Shattering Crystal

Ok, I was going to write 3 endings, but decided just to do only one. And, based on the comments, I am not providing any recap.

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Angie stared at me, struggling for what to say.

"Care to elaborate?" I asked, pointing at the display on my phone, which showed her flight had landed on time.

"Why should I bother?" she answered, sounding resigned to her fate. "You wouldn't believe me anyway. It seems you have everything all figured out."

"Humor me," I replied. "Why does it say your flight landed on time."

"Because it did," she admitted.

"So, you lied to me about that, too," I snarled. "The whole reason you stayed in Cleveland last Friday was that you got stuck there due to the snow! Do you even know what the truth is, Angie?"

She stared at the floor for several seconds, appearing to struggle with what to do or say. I was expecting her to make up more lies or to beg for forgiveness. She went in a different direction.

"You know, I give up," she said. "Let's just get divorced! I told you what happened. You're going to believe what you want to believe. I made a mistake and put myself in a bad situation, and that creep Tony took advantage of me. Yes, I let him in my room, and I wanted to have sex. But, I changed my mind and wanted him to leave. He didn't. You preferred to believe him, not me, and sent him to my room to attack me again! Now, you want to try to justify your actions and blame it all on me! So, fuck you, Peter. I don't deserve this. I'd rather divorce you than put up with any more of your bullshit."

I briefly staggered backward in response to her unexpected tirade before recovering. "You lied about the airline canceling the flight so you could go to a bar, pick up some stranger, and fuck him! You are just trying to deflect!"

"When did I tell you the flight was canceled?" Angie demanded angrily. "Huh? When?"

"Huh?" I asked, confused, and backpedaling. "What are you talking about?"

Angie crossed her arms over her chest. "I told you that they were canceling a lot of other flights due to the snowstorm. I've had it happen many times before, so I knew from prior experience that if they started canceling flights, there was very little chance of me getting on a plane. I told you that the hotels book up quickly, so I checked and there were only a few rooms left. I didn't want to get stuck sleeping on the floor, so I booked a room. I assumed the flight wouldn't happen, and went to the hotel. I didn't check first. I didn't even realize that the flight got home on time until the next day! I never once told you they canceled my flight!"

I thought back to what she had said earlier. Much to my chagrin, I realized she was telling me the truth, at least for now. She hadn't actually said they canceled the flight, but that didn't change anything in my mind. She was still a lying, cheating, slut.

"It sure as hell seems awfully convenient!" I snapped.

"I know it does, just like it is convenient that I changed my mind and he fucked me anyway. Convenient, but it's the truth!"

"You mistakenly assumed your flight would be canceled. You went to a hotel room, dressed up in the sexy dress you bought for OUR date, then went down to the bar and picked up a guy. Then, you took him back to the room, made out, got naked, got in bed with him, and started having sex. That's when you had a sudden change of heart and asked him to stop fucking you, mid-stroke. That's your story?"

"Yes!" she yelled at me. "But it doesn't matter anymore."

I laughed. "You ever heard of Occam's Razor?" I asked.

Angie stared at me with a confused look on her face. "Heard of what?"

"Occam's Razor," I said. "It's the idea that the simplest explanation is usually right. So, isn't it much easier to believe that you liked the fantasy idea, decided to stay in Cleveland to try it out without me there, got carried away, and went too far?'

"Jesus, Peter," Angie snapped. "That's exactly what I said happened except you make it sound like I planned it. It only happened because I thought I was stuck there. I didn't plan it! It just happened. I said it was a mistake. If I could take it back, I would. I fucked up. I know it was too late to stop, but I didn't want to go through with it. I wanted him to stop. He kept going. Fortunately, it didn't last very long, and he was up and out as soon as he got what he wanted. I was angry at him, but I was more angry at myself."

Angie collapsed onto the chair, sobbing uncontrollably. "And you hate me so much that you wanted him to force himself on me and rough me up. I am the mother of your children. How could you do that?"

"How could the mother of my children disrespect her family so much as to pick up a stranger in a bar and take him back to her room to fuck?"

"You are a bastard!" Angie screamed, as she jumped to her feet and stormed out of the room.

"Where are you going?" I shouted after her as she ran upstairs.

"Away from you!" She yelled back.

Well, fuck. That didn't go the way I had expected. I wanted to fight more, to yell more, but I had nobody to yell at. I stomped upstairs after Angie.

"We're not done yet!" I shouted as I approached the door to the master bedroom. She slammed it in my face and locked it.

"Goddamit, bitch!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "Open this fucking door, before I knock it down!" I pounded on it with my fist. She didn't answer.

