Nemesis

My previous stories have focused on the art of seduction. In this tale, the seduction is in the background, and the focus is on everyone that became involved.

Nemesis is the Greek goddess of retribution. She is subtle, unlike Zeus, who might hit someone with a thunderbolt, or Athena, who turned the boastful Arachne into a spider. No, under her machinations the evildoers punish each other or even themselves. While she is most often said to be the daughter of Zeus, there are other origin stories. I just went with Zeus, and if I'm wrong, I hope she will forgive me - I do not want to be on her bad side!

"Mrs. Williams' office."

"Hello, may I speak to her, please?"

"I'm sorry, but she's not in right now. Can I take a message?"

"Do you know when she'll be back?"

"Not until tomorrow morning. She's off Wednesday afternoons."

Well, that was news to me. I don't usually call my wife at her office phone, but her cellphone went straight to voicemail. Her coworker seemed a bit chatty, so I decided to try for more information.

"Wednesday afternoon is a pretty strange time to take off," I said, casually. "I could get leaving early on Friday, but Wednesday? I guess she must really hate hump day,"

She laughed. "Who doesn't? But she's been taking a course at the university for the last six months. It meets then. May I tell her who called?"

"That's very industrious of her. No, it's not urgent. I'll call her tomorrow."

I had called Lori to invite her to a nice restaurant tonight, as it was our three-and-a-half-year anniversary. Okay, a little goofy, but I felt things had become a little frosty between us. Nothing I could put my finger on, but she seemed withdrawn. She used to initiate sex as often as I did, but she hadn't in a while, and seemed a little bit put off when I did. I had actually stopped initiating it for a few weeks, and it seemed like she hadn't even noticed. I was hoping a romantic evening might stir up the fires, but it seemed like we had bigger problems.

I knew I wasn't going to be getting any work done that afternoon, so I told my secretary I would be gone for the rest of the day and drove home. Maybe I could snoop around a bit and learn something. Also, I had one of those tags that I use to keep track of my luggage. They work off of any nearby cellphone's signal, and can theoretically be found from anywhere. I could hide it in her car tonight, and see where she goes on Wednesdays.

I got home and opened the garage door, only to see Lori's car in its regular spot. But where I usually parked there was a white BMW convertible with its top down. Well, I now had the answers to a lot of my questions. That is, unless college professors make house calls.

Of course, my gut instinct is to run in and cause some pain. But I knew that if I caught her in bed with a man, he would be dead and I would be spending the next twenty years in jail.

You see, I'm a big guy with a short temper. This got me into a lot of trouble as a teenager, including a stint in juvenile detention. While in juvie I had to take anger management classes. The shrink explained that sometimes a man can suffer a big disappointment - either with himself, somebody else or just circumstances. He then can choose how to deal with it. Depending on his choices, disappointment can become anger or depression. Neither leads to intelligent decisions. Instead, he can choose to channel his disappointment into making things better. That concept served me well, although it can certainly be difficult not to choose anger! So now I had to figure out how to make things better without going to jail. That would take planning.

I heard music coming from upstairs. We had a stereo in our bedroom, so that's where they were, I guessed. That explained why they didn't hear the garage door opening. Well, that and the fact that they were preoccupied.

I supposed I should get some documentation. I took a picture showing both cars and my front door. I rummaged through his glove compartment to find the car's registration. The guy's name was William Johnston. Strange - he lived about 45 minutes away. I would have thought he could get some strange pussy closer to home! I took a picture of it. He had left his suit jacket in the car, and I found his business cards. Bill Johnston, internal auditor, PRX Industries.

PRX has five facilities scattered across the metro area. Lori was the shipping manager in their warehouse that is only a ten-minute drive from our house. Their headquarters is in the town where Asshole lives. I supposed he had to visit the other facilities as part of his job. Lori must me the target of a rather in-depth investigation!

I realized that I didn't have to track Lori's car - I now knew where she went on Wednesday afternoons. On impulse I put the tracker under the floor mat in his back seat. It's one of these tiny back seats that no one can sit in, just so BMW can call it a four-seater, so I knew it wouldn't be found. I didn't have a purpose in mind - just gathering data. I got back in my car, closed the garage door, and parked on the street a little bit away, where I could see our driveway.

