Courting Disaster

COURTING DISASTER

Molly Barton, my wife of twenty-three years, was looking at me with no expression on her lovely face. As we were about finished with dinner she had casually said, "I have a date for Friday."

I looked at her, hoping she didn't mean what I thought she did mean.

"What do you mean, a date?"

"I'm going to dinner and dancing with someone."

I stared at her. As I said, she had no expression.

She and I were empty nesters, forty-four. She was a good-looking woman. I was okay myself, if I do say so. I'm Thomas Barton, a lawyer. I'm 5'10", 165 pounds, in good shape. I have a law practice.

Molly is 5' 8" and weighs, maybe, 135 pounds. Light brown hair, nice figure, pretty face. She has her own real estate firm, and it's doing well.

We have three children, Mary and Anne, twins, twenty-two, and Jill, twenty, and still in college.

My staring seemed to get through to her.

She said, "It's only a date. I'll be home by eleven. No sex. I need the excitement to rev me up."

"Rev you up for whom?"

"You. My husband. I'll come home to you and the sex will be hot."

I gave her a sad smile. "Are you serious? Or is this some sort of joke." I knew it wasn't a joke.

"Tom, no joke. Remember when we were courting? That was such fun. Getting to know each other. It was such a fun time. I want....." She stopped. Of course, our courting had ended in sex and marriage.

I said, "You want to get courted by a new man. Who?"

"I think you need not know that."

"I'll have to know, eventually. This is Wednesday. I have a lot to do, and it'll be easier if I know who you're dating. Maybe you'd also let me know how far this has gone."

"Tom, I love you. I only need some excitement in my life."

"We do have sex, Molly. Obviously not exciting enough for you. But I seem to recall you having a good time Monday night."

"I'm not going to have sex with him."

"Who? I expect it's Willie from work, right?" Willie was a newish employee of her firm, a salesman. He was in his thirties, handsome, big, blond, and always seemed to me to be flirty with Molly. He was also married with three young children.

Molly was shaken by me naming him. She started to get up from the table.

I said, "What does Brenda think about the date?" Brenda was his wife.

She sat back down. She said, "Please leave her out of it. She's out of town."

"She'll find out, you know."

"Not if you don't....."

"Molly, I love you. I've loved you for all these years. If you stop this silliness, we can go to counselling and maybe save the marriage."

She shrieked, "What? Save the marriage!!"

I was still calm. "If you go on a date with Willie, we will be divorced. And, please believe me, there'll be no hot sex after. No make-up sex. We will never have sex again. I promise this to you. I mean it as much as I meant my wedding vow, to be faithful to you."

She fled the room to our bedroom, stalking off up the stairs.

I cleaned up the kitchen. Then I went to my small office, off the living room. I fired up the computer there, accessed a standard divorce petition. No fault, and one that alleged adultery. I filled out the no fault one, which took an hour or more. No stirring from upstairs.

I printed the petition, signed it, and ran it through the machine to make a copy suitable for filing electronically. It's a wonder these days, how easy it is to do things that would have taken days when I was starting in the law.

My firm did mostly real estate settlements, commercial, and residential, but the residential only for Molly's firm. I'd probably lose that business when we split -- if we split. I hoped, fervently hoped, that she'd drop this, and we wouldn't split. But I knew her to be a stubborn person, set on getting her way.

I wondered if she'd already had sex, or dates with Willie. I called our friend Jane Clark, who worked in Molly's office. She was a beauty, divorced four years from a philandering husband. She was thirty-four, reddish brown hair cut short, brown eyes. She was slim, except up top. Great legs. We flirted some. Molly didn't seem to mind. They were besties.

"Hi Jane, it's Tom."

"Tom......I don't want to talk about it."

"I need to know how far it's gone, Jane. You're not only her friend, but mine, too."

"They have a date. I assume she announced that tonight."

"Yep. We disagreed about the propriety of it. As you may have guessed. You've been expecting my call, I assume. Have the two of you discussed what you would say."

"Tom, I just want to steer clear. She's not planning to have sex with him tonight."

"I'd like to know how far they've gone. I'll tell you this. No matter if she has sex with him or not, if she goes out on a date with him, I will leave her."

"Oh, Tom. You can't mean that. It's...it's only a...."

