Returning to my apartment, I suddenly felt very lonely. After my divorce, I realised that most of my friends had been his friends, and losing my best friend affected the trust I had in any other friends. My apartment was beautifully decorated, and I’d spent plenty of money on the best things I could buy, but it meant nothing if I had no-one to share it with. But after what my ex-husband had done, it had simply left me incapable of even contemplating being involved with someone else again.
So that’s why my attraction to Mark left me so confused. I had certainly never felt like this with any client before, but it had been just as long since I’d even felt an attraction for a man. I wasn’t a lesbian or bisexual, I had no attraction to women, I’d always been attracted to men, but I’d verged on being asexual since the night I’d discovered my ex-husband and best friend in bed.
Pouring myself a glass of wine, I switched on the stereo and put on a record. Sitting back on my comfortable couch, I gave my life some thought and I returned to that feeling of loneliness. Humans are social creatures. Even single people feel the urge to be around others. The only close relationships I had were with my parents, my siblings and a few people at the office. If I thought about it, losing my ex-husband had hurt, but it was the betrayal of my best friend, who I’d known since we were five years old, which had broken me completely.
I finished the bottle of wine, the music eventually making me cry. “Fuck it,” I murmured to myself, though I’d lost track of why I thought that. I somehow managed to drag myself towards my bedroom, stripping naked and, for the first time that week, I masturbated. My libido had been pretty much dead for years, but as I fondled myself, I thought of that handsome man with the brilliant blue eyes, utterly gorgeous smile and strong arms that felt simply wonderful wrapped around me.
I’m sure my colleagues at work were wondering what had me smiling when I walked into the office on Monday. I couldn’t admit that I’d masturbated on Saturday night, thinking about a client, then spent half of Sunday doing the same thing but stone cold sober, feeling hornier than I had in years. In fact, it did me the world of good as, when I found myself thinking about him the first two days that week, I smiled and felt good about my life.
Leaving the office a little earlier than normal on Wednesday, I drove across the city to Mark’s house. He greeted me at the door, shaking my hand but I had to hug him. Feeling his arms wrap around me again, I couldn’t help sigh, resting my head against his chest. He released me as I leaned back and I could read his eyes.
He was just as attracted to me as I was to him. “Come on in,” he said softly, “Bill’s here already and you can meet the girls properly. I’m just wrapping up dinner so we can eat before she gets home.”
His daughters, Hannah and Katie, were absolutely gorgeous and never stopped smiling. What was obvious to me was how much they obviously loved and adored their father. As he prepared dinner, they were helping him out and were practically his shadows. He was in his element and it was the first time I saw the real man at heart and not the shadow that appeared in my office.
Placing my case on the floor next to my chair, I sat down once dinner was ready. It was a simple meal and conversation flowed easily. Mark probed his daughters with questions about school and other activities. There were obviously no secrets between the three of them. The two girls were practically identical, only able to tell them apart due to hair length. If I was to take a guess, Hannah was utterly devoted to her father, wearing her heart on her sleeve.
When the front door opened, he cleared his throat and whispered, “Show time.”
Claire clearly didn’t have a clue what was about to hit her, walking into the kitchen cheerfully. Asking about dinner, I watched Mark turn to his wife and I almost wished I could see his eyes. The tone he used as he told her to sit down almost made me shudder. It was the tone of a man barely keeping his anger under control. After placing her handbag on the table, she sat down and glanced around inquisitively. She knew Bill but I was a stranger.
I had three folders in my briefcase. When Mark asked for the first, I passed it to him, and he placed it in front of her. When she opened it, I watched her face, the jaw drop, as she picked up a few of the photos. She looked up, glancing around the table. She would have known, in that instant, she had no friends present. She was the one alone.
“I know, Claire,” Mark stated, practically growling, “I know everything. I’ve known for three years.”
Then he pulled out his first trump card. A woman named Tanya, who worked for the same company as his wife. This was the first part of our blackmail. It was insinuated that, if Claire refused to co-operate, the evidence would be used to ensure her and lover boy would quickly find themselves dismissed for gross misconduct and various other financial irregularities. They’d been spending much of their affair on company time. Good chance the company would ensure they were charged and it was possible they’d even see jail time.
