Happy Anniversary Dear

It has been some time since I last posted a story. I'm a great "starter" and I have numerous finished and partly done stories, none of which seem to me to be good enough to post. To the half-dozen or so of you who have continued to e-mail me your encouraging comments over the past months, a sincere "Thank You". I've decided to give it another try.

This is one story I wrote quite a while ago and in an effort to at least get started again, I have done a little work on it for posting. Only you the readers can decide if it's any good.

(There are no explicit descriptions of sex in this story)

***

Harry's Story:

***

I can make a plan and I can follow it through, but when circumstances pop up, I sometimes adjust.

Sometimes my adjustments get me into trouble!

Sometimes the trouble is worth it!

Sometimes it's not!

Jess and I were coming up to our 10th wedding anniversary and I had been planning something really special and "circumstances popped up" and I adjusted . . . sort of!

I think that to understand the significance of this, you need to have some background.

This is not the first marriage for either of us. Jess caught her husband Ron, my cousin, fucking his secretary and although she didn't throw him out right away, after months of counseling and self recrimination, she found out his secretary wasn't the only one he was doing and she finally brought the marriage to an end.

Similarly, Ginny, my first wife seemed to think that when she was traveling out of town on business, that a little on the side was an O.K. thing. I guess it was O.K. with her but it wasn't O.K. with me and we too went the counseling route until it came out that she and Charlie Bickers, her boss, had been doing this once or twice a year since before our wedding, so I up and packed in our marriage too.

At first Jess and I simply kept each other company. Ginny and I had spent a lot of time with Jess and Ron and considered ourselves good friends and, after the failure of our marriages, neither of us was anxious to have another go at it, but neither were we about to become social hermits.

We were initially hampered in our efforts to keep each other company by Ginny, my ex, who kept trying for almost 18 months after our divorce to get us back together. She did the "normal" things. She quit her job working with Charlie, she claimed that it was "just sex", that she loved only me, that it only happened when she and Charlie were at the semi annual convention away from town and, they thought, away from any chance of getting caught and overall it was so unimportant to them that at some of the conventions, they didn't bother to get together at all (Whoopee shit for them!) but there was no way I was going to reconcile and she finally gave up.

When Ginny finally quit her quest, it started for Jess and I when we were both invited to a family wedding (remember she was married to my cousin) and we somehow agreed to attend together.

We did, and we both enjoyed ourselves and we somehow fell into the habit of getting together once every six or seven weeks to attend some sort of family function or to have dinner or maybe see a movie. Without us really realizing it, the events became more frequent and as soon as that happened, we began to be treated like a couple by most everyone we knew.

At some point I managed to get it through my thick head that I really enjoyed being with her and that I wanted more out of our relationship, whatever that relationship was.

I don't think I've ever been more frightened in my life!

I wanted her badly but I knew that if she were offended or didn't feel the same, when I made my move, it could spoil a real fine friendship.

The day I decided to tell her I was a nervous wreck. I hemmed and hawed forever before I finally blurted out that I would like her to go away with me for the weekend on a "real" date.

I needn't have worried. Once I finally got it out, she smiled a terrific smile, kissed me like I had really wanted her to all along and then said yes.

Not without each of us first establishing what we expected out of a marriage and what each of us would do without a moment's hesitation if we didn't get it, we got married 7 months later. Now here we were, 10 years after that.

Jess had been dropping hints for quite some time that this anniversary was special and therefore we should be doing something special. So . . . I planned something I thought was special.

The actual date of our anniversary fell on a Wednesday so, in my feeble and traditional mind, an appropriate day for a celebration would be the following Saturday . . . Right?

Apparently . . . wrong!

A dozen roses and a nice card on the actual anniversary day, along with an invitation to a "special" dinner the following Saturday was not met with the enthusiastic response I was hoping for.

I had been hoping for an enthusiastic response, not only because it was our anniversary, but also because we recently had had a few words about her and Billy Coombs. Billy is a local yokel who thinks he's God's gift to women and at the annual golf club dinner and dance a couple of weeks earlier, he had made it a point to spend a good deal of the evening with Jess. I am on the club's executive and like my fellow officers, I had to take a turn sharing the officiating duties and so Jess was left to fend on her own for a while and Billy moved right in.

