The Man Named Carlos

Chapter 3: Fallout

It was fun to twirl Tracy's underwear in hand. Carlos watched her drive off with a smirk on his lips. She had said next time, so he had no problem believing that he would be seeing her.

He shook his head at the thought of another idiot husband trying to put rules onto an arrangement

after

the fact. Carlos was big on consent, but husband's that try to set rules after the fact were trying for a power play. Once the date away from them started, they had no control of the situation. He knew that, and every cuck husband had to know the same.

He was more than sure that the unknown was part of the spice for those 'men'.

Carlos was so lost in his thought that he did not walk straight to his car. He had walked a lap around the park when he heard the single blaring of a cop car's siren.

Oh...What the fuck now?

Carlos wondered.

"Sir!" came a cry from the overhead of the car. "Please stop where you are."

Carlos put his hands down and half-stuffed Tracy's underwear into his pants, letting his shirt hide the offending material. Then, slowly he turned to face the officer.

"Carlos? Is that you?" asked the officer.

"Who?" Carlos said, raising his hand to protect himself from the bright light in the dark. "Oh! Alex!"

The light skinned black officer looked at Carlos. "What the hell are you doing here?"

He was like any good officer in uniform, badge visible, and a belt with a plethora of objects including a firearm. That would always give Carlos pause.

"I came to clear my head," Carlos said flippantly. "You know I used to come here all the time as a kid."

Alex looked at his friend suspiciously, pointing the flashlight down. "There were noise complaints from some of the residences. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?"

Carlos was always smooth with a lie to authorities, but since Alex had known him way back in high school, he suspected a direct lie might give him away, so Carlos tried a lateral move. "It was probably some kid. After all, you know how much we couldn't help trying to get our dicks wet everywhere we went."

Alex laughed, before waving Carlos over. "Yeah. Probably. Either way, you shouldn't be here after dark. You could technically get arrested for trespassing."

"Trespassing at a park?" Carlos asked skeptically. "Oh that's bullshit."

"Technically, it's loitering, but you never cared about the rules."

"Oh! Now

that's

bullshit! All I ever did was obey the rules back in high school," Carlos said as they started walking toward his car.

"In class. You always got away with everything, and no one called you out on it."

Carlos laughed. "All right. I will cop to that, officer." Carlos motioned to his automobile. "May I?"

The officer nodded. "Sure. Get outta here." He leaned in, turning off his body cam for a moment. Carlos stared, waiting the thirty seconds for the thing to full stop recording. "Next time you fuck someone, don't bring her to a park, man. I don't want to have to arrest you next time. My mom still goes to the old church. She loves you!"

Carlos lifted his hands. "Okay okay."

"Just remember to come to church to see some of us normal people. Ever since you got that Engineering job, no one hears from you anymore except when you donate money to people."

Carlos waved him off, getting into his car.

Starting up the engine, he let out a sigh of relief. That could have been much worse. Alex was right. He was playing things too fast and loose nowadays.

---

Her drive home was the longest fifteen minutes she ever had. With everyone at home because of the late hour, no one was on the road, so Tracy was left with her thoughts.

She could not help but think about what she had done. While there was very little risk of her getting pregnant, she did not even pay attention to Carlos' advice. Tracy did not know if he was clean or not. Truthfully, she did not know what was up versus down after a certain point. She had been swept up in having fun with him. It felt so wholesome and down to earth...until it didn't.

Sighing, she wondered what she was going to tell Chris. Lying was a no-go. Even if Carlos had not given her the communication speech and honesty, lying would ruin their marriage. Asif it was not already ruined from Chris' stupid bullshit idea of her fucking another guy. Isn't this what he wanted anyway? No.

Watch. Somehow, this would be her fault for not doing it exactly how he wanted.

Shaking her head, Tracy would not have that. She did not even want to do this to begin with. Now that she was going about it, she was not going to be blamed for it.

Whatever happened, her stance would be firm. Honesty was what she would lead with. Taking a deep breath upon parking her car, she readied herself for what was going to be a long night.

