Geralds Big Decision

Author's Foreword: Once again the BTBers will be pissed, and I continue to try to reduce the complexity of what I want to say without the story coming across as trite. These people do not live next door and there is no hot sex, as usual.

*****

Gerald Sudbeck pulled off the divided highway and turned down a state highway towards a neighboring town near their own small town. He said to his wife sitting beside him, "Judy, the engine is breathing fumes and if I don't refuel soon we will be pushing it home." Soon he pulled the car up to the gas pumps. Before he got out to pump the gas, however, he reached under the seat and pulled out a large brown envelope and handed it to Judy. He said, "Please study this while I fill up. I'll explain later."

With a what-the-hell-does-this-mean look on his wife's face she opened the envelop and pulled out an 8 x 10 glossy photo. It showed their son's best friend on top of her in fucking her in the missionary position, naked. Judy's house coat was open and her legs were raised and wrapped around her 18 year old lover. Mrs. Judy Sudbeck instantly fainted although her husband wasn't aware of this as he was refueling the SUV.

The couple had just returned from saying goodbye to their son, Craig. Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Sudbeck, Gere and Judy, had watched their 19 year old disappear behind the TSA Security Checkpoint at Dulles Airport. Afterwards they had quietly driven home. Craig was flying to Texas where he had been accepted at his Dad's Longhorn Alma Mater to study Electrical Engineering. The Dad had recently rented his son an apartment and had bought a bicycle for him in Austin and both were awaiting his arrival. The bike was for traveling around the sprawling campus. Once the limo service dropped Craig off at the address read off to him, getting himself moved in would be easy. Also, there were several candidate room mates who the landlord had lined up for the Craig to interview later.

The student was a National Merit finalist and the undisputed local wizard technically. He also played Cello in the state youth orchestra. With his best friend Jason, who was one year older than him and a piano protege since childhood, the two had played a few gigs to perform at anniversary, wedding, and grand house parties in and near their wooded hometown during the past three years while in high school. Both were born and grew up in this sleepy wooded town.

Gerald (Gere) Sudbeck was a HVAC design and building climate automation consultant and construction manager. He worked half time from his home, an hour or so distant from Dulles, and traveled globally for the remainder of his work time. Each time he returned from a trip his thought driving home was to someday create his own engineering firm so he could pay someone else to do all the traveling. He was good at what he did and won sealed bid as well as time and material jobs when doing warranty work or repairing screw ups. He often turned down new business opportunities reluctantly. He had worked in all phases of mechanical systems since high school and now held a PhD in Physics from the University of Texas.

Judy was an English writing and literature professor and once upon a time a highly visible Modern Language Association officer. But she gave up that high-profile position for a tenured professorship for small pay at the tiny Liberal Arts College nestled in beautiful woods a few miles from their home. She taught all the language courses at this Denominational institution near Stanlyton.

At 41 she was the prettiest and sexiest of faculty ladies at school as competition from the other ladies was non-existent. Over the years she became close friends with many in the community and an enemy of a very few. For example, she hosted Bridge Club parties and small dinner parties for faculty and other friends.

Jason Booker, the older of the two young pals, was destined for great things in the classical piano world. He also was almost another son to Judy and Gere. He lived frugally nearby with his widowed Mother, Jean Booker, who taught all the business math courses at the college. She officed next to Judy Sudbeck on the campus. Jean, too, once made the big bucks as a high profile accounting professor in a named school and had made substantial money during tax season, on the side. Now, the mother and son lived on her meager salary plus a small annuity cash flow her deceased husband had left her. Jason and, to a lesser extent, his mother spent many hours visiting in the spacious and ornate Sudbeck showplace home. The protege loved to go there because they had a 9 foot grand piano, while at home he had to practice and meet with his teacher on a worn out upright. The Sudbeck's had given him a key to their Performance Room that housed their beautiful piano in which they entertained friends and faculty so that he could come and go as he wished.

Jason's additional claim to fame in the small community was his athletic ability - he was tall and had been the captain of the high school Basketball and Track team and was well liked. In that respect he was like his deceased father.

