Chapter 2: The Plan

It had been a little over two weeks since Brad had walked out on Terri and he still would not take her calls. As each day passed Terri's hopes of getting back together with her loving husband were slipping further and further away. The nights were unbearable and the days weren't much better. Even though Angie was still talking to her at work, their relationship definitely was nowhere as close as it had been. They hadn't been out to lunch together since the day of her confession and she missed her friend's companionship.

She really messed up, she kept telling herself. Her selfish and senseless act cost her dearly and her guilt was starting to take its toll. It wasn't difficult for the people who worked around her to see the difference. There was no life in her step, no smile on her face, and not a trace of happiness in her voice.

Even if she was angry, Angie just couldn't sit by and watch as her friend slid deeper and deeper into depression. "Come on," she said to a surprised Terri, "let's go to lunch."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really, come on before I change my mind," she said with a small grin.

Angie didn't waste any time. As soon as the waitress took their order she started with questions. "So, have you heard from Brad at all since he left?"

"No, his secretary won't even tell him I'm on the phone anymore. She just says he'll call me back when he's ready, but he hasn't called."

"He hasn't filed for divorce though, right?"

Terri's face turned to terror. "No, oh God, I hope he doesn't file for divorce."

"Well, Terri, you have to consider the possibility. You hurt him very deeply, and from what Nate tells me, he's pretty pissed."

"Angie, I don't understand, doesn't he love me anymore. I never thought he'd stop loving me, never."

"Honey, you still don't get it. He's wondering the same thing. Brad's telling himself you couldn't possible still love him and want to sleep with another man, no matter what the reason. I wish I could get Nate to talk to you, you need to see this from a man's perspective."

She took a sip of coffee and continued, "You probably should have leveled with him instead of saying you were just doing me a favor. That just trivialized everything. Think about it, you went against the wishes of you husband to do a favor for a friend. What if the shoe was on the other foot? How would you feel if Brad said he was going to screw another woman simply as a favor for a friend and he didn't really care how you felt about it because he was going to do it whether you liked it or not."

Terri sat across the table staring at her friend as if she had just seen the light. "When you put that way it sounds pretty bad," Terri said. "My God, Angie, I never thought about it like that. It was just something I wanted to experience so bad but knew I'd never get the chance; then you asked me about being the second woman for Nate's birthday and it was like a dream come true; I had one chance and I couldn't blow it, if I did, I knew I'd never get another."

"And maybe if you had explained that to Brad, instead of telling him you were doing us a favor, he wouldn't be quite so pissed right now. He still would never have agreed to it, but I think he would have understood your motives a little better and maybe not have been hurt quite as bad."

Terri's eyes were tearing up again. "So how do I explain it to him? He won't even talk to me."

"Have you tried going over to that bar? He at least sat and talked to Nate, maybe he'd talk to you."

"No, I know him; if he doesn't want to talk to me he's not going to. He'd just walk out."

"Okay, then file for divorce," Angie said with a stern voice.

Terri looked at her friend like she had two heads. "Divorce him? Angie that's the last thing I want to do, I'm trying to get him back, remember?"

"I didn't say divorce him, I said file for divorce, there's a difference. Listen, in this state, when a spouse files for a divorce, either spouse can ask the judge for marriage counseling, granted it's usually not the spouse that files, but there's no law against it. If the judge grants it, Brad will have to go to counseling with you, he'll have no choice."

"Angie, that's not a bad idea. He'd have to talk to me then. I could apologize and tell him how sorry I am." Then she had a thought. "Yeah, but what if the judge won't order it, then what?"

"Then you simply withdraw your petition for the divorce, nobody can force you to go ahead with it."

As the two ladies sat and schemed, the details of the plot were hatched. Brad never did do anything with the joint bank accounts. He was simply using his current pay checks to live week to week, that meant there was plenty of money available so Terri could pay for a lawyer. The attorney hired a private detective who took only one day to track Brad down to the Holiday Inn not far from his work. At nine o'clock the following Friday evening, Brad answered the knock at his door and was served with the divorce papers.

