79 comments/ 105840 views/ 25 favorites Running out of Love By: StangStar06 Edited by DB448 In nature, a seemingly random sequence of events can destroy things that have taken a long time to build up. Sometimes those things can never be reformed the way they were no matter how much we want them to. As an example let's say the wind blows, this causes a small twig to fall from a tree on a hillside. The twig lands on and dislodges a pebble that held a rock in place. The rock was the only thing preventing the boulders near the top of the hill from becoming an avalanche that sweeps away a town at the bottom of the hill. My name is Robbie Patrick, not Rob, or Bob, or Bert, just Robbie, and that series of seemingly random events is very similar to what destroyed my happy marriage. My wife Carly and I are typical DINKS. (Double Income No Kids) We have a nice house in the suburbs around Detroit. We've both got great jobs, and life is good. We had thus far decided against doing our duty to help propagate the human race out of pure selfishness. We thought that we had all the time in the world to have kids later. So for now we were busy collecting our toys and taking trips to and from exotic locations and just having fun with each other. I'm 5' 10, 170, dark brown hair and eyes, reasonably good looking and in great shape due to running between 50 and 70 miles a week. I usually run a couple of Marathons a year, so I like to stay fit. Carly, the apple of my eye is about 5' even and 160. She has collar length blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. You've heard of people whose smile can light up a room? Well Carly's smile can light up a city. She's kind of smaller on top, so most of that 160 pounds is hips, thighs and ass. About a year ago Carly noticed that she was getting a little muffin around her middle. It didn't bother me in the least; I thought it was kind of cute. But she was depressed about it for a couple of days until I suggested that she get rid of it by coming out to run with me. Initially she loved the idea, even going as far as buying herself all kinds of nice outfits to run in, and 3 pairs of running shoes. The actual implementation of the idea was much less successful. OK why sugar coat it. We were not compatible in terms of running. The two of us running together went over like a fart in church. If I slowed down so much that it seemed like I was running backwards, it was still too fast for Carly. If she sped up to the point that she could only run for a couple of minutes, it was still too slow to be comfortable for me. The answer was quick in coming though. While we were out for our 2nd and last run, we spotted a group of 6 or 7 women running together. Carly shooed me off to run by myself while she joined up with them. In a few weeks when summer came along, Carly's running group decided to switch to running in the mornings to beat the summer heat. I stuck to my evening schedule, except for my longer runs on Sunday morning. This worked great for us, or so I thought. Our typical pattern was for Carly to wake up at 5:30 a.m. be out of the house by 5:45, go run with the girls and be back between 7 and 7:20. She did this 3 times a week, usually Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I would usually go out right after she did, get her favorite coffee from Tim Horton's with a Doughnut or a Bagel, and sometimes flowers, and have them waiting for her when she got back. I'd also iron her clothes for work and make sure there was gas in her car etc. All the things a loving husband is supposed to do. That was how it went on that ill fated morning nearly 2 weeks ago. Carly came into our bedroom still breathing heavily and plopped herself down on the bed beside me. Though it looked like I was asleep I wasn't. She tentatively poked me, to see if I was awake. Before her fingers made contact I turned around and grabbed her and pulled her into a long affectionate kiss. She smelled great: that should have set off an alarm in my mind, but it didn't. "I knew you were faking it, you faker" she laughed. I reached beside the bed and brought up a tray with her coffee and doughnuts and a single red rose for her. I could see the beginning of a tear forming in the corner of her eye. I don't really get it, because I do things like this for her all the time, but it still seems like the first time to her every time I do. I will never figure women out. "Coffee, doughnuts, and a rose" she said as she held her chin like one of those cheesy TV detectives. "I think I've solved this case" she continued, talking as if someone other than me was listening to her. "It appears, to my experienced and brilliant powers of deduction" she said, pausing for dramatic effect and then looking suspiciously at me. "That someone around here was not satisfied with riding me like a pony for half of last night. The culprit behind the coffee, doughnuts, and the innocent looking rose, obviously wants some early morning pussy" the last 3 words uttered in a lust filled tone. Needless to say we were both late for work that morning, and a lot of mornings actually, so I really believed that things between us were solid. At that time I'd have given my life for her without hesitation. How quickly things can change. That very Wednesday evening, as I came into the house and changed into my running gear, I kissed Carly as she was mopping the kitchen floor. This was a telltale sign that we were having someone over for dinner. As I kissed her I noticed a light film of sweat on Carly's brow from the exertion of mopping. I didn't even think about it then, but a seed had been planted in my mind. "Don't be too late, I need you to man the grill" she said, as she traded my quick peck for a much more passionate open mouthed lip lock. As we kissed Carly's hands wandered into the front of my shorts. "Carly if you keep that up I'll never get out of here" I said smiling. "Well I've got something down here that you've been out of since this morning and it needs to be filled, by you" said Carly as I pulled away from her. "I'll fill it up when I get back" I smirked, another kiss and I was out the door. A little while later, and about a mile into my run, I was ecstatic. I had Evanescence on my ipod, I was doing something I loved and the world was a beautiful place. Then it happened, one of those seemingly random acts. A drop of sweat rolled from my forehead into my eye causing me to wipe my eye. It also caused me to think back to earlier events. Something wasn't right about Carly. Why would she smell so fresh after coming in from her 4 mile run this morning, and then build up a sweat doing some light cleaning? Something didn't fit, but I couldn't really see what was wrong. Our dinner guest turned out to be one half of one of the couples that we socialized with in the neighborhood. They were an older couple, Georgette and Tom. Georgette was here alone, because they were getting a divorce. Carly had invited her over to lend a sympathetic ear, and basically be supportive, with me along for the ride. After I grilled the steaks we sat down and Georgette started whining about how Tom was fucking his secretary and had just taken off with her to Mexico. I excused myself and went to the garage to spend some time on my favorite toy. I was getting my 06 Mustang GT ready for the Woodward Dream Cruise. I was putting in some billet Grills just to make it look a little different, although with her shaker ram air hood system, it was already different enough. I really should have paid more attention to Georgette, but at that moment I didn't realize that her experience might have been beneficial to me as well. The next day, a Thursday, Carly didn't have to run so she woke me up with a blow job that I can still feel now, almost 2 weeks later. "That should keep you from even looking at your goddamned secretary" she smirked. "After you let me fuck your ass last night, I was