278 comments/ 157533 views/ 157 favorites Audit Surprise Ch. 01 By: radk To the reader: This is chapter one of a three part story. I tried to write each chapter so they're stand-alone stories but reading them in order would be best. I've decided to post chapter one and wait to see the comments before doing anything else. If the comments are bad I won't bother to post the other two chapters. If they're okay then the next chapters will be out shortly. Thanks to jo for editing. As usual, any grammar, spelling, typo errors you find are my fault. I made changes after the story was edited, so I may have put some back in. © 2013 by the author. ******** Most people think my job is boring. I spend my day looking into the financial health of businesses, non-profit groups, government agencies, and wealthy businessmen. I'm a CPA and head of a group that does audits for a number of clients around town. Usually when the IRS is breathing down the company's respective necks, we get the call and spend anywhere from a few days to a few weeks making sense of their books. Most times it's rather cut and dry but once in a while we find a surprise or two. Today I got the biggest surprise of my life, but the audit we were conducting didn't have anything to do with it, it had to do with what I saw outside the window. For the last three weeks my little team of investigators and I have been holed up in the offices of The Landmass Development Group pouring over just about the worst customer-built accounting system I've ever encountered. Landmass called us in because they're under investigation by the state Inspector General's office for mismanagement of contracts and fraudulent invoicing of costs for several road and bridge construction projects. This is the second time the state has accused them of financial wrongdoing and the second time we've audited their books in an attempt to pull their butts out of the fire. However this time I'm not sure we can perform the miracles they want. My team consists of three of the best computer people I've ever had the privilege to work with. Red is the informal leader of the group with Yan and Jackie taking point from time to time. The things they can do with computers are amazing and they can find the proverbial needle in a haystack no matter how deep the pile. We will put everything in Landmass' accounting database under the microscope and match every transaction against company paperwork. My three 'geeks,' as they call themselves, will find anything and everything questionable or out of line. Also in my group are two of the most tenacious accountants in the business, Adrianna and Mandy. Both women have the attitude that the client's files are like their own children, theirs to do with as they see fit. Most of the time they're easygoing and pleasant but whenever the situation calls for it they can be downright ruthless. Don't lie to them or try to hide something from them and don't ever talk down to them. But hitting on them would be the worst thing anybody could do. Both are married and have loving families and anybody who thinks they would put that in jeopardy might just end up on the floor looking up at the ceiling. I've asked them to not break any arms or legs where a slap across the face would do, but I'll support them whatever happens. All five members of my team have earned my respect dozens of times over for their work ethic and their dedication to the job at hand. I expect them to make quick work of Landmass' mess. So what do I do? I manage the work, interface with the client, and write up the final audit findings report. Yep, you're right; I sit on my butt all day long looking like I'm doing something while my team does all the hard work. I wrap it all up at the end and give the client the bad news. I estimated Landmass' audit to take about three weeks. During our stay we used lavish offices, each with windows that look out over the city, all the computer equipment we asked for, and even two secretaries to do our bidding. We even have our own coffeemaker. I guess Landmass' management felt they had to be extra nice to us so we got the best of everything. My office is at one end of the corridor on the 21st floor, everybody else's at the other end. I got an office belonging to one of the managing partners who is on extended medical leave. It looked like something out of a 1930's movie: Dark wood paneling everywhere, lush carpet, bookshelves with all the great books, a giant antique globe, awards and plaques and trophies galore, a huge antique brass telescope, even a giant stuffed marlin. The mahogany desk and Edwardian chairs and leather couch reminded me of the furnishings of the Oval Office in the White House. It was all way over the top. I had a sense of how the Landmass management spent their money. During one of my periods of inactivity my mind started to wander. I leaned back and started staring out the window. Across the street was another of the giant chrome and glass high-rise office buildings that dotted the business district. From my desk I couldn't make out any of the people in their offices. The glass had a shimmering surface that reflected the sunlight. I assumed if I couldn't see them then they couldn't see me either. I smiled. I smiled because I just realized that right across the street was the offices of Enterprise Research and Development. My wife Sheryl works for Enterprise as an Account Executive. I'd been in her office a number of times and got to know a lot of her coworkers. Most were pretty good people but there were a couple I didn't like too much. But I didn't have to work with them, Sheryl did. Sheryl's office is on the 20th floor and just off to the left out my window. I got up and walked to the window to see if I could find her room. It took a few minutes to figure out which set of windows was hers but even though I found them I couldn't make out anything on the other side of the glass. That's when I looked to my right and saw I was standing next to the giant brass telescope. I went to my door and closed it before returning to the telescope. After fiddling with its knobs for a couple minutes I got it focused and found Sheryl's office. I could see her clearly now. I looked at the front of the instrument and saw a bluish filter that I assumed acted like a polarizing agent like those sunglasses that remove the glare from a sunny beach day. To the naked eye the building's glass windows looked like shimmering gold mirrors. Looking through the telescope with the attached polarizing filter, they were just clear glass. I looked through it again and saw my vision of loveliness sitting at her desk staring at a computer monitor. There sat the most beautiful blond haired woman I've ever had the privilege to hold in my arms, the love of my life for the last nine years. After a couple more adjustments on the old scope I was able to zoom in to where I could almost read the words displayed on her computer screen. I smiled again thinking how much industrial espionage occurred just by looking over someone's shoulder as they worked. Maybe this was how Landmass got the drop on some of their competitors. Maybe I'd mention it to my team and see what they think, not that we can do anything about it. I zoomed back enough so that Sheryl's office windows filled the scope and stood there watching her work. My mind drifted to places and times other than where I was. I thought of Sheryl. I saw her clearly in my mind. I saw her standing beside our bed at home smiling down at me with her wide, beautiful smile. I saw her clearly as she slowly removed her long black silk negligee, the one I bought her when we were in Paris last year. I saw her moving to the end of the bed wearing only black panties and black stockings smiling down at me, her blond hair cascading down over her shoulders topping her magnificent breasts like snowcaps on the Rocky Mountains. I called her breasts my Grand Tetons and loved to watch them bounce up and down as she walked around the house wearing only one of my t-shirts. What I loved the most was to lie on the bed as she rode me cowgirl style and watch her breasts bounce and sway and make imaginary designs above my face. I loved everything about Sheryl. There wasn't anything about her that wasn't perfect. Her sparkling blue eyes were perfect, her soft pale skin was perfect, her legs, bottom, breasts, belly, toes... Everything about Sheryl's body was perfect. And everything inside Sheryl's body was equally as perfect. She was intelligent, funny, caring, honest, and best of all she loved me. But I think I loved her more. I stood there watching my wife work and realized I was sporting a pretty decent erection. Just looking at her and thinking about the times we made love made me hard and anxious to get home. God, I loved that woman. My phone rang yanking me back to the boring real world of the Landmass audit. I panicked momentarily thinking about the condition I was in but knew no one would see me on the phone. "Hello?" "Hey boss," said Mandy. "You want to join us for lunch? Red found a little café across the street that might just turn out to be our new favorite place. How about it?" "Thanks Mandy but I've got a number of phone calls to make. If you can bring me back a sandwich and a soda I'd appreciate it. Tuna salad would be good. Maybe tomorrow." "Okay, just remember to come up for air once in a while and go home at a reasonable hour." "No problem there. Thanks Mandy." I exhaled and felt the last bit of my erection disappear. Looking around at my temporary desk I saw nothing that couldn't wait until tomorrow. I went back to the telescope to look some more at my beautiful wife and fantasize about the good times. This time I saw she wasn't alone. Leaning against the edge of her desk was a man I remembered from their Christmas party, Brad something or another. He was one of the people I cataloged as someone I didn't like too much. He seemed to spend a lot more time with Sheryl than I was comfortable with. Sheryl just blew me off and said he was one of her bosses and she had to play up to him if she ever wanted to get ahead in the company. I wasn't happy but I didn't think any more about it. I watched for the longest time. I saw nothing but Sheryl talking to her boss. It looked like normal business activities so I didn't give it another thought. The man stood up and turned to leave. Sheryl leaned back in her chair and the man returned. I thought he was leaving but obviously he didn't. He only shut Sheryl's office door, dragged a chair over next to Sheryl and sat down. They were sitting side by side behind her desk when Sheryl lifted her feet and put them up on his knees. She had taken her shoes off. Her bare stocking feet folded over the man's knees. He reached down and picked up one foot and started massaging it. I could tell by how she let her head fall back on the back of her chair that she was really enjoying the foot rub. My heart started beating a little faster. I thought I was the only one who ever gave her a foot massage. Now I watched as one of her bosses ran his hands over them. He switched feet and rubbed and squeezed the other. Sheryl's head was still lying back on her chair. His hands moved from the feet to her ankle and he continued the foot massage, but higher. Then he moved to her calf. I could see her long exquisite legs in the hands of a strange man and felt my heart speed up again. Now using both hands he rubbed both calves at the same time occasionally lifting up her knees and sliding his hand under her thigh. "Jesus Fucking Christ, what's going on?" I said out loud. The man was now rubbing Sheryl's legs all the way up under her skirt. He even moved her knees apart. From where he sat he must have been able to see everything she had to offer. At no time did her head ever move. She looked like she was enjoying every bit of it. Suddenly she jumped and her head came up. She said something to the man and he looked to the side. When he turned back he was smiling but at no time did he ever stop rubbing her legs. My heart was beating faster and faster. Sheryl scooted around in her chair and leaned back. The man had his hands all the way under Sheryl's skirt at that point. When he pulled his hands out I could see he had hold of Sheryl's pantyhose top and was peeling her pantyhose down to her ankles. I about blew a gasket. I pulled away from the telescope and started pacing the room. I didn't know what to do. My mind wasn't working but my heart was beating a mile a minute. Finally I saw my cell phone on the desk and grabbed it. I returned to the telescope and saw that now Sheryl was leaning back in her chair with her legs spread wide apart with her skirt up around her hips. I could clearly see the blond bush between her legs and the man's fingers moving in and out of her pussy. The look on his face was one of lust. I could just see Sheryl's face and she wore the biggest smile. I'd seen that smile a lot of times when we made love and now she was smiling as some guy from her office finger fucked her. I thought my heart would explode from my chest. I pressed Sheryl's office number on my cell phone's speed dial. Sheryl's head turned toward her phone and I saw her reach to answer it. The man never slowed down. "Hi honey," she said sweetly. "This is a nice surprise. What's up?" For a moment I was speechless. Here I was talking to my wife on my cell phone and watching through a telescope as she lay back in her chair with her legs spread and some man pushing his fingers in and out of her pussy. Her voice never gave a hint of anything going on. "Honey, is everything okay?" she asked when I couldn't make a sound. "I... I...I just called to tell you how much I loved you," I finally managed to get out. "Aw, that's so sweet," she cooed. "I love you too." "Yeah, I was sitting here staring out the window and thought how much I missed you. I can't wait until tonight and have you in my arms again." "Honey, that's so sweet. I can't wait to be with you too. Look, I'm a little busy at the moment. Can I call you back after lunch?" I saw that she was now lifting her bottom off the chair and his fingers were pumping in and out faster and faster. From the expression on her face she was close to an orgasm. "Sure, why don't you go back to what you were doing and call me when you're finished. Enjoy yourself. Bye." I watched as she hung up the phone. Then she did something I would have never in a million years expected. She raised her middle finger and pointed it at the phone. She was saying 'Fuck You' to the phone, and to me. She grabbed onto the arms of her chair and stiffened up. Her face displayed the orgasm she was experiencing at the hands of another man while I stood across the street watching like a perverted voyeur. My heart stopped beating. My world ended. The last thing I saw was Sheryl standing and straightening her skirt and kissing the man who just gave her an orgasm. I fell to the floor, at least I think I did, because when I opened my eyes again Mandy was kneeling at my side and looking down into my face. "Boss, what happened?" She asked all worried. "Adrianna's calling 911. What's going on?" "I don't know," I mumbled. "I think I passed out. I... I don't..." "You just lie there and relax," she interrupted. "The paramedics will be here shortly." I closed my eyes and all I could see was Sheryl pointing her middle finger at the phone. I started to cry. I felt Mandy's hands holding mine, but still I cried. I couldn't stop. Some time later I heard a commotion at the door and people talking. When I opened my eyes again I saw a fireman. He put a blood pressure cuff around my arm and pressed the button. He was listening to my heart beating and put an oxygen mask over my mouth and nose. He also did a number of emergency evaluation things that I'd only seen on television. "Hello Mr. Hughes, can you tell me what happened?" The fireman asked. "I was just looking out the window and everything went black." "Have you been under any stress or anything like that? Your blood pressure is extremely high." "Well... Yes, uh, no. I..." "How do you feel now?" I couldn't tell him I felt like I wanted to die, so I lied. "I'm okay. I guess I should have taken my doctor's advice and started taking that blood pressure medication." "Sir, if you can sit up, I'll take your pressure again." He did. It was still high. After a couple minutes I was able to maneuver over onto the couch, with help of course. I told the fireman I didn't want to go to the hospital. He took my blood pressure one more time and it was down, but still high normal. "Sir, do you think you'll be okay now?" "I'll be fine. Thanks for coming. I'll just call my doctor and tell him what happened. Thanks for helping." They left. I relaxed on the couch with Mandy holding my hand the whole time. I forced myself to put on a brave face and smiled a little smile at Mandy. "Are you going to be okay?" She asked. "I don't know. I think I'll just take the rest of the day off." "I don't think so!" From the other side of the room came the voice of authority, someone I've never disagreed with before. Adrianna was standing by the window with her hands on her hips scowling at me. "You're not going anywhere until you tell us the truth. We're your friends Marty. Now spill." Red, Yan, and Jackie were standing around my desk looking concerned and a bit bewildered at what Adrianna said. "I... Nothing happened. I just passed out that's all. I..." "BULLSHIT MARTY!" Adrianna yelled. Then she slowly lifted her hand up and pointed at the telescope. "What did you see?" All the sadness came rushing back. I started to hyperventilate. "Marty, relax," Mandy whispered in my ear. "Whatever it is, we're all here for you. It'll be alright." "No it won't," I mumbled. I started to break down again but fought hard to control my emotions. I started shaking. That's when I felt four arms around me. Adrianna joined Mandy on the couch trying to make my world whole again. I just sat there shaking and staring down at the floor. "Red, get some ice and some bottled water, maybe some sodas too," Adrianna ordered. "Yan, put the 'In Conference' sign on the door. Jackie, get some extra chairs. We're going to have a team meeting." A few minutes later with the door closed my team and I sat around in a circle with me on one side on the couch and Mandy and Adrianna with their arms still around me. Mandy was pumping me full of ice water. Adrianna leaned forward and turned my head to face her. She spoke softly, like you would to a child. "Okay Marty, no bullshit this time. What did you see?" I spilled my guts. I told them everything and didn't leave out a single disgusting detail. At the end I wanted to cry some more but was just too exhausted. I just sat on the couch looking down at my hands thinking about my totally destroyed life. "What do you want to do Marty," Adrianna asked using her gentle motherly voice. I thought for the longest time. I loved Sheryl with every bit of my being. I didn't want to lose her, hell I would die if I did. But what I saw through the telescope was a game changer. Whatever I thought about Sheryl and our lives together, specifically our marriage was now totally under review, everything from the past was in question. I know what I saw and it hurt like hell, but what does it all mean? What's going on? I didn't know what to do without knowing everything about everything. I looked around at my team, my friends and started to talk. "Guys, I've got a problem, a big problem, but don't want you to get involved. I..." "Blow it out your ass Marty," Jackie shot at me. My little Emo girl computer geek stared back at me with her over-dark eyes. I was never a fan of piercings and tattoos but Jackie convinced me over and over again that in spite of her arms filled with drawings of snakes and dragons, 12 earrings, a diamond stud in her nose, a gold ring in her eyebrow, and a gold bar through her tongue, and who knows how many others hidden elsewhere, she was by far the most rational and caring person I've ever met. I sat there stunned because she's never said anything stronger than 'darn' the entire time I've know her. Audit Surprise Ch. 01 "Marty," Jackie said looking me square in the eyes. "We're a team, more than that we're friends. Friends don't let friends in trouble go it alone. We're going to help you. Whatever you want to do we'll do it, short of murder that is." Mandy turned to me and said, "She's right Marty. Right now you're hurting and probably feel like you want to die but the one thing I know for sure is that