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A Ticket to Ride

By: StangStar06



Hi folks. This one was suggested by a reader. I hope he likes what came out of his idea. Thanks as usual to sircharles 5150 for his editing skills. SS06

* * * * * *

I felt his eyes on me like waves of unwanted heat. I was leaning over a little too far and he was getting an eyeful of my cleavage. Normally my blouse would have been a button down type. And I'd have buttoned it nearly to the top. But I'd worn a v-neck today under a blazer and when the air conditioning failed in the July heat, I was roasting.

I looked up into his face and saw the same look I'd seen on the face of lots of men, for most of my life. "Can I help you with something?" I asked in as cold a voice as I could muster. 

"I was just enjoying the view," he smirked. "And wishing I could see more."

My blood started to boil. I immediately got up and went into another office. The office I chose was occupied by the head of the small firm we worked for, Bradley Martin.

"Brad, I want to file sexual harassment charges against that guy," I said pointing out into the office. "He came over to my desk and talked about me like I was a piece of meat."

Brad looked over his glasses at me. His eyes, though he'd had a lot of practice drifted to my chest as well. 

"Karen, I'll talk to him about it," he said. "He's young, but he's a good lawyer. We have a lot of cases coming up where we might need him, so I'm not going to fire him this time. But if it happens again, he's gone."

I nodded and turned to leave his office. 

"Karen, what's really wrong?" he asked. 

"What do you mean?" I asked looking back at him. 

"Come on Karen. You were putting guys like him in their place ten years ago when he was in high school. Remember all the shit you gave me before..." He stopped abruptly. And then I started talking just to fill the silence before it became awkward as each of us flashed backwards in our minds. Neither of us wanted to go there. 

"I guess I'm just nervous about the weekend," I said quickly.

"But why?" he asked. He had genuine concern written all over his face. "Karen this is your shot. For the past three years, how many times have you sat there whining about everything you would do if only the heavens would split apart to give you one more chance? You've schemed, you've manipulated, you've planned, you've dreamed and you've waited patiently hoping for exactly what you have this weekend. This is your shot, Karen. Don't let nervousness mess it up for you. No one on this planet knows that man the way you do. Go get him."

"Maybe it hasn't been long enough," I said.

"Uh unh!" he said. "Statistically, marriages where the couple reunites within four years after a divorce have the best chance of making it. Look at Joyce and me."

"Exactly," I said. "Are you, back in the house yet?" 

"Not yet," he said.

"Have the two of you gone out on as much as one fucking date?" I asked.

"Not yet, but we will," he smiled. 

"Brad, she uses you. Anytime she needs or wants something done, she wiggles her little finger and you go running. You're more like her flunky than her husband," I said.

"But sooner or later she's going to get over her anger and I'll be back in there. We had sex last week," he said.

I laughed. "She got horny and called her little vibrator over to get her off, right?" 

"Maybe," he said. "But at least I'm back in her life. I'm back in my kids' lives. And sooner or later, I'll be back in her heart. It's far more than I deserve. I've got mine, Karen. Go get yours."

"But I'm so nervous," I said.

"About what?" he laughed. "The guy loved you enough to ask you to spend the rest of his life with him. Just go out there and remind him of what he loved. Sure we screwed up. But time has passed. Let him know that it affected you and you won't do it again."

"It's not that simple," I said. "My daughter, Debbie, hinted that her dad is with someone."

"That's a good sign," he said. "Do you remember some of the women I dated before I got off my ass and started trying to get my family back? The fact that he's dating only proves that he's lonely. He's ready for a relationship again. So you go in there and show him how much better for him you are. Have a great weekend. Come back here happy."

I left the office and Brad called the idiot who'd been trying to hit on me, into his office. I drove home and thought about the weekend. I needed to have just the right outfits so every time Danny saw me he'd remember the things he loved about me. 

I looked at myself in the mirror and shook my head. Once upon a time I was falling in love, now I'm only falling apart. Everything that Danny loved about me was gone. I was pushing fifty, my body was failing and my face could no longer launch one leaky rowboat, let alone a thousand ships.

My body had always been unusual. I was built in a way that made men crazy and women jealous. I had long slender legs that drove men crazy. I had a tight tiny ass that looked good in anything. There wasn't an extra ounce of fat anywhere on me except...my boobs were almost too big. They rocketed away from my tiny rib cage as if they were trying to escape my body. 

The jealous girls in my class called me tits on a stick. The boys fought over me. The thing that drove them mad though was the fact that I was a good girl. My parents raised me right. The prettiest girls never have to put out. I was able to keep the boys at arm's length until I met Danny. For my entire life, my plan was to stay a virgin until I was married. It was a really good thing that I met Danny when we were in college, because from the first time he touched me I was ready to give him anything he wanted. Nothing mattered, not the consequences, or anyone's opinion, as long as I got him. 

But strangely enough, Danny waited. He treated me like a precious jewel. I remember when Danny first met my Dad. I had gone home for a few days to be with my family and had come back to school early because Danny and I had a date. My mom was one of those women who were paranoid about their cookware. I'd had misgivings about bringing any of her bowls or pans back to school with me, but she'd insisted.

So two days after I got back to school, she'd sent my dad to retrieve her pie pan. My dad is a huge guy, and he's a hell of a practical joker too. He saw me coming out of my apartment with Danny, whom he'd never met, but had heard all about.

He grabbed my arm and Danny inserted himself between us. "Get out of the way, Boy. This doesn't concern you," yelled my dad angrily.

"If it concerns Karen, it does," said Danny quietly. My dad was clearly impressed because he was almost twice Danny's size but Danny showed no sign of backing off.

My dad pulled out a huge gun and leveled it at Danny. "She has something of mine and she doesn't want to give it back," said my dad. "So I'm gonna take it out on her. We have kind of a history together."

Danny's eyes got huge. "What kind of history?" he asked. 

"Don't be stupid," said my dad. "Let's just say she's given me more than my share of goodnight kisses, if you know what I mean. I'm not sure I can even count the number of times she's wrapped her arms around me and thrown herself against me."

My dad was torturing Danny. "Wait a minute," laughed my dad. "You haven't slept with her yet have you?" He started laughing. "Why not?" he asked.

"Karen wants to wait until she's married for that," said Danny. "And I care enough about her not to force her to do anything she's not ready for."

My dad just laughed, but I could tell that Danny had really impressed him.

"Look kid, this isn't your fight. Just walk away," said my dad. "It's not worth getting shot over." He raised the gun as if he was going to shoot me.

Danny spread his arms and covered me. My dad just laughed. "So you're going to take a bullet for her...a chick you haven't even..."

Danny just bit his lip and nodded his head. "I...I love her," he said. 

"Okay, I'll just shoot you both," said my dad. He pulled the trigger and all we could hear was a loud bang. About a second after the shot Danny realized that he could still move and launched himself at my dad. My dad reached out and put his hand on Danny's forehead, laughing his ass off as Danny tried over and over again to swing at him.

"Danny, calm down. It was just a joke," he laughed. Danny looked up at him in confusion.

"How do you know my name?" he asked.

"Uh, you ruined my Christmas," said my dad. "The whole time she was home, she talked about you constantly. If she wasn't talking about you, she was texting you, or on the phone with you. Jeezus it was almost as if you were there with us. I came up here to get her mother's pie plate. So when I saw the two of you, I just had to yank your chain a little."

"But you shot me?" said Danny.

"It's just a big cap pistol," said my dad. "I use it for starting my track team's races back home. It scared the shit out of you didn't it." 

After that Danny could do no wrong in my Dad's eyes. He and my mom were convinced that Danny and I would end up married. And it happened. Shortly after we graduated, Danny and I began our fairy tale life together. If things had gone the way they were supposed to we'd still be together now.

As the memory faded, I found myself still standing in front of the mirror. I lifted my heavy breasts and noticed that when I did, the wrinkles and stretch marks disappeared. As soon as I let go of them, instead of shooting out from my rib cage the way they did when I was younger, they drooped down onto my stomach. My nipples once pointed their way to the sky, now they indicated the direction to the floor. 

They also were nowhere near as full as they once were. They reminded me of balloons that had lost part of their volume of air. My tummy had also changed. I had never had the ripped abs look, but it had always been trim and tight. I had a small pouch now. But actually that had started before the divorce. Danny had actually to my horror liked it. 

I remember times when we'd be spooned on our sides in bed with him behind me rubbing that little round tummy. When he did that it always started a fire between my legs that could only be put out by him watering it down with his cum. 

Even as I ran my hands over that same tummy now, I could almost feel him thrusting his dick into me from behind with one hand on one of my breasts and the other still rubbing my tummy.

