Chapter 1

I was sitting in my office when I saw her standing in my doorway.

There had been a long trip through time and life to be able to say that one short sentence. In fact, I had come to believe that I would never see my wife again.

I guess I need to explain. I'll start at the beginning and try to keep it short.

My name is Francis (Monte) Moody. Where and how I got my nickname is another story, but I can truthfully say that alcohol was definitely involved.

I met my wife, Leanne, early in college. Naturally, we attended several classes together and my heart was hers from almost the first time I laid eyes on her. Most men would have said that she was a typical young college woman. She was not pretty but she most definitely was good looking, with beautiful full black hair worn long and a very nice face. Her figure was trim and athletic although her breasts were on the small side. She was not the smartest girl in the class nor was she the dumbest. However, I didn't care what anyone else thought about her because for me, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and she was smart, sexy and fun to be around.

We didn't make any connection at first. I'll admit that I went out of my way to be at places and parties when I knew she would be there. She never seemed to notice me though. Finally, I screwed up my courage and asked her for a date. Up to that point, she had always been friendly but distant. I really didn't expect a yes and when she accepted, I was surprised and thrilled.

I took her to dinner and then we went dancing at one of the nice clubs that a lot of college kids frequented. We had a blast. She was a terrific dancer and she made me look like a much more talented dancer that I was. Afterwards I took her home and she gave me a very tender kiss and whispered, "Call me" in my ear.

That was all she wrote folks. From that wonderful evening on, we were a couple. We became exclusive and eventually became intimate. I was not her first and she was not my first. We didn't care. What was in the past didn't seem important to either of us.

Finally, we both graduated and then married. We have a marvelous daughter named Samantha. She is the light in both our eyes. We had what I thought was a solid marriage with both of us contributing to the union. We both enjoyed an active sex life with the expected tapering off over the years as we became older and more comfortable in our lives together.

The years seemed to fly by and it seemed in too short a time that Samantha was off to college leaving us alone. We had now been together for twenty-one years and married for eighteen. We both missed our daughter immensely.

I missed Sam but Leanne actually seemed to pine for her. I realized that she became depressed by her absence. It was a classic case of the empty nest syndrome.

After a few months where Leanne was moping around the house and was becoming withdrawn and argumentative, I made my fatal mistake. I suggested that maybe she could find a job to help fill her time and to give her some social life with people other than myself.

I pointed out to her that, without our realization, most of our friends seemed to have either moved away or had become involved with other friends. She had only one friend that she was able to socialize with, but even that friendship seemed doomed as they slowly drifted apart over a period of several months.

Leanne jumped on the idea of getting into the workforce. She was suddenly animated and bubbly. I would come home from work and find her with want ads strewn about the kitchen table. She was making lists and working on her resume at the same time.

Leanne had never worked after leaving college and getting married and although she had a degree in marketing, I cautioned her that she was probably looking at an entry level position where ever she went. That didn't seem to faze her and it was two weeks later when I came home to a sumptuous meal with candles and wine. Leanne was literally bouncing around the room and giggling like a school girl. "Guess what!" she trilled. "I got a job, I got a job, I got a job!"

With that excited statement, Leanne embarked on her new life. However, it was not in marketing but in the fast-paced real estate industry. She had been hired to be the office agent for a large real estate office here in our city.

Life definitely improved rapidly and dramatically. Leanne was once again the lively and exciting woman I had married all those years ago. She made friends at work and soon we were socializing with them regularly.

Two of her closest friends were two ladies named respectively Carol and June. They both had been married and now were divorced. Sometimes they could be a little too much. They occasionally drank a little more than was called for and when they drank, they seemed to stretch the boundaries of common sense and good taste.

Actually, they were huge flirts and didn't seem to care if the person they were flirting with was married or not or whether the guy's wife was present or not. There were a few times that they carried their actions so far that the wife of their intended target got really pissed off.

Their flirting caused a really bad scene once that made everyone very uncomfortable and caused a husband to spend a significant period in the old doghouse. That incident caused a slowdown in the number of parties that had been occurring regularly.

Initially I thought that Carol and June were okay gals, even if they pushed the limits occasionally. But, as time passed, their actions began to grate on my nerves and I began to complain to Leanne about her association with them.

More than once I would caution her saying, "People see you as the same as those women that you call friends. Just remember, because if you hang out with sluts then people will paint you with the same brush."

At first, Leanne agreed with me but I quickly noticed that it didn't change the amount of time that the three of them hung out together. Then came the time when I again told Leanne that her reputation was beginning to suffer due to her friendship with the "dreadful duo." Her reaction shocked and surprised me. "God damn it, Monte you need to get the fuck off of that crap. They are my friends and I don't give a rat's ass what you or anyone else has to say about it."

She glared at me and turning, she stomped off; going to our bedroom where she slammed and locked the door. That had never happened before in our entire marriage. I was stunned and for several moments just stood there with my mouth hanging open.

Gradually my shock began to turn to anger. What the fuck was that all about? I knew I had been playing that old song for a few weeks but I could not believe that it called for her scorched earth response.

I spent the rest of the weekend alternating between anger, irritation, confusion and bewilderment. Leanne became the new ice age and refused to speak with me. Getting her to even grunt in response to me became the norm in our relationship.

Monday morning, Leanne was dressed and out of the house before I could even finish my shower. This was another first for us. Never had one of us ever left home without a hug, kiss or a murmured term of endearment.

Eventually she thawed out some even though she seemed to be more reserved and withdrawn. She continued to hang out with her buddies. She was now stopping with them for drinks a couple of times a week. When she would come home, I could see that she was just primed and waiting for me to make some comment.

I thought that I would just chill and try to wait her out. I figured that sooner or later she would work this attitude out of her system. Well hind sight is 20/20 for sure. About three months later I realized that I had fucked up royally.

That evening, Leanne was once again late coming home after work. It was almost ten p.m. when she came through the door. I got my no-longer-unexpected cold glance and without a word she walked past me to the bedroom.

After a moment, I followed her and sat on the bed while she changed clothes. This was the latest she had ever stayed out and I was curious. I had started to become suspicious about her girls' night out evenings. Frankly I wanted to see what she was wearing under her dress. Thankfully, she wasn't wearing anything out of the norm.

I know what you may think, but I instinctively knew that the woman that I had been living with for the past three or four months was not the woman that I had married and had lived with for all these years.

I was beginning to smell a rat and I was not happy at all. "Leanne, when are you going to stop being mad at me? I'm beginning to wonder what this is all about. Is this how you want to live our lives together?"

Leanne paused, turned half way towards me and cocked her head. "Don't you put your sanctimonious crap on me asshole. I don't have to take any of your shit so just back off or just pound sand. I'm not the problem here in this joke of a marriage."