The Note

Precisely two hours after leaving, Sherrie walked in with a few food items and a smaller flat bag which she took immediately into her bedroom. I helped put the food items away (as usual) then returned to my den to play computer games and check the weather for possible stunt flying later this week. This, along with an hour of stationary bike exercise, was my usual Saturday evening activities if not catching up on work.

A few minutes later Sherrie came to my den door, she rarely came inside my small room with its bookshelves, file cabinets, computer, printer, mini-refrigerator and my audio surround system.

"Jon, when is your next over night out of town trip?"

"It's not scheduled yet, Sherrie. Most likely it will be in about two weeks. I just got home you know. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I like to know in advance long enough to make my own plans." Her tone of voice was flat toned and matter of fact.

"I don't like to stay here all alone every time you are gone. Those nights alone are a real drag, you know. I was thinking I might take a few days off and go visit some old friends since you won't be here anyway."

Her plan of action was now in the open to me but I made no hint that I knew of anything unusual. Her statement that she didn't like to be home by herself while I was gone now took on new meaning. For she was not at home "alone by herself". Just at home and sharing her body with this Hal person, along with her "alone" time.

My body tightened as I tried not to reveal my true emotions. How would she react with her friends and neighbors when I revealed to them, the real Sherrie. Maybe she wouldn't care? Seems as though I was of little concern to her and I was married to her. Then again, to her, I was supposedly clueless cuckold of a husband of yesteryear.

"Okay, Sherrie, sounds like a plan. I'll let you know probably Monday. That way you can make what ever travel plans you wish. Whom do you wish to visit and where?" I turned to ask her face to face. I had controlled my emotions. Something my frequent poker playing had honed to a fine skill.

Without a blink she replied, "I have recently re-met a long time ago friend and have an invitation to to meet his family. I will likely take the better part of the week. I'll be gone before you leave so you will be here by yourself for a few days...just like I have been so many times when you have been gone."

"Sherrie, is this new old friend male or female?"

She gave me a hard look and answered, "What difference does it make to you. You never pay any attention to me. I live alone in this house even when you are here. You can have a few lonely days here just like you have condemned me to for these thirty two years." She looked t me with some anger and disdain or disinterest.

I noted she had not answered my question.

"Sherrie, we have been living together for many years. The first years were as man and wife. The last several years we have just been cohabitating and at your demand, I might add. You are the one that kicked me out of our marital bed with made up excuses. You are the one who would never open up to having real exciting marital fun. You are the one who refused my advances for active participation in sex. You are the one who refuses to go with me on my trips even after I assured you of daytime activities of interest to you while I work. You chose to enjoy your lonely nights here by your self since the kids left. You are the one who demanded a separate bedroom and bath. You are the one who will not allow me into the shower with you nor join me in mine. You are the one who refuse my sexual needs."

I was on a role and venting years of frustration. I didn't care if she got upset anymore. She was cheating and didn't deserve my civility.

"Sherrie, you are the reason I sold the hot tub on the deck because you would never use it with or without me. You are the one who wanted separate checking accounts so you could spend without my foreknowledge or requiring my permission. I acceded to all of these for the sake of harmony and marriage stability and now you accuse me of being the cold and standoffish one in the marriage. Just tell me when you are going to be gone so I can plan my trip accordingly. You can have it your way." I thought "for now" ut didn't verbalize this last thought.

"How many times have I taken you dancing on weekends. How many meals out have we eaten out. A least twice a week, Sherry and that not counting Sunday noon after church. Of course this was for my benefit also since I like fresh salads and steamed veggies. Try to remember, Have I ever forgotten your birthday?, our anniversary? or not celebrated valentines day with flowers and a card at a minimum? You have so much jewelry you don't even miss it if some falls behind your dresser? You have your privacy. In fact you have everything you ever wanted and that served on a silver platter using your husband income to buy you everything. What do I get in return? Just about nothing. Certainly I get no enjoyment from your body or soul for that matter."

