Chapter 53

I needed to talk to someone, but who? I didn’t want to burden Diana or Ginger with my problems, and I sure as heck couldn’t talk to Jim or Joan, our square dance friends. They didn’t know anything about our extended love life. I was right, no sleep that night, but morning finally did come. At five A.M, I tried calling Kristen again. This time their receptionist answered the phone and I asked for Kristen. “Hi, this is Kristen, may I help you?”

This time I’d been thinking about what to say to her. I’d had all night to think about it. “Hi, this is Robert from Kennewick, Washington. I talked to you a couple months ago about a young lady by the name of Amber.”

“Ahh yes, I remember. How can I help you?”

“She’s been with Brett for over a month now and I’m wondering if you’ve heard from him?”

“Actually, I have. He got home a couple days ago. He called me to let me know he’s home and tell me that he’s madly in love with her.” Then she went on, “You’re her husband, aren’t you?”

I was having a little trouble thinking straight, even after thinking about this call all night. He’s in love with her and she’s staying with him another two weeks. “Yes, sorry about not telling you that before, but I was a little embarrassed. Now, I’m worried.”

“You have every reason to be worried. He told me she hasn’t agreed to stay with him yet, but he’s certain she will. That’s what the extra time is for.”

I had no idea what to say or do. I sat for what seemed like forever without saying a thing. I was nearly in tears with frustration and fear. I finally asked her, “She doesn’t have her phone. Is there any way I can get ahold of her?”

“Let me see what I can do. I’ll call you back in a little bit.”

I gave her my phone number and told her thank you. I called my office and left a message that I had an emergency come up and would be in a little late. Then I sat watching my cell phone, willing it to ring. At least I was doing something, and it sounded like I had a friend willing to help. An eternity later, actually an hour and fifteen minutes later, it rang.

I picked it up and it was Kristen. She got right to the point, “Can you be here Friday evening?”

I didn’t even hesitate to answer, “Yes.”

“Good, I talked to Brett and he’s anxious for me to meet his woman. He invited me to come over Friday. I told him I was meeting a friend and he said I could bring him. I hope you won’t mind, but you’re going to be my boyfriend unless you decide to tell him you’re Michelle’s husband.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“Let me know when your flight gets in and I’ll pick you up. You won’t need a hotel reservation. I have a spare bedroom so you’ll be staying with me.”

I thanked her again and told her I would. As soon as we hung up, I called Ginger’s cell phone, not even realizing it was still just a little after six in the morning. She sounded groggy when she answered. Obviously, I’d awakened her. I didn’t even care at that point. I told her that I needed to be in Chicago Friday evening and asked if she could get me a ticket. Naturally, she thought of a detail I hadn’t. “When do you want to come home?”

I hadn’t even thought about that. “I guess Sunday, probably in the afternoon.”

“This’ll be out of Seattle. Do you want to drive or fly there?”

“I don’t know. I guess if there are quick, connecting flights I could fly. Otherwise, I’ll drive.”

“I’ll make some arrangements after I get to work and let you know.” Her office didn’t open until nine. So I waited, carrying my phone in my hand the whole time. Thank goodness, I’d thought to have it plugged in during the night. She must have gone to work early because it was eight-twenty when she called me back asking for my credit card information. I gave it to her and waited on the phone. A few minutes later she told me I was confirmed to fly out of Seattle at 2:43 P.M. and get into Chicago at 6:07 P.M. I don’t remember what she told me about flights from Pasco to Seattle, but I figured I had to be doing something that day, and wouldn’t be in any condition to work, so could drive instead.

I e-mailed the flight information to Kristen, along with a picture of me so she’d know which lonesome, single guy was me. Then I packed some clothes, my toothbrush and a razor into a single carry-on bag and decided I might as well go into the office and at least attempt to work a little bit.

The next two days were among the most torturous I ever remember. I went to work but know I didn’t accomplish a darn thing. It was a darn good thing I had an understanding staff that was self-sufficient without me. I told them that Michelle had an emergency, but I couldn’t leave until Friday, so they understood why they had to pick up my slack. I had a couple meetings with architects on some new buildings and managed to get through those, plus the occasional City resident who needed one thing or another, but my administrative duties and plans just had to wait until I was a little more level-headed.

Friday morning, I left a little after five in the morning, getting to the airport about three hours before I needed to. Those three hours with nothing to do, then another three hours to go through security and wait for the flight were among the longest six hours of my life. Thinking back, though, they were nothing compared to the hours after that last phone call with Michelle.

At least I felt like I was finally doing something to get my wife back. I’d taken my Kindle to have something to read but couldn’t get past two words at a time before my mind wandered. It didn’t take long to give up even trying. I have no idea how many miles I might have covered, wandering around the airport that day.

The plane landed at O’Hare International and I was anxiously watching for a single woman as I walked into the lobby area. I wished I had a picture of her but at least she had one of me. I stood with people milling all around me and watched as an attractive woman came my way. She was the picture of elegance, red hair in a tight bun, contrasting green pantsuit. I’d guess she was probably around fifty or so but very trim and attractive. As she got closer, she smiled and asked me, “Robert?”

“Yes, you must be Kristen.”

She had a nice smile. “Very nice to meet you finally,” she said. She offered me her hand in a hand-shake and asked if I had any more bags. I showed her my one and only. “Shall we go then?” she asked.

I told her I needed to use the restroom first. I’ve read so many stories of people fucking in the airline bathrooms that using one didn’t appeal to me at all if I could avoid it. Except if it was with a pretty stewardess, that’d be okay. How’s that for being a sexist pig?

