Always Faithful – To the Bitter End

As told by another, both Laura and Dan enjoyed their individual Christmas and New Year's parties so there is no need to replicate what you now know so well. Perhaps the most note worthy thing about these festivities is that this was the first year that Dan and Laura did not spent Christmas with each other. What makes it sad of course, is that neither one noticed the death of Laura and Dan second tradition.

With the New Year Laura started to seriously think of Dan again. At first it was just a random thought that she quickly hid away. But after awhile the thought became persistent and eventually she started wondering about him. Wondering how he was doing, what he was doing and with whom. From there it was only a short step to wanting to see

Dan again, to be with him, to be his wife. By the middle of January, she knew it was time to return to Dan. She had exceeded her time with Greg and now it was time to be with her true husband.

A sound at the door brought Dan's head up. Looking up he could see that his secretary was nervous. "What's wrong?" he asked. She looked at him and said softly, "It's Laura, do you want talk to her?" Reluctantly, he nodded yes. After she had closed the door he picked up the phone. The call was one he had been expecting but not looking

forward too. She told him it was time to talk and he agreed. She picked Wednesday to meet for lunch and he picked the restaurant.

The restaurant Dan had picked was the one where Laura had forced a cum covered oyster into his mouth and then left him to spend the night with Greg. Laura was surprised at Dan's choice of restaurant but coming up to his table was simply shocked to see that Dan had already finished a ½ dozen oysters.

When Dan noticed her, he smiled saying, "You are looking good, married life agrees with you." This bothered her too, because he said without sarcasm or anger.

"Thank you, you too are looking good, though I am surprised at your choice of an appetizer. The last time someone mentioned oysters you blushed at the memory of our last visit here."

"That's true, I did. I was am embarrassing association. But a couple of months after you left to be with Greg I realized I had nothing to be embarrassed about. I came here to be with my wife. You had promised me a very special evening and after a night of sweet seduction YOU choose to embarrass me and go home with your lover. I was just a foolish victim. So I started coming here once a week, every week. I think it took me three weeks before I could actually swallow that first oyster and probably another month, before I started to enjoy them again. Now that my embarrassment has been eliminated I come here on the whim and enjoy oysters whenever I am in the mood."

Again, not only did his words surprise her but how said them. No anger, no bragging, no hint of hostility. He sat there revealing this previously hidden strength and how she had humiliated him as if he were reading a news article to her. It was then that she realized the only way he could do such a thing was if it was no longer special to

him. He had obviously faced his embarrassment and overcome it, it was no longer something to dwell upon or boast about.

"Enough about me, Laura. You called me, what do you want to talk about?"

Laura reminded him that she had asked to be with Greg until the end of the year and the year over. Dan chuckled softly and told her he did remember going to a party recently where everyone counted down the clock and kissed at midnight.

Laura didn't appreciate the humor so she gave up on the subtle approach and went with the one thing that always worked for her with Dan. She went at him direct and firm.

"Dan, is this your way of saying you don't want me anymore; Instead of coming home, should we be talking about a divorce instead? "

Dan looked at her for a very long time before answering, for minute she thought the he might actually want to talk about divorce. Finally he said, "Let's try to be civil with each other." She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

In the following hour both talked about many things, things they had put off for a very long time. They talked about the status of their relationships and the many changes in each other's lives. As it had to, they eventually came to Thanksgiving and although Laura tried her best to apologize, Dan refused to excuse it. In the end, Laura accepted the blame and admitted she would have to live with that fuck up. Throughout it all Laura tried her best to negotiate her return home with the status quo intact.

Dan recognized this for what it truly was. Laura wanted what Laura wanted and she felt it was Dan's job to accept that. He felt she still wanted to maintain two husbands and move between them as she desired. Having lived through this nightmare once, Dan knew he would not, could not ever accept a repeat.

At the end of the conversation Dan held her hand, the one with Dan's rings and told her she had some serious decisions to make. He told the only thing he wanted was wife. A wife that supported him and was there for him. A wife he could share the remainder of his life with. He could not and would never be a second husband again. Then he told her to go back to Greg and give it some real thought. He told her think about what she really wanted and what would make her most happy.

When he told Leanne about the meeting after the night's dinner, he said that he thought it went well. "I think if she really gives it some thought, she will realize that her future is with Greg." Once she comes to that conclusion, we can be divorced without causing each other anymore pain." Hearing that, Leanne hugged the man she loved and he felt good in her embrace.

---------------------------------------------------

A month later Dan received another call from Laura asking to meet to discuss their future. She suggested dinner and Dan suggested Greg & Laura's restaurant. Once again Laura was surprised by Dan's choice but agreed. Hanging up with Laura, Dan called Leanne to tell her about the upcoming dinner and took the rest of the afternoon off. Leanne greeted him with a cold drink and comforting hug. She then asked why he was so happy.