going to fire her" I laughed. Carly rolled over and hugged me really tightly and we stayed like that for a while. "Please don't ever cheat on me" she said quietly. "I promise, I never will" I said, and I meant it. I just didn't understand Carly sometimes. I loved her with all of my heart and soul and after 8 years of marriage we still had sex usually a couple of times a day. Who in their right mind would want to fuck that up? Women are crazy. That night I went out to run and rounding a corner in the park, I saw the familiar form of a person that I didn't know. I know that makes no sense at all, but it was true. The form was familiar, because I'd seen her lots of times before. But we'd never spoken, so I really didn't know her. "Hi" I said, slowing down to match her pace. "Why are you out here today?" I asked. She was kind of guarded, as I guess she should have been. After all she was a woman running alone, and I was a strange guy coming up to her. "I'm Robbie" I said. Obviously my statement of identification had no effect. Carly must not talk about me very much when they run. "Carly's husband" I said as if that was going to clear things up. She still looked puzzled, but she smiled, and her smile was a thing of beauty. It wasn't a 10 mega watt all mouth and teeth smile meant to lull thousands of people, like my Carly had. Nope this was a barely crinkle her lips, no teeth smile that also recruited her beautiful green eyes, and even her nose into it smile, that was meant exclusively for one person, and that person was me. Even though I was madly in love with my wife at the time, that smile gave me pause. Shit it more than gave me pause; that smile almost gave me a concussion. Her smile caused me not to pay any attention to where we were running and if she hadn't grabbed my arm and pulled me away from it, I'd have run right smack into a tree. "Who's Carly?" she said stifling a full on laugh. Now it was my turn to be puzzled. How could she not know who Carly was? "She runs with you, in the mornings" I said. "Nope, we don't have a Carly" she said. "But I've seen you around here lots of times and I've been meaning to talk you" she continued. "My name is Rebecca, everyone calls me Becca" she said holding out a tiny hand. "I've heard that you run Marathons and I'm upping my mileage because I think I'd like to run one, but I don't know the first thing about it" she said. "Well I could help you with that" I offered. And for the next few miles we talked about the type of training runs she would need. We talked about the long run, and recovery runs, and pacing, and the importance of picking the right race. We even started talking about doing our weekend long runs together. I told her how some people liked to do them on Saturday, and she quickly said "Sunday is better" "Why, got a hot date on Saturday morning" I laughed. "Something like that" she said, punctuating it with another one of those awesome smiles. Then she left the running path, vowing to meet me here Sunday morning bright and early. As I completed my run, a thousand niggling little thoughts were going through my head all at the same time. The first of which was where the hell did Carly go every other day if she wasn't running with Becca and her group? That night my mind was just not on sex as my loving wife did everything she could to kill me with pleasure. Then she rolled over and cuddled up beside me. "Robbie it's time" she said sleepily. "This is our last week" she continued. "OK" I mumbled, pretending to be asleep. "We'll talk about it tomorrow sleepy head" she said. The next morning when Carly got dressed to go for her run, I stayed in bed as usual. As soon as she left, I got dressed as usual. I got into my car as usual but a little earlier. This time I followed Carly. I wasn't surprised to see her drive right past the park. I kept about a block between us so she wouldn't notice me, and saw her turn and park in the lot next to some really shitty apartments. I was glad I wasn't driving my Mustang because it would have stood out like a sore thumb here. This place was only a half step up from being a trailer park. I saw Carly walk up to the door of one of the apartments and knock. The door was open and Carly stepped inside; her ease let me know that she'd done this before. I crept over to the apartment and looked to see if anyone was looking outside. No one was. There were 3 windows, all of which had those cheap mini blinds. None of the blinds were even closed. I looked in the first window and saw a living room, with no one in it. The view inside the 2nd window changed my life forever. There was Carly taking off her running shorts while some guy who had his hair cut in a mullet got comfortable. Lucky for me I had the presence of mind to whip out my iphone and start taking video. Carly did a little strip-tease then climbed up on the bed and straddled the guy. She lowered her pussy onto his face while he gave himself a hand-job. Then she sat back and pushed his dick inside her. They were having a conversation while they fucked. Because of the window, I didn't get any sound on my video, and it didn't matter because I didn't want to hear anything either of them had to say anyway. If I was expecting it to be hot and crazy like sex with Carly and I was, then I was shocked because Carly was just going through the motions. She looked bored; I wondered why she'd throw away our marriage for mundane sex. My heart literally hurt. I thought about walking in and wondered what would I do or say to them that would make any difference? I drove home and hurriedly changed for work and left before Carly got back. When I got to work earlier than normal, I told Crystal, my secretary, that I'd been called in early on an emergency and would be in the office on a call most of the morning. I knew that when Carly called I'd have covered myself without having to actually talk to her. Like clockwork at 7:04 I watched the display on my iphone light up with Carly's picture. I let it go to voice mail. Then I saw the light on the office phone go on and a few seconds later Crystal stuck her head in the door. I shook my head no. She mouthed "it's Carly" and I shook my head even harder. Crystal retreated to the outer office. I could tell Crystal was wondering what was going on because I never screened Carly's calls, ever. Even if we were having one of our very rare tiffs, we always spoke to each other. At first I thought I was brilliant, but if I was so fucking brilliant, why was my wife screwing Joe Dirt? As I thought about it more, I realized that it had been a mistake. I needed to be very careful about everything I did until I figured this out. My one advantage was that I knew, and she didn't know that I knew. Maybe she was getting ready to tell me. Maybe that was what her comments were about last night. Her exact words were: It was time, and that we had about a week left. "OK bitch" I thought, I don't need a week. If it took her a week I could do it in 3 days. I called John Berman. John was an old friend from college and before. He was a great attorney and lately he'd been working for ADAM; the American divorce association for men. They specialized in making sure that men got treated fairly in divorce cases. "Hey John" I said into the phone. "Robbie, how's it hanging?" he replied. "Low and to the side" my cheerful retort belied my true feelings. "John, this isn't a social call" I said. "You have a friend who wants a divorce?" he asked. "Yeah, me" I replied. "OK tell me another one" he laughed. "John I'm serious, Carly is cheating on me with some hillbilly scumbag" I said. John's entire manner changed, he became very serious and very professional. "Robbie, you're going to need proof we can take to court or use to get leverage. I have a great PI firm on retainer" he told me. "We don't need them John, are you near a computer?" I asked "Of course" he replied. "Give me your email address" I