71 comments/ 159294 views/ 24 favorites Just Small Changes By: guitarman100 When things started to change, it wasn't a big upheaval or anything. Just a lot of small changes that started to happen more and more frequently. At the time they started I had been married to Jane for 15 years. She was 37 and I was 42. If you had asked me at the time whether we had a good marriage I would have said absolutely. But I was a very laid back guy and had few demands on life. My name was Zachary Scott Taylor, Zach to both friends and enemies alike. I enjoyed the little things that made up my week. Watching a favorite tv show, reading a good book, spending time with Jane and the kids relaxing together. Cooking was even something that I liked. To me it was like a chemistry experiment where you threw a little of this together with a little of that and then waited to see how it turned out. Not to brag but it almost always turned out pretty damn good and Jane, and especially my kids, Jim ten years old and Alice eight years old, really seemed to relish one of my meals. I loved my wife and kids and I was sure that they loved me too. This was what I wanted out of life. So yes, I was satisfied. Did I get pissed off with my job and the people I worked with sometimes? Sure I did. Did I wish we could afford and had the time to travel and take more vacations? You betcha! Did I wish I could talk Jane into camping and fishing? Yes, but I gave up on that years ago. Above all else I wanted harmony in my married life and tried very hard to get along with Jane even if she got what she wanted a lot more often than I got what I wanted. But before things began to change these were just little things. Stuff like what clothes to buy the kids, or what color to paint the house. What furniture to buy, what tv shows to watch (although the invention of the VCR somewhat eased that problem) and what restaurant to go out to eat at. Some of the things I didn't think were very fair and pissed me off a little like somehow I always got stuck with the grocery shopping. But then she did most of the laundry. I did almost all the cooking but she did most of the kitchen cleanup although the floors somehow became my job only. But when it came to yard work and fix it stuff, it was all me. No division of duties there. That was man work but housework had become something for both of us to do. But as I said I was happy enough and there were many moments of pure joy when I and the kids would get in a playful mood together and have a blast. Or when I had found a great fantasy book and could just immerse myself in it and escape reality for awhile. But have you noticed I haven't included sex in these moments of joy? Oh in the first five years of our marriage we had some moments I could remember fondly. But after the kids came we slacked off some. Not only did the frequency go down but what went on changed also. Jane loved to have me perform oral sex on her but after she got off she would urge me up and into her to fuck. Then she would just kind of lie there and not really do a lot of movement and wait for me to get off. Upon which she would kiss my cheek, say night dear and roll over leaving me in the wet spot. No blowjobs for me, or different postions or god forbid anal. We had done all of those things in the first years of our marriage but not now. I guess Jane saw it as she got an orgasm and I got an orgasm so we were even. You know the old division of duties thing. And I thought women were the ones that were supposed to crave foreplay. I remember one time having a discussion in which I told her that just because white stuff came out the end of your penis didn't mean it felt the same every time. That some orgasms were a lot better than others and were generally because I was more excited. I remember her being astonished at this concept. Gee, maybe I was just too sensitive. The first small change that I suddenly noticed was in the area of home finances and banking. We had a joint account which both our paychecks got deposited in. She had a check book and I had a check book. This was before computers and the internet so we had to tell each other everytime we wrote a check so we could write it in our check register and would know how much the balance in the account was. In this way we wouldn't write any hot checks. But all of a sudden Jane started to forget to tell me about some checks and eventually it resulted in some NSF checks that we had to pay a hefty fee for. This upset me because it was money we could spend on other things. We weren't poor but we weren't so rich that we could afford to pay NSF fees every month. Not to mention what it did to our credit ranking, etc. Jane somehow didn't see it as a big problem at all. She got angry that I was mad at her over something so trivial. Yes, something so trivial that she couldn't seem to stop doing it. It finally got to the point that when she was in the shower or asleep I would go in her purse and get her checkbook so I could check her register. That solved the NSF problem as I would then know how much we had and transfer some money from savings if we were running short. The problem of what she was spending this money on didin't get solved. I would ask her why there was a check written to a restaurant I had never been in and she would say stuff like she had taken some of the girls at work out to lunch. I would find another check written to some store and she would say she couldn't really remember it was just some clothes she needed. Other checks were written for cash because she needed "spending money" but no explanation of what she spent it on. Vague explanations that didn't really say anything. Then they came out with those first ATM machines and Jane started making cash withdrawals instead of writing checks. She said it was just easier to pay cash for things rather than writing a lot of checks. I could still keep up with the balance because she would write down the cash withdrawals in the register but I now really had no way of knowing what she was spending it on. Then I got a new job and money problems weren't so important anymore. I was doing work I liked better with people I enjoyed being with and to top it all off, I got a $600/Mo raise. I was happier than ever and really enjoying life. It seemed I was finally making more money than Jane could spend. But then the next small change came around. Jane's 38th birthday came around and she started freaking out because she was getting close to the dread 40. Of course I had already passed it so it wasn't a big deal to me. Life goes on you know. But anyway Jane,in her inimitable manner, decided to give herself a birthday present. Of course this was without consulting me even though she would need my cooperation. She had joined a health club that was a few miles from the house and wanted to set up a schedule and go at least three times a week. Now you have to understand that I still thought Jane was extremely good looking. Her face had aged well and I thought she actually looked four or five years younger than she was. Okay, so she had put on twenty five pounds since we had gotten married and her tits weren't as perky as they had been. She still looked great in clothes and really not too shabby out of them either. Let's just say that she still started my motor when I looked at her. But Jane was convinced that she looked old and ugly. I was a little shocked when she just told me it was a done deal and she had already bought a six month membership for herself. But after thinking it over for a minute or two, I said great I could stand to lose fifteen pounds myself. I will join also and we can do this together. Nope, wrong, wrong . . . wrong! She would be going at least twice during the week and someone would have to stay home with the kids. Guess who? Now that set me back on my heels a little bit. She was acting like she didn't want me around her anymore. What was up with that? Had I pissed her off somehow? But as I said life goes on and I went along with it. Hell, I enjoyed being with the kids! It wasn't that it was a big chore or anything it was just that more and more it seemed Jane wasn't included in our family activities. So while she was off at the health club, if the weather was nice I would take the kids to the park and we would play on the playground. Or sometimes we would throw a ball or a frisbee around. And everytime before we went home I would make them walk with me for 30 minutes straight. Because these trips to the park took up a lot of time in the afternoons, I started making less elaborate recipes with lighter ingredients and fast preparation times. I became the king of the stir fry and salad maker par excellance. Sometimes we would stop at a deli on the way home and get a salad there with a turkey sandwich. Once the kids got over their initial reluctance to leave the tv and video games behind, I think they really did start to look forward to our outings. Somehow we still managed to make it home before Jane. She would come in 9:00 saying that she spent time in the whirlpool and sauna after her workout and then took a shower. Still she was spending more than three hours at a time at the club. I had to admit she was losing weight. She would get on the scale on the weekend and make everyone come look so we could praise her for what a good job she was doing. The first couple of weeks she lost three pounds per week. The third week she only lost one pound and she was pissed. She said she was going to pay for a personal trainer for a month or so to help her keep losing. Again no conversation with me about whether we could afford that and gee dear would it be alright. Nope, these days Jane did what she wanted without asking for permission. The personal trainer, by the way, was going to be $40/session. Yeah, don't worry about it Jane, I can always make more. The fourth week she was back to another three pounds and saying, "See dear it was worth it just like I told you." Worth it to her maybe. As I already said I was happy with the way she was before. And unknown to her I was getting on the scale also. Without paying anyone any money, I had lost eight pounds in that month, only two less than she had. All it took was some aerobic exercise and watching the calories for awhile. The kids looked great too. They had firmed up and had slender, muscular little bodies and seemingly unlimited energy. The fifth week and she was only down two pounds. She just couldn't understand it. She had gone to the club four times that week and should have lost more according to her. Maybe it had to do with the ice cream she was eating late at night after she got home. I knew I would just get a lot of static if I suggested that though so I kept my mouth shut. I was learning how to maintain harmony with the new Jane also. But it was taking a greater and greater effort all the time. We were skating on thin ice and it seemed we could sink at anytime. The next little change to come along happened in week number six. All of a sudden I noticed that Jane was staying up later than usual. I would be falling asleep in the bed and I would hear the tv going in the living room. Jane always taped a soap opera and watched it on the VCR when she got home. But now she was taping three of the damn things and watching them like a zombie every night after she ate her big bowl of ice cream. But the real shocker was when she weighed in that Saturday. She had lost five pounds in one week! How the hell did that happen? I knew from reading that three to three and a half pounds was supposed to be as fast as you can lose fat. Maybe she had just lost a lot of water somehow. Well needless to say Jane was ecstatic and was going to keep on with the personal trainer who she gave all the credit too. When I asked how much money she had spent on the trainer so far, Jane got mad again and told me what difference did it make. It was her money from her job and she would spend it however she wanted. Well, if she was using the trainer every time, that would be four times a week at forty a shot, equals one hundred and sixty smackers a week. She was only bringing in $770 every two weeks. As far as I could tell she was already spending every penny of that and then some on clothes, shoes, lunches with the girls and the expensive cosmetics that she had to have to make her look "young". But keep your mouth shut right? Keep the peace and maybe I would get a piece. With me going to bed before her now I hadn't been laid all week. In fact now that I thought about it we