The garage door opened at 4:30 and I got a few pictures of him driving away. The garage door closed, so I guessed Lori had come down to kiss him goodbye. I waited a few minutes to give her time to go back upstairs, and drove into the garage.

I walked upstairs and heard the shower running. At least she had turned off the stereo. I went into our bedroom and saw the linens on our king bed were all rumpled. I took a picture and sat in a chair to wait for her to finish. I set my phone to record audio and put it in my shirt pocket. I did a lot of deep breathing.

A few minutes later, she came out of the bathroom. She was naked, with her hair wrapped in a towel. "Carl!" she gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here," I said coldly. I gestured to the bed. "I don't have to ask what you're doing here, do I? I saw your lover leaving a few minutes ago. It seems you've been banging him every Wednesday afternoon for six months. I'm very disappointed."

She blanched at that. I had told her about my anger management classes. "I'm sorry you found out this way, honey."

"So, you're not sorry you cheated, or even that I found out. You're only sorry you didn't get to tell me yourself. Well, I can't say I'm surprised. You've been rather bitchy for months. Sex has been so uninspired that I even stopped initiating it. Have you realized that we haven't had sex in over three weeks?"

"That can't be true!"

I took a few breaths to calm myself. "You're right. I should have said it's been three weeks since I'VE had any sex. It's been less than an hour for you."

She sobbed and ran to the closet. She came out wearing her robe, then sat on the bed and said, "Honey, have you ever met someone that clicked with you on so many levels, that you just felt that person was your destiny?"

"Yes," I said coldly.

She had the decency to blush and look away. "I'm sorry. I felt that way about you, but when I met Bill, I realized I had never known what love was really like. When I'm with him, it's like I'm in a different world. I couldn't help it. He's my soulmate."

"So, you're saying you never really loved me?"

"I thought I did, honey. I was very happy with you. But what I feel for him is so much more intense."

"Then why the charade? Why didn't you just come out and divorce me so you could be with him all the time?"

"I was waiting for him to ask me to marry him."

"Why hasn't he? Is he married?"

"God, no! I would never do anything to destroy someone's marriage."

"Well, that makes me feel just great! You wouldn't hurt the marriage of some woman you don't even know, but you have no problem destroying MY marriage. That shows how little you care about me!"

"No, honey, I do care for you! I'm so sorry I hurt you. You've been a wonderful husband, and a great lover. I know you'll make some woman very happy. But I have to go where my heart leads!"

I was beginning to reach my limit, so I stood up and said, "Look, I can't talk any more. I'm going to go to the guest room. After you go to work tomorrow, I'll pack up my stuff and try to find some place to stay. I'll make an appointment with a divorce lawyer. Thank God we have no kids, so it should be a simple split. I'll work through some numbers. You can call Mr. Wonderful and give him the good news."

"I... I don't have his number."

I had always felt that Lori was a bit naïve. But trusting her happiness to a man who wouldn't give her his phone number seemed a bit much. "Well, you'll see him next Wednesday, anyway. Good night."

After I calmed down, I decided I needed to get more data. Facebook? Nah, too obvious. I'm sure Loverboy had that covered. But property tax records are publicly available. I went to the county website and typed in his address. Boy, nice house! Its valuation is double ours. The owner of record was listed as William and Janet Johnston. Interesting. Well, let's try to find a Facebook account for Janet Johnston. Bingo! Her public page showed a nice picture of Bill and Janet with their three small children. Wow, Janet is a fox! I think Lori is quite beautiful, but Janet is gorgeous! Why would he stray? Well, judging from the ages of the children, she must be in her mid-thirties, perhaps ten years older than Lori. Maybe he likes them young. I downloaded their picture.

Before I started looking for a place to live, I checked on Asshole's car. I saw he was home, comfortable in the arms of his loving family. Should I let Lori know her soulmate was married? No, I decided. She'll find out soon enough - maybe next Wednesday. Anyway, what would be the point? She was very convincing when she said she never really loved me.

I went online and paid off our credit cards - it was just what we had charged this month, as we never carried a balance. I spent the rest of the evening researching lawyers and apartments, and making a list of the things I had to do tomorrow. Finally, I fell into a fitful sleep.