said. I uploaded the video from my phone into my office pc and emailed it to the address John had provided. "Holy shit, Robbie I'm so sorry, I thought you were joking" he said. "John, I need to have papers ready to be served in 3 days" I told him. "Monday morning at 7:00 a.m. to be exact" "Wow you don't fuck around" he said. "Nope that's Carly's job" I replied. "Well you don't have any kids, you still maintain separate bank accounts" he mumbled. "The house was yours already when you met" he added. "OK we'll have to put in some overtime but I can do it" he said confidently. "Thanks John, you're a life saver" I said. "Robbie, are you sure you want this, I mean you guys are the happiest couple I know" he said. "Maybe she's not in control of the situation, maybe it was a one time thing." "Goodbye John, call my cell if there are any problems" I said as I hung up. Next I called a locksmith and got prices for changing locks. When I told the guy that I needed to have both locks on my house changed at 6 a.m. Monday morning he froze. I got the impression that he thought I was doing something illegal. So I explained the situation to him and told him I'd have my ID, and papers proving that I was the owner of the house. I guess he'd been burned at one point in his life too because not only would he do it, he'd do it for free. Then I thought about calling a moving company and having her stuff neatly placed into boxes and waiting for her on the front lawn. My 2nd thought was, fuck her, let her wait until the court ordered me to give her access to the house so she could come and get her own stuff. My 3rd thought was to throw all of her shit out on the lawn and turn the sprinklers on. Then all of our nosy neighbors could watch and come over and find out how the cheating bitch got to be in that predicament. I decided to go with option 1, it was the most professional, and I really didn't want any kind of revenge against Carly, or her lover "Lil Abner". I just wanted my heart to stop hurting and get this all over with. But one thing was for sure, I was never going to get involved with another woman for as long as I lived. I'd stick with escorts. I always did prefer to pay up front, rather than paying for it later. By lunch time Carly had called my cell phone 18 times, and left 4 messages with Crystal. I don't think either Crystal or I was surprised when she showed up to take me to lunch. The big surprise came when I 'Wasn't there'. "But his car is still in the lot" said Carly. "They all went in Dave's new SUV" said Crystal with a very straight face. I had to give Crystal credit, she might not know what was going on, but she knew which side her bread was buttered on. I knew that eventually I'd have to talk to her but I was hoping to put it off for as long as I could. I was also planning on working late that night. John called me back, he wanted to talk details and he told me his PI firm had earned their money. From the Iphone video they'd been able to get the address of the apartment, and from that they'd gotten the guy's name and the fact that he was married. "How does any of this help me, John?" I asked. "Well the nicest people in the world can sometimes be the most outrageous, when it comes to legal matters" John said. "You're asking for a nice amicable uncontested divorce" he continued. "What's yours stays yours, what's hers stays hers right? Well, that's fine until she starts crying and does all the girl stuff, and claims you abused her or neglected her , and basically forced her to cheat as the only way she could get her emotional needs taken care of. She then asks for counseling to try and save the marriage and then you're screwed because you could be in counseling for months and have to listen to the silly bitch talk about, and try to justify, cheating on you. And the counselor will love her for opening up and revealing her feelings because it makes him look like he's doing his fucking job. In the end the court may give her the more favorable property split. More than likely, she won't get your house because you owned it before you two got together, but any assets you acquired during the marriage may be split down the middle" he explained. Running out of Love "I'm OK with that" I said, "I just want her gone" "Oh really" said John, "So you'd be OK seeing her trailer trash boyfriend squeeze his mullet into your Mustang?" "Fuck no. I'd kill them both first" I snapped. "So we need to be able to bring out the big guns if she forces us to. Just let me handle it, this is what I do for a living" he said and then he hung up. Since I knew that Carly would be getting home soon, I called and left a message at the house that I'd be getting home very late because we were having problems at work. I called the home phone instead of her cell because I didn't want to talk to her. I tried really hard to make my voice sound normal. We think of silly things at the oddest of times. While I was leaving the message Carly's words of the other night came back to me. "Please don't ever cheat on me" she'd said. Maybe I should have asked her the same thing, but then it would have already been too late. After work I went to a strip club with some of the guys. We stayed out as long as most of them dared, since they were all still married. I wondered in the back of my mind how many of them were being given the same treatment I was. I stumbled into my house at the extremely late hour of 7:15p.m. The sun wasn't even down yet. Carly gave me the whole 9 yards about not calling her back, and where was I, etc. She tried to hug me but I pulled away. Then I reminded her that I should be out in the garage getting my car ready for the Dream Cruise tomorrow. "I haven't seen you all day, and the first thing you bring up is that car" she whined. "You don't love me anymore" she said jokingly. She didn't realize how prophetic her words were. "Of course I do" I lied, "It's just been a really long and shitty day. I have to leave very early in the morning, and I'll be there all day" I said. "So" I continued "I really need to wash and detail the car now" "OK sweetie" she said. "I'll make us a quick dinner, for after you're done, and then you can make it up to me later" she said winking. There was no way I was ever getting between those legs again. Was she a sex addict or something? I stayed out in the garage until well after midnight, and luckily Carly was asleep when I came in. I set the alarm on my watch so I could wake up after only 5 hours of sleep and crawled into bed as far away from her as the dimensions of our bed would allow. I was once again gone in the morning before she awoke and in a stroke of genius I left my iphone on the nightstand by our bed, with a word-processing program open on the screen. When she noticed the phone it would look like I had been in the process of writing her a quick note telling her how much I loved her. I knew that she would read it, but that she wouldn't tell me she had. She wouldn't want me to think that she was invading my privacy by reading a letter that I was writing to her. At the same time since I had clearly forgotten my phone, there'd be no way for me to contact her and vice versa. It would also hopefully delay her realization that something was wrong between us. As I got to the event another of those seemingly random things happened. The Dream Cruise was an event that had taken on a life of its own. It originally started as a one day celebration of classic cars and classic hot rods. Cars and vehicles of every ilk and every era now cruised down the city's central blvd from the small suburb of Ferndale, Michigan to Pontiac, Michigan. Strangely enough though, the event is largely viewed as a Detroit thing. It starts outside of Detroit and never actually enters the city. It could almost be called the Cruise away from Detroit, because that's what it does. It also now has many events inside of the cruise. Many of the individual