A Slow Descent Pt. 03

I parked behind Jim's truck and sat in the car. I could hardly ask Cindy for advice about what had transpired in the city with him around. I was glad Cindy's house was at the end of the road and faced away towards the bushland behind it. They were unlikely to have seen me drive up. I was about turn the ignition to drive away when the nagging doubt got the better of me. Why was Jim here this early?

I got out and walked to the front of his truck placing my hand on the bonnet. It was stone cold. This truck hadn't been driven in the last hour. I walked towards the house, the main entrance was on the left hand side but you could enter the backyard through a gate on the right side. It just looked like a solid fence but if you reached over where the first and second panel joined there was latch.

I clicked the latch and walked through the gate trying to look nonchalant, as if I was meant to be there. The backyard had a jacuzzi and a separate undercover entertainment area. I skirted around the jacuzzi and moved towards the main living area of the house along the back deck. To take advantage of the tremendous view nearly all this back section of the house was glass so I could see inside easily.

Cindy was at the stove top frying up some breakfast. She was wearing a short house coat with bare legs and feet. One of the large glass doors was open and I could hear Cindy humming to a tune playing quietly on the radio. There was no sign of Jim. It just looked like a typical early morning scene.

Oh well, I thought I might as well go inside. Not wanting to freak Cindy out, I was backtracking so I could go around to the main entrance when I heard a high pitched squeal. I went back along the deck and found I could no longer see Cindy. She was obscured by the hairy back and ass of my naked husband, Jim.

I was drawn to the scene, moving closer to the open door. I could hear Cindy tittering as she tried to fend of Jim as he groped around under her house coat. As she wriggled and squirmed her bare bottom was visible rubbing against Jim.

"What's wrong with you? I haven't seen you this horny since you got back from your holiday. Didn't you get enough last night?" Cindy asked, as her giggling subsided and her voice developed a husky tone.

Jim was working on her breast and rubbing himself against her ass. "The frigid bitch gets back tomorrow." He replied.

"I should be getting ready to go to work." Cindy was now pushing back against Jim and one of her hands reached back and gripped his butt.

"Fuck work, let's spend the morning here."

Jim dipped a little and Cindy groaned as he must have found her opening with his cock. He started thrusting hard causing Cindy to bump into the bench.

"Jesus, Jim, I'm over the stovetop here." She grunted as she turned off the gas and he continued humping her.

Without missing a beat Jim lifted her feet off the ground and swung her around so she was now bent over the table. He slammed into her a couple more times before pulling right out. Gripping his tool he lifted the head higher before moving it back between Cindy's butt cheeks.

"Whoa there lover boy, you are going to need some help." Cindy pushed a tub of margarine back toward him.

Jim dipped his fingers in the tub before smearing the spread over his cock and her anus. The preliminaries done he resumed his stance and pushed his dick up Cindy's bum.

"Oh yeah," he groaned, "so fucking good."

"You really are an ass man aren't you?" Cindy chuckled. "I wonder what Helena would think if she could see us now?"

I was standing on the threshold of the glass door when I found my voice.

"She'd call you a backstabbing conniving cunt and him a fucking asshole." I yelled.

Jim's head spun around and his mouth hung open as he saw me standing there. Cindy was trying to push him backwards so she could stand up but he was frozen in place. His hands still gripped her hips and I assumed his dick was still inside her. I stepped back, grabbing the handle of the sliding door then pulled it shut as hard as I could. It slammed into the door jamb with a loud bang and a jagged crack appeared from one corner to the other. I strode off purposefully back to my car and spun the wheels as I headed for home.

Four weeks later.

I unlocked the office door, punched in my code to deactivate the alarm, then strolled through to my desk. Sitting down I turn on my computer to check for correspondence. While I waited for the computer to boot up my eyes wandered around the office before coming to rest on Cindy's empty desk. In the last four weeks everything had gone to hell in a hand basket.

I'd arrived home after walking in on Jim and Cindy to find my children sitting up having breakfast. They expressed surprise at my early return but I couldn't talk to them I was to upset. They went to school and I sat around waiting. For what I'm not sure, I suppose I expected Jim to return and try to explain what I'd seen but he didn't. Cindy tried to call me twice but I didn't pick up.

