Fallout 07: The Boss
This is the seventh installment of a new series called, "Fallout" that deals with the consequences of cheating.
The current plan is that each entry in the series can be read as a separate story.
The following was inspired by a number of stories dealing with wives who cheat with their husband's boss.
Yes, there are consequences...
Many thanks to those who offered comments and constructive criticism on my previous stories.
For those who want to say this or that would never happen, remember this is my universe, a place where nearly anything can, and often does, happen.
At least on paper...
Please refer to my profile for more on my personal policy regarding comments, feedback, follows, etc.
(Yes, I DO moderate comments)
And please remember, this is a work of fiction, not a docu-drama...
...
I've seen it said that the opposite of love is indifference. Right now, I would disagree. For me, anyway, the opposite of love is hate -- blind, seething hatred. I used to love my wife with all my heart and soul. I would've done anything for her, even taken a bullet. But that's not the case anymore. She tore my heart out and destroyed my once-happy life. And now, it's time for me to destroy hers.
The house was dark as I slowly crept up the stairs, doing my best to keep from giving myself away. Of course, the two cheaters in what was once the master bedroom I used to share with my wife couldn't hear me anyway, what with all the racket they were making.
I got to the door of the bedroom, which was only partially closed, and pushed it the rest of the way open with the 12 gauge pump shotgun I had with me. There they were -- my soon-to-be ex-wife, Alice, and my boss, Jake Harmon. He was pumping furiously between her spread legs while she grunted with each stroke.
I pumped a round into the chamber and watched as the two fuckers stopped and stared at me, surprised. There's nothing quite like the sound of a round being pumped into the chamber of a shotgun to get someone's attention. Jake got off Alice, his still-hard dick jutting out in front of him.
"What are you doing here, wimp?" he asked. "You're supposed to be in Jonesboro. Why are you here? You wanna watch a real man fuck your wife? Is that it? Are you some kinda pervert or something?" Alice giggled at that.
"Yeah, baby, he wants to watch a real man give it to me good," she said. "Maybe he wants to eat your cum outta my pussy." Jake laughed as he stepped toward me. That's when it began.
I said nothing as I fired a round at his crotch, blowing his private parts to kingdom come. He screamed in pain as he fell to the floor. Alice's screams joined his almost in perfect harmony. I pumped and fired again, this time taking off the top half of Jake's head. Alice kept screaming, so I turned my attention to her.
The first round silenced her screams as it removed most of her face. The next fifteen rounds left her a bloody mess on the top of the bed. I wasn't finished, and kept firing, alternating between Jake and Alice. At one point I looked down and saw my feet were almost buried in a pile of spent shotgun shells. Damn, I wondered. How many rounds are in this thing? I kept pumping and firing round after round into the goo that was once Jake and Alice.
I finally stopped, my rage now gone. The room reeked of gunpowder and I could see smoke hanging in the air like a thick blanket. I looked at the bloody mess before me and knew my life was over. Once the police arrived, they would probably shoot me dead. If they didn't, I would probably end up on death row. No, thanks. I checked and found I still had one round left. I put the muzzle of the shotgun under my chin, then reached down and pulled the trigger with my right hand.
...
I sat up in my bed, my body soaked with sweat. At first, I didn't recognize my surroundings. Then it came back to me. I was at a Day's Inn in Jonesboro, Arkansas, and had been since Sunday. It was now early Thursday morning. I was here to take care of a customer upgrade at Jake's direction. The job was finished on Wednesday and I had wrapped up my paperwork before going to bed. I had planned on driving back after checking out of the hotel after sunrise.
As my head cleared from the remnants of the nightmare, I caught my breath and looked at the clock. It was only 3:30 am. Shit, I thought. I'll never be able to get back to sleep. I got up out of bed, washed my face, then made a cup of coffee. I turned the television on, and tried to calm myself down.
This wasn't the first time I had experienced the nightmare, and something told me it wouldn't be the last. It had been like this almost every night for the last week, since I first learned of Alice's betrayal. Each nightmare had been quite similar, with the only variation being my weapon of choice. I remember one time I dreamed that I was carrying a mini-gun and had shredded both their bodies with thousands of rounds of ammunition.
