In Love With My Neighbor

I'd like to thank kenjisato, again, for the great editing and my friends for their input. If you find any mistakes, it's probably something I did after editing.

Active sexual activity only involves characters over the age of eighteen. Any similarities to persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Names are made up.

IN LOVE WITH MY NEIGHBOR

My name is John Falconer. I was twenty-three at the start of my story. I had the usual high school and college romances. I thought I had found "the one" a couple of times. I graduated with a degree in secondary education.

I met my wife, Julia, a month before I graduated. Julia was a new medical assistant, working on a nursing degree. Within a year, we were married. Julia's family had money, I mean big money, I never really knew about it until she asked me for a prenup. I was in love and lust, or so I thought, so I agreed, signed, and forgot about it. Julia was a virgin when we started dating. Julia had lost her virginity one hot night in my apartment.

I had a great teaching job and started my master's program.

*******

I need to discuss the prenup. Julia kept it locked up! It was somewhat explained to me, 'What is yours is yours and what is hers is hers.' I remember skimming it when I signed, but I never really READ it.

The first week in June, after we'd been married just two years, I had just started summer recess. Julia had a medical conference to attend. I had volunteered to attend it with her, but she quickly said I did not need to.

On the Monday of the conference week, I noticed she had left her file cabinet unlocked. Curiosity got the better of me, and I looked in her file drawers. I took pictures of the drawer and its contents so I could put the things back in the right places. I carefully removed the prenup and other "family" papers. I looked at them, and what I read did not sit well with me.

I found Julia's password log, so I opened up her password-protected files and emails on our computer. After reading a couple of emails with her family, I suspected something was wrong-- I smelled a betrayal. I took the papers to a friend, Robert, who was a lawyer, Robert Walsh Esq.; I had played baseball with him in college.

After reading them, he canceled his afternoon activities, grabbed his portable printer/scanner and laptop, and then followed me to our house. He spent over four hours scanning the paperwork and letters from her family. It seemed Julia's family hated me so much that they already paid ten thousand dollars to a friend of Julia's to have an affair with me, which would cause the prenup to be triggered. Her parents wanted her to marry a doctor or some executive in a big company. Julia already had a boyfriend lined up! He had been her boyfriend in high school, and he came from a family acceptable to Julia's parents.

We didn't have "our" money just yet, but we had a sizeable amount given to us as a wedding gift, mostly by her family members. I had deposited it in our joint account, and Julia was not happy with that; she thought since it came from mostly her family, SHE should control it.

Robert came back the next morning for another four hours, and that's when he found evidence of Julia removing money from our joint account. Julia had moved it into an account she had opened after we were married.

"Robert, I'll never be able to pay you!"

Robert said, "This will be fantastic, she'll pay all the outstanding bills of the marriage with this prenup, and you will not have to pay anything. Don't worry, according to the prenup, she will have to pay my fees too!"

"If this had worked for her, you wouldn't have even kept your motorcycle! You would have had to reimburse her for your master's degree tuition! Now, she may have to reimburse you for the continuing education courses she has taken, even this week's conference fees!"

We checked our phones for the pictures of the file drawers we had taken, and made sure everything was back in place, and we locked the drawer.

When Robert was through, he had the name of the boyfriend, Samuel Gordon, the name of Julia's seducing friend, Patricia or Trixie as she was known, and even the name of the lawyer (I called him Snidely Whiplash), who was going to orchestrate the mess. Robert even found evidence that he thought he could take before the State Bar for unethical behavior by her lawyer.

"John, you have to watch who you talk to and NEVER, NEVER be alone with any of Julia's friends. Until I get your ducks in a row, if you could find places to hide out with witnesses, it would be great. Since it is summer, see if you can find some educational conferences or classes out of town you can attend and then stay away from ALL women, even the sixty-year-old lady at the door, handing out name tags."

Robert got a private investigator to check on my loving wife, while she was still at her conference. And it paid off-- her boyfriend was there also.

When Julia arrived home, I couldn't help but think she had that "just fucked" look about her.

