Cruise Tickets

Thanks you to Estragon for always making my stories a much better read. Story could have been in a number of categories.

DG

*

Chapter 1:

I walked into the lounge to get a drink. It was only two in the afternoon but I just left my lawyer's office; I wanted a divorce. There were very few people in the lounge between lunch and dinner. Joe the bartender asked me if I was having a bad day.

"You could say that. I just applied for a divorce from Linda," I replied.

"Sorry to hear that. How long have the two of you been together?"

"It will be twenty years next month. The divorce should be in November if she doesn't fight it, which I'm pretty sure she won't."

I looked around and saw a nice looking woman sitting in a booth by herself. I asked Joe if he knew her and he told me her name was Beth and her divorce was final today. I decided to talk to her. What the hell, the worst she could do was have me thrown out.

"Hi, my name is Jay. Do you mind if I join you?"

"I don't think I would be the best company and besides I'm not looking, if you know what I mean."

"I understand. Joe told me your divorce was final today and I filed for mine today. It would just be nice to have someone to talk to."

She looked up at me and stared for a few seconds. "Go ahead and sit down, Jay. By the way my name is Beth and I am now single again after six years of marriage."

"I will have been married twenty years next month. Do you want to exchange stories?" I asked.

Beth smiled at me. I told her that I hadn't eaten today and asked her if she would like some lunch. We were both drinking by this time, so it sounded like a good idea. I called Joe over and we each ordered a Reuben sandwich and fries. I asked Joe to bring us each another drink also.

Wow, the same taste in food. That was a good start.

She was a nice looking woman, probably early thirties. I guess I would call her the girl-next-door type if I was a kid. You never pay a lot of attention to her until you look deeper. She was quite a looker, but not the type with lots of make-up and that goes to the hair dresser every day. Some might even call her a plain Jane but she was much prettier than that.

She thanked me for sitting with her, said she was quite depressed but having someone to talk to helped. She began to tell me a little about herself as we ate lunch.

"I was born and raised here. I went to college to become a teacher. I always loved kids. I've been teaching at the elementary school for eight years. I dated a little, but nothing serious happened till I met Ray. He's my now ex-husband. He was a salesman who sold sound equipment to schools.

"When I first saw him we kind of connected. We talked for a while and the next time he came to the school he asked me out. The rest is pretty much the normal dating scene. Six months later he asked me to marry him and I said yes.

"Our life was rather normal. I worked at the school and he did his sales. He would some times be gone for a couple of days on trips but that was expected. There was nothing in our lives that would jump out at you. We went out once in a while, saw movies and danced, although I was never the greatest dancer.

"He wanted kids and we tried. After a couple of years I went to a specialist and she told me I could have kids but it would be harder due to my physical conditions. The doctor said my tests came back and it would just be harder for me to conceive. I even took some drugs to help but no results. Ray started to become irritated with me but there wasn't much I could do.

"We seemed to be growing farther and farther apart. I told him we could adopt and he told me he didn't want someone else's kid, he wanted his own. I didn't have that problem. I was with kids every day and I loved them all. I didn't really miss not having any. When I got home it was where I got away from kids for the evening.

"I still wouldn't have minded having my own but I wanted to have them for Ray. Then last year he came home and told me we had to talk. I knew there was something wrong. He told me he had an affair with his secretary and she was pregnant.

"I didn't know how to respond to that. He told me he loved me but she was having his child. The first thing that came into my mind was what a horrible father he would make. I felt sorry for the child. He would have a cheating father that only cared about himself.

"We argued and I told him he could have his girlfriend and her baby. I was getting a divorce and would be out of the apartment by the end of the week. He tried to hug me but I told him to keep his filthy hands off of me and pushed him away.

"I stayed with my parents that night, and my dad and I went to the apartment the next day early, and I took all my personal things. Everything else had to go through court. We owed about as much as we owned. He liked to show off and always spent a lot of his money. And some of mine, too.

