Divorce (AU,M/L,ADULT) COMPLETE - 3/28/10

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ken_r
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Re: "Divorce" adult M/L ch 12 pg7 Jan 25, 2010

Post by ken_r »

begonia9508
mary mary
L-J-L 76
keepsmiling7

Author's notes: I have a question for my women readers. When divorced men date women it seems it is for sex. Monday morning scores are to how much they got that weekend. When divorced men want to attend an event for the enjoyment of the event it seems that they go out with other men. Now there some events that if a man asked a guy to accompany him might get raised eyebrows. I don’t see a man asking a guy to attend the ballet with him or to attend a charity ball. These occasions demand a partner of opposite sex. (I think) My question is, “What do women expect of a date with a man? Do they look at a date as a tumble in bed somewhere?” TV shows like “Sex in the City” would make one think that they do. When they likewise want to attend events for fun they tend to gaggle together in a female group. Interviewing a divorced man he told me with some rancor that the proper way to start a conversation was, “Are you getting any?”

The second statement is. I have been reading a few “Harlequin Romances” recently. They seem to make their plots by misunderstandings, which could always be solved by a good discussion. Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour used to make their romances filled with verbal and physical battles until the two participants realized that they were really on the same side. With this I think I am on the right track in the current Max/Liz story. I, so far, have promised Dreamer’s ending, but both must still suffer a little more until they finally get their respective heads on straight. KR

Chapter 13

Liz

I was sitting in the Student Union Building, Pam came by. She was like a storm crow. She always made me feel worse after she left. “Liz, have you seen your friend, Sean?” she asked.

I looked up. “Not for several days,” I said. I was careful not to say, since the weekend. The date with Sean was not something I was proud of.

Pam had placed her tray on my table, without a “by your leave.” She sat down and was shaking her milk carton. “He was out drinking Tuesday night. He fell and looks terrible. He says, he has no memory of what happened. He woke up, just inside his door way, all bruised and cut. He has two black eyes and his lips are badly cut right in front. If you like to make out, he isn’t going to be a good candidate for a while,” she told me.

“Pam, I am not interested in making out with Sean, anytime. I am sorry he was hurt, but that will not affect me in the least,” I declared.

“Oh come on, Liz, on Monday, Sean was telling everyone what a hot date you both had. He said you were very skilled, if you know what I mean,” she said with a wink.

I just sat with my head in my hands. That bastard, had told everyone, about me dating him! Stories like that had cost me my marriage. Pam wasn’t through.

“I saw your ex this weekend,” she said. “We went out. How did you let a man that hot in bed, get away?” She seemed delighted in stinging me.

“Pam, Max and I are divorced. I assure you I have no interest in what he does. If you were on a date, I hope you both had a good time,” I managed without breaking down.

Pam never noticed how this was affecting me. “If I can just land him, I am going to be real careful, not to let him get away from me, like you did. I intend to get a ring on him as soon as possible,” she said gleefully.

Thankfully, Pam left. By the time I got back to my department, my eyes were red with crying. It was true that I no longer had any claim on Max. We were divorced. I had been dating others and I imagined, so had he. It was just the way Pam said it. It hurt so much. “A man so hot in bed!” How did I let him get away? When Doctor Fredrick saw me, she arranged another graduate student to take my lectures for the afternoon. She sent me home.

Since I was home early, I decided to look at my emails.

From: 45@fifteen_minute.love.com
To: 26@fifteen_minute.love.com

(The men were odd numbers and the women were even.)

I have looked at your profile that you filled out. I think we have a great deal in common. I would like to email you directly. SThomas@roadway.com

From: 53@fifteen_minutes.love.com
To: 26@fifteen_minutes.love.com

(This was from the second man who had asked me to fill out his questions.)

I thought you were a beautiful woman, at the party. I would like to get to know you better. Would you like to meet somewhere, for coffee Saturday? Please email me at my regular address.
ThRoberts@ pathways.com

Teddy

That is what I needed this weekend. Someone to call me a beautiful woman.

From: EParker@ ridgeway.net
To: ThRoberts@pathways.com

There is a small café just south of the college. Would you like to meet me there about 2:00PM Saturday?

Teddy had left me a name. He had also called me a beautiful woman. That was a man I wanted to meet face to face. I would look at some of the rest of the emails, later.

I called on Maria. “Hey, Chica,” was the greeting I got.

“Hey, Maria, ¿que pasa? That meant what was going on or what was new.

“I don’t know, how are things with you?” was her answer.

I dropped all pretenses. That was the good thing about Maria. You didn’t have to make any show. I felt like hell and I didn’t have to pretend with her.

“Pam Troy came by at noon. She was bragging about the wild date, she had with Max. Maria, I know I have to move on, but the way she said things just hurt me,” I told her.

Maria was all motherly now, “Like what, Chica?” she asked.

“The first thing she said was, “How did I let a man that hot in bed get away? I know I have to move on. We are divorced. We both are dating other people, but Pam just rubbed my face in the fact that she was fucking Max.” I was letting all my anguish run out. Maria was my friend even though she refused to talk about Max. At least, she would listen to me.

Maria had her arm around me. “Chica, I told you, let him go. Hanging on, is not healthy for either of you. Besides, Michael and I saw you with Sean Saturday night. He was the one who tore your marriage apart. Be careful about Pam. Wasn’t she the person who told you about Max and Tess in the first place?” Maria had given me a warning that I needed to consider.

Maria’s tone changed. There was something bothering her. “Look, I said I wouldn’t ever say anything about Max. Michael took Max out for a beer, Tuesday. Michael is upset, but he won’t tell me anything. I don’t know if they got into a fight or they had a fight with a third party. There was blood on Michael’s shirt that he refuses to explain. You need to stay away from that worthless cousin, of mine! Going with him won’t help you.”

“I am, now!” Maria did not notice the emphasis on the word now. I thought this was not the time to tell Maria anything about what happened on the date I had with Sean.

“Look, you have to get Max out of your system. Go with someone nice and get laid,” Maria encouraged me.

“I have a coffee date this Saturday,” I told her.

“Chica, that is great! It is a start. Just keep looking,” Maria exclaimed.

Max

It was Friday night. I picked up Tess. Oh my god, I had forgotten what a beautiful woman she was. I was wearing a dark suit, as she had suggested. She was wearing a black gown. Her hair was done up and it looked like a golden halo crowning her head. Pam was really pissed off when she called me today. She had made plans for us to be together this weekend. I told her that I already had plans. She tried and tried to find out what the plans were. Finally, I told her that if she wanted to go on other dates with me, that was all right. I wasn’t going steady at my age, ever again. If she wanted to go out next weekend, I would make plans to be available. Her language was almost as bad as that of Liz, when she threw me out of the house that fateful day when we split up.

Tonight, I was with Tess. I tried counting the years since I was a freshman, but I kept stumbling trying to count backwards. Let’s say, it had been a long time, since we were freshmen. I still saw her as an angel. This time, I saw her as an angel who could give as well as take love from her escort. I didn’t know what the night would be, but I was game, for almost anything.

We walked down the receiving line. It was made up of all the bosses and many of our major customers. They all were there to greet the ones who were responsible for their wealth and power. Old Chessgow was there. The old son-of-a-bitch remembered every name of every employee. “Good evening, Miss Harding, good evening, Mr. Evans, I have been hearing good things about both of you. You make a beautiful couple tonight. Tess modestly blushed. When she blushed, it went down to the start of her gown. Since the gown was backless and had a plunging neckline, the blush was very titillating. I found myself wondering how she kept that dress up around her perky breast. I guess she used some of that double sticky tape that models used.

They served a dinner, which was typical of affairs like this. The dinner was too small, too bland and badly cooked. The guest made up for the lousy dinner by grazing on the H’orderves like a heard of cattle. The drinks flowed, but not knowing what was in store for the evening, I drank very little.

While watching the people ebb and flow like recurring tides, I lost track of Tess many times. Just when I thought she had slipped out, she would reappear at my side always looking ever so adorable. Tess was in marketing. She had used her biology to perfect the way we sold our product. I remembered Sheila. She was in advertisement. Wasn’t that the same thing? It hit me. Tess was selling herself just like Sheila. I wondered if she was screwing her way up the corporation like Sheila was.

Several times, Tess pulled me toward some bureaucrat, who she made a show of introducing me to. Later, she told me that she was solidifying my job position, as well as hers. It seemed like hours, but it probably wasn’t nearly as long as I felt it was. I looked at my watch. It was only 11:00. Tess took my hand. She folded her arm around mine and we walked again down the line. This time Tess was complementing everyone for the perfect party. I just nodded at every thing she said. Within ten minutes, we were outside and I sent the valet service to get my car.

When we got to Tess’s home, I walked her to the door. I turned her to face me. “Tess, it has been interesting. I have learned a lot watching you. I know that if you can’t cook it in a test tube, I don’t want anything to do with it.”

Tess laughed a tinkling laugh. “Oh Max, don’t you ever want to stretch you managerial skills?” she said.

I laughed, also, “No, Tess you are much too good at it. I will stay in the labs where I belong.” I leaned forward to kiss her good night. I figured she would offer me a cheek, but I was in for a surprise.

Tess threw her arms around me. The kiss she planted was one of passion. “Max, you are not in high school, but you are no better than you were long ago at reading signs. With one arm firmly about my neck, Tess opened her door. She led me inside and from there to her bedroom. She sat me down on the bed and said, “Max, wait here. I will be back in a minute.” I figured she just needed to go to the bathroom. It was several minutes.

When Tess came back she said, “Max, I make that dress look good. I know it. You just do not know of the magic of mastic, that it takes to hold that damned dress up. Disrobing in front of you would destroy the magic!” Tess was now dressed in a white silk robe. She took me by the arm. Wash up and hang your clothes on the rack. There is another robe there if you feel the need. It doesn’t matter. Neither of us will be wearing robes for very long.

I hung my clothes where Tess told me. I sponged off the best I could. I had no idea what Tess had in store for me. I donned the robe and loosely tied it in front. I walked back into the bedroom. Tess was sitting waiting for me. Her robe was no longer tied.

Tess smiled as I came in. She patted the bed beside herself. “Sit right here, Max. I will start by doing things that pleasure you. Then, I am going to ask you to do things that pleasure me. Finally, we are going to explore things that pleasure both of us together.

Tess touched something. The light in the room dimmed. She pushed me down on my back and then, she unwrapped my robe. Tess started at my face. She was kissing me and tonguing me all over. She worked her way down to my groin and I could feel her kissing my shaft. Every touch of her lips made me shudder. She worked back to my face and continued kissing and thrusting her tongue into my mouth. I was breathing heavily, as she was lying on top of me. Tess talked to me softly. Now, Max breath deeply, you need the oxygen.” She rolled over on her back and said, “Now Max, do exactly the same to me.” I opened her robe. For the first time, I saw the flawless body of the girl I could have had as a freshman in high school, if I had been wise enough. When I got to her breasts she said, “Please Max, give that area special attention.” When I worked my way down, I saw that Tess was not a natural blond. She probably had light, almost mousy colored hair. I could only chalk one up, for makeup and fashion. Why shouldn’t a girl use the means at her disposal to best show off her assets? Her body was still one to dream about. As I was moving my kisses through her muff, I felt her shudder. This was doing to her the same as it had done to me. When I finished doing as best as I could, ‘exactly’ what she had done to me, wherever physically possible, Tess pulled me to her. “Max, make love to me.”

I fairly exploded in Tess. We kept it up until we were exhausted. “Max, it isn’t a marathon. We are not trying to set any record. What we are trying to do is show our care for each other. Next time, we will start with you showing me what you like best and I will try to duplicate it. Tess and I had our arms wrapped around each other. We lay there quietly and soon, sleep found us.
-----------------------
Stories by Ken
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
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ken_r
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Re: "Divorce" adult M/L ch 13 pg7 Feb 1, 2010

Post by ken_r »

Grace52373
mary mary
keepsmiling7
begonia9508

This week was Carole's birthday and yes, I did buy flowers after writing so much about this.

Chapter 14

Max

When the morning sun came in the window, it gently awakened us. This was the first Sunday morning after a date that I felt rested. I was rested and content. “Max, show me what you want now.” At her urging, I went all over her body. I remembered what she said last night. Whatever I did now, she would return it. My face at her thighs, I could only hope she would understand the feelings, that she had given me last night.

She finally rolled me over and my whole body tingled when she was through. When we came together, I could almost love the little blonde again.

“Max, if we were together, we would practice this exchange until each of us, completely, understood the other. I have only achieved that with one man. He is now long gone, but I am happy to show you what we did.

As I lay there holding Tess, I asked, “You did slightly different things that time. Why?”

“Max, every time would be different as we each tried to find what best fit the other. That is the way we would have a long relationship,” Tess stated almost like a teacher.

We got up and showered together. Dressed in the robes, we went into her kitchen for breakfast. After breakfast, we dressed together helping each other with our clothes. I hadn’t had help dressing, since I was a child. Tess made every touch a pleasure.

The only clothes I had was the suit I wore last night. Tess was dressed in slacks and a sweater. She was barefooted as we sat on the bed and talked. “What now, Tess?” I asked.

“Max, I am not the woman for you. I wanted to see what I missed in high school and, in a way, I am glad we waited. What we did last night was far better than we would have done in high school. You are a good companion, but eventually, I would tire of you and you of me. I would want to move on. Maybe someday, I will want to settle down. I probably, do not ever want a family. I would not want you to wait that long for me and I might, by then, find someone I liked better. The longer we are together, the harder it will be on both of us. I won’t say we shouldn’t do this again, but Max, you need to still keep searching for the one you need. Max, I am not going to say this, but once. You need to learn more about why you were divorced. You need to look elsewhere, than at your perceived inadequacies. There is nothing wrong with you in bed. There is nothing wrong with you as a person either. You and Liz may have drifted too far apart, to ever get back together. You both should talk someday. You should not remain distant from each other. If you can’t be lovers, then you should learn to be friends.

The kiss we shared as I left, almost made me take my clothes back off and take her back to bed. Tess said that we might again, someday, share a bed. She left that open. She also stated that she wasn’t the girl for me. I should have decided this way back in high school when she went to the football player. The last memory I had of our time together was a warning that I should look at my divorce and not for something either of us did, to cause the failure. I take that back. If Liz and I had been better at communication, nothing could have driven us apart.

Liz

I had a coffee date with a man this afternoon. I entered the small café. It was filled with students. There was nothing like making my first meeting on my own home ground. I gazed across the room. I saw no one who looked familiar. I should have arranged some sort of recognition sign. A man stood up. Theodore Roberts was a little taller than I and he showed a middle-aged set, to his body. He was slightly balding. He waved me over. “Miss Parker, I wasn’t sure you would recognize me, but I knew that I would know you,” Theodore Roberts said. As he talked, I remembered why I marked very possible, on his name. He had such a pleasant personality. He began to tell me about himself. “I was widowed about five years ago. We had no children. She was always too ill, to bare children,” Theodore said.

I could not help, but pat him on the arm in sympathy. What if Max had died? How different would the end of our relationship have been? I would imagine that I would be angrythat Max had been taken from me. That anger would be so different than the anger I had faced. That anger might be directed to fate or even God. It wouldn’t have been directed toward Max.

“At the time, I had been in general practice,” Doctor Roberts continued. “After my wife died, medicine just had no more glamour for me. If I couldn’t save her with all I had learned, did I want to fight, to save anyone else?” Doctor Roberts asked with sadness.

Even though Doctor Roberts said his wife had died five years ago I could see that he was emotional about her. That worried me until he told me more.

“She had been sick for years. We made plans that I should remarry, as soon as possible. She knew how much I wanted children,” he explained. Then he asked, “Please tell me something about yourself.”

I explained that, “I am in the doctorial program at the college. My marriage dissolved in a series of misunderstandings leading to my husband betraying me, by going to a woman, I feel I could never compete with. I no longer have any anger towards my ex. I really hope he somehow finds happiness that I couldn’t give him. Someday I want children also.”

At this, he patted my hand and I felt real compassion from him. I was still under thirty and he told me right out that he was 48. He looked at me when he said that to see if I registered any disapproval. There was almost twenty years difference, in our ages. I wasn’t ready to bolt out the door yet. I had seen something in him the night of the 15-minute dates. I wanted to know more about him, before I made any condemnation.

“Liz, I almost feel like a kid again, but would you like to have dinner with me and as they say, ‘catch a show,’ next weekend?” Teddy asked.

I nodded. We exchanged telephone numbers and we both went home to think. I didn’t look at any other emails. I wanted to give Teddy a chance before I went looking again.

The days passed. Before I knew it, it was Wednesday evening. I turned on the computer. These chats were coming to mean a lot to me. I hope 451 thought so also. As soon as his name came up on the screen, we were in a private chat room. I was first.

Lonely452 says: I met a very nice man this weekend.

Lonely451 says: That is wonderful. Tell me about him.

Lonely452 says: He is older than I am.

Lonely451 says: Unless you get a father complex on him, that shouldn’t matter.

Lonely452 says: I don’t think so. He is a widower. He is a medical administrator who wants a family.

Lonely451 says: That sounds good. Where did you meet? What did you do together?

Lonely452 says: I met him at a dating mixer. We emailed several times. We decided to have a coffee date. I spent about two hours with him.

Lonely451 says: that sounds good. Are you going to take it slow?

Lonely452 says: I think so. The age bothers me a little. He is definitely different from my ex.

Lonely451 says: Be careful. Remember, you said that you wanted someone like your ex, but more open.

Lonely452 says: I know. We definitely are going to take it slow. Maybe now, I think I want some one totally different.

I paused and then I typed again:

Lonely452 says: How was your weekend?

Lonely451 says: I had a date with a girl who I dated briefly in high school. She dumped me then, because I wasn’t mature enough to understand that she wanted sex.

Lonely452 says: Lol, I thought all boys were born wanting sex.

Lonely451 says: Not true. I was very serious in high school. Back then I didn’t realize that wanting sex was natural. Maybe it is dangerous at that age. My parents thought so. Many things could happen, but still, it is natural. I only tried to sleep with one girl in high school.

Lonely452 says: What happened, when you tried to sleep with your girl?

Lonely451 says: Not much, it was in the front seat of a parked car. My performance was far from heroic.

Lonely452 says: Lol, I knew a guy like that. He turned out to be a pretty nice guy, for a while.

Lonely451 says: Well, this weekend I found that my childhood sweet heart and I were grown up.

Lonely452 says: Did she teach you anything?

Lonely451 says: Yes, but less about sex and more about life. We both think it was fortunate that we never slept with each other, before last weekend. She is a woman who brings out the best in a man. She says that a good lover is someone who brings out the best in her. Talking to a woman about this is embarrassing.

Lonely452 says: I thought we were just chat buddies. We are buddies who are willing to share information and try to help each other. Were you embarrassed to talk to her? If she has any great secrets, please share them with me.

Lonely451 says: There were no secrets in sex. We didn’t try to set a record or something. She just believes that sex is in three parts. She did things for me; I returned the same for her; then, we try to satisfy each other at the same time. I think my ex and I tried to do the last one, but we forgot the first two parts. We needed to have times when I only concentrated on her. I don’t mean that what I would do for her wouldn’t be enjoyable, but I should concentrate on just her. I don’t think my ex ever thought, that sometimes, it should all be about me, either. My old girl friend may not be correct for everyone, but she gave me things to think about.

There was a pause. I wondered at the wisdom of a woman who said these things to my chat buddy, a girl who was active sexually in high school and grew up to be that smart. Most girls that active got pregnant before they graduated. What if Max had taken me at that age? What if we had made an active sex life while in high school? Even with Sean’s precautions, I was uneasy until my next period. I could just envision telling my mom that I was pregnant, especially from Sean. My parent were very angry, that Amy DeLuca had entertained a house guest while she was taking care of me. What kind of life would I have had if circumstances had forced me to marry that bastard? Even more scary, what would a kid with Sean have turned out like?

What would it have been like, if I had gotten pregnant in high school by Max? We would have been together during those college years? Would we have been able to afford those college years? I know that Harvard and Stanford would have been out. If we went at all it would have been to some smaller state school. A college like I was going to now.

Lonely452 says: She seems wise. It was good that you waited until you were grown before having that experience. Maybe, it will help you in the future.

This time he was pausing.

Lonely451 says: There is something about my divorce I need to look into. What if someone deliberately told lies to cause it? Can you envision anyone being that mean?

I felt cold knives plucking at my heart. I had harbored fears like that many times. There wasn’t anything I could do about mine now. I hoped my friend could learn about his divorce. He seemed to want to go back to his ex so badly.

Lonely452 says: That is very scary. I hope you learn what you need to. Please let me know what happens. Good luck.

Lonely451 says: Thank you and good luck with your new fellow. I hope things work out like you want them to.

Lonely 452 say: Goodnight.

Lonely 451 says: Nite.

Chapter 15

Liz

I was back at my office. My doctorial research was going well. Maybe, I found a fellow that I could go with and maybe, make a life with. I was still bothered by the statement the other night from my chat buddy. Who would be so cruel to break up a marriage purposely? I knew people did it every day. I sometimes worried that I would be the cause, of the break-up of Bob Silverman’s marriage. What if his wife wasn’t that understanding?

As if I didn’t have enough worries, Pam dropped by. She stormed into my office. I was about ready to ask her to leave I was busy. She had been crying. That is what probably stopped me. “How could you stand that cheating bastard?” she sobbed.

I looked at Pam without understanding. “What cheating bastard?” I asked.

“That e-husband of yours,” she answered. “He went back to that bitch he cheated on you with.”

I frowned, “You mean Tess Harding?” I asked.

“Yes, I mean that Tess Harding!” Pam cried out. “Now, I am in the same boat as you are with that cheating bastard.”

Max and I were divorced. Maybe, I had called him many names even worse than that. I felt, at the time, I had the right. Pam insulting my ex-husband, was just too much. “Pam, when Max cheated on me, I was wearing his ring. We had made vows to be faithful to each other. I don’t see any rings on any of your fingers. You went with Max one time. What he did other times is his business. I don’t think you have any right to call him names. If you don’t like what he did, just stay away from him,” I told her.

There was a change in Pam’s face. “You stole Max from me in high school. Now, his first girlfriend steels him from me, again. I suppose you will be back in line when she dumps him. Max was mine.” She stomped out of my office. I hadn’t, until then, noticed that my graduate advisor was standing in the hall.

“Liz,” Doctor Fredrick said to me. “That woman is definitely dangerous. How sure are you about the reasons for your divorce?” she asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied with my head in my hands. I wanted to bang it against the desk and I would have, if the desk hadn’t been covered with papers. “I am starting to have doubts, but it is now too late. Max has moved on. I recently met a really nice man, who I might settle for. Maybe, I don’t really want to know anything about my marriage, now. It is just too late,” I finished.

Maria

I had talked to Liz. I now, wished that I had insisted that Max and Liz get counseling, instead of letting things just go naturally. I always felt that interfering in other’s business was just setting up for disaster. Now, I was about to interfere with my own husband.

I had never done this to Michael. Nothing else had worked. Something had happened when he last saw Max. Days of pleading and threatening had not worked. “Leave it alone, Maria,” he had said. Max and Liz made their bed. Let them sleep on it.”

I hated that phrase. We had stayed out of their problems and effectively lost two friends. Liz seldom called me much anymore. I remember, even at Harvard, I would hear from her almost every day. Max, after college when he came over to see Michael, would tease me. Michael would laugh, knowing that if Max considered him a brother, then Max must consider me a sister. Michael and I were living together, but we were not yet married. Max would tease Michael about tying the knot. Max was part of my family and Liz was my best friend. Their divorce just busted up my family. Now, Michael knew something.