as long as you have friends you have hope. You will survive. Whatever you decide to do we'll be right beside you the whole way. We'll help you. You just need to lead us like you always do. Tell us what you want and we'll make it happen." Silence filled the room as I thought about what I wanted. The one thing I wanted, no needed most was to know how much trouble my marriage was in. I needed to know everything Sheryl was hiding from me. Then I could decide on a path. Until then I would have to suffer with the devastating images my mind conjured up. But the image of her middle finger pointing at the phone was devastating enough. "I need to know," I said finally. "I need to know everything: Who she's been with, how long, how many times, what she's done, everything. The one answer I need the most and probably won't ever get is why. Why did she do this to me? Is there something wrong with me, something I can't give her?" "Don't start blaming yourself," Adrianna said. "You don't know if anything's your fault. For myself I can say for all the years I've known you, you've been the perfect gentleman and friend. I don't know what's going on but by God we're going to get to the bottom of it. And if it doesn't turn out like you want then you always have us to help you through it. We will always be there for you Marty." "Guys, we need to make some plans," Mandy said to the group. "Red, Yan, and Jackie, you three think of ways to find out anything from where she works. She's doing it there so we need to know more from that angle. Adrianna and I will try to figure out the non-work related stuff. Brainstorm some ideas and let's get back together at four o'clock. Marty, you go down to my office and lie on the couch. I want you to relax. I want you away from that telescope for the rest of the day. You've seen enough. I'll have someone spot check things from here." I went to Mandy's office and laid down on the couch. All I could think about was Sheryl with her legs spread and some guy's fingers pumping in and out of her pussy. Mostly the image of her giving the phone, and me, the finger burned brightly in my mind. At four o'clock Yan stuck her head in the room and said everyone was meeting in my office. I always liked Yan. She's always been a bit on the quiet side but when she said something everyone took notice. For being only 24 years old she had an aura of maturity about her that seemed way beyond her years. She also has an IQ way off the charts. Her Asian heritage gave her an enigmatic air that made her seem both becoming and approachable while at the same time aloof and mysterious. She took my hand and walked down the corridor with me. With everyone back in their original seats Adrianna led the gathering and took notes. I thought it strange that she took notes about plans to invade my wife's privacy and open up her hidden side, but I didn't say anything. Mostly everybody talked around me. I just sat and listened. When the meeting was over and the plan formulated, each person went off to do the tasks assigned, just like any of the audits we've done in the past. All I had to do was what I usually did, sit down and look busy and give up my credit card for supplies. "Marty, can you go home tonight?" Mandy asked. "I don't think I can face her," I mumbled through my fingers. "I think I'll just stay here until after she goes to bed and then crawl home. Hopefully I won't have to talk her tonight. I can't trust myself. I might say something I don't want to." "Can you go out of town on a business trip?" she asked. "Maybe, I'll have to think about it. I don't want to be around her this weekend so I'll have to come up with some excuse to be out of the house. Maybe my father can have an accident or something. I'll think about it and let you know." "If you need a place to stay for a few days you can always come over to my house. We've got a guest room you can use. I'll tell Aaron and the kids and warn them you might be visiting." I stared through the telescope at an empty office for the longest time. The whole movie played over and over in my head allowing me to relive the pain multiple times. I left the office after nine and drove the long way home arriving home after ten. Luckily Sheryl was already asleep. As quietly as I could I got my clothes ready for the next day and took a shower. Sheryl never moved. I guess she was tired from all the activities at the office today. I went to the guest room and pulled the covers over my head. I was up before dawn and on the road before Sheryl awoke. I couldn't face her knowing what I knew. I just had to figure out how to survive. I arrived at my Landmass office before everyone and put on a pot of coffee. Once in my office I looked at the telescope like it was a demon. I was afraid to go near it. Around nine o'clock I wandered down the hall to see what my team was up to. Yan was at her computer doing something that I didn't understand. She smiled at me when I poked my head in the door. "Where is everybody?" I asked. "Getting ready," she said with a smile turning back to her computer. Inscrutable those Asians I thought walking back to my desk. Just after ten o'clock Red came into the office pushing several large boxes on a dolly. I watched as he set about his work without a single word to me. Red is a walking contradiction. To look at him you would see a tall, red-headed string bean of a man, freckly face with out of date glasses. He looked like every stereotypical geek we've ever met wearing a Star Trek shirt. He often wore a Star Trek shirt and an Indiana Jones fedora but that was only part of his charm. Away from the office he was anything but a geek. I heard he was an avid mountain climber whose goal was to one day hike Mount Everest. He also sped around the countryside on his two year old Ducati motorcycle. Red may look like a geek but in his heart he was an adventurer. When he realized I was sitting there he waved at me and set about opening the boxes and setting up the equipment. It turned out to be another telescope but this one was more modern and instead of looking through the eyepiece you looked at a computer monitor. The resolution was better too. When he focused it on Sheryl's computer I could clearly read everything on the screen. She was working on her email. It didn't contain anything important, just Enterprise business. Without ever looking up, Red spoke from the computer console attached to the telescope. "As soon as Yan gets finished her side of things we won't need to look through the window to see what's on your wife's computer. By this afternoon we'll be firmly entrenched in their server network and have access to everything they have. We'll be able to snoop around and look for things as well as control any and every computer they have. We can copy all of their incoming and outgoing traffic as well. You may not know this but Yan was the best hacker UCLA ever produced." Red busied himself with setting up another computer with a giant 60 inch monitor. He didn't say what the large screen's purpose was but I had my suspicions. Just before he left he placed a big red button on my desk and stood there smiling. "Press it," he said. When I did all of the computer screens around the room flashed to show diagrams and spreadsheets of Landmass' computer systems and their accounting systems. "If anybody comes in who doesn't know what we're doing, like Landmass management, just press the red button and everything changes over to what you see now. It's like a screen saver but with Landmass data on the displays. It's all bullshit but it'll look like we're doing the audit we're supposed to be doing." He smiled and left. Adrianna and Mandy showed up just before lunch and sat down at the telescope computer. They maneuvered the telescope around and had a great view of Sheryl's office on the display. A few minutes later a man walked into the office. It wasn't the same man as the day before. This guy was older and had white hair and a considerable paunch. I just watched the screen hoping upon hope that he wasn't there for the same foot massage. Mandy looked over at me. "Marty, maybe you should go down to my office for a little while," she said with concern in her voice. "You might not want to watch if things happen like yesterday. I don't want your blood pressure to go through the roof again." I didn't say a word. I just got up and left the room. An hour later Mandy came in the room and sat down beside me at her computer where I was playing blackjack. She put her arms around my chest and her head on my shoulder. I could tell she was hurting. "Mandy, I both don't want to know and I need to know. Did anything happen?" Mandy nodded her head 'yes' against my shoulder. My heart was starting to beat faster and the pain returned, but I had to know. "What?" I asked quietly. She sniffed and sat up looking at me. I could tell making eye contact was difficult for her. She sniffed again and then softly said, "Blowjob." It was like someone hit me in the chest with a hammer. One word and I was a quivering mass again. One simple fucking word. "Marty, we recorded everything. Red set everything up so we can record what goes on in case you need it in the future, maybe for a lawyer or something. I suggest you don't watch it. It'll only hurt you more than you already are. Come on; let's get you something to drink." Mandy took my hand and guided me back to my office, now resembling more of a modern day war room than a 1930's mausoleum. The big 60 inch monitor now displayed 40 different smaller screens showing corridors, offices, doorways, and the like. I just stood there staring. "That's a display of the security cameras on the 20th through the 24th floors across the street," Yan said coming up beside me. "We can see just about everywhere in their offices, everywhere except the bathrooms, and a number of the upper manager's offices. And we can control everything from this monitor, zooming in on one particular camera or series of cameras. We can even record everything or just selected cameras. Pretty cool huh?" "Uh, yeah," I said not knowing what else to say. "Come look at this boss," Red said from the other side of the room. I went over and stood behind him. He was sitting back with his arms crossed smiling. "You're watching your wife working on her computer. This is a slave attached to her system and when her computer is turned on we can see everything she does. Right now she's writing someone requesting the cost of the microchips used in their robotic control arms. No biggie. As we watch this I'm downloading every email she either sent or received in the last five years. She keeps her schedule on her computer and has it synched up with her smart phone. I haven't looked at it yet but it might be important later on so I copied it over too. I can do the same thing to any computer they have over there. Their security sucks big time!" I went back over to my desk and sat down not knowing what else to do. A few minutes later my cell phone rang. "Shush, everybody quiet," Red yelled. "Go on boss." "Hello?" "Hi Honey, it's me," Sheryl said. I immediately moved over to the telescope monitor console and saw Sheryl sitting at her desk holding the phone to her ear. She was alone. "Hey there. What's up?" "You worked pretty late last night. I didn't have a chance to cuddle up next to you in bed. I was just calling to tell you how much I missed you. Are you going to be late again tonight?" I couldn't face her yet. My head was still swimming with thoughts about what was going on, how long, what she did, and the like. I had to lie to her, just like she's been lying to me. "Probably. This audit is turning out to be a real bear. We've got an incredibly short deadline and it's going to take a lot of work to make it. Everybody's working their asses off around here. And, to top it all off I got a call from my father. He's having some problems with his plumbing again. I might have to go up there this weekend and snake out his pipes. Sorry." "Ah well, I was hoping for a little one on one time with you tonight. I bought a new outfit last weekend and haven't had a chance to try it out. I was going to dress up this weekend and let you be the first to do the undressing. It's everything I know that turns you on. It's sheer but looks like your average little black dress, short as hell with a plunging neckline down to my navel, and it only takes one finger to unsnap it so it falls around my ankles. I also bought a matching black thong from Victoria's Secret. Oh well, your loss. Maybe next weekend." "Sounds nice. Sorry I'm going to miss it. Maybe next weekend we can plan on going somewhere special to show it off." "Absolutely not! It's not something I'd ever wear in public. It's just for you, for your eyes only." "Okay, I got it. I tell you what. Why don't you go ahead and make reservations at the Hyatt for next weekend and we'll go and pamper ourselves at the spa and have dinner at the Sorbonne Steak House. Afterwards I can unwrap my present." "Oooohhh, that sounds nice. I'll see if I can make reservations for one of their suites. I want to try something with you in the Jacuzzi that I read about in a magazine. It has to do with the water jets. It sounded yummy." "I'm looking forward to it. I'll make sure everything I have to do is done by next Friday and I'll call you from my father's to let you know when I'll be home." "Okay, sounds like a plan. Love you. Bye." "Bye." I couldn't make myself say 'Love you' back. I watched as she put the phone back in its cradle but this time she didn't give the phone the finger. What was different about this phone call I wondered? Then it hit me, she wasn't with somebody, she wasn't having sex with somebody. What did all that mean? "TA DA!" Jackie stood in the doorway with her hands above her head like she just kicked the game winning field goal in the Super Bowl. "Somebody bring up the second camera partition. Here boss, catch." She tossed something my way and instinctively I reached out and caught it. It was my keys. "What are you doing with my keys?" I asked. "Just got finished wiring your house for pictures and sound. Anything that goes on there will be recorded here." She stood pointing at a computer monitor that displayed my kitchen. "Every room in your house, including your bathroom, has a camera in it. Neat huh?" "Yeah neat," I replied sadly. Everybody worked at various computers for the rest of the day. I guess they were dividing their time between monitoring Sheryl and getting the audit done. At least I hoped they were working on the audit. One by one they said goodnight and disappeared out the door. The last one to leave was Mandy. "Listen Marty, go out and get something to eat," she said standing in front of my desk. "Don't drink too much but do whatever you need to do to get your mind off of everything. Maybe take in a movie. Tomorrow's Friday and I'll be in here early to finish up my part of the audit. Get away from here this weekend and think about what you want to do. We'll all get together Monday and talk. Just remember, you aren't in this by yourself, you have friends. Goodnight." When she left I sat and thought. I considered all the options. I even wrote the possible ways of handling the situation on a piece of paper, and the pros and cons of each. I wanted to handle it like every other audit I've ever done but the emotional baggage was just too much. In the end I left the paper on the desk and left. I got home at midnight. I took Mandy's advice and went out and had a nice dinner, but I wasted my money. I just couldn't eat all of the steak I ordered. When I got home Sheryl was asleep again so I gathered up clothes for Friday and the weekend, showered quietly, and slept in the guest bedroom. Again I was out of the house before she woke in the morning. Trying to avoid the woman who had been my whole life up until two days ago was difficult, both physically and emotionally. I watched Sheryl come into her office through the telescope. She had her usual coffee and bagel and the first thing she did was look at her daily schedule. I could see clearly marked at noon the words 'All Four.' I hadn't a clue what that meant but knew it wasn't good. For the last two days at lunch time she'd had sex with one of her coworkers so whatever 'All Four' meant probably signaled the end of my marriage. Today I decided to endure the pain and watch whatever she had planned, in spite of the objections of my team. I got the team together for a few minutes when the last one straggled in. "Guys, I've got to talk to you," I started off the meeting. "I can't take this much longer so I've made a couple decisions. Decisions are what I'm supposed to do around here so I'm trying to earn my pay. First, regardless of what goes on over there today I'm going to sit at the monitor and watch. I would prefer to be alone because I might not handle it very well but I also don't want you calling 911 for me again. So, decide which one of you will babysit me during lunch. Second, this weekend I'm going to come to grips with everything and decide on a course of action. Right now it's not looking too good for Sheryl and me but I don't know exactly what I want to do. Whatever it is I may need your help. You offered so I'm taking you up on it. But if the shit hits the fan I want you as far away from me as possible. There's no way you're going to get hurt by the fallout of my marriage. There's no discussion on this, this is how it's going to be. Third, I want the audit to be finished by next Friday and every bit of this equipment out of here." Everybody went back to their desks and left me alone. Every so often I'd look up at the telescope monitor to see what Sheryl was doing. The closer to noon it got the more nervous I got. When I looked up around 11:30 she was gone. "Marty, I'm here to be your babysitter," Mandy said as she closed and locked my door. "Everybody wanted to do it but I shouted the loudest. Everybody's here for you, in spirit." It made my heart feel good knowing there were people out there that would go the extra mile to help a friend. I only hope I could be as good a friend should they ever need me. I looked up when I saw movement on the telescope monitor and saw Sheryl come back into view. However she had changed her clothes. She was now wearing the little black dress she described to me over the phone yesterday. She was right too, it was absolutely stunning and something I wouldn't want her to wear out in public. Her long blond hair cascaded down her shoulders covering the top of the dress where it went behind her neck. It was a halter top style that attached behind her head with two pieces of material that went down from each side, covering her breasts, joining at her navel. The insides and outsides of her breasts were clearly visible since the material covering them was only a couple inches wide as it passed over the tops. And the dress was as short as she said. It came to about mid-thigh and was sheer enough to see the outline of the thong she wore underneath. The thong had to be the one she got from Victoria's Secret. She said the outfit was for me but she lied again. She was wearing it for a coworker. Mandy reached over and took my hand in hers. I could feel her tremble as we sat there watching Sheryl primping and brushing her hair, waiting. Waiting for whom? Who was she going to have sex with this time? All at once Sheryl turned toward her office door. All we could see was the back of her now but I could tell by her body language that she enjoyed what she saw. She held her arms out greeting her lover. As I watched in shock she put her arms around one man, the man who finger fucked her the other day, and gave him a passionate kiss. Another man came into view and when the two lovers broke their kiss she wrapped her arms around the second man's neck and kissed him. Then a third appeared waiting his turn in Sheryl's arms. And then a fourth. Now I knew the meaning of 'All Four' in her appointment book. I sat there watching my wife, and the woman I love, kissing four of her coworkers. Audit Surprise Ch. 01 "The one with the paunch and white hair is the man she was with yesterday," Mandy whispered. I didn't see them together but the word Mandy used burned brightly and permanently in my mind. Blowjob. A simple word, a word meaning an oral sex act, something that Sheryl had done to me thousands of times. But a word that helped destroy any hope of my marriage continuing. We sat and watched. The four men stood in a circle around Sheryl and they all talked and laughed. Sheryl