoms and the moisturizer and brought them into the house." 

"The rest of what I told you was the truth. Brenda called me and asked when I was going to the party and then offered to give me a ride. The rest you know."

*****

"Why did you do it? You are smarter than that. You should have told John to go to hell," I said.

"You're right. I should have but I didn't. I can't explain why I didn't do what I should have done. I guess I was in a panic, worrying about our jobs and I was not thinking straight," she said.

I just shook my head in disgust. "I have a few questions," I said. "When I confronted you and you knew that you had been caught, you didn't appear to be all that upset. It seemed to me that you didn't even care. How do you explain that?"

"I had been in a fog ever since the whole thing started, I kept trying to convince myself that what I did was not a bad thing because I did it for us. Sunday, when you said you were going to take the van to the car wash I thought of the possibility that the condom might still be in the van for the first time. I tried to stop you but you left before I could do anything.

"I was a nervous wreck the whole time you were gone and when it took you two hours I was beginning to panic. When you came home you didn't say anything but I could tell that something was bothering you. I waited until you went upstairs to shower and then I went out to the van. When I found the cup under the seat with the condom in it I nearly fainted. You knew but you didn't say anything. I couldn't understand that. I didn't know what to do. I thought I should leave the cup where I found it but in the end I decided to get rid of the evidence. I flushed the condom down the toilet and took the cup out and put it into the trashcan.

"I was on pins and needles until Ed and Linda came over. Their visit allowed me to take my mind off of the problem for short periods of time but every time I started to relax I would see you looking at me. I was sure that you knew what I had done and I was a wreck waiting for you to say something to me. I tried as hard as I could not to show any emotion on my face.

"When Ed and Linda left you still didn't say anything and I was beginning to think that you were just waiting to see if I would confess. By the time you finally asked about the condom I had come up with the story that John had borrowed the van and you seemed to accept that explanation. Then you made love to me and I started to think that everything was going to be okay. For some reason I felt that if you knew what I had done you had already decided to forgive me. When you finally confronted me I had nearly convinced myself that it was no big deal. That once I told you about it you would not only forgive me but you may even tell me I did the right thing.




Zero Tolerance Ch. 03



"I know that doesn't make any sense but I was pretty messed up while all that was happening. It wasn't until I realized that you were really leaving that I understood how foolish I had been."

"Why did you wait so long before coming to my office to ask me to meet with you? Was it so you would have time to make up this story?" I asked.

"What I told you is the truth. I knew there was noting I could do to fix what I had done," she said. "I thought that even if you would talk to me you wouldn't believe anything I said and even if you did believe me I still didn't think you would ever forgive me."

"So why talk to me at all?"

"I knew it would only be a matter of time before I would be served divorce papers so I had to take a chance. Not for me but for us. You, me and the baby. I'm pregnant."

I looked at Susan as if she was crazy. "You're telling me you're pregnant now?" I said.

"I expected that you wouldn't believe me but it's true. When the baby is born you can request a DNA test and then you'll know that I am telling you the truth," she said.

"So what now? Am I supposed to get all excited that you're going to have my baby and coming running back to you as if nothing happened?" I asked.

"No. I don't expect you to do anything. I just wanted you to know everything, especially that you are going to be a father. What you do beyond that is up to you."

I was angry with her for cheating. Even if she was telling the truth about what happened, which I actually believed she was, I was still angry with her for being so stupid and compromising our marriage the way she did. Was she really pregnant? Why would she lie about that? If the baby were mine I would certainly want to be a part of his or her life. But what do I do about Susan? My emotions were so screwed up at that point I couldn't think straight. When Susan slid out of the booth and started to walk out of Jimmer's I was unable to do anything except watch her leave.

I spent the next two hours sitting in the booth at Jimmer's trying to digest everything that Susan had told me and trying to understand how I felt about it. Did I believe her? If everything she told me was true what would I do about it. Could I overlook her sexual liaison with John Fisher? Most importantly, how do I handle the news of Susan's pregnancy? Is that enough of a reason to go back to her? All of these questions were spinning around in my head that afternoon.

The first clear thought that came to me was that I would have to do something about John Fisher. It didn't matter whether I believed everything that Susan told me or not, John Fisher played a part in this and he was not going to get away unscathed. The problem was figuring out what to do about him. My preferred solution would have been to beat the shit out of him but I would probably end up in jail and he wasn't worth it.

I spent the rest of that afternoon and evening deciding what I would do about Fisher, not because it was the most important thing I had to do but because my feelings about Susan were too confused for me to deal with them at that time. I ran through several scenarios before deciding on a plan of action that I thought would actually work.

The next morning I went to work and cleared up a few tasks that needed my attention. Then I took a small tape recorder from my desk, put it in my pocket and then I walked down to pay John Fisher a visit. I was aware that anything I recorded without John's permission would be useless in a court of law but that wasn't why I wanted to record our meeting. I could almost see John's body stiffen as I entered his office. 

