Chapter 3

When I was calmed down, I called Jamie’s house phone. After a few rings, Ruth answered. “Hello?” she asked sounding a lot like I sounded most of the time.

“Hi, Ruth,” I said quietly. “I wanted to call and see how you were doing. I heard that Jamie confessed to you.”

She sobbed and I could feel that she was a kindred soul. “Yeah. He just sprung it on me Saturday. We’ve been married for three years and the bastard was fucking her the whole time.”

“If I’d known what was going on, I’d have told you, Ruth,” I said to her. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“Oh God, Adam! What do YOU have to be sorry for?” she asked, fighting tears of her own. “He said they’d been keeping you in the dark since college. He said ... he said a lot of things. You’ve got enough to deal with without spending all night hearing his bullshit.”

“No, Ruth. It’s okay. I’ve been sort of wallowing in my own misery and there’s more coming. I called to find out if there was anything I could do to help you through this.”

She laughed. “How do you react when people ask you what they can do?” she wanted to know.

“It’s a little different for me,” I said. “Everyone who’s called is someone that’s fucked my wife behind my back and laughed about it. You were never the joke. You were a casualty, but no one laughed at you. Did Jamie tell you when it started for him?”

She sighed. “College,” she said. “Same as the rest of them. He said it was an open secret among them. I can only imagine how these past few days have been for you.”

“Yeah. I can’t hold down food and every time I try to sleep, all I see...”

“Is them together,” she finished. “Jamie said you actually saw it. He said when you came up out of the basement it was like hope had died.”

“I’d say that’s pretty accurate. There’s more to it. I got fired over it today. My boss was there on Friday. A lot of my coworkers were. Every friend I had from college was there.”

She made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. “Why would they DO that?” she asked hopelessly.

“Apparently Jennifer is a diagnosed nymphomaniac. She has uncontrollable sexual urges. They rationalized that none of them were gonna make a move on her, so they were doing me a FAVOR,” my mouth twisted sourly on the word, “by giving her a safe outlet to get what she needed.”

She was aghast. “And how do YOU see it?” she asked.

“They took advantage of a mentally ill woman in need of care and support and they hid it from the person who cared about her most so they could keep the party going,” I said. “It was selfish and shitty and hurtful, and not one of them came to me and told me that it was going on.”

“I think I like that perspective more,” she said angrily. “They hurt us both. What are you planning on doing to hurt them back?”

“I assume you’re divorcing Jamie?” I asked gently.

“He’ll never touch me again. Thank God I’m not pregnant. We’d been talking about having a baby. At least I’ll get out of this without having to raise a child alone.”

That set me off again, my own plans for a family bubbling to the surface. We wept to each other for a while and then we calmed down and talked about what Jamie had told her. It matched what I already knew, which was that all my college friends had known. It turns out that a surprising number of the spouses were involved too. Then again, most of them had met in college. I had a list of all the ones that knew from what Jamie had told her, and a shorter list of the ones that didn’t. I told her about the lawsuits and that I’d probably drop the one against Jamie to let her eviscerate him instead. She agreed to keep it to herself and asked me to keep talking to her. She liked the idea of punishing them. For my part, I promised to give her my support in her divorce and she promised the same before we hung up.

I felt a little better when it was over and went to the kitchen, drinking a little juice to try to keep my strength up.

Christina called shortly after that. “Are you okay?” she asked urgently. “When I saw you today, you looked like you were sick.”

“I can’t stomach food right now,” I told her honestly. Every time I drink more than a little, it comes back up on me, so I’m living on coffee and determination. How was the rest of the day with Mr. Hall.”

“He went wild after you talked to him. What’s up?”

“I told him that I’ve been working 80 hour weeks for a promotion that doesn’t exist. He’s been looking through my time-sheets to see who’s been doing the work. Sandy’s been taking credit for my work. He called me up and fired me, so that’s going in the lawsuit.”

“Lawsuit?” she asked, surprised.

