A Wor-Related Injury

Linda sat at the kitchen table staring down at her now empty coffee cup. She was not looking forward, to today's discussion with her husband Jim. Luckily their kids were still at the neighbors, on a sleep over, so at least they weren't going to be here for all the yelling and screaming that she knew was going to happen.

Damm, it started off as just a little innocent flirting, and a few lunches, how could she have let it get so out of control. Linda had known for over a month something was wrong, but after the last round of test results, she knew had to tell Jim. He had gotten up early, and gone to the store for something, so there she sat, just waiting for him to return.

Linda heard the ringing of front door bell, and large truck pulling into the driveway almost at the same time. Not expecting anyone, she just figured someone was lost and looking for directions.

"Can I help you?" she said as she opened the door.

"Linda Gardner?" the man inquired.

"Yes, I'm Linda Gardner, how can I help you?" she asked again.

"I have a work order to pack up your belongings, and transport them to 815 South West 10th Ave," the man told her as he handed Linda the clipboard, all the while yelling for the four men in the truck, to start bringing in the boxes.

"There must be some mistake," Linda told him. "I never placed any such order," she said handing him back his paper work.

"Yes miss I know, the order was placed by a Mr. Jim Gardner a week ago," he replied showing her Jim's signature at the bottom of the sheet.

"Look, my husband will be back shortly, and I'm sure he'll be able to clear up this misunderstanding," Linda replied.

"Mrs. Gardner, I just left your husband twenty minutes ago, and he told me to give you this envelope if you gave me a hard time," he said handing Linda a large manila envelope.

"Now if you don't mind, can you please show us the master bedroom, we were given only one hour to finish this job," he told her.

Linda opened up the envelope and looked briefly at the single sheet of paper. In almost a whisper of a voice, she told the workman, "first room at the top of the stairs, on the right."

The men hurried up the stairs, and for the next 40 minutes were busy packing, and hauling box after box to the truck in the driveway. Every once in a while, they tried to ask Linda a question, but she was mentally somewhere else; so they just did the best they could. Within 50 minutes, they announced that they were done and ready to leave.

"I'll need your signature Mrs. Gardner," the lead workman asked.

Linda scrawled something on the bottom of the paper and they were gone.

Precisely ten minutes later, Linda's father showed up. "Honey," Ken said looking at his awe struck daughter. "Jim asked me to pick up, knowing you'd probably not be in any condition to drive," he explained. "Your mom's waiting for us and the movers to drop off your stuff. We'll put it all in the garage for now, and sort out every thing later," Ken told Linda as he led her out of the house.

"This can't be happening," Linda, said out loud, as Ken helped her into the car. "Where's Jim? If Jim was here, she could straighten out this whole mess with him," she thought to herself. "He would listen to her, wouldn't he?"

A half hour later, Jim did show back up at the house, but with a locksmith. "Change all the locks, including the code on the garage door opener," he instructed the locksmith. "Leave me five sets of keys, and make sure you put a deadbolt on the side garage door," he told him as he entered his now empty house.

Walking upstairs, he found that the men had done a pretty decent job, considering the timetable he'd given them. Looking at his watch he knew he had only fifteen minutes before the next truck arrived. Grabbing a couple of empty cartons, he finished loading the rest of the items the movers had missed, including her makeup and stuff from their bathroom vanity. As he carried down the last two boxes, the next truck pulled up.

His sister Donna walked in with the movers. "Hey girl," Jim said hugging his sister. "Why don't you take the second bedroom on the left, next to the bathroom. It's a lot bigger than the spare room and has a walk in closet," he told her. "We'll rearrange the kids things later."

"No problem, what are you going to do with Linda's car?"

"Her dad is suppose to pick it up later tonight, after he gets done with the movers," he told her. "Take care of things around here for a bit will you, I need to stop off at the office for a minute. I'll bring us back pizza's for tonight," Jim said walking towards the garage.

"No mushrooms," Donna shot back, as she instructed the workmen where to put everything.

"Right on schedule," Jim said looking at his watch.

From his car, Jim could see his three, best friends having a heated discussion with David, a co-worker of his wife; and he didn't look happy. After about five minutes, Bob, one of the three men came over, to where he was parked.

