Chapter 3

Carrie Simmons arrived home at five-thirty on the dot. She was humming a little tune as she came in through the garage door. She had enjoyed a marvelous afternoon with Amy, her submissive little lover. Today, she had even introduced Amy to the pleasure of a strap on. Amy, as always, had enjoyed every minute of it but, ironically as things turned out, it was their last time together, because Amy had found a young man that she was falling for fast. Carrie had been happy for her and secretly pleased that Amy wasn't going to become some lovelorn stalker later on.

Carrie stopped short when she noticed Rocky's cell phone lying on the breakfast bar. She knew he had it with him earlier when she called him, so he must have come home and forgotten it. She next noticed that the phone was sitting atop a piece of paper with a CD jewel case beside it. Carrie saw the piece of paper was a note to her, so she picked it up and started reading.

Carrie,

I love you more than life itself, however, it is obvious you don't feel the same way about me - so I'm out of here. I will contact you later about arrangements I have made, in the meantime, I have some thinking to do, so don't bother me. The CD is a keepsake for you; I hope you and Amy have a nice life.

Rocky

The blood drained out of Carrie's face when she comprehended the magnitude of the short little note. She had to sit down on one of the barstools before she fell to the floor. She read the note a second time, her eyes brimming with tears. This couldn't be happening, he couldn't leave her like this, they loved each other too much, and their marriage was too good to let a simple little fling end it. She could not make her mind accept the fact that Rocky had left her ... left without even giving her a chance to say a word.

As she sat there in stunned disbelief, she picked up the jewel case. What did his cryptic comment about the CD have to do with anything? She guessed the only way to find out was to see what was on it. Carrie picked up the CD and hurried into the study. She fired up their home computer and inserted the CD in the drive when the machine was booted up. The only file on the CD was a PowerPoint presentation entitled "Carrie." She double clicked the icon, then watched in horrid fascination as the slides scrolled by.

The first few slides were short sexy little notes; she was reading the third one when it dawned on her that they were copies of the playful text messages she and Amy had been sharing. The slides after the text messages weren't as difficult to figure out, as the nude photos she and Amy had exchanged jumped out at her. Rocky must have gotten the photos and messages off her cell phone. She cursed her stupidity for not deleting this stuff. The slides switched back to text, the next one was another note from Rocky.

"I forgave you once, my soon-to-be ex-wife, but not this time. It is obvious that I'm not equipped to compete with Amy, so I'm not going to keep trying."

The slide slowly faded into another picture, this one a dim but recognizable shot of her and Amy together in bed. Carrie gasped and sat back stunned, as three more photos marched across the screen. The pictures of her and Amy together sure put an end to her plan of claiming it was all an innocent flirtation. When the slide show ended, Carrie popped out the CD and sat in front of the computer, trying to think.

She took a deep ragged breath and hurled the CD across the room. This was not going to happen, no way was she going to lose her husband, her marriage or her perfect life over something so inconsequential. Rocky was overreacting and letting his macho pride blow everything out of proportion, but she could fix this, all she needed was a chance to talk to him. Yeah, that was the ticket; she'd give him some time to cool off, then talk to him.

Carrie went back to the kitchen and retrieved her cell phone. She dialed Amy's number and sat down on a barstool. When Amy answered and they exchanged hellos, Carrie told her exactly what was happening. Amy was understandably upset and started crying immediately. Carrie shushed her and told her what had to happen for the foreseeable future.

Carrie went to bed that night upset and sad. She was upset at Rocky for acting so irrationally, and she was sad that he wasn't there for her. One thing Carrie didn't feel was guilt. Why should she feel guilty when she gave her husband her love and all the sex he could ever want? She had been the perfect wife for him and she would be as long as he lived, what more could he possibly want? Amy was a special friend and had never been a threat to their marriage. She had made that perfectly clear to Amy, and as soon as she tracked Rocky down, she would make sure he knew it also. The part of Rocky's note that concerned her most was the mention of a divorce. Well, he could forget about anything like that happening, because no way in hell would she give him a divorce.