I teased him that night in bed. I was naked and I had played with him until I saw his body almost shaking. I simply stood up. Standing that way before him was tantalizing enough. The implied promises I had made while playing with his body had him in a stir. “Maria, get back in bed,” he shouted.

I shook my head, “Not until you tell me what happened between you and Max the other night,” I demanded. Yes, I had made him mad. I also felt that he wanted to tell me the story. Michael and I hadn’t kept much from each other since we started living together. Now that we were married, we had both always been truthful. The scary part was, I watched his manhood wilt as I stood there with my demands.

Finally, Michael sat up. “Go get a robe, Maria,” he commanded.

I got a robe and found him with his boxers back on. There was no evidence of desire that I could see still in his shorts, except for a wet stain. Michael led me into the kitchen. He got out a diet, caffeine free, coke for me and a beer for himself. “It involves that ‘god damned worthless’ cousin of yours,” Michael stated. “The son-of-a-bitch was bragging that he had taken Liz out a few weekends ago. You remember the time we saw him. I felt that since it was true, I should tell Max to quit pining, for her. He still has a real hard-on every time her name is mentioned. While I am trying to convince Max that Liz is history, the stupid bastard, Sean, sits down at our table. He is drunk on his ass. He starts telling Max all the crude things he did to Liz. Now look doll, Liz has changed. The sweet little girl who hung around with you, has grown up. I don’t know what all she has done since she was divorced. But, even if it was true, Sean had no right to tell everyone what he did. He, especially had no right to set off her husband. Max hit him with a straight jab. I just took his head and bounced it off the table several times. Sean was out. We rolled him for what he had in his wallet and paid the waitress to get him a cab. I understand he has no memory of what he said or what happened. I was afraid that you would be mad, because I got involved with Max’s troubles.”

That was a lot for Michael to say. He isn’t the most vocal lover a girl could have. I had put a lot of pressure on Michael to make him divulge that information to me. I stood up, taking him by the hand, almost like leading a little boy, we went back to our bedroom. I pushed Michael back in bed and dropped my robe. Michael wanted to just roll over. I am sure all his plans for the evening had vanished. I wouldn’t let him. I attended to Michael from his groin to his face, then back again several times as I poured out everything I could think of to show him that I loved him more and more. Michael might be stubborn and in a pout, but he was not super man. His manhood was soon back to attention and when we made love I made sure that Michael knew how I felt about him no matter what he did. In fact, I was proud that he bounced my cousins head against the table. God damned Sean had insulted my best friend.

Max

Tess and I still ate lunch together. She grimaced, “I heard that Sean really took your ex the other night. I would be careful about believing all I heard.”

I was sitting looking at my lunch and not eating. “Yeah, the son-of-bitch came to our table where Michael and I were sitting, having a beer and he was bragging what he did to Liz.”

Tess laughed that tinkling laugh. “Yes, I saw the result of that yesterday,” she said.

I tried to look stern, “I just said he came by our table. I didn’t say anything else that happened.”

“Yeah, Max, I don’t think you would let anyone even insult me. Saying something bad about Liz, even if it was true, I am surprised Sean isn’t singing soprano. Michael is your best friend. He would follow you anywhere. Sean got what he deserved,” she stated without sympathy.

“Someone said that Liz heard him and was crying,” I stated.

“Max, I don’t think what he said was entirely true. Liz may have dated him. She may have even slept with him. She might have been trying to find out if the rumors about them could even have been true. Remember you were supposed to have had an affair with me. We proved the other night that we might be good friends and I really wanted to try to help you, but there could never be anything lasting, between us that would have hurt your marriage. Liz wouldn’t become the love slave of trash like Sean.” Tess was a better friend than I had thought.

I looked at Tess. “You don’t think Liz was having an affair with Sean?” I asked.

“No more than you were having one with me,” she replied.

“What caused our divorce?” I asked.

Tess shook her head. “Max, you need to find that out for your self. I could tell you something, but it would be conjecture and hearsay. You need to have definite proof. You, also, need to talk to Liz. It may be too late for you to get back together, after all she probably did sleep with Sean the other night and you and I have been together. Both of you have had several lovers. Could the perfect marriage stand against such experiences?” Looking at me now, Tess was far wiser than I had ever known.

I was thinking. I didn’t know what experience Liz had had at this point. Could I stand before her and tell her about Wanda? How would I explain the prostitute? Then, there was Sheila, Pam and finally, I had now slept with Tess. Not when I had been accused, but it was a fact accomplished, now. The only one I had told of my adventures was my chat buddy 452.

Again, Tess had alluded to something wrong about our divorce. I rubbed my head, remembering the flying kitchen utensils the last time I tried to talk to Liz. I needed to get someone to arrange and moderate a meeting between us.
------------------
Stories by Ken
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
User avatar
ken_r
Obsessed Roswellian
Posts: 861
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Location: New Mexico

Re: "Divorce" adult M/L ch 15 pg8 Feb 8, 2010

Post by ken_r »

Natalie36
mary mary
begonia9508
keepsmiling7

Chapter 16

Liz

Well Max was now, a high roller. First he takes Pam Troy; then he is back to Tess Harding. Everyone is right. Max is now gone. I have a nice man to investigate. We will be going out, this weekend. I hurried home. As I entered the door, I heard the phone ring.

“Liz, Teddy here. Are we still on for Saturday night?” I could tell that there was a bit of nervousness in his voice.

“Sure, Teddy, I am looking forward to it. Where are we going?” I asked.

“Liz there is a good, clean Musical at the theater. It is so hard to find good movies. There, also, is a new Chinese restaurant opened near the hospital. I have been meaning to check it out. You can help me. All the interns are talking about it,” he informed me.

“That sounds great, Teddy. We need to take things slowly so we both get to know each other,” I replied.

Saturday morning I was at my morning chores. I received a phone call. “Liz, this is Isabel Whitman. You remember, your ex-sister-in-law.”

A chill ran through me. Why would Isabel Evans, now Isabel Whitman call me? I was trying to get my life on keel. What could she want with me? She was very close to Max. Max was in the past. I had a new chance with Theodore Roberts. He was no Max, but that was good. “Isabel, what can I do for you?” I asked.

“I wanted to know how you have been?” she inquired.

Since I had left Max, Isabel, better known in high school as the ice queen, hadn’t had any use for me at all. That was all right. She should support Max. I shouldn’t take everyone away from him. “I am fine, Isabel. Is there something wrong?” I was having all sorts of thoughts. Someone died, or were badly hurt or what?

There was a pregnant pause then, Isabel came to the point. “Liz, Max wants to meet with you. He is learning something about your divorce. He needs to talk it over with you,” she stated quickly.

“I don’t think so, Isabel. Max and I have both moved on. I am starting a new relationship. If there is anything strange about our divorce, I don’t think I want to know about it,” I said sharply. I was a bit angry. Something like this would come up just when I had met this really nice guy. I didn’t want anything to upset my mind or change my intention. Max was gone. I am very sorry we were divorced. If there was something not right about the divorce, I just didn’t want to know about it. I could almost feel the sorrow in Isabel as she hung up. It must have taken a lot of persuading for Max to get her to call. He probably, and rightly so, thought that I would have slammed the phone down on him.

In a few hours, I would meet Teddy for our first date.

Max earlier

“Izzy, I need your help. There is a good chance that some one pushed us into our divorce by lies and rumors.” I told Isabel.

“Max, you and Liz got divorced. No one held a gun to your heads. Maybe your own insecurities helped, but you walked into that divorce. We all wondered when you started fighting your lawyers about fault. Also when neither of you wanted a fair division of property. You wanted what was yours and neither of you wanted to punish the other. What kind of divorce was that, anyway?” Isabel asked.

“Izzy, I don’t think either of us wanted a divorce. I think it got started and then, it had a mind of its own. Now, I am finding out that maybe, someone started rumors about us purposely,” I said.

“Max, that smacks of conspiracy theory. Why would anyone want you to break up? Neither of you are worth any money.” She stated.

“What if there were two crazy people in the world? What if one of these someones wanted Liz and the other wanted me?” I asked again.

“Max, you are my brother. Who in the hell would want you?” Isabel asked petulantly.

“Isabel, why did Pam Troy ask you to set up a date with me the other day?” I inquired.

“She said she had always had a crush on you and now that you were single again… Aw shit, Max, do you think she would do something like that?” Isabel was incredulous as she asked that. Then she quickly stated, “Max this is all pretty far fetched. You went on one date with that woman. You yourself said you were not sure if you wanted to date her again.”

“Izzy, I got it from a source I trust that Pam was telling everyone on campus that she had gone out with me and we were now a couple,” I told her.

“Max, who is the source?” Isabel demanded.

“I would rather not say,” I replied.

“Max, I may go along with you on this, but not if you conceal anything from me,” she stomped her foot.

I looked down at my feet. There was never any chance to hide anything from Isabel if she wanted to know. “It was Tess,” I mumbled.

“Tess!” she yelled. “You always claimed you were not involved with her.”

“Izzy, I went with Tess in the freshman year of high school. I was too naive to have gone as far as she wanted. She dumped me. After Liz and I were married Tess was working at the same lab as I did. We, occasionally, had lunch together. Believe me, until the other night, I had never had anything going with her,” I stated.

“But, you do have something going with her, now!” Isabel stormed.

“Not really. Tess and I went to a corporation party together to piss off Pam. I spent the night with her out of curiosity. Tess told me that she would never be the woman for me. It was Tess who suggested I look into the facts of my divorce. She told me to talk to Liz. Tess told me that Pam and Sean had been shacking up together, at one time.” I had told Isabel everything that I knew. Now, I needed help. First, that help should come from Liz. I knew full well that that Liz might not speak to me long enough to even tell her what I know. I wanted Isable to try to set up a meeting for me with Liz.

Isabel went into the other room to use the telephone. Isabel is very good at getting what she wants. I could only hope she could convince Liz.

Isabel came back. The minute I saw her, I knew that she had bad news. “Max, Liz says she doesn’t care anymore. She has a chance with a real nice guy and she doesn’t want anything to interfere. If there was something wrong with her divorce, she doesn’t want to know about it. It would just make her feel bad. I am sorry Max. I think she has now definitely moved on. I suggest you do likewise.” Isabel was almost in tears as she told this to me. I don’t know what Liz said, but Isabel was very hurt that things had gone this way. I thanked her and left.

Liz

I was clearing my mind. I was going over my clothes to decide what to wear. Something stopped me from choosing the dress I wore to the 15-minute dates, even if that was what Teddy saw me in first. Teddy seemed to be a pretty solid citizen. I imagine sex with him would be something even I could handle. He wouldn’t be the type to choose a girl for her sexiness. I had to show something else to him. I chose an attractive dress I had worn when I was married to Max. It was not overtly sexy, but I looked good in it. Max again. Would I never get him out of my head? What kind of dress would Max prefer? Well I am sure he would have preferred something like a party dress that was most scandalous. Then, why hadn’t I bought one when we were married and worn it for him. Shit, language like that wasn’t my style, but shit. Why hadn’t I spent the weekend naked with Max like I did Bob Silverman? Would I ever spend the weekend naked with Theodore? I don’t think so. Somehow, I just do not think he is the type.

Teddy picked me up in a lettered series Chrysler. He was a hospital administrator. We drove to one of the finest Chinese restaurants. It was new, but you could tell that they were going all out to become the best. As we entered, the staff all greeted him. “Good evening Doctor Roberts,” they all said. It seemed that they knew that their clientele would come from the hospital and they had done their homework, when Teddy phoned in his reservations. Teddy looked very nice in his dark suit. Why didn’t I say how hot he looked? Mainly because nothing about Teddy was going to be hot. I was finally growing up. I was seeking a good solid man for a change. The Maxs the Seans and Bobs were in my frivolous youth. Teddy wanted a family almost immediately and that was what, I told myself, I wanted. Teddy said he wanted lots of children and I told myself again, that was, also, what I wanted. “Liz, I want you to finish your Doctorate. I think Doctors Theodore and Elizabeth Roberts has a good ring to it,” he stated.

I told myself that was what I wanted, also. There was no mention about me continuing working. We would have to talk about that later. I really wanted to use my degree not just accept it as a status symbol.

“Elizabeth, I have an extensive computer system at my home. We will integrate your computer into this,” he declared.

Speaking of his home, he told me that sometime later he would show it to me. I was getting a little dizzy. All this talk of marriage when this was just a first date. I think he saw my confused look.

“Elizabeth, I am sorry if I seem to be going a little fast for you. The only reason I am trying to date is that I want to be married and to start a family as soon as possible,” he told me.

“Teddy, you do not know enough about me to consider if I would be what you want,” I declared. Silently I added, I need to see if you are what I can live with. Since when have I been considering what I can live with? I married Max because he was the man I wanted to spend my life with. Max failed me. Dating had failed me, also. That Stanley Reimes was almost the last straw. I could keep spending weekends, when his wife was away, screwing Bob Silverman. That made me delightfully happy, for the time it lasted. I didn’t kid myself. I wasn’t Bob’s exclusive mistress. I am sure that he had other guests when his wife traveled. I just had to wait my turn.

I began, in my mind, to tick off what Teddy offered. First, no one was as solid as Doctor Theodore Roberts. He offered maturity. He probably would not chase other women. He offered me a family without having to wait. He, obviously, was financially well off. I thought of the years Max and I had budgeted for what little we had. I had watched sales and our furniture was all gifts from relatives who wanted to get rid of things. In a way, that was what made our marriage dear. If Max just hadn’t strayed or if I could have come to terms with that situation faster. Damn it. I didn’t even own a large frying pan. Then, I thought. The old couple, who I had visited with, really loved each other. Max would have probably charged me with spousal abuse. Could he have taken his lumps and come back to me even more in love?

What about the rumors that I was having an affair with Sean? Max, reportably, was willing to attend counseling over this affair, even though I still maintained it was false.

Isabel had said that Max had some information about our divorce. I just didn‘t want to know anything about it. The divorce was over; I just didn’t want to live through any of that again.

Teddy had been telling me his plans. In my own reverie, I had lost track of much he had said. I brought my mind back to earth. I needed to know what Teddy was planning. Fortunately, I was able to pick up on his conversation.

“… and Liz, you will be free to care for the children and run the household,” he stated.

I wasn’t sure of his total conversation, so I just nodded and smiled. The rest of the evening was about the same. I did pay better attention to what he said. The movie was good. It was a first run, very popular show that everyone was wanting to see. Teddy had already bought his tickets so we just walked into the theater.

The only awkward time was when Teddy took me home. “Do you want to come in for a while?” I asked as I kissed him.

“Liz, don’t get me wrong. I want us to have sex before marriage. That is one of the last things to make sure we are compatible with each other. I just want to know you better, before I invest my heart in you,” he stated. With that, he said, “Good bye.”

Chapter 17

Max

Liz had refused to see me. Well, I expected that. I had to find a way to get more information. There wasn’t anything Isabel could do for me now. I telephoned Maria, “Maria, Max here,” I started.

“Max, how have you been? It has been ages since we saw you. What are you doing now? Any steady girls, yet?” That was the typical Maria greeting. She would be gracious to even her worst enemy, at first.

“Maria, I very badly need to see you and Michael,” I declared. I hoped she understood my immediacy.

“Well Max, do your want to meet somewhere for supper? Do you want to come over here for dinner? What would you like to do?” Maria was trying to be helpful.

“Maria, I don’t want to make a social call. I have a problem and I need help from you and Michael,” I pleaded.

“Max, I am not going to get into anything about yours and Liz’s relationship. She is trying to move on and I understand you are cutting a path through the available women, also,” Maria stated.

“Maria, there is a problem about my divorce. Liz wants nothing to do with this. That is her choice. I need to find some things out just for my mental well being. I need to talk to someone and you and Michael used to be my best friends,” I told her.

“Max, we are still your best friends from our part. I just promised that I would not mix into yours and Liz’s affairs,” Maria was adamant.

“Maria, what would you say if I told you that the rumors were purposely started by one or two people to break us apart?” There was a silence.

“You mean, someone wanted you to break up and told those lies to bring your marriage down?” she said.

“Maria, that is exactly what I mean.” Figuratively, I was hearing the wheels turn in her head.

“Max, give me time to talk this over with Michael. How about coming this Friday evening? I will just have sandwiches for dinner and we can sit around and discuss what you believe.”

Knowing Maria, this was probably the best I was going to get. I had to depend on Michael’s logic to convince her to hear me. Tomorrow night was chat night. I needed someone to chat with.

Lonely451 says: Hi, how have you been?

Lonely452 says: Fine, I think.

Lonely451 says: I am trying to learn about my divorce.

Lonely452 says: Like what?

Lonely451 says: I think someone deliberately wanted to break us up.

Lonely452 says: You said something about that last time. That would really be mean!

Lonely 451says: Yes, I am trying to get some help to investigate some things.

Lonely452 says: I wish you luck. I dated my new man this weekend.

Lonely451 says: Where did you meet him?

Lonely452 says: You ever hear of those 15-minute dates?

Lonely451 says: Yes, now I remember. Wasn’t that the dating mixer you were talking about? I was always afraid of those. 15-minutes is just not enough to meet and access people.

Lonely452 says: I told you he was an older man.

Lonely451 says: Yes, does that still bother you?

Lonely452 says: I don’t know.

Lonely451 says: What did you do on your date?

Lonely452 says: Standard date, dinner and a show.

Lonely451 says: What did you talk about?

Lonbely452 says: He talked about his plans. He explained that he wasn’t dating just to get laid. He was looking for a wife and a woman who would want to start a family.

Lonely451 says: That sounds okay if that is what you want.

Lonely452 says: That is what I am not sure about. I guess I just want a little more romance.

Lonely451 says: I would to. You might want to think about it.

Lonely452 says: I will.

We chatted about almost nothing the rest of the evening. I kept feeling that there was something more she wanted to chat about. We just were not getting anywhere.

I am sorry and I am not going to tell her. That guy she is with, is not right for her. What right do I have to say this? None, and that is the problem. I think that 452 is a lot like Liz. She would want more excitement than just being a mother. She would want to bring more to her children than just nurturing. She would want to bring a joy of life. Would a woman like Liz be happy in that kind of a situation? I couldn’t, but wonder what Liz was doing. Isabel was clear that Liz didn’t want to talk to me.

Liz

When we closed the chat line, I was just not saying what I wanted. Telling 451 about Teddy Roberts just wasn’t that exciting. Teddy wasn’t supposed to be exciting; he was supposed to be reliable. There were things that I wanted to chat with 451 about concerning the last date I had with Bob Silverman. I had been introduced to oral sex. Was that what men wanted? Then I thought, I am sure Teddy wouldn’t want much more than just the strict missionary position. Well, I was not enough for Max. I should be enough for Teddy. There was a big, but. Was this enough for me?

For my own mental being, I needed to know more about what men wanted. I was determined that during the next chat, I would bring that subject up. I had received a call from Maria that next week she wanted to talk with me. I offered to come over sometime before this weekend. It wasn’t as if I was doing anything. “No, Chica, I need to talk to you after the weekend,” she countered.

I couldn’t imagine what Maria would want to say that needed to be held until after the weekend. All I could think of, now, was my upcoming date with Teddy. He wanted me to tour his hospital. Teddy said he wanted to go slow, but he was moving right ahead taking me into his world. I got out a pants suit. That would be proper to meet his staff.

Max

After work, I went straight to Maria and Michael’s home. I remembered the many happy times I had before Liz and I were married and even after our marriage when we exchanged visits very often. The divorce was what ended the visits for me. Maria didn’t want to get involved and I tried to respect that. For awhile Michael and I would share a beer. I think it was too hard for him to straddle the line between what I might say and Maria’s temper. I surely didn’t want to be responsible for any marital woes he might have. We just drifted apart. The night we beat the shit out of Sean was one of the first times we had seen each other recently.

Maria had a large platter of sandwiches. Michael offered me a beer, but I had no desire to have even the slightest buzz. I wanted my mind clear, so I took a Coke.

“Michael, Maria, I am not going to lie to you in any way. Please, hear me out. Then we can discuss. In high school, I went with Tess Harding my freshman year. Tess dumped me because I was too dumb to see that she wanted me to have sex with her. Liz and I tried to make love one time the night of the prom. College separated us and we drifted apart. I had a few dates and some of these ended up in a bed, somewhere. When Liz and I got back together that summer, we did not make love until we were married. I wanted everything to be perfect and, I think for my part, it was.” It was hard telling intimate things about Liz and my relationship.

I continued, “Talking to Michael, I believed that Liz had some relationship with Sean. I don’t know how passionate it was, since it wasn’t any of my business. After we were married, I did not, in anyway, have any affair. Now, I don’t think Liz did either. Remember, both of us were working. I think both of us were very insecure about our marriage. Rumors got started. Someone said that I was having an affair with Tess. We did eat lunch together since we worked in the same labs. There was always something about Sean that Liz didn’t want to talk about. When the rumors started about Sean and Liz, I just concluded that she had heard things about me and she was getting even.” I paused, “Now, I think these rumors were both false. They were started by someone who wanted to break us up.” I paused to let this sink in.

“Why?” Maria asked. “Why would anyone want to break you and Liz up?

“Maybe they are a bit off, but your cousin has always had thing for Liz. Recently, she did go out with him. I don’t think things worked out, because he was bad mouthing her to every one he could.” As I spoke, I kept looking at Maria. Michael hated Sean. It was Maria I was trying to convince.

“Maybe, Sean did want Liz. I don’t give him credit for such a complex hoax. You said that someone wanted you. Who would that be?” Maria asked.

I looked at her. It sounded conceited. “Maria, recently I dated Pam Troy. She was angry when I did not take her out a second time.”

Maria picked up on this. “Pam Troy. She never had anything to do with you in high school! How did she hook up with you recently?”

“She asked Isabel to arrange a date with me. I understand she was pretty upset when I went with someone else the next week.” I was going to try to not involve Tess, if I could. That I had dated Tess would not endear me to Maria.

“Naw, Max, it won’t compute. There never was a connection between Sean and Pam,” Maria stated.

“I have things on pretty good authority that Sean and Pam lived together some time ago,” I revealed.

“Maria’s eyes narrowed. Her hands were now on her hips. There was no way out. I was going to have to tell about Tess. “Maria, Tess and I never had any affair before I was divorced. We went to a business party the other night. Tess needed an escort. It was for the corporation we both work for. She suggested that I take her to piss Pam off. I understood it did,” I confessed.

“No, I don’t trust the gerbil. How do you know she didn’t set the rumor off? Maybe, she just used Pam as a fall guy. Maybe, Tess wanted you?” Maria was clutching at straws. I didn’t know how she felt about her cousin. It seemed that she had accepted him connected to Pam and now was trying to find a way to defend him.

“Trust me, Maria. Tess and I had a long time talking the other night. She doesn’t want me. She warned me about Pam.” I had told Maria what I knew. Now, I had to wait for it to sink in and for her to believe me.

Maria stood up. “I suppose that talk was after she screwed you silly?” She left it a question or statement. She didn’t expect an answer. Maria left the room.

“Leave it, buddy. She has to think about that for a while. She will come around.” Michael clapped me on the shoulder as he walked to the door and showed me out.
-----------------------
Stories by Ken
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
User avatar
ken_r
Obsessed Roswellian
Posts: 861
Joined: Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:34 pm
Location: New Mexico

Re: "Divorce" adult M/L ch 17 pg8 Feb 14, 2010

Post by ken_r »

L-J-L 76
mary mary
begonia 9508
natalie36
keepsmiling7

Chapter 18

Liz

I had survived my date with Teddy. Why did I feel that way? True, my time with Teddy was far from memorable. I had an appointment to see Maria. I called her. It was bothering me, wondering what she wanted. The talk could take place any time this week. I just wanted to get it over. I kept thinking this is going to be something that will ruin my friendship with Maria.

