A Promise Made, A Vow Broken -- Traci's Story
Hooked1957 wrote a story called "A promise made, a vow broken". It is a great story. It is written from the perspective of the husband. I recommend anyone who has not read it to go and read it now.
My story uses the same story ark and timeline, only I have written it from the wife's perspective.
Hooked1957 has given me permission to publish this story and use the dialogue between husband and wife at key parts of the story.
Please read the original story first if you have not done so already..
I also need to thank my editor, Kinjisato. Without their patience and skill these stories would not work.
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Today is my sixty-seventh birthday. I retired from my job yesterday. I should be out having a party with my children and the love of my life, Bobby, but, instead, I sit here alone in my apartment wondering if anyone will even call. I know it is all my fault because having it all was not enough, and I screwed it up, royally. I am Traci Sprague. Well that is the name I use, as it is the name of my first husband and I just refuse to give it up. I wish I had been more careful with him when the ball was in my court to make the important choice.
I met Bobby Sprague in my last year of college. He was quiet, unassuming and had absolutely zero idea why women fell at his feet. I was out with the girls for drinks, when he and his buddies walked into the bar.
One of the girls said, "Would you look at him, god, I wouldn't kick him out of bed."
As I looked over, I had a shiver up my spine, he was going to be mine. To be honest, he never had a chance, that night I bumped into him at the bar, and said, "Well, if you are going to knock me over, you might as well take me on the dance floor." I never let him out of my sight that night, much to my friends' annoyance. That was our first 'date'. Our second date was for a meal, two days later. I was always very careful about going to bed with dates; I had only had three partners before, and they took months to get me to bed-- I was no slut. I dragged Bobby to bed on our second date, and made sure everyone knew we were exclusive from that minute on. A year later, we were engaged, and a year after that, we were married. I threw away my birth control pills a month before our wedding, and our first child, a girl we named Mellissa, was born thirteen months after we were married, and our son, Terry, two years after our daughter.
Bobby was a computer programmer, and he started to work in a government agency immediately after he graduated. It was a nine-to-five job; the pay was good. I did not have to work, the house was big enough for us, the kids wanted for nothing, we had good cars that were paid for, and anything I wanted for the house I got. But, I always felt he could do better, and that we could go to Maui on vacation (which was my dream), especially if he opened his own business. Bobby refused, saying we had a good lifestyle; he always was home for dinner and had weekends for the kids' activities. This was the hook that I left open which led to my own destruction.
When our youngest was eleven and could look after himself, I decided I wanted to go back to work. I needed something to do, and the extra money would enable us to go on those Maui vacations. I was an art major, and I had been doing some valuation and evaluation work as a favour for a high-end art gallery in town. I asked Lou, the owner, if he knew of any jobs and he offered me a position at thirty hours a week. The basic salary was good, but I was offered a one-percent bonus on anything I sold. I loved the work, and the hours meant I was always home when the children got off the school bus.
One of my favourite parts of the job was the open viewings. One night a quarter, we opened the gallery to regular customers so they could socialise and browse. The smell of power in the room was intoxicating, and I often achieved a sale on the night by brushing the right ego. After those nights, I always felt a tingle of excitement hearing about someone's new house, and when I came home to ours, I fell flat, thinking Bobby had the means to give us that lifestyle, but chose not to. The funk would only last a day or two, and usually went away when I looked at Bobby and realised how good a husband and father he was.
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The root of my problem started in early November, when Lou brought a new client into my office. His name was Jackson Aloysius Fairchild. He was a twenty-eight-year-old property developer, who had made a killing selling a family farm, which had just been rezoned for housing a few years back. He had moved to our town to open a development company, and was looking to spend a very large sum on art for his new apartment and lake house. Jackson (or Jay to his friends) gave me a look that sent a shiver down my spine. It was a friendly look, but it said 'I want to eat you' and I could smell power. Lou wanted me to work exclusively with him.
After the first meeting, Lou called me into his office. He said, "Traci, I need you to work closely with Jay, he is looking to spend between four and five million dollars, and if we play it right, he will spend it all here. I will guarantee you your one-percent commission."
I was ecstatic. Even on the low end of expectations, I would earn enough to remodel the kitchen, and I could save the rest to take Bobby for a trip to Maui on his forty-fifth birthday in six years, when the kids would have left for college.
As I left Lou's office, my co-worker Steff Taylor looked at me and said, "Did you see that guy. God, he looked great, but be careful. My friend Kim knows him, and he has a thing for married women. Likes to humiliate the husband, and he leaves carnage in his wake. Please be careful, I saw the look on his face when he first saw you, and I got the feeling you might be next on his list. I know he specifically asked Lou to assign only you to his account. Don't let him seduce you, and don't let him talk you into thinking Bobby will accept a hall pass."