But I wasn't that woman anymore. My legs had always been thin. But now they're wrinkled too. I turned my back to the mirror and looked over my shoulder at my ass. It had never been very substantial, but now it was positively non-existent. The men these days seem to prefer a bigger booty on their women.

I didn't think that would be a problem with Danny, because he'd never been able to keep his hands off of me. While we were married, I had his number; even when he got pissed at me. If I had done something that really got under his skin, like volunteering him to help out with a repair at one of my friends' houses on his off day, I could always get him to forgive me. 

I have a lot of friends who praise the value of lingerie, but who needs it? My best lingerie was a T-shirt. I'd just take my bra off, put the T-shirt on and Danny would get weak in the knees. I remembered that and it made me smile as I picked out clothing to take with me for the weekend. 

I packed a T-shirt, of course, presumably to sleep in, but I packed other things as well. I packed three swim suits. One was a one piece that covered everything up. I could actually swim in it. I also packed another one piece suit that put my breasts on display. It would be very risky to swim or do anything active in because my boobs might spill out. The third suit was something only a whore would wear. Hopefully I'd be wearing it for Danny alone. But this was an all out effort for me, so nothing was off of the table. I'd rather have my daughter and son question my sense of decorum than risk losing a chance to get my husband back. 

Brad was right about some of the things he'd told me. But I needed to be careful. He'd been right about the fact that some of the women he'd tried dating were just awful. Some of them had Ben desperate divorcees. Others had just been sluts or gold diggers. But Brad had in each case realized after a while that there was something missing in each relationship. At a certain point though, Brad had gotten his head out of his ass and realized that he needed to try to get back with his ex-wife. And Joyce had been making him pay ever since. 

I was sure that eventually she would take him back. There were several things that pointed to this. For one thing she still hated me. I was sure that she had no idea that Brad and I were working together again. Another thing was the one time I heard her voice, since Brad told me not to answer the phone if I saw either of her numbers on the caller ID was when she left a message for him. In that message, she'd said, "This is Joyce Martin. Please have my husband call me as soon as he's free."

They've been divorced for a longer period of time than Danny and I have, because I fought our divorce and kept it out of court for at least 8 months longer than Brad had. But she still calls him her husband. And she calls him her husband in public and when talking to other people. I think that as much shit as she gives Brad she's going to take him back because she can't imagine being with anyone else. She's just going to make him pay for what he did, until she decides that he's paid enough. 

I wish Danny would make me pay. I wish he would keep me on a string, calling me at all hours to do things for him, like Joyce did. I would love the chance to go over on the middle of the night to cook for him or have sex with him. But maybe Danny loved me more than Joyce had Brad. I say this because Joyce and Brad had never lost contact. At first they'd been arguing and fighting and then they calmed down and still spat insults at each other during conversations about their kids. That slowly segued into Brad telling Joyce how much he missed her and Joyce laughing at him. And then she started to blame him for the two of them not being together. And now she was giving him orders and summoning him for booty calls.

I was sure the booty calls would become more frequent and then he'd start sleeping over. After that he would at some point move back into the house and the divorce would be over. Knowing Joyce, she'd probably insist on them re-marrying.

Danny on the other hand, had quietly disappeared. I had looked forward to the chance to try to get him back during the divorce. I wanted one of those meetings that Brad and Joyce had, where I could spill my heart to him like Brad did. 

It didn't happen though. Danny let his lawyer handle everything. I never got to speak to him. Since our daughter was already an adult, we didn't have any conversations about her. In fact, I really believe that Debbie and her husband were siding with Danny against me. I constantly asked her about her father when we spoke. 

At first she was pretty forthcoming with information. "Mom, he's really depressed," she'd told me. She'd made no secret of her feelings on the subject. Even her tone of voice was rich with recrimination. I cried when she told me that he never left the house except to go to work. He'd spent the holidays alone and it really scared me the following spring when she told me that her father was still driving his Jeep, because he didn't want to go to the trouble of pulling his Mustang out of the garage where it had sat all winter.

That alone made me realize what I had done to him. I had destroyed my husband's sense of self esteem. Men to a certain extent define themselves by their careers and their cars. In Danny's mind, he wasn't worthy of driving his Mustang so he'd simply left it in the garage for a year or so. 

After a while, Debbie stopped telling me about her father. "You guys are no longer married," she told me. "He doesn't ask me about you, so I shouldn't violate his privacy by telling you about him. Mom you gave up your chance to be in his life when you did what you did."

That had shaken me up quite a bit. Hearing from Debbie, that Danny didn't ask about me really hurt me. I still asked her about him on a regular basis, every time I spoke to her in fact, but she never answered me. 

Maybe Debbie was smarter than I gave her credit for, because lately she'd been occasionally parceling out a kernel or two of vague information. 

"Yeah mom, Dad got a new Mustang," she'd told me. A few weeks later she'd told me something even more encouraging. "Mom, I wish it was possible for ALL of us to get together sometimes. I'm so tired of my kids having to visit only certain grandparents at a time. They don't know anything about what happened between you. It would make choosing whom to visit and when so much simpler, if we could all act like adults."

That was when I realized that there had been some holidays when she'd invited Danny and others when I'd been invited. I also started to realize that Danny had been given precedence over me. But I guess it was only fair since I'd been the one who caused the problem. 

But last week, I'd gotten what I'd been hoping for during the entire three years that we'd been apart. "Mom, do you want to spend a weekend at dad's lake house?"

"I always loved that place," I'd said immediately. "Do you think he'd mind if we went up there. It would probably be better if you didn't tell him I was going with you."

"Uh, Mom, he's going to be there," she'd said. I dropped to my knees and started crying. 

"Mom, calm down, Selena and I thought it was time for us to put the whole family back together," she'd said. 

A warning went through my head. "Selena who?" I asked.

"Dad's Selena," she said. "You'll like her."

So I was thinking about all of the really bad women that Brad had gone out with while he was getting his shit together. This Selena was probably one of those. And as Brad had reminded me, Danny dating was a good sign. And this weekend was an opportunity for me to show him what he'd been without. I hoped that Selena had her "A" game ready, because I intended to show Danny what he'd been missing.

The next morning my daughter and son picked me up in their SUV. I sat in the back between my two adorable grandchildren, Tony and Helen. The kids were restless as usual and asked me all kinds of questions during the drive. 

As we neared the cabin, they became even more restless and started pointing out things in the area. They had obviously been up here since my divorce. I knew this because the last time I'd been at the lake house with them they had been too young to go around on their own. But now at eight and nine years old they knew their way around. 

The lake house looked beautiful. The landscaping around the house had been changed. There was a new deck behind the house with lots of comfortable furniture. There was also a boat by the dock and a couple of jet skis. One of the biggest surprises was the flowers that had been planted around the house. The deck and jet skis made sense. Danny was clearly capable of building a deck, but the furniture was so beautiful and so artfully arranged. And the flowers were beautiful. Danny couldn't tell a tulip from a rose, let alone arrange them. I had often thought about planting flowers around the house. 

In the back of my mind, a thought was born. Had Danny done all of those things in preparation for the chance to get me back? If so he'd wasted his money, because all he needed to get me back was to crook his little finger.

Even as we pulled in front of the house, my smile and my anticipation grew. I could almost feel the love in the air. As soon as the truck stopped, I heard two almost simultaneous clicks as the scamps next to me released their seat belts and erupted from the car. 


A Ticket to Ride



They made a beeline for the front of the house screaming, "Grandma," as they ran. 

"I'm right here," I yelled after them. Kids are crazy. I guess they expected me to keep up with them. I suppose they forgot that their old granny would be fifty in a few years. But I was so happy that I tried to run to keep up with them. I don't think anyone could measure my surprise at what I saw as I rounded the corner to the front of the large house. 

My grandchildren, screaming, "Grandma," ran right into the outstretched arms of some blond woman. My mind rebelled at the thought of them calling anyone that, except for me." Technically, I realized that my son, Greg, had a mother as well. She could also be their grandmother. But I'd met Greg's mother before she passed and this woman was nothing like her. She didn't even look old enough to be called Grandma. 

She had long curly blond hair. Her hair was wet as if she'd been swimming. She had a long cover-up over whatever she was wearing. She kissed both of my grandchildren and pointed towards the deck. 

I was in shock. I had no idea who this interloper was but I was pissed that she was attempting to usurp my title. I wasn't usually that rude but my thoughts sprang unbidden from my lips.

"What the fuck!" I said just loudly enough to be heard.

* * * * * *

Danny

"What the fuck!" I screamed far louder than I intended with my kids and grand kids running around the area. Instantly Selena was at my side calming me down. At the same time my daughter, Debbie stepped in front of her mother as if trying to prevent me from seeing her while I got my equilibrium back.

