With Regards To Michael

No real sex or, unlike most of mine, violence. It is more of a long term BTB scene. The idea of revenge delayed is still not revenge denied. And a main character who is perhaps not devoid of emotion but does have a deficit of it. It applies a lot of legal theory that is probably wrong so lawyers should probably avoid it because they could pick it to pieces.

I also wanted to try writing a story without dialogue so this one doesn't have any. If you don't like that idea don't read it.

All the standard disclaimers about sex, violence, and perhaps a somewhat dark view of human nature, apply here.

All the usual restrictions apply. Copyright 2019 all rights reserved to me.

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Growing up some of my favorite parts of any movie were the final scenes in The Godfather. The first scene that stood out in my mind were the one where Tessio, played by Age Vigoda, an old friend and family member, is led off to be killed and asks to be let off, "for old times sake", and is refused. It was just so cold and clinical.

Next was the scene where Carlo is made to pay for Sonny's death. The idea that Michael let Carlo move into a house close to him, gave him a bigger piece of the family business, and agreed to stand as the godfather to his son, all while biding his time to kill him, made a big impression on me. Michael also impressed me. He seemed a colder person than his father, less emotional. I was motivated to search out the book and read it and it explained in a little more depth the motivations behind the character's actions. But although I was impressed by the book I was neither Italian nor a mafia member.

I grew up a nice middle-class existence, went to a smaller but prestigious university, and after graduating with degree's in general business and accounting took a position in a decent sized firm near my parent's home as an entry level staff accountant. I had done all the normal things a boy of my age and position would do, going to outdoor parties, fumbling episodes with girls in the back seat of my car that never went too far, listening to music. I never dated a cheerleader or was class president or on a sports team. I was just sort of the average kid with decent grades destined to live the normal middle-class life.

I had met Tracy through mutual friends at church. We were both active in the local youth group our Southern Baptist church had and went on church events together. We dated, fell in love, and were married not too long after I graduated college. She had gone to the local community college and taken a job as a medical receptionist. We worked and saved and eventually had enough for a down payment on a small starter home, a three-bedroom ranch with a two-car garage, in a decent neighborhood. Children soon followed, first a boy, Thomas, named after my father, then a girl, Mary, named after Tracy's mom. After the second child Tracy had her tubes tied so there were no more for us. I liked the idea because I would only be forty-two when the youngest turned eighteen.

The next few years seemed to fly by. I was progressing at work, slowly but surely making my way up the ladder, while Tracy's job seemed a bit more sedate. There really wasn't much room for advancement in a small office but they were flexible with her hours, allowing her to spend time with the children as needed. Plus, both her and my parents lived in the same general area, so we had an extended family support group. I put in the longer hours, having recently been promoted to manager of accounts payable, but I was shooting for something bigger like VP or even CFO eventually. I got along well with both the current finance VP's and the CFO and our company had a history of promoting from within.

Life, as they say, went swimmingly along until Tommy was fourteen. And no it wasn't Tommy, or Mary, that was the issue, but Tracy. After sixteen years I could tell something was off. For starters, two days a week, always on Tuesday and Thursdays, she was dressing better for work. Nothing overt, she didn't go from working girl to club wear or anything, and basically everyone where she worked wore some form or another of scrubs anyway, there wasn't much change. But I could see it. Just a touch more makeup, or lipstick. A dash more perfume. Pumps, with a slight heel, instead of sneakers. But even more damning was the lingerie. Matching bra and panty sets, thongs, boy shorts, and lace. Not the normal sensible lingerie to wear under scrubs but something to be seen out of them.

Additionally, our sex life had exploded. Not that I was complaining but after sixteen years we had slowed down to a bit of a rut. But now I was being woken up with blowjobs before work, evening sessions when the kids were out, and we even tried anal once or twice, something we hadn't done before. But there seemed to be a bit of a forced quality to it, a hurried aspect, I found disquieting. It was like Tracy felt like she had to do these things with me.

To me there were red flags all over the place, but I don't want Tracy to know I had noticed. I needed to go out of town to do it, but I was able to secure the services of a reputable PI firm. Our town wasn't small, but we didn't live in a big city either, and I needed discretion as well as competence. I didn't need anyone seeing me going into lawyers office, or a detectives. News, like gossip, had a way of getting around.

It didn't take long before I had a full report. Tracy was meeting a man twice a week for a two-hour session at a hotel the next town over. I guess she was being careful about gossip as well. His name was Jim Evans, he was a medical supply salesman, and she had met him through work. He was married with two children and about four years younger than us. I had a complete rundown on him, dates of their meetings, audio, photos, and video of one of their session where my PI had bribed the clerk to let him put a camera in the room. None if it was admissible in court but then I didn't plan on going to court with it.

