Get Lost

My sincere thanks to SouthernCrossfire. He translated my Dutchlish into English and his suggestions and corrections made this story much more readable. Thank you so much for your effords.

Dear readers.

This is fiction. All resemblance with reality is coincidental.

Get Lost

Five months ago, Inge sat in the kitchen with her 20-year-old daughter Annika and her 18-year-old son Bjorn. They were talking about Inge’s husband Harry.

Annika asked angrily, “Mother, why are you complaining about dad? You’re acting as a spoiled adolescent. Dad pampers you. You have everything you can wish for yet it’s not good enough. What for Pete’s sake do you want?”

Inge thought, She’s right but that’s beside the point., but replied, “I want to spice things up. He is too compliant and he never stands up for himself. I want him to have more backbone. I…I want him to be angry sometimes.”

Björn interrupted. “Really? I’ve had dad mad at me; that is not an experience I’d like to repeat.” He shuddered at the memory.

Inge continued. “I have a plan. I’m going to needle, push and bully your father until he loses his patience and gets mad at me. Then, when he has cooled down again, I’ll make it up to him and tell him how much I love him. But I need your help with that.”

Annika looked unbelievingly at her mother. “I don’t like the idea. If you love dad, you’re not putting him through an ordeal like that. Explain what you want from us.”

Björn cut in. “No, no, no! I won’t be part of this. I pushed dad too far once and I still regret it. We both got hurt, then it took a year before he trusted me again. I warn you, mom, this will go wrong. And the problem with dad is that you don’t get a warning before he reaches his breaking point. He just snaps. Please, mom, don’t.”

Inge took no heed and outlined her plan. When she was done explaining, she looked at Annika and asked, “What do you think? I won’t push Harry over the limit, but I need him to stand up against me.”

Annika replied wearily, “I still don’t like it; just like Björn, I’m afraid that it’s going to tear us apart.” She paused, shaking her head. “Mom, I’ll help you, up to a point. Just know, if it goes as Björn predicted, I won’t support you, but will support dad instead.”

“Fair warning,” Inge agreed. “And you Björn?”

“Absolutely no way. You hear! No fucking way. And if I see dad suffering, I’ll tell him everything.”

Inge tried to talk Björn out of it, but he wouldn’t budge.

====

Next morning.

“Harry! Harry, where’s my coffee? I told you that I wanted coffee!” Inge shouted.

Harry was stunned. What brought this on? he thought. He walked out of the kitchen with the coffee in his hands. Putting it in front of his wife, he started to walk away without saying a word.

“Well?” Inge said.

“Well, what?”

“What took you so long?”

“I’m not a coffee machine. You know, coffee, freshly made? Takes time.”

“Don’t take that tone with me!”

Harry walked away. The onslaught from Inge went on well into the holidays.

Björn tried to talk with his father. He saw the signs of the wear and tear on Harry.

But Harry quietly told him that this was between Inge and himself. He would sort it out.

====

Present.

Car and caravan were trundling along the A2 southward. In the car, the tension could be cut. For Harry, it was one of the worst days of his life. Inge’s behavior towards him deteriorated to downright humiliation this morning while loading the caravan, and Harry almost snapped.

Now, Harry concentrated on driving to contain his anger. He resolved to confront Inge when they were settled on their destination. Inge felt that Harry was almost on breaking point. She didn’t dare to utter a word. That was extremely difficult because she always had something to comment on his driving.

After a 3 hour drive, they arrived and made camp without saying a word. Almost 24 years of experience made that easy enough and Inge couldn’t fault Harry. They had lunch in silence and Harry went for a walk to clear his mind and find his equilibrium again. Three hours later he was back. Harry felt refreshed and his mood improved considerably. Inge wasn’t with the caravan so he went looking. He found her at the other end of the camping-site with some other campers drinking wine. He walked over and said, “Dear shall we go out for dinner?”

Inge looked up and said, “Can’t you see that I’m in amusing company. So be so kind as to get lost.”

The others smirked but Harry went white as a sheet. He looked again and saw Inge turn around and lay her hand on the thigh of one of the men. Seething he said, “As you wish madam,” and went back to the caravan. He’d had enough. Tomorrow he would confront Inge and leave her.

In preparation, he took his wallet out, took the car, and went to the village. At the ATM machine, he withdrew as much money as possible in one go. He did the same with his credit card before finding a branch of another bank and opening a new account. He then went back to the caravan, called his boss and explained the situation, and gave the man his new bank account information.

“I need to take some time off, too.”

“You can take all of your leave if necessary. That’s quite a lot, together with all the overtime, almost three months. When that’s gone, you can apply for compassionate leave if the situation hasn’t been resolved.”

“Thanks, I’ll be in touch.”

At 1am, Inge returned drunk and reeking like sex and semen and she slurred when she spoke. “Harry, come here and fuck me. I want you to fuck me. I’m so horny, I want you inside me.”

Harry answered through clenched teeth. “No way am I going to dip my wick in your cum-filled snatch. Who knows who put what in there this evening? Go fuck yourself.” The venom dripped from his voice.

Inge was too far gone to notice Harry’s mental state; she dropped fully clothed on the bed and went out like a light.

====

The next morning.

Inge woke up nauseous, hungover, and with a monstrous headache. She squeaked, “Harry?”

No answer was forthcoming so she got out of bed and was immediately rewarded with a bout of vomiting. Still receiving no reaction from Harry, she crawled outside.

Harry was sitting in the morning sun having breakfast with coffee, croissants fresh from the bakery, and orange juice on the table before him. He smirked as he looked at the miserable woman and said with heavy irony in his voice, “Well well, look what the cat brought in. Not feeling very kipper, are you?”

Inge wanted to say something, but her voice refused to obey.

Harry went relentlessly on, “You better keep your filthy mouth shut and listen carefully. Here are the papers of the car, together with the key, and the documents for the caravan.”

“What? Why?” Inge croaked.

Immediately Harry almost shouted, ”Keep that stinking trap of yours shut while I’m talking!”

Inge recoiled. Harry had never talked to her like that, let alone shouted at her.

Harry continued. “Bank cards, here, credit card, all yours. I’m taking a hike.”

Inge felt so sick, she barely held it together but managed to ask, “When will you be back? We need to talk.”

An ice-cold calm descended over Harry. “That’s the wrong question,” he replied. The question should be; will you be back? And the answer to that is, well, no, I won’t. This is goodbye.” With that he shouldered his backpack.

Inge panicked. “No, no, no! This isn’t supposed to happen!” she shouted before immediately starting to vomit again.

Harry waited it out, offering no compassion.

Finally, Inge desperately cracked, “I love you. I only wanted you to man up and stand up for yourself. I wanted you mad at me!”

Harry looked at Inge with disbelief in his eyes. “You succeeded spectacularly. I am mad at you. I’m so mad that there are no words strong enough to describe it. You better check the sheets when I’m gone. They look exactly like our marriage. Soiled! I don’t think that the stains will come out. When you got here yesterday you reeked like a decrepit whorehouse. Today I wanted to have a very serious discussion with you about the state of our marriage as a result of your behavior over the past few months—I had doubts that I wanted to stay married to you any longer—but yesterday’s behavior made up my mind. Yesterday, you made it very easy for me to decide. You’d better get yourself checked on STD’s. I’m quite certain that they’ll find some.”