It was after four in the afternoon when Jim's truck pulled into the driveway. I was still seething as I cooked dinner, I heard the back door open and I was waiting for the confrontation. It didn't happen, I waited but Jim didn't appear. In the end it got too much for me and I went looking. I ended up finding him in the bedroom, he was packing a bag.

There wasn't a confrontation, he just said he was leaving and I said fine. Jim took up residence in one of our holiday rental houses that was vacant. The next day I'd gone to work trying to appear normal. Cindy came in too. We sidled around each other until the other two girls were out running errands. Wow, now that was a confrontation.

She accused me of being ungrateful, saying that she had sacrificed so much to keep Jim happy and stop him from leaving me earlier. It turned out they had been going at it ever since I confided in Cindy that sex wasn't going well for me after my second child. Apparently it was her duty as a friend to make sure Jim was getting his rocks off. In the end I think I was quite calm when I said.

"You're fired! Get your slutty ass out of here."

It was hard on the children. I gave them an abridged version of what had gone on with their father and Cindy. They were supportive of me as was most of the town, until the picture turned up on an Internet fan site.

"Who is the mystery brunette seen with 10K?"

That was the headline for the grubby little story. There were two pictures from the front of the nightclub, one of me getting out of the car the other of us both walking inside. I suppose everybody is a journalist nowadays with cameras in mobile phones. The pictures actually weren't that bad, I doubt most of my friends would have recognized me but I'm pretty sure Cindy, Jane and Annie knew what was going on.

Two days later it got worse.

"Was Mystery Brunette a Professional?

It seems busboys have camera phones too. This picture was very damning, 10K offering the disheveled me an envelope. Needless to say this picture spread through town like a cold through a kindergarten. The support from friends quickly disappeared replaced by animosity. My husband had been cheating for nine years but I was a slut for the last couple of months.

Cindy's husband accosted me as I was locking up the shop two weeks after it all blew up. He called me a nigger loving slut. I told him he should keep his wife on a tighter leash. Then he started crying, Cindy had moved in with Jim. Worse was to come for me as my children decided they wanted to move in with their father the next weekend. I sort of understood my daughter's move, my relationship with my mother had been fractious and I wasn't doing any better with my own daughter. Too much alike I think, although she would argue that point as she did any other point I ever made. My son was just going with the flow and for me the tide was definitely going out.

I was distraught and tried to explain, tried to get them to stay. The other children at school had been calling them names and making jokes about me. I watched them walk to their fathers car in tears hoping that one day I could make it right.

While my private life was in the toilet I'd hoped my business wouldn't suffer. I was wrong. After the regional tourist board discovered my real whereabouts during the conference I was deposed as chairperson and removed from the committee. Some of the local owners removed their properties from my listings. It wasn't terminal, many of the houses were owned by outsiders from the city but it still hurt.

Then last week Jim arrived in the office. He had legal letter outlining the legal moves he was going to make if I didn't agree to voluntarily vacant the house so he and the children could move back in. I resisted of course, the thought of that whore Cindy in my dream house was like a dagger in the heart. However after legal advice I relented and we were in the process of swapping abodes.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse Jim turned up again yesterday. Now he was demanding either I give Cindy back her job or he would petition the court to garner fifty percent of the money coming in to my business Coloon's Bay Holidays. I kicked him out, fucking asshole. Yes our joint names were on the business license but he hadn't ever contributed to it. I told him I'd see him in court.

My phone pinged and it broke the melancholy spell I was under. Looking at the time I knew who it was from. He was like clockwork, every morning the same time. I swiped the screen and the message icon flashed the number one. I hit it and the screen opened up to a beautiful sunset over a vineyard somewhere in France. The message with it was simple.

'Wish u were here.'

