Married life had begun so well. Raquel's wealthy parents sprang for a big wedding and it was a magical experience. Her family got along with mine, hosannas be raised on high, given how Type-A both fathers were. I liked her family. Other than the father, they were down-to-earth people, which was a miracle given that they came from a monied background. What a way to start married life! We danced, drank, were feted and pawed at by so many there. After all the ceremonial stuff: slicing the cake and feeding each other, the flower toss and the garter stripping, we escaped to change and spend a long weekend in Laguna Beach at the Ritz-Carlton there.
"Wow! We survived!" I told her when we got to our suite. "And the families didn't kill each other!"
"I am so glad that whole production is over and done," Raquel said as she took off her suit that she had worn in the getaway. Her heels had already been kicked off by the door and she was now parading around in a sexy bra and thong outfit. I stripped her and threw her on the bed, then ripped off my clothes and knelt between her golden-colored thighs. I kissed, licked, sucked and generally drove her crazy for the next fifteen minutes. We had had two years of practice to get the technique down perfectly for her. A happy woman often means a happy man as well. After multiple orgasms, she rolled on her side and pulled me up beside her, where we kissed and hugged.
Later, I said to her, "I'm so glad you majored in blowjobs in college," as she took turns either swallowing my cock or bathing it with her tongue. "Most weren't with me but you learned very, very well."
No words came from her, just more of the same, then she mounted me and plunged my cock into her. Every day I thanked the gods for this woman. As she turned around on me and rode me reverse cowboy, I wasn't jealous of those who had come before me, I was thankful she had learned so much.
And so began our married life. After the honeymoon, Raquel went to work in corporate America. OK, so what if her dad owned the company? It was a good job that was 8-5, unlike mine, which had rotating shifts. Such was the life of a nurse at a hospital.
Love conquers all, right? Right?
We found out that wasn't true. It took four years but our ship finally piled up on a reef. It wasn't infidelity, just differences in our perspectives of life, a host of little things and the fact we were both immature. We had lived very comfortable lives all the way through college, so married life in the real world came as a shock. My clothes ended up in the guest room closet because she needed the entire master closet for her clothes, a stash she added to regularly. Shopping was an adventure for her, not just a necessity. Living on a budget brought friction. Friction became differences that only grew in time until the rupture one night as I was looking at her credit card statement from a high-end department store.
"You can't this, Raquel! None of this fits in our budget." We had agreed to set aside a portion of our income for a house. That fund kept getting used to pay for unexpected bills. Words got more and more bitter on both sides. She was still spoiled by daddy and didn't know how to transition to a life with a nurse, not a tycoon. I had learned to talk in ways that didn't result in 'you did this or you did that' but I found a totally opposite point of view in her. She only talked in 'you's', as in 'you are always making a big deal out of my spending' and five hundred more phrases like that. It went on and on until we agreed to divorce.
It was a largely calm split, the big issue being her personal holdings. She had a trust fund she would receive when she turned thirty. Her family attorney had gone nuts over it and all I could say was 'it's hers. Leave it at that'. We split our savings, such as they were after being depleted by her bills, and I ended up with the townhouse while she moved into a high-end, high-rise condo. I adopted a dog which I named Watson, a handsome mixed-breed Lab with long fur and ears. Watson became my best friend. The women who came and went in my bed had to understand Watson came before them in the pecking order. A couple of them got it and they lasted longer, far longer than the others.
I heard through friends that Raquel was dating another man, one who probably was more of her social status. I wished her well. I had told her on the last day of our marriage that I only wished her the best. We had met at the beach that day and walked along the shore as we had done many times before. I was determined to make it upbeat and positive. I think I succeeded as she hugged and kissed me for the last time, then walked to her car and drove away.