would touch the men on their arms or their chest as they talked. She was the center of attention and really enjoying herself. And so did her entourage. All at once the four men sat down around the room. Two on the couch against the far wall and two in office chairs facing her desk. They all turned slightly to where Sheryl was standing, in the corner next to the window. From where the telescope was mounted there was an excellent view of everybody and everything going on over there. Sheryl started to sway. She was moving to music that I couldn't hear. Sheryl's a good dancer and this wasn't the first time I'd seen her dancing solo. She did it for me when she wanted to turn me on just before jumping in bed on top of me. And she did turn me on. I watched as she danced around the room and in front of each member of her audience. She dipped and swayed and ran her fingers across the shoulders of the men as she passed close to them. Watching her move around like that would normally get me excited but watching her now, in front of an audience of her coworkers, had the opposite affect. Slowly she swayed around until she was back in the corner where she started. She reached up under her hair and behind her neck. The two straps of the halter top collapsed in front and with a simple wiggle of her hips the dress fell to the floor around her feet. She stood there wearing only the tiny black thong. With a smile and a shimmy she danced through the seated men. This time they reached out and ran their hands over her body. They touched her magnificent breasts, her flat stomach, her lovely legs, her shapely ass, and the thong covered mound between her legs. At each touch I flinched. Mandy held my hand as tight as she could without cutting of circulation. Sheryl stopped. She stood in the middle of the men and looked at each one smiling. Her hands moved over her body starting at her neck, over her breasts, down her stomach, and to her hips where she hooked her thumbs under the fabric of the thong. Then slowly bending forward as far as she could bend, she pushed the thong down to her feet. Then she stood up and stepped forward to strike a pose. Her smile was radiant. It just about crushed the life out of me. The four men applauded, her dance done. I watched as she slowly walked over to the desk and stood beside it looking over her shoulder sensuously. One man, the man who finger fucked her the other day, stood and started unbuckling his pants. The other men just sat smiling and watching. As soon as the man was behind Sheryl she leaned over and put her hands and elbows on the desk top. The man's cock was now exposed and standing erect. He approached her from behind and without any foreplay or tenderness whatsoever he shoved his cock deep inside Sheryl's body. Her face lit up with the first thrust. He started pumping in and out, at first slowly but gaining speed and strength with each thrust. There was a familiarity about their movements that told me they've been intimate before, probably many times before. I saw her look over her shoulder and say something to him but couldn't make out what: Probably urging him on. I turned away from the screen and looked out the window. I needed a break. My reality needed to rest. Mandy stroked my back and whispered, "It's okay. It'll be over soon." When I turned back I saw the grimace on the face of the man impaled in my wife's pussy. He was obviously coming inside her. I didn't remember seeing him put on a condom so he was screwing my wife bareback and leaving me a gift. As he came down from his orgasm, another man stood and started dropping his pants. The first man moved out of the way and the second man took his place. The new lover's cock was a lot larger than the first man's and when he rammed it home Sheryl's mouth flew open so wide I could see the gold filling in her back molar. Her body fell onto the desk smashing her breasts as she reached out and grabbed the edges. The man behind her started plowing away making ripples flow up her ass. She raised her head from the desk and I could see her eyes squeeze tightly closed. I've seen that face before, when she orgasms. The man in back continued slamming into her and she continued to hold onto the desk for dear life. All at once they froze. Their expressions told me they were both coming. Sheryl's face was one of pure rapture. A giant smile broke out on the man's face as he stood there emptying his seed in my wife's womb. When his balls were empty he slowly pulled his cock out and rubbed it over her ass wiping the remnants of his cum all over her soft skin. The smile on her face was breathtaking. A third man readied himself standing next to the desk. It was the older man with the paunch that I associated with the word 'Blowjob.' He was stroking his smallish cock and leering at the woman bent over the desk. The second man moved out of the way and the white haired old man took his place. He leaned down and said something to Sheryl. Sheryl reached behind her back and took the man's little cock in her hand and guided it between her cheeks. She wasn't aiming for her pussy. She was aiming for the little brown rosebud nestled between her soft ass cheeks. The man pushed forward and Sheryl jerked momentarily, her face looking startled. The man started stroking in and out slowly at first but picking up speed as he went. Once he found a rhythm Sheryl fell forward, smashing her breasts out to her sides again, and reached around with both hands holding her ass cheeks apart. The old guy didn't last long. He shot his load in her bowels and fell down exhausted on her back. She looked almost bored but politely waited for him to finish and pull out. At that point the fourth man was standing with his cock in his hand getting ready for his turn. The old man stumbled over to his chair and collapsed, his little shriveled up cock hidden by a ripple of his fat belly. The last man wanted the only unused hole and stuck his cock over the edge of the desk and into Sheryl's waiting mouth. She gobbled it up like candy. Her head bobbed up and down, actually side to side on the desk, as she sucked and licked the swollen cock. She looked uncomfortable. All at once she let the cock fall from her mouth onto the desk. Then she stood up, walked around to the front of the desk, and knelt down. She took his cock back in her mouth and continued the energetic blowjob. From my point of view all I could see was the top of Sheryl's blond head moving back and forth as she sucked away. After a few minutes of her doing all the work the man grabbed her hair and started pumping his hips, ramming his cock in and out of her mouth, fucking her mouth and throat mercilessly. Suddenly he stopped, Sheryl's nose buried in his pubic hair. He exploded in her mouth and down her throat with animal ferocity. Her face started to turn red and she pulled back to get some air. He remained with his cock planted in her mouth for a long time, longer than I could endure. When she stood she went to kiss the man but he turned away and collapsed in his chair. Everybody laughed. Sheryl just stood among the men naked and beautiful with cum dripping from every hole in her body like it was an everyday occurrence. Maybe it was. That part hadn't been determined yet. I felt Mandy's arms around my shoulders. When I turned to look at her she was facing away from the monitor and crying. She was crying for me. I looked back at the screen and saw Sheryl bending over to pick up her dress. The men had their pants back on and were heading for the door. Sheryl took a long drink of the soda sitting on her desk, threw her head back to gargle, and then swallowed. She then opened a desk drawer, pulled out a towel, and started wiping the cum out of her holes. After a few minutes of running the towel between her legs and ass cheeks she walked around the desk and out of camera range. When she came back she was dressed in her usual business outfit and stuffing her little black dress into a dress bag. Five minutes later she was back at her computer reviewing her emails like nothing had happened. But something had happened. Our marriage had died. My heart was beating fast but not enough to shoot my blood pressure through the roof. I was surprisingly calm. Maybe I already knew what I was going to do. I became aware of Mandy's soft sobs on my shoulder again. "It's all over Mandy," I said quietly. She sat up and looked at the monitor and then at me. "How are you doing?" She asked. "Not too good, but a hell of a lot better than the other day. I'm pretty numb right now. I think I'm going to have a pretty bad weekend once it all sinks in." "What can I do?" "I don't know. I'm definitely not going home. I'll drive up to my father's place and talk with him. He's always had a pretty rational way of looking at things. Maybe he can give me some advice." "Well remember I'm here for you, we all are. Just ask." "Thanks Mandy. I appreciate it. And if I don't say anything to anybody else today, thank them for me too." "I will." Mandy left me alone with my thoughts. A few minutes later Red came in and sat down at one of the computers. He didn't make eye contact with me. I guess Mandy told him what went on. A half hour later four pictures appeared on the large 60 inch monitor. Beneath them was an organizational chart of the Enterprise Research and Development Corporation. "I thought you'd like to know. These are the four guys. They are all your wife's immediate supervisors. They're two levels down from the top echelon management and have direct control over her work. I have their personnel files if you want them. In another hour I'll know everything about their lives; finances, family, everything. I'll put everything in a file on your computer for you." I never said a word. Red continued working in silence and I sat there looking at the faces of the four men who fucked my wife. I can't blame them though. Any man in his right mind would want to fuck Sheryl: Anybody but me that is. I was no longer in my right mind. Adrianna was the last to leave and stopped by to see if I was okay. She heard the details about Sheryl's lunchtime session and spoke softly as she wished me well for the weekend. When I was alone again the pain started in earnest. Tears forced their way out of my eyes and onto the desk top. I had to get away and think. I looked at the telescope monitor and saw Sheryl packing up her desk. The dress bag with her little black dress was draped over her chair and she stuffed the cum soaked towel in another plastic bag. I picked up the phone and dialed home leaving Sheryl a message that I was going to my father's for the weekend. I then called my dad and asked if he wanted a visitor for the weekend. I don't know how he did it but he sensed something was wrong and said to come ahead. Fifteen minutes later I was on the road. ******** Monday morning I walked into the offices of The Landmass Development Group with more energy and sense of purpose than I had in several days. My dad is a wise man and helped me to figure out what I wanted to do. He didn't tell me what to do; he just helped me navigate the currents of the ocean I was drowning in. I made up my mind. I knew what had to happen. Now I needed my team to make things work. Jackie walked up to where I was making coffee and stood watching me. "You okay boss?" She asked, her black eyes staring holes through me. "I'm okay. Thanks for asking." Without saying another word she put her arms around me and gave me a giant hug. I felt the rings and studs of one ear digging in my chest. I didn't say a word. I just enjoyed the moment. "Am I disturbing anything?" Yan said from the door. We broke apart, acting startled and guilty. We walked away and smiled at the little Asian woman. She smiled back, her beautiful smile lighting up the room. She reached out for my hand as I passed and escorted me to my office. When Red showed up I asked him to gather the forces. I wanted to have a council of war. His smile was from ear to ear. Everybody gathered again in my office, with the 'In Conference' sign on the door. "Guys, I've come to a decision. Actually I had a lot of help making up my mind; my father. Anyway here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to see a lawyer today and start the divorce process. I'm going to have the papers served at her office at lunch time as soon as they're ready. Hopefully, the process server will interrupt one of her little trysts. Then I'm going to call her and let her know that I've been watching everything she's been doing. I'm going to tell her that she has a choice to make; me or her lovers. If she chooses me then she needs to do three things. File a sexual harassment suit naming her four supervisors and the management of her company. She has to resign. And finally I'm gong to ask her to explain why she did this to me. If she does everything I ask, without hesitation, I'll put the divorce on hold and see if we can work things out. I'm not sure we can after what I've seen but I'll give us a chance. If she doesn't do any of the three things then I'm going to send out an email barrage to everybody in Enterprise Research and Development containing short videos of her activities. Also the wives of her four supervisors will get the videos and an offer of the raw footage. I know it's vindictive but I need to do something, anything to let those men know they can't take advantage of Sheryl, and me. I need for them to feel some of the pain I feel. Maybe revenge isn't right but I don't care right now. "Now you guys need to get all this spy equipment out of here, and out of my house, and get out of their systems. I don't want to leave any trace that we were there. Pack up everything and get it out of here tonight. And anything that pertains to Sheryl, pack up separately and give it all to Adrianna to hold for me. Keep backups but don't keep anything that will get you in trouble. But before you do all that I need some help with the emails should it come to that. Red, can you do that for me? " "Already done boss. I'll set it up on your computer so it's untraceable back to you. With the push of a button the building across the street will implode from everybody simultaneously sucking in a breath when they see it." "Let's not get overly dramatic there Red," I said smiling. "I just want a nice neat nuclear strike and pray that I don't have to use it." "Uh boss," said Red sheepishly. "I might have some more information for you about what's been going on over there. Do you want it now or later in private?" "Shoot, everyone here knows everything else so a little more isn't going to matter. Go ahead." "I'm pretty sure I know when this all started and why. I went over your wife's emails for the last year and found one that says that she's in line for a major promotion when one of the managers retires this coming spring. It's from one of her bosses, Brad Paxton. When I looked at her calendar for the days after that email I see Paxton's name on her calendar at lunch every Wednesday. Boss, I think she's been having sex with her boss as a way of guaranteeing the promotion. It seemed to have started last October. In December another of the manager's names shows up on her lunchtime schedule, but on Thursdays. That one's the old fat guy. I'm only guessing here but I think somehow the old fat guy found out what they were doing and threatened to blow the whistle if he wasn't included. I found an email from him with a thinly veiled threat to that affect. Then in January a third manager's name appears on the schedule on Tuesdays and the fourth on Mondays starting in April. Once a month she has them all together on Friday, like you witnessed last week. She doesn't appear to be involved with any other managers or coworkers, just these four. Her weekly lunch schedules full up now and there aren't any other manager's anyway. I copied all the pertinent emails to your computer along with her calendar. "Oh, and you should know there wasn't any activity at your home over the weekend. She spent a quiet couple days lounging around the house, reading, took a long bath, and did some sun bathing. I think she's only messing around at work. Just thought you needed to know." "Thanks Red," I said trying to fit the new pieces of information into what I already knew. "I appreciate your diligence, all of you. I also appreciate your being there for me and your friendship. I'll never forget it." Everybody gave me the best present, they smiled at me. I looked back at my friends and smiled back. "Okay gang, let's get busy. And I want everything on the Landmass audit on my desk by five o'clock today. Oh and team, I'm going home this afternoon to get some things. I'm going to need somebody to keep an eye across the street and call me if she leaves the building. I'll let you all know where I'm staying as soon as I get situated." "No!" Both Mandy and Adrianna said at the same time. Mandy scowled and turned to Adrianna and put a finger in her face and said, "No! I already told you Marty that you can stay in our guest room. I've even changed the sheets in there. As soon as you get what you want from your house you'll be staying with us. Don't argue with me. That's what's going to happen." "Okay, I know when not to argue. I'll call you when I'm finished and get directions." The meeting ended and everyone scattered. Red sat at one computer setting up my nuclear email bomb. Yan and Jackie started dismantling and boxing up the equipment around the room, all except the telescope and the computer monitor. We were going to need that when the shit hits the fan. Mandy and Adrianna went to the other office and started gathering all of the Landmass paperwork. I'm afraid our original estimate was right. We weren't going to be able to pull Landmass' collective asses out of the fire this time. I found a divorce attorney near our house and made an appointment for that afternoon. At lunch time Adrianna came to where I was sitting in Yan's office and handed me my cell phone. I didn't want to be anywhere near the telescope monitor during lunch time. I'd already seen too much. "Marty call Sheryl. We need you to call to see if she acts the same way she did last time after you hang up. We need a video of it." Sadly I took the phone and pressed her office number on speed dial. When she answered she sounded winded, like she had just run back to pick up the phone. But I knew that's not what she did. In my imagination I saw her lying back on her desk with her legs up in the air, spread wide, and one of her lovers pounding away between them. I didn't need to see it; my imagination conjured up enough painful images. When we hung up I looked over at Adrianna who was standing just outside the doorway looking down the hall. She waved down the hall toward my office and then turned toward me. "Thanks boss, we got it," she said. "Did she..." I asked sheepishly. Adrianna just nodded and walked away. ******** Monday and Tuesday night I stayed late at work and successfully avoided Sheryl at home. Wednesday at 12:15 pm was the scheduled time for everything to happen. I spent Tuesday preparing the final report to Landmass about their financial situation. I needed the office space for another couple days so I just set the report on my desk until I finished what I had to do. Audit Surprise Ch. 01 Red told me he figured out a way to unlock Sheryl's office door remotely. "You see, every door in their offices has an electronic lock. Every employee has a microchip in their id. badge and they wave it at the door lock to open any door. To lock a door once they're inside they press the lock/unlock button. There's a little light next to each door handle: Locked doors display red, unlocked doors green. One of their computers controls who has access to which rooms and logs all entries and exits. And guess who now controls that computer? At the proper time I'll unlock her door and then... Well, you know what happens next." He was rather proud of himself, so much so he smiled. Smiling isn't something Red did too often. Wednesday morning was quiet and particularly solemn. We all met for a late breakfast and then adjourned to the quiet of my temporary office at Landmass. Exactly at noon Sheryl's lover showed up. It was the Brad fellow who I saw fingering Sheryl that first day. We all sat around the telescope monitor and watched as they talked for a while and then started to get down to business. Sheryl was going to get more than a foot rub this time. By the time Sheryl's breasts were hanging out of her blouse and Brad's hands were down