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Ali laughed, "Good luck with that."
Julia was awake when I opened the door to her cabin. She greeted me with a big grin. "Mum didn't come to bed last night; she was with you wasn't she?"
"She was, young lady, but don't get any ideas, all she did was sleep! You need to get up; we're setting off soon."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It took us another three days to get to 'Never's' mooring by the cottage. It was a journey that should have only taken half that time under usual circumstances, but it was August and the silly season. There were benefits to traveling with a security team. Complaints from the other boats on the canal faded away sharply when they were told to be quiet by several large and intimidating men.
Simone had waved us off, and as promised, she'd passed the word along the canal. She had called the lock keepers along the section of the canal we'd be traveling and got them to prioritize both the Never, and the boat Jamal had hired. We were able to get through most of the locks with only a few delays.
The trip was bittersweet for a couple of reasons. While Ali sat quietly watching the French countryside slowly meander past the boat, I got the opportunity to connect with my new daughter. I knew so little about her. She was going to grow up to be as beautiful as her mother; God knows how, if half her DNA came from me.
She was keen to tell me her life story, waxing lyrical about her school and friends. She was at a private girl's school on the south coast. She was, as I understood, a day border. Monday through Thursday nights she stayed in the dormitory, coming home on Friday afternoon. If her mother was traveling, she had rooms at both sets of grandparents.
I took the opportunity to dig out my camera and start taking images of her and her mother. After the book was published, I'd no longer needed to take photos for a living. I still took photos, but only for my pleasure. Ali shone through the lenses, her natural beauty and personality.
Our daughter had the same camera presence as her mother, and I filled a memory card with images of her.
Ali asked if she could continue sleeping my cabin, I agreed, after a long heated discussion with myself, but I kept my "no fraternization" rule in place. I'd loved this beautiful woman to within an inch of my life, and her betrayal of that love had almost destroyed me. Was I still in love with her? Probably, but honestly, I didn't know. I did know that I still felt something intense about her, and I couldn't help but love the daughter she'd given me.
Sleeping in the same bed with Ali was a bit like pulling on a comfy pair of shoes. She had barely changed, and falling asleep with her in my arms brought back fond memories. If I'd been a bit more cynical, I would have accepted her advances, but something kept staying my hand. There was so much about her story that just didn't add up. She'd admitted that she had a fairly good idea where I was for quite a few years, yet it had needed Julia spotting me in a photo to force her hand.
I couldn't help it; my mind kept turning back to the last few months leading up to that final trip, something I hadn't done for years. There had been an increasing number of high-pressure trips she'd taken. What had she been doing on them?
She swore that it wasn't until much later, well after she'd thought I'd settled down with another family, that she'd taken a lover, and she'd dropped him as soon as she'd learned the truth. Hey, I was no angel, while I'd never had a serious girlfriend, there had been several women who'd stayed on the boat with me for short periods. In my defense, I had thought Ali had divorced me years ago.
The more I thought about it; there was something about those last few assignments when I'd traveled with her. I thought of the night I'd stopped her getting in the elevator with those two assholes. The more I recalled, the more I suspected that she'd been a willing partner to their advances. Had she done that before?
I'd tried calling her and had sent her numerous messages over the days I'd waited in the flat. I'd only received the one fateful message back. I'd no idea as to when she'd gotten back from that trip.
It did seem pointless to continue my boycott of internet stories about Ali I'd been maintaining over the years. A search for Ali Mac and lovers produced over half a million hits. Prominent amongst them were articles on the acrimonious breakup of Ali and Richard (Ricky) Masters, eighteen months ago. He was described as her erstwhile lover and business partner. There was a gleeful description of Ali turning up at a restaurant, slapping Ricky and then pouring the contents of a thousand dollar bottle of wine over his head.
That made me smile, which was quickly quashed when I recognized the Ricky in the accompanying photo. He was one of the two assholes from the hotel incident; only I thought she'd called him... Rodger? No, it was Ralph.
That revelation led to a bitter conversation when I asked her about it.
"So when were you going to tell me that your ex-boyfriend Ricky, was one of the assholes from the hotel. Just when did you start fucking him? It looks like you picked up where you left off. " My tone was bitter.
"Damn you, Ben," she snapped back. "I never slept with him, nor anyone else on those trips. The only man ever to share my bed until you left was you."
I shook my head in disbelief.
