Escalation Ch. 02

Two were from Amy, also saying we needed to talk. Sheri had confronted her about sleeping with me, and Amy had denied it. Amy claimed she didn't know how her sister had found out. I wasn't sure I believed her. Coincidentally, she and I were going to talk, as soon as she got home.

Another call from Anderson. He seemed calmer. He insisted that neither of us do anything stupid. We could end it. I didn't want to see how it would get if I didn't drop everything. Damn, if he hadn't added that last part, I might have ignored it. I forwarded it to Diane.

One call from Eric. Apologetic, he wanted to talk. He explained that the thing with my wife wasn't supposed to happen, and it was a mistake. He also apologized for sending the picture. He had been drunk the night he'd emailed it from his phone, and wished he could take it back. I saved his confession.

I checked the call log, and saw two calls from Jack. He wasn't as stupid. He didn't leave any incriminating messages.

One call was from my boss, telling me he knew about my having the week off. He assured me he hadn't known about the issues, and would be dealing with them. He was a damn liar. He was CC'ed on every email. He knew about them alright. But for now, I'd let that slide.

There was a service call from the credit card company wanting to know why I closed my credit card with them, offering a reduction in interest rate, and a larger credit limit. I called 'Virgil', accepted a new card in my name only, and had it mailed to my business address. It was the first time that a marketing call was any use to me.

I had cleared out my messages when Amy drove up, a little after 5:30. She was clearly surprised to see me, but invited me in.

"Did you tell her about us?" she asked, getting us each a beer.

"No way. Not a word. I haven't spoken a word to her since she accused me. Do you know what that bitch did?"

Amy nodded shamefully. "She's an idiot. I guess it's over now?"

"All but the fat lady singing. How did she find out? I haven't mentioned it once, to anybody but you. Who have you told?"

She blushed. "Only two people, but I can't believe either of them would say anything to her."

"But they may have told someone else, who told somebody, who told Sheri. She doesn't need proof, obviously from her last two actions. One person saying the wrong thing would set her off."

"I'm sorry, Marty. I didn't want this. You have to know that. I was hoping you guys could work it out." She took a sip of beer. "Did she really do it on the same bed where you were tied down?"

I felt my blood rushing to my face. "Twice. With my worst enemy from work."

"Fuck. That sucks."

"No shit. I'm dealing with him at work. I'm seeing a divorce attorney on Wednesday. It galls me that I'm going to have to give the cheating cunt a penny."

"Well, you did cheat on her," Amy said.

"Really? How the fuck can you say that? The whole getting even was your idea, Amy, or have you forgotten? Two blowjobs to guys I work with. Acting like a slut at the company party. Cutting me off for six months. Then this shit of rubbing it in my face? And you're going to side with the bitch?"

"I didn't say I sided with her. She fucked up big-time. We both know the way she is. She always thinks she has to get even, and then some."

"You understand I'm going to destroy her, don't you? I'll make her life a living hell. Those blowjob pictures of her are going to get sent to everybody. Those and the photos of her slutting around at the party. She pushed it way too far. If I have to, I'll quit my job and move away before I give her a single penny. I'll burn the house to the ground, with her in it, if I need to. She's gotta pay, Amy, and trust me, it's gonna get ugly. Real ugly."

Amy was clearly upset. "Don't do that, Marty. You can't. It'll ruin you. You're not like that. You have to know she regrets what she did. She'll be miserable once you divorce her. She never expected that. Can't that be enough?"

"Are you fucking kidding me? Enough? She fucked my worst enemy not just in front of me, but literally on top of me. Nothing is enough. No, she'll be lucky if I don't put her in the hospital after I break her. That or the grave."

She was shaking her head, over and over. "No. No way. I can't let you do that. It's too much. She's my sister, Marty! It's bad enough that we had sex. You've got to know how much that hurt her. She gave two assholes blowjobs, but you and I had sex. Of course she was upset!"

"Damn you, Amy! The sex was your idea! I'm supposed to give her a free pass, for the shit she pulled?"

"Not a free pass, but you're talking overkill. You guys had a bunch of good years together. Let it end civilly, or you'll both be miserable forever. It's not worth it."

