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Rob and Lori Ch. 01

By: Just Plain Bob



I snapped the phone closed and tossed it on the bed. I had known all along that the day would eventually come even though I'd hoped and even prayed that it never would.

The email had been sitting on my computer when I woke up and logged on. Email was the only way my family could get in touch with me. The message was from my sister Ellen and all it said was, "Call me Rob; it is urgent." My Tracfone only had four minutes on left on it so I had to go down to the 7-11 on the corner and buy some more time. I went across the street to the IHOP and had some breakfast and then walked back to my apartment to make the call.

My father had collapsed at work, had been rushed to the hospital and had undergone triple bypass surgery. My mother was a basket case and:

"I have a husband and four kids to take care of Rob. I just cannot take on mom and dad and the business on top of that. You have to come home. Like it or not baby brother, your family needs you."

It took me two days to wind up my affairs, load up my car and then I was on my way back to a place that I hoped that I would never see again.

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Lori and I had met in high school and had begun a somewhat turbulent relationship. Someone in administration had decided that teaching students some of the social graces should be part of the curriculum so one day during third hour gym class on a day when the boys were to have the pool and the girls the gym it was announced that for the next two weeks gym would be dance classes.

Lori was tall for her age and stood almost a head higher than most of the boys in the class. I was also tall for my age so Lori was paired with me. It did not start out well. Lori was strong willed and she fought me for the lead, but I was just as strong willed and I wouldn't let her have it. It was a constant battle and as a result we looked "jerky" when we danced. Sort of like puppets whose strings were not being pulled in unison. It might have gone on like that for the remainder of the class had we not been informed that our dancing was going to be graded and would be part of our grade for gym class. Lori was a straight A student and she would not do anything to change that so she reluctantly -- very reluctantly -- backed off and let me lead. We got through the class, Lori's grades didn't suffer and that should have been the end of it.

Lori and I had several classes together so we saw each other almost every day and we talked and were sociable, but all we were were classmates. The school sponsored a dance on the last Friday of every month that school was in session and one day while I was studying at a table in the library Lori came up and asked me if she could join me. After she sat down she asked me if I was going to the dance on the coming Friday and I told her that I had not planned on it. She told me that she wanted to go and had been asked by several guys, but that she had turned them down. She said she felt awkward dancing with boys shorter than she was and then she asked me if I would take her. That caught me by surprise since I had never been asked out by a girl. On the other hand I had never asked a girl for a date either so I really didn't know what to say. I guess Lori took my lack of an immediate response to mean that I was about to turn her down so she said:

"Please Rob. I would really like to go. This will be my first dance."

It would be mine too so after giving it a minute's thought I told her that I would take her to the dance. My dad drove me over to pick up Lori and then he drove us to the school. It was more fun than I had expected and I guess Lori also had a good time and while we were waiting for her dad or mom to pick us up Lori asked me if we could do it again when the next dance came around. I said yes and after that we just sort of drifted into going steady.

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Our dating was a lot like our dance lessons started out. I wanted to go to A and she wanted to go see B. I wanted to do C and she insisted that no, we needed to do D. We each gave in to the other enough to keep us from splitting apart and it continued like that all the way up to the eleventh grade. 

Things changed when we became juniors. A lot of it was because by then growth spurts had come along and a lot of the boys who Lori had considered too short for her in the past were now as tall or taller than her. Some of it was because Lori was just as strong willed as ever and the rest of it was because I suddenly had responsibilities on my plate. My dad owned the local building supply company and I had to work there after school and on weekends. The store had passed from my grandfather to my dad and my father expected to pass it on to me and so I was expected to learn the business from the bottom up. 

It was the job that caused the first break in our relationship. Lori wanted to go to a party on Saturday and I said that I would take her, but then my dad told me that I couldn't go because that was the weekend that we had to do the yearly inventory and I would be needed at the store. He told me that if we 'got at it' we could possibly finish up in time for me to go to the party.

"Possibly?" Lori said. "I'm supposed to just sit at home and wait to see if you can make it? No thanks Rob. You told me that you would take me and now you are saying "maybe" and that just isn't going to cut it. I'll find someone else."

And she did. Two days before the party she called me and told me that Leroy Adams was going to be her date for the night. I didn't much care for Leroy -- he was an asshole as far as I was concerned -- but if that was what Lori wanted so be it. I wasn't bothered by the fact that Lori was going with someone else because after all, it was my job that got in the way after I told her I would take her.

We made good time with the inventory and we did finish in time for me to get cleaned up and get to the party. The party had already started by the time I got there and I walked in to see Leroy and Lori dancing. Not a big deal; it was to be expected since they came together, but then Leroy spotted me and he smirked and slid his hand down and cupped Lori's ass. Again, to be expected because I've already stated that Leroy was an asshole, but as he did it he said something to Lori and she glanced over and saw me. She moved in closer to Leroy and the look she gave me said:

"So what? I'm his date, not yours."

I'd be lying if I said that it didn't piss me off. I looked away from the two of them and saw Pauline French standing off to the side by herself so I went over and asked her to dance. She smiled and moved into my arms and we danced. Lori could not stand Pauline. I never did know why and right then I did not care. I spent the rest of the night dancing and talking with Pauline and ignoring the looks I got from Lori. I asked Pauline if she needed a ride home and she said yes. 

On the way we stopped at the drive in and ordered burgers and fries and just as the girl skated up to us with our order on the tray I saw Lori staring at us as Leroy drove through. She did not have a pleasant look on her face. When I walked Pauline to her door she thanked me for the evening and then she kissed me. On impulse I said that maybe we could do it again and she said that she would like that so I made a date with her for the following Friday.

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Normally on Sunday I would call Lori and set something up for that afternoon or evening, but the more I thought about the look she gave me when Leroy put his hands on her ass the less inclined I was to talk to her so in the end I didn't.

Lori and I didn't have any morning classes together so the first time I saw her on Monday was at lunch. I was sitting at a table by myself when she came in, got her tray and went through the line. She paid the cashier, looked at me and then walked over and sat down with Leroy and another guy and girl. Okay, I thought, if that's the way you want it, fine! I didn't look her way for the rest of the lunch period and when I finished eating I got up and left the cafeteria.

My first class after lunch was a class that Lori was also in, but so was Pauline. I made sure that I was talking with Pauline when Lori walked into the classroom and I kept talking to Pauline until Mrs. Abbott called the class to order. I ignored Lori the entire class so I have no idea how she was taking things, but then I didn't really care either. I had two more classes with Lori in the afternoon and for both of them I waited until the last second before entering the room and taking the whichever empty seat was farthest from Lori and then I ignored her. After school I hurried off to work at the store.

Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty much a repeat of Monday, but on Thursday Lori got to the cafeteria before I did and was sitting at a table alone. I glanced her way when I left the line and she gave me a quick smile, but I didn't return it and I headed for an empty table on the other side of the room. I ignored Lori for the rest of the day, but when my last class of the day let out I found Lori waiting for me outside in the hall. She got right to it.

"Why aren't you talking to me?"

"I figured that was the way you wanted it."

"Why would you think that?"

"You seem to be spending a lot of time with Leroy and far be it for me to butt in."

"That's not fair Rob. It wasn't my fault that I had to find some one else to take me to the party."

"But the way you danced with him and let him paw your ass was your fault Lori and the look you gave me when you saw me watching was your fault."

"What did you expect me to do with you carrying on with Pauline the way you were."

"Bullshit Lori. I had just walked in the door and hadn't even seen Pauline yet and he had his hand on your ass and when he told you I was watching you deliberately moved in so close to him that you couldn't see daylight between the two of you. And what about that look you gave me when you did it? And what about lunch period? You looked at me and then deliberately went and sat with Leroy three days in a row. You chose Leroy Lori and so I haven't butted in."

"I don't want to argue with you Rob. Why don't we go out tomorrow and put this unpleasant mess behind us?"

"Sorry Lori, but you seemed so wrapped up in Leroy that I asked Pauline out tomorrow night."

Lori got a nasty look on her face. "Pauline? Why Pauline?"

"Why not Pauline? She's a great looking girl and she's a lot of fun. I don't have anything planned for Saturday if you are free" but that was said to her back as she stomped off. I smiled to myself as she walked away. Was I being a jerk? Yes I was, but don't forget that at the time I was only seventeen and "yes, but you started it" was still a part of my vocabulary.

Lori was waiting for me in the hall outside my first class of the day when I got to school in the morning.

"What are we going to do Saturday and what time are you going to pick me up?"

I spent a good part of the morning wondering if Lori was trying to make up with me or just trying to keep me out of the clutches of Pauline. After a couple of dates things were back to the way they were before the inventory weekend.

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The night of the junior prom Lori and I surrendered our virginities to each other and for the next couple of months we coupled whenever we found ourselves alone. Then a week before Christmas break Lori hit me with:

"I think we need some time apart Rob. We have been together since the eight grade and I really think that we need to see some other people for a while."

