Practically everyone I know says I'm a control freak. After a few years in the business world, I've learned the devil is in the details. Even the tiniest things can change the course of events in your life. Oh yeah, I admit it, I'm
that
guy. I'm the one that won't go shopping without a list and changes my oil exactly every four thousand miles. Each of my days are planned out to the smallest detail. I always found that there is a great amount of security in organization. It is said that "success is when opportunity meets preparation," and I did everything I could to prepare for the future.
I first met Anne at a pickup basketball game in the YMCA. She played at a level that was impressive for anyoneโman or woman. At six foot, she was only a couple inches shorter than I was. The first words she spoke to me were when she apologized for knocking me on my butt while setting a pick. When I'd looked up into those sky-blue eyes, I was hooked instantly. I had never expected such tenacious play from such a gorgeous woman. When the game was over, I waited around for her to retrieve her workout bag. I approached her before she went to the showers.
"Hi, I'm Dave," I said, offering my hand.
She looked at me for a few seconds before taking my hand and saying, "Anne... Sorry about that. You okay?"
"Yeah, I think I'll live. It might take a while for my pride to heal, though," I replied with a bit of a laugh, rubbing my swollen lip.
"My best advice for you is to work on your left-hand move."
"Yeah, I've heard that before. You must have played some college ball, right?"
"Nope. But I have three brothers that did. I played volleyball. How about you?"
"I just play pick-up ball. I never tried out for school teams because I was a nerd." I chuckled.
"That's hard to believe. You don't look like a nerd... Well, that didn't come out as I intended. It was nice talking with you, but I really gotta run."
Not wanting to waste this opportunity I stuttered, "Uh... w-what... are you doing for dinner?"
"Sorry, Dave. I'm busy tonight."
I turned to walk away, feeling like I'd blew it, when she said, "You sure give up easy. What about Wednesday?"
My huge grin must have looked stupid.
"Awesome! What do you eat?"
"Food usually."
"Come on... you know what I mean. Italian? Chinese? Greek? Mexican?"
"You choose."
"Okay. Mexican it is. Pick you up at six?"
"That's it? Just dinner?"
"Well, there's a country band called The Travelers playing at the Horseshoe on Wednesday. They have line dancing."
"I've never been to a country place. I'm more of rock n' roll kinda girlโbut I'm open to new things. I've always wanted to wear those cowboy boots my dad bought me."
"Great! Well, I guess I'll see you then." I turned to walk away.
"Aren't you missing something?"
"What?"
"Unless you're psychic, don't you need my address and phone number?"
"Oh, yeah... forgot," I said, feeling like an idiot.
Anne took my phone and added her information.
*****
The days prior to Wednesday drug on slowly. I was distracted at work, unable to focus on anything but the image of her beautiful face. I was what is referred to as smitten, rendered almost useless. I thought about calling her but decided not to because I didn't want to appear needy.
When I finally picked Anne up, she was wearing tight jeans, boots and a loose top that displayed her assets to their maximum effect.
She saw my expression and said, "I take it that you approve?" Her eyes widened as she checked out my Volvo SUV. "A car says a lot about a man."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning that most single men your age are are driving exotic sports cars to try and impress."
"I told you, I'm a nerd... a pragmatic nerd. This car was rated the safest by
Road and Track
."
*****
We were having a surprisingly great time at dinner, discovering things about each other when suddenly a guy came up to our table. He looked at Anne and loudly said, "I figured your story about helping your mom was a crock of shit."
"Leave me alone, Randy. You're drunk."
I stood up and got in his face. "Look buddy, I thinkโ"
But the asshole cut me off and gripped my shoulder, glaring at me as he warned, "Sit tight, dude. This doesn't concern you. This is between me and this lying bitch."
Anne threw her iced tea in his face. Feeling the need to be Sir Galahad, I stepped between them and tried to diffuse the situation. His first punch caught me flush on the jaw. I saw nothing but darkness and stars.
I wish I could remember more about that first date, but it's pretty much a blur. I vaguely remember Anne holding an ice bag on my face while sitting in her living room. It seems that Randy was under the impression that they were exclusive. She had evidently broken a date with him to go out with me.
That first disastrous first date morphed into another, and yet another. Before I knew what was happening, we were a thing and moved in together. About six months later we met each other's parents. A year after that, we were honeymooning in Hawaii. Life was good. I never in my wildest dreams believed I could be this happy.
As you probably guessed, Anne took the lead in our love life after we moved in together. What I lacked in technique, I made up with enthusiasm. I knew she was more experienced, but I never asked her about her past lovers. In retrospect, I probably should have because my imagination of her having sex with other men morphed into erotic visions that fueled my libido. That led to fantasies I was too embarrassed to share with her.
After I passed the bar, I spent two years of doing legal research. When I received a promotion to associate, it came with a substantial pay increase that enabled us to buy a four-bedroom house, big enough for our future family. Around the same time, Anne received tenure at her school. With that, we settled into middle class utopia. Anne even embraced my neurotic tendencies to over analyze things and put post-it-notes everywhere.
In my opinion, everything was perfect... until I made the error of not erasing my browsing history. Anne had gone to print out a recipe and discovered my obsession with cuckold videos. I will never forget the day I came in from doing the yard and was confronted by my angry wife.
"What is this bullshit of yours and cuckold porn?" she practically screamed.
I felt like I had shrunken in size: six inches tall, to be exact. I couldn't speak.
"Is that what you want?" Anne yelled. "To watch me get fucked by other men?"
"I... it... was just a fantasy."