"Yeah? Only what? You can't even think of something benign to call it. It's an open betrayal. It broadcasts her dissatisfaction with me to the world. I offered to go to counselling if she called it off."

"What did she say?"

"She fled upstairs, and I haven't seen her since. I spent the time writing a divorce petition. I could file it in ten minutes. I haven't decided yet. If she relents and agrees to counselling, I'll wait. But if she says she's going ahead. That's it."

"Let me call her. Or, better yet, it's only Wednesday. I'll talk to her at work."

"What else I know, Jane, is that snake Willie won't get off clean. Does his wife know?"

"Oh, Tom. Don't do that. He has young kids."

"He needs to keep to his family and not destroy mine. Before Friday, his wife will know all I know. Maybe they have an agreement."

"Tom. Just wait until tomorrow evening. Please."

"Okay. But even if they don't go, it'll be because of threats from me. Now I consider, I believe it may be time to act."

I hung up. She called back. "Give me tomorrow. Tomorrow, please."

I waited. I slept in the guest room. Saw nothing of my 'wife.'

MOLLY

Jane came to me first thing at work Thursday. She knew about the date. She knew that I had a sort of crush on Willie. We'd been out to lunch three times in the last month. Long lunches, with some necking in the car after the last one.

I kind of lied to Tom, telling him that it was just because I felt like I needed excitement. The 'courting' riff was foolish. I shouldn't have said it. But that's what it was. I was being courted by Willie. Two married family people, doing a courting ritual. Willie's wife was out of town for a week, and his kids were with her mother. His house would be empty, and I knew he wanted to get me there. And I knew what he wanted if we got there. What

would

happen if we got there.

I told Tom there'd be no sex. But I wasn't sure about that. I wasn't sure about anything. I don't want a divorce. I love Tom, and he's good in bed. Maybe we don't do a lot of new stuff, but what we do, we do well. What's more we've always been compatible. We don't argue too much. We laugh together quite a bit. He's a nice person, a good father. He's witty and smart, always joking. I want to be with him for life.

But I also have this itch. Willie could scratch it, I know that.

I mean, if I pass on Willie, I'll always wonder. I didn't have too much sexual experience when I met Tom. Two guys in college. Neither of them was anywhere near what Tom and I had right off the bat. He and I weren't only compatible in our personalities. We meshed in bed, right from the start. It was a huge reason why we married.

Now, with Willie, I had the feeling that it would be the same. Maybe better. He aroused the same sort of urges that I remembered from when Tom and I courted.

I'm forty-four. I look good, but how long can that last? For twenty-four years, or more, Tom is the only man I've been with. I have no desire to break up my marriage, nor to break up Willie's. I don't see why we can't just have some short time together. To scratch the itch.

My plan was to go on the date, tell Tom no sex, and stick to that for the evening. Then I'd tell him that I wanted a fling. Or maybe go to Willie's house over lunch some day during the week. Tom wouldn't know. At least not right away. But he'd probably find out.

I guess I'd end up lonely and divorced -- maybe -- if I did either of those things.

Thursday morning Jane came to my office, closed the door and sat.

She said, "You're in a load of shit, girl. Tom called last night. If you want to stay married to him, you have to give up the date, and give up Willie."

"Why? It's only....I mean even if we did have sex, it would only be for a short time. Why can't that happen, and Tom and I get back to normal?"

"You're dreaming. Thinking with your twat. Libido blindness. You haven't seen your husband since your discussion, right?"

"True. He was gone from the house this morning. He slept in the guest room."

"Well, what he did when you left him was write up and sign a petition for divorce. He said he could file it in ten minutes. I had to beg him to hold off until this evening. He also asked me if Willie's wife knew. What were you thinking? What was he thinking?"

"Tom wouldn't....he wouldn't....Oh shit."

"You know, your little emotional affair may already have ended your marriage. But I guarantee you, if you leave the house Friday for your date, you will lose that man. Then what?"

There came a knock at the door. Willie opened it and stuck his head in. His big head.

"Hi, ladies. What's up?" He was smiling.

I said, "I told Tom about our date for Friday. He didn't react well at all. I maybe am getting divorced. Maybe you, too."

"But we haven't done it yet."

Jane said, "If you go on the date, Tom will divorce Molly, and inform your wife why."

"Molly, you said he wouldn't know who you were dating."

"He knew right away. He's smart."