The office door opened and in came Annie and Jane talking and laughing. Seeing me at my desk the merriment stopped abruptly. I don't know why, a bit of a laugh would have done me a lot of good. For whatever reason being near me in my current situation led to everyone being awkward and flat. Cindy wouldn't have been, she would have perked me up. Damn I missed the fucking bitch sometimes, a lot more than I missed my husband. Now they were both polluting my children's minds against me. I tried to reach out but was rebuffed on each attempt.

I got up and we had a talk about what was on the agenda for today. It was still quiet, spring was in the air but not many people were thinking of beach holidays yet. I had a meeting with Brian, the architect in charge of the new development in town. There had been a change of focus and he wanted to talk to me about it. We met on site after lunch. The site was still a bare block as they were still negotiating with the council planning department.

He was waiting by his car when I got there. As I approached he smiled warmly and shook my hand. My spirits lifted immediately, it made a nice change from the scowls and looks of pity I'd been getting. When he rolled out the plans I could see straight away the project was moving in a very different direction.

"What's going on here?" I inquired as I inspected the drawings.

"We weren't having any success pitching the holiday villas to potential backers so we've changed to retirement apartments." Brian explained.

"And they are interested in retirement apartments?" I was skeptical.

"Very much so. We got two banks to back us then we held a seminar to gauge support among our target audience."

"Positive response?"

"We are already oversubscribed with people who've handed over five grand to reserve the right to buy off the approved plans."

"Bullshit!" I spun around startled.

"No I can assure you it's very true. The post war "baby boomers" are all getting ready to retire. They are mostly sitting on the best real estate in the city as well as a pension fund. Downsizing to an apartment on the coast is very attractive." Brian beamed.

"Wow," I looked back at the plans doing some quick math in my head.

"In fact, if you could put together another parcel of land of a similar size, outlook and location we would be very interested."

"I'll keep it in mind."

I barely registered his last statement. I was looking at the number of apartments and working out how many extra people would be in town. Retired people, with families who might want to come on holidays near their loaded parents or grandparents. This could be a bonanza for the town. We spoke for another half an hour while we walked over the site then headed back to the cars.

"Could you recommend somewhere for dinner tonight? I'm staying and meeting with the council committee tomorrow."

"Um," I thought for a moment. "The Royal Hotel in the Main Street does a good steak, for seafood I'd go to The Boatshed and for Asian, ah probably Sweet Sour Salt which is block down from a The Royal."

"I'm a red meat man so I think I'll go to The Royal. Any chance of you coming along? I'm paying, well, the company is."

My first thought was no way, the last thing I needed was to have dinner in public with a strange man. Thinking a bit longer I thought stuff them all, it couldn't get much worse.

"Sure, sounds good. What time?

"Seven thirty okay?"

"See you at The Royal at seven thirty." I shook his hand and got back into my car.

Back at the office Annie and Jane were huddled at Jane's desk gossiping. My entrance stopped the talking and they watched me walk to my desk. I could feel their eyes boring into me and it was really starting to give me the shits. I turned on them.

"Is there something you want to say to me?"

"No, no ...no," they replied together.

"Come on, you two have been like a couple of teenage girls giggling behind your hands for weeks. What the fuck is it?"

Jane shrunk back but Annie straightened and looked me in the eye. "We were just wondering where they put your tattoo?"

Jane's mouth hung open as she appeared flabbergasted at her colleague's question. Annie's eyes never left mine as she challenged me to answer the question.

"I haven't got one. I didn't need a tramp stamp."

Annie snorted, "Yeah right," she said sarcastically.

"I'll show you!" I thundered I walked to the door and clicked the lock as I started unbuttoning my blouse.

Jane had gone from flabbergasted to mortified. Annie leaned back against the desk watching me coolly. She didn't believe I was going to go through with it but I continued. I was down to my bra and panties before she held up her hand.

"Okay, okay, we believe you."

She may have said it but her eyes told me she still didn't believe me. I was riled up and after everything that had gone on in the past couple of weeks I didn't care about my modesty. I still hoped to God no one was coming to the door for the next minute as I continued removing my bra and panties.

"Do you want me to turn around spread them and cough?" I barked still fuming.

"We believe you alright, just put your clothes back on." Annie said defeated.

