Fifteen Minutes Ends a Marriage.

I am sitting on the side of my bed crying. Reflecting on what fifteen minutes of stupidity cost me.

My story.

My name is Harriet. I worked as an analyst for a big marketing firm in town at the time. I was married to a general contractor named Jim, we had no children.

A new department head was transferred from another branch of the firm. His name was Marty. He was also married, with two young sons.

He was cute, funny, social and he liked to flirt. I did too but I always kept it mild, or so I thought. This light flirting got to be a game between the two of us. I realized much later that the game got more brazen with time. I may have sent the wrong message one day in particular. As I was coming out of my office.

Marty stopped to talk to me about something to do with work. As we were talking. He got close to me and rubbed one of my breasts. I merely backed away telling him to be careful. I was married and someone might see us. I should have been a lot more forceful. This was probably interpreted by him as willingness on my part to go further if we were in more private surroundings.

I should have kept away from him after that. But I shrugged it off as a small slip on his part without consequences.

Across the street from our offices is a small cafe. The gang would stop there on Fridays for a few drinks before going home. A few time I had to remove Marty’s hand from my thigh when he happened to be sitting next to me. Again, I realized later that my doing that gently, was probably sending the message that I was available. I always did this with a smile, telling him to be a good boy.

To this day, I am sure that I didn’t want to fuck him. His attention did please my ego and I liked a nice looking man flirting with me. I knew some of the girls in the office were envious, but this only made the game more interesting. I even accepted to dance with Marty a few times. Nothing more.

The downfall.

This particular Friday, there was a reception at my firm. One of the department heads was retiring. The reception was in the main meeting room. There was a three pieces band and a bar installed in a corner..

Unknown to me at the time, my flirting with Marty had spawned rumours. Those rumours far surpassed reality. Someone had given Jim a heads-up. Adding to it, even strongly hinting that I was making out with Marty.

After a few dances with both Jim and Marty and with the big boss to be polite. I needed to go to the lady’s room. I had a few drinks by then. Perhaps one too many.

As I was coming out of the washroom, Marty was waiting in the hall. He took me in his arms and kissed me while caressing my tits with one hand. My breasts are very sensitive, more so when I have had a few drinks. He pushed me toward one of the office. I remember resisting a little but his caressing and massaging my breast was having its effect. I didn’t resist very long. To this day I can’t be completely sure that for a few seconds I didn’t want this. This uncertainty, after all those years, sometimes comes back to haunt me and brings a tear or two of regrets.

By the time he got me in the office, he had my breasts out and sucking my nipples. I was getting aroused. The rest is like a bad dream.

“Marty we can’t do this, we are both married.”

This is the extent of my resistance as I remember.

“It will only take fifteen minutes for a quickie Harriet. Everyone is busy drinking and dancing. No one will even notice we are gone.”

I don’t quite know how. The next thing I remember, we were both naked. I was on my back on a sofa in a corner of the office. I remember saying.

“Please Marty no.”

But it was too late he had mounted me and begun to penetrate my slit. I lost all control as my lust took over. I wrapped my legs and arms around him to pull him in deeper. Something was telling me to push him off and get the hell out of there. I didn’t have the willpower to do that.

Everything was like a bad dream and in slow motion. I wanted to stop this, but my body had a mind of its own. I remember to my shame that my hips were moving to meet his thrusts.

The door flew open. From there everything is burned in my brain for the rest of my life. It was like a super slow motion movie.

Jim walked in.

“Harriet I refused to believe the rumours, but I see they were right.”

As he came towards the sofa. I could only keep repeating.

“Oh God , oh dear God.”.

Marty got off me and turned to face Jim, maybe he thought he would intimidate him. He was bigger and taller than Jim. I don’t know what his idea was. Jim had been a member of the boxing team in college. He was well rated in the golden gloves competitions. He had won the competition one year. I was worried as to what would happen. But Marty got smart and moved to the back of the office.

“Shut up! I am not interested in your lies or excuses you cheating bitch. I was told about your fucking him a little while ago. Now I have proof.”

He took my left wrist and removed my rings from my finger, under the circumstances, he did it gently. The symbolism of that act woke and sobered me up completely.

“Please Jim not that. I beg you.”

“Shut up whore! Now you can both go to hell and fuck each other as much as you like.”

Marty started to say something, Jim cut him off.

“If I were you, I wouldn’t move or say anything”

He turned around to walk out of the office. On the way out, he picked-up our clothes. Turned again to look at me.

“Don’t bother coming home tonight. I’ll be out of the house tomorrow. I’ll give you a week to be out with your possessions. Just make sure you don’t let him come and fuck you in my house.”

We were both sober and cooled off by now.

“God Harriet I am sorry, What do we do without clothes?”