She just disappeard from the door without comment and I heard her flop into her Lazy Boy chair and flip on the TV.

Too much change for one day. I closed down my computer and told her I was going to bed. We could talk more tomorrow if she wanted. I was angry. The atmosphere was at best chilly. I slept poorly. I am usually a good sleeper.

The next day was Sunday and we normally attended church together. By ten AM she was not out of her bedroom yet. I knocked on the door telling her we had only forty minutes before time to leave for church. She announced that she wasn't feeling well and was not going to church. I went without her with a clear conscience.

At church, folks noted Sherrie was not with me. I explained she was not feeling well. They all promised to pray for her. I really wanted to ask them to pray for me to but just couldn't let the news out just yet. I would have to pray for myself as I was suddenly through praying for our marriage.

Back home, she was sitting in front fo her TV with her breakfst fixed and in a tray on her lap, watching some numbskull HGTV program in Costa Rica featuring three, million dollar plus houses for a yuppie couple.

"People asked about you this morning, Sherrie."

"I hope you told them I was sick and couldn't get out"

"I did. They promised to pray for you."

"I really don't need their prayers. I'm ok now."

"Sherrie, I know your health was really not the issue for your missing church with me. What I really want to know is 'how are we doing?' I mean when are we going to start being husband and wife again and not just housemates?"

"There you go again on this sex thing you just can't seem to get off of. Give it up, Jon. We are to old to be having sex, can't you get that through your mind?"

"Sherrie just when is fifty three to old to have sex. All the men I know my age and even older are enjoying an active sex life. Most are at doing it at least weekly and some are two or three times a week still. We haven't had sex in so long I can't even remember what you look like down there. I masturbate with a picture of your legs spread ready for me. I took this picture of you thirty years. You were beautiful and I suspect you still are as the rest of your body is still very sexy to me and I miss enjoying your body."

"Jon, I think you are way over sexed and a bit perverted. Go get yourself some dinner and let me watch this program in peace!"

End of discussion! That's how it has been for at least three years now. She was getting sex and at the same time denying me for she knew my religious feelings would not permit me any extramarital sex. I vowed silently to fix this situation in the immediate future now that I knew she was actively unfaithful and not just inactively unfaithful. Refusing sex had become, to me, evidence of infidelity for she was "not clinging to me only...she was not clinging at all" That had been the vows before God, family and friends thirty two years ago.

After fixing my self a sandwich and orange juice I went into my den and booted up the computer. I did a Google search on the Hal Halversen. Seems like he is a forty fivish Scandinavian import who lives a few miles away. There was no mention of family but he runs a large auto dealership with multiple locations around our city of five hundred thousand. He is active in the same charities that my wife gives her time and our money to. He has been in charge of the United Fund annual charity fund raising for several years

All in all, he has a reasonably high profile plus being active in the Republican party. (I'm an independent voter and Sherrie is registered as a Democrat). I now remember where I had heard his name. He has the appearance of a decent well healed person. His private life, of course was not revealed in the Google search.

He has become both enemy and savior. Enemy for making me a cuckold and savior for giving me a way out of a cold sexless marriage.

As usual, I got up early Monday This was before Sherrie normally got up at her leisurely 10 am. I grabbed a Granola bar for my bite to eat and drove through for a coffee at Burger King on my way to work.

I was pretty much my own boss at work. Ensconced in my private corner office with the door closed I called my lawyer friend. We worked together on a number of legal cases over the years and he was a member of our church also.

"Jim, Thanks for taking my call so early. Can you fit me in sometime today, this morning preferably?"

"How much time do you need, Jon? What's on your mind that's so urgent?"

"It's a marital problem, Jim. I have to divorce Sherrie and I need protection and advice. I know you know the divorce laws here in Alabama and I need you."

"Jon, I am going to ask one of my partners to join us. He's a CPA in addition to be a sharp legal guy. Let me call you back after I know his availability. And don't you worry, we wont break your wallet without your permission." He laughed as did I. "Now when can you be available?"

