Lac of Respect

A big 'Thank You' to demosthenes384bc for his work making the storyline better and fixing many of my grammar errors. I made revisions after his edits, so all the mistakes are still mine. I hope you enjoy the tale. This one is a little longer as many have commented that my endings are rushed, and I need to close the open plot areas. Hopefully, I've done better:)

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I wasn't going to live like this! I was done with the lack of respect.

Let me back up and explain how I got to this point after having seven good years of marriage.

While living, my mother was a marriage counselor. I once heard her tell a young couple in pre-marital counseling, "Men are to love their wives, Women are to respect their husbands, this is what the good book teaches."

I am not overly religious, but you can't deny it is full of truths to live by. Don't get me wrong. I go to church every Sunday and personally subscribe to most Christian values. But I don't go around getting all preachy and judgmental with others. I'm more of a live-and-let-live kinda guy. You do you, and I'll do me. Let you and God sort it out. We are all different. I do firmly subscribe to the "eye for an eye" principle though. You take something of mine and I'm not going to rest until I take something from you. And it will probably be something of greater value! Maybe I am a little bit more religious than I think.

Serenity and I have been married for seven years. Typical, boy meets girl in college, fall madly in love, and can't get enough of each other every waking minute of the day. Serenity and I literally spent every minute, outside of class, together. Most weeknights we studied together, and on the weekends, you would find us snuggling at one of the many keggers at UW Whitewater. Serenity majored in marketing and I in construction management.

Before graduation, Serenity received a great job offer in Madison. She was excited to get out into the "real" world and finally get started with life. I helped her move into a nice apartment near her work the week after our graduation ceremony. The company she hired in at was a high-tech startup. They needed a go-getter like Serenity to lead the sales and marketing effort. She was a natural. It didn't hurt that the product was an easy sell. Their niche was streamlining payment processing and cutting fees in half, but boy could she sell. And she had a body that opened doors. I'm sure that had nothing to do with her getting the job.

Serenity was dark-skinned, with full hips and big round boobs. She was very cute and stood at five foot four. I was six foot two and had broad shoulders and a runner's body. I enjoyed taking long runs several times a week. It helped me clear my head and stay in shape. Serenity was more of a yoga/pilates woman. Going in three mornings a week for a half-hour class. I had no complaints as it made her core strong, and she was very flexible.

I couldn't get enough of that flexible body. I loved to feast on her large soft breasts. I could lick and suck on them for hours. And don't get me started on her pussy. It was full and meaty. I loved to lick and finger it until I drove her into a convulsing orgasm. She seemed to be equally enamored with me. Never letting me pass by her without a touch to my arm or chest. And whenever we got naked, she would attack my cock like it was her last day on earth. She could make me cum in two minutes if she wanted. But most times, we liked slow, sensual sex until we both were spent.

Unlike Serenity, I struggled to find a good job in my field. I was lonely after only one month of commuting from Whitewater to Madison so we could spend weekends together. I decided to follow Serenity to Madison and look for work there. Our parents were hinting that "maybe" we should get married and so I proposed one beautiful fall evening on a bluff overlooking Lake Wisconsin. I wanted to have a job before I proposed, to contribute financially, but after talking it through, we decided not to wait on me.

Serenity was beside herself planning all the details of the wedding with her mother, but I never felt left out. I told her many times that she could make all the plans, as I knew how important it was to her. But she told me many times that, out of respect for me, she wanted my input and opinions. Man, this just made me love her all the more.

Once married and with Serenity making good money, I was not under a great deal of pressure to be the "breadwinner." So, with her encouragement, I started my own construction company. It was something I always dreamed of. Bill Johnson Construction. That's me, Bill Johnson. I had my degree in construction management and had been working in some form of construction every summer since the beginning of high school. So, I already had a basic working knowledge of the industry.

Back to the present.

My company had been growing steadily for seven years and I now employed nine guys. I prepared all the estimates, ordered materials, and did the day-to-day accounting. I had a CPA to do the taxes, financials, etc., and an online payroll company that took care of all that headache. My guys did all the actual work in the field. The only thing we didn't do was electrical work. That I sub'd out.

