Chapter 3: February’s Curse

Eighteen months later:

I sat in my office, which occupied a loft over our garage, eating a sandwich while watching a video on my tablet. It was a video of my wife, Allie, in our back yard. As was often the case, she was naked, enjoying herself on a dildo she had just purchased. It was a video she asked me to make – something to help me remember what I have at home when I feel lonely or bored, she said. I’ve watched this video many times since. It was also nice to watch on cold, blustery December days like today.

“A successful marriage takes a lot of work.” Albert’s words stuck in my mind. Albert Silverman was not only an old family friend. He was my parents’ attorney and now he was mine. He had also become something of a father-figure since my Dad died a few years ago, and he was the one who walked Allie down the aisle at our wedding.

I considered what he told me. He was right. It did take a lot of work to make a marriage successful, but I figured I had a distinct advantage. For starters, Allie and I had been raised as brother and sister. Her birth parents were killed six months after she was born and my parents became her legal guardians.

I never knew any of this until just after Mom passed away from cancer. Allie was told after she was 18, after the guardianship legally ended. We had always been close, and by the time I learned of her true parentage, we knew each other inside out and could read each other like a book. Nothing was off the table between us and we discussed everything one can imagine – sex, politics, you name it.

I learned a lot about the girl I knew as my sister after I last returned from Iraq. For starters, I discovered that she was quite the exhibitionist, especially around the house, and always with me. She even posed for me and had me take video of her. Last Christmas, she bought me a GoPro camera system and had me use it to take video of us making love – another something to help me remember what I have at home while out of town on business trips.

After I proposed to her, we began making changes to the house. We painted and remodeled the master bedroom to make it ours and replaced all the furniture. We bought a brand new California King-sized bed and christened it the day we returned from our honeymoon in Hawaii.

I also upgraded our Internet service to the fastest speed possible and installed network cables throughout the house along with several wireless access points so our devices got the best signal possible. I was surprised Dad hadn’t done this when he remodeled the top floor, but then I realized that the technology back when I was 13 was nothing like it is today.

Fortunately, he had left a set of detailed blueprints and had taught me how to read them when I was younger, so the job went a lot easier than it normally would. I found that knowledge helped me out on more than one job where I had to supervise network installations.

Allie and I sometimes watched porn on the brand new 85-inch flatscreen we had installed in the master bedroom, and sometimes read erotic stories online while laying in bed. We got a lot of ideas from all that, and the stories prompted quite a bit of discussion between us.

One night, for example, we read a story about a husband who had been humiliated and cuckolded by his wife. We both thoroughly enjoyed the revenge the husband got against his wife and her lovers, and talked about it when we finished.

“If I were that husband, I would have fed her ass to the dogs,” Allie said. “I hope you don’t think I would ever do something like that to you. I’d rather die first.”

“No, I don’t,” I said. “And I’d never do anything like that to you.”

“Better not,” she said, snuggling close to me. “I’d cut your balls off and mount them on the wall if you ever did.” Knowing Allie as I did, I believed she actually would. We kissed and made love until we both fell asleep.

I guess this is about as good a time as any to mention that our love life couldn’t be better. We had sex as often as we possibly could and there were times when Allie simply wanted to get fucked hard and fast. Of course, I’m always up for that.

Allie was quite adventurous and we tried as many different things as we could imagine. Oral sex was a given – I loved going down on her smooth pussy and thoroughly enjoyed her blowjobs. We even experimented with a bit of light bondage and talked about installing a sex swing in the bedroom just for fun. Only three things were off limits – sharing/swapping, pain and anal. Neither of us had any desire for that, and readily agreed it would never be part of our lives.

We had also discussed having children. Both of us agreed we wanted to be married at least three years before we started a family. We had even set a limit of two children, but were open to more.

In the meantime, Allie continued working at the hospital Emergency Room – mostly for the benefits – and I pursued my dream of running my own IT consulting firm. Sure, we could’ve laid back on what our parents had left us, but we were both raised with a very strong work ethic and the idea of simply doing nothing repulsed us.

