After a couple of weeks, the texts from Jessie changed. "Jon, I am so sorry. Ms. Adcock told me you were served divorce papers. I called her after I got you counter-proposal. You weren't supposed to have been served yet. I was advised to have them ready to send, just in case, but somehow, they got sent early. I had wanted to talk to you first. It's probably just as well, I guess. The picture pretty much tells it all. You can forget about that even split stuff. With your adultery, I'll get a better deal than that."
I looked for a picture in my envelope. There was none. I didn't have to wonder about the picture for long. It seems like all our friends and family got the picture except me. My sister, Leona, was the one who sent me the picture. It showed me lovingly kissing a woman. Leona and I shared a laugh. The woman was well known to us. She was, Mary Margaret, our mother's best friend, our god-mother, and the woman who helped take care of mother in her final days fighting cancer. She had kissed us both on the lips since we were babies. We never thought anything of it. M&M, as we called her, was still a gorgeous woman even at 19 years my senior. I enjoyed imagining the embarrassment this would bring to Jessie.
Jessie's next text was, "I understand the picture of you kissing that slut has been distributed to all our friends. I think I know who sent the pictures, and I am going to talk to him about it. It was not supposed to have been done, but again, it doesn't make that much difference. Don't say the picture's a fake because I had it checked out with a forensic professional. It was taken just after you and she were seen coming out of the hotel. See you in court."
Before the court hearing, Jessie answered the door to see the woman from the picture standing in the doorway. She was startled. Mary Margaret asked to be let in. Jessie was evidently too stunned to protest and let her in. Mary Margaret handed Jessie a notice of lawsuit for libel and slander. She had had a computer expert track the source of the email to Jessie's laptop. For the libel, she had the picture of her and me kissing which was sent from Jessie's email had with the caption, 'This is my supposed faithful husband and his slut kissing after their afternoon quickie at the hotel.' For slander, she had my recording of Jessie's comment about my adultery with M&M."
"But I never . . ."
"Save it for the courtroom, honey. I want to thank you for helping my blood pressure. It's been too low for a while. Now that I'm riled up, it's back to normal. Let me warn you: I am a momma bear protecting her cub. I helped my best friend raise her two children, Jon and his sister. I've been kissing him on the lips since I changed his first diaper. To tell people that my god-son and I were having an affair more than disgusts me. We were seen coming out of the hotel because he came by to take me to lunch. I was staying there while visiting. I hadn't been back much since his mother's death.
"Oh well, I don't care how much my lawyers cost me. I will go after you for all you're worth. Money-wise that is. I doubt you're worth much as a person if you would stoop so low as to . . . Oh, never mind." Mary Margaret left a still-stunned Jessie standing in her wake.
I got a text from Jessie soon after Mary Margaret informed me of her visit to see Jessie. "Jon, I think I've made a terrible mistake. I let someone else give me some bad advice and make some decisions he thought were best for me. I am dropping the divorce and begging you to come home. We have a lot to talk about. I have a ton of apologizing to do. I know we can find a way to be happy together again. Please give me another chance."
I finally responded. "Who told you they saw me and Mary Margaret coming out of the hotel? Who took the picture? Who gave you the advice and made the decisions for you? I bet it's the same person." Jessie didn't reply. I knew why.
After she was too afraid to reply, I filled in the gap. "I already know that Blake is the culprit. He has been after you for a long time although you kept denying it. I also assume he received the reward he was looking for. At least that's what he is telling everyone at the Sportsman Bar and Grill. I am not stopping my divorce petition. The 50/50 split is fair. I'm sure Blake will still be interested in you, but his wife might not be so receptive to an even split. She didn't sound happy when I played the tape of Blake's bragging on his conquest of you. See you in court."
The barrage of pleas from her to stop the divorce and forgive her continued for days in slowly decreasing volume. I replied to none. I hoped she had finally given up.
The hearing came. Her lawyer made it clear that Jessie felt she had been tricked and, therefore, was not responsible for the actions of her pursuer. She wanted counseling to restore her happy marriage. My lawyer was about to object when I interrupted. "Jessie, I might be interested if you can answer one question for me while taking a lie detector test: Did you and Blake have sex before or after the petition or both?" The look on her face made the statement for her.
She answered, "I've told him I never want to see him again. He is no longer a threat to our marriage."
"Never mind. No counseling will repair your betrayal."
"But he tricked me."
"You ALLOWED yourself to be tricked. A wife who loved me would have asked me about the picture first instead of automatically believing a man you have known for years was trying to get into your panties."
Jessie just sat and cried. Finally, she instructed her lawyer to agree to my terms. Just then, Kitty walked in. She apologized for being late and came to sit next to me. Jessie asked, "Who is this?"
I smiled and said, "This is my girlfriend, Kitty Prescott. We have you to thank for getting us together."
"Me? I've never met her before in my life."
"She's the woman who served me your petition for divorce. If it had been any other time, the petition would have been given to someone else. It was fate. We hit it off and found we enjoy each other's company."
"But's she's just a girl."
Never one to pass on an open invitation for sarcasm I said, "I'm pretty sure she is, but I haven't found out for sure."
Kitty spoke out, "If the paperwork has all been signed, he's about to find out."
"You're try to tell me you two haven't had sex yet."
Kitty again spoke up, "We're not telling you jack. It's none of your business anymore. You threw him away. I picked him up. He has this weird concept of morals that a married person shouldn't have sex with someone other than his or her spouse until they are divorced. I don't guess you ever heard of that."
Turning to me, Kitty asked, "So, where will it be: Hawaii or Costa Rica?"
"Why not both? One week in Hawaii and one week in Costa Rica."
Jessie blurted out, "Those are places we were supposed to go to. I wouldn't have cheated on him if he hadn't . . . " She realized her mistake before she could complete the sentence. She went back to crying.
We sold the house and split the profits. Jessie had enough funds to start over in a new apartment near her office. Blake was fired after I told their boss the story. Jessie was allowed to keep her job as I was able to convince him that Blake had seduced her and lied to her. That greatly reduced the alimony I would have to have paid. As long as I didn't sue, he was more than glad to oblige. Blake's wife took him back with a long post-nup and a short leash. I came very close to buying her a cock cage.
It was several months before we happened to see Jessie. She and we were shopping at the mall. She recognized us, smiled, and was about to wave when suddenly she ran away crying. Kitty asked, "I wonder what was wrong with her."
"I don't know. Let's hurry up and finish up the shopping for new maternity clothes. The ones you have now don't fit anymore. Our son is going to be huge."