"Hey, John, You got a minute?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. Come on in," he said. 

John was watching me closely, seemingly worried about what I might do.

"John, I have been hearing a lot of rumors about the take over by Clay. I was wondering if I could ask you a couple of questions about it?" I said.

John leaned back in his chair and I could see the tension leaving his body. I could tell from his behavior that John figured that I didn't know about his afternoon with Susan. That meant that Susan hadn't told him that I found out. That was a point in Susan's favor.

"You know, Mark, I can't really say much about this? Nothing is official yet," John said.

"I heard that there is a list of names of employees that will be kept on after the take over. I was just wondering if you could tell me if my name is on that list,," I said.

"Mark, I can't confirm or deny the existence of a list and I really can't say anything else on that subject," he said.

John appeared to be completely relaxed with me. It was time to strike.

"I just figured that since Susan fucked you to get our names on your list you could at least confirm that you did what you said you were going to do," I said.

I watched the color drain from John's face and he quickly straightened up in his chair.

"What are you talking about? Nothing like that ever happened," he said.

"Are you denying that you had sex with Susan?" I asked.

"I have nothing more to say to you," he said. "Plase leave my office now or I will call security."

"You won't call security," I said, "because I have proof of what you did and I am sure that once I make it public there will be a lot of female employees of Dyson that will come forward to testify that you made them have sex with you to get a job at Dyson."

I could now see the fear in John's eyes.

"What do you want? Your name is on the list already. You don't have to worry about your job," he said. "Don't worry, I'll make sure you have a job with the new company."

"That's not what I want," I said. "I want you to destroy the list you made and then resign from Dyson effective immediately."

"You can't make me do that. You don't have any proof that I had sex with Susan in exchange for putting your names on the list. I'll deny that there is any such list and say that Susan made this whole thing up,"

"That might have worked if I hadn't found out about your liaison with Susan by finding the condom you used. I have it safely wrapped in my freezer at home. There is DNA from both you and Susan on that condom which proves that you had sex with her," I said.

"All that proves is that two consenting adults willingly had sex together. It'll be my word against Susan's. No one will be able to prove that I promised her anything in exchange for sex."

"I never really knew how slimy a piece of shit you are," I said. "The problem for you is that it doesn't really matter what went on in the back of Susan's van that afternoon because you had sex with the wife of a fellow employee and if that isn't bad enough, your position as Director of Human Resources puts you into a position of power over Susan. I plan to file a complaint with Mr. Dyson and copy the HR department at Clay International. I will accuse you of destroying my marriage by having an affair with my wife. I will further claim that you used your position with the company to coerce her into having sex with you. I would also expect that the local news media would pick up this story. Mr. Dyson will have no choice but to fire you and the publicity you will receive will ruin any chance you have of getting a job anywhere in the Southeastern United States. I will then file suit against you for alienation of affection."

"The way I see it the only choice you have is to resign from Dyson today and get out of town."

"Can you give me a little more time?" Fisher asked. "I need a couple of days to figure out what I am going to do."

"I'll tell you what," I said. "Since I am a nice guy I will give you some time. The same amount of time you gave Susan to decide if she would have sex with you to protect our jobs."

"I need more time than that," Fisher said.

I pulled the little tape recorder out of my pocket and set it on the desk in front of John. "Thanks, John, you just confirmed everything that Susan had told me and now I have it on tape. I'll sit here and answer your phone if it rings while you type your letter of resignation."

"You are a real bastard," Fisher said.

"I am when I have to be," I said.

I sat with John Fisher as he typed up his letter of resignation and I watched him e-mail it to Mr. Dyson and sent a copy to the HR department at Clay international. Five minutes later Mr. Dyson called John's office and I answered the phone. Mr. Dyson asked for an explanation for Fisher's resignation and I told him it was to avoid causing a sexual harassment scandal at Dyson. I didn't need to say more than that. Mr. Dyson sent two people from security to watch Fisher pack his personal belongings and then they escorted him from the building.

I went back to my office and closed my door. I sat at my desk and tried to decide on my next move until it became clear to me what I had to do.

*****

"Hello, Dyson Electronics, Susan Lewis speaking."

"Mrs. Lewis, how would you like to have dinner with you husband tonight?"

"Mark, do you mean it?"

"Yes."

"I would love to but only if you promise not to ask me any more questions about what I did," Susan said.

"I don't want to talk about that either. I want to talk about us, our future and our coming child."

"Does this mean that you still love me?"

"Absolutely."

As I put the phone down it occurred to me that I might be wrong. Maybe Susan had lied to me. Maybe there was more to her encounter with John Fisher than she told me. The evidence seemed to point to her telling the truth but anything was possible. I only knew that I loved her too much to not be with her. Only time will tell if I was right.

The End.