Harry’s final words to her really cut through the fog in Inge’s mind and slammed into her consciousness. “So, my dear. I’m getting lost, as requested.”

And with those words Harry walked away.

The extreme physical discomfort and the emotional onslaught became too much for Inge. Crying inconsolably, she stumbled into the now very smelly caravan and passed out on the bed.

====

Harry walked from the camping site to the village. He thought to himself;Walking away was the easy part. Now what? What do I do now and where do I go from here? He just started to walk, feeling sad and despondent.

Early that afternoon, Harry found himself slightly north of Hulsberg. He checked himself into a B&B. Finally, when he was alone in his room, he collapsed. The enormity of the situation dawned on him and the end of his marriage was a black cloud enveloping his thoughts. Harry could cope with the abuse Inge heaped upon him, but the cheating was a bridge too far.

====

At the same moment, Inge woke up again. Her head was pounding less, but her mouth tasted like a decomposed goat. Carefully, she tried to get upright. Her universe still wobbled but her stomach behaved better. Then the stench assaulted her nostrils and she fled outside.

Right in front of the entrance she stepped in a dried puddle of vomit and about a meter beyond lay another one. When she dragged herself inside this morning, she’d trailed her clothes through the muck. Breathing through her mouth, she went inside and collected her toiletries, towel, toothbrush and clean clothes before going to the showers.

When the water was running hot, she undressed, feeling filthy. Stale semen still trickled from her vagina and crusted her inner thighs. There were bruises and hickies over her whole body. She tried to remember what had occurred the previous evening and night, but her memories were sketchy, to say the least. What Inge saw, though, was very bad news for her marriage. It finally dawned on her that her husband had noticed her state and drew his conclusions. Harry had always been a gentle and forgiving person. He accepted her bullying and humiliation because of his love for her. Without her behavior over the last months, she had stood a slight chance of saving her marriage after her cheating, she thought. The combination was way too much.

She stood in the shower and cried.

====

Harry sat in his room. After he had cried his heart out, he was doing what made him so valuable for his employer, analyzing and finding solutions to problems seemingly impossible to solve. Now, he had to apply those talents to himself. He was facing the dissolution of his marriage and had to act on it.

The divorce should be relatively straightforward. They both had about the same income, but Harry needed a place to live, preferably near his work. He would never set foot in their house again. He called his boss and explained that the situation had deteriorated beyond repair and that he needed somewhere to live. Harry was told that the company had a few options and would have an answer tomorrow. Meanwhile, he went looking for an apartment too.

====

Inge washed and washed herself, but she kept feeling filthy and finally gave up. After drying herself, she got dressed and went back to the caravan where she recoiled at the stench. Feeling numb, she didn’t know what to do. Calling her children after this debacle was a no-brainer, but instead she started to clean the mess in the awning, not wanting to face them yet.

After a lot of gagging and swearing, the stench was gone and she was sitting in front of the caravan trying to hold down some coffee and biscuits. The interior of the caravan would come later. The paracetamol she took started to take effect and flashes of what happened yesterday were emerging in her consciousness and Inge was appalled at her own behavior.

Did she really eat out a woman? Did she really suck a cock while being fucked from behind? Her memories told her she had. Dazed, she tried to gather her thoughts and decide what to do when her phone went off.

“Annika?”

“Mom, I can’t get hold of dad and why didn’t you answer your phone? What’s going on?”

“We had a falling out.”

“You finally went too far, didn’t you? Where’s dad? I want to speak to him.”

“I don’t know where Harry is. He threw the car keys, the paperwork, and the bank cards in my face and walked out on me carrying a backpack.”

“What? What did you say to dad to make him leave like that? You know how he is when he is really really angry. Mom, you’re in very deep trouble.”

“Don’t I know. I don’t think he will ever come back to me. Things happened that Harry won’t forgive. I can only hope that the divorce will be amicable.”

“Divorce! Mother, what did you do that you even think there is no chance of reconciliation?”

Inge steeled herself and told the whole story as she remembered it, including Harry’s sneer about the good company. Her voice cracked as she told her daughter how she’d told him to get lost.”

Annika was aghast. “Mom, no! You stupidly had to pull all plugs to get what you wanted, didn’t you? I will keep on trying to contact dad and talk to him. I’m definitely not going to intervene. You’re on your own, I warned you from the start but you had to do it. And you’re the one to tell Björn. He will go ballistic and I’m not going to be your messenger. For now, you have two weeks in the caravan to address your problems including how to get home, as you can’t drive you have to find someone else. I’m not coming to help. Bye!”

Annika disconnected and immediately tried her father. This time the line was busy. She sighed and said to herself, “Good news. Dad is not crawling under a rock.”

Annika waited ten minutes and tried again.

“Hi Anni. How’s my little girl?” Her father’s voice sounded familiar but seemed very strained..

“I don’t know, Dad; you left mum, I heard. Are we still a family?”

Harry snorted and growled, “You already spoke to your mother. I presume. So she is conscious again? More important, did she tell you everything, including the sordid details? Wait! Before you answer that, my answer to your question is, NO! In my opinion your mother left me and that started about six months ago. Yesterday she literally told me to get lost in front of her new fuckfriends. I obliged and, now, to my regret I have to say; we’re not a family anymore. I just had a call from my employer. They have an apartment and a very good lawyer for me. I’m going back to the house now. Rent a truck and move out. I’ll let you know what my new address is as soon as I know it myself.”

Annika inwardly cringed. Boy is my dad mad! I’ve never heard him so outspoken and decisive. And he really used to love my mother. Now it seems he hates her guts. She said as soothingly as she could, “Ok, Dad, I understand. One last question. Who is going to tell my little brother?”

Harry thought for a few seconds before he replied. “When you talk to him, only tell him that we have split. Please don’t tell the whole story. It will devastate him and I don’t have an inkling how he will react. I told your mother that she is the one to break the complete story to you two.”

They disconnected and Annika started to cry softly.

Harry, on the other hand, was even more determined to see this through. Being bullied was something he could handle and he was man enough to bite back when it went too far. However, cheating was, in his vocabulary, an absolute no-no. He thought back to his youth and his first love.

Harry was deeply in love. They were already planning the rest of their life together when she came back from vacation with her parents and told him she had fallen for a local boy. He had forgiven her and all was well until the next vacation. It shook him to the core when he found some pictures with her kissing and blowing another local talent. When he confronted her, she admitted that she cheated on him again. Harry shook his head in disgust and spat on the ground at her feet before turning and walking away. He never looked back despite her pleas..

Never again was his thought, never again. Better the pain of the split than the humiliation of a cheating woman. Even with four parents backing her, begging him to show mercy again, he told the girl to go and get herself fucked. Remembering that so vividly, he knew he wouldn’t be part of such a scene again.

Now Harry packed his backpack and went to the bus station.

====

The next day.

Harry sat in his house—he wouldn’t call it home anymore—drinking coffee. In about an hour, he had a meeting with his CEO, Gerard Derksen and his lawyer. During a sleepless night, he packed the things he deemed he couldn’t go without and his family heirlooms like the 250-year-old clock. CDs, books, and such were already boxed up and he was ready but didn’t know what was in store for himself yet so he waited on hiring a van. Knowing Inge, he surmised that she wouldn’t make it home this morning so he headed to his office at the appointed time.