Wednesday, I was going to have another chat with 451. This time, I was going to ask questions that had been plaguing me since my last date with Bob.

“Chica,” Maria cried as she threw her arms around me. That old Maria greeting. I would survive the greeting, but would I survive whatever Maria wanted to tell me? Maria was holding me dearly as she walked into their living room. Once I was seated, Maria got serious. “Liz,” she continued without the endearment. “I need to tell you some things and I need to ask you some things. If this destroys our friendship, then so be it. This is that important. When you leave this room, you may do anything you want. You may even call me names and never see me again. For the time you are here, you are going to listen. I hold you here with the strength of our friendship all the way from grade school.”

Now, I knew it was bad. Once Maria had told me that our friendship was the dearest thing she knew. My mind was in a rush. Max, me, and every thing else flew through my mind.

“Liz, I am sure that when you were married, Max never cheated on you, everz!” Maria left me no room to argue.

When I opened my mouth, she shushed me quickly.

“Liz, just listen!” she said. “Liz, I am equally sure that you never cheated on Max with my cousin.”

My mouth started to open. Her hand was pressed against it.

“You may talk, later. There is a chance that a third party planted those rumors. You and Max, with your insecurities, didn’t question the rumors enough.”

This time, I just sat there with my mouth shut.

“I saw you with Sean the other night. I wanted to walk over and tell you what a fool you were to be seen with him. Michael wouldn’t let me. Sean has been trash talking you all week.”

I knew that. The stories he had said were all over the university.

“Michael and Max beat the hell out of him the other night,” she informed me.

This time, I said, “Why would he do that? I thought Max was against public displays of violence! Michael also.”

“Max still has it bad for you, Chica,” Maria said. She continued,
“I gave my fellow something extra; I was so proud of him.”

I stood up, “Maria, I don’t want to hear anything about Max. I have a chance for a new start and I don’t want anyone, or anything to derail it.”

Maria stood in the doorway. I would have to go through her. “Chica, just sit down and listen.”

I had little choice. I sat, but I was in a pout. Maria had promised not to interfere in my life and here she was not only interfering, but doing it with the enemy, Max.

“Max said you wouldn’t listen. He is going to go ahead and find out, for himself, if no one else. Michael and I are going to help him.” Maria was looking fiery daggers at me, now. I had started to cry.

“Max thinks that Pam Troy and Sean DeLuca, my cousin, conspired to break you guys up. Pam wanted Max and she led my stupid cousin to believe he could have you. Max just needs proof.” Maria had finally gotten her speech finished.

Now, tears were gushing, “Maria, why couldn’t this all have happened a few months or even a few weeks ago? I have a chance with a nice guy. Maybe it is what I have wanted all the time. I just don’t want to hear that all the misery I have gone through was a mistake.”

This time when I started to get up, Maria took me in her arms and we hugged for a long time. As I left, I could only think, “Why were the fates so cruel?”

Working today was the hardest thing I have done. Tonight, though, I have my chat.

Max

In one hand, I had a Coke. In the other I had a roast beef sandwich. I, was still smarting over the comment from Isabel about having stale beer. I turned on the computer and soon, I saw that Lonely452 was in the chat room and she desired to chat. In a flick of the mouse, we had a private room.

Lonely451 says: How are you?

Lonely452 says: Confused.

Lonely451 says: How so?

Lonely452 says: I will tell you in a while. First I have some questions.

Lonely451 says: Go ahead

Lonely452 says: Did you ever demand anything from your wife?

Lonely451 says: I don’t think so.

Lonely452 says: Then, she never refused anything your asked her to do?

Lonely451 says: Now, I am getting confused.

Lonely452 says: Did she ever do something special for you in bed?

Lonely451 says: Every night. She lay there beside me letting me think that I was all she wanted.

Lonely452 says: Did your wife ever give you oral sex?

There was a pause. Is this what she was bothered about?

Lonely451 says: No.

Lonely452 says: Would you ever ask her for it?

Lonely451 says: I don’t know.

Lonely452 says: Have you ever had it?

I was thinking of the playful nips Tess had given me on my shaft the night I was with her. I remembered the feeling. For the first time, I hadn’t thought of Liz while I was with another woman.

Lonely451 says: Yes

Lonely452 says: Did you like it?

Lonely451 says: Yes

Lonely452 says: Does this make you uncomfortable chatting about this?

I thought, yes chatting with a strange woman about something so intimate in making love did make me uncomfortable. For some reason she needed to chat about this.

Lonely451 says: Yes, but I am Okay. Continue, please.

Lonely452 says: The first time I did it was with my friend, the married man, he just slowly pushed me into position and it just happened. He was always so tender that it felt natural. The next time, the slob I was with demanded I give him a “blow job.” Then, I got up and left his apartment.

Lonely451 says: Right you did! Sexual favors, are freely given, not demanded. Your first friend was just indicating what he would like, but he did it with tenderness. I don’t think I could even go that far.

Lonely452 says: The slob has been saying bad things about me making everyone think I am a slut.

Lonely451 says: There is no excuse for that!

Lonely452 says: Two friends beat him up.

Lonely451 says: It is good to have friends.

Lonely452 says: One of them was my ex.

Lonely451 says: Good for him! Shows he still has feelings for you.

Lonely452 says: It is too late. I am getting deeply involved with the older man I told you about. We haven’t yet had sex. He says we will, when we know each other better. His life is very ordered.

Lonely451 says: Is that what you want?

Lonely452 says: I think so.

There was a pause and then, Lonely452 started typing.

Lonely452 says: I think my ex wants to talk to me

Lonely451 says: Are you going to talk to him?

Lonely452 says: I don’t know.

Lonely452 says: Right now, I am starting a new relationship. I am not sure I want to talk to him.

Lonely451 says: What do you think sex with your new guy will be like?

Lonely452 says: I hope he will have experience. He was married for several yeas before his wife died. I hope he is tender and caring.

Lonely451 says: For your sake, I hope so too.

Liz

I finally learned what I wanted to know. Not all men had a lot of experience with what I had learned from Bob Silverman. If I was lucky enough to be with someone as understanding as Lonely451, he would see anything extra that I did as just an offering of how much I loved him.

My date with Doctor Teddy Roberts, again started with a dinner at one of the best restaurants. I was beginning to notice that Teddy only went to the best places. I tried to see Teddy wolfing down a “Big Mac, super sized,” but I couldn’t.

Again, Teddy looked at me with those little boy eyes. Teddy might be an administrator, but I was learning that in personal things, he was very child like. “Elizabeth, you will, when we get married, take my name, won’t you?” he asked.

I thought, there are many reasons for a woman to keep her own name. With relationships so mobile, records, titles and possessions needed some solid and constant anchor. I had taken Max’s name of Evans because I loved him so much. When I was divorced, my maiden name, Parker became a reminder of my failure as a wife. If I took on the spousal relationship with Teddy, I intended to make it last forever. I wanted to erase what I had viewed as my scarlet letter of failure. “Yes, Teddy Elizabeth Roberts will fit me just fine,” I told him.

He smiled and replied, “You mean Mrs. Theodore Roberts. That is, until you also finish your doctorate.”

I smiled back. I had no trouble complying with his wishes, so far. Teddy talked endlessly about what our life would be like once we were married. He had it all planned out. He reminded me of myself, once long ago. I used to be almost anal in trying to plan out everything. I would finish my master’s degree. Then, I would get a research job in some lab, while with the money I had saved, I would see Max go on to great academic things. With the flash of a blonde floozy spread across my bed, all plans disappeared. I believed that Teddy would be strong enough to complete his plans. There was a trifle worry, as I never saw anyplace for me to develop any plans.

When Teddy entered a restaurant, they always asked him where he wanted to sit. With me, he always asked for somewhere in a quiet corner. Teddy was expounding some plans he had for the hospital. I tried to follow, but I soon was lost in maneuvers, financing and regulations. I was trying to pretend interest when my roving eye, caught my replacement. I say replacement because the woman was a graduate student at our college. She was busy looking into the eyes of Bob Silverman. Maybe the stories about Sean had turned Bob off of me. Or maybe, I had served my purpose and Bob needed fresh meat for his grinder. I hadn’t been all that responsive the last few weeks after meeting Teddy. I had worried what I would say if Bob approached me again.

I saw my replacement looking just like I imagined I used to at the man beside her. They got up. I watched Bob leave what I knew was a generous tip, and walking out, she was hanging onto every word. I couldn’t help it. I knew that she was going to have a naked breakfast and maybe, several naked swims and maybe, something even special in bed. When Bob pushed her down on his body, would she respond with skill or would she be surprised as I was? My wicked mind told me that she would have the skill. She and Bob would spend the entire evening making love.

I did redirect my attention before Teddy missed me. He was still describing the deal he was closing with the rest of the hospital administration. Teddy didn’t expect me to pay that close attention. Once when he tried to quiz me about what he had just said, I replied, “Teddy I learned my biology, but economics was always beyond me.”

Teddy had smiled, “When we are married, we will just have to send you to some economic classes, won’t we?”

This time, when we kissed good night, Teddy did have one hand on my breast and the other cupping my butt. I didn’t know if he was becoming bolder or if this was some plan, of his, to progressively take my body.

Chapter 19

Liz

At work, Bob would still smile as he said, “Good morning.” I also, noticed that when he spoke to me, the little Master’s candidate would scowl. I thought. I hope she enjoys being my replacement.

I guess they had been going together for some time. This caused me to wonder if she was an alternate instead of a replacement. Had Bob been squiring more ladies than just me? My graduate advisor came by later, “I guess we might be loosing Susan LaTrell.”

I looked up at my advisor and asked, ”Why?”

“Susan announced that she is pregnant. Bob Silverman is the father. Lord help Susan, when Marcia Silverman finds out about it. Marcia expects Bob to play around, but she expects him to use care as he distributes his favors.” Doctor Fredrick, who also had become my friend, looked at me. “I was always worried about you. Bob was never very careful about what he did.”

I just thought, my advisor knew every thing I was doing. She was my friend and would not say anything to me. She had said that I had worried her, going with Bob Silverman. I just wondered what she thought about the stories that Sean had spread.

Max

I hurried home. The only time, recently, I did this. This was chat night. That had become the one thing I looked forward to. I think I looked forward to the time with my chat partner more than I did the occasional dates I managed to live through.

My mind was drifting through the different dates I had experienced through during my life.

There was the girl I allowed to fall from grace, Tess. I didn’t get very far there. Then, my first experience with my later wife, Liz. What did I learn from that brief experience? College and the, almost, no fault dates where both sides were grasping, but no one wanted any commitment. You slept with a girl one night and the next weekend. she would be sleeping with the guy next door. Then, for me, came commitment. I was married, till death do us part. Parting was a lot like death. Once that parting took place, then what? I remembered the story about the blind men describing the elephant. Each man described what he could touch, but none of them saw the whole beast. We were all blind children on a playground, complete with bullies. We were trying to describe the souls we met. In the time we could evaluate them, now, none of us really knew who they were. Each of us only knew a fraction of those we loved.

I was thinking about Sheila. If I had met her at her office, I wouldn’t go within a hundred yards of that woman. As it was, I met her when she needed help, a time when she was most vulnerable. It was hard for Sheila to ask for an escort. In her mind, that wasn’t much better than the paid professional I had bought. I didn’t cost Sheila anything much. Maybe, I rubbed a bit off that rough exterior she cultivated. I would always remember her standing on tiptoes kissing me. Just like I would always remember Liz doing the same thing.

Lonely452 was a lady who had the same problems as I. The Computer was turned on and I waited past the blue screen. A scary thought. What if fate took a evil hand and crashed my computer just before chat? The icons came up and the bells sounded. Soon I was in the chat room and like the hero of the past, I whisked the damsel into a private room, a room just for the two of us.

Lonely452 says: How are you tonight?

Lonely451 says: Fine.

Lonely452 says: Did you go out this weekend?

Lonely451 says: No. I had some research to do this weekend.

Lonely452 says: Research, on what?

Lonely451 says: On my marriage.

Lonely452 says: Must be something in the water.

Lonely451 says: Why?

Lonely452 says: I have another acquaintance, who thinks someone destroyed his marriage on purpose. I guess aliens or someone had it in for him.

Lonely451 says: Don’t knock aliens. There might be a lot more aliens here than you think.

Lonely452 says: Lol, Maybe. Speaking of aliens, my friend, the married man, has a new girl friend.

Lonely451 says: How does that make you feel?

Lonely452 says: Are you becoming a shrink or something?

Lonely451 says: Lol

Lonely452 says: I think he has been going with her longer than he has me. He got her pregnant.

Lonely451 says: Oops!

Lonely452 says: I understand his wife is unhappy.

Lonely451 says: double oops!

Lonely452 says: On a lighter note, I had another date with my new guy. I guess I can quit calling him my new guy soon.

Lonely451 says: How did that go?

Lonely452 says: We went to a restaurant again. He seems well known at all the best places.

Londly451 says: Did you have a good time?

Lonely452 says: Yes, until I saw my married friend and his new/old girlfriend.

Lonely451 says: Again, I say oops.

Lonely452 says: My new guy was explaining his plans for after we are married. He wants me to finish my doctoral program.

That gave me pause. That was the first time she told me she was teaching in college while working on her doctorate. I wonder if she knew Liz. Then, a strange thing crossed my mind. No, that would be impossible. Liz had moved on. According to Maria she was in a tight new relationship. This lady was on shaky ground at best.

Lonely451 says: Does he take in consideration any of your plans?

There was the longest pause. I checked my computer several times to make sure it hadn’t crashed.

Lonely452 says: That may be something I will have to work on.

We finally closed down. I had spoiled the chat by bringing up something that she had been worrying about.

No dates for me. I had an important meeting with Maria. When I got there, I found that she had invited my sister, Isabel, and her husband, Alex, also. Izzy was so glad to see me. It had been almost a year. The last time we spoke, it was about Pam Troy and that was on the phone. The request later to contact Liz, didn’t count.

“Max, I am so sorry that I got you into that. I had no idea of what type a woman she was,” Isabel told me.

“Izzy don’t worry. If you hadn’t set me up on that date, I might not have ever found out what we now think is true,” I stated.

Isabel started right away, “Let me see if I understand. You never slept with Tess before your divorce and Liz only had a infantile affair with Sean when she was a freshman. Is that right?” she asked.

Alex, Maria and Michael all sat there watching as I nodded.

Then Isabel concluded, “Now, that you both are divorced, you Max, have slept with Tess, now. How many times?” Isabel inquired.

I felt that this wasn’t called for, but I wanted their help. I would have to crawl and eat a little dust if I was going to get it. “Only one time Isabel, Tess says we are not suited for each other. However, we both are happy that we waited until the other night to be together. It was so much better than it would have been in high school,” I informed her.

I saw her eyes narrow, “Just how many more times do you intend to sleep with her?” Isabel asked like a mother catching her son at a whorehouse.

I saw Michael almost burst out laughing. “None, Isabel, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t get back with Liz. According to Maria, Liz has moved on and is starting a relationship with a real nice guy. Tess wants things much differently than I do. I just want to get the knowledge straight, about what happened to my marriage and why,” I told them.

Isabel leaned back in her chair. “What do you want us to do, Max?” she asked.

I shrugged, “I don’t know, yet.”

Michael looked at Alex and nodded. Alex spoke up. “Michael and I have been discussing this. We think the weak link is Sean. Anything we did to Pam, she would scream the sex card and we would get nowhere. We have a scenario that might work.

Liz

Tonight, I had a date with Teddy. We had been going together for some time. It wasn’t as long as I had been going with Max, but maybe maturity makes dating a waste of time, when we could soon get to the real thing. We sat in the secluded corner of the restaurant and Teddy looked at me with so much care. We talked about his plans and what I could do to help him. He promised to always care for me. He promised that he wanted many children. I would have a full family life and want for nothing. We talked and talked. Time to leave for the movie, came and passed. Finally, Teddy took a small box out of his pocket. It was marked “Jareds.” Inside was a ring. It was a marquise-cut diamond. I don’t know how large it was. My mind didn’t go that big.

Max had worked so hard to afford the small diamond he gave me. He had taken me to the jewelry store after he asked me to marry him. Most of his summer earnings were spent on that ring. It wouldn’t even have made a companion stone for the ring Teddy had just given me.

Once he placed the ring on my finger, Teddy held me and kissed me. We had kissed before, but Teddy was embarrassed to sit in his car and make out like a teenager. This time, his kiss was long. His tongue forced open my mouth and I felt the intrusion that promised something in the near future. “Liz will you spend the night at my place?” he asked.

Maybe, now my life would be on track. “Yes, I will spend the night at your place and the rest of my life if you want me,” I said.

That night as I lay in his bed, I was thinking. Making love to different men was – well, different. Max had been so young. His body was firm and his arms were like steel as they held me. With the years passing, his kisses more and more intruded into my mouth. He was probing to stir my desire to make love. At that time, it didn’t take much probing. Then, when I was in the arms of Bob Silverman, he was older than Max and he made love in a more sure fashion. There was never any doubt in Bob. When he finally took me on his shaft, it was a pulsing love. I didn’t cry out, but I understood those who did. There was pain, making love to Bob, but it was a good pain. His care told me that he wanted me. Later, I would find that he wanted almost anyone. I would have done anything he wanted. Later, I found that there were many women, who would do almost anything, he wanted.

Now Teddy was softer than either Max or Bob. He was soft, but he was firm. He knew what he wanted. He made it clear as his wife, he would expect his carnal needs to be cared for as well as his emotional ones. “A woman is happiest when she is caring for her man.” These were his words. I guess he was right. That is what my mother quoted many times, especially, when she was scolding me about my divorce.

We made love one time that night. Then Teddy turned over and soon, he was peacefully and quietly snoring. I couldn’t sleep. This was for real. I had taken on an obligation when I accepted Teddy’s ring. This time, I was going to live up to my promise. No matter how I felt. Worrying about my feelings had led to my divorce. If I had just accepted that Max strayed and asked him not to do it again, we might have preserved our marriage. I could have hit him with the frying pan, also.

Chapter 20

Max

It was felt that Alex and Michael would best handle this caper. Later, they would tell me how it played out. Michael told me to stay at his place and entertain Maria. If I had known what she had in store for me, I think I might have gone off drinking by my self.

Michael.

Leave it to Max. He is one dumb bastard who could screw things up. All through high school, I intended to have Max stand up with me when I got married. The first time I laid Maria, I was convinced she was the girl for me. We could get in some hellishly bad fights. Any disagreement never made it to the bedroom, though. As we crossed the doorway, both of us would be apologizing for anything we said. We always said it that way, so we never had to think, what actually, we had said to hurt the other. I chuckled it was Maria’s idea that Max stay at home waiting for us. She wanted to really find out what he could tell her about his activities. She knew that he could never go back to her friend, Liz, but Maria might someday, have other fiends. She wanted to know enough to see if she could trust Max.

Alex

Sometimes, I wished I didn’t get myself into other people’s messes. This was for a good cause. Isabel, when happy, was the best thing that ever happened to me. Isabel had a beautiful body and a sharp mind if you gave her permission to use it. Mostly in high school, she dated the jocks, socialites and so–called beautiful people. When I started dating Izzy, I was asking her things that required her reasoning to figure out. Other guys couldn’t get past the wonderful curve of her breasts. In my ignorant innocence, I might have run her off. But no, she responded by answering my queries and returning even harder puzzles. I think, I was the first person who gave Isabel a chance to be as brilliant as she actually was. Because I nurtured her mind, I was given permission to bury my self in those wonderful breasts.

Now, I was trying to help her brother. I felt badly when Max and Liz divorced. I had always been Liz’s friend. Married to Isabel, I knew that she always had to worry about her brother. Family peace was kept by keeping my mouth shut. Pulling a caper on Sean, I had no trouble with. I hated him. When I was little and he came to visit Maria, he always called me Alice. At that age, being called a girl’s name, cut deeply. Later, I called him “Jail Bird,” which he definitely didn’t like. After that, he left me alone. I never knew anything about the time Liz was with him until Maria told us one night when she was worrying about both Max and Liz. The boys at the lab had worked up a gadget for me. We would test it tonight.

Michael

We would go to the bar where Sean usually went drinking when he couldn’t get a date. As the girls learned of him, he had more and more trouble getting any dates. The odds were pretty good that we would find him there.

It was about 10:00 that evening when we entered the bar. Sean was alone, having driven off most of those who didn’t know him very well, the regulars who did know him, wouldn’t talk or drink with him in the first place. As we entered, Alex bought a pitcher of beer and two glasses. I walked by Sean and grabbed him by the arm. I wasn’t any too gentle as I slammed him down in a booth, located in a dark part of the room.

“Look, asshole, you are in deep shit,” I told him as Alex poured a beer for himself and me. Poor Sean licked his lips as he watched us drink. He had had to leave his beer back at the bar where he had been sitting.

“Look, jail bird, you can’t talk that way about a man’s wife, even if he is divorced,” Alex explained.

Sean looked at both of us. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Dumb ass, you told everyone that you went round the world with Liz Parker on a date the other night. You told one guy she gave you head for thirty minutes,” I told him.

“Yeah, and Max Evans is furious,” Alex chimed in.

“Max is going crazy with grief over his divorce,” I added.

“Yeah, he got some idea that you are completely responsible for causing him to loose his marriage,” Alex said.

“Hey, I wasn’t responsible for his divorce. He and that slut he was married to just couldn’t keep it together. She was surely a good fuck, though.” Sean said getting a little braver.

I looked at Alex, “Why did that wife of yours give Max that damned shot gun, anyway?”

Alex replied, “You know, Izzy. She can’t ever say no to her brother.”

I looked at Sean. A damp stain was appearing at his crotch. “You can’t run. He will follow you anywhere. Max says you, alone, are responsible for the failure of his marriage. He doesn’t give a shit what happens to him; he is just after you to get even.”

In a bar like this one, sooner or later, there is a ruckus somewhere. You just have to wait for it to happen. There was a yell. The crowd screamed and two bouncers ran in the direction of the commotion. I looked at Alex, “is that Max coming in?”

Sean scrambled to get up. Alex grabbed him, “Hey, Jail bird, Max is my brother-in-law. If he wants you, he is damned well gonna get you.”

I added, “And, he is my best friend. We are gonna hold you until he makes his way back here.” I looked over at Alex. “When Max gets close enough, jump back. Don’t get hit with the bird shot.”

Sean was freely wetting his pants now. “Look fellows, it wasn’t my idea. I was shacked up with Pam Troy until we couldn’t stand each other any more. It was her idea that I could get a chance with Parker and she would have Max. The lies and everything was all her idea.”

I looked over at Alex, “Should we let the bastard go? Max is pretty mad. We might get hit if he lets go a blast with that gun.”

Sean, the stupid bastard, was trying to kiss our hands. Wet pants and all, Sean fled out into the night.

Alex signaled the waitress. She was the same one who helped us with Sean the other night. She didn’t recognize me I guess in her job one drunk looks like another. Alex ordered another pitcher and we sat back enjoying our life. Alex took out the tiny voice recorder. He fiddled with some controls and the background noise disappeared. We could hear Sean say very clearly, “… The lies and everything is all her idea.”

I turned to Alex, “Ain’t science wonderful?”

