Chapter 7

David was furious the next morning when he woke and found that Bonnie wasn't there. When he found her on the couch, he didn't even tell her to wake up or say good morning to her. Instead, he just shook her and started yelling, "Why didn't you come to bed last night?"

Bonnie was sleeping soundly and just barely got a, "What?" out before he started yelling at her again.

"You're my wife for Christ's sakes. You're supposed to sleep with your husband, not on the couch like some tramp!"

"I'm sorry; I guess I fell asleep watching TV last night."

"The TV wasn't on when I came down."

"Oh, I must have turned it off sometime during the night. I don't remember though. I guess I was half asleep and out of it."

"Well damn it Bonnie, don't do it again. You're my wife, and I want you in bed with me at night where you belong! Besides I don't like sleeping alone."

"Then why don't you go and buy yourself one of those blow up dolls to sleep with. At least they will put up with all the bullshit you can feed them!" Of course, she dared not say that to him, but she sure wished she could have!"

"Well anyway, the inspection is today, so I won't have to be coming home so late anymore."

Bonnie did her best to look happy about it, but deep inside, she was screaming, "No!" and lamented at the loss of her special 'alone time' in the evenings.

It seemed that she couldn't cook his breakfast fast enough that morning and couldn't wait until he left. She felt like she was beginning to hate the sight of him, especially in the mornings, and she wondered how much longer she was going to be able to put up with it and play the "good housewife," that everyone expected her to be.

When David got to work, he saw Tracy sitting on the floor next to the store with a cup of coffee in her hands. This time, she was wearing a short skirt with a top that stretched over her tightly enough to show off the outline of her nipples. It was just dark enough to prevent the pink color of her nipples from showing through, and as she got up to hand him the coffee, he thought he caught a glimpse of her smooth shaved crotch.

"Here you go Mr. Derrelli."

"Thanks Tracy; you know it really isn't necessary for you to bring me coffee don't you?"

"I don't mind Mr. Derrelli, really."

"Well, at least after the inspection today we won't have to stay late anymore, and we can all go home when we're supposed to."

Even as he said it, he was wondering if she was going to suck him off again, and as they walked through the store, he thought, "Why not? I deserve it, and after the way Bonnie's been acting lately, I don't have any reason to feel guilty about it either!"

"Mr. Derrelli, mind if I talk to you about something?"

"Of course not Tracy."

He didn't like the way she'd asked that, and it sparked a whole series of thoughts such as, "I hope she's not going to try to blackmail me! But then again, how could she? I mean, she doesn't have any pictures or anything like that. It would be just her word against mine, and I have an impeccable reputation! Besides, it was all on her! She's the one who instigated everything!"

"Well I was wondering; do you think I can be moved up to a cashier's position? I've already been filling in as one whenever someone takes a break."

David closed his eyes in relief and thought how stupid he was for thinking all those things. After all, Tracy wasn't the blackmail type, at least not yet. Maybe in a few years she would think of it, but right now, she was just a little slut who wanted to use her body to get ahead.

"To tell you the truth Tracy, I was already planning to move you to a cashier's position. I'll tell you what, I'll make the move as soon as one becomes available, but don't worry; you shouldn't have to wait too long. Most of them never stay very long around here."

"Thanks Mr. D; you're the greatest."

Once they were in his office, David sat down, took a sip of his coffee and turned on his computer.

Tracy turned to leave, but before she went through the door, she looked back and said, "Oh Mr. Derrelli?"

She waited for him to look up, and grabbing the door jam she flipped up her skirt and bent over far enough to give him a good view of her bare ass and nether regions. Then turning her head, so she could look him in the eye, she said, "You can fuck me if you want to. It's my way of saying thanks."