I couldn't believe her. "No way. Sorry. It was too much. She humiliated me, made me a laughing stock at work. At least we were discreet. She's got it coming."

Amy finished her beer. "How about if we got you even? Would that be enough?"

"What do you mean, even?"

"We do what she did. You and me, in her face. Then you're even, and you go along with a nice quiet, fair divorce, and maybe one day, you two can be civil to each other."

"I don't think that's going to happen, Amy. For one thing, she'd never let me tie her down. Besides, you know she'd try to get even again, and it would just get worse."

"I think I know a way. Give me this weekend. I think I can have her in a position to do what we want by Saturday. Will you do that much? Let me take care of it, and if things work out, no more payback, no more revenge, you both just move on. Alright?"

"I don't know, Amy. I don't think it will work."

She slid over next to me. "I'll sweeten the pot. You and me, baby. I'll be yours, no commitments, until the divorce is done. As long as it's civil, I won't deny you anything. How does that sound?"

I grinned. "That sounds pretty damn sweet, but I doubt you can work it out."

"Let me try, okay? Whether I manage it or not, I'll make it up to you personally this weekend. It'll be my way of apologizing for my part in this. I promise, it will be a very good apology."

We sealed the deal with a kiss, and I went home to face the flaming of the shrew.

~ * ~ * ~

I wasn't in the door 10 seconds before my loving wife met and exceeded all my expectations.

"So the asshole finally shows up. Are you ready to talk like a civilized person, or do I need to throw all of your shit out of here?"

I glared at her. I wanted to make it through the weekend to see what Amy had up her sleeve, but I wasn't going to take shit from the bitch. No way.

"I think it's only fair that you should know, if you throw my stuff out of my house, I will wait until you're sound asleep and burn the fucking place down around your head. So decide carefully what you're going to do, and how badly you want to pay."

Her mouth fell open, and she was actually speechless, perhaps for the first time in a year.

She got her dander up again after a bit. "If you do, I'll go to the police and tell them you did it. They'll lock you up and throw away the key."

"No you won't. Someone else might, but if you push me any further, you'll never tell anyone anything, do you understand? I hate you right now, and if you give me the least cause, I'll do something about it." I leaned back and smiled. "You might want to call your latest lover at the hospital. He'll tell you what I'm capable of doing."

I saw that got to her. "What did you do to Mark? Did anyone see you? Are the police going to get involved?"

"I delivered the first of many, many lessons to the asshole. Your other two lovers are next. You've destroyed all of their lives, as well as ours. You've ended three marriages. I hope you're happy, you cheating cunt."

"I didn't want to do any of it! You made me! You know you did!" she shrieked.

"Here's how it's going to work, Sheri. I'm not going to argue with you, or listen to you justifying your whorish actions. You're gonna leave me alone for a week. One week. I need to get my head around what you've done. I'll postpone having the divorce papers served until then. This weekend, if I can stand to look at you without wanting to choke the life out of you, we can talk. But you have to leave me alone until then."

"I'm not going to let you dictate your terms to me. This is your fault," she snapped.

"It doesn't matter to me whose fault you think it is. I need this time. If you won't agree, I'll pack up my stuff, and you'll be served in the next couple of days. Then our lawyers can work it out."

"If you divorce me, I'll make your life miserable," she said angrily.

"More miserable than it already is?" I laughed at her, before calming. "Why do you even want to stay married, Sheri? You can't be happy. I know you don't love me. You couldn't and do what you did. Why don't we just end it?"

"I thought we were happy, until I found out you were fucking my sister! Why would you do that? What the fuck is wrong with you!"

"It was the only way I was going to try again. You cheated on me, and humiliated me with two men I work with. I hear it every day at work. I did nothing, except get a lap dance, and you decided to become a full-fledged cheating slut. I was gone, out the door. I'd already seen a lawyer. Amy bribed me to give it another try, by getting even. Not for the whole weekend either, that was another of your lies. We spent one night together. It was a mistake. I should have divorced you then. You're not worth a second try. That's all I'm going to say on the matter. If you insist on arguing about it, like I said, I'll pack, and leave."

"I don't believe you only got a lap dance."

I got up and walked out to the garage, pulling down the biggest suitcases we had, while she continued her harping from the door into the kitchen.