On arrival, he was sent to the CEO’s office where his boss awaited him.

“Harry, be seated. Coffee will be here soon; it looks like you are going to need it. Did you sleep at all?” Gerard shook his large head, very concerned, when he asked Harry this question since Harry was one of his best and most liked employees. Customers loved him too.

When Harry shook his head, Gerard went on. “Harry, May I introduce Mrs. Ella Herweijer. She is the one who will help you with the divorce. I take it that you do still want a divorce, don’t you?”

Harry replied, his voice bristling, “Yes of course. And as soon as possible.” Seeing the look on the attorney’s face, he stopped. “Please know that I am extremely tired and I have a very short fuse at the moment. I apologize in advance but can the divorce wait until I’m a bit more rested?”

Gerard nodded. “Harry, I just wanted the introductions out of the way so you can get together on your own for that part.”

She nodded, too, and they exchanged phone numbers before the lawyer took her leave.

When they were alone, Gerard said quietly, “Alright, time to drop the formalities. I’m Gerard and you’re Harry. I’ve been in this kind of misery myself and I don’t want to see one of my best men buckle under so that’s why I try to help out. Now, on to business. The company has two houses you can choose from. One in the city and one in the suburbs. The last one is near public transport and within cycling distance.”

Harry didn’t think twice. “The one in the suburbs please. I don’t like being in the city anymore. Too much hustle and bustle.”

Gerard sighed happily. He had hoped that that would be Harry’s choice. The city flat was smaller, but could be rented out for much more money. “Ok,” he said, “here are your keys and this is the address. The rent is 750 a month, which will come out of your salary. You can take Harold and the company truck to move out of your old home; he’s waiting outside.”

“Thanks, Gerard.”

“You’re welcome, Harry, but one more thing: I don’t want to see you in here again before you’ve spoken with Mrs. Herweijer. If you need help, though, you know where to reach me.”

Harry recognized a dismissal when issued, so he stood and left the office to find Harold.

First, they drove to Harry’s new apartment and inspected it. It was a flat on the third floor of a five-story building that had no elevator. The unit consisted of a living room, two bedrooms, a bathroom with a shower stall and toilet. There was a half-bath next to the entrance and a large balcony overlooking a park with a big pond. The apartment was sparsely furnished with only one single bed.

Harry said, “Okay, Harold. I see that I don’t need much from the old house. This should be over quickly. Let’s go!”

Two hours later, the truck drove away from Harry’s old house. He had all he thought he would need, including some linens to tide him over and all of his personal stuff. Before he left, though, he wrote a short letter to Inge to tell her she could expect a letter from his lawyer very soon.

====

Inge was frantic.

Harry had left her at the camping site with a car and the caravan so getting that home was just another of her problems. The first thing she must do now, though, was to find Harry and beg and grovel and hope he would show some mercy.

When she finally started to function properly, she went looking for a bus stop. Due to the difficulty in passing the driver’s test, she’d never gotten her Netherlands driver’s license when she was young, and with public-transport and Harry to drive her, she’d never really needed it. Now, she realized, she was stuck and at the mercy of the bus system. At the stop, she looked at the bus schedule and, to her dismay, she concluded that she’d missed the last bus for the day. The next one was the following morning at seven.

Inge returned to the camp and tried to find the people who’d fucked her and gotten her so drunk. They were nowhere to be found so she went to the site manager who told her that they’d left early on the morning after the ‘party’.

Next, she tried to call Annika and Bjorn, but both refused the calls so she walked back to the caravan. Out of sheer desperation and with tears streaming down her cheeks, she started to clean up the rest of her mess, all-the-while wishing this was the biggest mess she had to clean up.

The next morning after a very restless night, Inge was walking to catch the 7 o’clock bus but the camping manager saw her. “You heading to the bus stop? The first one, the 7 AM, is for local commuters only. There’s no train connection with the first one, but there is with the second, an hour later.”

“Thanks,” said Inge. With worry in her heart, she decided to keep walking to be sure she didn’t miss the next one.

Much later in the day, Inge finally arrived on the street where they lived. It looked as peaceful as ever, giving her hope as she walked toward their home that the storm had passed and Harry would be ready to forgive her. A truck passed by, startling her from her reverie, before quiet was restored again. Now, the silence felt more foreboding as she went up the walk to her front door.

Taking her keys, she unlocked and opened the door before calling out, “Harry?” but only an eerie silence greeted her. She walked into the living room and the first thing she saw was that the old clock was missing.

Her stomach heaved and she cried out, “No no no, this can’t happen! This is going way too fast. We had to talk first! You can’t have left already!”

Inge now knew what was missing when she entered: the tick tock of that clock. It was as if the soul was ripped out of the house. Shaking her head, she rushed to look in the bedroom and the bathroom only to find that all of Harry’s personal stuff was gone, even his books and cd’s.

Inge slumped down into a chair, feeling as if it was all unreal. She’d expected Harry to be at home so he could vent his frustrations and anger and then she could show her remorse and they would make up. This was not how she’d envisioned it at all! It was so much worse; she’d never expected him to ignore her and leave!

Harry always told Annika and Björn, “What’s worse? Someone being mad at you, or someone who acts like you don’t exist anymore? Someone mad at you still has feelings about you but if you ignore someone…..”

The latter had happened when Harry caught Björn buying drugs for a party. Harry didn’t even ground Björn; he just told the boy, “We talked this over numerous times. If you want to ruin your life, that’s your decision. I don’t want to be part of it. You have a month to find a job and leave this house.”

Inge shuddered at the memory and the sudden realization that Harry was now doing the same to her. Instead of being angry with her, he was cutting her out of his life, ignoring her as if she didn’t exist, but the worst of it was that she had brought it all on herself.

She walked into the kitchen unsteadily, and opened the fridge to get herself something to drink to calm her nerves, but she shut it with a bang. No! Me drinking that evening is at least partly responsible for this mess. Inge went to the water cooker to make tea, instead, but there she saw the envelope Harry left behind. Tearing it open, she read the short note.

“Inge.

I’ve been humiliated enough.

This marriage is over.

I hired a lawyer. I suggest you do the same.”

Inge shouted out loud, “He didn’t even sign it! But I’m not going to be dismissed like that now he finally shows that he has balls. If I can’t have them, nobody can!” She flung the teapot across the kitchen, with the teacup following right behind. Both crashed against the tiles.

====

Almost a year later

Harry had found a steady rhythm: sleep, work, eat, repeat, Sleep, work, eat, and repeat.

When he arrived at his flat, he found the final divorce papers in the mail. The divorce itself hadn’t been smooth sailing, with Inge trying every trick in the book to have Harry talk to her. He’d consistently refused every attempt.

Financially, it was much more straightforward. When Harry started the divorce proceedings, both their incomes were about the same and that applied to their retirement funds as well. There was no mortgage on the house anymore and an estate agency estimated that it could sell for well over half a million.

Harry’s lifestyle was frugal to say the least. Harry worked about 12 hours a day and because of that, he got very good results. He earned himself some exceptionally high bonuses so he had to look for something to invest in before the tax authorities wanted an excessive part of it.

Harry decided to look for a house of his own, something with a garden, a place to tinker with a motorbike, and a place that he could convert into, what he called, his library. He envisioned that place loaded with books, but also wanted it for his high-end stereo set and music collection, and figured it would be completed with a comfortable recliner and a couch. He also needed a large well-equipped kitchen and three bedrooms.