I wasn't dumb. I'd seen Bill Thomas trying to hustle Lori and I'd overheard her telling a couple of her girlfriends that Harry Morse was "dreamy" so I just asked her if she was sure that was what she wanted to do and she said it was. Lori hadn't thought ahead. We were supposed to go to a party on Friday night and she gave me the "see others" speech on Wednesday so I assumed that she meant "now" and since we had already made the date she assumed that I understood that it would be after the party. I got on the phone and even though it was short notice I was able to find a date (and wouldn't you just know that it would be Pauline?).

I was dancing with Pauline when Tom Franks came and got me and told me that I was wanted on the phone. It was Lori.

"Where are you? Why haven't you picked me up?"

"Why would I pick you up?"

"We had a date?"

"No we didn't. You broke up with me Wednesday remember?"

"That wasn't supposed to happen until after the party. Get over here and pick me up."

"I don't think that my date would like that."

"Your date?"

"Yes Lori, my date. You said we needed to see other people so I got a date for the party."

"Who?"

"Pauline French."

"You bastard!" she snarled and slammed down the phone.

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Lori and I avoided each other for the rest of our junior year and I heard that she went through a good half dozen guys. I never heard whether or not she bedded any of them, but I did remember how much she liked it when we managed to get time alone.

For my part I dated several girls and did manage to score with three of them and one of them was Pauline. Pauline and I seemed to get along pretty good together and we pretty much became a couple. We never discussed going steady and from time to time we did date others, but we always seemed to end up back together. I found out later that the fact that Pauline and I seemed like a couple was driving Lori crazy, but she had asked for the split and either she couldn't find a way to get us back together or she couldn't work up the nerve to approach me to try and get it done.

Pauline and I did spend a lot of time together and most people thought we were a permanent couple, but Pauline and I knew we were short-timers as far as our relationship was concerned. She was going back east to go to college and she intended to stay back there when she graduated.

I had not put Lori out of my mind, but I had put her in the background. My thoughts were that she wanted to "spend time" with others so if she ever wanted to get back with me she was going to have to be the one to make it happen. I was not going to sit around and wait.

There wasn't much change during our senior year. Lori and I saw each other often at school and we smiled at each other as we passed in the halls. I always got the impression that she wanted to stop and say something, but she never did.

Pauline was my prom date and Lori was there with Chuck Bailey. I noticed that every time I glanced in Lori's direction she was glaring at Pauline. Toward the end of the evening I did dance once with Lori and just as the music stopped she said:

"Call me Rob."

I was busy with trying to get graduation out of the way, staying on top of my job and spending what little time I had left with Pauline before she moved back east and I never did get around to calling Lori.

With graduation over with and Pauline gone I was working full time in the store. About three weeks after Pauline moved back east there was a party that I wanted to go to so I called around trying to line up a date. I had quite a few turn downs before Sue Cochill said yes. We had a good time at the party and I noticed that Lori who was also there didn't glare at Sue the way she usually did at Pauline. Before Sue and I left the party Lori cornered me and asked me why I hadn't called her. I told her truthfully that I had been just too busy to call. Wrong thing to say. I saw the hurt in her eyes. It didn't set well with her that I was TOO BUSY to call HER. She shook it off and said that if things slowed down a bit to give her a call.

After the party Sue and I hit the drive in for a bite and while we were sitting in the car munching on foot-long chili dogs Sue asked me when I was going to get back with Lori and I told her that I didn't know that I ever would and then I told her why. 

"We broke up because she wanted to see other guys and as far as I know she still wants to. She sure hasn't told me any different."

"That is because she is waiting for you to make the first move."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"I don't know. All I know is that she put out the word that she would appreciate it if none of us girls would date you."

"Why in the hell would she do that?"

"Maybe she figured if you couldn't get dates you would end up calling her. Maybe it is because she is the female of the species and thinks that she should be the one pursued. I don't have a clue, but I do know she wants to get back together with you."

"So if she put out the word why did you say yes to tonight?"

"Just because she wants you back doesn't mean she should get you back. Maybe I wanted to see what the attraction was. Lori had you for a long time and you seemed to keep a smile on Pauline's face until she left town."

"So we can do this again some night?"

"I'm kind of hoping that tonight isn't over yet."

"It isn't if you don't want it to be."

"I don't."

"What time do I have to have you home?"

"My parents are out of town and I'm babysitting myself."

"Then why are we wasting time sitting here?"

When I left her house at six in the morning we had a date set for Monday night and that date led to a Wednesday date which led to a Friday date and a Saturday date. Sue was a pretty hot bed buddy. The Saturday date was another party and Lori was there. It didn't seem like she ever took her eyes off of Sue and me and about an hour into the party Sue asked me:

"Have you made up your mind yet?"

"About what?"

"What you are going to do about Lori?"

"Why do I have to do anything about Lori? Why does it have to be me making the decision?"

"Oh my, it sounds like you have made one. It sounds like you are just killing time waiting for her to come back. Is that it? You are waiting for her to make the first move?"

"In the first place spending time with you doesn't even come close to the definition of "killing time." Secondly, she has already made what can be considered the first move. Twice now she has asked me to call her."

"Why haven't you?"

"I don't know. Probably because I am still pissed at her for coming up with that "seeing others" bullshit."

"Why are you pissed about that? I led to you having fun with Pauline, me and a few others. You can't say that her idea put you at a disadvantage. You've made out pretty well on the deal."

"Maybe so, but the way she did it didn't set well with me."

"Well think about this for a bit. When the summer is over I'm on my way to California to attend Cal Tech. You are going to have to find another play pal. You can either work at trying to find someone or you can get back together with Lori. You want to and we both know it. The only thing stopping you is a bruised ego."

Sue was right of course and I knew it. Lori had stomped on my pride when she broke it off with me. It was the same (to me anyway) as telling me that I didn't have what it took to keep her happy. Looking back on it I could see that maybe I had taken it wrong. How could she know that I didn't have what it took since she had no way of comparing. The way I should have been looking at it was that she wanted to come back so there must be something I had that she never found with other guys, but I was only eighteen at the time so what did I know. I was still pissed at her. I still thought about her most of the time, but I was still a little bent out of shape. If she wanted me back she was going to have to be the one to make it happen and it was going to take a little more than "please call me."

"Tell you what. When you leave for Cal Tech I'll consider giving Lori a call. Until then I have no intention of giving up a good thing."

"Good answer, especially that "good thing" part."

As I circulated and socialized I kept an eye on Lori and every time it looked like she was going to head my way I got back to Sue so Lori would stay clear.


Rob and Lori Ch. 01



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Tuesday I was busy stocking shelves at work when a voice behind me said:

"Hi Rob."

I turned and saw Lori standing there.

"I called and asked your dad what time you took your lunch break and then I hurried down so I could talk to you over lunch."

Well, it was what I said that I wanted -- for Lori to take the first big step and now she had. We walked down the street to the Red Robin, ordered lunch and then I waited for Lori to speak her piece.

"Why haven't you called me Rob? I've asked you to call me at least twice now."

"I haven't called because there wouldn't be any point to it."

"Why would you say that?"

"Because each time you asked me to call I was in a relationship with someone, a relationship that I had no intention of ending. I could only see two reasons for you wanting to talk to me. Either you were going to tell me that you had found someone special and were making a firm commitment to him or that you felt that it was time for us to think about getting back together. If it was the first then I didn't care to know and if it were the second I wouldn't be interested as long as I was in the relationship I was in. Therefore, no need to call."

"Well I guess that is pretty cut and dried. But in case you have any interest at all it is the second one. I've missed you. We had something good going Rob, but I'm not sorry that I came up with the trial separation. I really did think that we had been together too long without knowing what anyone else would be like, but now that I know what others were like I know that I belong with you. I would like to put it behind us and get back together."

"The problem with that Lori is that putting it behind us is something that can't just happen because all of a sudden that is what you want. There is no way that I'm going to go and tell the girl that I am seeing that she is history just because you decided that trial separation time is over. I'm not saying that we can't give it another try, but it won't be right away. Sue is leaving for California the first week in September and if you are still interested at that time maybe we can try it again and see what happens."

"The first of September? That's only two weeks away. Do you have the date she is leaving?"

"The fourth."

"Okay then; how about this. I am asking you for a date on the fifth of September. Can we do that?"

"On the condition that Sue is actually gone on the fifth."

"I'll take it. I'll call you early on the fifth and confirm. Until then Rob."

She stood up, leaned over the table and kissed me on the cheek and she left.

Sue actually left on the third and Lori did call early on the fifth to confirm our date for the night. I took Lori out to dinner and a show and after a couple of dates we picked up where we left off. By unspoken agreement what we each had done while we were separated was never mentioned.

To be continued...



Rob and Lori Ch. 02



September found us in college. Lori went for Information and Systems Technology and I went for Business Management. We managed to make it almost all the ay through our freshman year before Lori's strong will surfaced again. There was a concert that Lori wanted to go to, but it was on a Friday night and I had already committed us to attend my mother's birthday party. Lori knew this almost a month ahead of time and never gave any indication that she didn't plan on attending. Three days before the party Lori told me that she had tickets and we were going to the concert. I reminded her that we were already committed to mom's birthday party.

"There will be other birthday parties for your mother Rob, but how likely is it that Bob Seger will ever be in town again. I'm going to the concert Rob."

I just shrugged and said "fine." 