Albert came through on his promise and brought me in to upgrade his network. I installed a new server rack and updated all his old equipment. He was so pleased with my work that he began telling other attorneys he knew. By the end of my first year in business, I was providing IT services to about half of the lawyers in town. Some of them had satellite offices in other cities, so I would periodically travel to take care of issues that might arise.

Toward the end of September, I was contacted by Roger Billings, an attorney with the Sharks, the local pro football franchise. He had heard about me through the city’s network of lawyers and wondered if I would be interested in refreshing the team’s IT infrastructure. Naturally, I was interested in his proposal, so I responded and he set me up to meet the team’s IT guy, Ryan Black.

Ryan admitted that his expertise was primarily desktop support, which comprised about 80 percent of his workload. He could handle the day-to-day server stuff, but was a bit weak in the area of network infrastructure. He also informed me they already had a contract to handle the desktops, which were leased through a large manufacturer. I was impressed with his honesty.

After a couple of meetings that included walk-throughs of the corporate offices and the team training area, I had a better understanding of what needed to be done, so I put together a proposal and submitted it. This was similar to what I had spent a year doing in Erbil, but on a smaller scale. I also knew there was no way I could do this by myself and still take care of my existing client base, so that was factored into my proposal. I figured the job could be complete in about four months if my timeline was followed.

Roger and Albert hammered out the details of the contract and it was approved about the end of October. I mapped out the new network and purchased the equipment according to the contract, then hired in a crew of seven contractors and brought them up to speed on what needed to be done. I turned them loose on the job site about the middle of November, per the schedule laid out in the contract, and checked in with them on a daily basis. So far, things were running smooth and we looked to finish on schedule and under budget.

This morning, though, something odd happened when I stopped by the job site. Lenny Johnson, my lead contractor, pulled me aside after the morning briefing.

“Smitty, you got a couple minutes?” he asked.

“Sure, Lenny,” I said. “What’s up?”

“Do you know Marc LaValliere?” he asked. I remembered the incident at the dance club with Allie the night I proposed to her and my blood ran cold.

“I met him once, about a year and a half ago,” I said. “Why?”

“He asked me about you yesterday,” Lenny said. “Said you two met some time back. I guess he saw you here making the rounds with Ryan.”

“Did he say anything else?” I asked. Lenny shook his head.

“Not much, just that he might talk to you sometime when you’re around,” he said.

“Well, don’t give him any info,” I said. “Pass it on to the other guys if you would, please. Between you, me and the lamp post, I wasn’t all that impressed when I met LaValliere that one time.”

“Got it, Smitty,” he said.

After leaving, I stopped to take care of some minor things with a couple clients, then went home for lunch. After I finished eating, I went into the kitchen. Allie had a pot roast and vegetables already set up in a crock pot and had asked me to turn it on after I ate my lunch so it would be ready by the time she got home. I followed the directions she left for me, then went back to the loft.

I don’t mind doing things like this for her. Hell, she works as hard as I do, then comes home and still has enough energy to cook and see to my needs. I didn’t have a lot left to do that afternoon, so I finished everything on my schedule and looked to see what I had going on the next day. Thank God for remote access, I thought to myself. Before I knew it, I heard the garage door open under the loft and headed downstairs to meet my bride.

“There’s my favorite nurse,” I said as she climbed out of the car. I gave her a kiss, which she returned. “How was your day?” I asked.

“Rough,” she said. “There was an accident on the interstate and we got slammed with patients this afternoon. I thought I might have to pull a double shift, but Roxanne made it in on time for a change. Did you get the pot roast started?”

“Of course,” I said. “I even followed your directions.”

“Excellent,” she said. “Thanks for doing that. I hope you don’t mind.”

“I’m happy to help when I can,” I told her.

“I appreciate that,” she said. I could tell she was tired. “If you don’t mind, I’m going upstairs to get out of these clothes. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” I said, watching her climb the steps to the top floor. She came back down a few minutes later wearing nothing but an apron. It was one she had decorated herself. The top part of the apron had what looked like a “Mountain Dew” logo, but read, “Mount And Do Me.”