Max

I thought I saw Michael smirk at Alex as they walked out the door. Look, I dearly love Maria. She was the best friend of my ex wife. She is now the wife of my best friend. She, also, is a vixen when she gets some idea in her mind. If she wants information, you might as well just lay down and confess. I had been about to suggest we bring Sean back to Maria, but Michael and Alex had such a good idea, I didn’t want to interfere.

“Look, Max, you claim that the rumor about you and Tess has no basis?” she asked. Maria was in her nice guy phase. She watched too much good cop, bad cop, on TV. “What did you and the gerbil do all that freshmean year? She wasn’t into girl scouts, well, boy scouts maybe,” Maria asserted.

“Look, Maria, I know you girls don’t like Tess, but she was the main one to turn me on to checking on my divorce. In my freshman year, if you must know, Tess tried to tell me that we could have sex. Maria, you do not know what it is like to be a young boy who sees that special girl as a cross between a movie star in a “G” rated movie and his mom. I can’t tell you how it felt when I heard this guy had taken her clothes off and screwed her. I just had trouble thinking that she wanted that sort of thing. When I got older, I kicked myself almost senseless. She was just a little ahead of me in maturity.

“Max, I was sleeping with Michael in our freshman year. Didn’t he ever say anything about that?” she asked.

“No, I think that Michael was terrified your mother would find out you guys were sleeping together and take you away from him. Later in life, I learned that the guys talking about it are not the guys getting it. When you have a great relation like Michael and you had, you just kept your mouth shut. When we talked about girls, it never got to, ‘Look at them jugs on that babe, or that chick must have a sweat pussy.’ I knew that Michael liked you, but he didn’t say anything about how far you had gone,” I tried to explain.

“Max, what the hell did you do in those sex education classes?” Maria asked.

“Maria, I mainly blushed over the pictures I was watching. Later, I had stirrings that I thought were normal. When Liz and I were seniors, I wanted to, somehow, make Liz mine. We tried that aborted attempt in the car on prom night,” I told her.

“Yeah, Max, I noticed you were several hours late to that party,” Maria snickered.

I thought it was my turn. “Maria, what about Liz the years between graduation and when we got together that summer? What was she doing?” I asked Maria.

“Max, Liz was never one of those kiss and tell girls. I don’t know what she was doing. Turn that around, what were you doing?” she sent my question right back to me.

“Maria, the longer I was separated from Liz, the harder it was for me to consider our relationship. Eventually when opportunity came by, I just took it. I was starting to kick my self for missed opportunity in high school. Trouble is, that I can’t even put faces on those women. It was just mechanical. The first time I had love and sex at the same time was the night of my wedding.” My mind was spinning. It always did when I thought of that wedding night.

“Max what about since your divorce?” she inquired.

Maria, I was given to believe that Liz didn’t want me. I was trying to find someone to replace her. Maria, I was trying to find another Liz, one without divorce papers in her hand,” I explained.

“Okay, Max, you are single. Who have you gone to, to find someone like Liz?” Maria asked.

Maria, I don’t think the Liz comparison kicks in until I am with them. Most of my dates were dates of opportunity. They were dates set up by well meaning friends and relatives. Most of my dates were just bad. A few were not so bad, but they were not Liz. The wisest two women told me that they were not who I was looking for,” I explained.

“Who would tell you that, Max?” she aaid.

One was a neighbor lady who was a lot like Liz. Unlike Liz, she had strong personal ambition. With me, she was every bit as nice as Liz. At work, she used sex like a weapon. The other one was Tess,” I said. I waited to see how this was accepted by Maria.

“Tess!” she almost screamed. “Then, you did sleep with the gerbil”

“Only once, Maria and that was a few weeks ago. Tess and I never did a thing while I was married.” Maria was a hard one to convince. She had an idea and she wouldn’t let it go. I had confessed about Tess before.

“Max, I just can’t believe that if you were around Tess, you didn’t taste of her fruits somewhere. I can’t believe that there was no basis for that rumor.” She declared.

Just that time Michael and Alex walked in. “But, he is right, Maria. The rumor was completely made up like the rumor of Liz and Sean, by Pam Troy and that piece of shit, Sean,” Michael stated.

We sat around listening over and over to the tape Alex and Michael made. “Well, can we play the tape for Liz and everything goes back to normal?” Alex asked.

I just sat down. Maria shook her head. “Alex, Liz has just started a new relationship. She says he is a really nice man. She doesn’t want to know about anything we find.” Maria said as she put her arm on my shoulder.

It was a sad group that split up that night. Alex would not get to bed for hours. Isabel would insist on blow by blow descriptions of everything that happened.
--------------------
Stories by Ken
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
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Re: "Divorce" adult M/L ch 20 pg9 Feb 22 , 2010

Post by ken_r »

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Chapter 21

Liz

Back at the college, my ring was the talk of the department. It was over shadowed a bit by the actions of Susan and Bob. Bob could run over people like me. If I had become pregnant, I would have just left the program and disappeared for a while. I could never fight the likes of Bob. I don’t think I would want to. I enjoyed the tenderness Bob had given me. I wouldn’t want to throw this all back in his face.

Wait, I loved Max and I threw everything back in his face. I was more understanding of a man to whom I had been a mistress than I had been to a man who was my husband. I was very impatient for my chat. It would be in two days.

Max

What was I going to do? I kept a copy of the tape. I would see how I could use it. Tonight, I hurried home. This was probably the only day I hurried. Walking down the hallway, I saw Sheila. She smiled and said, “Someday, I want to have another dinner, Max.” I nodded. I guess she wanted to be in her little girl phase for a while.

Ham on Rye, with mustard and dill pickles, a Dr. Pepper and the computer turned on, I was ready. I just waited. I was formulating a theory. It couldn’t be true, but the evidence was all there.

Suddenly, I was in a chat room.

Lonely452 says: I got engaged this weekend.

I thought, crap! If she was Liz, this meant that she had indeed moved on. If that was so, then I should be a sport and wish her the best. After all, I loved Liz and wanted the best for her.

Lonely451 says: That is wonderful. Congratulations!

Lonely452 says: He gave me the ring Friday and I spent the night with him.

Lonely 451 says: I guess that clinches it, doesn’t it.

Lonely452 says: Guess so. By the way, how did your investigation work out?

Lonely451 says: I found out what I wanted.

Lonely452 says: Care to tell me about it?

Lonely451 says: no

Lonely452 says: Sorry, I thought you might want to chat about it. You were all excited last week.

Lonely451 says: I found out what I wanted to. It just doesn’t mean much anymore.

Lonely452 says: I am sorry.

There is a pause. We don’t seem to know what to say. I think our chats may be coming to an end.

Lonely452 says: Look I don’t think either of us wants to chat tonight. See you next Wednesday.

Lonely451 says: yeah, bye

Liz

451 was so excited a week ago. He was investigating something about his divorce. I think he hoped to get back to his wife. Maybe, that is it. I was so happy about my engagement. That depressed him. Something about his wife not returning maybe.

Stuff was all over the fan today. It hit the papers. Marcia Silverman in a divorce suit, charged her husband with infidelity today. It made the papers. Susan LaTrell also filed a paternity suit that said Robert Silverman was the father of her almost born child. That term “almost born,” was one she made up. The newscast was full of Susan and Marcia screaming at each other. Bob was nowhere to be seen. The TV and the papers were having a field day. They always do when the rich behave badly. Susan had money of her own and she was using it to crucify the father of her unborn child and also his “bitch of a wife,” as Susan put it. The characters were so much fun, that is, except for a line at the end of the article. “Mrs. Silverman also names Elizabeth Parker, a student and doctoral candidate at the local university”.

That simple sentence was my obituary. I even missed the fact that there were other names than mine, listed by Marcia Silverman.

I had a date with Teddy this Friday. I had no idea what was going to happen.

Friday came. It came way too fast. Teddy had reservations at a nice restaurant again, as usual. This time we were ushered to a side room that was reserved for private parties. When we arrived, the dinner had been already set out. The waiters discreetly pulled the curtains. We would not be bothered tonight. On the side of the room, there was a bed. It reminded me of the movie, “Funny girl.” There would be no seduction here tonight.

“Liz, I am so disappointed in you,” he started.

I knew, that I was in for a scolding. I didn’t know, if I would hold up or not.

“Teddy, I am so sorry! This all happened long before I knew you,” I said.

He held up his hand, “Liz, I don’t blame you. But, you have to see things from my point of view. I have to remain above any hint of scandal. I have a position to maintain.”

I looked at him through tear-drenched eyes. “What do you want me to do?” I asked.

“I am sorry Liz. You are going to have to walk away.

Teddy held out his hand and I placed the ring in his palm. There was a pay phone at the rear of the restaurant. I called a cab. I sat there by the phone until a waiter came back and told me the cab was here. I don’t know what happened to Teddy. I tried to tell myself that I didn’t care. The tears flowing gave lie to that. Did I love Teddy? I never knew. I did feel rejected and abandoned. Even Max wouldn’t want me now.

All the next two days, I cried at home. Maria called, but I told her that I was sick. I think she believed me.

When I arrived at work on Monday, I looked like hell. Doctor Fredrick put her arm around me and cried along with me, “Go home, Liz. I will cover your classes myself. I slipped out the back door, but not before a man handed me a paper. I was subpoenaed to a hearing, a hearing for the divorce between Marsha Silverman and Robert Silverman.

I learned that I had been a star of a Porn movie made out of Surveillance tapes. This movie was solely for the purpose of showing the judge that Robert Silverman had been unfaithful. Then, it hit me. I wasn’t the star, I was only a bit player. There were many other women on those tapes. I was taken to a room and privately shown Bob and myself, joyfully playing naked in the pool and in his house. We were as carefree as children. I remembered something my chat partner once said, “Everyone pays for it in the end.”

My first down payment had been my relationship with Teddy.

It wasn’t a criminal trial so I didn’t have to sit out in the hall with the other ladies. It wasn’t a trial at all, just a hearing. I sat through the entire proceedings. I didn’t want the comfort of the other women in the, “I once loved Bob Silverman,” club. I sat alone. I was turning in on myself. The world was the gates of hell and I was trying to isolate myself from the fires. The expression I saw on Bob’s face was the most infuriating thing of all. What I saw as tenderness was just the bait that he used to lure and hold his prey. Robert Silverman was a predator just as sure as he would have been, if he had been the “Boston Strangler.” Bob didn’t leave dead bodies, along his path, but he did leave broken hearts. I didn’t go back to school all that week.

I didn’t appear at the chat room that Wednesday. This was the first either of us had missed a chat since we finally hooked up. Anything I said would have given my identity away. I needed my chat partner. If he knew who I really was, the notoriety would run him off.

Most divorce is simple. “I don’t love you anymore; well I don’t love you, either. Give me everything you have and get out! No, you give me everything you have and you get out! Children do complicate the proceedings. Someone who retains their sanity must step aside and protect the rights and well being of the children.

Maybe, someone in this court was writing a romance novel and using the transcripts to do it. Or, maybe the court was bored and enjoyed the soap opera which played before it. The hearing took the whole week. Of course, some of that time was taken up by the court yelling at either Marcia or Susan who were vying to assert themselves. With women like me, Bob was safe. He made his mistake when he took Susan to his bed. She was totally uncontrollable. This brought me back to the time Max and I had appeared in court. I think if it hadn’t been for the lawyers, the judge probably would have thrown us and our divorce, out of court. Where there was screaming in The Silverman divorce, in our ‘time in court’ we both were conciliatory to the welfare of each other. I am sure, except for the angst of seeing two young people ruining their lives; our time in court was boring.

Most of the time, I sat with my head in my hands. This made wonderful press coverage. “Mistress Distresses Over Silverman’s Fate.” I am sure that made Theodore Roberts hide his face. I could hear the whispers. “Doctor Roberts was dating and even asking for her hand in marriage. She is the infamous consort of Robert Silverman.” I felt a presence that I had felt a long ago. I couldn’t believe it when I felt his arm about me. Max Evans pulled my head against his chest and allowed me to sob. I hadn’t felt that secure since the night he disrobed me on our wedding night and held me in his arms.

When the hearing closed for the day, it was Max who led me out of the room. He wasn’t alone. Michael Guerin, husband of my best friend was strong-arming the press who crowded about us. Alex, Max’s brother-in-law, also walked with us. Alex didn’t do any thing; he just had a smile on his face. Once out of the courthouse, Alex pulled a small box from his pocket. He turned off the switch. He kept up that smile. “There isn’t a video within 50 yards that isn’t now scrambled,” he stated.

At the curb, a car was waiting. It was a mini van. Max held the door for me. I sat in front, while the three men piled in back. Maria was driving. She returned us to her place.

By the way, the whole time Max was holding me, I felt him touching my ring finger. I think he was assuring himself that I wasn’t wearing anyone else’s ring.

Max

This was the first time Lonely452 had missed our chat. Was she sick or had something happened to her? I needed more information to prove that 452, was indeed Liz. The news of her engagement was so overwhelming that I couldn’t continue chatting last week. If she was Liz, then indeed, Liz had moved on and was irrevocably lost. I was just sitting there. The screen wasn’t blank. It was like a whorehouse, the screen was filled with names flickering on and off. I watched as they paired up and went to private chat rooms. That is, all but old lonely451, me.

The phone rang. Normally on Wednesday night I would have been impatient with anyone disturbing my chat. No chat. I answered the phone. “Max,” the familiar voice said.

“Yeah, Maria,” I answered.

“Did you see the papers today or look at the news this evening?” she asked.

No, I hadn’t looked at the news this evening. I could only think of trying to find a way to test my theory that Lonely452 was indeed Liz Parker, who used to be Liz, Evans, when she was in my bed. The newspaper was another thing entirely. When we were married, Liz and I took the morning paper. We would spread it out on the table and as we prepared for work and school, we would each look at parts that interested us. Liz would call out, “Did you see Garfield this morning? Or, she might say, “Check the weather forecast, I need to see what I should wear today.” Our morning conversation and the morning paper helped us face our day. After our divorce I just didn’t give a shit whether it was raining or snowing or the sun would go out today and this was the end of the world. I no longer looked at the TV newscast. I didn’t care which country was killing which other country or even if the movie, “Red Dawn” was playing out, right in my back yard. I just stumbled off to work another day and another dollar and another lonely return to an empty home.

“What is up, Maria?” I asked.

“Max, its Liz. She got involved with a married man a little while ago. Now the papers and the news are smearing her name everywhere. There were some surveillance tapes and they show what Liz was doing with this guy. His wife has those tapes and using them in a divorce settlement,” Maria stated.

“What about this fellow she was seeing? Is he standing by her? I thought he was rock solid.” I replied.

I called her last weekend. She wouldn’t talk to me. She said she was sick. She sounded like she had been crying,” Maria informed me.

“What about the university?” I asked.

“I called them and was put through to her doctorial advisor, a Doctor Fredrick. The lady said the Miss Parker would be out for an indefinite period. She only said that after I convinced her that I was a very old friend,” Maria explained.

I murmured to myself, “And Lonely452 missed the first chat since we had become regular.”

“What is that, Max? Speak up, you were mumbling,” Maria told me.

“Maria are the hearings still going on? If so, can you and Michael help me? I will go to the courthouse and see if she needs me. Michael might get Alex to help him with the press. I am sure Alex can come up with a gadget to mess up the cameras.”

My mind was going full throttle again. If Liz had been abandoned by her new man, she needed someone to stand by her. She might not speak to me afterward, but I could run interference to get her out of the courthouse tomorrow.

The plan was in place.

It was the afternoon when I walked into the courtroom. The press was in the hall and Michael and Alex took places on the bench outside. Michael plugged in earphones and tuned his ipod to some Metallica he liked. Alex took his ipod and brought up some original Star Treck reruns. No one paid them any attention. I slipped into the courtroom and I saw her sitting, so frail looking, by herself, at one end of the bench. I excused myself, as I stepped in front of those, who were at the opposite end of the bench. I tried not to step on any toes. I sat down beside her and saw that she was crying. Without thinking, just like I did so many times when we were married, I put my arm around her shoulders and pulled her head so she could cry on my chest.

At first I do not think she knew who I was. She was just accepting someone who cared about her. She had felt so isolated for so long. Of her man, there was no sign. I also noticed that she no longer had a ring on her finger. Maria had said that she was engaged. Lonely452 had also been engaged. I think shortly, that Liz did recognize me. She made no mention that we were no longer together. She accepted the comfort I was attempting to give her. With Michael’s muscles and Alex’s gadget we streamed right through the news staff. I took my one love to Maria’s car and then, to the Guerin home. I had no idea what the future would bring.

Chapter 22

Liz

Maria rushed me to her bedroom and slammed the door. The bathroom being off the bedroom, Maria yelled, “Hey guys, if you need to use the bathroom, either just hold it or go outside and pee in the neighbor’s yard,” she shouted.

Maria turned to me, “Chica, tell me what all happened,” she said.

“When my name came up in the papers, Teddy just told me that I was an embarrassment to him. He took back the ring,” I said. Maria had her arms around me and was cradling me as I sobbed out my story. “A friend told me that we pay for it in the end. He was just so right. I am paying for every pleasure I had after we were divorced. I am so surprised that Max would even help me now. What did you do to him to make him do it?” I sobbed.

“Chica,” Maria responded. “When Max heard about your plight, he came to me. He asked Michael and Alex to help. His mother is right now trying to see if you have to attend any more of the hearing. It is nice to have a lawyer or two in the family,” Maria informed me. I thought of the fact that both Max’s mother and father were lawyers.

We talked until we were interrupted by Michael pounding on the door. “Maria, are you about done in there? I have to take a piss and that son-of-a-bitch next door is standing out there watering his lawn,” Michael yelled. Maria led me into the bathroom and I washed my face. As we opened the door, Michael murmured, “About time are you going to take all night?”

Maria quickly retorted, “Michael, if you didn’t pass out the beer, none of you would need to go potty.”

Michael returned, “Maria, what the hell do you expect a bunch of guys sitting around to do? Beer is the staff of life for guys.”

It was almost like old time. Maria and Michael bickering, then I wondered, was it like old times.? How much was Max here for me now? When we entered, Alex came forward and hugged me. “Gotta run, kid. Catch you later. Izzy will keep me up all night, telling her what happened today.” With that, Alex was gone.

Maria was doing something. I found that she was fixing the spare room for me. She came in and said, “Chica, why don’t you stay here for the night? I don’t think that you should go home alone after today.”

I nodded agreement. That isn’t what I wanted, but I would settle for it. Maria had a spare room made up and Max was about to leave. I hoped for something, I just do not know what from him. I followed Maria into the spare bedroom. I sat on the bed looking lost. I was lost.

“Chica, is it something you want to talk about?” Maria asked me.

“When I saw Max today, I was never so happy in my life. I was hoping for something more before he left tonight,” I quietly told her. “Once in my mind, I asked if Max could ever make me feel the way Bob Silverman did. Now I know. What Max would do would always be real. Max might never be as smooth as Bob, but if Max did it, there would be no false hood, no guile.”

“Chica, you and Max have a long way to go before you can give each other that ‘something more.’ You have to see trust in each other. You have to believe that Max would never lie to you and Max must learn that you would never lie to him. Max rescued you because he still cares for you. Right now, even love is not enough. You both visited hell when you divorced. Now, you have to see if your singed wings can be repaired before you fly with the eagles.” She said.

Maria, being a lyrics writer, tended to over use metaphors. I hoped what she said meant that Max and I might someday still have a chance. When I walked back in the living room, Michael was throwing away the last of the beer cans. Max had long gone.

Max

Michael suggested I leave before Liz and Maria came out. “Max, it is late and we all need rest. Go home and I will let you know how Liz is doing tomorrow. I was beginning, to feel the effects of the beers Michael had given us. Not as a buzz, but in my bladder. Looking outside, I saw Michael’s neighbor watering the lawn. I wasn’t at the point where I could just let it hang out as I said, “Good evening.” As it was, I was in pain by the time I reached my apartment. Well, my bladder wasn’t all that hurt tonight. My heart was aching for the touch of Liz. Going to bed did not make things better. Both my mind and my groin throbbed for the touch of her body.

I had to be at work the next morning. At lunch, I stopped at Tess’s table. “Who screwed up the cameras last night? The networks were all telling about mysterious malfunctions in their equipment as they tried to get pictures of the mystery man who whisked, Miss Parker out of the hearing room, yesterday afternoon,” she said laughing.

“It was Alex. He had a electronic field generator that scrambled any nearby camera. After they were out of the field, the equipment worked perfectly,” I said.

“That was heroic, Max. Does this mean you and your ex are back together or is there more to do?” she asked.

I shook my head, “I don’t yet know, Tess. Liz was engaged. I don’t know what she is going to do about that,” I explained.

“But,” Tess started, “He wasn’t there to protect her and you were. Does that count for something?” Tess asked.

I shrugged, “Maybe.”

“Well Max, take a chance. Don’t lose out because you are lousy at reading signs. Take the chance that she wants you and go for it.” She looked at me with a devilish grin. “I could have screwed you for your whole freshman year, if you had just gone for it.”

I groaned as Tess laughed. I went back to the lab. I wondered if I could just go for it.

That evening as I was walking to my apartment, Sheila was just opening her door, “Hey, Max would you like me to cook you a Sunday evening meal sometime?”

I thought, I may be one of the few who know Sheila as a compassionate vulnerable woman. Those at work saw -- and I thought of a story from high school, Frank stocken wrote, “The Lady or the Tiger.” I am sure that if I knew Sheila at work, I would rather fuck the tiger.
http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stori ... Tige.shtml

“I don’t know, Sheila. I may be getting back with my ex,” I explained.

Sheila waved back. “Well, if that doesn’t work out any better than last time, all you have to do is bring the wine.” With that, Sheila went into her apartment and for the moment, out of my life.

Of course, I didn’t know for sure, but I was fairly certain that Liz was my chat buddy, Lonely452. If that was true, Liz and I only had to acknowledge that we had been exchanging our fears, desires and fantasies for some time. Getting back together would take a lot of work. The talking part, maybe, we had already done.

Liz

Maria’s guest room was very nice. It wasn’t my bed and I had too many things on my mind. I couldn’t sleep. I wanted to be lying in someone’s arms. No, correct that. I wanted to be lying in Max’s arms. I thought back to the start of my freshman year.

Boy/girl relations were just forming. Almost all little girls this age wanted a boyfriend. I don’t think all the little girls knew what they wanted to do with that boyfriend, but nature was telling them that boys were wanted. In terms of relations, Maria was precocious. More than once, she had peered from the upstairs down into the living room to see her mother making love to whatever man was in her life. Most children, when they thought of their parents stripping down and lying naked in each other’s arms, were grossed out at first. Maria, couldn’t remember when this time was. She, for years, had been told that sex was for grownups. At first, she assumed that like driving a car, it took some sort of physical growth to have the ability to make love. She knew that it took a willing partner. Where Max once said, he was embarrassed at the pictures in sex education class, Maria took that class very seriously. In her sex talks, Amy had told Maria that if you are not careful when having sex you made babies. Maria had left her dolls outside in the rain too many times, to want to make babies at that age. Maria paid double attention about birth control.

Maria told me this many time as we grew up together. I listened because my parents, well -- when the sex education question came up, my father remembered he had to do the inventory in the stockroom and it was left to my mother. She wanted me to be knowledgeable, but a lot of the education she gave was, “Wait until you are married.”

