156 comments/  115291 views/  35 favorites

Freak the Freak Out

By: StangStar06



"God damn you, Darren. What's taking you so long?" shrieked Darren's wife Melissa. Darren ran down the stairs of their house carrying her purse. He nervously handed it to her as her friends looked on, smiling.

Melissa was a petite blond woman with amazingly deep green eyes. She hadn't gained an ounce since they'd met in college. Her small perky breasts and trim figure made her look like she was still that college girl ten years later at thirty-two. 

Her friends with the exception of Helen were just like her. They looked like those women on all of those TV shows about MILF type women. All of the women remained slim and trim throughout their lives. Helen on the other hand was a bit chunky. Her natural dark brown hair unlike the others hadn't been bleached and she wasn't wearing a skirt that ended four to six inches above her knees. 

Darren marveled again at why she hung out with them and vice-versa. He knew that Helen didn't drink and the others drank a lot including his own lovely wife. Maybe she was the designated driver.

It was the only thing he could figure out. 

"Honestly Darren," said Melissa. "You should be glad that I'm going out. It lets me unwind after being trapped in this fucking cave all week." She was referring to their split level four bedroom ranch house. The same one that she'd begged him for five years ago.

"Besides my going out gives you some time to hang out with all of your little friends. But you'd better not bring a single one of those bastards into my house. Now give me some money," she said.

She took his wallet as he got it out. And she took all of his cash.

"If fortune smiles at you, and I'm not too tired when I get home, you might get lucky. That is of course if I haven't met someone else that I want to let get lucky." she started laughing and except for Helen, her friends did too. 

Darren watched as Melissa and her friends got into the brand new Honda he'd just bought her, and drove off. 

Darren straightened up things in the house and left too. He drove halfway across town after loading up his jeep with tools and some car parts he'd bought from the Internet. 

"Melissa, why do you treat Darren so badly?" asked Helen. He must really love you to put up with your shit. Don't you love him? You treat him more like your butler than your husband."

"Helen whether she loves him or not doesn't matter. A marriage is all about control," said Danielle. Danielle was another very slim Blond woman in her mid thirties. Except for the fact that she was several inches taller than Melissa and had two kids they could have been twins. "Melissa is just trying to maintain control in her marriage."

"Helen still doesn't understand the Pussy Rules yet," laughed Sandra, the final member of the quartet, who looked exactly like the others. 

"Helen," continued Sandra, as if she was speaking to a toddler. "The one with the pussy makes all of the rules."

Melissa herself was oddly silent. She thought about what the others were saying. In her own way she really did love Darren. They'd been together for over ten years. He worked very hard to support her and make her happy. 

In fact ever since he'd starting courting her so many years ago he'd gone out of his way to do anything she asked. She knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he loved her deeply. But in her mind there were still questions. 

It wasn't Darren's fault that he'd begun to date her while she was still reeling from a truly bad break-up. The other guy, Ryan had been one of those, big man on campus types. 

He'd swept her off her feet and seduced her over the course of a few days. He'd complimented her, feeding her ego. He took her out for a romantic dinner at a very expensive restaurant. After dinner he'd suggested a walk on the beach. It was the perfect evening. 

Then she'd given him her virginity, in the twilight, right there on that same beach. He had of course told her he loved her. While the sex hadn't been good for her, he'd gotten his. As she looked up at the stars while he humped away at her, she could almost see their future. They'd have two kids, one of each. And a beautiful split level ranch house in a nice neighborhood. 

The pain of his sudden penetration and rapid pounding was mitigated by the pleasure of the future she imagined. 

Afterwards he'd apologized profusely. Telling her that they probably should have waited until their wedding night, or at least until they got engaged. His only excuse was that she was just so sexy and he'd wanted her so badly that he couldn't control his passion for her. 

He drove her home and gave her a very chaste kiss at the door of her dorm. He was smiling as he promised to call her. 

"When will you call?" she asked.

Somehow the way that he said, "Soon," made her feel better. That night she dreamed of their wedding and their future. Hopefully the sex would get better as well. 

The next day she sat by her phone, waiting for a call that never came. She told herself that he was just busy with classes and the team. The next day there was still no call. 

That evening though, only 2 days after he'd told her he loved her. She saw him in a restaurant staring dreamily into the eyes of another girl. While he kissed the girl, Melissa felt tears pouring from her own eyes. She'd been a fool and she wasn't the only one who knew it. 

The next morning in the dorm's community locker room, she heard two other girls talking. "Yeah he got her too. Fucked her on the beach the first night they went out. From what I heard, he said she was awful. The worst sex he's ever had. She was a virgin too. I really think he's going to win that contest they're having. And all she's got to remember him by is a torn up pussy and some sand in her panties."

Melissa ran into her room and cried the whole day. It took her several days before she even returned to her classes. For the rest of her term she didn't date at all. When she returned home for the summer she only went out on group dates. 

The next fall, her senior year, she again refused to date anyone until she met Darren. He was so different from all of the other men who asked her out. He was so respectful, and clearly in awe of her. He was very nice, and good looking too.

Even her best friends told her that she'd be stupid to let him get away; unless of course, she didn't like boys. 

Almost from the start of the relationship, she put almost unassailable hurdles in his way. When he went out of his way to climb over all of the obstacles she put in front of him, it only made her more determined to challenge him further. 

Finally she couldn't find any reason not to date him. They went out with a group of her friends and she actually had a good time. He was trying so hard to win her that she had to give him credit for his persistence if nothing else. 

Their first solo date ended not with a kiss or even a handshake, but with her solemn admonition that she'd had a good time.

When she got home she'd told her room mates about it and they looked at her as if she was crazy. He's a really nice guy, they'd told her. After pursuing her for a month, and being a perfect gentleman, what did he have to show for his efforts? 

They assured Melissa that he probably wouldn't call her for a second date. He'd had to work too hard for nothing, they told her. And He's a nice looking guy with a good body. He's smart and has a nice personality. Some other girl will snatch him up.

Her roommate's words fell like the pages in the bible. The very next day, not only did Darren not call her, but she found out that one of the other girls in her own building had seen them coming back from their date, and asked him out herself. 

Melissa searched her heart and decided that she wanted Darren, and wasn't going to let anyone else have him. 

She called him and asked point blank why he hadn't called her. She told him that she'd been considering where they should go for their second date. He must have really liked her. He was also a very honest man too, because within an hour of their phone call, the other woman from her building was giving Melissa the evil eye. 

Melissa knew that Darren must have called the woman and cancelled their date to go out with her.

Melissa then began the pattern that would characterize her and Darren's relationship. She was always the one in control. She had no intention of ever letting anyone use her again. 

Any time that Darren balked at something she wanted or asked about, Melissa gave him a few bread crumbs to keep him coming back. She didn't let him kiss her until their 5th date. It took six months before she let him touch one of her breasts outside of her clothes. And needless to say they didn't have sex until their wedding night. 

Even after being married for so long, it was Melissa who parceled out the sex, when she felt like it. Darren loved her so much that he had simply never complained. 

Those friends of his had been changing his mind though. That fucking computer engineer and his wife were meddling in her marriage. Darren had an interest in cars and had bought himself some kind of car to work on. He met a few people who were interested in the same kinds of cars. 

He'd begged her to visit the home of these new friends with him. She'd agreed. It had been mostly so she could see who they were and what kind of influence they might have over her husband. 

The man, Tim Matthews and his wife, Elaine had a beautiful home and an adorable daughter, Christa. 

Melissa was shocked at the way they acted. It seemed like neither one of them was in control of their marriage. They obviously loved each other very much. They were always all over each other. 

Melissa had been shocked to watch Tim slap Elaine on her ass several times, right in front of them. All the woman did was to look at him and smile.

And she was obviously confused at how a marriage should be run. When they were all gathered on the deck, watching a beautiful sunset Elaine had chosen to sit in Tim's lap and start kissing him, while they had guests. The woman couldn't enough of the guy.

She was beautiful. She was slim but still curvy. She had bigger breasts than anyone in Melissa's group and an incredible ass. As she sat down on her husband and reached up to kiss him. Their daughter, who must have been about 3 years old, came out onto the deck, with a teddy bear, and headed for their garage. 

As the girl got near Tim's bright yellow muscle car, the car's door opened and the little girl got into the car. The door closed with a resounding thunk. 

Tim and Elaine looked at each other. Melissa wondered how the car's door had opened and closed but the child's parents didn't seem concerned so why should she worry.

She was more interested in the relationship between the parents. As Elaine sat on top of Tim, the man destroyed her dignity. He pulled her shirt out of her shorts and began rubbing her soft tummy right in front of them. And she crooned as if she was enjoying having him paw her in public. 

Darren seemed to sense Melissa's shock, so he started talking to defuse the situation. "What's Christa doing?" he asked. It shocked Melissa that not only did her husband, know the child's name, but he was asking about her. Perhaps that was why they were there.

"She's tired," laughed Elaine. "She'll go curl up in Chrissie, until I put her to bed, or her Daddy does. Don't worry she's safer there than anywhere else."

Melissa noticed that Tim was still stroking his wife's stomach. Elaine seemed to have developed a case of the wigglies.

"She's going to have to get used to the idea of sharing her secret place before too long though," she said. 

Melissa noticed that Tim's eyes got bigger and he stared at Elaine. 

"You mean that you're...I mean we're...Uhm..."he stuttered.

"Yes handsome," Elaine smiled. "You put another baby in me. We're knocked up again."

After that the evening was pretty much over. Melissa noticed that Tim and Elaine, as cordial and friendly as they'd tried to be couldn't wait to get rid of their guests. She had an idea that they'd be in bed before she and Darren drove away.

Even now, weeks after she'd met them, the evening still haunted Melissa's thoughts. Hearing from Helen how much Darren loved her only further confused Melissa.

She did these girl's nights out whenever she and her friends wanted to. Of the four women, only she and Helen were married. Helen and her husband had an open marriage. They'd both had several affairs and were now starting to slow down and rediscover each other as they aged. Melissa thought there was something wrong in Helen's marriage but didn't pry.