The morning of the concert Lori called me and said, "We need to get there early to make sure that we get a good seat. What time do you want to pick me up?"

"Why would we need to get there early?"

"There will be thousands of people there Rob."

"Not likely. It is only going to be immediate family and a few friends."

"What are you talking about?"

"Mom's birthday party."

"We are going to the concert Rob."

"No Lori. You are going to the concert. I am going to my mom's birthday party."

She hung up on me.

Saturday I was at work unloading a semi trailer with Harley Neubert who worked at the store part time. We had the trailer half empty and took a break. As we were sipping coffee and sharing a box of Hostess chocolate donuts Harley said:

"You and Lori on the outs again?"

"Why would you ask that?"

"Saw her at the concert last night. She was with Randy Combs and they didn't seem to be able to keep their hands off of each other."

I shrugged, finished my coffee and then got back to work unloading the trailer.

Given the way that Lori had hung up on me I didn't expect to hear from her for a couple of days so it came as no surprise when she didn't. Monday at school I was coming out of the bookstore at the Student Union and across the hall in the cafeteria I saw Lori and Randy Combs sitting at a table. I don't think either one of them noticed me as I walked out of the building.

I didn't share any classes with Lori so I didn't see her at school, but Thursday after classes when I went to work Lori was waiting for me outside of the store.

"You haven't called."

"You hung up on me. To me that meant that you didn't want to talk to me."

"I was upset."

"Not my problem."

"You know I wanted to go to that concert."

"And you know that we had already committed to the birthday party before you found out about the concert."

"I don't want to fight Rob. Are we still going to Bev's party Friday?"

"I'm going. I asked Clarissa if she would go with me and she is supposed to call me and let me know."

"Clarissa? What the hell is going on here Rob? You are supposed to be going with me."

"I thought that you would probably be going with Randy Combs. Everybody who saw the two of you at the concert said that you couldn't keep your hands off of each other and then when I saw you with him in the Student Union cafeteria I figured that you and he had something going so I gave Clarissa a call."

I looked at my watch and then said, "I'm late for work. Got to go" and I walked into the store and left her standing on the side walk. I hadn't called Clarissa, but Lori didn't know that. I skipped the party and went to the movies.

At the store on Saturday Harley asked me why I had missed the party and I told him that I hadn't felt well.

"Lori was there" he said. "She came alone."

I shrugged and he said, "Randy was there and he came alone too."

"Harley, I don't give a rat's ass about what Lori and Randy do."

"They didn't do anything. She wouldn't dance with him and once I heard her tell him to go away and leave her alone."

Given what Harley had said about what had gone on at the party between Lori and Randy I called her on Monday and asked her if she wanted to go out on Tuesday evening and she said yes. A couple of date's later things were back to normal between us.

The rest of our freshman year and all of our sophomore year slid by with no problems and we were starting to think about life after college. The subject had never been brought up verbally, but I think that Lori and I both just assumed that we would be getting married. I think the fact that we never talked about it had something to do with our next rocky patch.

It was halfway into our junior year and my dad was finally comfortable enough with me to start taking time off and leaving me to run the store. That meant a lot of Saturday and Sunday work for me and since the store hours were from 8 am to 9 pm it also meant a lot of late night Fridays. Mondays and Thursdays didn't enter into it because it was understood that school took precedence and evenings were for study and I had school the next day. But Friday - Friday was a killer! It, along with Saturday nights were prime date nights and when dad took a weekend off Friday and Saturday nights were off the board for me as far as dating was concerned.

Lori was not a stay at home girl and after several weekends of my not being able to take her out she started going out to things alone and when she was alone guys flocked to her. If she went alone to a dance when it ended there were always parties and always someone who would ask her if she wanted to go to one. I began to hear rumors of Lori and some guy dancing "real close" or Lori and some guy holding hands or making out in a car. It bothered me, but I had not asked Lori to marry me -- I had not put a ring on her finger -- and I had really never asked "Lori, would you go steady with me." What we were was a couple who just kind of came together and for the most part stayed together. I had no real claim on Lori or her time, but that did not mean that it did not bother me. I could not stop Lori if that is what she wanted to do, but I didn't have to like it.

After working three weekends in a row I finally got one off. I had not spoken to Lori in several days and -- my head being full of the rumors I had been hearing -- I wasn't sure that I wanted to talk to her right then anyway. There was a party at Sam Janke's Friday night and I went alone. I got there early and helped Sam move all of the living room furniture into the dining room to make a dance floor and then I got myself a beer. I'd been there maybe twenty minutes when I saw Carol Murrey walk in alone. I went up to her and told her that she had arrived just in time.

"I need a dance partner."

She looked around and I said, "I'm alone tonight."

"Oh goody" she said and offered me her arm and I led her out onto the makeshift dance floor. We were dancing when Lori walked in with Randy Combs. She saw me there dancing with Carol and stopped in her tracks. She obviously didn't expect to see me there and she looked like she wanted to turn and leave, but I had already seen her with Randy. I looked at her for several seconds and then looked away and ignored her for the rest of the evening.

By the time the party started breaking up I had a date with Carol for Saturday and I saw Lori watching as Carol and I left the party together. I had no idea what she was thinking and frankly I didn't care. 

Carol had driven herself to the party and so we agreed to meet at the Denny's on Coleman for coffee and a bite to eat. We were sitting in a booth next to a window and I saw Randy's F-250 pull in. Lori and Randy got out of the truck and headed for the restaurant and then Lori spotted me sitting there with Carol and she turned and went back to the truck. Randy called after her and she apparently said something to him and he turned and looked toward the restaurant and then he went to the truck, got in, the lights came on and they drove away.

Sunday I was in my room working on a term paper due on Tuesday when my mom hollered at me that I was wanted on the phone. It was Lori.

"Why didn't you call me and let me know that you weren't working Friday night?"

"What would have been the point? I've heard about you and the dances and parties you've been going to while I was working and I've heard all about the things you've done after those dances and parties so I naturally assumed that you already had a date set up for Sam's party. I went to the party on the off chance that you would be there alone also, but we both know how that turned out, don't we?"

"That's not fair Rob. It isn't my fault that you spend your weekends working. I'm too young to sit at home and stare at walls al weekend waiting to see if you can find some time for me."

"Well Lori, let me see if I understand this. You saw me at the party Friday so you knew I had the weekend off. Knowing that why didn't you call me yesterday instead of waiting for tonight? Could it be because you already had a date for last night too? Like maybe going to the movies with Randy? Or maybe that was some one else I saw going into the Rialto last night?"

"I didn't know you had the weekend off and I had already made the date."

"So you were lying to me three weeks ago when you said that you weren't dating; just going to dances and parties alone? Thanks for calling Lori." and I hung up on her.

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Monday it was back to school and work after school. I kept an eye out for Lori so I could make sure to avoid her. She called and left messages for me to call her but I never did. 

I dated Carol a lot, but there was nothing there and we both knew it. It was strictly a friend's relationship. Not even a 'friends with benefits relationship, just friends.

About three weekends after I saw Lori at the party I was working at the store when a voice called out "Hello stranger." I looked up and saw Sue Cochill. She stepped forward and threw her arms around me and gave me a kiss that curled my toes. We made a date to meet at Denny's when I got off work. The first thing she asked me after I slid into the booth across from her was:

"Are you in a relationship now?"

"Unfortunately no." I explained where I was at with Lori and Sue said:

"Can I put in my bid?"

It turned out that because of finances she'd had to drop out of Cal Tech and she would be transferring back to our neck of the woods at the start of the next term.

"So how about it? Can I apply for the open relationship job?"

"If you are silly enough to want the position I'm certainly silly enough to let you have it." 

From then on Sue got all of my free time. As a bed buddy she was as hot as she had been before leaving for California. Actually she was hotter. While she was gone she had gotten turned on to anal which was a "no-no" before she left. For the rest of my junior year, almost all of the summer vacation that followed it and into the start of my senior year Sue and I were an established couple. I saw Lori around, but avoided her and outside of a Christmas card mailed to the store during the holiday break she made no attempt to get in touch with me. I did see her at dances and parties, but I was always with Sue and Lori was always with someone -- usually Randy -- but even there I stayed away from her.

It needs to be said that whenever I did see her my heart beat a little faster, I felt a stirring in my groin and I ached to have my arms around her and hers around me. But!!! I was not the kind of guy who could or would put up with her actions. In every case where the two of us had problems it was Lori who instigated them. All I did was refuse to sit in the corner and wait around.

The first day of school after the holiday break I came out of class one day to find Lori waiting for me.

"Can we talk Rob?"

"About what?"

"About us."

"I wasn't aware that there was an "us" Lori."

"My point exactly Rob. There isn't, but there should be and the only way to make it happen is for us to sit down and talk. I know you are between classes from eleven forty-five until two so can you meet me in the cafeteria for lunch at twelve?"

I was curious as to what she had to say so I agreed to meet her for lunch. It didn't start out well. When Lori started with:

"I don't know how we let it slip away" I interrupted her with "We didn't let it slip away Lori, you did. You jump and do things without thinking ahead and then expect everything to be just where you left it when you decide that whatever you left to do is over with. It goes way back to when you couldn't wait for me to get off work so you went to the dance with Leroy and then screwed around with him and then expected to pick right back up with me. When you decided that we needed to see other people for a while you went off and did it until you decided to come back to me and then you expected me to be there breathlessly waiting for your return and you were surprised when I didn't jump at the opportunity. 

