The girls were shocked beyond words when I refused. "No. Remember I said a one-time thing, and I meant it. It'll hold. We need to focus on the logistics, instead. I DO NOT want to be in the same room where my wife is screwing someone not me. I don't think I could get past the visual. And it can't be anyone's house; this has to be on neutral ground. There again, I don't want to go to someone's house and remember hearing the sounds of sex echoing in my head. There are a couple of more things I'll need, and they are absolutely nonnegotiable. If you can't live with it, I'll wish you the best of luck and we'll try to parts ways as non-painfully as possible."
Jules and Bonny were staring at me. Bonny looked a little panicked. "Damn, Grunt, you're sucking all the fun out of it."
"I don't think it's going to be all that much fun. I'm just trying to minimize the impact it will have on all of us. Just so you know, I discovered one consistency in my conversations with the rest of your little group. In almost every case, there is one partner who is much more into the idea than the other. A couple aren't all warm and fuzzy with the idea at all. I predict at least two divorces in less than a year."
"Why do you keep referring to your friends as 'my group'?"
"Well, Bonny, it wasn't my group. I wasn't privy to any of the discussions, the planning, the plotting and the manipulations that went on. You all conspired behind my back, and true friends would never have done that. I'm starting to wonder if I really knew them at all."
I sighed. "Or you."
There was no hot monkey sex that night, with anyone.
*****
It took them three weeks before they came up with a workable plan. We socialized a little, but everyone was under strict orders to never mention it in my presence. I caught Will looking at me a few times, a smug grin on his face. I wished I could see if the grin was still there after he found out what I had planned.
We were going to a destination resort, someplace in a hot climate where the beaches were top-optional or nude. I suspect it was a plan by the girls to get us revved up for the night. We were going to be there for three nights. The first was couples only, the second would be the big event, and the third was recovery and reconnect time. I hoped.
We were leaving on Thursday. The Friday before, I gave Bonny my final conditions. She didn't know where we were going until we pulled into the parking lot. "Why are we here? Gerry got some business papers for us to sign?"
"Something like that." Gerry greeted us, not sure what to think of what I required. I asked if they were ready and she handed me a stack of papers. Then she showed us into a small conference room and shut the door. Bonny was looking very nervous.
"What are those?"
"Failsafes. They're pretty simple. Read through them, think about it for a bit, and then tell me if you agree. If you don't, well, then the whole thing is off and you are to never mention it again. I'll give you a little privacy."
I knew it would take her a while and I hadn't had lunch, so I walked next door to the sub shop and got one of their famous Reubens. I was surprised at the fact that I could eat. Forty-five minutes later I walked back in. She started and slid her phone back into her purse. I grinned, thinking that might be some disappointed people right about now.
Her tone was accusing. "This sounds like you think we won't make it. Don't you have any faith in me?"
"Not as much as I did. When a man's wife tells him she wants to fuck other men, it kind of shakes your confidence. I don't feel like I'm asking for anything unreasonable, basically I just put into writing what you promised. Gerry says it's highly unusual, but entirely legal. Consider it a contract, because if you fail, it's just that, entirely enforceable with no negotiations. If you honor what you say, it should be no big deal. Having second thoughts?"
The papers were a contract that included a postnuptial. We never had a prenuptial because we didn't have anything to start with, and I never had reason to doubt her before. If you shoveled the legalese aside, all the papers said was that we both agreed to a one night with different sexual partners, never to be repeated, never to be discussed. At any time after the event and the agreement was signed, if one engaged in sex with anyone but their married partner the divorce would be immediate, the cheater getting 35% of the assets, the faithful one getting 65%. The divorce would not be contested, and if the losing partner chose to try anyway, they lost another 10%.
The last section was the one I absolutely insisted on. Bonny could never, ever, have sexual relations with one Will Fortner. If she did, the papers would be served. It further stated he could not be present at the upcoming event. He was the one who was tearing my world apart and I could see no reason to let him benefit from the situation. I hoped it would be enough that the group would call the whole thing off.
"He's gonna be beyond pissed. He's the one who got the ball rolling and did most of the planning. The others won't be too happy about this, I'm sure. Is it really necessary?"
"Bonny, look me in the eye and tell me you want this marriage to continue. You're getting your fantasy so I expect a little sweat-equity here. If you can't, well, we'll go on to Plan B."
I hoped common sense would kick in, but apparently lust trumps sense most of the time. "I'll agree, under protest."