"We split what we had left and I was able to keep my vehicle and the money I had put away before we were married. So I pretty much started over. I'm renting a nice apartment and I got most of the furniture I wanted."

"He's an asshole!" I said.

"What?" she said.

"Your ex is an asshole. He had a wonderful woman who works with kids and if you don't mind me saying so, is quite attractive." It made her blush. "All he could think about was himself. I think you're much better off."

We finished our lunch and Beth said she felt much better now. Rather than tell her my hard luck story, I told her maybe we could get together and I would tell her about it another time.

I had two drinks but had no idea how many Beth drank, since she was there before I arrived. I asked her if I could take her home, seeing she might have drunk too much.

"Jay, you've very nice but I don't think I'm ready...." I interrupted her.

"Beth, I'm just going to drive you home in your car to make sure you make it home safe. I'll call a cab and he can bring me back here to get my vehicle. I promise that's all; I just want to get you home safely. You can ask Joe the bartender, I'm an ok guy." I smiled.

We got up and I walked her to her car. She wasn't drunk; but why take any chances? I opened her door and saw a lot of leg as she got in. I don't think she noticed me staring. I drove her home and walked her to her apartment door. I had already called for a taxi to come to her place and get me before I left the lounge.

She thanked me for caring for her well-being. I asked her if I could call her and she smiled and gave me her phone number. I did ask her if there were any apartments for rent that she knew about. I would be moving all my things in the following days.

Her block was all condo units and a lot of them were rented. She told me she would ask around and let me know if she found anything. It was a nice neighborhood and most of the apartments were two or three bedrooms; Beth's was a two bedroom, she told me.

My cab arrived, and I handed her the keys to her car and apartment. We said our goodbyes and I went home to what I knew would be one hell of an argument.

****

I'll explain exactly what happened. A lot of it I probably won't be telling Beth. My wife Linda and I met right after I graduated from a community college. I took a two-year course to become a claims adjuster. Linda was in a fender bender and I stopped by her work to see how bad the damage was to her car.

I explained to her what the company would give her for the damage. I worked for an insurance company that repaired a lot of the small damage claims in their own designated body shops. If a customer chose to go elsewhere, we would write them a check. Linda chose to use our designated body shop. For her car, that is; her body didn't need anything.

I was attracted to her almost instantly. She worked for a small newspaper and at the time she did obituaries, some ads and even took some of the photographs.

I asked her out and she accepted. We started going out all the time. The first time we had sex together was great. It wasn't seven months before we got married. We had two kids in the next two years. Linda's mother watched the kids while Linda and I worked.

I was in charge of a four-county area and sometimes I might spend a night or two away from home, as my territory was mostly farm country. It all depended on my schedule. Neither of us seemed to have a problem with it. Linda was a good mother and I thought I was a pretty good father.

We would take the kids on vacations, and to the amusement parks, zoo and most everywhere families went. Our sex life was fairly regular, especially when I was gone for a day or two. There was just something about being away from the wife that made me horny. I never cheated on her even though I had a lot of opportunities in my line of work.

Our sex life would be considered rather vanilla to a lot of people. We did a number of positions like missionary, doggie style, her on top and a few others. I would give her oral sex and she loved it. We always began our foreplay that way. She did suck my cock once she got hot. She would never let me come in her mouth.

I came close to a mouth-shot a couple of times and she got pissed at me. It usually ended our love making for the night. A couple of times she would let me if I wore a condom. She just didn't want my cum in her mouth. She was my wife and I loved her so I went along.

The other thing she hated was anal. I had a wide cock and the one time we tried it she screamed out for me to stop. I have to admit it actually hurt my dick so it wasn't overly pleasant for me. When we did doggie style I would often stick a finger or two in her ass. She actually seemed to like that.

She had gotten a promotion a few years ago. She did a lot more in advertising and often did supplements that were added to the paper. She did reviews on a lot of the new and renovated businesses that were in town and surrounding areas. It was only about six months ago that she seemed to change.

Even the kids noticed. My daughter started at the local college and was in her first year but lived at home. My son was a senior in high school and would be graduating and was already accepted at the same college.