---

The next morning came without a new message from Tracy. Things must have gone nuclear with hubby. What was that guy's name again? Carlos could not recall. For fuck's sake, he wished these guys did not all act that same.

Stag. Cuck. Open-minded. They were all the same. It

always

came down to control. They can say they like when their wife was with another guy, but they always tried to make it on their terms. It was just shallow misogyny dressed up in a fetish.

He had the same problem with guys who preached polyamory. That did not make all poly people problematic. It was the men who talked about the poly lifestyle like it was a religion. They were the 'enlightened' ones who knew all about women, could always get another woman, and they knew how to manage the situation. When their wife, fiancé or girlfriend was around, oh they would talk a good game. They could see whomever they wanted, man, woman, nonbinary, but when it came to putting it into practice, there was always an excuse unless it benefited the guy.

Those kinds of men

always

were a waste of time; every time, without exception.

Speaking of, Carlos found Michelle in her office ready to go at 10:05 AM.

"Had your coffee?" he asked. With intelligently driven women, especially red-headed intelligently driven women, Carlos made it his policy to wait for them to have their morning coffee before interrupting them.

"Yes, and ready to roll," she said with a smile.

"You mind?" he asked, motioning at the door.

Michelle raised an eyebrow. "No. Go ahead." When the door clicked shut, Carlos did not lock it, but he leaned on it just in case. "What's this about?"

"Are my favors still valid?"

Michelle nodded. A light of interest shined in her eyes.

"Then, I need you to do me a favor."

Michelle was getting excited.

"Well, part of a favor."

"Yes?"

"I need you to get me a clean STD sheet." he said.

Michelle deflated. "Do you have to be so formal about it?" she whined.

"I'm not the one getting cunniligus from the intern in the copy room and then fucking them in my office

without

a condom."

"Hey! I said I was sorry," she shot at him. He was in dangerous territory. He would have to say the right thing to quickly salvage it.

"Did you talk to Steve about going bareback?" Carlos asked, crossing his arms but adopting a teasing smile.

"Well, no, but he trusts me..." she trailed off.

"What about the intern? Did he have wifey's permission?"

Michelle recalled the phone call. "Okay...You got me there."

"And if he's being sneaky about condoms with you...?"

The gorgeously busty attorney caught on quickly. "Then he might be doing the same with other people," Michelle finished. "I get it."

"So do you mind?"

"You really know how to charm a girl," Michelle said before waving him off. "It makes sense. I assume it's because you don't want to wear a condom yourself?"

Carlos flashed an award winning smile at her. "You got it. I want my favors on my terms, after all."

"About that," Michelle said. "I want that in one sentence, so I know what I am agreeing to...

after

I see

your

STD sheet."

Mister Santiago never faltered. He simply leaned down, ran his hand up her forearm, kissed her on her cheek, and whispered into her ear. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Michelle shivered before pushing him back. She could not believe he tried such a cheesy line on her. She could not believe it worked. "Get the fuck out of here."

"I will give you a long lunch today to get this done," said as though he were departing down a long hallway.

"Get out!" she said, tossing a staple remover at him. Carlos smirked before departing as if he were under heavy fire.

---

Nicole waited for Jim to leave for work before doing anything. She could hardly stand it. When he was in their bed, every part of her was tense. It required all of her self control not to vomit on him.

How could he do what he did? They were going to have kids! She married him. Did he know how many times she had told other men to fuck off because she was married to him?

She had been good! She had been loyal! And that piece of shit, son of a bitch did her like this?

No! She would not have it.

He did not even have the decency to look momentarily guilty when she handed him his phone back.

And what's more was that she was attractive. She was not older. Her body had a little weight. Sure, her chest was not huge, but she had firm C cup tits. Her legs were nice, and Nicole

loved

how her ass looked in (and out of) all of her underwear

That morning, after fifteen minutes, she buried her head into her pillow and had a screaming cry. The tears came freely, and she had no intention of stopping. Her marriage was over as far as she was concerned. Jim did that when he could not keep it in his pants. A very real part of Nicole wanted to blame Michelle, but so far as she understood it, her prick of an asshole husband had told Michelle that Nicole was okay with what happened. And the most fucked up part? She might have been okay with it. But going behind her back, lying, not wearing a condom? If Michelle fucked other men without condoms, did that mean Nicole had Herpes or something?

