Choices

"Still, it wasn't right to talk to you like that. She's really a very sweet girl, but I'm afraid she's been like that since her own divorce 3 years ago."

"What happened?"

"You know, I don't know exactly, other than he cheated on her. She never really told us the whole story. I think she finds it embarrassing. But she divorced him, not the other way around. By the way, dinner's at 6:00pm. Do you think you'll be done by then?"

"Absolutely. Will, um, your daughter be there?"

Frankly, I'd already had enough of the Ice Queen and was already trying to come up with reasons to miss dinner if she was staying, but Miss Ruth took it to mean I was hopeful that she would be.

"Unfortunately she had to leave. Maybe next time."

*****

TAYLOR

Men sucked. That's all there was to it. They were liars or con artists or cheaters. My ex-husband, Jimmy, somehow managed to be all 3 at the same time.

I had met him my senior year at the University of Florida. I was there on a volleyball scholarship and was getting a degree in education and also getting a coaching certification. We hit it off really well and I thought we'd get married pretty soon after graduation, but it was actually 3 years afterwards. Jimmy insisted that he just wasn't mature enough, but he said he loved me and was devoted only to me and I believed him.

Shortly after graduation, Jimmy got a job making good money working for a local woman named Margaret Healy. She was a widow and was almost 60 years old. She had taken over a number of her late husband's businesses when he died. Jimmy was working directly for her and was, according to him, learning the ins and outs of the business so he could take it over one day. It led to some long hours and late nights but I believed he was working toward our future. I met her a few times and she called him the son she never had.

Meanwhile I was teaching and coaching nearby, living my dreams as well. We were even talking about starting our family. We had what I thought was a perfect life. I was wrong.

One weekend my team was scheduled to attend a tournament in Orlando. We left Friday night and were scheduled to get back on Sunday evening. We left as scheduled and played our matches on Saturday, but some hurricane-strength weather started to roll in off of the Atlantic so they had to cancel the Sunday matches.

With the area being evacuated as a precaution we loaded up on to the bus and made the drive back to Tampa. I tried calling Jimmy but just got his voice mail so I guess he never heard I was coming. I arrived right in the middle of the bondage orgy my husband was having with his boss, her daughter, and their secretary in my bedroom. It was the secretary that was the, what do you call them, the dominatrix. I happened to walk in at the exact moment that old lady Healy was shoving a whip handle up my husband's ass while he licked the secretary's shaved snatch. And he was loving every minute of it.

I was positively horrified. I'm no prude; I enjoy (well, enjoyed) sex and liked doing some kinky stuff, but this was my husband of 7 years being brutalized by 3 women and enjoying it.

I had the presence to take some pictures on my phone then I started divorce proceedings immediately. It turns out Jimmy had been screwing Margaret and her daughter, Miranda, since taking the job, and the baby that Miranda had given birth to two years ago was Jimmy's as well. And it hadn't been an accident, either. They had asked him to father a baby for her and he willingly fucked her unprotected until she got pregnant.

Not only that, but most every male friend that we had knew what Jimmy was doing and was covering for him. In fact, this whole thing broke up more than a few marriages. Jimmy had promised lucrative jobs to his friends in exchange for their silence, but he wasn't even allowed to offer any jobs, and now their wives decided they couldn't trust them.

I was prepared to sue the hell out of everybody but Mrs. Healy offered me a very generous cash settlement to avoid legal action and to not talk about it publicly. In addition, she paid for my divorce and for me to relocate back to California, and gave me money for living expenses until I was able to get a job here. From what I understand not much has changed over there, except that Jimmy married Miranda. So he got rich and hooked up with people as depraved as he apparently was, and I got a one-way ticket out of town and some serious trust and anger management issues. Doesn't seem like a fair trade.

So okay, this guy working in mom and dad's bathroom was nice looking. But I knew there had to be something about him that was horrible - he was a man after all - and I wasn't falling into that trap again.

*****

HENRY

The next day I was invited to Ed and Kathy's for dinner and I had looked forward to the opportunity to get to know the couples in something other than a group setting.