Rocky had a place to go when he left home. That place was a one-bedroom apartment above the detached three-car garage of the house he had converted to his offices. The garage now housed his woodworking shop and equipment storage room. The apartment had been occupied by a few of his workmen over the years, but was currently empty. It was four-thirty in the afternoon by the time he dragged his final bag up the stairs to the apartment. While the air conditioner was laboring to cool off the apartment, Rocky decided he'd go buy some groceries and stock the fridge. When he opened the door to leave, Maria and Amanda were coming up the stairs.

"What's going on Boss?" Maria asked, her concern evident.

"I left Carrie; looks like we'll be neighbors for a while," he replied.

Amanda squirmed by her mother, clambered up the last few steps, and held up her hands so Rocky could pick her up. Rocky knelt down, gathered the girl into his arms and stood back up. Amanda giggled and kissed his cheek. When Maria reached the landing at the top of the stairs, she hugged Rocky also. Maria stepped back from the hug and laid her hand on his cheek.

"Where are you going right now?" she asked, worried that he might be headed for a bar.

"I need to stock up on some groceries."

Maria decided that Rocky didn't need to be alone.

"Great, that's where Amanda and I were headed," she fibbed. "You can ride with us."

Rocky was spared from having to answer questions during the short ride to the supermarket, because Amanda jabbered the entire trip. Amanda was excited that Rocky was now their neighbor, and had all sorts of plans for him. They would go to the zoo, she said, and see the giraffes because they were her favorites. And she wanted to go to see the Nutcracker and have a tea party and about a million other things. Maria tried to apologize and quiet Amanda down, but Rocky chuckled and said the little chatterbox was the best possible medicine for him. He turned in his seat and solemnly promised her that he would take her to the zoo on Sunday. A beatifically smiling Amanda positioned herself between Rocky and Maria and held each of their hands as they walked into the supermarket.

Once back at the house, Maria invited Rocky to join them for dinner, but he declined. He had some thinking to do, and he needed to be alone to do it. Rocky hadn't made any plans past leaving the house. He didn't really know what he wanted to do; he just knew he couldn't stand to be around Carrie right now. He didn't love Carrie a whit less than he had before catching her with Amy, but the images of the two women thrashing around on the bed were locked in his mind. Could he ever find a way to trust her again? He didn't know.

He figured he had just sped up the process by leaving first, given the way Carrie and Amy were so obviously into each other. He was driving himself crazy, trying to figure out what could have caused Carrie's love for him to die so suddenly.

Carrie had a hard time sleeping that night; she hated not having Rocky to snuggle up against. At five in the morning, she finally gave up trying to sleep; she pulled herself out of bed and headed down to the kitchen. She set up the coffee maker, fixed herself a bowl of Special K and sat down at the breakfast bar, feeling monumentally lonely and sorry for herself. She wasn't hungry at all, and toyed with her cereal while she thought about Rocky. Carrie Simmons was a determined and focused woman when she wanted something, and the thing she most wanted in her life was in danger of slipping away from her. She wasn't about to let that happen. She would fix this, no matter what it took.

She poured the remnants of the cereal into the sink, threw the bowl and spoon in the dishwasher and poured herself a cup of coffee. Carrying the coffee up to her bedroom, she finally decided on what she needed to do. Carrie showered, carefully applied her make up and then put on one of Rocky's favorite outfits. At ten minutes till seven she pulled up in front of his office thinking she'd wait for him until he came to work.

She didn't know about the apartment over the garage, so she was surprised to see his truck already parked in the driveway. Figuring he couldn't sleep either and had come to work early, she walked up the sidewalk and tried to open the front door. The door was locked, and when she peeked into the side window, she saw the office was dark. Curious, she walked over to Rocky's truck and felt the hood. The engine was cold.