113 comments/ 165415 views/ 49 favorites I Didn't Have a Choice By: Slirpuff I'd like to thank Wolf Vixen for her help in catching my errors. So grab the beverage of your choice and be ready to be entertained or not, your choice on how you view the story. * As of today I'm officially single again for the first time in twenty-two years. My divorce is now finalized and am I happy about it? Not really but I didn't have a choice. Most people say I went nuts or I'm trying to relive my youth again. In truth, I'm just sad that I had it all and now I'm starting all over again. You see, I initiated it approximately four months ago and in the process pissed off more people than you can imagine. My parents, my mother and my three kids are no longer talking to me; they now call me an asshole. Our friends are now her friends because they no longer want to associate with me any longer. I was thinking about retiring at sixty-two, but now it'll be closer to eighty two, because most of our money was "Karin's," left to her by her father when he passed away. So, she will have no money issues and I will struggle somewhat. The house won't be put up for sale until our youngest, Randy, turns eighteen and until it sells I can't buy anything for myself, so for now I'm renting. I'll have my 401K and social security when I retire but that's going to be about it. When I told my wife I was planning on divorcing her she thought I was joking, but I wasn't. Up until yesterday, Karin kept telling me to get my head out of my ass and call it off, but I couldn't. I guess I could have blamed her and talked ugly about her when everyone took me to task but that wasn't me. Besides, I still loved her heart and soul but we couldn't stay married any longer. Let me tell you what happened and see if you agree with me, but even if you don't, it wouldn't make any difference. Does Karin still love me? Well she did until yesterday and now I'm not to sure. Did she lie or cheat on me? Hell no, she'd never do anything like that. She cared deeply for me, treated me with respect and was a great wife and mother, that's why it was so hard to do what I did. Confused? Most people felt the same way. That is everyone but my best bud Mike. I ran it by him months ago and he also thought I was nuts, that is until I told him everything. "Karin's beautiful, has a great body, a dynamite cook and a perfect mother to her kids, what did she do? Cheat on you?" he asked. "Nope," I said handing him a beer from my apartment refrigerator. "She was almost a perfect wife up until a couple of years ago," I told him taking a long swallow of my Corona. "I thought we'd be married until one of us died but I guess that's not going to happen now." "If she was so perfect, what the hell happened?" "Menopause, plain and simple. It took hold of her and that was it." "I still don't get it? All women go through it. Maybe Karin a bit earlier than most, but it's not the kiss of death," he told me. I handed him another brew because I knew this was going to be a two-beer story, and it was, but at least now he understood why. A couple of years ago Karin started going into menopause. She knew something was wrong, but at forty-one she never dreamed she was going through her change at her early age. She went to a couple of doctors and they all told her the same thing, "that it can happen to women anytime after forty." But Karin wasn't going to go quietly or without a fight. She read up on it, she went to support websites, started taking special herbs and changed her diet drastically, but nothing worked. I was supportive but didn't really understand it. "Honey, why don't you just take the pill the doctor suggested?" I asked. After chewing my head off and then spitting it out onto the floor I realized that she didn't want to go on hormones. Like I said, I didn't know squat about it and since it wasn't happening to me, it wasn't all that bad. Wrong! It now took over my life too. "Babes, you can hang meat in the bedroom," I said one night. "Steve, I'm having night sweats damn it and I'm having to change my clothes almost every four hours," she yelled at me. "Well, if you slept naked you wouldn't have to change a thing," I said with a smile. Ok, it was a stupid thing to say but I thought a little humor was in order. I was wrong. So, the temperature in our bedroom went from cold to hot and back to cold again; and I'm not talking just about the air temperature either. Our sex life was great when we first got married, but after our second kid, it went to just good. However during her change, it dropped to bad at best. It was Saturday night; I'd just cleaned up the supper dishes and the kids were out on dates. I was feeling it was time to get reacquainted so I came up behind my wife, put my arms around her hot body and asked if she wanted to fool around. "Is that all you think about is sex? Is that all I'm good for? Can't you see I'm having a hot flash and sweating like a damn pig? Sex is the last thing on my mind right now," Karin shouted at me. Be still my heart, she sure knew how to ruin a mood. Was I angry? Yes. Did I understand it? Not really, but I made it a point from that second that I would. I sat her down and told her to talk to me about it. She refused at first saying that I couldn't understand, but I told her to explain it to me anyway. So we spent Saturday night going through Menopause 101. She was right, I didn't or couldn't understand it all, but I told her I would help her any way I could, and I tried for a very long time but I finally gave up and so did Karin. She admitted defeat and took the "drugs" the doctor had suggested. It helped a lot with the night sweats and mood swings, but it came at a cost. Our sex life like I said was great before the kids. Then after the birth of our brood it went down to just good. During Karin's flare-ups during menopause it went to bad at best and finally post menopause it became nonexistent. She no longer had any sex drive what so ever, which started to become a wedge between us. We now have sex if I press the issue. Lovemaking was now a thing of the past. I heard all the excuses and probably a lot of them were legit, but it didn't help matters any: I didn't get enough sleep last night and I'm tired. I'm hot right now, let's do it later. I don't get as wet as I use to, and spit isn't going to cut it any longer. Can't we just cuddle tonight? Can I just give you a hand job instead? The ones I grew to really hate were just two: "Steve I'm not in the mood and finally; Damn it Steve, I'm not a twenty year old and don't get hot and bothered at the drop of a hat; live with it." Finally I just stopped asking and waited for her to come to me, but that didn't happen either. I beat my meat in the shower most mornings or evenings but that wasn't too satisfying. However, it was a lot better than bringing it up to Karin who would get angry, lay on her back legs spread, and tell me to just use her and get it over with. Doesn't sound too appealing does it? Not to me anyway. But outside of that, she was still the Karin of old. We kissed, cuddled in bed and she took care of all our other needs. She was still the perfect Susie homemaker but that wasn't enough for me. I was almost forty-four and wasn't about to give up sex for the rest of my life, even if Karin was. Just before I got married my dad pulled me aside and gave me the talk, as he called it. "Steve, from this day forth, Karin will come first in your life. She will be your wife, lover, your best friend and some day the mother of your kids. It will be your duty to love and take care of her. Don't let me ever hear that you've lied, cheated or disrespect her son. If I do, I'll kick your ass from here to kingdom come, you hear me boy?" I told him that I did. "Remember, marriage isn't going to be a walk in the park every day, but you're marrying each other until death do you part. Your mom and I've been together for almost forty years and I love her more now than I did when we first got married," he finally told me. That was his talk or warning as my mother put it. I tried; I really did try to get Karin to see where I was coming from. I talked to her doctor, who was a real ass, and many others before finally giving up. I suggested couples counseling but she refused to go. "All the talking in