I brushed off her comments and threw myself into the assignment. We started off with a tour of the apartment and then the lake house, so I could get a feel for the locations. Jay also took me for lunch, so I could learn about him. This was critical information when advising someone on the art they might like. Lou was there all the time, and Jay was the perfect gentleman.
Our first encounter was at the Christmas Gala evening. Bobby and I were talking, when Jay came over. I introduced him to Bobby, but I could feel a little tension in Bobby. He took an instant dislike to Jay, and Jay clearly didn't think much of Bobby. I quickly sent Bobby to get a drink and I circulated. It wasn't long until I was in conversation with Jay and two others, about a new piece that had arrived that morning. I felt Jay's hand lightly around my waist, but I was hoping to sell this piece to him, so I left it there as I tried to get two powerful and rich men to haggle over the sculpture. Just then, I felt Jay's hand move from my waist and I saw Bobby standing beside me, moving the hand. I was annoyed, I had the sale in the bag and Bobby broke the moment. I hid my anger, but escaped Bobby's presence as quickly as I could.
I circulated once again, and Jay quickly came up to me when out of Bobby's sight.
Jay said, "He's got quite the inferiority complex, hasn't he?"
I didn't respond to Jay's statement, but just stood and looked at him.
Then he said, "Come out to see my new Jag, it's got a killer sound system and we can negotiate a price on that statue. I think it would look fantastic in the lake house. Would you put it between the office and kitchen doors, or on the wall between the two large windows overlooking the lake?"
My mind wandered back to the lake house, and how it's silence and beauty had captivated me. It was a place to make sweet love and the sculpture was perfect to sit between the two windows. As my mind wandered, I found myself in the parking lot and Jay was directing me into the back seat of a car, which was obviously stylish and expensive.
We sat in the car for about twenty minutes. We agreed on a price for the sculpture. I pitched it high and he accepted without negotiating, so we settled in, to listen to the stereo and I found myself snuggling into Jay.
He then asked a strange question. "Does your husband always feel threatened by an alpha?"
By this time, I was mellow. The big bonus and the smell of leather in a new car, had made me happy, and I replied, "No, he is happy with his job. I think he just lacks ambition and sometimes he feels a little insecure."
We sat quietly for a further ten minutes. The stereo was playing the 1812 Overture and it was washing over me like a relaxing bath.
Jay said, "We better get back, or your husband will get angry. I don't want any trouble with him."
Just then, the car door flew open and Bobby said, "Time to go dear, NOW."
I quickly stammered something about the stereo being great, but he frog marched me to his truck. I started to protest, that I couldn't leave before it was over, but Bobby just said Lou could call him if he had a problem.
I said, "We were really listening to his car's sound system. It's amazing." But the non-committal grunt, told me I was on sticky ground, and I needed to go with my husband.
Lou was ecstatic with the sale, and never mentioned me leaving the gala early the next day. Life at home was not so pleasant, and I had to work hard over Christmas to get Bobby to even utter more than one syllable to me at a time. Even Mellissa noticed the problem on Christmas Day, and my mum, Judy, asked if everything was okay.
Things slowly thawed around the house. I raped Bobby on New Year's Eve because he had shown no interest in me since the gala. I made sure not to mention Jay by name in the house. Most importantly, I asked Jay not to attend the March Gala, saying I would give him a private showing before the event.
During January and February, I was at his apartment a lot. He purchased four new pieces for the apartment, and when I went to help install them, he flirted remorselessly with me. At first, I brushed it off, but soon I was enjoying it. He commented on my legs, hips, bust, and even suggested that he would like a naked picture of me for his private study. When he took his camara out and said, "Do you want to try out some of the poses now?" I got wet, but brushed it off and left the apartment as quickly as possible.
A few weeks later, we were in the lake house. Jay had built a plinth for the sculpture and I went up to place it, and ensure it was secure. After we had finished, Jay had prepared lunch. It was a warm April day and we sat outside. As we ate, the only sound was the water lapping against the beach. P
Jay looked at me with those hungry eyes, and said, "Do you think your husband is submissive?" P
It was a left-field statement, and I said, "What does that mean?"
After taking some more food and a long drink of wine, Jay went on, "A lot of men are what is called 'betas'. It's not insulting, it's just that they let their wives drive their relationship. They don't have a lot of ambition and they always want their wives to be happy. A remarkable number actually enjoy being slightly humiliated. Ever since the way Bobby acted at the Christmas Gala, I thought he was getting a kick out of it. I bet the sex has been amazing once he got over it?"
I had to admit it had; since I virtually raped him on New Year's Eve, we had been like newlyweds.