hadn't done the deed in about three weeks. No wonder I was horny. Things didn't get any better that night when I tried to initiate some mattress mambo and once again I couldn't pry her away from the tv set. Now I was starting to get pissed. We were both looking better and were more energetic and I couldn't get laid. The next morning I woke up at 6:00 as was my usual time. It was Sunday and I knew Jane wouldn't be getting out of bed until noon to make up for all of the sleep she had been missing watching soap operas. The next day was a school holiday for the kids while they did teacher training and I had already taken off from work so I could be with them. Okay I thought. She is always doing what she wants to do without consulting me so today the shoe will be on the other foot. I quickly got the kids up and told them to dress in jeans and t-shirt and sneakers. Then I gave them one of their mother's sports duffle bags and told them to pack their bathing suits, two pair of shorts and two more t-shirts with an equal change of underwear. "Why daddy, where are we going?", they said. "Well today my children we are going out to the lake, rent a cabin and then go fishing, swimming and have a good time." They seemed to like that idea and zoomed around getting ready. I got the cooler out and filled it with bottled water, sodas,juice and ice. Then packed some clothes for me, gathered up all my fishing gear and we were out the door and on the road. It was about a three hour drive and we would be there by 9:00 if we drove straight through. But we were on vacation so I was in no hurry and we stopped at a roadside cafe and had a big breakfast before continuing on. There was very light traffic and made great time and arrived at Lakeside Cabins around 9:30. I had been here many years ago before getting married. It wasn't how I remembered it at all. It had been completely redone and modernized. There were still log cabins but these were made of beautiful blonde pine and were two bedrooms, a bath with a big shower and a very large combination living/dining area. Everything looked rustic but was beautifully made and had all the modern conveniences. This place had obviously been planned with families in mind. One of the bedrooms had a nice king size bed and the other had two sets of bunk beds that could sleep four. Only one guess who was going to get the king size bed. I was thankful as I looked around that there was no tv, stereo or radio in sight. Yes, peace and quiet and let's do something different. After all there was a beautiful lake out there. After seeing how nice everything was, I decided the hell with it we were staying two nights. The kids and I could just take a sick day on Tuesday. After registering with the main office, I got a map of the place and we started to look around. The kids were so excited that I had to spend some time trying to quiet them down a little. The resort had a lodge with ten rooms for rent and about twenty cabins spread out here and there. Most of the cabins were the same size as ours but there were five or six that were two story and quite a bit bigger. There was a nice sized swimming pool next to the main office as well as a fenced in swimming area in the lake that had a big platform floating on pontoons in the middle. Next to the swimming area was a fishing pier that extended out into the lake 60 feet. It had railings, wooden benches and lights for night fishing. Further down out on a little peninsula was a marina that advertised boats for rent and fishing bait for sale. We came back from the lake on a different path and passed a games area in a wide field that had volleyball and badminton nets set up. There was even a softball field laid out with bases and a backstop. And right before we got back to the cabin area there was a little sand playground area with swings, a slide and a wooden climbing fort. The kids started to play at once and I could see they would be happily occupied for an hour or more. While they did that I went over to the main office and called home on their phone. It was 11:00 by this time and figured that Jane should be awake. Unfortunately she was and went ballistic when I told her where I was and that we wouldn't be home for a couple of days. I just let it go in one ear and out the other. Yeah, right, like she really cared about where we were and what we were doing. She was just pissed because I hadn't bowed and asked her permission first. Well kiss my ass your majesty! I was just pissed off enough that I didn't give a shit whether she liked it or not. When she ran out of steam and there was a pause, I quickly gave her the name of the place, their phone number, our cabin number and directions to get here. I then told her that she was welcome to come on out and join us. I mentioned the king sized bed and said there was plenty of room for her. Well now there wasn't a whole lot she could say. Except that she didn't want to go camping. I was having fun sticking it to her now so I assured her that there was no camping involved and how it was just like a super nice motel with all the ammenities. Now I had her on the defensive and a little flustered and she backed off while muttering excuses. The main one being that she couldn't dare miss any of her health club workouts. You betcha, I always loved a woman who had her priorities straight. So after that chore was out of the way, I collected the kids and we went to the restaurant that was on site at the resort. A very nice place, in it's own beautiful log building with some neat frontier type decorations. We had burgers and fries and the kids loved it. After that I insisted that we go back to the cabin and put our things away and then lie down and read for an hour or so. One of the things I had tried to do with my increased time with the kids was to get them more interested in reading. Nothing heavy just some fun kid's books. But I knew that once they got hooked on reading it would be a lifelong habit that they would benefit from greatly. I didn't think I was that tired or sleepy but the next thing I knew the kids were shaking me awake and complaining that they wanted to go swimming. So deciding to play with their little minds, I spoke in a low gruff voice and said didn't they know better than to wake up a bear when he was trying to hibernate. I then jumped up real quick, grabbed one with each arm and threw them on the bed. The bear then became the tickle monster till they were laughing so hard they were crying. Damn straight, I was the big bear, the alpha male, I would decide what we were going to do. So yeah go put on your suits and let's go swim. The only other people at the pool were a very attractive young blond woman and her two children. I introduced myself as the kids plunged into the pool screaming and shouting. Her name was Marcia and she was the daughter of the folks that owned the resort. She said she was separated from her husband and trying to decide whether to file for divorce and was living at the resort for the time being. I didn't want to go into the details of their troubles but found out that she was twenty seven years old and her children were four and five years old. She had gotten married at 19 and he had been her high school sweetheart. As I gave her the particulars of my own sad little story, I couldn't help but let my eyes run all over her. Damn she was good looking. Beautiful natural long blond hair, deep blue eyes, and a body to die for in a yellow bikini. She was about five foot four with long lean legs, a bubble butt and C cup tits that were trying to jump out of her swimsuit. Just Small Changes She didn't seem to mind my wandering eyes and had this little knowing smile on her face as I did it. This was the kind of girl who had always known she was attractive to the opposite sex and was used to attention. But as we talked some more, I decided she wasn't stuck up at all and actually had a nice gentle, sweet personality. Our kids seemed to be getting along famously also which was unusual. My kids seemed to have adapted hers and were showing them games to play like dive for the quarter on the bottom of the pool and throwing the beach ball back and forth. They were being very protective of the little ones and being careful to not let them get into the deep water. So all in all my little family had a terrific day at the pool and were even a little tired when we went back to the cabin to wash up and get ready for supper. After a nice shower we all wound up back on my bed sound asleep. I was the first one to wake up this time and I noticed the sun was low in the sky and starting to set. Looking at the clock I was shocked to see that it was seven thirty. Wow, I was getting more sleep than I had gotten in a long time and to tell you the truth it really felt good. After everybody got cleaned up it was off to the restaurant. Lo and behold when we walked in the first thing we saw was Marcia and her kids sitting at a table on the far side. She saw us too and waved us over. Out timing was perfect and they had just gotten there also and we were invited to join them. Hey no contest there. Marcia looked even more beautiful in a lovely little sun dress that showed off her legs and made her look like a young girl. Hell she was a young girl! Twenty seven seemed young to me. We took back up right where we had left off at the pool. Everyone just seemed to get along very well. The kids talked about what kids talked about and Marcia and I talked about what the kids were talking about. Oh okay so every once in a while we managed to get in a little adult talk between ourselves also. Especially after we ordered and the kids decided to go look at all the stuffed animals and fish hanging on the far wall. "So Marcia don't you just love it out here at the lake? I envy you getting to live out here all of the time." "I do Zach it is just that it is kind of lonely after a while. I have my Mom and Pop and a couple of people on the staff that I am friendly with but it just isn't the same as living a normal life. I have been here two months now and I know I need to make some decisions and move on it's just so hard." Well there it was. Do we exchange marriage woes now or do we keep a little distance between ourselves? "Marcia if you don't mind me asking what happened between you and your husband?" "Oh the usual stupidity. I caught him having an affair with one of the girls he works with. Jack is a lawyer with a big firm and they have lots of attractive young girls who work there who love to rub up against big money. Sometimes they rub a little too hard if you know what I mean and unfortunately Jack chose to rub back." "Oh my god this guy can't have enough brains to be a very good lawyer!" "What do you mean Zach?" "Well he has one of the prettiest, sexiest, sweet women I've ever met. Add on to that two great kids who obviously love their mother to death and she loves them and then throw a little whipped cream on top withs who own a place like this. That he would do anything to jeopardize that shows not just a lack of intelligence but of judgement, maturity and a million other things." Boy I thought she was pretty before but now she gave me a smile that seemed to radiate something from within and the place lit up like a sunny day. Her husband must really be a jerk. "Zach thank you. I've been a little down on myself and it is nice to hear that someone thinks I have something to offer a man. I bet your wife loves it when you say things like that to her." There it was. The opening into the sad tale of my marriage. Marcia made me feel so comfortable that before I realized it I had told her the whole thing including how long it had been since we made love. I was looking down at the table when I was telling her all of this and when I finally looked up I saw her big blue eyes full of compassion and empathy. "Zach have you ever thought that she might be like my husband and having an affair?" Bingo, a light opened up in my clogged up head. I had never thought of it before but it made perfect sense now. "Damn you're right! It does all fit doesn't it?" "I was just offering a suggestion Zach. Don't jump to conclusions until you know for sure. I'll tell you how I found out. There are these little voice activated micro-cassette recorders that you can buy at Radio Shack. They don't start recording until there is some sound. You can hide one in your bedroom, one next to your phones and even one in her car if you think she might talk to someone there. You could also get someone to