"This is priority with me so anytime you can set us up is Okay with me. Just do it and call me back. Use my cell number rather than my office number. And Jim, thanks." Thus ended my initial foray into the field of marriage law and accounting.

It was three that afternoon that I found myself in Jim's office along with his CPA lawyer partner. After the perfunctory round of handshakes and accepted offers of coffee and water we got seated in their conference room.

I told them everything I knew. I told them that I was not at all inclined to marriage counseling as I had suggested that to Sherrie on several occasions only to be rebuffed out of hand. Then I told them that I would accept some form of alimony for her on an indefinite basis providing she wasn't fucking around.

Well, that idea got shot down before my words hit the far wall.

I could not put that into a settlement. If she got remarried then alimony could cease. That seemed wrong. As long as she was whoring around, I had to support her but if she made it legal then she lost my financial support. The laws just weren't made to be logical, just enforceable.

Then there was the split of assets. Our house which was paid for by my hard work and my retirement plans, again thanks to my hard work which she took advantage of to screw around on when I was out of town. Or at least I thought it was only then.

I learned we were a no fault state so getting the goods on her by legal photos etc would not be worth the effort or cost. Damn, I was screwed it seemed. The only benefit was that I could look for an real partner in life with God and the law on my side finally.

I took it upon myself to visit Mr. Hal. This I did by making a personal call for a business appointment through his secretary. I used a factious name. The purpose of the meeting, as given to his secretary, was the proposed purchase of a fleet of his heavy duty "tractor" Volvo trucks. I received an appointment for the following afternoon at his primary dealership across town. He had offered to meet me at my business address but I wanted this to be in his office, not mine. I didn't want my staff to know I knew him.

He met me and the door of his dealership and after he friendly handshakes we went into his private office. I suggested he hold any incoming calls until after our negotiations were concluded. He did this by exiting his office and conferring with his private secretary. This settled, he returned to his overstuffed leather chair behind his large mahogany desk. He ofer a cigar which I declined but told him to enjoy one while we talked.

In his office were a number of letters of thanks ( with autographed picture with the president) for his community service and one from the former Republican president thanking him for his community service, service to the party and his generosity to the presidents two campaign funds.

I praised him and congratulated him on his years of community service and generosity to various charities. Of course I mentioned his loyal support to "OUR republican party". He smiled broadly and puffed up a cloud of cigar smoke toward the ceiling.

"May I call you 'Hal", I smiled.

"Of course, and my I address you as Robert?" (the factious name I had used to make the appointment.)

"Hal, it seems to me that you would be an ideal candidate for Mayor of our fair city. Certainly we need someone with business savvy and experience and with a heart for our city. Have you given consideration to running in the upcoming elections?"

He beamed, puffed some more smoke upwards and appeared for a moment as if in deep thought. Then smiled looked at me directly and said. "I already have a campaign committee at work for me for just this move. I am scheduled to announce publicly early next week. I really want that position for many good reasons. Of course, it won't hurt business either. I have already put the dealership into a blind trust. This was not necessary but I want to be seen as a pure white hat man to the voting public. Inour conservative city, one cannot be to careful in their business and private lives. This mayorship could be the stepping stone to bigger things politically. My degrees in business and political science have prepared me. Of course, as an immigrant, I cannot become president but I have high hopes."

I smiled inwardly as I felt I had him exactly where I needed him.

"Hal, I must admit to a bit of misrepresentation for coming here this afternoon. I do truly hope that we will strike a mutually satisfactory deal today. I propose a deal which will protect your political future and my financial future. Now it will be best for you to remain seated until you hear me out completely. Then we can discuss our agreement which subsequently will be put into writing and kept totally confidential indefinitely."

I continued, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Jon Williamson, or Norwegian family descent. My wife's name is Sherrie Williamson whom you know quite intimately." I saw him slide down just a tad in his chair and take a big breath.