The others were both divorced. Melissa hadn't actually cheated on Darren yet, but she wasn't about to let him know that. To be truthful she didn't really enjoy Danielle and Sandy's company, but she needed to go out regularly to let Darren know that she wouldn't stand for any cheating on his part and that she could get another guy easily. She needed him to know that because it helped her maintain control.

Still seeing Tim and Elaine had given her much to think about. She absent mindedly rubbed her stomach as she drove. 

Chapter 2

Darren got out of his Jeep and started stacking boxes in front of Tim and Elaine's garage. When he was done, he trudged over to their front door and gently knocked. 

Elaine opened the door and her face broke into a smile when she saw Darren. They'd only known each other for a few months, but he was already one of her husband's best friends. Anything that made Tim happy, made Elaine happy too. 

"Hi Darren, Tim kind of had to work late. You can go ahead and get started though," she said.

"Uhm, maybe I'll just come back a different night," said Darren sadly.

"Any night you'd like. You're always welcome Darren," said Elaine. 

"It probably won't be for a week or so, I don't get many nights to..." began Darren. 

"So, why don't you stay tonight?" asked Elaine. "At least jack the car up and put your new rims and tires on. Your brake calipers look really good."

"I don't know how to say this, Elaine," began Darren. 

"You're scared to go into the garage without Tim, aren't you?" asked Elaine smiling.

Darren nodded his head. He liked Elaine and Tim. He wished that his marriage was more like theirs. In fact he had arranged the dinner with them so Melissa could see the way they were together. But after the dinner Melissa had simply forbidden him to bring either of them to their home. She'd said that there was something weird about the two of them and Darren shouldn't get any ideas in his head.

There was something weird about them but it wasn't Elaine or Tim. It was their car. Darren had heard from several others that the car had been involved in accidents where people died. Some of them even thought that the car was responsible. At first Darren wrote it off to bad luck. After all it wasn't like the car could eat people or anything.

He'd heard of at least three cases including two in one day, and one recent case where the car, with no one behind the wheel had simply run over or crushed a person. In each case Tim had told him that there'd been a logical reason usually involving some type of mechanical failure. 

But Darren had seen too many weird things with that car. Like the way it seemed to respond to anything Tim or Elaine said. And their daughter was worse. 

There was simply no reason to explain why a three year old girl could walk up to a locked car and the door open itself to let her in and then close back. His wife hadn't caught that, but Darren had. 

In fact the recent incident with the car, which Darren heard about from Tim's nosy neighbor, had involved Christa. She'd been out playing and had been in the driveway while her mother was sitting on the deck. Elaine never let Christa out of her sight, but she'd been tired and had just taken her eyes off of the child for a second.

The second was all it took. A man driving down the street had seen the child unattended and went after her. He'd only been out of jail for a few days for doing the same thing. He was a pedophile and should have been required to register his home address before moving into the neighborhood. 

He looked around and didn't see anyone. He stopped his car at the end of the driveway and got out. He told the little girl, that he had candy in his car. She smiled and said she wanted some. He picked her up and put her in the back seat. He made sure he buckled the seat belt around her, just in case he was pulled over. Of course not having a correct car seat wouldn't be a good thing, but he could think up a plausible explanation for that. Besides, the chances of him getting pulled over were slim.

He walked back around to the driver's and had just touched the door handle when the Screaming Yellow Mustang slammed into him crushing him between itself and his car. His final scream was drowned out by the sound of the impact. The nosey neighbor had seen it all. 

Elaine never even realized that her child was in danger. She reacted to seeing the brightly colored car rocketing backwards out of the garage. 

She did see it hit the other car but noticed curiously that the impact had been strong enough to crush the man, but not hard enough to do more than jostle the other car. 

The impact on the second car had dented the side body panels heavily, but the Mustang was not even scratched. Elaine knew about the car and wondered at first why the impact hadn't been more severe. It was as if Chrissie was trying to protect the other car. 

When she got to the car and looked inside she realized why and smiled. She saw her daughter asleep on the back seat and called the police. The neighbor later lied to the police, by telling them he hadn't seen anything. He knew about the car and was afraid of it too.

Elaine got her daughter out of the car making sure she didn't touch anything. She woke Christa up and made sure she was okay. 

"Chrissie, get in the garage," she said. She wasn't surprised when the car rolled back down the driveway into the garage. 

She looked over the scene just as the police arrived. She told them how she'd heard crash sound from her deck. She'd run out there and found the man crushed against the car. She told them that by the time she'd gotten there the other car was long gone. She didn't see it.

The police checked over the scene. They got the man's wallet and identified him. They also found the candy laced with a sleeping drug in the car. They asked her if she had any kids. 

They' told her how lucky she was when she told them about her sleeping daughter in the house. Elaine had thought to herself that she was even luckier that it had rained that morning. 

On days when it rained, Tim drove Elaine's Chevelle SS to work. He couldn't stand the thought of his beloved Mustang getting wet unless he was washing it. If Chrissie hadn't been there, this might've been a tragedy. 

Naturally the police looked the car over and the Mustang not having a scratch on it, removed it from consideration. 

Since the man was a known child molester, Elaine didn't think they'd waste much time solving his murder. By the time Tim got home, the car and the body had been removed and life had moved on.

Darren didn't know anything about any of the incidents other than what he'd been told. But he knew enough not to want to be around that car alone. He'd never felt threatened by the car, but it did feel like someone was watching him whenever he was in the garage.

"Darren, how about if I sit in the garage while you work?" asked Elaine. 

"That would be great'" said Darren, cheerfully. 

Chapter 3

When Melissa and her friends walked into the crowded club, it was already full of people. They looked like a scene out of a bad teenaged dance movie, while walking to a table. 


Freak the Freak Out



Tonight was Melissa's favorite night to be in the club. It was karaoke night. She loved to hear the amateur singers trying to impress the crowd. What was different about the club's version of Karaoke was that the singers got to sing a song of their choice from a list of songs, but the music came from a live band. 

Melissa also liked it because she didn't have to spend most of her night fending off the guys she danced with. Sandy and Danielle often fucked the guys they danced with. Most of the men thought that she would as well, if given the right motivation and situation. Because of that she had never paid for a single drink while in the club. 

Helen on the other hand didn't dance. She told the other women that her cheating days had ended. And though her husband didn't mind if she danced with other men, she didn't think it was something that a married woman should do. 

The first few performers seemed to know they were awful. They wanted to get up and get it over with while the crowd was still sympathetic and in the mood to reward bravery. After a few singers though, the audience ripped the untalented without guilt or compassion. 

Melissa was sitting at the table with a guy she knew. He was always trying to get into her pants. She'd actually let him kiss her and feel on her breasts a couple of times, usually when she was really pissed at Tim. But so far nothing she considered serious had happened.

A woman got up on the stage to sing, just as Sandy and some guy Melissa had never seen before, came back to the table. Sandy's dress was messed up and her makeup was smeared and the guy was smiling from ear to ear. Melissa had no illusions over where they'd been. 

"Oh shit," hissed Helen. 

"Relax Helen, she does it all the time," said Melissa, pushing her guy's hands away from her lap. 

"Not her," said Helen. "Look, on the stage."

On the stage holding a mike, was a tall woman. She had long dark hair like Helen, but was much slimmer. She had large breasts for her build and long legs. Several of the guys in the crowd started whistling before she started singing. 

"I didn't know Jessica was going to be here tonight," said Helen. 

As they watched, Jessica started to sing. She was a good singer and had the crowd in the palm of her hand in minutes. When she finished her song the crowd erupted and cheered.

"Your sister can sing," said Melissa. 

"Yeah, she tried to make an album once. But she couldn't find the right songs. None of the songwriters she worked with could write anything that really captured her voice," said Helen. "Plus music wasn't really where her heart was. She was only doing the music thing to be close to her ex. She likes working on cars."

A few minutes later Jessica came over to their table and hugged her sister. She looked around the table and saw the other three women. Only her sister was sitting alone. Danielle was sitting on top of a guy. Sandy's makeup was smeared and the guy sitting with her had bite marks on his neck, and his collar was smeared with lipstick, the same color Sandy had on her lips. Melissa was constantly moving her guy's hands. As Jessica watched he was stroking her breasts and she seemed to be okay with it. What a pack of sluts, she thought. 

When Melissa got home, Darren was already asleep. Usually he waited up for her. She thought he did it either to look her over so he could be sure she hadn't fucked someone else. Or so he could have sex with her if she was in the mood and felt like doing it. 

Tonight that idiot at the club rubbing her all over had her wired up. Truthfully, she loved having sex with her husband, but she couldn't let him know that. If Darren ever knew how much she enjoyed it, he'd be after her all the time and she'd lose a portion of her control. 

She'd especially felt strange since the meeting with the Matthews family. She was thinking about getting off of the pill and letting Darren get her pregnant. 

He looked so cute lying there facing her side of the bed, that she wished she could just let go with him. It would be so wonderful to really and truly trust him with all of her heart. But she knew what would happen. That had already been hammered into her in college when that Romeo had fucked her and dumped her. Never again would any man control or hurt her.

She noticed that Darren besides being turned to face her side of the bed had her pillow by his face. It was as if he was trying to go to sleep with her smell in his nostrils. Shit, he really must love her. 

Her eyes got misty, thinking about it. Then she realized that she was acting vulnerable again. 

"Darren, why the fuck didn't you put the dishes away" she screamed waking him up. 

"Oh sorry," he sputtered. "I have to be awake early tomorrow for a meeting and I got to bed late. I was tired from..."

"I don't want your weak excuses," she sneered. "What I want is my God damned kitchen cleared." He got out of bed and headed quickly for the kitchen. As he walked Melissa looked at her husband. He really did have a nice body. He was built much better than the idiot at the club. 

Part of the reason she'd awakened him was that she wanted him up, so she could have sex with him.

She laid down on the bed in just her panties and bra. Darren came back into the room a few minutes later. He looked at her lying on the bed with her eyes closed. 

