I Overheard and Found that I was the Topic of Discussion
My name is Peter Cranston. I'm 36 and have been married to my wife Joy for the past 12 years. We have a girl and boy Bethany 6 and John 8. I'm a construction foreman for Benson Builders and I oversee the carpenters and I am a master carpenter by trade. Joy works part time as a receptionist for a local urgent care clinic. She works from 9-2 weekdays so she can be home by the time John and Bethany get home from school.
It was Saturday afternoon and I had been working on our washer in the basement. I took it apart and realized I needed a part. So, I picked up the phone to call the local appliance center to see if they had the part in stock. When I picked up the phone, I heard Joy talking with Celeste. Celeste was a woman she worked with at the urgent care.
From what Joy shared, Celeste was recently divorced. She had been trying to get Joy to join her at their girl's night that they had every Friday. Joy had politely declined several times. Friday night was our family night where we all sat down to dinner, made plans for the weekend, and reconnected with each other. We had both agreed that family time was important and should not be encroached upon. I had always turned down invitations for poker, ball games, and other things if they fell on Fridays.
I intended on cutting in but I heard Celeste talking and I decided to listen because she was working hard to get Joy to come out next Friday and was curious as to what she offered to entice Joy and what the itinerary was for those girl's nights. What she said was shocking.
As I listened in Celeste said, "Come on Joy! You deserve some fun and a break from that dull and boring routine you call a life. Besides from what you told me about ole Pete, you could use a bit of excitement to spruce things up. Why settle for a "little" Peter when there is all of big fat cock out there for the asking."
What surprised me wasn't so much what Celeste said but rather how Joy responded. I heard my loving wife as she giggled into the phone and replied, "Celeste, I told you that in confidence. He's my husband and I do love him even if he doesn't quite live up to his given name. You make it sound like so much fun just dancing and letting your hair down on Fridays. I've decided to join you this coming Friday, just this once to see it for myself, but only once."
Celeste added, "Honey, you'll have so much fun that once you 'come' with us, you'll never want to stop 'coming'!"
They both giggled and hung up. I thought to myself why would Joy make me the topic of discussion? The insinuation that I was somehow lacking really hurt. Did she really find me too small? Did I satisfy her at all? Most importantly, why did she capitulate and agree to go out with Celeste on Friday without even discussing it.
I remembered why I had the phone in my hand so I called the appliance store and they had my part. I told Joy where I was going and I headed out and got the part. I returned home and finished my repair and headed for the shower to clean up. While I was in the shower, I decided to preempt their Friday plans.
I got out of the shower, dried off and called my sister Nancy and arranged for her and her husband Rick to watch the kids for the weekend. I called and made reservations at a trendy French restaurant and bought two tickets to see a touring company's production of Phantom of the Opera. After I had prepared for my one and only attempt at both a pre-emptive strike and attempt at salvaging my marriage, I decided that tomorrow I needed to prepare my contingency battle plan.
While I fully intended on trying to get my wife to come to her senses, I also realized that if she was willing to consider the possibility of cheating on me and our marriage that I needed to be prepared for that scenario. I decided that I would be pro-active. If she planned to cuckold me, I planned on divorcing her cheating ass which included a full-on scorched earth policy and she would rue the day she abandoned love for lust.
I decided to take Monday off from work and get all my ducks in a row. I phoned Edgar Benson and filled him in as to what was going on in my life and why I needed a day, maybe two off from work. Jon "Big Swede" Johansen would take over the crew until I returned. Big Swede was 6'6" and ran about 275lbs of pure muscle. I knew the men respected him and the crew was in capable hands, large capable hands.
I met with Harrison Thornton a real shark of a divorce attorney. He advised me of my rights and what I could reasonably expect from a divorce. I paid him a retainer and had him draw up divorce papers and a post-nuptial. I reasoned that if she decided to accompany me Friday instead of going out, I would have a real heart to heart with Joy. I'd tell her what I already knew and get her signature on the post nup and if she refused to sign then I would serve her with the divorce papers and be done with it.