"My mother's birthday party -- to hell with you Rob I'm going to the concert -- and then you spent a week fooling around with Randy Combs and a week after that you are asking me why I haven't called. Do I need to go on Lori? I'm not some one you can park at the curb when you want to go and do something. There might be guys out there that you could do that to, but I am not one of them and by now you should realize that. That is the situation now. Because I had to work you decided that you weren't going to sit around so you started dating so instead of sitting in a parking space and waiting for you to come back and get me I dated and now I am in a relationship. So here you are expecting me to drop it because you all of a sudden want to come back so there can be an "us." Can you give me one good reason why I should listen to what you want?"

"Of course I can give you a good reason Rob. I always -- always -- come back to you because I know where I belong. And you always allow it Rob. You bitch and whine and stall for a while, but you always end up back with me. We both know where we are supposed to be Rob. With each other."

"For someone who feels she is supposed to be with me you sure spend a lot of time with Randy Combs."

"Am I supposed to just sit at home and stare at walls waiting for you to finally get some time off and call? I'm young Rob and I am not going to stay at home and watch stupid television shows or play solitaire. I go out with Randy a lot because he is one of the few who ask me. Too many guys see me as yours so they stay away. Randy keeps asking because he is hoping that I'll get over you. I've told him it isn't going to happen, but he keeps trying."

She was right of course. I did know that we had a special connection and I did eventually always get back together with her, but I didn't know that my feelings for her would carry us through the long haul. I also had some strong feelings for Sue, but I didn't know if they were long haul feelings either. But!

"None of that changes the fact that right now I am seeing someone else. Someone I really like and before you say anything stop and think about the fact that I wouldn't be dating her if you hadn't started dating on the weekends I had to work late."

"Okay, okay I get the point, but keep me in mind Rob because I'm not going to go away. To ease your mind I will stop dating Randy. That will probably be the best way to make him realize that he doesn't have a chance at replacing you in my life. But you do need to figure out what you are going to do Rob. We are almost at graduation and life is going to change big time when we have to move into the real world."

She got up, kissed me on the cheek and walked away.

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I worked from three-thirty until seven and then I rove over and picked up Sue. As soon as she was in the car she said:

"I saw you this afternoon with Lori. Am I a short-timer?"

"She wanted to know why I hadn't called her lately."

"And you said?"

"I told her that I was in a relationship that I had no intention of ending."

"Right thing to say to me Rob, but not really true."

"Why would you say something like that?"

"Because I know me and you don't."

"And what does that mean?"

"I like you a lot Rob and if you were a bit different I would love to have you with me forever, but we don't have a future."

"If I were a bit different? What do you mean by that?"

"You are a nice guy Rob, but you don't have the mindset that my permanent man would have to have."

"I still don't understand what you are saying."

"To put it bluntly baby I'm a slut. I love cocks. Big ones, small ones, white ones, black ones, brown, yellow and even a green one if I could find one. I can usually stick with one guy for about a year and then I start wanting to try something different. Since I won't cheat that means that I will break up with the guy I'm seeing before moving on to something else. What I'm saying here Rob is that a permanent significant other would have to be willing to share. He would have to be open to what they are calling "an open marriage" nowadays and we both know that isn't you Rob. Bottom line lover is don't let something pass you by on my account."

"So what you are really telling me is that I'm the short-timer here. We've been seeing each other since November and that's what -- ten months? And about a year is all you manage with one guy? Coming up on time to dump me I guess."

"Not really. I think you would be good for more than a year, but the truth is that I will eventually want to try another guy and like I said, I won't cheat so I would have to end it with you before I could go after him. Unless of course I'm wrong in thinking that you wouldn't be open to sharing."

"No Sue, you aren't wrong. Sorry, but I'm just not wired that way."

"Pity. You would most definitely be my choice for a significant other if you could handle it. So, where do we go from here? Stay with it for a while longer or knowing the outcome kiss each other goodbye so you can work on getting back together with Lori?"

"Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. Even with what you have told me I don't want to end it, but on the other hand Lori did just come up to me and make overtures that could get us back together. She is ready now, but if I stay with you will she still be as ready when you cut me loose? I will tell you this. If you had not just clued me in as to what you and the future have in store for me I probably would have tried to put a ring on your finger in the next month or so."

"Look on the bright side lover. I just saved you the cost of that ring. So what are you going to do?"

"Make our last night together a good one."

The next evening I called Lori and made a date for the next day and by the end of our senior year we were engaged and six months after graduation we were married.

To be continued...



Rob and Lori Ch. 03



Working part-time at the store with my dad was one thing, but working full time was something totally different. To put it simply, dad was set in his ways. I had a fresh Business Management degree and a ton of new ideas to expand the business and increase profits, but every suggestion I made was met with:

"That's not the way we do things" or "I see no reason to change something that has worked well all these years."

It slowly dawned on me that unless or until my father died all I was ever going to be was a clerk in the store except for the times he took a couple of days off and left me in charge. Quite frankly, that was not going to be enough for me.

I sent out resumes and pretty soon I found myself working for XYZ Corporation. To say that my father didn't take it well would be an understatement. In fact it drove a wedge between us. It was so bad that it was totally uncomfortable whenever I stopped by the house to visit. I did my best to try and explain to him why the move was necessary, but he wouldn't listen and he wouldn't accept it.

Lori and I were living in an apartment and trying to save money for a house. Lori was happy with her job and I was doing well at XYZ. Lori made it clear before we got married that while she wanted kids some day she was not in any hurry. She said that she had not invested her time and money in getting a degree just so she could sit at home and raise babies. To make sure that there were no surprises she was on birth control pills AND she used a diaphragm AND I was expected to use condoms. Using rubbers was a small price to pay for a sex life that included sex four and five times a week and I was not required to use the rubber raincoat when we did anal which Lori liked a lot.

Marriage did not change Lori; she was still as strong willed as ever and determined to have her own way only now it was over things like furniture, appliances, vehicles and other things like that. We went furniture shopping for the apartment and hit half a dozen different stores without my seeing anything that I liked. Lori saw a few things that she seemed to like and she asked me my opinion and I didn't have a favorable one. Two days later I came home from work and found a new couch, love seat and easy chair in the living room and they were the ones I told Lori that I didn't like. What I wanted didn't count as far as she was concerned. 

We needed a refrigerator and the one she wanted I told her not to get and pointed at a different model and told her that it would be a better one. Then I came home from work and found the one she wanted sitting in the kitchen. I got the last laugh on that one. One of the reasons I told her not to get that particular fridge was that I knew that it was too tall to fit under the cabinets over the space where the fridge was supposed to go. The model also had cold water and ice cube dispensers in the door, but I knew that there were no water lines anywhere close to where the fridge would go. As a result the fridge sat out in the middle of the floor where we had to walk around it whenever we were in the kitchen.

I stopped going shopping with her since she would always buy whatever I said no to. That included clothing. If I told her that a dress she tried on didn't look good on her that is the one she would buy. I finally got to the point where I let her do whatever she wanted. That is not to say that I let her run roughshod over me. I was looking for a recliner and Lori went with me when I went looking. I narrowed my choices down to two and then went home to think about it. The next day when I got home I found that Lori had ordered me one and it was not one of the two I was interested in so I sent it back which pissed Lori off no end. She responded the way that women all over the world did when they were displeased -- she cut me off. We went five days without making love which I thought was stupid since she liked sex as much as I did so she in effect cut herself off. When she was ready to 'forgive me' I told her that I was too tired and made her go three more days before giving in to her. It happened twice more, but I always paid her back in kind. If she cut me off for four days I made her wait an additional five days before I gave in. Eventually she figured out what I was doing and stopped using sex as a weapon.

We finally saved up enough money to put a down payment on a house and of course Lori and I didn't agree on which one to buy. After a month of looking I finally told her that she could pick the house, but I got to pick the lot and neighborhood and we moved on.

It was in the fifth year of our marriage that something that disturbed me greatly occurred. Lori came up with tickets to the opera and I just flat refused to go with her. I did like classical music, but I could not stand opera or ballet. When I said no Lori just shrugged and said that she would get someone from work to go with her.

The afternoon of the performance I decided that I could at least 'soften the blow' so to speak. When I got off work I stopped and got a dozen roses and drove over to where Lori worked. I planned on taking her to dinner before the performance. I was parked in the employee's parking lot next to her car when quitting time came. I saw Lori come out the front door and as soon as she came to the end of the sidewalk a car pulled up and she got in. As it pulled away from the curb I saw that the driver was Randy Combs. I got out of my car and put the roses on Lori's front seat and then I followed them. They drove to the Longhorn Steak House and went inside. I sat and waited until they came out and then I followed them to the Ashton Auditorium which was where the opera was being performed. I was still sitting where I could see Randy's car when the crowd started streaming out of the building. I followed them back to Lori's car and I saw her lean over and kiss Randy before getting out of his car and into hers.