This is very good advice to give young people, but hormonal drives are in force, and for the times you can’t wait, youths turn to their peers. My peer was Maria. Thus, she shared all that she had been learning for years. Amy always had a box of condoms for guests who stopped by unprepared. For several years Maria had been filching one or two a month and hiding them in a place her mother would never think of looking. Maria had a lockable diary. With Sean’s help, she hollowed the inside and that is where she kept her stash. Amy would never consider trying to break into Maria’s diary.

Maria confided in me that she was going to have sex with some boy as soon as she found the likely candidate. Maria had a hard time, in life, but she found a boy who had grown up in a foster environment, which she felt was a much harder life, than she had. What started out as caring for a lost puppy, grew into affection on both of their parts. Michael, many times, didn’t have a lunch. The foster care system didn’t say you really had to care for the children. Maria started taking an extra bit to share. When Amy found out, she like wise felt for Michael. Amy also, tried to help him when it didn’t damage his ego.

Now for the first time in his life, Michael had two friends, mother and daughter. When Maria started approaching Michael about the next step in their relationship, Michael feared that if they got caught, he would loose both friends. It was with great trepidation that Maria led Michael to the old shed she had fixed up. Maria had the bed, she had the condoms and now, she had the boy.

Me staying with Maria that summer, allowed me to know about every step Maria made. The concept of boyfriend was taking on the concept of lover. Tess, we were beginning to think, was lying. Maria, as my friend, I knew that everything she said, was “true.” When Maria went off that night with Michael, I felt left behind. She would return a woman and I was still a little girl. That is when Sean started kissing me. Well, you knew where that led.

Sean had hands, no loving arms. His hands were everywhere, mostly where they bothered me. It wasn’t until I was going with Max, desperately wanting him, to make love to me, that my desires of sex strengthened. Many times, I had lain in Max’s arms. I just knew that there had to be more than that. It was me who suggested we pull off the road on the way to the party. I wish it had been me who suggested, using the back seat, instead of trying to work around the steering wheel and other things. I figured I had lost Max, when I went off to college. I tried to grow up and I found sex along the way. It was back in the arms of Max which brought me security that wedding night. Right now, that is where I wanted to be. Not in the cheating arms of Robert Silverman, as once I thought I did. Not in the arms of Teddy who promised to always stand by me. Max’s arms are where I wanted to be tonight and Max had gone home.

The next morning brought word from Isabel, “Liz, mom has checked. You do not have to go to the hearing, today. Mom is also trying to get possession of those surveillance tapes or maybe have them destroyed.”

That was good news. I told Maria that I wanted to go home. It would be a cold weekend. Most of the single people I knew were looking for dates. I wanted to think, what could I do to bring Max and me together again? I had an idea. It depended on Isabel’s care for Max and if she was willing to renew our friendship.

Max

Weekend, the time for singles. It was as if four o’clock, Friday afternoon, the whistle blew and it was open season. Those who had made connection could only entertain dreams of high scoring. The rest were scrambling to find each other. I could testify with both groups. I remembered the weekends I had struggled bar hopping with the guys, ringing up numbers someone had given me, looking everywhere to find a companion for the weekend. Someone who would pretend, for so brief a time, that they were part of me. These were the insecurities of being single, horny and at some point, wanting to give it another go at being married.

I knew that there were just as many horny, lonesome women as there were men. They just had trouble connecting. Tonight, I was horny. I was lonesome and I was broken hearted. Every other girl/woman was pushed out of my mind as I struggled to consider my options with Liz. That was getting ahead of things. First, did I have any options? Taking her out of that courtroom was one thing. I wasn’t banking on any guarantees that romance could be rekindled.
------------------
Stories by Ken
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
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ken_r
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Re: "Divorce" adult M/L ch 22 pg10 Feb 28 , 2010

Post by ken_r »

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L-J-L 76

Chapter 23

Sunday night, I was toying with going to bed early. Tossing in bed unable to sleep or if I stayed sitting up, with a hurting pain, showed that there were still many roadblocks in my life. My phone rang. This late, on a night when most people I knew were recovering from the exertions of the weekend, made the phone call take the character of an emergency. I could only wonder, “Who died?”

“Max, your loving sister, here,” Isabel’s voice rang.

Now, I could only think, “What the hell does she want? What have I done wrong now?” “Yes, Isabel,” I said. I was trying to sound cheerful. Don’t let her intimidate you my mind said. “Isabel, what is wrong?” I asked her.

“Nothing, Max. Can’t a sister check on her brother on a Sunday evening?” she asked.

I wasn’t put off. Isabel didn’t call me unless she had a reason. “I am doing fine, Izzy. What else is wrong?” I asked her.

“Okay, Max, I have been asked by a friend to set up a date with you,” Isabel said.

“Isabel, remember the last one. I don’t think I am up for another,” I pleaded.

“Shut up Max. This one, you want to take. Elizabeth Parker, your former wife, has requested that I attempt to set up a date with my brother, next Friday night. Now Max, when I attempt things, I like them to happen. Can I tell her 7:30? You will pick her up?” Isabel asked.

I was lost for what to say. Words from Tess were running through my head. “Don’t lose out because you are lousy at reading signs. Take the chance that she wants you back and go for it.”

“Yes, Isabel, I will pick her up Friday,” I replied.

“Damm it, Max. You mess this up I am going to ask you to change you name to Gutierrez. As far as I am concerned you will be out of the family,” Isabel retorted as she slammed the receiver down.

Oh my god. Izzy had just set me up with a blind date with a girl who I knew everything about.

The week went by in a blur. There was one thing about the week that bothered me a little. Lonely452 did not appear. If she was indeed, Liz, maybe, the stress of last week was just too difficult for her to handle. There might not be anything about it that she wanted to chat about.

The rest of the week just blazed by. I spent thought and time arranging my date for Friday night.

Liz

Isabel called me back. “Look, Liz, I arranged the date. Max is my dear brother. Don’t you dare hurt him! He will pick you up Friday night. He didn’t say where you might go,” Isabel said. Then, I heard something different in her voice, “Liz, good luck. You truly do belong together.” With that, Isabel hung up.

I don’t think I had been this worried about a date, since Jimmy Watts picked me up in the eighth grade for the afternoon dance. Jimmy took me to the dance. Then, he was too embarrassed to be seen dancing with a girl. I used everything I had to pull him out. Now, I thought. This is the curse of women. We have to work so hard, to pull the men we want to love, out of whatever it is, they hide in.

I had made changes almost every night in what I would wear. I, finally, decided on the party dress I wore at the 15-minute dates. I took the dress over to Isabel, who is an excellent seamstress. “Isabel, can you raise the hem of this dress an inch or so?” I asked. Isabel smiled and it took her about half an hour to finish her alterations.

Well, the dress was decided. Now, I worked to clean my apartment until it was perfect. I didn’t know if he would accept, but I was going to invite Max in after our date. Sex on the first date? You betchya! I had wasted too much time without Max. I had wasted too much time on other men who never measured up. Would I scare him away? Well, once I got him into the apartment, I could lock the door.

I had other arrangements to make, but I was ready when Friday night rolled around.

The doorbell rang. I opened the door. I could see Max giving me the once over as he stood in the doorway. When he had caught his breath, Max handed me a bouquet of flowers.

Max

First date. I had now made many first dates. Since the dating pool was mostly concerned with sex at the end of the date, both men and women prepared for this. If things didn’t go well, then fuck it, even if that was the dating purpose that didn’t happen. There was always next time. Another time and another girl always was looming on the horizon.

This time, I didn’t have that option. I braced myself for only a goodnight kiss at the end of our time. I was going out with Liz. There had been many times we were together that didn’t end in Sex. With Liz, my pleasure was in her company.

Tonight it was the chance we had to get back together. I felt that I might be my own worst enemy. Would I do something that not only would not lead to sex, but also terminate any chance of reconciliation? I had watched Jimmy Watts ask her to that dance in middle school. I thought then, what a dumb little bastard! He had the girl and he didn’t even take the opportunity to feel her body in his arms. That was a big thing for a boy in the eighth grade and about the only reason an eighth grade boy would take a girl to a dance, unless he was wise and mature enough to be taking Tess. Remember that I didn’t know Tess until the next year. It would be that next year, when I would see my blonde angel fall, as she was said, to take off all of her clothes and screw the football player. It would be then, that I went back to my first crush. A crush that did not know I existed. I would finally ask little Liz parker to a movie. She was my new angel. I was slowly beginning to think that I wanted a more touchable angel.

Time crawled that Friday night. I, finally, got my car, filled the tank with gas and driving with one eye fixed to the time, I soon arrived at her apartment. It was almost 7:30 to the minute when I walked into her apartment complex.

I knocked on the door and when it opened, I was shown a vision of heaven itself. It had to be heaven because there was an angel standing before me. This wasn’t an angel to place on an alter. This was truly a gift from God. I had never seen Liz in a dress that fitted her so perfectly. I shivered because at one time, I might have thought Liz was a little underdressed. Now, I hope I have matured to think she was just perfect.

The beautiful sculptured breasts, that at one time, I had placed my head between, were accented by this dress. They were pulled up to show perfect round mounds above the topline, of the garment. The hemline was high enough that I could see the rippling of the muscles of her thighs in her nervousness. Her bare arms were extended to me as I embraced her. Then, there was a joy as she received the flowers. Yes, I had brought flowers. They would soon be gone, but the memory of me giving them to Liz would last for a long time, I hoped.

Liz as Lonely 452 had said that women appreciate the thought much longer, after the flowers had perished.

Liz

His hand on my arm, Max ushered me to his car. He held the door. Then, he gave himself the freedom of leaning across my body to fasten my seatbelt. I had to wonder where Max had learned that one. I caught myself. I was going to accept Max like I would with a brand new man I was on first date with. That is, until we were back to my apartment. Then, I intended to be as wanton as I needed, to get him into my bedroom.

“I have reservations to the Galleria Restaurant,” Max informed me. “I have only been there a couple times, but it is a nice place to go, to celebrate special occasions.” Max looked at me and continued, “Liz, this is the most special occasion in my life.”

I nodded because I couldn’t speak. This was the most special occasion to me, also. It was several minutes before I could trust my voice. “Max, I have heard of that restaurant. I have never been there. I have heard that it is a very special place,” I told him. That, so much, was not what I wanted to say. If I only could have told him how special this night was for me.

Max

I held her upper arm as I guided her across the parking lot and into the restaurant. As I held her arm, I could feel the softness of her breast against my fingers. Every move she made, this breast pulsed with life. I absently brushed across the crotch of my pants with my free hand. I hope I wasn’t going to embarrass myself. Internally, my body wanted to cancel the damned date and drag her to some bed. I was breathing heavily to keep my calm.

We were seated and we ordered. Liz asked for baked salmon and lemon, placed on a bed of greens. She ordered a soft drink, so I did likewise. I didn’t want anything to cloud my thinking. I had to stay as sharp as possible. This night might affect the rest if my life. The rest of my order amounted to a small steak and greens.

“How is your doctoral program going?” I asked. I saw a bit of a shudder and my heart leapt into my throat. Had I brought up something that would bring back all the unpleasantness of the last few weeks.

“It is fine, Max. I should finish in a few months,” she replied.

I took another chance, “What are your plans when you graduate?” No shudder this time. I think she had a firm hold on her self.

She smiled and looked at me. “I haven’t decided yet, Max. I could teach at some college or I could go into research like you. I have been working so hard I haven’t given it enough thought,” she explained. “What about you. Do you have any long range plans?”

I thought, “go into research like me.” With only a bachelor’s degree, I am only a lab rat. I do the grunt work of those who have the better education. Liz could be one of those giving me my orders every morning. “I don’t know, Liz. Without education, I have risen about as high as I can in what I am doing. I have a friend who suggested that I look into management. It pays more, but I don’t think I would be happier there. I have seen examples of management and I didn’t like what I saw.” As I spoke, I saw something in her eyes. I couldn’t read what it was.

Liz

I tried to be as gracious as I could while Max held the car door for me. I thanked him. Then I wondered if I had always thanked Max as he did those social graces for me? I remembered that Maria said she tried to make sure that Michael knew how much, what he did meant to her. I had to remember that Max was very bad at reading subtle signals. So following Maria’s advice, I made everything I did or said as overt as I could. I felt his fingers trembling against my breast as he guided me into the restaurant. Max completely missed the Maître d’ sizing me up. He was not looking at me with lust. Rather, he was thinking of what kind of tip we would leave and what kind of couple we were and how he, as his job entailed, he could insure our presence in his restaurant would be memorable? I didn’t mind because I wanted him to do all he could to make this evening heavenly.

I was drawn to the same reasoning I had used when I was on the date with Stanley Reimes. Watching Max with the Restaurant staff would give me a site into his mind. It had been a long time since we had gone out together. And, that time of dating was when we were almost children.

Max allowed me to order first. I chose a baked salmon on a bed of greens. Then, I watched to see what he did. Max ordered a small steak on mushrooms. I noticed he ordered more greens than I remember him eating before our divorce. Was Max watching his health? I had feared this a lot when I was thinking of him.

The waiter spilled a bit of gravy on the table and he rushed to mop it up. Max just shook his head as he took a napkin and sopped it up himself. Max had asked for his steak to be medium rare. I remembered this from the past. He cut into it and there was a flash across his face. “Isn’t your steak to your taste, Max,” I asked.

Max kind a laughed. “I like it a little more rare, but descriptions in restaurants, are difficult at best.” He took a bite and said. “It is a very good steak.”

That was a pleasing revelation. Max was not a difficult diner. The waitress came by to ask how everything was. She refilled Max’s soda and asked me if I would like a refill, also. Max asked her if she would please stop by later and see if we wanted dessert. He was so polite that I am sure the waitress didn’t mind helping him.

I guess the comment about my doctorate was just small talk. I tried to detect any jealousy about his comment. I, finally, decided that he wanted to know what I would be doing in the near future. That is what I was hoping. I wanted Max to want my future to be the same as his. Conversation about college did bring shudders to my mind about my troubles with Robert. I would have to get over that. There was a lot more to college than Robert Silverman. I did see resignation, from Max about his future. Max had no intention of going back to school. Without encouragement, Max would not go onto grad school. We continued with small talk. Both of us were being careful not to discuss anything that had happened to us of a dating nature, since we had been divorced. I think that eventually, Max and I are going to have to have a confessional. We cannot reenter our relationship unless everything is on the table.

We both had a fruit sherbet desert and when Max called for the check, he glanced at it. I saw him figure and I think he left at least a generous 25% tip. I am not sure; he could have left even more.

We left for the show. If Max had asked me, I might have said, “Skip the show, let’s go to bed.” That probably would have been too abrupt for him. The show was an academy award nominee. I understood that the tickets were hard to come by. When I asked Max, he just said, “Alex can get anything.”

Max

The first thing I did when I told Isabel I would go on the date with Liz was to contact her husband, Alex. Alex works with electronics and many of those he employs are high school and college geeks. That field generator was an example. Alex told his boys that he needed to mess up video cameras the next day and two or three of them came back to the labs that night to build the gadget. Same with the recorder he used to get a confession out of Sean.

Alex asked his kids, “Imagine you have a date with the most wonderful woman in the world. Tell me what show you would take her to.” That took two days and I had to pay double for the tickets, but Alex came through.

I can’t tell you what pleasure it was to hear Liz laugh. The show deserved an award. I hope it gets one. Liz laughed and cried. Of course, I would never understand that crying part, but I am smart enough to know it is part of a woman finding pleasure.

When we left the theater, Liz was holding onto me with both hands. Her head was resting on my shoulder and she was chattering as fast as she could, about her feelings, on the movie. I remember Liz being very quiet when we got out of shows a long time ago. Her nervousness was showing. The closer we got to her apartment, the more nervous she became. I decided that maybe, she was afraid I would demand sex like some of the other men she had dated. I wanted sex, but not as payment. I had had enough of paying for it. By the time I had walked her to the door, I had decided to take the conservative approach. I would show Liz that I was not just after sex, but that I truly enjoyed her company.

Liz handed me her keys. I opened her door returned the keys. Then, I took her in my arms and pulled her to me. I felt her trembling lips. Our tongues entwined as we stood there transfixed as some romantic greek statue. The prolonged kiss and the oral fixation we both showed was hurting our breathing. We both were puffing as our bodies throbbed bringing back old memories.

Liz

I know that Max had help from friends. Alex had been my friend back in grade school. When I was divorced, I felt, rightly so, that Isabel would side with her brother. This estranged Alex from me. I was thinking, tonight, Alex is helping both of us. All the way out into the parking lot, my head was against Max’s shoulder. The way I was holding him, I imagined I could hear his heart beating. When we got back into Max’s car and he had buckled me in, something seemed to take my reason away from me. I chattered continuously. Now Maria chatters. I don’t! The closer we got to my apartment, the more frightened I got. The clock was ticking minutes, seconds, until Max would walk away from me. Walking up to my door, still chattering. It was as if I was rushing to find words to convince Max never to leave me. I had practiced over and over, “Max, would you like to come for a while? Max would you like to come in for a drink? Max would ---would you “lay” me in my bed before I have a heart attack? Max make love to me! Max, just fuck me!

None of these would come out. When he opened my door and turned me to kiss him, my tongue met his in a phallic dance. I knew that this was too subtle. Max was not a man who took up hints. He pulled back and I knew that I was going to sleep alone tonight.
---------------------
Stories by Ken
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
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ken_r
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Re: "Divorce" adult M/L ch 23 pg 11 mar 7 , 2010

Post by ken_r »

begonia9508
Natalie36
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mary mary


Chapter 24

Max

I pulled back from my love. Yes, I was showing her how much I respected her. I was not back with her just for sex. I enjoyed her company. That almost battle we had with our tongues meant something. I just could not see what she wanted in me.

Then in my mind, a tiny blond girl in the ninth grade looked at me. “Max, if you had only taken the hints, we could have fucked away the entire freshmen year.” I then heard an older Tess talking to me, “Max you might as well just go for it.”

I pushed in the door carrying Liz with me. We were quickly in her apartment. As we were still kissing, I saw Liz turn the bolts to lock the door. We were in her bedroom before I knew about it.

With Liz’s arms locked about my neck, her kisses almost burning my face, my hands found their way beneath her skirts. That was what they longed to do from the minute that I saw Liz framed in the doorway at the start of our date. I felt the waistband of her panty hose. Hooking my thumbs under the elastic, I pulled them down dragging the hose to her knees. As my hands passed her thighs, I felt them quiver.

With the band of the hose about her knees, I had essentially trapped my lover. I next swept her in my arms and carried her to the bed. Sitting Liz on the bed, I carefully knelt, removed her shoes and rolled her hose the rest of the way off her feet.

Liz then, stood for me and I brought her zipper down releasing her dress. With a shake, Liz caused the dress to fall at her feet. Holding one hand, I helped her step out of the dress. I now had a Liz standing before me, clad only in panties and bra from Victoria’s Secrets. She carefully took her dress and hung it in the closet. Tonight, Liz was like one of those Christmas packages, which when opened, discloses a myriad of other surprises each to be revealed at it own time.

Wearing her panties and bra, Liz went into the bathroom. When she reappeared, Liz was dressed in the gossamer gown from our original wedding night.

Liz

As we kissed and I felt Max pull away, I believed once again I would spend one of way too many nights alone, one of way too many nights without Max. At the last minute, it was as if some internal argument was staged, and to my surprise, I became the winner.

Max suddenly pushed me through my partially opened door. Remembering a promise I made to myself, if I could get him inside, I locked the door. Now, my arms were locked around his neck. My kisses, each one promising eternity, were being showered upon Max. I could feel his hands go up, my oh so short, skirt and then, pull on my pantyhose. I didn’t care if he did rip them. I could only think how much I wanted his touch upon my bare skin.

Max lifted me to my bed and then, gallantly, knelt to remove my shoes and hose. Lifting me to stand beside him again, returned memories of our marriage. My dress fell to the floor and as I picked it up and walked before Max, dressed only in my Victoria’s Secrets Lingerie, I felt his eyes watch every move. The name of the lingerie was, “Sure Thing.” I could only hope it lived up to its name. Sure Thing, I was hoping that seeing me in this would drive Max mad. I took longer than necessary to hang up my dress. I probably turned more times than needed to allow Max to view my whole body.

I retired to the bathroom to wash up and make one more change. Hoping the lingerie had done its job, I now reached for my second weapon. The gown I had worn the night of our wedding so many years ago, still fit, in a manner of speaking. Yes, it was tighter through the hips and the bust, but the look on Max’s face when he saw it, was almost like the look he gave me the first time. Although, both of us, then, had had a few lovers, our love together that night was virginal. Now, I faced him, both of us after the divorce, having taken more numerous lovers, could I bring him the feeling that I did so long ago? Max’s eyes were feasting on my form. I could only think, how did I compare to the many banquets he had sampled since we broke up? A mild anger flared up. How did I compare to Tess Harding?

Max

Yes, standing before me was my bride of years ago. I had not missed the parade, for my benefit, of the Victoria’s Secrets lingerie. We were both older, but the vision she gave me was inspiring. The gown still amazed me as it brought out so much in Liz. Yes, it did appear a bit tighter, but the nipples of her breasts simply defined themselves sharper and the curve of her belly was more inviting than ever. Briefly, the suddenness of Wanda, the orchestration of the professional, the determined simplicity of Sheila and finally, the organization of Tess all flushed trough my mind. Only the wisdom, imparted by Tess stayed with me. The duplicity of Pam Troy passed me by completely.

Liz undid my belt and knelt to help me out of my shoes and pants. I placed my hands on her shoulders to balance myself. I felt a shudder run through her body. Then, I lifted her to stand beside me. She helped me with my shirt and I finally, helped remove her gown, over her head. Dragging the fabric across her already excited nipples, made them stand out even more.

I sat her on the bed and then, removing my shorts, I told her, “Liz, I am going to lay down. You are to do everything to my body that you think you would enjoy have returned to you. I will try to duplicate it for you and then, we will make love.” I saw almost disbelief in her face, but I insisted. As she started to stroke my back and buttocks, I added, “Liz this will take years and many times to perfect.”

Liz

When I appeared the first time in this gown, I tried to look demure and innocent. Now I was far from any time in my life where I could pretend any innocence. My exhibition walking before Max was proof of that. What Max saw now, would be what he got. Max could not take his eyes off my midsection. I could see they were filling with lust. Before, I had worried that I did not have enough to offer Max. Now, if we were to make it work. Both of us must bring more than enough to, satisfy, charm, titillate and completely seduce the other.

I knelt to help Max with his pants and shoes. To steady himself, he placed his hands on my shoulders. My body gave an involuntary shudder as this was, almost,`` the same feeling that Bob Silverman gave me that night while we were making love on the satin sheets. Max lifted me to stand again, before my mind could travel that path any further.

Max pulled the gown over my head. The fabric rubbed me in several sensitive locations. Looking at Max standing in his shorts, I saw the wet stain of anticipation forming. When Max removed his shorts, for a time, my mind could only think that I had a beautiful man standing in front of me with no clothes on, a beautiful man dripping with love.

Max’s curriculum of love bothered me at first. Why couldn’t we just screw the old fashioned way? Then, I thought what Maria had said. “I make a study of Michael. I watch carefully to see if I can get that special something out of him with what I do. Then, when he does do that special something for me, I try to show him how much I enjoyed it.”

Dolled up with a bit more formality, Max had said almost the same thing. The best thing he said was, “Liz, this will take many years and many times to perfect.” That right there, said we had a future. Who wants to start a study and not finish it?

