The Bridge

In response, she bent and took my cock into her mouth. Gloria was never big on blow jobs. Getting oral sex yes, but not giving. That night she took her time to give me pleasure and asked nothing in return.

The morning light, streaming through the undrawn blinds of the large bedroom window, woke me. Normally, Gloria would have been up well before me getting in her morning run. But her liberality with the alcohol and pot the night before was having its effect. I drew the blinds as I got out of bed hitting the small en-suite bathroom with its stall shower. It was a small bedroom but more than adequate in its amenities.

I was showered, shaved, and downstairs before anyone else. I decided to inspect my surrounding before the others got out of bed. I crossed from the great room onto the patio with its fire pit and built in outdoor barbecue. The patio continued into a raised deck area that held a small pool and sauna. Open water seemed a risky proposition in spring in these notoriously cold mountains, but as I reached the deck, I realized the whole complex was heated. A higher slope of the mountain was covered in solar panels. The pool area was thereby heated and probably the house as well.

Passing through the deck area, I came to what was a small barn. It contained no animals but was filled to capacity with ATV's, Snowmobiles, and gardening equipment including several small tractors. As I walked past this building I could hear a small stream in the distance. The stream was about twenty yards beyond a locked shed with a small flue in its roof. Looking inside the one small window, I saw a generator and fuel barrows. Thus was stored the gas for the power sports and a generator for emergencies.

Someone had thought of everything. The place was an isolated world unto itself. It was apparently ready for any eventuality. The stream was small and shallow. I thought too small for fish until I saw one jump clean out of the little stream.

"Do you fish?" said the voice from behind me.

Startled I turned to find Paula behind me.

"No, but I did when I was younger and had more time."

"Pity, it might give you something to do this weekend."

"Do you fish?"

"No, like you—no time. How about some breakfast and a walk up the mountain? Seems a waste to come all this way and never reach the top," she said.

Paula had put the coffee on in the stainless steel brewer. The kitchen larder was stocked with ready to microwave breakfast. I opted for instant Oatmeal as did my companion. No one else was up.

"They will probably all sleep late. How about that hike," she said smiling.

Paula apparently knew right where the trail started for she led us right to it. The summit did not seem all that far, but an hour later it seemed just as far as when we started.

"You sure you want to go to the top?" I asked.

"Why? You going to wus out old man," she said.

"Just wondering what the others will think when they don't find us."

"Don't worry, I doubt out absence will be a concern."

We finally reached the top, and I would guess from the sun being almost directly overhead it was close on Noon.

The mountain top was a bit of a disappointment. It was a fairly flat area with rounded edges. Two ancient wooden benches had been set looking east, back toward the lodge and a collection of peaks to the south and the east. A haze dampened the long view although the air felt crisp and clean. At mid-day, there was a cool breeze, but nothing uncomfortable.

My companion took a seat apparently determined to enjoy what there was of a view.

"You don't mind?" she said, "I would like to rest for the trip down."

"No, the old man could use a break," I said.

This earned me a smile.

"So Glen is a broker, Ken a banker, and Gabe, a developer, but we spoke all night, and I never heard what you do?"

She gave me an appraising look. Apparently decided what the harm.

"I'm a regulator. I work for the government, low pay and very boring," she said.

"You ever regulate anyone we know?"

"Oh, not lately. When we were in college, it seemed, I was always needed to help the guys out. You know cover for them with the angry girlfriend or provide crib sheets for exams. They've always been out there on the edge. It's what makes them who they are. You know exceptional young men."

"So that's your job? You cover up for them?"

"What's the good of closing the barn door after the horse is out. It won't help getting the horse back. Regulations only hold things back. Better the bright people get a hand up, and the rest get pushed to the side to make way. It's best, in the long run, everyone benefits according to their merits."

"So what's your function this weekend. You didn't seem into the party last night," I said.

She paused as if the question had caught her off guard. I stood and walked to one side where I could see the road that led down the mountain. There was no other road only the one way out, the single exit. I turned looked hard at Paula. Had she even thought of this. The others were I realized in a moment of gestalt completely blind to everything but their own physical appetites. But was she? Clearly, she was looking. She must see the problem same as me?