the world isn't going to bring back my sex drive. Sex was nice, but after twenty plus years, I can do without it," I was told. Maybe she could, but I couldn't. "You're going to get killed financially and with one child still at home Karin will control everything," my lawyer told me. "Since you're looking for just a mutual fifty fifty split it should be pretty easy, especially since all of her monies are tied directly to her. Does she have any idea you're thinking about this?" he asked. "Not a clue, but I plan on talking with her tonight." "You want me to hold up?" he asked. "No go forward with it, because unless something radical happens tonight, it's going to happen anyway." Karin wasn't in the greatest mood after dinner, but what else was new. We were supposed to go to dinner with a few friends next Saturday and one couple wanted to change the restaurant. "Babes, I need to talk to you about something," I told her when Randy went upstairs to her room. "I need you to sit down here," I said motioning to a chair next to mine. "This doesn't sound good, what did you do this time? I hope you aren't still thinking about that boat, you know my feeling on it don't you?" she said sitting at the kitchen table. "It's not about any of that," I told her. "I went to see a lawyer today," I started. "For what?" she said now staring at me. "I've got him drawing up divorce papers." "This is a joke right?" she said looking at me now a lot more seriously. Steve, it's not funny to even kid about something like that," she started to say and then stopped. "You're serious aren't you?" she finally asked. "I'm afraid I am." "You've got to be kidding me. Do you have a little slut on the side you want to be with and I'm no longer good enough for you any more? You use me up and then throw me on the scrap heap? You son of a bitch," she now screamed at me. "There's no one else, you've got to believe that," I told her. "We just can't be married any longer." "Steve, you're not making any sense. If you're not cheating on me, and there's no one else, why do you want a divorce? Don't you love me any more?" she said with tears in her eyes. "I love you more than ever. It's just that sometimes love isn't enough to keep a marriage together," I tried to explain to her. "Don't give me that double talk bull shit. You either love me or you don't. If you mean it when you say you love me, then the rest doesn't make any sense," she said now standing. "This is about sex isn't it? You're pissed off and now you're doing this to get back at me, but it won't work Steven Moore. You can't threaten me or give me some damn ultimatum to make me spread my legs for you," she yelled "Here, take me on the fucking kitchen table," she said taking off her shorts and panties. "Is this what you want? Here it is, go for it," she continued to scream and cry at me. "Karin," I started to say, but she never heard me because she was running half naked down the hall and into our bedroom. She slammed the door so hard that it shook the damn house. I knocked on the door but got no response. So it began. Karin was still in our room when I went to work, but when I got home all my clothes were thrown into the spare bedroom. I hung up my stuff and went down stairs to fix something to eat. Karin came down about an hour later, got a glass of wine and headed back upstairs. I started to say something but she stopped me flat. "If you don't want to be with me, than I sure as hell don't want you sharing my bed. If you haven't found a place yet, I suggest you start looking now. I want you out of here as soon as possible," she said as she turned away and went back to her room. She was served the following day and I moved out that weekend. It got pretty ugly, not with Karin, but with everyone else. I was called every name in the books and was basically disowned by the rest of my family and all our friends. "Steve's just going through his change and will snap out of it," Karin told everyone and maybe I was, but I wasn't about to become celibate at forty-four. So here I sit at work doing nothing but biding my time until 5:00. I feel awful and I'm depressed as hell. I got an e-mail from Karin that I still had time to stop it, but I wasn't going to. I had drinks with Mike and went home to an empty apartment and cried for the first time since I was a kid. I woke up and started my life as a new single man again and didn't have a clue just what that meant. I guess word got around that I was now officially on the market because all the single women started to take notice or I think they did. I dated a bit but wanted to take it slow. What was different was that my dates almost took offence when I didn't want to take them to bed. I heard, "what's wrong with me?" more than once. The holidays this year were more than a little depressing. Thanksgiving at my parents turned out really bad. I ended up getting angry and walking out. No one could understand that if Karin was this wonderful wife, why in the hell did I divorce her. I didn't discuss it with anyone but my dad, and that was in the driveway at Thanksgiving on my way out. He was giving me a ration of shit when I yelled back at him, which took him by surprise. "You ever fuck around on mom?" I asked. "What kind of question is that? Of course not," he replied. "Me either. I never cheated on Karin no matter what you've heard. But after no sex for over a year and her telling me that there wasn't going to be any in the future, I had to do something. I love Karin to death, but I can't live without sex either. Maybe if I was seventy I might have thought differently about it, but at forty four, I wasn't going to become a fucking priest," I told him. "So, get off my ass. I feel bad enough without you and mom on my case. So if you want to drive me away just keep doing what your doing and you won't have to worry about seeing me around." Dad eased up after that, but mom never did. I dropped off Christmas presents for the kids at Karin's. They'd already told me that they planned on spending the holidays with their mom. I think Karin felt bad, but she said it was their choice. New Years I got so drunk I passed out for the first time in my life. I was sick for two days after that, thank God my office was closed. It was mid January that Karin e-mailed me. "I've got a few things to discuss with you and I'm tired of doing it by e-mail. How about dinner Friday at Tony's? Let me know by Wednesday night." I hadn't been avoiding her. We were just e-mailing each other back and forth, mostly, her keeping me updated about the kids so dinner sounded nice. It had been a while since I'd seen her, and I was kind of looking forward to it. I was there early Friday night, but Karin still beat me. She was already sitting at our table when I arrived. I walked up to our table and kissed her on the cheek, which I think surprised her more than a little. "You're looking good," I said as I sat down and ordered a glass of wine. "You don't look half bad yourself," Karin said giving me a once over. "You lose weight?" "A few pounds around the middle, I don't have a good cook any more to fatten me up," I said with a smile but Karin didn't, so much for my sense of humor. We had dinner and talked about the kids, work and the home front. She asked if I was dating anyone and I asked her the same. It looked like we were both taking it slow. When she said that the water heater was giving her fits I suggested I look at it. "You don't have to do that, I can always call someone to fix it," she told me. "Nonsense. I'll sneak over tomorrow-late morning and look at it. No use spending money on something I can do," I told her. "Well if you don't mind," she finally relented. By the end of dinner, we'd finished talking about all the small shit and I could see that she wasn't ready to go further. "You want to dance?" I asked. She looked at me and I thought she was going to tell me to go to hell, but instead smiled and said yes. The songs were all slow and we glided across the floor. After twenty-two years we weren't two people on the floor, more like one. I held her close and let my hand wander more than once across her back and lower. It felt so good to have her in my arms again. It was midnight before we realized it. I didn't want the evening to end but it had to. "So I'll see