With this in mind, Harry checked the internet and with people at work for a suitable estate agent. When he found one that was well recommended that he liked, he sent off an email to set up an appointment.

After all was arranged, he decided to ‘celebrate’ the sad fact so he booked himself a ticket for ‘Ein Deutsches Requiem’ by Johannes Brahms. To Harry it seemed a proper choice.

Later that evening, after the concert he found himself in a pub nearby the concert hall, his mind still reliving the beautiful music. He had a very nice Dutch jenever in front of him when he heard a voice saying, “Harry? Harry van der Goos, is that you?”

He turned around and saw a tall woman looking intently at him. At least 5 ft 10 and weighing some 160lbs, she wore a skirt just above the knees to show well defined legs ending with feet in low heel shoes. On top she wore a sleeveless blouse hiding a pair of very nice, free floating, b-cup-sized breasts.

“Sorry miss, you have me at a disadvantage. Do I know you?” Harry asked politely.

The woman laughed. “I should be disappointed now; that puts me in place. But no, not really. We were at school together. I was one year higher and ran with the popular crowd. I really liked you because you were so composed and gentle, but, back at the time, it wasn’t proper for me to, well, be in contact with you. I’m Eveline Goedhart. I’ll answer to Eve too.”

Harry tried to remember that time but nothing came to him regarding Eveline. He smiled and replied, “I ought to remember a beautiful woman like you, but nothing comes to mind. I hope you accept my sincere apologies. Can I atone myself by offering you something to drink?”

Eveline replied, “I’m sorry but I’m on a date. A quite disastrous date one might say. Can I have a raincheck? If I can have your phone number?”

Behind Eveline a man loomed and growled, “Babe, lose the wimp. This is our date and you’re gonna have a good time with a real man.”

Harry wrote his number on a slip of paper, folded it and handed it over to Eveline. The man stepped in and told Eveline to hand the piece of paper over to him. “You’re my girl and I don’t want you sneaking around with another man, even when it’s a wimp.”

Eveline retorted angrily, “You’re drunk. I’m definitely not your girl. I promised this date because you helped me out when I had problems with my car. But this was the first, and last ‘date,” if you actually wish to call this disaster a date. I’ll just call an Uber because you’re not fit to drive! And I don’t want to go anywhere with you anymore.”

“Well, you cockteaser, I’ll show you!” growled the man as he started to raise his hand to slap Eveline, but Harry was faster, viciously knuckling him in the solar plexus. Suddenly the man was out of breath and staggering.

Harry held him up to keep him from falling with the man’s fingers in a deadlock. Speaking softly to the squirming man, he said, “This wimp is going to beat you to pulp if you don’t behave. Now here’s the deal: you pay for the drinks for the lady and leave quietly. I’ll pay the Uber. Now nod if we have a deal.”

The man nodded and Harry let go. The man turned around, his face white from pain, and paid and left without a word. As he did, Harry called an Uber for Eveline, who was watching the whole episode with wide eyes.

“That’s what I remember from school, “she said. “Even the biggest bullies didn’t dare to touch you, or your friends. And you always helped people, tutoring them, even kids in our class, and for the rest, you went your own way. How did you do that to that man? He is much bigger than you.”

Harry said quietly, “I had Krav Maga lessons since I was seven because I had severe anger issues. Krav Maga is a way to channel your energy and at the same time it builds your confidence so that you can step away from problems in the knowledge that you can handle them if need be. On top of that, I was learning self-control and discipline.”

The Uber arrived a moment later, and Harry paid the driver and told Eveline good night.

====

The next day

Harry’s phone went off. He looked at it and saw a phone number unknown to him.

“Harry van der Goos, how can I help you?”

Eveline answered, “Good afternoon, Harry, Tomorrow is my day off. I wondered whether you have plans for tomorrow?”

“Actually, I do. I’m going to look at some houses with an estate agent.”.

“Oh” was the only sound from Eveline.

Harry could tell that she was disappointed. Not wanting to lose momentum with this beautiful and interesting woman, he quickly came to a decision. “But surely, I can use some help from the opposite sex with that. They are so much more practical. Otherwise, I would buy myself a mancave. Can I interest you in assisting me?”

Eveline’s swift and enthusiastic reply left no doubt that she wanted to see Harry. “Oh, yes, I would like that very much. Do you know what you would like?”

Harry had an idea, “Why don’t we talk about that over at dinner? You choose. Either I cook for you, or you tell me what restaurant you like.”

Eveline laughed and asked, “You can cook, too?”

Now it was Harry’s turn to laugh. “I’ve never had any complaints, nor leftovers, when I make dinner. Oh, and before you start about small portions being the cause of that, no, I don’t do small portions.”

“Really? I reckoned you as a bachelor, eating out every day.”

Before Harry could formulate an answer, Eveline went on, “So you cook for yourself? Every day?”

“Yes, Harry said. “I’ve been kind of a recluse lately. Yesterday was the first time in more than a year I went out to a concert and for a drink.”

“Oh, dear. How come?”

“That’s a story that still hurts too much to share. The only thing I will say is that that evening I met you, I got notice that my marriage officially and legally had ended. I felt that I had to celebrate. With a requiem.”

She paused for a moment before saying, “Ouch. So sorry. In that case then, I think I’ll risk your cooking skills, Harry. Where and when do you want to see me?”

Harry gave Eveline his address and she said that she would be there around six.

That afternoon at five minutes before six Eveline stood in front of Harry’s door, thinking to herself Grow up. There is nothing to be nervous about. Still, she was, so with sweaty hands she rang the bell.

Harry opened the door almost immediately. “Ah, there you are already. And oh my! You’re a sight for sore eyes. You look lovely!”.

Eveline wore a dress that hugged her body and showed her long, slender form to great advantage. She had her long dark hair in a ponytail and lightly applied makeup enhanced her hazel eyes. Eveline blushed like a schoolgirl from the heartfelt compliment Harry made her and replied with a smile, “Well, you don’t look so bad yourself for a cook. But thank you. It’s been a long time since someone complimented me. May I come in?”

“Where are my manners? Yes, of course. The lasagna is in the oven and will be ready in about half an hour. I have melon and Parma Ham as a starter. And what would you like to drink?”

Eveline had a wonderful evening, though she drank a little too much. The wine was a strong Italian that went well with the lasagna, but after her third glass, her head began to swim a little. Then, the dessert was Blu al Ramandolo, an Italian blue cheese, and port wine, which made her situation worse.

At the end of the evening, Harry looked at her and said softly, “I think I’ll drive you home. You’ve had too much.”

Eveline, now rather uninhibited, answered, “Harry, I’d rather spend the night with you.” When she realized what had come out of her mouth, she blushed so deeply that her skin went red down to her cleavage.

Harry smiled wishfully. “I would like nothing better, Eveline, but I have a very strict rule. I’m not going to sleep with a woman who is over her limit. And I mean the limit for driving a car. I had that rule even before I was married and my divorce reinforced it. Sleep on it and let’s see what tomorrow brings.”

Half an hour later they were in front of Eveline’s house. Eveline turned around, looked at her feet and blushingly whispered, “I know you don’t find me beautiful enough to take me to bed, but can I have a kiss?”