I continued, "Hal, this is a friendly visit, not a confrontation. I want to negotiate a purely business type deal. At this point, I hold a winning hand and if we were playing poker, you could not win. But we are not adversaries. At least we are not yet. We become adversaries only if we cannot come to a mutually satisfactory agreement. Do you understand? You are a businessman just as I am."

Before we go any further, I want to know if you truly love my current wife? What would your intentions be if I were not in the picture?"

"Jon, as I now know you, I wish to be very truthful with you. Sherrie and I have known each other for perhaps forty years. We lost contact shortly after you got married. I left her hometown where we both grew up. My parents had immigrated from Sweden just after my birth there. I grew up American. Sherrie and I were, what you might call "an item" in school. We were sexually very active until she broke it off with me when you appeared on the scene. We did not continue or intimacies once she chose you over me. I was not terribly hurt as I had other sexual partners at the same time. I thinks she was unaware of these. I moved on and away.

Years later, my parents died in a commercial plane crash in the mid east. They left me a small fortune and I have multiplied that into a very substantial sum. I bought this dealer ship five years ago and have expanded it to twice the volume it had when I took over. As you know, we sell and service many European makes and models of autos, trucks, and engines, the latter, sold and used in industrial plants nation wide. Four years ago Sherrie and I met socially. My wife had died several years earlier and I had dedicated myself to making this dealership the premier dealership it now is.

We have been in a sexual relationship for four years. If you were not in the scene, we would marry. Since you are, we have kept our liaison as secret as possible but recently Sherrie has told me she intends to divorce you in the near future. It now appears that you have discovered this liaison. What is your proposal?"

"Hal, I want out of the marriage." (I thought it best not to reveal why). You want a very sexy woman who happens to be married to me. I want out of a marriage to a woman who no longer loves me. My proposal is this. I divorce Sherrie. You then marry her. If I divorce her it will be for incompatibility, not infidelity. That way she is not at fault in case the press gets nosey during your campaigns. It also save face for me, the cuckold hubby. Now here is the hooker of the deal. We both have substantial holdings and income. Lawyers are expensive. An open legal battle is in no ones best interest.. except mine, potentially. But I don't want that. In the divorce, I keep everything. She leaves with nothing but then again, she can be great eye and arm candy for you if she will dress modern style. The only losers are the lawyers and their exorbitant fees. You must convince Sherrie to take this deal. We keep it under wraps forever. I will give you one week. I am going on vacation by myself starting tomorrow morning and will be gone a week. By the time I get back, we will either have a deal or I blow the whistle on the both of you. Let me emphasize, I do not want to do this so you have to use your negotiating skills to convince Sherrie to leave everything and marry you...Or at least to leave everything. You can have whatever kind of prenuptial with her you can get. I do not want to know what you work out only that she will agree to leave the marriage with our money in my pocket."

He agreed completely. "Jon, this sounds like a win-win situation. I feel certain I can convince Sherrie to take this deal. I will have my lawyers call yours this coming week."

I gave him my lawyers name and phone numbers.

I departed a happy man. On my way home, via cell phone, I had my secretary make arrangements for a 7 day Caribbean cruise to start asap and notify the company president of my vacation. I told her nothing of the impending divorce but she is quite intuitive and suggested I might find some interesting entertainment on a cruise ship. I then called my lawyer and told him to draw up divorce papers with Sherrie taking nothing more than her clothes. I told him of my agreement with Mr. Halversen and to anticipate a call from his lawyers in the coming week. Confidentiality was paramount.

At home I began to pack. Sherrie asked me if I had to take a trip tomorrow. I told her, "Yes, I'll be gone a week or so. You need to hear what Hal will be telling you very soon. Take his advice otherwise the shit will hit the fan. I know all about your liaison with him over the past four years. You need to be married to him, not me, and soon. My lawyers are at this moment drawing up divorce papers. When I get back we will all sit down with everyone's lawyers and sew up the deal. You should engage a lawyer of your own if you choose to not take Hal's and my advice.