Shadow Lake Estates Ch. 04

"There he goes again," Hank noted. The old man held a pair of binoculars to his eyes as he peered through his window from behind the curtain. He checked his watch. "Like clockwork. Every Tuesday and Thursday."

Patty shook her head and returned to her knitting. "Such a shame," she said.

"Shame?" Hank responded. "These people have no shame. They're like a bunch of wild animals. I tell you, I don't know what this world is coming to. We may as all just strip naked and walk around sniffing each other's asses, humping whatever we can find."

Patty giggled at the vision he created.

"Thank God the world wasn't like this when we married," Hank said. "Back then, it was one man, one woman, for life. No confusion there. It was plain and simple. The way it was meant to be."

"Mm-hmm," Patty said, half-listening.

"Sure, I sowed a wild oat or two before I settled down, but when I said 'I do,' I did. And that was that. To have and to hold, in sickness and in health. But most important, forsaking all others. That's what a real marriage is about. I just don't know why these people bother getting married at all."

"Maybe they're happy together otherwise," Patty said.

Hank removed the binoculars from his eyes and turned to look at his wife, scrunching his face. "How the hell can they be happy when they're running around humping other people?"

"Oh, I don't know. I'm just saying maybe they're happy with everything else in their marriage, and the humping just isn't all that important."

"Now, what could be more important than humping? It's against natural law to hump anyone except your spouse. God said, 'Thou shall not hump your neighbor's wife.'"

"I don't think it went quite like that..."

"You know what I mean, dammit. I'm just saying, you hump another person, it's the end of the marriage. Period. End of story. I'd never put up with it, I can tell you that. I'm glad to know that in all these years, you've never humped another man, before or after we married."

Patty continued to busily knit as Hank turned back toward the window. She then paused for a moment, raised her eyes to the ceiling in wistful remembrance, and smiled.

***

Tom rolled over and faced the wall. Karla wrapped her arms around him and tried to console him. They were both naked and lying in their bed.

"It's okay," she said. "It happens."

"It's happening way too often lately," he said. "And it's not okay."

"Maybe you should see a doctor," she offered.

"It's not like I have a problem getting it up," he said. "The other night, not only did I get it up, but I came in my fucking pants."

"Maybe you just aren't excited by me anymore," she whispered.

He turned to face her. "Don't be ridiculous."

"I mean, maybe we've been role-playing for so long that plain old sex just doesn't excite you anymore."

"Babe, if I can't get hard being with a smoking-hot woman like you, then what kind of man am I?"

"You're a good man," she said, and gave him a gentle kiss. "You'll get past this eventually. You'll see."

***

Dan's chest heaved as he flopped over onto his side of the bed, soaking the sheet beneath him. Denise returned from the bathroom, strolling naked into the room. She stepped into her panties and a pair of thin cotton shorts, and then pulled a tee shirt over her head before returning to bed.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Dan remarked.

She giggled. "They say absence makes the pussy grow moister."

"Then you're going to have to go away more often!" he joked.

She playfully punched him in the chest. "Jerk."

"We haven't had sex like that in a long time," he said. "I hope we didn't wake the kids."

"They have school tomorrow. They'd better be fast asleep if they know what's good for them."

"If they aren't, we may have traumatized them for life," Dan said. Another punch followed. "So how did it go?"

"It was fine," she said, yawning. "The usual nonsense. San Diego has their heads up their asses. We just needed to straighten them out."

"Anything unusual happen?" he asked.

She hesitated for a moment before responding, "No, just a pretty standard boring business trip. How about you? Anything happen while I was away?"

Now it was his turn to pause. He paused for so long, in fact, that she raised herself onto her elbows and looked him in the eyes.

"There was one thing," he said with some hesitance. "It's not a big deal, but I just want you to know everything that happens. You know how I feel about keeping secrets."

She looked away and placed her head on his chest. "This sounds scandalous," she said.

"I suppose it would be anywhere else," he said, "but we're not in Kansas City anymore, Toto. These people out here have a totally different mindset."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You know Kiersten? That sweet little girl who lives in the house behind us? She offered me a blowjob."

Denise gasped and quickly scrambled to a kneeling position. "Kiersten? You're kidding me!"

"No, I'm not. I couldn't believe it myself."

"So...how was it?" she said with a smile.

"Ha-ha, very funny," he said. "It really rattled me. A girl that young. I don't know what she was thinking. She knows I'm married."

"My husband...the stud." She gave him a kiss.

"I just thought you should know," he said.

They lay together in silence for several moments before Dan kissed his wife on the forehead and bid her good-night. The following morning, the kitchen was a scene of frantic chaos as Holly and Alex rushed to eat their breakfast, pack their book bags, and rush out the door to catch their buses. Eventually, the chaos diminished, leaving Dan and Denise seated across their small kitchen table, enjoying their coffee.

"I have to get going," Denise said, glancing at the time on her phone.

"Have a good day, honey," Dan responded, kissing her softly as she passed by him to deposit her coffee mug in the sink.

"Dan? There's something I need to tell you."

***

Holly stepped off of the school bus and hurried to the girl's bathroom, where she ducked into one of the stalls. She removed her top and extracted another one from her bag, hurriedly pulling it over her head. The new shirt clung tight to her body and revealed her midriff when she moved a certain way. She then removed her shorts and did the same, replacing them with a much smaller pair.

She stepped out of the stall, checked herself in the mirror, smiled broadly, and exited the restroom. Several of the boys' heads turned as she strutted down the hallway. Her bright smile made it evident that she knew exactly what effect she had on them. She enjoyed having that power over them. She no longer felt like the sweet little innocent "good girl" as she had cast herself throughout her young life.