"I'm just here as the designated sober person, I guess. Making sure that all goes well. That nothing untoward happens. Any problems get diverted. I don't want to interfere unless absolutely necessary."

"You mean unless the golden boys need you."

"I don't think I would put it that way, but certainly you can see what's best for them is best for everyone in the long run."

"Should we go back down?" I asked.

"What's the hurry the way back will be faster."

"Yes, fast but steep and maybe dangerous. You can fall hard."

"Why worry, when you are on top," she said but rose and started walking down.

We arrived at the lodge without incident, but my bad feelings had increased.

We found the others at the pool. My wife in a black bikini, I had never seen. Her body was shockingly exposed by the brief expanse of material. The other women were little better. As Paula and I approached, I saw my wife sit in Gabe's lap and give him a deep sensual kiss.

"We're back," Paula called causing Gabe and Gloria to break the kiss.

Gabe smirked like a bad little boy having been caught stealing cookies but knowing he will not be punished.

My wife's smile was too broad and obviously false, "Hi where you been," she said as if she were talking to some casual friend.

There was an awkward silence following that. I could feel my fists clenching. But just then Paula grabbed my arm.

"Well, we obviously missed lunch and since we hiked to the top of the mountain we deserve some food," Paula said as she dragged me off toward the lodge.

I could hear a little-muffled laughter as we left the pool area. I don't know what Paula made to eat. If I ate, I don't remember. She forced a Johnny Walker Black on me. It was straight and burned my throat.

"Think before you act," she said, "this is just one weekend in a good marriage, and you have a family to think about."

When we returned to the pool area, the couples had adjourned to the Jacuzzi. The men were laughing the women giggling. My wife was still in Gabe's lap. I couldn't see his or her hands beneath the water, but I assumed they were both busy. A joint was being passed, and it was clear everyone was high. Paula took a seat where she could watch and where she was positioned between the Jacuzzi and me.

I made a great showing of getting another drink and then walked pointedly away. I dumped the drink when I was out of sight. It is an odd feeling, jealousy mixed with arousal. I was proud of my wife in one way and very disappointed in another. She had worked very hard and long to make herself over from the chubby girl I married. She was now a beautiful athletic woman and rightly desired.

I took pride in the fact that men wanted nothing more than to slip into the embrace of her strong and loving arms. But what had happened to her soul while she built that fabulous body? Seeing her with Gabe was oddly sexual. I could envision those perfect bodies joined in intercourse. A nightmare vision at once terrible and arousing.

I wandered the Lodge grounds making sure of how things were situated. Killing time and dreading where things seemed to be headed. Realizing that ultimately I might need to be in full possession of my faculties. I went to our bedroom deliberately forcing myself to try to sleep.

As I lay trying to quiet my thoughts the question of why my wife of sixteen years was flirting and kissing another man would not let me rest. We had been through so many hard times together, our early poverty, illnesses that struck the children, and the never ending grind of making ends meet on a middle-class budget. We had just started to climb to a secure and comfortable place. The kids were reaching that age where they could care for themselves.

My wife had a good if modest career. I was now making good money after so many lean years. Our debts were in hand, and our future bright. Why throw that away for a man as shallow and vain as Gabe Zilo. Beneath the charm and the brash bravado, there was nothing. Strip away the bright exterior and there was nothing beneath.

Gabe never developed a site plan, build a home, or worked a sale. He was the head of a business others ran. He was the money man, the rich kid. The wunderkind coming from nowhere, whose only asset was a self-created image. What was Gloria thinking? She had said that she just wanted to have some fun this weekend. Was this the fun and where did it end?

I did sleep, and when I came down stairs again they had moved into the great room. Dinner must have come and gone. The drink was still flowing as the joints were passing around. Gloria was back in Gabe's lap. There was no pretense that they were not making out. The bikini tops were off on all the women including Paula, who seemed to be sharing Ken with Robin.

