A Day's Wait

Friday morning, I said a little grumpily, "Are you still seeing Harper at lunch. She looked puzzled and said, "Yes." I said, "Still talking about his sex life?" She said, "Not exactly. It's progressed a lot further than that. His situation has gotten so bad that he was contemplating suicide. He seems to love his wife to death. He really is a very sensitive soul. I can't understand what his wife's problem is."

I said, "That is all bullshit Janet. He is trying to talk his way into your pants using his wife as the battering ram. Do you know for sure that he is having problems? Or is that just a story the fucker is telling you?" She said, "He cried like his heart was going to break yesterday. His problems at home have completely ruined his self-concept."

I said warily, "Are you going to do anything about THAT?"

There was a moment's hesitation. Then she said, "If you mean do anything sexual with him - of course not."

I had to leave it there. I knew that we were thundering into the home stretch. Six days to go and he really hadn't even gotten out of the batter's box - except for the handholding.

The final weekend of my self-inflicted purgatory was as ideal as the other two. We went to both of the kid's soccer games and then socialized with all of the soccer-parents. And there was a neighborhood barbecue on Sunday.

Janet was particularly passionate all weekend. I was hoping that wasn't motivated by guilt.

The call came in at 2:00 on Wednesday. She said that there was an emergency at work and she was going to be a little late coming home. I told her that I would pick up a pizza for the kids.

She told me that she wouldn't be home any later than 9:30 and we did the kissy thing that all married couples do when they sign off.

Then it hit me. She was going out with that fucker!!

I redialed but her phone immediately went to voicemail. And the people at her work told me that she was in a meeting until 5:30. I dialed back at 5:30 but there was no answer at the Brokerage. I texted her and she didn't answer. So I fed the kids and kicked a soccer ball around with them in the back yard.

Then I sat down to wait. It would be a monster understatement to say that I was anxious. My happiness depended on what happened next.

She arrived closer to 10:00 PM. Every second after 9:30 was an agony of doubt. I spent that whole half hour visualizing her in Harper's back seat with her knees drawn up to her chest and her legs waving in the air while he pounded her.

She looked very upset and nervous. Worse, she was not dressed in the outfit that she left for work in. The little black dress that she was wearing showed off an expanse of beautiful toned thighs.

Needless to say, the overall appearance was much more sexual than her work attire and she was heavily made up. Her hair was mussed, her lipstick was smeared and she had a slight rip in the neckline of the dress.

But thank God she didn't have that well-fucked look. Instead, she appeared panicked.

She stopped shamefaced in the entrance hall. I offered her a seat on the couch. She walked over tentatively, trying to read my mood. I sat down opposite her in one of the living room chairs. I said calmly, "How was your date?" She burst into tears.

She said, "Oh God, I am so sorry Terry!!"

I was in a controlled rage. I said, "Why did you lie to me?" Of course I knew the answer but I wanted to hear it from her.

She said, "I was planning on changing back into my work clothes before I came home. And you would never know. But he attacked me in the parking lot. He kissed me and tried to fondle my boobs and it upset me so much that I just fled back here to safety."

She looked at me pleadingly and said, "I know that this looks bad but all I did was agree to eat dinner with the man. I didn't give him permission to maul me."

I added, you forgot about the part where you lied to me in order to do that.

Between her tears she said, "I knew you wouldn't approve. But I thought it was doing the right thing. So I went out with him without telling you. He told me that it would help him get his self-confidence back."

I said, "That is bullshit. You consciously went on a date with the guy. That is betrayal plain and simple and you know it. That's why you didn't want to tell me."

I said, getting angrier, "Put yourself in MY place. What would YOU think if I lied to you so I could spend the evening with an old college sweetie?" Her face turned pale. She said, "Don't say anything more. It would destroy me."

Then I looked cagey and said, "I wonder what HIS wife would say if I called her up and asked her what she thinks about the situation?" That hit home. She said, "Oh God!! Don't do THAT!! His marriage is in enough trouble already. That will kill it." I said menacingly, "And what do you think you have just done to ours??!!"

She burst into tears. She said, "I am SO, SO sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?"