I drove home and was sitting on the couch flipping channels on the TV when Lori came in. There hadn't been enough time between my leaving and hurrying home and Lori's arrival for them to have done anything so at least I didn't have to worry about following Randy into her, but I did have to wonder if I might have in the past.

"How was the show?"

"It was fine, but a strange thing happened."

"Oh? The costume fall off of the fat lady?"

"No, nothing like that. I rode over to the auditorium with the girl I gave the extra ticket too and when we got back to my car I found a dozen roses on the front seat."

"Maybe you should think about locking your car. Where are the roses?"

"I tossed them on the ground. I thought that whoever put them there might be watching and I wanted them to know that I wasn't amused."

I certainly wasn't amused. Lori had just flat out lied to me. She rode to the opera with the girl she had given the extra ticket to? I wasn't aware that Randy had undergone a sex change operation. I followed Lori up to bed and we made love before Lori rolled over and went to sleep. I laid there staring up at the ceiling and wondered about what other lies Lori might have told me. How many other times had she gotten together with Randy since we had gotten married? True, they hadn't done anything that night except have dinner and go to the opera and the kiss she gave him didn't seem all that hot, but that was that time. What had they done the other times if indeed there were other times? I thought back and remembered that every time we were separated, for whatever reason, it always seemed to be Randy she ended up with. When I finally did fall asleep it was not a restful sleep.

Lori's trip to the opera made me start thinking and the thoughts I was having were not all that nice. The biggie of course was "Is my wife cheating on me?" I couldn't bring myself to believe that she was, but I did start paying more attention to the things she said and did -- or said that she was doing -- and I did spend a lot of time looking for clues that all wasn't right with us. I didn't notice anything that rang any bells and after several months I relaxed my vigil.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Another couple of months went by and one night Lori came home and informed me that she had another two tickets for the opera.

"Are you going with me this time?"

"No sweetie, opera and ballet are two things I could never get into. Why don't you take the friend who went with you last time?"

"I'll see if she wants to go. If she doesn't I'm sure that I can find someone."

The night of the opera I was again outside Lori's office waiting for her to get off work only this time I wasn't parked next to her. I was parked in the back where I could see her car and the front door. This time she got in her car and I followed her as she drove to the Super 8 Motel on Benson. She pulled into the parking lot, walked up to the door of room116 and knocked. The door opened and there stood Randy Combs. He leaned forward and kissed Lori and then came out of the room and got into Lori's car. I followed them to Mario's and watched as they went in. Forty minutes later they came out and drove to the auditorium and I settled in to wait. Two hours later people came flooding out and I followed Lori and Randy back to room 116. They both got out of the car and went inside.

There it was. Lori was cheating on me. I debated sitting there and confronting her when she came out, but then decided that I needed to put some space between us until I had a chance to cool down. The way I felt when I saw the two of them enter the room and close the door behind them I could do some great bodily harm to the both of them. Just as I turned the key to start the car the door opened and Lori came out. Randy walked her to her car, they kissed and then she got in the car and Randy returned to the room. That left me thoroughly confused. Lori wasn't in the room long enough for them to do much more than exchange some kisses and that made no sense. Rent a motel room for a couple of kisses?

I drove like a mad man and broke a dozen traffic laws to beat Lori home and I made it just by a hair. I was sitting on the bed taking off my shoes when Lori came into the room. I looked up at her and said:

"Home already?"

"It was one of Vivaldi's shorter ones."

"Any trouble getting rid of the extra ticket?"

"No. Mary took it and told me that she would be more than happy to go with me whenever I could get tickets."

I had my socks off by then and she walked over to me, pushed me down on my back and pulled my boxers down. She said:

"You don't really deserve this since you make me go to the opera without you, but lucky for you I am horny tonight."

She went down on me and after several minutes of very good head I returned the favor and then we made love. I didn't sleep well that night either as I laid there staring at the ceiling and thinking about the fact that Lori had lied to me again. And just what the hell was going on with her and Randy?

I spent the next two months watching and checking up on Lori, but found nothing. I was right on the edge of confronting Lori when the wheels came off of our marriage.

I came home from work one night to find Lori and Randy sitting on the couch in the living room. I walked in and Lori said:

"Good! You're home. Now we can get this over with."

"Get what over with?"

"Since you cheated on me I have decided to get even with you."

"What? Are you out of your mind? I have never cheated on you."

"No use denying it Rob; I have witnesses."

"How in the hell can you have witnesses to something that never happened?"

"Of course you are denying it Rob; that was to be expected. This is how it will go. Randy is going to spend the night with me. You can leave and go to a motel or you can sleep in the spare bedroom. In the morning we will be even and we can sit down and discuss where we will go from there."

I started to say something and then just clamped my jaw shut. I went up to the bedroom, got out a suitcase and packed enough clothes for a couple of days. I got my toiletries out of the bathroom and headed downstairs to the living room. I stopped and looked at Lori.

"I have never cheated on you. I have never even once thought about cheating on you, but I don't believe that you can say the same. I know all about the time you spend with Randy. I know he is your opera buddy and not some girl you work with. I know all about the last opera that you went to and how it ended up in room 116 of the Super 8. You are dead wrong about my cheating on you and there is one more thing you are wrong about. There will not be a sit down in the morning to discuss where we will go from here. I have already made that decision. We won't be going anywhere, but I will be. I'm out of here. Take your sex-toy up to the bedroom and enjoy him for the rest of your life because I'm gone!"

I walked out the door without looking back. My cell went off before I reached the end of the block. It was Lori of course so I turned the phone off. I checked into a motel and in the morning I went into work and told Harv (my boss) what had happened and that I was going to have to resign and leave town. He told me not to be hasty and give him a couple of hours.

Maria, my secretary, handed me a pile of message slips when I got to my office. They were all from Lori and I tossed them into the trash. I turned on my cell and found that I had eleven missed messages and five voicemails -- all from Lori. I deleted them and then I took the stapler on my desk and smashed the phone into little pieces and threw the pieces into the wastebasket. I called Maria in and explained what had happened and apologized for putting her in the middle when I asked her to block all calls from Lori.

After Maria went back to her desk I started clearing mine so I wouldn't leave a mess for my replacement. At ten-thirty Harv called me into his office and when I got there he asked me if I would take a transfer to the Detroit office. I said it would work for me providing Lori would be told that I had come in and quit. Harv said he would keep the transfer between him, Maria and Marge Whitlow who was our manager of Human Recourses. I went back to my office and finished clearing most of my work. 

At lunch I signed up for a cell phone, got a new phone and phone number and then I hit the bank and took out everything. I didn't have to do anything with the credit cards because Lori and I each had our own in our own names. I filled out a power of attorney and sent it to my sister Ellen to give to Lori so she could sell the house. The money from the house would make up for me cleaning out the savings, checking and taking the CDs from the safe deposit box and would give her enough to pay for the divorce. Just before I left work I called my mom to let her know what was going on between Lori and me, but I didn't tell her about the move because I knew that Lori would get it out of her.

The next morning I was parked down the street when Lori left the house for work and by ten I had everything out of the house that I wanted loaded in my car and the U-Haul trailer I had rented. I drove over to the motel and parked and then cabbed to work. I thought it possible that Lori might show up at XYZ and I didn't want her to see the car and trailer loaded and ready to go. I finished clearing my desk by the end of the day, said goodbye to Maria and Harv and headed back to the motel. I got a good nights sleep and in the morning I headed for Detroit. 

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The drive to Detroit took two days and when I got there I checked into a motel about five miles from XYZ's offices and then I called home. I got my mom and told her that I was all right and gave her my new phone number and told her that under no circumstances was she to give that number to Lori.

"You need to call her Rob. The poor girl is frantic with worry."

"Not my problem mom. Let her boyfriend take care of things."

"You need to face..."

"No mother! I do not want anything more to do with Lori -- period!! Now let it be or I will hang up."

"But..." and before she could say another word I hung up on her. Twenty minutes later the phone rang and the display showed that it was my parent's home phone so I answered and heard Lori ask:

"Rob? Where are you?"

So much for my mother keeping it to herself. I disconnected and then turned the phone off until I could get the number changed.

Over the next week I checked in at the new job, found an apartment, got a new phone number and read the manual to learn how to block my number from appearing on the screen or caller ID of anyone I might call. I contacted my sister Ellen and brought her up to speed with what was going on and set it up with her to email me when she needed to get in touch with me. I got a Tracfone at Wal-Mart that I would only use to call back home with and then I settled back to enjoy my new life.

What Lori was doing with Randy freed me from my wedding vows as far as I was concerned and I started dating. I found a sweet little redhead who was open to a 'friends with benefits' relationship and all in all I was doing well. I was happy with my job, happy with my life and now it was all going to hell.

To be continued...



Rob and Lori Ch. 04



I hit the city limits at six in the morning and slowly drove through town looking for the changes that must have occurred during my two year absence. I noticed that Charlie Farrow's gas station was gone and a McDonalds sat in its place. Alice's Diner was now Suzie Q's Café and Apex Appliances had boarded over windows and a For Lease sign. There was a touch of irony in that the Super 8 Motel was the only motel I could find that had a vacancy and the way things were going for me I almost bet myself as I walked up to the counter that I would end up in room 116. But fate didn't hate me that much and I got 142 around in the back. 