Astonished, Harry took Eveline’s face in his hands, forced her to look at his face and said, “Dear Evie, how on earth can you think that I don’t find you beautiful. Please believe me, I think you’re one gorgeous woman and I would really like to make love to you.” He paused, let that sink in. “But, Evie, not when you’re halfway drunk. I don’t want you to do anything you might regret and ruin what’s happening between us. To be absolutely honest, I’m falling for you and I don’t want you to be a one-night stand. Now, how about that kiss. Do you still want it?”

Eveline nodded and closed her eyes. Harry’s lips softly touched her lips and he felt her tremble. His tongue flicked the rim of her lower lip. Eveline opened her mouth and their tongues touched. What started as a cautious exploration of each other’s lips quickly became a steaming, full-blown kiss.

When Harry released Eveline’s lips, they both were panting. Out of breath, Eveline held on to Harry when he asked, “Message understood? This was a promise. It would have been fantastic tonight, but we’ve known each other for only a few hours. I am falling for you, that’s why I want to take it slowly. When we go to bed for the first time, I want to make love to you and not fuck you silly. There will always be regrets if we do this half inebriated. Now, do you still want to go house hunting with me tomorrow? Or are you too disappointed in me tonight?”

Eveline jerked her head up to look at Harry, “Disappointed in you? When you are the first man since my divorce who doesn’t jump in bed with me because I said he could and is open and honest as to why? I’m not that easy to get rid of after that wonderful kiss. I like you too, you know, and if this is a sample of things to come, I’ll gladly wait. It will be worth it. See you tomorrow; I’ll make breakfast, okay?”

====

Next morning at about eight, it was Harry’s turn to be nervous.

He knocked on her door and it opened almost immediately with Eveline there wearing only a loose linen blouse and harem pants. The movements in the blouse suggested strongly that there was no bra involved. Eveline turned around and walked inside again to give Harry access to her house. Harry’s eyes feasted on Eveline’s heart-shaped butt.

He sighed deeply and said, “My God, woman, I need to concentrate on houses today. The way you look is making that quite impossible. What an outfit! Your looks are going to cause a riot.”

Eveline melted in his arms and giggled, “This is your punishment for denying me yesterday and a reward…for denying me yesterday.” She smiled at him. “You did wonders for my self-esteem with your little sermon. And yes, Harry, I’m falling for you, too, and I’ll wait, like you said, but, oh boy, how I am going to tease you. This is but a start. Now let’s start breakfast with a kiss.”

Their lips met and Eveline thought it was even better she remembered.

After a delicious breakfast, Eveline told Harry to wait so she could change into something more appropriate for house hunting as she smirked and said, “And to keep your blood in your brains where it ought to be. Did you think I didn’t notice the bulge in your pants when you kissed me?”

When she came back, she was dressed demurely in a sweater, jeans and sneakers. “Shall we?” She smiled as she took his arm.

The real estate agent seemed all business when they met but he kept on ogling Eveline. He told them, “I have four houses lined up. One in the city, two in the suburbs and one in a little village nearby. But that needs a lot of work.”

Harry’s reaction was immediately, “Skip the one in the city. I stated clearly that I wanted a garden.”

When the agent talked them through the houses, one of the suburban houses was discarded as well so they drove to the other one. As they did, Harry couldn’t shake the idea that he’d seen the man before.

The agent was constantly chatting with Eveline, praising the house, the garden, and its surroundings, while completely ignoring Harry, his client. Not feeling comfortable with the situation, Harry checked Google Maps for the layout of the district and found it very close, almost too close, to the airport. This wasn’t a quiet neighborhood after all, with planes coming over for most of the day. Listening, he heard one going overhead then.

Now on alert, he also checked out other houses that had sold recently and their sale prices. That two-times sharper! he thought. The other houses were sold for a ton less than this one. This must be quite a house for this price…or….

Harry started to pay more attention to the discussion between Eveline and the agent and he noticed the sneaky way the man was trying to seduce Eveline, just like the way he was trying to cheat him. The house itself was nothing special to command such a premium, just one of thirteen to the dozen, a virtual copy among many.

Coming to this realization, Harry bristled and swore silently under his breath before he attacked. “So, tell me, do you want to screw another man’s girlfriend, too?”

The agent looked at Harry in surprise. “What do you mean?”

Harry replied, venom dripping out of his voice, “Well, you try to fuck me out of an extra hundred grand and you’re trying to seduce my girlfriend, too. Now, sod off. I’m leaving and will lodge a complaint with your agency.”

He turned around to see Eveline. “I think we’re done here.”

Eveline, who saw through the agent’s intentions, was more than a little surprised at Harry’s reaction and asked why as soon as the man left.

“First, he doesn’t treat you with the respect you deserve. Second, he tried to weasel me out of an extra 100k for the house…and I know him from somewhere but I don’t know why or where. I don’t trust him now, so I’ll call a taxi to take us back and we’re going to check the last house ourselves after we get the keys from the agency.”

After a short discussion at the real estate agency, they got the keys to the last house. In the car to Fourmont, Eveline asked, “Harry, am I your girlfriend?”

Harry smiled wishfully before he answered, “Officially? No. But the guy was hitting on you and together with the greatly exaggerated price for the house he pissed me off. On top of that, I know that face from somewhere, but I don’t know where. Now to give you a complete and honest answer to your question; Yes, I was a tad jealous and I would like you very much to be my girlfriend. So, Eveline I know that we met only a few days ago, but it feels like it’s been months. Would you be my girlfriend?”

Eveline looked surprised at Harry’s face to discern if he was joking, but he looked dead serious. She asked, “You aren’t kidding me, Harry? I am fighting my way back out of a very abusive marriage and I couldn’t cope with something like that again. Please don’t ask if you’re not serious.”

Harry smiled uncertainly and replied, “I am as serious as a heart attack.”

“Harry, I told you that I already liked you at school and in this short time you just confirmed my impression of you. Yes. I would love to be your girlfriend.”

The house in Fourmont proved to be the one but it had problems so Harry called in a specialist to check whether the house was structurally sound and a contractor to see what a new roof and other problems would cost to fix. Harry also had some other ideas but they had to wait. The house, because of its decrepit state, was well within Harry’s budget, but the way the first estate agent had treated Harry, he rather spitefully bid 50k under the asking price. He told Eveline, “Now we wait. It’s getting late, how about dinner?”

Three weeks later after some tough negotiations Harry could call himself the owner of the house in Fourmont. The owner was happy, Harry was happy, only the estate agency was far from happy. The owner got 10k more than expected and Harry paid almost 40k less than what the agency had listed the house for so they lost a lot of commission. It all came together when Harry’s company offered him a new contract. It was far better than the old one and was for three years, so Harry decided to celebrate.

Harry and Eveline were celebrating in a restaurant when Eveline asked, “Harry, your company also handles company shares, don’t they?”

“Yes. Why do you ask?”

“When I divorced my ex-husband, he was fairly rich but tried to hide it. His twin brother knew it and thought, after all the abuse I’d suffered, that it wasn’t fair so he told the judge. I’m well off now, but my ex is still trying to get his hands on those shares. I need to move them.”

Harry replied that he would take care of it first thing the next morning. Later in the evening, he asked the other thing that had been on his mind. “Isn’t it time that you meet Annika and Björn? If you want to, of course.”