With Bob Silverman, I had woken up with a lover, but after that first time, I never saw any future. Now, I could feel Max pressing against my back side. I could feel his sticky wetness against my back as evidence that we had made love. Max had been wrong and right at the same time. I had tried to show him on his body the things that really were sensitive to me. Yes, he had missed many of them. He had promised that he would try and keep trying until he finally got it right. I had made the same promise to him. We were both on the way to a joint, “MR. & MRS. degree.” It would take a lot more time than it had to get my simple doctorate.

We showered together. No, I didn’t have that warm air blast to dry us off. In fact, the joint toweling was more erotic than the hot air had been at the Silverman’s. I was almost ready to suggest that we return to bed when Max surprised me. He led me from the bathroom to my kitchen both of us naked. “I am sorry Liz, I don’t know where everything is located. Next time, we will do this at my place and I will do things right,” Max told me.

I went about the kitchen, fixing breakfast. I could feel his eyes, as he watched, when I stretched on tip toes, to reach something on the top shelf. Was it love, was it lust or was it just appreciation for the female human form? You know, the same results guys get when they look at centerfolds? I didn’t care. My body was stirring Max.

His was doing the same for me. By now, his manhood was no longer at attention at the sight of a naked woman. I could just look at him as I would a piece of art, wonderful piece of art, my piece of art. No, I was looking at my lover. A man who said he would grow with me. Neither of us would doubt our ability to please the other. We would just understand that we had to grow in our knowledge of each other. I did wonder, was this a new Max I was seeing? Was this new Max starting a new relationship? Was this the Max I had never uncovered in our years of marriage?

By the time Max and I were dressed and he was ready to leave, I thought that this “First Date,” had been a terrific success.

Max

On the way to my door, I met Sheila carrying her laundry to the laundry room. “Hey, Max, the boys at the office are having fits trying to discover who you are. They are now combing the yearbooks from the different law schools. When they ask me about you, I just smile. Are you going to be back with your ex?” she asked as the last question was probably what she really wanted to know.

“I think so, Sheila,” I said. “We are working on it.”

Sheila sadly shrugged, “Probably for the best. Max, I don’t think you would be happy as a poodle on a leash following me to office affairs. Good luck, Max,” she called as she went back into her apartment. I liked to think she was a little sad as she returned. I liked to think I represented something sweet in Sheila, something which contrasted with the viciousness she displayed at work. She was right. I would never have been happy following her and keeping up that pretense. That was why I never took any more philosophy classes.

My answering machine was full. All the calls were from Isabel. I knew what she wanted. I would just let her call one more time. The phone rang. “Max, don’t you ever listen to your answering machine?” she asked.

“Isabel, I am just now getting home,” I replied.

“Well, I guess that answers my question about how did things went last night,” she stated.

“Isabel, I am not discussing my love life with Liz, with my sister,” I told her.

“That is Okay, Max, go tell Michael and I will get it from Maria,” she said.

“Izzy, all any of you need to know is that Liz and I are talking and she is no longer engaged to her former fellow. What happens next, is for us to work out. Right now, Izzy, I need rest. I will talk to you later.” With that statement, I hung up and lay down on my bed. I had a lot of things to think out.

Chapter 25

Liz

What had last night meant? It was a lot more erotic that any of the times with Bob Silverman. Max might never have the class that Bob portrays, but I think what Max does have, is genuine. I will have to call Isabel and tell her that her alterations to the dress were perfect. I have no worry about being able to stir feelings in Max and with his new thoughts about our bed life, I have faith that I can learn to do anything. I still have to work on promises of openness in telling me what he wants. Wait, that is what the foreplay he initiated would do.

I had many people to thank. I could never condone what Max and Michael did to Sean at the bar that night in the so-called defense of my honor. I did love them for it. I could never condone what Michael and Alex did to find out the discrepancies of our divorce, but again, I did love them for it. I was building up a lot of debt to Michael. I hoped that Maria would pay him in full, with bonuses.

The Silverman divorce was behind me. I understood that all of Bob’s surveillance tapes had been confiscated. The tapes would be reviewed by the lawyers representing the women involved. If there was no criminal evidence against the Silverman’s, then the lawyers had petitioned for the tapes to be destroyed. Mr. Evans was heading this procedure. It was nice to have a lawyer in the family.

I was back at school. I had classes to teach and questions to answer. To my students, I answered, “I, unfortunately, allowed myself to get involved in a romantic nightmare. Many of the ladies nodded, they understood how easily lonely people could lose themselves.

If you have a good report with your students, they seem to support you when you are down. It was almost like, they worked extra hard to finish up the semester.

Bob Silverman was on suspension. It seems that it is more than a unwritten rule for the faculty to not get in trouble with the students, especially if the students are vocal about it. I have no idea what she wanted to prove, but Susan LaTrell was extremely vocal.

Wednesday night was chat night. Now, I might have real good news to chat about.

Max

I was perplexed about what to do about my chat partner. I was sure that she was my former wife. If I blurted out and told her I knew who she was, I might make her angry. Then, there was the reality that I could be completely wrong. Lonely452, who I had looked forward to, so much in our chats, could be a totally unknown lady.

Lonely451 says: Hi, how did your week go?

Lonely452 says: Not bad, how did yours go.

Lonely451 says: I found out the truth about my divorce.

Lonely452 says: Which is?

Lonely 451 says: I am not ready to say yet.

Lonely452 says: Does that mean there might be some litigation involved with your divorce?

Lonely451 says: Maybe

Lonely452 says: Okay, then I won’t pry. I will tell you that I talked with my ex this weekend.

Lonely451 says: What happened to that nice guy?

Lonely452 says: When I needed him, he didn’t show up. I didn’t want to say anything, but you were right about the married man. His wife caught him like I told you some time ago. She named me as one of those who broke their marriage up.

Lonely451 says: You didn’t do it.

Lonely452 says: Why do you say that?

Lonely451 says: I think his marriage was broken long before he met you.

Lonely452 says: That is a good way to think about it. Enough about him, I wanted to tell you that I had a date with my ex.

Lonely451 says: Was it good?

Lonely 452 says: I think so.

Lonely 451 says: By the way, do you know what 451 means?

Lonely452 says: No, what?

Lonely451 says: Look it up. Did you keep all the transcripts of our chats?

Lonely452 says: I just thought you chose lonely and like me had to go to 451 before the computer took your name. Yes, I have all our transcripts. Why?

Lonely451 says: There is a secret hidden in the transcripts. I only was sure a week ago. I will tell you, eventually, but it would be better if you found it yourself.

Lonely452 says: Then, you think I should search out our transcripts to discover the secret for myself?

Lonely451 says: You have helped me a great deal. Now, I think you should look back at our transcripts. I think there is less chance that you will be angry if you discover the secret yourself. I think I should go early tonight.

Lonely452 says: Okay, if you say so. Good night.

Now I had to hope that Lonely452 came to the same conclusion as I did. I also had to hope she would see the answer, as a redemption, to many of our problems. There was little doubt in my mind that I had been chatting with Liz.

What next? That was a question. I didn’t have Liz’s phone number. I assumed that Isabel had it. She set up the date. I would ask her for it. Would we go out again this next weekend or even wait that long to get together?

Liz

Lonely451 was strange this evening. We had missed two weeks while I was trying to recover from the exposure I had received from the Silvermans. Then, the cryptic, comments about his user name. Lonely451, I would look it up.

I Googled the name Lonely451. I got a series of You Tube movies. None of them made sense. I went through each of them to see if I could learn anything. Again, nothing. Lonely was not a word that could be efficiently Googled. Maybe, I should try just 451?

The first thing to come up was Fahrenheit 451, a story by Ray Bradbury. I remembered a little of it from school. That was some time ago. There were a couple You Tube trailers. The hero was a fireman in a futuristic society. His job was to start fires. He burnt books. 451 Fahrenheit was the temperature that paper in books burned. This was more promising. There were many summaries about this book to fill in my memory.

The fireman kindled fires.

The fireman questioned his actions.

The fireman started to read what he was destroying.

The fireman saw the world around himself destroyed.

This was more promising, but I still didn’t see what Lonely451 wanted me to see. Was there some key in the idea of reading what you are destroying? Max and I had been so happy until I started to look into a relationship which did not even exist. Back up now. It wasn’t all me. Max started to see more into my relationship with Sean than was there. It was true that we were both destroying the world around us, the safe world that we had built. I would think of it for a while.

The next step was to get hard copy of my chat transcripts. The way chats are constructed does not make getting hard copy efficient or simple.

The first thing I looked at were all of his comments. I was trying to build a picture of him through what he said. When we started chatting we stated that we would make no statements that would lead to discovery. Everything a person ever writes or says, leads to their discovery. Then, I looked at what I had told him. How much information could he gain to find my identity?

I turned off my computer. I was forming a ridiculous theory. Like Scarlett O’hara in “Gone with the Wind,” “I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow.”

Max

“Isabel, you know that I do not have Liz’s phone number?” I was on the phone with Isabel.

“Well, why didn’t you get it last weekend? Max, you have to think ahead,” she curtly replied.

“Izzy, we were busy last weekend. I didn’t think about her phone number, until I started to think about asking her out, for another date,” I explained,

“Well, I would have to ask Liz for permission to give her number out,” Isabel petulantly stated.

“Isabel, you are being difficult. Why won’t you just give me her number?” I was almost begging. Before Isabel, that was indeed demeaning.

“Max, I will see. I need to hear her side of the date. All she has said, so far, is that she liked what I did to her dress. Max, if you really want to call her, try her office at the Graduate Office of the Biology Department.” With that, Isabel hung up.

The next morning, I phoned the graduate offices of the Biology Department. “May I speak to Liz Parker, please?” I asked.

“Ms. Parker is in her class right now. May I take a message?” the secretary asked in return.

“Yes, ask her to call Max Evans,” Then, I gave the lady my cell phone number as well as my home phone number.

What I didn’t know was that the secretary placed this message on a post-it note and stuck the message to the door of Liz’s office. What else I didn’t know was that Pam came by before Liz returned and saw the note. She swiped the note and left one in its place.

Liz

As I passed the secretary’s office she called out. “Liz, there is a note for you to call a Max Evans. I posted it on your door.”

I hurried. I was excited. A note from Max meant that maybe, we would have another date soon.

Dear Liz:

I think we both will agree that last weekend was a mistake. Let’s break it off before we start something we both can’t handle.
Max!

I was stunned. This was not the way to break something off. Why did he start something and then, decide it was a mistake? I was sitting at my desk. There was no use going on. Bob Silverman was an asshole, but Max.

I was going to ask my advisor for permission to go home. I had been doing that a lot lately. Maybe, this would be the last time. I have just given Max too much of my heart to have this happen. I saw my advisor pass by in the hall. “Doctor Fredrick,” I called out. When she returned and saw my face she closed my office door.

“Liz, what is wrong? She asked.

I just handed her the note. It spoke for itself. Doctor Fredrick opened the door and called out, “Helen, can you come here for a moment?”

Helen was an older lady. She had worked for Doctor Fredrick for several years. “Helen, is this the note you put on Ms. Parker’s door?”

“No, Ma’am. That isn’t even my writing. My note said for Ms. Parker to call Max Evans and left several phone numbers,” Helen stated.

I said sadly, “Maybe, he changed his mind about talking to me. Maybe, he just slipped in here an left this note in place of the other one.”

Doctor Fredrick frowned and looked stern. “Liz, enough of these insecurities. This time you are not alone. This note does not match up with the young man you introduced me too several years ago when you were married to him. Liz call Max and ask what is happening.”

I looked at her and murmured, “I don’t have any phone numbers for him,”

Helen looked very upset. “I can’t remember any of the numbers, either.”

“Liz who does Max work for?” Doctor Fredrick asked.

“Pharmaceuticals Incorporated,” I answered.

Helen had the number already looked up. I dialed them. “I need to speak to Max Evans, please,” I asked.

“I am sorry, company policy does not allow employees to take personal messages at their stations,” a disembodied voice replied.

I was about to hang up when Doctor Fredrick took the phone. “Could I speak to Doctor Eugene Hewitt, please?” she requested.

“Who can I say is calling, please?” was the officious request.

“Tell him that Doctor Fredrick at the Biology Department of the university is calling.”

There was a pause, “Thank you, I will put you through in a minute,” the voice answered.

I heard a masculine voice over the receiver. “Yes,”

“Eugene, Katherine Fredrick here. It is important that I get through to Max Evans’ desk,” my advisor said.

“Of course, Katherine, you and Steven need to get together with us some time for bridge,” the masculine voice said.

“That is right, Eugene, maybe right after the semester is over.” With that, Doctor Fredrick handed me the phone.

The phone rang several times. Finally, a female voice spoke, “This is the desk of Max Evans, Teresa Harding speaking,” the voice said,

My heart was now in my throat. Yes, if she beckoned to Max, he would leave me and say that it was all a mistake, I could hardly blurt it out. “Ms. Harding, please tell Max that I understand. It was a mistake and I hope you are happy together,” I said through the tears and sobs.

Chapter 26

As I was about to hang up, I heard the voice shout, “Liz, Liz Parker is this you?”

The only thing I could think was that she wanted to gloat. My hand was still determined to hang up, but my advisor caught it. “Liz, make yourself listen to what she has to say,” she ordered.

I took back the phone. I was still crying and having trouble talking. “Yes, Ms. Harding, it is me,” I mumbled.

“Liz, what is this all about. I thought you both were back together,” she stated.

“I did too. I got a note on my office door from Max. It said that last weekend was a mistake. Now, I hear you at Max’s desk. I figured, like many men, he had changed his mind,”

“Liz, there never was anything between Max and me while you were married. Now, we are good friends, but we both agree that we are not for each other. I don’t think any other woman is for Max. He can’t get you out of his mind. Where did this note come from, anyhow? Is it in Max’s scrawl?”

I looked at the note. The writing was neat. It had been so long that I had forgotten the lousy handwriting Max had. No, I guess he could not in a million years have written something so clearly. “Ms Harding, I don’t think it is in his writing. We have no idea of where it came from.”

“It is Tess, Liz. I am not your enemy. Has that bitch, Pam Troy, been seen around your department?” Ms Harding, I mean Tess, asked.

Helen nodded. “Yes, Ms. I mean Tess, the secretary said she saw her this morning,” I explained.

“Well, Liz, that is who you want to go after. Now, I will have Max call you the first instanct he can get away.” With that she hung up.

Max

I was double-checking inventory in our storeroom. We had a big promotion coming up and I wanted to make sure we had enough stock on hand to go through with it. My cell phone rang. “Oh, Max, this is Pam, you said that if I made arrangements early enough, we might go out again. Well, I am inviting you to dinner at my place Saturday night.”

I frowned. I hadn’t given Pam my cell number that I could remember. If Isabel was that protective of Liz’s number, would she give out mine? “Pam, I already have arrangements. Sorry, I don’t think I would be able to make it,” I told her.

“All right, Max. Next time, maybe.” She hung up before I could say anything else.

The inventory finished, I returned to my desk. I found a note which said, “Max, see me as soon as possible, Tess.”

The first thing that ran through my mind was the irrational fear that something had happened because of our night together. I was just getting a chance to get back with Liz. If in some way, Tess was pregnant or something that would certainly make things difficult.

I was puffing by the time I arrived at marketing. Tess saw me and she walked to the door to greet me. “Max, you have a problem!” she said. Tess shook her head, then she said, “Max, it is a big, problem.”

O’ boy, just let me have it. Then, I thought, I have a problem, does she mean that we have a problem and it is up to me to solve it? “What is wrong, Tess?” I asked.

“Someone left a note on Liz’s desk. The note was signed, by you. It said that you didn’t want to continue your relationship with her,” Tess said.

One half of me sighed with relief and the other half was very disturbed about the note. “Who would do such a thing?” I wondered.

“Max I don’t think Pam Troy has gone away, yet,” Tess explained. Then, Tess continued, “On your lunch break, you need to drive over and talk to Liz,” Tess said.

I nodded and as soon as the lunchtime came, I would hurry over to see Liz. Now I had worries, what else did Tess tell Liz?

I could only hope that Liz would stay at her office during lunch. If not, that I could find someone who would know where she would be.

To find a parking place at the college was difficult. I, finally, parked in a restricted space. If my car was towed or if I got a ticket, it would be worth it if I found Liz. I had to run all the way from the one place I could illegally park, to the Biology Department. When I got there, most of the offices were closed. I finally found Doctor Fredrick’s office. Helen, the secretary saw me, “Can I help your sir?”

“Yes,” I said, trying to catch my breath. I am looking for Liz Parker.”

A frown crossed Helen’s face. “And, what would your business be with Ms. Parker?” she asked.

“Someone left her a message and signed my name,” I told her. “ I need to tell Liz that it wasn’t me.”

Helen went to her desk and picked up a sticky note. “Is this the message?” she asked.

I looked at the note. “I guess so, I never saw that message in my life. I called to ask Liz to call me on my home phone or my cell phone. Someone took my message and they were supposed to send it to Liz.”

I saw a softening in her face. She handed me a post-it note. “Write something for me, Mr. Evans.”

I took the small paper and wrote:
Liz:
I love you more than ever. I am trying to find you to see if we can go out this weekend.
Love Max.

The secretary frowned again as she turned the note to better read it. I always had trouble with small pages and I had to bend my lines to make them fit. When she was finished reading, she again smiled. “I am glad, Mr. Evans. We are a little protective of Liz right now.”

Helen went to her desk and called on the phone. A matronly lady came out and looking at my handwriting, she smiled and reached for my hand. “Mr. Evans, we had a problem this morning. I hope we can straighten it out. If you would be so good to follow me, we will try to find Liz.”

We were walking down the hall. I heard someone call out my name, “Max, Max, what are you doing here?”

I looked in one of the offices and I saw Pam. Look, I never hit women even when I was a child. Maria would beat me unmercifully when she wanted my cookies. Now, a guy like Sean, given sufficient reason, I could lay him out any day. Now, remember, I don’t approve of public displays of violence. “What the hell do you want, Pam?” I said.

Doctor Fredrick walked into the office and rifled through some papers on Pam’s desk. About that time, a balding Hispanic man came from the inner office. “What is going on, Pam?” He demanded.

Doctor Fredrick turned to him. “Doctor Garcia, does this look like the same hand writing?” she asked.

Doctor Garcia adjusted his glasses and peered at the note. “What does this mean, Pam?” he demanded.

Pam sputtered for a few minutes then, she just clamped her jaws shut and refused to say anything. “Hector, we think, Miss Troy took a personal note off Ms. Parkers door; then, left this in its place. It appears to be Miss Troy’s handwriting,” Doctor Fredrick stated.

Doctor Garcia spent time holding the note to the light and with a finger he traced out each word. “Pam, if this is true, this is very serious, I think you should take the rest of the day off. We will talk about this early tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Hector. I think Miss Troy should be disciplined, someway. I think that should be left up to you,” Doctor Fredrick said.

“Katherine, I am so sorry. I will do my best to take care of it.” They shook hands and Doctor Garcia shook hands with the rest of us.

Doctor Fredrick turned to her secretary. “Helen get me Eugene Hewitt on the phone, please.”

It was only a matter of minutes, “Eugene, I have another favor. Can you arrange for Max Evans to take the rest of the day off on sick leave? You can? That is good. Eugene, I am in your debt. Yes, I will explain later. It is important.” Doctor Fredrick hung up, proving that things are different with administration. “Come on, Max, we need to find Liz and get you out of here. I imagine you are double parked or something,

Liz

Now, I knew that the note was written by someone else. I don’t understand why Pam Troy would want to hurt me so much. I never did anything to her. Then, I remembered, “You stole Max, from me in high school!” Those were the words of Pam Troy. She had nursed her lust for Max, for so long that she had begun to think of him as her right.

There was a second thing that I had to consider. Teresa Harding, better known as Tess, had talked to me. “It is Tess, Liz. I am not your enemy,” she had said. Tess wasn’t anything like I expected. She must be a friend of Max’s because she knew that we were attempting to get back together. She had said as much, “Now, we are good friends, but we both agree that we are not for each other.” I wondered about this. I wondered about their relationship back in high school. I caught myself. This is what started my divorce. If I had questions, I needed to talk to Max. I could only hope that he would be open with me and that he would tell the truth.

I had picked up a salad and a fruit cup at the cafeteria. I was sitting in the Student Union just playing with my lunch. Ms. Harding, I mean Tess, had told me that she would see that Max got my message. She sounded sympathetic, but was that real. I had just been burned by another woman who had known Max. What did, “good friends, but we agree we are not for each other,” mean also?

I was talking myself into a breakdown. Across the room, I saw Doctor Fredrick. She had spotted me and was making her way through the crowd to my table. She was almost upon me when I noticed she wasn’t alone.
-------------------
new story this week. "Roswell 1891" AU with the same aliens we all know. Rated teen.
Roswell 1891
Last edited by ken_r on Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:53 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
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ken_r
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Re: "Divorce" adult M/L ch 26 pg 11 mar 14 , 2010

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Chapter 27

Liz

“Liz, Max has the afternoon off, so I am telling you to take it off, also. You two make good use of it,” with that, my advisor Doctor Fredrick left.

Max sat beside me. He reached over to my purse and removed my cell phone. He messed with it for a few minutes. Then, he handed it back to me. “Here Liz, now you have both my home and my cell phone. I called you this morning because I didn’t know any way to contact you. I wanted to ask if you wanted to do something this weekend.”

I saw the hand-strap of his cell phone hanging out of his shirt pocket. “Max, hand me your cell phone.” I commanded.

He handed it over and I put my phone numbers into it, also. “Now, we should have no more trouble contacting each other,” I said. Then, I continued, “We both have the afternoon off. What do you want to do with it?”

“First, I want to get my car before they tow it. Then, since I used my lunch hour to find you, I want a large, dripping hamburger,” Max stated.

I hadn’t made any headway on my salad. Maybe, I wanted fast food also. It wasn’t healthy, but we needed to celebrate a milestone. We had just exchanged phone numbers. Maybe, the cerebral concern with health could be replaced, this once, with sharing a MacDonald’s with Max. As it turned out, health concerns gave way to passions later.

We found Max’s car, the campus police were at lunch also, so no ticket, no tow. We had missed most of the noon crowd so we were sitting in a quiet corner of MacDonald’s, Max with what he said was a delicious Big Mac and me with a chicken sandwich. Max needed someone to nag him about his health. “Max, I talked with Ms. Harding today,” I said.

“You mean Tess?” he said as both a question and a statement.

“Yes, Tess. She wasn’t at all what I expected.” I told him.

“Liz, Tess is just a lady I work with. She has been concerned about us getting back together. She is pretty smart and maybe, she is truly a very good friend,” Max stated.

I looked at Max. This might end things right now if Max took it wrong. “Max, do you have any history with her?” I just had to ask.

Max put down his Big Mac and dabbed at his lips. “Liz, I don’t have any history with her that would have affected our marriage. I would like you to meet Tess, sometime. She is the one who insisted I seek out the causes of our divorce. Tess put me onto Pam Troy and her connection with Sean DeLuca,” Max informed me.

He really hadn’t answered my question. “Max, when I talked to her, she seemed to have a concern for you,” I stated.

“I guess, in her way, she does. Liz, Tess is one of the people I want to explain. There are a few more. I would like to wait a bit, but I want to tell you everything I have been doing since our divorce. I think you need to know the good and the bad that has been my lot since we broke up.” Max said.

I thought, this is going to go two ways. “Max, are there any questions you want to ask of me?”

Max’s Big Mac had dripped a small pool of mustard, ketchup and special sauce on the carton it came in. He was stirring the pool with his plastic fork. “Only what you feel you want to tell me?” he finally answered.

I shook my head. “No, Max, it won’t work that way. I need to know a lot about what you have been doing since we broke up, but I have the same need for you to know all about what I have done.”

