The original Last Call was written by AhazuraΒ© who said "I don't see myself coming back to these characters so if anyone really wants to continue the story you have my blessing." This is part 2 of a sequel following the same characters. The continued story line is original.
There is more to come if the comments dictate it.
*************
I sat there feeling the adrenaline rush start to subside after making the call to Jerry. My heart raced but it also ached. I did still love him, but I knew that life with him would never be the way I had imagined or had wanted it to be.
I was different now. Not because of last night, although that did make a big difference, it was because I had decided life was too short to wait on Jerry.
Jerry was different too. I wondered about his nights at the sports bar. Had he met someone? Had that made him realize he loved me or did he just need someone as a roommate and housekeeper again? I thought through everything I had said in the phone call, thinking about how it must have sounded to Jerry.
I called my daughter Caroline. It went to voice mail so I left a message asking her to call.
I called my son John. He groggily answered, "hello."
I realized it was still before 10AM on Saturday, he had most likely been out late the night before. "John, this is Mom. I am sorry did I wake you?" I said.
He responded now seemingly awake, "No, well yes, but that's OK. What's up?"
"Were you out late with the guys or a new girlfriend?" I asked.
"A girl yes, but no new girlfriend just yet, definitely a few hot prospects." he explained.
"Well your Dad finally called me," I started. "He said he doesn't want a divorce and wants to do whatever it takes for me to come back home. I scheduled us for a counselling session on Wednesday and I wondered if we might have an opportune moment beforehand but perhaps just a discussion over a quick bite to eat. I would really like to talk to you and get any perspectives you might have."
We agreed that tomorrow, Sunday afternoon, was best since we both had to work during the week and the hour and a half drive each way was a bit much for a work day. He lived only 30 minutes from the University so I hoped that I could make one trip and see both kids separately.
Caroline called me back around 11. I told her the situation.
She was now a sophomore and doing quite well in school. She was Daddy's girl for sure, and had been quite disappointed when her Dad began treating her the same way, not having time for her.
Caroline saw herself as special as far as her Dad was concerned. So after that I think she was able to see what I was talking about. I wondered what she knew about all of this. Had she made Jerry call me? She is the only one that could have pulled that off. Did she know anything about my night out last night or about Jerry and the Sports Bar?
I told her I was going to see John on Sunday.
She was already busy the rest of the day but said we could have a late snack tonight and perhaps that way I could stay over and see John on Sunday so I would only have to make one round trip. We agreed to meet tonight at 7PM.
That gave me a few hours to get things rolling. I needed to go shopping. Two primary reasons, one to look for the perfect outfit for the Wednesday counseling session and two to find the perfect outfit to see Caine again. The perfect outfit for Wednesday would need to be tasteful but alluring. I decided the new me would have a new look.
I had been wearing shorter and tighter clothes at home before I left Jerry, I now decided that more alluring would become the new norm for me, shorter and tighter might be included but there would no longer be conservative clothes.
I would dress for my age group, I did not want to appear slutty or trying to be younger than I was, I just wanted to push the envelope. I wanted to be noticed. I intended to flirt and enjoy the attention, who knows what might come of it. This was a change to not just the entire wardrobe, it was a change of how I perceived myself. No more granny panties, no more boring bras, no more extremely conservative work clothes.
Perhaps a tight fitting skirt above the knees with no panty lines would be my new norm. I would have to ask about the panty lines, I never really had solved that one before I wondered if spanx would help, or maybe a thong would be best. Maybe there was something I had not yet considered.
I could use more thigh highs and a some good low cut push up bras to accentuate my cleavage, I needed some form fitting blouses but also some button up blouses that allowed for adjustable cleavage, depending on the mood. They should be a bit loose at the neck line to allow someone to see right down my blouse if I leaned over, or if they were taller than me looking over my shoulder down the front of my blouse to see the low cut lacy bra.
I made an appointment for my hair for Wednesday at 4 so it would be perfect when I saw Jerry on Wednesday at 7. Finding new clothes went quite well, the thong seemed to be the best option for no panty lines and I found some nice new demi bras trimmed with lace that would be seen down the front of my blouse. These would become a new part of my daily wardrobe.