His eyes zoomed in on her mouth. Her lipstick was smeared. Not just lighter in some areas as if she'd been pressing her lips against a glass while drinking. It was smeared as if she'd kissed someone. 

Melissa was also very red in the areas around her breasts, as if ... Darren didn't want to think about it. 

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't..." he quickly left the room. Melissa's eyes shot open just in time to see Darren walking back out of their bedroom. She was half asleep and horny as hell, but it looked as if he was angry. 

She thought that what she'd seen might not have been anger, maybe it was lust. And that just the thought of getting to have sex with her had Darren worked up. 

She was sure he'd be back in a few minutes, when he thought she was ready. 

The next morning Melissa realized something was wrong. She'd fallen asleep last night and Darren hadn't come back into their room. What as worse, he hadn't come into their room to tell her goodbye this morning and hope for one of her rare goodbye kisses.  

She'd try to figure out his problems later. She had a full day of tanning and the gym ahead of her. She had to keep herself looking good. He wouldn't want her if she got fat. 

Chapter 4

Darren got to his office early. He wanted to scream. But that wasn't his way. For over 10 years he'd been putting up with Melissa's bullshit. He'd allowed himself to be humiliated, and abused because he loved Melissa like there was no tomorrow. But he had reached his limit. He was sure she had finally made good on her threat and went out and fucked some guy. And worse than that, she'd come home and rubbed it in his face. 

He decided to pack it in. Surely it couldn't be any worse being alone than it was being with Melissa. He called a friend of his who was a divorce attorney. Ryan didn't seem surprised. 

"Dude, I'm just surprised that it took you this long," said Ryan. "If we work this right, we can get you out of this with more than your pride intact."

"Ryan I don't have any kind of proof that she cheated on me," said Darren. 

"Dude, don't worry about it. Give me your address, I'm going to have some people bug your house and plant some cameras," said Ryan.

"I don't think she brings them here," said Darren. 

"Darren, get the whole adultery thing out of your mind. That dog won't hunt. It's been done too many times. Most of the judges are bored with it. All adultery will get you is half of your shit at best. Plus since your wife, even with a college degree has never had a fucking job, she'd probably end up with more of your shit than you would," said Ryan. "In the end she'd move her lovers into your house and have you paying for them to fuck her in your bed, while they're drinking your fucking beer and laughing at you."

Darren saw the picture in his mind and it made his temperature rise a little but he still didn't blow up.

"We're going at this a completely different way," he smirked. "Trust me. You will be happy."

Darren still had time before he was supposed to actually arrive at work. He sat in front of his computer and started trying to think of what he wanted to say to Melissa. He'd write her a letter to tell her what his life was like, and the hell she'd turned it into. Maybe he'd even tell her that he'd known about what she went through in college before she met him. 

He'd actually known how Ryan had fucked her and thrown her to the side. He'd never mentioned it because he'd have had to tell her that though he hadn't dated her during the competition, he'd been a part of it. Though he'd never been dishonest with any of the girls he'd dated, and he'd only used girls who were also only interested in no strings relationships he'd felt guilty. 

He'd thought he could get rid of some of his guilt about the innocent women that some of his friends had hurt by trying to help Melissa get her confidence back. He'd never expected to fall in love with her. 

For years he'd suffered her abuse hoping that someday she would realize how much she loved him and maybe return some of that love. But last night was the final straw. The last indignity he'd bear for love. 

He also thought it was poetic justice to hire Ryan as his divorce attorney.

Back in college he and Ryan had been competitive but friendly. Ryan had been a jock. Darren had been into music. 

As Darren tried to write his letter, for some reason it came out more like a song or a poem. 

"Are you listening, hear me talk, hear me sing.

Open up the door, is it less is it more.

When you tell me to beware, are you here are you there?

Is it something I should know, easy come easy go.

Not in your head, don't hear a word I said.

I can't communicate when you wait, don't relate.

I try to talk to you, but you never even knew.

So what's it gonna be, tell me, can you hear me?

Patience runnin' thin, runnin' thin come again.

Tell me what I get opposite, opposite.

Show me what is real, if it breaks, does it heal? 

Open up your ear, why you think that I'm here.

Keep me in the dark, are you even thinking of me?

Is someone else above me? Gotta know gotta know.

What am I gonna do, 'cause I can't get through to you

So what's it gonna be, tell me can you hear me?"

It wasn't bad and it summed up some of Darren's frustration and things he wished he could tell Melissa. It especially talked about his wish that she'd talk to him or at least listen to him. 

Still it was missing something. Darren didn't think about it anymore. He decided to go ahead and get some work done. Maybe he could get out of here early and go to Tim and Elaine's house. His car was nearly done all he really needed was a paint job. 

When Darren got home that evening, Melissa was already there. She was lying on the couch in their large living room in a very short skirt. Her legs were splayed open and Darren couldn't get how sexy she looked out of his mind. 

He was sure that she'd probably spent the afternoon with whoever she was fucking. He almost hoped that she'd done it here so Ryan's people would have a recording of it. He went into the office to check the Internet for top quality auto painting.

Melissa was pissed. As soon as Darren had come into the house, he'd taken one look at her laid out on the couch like a whore and retreated to his home office. 

She hadn't been asleep at all. She'd been peering at him the whole time. Her eyes had been barely slits.

The plan had been for him to come in, take one look at her and practically beg her to have sex with him. Or at least come over and start making obvious glances her way and hinting. After 10 years together he should know the way they did things. What was wrong with him? 

He had looked at her. He had stared at her, but it wasn't the look she'd expected. It was more a look of sadness or hurt. Then he'd gone into the office.

"Darren," she screamed at the top of her lungs. "When did you get home? Why haven't you started dinner?"

Surprisingly he didn't answer. She stood there for a while and then went to the door of the office. The door didn't open when she twisted the handle. It was locked. 

In her rage she kicked the door several times and left the house. 

Melissa drove to Danielle's house. She explained what had happened when Darren got home. Danielle laughed about it. Melissa didn't think it was funny at all. She began to wonder why she had told Danielle about her problem anyway. Maybe it was because she really needed someone to talk to and anybody was better than nobody.

Before they got done, Helen came over. Melissa explained the whole thing again for Helen's benefit.

Danielle and Helen seemed to have differing viewpoints on the situation. Danielle thought that Melissa had a great degree of control over her husband and that it was a good thing. Darren was so pussy-whipped that he wouldn't ask for sex even if he wanted it. 

She told Melissa that the next step would be to make him accept the fact that she could even have sex with other men if she wanted to and there was nothing he could do about it. 

Helen looked at Danielle as if she was crazy. "Danielle, what happened to your marriage?" asked Helen. 

"Well, Uhm..." began Danielle. "I was tired of having to fuck the same guy all of the time. So I..."

"Bull shit," snapped Helen. "I was there. You were flirting with a bunch of guys and your husband found out about it and dumped your ass. You begged him for months to give you another chance. Then he married a younger, prettier girl and they have two kids now. You got bitter and lost a lot of weight and now you go out and fuck random guys. In your mind you think you're getting back at him somehow, but he's moved on. And I'm glad for him because you're a bitch. You're just trying to fuck up Melissa's marriage because yours got fucked up."

"Get your fat ass out of my house," snapped Danielle.

An hour later, Melissa was back at home and still confused. Her doorbell rang and she went to answer it. It was Helen. Helen came in and they sat and talked.

"Melissa, I've known you a long time. And I want for you to be happy. Don't listen to Danielle's bullshit. She's always telling you about being in control. It was her sort of control that ended her marriage. A marriage is not a battle. It's supposed to be a partnership. When it works well, both partners are in control together as equals."

As Helen spoke Melissa thought about Tim and Elaine. They were definitely equals. They loved each other so much that she couldn't imagine either of them without the other. The problem was she didn't know how to do that. Or even how to get to that point from where she was now.

"You need to back off on Darren, and stop trying to control him so much. If you don't he's going to freak the freak out and you'll lose him forever. Just like Danielle's husband did. Then you'll be a sad, bitter old bitch just like she is," said Helen.

They were interrupted by the phone ringing. Darren came out of his office just as Melissa was going to pick up the phone. 

"Hi Darren," said Helen. "How's it hanging?"

"Not so good," he said. "I can't find anyone to paint my car."

Helen realized that Darren was so repressed that he wouldn't talk about what was really bothering him. She could tell that he was upset though and it wasn't about a car. 

She did figure that maybe if she helped him with the car thing, maybe she'd get him to trust her. Then she could get him and Melissa to talk to each other, before it was too late.

Helen looked at the table and got a pad and a pen off of it. She quickly wrote down a number. "Her name is Jessica. She's my sister. Tell her I sent you and she'll give you a good price."

"Thanks," said Darren. 

"Darren, I know that we don't know each other, but you're a good guy. It is okay for you to tell Melissa "no," sometimes and stand up for yourself."

"Sometimes you have to go a little bit crazy to save yourself," she threw in. 

Melissa came back into the room and saw them speaking to each other.

"We have to go, now," she said to Helen. "There's an emergency, at Danielle's."

Melissa looked around to see what Darren was doing because she wanted to tell him to stay awake this time. But he was gone.

"I'm going home," said Helen. "Fuck Danielle and her problems. She told me to get my fat ass out of her house so I see no reason to go back there."

Melissa got to Danielle's house and saw her friend lying on the couch with a compress on her head. She looked awful. Sandra was with her, but got up to leave just as Melissa came in. 

"Good, you can stay with her, I have a date," said Sandra.

"Where's Helen?" moaned Danielle.

"Remember, you told her to get out of your house?" said Melissa. 

"I didn't mean it," cried Danielle.

"Her ex husband's new wife is pregnant again," said Sandra. "Danielle's mother is still on good terms with him. Since his parents are dead, he treats her like she's his mother. He and his new wife are naming the baby after Danni's mom and they want her to be the godmother. She called and told Danni how stupid she was for letting him go."

Melissa stayed with Danielle for most of the evening listening to her friend talk about how her ex was ways doing shit like this to make her miserable. She really wished that she'd had half of the control over her ex that Melissa had over Darren.  

