Chapter 3

"My god! You horrible, slutty bitch! What are you doing with that girl?" Ted shouted.

I had been sleeping, and was startled awake to hear him yelling these terrible things, then opened my eyes to see him standing at the foot of our bed, with an extremely angry expression on his face. I briefly noticed movement in the hall outside the bedroom, but my attention was quickly drawn back to my husband, Ted.

"I said, what are you doing with that girl? Good lord, you're completely naked!" Ted continued.

It was true, as I had fallen asleep in the arms of Karen, my 17 year old lover, after we had made frantic love both in the kitchen and in Ted's and my bed. It had been the most satisfying sex of my life, and we had both worn each other out. It was also true that both Karen and I (my name is Lisa) were naked. As a matter of fact, Karen had her hand on my dark blonde pussy, and I had a hand between her ass cheeks. Since I was married to Ted at the time, I could see where he'd be upset, even angry, but there was something else, too that I couldn't see at the time.

"I can't believe how you've betrayed me, you whore! I'm filing for divorce, right now, and you can kiss custody of our kids goodbye!" he shouted. When I heard this, I burst into tears. To lose custody of my 3 sweet children would be the worst thing that could ever happen to me. Better to be killed on the spot. I knew I had to try to work things out.

"Ted, wait, please, can't we talk about this? Please!" I cried. Tears were running down my face at the thought of the kids.

"Shut up you bitch, we're done!" With that, he stomped out, and again I briefly saw movement in the hall from another person joining up with Ted as he raced out the door.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry Lisa," said Karen, next to me. "I'm totally responsible for this whole mess. I'll do anything I can to fix things-".

"Oh, Karen, the best thing you could do for me, would be to just hold me, please? I need to be held." Karen embraced me in her warm arms, and I gathered some comfort from her. I was in a terrible bind, one that I had let my body and heart lead me into, and it looked like I was going to pay a horrible price. My children!

I heard Karen murmuring as I wept, and felt her patting my head and back, and it did do something to restore my spirits, though at that point it looked dismal.

"What am I going to do," I whispered, finally, after I cried what felt like a lake full of tears. "And why was Ted so angry? He's never been that way before, ever."

"Could it be him finding me in bed with you? I'd guess that WOULD be upsetting, all things considered," Karen mused.

"With most men, I'd say yes," I replied. "But you don't know Ted. He's always hid his feelings. I guess he's one of those 'masculine men' who never ever reveal how they feel about something. Goodness knows, I always had to work hard to coax an "I love you" out of him. Even when his parents died, he acted as though it didn't matter. In some respects, he was kind of a cold fish."

"He sure didn't look like a 'cold fish' today," Karen gulped. "I was afraid he was going to tear you limb from limb!"

"He did, didn't he?" I mused. "You know, Ted and I hadn't made love in 6 months before I met you. I thought that it was just the pressures of raising our kids, and work, and I know I was partially to blame, just not being much attracted to him as before..." I continued, "but that was so out of character for him."

"Who was that girl in the hall?" Karen asked.

"Girl?" I replied.

"There was a girl with dark brown hair, very good looking, about 21 or so, waiting out in the hall while Ted went on his rampage. She left with him when he went out." I knew I'd seen something then, but I was so distracted that I didn't assign any importance to it.

"I don't know," I said. "Ted doesn't have any female co-workers that I know of at the print shop we own. But I can't worry about that now, I've got to think about my children, and family. Karen, you're the most wonderful thing that's ever happened to me, but I'm not sure how to handle this, and you..."

"Lisa, I understand. I've never met anyone like you either. Goodness knows, I've never leapt into sex like that with anyone else, though I've had my share. But you're special to me. I want to do anything and everything I can to make you happy, and to help you with this problem," Karen said.

"Thank you, Karen, my love. Maybe you should give me a little time to work this out. Please, just a little time to think," I asked her. I saw a tear in her eye, and I so wanted to kiss it away and make her feel better, but I knew I had some work ahead of me. No matter what it cost, I had to save my children. Karen dragged herself from the bed. I couldn't help but look at her beautiful form, but had the cost of touching it been too high for me? She dressed, and I put on a robe. I saw her to the door, and kissing briefly, we parted. She drove off and I sat to think about things.