This was the last arrow from her he would allow to pierce his heart, he thought as he sat on the edge of his bed. Try as he did, Brad could not hold back the tears. He must have thought about divorcing her a thousand times in the last month, but he never did it. He couldn't believe she was ready to move on already and didn't want him anymore. Maybe she already had another boyfriend, one who was better in bed. He lay on his bed torturing himself with thoughts of his own inadequacies until he finally cried himself to sleep.

Against the advice of almost every guy he worked with, Brad didn't bother hiring his own attorney, not yet anyway. He wasn't going to fight the divorce and was willing to give her almost anything she wanted. He was hoping he could talk Terri's attorney into simply negotiating a property settlement and just be done with it.

Brad showed up for his first court date and saw Terri for the first time since he walked out almost six weeks prior. As much as it hurt, he couldn't deny the pain of losing her. They stood across the courtroom from each other as the judge spoke.

"Mr. Gilliston, I don't see your attorney, are you represented by council?"

"No, your honor," he answered. "I have no intention of fighting the divorce and I'm hoping I won't need one."

The judge picked up the petition and glanced through it. "Mrs. Gilliston, you're asking for counseling?"

"Yes, your honor."

"But you're the plaintiff?"

"Yes, your honor, I still think there's a chance for our marriage though."

"I see," the judge said pondering over the papers. "I'm going to grant the request for counseling. Mr. Gilliston, if it doesn't work I would have an attorney the next time you show up in my court, for your own protection. See the bailiff and he'll give you a list of court appointed marriage counselors and help you set up a schedule."

"Counseling," Brad blurted out, "why do we have to go to counseling, can't we just get this over with?"

"You're going to counseling, Mr. Gilliston, because your wife asked for it. She seems pretty sincere to me and I willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. I warn you, if you do not attend the sessions I will hold you in contempt of court; now, next case." With that he slammed his gavel down and Brad was left wondering what the hell happened.

"Don't tell me I shouldn't talk to him," Brad heard his wife say as she angrily pulled her arm away from her lawyer's hand, "he's my husband."

Brad was confused. He walked over to a seat and sat down. Terri sat down next to him. "Brad, please come home. I know what I did was inexcusable but at least let me try to make up for the pain I put you through, please."

"Come home; what kind of a game are you playing, Terri? You just filed for a divorce, now you're saying to come home. I don't get it."

"How else was I supposed to talk to you? You wouldn't take me calls. I bet I called a hundred times. I don't want a divorce, Brad, this was a desperate attempt at communication, that's all."

Brad looked into her eyes and could see moisture building up. "What's with all this counseling stuff, what's that all about?"

"Brad, I did something so stupid, so hurtful to you, that if you had done it to me I don't know if I'd ever be able to forgive you. This was my fault, one hundred percent my fault. You did absolutely nothing to deserve what I put you through. I want to go ahead with the counseling because, even if you did come back, I don't know if you could ever forgive me. I'm hoping a good marriage counselor can show you how to do that. I have missed you so much. I love you and I want you back, honey; I want our happy marriage again. After what I've done, I don't know if we could do that or not, but I'm sure we stand a better chance with professional help."

Brad had worked hard to resign himself to the idea that his marriage was over, now this. He had to get out of there and think. This was all too much. "You know where I am now, the Holliday Inn on Devon, room one eighteen. Go ahead and set up the appointment, any night during the week, I have no plans, just call me to let me know when and where and I'll be there." He stood up and walked out. It was awful early for Plato's Place but he didn't care, he needed to think.

Bob was just starting his shift when Brad walked in. "Brad," he said sounding surprised, "it's kind of early for you, man, everything okay?"

"Things haven't been okay for a while, Bob. Now they're getting down right confusing: I need to think, no place like Plato's when you have to think," he said as he pulled up a stool and ordered his usual.

Bob set Brad's scotch and water in front of him. "Yeah," he said, "I couldn't help but hear bits a pieces when you were talking to that black guy the last time you were in, trouble on the home front, huh. Sorry, man."