"It's okay, Honey," said Selena, soothingly. 

"No it isn't," I yelled. "What the hell is she doing at my house? Who the fuck, invited her?"

Selena's pretty face screwed up and she grabbed me by my collar. "It's not just your house anymore, Danny. It's OUR house. And I invited her. Do you even know how much strain it puts on Debbie with the two of you being unable to even behave in a civil manner? The poor girl has to diplomatically decide which one of her parents to spend Christmas or Thanksgiving with. And the future is just as bad. She has two kids, Danny. They're your first set of grand kids. Do you want to have to miss out on half of their important moments because it's not our turn?"

Everyone had turned to watch Selena read me the riot act. My daughter Debbie was nodding with every word that Selena uttered, while my son tried to look away to spare me embarrassment. 

"This is going to be uncomfortable for all of us," continued Selena. "Poor Debbie is probably upset now, because she doesn't want her Dad, angry at her for her part in this. Greg was already red with embarrassment even though he had no idea what was going on. Karen doesn't know me and doesn't know that I exist. So coming here and seeing me is probably a shock to her. And for me, Honey, I'm really afraid. You spent most of your life loving Karen. The only reason the two of us are together is because the two of you broke up. How do I know that the two of you won't get over your anger and...?"

"Because we won't," I said just loudly enough for her to hear. The tone in my voice clearly scared her, because she recoiled from me. That had never happened during all of our time together. I gently took her arm and pulled her around to the side of the house. She turned back to them.

"Debbie, you know where everything is. Make yourself at home. Get everyone comfortable while your dad and I talk. Greg, the new Mustang is in the garage. I'm sure Danny wants you to see it," she said before turning back to me.

"You're an idiot," I spat. I had never spoken to her that way and it clearly hurt her. "Selena, I love you more than anything on the planet. There is no way I would ever..." At moments like that words weren't enough. I pulled her into my arms and kissed her. I wrapped my arms around her minuscule waist and pulled us even closer together. She melted against me molding her body to my form as my hands drifted down to her well rounded hips, settling on her ass. She moaned and became almost boneless in my caress. 

Behind us, I heard my grandson Tony, screaming, "Hey guys, Grandma and Grandpa are on the side of the house kissing!"

"Honey, just roll with it," she said. "Just pretend she isn't here. Do it for Debbie and your Grandkids. I just want everyone to be happy." 

"Whatever," I said. I was still pissed about being dragged into it. I watched as Selena walked back to the front of the house and four children who were eager for her attention. 

I took several deep breaths to calm myself before leaving the side of the house. As my anger faded and my hands stopped shaking, I thought back to the last time I'd seen Karen. 

It was a little over three years ago. I was in bed with her spooned against me. We were warm and cozy and as soon as I regained consciousness, my mind tuned to her. I was a healthy forty five year old guy who had been in love with the same woman for more than twenty five years. My first waking thoughts were, "I'm awake," and "Where's Karen?"

Besides my conscious mind, even my body sought her. My arms wrapped more protectively and more lovingly around her. My morning wood tried to bury itself in her tiny ass. To make things even more intense, I had been out of town on a business trip for the past two days but even two days away from her was torture for me. I had gotten in late the previous night and she'd been asleep when I got in. 

She'd moaned as I hugged her and immediately scooted away from me and rolled onto her back. She spread her legs and pulled me on top of her. My dick isn't huge, but Karen is really tiny below the waist. She clearly missed me because she wrapped her legs and arms around me and just started slamming her hips against me as if she couldn't wait. 

"We have a lot of time to make up for, Mister," she growled. That was the last intelligible thing either of us said as we lost ourselves to the intensity of our coupling. Karen acted as if I'd been away forever, instead of just two days. 

We quickly worked up a sweat and Karen let me know how much she missed me. Her screams and yodeling reverberated all over the house. Our daughter Debbie was out of the house and had kids of her own so there was no need for us to hold back. 

After she was sated, I still had to pee so I got out of bed. "Aren't you going to get up and shower with me?" I asked.

"Unh uh" she said. "I don't have to be up for about an hour. I'm going to lie here and enjoy our smell. I leaned over and squeezed one of her enormous boobs. I dropped to my knees beside the bed and starting sucking one of her nipples. 

"Maybe you should get back in here with me," she smiled. "Go pee and come back and do me again."

I went to the bathroom with exactly that thought in my mind. I loved Karen. To me her body was a work of art. Her thin legs and tiny ass didn't fit her boobs and upper body, but most guys couldn't look past her boobs. But it was more than that. I loved her personality, her spirit and everything else about her. Karen had her moods and her idiosyncrasies like everyone else, but I only loved her more for them.

"Put the God damned seat back down," she screamed after I flushed the toilet in the connected bathroom. I decided to surprise her with the gift that I'd bought her, while I was out of town.

I went downstairs and looked for the suitcase that I'd left her gift inside of. On my way to the suitcases, I passed the hall table where we usually left the mail. I opened a couple of the envelopes and then bolted back up the stairs.

I slammed the door of our bedroom open as hard as I could. The door rocketed away from me so hard that it slammed into the wall. The spring loaded door stopper snapped and the doorknob imbedded itself in the dry wall.

Karen sat straight up in bed. Her eyes were as big as saucers.

"What's...?" she began.

"Who the fuck, is he?" I yelled.

"Who's who?" she asked, stupidly.

"The guy you've been fucking!" I screamed. 

"But I haven't been..." she muttered. She stopped before even completing the sentence as she saw the look on my face. I was angrier than I had ever been on my entire life. My blood boiled. My heart was beating at almost three times its normal speed. I understood at that moment why so many men have heart attacks when they find out that their wives have been unfaithful to them. 

I had never struck Karen or any woman in my life. But at that moment if she had told me another lie, I'm not sure if I'd have been able to hold myself back. 

For most of my life I had always looked down on men who hit women. But at that moment I understood Mike Tyson's quote about how the best punch he ever threw was at Robin Givens. I imagined myself driving my fist into Karen's face so hard that it went completely through her head, coming out the back. I saw myself having to use my feet on her chest to get my arm out of her shattered skull.

I've heard that old wives tale about how you can' trust turn love off and on. They are totally wrong. Because when my blood started to boil, it burned away every iota of love I felt for Karen. 

I think that she understood the danger she was in, then. But maybe she didn't. Maybe, she thought that what we were having was simply another of those run of the mill arguments that every couple goes through.

But she looked in my eyes and she saw two things. The first was the barely, and I mean barely contained rage, burning inside of those eyes that had previously only ever shown love when it came to her. And the second thing was that I knew. She could tell that I already had proof of my accusation so her protests and denials would only hurt her.

So she did the typical things that all cheaters do. She started to cry. She broke down in heart-felt sobs. She sobbed out her sorrow and her regret. She looked up at me and noticed that her entire demonstration had fallen on deaf ears though. I was totally unmoved.

"Danny, it's not what you think," she sobbed. 

"It didn't mean anything. I swear it," she said.

"I think you fucked another man," I said. "And I think it means the end of our marriage and our family, not to mention our happiness and any chance of us growing old together."

Apparently, I wasn't the only one in distress, because she passed out when I said that. I was still really pissed and I wanted answers. So I went into the bathroom and scooped a cup of water out of the toilet. I went back into the bedroom and threw it in her face to revive her. As she sat back up with water running down her face, trying to wipe it out of her eyes and snort it out of her nose, I had only one regret. 

I wished with all of my heart that I hadn't flushed that toilet earlier.

"I'm only going to ask you one more time," I said.

"But you have to let me explain," she whined. "It..." She looked at my face and changed her tactics. "You don't know him. He's one of the new lawyers at work and..." I lifted one eyebrow higher.

"His name is Bradley Martin and he..." I just turned and walked away from her. She got up and started to follow me. But I turned and growled at her.

"Sit your ass back on that bed, Karen," I yelled. "Don't get up. Don't get dressed. Don't even go to pee. If you go anywhere, or call anyone, we're done. I'm going out for a drive to think about this and decide what I want to do next. At the same time you need to figure out what you want and whether or not we have a future."

As the door slowly opened I was even angrier. I snatched a bottle of turtle wax leather cleaner off to the shelf and wiped down the front seats of my Mustang.

The car, an 09' 45th anniversary GT was my pride and joy. It was surpassed in my affections only by my wife and daughter. But the way I felt that morning, it had moved up the list a notch. Even after using almost a quarter of the bottle on the front seats, the car still felt tainted. I got in finally and drove away.