"You're such a fucking liar and a coward. You're going to run away again, because you can't accept that what's good for the goose is good for the gander. I don't need you."

She blocked my way into the house, but I pushed right past her, a suitcase in each hand. "You'd be smart to shut up. Every word you say is digging your grave deeper."

"What are you going to do, tough guy? Hit a woman? I'll have you locked up so fast, it'll make your head spin."

"Actually, I'm thinking more along the lines of sending the pictures of you acting like a slut at the party, and sucking two cocks, to your parents, friends, office mates, neighbors and everyone you know." I probably shouldn't have given her the heads up, but the bitch just wouldn't leave me alone.

She followed me silently to the bedroom, where I started packing.

"I . . . I'll send that picture of you tied down to everybody," she threatened.

I laughed. "Too late. Your lover already did that. I think I'll send that picture as well, along with the explanation, showing what a vindictive, whoring cunt you really are."

I heard the door hit the wall, and looked over. She was leaning against it heavily. "I didn't want him to do that. I swear I didn't. It was just supposed to be about you and me."

"Just shut the fuck up, Sheri, and let me finish packing, okay?" I started on the second suitcase.

She came over and stood by the bed. "Look Marty. We're even now. Let's stop this. Maybe I went a little too far, but it's done. I can't change that. Stop this silly packing and we can go back to what we had."

I dumped another stack of shirts in the suitcase. "No."

Sheri is what she is. I should have known it would come to something like this. Too headstrong, too vengeful, too unyielding. Her way or the highway. The highway was looking pretty damn good right now. It was too bad about Amy, but there were plenty of other fish in the sea. I wasn't even 30 years old.

She grabbed a handful of my stuff out of the closed suitcase and dumped it in my drawer. "One week you said. You said you'd give us a week."

"If you'd leave me alone, I said. I don't consider yelling, screaming, and blaming me for everything, to be leaving me alone, do you?" I returned to the drawer, pulled it out of the chest, dumped it in the suitcase, then threw the empty drawer across the room, where it broke, leaving a divot in the drywall.

She backed up nervously. I wasn't a violent man, not normally, but my anger was at the boiling point. Anderson got the first taste of it. She was close to getting the next.

"One week, Marty. We'll talk this weekend. I won't bother you anymore."

I stared at her, weighing my choices. Just cut my losses, and move on, or wait until the weekend, to see what Amy had planned. Either way, it was ending.

At least if I stayed, I'd save a little money, and have time to deal with finding a new place. If I could avoid strangling her, of course.

I stood and stared at her, wondering what could possibly be going through her mind. She couldn't seriously believe we could stay together after what she'd done, could she?

"You'll leave me alone?"

She nodded. "We can talk, I hope, about normal things, meals, things that need getting done, that kind of stuff."

"I'll be moving into the guest bedroom," I told her.

"I wish you wouldn't," she said softly. I was surprised by her tone. I was starting to get worried she was up to something.

"I don't trust you, Sheri. I can never again be vulnerable around you. I can't fall asleep where you can get to me, or I might wake up tied down again, while you're having a gangbang on top of me. I can never trust you with my safety or security. Not after what you did." I knew even as I said it, it was true. I couldn't trust her. I started packing again. "Never mind, this is a stupid idea."

She sat on the bed, closing the lid of the suitcase. "One week, Marty. I won't bother you. I won't do anything, I swear. I'll help you move your things to the guest room. You promised one week."

"Why?" I asked.

She actually looked surprised. "I love you, you idiot. And I know you love me. Maybe we both made some mistakes. It doesn't have to ruin everything."

Damn, she was delusional. How could she say she loved me, fucking my nemesis on top of me? "I'm leaving a bag packed. I don't know if I can do it. I'll try for a week, but you have to leave me alone. I can't take it anymore."

She nodded. "I will. I swear. Do you want me to help you move your stuff?"

"No. To be honest, I don't even want you entering the guest room. Not for the next seven days."

"How about I fix us some dinner?" she offered.

I was hungry. I could handle dinner. I wasn't sure I could handle sitting at a table with her. "Alright."

"Anything special? Or should I surprise you?"