"Shit. How can we stop him?" Willie was worried. He thought until yesterday that the date would go unnoticed by the spouses.

Now Willie was in a pickle. He said, "I'm sort of on probation with Jenny. This would fuck things up. If we don't go, will he keep his mouth shut?"

I said, "I believe he would. But he was pissed off. He already drew up the petition. For all I know he'll file no matter what. He's really angry. According to Jane."

Jane said, "He won't file until he sees what happens today. But think about it. The two of you work together five days a week. He knew nothing about your lunches until I mentioned them. Why should he trust either one of you?"

Willie said, "We should talk to him directly -- this evening after work. Me and Molly. Maybe Jane should come, too."

I said, "Why should you be there? He'll get more pissed off."

"I want to ask him -- man to man, face to face -- not to mess up my marriage. I'll apologize."

I said, "Jane, will you come?"

"I don't see how it helps."

"Might keep him from....lashing out. He can be volatile. Rarely, but when he does lose it. Watch out."

Willie said, "I can take care of myself. But I don't want a fight."

"There won't be a fight."

The three of us met after work to go to my house. Jane drove Willie, and I drove my car.

TOM

I came home from work a little late, and saw Molly's car, and Jane's in the driveway. I parked on the street.

During the day I had almost filed the petition twice. But I promised Jane to wait, and I did. I walked into the house and Jane and Molly were there with Willie. I stopped dead.

I pointed at him. In a low voice I said, "Get. The. Fuck. Out of My House!"

He held up his hands. "I only want to apologize. That's all."

Molly said, "Tom, please allow Willie his say. Then he'll leave."

I still didn't raise my voice. I said, "You have ten seconds to be gone. No talk." I puffed up a little. He was bigger than me.

He bucked. "I want to have my say, and I will."

I was ten feet away from him, and by the time he completed his sentence, I was on him. He was taken by surprise, and I hit him three or four times in the gut. Most guys go for the head, and break their hands. But the gut punch has always been my forte. I hadn't grown up in the suburbs.

He fell after the last right to the belly. He was clutching his middle, moaning. The women were screaming. I dragged Willie out the door, and tossed him into the street. And, I mean I tossed him. In the air. Onto the roof of Jane's car, and over it. I heard him land with a thud.

I turned around. The women were standing behind me in shocked silence. I said, "Whatever you want to do with him, you'd better do it now."

I walked into the house. I saw Molly and Jane lifting Willie up. They put him into Jane's car. He appeared to be awake and speaking. Jane got in and drove him away. Molly headed toward our door. I stood there in the door. It was taking me a minute to calm. I was trying to ease my breathing. I said, "Still going on your date?"

She was softly crying. "He only wanted to apologize. He doesn't want to lose his family."

"How about you? What do you want? You bring your boy friend here to our house. You don't know me. You don't know me at all." I turned and walked into the kitchen, got a beer.

She said, "I warned him you could be volatile. He said he could take care of himself."

"He lied. Probably like he was going to lie to his wife. I can say this for you, you didn't lie -- yet."

"Will the police come?"

"I don't know. If Jane takes him to the hospital, they might be notified. Or he could report it. But, you know, he was in my house and wouldn't leave." I paused.

"At some point this evening I need an explanation from you about this entire episode. Any lies and we're finished. Let me know when you want to start."

"Finish your beer and take some long breaths. I do love you. But you may have hurt Willie. I'm not sure I can live with that."

"You're taking his side. Well, I'll head right up and file. We can discuss the property split." I walked into my small office.

She followed me in. "Don't do that. I'm not taking his side. I won't lie. When you know all of it, you decide. I want to try to keep us together."

"Even though I beat him up?"

"Well, yes. But you should have listened to him."

"No. No matter what, I'm telling his wife. He's a low life."

"He's not. The two of use just....we were sympatico. Or something. It's only happened to me once before. With you."

"Sympatico how -- sex?"

"We didn't have sex, Tom. Maybe it was headed there. But we didn't."

"How far toward sex did it get?"

"We went to three lunches. The first two, just small touches. The third one, we made out in the car. Necked, we used to call it. No clothes off. That's it."

"And the plan for the date?"

"I wasn't going to go much farther." She looked sheepish, guilty.

"Bullshit. That's a lie, and one's too many."