you around 10:00 tomorrow," I told her as I walked her to her car. I was going to give her another kiss on the cheek but she turned her head and we kissed on the lips, not once but twice, the second time with tongue. "That was nice," I said giving her one more peck on the lips. "Until tomorrow," I said moving now towards my car, adjusting my hard on as I walked. "She still did it to me," I said to myself. I came over in shorts and a tee shirt. I was kind of half hoping to see and talk to Randy, but she wasn't home. The heating coil was burned out and thankfully I had an extra one on the shelf in the garage. In an hour I was done. "Anything else need fixing?" I asked. A slow shower drain, that was filled with hair, and a little WD40 on a few doors and I was done by 1:30. "Steve I made you lunch," Karin told me. "Go wash your hands and I'll see you in the kitchen." I washed my hands in her bathroom sink and as I dried my hands I smelled her towel. I drank in her scent as I put her towel away. We still talked about all the petty bullshit things that we did the night before as we ate. If you didn't know we were divorced, you think we were an old married couple having a casual weekend lunch, that is, until Randy came home. "What's he doing here?" she spit out the words like they were souring her stomach. "Your dad was just fixing a few things around the house that's all," Karin told her. "If he'd stuck around, maybe the house wouldn't be going to shit," she said to whom ever was listening. "If you want me I'll be in my room," Randy said as she disappeared down the hall. "That went well," I said getting up. "I'd better leave, I know how Randy can get," I said wiping my face with my napkin. "She's still a little upset, that's all." Karin replied. "Join the club," I said as I put my dish in the sink and headed towards the garage door. "If you need anything else, anything, you know how to reach me," I told her. Karin followed me out to my car and just stood there wondering what to do next. I was the one who took charge this time kissing her and giving her a big hug. She just stared at me not knowing exactly what to say. So I got in my car, told her goodbye and drove back home to beat off in the shower like always. I found out later that Randy was watching us and let Karin have it when she came back in side. "How could you kiss that son of a bitch? He left us God damn it, and you kissed him? What the hell were you thinking?" she lambasted her mom. But Karin told her it was none of her business what she did and with whom. I guess that shut her up, but it did nothing to bring Randy closer to me. From that weekend on, Karin and I had dinner at least twice a month, usually on either Friday or Saturday night. We tried a few of the new restaurants and weren't a couple but weren't strangers either. When Karin cancelled our dinner date on Saturday I decided to still go to the new seafood restaurant we'd talked about on my own to see what it was like. To my surprise, I saw Karin there with a tall dark haired man. I was far enough away where I couldn't be seen and even though I hadn't eaten much of my dinner yet, I lost my appetite. They weren't lovey dovey but I could tell this wasn't their fist date either. When they kissed after dinner I thought I was going to lose it until my brain kicked in. I Didn't Have a Choice "You're no longer married to Karin. You divorced her remember?" the voice in head screamed. I didn't get any sleep that night or the next night either. What the hell was I doing having dinner with her now almost every week. I knew I still loved her, but it wasn't natural what we were doing. And how about Karin? It looks like she's moved on from what I could tell. Karin e-mailed me that she wanted to go to the same seafood place that I'd seen her at on Friday night. "I've made reservations for 7:30 and we can go to the lounge to dance if you're up to it," she told me. "I'll see you there," she signed off with. I almost didn't show up. More than once I almost turned around and went back home, but it was time to have the "talk" finally with Karin and I wasn't looking foreword to it. Dinner was quieter than usual as though we both had something to say and weren't sure how to bring it up. "How's your dinner?" she asked. "Not bad, about the same as it was last Saturday when I was here," I told her. Karin got this sad look on her face and said nothing as she sipped her wine. "How long have you two been going out?" I asked. "A little while," she replied. "Karin, you don't have to explain anything to me. We're divorced and you've got your own life now," I told her as the words stuck in my craw. I would rather have had Karin take her knife and stab me in the chest than to hear what she said next. "We're just going out but he wants me to go to bed with him and I really do miss a man next to me at night," she said as she finished her glass of wine. "Well I guess it's now out in the open," I said wiping my mouth with my napkin before standing up and throwing it down on the table. "The reason we got divorced was because you didn't want to have sex anymore, but I guess it was that you just didn't want to have sex with me any longer. At least now I understand," I said maybe a little too loud. "Steve please sit down and let me explain," she tried to say. "No thank you Karin. This is my second meal here I haven't finished because of you. I guess you've moved on and I hope your new guy is better in bed than I was," I said as I threw a hundred dollar bill on the table. "Thank you for a wonderful and most enlightening evening, but if you don't mind I think I'll call it a night." "Steve!" Karin started to say. "Don't bother getting up, I know my way out," I said as I turned tail and almost ran out. I lost my dinner in the parking lot before I could get to my car. And for the second time, I got fucked up. I wasn't sure if you could drink yourself to death, but I tried my best anyway. Karin called and e-mailed me but I never returned either. "I didn't say I went to bed with him, only that he wanted me to. I do miss a man in my bed, but you're the man I miss lying next to me. Please don't shut me out, I couldn't take that," she wrote. But I did. For the next three months, I had sex with fifteen different women. White, black, tall, short and most were pretty good looking. I guess I kind of went out of my way to please them because they all gave me high marks in the bedroom. But it wasn't what I was looking for. Sex with a hot looking woman is great, but lovemaking with that special someone is off the charts. There was one woman, Rose, I went out with more than once, but she was looking to settle down, right now, and I wasn't ready for that. So, my life basically sucked. About a month later I got an e-mail from Karin, it was the first one I'd had in a long time. "Steve, I'm in counseling and trying to handle a few issues. I know I don't have the right to ask you this, but would you consider coming to a session or two. My councilor thinks it would help her understand a few things," she wrote. I thought about it for a couple of days and wrote back I didn't see any reason why not. "Just let me know where and when," I told her. We were sitting in the doctor's office waiting for her appointment when Karin broke the ice. "Thanks for doing this," she told me. "No problem," I replied now kind of looking through her. When we got inside Karin introduced me to June, her doctor. "Great, a female doctor," I thought to myself. "Now I'll have two women on my ass for the next hour and a half," but that wasn't the case, only one. "Well Steve," she started. "I'd like to thank you for coming. I know it can't be easy for you, but there's a few areas I need your point of view on what happened in your marriage," she told me. "I'll try my best." "All right, after your divorce became final, why did the two of you continue going out? I guess it was just dinner and dancing but I understand there was some physical contact and kissing going on between the two of you? I need to understand why? Why hadn't you decided to move on at that point?" she asked. "June, we didn't hate each other, quite the contry. I was still loved her at that point, I just couldn't stay married to her. We always enjoyed each other's company and I still loved