The Next One

I put the house on the market for 310 thousand and it sat for two months before I got what I considered a serious offer. I had several offers of 280 and 285, but I didn't pay any attention to them. I got one for 295, but the bidder wanted a new roof on the house as part of the deal so I passed. I finally got an offer for 300 and I took it. Closing was to be in thirty days so I started looking for another place to live. I started looking at apartments and Vangie asked me why.

"I don't want another house. A single guy living in a house doesn't make any sense to me."

"You need to stop thinking about what makes sense and start thinking about dollars and cents. If you don't take what you get out of your house and roll it over into another piece of property you will end up paying capital gains tax on the money. You don't want another house; look for a condo. You should know by now it is better to pay for something you will end up owning than pay rent and end up with nothing but rent receipts."

"I need to be out by closing and until we close I won't have the money for a condo, but I do have enough to get into an apartment."

"Sometimes I have to wonder about you."

"What does that mean?"

"Where are you right now?"

"In your apartment."

"Well duh!!"

"Oh. You mean I should move in here?"

"He gets it! My baby finally gets it. Now that we have that settled maybe you can follow mommy into the bedroom and show me some thanks."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

A week before closing I called Allison on her cell and told her she had three days to pick out what she wanted out of the house and get it out.

"What are you going to keep?"

"Whatever is left when you finish. Three days Allison. Anything still there after three days I'll be moving out and into storage."

For those three days I stayed at the apartment so I wouldn't run into Allison. Two days before closing I moved all my clothes and personal items to the apartment and moved everything else into storage.

Allison met me at the title company on the day of closing and then she followed me to the bank where she endorsed the $74,881.64 check and I deposited it into my Guard account. We didn't talk even though it was clear that she wanted to and I left the bank and went back to work.

That weekend I took nine thousand and went to Vegas for the weekend and when I came home I put $7800 in cash into a safe deposit box in a different bank. Over the next two months I took trips to Vegas and Central City in Colorado and at the end of those two months I had $69,400 in the safe deposit box and a pile of receipts for hotel rooms, meals and airfare from places where they had legal gambling. If anyone wanted to know where the money from the sale of the house went I'd just have to admit to being the worst gambler ever. Just couldn't catch a break at the tables.

++++++++++++++++++

The months rolled by and in early October I got a surprising phone call. It was from Amos's wife and she asked me if I could meet her for lunch. Again, curiosity won out. We met at the Red Robin on Fairfield. She told me I would recognize her because she would be wearing a Raider's sweatshirt and a Giant's ball cap.

I spotted her as soon as I walked into the restaurant. She was a damned good looking woman and as I walked toward the table I wondered just what she could want to talk with me about. I introduced myself and she told me her name was Becky and she motioned for me to take a seat. She waited until we had ordered and then said:

"I'll bet you are wondering why I wanted this meeting."

"It is a bet you would win."

"I just wanted to meet Allison's husband. I wanted to find out just how you feel about giving up your baby."

I wanted – really, really wanted – to tell her that it wasn't my baby, but held my tongue.

"I guess my feelings are ones of relief."

"Relief? Why would you feel relieved that your wife is giving up your child?"

"I am a firm believer in a woman's right to do what she wishes as far as her body is concerned, but I am still somewhat of a 'right to life' person. I would rather see the child given up for adoption than for the alternative to happen."

"That doesn't answer my question. I guess I need to put it more plainly. Why don't you want the child?"

"Because I would be a lousy father. I don't want kids in my life and I made that perfectly clear to Allison before we got married. I was going to get a vasectomy, but Allison begged me not to. She felt that a few years down the road I might change my mind about having kids. She said she would take care of the birth control so I wouldn't have to get snipped. Her birth control methods failed. I did not react well when she told me that she was pregnant."

"Fascinating! You managed to say all that and still keep a straight face."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I know that Amos is the father of the child and I know that you know it. The real purpose behind my wanting to see you was to try and find out just how bad you intend to screw up my life when you go after Amos to get your revenge against him."