I had no idea where I wanted to go when I found myself on the freeway. As I drove, I thought about my relationship with Karen. Part of the thing that made me so angry was the fact that she was always warning me about keeping it in my pants when I was away for business. I didn't travel much. But she reminded me every time I was away. 

Karen and I had a long and wonderful life together. Many of the couples we knew from college had either never married, or had married and then divorced. We intended to grow old together. We'd been together for over twenty years. We'd had and raised a beautiful daughter together and had two tiny grandchildren. We were so close to having it, that I could see the dual rocking chairs on the porch.

Obviously the whole fidelity thing was a one way proposition in Karen's mind. I was supposed to be faithful and she got to do whatever she wanted. If she thought that we could fix this, like putting a band aid over an ouchy, she was crazy. I got off of the freeway and got back on going in the other direction. I put my foot down hard on the skinny pedal on the right. Before I knew it my speed was approaching and then passing 100 miles an hour. I got off of the freeway in front of an office building in the middle of the downtown area. 

I waved at the guards and walked into the building. I took the elevator up to the fourth floor and walked into a large office suite. There were several desks with secretaries and assistants and paralegals working. Several of them smiled at me as I entered the office. 

I waved at an older gray haired and bearded man in the corner office. He got up to meet me. "Hi John," I said. 

"Danny, you don't look so good," he said. "What can I do for you? That wife of yours worked pretty late last night. She's not due in until eleven. Wait a minute. I get it. She said you were going to be out of town until today. You stopped to see her on your way home, didn't you?"

"Not quite," I said. "I need two lawyers."

He took a sip of his coffee and then sputtered. "Did you say two lawyers?" He asked. 

"Yep," I said.

"Danny, I'll handle your case myself and..." he began. I shook my head. 

"John, you can't be either one of them, but I appreciate the offer," I said. "It'll all make sense in about fifteen minutes." He looked at me strangely but didn't say anything.

He pressed a button on his phone and spoke into it. "Lauren, can you come in here?" he said. 

A few moments later a slim young woman walked into the office. She was about thirty years old and the resemblance was too close to be a coincidence. 

"Yeah, she's my daughter, Lauren," he said. "But trust me. She's the best attorney on my staff. Now for your second lawyer, I think..."

"For my second lawyer, I already have someone in mind. Bradley Martin is the guy I need," I said. 

John's face looked surprised. I turned to his daughter. "How much do I have to give you for a retainer?" I asked. 

"Just give me fifty bucks for lunch and I'm all yours," she smiled. 

"Where do you eat lunch?" I asked.

"If you weren't married, believe me I'd show you," she said as I handed her a bill. 

"So now you're officially my lawyer, right?" I asked. She smiled and nodded her head. 

"Are you going to give my partner fifty bucks too?" she asked offering me another of those dazzling smiles. 

"What partner?" I asked. 

"Bradley," she said pointing at a guy sitting at a desk near the window. He was talking on a telephone as she pointed at him. 

"You don't have a partner," I said. "Your first job is to get me out on bail."

"Bail...you're not even in jail. What did you do?" she asked. 

"Nothing yet," I said. "But gimme five minutes..."

I left the office and went across the floor. I picked the base of the telephone up and slammed it against Bradley's head so hard that it cracked. He fell over out of the chair and got up, dazed.

"Why the hell did you do..." was all that he got out before my left jab caught him in his right cheek and snapped his head back. Immediately after that my right cross broke his nose and knocked him on his ass. He got up onto his hands and knees then. He looked at me with blood running down his mouth and cheeks. 

"Let me explain," he said. "It didn't mean..."

"I'm tired of people trying to explain things," I said. I kicked him in the ribs as hard as I could. I felt and heard a snapping sound and he collapsed onto his side holding his flank where I had kicked him. Someone had called security and they ran into the room. Before they could get anywhere near me I kicked him again. That time I kicked him in the nuts. One high pitched scream later and he passed out. I sat down on a desk nearby and held out my hands for the security guards.

"Danny, why did you attack Brad?" asked one of the guards. 

"He screwed Karen. He ruined my life," I said. I held out my hands. "Call the police. Take me to jail. I already have a lawyer.

"No...I don't want to press charges," groaned Brad. "Just get me to a hospital please."

Brad was a smart one. He knew that I wanted to go to jail because if I was booked there'd be a record of it and questions would be asked. I could go on record with the reason for the assault on him being the affair between him and Karen. The assault couldn't hurt me since I owned my own business. But having the affair with a co-worker on record, could affect his reputation as a lawyer and he might even be brought up on ethics violations with the local bar association.

The two security guards picked him up and took him out of the office. John gestured for me to rejoin him in his office.

"Danny, there were better ways that you could have handled that," said John.

"But probably not nearly as satisfying, I'll bet," said Lauren. "I should have done that myself. It would probably make paying alimony to that worthless piece of shit, less painful."

"You're divorced?" I asked. She nodded. 

"What did you do to Karen?" she asked. I looked at her in confusion.

"I mean she betrayed you, not him. You must've felt like busting her up too, right?" she asked.

"I don't think I'm capable of hitting a woman," I said. "I thought about it, though. That was why I left her at the house and came here." 

"Well, since you're not going to jail, I guess you no longer need a lawyer," she said. 

"I'll still need you for the divorce," I said. Her eyes went up. 

"Danny, maybe you need to think about this first," she said. "Today was the first time I've met you. But I've known Karen for a while and that woman loves you. You don't even know why she did it."

"Do you?" I asked. 

"I kind of think I do," she spat. "It's something that women go through. Karen is what now, about forty five, right? She's going through something that men are never going to understand. She's always been that woman that men wanted and other women were jealous of. She's always had those big old boobs and those long legs too, right?"

I nodded angrily. "Well, Danny, Karen has reached the age where things are changing for her and not in a good way. Her body is producing far fewer eggs now and very soon she won't have any left at all. She's losing her ability to do a woman's greatest task. Soon she won't be capable of making babies. It doesn't mean shit to a man. Even a decrepit eighty year old guy can get a woman pregnant. But for a woman, that is not a great time in life. She begins to doubt herself and even whether or not men still find her sexy."

"That's bullshit," I said. "I tell her that I love her everyday and we..."

"And you two have sex all the time. And you tell her she's the sexiest thing to ever walk the earth, right?" she asked. I nodded. 

"Danny, I'm sorry. You're probably a great husband, but those things don't mean much coming from you. You're supposed to tell her those things and you're supposed to have sex with her. You're married to her. She needs to hear it from strangers. And being around here is no help. Every spring there's a whole new crop of young beautiful interns for her to compete with for the attention of the men in the office. With her in a vulnerable place like that, a little flattery could get her in a lot of trouble. It doesn't mean that she's a bad person or that she doesn't love you. It just means that she made a mistake, that's all."




A Ticket to Ride



"Ashley, why did you get a divorce?" I asked.

"The guy I married was an asshole," she spat. "We just didn't see eye to eye on things."

"Well, Karen and I don't see eye to eye on things either. We took vows in front of our friends and family. We had a contract of sorts and she chose to break it. That contract bound us together and without it, we have no trust left between us. If you can't understand that, I can get another lawyer," I said.

"Danny, I'm on your side," she said. "It's just that you're a great guy and I don't want to see you hurt. You already look like...like you lost your best friend. As time goes on you're going to feel more and lonelier. There are going to be times when you'll wish that maybe you had made and different choice. This is going to b painful, Danny. No one wins a divorce. So if there's any way you could think about taking her back...?"

I shook my head. "Okay," she said handing me a stack of papers to fill out. "I just wanted to be sure that you know what you want. For most people this is a really emotional time. You need to go into these decisions with a clear head and no doubts. I still believe that you should give it a few days before you make a decision and maybe talk to her, but you're the boss. I'm just taking your money."

John had remained silent throughout my talk with his daughter. He spoke up then. "So what about me, Danny!" he asked. "I'm assuming that when you said that I couldn't be your lawyer, you were thinking about suing my firm, right?"

"The thought had crossed my mind," I told him honestly. 

"I think that you're just lashing out at any and everything that you think led to your pain," he said. "So let's look at this in real world terms. In order for you to get anything out of this, you have to prove that we knew about the affair and did nothing to stop or prevent it from happening. You need to prove that we violated or negated our non-fraternization clause in our employee handbook or at least that we failed to enforce it. Even if you prove that, most judges are going to look at it as being two consenting adults on their own time. Nothing happened here at the office. The burden of proving all of that is going to be on you. Even if you could prove any of that the chances of you getting a large monetary award are very slim. That is, unless you're talking about one of those internet divorce stories where the wronged husband gets millions of dollars and a cruise to Costa Rica. So what do you really want?"