I had put some discrete feelers out there for a good divorce lawyer, again a town or two away, and found one that came highly recommended. He was, as they term it, a "shark" and was known for striking a hard bargain for his clients. I made an appointment for Monday morning at 9:00, took a little time off work, and went to see him.

Basically, the lawyer said, I was screwed. If I went for the divorce I could count on her getting the house, child support until the children were eighteen, some form of maintenance as my salary was larger, plus a fifty-fifty split of our other assets. I could plan on living the next six years in a small apartment and seeing my children on the weekends. We lived in a no-fault state so adultery wasn't admissible in court and as she hadn't had her lover over to the house I couldn't claim she was an unfit mother. I did have some moral authority, especially with the pictures, and the fact that her lover was also married gave me some leverage if I wanted to use it.

I told him I wanted a few days to think about it then I contacted him again and asked him to write up a separation agreement specifically according to my instructions. I was very precise in what I wanted included and although he didn't completely understand he followed my guidance to the letter. He had the papers drawn up, and copies for Tracy and I to sign and have notarized, and filed with the court. I decided Saturday would be D day, the day I would confront her. I remember reading once about the CEO of a large oil company that spent forty hours prepping for each one-hour meeting with a head of state. I probably spent forty or more hours prepping for this meeting with my wife. I had the lawyers papers, the separation agreement, the PI's report, pictures, everything, all prepared in a folder. I had also researched marriage counselors and found several that were ideal for my purposes. All three had multiple negative reviews from husbands as being too lenient on adulterous wives. And I had spoken to our pastor and received a verbal commitment from him to help us with additional counseling.

The separation agreement was, on the face of it, very generous, but it was also very specific. It gave Tracy use of the house until the youngest child turned eighteen at which point it would be sold and any equity split. Conversely, provision was made for one of us to buy the other out by paying half the equity value and taking over any remaining mortgage payments. Child support was generous, especially when based on my current salary, stopping when each child reached the age of eighteen, and maintenance was minimal and would only continue for two years after the divorce took effect, but the combination of the two was substantial and would severely impact me financially. Our current net worth, including savings, checking, 401K's, etc. were totaled up and listed and Tracy was entitled to half the value, payable within 90 days of the divorce being finalized. All told she stood to receive 50% of our assets and 65% of my income for the next few years. Plus, I would need to maintain insurance on the children until they finished college.

The two salient points, from my point of view, were that all amounts were frozen the date the agreement was signed, and unlike the normal separation agreement, where if either party didn't contest it within 90 days, it went to divorce automatically, this one never went to divorce, but remained in effect until one party or the other executed it. In other words, instead of divorce being automatic it hung, like the sword of Damocles, over both parties and either could, at any time, pull the trigger. There was also a provision that, once signed, if either party then contested the terms, and lost, they were entitled to nothing.

All in all, it was a very generous offer for me to make to my wife. And it was a gamble in that if she followed through with a divorce I was facing, at a minimum, six very tough financial years. But it was a calculated gamble I had every intention of winning. First I had positive proof of the affair, with notarized statements from the PI, pictures, audio, and video. Although useless in a court of law the impact to Tracy if I disclosed them to her parents, family, friends, church members, and children would be devasting. Second, being married with children of his own, her lover was in no position to help and stood to lose as much, if not more, than her, if the affair was exposed. So, she was essentially without any support group as she could not ask me for help and would not ask her parents or friends for fear of exposure. I would insist, however, and pay for, her to get her own lawyer to review the documents. Third I was prepared, legally and emotionally, to walk away from the marriage. I knew it would be hard, financially, and I would see less of my children, but I had watched the video and any love I felt for my wife had gone with the disrespect she showed me by being with another man. So, I was dangling a large carrot in front of her, me staying and working on forgiving her, against a small stick. I didn't want her to fear the stick and instead grab for the carrot.

I had arranged for my parents to take the children overnight. We went to a nice dinner and then, returning home, I asked to speak with her in the living room. I made a businesslike presentation of the facts. I explained the PI's report and what I knew. She immediately began crying and apologizing. Why is it they always claim it was "just sex" and didn't mean anything? It meant something to me, it meant that my wife, the one that pledged her troth to me in front of God and family and friends, wasn't true. Did her vows also not mean anything to her?

I gave her the separation agreement which started a fresh wave of crying. She promised to cut it off immediately with Jim and begged my forgiveness if only I wouldn't divorce her. I explained that the separation agreement wasn't a divorce and didn't need to escalate to one if she met some conditions. Yet the conditions themselves, marriage counseling, counseling with our pastor, signing the separation agreement, and, of course, never seeing Jim Evans again, were rather mild although nonnegotiable. I explained I would pay for her to get her own lawyer and if he approved she could sign the document. That I would stay in the house and we could share the bedroom, although not a bed until she was tested for STD's, so that no one would know. That her family, friends, and children never need know of what she had done. Nor would I let Mr. Evans wife know about his affair with her, or take any revenge on him, not out of kindness to him, but to protect her reputation.