Eveline happily told him that she would be delighted and that, for her, it was a big step. So, Harry told her that he would ask them to dinner with them so they could meet.

====

Two weeks later

The four of them were sitting at a very good Turkish restaurant at a table laden with food, the delicious aromas wafting into their noses and making their mouths water.

After the initial awkwardness Björn and especially Annika got on very well with Eveline. They were joking with her and ribbing their father when, to their surprise, Inge appeared next to the table.

Harry bristled, “Inge, you’re not invited, what do you want?”

Inge smirked. “I wanted to have a good look at your new floozy. Is she the fourth, or the fifth now?” And she walked away.

Harry looked around and asked aloud, “What is she talking about? How did she know we were here?”

Annika said, “We don’t know, Dad. Maybe she followed one of us.”

A few minutes later, Eveline excused herself and went to the bathroom, so Harry and his children talked about Inge’s surprise appearance and the comment she’d made. When asked, Harry said, “Eveline’s the first, and only, woman I’ve been involved with since our marriage exploded, and we didn’t meet until the evening of the day the divorce was finalized, a year after it started.”

He was about to say more, but Eveline came back, flushed and looking very angry.

“How could you? How could you mistreat that poor woman?” she exclaimed, practically shouting. “I don’t want to see you again, ever!” Eveline ran out of the restaurant to the stares of all..

Inge returned then with a big smirk on her face, “So,” she said, “now that’s out of the way, you and I have to talk.”

Harry stood with murder written on his face as he said with clenched teeth, “If we were the last two people on earth, I would rather kill myself than talk to you. Go to hell!”

Harry looked livid in Inge’s eyes, but she saw him ignoring her through his anger as he turned to their children.

“I’m going to pay for dinner and then to find Eveline to see what the hell just happened.”

He walked away and Inge was about to follow when Annika grabbed her arm. Angrily, Inge turned back toward her daughter, and then stood furiously looking in the direction where Harry had disappeared.

Annika said in a voice trembling with anger, “Inge, how could you? You are not my mother anymore. I don’t want to talk to you anymore, I don’t want to see you anymore. Lose my number and forget my address. You are dead to me, understood! Dead! Now fuck off!”

Björn was a lot less eloquent. “I concur. The same applies to me.” And in the same breath, he added, “Come on, Annika. The air is polluted near this table.”

They walked out leaving Inge aghast as the restaurant owner appeared at her side. Whispering, he said, “Madam you made me lose a very good customer. I urge you to leave before accidents happen.”

Inge rounded on him. “Are you threatening me?”

The owner replied, “No ma’am, but my bouncer will evict you forcefully if necessary.”

A few moments later Inge was outside without the bouncer’s assistance. She was furious with Harry. How did he dare walk out of me like that? And then to walk away again before we could have it out? She was seething as she thought about all that had happened and came to the realization that she wouldn’t be finding him this evening.

====

The next morning, Harry tried to reach Evaline, but she refused all contact. Even his letter came back unopened within days of being mailed.

Harry was devastated and went into his; “Sleep, work, eat and repeat” mode once again. With Eveline unexpectedly out of his life, all thoughts of socializing ceased and in the days that followed, he stopped seeing people in general, with exception of his children and those at work when necessary.

A couple of weeks after the events at the restaurant, Harry was called into the office of Gerard Derksen, the company CEO. The lawyer, Ella Herweijer, came in seconds later. Gerard’s usual friendliness was gone as he asked, “Mr. van der Goos, are you familiar with the non-fraternization with customers clause in your contract?”

Surprised, Harry replied, “Yes, of course. Why do you ask?”

The lawyer butted in. “Because we have evidence that you are socializing with one of our customers, Mrs. Eveline Goedhart. Do you have any comments on that?”

Harry was taken aback. He stammered, “Not really. I knew Mrs. Goedhart already before she was a client here.”

Mrs. Herweijer immediately bit back, “You know this is the reason for dismissal, don’t you? The company can’t afford scandals if relationships go wrong. This conversation is also to indicate that your contract is terminated. HR will inform you about the procedures. We will want your laptop and phone, though.”

Harry’s blood pressure began to rise; he counted to ten and backward again but still by zero he exploded. The angrier Harry became the more softly and emphatically he spoke to his opponents. Now he almost whispered, “You’ve got it all wrong. Mrs. Goedhart and I were friends before she became a client from this company. In fact, I brought her business in when she needed someone to handle her account. We haven’t been seeing each other anymore for two weeks, either, so if you carry through with the termination of my contract, I will see that as a ‘wrongful termination’ and act accordingly. And one other thing. The laptop and phone are private property. From me. I can show you the receipts. They’re coming with me.”

Now it was Derksen’s turn to stammer. He didn’t expect Harry to bite back. The whole affair with Harry’s ex-wife made him think that Harry was a push-over. This time he stumbled over his words, “There is privacy sensitive information on those things, so I demand them.”

“You demand what? Check your contracts. That information is privy between the account and the account manager from this company. I am the account manager. That is blatantly clear. Under all accounts I handle is my signature. Not yours. Now what is it going to be?”

The lawyer, clearly hurt in her ego said, “Your contract is terminated immediately. The reason will be fraternization with clients. You will receive a written confirmation when you get out. I will need a list of the accounts you handle so we can inform them that they will have a new account manager shortly. I also will have your laptop and phone impounded.”

Harry laughed grimly. “Good luck with all that. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer shortly.”

====

Several months later.

Harry came out of court with a grim face despite it all having gone as he’d predicted.

The company had to pay Harry’s the full amount for the rest of his contract including the bonuses based on the average from the three years before. In short, considering his way of living, he didn’t need to work anymore. To make matters worse for the company, a number of account holders asked Harry to keep working for them and transferred their business from the company to Harry. The judge was deaf to the complaints from Mrs. Herweijer and Mr. Derksen that Harry ‘stole’ those accounts.

After leaving the courthouse, Harry called Annika and Björn to invite them to celebrate with him that evening.

But first, he went home. He needed a swim.

His house was now finally done and he had everything he wished for. His ‘library’, the big kitchen, a garage, and beside the master bedroom, two self-contained guest suites. At the back he had built an extension with a gym and a training pool. The pool was only two and a half meters wide, 8 meters long, and 1.6 meters deep but Harry had jets installed to create the effect of a fast-flowing river in it. Since the pool was installed, Harry used it every day.

Physically, Harry was in excellent condition. Swimming, running as cardio vascular training and Krav Maga for strength and resilience made him that way, but mentally he was slowly sinking. Not long before, he’d bought himself an old BMW R69S from 1968. It was still sitting untouched in his garage. Harry couldn’t find the mental energy to work on it. Outwardly to his clients and children he acted the same as always. Inwardly, though, he felt insecure and depressed and he’d decided that he would never again be involved in another relationship. All trust was gone and, in the end, it just hurt too much.

Annika and Björn agreed to meet early at the restaurant, which, as fate would have it, was the same one where Eveline had run out on Harry. They both were very worried about Harry and they couldn’t find a way to get him out of his depression. He’d refused counseling. He refused to go out, politely turning down every woman who expressed interest in him. The brother and sister discussed the situation, but seemed to be making no headway.