"Laura is going to tell me that she is leaving me for Greg and wants a divorce. I can then tell her I understand and that she has made the right decision. Then we can end this marriage without the need for either of us having to hurt the other any more than we have."

"Dan, I know that is what you hope is going to happen, but what if you are wrong? What if she asks to you come back home? What then?"

She watched as her words leeched the joy out of his face. She hated to see it. Hated more that she was the source of it, but he had to be prepared. He still didn't see Laura as the true cunt she was. She felt obligate to make sure he was prepared or maybe next time Laura would break him beyond all repair.

After a long period of quiet, Dan said, "I don't know what I'll do Leanne. I really don't. I love her. You know that. I will always love her. I can't help myself. But I also know she has damaged our marriage beyond salvage. You and I have talked about this many times and you know that I feared the marriage was over when she left me for

Greg last year. After Thanksgiving I knew it was over."

Another period of silence. Leanne watched him struggle, knowing he would come to the correct decision, hoping he would. The right decision for him, for Laura and for her.

Dan finally looked up at her, "If Laura doesn't ask for a divorce tonight, I will. Dragging this out any longer will only make things worse." He then picked up the phone and called his lawyer.

Dan was meeting Laura at 7:00pm so he left the loft at 6:30. As soon as he was out the door, Leanne dialed Greg and asked him to meet her in the restaurant parking lot at 7:15. He tried to ask a lot of questions but Leanne refused and asked him not to tell Laura about their meeting.

This time the positions were reversed, when he arrived at the table Laura was already seated and waiting for him. They greeted each other and ordered a cocktail. After each had enjoyed their first sip, Laura started the beginning of their end game.

"Dan, I have taken a month to think about everything you said to me at our last meeting. I have thought back on our marriage and my time with Greg. I must tell you that I have enjoyed my time with Greg last year. They were some of the best days of my entire life and I would not trade them for anything. But I also realized that none of it would have been possible with you and your love."

"Greg loves me deeply and I love him. But the truth is I love you more. You are my true husband and I am your wife. I want to come back home with you."

Dan listened to his wife and realized that contrary to his hopes this was going to be a very painful night for everyone involved. At the same moment, Leanne and Greg were meeting in the parking lot.

"Hello Greg"

"Good evening, Leanne. Care to tell me why we are both standing out in the parking lot while our lover's are inside eating dinner?"

"Yes I will tell you, but first I need to ask you a couple of questions."

"Go ahead ask."

"Do you know what Laura is telling Dan tonight?"

Before he said a word, Leanne knew the answer from the look on his face. "She is going to tell him what I've always known. That she loves him more than me and that she wants to return home as his wife."

"Crap, I was afraid of that."

"What are you afraid of Leanne?" he asked, and before he finished asking he too knew the answer. "He isn't going to take her back is he?"

Leanne just shook her head, "No, I don't think so. Hell, I hope not."

"She is going to be devastated."

"Yes, I think she will be and that is why I called you. I thought you might want to be here to help pick up the pieces."

"What the fuck happened. I thought Dan was okay with everything. Hell, after his birthday gift, I thought for a while that Dan was going to ask me to move in with them. Then she shows up and tells me that Dan is going to let her stay with me for the remainder of the year. Shit, I like Dan, I didn't want this."

Leanne looked and him and realized he didn't know. "Greg, Dan never gave you a birthday gift. Laura just told you he did, so you would stay and fuck her in their home. Then when he returned, she told him about the gift she had given to you in his name."

"Fuck Me, she didn't?"

"Yes she did. I don't think she realizes it, but after that he never slept in that house again."

"What do you mean; he never slept in it again?"

Back inside Dan made one more attempt to get Laura to understand that she shouldn't come back.

"Laura, I hear what you are saying but I am not sure you thinking clearly."

"What does that mean Dan? Are you saying that I don't know if I love you or if I can't tell if I love you more than I love Greg?"

After a reflective moment, Dan look at her with sadness in his eyes, "That is exactly what I am saying." Putting a hand up, "Please let me speak for a minute."

Seeing her lips tighten, Dan continues. "Laura, do you know how much time we have spent together in the last year?"

In response to Laura's silent shaking of her head, Dan continued.

"Well I do. I actually sat down one day and calculated it out. In the last 14 months you have spent a total of 31 days with me. Of those 31 days you only managed to spend 20 nights. And you know what I remember most of those 31 days?"

Again, she looks at him, tears starting to form in her eyes as shakes her head left to right.

