Torn Repairing the Damage

I posted a story last week called Torn, a typical day. Can it be repaired? I took as a premise a story written by Patricia51. This story had prompted a response by Chagrined and X_Bishop. I wrote my view of a likely response to the letter Erica had written to Jim in which she expressed her attraction to other women, describing that she felt she had become gay, but that she still loved him. I wrongly described my story as a sequel. Because I am technically inept and lazy I did not post the link to Patricia51's story. I urge you to use the search facility on the site to look up Patricia51's story TORN, and indeed Chagrined and X_Bishop's stories as well. I had a good response to my contribution. Many urging me to sort out my editing and to finish the story off. This is not a sequel to TORN but a possible series of events that might have happened after Jim read the letter. This picks up the story the morning after Jim has read it.

Artykay63

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TORN, repairing the damage! Chapter 1 of 2

Erica

As I came down the stairs into the kitchen I could see that Jim had not slept well. He did not come to bed after I gave him the letter I wrote to him, in which I told him that I thought I was becoming a lesbian. I could see the pillow and blanket on his recliner in the den where he must have slept.

On the kitchen table there was an envelope with my name on it, I wanted desperately to open it but the kids were busy eating their breakfast. I wanted time alone to read it, no matter what it said. I knew that reading it was going to be an emotional experience and I needed to be alone.

The boys, Jimmy Junior and Eric, clattered off upstairs to clean their teeth, and get ready to catch the bus to school. They had not noticed my red eyes or the envelope on the table. At 8 and 10 years old they felt comfortable in the secure home that we had created for them. They saw Jim and me as always being there for their love and care, they thought of us as their parents a sort of collective rather than individuals. We were their Mom and Dad, and that was all they needed to know.

After they had left, I sat at the table and opened the letter dreading the trauma that would be coming my way.

Dear Erica.

I think I have the solution to your problem. I will see you this evening when you get home from work.

Love,

Jim

"What, Is that all?" After I opened my soul to him, all he could manage was a one liner? I could not believe that after what he had said that he could calmly treat the matter so lightly. Part of me wanted to see his angst on paper so I could see the depth of his feelings.

xxXxx

Jim

I hardly slept at all last night. The letter that Erica had given me had made sure of that. It said that she still loved me but had decided that she had lesbian tendencies and wanted to pursue that lifestyle, despite still wanting to be penetrated by my cock but only from behind and wanting to suck me off when she felt like it.

It seemed that she had absolutely no experience of being with another woman, having been rebuffed by the only one she had ever approached.

As I sat in my recliner gazing absently at the wedding picture whilst I thought of the problem she had presented, I racked my brains. Was there anyone I knew who could help me with the knowledge that I lacked to deal with this?

I cast my mind back over the years, had I ever known any lesbians? Then it struck me, when I was at college I had a friend in the same year called Bridget. Bridget was a gorgeous Red head with a willowy figure, one might almost say boyish. Bridget had always warded off any advances that we boys made and when the rumours started about her not being interested in boys she never did anything to deny that she was a lesbian. I was never sure if she was, but if it was true I needed to talk to her.

I found her name in the phone book. She was still listed under her maiden name at her parent's address, maybe she never left home. I waited until 7.00 am before I rang her.

The phone rang a couple of times before a drowsy voice on the other end said "I hope to fuck you are not trying to sell me anything!! What the fuck do you mean ringing at this time in the morning?"

It was definitely Bridget, she could always match any one in a slanging match.

"Bridget, this is Jim Bent, do you remember me from college?" there was a silence, as she thought.

"Yep, I got you now, you were one of the good guys who never tried to get in my panties, I was quite offended at the time. You never would have done so, but you were at least supposed to try!"

"Bridget, I know this is a hell of a lot to ask, but I desperately need you help with a problem that has come up in my personal life."

"Jim, is this some sort of a come on!! If so don't you think that you have left it a bit late? Or are you trying to relive your youth? We all of us get older you know!" She giggled.