I unloaded what I would need for a couple of days and moved it into the room and then I drove over to Patty Ann's Café and had breakfast. The only person there that I knew was Sally Jeffers. Sally had been working the breakfast shift at Patty's when I first ate there fifteen years ago. I'd no sooner sat down and she was there with the coffee and creamers and as she set them down she asked:

"The usual?"

I smiled and nodded and she said, "Two over hard, bacon, hash browns and sourdough toast coming up" and she walked away to turn in my order.

I was on my second cup of coffee when Andy Burgess came in. He saw me and waved and then sat down at one of the large round tables that seated six. A few minutes later three guys and a woman came in and joined him. I didn't know any of the guys, but the woman looked familiar. I couldn't place her and I caught her looking at me a couple of times, but then my breakfast arrived and I dug in.

As I was leaving Andy waved me over.

"Are you back or just visiting?"

"I'm back."

"If you can find time swing by Clancy's tonight. A bunch of have a pool tournament going and there will be lot of your old friends there."

"I'll see if I can make it."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the woman watching me as I left and I wondered why I couldn't place her.

I drove over to the storage place on Douglas and rented a unit large enough to park the U-Haul in and then I headed on over to my sister Ellen's. Her husband Paul had already left for work by the time I got there. I sat at her kitchen table and sipped coffee as she brought me up to date on the condition of my parents. Dad was still in the hospital and it would be months before he would be able to do anything and Ellen expected mom to be a basket case until dad was up and moving around. 

And then of course she touched on the subject that I would have just as soon have stayed away from.

"You going to call Lori?"

"No."

"She calls mom or me once a week to see if we have heard from you and she keeps asking for an address or phone number."

"That's why I never give one. It is the reason that emails and Tracfones are the only way I've ever given anyone to contact me. The last time I gave my number to mom Lori called me at the number not twenty minutes later. The phone I have now is never turned on unless it is to call you or the folks. I do not want any contact with Lori at all and I will do my level best to never have to look at her again."

"How are you going to manage that now that you are back?"

"I've no idea, but I will work at it."

"You never did tell me what drove the two of you apart."

"She wanted to play with another guy and she wanted me to sit still for it. I told her to have fun and I left."

"That doesn't sound like Lori. If that is what she wanted she has had plenty of time to do it since you left and she hasn't."

"And you know this how?"

"She stays home and doesn't date."

"Frankly I find that hard to believe in light of what I know."

"Just what do you know?"

"I know she dated Randy Combs right up until I left. She brought him home with her the night before I left and told me that he was going to share her bed that night and that we could sit down and talk about it in the morning. Twenty minutes after she to ld me that I was out of the house and I haven't spoken to her since."

"If that's the case why haven't you divorced her?"

"Too lazy and too cheap. Let her pay for the divorce. I don't plan on getting married again so there is no crying need for me to get single again."

"Well it doesn't appear that she is too interested in getting a divorce. She took your power of attorney and tore it up when I gave it to her. Said she wasn't going to sell the house because the two of you would need a place to live when you came back."

"Not a prayer Ellen; not a chance in hell! But enough about unpleasant subjects. How are things at the store?"

"There is a lot of building going on and business is good. The lumberyard is doing especially well. Harley and I have been holding it together, but only just barely. Harley's forte isn't management and frankly neither is mine. I'm a bookkeeper Rob and Harley is a good yard foreman, but neither of us is cut out to run a business. That's why we need you."

"Something needs to be settled up front about that. If I am going to run the business I'm going to do it my way and dad is going to have to understand that. His way is not my way and I'm not going to have him interfering in what I'm doing. I only took a leave of absence from XYZ. I'm on Federal Emergency Medical Leave and if things don't go the way I need them too I'm on my way back to where I just came from."

"You will have to talk to mom about that. You do know that Dricoll Building Supply is a corporation, right?"

"No, I didn't know that."

"You and I hold twenty percent of the shares and mom and dad control the other sixty percent. Mom has twenty percent and dad holds the remaining forty. Get mom on your side and between the three of us we have sixty percent and control."

"You really think that mom will go against dad?"

"I'd bet on it. She thinks the store will kill him if he doesn't take it easy. She would rather have him pissed at her for siding with you than see him work himself into another heart attack. So, what's the plan?"

"I'll find an apartment this morning, go see mom and dad and then be at the store when it opens in the morning."

"You will be here for dinner tonight, okay?"

"What time?"

"Around six-thirty?"

"I'll be there."

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I knew the apartment that I wanted and luckily they had a vacancy. It helped that I knew the manager and I didn't have to waste time on credit checks and the like. I did the paperwork and then headed on over to the hospital to see my parents.

Dad was fretting because he wanted to get up and go home, but they wouldn't let him. Mom came in while I was there and we talked for a while until a nurse came in and chased us away while she did whatever it was that she had to do. Mom and I went to the hospital cafeteria and as soon as we sat down I went right at what I saw as the problem. I reminded her that the reason I had left the store and moved away was because of dad and the way he ran the store. I told her flat out that if I was going to uproot my life and come back to run the store that it was going to be done my way and not dad's and that if I took over running the store I would not put up with dad's interfering in what I was doing. I told her what Ellen had told me about the stock and asked her point blank if she would stand with me if it became necessary. She didn't answer me right away and I could see the conflict in her eyes. Going against dad would be totally alien to her. Finally she said what Ellen said she would say.

"I'd rather have him mad at me and not talking to me than having to bury him. I hope it never comes down to it, but yes, you will have my support."

I left the hospital, went and picked up the U-Haul, drove it to the apartment and started moving things in. I had too much stuff to fit into the apartment so I took the balance to the storage unit and unloaded it. After dropping the trailer off at a U-Haul lot I drove over to Ellen's to have dinner with her and her family. I caught up on things with Paul and my nephews and around eight-thirty I said my 'goodbyes' and headed over to Clancy's Tavern. 

I walked in and headed toward the back where they pool tables were. I saw Andy and one of the guys who was at breakfast with him and I also saw a good half dozen guys that I had gone to school with. There was a lot of hand shaking and back slapping and then they got to shooting pool. A waitress came up to me and handed me a Coor's Light which caught me off guard since neither I nor any of the others had placed an order since I got there and how did she know that Coor's Light is what I drank? I dug in my pocket for my money and the waitress said:

"It's been taken care of."

"By who?"

"The lady at the end of the bar."

I turned and looked and saw Lori sitting there with the woman who had been at Patty Ann's with Andy that morning. I suddenly knew why she had looked familiar. I'd met her at Lori's company Christmas party, I looked back at the waitress and said:

"That ain't no lady and you can believe that. I'll take the Coors as long as I pay for it."

"Suit yourself honey; I just work here."

She took my money and left and I turned back to the group and shot the bull with them as they shot pool. It took an effort on my part not to glance back toward the bar, but I managed it so I had no idea how Lori took my refusal to let her buy me a drink.

When things started to break up Andy asked me to join him at a table and when we walked back to the bar I noticed that Lori was gone and I breathed an inward sigh of relief. Andy and I talked for a while and then he said he had to leave. I still had half a beer to finish so I stayed. Andy had been gone about two minutes when the waitress came over and sat down across from me. She smiled and offered me her hand and said:

"Care to satisfy a girl's curiosity?"

"Don't know. What's the name of the girl?"

She smiled, offered me her hand and said, "Hi. I'm Sarah."

"Hello Sarah, I'm Rob. So what are you curious about?"

"What happened earlier. Lori is in here two or three nights a week with the girls she works with and she gets hit on a dozen times a night and she always shoots them down. Then you come in and for the first time in the year and a half I've worked here she takes a shot at a guy and you turned her down. Not just turned her down, but rudely turned her down. Can't help but be curious about it."

"All it is, curious girl, is that once upon a time the two of us had a relationship and it went sour."

"A relationship? I thought she was married."

"She is. Unfortunately, it is to me."

"You said is, not was."

"As far as I know she has never gotten a divorce."

"So as far as you know you are still married?"

"As far as I know.

"Rats!"

"What does that mean?"

"You're kind of cute and the "curious" ploy was an attempt to get something going, but that's out the window if you are married."

"Sorry."

"So am I sweetie; so am I."

I finished my beer and got up to go. As I walked out to the parking lot I thought about what Sarah had said. Lori shooting down guys that hit on her. That sure didn't match up to the woman who told me she was going to fuck her lover on our bed and that we could talk about it in the morning.

I got in the car, but before I could back out of the parking space a car drove up behind me and stopped. I knew instantly that it was Lori. I couldn't pull forward because the building was in front of me so I was stuck. I thought about just putting the car in reverse and ramming the car behind me but that wouldn't let me get away; all it would do is damage two cars.

In the mirror I saw Lori get out of the car and walk up to the passenger side door. She tried the handle and found that the door was locked. She tapped on the window and tried the door again -- still locked. After saying, "Open the door Rob" three times she finally got the message and walked around the car to my side.

"Damn it Rob; stop this foolishness. We have to talk."

I rolled the window down and said, "No we don't Lori. What you said and did the last night we were together covered it all."