While they were talking, they noticed Eveline enter the restaurant with a man in tow but they had no time to say anything to her since Inge suddenly appeared at their table. Annika looked at Inge and very loudly and angrily said to her mother, “What are you doing here?”

Inge retorted, “I want to talk to you two. This charade has lasted long enough. I’m your mother!”

Björn rose and looked his mother in her eyes. In a voice resonating with contained anger, he said, “After what you did to my father, I don’t have a mother anymore. You all but destroyed my father and I, nor Annika, will stand for it. You’re not wanted here and you are not welcome. There is no chance, as much as a snowball in hell, that my father will take you back after you fucked him up so much, and I seriously suspect that you’re the one behind his dismissal at his company. So, in your own words, be so kind as to get lost.”

Ignoring her mother, Annika pulled out her phone, punched in a number, and said, “Dad we’re coming over to you. We’ll take something out. What would you like?”

“Why?” Harry asked, surprised.

“Oh, this restaurant is contaminated.”

Harry’s children went for the exit, but they saw the man, Eveline’s apparent date, suddenly leave her and intercept them while they were going out.

“Hi,” he said. “Allow me to introduce myself. I’m Jake Goedhart, Eveline’s brother. It seems that my sister was lied to about your father by that schemer. Is there a way we can meet in private to talk about it?”

Annika was surprised at his revelation and proposal, but she was thinking on her feet. Here’s our chance! At least, dear Lord, I hope so!

She quickly gave Jake her business card after she wrote her private number on the back, and then she smiled across the room at Eveline to show that she had no hard feelings toward her. To Jake she said, “Please call me soon. My father is a hermit now and we can’t get him to lighten up. As you saw just a moment ago, my mother isn’t helping at all.”

Jake nodded and rejoined his sister before steering her to their table. Eveline, feeling apprehensive, asked her brother, “What are you doing? The man doesn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore.”

Jake replied, “That remains to be seen. And you’ve not been on your best behavior either since you ran out of the poor sod. I suspect that you still have feelings for him. Take this chance. I’m calling, ah—”

He looked at the card as he realized he didn’t even know the girl’s name.

“—Annika—tomorrow, first thing in the morning to set things up. This must be done now, or the momentum is lost.”

====

The next morning at half past eight, Annika’s phone went off. She saw an unknown number.

“Annika van der Goos speaking, good morning.”

“Annika, this Jake. We met yesterday. Good morning to you too. I hope I’m not too early but I don’t want to give Eveline time to get cold feet. I’m quite certain that she still has very warm feelings for your father. When can we meet?”

“No, Jake. You’re not too early. In fact, I hoped that you’d call soon. My father is slipping into a depression. He tries to hide it, but we see him breaking up. We are at the end of our wits.

Did you say that Eveline still has feelings for my dad?”

“O, yes, certainly. When we meet, we, or rather she, will tell you all about it. My sister has been moping around since she ran from that restaurant. I booked a table for us there twice already in the hope to meet you because I didn’t know how you or Harry would react if I were to somehow be able to contact you. Third time’s a charm, isn’t it? Can you come to my place, say about five? I know it’s early but I think we have a lot of ground to cover and we need to build some common ground, too.”

“I’ll call my brother to see If he’s available at that time. I hope we can come up with something that makes two people happy. By the way, you must love your sister very much to do such a thing.”

“I do. She always took care of me. Now is the time to return the favor. I’ll see you at five. If your brother can’t make it at five, then have him come as soon as he can. I’ll text you the address and I’ll cook.”

“Ok. We take care of the drinks. Wine, beer? What’s your fancy?”

“Can you do both? I like beer, but Eveline likes wine.”

“Consider it done. Have a good day, Until five.”

Just a few minutes after five o’clock, five people sat around a huge kitchen table. The fifth person was Jake’s wife Lisa. She poured the wine while Jake loaded the table with food, including a large dish with turnips, carrots, baby potatoes and chicken legs slowly roasted in the oven with rosemary, lemon, and garlic, fresh baked bread to dip in the juices freed by the roasting, and, as a starter, a spicy chicken broth.

Looking at all of the food, Annika asked politely, “Do we talk while eating, or do we wait?”

“No,” Jake replied. “We’d better start now.”

Annika looked at Eveline and asked her, “Eveline, can you tell what our mother told you about my father?”

Eveline blushed. “I’ll try. Bear in mind that she described my ex-husband to the hilt. That’s why I panicked.” She took a deep breath and said, “Here goes. I went to the bathroom. Your mother was already there. She asked me if Harry already told me why he was divorced. When I told her that he didn’t and then she said that she would tell me because I needed to be warned. She told me that he verbally and mentally abused her for months. and on the first day of the holiday, when she was out for a walk, he went to drink with some strangers. When she came back, he was making out with another woman and told her to piss off because he was amusing himself. Later that night, she told me, Harry wanted to rape her, so she fled home.”

Annika and Björn looked with big eyes at Eveline, shaking their heads, before Björn replied. “The story is almost correct, but for one detail. It wasn’t my father doing it to my mother, but the other way around. On top of that, my mother arranged to get my father fired on false accusations. He was fraternizing with a client—you, Eveline—and they had a picture of you and Dad taken on that day that she had her dirty little talk with you.”

Eveline went white as a sheet as Björn spoke. When he was done, with a small voice, she said, “Harry is all he seems in the first place? I threw away a decent man because I’m stupid enough to believe the lies your mother told me?” Eveline started to sob uncontrollably.

Annika ran around the table and softly whispered in her ear, “Maybe there’s still a way to make you two happy with each other.”

She looked around the table and said, “What shall we do?”

Lisa commented, “Whatever we try, your mother will always try to disrupt it. The mental state she is in now will always cause problems, so it seems to me that you two have to deal with that first. Now, I can think of something, but it’s not something you’ll like, so it’s your decision.”

Björn immediately replied, “Spill it. We’ll do almost anything.”

Lisa went on. “You have to let your mother back into your lives.”

Both Harry’s children looked up sharply at Lisa and both wanted to say something but she held up her hand. “Hear me out,” she said. “To do this, there are conditions she must adhere to. One, she has to leave your dad alone and stop interfering with his life, and two, she has to visit a psychiatrist to deal with her issues. Something is not right with her.”

Annika and Björn looked at each other for a few moments and then slowly nodded.

“That’s an idea. We can do that, can’t we bro?” said Annika. “Now, how do we handle my father?”

====

Harry was in the pool, swimming himself to exhaustion. He’d had a bad day and was working his frustrations out of his body. At 47, he was looking very fit. All the swimming and Krav Maga had done wonders for his body.

He was forced to buy himself new clothes because the old ones didn’t fit anymore. His shoulders had broadened, with his muscles showing in his arms and back. His tummy was flat, well defined, and his butt, tight. He’d never been a couch potato but now women, and some men too, were starting to notice him. That’s why he was so frustrated that evening.

Harry was wealthy, lived in a nice house, and overall was a healthy-looking specimen of the human kind. The only problem was that after two failed relationships, he couldn’t be bothered with another attempted relationship. Women, especially, started to hit on him and he had to discourage them politely. Earlier that day, a female client wouldn’t take no for an answer and threatened Harry with taking her portfolio to another company. Harry advised her of his old company and turned the woman down, to her great dismay.

Finally, when his muscles ached from exhaustion and his lungs burned in his chest, he staggered up the ladder and out of the water. He was drying himself when the doorbell rang. Harry slipped on some shorts and a t-shirt before checking his outdoor camera and angrily opening the door.