"Thanks. To tell you the truth, this whole thing has me so screwed up I don't know if I'm coming or going anymore. Tell me, Bob, you seem like a happily married man, how do you understand women?"

Bob laughed. "The trick is not to even try to understand them, just smile and say, yes dear."

"That's what I did for fourteen years, Bob, until she told me she was going to spend the night with another man, that's when I stopped smiling and saying yes dear."

"Oh wow, that's a rough one. Yeah, that would stop me in my tracks too. I'm sorry, my friend, I honestly don't have any pearls of wisdom for that. Can I ask you something?" Brad told him to go ahead and ask. "Was it that black guy that was in here, is he the guy she slept with?"

"That's him," Brad answered indignantly.

"I thought so, like I said, I heard bits and pieces. I'm surprised though, the guy seemed like a nice guy."

"Yeah, well, if you can believe him he thought I had okayed it. It's a strange story, Bob, but it all comes down to the same thing, my wife slept with another man and I just can't accept that, no matter what the circumstances were or if they actually fucked each other or just sucked one another off; it really doesn't make any difference; any way you look at it, my wife betrayed me and committed adultery."

Since it was too early to be busy the two talked for another hour before Brad returned to his motel room just as confused as ever. A lot of his co-workers knew he had taken a day off to appear in divorce court, and of course, all thought it was their duty to give their unsolicited advice. It was about what he expected, most of the guys all told him to kick the bitch out on her ass; the women all told him to give her another chance. Certainly nothing he heard at work helped him with his dilemma so he just tried to keep from thinking about things too much until the counseling sessions started. Maybe they could help him make up his mind as to what to do.

Brad was feeling very apprehensive as he stepped into the counselor's office. Terri was already there and looking even more nervous than Brad. "Mr. Gilliston, take a seat please," said the elderly woman as she gestured to the remaining chair. Brad sat on the edge of his chair and leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees and looking like he was ready to spring up any second. The counselor took silent notice before returning her eyes to the document in her hand.

"So, Mrs. Gilliston, you filed for divorce but you're also the one who requested counseling. Would you care to explain that to me please?"

Terri knew she was going to get that question and had already decided she was not going to lie about it. "Well, a few weeks ago I did the dumbest thing I ever did in my life. I wanted to apologize, but before I could, my husband walked out and wouldn't talk to me. Every day I got more and more desperate. I have a friend who told me I could file for the divorce to force Brad into talking to me and try to save my marriage."

"I see; so you don't really want a divorce at all, you want the court to solve your marriage problems for you." Terri sheepishly answered her with a yes. "Mr. Gilliston, how do you feel about that?"

"I don't know what to make of any of this. It's all very confusing to me. The reason I wouldn't talk to her in the first place was because I hadn't figured out what I was going to do yet. I needed time to get over my anger so I could think rationally and I didn't want to say anything I couldn't take back."

"Okay," said the counselor, "before we go any further let's get the basics out of the way. My name, in case you didn't notice it on the door, is Betty Lawrence. I'm a licensed psychologist with more than twenty years of experience. The court has ordered eight, one hour, sessions over the next two months. You must come or you will be charged with contempt of court. Do you both understand this?"

They both acknowledged that they understood. "Okay, good; now, Mr. Gilliston, from what you said I don't believe you've made up your mind yet whether you want a divorce or not, is that right?"

"That's right," he said nodding his head.

"And, Mrs. Gilliston, you absolutely don't want a divorce, is that correct?"

"That's right, doctor, I love Brad with all my heart. I know I did a stupid thing and I hurt him badly, but..."

"Okay, we'll get into all that; right now I just want to make sure we're all on the same page here." She looked up and studied Brad's face; there was still a lot of anger and pain behind that confused expression. Over the years she had seen enough hurt spouses that she could recognize that look on people just walking down the street. One glance and she knew Brad's pain ran as deep as any of them.