inside her panties, I was getting nervous and worried that the process server wouldn't show up on time. As we watched, the two lovers suddenly jerked their heads toward the door and franticly started getting their clothes back in place. A man in a suit came into view and stood in front of the desk. He said something we couldn't hear, but we all knew what he was saying, and then he held out a large manila envelope. Sheryl took it and he turned and walked away. Sheryl sat down heavily in her chair while Brad just stood there looking stupid. We watched as she pulled out the papers and stared at them. Brad tried to take the papers from her but she pulled back and everything flew all over her desk. They scattered around with the photos landing face up. Gingerly she picked up one picture in each hand and looked at them. One picture showed her extending her middle finger at the telephone, the other showed her bent over her desk with the old man's dick in her ass. Her head snapped around looking out the window. She ran to the window placing her palms on the glass looking across at our building. I could clearly see the expression on her face. It was utter terror. She was busted and she knew it. She also knew her world had just changed, and not for the better. I pressed Sheryl's office number on my cell phone speed dial. When it rang she turned and looked at her phone like it was a rattlesnake shaking it's rattle at her. Slowly she moved to the phone and picked it up. Her answer was almost a sob. "Hello?" I said with a growl. "Tell Brad to leave." She fell back down in her chair. She sat quietly with her chin on her chest for a long while before regaining her composure. Over the phone I heard her say, "Brad, go away. It's my husband." He started to argue with her when she jumped up and screamed at him, "Just get the fuck out. He knows all about us asshole. If I were you I'd get out of here and run as far away as I could. Marty may be an accountant but he can kick your ass from here to Sunday. Now get out!" I waited until I saw him leave. Sheryl sat back down and turned her chair to face the window. "Sheryl, if there's any chance in hell for our marriage to survive you have to listen carefully and do exactly what I say," I said. "No arguments, no hesitation. You get one chance and one chance only. Do you understand?" Through her tears she said, "Yes, I understand." "I'm not messing around here Sheryl. You get only one chance to save everything. Are you sure you understand?" "Yes," she whimpered. "Good, now this is what's going to happen. First, you're going to quit your job. Second, you're going to file a sexual harassment law suit against each of your four lovers and against Enterprise as a whole. Third, you're going to explain to me why." I saw her freeze and her empty hand move up to cover her mouth. I also heard the sobbing on the other end of the phone line. I reached over to my computer with my hand hovering over the 'enter' key. Once I pressed 'enter,' everybody at Enterprise, and the wives of a certain four managers, were going to receive the video of her activities. I hated to do it but I would. I allowed her to compose herself and waited for an answer. I waited for a long time with my hand in mid-air. The first words I heard over the phone were, "But Marty I've got a lot invested in Enterprise. I'm going to be..." I pressed 'enter.' I also pressed 'off' on my phone. "Okay guys," I said. "Let's get the rest of this equipment out of here and go home. Take the rest of the day off. I've got a meeting with Landmass' top man to give him the bad news at two. Go home and I'll see you back at the office tomorrow." I glanced over at the telescope's display and saw Sheryl screaming and banging on the glass of her office window. Red reached down and turned off the display putting me out of my misery, but I couldn't stop staring at the blank screen. Before I could do or say anything else all five of my group, my team of expert accountants, my computer geeks, my best friends in the entire world, came over and put their arms around me. Even Red. Everybody understood what just happened and shared in my sadness. I never felt more love and compassion from anyone else in my entire life like I did just then. I had the best group of friends in the world and knew that with them by my side I could weather any storm. I unchained my emotions and let the tears fall. End of Chapter 1. Audit Surprise Ch. 02 To the reader: This is chapter two of a three part story about Marty and Sheryl. It would be best to read chapter one before reading this to understand what happened that screwed up their lives so completely. A big thank you to everyone who commented on chapter one. I asked for comments before posting chapters two and three because if chapter one was crap I didn't want to post two more pieces of crap and smell up the place. Also thanks for all the suggestions on what should happen in the subsequent chapters. Unfortunately, I already finished both chapters and didn't make any changes. Some of you will like the way I took it and some of you won't. Comment on this if you are so moved. As always all comments are welcome and read. Thanks again to jo for editing. You did your usual bang up job. © 2013 by the author. ******** For the last year my life has been shit. I did it. It's my fault. There's nobody to blame except me. I totally messed up everything. I messed up my marriage. I messed up my career. I even messed up my mind. There isn't a chance in hell I'll ever get any of it back, but I've made up my mind that I'm going to try. Exactly one year ago today a man showed up in my office while I was having sex with my boss. There we were standing behind my desk our mouths locked together, my blouse open with my tits hanging out, Brad's hand down in my skirt with his finger up inside me, and my hand wrapped around his cock, when a middle-aged man in a cheap suit walked into my office. I have no idea how he got in because I was positive I locked the door, but there he was standing on the other side of the desk watching us. Brad and I jumped around like crazy people getting everything back in our clothes as he stood there with a stupid smirk. I distinctly remember yelling at him, "Who the fuck are you and what do you want?" He just smiled and asked me if I was Sheryl Hughes. I yelled again, "That's what it says on the door. Of course I'm Sheryl, now what do you want?" He pulled a large manila envelope out from under his coat, held it out toward me and said in the calmest voice ever, "Madam, you are served." That's the moment my life went to shit. I've lived every moment since then in a fog, everything before then only a painful memory, everything after that a blur. Only in the last couple months has my mind worked well enough to understand everything that happened. Thanks to a very sympathetic therapist, I now know, and better yet understand, what caused my life to be as messed up as it is. Now I'm going to go over every agonizing moment of what led up to that pivotal moment to make sure I haven't missed something important. If I'm going to try to restart my life I have to understand why I did what I did. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the captain. We've just received permission to taxi out to the runway and get in line for our departure. There are three flights ahead of us so while we're waiting our turn we'll start the pre-flight briefing video. Again we'd like to thank you for flying Delta for your trip to Boston today." The video monitor above the aisle came alive. "All carry-on items should now be stored securely..." Blah, blah, blah. I've heard their canned speech a thousand times. I've only got two hours to go over everything before we land and I'm not going to waste any time with something I've heard before. I know the routine. Now let's see. I've got to start where all tragic stories start, at the beginning. But where actually is the beginning? Did it start when I was born or when got married or when I started at Enterprise or maybe it was the day I learned about my promotion? If my therapist is right everything started in my childhood. But I don't need to go back that far to review the events that led up to my running away from my husband, now ex-husband, and my former home. I need to start when I made the decision to cheat on him. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was a cloudy Friday in October when my supervisor Brad Paxton called me into his office just before lunch. He said he had some good news for me. "Sheryl, come on in and close the door," Brad said with a big smile. I sat in the chair facing his desk waiting for him to finish typing something into his computer reminiscing about my time at Enterprise. I'd been working at Enterprise Research and Development and for Brad for eight years as one of a number of Account Executives. My job has been to coordinate all of the processes, tasks, technical documents, and contractor interactions that Brad and the other three supervisors negotiated with fifty or so of our suppliers and end-product clients. I'm good at my job and after the first year felt confident enough in what I did that I thought I could do anything. I was even cocky enough to believe that I could do any of my supervisor's jobs, and sometimes better than they did. I have the education and the prior work experience to handle their job's, it's just that moving into management at Enterprise is like trying to break through a brick wall with a marshmallow, especially for women. I've set my sights on being the first female supervisor at Enterprise and nothing was going to stand in my way. There's still a lot of the 'old boy network' to break through. In spite of all that I get along with everybody from the office errand boy to the CEO and I'm sure everybody likes me too. "Sheryl, I think I may have some good news for you," Brad said sitting back in his huge executive chair. "What I'm about to tell you is in strictest confidence. Please don't repeat anything I'm about to say. Okay, here goes. Ambrose St. John told the board on Wednesday that he intends to retire next May. That's going to leave a vacancy for a line supervisor position in Logistics. It's fallen to me to make a recommendation for his replacement. Right now I've got a number of qualified people who could fill his shoes but I have in my mind only one, you. Your work has been exemplary, your attitude exceptional, and your knowledge of Enterprise's procedures and contacts beyond what your current position demands. In short you're a very qualified candidate for the job. But there are several others equally qualified candidates; some have more seniority than you. Now I just can't give it to you and bypass everybody else, I have to post it and interview everybody who makes it through HR. But in the end it still comes down to my decision. "Sheryl, I think you would do a great job, it's just that I can't tell how much you really want to move up in the company. How strong is your ambition? What would you do to show me you really want the supervisor's position?" "Mr. Paxton, I've worked hard since I've been here to learn everything about everything. There isn't anything I haven't done, no area I don't have experience with, I've even filled in for you when you were on leave, and frankly I've been able handle everything with ease. I'm more than ready for a bigger challenge now and the supervisor's position would be ideal. What can I do to prove to you that I really am the perfect candidate for the job?" "I've been thinking about that," he said with the same big smile. "I was thinking about getting away from the office where we can spend some time discussing what would be a good way for you to prove yourself. How about over lunch? I have an opening next Wednesday. How about we meet at La Chateau at, say noon on Wednesday? That way we can relax and be ourselves and talk frankly. And I'll pick up the tab too." "I don't see any harm in that," I said smiling back at him. "Is there anything you want me to bring?" "No just yourself." "Thank you Mr. Paxton for giving me this opportunity. I won't disappoint you." "I'm sure you won't Sheryl. I'm sure you won't." La Chateau is one of the fanciest restaurants in all of Boston. The fact that it's in one of the many glass and chrome high-rises in the middle of the business district doesn't make it any less discriminating. I remember thinking as I walked to the table where Brad sat waiting for me that I'd have to invite Marty here one day. My dear husband works way too hard and inviting him to a fancy lunch would be a nice treat. Maybe I can even convince him to leave work a little early for some of good loving at home afterwards. Brad already had a bottle of wine opened and poured a glass for me as I sat down. We talked a bit about the responsibilities of the Logistics supervisor before ordering lunch. I tried to keep the price to something reasonable but Brad insisted I splurge. "It's on the company tab," he reminded me. While we ate I talked about me. I told him about my husband, my education, even what my ambitions and dreams were. After dessert we sat back to enjoy another glass of the fine Merlot and by then I think I told him my entire life story. "Sheryl, we've talked a lot today about your ambitions and your dreams but you've never said what you were willing to do to get my recommendation. I only want what's best for Enterprise and will recommend the best person for the job, whoever that is. But what can you do to tilt the odds in your favor? What will you do to make you standout in my mind?" "I don't know what more I can do than show you that I'm a hard worker and..." "No, no, no, I don't mean stuff you put on your resume. I mean personal things." "Like what?" I asked. I hadn't really caught onto his train of thought. "Well you were willing to have lunch with me today, how about next Monday we have lunch to continue our discussion?" "Okay, I can do that." "And I want you to think about something. Next Monday I want you to answer this question. Are you willing to do anything I ask to get this job? I mean anything. Don't answer now, just think about it and let me know Monday. I think the right answer may be what tips the scales in your favor. Just think about it and we'll talk. "Waiter, check please." It wasn't until I got back to my office that I fully realized what he just asked. 'I mean anything' he said. His 'anything' meant only one thing, sex. I had to decide if Brad's 'anything' was worth the risks and the gains. I didn't get any work done the rest of the day thinking about it. I thought about it all weekend too. I'm sure Marty saw how down my mood was. Even at night when we made love I wasn't my usual energetic self. Oh, we had great sex but it wasn't our usual falling off the bed two-person orgy. It was slow and gentle and loving. Marty's the best lover I've ever had. Well, I've only experienced three other men before him but he's by far the best. Maybe not blessed with the biggest tool, average from what I gather, but he's the most caring and loving man I've ever met. I weighed the pros and cons of cheating on him to get a promotion at work. By Monday morning I had gone over every aspect, every risk, every contingency in my mind and felt pretty good that I could separate my work life and my personal life enough to get the promotion. I had a plan, if Brad would agree to it. And, I rationalized it was only temporary until the job was mine. When we were at lunch on Monday I came right out and asked if what he said was what he meant. "Did your 'I mean anything' really mean what I think?" I asked. "Are you asking that we get together outside of work for a little romp in the hay?" "Whoa, before I answer, I need to ask you a couple questions first. Are you recording this conversation?" "No, why would I do that?" "Okay, then who have you discussed our conversation with?" "Nobody." "Okay, then I'll answer your original question. Yes, I want the two of us to get to know each other a lot better, on a physical level. I want to do things with you that I've only fantasized about when you sat in my office. I want to hold you and run my hands all over your sweet body and watch your face as you orgasm. Does that answer your question?" "About as well as can be answered," I said. "And a promotion is contingent on it?" "I don't really want to come out and say that but if you're nice to me then I'll be nice to you, tit for tat so to speak." I leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Okay Brad, I want this job, I REALLY want this job. If it means fucking you to get it, I will. However I do have a few conditions. First, we are never going to do anything after work hours; no dinners, no weekends together, no sneaking off to some sleazy motel for a few minutes. Whatever we do we do at work at lunch time, either in your office or mine. Even though we both have those floor-to-ceiling windows, nobody can see in since the window glass has a covering that makes it look like a mirror from the outside. We each have a desk and a couch and a lock on the door. It will be in our office and no place else. Second, absolutely nobody else will know anything about this. I mean no one! Third, when I say it's over it's over. If I think of any others conditions I'll let you know." He sat back smiling and I happened to glance down in his lap and saw his napkin sticking up at an obscene tent-like angle. "I agree," he whispered back. "I think we should schedule a regular lunch meeting on Wednesday to discuss the progress of your work. Say every Wednesday at noon in your office?" "Okay, just remember to lock the door when you come in." And it started. Our first time together was nothing to write home about, Brad may have been as nervous as I was. We kissed a bit as he ran his hands all over me and then he not too gently pulled my clothes off. I stood in front of him wearing only my shoes and he just stood there looking at me. "Absolutely better than any fantasy," he mumbled. He pulled me to the couch and made me straddle his hips. When he looked down he realized his pants were still up. So he made me stand while he pulled them down, and then pulled me back down to his lap, this time impaling his cock in my fairly dry hole. But it didn't stay dry for long. He kissed my neck and my shoulders and my breasts while his hands guided my hips up and down on his lap. Within a few minutes we were both breathing heavy and enjoying the coupling. I started kissing him back and rubbed his chest as I slid up and down on his shaft. Our movements sped up to the point we had the couch bouncing against the wall. Luckily the office next door to mine was empty. I felt his long, warm cock sliding inside me pushing me toward an orgasm. I let my head fall back enjoying the sensation of his body joining mine, not thinking about anything except the warmth I felt between my legs. Suddenly he froze as if I had broken him. I looked down and now his head was back on the top of the couch. He mouth was open wide and his eyes tightly closed. He came forcefully and I felt the hot liquid splash against my cervix. At that moment I realized I didn't insist on him wearing a condom. It didn't matter, I was on the pill, but I would have to ask him about any diseases he might have or any other partners he might have been with. I'll leave that conversation for later because right now he was finished and I wasn't. I needed to come too. I stood up from his lap and sat down beside him on the couch. He put one arm around my neck and the other he placed over my breasts cupping one in his hand. His face was nestled in my neck and his breathing felt like he was going to sleep. I desperately needed to come and he was going to sleep. So I put my hand between my legs and spent the next few minutes rubbing myself to completion. He never felt my body spasm nor did he hear my moan when I finally let go. By the time he came to life again I was dressed and standing in front of him looking down at his shriveled, cum-encrusted cock. He looked somewhat embarrassed as he stood and pulled his pants up. Finding his masculinity again, he took me in his arms and gave me a long deep kiss all the while massaging my ass cheeks with his hands. When it was over he left without a word. So much for our first Wednesday 'status' meeting. I sat at my desk for the longest time thinking about what I had just done. I had sex with someone who wasn't my husband for the first time since I got married. I started to cry. I just cheated