We didn’t have long to wonder. His wife came in the office and threw his clothes at his head. Looking at me.

“So this is the whore you have been fucking. I’ll be a Mom’s with the kids. My lawyer will deal with you later.”

With that she left. My sister was behind her. She threw my clothes on the sofa next to me

“Harriet, you are a bitch doing that to Jim. We had been told about you two. Jim refused to believe the rumours, now he knows the truth. He has a whore for a wife.”

“Please Diane I am not a whore. This was a mistake. This just happened it’s not an affair.”

“According to your co-workers, you two have been fucking for quite a while and not hiding it. To the contrary, you were flirting and flaunting your affair in front of everyone.”

Only then did I realized how brazen our flirting game had become and how Marty had got the wrong signals from me. The full realization of my actions hit me full force. I crumbled and started to bawl. My sister took some pity on me.

“You don’t deserved any sympathy, but for tonight you can crash in my spare room.”

I spent the night crying. The next morning I called a cab early and went home. Jim was still there packing.

“You could at least have waited until I left before coming. Did you and your fuck friend have a good night?”

“He is not my fuck friend please Jim, last night was a big mistake. He took me by surprise. I didn’t fully realize what was happening until it was too late. I never let him fuck me before. I spent the night at Diane’s.”

“From what I was told you and him were flaunting it in front of everyone. Both at your office and at the cafe where your gang goes for after work drinks. To say nothing of the two of you mooching and rubbing against each other on the dance floor there.”

“I admit to flirting with him but nothing else, I swear to you. And I never mooched on the dance floor with him. We only danced a couple of times. The mooching is lies and exaggerations. We have to take time to cool off and get over this.”

I had to admit to myself that while dancing with Marty, I had let him hold me tightly and rub my back. This realization got me crying more.

“If you were just flirting with him. I don’t believe that for a second. You had at least the hot for him. Forget about trying to make me swallow your lies.”

“I’ll tell you something else To do what you two did last night. Given the situation in which you did it. Is proof to me that you two are quite hot over each other and are used to going for quickies.”

He didn’t believe a word I had said. I was in a ball on the sofa and could do nothing but cry. He picked up the two suitcases he had not yet taken out to his car, turned to look at me.

“Remember the warning I gave you last night, you have one week to be out of here.

I better not hear that your fuck buddy has been in this house, if you want to fuck him. Go to a motel like all whores do.”

“Please Jim I love you, don’t leave me.”

“If you love me, what were you doing fucking another man last evening?”

With that he walked out. I fainted for a few minutes I think. The fact that he firmly believed that I was having an affair with Marty hurt a lot, so did his calling me a whore. I could only cling to the hope that after a few days he would consent to listen to me. Alas this was not to be.

After such a scandal, everyone at the party was aware of what went on, with Jim handing Marty’s clothes to his wife. Telling her to go in the third office where she would find her husband fucking his wife. And handing my own clothes to my sister before leaving the place. There had to be consequences.

The following Monday, Marty and I were asked to find other challenges and hand in our resignation by the end of the day.

Marty came to me as we were leaving the building.

“Harriet, we did not even have time to cum before we were interrupted last Friday. When can we meet again to make up for it?”

“Go to hell Marty! I never want to see you again.”

“You’ll cool off and change your mind.”

“If you ever come near me again, I’ll scratch your eyes out.”

I never saw Marty after that. I heard that he left town soon afterwards.

His wife sued for divorce and left him with barely the clothes on his back. Jim divorced me also. He sued my ex firm for their failure to enforce the internal policy against management personnel getting involve with married underlings. This was settled out of court.

I was still hoping to save my marriage at this point. I had to somehow convince Jim that this had been a onetime mistake, not an affair. I managed through a friend at the local university to be given a lie detector test in their criminology department. The questions were hard and personal. I sent the result to Jim through my sister Diane, they are close friends.

When we met at the lawyer’s to sign the final decree of the divorce. I had a chance to talk to Jim.

“Jim did you get to see the result of the lie detector test I took?”

“Yes, but it does not erase what I saw that night.”

He turned away and walked into the office to sign the papers. I had to be helped home I was destroyed, all hopes killed. I had no direct contact with him after that day.

I tried dating and rebuilding my life, but Jim’s ghost always interfered. I still loved him and probably always would. A part of me refused to accept the fact that I would spend the rest of my life paying for a drink too many, a little flirting and fifteen minutes of craziness.

Jim is still close to my sister and her boyfriend. I know through her that he dates some but has no significant woman in his life. He also inquires about me from time to time.

Tomorrow, my sister Diane is getting married. I am the maid of honour. Jim will be giving the bride away. Our dad passed away a few years back. He still is a close friend of my sister and her fiancé.

