Our Rules

Carin was making John and herself another coffee. I told her she was needed in the bedroom asap. Her brow furrowed and complained she was hanging out for a coffee. "Carin you know I'll bring it in to you honey, just hang in there for me, ok."

I don't know how many times Carin and T had done things like this with their friends. They just did it, they never complained, never asked for anything, never expected anything for it other than the other persons friendship. I finished the coffee's gave John his, took Carin's to her, you would of thought it was the last coffee in the world. Diane and Ted were listening to what ever it was that Manda was explaining to them, so I let myself out of the room without a word.

John maybe a bit like me comfortable in our own silence. We could hear a lot of muffled chatter, no laughing just talking, serious shit-like. .

"How are you now?"

"Hanging in there Matt. Actually since that meeting with that fucktard Marsden I really feel a bit better. Matt thanks for allowing me to come with you, you really didn't have too, but that and what you said to him really helped. I watched that prick shrivel before my eyes when you belittled him. I've had a black cloud around me for the last month. No shit its like looking through a tinted windscreen and since this evening its disappeared, the world is a bit more shiny, I'm definitely not there but I'm feeling like I got back a little more of my life. What I'm having a hard time dealing with is what I've done to Babs and my baby's. I realised when fucktard said Phillida had been to see my kid's and Babs and She realised what they had destroyed I just about lost it. I felt like running back home right then and taking them all in my arms and telling them that it'll be all alright now that I'll protect them from everything, that nothing will hurt them again, that I'll never leave again."

"John what stopped you, you know running home to your wife, Babs and your baby's"

"Ted asked me that before he went into the bedroom and I couldn't think why, so I've had a bit of time to think about it and I need to say it now. I think I knew all along what it was but I was so fixed on my hurt.....Matt I can't go home because I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of what I did to Bab's, and my kids. I left them when they needed me. Worse than that I left Babs not once but twice, I let that monster violate her, then when she was vulnerable and hurting when she most needed me I wasn't there again and I'm responsible for how she is now, how do I look my wife in her eyes and say I'm sorry. Whose the real monster now Matt?"

"Do you think that your wife hasn't said to herself, 'how do I look John in the eyes and say I'm sorry'?"

"We all make mistakes, but what Marsden did wasn't a mistake, that bullshit about having remorse and misreading the situation, what he did was a cold, calculated act praying on Babs' vulnerability. You can only protect against whatevers visible. Don't underestimate the Phillida and Tyrone Marsden's of this world. I guarantee - You and Babs were not the first they have done that to. I'm sure some of the others got off on it, but John they never gave You Guy's a choice."

I think I was done, the next thing out of my mouth was bound to be rubbish.

We sat not saying a thing for a long time, maybe 5 -- 10 minutes, I really don't know. Me I'm happy with the silence.

Two shapes ran past my chair and wrapped their arms around John's neck smothering him with kisses. That was what was missing -- the female side-kicks, He-he-he. Right then I think I became a Christian. Ah actually I am a Christian just not a very good one. I looked at the doorway and T was standing there with a silly grin on his face, he just shrugged his shoulders and asked: "Want a beer Bro?"

"Yes. Yes I do."

"John, want a beer Bro?"

"Yes. Yes I do." God damn. He was smiling. No, really smiling. I fucking swear I was waiting for him to say 'I have a Plan.'

T came back with our beers, Carin gave John a serious look and said to John: "Honey, Your wife needs you. Her heart is broken and she said only you can fix it. We've been talking to her for a while now and she is just hanging on by a thread, please John give Babs back her life."

Diane kissed John on his cheek and said: "Please John, please, make us all right again, don't let them win."

"OK. Did Babs say when?"

Carin said "Right now John! What do you mean when?! Men."

Carin was back in control.

My Wife hopped off my friend's knee and came over and wrapped her arms around me as she plonked down in my lap. "Please just hold me and never let me go, tell me you'll love me forever. Tell me you will always be here please honey. Tell me I matter. Please." So I told her.

Ten minutes, John was packed again and stood in the doorway. It wasn't pain etched on his face, it was a grim determination. Hugs from the women. Handshake for me and T. OK handshake and bear-hug for T and handshake and ah...nah don't do hugs, with men ah shit OK but just this once Dude.