Kathy was a wonderfully sweet woman, though not particularly attractive. She had dirty blonde hair and scars on her face that suggested a teenage bout with some serious acne, and was fairly round around the middle. She was more chubby than fat, but she did have a very large pair of breasts and a decent ass. But more important than any of that was the fact that she and Ed were clearly head over heels in love with each other.

I happened to mention spending yesterday at the Monroe's getting their bathroom plumbing up to snuff.

"Did you meet the Ice Queen?" Ed inquired.

"Edward, I've asked you not to call her that," Kathy interjected. "It's not nice."

"Neither is she," Ed countered.

"Yeah, I met her," I said. "She came over to see her parents while I was working."

"And what'd she have to say?" Ed asked, while looking toward Kathy. It was like he knew Taylor had done something that was Ice Queen-esque and was just waiting to prove that she deserved to be called that.

"She told me to make sure I cleaned up and didn't try to rip off her parents; then gave them a hard time for hiring someone that would probably rip her off and break stuff on purpose."

Ed had a very self-satisfied smile on his face but Kathy gave as well as she got.

"I never said she was a nice person. My point is simply that by speaking about her that way you are no better."

"What do you guys know about her?" I asked. "I have a hard time believing such nice people raised such a harpy for a daughter. There must be something more to it."

Kathy summarized what they knew. "She was apparently married and lived in Florida up until about 3 years ago. She got divorced and moved back here. Perhaps there's some residual anger from her divorce, or maybe she's just a bitch. We've never known her to behave any other way but then we didn't know her before."

"We all tried inviting her to some of the neighborhood get-togethers when she first got here but she never accepted," Ed contributed. "So we just stopped asking."

"It's too bad," I said. "She's a strikingly beautiful woman. When I saw her picture on their wall I thought she was someone I'd like to meet and thought, or maybe hoped, you guys were exaggerating the Ice Queen thing, but I was quickly set straight."

*****

The next weekend Natalie and her roommate, Patrice, came over for a visit. Patrice was cute but nothing particularly special, at least in terms of her appearance. She had shoulder length, wavy brown hair and a slim figure. She had smallish breasts and slim hips, with a nice set of legs extended from the white denim skirt she was wearing.

We spent the day at the mall and I bought some things for both girls. Nat told me that Patrice's parents are just managing to pay for her college expenses so things like new clothes aren't in the budget. I could afford it so I thought what the hell. We had lunch in the food court at the mall and then dinner at Olive Garden, at Patrice's request.

After we got home we watched a movie on pay-per-view then settled in for bed. The guest room had a queen-sized bed in it so the girls could have shared the room if they'd been so inclined, but Patrice elected to use the fold-out in my office.

On Sunday I took the girls out to brunch and then we spent the rest of the day just chatting. Natalie, as she frequently did, used the opportunity to again encourage me to start dating, even mentioning there were some grad students and even some professor's at the university that were single and might be a good match. I expressed my appreciation for her concern but declined her matchmaking offer.

*****

At the next week's poker game I found out that the visit from Natalie and Patrice did not go unnoticed.

"So Henry," Bart said, "you had a couple of young hotties at your place over the weekend. Enjoying the single life, are we?"

"Bart," I answered with a smile, "I'll thank you not to call my daughter a hottie, at least not to my face. And the other young lady was her college roommate."

Bart went a little red and managed to stutter an apology, but I assured him it wasn't a big deal.

*****

Two weeks later we had the monthly neighborhood dinner at the Monroe's house. Ms. Ruth could sure put on a spread and it was all really good. It was no wonder everyone in the neighborhood was happy to include them in the bartering exchange.

Ms. Ruth tended to separate spouses when she arranged the seating, tried to always arrange it boy-girl-boy-girl, and tended to mix it up from month to month. It was her way of breaking down any barriers that might exist and to keep everyone on the street on some measure of equal footing.

