Lesson

Many thanks to Linda62953 for first editing and improving this story.

Tremendous gratitude to accomplished Literotica author and editor shygirlwhore, whose editing and suggestions lifted it to a higher level.

"You look like the cat that swallowed the canary," Eleanor said.

Neil had just walked in the door, switched off the television and turned to face her.

"Where were you? I thought you were so tired you were going to bed early."

His face still wore an enigmatic smile as he sat down on the couch next to her.

"You're not going to believe this."

She sighed. The last thing she needed tonight was domestic drama.

"I'm dead tired," she said. "I hope this doesn't take long."

"I'm tired, too. It wasn't my idea to go out. We can talk about it tomorrow so you don't get all stressed."

"Just tell me the facts before I crash. I don't have the energy to argue."

He paused, took a breath and then spoke so fast that at first she didn't grasp what he had said.

"The bottom line is I cheated on you tonight. Also, we have to move out of here, or at least I have to."

When Eleanor finally understood, she was suddenly wide awake. Her expression turned unto a scowl.

"You're not funny, Neil. I hope this is one of your feeble jokes, because I told you when I moved in with you that if you're ever unfaithful, we're through."

"I know. Like I said, you're not going to believe this. It's about James and Inga -- and me."

Her eyes flashed in anger, but the strange smile of bemusement on his face didn't change.

***********

When James and Inga moved in a couple of floors above the condo Neil and Eleanor were subletting, everyone in the building talked about how they broke through walls and turned the entire floor -- normally four condos -- into one unit.

James had a reputation as a ruthless businessman. He was crude, obnoxious and overbearing. His appearance was intimidating. He was around six feet five and looked as powerful as when he was a college football lineman.

He had a short fuse, and there were stories about him putting some men who had crossed him in the hospital. The word on the street was that he considered the medical bills and legal damages part of the overhead to keep his reputation intact.

Neil had checked James out one time when his company was looking for a partner in a joint venture, but everything pointed to trouble, so Neil found someone else.

Inga had once been James' executive secretary. There were rumors she didn't do much work. She had a pretty face and a voluptuous body. Once she opened her mouth and spoke in her high, breathy Alabama drawl, men hearing her often found themselves in sexual daydreams.

At first, those who dealt with James thought he kept her around to distract them so they'd let down their guard. That was before they found out James was insanely jealous.

Even before James and Inga were married, he had warned dozens of men about what he'd do to them if they tried anything with Inga. Sometimes his aggressive behavior regarding Inga blew up important deals because his threats were frightening in their intensity.

When they moved into the building, they kept to themselves. The women who lived there noticed that Inga sometimes had female friends visit during the day when James was at work, but they never saw any couples come to see them.

Inga no longer dressed in business clothes. She wore expensive designer outfits, but her body seemed to be barely contained by them. It always looked like it wanted to burst free so it she could lose herself in frenzied sex. The women called her a slut and resented the way the eyes of their men followed her.

The men soon stopped staring. The word got around that James had accosted a couple of them. He didn't touch them, maybe because Inga was present. Instead, he moved close to the admiring man and advised him quietly about the painful things that would be done to his body if the man ever looked at Inga again.

Neil had heard the stories, so he was careful to never glance in Inga's direction when he saw her with James. That didn't help him earlier that evening when he came home late from work.

Eleanor was out for the night with girlfriends, and he was looking forward to chilling with some leftovers and a glass of wine. He saw James and Inga in the lobby through the glass when he got out of the taxi.

Neil opened the door and had to make a slight detour around them to get to the elevator. Suddenly, he was spun around and two arms lifted him into the air. It was James, who easily carried him toward the elevator and set him back down on the floor. All Neil could see was a huge body looming over him. He heard a hissing voice.

"Did you just touch my wife, buddy?"

"No," Neil said. He heard the fright in his voice and was disgusted with himself, but he knew foolish bravery might land him in the emergency room.

