I want to thank The Torrid Temptress for taking the time to proof read this story for me. I hope you all enjoy the story.
*****
The door that led from the small room into the sanctuary was opened a crack allowing us a view of the large room. We still had twenty-five minutes to wait so as I waited for things to get started I began to reflect on how I got from the depths of my despair while driving from Las Vegas to Los Angeles at four o'clock in the morning three years ago to the near state of euphoria I was in that Saturday afternoon. That night had been the lowest point of my life and it had taken the full three years for me to recover from the pain.
My fiancée Kate and her friends had gone to Las Vegas for her bachelorette party and things had gotten out of hand. The trip across the desert that early morning began after I had caught Kate in bed performing oral sex on a weasel by the name of Carl Long at the Monte Carlo Hotel in Las Vegas. I left the hotel that night driven by anger and a desire to get as far away from Kate as I could. I remembered that as I crested the first large hill on the way out of Vegas and the lights of the strip were no longer filling my rear window my anger began to transform into depression. I had so many questions but no answers. Why had Kate done it? Didn't she love me? Had she ever really loved me? Did she think it wouldn't matter if she fucked someone else as long as I never know about it?
Did Kate think about the possible consequences of her actions? The only rationalization I could come up with for her actions was that she thought she could have one last fling before getting married. She certainly never expected me to be in Vegas watching her every move or that I would walk in on her and catch her in the act. That was the easiest explanation. It didn't make me feel any better however; it did let me move on to other questions.
One big question was why Kate would engage in unprotected sex with a stranger. Her actions could have put us both at risk. Kate knows better than that. I could come up with no satisfactory answer for that question so I moved on to the next obvious question. Was this a one time event or had Kate done this sort of thing before? I knew that if I wanted answers I was going to have to talk to Kate.
Unfortunately, I had other questions that I knew Kate would not be able to answer. Questions that only I could answer. For instance, why did I stand back and watch all this taking place and do nothing to stop it. There were several times I could have interceded and put a stop to Kate's destructive behavior. I told myself that I had to find out how far Kate would go but did I have to let her go all the way to get my answer. In retrospect that was just a poor plan. If I would have stepped in at the first sign of trouble I could have prevented Kate from going to bed with that weasel. What's the worst that could have happened if I had stopped her? Nothing could be worse than the way things did turn out. Even if the worse case did happen at least I wouldn't have the awful visual images of Kate performing oral sex haunting me.
By the time I reached my apartment at 9:00 AM I was emotionally and physically exhausted. I went straight to bed and sleep for more than twelve hours. When I finally did get up it was only to eat a sandwich and drink a couple of beers and then I went back to bed.
The next day I dragged myself to work. I tried to keep busy so I wouldn't have time to think about Kate. Shortly after lunch Ted called me to ask me how things had gone in Vegas.
"Well, did the subject of your undercover surveillance misbehave?" Ted asked with a laugh.
"Things didn't go well Ted."
"Why? What happened?"
"I can't talk about it right now," I said.
"How about meeting me for a drink after work and telling me what happened?" Ted asked.
"I'll meet you at the Rail at six o'clock."
The Rail was actually the Brass Rail. It was the bar Ted and I and our other friends often stopped at after work.
"I'll be there waiting for you," Ted said.
I arrived at the Rail shortly after six o'clock and when I walked in Ted was sitting at bar the talking to Sam, the bartender. I walked over and sat on the stool next to Ted and didn't say a word as Sam and Ted continued their conversation. My mind was in such a confused sate that I was never sure what Ted and Sam were talking about. Their conversation seemed to come to an end and then Ted looked at me.
"Sam, I believe this man needs a shot of bourbon and a Bud," Ted said.
Sam set the shot glass in front of me and filled it with Jim Beam and then went off to get my beer from the cooler.
"Jesus John, you look like shit. How bad did it go in Vegas?"