Mr. Monroe held the head of the table and Miss Ruth was at the foot. I found myself between Ed's wife, Kathy, and Bart's wife, Jennifer. Jennifer was a tall, thin, Hispanic woman. She was pretty in an overly made-up kind of way. I think she would have been pretty anyway but I had never seen her without the too-much-makeup look that she seemed to favor. As I said, she was thin and had very little in terms of breasts or booty, but she was perfect in the way that it counted: she loved Bart with all she had. In fact, it was clear that each of the couples on this street were completely devoted to each other. It kind of made me wonder how the former owners of my house had slipped in.

Part of me was disappointed that Taylor wasn't there. On the one hand, I knew that none of the couples cared for her very much, but I also doubt they had any chance to really get to know her. They only knew the 'bitch' that was still bitter from her divorce 3 years later.

But for me there was just something about her that drew me to her and I couldn't explain it. I just felt there was something, someone special if one could somehow get through all the anger and hate.

*****

TAYLOR

I tended to avoid mom's monthly get-togethers with the couples in her neighborhood, the most recent one last week being no exception. She had adopted all of them as surrogate children and she really enjoyed cooking for them, but I didn't care for hanging out there during those parties. I suppose there was nothing wrong with any of the people themselves; I just had a hard time being around all those happy couples when my love life was in the shitter.

Most times when I looked at a man, especially a married one, I couldn't help but suspect that they were cheating. It was frustrating for me because I really did want to meet someone and get married again, and hopefully have a couple of kids, and my window of viability in the kids department was closing.

I was trying to get past this attitude I had but I had been so very hurt by what Jimmy had done that it was proving to be extremely hard to do. I had to admit that I felt a little something for this Henry guy. We had crossed paths a couple of times and he seemed nice. If mom and dad were to be believed he was perfect. But I also knew he was divorced and I didn't know why, and that probably meant he had cheated on his wife and I wasn't going down that road again; once a cheater, always a cheater, as they say.

I had stayed at my parent's house last night. We had been up late watching a movie and TV so I just crashed in their guest bedroom. But when I got up this morning to leave for work my damn car wouldn't start.

"Mom, can I borrow your car today? My car won't start and I'm gonna be late for work?"

"Of course, dear; we don't have any plans today."

"Thanks. I'll come straight over after work and deal with it"

*****

HENRY

The phone rang bright and early, and I was surprised to have Miss Ruth on the other end.

"Henry, I'm terribly sorry to bother you so early this morning but I wanted to catch you before you went to work."

"No problem, Miss Ruth. I'm actually off today and I was already awake. What can I do for you this morning?"

"You know about fixing cars, don't you?"

"Some, yes ma'am. More about rebuilding than repairing but I know a few things. Are you having trouble with your car?"

"It's not me; it's Taylor. Her car won't start. She borrowed mine so she could get to work but I wondered if it might be something easy you could figure out."

"Do you have the keys to her car?"

"Yes, we have her spare."

"I'll be right down and take a look."

Since I was off for the next couple of days until my next work project was going to be up and running, this was actually as good time a time as any for a car to break down. As I had told Miss Ruth, I didn't know everything about car repair, but it didn't take me long to determine the problem to be the alternator.

I actually relished the idea of doing something nice for Taylor. I felt a strong connection to her. Sure, she was beautiful but it was more than that. I felt an energy surge whenever she came into the same room as me, and wondered if she felt it, too.

I actually really wanted to ask her out but she still seemed very closed down. But I was determined to break through her cool exterior and this seemed like a great opportunity to make a dent.

I spent the next several hours fixing the car, including a run up to the dealership for an alternator, since the auto parts store didn't carry it. I managed to get it fixed about an hour before Taylor got back.

*****

TAYLOR

"Mom, I'm back. Thanks for the use of the car."

I walked into the house and said hello to mom and dad, then started looking for a number for a tow service so I could get my car taken to my mechanic. Then I'd rent a car, but mom stopped me.

"There's no need for that, dear. Your car is fixed."

"My car magically fixed itself while I was gone? C'mon mom, I need to get this done before everything closes."

"No dear, there was no magic involved. I asked Henry to look at it and he got it all taken care of."