"No Bridget, I am not after your ass, but from memory it was one of the sweetest!" Despite my distress, I could see the pert little butt in my mind's eye.

"Now you are just trying to sweet talk me! OK it looks like just you managed it. What d'ya want?"

"Bridget, can you meet me for a coffee, this morning at that Starbucks by West Street Mall?

Okay, muffins and coffee on you! How will I know you? I could not think of any outstanding feature she might notice.

"Have you still got that gorgeous red hair? I think I will recognise you first! I'll see you there at 10.00."

"Make it 10.15, it takes a girl a little longer to get ready nowadays!"

I jotted a quick note to Erica before I left. I needed to get away early so I didn't have to face her. I didn't want to give her any clues as to how I was thinking.

I called my secretary to let her know that I was not well and to clear my appointments. I needed to get things sorted out before Erica came back from work at 5.30. The kids always waited with the kids next door until one of us came home, when they would come over.

I hung around the Mall absently window shopping until Bridget would arrive. At Starbucks, I sat on an armchair by the window, so I could keep an eye out for her. I checked my phone for messages, then started dicking about with a game of solitaire. Why do we all get so engrossed in that shit?

"Jim?"

I looked up. Good God, I thought! Bridget still looked as stunningly beautiful and as striking as she had in college. If anything the confidence she had gained as a woman gave her even more appeal. She was slender, quite tall, at about 5ft 8, small breasts, which allowed her to stand there proudly wearing no bra under the silky cream coloured blouse which revealed her eraser like nipples. She was wearing really tight jeans, knee length brown leather boots, with a broad cowboy belt slung low on her hips. The bright sunlight streaming through the shop window lit up her flaming red hair, and accentuated how see through the blouse actually was.

I could see the effect her presence had on every male in the place. There was a lull in the conversation as every man in the place turned to admire her. It was a repeat of how it had been every day at College. She still had what it took to turn heads.

I stood up, and looked into her green eyes. I was only slightly taller than her, so with the heels on her high heeled boots she was more or less able to look me straight in the eye.

"Bridget, you look absolutely fabulous! She had never looked better to me.

She smiled at me, and said "I can see you got married then!"

I wore no ring so how would she know that?

"If you still think I look that good you have definitely not been out on the prowl for a while, which means you must have been at home!" She smiled provocatively.

"I'll have muffin and latté please, since you are buying." She settled into the love seat next to the armchair I had been on.

As I stood in the queue waiting for the coffees I looked back to see a Tall blond guy saunter over to talk to her. She shook her head as he tried to sit next to her, and pointed to me.

He backed off as I walked back over, carrying the tray.

"See, it's not just me, you still attract men like bears a round a honeypot!"

"OK, Jim, so you're really good for my morale. Now what on earth made you suddenly look up me after all these years?"

I sat back, and reached into my jacket pocket. I pulled Erica's letter out and held it in my hand.

"Bridget, when we were at college a rumour started that you were a lesbian. I never had a problem with that, as it was none of my business anyway. I always thought that you may have been using it as a defence mechanism to protect yourself against unwanted advances. I never saw you show any signs that you were. But now, if you are willing to tell me, I could do with knowing if that is or was the case."

She looked at me appraisingly. "I figure this has something to do with the reason we are here so I will tell you, it seems to me that if you think I am a lesbian you are not just here trying to seduce me. The fact is that I have spent my life experimenting. I don't mean I have got into kinky stuff, well not massively. Although I have tried I have never been able to maintain a long term relationship with either a man or a woman. I think it may be because I am a bit selfish or that I have trouble committing fully enough to another person. "

Bridget looked into my eyes to gauge my reaction.

"As you noticed from my name in the phone book I never married, and I still live at home. My Mom passed away a couple of years ago and I look after my Dad. Partly, I suppose it suited me to live with them as I have always rejected close personal relationships, and also as I was unwilling to leave them on their own. Maybe that was an excuse, but it suited me to use it when I needed." She paused as she reflected, I could see she was being totally honest with me.