watch your kids and then follow her when she goes to the gym. It would be better to hire a private detective but they are expensive and knowing how much it costs to raise a couple of kids I doubt if you could afford it." "Well Marcia you have certainly given me some things to think about even if I don't want to. It is so depressing to think you are maybe right. For some reason I still love her. I just want things back the way they were. Well actually I would like for things to be better than they were but now I realize how much worse it can get." "Believe me when I say I know what you are feeling Zach. The same things have been going through my head since I found out. I think I still love my husband Brian too but there has been an awful lot of damage done and it is taking me a long time to heal enough to deal with it in a smart way. But enough of this depressing talk. Tonight after nine o'clock they will move some of the tables and chairs out of the way here and make a dance floor. Then at ten a little country western combo comes in and plays until one o'clock. I love to dance and haven't been able to in a long while. Would you do me the honor of dancing with me tonight? My mom and dad have a five bedroom house about a half a mile from here and would love to keep your kids for us. They could do a sleep over and you could come get them tomorrow morning about nine and we could go into town and have a big breakfast together. What do you say? Sound good?" Indeed it did and we made plans while we were eating dinner. The kids were super excited about getting to do a sleep over and Marcia's kids couldn't wait to show them their rooms and all of their toys. So back to the cabin to pack them a little overnight bag and then onto Marcia's parent's house. They seemed to be really nice folks and acted like they were really looking forward to a night with the kids. Marcia came out of her bedroom and had changed clothes into boots, jeans and a t-shirt. Needless to say she looked great. She was the kind of woman that would look good in any kind of clothes and even better out of them. Marcia told her parents she would be back before two and that we were all going to go out to breakfast the next day at 9:30. When we got to the restaurant the band was just setting up so we had time to drink a couple of mixed drinks and do some more talking before the music started. So I was feeling no pain when Marcia got up and started showing me how to do the two step. It seemed there were only four kinds of dancing you had to know to fit in with the crowd. There was Texas Swing which was the two step, line dancing like the Cotton Eyed Joe, rock n roll dancing which was apart from each other and shaking it and finally my favorite slow dancing to ballads. Marcia certainly didn't lie. Once the music started we didn't take a break until the band did. It was a good thing I had started my walking program in the park. Even though the place was air conditioned with so many people crowded together and all the exercise, I was getting a little sweaty and could tell Marica was too. The way I could tell Marcia was is that her t-shirt was starting to cling and it was obvious she had no bra on and her nipples were erect and pointing my way. Lord give me strength. I couldn't fall for this woman. She was fifteen years younger than me for god's sake. Marcia told me she was feeling hot and that it would be cooler outside with a breeze off the lake than it was in there. So off we went for a little walk outside. I was more than a little startled when we got a little ways away and stopped behind a tree and she turned her head up to mine and started kissing me. It was like an electric shock ran through me. We weren't even exchanging tongues and it was the hottest kiss I had ever had. If she wanted to cool off this was not the way to do it. I don't know how long we kissed but time just kind of stopped. When we finally broke to breathe a little we heard the music was playing again and headed back. We danced non stop again but the difference was on the slow dances. Marcia just melted against me and plastered every inch of her body so it was touching mine. I even got brave a time or two and moved my hands down to her butt and squeezed gently while pulling her even tighter against me. We had two icy cold Margarita's delivered to our table while we were dancing and in between songs we would go there and take a big sip. Well maybe gulp more than sip because they were empty when the band took the next break. We ordered two more and drank about half of them before going back outside for another walk. This time we headed down the path to the lake. We found a seat in a pile of inner tubes that were sitting on the beach waiting for tomorrow's swimming. The kissing got down and dirty this time and we were speaking in French. After a few minutes I slid my right hand up and gently felt one of her boobs. Not only did she not stop me but it seemed to get her a lot more excited and the kissing intensified. So being a little drunk and feeling the green light was on I moved my hand down and up under her t-shirt. God this woman had the softest breasts and hardest nipples I had ever felt. Scrunching around to face her more freed up my other arm which had been behind her back. I then pulled her t-shirt up above her tits and proceed to kiss and suck to my heart's content. After awhile I let one of my hands drift down to her crotch and rubbed against her jeans there. It didn't take very much of this and I felt her take a deep breath and hold it and I could feel her stomach vibrating while her thighs clamped around my hand. Her orgasm must have been satisfying because she sighed and laid back on the inner tube with her eyes closed. I got a chance to feast my eyes all I wanted on her fantastic boobs. When she finally opened her eyes they had a twinkle in them and she smiled up at me. "You are a dangerous man, Zach. You make me want to make babies again." Oh my, I wasn't ready for that comment. I pulled down her t-shirt after giving each of her nipples a sweet little kiss goodbye. "Marcia you are the most beautiful woman I have ever had the pleasure of getting to know. I would love to know you a lot better and would do you on these inner tubes in a second. But we both know we're married and that wouldn't be a good thing right now. So unfortunately I think we should go back and dance some more." "See what I mean", Marcia said. "Not only do you light my fire but you are sweet and a gentleman as well. That's why I know someone as sweet and considerate as you are would make a great dad." Yeah I'm so sweet, ha! I was in lust big time and how I managed to back off and walk away that night I will never know. I knew that someday I would find it in the big "What Were You Crazy?" file that my memories would rummage through. They were just finishing up the last set and we got in three more dances before we left and I dropped her off at her parents place. That night before I could fall asleep I choked the chicken twice. All I had to do was think of how she looked in that moonlight with her t-shirt above her tits and I was off to the races. The next morning came quickly and as I drove over to pick up her and the kids it was a beautiful day. The bright sunshine and clear air put me in a great mood as everyone piled into two cars and we went to the breakfast buffet place they knew about down the road. Marcia's parents were pleasant to talk to and it was obvious they loved kids. They went on and on about how cute it was that my older kids took care of Marcia's younger ones. They would organize games and listen to them talk and generally all of them got along great. I admit it did make me swell with love and pride to hear it. Later that day we all went out fishing on a big pontoon boat that her parents rented at the resort. They knew all the places to go to catch a bunch of pan fish and I was kept busy baiting hooks with worms and crickets while Alice and Jim had an absolute blast pulling them in. We made plans to have a fish fry at the resort that night and then it was time for the big bear's nap. We went swimming in the lake a little later that afternoon but didn't run into Marcia or her kids. At the agreed upon time we headed on over Marcia's parents once again and her father had a cajun cooker going outside on their patio. He was deep frying the breaded pan fish, potatoes and onion rings. I knew it wasn't good for the waistline but man did that food taste good. I pigged out along with everyone else and the conversation was loud and lively. Of course eventually the children got bored with the old folks and went upstairs to play with toys. That was fine with the old folks as we drank beer and watched the sun go down over the lake. When the stars came out we helped clean everything up and load up the dishwasher. Then Marcia said she wanted to go far a walk down by the lake and we took off holding hands. "So you are leaving tomorrow Zach?" "Yes, I wish we didn't have to but the kids still have to finish up school. In three weeks it will all be over and summer vacation will start. I have really enjoyed being with you Marcia and your family as well. I would love to say we will be back next weekend but I have no idea how things are going to play out with Jane. You set off a spark there and I need to find out what's been going on." "You still love her don't you Zach?" "Yes I'm afraid so. I'm not really sure why anymore but I do." "I understand. It is the way I feel about Brian too but the longer I stay here the more it seems to fade some. If absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder is that then proof that the love is over? Oh well I will figure it out one of these days." I pulled her into me for a kiss at this point and all conversation stopped for awhile. But when I attempted to recreate what went on at the dance and move on to her tits I was stopped cold. "No sense going there if you aren't ready to carry it on further is there?" "No you are right. Thanks for stopping me. I'm confused already and the more time I spend with you in a sexual way is just confusing me further. It is time to go home and confront Jane after I get some evidence if there is any to be found." That was the last I saw of Marcia that trip. We had another great breakfast, went for a long hour hike along the lake and then spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon laying around the pool. We packed up and left around two o'clock. I hadn't talked to Jane since that first phone call and wasn't going to do so now. The ball had been in her court if she wanted to contact us and she had all the information she needed to do so. The fact that she hadn't called once, let alone come up and join us, had eaten away at me the whole trip. What had happened to the girl with the exuberant spirit and the pleasant personality that I had married? Jim and Alice were exhausted from all the hard play they had done and the staying up late on the sleep over. So naturally they both conked out on the drive back and I had lots of peace and quiet to think things through. As I pulled into our driveway there was a car I didn't recognize parked in front. It was a little red sports car, I think maybe a Nissan. We had a circular drive that doubled back in front of the house after going to the garage. Jane usually kept her car in the garage and the other half was our "storage" space and was filled with junk. I pulled the car a little past the front door so it would be easy to unload and shut the engine off and got out and stretched. Of course there was no shout of joy as Jane didn't burst out the front door to throw herself into my arms and to make sure her little ones were okay. That hadn't happened in quite a while. Perhaps she didn't hear the car? Even before I opened the front door I could hear the loud rock n Roll music blasting out of our stereo. There was no one in the living room though. I headed back to the kitchen and there they were. Jane was wearing a pair of loose shorts and a t-shirt and whoever he was, the famous personal trainer?, was rubbing one of her legs that was resting in his lap. One of his hands was on her upper thigh almost at the point where he could slip inside the gap between her shorts and leg. The other hand was holding the leg steady at the knee. Since they couldn't hear me approaching due to the loud music, they were both visibly startled when they noticed me. Jane jerked her leg off his lap and he stood up in panic. Jane said, "Zach