For the past day or so Melissa had been torn. On one hand she really did in her own way love Darren deeply. On the other hand she knew first-hand how it felt to be used and tossed to the side.

She was also really pissed at Darren because he hadn't just melted at her feet and had sex with her when she wanted. She decided that he needed to pay for that. Maybe Danielle had the right idea. Darren was beginning to try to manipulate her. If he wasn't at home and ready for her when she got there he'd better beware because she might just do what she'd been trying to make him think she was doing. 

Darren listened to the recordings made in the house. There was nothing interesting, at least to him. There were just more incidents of Melissa screaming at him. 

The conversation between Helen and Melissa was interesting though, especially the part where Helen told Melissa that he might freak the freak out. Helen was nice he thought. She'd told him that it was okay for him to just go out and do something he'd enjoy.

He called the number she'd given him and spoke to a woman who told him to come over and talk about it. She gave him an address and he left to meet her.

The address she'd given him was a garage. They did auto repairs there. She showed him a paint booth. She also showed him a certificate of completion from a top auto finishing school. They went back into the office and she showed him samples of the work she'd done. In one of the pictures he saw a familiar face. Tim was standing with another guy in front of a Mustang with a custom purple paint job. 

"Did you paint..." he asked when he saw Tim.

"Nope, I didn't paint Chrissie," she said. "But Tim said that if he ever needs her repainted or touched up, I could do it."

"Could you match that color?" he asked. "But with white stripes instead of black?"

"Yes," she hissed instantly interested.

They talked for a while longer and found out that they had a lot in common. Besides just doing the paint, she wanted to help him see his vision of the car through. He heard the sounds of strumming from a guitar in the background. 

"Sorry, that's some guys I invited over to jam," she said. "I've enjoyed talking to you so much, and not just about your car. I wish it didn't have to end. My sister has a lot of friends but no one as nice as you."




Freak the Freak Out



"Actually today was the first time I've spoken to your sister so I wouldn't actually call us friends. She's friends with my wife Melissa."

As soon as he'd said Melissa's name, Jessica felt sorry for him. It was so stupid for her to be in clubs letting men feel on her tits and whatever else she did, when she had a guy as nice as he was, at home. She tried to cover up her reaction but wasn't even close to being successful.

"What?" asked Darren seeing the way she looked when he mentioned Melissa's name. 

"Nothing," said Jessica. "I really should get out there. We have a long night ahead of us. We're going to try to write something. None of us are song writers, we love to play and we're pretty creative about arranging, but writing comes hard for us."

"Can I stay and listen for a while?" asked Darren. 

"Sure if you want," smiled Jessica.

It was magical. Jessica sat next to Darren and sang several songs that he'd heard on the radio. They tried a couple of songs that some of them or all of them had written together. The original songs just lacked something. After a couple of hours, the guys left.

"See what I mean," she said. "I think we're a cover band at best."

"I'm not so sure," Darren said. "Maybe all you need is the right song."

"People have been telling me that for years," she said. "Honestly the music thing doesn't really matter that much to me. It's more like a hobby than my life's passion. I just do it to hand out with my friends. If I wasn't doing it, they'd hold auditions, get another singer and life would move on."

"But you're so good at it," Darren insisted.

"Do you want to get something to eat?" she asked and then suddenly stopped.

"Sorry, I forgot, that you're married," she said.

"Not for much longer I'm afraid. I have a lawyer working on my divorce papers as we speak," He said.

"So you already know?" she asked.

"Know what?" I asked back.

"I'm Switzerland," she smiled. "I don't get involved in other people's wars."

"This isn't a war," Darren said. "In order to have a war, there have to be two sides fighting, over something. This is more like a slave uprising, or an act of emancipation."

She looked at Darren strangely.

"Don't take my word for it. Please ask your sister about my marriage to Melissa." Darren said.

"Besides, Melissa has made it clear over the last few months that she really doesn't want to be with me. The last few days have been really clear. It's taken me over 10 years to realize something that the average guy would've figured out on the first date," Darren said.

"For over 10 years it's been a two way thing. Melissa's way or the highway," he smirked. "It was never my way."

Darren stayed there and just talked with Jessica for over two hours. They always intended to leave, but just never did. They talked about the failure of his marriage, and the failure of Jessica's. Her ex. couldn't ever say no to groupies, even though his wife was much hotter.

When Darren finally got home it was nearly midnight. Melissa was sitting on the couch, with her arms across her chest. She had on a nearly see through nightgown, but he could tell she'd worn it more to let him know what he wouldn't be getting than anything else.

"Where the fuck, were you?" she asked.

"I went to check on getting my car painted," said Darren. "I heard some music and lost track of time. If it matters I'm sorry."

"You were supposed to be here waiting when I got back," she snapped. 

"How was I supposed to know that?" he asked. "You never told me to be here.

"Well, I meant to," she said. "You should have known, to be here. What if I wanted something?"

"So now I'm supposed to anticipate your whims too?" Darren asked. He looked at Melissa as if she were crazy, and went upstairs. He grabbed a bunch of clothing from his closet and drawers and moved them into the guest room.

Melissa stormed up the stairs after him. "Open this God damned door Darren," she screamed. "I'm not done talking to you." In her mind Melissa was thinking that this evening had gone totally wrong. This wasn't what she wanted at all. But there was no way she could back down now without giving up some of her control.

"But I'm done listening Melissa. I'm so sick of it. You never listen, never listen," he said.

Darren suddenly stopped talking. Melissa continued to rant through the closed door but Darren's mind was somewhere else.

He got out a pen and a pad and jotted down a few hasty words. Oh shit, he thought. This is it.

When Darren got to work the next day he turned his computer on and looked at the words he'd written the previous day. He separated the poem into distinct verses, and threw in the chorus he'd written last night during his argument with his wife.

It looked good. He had lyrics, now he needed a melody and a riff. He also needed a bass-line. He didn't really worry about the drums because if he could get the guitar riff and the melody any drummer worth a shit could follow it.

His secretary told him that Melissa was on the phone for him. He told her to take a message. She looked at him as if he'd grown another head. Darren had never once refused a call from his wife.

A few minutes later she popped back in and gave him the message from Melissa and he just shrugged his shoulders.

He picked up the phone and called Jessica. "Hey, we never talked about how much you're charging me to paint my car," he said.

"You pay for the paint, I'll do it for free," she said. 

"No Jess, I really can afford it," he told her. 

"I know you can, but I just want to do something for you," she said. He could imagine her smiling even now.

"Okay, then do you have a guitar?" he asked.

"Not one of my own, but there are always a couple lying around, why?" she asked.

"I may have something for you," he said.

"Like what?" she asked. "Are you going to bring it to me today?" she asked.

All reticence in pursuing a married man had vanished from Jessica after talking to Helen. Helen had asked Jessica to stay away from Darren but if even half of the things Helen had told her about, are true. Melissa didn't deserve him.

"I'd love to, but I can't," he said. "It's going to take some time to work out and I have to do something with some friends tonight. Trust me if I could get out of it, I would. Oh do you know Elaine Matthews?"

"Tim's wife? Of course," said Jessica. "Why?'

"She's going to drop my car off, today. Is that okay?" he asked.

"Perfect, the sooner, the better." actually Jessica was still reeling from the fact that he'd called her Jess. She liked it. And the fact that he had something to give her.

Darren got home a little earlier than normal. Melissa watched him as he came in and went upstairs and took a shower. He threw on a pair of jeans and some comfortable shoes. He put on a T shirt and a light jacket. Then he went back downstairs. 

"Where the hell are you going now?" asked Melissa. "I didn't say you could go anywhere."

"I didn't ask you for permission," he snapped back at her. "I don't ask you where you go when you leave, so you don't get to ask me."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she snapped. "We need to talk."

"Melissa for ten years you've never listened to a thing I've had to say. I've been in love with you for so long that I guess I never saw that you didn't love me back. Either that or I hoped that someday you'd stop punishing me, for something that someone else did to you. But I guess it's time for me to just let it go," he said.

Melissa was stunned. She couldn't think of a thing to say. Finally, too long after the door had closed and Tim was gone, she said, "I'm ready to listen now."

Within an hour Melissa had Sandra, Helen and Danielle in her living room with her. They had convened the council of war to decide what to do about her errant spouse.

Helen thought that Melissa should come clean, about her feelings with Darren and try to start again as equals. She needed to tell him about the things she'd done at the club and let him know that it was her love for him that had prevented her from going any further than she had.

"He thinks you're already fucking around on him," said Helen.

"Who told you that?" snapped Melissa.

"My sister," said Helen. "She's painting that car of his for him. I think she likes him, but I told her to stay away from him."

"Fuck that," said Danielle. "You need to reestablish your control quickly. He's already trying to line up a replacement for you. You need to let him know that you can replace him too. And just like in any war there has to be an escalation of forces. He got a girlfriend, so you have to go and fuck someone, and let him know you're going to do it."

"He'll beg you not to do it. And you'll have your control back," she said.

"But what if he doesn't beg her?" asked Helen. "Then she'd look stupid and lose even more of her precious control."

"No, Stupid," snapped Danielle. "If he doesn't beg her not to do it, then she does it. She can always say that she told him she was going to do it, and by not telling her not to, he gave her permission."

"You're the stupid one," said Helen. "If she fucks another guy, she'll lose him forever. Look at what happened to you, and all you did was flirt with some guys. Or have you been lying about that too?"

"Get your fat ass out of my...Danielle began.

"This isn't your house, bitch," snapped Helen.

Chapter 5

Darren, Tim, and Elaine walked around the fairgrounds. Tim introduced Darren to person after person. They all stared at the large number of Mustang's displayed. They were at the year's first joint meeting of all of the Mustang clubs in the state. Darren was having a great time. He looked at cars and got an idea about what he'd like to do to his car. 

Tim introduced Darren to some of the fifty members of his club. What made Tim's club special was that all of the members drove Yellow Mustangs. Darren had been floored. He'd found out there was a Black Mustang Club, a Shelby owners club, a Roush owners club, and many others. Basically if there was a type of Mustang, there was a group of people who loved them.