to dance with her," I told her. "It wasn't until that night that I decided to move on since Karin had already. We were kidding ourselves and I guess I was still trying to hold onto a little piece of my marriage as crazy as that sounds." "But you're the one that divorced Karin. You could have stopped that at any time," she replied. "Look June, I wasn't going to stay married to Karin because I would have ended up cheating on her. She no longer wanted sex with me any more and I wasn't dead yet. I believed, and still do, it's wrong to cheat on your wife, so I divorced her." "Steve, did you have sex with anyone else before the divorce became final?" June asked. "No I didn't. It was a long time after before I took anyone else to bed," I replied. "Let me guess, it was after that night at dinner when you two had that argument." "Maybe, I don't remember exactly," I told her. "Come on Steve, you felt Karin betrayed you by sleeping with someone else, so you paid her back by finding someone else to sleep with, is that about right?" she asked me. "Look June, it's not about me, it's about her," I told her getting a little annoyed. "We're no longer married, Karin can go to bed with whom ever she wants, it makes no difference to me any longer," I told her. "Come on Steve, do you really expect me to believe that. The woman you spent twenty-two years married to, the woman who turned you down for sex time and time again for what, thirteen months now telling you she was going to do the big nasty with someone else? Didn't that kind of piss you off? Isn't that why you stormed out of the restaurant?" "Damn right it was," I shouted at both June and Karin. "I guess I no longer did it for her, so she went looking for some strange cock. The only reason we got divorced in the first place is because Karin no longer wanted any sex, and now she wanted sex, just not with me. I loved that woman more than life itself and she made my fucking life hell. Everyone turned against me because I was the bastard who divorced the perfect wife. If they only knew my perfect wife was a fucking bitch then maybe I wouldn't have been quite the asshole everyone made me out to be," I said standing up. "I don't need this shit. Been there once, and I'm not about to live it a second time," I said walking out of the room to a stunned June and Karin. I was so hot; I had a hard time driving. I called work to tell them I needed the rest of the day off and headed for the nearest bar. After two drinks I stopped. What the hell was I doing? Karin was still running my life and I was letting her get to me, no more. I called Rose up and had a heart to heart talk with her. I still wanted to see her, but I wasn't ready to settle down with her or anyone else quite yet. So if she still wanted to go out under those conditions I'd be more than happy to oblige. Next, I wrote an e-mail to all three of my kids. It was a scathing e-mail stating exactly why I divorced their mother. I told them that I still loved them, but that they were acting like spoiled brats and that this was my last correspondence with them. "If you want to talk to me, then it's up to you get a hold of me now. I've tried to be a good father, but I'm over that now. Either get your head out of your ass or write me off for good, and at this point I don't care which anymore." I sent one e-mail and copied all three. Finally, I started a cooking class. I'd been doing microwave meals so long, I'd forgotten how to boil water. It met three times a week and once a month we had a potluck on Saturday night. For the first time, since my divorce, I was in charge again. I was having a lot of fun again. I was still dating Rose and someone also from my cooking class. Work was still busy, but I had a much better mind set. Every once in a while I'd see one of my old friends and instead of turning the other way, I'd now go up to them and make them as uncomfortable as hell. Life was good. Karin still sent me an e-mail once in a while but I never responded to them any longer. My kids never got back to me, but I heard through Karin that they'd sat down one weekend and asked her the real reason why I'd left. She said she was honest with them, but I had my doubts. Karin asked if I'd come back to the counseling sessions, but I never replied. "Mr. Stephen Moore?" the caller asked me at work one morning. "Yes, this is Steve. How can I help you?" I asked. "I don't know if you remember me, my name is June. I met you at one of your ex-wife's sessions," she told me. "How can I forget," I told her. "I'm sorry for losing my temper but I think under the circumstances you can see why," I told her. "How can I help you?" "I was wondering if you would be willing to come back for another session? I promise to go a little easier on you, but I think it would help Karin put closure on her marriage." "I thought she'd already done that?" I replied. "Steve I don't feel comfortable about discussing this matter over the phone. If you're available tomorrow afternoon at 2:00, I can go over the areas I would like to discuss with you." I looked at my calendar. "June 2:00 works for me I'll see you then," I said hanging up. I wasn't looking forward to seeing Karin again, especially after our last meeting. "Thank you for coming," June said leading me into her office. "No problem," I said looking around for Karin. "Is Karin running late?" I asked. "She's not coming Steve, I wanted to talk to you alone," she told me. "What about patient doctor confidentially?" I asked. "Karin told me last time that I could discuss anything and everything with you or with her three kids if necessary. Would you like a cup of coffee or a bottle of water before we get started?" "No. I'm fine. Why don't you hit me with what you want," I told her getting comfortable. "All right. Steve, Karin still doesn't understand why you left, or hasn't totally come to grips with it. After a ton of test, she's found out that she has a chemical imbalance that's been giving her mood swings among other things. I guess it was your e-mail to your kids that forced her to look further. They never saw a problem, but besides Randy they didn't live with her," she told me. "But what does that have to do with me?" I asked. "Steve do you still love her?" "June, that's a hard one. I did before, but over these last few months I don't know anymore. I've kind of moved on and have really started to enjoy my life for the first time since our divorce. I don't think I want to go back to where I was." "How about if you were going back to the wife you once had? The Karin you loved before she went kind of nuts?" she asked. "That's a tough one. I kind of remember the way it used to be, but with all the shit that's gone on since, it's hard to remember if we were really happy or just content to be with one another." "Your kids want me to tell you that they're sorry for what they put you through," June told me. "Screw them. They've got two hands and ten fingers. Why haven't they picked up the phone or e-mail me over the last year and a half; even after they found out I wasn't the asshole they thought I was. I found out that I don't need them. I wanted them in my life, but I no longer need them. Same with Karin." "You've gotten a lot harder over the last couple of months Steve and you're not as sensitive as you were the last time," she told me. "You can only beat a dog so long before he just doesn't care any longer and dies or gets mad and bites you back. I'm not going to take their shit any longer; I've chosen to live. So, if I can help Karin great as long as it doesn't affect my life any longer. I tried, she fucked up, case closed." "Well Steve I think I've got all my questions answered. I appreciate your help in this matter and if I need anything else, I'll call you. Thanks for coming in," June said standing up and extending her hand. I went back to work and had a great rest of the week. We'd just finished having sex and we lying there enjoying the after glow. "Steve, that was nice," Rose said kissing me. "I love that little thing you do with your tongue, but not as much as what happened after," she said biting my lower lip. "My mom's watching Danny and I'd like you to spend the night, that is unless you're planning on meeting someone else after you leave here," she said. "I don't think I've got