sweetheart what a surprise. I didn't think you would be in until later. This is Ernesto my personal trainer from the gym. I had a nasty muscle pull at this morning's workout and he was trying to massage it out for me." That was kind of funny considering the nimbleness with which she had jerked that leg back. He must give very good massages. I gave the guy the once over and he was about six feet tall, in excellent shape, muscular arms and shoulders, jet black hair, dark eyes and a mouth that had a smirk to it. Not to be cliche but he seemed to be the stereotypical latin lover. Not the suave, well dressed gentleman type though. More like the pool boy or gardener type. I nodded and said, "Ernesto, glad to finally make your acquaintance. Jane speaks so highly of you. She thinks you are making her young again and maybe you are. Let's see how old are you? Twenty Two maybe? And Jane let's see you are getting ready to make what 38?" I could tell I pissed Jane off big time with that statement. Funny how her surprise and embarrassment turned to anger so quickly. But that had been one of the changes that had come lately. She was very quick to anger and lose her temper over seemingly trivial things. After she glared at me a while, it finally dawned on her that the kids hadn't come in with me. "Where are Jim and Alice? Why didn't they come in with you? Did something happen to them? Why didn't you call me?" "Don't worry they are out in the car fast asleep although it is good to see that you still are enough of their mother to care a little bit. As to why didn't I call, why didn't you call? I did make a phone call to you but you never made one back to me. I even thought you might change your mind and come up and spend at least a day with us at the resort but apparently Ernesto wouldn't have time to massage those muscle pulls if you did that." I said the last statement with a glare and smirk of my own at Ernesto. He seemed to get a little pissed himself after that. I guess he thought being macho was his own thing and no one else was allowed in. "Hey man, back off!" he said. "She did have a muscle pull and I was trying to help. That's what she pays me for. I don't like your attitude and I need to get out of here. See you at the gym Jane." With that he headed out the front door and I followed him and watched as he jumped in his little red sports car and took off. I then woke up the kids and got them out of the car and they went inside to see their mother as I started unloading our small amount of luggage. After I finished that and went back to the kitchen, Jim and Alice were sitting at the table with a glass of juice regaling their mother with all their stories of how much fun they had. I got a can of soft drink out of the frig and joined them. Just Small Changes Jane was trying to smile and act normal for the kids but it was obvious she was under some stress so after a while I went back upstairs and got all the dirty clothes from our trip from my and the kid's bags and ran a load of laundry. While I was doing this a thought came to me that if Jane and I split up that I would be doing a lot of laundry by myself. Is that really what I wanted? Hell no but it wasn't me that had been pushing us down this road of no return! When I went back to the bedroom I noticed that Jane's purse was on the bed. I guess now is a good time to start playing detective I thought. Glancing at the door but hearing her still talking with Jim and Alice in the kitchen, I picked up her purse and emptied it out on the bed. The first thing I noticed was a prescription medicine bottle. I picked it up and looked at the label. It didn't have her name on it. Ernesto's was there big as life. The drug was something called Phentermine. There looked to be about a dozen pills left in the bottle. What the hell was this? I quickly looked through the other stuff and didn't see anything unusual. I loaded it back in her purse except for the pills. I took those and walked down the hall to my home office and logged my computer onto the internet. Then a search was made with the keyword phentermine. No surprise here, it is a weight loss product that reduces appetite and stimulates the metabolism. You are supposed to have a doctor's prescription to get it and it can have serious side effects. Some of those are restlessness, trouble sleeping, irritability, rapid heart beat, etc. Well now I knew what part of the problem was. I didn't know whether our marriage could be salvaged but changes were going to be made and I was the one who would make them. First I hid the pills in my closet in the pocket of a coat I never wore. Then I went back to my computer and the internet and started checking on all of our bank accounts and investments. I would be damned if I was going to let this shit continue one more day. At this point I didn't know whether Jane had actually fucked or sucked Ernesto or not. But I also found that on one crucial matter it didn't matter. That was that whether she had or not I damn sure did not trust Jane anymore. Since she didn't have my trust, she wouldn't be controlling anything anymore or making any decisions. She obviously hadn't gotten the fact that the only reason she got to run the show and make the decisions was because I had let her. After fifteen years of marriage I think she thought it was a god given right or something. Wrong babe, wrong! You were about to find out just exactly how wrong your thinking was. I spent another twenty minutes on the computer surfing our finances and then typing out a list of things I needed to do tomorrow. It was too late tonight to get anything done but first thing in the morning operation Take Control was going to begin. Right now I had to put on my game face and see if I could convince Jane that everything was okay and she still had the upper hand. When I walked back down the stairs this time, Jim and Alice were in front of the tv and Jane was preparing dinner. Wow, now there was a change that was good. Or at least I hoped the food would be good. Maybe I should go help her and make sure. "Hi sweetheart, do you need any help in here? What's for supper?" Quick startled look at me, then relief flashing across her face. "Sure honey, you know I always love to cook with you." She does? Brain to Zach, large field of ripe bullshit being laid here. I looked at the stove and saw ground beef being cooked in a large skillet with a little onion. One of our big pasta pots was full of water and waiting to boil. I should have guessed. Spaghetti her favorite meal to cook. She hated to chop veggies though so there wouldn't be near enough onion and no garlic or green pepper. So I got those out of the refrigerator and soon had a nice pile of all three chopped into small pieces and added to the ground beef. Jane, still being uncertain as to what I thought, hadn't said a word while I did this but had started making a salad at the table. She still wasn't meeting my eyes and was trying to avoid me which in such a small space was pretty hard to do. "I'm sure the kids told you but we had a great time out at the lake. We all would have enjoyed having you join us. The beds were great, the cabin was air conditioned and there was a nice pool to swim in if you didn't want to swim in the lake. We ate all our meals out and the food was great. There was even dancing and a live band at the restaurant after nine o'clock and I know how much you love to dance." "Yes I heard all about it. I don't think the kids have ever had more fun." Jane looked at me then and her face seemed to soften some and she gently said that she should have been there and she was sorry she hadn't. Funny thing was she didn't mention Marcia and her family which I know the kids would have told her about. No curiosity about who Marcia was and what she and I had done together? Shit that couldn't mean anything good. She must be feeling guilty as hell which means there must be something for her to feel guilty about. Shit, shit, shit! Now this just made me more determined to carry out my plan tomorrow. Who knew how long she would be repentant. In a day or two if I did nothing she would think she got away with it and things would be back the way they were. Especially if she had been on those pills for very long. If she had been on them long enough to get addicted then things were going to get very tense over the next week even if I did nothing else. And believe me I had plenty of other things planned. Buckle your seat belts the plane crash would start tomorrow. The meal was wonderful. The food was great, the conversation fun and it was just terrific to be all eating as a family again. I now realized how much I missed this. Would we ever again be a happy loving family? I now knew I still wanted that. Marcia was incredible and despite our age difference something might develop there. But Jane and I had been together for fifteen years and already developed a lot of memories, feelings and closeness together. Two of the things we developed were right there at the table smiling and chattering as they ate. All I could do was try and put the pieces together again and pray that I was successful. The next morning I acted like I was going to work as usual and waited until Jane had left for her job. Then I called in to my job and told my boss I was having a personal crisis and needed the rest of the week off. He was a little upset but he could hear the stress in my voice and finally agreed. Then it was over to our credit union to rearrange our finances. I opened up a separate account in just my name and arranged for my paycheck to be direct deposited into it. I also transferred all the money in our savings account into it and half the money from our joint checking account. I left enough money in the joint account to cover outstanding checks and a couple of hundred over. My IRA and money market account were in my name only so I figured they were safe for the time being but might need some attention later. I wasn't even sure Jane knew I had them since she had become so disinterested in our finances as long as there was money in the account for her to spend. I arranged for my new separate account to have no paper checks issued. Just a debit card and all the statements would be electronic also with no paper. I then set up internet access with a new user name and password that Jane would not know. Thus was the first part of my plan put into motion. Cut off the money flow. My sweetheart loved money and loved to spend it. I now realized after looking at our records that an ever increasing amount had been flowing from her to Ernesto. I wondered how much he had been charging her for those pills? Next I went home and disconnected the VCR from the TV and then, along with all of her tapes of her soaps, I put them up in the attic storage where she would never find them. She wouldn't go up there because she was afraid of spiders and rats and thought that there were lots of them up there. I was tempted to put the TV up there also but didn't want to punish the children for something that she had done. I did get a brilliant idea though and found that there was a little electronic timer that I could splice into the wiring and the set would automatically cut off at ten o'clock and would not work again until seven the next morning. I was actually proud of myself for coming up with that one. The third part of my plan was to visit a lawyer who a friend knew and had set up an emergency appointment with for me. His name was John Stanford and he seemed to know what he was talking about since he had been handling divorce cases for 20 years. He immediately drew up some divorce papers which panicked me but then he reassured me that we weren't going to file yet but use them as leverage to help get Jane to do what I wanted. He said there was nothing like official looking papers being handed to a spouse to make them realize the seriousness of what they had done. The second thing he did was draw up another set of papers to file a suit against the health club that Jane went to and that Ernesto worked at. We would file damages for their part in helping to facilitate the destruction of my marriage. John said we had a great case because the health club was a big national chain and they would most likely give us a very generous settlement out of court to keep the publicity quiet. John said just think what would happen to their membership if every husband whose wife worked out at one of their clubs found out that one of their personal trainers might be fucking around