"He thought we were kidding, until I took out my knife. I gave him two choices, be gone in 24 hours or see his dick surgically removed, and not in a hospital. I told him we would be back tomorrow, for his answer," Bob said grinning. "How you holding up buddy?"

"I'll be better tomorrow," he said sadly. "Never thought I'd have to worry about anything like this, but I'll survive." Jim thanked Bob, and said he needed to get going, but he'd see him later at the house.

Jim picked up the copies of the pictures, and receipts the investigator had dropped off, at his office, on Friday afternoon while he was running around. He knew what the envelopes contained, and had no intention of even looking at them; he just needed them for his lawyer. "That was a $1,000.00 down the tubes," he thought to himself, as he looked at the invoice.

After dropping off the envelope at his lawyer's office, Jim picked up four pizzas, a case of beer and headed for home. He planned on getting totally blasted, because after tonight he would be a single parent, and would need to set an example going forward; not like the example of his soon to be ex-wife.

By the time Jim got back, the truck was gone and Donna and a few of her friends were setting up her bedroom. "Hey bro," Donna greeted Jim as he came upstairs. "Where is all the strong help you promised me?" she asked.

"They're finishing up something for me, but should be here in about an hour, why don't we take a break and eat something," he told Donna and her friends.

Bob, and his other buddies, finally showed up just before 4:00, and by 7:00, everyone was sitting around having a few brews and shooting the breeze. Everyone that is, except Jim. Donna finally found him in the den, watching old home movies.

"We're got everything upstairs in my room, and everyone's done eating, is there anything I can get for you?" she inquired.

"Not right now honey, but thanks for asking," Jim replied. "I just need to be alone for a little while that's all,"

"Well I'll be in the kitchen if you need anything," Donna told him as she kissed him on the top of the head, and shut the door.

"I never even saw it coming," Jim said to himself. "How could I have been so blind?"

Just over a month ago, while paying bills on line, Jim came across a bill for a checkup at the local clinic. "Hon, did you go to the doctor a week ago?" he yelled to his wife who was in the kitchen preparing dinner.

"I thought I had the flu and went in for a B12 shot," she yelled back.

"Damn, their rates are getting ridicules," he said under his breath. "$125.00 for an exam and a B12 shot, even after insurance. I'll call them tomorrow, maybe there's a mistake on the bill," he thought to himself; but there wasn't.

"Billing dept please," Jim said as he called from his office the following day.

"How can I help you?" the girl said as she answered.

"Good morning. My wife Linda Gardner was in the clinic two weeks ago, and I believe we were over charge for her visit," he told her. "She had just a routine exam and a B12 shot," he explained to her. "But we were billed $125.00, where it should have been no more than $45.00, after insurance," he told her.

There was a short pause. "Linda Gardner, is that correct the girl asked?"

"That's correct" Jim replied.

"Sir, she did have a B12 shot, but she also had some blood work done and further tests," she told him.

"Blood work and tests? What kind of tests?" he inquired.

"I'm sorry sir, we are not allowed to give out that information," she replied.

"Look miss, Linda is my wife and I'm not asking about the results of the tests, just what kind of tests?" Jim said now starting to get a little annoyed.

"Since you are her husband, it was a full blood workup and a pregnancy test," she replied.

"Well thank you very much for the information, and I will go ahead and pay the bill," Jim told her.

Can you say heart attack? Why the hell was Linda getting a pregnancy test, especially since he'd had a vasectomy right after she had their second child? It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what was going on. Linda had always had some type of issue with any type of birth control they tried and was dead set against abortion, "it's murder no matter how you look at it," she would tell me.

So after the "slip" which gave them their second daughter, Jim decided to get sniped; that would eliminate any more mistakes, and take the abortion issue off the table, or so he thought.

Ten minutes later, Jim was sitting at his desk flipping through the yellow pages looking for a private investigator. Up until then, he had no reason to doubt Linda's fidelity, but now he didn't know what to believe anymore.