Life continued, minus Ted, for the next few days. The kids got back from school, and the usual activities went on. They asked where "Daddy" was, and I said that he had to work late, but he'd be home as soon as he could. It was all I could think to say until I knew more. I remained perplexed at Ted's behavior, which might be perfectly normal for most husbands, but not what I would have expected from Ted.

It was a few days later that I received a notice that a "Writ of Divorce" had been filed against me, alleging adultery. When I saw that, I burst into tears, reliving the whole horrible experience all over again. Fortunately, the children were at school so they didn't witness my breakdown. I received a phone call once or twice every day from Karen, which was the high spot of most days, except for the times when the kids were home. When she called about an hour after the legal notice, I sobbed out the news into the phone, and she replied, "I'll be right over."

She showed up about 15 minutes later, and after knocking on the door, I let her in. She looked as beautiful as ever, but tired, as though she hadn't been getting a lot of sleep. We sat down on the sofa and she looked at the notice. "Well, obviously I'm no lawyer," she said. "But it looks like Ted is serious. Have you heard from him at all?"

"No, not a word," I said. "He shouted that he was going to do this, and he's done it. Oh Karen, what am I going to do?"

"Have you had a chance to think about things, like what happened here, and what's going to happen? Karen asked. "Have you seen a lawyer yet?"

"A lawyer?" I said.

"You can bet that Ted didn't produce this himself, Lisa. He probably went right out and hired a lawyer. Is this your family lawyer, this 'John Gearhardt' listed on the papers as 'Counsel'?"

"No, we didn't have one," I said.

"That's kind of funny," Karen remarked.

"What is?" I replied.

"My aunt's a lawyer, and from watching her work, it usually takes a couple of weeks for something like this to go through the system. But you have it just 3 days later. Not much time for him to find a lawyer, and have this written up, and go through the system to you."

"I didn't know that," I said. "You must have paid pretty close attention to your aunt."

"Yep, she's raised me almost since birth, as my parents died in a car accident, and I'm thinking that I'll become a lawyer, too. Specializing in GLB issues, naturally."

"Naturally?" I said.

"Lisa, I never came out and told you, but I AM a lesbian. I'm active in our local GLB teenage association, and I'm really grateful for the help we've received in fighting discrimination. My aunt's very proud of me, but I'm very proud of her for supporting me and, well, just being there. I want to pay back something to others who may be in the same position I've found myself."

"Wow, Karen, getting to know you is an adventure," I said.

"Well, hopefully this is the worst part of it. Got to get better..." she replied, with a smile. Her smile really warmed my heart, and we hugged. Her touch gave me strength I thought I'd never regain, and immediately made me feel immensely better.

"Now, can we put our heads together on this?" I said. "you're a sharp cookie, Karen, and I could use some help laying this out."

"Sure thing, shoot," Karen replied. We sat and recounted all that we knew from the time we were in bed together, until the present. There were a couple of things that didn't fit in. Like, who was the girl or woman with Ted in the hall? And how did Ted arrange to serve me with a notice that he was divorcing me, so quickly? Karen promised that she'd ask her aunt to look into the divorce notice to see if there was anything there that could be contested. She also promised that she'd ask her if she'd represent me, pro bono, explaining that translated as "for good", but meant, "for free."

She left then, but called back about a half hour later and said, "She's in!"

"She agreed to represent me?" I said.

"She said she'd do it, for free, and that if there was anything else her brilliant niece wanted, she'd get it, do it or kill it."

"I hope she was kidding about the 'kill it' part," I said.

"Yeah, she's a joker sometimes. But a top attorney. At her law firm they call her "The Samurai", and it's not because of the pretty dresses she wears." I laughed at that, and it felt really good after days of misery.

"Karen, I don't know how to thank you for all you've do-" I started to say, but she shhed me, saying, "Look I was partially responsible for getting you in this fix, but more importantly, I really care about you and want to help you SO much. I think I love you, Lisa," she finished quietly.