"Not a lie, Tom. Maybe we would have gone back to his house, instead of dancing. After dinner."

"You would have fucked him and come home early."

"Maybe. I was...I am... very attracted to him."

"Then you would have come home, and what? Slept with me. Sloppy seconds for old unexciting Tom."

She looked down. "I had no plan. Wing it. If it happened. If we only danced, I would have fucked your brains out."

"No, babe. You would have found the house empty, ring and divorce petition waiting. No more fucking me -- ever."

"What now?" She'd lost all her confidence, become tentative.

"I'm not sure. Tell me why you called off the date -- if you have called it off."

"It's off. Of course, it's off. Jane told me you'd made out divorce papers last night. She said you could file in ten minutes. I was afraid. I did NOT want to split."

"Did you really believe that I'd stand for you dating? What utter rubbish. You must have known that a date with some guy would end us. So, I'm assuming that you didn't mind that."

"Oh, Tom. I thought you might allow a little fun for me."

"Once again, you don't know me at all."

"Jane said I was thinking with my twat."

"Molly, if we're to stay together, how will I ever trust you to be true to me?"

"It was only this guy, in all our years. And I didn't lie."

'Sure you did. Three lunches and a make out session. When you came home that evening and I asked you about your day, did you tell me about kissing on your employee?"

"Okay. By omission. But when it was serious, I told you."

"You told me you were going on a date. You and I didn't discuss it. You just laid it out."

'And you stopped it."

The house phone rang. It was Jane. Molly answered and put it on speaker.

Jane said, "I dropped him off at his house. We spoke. He isn't filing a report. If he did, his wife would find out about why he was at your house. He seemed hurt, though."

I said, "He can call help, if he needs it. He might be pissing blood."

Jane said, "Tom. I'm appalled at what you did."

'I'm sorry you feel that way, Jane. The man's been trying to fuck my wife for weeks. I loved my wife, all the while he was trying to destroy that."

Molly gasped, "Loved? Past tense?"

I looked at her. "No. I still love you. But it's up in the air whether we stay married."

Jane said, "Can't you let it go? Nothing much happened."

"Not true, Jane, and you know it."

"Maybe. I hope it works out."

She hung up.

I said, "Molly, if it's going to work out, you'll have to fire Willie. If he works for you, the attraction will still be there."

"He has a family."

"Give him a reference. Anyway, there's no way around it, is there?"

"I'll try to figure something out. I understand your worry."

"You cannot have more contact with the guy. That's what happens when you go after a married woman. Sometimes you get burned."

I walked away, went to the kitchen and took out a frozen pizza. Molly didn't come after me. She went upstairs. I heard the shower running.

MOLLY

The fight at my house was shocking to me. But I did know that Tom could lose it. I should have avoided that confrontation.

When Tom pointed out that I should terminate Willie -- fire him -- I was shocked again. I hadn't considered it before. I could see why he wanted that. But I didn't want to fire Willie. He was a good salesman, and a money maker for me -- for us. He was also....a temptation. Having him around work would lend a nice creative tension to the place. All the people who worked for me knew what had been happening. And they would know what had happened at the house, inevitably. Everyone would be on high alert for a while. It would create an interesting situation.

I gave some thought to what I'd just...laid out as a reason for keeping Willie. I started to laugh, because it was such bullshit. I had to admit that I wanted him around because I wanted him, even if I couldn't have him. I needed to be honest, at least with myself. I started to consider how to get Tom to let Willie keep his job.

TOM

After the pizza, I went to my home office and watched some basketball. Molly hadn't come back down after her shower. I didn't want to see her anyway. I thought about Willie, and Molly's dilemma. I knew from what she said that she was attracted to him. If he stayed working at her firm, sooner or later they'd get down to it.

But if she let him go, he could sue. Especially if his wife found out about his attempted seduction of her. And she might, because he had to have some reason for losing his job.

I decided that this was the deciding factor for me. If she wouldn't let the guy go, I'd let her go. I didn't care what happened after she fired him. I only wanted Molly to make a choice -- him or me. I slept on the couch again.

The next morning, we came to the kitchen at the same time. I made some oatmeal. She had some. I looked at her.

"Well?"

"I can't let him go right away, Tom. He has deals going on. And he could cause some problems."

"When?"

"I'm not sure."

"I beg you to reconsider that decision. A lot depends upon what you decide."