I have written this in three parts. Parts 2 and 3 are almost done. I hope to post one chapter every day or two this weekend.
This story was requested and inspired by someone who wanted me to take my original attempt at a blackmail story with a weird twist in a different direction. I admit that it was my first attempt at a sudden twist, but I learn from every story I write, especially from those of you who offer constructive criticisms and emails. Thank you to those who try to help an amateur writer.
Thanks, Beth. It's not exactly how we discussed, but it made me think about something different.
Main Cast
John, 35 years old, 5' 11", 175 lbs, brown hair, blue eyes, Cheryl's husband.
Cheryl, 34 years old, 5' 4", 105 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes, John's wife.
Meryl, 34 years old, 5'4", 105 pounds, brown hair, blue eyes, Cheryl's identical twin.
Ed, 40 years old, 5'11", 180 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes, Dennis' boss.
Ted, 7 years old and Natalie,9 years old, John and Cheryl's kids.
Chapter 1 - John
I got home from work on Thursday and was looking forward to dinner. My wife was setting the table and dinner was almost ready when I walked in. We always tried to have a nice family meal at least twice a week. The kids were now 9 and 7 years old and that meant that they always had more important things to do with their friends or in their sports activities than with their parents. There were sleepovers, going to the pool, sports practices, etc. I knew that this was one of those nights that we were going to all sit down together so I made sure to finish work and get home on time. When I entered I immediately knew that something was wrong.
"Hey, hon." I walked up to give her my dutiful husband kiss. She usually at least turned from what she was doing so that I could give her a quick peck on the lips and get one of her beautiful smiles. It was not sexual in any way, but at least it was on the lips. Tonight, I got the cheek. Shit! Now what's wrong? "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's fine."
She didn't even look at me, just pretended to concentrate on setting the table like it was the most important thing in the world. Having been married for 11 years, I knew something was wrong. All the signals were there and I could have made ice cubes with the vibes I was getting from her.
I walked into the den and put my work laptop down. I went into our bedroom and changed clothes, getting comfortable. I checked on the kids and they were both doing their homework. They were such good kids. Cheryl staying home until they got out of grade school was turning out to be a good decision for raising them.
I was checking on Ted when I heard my wife's voice calling us for dinner. I went downstairs with the kids right behind me and we all traipsed into the kitchen. The small kitchen table had a large bowl of linguine on it, with some small slices of garlic bread; a real carbohydrate lover's dream.
We all sat down and the kids were chatty, as usual. Cheryl never looked up at me and we both talked to the kids but never to each other. As soon as the kids asked to be excused and had left I brought it up again.
"Cheryl, I know something's wrong. You haven't spoken to me since I got a 'fine' when coming home. What's going on?"
She took a deep breath and then sighed. "I don't know. I can't pinpoint it. I just got mad today and for some reason I find myself taking it out on you." She stood up and came over to me. She gave me a quick hug as I sat there. "Sorry."
I relaxed. So she had a bad day. Who hasn't? Sometimes we just wake up wrong and nothing seems right, sometimes the hormones drive us crazy, and sometimes it's just life weighing us down.
She turned to leave the kitchen. "Your turn for clean-up."
I sighed and went about the business of putting the dishes away. There were no leftovers, so it really was pretty easy. I finished in about 15 minutes and headed into the den. Cheryl was there with the remote, flipping channels. I sat down and picked up the book I had been reading. I knew she wasn't going to select anything I wanted to watch, so I figured I would just sit there and read. I had been there for about 5 minutes when she suddenly threw the remote down onto the coffee table.
"There's nothing on. I'm going upstairs to read." I watched her little tirade, which was very out of character for her. Then she fixed me with an icy glare. "Good night." She turned and left.
I sat there, trying to figure out what was going on. It seemed to be more than just having a bad day. She seemed to have a burr under her saddle. I decided that I would wait a while before I went upstairs. It was only 7pm! I knew she wasn't going to bed to sleep, but the way she said good night to me was like a warning not to come upstairs. I decided to give her some room. It's not like we haven't all had days where we wanted to be by ourselves. Or maybe she was questioning being a stay at home mom. We had discussed this a lot, both when we were deciding to have children right away and then again once they were born. Once we had a boy and a girl, we decided to stop. She was going to stay home until they got out of grade school to make sure that they were well adjusted and decent people. I relaxed and went back to my book, figuring that she would talk to me once she calmed down.
The kids were ready for bed by 9pm. They came down and gave me a hug and kiss good night and I took that as an indication that I should go up and see if there was something I could do. I walked up to the bedroom and the lights were off. She had decided to go to sleep already. That was a little odd, but I didn't do anything about it. She could just be tired. I went into the bathroom, undressed, brushed and flossed my teeth, and crawled into bed. She was quiet as a mouse. It took me a long time to go to sleep because it was so early, so I wracked my brain to see if there's something I should have been aware of or caught about all this. I came up with nothing. It had to be her problem.
The next morning I woke to the sound of the shower. It was early, but since we both went to sleep early, I had gotten plenty of sleep. I got up and hoped that Cheryl would at least talk to me now. I walked into the bathroom to empty my bladder and then I started laying out my clothes. Cheryl finished while I was doing that and when she came out into the bedroom she was wrapped in a towel. She walked directly up to me and gave me a quick kiss.
"Sorry, honey."
I relaxed. "I just couldn't figure out what could have gotten you so wound up. It's not like you."
"It was nothing and I'm fine now." She turned and rummaged in her unmentionables drawer for a pair of panties and then the one below for a bra. I stood there and watched.
She realized I was watching and turned to me. "Are you just going to stand there and watch?" She sounded just a little irritated.
I grinned. "I was planning on it."