"And how pray tell can you know a thing like that?"

"Because I have had a private investigator on Amos off and on for almost a year now. He just happened to be on Amos the day you saw your wife with him at the hotel and he saw you go to the front counter to check on them. He gave the counter person a twenty to tell him what you asked about and since we know Amos isn't your uncle it wasn't hard to figure out."

"That just means that I caught them cheating and just because Allison was cheating on me doesn't mean that the baby isn't mine."

"Some investigators are willing to bend or even break the rules to get the client what she wants. My guy bribed some one at Cutter to slip a bug in your wife's purse. I have her on tape telling Amos about their little mistake and I have her on tape confessing to you. That means I also have you on tape telling her about the lawsuits you are going to file. It also goes without saying that I have your meeting at Denny's on tape. What I don't have is your response to the offer they made you. I need to know what you are going to do."

"I decided to accept it. There will be no lawsuits. Now I have a question; a couple of them actually. The first is if you know all this why haven't you kicked him out? The fact you have an investigator on him indicates to me that you are building a case against him and that being so brings up the second question. What is all this about adoption if you are dumping Amos?"

"I have no intension of getting rid of Amos. He is a good husband, if a trifle weak, and he is an excellent father and I love the man. The adoption is because we really want another child and I can't have one. I have a detective on him because I got suspicious. His behavior changed and he seemed unsettled. My intuition told me that there was a woman involved and I decided to find out if I was right and if I was would she be a threat to me and my family. What I found out is that your wife is no threat. It was just a fling that would have died in another month or so. Amos and Allison had already started talking about ending things before you and I could somehow find out."

"I don't understand the adoption part. Why would you want Allison's baby?"

"Why not? It will have Amos's DNA and that is something no other adopted child would have."

"But won't it be a constant reminder of what Amos did?"

"It will, but I can handle it. Amos will never know that I know the truth so it won't be on his mind."

"Not that I need to know, but I am curious about the adoption. Is it legal for Allison to have a baby and just give it to you?"

"No, she can't just hand it to me and walk away. There are some legalities involved and there are attorney's that specialize in cases like this. That's why they wanted you to give your name to the baby; so you could sign off on the paperwork and speed up the process."

"Well all I can say to you is good luck."

+++++++++++++++++

Months past and for the most part it was work and spend three evenings a week with Vangie. I still had two classes remaining to get my degree and I was taking them during the summer term on Tuesdays and Fridays. There was an occasional Saturday or Sunday with Vangie and there was one full weekend which we spent at her house doing everything we had done the previous two times I had been able to spend time here.

We had another conversation about Sarah on that weekend. "Sarah's divorce will be final in December."

"I'll be just starting mine. Allison's baby is due around the first of December and as soon as I sign off on the adoption I'll be filing."

"Sarah intends to make a play for you. She doesn't know about your upcoming divorce; she just plans on being a home wrecker. Seduce you and make sure your wife finds out and kicks you out then she will move in."

"Still taping her?"

"I never took the system out. The cameras are motion activated and they come on any time someone walks into the room where there is one. I checked the recorders once a week just to see if Sarah stops by when Russ is home and I'm not. Now that she has moved back in while going through her divorce I'm back to checking them daily. She told her dad she is going to get you back."

"And how do you feel about that?"

"You already know lover. She will have her extracurricular activities and we will have ours."

+++++++++++++++++++++

With Allison gone and me only seeing Vangie three times a week I had a lot of time to myself on the weekends and I spent a lot of it thinking about life in general and how it pertained to me. I considered myself an average guy. I didn't have movie star good looks and looking at things honestly I didn't see that I had all that much to offer and yet look at what had gone on and was going on in my life.