Under normal circumstances she would start with the person who asked for counseling, but under normal circumstances, she was dealing with one person wanting to save their marriage while the other wanted to end it. This was a little different, Brad wasn't sure if he wanted to end it or not, so she decided to start with him.

"Brad, you say you're confused; can you elaborate on that a little for me, what is it that has you so confused?"

"All of it, right from the start, I thought we had a happy marriage, I thought my wife loved me, I never even knew she was dissatisfied with me ... you know," he hesitated, then finally spit it out, "in the bedroom, but obviously she is."

"Brad, I..."

Doctor Lawrence raised her hand and interrupted Terri, "Please, Mrs. Gilliston, you'll have your chance, let him continue. Please go ahead, Mr. Gilliston."

"I don't know; the whole damn situation is confusing. I just don't understand how she could do that to me, all I've ever done was to love her to death," his eyes started to moisten, "but now I'm not even sure about that anymore, I mean, how do you still love someone who does something like that to you, someone who can be so damn cruel to you like that."

Terri turned toward him with pure anguish on her face. She wondered if he still loved her but to actually hear him express his doubt was horrifying.

"I sat there in that lousy motel room for two weeks wondering if I should go back home, if I could patch things up or not, then I got divorce papers. I thought I was going to die. I thought what a sap I was. Here I am sitting here struggling with my decision and she's already made hers. She's ready to move on, I didn't know for sure, but I suspected she might already have a boyfriend."

"Oh, God;" was the outburst from a tearing Terri.

"Well," he looked at her, "how the hell am I supposed to know?" Brad was getting agitated. "After crying for the next three days, I finally decided if that's what she wants, okay fine. I figured that was it, fourteen years of marriage down the drain. Then I get to court and she tells me a completely different story, that she loves me and the only reason she filed for divorce was to try and get us back together." He looked at the elderly psychologist. "You figure it out because I sure can't."

She looked at Terri. "I don't think either of us can fault him for being confused, do you, Mrs. Gilliston?"

By now Terri was wiping her eyes with a tissue. She just shook her head no. "Mrs. Gilliston," doctor Lawrence continued, "I know you want your say here but time is getting short and I have a feeling what you want to say is going to take a lot longer than the ten minutes we have left, so I'm going to cut it off here. Mrs. Gilliston, you heard your husband state his thoughts, his concerns, his confusion, and I hope you heard the pain in his voice as he did it." Terri nodded her head while still wiping her eyes. "I'm going to ask that you both not talk to each other yet. At least for a while, I would like your conversations to be in a controlled environment."

She looked up at Brad who was still sitting like he was ready to leave at the drop of a hat. "Mr. Gilliston, would you mind leaving first. I'd like to have a word with your wife before she goes. I will see you back here next week at the same time."

Brad said a quick good bye and left. She turned to Terri. "Mrs. Gilliston, I want to be honest with you here, after listening to your husband this is not a slam dunk. Between now and next week I want you to think about what you're going to say. Choose your words carefully with having his reassurance in mind. He needs to know you love him, not wonder if you do. He needs to know and understand the reasons you did what you did. Right now he is very confused as to your motives. Whatever you do, don't try to lie to him. He'll see right through it. Okay, Mrs. Gilliston, I'll see you next week."

The next day Angie waited anxiously for her friend to come into work. "So, how did it go?"

"To tell you the truth, I don't really know. I didn't get a chance to say anything; Brad did most of the talking. The therapist said I'll get a chance to talk next week. After Brad left she told me to pick my words carefully. She said Brad was really hurting. I'm scared, Angie, what if I say something wrong. I could lose him forever."

"Shit, I'm going to talk to Nate again. I know he could help you, if only he wasn't so damn pig headed. Let me see what I can do again tonight. No promises, but I'll try.

Since he worked closer to home, Nate was always waiting for Angie and usually had dinner on the stove by the time she walked in. "Mmmmm," she said walking into the kitchen and hugging Nate from behind. "Something smells awful good."

"No."

"What?"

"The answer is no," he said.

"What are you talking about, I didn't even ask you anything," she said still hugging him.