In order to get started, I had to borrow one hundred thousand dollars from my father. I needed a work truck, tools, and some startup money. My father's attorney drew up the papers and that stated once I paid my dad back the full hundred grand, one hundred percent ownership would transfer to me, but until then I owned nothing. My father would have been fine with a handshake deal but I insisted on making it legal. I also paid my dad five percent of the profits each month. He just wanted me to be successful.

In the beginning, I took any work I could get, but in the past couple of years, I was able to specialize in commercial work. Larger jobs with better profit and fewer customers to please.

Serenity and I both worked hard and enjoyed our careers. We spent the first couple of years getting established but spent every evening and weekend together. I felt like we were off to a good start. Our income was growing, and we were in love. Sex was good, family was good, jobs were good, all was good.

Serenity and I both came from Christian homes, but neither of us had been attending church since we left for college. Serenity was hinting that it was time to start a family, but she wanted to raise our kids like we had been raised with church as part of their upbringing. So, we visited a few churches and started attending High Calling Church. It was pastored by Tom and Lisa Tinson. Tom was the head pastor. And, although Lisa did not have an official role, being the pastor's wife meant that she was frequently involved in the services and usually sang with the worship team. I think Lisa wanted to be more involved, but Tom kept it casual. On any given Sunday there were around 2,000 in attendance at High Calling. It was the largest church in Madison, and it was steadily growing.

Serenity enjoyed attending events with the women's group and quickly started volunteering to get to know the other women better. She and Lisa, the pastor's wife, became fast friends. They would put together women's retreats and host church events together. They soon became best friends outside of the church as well, spending time chatting on the phone and hanging out at each other's house.

On the occasions that Lisa was at our house, I quickly grew to dislike her. She seemed to have a chip on her shoulder. I wouldn't exactly call her a man-hater, but there was definitely a streak of it. She seemed to have an attitude that women were superior to men. In several of the conversations I overheard between them she commented on how if it weren't for the women, men wouldn't know up from down. She never said these things with me in the room, but it still came across in her overall attitude. I also heard her quote the good book on occasion, "It is not good for a man to live alone, that is why God created woman." I think this verse backed up her attitude toward men.

Being such good friends with Serenity, Lisa put in a good word for me with the building committee when I bid on the contract to design/build a new High Calling Church building. I think this gave me the edge over several other bidders.

After working for about six months leading the church building team through the design phase, I was ready to apply for the building permit. This had put me in many meetings with Lisa, as she was the head of the building team.

In the beginning, I could do no wrong. My experience and ideas were welcomed. But as the months progressed, I learned that, from the platform, Lisa was one person, but behind the scenes, she was just plain mean. It was not unlike her to tear someone a new one if they didn't follow her instructions to a tee. Even if it turned out better than what Lisa had planned, it was what Lisa said, that's what mattered. She had no problem yelling at you in front of the whole group. I had been taught differently, you praise in public and correct in private. Lisa did not subscribe to this. More than once, she reduced a woman to tears. I witnessed several men get red-faced and storm out of meetings after being berated by Lisa. Over time she started treating me poorly like everyone else.

I'll give you a few quick examples of little things Lisa would do that made me grow to hate her. Frequently she would talk over me and not let me finish my sentence. Many times, she would disagree with me and try to tell me how to do my job, even though she had no design or construction experience. She thought herself the expert at everything because she was the boss. Being my client, I would suck it up and keep my mouth shut. I knew that pushing back would only make things worse.

