I Am Not a Wimp: My Sequel

I'd like to thank cageytee for allowing others to continue his story. Please be sure to read the original so you have the proper background for the characters.

I found Ted to be a very complex character. I hope I have done him justice. This story picks up immediately at the end of the original.

There is no sex in this story, sorry!

*****

I sat for a long time after Rob left and pondered his parting comment to me. He'd called me a wimp! Boy that pissed me off! I may be a lot of things, asshole or stubborn come to mind, but a wimp? NEVER!

As more time passed I calmed down and realized that Rob meant well and it had probably been his frustration with me that had caused his outburst. After all, we'd gone back and forth for almost an hour and had gotten absolutely nowhere. Rob kept reminding me that Jenny had not gone to bed with Craig and I kept telling him that it didn't matter to me. The problem I had with Jenny, that Rob didn't understand, is that there is more than one way to be unfaithful.

One of the dictionary definitions of infidelity is lack of fidelity or loyalty. The bottom-line for me was Jenny was unfaithful to our marriage. Oh sure, she didn't have sex with the guy but she deliberately met, ten times over three weeks, with a man who was not her husband and most of those meeting were when her husband was out of town. I had even seen her with Craig one time and I didn't think anything of it because I couldn't conceive that she would *ever* do what she did.

The last time I saw her she'd told me that she'd strung Craig along, kept going out with him, while she worked out her plan to make me jealous. After three weeks she'd called it off because she couldn't figure out how to make it work. You would think that admission would have worked in her favor but to me it said that if things had worked out differently, if she'd been able to come up with a workable plan, she'd have kept on dating Craig and that was something I couldn't forget.

I had to believe that if things had worked out she'd have kept him on the string as long as he fit into her plans. How she would have handled the request to go up to his room I have no idea, but I firmly believe that she'd have found a way. Jenny is nothing if not resourceful. Given that the FBI arrest of Craig was imminent at the time she probably would have been caught up in the middle of that as well. Wouldn't that have been embarrassing!

What is really disappointing to me is that Jenny actually thought that her seeing another man and trying to make me jealous was a good idea! It's not as if we hadn't discussed our feelings about marital fidelity before we got married. Hell, we discussed it to death before we specifically wrote into our pre-nuptial agreement how we would divide our assets if either party wanted out of the marriage rather than go behind the other person's back. I'd made it perfectly clear that there would be no second chances, and Jenny expressed similar sentiments. At the time of our marriage there couldn't have been two people who were more on the same page as we were on this point.

The first time Jenny felt that I wasn't living up to my half of the marriage she talked to me about it, as she should. I don't know whether it was the fact that I had fallen back into old patterns, at least in her eyes, or she misinterpreted my reaction to that first time I saw Jenny with that slime ball. Whatever it was Jenny actually thought getting involved with Jerry Craig was a good idea. Not only did she make a bad decision in the first place but her choice of tool couldn't have been worse.

When she'd come home that Wednesday night she told me she considered Craig to be an asshole, an assessment that I wholly agreed with. I suppose when you are basically a good person you project some of that onto the other person. I firmly believe that Jenny never thought Craig would lie about their relationship and she was probably as devastated as I was when I had first heard the rumors.

What Jenny also forgot was her admonition to me, before we got married, about inappropriate behavior in front of her staff and how it could damage her reputation. I guess damaging my reputation didn't cross her mind. As Shakespeare said in 'Julius Caesar', "Caesar's wife must be above suspicion." My employees looked up to me and knowing that my people were not only aware of her actions with Craig but some had actually witnessed some of their meetings angered me. How was I supposed to look my people in the eye? I guess it didn't matter to Jenny as long as she made me jealous.

When you think about it I suppose it would have been hard for her to make me jealous if she'd picked a man I didn't know but by picking one of my employees, one who had no character at all, she only succeeded in making sure everyone in my company found out that he was seeing my wife on the sly.

Once Craig got through telling all the guys that he'd been banging the boss's wife while the dumb bastard was out of town I'm sure everyone in the office knew by the end of the day! If it hadn't been for Rod's courage in coming to me and the woman who talked to Rob as well I wonder if I'd have ever found out? I really felt bad for Rod that day, he was pretty young and all, but he felt so bad about what was being done to me that he couldn't remain quiet. You have to admire that kind of loyalty.

People sometimes forget that perception is everything. It really doesn't matter that Jenny didn't have sex with Craig. Everyone who had heard the rumor believed it, why wouldn't they? After all, what married woman meets another man for lunches and dinners, with dancing after, while her husband is out of town if there *wasn't* something going on? I know I sure wouldn't, and I didn't. Even now, after seeing the FBI report in black and white, I find it hard to believe *nothing* happened. As the old saying goes; if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck...

I don't blame Jenny for the assumptions she made. I might have made them too given the 'facts' as she saw them. What I blame Jenny for is her solution to the problem. Her solution destroyed my trust in her and I just can't ignore that. I saw first hand what can happen when trust is gone in a marriage. My dad so wanted to believe his wife was sorry and it was only sex and all that B.S. that he put up with her cheating again and again until I got involved and he was forced to choose between me and his slut wife. I absolutely refuse to be used like that. I'd had five good years with Jenny and while I'm going to miss her very much I'll get over it.