"Of those 31 days, I remember a 3 person date where you forced an oyster topped with your lover's cum down my throat and then went home with him, leaving me standing all alone. I remember being told that you love eating your lover's ass but would never do that for me as you had reserved that pleasure only for him. I remember the pride in

your voice as you told me that Leanne begged you to fuck her when she wouldn't fuck me. I remember leaving your parents house after you spent an afternoon drinking wine and telling your mother and sister how you had made a cuckold out of me. I remember you telling me how Greg used our home as a love nest. But most of all I remember you telling Greg that whenever I fucked you in our marital bed you would always think of the way he was fucking you in it."

"What do you think Laura? Don't those seem like a lot of loving memories for being together only 31 days out of the last 425? Is that really how you perceive love? Is that what you are telling me, that you love hurting me more than you enjoy being with Greg? If so, when you decide I was a masochist?"

Laura was deeply scared now. More scared of losing dan than she could ever remember. What Dan was telling her couldn't be true. Could it? Had she really spent so little time with him? Had she really filled that short time with nothing with pain? What kind of woman had she become? How could she have let this happen? How could she hurt the man she loves so terribly?

Dan watched her quiet sobbing hoping she would work it all out. Instead, she surprised him once more by moving forward.

Laura knew she only had one last chance. It was desperate, but so was she so she attacked.

"Dan, I am your legal wife and I want to come home? Are you telling me that I can't? Are you telling me I can't return to the home we have both shared for almost 13-years? Are you going to stop me from coming home Dan?"

Shaking his head and realizing he had no choice now, Dan looked up at her and so very softly said, "Laura I am not going to stop you, but you can't return home."

"Why not?" Laura demanded.

"Because I sold our house last October."

"You what? You sold our home? How could you? We bought that together, we furnished it together. We spent our entire married life in that home how could you?"

"Laura that house was filled with memories of you. Everywhere I looked I felt you, I saw you. It is what made it a home for me. But after knowing that you had given all of yourself to Greg, in every room I couldn't live there. Understand, I literally couldn't sleep there. I got to the point where I had to check into a motel to sleep each

night. Laura, your actions destroyed our home, I just sold the house that was left."

Laura slumped back and Dan watched as her eyes when glassy. Taking a breath, Dan caught sight of both Greg and Leanne standing at the bar watching them intently. After long silence, Laura managed to ask, "Dan what do we do now? Where do we go from here?"

With the hard part done, Dan took a deep breath and told her.

"Laura, we go our separate ways. I love you but I can't be married to you. I know you love Greg and he loves you so I think you should go back to him."

Standing up, Dan offers her a glass of water and promises to return in a minute. She sits and stares as he leaves and enters the bar.

"Hello Greg."

"Hi, Dan. I have to say, this is certainly not how I expected the night to end."

"Greg, I know you love Laura and I know you have tried your best to take her away from me permanently."

To his credit Greg was honest, "Yes, I have but she has always made it clear that she always loved you first and I was only a diversion."

Greg heard what he thought was a sad sigh, "Perhaps she made it clear to you, but she was a bit more ambiguous with me. Regardless, it takes two to tango. Maybe you didn't take all of her love away from me, but between both of you, you did manage to destroy much of the love I had for her. Oh, don't get me wrong, I still love her, but not

enough to be the husband she remembers. That Dan died while she was your wife."

As the realization of what Dan was telling him sunk him, "Dan is Laura alright?"

"I think so, but I will depend on you to make sure."

"Let's all go back and join her, I think it would be best Greg, if you are with her when they serve her with the divorce papers."

"Crap. Dan, please don't do it to her tonight. If you ever loved her, please not tonight."

"Okay Greg, I'll trust your judgment on this. You go take care of Laura and I'll talk to the server. Then I think we all should return to our respective homes."

"Thank you Dan."

"Greg?"

"Yes," answered Greg.

"I never wanted to hurt her like this I truly didn't. I thought with a little more time she would realize that you were her future and I was her past. Then this all would have been as painless as possible. I truly am sorry. Greg?"

"Me too."

"Please take care of her. I can never be with her again, but I have always loved her and always will. Make sure she knows that."

"I will Dan and thanks for returning her to me. I'll keep her safe."

As the four characters in this drama exit the restaurant where Laura and Dan both suffered at each other's hand, so too ends their tale. It was a tale of a man who loved his wife so much, he was willing to suffer pain, longing and humiliation for her happiness. At least until he couldn't do it anymore. It is a tale that with a few choices, different choices, might have ended like a beautiful symphony; that is uplifting, sensual and inspiring. Instead, poor choices have resulted in this very bitter tale. Sip deeply of its meaning and forever avoid its terrible taste.