Chapter 2

3 Ð Bluffing Is All Part Of The Game

I'd arrived at the lawyers' office right on time. I had even stopped by the house to shower and dress in a suit. I wanted Melinda to see me at my best. I sat opposite her in the lawyer's office. If I cared for her in any way, the look that Melinda leveled at me should have wrung my heart out; her pain and anguish were palpable. My expression remained calm and impassive; my resolve was unwavering. She made one last effort to put off the inevitable I simply glanced down at my watch then back up at Melinda. Her shoulders slumped. She picked up the pen and asked my lawyer where to sign.

Victory was mine! - I felt like I wanted to do some silly end zone dance. The first document she signed was the petition for divorce - citing irreconcilable differences. At one time I had cared deeply that the cause be listed as adultery. I was fortunate to have a lawyer who really knew how to bring on the pain. The key, she had told me again and again, was in the terms and conditions of the divorce. Success was determined by knowing what the other side wanted and what you could force them to give up in return.

The whole signing process was literally a performance that my lawyer and I had choreographed. There were props and characters; it was really quite impressive.

The next document was a name change request. Melinda was being required to revert back to her maiden name. If you don't think that's a big deal - guess again - she was no longer going to have the same last name as her children. That point alone almost sunk the agreement. Oh yeah, that one hurt big time. I watched as Melinda relinquished my surname, tears trickling down her cheeks.

A small black tray was placed before her. This time when Melinda looked at me her expression seemed hollowed out Ð that's when it hit me and I actually felt a twinge of sympathy for her. It wasn't just that any hope of avoiding this was gone - it was more than that. The realization of loss was being overwhelmed by the actual reality of surrender. Her losses were suddenly real - these were not negotiating points any longer. She looked at the tray and shuddered as she removed her wedding ring. As soon as she placed it on the tray it was quickly removed from the room.

She twisted her engagement ring on her finger. I had let her keep it but even that small victory was about to turn to ashes.

"Do you know why I'm letting you keep that ring Melinda? I gave you that ring when I asked you to be my wife. I want you to keep that ring to remember all that we promised and all that you've thrown away." I pulled my wedding band off my finger and pushed it toward her.

"You can have this back, it's still whole and complete, I've kept my promises..." One of my lawyers' assistants returned with the tray. Melinda's ring had been cut in two. I picked up the pieces and held them in my open hand then tossed the pieces into a trashcan. "Worthless crap."

Melinda seemed to waver in her chair and reached out to grip the table. Her head was bobbing slightly. My thrill of victory was beginning to fade. I actually began feel sorry for her as the next document was placed before her. A Quit Claim Deed for her share of the house. The key here was that the monetary value of her share was invested in a college trust for the children with her as trustee until they came of age.

Finally we came to the document that had leveraged her acceptance of everything that had preceded it. - the custody agreement. My lawyer spoke clearly.

"Do you fully understand the conditions of this custody agreement? Your husband has been granted primary custody. But in consideration of the emotional needs of his children he is willing to equally share parenting duties. The children remain in the house. Parents will alternate living in the house on a weekly basis the transition to occur every Sunday between the hours of 6 and 7 PM. All expenses to be borne equally until the child finish college or reach the age of maturity at which time the house becomes the sole property of Mr. Timothy Alan Pick. If you agree to these conditions and arrangements, just sign at the bottom." I watched my soon to be ex-wife sign. The pen fell listlessly from her hand and she began to cry in earnest.

Defeat is not a pretty sight. And it lasts a long, long time. I had been a step ahead of Melinda from the moment she exited that motel room with Ernie. My position was unchanging; divorce and controlling custody of the kids. I guess she thought she could find some way around all this.

I had a couple of things going for me. The kids of course were the key. I bent over backwards to protect them and ensure that Melinda and her parents had access to them. I also promised not to tell the kids what their mother had done that lead to our divorce. That was couched in the language of "your mom and dad are parting as partners but not as parents."

The other key was the threat of revealing and releasing video evidence of Melinda and Ernie - although, truth be told, I really didn't have any. Years before a friend told me that he'd seen a porno starring an actress who he thought bore a striking resemblance to Melinda. I'd checked it out and had to admit that there was a vague resemblance. During the planning phase of my retribution I turned that resemblance to my advantage by buying a number of those movies. I found a couple of videos with actors that matched a verbal description of Ernie; mid twenties, average height and weight, dark hair, etc. By taping portions of the videos off the TV with my camcorder I was able to produce a pretty graphic motel room session that looked like video shot under poor lighting conditions. It was especially effective when viewed on the 2.5 inch LCD screen of the camera. It actually looked like Melinda being fucked by Ernie.

