An Ordinary Man

AN ORDINARY MAN

My name is Jerry Smith. I'm just an ordinary guy. I stand 5'9" tall and weigh 155 pounds. I have brown hair and brown eyes. I got middling grades in high school and also in college. I am fit for my age, 42 y/o. I work as a mid-level manager for a retail clothing chain. I grew up in a rough area, and my size caused me some problems. If you give in, you get smashed there. So, I never gave in to anyone. Sometimes I got my ass beat, but normally I dished out punishment. After a while, trouble stopped happening so much. Still, I kept up training at a boxing gym. About ten years ago I stopped boxing. A group of us did MMA. That was more challenging. It was my only hobby.

I'm married to Joann, 42 y/o, brunette, 5'6", with a slim figure and a very pretty face. We met as freshmen at State U. She was pre-law, but we had two classes together. We started talking, then dating. Joann was pretty popular at school. All the frat guys wanted to get with her. But she was standoffish with them, so far as I could see. She and I became steady. We became intimate in our sophomore year. It was the first time for her, and almost for me. We stayed together all through until graduation. She got into law school at State. I got a job at a local bank. We got married that summer after graduation. We just really got along well. We had good sex, varied and varying in intensity. Joann read up on sexual positions, and on fetishes. Some of her reading made its way into our bed.

We had role playing. Sometimes I was her professor. Sometimes she was a cheer leader, or a high-class hooker. Sometimes I was a burglar, or her hairdresser. We had naked evenings, where we had to stay naked no matter what happened. We had domination games, switching off. She was meaner than I could be, though. We did different positions and used different scents.

It took three years for Joann to finish law school. I supported us with the bank job during that time. Joann was very smart, and finished at the top of the class. She got a job offer from a big firm in Washington, D.C. She wanted to do that very much. I looked for employment in that area and found work as a branch bank manager. We moved to DC. We rented an apartment in the city, near her work. I had a commute to a suburb, but I could do it on a bicycle or on the subway. We didn't have a car.

That first year in D.C. was a difficult one. Joann worked maybe 65 -- 70 hours a week. I worked less, but cooked dinner, did laundry, and housecleaning. She was making as much as I did, and it looked like she would get raises yearly. We were in good financial shape, but our love life suffered. We hooked up about twice a month. When we did, it wasn't as good as before, although we both usually got off. After a while Joann was late home a lot. Dinner would be cold, even if I made it late. I began to wonder about us, and specifically about her.

I made an effort to see what her work life was like. At home she didn't say too much. She was working with a group of lawyers and paralegals on a corporate merger deal. As the time for the merger came closer, she was at home less and less. One Friday I stopped in at lunch time, to surprise her. I knew she didn't take her own lunch, and I thought I'd take her out to a nearby place for wraps.

I arrived at noon, but the receptionist said that Joann had left for the day.

"Where did she go? To court?"

"No, I'm not sure exactly where she is. I believe that her group went out to lunch, probably at Cicero's." The receptionist had a funny look when she said this.

"Well, that's lunch. Why the rest of the day? Maybe I'll see her at home early."

The receptionist looked down. "Maybe."

I could see that she was very uncomfortable. "Thanks. Seeya."

I walked outside and went to a Subway across from Cicero's Restaurant. I bought a tuna and cheese sub. I sat outside and watched the street. About an hour later Joann came out of the restaurant with a group. There was another woman, Lydia, that I knew from social functions. There were three men. Two were in their thirties, both large men. The third was older, graying, not so big. I believed that he was Paul Dorgon, head of Joann's section of the firm, and a partner. I didn't know the other two.

Joann was walking between the two younger men. One was dark haired and the other had light brown hair and a beard. Possibly I had seen them at a social event, but I wasn't sure.

I started across the street to cut them off. The dark-haired guy put his arm around Joann's waist. She didn't move away. I jogged across to them, from behind. I tapped Joann on the shoulder. She turned to see who it was. She paled and said, "Oh. Jerry! What are you doing here?"

The guy still had his arm around her, although she had turned to me. He looked put out. She stepped away from him.

"Fred, this is my husband, Jerry. Maybe you met him at the picnic." Joann was turning red. The other three seemed flustered. Paul Dorgon stepped forward, holding out his hand.