"It doesn't matter what you think; I'm telling you the truth. It was several years later that Ricky turned up as one of a group of investors in the business," she replied. "I'd even forgotten we'd met until he reminded me. It wasn't until after I thought you had found a new life and family that I decided to start afresh. Biggest fucking mistake, he and his cronies had doctored all the so-called evidence to stop me leaving the business and trying to get back with you. I fell for the evidence hook line and sinker. He offered a shoulder to cry on, and I took it."
Her expression became anguished, "Fucker was lousy in bed, and Julia hated him. I was going to end it anyway, then I met up with Rachel and found out the truth."
There had been the suggestion of other lovers in the articles I'd glanced over.
"Was he the only one?"
"No, but he was the one who lasted the longest. The others were one or two-night hookups, usually when I was lonely on location and honestly, there were very few of those, and none after I found out the truth about you. What about you?"
If she could be honest so could I. "A couple of short holiday romances, but nothing for several years. To be honest, I don't think I can even remember their names."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To be continued.
- COMMENTS
Ardieff3 months agoIt might be romance. But Ali seems like a psychotic, lying snake - is the sense I get. Still, engaging read.
Anonymous6 months agoAn exercise in futility. So much water under the bridge, ancient history and pain. Reminds me that when people say they have no regrets, they want to believe that, but actually...
Wasted time and energy. His daughter was a lost treasure/experience. His wife, full of herself...
Anonymous8 months agoUhhh...13 years apart. She's a super model. Worth literally a billion dollars. And "she's still so in love with her husband..."
And this fucking moron MC...doesn't require DNA tests of some kind? And he let's these strangers onto his boat with all of the messy security bullshit? Fuck that. And he takes them to an intimate dinner with friends literally a few hours after this bombshell? And then she sleeps with him on the boat? What in the actual fuck kind of nonsense is this?
Guys. 13 years. She's had so much dick and pussy in her life (I'm sure she's munched a few carpets in that life style)...she ain't coming back to some recluse who owns a vineyard in rural France.
And this guy is a millionaire in his own right. He lives very quietly and happily. He cruises the Mediterranean...hopping from the South of France to Italy to Greece and all of the Islands in between there. He's a decent looking guy. Well off. With a luxury boat. He's fucking more tourists (and probably a bunch of natives) than he can shake his dick at.
13 years people! Think about it? How much dick does a Jenner or Kardashian super model go through in 13 years? They are worth a billion. You think they are sitting around pining for some dude they haven't seen for 13 years? This guy would have been forgotten as soon as she got over pushing the kid out of her vagina. And she WAS cheating on him before he left her...the signs were all there. In real life she was probably fucking other models the first trip she took alone out of the country as a model. Coke. X. Alcohol. Models get in these binges and fuck each other crazy.
Sorry. This last installment?? Biggest load of bullshit I've ever read.
This guy in real life? After 13 years?
"HI dad." Steps onto the boat.
"Hey! I don't know who the hell you think you are? But get your ass off this boat."
"Hey lady...come get this brat off of my boat now!" He yells at the woman in the big hat.
Grabs the girl by the arm and drags her off the boat.
"Learn some manners."
Pushes away from the pier and motors off.
A few more stops up the canal. They tie the boat up.
The woman in the hat comes walking up.
"Ben how could you do that to our daughter?" Takes the hat off and he recognizes her as his cheating slut of an ex-wife.
"Bitch. I have no fucking idea what your crazy ass is talking about. Don't try and get on this boat. Cause I'll throw you into the canal. I don't know what's going on here, but if I wanted you in my life? I'da actually went looking for you. Go sell your crazy somewhere else and leave me alone."
"But Ben...I still love you. And you got me pregnant almost 14 years ago. She is your daughter."
"Hey stupid. IF she is my daughter. Which you are gonna have to prove with a DNA test btw...you've done a fine job with her for the past 13 years. You basically stole her childhood from me. Which is just selfish and unforgivable. Why you bringing her now? She doesn't look like me. I had no idea she existed. We have no connection. You'll continue doing just fine. And you are worth 100s of millions of dollars. You haven't needed me. And you won't in the future. So find another sucker to be daddy and go fuck yourself."
"But Ben I love you so much! And I miss you! And we are still husband and wife."
"It's been 13 years you stupid bitch! You love me and miss me? How many dicks have you had in that time? How much effort did you put into actually trying to find me? My parents could have gotten word to me...oh say...10 or 11 years ago pretty easily if you'd just asked them to try. So take your skanky ass away from my boat. And leave me alone!"