with them. I did see his point! The fourth part of the plan was to go home and have the confrontation with Jane that she probably thought she had skated around. I would tell her everything that I had done so far and then slap the divorce papers in her hand. I would give her a few minutes to absorb that and then I was going to give her my list of conditions that she was going to have to meet for the divorce papers not to be filed. I had a feeling that was going to cause more than a few fireworks to go off. When I got home Jane was in the shower and Jim and Alice were playing with some neighborhood kids in the back yard. I went into the bedroom to change into shorts and t-shirt and quickly went through her purse but didn't see anything unusual. Once in the kitchen, I got out a nice cold beer that I figured would help me relax a little. Then I picked up the phone and called in a pizza so we didn't have to worry with dinner. Everything was ready now and all I had to do was relax and get through the next three hours or so until the kids were in bed and then I would be the one changing our life. Those three hours really did drag though. Time slowed down to a crawl and it seemed like I was aware of every minute that was going by. The kids loved the pizza, I had a couple of slices and drank another beer and even Jane seemed to enjoy the meal and drank a couple of beers. Finally it was the children's bedtime and I let Jane take them up and tuck them in while I went and got my paper work together. After I heard Jane say goodnight to the kids, I called up the stairs and asked her to come down for a minute. I was waiting at the bottom of the stairs when she did and I gave her what I hoped looked like a stern, serious expression and said that we needed to talk. She seemed to jerk back a little when I said that and her face seemed worried. "Okay Zach, just let me get a beer first okay?" "Sure honey I'll be waiting for you here and we can sit down in the living room." She gave me such a nervous, flustered expression when she passed me and was acting so guilty that I followed a little behind her although she didn't know that. I have no idea why, perhaps some kind of intuition, but I stopped a couple of feet from the kitchen door and watched her. She got her beer out of the frig but then walked to a counter with her back to me and popped the top. I was surprised when she took a large swallow of her beer but I was shocked when I saw her reach in her pocket and pull out a little plastic pill box. Popping it open she took out a little white pill and put it in her mouth. Oh my god, she had gotten some more of the diet pills or else she had another stash somewhere else beside her purse. Not wanting her to know that I saw her I quickly retreated into the living room and sat down in a chair with my paperwork on the coffee table. When Jane came in and sat down I started talking: "Jane, I feel our marriage is at a crisis point. I have been very upset with the way things have been going the last month or two. You have made independent decisions that have affected our family a great deal and I never even got to have any say in them. We have always had a problem with your spending too much money and being careless as to how much we have in the bank. But what hurts worse than anything is the way you have abandoned your family and spent all of your time at the gym. It is not just me that has been hurt by this but the children as well. In addition you have acted like you want nothing to do with me at all and we have not had sex for over a month now. I have no idea if that is because you have been having an affair with Ernesto or there is some other reason. But since we never talk anymore there is no way for me to know unless I hire a private detective and have you shadowed. So to start with, have you been having an affair?" I could tell she was trying to decide what to do and how to react. She had been acting guilty and sweet since I caught Ernesto in the house but I guess her little white pill was kicking in and giving her energy and confidence to try and bluff her way out. "Damn you Zach", she said in a loud voice. "You don't own me you know. Just because I decide to spend a little time by myself so I can get in shape doesn't mean I am having affairs. Ernesto has helped me lose weight. You should be grateful for that. You have no right to tell me who my friends should be!" "Oh of course Jane. I got that message from you a long time ago. I have no right to tell you what to do but you have every right to tell me what to do. Funny thing is I don't remember that being in our marriage vows. I thought marriage was supposed to be a partnership with each one caring about the other and sharing everything equally. When important decisions were made that affected the marriage I thought we were supposed to sit down and discuss it together before we took any action. Decisions like spending money when we are on a tight budget. Or joining gyms and hiring personal trainers which necessitate the other spouse having to be the primary care-keeper for the children. I'm not saying that there was anything necessarily wrong with you doing those things but that you shouldn't have done them without consulting with me your husband." "I notice that you still didn't make a clear cut statement that you aren't fucking Ernesto but that's okay. At this point I just really don't care as much as I used to. One thing is for certain though. If you were fucking him it stops NOW! If you don't then this will be happening." My voice had been getting louder throughout my little speech and now I thrust the divorce papers into her hand. "Wha . . . wha . . what is this?" "Just read them Jane. I'm going for a quick walk outside and then we can discuss them." Wow! What a relief to get out of there, I thought, as I walked out the door and down the street. This being forceful and having your way takes a lot of energy. Still I did feel very satisfied as my tension began to ease somewhat. I couldn't believe that she had let me get out my whole speech without interrupting. This was just the first part of the confrontation but at least it was now out of the way. It was probably only ten minutes since I'd been gone but it seemed like hours to me. Jane had moved from the living room to the kitchen table. Her eyes were red and she had obviously cried some but I could also see that she was furious also. "Are you insane!", she screamed. "You've gone to a lawyer and filed for divorce. Because I haven't spent a lot of time with you for a month or two you want to split up forever? What about the children? This is a community property state. I will get half of what you own and custody of the children. Is that what you want?" Yeah I had already figured she would fight using the kids. She knew how much they meant to me and that they were her best means of controlling me. John Stanford had already gone over these aspects of divorce with me. He had told me that she would probably get custody unless we could show she was really derelict as a mother and would constitute a danger to Jim and Alice. But he said I would also get very generous visitation given my closeness with them. Every other weekend, rotate holidays and a couple of afternoons at the park a week. It was not something that I looked forward to or wanted to happen but if I was committed to change in my marriage it might have to happen. Hopefully she would listen to reason but I had my doubts especially if I couldn't get her away from Ernesto and his diet pills. "You've got it wrong Jane. I haven't filed for divorce yet, just had the papers drawn up so you would know I am serious when I tell you that there have to be changes made in our marriage. As for as custody and property split if we did divorce, I have already discussed those things with my lawyer. I think I would get a much better settlement than you think because we can prove you've practically abandoned the children as well as me these last months. But no it is NOT something I want! But it is something I will do if I have to." "So what are these conditions? You want to keep me a prisoner here and make me serve you and the children? Is that what this is all about?" "I am so glad you asked darling. Here is my list of conditions that have to be met for us to stay married. Actually they aren't just conditions but more of a blueprint for the way we will live from now on. It is impossible to write down all of the ways we interact but I have tried to hit the major ones. So just because something is not on the list does not mean that it is not subject to later discussion." I then reached over and pulled the second set of papers out of a large clasp envelope and handed them to her. Then I began to read the list out loud. 1. Our finances will be separated as much as possible from now on. This means separate accounts and credit cards. I have already removed my name from our joint account and opened my separate account. 2. Monthly bills, mortgage payments, expenses of taking care of the household and the children will be assessed and split up among us. Since I make a greater income than you I will accept a 60-40 payment split. I know you will want to pay a smaller percentage but considering that you get equal benefit from living in our home I think this is fair. It would cost you far more to rent an apartment and pay your own utilities, etc. 3. We will cancel our membership at the gym and you will have no more contact with Ernesto. Neither will you continue to take any diet pills that I don't know about and aren't prescribed by a doctor. 4. The VCR is gone. No more taping soap operas and watching until late at night. The TV will be turned off and will stay off from ten at night until seven the next morning. 5. If one of us cooks a meal then the other will be responsible for complete kitchen cleanup including stove and floors. 6. Whenever one of us spends money on a household item and wants to be reimbursed, whether it be food or other goods, a receipt must be provided and the other party can only refuse if it is proven to not be a household item. A household item is one that is provided for the joint use of everyone in the house, or providing for the children in our role as parents. Therefore, laundry soap is a household item but cosmetics which only you use are not. Necessary clothes and shoes for the children are household items but clothes for each of us are not. Just Small Changes 7. Any money left over after meeting household and parental obligations shall be ours to do with as we wish with the exception of if it conflicts with anything above. So you can't buy another VCR, gym membership, diet pills or anything that might break any of the prior rules. I could tell Jane was not happy as I was reading the list. Angry looks of pure hatred are a dead give away. What I could not believe was that she was letting me read the whole thing before she erupted. She was a ball of nervous energy just waiting to explode but she was doing a much better than expected job of controlling it. "You really expect me to live this way?" "Well I hoped you could because I don't want the alternative but it has come to this. So yes I do expect you to live this way if we stay together." "Well you're a fucking idiot. Since when do you tell me what to do? Just because I want to keep my looks and you don't mind letting yourself go means that we have to get divorced? I take it back. You are not a fucking idiot, you are a selfish, fat, over the hill shithead." "Look Jane I know it is hard for you to understand that things have changed but calling me names isn't going to help things any. I still love you! I'm doing this to try and save our marriage. You just don't seem to understand that the only reason you had control of this marriage in the first place is that I loved you and gave it to you freely because of that. I want you to lose weight and keep your looks but more important I want you to keep your health. You were right in that I had let myself go and wasn't happy with that. If you haven't noticed I have lost almost as much weight as you I am just doing it slower. Those pills you are taking are not safe or healthy and in the long run you can't keep taking those and losing weight or keeping it off for that matter." "Zach why do you keep going on about pills. What pills? How do you know I have been taking any pills?" That was a little much for my anger to handle right now and I lost it. I marched over behind her chair and grabbed both hands and