"It sure looked like it," James said. "I should rip your lying tongue out of your mouth right now, but I don't want to upset my wife. You better not get within ten feet of her from now on if you don't want to end up in a hundred pieces. Do you understand me?"

"Y-yes," Neil said.

"Honey, who are you talking to?" said a high, breathy voice from behind James.

James ignored her. He leaned over so his face was next to Neil's and whispered.

"Stand here facing the elevator and disappear as fast as you can."

"Honey," the voice repeated. It was getting closer.

Neil turned around and faced the elevator, shaking.

"No, Honey," said the voice. "Get out of my way, please."

There was a tap on Neil's shoulder, but he didn't turn around. He faced the elevator as if he was at attention in the Army, his arms at his sides, his head straight and stiff. Then he felt her body.

"I'm sorry," she said. She had squeezed between him and the elevator door and her breasts and thighs were pushing into him. He looked down and saw she was almost falling out of her dress, and he almost screamed as he stepped back from her.

"I'm sorry," she said again. "I didn't mean to startle you, but I saw my husband talking to you. Don't you live here?"

"Yes," Neil said in a quavering voice.

"We're new in the building, and we haven't met a soul yet. My name is Inga. I guess you already know my husband. Are you married? I've seen you with a woman, I think."

"I live with my girlfriend, Eleanor. We've been together three years."

"Living here all that time?"

"We've been renting here two years."

"Well, I hope we have a chance to get together sometime," she said. "Do you mind my asking what you and James were talking about?"

"Nothing," said Neil, looking around. He felt the presence of James behind him.

"I don't mean to pry," she said, "but I've seen James talking to several men in the building. You seem a little upset, and they were, too. That's why I'm concerned."

"It was nothing."

"Okay," she said. "If that's the way you want it. Please don't think I'm angry with you. James will tell me. This has gone far enough. Here's the elevator."

The three of them got on, and all faced the elevator doors silently. Neil got off first, and when he got off on his floor, he briskly walked out and down the hall, opened his door, slammed it behind him and collapsed onto the couch, where he sat breathing heavily for a few minutes.

After he finally shook off the icy fear that had gripped him, he poured himself a glass of wine and turned on the television. He no longer felt tired and hungry. He felt numb and lifeless.

He sipped the last of the wine in his glass and wanted more, but he felt too tired to get up from the couch. He finally forced himself to change from his suit to a pair of shorts and T-shirt and look in the refrigerator for something to eat.

That's when the doorbell rang. He opened it, and the icy chill came back. It was Inga, and she had changed. Her outfit at the elevator was provocative enough, but the dress she was wearing now was made of diaphanous layers of material, and as her body shifted in the light, he thought for a moment that he could see all the way through to her breasts and private parts. Someone like her wearing an outfit like that could start a riot, he thought.

"Hi Neil," she said in her airy, clueless voice.

She was a brunette, but her voice was out of a million blonde jokes.

"The doorman was kind enough to tell me your name and where you lived. I'd like to come in and talk to you and Eleanor a moment."

"Eleanor's not home," he said, and he was ashamed of how tiny his voice was.

"May I come in anyway?"

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"But I need to talk to you. Please."

"There's really nothing to talk about."

"I don't mean to insult you, but I disagree. I want to talk about James. I don't want to be pushy, but this is very important to me. I know you're scared, but I need some help, because I want to take care of this tonight. Please help me. I promise you all we'll do is talk, and you won't be in any danger from James."

"I'm really sorry, but I can't help you," Neil said. Even though James was not there, he tried to avoid looking at her. He focused on her forehead.

She stood there looking at him for a minute without saying anything.

"Okay, Neil," she said, and her voice sounded a bit put out. It was cute, like a little girl pouting. He reminded himself that broken bones and blood weren't cute.

"I was hoping for some counseling to help me understand and deal with my problem. I guess I'll have to do this on my own. That's all right. I'm already thinking of some ideas. When is Eleanor going to be home?"

"She won't be home until late," he said. He could visualize Eleanor opening the door and seeing Inga dressed like she was talking to him about her marital problems. Eleanor would go nuts.