Jim never realized how expensive it would be to have his wife watched. "She has to be screwing around with someone at work," he told the P.I. "She always get's home at the same time, and with the exception of an occasional, team building seminar, she's always in the office," he told him. "I need you to start immediately, because I'm going nuts knowing she's been cheating on me, and I sure as hell need to know who with."

Jim's next call was to a good friend of his, who also worked in the same division as Linda. "Dan, Jim Gardner" he started. "Got a huge favor to ask of you, but I need to talk to you away from work, if you don't mind. Can you meet me at Tony's after work? Great, see you around 5:30," he told Dan. Jim wasn't exactly sure how to approach Dan, but figured since they went back a long way, the direct approach would be the best.

As they sipped on a couple of Bud Lights, Jim started. "Dan, I just found out, Linda is cheating on me, and I think it's someone she works with," he told Dan. "It's probably been going on for at least a couple of months, and I need to find out who it is."

Dan was stunned. "No way, Linda would never do that to you Jim, there must be some mistake."

"No mistake Dan, I've got the proof, I just need to know who it is."

"Jim, this isn't a big company and I know most of the employees by their first name," Dan told him. "Hell, there's the usual office horse play but nothing more that. Look, there are two busy bodies in the office that owe me big time, and they'll know if anything is going on, believe me. I'll give you a call if I find out anything; sorry about Linda," he told him.

"No more than I am," Jim replied.

The next three days sucked. Jim wanted to grab Linda, shake her and ask why, but at this point, it made no difference. Their sex life was not great, but not bad either. They did it about twice a week and with two kids Jim thought that was pretty good. Linda hadn't come up with any new things she wanted to try, and was still refusing Jim the other things he had always asked for; so nothing had changed.

The only thing he could remember, was that when Linda came home from her monthly seminars, they never had sex that night. Maybe it was just a coincident, but he was now looking for anything out of the ordinary. They were always held on a Friday afternoon, at the Best Western, and lasted for about two hours. After that, a lot of the employees hung around for happy hour and munchies.

On those nights, Jim would take his kids out, or stop at his parents for dinner so they never met up until after 8:00, back at the house. He was now questioning everything in his marriage, trying to come up with a reason why Linda had cheated.

On Friday morning Dan called. "If she's cheating with anyone at work, it's a new guy named David Collins. He started last year, and the word on the street, is that they've been to lunch together a couple of times and that they've been seen dancing during the happy hour get together," he told Jim. "I know it's not the smoking gun you were looking for, but it was the best I could do; I hope you two can work this out."

"Thanks for the information, but I don't think there's much chance of that." Jim gave the P.I. the name, Dan had given him, and closed up shop and went home. How in the hell was he suppose to act the part of the, "normal loving husband" when all he wanted to do, was throw her ass out, and go on with his now shattered life.

They did the normal family stuff on Saturday and Sunday; yard work, soccer practice and a neighborhood BarBQ on Sunday. Linda had wanted to fool around on Saturday night, but Jim made an excuse that his stomach was a little upset, and rolled over to sleep. There was no way he was going to put his dick in that bitch ever again.

Thank God for Monday. Work was now his sanctuary away from home, where he could relax and put the rest of his plans in motion. The final thing was to get the divorce paperwork moving. He'd already picked the attorney and paid his retainer. Since it was a no fault state, and they both worked, he was asking for a 50/50 split with no alimony. What wasn't negotiable was that he wanted custody of their two girls. Linda had screwed up big time, and unless she gave him custody, he'd change it to adultery, and send everything to everyone she knew. He knew Linda was going to go nuts, so he asked for and received a restraining order. She could call the girls, but couldn't come within 250 feet of the house.

By Tuesday the P.I. had acquired two motel, room receipts. Both were from Best Western, on the Friday seminar nights, under David's name. He also obtained surveillance pictures of the two of them, arm in arm, going into the room, and one of them kissing in the hallway.

Jim said he had no intention of looking at the pictures. He told the P.I. to just put everything in a manila envelope, and drop it off at his office. He thanked him for his fast work, and said a check would be in the mail by Tuesday.