I was a little pissed!

That's not true!

I was a LOT pissed and I made sure Jess knew it as soon as I got back to our table and I kept it up while we were on our way home.

I'm sure she knew, just as I did, that Billy had been the cause of more than one marital breakdown in our community.

The end result of my tantrum was that now Jess was pissed at me, over my "lack of confidence and trust". I pointed out that Billy was always on the prowl and that he would not hesitate to make a move on her the first time he saw an opening, but Jess thought I was over reacting.

So, you can see why I was kind of thinking that the flowers and the card would start to patch things up.

Jess said, "Thank you." and gave me a very nice card and a beautiful watch engraved with "Love Always, Jess" on the back.

The flowers looked a little poorly by comparison and Jess, without any real enthusiasm that I could detect, said "Thank you." then went on about whatever it was she was doing at the time.

The next day, Thursday, I decided to go home at noon and surprise Jess with an invitation to lunch but as you have so often read in other Literotica stories, it was me who got the surprise.

When I came into the house, I could hear Jess on the phone, which was not so unusual, but the instant I heard her say, "Be patient Billy." I started to pay close attention.

To summarize, from what I could understand from hearing only one side of the conversation, she had agreed to meet Billy at "The Horn" Saturday afternoon, making it clear that she had to be back in time for our dinner later in the evening. I was determined that if she actually went to meet him, there would be no dinner that evening, nor any other time for that matter.

The Horn, is short for the Longhorn Motel and Tavern just on the outskirts of town and if she really met him there, she would be in for one hell of a surprise.

I backed quietly out of the door and went back to my office. Gord Rathers is my Chief Financial Officer and he and his wife Carla are our best friends. I went directly to his office and, after swearing him to secrecy, I told him what I had heard. He and Carla had been at the dance and had seen what transpired and now he was all for confronting Jess right there and then. It seemed to me, however, that if I did that and she decided not to meet Billy, it wouldn't have the same impact as if she decided not to go on her own, which I much preferred. The compromise was that I would let Jess do what she decided on her own but that if she actually went there, so would I.

Thursday night was tense but we somehow got through it although it was obvious, at least to me, that Jess was somewhat preoccupied. She spent a lot of time on the telephone that night but I managed to confirm that she was talking to our friend Carla.

Friday morning I was up and out to the office early and only briefly saw Jess as I was leaving.

Friday night brought on another surprise.

A very disappointing one!

Carla and Gord dropped over for a few drinks and that certainly relieved the tension . . . temporarily, until Carla announced that she would be picking Jess up tomorrow afternoon to get "Girl's things done at the mall!". One look at Gord made it clear he had been caught off guard too and for the rest of the evening, which was mercifully short, the tension was back.

It wasn't any better the next day, Saturday, so I decided to drop a little hint. I said, "Jess, I'm really looking forward to tonight. We've done well to make it for these 10 years and I glad we've been able to stay true to each other and make it this far."

"Me too!" she responded, as if totally distracted.

At 4:00 PM when Carla arrived to pick up Jess, it was all I could do to avoid throwing myself at her and begging her not to go but I knew that would accomplish nothing. They were no sooner out of the driveway when Gord called. I needed to talk to someone and now, by virtue of his wife's involvement, he was in this too.

Gord is the calm, cool and collected type and by the time he picked me up and we talked all the way to The Horn, I calmed down a great deal and decided how I was going to adjust my plans and, with the support of my friend, I was getting more comfortable with what I had to do.

I made a couple of phone calls to get "all my ducks in a row" while we drove to the Horn.

I saw Carla's car parked out front signaling that the game was on! I walked in, spotted Jess at a booth with Coombs and I walked directly to their table.

Coombs was visibly frightened but Jess was shocked. I've heard the expression, the color drained from her face, but I actually saw it happen to Jess.