Jason's father had been a a very Black Pro athlete and his mother was a blue eyed, blond hair woman descended from Vikings. Their offspring was noticeably a Black in appearance, but ethnically he appeared White, with his light skin, at least at first glance. Finding dates was never a problem for him but his sex drive seemed to have been replaced by the burning desire to get into Julliard to pursue a concert pianist career.

With that goal in mind, countless hours were spent at preferably the Sudbeck's keyboard or otherwise at his own. He had performed Chopin and Liszt at recitals where the overwhelmingly excited small audience would not stop calling for encores. His very proud mother along with Mrs. Sudbeck and Craig were always in attendance - and Gere was there as well when he was in town.

Six months ago Jean Booker and her son took a Greyhound bus to New York to register Jason at the famed Julliard school where he would be attending on full tuition scholarships. Jean watched her son sleep soundly as she glowed with pride while the Greyhound made its way up the New Jersey Turnpike. She recalled her meeting Jason's Dad when she was a Freshman in college 26 years ago.

The local championship Pro team was being honored by the city in a parade. The float stopped right in front of Jean and eye contact was made between Jean and a second string player, Marvin Booker. He held out a card and Jean broke ranks from her friends and got the card from the player. She put it in her designer jeans and forgot it for the time being.

In time she called the number on the card and he answered, "Marvin Booker." They both remembered the incident of their first eye contact and arranged to get together. He right away took her cherry and Jean's addiction to the athlete started. On the fifth weekend meeting for sex, Marvin was keen on sharing her with his friends but she absolutely refused and broke up with him at that moment, very upset and went home to talk to her ailing mother. Her mother's counsel was to 'seek Jesus' and she did. Jean set about organizing her life so that she could finish her degree, and afterwards sit for the CPA exams.

Jean became very studious and religious and went on to graduate school and even earned a PhD, in time, got a tenure-track assistant professorship at a famed college. She did taxes in the early part of each year and developed quite a small business following. In time she 'backslid' from her Mom's teaching again, and she restarted dating and usually had sex on about the second or third date with the string of men who found her attractive when she was attracted to them. In moments of lust such as these her mind always raced back to Marvin Booker - "I wonder what ever happened to him?"

The first Sunday night in April, 20 years ago, Jean was in a rented office she subleased during tax season at about 10:00 P.M. Someone pushed the buzzer at the street level and she answered, "This is Sunshine Tax Service, may I help you?"

The voice came back from the street, "I am Marvin Booker from Seaboard Drywall Contractors and my bookkeeper says I need a professional to look at my business taxes this year and recommended you."

Jean thought as she looked at her appointment list of her regulars and said, "Tell me your gross sales and how many employees."

Having heard the name she half listened to his descriptions and thought, "Is it just a coincidence? He doesn't sound like my Marvin, but he might be. I can not possibly work him in to my schedule but he might be my Marvin?" She then replied, "Do you have all your documents with you?"

"Yes."

She pressed the unlock buzzer while giving the office number and said, "Come on up."

Her Marvin walked into her small office carrying a plastic hanging file holder by its handle. Both froze on looking at each other. Finally her former lover said, "Jean, I think about you everyday, and I have changed in that I no longer party or 'talk the game' with peers or half-ass do anything. I work 18 hour days managing as many as four sub-contracted jobs at once. A thousand times I have regretted trying to mix you up in my party world of the chumps I hung with in those days. Please give me another chance? I still love you, as I did then. But I don't know why I once was so horrible and mixed up. I can only ask that you forgive me."

Jean stood and smiled, business as usual, and said, "Thank you for pulling yourself together after your basketball career. You look healthy enough so let me see how successful you are," as she pointed to his plastic cabinet.

At 12:45 A.M. she signed and he signed the tax filing forms for the Federal and state. After bundling up his papers and standing to leave, Marvin said, "I would like to walk you to your car and take you to dinner the first Saturday night after tax day. May I?"

She replied, "Oh thank you for being my security. Let me think about whether or not we should get involved again, however. If I agree, it won't be in a moment of lust. I have your number, I will call you, Marvin, one way or the other, after the season is over."