I laughed bitterly and said, "It's done. It already happened. You've already lied to me. There's no making that up." I added, "I'm sleeping in the guest room. And you can leave me alone. I moved all of my stuff over while you were on your date."

She said sullenly. "It was just dinner. It wasn't a date." I said, "Potato - Potato." In my eyes it was a date. And my eyes are the only ones that count right now. It's going to take a long time before I trust you again." Then I rose and tried to look dignified as I trudged upstairs to my lonely bed.

She knocked and tried to get me to talk. But I was done with talking. I told her that I would think about it and we would talk in the morning. I could hear her sobbing up the hall. I went back up the hall, knocked and entered our bedroom.

She scrambled up eagerly, like I was there to forgive her - maybe indulge in some hot makeup sex. Instead, I said, "Keep it down in here. You are going to upset the kids." Her face fell and she went back to sobbing. I closed the door and walked back to my room. That was cold. I knew it. But I wanted her to feel as bad as I did.

The only thing I had going for me was the fact that the deadline was tomorrow and Fuckface would go away. I wasn't done with him but I wanted to stop the bleeding in my marriage before I gave him his just desserts.

Sure enough, studboy1980's email was in my inbox. He gloated, "Got the bitch out to dinner. She was all dolled up for me. I knew she wanted to fuck me. But she got cold feet when we got back to my car. Gave me a little tongue but when I went for her tits she freaked out. I'm this close to fucking her though. I could smell how turned on she was."

I sent back, "Too bad loser. This is the deadline and you lost. Find some other poor woman to pester. Because the bet is off as of midnight."

He sent back, "LMFAO - No bitch gives me blue balls and gets away with it. I am going to make her my personal slut whatever it takes. I just won't have your wimp ass to entertain while I am doing it."

I sent back, "A bet's-a-bet. I am going to tell everybody you're a punk-ass deadbeat if you don't drop this."

He sent back, "What are you - her husband? I'd believe it from the way that you're acting. But that bitch is way too hot for the likes of you. I changed my mind. I'm going to fuck her and I'll tell you all about how much fun it was. Maybe I'll send you her soaking wet panties as a souvenir."

I said, "Remember this conversation when bad things start happening to you Dickless." I was going to exact a heaping pile of revenge. But I had to fix my marriage before I did.

The fact that the douchebag was still after Janet gave me some serious agony. Because I had just blown up a lot of bridges with her. So, no matter what it cost me I had to get all of the cards on the table.

I didn't sleep a wink. Janet looked like she hadn't either. We got the kids off the school. Then I called in sick. She did too. I said, "We have to get this under control right now. We have always worked together to solve problems in our marriage. And this is a particularly rotten state of affairs."

She started to cry. She said, "I can't say I am sorry enough. I caused this."

It was truth-time. I needed some absolution too. That is - if the lying was going to stop. I looked in her beautiful oval face with her long auburn hair framing two big brown bloodshot eyes and said as evenly as possible, "No you didn't"

She said, "What does that mean?" I said, "I am as much at fault as you are. Simple as that."

She looked puzzled. I said, "Do you remember the reunion last month?"

She said hesitantly, "Yesss?" I said, "I was standing with Harper while he was speculating whether he could get you to give him a replay of your old college days. He had heard all of the stories and he felt like he had missed out."

She turned bright red with embarrassment and said, "You know about that?!!" I said, "Yes indeedy I do" and gave her a lecherous wink. She punched my shoulder and said, "And you didn't tell me you knew. That was a couple of years before we met and I was young and stupid back then."

I continued with, "But that isn't the bad part." She looked worried. I said, "He didn't know that WE were married. I told him that he didn't have a chance with a woman like you. I said that you were a wife and mother and you would never betray your children and husband."

I said, "He viewed that as a challenge so he wanted to bet me that he could get you in bed. I told him that I wouldn't condone his behavior by betting on your fidelity, so he told me that he was going to fuck you anyway. And he would tell me all about it as he was doing it."

I added, "I wasn't going to be able to change his mind. So I figured I could keep track of him. I should have just told you. But I was embarrassed by how far events had already gone. Since then he has been sending me regular e-mails updating me on his progress. I can show them to you if you like. But he has been totally playing you."