on my husband. But I did it for something I've always wanted, something I needed to prove to everyone that I was good at what I did. Getting that promotion would tell everybody that I really was a good worker. I needed that. Besides, there was no way Marty would ever find out. All I had to do was act naturally when I got home. I went to the ladies room and cleaned up Brad's mess. While sitting on the toilet using wads of toilet paper to clean the cum from between my legs, I tried to think of ways to not feel guilty about being with Brad. If I didn't do something about the guilt then I might let something slip with Marty. If only Marty was mean or cruel I wouldn't feel guilty cheating on him. But he's not. Marty is the sweetest man in the world. He's never done anything to hurt me or disrespect me and I know he loves me unconditionally. So why am I disrespecting him? For the promotion of course. This promotion would be the biggest thing I've ever done and it would make everyone, especially Marty, very proud of me. Everybody would finally believe that I can accomplish great things on my own. So, I'm really doing this for Marty. He'll never know what I did to get it; I've just got to be careful. All I have to do is keep Brad's activities confined to the office and everything will be okay. And I have to remember to clean up afterwards. I don't want to take any of Brad's cum home to Marty. I thought about what to do about the guilt for a long time sitting in that stall and finally came up with an idea, maybe not the greatest idea I've ever had but still something workable. For the hour or so Brad and I get together I can pretend that Marty is mean to me and our marriage is in trouble. It would only be play-acting but once Brad finishes then I can go back to reality and think about my wonderful Marty. A bit of a mind game? Sure, but I'm pretending to enjoy Brad's screwing anyway so a little more acting wouldn't hurt anything, just so long as I don't feel guilty about what I'm doing. The next 'status' meeting wasn't as awkward. This time I gave Brad a blow job and he ate me until I came. His cock seemed familiar in my mouth probably because Brad's was about the same length and circumference as Marty's, however when he came he filled my mouth with more of his seed than I've ever had at one time before. All in all it was an enjoyable experience. And his tongue was very talented as he ate and licked between my legs. When I exploded with my only orgasm, I remembered to stifle my sounds. All Brad heard was a long, deep moan. With Marty I'm able to let it all out and frequently scream. I did remember to have that talk with him about condoms and diseases and the like. His answers seemed okay and I silently agreed to forgo the condoms. I didn't like them anyway. And I remembered to bring a towel from home to clean myself up with afterwards. From there we proceeded to do just about every sex act and in just about every position. The only thing I absolutely refused to do was to clean off his cock after it's been in my ass. No way was I going to eat out my own asshole. Everything else I would do. I made sure he left thinking I enjoyed it. Sometimes I did, most times I didn't. One time just before Christmas Brad had me bent over my desk with his cock plunging in and out of my pussy when my phone rang. Since I happened to be right beside it I looked at the caller id. and saw it was Marty. I motioned for Brad to be quiet and answered it. He never slowed down fucking me from behind but at least he was quiet. I picked up the phone and said, "Hey babe, what's up?" Marty's voice sounded happy when he said, "I was just calling to let you know I'm leaving work a little early to do some Christmas shopping. I should be home around the time you get there but if I'm not don't start dinner, I'll get something for us out." Audit Surprise Ch. 02 Brad was working hard behind me and I could feel an orgasm building deep down in my body. And from experience Brad was just about ready to shoot his load. I needed to end the call quickly and finish up. "Okay sweetie, I'll see you at home. Gotta run to a meeting. See you." For some reason I pointed my middle finger at the phone after setting it back in the cradle. I held onto the sides of the desk for dear life as Brad pounded and pounded in me pushing me toward my lunchtime orgasm. And when I came so did Brad. This time we both moaned out loud. As we dressed Brad asked me about giving the finger to the phone. I didn't know he saw me do that and for a second I didn't know what to say. "Marty and I haven't been getting along too well lately," I lied. "I was perturbed that he chose that moment to call. Shit, I was just about to come and he called. I had my lover's cock inside me making me feel so good and I guess I was a little mad. Fuck him!" I guess Brad bought it but the more I thought about it after he left the more I convinced myself it was true, all except the part about us not getting along too well lately. Marty and I had been getting along fine, I was just mad he interrupted my building orgasm. Giving him the finger was a crude thing to do and truthfully I don't know why I did it in the first place. Marty called a couple more times while we were together and I gave the phone the finger each time. After a while it just became part of the play-acting I did, I guess more out of frustration over Marty's poor timing than anything else. Two days later I received an email from Ambrose St. John, the man who was retiring soon and whose position I wanted. His message said he knew what Brad and I were really doing in our weekly 'status' meetings and he wanted to talk to me about it or he would have a talk with the Board of Directors. I called him up and asked him to come to my office. When he did he brought Brad along with him. What he said was quick and to the point. "Mrs. Hughes, Brad, I know what's been going on in your office on Wednesdays. Don't lie to me and deny it, I have proof, photographic proof. Don't ask how I got it just be assured that I have it. I'll show it to you some time. So, now you're asking yourselves what I want. I want to be a part of it. I want to be included in your little meetings. If not, I'll go to the Board of Directors and show them my pictures." I just sat there hanging my head. I didn't look at Brad. I knew what the old guy wanted. Maybe he didn't know the reason I agreed to start with Brad in the first place but if he had pictures then any chance of my getting the promotion was out the window. They could even fire me. I looked up at him and said, "What exactly do you want?" He smiled a little smile, got up, closed and locked the door, then walked over standing next to me and said, "Let's start with a blow job," as he unzipped his zipper. I had no choice. The fat, white-haired old guy had me over a barrel. So I got down on my knees and took his tiny little cock into my mouth and sucked it until it was hard. His hands pushed my head all the way onto his cock trying to make me deep throat him. That wasn't going to happen because his length wasn't enough to even hit the back of my throat. I continued to suck on him as he thrust his hips into my face until he stiffened and shot his load in my mouth. It was a small, salty tasting load that I swallowed before looking up at him, and over at Brad. "That was very good Mrs. Hughes," he said walking to the door zipping up his zipper. "Why don't you schedule a 'status' meeting for just us on Thursdays? I think I'm available at lunch time." And then he was gone. Brad and I looked at one another. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I don't know how he found out. What are you going to do?" "Shit, what choice do I have?" I said. "I want his job so I guess I'll just have to meet with him on Thursdays until he retires." Brad shook his head then got up and left. Great! Now I had two office lovers. The week before Christmas my schedule started with Brad on Wednesday and Ambrose on Thursday. I found out after the shit hit the fan that Ambrose really didn't have pictures of us. He lied. By then we'd been having our lunchtime meeting for a while. When I thought about it I realized that he'd manipulated me into doing something I didn't want to do pretty easily. I guess that's what made him a good manager. Brad still left me unsatisfied even if he went away happy. Usually I found myself masturbating after he shot his load in me or waiting until he was gone and finishing the job. By then we had established a pattern and I could get him off in 15 or 20 minutes and have the rest of the hour to do myself and relax. Usually it was lock the door, kiss once or twice, strip off our clothes, fuck or suck, Brad shoots his load, I come using my fingers, and we both get dressed. Brad wasn't too imaginative, just straight suck and fuck. But when Ambrose joined in things started to change. Ambrose was a bit more forceful and always told me what he wanted and every Thursday was different. Some days he had me lying on my back on my couch while he grunted away on top. Some days he bent me over my desk and fucked me from behind. Some days I knelt in front of him and sucked his tiny cock. And some days he used my ass to deposit his cum. I was there to please him, to make his day, to blow his mind. The fact that I was another person who may or may not have enjoyed our time together was irrelevant. He fucked me until he blew then he left. For him I was just a cum bucket. Most of the time I didn't even finish myself off afterwards, I just wiped off his mess and went back to work. One Thursday at the end of January Ambrose showed up with a surprise. He brought along one of my other managers. I just stood there looking at the two of them as Ambrose talked. "Mrs. Hughes, Sheryl, I've been telling my good friend Tom how good you are at sucking cocks. He didn't believe me so I invited him along to see for himself. And I told him how good you looked without that fussy business suit on. So why don't you start today by giving us a little show and take off those clothes. Then get down on your knees. Since this is my time I'll go first. After I come then you can take care of Tom." I stood there not knowing what to do. Having another manager know I was having sex for a promotion wasn't what I wanted. But the old fart said he had pictures of me and Brad and I couldn't risk having them sent to the board or they'd most likely fire me. If I lost my job then the cheating I did would go for nothing. I was stuck and I knew it. So, what's the old saying, 'in for a penny, in for a pound'? But I didn't know what to do with Tom standing there. "Mrs. Hughes, I asked you to do something," Ambrose growled. "Remember the pictures?" Like a trapped animal I just stood there wondering how deep the hole was I was digging. I reached up and started to unbutton my blouse. Ambrose punched Tom in the shoulder and smiled. Tom just watched as I slid my blouse down my arms and placed it on my desk. I reached to my left hip and slid the zipper of my skirt down. All I had to do was shake my hips and the skirt fell to the floor. I picked it up and set it on my blouse. I hooked my fingers in my pantyhose and slid my pantyhose and the little wisp of a panty underneath downward. Stepping out of my shoes and pulling my feet out of the heap of pantyhose, I lifted one foot and took the pantyhose and shoes off and put them in the pile. I stood there wearing nothing but my bra. I walked over to the middle of the room where Ambrose stood with his pants around his feet pulling on his cock with an index finger and thumb. I looked him in the eye, and reached behind my back and unhooked my bra. My breasts fell out and I caught the garment and tossed it to my desk and knelt down in front of him. He stepped forward and moved his cock toward my mouth. I opened and sucked it in and bounced my head back and forth trying to make him come as quickly as I could. He didn't disappoint. After about five minutes of vigorous sucking he stiffened up and rammed my face into his pubic hair. I felt the hot liquid dripping on the back of my tongue as he came in my mouth. When he finished he stepped back to watch me swallow then tapped Tom on the shoulder. "Your turn good buddy." Tom stepped forward and unzipped his pants and let them fall. He stood there with his boxers covering his lower half waiting for me to do something. I wasn't sure exactly what he wanted so I reached up for the elastic waist band and started pulling the boxers down. When they were mid-thigh his cock popped out and almost hit me in the nose. I was startled for a moment as the longest, fattest cock I've ever seen stared me in the face. I've been with three men before Marty, and for that matter a couple afterwards, and have never seen a cock the size of the one staring me in the face. Even a lot of the men in those porno movies weren't this big. It was enormous. I looked up in his face and saw him smiling down at me. "Don't hurt yourself," he said with a smile. "It usually takes a little time to get used to." I just set back on my feet and stared at the monster hanging in front of him. "There's no way I'm going to get that whole thing in my mouth," I thought. Slowly one of my hands reached out and wrapped its fingers around the shaft. I didn't tell it to do that, it had a mind of its own. It was hard and warm and I thought I could feel blood coursing through its veins. I just stayed there holding the mighty shaft for the longest time looking from it to Tom's face and back down again. I had to build up my nerve to lean forward and take in my mouth but when I did I had to open my mouth as wide as it could go. I took the giant shaft in my mouth as far as I could and felt it hit the back of my mouth. I stopped and pulled out and started over. After a few times getting used to its size I moved up and down on it easily. It was absolutely the largest thing I've ever had in my mouth, ever. Once I got into a rhythm I found I could suck it from the bulbous tip all the way down until it hit my throat, which was about half its length. I wasn't going to try to deep throat him, it would probably end up in my stomach. While I sucked that monstrosity I noticed something odd. I was dripping wet between my legs. So much so that I felt something running down my thigh. Tom's huge cock turned me on and I wanted it inside me down there. I continued to suck and lick enjoying every inch of him as he violated my mouth. I reached up with one hand and found his ball sack and caressed it and gently squeezed it making him jump with each stroke of my mouth. I felt a twinge in his thighs, and then another, and another before he grabbed the back of my head and held me still, the shaft against the back of my mouth. Then he let loose. He shot his load into my mouth filling it to overflowing. He kept coming and coming and coming until I thought I was going to drown from all the juices. I swallowed three times to get everything down. I held his cock in my mouth until it started to shrink, I didn't want to let it go. When I finally pulled back and released his cock, it fell downward bouncing against his thigh. Then I looked down and saw lines of white liquid dangling from my chin and droplets on my breasts. I smiled and looked up at him. He smiled down at me and said, "Not bad for the first time. Wait until you feel it between your legs." My eyes got as big as saucers. For a second I imagined what I would feel like with that thing impaled in me. The tingling in between my legs became a series of twitches as I thought about him inside me. "I think Mrs. Hughes can squeeze you in at lunchtime on Tuesday," Ambrose said. Tom pulled his pants back up but I didn't move. I just knelt there thinking about his giant cock and what it could do to me. The more I thought about it the more I wanted it. By the time my mind came back down from the heavens they were gone. I looked over to make sure the red light was on saying they locked my door on the way out and fell over onto my back. I started rubbing my pussy vigorously. It didn't take long. I exploded, and squirted all over the side of my desk with one of the most massive orgasms I've ever experienced at my own hand. I just lay on the floor naked, panting, and trying to get my mind around what I just experienced. And I dreamed about next Tuesday. Now I had three lovers. The week started again and all day Monday I thought about what I was going to do Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday for lunch, particularly Tuesday. And I wasn't disappointed. When Tom showed up on Tuesday I found I wanted him more than I've ever wanted a man before, almost as much as my husband. We kissed and he ran his hands all over me and I rubbed between his legs while we undressed each other. Tom was gentle and caring and I found myself enjoying his body. He was a beautiful man, his body was tall and firm and well toned. Once naked I had a chance to look at him from bottom to top. It blew me away seeing how much he looked like a body builder. But what hung down from between his legs looked like it could do some weight lifting of its own. He led me to the couch and put me on my back and got between my legs. He kissed between my thighs and licked up and down the slit tasting my wetness and driving me wild. When he sucked my clit into his mouth I almost jumped off the couch. His mouth and tongue were wonderful, but I wanted his giant cock where his tongue was. I couldn't stop thinking about it. He licked and sucked me everywhere, but I particularly enjoyed when he pulled my clit into his mouth. His tongue and mouth brought me to heights of ecstasy that no man, except Marty, ever had. I tensed; I threw my head back; I moaned; and I exploded into his mouth. My mind went over the edge with my orgasm. As the world started to coalesce around me again I felt the heat of Tom's body on top of me. The head of his shaft rubbed up and down on my slit making it wetter than it already was. Everything between my legs tingled with anticipation. I wanted him inside me so desperately that I wrapped my legs around his hips and pulled him toward me not caring how wet or how narrow my pussy was. I just wanted his giant cock inside me. There aren't enough words in the English language to describe the feeling of his massive cock sliding up inside me. He stretched me like never before and it didn't hurt at all. It just made me feel like we had merged into a single person I was so full. And when he hit my cervix I jumped. No one has ever bottomed out in me before, and he wasn't even all the way inside. My mind ceased working. I just felt his body on top of mine and the heat of his breath against my neck as he started stroking in and out. I responded in kind and pumped up to meet his strokes. He took me to heaven. Tom was an expert lover, gentle and caring in his love making. It was making love. Brad and Ambrose screwed me but Tom made love to me. He took his time and brought me along with him as he built up toward his own orgasm. He pumped inside me, slowly at first then increasing the pace until his thrusts drove me deeply into the cushions of the couch. We held onto each other and stoked for the longest time and when Tom came inside me I went to heaven with him. We both exploded at the same time, moaning and panting and kissing. It was absolutely the best orgasm I've ever had, even better than the one I gave myself after sucking his cock the week before. We just held each other lying on the couch for several minutes. When he finally pulled out and sat up a gush of fluids flowed out of me and onto the couch. We laughed at the puddle between us. I got my towel and cleaned between my legs and then went over and cleaned between his, gently stroking his beautiful, limp shaft. When I mopped up the little puddle of cum the towel was soaked. When we finished dressing I found I couldn't make eye contact with him. The guilt of what I had done had set in. Usually it didn't hit until after they were gone but I was on the verge of tears standing there in front of him knowing I just made love to someone who wasn't my husband. And make no mistake about it, we made love, we didn't just fuck. That's why I felt so guilty. He must have known what I was feeling because he came over and put his arms around me hugging me close to his body. I started to cry into his shoulder. "I didn't hurt you did I Sheryl?" He asked. I started to smile. He didn't know why I was crying. He thought his big cock must have hurt me. It didn't. I hurt myself by