Back in the present Jean watched her peacefully sleeping son on the moving bus and marveled, "So, I am bursting with pride at my child-prodigy now grown up son, fathered by an abusive lover who became my abusive husband who just could not stop himself from going back to his old ways. I then fell in love with a gentle man at an academic conference. Marvin was petrified with grief when I told him but agreed to our divorce. Two days after he was served, his grief and depression was so severe until he suicided by taking a bottle of muscle pain pills.

"One month after his burial, my academician, the only man I ever loved, wrote me a short note that said, 'Dear Jean, I am remarrying Vivian and this is good bye.' Now I will never again experience the ecstasy that Marvin gave me or the gentle, what-life-is-all-about type of love that the Department Head gave me. My son and his career will bloom and and my fate is to be alone forever. So be it. Maybe Mom was right - it's the wages of sin."

On arrival in New York City Jean managed the checking in and getting him set up in student housing associated with Julliard. She said to her 20 year old son, "It is impossible to tell you how proud I am of the opportunity you now have to attend the best school in the world. The living expenses will be very high but I will get a second job if necessary to pay them."

"Oh, thank you Mom. I also thank you for very good guidance growing up. But, Craig's Mom insisted that I eat good healthy food and if I couldn't afford it she would help, so don't worry about me. You will be alone now, Mom, and you need to focus on the direction of your life - is a new love possible?"

Jean gave him a motherly smile and said, "Thanks for reminding me son, and that may or may not come. But, we must not forget that we are so lucky to have had the Sudbeck's as friends and mentors because there is no way I could have provided the opportunities growing up so that you might become a world-class pianist someday. God has been very good to us ever since your Dad took his own life when you were a third grader."

"Mom, I am quite certain I could earn a living playing Rock or Blues in a band if I had to, although that world offers nothing for my soul. So, I agree luck is definitely on my side to get this opportunity. I will exploit my good luck and have every intention of succeeding."

Back on the Sudbeck's trip home from Dulles, Gere finished pumping the gasoline and returned to his car. He was alarmed that his wife was out cold from having fainted, he presumed. So he gently slapped her face and poured water on her and wiped it off with a tissue. She finally sat up but said nothing. The only sign that something was wrong was that all the blood had drained from her face and she was speechless.

Gere said to her, "The photo was extracted from security video footage taken in key areas when the motion detection switch was triggered. If you will recall we contracted to have this high end security system set up right after we moved into the house because of your and my expensive art and artifacts we both inherited."

Fifteen minutes later they pulled into the circular driveway of their prize winning house. Southebys had recently told him to ask one million five when he lists it for sale. The performance room was set off from the rest of the house and parking places for a dozen cars were available for the frequent times they had visitors. There was a connected passage way from the house to the Performance Room, where their grand piano was housed. The house itself was middle 20th Century rambling architecture set on six acres and had appeared as a photo in many magazines.

Gere parked near the main door of the residence structure and got out, saying nothing to his wife. He unlocked and opened the massive wooden door to their home and then disarmed the alarm and went straight to the master bedroom. He got out two suit cases and started packing clothes and toiletries. He earlier had packed two boxes of business items from his office.

He rolled the two suitcases out the front door towards the hatchback door of his BMW. His wife sat petrified and still was unable to speak. He returned with two boxes on a dolly and placed them in the back.

By this time his wife had exited his BMW and silently stood by the back hatch door as Gere approached with the boxes. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out and her face was still ghostly white. At that point a pick up truck rumbled into place behind the BMW and an overweight driver lumbered towards the two. He said, "Mrs. Judy Gleason Sudbeck," while looking at the woman?"

She finally shook her head and whispered, "Yes."

"You have been served," handing her a thick envelop.

Judy almost fainted again except she held on to the hatchback, still having said nothing to her husband.

Gere returned to the house to load his digital electronic items, and continued to check each off of a list as he loaded it so that nothing would be forgotten. He closed the lid and locked his car and said to his wife, "I am going to use the crapper but I will be on my way after that."