Once John had gone Carin and Diane pulled me inside and we sat down in the chair, well actually Di pushed me into the chair as she fell on top of me, Carin sat on the couch staring intently at first Di and then me: "What!"

"Go on tell him."

"Well honey I know what you and Manda planned for me, you know, staying with Babs tonite and talking you know like about what's all happening an such, and both T and Carin explaining to Babs that you were talking to John while we were talking to them and T said he thought that John had started to come out of his funk and maybe things maybe progressing, you know honey..." I nodded. "Well anyway Manda said while she had agreed with you about me going to Babs and John's for the night, weren't we doing that right now and she couldn't see the necessity to drag me away tonite although we all agreed to get together tomorrow, like Us girls that is, Awww no, no, like I didn't mean like you and T can come too if you want?" Me and T both looked at each other and smirked, that was til we both realised Carin was giving us the evils. So we both put our serious big boy faces on.

Diane continued: "So anyway T got an idea and said to Manda and Babs 'You both need to be quite -- OK' and they both went yes. Well Babs went yes and Manda went why? and T said he was going to the passageway to see what we could hear. You could hear both Babs and Manda give a big sigh and T went 'shush or I'll mute you' so then we all creeped out down the passageway to see if we could hear anything but then we could see you and John were just sitting there, not saying anything and Manda sez 'Guys we can't hear anything' and we all kind let out a defeated collective sigh and T went 'will you all just shut. up. and listen' so we stood and fidgeted. T went in our bedroom for something came out and snuck into the kitchen while Carin went off to the loo in a huff and you'd just got back ay babe."

Carin interjected: "Yeah I was contemplating just sitting in the loo waiting for something to happen and hope I'd hear something in there and then I thought, nup gotta do it. Lucky I didn't I would of missed the best part."

"Yeah Carin was just wiping her hands on her jeans when we heard you say something like 'John what stopped you, um and running home to your wife, and your baby's'?"

I said: "'what stopped you running home to your wife, Babs and your baby's'"

Diane continued: "And then when John said about how he felt ashamed about leaving Babs and his baby's and then, he asked you 'who is the monster now'. Honey you should of heard the cry from Babs over the phone, it was the saddest thing I've ever heard. We could hear Manda talking to Babs in the background. T made us go back to the bedroom and he said 'Shut up all of you now or we won't hear.' and we all screamed 'Yes' and me and Carin pushed him out the door and back down the passageway. We had missed a bit of what you said and when we got back all we heard was you say something about 'You and Babs a choice'."

"Yea that's right: They seduced Babs behind John's back while she was vulnerable. They never gave them a choice."

Diane clung to me, "Honey thats fine, shall we call it a day ay?"

"Matty I want to tell you the whole story, Ok."

Carin looked exasperated: "Finally."

"Ok T marched us back to the bedroom and it became a confused conversation, we were all trying to figure out what we heard what the other one heard and not making sense and then it went to frustration and then arguing panic, we'd heard nothing to reassure ourselves that anything had changed and now we were bickering the way only we can do. I didn't even see T go, but all of a sudden he was there sitting on the bed with a beer in one hand, a silly grin on his face and I heard a click as I stared at what he had in his hand I heard you say: 'John what stopped you, you know running home to your wife, Babs and your baby's'."

Diane stopped talking and T had pulled his phone out of his pocket and we listened to the conversation I'd had with John maybe less than an hour ago. I remembered part but not all of it. .

"Ted asked me that before he went into the bedroom and I couldn't think why, so I've had a bit of time to think about it and I need to say it now. I think I knew all along what it was but I was so fixed on my hurt.....Matt I can't go home because I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of what I did to Bab's, and my kids. I left them when they most needed me. Worse than that I left Bab's not once but twice, I let that monster violate her, then when she was vulnerable and hurting when she most needed me I wasn't there again and I'm responsible for how she is now, how do I look my wife in her eyes and say I'm sorry. Whose the real monster now Matt?"

"Do you think that your wife hasn't said to herself, probably a hundred times 'how do I look John in the eyes and say I'm sorry'?"

"We all make mistakes, but what Marsden did was not a mistake, that bullshit about the having remorse and misreading the situation, what he did was a cold, calculated act praying on Bab's vulnerability. You can only protect against whatevers visible. Do not underestimate the Phillida and Tyrone Marsden's of this world. I guarantee - You and Babs were not the first they have done that to. I'm sure some of the others got off on it, but John they never gave You Guy's a choice."