"No surprises, please. The last one was more than enough. Something simple."

I was amazed she didn't go into attack mode. "How about meatloaf? We have ground beef."

"That would be fine."

~ * ~ * ~

I survived. For the next few days, I got up and dressed as if I was going to work. She made an effort, for the most part leaving me alone, getting up to make breakfast, preparing dinner. We were strangers sharing a house for the most part, which worked fine by me.

I spent a lot of time at the library. They had free computers to use, and I started updating my resume, preparing to look for a new job. I checked the job sites, created an online resume, and reached out to my references. Even if I got what I wanted, I didn't think I wanted to keep working with all those assholes. I didn't limit my job search locally. A change of scenery might do me good.

I shopped around for apartments. They cost a lot more than I'd expected. In the end, it was embarrassing, but I started looking for shared places. I found one good possibility, a basement apartment in an older couple's home, a little closer to downtown than where we were living. I didn't close the deal, but I let them know I was very interested, and gave them $100 earnest money to hold it for a week. They were only asking for $450, so I basically bought seven days.

By midweek, Sheri and I were talking, barely. Just enough to manage things around the house. I avoided her, and for the most part she avoided me. I'd spoken with Amy, and told her that I was going to stay in the house through the weekend. She told me she was still working on her plan.

I met with the lawyer, and started the paperwork. It cost me another two grand out of my stash, but I didn't care. I told him to make it 50/50, and she could have the house if she wanted, but I wasn't paying for it. I hoped she wouldn't check too deeply into the house. The payments were actually lower, because I'd changed the term from 15 years to 30 when I took the equity out, and I'd gotten an interest rate a full two percent lower. Her car's blue-book value was $1200 higher than mine, and I told him that was a wash as far as I was concerned. I just wanted out. When we were done, he said he could have her served at her work on Monday.

Sheri was the quietest she'd ever been. I could tell she was worried, and she had every reason to be. She'd somehow found out that Anderson had been hospitalized for a few days. I think that surprised her more than anything.

My finances had been taken care of. She could have the house if she wanted, but I wasn't going to be paying for it. She'd probably have to get a roommate to make the payments, with her part-time job. Maybe lover boy Mark, those two deserved each other. Since we'd been married less than 10 years, and had no kids, in Texas that meant she gets nothing, no alimony, no child support. Squat. Fifty percent of what we owned, and that was it. And that wasn't much.

I hope she enjoyed being poor.

By Friday, I had come to terms with the end of my marriage. I was comfortable with it. I had a good job, and I was young enough to start over. I had a little starting cash. I knew I'd be happier than I had been the last couple of years. It had gotten to the point where I could barely remembered why I'd married her in the first place.

According to Amy's plan, I needed to get out of the house on Friday. She was going to bury the hatchet with her sister. I was under strict orders not to go home until after midnight, the later the better.

So I made a few calls. I tracked down a couple of women I'd dated before Sheri, and was pleased to find out that Debbie, my last serious girlfriend before starting with my wife, was available and single. I made a date for Friday, and she sounded happy about it. My life was turning around.

I didn't tell Sheri what I was doing. I let her know I was going out, but didn't dress up or anything. I picked up Debbie at the address she'd given me, and she met me at the door with a hug and a kiss. Over dinner, it was as if we'd never been apart.

I found out that she'd been married briefly. According to her, it ended when he'd cheated on her for the third time. After my recent experience, I was thinking there might be two sides to the story, but I didn't say anything other than I was sorry.

She asked me about my life, and I started out trying to avoid the issue. Debbie knew me too well, and was a great listener. She drew the details out of me, most of it, at least. I might have gone a little easy on myself, when it came to my antics with Amy.

When I got to the part about being tied down, and having her fuck my worst enemy, literally on top of me, she looked stunned.

"On top of you?" she asked.

"Twice. Yet somehow she thinks we can get around this," I answered.

"How could she believe you'd put up with that?"

"She's delusional. She still thinks this is all my fault. She did nothing wrong, at any point, to hear her tell it. I made her do everything she did."

"So where are you living now?"

"Still together. I haven't given her the divorce papers yet. I've been preparing for it," I explained.

"So that's it? You're just going to walk away?"