starting down my own personal path of destruction. "I'm okay," I said. "I'll see you next week." When he left I sat back and thought about the past hour on the couch with him. I alternately smiled and cried. But the crying won out. After a while I couldn't stop crying. On Wednesday, Brad fucked me in my ass. On Thursday old fart took my ass too which made me wonder if the two of them were talking and comparing notes. The three of us went on like that for a few weeks. One Friday they all came in unannounced and locked the door. That was the first time I entertained all three of them at the same time. That was also the first time I've ever had more than one man inside my body at the same time. We tried many different combinations of who went where but the one that drove me wild was me straddling Tom, his wonderful giant cock in my pussy, and Brad in my ass. Old fart was in my mouth and came long before the other two finished off inside me. And for the first time Brad gave me an orgasm. That day I had more orgasms in the two hours we spent fucking than ever before. My legs and mouth ached until the end of the day. I was totally fucked out. I told them before they left that we were only going to do that once a month. It turned out to be a wise decision. The only manager I wasn't fucking on a regular basis was David Loretta. I couldn't figure out why he wasn't in the mix, and glad he wasn't, until one Monday he showed up just before lunch and sat down across from me. "Ambrose told me about your lunch time 'status' meetings and said you still have Monday available. Well, it's Monday and I'm here. So show me what you've got to offer." When lunch was over, as I put my clothes back on, I thought about David. He wasn't anything spectacular. His cock was about the same size as Marty's. He wasn't as good at licking my pussy as Marty. He wasn't as gentle as Marty. The one thing he did have that Marty didn't was a strange foot fetish. For some reason the guy played with my feet the entire time he fucked me. He even sucked on my toes and licked the bottom of my feet a few times. After he came he dipped two fingers in my pussy and pulled out a big glob of his cum and painted my toenails with it. Some strange guy! Now I had four lovers. Our lunchtime 'status' meetings went on for a few more weeks. The next month we had another two hour session on Friday this time with all four men. Again I had a number of explosive orgasms, thanks primarily to Tom, but Brad and David contributed too. For some reason Ambrose just didn't do anything for me. He never got me excited or wet or anything. He just used my holes to dump his cum in on a weekly basis. The next week went back to the usual schedule. One Wednesday a few weeks later I got a surprise while Brad was giving me a leisurely finger fuck. Marty called. "Hi honey," I said trying not to let on I was getting excited. "This is a nice surprise. What's up?" For a moment he was quiet. Here I was laying back in my chair with another man's fingers pumping in and out of my pussy, talking to my husband on my cell phone. I forced myself to control my voice so he didn't hear anything. Audit Surprise Ch. 02 "Honey, is everything okay?" I asked when he didn't say anything for a long time. "I... I...I just called to tell you how much I loved you," He finally managed to get out. "Aw, that's so sweet," I cooed. "I love you too." "Yeah, I was sitting here staring out the window and thought how much I missed you. I can't wait until tonight and have you in my arms again." "Honey, that's so sweet. I can't wait to be with you too. Look, I'm a little busy at the moment. Can I call you back after lunch?" Brad had me so worked up that I was lifting my bottom off the chair as his fingers pumped in and out faster and faster. I was getting close exploding. "Sure, why don't you go back to what you were doing and call me when you're finished. Enjoy yourself. Bye." I hung up the phone and did it again, spontaneously, without thinking. I gave the phone the finger, like I was saying 'fuck you' to the phone, and to Marty. I put it out of my mind and went back to Brad's ministrations. Within minutes I was contorting in my chair from my orgasm. Brad was better with his fingers than his cock. Afterwards I went through my period of guilt but this time I felt bad about something else. Giving Marty the finger wasn't something I had planned but I had done it before and now it bothered me. I had rationalized that it was all play-acting but for some reason giving Marty the finger this time felt all wrong. I know Brad saw me do it because I saw the smile on his face. I guess he felt superior knowing he had his fingers inside another man's wife's pussy. Maybe I really was mad at Marty for disturbing my lunchtime fuck. Maybe my play-acting was getting out of hand. Maybe I needed to rethink what I'm doing. Maybe... Maybe... I went on and on trying to justify why I did it and didn't come up with anything concrete. I just put it in the back of my mind and went on with my week. On Thursday Ambrose was in a hurry to meet a client for a lunch date so he just shoved his cock in my mouth and I quickly sucked him off. I didn't even get undressed. He pulled down his zipper, pulled out his cock, and I sucked. He did tell me to be careful and not get anything on his pants; after all he was meeting an important client and didn't need cum stains on his good suit. Friday was another of our monthly four at a time sessions. This time I did a little striptease for the guys. I just bought a beautiful and somewhat shocking black dress for Marty and wanted to try it out before he saw it. I put it on before the guys arrived and spent the first fifteen minutes teasing them into a frenzy as I slowly and sensuously stripped it off. I danced around between where they sat touching the men and letting their hands freely roam over my body. By the time I was naked they were more than ready. Brad was first and bent me over my desk and fucked me hard. He pumped and grunted and fucked me from behind as hard as he could until he stiffened, groaned and shot his load inside me. He finished leaving me ready for Tom, and I was more than ready for Tom's giant cock. Tom pushed me down on the desk and took me hard. I had to hold on to the sides of the desk he fucked me so violently. I had two massive orgasms before he finally blew his load inside me. I clenched my pussy muscles trying to keep him inside me for the rest of the day. But it wasn't to be. Ambrose was standing waiting his turn with his hard cock between his thumb and index finger. My ass was his target and when Tom moved over to the couch Ambrose got behind me and fucked my ass as hard as he could before blowing his sour load into my bowels. David stood next to the desk pushing his already hard cock toward my mouth saying my pussy and ass was too messed up to fuck so he just wanted a blow job. I got down on my knees and sucked him and played with his balls until he filled my mouth with his load. When I stood I tried to kiss him but he turned away. That got everyone laughing. I said my goodbyes and wiped the cum from my body. I was quite a mess. When I got home that evening I found that Marty left me a message he was going to his father's for the weekend. He's done that before so I didn't think anything of it. I just made dinner and watched a little television. I missed Marty. I always felt like something was missing in my life when Marty wasn't there, like there was a hole in my heart the size of the Grand Canyon. Before I turned in I took a hot bubble bath and fantasized about my husband licking me between my legs and caressing me all over and gently making love to me. Using my fingers under the water I masturbated thinking about Marty's cock and tongue but when my orgasm hit I was no longer thinking about my husband, Tom's cock was sliding in and out of my pussy, in my mind. Again the guilt hit. It took quite a while to get to sleep I felt so bad. Monday I fucked David. Marty called again to tell me he loved me and again I gave the phone the finger. "What's gotten into me?" I thought as David pounded away in my ass. Tuesday Tom was between my legs sending me to new heights of ecstasy. Wednesday my life ended. Brad and I had just gotten started in our 'status' meeting. We were both half undressed, my tits were out and I had hold of his cock, he had his hand in my panties fingering me. All of a sudden a man in a cheap suit came in the door. I'm positive I locked that door but there he was walking in. Brad and I broke apart and quickly put everything back in our clothes. The man just stood in front of my desk with a little smirk on his face. "What the fuck do you want?" I yelled at him. "Are you Sheryl Hughes?" was all he said. "Of course I am, that's what it says on the door. Who are you and what do you want?" He held out a large manila envelope to me. I looked at it for a long time and then took it. "Madam, you are served," he said. He left with the same smirk on his face. I sat down heavily in my chair. Brad stood next to me looking stupid. I opened the envelope and pulled out the papers. On top was a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage. I was so stunned I couldn't speak. Brad reached over and tried to take the papers from my hand but I jerked back. I tried to hold onto them but between the two of us we scattered them all over the desk. There were several pictures there too, face up. I could see they were pictures of my office and me and... Gingerly I picked up one pictures in my left hand and another in my right. I looked at them and my life flashed before my eyes. One picture showed me extending my middle finger at the telephone. The other showed me bent over my desk with Ambrose's dick in my ass. "How in the hell did he get..." I never finished my sentence. I knew where they came from. I turned to look out the window. I saw another of the huge glass and chrome buildings across the street and knew whoever got these picture got them from there. I ran to the window placing my hands on the glass looking at the building across the street. I'm sure that anybody looking back at me could see the look of absolute terror on my face. Right then I knew my life was over. My phone started to ring. I froze. I knew exactly who was calling. I didn't want to hear the voice on the other end but slowly inched my way over to the phone. "Hello?" I said with a sob. "Tell Brad to leave," Marty growled. I fell back down in my chair holding the phone to my ear and letting my chin fall on my chest. "Brad, go away. It's my husband." He started to say something that didn't make sense so I jumped up and screamed at him. "Just get the fuck out. He knows all about us asshole. If I were you I'd get out of here and run as far away as I could. Marty may be an accountant but he can kick your ass from here to Sunday. Now get out!" When he left I sat back down and turned my chair to face the window. I sat there waiting for Marty to say something, anything that would put me out of my misery. He said, "Sheryl, if there's any chance in hell for our marriage to survive you have to listen carefully and do exactly what I say. No arguments, no hesitation. You get one chance and one chance only. Do you understand?" "Yes, I understand," I said through my tears. "I'm not messing around here Sheryl. You get only one chance to save everything. Are you sure you understand?" "Yes," I whimpered. "Good, now this is what's going to happen. First, you are going to quit your job. Second, you are going to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against each of your four lovers and against Enterprise as a whole. Third, you are going to explain to me why." I hesitated and sat there silently sobbing. I was silent for a long time. Finally I knew I had to say something. I chose the wrong thing to say. "But Marty I've got a lot invested in Enterprise. I'm going to be the first female manager... Hello? Marty? Hello, are you there?" He hung up. I dropped the phone and flew to the window screaming and pounding on the glass. I have no way to tell how long I beat on the window before I fell to the floor sobbing. I destroyed everything. Marty knew I was cheating on him and he was divorcing me. "Oh my God what did I do to him?" I just lay in the floor wailing. I don't know how long I cried before I heard a knock at my door. I wiped my face as best as I could and went to answer it. Standing there was Ambrose with the most hateful expression I'd ever seen, and behind him I could see everyone in the office standing and looking at us. "You stinking bitch," he spit at me. Then he slapped me across the face knocking me to the floor. When I looked up Tom and Brad had him by his arms pulling him out of my office. I just sat there on the floor rubbing my cheek when one of the other Account Executives reached in to shut the door. "Way to go slut," she said with a smile. "Now I'm sure to get the promotion. See ya!" How could everybody know about my divorce papers already? What's going on? I didn't understand anything except that Marty knew and was tossing me out. I started crying again and went back to my desk. I tried to call Marty back but his phone just went to voicemail. I must have tried a dozen times and he didn't answer any of them. I only left him one message. "Marty, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please call me back and talk to me. I fucked up big time and I need you to talk to me. Please call me. I'm desperate Marty. Please call me back." He didn't. As I sat at my desk crying and waiting for his call I saw my incoming email icon flashing. I had a new email message. Hoping it was from Marty I quickly opened it. It said "Watch what's going on in your office right under your noses." There was also an imbedded video. I clicked on the video and the screen changed to me bent over my desk with Brad fucking me from behind. I couldn't move my hand to hit stop. I froze at the sheer horror of what I was watching. The scene changed to Tom behind me, then Ambrose in my ass, then me giving David a blow job. The video ended with the Looney Tunes Porky Pig cartoon ending, "The'a The'a The'a That's All Folks!" I slid out of my seat and onto the floor sobbing. When the two security guards came in I never heard them. They helped me to my feet and told me that I had one hour to get all my personal belongings boxed up, after which they were to escort me out of the building. They also handed me an envelope with my termination letter in it. Somehow through the tears and the sobbing I packed up everything. As I put things in boxes I thought, "Nine years of hard work and dedication at Enterprise gone in a flash, without anything more than a slap across the face from one of my mangers." I fucked up big time not only at Enterprise but with Marty. I needed to get everything in my car and get home to him. I needed to talk to him and explain everything. Maybe there was a chance to save my marriage. Marty was gone. He moved a lot of his clothes and personal items out and left me alone. There was a terse note on the kitchen table from him. It said, Sheryl, Don't call me, don't try to find me, don't come to my work, don't do anything. If you need to communicate with me call my lawyer. You have his card in the divorce papers. Sign them and let's get this over quickly. You've already fucked up enough lives. Marty. I was crushed beyond belief. I cried for two days straight hoping beyond hope that Marty would come back and forgive me. He didn't. I just sat in our home waiting to hear from him. Nothing. I read the divorce petition and it said 'irreconcilable differences.' He could have gone for my throat and said 'adultery' so I guess that was his way of being nice. About a week after I left Enterprise a lawyer called and said he was going to represent me in a sexual harassment suit against Enterprise. I don't know how he got all the information and the video and everything but he had everything including all the email messages from Enterprise's email system. Marty must have put him on my case. Thinking I could get back with Marty if I did what he told me to do in the first place, quit my job, file sexual harassment charges against the managers and Enterprise, and tell him why, then maybe we had a chance. After the suit ended then maybe he'd listen to me. He didn't. The lawyer was good at his job. I told him everything and answered every question about every intimate detail of our trysts. He sued each of the men and Enterprise for one-million dollars. After several meetings and one face-to-face with the lawyers at Enterprise we settled. They gave me just over $100,000 dollars to, as they so eloquently put it, to put this dirty episode behind them. Enterprise fired three of the managers and Ambrose retired, also part of the settlement. After it was all over I called Marty's divorce lawyer and told him I quit my job and filed sexual harassment charges against the company. Since I did everything Marty wanted me to do I asked when we could get together to talk. He simply asked, "Why did you give the phone, and Marty, the finger?" The question sent me back into hysterics. I couldn't say anything and hung up on him. I called him three more times and each time he asked the same question and each time I broke down. I finally gave up. After a month of being alone with my misery I called my cousin in Cincinnati and told her about my problems. She said I should come out and live with her and look for a new job out there. Everything was gone in Boston so a new start would be good for me. I thought about what she said for a week before signing the divorce papers and packing up my stuff. I left everything for Marty. I only took my clothes and a few keepsakes. Everything else I left behind. I left Marty a note on the kitchen table saying goodbye and begging him to call me at my cousin's number. He never did. I spent the first month alternately crying and contemplating suicide. One day I was at my lowest point and I did try to end my life. Rachel found me and called the paramedics. They pumped my stomach and saved my worthless ass. While in the hospital I was required to see a psychiatrist. We talked about what I did to get to this point in my life. She said she'd heard it all before and recommended another psychiatrist that I should see who specialized in grief counseling. She said a divorce is just as devastating as the death of a loved one and grief counseling would do me a lot of good. So I started talking with him twice a week. Eventually I came to grips with what I did and decided I really didn't want to die, I wanted to live again, but I wanted to live with Marty. My therapist helped me devise a plan, a plan to get my head on straight, to understand why I did what I did, and how to try to get my life back with Marty. But he was very cautious when he said I may never get it back. I knew deep down inside he was right, but I had to try. I received the final divorce decree papers four months after I left Boston. The property settlement gave me a lump sum of $100,000 and a check for that amount was enclosed. I got no alimony or any part of Marty's business or any of his retirement. I agreed to let Marty sell the house and split any profits. Two months of psychotherapy felt like a waste as I stood there sadly looking at the remnants of my previous life. So here I sit looking down at the ground, some 35,000 feet below, going over my screwed-up life. I made some enormous mistakes but I've also come a long way in understanding why, and I can guarantee they will never happen again. Hopefully when I get to Boston there will be a man there that will listen to my story and feel sorry for me. Maybe I can get my life back. Maybe he'll love me again. But then, maybe not. End of Chapter 2. Audit Surprise Ch. 03 To the reader: This is the final chapter of Marty and Sheryl's story. It would be best to read the first two chapters before reading this to understand what happened and where their lives stand now. As always comments are welcome. Thanks again to jo for editing. © 2013 by the author. ******** "Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain. We're about ten minutes out from Logan International Airport and I've turned on the 'fasten your seatbelt' sign so please return to your seats and..." Whoa, when did I fall asleep? The last thing I remember was the lady in the middle seat asking me if I was okay. That was embarrassing. I didn't even know I was crying. I tried to smile when I lied to her and said I was okay, but I don't think she believed it. She handed me a tissue and gave me a kindly look and said that 'whatever troubles we have in this life, God watches over us. Just talk to Him.' That would be new. Sure, I've talked to my therapist but all I got was a lot of stuff about low self-esteem and lack of confidence and narcissistic tendencies. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to have a little conversation with Him. I thought when I boarded that reviewing everything that occurred in the last couple years would be helpful, but all it did was slap me in the face again with all the bad decisions I made, all the lies I told, and all the pain I caused. The misery I felt was as strong at 35,000 feet as when I experienced it a year ago. I reviewed, no I relived the absolute worst time of my life and came up wanting. I thought I could find something that I didn't already know, something that would help prepare me for seeing Marty again. I found nothing. Everything was the same as it was before. I'm a liar. I'm a cheat. And I've ruined the lives of a dozen or more people. Why? Because I wanted to be a big-shot manager. I wanted to be important. I wanted to be somebody. Now, I'm nobody. I'm Sheryl Smith. I used to be Sheryl Hughes but screwed that up. One of the conditions of my divorce was to never again use my married name so I had to change it back to Smith. I think that hurt me more than anything else. I didn't want any alimony, I didn't want our condo, I didn't even want our savings, all I wanted was Marty. But that wasn't to be. I hurt him too much for anything I said, any apology, any excuse, any explanation to cauterize the wound in his heart. I completely destroyed the man I loved and myself at the same time. I got my rental car and headed west on interstate 90 toward my old home in Waltham. I'd driven the route to and from Boston a thousand times but this time it seemed strange. I wasn't driving home; I was driving to my former home, the place where my ex-husband lived, where my former life was. A chill went down my spine. I felt like a stranger in a strange land. I also felt a stray tear plop onto my chest. With good traffic, and a little luck, the trip would only take 30 minutes. Traffic was good and luck was on my side, and besides Saturday morning traffic was usually pretty light unless Boston College had a football game that afternoon. I pulled up in front of my old condo in 25 minutes. But I couldn't move. I sat frozen behind the wheel of my rental car too scared to do what I'd come a thousand miles to do. I sat there for the longest time thinking of the first words I'd say to Marty. "Hi Marty, surprise!" No, too flippant. "Hello Marty, from the expression on your face you're surprised to see me." No, his expression might not be surprise but fear, or worse yet hate. "Hello Marty, before you slam the door in my face I want you to know that I came all this way to apologize to you." Not bad but don't give him any ideas about slamming the door in my face. "Hi Marty, I'm here to apologize for everything. Can I take some of your time to talk to you?" Well, that'll have to do. I should have spent my time on the plane thinking of what I was going to say to him not reliving all the shit I did to him. I took a deep breath and walked up to the door. Everything looked the same except the azalea plants on each side of the walkway were gone. I got those for him when we moved into the house. He always loved those azaleas, the beautiful white blooms in spring always made him smile, and when he smiled so did I. I pressed the doorbell and waited nervously. "Yes?" The man said after he opened the door. This wasn't Marty. Where's Marty? The man holding the door open was tall and lean and appeared to be wearing only a plaid robe and slippers. He had half a smile, a friendly smile, and looked at me with a bit of caution. "Who's at the door Josh?" Another man, a bit heavier and also wearing a plaid robe and slippers came up behind the first and put his hand on the tall man's shoulder. "Can we help you" The second man asked. I didn't know what to say. I expected Marty to be standing there and even prepared an opening line, instead two middle-aged men looking like they were just out of bed looked at me like I was some sort of nut. "I... I...I'm looking for Marty Hughes," was all I could get out of my mouth. "Oh, Mr. Hughes moved about four or five months ago," the second man answered. "When exactly was that Josh?" The first man, Josh was his name, replied, "It's been more like six months now, he moved before Christmas. Remember we moved in after the New Year and the house had been vacant for a while." "That's right," the second man said. Again my mouth and mind wouldn't work together. I just stood there with my mouth open. It took a few seconds but I stammered, "I... I'm... I'm looking for Marty Hughes." The two men smiled and said in unison, "You already said that." They turned to each other and laughed out loud and put their arms around one another. I felt my cheeks getting hot. "I'm sorry," I said embarrassed. "I'm his wife, well I used to be. I came here to, uh, talk and... I used to live here. He's..." "Yeah we heard about you, oops sorry, I didn't mean it like it sounded," Josh said. "Randy, what was it the real estate agent said?" Randy, the second man replied, "She said the former owners went through a divorce and sold the house as part of the property settlement. She didn't go into any particulars except to say it wasn't friendly." "Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that," Josh said. "Would you like to come in? Maybe have a cup of coffee and look around. We've made a lot of changes and it all looks fabulous now." "Uh, no thanks. I think I'd better just go. You wouldn't happen to have Mr. Hughes' new address would you?" The two men gave each other a puzzled look. "No, I don't think we do," Randy replied. "We never actually met Mr. Hughes. We only worked with his real estate agent. Sorry." "Thanks," I answered with as much of a smile as I could muster. "Sorry to bother you." I turned and walked back to my car. When I got there I found another tear ready to drop on my chest. I drove away without a destination in mind. A little hole-in-the-wall restaurant Marty and I used to go to is where I ended up. I sat there drinking a cup of coffee thinking about what to do next. Marty sometimes worked on Saturdays so maybe I could catch him at his office. His office was downtown not too far from where I worked when I lived here. I hurriedly finished my coffee and headed back toward the airport and downtown. I had to drive past my old workplace and felt anxious about being there. The last time I was on that street was when I met with Enterprise's lawyers concerning my sexual harassment lawsuit. I was pretty messed up at the time and don't remember very much about the meeting. I do remember the names the lawyer called me and the sting I felt with each one. I parked in the parking garage next to Marty's office and entered his building. "I don't think he's up there," the old security guard said. "But you can go up and check." The door was locked and I could see through the glass part that there were no lights on. I noticed something different too. The door used to say 'M. Hughes, CPA' and now it says 'Hughes and Associates." I wondered what that meant. I sat in the car again thinking about where to look next. I didn't want to have to do it but I knew one of his employees might be able to tell me where he was. If anybody knew Mandy would. I still had her name and address in my telephone directory as Marty's emergency contact for work. I keyed her address into the car's GPS and drove away. I felt a little hope as I drove. "Mom, there's someone at the door," the young girl dressed in a soccer uniform yelled. I waited for the longest time before Mandy came out onto the porch and quietly shut the door behind her. "What in the hell do you want?" She growled at me, bile dripping from every word. "I'm looking for Marty," I said softly. "I came to talk to him, to apologize. When I went to our house he wasn't there anymore. I came here knowing you'd know where he was. Do you have his address?" "Yes I have his address but it'll be a cold day in hell before I give it to you. How dare you show your face around these parts again? What's the matter, didn't you cause enough pain and suffering when you were here the last time? Coming back to see if you could finish the job and completely destroy him? There's no way I'm going to let you hurt that man again. He's over you. He's moved on. You're just a bad memory, a nightmare that comes up once in a while to remind him how lucky he is now that you're gone. Just go away. Crawl back under that rock you came from." She turned and went inside slamming the door in my face. All hope of finding Marty disappeared. As I drove away I cried, really cried, loud and hard. I had to pull over into a fast food parking lot to try to regain my composure. I couldn't drive and wail at the same time. I must have filled three or four tissues before calming down enough to realize people sitting at the tables outside were looking at me. My body still shook and I couldn't think straight but I slowly began to come down from my despair. I heard a tapping on the car window next to me. I rolled the window down a little ways. "Are you alright miss?" A grey-haired man asked. I sniffed and wiped my nose again. "I'll be alright," I replied. "I just had a really bad shock that's all. I'll be alright in a few minutes. Thanks for caring." The man walked back to one of the tables and sat next to a little boy, maybe nine or ten years old. He continued to watch me out of the corner of his eye but turned his attention to the little boy: His son, maybe his grandson, I thought. They looked so comfortable together. So happy. "Shit!" I said under my breath. "Marty's Dad." I knew exactly where to go next. Marty's Dad would certainly help me to get in touch with Marty. Marty's father and I were always friendly even during the divorce and everything. Quickly I entered his address in the GPS and sped away. The drive was just over an hour. I knew the way without using the GPS but wanted someone to tell me what to do and which way to turn. My mind wasn't working very well at the moment. When I pulled up in front of his house I got a major shock. Right in the middle of the front yard was a large white 'For Sale' sign. I got out and walked up to the door. There on the front door handle was a real estate agent's lock box and a note saying to 'Call Ashe Real Estate in case of emergency.' Peering through the windows next to the front door, I saw the bare wood floors and empty walls. The place was vacant. Marty's father no longer lived here. He too was gone. I sat down hard on the front stoop and started crying again. Most of my tears already fell after visiting Mandy but still some new ones found their way out. This trip to find the man I still loved was turning out to be a bust. At every turn I was rebuffed. Marty may as well be on the moon if I couldn't find anybody to tell me where he was. My crying jag didn't last and before too long I was looking around the neighborhood. Across the street was an old woman working in her garden. Maybe she would know something about Marty's Dad. "Mr. Hughes died three months ago," the little old woman said from the other side of the old picket fence. "It was just after the New Year I think. He had a heart attack and died right out there in his driveway. I understand he was under a lot of stress for some reason. He just succumbed to the pressure I guess. Sad. He was a nice man, quiet but nice. His son and daughter and a lot of their friends were over there cleaning out the place. They're nice people just like their dad. They gave away a lot of what was in the house to the neighbors. They gave me a really nice set of porcelain figurines and his gas grille. Sad, really sad." I walked back to my car in a daze. Luckily there weren't any cars driving by or I might have been gone too. My trip was at an end. I flew a thousand miles to talk to the only man in the world I had feelings for and I couldn't find him. At every turn I was defeated. I might as well go home. Right then and there I gave up. On the way out of town I stopped by the cemetery where Marty's father was buried. I wanted to pay my respects and say goodbye. I loved Marty's dad. He was a kind and wise man. He was the one who recommended that I get into some sort of counseling, find a psychotherapist and ask for help. I knew that he already had a gravesite waiting for him next to his beloved wife Beverly. I walked up the hill and saw his name newly inscribed in the dark granite headstone. I couldn't cry. I was out of tears. Now when I wanted to cry I couldn't. I made myself a promise that when I get back home I'm going to have that long talk with God. As I stood there looking down at the grave I saw a white wicker basket full of flowers leaning against one side of the headstone. There was also a card attached. I picked up the little card and read it. 'We miss you with all our hearts. Love always. Brenda and Marty.' The flowers were from Marty and his sister and the hand-written inscription on the card was from a local florist. The florist was on the way out of town so maybe if I stopped by and asked nicely they might give me Marty's address. They were my last hope. The young man in the florist shop came away $100 dollars richer and I came away with Marty's address. For the first time in days I smiled. I knew where Marty was. I was going to see him after all. I gave up too soon. The GPS led the way and I followed knowing I was going to see him. The trip took an hour and a half from what the clock on the dash said but in my mind it was only minutes. I pulled up in front of the address the florist gave me and saw a pretty white bungalow with blue shutters. On the front porch were two wicker rocking chairs and a small wicker table. The lawn was neat and the bushes around the porch trimmed. The mailbox out front said Hughes so I knew I found him. There was a driveway but no car. With a sense of dread thinking he wasn't home I walked to the door and knocked. Nothing, no answer, he wasn't home. I stood there forever. There was no answer. I was crushed. For what seemed like the hundredth time that day I sat down and cried. "So close, so close." I lamented. But I was determined to wait for him. If he wasn't home by dark I'd go and find someplace to stay for the night and come back in the morning. Until then I was going to sit in his rocking chair and wait. After an hour or so I got bored and started walking around the house. I saw Marty's touches everywhere. The two azalea bushes from our old house stood proudly in the middle of a rock garden out back. In the center of the garden stood an antique-looking sundial with the inscription 'Grow old along with me. The best is yet to be.' Marty said that Robert Browning's quote was his favorite romantic saying. On the deck was the gas grille he bought just before... well just before the end. I could feel Marty everywhere. I could almost smell his after shave. I stood on the same grass he did. I breathed the same air, enjoyed the same sunshine. It felt wonderful. But Marty wasn't there. I had to be patient. I'd see him, eventually. I wandered back to the front porch again and stood there looking around at everything. The house and the entire neighborhood looked exactly like the house Marty talked about buying when we decided it was time to have kids. The color of the house was perfect, the front gardens were perfect, the other houses in the neighborhood were perfect, even the little kiddie park down the street was perfect. Everything was exactly as Marty had described it, his ideal place to raise a family. This was to be our home when we had kids. But... But... It wasn't ours. It was his. I'm no longer part of his life. Sometime later I wandered down to the little kiddie park and sat at a little table made in the shape of a giant green turtle. I thought about everything Marty and I talked about when we had kids. He had so many plans and knew exactly what he wanted. He even knew how many children we were going to have: Two, a boy and a girl. I think he even had names picked out already. But I screwed it all up with my ambitions and my stupidity. Now we would never have children together, nor have the little house in the suburbs, nor would we live happily every after. But if Marty came home and I explained to him how sorry I was and how much I still loved him then maybe he'd forgive me. Then maybe there would be a happily ever after. This time there were enough tears. My head fell to the table buried beneath my arms and I cried. Deep body-wracking sobs came from my chest. I stared into a bottomless pit and wailed. And for the hundredth time I wanted to die. Without Marty my life wasn't worth living. Oh God how my heart ached. In midst of all my tears I felt a hand on my shoulder. I wiped my eyes on my sleeve and turned. There he was. Marty was standing behind me with his hand on my shoulder. He had a sad smile on his face but he was there. I jumped up from the little table and threw my arms around his neck and hugged him like he was going to fly away at any moment. I cried into his neck. I said his name over and over again. I told him how much I missed him and how much I loved him. He just held me and let me cry into his neck. That's when I saw the others. Standing at the edge of the little park were three women. I recognized Mandy and Adrianna but didn't know the young Asian woman. All three were standing there with their arms crossed over their chests and if looks could kill then I'd already be on my way to the afterlife. "Hi Sheryl," Marty said in my ear. "Would you like to come in?" I just held him tight, afraid to do anything to break the spell. I found him again and was never going to let him go. Never! "Come on," he said. "Let's go inside." He pried my arms from around his neck and took my hand in his. Slowly he started up the hill toward the others pulling me behind him. We walked back to his house hand in hand while the other's followed a discrete distance behind. Nobody said anything. When we got inside he let go of my hand and told me where the bathroom was. I realized that I hadn't gone to the bathroom since I left the airport. While in there I took a moment to wash my face and put on fresh makeup. I looked pretty bad from a full day of crying. He was standing outside the door when I came out. "Let's go out onto the deck," he said quietly. "I have a lot to tell you and assume you didn't come all this way for my cooking. You probably want to have that talk we never had. I think it's time. Come on." The three women were working in the kitchen preparing something to eat as we passed through. Nobody said anything to either of us. We just quietly walked out the back door and onto the deck as they continued to stare bullets at me. Audit Surprise Ch. 03 We sat for the longest time in complete silence only glancing at the other in hopes that someone would say something and break the eerie tension. I don't think either of us knew where to start or for that matter how. I wanted to tell him how so deeply sorry I was. I wanted to confess all my sins. I wanted to lie prostrate on the deck, kiss his feet, and beg his forgiveness. I wanted to tell him how much I still loved him. I wanted to tell him everything in my heart. But I didn't know how to begin. I came a thousand miles to see him and now that I was sitting across from him I couldn't say anything. "How have you been Sheryl?" he asked. "I'm better now Marty. How've you been?" "Good. But I don't think you came here to exchange platitudes. Why don't you tell me what's been going on in your life since..." He trailed off looking down at his hands. I opened up the floodgates and let everything fly. "Marty, I don't know how much you know so I'll just tell you everything but give you just the highlights. The sexual harassment suit against Enterprise settled between the lawyers. We didn't have to go to court or arbitration. They gave me a decent settlement and with the money you gave me I had enough to move to Cincinnati and start over. My cousin Rachel helped me out a lot. You remember Rachel. She was at our wedding; she was the one with the limp. Anyway, she found me a place to live and helped me find a new job. I'm working for a software company teaching customers how to use our systems. It's a