"Sexually I get something different from each type of relationship. I suppose I would be known as a switch in some circles. When I am with a man I tend to be submissive, but with women I definitely like to dominate. I cannot imagine being penetrated by a girl wearing a strap-on dildo. I enjoy administering but not receiving. I have always enjoyed that aspect of lesbianism, and do it for the kick I get out of that power."

My imagination went into overdrive. The unwanted vision of Erica being penetrated by Bridget wearing an enormous phallus sprang to mind. I needed to concentrate here, so pushed the vision out of mind. Bridget carried on speaking.

"When I want a kiss and a cuddle I prefer to do that with the right man. I am submissive to men, but I don't mean I want to be treated like some sort of slave, and get into all that yes master shit. A bit of light spanking is OK, but mainly I like to be controlled from time to time. As much as anything it is a mental thing. I feel comfortable when I have a man in charge. Does that answer your question, Jim?"

"I think you have explained exactly what I needed to know, and I am sure that you will be able to help me understand this" I replied as I handed the letter to Bridget. "My wife Erica gave this to me yesterday"!

Bridget reached into her hand bag and slipped on her reading glasses, this served to enhance the intense green of her eyes. "See, none of us are any younger!

As she started to read the letter, I watched her face intensely, trying to ascertain which bit she had reached. She shook her head slowly as she read Erica's confession of her intent to become a lesbian.

As she reached the end of the letter, she folded it and passed it back to me. As she handed it over, she took my hand in hers and looked into my eyes as she said, "You poor man. No wonder you are confused and upset. How could anyone be so silly as to jeopardise their family's happiness for a need to experiment with their sexuality. Something must have triggered this off, Is she menopausal?"

"I don't think so, she is only just 39, and she has shown no signs far. This is the first real sign that there was any major problem. Sure things have been quieter in bed the last year or so, but I was happy and thought she was as well." I replied.

Bridget sat thinking.

"I suspect there is some sort of hormonal imbalance here and that she should really see a doctor to get checked out. I think if she was faced with the reality of the situation instead of some internet inspired fantasy, she might get her head out of where she has it buried long enough to see clearly. I think she needs a wake-up call."

"She says that she want to experience a sexual relationship with another woman but she wants you to be there for her to play with when she feels like swinging back. She can't really be thinking it all out clearly if she expects you to be able to maintain the emotional support that keeps her going through life on an even keel. The fact that she says she still wants to perform oral sex on you and for you to still hold and cuddle her, indicates a deep level of confusion. "

"I think that you need to show her that she can't have her cake and eat it, without permanently damaging the stable home environment that the whole family needs. She needs to see the consequences that would come from her pursuing the fantasy."

Bridget had put into words the thoughts that had been scrambling around in my mind since Erica had created this shit storm. I realised that the best thing I could have done, was to call for a woman's point of view, and especially Bridget's.

"Ok Bridget, how do we achieve this? I asked.

She smiled at me. "I see that you are now referring to we! OK well if you want my help I am here for you. You said in your note to her that you had a possible solution and would talk about it this evening. What was you solution?"

"I was going to kick her out and move on with my life!" I explained.

"That sounds almost as stupid as she is being. Neither of you seem to give a shit about the boys. You both need to stop being so bloody selfish. She is obsessed with a fantasy sex life and you are thinking like a Neanderthal. Your responsibilities are to bring those boys up until they are capable of looking after themselves. You brought them into the world, they are not fucking puppies for Christmas. A child is for life. No matter what the stupid parents do, they are still responsible for the well-being of the kids. You would not just kick them out on the street with her, to find some butch dyke to teach them that as they are males they are worthless little shits, would you??"

She was right. I had been thinking only of the part of this that affected me. Of course I loved my boys, but I had got tunnel vision about the whole Erica thing.

"Okay, you are right, but what can we do?" I couldn't see how to achieve the goal without one of us having to leave the house but I really did not want to start down that route. Emotionally it would destroy both of us, and would just create more stress for no useful reason.

"Describe the house to me".