I grabbed the key off the doorframe and unlocked the door, then stormed into the room. Angie wasn't there. I walked into the bathroom and saw the light on in the walk-in closet. I threw open the door and entered the confined space.

"Get out, you bastard!" she shouted. "I'm packing a bag, and I'm leaving! Get out of here before I call the police!"

"You fucked that asshole, and you're leaving me?" I demanded, the veins in my neck bulging out. "You can't leave me; I'm throwing your ass out!"

I grabbed the clothes out of her hands and threw them on the floor.

"You know what?" I said, trying to calm down. "It's not worth going to jail. You stay. I'm leaving."

I didn't even bother to pack a bag; I just grabbed my wallet and keys and went to a hotel to spend the night. I needed to get away from Angie so I could think. She didn't call me at all that night. In fact, she didn't call me the next couple of days.

On Monday, I was back at work, but I couldn't focus. I called a lawyer and told him about my situation. His free advice was to try to work it out. The way he explained it, putting it behind us and moving on would be a whole lot cheaper than a divorce and way less destructive to our lives. I told him that I wasn't sure I could, but I would think about it before taking any action.

I called my sister, filling her in on the general situation. She insisted that I come over and talk face-to-face. Fortunately, her husband and kids were out of town for a soccer tournament, so we had plenty of time to discuss my situation. Over dinner, I explained everything to her. To my surprise, she was less than sympathetic and blamed me to some degree for playing with fire. "You idiot!" she said. "Why would you suggest some dangerous roleplay like that in the first place? Are you a cuckold at heart?"

"No way!" I told her. "It was just supposed to be fun for us, not really involve any other people. So, maybe it was a risky idea, but that doesn't excuse her for taking what was supposed to be our fun game and doing it without me, then actually picking up a guy to fuck. Right?"

"No," she agreed. "You're right, but it sounds like Angie made a mistake, and she regrets it. Are you willing to throw away everything you have over a mistake? Think about what this will do to your kids!"

"She should have thought about that, not me!" I protested. "I'm not the one who violated my wedding vows! I didn't stick my cock into some other woman's twat! Even if she got cold feet and wanted to stop, she let it get that far. How am I supposed to accept that?"

"Peter, don't be so melodramatic," my sister scolded me. "People are not perfect. We're flawed beings. We make mistakes. You're not so perfect yourself."

"I know I'm not," I agreed. "But, I never cheated on Angie."

"Not one time?" she asked.

"No, never," I declared.

"What about Jennifer, my bridesmaid?" my sister asked, sounding a little sarcastic.

The reference to Jennifer was a shock to my system. I remembered the cute little redhead from the wedding ten years prior. Angie had been dancing her ass off, with every guy in the place, knowing how I hated to dance. She was having so much fun that she never noticed I wasn't around.

Jennifer had been flirting with the entire reception. I was flattered by the attention of a younger woman. She took me to a broom closet, and we started making out. She rubbed my cock through my pants, but when she went to unzip me, I lost my nerve and ran out of the room and went back to the party, ashamed.

"Nothing happened with Jennifer," I explained, defending myself.

"Depends on what you call nothing," my sister replied. "You kissed her, right?"

"Yeah."

"You felt her up, right?"

"Yeah," I admitted, feeling ashamed of myself.

"You let her play with your cock, right?"

"Just at first," I admitted, "but I stopped her and didn't let it go too far."

"Isn't that exactly want Angie did?" my sister asked, trying to sound logical.

Instead of agreeing with her, I got angry. I should have known women would stick together. I was disappointed that my sister would take Angie's side in this.

"The difference is," I explained, "instead of stopping, as I did, Angie let him fuck her!"

"No," my sister countered, "she did the same thing you did. The difference is that Tony was not as honorable as you are. He was a typical prick and fucked her even when she changed her mind. It would have been like Jennifer refusing to stop and holding you down and making you fuck her. Would you have been guilty of cheating on Angie?"

"It's not the same fucking thing, Sis."

"Sure it is, Peter. You're just too arrogant and egotistical to accept it. You're a man. You don't know what it is to be a woman in a situation like that. With Jennifer, you chose to stop. Most men won't let women have that choice. He essentially raped your wife, Peter. It's as simple as that. But, you don't seem to get that, nor do you care."

"Of course, I care," I argued. "It's not that simple."

"Do you still love her?"

"Absolutely."

"So, you have to decide how much you love her and weigh that against the mistake she made. Are you willing to spend the rest of your life, the rest of your children's lives, without her?"

I stared at my sister as her words sank in. I loved my wife, but could I forgive her? Could I believe her? Was it just my ego getting in the way? Was what Angie had done no different than my own close call with infidelity?

"You want to stay here for a couple of days?" my sister asked when I didn't reply to her earlier question.