“Yep. Sandy used his position to assign me extra work as part of a plan to get me out of the way so they could gang-bang my wife week after week. There’s going to be a lot of process servers in the office giving out surprises.”

“Wow!” she said. “I’m glad I put in notice already. I’ve got a head start on the sinking ship.” We laughed about that and I realized it was the first laugh I’d had that hadn’t turned bitter.

“How are you fixed for a place to stay?” I asked. “You mentioned wanting to find something quick.”

“My lease is month to month,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve got this month and next month handled. December though, I might have to head home if nothing comes up.”

“Can I offer a solution as a friend?” I asked.

“I’ll take solutions any time!” she said eagerly.

“I have a three-bedroom house that’s mostly paid for. My parents left it to me when they died. I have one bedroom, there’s an office in the second and the third has all Jennifer’s crafting supplies. I ... I need someone to help me clean it out anyway,” I said. “Every time I go in there, I lose my mind.”

“You’re asking me to move in with you?” she asked, astonished.

“Yeah,” I said lightly. “No funny stuff, I promise. I just ... The house is empty with just me and my bad memories. I could use some better ones to paint over them.”

“Well, let me think abo- Okay,” she giggled. “I’ll call my landlord in the morning and let him know.”

“That sounds great!” I said, thinking that I’d look forward to the company around the house. I’d missed having someone to talk to.

“If you’re up for it, we can do something with that room on Saturday and you can show me around the neighborhood,” she suggested.

“That’s the best offer I’ve had in a long time,” I told her honestly.

“Hey, I know you’re gonna be a mess for a long time,” she said gently. “With us being roommates, I want you to feel like you don’t need to hide it. I’ve got pretty soft shoulders. They’re comfy when you need to rest your head on them.”

“Thanks, Chris,” I said gratefully. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“Me? You’re the one offering me a place to stay.”

“Yeah, but I’m going crazy rattling around the house waiting for one of them to call or show up.”

“Stay strong. We’ll box up her stuff on Saturday and then after that, we can get it ready for me to move in. So you’re gonna sue for wrongful dismissal?” she asked, changing topics.

“I’m suing all the people involved in helping to cause my divorce. It’s apparently called Alienation of Affection. Grant says we can sue Mitch and his wife for hosting the events, all the people that were there to participate, and my company since Sandy used the business to keep me separated from my wife specifically so they could do it.”

“That’s messed up. He should go to jail for that.”

“Actually, I was thinking that he should fall into a serial killer’s hands,” I admitted.

“You have one in mind?” she asked with a chuckle.

“Not really. I just think it’d be nice to turn on the news tomorrow and find out that he was tortured to death.”

We bantered idly about things that we’d like to see happen to Sandy and then said goodnight. I took another drink of juice and then went to bed. I was still getting into bed fully clothed and I started to wonder if that was part of the problem.

Tuesday dawned cold and gray with a promise of drizzle in the forecast. I had some errands to run, but I stopped in along the way to see Grant. “How are you holding up?” he asked gently, sitting me down with a cup of coffee.

I savored the taste and shrugged. Grant’s office had the best coffee outside of specialty coffee houses, so it was a rare treat to sample a cup. “Jamie confessed to his wife that he’s been fucking Jennifer since college. She’s probably in the market for a lawyer. I figured you might want to get in touch with her. I gave her your number.”

He nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll take good care of her. I wouldn’t have pegged Jamie as one to get a case of guilty conscience.”

I shrugged. “Something about the look he saw on my face on Friday made him face down what he’d done. I still want him served, but I think I’ll drop the suit so that she can get her hooks into him on the divorce. Every dollar I took from him would steal something from her.”

He nodded and made a note of it. I also turned the video of last night over to him. They’d walked out of frame of the camera, but our voices could still be clearly heard. He made a note of the things that were said and asked me if I could get Jennifer to come in to talk to him.

“I’ll see,” I said. I plucked out my phone and called her.

“Adam?” she said when she picked up the phone. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I’m talking with Grant and he wants to talk with you. Are you free today?”