"Well, when you do ask, the answer will still be no. After ten years of marriage, I can tell by the sound of your voice you're about to asked something so I thought I'd save you the trouble, the answer is no."

She let go, moved around to the front of her husband and put her arms around him again. She looked up at him and pushed out her bottom lip making a pouting face. "Please."

"Absolutely not," he said with resolve.

Angie pushed her hips into his groin and felt the bulge already growing in his pants. She seductively slid her body down his until she was staring at his crotch. She looked up as she slowly lower his zipper and pulled his dick from its confines. He groaned as she licked it like a big sucker then twirled her tongue around the head.

Nate closed his eyes and leaned his head back savoring his wife's oral talents. She opened her mouth and slid the entire length of his cock down her throat several times before teasing the tip again.

Nate started breathing heavier. "Oh, God," he muttered as he steadied himself by putting his hand on the edge of the sink. "Oh, yeah," he said breathlessly. He could feel himself getting close as Angie sped up her efforts. Nate's body tensed and lunged forward as he shot his load down his wife's lovely throat. She continued to work her lips and tongue as she cleaned his softening penis. When she was all done Angie lovingly returned it to its white cotton home, pulled his zipper back up and patted the outside of his pants with her hand.

She stood back up and wrapped her arms around him again. She looked back up into the satisfied look on his face and batted her eyelashes at him.

"Oh hell," he said, "no fair batting your eyelashes like that. Okay, what am I saying yes to?"

She smiled and kissed him gently on the lips. "I knew I could count on you. I'll have her come over Saturday so you can talk to her; thank you, honey."

Nate sighed. "Of course you're talking about Terri, right?"

"Nate, she needs your help. She's desperate, honey. They're going to marriage counseling and she has to do the talking next week. She's terrified she's going to say something wrong. Honey, you've never seen anyone as remorseful and Terri, she knows she screwed up and she is frantic to make things right again. Please, honey; I know you could help her with what to say and what not to say."

"Alright, alright, I'll talk to her, but you're going to owe me more that blow job, I want sex for the rest of my life after this."

"You got it, honey," she said with a grin.

That Saturday Terri was nervous once again on the drive to Nate and Angie's house. It was like déjà vu only this time Nate didn't greet her by the door. Angie invited her in and tried to get her to relax on the couch before Nate came in from the back yard. Terri cowered into the corner of the sofa when she saw him, he wasn't nearly as friendly looking as the last time she was there, but then she knew he wouldn't be.

"Terri, I promised I'd be nice to you, but I have to tell you, what you did to Brad was absolutely despicable, and to tell you the truth, I don't think you deserve him back."

"Nate, come on, you promised," scolded Angie.

Nate held up his hand and stopped his wife cold. She could see the anger in his face and knew there was no way she could stop him from saying what he wanted to say.

"You ripped out the heart of the man you claim to love, and from what Angie has told me so far, you were just as cold and calculating as you could be when you did it. You showed absolutely no regard for Brad's feelings and thought of nobody but yourself and your own selfishness."

Terri started to break out in tears; Nate never liked to see a woman cry and decided to back off. "Alright, you can stop your blubbing now, enough said, but I had to get that off my chest," he said. Nate took a deep breath trying to calm down as he sat next to her on the couch. Angie handed her a tissue. Terri thanked her friend and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Okay, Terri," Nate started again after composing himself, "tell me what happened before you left that day. You said you had a big fight, how big and what was said."

Several times Nate just shook his head and looked at his wife as Terri explained what happened on that terrible Saturday. He tried to put himself in Brad's place, trying to feel what his emotions would be, trying to understand the pain Brad would have felt.

Nate originally was only going to devote an hour, but as time ticked by, Nate and Angie invited Terri to stay for dinner. Nate was starting to soften just a little. Angie was right; Nate couldn't remember seeing anyone with as much genuine remorse as Terri.

When Terri walked into the doctor's office for their second counseling session Brad was already there this time. The body language with which he sat told Terri he was ready to take a defensive position. Dr. Lawrence saw the state of extreme nervousness that possessed her female client.

