Courtesan Ch. 11

"I'm quite certain that the dinner meeting at this restaurant was part of the plan. You remember it. You told me about it earlier today. It was your first official business meeting with the three partners and you were seated next to John Reynolds. You told me that he was so nice to you. You also told me that the meeting ended abruptly, but Martin wanted to stay and talk to Chris, so John had to give you a ride home."

"And when we got back to his office John seduced me and the next morning, when I got to work John called me into his office to tell me that they'd decided to promote me." Kelly shook her head. "And I was so excited that I ended up having sex with all three of the partners that morning."

My wife sighed. "Timmy I really am just a dumb blond." She smiled at me. "I'll bet Eric was a setup too."

"You mean that first associate you met at the Calvert Hotel?'

"Yes, he was one of the most handsome men I've ever met and he was so good in bed. When I left that night I actually felt lucky that I had a job where I occasionally got to sleep with a good looking man and get paid for it. Timmy I was unbelievably stupid."

Kelly stared at me for a moment and then she said, "Timmy they manipulated me. They played me like a puppet so that I'd become their little corporate hooker and I'm so dumb that I fell for it." She laughed. "I fell for it because I wanted to fall for it. I even lied to them because I wanted to become their little whore."

My wife closed her eyes. There was a tear rolling down her cheek. She bit her lower lip and quietly said, "That's all I am is a cheap little whore and that's all I'll ever be. I tried to be faithful to you, but I couldn't do that. Instead I let those bastards play me."

Kelly's voice started to get louder. "Of course they were able to play me because they recognized exactly what I was, a little slut whore. I'm nothing but a dumb blond with big tits who's willing to spread her legs for any bastard that smiles at her."

I reached out and picked up my wife's hand. "Kelly, please remember what Wendell said to you this afternoon. Listen to me, please listen to me. Think about all of the things we said to each other today. You are not a whore. You're a wonderful bright woman who I dearly love."

Kelly snatched her hand away. "No Timmy, you're wrong. Martin and John recognized my true nature and they took advantage of it. They made me into their little whore."

"No they turned you into a courtesan and it was a job you loved."

My wife stood up. "That's pure bullshit Timmy. I'm your goddess. You have me up on such a high pedestal that you can't really see what a pathetic slut you married. Well, it's time you found out."

My wife turned so that she was looking at the handsome man at the bar who'd been staring at her all evening. She smiled at him. He smiled back at her.

Kelly looked back at me. "You'd better go home now Timmy. Ask Traci to call a taxicab. You can afford it, you've got a wad of money in your pocket. I'll be home when this stud is done fucking me."

She walked over to the man at the bar. The stool next to him was still open. She grabbed his arm. "Hey handsome, is this seat taken?"

He patted the bar stool. "Make yourself comfortable. I was wondering how long it would take you to come to your senses and ditch that loser you're with so you could join me."

Kelly laughed. "That's my pussy husband. I told him to call a cab and go home. We had a nice dinner together, but now I'm ready for a little excitement and you look like just the kind of guy who can give it to me. My name's Melody, what's yours?"

"I'm Brad, it's a pleasure to meet you Melody. Can I buy you a drink?"

"Brad, I'd love a vodka martini."

Brad turned to the Billy the bartender. "Hey barkeep, I need a martini for the lady and I'll have another manhattan."

I was in a quandary as I sat at the table watching what was happening at the bar. The submissive cuckold in me told me that this was my wife's right. She was my goddess. I should do as I was told and get a cab and go home, but that just didn't seem right to me. This wasn't healthy. Kelly wasn't doing this for fun and pleasure, she was acting out of anger and disgust. She was angry at the firm for using her, but mostly I think she was disgusted with herself for allowing them to use her. Ever since she was teenager my wife had fought to disprove the presumption people made that she was just a dumb blond. Kelly had worked hard to prove that she was a bright, hard working, well educated woman. Now I think she was feeling like she'd allowed the firm to manipulate her into becoming nothing more than the shallow dumb blond that everyone always assumed she was.

I also suspected that part of her anger with herself came from the feeling that she had once again failed to live up to the standards set by her mother and her sisters. Only this time it was much worse. This time she wasn't a free living libertine rebelling against a set of narrow minded moral values dogmatically instilled by her family and her culture. This time she was a stupid whore who had been manipulated by a group of lying, thieving scoundrels. These were just the type of men her sisters and mother had constantly warned her about and now Kelly felt like a fool because she'd allowed these awful men to dupe her and lead her into an immoral life of carnal sin and nearly destroy her perfect marriage.

I knew that I couldn't leave Kelly right now. Somehow I had to find a way to pull her out of this self destructive act and help her see that while the partners at the firm may have manipulated her, they also lead her into a job that she dearly loved and up until twenty minutes ago desperately wanted to resume.

I took a deep breath, stood up and nervously walked over to Brad and my wife. As I approached them they both turned and looked at me.

Brad had a smirk on his face. "What do you want wimp?"

I mustered all of my courage and said, "I want to talk to my wife and it doesn't concern you."