As they walked around the fairgrounds Darren found himself watching Tim and Elaine. He envied the way they were together. He knew even more now that he'd never have that kind of relationship with Melissa. It made him even sadder.

"Hey," is this why you couldn't give me my surprise today?" Tim turned around and saw Jessica standing behind him. He reached out and hugged her for all he was worth. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in tighter. He felt her breasts smash themselves against his chest. It was all he could do to push himself away.

"Well that was awkward," she said.

"Sorry, I didn't think," he said. "I was just so glad to see you."

"Hi Jessica," smiled Elaine. Jessica waved back and hugged Christa.

For the rest of the night, Jessica joined them. After it got dark they sat on the grass and watched a fireworks display. Darren found himself watching Tim and Elaine more. He loved the way that she molded herself to him as they sat together. And the way their daughter crawled into their combined lap and went to sleep, without a care in the world.

"Jealous?" asked Jessica.

"Very much," he replied.

"Me too," she said.

Over the next few days Darren didn't get to see Jessica. Either she was busy or he was. They were each working their hearts out for the other. Jessica had finished the base coats and the color coats on Darren's car. She'd put an unbelievable number of clear coats on it until the car was so shiny it was hard to believe.

Darren had finished the song. Meanwhile his marriage to Melissa had gotten to the point where they didn't even bother speaking any more. Helen had urged Melissa to hold off on Danielle's stupid plan and to just talk to Darren before it was too late.

Finally Darren called Jessica. "Tonight," he said.

"Shouldn't you get you divorce over with first?" she asked.

"Ha ha," he replied. "Actually Ryan has my papers ready to file. I just need to pick a day and a way to have them served.

"So what's tonight?" she asked.

"You get your present," he said.

"Well, you can have your car back tonight too," she said. "I know you still have to add your custom grill and a couple of other touches but it's finished and it's a beauty," she said.

"You can have the first ride in it, when it is done," he said.

"I'll see you tonight," she said.

Darren was looking forward to something other than his car for the first time in a long time.

As he got ready to leave the house, Melissa came out into the living room. She had a dress on that stopped barely below her vagina. If she sat or even stood for very long without pulling it down, you could see her panties.

"Don't wait up for me," she said.

"I won't, I'm going out too," he said. "Don't bring whoever you're fucking into my house, and make him wear a condom. On second thought, it's not like we've had sex in a long time and even more unlikely that we ever will again. So forget the second part of that. But don't bring him into my house."

As Darren left Melissa thought she heard him singing a song. What do I do now she wondered? She hadn't intended to go out wearing that dress. She'd wanted Darren to tell her she couldn't wear it or ask her to stay home. She'd even been prepared to change clothes if he asked.

Darren drove over to the garage. As he reached the door, it swung open. Jessica rushed out to him before he touched it. She had obviously been waiting for him. She looked around at him as if she was looking for something. Then she shrugged her shoulders and smiled at him. 

"Come on you have to see this," she said. Darren noticed that Jessica looked at him as if he was not only the only man in the world, but the only person. He saw nothing but joy in her eyes. She clearly liked Darren, for being himself. She would judge Darren by things he had done, not by something that someone else did to her.

As he entered the garage, she rose up on her toes and put her hands over his eyes. She started trying to lead him towards the paint booth, but their difference in height made it difficult for her to steer him around and keep her hands over his eyes. 

In frustration Darren reached down and swept her up and carried her. "Tell me where to go," he said.

Darren noticed some kind of floral scent coming from Jessica's long dark hair. And her perfume or soap was very light as well. He was tempted to lower his nose to her skin so he could really get a whiff of it. He didn't though because he didn't want to push things too far. 

"Darren, you're afraid aren't you?" asked Jessica. He nodded and she giggled. He loved the sound of her laugh. It wasn't forced or fake. It was just the natural sound of a woman who was happy. 

"You don't have anything to be afraid of," she said. "It's perfectly natural for you to feel that way. I think we should always acknowledge our feelings and go with them."

"But I haven't given her the divorce papers yet," he said. "It would be wrong. I couldn't do that."

"Honey, I was talking about your car," she said. "I thought that you might be worried that I'd screwed up your paint job. What were you talking about?"

"I'm sorry," said Darren. "I guess I goofed. You just smell so good, and you feel so good, that I just started imagining that..."

"You're not imagining anything, Darren. I really do hope that something happens with us. My sister is going to kick my ass though if it does. She's trying so hard to save your marriage," said Jessica.

"There's nothing left to save," said Darren. "She went out tonight wearing a dress that was so short that you could see her panties even when she was standing up. She pretty much told me that she was going out to fuck some guy. I just told her not to bring him home with her. Our whole marriage has been about her making sure that no one ever hurt her. She never really invested much of herself in it."

"Then honey, why are you crying?" asked Jessica. "Let it all go. Let her go. Move on with your life. There's a better life waiting for you. Just let the old one go." Darren nodded again. 

"Now let's go look at that car," she said putting her hands back over his eyes.

Darren walked through the garage with Jessica as his eyes. He followed her directions until he realized that they were in the paint booth. His nose told him when they got there. The smell of paint and chemicals was overpowering.

Jessica took her hands off of his eyes and he opened them tentatively. The car was beautiful. Though it was still the same Ford screaming yellow color as Tim's car Chrissie, it just looked even brighter. The color seemed to just pop off of the car. 

"I laid down a white base coat before I did the yellow," said Jessica smiling. "It really makes the color brighter. And the stripes you wanted are painted, not just decals. They match the detailed pin-striping around the car."

Darren was so happy that he didn't think about it. He just kissed her. Jessica as much as she wanted to kiss him, held back at first.

Before she realized it she was kissing him back with a passion she never thought would come out. "Helen is going to kick my ass for sure," she said. Then she started kissing him again.

As she kissed him, she started running her hands over Darren's body. She felt a lump in his jacket pocket and pulled it out. 

"Darren, what is this?" she asked in surprise. "This isn't what I think it is, is it? It's way too soon for that. We don't even know each other that well yet."

In Darren's jacket pocket she'd found a small square shaped box. It looked as if it had come from a jewelry store. 

"Open it," said Darren.

Jessica held her breath and opened the box. Inside there was a ring, a big white ring. The ring was made by folding a piece of paper into a long flat strip and then forming it into a loop. 

"Very funny," she said, hitting him. "I almost had a heart attack. I thought...well you know what I thought."

"So what would you have said if it had been a ring?" he asked.

"You'll just have to ask me to find out," she smirked. "So what is it really?"

"It's a song for you," he said shyly.

"Ooh, I've had lots of guys tell me they want to write songs about me," she said. "But usually just to see if they can get into my pants. This is the first time a guy has written the song first. Actually it's the first time I've actually gotten a song. Usually when they find out I don't put out. There's no song."

"Jess, this isn't that kind of song. It's not a song about you. It's a song for you," said Darren. 

He went over into the corner and picked up an acoustic guitar. He started strumming the staccato opening bars of the song and Jessica started to look at him differently. She looked at the lyrics on the page and started humming. After they'd gone over the song a couple of times she had a completely different look on her face, she was afraid. She called a few of her friends and arranged for a rehearsal the next night with her full band. 

Darren took her for a ride in his freshly painted car. It was a nice night so he put the top down. His car might not have Chrissie's horsepower, but the convertible top made it nice.

Chapter 6

When Darren got home Melissa was sprawled out on the couch, asleep. She was still wearing the dress she's had on when Darren left. Her panties were nowhere to be seen. As Darren looked at her, the first thing he noticed was that the area around her vagina was red and puffy. He went up the stairs quietly and packed a few personal items into an overnight bag. He sat at his desk for a few minutes and finally wrote her the note he'd told himself he'd write a few days before.

He went back down the stairs and left the folded note beside her. Except for having her legs spread out like some cheap whore, Darren was shocked that she was still so beautiful. Despite his anger at her and the way things were going between them, he loved her so much it was painful. He wished that there was some way for them to get past this. But now this was the end. She'd threatened several times to go out and fuck someone, she'd finally done it. There was no going back now. 




Freak the Freak Out



The tears in his eyes spilled over and ran down his face. He gently kissed her one last time and left. As he pulled away from her some of his tears fell onto her face causing her to wake up. By the time she became conscious, he was gone. She was still too drunk to get up so she fell back asleep, thinking she'd dreamed that Darren had been there and crying.

Darren checked into a motel. He fell asleep on the hard and lumpy mattress in his room. He tossed and turned all night. He was conflicted. On one hand he loved Melissa so much, that it hurt him to know that she had just gone out and fucked some guy. There was simply no way he could get over that. 

On the other hand, he had enjoyed kissing Jessica. It wasn't anything like the kisses he'd had with Melissa for the last ten years. Jessica put everything she had into kissing him. Her kisses seemed to tell him that she was giving herself to him totally. Kissing Melissa was like kissing someone over a wall. It was like there was always something between them keeping them from truly being together.

How could he love his wife, if he enjoyed kissing another woman more? It really didn't matter much though because as of tonight, he no longer had a wife. 

The next morning Darren called in and told his secretary that he was taking a couple of days off to sort out some personal problems.

He called his attorney and got a copy of his divorce papers. There were two sets. One set listing adultery as the cause and the other, mental abuse and cruelty. Darren still hadn't decided how to file. Ryan told him that neither cause mattered. They were only after the best settlement and Darren's freedom. 

Darren felt badly about trying to leave Melissa homeless defenseless and destitute. He wanted to give her at least enough money to survive on while she got her life back together. 

Ryan assured him that they'd actually negotiate the settlement with Melissa and her attorneys. But if they started from an absolute scorched earth position, when they gave up a few breadcrumbs so Melissa and her attorney could save face, they'd still win. 

Ryan also reminded him that Melissa had treated him like shit for over ten years so there was no reason for him to feel sorry for her. On some level she deserved it.

Melissa awoke feeling really sad and with a huge headache. She knew she shouldn't have drunk so much last night. The drinking was the reason for the headache. She couldn't put her finger on the reason for the profound sadness she felt. 