I was able to enroll in summer school at a college about two hours (140 miles) up the interstate to take a bunch of my graduate courses. Julia made a show of looking upset about not having me around for the summer. I told her, "Just look at how much more money we'll have when I get my master's and doctorate."

I took a room in a dorm and did not take Julia's advice to get an extended stay room. (Dorms have better security than hotels. Robert said she might be trying to set me up with an extended stay room.) I kept up appearances by calling Julia almost nightly.

Robert had me buy a pocket recorder, and have it running all the time, no matter where I was-- in the dorm, at home, or on the phone, especially when on the phone with Julia or talking to her.

If I ever want to do Mission Impossible stuff in the future, I will hire Robert; he knows all the ins and outs of marital espionage. Halfway through the summer, Robert found out, through his PI, that Julia and her family were panicking, they were not getting the goods on me.

Robert had the house wired for sound and pictures of the bedroom and the entrance doors. It was dueling cameras, Robert's PI found a camera and a recorder in our bedroom, it was there to catch Julia's friend seducing me. It had an on-and-off switch; I guess it was if Julia had her boyfriend over, she could turn it off.

I almost was trapped, on a weekend that I came home from summer school, Julia went out for a girls' night out! Imagine that! I had been gone for a couple of weeks; any loving wife would have made time for her husband. (According to the PI, she met her boyfriend instead.)

Her friend, who was supposed to do the seducing, came over 'looking for Julia'. I told her I had to meet with the guys to watch some baseball and do some beer drinking. As I stepped out the door, she tried to hug and kiss me, but I did not allow her to.

As the end of August arrived, Robert's PI found out that Julia thought she finally had her ducks in a row with her friend's doctored picture of the almost hug, kiss, and some other minor bullshit!

She accused me of abandonment! Because I was taking classes for my master's! She had her lawyer draw up the divorce papers. I was to be served next Monday night, as I got home, and I would be removed from the house.

As luck would have it, Robert had Julia served that Friday morning at work, and

she

was to be removed from the house; just lucky, I guess!

To say World War Three broke out is an understatement. I had a police officer show up for a civil standby, which I requested, knowing Julia and her parents would show up.

***

I became the petitioner. Being named the petitioner just gives you the first bite of the apple. It was mostly an emotional advantage. Just seeing the petitioner's name first can create an advantage, keeping the respondent off-balance. One real advantage to filing for divorce first was that the Petitioner got to present his or her evidence first.

The cop had to call in backup when Julia and her parents showed up.

I had hired some movers to get Julia's clothes and her furniture that she would take with her and put it all into a U-Haul trailer. The cop said that since I had a "no contact order," I could have anyone I wanted removed. When her friend, alias boyfriend, showed up, I asked that he be removed. Julia whined and said he was 'just a friend.'

I asked Julia, "Have you seen the pictures in the papers you were served with?" She hadn't looked at all of them.

Julia walked to her car, got the papers, and opened them up, and her face went white, one of the pictures was of the two of them getting on the elevator at the conference with his hand firmly squeezing her breast while she was kissing him, with her hand grabbing his cock through his trousers.

"I believe that was the night before you missed a morning seminar on insurance forms. I hope your patients haven't had to suffer because of that!"

***

Julia's father was reduced to directing the movers as to what vehicle to put Julia's shit in. It was a little bit of a circus to watch for the neighbors-- the cops civil stand by 'keeping the peace'; me sitting in a lawn chair, drinking nonalcoholic drinks out of a pitcher; Julia's father pacing my sidewalk; Julia's fuck-buddy sitting in his car one hundred feet down the street. Robert Walsh, my lawyer, was sitting with me, drinking the same nonalcoholic drink. Mrs. Moore from across the street even baked cookies for the cops and the movers. The cops did finally ask Julia's fuck-buddy to leave, (The best part of the day.)

The divorce took on a life of its own.

Julia's girlfriend was deposed by Robert and told us of Julia and her parents' plan of deception and fraud after Robert quoted the statutes on conspiracy to commit fraud. I didn't know if what she was going to do would be fraud, but what Robert said worked. Also, they had paid her already, but we kept it quiet because if it was found out that the money had exchanged hands, charges could be filed against her.