“I just might take you up on that offer,” I told her as she stepped in the kitchen.

“I just might let you,” she said with a smile. She checked the pot roast, and seeing that it was done, turned the crock pot off and pulled out a large platter. I grabbed a couple utensils and put the cooked meat on the platter and she scooped out the veggies and potatoes. When she was finished, I carried it to the table while she grabbed the plates and silverware. I grabbed a couple Cokes out of the refrigerator and two glasses and set them on the table.

“This smells delicious,” I said as she sliced the meat, putting a nice chunk on my plate. After she finished doling out the meal, I held her chair back and seated her.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile.

“My pleasure,” I said.

“After we eat, would you mind rubbing my feet?” she asked. “I’ve been running all day and I could really use some pampering.”

“I’d love to,” I told her.

“You’re the best husband,” she said.

“Well, you’re the best wife,” I told her in response.

“So, how was your day?” she asked.

“Interesting,” I said. “I went to check up on things at the football team headquarters this morning.”

“How’s that going?” she asked.

“Quite well, actually,” I said. “If all goes well, we’ll finish ahead of schedule and ahead of budget.”

“That’s good,” she said.

“Something else happened, by the way,” I said.

“Oh?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “You remember that creep, Marc LaValliere, the guy who came on to you at the club a year and a half ago?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Did you see him or something?”

“Lenny told me that he’s been asking the crew about me,” I said. “Don’t ask me why. Have you seen him or talked to him since that night?” She shook her head.

“No, I haven’t,” she said. “You think he remembered us from that night?”

“Possibly, I don’t know,” I told her.

“Maybe he wants to apologize for the way he acted,” she said.

“Could be,” I said. “But something tells me he’s not the type to apologize. He could’ve done it that night, but he didn’t.”

“You may be right,” she said. “I don’t remember if I told you or not, but one of the nurses said she spent the night with him after he picked her up at that same club.”

“No, I don’t remember you saying anything about that,” I said.

“Yeah, she was there with her husband and some friends,” Allie said. “According to her, he just came right up, cut in and took her out of her husband’s arms while they were dancing.”

“Talk about gall,” I said.

“According to her, he seduced her right there on the dance floor in front of her husband,” she said. “Then she left with him. Said it was the best sex of her life.”

“What did her husband do?” I asked.

“He filed for divorce, but she said she got him to calm down and take her back,” Allie said. “They’re in counseling now. Personally, I don’t think it’ll work. She still talks about the night she spent with Marc.” I shook my head.

“I can’t help but wonder how many others he’s done that to,” I said. “Lord knows I’d never put up with it.”

“I know you wouldn’t,” she said. “And I’d never put up with it, either.”

“What did you tell her?” I asked.

“I told her she was an idiot and didn’t deserve to be married to her husband,” she said. “Then she had the nerve to tell me that it was just a one-time thing, didn’t mean anything and any woman would be honored to sleep in LaValliere’s bed. I told her that it meant everything to her husband and her family and if she had any brains, she’d throw herself at her husband’s feet and beg for mercy. Well, suffice it to say she doesn’t speak to me much anymore.” I laughed at that.

“I guess not,” I said. I’ve seen Allie upset a time or two in the past, and trust me, that’s not something you forget easily. We finished dinner and I helped her clear the table, putting the leftover crock pot in the refrigerator.

“Mind if we have that tomorrow?” she asked.

“Not at all,” I said. “C’mon, let’s go to the theater and chill out in front of a movie for a while.” We headed to the lower floor and I grabbed a tube of lotion and warmed it up in the microwave. When we got there, she threw off her apron and sat on the couch before turning the television on. I let her put her feet in my lap after I sat down, and began rubbing warm lotion on them.

“Oh, God, that feels so good,” she said. I kept rubbing her feet, admiring her dainty toes, and rubbed her legs, slowly making my way to her shaved pussy. She smiled and rubbed my crotch with her bare feet.