What to wear to see Caroline and John that was also appropriate to see Caine was the next challenge. I thought about a tasteful form fitting sweater, that I could also wear to work if needed. I did not want it to be so tight my bra line was visible but tight enough to show my figure and my assets.
I decided that some skin tight jeans might work along with some new flats. I found a pair of black slacks that fit my butt very nicely. OK shopping done for today. Needed to leave not later than 5:30. It was now 3.
I sent a text to Caine. "I am meeting my daughter this evening at 7 and my son tomorrow afternoon."
A few minutes later I received a call from him.
"Hi Shannon," he started.
I replied back, "Hi Caine, did you get the text?"
"Yes. What time do you think you will be finished meeting with your daughter?" he asked tentatively.
"Well I am not sure, it could be as early as 10PM or as late as midnight."
He cleared his voice, "well everything is ready for you to stay here. You will even be able to sleep in on Sunday."
"That sounds wonderful Caine, I hope there is enough room in your bed for me," I said coyly.
He eagerly responded, "yes of course, I will text you my address, I'll see you tonight. Let me know when you head my way."
"See you then," I said as I finished the call.
Ok shopping done, plans made, now to execute them.
There was one final part of the plan that I needed to work through. I needed to let the girls at work know that Jerry had called me before Caine and I were together. I needed to stop the rumor mill first thing Monday morning. No need for a slip up at this stage. I could see Caine, go to counselling with Jerry, and make further decisions as things progressed as long as the rumor mill was squelched and as long as Caroline and John did not have any further relevant information.
Caroline met me at a coffee shop. I talked to her about the things going on in her life. She finally asked me about her Dad and me. She was daddy's girl for sure. She could get him to do just about whatever she wanted and she knew just what to say and do to keep it that way.
Perhaps she had some insight into what he was doing or what he was thinking. I was trying to find out what she knew about the last four months.
I told her he called, basically what he said, and that we had a counselling session scheduled for Wednesday. I told her I knew her father had been on porn sites, and dating sites (I lied), and that I knew about the sports bar.
She assumed that knowing about the sports bar meant that I knew everything about what had been going on.
She said, "I am sorry I didn't tell you mom, I just didn't know how." She told me that she had warned her dad not to step out, that I really did want him back and he could easily ruin that if he wasn't careful. She told him to call me and things would be put back together. Apparently he wasn't careful. She mentioned that he had brought more than one woman to our house, our bed.
I did my best to not react to this news as if I already knew about it.
She said she found out because she had gone home to see her father a few weeks ago. The house was a mess so she started to clean it and do some laundry for him. He was certainly not a house keeper, dirty dishes, trash, laundry, etc. She went to strip the sheets off the bed when she found the panties. They were obviously not mine, so she just sat down and cried.
She finished the laundry made the bed and waited to confront her father.
"I guess Daddy had gone from work to the sports bar and arrived home around nine obviously intoxicated dragging a woman with him. I asked her what the hell she thought she was doing."
The woman was not intoxicated she looked at me and said, "honey, I just wanted to get him home, I was certainly not intending to stay with him. Since apparently you are I don't think he can really satisfy you in the state he is in, I bet he won't be able to get it up in this condition."
"I got the lady out of the house and got dad to bed," Caroline explained.
"The next morning I was waiting for him as he staggered to the kitchen with a hangover. I tossed the panties at him and yelled at him, 'who do these belong to.'
He answered, "I am not sure."
At that point Caroline described how she lost it with her Dad and yelled at him. "Do you mean that you have had so many women in my Mom's bed that you don't know which one left her panties? Mom has been waiting for months for you to call her and you have been fucking around in her bed! You better get this sorted out with Mom or I will not be back."
Caroline got up walked out the door and left. That was one week before the divorce papers were served. She had not spoken to her father since then, three weeks ago.
She started to cry asking me why men were such pigs. I comforted her and assured her that her father had not always been this way and that men were not always like this.