"Mrs. Gilliston, would you like some water before we start?" she asked.

"Yes, please," Terri replied. She immediately took several swallows as soon as the doctor handed her the glass. "Thank you," she told Doctor Lawrence with a small smile.

"Okay," started the doctor, "last week we heard Mr. Gilliston talk about his confusion to a lot of your actions. If I read him right, the thing that confuses him most is your desire to have sex with another man and still claim to love him. I believe he sees that as contradictory. I promised you would have your say this week, would you like to start?"

Terri hung her head and slowly nodded. "It is contradictory isn't it," she said. "Having sex with another man would certainly hurt my husband and if I truly loved him, why would I want to hurt him at all, but especially like that, so cruelly, so deeply."

She looked over at Brad who was just staring at the floor as she spoke. "I know in my husband's mind it made him feel inadequate, and gave him the impression I was looking for more in the bedroom, but that's not the truth."

"Don't give me this crap about you just doing your friend a favor again because..."

"Please, Mr. Gilliston," Doctor Lawrence interrupted him just as she had to do to Terri the week before, "last week you had your say, this week it's your wife's turn. Please try not to interrupt." Brad sighed and nodded his head as he pushed himself further back in the chair.

Terri continued, "No, Brad, although that was part of it, it was a very small part. Last Saturday I went to Nate and Angie's house." She saw the fire in his eyes as she said that. "Not to have sex, but to get Nate to explain things to me from a man's viewpoint. No, you can bet I'll never have sex with anyone ever again and I doubt that Nate and Angie ever will either. Nate is so pissed at me because of what I did he wouldn't even talk to me. The only reason he finally gave in was to help us get back together if it's possible."

She took another sip of water, then proceeded to talk. "After Nate's talk I sat there stunned. How could I not see what I was doing at the time, how could I not see how deeply I was hurting you? I'm not an uncaring person and I love you with all my heart, so how could I care so little about your feelings that night? Why did I have to have someone else explain it to me? What excuses do I have? No, Brad, I have no excuses for what I did, but I do have reasons, none of which are very flattering to me I'm afraid. Nate forced me to take a long, hard look at myself and what I saw was disturbing. What I saw was not worthy of you, Brad, was not worthy of your love."

Terri was now looking down at the floor. She couldn't face him as she dried her eyes and wiped her nose. "From the time I was born there have been only two men in my life, my father and you. You didn't get to know him that well before he died, but you two shared a lot of the same traits, one of which is how you treat me. Sometimes, when they didn't know I could hear them, mom and dad would fight about me. Mom would say dad was spoiling me and that I had him wrapped around my little finger. Dad would always say I was his little princess, and as long as he was able, he would always see I got what I wanted."

She took another sip of water. "At first I felt bad because mom and dad were arguing over me, but as time went on, I realize now, I started rooting for my dad. I remember saying to myself, yeah dad, you tell her."

Terri was starting to cry a little heavier. The doctor asked if she'd like to take a break but she said she'd rather get it over with and continued. "Then you came along, Brad, and from the day we said I do, you worked your butt off to make sure I got everything I wanted, just like my dad did."

She took a big sigh. "I don't know exactly when it started, Brad, but I started to believe the sun revolved around me. I didn't understand how self-centered I'd become until this happened. I began to feel like I was entitled to just about anything I wanted."

She now turned toward Brad in her chair and faced him with tears running down her cheeks. "Brad, from the first time I started working with Angie she bragged about Nate's talents in the bedroom. She constantly told me about how long he could go and how many times he could cum."

She could see, once more, Brad was getting angry and her words were playing into his thoughts of inferiority again.

"Brad, you deserve the truth, please let me go on before you get angry again, please." Without saying a word he simply gave a small nod of his head.

"She kept saying how big he was. I have to admit, I got pictures of the stereotypical black man like you see in the porn movies. I found myself wanting to experience that kind of sex just once. Please hear what I said, Brad, just once, that's the God's honest truth, just once."