Sandra

Somewhere in all of this, I was losing the love I had for Sandra. It was not a sudden loss but a slow erosion. I had never understood the love I had for her. I have never understood that love between Sandra and Nicole even less. Yes, I know there were dozens of films of them together. I never saw a one. After the marriage took place, I didn't read the reports from the investigators. I did everything I could to just ignore her lesbian lifestyle. It was a very long time before I sought refuge in other women's arms.

I found a mistress, one Rebecca Norris. She was a lawyer in the firm that did some work that our in-house people did not want to do. She was willing and able. I paid for her townhouse that had a garage with a door that opened for my car. I had keys to her townhouse. It lasted about a year. She was ready to move on so I had a brief talk with the senior partner in her firm. It was in the shower at the Detroit Athletic Club.

"Frank, how goes it? How is the lawyering?"

"Lucrative, James. How goes banking?"

"Lucrative also. That Rebecca Norris is a fine young attorney. I hear she is to be a partner this year."

"In about three months."

"See you at the Golf Club this weekend?"

"Can't be there. I hear you are going to open a small branch bank in a small town in the Upper Peninsula, maybe Ironwood. One of the junior partners fucked up a deal by fucking the client's wife. I have to go fix it. I'd fire the bastard but he is my wife's sister's kid. I have to transfer his ass to some hell hole for a few years."

"Yes, I will need a bright young go-getting lawyer up there. It should be open in say 10 days. Explain the Yoopers' views on men who fuck other men's wives." I did remember that Yooper is the slang name for people in the UP of Michigan. Which is fair, we lived beneath the Big Mac Bridge so we are Trolls.

" I will do that. See you at the Auto Show, then?"

"I will be there."

Have I said that money carries a lot of weight? Well, so do old friendships. In one minute two men both got something each wanted.

It was in the summer of Vicky's 15th year that Jacques and I agreed on a final solution. Yes, we even talked about killing them both. A drunk driver sounded really good. But they were the mothers of our children.

Nicole came to the States. Sandra had planned for the two of them to visit Quebec and especially the city of Montreal. They do speak French there. Henri, Nicole's son had stayed in Paris. Again Sandra picked Nicole up at Detroit Metropolitan. As soon as they got near that damn tub I had moved to our new house, they were naked and bathing and fucking. The fucking went on most of the day. For the first time in 15 years I listened to them with Jacques. The orgasms they had were just plain awesome. Is it really fucking between two women? Fuck if I know or care. I do know that neither of us liked what we heard and neither of us had any sign of a lump in out pants. Yes, damn it, I looked at him and he looked at me. We just sat there and listened and sipped our cognac. It tasted good - it was 25 years old and cost a damn fortune, it damn well better be good.

Therefore, I was home for dinner. The cook did a fine job. Nicole is French, but she will eat American food if it is well prepared and if it has been well chosen. I thought that was simply ridiculous but the two women seemed to be very comfortable with it. I had an one and a half inch thick 16 ounce prime rib, medium au jus, baked potato and broccoli. I know Jacques had the same thing in the study. Jacques had brought a fine old wine with him. I served that to the two ladies.

It was after dinner that I invited the two women to my study. they headed to the bathroom to repair the make-up. I went directly in to the study and poured some more of the old cognac for Jacques and myself.

The first indication Sandra had that all was not correct was the open bottle of twenty five year old cognac sitting on the coffee table. The second was Jacques. He was smiling and sipping the cognac.

"Ah, my dear Nicole. What a pleasure to see you again so soon." My wife's very pleasant world was about to come apart. "James was kind enough to hold this meeting at his home. We are not as silly or stupid as you two appear to think."

"In a nutshell," I said, "You two are caught. We have film and more. We would like a divorce."

It was simple after that. The lawyer Sandra found was good. The lawyer Nicole found in France was good. But given the threat of publishing the film, Nicole and Sandra were in a losing situation.

Now this fucking shit of a million dollars. Sandra was in line to inherit the full half-ownership of a multi-trillion dollar bank corporation as soon as her mother died. I knew what that was worth. The income alone was in the hundreds of millions. I will admit that a lot of that went into trust funds and charities. The government got more than enough. But Sandra and Nicole together had a spendable income of well over 25 million.

The ladies (what does one call two lesbians) settled in Montreal. There was a travel service for sale. It had several hundred employees scattered all over the world. It was a full service travel center. Nicole and Sandra made some changes, additions really, to the travel services. The business became 'Go Anywhere, Do Anything' The new winkle was you could ask for and receive a travel companion, male or female, two or three if you wanted to pay the freight. A worldwide whorehouse with some very good looking young people as guides. The damn thing was a cash cow.

Nicole still had married men on the side and Sandra seemed happy with this. The married men were now much older but according to rumors all are not quite able to accomplish their missions. I am sure that the women had ways to compensate for those shortcomings.