Linda seemed to argue with all of us more often. I told the kids that it was probably due to change of life and we would have to live with it. I thought I'd do something special for Christmas and ordered tickets for a holiday cruise. We would be leaving Christmas Eve and return New Year's Day. Maybe it would put our marriage back on track.

I was going to keep it a secret till after Thanksgiving. She often told me I wasn't that much fun anymore. I didn't know what she expected from me. Maybe it was that we were wanting different things now, I didn't really know.

"Dad," said my daughter Becky. "Mom's always going out when you're not home. She never used to go out that often. I asked her where she was going and she told me out with her girlfriends."

"So, why are you telling me this? Don't you believe her?" I asked.

"I didn't say I didn't believe her but she goes out sometimes twice a week. It's always when you're not home. She does get home by midnight but I guess it bugs me."

I talked to Linda the following day and asked her about going out and she kind of barked at me. "I haven't done anything wrong. I go out with my friends and some of my clients. The kids are grown and pretty much on their own. I get bored when you're gone so I go out once in a while."

I mentioned to Becky that I talked with her Mom and explained what she told me. "Did you ever see her friends?" I asked.

"A couple of times when they got out of the car to let Mom in. To be honest, I think they were way overdressed. They always had their hair done and wore sexy long dresses. It would be what you would expect to see in Las Vegas or something. One woman was black but Mom said it was one of her clients. It had something to do with a new nightclub opening up."

"How does Mom dress? Does she dress the same as these other women?"

"No, but she does wear some sexy clothes. She's even borrowed a few of my outfits, which I know are too tight on her. I wish she would just get back to being Mom. Hopefully this is just another phase she's going through."

It made me wonder when Becky said another phase. Did Linda do things like this before but the kids never mentioned it to me? I've always trusted her so I never had reason to check on her.

Becky was a really smart girl and had a tendency to notice changes. I asked my son Bryan about it and he said he thought the women Linda went out with were hot but agreed with Becky that they always seemed to overdress. He also didn't care to see his Mother in too short of a dress.

Linda was rather short. She was only 5' 1" and weighs a hundred and twenty pounds. She worked hard to look good and it paid off. She was a sexy woman but kids don't like to think about their mother that way.

One evening Linda called me on my cell phone and told me she was going out to dinner with one of her clients to one of the lounges. It was about thirty miles outside of town; she would be a couple of hours late getting home. I just happened to be in the general area of the lounge, looking at a wrecked Mustang and an even more wrecked driver, and decided to stop in and see what was gong on for myself.

I walked in the door and told the greeter that my wife was sitting there and I needed to talk with her. I walked over to the table and surprised Linda.

"Jay! What are you doing here?" she asked and seemed a bit nervous.

Across from her was a woman that looked really sexy. It was like the kids had told me. She looked and dressed like a model. She just stared at me.

"I was right down the road when I got your call. Who is your friend?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Jay, this is my client Charlie. Charlie, this is my husband Jay." Charlie held out her hand in kind of a limp way. I wasn't going to kiss it but I did take it between my hands and held it for a few seconds.

"Jay, I'm sorry but this is a business dinner. Charlie and I need to discuss a new nightclub that she and some of her friends are opening up in the next month or so. They're giving me the exclusive story."

"I shouldn't have stopped in but I was just down the road. I'll see you in a couple of hours. I called the kids and told them I'd take them out for pizza. Charlie, it was nice meeting you." I gave Linda a quick kiss. I knew she was irritated but I didn't care.

I left the lounge and called the kids and told them Mom was out with one of her clients and that I was taking them out for pizza. I talked with them and told them I met their Mom's friend Charlie. They were right about her friends being overdressed but she was quite striking.

I explained to them that their mother told me about a new club that would be opening up and she was getting the exclusive. I think they were at least glad that I knew what was going on. We ate our pizza and they each told me about school.