T clicked his phone off. We all sat there, well the girls were moving their heads around trying to stop from bursting out in tears again, they'd put themselves through the wringer tonight. 'T' got up, "Matt you still got that single malt."

"Yep, doubles for Di and me, ice for me dry for Di."

Carin spoke first: "Not for me, just water please Doll." she paused. "You know we got T to send that conversation to all our phones and before you ask no we are not deleting it. Even Manda said she thought it was one of the most inspirational things she'd heard, Babs well never mind, I'll let her tell you when she next see's you. Actually when we heard it the first time in the bedroom was funny well no it wasn't then. But we heard Johns answer to your first questions we all burst into howls and tears and T was going 'shush just shush all of you just shush' and he was jumping around the room trying to cover our mouths. And Babs and Manda were actually howling over the phone so T muted them, so there we are in the room, hands covering our mouths, actually Di had 3 fingers in her mouth, tears pouring out and when T clicked his phone back on you said 'John do you think Babs...blah...blah Babs hadn't thought the same thing,' well that set us all off again. It was not a pretty sight, Diane had a snot bubble the size of Texas and I went waaaaahh and popped it with my finger."

Fuck I damn near spat my mouthful of whiskey all over my wife. I just managed to spit it back into my glass without choking. I laughed until it hurt and then I'd look at Diane and Carin and I'd start all over again. T wasn't helping either: "Dude it was frigging amazing it actually went pop."

Carin looked embarrassed and didn't know where to look and Diane had a frown on her forehead and just sat with her lips on the rim of the glass not wanting to look at anybody. I picked her glass out of her hand' turned her face toward mine and whispered: "Love You." and kissed her on the lips. "You're friggin' awesome."

Diane said "Honey I am so proud of you tonight. I wish I'd never done what I did and I feel so guilty......... what?"

I'd frowned at her and she noticed straight away. "Diane, ask me when I knew you weren't guilty of anything other than a few meals out, go on ask me?"

"That's easy, when I told you that what I was doing I knew was wrong, right."

"No wrong. It was when I was sitting in John's car watching you through the windows."

"How can that be."

"Because it was like if you had gone to tea with one of our friends. What were you drinking?"

"Ice water."

"And why was that."

"Because I was drive....ing."

"I could tell you weren't drinking, and you don't particularly like liqueurs."

"Ok, ask me when I decided maybe you should go and stay with Babs."

"Ok honey, when did you decide that it was a good idea to stay with Babs."

"When I went to tell John in the Valentino's Car park that he was staying here tonight, he said that me and you had a lot to talk about so he wouldn't, I said that he was staying here, and that you probably wouldn't be staying here. I didn't tell him where I knew you would be but I was pretty sure when I explained where and why you would jump at the chance to help Babs and John, and as it turns out you have. The only thing I wasn't sure about was their last pool party when I was away. But if you'd gone to that then and got up too hanky panky there, why would you bother to be at the restaurant tonite."

All three looked at me like I'd grown another friggin' head. "Diane you're my wife, I love and trust you totally, You've done nothing wrong, and this subject is now dead."

T and Carin were looking beat and I just about went to sleep in Carin's arms as She hugged me. We said nothing. We didn't have to. T -- head nod and "Bro."

Nothing else. Diane got big hugs from both, She folded into T's arms and I heard him say "Don't you worry baby-girl, Matty's got you. Cary and me are here too. You know that ay."

Diane nodded, Big-as tears rolling down her cheeks. T was right. "Tomorrow Bro."

"T."

I picked up the truck keys lying by the cat door, the door shut and the kitchen light's went out as I felt fingers wrap around my hand pulling me in the direction of our bedroom. She grabbed both my hands looking at me intently and steered me to our bed, she wrapped around me and held me and held me.

The silence was awesome. I woke about 4am busting for a pee, unwrapping my sleeping wife as I went.

I raced to the bathroom did what I had too when I heard her crying out. I got back on the bed picked her up and wrapped her back around me and we slept more, in fact we slept til 9am.

Somebody was running their fingers around my lips, tickling the underside of my nose, when I opened my eyes, a pair of sparkly emerald green eyes were steering back at me.

There was a sensuous smile on a beautiful set of lips, I kissed them, I kissed them again, and then.

And then I made love to the body they were attached too.

Overwatcher.