"The house is a ranch style. On the ground floor there is the kitchen, a dining room, lounge, and a den. The first floor has a master bedroom, with its own shower room en --suite. The boys each have their own room, and they share a family bathroom. Last year I knocked through into the area above the garage and put in a guest suite, a double bedroom with shower and toilet."

Bridget looked thoughtful. "I think I have the solution. I need to come and stay for a few days. I can go and see my Dad each morning to set him up and leave him my phone number for emergencies."

Bridget looked at her watch. "You say she gets back at 5.30 and the boys shortly before. That means we need to get started right way."

"Bridget, I want to thank you for all your support, but I am worried about all of this, it is going to play out in front of the boys. I don't want anything to upset them. I am not sure about you moving in like this." I was worried that this could all go the wrong way.

"Jim, trust me, you need to act now. Unless you take the initiative this is going to fester. You need to take the initiative here."

By the time Erica came home that Friday evening, Bridget had already moved into the guest suite. She unpacked her bags and made herself right at home, in the way only a woman can. I had helped her get everything set up, but she would not let me see what was in the hold-all that she slipped under the bed. "That's my private toy store!" She winked at me.

She parked her car in the second garage space that normally accommodated Erica's Toyota. The red BMW soft top sure looked better there that Erica's car.

xxXxx

When Erica came home, the boys were sitting at the kitchen counter eating homemade burgers and fries, as Bridget and they chatted away. She was telling them stories about when she and I were at College together. They were fascinated and certainly were rapidly using their shyness in front of their dad's cool friend with a sports car.

As she came through the garage door into the hall Erica looked towards the kitchen, she could see me, but she could not see around into the kitchen itself from where she stood.

"Jim have you gone off your rocker, what the hell do we need with a pussy magnet car?? Get it out of my space!"

"Erica, I would like you to meet an old friend of mine." Jim smiled at her.

"Yeah, Mom come and meet Bridget, she's really cool, and she's going to take us to the water park tomorrow in her car!!

Bridget and Jim had cooked up the idea of the outing earlier, a family day out to show Erica how important that sort of thing was in our lives.

As she rounded the corner into her kitchen Erica was faced with the most beautiful woman she had ever set eyes on. She simply did not know how to react, in one sense she was attracted to the beautiful red head and felt herself getting aroused but on the other hand she felt indignant that the woman had obviously used her kitchen and was taking her place.

Jim helped Erica slip off her coat.

"Erica, Bridget is an old college friend of mine who is in town for a few weeks on business, she is far from home so I asked her if she would like to stay in the guest suite."

Erica looked at Jim as he spoke. She was not happy with the look in his eyes, the warmth that she normally saw was not there. That only reappeared when he glanced at Bridget as she spoke.

"Now Jim, I told you I would only stay if it is alright with Erica! Don't you try to railroad her into doing anything."

"Go on Mom, say yes!! Please mom, it would be so cool, Bridget could drop us off at school one morning in the Beemer!!" Young Eric chimed in.

Erica knew that it was too late, she had already been railroaded. "That's fine, I will help you move in Bridget."

"That's alright Erica. Jim had invited me to stay for the night anyway, so I have already put my stuff in the guest suite." Bridget smiled sweetly.

xxXxx

Erica.

WTF. Railroaded? More like I had been hit by a steam train. Erica thought as she looked at Jim. "I think we had something to talk about this evening didn't we Jim?"

"Later Erica, I don't think it would be polite to bring that up in front of our guest, and I am sure the boys don't want to hear such a boring grown-up conversation." Jim said pointedly.

"Mom, Bridget has brought a DVD over, as it is Saturday tomorrow, can we watch it now? Bridget is going to make some popcorn."

This was beginning to piss me right off. I come home to my house to sort out my husband to go along with what I want, and I get fucking supermom taking over my family.

"OK then that will give me and your Dad to have our little talk."

"Erica, whilst I made the burgers I took the time to make you and Jim a little lasagne and salad, the lasagne is keeping warm in the oven. I was ravenous so I had burgers and fries with Eric and Jimmy junior. There is a bottle of Merlot open over there on the side."