cities involved have their own parties, events displays and what not. Some choose to remain true to the original 50's theme while others celebrate different aspects of automotive history or even a single car. Such as the event I was going to, Mustang alley, in Ferndale. Every year during the dream cruise the city of Ferndale celebrates all things Mustang. It features a line-up down nine mile road that for the past few years has been limited to 600 Mustangs. Yep, it's car heaven in general and in particular for Mustang fans. Imagine 600 Mach 1's, Shelby's, SVT Cobra's, Bullits, Eleanors, etc. Mustangs from every era and model are represented. All of the major clubs, including the World Mustang Club and the Michigan Mustang Registry, are present. Thousands of people walk through, take pictures and talk about the cars while they ogle and examine them. As I backed into my parking space somewhere in the middle, I noticed a now familiar set of legs. Their owner was bent over and the legs terminated in a nice heart shaped ass that I hadn't noticed. I didn't even start polishing my car before I went over to talk to the legs and their owner. "So this is your hot date" I said. Becca straightened up quickly and gave me one of those smiles. "So are you here helping your boyfriend out with his car?" I asked. "You must really like this guy to do this "I continued, putting my foot even more firmly in my mouth. "Well" she said "there's no boyfriend, this is my car" "Very nice" I said, impressed even more. "Let's see, 09 v6 Vert, with an after-market dual exhaust. Mac performance exhaust, right" I continued. "Ooh Hello tease 18 inch triple chrome rims, with Hankook tires"I said. "Very impressive" she said "You definitely know your Mustangs. How could you tell it was a v6 and not a GT?" she asked. "And how could you tell it's the 09?" she asked before I could answer the first question. "Your rear bumper cover is straight, it doesn't have the cutouts for the dual exhaust that every series since the 1999-2004s have" I started. "That meant that you added the dual exhaust yourself" I continued. "All GTs come with dual exhaust set-ups from the factory, you also have no fog lights,another v6 tip off. The anniversary badges on the fender only come in 5 year increments and your car couldn't be and 04, it's the wrong body, and since the 2014s are only a dream in some designers eyes right now it had to be an 09" I said taking a bow. "So why are, you here, and is "What's her name" with you?" she asked. "I'm sorry but I can't remember your wife's name" "It's Carly" I answered "and in a couple of days, she'll be my ex-wife" That kind of put a damper on our conversation and the day might've gone by with just that, if fate hadn't intervened. "Robbie, I have a problem" said a voice behind me. I turned and saw Becca standing there. The woman could really dress. All she had on was a T-shirt and a pair of shorts, and they weren't very short. Her shorts came down to about 3 inches above the knee, but her calves and the thighs that you could see were breath-taking. That T-shirt, while covering her from her neck to where the shorts started, only seemed to emphasize her breasts. Her hair wasn't even done up in a girly-girl do. She wasn't even trying to look good and she was giving all of the car show model types a run for their money. "Oh my God, this thing is beautiful, what is it?" she asked. "06 GT, with a shaker ram air hood, in screaming yellow with black racing stripes" I said. "If this your "soon to be ex-wife's" car, you must really like her to do this" she smirked. Then seeing my reaction, she realized what she'd done, and reached out to comfort me. That first touch was electric, and all thoughts of my cheating bitch of an ex wife disappeared. "I'm really sorry, forgive me" she said in a quiet voice. "So what's our problem Becca?" I asked. "What did you bring for lunch?" she asked me. My mouth dropped open, and I felt kind of dumb because I hadn't brought anything, and it was going to be a long hot day. "There's a McDonalds just up the street there" I offered. "So you're going to run back and forth to Micky Dees all day long, when your across the street neighbor and friend has a gourmet lunch, and brought a trunk full of healthy food and snacks?" she asked. "Well when you put it that way" I started, "Yep that's what I'm gonna do". "Why would you do that, when I'm willing to share?" she asked. "Women always want something when they want to share" I said softly. Then in a louder tone added "What do you need Becca, If I have it it's yours." "Just like that?" she asked. "Just like that" I returned. "Well I was so busy grabbing food, that I forgot all of my detailing stuff" she said. "I need a quick detailer spray, chrome polish, tire gel, and glass cleaner." I went to my trunk and gave her everything she asked for. She had never used the pads for her tire gel so I showed her how to use them and she was amazed at the shine they gave her tires. "And you waste a lot less product also" I told her. We spent the rest of the day sitting behind either my car or hers talking. I don't remember how many people came by, or even if anyone did at all. We laughed, we ate and we talked about everything, from running, to cars, to my upcoming divorce. She understood more than I had given her credit for because she'd been through the exact same thing 4 years prior. That was why there was no boy friend. She didn't want to do it again either. When it was time for us to leave I didn't want the day to end. I started to ask her to dinner but I just didn't think it would be appropriate given the circumstances. So we said our goodbyes. Were my eyes deceiving me or did she smile a bit when she said "See you in the morning" When I got home Carly was waiting for me; it was only 6 pm, but she was dressed for bed. Or should I say undressed for bed. She had on a light purple colored negligee that I'd never seen before. She had made another of her romantic little dinners, a stir fry with little pieces of both steak and chicken and an assortment of vegetables. Usually when she made something like this, we fed each other, and that intimate act led to further intimacy in the bedroom. "Carly I love you so much" I lied, "but I'm not feeling too well. "I'm tired and I think I'm coming down with something" I said. "If you have it then I'll just catch it too" she said. I was actually more worried about what I might catch from her, but I wisely didn't say it. "Well this is a good time for us to have our talk" she said. "Is this a serious subject?" I asked. "Very serious" she answered. "Is it time sensitive?" I asked" Do we need to make a decision right away?" "Why are you asking that?" she asked. "Well I have to do a really long run in the morning and I'm thinking that maybe we should, if we can, put this off until Monday night" I explained. "That way all of my work stuff will be over, my longest run of the week will be out of the way, and I'll be able to really concentrate fully on whatever you have to say." Carly appeared to be considering what I'd said, and then she said" OK, it's nothing that can't wait one more day. When we talk about this I think you're going to be surprised because it's going to change our lives" she said. "I hope you're OK with it because I really want us to do this" she added. "Oh yeah bitch but I'm beating you to the punch" I thought, because I was now sure she was leaving me for that fucking Jerry Springer-type inbred asshole from a trailer park that she'd been screwing. I wondered what the hell made him so much better than I was. It couldn't be just sex because, from watching them, it was no where near as intense as what we did. It just looked like two people fucking out of sheer boredom. She didn't blow him, and she didn't even do her favorite position, what could the attraction be? But then I realized that I was the one who didn't know. Maybe what