"Thanks," Inga said as she spun around and walked to the elevator. He watched her for a second and could swear he saw her naked butt swaying and pulsating under the filmy layers of her dress, or negligee or whatever it was. Then he quickly closed the door and turned the deadbolt, which he usually never did.

He started to pour another glass of wine, but decided he better get his dinner together first. A half-hour later, he was eating and sipping while still trying to forget about what had happened earlier when the phone rang. He had a bad premonition when he picked it up, and he knew he was right as soon as he heard her voice. He wanted to slam down the receiver, but he was afraid to.

"Hi Neil," Inga's voice said. "The doorman was kind enough to give me your number. Please don't hang up. Are you free?"

"I'm eating dinner," he said.

"I understand. In that case, please come up when you're done. I'll look for you in half an hour."

"I can't come," he said and held his breath.

"I'm sorry, Neil. I hate to do this to you, but when you wouldn't talk to me at your place, I worked on this myself as much as I could, and I found out I can't finish without your help.

"I can't come," he said.

"That doesn't work, Neil. If I have to, I'll send James to get you. By the way, when you come up, I'm going to give you the name of the carpenter we use for our apartment buildings. The person who owns your condo needs to get a better door installed. Your locks are good, but the door is flimsy.

"If James damages your door, we'll pay for a new one that's more solid. Neil, please come up on your own. I promise you that you won't be in any danger. I swear it. Please trust me."

Neil was frantic. Should he tell her that he didn't care what she promised or swore? It wouldn't help him when James went into a jealous rage and tore him apart. She was just the beautiful airhead wife, her husband's toy. On the other hand, did he want James breaking down his door. What should he do?

"Okay," he said quietly. "I'll be there."

"Thank you so much, Neil," she said. "And please don't worry. I just need your help a little, and I'll try to make sure you'll be back before Eleanor comes home. She doesn't need to know anything about this."

That frightened him more than anything she had said before. What was she going to do with him?

**************

When Inga opened the door a half-hour later, she was still wearing that dress. He tried to focus on her eyes as she said, "Hi Neil. Thanks so much for coming. Please come in."

As he stepped into their home, he turned and looked in every direction. She watched him.

"I love what our decorator did," she said. "I'd be glad to give you and Eleanor a tour. If you're looking for James, don't worry. I've made sure we're not interrupted. Come sit next to me. Please relax. Nobody is going to hurt you, no matter what happens."

She led the way to their living room and sat down on a love seat.

"What do you mean, no matter what happens?" Neil blurted out, then quickly added, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."

"Right here," she said, patting her hand on the love seat. He sat down next to her and turned to face her. His felt his knees touching hers. He tried to move away, but there was not enough room. He thought about facing forward, but then she could move even closer to him.

"Please just listen and try to relax a little," she said. "It will make this a lot easier.

"First, I need to tell you about James and me. You've probably heard all sorts of stories, because James is such an unusual person. Some of them are true. He's really an aggressive man in business, and he used to be unscrupulous, too, but we're working on that.

"Do you know I used to be his executive assistant? You do? The reason I had that job is because he's so smart. I was working for one of the companies that was joint venturing with him on a big project. He realized that I was really running that company, and my bosses would just do what I told them because it was making them rich.

"He lured me away with a huge salary for a little country girl and then turned over his entire operation to me so that he didn't have to worry while he was out making new deals. For some reason, he fell for me, too, but I told him I didn't mix business with pleasure and, for sure, I didn't mix it with love.

"At first, he left me alone, but a couple of years ago, he told me that he loved me so much that he would let me quit if I married him. I told him I loved him, too, but he was a rough diamond, and I warned him if we got married I was going to do a lot of polishing.

"I told him he was a wild mustang who needed a cowgirl to break him and civilize him. If I agreed to marry him, he would have to accept me as the boss in our personal life, and he would have to give me his complete obedience and loyalty at home, like I had always given him at work.

"Not only that, I told him that I was also going to interfere with his business. I said that I didn't mind him being ambitious and competitive, but I was going to work on his style. I didn't want to spend the rest of my life with someone everyone hated.