"No, I got a room at the hotel. I'll be alright."

"Have you talked to Angie since you left?"

"No, I don't know that I'm ready to talk to her again."

"You have to at some point."

I nodded. "Yeah, probably should get that over with."

By Friday, I still hadn't spoken to Angie. I was planning to go over on the weekend and hash things out. Around lunchtime, security called and told me I had a visitor in the lobby. I wasn't in the mood to talk to Angie, so I ignored it. Ten minutes later, they called me again to let me know my visitor was still here and growing irritated. I shook my head, packed up my bag, and headed down to the lobby to face what I assumed was my wife's wrath.

When I entered the lobby, some guy stood up, walked over, and handed me an envelope. "Sorry, dude," he said apologetically. "You've been served."

My heart sunk as I opened the envelope and read the contents. Angie had filed for divorce. How the fuck did that happen? She cheated on me, and she's acting like the aggrieved party! She was divorcing me???

I got pissed. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became. I jumped in my car and drove home, unsure of what I would find. When I got there, the house was dark. I went inside, and it was deathly quiet. Angie and the kids were nowhere to be found. I frantically searched the house, but it was no use. They were gone.

I called Angie's cell phone, then tried the kids' phones. They all went to voicemail. I called her parents, but they said they didn't know anything. I figured they were lying, but her folks had always been good to me. They seemed sincere and concerned. They claimed they hadn't heard from Angie in three days.

I called the police, but they were less than useless. First, they told me Angie wasn't a missing person; she just didn't want to be found. They refused to do anything or help me in any way. However, when I brought up the kids, they reluctantly agreed to get involved. I was able to get a temporary restraining order, but fat good it did me when Angie and the kids were not around to enforce it.

Another three days passed before she called me. I picked up on the second ring.

"Where are the kids?" I demanded.

"They're with me," she said, stating the obvious. "They're fine. They don't know what's going on with us, Peter. I told them we were taking a little vacation."

"Where the fuck are you?"

"Mom and Dad's cabin at the lake," Angie answered, sounding nervous. "Why don't you come out and join us. We can talk about the future. The kids would love to see you."

"You filed for divorce," I said, still in shock.

"It doesn't have to come to that, honey," she said. I could tell she was crying. "Can't we try to get through this?"

I wanted to run to her, take her in my arms, and kiss away all our pain, but I knew that would not solve anything. The hurt would still be there, on both our parts. The mistrust, the doubt, the betrayal wouldn't go away.

"I'll come," I said, "but I won't be there for you. I'll be there for the kids."

"That's good enough," Angie replied.

I went to the cabin. It was painful, but the joy at being with my children outweighed the discomfort of seeing Angie. We ended up staying for three days. We talked, a lot, like mature adults, but we didn't resolve anything. Instead, we reached a kind of numb acceptance of where we were.

Angie tried to get me to make love to her, but I couldn't. I couldn't bring myself to go there. As I sat on the couch, staring at the fire on our last night at the cabin, she came in and sat next to me. I didn't stop her. She curled up next to me, and I wrapped my arms around her. We didn't kiss; we just held each other and watched the fire slowly burn down to embers.

"We'll never be able to get back to where we were, will we?" Angie asked softly, the sadness evident in the tremor of her voice.

"I don't think so," I admitted.

"Would it make it any better if I gave you one free hall pass to use anytime you wanted?" She asked, turning to look at me with a shy grin.

"I'd only want to use it with you," I told her as I kissed her forehead.

"Then why don't you?" Angie asked. "I really wish you would."

I didn't respond. I just held her for as long as I could. She drifted off to sleep at some point, and I extricated myself from her grip, trying hard not to wake her. I covered her with a blanket, then gathered my things and left.

On Monday, I signed the divorce papers, and six months later, our marriage was officially dissolved. In time, the pain faded, but the trust, once shattered, was something that could never be restored.

Epilogue

As I sat in the bar, sipping my second bourbon, I saw her. My heart skipped a beat, and I felt a stirring in my loins. She was tall and slender, with a full bosom and ample hips. The slinky red dress she wore was low cut and had a slit that ran almost to her hip. I stood and approached her slowly, stealthily.

The seat to her left was empty, but another predator had quickly landed in the one to her right. I heard him ask if he could buy her a drink. As I sat down, she turned to me, and our eyes met. I felt my desire surge up from my groin, and through my chest, turning my face a warm shade of red.

"Thanks," she told the other man, "But, I'm here to meet my husband."

She smiled at me, and I leaned in, kissing her lovingly on her full, red lips. "Ex-husband," I whispered in her ear, correcting her.

Angie let out a slow sigh. "Close enough," she replied with a wink.