Things didn't pan out exactly the way I'd thought they would, in regard to addressing my wife's potential infidelity. After Bridget had informed me and then departed, I'd determined to confront Penny about what I'd been told. However, after a brief wave of sadness, I soon found myself clear headed and focused. This allowed me to consider what I'd been told, and two things occurred to me. First, Bridget was a trouble-maker, and I couldn't be certain she'd not lied; merely looking to cause trouble in my marriage. The second was, I now had the ring back on my finger. Shaytan, the self-proclaimed Master of the Ring, or some such thing, had presented me with a test, and I'd failed. This concerned me more than my wife's potential infidelity.
"Fuck!" I cursed, berating myself as I sat alone. "I asked Shaytan to remove the thing; he did so with a warning, but I've been weak. Now I'm once again stuck with it back on my finger, along with all the issues it previously brought me."
I went and played my golf game, but remained distracted, playing poorly. My golf partners commented on this, but I passed it off as the pressures of returning to work the following week. Following golf, Penny had beaten me home and announced she wouldn't have to go sit with her sister that evening.
That night I could tell Penny was interested in sex, but I was unwilling to touch her, still troubled by what Bridget had told me. The following day she announced she'd need to stay with her sister that night.
I waited an hour after she'd left, got in my car and drove across town to Penny's sister's house. As I drove by I saw no sign of Penny's car parked in the driveway. I parked up and called Penny. She answered.
"I was just wondering about dinner tomorrow."
"Ahh hang on I'm not sure. I'll just ask ..." she replied, and silence followed. "No, sorry, Caroline's feeling really low and says she'll need me here tomorrow night. I'll look to make it home the following night. You all OK?"
"Yeah, yeah, fine," I replied, with a sinking heart. "I'll see you then."
"Fuck it!" I swore, after ending the call. "Fuck her... and Howard Jensen."
I started the car and drove home, Bridget's story all but confirmed.
I should have felt bereft, in a mire of sadness. But I wasn't. All I felt was dismissive anger toward my wife. I started the car and drove downtown, stopping at the first classy looking bar I could find.
There was a woman sitting alone conversing with the bartender. He walked away to serve someone as I walked up. I struck up a conversation and found out she was in town for a conference, commencing the following day. She was sharing a room with a colleague. They'd had dinner, the colleague had gone to their room, and this woman was having a final drink, before also heading up.
As we spoke I put a hand across and laid it on hers. She gave me that by now familiar initial facial response indicating 'What on earth are you doing,' just before the power of my wonderful ring flooded through her.
Ten minutes later she was bent forward over the toilet system, thong around her thighs, with me fucking her forcefully from behind. After I'd left her panting from the most fulfilling orgasm she'd ever experienced, I left her there, finished my drink and departed.
"Fuck Penny," I thought as I drove home. "This ring gives me an infinite number of choices. I'm definitely gonna leave her."
The following morning I was in an upbeat mood, arriving back at work to be greeted by all my staff, including Emily. The sight of her rekindled memories of our tryst in Africa, but the arousal was nowhere near the same extent as it had been prior to that sexual romp, in her hotel room. Immediately prior to that, my desire to fuck Emily had been overwhelming. Now, she no longer gave me the same raging hard on. I considered how it wasn't the first time this had occurred. It had been the same with Lauren and my wife Penny. I pondered this.
"It's strange. Maybe it's because once that itch has been scratched, the ring is less attracted to the woman, and that intense passion falls away," I thought, the notion reinforcing I still had much to learn about the impact of my ring.
I moved to my office and Vanessa followed with some briefings on Ghana, and how matters were progressing over there. They left me alone, until two hours later Vanessa returned.
"Hey Robert; Paula Broadbank's been in the office discussing how we're going to market our interests in Ghana."
"Has she?" I said, surprised. "Are you not dealing directly with Annette Bond; the control freak?"
"No! Since that time you visited her, Ms. Bond has taken a step back and leaves it mostly to Paula. I much prefer dealing with her. She's nice. We get on well and have made good progress. Anyway, we're finished for today and she's wondering if you've got time to see her briefly."
"Yeah sure, always happy to see Paula. Send her through."
Paula and I had both worked for the company for many years. She was in Marketing, so our paths didn't cross often, but we'd been to work functions. I'd met her husband Tony, a School Principal and decided they were by and large and extremely boring couple. While attractive, Paula had never previously aroused me, with our interaction in her office merely a means to an end.
"Hey Paula. Good to see you again," I called, noting she'd cut and styled her hair shorter.
"Hi Robert. Thanks for seeing me. I hope this is an ok time."
"Yeah, yeah, no problem. I like your hair that way." I replied, shifting in my chair, happy to have the desk between us.
"Thanks. I thought I needed to do something a bit different. You know.... I'm glad you like it."
Paula hadn't needed to style her hair. In her mid-thirties, she was an attractive woman. However, this didn't explain the intensity of my arousal on this occasion, because this had not occurred during our liaison in her office. On that occasion I'd merely used the power of the ring to get an appointment with her boss Annette Bond. While I'd enjoyed teasing the strait-laced woman, it hadn't caused my body the type of arousal I now felt. This was like it had been with Lauren and Emily, but in reverse, and it puzzled me further.
"I do like it. Now, what can I do for you?"
"Well...I... umm..." she began before looking back toward the door, which nosey Vanessa had left ajar.
"Close it if you like," I offered, which Paula did, before moving to sit in front of my desk.
"Vanessa will think you're looking for a job on our team?" I joked.
"I'd like that; but no, that's not why I asked to see you..." she began, hands clamped tightly in her lap.
"Ok! What then?" I asked, which saw Paula take a big breath and go silent, before eventually continuing.
"It's about what happened a month or so back; in my office. At my desk. When you were after an appointment with Annette."
"Ah yeah, look Paula. I'm sorry about that, I was out of line... you know, I..."
"Don't apologize. The problem's mine. The fact is, I'm happily married to Tony, and... what we did was wrong. So very wrong, like nothing I've ever done previously in my marriage... but... well... it's created another problem."
"That being?"
"I just can't stop thinking about it."
"You mean; like, in a nice way?" I looked to clarify, which saw her purse her lips.
"Yes, in a very nice way, and a lot of the time. Actually, to be truthful, I'm constantly recalling how it felt," she said, raising a hand to her chest, before running it down the blouse, across her breast, and placing it back in her lap.
This very sexy gesture which, along with her admission, had me nearly creaming my pants. Again, I shifted my weight in the chair, recalling Paula's well-proportioned breasts.