the energy to take on two hot blooded women in one night, but if you want, I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything," I said trying to make a joke but it didn't work. "I know you're also seeing someone else so I thought I'd ask," she replied. "Rose, I've been honest with you since day one. I like you a lot, but I'm just not ready to settle down just yet," I told her. "I know that, but I now hate that word." "What word?" I asked kind of dumbfounded. "Like. If you'd said loved or cared a lot about, that would be one thing, but liked; is so impersonal," she told me. I guess I didn't know what to say, so I just looked at her. We both knew what was coming next. "Steve, maybe it would be best if you did leave. I've got a lot to do tomorrow morning and with you here, I'd probably not get much sleep," she said with a faked smile. I got dressed, gave her a nice kiss and left for the last time. She wanted something I just couldn't give her. "Hell, I don't think I even have it in me anymore," I thought to myself as I drove home in the early hours of the morning. I still dated Beth from my cooking classes. The sex was great, hell, it was the best sex I'd ever experienced but we both knew it was just for fun. We were miles apart except for the bedroom. She was bi and every once in a while she'd break a date because her "friend" was getting jealous that we were spending too much time together. I once suggested we have a threesome, but Beth said that her friend was way too possessive for that to ever happen, unless I'd be content to just watch the two of them go at it. I told her I'd have to get back to her on that. That's when Sue walked into my life. I had nothing to do one Sunday, so I decided to go condo shopping. I picked an area that was close to my work, the lake and the jogging path through the park and starting going from open house to open house. They came in all sizes and shapes, but I was getting a little frustrated at what they wanted price wise. After listening to the realtor give me his spiel and taking the tour I told him I didn't think it was worth the asking price. "The pools not done, the workout room has only three pieces of equipment and they want $600.00 for monthly fees? For what?" I asked. "Also, the workmanship is a little shoddy, I can still see the dry wall joints for Christ's sake," I said maybe a little too loudly when he said they were only $225,000.00. "I'm sorry, it'll be a cold day in hell before I pay anything like that for this place," I said starting to walk out before noticing I had a follower. "Excuse me," she said trying to get my attention. "I couldn't help but over hear you talking to the realtor," she started. "You seem to know what you're talking about when it comes to quality. Maybe you can help me," she said as I stopped and turned to face her. "Sue Collins," she said holding her hand out. "Steve Moore," I replied. "What can I do for you?" I asked. "Steve, I'm moving down from Atlanta and don't know a soul down here. I'm looking for a place to live but it seems I don't know what I'm looking at. I thought those condos looked pretty good. If it wasn't for you, I might have made a huge mistake," she explained. "I don't know everything, but I'm pretty handy and I know quality workmanship," I told her. "Would you be against me tagging along while you, or should I say we, looked?" "Not at all, I'd be delighted." That's how I first met Sue. She was in advertising and was opening up a new branch in Orlando. She was thirty-nine, divorced with one grown son who was in the military. Best on all, she was easy on the eyes. At about 5'6", and I guessed maybe 135 pounds she looked pretty good. Her auburn hair was cut pretty short because she loved to bike and long hair got in the way she informed me. Over dinner the following Saturday we laid out a plan to look at four units together on Sunday. We met for breakfast and hit the first place at 10:00. It was ok but a little run down. We spent about forty-five minutes at the second and almost an hour at the third one that was new and had everything we both were looking for. The fourth one was an old house that had been recently converted into three condos. "Wow," is all we said as we drove up. An old Victorian that looked like it had just been built. I guess I kind of ignored Sue as I walked around with my mouth wide open, it was beautiful. Who ever had done the work, had done a fantastic job. The kitchens, bathrooms, and the rest were like something out of design magazine. "What do you think?" Sue finally asked. "I think I'm in love," I said smiling at her. "Not me, I'm asking about the house,' she said with a laugh. "Their asking $265,000.00 for the penthouse and $250,000.00 for the two downstairs units, and I think their worth every penny," I told Sue. With all three floors, there has to be over four thousand square feet," I said before I heard someone say forty two hundred to be exact. "There is over forty two hundred under air and that doesn't include the covered patio in the back or the three car detached garage," the realtor informed us. "If you're interested, I can give you the full tour and tell you what's new and anything else you may want to know," he told us. "Lead on," I said speaking for the both of us. For the next two hours we looked into every room including the crawl spaces and attic. Both the electric and plumbing were new including the appliances and bathroom fixtures. It was heated with a combination of natural gas and three roof mount solar panels. There was no pool but the backyard had enough room to put one in. The taxes were about normal but the fees, which included insurance and maintenance, were a little high. He kept pushing us to make an offer, but we said we'd get back to him. We finally left and decided to talk over dinner. "Well, what do you think?" an excited Sue asked. "The house is almost perfect but I'm not sure about the price. I think they'd take $10,000.00 less for the penthouse and maybe $7 to 8,000.00 less for the downstairs units," I told her. "What are you going to do Steve?" "My ex is still living in my house with my daughter Randy but, I think maybe I'm going to try for a loan. It's almost too good a deal to pass up. Why don't we get an appraisal done and see what they come back with. I'll call the realtor and say we're interested but we need to do a few things before we give him an offer. This way he knows were interested and will give us first chance at them," I told her as I did the math in my brain. I Didn't Have a Choice "I'm so excited, I feel like a damn teenager," she said finishing her glass of wine. "Wouldn't it be something if we both got units together?" she said now looking at me like she was sizing me up. "That really would be something wouldn't it?" With Randy turning eighteen in May and graduating in June I figure we could put up the house for sale in May. I was hashing over the figures and figured I should have enough to swing a loan even if the house didn't sell. I hadn't talked to Karin directly, but had answered an e-mail or two after our meeting with her shrink. "You want to try dinner again?" I asked. "I have a few things to talk to you about and since we've both got to eat, we can do both at the same time." There's a new place opening up just outside of town and I could pick you up Saturday about 6:00, because it's about an hour away. Let me know if you're interested," I told her. I got my answer a couple of hours later. "I wasn't sure if you were ever going to talk to me again after the last time. I'd love to have dinner with you and 6:00 works for me also. See you Saturday." I wasn't sure which Karin to expect on Saturday. The crazy, bitchy Karin I'd divorced. The sweet loveable Karin I'd been happily married to for twenty years or the new Karin I knew nothing about anymore. She looked great when I picked her up. It looked like she'd lost a few pounds and her he hair was about half as long as it had been throughout our marriage. "Wow, you look fantastic," I told her as she twirled around giving me the full tour. "Your new haircut makes you look ten years younger," I said and then added that she didn't look her age before. "Everyone is going to think I've got myself a young trophy wife," I said finally shutting up. "You sure