"He wasn't happy about all this, so I gave his ring back to him and told him I'd continue working for him as long as he wanted, but he was never to mention love or marriage to me again, or I'd quit.

"He really surprised me a couple of months later in the middle of a meeting. The entire staff was there when he kneeled and proposed. He gave me a ring with a diamond twice as large as before and vowed in front of everyone there that no matter what I wanted, it was mine, and no matter what I told him to do, he would do it.

"He also warned everyone at the meeting that they were witnessing a company secret, and if they told anyone, he'd sue them for as long as it took to bankrupt them with court costs. I think the word got out anyway, but a lot of people think it's just a story and it never really happened.

"I do love James deeply. I know Rome wasn't built in a day, so I've been working on him patiently. When we moved here, I was looking forward to meeting some nice couples and starting to build a social life.

"However, we've been here for months, and nothing has happened. I started thinking everyone in this building was stuck up, but then I saw James talking to one of the men. He wouldn't tell me what they were talking about, and I didn't press him.

"It happened a few more times, and when I saw him talking to you today, I decided that there was something going on I had to know about. After we left you and got home, I wouldn't let him off the hook, and finally he broke down and told me everything.

"I was shocked -- not because he was insanely jealous and possessive. There were plenty of incidents at work that I had to smooth over. What hurt me was he knew how much it meant to me for us to fit in here and start socializing.

"I reminded him of what I told him before the wedding -- that I wouldn't live in his goldfish bowl, no matter how jealous he was. And if he tried to cage me -- that sounds stupid, caging a goldfish, but you get what I mean. I told him if he did that, I'd divorce him.

"So when he confessed what he had said to you and the others, I told him that he hadn't learned his lesson and he had made promises that he wasn't keeping and he had shown me that I can't depend on him changing his ways voluntarily. I said he wasn't a wild mustang but an ornery donkey and that I needed to train him like a donkey.

"I said that I was going to use the carrot and the stick on him, just like a donkey, until he was housebroken -- I mean housebroken like a dog, not a housebroken donkey, but you get what I mean. I reminded him that he had promised me unconditional obedience. I said that I didn't think I'd ever have to call him on that promise, but now I was going to.

"I told him that he had a choice to make. I was going to start his donkey training immediately, but if he objected, I would just move out and see him in court. We don't have a pre-nuptial agreement, but I told him that I didn't want a thing from him. We could have our marriage annulled, and he could keep his money and his nasty temper and his jealousy and forget we ever met.

"He tried to argue with me and browbeat me, but when he saw it wasn't working, he broke down and got on his knees and begged me to stay. He said he'd do whatever I told him to do.

"All that happened after we left you. At first, I really didn't know where to go from there. I had to do something, but what?

"I thought about you and how maybe I could talk to you and you Eleanor and get some ideas. I told James I was going to your place, and he begged me not to. Then I put on this outfit that drives him wild, and he almost went out of his mind, as I was getting ready to walk out the door. But he didn't lift a finger or say anything except beg me to not go to you.

"I was going to explain my outfit to your wife and ask her if I could talk to you or all three of us could talk. But she wasn't home, and you refused to help me. I know you're not a coward. I don't think of James as scary, but I know he intimidates a lot of people."

"I owe you an apology," said Neil. "You're right. I am a coward, and I'll admit I'm scared to death to be sitting here talking to you.

"When you came to my door, I thought for a moment you might be in danger and wanted my help, but I was so scared I didn't ask. I'm ashamed of myself, but I'm still scared and hope you let me leave now. Oh, and please forgive me for thinking you were stupid and just a plaything for James."

"Don't worry. I'm used to it," she said in a soothing voice. "It's because of my voice and accent and uh, my -- the way I look.

"Women executives usually caught on to me, but even when they did, their male colleagues never believed them. It helped me accomplish a lot for myself and for James. However, I'm no longer working, so I've got to learn how to tone down my act. I think I need to get some help for that.