Second-hand Destruction

My first story here. No sex, flash story... No need to be cruel - if you can't constructively say why you hate it, just settle for that.

*****

Jackie had been experiencing her own real-life romance story vicariously through her friend Pamela.

After seeing the way that her friend Pamela and Frank were flirting at work (harmless though it may have been), she'd "convinced" Pamela that having an affair would be exciting and that she should go ahead with it.

The affair was slow to start but had definitely reached the important stage, the whole point to Pam being with another man, Jackie thought.

About a week after Jackie had talked her into it, Pamela had begun emailing Jackie from a "secret" email account with vague details... details including the heavier flirting they'd been engaged in, the furtive touches they'd begun to exchange on the sly while at work, the lunches, including the oh so naughty touching which had gone on under the table during, touching which had required Pam to run home to change the panties she'd soaked...

Jackie had been practically raping her husband after reading these emails, letting her mind fill in with all sorts of extras. Harlequin had nothing on being almost in the story for real, from being just a step away from the action, as it were.

Pam and Tom had been married about five years at this point and Pam had said her sex life with her husband Tom was still good - hell, she'd actually said it was great... But the "risk" involved with her time with Frank had been making that sex even better... Sharper, hotter... dangerous.

Pam had commented that since Tom had gotten back from a game with his basketball league last week, he'd been complaining of a pulled groin muscle and that had put a stop to their sex life for a couple days. After three days, he'd told her he was going to the doctor to get it checked on since she was worried about him... Jackie knew Pam would just die if something happened to Tom...

Well, for the last couple of days now, he'd been out of town for training, a routine part of his job.

Pam had told Jackie she could "count on one hand the number of times they'd gone a week without sex, all due to work - at least as a couple," she'd guiltily related.

One evening, about five days into Tom's current trip, Jackie and her husband were sitting at their back-to-back desks in their home computer room. The kids, having finished their school work and chores were off doing whatever, likely TV, game systems or on their phones...

After smiling at Michael, Jackie had opened her email and seen another email from Pam's secret account.

She took one more quick glance at Michael, who appeared to be reading his emails. She could hear him saying under his breath his litany of, "Delete... Delete... Spam... More spam... Oh!... Nope, more crap..." interspersed with pauses as he quickly read his emails...

So she opened Pam's email... It had an attachment which was new but she began to read the body...

"Oh my god, Jackie. I can't begin to thank you enough. You can't begin to imagine the feelings I've had since my discovery of Frank. Though I'm hoping you'll soon be able to feel some of what I'm feeling right now."

"The affair that your convincing helped start with Frank is going to turn out to have life-altering effects."

"But mostly, I want to thank you for saving me what could have been decades of my life... decades during which I'd have not known what a cheating fuck I was married to, you FUCKING BITCH!"

"Though you'd think I would love to see you, I don't ever want to see your deceitful face again, you cunt, as long as I live..."

"Feel free to watch the enclosed video since you made it so possible, shank."

"Signed, Your 'friend'..."

"Tom".

Jackie had been getting all warm in her center as she read along... Until she approached the end where it was like she'd swallowed a block of ice whole... She gasped and when she looked up, Michael was watching her...

"Bad news," he asked her with the oddest look on his face.

"No, no," she stammered, "Just one of those shock stories you read about."

"Uh huh..."

Shaking now, Jackie turned her volume way down and opened the video attachment...

It was as bad as she thought. Clearly a hidden camera recording of Frank and Pam fucking...

After a few moments she panicked. Her volume must be still too high because she could faintly hear what must be the soundtrack...

"Oh fuck! Frank! Oh fuck me, fuck me, fuck me..."

She scrambled at her laptop closing the video and, after a moment, the sound stopped.

Only then did she notice that the scroll bar on the email indicated much more message...

Hesitantly, she began to scroll down... It was nothing but loads and loads of white space...screens and screens worth of it... Until finally she reached the end...

"P.S. Since you offered such great advice for my marriage, I've BCC'd Michael so you don't have to explain why Pam and I are getting divorced. To paraphrase the Chinese curse, may you have an interesting life."

The tears started instantly. Though she knew *she* had never had an affair, being both too timid herself to risk getting caught and loving her husband completely, how would she ever convince Michael of that?

As she finally made eye contact, the cold glare looking back at her made her realize she might very well have destroyed her own marriage as well...