know how to turn a girls head," Karin said with a huge smile. "Shall we go?" The drive was better than good. She was pleasant and apologized for June's attack on me. "Steve I had no idea she was going to hit you with every thing but the kitchen sink. I was so shocked I just sat there with my mouth open waiting for it to end. When you left, I tried to explain to you, but I guess you thought I'd set you up." "That's in the past and forgotten," I told her. "I'm not going to bring it up if you're not." The restaurant was on a man made island in the middle of a lake. It was a bed and breakfast that hadn't even opened officially. There were only ten tables and every thing was perfect and elegant. I asked her what she'd been up to and how the kids were. "After what June told them, they were afraid to contact you Steve. They know now that they were wrong, but didn't know a good way to start." "Tell them to pickup the phone, dial my number and start with hello, I'll take it from there. I don't hate them, but we've got work to do to get back to where we were before all this happened. By the way, how are you feeling? June said something about a chemical imbalance," I asked her. "Great compared to eight months ago. I'm taking a few drugs to get me stabilized but it's worth it. The night sweats are basically gone, my mood swings are a thing of the past and my head doesn't spin around on my neck anymore. I still spit up pea soup if someone crosses me but that doesn't happen very often," she said laughing. It was good to hear her laugh again. I'd missed that, among other things the last couple of years. When the music started I asked her if she still knew how to dance. "There's only one way to find out," she said reaching for my hand. The dance floor was big enough for maybe three couples. Luckily we were the only ones making use of it. The first dance I was a little hesitant and stiff as we moved around the floor. "Relax Steve, I won't bite," Karin finally said pulling me in close as she rested her head on my neck. I guess I knew which Karin was with me tonight. For the next two hours we danced, talked and sipped glass after glass of wine until we were the only ones left in the restaurant. No one said anything about us leaving so we stayed enjoying each other's company. I guess we became the center of attention. Everyone watched us dance, laugh and finally kiss. Not a passionate full mouth kiss, rather lips barely touching one another waiting for our inner heat to set them ablaze. Neither one of us said a word as we swayed to the music doing what we'd both come accustom to for over twenty years. "Compliments of management," our waiter said handing me a key pointing to a man in the doorway. "He said that a couple so much in love as you two needs to be the one to break in the bridal suit. It's the large room at the top of the stairs to the right," he told me. I looked at Karin and she said nothing. She grabbed my hand; we collected our stuff from the table and headed silently upstairs. The room was magnificent. One wall was glass and the other was mirrors. The lights were out but the moonlight filled the room. I opened my mouth to say something but Karin covered it with her lips and filled my mouth with her tongue as we still swayed to the music we could still hear from the lounge. I pealed off her dress and let it drop to the floor as my jacket and shirt followed right behind it. There was no clichés about her changing into something more comfortable, or me ripping off the rest of her clothes and throwing her on the bed. We just stood there consuming one another. How and when we ended up on the bed I don't remember. All I know was that it happened and that I was lying between the legs of the woman I was still in love with. I tasted ever inch of her body and reacquainted myself with her musty scent as I moved from her breasts down to her navel and finally to the shaved area between her legs. I 'd never seen her pussy shaved. For almost twenty-two years Karin had sported a full bush and it now felt like I was licking someone, not Karin, but it was. The same soft lips I'd known all my life, the same scent only sweeter and more juicy as I licked and pulled on her outer lips with my mouth before spreading them with the tip of my tongue to get at her inner folds. I was in no hurry and from the moans escaping her lips; Karin was enjoying what I was doing. I could see little droplets moving from her pussy, down the crack of her ass, as they glistened in the faint light before I used my tongue to lap them up. I collected the fluids and continued up to her clit. Circling it lightly with the tip of my tongue brought a gasp from her lips before I licked her hard from her brown hole to her clit and then back again. For the next ten minutes I tickled and teased her pussy as she screamed into the pillow now covering her face. I watched as she raised her hips up to meet my tongue as I finally cupped her butt cheeks with my hands and finished eating my dessert. The force of her climax surprised even me as she pushed her pussy to my face as she grasped the sheet screaming out in ecstasy. The next thing I knew, Karin was pulling me up from between her legs and licking the remnants of her orgasm from my face, which was a first. Wrapping her legs around my waist she made sure I was going no where as we kissed and exchanged tongues as she came down from her bliss. She rolled me onto my back as she move down to my breasts sucking on my nipples before pulling on them with her teeth, all the while looking at me. Karin had never been a big one for oral sex; that is giving it. When she move all the way down I didn't have a clue what to expect. Ok, it wasn't the greatest blow job I'd ever received, but it was a thousand percent better than any of the other ones she'd ever given me before, because for no other reason, I'd hadn't asked her, she did it on her own. Her warm lips on the head brought my member to full attention and taking three quarters down her throat as she fondled the boys almost made me lose it. I wasn't sure what I was expecting and if she wanted my load, but she got it anyway. I think she saw it coming as she probably felt my balls tighten up as I shot load after load into her warm mouth and throat. I know I cried out something, but couldn't remember what as I finished. The look on her face said it all as she attacked my lips kissing me for the umpteenth time. I could taste my semen on her lips and tongue, but was so turned on at this moment it made no difference. Did I ram my six inches into her and make her scream to fuck her like the slut she was? Not hardly. She sat up, threw a leg over me and with her back to me, she eased my cock into her tight pussy. She pushed her hips forward and did her best to take everything I had. Reaching up, I pulled her back onto my chest as I now forced my hips up and into her pussy. With her resting on my chest, I reached up and cupped her breasts before tweaking her nipples as I continued burying my dick in her hot hole. With one hand on each hip I raised and lowered her, picking up speed. I finally moved both hands to her pussy as one spread her outer lips and the other worked her slit and hard clit. I was so ready but I wanted to wait until Karin got off again, but I thought that might not happen. I felt her clamp down on my dick just as I let go of my first of three loads. She was now hanging onto my hips as I drove into her as deep as I could. I think I stopped first as I felt Karin wiggle her ass trying to get every last drop from me. I rolled her onto her left side, never pulling out and started kissing and licking her salty neck and shoulder. Two minutes later I'd shrunk up and had flopped out of her as my dick rested up against her ass. She pushed back at me and pulled my arms around her kissing my hands. We lay that way silently for the better part of a half hour. I heard her shallow breathing and thought she'd fallen asleep but after a light peck on the side of her neck she said, "thank you." She pulled the covers up over us and turned around to face me. Even though it was dark, I could see her face and the tears in her eyes. I opened my mouth to say something, but she stopped me with a kiss closing her eyes. We kissed and I licked her lips keeping them moist. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she didn't want to talk but only wanted to enjoy the moment, and we did that all night. I think we dropped off sometime after 4:00 and at 9:00 there was a knock on our door. I got up and threw a robe on. "Your breakfast," the waiter said as he pushed in the cart filled with all types of foods. "I hope you enjoyed your evening here, he said with a wink and a smile, as he walked out after pouring us a cup of coffee. Karin had snuck off to the bathroom and came back wearing the other robe. "I'm starved," she announced as she sipped on the hot coffee before sampling a little bit of everything. We ate in silence as we both kept looking at one another waiting for the other to say something first. How and why it had happened wasn't the issue any longer. What was going to happen from this moment on was what neither one of us wanted to bring up. I was just about to say, "where do we go from here?" when Karin grabbed my hand and said we needed to try out the shower, together. It was large and had four different types of heads. I liked the huge one overhead that must have put out five gallons a minute and felt like you were outside in a rainstorm. We soaped up one another and in making sure all the areas were really clean, got all hot and bothered and ended up doing it in the shower. I pounded Karin up against the tile walls as she had her legs wrapped around my waist and my lips pressed against hers. With the hot water pouring over us we did it standing up for the first time in our marriage and it was so hot, just like in the movies. Cleaning up again, we got out just as the hot water gave out. A couple more bites of food, and we were dressed and at the front desk. I was going to pay, but was told everything was on the house. They only wanted our feedback on what we thought of the food, service and such. I gave them a glowing recommendation and the next thing I knew we were heading back to town. All right, Karin was better in bed than she'd been in the last four years. "It looks like someone had been teaching her," I thought to myself. The pangs of jealousy were there and maybe I was a little hurt, but I said nothing as we drove on. "You're still as good in bed as I remembered, maybe even a little better she said," addressing the elephant in the back seat. "Last night was nice; I really enjoyed it," she told me. "Nice? It was better than nice in my book." We'd made love for the first time in years and Karin had come up with a few new techniques that only added to it. I wanted to yell out how many guys have you slept with? But it wasn't any of my business anymore. I loved her, I was hurt and angry all at the same time but only my eyes spoke to her. When we almost to her house she rocked me. "You can thank June, Marcus and Andy for last night," she told me. "June pushed me to find out what my female problems were and then turned me onto Marcus and Andy, among other things, to solve the rest of my issues, she said with a smile. "Thank Marcus and Andy? I wanted to kill the bastards not thank them," I screamed inside. I think Karin saw how agitated I was becoming and touched my arm as I drove. "I never stopped loving you Steve." I didn't have a clue what to say and I was running out of time when I pulled onto her street. I had a million questions I needed answers to, but I was afraid to ask the damn questions because of the answers I might hear. When I pulled in the driver way we just looked at each other. I know we both wanted to say something and the silence was so loud it was killing me. "If you're not busy with Marcus or Andy, maybe we can have dinner next week," I started. It surprised me when she leaned over and kissed me. There was more passion in that kiss than I'd seen all last night as she drove her tongue half way down my throat not once but twice. "I need to show you something inside," she said opening her car door and getting out. I followed her to the house as she took me by the hand and led me upstairs. We went into what use to be our bedroom and as she moved to the side of the bed she reached into the top drawer of her nightstand. "This is Marcus and Andy," she said holding a long black dildo and a shiny silver vibrator. "And this is my training guide," she said tossing a porno DVD to an awestruck ex-husband. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask me?" she said with a shit-eating grin on her face. I don't remember that our old bed creaked that loud but it had been a long time since we'd had hot monkey sex in it. She screamed, I screamed as we spent the next two hours not making love but wildly fucking. She lubed up her vibrator and with me in her pussy, put it in her ass and turned it on high. "Oh my God!" I'd never experienced anything like it as I shot off with such force; I thought I'd blow the top of her head off. She just laughed and told me she had a few other tricks if I was interested. Now came the tough part. "Karin where do you want to go from here?" I finally asked the $10,000.00 question. "I want you back in my life but I'm not sure where you're at or if you're seeing anyone else?" there I'd said it as I lay there waiting for her response. When she paused before speaking I figured I it was over. I'd taken my best shot and lost. "At least I had one last weekend to remember her by," I thought to myself as my eyes pleaded with her. "Steve, we've gone through a rough couple of years," she started as she looked at me. You've changed and so have I. I know we've both been with others and do you think we can handle that fact without throwing it up in one another's face if we get into an argument down the road? Do you still love me enough to try and make it work again? And there's still our families to consider," she said with this serious look on her face. "Look, I didn't say it would be easy, but I'm more than willing to give it another shot. It looks like our major issue has been resolved and our families will just have to deal with it. It's got to be what we both want or it'll never work," I told her. "I don't need an answer today, but soon," I told her getting out of bed and starting to get dressed. "You're leaving?" "Karin, I've got something in the works and I promised someone I'd help them this afternoon," I told her. She wasn't happy, but understood. We kissed goodbye, which took almost forty-five minutes and I was off to shower and change clothes. I met Sue for lunch and told her that the appraisal had come through. "Its numbers checked out, the only thing that's left, is if you want to make an offer,' I told her. "I'm ready to go ahead, how about you?" she asked. "I'm thinking about the penthouse, it the perfect size and I know I'll never lose money on it but my life took a strange turn this weekend." I told her about Karin and even kind of felt her out about a few things. "Looks like you still have the hots for your ex-wife," she told me. "But, doesn't she still own and live in your old house? Have you said anything to her about this place?" "I didn't have a chance until this morning and there's already an issue that has to be resolved before we go forward," I told her. "But, I can't go back to my old place, even if we get back together again, too many bad memories," I told her. "I'm meeting with my banker Monday and I'm told he'll either give me a thumbs up or down at that time. Why don't we have dinner Monday night and draw up an offer if it's a go?" I told her. I got qualified and approve for a loan up to $300,000.00 Monday and by 6:30 I was having dinner with Sue. "I'm ready to put an offer in tomorrow," I told her. "My attorney is drafting up a purchase agreement and asked me if you wanted him to do yours also?" "Sure why not. Are you going for a full price offer?" "I'm offering $5,000.00 less and asking for all closing costs and fees to be included and I think they'll take it, especially in this market," I told Sue. "Have him draft up the same thing for me and we'll offer it to the realtor as a package deal. This way he sells two of the three at once. I'm excited," Sue said ordering another drink. We ate and drank until 10:00 and I told her I'd call the realtor and set it up for Thursday night to make our offers. Sue gave me a hug, thanked me for all my help and asked if she