Suddenly I saw a stunningly beautiful woman bathed in a brilliant light. Her long white dress with a golden belt accented her trim figure. She looked like a Greek goddess.

Her giggle sounded like bells tinkling. "Silly boy," she said. "I AM a goddess. I'm Nemesis, and I'm here to help you."

What a strange dream. I knew Nemesis was the goddess of retribution. Maybe she can smite that asshole, or something.

"Of course this is a dream! I can't manifest myself any other way. And I don't 'smite' anybody. That's what Daddy does, hurling thunderbolts whenever he gets mad. No, I find a way to get people to punish themselves and each other.

"I'm proud of you. You're doing all the right things. Just keep your temper, gather data and I'll pay you another visit later. Bye!"

I woke up the next morning, laughing to myself at the weird dream I had. I stayed in my room until Lori left, then I made myself breakfast and moved most of my stuff to the guest room. I planned to stay there until I could move into an apartment. It would be interesting to see how Lori behaves. The dream made me realize that I didn't have to work very hard to punish her. She was doing an excellent job of punishing herself.

I checked on Asshole's car and found it was parked at one of their other facilities.

I made an appointment with a divorce lawyer for the next day, then headed off to the bank and opened a checking account in my name only, transferring half of the money from our joint account and changing the direct deposit of my paycheck to my new account. I also got a new credit card. I visited my insurance agent and changed the beneficiary on my life insurance policy to my sister. God, there's so much financial untangling to do in a divorce!

I found a furnished apartment near my office and signed a six-month lease. I couldn't move in until Sunday, but that's okay - I needed to set up the utilities in my name and do some shopping. I checked up on Asshole's car, and saw it was in a residential neighborhood near the plant. Why that sly devil! I went to check it out.

Sure enough, his car was parked next to another one in the driveway of a suburban house. I took a picture of the cars and house, showing a kid's tricycle on the porch. There was a sign by their front door, reading "The Wilsons." Wow - the man was like a sailor who had a girl in every port! This was really getting interesting!

I had parked on the street next door, and just after I got back in my car he came out. As I took his picture, I realized I had gotten there just in time to catch him before he drove away. I'd better check up on him earlier in the afternoon!

I got home just before Lori. As she came in, I said, "We need to go over a few things."

"Alright," she said timidly. "Can I fix dinner for us?"

"Okay. I need to go print some things out, anyway. Let me know when you're ready."

I looked up the house where he had been entertained that afternoon, and saw it was owned by Samuel and Linda Wilson. Linda's Facebook page had a nice photo of them with a young boy, maybe three years old. I downloaded the picture, and all the photos and recordings from my phone into my computer. I was amassing quite a file. I printed out some spreadsheets I had prepared earlier detailing our finances.

We sat down to a dish of my favorite pasta. I smiled sadly and said, "Thank you, Lori. I guess it's easier to treat me nicely when you know I'll be gone soon."

"Carl, I'm truly sorry things turned out this way. You deserve better. But I know that Bill is my destiny."

"Well, I still feel you're making a mistake. After all, I felt that way about someone once, but it turned out I was wrong. Now, no more talk of our situation until after dinner, please."

We cleaned up after dinner and then sat down at the kitchen table. I took out my cell phone and set it to record.

I started the conversation. "Lori, I made an appointment to see a divorce attorney tomorrow afternoon. I want to talk to you about how we should go forward. I'm recording this so my attorney can see where we stand on everything. Please express any concerns and suggestions. Hopefully, we can come to an agreement tonight, and the attorney can just write it up. Is that alright?"

"I suppose so," she says.

"Good. First, of all, are you absolutely sure that you want a divorce?" I kept a straight face, but I was enjoying setting the hook a little deeper. In the end, she will have no one to blame but herself.

"Yes, Carl. I'm sorry it came to this, but this is what I want."

"No point in counseling?"

"No, honey. I'm sorry, but I'm in love with someone else."