"Bonny, in about five seconds I'm going to tear these papers up and proceed straight to the divorce. Gerry has a set already drawn up by a partner so we can sign now. We split everything 50/50 and go our separate ways. I don't want you to agree under protest. I want you to agree because you love me and understand I'm trying to protect our marriage and future. Your call."
I'd said the magic words and her eyes cleared. She still sighed. "I love you honey, and I am grateful for letting me have this. Will... well, Will just has to understand. If the others want, they can get together later. Call Gerry in."
We signed there, there, and there, oh, and there, too, and Gerry had it notarized. She gave us each a copy and said she would put another in a file. That was it and we were out.
She didn't say a word all the way back to the office. I just sat in the parking lot, waiting for her to get out. "You're not coming in?'
"You're the office person honey, I'm the grunt, remember? The Parker project is really falling behind and I have to meet with Jason to do the final walk through of his studio. He's like a kid at Christmas and the shiny new bike he wants is sitting under the tree. I'll be out cracking the whip and stroking egos the rest of the day. Don't cook tonight, have Jules pick something up on the way home. Anything but Chinese."
She grinned. Jules would eat Chinese takeout seven days a week if left to her own devices. "Okay honey. I love you."
I gave her a nice little kiss. "I love you, too. Now get out of my truck!"
She giggled and bounced into the office. My smile faded the minute she walked through the door. I was praying this episode would happen and we'd get back to normal. I was never a gambler or a betting man, but I would give odds that this was going to end badly.
Not in the best of moods, I ate up a few subcontractors who were dragging their feet, making them understand I wasn't paying for delays and if they didn't get off their asses, I wouldn't be using them again. It was kind of an empty threat because the economy was good and construction was booming. Guys would work for a while, get pissed at some real or imagined slight, leave, and be working another job before the hour was up. These guys would tighten up because I had used them for years and everybody remembered lean times when a job or two meant the difference between bankruptcy and solvency.
Jason did indeed act like a kid at Christmas. He loved his office, made even more special because Annette decorated it. She put the gold and platinum albums along the wall leading to it, as well as photos from his band days, photos with the artists he'd written songs for and produced. On a shelf behind his desk there were two AMA's and a Grammy. In matching display cases stood Earl's old Fender Precision and his vintage Les Paul. There were two amps set up and ready to go at the flip of a switch, along with a stack of electronic keyboards. I'd let him borrow the bass because Earl needed to be remembered, and it was doing no one any good lying in a case in a back bedroom. There were pictures of Earl, as well as some of me playing with Out Cold all those years ago. Jason was the guitarist I filled in for to give him a break and recover some from the food poisoning.
The project gave me constant headaches. The electrical subcontractor almost had a heart attack when he looked at the schematics and saw all the wires a recording studio required, and my boys had a hard time with soundproofing and installing custom-made Plexiglas divider walls. The computer guys were driving us all crazy with their demands, but we still made the deadline. We managed to come in under budget and two weeks early.
Jason and I stopped in front of the bass case, looking at the almost life size picture of Earl. "Wonder what Earl would say about our upcoming adventure?"
"Well, first he'd laugh his ass off. Then he'd tell us all not to do it."
I looked at Jason in surprise. "Really?"
He shrugged. "Really. In the five years we played with Out Cold, the lead singer was married and divorced twice, the drummer four times, counting the period before we joined, and Sammy went through a divorce that was pretty ugly and then his girlfriend left him after two years because he couldn't keep it in his pants. The rock-and-roll lifestyle is not kind to mono gamy. A couple of girlfriends tried to go along, but it got to be too much and they left.
"At least Earl was smart enough to watch and learn, and when he married Tammy, he was pre-nuped out the ass. Good thing, too, because when he was on the road and she got lonely, she started having boyfriends. When Earl confronted her, she just laughed and asked how many little groupies he banged on an average tour. The thing is, Earl really did watch and learn, and he avoided any situation that could put him in a compromising condition, a fact that bit her on the ass in the divorce. She had no proof he'd fucked around because he didn't; he had audio and video on at least two guys and P.I. reports on two more. If the judge could have gotten away with giving her less than the agreement called for, I believe he would have.
"Tammy knew she had fucked up big time and begged Earl for another chance, offering to sign another contract stating she would get absolutely nothing if she fucked around again. Earl just grinned, said 'Great White' and walked away, sending her a link to their song "Once Bitten Twice Shy."