she got from "Jethro" was the kind of sex she wanted, and if so, I was lucky to be rid of the bitch. I swore that when this is over, I would never let any woman come close to owning my heart and my emotions this way again. In the back of my mind I wondered, why, if I really meant that, was I already thinking about Becca. Sunday found me in a more relaxed mood. I was awake before the sun and excited about my grueling long run for the first time in years. Sometime during the night Carly had rolled over near me and wrapped her arms and legs around me as if she was holding onto me for dear life. She really had no idea how true that statement was. The only thought going through my mind was how I could avoid her for one more day. Just the sight of her brought up pictures in my mind of her lowering herself onto "Barney Fife's" dick. I gently pried her limbs off of me and got out of bed. It's amazing how rapidly human emotions can change. Only 2 days ago I was so in love with this woman that I'd have gladly given my life for her. I couldn't really see any future in my life without her in it. Now she was just another whore to me. I knew that those thoughts were fueled by anger and that before this thing was done, I'd go through a lot more stages and differing emotions. But for now, and while I could clearly see the pain she'd caused me, I needed to get free. I dressed and micro-waved some pizza from a couple of days ago for a quick pre run snack. I got a cooler and threw a bunch of bottles of Snapple, Pepsi, Gatorade, and yuck, water, into it. I put some fruit, Granola bars, and some pretzels into a bag and left the house. The funny thing was that as I got near the door, I saw almost the same things packed and waiting for me, with a note from Carly. The note said "Be careful it's going to be really hot out there today. Please don't kill yourself for one run because somebody loves you and couldn't live without you" it was signed Forever yours, Carly After reading Carly's heartfelt note I suddenly had to run to the driveway and get into my car. I was driving my Taurus today because I didn't want to risk getting the Mustang sweaty. As soon as I closed the door, I let out the laugh I'd been holding in since I read the note. Oh yeah she loved me so much that she was fucking some "Jabroney" 3 times a week. "Forever" now had a different definition too. Forever was just over 24 hours. As I pulled into the park it was just beginning to get light. I quickly spotted Becca's Mustang and her sitting on top of it. She didn't even look up at me as I drove near her. I parked next to her and noticed that she seemed to get better looking every time I saw her. When I got out of the car she recognized me, and her face lit up. "I was looking for a yellow Stang" she said smiling. "Don't want to get it Sweaty" I smiled back. "Boy, a man who spoils his car must really spoil his women" she laughed. Again there was that awkward moment of silence, when she realized what she'd said. She opened her mouth and started making weird motions with her hands. "What are you doing?" I asked, my voice tinged with amusement. "I'm trying to pull my foot out of my mouth" she laughed. That was all it took, our growing chemistry was expanding again. We started out running at a very easy pace. Lucky for us the park was a simple oval loop, that was about 3 miles around. My goal for today was 22 miles and hers was 14, the longest run she'd done before this was 10. We were both going to be sore after this one. A couple of miles into our run the sun came up and treated us to a beautiful vista. It wasn't high enough in the sky yet to bring the heat, but the light and the lightshow was beautiful. I must've seen this same scene hundreds of times in this same park, but today was the first time I'd ever really noticed it. "It must be the company" I mumbled. "What?" said Becca. "I was just thinking how I've seen that sunrise literally hundreds of times but never really noticed how great it is. I attributed this revelation to the company" I said more quietly. "I like you too" she said seriously. "I just don't get it" she continued "You seem like a great guy, why are you getting a divorce?" "Carly....." I began, "She cheated on me" Unlike when we talked Saturday, I held nothing back, I explained the whole situation to her as we ran, including her part in helping me uncover Carly's deception. "What a stupid bitch" she spat. "I'm sorry" she said "it just slipped out" All of a sudden I looked at the lap counter on my watch. "Becca, you should walk a little to cool down now" I told her. "Oh, trying to get rid of me? I'm sorry I called your wife a bitch, but if the jerk I married had been half as nice as you are, we'd still be married now. Nothing could have come between us" she said fiercely. "Becca, I'm not trying to get rid of you" I said pointing to my watch "we just passed 16 miles" "Oh" she said. "I'm sure you have to do something today" I said "It was a great run, and I left my trunk open. "There are drinks and snacks so you should grab something and start refueling as soon as you can" I said. Becca slowed down to a walk and cut across the infield past the tennis courts. It was a quicker way to get back to the cars. When I finished that loop I still had another five miles to go, and I noticed that Beccas car was gone. I finished my miles and was so beat I barely made it back to my car. I reached into my trunk to grab a Pepsi and noticed that my cooler was gone. In its place was a note that read "picnic area big oak tree" I was too tired to walk, so I drove the half mile to the picnic area. You couldn't see it from the road, so you had to know where it was. There was Becca's car and my cooler. All of a sudden I could walk comfortably again. I don't know how she did it, or where she got the paper plates and stuff, but Becca had turned my fruit and snacks into a nice little breakfast. She was standing by a picnic table in the shade of the tree doing her post run stretching exercises. I could have stood there and watched her for hours while my legs cramped up and never said a word. "There you are" she said breaking the silence "did you miss me?" "I thought you'd gone home" I said. "I'm so sore that I could hit you" she said "but I wasn't ready for this to end yet" I went over to the table and looked at the drinks and grabbed a Snapple, as I continued to look around. "What are you looking for?" asked Becca as she took a long swig of my Pepsi. "Oh my God, was this for you? I thought you had somehow found out about my deranged love for Pepsi and brought me one" she laughed. We stayed there for another couple of hours talking about everything we could think of before going home. When I got home Carly was as usual waiting for me. She seemed to be really good at pretending to be concerned. Maybe she was concerned. I've heard that some people can love 2 partners at the same time, just in different ways. Shit I loved both of my cars, but I had to be honest I didn't love them equally. I wondered what my split with Carly was. Did she love me and only fucked "Mr. Haney" for added excitement? Or did she really love him but realized that she could never be happy with the kind of lifestyle he could provide so she lived with me and pretended to be content, and parceled out sympathy sex to me to keep me in line? "Why were you gone for so long?" she asked. "I think I pulled something" I lied. "It really hurts, but I had to finish." "So you just kept running even though you were hurt, probably making it worse" she said. She was either an Oscar candidate actress or truly concerned. Either way I had my way out. She ran a warm tub full of soapy water for me, and gave me some Tylenol for the pain. "I was going to ask you to go with me to my mother's for a little while today, but I'll call her back and tell her we'll come next week" she said. "Why don't you go? I'm probably just going to fall