David's eyes grew wide as he stared at her exposed flesh, and the thought of having sex with her was immensely appealing, but he was still a little shaken from his thoughts of blackmail and just couldn't bring himself to take her up on her offer. The sight of her wiggling her ass at him was almost too much for him though, but after clearing his throat, he was finally able to say, "I don't think so Tracy. It's nice of you to offer, but I can't ... I mean I don't think we should ... you know?"

Tracy reached back and gave her exposed crotch a little rub, and walking back towards him she said, "I understand Mr. Derrelli. But if you ever want too..." She didn't finish her sentence. Instead, she just waved the hand she touched herself with in front of his face and said, "Well, you know."

David sat in his chair and stared at her as she giggled and walked out of his office. It was all getting to be a little too much for him, and he thought that maybe he should fire her, but in the end he decided against it.

"After all," he thought. "She really hadn't done anything wrong, and I don't have to have sex with her. It was just an offer, and even if I did wind up having sex with her, as long as I'm careful, no one will ever know. Besides, if someone did happen to find out, what could they say? Bonnie's been such a bitch to me lately, no one would blame me anyway!"

Sandy was on time as usual, and since she looked the same, Bonnie hardly took the time to say good morning to her before leaving for work.

"Thursday," she thought, as she drove past the gas station. "Greg will be back Thursday." It will only be one week since he left, but it already seemed as though it was the longest week of her life.

Back at work, it was her job and Greg that occupied her thoughts. It wasn't until she met with Liz and Shelly that she even thought about David, and it was Shelly who brought him up then!

"So how's your asshole of a husband anyway?"

Shelly was one of those people who always just came out and said whatever was on her mind, and Bonnie really admired that about her friend. It was her choice of words that tended to turn people off from her, but in this case Bonnie took no offense.

"He's at work. His big inspection is today, and maybe after it's over, he won't be as stressed out and things will be a little normal."

"Darling, it's going to take a lot more than a little less stress to get that man to act normal!"

"I think Shelly is right," agreed Liz. "But now that he'll be done with that inspection, maybe he'll be more receptive to you suggesting going to see a marriage counselor."

"He won't do that," answered Bonnie quickly. "Just the idea of me suggesting something was wrong with our marriage would be enough to make him crazy."

"Crazy enough to hit you?" asked Liz, worriedly.

"Hey, if he hits you, then you can sue his sorry ass for divorce, and take him for everything that little dicked asshole's got!" put in Shelly, enthusiastically.

Bonnie was aghast, but not because of the thought of David hitting her. She knew he would never do that. It was the thought of divorcing him. All during her ten years of marriage, and through all of the things she'd had to put up with, divorcing him had never occurred to her.

"David would never hit me. Besides, I couldn't do that to the kids; you know ... start an argument bad enough to cause him to divorce me that is."

"Well Bonnie," soothed Liz. "You realize that having your boys growing up in a house full of all that tense hostility would be worse for them than staying together don't you? They need to see you happy, so they can feel good about their home, and they do deserve at least that you know."

"But David's a good father. He's always taking them places and doing things with them."

"Bullshit!" interjected Shelly. "He's being an ass to you, and he's teaching them to be an ass to their future wives too. It's a vicious cycle that you need to have the guts to break. Besides, there's nothing that says he can't still take them places and do things with them after you're divorced. Now if he really was a good father, then he'd be doing those things with you too, together as a family, instead of cutting you out of all of the fun."

Bonnie was visibly shaken, and Liz thought it was a good time to break it up and return to work.

"Well, no matter what, you know we're behind you. In the meantime, I just hope things go as smoothly for you as they can."

"And if it does get a little too rough for you, I wouldn't mind going over there and explaining the facts of life to the dick wad for you!" put in Shelly.

Bonnie had to laugh when she thought of her friend telling David what she thought of him, and she knew that Shelly would do it too!

This time, when she went back to work, her thoughts were occupied with the things that her friends had told her during lunch. Could she really see herself getting a divorce? There were so many questions, and she wasn't even sure if her life was bad enough to be even thinking such a thing to begin with!