"Fuckin A it concerns me pussyboy. She may be your wife, but in case you haven't noticed, she left you to be with me. Now get lost!"

I ignored him and looked at my wife. "Kelly, you know I don't mind if you do things like this, but not tonight. Not when you're angry and hurt. You're not doing this for fun, you're doing this out of some sort of self deprecating need to demean and punish yourself. I can't let you do it. Please come home with me."

Brad grabbed my arm and yelled, "Wimpboy, I thought I told you to get lost. Your wife is going to stay with me for the rest of the night. Live with it!"

I grabbed his hand and with an amazing burst of strength I pulled it off of my arm and stared into his face. "No I will not leave her here with you, not tonight."

Brad stood up and balled his fist. "Then I guess I'll just have to make you leave."

Now my adrenalin was flowing. I continued staring at him. "There isn't any doubt in my mind that you can beat me up, but I promise you that you are going to have to do just that. I will not leave without my wife. If you hit me I promise that I will fight back as hard as I possibly can and I will not stop fighting until I'm either unconscious or dead. Before you start this fight and you will have to be the one who throws the first punch, I suggest you think about this. I intend to create such a ruckus that Billy the bartender is going to have to call the police. I doubt very much that you will be able to get out of here before they arrive. When they do get here I would imagine that we will both be arrested for disorderly conduct."

I smiled at Brad. "Of course the story that will come out of this is that we got into a fight because I was trying to stop you from seducing my wife."

I glanced down at his left hand. "I notice that you're wearing a wedding band. I wonder how your wife will feel when she finds out that you were jailed for beating up a jealous husband who was just trying to defend his wife's honor."

I let that sink in for a moment and then I added. "You're also wearing an expensive looking business suit. I would imagine that you have a very good job. I wonder how your employer will respond when he finds out that you were involved in a bar fight with a jealous husband."

I laughed. "I work as a clerk in a convenience store. My boss is a retired navy cook. He not only won't be angry when he finds out what happened, he'll come down to the jail and bail me out and then he'll probably give me a raise."

Brad stared at me. I stared right back at him. After a moment he shook his head. "You two mother fuckers are crazy. I'm getting the hell out of here." He threw two twenty dollar bills on the bar and yelled at Billy, "That should cover my tab. Keep the mother fuckin change." And then he roughly pushed me aside and stormed out of the restaurant.

As soon as he was gone I looked around the bar. Everyone was staring at me. The men at one of the tables started to applaud. Two men at another table joined them but they also stood up. Suddenly everyone in the bar was giving me a standing ovation.

I gave them a modest bow and then I turned to my wife. Tears were running down her cheeks. "Kelly, I understand why you reacted the way you did and I'm not angry with you, but I can't keep saving you from yourself so I'm going to leave now and catch a bus that will take me home. That should give you plenty of time to pull yourself together and join me there. If you're not there when I get home, I will assume that you decided to keep on wallowing in self pity and let one of these other men pick you up so that you can continue your little display of self flagellation. If you decide to do that, I'll get my car and go back to Albie Porter's house. My things are still there."

I nodded to my wife. "Goodnight Kelly, I hope I see you when I get home, but that's your decision, not mine."

I turned and walked out of the bar. As I left I glanced back at my wife. She was still sitting on the bar stool. Her face was buried in her hands. She was crying. Traci was standing next to her trying to comfort her.

I glanced at my watch as I left the restaurant. It was almost ten o'clock. It was late October. There was a cold wind blowing out of the northwest. As I walked down the deserted street I pulled the collar of my blue blazer up around my neck in an effort to stay warm. It didn't help.

When I got to the corner I sat down on the bus bench and settled in for a long wait. I didn't actually have any idea about when the bus would come, but at that time on a week night I suspected that I might be sitting on that cold bench for quite awhile.

Once I was settled on the bench I took a deep breath and started to relax. As I relaxed I realized that I was exhausted. The entire day had been an emotional roller coaster for me. Even though my meeting with Martin Jackson had only been eleven hours ago, so much had occurred since that meeting that it now felt like it had taken place last year.

The confrontation with Brad in the restaurant had sapped me of any reserve energy that I might have had. I was drained, but I hoped that the day wasn't over yet. I desperately wanted to find Kelly waiting for me when I finally got home.

I knew I could take a taxi. It was expensive, but I had plenty of money. I didn't choose to do that because I knew that the bus would be slower. I wanted to be absolutely certain that Kelly had enough time to get home ahead of me. I did not want this last confrontation to be the end of our marriage.

I wondered about the wisdom of leaving my wife at the restaurant. The bar was filled with handsome businessmen and I was certain that many of them probably recognized that she was vulnerable at this moment.

I considered going back to get her, but I rejected that idea. I'd just stepped in and stopped my wife from making an impulsive decision that I believed she would later regret. Now I felt that it was Kelly's turn to exhibit some strength and character. She'd made a number of promises to me during our earlier discussions that day. If she truly wanted to save our marriage it was now up to her to overcome her anger and disgust with herself and keep those promises.