asleep for most of the afternoon. You could squeeze in an extra visit and not have to wait until tomorrow, you're usually home in about an hour" I said, then I realized that I had almost given it away. Running out of Love "I mean not have to wait until next week" I said quickly, trying to clean up my mistake. "No I should be here with you" she said looking at me suspiciously. "Carly, go!" I said firmly. I really believed she was going over to fuck "Goober" but I didn't care where she went, or how long she stayed, as long as she had her ass back here tomorrow at 7 to be served with her divorce papers. I was still trying to decide whether I wanted to be here or not. I took a nice long bath to recover from my long run. Then I really did get into bed and tried to find a way to get to sleep but I was just too wired. I kept thinking about Becca and not all of my thoughts were pure. What was the difference, I asked myself, between what Carly was doing and what I was thinking of doing? The only difference I could see was that Carly had actually done it. I hadn't even considered it or anything like it until I realized that there was no way I could ever go back to life with Carly as it had been. As I closed my eyes my head was filled with visions of Carly and Gomer Pyle fucking next to me on a bed. They were so quiet and boring that I didn't wake up, and then she told me we were going to have a baby. But she was smiling as she said it, so I knew it wasn't mine. When the baby was born, it came out wearing a straw hat and chewing on a sprig of hay. The baby's first words were "Sha zayam" I finally fell asleep, so I don't know what time Carly got back. She may have only been gone for an hour or 2 or she may have been out all night. I doubted that though because there was food on the bedside table and Carly didn't eat after 8p.m. there was also a book open on the table, which meant that Carly had another frustrating night of no sex, so she was probably raring at the bit ready to head for the trailer park and her true love, "Sam Drucker". I looked at the alarm clock's glow in the dark face and counted the seconds until the alarm would sound ending my marriage. It's not too late I told myself, you can still call this off. Carly had once again wrapped herself all over me, as if I really meant something to her. Maybe I should buy a cowboy hat. If I put her actions out of my mind, it felt so good to lie there with a woman who seemingly worshipped me. Especially when she just folded herself over me, squeezing her-self into what had to be an uncomfortable position just to be closer to me. Then the alarm sounded and I could feel the tension enter Carly's body. I decided to let Carly's actions call the play. If Carly didn't go today, I'd still confront her about it, but I'd try and save our marriage. But if she went, we were history. I wouldn't try to influence her one way or another, it would be her decision. She'd have to pick one of us, him or me. Carly started to get up, I don't know why but there were tears in my eyes and I actually threw my own rules out the window. "Why don't you stay home today?" I asked; so much for not trying to get her to stay. "Maybe next time sweetie" she said kissing me "But today I really need to go" "One run more or less won't kill you" I snapped. "This one is really important" she said "it's just something I need to do" So as they say the die was cast. As I watched Carly dress for the last time, I was really saddened. Sure she'd picked up a few pounds, even over the last year while she was "running" 3 times a week she'd still gained weight, but I didn't care. Until 3 days ago she was still the sexiest thing in my universe, and I would miss what we had greatly, even if it was a lie. "Feeling better?" she asked as she kissed me lightly on the cheek. "Physically, I guess" I mumbled. "That's the part I need. When I get back, have your clothes off and be ready for me" she said smiling. "And don't forget tonight, we're having our talk" she said more seriously. As soon as Carly's car drove off, the trucks started arriving and John's Lexus pulled up. I opened the door and men started pouring into the house as I dressed. A guy started working on the front door while another started on the back. Excluding John and myself there were only 6 men in the house. Somehow I'd expected more. They quickly packed everything even remotely feminine including all of her toiletries and bath items into really nice boxes and labeled them so that almost any and all items could easily be found. They left about 10% of the boxes on the front porch and the rest they loaded into a large truck that would follow Carly to any location she wanted, and even unload it for her. I was trying to be as nice as possible for the sake of the first 7 years when we'd been really happy. I couldn't help crying as I took it all in. They were done in less than 30 minutes. John introduced me to an officer of the court who would serve the actual papers. I shook his hand and ran toward my car. I quickly drove my usual route and got Carly's favorite coffee and doughnuts for her, for the last time. I was back by 6:55. I got my new keys to the doors and watched everyone with the exception of the driver and loader of the remaining truck leave. John told me that everything including the restraining order for the building I worked in was in effect. Due to his former friendship with Carly he didn't want to be here, and neither did I. As we drove off in opposite directions I could see Carly's car pull into the driveway. I don't know why but I stopped halfway down the block to watch. I saw her step up on the porch, she looked really happy and why shouldn't she. She had just gotten back from trying to drive "Fred Ziffeld's" bed through his floorboards, and was expecting to give me another mercy fuck. I saw her struggle with the door but apparently she hadn't noticed the boxes yet. I saw the man from the court approach her. They spoke briefly, he handed her the envelope and she screamed so loudly I could hear her halfway down the block. Carly fell to her knees and just sat there. I drove away. I wish I could say that seeing her reaction took all of my pain away or that it made me feel better, but it didn't. But it did take a tiny bit of the edge off the pain, and start me along the road to getting over it. The next few days with Becca really helped to make the pain go away. I'd often heard that love can't be turned off like a switch. But I guess when you replace a painful love with a much better one, miracles can happen. Part II Carly It had been 24 hours since I got the biggest shock of my life. My soul-mate, the love of my life, was divorcing me. Though he threw me out of the house, in typical Robbie fashion, he had done it in the nicest possible way. That told me that he still loved me but for some reason had decided that we couldn't go on. After I got done crying, I had the truck driver take me to my mom's place. I had just been there the day before to share a different kind of news with her, so this would come as kind of a shock. I didn't unpack any of my things because in my mind I wasn't going to be here long enough to need to. I saw John Berman was acting as Robbie's attorney and called him. "Hi John" I said into the phone, barely avoiding crying again. "Carly?" he asked tentatively. "Yep" I said. "Carly, we shouldn't be talking without your attorney being present" he said. "I don't have one" I cried. "Well speaking as your friend, you really should get one" he replied. "Why John, I don't want a lawyer, I don't want a divorce, I just want Robbie" I cried. "Tell him I'll do whatever he wants, I don't know why this is happening, I love him so much" "Carly, if you get a lawyer we can set up a meeting to discuss the matter. Robbie is trying very hard to be extremely fair with you" he stressed. "He wants this to be an amicable divorce, you keep all of