I didn't answer him. I just waited for Sam to bring my beer and then I took the shot of Jim Beam in one swallow and waited for the warmth of the bourbon to spread through my body. I followed this by taking a large mouthful of beer and swallowing it to chase away the burn in my throat and when I looked at Ted, he was just staring at me. Then with a nod of my head I indicated to Ted that I wanted to move to a table where we could talk in private. Thankfully Ted understood what I wanted and dropped a five dollar bill on the bar.
"John and I have a private matter to discuss," Ted said.
Ted picked up his drink and followed me across the room to a table against the wall.
We sat quietly for a minute while I was trying to think of how to start.
"Are you going to tell me what happened in Vegas or am I going to have to shake it out of you?" Ted asked.
"I broke up with Kate."
"Bull shit. Don't kid around like that."
"It's true. I caught Kate in bed with another guy," I said.
"Damn it John, don't fuck with me. This is not funny."
"Do I look like I think this is funny? Kate cheated on me and I caught her with this fucking weasel's cock in her mouth."
"Oh shit man. I'm sorry. I don't know what to say. I just can't imagine Kate doing anything like that. God damn. You really caught her that way?"
"Yes."
"Why? Did you two have a fight? Did she find out you were spying on her? What the fuck happened?" Ted asked.
In order to make Ted understand I told him everything starting from the moment Kate and her friends arrived at the Monte Carlo on Friday night until I walked out of her hotel room early Sunday morning.
"What are you going to do now?" Ted asked.
"I don't know. Just try to get through this the best I can."
"You think there is any chance you and Kate can get back together?"
"Of course there's a chance. All I have to do is call Kate and tell her that I forgive her for fucking that weasel and ask her to marry me," I said.
"Sorry, stupid question," Ted said.
"That's okay. I have asked myself that question several times and the answer is always the same. No fucking way," I said.
*****
The ushers had begun escorting people to their seats as I watched through the partially opened door.
*****
I remembered calling my parents that Monday night when I got home from the Rail and giving them the bad news without a lot of detail. I am sure they thought that I had done something to cause the break up and while I hated them to think badly of me I somehow couldn't bring myself to tell them what really happened. It was just to humiliating.
After the difficult call to my parents I notified the rest of my friends that the wedding was off. It amazed me how friends thought they were being supportive by saying things like, "You're better off without a slut like that," or "She has probably been cheating on you all along."
Comments like those were not helpful. I just couldn't bring myself to think of Kate in those terms and it hurt to hear others say things like that about her. After all, those comments reflected badly on me too. Was I such a fool that I didn't know what was going on?
The next two days had passed unremarkably which was a relief to me because I wasn't ready to handle any more bumps in my road. On Thursday night when I got home from work the light on my message recorder was blinking. I debated about whether to listen to the message or not. I just didn't want to deal with anything in addition to what I was already dealing with in my head. In the end I pushed the play button on the recorder.
"It's me. I thought that you might not want to talk to me so I decided to call when I knew you wouldn't be home and just leave this message. I want to come over tonight to pick up my things and I was hoping we could talk. If you don't want to talk to me, I'll understand. I'll be there around eight o'clock so you don't have to be there if you don't want to, I'll leave the key on the kitchen table when I leave."
Kate's message left me very agitated. I didn't know if I was ready to see her, let alone talk to her. I had a lot I wanted to say to her about what happened and questions I wanted her to answer. I wanted to vent my anger on her but wasn't sure I would be able to sufficiently control my emotions. I wanted to tear into her but the last thing I would ever want to do is attack he physically. I would never forgive myself if I did that.
I decided that there was no point in putting it off. I was going to have to talk to her sooner or later, and with her already coming over to pick up her stuff from my apartment it just made sense to stay home and deal with it.
I was looking out the window at eight o'clock when I saw Kate's car pull up to the garage gate. When she still hadn't knocked on the door ten minutes later, I figured that she must have seen my car and got scared. She probably had to screw up her courage to be able to come upstairs to face me.