In one meeting that Lisa was late to, a lady brought chocolate chip cookies in to celebrate a birthday. We were all eating cookies and chatting while waiting for Lisa to start the meeting. I heard that chocolate chip cookies were Lisa's favorite, so thought I would save one for her. I wrapped a cookie in a napkin and put it at the head of the table where Lisa always sat. When Lisa arrived, she sat down and reached into her bag to pull out a notepad and pen. Once settled, she noticed the freshly baked cookie and grabbed it. Holding it up she looked around the room and yelled, "Who put this here!" I raised my hand and smiled thinking I had done a nice thing. Lisa then threw the cookie at me nearly missing my head and yelled, "I have been on a week-long fast and you have the nerve to try and ruin it by tempting me." I sat there stunned, turning beet red in embarrassment. I was too shocked to say anything about her unprofessionalism and open disrespect toward me. So, I calmly picked up my papers and left. I told the group on the way out that we would reschedule the meeting when Lisa was in a better mood.

When I got home that evening I was still upset over the incident and was looking forward to Serenity taking my side. I needed a little consoling, I guess. Instead, Serenity lit into me as soon as she walked through the door. She said Lisa had called and ranted to her all about how I had tried to tempt her to break her fast. Serenity took Lisa's side and told me how rude and insensitive I was. I was shocked by her attitude and tried to explain what had happened from my point of view, but she didn't listen. She further told me how it was very embarrassing for her good friend that I had walked out of the meeting leaving everyone staring at her. I was in the wrong and better apologize to Lisa in front of the group the next time we met so that everyone knew I overreacted.

You can see why I hated Lisa. She was disrespectful to me, treated me poorly and my wife seemed to always take her side.

Well, I never apologized, and the next time Lisa and I were in a meeting, Lisa acted as if the cookie-throwing incident never happened. I didn't bring it up, but I did hope Lisa felt at least a little shame for how she treated me.

There were also small digs here and there. Stuff like, "How did Serenity let you out of the house wearing that?" and "You need to learn how to write, your emails read like you failed third grade." If one of my buddies had said this stuff, it would be funny, but when Lisa said them, they weren't.

I called Lisa out after the first couple of digs. I asked her point blank if she had a problem with me. "Why all the cutting remarks, have I done something to you?"

She answered, "No, you haven't done anything, I don't have a problem with you, I'm just speaking my mind. I decided to treat you like I treat everyone. Just because Lisa is my good friend you don't deserve to be treated differently than I treat everyone else."

I told her that her attitude wasn't making her any friends. Especially with the men that I knew. She just shrugged her shoulders and moved on.

I had the opportunity to briefly talk with Tom, our head pastor, at one of the men's breakfasts. I was getting a second cup of coffee from the buffet when Tom walked up to do the same. He introduced himself and we shook hands. Tom said that we should get to know each other a little since our wives had become such close friends. So, we sat at an empty table for a few minutes and chatted. I learned that Tom and Lisa were both strong A-type personalities. Tom seemed to be an even more opinionated person than Lisa. I asked how two such strong personalities worked in their marriage. Tom chuckled and said that he had to keep a tight leash on Lisa or she would try to run over him and everything else. He asked if Serenity was the same way, I explained that Serenity was not, but it seemed like some of Lisa was rubbing off on her. Tom just chuckled again and told me to watch out, because Lisa can have that effect on people. We talked for a few more minutes and then went back to our tables. I quickly decided that I liked Tom's preaching, but we would not be hanging out together.

One time, while I was making a presentation over the acoustic treatments we planned to install in the sanctuary, Lisa interrupted the meeting to tell the whole group that she had seen something on Instagram that was better than what I proposed. She then called a stop to the meeting until she and I could discuss what she had seen. Never mind that I had hired an acoustical engineer and was presenting their recommendations. I think that she was just trying to get me back for walking out of the cookie-throwing meeting.

I think I could have dealt with Lisa on a professional level. You know, leave work at work. But since Serenity and Lisa had become such good friends, the disrespect started to follow me home. Lisa's man-hating attitude was rubbing off on my wife. Serenity slowly started to make little digs at me like Lisa. I told Serenity that she was developing a lack of respect for me, and I didn't appreciate the digs. Serenity just dismissed my feelings and brushed them off as "nothing." She said she was just "speaking her mind." Boy, I wonder where she heard that?