good job and the people there are nice. I've been seeing a psychologist ever since I left Boston. He's helped me to understand why I did what I did. The most important thing I learned was that everything, and I mean everything, was my fault. You did nothing to cause any of this. I'm to blame. You were just an innocent bystander. I know I said I'm sorry a thousand times to you before our... our divorce, but I meant it every time I said it, and I mean it now. I'm so, so sorry for everything I did to you, and to us. I know words can't change what happened but I want you to hear them anyway. I'm sorry Marty for everything. "I was pretty messed up for a long time after you found out. I even tried to kill myself once. Sadly, I was even a failure at that. My therapist told me that it was a desperate act aimed at getting your attention. It probably was but I didn't do it to heap more pain on your shoulders, I was just trying to get out from under my own. But you never knew what I did; Rachel never called and told you. Like I said I was a real mess. I didn't think killing myself would hurt you. And, the stuff I did with the managers at Enterprise was something else I didn't think would hurt you. I thought if you didn't find out then it wouldn't hurt you. Boy was I wrong. I never realized how much I hurt myself which in turn hurt you. My therapist also told me something that I never knew but looking back at my life I know he's right. He said I have little confidence in my own abilities and low self esteem. That means I believed I couldn't be promoted on my own merits. That's the main reason I did what I did. Having sex with Brad would guarantee a promotion. I learned afterwards that the CEO had already talked to the board about promoting me. I made an incredibly bad decision to start with Brad and it got out of hand with the other three. I'm not going to give you any bullshit excuses and say I was coerced into it; I went into it on my own free will. I thought it would stop when I got promoted. I didn't think beyond the promotion. "Marty, I don't know how you found out and don't really care, all I know is you did. When you sent everybody in the company that email with the video of me and the four managers I was devastated. I wasn't hurt because everybody saw me having sex with someone, I was hurt because you were so crushed you wanted to hurt me back. I deserved it. I know that now. And I would have accepted any punishment you wanted if you only heard me out and listened to my apology. But you didn't. When your lawyer said you refused to talk to me and never wanted to see me again I went a little crazy. I destroyed the only man I've ever loved, and will ever love, and you wouldn't talk to me. "And God what I did to the families of those men. Did you know that three of them got divorced because of what we did? The fourth one's wife said she could make him more miserable married to him than by divorcing him. I imagine she's doing just that. Marty, I helped ruin four families, no five including ours. Their wives and children didn't deserve this. You didn't deserve this. All because I wanted that job. When I filed the sexual harassment lawsuit Enterprise fired three of the men and the fourth retired. I don't know what happened to them because I haven't spoken to any of them, but I'm positive I messed up their lives too. That's more than a dozen people devastated because I was ambitious. "The lies I told you were hateful too. To cover up what I did I lied about everything. Believe this Marty; I never lied to you up until that point. Since the day we were married I always shared everything with you. Then the lies started. I started with Brad and lied to cover it up. For that I'm truly sorry. I hope some day you find it in your heart to trust me again. If not I'll understand. "I just want to say a couple more things before I start crying again. I hope you believe me when I tell you that all the sex I had with those men didn't mean half as much as one night in your loving arms. It's a cliché I know but they used my body for sex, with you I made love. I never did anything with them I didn't do with you. I never enjoyed what they did half as much as what we did. I'll admit I had orgasms with them from time to time but that was just my body reacting to the sex. The orgasms weren't bigger or better or stronger, they were just physical reactions to what we did. Three of them used me for their own pleasure without any regard for my feelings, one was kind and giving. I have to tell you that I enjoyed being with him but it wasn't the same as being with you. And most importantly of all I never once told them I loved them. I told them a lot of other bullshit but I never said 'I love you.' I only said that to you and always meant it. And as God is my witness I love you as much now as I ever have. "The last year has been hell for me. Not having you in my life made me half a person and I guess it was equally difficult for you. But Marty, I'll do anything to get you back. I'll accept any punishment, take any conditions you want, make any sacrifices. Tell me what you want and I'll do it. I doesn't matter what, I'll do anything. If you want me to fall down on the floor and kiss your feet, I will. I you want to humiliate me publically in front of family and friends I'll gladly stand there and take it. If you want to get your revenge by having sex with other women while I sit there and watch, you can. Do anything you want, just let me back into your life. Please, I beg of you." I started sobbing and couldn't finish. Marty sat quietly for the few minutes it took get control again. "I'm sorry. I said I wasn't going to cry until I finished. Marty I'm sorry to hear about your father. He was a great man and I will always remember him warmly. I stopped by your parents' grave to pay my respects. That's how I found out where you lived. "Please accept my apology for letting you down. If you can find it in your heart please forgive me for everything I've done. And if there's any feeling for me left inside you please tell me you love me again. More than anything else in this world I want to come back to you. I want to be Mrs. Marty Hughes again. I miss you and pray that you will take me back. Please Marty. I love you." I put my hands over my eyes and let the tears start again. The whole time I talked Marty sat in his chair and listened. He didn't move and he didn't say anything. I only occasionally glanced up at his face during the whole time I spoke. I didn't have the guts to look him in the eye. I can't tell what he thought. "Excuse me," Adrianna said poking her head out the door. "If you want something to eat we're about to put dinner on the table. When you want to take a break come on in." As quickly as she appeared, she disappeared. "Would you like to take a break?" Marty asked. "We can get a little something to eat if you want." A while ago I realized I hadn't gone to the bathroom since I left the airport and I now realized I haven't eaten anything either. "I'd like to clean up a bit first if you don't mind," I said wiping a tear off my cheek. Marty escorted me to the bathroom again and afterwards to the dining room. When we walked in I saw that there were now five people sitting around the table: A tall redheaded man and a slightly frightening looking young woman with jet black hair and a number of piercings and tattoos had joined the three women while Marty and I were outside talking. While we all sat quietly eating everybody studied every move I made waiting for, I don't know what. Dinner was hell. I wanted to hear Marty's story and sat playing with my food hoping he'd say he loved me too. Waiting to hear him tell me he wanted me back was pure agony. After dinner everybody took their dirty dishes back to the kitchen and just stood around in an uneasy peace. It was when Marty excused himself to go wash up that the group changed. Mandy and Adrianna cornered me by the refrigerator and got nose to nose with me. Mandy glared at me and said, "I want your ass out of here just as soon as you've said what you came to say. I told you that I wouldn't allow you to do anything to hurt him and I mean it. If I have to drag your slutty ass back to whatever trailer park you came from by God I'll do it." Adrianna chimed in after Mandy finished, "Yeah bitch! If that man so much as sheds a single tear over anything you say or do today I'll find you and stomp your sorry ass into the ground. Marty's our friend and we don't want to see him hurt any more than he already has been. Begging for forgiveness and asking him to love you again will just hurt him more. He's in a better place now and has moved on. Forget about him and go back home. You threw him away." I looked around and saw the other three standing and watching. The one with all piercings was smiling at me in a way that immediately gave me the creeps. I just wanted to run and hide. Then Marty came back and saved my hide. "Sheryl lets go back outside and finish our talk. I'll bring us something to drink." I walked out the door and stood on the deck watching everybody through the window. At one point the little Asian woman said something to Marty and he smiled. That was the first smile I've seen on his face for a very, very long time. I missed it a lot more than I could have imagined. It hurt me to see someone else put it there. Marty brought out two bottles of water and when we were back in our seats he began. "Sheryl, I appreciate your candor today telling be about what's been going on with you since... well since everything fell apart. I sense a change in you. Maybe you've grown, maybe you've confronted your demons, maybe you really do understand the consequences of your action. Whatever the case I want to ask a question that I really need an honest answer to. Then I'll tell you about me. After that we can talk about us. "Sheryl, my lawyer asked you a simple question several times that you wouldn't or couldn't answer. He said that each time he asked all you did was break down in hysterics. I don't want to hurt you but I need an answer. Without it I think our little talk is over. Okay? Here goes. Why did you give the phone, and me, the finger when you hung up after talking to me when you were with those guys?" I knew he was going to insist on an answer to that question and I think I was now ready to tell him. "Marty, I've done a lot of stupid things in my life but I think giving you the finger was probably the stupidest, at least it was the crudest. My therapist and I talked about it a lot and I can tell you now the reason I did it. There's no simple answer and it's not just one thing, but the main reason I did that was because I was trying to convince myself, and the man who was with me at the time, that you were a rotten, no good husband. In my mind I believed that if you were bad to me then I wouldn't feel guilty cheating on you. Boy was I wrong. I felt guilty as hell every time I touched one of those guys. I thought that by play-acting that you were evil then I wasn't. Again I was wrong. I was the bad guy in this story; you were just an innocent bystander. And by letting the man I was having sex with see me do that then they believed that you were a wimp and my marriage was meaningless. All stupid ideas in retrospect but that's what I was thinking. By giving you the finger I was saying you didn't matter, but whoever was with me did. It was a bald-faced lie and it came back to bite me in the ass big time. I never meant it. I didn't want you to fuck off. It was just some bullshit play-acting thing to cover my guilt. I'm sorry I ever did it and I'm more than sorry you ever saw it. I apologize for ever doing it." I watched Marty's face as he digested my explanation. Every word I said was the God's honest truth. I was just play-acting. I didn't mean to disrespect him. I thought at the time it was harmless. I couldn't have been more wrong. "Okay, I can see what you're saying. You did it to help lessen your guilt. I can understand that. Sheryl, I believe you're being honest with me, now. To tell you the truth, that one little action hurt me more than just about everything else. The sex and the lies were bad enough but that single act of disrespect tore me in two. I think that was the thing that made any chance of getting past what you did impossible. I still have flashes of memories seeing you do that, and it still hurts like hell." "Is that why you wouldn't talk to me, because I didn't answer that question?" "Well yes, but only partly. I think I used it as an excuse to not talk to you. I was so mad I didn't want to do or say anything that would hurt either of us and I certainly didn't want to go through all that pain again. It took my friends a long time to get me to the point where I could even talk about you. Seeing you here today is pretty difficult." We sat back and took a drink of our water pausing to catch our breath. "Okay Sheryl, like you did I'll give you the abridged version of my life over the last year. When I hit enter on my computer and sent out all those emails with the videos of you and your lovers I was mad, madder than I'd ever been in my life, so mad I could have killed somebody and that somebody could have been you. Mandy said I looked calm on the outside but inside there was a giant volcano erupting in my heart. I wanted to hurt you. Hell I wanted to hurt everybody. I knew I would destroy everything that you had built up with your job but I didn't care. Taking away the things you loved was the best revenge I could think of. And yes that included me. I just wanted you to hurt as much as I hurt. And emailing your supervisor's wives was my way of getting revenge on the men who took something from me. They took my wife from me and helped to destroy my marriage. Oh I blamed you for being a part of it but they were just as much to blame. I struck out at everybody and everybody paid dearly for it, including myself. "Over the next couple months I got threatening phone calls and emails, some from Enterprise employees and some from friends of your four lovers. I talked to the wives of those men and tried to apologize but they were too hurt to listen. One even spit in my face. However, all four did take a copy of the raw footage to help in their divorce cases. I stayed at my Dad's for a couple months trying to get my head on straight. He was great and gave me a lot of beneficial advice and helped me to calm down and see things for what they were. After a few weeks I saw in his eyes the same stress I felt. I stopped talking to him and started thinking for myself. By the time I got back home you were long gone. I didn't try to find you or call you or anything. I was glad you were gone even though there was a hole the size of the Grand Canyon in my soul. I think I cried for three days straight before my little group of associates came over and said they were doing an intervention. It took a whole weekend but at the end of the second day I was laughing again. Afterwards Mandy and Adrianna were like mothers to me. They told me what to do, when to do it, and when to get it done. I needed that. Yan stayed with me night and day making sure I ate properly, got enough exercise, and made sure things at work didn't get messed up. Even Jackie came by once in a while. She kept trying to convince me to get a tattoo but I refused. Later she said she knew I wouldn't, she was just trying to get me out of my comfort zone of suffering and back to reality. I had become too comfortable in my sorrow. One weekend Red brought over a bunch of action DVDs and pizza and beer and we had a man's night in that lasted two whole days. Yan really got on my case for leaving pizza boxes and empty beer cans all over the living room and for not taking a shower all weekend. All in all it was rather cathartic. "I wallowed in self-pity for about three months before I woke up one day and started living again. The first thing I did was put our condo on the market. You'd signed the divorce papers by then so I had no reason to stay there, too many memories. It took several months to sell, the housing market being the way it is, but by the time it did I was already living here. I understand a nice gay couple bought our old place. Anyway, my moving here was a new start. It was a break with the past and I needed that more than anything. When I received the notification that our divorce was final I started to slide back down hill. Yan stayed by my side until I found my way back. From that point on I've worked harder than I ever have before, stayed around the house working on my little bungalow, and spent as much time with my friends as I could. They were my rock. I don't know if I would have survived without them. "Oh, I don't know if I should tell you this or not but my little video of your activities showed up on an amateur porn site about a month after I sent it to everybody. Red found it but I didn't ask him how. I didn't post it there, honestly, and I'm sorry that it got out. I don't know what you can do about it but I'll give you the URL anyway. "I put the proceeds from the sale of the house in the bank and your half amounts to just over $22 thousand dollars. I'll write you a check tonight. Sorry I haven't sent it to you before now it's just that I didn't want to face you. Cowardly of me I know. "Now before dinner you asked me a couple things. I think I can answer them now. I've been thinking about them for a long time anyway. You asked me to forgive you. Sheryl, I forgive you. I forgive you, but for totally selfish reasons. I can't be carrying around all that hate for you so by forgiving you I purge myself of those feelings. Sheryl, I no longer hate you. However, I don't love you any more either. Sure I can forgive you but I can't forget what you did. Believe it or not those couple times I watched you with your lovers destroyed every good memory you and I ever created. Gone were our hopes and dreams too. It's all gone Sheryl. Every good memory, every good feeling, every plan we ever made, it's all gone. And the animosity I felt is gone too. Right now I'm a clean slate learning to trust and love and believe all over again. "So I guess you see where I'm going with all this. Sheryl, I don't have any feelings for you any more. The love is all gone. At one time I loved you more than anything in my life, now... There will be a Mrs. Marty Hughes, some day, but it won't be you. I can't look at you without seeing you bent over your desk with some guy behind you and I can't look at you without seeing you giving me the finger. I'm sorry if that ruins any hopes you had of reconciliation but I can't go back. That part of my past is too painful. I'm moving forward, without you." Audit Surprise Ch. 03 I was devastated. I just sat there and sobbed. My life was over. I was never going to be with the love of my life. "Oh God, oh God, why me?" I murmured to myself over and over and over. Marty got up and brought me a box of tissues and then left me alone to cry. When I looked up minutes later I saw him in the kitchen surrounded by his friends, the little Asian woman had her head on his shoulder. Now I understood what they meant when Mandy and Adrianna told me he had moved on. I was the past and his new Asian girlfriend was his future. I sat and cried until the daylight started to fade. I composed myself enough to walk through the kitchen and go to the bathroom. I did my face again and put on a brave demeanor before going out. Everybody was standing in the living room talking to Marty. When he saw me he held out an envelope. "This is your part of the sale of the condo and I wrote the URL of the video on the back." Just like that it was over. My hopes of getting him back were gone. Also gone was the last shred of my self-respect. I had to start my life over but without him. Marty walked me out to my car. I held his hand one last time and softly said goodbye as I kissed the cheek of the man that I loved, yet destroyed. I opened the car door and stood there for a moment wondering if I had the courage to look back at him one last time. I found enough to turn my head. What I saw ended my life. Marty was standing on the curb with his arm around the waist of the little Asian woman and hers was around his. All in a line behind him were Mandy and Adrianna and the tall redheaded man and the frightening girl with all the piercings. Each one of them had their hand out in front of them with their middle finger extended upward. The message was loud and clear. 'Fuck off!' Now I totally understood Marty's pain. The End.