As she passed certain boys, she made casual remarks laced with innuendos. A gentle touch here, a smile there, and she had them all eating from her hand. All except one. Tyler White was probably the most popular boy in her class - at least, as far as she could determine in her short time at the school. He was handsome, well-built, and constantly surrounded by attractive friends.

She spotted him at the end of the hallway, surrounded as usual, and strode straight through the crowd toward him. He did a double-take when he noticed how she was dressed, and it brought a smile to her face. When they were face-to-face, she could see that look in his eyes. It had become an all-too-familiar look to her.

"Hi, Tyler," she said in her sexiest voice.

"Hey," he said, clearly confused.

"Holly," she said. "I'm in your advanced algebra class, but I don't think you've noticed me. Until now, that is."

"I...oh, yeah, right," he stammered.

She draped her arms around his neck and leaned in close to whisper in his ear. Suddenly, she received a hard shove that knocked her backward.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" a girl shrieked. "Tyler, who is this skank?"

Tyler held up both hands in surrender. "Rebecca, I was just standing here minding my own business. Ask anyone." The others surrounding him nodded in support. Rebecca stepped toward Holly with her fists clenched.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" she asked.

Holly chuckled and winked at Tyler. "I'm Tyler's future girlfriend, bitch."

Rebecca lunged toward Holly and grabbed a handful of her hair, taking her down to the floor. Holly fought back and scratched at Rebecca's face. The group surrounding Tyler simply stood and watched for a moment, laughing and pointing at the two girls mauling each other on the floor. Out of nowhere, a boy in a black leather jacket rushed toward the girls and pulled them apart.

"Leave my fucking boyfriend alone, skank!" Rebecca shouted. Her face was flushed and her hair was matted to her head. Tyler wrapped his arm around her and led her away just as a teacher quickly approached.

"We should get you the hell out of here," the boy in the leather jacket said. He put his arm around her and briskly escorted her down the hallway in the opposite direction of the teacher. "Brandon Parker," he said to her once they were clear.

"Holly Price," she responded with a smile. "Thanks for that."

"Don't mention it," he said. "Rebecca's a stuck-up twat."

Holly giggled and looked him over. "You must be so hot with that jacket on," she remarked.

"I always wear it when I ride," he said.

"You ride...a motorcycle?"

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "Maybe I could give you a ride sometime."

"I'd like that," she said.

***

Dan paced back and forth on the kitchen floor. His face was beet-red and a vein protruded from his neck.

"Say something, please," Denise begged.

"I fucking knew this would happen!" he shouted, stopping at last. "I fucking knew it!"

"Dan...calm down. Please."

"Don't tell me to calm down! You fucking kissed him! And worse - you kept it a secret! Why didn't you tell me as soon as it happened?"

"I...I knew that you'd blow it out of proportion."

"Oh, well, why wouldn't I? Seriously, Denise. You kissed your boss!"

"I...it wasn't really a kiss. He...he just briefly touched my lips."

"And you didn't kiss him back?"

She hesitated, which gave him his answer. "It...it wasn't like that. I'm telling you the truth."

"How the fuck do I know what's true or not true anymore?" he shouted. "You lied by omission! How do I know what else you've neglected to tell me? Maybe you fucked him, too!"

"I didn't fuck him!"

"How do I know that? Huh? How can I possibly trust you to ever tell me the truth again?"

"He...invited me to his room, but I didn't go."

"What!? And you're just now telling me this? See, this is exactly what I'm talking about!"

She approached him and tried to touch him, but he pulled away. "Dan...I'm telling you the truth. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it, so I waited to tell you. That's all."

Dan contemplated her words for a moment before he was suddenly struck by a thought. "Last night," he said. "That was all because of him, wasn't it?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You fucked my brains out like you haven't done in years. But you weren't fucking me, were you? You were thinking about him the whole time."

"Don't be ridiculous," she said.

He chuckled and shook his head. "I've been so stupid," he said. "I've been playing the role of the good house-husband while you go off and do who knows what with the guys in your office."

She crossed her arms and shouted, "It isn't like that and you know it!"

"You've been dressing sexier, acting all flirty with men..."

"I have to dress this way - for my job!"

"Yeah...your job. Your job takes precedence over everything else, doesn't it?"

"It has to take precedence right now! It's the only income we have!"

He stopped in his tracks and glared at her. A sarcastic grin came over his face and he waved his finger at her. "Ah, and there it is. I was wondering when you'd throw that in my face."

"I'm not throwing anything in your face," she said, softly. "I didn't mean it to come out that way."

"No, no, no," he said. "It's okay. We're airing it all out now, aren't we? This has been the elephant in the room for a long time."

She glanced at her cellphone. "I have to go," she said. "I'll be late enough as it is."

"Yeah, you go," he said with derision. "Say hi to Andrew for me."

She turned to walk away, but he stopped her by grabbing a hold of her shoulder.

"When you get out of work," he said, "don't come home."

She looked at him incredulously. "What do you mean?"

"I mean just what I said. Don't come home."

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"That's not my problem," he said.

"Dan, I'm not leaving my own home and my family."

"Either you leave or I leave," he said. "And I have to be here to watch the kids, since you don't get home until late at night. You can either quit your job or hire a nanny - and a housekeeper, too. Or you can leave. It's as simple as that."

"But...for how long?"

"Until I can figure out what to do next," he said.