Needless to say, it all transpired exactly as I wanted. Tracy's lawyer approved, and Tracy signed, the agreement, which remained on file, unexecuted. We met with the pastor who recommended prayer and forgiveness. We went to counseling where the counselor blamed me for part of the problem, which I graciously accepted. Even after the marriage counseling was concluded Tracy continued to meet monthly with her, alone, for several years. By the time three years had passed she had essentially reduced her own guilt in the matter to nothing and instead thought if it as being something she almost deserved.

Time passed. The STD test came back negative and we resumed marital relations. For the first year Tracy tried to kill me in bed but eventually we fell back into the married rut. But essentially I was biding my time. I wanted six years, would have been happy with five, but ended up with six and a half. As they say, once a cheater always a cheater and I could see the pattern forming again. Tracy had never really accepted her guilt for the first time, feelings her psychologist reinforced, so it was easy enough to drift into it again. She was smarter this time, but so was I. I had kept the PI firm on an occasional routine of discrete surveillance, nothing too onerous or expensive, just a quick scan for a week or so every six months, and they had picked up her latest affair. Once again I had the full package, audio, video, the works. It was another married man although this time he wasn't walking away cleanly.

About eighteen months back I had put them on to Jimmy Evans again also, and had documented two new affairs, about six months apart. So now I had three reports, one with my wife and her latest lover, one on Mike Wallace, and two on Jimmy Evans. Now just to be clear, I was planning on executing my revenge on Jimmy, and Tracy, after six years anyway. The affair with Mike was just added ammunition.

The separation agreement was still on file and as we had specified an open-ended agreement I had my lawyer execute it. The terms were already agreed to and signed, the dollar amounts were locked in place six years ago, only needing the current appraisal (recently done) and the mortgage balance to be affixed. But a lot had changed in six years. Both children were over eighteen, so child support was no longer an issue. I had banked a large part of my salary over the last six years, including bonuses, but as the amounts to be split were frozen six years ago most of it was exempt from any settlement. The monthly maintenance amount was minimal, the agreement having relied on the combined amount of child support and maintenance, plus being based on an outdated salary that had grown by leaps and bounds since then. And as we had recently remortgaged the house to pre pay both children's college tuition the equity in the house was minimal. Simply put what had been an overly generous 60-40 split of assets and income in Tracy's favor six years ago was now a less than generous 90-10 split in my favor. I had the cash in the bank to pay her off clean, including my share of the equity, while Tracy had neither the income or ability to buy me out or pay the mortgage.

Once again I chose a Friday night for our confrontation. I had had a complete package delivered to Jim Evans wife that day, detailing his last two affairs, along with a package to the respective husbands, and another to his employer as both women worked for clients of his. I sent another package to Mike Wallace's wife and his employer. I took Tracy to dinner and afterwards sat her down in the same living room. Again, I made a business-like presentation of facts. I showed her the folders that had gone to Jim Evans and Mike Wallace's wives, and employer's. I showed her the folders I had ready to go out on her, detailing multiple affairs over a six-year period. I explained the fact that it was two affairs six years apart would be lost in the barrage of disapproval she would receive from her parents and friends. As I explained people tended to believe the worst and if I documented she had two affairs they would assume there were more. And I explained that the papers had been filed, the divorce was going through under the terms she had agreed to, and if she contested it she stood to lose even what little I was giving her.

Tracy cried and begged and pleaded with me. She again said it wasn't personal, only sex. She swore it would never happen again that she had learned her lesson this time. She asked me to forgive her again and take her back based on the many years we had together and our bonds we shared, in other words to forgive her "for old times sake". But as Tom Hagan said in The Godfather, no can do. I was lenient, she was after all the mother of my children, but I wasn't screwed. I kept the house, most of my income, and had saved the money to pay the two years maintenance, and the home equity, out of my account. Based on my current income it was a pittance, less than my last bonus. I was forty-two, the age I had planned to be when my children left the house and was recently named a VP at my job and had my sights on the CFO job a few years down the road.. In short I had my life the way I wanted it and was young enough to find a younger, more trustworthy woman to share it with.

Now a lot of people would say the revenge I took was rather wimpy. I didn't break any legs, I let my wife off easy, if a bit penniless. Both men were left fighting for their marriages, and probably their jobs, but neither had any broken bones. But as I said at the beginning I'm in finance, not the mafia. I don't deal with broken legs but dollars and cents and in my case I had gamed the system to work in my favor when the deck was stacked against me. I had delayed my revenge by keeping my enemies close but had found, in the end, that revenge delayed is not revenge denied.