Max nodded, his head, “Do we have to do all of it in one afternoon?” he inquired.

I laughed, “No, but there are things that I want to tell you about me and Sean. Finish your hamburger, Max and let’s take a walk,” I knew the grammar wasn’t quite right, but I was going to lead the way by clearing Sean completely out of my mind and let Max know exactly how stupid I had been. Well I was, also, going to tell Max that I never cheated on him during our marriage.

Max

There is something about sitting with a friend in the park. It is both sinister and comforting at the same time or rather, it has the potential of both danger and safety at the same time. We all have memories of being with families, the children being free to run about in view of parents, without any danger. Friends had told me of breaking up with their girls in the park. There was safety from too great of a scene. By the time shock had turned to anger, you could be miles away in the safety of a new life.

Our park was surrounded by hundred year-old cottonwoods. The city fathers, at first, were all for clearing away everything natural. They envisioned every square foot of the city as taxable: malls, parking lots or large buildings. Suddenly, in a frenzy of conscience, someone looked around and saw that the large trees, which had been the original attraction to this location, had been cut down. They searched for the remaining examples of longevity and finally, almost in religious fervor, they created a park dedicated to the inhabitants of the city. Thus, for our enjoyment, was preserved one of many, large shady trees under which to sit and talk.

She turned to me, I knew she wanted to be serious. “Max, I don’t know how it is for boys. They tend to see sex as a sport. For many girls, the entrance into the sexual scene is one of passage. Like birth, first communion, marriage and so forth, sex is the passage into an adult life style. It is best, if it is shared with someone who you are in love with, but there are times that it just seems to be the thing to do. Sometimes, it is being in love with romance,” she was sharing insights into her life before we became a pair in high school.

Liz continued, “I was a freshman in high school. My friends were pairing off and I saw them comfortable with the guys of their choice. Maria and I, in our little girl fashion, were both gossiping to each other about, imagined passions they were sharing. Maria had found a guy who she was becoming infatuated with. First offering him a mothering protection for someone she saw who had a rougher life than she, then, as someone who she wanted to share everything with, even her body and her love. Her intimate discussions of her plans, seeing the excitement of coming events, all stirred me to wish I had a similar experience. The night, Maria had disappeared to share with Michael, I found myself alone with her older cousin. Sean came on to me. I wasn’t in love with Sean, like Maria was with Michael, but I was in love with love. That was my first adventure into the sexual world. It was a disaster.”

A few weeks ago, after a series of terrible experiences with dating, I finally gave in to Sean’s repeated entreaties. False stories about me having an affair with him had helped wreck our marriage. Now, my social life in a shambles, I decided to see if there could have ever been such a thing, such as feelings between myself and Sean. He wasn’t any worse than many of the blind dates I had faced. What made it bad, was that this was something I had chosen. What I did see, once I escaped from his clutches was that any thoughts that I would have left you for Sean were absurd. Max I was angry with you because I thought you had cheated on me. I wasn’t stupid except for the need to prove to myself that Sean was not a viable relationship. That is my entire history with Sean. The rest were rumors spread by he and Pam.”

I didn’t know what to say. All of this had already been related to me as Lonely451. I wanted Liz to make that connection herself. Proving the viability of a relationship was not only a need for my ex bride. I had done the same thing with Tess. My experience with her had been mutually pleasant and also enlightening. Tess and I agreed that she couldn’t be the girl for me.

Liz

After my confession, we both were quiet. I wish I could tell what he was thinking. We were sitting opposite each other at a small table Max reached over and took one of my hands in both of his. To hear his voice was assurance that he accepted what I had just told him. “Liz, you are not the only one who needed to exorcize a high school experience from their mind. While we were married, this experience was more of an embarrassment than any memory. Tess and I were sweethearts in our freshman year. Sweethearts was the operative word. I was much too naïve to see her willingness and her invitations for sex. By the time we graduated, her reputation made me not want to acknowledge our former attachments. When the stories began to surface, I was almost laughing at someone giving me that much credit as a lover. I figured that with our one experience in high school, there was no way you would believe Tess and I had any real history. Until a few weeks ago, Tess and I only occasionally lunched together and passed the time of day as we encountered each other at work. More to spite Pam, that any thing else, Tess suggested we attend a business party as a couple. From Tess, I learned a lot about management. After the party, we both wondered what we had missed in our youth. This led to time in bed together. It also affirmed, first to Tess and then to me, that we would never make it as a couple. Tess is a good friend. It was she who suggested where I should look to the causes of our divorce.” Max finished what he wanted to tell me and now, I was clear about his relationship with Tess. It, also, cleared up thoughts I had entertained this morning when I talked to her.

Max

We walked back to her apartment. Neither of us knew what would happen this afternoon. While she was in her bedroom, I looked at her computer table. There was a pile of papers all transcripts of Lonely451 and lonely452. Of course, I knew everything they contained. I had gone over the transcripts, on my computer, dozens of times. This removed every doubt of who Lonely452 actually was. Suddenly, Liz returned back into the room.

“Please, Max, I am studying those. I am not ready to let anyone else see them yet,” she pleaded.

I kidded her, “Remember, we are not going to have any secrets anymore,” I said.

“Yes, I know, Max. I promise that I will let you read those papers, but there is something on them I must figure out first. When I have done that, I will give them to you. They will tell you a great deal about me,” Liz declared.

I nodded. I only hoped she figured out what Lonely451 meant when he told her that there was important information in those transcripts.

We sat on Liz’s coach. Just like old times or maybe, like the time I was with Sheila, Liz was sitting with her legs folded up under her. Each of us was holding a Cocoa Cola. That was a far cry from that $50 a bottle ice wine Sheila and I had been drinking. Just like the time with Sheila, Liz’s eyes became smoky. Again, I was watching a woman I was interested in, arguing with herself and I was, again, the topic. I sat my coke can down and taking the one out of Liz’s hand, I pulled her on top of me as I leaned back on the couch.

Liz

Yes, I must remember to allow Max to read the chat transcripts. They would tell him a lot about me. The transcripts still seemed private to me. They would remain so until I discovered what my chat partner, Lonely451 said I should discover. I had my legs curled up under me. I was trying to decide how aggressive I should be with Max this afternoon. When he put down his Coke and took mine, out of my hand, I knew something was going to happen. Max pulling me over on top of him was decisive. Leaning on top of Max as he kissed me, I could feel ‘hard evidence’ of his intentions. I swung one leg off the couch. I took both of Max’s hands and pulled him up. Once I had him standing, I led him to my bedroom.

Max

The experience of bedding an old friend has both good and bad sides. The good is that you are affirming you feelings to her. You have nothing to prove. The bad is that if you are not careful, you allow the excitement of sleeping with her to play out. That is one of the big dangers of marriage. This afternoon was unscripted, unplanned and totally spontaneous. Well, Doctor Fredrick may have foreseen the result of an afternoon taken after a morning of stress. We were sitting on Liz’s bed. The need for talking seemed to cease, as we started kissing and fondling each other.

Sex and reproduction were the most primative of human drives. Even though with modern methods, humans no longer expected to conceive a progeny with a sex act, that ancient sense was always there. The kissing and the feeling of a warm body soon led to stronger actions. Liz helped me off with my shirt as I helped her with her blouse. There are books written about petting being a primitive assurance of the health and wellbeing of your partner.

More desire caused me to help Liz out of her slacks. If we had been on a date and Liz had been wearing a skirt, my hands would already have been stroking her bare legs. As my eyes feasted on those


legs, Liz sat up and reached for my belt. She managed to open my pants and they fell to the floor. I quickly returned beside her in bed.

I had no idea how Liz felt, but I knew that the soft touch of her body was stimulating to me. My hand resting on the curve of her belly gave promise to me that, someday, we would produce a child. Right now, my fingers, of their own will, traveled to her pubic region under her panties. Liz, sensing my urgency, raised her hips and allowed me to slide the garment from her body. Then, it was simply the removal of my shorts, her bra and then, the pumping of my love out of my body. I had forgotten to ask Liz, if she was still on the pill or if she would feel more comfortable, if I used a condom. We must find time to talk about that. Both of us had experienced multiple partners, since our divorce. For myself, I surely owed it to Liz to get a medical check up before we went much further. It might already have been too late. Until the results of my check up were made known, I would make extra effort to use a condom, from now on.

Liz

All the things that Max had talked about after our date last weekend, were forgotten. Just putting us together in a romantic setting and we were in bed with no forethought. I thought that Max was a little concerned afterward. He didn’t tell me what was wrong. He passionately kissed me and then, he left. The day had started off by me thinking that Max wanted to break off with me. I met the infamous Tess Harding and found that she was not my enemy. I would like to meet her in person, someday. The day ended with Max in my bed. There was something that worried him, but I was assured it wasn’t me. The time in bed with Max was different from the many lovers I had slept with. One, was that Max, this time ,didn’t wear a condom. I was still on the pill. Max hadn’t asked about that. There was still the thing about having sex with multiple lovers. Maybe, that was what he was thinking about. I was thinking, how could I suggest to him that we both needed to get a medical checkup at the clinic?

The second thing was that while in Max’s arms, I was thinking of a future, not just immediate gratification.

Wednesday was coming up. I had missed many of our chats. Last time Lonely451 had told me to look at the many transcripts of our chats. It seemed that he had learned something that, so far, he wasn’t willing to share, but he did give me clues.

It is funny how when you consider the many separate chats they seem disjointed. They only have meaning for the time and date of the chat. When you look at the whole transcripts and read them as one story, things jump out at you. I was still considering the name lonely 451. I had just put in numbers until Lonely452 was accepted. Did Lonely451 have purpose in his choice? The internet was full of references and quotes about relationships made in this novel.

Next, I started reading our transcripts in order without a break in the chats. Slowly something was coming to me. References of the bad boy from high school, references to how much Lonely451 loved his wife. They began to form a pattern. This was a pattern that was familiar to me. Could this be the story of Max? Had fate taken a hand and brought us back together at least virtually?

I had been glossing over my part of the chats. Now, I went back. I had told Lonely451 everything that was important to me. I told him everything about Bob Silverman, all about our dates. I even told him about my second time with Sean. I remembered that Maria said that Max and Michael had beat Sean up pretty badly. How long had Max known that Lonely452 was me? I had told him some pretty personal stuff.

I went back and looked at what he had told me. Lonely451 had denied to the last that he had slept with first high school girlfriend. Then, he finally said that he did go on a date with his former girlfriend from high school a short time ago. Tess had assured me she wasn’t the enemy. How could she sleep with Max and still be on my side? Then, it hit me, again. Why had I slept with Sean, that last time? I wanted to see if there was any possible way that I could have had an affair with Sean as an adult. For different reasons, I found out that in no way would I want to continue any thing with Sean. Maybe, Tess was the same way. Max had been free and Tess, maybe, had wondered what she might have missed long ago. She had said that they were not meant for each other. There wasn’t any infidelity involved with either of us. We had only been with someone else before we had married or after we had divorced. Tess was telling me that no matter what, she didn’t want to be in the way of Max and myself getting back together. I shouldn’t be mad at her, any more than I wanted Max to be mad at me for sleeping with Sean the other night.

Chapter 28

Max

This was chat night. I had been with Liz twice. We didn’t yet have a date for this weekend, but we had worked out several things about our lives. I had gone to the health clinic the first thing this morning. They promised a reading in two days. If Liz and I went on a date this weekend and we ended up in bed then at least I would know. Visions passed in front of my mind. What if the check up came back that I had contracted something? Many diseases could be treated, but what if it came back as something like Aids? Well then I would want Liz to know and to get checked up from our time that other afternoon. I was thinking back. Most of the women I was with were pretty decent. I thought of the professional lady. What about her? True I used a condom and probably she was the most careful of all. Wanda and Sheila, like wise were careful about their safety. O well, I would know before the Weekend. Then I wondered about Liz. In our chats we hadn’t discussed sexually transmitted diseases.

I signed on the chat and waited. It was some time before she signed on. I was beginning to fear that she wasn’t going to appear. Lonely452 no sooner signed on before she had grabbed me and initiated a private chat room, she started right out, there was no preamble.

Lonely452 says: You said that your ex-wife left you to be with an old lover from high school?

Lonely451 says: Yes, that is what I thought. I don’t believe she actually did that.

Lonely452 says: Are you still as much in love with her as you were when you first married?

Lonely451 says: No, I am much more in love with her now, than I was before.

Lonely452 says: You said you found out what caused your divorce. Is that true?

Lonely451 says: Yes.

There was a halt. I wondered if something had clicked with my chat partner. When she started, I noticed she started typing and stopped several times. Finally when she hit the send key, I saw her message.

Lonely452 says: Max, it this you?

Lonely451 says: Yes.

Lonely452 says: Max, how long have you known that you were chatting with me?

Lonely451 says: Only a couple weeks. I thought it might be you, when I told you to go back over the chat transcripts. I wanted you to discover who I was for yourself.

Lonely452 says: Max, this is embarrassing. I have told you all my actions, thoughts and secrets. Do you have any respect for me anymore?

Lonely451 says: Of course I do Liz. You were confiding in a trusted chat partner. We were both doing what we should have been doing all along in our marriage. Fate was wiser than either of us. Fate caused us to confide in each other. Fate showed us both another world from which we grew up in. Fate showed both of us that the other world was not the one we wanted to live in.

There was a long pause. I watched the indicator to see when she started to type. This chat line had indicators of who was preparing a message to send. Finally, I saw that she started to type. She didn’t hesitate. Once started the message came quickly.

Lonely452 says: What do we do now?

I had been thinking of this moment for a long time. I quickly typed and sent.

Lonely451 says: For the time, we should each keep our accounts for the chat line. After we see how things work out, then, we maybe won’t need them. The immediate question I have is, do you want to go out this weekend?

Lonely452 says: Yes to the last question. Does this mean that you want to discuss getting back together permanently or do you value your freedom too much to want the permanent ties?

Lonely451 says: As your chat partner, I once told you that I wanted to get married again. I also said I wanted someone almost like my ex-wife. You told me that I had to initiate change if I was going to make a marriage work again. I want to discuss how I can change so this would happen.

Lonely452 says: I think everything about our marriage was perfect except for mutual trust and our own insecurities. You need to listen to more about my life, which will be mostly ‘girl talk.’ I need to know more of what you want out of love and life. We both need to understand what the other wants and explain what we are able to give. Maybe, we should read the chat transcripts together and discuss them.

Lonely451 says: Maybe, but do you really want to know all about the affairs I have had since we were divorced? Most couples feel that what was done when they were free should not be part of their conversation.

Lonely452 says: True, but our problem was that we did not know enough about each other to dispel rumors when we heard them. In this case, I think we both need to know all about each other. Of course you must understand whom I went to and why, when you were no longer my husband. Before we even try to become married again, we need to make sure there will be nothing that might, again, create doubt. Max, there is something else. You are going to have to accept my help getting you back in school. If we hadn’t divorced, I would have worked until you finished your graduate degree. You have to accept that if we have children that will slow you down, but not be a reason to quit.

Lonely451 says: All right we need to discuss this. For this weekend, what about dinner and a movie, your choice?

Lonely 452 says: Okay, dinner, a show and maybe, extras.

Lonely 451 says: Does this mean that you will tell Maria that we are trying to get back together and I can share a beer with Michael again?

Lonely452 says: Lol, of course. I will call Maria and suggest that Michael invites you out for a beer as soon as possible. I will pick out a movie and you can pick me up at 7:30 Saturday night.

Lonely451 says: Well, then, I guess it is good night.

Lonely452 says: Nite, Max.

Liz

Could I have ever told Max the many intimate things about my dating Bob or even Sean? Well, Sean had told everyone, intimacies that were only in his mind. With Bob, every indiscretion I had made, was on those tapes and I now knew, that one or both of Max’s parents had viewed them. What would they say to Max? Maria had told me that the Evans’ had gone all out to protect me. Maybe, that would include what was on the tapes also. I wanted to make sure that I told Max everything. I wanted anything he heard to come from me first. For now, the first thing for tomorrow was for me to go to the health clinic. I think I had been careful, except for the one time Max slept with me without a condom. Bob, probably had been careful, it he wasn’t, I am sure Marcia would have cracked down on him earlier. Now, Sean, was another question. I was a little worried about him.

Max

On the way home from work, I stopped by the clinic. They handed me a envelope, which stated that I was free from any detectable diseases. At least, I could date Liz and even sleep with her after if the occasion developed, without guilt. When I got home, I received a phone call from Maria. “Max, can you come to dinner tonight?” she asked. I wondered why her request sounded more like a command. I, also, wondered why she invited me on such short notice.

For Sheila, a $50 a bottle wine was appropriate. For the Guerins, a sixpack of black German beer would be much more appreciated. Michael opened two beers and we sat talking while Maria finished up supper. Supper was a small roast for three. Maria included several things she had purchased at the deli. I noticed that nothing was said about Liz and me during supper. After the dinner dishes were safely in the washer, Michael and Maria seated me in their living room with the second pair of beers for us men folks. Maria was sipping on a goblet of wine as she sat opposite of both Michael and myself.

Michael was sitting close enough to seem to be giving me support, but he was distant enough to enjoy the inquisition he was sure I was in for. Maria and Michael, I am sure, had come to a decision as to how they would support Liz and myself.

Maria started, “Max, no marriage is without rough spots. If you and Liz get back together, what will you do to get by them this time?”

I thought. What did she want me to say? “Well, I would hope we would both be more open. I would hope that we would both be more patient with each other.”

“No, Max that is not what I mean. What would you do? What you would do with Liz is not the question. What would you, alone, do to get over rough spots in your marriage?” she demanded.

I thought a long time about that one. “I would try to never judge Liz’s actions without more evidence. I would try to not leave Liz any room to doubt me.” Something from my college appeared in my mind. “If Liz did do something, I would try to be more tolerant. Liz would be my wife and she isn’t perfect any more than I am. I would hope I could weigh any thing she did and measure that against what we lost while divorced.” Maria did place a lot of pressure on my mind. Apparently, my answer pleased her as she looked at Michael and he was trying to contain a grin.

“Max, you know I have an Hispanic background. In Latin marriages, there is a co-madre as well as a co-padre. These people are to help a married couple, listen to them when they have problems and mostly advise restraint. Maybe, if Michael and I had taken a more active part in our best friends marriage, it wouldn’t have dissolved. Together, the four of us might have discovered Pam and my cousin’s part in messing with you guys. Maybe, this relationship might help us someday if our travel gets too rocky.” Maria sounded as if she had given me approval and she, also, was asking for my help if they ever needed it.

“Maria, Michael, the chat line was the best thing that ever happened to Liz and me. It was hard to tell someone else my thoughts. I am sure that Liz struggled, also. Now that Liz and I have shared all of our past, maybe, we can continue to be open. I do not mean that we will share every thought we each have. We have to preserve something to keep our identity. I missed the talks I had with Michael, even the talks I had with you before our divorce. Sometimes, interfering is not a bad thing,” I explained.

“That is fine, Max, but you have to promise not to get mad when your friends interfere in your life.” Maria looked at Michael and cleared her throat. “Now, Max, what about the women you dated while you were divorced? Are you going to entertain dreams of returning to any of them? Maria asked.

“Maria, most of the dates I had were strange. One or two were nice women I have good memories of, but they agreed that we would not find what either of us want from each other, even for a dalliance,” I stated.

The conversation degenerated into subjects that we had missed during the time I had been divorced. I had a date on Saturday with Liz. We hadn’t yet decided what we would do. It had to be something we would both enjoy. I, also, didn’t know that the next evening, Maria had invited Liz to dinner.

Liz

The invitation to supper from Maria had the tone of an imperial command. We regularly hadn’t had much communication since my divorce. At first, I appreciated that Maria and Michael hadn’t weighed in with their opinions. That was what Maria had expressed to me at that time. She and Michael would remain neutral. The only real way to remain neutral was to be absent. Except for the few times I called her in desperation, I hadn’t had much time with her. Our talk the night Max rescued me brought on a new tone reminiscent of the times before, when I was dating Max and when we were married.

“Chica, Michael and I tried not to interfere in your problems with Max. Now, we are not sure that we shouldn’t have. Michael had said, “Just let it play out. Max and Liz are big kids and they have to make their own way.”

“Now,” Maria stated, “we think maybe we should have been the voices of reason. You and Max lost a lot from your own insecurities and perspectives. You heard things that were not true. You let your imaginations run wild and the imaginations were much worse than anything real. You both hurt each other badly. I told you that Michael and I tried to never let problems cross the bedroom threshold. Are you going to be able to do that with Max? Can you give up all the evil thoughts you once held against him? Can you forget the lovers you have had since the divorce and forgive the lovers Max has also, had?”

Mentally, I had been working my way through these questions. Now, looking at Maria I could either get mad or accept her concern as something she and Michael held for both of us. “Maria, I can only promise to Max that I will try,” I returned.

Maria nodded her head. I noticed that Michael just sat there listening. Michael and Max had been the best of friends. They were both drinking buddies, as far as either of them really drank, but they also, had been buddies in their activities. Michael, I am sure missed this as much, as I imagined did Max. “Maria, Max and I have only been together a couple times. Does he really want me? Do I trust him to not break my heart again? Do we both have the ability to talk to each other and be opened about both our joys and our fears?” At that time, I thought Maria hadn’t been told about our chat line. For the moment, I wanted to keep that information just between Max and me. I had no idea that Max had confessed all about it to the Guerins.

Maria looked at me very sternly. “Chica, do you completely have that no good cousin of mine out of your life?”

I looked at Maria. Then, I smiled. “Maria, I hope to never see your cousin again, either romantically or socially. He was a mistake when I was in high school and he was a bigger mistake later. He just entertained, with the help of Pam Troy, the idea that he could have me again. He was right once, but never again! I think I have learned my lesson.”

Maria nodded. The conversation with both of them became like the past. That is, the past where we could talk about Max, but not the past that yet included him. The dinner was simple. Of course, it was only an excuse to get me to talk to them. I felt the evening ended on a happy note.
--------------------------
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Re: "Divorce" adult M/L ch 28 pg 12 mar 21, 2010

Post by ken_r »

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L-J-L 76

Chapter 29

Max

Michael called me and asked if I had time for a beer? Did I have time? What else did I have? We met at a quiet place where we thought we wouldn’t be bothered. “Michael, how do you and Maria maintain your relationship?” I asked.

“Simple, Max, I keep my mouth shut. There are times she drives me crazy, but at those times I try to keep close enough to feel the warmth of her body. I have learned that if I just remain silent, usually, Maria will see reason. She doesn’t want to do things that would endanger our relationship. If I just reach out and pull her close, she usually will ask for my advice. I try to not judge, but to gently explain my thoughts. In between her kisses, I find her remarkably reasonable,” Michael explained.

I nodded. If only I could learn to do that with Liz. “Do you think Liz would ever want to remarry me?” I asked.

“I think so, if you just give her time. Remember, these dates may be the first dates of a whole new life,” Michael sagely stated.

This conversation with Michael was on my mind when I approached Liz’s place to pick her up for our next date. 7:30 Saturday night was a bit late for dinner, but Liz had called me and asked if I would take her out to dinner before our movie. I knew that Liz enjoyed Chinese food, so I picked a Chinese buffet.

We were eating when Liz looked at me and made a proposal. No, not the proposal of marriage, but a statement which might either terminate our relationship or further enhance our chances of getting back together. “Max, I propose, on each date for a while, we each ask the other one question about their past. Normally, I subscribe to the theory that what is done while either of us was single is not information necessarily, which needs to be shared. For us, it is different. Things of our past allowed us to be driven apart. I will ask you a question and then, you may ask me one.”