"Hi Jess." I said calmly, "Getting your girl's things done here at the mall?"

It seemed like a very, very long time before Jess managed to squeak out, "Harry, this isn't what it looks like!"

***

Jess's Story:

***

I'm married to one of the finest men I know. My only regret is that I didn't meet him before I met and married my first husband Ron. Harry is kind, considerate (both in and out of bed) and as good a friend as any woman could want.

That's not to say he's perfect. Like any other married couple, we have our differences but they're usually minor things that we can quickly get by.

Unfortunately, one of those "minor" incidences happened just before our 10th wedding anniversary and the fallout from that will last us the rest of our lives I am sure. We had been at the annual dinner and dance at our golf club and while Harry, my husband, was taking a turn doing the things that needed to be done, Billy Coombs decided to hit on me.

Now I'm no fool and although Billy is basically harmless if you are careful enough, no woman that I know, that knows him, will let him get too far. It's a matter of "give him an inch and he'll take a mile and a half", so I'm pretty sure I took care of it O.K.

I did have to lift his right hand a couple of times while we were dancing as it was getting dangerously close to my ass and I pushed back from him once as he tried to "accidentally" rub his erection against me. He was also full of his usual shit and went on about how, if I were his wife, he'd never leave me on my own like Harry had. He added that he could be a great friend and that if I were interested in having a drink and talking sometime, "just as friends of course" he'd be glad to oblige.

He must have bought me at least three drinks but I managed to stay with the one Harry got me before he went on duty. The large plant in the corner by our table may die from alcohol poisoning soon.

That's a little further than Billie has ever pushed me before and I laughed it off as do all my other friends who know him, but unfortunately Harry must have been watching and no sooner did he get back to our table that he started in on me.

Now, to tell the truth, it was kind of nice that my husband was a little jealous and if that had been all there was to it, our evening, the subsequent couple of weeks prior to our anniversary, and the anniversary dinner itself, might have been very, very different but, unfortunately, Harry was really pissed and too loud for my liking and I was embarrassed that he would dress me down in a manner that at least some people must have overheard.

I mean, for people to think I needed my husband to tell me what every other woman who has encountered Billy already knows, was bordering on humiliation . . . so I struck back.

We might have got past that O.K. but on our way home, Harry wouldn't let it go. "You just watch," he almost shouted out, "You've encouraged him and you'll hear from him inviting you out for a drink to "talk".

The word "talk" as you can well imagine was just dripping with sarcasm. I was pretty sure that I had adequately shut Billy down and now Harry was questioning my ability to handle myself.

Now I was really pissed!

Well, that night, as I said, I was really angry at Harry but a few tension filled days later I was even more pissed . . . pissed at myself because Billy called me to remind me that he was available to have a drink and talk "just as friends" any time I needed him to . . . just like my husband said he would and I had to make it very clear to Billy that I was NOT interested.

Damn! I hate it when Harry is right like that!

I thought of pushing away the tension still lasting from that night at the club by letting Harry know he was right all along, but I didn't. I was embarrassed at my own naiveté (and the fact that Harry turned out to be right) and I decided to approach him a different way and try to ease the strain. I talked about our coming anniversary and hinted that it might be nice if we had a party and invited our friends to join us in celebrating. I really wanted a party.

Harry blew that one out of the water by asking if I intended to invite Billy Coombs.

I might have blown my cool there and then but I reminded myself that Harry had been right about Billy the night of the dance and I hadn't come clean over his call, so I just let the comment go.

When Carla and I were out shopping a day or two later I found a wonderful watch for Harry and I had "Love Always, Jenny" engraved on the back. While we were waiting for the engraver to finish, we went to the food plaza for a coffee and we ran into Rhonda James, the local slut/gossip queen, who was quick to ask me if it were true that Billy Coombs and I were close friends. After overcoming my shock and no little anger, we managed to find out that Billy had been claiming to anyone who would listen that he and I were really close. There was apparently some hint, as well, that Harry and I weren't getting along.

Regrettably, our little tiff at the dance gave some credence to that rumor, at least to those who overheard us.