your stuff and he keeps his" he continued. "The only thing I want to keep is my husband" I said tearfully. "He only wants the house, and his Mustang, You can have everything else including all of the furniture. Plus, even though you bought your car together, he wants you to keep it" he said. "Why is he doing this" I screamed. "Carly get a lawyer and we'll have a meeting" he said. "OK I'll have one in an hour" I told him. "We'll set the meeting up for 9.a.m. Tomorrow morning in my office" he said and hung up. The first thing that went through my mind was that someone was forcing Robbie to divorce me. Then I thought about it and remembered that he'd been acting weird and we hadn't had sex since Thursday morning. I know that it's only been a few days but we were used to multiple times daily, even after 8 years we were still like newlyweds. I craved his touch, just seeing him got me wet and there was no way I'd ever give up on him. That started me crying again and I thought about it some more. And I was sure I had the answer. If I was right, I could get Robbie back, easily. I'd just have to give up something that I thought I wanted, but now in perspective wasn't really that important. And the timing was about right too. I'd mentioned it to Robbie Thursday or Friday, and I was sure he knew now and was not keen on the idea. It would be a major change in our lifestyle and maybe he wasn't ready for that yet. I was but without him, no matter how much pleasure I got from it, it just wasn't worth it. Of course if he had signed on for it, like some men just seem to do, it would have been great. I guess Robbie wasn't that kind of guy. I picked up the phone book and just called the first lawyer they had listed. We talked for about a half hour. He had me read him certain passages from the divorce papers and said he needed a copy of them. He told me that it basically sounded like I was being dumped for another woman, and I could probably get more out of this. I told him I didn't want more, I wanted Robbie back. I told him about what I wanted to talk with Robbie about, and he said a lot of men just were not ready for that. And if that was the case, then citing irreconcilable differences was a good reason and the settlement was really fair. We should just go to the meeting and talk to them; we could plan our strategy after that. He asked me if there were any other reasons that Robbie might want a divorce and I really couldn't think of any. So here I am sitting at a table 24 hours later waiting for John and Robbie. My attorney looks a little young, but I don't care. He's only here to get me into the meeting so I can talk to Robbie. There isn't going to be a divorce, I'll die first. Or if Robbie is playing around with some slut, she will. Just because I'm getting a little fat, is no reason to throw away our marriage. John walks in, followed by my husband. Robbie looks really good today. I smile when I see him, but he doesn't return my smile. In fact he looks away from me and I can see the hurt in his eyes. That look in his eye like I'd done something bad to him hurts me really bad and I can't stand it so I just blurt out "OK Robbie if you don't want to have a baby with me, I'll forget about the whole thing, let's just go home" Robbie looks shocked, and so does John, they have no idea what I'm talking about. "Carly, what are you talking about?" asks Robbie very gently. "I know that you figured out that I was going to tell you I wanted to have your babies, and you're not ready to be a father yet, maybe never" I said. "So you just figured that since I want kids and you don't that we should get a divorce so both of us can have what we want. But Robbie, I love you" he snorted when I said that "I love only you, and without you I don't have a life so we don't have to have kids yet or ever" I said sadly. For a while no one said anything. The quiet in the room was almost tangible. Then Robbie went to a television at the end of the table and turned it on. "I was hoping not to have to do this" he said gently. "I was only going to do this in the event that this got ugly" I noticed that as he spoke he was fighting back tears, and my heart broke all over again. "Carly, I would have loved to have kids with you, I can't think of anything that would have made me happier up until Friday morning" he said choking back the tears. "Then, Robbie why can't we have them?" I asked. "Because I'd never know whose they were, and I can't share you Carly. So we need a divorce" he said Robbie pointed a remote control at the TV and I saw a video start playing. It was so strange seeing my-self on the screen. Seeing yourself on video is a strange experience. You don't really look the way you see yourself in the mirror. The first thing I thought was that I was a bit chunkier than I thought. As I watched in the video I recognized the place, and my mouth dropped open. Oh no I thought, please don't let this be. But it was. My image on the screen started shedding her clothes as she walked across the room. Was my ass really that big? Mark was already on the bed, playing with his dick as I approached. As I watched myself climb up on the bed I thought "Damn, my ass is huge." I lowered my vagina onto Mark's waiting face, and realized that this whole thing didn't really look like what was really going on. I was only letting Mark eat me to get me wet because the sight of him just didn't do it for me. Would they understand that? It didn't seem likely. My lawyer looked as if he was the one who was betrayed. Then I saw myself lowering my pussy down onto Mark's dick and us having sex. I felt embarrassed beyond belief and ashamed. And as I watched the tears freely rolling down from Robbie's eyes it was like someone had just put my chest in a vice, and was squeezing the life out of me. It suddenly became clear that I might lose him, for real and for good. Up until now none of this had really made sense. It was just a dream, a nightmare that I would awaken from and have everything the way it was supposed to be. I was not going to go out willingly. "Robbie, it's not what it looks like, I can explain. Robbie, I don't love him, I only love you" I said. Robbie just sat there with his head down on the table crying, he wouldn't even look at me. John suggested that though this wasn't court, we should probably take a recess to confer. He left the room taking Robbie with him. As soon as the door closed, my attorney started screaming at me. "You stupid bitch, why didn't you tell me about this?" he screamed. "You've already lost so sign the fucking papers before they change them. You were right, he really is being nice to you and his lawyer is playing softball with you too. If I were representing him, we'd be filing for adultery and releasing that video to all of your friends and family. We'd also be suing your lover for alienation of affection, and if he's married I'd be taking her case as well" he said. "Just sign the fucking papers" he snapped. "But I want my husband back" I whined. Have you ever seen people who take their kids out for an ice cream cone and get there just as the place is closing? Then as soon as they step away from the counter, the kid drops the ice cream cone? That was how my lawyer looked at me. His look said "Bitch I bought you this ice cream and you dropped it, there is nothing we can do about it so get over it" "We can suggest counseling" he said, "but it won't work. He's obviously, like you said, a nice guy and he loves you a hell of a lot, but you just fucking destroyed him. Any idiot can see that he loved you, but if you put him in court, and he cries like that over you, and then shows that video, you'll lose everything" he snapped. "As a matter of fact, I am going to do you one last favor, I can't keep my professional detachment on this case so I'm going to quit, that means they can't proceed until you have the benefit of an attorney and that will buy you a