could buy me dinner Thursday night, to celebrate as she put it. "Hell yes," I told her. We arranged to meet Thursday after work so we could sign the papers in the attorney's office before driving over. It was all coming together. I talked to Karin on the phone Wednesday and begged off dinner on Thursday night. I told her I had a meeting, but take her to dinner on Friday night. "Dinner like we had last week?" she asked. "If you'd like, or if you're not hungry we could go straight to dessert," I told her. "Why don't we play it by ear and see what happens." The realtor took both our offers and Sue and I were celebrating with dinner and drinks Thursday night when Karin walked up to our table. "So this is your idea of a business meeting." She said a little loudly. "And I supposed your going to take her back to your place for dessert also," Karin said with steam coming out of her ears. "When Randy said that she saw you going into a restaurant with another women I called her a liar. I told her that we were thinking about getting back together and you'd never do that to me, guess I was wrong." "Karin this is Sue," is all I got out of my mouth before she slapped me across the face. "Don't ever call me again," she spit out as she ran out as I just stood there in shock. "Sue I'll be back in a minute," I said as I ran out of the restaurant, but Karin was nowhere to be found. "Shit, where in the hell did she go?" I called her cell but she didn't pick up. I Didn't Have a Choice I went back to our table and everyone was watching me as I sat back down. "Missed her," I told Sue. "Just get her on the phone and I'll explain it all to her," she said in a concerned voice. "She's not picking up her cell," I told her. "Who is Randy?" Sue asked. "My youngest daughter who is still pissed at me for breaking up her happy home. I never saw her when we came in, but I wasn't looking either. I'll show her the papers and explain it to her tomorrow when she cools down," I told her. "Let's not let this put a damper on our celebration, we're homeowners now," I said as we clinked our glasses. For the next two days I tried everything to reach Karin. I even went so far as to go over to her house, but she either wasn't home or wasn't answering the door. I finally sent her one final e-mail, my tenth. "I've been trying to explain to you what was going on, but you won't answer my calls or e-mails. Sue and I purchased condos and we were just celebrating our good fortune, that's all. If you don't want to believe me or think I'm lying I guess we haven't come as far as I thought. The balls in your court, but only for a little while this time. I'm not going through all that shit again." I hit enter. A week later Sue and I were having dinner when I watched Karin walk in with her date. "I guess I've got my answer I'm sorry to say," I said watching them sit at a table almost on top of ours. "Let's get the hell out of here," I said motioning to our waiter for our check. "You pay for that, and I'll be right back," Sue told me. Four minutes later she was back and reaching for my arm. She smiled at Karin and gave her a little wave as we left. "What the hell was that all about," I asked. "Just drive to your place and you'll find out," Sue told me as we headed out. "I can't believe she didn't believe me after everything we've gone through," I told Sue. "Steve, sometimes people get so side tracked that they need someone to give them a little nudge to get them back in the right direction," Sue said as we pulled up to my place. "Come on, we need to get inside and get ready for your visitor," she said running up the walkway. "Sue, what are you talking about? What visitor?" I asked as we got into my apartment. At that point, Sue started to undress. Her jacket, dress, shoes were all coming off. "Sue, I don't think I'm ready for this, and I'm really not in the mood right now," I told her as I watched her get completely naked. Damn she had a nice firm body and on any other night I probably would have taken her up on her offer, but I was still pissed off at what happened at the restaurant. About three minutes later, the front bell rang. "Let it ring," Sue told me as we stood there. When someone started banging on the door, Sue said she'd handle it. She walked nude to the door and opened it about a foot, just enough to make sure the person on the other side could see she was totally naked. "Yes," she said opening the door. "Where's Steve?" An angry Karin asked. "He's a little busy right now as you can see, why don't you send him an e-mail. I'll make sure he sees it when we're finished. Of course, that probably won't be until tomorrow some time. So Karin, why don't you go back to your date, so I can go back to mine, you know how he gets when he's interrupted in the middle of what he doing," she said with a smile. "No way in hell. You're going to have to go through me if you want him," Karin said as she barged into my apartment as she went stomping down the hall to my bedroom as I stood there in amazement at what was going on. "I told her at the restaurant that if she didn't want you anymore, I did. That we were going back to your place so I could ball your eyes out and make you forget the stupid bitch that didn't believe you," Sue said with a smile on her face just as Karin came back from down the hall. "Where is he," she shouted before seeing me standing there fully clothes. "With that, I think it's time I make my exit," Sue said putting on her clothing. "Karin, remember what I told you," she said as she came up to me, kissed me on the cheek and said she'd see me later. "Like hell you will," Karin said as Sue shut the door. "All right, I was trying to make you jealous. I thought you were two timing me and was going to show you two could play that game," she said now feeling a little stupid. "You said we were going to be exclusive after that night. You always said that you couldn't afford anything until the house sold then all of a sudden you said you were buying a condo? It didn't add up in my brain. I thought you were lying because I'd caught you doing something you weren't supposed to be doing." "Karin, how can we expect to make a go of it, if you don't trust me?" I asked. "I do trust you, but I guess not entirely. I just didn't want to lose you again and kind of went off the deep end,' she told me. I didn't know if I was mad that Karin was trying to make me jealous or impressed that she was ready to go toe to toe with Sue to keep me. "It looks like we need a bit more time to sort out all the issues before we try again," I told her. "Steve I love you more than I've loved anything in my life. I had a problem that I didn't take care of which caused me to lose you once. I may not be perfect yet, but I'm working on it for the both of us. If you want us to wait, then I'll wait. I won't be happy about it, but I'll respect your wishes and back off, but only for a little while," she told me. We talked all night and didn't even make love Saturday night but she did talk me into it Sunday morning. I'd like to say that we had a fairy tale love affair after that, but it didn't happen quite that way. We stayed together and she even moved into the penthouse with me but we had more than one blowup. I never knew which Karin I was coming home to at night. We finally went to a fifth doctor together and finally got her medications sorted out. If that hadn't happened we never would have made it. As the three of us sit on my deck, sipping wine watching the sun start to go down Karin looks at Sue. "Would you really have taken Steve to bed that night just to spite me?" she asked her. "To spite you no way. I would have done it for the shear pleasure of taking a wonderful man to bed and showing him that there were more fish in the sea and I for one would loved a shot at him," she said now looking at me. "Since he now know what I looked like, I don't think it would have taken much," she said sipping her wine. "Ladies, ladies, don't I have any say in this?" I asked. "Come on Steve, with two hot women wanting you, it would have been a win, win situation for you no matter who you picked," Karin told me. "I'm just glad I came out on top." "You did for now," Sue said under her breath as she looked over at Steve, sipping her wine and feeling her pussy starting to get wet.