As I calmed down on our way home from the mall, Carla and I were discussing ways to somehow stick it to Billy when somehow, in a bout of extreme foolishness, we thought it would be a good idea for me to meet with Billy, in front of as many of his friends and others as possible, then cuss him out and put him down in front of them. Carla had suggested that I might even kick him in the balls to let everyone know what really good friends we are NOT!

We laughed at that but we soon found ourselves seriously planning just such an event when, of all things, Billy called again the following week. We discussed telling Gord and Harry but this had become a matter of woman's honor now and we both felt it was important to handle it ourselves, then tell the boys what we had done after it was done.

About noon on Thursday, I returned Billy's call and suggested we meet at the Horn on Saturday afternoon. When I spoke to him, Billy didn't want to wait that long so I had to tell him to "be patient" or it would be called off.

The Horn was usually crowded at that time and we would have a suitable audience. Once we had put him down, Carla could tell Gord and I would tell Harry at our anniversary dinner. I'm sure Harry will be angry at me doing it on my own but I was sufficiently embarrassed that I was determined to handle Billy myself and I felt that when I admitted to Harry that he was right all along, I was sure that would close the gap between us and lead to some romance on that special night.

We decided that we would tell the boys that Carla and I were going to do some girl's stuff at the mall Saturday afternoon and she would pick me up and we would go to the Horn to stick it to Billy.

I could tell that I had been altogether too cool to Harry. He did get me some flowers and a really nice card but I was distracted and didn't show the appreciation I really felt, so I was determined to make it up to him after our dinner. He gave me a little "in" when he commented on how well we had done to make it this far and I agreed.

Saturday afternoon, as planned, Carla picked me up and we headed to the Horn. As we were on our way, I began to wonder if this wasn't a stupid idea and I noticed Carla was a little more nervous and a lot quieter than I thought she would be but, she was willing to see it through so I felt I should too.

When we arrived, the place was packed and Billy met me at the door while Carla headed for the ladies room.

I could see the idiot smiling at all his cronies and giving them the thumbs up sign as we walked to his table. I could hardly wait until we got out on to the dance floor where I would show them all what I really thought of him in front of them all.

We sat while I ordered a drink but just as it came, my world began to unravel for coming across the dance floor was my husband Harry who walked right up to the table and said, "Hi Jess. Getting your girl's things done here at the mall?"

My world had stopped.

I tried to speak but nothing would come out. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally managed to say "Harry, this isn't what it looks like."

"Well, let's see." He responded, "It looks like you are here at the Horn with this asshole when you told me you were going to do some girl's things at the mall. Have I got that right?"

"Yes but . . ."

"Then things ARE what they look like aren't they?"

Then Harry turned to Billy, who to this point hadn't moved nor spoken. For a moment I thought there was a bad smell and it briefly occurred to me that Billy may have actually shit his pants but I thankfully wouldn't find out for sure because Harry quietly said, "Billy, get the fuck out of here while you are still able to do it on your own."

Billy was up and out of there in a flash and he looked so stupid doing it that there was obvious laughter from the crowd surrounding us which became full out and out uproarious laughter before he even made it out the door.

Not in the manner we had planned but "mission accomplished", but now I had a problem on my hands.

As calmly as I could possibly muster, I said, "Harry, Carla and I planned to come here to embarrass Billy like you just did."

"I beg your pardon." He said, "You came here to embarrass Billy? I'm here with you now and if it weren't for your lies, I'd be proud to be here with you and I can't imagine that Billy wasn't pretty proud rather than embarrassed, having you here with him and pulling one over on your dumb husband in front of the home crowd."

"Harry, you are not dumb and I've never treated you like you are. This is all a misunderstanding." I said with more confidence than I felt.

"Then Jess, tell me why I shouldn't feel so dumb. I was expecting to celebrate 10 years of marriage tonight but I've found that my wife told me she was going to the mall but actually came here to the Horn to meet Billy Coombs. I suspect most husbands in that situation would feel pretty dumb."