*****

The next morning I decided that it was time to meet with Jenny and settle things once and for all. I hopped in my car for the long drive back to Atlanta. Arriving late, I got a suite at a local hotel near my office. I ordered a sandwich from Room Service and went to bed. I slept surprisingly well, all things considered. I debated on going into the office but decided not to. Rob was doing an excellent job of running things and my future plans involved taking time away from the business anyway, so why complicate things for him. Who knows, maybe I'll become a beach bum and live off my investments when I get back from my vacation.

I picked up the phone and called Jenny at work. I told her I'd like to meet with her and discuss things. She wanted me to come home but I shot that down immediately. I didn't want to give her the wrong impression, and meeting at home would do that. We finally agreed to meet at Rob and Diane's, basically neutral ground. I told Jenny I'd talk to Rob and get back to her. Rob agreed, of course, he probably hoped we were going to get back together.

I won't bore you to death rehashing everything but suffice it to say that nothing Jenny said made much difference in the end. I do believe she was truly sorry for what she did and I forgave her. Just because I couldn't stay married to her didn't mean I didn't love her. We all make mistakes and deserve forgiveness.

I met with Rob in my office the next day and outlined my future plans. I made him President and COO and turned over day-to-day operations of the business to him. I was planning on leaving for a round the world cruise the next day and I wanted everyone at my company to know who was in charge. Rob was flabbergasted, to say the least, but vowed to do his best in my absence. I didn't have any doubts about that at all or I wouldn't have turned the business over to him in the first place. We shook hands and he told me how sorry he was that things hadn't worked out differently but he also knew better than to try to change my mind. I left the office, said goodbye to every one of my people, thanking them for all their hard work, and with a smile on my face I drove back to my hotel to pack for my voyage.

*****

I was sitting on the porch of our 'dream cabin' looking out at the mountains in the distance when my wife emerged with lemonade. She poured two glasses, handed one to me, then sat down in the chair at my side. I held her hand and gazed into her eyes. She smiled back and then leaned over where we kissed. Breaking the kiss, reluctantly, I sighed, thinking about how lucky I was. I had the most wonderful woman in the world as my wife, I ran a very successful company which had doubled in size over the last ten years, and we had the vacation home of our dreams. This weekend my parents were watching our two children so the wife and I could have some 'alone time' if you know what I mean.

"What are you thinking about?" my wife asked.

"Just how lucky I am, how lucky we are, actually. We've done all right for ourselves and I'm very grateful for every bit of it."

"I know what you mean, but I can't help thinking about..."

"Now, Diane, you know we've discussed this. We did everything we could but sometimes you just have to accept things as they are." I closed my eyes, remembering how many times Diane and I had tried to change Ted's mind about Jenny.

"I know, but I still feel bad. Here we are, living in the cabin he built for Jenny and she's never even seen it," Diane said sadly.

"We've invited her up here, for family weekends and holidays, but she always turns us down."

"I'm glad Ted sold us this place but I wish it didn't evoke so many bad memories in Jenny. She works too hard, you know, she deserves time off and this would be a perfect place to unwind."

Diane was right, Jenny worked way too hard. After her marriage to Ted broke up she threw herself into her work and became, the youngest company president, then the youngest CEO her company has ever had. Her company is doing great but I wonder about the cost. She paid a very heavy price for such a minor transgression.

Over the years I was able to get Ted to talk to me and explain his thought processes regarding his treatment of Jenny. I love my sister and I love Ted and I tried everything I could to get them together, even years after the divorce was final. I think Ted finally told me about his childhood and his father so I'd shut up and leave him alone. In a perverse way I understand where he's coming from, though I certainly do not agree with his decision. I think Ted was severely scarred by what he heard and saw when his step-mother cheated on his father and brought her lovers into their home. I almost cried as he told me of the depths of depression his father went through while being cuckolded by his wife in his own bed. I heard the fierceness in his voice when he repeated his vow to never allow a woman to treat him that way. I felt so bad for him that I stopped my efforts to get him and Jenny back together. I knew that once his mind was made up there was no changing it. That's the way Ted is, in his business dealings and his personal life. He felt he was doing what was right for him and he was the one who had to live with the consequences.

If there is a Hell then Ted's step-mother has a lot to pay for. She ruined one man's life, driving him to an early grave. She turned a fine loving person into an obsessed man who refused to give his wife a second chance after she made a silly mistake. And worst of all, at least to me, her influence on Ted and its affect on their marriage, turned my sister into a workaholic who refused to try dating again. She told me that she had lost the love of her life and she wasn't going to waste time looking for something that she'd lost. Oh yes, that woman has a lot to pay for and I hope she rots in hell.

By the way, I still think Ted's a wimp!

The End

Authors Notes:

I felt that Ted was so affected by his father's situation that he had an unreasonable fear of giving a woman a second chance, no matter how minor the infraction. He was a serial dater before he met Jenny, changing women when it looked like they were becoming too serious. He took his time with Jenny as well but he did fall in love with her. Despite that I think he hadn't really changed, never let any woman get too close to him, even Jenny, and that's why he was able to cut her loose so quickly. I look forward to hearing from you whether you agree with me or not.

© 2007 fdkman262