I married a second assistant vice-president in the bank, Breanda Cousins, 30, divorced with no children. We had dated four times before I asked her to marry me on a Monday at a working lunch. She said she would think about it and let me know before the end of the week. She took the rest of the week off.

I found out later that Lucy and Breanda spent a lot of time together that week.

Breanda agreed to marry me. We now have two sons. They are young but I made plans to restart the Youth thing I had for Vicky. I have several men in my organization that I have sounded out and they were all in favor of time to be with their kids. We meet every week on Wednesday night for four hours. We have a meal and go swimming or ice skating. We had to find places and groups with coaches for the kids, some of the little ones have real potential. I hope I get to go to the Olympics someday. Hell, we are just getting started. Next year we add skiing, camping and more. Just like I had with Vicky.

Vicky and Henri are making plans for marriage. Not soon but in two or three years. No, there were no plans for that. It just happened. The 4th largest bank in France and the 18th largest in the USA will be under one management. I think that is cool. The union will also fight off the really big fish that have been trying to eat us up. Jacques has two girls with his so-called trophy wife, so maybe a real merger will take place. It would be nice if my two boys and his two girls could get together. Well, we will put them together now and then and see what develops. If it does, good. If not, so what?

Caroline had a stroke and passed on. She left one eight of the bank to Sandra and the other three eights to me. I now owned 7/8th of the GLS&T Bank Corporation. I guess she did not approve of that lifestyle after all.

Lucy? That Old Whore? She married. She is now the wife of my Vice -President of Mergers and Acquisitions. My secretary had scheduled me for a free hour one afternoon. I had no idea why until Clifford Dugan asked to see me. Thinking he had a hot merger in mind, I invited him in.

His opening statement floored me. "James, I want to marry your Old Whore."

"Why?" It was all I could think of to say.

"I love her and she loves me and there is no father to ask. Her brother will have to do."

"I will have to ask her what she thinks about this." I needed to talk to her before I said anything.

He picked up my phone and pushed a button, "Get your sweet ass in here." He grinned and hung up the phone. He and I just looked at each other for 45 seconds.

Lucy opened the door. She looked radiant, she had the look of a woman in love.

"What is this, Lucy? Are you leaving me after all these years?" I was having the damnedest time not running to her and hugging and kissing her. I was also fight back tears.

"Oh, hush, Dearie. I will be there when you need me. Tell the nice man I am his."

"Clifford, this woman is yours. To Have and Hold, to Obey and Honor. I swear you hurt her and I will kill you."

Clifford and I shook hands and Lucy sent him back to his office and sat down.

"We need to talk."

"Lucy, what is on your mind? I was asked for permission for the wedding so I get to pay for the thing. Just tell me and Breanda what you want. I hear that Ford Field and Coamerica Park can be rented."

"Thank you, Dearie. Nothing that big. Just a simple little wedding at St. Ann's will do. Now about you and Sandra and Breanda. I told Breanda all about Sandra. How she almost killed you. How you will always have a bit of a hole in your heart. But I also told her that when you asked her to marry you, you loved her and that you are a good man and would care for her and any children you two may have. I told her you are well worth marrying. If you make me out a liar, I will break every bone in your body."

Then I hugged her and kissed her. And sent her back to her man.

I did not ask, they did not tell, but I knew my Lucy. If she was doing this she would be okay and happy. She had told Clifford everything. How else would he have known about my Old Whore? I did wonder if he knew her real name. She had assumed the last name of McCleary. I did not say a word when the driver's license, credit card and bank accounts were in the name of Lucy McCready. I would swear on a stack of bibles that she was my sister and I had the money to make it stick.

Breanda and I were there at their wedding. Breanda was at least big enough to be 10 months pregnant. I walked down the aisle for the first time to give a woman I loved to her man. I swore I did not cry but the pictures proved me wrong. I knew I would have to do this again for Vicky. I knew it would be just as much fun as this one was. Later came the news that the old whore - No! Lucy - was with child when she walked down that aisle. I guess 45 is not too old. The boy was born five months after the wedding. His name is James Tovilar Dugan. Damn that Old Whore. I love my Lucy.

Two years later, I was laying in bed. I had just read Sandra's little blurb. She had emailed it to me, asking if I had any objections to publishing it. I would have to say something about how I saw the things she mentioned. I added mine under hers and here it is, all published.

It had been a hard road. I guess I could have done better, I do not know. I will let the next world tell me how I did.

I kissed Breanda and she pulled me to her. I did not know if I had ever loved Sandra more and somehow it did not matter any more. Sandra was in the past and gone, just not totally forgotten.

"Breanda, I love you."

"I know you do, James. Can we make another baby?"

And we did. James Tovilar McCready V was born nine months later.

*****

the ravings of a lunatic. Lay on Macduff and damned be he who cries, "Hold, enough!"