She took all of that in. And she was getting redder and redder by the second. I knew she was going to explode. The only question was at whom. She answered that by saying, "You total ASSHOLE!! You knew what was going on all along and you didn't tell me because you were EMBARRASSED!!??"

Now it was my turn to look sheepish. She said, "I want you to stay away from me until I cool down. I didn't tell you about last night. That was disrespectful and I apologize. But that was just one night. While, you have been watching me like a lab rat for the past thirty straight nights. That degree of disrespect makes me wonder who I married."

She had a point. But I was pissed. I said, "If you had just blown the Dickhead off; like I told you to, we wouldn't be having this conversation." She said, "And if you hadn't put me out there in the first place we wouldn't be having this conversation. Maybe I'll just fuck him and make him go away happy."

That did it. I said, "IF you do anything other than tell that douchebag to get lost - we might as well start dividing up the community property. Because we will be done!!" With that I walked out the door - slamming it behind me.

I got all the way to my car. And then sanity kicked in. I had just dared my wife, the mother of my children, to be unfaithful to me. And she had said that she was going do that very thing.

Needless to say, that was not very smart. We are upper-middle class professionals with a lot of education and high flying jobs. And now, we were acting like a couple of high schoolers breaking up over a prom date. She had lied to me. I had lied to her. it was time to deal with the situation!!

I spun around and walked back in the house. She was upstairs throwing things around and crying. It was angry crying. Not the ashamed crying that she was doing last night. I yelled up the stairs, "I'm back and I am not going anywhere until we've settled this."

She yelled back down, "LEAVE ME ALONE!!" Well - at least she was speaking to me...

I went into the den. There were some things I should have found out a month ago. I had not paid sufficient attention to the background details because I was not taking Harper seriously. I was now.

I did a deepweb search. And then I bought his entire life for $39.95. The first thing I noted was a very important aspect of his marriage. It was something that the Dickhead had obviously failed to share with Janet.

That was the fact that he had been DIVORCED for over three years.

His wife Michelle and his four kids lived in Asheville North Carolina, which was a long way from his home in Brighton Michigan. There were numerous filings on record for child support arrearages. But the most interesting piece was the year-old alienation of affection lawsuit that he was fighting in his former home town. North Carolina is one of the few States that still allow that legal remedy.

I printed it all off and propped the sheets upright in the napkin holder on the kitchen table. I yelled upstairs, "I'm going out for a while. There is something I would like you to see in the kitchen when you get finished with being mad at me."

She yelled down, "FUCK YOU!!" Hmmm?? Maybe it was going to take MORE than a dozen roses.

I had Harper's card. His place of business was not the building next door to Janet's in Ann Arbor. It was thirty miles away in Howell, Michigan. It was approaching lunch time. Maybe it was time for ME to buy HIM a little bite to eat.

His office was on Grand River in the heart of that old-time Michigan village. It used to be agricultural. But the area is growing in leaps and bounds and Harper's office looked reasonably busy.

He was just a salesman, not the owner, but the whole place looked prosperous enough that Harper ought to be able to make his support payments.

I said to the guy who met me at the door, "I need to talk to Mike Harper, where is he?" The owner said, "He got a call a few minutes ago and he left suddenly. He said he was going to be in Ann Arbor all afternoon."

A thunderbolt of angst shot through me. He and Janet were meeting up!!

My distress was so obvious that the owner said, "Is there a problem?" I thought, "What the fuck. He might as well know what kind of scumbag he is employing." So I told him the whole sordid story.

I did it in great loving detail. That included what I thought he was doing with my wife right this very minute. The owner was looking more-and-more appalled. Realty depends on trust. And that guy's business reputation would take a serious hit if Harper was playing the field with the local housewives.

I finished with, "I knew him in college and he thinks strictly with his dick. There is no way he would change that self-destructive behavior."

The owner said, "Well - if it's any consolation he is dead in this business in Michigan. Do you have a copy of that report? I am going to get his license lifted." I said, "Sure., let me use your computer." The resulting report was another $39.95 well spent.