"Jerry, I'm Paul. I do recall you from the picnic. You played softball."

I shook his hand, all the while staring at Fred. He was over 6' tall, and stocky.

"I did play softball. It was a picnic. Normally I play hard ball." I was still staring at Fred. He stared right back at me.

"Fred, maybe we should just do this right now," I said. He didn't say anything right off. Paul interrupted.

"Jerry, calm down. We were all just at lunch. The merger case finished up. We had a small celebration. We're headed back now. I think maybe Fred got a little carried away."

Joann recovered enough to speak. "Jerry, I hope you didn't get the wrong idea. Fred just maybe had a little too much celebration."

I didn't take my eyes off Fred. And he didn't look away either. I smiled. His hands were fists. He was bunched up, ready to fire. I was waiting....waiting for him. I was perfectly relaxed. Confrontation -- physical confrontation -- was one of the things I enjoyed most in life. It was going to happen any second.

Fred's pal with the beard grabbed him from behind and pulled him away. Fred tried to buck, but Paul shouted at him. "Stop now! Keep him, Bill."

Fred relented, allowed Bill to walk him away. By now there was a small crowd. Joann stepped between me and her co-workers.

"Jerry, nothing for you to worry about or be upset. Nothing."

Paul piped up, "Joann, maybe you should take the rest of the day off. Go home with your husband. There's nothing much left to do, and tomorrow's a new day."

"Okay, thanks, Paul. Come on Jerry, let's take a walk."

I said, "Very disappointing. I'm going to have to go to the gym later." But I walked away with her. We went toward our apartment. It was in the opposite direction from her office. But it was in the direction that they were all walking when they left the restaurant.

The four of them turned around and went back toward Cicero's and their office. Pretty telling from my point of view.

Joann and I walked around the city for thirty minutes or so. We didn't say much. We wound up back at our place. When we went inside, I got some water for us. I sat on the couch, and she sat across from me on a dining room chair. (It was a small apartment.)

I said, "So, tell me about it. All about it."

"Nothing much to tell. You jumped to conclusions. He just had his arm around me."

"Several things are wrong with that answer, as I'm sure you know. You're lying and you're selling me short. I'm not a dummy, even if I'm not a lawyer. Don't lie again."

Her face sort of scrunched up. She didn't say anything. She started breathing fast.

"Just be calm and tell me what's going on. I know you had taken off work for the rest of the day. I know you were all headed away from work when I saw you. AND...more important...old Fred was ready to fight right there on the street. He was going to try to punch me. If Bill hadn't grabbed him, we would have fought right there. I'm thinking, then, that he has some feelings for you that make him hostile to your husband."

She started to cry, quietly, no sobs. "We've all been working so hard. We've all gotten close. Fred and I especially worked well together. He wanted to celebrate alone with me. And...and....I agreed."

"Were you bringing him here?"

'No, he said he had a room at the Hyatt."

"Where were the others going?"

"The three of them were also going to the Hyatt. Those three had another room."

"Is Fred married?"

"Yes. He has a son two years old." She sobbed some more.

"Have you had any sex with him before now? If you lie and I find out, which I will, I'll dump you for sure."

"No sex. A couple of kisses, hugs. No clothes off."

"What about the other three? Are they some regular thing?"

"I think Bill and Lydia maybe have snuck off a few times. Paul just wanted to watch."

"Are Bill and Lydia married -- to others?"

"Yes. Paul too, but his wife is ill."

"Have you ever cheated, except for this?"

"No. And this wasn't cheating. You saved me."

"That's a distinction without much of a difference. You blew away any trust I had in you."

"I think if I fucked him that would be a big difference from what happened. But I can see that trust might be a problem. I don't know what to say. I won't ever allow myself to get into that position again."

"You say. What happens at work Monday? All of them will want to know what we talked about. Also, that Fred guy won't give up. Kid or no kid. I saw how much he felt for you. What're you going to do about that? Maybe you should quit that job."

"I can't just quit. We need the money. And I love the work. I'm really good at it, and I'll get promotions and raises."

"I see. How am I to know whether you are keeping on the straight? Because I need some form of reassurance.... Let me think."