I walked right through the room headed for the kitchen and food. I was microwaving a dinner when Gloria came in.

"How you doing?" she said.

"I've been better," I said.

She seemed to hesitate and then she let me have it.

"I'm spending the night with Gabe," she said.

"I've noticed," I said as the microwaved dinged.

She gave a kind of funny smile as I turned to the microwave.

"No, I mean in his room tonight."

I stayed very still. I had my back to her. It was important that she did not see the pain she was causing me at that moment.

"I see, and our sixteen years of marriage?"

"That's why I can do this. It's just for the weekend. Next week I'll be all yours again," she said.

"Oh, and Gabe won't mind?"

She wrapped her arms around me from behind while burying her head in my back, "of course not, silly. Gabe likes you. He says you two are going places together. This is just a fling. A little fun for the weekend..."

"Ok?" she said, this last was punctuated with a hug.

"Do I have a choice?" I said.

"Not really, it's decided. I'm just telling you, so you know," she said.

She let go, and I heard her leave the kitchen. I walked to where the kitchen looked out into the great room. They were already at the stairs. As they ascended, Gabe looked back. He gave me a grin and a thumbs up like we were in it together. He said something into Gloria's ear, and she turned and gave me a wave and a smile.

I turned back to the kitchen. Apparently all we had been through together meant nothing. My wife had forsaken and humiliated me. I threw away the microwave meal. Instead, I made coffee - it was going to be a long night. As the water boiled, I heard someone enter the kitchen.

I turned to find Paula watching me.

"I wouldn't have expected caffeine. Wouldn't alcohol be more appropriate?" she said.

"To each their own," I said. "But tell me what is your function here?"

In response, she shrugged, "I try to help out. See things remain calm."

"How are you going to do that? Sleep with me."

She laughed, "No, I don't go that far, but cheer up you'll get your wife back and maybe a bonus."

"So," I said, "there's money involved."

"Isn't there always. You can't make a fuss because you work for the man. You have a family to consider. What can you do but take what you are given? It's their world, not yours. It's just the way of things."

There was a sharp scream of pleasure from upstairs.

"She seems to be having a good time," Paula said smirking.

"Well, that's fine. A pleasant weekend for all in the mountains...You know these rocks have been here a long time. Our existence is just a blip to them. Thousands of years ago they were covered in thick layers of ice that scoured them and cut the streams and the gorges that we now must bridge to make our world livable.

"We sometimes forget just how precarious our existence is. Take away one little piece and our world falls in. It is only then we see what an illusion it is."

Paula laughed, "My God, you're a philosopher!"

"No, just a man who is aware enough to know what is important. Trying to separate the real and eternal from the illusions."

She must have decided that I would cause no problem for she left me to my coffee and my pain.

Around 1 a.m., I climbed the stairs. As I passed the door to the master bedroom, I could hear my wife's loud cries and moans of pleasure. She had always been very quiet in our love making, but I guess he was better. He was younger and had far more stamina. A better lover all around. I assumed my wife had found the fun she was searching for in his bed.

I took a shower then redressed in my warmest clothing. It would be cold outside. I tried to ignore the noise coming through the walls as I waited. It was past 3 a.m. when the stillness finally settled over the house. I gave it another thirty minutes and then crept downstairs.

In one of the kitchen cupboards, I found a flashlight and candles with matches. A necessary precaution, I assumed for when the power was cut by a harsh reality.

The night was truly dark out, the moon having set. You could hear the night sounds of the mountain, but they seem to be silence itself to a city dweller. I found the barn without difficulty and a twenty-gallon plastic gas can used to bring fuel to the motorsports. I also found a lug wrench. The generator shed door had a padlock but the hinge mechanism was rusted. The wrench made short work of it. The lodge proprietors had provided a good hand worked siphon to pump the gas.

It took not ten minutes to fill the can with gas. It took a few minutes longer to walk around the lodge building to where my rented SUV was parked. I put the gas in the back, removed the hand brake and put the truck into drive. I let it roll as far as it would go down the road before I started it and drove away.