"Both of you can go and don't bother coming in tomorrow." I ordered as I began getting dressed.

"Are we fired?" Jane squeaked.

"I haven't decided yet, I'll let you know."

They grabbed their stuff and left. No doubt the story of my strip would be around the town before sunset. Another tale to fuel the fires, I cursed my stupidity. This wasn't going to make it any easier to see my kids. I sighed, being alone was okay, I had some things I wanted to do for the rest of the afternoon that I didn't want anyone else knowing about.

I sat down heavily in my chair getting my breathing under control, I felt a little light headed. It would pass, I knew it would because it had before. The truth was I didn't need a tattoo. I looked down and placed my hand on my stomach. Ezekiel's baby growing inside me was all the reminder I needed. I hadn't done the test yet, but I was fairly sure. I was two weeks late so unless menopause has come early I'm pregnant.

Putting that aside I opened up my contacts on the computer and grabbed the phone. Driving back from my meeting with Brian I'd sensed an opportunity and I wanted to nail down some details before dinner tonight. Before I knew it the clock said six so I printed out what I had been working on and went to my new address to get ready for dinner.

After a shower I stood looking at the clothes I'd bought from home trying to work out what to wear for dinner. I wasn't looking for love, tonight was business even though Brian didn't know it yet. Still it wouldn't hurt to put some bait on the hook. I settled for a conservative wool skirt and a blouse over a push up bra that gave a big hint about my other assets. Walking into the bar at The Royal I felt a little self-conscious as some heads swiveled to follow my progress. I saw Brian already seated in the bistro and headed for his table.

He stood up as I approached, leaning in for an air kiss when I was close enough. That would surely get some tongues wagging. We ordered and made small talk while we waited for a glass of wine. Once it arrived it was time to make my pitch.

"Were you serious about being interested in another parcel of land in town?" I inquired innocently.

"We certainly are, just between you and me this could be the most lucrative development we have been involved with since the global financial crisis."

"Alright then," I reached into my handbag and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. After flattening the map and placing it in front of him I continued. "How does the highlighted area grab you?"

"Mm," he studied it for a moment. "What's the size of the area, I can't see a scale."

"It's the equivalent of seven of the town's building blocks."

"Slope?" He asked scratching his chin.

"More than your current site but it has much better views." I replied nonchalantly, trying to hide my enthusiasm.

"Hmm, current owners?"

"Spoke to them today, all interested in receiving an offer."

He sat quietly still looking at the map, mulling over the proposal.

"Can I have a look at the site tomorrow?" He looked up at me expectantly.

"Definitely, whatever time suits you."

Business concluded we got on with having a pleasant dinner. It got spicy when Jim and Cindy came in. The look on Cindy's face, priceless. She had traded down to an older model and here I was supping with a young, hot thing. They didn't stay for dinner but they did motion the my two children inside momentarily to see me. My heart broke at the look on their faces. I made an excuse an left dinner early so Brian didn't see me cry.

The next day I took Brian on a tour first thing in the morning. He was making positive noises about the location.

"Are you sure these people will sell?" He asked.

"Can you keep a secret?" He nodded, "you are looking at the owner of two of them. I manage two others for clients from the city. One is a recently deceased estate and the owner of the last one is currently in negotiation with someone standing right next to you."

Brian turned towards me with his head cocked to the side. I think he just realized he wasn't dealing with an amateur.

"I suppose you expect us to pay over the odds for your slice?" He asked suspiciously.

"I don't expect you to pay for my slice at all. I want in on the whole development, my two, hopefully three properties will be my contribution." I explained with fingers crossed behind my back.

He looked up at the building then turned around and surveyed the view out to sea.

"It is a stunning spot." He mused, "are you sure you can deliver the other vendors?"

"I spoke to them yesterday afternoon, with the right money it won't be an issue."

Brian ran his fingers through his hair, "can you write this up in a proposal so I can take it to the board tomorrow?"

I opened the briefcase I'd bought with me and handed him a folder. "I think you'll find everything you need in there. You might want to take some photos while you are here to add to it."