Sure her marriage was on the rocks, but she was sure that it could be saved. She knew that she'd treated Darren badly but she was only trying to protect herself. The problem was that she'd realized over the last few days that her protection had failed. 

She loved Darren deeply, but simply didn't understand how to tell him. She'd been locked in a pattern for so long that breaking it was hard. Would it be harder to lose him? She asked herself, that and about a hundred other questions as she sat on the couch.

She decided to take a shower and just take him to lunch so they could finally talk about their problems. Over the past day or so he'd stopped accepting her calls but if she just showed up there was no way he could avoid her. 

As soon as she got to their bedroom, it all fell apart. She noticed that all of Darren's drawers were hanging open. His closet was also severely depleted. Many of his favorite business suits were gone. In the bathroom, she saw that his shaving kit and all of his toiletries were missing.

They were all still there when he left last night and she had never left the house. She tried to focus on what had happened. God damn it she would never drink again. 

Right after Darren had left her, after telling her not to bring whoever she was fucking home, she had been so angry she'd started drinking. On some levels what Darren had said to her in his anger was funny. If only he knew how stupid he was. 

The part about not letting the guy she was fucking into their house was hilarious. He was the only guy she was fucking. She had only been with two men in her entire life. That asshole Ryan back in college, the one who had fucked up her head so badly that it was still affecting her now. The second man was Darren himself. She'd let a couple of men at the club feel on her boobs outside of her clothing, but that was all. Anyone who even tried to touch her outside of her clothing below the waist was rebuffed. Darren was such a fool. She only started telling him all of that stuff about screwing some guy to keep him jealous and keep her in control. 

Still, there was something funny going on. There was a voice in the back of her head telling her that she was in danger, or there was something she'd overlooked. As she looked at the couch she saw her panties dangling over the back, she'd taken them off after she started drinking. Then she'd been so horny that she had used her fingers and relieved herself. She'd been thinking of Darren licking her pussy and fucking her. She'd fallen asleep thinking that as soon as he came in, they were going to settle this once and for all. 

That was when she'd remembered. Darren did come home last night. She remembered him kissing her and she vaguely remembered him crying about something. 

Maybe he was crying for being stupid enough to believe that she was fucking somebody else. 

Suddenly her phone rang and she staggered over to answer it. It was Helen and she was screaming at her. 

"Helen, please stop yelling at me, I have a headache. You only live a few miles down the road. Why don't you just come over instead of screaming at me over the phone," she said.

Melissa went up the stairs and took a shower. She put on a pair of casual pants and a nice blouse. She didn't bother putting on any make-up because she was going to change clothes before she went to lunch with Darren. 

She let Helen in when the doorbell rang.

"You look like hammered shit," said Helen.

"Thank you so much, Helen. That's why you're my best friend," snapped Melissa. "You always cheer me up."

"If I'm your best friend, why don't you ever listen to me instead of the sluts?" asked Helen. "I really hope you're proud of yourself. But let me ask you something, who are you going to find that's better?"

Melissa looked at Helen with a confused look on her face.

"I mean don't get me wrong, I'm happy for my sister. If you're stupid enough to do this, I hope things work out well for her and Darren. It's you I'm wondering about."

"Helen...Whuh?"asked Melissa.

"Let me finish. You always listen to the sluts. This time I'd like to have my say," said Helen. "I know that I'm older than you guys are and chunkier, and probably not as pretty. But you guys will be where I am in a few years. When I was younger I was even wilder than you are. And I was married at the time. My husband George and I both experimented a bit. Usually drugs were involved."

Helen looked at the floor. "Melissa, I got high and let another man fuck me. George couldn't get over it. I thought we were going to get a divorce. A friend of ours convinced George that he should have sex with someone else to balance the scales. After he did, and he did it with one of my friends things still weren't the same. George said it was because he'd done it with my knowledge and consent, and in my case he hadn't had a choice."

"He slept with someone else, then I did. The next thing I knew we had what everyone called an open relationship. I felt more like a whore than anything else but I was stuck because the whole thing was my fault. I'd never wanted anyone other than George, it just happened while I was drunk and high. That's why I don't drink anymore, We ended up joining a swing club. I actually thought it would help us. Instead of us having affairs on the side, we went out together and had sex with other people and then came home together."

"George seemed to be happy. He was making his way through all of the women in the club at an alarming rate. And me, well, you know women can handle far more sex than men can. I was on the bottom in a threesome one night when I looked up and saw George watching me. I smiled at him and he asked me if I could get someone to take me home. He said he was tired."

"I turned to say something to one of the guys who was still trying to fuck me and I noticed that George's fake smile had slipped. He had tears in his eyes. I had never seen my husband cry ever." 

"By the time I got dressed and got someone to drive me home, it was too late. When I got home there was an envelope like yours on my couch and George was gone."

"The first thing you should know is that I never wanted to have any affairs, I never wanted us to have an open marriage and I didn't want to be a swinger. I'd thought it was what George wanted. But while we were doing it, I thought that if he wanted to fuck a bunch of women, then I'd fuck a bunch of men. Just like you and the sluts, I wanted to have things even. What's good for the goose, and all of that."

"Just think, my husband had just walked in and saw three guys fucking me with two more waiting their turn. It was the first time he'd actually seen me participating. He knew what I did at the meetings and I thought I knew what he did. But this was the first time He'd actually seen me. He was shocked. What kind of man can handle seeing his wife with another man? Not one who loves her. Men are just wired to want to own and control their mates."

"The biggest shock though was mine. In the two years that we'd been having the affairs and been swinging. I had been a total fool. I read George's note and just couldn't stop crying. He had never had the affair with my friend. He just got her to lie and say that he'd slept with her, to help us get over what I had done. He'd never had any other affairs and when we went to the swing club, he'd never slept with any of the women. I later went back and verified all of it."

"George had only agreed to the swinging thing because he'd felt that he wasn't enough for me. He hoped that by me having all of the sex I wanted, maybe I'd get over it. Men have very fragile egos and he'd thought that the first time I'd gotten fucked it had been because he couldn't get me off. Actually it was because I got drunk and one of our friends who was also drunk fucked me while I was passed out."

"George had always loved me too much to ever cheat on me and I fucked man after man for two years. That night was the final straw. He'd left me to get a divorce. He was giving me everything, including the house, he just never wanted to see me again."

"I was devastated. I didn't want a divorce. And I hadn't ever wanted to sleep with a bunch of men, but it happened. I got lucky, it took a lot of crying and pleading and over five years of therapy, but George and I are still together. He's my best friend and he loves me, but it's not the same kind of love we once had."

"Our sex life is awful we sometimes go months with-out touching each other. When we do have sex, it's mechanical and it's always in the dark. I don't think he enjoys it at all, but he loves me and really wants us to be together. But I know that every time he looks at me, he sees me with those other men. And I know eventually he'll probably leave me. It's only a matter of time. And I love him so much that I think I'll die when he does."

"The swinging thing just like the control thing or the balance thing, they're all the same. They aren't real. People say that they swing to put some spice in their sex life. When we were in the swing club, I didn't notice it, but we weren't spicing up anything. George had simply stopped having sex with me. I was getting so much sex at the club that I guess it slipped my mind. The men at the club didn't love me. They didn't even know my name. Yep I had a lot of orgasms but I missed intimacy. I missed having someone look into my eyes and tell me they loved me while they fucked me and mean it."

"The only way to have control in a marriage, is to give up control. Do everything and anything you can for your spouse, and they'll do the same. If you give that person your heart totally, they won't ever need anyone else or anything else."

"The sluts are stupid. Danielle is so upset about her ex marrying someone else that she's trying to punish him by fucking other guys. But he doesn't care what she does, he's over her, and in love with his new wife. Danielle's so lonely it's pathetic. That's why she calls us and begs us to come over and to go out to the clubs all of the time. She doesn't even realize that if she keeps up what she's doing now she'll end up a lonely old whore, if she's lucky. If she's not lucky she'll die of aids or some other disease. Maybe she'll be killed or injured by some guy she picks up and fucks. She's trying to make you like her, so she won't be alone."

"Sandra, has started to try to get her life back together. She still goes out with us, but she's dating every guy she can, hoping to find a keeper. Have you noticed that her standards keep dropping? Soon her only requirement will be that he has a pulse."

"That's why I don't understand you doing this. Darren is a great guy and he loves you like crazy. Why give him up?"

"Helen thanks for your life story and your analysis of our friends, but I think you're out of your fucking mind," said Melissa. "Darren and I are still having our issues but I'm not giving up. I am going to give up some of my control, but it's not like we're getting a divorce."

"I'm going to go to his office and have lunch with him today and talk about things," said Melissa. She noticed that Helen was shaking her head.

"That isn't going to happen," said Helen. "Melissa do you remember my little sister?"

"Vaguely, the girl who sang at the club, right?" said Melissa.

"She's prettier than any us, and built better too," said Helen. "she has all of that wild brown hair that men like to play with. She has that "Wild ass, girl next door," kind of charm. Guys fall all over her and she doesn't notice. I'm jealous of her, and you're stupid."

"Why am I stupid?" asked Melissa. 

"Because right now she's the one who's helping your husband get over what you did last night. She is crazy about him, and after your divorce, she may end up with him. You can't win against her."

"You and the sluts are bone thin and fashionable. Men don't like that. It makes other women jealous, but men want curves. Jessica has bigger boobs and a nicer ass, than any of you and her waist is still tiny," said Helen.

"She just painted his car for him and knocked his socks off. He wrote her a song that she loves. They are making memories every day. You and he have ten years of history, but it won't help. For most of those ten years you've been short changing him and treating him like shit."

"I guess last night was the last straw though," said Helen.

"What last straw?" asked Melissa shocked.

"Last night you went out and fucked some guy like the sluts suggested. So you could keep your control," smirked Helen.

"Last night I never left the house. I stayed here and got drunk and fell asleep on the couch," said Melissa.