Jesus Christ.

The more she thought about it, the more she hated her rat bastard of a husband.

Then there was what to do. She could not just get a divorce without telling everyone what happened. California was a no fault state and it was not like they had a ton of money or even a prenup. She was sitting there powerless.

She did not want to throw out so many years of being together, but she would not just sit there and let him get away with what he did.

That left revenge. But who? She couldn't just fuck one of his friends. She was guessing he didn't do that for the same reason. Once you fuck someone in your friend circle, they blab and it gets out of hand in a minute.

She did not want to set up an online profile or anything. That was a bunch of bullshit that would go nowhere. Christ. She could just hear herself thinking.

This was not who she was. Nicole was a good housewife. She was going to have Jim's kids in the next few years. They had a home. She was loyal. She just wanted her family back.

And then...the word family... When it crossed her mind, she thought of the one person who she believed actually cared about family.

Carlos... He had even driven over to their place to deliver the phone. If anyone could understand what she was going through, it was him. She was a mess. Nicole paused for a moment, inhaled deeply and exhaled for just as long. She ran to the shower. If she was going to do this, and she was not sure if she was, she was going to have him over first.

---

Lunch came and went for Carlos pretty quick. He had a Primary Care Physician who would always have a same day appointment schedule for Carlos.

It was easy to get what you wanted when you had resources. Carlos' insurance covered everything, but when his doctor needed a favor or some investment tips, Carlos always came through.

Sometimes, it was what you knew

and

who you knew.

He was in by noon and out by 12:45 PM.

When he was back in the office, Stacy flagged him down. "Boss! You have an appointment with George today!"

"Wait! I do?" Carlos said, stopping himself at the door to his office. "Tell him to reschedule for two weeks from now."

"You only get five of those a year, and this will be your third time," Stacy reminded as she always did. "Remember, he's the one who always says, 'I don't care how much money you have. You show up'." Her impression of a sixty something year old man was actually pretty good by Carlos' estimation.

Nevertheless, Carlos let out a breath of irritation. He held back any profanities because this did not require that. "Reschedule," he said. "These 'physicals' take it out of me."

"They always do," she said with a knowing smile. If anyone knew what he did and why he did it, it was Stacy. She was fun to play with, but she knew him too well for him to pursue anything serious with her. That and she had a boyfriend, who Carlos figured was not a bad guy all things considered.

Carlos looked at his calendar. He would need to see about Autumn and Sam. His phone was not going off for either of them, but when the landline on his desk was blinking red, Carlos was confused.

"There's a woman named Nicole on line one, boss."

That was unexpectedly quick, Carlos thought.

---

"You can't

still

be mad," Tracy said when Chris came home from work.

He threw off his work shirt and kicked off his shoes before saying anything to her.

"Mad? I'm fucking livid. You let him fuck you without a condom. What if he's got diseases?" Chris shot back.

Tracy blinked at his sheer stupidity. "I didn't even want to do this."

"Oh then he raped you?" Chris said sarcastically. "Great. Let's call the cops."

"Ew! The fuck? Of course he didn't rape me, Chris. We had sex. But he didn't cum in me or anything."

Chris stared at her as if she had lost her mind. "That doesn't stop you from giving me something if he's got it."

"He wouldn't be doing this if he had something!"

"How do you know?" Chris snapped back.

Tracy stared at him in disbelief. "But you're the one who found him," she muttered, holding back all emotion.

This whole thing was his idea, and there it was blowing up in her face. When he went into the back room to shower before their kids came home from their after school program, Tracy pulled out her phone.

She shot Carlos a text.

"Don't think I will be seeing you again. Chris thinks you're trying to trick us and might have STDs."

It broke her heart to send that message, but for the life of her, she could not understand why

---

Michelle got home nice and early that day. When Carlos was in a good mood and not being stalked, harassed, or sued, it was nice. The legal department ran itself and Michelle just showed up to dot the i's and cross the t's.

