The following is an idea, not a finished story. I don't like cheating, I never read the loving wives stuff. Not sure why this came to mind but when a thought comes I can't get rid of it easy. So I wrote this bare bones short story and would be honored if someone took it and made it a good read. I don't care if you make a million bucks on a best seller, I release all rights to this idea. I just wanted it out of my head. I'm working on Treehouse and don't need the distraction.
Dave is 44 and retired. He had sold his company and started living. All his life was work up to this point and while not rich he was set up enough to enjoy life as long as he didn't get stupid. Now he played golf most mornings and tennis a few times a week. He played in some bowling leagues, mainly in the winter months. All in all, he was enjoying his life.
The only thing he wasn't enjoying was being home. He married a woman with 2 kids when he was 34. The kids were nice, the boy was 10 and the girl was 8. Not sure if he loved the woman, but she needed him, and the kids needed a home. It just seemed comfortable at the time and Sophie was a wildcat in bed, so he went with the flow. Now 10 years later he wasn't comfortable any longer.
The kids were not a problem in fact they may have been the best part of the deal. He tried to always be there for them and treat them the way he wished his parents had treated him. Their early teen years were weird but that was probably normal. His teen years were spent working so he didn't really know what normal kids did. He started working at 14 and quit school at 16 to grow his business. He opened his own shop and moved in the upstairs loft. Getting away from home improved his life more than any other thing to date.
He was 18 when his dad came looking for money and after laughing in his face he told him, "I thank you for giving me the drive to get away, because of that I will always be able to take care of myself. Maybe you could learn something about that. Do your job, go to work and try your best. You know, all the things you yelled at me! But most of all, stop drinking, you will never improve your life with a beer in your hand."
His mom came by and tried to guilt him but that didn't work either. He just told her to get sober and get a job if she needed money.
He managed to pick up golf and tennis with some of his employees. They were always trying to get him to do things that were fun, and he did enjoy them, but work didn't end at 5 so he spent most nights planning the next job.
He had no debt, he never borrowed money. If he didn't have the money he didn't buy. He bought his first 20 acres for cash and worked on building a barndominium in his free time. He later bought the property next to him and later a few more. He ended up with 100 acres and a medium sized house. All paid for without a dime of interest.
He met Sophie oddly enough playing golf. Odd because after they had been together a few years she lost all interest in playing. You don't play golf as well as she did without spending time in the game and most people don't get good unless they enjoy playing. In hindsight he figured that although at first, she seemed to enjoy all the sports they did she lost all interest once she moved in. While dating she always had someone to watch the kids if they had something to do but once they were married, she seemed to have lost all her contacts.
He started spending more time with the kids, he took them to soccer practice and ended up taking over as coach. He was enjoying himself as the role of dad. Sophie was always too busy with something. What he wasn't sure, it wasn't housekeeping, they ended up hiring that out. He put in a pool and the kids spent all their free time in it. In their high school years, they both had friends over more often than not.
Watching all the teen girls running around in next to nothing was annoying most of all. He couldn't deny noticing them, but he wouldn't dare let them know he did. Sure, they looked good but new cars looked good too and he didn't buy them. Window shopping was a waste of time. If he couldn't afford it then there was no reason to look and those girls would cost him his life so no thanks.
Thomas, 'Tom' moved away to college and Julie didn't seem to even notice. She just invited more girls and less clothes it seemed. Without her brother around 'topless' was the norm on the pool deck. So, Dave being a reasonably smart guy doubled down back at work. Julie didn't play soccer any longer and she seemed to not need his help with any part of her life, so he kept busy elsewhere.
It was mainly after noticing that the kids no longer needed him that he realized that Sophie was seldom home. Some friend of hers got her interested in selling real estate and she took to it like a duck to water. A part of him knew it was all a pipe dream but he sort of hoped that with the kids taken care of she might have the desire to spend some time with him.
So, when someone came in and offered him a substantial sum of money for his business he dug into the idea. Maybe if he retired, he could get Sophie's attention. What a joke that was. Not a good enough reason anyway but the money was more than enough to cover 20 years of profit, so it was really a no brainer. He could always start another business if he got bored. So, he took the deal and within a few months he was free. Work wise that is, his life at home still had him tied up in knots.
Anyway, to the part of the story much of you are waiting on.
He got an email from who knows where that suggested very strongly that he install cameras in all parts of his house. Video and Audio. Not to be a sicko but put them in the bathrooms too it said. All bathrooms. You can adjust them to only see shoulders up if it makes you feel better, but you really need them there.
Now to say his dander was up was a vast understatement. Who and why would someone suggest something like this? Was someone trying to get him arrested? Spying on a teenage girl and her friends was not something he would consider. He could imagine how Julie would feel if she found out he was watching her in the bathroom. He could care less what Sophie would think.
He responded to the email trying to get some clarification and was surprised when he did. "Trust me, you need to see the faces to go with the voices. Otherwise you would never believe what you hear. This is for your security not being a perv. And fyi, the sooner the better."
Now Dave was no fool, this could be a trap, so he called a security company and met with them. He showed them the emails and asked of their suggestions. They offered a very smart play. They would come set it all up and operate it all from their site. He would not see anything so no one could attack him. If they saw something that seemed important, they would edit any nudity or questionable views by blurring it then share it with him.