I rubbed her feet and legs as we watched a movie. When the credits began rolling, I looked over and saw her lying on the couch, her eyes closed, one hand kneading her right breast as the other stroked her lower lips. I could see moisture dripping from her and her nipples were hard.

“You wanna take this upstairs?” I asked. She opened her eyes and smiled.

“I thought you’d never ask,” she said. We slid off the couch and went upstairs, where we made love for a couple hours before falling asleep in each other’s arms. We woke up early the next day as we usually did during the week and did our morning workout, then showered and ate breakfast.

“I’d better get to work,” she said, grabbing her travel cup. “Love you,” she added, giving me a kiss.

“Love you too,” I said, returning her kiss. I watched as she left, then headed up to the loft. When I got there, I saw the message light blinking on the phone and wondered who would be calling so early. I hoped I hadn’t missed an emergency outage overnight and checked the voicemail. My regular customers had my cell and knew they could call me on that number if there was an emergency I had to deal with right away.

There were two calls, but when I played the messages back, there was nothing but silence and a click as the person ended the call. I found that odd, but figured that whoever called probably realized they got a wrong number. I checked my email, then grabbed my laptop bag and my notes for the day and headed out.

My first stop was to the Sharks headquarters to see how things were going with that job. When I arrived, Lenny brought me up to speed on the progress they were making. Half of the crew was busy running and routing cable while the other half were setting up new server racks, servers, routers and switches. After speaking with Lenny for a bit, I turned into the hallway and almost ran into Dylan James, head coach for the Sharks. I had seen him on television many times and instantly recognized him.

“Excuse me,” I said. He smiled and held out a beefy hand, which I accepted.

“No problem, young man,” he said, shaking my hand. “I probably should watch where I’m going. I’m just glad we didn’t collide, you probably would’ve knocked me flat on my ass.” He looked at what we were doing for a few moments before saying anything. “So, you must be the guys doing our network.”

“Yes sir, we are,” I said. He looked me over as I spoke.

“You ever play football?” he asked, pointing at my biceps. “You look like you’d make one helluva linebacker.”

“A bit, in high school,” I said. “But that was a long time ago.”

“You ever played any team sports at all?”

“Well, I did do some combat soccer when I was in the Marines,” I said.

“Marines, huh?” he asked. “Well, thank you for your service. What’s combat soccer?”

“Well, you put a platoon at one end of the field, then put another platoon at the other end, place about three or four soccer balls in the middle of the field and let them have at it,” I said.

“Dang,” he said. “What kind of rules are involved?”

“There’s only one rule,” I told him. “Win.” He let loose with a belly laugh and shook his head.

“Now that’s a game I’d love to watch,” he said. “Listen, if you ever get tired of this computer stuff, maybe you could try out for the team. We’re always looking for new blood.”

“Thanks, Coach,” I said. “But this is where I belong.” He nodded his head and smiled.

“I understand, son,” he said. “Listen, it’s been good meeting you. Have a nice day now, you hear?”

“You do the same, Coach,” I said. “Good meeting you as well.” I turned back to Lenny, who smiled as he looked at me. “You got everything under control here?”

“Sure do, Smitty,” he said. “I should have two of these switches mounted, configured and tested today.”

“Good,” I said. “I’m going to check up on the other guys. Call if you need anything.”

“Will do,” he said. I went back into the hallway and there he was – Marc LaValliere. For a moment, we stood there like two gunfighters facing each other off in the middle of a dusty street.

“So, it really is you,” he said. “I thought I saw you walking around with that little nerd guy but I wanted to make sure. Greg Smith. That’s your name, isn’t it? I never figured you for a geek. Were you really in Iraq?”

“Well, you know what they say,” I said. “Never judge a book by its cover. And yes, I spent three years there. Two as a United States Marine and one as a civilian contractor. Why are you so interested in me, anyway?”

“You still with that hot little number from the club?” he asked. “You said she was your fiance.” I was surprised he remembered after all these months.

“She’s not my fiance anymore,” I said.

“Oh?” he asked. “What happened?”

“We got married,” I said. “She’s my wife now.” He smirked and nodded his head.

“Even better,” he said.