Then throwing the last comment over my shoulder as I turn away from her, "and since you haven't arranged for the divorce based on abandonment like any sane person would have done more than a decade ago...ypu know when I packed up my shit and left you, moved to another country 1,000 miles away? Don't worry. I'll have my attorney draw up some papers and get them to you. I don't want a DAMN thing from you."
That's it. Something similar. There's no happy reunion. There's no spending days together on the boat traveling the lockes. Reminiscing about old times. Bonding with a nearly grown person that supposedly is my child. Sleeping together.
None of that. Allow me to repeat it again...it's been THIRTEEN fucking years!!?
Nobody shows up and says "surprise! I know I showed you the ultimate disrespect possible that a spouse can show another spouse. And haven't tried to contact you for 13 years. But I still love you and miss you and let's be husband and wife again! Ok?"
Get the fuck out of here with that.
Anonymousabout 1 year agoStory went off the rails. Cannot believe regardless of her threats that his parents did not tell him he had a daughter. Seriously would never happen in anything remotely like the real world. They would not care if she made good on her threat (clearly made in anguish) to never let then see their grand-daughter again. Bullshit. They had the means to contact him in an emergency through his attorney. So why the 13 year gap? That is insane. And ended up killing the story for me. The hackneyed reasons for why she did not contact him were mostly confusing or vacuous. I get at the beginning she was pissed at him and upset and had to face a pregnancy alone. Ok. I get thatbshe wanted him to return without needing to know he had a daughter. Selfish but human. But after she realized hoe much she had fucked up and he did not contact her and was not coming back, say when her daughter was a year old. Then etf, why not? Then we hear about how she looked and looked and then got busy with work. The book came out and made it big within what 2 years of their breakup? As I suspected she figured out where he was based on intimidating thre publishing company. Though timing on that is uncertain. She uses reading the book as a reason to prevaricate. She is fed false information that Sophie was his wife (umm duh the two of them are still married, wtf? It is Europe not Micronesia). She has an on again, off again relationship with one of the asshole who tried to get her drunk and date rape her? So yeah somehow that pushes out her decision. And that is AFTER she finds out she was lied to. Has to purge Ricky and his cronies from her business. Wtf? She must have had the worst therapist on the planet. She is obviously dicking around and is too afraid and cowardly to face him and tell "whoops you have a pre-teen daughter". There are other lame excuses the author coughs up. The timing of when an where is inconsistent. One case she is in the on and off relationship after like 8 years. In another case it is supposedly only several years after they broke up and she was then soon after lied to about his "new family" and it took until her talk with Rachael two years ago to realize the truth. But only when her daughter sees the picture on social media does she take action. Yeah again she has the worst therapist not just on planet Earth but on Literotica. Hands down. And it is just nuts that she falls in with Ricky. But hey then claims that Ricky is a terrible lover, a shoulder to cry on at first, but Julia hated him. Not to mention he played a role in her breakup and the MC running away. If she is even remotely self-aware or intelligent, she avoids the asshole based on that or dumps way before the "lie" is revealed. So many excuses, wound up in a tangled knot, with inconsistent timings. And again HIS PARENTS would never go along with the keeping the knowledge of Julia their son, unless they despised him. That is a huge plot hole. Don't get me wrong. After seeing the MC's craven actions, I had more sympathy for Ali because the MC just freaking abandoned her. I could imagine her pain and yes she fucked up but she didn't deserve that. But Julia at least deserved a co-parent. Her keeping Julia a secret and all these muddled excuses about how she woukd tell him, her relationship with Ricky, her being deceived, threatening his parents, etc. really start to bring her down to his level of cowardice. Not one of the author's better stories (The Woodcarver's Wife, the Accountant's Wife, Trials of Love (though the repeated oral sex in that story is hard to imagine a reconciliation), the Wine Merchant, Alison Found (Alison's Lament was hideous and ruins Alison Found). Suspect that further chapters will make the wife's behavior worse. Anyways the 13 year skip was way too large. Not needed. Make the girl 4 years old or something. Just makes it unbelievable on so many levels. First 4 stars I have given this author. Would have been a 3, but author writes so well. Sigh.
Devonadrianover 1 year agoIt fell apart. The dialogue was campy. The child putting on orphan charm was creepy and nonsensical. Its been thirteen years. You should have capped the timeskip to three years. It wouldve been more plausible. The dialouge was campy and oddly victorian. Thought i was reading Jane Austin or someting.
