Edited by Barney R. Tweaked by me. All errors are mine.

CC’s side of the story

I woke up fully dressed on my bed next to my sister-in-law. I had a drum and bugle corps wearing steel soled boots marching through my head. I also thought they had walked through a pile of dog crap before they walked through my mouth to my brain.

Jane and I had gotten drunk at the party last night and had a great time talking trash about the gorgeous model, Jerrod Clousen, I am working with. Now the pain was reminding me of some of the cost of that fun.

I say some of the cost because as I was reaching for my toothbrush, I saw the envelope. I opened the envelope and a smashed ring feel out. I saw what ring it was and vomited into the sink.

I realized that the letter was from my husband, and when I read it, I was devastated. I had been drunk, stupid, and arrogant. Now I am well on my way to being alone.

My husband left me this letter and his destroyed wedding ring in an envelope where I would find it when I woke up. The destroyed wedding ring pointed to the letter as not being good news.

...

Carolina Catherine Dolman-Carmody;

You had quite a party last night. I specifically asked you and Jane not to serve any alcohol at the party. You did anyway. After overhearing two drunken women talking loudly, I left the party.

In case you did not notice, last night I did not sleep in the marriage bed. I will not be sleeping in that bed again. In case you don’t remember the conversation, it was about Jerrod, your Fabio ‘wannabe’. You two were discussing how you wanted to have sex with him and Jane was encouraging you.

Your exact words were; “I’m so tempted if I knew that John would never find out I would be naked and spread in a heartbeat.”

Well, this letter and the enclosed wedding ring are your permission to ‘explore’. As Jimmy Carter noted, lust in the heart is still cheating.

All I ask is that you have the decency to move out before you explore and drop the Carmody from your name.

First thing Monday, I am filing for divorce. You will have to move anyway, as the house is mine. You might want to talk to my ex-sister about living arrangements as she is unemployed and has lost her residence. I will also be strictly enforcing the prenuptial agreement.

I will not be disrespected by you, my ex-sister, or that asshole of a model who knows you are married to me.{br}

I am going to go to New York Sunday morning, and on Monday I will have your contracts for my book covers to end with those books that have not gone to press yet.

I do not know when you stopped respecting me, but it hurt me more than you can understand. Not only were you plotting to cheat on me, but you were also doing it loudly, in my house, in front of neighbors, in front of friends, and people important to my profession, and with my ex-sister.

Maybe I am, as my ex-sister put it, naïve and an idiot, but I am a person. One who stated in front of god and community to ‘Forsake all others’ do you perhaps not remember that you said the same thing in front of the same audience.

I must try to get some sleep as I need to leave as soon as I can tomorrow. You will not communicate with me except through my attorney until the divorce is final.

I really did, and probably still love you, but the hurt caused last night will not let me let it go by. I do hope you can find a life that makes you happy. I was obviously not the one and not the one enough.

Your soon to be Ex-husband

John Carmody.

PS; Enclosed is the wedding ring you placed on my finger, it may be a little bent and have some cracks, but it must have been a good quality one because I could not break it. I don’t need it anymore.

When I stopped crying, I felt hands on my shoulders. Jane was asking what was wrong.

I showed her the ring and the letter. She read the letter and when she got to the first ex-sister part, she gasped and started crying herself.

“What have we done, I did not know John could hear us, it was just girl talk.” Jane said, “We would never have gone through with it.”

I said; “John doesn’t know that, and neither do all the people at the party. John was almost twenty feet away, so we must have been very loud. What am I going to do?”

Jane stopped crying and finished reading the letter. “This letter says John is kicking me out and I’m fired. We need to find him and talk to him. We need to let him know that you would not do what we talked about.” She hesitated; “You wouldn’t would you?”

I could not answer, but the guilt must have shown on my face. I had all of the thoughts that we had, apparently loudly, talked about last night.

“You would have wouldn’t you?”

I could only nod. “I love John with all of my heart, but that man is gorgeous. He makes my panties wet every time I see him. I really do not know if I could resist if he made a hard play for me. Right now it is just flirting.”