“I think so,” I said. “What do you want? I have work to do.”

“You don’t get it, Smith,” he said. “When I see something – or someone – I want, I get it. It’s that simple. No matter how long it takes. She still work over at the hospital?”

“That’s not your concern,” I said.

“I think it is, Smith,” he said. “And I figure you owe me.”

“How do you figure that?” I asked.

“You embarrassed the hell out of me that night,” he said. “Made me look bad in front of my teammates. I can’t have that.”

“That’s not the way I see it,” I said. “My wife told you no. Maybe you haven’t heard, but ‘no’ means ‘no.’ You shouldn’t have pressed it. In my view, you made yourself look bad.”

“No one says no to me, Smith,” he said, his face turning red. “Especially a woman.”

“There’s lots of other women out there,” I said. “Forget about my wife and move on. I hear that’s what you generally do anyway.”

“And what if I don’t want to move on?” he asked. “What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know what kind of men you’re used to dealing with,” I said. “But I can assure you I protect what’s mine. Especially my family. You stay away from me and my wife and we’ll get along just fine. Don’t fuck with me.”

I did a quick comparison. We were about even in height and I figured he outweighed me by about 20 pounds or so. But I had an advantage in that I had been trained in combat by the best and I had combat experience, something I seriously doubted he had, since he was drafted straight out of college. I had another advantage over LaValliere, but I shuddered thinking about it.

“That sounds like a threat,” he said.

“Consider it a friendly admonition,” I said. “You DO know what an admonition is, don’t you?”

“I’m not stupid,” he said, spittle flying from his mouth.

“Couldn’t prove it by me,” I said. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have work to do.” I walked past him and got a few steps beyond him when he spoke.

“Don’t walk away from me when I’m talking to you,” he snarled. I stopped, turned and saw Lenny watching us from the door I had walked through earlier.

“Or what? You’ll take a swing at me? I don’t think that would be very wise,” I said.

“What makes you say that?” he asked. I nodded to the ceiling.

“You see those little dark domes in the ceiling?” I asked. He looked up at them as I spoke. “Those are security cameras. And my foreman is right over there watching us. Are you really so stupid that you’d assault me on camera and in front of witnesses? You really think I’d just stand here and take it without defending myself? You forget, I’ve been in combat. I’ve faced assholes who did far less that take a swing at me. You stay the fuck away from my wife or we’re going to have a very real problem, you hear me?” Suddenly, I heard a voice from farther down the hall.

“LaValliere, get your ass in here, right now.” Marc turned and we both saw Coach James standing outside a door, looking at us.

“Coming, Coach,” Marc shouted. He turned back to me for a moment before speaking.

“This isn’t over, Smith,” he said.

“I think it is,” I told him. He turned and left. I watched him leave and glanced at Lenny, who gave me a “thumbs up.” I nodded my head and returned the gesture before leaving.

That night over dinner, I told Allie about the confrontation. She was shocked when I told her that he knew where she worked.

“Have you seen him at the hospital?” I asked. She shook her head.

“No,” she said. “You think he’s stalking us?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “He could be. I want you to keep an eye out, though. Let me know if you see him, okay?”

“Of course,” she said.

“You remember what I taught you?” I asked. I had given her some tips on self defense and we had practiced them in the workout area I set up out in the garage.

“Yeah,” she said. “I remember. Are you gonna be okay, though?”

“Oh yeah,” I said. “I’ve faced bigger assholes than him, believe me.”

“Oh, by the way, don’t forget to have your suit tailored and cleaned for the Christmas party,” she said.

“Thanks for reminding me,” I said. “When is that, by the way?”

“A week from Friday,” she said. The hospital always held an annual bash every year for Christmas for employees and their significant others. This party was being held the Friday before Christmas, which fell on a Wednesday. It wasn’t exactly a formal affair, but most everyone liked to dress up for the event. I had the suit I wore to Mom’s funeral, but I hadn’t worn it since then.

“I’ll take care of that tomorrow,” I said. “What about you? Have you bought a new dress or something?”

“Yeah, I got a little something,” she said with a smile.