After Robert offered thanks for her cooperation, he said we would keep a few things "close to the vest," mainly the payoff. The karma was that they were out the ten thousand dollars, and we had the evidence. To drag on the divorce any longer would just create more billable hours for Julia to have to pay for, hers and mine, according to the prenup.

What I did find out was that Julia only married me because she tested pregnant after she missed a period; her periods were like clockwork. She never told me of the pregnancy; I thought she just wanted to get married. She demanded we elope, so we did...

... and like the pregnancy, she never told me when she miscarried. The miscarriage happened about eight weeks after our elopement. She felt trapped, married to a lowly schoolteacher.

I also found out that Julia did not understand the prenup. She thought it was

her

easy way to get out of the marriage. With all the proof of her infidelity and possible fraud, she and her family had nothing to stand on. I heard her father call her a stupid

slut

.

It was over.

As the dust settled, I got the house and a settlement

,

thanks to the prenup favoring the injured spouse--

me

. It got so bad for Julia that if she didn't live with her parents, she would be homeless and dead broke; her auto lease was even canceled. She had to buy a car that just barely ran. Remember, the prenup was aimed at me, and it would have been brutal for me, but she was caught in her own prenup trap.

Even though I felt a little bad, 'I laughed all the way to the bank,' so to speak. Julia had to pay Robert's fees (no friend's discount) as per the prenup's order. Julia first pleaded with me to take her back, but she was still seeing and probably fucking the boyfriend! As the final hearing was coming up, Julia found out she was pregnant; her attorney was going to try to delay the proceedings, maybe a year, so the new child would be born while we were still married. Robert reminded him of the information he had that he was ready to give the Bar Association-- her attorney let it pass.

Imagine that! A medical assistant, with all the medical knowledge and medical access, got pregnant! The boyfriend who was to be her new loving husband disappeared, even his parents claimed they didn't know where he ended up.

I still owned the house, hell, Robert was able to get Julia to pay me with a signed confidentiality agreement which saved both Julia's and her attorney's asses from being charged with fraud or worse! The Bar looks poorly on lawyers who besmirch the profession. (Hey! I made a funny!)

I was now a divorced man.

As the circus that was my life calmed down, I finished my master's; it did keep me busy and not lamenting. I became an assistant principal at Amethyst Peak High and a young one! Halfway through my third year as assistant principal, my principal died at his desk. I was the one who found him.

The district liked how I handled the crisis and named me interim principal. None of the students found out that he died at his desk. They were able to take his body away, with not one student finding out he died in his office. (Our story was that he went home for lunch and died at home.)

After the school year, I was given a contract for the principalship, no more 'interim' principal. I had finished my doctorate. Here I was, Dr. John Falconer, PhD, principal of one of the largest high schools in the area, and one of the youngest high school principals in the state.

The powers-to-be loved me. My job was secure. I had set up special down-to-earth programs for ADD and ADHD students. (It was easy since I was ADHD myself!) I set up other programs that helped students, not push some philosophical agenda from some ivy-covered college, and the parents loved me. I was a parents' principal, I enforced school rules but with reason.

My house was a great four-bedroom ranch. Since the divorce, I have added a pool, a hot tub, a garden, a lovely outdoor sitting area, a fire pit, and a grilling area. It kept me busy and not lamenting over Julia.

I kept my love life on the back burner; Julia had hurt me deeply. But I was still young!

My neighbor Kathy's so-called life.

I had lived in my neighborhood for a few years, the first two with Julia.

The Moores lived across the street from me; they had two beautiful daughters, Elizabeth, Betty, who was three years younger than me, and Katherine, Kathy, who was six years younger than me. In Kathy's senior year, she had a boyfriend, Bruce, who was the typical bad boy, and she got pregnant. Her parents insisted on the two of them getting married.

Aimee, Amy, was born a few months later. She had another baby girl, Linda, Lin, just eleven months later. Rumor was that she wasn't counting on getting pregnant the second time, and it was more like marital rape! Bruce had turned into an abusive bastard; he struck Kathy on more than one occasion.