"Darren called Jess, this morning and told her that you fucked some guy and stayed there on the couch so you could rub it in his face. He left you and is filing for a divorce. He was so broken up that he didn't go to work today. In fact he's going to leave town for a few days to get over all of this," said Helen.

"What should I do?" asked Melissa. She was in shock. It all made sense now.

"First off, don't let him go away. If he goes somewhere and starts thinking about things, he may decide to just cut his losses. You haven't been exactly the best wife. On the other hand if he goes off and Jessica goes with him, your ass is grass, and she's a lawn mower," said Helen. "I guarantee you, if the two of them go off to some little cabin on a lake fishing, He'll be the one who gets caught. By the time they come back, he won't even remember you, much less be broken up about you." Helen nodded her head. She knew her sister well.

"What you should do is get down on your knees and give him the best blowjob you can," said Helen. "All of that control shit is what fucked you up in the first place. Let him be in control for a while."

Melissa picked up the note that Darren had left her. She read the note while Helen ran around the house making phone calls and making some concoction in the kitchen. Helen was right about everything. Melissa began crying hysterically. She didn't want to lose Darren, but because of her controlling ways and mind games she might.

"Drink this," Helen said to Melissa. She was holding out a glass of something that looked like a green milkshake.

"What is it?" asked Melissa.

"Don't ask," said Helen. "But It'll speed up your recovery from your hangover."

Chapter 7

Darren was reeling. He didn't think he could play that God damned song one more time. He wished that he'd never written it. He also didn't belong here. These people were not his friends. They were nothing more than a gang of loosely acquainted drug addicts who liked to play music. No wonder they couldn't write their own songs. All of their brain cells were burnt out.

Then he saw Jessica smiling at him. She was like a star sapphire in a pile of shit. She outshone everything around her. He'd written that song for her, and if she wanted to sing it, that was why he was here playing the song over and over until it was perfect.

"Can we do it one more time?" asked Jessica. "I want to really work the choruses."

Darren just smiled and nodded his head. Taking the day off was a good idea. There was no way he'd have been able to work with thoughts of Melissa's betrayal running through his head. 

He still couldn't wrap his mind around what he'd done wrong. He'd loved that woman with all of his heart and soul. Long after his guilt over what Ryan had done to her had faded. Long after he realized that he hadn't been responsible for what happened to her, the love continued. He'd always hoped that sooner or later she'd snap out of her own hurt and love him in return. When it didn't happen he made excuse after excuse for her. Finally he just decided that in her own way she did love him. She just wasn't very demonstrative. But it had been enough for him.

Then she started hanging out with that group of Harpies and things got worse. It almost seemed like he couldn't do anything right. She even started to belittle him in front of them. Once again he put up with it, because he loved her. But her telling him she was going to go out and fuck someone else, and then doing it was the deal breaker. During all of the days of their marriage he had never once thought of being with another woman.

Darren's fingers stroked lightly over the strings muting them to produce the staccato notes to the opening bars. As Jessica sang she came over near him. He listened to her as he played although he knew the words very well. 

They weren't Jessica's words or feelings after all, it was only a song to her. No the words and feelings were Darren's. They were what he wished so badly that he could tell Melissa. Jessica was only his voice.

He only wished that there was some way Melissa would hear the song and understand exactly how much pain she'd given him over the years and how much frustration. But it was all over now. He shuddered to think how much more of his life he'd have wasted on her if it hadn't been for her final contemptuous act. 

By what she'd done last night Melissa had ended any hope of saving their marriage. The show tonight, this one song would mark the beginning of Darren's future and the end of his marriage.

Darren had intended to have Melissa served at home today. Jess had a much better plan in mind. She said it was more poetic.

Helen had been calling Jessica non-stop since early afternoon. Now as she sat in the waiting room outside of Dr. Harkness' office she tried one last time. Helen had gotten an emergency session with Agatha Harkness, for Melissa. The woman should have been in therapy years ago. Helen hoped that Melissa could come to terms with her problems before she lost Darren for good. 




Freak the Freak Out



Finally someone answered the phone. "Hi sis," said Jessica. 

"Jessie, do you know where Darren is?" asked Helen.

"I'm pretty sure that I could find him, if it was important," said Jessica.

"God damn it Jessie. He's with you right now isn't he? Jessie you promised me that you'd wait..."began Helen.

"It's out of my hands," said Jessica. "Besides I only promised to leave him alone until their marriage was over. And after the way she treated him and what she did to him last night, their marriage is fucking over."

"Please tell me that things haven't gone too far Jessica. You haven't..." asked Helen.

"Of course not, I'm not like his fucking wife. I'm not the kind of woman who goes into clubs and lets strange men rub all over her titties. I don't tell my man I'm going out to have sex with another guy and then expect him to like it," said Jessica. 

"Jessica, where is he now? She needs to talk to him," said Helen. 

"I don't think he's ever going to talk to her again," said Jessica. But right now he's going out to have some final little touches done to his car. If she wants a chance to talk to him, her best bet might be tonight at your club. The one I sang at last week. I'll be there tonight, to try out the song he wrote me, in front of an audience."

"We'll be there," said Helen. 

"Sis, you and the little wife and your gang of sluts had better dress for it, or you won't get in. There are going to be a lot of people there tonight. It's going to be different."

Helen wondered what her sister meant by different. It didn't matter though. They were all attractive women and had never had a problem getting in before. 

Inside the office Agatha Harkness looked over her newest patient. Agatha knew that people sometimes thought of her more like a witch than a psychiatrist. She was able to do things in therapy that were almost magical. She was able to save marriages and relationships that had been written off by others. 

She would probably have to be a true mistress of the magical arts to pull this one off though. As she listened to the crying, nearly hysterical woman speak she was shocked. For ten years the woman had mentally abused her husband and he put up with it. 

If the shoe had been on the other foot, Agatha knew that she'd have told any woman who had put up with such treatment to run and get out of the marriage and never look back. 

She felt a bit hypocritical though because here she was listening to the woman talk and trying to find a way for her to come to terms with her problem. 

The bad part is that Melissa still doesn't seem to realize that she is the problem. She keeps claiming that she knows that she wasn't very good to Darren but it still didn't give him the grounds to just freak out and divorce her with no warning.

Melissa still believes that her treatment of Darren was justified because some college wolf took her cherry and dumped her.

"Okay Melissa, " said Agatha. "I think I've heard enough of your story to get an idea of where we're going. I need to ask you a few questions. Is that okay?" Melissa nodded her head.

"Melissa, was Darren the guy back in college who took your virginity and then humiliated you and dumped you?" asked Agatha.

"No that was Ryan," said Melissa. Her voice showed stress even saying his name.

"So your behavior now is partially a defense mechanism against what happened to you back then. You want to make sure that never happens to you again, correct?"

"I guess so," said Melissa.

"And you also want a bit of revenge for your humiliation, don't you?" asked Agatha.

"Maybe," said Melissa.

"Do you feel that way against all men or only the one who hurt you?" asked Agatha. 

"It would be silly to feel that against every man." said Melissa. "I don't hate men. I'm quite comfortable with them."

"Right, you've been letting a few of them become very familiar with you in the clubs, you said. What about your husband? Does he often rub on your body parts in public?" asked Agatha.

"Of course not." said Melissa. "That would be embarrassing. I'd never let him."

"But you let strange men do it." said Agatha. 

"It's different. When those men do it. It's because they just want me. They want to use me. All they want is sex and they're never going to get it. But Darren loves me so he should know better. He should respect me," said Melissa.

"So what you do in the club is a way of proving that you won't let the wrong man hurt you again?" asked Agatha.

"Maybe," said Melissa. She hadn't ever considered that.

"Why did you have sex with Ryan?" asked Agatha. "Why did you pick him to be the man you first gave yourself to?"

"Well he was handsome and he said things that made me believe he was going to be with me forever. And we'd have the life I always wanted. I thought that he loved me. But it was just a lie, so he could have sex with me and then dump me. And everyone at the school knew how stupid I was. It was humiliating."

"Okay what about afterwards?" asked Agatha. "Did you date a lot after that?"

"No," snapped Melissa. "The only guys who asked me out after that, thought that I was easy or stupid."

"What about Darren? Did he think you were easy?" asked Agatha.

"I made him wait weeks before I went out with him," smiled Melissa. "And he was very respectful."

"Melissa all of the things you wanted from Ryan. They seem a lot like the things that you have with Darren. Even down to the type of house you wanted. Is that a coincidence? Or did Darren want the same things?" asked Agatha.

Melissa laughed. "Darren doesn't care where we live or what we live in. He just wants to be with me," said Melissa. 

"Does he ever force you to have sex with him? Or beat you?" asked Agatha. 

"Of course not," snapped Melissa. "Darren loves me."

"Does he call you names? Or abuse you mentally?" asked Agatha. "Has he ever cheated on you or put other women before you?"

"Oh no, he knows better than that. I'd never stand for any of that shit," said Melissa loudly.

"Of course not," said Agatha. "So why do you think Darren has? You told me that he's a good looking man. Why do you think he put up with you doing just those things that you wouldn't tolerate, for so long?"

"I think that you're the luckiest woman in the world. You had something bad happen to you. We've all had bad things happen to us. But you never got over yours. Part of growing up is learning to move on from tragic or difficult times. You went away to college as a young girl with stars in her eyes and romantic notions. While there you met up with an asshole, who you thought could give you the fairy tale life you wanted. When he revealed himself to be an asshole, you wanted revenge. So you've spent ten years making the guy who truly has given you everything you wanted pay, for something he didn't do."

Melissa's jaw dropped. Her eyes got bigger and she started to say something but couldn't find the words.

"If you had met your husband first, you'd have a perfect life wouldn't you?" asked Agatha.

"Yes," hissed Melissa.

"So in other words your husband is being punished, not only to make up for how badly some guy in college treated you, but he's also having to pay because you couldn't keep your legs closed until the right man came along. He has to pay because you can't find the guy who abused you. He also has to pay because you can't blame yourself, for letting the wrong man through your guard." Agatha shook her head.

"Nameless guys in bars and clubs can put their hands all over you in public, but the one man who's loved you and put up with your shit for over ten years has to wait for you to give him permission to show you he loves you. Is that why you're here?" 