Kristen and I walked to her car; a blazing orange, new-looking Corvette. I’ve been in nice cars before, but never anything like this! The leather seats and interior were unlike anything I’d ever seen before. When Kristen started the engine and I heard the gentle roar. Her car felt more like I’d imagine a space ship more than a car. If I hadn’t been such a nervous wreck, I’d have enjoyed it immensely.

As she drove, Kristen explained the set-up for the evening. “After you called, I called Brett and asked him about his trip. He said he was anxious for me to meet his new girlfriend and invited me over tonight. I told him I couldn’t because I had a friend flying in. He insisted that I could bring my friend as well. That way he won’t be suspicious that you’re really there to see Michelle unless you want to let him know, but I don’t think it would be a good idea.” Then she suggested that we still needed a cover story on how we met and asked what I did for a living. I explained to her that I’m a City Building Official.

She grinned, “Perfect. I just built a plastics factory in St Louis. We met there.” She paused a little, then asked me, “How about if you were one of the architects?”

I’d worked with architects and around construction my whole career, so that sounded perfect to me. “I could do that. Tell me a little about your building in case he asks.” She spent the next ten or fifteen minutes giving me enough information that I could sound reasonably intelligent about it if the subject ever came up.

When she finished, I looked at her and couldn’t help but ask, “Kristen, you’re his friend. Why are you doing this for me?”

She glanced at me and said, “You seem like a nice guy and I don’t want Brett to take another man’s wife.”

“I can’t tell you how grateful I am.” I was curious about something, so asked her, “That first time I called you, did you know I was her husband then?”

She laughed. “There wasn’t a doubt in my mind! What husband would leave something like that to another man?” She looked over at me again with kind of a quizzical look on her face. “But I still don’t understand why you’d send your wife off for that long with another man, that you knew would try to take her away from you.”

“I trust her.” Then I explained that Michelle has had a free rein to see other men over the last couple years and gotten more and more adventurous. “Then a few months ago, she told me that she had this fantasy to be a high-class escort. She quit her job, set up a website and started meeting different men in Seattle for fifteen hundred dollars a night. She actually only met two; one of them was Brett.”

Kristen seemed surprised at that, “Oh really! He never told me how he met her, just that she was the most incredible woman he’d ever met.” She glanced my way, “I guess from the way you sounded on the phone the other day, and the fact you rushed out here, your trust is wavering a little?”

I hesitated before answering, “Yeah, I’ll admit that. I’ve been scared ever since she left.” I didn’t want to admit to her the panic I felt that night over a month ago. “I managed to get through it, but when I got the e-mail that she’d be another two weeks, I couldn’t take it any longer and had to do something.”

How did you feel about your wife being a, umm, a prostitute?”

I thought about my answer a little but, “I haven’t really thought about it that way. I know that’s true but she’s doing it more because she likes it. She loves romance and being with other men and this was a fantasy of hers’ that grew from that.” Kristen waited while I paused because she knew I wasn’t done explaining. “If she were out on the street trying to pick up a guy to take her into a crappy hotel room and fuck her for fifty dollars I’d have said no way. But the way she set it up, always a dinner or dancing, wearing sexy clothes then spending the night together I liked what she was doing.”

“You’re a strange man, Robert. Most men would be hyper-jealous and probably be getting a divorce.”

“Who’s to say I’m not hyper-jealous. I am. But that’s part of what makes it fun. She knows how to stoke my jealousy and she loves doing it ... and I have to admit that I do too.”

“I wonder how she gets along with Brett then. He’s a very possessive man. When he and I first became intimate, he was adamant that I didn’t go out with anyone else.”

“And now, what happened since then? You’re obviously going to have another man in his house.”

“We weren’t right for each other. We grew apart sexually and are just good friends now. I sleep with him once in a while when we’re both lonely. Or at least I did before he met Michelle. But we haven’t had sex together for a long time. It’s just been a good friendship.

As we were talking, a thought occurred to me. “If you knew so soon I was her husband, are you sure Brett won’t figure it out too?”

She took one of my hands in hers, kissed it and very sweetly said, “We’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t, won’t we sweetheart.”

The longer she drove, the more I became a nervous wreck. I had no idea what to expect. Would Michelle be angry, glad to see me, no reaction at all? Was I too late? Maybe she’d already agreed to stay with him.

I couldn’t help but notice the surroundings. I’d always assumed Chicago was either high rise downtown buildings or slums. I never expected the beautiful, green area we were now driving through. It was a little out in the suburbs; big, beautiful houses with park-like greenery all around. Kristen drove into a curving driveway to the front of a gorgeous two-story brick house. The front lawn looked more like a small park than lawn.

She stopped, turned the engine off and looking at me said, “We’re there. Your wife’s right inside. I took a deep breath, opened the car door and walked around to the other side to escort Kristen inside. I couldn’t forget that I wasn’t there to see anyone. I was there simply as Kristen’s current boyfriend and lover.

We walked to the door and Kristen knocked. I was both looking forward and scared to death of what was on the other side. A man opened the door. I recognized Brett from the picture Michelle had given me. He was even better looking in real life than the picture. From his physical appearance, I could understand why Michelle would be attracted to him, other than the beard. Michelle hadn’t ever shown any interest in men with a beard before, but apparently, she liked his. He was a little taller than me, physically fit like he probably exercised a lot; broad shoulders, slim waist. His hair was dark with a little graying around the edges. His beard and mustache were very neatly trimmed.