This is a love story.
Thank you to Bob_Aganoush and Robert for their usual helpful comments.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, merchandise, companies, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. All characters are 18 years or older when in sexual situations.
*****
Chapter One
Jolene
The cold rain made a steady drumbeat against the shingled roof as Jolene gazed out the window to the street below. The sun had just set and the faint glow of the streetlight cast a yellow tinged hue on Jolene's slush covered front yard. It was winter in New Jersey, a decidedly gloomy time of the year in its own right, but even more so given the events of the recent past.
Perhaps out of force of habit she was watching out of her upstairs bedroom window for the arrival of Sebastian's car – so much a part of her daily routine, but a routine no more. A tear trickled down her cheek as her mind looped around again to the text she had received last month from her errant husband. The insensitive lout didn't have the courage to face her, and instead had sent her a text informing her that his assistant would be by the next day to pick up his clothes and other personal items. He said he was moving in with a co-worker, Adrienne, a woman Jolene had long suspected was sleeping with her husband.
She allowed herself a faint smile as she recalled her reaction to the text - - swift and furious anger, surprising even herself at its ferocity. With dogged determination she had rooted out almost every object that was Sebastian's and had thrown each and every one of them unceremoniously on the soggy front lawn – his thousand dollar suits, his new golf clubs, and even his Rolex watch. The neighbors watched in horrid fascination as the distraught wife hurled the flotsam and jetsam of their destroyed marriage into an ever growing pile.
In a deliciously wicked moment of inspiration, after Jolene had completed her impromptu spring cleaning, she turned on the front lawn sprinklers for two hours, assuring that every item got a thorough soaking. The spurned wife wondered what Sebastian's reaction would be when his assistant delivered a very cold and soggy collection of clothes and personal items to him.
But that momentary victory gave way to a long period of depression. She still had great difficulty falling asleep and her love for white wine gave way to its baser use; to dull her senses. Her drinking was now problematic as her consumption hit two full bottles a day. But even clear thinking didn't provide answers for this discarded spouse. She had no idea if she had done something wrong, or if it was entirely the product of Sebastian's adolescent lust for his young, attractive associate.
She had only met Adrienne at a few of the firm's social events and had never exchanged more than the most perfunctory pleasantries. But she saw danger in that first meeting. She knew Sebastian's head could be turned by an attractive woman and Adrienne was more than attractive. She was tall, probably about 5'8," long straight blonde hair, periwinkle blue eyes, and a body sculpted by years of competitive swimming. And of course she was young, at 25 she was ten years younger than Jolene.
Jolene couldn't find it in her heart to hate Adrienne. Her few interactions with the young blonde were pleasant and unremarkable and she knew that Sebastian was the aggressor. He was driven by his machismo, and the conquest of this comely young woman would satisfy his Neanderthal cravings.
The spurned wife also had her self-doubts. Was she still attractive? Did he leave her because she was no longer desirable? Jolene stripped out of her pajamas and stood in front of the full length mirror in her closet. She saw a thirty-five year old woman with lustrous brown hair; however faint lines started to appear on her face, there was an incursion of ten extra pounds on her tummy and butt, and there was the slightest sag in her breasts. The rest of the world, though (with the possible exception of Sebastian), saw something else. The rest of the world saw a self-confident intelligent career woman who was just hitting her stride. She was a lovely brunette with finely chiseled features, a strong jaw, more than ample breasts, and an attractive figure highlighted by shapely, toned legs. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for a woman's self-image to be in conflict with others, but it was uncommon for self-doubt to creep into Jolene's psyche.
As she gazed in the mirror she also felt a strong sense of irony. Over the ten years of her marriage she had grown apart from her husband. His foibles that she once found endearing had become annoying. The compliments that rolled easily off his tongue now rung hollow to her. She wasn't sure anymore if anything that Sebastian said to her was truly heartfelt. Every now and again, long before the fateful text message, Jolene had harbored the idea of a trial separation or even a divorce, but her busy career and her puritanical upbringing prevented those thoughts from ever being given any life.
Finally there was the sex. In the beginning, the sex was good, well maybe just adequate. Sebastian was well-endowed by any standard and fit the stereotype of a good lover – tall, dark hair, a breezy manner, and superficial respect for his partner. But the years of marriage had revealed his true colors, a selfish man interested in his own pleasure without regard for his spouse. Jolene found the sex had become rote and unimaginative, almost adolescent. For Sebastian, foreplay consisted of a peck on the cheek. The tender moments after lovemaking were occupied by the drone of ESPN's Sports Center.
Over the years Jolene became much more interested in looking at women instead of men. Perhaps those sinful longings had started earlier, but Jolene's strict upbringing in a Seventh-day Adventist household suppressed those thoughts. Jolene was a regular attendee at the local health club and occasionally she would linger longer than necessary in the women's locker room admiring the beauty of the female form. It never occurred to her to act on her urges, but those powerful, latent desires would soon need an outlet.
Jolene's sanity was anchored in her relationships with two people, Toni, her next door neighbor, and Prisha, a staff accountant at her place of employment. She needed the counsel and assurance from both of these women to find the will to move her life along after the shock of Sebastian's abrupt departure.
Jolene decided to check in with Toni before turning in.
"Hey," she said after punching Toni's name as a favorite on her call menu.
"Hey yourself. How are you holding up?" Toni replied with true concern in her voice.
"Same old, same old. Some crying, some cursing, another session in front of the mirror," Jolene lamented.
"Don't do that to yourself."
"Do what?"
"You know what I mean. Attend the pity party. You're above that. Look, you're still an attractive woman. Sebastian's an idiot. I've been telling you that long before he left you."
The brunette emitted a long sigh. "I know you're right, but I can't help it. Adrienne is the newer model ... the shiny new toy. I can't compete against someone who is ten years younger and prettier."
"Of course you can. You're in your prime now. Sebastian was just too stupid to appreciate what he had. And besides, I'll bet you that Adrienne will tire of that jerk and he'll come running back to you."
"I'm not sure I would want him back."