I also put a tap on our home phone and a recording app on her cell and kept track of her conversations the rest of the week. I planned to spring our date night on Thursday after work. I wanted to give her a chance to choose us but at the eleventh hour as to keep her from pushing the plan to the following week.
I planned to leave the salvation or demise of our marriage in her hands. No ultimatum. I wanted her to genuinely prove to me that she wanted us and not the promise of some meaningless fling to sate some lustful fantasy of bigger and better. If I'm too inadequate to sate her sexual desires, even for one night, then I'm too inadequate to remain her faithful and loving husband. For if the latter is the truth, she doesn't deserve to have me and I don't deserve anything less than her total love, intimacy, and commitment to our marriage and our family.
I remember when we were a young married couple just starting out and we went to an auction to see if we could pick up any bargains and found that the house was included in the estate sale. It was a real "handyman's special". It seemed that the granddaughter of the old woman who owned it wanted rid of it and basically had a "fire sale" to dispose of the buildings and their contents.
The house was old and dilapidated but it had good bones. We are working class stiffs and it's hard to make ends meet sometimes and proved even more difficult to save money. We had just paid off the 20% of the hospital bill for John's delivery and Joy had some minor complications that necessitated a longer hospital stay. So, we were drained financially.
I called Edgar and asked him to come over to look at the place. I was nearly despondent as I had saved not nearly enough to buy the house. When Edgar arrived, he gave the old place a thorough inspection. He agreed that old girl had potential. He asked why I wanted him to look at it. I told him I wished I could afford to buy it but couldn't.
I told him I thought he might have an interest as an investment property. Edgar went to the auctioneer handling the sale and he put Edgar in touch with the granddaughter. Edgar was gone about three hours. When he returned, he handed me a quit claim deed with my name on it and said I needed to sign some papers in front of the notary. Fifteen minutes later I owned the house. Edgar wrote a check and paid cash. Edgar loaned me the money and I was able to pay him via payroll deduction. I made the very last installment the previous pay day.
I had used every spare dime in renovating and remodeling. First to make it livable and as time went on to make it into the home that Joy and I envisioned owning. The bedrooms and living area came first. Next was to modernize the plumbing and bring the electrical up to code. During that time Joy and little John stayed with her parents.
My crew worked for pizza and beer and helped. Next came a new roof while we welcomed Bethany into the world. The following year saw new bathrooms. The re-pavement of the driveway followed. Finally, I put in a new kitchen and the latest top end appliances. All I had left was a new garage door. Thankfully, Edgar helped me get the materials at cost.
So, I was cash poor but house rich. I drove an old work truck so we had only Joy's two-year-old minivan which we still owed three more years on. I learned that in the divorce I would have to pay her alimony and upkeep on the house until the kids reached 18 or she decided to remarry. At such time she could buy my share out at the current fair market value or sell it and give me half the proceeds. Of course, child support and health insurance for the kids until they were 21 or became self-sufficient.
Thus, I had no tangible assets for her to latch onto. I was prepared and I waited for her to tell me of her nefarious plans for Friday but she never mentioned them. When Thursday evening arrived, I came home as I usually did. However, as I was forewarned, I came home armed with flowers, a box of Norman Love chocolates I had shipped from Florida, and a bottle of Bergström Cumberland Reserve 2015 Pinot Noir from Oregon's Willamette Valley to pair with the chocolate.
She fell in love, no pun intended, with the chocolates from this quaint chocolate boutique while we were on vacation to Ft. Myers several years ago. I was fully prepared to pull out all the stops, but the question begged, was she? I went into my den directly from the garage. She was in the kitchen and while supper cooked, I hid the goodies for later in the evening.
We had dinner and talked about our days. I helped John and Bethany with their schoolwork and we all enjoyed some ice cream while we watched television. At 8:30pm Joy bathed the kids and I read them a story before they went to sleep. It was 8:50pm when I came down the stairs. I went into the kitchen and retrieved a corkscrew and two wine goblets and a vase I filled with water. I put them on a large serving tray and entered the den.