"After all," she thought. "Is David really so bad of a husband? And how could I even bring it up to David if things ever did get that bad?" Then she thought, "Even if it does become so terrible, what will I do if I get divorced? I don't want to even think of what I would do as a single mother of two boys!"

Suddenly, she thought of what would happen if David got the kids instead of her, and she quickly pushed the thought from her mind. It was something that she didn't even want to consider. Instead, she turned her thoughts to what things would be like that evening now that David would be coming home at his usual time.

"Maybe things will be better now that his big inspection will be over," she told herself.

Somehow, she suspected that it wouldn't. "After all," she thought. "Things weren't that great before he even knew about that damned inspection."

On her way home, her mind was bent on what she was going to make for dinner that night. She didn't even let herself think about anything else until she pulled in and saw Sandy. Her baby sitter was standing in front of the house arguing on her cell phone.

"Sandy? Where're the boys?"

Her babysitter took the cell phone away from her ear for a moment and told her, "They're both inside playing."

"I hate it when you get like this!" she yelled back into the phone. Tears were forming in her eyes, and Bonnie knew that she was arguing with Andy, but Bonnie's first concern was for her children. She had no idea how long Sandy had been arguing on the phone, and there was no telling what her two children were up to inside.

Bonnie rushed past the now weeping woman and quickly went inside to see what Tommy and Corey were doing. Her anxiety was short lived though, and moments later, she put her hands up to her face and breathed a sigh of relief. She found both of them in the living room playing video games on the television.

Once she was satisfied that they were safe and weren't up to any mischief, she went into the kitchen and put the bag of groceries down on the table. Then looking through the window at her babysitter, she wondered what she was going to do about this situation. Even though she'd always known that Sandy's personal troubles would eventually affect her job with the boys, she'd never made a plan for what she'd do when it actually happened.

Bonnie took a moment to check on her kids, (who were obviously completely oblivious to everything) and went outside to talk to Sandy.

She found the woman sitting on the front steps with her cell phone beside her. She was crying with her head in her hands. As soon as she noticed Bonnie was there, she quickly wiped the tears from her face before looking up and said, "I'm sorry. It's just that Andy's been drinking again Mrs. D. He's mad at me because he can't find any money in the apartment to buy more beer for him and his friends."

"I'm sorry too, Sandy. Maybe you should go stay with your Mom or cousin tonight."

"No. I really don't get along with my Mom's new boyfriend, even if she would let me come home, and my cousin Jan is having a little trouble too. No, Mrs. D; I'll be alright. I'll stop and bring Andy home a six pack; he'll be happy then. I just have to remember to be careful what I say, and everything will be all right. Did you talk to Mr. D about a job for him?"

"Yes, but he said he's not hiring just now."

Sandy looked down while mumbling, "Thanks for trying anyway Mrs. D."

"Sandy? How long have you been out here? I'm worried about the boys being in the house for a long time without being supervised. They're pretty well behaved, but boys will be boys you know."

"Oh! I was only out here for a few minutes. I wouldn't leave them alone for very long."

Bonnie wasn't sure she believed her, but time was slipping by, and she needed to get dinner started.

"Okay. Are you sure you're going to be all right tonight?"

Sandy looked up and made her best effort to put on a happier face. Then trying to sound as cheerful as she could, she replied, "Yeah Mrs. D. I'll be alright; you don't have to worry."

Bonnie hurried back inside to start supper. She didn't have time to bake a cake or anything like that, so she put together a batch of cookies for dessert. "Cookies certainly aren't David's favorite, but he should be pleased enough about the dinner where it won't matter," she thought. "Besides, the boys will love them anyway."

It would be their first dinner together as a family in a week, and she wanted to make it special. "He likes meatloaf," she thought. "So that's what I'll make for him, that and some corn, mashed potatoes and a nice 'unflavored' salad!" She had to laugh when she thought about the salad.