Melinda would have spotted it as a fake in a second - but not her dad. We had a meeting where he tried to convince me to give Melinda another chance. He said that he was willing to pay a lawyer to keep the divorce from happening. So I showed the video to her Dad. I told him this was one of the easier ones to view and that I had hours of the stuff.

Evidently he was very effective in persuading Melinda to drop her opposition. I guess I would be too if an irate soon to be ex son-in-law was threatening to e- mail the video to everyone and anyone they knew - family, friends, coworkers, etc.

The clincher when all was said and signed was the shared parenting. Alternating weeks, I made sure that there was specific and clear language in the agreement that Melinda was prohibited from bringing her lovers (I insisted that the plural be used) into the house.

4 Ð See, Raise, And Call

You know what's funny - the last thing I expected when getting divorced was the effect it seemed to have on women. I'd be lying if I didn't say that my own self- esteem had taken a huge hit after being cuckolded by Melinda. You can't help but feel you're not much of a man, at the very least you must be a lousy lover. I was shocked to find out that my new marital status, or lack there of, was like catnip to women.

During the divorce I had stubbornly taken the high ground regarding revenge fucking or even dating for that matter. That just wasn't who I was - plus my lawyer counseled about no additional complications. But as an officially single man with good credit and plenty of disposable income - suddenly, I was a available. And you want to know what was even better? There were a lot of women out there determined to see me through this difficult time. I was pleasantly surprised at the number of women willing to help me get me back in the saddle - so to speak.

They were so persistent that I began to look forward to my time living at home with the kids - frankly I needed the rest. I had offers from woman at work, from acquaintances (including some who were good friends with Melinda), and even from fellow residents of the apartment building where I stayed during my "off week."

This is how the first time happened while I was still moving into my new place. I'd ordered pizza, so the soft knock indicating its arrival wasn't unexpected. The delivery person sure was. I recognized her as someone I'd seen in the building - I didn't know her name.

"Hi, my name's Darlynne (she pronounced it "Darlin'), with a "ynne" and I'd just like to welcome you to the building." Darlynne was average looking and had an easy to like quality about her. I invited her in and we shared the pizza and a couple of beers.

Darlynne was divorced ("he tried to fuck everything female over eighteen and some under I suspect"), personable, plumpish and refreshingly straightforward.

"Tim, I like you. You seem like a real nice guy going through a really tough time. So anytime you need the company of a woman you just call ole Darlynne." I nodded unknowingly. I almost started to say that I could handle the cooking and cleaning just fine - I guess as a freshly single guy I was pretty clueless.

"I love oral sex - both the giving and the getting, fucking only happens after a date. Don't even think about fucking me in the ass, if you try, that'll be the last time you see me." Darlynne had spoken so clearly and matter of fact that I wasn't even erect - "Now, let's see that cock of yours" - yet.

Darlynne had my zipper down and cock out in no time at all. She looked at it with a critical eye. "Well all right Tim, you've got a good one here - lucky me."

It was, without a doubt, the weirdest proposition I had ever received. It was followed by one truly excellent blowjob. There's just something to be said for a woman who truly enjoys having a cock in her mouth. I realized that Darlynne was such a woman Ð VERY lucky me.

It wasn't just her enthusiasm, it was her technique too. She used her lips, tongue and teeth to maximum effect. She was also a "hands on" fellatrix. By that I mean she used her hands to increase my pleasure. Lots of women will use their hands wrapped around your cock to keep from gagging, or to hurry you along - not Darlynne.

I can't begin to describe what she was doing, mostly because my head was tilted back in unrestrained ecstasy. She tugged, she twisted, she tickled, and she caressed. And when I was getting close she asked me to trust her. At my nod her finger slid up my butt cheeks and wormed its way inside. A massage of the prostate at the peak of my orgasm magnified it beyond comprehension.

The next night the blowjob was repeated followed by my going down on her. By the end of night we were fucking. I'd managed to convince her that the pizza dinner we'd shared the night before counted as being a date. We started fucking pretty frequently after that.