When Linda got home she told me how much I embarrassed her. She said I humiliated her. What the fuck! All I did was stop in and say hi to my wife. I knew when she was like this that it didn't do any good to argue with her. She even insinuated that I almost made her lose her exclusive story.

What the fuck was she hiding? I knew something was wrong here but couldn't put my finger on it. The first thing I thought of was maybe her friends were Lesbians. I never remember her ever saying anything about other women, other than the standard things like they were nice looking or she liked their clothing, things like that.

If I found out she was sleeping with other women I wasn't sure how I would handle it. Like a lot of guys, I saw porno tapes of two women or a man with two women. It was somewhat of a turn on but when I pictured my wife being one of the women it didn't seem so hot. Hell, she was the mother of my kids.

If she did sleep with this woman it might be something we could talk about. If she cheated on me with another man there was no way in hell I would even talk to her. Here I was thinking the worst and she might just be doing her job.

For the next couple of weeks she wouldn't hardly talk to me unless she had to. She acted nice at our son's graduation but I think it was just for show. Her parents and my parents were both there. We definitely had to talk about our marriage and where it might be headed. I hadn't had to stay away from home since I met Charlie. She hadn't gone out with her friends either. That even got me wondering.

On Wednesday I told her I would be gone Friday overnight but I'd be home Saturday morning. She didn't say anything to me and left for work. I really didn't have to stay anywhere but if what Becky said was true, Linda would be going out. The worst that would happen is that I would be wrong and spend a night in a motel.

I called home around eight in the evening and Bryan told me that his mother left to go out with her girlfriends. A woman had just come by and picked Linda up. She told Bryan she would be home late because they were going to a party in the next town. He told me the name of the club. I knew where it was. It wasn't the type of club where married women and mothers should be going.

I went in and was surprised how full the place was. It was a younger crowd with a lot of funky dressers and a lot of people with piercings. I got myself a drink and went up to the second floor. It was more of a balcony but there were a few tables there. I was hit on but I figured, she was a prostitute or at least a woman that worked the bar. I figured if she worked there she'd be good cover, since decided I would look pretty conspicuous sitting there by myself.

I bought her a drink, which was probably mostly soda but cost an arm and a leg and another for myself. She was talking to me and I was trying to pay attention to her but at the same time I wanted to find Linda. I finally located her on the lower level at a table with Lisa, a divorced friend of hers that she said she didn't hang around with anymore.

If she and Lisa were friends again I knew it was trouble. Lisa was accused in her divorce of running a whorehouse out of a bar she managed. Linda told me she never knew anything about it; I had no real reason at the time to not believe her. After Lisa got divorced, I heard she left town but now I remember it was Linda that told me that.

They were with two other women that seemed overdressed again. One was Charlie and I had no idea who the other one was, but she seemed Asian. Charlie's one hand was holding Linda's but her other hand was on Linda's thigh. Mother fuck! I sat there awhile to see how much friendlier they would get. I was pretty far away but it looked like Linda was getting finger fucked by this woman.

Charlie seemed tall but was wearing really high heels. Next to Linda most women looked tall. The Asian woman seemed a bit shorter. Both looked glamorous, yet out of place.

The gal I was with was happy that I kept buying her drinks. That was her job, to get me to buy her as many drinks as possible and possibly to get me to have sex with her, for money, of course. Well, what the fuck, for everything else there's MasterCard, right?

She called herself Bambi and asked me if I wanted to get a room. She saw me watching Linda down below and asked me if that turned me on. She reached over and put her hand on my crotch and said, "It sure doesn't feel like it. What are you into? I can get it for you."

I told her I was having a bad day but maybe I'd be back another day. I saw Linda and the other three women get up and walk toward the door. I said goodbye to Bambi and gave her twenty dollars. I headed downstairs and followed my wife and her friends to the parking lot.

Linda got into a car with Charlie, while Lisa and the other woman got in another vehicle. Needless to say I followed Linda and they drove about a mile and into a motel. They didn't even stop at the check-in counter. They must have had the room already reserved and had gotten their keycards.