What will my reaction be seeing him again after all those years. Will he be with someone? I will be alone and plan to leave as soon as the couple leaves for their honeymoon. Will Jim even talk to me? I believed so, he is a gentleman.

One worry was removed as soon as I arrived, he would escort my mother. We didn’t have time to talk before the ceremony. he did look at me and smiled. This was a relief.

After the ceremony he came towards me. I was so nervous I was shaking.

“Harriet it’s nice seeing you again. If you have nothing better to do after the happy couple leaves. Would you accept to go for a drink?”

I was so happy that I could hardly answer.

“Yes I accept I have nothing to do.”

Then I remembered that the groom’s witness had asked me the same thing before the ceremony. I didn’t hesitate to go cancel and apologize. I was not about to miss a chance to re-connect with the only man I loved. I had no idea what would be in store after a drink. Jim at least was willing to talk to me and perhaps listen to how sorry I was for hurting him. If he could only forgive me, I would sleep better at night.

Jim took me to a nice restaurant, we sat on the terrace.

“How have you been Harriet? Anyone significant in your life?”

“No I don’t even date seriously. I put a big stop to my flirting.”

“Same here. I have been in and out of town for a couple of years working on some big contracts.”

I knew that from my sister. I also knew that he asked her for news from time to time.

“I am so sorry for what I did to you that night. It was only that time and it was not planned. I still don’t understand why I let him push me in that office .”

“It’s water under the bride now. I am sorry for calling you a whore and all, but I was hurt and mad.”

‘Will you ever forgive me?”

“ I forgave you a long time ago. I did hate you for a while.”

“Thanks, knowing that you no longer hate me. Will help me sleep at night.”

After some more small talk, we left. He drove me to my door, said good luck and drove off.

In my flat I sat on the sofa and cried, his invitation had revived my hopes. He had not even hinted at seeing me again. My only consolation was that he no longer hated me. I didn’t hear from Jim for over a month. Seeing him again had brought back to the surface my love for him and all the regrets for what I had thrown away. I was a mess again. I was asked for dates by guys at work but I was in no mood to go out with anyone.

Six weeks later my sister called, she was back from her honeymoon. Jim had asked her for my cell number. Was it okay to let him have it? I almost screamed my answer.

“Yes! Give him my number.”

He called two days later to invite me to dinner and a concert the coming Friday. I was almost crazy with joy, the man I loved had asked me out. I had tears in my eyes but tears of joy. Friday couldn’t come soon enough.

The dates once every couple of weeks progressed slowly to once a week then every few days. Then picking me up at work for lunch a couple times a week.

One evening as he dropped me off. I took a chance and asked him in for coffee. I was really nervous, he had never been in my small apartment. He had never invited me in his home. I knew he had a big house on the outskirts of town. I had driven by a few times in the hope of seeing him.

As we were drinking coffee, Jim was looking at me in a strange way. He seemed lost in deep thoughts. This worried me.

“Harriet, I have something that belongs to you if you want them.”

He took a small box from his pocket, opened it and showed me the content. It was my rings.

I started to cry the tears were coming hard and running down my face. I managed to look at him in spite of the tears.

“These are tears of joy don’t worry.”

I got up and threw myself in his arms. We hugged for a long time.

“Can I put them on? I thought you had destroyed them.”

“I could never bring myself to do that, I tried a few times during the first months but I couldn’t do it.”

“It hurt me so much when you removed them. You ripped my heart out at the same time, there was such finality to that. Please can I put them back on?”

“No but if you want to, I’ll put them on for you.”

They still fitted I cried hard. I was overcome with joy.

“No matter what happens from now on, I’ll never remove them. I’ll die with these rings on my finger. I swear Jim.”

“Then you better get ready to move Harriet.”

“What do you mean?”

“If you’re going to wear those rings, we can’t live apart. I want you to move in with me.”

I could not get in his arms fast enough. This was the best day of my life. He was offering to take me back. I moved in with him the following week.

His business was growing, he needed help running it. I quit my position to go work with him. Friends and colleagues told me it was a mistake career wise. I was on the way up with my new firm. I didn’t care about a career. I had only one priority. The man I loved.

Epilogue...

Nineteen years later.

Jim never asked me to re-marry. We stay together because we want to, not because we have to. We now have a sixteen years old daughter that we love dearly. Jim had his lawyer draw papers that protects both myself and our daughter in case of bad luck.

I never remove my rings not even to sleep or shower. I have never flirted with anyone after that fateful night years ago.

Our daughter will be off to college soon. We are talking about selling the business and retiring.

I may bring up the subject of re-marriage once retired. Again, maybe I won’t

As our head foreman is fond of saying “ If it isn’t broken, don’t be an idiot, don’t try to fix it.”

Fran26