"Danny, I feel as badly about this as you do," he said. "But the truth is you aren't going to be able to prove any of that because it isn't true. No one around here knew anything about what was going on with Brad and Karen. And now that we do know about them, I intend to take action. You want them hurt, right? I can't break the law but I intend to make sure they feel some pain for what they've done to you and to us. I'm going to fire Bradley immediately, with no severance, no recommendation and since his 401K isn't fully vested, he walks away without any of the company's contributions to the account. I'm also going to file a complaint with the bar association's ethics board. With that on his record, he'll have a tough time getting a job with a reputable firm."

"I'm also going to demote Karen back down to the steno pool," he said. "But I won't do it until after your divorce is settled in court. For now I'm going to give her a two week suspension to make it look good," he said. "And there will be a report filed in her employment record too."

"All you're giving her is a slap on the wrist!" I said loudly.

"No Danny," he said smiling. "Everything I'm doing is totally legal and in your best interest. If I fire Karen, you'll have to pay her more in alimony. If I wait until this is over and she's demoted or for her year-end review, it won't impact your divorce settlement at all." I nodded my head. I didn't really like the thought of Karen homeless or helpless, but she deserved to suffer at least a little for what she had done.

Filling out the stack of papers took longer than I thought. By the time I left the building it was early afternoon. Just as I got into my Mustang and put on my seat belt, someone tapped at my window. I looked up and saw one of the security guards. I let the window down.

"Hey Danny, sorry about stopping you back there," he said. "It's our job. But Dude, I know now you felt. I wish I'd done things your way, when I caught my ex. Anyway, here..." He handed me a slip of paper. 

"If you get over there now, it might be worth your while," he said winking. 

He'd given me the name and address of the hospital they had taken Brad to for treatment. I decided to stop by and see how old Brad was doing. 

I went up to the desk and gave Brad's name. The woman didn't want to give me any information about him. 

"Are you a friend or family?" she asked. "You don't look like him or any of the members of his family. I can't give out any information to friends."

"I came from the law firm he works for," I said. "If you don't need me to talk to him about his injuries, it's fine with me. The guy is an asshole anyway. I don't think we should have to pay for his care after what he did."

I hadn't actually lied, really. I never said I worked for the law firm. I never said I was a lawyer. I said that I came from there. I also never said that I could authorize his payments. I just said that I didn't think they should have to pay for his care.

But it worked. Her mouth dropped open. "Sorry, sir, I didn't know who you were. He's in room 213," she said. "Um, what did he do exactly that got him brought here? I need patient history for my records and no one has told us anything."

"Can we keep this off the record?" I said. She quickly nodded and looked around to make sure no one was listening.

"The bastard was screwing a married woman. He destroyed two families, including his own. The woman's husband showed up at the office and beat the cowboy shit out of Brad right in the office. There are going to be divorces over this and it's going to get messy." Her eyes were as big as dinner plates and for some reason she started smiling.

"What a bastard," she said. "His wife is up there with him. She's, such a nice lady. She showed me pictures of their kids."

"Remember, this is off the record," I said. "Keep this between you and me." She nodded and as soon as I walked away from her she picked up the phone. I knew her type. Before I got to the second floor every nurse there would already know what poor old Bradley had done to get his ass whipped.

When I got to the area outside of Brad's room an officious looking woman handed me a piece of paper to sign. 

"Here's your HR 107 J form," she said as if I knew what the fuck that was. "We already had him sign a copy giving us the right to discuss his injuries and treatment with you."

"I need to hear it from him," I said. 

"Of course," she said. "But you know that the patients don't really understand the reasons for the charges. So I'll just tell you. He has a huge laceration on his head that we had to stitch up. As he gets older and his hairline recedes he may need plastic surgery to make it less visible and..."

"We're not paying for plastic surgery," I spat. "If it happens later he may not be employed by our firm so..."

"I figured as much," she said crossing off something on her list. "How did he get that one?"

"A guy slammed a telephone into his head," I said. She laughed.

"He has a mild concussion and Tinnitus," she said. Then she looked at me. "Tinnitus is ringing in the ears."

"Yeah, I've heard that a time or two," I said. "It's kind of funny. The guy clocked him in the head with a phone and now he gets to hear a ring tone all day long."

"He has several fractured ribs, a broken nose, a split lip and two severely bruised testicles," she said. "He'll probably be here for a couple of weeks..." Her voice trailed off as she saw me shaking my head. 

"We aren't paying for any lengthy hospital stays," I said. "None of those injuries are life-threatening. Wrap him, give him instructions for follow up care and send him home." 

"What about his ribs, and the concussion?" she asked. 

"He's married. Have his wife watch him. If anything suspicious happens she can call an ambulance. Welcome to healthcare reform," I said.

I stepped into the room and saw Brad. There were several people in the room, including a short, chunky dark haired woman with the most soulful eyes I had ever seen. Everything about her spoke of intelligence and elegance. The nurse gestured for everyone to leave the room as I walked in. 

I stepped over to Brad's bed and his heart rate went up immediately. 

"Relax, Brad," I said in a tone that only he could hear. "I'm here to apologize. I was upset. I let my emotions guide my actions and lost control. I promise you that I will never touch you again. I hope that you can understand that I loved Karen. Losing her is killing me, but it still is no excuse for what I did. I hope the two of you are happy and after my divorce you two will never hear from me again." His heart rate shot way up this time. Even though they had numbed his face he started trying to talk.

"Nuoo!" he muttered. "Ws jus sx. Dohn wan 'er. Dohn nee dvors. Pls wait."

"Get better, Buddy!" I said loudly, tapping him several times on his broken ribs. He kicked his legs up and screamed in agony as I left the room.

"I heard that you were from the law firm," said a concerned voice. I looked down and looked into those soulful eyes. 

"How did this happen to my husband?" she asked. "Was it a case of mistaken identity? I think it was someone that he got a lot of money from in a lawsuit. You guys need more security," she said. "Before this I always wondered why those big old security guards were all over the place but now I..."

"Mrs. Martin..." I said slowly.

"Call me Joyce," she said. I took her hand gently and led her to a small waiting room just off of the hallway. 

"Joyce, what happened to Brad was my fault. I was here to apologize to him," I said.

"How was this, your fault? Brad said a nutcase came into the office and attacked him," she smiled. "You can't be everywhere or protect everyone."

"Joyce, I don't work for the law firm," I said. "I'm the nutcase."

She snatched her hand away from me and looked at me. "You seem more hurt than crazy," she said finally. "Why would you attack my husband?"

"I guess I'd attack anyone who slept with my wife," I said. "Or at least I would have until now. That is no longer the case, so I came down here to apologize to Brad."

Her eyes got so hard, I thought they were granite. "Wait a minute," she hissed. "You're serious? This isn't some kind of joke?"

"You saw your husband," I said. "Did it look like I was joking?"

"You should have killed him!" she spat. "No, I'm glad you didn't. I'm going to. Who is your wife?"

"Her name is Karen Boone and we..." I began.

"Karen Boone," she yelled. "Isn't she the older woman with the huge droopy boobs? He screwed her?" I nodded.

"That asshole. He was always gawking at her. I hope it was worth it. The next time he sees his kids will be at his own funeral and he'll be looking up at them through the sides of his casket..."

Tears rolled down her face. "Is there a way that I can get on touch with you?" she asked. 

"Yep, just call the law firm," I said. "Lauren is handling my divorce."

She got up and walked back into Brad's hospital room. A few seconds later I heard screaming coming from the room. I don't know what she did to Brad, but as I looked around, not a single nurse moved towards the room. Obviously the story of what Brad had done had gotten around and no one was in a hurry to help him.

* * * * * *

Karen

I stood there in shock. I think my daughter was trying to talk to me but it simply didn't register. I was having trouble wrapping my mind around the fact that my husband had a girl friend. I mean, I'm his girlfriend. I'm his only girlfriend. 

Even more perplexing was the fact that she had been the one who'd invited me, not Danny. And she somehow had my Grandkids calling her Grandma. 

I looked at her. Who the hell did she think she was fooling? She had that wet blond hair thing going for her. And I had to admit that she was pretty. But so was I when I was her age. Her body probably sucked. Or it probably wasn't as good as mine. That was why she was wearing that long cover-up. 

Suddenly it all made sense. I almost hadn't recognized it. I was still in control. And that was the problem from her perspective. She was in the same position as some of those tramps that Brad had dated before he ran back to Joyce with his tail between his legs. 

Some of those tramps had tried pretty hard to replace Joyce in his heart and his bed but they all fell short. The ones who were the most serious about him always tried to work themselves into his life. That was what this woman was trying to do. 