The normal thing to do now would be to light-up Harper with his wife. But she already knew he was an adulterous piece of shit. Nonetheless, I called her anyway, just to leave no stone unturned.

She answered second ring. Her voice sounded strong. I suppose having four kids with that Dickhead would make anybody tough. I introduced myself and gave her a rough outline of what had happened.

She laughed maliciously and said, "That's his standard modus-operandi. I forgave him the first two times. I was stupid. I should have gelded him after the first."

We talked about his child support situation. I told her that he had just lost his job. She said, "It doesn't matter. I'm about to get married again. And my new husband is rich and loves my kids. I'll just keep suing the bastard until he pays up." I wished her well and hung up.

I was getting into the Ann Arbor area and my next call was home. I got voicemail there. So I called Janet's cell. It was off. I thought that she would probably pick the kids up at school. So I swung by there. Billy and Brookey were in the pickup area. But there was no Janet.

They were overjoyed to see me since mom usually did the hauling. I texted Janet that I had the kids. We had a little visit to Dairy Queen and they went off to play some kid oriented video game. They were sweet and wonderful little people. And I was going to miss them if what I suspected had actually happened.

I settled down to wait. I had to stay strong for the kids but the more time passed the sadder and angrier I got. I could visualize the two of them having a wild fuck-fest at some seedy motel and it was killing me.

As afternoon wore on to evening Janet still hadn't appeared. The kids asked about her several times. I told them that she was working late.

We had Chinese carry-out. The kids especially love sweet-and-sour-chicken. I got them started on their homework and waited some more. If the stress hadn't killed me by that point, it was a tribute to the cardio that I had built up during all those miles I had swum.

It was past 6:30 PM when the call came in. I picked up the phone and said anxiously, "Yes, Hello!!"

An official sounding voice on the other end said, "Mr Terry Baumgartner please." I said, "This is he." The voice said, "This is Officer Marlon Adams, Ann Arbor Police. We are holding your wife downtown and we need you to come here and talk to us. We can release her once you do."

Okay - that news almost ACTUALLY killed me.

My blood pressure was probably hovering around 500 over 495 as I called Mrs. Wilson. She was a kindly old widow who lived next door. I asked her if she could help me with the kids. I told her that Janet needed me to pick her up. Since I didn't have a clue as to what was going on I didn't elaborate on the circumstances.

At age 72 Anna Wilson is still a spry old lady. Within fifteen minutes of my phone call, she was in my living room unloading a big knitting bag. And twenty minutes after that I appeared in a panic in the public area of the Police Department.

My wild-eyed appearance probably alerted the policeman who was anticipating my arrival. Because a big friendly looking cop detached himself from a group that was standing around behind the front desk.

He walked up to me and said inquiringly, "Mr. Baumgartner?" I blurted, "Yes!" He said, "Let's talk." And he turned and walked in the direction of one of those side rooms that police departments everywhere reserve for the kind of chat we were about to have.

I looked toward the front desk and said, "I have to find out my wife's status first." He said, "I can tell you all of that."

I followed him into the green eight by ten cinderblock room with my heart in my throat. I had the inappropriate thought, "What is it about puke green that is so attractive to law enforcement?"

He sat and looked at me for a minute, gauging me in that classic cop manner. Finally, he said, "We picked your wife up this afternoon on a misdemeanor assault charge."

I must have looked as thunderstruck as I felt. Because he continued with, "She poured a cup of hot coffee over the head of a man she was talking to in the Starbucks on Main. That constitutes simple assault. So at the man's request we arrested her and put her through the booking process."

He said kindly, "We are holding her here rather than in the jail across town because she says that there are mitigating circumstances. And that you would explain them to us. The facts of the situation dawned on me in a delightful flash of insight. And all I could think was, "I hope it was a Venti!!"

I said, "For the past month, my wife has been stalked by a sexual predator. You've seen her. So you can understand why. She met with him today to personally beg him to leave her alone. That was why she was at the Starbucks with him."

I didn't know whether anything I had just said was true. But I could make an educated guess. I added, "I wasn't there but I assume that he must have either done or said something inappropriate and that she reacted the way she did as a defense."