"No it didn't Rob. I need to know why you cheated on me and I need to know why you didn't care enough about me that you could just walk away without trying to keep our marriage going."

"You can't possibly be that stupid Lori. Forget about your lies to me about you and Randy and the opera and motel rooms and concentrate on what you did that last night. You pushed your lover in my face and told me you were going to fuck him all night in my bed. Did you really think I would sit still for that? No fucking way Lori! You should have remembered the way things went before we were married and you pulled your bone-headed stunts. Did I ever -- even once -- just sit there and wait. Fuck no I didn't and you should have remembered that. I didn't put up with your shit then so why did you think I would sit still for you telling me that you were going to fuck Randy all night? Although in the light of what I knew by then it probably wouldn't have been the first time. Now move your car."

"I'm not moving my car until you tell me why you cheated on me."

"I told you Lori, I never cheated on you."

"Bullshit Rob, I have witnesses. Betty Thomas saw you getting on a hotel elevator with a big titted blond and Randy saw you take a redhead into a room at the Days Inn."

"Did Betty follow us up to a room? Is it against the law to get on an elevator with someone else? As for Randy, how stupid would you have to believe anything bad he said about me. You are the one who told me how he was hanging around and hoping you would dump me for him. I'll even bet that he didn't say anything to you about me going into a motel room with another woman until after you told him that you thought I was cheating on you."

I saw from her face that I had scored on that one. "Well Randy finally got his wish, but he was probably already fucking you by then any way. Now move your car before I start turning it into junk."

"Not until you tell me about your cheating."

"What part of "I never cheated on you" don't you understand?"

"Betty saw..."

"Fuck what Betty saw. Did you do any checking on your own or was Betty seeing me walk onto an elevator all you based your idea that I was cheating on? Did you call to see if I was registered? What hotel was it? Was it the Emerson?"

Again I saw from her face that I had scored. "What do you already know about the Emerson Lori? Isn't that where XYZ holds it's seminars for out of state employees? Isn't that where XYZ keeps hospitality suites for those seminars? What day was it Lori? Did you check to see if XYZ had something going on there that day? The hospitality suites are on the fourth floor so wouldn't it be reasonable that I would take the elevator to get there? And what about the woman. Are big titted blonds not allowed to check in to the Emerson? If the Emerson did allow a big titted woman to take a room there would they forbid her to get on an elevator if anyone else got on it? Or how about this? The big titted blond worked for XYZ and was there to attend the seminar or maybe she was the wife of someone who was attending. Maybe she was an out of town tourist who just happened to be going up to her room. Did you look into any of that Lori?

"I'll tell you what I think happened. You were cheating on me all along with that asshole Randy and given the axiom that cheaters always think other people cheat you jumped on what Betty told you as proof that you were right and then you let Randy lie to you because it backed up what Betty said. The part I'll never understand is why you thought I would sit still for you bringing that fucking dickhead into my house and telling me you were going to fuck him. You had to be totally brain dead to do something like that. Now please move your car before I do something that I'll probably regret."

She stood there looking at me for a couple of seconds and then said, "All right, I'll move, but only on the condition that you come to the house tomorrow and sit down and talk with me. It is obvious that you think I've been doing things that I haven't and we need to talk about that. Can you do that?"

If you promise that you will leave me alone when we are done."

"I'll promise if that is what you decide you want after we talk."

She got in her car and drove off.

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The next day at the store it was as if I'd never left. There had been absolutely no changes. I spent the day getting reacquainting myself with the people and going over the books with Ellen. As we reviewed the books I discussed some of the changes I wanted to make and she thought most of them were good ideas and some them long overdue.

I spent some time with Harley in the lumberyard and got a feel for what the heavy construction was requiring us to stock and then, Harley being Harley, he had to stick his nose in.

"You going to see Lori?"

"I suppose I'll have to see her if I stick around."

"I don't know what happened between you two, but whatever it was it didn't set too well with Lori."

"Why would you say that?"

"You left and she became a hermit. Doesn't go out much and when she does it is always with girlfriends or the girls she works with."

"Well Harley, all I can say is that it was her choice. I don't much care what she does or doesn't do."

"That bad huh?"

"Yes indeed Harley, that bad."

Ellen left at four to be home when her kids got home from school and I stayed until closing. As I drove to the house to see Lori I wondered why she was so insistent that she talk to me. She had to know me well enough to know that after what she had done we were through. I rang the doorbell and when she opened the door she said:

"This is a surprise. I really didn't think you would come."

"I've never lied to you Lori. I said I would be here so I'm here."

"Where should we do this? The kitchen table or the living room?"

"Wherever Lori, I've had my say, this is all on you."

"The living room then since it is more comfortable."

I followed her into the living room and saw that she had two glasses of wine sitting on the coffee table in front of the sofa. No way I was going to sit next to her on the couch so I sat in the easy chair just across from the couch. I saw a small flash of annoyance cross her face at my not following her game plan. As soon as I was sitting I said:

"Okay Lori, lets get it over with."

She lifted one of the wine glasses to her lips, took a sip, a deep breath and then said:

"I was hurt when you cheated on me Rob" and as soon as she said that I stood up to leave.

"Okay, okay, when I thought you were cheating on me."

I sat back down and she continued. "I was hurt and I was down in the dumps and Randy commented on the fact that I didn't seem like myself. I told him what Betty had told me and he said, "No surprise there" and then he told me about seeing you go in to a motel with a redhead. Hearing that destroyed me Rob. The next coupe of times I saw Randy he asked me what I was going to do and I kept telling him that I didn't know. Then he suggested that I get even with you. I told him that I couldn't do that. I told him that sneaking around like you were doing just wasn't something I could do. He convinced me that I wasn't going to feel right until I confronted you and then he suggested that instead of sneaking around that I confront you and then rub your nose in it. That suited me better than going to a motel or hotel with some man and then coming to you and saying:

"You did it so I did it too and now that we are even we can sit down and talk."

"The more I thought about it the more I liked the idea. I loved you and I didn't want our marriage to end, but I could not sit still while you cheated on me. So I decided that I would do it to you, but not sneak around to do it. I would make us even and then we would sit down and work things out. I would let you know in no uncertain terms that I would not put up with you running around on me. And of course Randy volunteered to be the man I'd do it with. Looking back on it now I think his idea all along was for what happened to happen. You would leave and he would have what he thought was a clear field.




Rob and Lori Ch. 04



"I realized I'd screwed up as soon as I saw the expression on your face when I told you what I intended to do. I didn't expect the reaction I got when you left the room and then packed. Then you accused me of cheating on you with Randy and left and I knew from your actions and tone of voice that you did not intend to come back and talk in the morning. I panicked and started to chase after you, but Randy grabbed me and said to let you go and that you would cool down and be back the next day. By the time I pulled away from him you were already driving down the street. I tried to call your phone but you wouldn't answer. Since then I have tried and tried to get someone to tell me where you were so I could talk to you. I'm sorry Rob; I'm sorry and I want you to come home. Things haven't been right for me since you left."

I sat there and looked at her for several seconds before saying, "There wouldn't be any sense for our getting back together Lori. The trust is gone and in any case there is no way that I would move back into this house after you fucked Randy in it."

She turned pale and said, "I didn't Rob, I didn't do it. After you left I told Randy to leave, but he kept trying to pull me back down on the couch and I finally had to grab that blue flower vase on the end table and smack him in the balls with it. Then I told him to leave before I called the police. I swear to you Rob, Randy did not touch me."

"Even if I were to believe that what about all the other times you were with Randy? All those times that you were with him after telling me you were with your girlfriends."

"It was only twice Rob. Both times it was because I had opera tickets and you wouldn't go with me. Randy works in the build across the street from me and we both eat lunch at Estaban's and if we were both alone we would sometimes share a table. One day I was telling him I couldn't get anyone to go to the opera with me and he told me that he loved the opera and that he would be happy to go with me. I didn't tell you I was going with him because I didn't want to cause problems. I remembered what you said about my dating him way back when. I swear Rob, I was never intimate with Randy.

"I don't know how you know about the motel room, but nothing happened there. Randy's apartment was being painted and so he checked into the motel until it was done. I met him there and we left my car and drove to a restaurant where were had dinner and then we went to the opera. After the opera we drove back to the motel and I went inside to use the bathroom. I wasn't in there five minutes. Honest to God Rob I have never been intimate with Randy or anyone else since the day we took our vows."

"As highly sexed as you are you expect me to believe that you have been living the life of a nun the entire time I've been gone?"

"It's true Rob; it hasn't been easy, but it is true. I have been praying that you would come back and I knew that if I was to have any chance of getting you back I'd have to be as pure as the driven snow. But to be honest about it I did have a deadline. At the end of three years I was going to go for a divorce to release me from my vows."

I sat there looking at her and thought about what my sister Ellen, Harley and the waitress at Clancy's had told me and wondered if Lori was actually telling the truth. But given that line of thought did it really matter? She might have stayed true to her vows after I left, but I sure hadn't. I did know she was telling the truth about her trips to the opera because I had watched them both times, but I still had a major problem with what had happened.