I thought, neither Liz nor myself were trying to impress the other. We were trying to sort through things which had caused our break up. Many of the questions either of us had, had already been disclosed in our computer chats. If we didn’t work through these things, they might again be a stumbling point later. I nodded, knowing that this might prove to be difficult and embarrassing. “Go ahead, Liz. It might be a good idea,” I agreed.

Liz had folded her napkin and signaled the waiter to replenish her iced-tea. “Max, Lonely451 told Lonely452 that he had gone to a prostitute. What was it really like? What was it like to pay someone for sex? she asked.

This might be a tough one. I turned my coffee cup right side up and signaled the waiter. I wanted strong black coffee to get me through this one. “Through 451 I stated, I did not like the word ‘whore.’ In her way, she was an honest woman offering an honest service. She made no deception in herself or what she offered. She came with a menu, extras would cost more. As a person, she was young, intelligent and educated. She was a girl working her way through college. When faced with her questions, I might as well have been back in high school. I, finally, stuttered that I had been recently divorced and she just went from there. She went through the mechanical processes of sex. She had no kisses; they would be saved for expressions of love. There was no foreplay, except for her getting me back for another try. She operated on my body to create pleasure for two hours. When she was finished with her time, she simply said if I wanted her again there was a number I could call. When she left, I felt an emptiness. I also felt a wonder, if my money had been well spent. There were no lingering memories. I always felt that on a date, even a one night stand, there were always memories. Memories of hope and other subtleties that are hard to explain. Like renting a car, you get what you pay for, but there is no reason to wax it or dream about accessories for it. When you turn it back, it is gone forever. The worst thing about going to a professional woman and paying for it, was that I had to admit that I couldn’t share love on my own. I hired it, and the service was done to me, not shared with me.” I hope I was truthful getting Liz to understand what I felt.

Liz sat there for a time thinking. Then, she said, “Okay, Max, now it is your turn.”

I thought for a time, “Liz, I know that Robert Silverman hurt you badly at the end. When you first met him, what did he do that made you enjoy his company?” I hoped that this was a question that Liz could face without too much pain.

Liz

Max had dished me out a difficult question. Maybe, it was no more painful to me than admitting that paying for love was not satisfying for him. “Max, being with him was a lot like being with you. Bob was very tender and caring; at , he appeared to be. I think later that Bob just had cultivated his technique to lure women to him. Now, I do not think that anything he said or did was real. Bob had a way of making me forget everything except for the moment. The first time, I was so entranced that I didn’t think ahead. The second time, I knew that what I had was only for the minute. Max, in a way, I was paying for it. No, not in money, but in self esteem.”

Max stopped me and said, “I had one friend who told me that we always pay for it some way. Sometimes, it feels like the payment is an investment and other times, it feels like the payment is just for a service. The woman who told me about this said that the way we feel afterward is what makes the difference.”

I nodded and continued, “Bob never demanded anything. He never asked for anything except for my company on a date. Things just had a way of
making me feel that I wanted to please him, anyway I could.” I wasn’t ready to discuss Bob’s introduction to oral sex with Max, but I did want to tell Max I had gone to Bob because I felt he gave me something back.

“On that first date, Bob was just so gentle. Later I came to think that he was laying a cunning trap. I fell in love with him. For a short time, he was all I ever wanted. Max, you have to understand, I even forgot you for a time. I forgot the love we had and the anger I was still filled with. Bob, at first, filled me with peace and contentment. We did things that I would never think of doing with someone else. That morning, we went from his shower to his kitchen without dressing. I would never have suggested doing something like that on my own.”

“Yet, when we did almost the same thing at your apartment, you seemed willing,” Max stated. “Have you changed or what?”

“Max, it wasn’t the same thing. When you suggested we wait until after breakfast before dressing, at first, I did it willingly because I wanted to not do something with a man like Bob that I was unwilling to do with someone I really loved. Then, Bob was erased from my mind. Max, I was regaling in the feeling that I was with you. Then, being naked with you was its own pleasure. If you enjoyed looking at me, then I was going to allow myself the pleasure of looking at you. For all intents, Bob was gone.” I was watching Max with every word I uttered. I was looking for something, I do not know what. Maybe, I was looking for Max to see that I was offering him my body. At the same time, I was asking for him to be comfortable in offering his body to me.

Max

I was thinking, Liz was far from a super model. Looking at her stirred up emotions, not like looking at the centerfold of “PlayBoy.” Well maybe the emotions were a little like voyeuristic ogling. There was so much more. We had allowed doubts about sex to drive us apart, but love is so much more than just sex. That must have been what Tess was talking about, the same with Sheila. They both offered companionship and sex, but they never allowed themselves to truly fall in love. Probably through experience, the pains were too great when they had the inevitable breakups. Both of these women went into relationships, not looking for eternity. They both had plans for themselves and these plans at this time did not include a permanent companion.

Now with Liz, I was seeking a woman to be mother to my children. I was seeking a woman to kiss me every morning, no matter whether I was happy or sad. This would be a woman who I knew would be there for my successes and my failures. She, also, would be a woman I would want to always support. Yes I would enjoy looking at her body, now and when we both got old. The girls in “PlayBoy” were sharing themselves with every guy who bought a magazine. Looking at Liz should be just for me.

My mind drifted to things Liz had said. Somewhere in my mind, I also heard Maria. Liz had told about the old man who strayed to the whorehouse with the consequence of receiving a concussion from his wife. I also thought about the rest of the story Liz had told. That wife fought right beside him when they were threatened. Somewhere along our conversations, I had promised Maria that I would try to be tolerant with Liz in any mistakes she made. Like the old man, there would be consequences, but I hoped that Liz would also be tolerant with me. Our relationship was more than just the joys of marriage. Our relationship would be about staying together, no matter what either of us did.

I guess the diner was good and that we both enjoyed the movie. My mind had too many things to consider to be bothered about what we were doing. We soon found ourselves back at my apartment.

Liz

My first date with Bob didn’t count. I thought until he told me he was married, as he kissed me at my door, that I was in love with him. The second date was the one I had to consider. I knew that Bob was married. I knew that going with him had no future. Why had I accepted him as I had?

The answer was simple. My self-esteem was low. I needed that comfort that Bob was so able to give any woman he was with. For a time, Bob could make a woman feel like she was the most important thing on Earth. I wondered how long Marcia, his wife, could have put up with this. I guess she took him like I did on that last date. She knew that nothing he said was a promise forever. Until he became so public that she couldn’t ignore him, she accepted what he could give her. He had always returned, so she had learned to ignore the truth, balanced against the pleasure he gave her. I would never want to be in that position. I accepted Bob that second weekend for what I got, but I was still looking for something better. Was I still looking for Max?

We returned to his apartment after the movie.

Max

Instead of instigating a petting session immediately, I took Liz’s hands and led her to the couch. We sat there facing each other. “Liz, you know that I visited several women, while we were separate. I was worried about anything I would bring back to you. The other night we had unprotected sex. That scared me. I did visit a clinic and they gave me a clean bill of health as far as they could see. If we continue to see each other, I promise not to be with anyone else. If we can get back together, I hope for children. I think, eventually love will be without concern for any protection, because there will be no need for that.”

Liz looked at me. “Max, I also worried. I worried especially about that night with Sean. We are going to have to get past that sometime.” I went to the clinic and they said I, likewise, did not have any discernable diseases.” As she said this, I could feel that she was seeking for confirmation and forgiveness of any of her past actions.

Liz

I think that Max’s action the other night completely slipped my mind. I was glad that he had concern enough to see the clinic. My mind panicked for a minute. What would either of us have said or done if the results of the clinic had not been so good? Deep down, I knew that Max would be the responsible one. He would have told me and made me go to a clinic. Right now I didn’t want anything to take me away from him. What would I have done? My mind takes a sigh. Probably I would have done the same as Max. I would be eternally devastated, but I wouldn’t want to be responsible for taking any baggage of medical concerns to him.

Max reached for me and I leaned into him. He leaned back and pulled me on top of his body. I could feel his passion growing in his pants as my lips met his. My body rippled as I felt his hands work their way down to my waistband. I felt his hands release the band on my skirt and he pushed it down. I felt his thumbs pressing my flesh through the smoothness of my slip and hose. I stood up and the skirt fell to the floor. I reached under my slip and pulled down my panty hose to hang around my ankles. Max reached to wrap his arms around my thighs. He pushed up my slip and I felt his lips against my legs. This was as far as I wanted to go sitting in the living room. I reached down taking his hand, and as he stood up. I kicked off the panty hose. I led the way into what I wanted to soon call “our bedroom.” Our bedroom would be any bedroom that we shared.

Max

I didn’t then know what Liz was thinking about. I saw a cloud of worry cross her face. I didn’t want her to feel anything but love. I reached for her and pulling her lips to mine, I could feel the urgency in my groin and I am sure Liz felt it also. Her breasts were pushing against my chest and increasing the tension I felt lower down.

When my hands began to explore Liz’s body, it was so much different than when I was with other women. Yes, the feeling of a soft feminine body would always be a pleasure, but with other women, it was like taking a tour to a foreign land, to which you would never return. With Liz, I was traveling paths I hoped to study for a lifetime. I don’t pretend to know about other men, but the texture of a woman’s slip and the weave of hose over her legs is very arousing.

Liz, finally, stood and dropped her skirt to the floor. She pulled her panty hose down. Before she could kick them off, I again pulled her to me. I was kissing her bare legs under her slip. Suddenly, the words of the professional woman flowed through my mind. “Remember, honey, extras cost more.” The extras I wanted to share with Liz would be worth any price. Tess had said, “We all pay for it in the end.” I did not worry what price Liz would extract from me. The minutes I was experiencing with her, right now, were beyond price, worth anything I possessed. I do not know how she felt, but she took my hand and led me to my bedroom. If we could ensure feelings like we had now, I can vouch that nothing Liz could ever do would make me leave her. If she chose to throw the kitchenware at me again, I would just stand there. I couldn’t speak for her, but I would endure anything to remain near her. If she hit me with the frying pan, I only hoped she would take me to the clinic to get repaired

Liz

How was this Max different from the one I had first married? It took a while, but I finally figured it out. This Max is more self-assured. True, he might disappoint me and fail me in the future, but in words of the old woman, “I might get angry, but indiscretions would not be reason for leaving him.” Now, I might plant a figurative concussion on his head, but yes, afterward, I would take him to the hospital to heal him. No, don’t get me wrong, I would never physically hurt Max. I would not allow him to ever physically hurt me. If Max ever indicated that he no longer wanted me, I would be greatly hurt. If we couldn’t heal our relationship, then I guess, I would have to just walk away. I hoped that I could build in Max a desire for me that he would never want to stray.

Love this night started out gentle, but it built to a heat that we had not to then experienced. There was no request, no indication of him wanting more, I just slid down his body until my face was buried in his groin. Every kiss caused a shudder to run through his body. I took him between my lips and slowly slipped his man-hood in and out of my mouth. I felt Max pulling my shoulders and I progressed back to his face. Max entered me once again and it was him who uttered sighs of satisfaction.

The first thing, when we woke the next morning, Max bounded up and rushed to the bathroom. I had a view of his naked body as he rushed away. When he returned, it was my turn. Since I, likewise, was naked I returned the favor, by slowly walking before Max so he could view every movement I made. I could smell the fresh breath of toothpaste, so I like wise brushed. Returning, I found Max holding out his hand. “Liz, let’s shower, not to wash away anything from last night, but to start a new life from now on.”

Max led me to the bathroom and allowed me to adjust the shower. We were soaked as the water cascaded over our bodies. We kissed and petted. I felt my own hands running over Max. As I touched his shaft, I again, felt the shudder. I didn’t want to push Max beyond his ability to control himself so my hands wandered higher. Finally, he reached behind me and turned off the shower. Stepping out of the shower he assisted me. No, Max didn’t have the magic warm draft to dry us, but again, the texture of the towels both dried and stimulated us. With this Max, I had no regrets. I already was ready to spend the rest of my life with him as he led me straight from the shower to his kitchen.

Once there, Max took out dishes he had prepared before. He heated them in the microwave and served a dish of pastries and English muffins to be served with strawberry jam. The coffee had been prepared with a timed Mr. Coffee. He served heavy cream and a sweetener of my choice.

This was better than anything the expertness of Bob had offered me. With Max, I didn’t ask when we could do this again. I could see in his eyes that as far as he wanted, again, would be as soon as possible.

Chapter 30

Max

I had returned Liz to her apartment. As far as I was concerned, remarriage should be as soon as possible. It was a few days later when I had a phone call from a person I never hoped to see again. “Hey Max, I hear you and Liz are getting back together. How’s about one more time just for fun?” Pam Troy asked.

Pam just didn’t get it. I didn’t have the same attraction for her as she apparently had for me. Even if I had thought that she brought the hottest sex in the universe, nothing compared to what I wanted from Liz.

“Pam, you started rumors which lead to the downfall of my marriage. Why would I want to endanger things by being back with you?” I stated.

“Aw, come on Max, your marriage was practically on the rocks anyway. Why else would a few unsubstantiated stories cause it to crumble? Look how much you have learned about your Liz. She wasn’t the innocent little girl in high school you thought she was. Look how easily she went to Sean later. Even if you get back together, you ought to have avenues remaining for yourself, so you never feel trapped. Max, marriage is not forever. It is just a convenience for the moment, a vessel to hold children. A man or a woman should still allow themselves a little freedom for fun,” Pam stated.

Pam was persuasive to herself. She wasn’t offering something that I wanted. “Look, Pam, what you are offering, I want nothing of it. I want a traditional love with my soon-to-be wife, Liz. I don’t want an out. Please never call me again.” I thought I was pretty clear, but you never know, so I called Liz and told her about the call.

Liz

I was shocked that Pam was still trying to still break up our relationship. “Were we going to have to battle all those in our past to preserve our love?” I asked myself.

I was in the cafeteria, reading while I ate my lunch. I felt a presence and looking up, a beautiful blonde lady approached. “Ms. Parker may I sit down?” she asked.

She had the poise of an executive. I was trying to place who she was. It was her voice that I felt I should know. I pushed my stuff aside to make way for her. She did not have coffee or any drink so I wondered what she was doing here.

“Ms. Parker, my name is Teresa, Tess, Harding. I want to tell you that I am totally a champion of you and Max getting back together. Your enemy is trying again to spread rumors. I want to set everything straight and not allow rumors involving me to ever cause you worry. As I am sure, Max has told you, we went together our freshman year. Max wasn’t ready to carry our relationship to the levels I desired. To put it plainly, Max and I never had sex. Sean DeLuca and Pam Troy started the rumors involving Max and myself, as well as the rumors about you and Sean. I hear that Pam is trying to do it again. I have no respectable way to stop her, but I can tell you that, yes, after you both were divorced, I did spend one night with Max. I found Max gentle and kind, but everything Max does, he has the specter of you sitting on his shoulder. Do not allow lies and rumors to make you doubt that Max loves you.” With that statement, I watched as Ms. Harding, wait she had told me to call her Tess, worried how I would take what she said.

“Is it still Tess? I thank you for the candor. I am forming a stronger bond with Max than ever. I hope those like Sean and Pam will not keep trying to break it,” I told her.

I saw her visibly relax. “Yes Liz, maybe we can be friends. Not because of anything about Max, but as professional women in the biological world. I look forward to us working together if you help Max get back to school.” Tess smiled and I believe it was a genuine smile.

Sitting there we began to talk. I had a very pleasant afternoon with my new friend. I remembered the things Max had said about her. I also remember she said, “Liz, I am not your enemy.” The odds were very great we would be working together next year. I dearly wanted Max to re-enter school.

Max

Michael and I were heading to the local bar to share a pitcher of beer. You have no idea of how much I missed him over the years I was divorced. There was a crowd around a table. Normally, we would find a place in the corner where it would be quiet. I heard Sean’s voice, “Man, I had this littie bitch. I had her in high school and I had her after she was married. She was ready to fuck every time I called her. She would give head all night if I let her.”

I noticed Michael changed direction. He pulled up a chair on one side of the table, while I did the same to the other. In a voice that could be heard across all the noise of the bar, Michael said, “Max, do you want me to go back to the car and get Isabel’s shotgun?”

I looked at Sean. “Might as well, Michael. This asshole is not going to ever learn!”

Sean lost all the color in his skin. By the looks of things, he was about to lose all the beer he had been drinking. The, pale beyond belief, Sean jumped up and fled the scene. One trucker whose scarred and tattooed hands were clinched, said, “Was that little bastard talking about someone important to you? We just thought he was telling stories about some whore, he knew.”

I looked him in the eye. The lady he was talking about was my wife and the last time I caught him speaking evil of her name, we just beat the shit out of him.” Then, I looked him very seriously, “I don’t feel right even talking about a professional woman, like that. Remember every woman has a mother, father or brother somewhere. She might even have a husband. As long as she is honest, she should be respected.” I wasn’t sure how they would take this. No way, could Michael and I take a group of these characters on. Their reaction was not what I expected.

“Right on, brother. You are all right guys. Next time that little shit comes in, we will just throw him through the window.” He punctuated his statement by a clap on my shoulder. I know he meant it in friendship and brotherhood, but it sure hurt. Michael and I continued to the back of the bar to finish our pitcher of beer.

I now had the ring and I had the support of parents and friends. I was hoping that Liz and I would have a new beginning. This time, we would have a bullet-proof relationship. Nothing would get in our way.

The first time I married Liz, we both were just out of college. I bought a set of rings, but they were simple. Now, I was better off financially. I didn’t know if Liz wanted a new ring, but I needed to buy one as a symbol of our new life together. The first time I had faced Liz, our relationship almost virginal. Technically, neither of us was totally inexperienced, but together we were going to make it as our first time. Now, we had been married, divorced and seen the elephant as they used to say. Both of us had seen other ideas of love and we were determined that the idea of love was to be what ever we built for ourselves.

It was my turn to pick somewhere to go. It seemed that without planning, we had developed a tradition where we would take turns choosing what our date would start out as. Of course, I was hoping that the end of our date would end up in bed. When you are single, the whole purpose of dating is to end up getting laid. Well, as your relationship ripens and the sex becomes steadier, the date might be more just spending time together. You have sex because you love each other. Your relationship is more like marriage. You date because you want to just be together. As I was mulling this over in my mind, I saw a landmine. If dating became just to be together and the sex got neglected, would that weaken the relationship? When Liz and I were married and working so hard, had we left room for doubt, because sex became too ordinary? Did this loose some of the luster of our marriage?

I remembered a story told when I was young. It was about a little frog. The little frog was sitting on a lily pad. As long as he stayed on that lily pad, he was safe from the large bass, who lived just below. He could jump from pad to pad and go whereever the pads allowed him. He had to be careful because it was easy to fall off the lily pads. Day in and day out, he went from pad to pad catching flies. This got boring and he began to think of other things as he went about the business of catching flies. His jumping became careless. He wasn’t landing on the middle of the pads any more. One day, he missed the middle of the pad and slipped off the pad. You got it. The bass caught him and that was the end of the little frog.

Maybe, marriage was like that. You couldn’t allow it to become ordinary or boring. You had to concentrate on landing on the middle of the pad each time. A miss-step and there were giant bass like Sean and Pam waiting to gobble up your relationship.

I wanted to spend time with Liz. But, I also wanted to take her to bed and screw her like I hadn’t had sex for a week. I caught myself immediately. That isn’t what I wanted. I wanted to make love and share love with Liz like I wanted to do for the rest of our lives. Diner and a long drive, that was my choice. Sometime during that drive, I intended to ask Liz to renew everything we ever had and to help me make everything better.

Liz

Max told me about both confrontations he had had with Pam and Sean. Somehow, they assumed that Max was the weak link. Maybe, they thought I was the weak link and they were trying to drive something between us, hoping I would again break down. By chance, we had started taking turns as to what each date would be.

I was not the little girl I probably was when Max and I were first dating. I remember then, that I was worried that there was something wrong with Max because we didn’t sleep together until after we were married. Now, as an active, single, adult, every date for a woman brought up the question; do I let him have sex with me or do I, as gracefully as possible, find an excuse to get out of it? I was going with Max. We had been married. Did he now, feel that he had the right, to sleep with me on every date? Did I want him to make love to me on every date? Would I feel fulfilled, just walking with Max? Would I be satisfied just holding his hand as we did whatever he had planned? There was now something in me, which said I would accept whatever happened. There also was a strong desire to be laid by Max, to be part of his body.

As always, diner dates were a test of my escort. I watched how he behaved during every aspect of the diner. I felt this was my secret test. One I would always trust. It showed something not readily apparent about my companion. Of course, Max passed the test. Being courteous was just part of the character I loved.

After diner, we drove to the city limits, we were surrounded by foothills, where we lived and there were several places to park to overlook the city. Max pulled off the road on the crest of one of the hills. There were several cars already parked. Some of the cars were already steamed up, so the occupants were making their own screen. I wonder, was Max going to try to repeat our prom night. If he did, I was going to insist that we start in the back seat this time.

I was surprised when Max took my hand. He reached up and turned on the overhead light. Now, I was confused. Did Max intend to make love with the interior lights on for all to see?

Max

When I pulled off on the lookout, there were several cars. They would be mostly teenagers who couldn’t easily get their own room. Liz looked at me and thoughts of our prom night flew through my head. I turned on the interior lights and faced Liz. There was a perplexing look on her face. I took out the small box I had carried in my pocket. I opened it up. The look on Liz’s face showed she had had no idea of what I was up to. “Max,” she said. “I already have your ring.”

“I know, Liz and if you want to keep wearing it, I will be pleased. This is just a symbol that I want to restart our marriage. The marriage was never a mistake. The divorce was. I want to spend my life with you as I said long ago. I want you to bring me children. I want us to build something that is proof against anything the outside world can send us. I want us to be open with our feelings, thoughts and even doubts. I want to always forgive you when you make any mistakes and I beg your forgiveness when I fail, as I am sure I will many times. Liz Parker, will you once again become my wife?”

Liz

Max had quite a speech. I wondered if now we would seal it with a session of making out in the car? Of course, I accepted him. Max was the boy, now man, I had always loved. I was starting to have regrets the things I had thought about him. Wait, Max said we would be making a new start. The things I had thought would be things of the past. Just as past lovers, they would not completely be forgotten but they no longer mattered. Max and I would put all our energy into making a new and stronger bond.

I wondered what would happen next. I was prepared to suggest the back seat if he showed his intentions to be immediate. Max kissed me and then, he reached up and turned off the lights. “Liz, let’s go home, your place or mine. I want to make love and I want to do it in our own privacy.”

During the drive back to the city, I leaned against my husband who was and now who once again was to be. Max and I had made plans long ago. I hoped we could take them back up and make our lives like we had planned. Then I thought, no, not like we had planned. We should live our lives as they developed. We should make the best of everything that came along. I loved my old/new husband.
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This was a very difficult story for me to write. With what we see in the celebrity world, I think much of what I wrote is realistic. Once again most of the parts are from people I have talked to in my many years of being a teacher and good listener. My next two stories are both teen. Roswell 1891 is being posted. It is as much canon as i could get into 1891. 1891 is the year the town of Roswell was started. The other story is almost finished it is called "Aliens and Witches." I wanted Max, Michael and Isabel to face something they could not believe in anymore than others could believe in their powers. Magic is in the eyes of the beholder. The witches are southwestern Mexican witches called Brujas. I do have another adult story, but I think I should let my blood pressure get back down from the story above. Thanks for reading. ken r
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.

Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
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