When she got home, Steve was getting ready for his graveyard security job. As a former navy man, it was easy for him to find work in security. Those guys always stuck together. Well that was until one of them wanted something.

Michelle could think of one or two of his friends offhand who wanted to fuck her and tried to get her to cheat on her husband. That made them a definite no when she did have the right to fuck who she wanted and when.

Steve, as he was, stood at about five foot ten. He was white with a mild Mediterranean tan. He had a five o'clock shadow. His teeth were slightly yellowed from smoking and coffee, but so were half of the guys he served with.

He did not start until 8, so she was wondering why he was getting ready so soon.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"I am gonna try to get in at seven for some OT."

"Why?" Michelle asked.

"Baby number 3 will be pricey," he said. "You're gonna need to stop playing with other guys while we do that."

Michelle stared at him like he was nuts. She made almost twice as much as he did, not that she threw it in his face or anything. But to remind her not to play with other people was not how the play was supposed to work.

"Excuse me?" She asked, crossing her arms, one over the other. "And what about you? Will you stop playing with your little partners?"

"Of course," Steve said.

"And what about Carlos? Didn't you give him a pass to call in favors?"

Steve's face reddened. "When we are trying to have a kid, that should be a no-go!"

"Oh?" Michelle asked, standing up to her husband and stabbing at his chest with a pointed finger. "I see what this is. You're threatened by him, so you want to take sex off the board rather than pay him the three favors we owe him."

"I did

not

agree to three!" Steve said. "Just because you fucked someone on his desk does not mean I will be paying for it."

"Excuse me?" she said again. "You aren't paying for anything. If he hadn't caught you with that hooker and paid her off, your little girls would know daddy paid to get laid rather than just asking someone who puts out for you all the time."

Michelle had not easily let go of that memory. She was not okay with the fact that Steve went to a hooker, and when Steve called Carlos before her, it made her feel like Steve was trying to keep secrets.

"That was not my fault," Steve said, deflating slightly.

"Then whose fault is it?"

"I don't have to take this," Steve said, rushing out. He slammed the door behind him.

Michelle was not a woman to cry or get even. She had things to do. If he wanted to get his underwear in a wad over the lifestyle that they both had agreed on, then fine.

She would not talk ill of her children's father, but she would not just take his disrespect lying down.

Pulling her phone from her pocket, she sent a text to Carlos with all of her negative bloodwork. She was as clean as a well blown whistle. He did not reply right away. Michelle figured. He was always entertaining either someone he did business with, or another woman. She did not fault.

Carlos always played it straight. That's why she liked him.

---

"And you're sure he's still in the archives?" Carlos asked Ladarius.

"Yeah. He won't be done until nine," the voice on the other line of the phone said. "What did this guy do to piss you off anyway?"

Carlos laughed. "He ruined my office," he said offhandedly. "He'll pay his dues, and then I will probably promote him if he respects my space."

Ladarius laughed back. "You're a weird one, Carlos."

"Just make sure his punishment helps him relearn respect."

"You got it," Mister Williams replied before hanging up.

Carlos smiled, checking his messages. The one from Tracy was to be expected, so was the one from Michelle. He would not reply to Michelle right away. He could not seem too eager. He had plans for her, and after what Steve did...or thought he did, Carlos knew he had shaky ground with that one.

With Tracy, he was on more honest ground, so he felt safe in going for it. He was careful with the words he sent to her.

"Focus on your marriage. I can wait. But here are my STD results. I think this is more about Chris than it is about me. If nothing else, I enjoyed spending time with you."

None of what he said was a lie. That was the magic of what he did. Do your best to be honest and only nudge the truth where you have to.

He did not look at his phone anymore. He set it to airplane mode before knocking on Nicole's front door.

She answered in her bra and underwear. She was wearing a red and lacey top and and smooth black bottoms. His reaction was immediate.

She smiled at that. However, when she went to kiss him, he held his hand up to stop her.

He pushed her into her own apartment, and she was just confused.

"What do you think you're doing?" Carlos wondered.

"Coming onto you?" Nicole said, questioning her own decision.

Carlos walked into her home, kicking off his shoes before walking her to her own couch to sit and talk.