I slowed as I approached the bridge. I navigated carefully across it. When I reached the macadam road, I stopped. I took my time and made sure the gas soaked into the wood of the bridge. It was a well-made and sturdy structure. It was something carefully made, the work of experienced builders, craftsmen who made things. People of substance had installed the bridge so those who live off the sweat of others could have a fun weekend.

The fun was about to end. I dropped a match. It sputtered, then it caught. A finger of flame rose as I moved back. A roaring blast of heat and fire followed shortly. I heard the crackle as the wood of the bridge as it caught the fire. The flames must have been visible for miles. I turned to my vehicle and drove off slowly. No need to hurry. All those who might see were now trapped on the other side. I was sure to be far away before they were aware of their situation.

About the time the dawn was breaking, I was pulling off the interstate for fuel. I filled the SUV up and left the empty gas can by the pumps. Someone would find it. With it went the only connection between the fire and me.

I turned the SUV in about 9 am and retrieved my car. I showered again and dressed business casual for the office. I had two more little things to do to end my association with Countryman Real Estate. Bernie had been a good boss, but forgetful. He often would call for me to retrieve something he had forgotten in his office. I had a key to every door and every file cabinet.

Gabe was a careful and meticulous individual when it came to his office and personal possessions. He had a big new Mahoney desk with a built in safe. Unfortunately, for him, he kept the combination in a file marked safe. It was in a locked cabinet, but I had the key thanks to Bernie.

Twenty minutes after entering the Countryman offices I had the password diary out of Gabe's safe and was logged into the company accounts. It would have been easy to walk away with everything, but that was not my plan. Theft would gain me nothing but a jail term. I simply swept the operating account into another account. When I first began work for Countryman, we had established a trust account for deposits. With each new development, a new trust account was established, a requirement of the State. The original trust account was a long forgotten.

The old account was in the records, but no longer on the books. It was an empty account until I sweep almost twenty million into it. I moved all our cash, and for good measure, I maxed out the line of credit.

My actions may seem a hollow gesture. Nothing was being stolen. It was all still there. But it would take several days to find and recover that money for use. Tuesday morning bright and early the electronic fund transfers would hit an empty operating account. Hundreds of payments would bounce. I wasn't sure how much damage would be caused, but we were always into the banks for more than we had. We existed on credit. Take away that credit and times would be tough at least for a bit.

Countryman would need to work to recover its good credit. The longer the shortage lasted, the bigger the problem. With any luck, Gabe would still be up on the mountain Tuesday. I would be gone, for my next action after placing everything back was to type out my resignation. I was getting ready to leave the office after placing my resignation letter on the desk of Gabe's secretary when my cell phone rang.

I looked at my phone a picture of Gloria came up. I ignored the call. A moment later the phone chimed with a voice mail. I shouldn't have listened, but I did.

"Baby, where are you? They say the car is gone. I'm worried. Call me," my wife said.

About a half hour later. The phone rang again. It was Gabe.

"Hey Lyle, You OK buddy? Gloria's real worried. Give her a call. Like now!"

I detected a little threat there at the end. It brought a smile to my face. There were three more calls from Gloria that Sunday and a second from Gabe. He was more threatening in the second call, demanding that I call him back.

Monday morning, I went to pick the kids up from Gloria's parents. On my way out the door, Gloria called again.

"Lyle, I will be back tonight. We need to talk. If you get this message, please call. I am very worried. This is childish," she said.

I was betting she would not be back.

When I arrived at her parents, they were expecting me.

"Gloria called and said you might be by alone to pick up the kids," her mother said.

"You need to call her son," her father said.

"She says she will be back tonight. I think it best if I waited till then. There is something we need to work out in person." I wasn't about to get into a discussion with the in-laws if I could avoid it.

My in-laws weren't happy but there was little they could do. My daughter picked up that something was wrong, but I told her, "It's a grownup problem between your mother and me, and to be fair to her we should wait till she gets back to discuss it."