Ten minutes later he returned only to see Judy standing by his car door. She finally could only say, "Please talk to me, Gere."

"No, Judy. My attorney is Joe Hoskins. The terms in the petition split our joint assets acquired after we were married 50-50. But you should get your own attorney. The four of us will talk about any contested issues together in a joint lawyer conference later. My anger Is so close to boiling over right now until ..." at which point Gere's fists were painfully clenched. Tears streamed down his face, and nausea tugged at his stomach. He got into his car and drove away leaving Judy standing where she was. When he was alone he finished his previous thought out-loud, "I might go nuts and you might become unsafe!" He drove a half hour to a bedroom community nearer Dulles and unloaded his SUV into his previously rented apartment.

——

Judy Sudbeck stood in her driveway and continued 'talking to her husband' as if they were in a conversation even though Gere's SUV had driven out of sight a couple of minutes ago. She then went into their empty house and took out a nearly full bottle of wine. She gulped a generous swig from the bottle and continued 'talking'. After several drinks on her empty stomach she slurred, "Yes, Jason seduced me when he was an eleventh grader. He spent so many hours on our piano bench until I would sometimes rub his aching back and neck and turn the pages of his sheet music while sitting beside him. I graded papers often on the small couch in there while I listened to him magically play several Chopin Nocturnes he had already learned.

"Once when you were working in Jakarta and Craig was throwing his paper route, Jason stood and grabbed me pressing my body to his after I had been turning sheet music pages for him. I felt his erection as I was fighting to free myself from his grasp pleading with him to stop. He then reached into my housecoat and grabbed my pussy and I squirted a stream into his hand. I saw him lick his hand and I was electrified with a desire that I couldn't control. I lay down on the throw rug and he took me - I was his first sex partner. For several days after that I noticed that his ability to play the delicately flowing notes also diminished and got worse. And so we had a talk and agreed that we did a horrible thing and to pretend the sex never happened. My relationship with both you and Craig improved, but Jason never quite got back up to the skill level he had before. I will hate myself forever primarily because I cheated, but secondarily he probably will not come back to the skill level he had. And, yes, I am the Bitch that is responsible for that! Worse he started playing that dreadful blues and pop music - but stopped when I finally told him that he was not welcome to use our piano to play that. So, from then on he only played and learned new classical pieces at our house. I no longer engaged in touching him or even sitting beside him turning pages."

It finally dawned on Judy that she had been talking to herself, that Gere wasn't here - nobody was here. Then she remembered that even the housekeeper would not be coming in for two days. She got up to fix some food all the while racking her brain trying to think of someone to talk to and what could they talk about before she went completely mad. She went to a large portrait of her Mother on the wall and said, "Mom, what have I done? I need you so badly!" She finished off the wine bottle with her food and fell in bed about to fall into a lush's sleep when the bedside house phone rang.

She fumbled to grab the phone and hoping against hope that Gere was calling, and answered it, "Hello."

"Hi Mom, I just let Dad know that the limo has delivered me and my suitcases and boxes into my apartment safe and sound. But, he said that he is in an apartment closer to Dulles but wouldn't give me any details. What is going on? It sounds like you guys are splitting up since I am no longer in your hair. Care to enlighten me?"

She replied, "Not tonight son, but perhaps later. Whatever happens between us doesn't change the fact that we both love you and are very proud of you."

"Have you been drinking, Mom?"

"Yes, and I need to sleep it off. Thanks for calling and take care of yourself - I heard those Texans fight with fists a lot, is that true?"

"Heh heh Not quiet, Mom, sleep well."

——

By the time Craig Sudbeck hung up talking to his Mom he was shaking inside, in spite of his facade of calmness and humor he radiated to both parents. Trying to think analytically, he said to himself, "I wonder if she caught him fucking around or he caught her fucking around? Well, they are 21 and certainly know they are responsible for all their decisions. There is really nothing I can do except hope for the best and that my 529 funds will continue to stream over the coming months. But, after the analysis he finally broke down and started crying in spite of his attempt to think of their separation as a personal matter of theirs.