And that was why she invited me here. She wanted to give Danny the chance to see us both so he could compare us. She was about to lose. 

Debbie was finally able to take me over to her and introduce me. I hated the bitch on sight. Her skin was so God damned smooth. She did have a few wrinkles in the corners of her eyes, but they actually looked good on her. And judging from her eyebrows and the wispy hair on her arms, she came by her hair color honestly. More importantly though her boobs were not even average size, let alone in my league. 

She was talking to me. Why the hell was she talking to me? That fake nice routine would never work with me. Before I could answer her, my grandchildren, Tony and Helen ran up to us, followed by two other children about the same age. 

"Grandma, we want to go out on the boat," said Helen, who was acting as the spokesperson. "I'll get your Grandpa to take you as soon as he's done showing your dad his new car," she said. Helen wrapped her arms around the woman and hugged her. I had to admit that I was jealous. 

"How about some lunch while you wait," she said. All four kids started cheering. She walked out to the deck and the four kids followed her. 

"Okay, let's get this party started," said Debbie. "Since the men are busy, I'll light the grill. What are we making for lunch?"

"I stopped and got them McDonald's when you texted me that you'd be here soon," said Selena. The kids screamed even louder. I had to admit the bitch was good with the kids. She had actually stolen my Grandkids from me. They didn't even register my presence with her around.

"Mom, why don't you come out onto the deck and keep me company while I start the grill?" asked Debbie. "You look like you could use some sun."

It was a great idea. When Danny came out of the garage, he'd have to see me. I went into the house to change. I was again shocked. If the changes in the outside of the house had surprised me, the interior had me floored. During the time that I'd been married to him, Danny and I used the lake house as kind of a "once or twice during the summer," place. There had been minimal furniture and very little in the way of creature comforts. It had been kind of a "barely above rustic," retreat. 

As I looked around now, I almost didn't recognize it. It was a home, in every sense of the word. The inside of the house had been renovated and repainted. There was a fireplace in the living room that I really didn't remember. The kitchen had a full set of appliances, beautiful dishes and pots and pans. There was a small breakfast table tucked into a corner of the breakfast nook. And I could just imagine us having a snack there while cuddling and staring out the window at the snow in winter.

There was a huge dining room set. The china cabinet had a large collection of beautiful glasses and dishes. I peeped into the den. We used to store camping hear there. The entire room had been turned into some sort of multi-media cocoon. There was a huge TV that dominated a wall. There were four leather theater seats that reclined directly in front of it. There was a comfy over stuffed sofa along one wall and a leather love seat along the other. 

I imagined Danny and me lying on that sofa watching a very romantic movie and then turning it off halfway through to make love. I could also imagine myself dragging plate after plate of wings and pizza in for him and his friends while they watched the Super bowl on that huge TV. When the last of his drunken friends had left he would take the platter from my hands and bend me over that sofa and fuck the shit out of me. I could just feel my boobs swinging as he pounded me doggy style.

Then I noticed the toys scattered around the room and the video game controllers. There were speakers all around the room and an area along one side where the carpet stopped and there was a beautiful wood floor surface that mimicked the parquet surfaces throughout the rest of the house. I imagined that someone liked to dance. Again I could imagine soft music playing from those speakers and Danny and me, languidly gliding about lost in each other's arms. 

All of these changes in the house had taken time. This was no over-night transformation. I walked slowly up the stairs and looked into the bedrooms. They too were fully furnished. Even the bathrooms were comfortable and well done.

"Mom, are you okay?" asked Debbie. I had paused on the stairway on my way back down. She had found me when I was lost in thoughts.

"I...I was looking for a place to change into my suit," I said. 

"I guess the place is different isn't it?" she asked. "If I hadn't seen her do it myself, I probably wouldn't have believed it. She changed this old shack into something special didn't she? Anyway why don't you use our room to change in? It's the last one on the left. I'll see you out on the deck."

"Okay, I just got lost," I said. 

"Mom, Selena won't mind you, looking around. She's all about family and comfort. That's what she did to this place. She wants everyone to be comfortable. She's always telling me to enjoy this place because in a very short span of years it will belong to me and the kids."

I didn't understand that at all. Was she trying to bribe my daughter with the possibility of having her dad's lake house? The more I heard the less I liked her. She was obviously much worse than the women Brad had dated. I knew then that it was my mission to free my husband from her. And I had to give it everything.

I went into the bedroom. I changed into the suit I called the whore suit. I put on a robe over it and went back down the stairs. I sat on a nice lounge chair and watched my daughter puttering at the grill. I heard the sound of a powerful engine starting up and watched as Danny backed his new Mustang out of the garage. 

He got out of the car and started grabbing buckets and the hose. While Greg spoke to him. Greg was holding a bottle of beer in one hand and scratching his head with the other. Selena stopped doing whatever it was that she was doing that had the four kids giggling. 

"Honey," she called. My fucking husband looked at her and then walked over. He still had a microfiber wash cloth in his hand. 

"Danny you washed your car yesterday," she said. He pouted.

"Greg wants to see how I get my rims so shiny!" he said. 

"Give him a bottle of the Turtle Wax Chrome polish and tell him how you do it," she said. "Your kids and your Grandkids want to go out on the boat."

His kids! What the fuck was going on here? Danny's only child is an adult and Debbie has kids of her own. Greg came over and Danny told him they were going it on the boat and he could drive. 

I stood up and dropped my robe and all hell broke loose. Greg almost choked on his beer. It let me know that my boobs were still capable of drawing attention to me. I looked over at Danny and smiled. His reaction wasn't what I expected. He looked through me as if he didn't even notice me. 




A Ticket to Ride



Just when I began to wonder what he was staring at Debbie grabbed one of my arms angrily and tried to cover me up.

"Mother, where do you think you are?" she screamed. "There are children here! Do you really want your own grandchildren staring at your wrinkled old ass? That suit shows your entire backside and most of your front too. Why would you..."

She dragged me into the house and privacy. "I...I...just wanted you father to notice me. He always loved my body and when the two of us were...I always wore things for him. I just thought that..."

"You just thought that you'd show my husband your giant saggy tits," she hissed. 

"I honestly only thought about your father," I said. 

"If you had been thinking about my father three years ago, you'd still be married to him," she spat angrily. 

"But I never got a chance to talk to him afterwards," I whined. "I never got a chance to apologize or to ask him to forgive me. I never...I never had the chance to save us. And now that evil woman is trying to take over his life and wreck our family. She's..."

"She's the one who invited you here, Mother. She's also my best friend and the best thing that's happened to Dad in a long time. She makes him happy. She asked you to come here because..." she started. 

"Because she's trying to steal your father away from me," I hissed. "That's why I had to break out the big guns honey. She's younger than I am and..."

"Mom, Selena looks young, and she had her kids later in life, but you two are about the same age," she said.

I was a bit shocked to hear that. She looked much younger. "I'm not going to give your father up without a fight, Debbie," I hissed. "I let him down once. I betrayed him but I will fight for my chance with everything I have, including my body."

"Mother there is no fight," she laughed. 

"Don't I know it," I smiled back at her. "She's practically flat chested compared to me. That's why she's wearing that cover-up."

"Mom, there's no fight because Selena and Daddy have been married for a year. And her body is...I don't think you're going to change Daddy's mind with a skanky swim suit."

"Married!" I gasped. "But no one told me anything and..."

"Mom, you're divorced," she said. "You hurt him pretty bad. Until recently just mentioning your name pissed him off. Selena started working on him. She thinks that in order for him to really heal. He has to get over this thing with you. Maybe he'll never forgive you. He'll definitely never forget, but it would be good of the two of you could be in the same places occasionally and be civil. So put some clothes on."

I went back into the bedroom and changed into the most modest of the swimsuits that I'd brought with me. I wasn't sorry that I'd done it. I was only sorry that I'd wasted the opportunity. Danny had barely glanced at me. I wished that I'd had the chance to get right up in his face so he could have gotten the full impact of my suit.

When I got back outside, Danny and Greg were out on the lake with the kids. My daughter was relaxing on a lounge chair while Selena laid out plates and brought bags of chips and snacks. My daughter had on a really cute swimsuit. It was comfortable and showed off her nice shape but did so modestly.

Before she noticed me standing in the doorway she gestured for Selena to join her. I stood watching them for a while. They talked about the kids and their men and the house and even clothes. They were clearly comfortable with each other. That kind of intimacy takes time to develop, which again made me wonder how the hell this woman had met and married my husband without me hearing about it. The thing that bothered me the most was that my own daughter had been in on keeping me out of the loop. 