“I’ll MAKE the time. Anything you need,” she promised. “I can be there in about half an hour.” We hung up and I nodded to Grant.

“She said she’ll be here in half an hour,” I confirmed. “What’s your plan?”

He smiled and told me that I’d see.

When she got there, the three of us sat in the conference room before he closed the door and got started. “Jennifer,” he said. “Thanks for coming in. I know this hasn’t been a particularly fun week for either of you. You know that I’m representing Adam in all this. Have you gotten a lawyer?”

She shook her head. “Adam’s told you what I did. I don’t expect to get anything out of the divorce. I don’t particularly want one, but I promised Adam that I’d do whatever he wanted in order to make this right and if that’s what he needs, then I’m okay with that.”

He nodded. “Okay. I need you to sign a non-disclosure form and then the three of us can talk about where the rubber meets the road.” He slid the agreement over to her and she looked it over. “Aren’t these for a long time usually?” she asked, seeing the date for just a couple of days from now.

Grant nodded. “In a few days, it won’t matter,” he assured her. She nodded and signed it, sliding it back to him. “Okay. Now that that’s out of the way, I want to talk to you seriously. How committed are you to helping Adam recover from the condition he’s in.”

They both looked at me and I knew I must look even more like death. Two sips of juice and coffee aren’t enough to take the edge off what I looked like. “Anything,” she said without hesitation. “I made this mess six years ago when I could tell everyone except Adam, and even if I never get him back, I’ll do whatever it takes to help him get better.”

He nodded and then went to work. He set up cameras, interviewed her for three hours, and took notes, detailing everyone who’d taken part in the defilement of her marriage, beyond what I’d witnessed. She named the coworkers, told us which spouses had knowledge and which ones were in the dark.

I sat there completely nauseated and stared down at the coffee still in my cup. I really enjoyed Grant’s coffee. I didn’t want to throw it back up, so I took deep breaths and closed my eyes.

When we took a break, I asked what had been on my mind. “Whose idea was it to have the parties?” I asked her quietly.

“Mitch’s,” she admitted. “After the first one, I was hooked though.”

I nodded. Score one more for my best bud. Grant came back about twenty minutes later and told us that he’d sent the briefs off and his partner was filing them. “Jennifer, the reason that I wanted to interview you about the rest of it is that I’ve advised Adam to sue those persons for contributing to the end of his marriage. I know your hope is that the two of you can get past this and I don’t wish you ill in that plan. I think your best hope is a fresh start though, and the divorce gives you that.”

She nodded, understanding. “I’ll have to testify, won’t I?” she asked.

He nodded. “Possibly. Would your doctor be willing to testify?”

“I think so,” she said sadly. “I wished I’d listened to her and told Adam what was wrong with me a long time ago. We might have found a way to get past it back then.”

“I’ve seen couples that divorce and remarry,” Grant told her gently. “You two love each other, but what you had before was built on a lie. You can only build with the truth and have it last.” He patted her hand sympathetically. “The papers will all go out tomorrow, including the divorce papers for you. I talked to the process server and they’re going to sort in this second round and put them out with the rest. Adam’s also suing the company he was working for since they used his schedule and workload to separate the two of you and create opportunities for you to visit the Mitchell residence unaccompanied.”

She nodded. “I think that’s a good idea,” she said. “I hadn’t realized how badly he was being treated and then finding out that he wasn’t even getting credit for it?” She looked angry both with herself and with Sandy.

“Well finding out the problem goes all the way up to one of the partners in the firm makes it a matter for the whole company to answer for,” Grant agreed. “Adam, tomorrow would be a good day for you to go clean out your desk at work. I’m told those will be served around 10AM.” He turned back to Jennifer and took her hands. “I think you can understand now why the non-disclosure agreement was only for a few days. By Thursday morning, most of them will be served. I’d personally pretend I had no idea it was coming if I were you. I’d also suggest you go to a hotel for tomorrow night, Adam. One or more of them may decide to come looking for you.”