One night, she grabbed the girls and went home to her parents. Bruce was not a sane person. I looked out my front window, and I saw her parents out front of their house arguing with Bruce. I called the police, and in less than five minutes, two police cruisers pulled up and boxed in his car. He tried to leave but backed into one of the cruisers. He got out of the car and tried to run, but right at one of the cops, he was lucky and was only tased.

After he was taken away, I came out of my house. I met with the Moores. Kathy was scared out of her mind. Kathy kept saying, "He knows where we live, he'll be back and kill me!"

The start of something good.

"Kathy, you are welcome to hide out in my house... Guys, he doesn't know where I live or that you even know me. That's why I did not come out till they took him away."

Kathy and her mother gave me 'the look'!

Kathy's dad, Harry, said, "You know, that might work!"

Then, Kathy and her mother, Martha, gave Harry 'the look'!

Harry said, "Look, we have known Dr. Falconer for years, we have seen him in good times and bad times, and he is a principal, for God's sake."

"Harry, first you need to call me John here on our street, and at my school, '

Your Eminence

' is good enough." I got a big smile and a laugh.

"Look, I have a security system; I am five minutes away from here at the school. The police are on my speed dial. The only way you'd be safer would be to have a platoon of Marines camped out in my front yard. With SEAL Team 6 in my pool."

***

I called Robert, "I need you to do a house call." I told him I needed a favor, and there were a couple of bottles of a single malt for his time and expertise.

"Two bottles? It must be important. Is dinner included?" I could hear the wink in his voice.

"Steak and potatoes good enough?"

His quick answer was, "Okay, see you at about seven?"

I invited the Moores and Kathy over. I put the potatoes on at about 6:15 pm or so. At 6:45 pm, the Moores, Kathy, and the kids showed up. Robert showed up at 6:55 pm. I had grilled the steaks to perfection like I always do.

"No brag, just fact!"

Both kids were still not on 'regular' food yet, so Kathy went into the next room and nursed little Lin. Amy had some ungodly-looking greenish baby food. After a piece of pie each, we got down to business. Kathy's mom was the designated babysitter.

Harry, Kathy, and I explained the situation to Robert.

Robert had brought his trusty laptop and his portable printer/scanner. He printed orders of protection against Bruce for Kathy and her parents. The distance he was to stay away from their property just happened to put my property in the protected area. Robert would file the orders the next day.

"John, do you still have that whiteboard we used a couple of years ago?"

"Is a bear Catholic?" I said, with a smirk.

I jumped up and got the four-foot-by-four-foot whiteboard out of the closet.

I gave Robert the markers, and he proceeded, like an artist, to make diagrams of what

he

was going to do.

Mr. Moore asked about Kathy's sister, Betty, who was a single mom also because her husband had disappeared. She had been awarded her divorce by abandonment; fortunately, the idiot left money in their marital accounts.

"Okay, we need to protect Betty, too," Robert replied.

As Robert finished, he said, "This will be four bottles."

The women looked puzzled, but Mr. Moore and I understood perfectly. Robert was taking the case pro bono as a friend helping a friend.

Kathy, Betty, their dad, and their mother began carrying Kathy's and the girls' things over to my house that night. We were very careful to look down the block to make sure Bruce had not been released.

I put her in the bedroom next to mine because it had access to the small bedroom that was the right size for a nursery. After we finished, I shooed her parents out and back to their house. You never could tell if Bruce might show.

Robert had Kathy, her mom, her dad, and her sister deposed. He had Kathy's medical records and had proof that Bruce was just a fucking abusive bastard! It was funny what medical records could hide in plain sight. Robert had a forensic search of her medical records from the time of her first pregnancy to the present.

Bruce had abused her and had taken her to different walk-in clinics so as not to draw attention. A couple of records even had comments that one or both of the girls had been in Kathy's arms at the time of his abuse. Robert, someday, may become a prosecutor, the way he built the case was inspiring. The big surprise was when Robert interviewed Betty-- Robert could not stop talking about her. (Oh, he was professional, but I could tell that something might be up.)