Actively pursued by four beautiful and sexy women at one time or another and they had all gotten me. I'd married two of them and had almost married a third and all three of them cheated on me after they got me. The fourth didn't cheat on me (unless you want to consider what she did with her husband as cheating on me), but we cheated when we were together. The question could be asked "What was wrong with them?" but it was a question that I couldn't ask because I was no better and I knew it. Never mind what was in them – what was it in me? I cared for the three – the two I married and the one I almost married – but did I love them? I honestly don't know.

I'm not even sure that I know what love is unless it is the way I feel about Vangie. I can't wait to see her again and I hate it when she leaves after spending time with me. I willingly cheated on Sarah and Allison with Vangie and I knew I would always cheat with Vangie no matter who I was with. A married woman older than my mother and all she had to do was crook a finger for me to come and I went. I've said it before – the woman owned me and always would. God only knows why she spent her time with me. She says that she does it to keep the scales balanced between her and her husband and I guess I can understand that, but why with me? That's the part I'll never understand. The woman was a sex Goddess; she could have any man she wanted so again, why me? I'd probably never know, but I was going to hang on and ride it till the end.

+++++++++++++++++++++

On December 3rd Allison had her baby. It was a boy and he came in at eight pounds seven ounces. For appearances sake I was at the hospital when she delivered and I wasn't at all surprised to see Amos and his wife there also. Not knowing we had already met Amos introduced me to Becky. She smiled and said how excited she was and that she couldn't wait to hold the baby. Then she got a worried look on her face and asked:

"You haven't changed your mind have you? I mean now that you have seen your son?"

I assured her that I hadn't and since Amos was looking the other way I winked at her and she gave me a half smile and winked back at me. I mouthed "Everything all right?" and she nodded a yes and then I excused myself to go and take care of the paperwork. Once I had signed everything and had made sure all the information on the birth certificate was correct I split. Five days later I met with Allison, Amos, and Becky at an attorney's office and signed a ton of paperwork and it was done.

At least a dozen times during her pregnancy Allison had called me and tried to get me to sit down with her and discuss trying to work things out so we could stay together and I always said no. She followed me out into the hallway as I left the attorney's office and made another attempt to talk with me. I didn't want to and I knew it would be a waste of time, but as long as her parents lived next to mine Allison was going to touch on my life in some way or manner and there would always be the constant pushing and prying of the parents. I decided to give her the sit-down she wanted and let her know for certain sure that there was no way in hell that we would ever be getting back together.

There was a Starbucks on the ground floor of the building where the attorney had his offices and we got coffees, found a table and took a seat. I sat there, looked at her and waited. She took a sip of her coffee and then looked at my face and what she saw there told her everything she needed to know. The look told her that her quest was hopeless. She started crying, set down her coffee and got up and ran out of the place.

I watched her go and when she was gone I took out my cell phone, checked the contact list for the number I wanted and made the call. I told the attorney to serve the divorce papers that he had been sitting on for almost a year.

+++++++++++++++++++++

That evening I told Vangie that I had finally filed and that if Allison didn't fight it I would be single in six months. Allison had promised as part of the deal that kept us married until the baby was born that she wouldn't contest the divorce, but I had a certain amount of distrust where she was concerned. She might have meant it when she said it, but there had been nine months go by; nine months where both moms would have been working on her.

When I gave Vangie the news she said, "That means that you and Sarah might just be able to squeeze in a June wedding."

"Are you back on that again?"

"I already told you that she was going to take a shot at you. As soon as she hears that you are getting a divorce she will definitely come after you."

"And just how is she going to find that out? You can't tell her because that would let her know that we are still in touch."

"You say that Russ sometimes joins you in the break room. Next time he does and asks you how thinks are going tell him not so good and then tell him about your breakup and divorce. He will tell Sarah. Then Russ and I will tell her she needs to get out of the house and socialize some and try to get her to come to the company Christmas party with us. Knowing that you will be there I'm betting that she will jump at the chance. Just don't bring a date."

"You really think she will do that?"