The first big incident between Serenity and I happened while I was in the shower. We have a large master bathroom. It has two separate vanities, a two-person glass walk-in shower, a large soaking tub, and a fifteen-foot walk-in closet. I was in the shower when my wife walked in while on FaceTime with Lisa. As she passed me, she held the phone out and said, "Say hi to Lisa." I quickly turned my back to the phone and tried to cover up with the washcloth. It was extremely embarrassing. Serenity laughed at me hiding behind the little bit of cloth and continued into the closet like it was nothing. I heard them giggling and Lisa asked, "Who was that in the shower?" Serenity told her, "My husband of course." To that, Lisa replied, "Just checking, thought maybe you had a side hunk," and their giggling turned into loud laughter.

When I got out of the shower, I told Serenity how pissed off I was with her. She had flashed my client, the Pastor's wife, a live shot of me nude. I animatedly explained how this was very disrespectful to me. Serenity just told me it was no big deal and to get over myself. She also said that Lisa had been married for many years, so she had seen a naked man before. I said, "But she hadn't seen me naked! If I had done that to you, you would be royally pissed!"

I got more embarrassment the next time I saw Lisa at church. She had this huge grin on her face, and said, "Hey Bill, you look better with your clothes on," and walked by laughing. At least we were the only two people in the hall when this occurred. Even so, I could feel my face flush with embarrassment, and I was fuming for the next hour.

The next morning when I told Serenity about what Lisa said to me, she again laughed it off. Telling me that I shouldn't let it bother me. The incident had been eating at me for the last 24 hours so at this, I blew up. "Serenity, Lisa has a complete lack of respect for me, and you somehow think it is ok. Now you are starting to treat me the same way. You guys act like I don't have feelings. If I treated you and Lisa like you treated me, you wouldn't put up with it. You'd probably have put me in jail for sexual harassment or something. I've about had it. Lisa disrespects me at work and now you are disrespecting me at home. Did you guys form some "Disrespect Bill" club?"

Serenity just waved me off and said, "Whatever, Bill, what are you going to do about it? We are just joking around. Don't get so worked up, it's nothing."

"Well, "it" is something to me," I replied. "And if Lisa keeps disrespecting me, I might just cancel the church contract. I have a clause that allows me to get out of the contract without cause. It is in every contract that I write."

Again, Serenity just chuckled and said, "Maybe you do, but you would never use it, the contract is too important to you and is making us too much money to cancel it. I would think twice before you cancel the contract over something as stupid as this."

I just looked at her unbelievably and asked. "When did you lose your respect for me?"

Lisa responded, "I haven't, I'm just having fun. Plus, we love each other. Why can't I have a little fun with you? And why is respect such a big deal to you? Men disrespect me every day. For example, I know when men are checking me out. Looking at my boobs instead of my eyes. How do think that makes me feel? I should be respected for my talent and skills. But men think all women are just sex objects. If that isn't a lack of respect, then I don't know what is. You need to learn to live with it. I do."

"First of all, I don't do that to women," I said. "And if you feel disrespected when men do this, then why are you treating me with the same level of disrespect that you feel? I'm your husband, you should have my back. If there is anyone that I should feel safe around, it should be you. I can't even take a shower anymore without wondering if you will walk by and decide to flash me to the world again. Maybe next time you'll decide to post it. You wouldn't know it, but I have started locking the door when showering or changing clothes."

Serenity just giggled and said, "Bill, I'll say it again, you are making a mountain out of a molehill. I would never post a nude photo of you, that would be too much. Lisa and I are just joking around. By the way, Lisa and I like telling our daily "Bill" stories. So, if I don't pick on you a little, what would I have to share? You need to learn to live with a little "disrespect," as you call it. Everyone does."

"Listen, Serenity, I like joking around. But what you and Lisa are doing is not funny to me. And, if you are telling me that you are purposefully being disrespectful... I can tell you right now that I will not put up with it. You will both lose me. If you think this is a game, then why don't we just get divorced? Is that what you want? At this point, it feels like neither of you would care, as long as you have each other."