Watson and I moved East, 3,000 miles East to be clear. I found I hated it there and I told Raquel that when she called from time to time. I didn't ask about her love life and she did the same. We celebrated good times and commiserated over negative things. Everybody said the East was old and quaint. To me it was old and crowded. The job change had brought me a supervisory position which later morphed into a management position. I was making good money but it just didn't seem me. Time passed slowly until a recruiter told me I had multiple possible positions elsewhere to consider any time I wanted. I usually didn't listen to these opportunities but this guy was persistent. After months of phone calls, I gave in and interviewed for two positions, one in the Midwest and one in Northern California. Both offered me a position. I chose the West Coast job in a minute.
Watson and I moved yet again, back West, just hundreds of miles north of our previous home in CA. I settled in. CA fit me like a snug glove. I loved the weather, the sights and sounds, the multitude of places to go. This was before the pandemic, before the city streets were obstacle courses as I threaded my way through the homeless camped on the sidewalks, before the city I loved was overrun with tech bros, almost all white and all making way too much money. The city was just wrenched apart as the working class, even the middle class, was priced out of the housing market.
Raquel had gone quiet. I didn't hear from her. I texted her from time to time but got nothing in return. I finally called her. When she answered, it was like falling into heaven. I loved the sound of her voice. It reminded me of so many good times.
She told me she had re-married. "Tim's a good one. You would like him," she told me. "We met through friends, dated for a while, then I moved in with him. Finally, I married him after living with him. Mom was mortified of her daughter living in sin but she got over it when we married. It's been good. I learned a lot from our divorce and am making an effort to be a better partner in marriage."
"I'm so happy that you are happy. If anyone deserves it, it's you," We talked on for a while. When I ended the call I was happy for her. A lot of years had gone by. I didn't grow any older, but Watson was getting old. I dreaded the day I had to put him down.
I met and lived with a lovely woman for a while. It was good until it wasn't. Stacey and I didn't fight. We just couldn't agree to disagree. She wanted it her way. I told her I got it but I wasn't the right guy for her if that were true.
Watson finally died of old age. I was heartbroken. In time, I searched for a replacement. Just nothing clicked. I was looking for another black lab, but necessarily not a puppy. I was too busy to train a puppy as well as giving him (yeah, I wanted another male) the time he deserved. I searched from time to time. I wasn't obsessed but I had to scratch that itch. I read online about a dog at a local shelter. He had been given up at two years because he was always getting into trouble. I went there to meet him. I found a black lab mix that was a bright-eyed, fun-loving guy. I took him out for a walk on their grounds and we played catch. The shelter director came out to meet me and said he was too smart for his own good. He had figured out the latch on his cage the first day and escaped, leading them on a merry chase. They wired the latch shut now to thwart him. I adopted him and renamed him Trouble. It just seemed to fit. He would be my new soulmate.
It looked more and more likely that I would be single. I liked things my way, I guess. I had a good group of friends, almost all of them singles, both male and female. We did things together, be it two of us or more. I was content. Trouble and I went from Lake Tahoe in the east to the Oregon coast in the west. He chased gulls, I threw him sticks and he would go swimming to retrieve them. It was comfortable, if a little quiet.
As time passed. I went back to school for an MBA and moved into a senior management position in healthcare. The job, good friends and Trouble seemed my life.
Until it wasn't.
Raquel called me, distraught. "Tim's gone, Sean. He was broadsided by a drunk driver. Can you come down for a while?"
I told my boss about a death in the family and she told me to take the time I needed. "You've been there for the company. The company needs to be there for you."
I flew south and took an Uber to the address she had given me. It was a gorgeous home, one we would have aspired to so many years ago. The whole family was there already. I got hugs from all, even her mother, who was still looking good. The kids had come from good genes. Raquel came out of a another room and hugged me for the longest time.
"I hurt so profoundly bad for you," I told her. She took my hand and led me to a couch in the living room.
"It had been so good. Now I don't know what I'll do," she said as her brother shooed everybody out of the room and gave us space to talk. "He had been on his way home from the airport. When he had left I only gave him a rushed kiss because we were both running late. Now I'll never be able to tell him I love him again." She cried some more, I'm sure it was not the last bout of crying that would take place.
"If this is uncomfortable for you, I understand, but I just wanted you here with me. You and my family are the glue in my life. I thank you for coming."