drew them behind her back where I held them with one hand. Then I took my other hand and reached into her jeans and drew out the plastic pill box. "Okay Jane, since you haven't been taking any pills then you won't miss these right?" "Give me back those you son of a bitch! You have no right to take my property. Are you the one that took my bottle of pills out of my purse?" "Yeah damn right I was the one that took it. If they are your property then how come Ernesto's name was on the bottle? It's illegal to give other people pills that are prescribed to you. Maybe I should alert the police about what's going on?" "You better not do anything to get him in trouble you bastard! They aren't even a real prescription anyway. He gets them on the internet and has them mailed to him." "Oh, well that changes everything. Come on Jane get serious. You know this shit is not good for you. I can show you how to lose weight and get in shape without pills or a gym membership and for damn sure without a personal trainer." So saying I walked over to the kitchen sink and poured the pills down the drain and then ran some water and the garbage disposal. Goodbye mother's little helper. "No you asshole, son of a bitch, shithead! I will never forgive you for any of this. Forget about ever having sex with me again." "Well believe it or not Jane, that is one of the things that this is all about. Whether it was because of you fucking Ernesto or the effect of the little white pills or whatever, I had almost forgotten what sex with you was like. Not just sex. We have grown apart in every way. Either we change that or you know what happens." So that was the first shot in the battle that was going to be bigger and last far longer than I thought. Jane slept in the spare bedroom that night and every night for the next two weeks. I gave John the bottle of pills with Ernesto's name on them for him to use as evidence in our law suit against the health club. He was really excited when I told him that I had found them in Jane's purse. Now we not only had their employee seducing my wife but endangering her health at the same time. John had contacted their management and he had a preliminary meeting with them at the start of next week to show them what we had. John had also hired a private detective who had gotten some of the employees at the club to talk to him without them knowing who he was. He had secretly taped those conversations during happy hour at a bar they all went to on Friday's. They all said that Ernesto had bragged about fucking Jane. It was also well known that if his clients complained to him that they weren't losing weight fast enough, he would try to get them to take the diet pills so that they wouldn't drop him as a trainer. They had all warned him that the pills weren't safe and that sooner or later something was going to happen and he would be caught but he was too arrogant to listen. During all this time I kept trying to get Jane to talk to me and for us to start trying to work our way through our differences. She was nothing but stubborn however. When I provided her with her first bill for her share of the mortgage and other bills, she refused to pay and told me to go fuck myself. Instead I fucked her and had the locks changed while she was at work. I made sure the kids were upstairs in their room with music on loud before she came home. I thought I had seen her get angry and cuss me out before but it was nothing compared to the tantrum that she threw when her key didn't work. She banged on the door and screamed and shouted for a half an hour before she took a deep breath. I then told her through the door what was going on and that if she wasn't going to pay for her share of the household expenses then she wasn't going to live in the household. She finally responded by saying fine she would just go rent a room at a hotel with a hot tub and swimming pool. I then pointed out that her swimming suit and indeed all of her clothes and most of her cosmetics were in the house and that she wasn't getting in to get them either. They were being held as a deposit until she paid up. Man did that woman have a powerful pair of lungs. I really wasn't surprised when a cop car pulled up a little later because the neighbors had complained about the noise. They asked me to come out and I did but immediately locked the door behind me so she couldn't run past me and get in. When I explained the situation I could tell that the cops thought it was funny and wanted to laugh. However they kept a straight face and then told Jane that if she didn't stop making so much noise they would have to arrest her for disturbing the peace. She then went crazy again and started yelling at the cops wanting to know how I could keep her out of her own home and why didn't they arrest me. They informed her that there weren't any laws that said a spouse couldn't change the locks and keep another one out. That was a civil matter they said and she would have to hire a lawyer and pursue it through civil court. When she started to yell again they told her this was her last warning and that if she didn't quiet down they were going to arrest her and she would spend the night in jail and have to pay a hundred dollar fine in the morning. Well if finally got through to Jane's addled brain. She shut up and reached in her purse and brought out her check book and wrote me a check for the amount I had specified. I then said okay I would let her in now and the cops took off. Jane went to her room and slammed the door. The kids came out concerned but I finally quieted them down and let them watch TV while I fixed a quick dinner. When it was ready I went up to Jane's room to let her know she could join us to eat. As I approached her door I could hear her crying and when I knocked she just yelled at me to go away, so I did. At the time I wrote it off to her being in withdrawal from the diet pills and that she would come around. So I still had confidence that the process I had put in place was going to work. By the end of the third week after our confrontation, I thought I detected some thawing around the edges of our relationship and we started talking again. Nothing serious, just small talk between her and the rest of us. She would also eat dinner with us now and would do her part and clean up the kitchen if I had cooked. After the first week she had started taking part in other household chores like laundry and helping get the kids ready for bed and school the next morning. Jim and Alice warmed back up to her and were giving and getting hugs and kisses. Just them however, nothing for me yet. I was trying to be patient but it was going on two and a half months since we had had sex together. So I had mixed feelings when Jane came to me and asked if I would go to a party with her. It was being hosted by some of the people she worked with at the property management office. She had worked there for seven years and I had met most of the people that would be at the party. I almost refused out of resentment and anger but decided I would just be shooting myself in the foot. Besides maybe if she got a little drunk and had a good time at the party she would feel like finally giving me a little when we got home. Shows how much I knew. The night of the party, I sat downstairs waiting for Jane to finish getting dressed. The kids had already been dropped off at Jane's mothers house and I was wearing new slacks and a shirt that took into account the weight I had dropped. When Jane finally came down it was obvious that she had bought some new clothes also. She was wearing a tight short dress that I had never seen before. It stopped two or three inches above her knees and clung to her butt. It was a little looser on top and was held up by a strap that circled her neck and attached to the middle of the bodice. Her back was bare in a V shape down to right above her ass crack. I could tell she wasn't wearing a bra because if you were standing to her side and she bent over at the right angle, the dress would flare out a little and you could see just about all of the side of her tits. It was the most provocative thing she had ever worn in public and there was no doubt she looked fantastic. A little too fantastic perhaps. I mean who was she wearing this for? Her husband she hadn't had sex with for two and a half months or was she just showing off her new figure for her co-workers. Was I just going as a prop, an expected accessory? Or did she really want me to be with her? It turned out my paranoid misgivings were not out of place at all. It started two minutes after we got to the party. After a quick introduction and a little chit chat with the host and hostess at the door, Jane was off to the races. She just took off without a word to me and went over to a group of her friends. So that was the way it was going to be I thought, regretting that I had ever agreed to do this. The hostess, a woman named Marge that I had met twice before, could tell that I was a little put out by the way Jane just left me there. "Jane certainly has changed over the last few months hasn't she?', Marge said while giving me an inquisitive eye. "Oh yeah, you got that one right and not for the better either. At least not from my standpoint anyway." "Well try not and let her get you upset. She is obviously going to enjoy herself so you should also. Let me take you around and introduce you to some folks." I did meet some nice folks, some of whom I remembered from previous get togethers. One guy I knew, Herb, shared an interest with me in ancient history and we got caught up in a long conversation about the Maya. We had both been down to the Yucatan in our youth and seen the great temples in person. So it wasn't until forty five minutes later that I started looking around to see where Jane was. I finally spotted her on the other side of the room surrounded by three young guys. She seemed to be getting the attention that she so desperately wanted. Herb noticed the direction of my gaze. "Jane is your wife isn't she? Those three just started working with us about three months ago. They are rental agents and Jane has to get information from them so she can put it in the monthly report she compiles on all of our rentals. I personally think they are a bunch of arrogant jerk offs but I guess Jane sees them different." "Jane looks absolutely great tonight and you can really see how much weight she has lost. But to tell you the truth I liked her better before she lost the weight. She seemed friendlier and happier then to me." "Yeah, I know what you mean Herb. Me too, me too!" So I went over to the bar and refreshed my drink and then walked over to Jane and her fan club. Jane had her back to me and didn't see me approaching and as I got half way there she dropped a napkin on the floor. When she bent over to pick it up I could see one guy checking out her ass in that tight short skirt while the other two were looking inside her dress at her tits. I was enjoying this party less and less. That feeling was reinforced when Jane, far from acting happy to see me, shortly excused herself to go to the bathroom. The one downstairs was busy so I saw her start up the stairs to the one on the second floor. There was a very awkward silence and it was obvious that the three had nothing to say to me and I had nothing to say to them so I made my excuses and headed out to the backyard patio to get some fresh air. As I turned around to slide the patio door shut, I saw two of them head up the stairs also. Now that was not good. I stood there for a couple of minutes desperately trying to decide what to do. If I went charging up there and nothing was going on then I was just going to alienate Jane even more than I alreqdy had. On the other hand if something was going on she was going to be pissed that I had interrupted her fun. No win for me either way. Then I thought about that. Why was it me that always had to make her happy? I was her husband. She should want to be with me not someone else. If that wasn't the case then did we really even have a marriage? Had Jane really been trying to put our marriage together again or was she just putting up a good front so I wouldn't kick her out again? Fuck it I'm going upstairs and see what was going on. With that thought I downed the rest of my drink in one swallow and headed inside and up the stairs with the alcohol burning in my throat. I wasn't familiar with the house so when I got to the top of the stairs, I didn't know where the bathrooms were. I figured they were usually accessed through the bedrooms rather than the hallway so I started opening doors to see what was what. The first room was very dark and I didn't see anyone or anything so I moved on to the next. Bingo, the bedroom was dark but there was a second door inside with light leaking out from underneath. As I approached it I heard voices from within. "Hey give me some of that you bitch. You've been sucking on that thing for a minute now." "Yeah right big boy. You probably want me sucking on something of yours." What the fuck was that? To the sound of laughter from within I threw open the door. The toilet seat was down and Jane was sitting on that with her dress hiked up almost to her crotch showing her sexy legs. She had what looked like and smelled like a joint in her hand. One of her fellow workers was sitting on the tub next to her and had one hand on her bare thigh up toward her pussy and the other was reaching for the joint. The second guy was sitting on the floor in front of her looking directly up her dress at her panties. At least I thought she had panties on, maybe not. They all jerked in surprise when I threw open the door. Jane dropped the joint and yelled when she did. As she bent over I could see her whole left tit all the way to the nipple. I knew the guy on the other side had a similar view of her right tit. "Hey man, you ever heard of knocking.", one of them said. "Zach what the fuck are you doing here?, the darling Jane said. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here behind a closed door with two guys instead of being downstairs with your husband. You remember, the guy you asked to bring you to this party." "I was just having a little fun and getting stoned. You remember fun don't you? It's why you come to parties." Ah she was going to take the aggressive attack stance. Tough shit honey, I am tired of being ignored and humiliated and you just don't have any leverage anymore. "Well the fun is over for tonight. I am going back downstairs and say goodnight to our hosts and then drive home. If you aren't there when I do then you know what papers I will be filing next week." With that I turned and stomped out of the room and down the stairs. I pride myself that I didn't ever look back. I spotted Marge and her husband right away and went over to them and started to thank them for a great party but I was tired and was going home. "Where is Jane?" asked Marge. I guess that told me she wasn't coming down the stairs behind me. "Oh I think she might stay a while longer and get a ride with someone else I said." So saying I went out the front door and headed over to our car. I had just strapped on my seat belt and started up the engine when Jane came flying out of the house. She ran toward me and jumped breathless into the passenger seat. I looked over at her with disgust and didn't say a word. I wondered what had caused the delay. Maybe she had to put her panties back on and couldn't find them at first. Mysteries are everywhere these days. The drive home was in complete silence and we both went to our respective bedrooms when we got there. So much for my hopes of getting laid. I was so pissed that I tossed and turned for hours before finally falling asleep. The next morning I felt like hell and was as depressed as a dog looking at his balls after he had just been neutered. I made a pot of coffee and damn near drank the whole thing. Then I took a blissful hot shower for what seemed an hour. Feeling almost human again I threw on some light shorts and t-shirt and went to pick up Jim and Alice from Jane's mothers house where they had spent the night. Jane's mother took one look at me and knew something wasn't right. Of course she had known that ever since I told her that her key wouldn't work on our house anymore and just stared back at her when she expected me to be handing her a new one. We had given her a key in case of an emergency and she either needed to get the kids or some of their things from the house when we weren't there. I wasn't about to air our problems with her however and bustled the children out of there as fast as I could. We went through a drive through to get some breakfast sandwiches and then headed over to the park and I watched them play for an hour and then we went for our walk. When we got home Jane was still sleeping or else she was hiding out in her room. At that moment I just felt kind of dead inside and didn't really care. The kids asked for permission to go over to a neighbors and play and I said yes and then just sat there thinking. School would be ending for Jim and Alice at noon the next Thursday. They would then be off for the summer. I had tons and tons of vacation and comp time that I had accumulated. It would be great to go back to the lake and see Marcia and her family again and fish and swim and take it easy. Maybe stay two weeks or even longer. Hell yes, I just needed to get away from Jane and all of this bullshit! It seemed like I could just go ahead and file the damn divorce papers now. Jane wasn't showing any sign of regret or remorse and still seemed to be obsessed with retaining her youth. And part of that plan seemed to be hanging out with young guys not the old dude she was married to. Just Small Changes So I went and collected Jim and Alice and told them we were going back to the lake but for a couple of weeks so they needed to pack all their clothes. I got out a suitcase for each of them and then went and quietly packed mine up being careful not to wake Jane. I just didn't want to talk to her right now. Before we left, I wrote a note and told her where we were going and I would be taking a couple of weeks off work. It wasn't a long note but I did suggest that she put a lot of thought into what she really wanted because our marriage was hanging by a thread. Not only that but I said she had been playacting before and it was very apparent to me now that she didn't want me anymore. I finished up by saying that I was angry, tired, disgusted and humiliated and felt like she had taken advantage of me and played me for a fool. But I did say we would talk when I got back and I wasn't filing the divorce papers until then. With all the delays we didn't arrive at Lakeside Cabins until late afternoon. We lucked out and they had several vacant cabins. I booked one for two weeks and we got unloaded and unpacked. I realized that the kids needed to go to school on Monday but I could drive them. Usually the last week of school was not that important for kids their age and I would see if I could get permission to take them out early. If I took them Monday they would only miss two and a half days so it didn't seem to be a big deal. We had eaten on the way up so now it was swimming pool time and the kids jumped into their suits. It really wasn't that much of a surprise that when we got there we found Marcia and her kids already there. She seemed very happy to see us and gave me a nice hug and kiss on the cheek. We hugged each other's kids and it really felt nice to be able to be affectionate instead of feeling hostile and angry. Lying in the warm sun mellowed me out some more and I finally felt my muscles begin to relax a little. After a half hour of sun bathing, I slipped back into the water and swam ten laps as fast as I could. I guess I was working out some more of my anger and also making up for the walks I had missed lately. Feeling invigorated after the swim, I dried off and got dressed. Jane said she would love to watch the kids for me and I then headed over to the office to make some phone calls. The first one was to John Stanford, my lawyer. "John, this is Zach. I'm afraid it's gotten to the point we talked about. Go ahead and put the private detectives on her. She is home alone now or at least the kids and I aren't there. We are out at Lakeside Cabins. I already gave you the phone number out here so call and leave a message if I need to contact you. We will be out here for at least two weeks although I will be coming into town sometime next week to do some stuff at work and I will make an appointment with you also." "I think you are doing the smart thing Zach, John said. "Perhaps not the thing your heart wants you to do but you can't carry on a marriage if the other party is not trying. You will be happy to know that my talks with the corporation that owns the gym have been progressing quite well. Especially since I showed them the pill bottle you took off of Jane with their employees name on it and also the voice tapes of his fellow employees telling tales. I'm thinking that after my fee and taxes you should still clear six hundred to seven hundred thousand." What? My brain couldn't get around a number that big. You have got to be kidding me! Why are any of us married men still working? We should just set up our wives to have an affair with an employee of a large wealthy corporation and then threaten law suit. I wouldn't have even thought of it if John hadn't suggested it and urged me to go for it. Of course that's why he was a lawyer and I wasn't. The next week and a half went by quickly. The kids and I were having the time of our lives. We swam, we fished, we hiked, played games and went on road trips. One trip was to a place that rented horses and I really enjoyed that. I had forgotten how much fun riding a horse could be. Another trip was to a cave that had tours that went three levels down beneath the earth. It also had some history to it and back during prohibition the first level had been turned into a honky tonk. They had a wooden floor put in, a full bar and a band that played western swing four days a week. Marcia and I also became much closer friends. While the kids played and swam, we talked a lot. I got a much better insight into what kind of person she was and I feel she did the same with me. There was a lot of mutual attraction there, both physical and emotional, but we never got close to having sex. Most of that may have been because the kids were always with us but her parents did babysit for us so we could have a couple of dinner and dancing dates. I think mostly we both realized that we had been under a lot of stress and had major feelings of insecurity so that a relationship that was based on sex now would not be a long lasting one. Marcia had several long discussions with her husband while I was gone and he had confessed to sleeping with two more women. That had been a shock but it was the lack of feelings on both their parts that convinced her that their marriage was dead and she had filed for divorce. He had agreed and signed the papers and they would be officially not married in three more months. The other thing that surprised her was that he had no interest in the children and gave her full custody. He could visit anytime he wanted but Marcia had to agree before hand and she controlled all aspects of the type of contact he would have. I was very happy for her when I heard this because I knew how much she loved her children. If I could get a deal like that with Jane I would be ecstatic. But it wasn't likely to happen given what a bitch she had become. But I also knew that she had shown less and less interest in being a mother over the last six months. She had gradually been distancing herself from the children and it seemed they relied on her less and less. Especially out here at the lake where they were having too good a time to miss her. After all they still had me, the best dad in the world, hahaha! And Marcia was a fill in mother for them when they were out here also. They got along great with her and her children and Marcia's parents also for that matter. In fact we had been here long enough now that since we were hanging out with the owner's daughter, most of the staff now knew us by name and had befriended the kids also. In just a few short weeks the Lakeside Cabins had become a home away from home for us. However I knew I still had unfinished business. Time to leave my retreat and go back to town and meet with my lawyer. I still had trouble wrapping my brain around how fast and total Jane and my relationship had crumbled. In the two weeks we had been gone, there had not been one phone call or any other attempt to contact us. The Jane I knew of only three or four years ago could have never done that. So it was with a sense of sadness and foreboding that I drove back into town. Marcia's parents had graciously agreed to watch Jim and Alice while I went back by myself. There was no way I wanted them along as it was probably going to get