"Alright. If we agree on everything, we can use the same lawyer. I've always given you whatever you wanted, so I'll pay for the lawyer and the costs of the divorce. It will be my final gift to you. I went to one of those online realtor sites and got their estimate for what our house would sell for in this market. I also got our exact mortgage balance. After deducting for commissions, if we sold the house, we should net about $40,000. Half would be mine. The difference in our salaries is about $1,200 a month. If I paid you $600 a month, we would have equal incomes. I propose giving you the house in exchange for not having to pay alimony. This is equivalent to almost three years of alimony. Perhaps a judge might give you more, but realize that alimony ends when you remarry. I understand you expect that will happen soon. If so, then what I'm proposing is a better deal. I'm also leaving you all the furnishings, although there are a few things I may want to take. This will cause the least disruption in your life. What do you think?"

"Take whatever you want. Will I have enough to pay all the bills?"

"Yes, but it will be tight. You won't be able to afford restaurants or nights out - well, unless Loverboy takes you. I suggest you work out a budget. All the bills are being automatically deducted from your checking account. You may want to sell the house and get a smaller place, at some point. This is a lot of house for just one person. But at least you will be comfortable until you do. And if the value of the house goes up, you get to keep any excess.

"I opened a checking account for myself, and took half of the money from our joint account. I rented an apartment, which will be ready on Sunday. I'll sleep in the guest room until then. I paid off the credit cards. From now on, any expenses on those cards are your responsibility. You'll keep the accounts we have now, but we have to take my name off our checking account and credit cards. Here are the forms to do that. I've signed them, so all you have to do is sign them and mail them in. This spreadsheet shows a complete accounting of my transactions. As you can see, you will have a fair amount left. Okay?"

"I can't complain, Carl. You've always been fair."

"I'm trying to be. After all, you were a great wife and my full partner for almost three years. I'm also trying to make as clean a break as possible. I know you won't want me hanging around, interfering in your wonderful new life. I don't imagine we'll be seeing very much of each other. All right, that's all I wanted to say. I'll go to my room now."

"Carl, it's early. You don't have to..."

"Yes, I do," I said sadly. "Yes, I do."

I left Friday morning before Lori got up, and went to work. I had told my boss that I was getting divorced, and would need to take o few hours off every now and then. He had been divorced himself, so he was sympathetic. Still, I couldn't let things slide too much - I needed my bonus!

Asshole's car stayed at the company headquarters all day. I guessed he didn't want to fool around so close to home.

I met with the lawyer, and gave him all the information and the recordings. He said he could have everything ready by the end of next week.

Saturday and Sunday were taken up with packing, moving and getting settled. By Sunday evening I was in my new digs. The building had a small gym, so I hit that until I was exhausted. As I went to bed, I had a quick glimpse of the face of Nemesis, smiling in approval. I slept very well.

It was great that my commute was so much shorter. Hell, I could even walk to work on nice days. After lunch, I checked on Asshole's car, and, sure enough, it was parked in a residential area. I quickly drove there and took a picture of the house with two cars in the driveway, and went back to work. Tuesday, I took a picture of his fourth love nest. I must say, I envy his stamina!

That night I had another dream of Nemesis. She smiled and said, "You're doing very well. You have all the data you need. But you need an ally. Perhaps you think that your revenge would not be complete unless she realizes that you were responsible. But I always thought that it's better if your victims think they have no one to blame but themselves."

She reached out and touched me, and I felt an incredible warmth as she vanished.

Wednesday, I drove to my former home right after lunch, and parked where I could see our house, but where Lori would not see me when she drove by. I saw her drive in, followed fifteen minutes later by the BMW. After the garage door closed, I quickly went to the side door of the garage and let myself in. I retrieved my tracker and hurried out. I didn't want it to be discovered; after all, I'm not sure that what I did was perfectly legal. Actually, I'm pretty sure it wasn't. I hurried back to my car and waited. As I expected, Asshole only stayed about ten minutes. The conversation where she told him she was now free to marry him must not have gone as planned. I chuckled and drove back to work.

I happened to know the president of PRX Industries. My company had done business with his, and I had worked with him on a charity event last year. Mr. Richards (The 'R' in PRX) is a devout Christian and would probably like to know about his auditor. I made an appointment to see him the next morning. I thought he could be my ally, and we could discuss how to proceed.