"I just said that I'd bet on it."

"You do realize that my hooking up with Sarah will crimp our style."

"Why would it?"

"She is going to want to spend time with me. How do I tell her that I can't see her on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday?"

"You won't have to. Don't forget those are the nights she spends with Russ, John or Larry or (giggle) all three. She will be the one telling you that she has things to do on those nights."

"Got it all figured out have you?"

"I try."

"Okay, but to make it work you will need to get me some information."

"What do you need?"

I told her.

++++++++++++++++++

It was like Vangie wrote a script and then gave each of us a copy to follow. Russ joined me for lunch on Friday and asked me how things were going. I told him things were great on the job, but my personal life sucked. He asked what was wrong and I told him about divorcing Allison. By the time lunch period was over he had heard the entire sad story. I called Vangie and told her about the lunch. That night she told Russ she had some things to do on Saturday and would be gone most of the day knowing full well that Russ and Sarah would take full advantage of her being gone. She came over and spent most of the day with me.

Monday Vangie pushed a tape into my VCR and I listened to Russ tell Sarah about what I'd told him and then to them making plans to try and convince Vangie that Sarah was going nuts sitting around the house after work and it might be good for her to get out and socialize so how about taking her to the company Christmas party with them?

I say I "listened" because Vangie only played those parts of the tapes for me that were conversations. Although I did see Russ and Sarah fondling each other while they talked I never did see them in action and that was fine with me.

The company party was on Friday and Thursday Vangie told me about the show of reluctance Sarah put on while Vangie and Russ tried to convince her to go to the party with them.

"The little bitch finally caved in and agreed to come with us. It was all I could do to keep from laughing. Later she got me off to the side and told me that she thought it would be too awkward with me being there and her knowing about me and you. I told her not to be silly and reminded her that I had already given you my stamp of approval. When she kept going back to it being awkward I told her that you had danced with me since her break up with you and that there had been no hard feelings between us, except this one" she said as she held my hard cock in her hand. Play your cards right lover and you will get laid tomorrow night."

"Oh? You coming home with me? Won't Russ wonder what's up?"

"Smart ass. Come on baby; fuck mommy again."

+++++++++++++++++++

The Backman's were there when I arrived and I waved at them as I made my way over to sit with the people from my shop. When the band started I danced with the wives and girlfriends of the guys at our table and then I walked over to where the Backman's were sitting. I saw Sarah get ready to get up as I approached. She just knew I was going to ask her to dance and I loved the look on her face when I asked Russ if he would mind if I danced with his lovely wife. On the floor Vangie said:

"That was mean."

"You are the one who told me that she was going to come after me. I intend to make her work for it. I ain't gonna be no pushover. I'll remind her that she kicked me to the curb. We will see just how serious she is about latching onto me."

"I know it's coming, but I'm not at all happy that you are going to do her on our bed."

"I won't. If it goes anywhere I'll take her to a motel. I'll flat out tell her that I don't want her to know where I live and then I guess we will see how things go from there."

The tune ended and I walked Vangie back to her table and as we neared it I could see the expression on Sarah's face. It was saying, "Will he ask me next?" I held Vangie's seat for her as she sat down and then I turned and went back to my table.

I danced some more with the wives and girlfriends and about an hour and a half after the music started I had to take a break and go to the bathroom. When I came out I found Sarah standing there in the hall waiting for me.

"You haven't asked me to dance."

"Why would I? I seem to remember that the last time I saw you I was more or less told to fuck off and die."

"I was pissed; could you blame me?"

"Of course I can. You were being a two-faced hypocrite."

She hadn't expected that and her brow furrowed in confusion, but before she could say anything I went on:

"You never asked me why I had a fling with your mother. If you would have I would have said, "Why not? Why shouldn't I have a hot time with a sexy woman while you were fucking a guy named Larry Melrose and pulling trains at the Phi Delta house? After all, what's good for the goose is good for the gander, right?"