I thought about that for a while. I'd have to ask her about that someday. A short time later Danny and Greg and the four kids came back to the house. The men settled in and took over the grill, still talking about Danny's car. The two boys ran right by me after grabbing small bags of chips and cans of soda. They were obviously headed for the den and the game system attached to the giant TV. 

Just as I watched them disappear into the room. I turned back and saw Selena coming back inside the house. Our eyes met and she smiled. "I liked your suit," she said. "I wish I was brave enough to wear something like that." She giggled like a school girl then. "Of course Danny would kick my ass if I wore something like that where anyone could see me. And of course I don't have the equipment to fill out a top like that," she laughed. 

I wanted to hate her. She was so nice, but at the same time, so self assured. Even though she made light of the size of her breasts, it was clear that she was comfortable in her skin. She liked the person that she was. It was as if she had no regrets in her life or that she had come to terms with them. The birch was so happy that she glowed. Up close, I could see that Debbie hadn't lied. Selena was much older than she appeared. But she moved like a much younger woman

I had always thought that my main competition was from younger, fresher women. But Selena was clearly someone with as much appeal as I had and hers didn't come from any lucky genetic gifts. 

"When you're done exploring the house, come on out," she said. "It's going to take some time, but you'll get used to us eventually. I want that."

Why the hell was she being so God damned friendly? It was insulting. She had to know why I'd come. She had to know what I wanted. Apparently she was so confident in her hold on my husband that she didn't consider me a threat. That only made me hate her more. 

I saw Danny and Greg passing through the living room on their way back to the deck. I couldn't help but over hear their conversation.

"Dad, why do you have a traffic ticket framed and hung on the wall?" asked Greg. 

Danny frowned. "I've never told anyone this story," began Danny. "It's kind of painful, but maybe if I get it out, I'll feel better." 

The two of them sat down and Selena appeared from nowhere to give them both drinks. 

"This happened back before," began Danny. "Back when I was married to Debbie's mom. God, I loved that woman back then. Anyway, I had gone out of town on business. I hated being out of town because I never wanted to be away from her. So I came back early. I got done with my business and instead of spending the night in a hotel I caught a red eye flight and got back to the house at about 2 o'clock in the morning. Karen was already asleep so I got into bed with her. I wrapped my arms around her and went to sleep. 

The next morning, as soon as we woke up, we went at it. She let me know how much she'd missed me. I had to go to the office that morning, so as much as I wanted to stay in bed with her, I got up. I showered and dressed and went downstairs. While I was down there, I noticed the mail sitting on the counter as usual. One of the letters was from the traffic court. I opened it because I didn't remember getting any traffic tickets. 

It turned out that I hadn't. They were trying out those new traffic cameras that show when you go through a red light in the downtown areas. The tickets have a small photo of the car and the red light. They also show the time and the date that the incident occurred. So sometimes you can think that you got away with blowing through a light and still get the ticket.

The ticket clearly showed my Mustang. Some guy I didn't recognize was not only driving my car, but the look on his face was ecstatic. I wondered at first why a guy I didn't know was driving my car. Then I wondered why he looked so damned happy to be driving through a red light. Then I noticed the second person in the car. It was your mother and her head was in the guy's lap."

The expression on Greg's face was pure shock. Danny had kind of a wry look on his face. "So this ticket is here because it changed my life," said Danny. "This is a ticket to ride and Karen rode it out of our marriage."

I ran back up the stairs crying my eyes out. I don't know if they saw me or not. I had always wondered how Danny caught me. I'd often thought that he'd hired a private investigator or something like that, but it had been pure bad luck. Brad had only wanted me to try some things that Joyce wouldn't do. Having a blow job while he drove had been one of his fantasies. That fantasy had ended my marriage and ruined Brad's career. The ironic thing about it was that Danny seemed to have the idea that I had been in a long term affair with Brad. 

Nothing could be further from the truth. The whole thing had only lasted for a few weeks. It hadn't been exciting or thrilling. Perhaps my guilt over what we were doing prevented me from enjoying it. And the sex...it just seemed to lack something. There was no emotional connection in it. Brad just hammered away at me like a cheap whore. I deserved better. I realized that I already had better. Danny loved me. Brad just wanted to fuck me and feel on my tits. So I decided to end it.

Brad and I had gotten together one final time. We had only done two sexual acts. We had driven downtown to a cheap motel and had sex once. On the way there, I had fulfilled his blowjob fantasy. I didn't love Brad. In fact at the time, we barely knew each other. He just had the right line of shit at a time in my life when I was particularly vulnerable. 

Now that I understood why I was a divorced and miserable woman, I was angry. It just wasn't fair. I'd been a good wife for over twenty years. How could one mistaken series of events over a few short weeks outweigh all of that?

All of a sudden, my anger seemed to grow. I went back down the stairs. I heard the boys in the den. They were laughing and playing some video game. It sounded like they were shooting at aliens or some stupid thing like that. I went out onto the deck, just in time to see Selena and my traitorous daughter lying out in the sun. Selena stood up and dropped her cover-up so she could work on her tan. 

Her body was incredible. I had underestimated her again. Her breasts were not nearly the size of mine but they were very firm and very well shaped. I knew that if she took her clothes off, they wouldn't sag or flop down to her waist. Her waist was tiny and her legs and ass made me look like a boy. Her hips flared outwards and were rounded in a way that would drive most men crazy. I was sure that my husband loved that body. As I looked across the deck, I could already see it. Danny's eyes settled on that body the way he used to look at me. 

I knew that look well. It was a combination of pride, mixed with appreciation and lust. It was again, the same way he used to look at me. I also knew that when they were alone he would probably fuck the shit out of her every chance he got. 

And I saw something else. I saw that the bitch loved it. She knew that he was staring at her and she loved it. She stuck her ass out, just a bit more. She flexed those legs and posed. She leaned over directly towards him. It was a subtle move that allowed him to get a better glance at her boobs than anyone else had. The anger that had been building in me suddenly doubled. 

At that moment I was like a fly who had been lured into a spider's web. That fucking bitch, with her polite words and clearly fake sweetness, had tricked me into underestimating her, while she did exactly what I had planned on doing to her.

She got me here in what was now her house and showed my husband how she was superior to me. And she had pulled the wool over his eyes. He was eating it up. No one was as sweet as she pretended to be. I was so angry that I saw red everywhere I looked. I needed a way to show Danny that Selena wasn't nearly as special as she pretended. 

I needed a plan, so I headed into the house. I figured I'd just find somewhere that I could sit and think. I wanted to have a look at that God damned ticket that had ruined my life too. When I got into the living room I was pissed. I don't think I had ever been that angry before in my life. 

My granddaughter and the other little girl were playing with dolls in the living room. As I looked at the ticket they came over to me. I took the framed ticket off of the wall. The photo on it was amazingly clear. I could even make out the look on Brad's face. As I looked even closer, the back of my head was clearly visible. 

Danny had been absolutely right. That was a ticket to ride. I had ridden that ticket right out of my marriage. Another thing that pissed me off was the way that Danny had handled everything. He had never given me a chance to explain. He had never given me any kind of a chance to make amends or to try to save our marriage. He had just thrown me out like yesterday's garbage. 

And the way he just turned up with a new woman and family, was almost too convenient. It was almost as if he'd been planning on dumping me all along. Or maybe Danny had known Selena before he caught me. Maybe he'd just been waiting for me to fuck up so he could replace me. 

And Selena had just moved right into my spot in not only Danny's life and his bed, but in my daughter's life and her family's as well. It was too convenient. 

I was so angry that I almost didn't hear my granddaughter Helen. 

"Old Grandma, what cha doing?" she asked. Hearing her call me "Old Grandma," pissed me off even more. I knew that she meant "Old" not in terms of age, bit on terms of not being the newest or best. I was the replaced Grandma. I was the lesser Grandma. My anger ramped up even more. 

"That's my daddy's ticket," said the other little girl. I know kids. The girl didn't mean anything by it. I've raised a daughter. But I just snapped. 

"He's not really your daddy," I said. "He only has one daughter; Helen's mom. You're barely a step daughter. You're only here because he's screwing your mom." 

Even as I said the words, I realized how cruel I'd just been. But it was too late to take them back. I guess I just wanted to hurt someone the way I'd been hurt and I chose a child to focus my rage on.

The little girl erupted in tears. She was crying her eyes out. Gut-wrenching sobs emanated from deep inside of her and she started to run away from me. What I hadn't realized when I said it was that my daughter Debbie had been close behind me and had heard the entire exchange.

Even worse was the fact that Danny and Greg were close behind her. I don't think that Danny had heard me but Debbie had. I don't think I have ever seen that level of anger in anyone's eyes before. Debbie was angrier than Danny had been when he'd found that ticket.