By Friday, of the big week, everything was all done. The kids would be on a sleep over Friday and Saturday nights, both sets of movers were scheduled, the locksmith would be over by 2:00 and finally, all the paperwork would be filed Monday and served on Tuesday afternoon. "Linda didn't have a clue what was coming down," Jim thought to himself and he wanted to keep it that way.

Linda's Story

I was sitting at the kitchen table, feeling sorry for myself, when the movers came to the door. I told them to wait until Jim got back, but when he gave me the envelope, and I saw what was inside; I knew Jim knew everything. It was a copy of the pregnancy test I'd taken at the clinic.

At first I thought I had the flu, like everyone else, but it just hung on and wouldn't go away. I didn't have any body aches, I just felt a little off. Carol joked one morning, "it almost sounds like your pregnant again Linda." That's when it first hit me that it could be a possibility.

When David started, I had just turned 30, and was starting to feel like an old married women. I helped train him and he was always pleasant, smelled great and best of all; a real good looker. Even though he was five years younger, we found we liked the same type of music and Mexican food was both of our favorite.

Soon after that, we started going out to lunch at the local Mexican restaurant, and meeting for drinks after our monthly seminars. One Friday night, after a team-building seminar, the music was playing and he asked me to dance. We danced two fast songs but the third was a slow one. I haven't danced a slow dance with anyone since I got married, but it seemed so natural with David. We floated around the dance floor, and when the song ended we sat back down with the group.

I was hot. It felt so good in his arms; I didn't want the music to end. Two drinks later I was on the road for home. That night I almost raped Jim. I didn't do anything crazy; I just needed sex and lots of it.

I knew I should have ended it, but I was enjoying being with David. Besides dancing and a few lunches, I wasn't doing anything wrong, or so I thought. It wasn't until the fourth Friday get together that things got a little out of hand. Our dept got an award for being the top producers in the company, and we each received a $100.00 bonus. We went to the bar to celebrate and after two hours, there were only four of us left. I had drunk a little too much, and told David I needed to go to the restaurant for some coffee, before I made any attempt to drive home. He said he'd join me.

On the way, I tripped on a carpet and David caught me before I hit the floor. He was holding me by my waist and chest as he got me up righted. "Are you alright?" he asked.

I don't know what the hell I was thinking; I just looked him in the eye, and kissed him. It took him by surprise, but within a second he was kissing me back. After what seemed like hours, I pulled back, and turned red.

"I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have done that," I told David. "Please forgive me."

"Don't worry about it Linda," he told her. "I'll just consider it your thanks for saving your life," David said with a chuckle. "Now lets get some coffee into you," he said leading her into the restaurant.

Linda stayed away from David as much as she could the following week. She made sure she was always busy for lunch, and didn't stop the following Friday for happy hour. It had been a terrible mistake, but she found she got wet every time she even thought about being in David's arms.

However, two weeks later she was back at happy hour. Jim wouldn't be back until about 8:30, so she planned on dinner and drinks with a few of her workers. Everyone that night seemed to have an excuse for not staying. By 6:30 it was just she and David left. "Let's get something to eat shall we?" he said to Linda.

Just then the music started to play and I asked David to dance. For some reason, they played four slow songs back to back, and we danced them all. My heart was almost beating out of my chest, as we glided around the floor. I was sweating buckets, and my red thong was soaked. It felt so good in his arms.

How we ended up in the back seat of his car, I haven't a clue. We did everything, but screw, in the back seat. He climaxed me twice with his fingers and once with his tongue before I took care of him with my mouth. It was almost 8:00, before we realized what time it was. I straighten my dress, and hair, kissed him once more, and headed over to my car.

I should have been ashamed, but I wasn't, for some reason; I was still in the after glow of getting off three times. "Damn, I haven't had three climaxes in one session, in I don't know how long."

The guilt didn't hit me until I saw my husband and children. Jim wanted to have sex that night, but I couldn't even look at him much less make love to him. After about a 45-minute shower, I slipped into bed, and cuddled with him the rest of the night.

I knew I was playing with fire, but I couldn't stop, I was hooked. We now started sneaking around during lunch, God what a rush. A week later, David said he had booked a room for Friday night, at the Best Western, in case we wanted to be alone later.