nasty at some point and I wasn't going to be in a good mood. The less trauma they had to face the better. They had already gone through way too much. I was a little early for my appointment but John ushered me right in to his office. He sat me down in a nicely upholstered leather chair and gave me a folder to look at. He told me it was the private detective's report and to look through it and when I was ready we would talk. Okay, no more denial it's time to be strong and get it over with. I knew it was going to be bad but I had no idea it was going to be this bad! There was a day by day and hour by hour log of where she had gone and what she had done. There were pictures of her meeting other men, going out to dinner with them, dancing if you can call it that and finally going into our house with them. Jane really should have picked another place to fuck them as I had signed consent for the private detective to fully wire our home with camera's and microphone's. There were three or four CD's in the packet that I assumed contained some video. The printed out photograph's were more than I wanted to see. I could feel the blood rushing to my head as I looked at them. The room got hot and I felt sweaty and grimy! I felt anger, despair and sadness all in one fell swoop. There were more men than I ever thought possible. There was Ernesto as I knew he would be. Also the three guys from the party were gracious enough to make an appearance. But then there were three others that I had no idea who they were. What shocked me to the core were the multiple partner encounters. My wife, the mother of my children was taking them on two at a time, three at a time and even on one occasion what looked like a gang bang with all of them. Good god, how long had this been going on? No wonder I didn't get much sex. She sure didn't need me for that did she? I was disgusted and sick to my stomach. I excused myself from John and went to his bathroom because I was certain I was going to throw up. Instead I just fell to my knees and started to cry. No, not cry, that wasn't descriptive enough. It was like all the tension, sadness, hurt and pain that had built up in my soul the last six months came wailing out like a hurricane that was out of control. I have no idea how long it went on but then suddenly I was done. All the emotions were gone and I just felt dead like a robot inside. I blew my nose, washed my face and went back to John's office. When I got there he asked me if I was ok and then wanted to know what I wanted to do. It was a simple question and it got a simple answer. File the divorce papers and let's put the plan into action. John told me some good news also. He said that the suit against the gym was now going to be settled out of court and they were just waiting for the divorce to be filed before they confronted and fired Ernesto. He said he was glad that they didn't investigate Jane first because with so many other men involved we had a much less powerful case against them. I had to sign the papers for the settlement and then we walked next door to have them notarized. John told me I would get $650,000.00 but that it wouldn't be due to be paid until the divorce was final. In that way Jane would have no claim on the money. Since we were a community property state, the only thing that would be at issue would be custody of the children. Everything else got divided up fifty/fifty no matter how much of a cheating, disgusting slut she had been. I had already done a pretty good job of separating our finances and the only thing left in that area was that I was going to change the locks at the house to make sure she didn't try to steal or trash any of my personal property. That is if she hadn't done it already since it was crystal clear that she considered our marriage to be over with already. At least I couldn't conceive of any other way she could be thinking if her idea of trying to salvage our marriage was to have a non stop orgy. I had an overwhelming desire to know what she had been thinking through all of this and how far back it went. But I also knew that she had been less than truthful before so why would she tell me the truth now that I was divorcing her. One thing I believed now was that it had started long before Ernesto. It would have been just too big a leap from the sweet, loyal, loving wife I had known to what I saw in those pictures. It was pretty obvious that the sweet, loyal, loving wife had been a damn good actress. Oh some of it might have been true but it was obvious that she was also a greedy, manipulative, secretive wife in addition to the role she played. And if truth be known, I had always been aware of that greedy, manipulative part of her. I just never thought that it extended to sex or was as powerful as it now turned out to be. When I got to our house after leaving John's office, I had thought that she would be at work and I could secure some of my most important personal property and lock it in my car and then call for a locksmith. No such luck however. There was a strange car parked on the street in front of our house when I pulled into the driveway. But I didn't see Jane's car anywhere so I didn't think too much of it. I opened the front door and there in my living room was something I thought I would never see. Jane was bent over the back of the sofa naked from the waist down and some guy I didn't know was plowing her like a mule working the back forty. He was moving in and out at a very fast rate of speed and everytime he moved in there was a smacking sound as he hit her ass cheeks. It may have been a good rhythm for fucking but I didn't think I could dance to it. Somehow my anger didn't come back. I still just felt dead inside. Guess all my emotion for the day had been used up in the bathroom. So I just stood there watching and didn't say a thing. They were both facing away from me and didn't even know I was there. They had our stereo playing fairly loud so that it must have covered up the sound of my car and the opening of the front door. It was okay though. At the speed he was going it didn't last very long. With a final grunt he clenched his ass muscles and shot his gooey deposit deep into the caverns of my wife's vagina. Never having had an experience like this before, I didn't know what the etiquette was. Should I applaud or shout out bravo? Instead I stepped back into the half bath in the hall and got a couple of towels. Walking back in I threw them at them and told them to clean up and get the hell out of the house. At least I got the satisfaction of scaring the shit out of them. They both jumped and shouted out and then turned and saw me. Jane at first got a scared look but then it morphed into one of resignation. The scared look never left the face of the guy and he jumped into his pants, grabbed the rest of his clothes and took out the front door as fast as he could. Jane just stood there with his cum trickling down her leg. She was far more calm and collected than she should have been. I don't know why I expected tears or some sort of plea for forgiveness. I guess I was still expecting the actress but she seemed to be tired of playing her role. "Hello Zach, quite a surprise to see you here." "Oh, I can imagine Jane my dearest. Would you at least go to the bathroom and clean up and put some pants on. I fear that this is not the type of porn that turns me on." With that I turned and went into the kitchen, got me a beer out of the refrigerator and sat down at the kitchen table. I was about halfway through the beer when Jane joined me having put on a pair of jeans. She was still acting very calm like it was everyday of the week that I came home to her being fucked in the living room. "So Jane, no pleadings or sad stories? No telling me I have it all wrong or he doesn't mean anything to you?" "No not really Zach. It seems kind of stupid to try anything like that. I've actually known deep inside that it would wind up like this. I'm obviously not the woman that you thought I was all of these years. Oh, I have tried to be that woman. At one time I thought I had changed into that woman but now both you and I know it's not true." "What the hell are you talking about Jane? You mean for fifteen years you've been playing a role?" She actually had a sad look on her face as she replied this time. "Yes, that is exactly it. I've been a hell of an actress playing a great part. Because believe me Zach being your wife is a great part. You are a good man and a lot of women are looking for what you bring to the table. Sweet, kind, generous to a fault and you are just about the best father I have ever seen. The problem is that even a good actress occasionally gets off of her game and begins to have some bad performances. I guess I just got bored with playing the same part all of these years and started to let my real self out again." "What do you mean your real self?" "You never knew Zach. I didn't want you to know. Hell I knew if you did know it would all be over. How I kept you away from the people that knew me in high school and my early twenties before I met you I'll never know. Remember we didn't even meet until I was twenty one. I had a lot of wild, crazy days behind me by that time." But you weren't wild and crazy when I met you? You were shy and quiet the way I remember it." Another sad little smile and she looked at me as if I was a couple of beers short of a six pack. "Don't you get it? That was the beginning of the acting. I had built an image in my mind of the type of woman I thought you wanted and I tried to be it. I saw you at a party when you were going with that girl Martha. Later on when she was talking with some of her girlfriends, I heard her describing what kind of a guy you were and how you were probably the nicest guy she had ever gone out with but were a little boring. Well I was at a stage in my life when I thought a nice guy would be wonderful no matter how boring. Besides I thought you were cute and fell in love with your smile." "But Zach before I met you I ran with a rough crowd. We were into drugs and sex and having as much fun and excitement as we could. I lost my virginity when I was 12 and have loved sex ever since. At first I just kept getting my heart broken because they would just fuck me a couple of times, brag to their friends and that was it. I knew I should stop being so easy but by that time I had a reputation and the nice guys like you didn't want to go out with me and the other kind expected me to put out." "And like I said, I loved sex so it was hard for me not to go along with them since I enjoyed it as much or more than they did. It just got worse as I got older and in high school I was the class slut. I went out with all the bad boys and fucked most of the others in secret because they didn't want it known that they had been with me. Soon I was doing a lot of drugs and getting into group sex. I did two guys at once, three, four and one weekend I ended up with half the basketball team in a cabin in the woods. At a class graduation party, my so called boyfriend got me drunk and drugged and then turned me over to his friends. The next day they told me I had taken on over twenty guys although I couldn't remember any of it." "That was the last straw as far as I was concerned. I broke off from my high school crowd and tried to walk the straight and narrow. I guess for me I did walk that path but since it was me there was no way I was not going to have sex. Since I was in the working world now, I started meeting older men and discovered I could control them a lot better than my high school friends. Oh I still put out for just about everyone of them but I made them wait until the third or fourth date. In that way I kept some control over both them and myself and I made sure they treated me with some measure of respect." "I got off of all the drugs at this time also which helped with the control thing. I would drink some alcohol but that was it. After a few years of this, I went to that party and met you. You were the kind of nice guy I wanted. I could see the way you were with women and knew that if I could get you to fall in love with me that you would never hurt me and would always try to make me happy." Finally a tear fell. I saw it creep out of the corner of her eye and slide in a slow trail over her cheek. Her voice finally had some emotion in it. "Oh honey and you did do that. You made me so happy for a long time. I'm the one that's let you down. You more than kept your share of the bargain."