"Dr. Harkens, it really isn't as bad as you make it seem," said Melissa. "Darren and I have sex all the time, at least once a month. If I could just figure out what's wrong with him and how to fix it. Things could go back to normal."

"Melissa, get out of my office. Come back when you're ready to face reality. I can't believe I'm saying this. It's really unprofessional but I hope your husband does get away from you."

A few moments later Melissa stormed out of the office. Helen got up when she saw her friend emerge from the office. 

"That woman is a quack," snapped Melissa. "She doesn't know her ass from hole in the ground. She can't fix me a sandwich let alone fix my husband."

"What did she think? What did she say?" asked Helen.

"I told her how Darren has been acting crazy lately, with all of this talk about a divorce and everything. So she sat me down on that fucking couch and asked me all kinds of questions about my marriage and my life. She seems to think that I'm the problem," said Melissa.

"Melissa, I know you don't believe Dr. Harkness, but I'm your friend. Do you remember what I thought you should do?" asked Helen once they'd gotten back in Melissa's car.

"You told me I should suck his dick," said Melissa flatly.

"I didn't mean that literally," said Helen. "I don't know whether or not you're into the whole oral thing. What I meant was that if you want to keep him. You're going to have to do some things to make him happy for a change."

"He's always been happy up until this point," snapped Melissa.

"No Melissa, he wasn't. Maybe he was happy to be with you because he loves you. But I don't think the was ever happy with the way you treated him. No one would be. Let me ask you a question. There's no one here except us. I won't ever tell anyone the answer you give me, but you need to be honest. Okay?"

"Okay," said Melissa tentatively.

"Why do you want Darren back?" asked Helen. "And how important is it?"

"It's really important," said Melissa. "I guess I didn't realize it until a few days ago. I always thought that I could control the way I felt about him and keep him at arm's length. It actually started about a month ago. Darren made me go with him to visit these awful people. Tim and Elaine something or other. They were all over each other, and they had a baby. And they just looked at each other like no one else on the fucking planet mattered."

"Tim and Elaine Matthews?" asked Helen. "Oh shit, you're lucky they didn't start making out in front of you."

"Anyway, they were in their kitchen and I heard her tell her husband that she thought that Darren was really nice, but that I was a bitch," said Melissa.

"Melissa, you are," said Helen. "And you know the way that you saw Tim and Elaine look at each other, Darren looks at you that same way. But if you don't get your head out of your ass, he's going to get over you and start looking at someone else that way."

"Remember that dick sucking thing we were talking about? My little sister is kind of wild, but she does have some scruples. She won't go after him for real, until you have your divorce papers in hand. But trust me she won't wait for the divorce to be final. And while you're sitting back waiting for him to come back to you, she will literally be sucking his dick every chance she gets."

"While you're hoping he'll remember how you let him have you every once in a while when you really felt like it. That girl will be fucking him until he can't move every night."

"You have one advantage right now. That's the fact that he's loved you for so long. You're almost a part of him. The balance right now is tipped in your favor, but every day things get a little bit more even between you and my sister."

"Right now when he thinks of you he still sees you laid out on your couch, he still thinks you fucked someone else and it's causing him a lot of pain and hurt. When he sees her, he thinks about how she painted his car and how he wrote her a song, and she's helping him to get over you."

"Very soon the two of you will be even in his eyes. If the comparison between you and my sister ever gets close to even, Melissa, you'll lose. I've already told you she's prettier than us and built better. She's also willing to do anything it takes to get her man. That girl has already sown her wild oats and is ready to settle down and start having babies."

"Not with my husband she's not," screamed Melissa.

Chapter 8

Helen called Sandra and Danielle. Both women had already expected to be going out. It was after all their favorite night to go to the club. They all agreed to meet at Melissa's house as usual. 

Sandra told them that tonight would be her final night clubbing with them. She'd met a man on one of her dates that she really liked and he wasn't very happy about her going to clubs all of the time. 

"So you're going to dump us for some guy?" asked Danielle.

"Look dumb ass, the only reason we go to the clubs anyway is to meet someone, right?" said Sandra. Most of the time we meet idiots and losers, so we're back the next week. I think I've found a good one. He's not perfect, but no one is. So yeah, If you want to put it like that, I'm dumping your ass. We'll still hang out and visit each other but I'm not going to go out acting like a slut when I've already got what I want."

"You're going to let some guy, control you?" asked Danielle in shock.

"Fuck yeah," said Sandra. "The way that man makes me feel, he can get me to do anything he wants. If you weren't so bitter because your ex husband's new wife is younger and prettier than you, you'd be jealous of me."

"Bullshit," snapped Danielle. "I'll always be in control. I'll never give that up."

"Well I hope that your control keeps you warm at night. And when you're miserable, maybe your control will wrap its arms around you and tell you everything is going to be okay. We're getting older Danni, it's time for us to grow up. A few years from now my guy will be hugging me and telling me that he doesn't care if my ass is getting fatter. He loves me and our kids will too. You'll be a lonely bitter old bitch with control. But without a man, what will you really be controlling?"

"Melissa, you've been sleeping alone for a couple of nights. And Darren has been doing things for about a week that really piss you off. You're losing control of your husband. Which one do you miss the most. Having him do everything you tell him to, or having him come in and wrap his arms around you while you're in bed?"

"Oh God, please don't let me be too late," sobbed Melissa.

When they got to the parking lot at the club, they realized that there was a problem. The lot was closed but there were still a lot of spots open and visible. 

There was also a line stretching nearly down the block.

"What the fuck is going on?" asked Danielle.

"I told you we needed to get here early," snapped Helen. "I told you Jessie said it was going to be different tonight."

They got out of the car and walked past the line. The bouncer who normally let them in, waved them back towards the line. "We won't get in for hours at this rate," said Sandra.

Helen walked away and took out her phone. She started talking to someone and then started smiling. "We're in. Come on," she said. She walked back to the same bouncer and handed him her phone. He spoke for a few minutes and waved them in. 

As the women made their way towards the door, they were startled by a loud mechanical roar. A line of at least twenty Yellow Mustangs pulled into the parking lot. The third or fourth car in the line was a startling convertible. Melissa was almost in tears as she saw Jessica's long wild hair flying as the car passed them and went into the parking lot. 

In the driver's seat next to Jessica, was Melissa's husband Darren. He didn't even notice her as he passed. He got out of the car and opened Jessica's door for her. They went into the club through a side entrance and disappeared. 

Helen grabbed Melissa's arm and dragged her inside. After a few minutes it was apparent that they wouldn't be able to get a table. One of the guys that Danielle was friendly with was seated at a table by himself. They sat down with him. 

Danielle went off to dance with him. The same guy who sat with Melissa the previous week came over to her. "Now where were we?" he said wrapping his and around her. 

"Get the fuck away from me," snapped Melissa. "I don't need to risk my husband seeing you near me."

Upon hearing that she was married, the man shrugged his shoulders and immediately left.

"Too little too late," said Helen. "Jessie saw that guy all over you and rubbing your tits last week. I'm sure Darren already knows about it."

Melissa's heart lurched in her chest. Seemingly everything she was going through right now only seemed to involve more reasons why Darren should want to be free of her.

She suddenly realized that she had never been in control of anything. He had simply chosen doing what she wanted, because he loved her. Now he had chosen not to, and she wanted him back badly. He didn't need to aske her permission to do anything, but she needed for him to forgive her and come home. It was his choice, so she really wasn't in control. Maybe he'd been the one who was in control all along.

She got up and started looking around the club. He had to be here somewhere, and she needed to talk to him. Waiting wouldn't make things any better, and it might even make them worse. There were a large group of people gathered by the right side of the small stage. Tables had been moved near there taking up a section of the dance floor. Melissa had never seen this done in the club before and thought that it might have something to do with Darren. She moved closer to that area and was suddenly standing in front of two huge bouncers, who had their arms folded across their massive chests.

They looked down at Melissa as if she was a bug. 

"No admittance," said one of the bouncers. He looked away from her as if the conversation was over. There would be no further discussion on the subject regardless of the reason.

Melissa looked at the people in the special section. They didn't seem to be particularly special. There was a cross section of old and young people. There were obviously well off people and some who just as obviously weren't. She couldn't put her finger on anything that tied them together.

Then Melissa saw a familiar face. It was that woman who'd called her a bitch. The woman saw Melissa at nearly the same time and they made eye contact. Elaine waved at Melissa and told her to come over to her table.

Melissa pointed at the massive bouncers. Elaine stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled loudly. The bouncers turned around and she pointed at Melissa. The bouncer's massive head pivoted on his column-like neck and in a voice like lurch from the Adams family he invited her in.

"Thanks," said Melissa. "Please don't be angry with me for asking you this, but where's your husband? It just seems strange to see you without him."

"You know, I hear that all the time. I guess people don't realize that we both lived a long time and had lives before we ever met. We'd both been married before too. But it really does seem like my life truly started with our first date. Anyway Tim is backstage trying to keep your husband from throwing up. Today is not a good day for Darren," said Elaine."First , I guess you two are having problems. I don't know what kind or how serious they are, so don't expect me to say anything. Then apparently Darren used to play the guitar back about 12 years ago, but he never actually played in front of people. Suddenly tonight he's going to be not only in front of an audience , but there are people from a record company or two, here as well. Then he got his ass handed to him." Elaine noticed that Melissa's eyes got harder and her lips got tighter too.

"Damn, there might be hope for you yet," said Elaine."

"What do you mean?" asked Melissa.

"For a while I'd been thinking about you in the same terms as my ex. That maybe you don't really care about Darren, and he'd be better off with someone else. But I noticed that you got a bit pissed when I mentioned that he got his ass handed to him. So maybe you do care a little bit. Don't worry, nobody beat him up. We don't fight. What happened was that Darren got a little bit happy about his car. It's really a cute car, by the way. He tried to race Chrissie. It really wasn't pretty. Chrissie beat him in a single lap of the track from a standing start by more than ten seconds."