little time" he said. I watched as he packed his briefcase and left the room. "I'll bill you" was the last thing he said to me. As the door closed I heard him utter "Sorry man" to Robbie as he left. Robbie and John came back into the room. "I know my lawyer quit but I just need to explain this, can we please just talk?" I begged. Robbie nodded his head and I could tell he just wanted to get this over with and I'd probably never see him again if I messed this up. John said "Only if you'll sign a release, and acknowledge that you continued knowing that you didn't have an attorney and allow the conversation to be recorded" "Whatever" I said. "Robbie, I love you more than life itself" I began "But I hated running, and I was just not any good at it. So then I ran into Mark, whom I'd known briefly in college, and he had a lot of time to kill since he wasn't working. At first we'd just get together and hang out for an hour while I was supposed to be running, but with me coming into his house dressed in all those tight little running outfits all the time he started making comments on how hot I looked. I was feeling kind of vulnerable from picking up the weight, so I started feeding into it. Robbie, you tell me I'm beautiful and sexy every day, but you're supposed to, because you're my husband and you love me. But I guess hearing it from someone else, really was flattering and I loved it. Then one thing led to another and he started feeling me up, which led to the first time he got his fingers in my panties and, well, you know what started happening after that" "It was never about sex, it was just something to do for an hour" I said, realizing how stupid it sounded as I said it. "Maybe, the thought that someone beside you wanted me, made it exciting" I said. "But it had nothing to do with love, I love only you" I said. I paused to take a breath. "The day you took this video was Friday right? That was the day that I was telling him that it was over, I was done lying to you and he and I couldn't do it anymore because you and I were going to start our family. I was going off the pill and I didn't want to risk anybody but you inside me. Then he started telling me that I'd be back in a week because I'd miss his dick and our hot sex. That was why I was laughing, because the sex wasn't hot, fucking him was boring. I was telling him that he didn't even compare to you and that most days when I got done with him I couldn't wait to run home and fuck you. He was just a snack to whet my appetite, Robbie, you were the meal" I said. The words sounded hollow even as I said them. Robbie held out the divorce papers to me and I backed away from the table. "I need to ask you 4 questions" Robbie said. "The first 3 are really easy, if you answer all 4 I'll tear these papers up and we'll try to make this work. But if you can't answer any one of them you have to let me go" I just nodded in response. "Do you love me?" he asked "With all of my heart and soul" I replied. "Did I love you?" he asked "You really seemed to. OK yes, I believe you did" I said "Did I ever beat you, or mistreat you, or refuse to listen to your opinion, did I ever make it so that you couldn't come to me if there was something wrong?" he asked. "Nope, none of that" I smiled. "Then why was it easier for you to fuck some farm hand behind my back for a year, and destroy our marriage, than to simply say Robbie, I don't like to run?" I had no answer for that question, I just sat there. But I still refused to sign those fucking papers. I fought it for weeks and Robbie never did any of the bad stuff. He never released the videos on the internet or gave copies to my friends. In fact he never even said a bad word about me. He went to counseling, both alone and with me, but it never got anywhere. Month after month our goals just never got any closer. I wanted our marriage back. I was willing to do anything even live in separate houses and start dating all over again. Robbie just wanted out. He said he could never look at me again, and he couldn't trust me. I showed him a lockable chastity belt on the internet but he just looked at me sadly. He even paid for all of the counseling sessions since I was missing so much time at work lately and didn't have the money. It just seemed pointless to go in there and bust my ass everyday for nothing. I also slowly watched the light in my husbands eyes change. Where once upon a time his expression brightened when he saw me, it was different now. When Robbie entered a room he was bright and happy; but as soon as he saw me, he became sad. It was like something or someone else made his light shine, and I was just a reminder of a sad past. Running out of Love Finally I couldn't do it any longer and I just signed the papers. I knew that even if we were apart for a while, time would bring us back together. I finally realized that I had done a really bad thing, so maybe having to be away from him for a year or so would make him see that as bad as I had been, that I would never hurt him again. And also maybe he could see that there was no one who would love him as much as I did. I also hoped that someday we could still have our babies, since we both wanted them. He did say that in the meeting with the lawyers. Those words were the strongest thing I took from that stupid meeting. Those words were stronger even than the pain of watching my-self act like a whore on the video. He had said "Carly, I would love to have babies with you". And if it killed me, we still would. Robbie went away on a cruise alone to think about what he wanted. I hoped that what he wanted was me. Maybe 6 or 7 months later I was driving past the park and I thought I saw him running. He always looked so great running, that smooth effortless stride that just ate up the miles. People always talk about how great running is for you. There's an old joke about how if running is so great for you, why do people look so miserable when they're doing it? Robbie was an exception to that rule. As he ran he had the biggest smile on his face. Almost as big as the smile he used to get whenever he saw me. He got near his same old car, the Taurus, he still wouldn't drive that Mustang when he ran, and he stopped. He seemed to be laughing. I guess that his depression over our marriage ending was over. He had apparently poured himself into his running to help him through it. I slowed down as I got close to him because maybe he was ready to talk to me. I'd been praying for just that moment for almost a year now. Then I saw where his smile came from. She came running down the path nearly as fast as he had and just as gracefully. Without being a lesbian about it, I had to admit the bitch was beautiful. She had this crooked little smile she kept flashing at him. God dammit I wished I cold hear what they were saying. He seemed to be laughing at her because he beat her. Then she did something that hurt me more than anything in life had. She shook her head no, and as I watched all of that hair cascading around her perfect face she did it. She pointed down to where her perfect stomach should be and I noticed a tiny little pouch that was incongruous with the rest of her body. As I craned my neck to watch I saw him pat her little pouch and put his ear up to it, then he kissed it. She rubbed his head affectionately and kissed him. That silly bitch was having a baby with my husband. What was the first thing that went through my head when I saw that special and beautiful moment that should have been us? The steering wheel of my car because the airbag didn't deploy and I'd been so busy looking at them that I'd crossed over the median line and into oncoming traffic. The truck that hit me never had a chance to stop. Mercifully I died instantly, there wasn't any more pain. Truthfully it wouldn't have mattered because from the second I saw that woman was pregnant with the baby I should have had, I died inside anyway.