Then I remembered what John had written about now longer doing his covers. “Oh, Shit; I’m going to have to fire Jerrod and all of my staff because John is going to cancel my book cover contract.”

Jane looked at me like I had a third eye. “You’re worried about that eye candy and your staff when your husband is going to divorce you? You are indeed an arrogant bitch if that is your first thought. You really can’t love John that much if money is your first thought.”

“Damn it, you’re right. I need to get to New York and be at the publisher’s office when John gets there. Maybe I can get down on my hands and knees and crawl through broken glass to beg for a chance to make this right.”

Jane left the master suite and headed to her room. About thirty seconds later I heard her running back screaming. “No ... No ... I got a letter too. Please don’t let it be as bad as yours.” Then she was back with the unopened letter.

She opened the letter with shaking hands. “Please read it for me, I am afraid of what he is saying in there.

I read these words;

...

My dear ‘Loving Sister’

This letter is to inform you that your employment is terminated effective immediately. The reason is this drunken statement you loudly made to my wife at the party last night.

“That man is such a hunk. If you can keep my naïve idiot of a brother from finding out, I say fuck the hunk and have a good time.”{br}

Because of that statement, you have shown me you no longer have your employer’s best interest as your primary concern. I will not be disrespected, and when a sibling plots against another sibling, they are no longer related.

You are hereby notified that you have ten days to leave this rent-free house. You are to take only your personal possessions. You may not remove any item, written or electronically stored that pertains to my copyrights. That includes books, manuscripts, movie scripts, and written outlines.

This is also to inform you that as you are a backstabbing bitch, I no longer consider you my sister.

I am sending a copy of this letter to my mother, and also including it in your personnel file and to my lawyer.

Sincerely

Your Ex-brother

John Carmody

...

I started crying all over again. I handed her the letter and went to finish getting cleaned up and dressed.

When I came out of the bath, Jane was no longer in the room. The letter was on the floor.

I picked it up and put it on my makeup desk with the bent ring and my letter.

I grabbed the phone and called the hotel that I stayed at the last time I was in New York. I made open-ended reservations for Sunday night through at least Thursday. Then I called the airlines and bought a round trip first-class ticket to New York on the first available flight.

I went into the kitchen and saw John’s favorite coffee cup on the deck table. I went and retrieved it. I emptied the half-empty cup and started crying again. My love had not even finished half a cup before it went cold.

I heard noises coming from the guest side of the house, and so after I started the coffee and put a couple of microwaveable breakfasts to cook, I went to see how Jane was doing.

When I got to her bedroom door, I saw that she was packing. I went in and asked her to stop for a second. “Jane, please don’t pack yet. I’m going to New York today to see if John will talk to me. If he will, I am going to beg as I said, and if he will listen, apologize profusely and abjectly and try to save my marriage. Besides, John’s letter said ten days, and you will need at least a couple of days to find a place if you need it.”

She stopped, looked at me and started crying again. “I love my brother, and I don’t know how I am ever going to make it up to him for my stupidity. I am sorry I said what I said. I don’t even remember saying it. I just remember us giggling like six-year-olds as we went into your bedroom. What can I do to help you get him back.”

As I was packing, I spotted the letters and the damaged ring. I went into my jewelry box and got a 16” plain gold neck chain. I threaded the ring on it and put it around my neck.

On the plane, I went over all of the things that led up to the drunken debacle. Work was very stressful, with the sexual undertones that I was feeling towards Jerrod Clousen, a model I hired for one of my book cover projects. Jerrod is an absolute hunk. Long black hair, 6’ 3” tall, probably 225 lbs. He has never actually crossed any lines to actually flirting, but I wasn’t kidding when I told Jane that my panties get wet every time I work with him. I really don’t know if he made a pass at me if I wouldn’t fall on my back and spread my legs.

Don’t misunderstand, I love John, and if it were anyone else, there would not even be a temptation. John is a wonderful, caring, loving man and a great husband. It’s just that our sex life has become routine. There is no spark, and I don’t understand where that spark went, or what caused it to be destroyed.