“Care to model it for me?” I asked.

“Not yet,” she said. “You’ll just have to wait.”

The next week and a half went by fairly quickly. I kept an eye on things at the job site and didn’t see LaValliere. Lenny hadn’t heard anything from him, either. Perhaps he had gotten the message and decided to back off, I thought.

Allie and I took off a couple hours early on the day of the party so we could get ready and make it to the hotel on time. We knew parking would be tough, so we wanted to get a head start. I had to remind myself to breathe when I saw Allie in the gown she bought for the party. It was a black, floor-length gown that accentuated her body perfectly. It was very sexy on her, even though it didn’t show off a lot of skin.

“Damn, you look incredible,” I said as she modeled it for me.

“Thank you, kind sir. You look quite handsome yourself,” she said. We kissed and headed out. The place was already fairly packed when we got there. Apparently, quite a few others wanted to get a head start on things. We were ushered to our table, which we shared with two other couples. I knew some of the nurses Allie worked with, but I didn’t recognize these couples. We made our introductions and enjoyed the meal.

After dinner and the requisite speeches, the Master of Ceremonies got on stage and took the microphone. We wondered what was going to happen next.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the MC said. “We have a special treat before the dancing begins. Please give a big welcome to ... the Sharks!” Everyone applauded as the curtain on the stage was pulled back. Standing on stage was the entire Sharks football team, with Coach James standing in front. Looking at the line of players, I saw him – Marc LaValliere.

“Did you know about this?” I asked Allie. She shook her head.

“No, I didn’t,” she said. As we watched, Coach James took the microphone and thanked the hospital administration for inviting them to the party. Then he introduced the members of the team, who waved as he called their names. LaValliere waved and looked right at our table as he did so. I hoped he wasn’t planning to screw up our night.

When the coach finished, he and the team members walked down the steps and among the tables, shaking hands and talking with the hospital staff. Meanwhile, a band had taken the stage and couples were already starting to dance as the music began. Looking around at the people near us, I noticed that several of the women seemed to get very excited all of a sudden and I wondered why. My question was answered in very short order.

“Good evening, Allie. May I have this first dance?” I looked up and saw him – Marc LaValliere. He was standing in front of Allie with his hand out. I saw the smile on his face and noticed the look he gave me. Her response prompted gasps from some of the women around us.

“I told you a year and a half ago the answer was ‘no.’ It’s still ‘no,’ and my husband is the only man I dance with,” she said. Then she turned to me. “I believe they’re playing our song, dear.”

“I believe you’re right,” I said. “Care to dance?” I held out my hand. She smiled, placed her hand in mine and we stood up.

“If you’ll excuse us,” she told Marc, “they’re playing our song.” I eyed Marc as we left the table. His face was red and his eyes narrowed to slits as we walked by. We made it to the dance floor, where she melted into my arms.

“God, I love you so much,” I told her. She ground herself into me as we danced, a wicked smile on her face.

“Did I do okay?” she asked.

“You did better than okay,” I said. “I’m so proud of you right now.”

“Really?” she asked. “You’re proud of me?”

“Absolutely,” I said. “You really are the best wife a man could ever ask for. And I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

“I love you more, my dear, sweet husband,” she said. As we danced, I looked around and saw LaValliere dancing with another woman. They seemed to be deep in conversation and the woman he was with gazed at him with adoration. I saw him glance at us a few times and noticed the expression on his face darkened whenever he looked at us. I hoped he wasn’t stupid enough to try something tonight.

After a few songs, we made our way back to the table. Several of Allie’s coworkers stopped her on the way to say they couldn’t believe she turned down a dance with Marc.

“Why would I want hamburger, when I’ve got this hunk of a man?” she told one woman while wrapping herself tighter around my arm. Coach James was at our table when we arrived. I introduced him to Allie and we sat down after ordering a refill on our drinks.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Smith,” he said after shaking her hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Coach,” she said. He turned to me as Allie spoke with some of her colleagues.

“That’s some woman you’ve got there, son,” he said. I nodded my head in agreement.