The second file I passed across was financial. Mark had proved himself to be rather good with computers and had figured out that Claire had been sneaky. He explained what he’d discovered, the use of her account in one place when claiming to be in another. That’s when Hannah called her mother a slut.
“Hannah!” he barked, “We will show respect for the time being.”
“Sorry, Daddy.” She glanced at me and was trying to hold back the grin. She wasn’t sorry at all.
“I’m not angry at you, sweetheart. Keeping a lid on my own emotions is rather difficult at the moment.”
“Mark, wait…”
“Quiet, Claire. Now is not your time for talking. Melissa, the final folder, please.” I happily passed it down, knowing what it contained. If Claire was smart, she’d sign it and just leave. But if she chose to fight it, I was going to tear her apart. “This is the divorce settlement. You have one hour to discuss it with your lawyer. I know who it is. He’s waiting for your call. Putting it very simply, Claire. You will leave this house tonight with one bag of your things. You will return Saturday morning, as we know your ‘business trip’ is bullshit, to collect anything else you wish to take. You will not fight anything within the agreement. This house? Mine. You will not sleep here another night, though you will continue paying towards the mortgage for x amount of years, yet to be decided. The kids? I will have sole custody. Lift that sheet of paper there.”
What rested underneath was my trump card, the final knife to the gut. “You can’t…” she stated, glancing around the table before finally looking at me. I grinned at her, ensuring it wasn’t pleasant. I’ll admit, this was part of the job I did take pleasure in. Adulterers finally getting their comeuppance.
“He can,” I replied, “For three years of abuse, whether it be psychological, physical or financial, of your husband and his children, the court order will be in effect from six pm on Saturday until your divorce is settled and visitation is approved. Your children will take the stand against you if you fight it.”
Mark was doing his best to keep a lid on his temper but it finally started to erupt. “Three years, Claire. Three years I’ve swallowed all the hate I feel for you. Not a day longer. The children are now old enough that they will easily be able to sit up in a court and state who they wish to remain with.” I glanced at them as he asked, “Who would you want to stay with, girls?”
“Daddy,” they replied in unison, smiling at their father. My god, they loved him so much, it actually made my heart hurt to think they’d ever be taken away from him.
“Who has been your primary caregiver for at least the past decade?”
“Daddy,” they replied again. And I knew they were not lying.
“I expect no money from you except child support, Claire. The court will decide how much that will be. Myself? I don’t want your fucking money. All I want is you out of my life from tomorrow onwards. The only time I want to see you again is when you’re sitting opposite me in a court to confirm we are no longer husband and wife.”
“Mark… You can’t…”
“Hold out your left hand. I’m taking back my rings.”
She held her hands to her chest, shaking her head in disbelief. I knew she was struggling to deal with everything that just hit her, but I had absolutely no sympathy. “No! You can’t… I’m your wife…”
“In name only. You haven’t lived up to your vows for a very long time. Part of me wants to ask why? What did I do wrong? But you know what? I don’t care anymore. I stopped loving you a long time ago.”
“But… But we still had sex…”
He laughed at her and it wasn’t a pleasant sound. “Yes, exactly. Sex. A purely physical act between two people. You think what we do is intimate? When was the last time I actually kissed you passionately? When was the last time you could say we made love? All I’ve done is fuck my wife since the day I found out because it was better than jerking off. A simple vessel for me to cum in. I’m surprised you never wondered why I preferred nailing you from behind. It was so I didn’t have to see your face.” He paused as he looked across the table at his daughters. “Sorry, girls. Too much information.”
“We learn all about that in sex education at school, Daddy,” Hannah replied.
“Either give me the rings or I’ll rip them off your fucking finger, Claire.” It must have been something in his tone, perhaps the first time she’d seen him this angry, as she even looked at me for a few seconds, perhaps hoping that as a fellow woman that I’d intervene, gazing into my eyes, before she rather easily slid them off.
“I have a feeling you’ve been doing that quite often as they slid off far too easily,” I suggested, Mark grunting his agreement.
After that, it was all rather anti-climactic. Bill led her out to the living room where I heard her on the phone to her lawyer. Mark sat there with his daughters. They could both see how angry and upset he was, walking around the table to hug him. I smiled as I knew their support would get him through the divorce and then the period afterwards.