"That isn't all of it Lori. There is still the fact that you thought so little of me that you took what Betty said as the gospel and accepted that I was cheating on you. You say that you love me, but just not enough to come to me and say that you think there is a problem? You had so little trust in me that you were ready and willing to believe it. And what about Randy? By your own admission he has been after you for years and you should have known that he would use whatever he could to split us apart so he could get you.

"Randy had to have made up his lie on the spur of the moment after you told him that you thought I was cheating. A spur of the moment lie means he just went with it. Why didn't you ask for details? You could have used hose details to confront me and then I would have been in a position to defend myself. I could have been in a meeting with a half dozen witnesses. I might have been out of town on one of my trips that day. Who knows? Certainly not you because once again you thought so little of me that you just took what was said and believed it. I don't know that I can ever get by that lack of faith and trust Lori. I don't see how you can profess your love for me and yet be willing to think that poorly of me."

"I have no excuse Rob. I don't know why I just believed what I was told. I do know that I didn't confront you after talking with Betty because I was afraid that it might be true and I didn't want to start anything that might have driven us apart. When Randy told me what he did I accepted it because I then had two independent sources so to me it meant that there to be something to it. My off-the-wall plan as you call it was the only way I could think of letting you know that I would not stand still for being cheated on. My saying that we would sit down and talk about it in the morning was to let you know that we would still have a marriage if that is what you wanted

"Looking back on it now I can see that it was a pretty bad idea, but I'm only human Rob and I have a lot of the faults that go with being human. One of those faults is being head-strong and sure that what I'm doing is the right way to go and another is jumping to conclusions. I knew that I had screwed up bad when I saw your face when you came out of the bedroom with packed bags. If you would just have answered your phone before leaving town we could have worked it out. I'm sorry Rob. I screwed up and I know it, but I love you and I always have. I want you back with me Rob; I need you back with me. Please Rob."

"I don't know Lori. I am not at all happy with the way things went down. I need to think some on it." I got up to leave and then said, "Maybe we can get together again on Friday and talk some more."

"Promise Rob? We will talk again on Friday?"

"I promise Lori."

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I got in my car and headed for my apartment, but on the way I stopped at The Wagon Wheel for a beer. I sat there at the bar and nursed the beer and thought about my talk with Lori. Did I really have to waste a lot of time thinking about anything? I had loved Lori since we were basically just kids. We'd had some bad times, but what couple didn't? I doubted that during the time I'd been gone there had been a day when I hadn't thought of Lori. My sister, Harley and the girl from Clancy's said that Lori stayed home and didn't date and could a woman who had cheated on her man do that? Especially one who loved sex as much as Lori did? I honestly had nothing other than two trips to the opera and the fact that Lori dated Randy so much before we got married to go on so I could have been way off based to believe that they were lovers. Pissed at her after what she had done? Yes, and mightily so, but I still felt the stirring in my belly whenever I saw her and that had to count for something.

I finished me beer and looked at my watch. It was early yet and Lori could still be up so I finished my beer and left the bar. I was almost to Lori's place when I thought that I'd better call ahead and let her know I was on the way back. I pulled over and flipped open my cell phone. The lights of a car came in my back window and I've no idea why I looked over as the car went by me, but I did and I caught a glimpse of Randy as he went by. Why would Randy be in this neighborhood is what I thought. I pulled out and stayed about six car lengths behind him. He drove past the house and then turned the corner onto the side street just past the house. I saw his brake lights come on immediately and I drove by the street and then hung a quick u-turn and then pulled over and parked. I walked to the corner and got there just in time to see Randy go into the alley that ran behind the house.

I quietly followed along behind him and peered around the corner of the garage at the end of the alley and saw Randy go in our back gate. I moved along the alley until I could see the back of the house and Randy was on the back porch knocking on the back door. I saw the door open and then Lori step back to let Randy in. The door closed and I knew why my sister and Harley were able to tell me that Lori hadn't gone out with a man in all the time I was gone. No need to go out; she just stayed home and her lover snuck in the back door.

Curiosity got the better of me so I went up on the back porch and looked in the window, I could see into the kitchen and through the dining room into the family room and I saw Lori and Randy on the couch with their arms around each other as they kissed. I tried the door and found that it wasn't locked and I quietly let myself in. I moved through the kitchen and stood just inside the door to the dining room and listened in on Lori and Randy.

"...understand it baby. First you tell me that I can't be here because Rob is going to be here and then you call me and tell me to hurry over."

"You don't want to be here?"

"Of course I do baby and you know it."

"Then what is your problem?"

"I just don't understand baby. I've never understood. I don't understand why you won't marry me. I don't understand your waiting for Rob to come back. I don't understand why you say that even if he does come back to you that you are still going to keep on seeing me. I don't understand why if you feel that way you don't just divorce him and marry me. Hell baby, I've never understood any of it. Why you married him and kept on seeing me after I begged you to marry me in the first place."

"How many times do I have to tell you Randy? I love Rob and I don't love you. I love sex with you, but I do not and never have loved you. I told you a long time ago that "like" and "sex" were all you were ever going to get from me. Speaking of sex sweetie, are you ready for a trip to the bedroom?"

"Have I ever said no to that?"

I was just about to step into the room and say a few choice words when I suddenly thought of a better way to handle things. I quietly left the house and headed on back to my apartment.

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First thing in the morning I called my sister and asked her if she was sure that the house was still in my and Lori's names and she told me that Lori had ripped up my power of attorney right in front of her. I grabbed the yellow pages and an hour later I was sitting in the office of a detective agency. Since the house was still in my name I was able to authorize the placing of surveillance devices in the house. I met the men from the agency at the house while Lori was at work and two hours later the house was wired for audio and video and a recorder was placed on the phone line. I told the agency to call me immediately as soon as they had something. They called me that evening and told me that the telephone tap had a call from Lori to Randy telling him to come over. Randy also visited on Wednesday and Thursday.

Friday morning I called Lori and told her that I wouldn't be able to make it that night like I had promised, but I asked her if she could meet me at the IHOP for breakfast. She said she would be there and then said:

"Please have good news for me Rob."

I had no way of know whether Lori had called Randy from work to give him the all clear, but I was betting that she would. I was parked on the side street when Randy came to call and I gave him time to get into the house before I went up on the back porch. Through the window I saw Lori on her knees sucking Randy's cock as he sat on the couch. I got my key out, but the door was unlocked so I quietly let myself in and moved to where I could hear what was going on in the family room. I heard Randy crooning:

"That's it baby, just like that. Damn, but you are one hell of a cock-sucker."

"Enjoy it while you can sweetie; it is going to have to last you for a while."

"Why? You said we were going to keep on going?"

"Yeah sweetie, but not for a while. When I get Rob back I am going to spoil the hell out of him. I won't have any time for you until after I get him settled in and that could take months."

There were some sucking and slurping noises and then Randy hissed, "God, but you are good at that." More noises and Randy moaned, "I'm coming baby, I'm coming" followed by "I love it when you swallow." There were a few more noises and then Lori said: 

"You want to go bounce on the bed?"

"Why do you always ask me that? You know I do."

"A girl never takes things for granted."

I had intended to wait until they were hot at it on the bed before making my appearance, but that line was just too perfect for me to pass up so I stepped around the corner into the dining room and said:

"Well Lori, there is one thing that you can take absolutely for granted and that is the fact that you and I will never be anything except divorced from each other."

I turned and walked toward the back door as Lori yelled out, "Wait Rob, please wait."

I didn't!

I made it to my car as Lori came running down the alley and drove past her as she tried to wave me down.

I drove to Clancy's and took a stool at the bar and as I sipped my beer I looked over the place to see if Sarah was working, but I didn't see her. I did see an old buddy sitting at a booth along the south wall and I got up and walked over to her.

"Hello there sexy lady. Alone or waiting for some lucky dude?"

Sue looked up at me and smiled as she said, "I don't really know. Maybe the one I'm waiting for just got here."

I looked around and didn't see anyone heading our way so I smiled back at her, sat down and said, "Maybe he did."

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I sued for divorce using infidelity as grounds and then I sued Randy for alienation of affections. Lori was going to fight it until I showed her the tapes the detective agency had gotten for me. I told her if she fought me I would see to it that everyone in the world got to see them. I also suggested that her talking Randy into settling the suit I had against him would go a long ways toward seeing that the tapes were destroyed. I don't know what she said to him, but he settled. As far as the divorce was concerned the judge we had was old school and had no use for cheaters. He dictated that the assets be split 65/35 with me on top. I wasn't mean about it. I paid the attorney fees and court costs and I let her have the house. Only fair since I had given it to her when I left town. 

The biggest surprise was for me and Randy both. As soon as the divorce was final Lori dropped Randy like a hot potato. She calls me every two weeks or so and tells me that she really does love me and begs me to give her another chance, but this boy ain't going there. Once burnt twice shy, right?

Sue hadn't changed any. She was just out of a relationship and told me that I could probably get at least a year out of her before she started getting antsy again. I told her I could live with that. Hey; at least with Sue you knew where you stood. Who knows, maybe I would develop a kinky side by the time she was ready to wander and I could maybe be the guy she said she needed. Wouldn't that be a kick in Lori's teeth if that happened? She could sit around and wonder if it could have worked out that way with Randy, her and me.