The little girl had run straight for Danny. He scooped her up in his arms and held her whole she cried. 

"What happened, Angel?" he asked. She had buried her face in his shoulder and was still sobbing uncontrollably.

"Karen told her that you weren't her daddy," spat Debbie. My own daughter was so angry at me that she had called me by my first name. By that time Selena had gotten there. She reached for the little girl who refused to leave Danny.

"Selena, I told you this wouldn't work," said Danny. Then he turned to me. I got the feeling that if that little girl hadn't been in his arms, he'd have hurt me. 

"Get the fuck out of my house," he spat. "Never come back. I don't ever want to see you again for as long as I live." He turned to walk away carrying and rocking the little girl.

"Danny, I'm sorry," I whined. "I was angry."

"At what?" he hissed. "Ever since you got here, no one has been anything but nice to you. Is that what you're angry about? You can't stand it when people try to treat you well. You got so angry that you had to try to hurt a six year old girl."

"But..." I began.

"But, my ass," he sneered. "Karen, get out of here while you can still walk."

"I don't have a car," I said. "I came with Greg and Debbie. I swear that I'll..."

"I'll drive her back and then come back here," said Debbie. I quickly went out to the front of the house. I tried to apologize again but no one was listening to me. Selena and Danny were cuddling the little girl and telling her not to pay any attention to the crazy old lady. Greg just looked at me and shook his head. I heard him whisper to Debbie that he didn't want their kids around me anymore either. 

For the first half hour or so of the ninety minute drive, the interior of the car was completely silent. 

"Mother, how could you do that?" Debbie asked me suddenly. 

"I was angry," I said. "I was hurt. That bitch brought me there just to humiliate me in front of my husband."

"Mother Selena was trying to be nice," said Debbie, tersely. "What reason would she have to try to humiliate you?"

"She wants your father," I spat. 

"Mother, Selena loves Daddy," she said. "And news flash. She has him. They've been married for a year now. She was just trying to make everyone happy by bringing the family back together. I feel stupid now because she did it mostly for me. Every time we all got together, I was always the one who said, "I wish mom was here to share this with us."

"You don't know that type of woman," I said. "She couldn't wait to get her claws into your father."

"Mother, shut up," she spat. "You weren't there. Daddy was depressed and angry for a long time after your divorce. He met Selena a little over a year after you two had split up. They dated for another year before they got married. She put my father back together after what you did to him."

"Debbie, I made a mistake," I said. "I was vain. I was vulnerable and I was feeling old and unattractive. For most of my life men have always wanted me. But as I began to age, all of the men in my office started to ignore me. There were younger and I guess prettier women there. I guess I just lost my mind, when Brad started complimenting me and telling me all the things he wanted to do to me. And to be truthful, your father was the only man I had ever slept with. So my curiosity and my vanity just got to me. But this is your father's fault too. We should never have gotten a divorce. He just threw me away like I didn't matter. He's my husband, not my owner. This isn't the eighteenth century."

"Mother how would you have felt If Dad had been out screwing around on you?" she asked. "Actually, we already know don't we? Look at how angry you are right now and he's spending time with the woman he's legally married to. You don't like it, do you? Face it mom, you screwed up. You have no one to blame but yourself. Daddy is old school. He takes his marriage vows seriously. And as for the eighteenth century, its values are making a comeback. As far as Daddy is concerned, he does own Selena and she owns him too. And he legally adopted her kids, so that little girl IS his daughter. All you've done is made it so you're always going to be on the outside as far as our family is concerned. Not only is Dad never going to speak to you again, but my husband doesn't want you around our kids."

"You're joking right?" I whined. "I'm their grandmother."

"So is Selena," she said. "Mom for a while, I think that maybe you and I can just have lunches together occasionally. I think that you're in some sort of depression over losing Daddy. Give it some time. I'm sure that eventually Greg will agree to let you see the kids again. But as far as Daddy is concerned, I think you've burned your bridges. He loves those kids. And you need to take a serious look at things. You lost Daddy because of what you chose to do. He loved you. He married you. You cheated on him. You caused the divorce yourself. It's no one's fault but yours, mom." 

"Bullshit," I said. "As soon as your father found out that I wasn't PERFECT, he dumped me like a hot rock. I'm a human being. We all make mistakes including your perfect father and that perfect whore he married. What's he going to do when he finds out that she isn't perfect either?"




A Ticket to Ride



"Mom, Daddy doesn't need or want a perfect wife. Selena makes mistakes all the time. She flooded the house about a month ago. She wrecked her car last year. She backed it into the lake accidentally. It was a total loss. All Daddy did was hugged and told her how glad he was that she wasn't hurt. Daddy doesn't need or want a perfect woman for his wife. He just wants a faithful one. He just wants a woman he can trust. And that wasn't what you were."

I got out of the car and Debbie drove away. I felt awful. I realized that everything Debbie had said was true. I had destroyed my own marriage. And now I had destroyed my chance to be a part of the lives of the people I care about. 

I realized then or at least I thought that my life had sunk as low as it could get. I was wrong. I spent Sunday in a deep depression. I drank a lot more alcohol than I should have. When Monday morning came I could barely get out of bed. Even worse was the fact that I could barely summon enough energy to pretend to vaguely give a damn. 

Brad had been trying all morning to get me to talk about it. I refused to tell him how terrible my weekend had been or the stupid things I'd done. 

"Brad at lunch time, let's just check into a motel room and fuck the afternoon away," I said. "I haven't had sex with anything that isn't battery powered since the last time I did it with Danny. You can squeeze the shit out of my tits the way you liked doing it. You can fuck the shit out me. It's not like Danny is going to care anymore. I'm never going to get him back. Hell, you can even fuck my ass if you want. I need to..."

Brad was looking at me strangely. "Karen, you know that Joyce blamed you for what happened between us, right?" he asked. "And even with your life destroyed, she didn't want me to hire you. She made me make a promise to her. If you ever tried to start up with me again...Karen, I don't have a choice. You're fired!"

* * * * * *

Epilogue 

My family moved on without me. I sank further into depression and had to go into therapy. It took a while but I finally came to realize that I had to take responsibility for losing my husband and my family. I ended up having to move back in with my mother. I did so partially to take care of her after my dad passed and partially because I couldn't find another job. It's ironic. I once had the perfect life. I'd thrown it all away for a few rolls in the hay. Chances like that only come along once on a lifetime. I dated occasionally and had meaningless sex a few times a year when I could stomach it. I never found another man who cared about me the way Danny had. I guess the modern era is full of people who put themselves first. Most of the guys I dated weren't looking for any kind of a relationship. They just wanted to fuck. I began to realize that I may as well have been a hooker. They took me out and bought me dinner. And in exchange I was supposed to give them sex. The more expensive the dinner, the more they expected. 

If the sex was good, I got another date. Sometimes, they never called me back even if they did enjoy themselves. It was just no strings attached fun, except that it wasn't fun for me. I wanted to be loved. Every time I thought about it, I realized that I had given love up for no strings sex with Brad. It was kind of ironic that I ended up getting what I went after. 

Danny and Selena lived happily ever after. I was never allowed to spend any time with them again. Selena had been able to convince Danny to let me into their lives that one time, but from the way I'd hurt their daughter, he never forgave me.

It just seemed like every year the two of them grew more in love and I grew more miserable. I believe that Debbie really tried to patch things up, but Danny refused to budge. Debbie sent me pictures after birthdays and holidays or weekends out at the lake house. They all looked so happy. And nearly every picture of Danny had him holding onto Selena or staring into her eyes, the same way he used to do with me.

Things didn't work out for Brad either. It turned out Joyce, like Danny, was too hurt to forgive him. She strung him along for a couple of more years, collecting alimony, having him fix things around the house and generally doing anything she wanted. Like I'd figured their booty call became more frequent, but then they slowed down to nothing. One day she told him that she was engaged to marry another man. She needed someone in her life that she could trust. Once a cheater, always a cheater was her philosophy.

I thought it was particularly cruel of her to give him all of that hope, just to dash his dreams when she'd had her fill of him. She even invited him to her wedding so he could watch her walk down the aisle with another man. 

Brad didn't take it well. He sank into a depression, until finally he just stepped off the curb in front of a bus and ended his pain. Brad and I weren't friendly in the period before he passed. Actually we never spoke to each other again after I propositioned him and he fired me. 

I'm in my sixties now and I still regret what I threw away. My daughter Debbie occasionally calls me. She keeps me in the loop of the goings and comings of my grand kids and my ex. That's as close to contact as I get these days. Some days as I sit alone in my apartment I think about the old days and wish with all my heart, that I hadn't thrown it all away.

The End