Not that we were exclusive - far from it. In fact a couple of weeks after we'd hooked up, Darlynne had to go out of town on business during one of my off weeks. So she sent a friend of hers over. Rhonda wasn't into oral near as much as Darlynne, but - oh god - could that woman fuck. Rhonda did things with her hips that were unbelievable. It was like some kind of crazy hula dance - I guess - with a lot of Kegels mixed in. It was almost scary the way that woman was able to milk my balls empty.

I have to admit that I was a bit of a slut at first. I bedded, well it's probably more accurate to state that I fucked and was fucked by seventeen different women during the first year of my divorce. The sex was great - if a little empty. I freely admit that I missed the intimacy that Melinda and I had once had. On the other hand, that missing only fueled my continuing anger toward her. I made no effort to hide my amorous activities from her. I enjoyed seeing "that" hurt in her eyes every Sunday evening.

Slowly things settled into a routine, even the kids seemed to be doing okay. Holidays were painful - especially the first time through - but we managed. Months became years, and we all got older if not wiser. It was four years post divorce that the unexpected happened.

I fell in love.

5 Ð Laying Down Your Cards

The kids were involved in a youth group at church. The group went on all kinds of outings, including a couple of snow weekends each winter. I was asked to chaperone on occasion and was more then happy to help out.

It was during a ski trip that Jillian, one of the other chaperones (she was the sister of one of the youth ministers), broke her arm. After first aid was rendered by the ski patrol I was asked to run her down the hill to have it x-rayed and put in a cast if needed. The hospital, once we got there, was swamped due to a traffic accident and we ended up going across the street to a diner for dinner while we killed a couple of hours. Jillian was cute, rather than beautiful, and all of twenty-five. As we talked and ate I became aware that there was a real chemistry between us. I found myself deeply attracted to Jillian. She did nothing to dissuade me.

It took me a month to summon the courage to ask her out on an official date. After all, I was twenty-one years her senior. She accepted (she told me her dad was twelve years older then her mom and they were still together) and we began to date. I slowly let go of my harem over the next few weeks as Jillian and I got serious. Everything was happening fairly fast.

It was a couple of months into our relationship (yep, that's what it was) when Melinda ask if I was in love with Jillian. I guess the kids had told her Jill and I were exclusive. Funny thing, I was prepared to deny it when I realized I couldn't lie about something that important to me - I answered with a quiet "yes. I do love Jillian." Melinda just nodded and then hugged me, "You deserve to be happy."

I was stunned. One, that I realized that I really was in love with Jillian. Two, that Melinda sensed and accepted it. And three, when I told this to Jillian she simply smiled and said it had taken me long enough.

For the first time in years I realized that I was truly happy. I was actually content within myself. That was when I understood that there was something very important that I needed to do. I had accepted Melinda's apology for her unfaithfulness, but at the time I refused to forgive her. It was time for me to formally forgive Melinda.

During the drive over I recalled some of Melinda's previous efforts at apology and explanation. The first time hardly counted. It was just before we signed the divorce and custody agreements. Melinda had asked for a half hour meeting - just the two of us - before signing. I knew what she was going to try and talk me out of divorce. I went prepared. On the way to the meeting I played recordings of Melinda extolling Ernie's cock and cum. I spent the entire half hour looking at her like she was less than dog shit. When the half hour was up I looked at my watch and picked up a pen. She knew she had failed.

Her second attempt was just after our first round through the holidays, the first time we celebrated as a fractured family. Due to a quirk in the calendar I ended up with the kids for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was a miserable time and early in January Melinda asked to speak with me.

That's when I found out she knew I was "dating" or as she termed it "your open door, open fly bimbo for the night" activities. It went downhill from there.

"Look Tim, I know I messed up. I've caused a lot of pain in our family - our family Tim. The holidays were horrible - for me, for you, and for the kids - we've all suffered. I know that you've been with a number of different women and it's just tearing me apart. We are meant to be together Tim, all of us. I've scheduled an appointment for us with a family counselor. It's time we got back together - I've learned my lesson.

I was aghast. I was so surprised, so stunned at what Melinda had just said that I couldn't respond at first. Then the anger began to flow and my mind crystallized into cold focus. "Learned your lesson?"

"Yes Tim. I will never lie to you again. I will be completely honest." Melinda looked at me with an expression of complete earnestness. I guessed that she believed her own bullshit.