Evil Woman, Pt. 01
As always, constructive comments are always welcome and appreciated.
Please refer to my profile for more on my personal policy regarding comments, feedback, follows, etc.
(Yes, I moderate comments...)
And remember, this is a work of fiction, meaning that it is not real in any way, shape, matter or form.
"You made a fool of me... But them broken dreams have got to end...
"Hey, woman, you got the blues; 'Cause you ain't got no one else to use..."
I hit the button on the radio, changing to one of those all-night talk shows that ramble on about seeing Bigfoot or UFOs. I had heard that same song repeatedly in the last few hours and I was sick of hearing it. Why, you ask. Simple -- it reminded me too much of the woman I walked away from. I take that back. I didn't walk -- I RAN!
Let me start from the beginning. My name is Stan Shipman and for the last five years, I've been married to Lucy, formerly Lucy Dalton. We were sweethearts in high school and I thought we were soul mates. We married right out of high school -- yeah, a big mistake, I know. But we were so much in love with each other we thought we could make an honest go of it. Boy, was I wrong.
Money wasn't an issue. I'm a welder by trade, been doing it since I was a kid. My dad was a welder and he taught me everything I needed to know. I've been putting metal together since I was big enough to handle a welder safely. I always wanted to join my dad on job sites when I was younger, but couldn't -- union rules and insurance regulations prevented it.
But my dad did fabrication at home on the side and he was always giving me stuff to do. It was a great learning experience for me and I enjoyed doing it. I went to school for welding after I graduated from high school, but got bored with the classes since I already knew all this shit, so I tested out, blowing all the instructors away.
I got my certificate and went straight to work. Because I already had lots of experience and could do fabrication and fitting in addition to welding, I got paid good money, especially when I had to travel for big jobs out of state. I even did underwater welding and made a ton of money doing that. I made enough to put Lucy through college and now she's a paralegal working for some hotshot law firm downtown.
So why am I running? And why am I now on the freeway in the middle of the night? The answer to that is the two-legged creature I married and her evil "friend." Oh yeah, Lucy was all sweetness and light when we were younger. But things have a way of changing, and they did.
Don't get me wrong. I loved the woman, and I was more than happy to pay for her college. Her parents were convinced I'd have to go into hock up to my neck to make it happen. They underestimated me, though, big time. They were just as proud of me as they were of her the day she graduated. Better yet, she graduated without having a dime of student debt to pay back, thanks to me.
But things went to shit after she started working for the law firm of McMaster and Fredricks. The first couple months were okay, but as time went on, they got worse.
To start with, some of her female colleagues were, for lack of a better phrase, a bad influence on her. Lucy began going out with them for "girls night out" once a week -- usually on Wednesday nights. I didn't mind at first, since she was normally home early enough for us to enjoy the evening together and I was frequently away on a job site busting my ass.
But as time went on, she started going out Wednesday AND Friday nights. What pissed me off was that Fridays used to be our date night. When I reminded Lucy, her response was, "We can always go out on Saturdays. I deserve this time with friends."
Then she started staying out later and later. It got to the point that she was out until early Saturday morning. If I tried calling her number to see if she was alright, the call always went to voicemail. I finally had had enough and sat her down to talk about it.
"We need to talk," I said one Saturday morning over coffee.
"About what?" she asked.
"These Friday night parties of yours," I said. "Friday used to be our date nights. But lately, you've been out until nearly 4:00 am Saturday mornings. What the hell's going on? I hardly ever see you anymore."
"The girls from the office and I like to go out and unwind with a few drinks," she said. "And sometimes we dance. That's all."
"I know those clubs are usually closed by 1:00 am at the latest," I told her. "But you've been out a lot later than that. What's going on? Are you seeing someone else?"
"Of course not," she said with a heavy sigh. "If you really must know, we sometimes go get a bite to eat afterward."
"Yeah, but until 4:00 am?" I asked.
"Sometimes," Lucy said.
"Well, this shit needs to stop," I told her. "You have to make a decision. You're either my wife or their friend. They already see you more than I do. I didn't mind one night with the girls, but I feel like you're taking advantage of me."
"I'm sorry," she said. "If you want, I'll stop going out with the girls on Fridays."
"I think that would be a good idea," I said. "That way we can maybe spend some time together." She nodded her head in agreement and went to take a shower. I took the opportunity to grab her phone out of her purse and installed a phone finder app so I could keep track of where she was. Part of me hated doing it, but I felt as though I needed to, just for my own peace of mind.
Things were okay for a few weeks, but Lucy went right back into her old habits and soon, she was right back to going out on Wednesday and Friday nights. I had to find out what the hell was going on, so I fired up the phone finder app and figured out where she was.
After I got off work that Friday, I cleaned up a bit, then headed to the club where she and her friends were. It wasn't really much of a club, more like a bar with a DJ and a dance floor. I walked in and spotted her right off, sitting with a group of about four women and three men. I noticed that Lucy was pretty chummy with one guy sitting next to her. Too chummy, if you know what I mean. I also noticed she was wearing something much sexier than she had put on that morning.
They were completely oblivious to my presence until I was right at their table. Everyone but Lucy looked up at me and the guy next to her spoke up.
"What do you want?" he asked, putting on an attitude as if he was going to kick my ass.
"I just got off work and thought I'd get a beer," I said, causing Lucy to look up at me, surprised. "So here I walk into this bar and look what I find. Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Lucy looked around, nervous. She was obviously embarrassed.
"Everybody," she said. "This is Stan. He's my husband," she added as an afterthought. "Stan, this is everybody."
"Well hello, everybody," I said sarcastically. I saw that she wasn't wearing her wedding or engagement rings. "Did you happen to forget something?" She saw that I was looking at her left hand.
"I, uh, took my rings off so I wouldn't lose them," she said. Bullshit, I thought to myself. But I decided not to push it.
"I see," I said. The guy next to her stood up and puffed out his chest. He offered a hand so I took it.
"Jake," he said. "Jake Rollins. Lucy and I work together. A lot," he added with a smirk. The others chuckled a bit, except for Lucy. He squeezed my hand in a vain attempt to intimidate me and establish himself as the alpha male. He wasn't able to, so I returned the squeeze and did my best to crush his soft, effeminate hand in mine. I could see he was in pain, so I let up. "I was just gonna ask your wife to dance, if that's alright," he said, rubbing his hand. I looked at Lucy.
"Is that right?" I asked her. She looked at me and slowly nodded her head. I thought this might be a chance to get some insight into what was really going on so I nodded my head and gave him permission.
"Yeah," I said. "Just watch your hands. And know that's MY wife and I WILL be watching you." He nodded his head as Lucy scooted out of her seat. After she was up, I sat in the seat formerly occupied by Jake and ordered a beer. Most of the others had already left for parts unknown.