I thought about it. Leverage was needed and maybe leverage was to be had.

"Here's what. You're going to write a confession. It's going to have everything you told me in it. More detail, even. Sign it, give it to me."

"Why? Oh. I see. A threat to all of them."

"Yep. I'll make copies for them all. I'll add a little note. I want you to swear to the truth of the confession, on penalty of perjury."

That's what we did. She wrote out a lot of detail about what happened, and even her suspicions about what happened between the others.

We went out to dinner down the street. She relaxed a lot, and we split a bottle of red. When we got home, we went straight upstairs. We had our clothes off quickly and she dropped to her knees.

"This is the I'm sorry blow job," she said as she licked the head of my dick. Later I fucked her hard and long. We fell asleep, exhausted.

In the morning I fucked her hard again. Then I made copies of the confession. I put them in four envelopes, marked personal and confidential. I added a note. In it I made clear that if I came to hear of any further sexual shenanigans involving my wife -- in any way -- I would mail the confession to all of their spouses. An exception would be made if one of them accurately informed on her. In that case, no mail to that person's spouse. I thought that would create some strain in the team, but so what?

It was Saturday, and I went to the gym for some sparring and heavy bag work. Working out some residual anger. Well, maybe not so residual. Guys noticed. I had trouble getting a partner. But more bag work did the trick.

Jane, one of the few women who worked out at that gym, asked me what was up with me.

"Just some life problems. I'll work it out."

She smiled. Despite her hobby she was a cutie, with a good figure under that workout bra.

"Well, if you need a hand, or whatever, let me know."

"Definitely will." I looked at her for longer than normal, and she didn't look away. But then we both turned away. I think she just got worked up watching the heavy bag work. Nevertheless, I filed the incident away, in case Joann messed up.

She didn't.

On the way home, I stopped by a fancy 'spy' store and got some gadgets. I got two recorders. One was very small, looked like a pen. In fact, it was a pen. But it also recorded up to 12 hours of sounds, supposedly voice activated. I put it in Joann's purse when I got home. There was little danger that she would notice it, given the state of her purse. I could remotely upload data from it onto my computer, but only if it was close by the computer.

The other recorder went into our main room. It was under the couch, near the bedroom door. I could turn it on and off with a remote. I left it on when I was out, and, usually, off when I was in.

Saturday night we went to a film, then got ice cream. It was a nice date, and neither of us mentioned our problem.

Sunday we also relaxed. I watched a soccer match on TV. Joann read a romance novel. (Yes, a romance novel. Don't ask me.) We ate dinner at home and went to bed early. We had a nice session of gentle sex. I felt so much better, especially since I had the recorders in place.

Monday morning off to work we went. I gave the envelopes to Joann to give to her team. I knew she would do it, because I believed she loved me and saw the ploy as a way to keep us together and allow her to keep working at the firm. Also, I had the devices. I lacked trust, so the devices were necessary.

I biked to work. It was a routine day, and I cooked a chicken stir fry for dinner, when Joann came in at about 6:00 pm.

"How did your team like my envelopes?"

"I called them all into a conference room. One of the ones without bugs. They were all anxious about Friday. I said you understood right away what was going on. I told them that you asked me to quit work, but I wanted to stay. So you devised this plan. I gave them the envelopes. They were all unhappy. It's interesting, because it took them a little while to appreciate what you had done. All except Paul, who understood right away. He actually smiled as he was reading."

"I think we should hire your husband," he said. "This is the product of a devious and intelligent mind."

"Anyway," she continued, "they all saw what he saw eventually. I confess -- hah -- that there were a lot of sideways glances. We all just left and went about our work. I don't think the team will be together for long, maybe just a day or so. If I were in management, I'd split us up."

Later, I listened to the uploaded material. The meeting went just as she told me. I discovered, though, that the rest of the stuff was so boring after that, that it was useless. So much for tech solutions.

Although I had 'saved' Joann, I was on the fence about our marriage. I couldn't keep an eye on her all the time, and I was unsure about her continued fidelity. So many chances to cheat. Women who look like her got hit on all the time. Hard hits, soft hits, subtle hits, but hits all the same. Maybe she had learned her lesson, but maybe not. I decided that we needed a further conversation. This was about four weeks after the incident. Her team was sent in various directions, but all still in the DC office, except Lydia. The one I wasn't worried about.