In another dream, I actually carried a rocket-propelled grenade and blew them -- along with the bedroom -- into oblivion. Then there was the dream where I actually used a nuclear device and destroyed half the county along with the two cheaters.
Mind you, I'm not normally a violent man, and even though I spent four years in the Marine Corps, had never once fired a weapon in anger. Sure, I have a few guns, including a 12 gauge shotgun -- hell, everyone in these parts has a gun or two. But I never once considered using any of them against another human being. Until recently, that is. Why the change, you ask. Let me tell you...
My name is Thomas Jefferson Langley. My parents had a thing for history, so I was saddled with the name from birth. My sister and only sibling was named after Betsy Ross -- seriously. I joined the Marines straight out of high school and was made a Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defense Specialist.
With the exception of a one-year tour to Okinawa, Japan, my time was spent stateside, mostly working as an instructor. My last six months in the service, I was one of the guys who ran the gas chamber at the base where I was stationed. I realized early on in my military service there was little to no use for someone with my skills in the civilian world, so I went to school and got a degree in networks and business.
It took three years to finish my two-year degree, so I got out at the end of my four-year stint and went back to school using my benefits. When I graduated, I went to work as an account representative for Empire Tech Solutions, a nationwide IT company headquartered at my home town in Missouri.
I met Alice when I was doing a survey at the local newspaper. She worked as an editor and was one of the people who decided what photographs would work best with their articles. We talked, dated, fell in love and eventually got married. That was five years ago.
The next four and a half years were good ones. Alice and I got along quite well, and enjoyed spending time together whenever we could. We made love several times a week and began to talk about having children. We made pretty good money, so we bought an old four-bedroom farmhouse in the country that sat on four acres. It needed some work, but we both loved it. She liked the fact that it was a bit rustic, and I liked the separate shop that sat on the property. Both of us also liked the fact that the master bedroom had its own gas fireplace. And there was plenty of room for children.
Then the world went to shit -- at least for me. My boss, Bill Michaels, retired, and the company began searching for his replacement. I thought this would be a golden opportunity for me, so I applied for the job. I didn't get it, but I was told by Jon Carlson, the man in charge of the company's service operations nationwide, that I was seriously considered, but the Board selected someone else -- Jake Harmon.
I looked up Harmon on the company intranet, and found that he was being moved here from Boston, where he worked as the senior account representative for the northeast region of the country. He had a bit more seniority than me, but not that much. His uncle also happened to be one of the senior members of the Board of Directors. Naturally, he got the job. I studied the picture of his face and took an instant dislike to him. There was something about that crooked smile of his that just screamed, "trouble."
He came on board and made all the rounds. The women in the office took to him like a moth to a flame. He stood a few inches taller than me, and was quite muscular. He smiled that crooked smile as he shook my hand the first time we met.
"Well, I finally get to meet my opposition," he said. "I'm told you almost got my job. Don't worry, I won't let that interfere with our relationship."
"I'm glad to hear that," I told him. He smiled, then left my office. Something about him really set me off, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. I told Alice about it one night after dinner.
"Why don't you invite him over for dinner one night," she said. "Maybe you can break the ice with him. Is he married?" I shook my head.
"I don't think so," I said. "I didn't see that in his online bio."
"Maybe he's just a bit lonely," she said. "A single guy in a new town surrounded by strange faces. It can't be easy for him adjusting, especially after living in Boston."
"Maybe you're right," I said. The next day I invited him to dinner and he eagerly accepted my invitation. "And feel free to bring the family if you want," I told him.
"There's no family," he said. "It's just me. But I'd love to come have dinner with you and your wife. Thanks for the invite. Should I bring anything?"
"Just your appetite," I said.
"Okay," he said. "I'll be there." He arrived at the house on time and we had a good evening, overall. We got to know each other a bit and I thought we had established a bit of a rapport. Alice went all out, making a pot roast with potatoes and vegetables. She even put some in a Tupperware container for him to take home.
"He doesn't seem like such a bad guy," Alice said after he left. "You two seemed to get along okay."
"Yeah, I guess," I said. Still, I had doubts niggling in the back of my mind. "That was a wonderful pot roast, by the way. Let me help you with the dishes, then I'll thank you properly upstairs," I added, giving her a swat on the rear end. She giggled, then pranced into the dining room to start putting things away. The next day at work, Jake came by my office.