"Oh, Lisa, I've loved you from the minute I saw you in the classroom. I can't wait to be with you again. I think this divorce might be a good thing, if it allows me to be with you." I told her that I had to go then, but would be in touch with her, but the real reason I needed to hang up the phone was because my eyes were tearing up, and my nose running, and I didn't want to sound awful for her. I hung up the phone and just burst into tears, grabbing for a tissue. I was so happy and so overwhelmed to hear her say that she loved me, and to say those words to her myself. Eventually, I wore down and recovered, just in time for the kids to get home.

I was so happy after my conversation with Karen that I played with the children for hours, almost forgetting to make dinner. They all noticed a difference in my behavior from the last few days, and told me they were "Glad that you're glad again, mommy." They stopped asking about Ted, though I'd venture comments that "Daddy's on a business trip," or somewhere else, but the truth is that Ted hadn't been that great of a father with his dedication to business. I wasn't too sure that they missed him, and I worried what would happen to them.

Two days later, Karen came over to further discuss my situation. She was wearing denim short shorts, and a green Sara McLachlan t shirt that set off her hair and eyes nicely, and sandals. I was wearing a thin cotton floral print blouse, and a plain wool skirt. We were talking for about a half hour, when we heard a knock on the door.

Opening it, I found a young woman on my doorstep. She was quite attractive, with dark hair and an Hispanic appearance. She looked to be about 20 or 21, about 5'4", maybe 120 pounds, with very nice breasts, they looked like C cups, and nicely rounded hips. She was wearing a light summer dress, although the weather was just beginning to turn into autumn.

"Yes, may I help you?" I said.

"Mrs. Summers, my name is Dani Corella, could I have a moment of your time, please?" she responded.

"I'm sorry," I said, "but whatever you're selling, I'm sure I have enough of..."

"Mrs. Summers. Lisa. This is about your husband, Ted." she said.

"Oh, well then, I suppose you'd better come in," I said. I showed her into the living room, and introduced her to Karen. I noticed a funny look on Karen's face, but didn't think much about it at the time. "Karen, Miss Corella wants to tell me something about Ted," I said.

"Please, I go by 'Dani, '" she said.

Dani sat on the love seat, and I sat on the sofa with Karen, which was perpendicular and catty corner to the love seat.

"Now what did you have to say about Ted... ?"

Mrs. Summers. Lisa-"

"Please, call me Lisa," I said. Her mysterious manner was making me nervous. "What is it?"

"Lisa, I was in the house the other day, when your husband stormed out, and you were, er, in bed."

"So you were the shadow I saw," I said. "What do you want?" I said, with a sharper tone now. "If you're trying to blackmail me, I -"

"No, no, not at all," she interjected. "Nothing at ALL like that, please. Let me explain."

"Yes..." I said, somewhat stiffly, "Go ahead." She was obviously a friend of Ted's and I was afraid this was a further attempt to separate me from the children. Karen took hold of my hand.

"Lisa, the first thing you need to know, and I don't know any other way to say it... Oh dear, this is upsetting me..." Dani said, hesitantly.

"Would you like a glass of wine, Dani?" I said. "I think perhaps we could all use one."

"Yes, please, that would be nice," Dani said.

I poured a chilled Chardonnay for the three of us, and settled back in my seat. Dani took a hefty gulp of hers before she began again.

"Yes, that helps. You see, Mrs-, Lisa, I am your husband's girlfriend."

"What?" I exploded. "Girlfriend? How dare you-"

"Please, let me finish, then if you want to hurt me, or yell at me, well, I don't think I'd stop you." I had to listen to the rest of her story after that statement.

"I met Ted, er, your husband at a club downtown a few months ago. He told me that he was separated from his wife, pending a divorce. I believed him, and we started a relationship. I fell in love with him, and thought that we would be married some day. I come from a traditional family, and I'm not a bad girl, please believe me. If I'd even suspected that Ted was still married, I wouldn't have given him the time of day." I looked closely at her face, and I believed her. I looked at Karen, and Karen nodded agreement to my unspoken query.