One evening after work, and before dinner, I sat at the kitchen table with two glasses of wine.

"Joann, we have to talk," I said. That worried her. She sat down and looked at me.

"What? I thought we were doing okay. In fact, good."

"I can't seem to shake the mistrust issue, even with the confession. There are some loopholes in that you know. I'd like a better explanation of why you agreed to cheat with Fred."

"I...jeez....I liked him. I found him attractive. And I didn't think you'd ever find out, since it was to be a one off. That's a lesson I've learned. I love you and I want to be only with you."

"But you knew there'd be a risk. Your whole office knew what was up. If you had considered it logically, you would have had to pass it up. But you.......I guess you had some real lust for Fred. So much so that you risked the marriage, and he risked his. It makes me feel slighted, that you were so into him."

"I can't help that. I told you I'd be honest. Anyway, I'll never know how it might have felt."

"Did he have a big dick?" I shot this at her. She looked away, flustered.

I said, "How big, and how do you know?"

"Our hugs were pretty intense. Only a few times, but it was like when we close dance. A woman can tell pretty much. He was...well...he seemed big. But that's not why I agreed. Maybe partly. But mostly I just was close to him, and I liked him. It was as if it was a reward for finishing the case successfully. To do that required close teamwork. It wouldn't work if we didn't get along well. And it was so intense. I was with him more than I was with you for months."

"So, he took my place in some way? And you knew he had a bigger cock than me. I don't see it as a one off. Maybe you thought so, if you thought at all."

"No. He didn't take your place at all." She was sniffling again. She threw herself at me, frantic.

"Relax, I just needed this talk. I hope you analyze what you said and use it to avoid another episode. Because another episode would finish us."

"There won't be another time."

"You know that this was totally work related. The intensity of the case brought the people working on it together. One thing led to another. AND....you'll have the same dynamic on the next project. I just hope that you'll see it coming and stop it before we reach a disaster."

"I'll keep all that in mind. No worries."

She looked up at me.

"Let's go upstairs," she said. "We can eat later." We went upstairs. We ate a lot later, again warmed up leftovers.

The next week I took the opportunity to install a program on her phone, hidden in the base programming. I could monitor her texts, and the numbers she called. Every once in a while, I listened to the recorder. After three months there was nothing.

I asked for an after dinner talk.

"I think we should try to start a family. Now's the time."

"Oh, Jerry. I'm not sure. What about my job?"

"You want kids. Better now than later when you have a lot more on your mind. You can work during a pregnancy. After, you'll have to take some time off. But I can help out. I don't have an intense job like you do. I've been doing some day trading, and doing well. We have enough to look for a house. What do you say?"

"Okay. If we find us a house we like, I'm game."

We did find a house, across the river, but still close in. It had three bedrooms, nice kitchen, patio, in a solid neighborhood. I bought it. I paid outright for it, and it was in my name. Joann didn't like that, but I insisted. I told her that it was money I made, and the house was my gift to her and our future family. Anyway, if we split up, the house would be treated the same as if we had it under joint ownership. She looked that up. She agreed. We moved in and she went off the pill. It took three months before she was pregnant. We had a boy, Jacob. Joann went back to work after two months. We had a nice lady come in in the daytime, until I arranged my work with the bank to be independent contract work from home mostly. I wrote agreements with other banks, reviewed contracts, and did odd jobs that no one else thought should be theirs. I also continued with my day trading. I got even better at it.

Eventually, after Jacob turned three, we went for another pregnancy. Joann was working hard until just before she delivered. Twins. Of course, we knew before, a girl and a boy. Jennifer and Todd. This time my Mom came to help out with the babies. She and my Dad moved to Arlington. Joann went back to work in three weeks. Jacob was fascinated by his siblings. So was I. I loved fatherhood.

I quit with the bank and went solo as a consultant on the mechanics of bank mergers. Mostly my work was from home, on computer and phone. My Mom spent less time with the kids, saying that she needed to see Dad more. They retired, and travelled.