Shit. That was really nice, especially when I've been so nasty to him. I went out to my car and it started right up. I walked the 2 doors down to his house and knocked on the door. When he opened it he wasn't wearing a shirt and it looked like he had been working out. I had to admit that he looked good. He was muscular without being overly so. I felt a little something (okay, it was more than a little) I hadn't felt in some time, and I realized I was becoming attracted to him.

"Hi, Taylor. How are you today? How was work?"

His tone surprised me, like he was really happy to see me and genuinely interested in how my day had gone. This was in stark contrast to how I had usually greeted him. Why was he being so nice?

"Um, it was fine, Henry, thank you for asking. My mom says you fixed my car. I wanted to thank you for taking care of it for me and find out what I owed you."

"It was my pleasure to do it. I enjoyed helping you out. And you don't owe me anything."

"I wouldn't feel right not paying you. What was wrong with it?"

"Just some loose wires. It happens sometimes, but they're nice and secure now. You shouldn't have any more problems."

"Well, thank you. I'm glad it was such a minor thing and I hope it wasn't too much trouble. Again, I really appreciate it."

"You're very welcome. It really was my pleasure"

He seemed genuinely and sincerely happy to have taken care of my problem. It was almost as if he liked me, even though I had given him no reason to. I found myself smiling and in a good mood as I walked back to my mom and dad's house. Mom noticed my smile.

"You seem chipper, my dear."

I didn't really want to admit that my mood was at least partially (okay, mostly) from just having spoken to Henry, and having seen him without his shirt.

"Oh, just glad it was only a few loose wires and nothing major."

"Is that what he told you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Honey, he spent all day replacing some part in your engine. Your dad says that's like a $400 repair. He only told you it was the wires because he didn't want you to pay him."

"I don't understand. He didn't say anything about any parts. Why wouldn't he let me pay him?"

Mom erupted into a huge smile and looked at me like I was the dumbest person in the world.

"Why do you think, honey?"

Suddenly I was smiling even wider.

*****

GINA

I had settled into a nice rhythm with John. We had married not long after my divorce from Henry was final, and I was happy. The thing was, I wasn't happier, and that surprised me. As much and as long as I had loved John, I thought that being married to him would somehow be even more amazing that being married to Henry, but it wasn't. It wasn't worse, you understand, just different.

We still had the weekly barbecues with Scott, Andrea, Bill, and Lisa. Basically life has gone on the same with the very notable exception of 2 things: our children.

At least Natalie will still talk to me on occasion, even if it is frequently with angry words and raised voices. Savannah hasn't spoken to John since she found out about this, except to tell him not to talk to her anymore.

He tries periodically to contact her but she has yet to respond. This was a consequence I don't think either of us expected. I mean, Marcie was already gone so it wasn't like John left her for me, but Savannah is acting as if he did. And since she's not talking to us, we don't know exactly what her issue is.

But John and I did our best to focus on ourselves. The barbecues were the same: fun and with no tension. None of the other couples had expressed any sort of negative reaction to what we had done. Our sex life was not to the level that I had with Henry, but that was to be expected considering our ages and that Henry had years to get to know what turned me on. But the important thing is that we're happy together, and while I can't say that I would definitely make the same choice if I knew then what I knew now, I do love him and we are making the best of the situation.

*****

HENRY

It was a Sunday and the ladies in the neighborhood were having a girls night out so the guys decided to do the same. We started by going bowling and then grabbing some dinner, and then finally ended up at a club that had a popular local band playing. There was a dance floor as well but we had no plans to hit it; the wives would not be amused if any of the guys cut the proverbial rug with another female, and I didn't care much for dancing. Well, at least the way it was done these days.

The evening rolled along and the band was pretty good. I can't deny we enjoyed checking out some of the women on the dance floor, but that was the extent of our misbehavior.

Rick saw her first.

"Isn't that the Ice Queen over in that booth?"

He pointed toward a darker corner to the side of the stage. To my surprise it was Taylor sitting there, though she was alone. She looked so beautiful. I assumed she was there on a date and that he was up getting them drinks, and I deflated a little bit, though I tried not to let on.