“Inge, how explicit do I have to be? Whatever you want, the answer is no! Now go get lost!”

Harry slammed the door shut and activated his security system, turning the record mode on. If push came to shove, he wanted to ask for a restraining order and would need evidence for that.

====

Inge felt good as she approached Harry’s house.

Earlier that day, she’d finally gotten a clean bill of health. Her escapades of over a year before had rewarded her with a very tenacious strain of syphilis. She hadn’t had sex since and tonight she planned to seduce Harry and make it up to him.

Inge hadn’t seen Harry for months. She’d tried everything in the book to get him to talk to her. Because he wouldn’t react to her mails or messages and wouldn’t take her calls, she’d ruined his date and messed up his job.

Now she came to offer her help because, without work, he would be destitute…wouldn’t he?

Inge dressed for the occasion in something that in former days, would make Harry wild. She also had her hair done and spent an hour in front of the mirror from her dressing table. Sure of herself and her plan, she rang the bell.

The door opened fast and she looked at her former husband. This was not the man she knew before. This man had broad shoulders and was ripped. Only the haunted face reminded her of old times before Harry’s reaction caught her even more off guard, leaving much to be desired.

Harry gave her back the same words which had ruined her marriage and then he slammed the door on her.

Again, Inge felt her tears threatening to ruin her makeup.

====

Immediately after his encounter with his ex-wife Harry’s phone went off.

“What!”

“Dad?”

“Oh, sorry, daughter of mine. I thought it was your mother. She was just at the door.”

“What did she want?”

“I don’t know, I didn’t give her time to open her mouth. I yelled at her to get lost and slammed the door in her face.”

“So, reconciliation is still not in the books for her?”

“Daughter dear, when your mother ripped out my soul for months on end and shredded it by blatantly cheating, I had a hole where my soul formerly resided. Somehow that void got filled up again, but something in me is gone. The love for your mother has all but vaporized and a part of my empathy for other people is gone too. There is certainly no place for Inge in my life anymore. Please realize that she is your mother and you only have one. Don’t do anything you might regret later, such as banning her out of your life.”

“And Eveline?”

“I don’t know. I tried to reach her for days on end, to no avail. I surmised that she didn’t want to see me anymore after that little chat with your mother, so I blocked her number and deleted it. I still dream of her though and wake-up hurting and missing her.”

“Dad?”

“Yes.”

“When do you come out of your shell?”

“I don’t know, dearest daughter of mine. I know that, mentally, I’m in a bad place. I’m not ready to ask a psychiatrist for help yet. Also, I’m going crazy from the women who think I’m easy prey or need their help.”

“One last question: can we come over tomorrow? For dinner perhaps?”

“That’s nice. At six. Use your keys, so I can have a swim from 4 till 5 and still have time to cook. I’ll like the idea.”

“Ok, dad. See you tomorrow. Love you!”

They rang off, leaving Annika elated. She immediately called Eveline.

“Eve, be at my place at half past three tomorrow. We have to be at Dad’s place between 4 and 5. I tricked him into believing that Björn and I would come to dinner. Start thinking about what you are going to wear,” said Annika happily.

Eveline, on the other end of the line, was excited, too, as she replied, “Thanks, Annika. I’ll see you then.”

In truth, Eveline had already decided what she would wear should this opportunity arise. She’d wear the same outfit she wore when she opened the door for Harry that morning they went house hunting.

She smiled as she remembered the effect it had on him.

====

Inge had tried to call her children numerous times. She’d written letters. She’d even knocked at their doors, but her number was blocked, her letters went unanswered, and the doors never opened to her.

Desperate, she tried Annika again.

“Mother, why are you calling? You know we don’t want any contact with you?”

“I needed to hear your voice; you are my daughter and I miss you, both of you, so much. Tell me what I must do to see you again, please? I already tried to help your father now that they fired him, but he wouldn’t let me.”

“Ha! Dad doesn’t need help, particularly yours. He’s very well off lately, actually.” She paused, feeling this was a good time to continue their plan. “Björn and I have talked about you recently, and Dad even told us that we only have one mother and we’re going to regret it later if we continue to ignore you. Therefore, Björn and I came up with two things you must do before we even start talking to you. Are you listening?”

“Yes, yes. Anything, I’ll do anything.”

“Ok, here goes. First; You leave Dad alone. You stop messing his life up. We both know who terrorized his girlfriend into running and who got Dad fired with that picture. The only fun part is that they botched the procedure so badly that Dad walked away quite wealthy and took a bunch of clients with him. So, leave Dad alone!”

Inge was shocked to hear this but she was nodding despite Annika being well away. “Okay, okay, I promise. And second?”

“You go and see a psychiatrist to help you with your obsession over Dad. Otherwise, you’ll be at it again within half a year. Face it. He will never take you back. Ever!”

“Uhm, I don’t know…”

“I’ll go with you. That’s part of the deal.”

“And Björn? Will he see me too?”

“I speak for both of us. We already agreed in advance and we knew that you would call me.”

“Then I agree on both conditions.”

“Good. Let us know when your first appointment with the doctor is. I’ll come with you as promised. And leave Dad alone.”

Inge was elated. Annika and Björn wanted to talk to her again. She wasn’t happy with the conditions, but in time she could get around them she thought. She would leave Harry alone for the time being.

She would have another shot when the family was together again.

====

The next day.

Annika and Eveline let themselves in at Harry’s house as Annika whispered to Eveline, “You look absolutely stunning.”

Eveline smiled nervously. She whispered back, “Now what should I do? I’m so nervous, I’m feeling queasy.”

“Best, you surprise him in the pool. I’m quite certain that he won’t run away from you from there,” Annika said, knowing full well that her father always swam naked at home.

Eveline dropped her coat on the couch and looked around. The austerity of the house told her much about the mental state Harry was in. She worked up all her courage and walked through the gym to the swimming pool.

There, she saw Harry swimming, long, strong strokes. She noticed how he’d changed. His shoulders and back muscles rippled from effort, but his head was constantly in the water. He’ll never see her standing here.

Eveline had been hydrophobic, fearful of water, since her ex-husband had held her under in the bathtub repeatedly, but she desperately wanted Harry’s attention so she pulled off her blouse and shrugged out of her pants. Her panties went after her pants and she wore no bra. Completely naked she took a deep breath and took the plunge.

Eveline didn’t realize that the jets in the pool were almost at full blast. The current took her under and within seconds she bumped into Harry. Instinctively, he grabbed her and it only took the current another second to take them to the other side of the pool. There, Harry hit the emergence stop and the flow subsided even as Eveline clung to him as if her life depended on it.

Harry looked up from the button to see Eveline’s panicked face. “Eveline, what are you doing?” he started.

But Eveline started to hyperventilate from fear and panic. “I, I, I…” was all that came out of her mouth.

Harry became aware of her breasts pressing in his chest, realizing that she was naked too. Immediately his blood started to flow to his groin to cause a swelling in the head down there. In those few seconds, Eveline’s panic was almost full blown and she was seriously hyperventilating, so Harry could do only one thing to stop her. He put his hands behind her head, pulled it toward his and kissed her.

After a few moments Eveline’s eyes opened. She relaxed her grip on Harry’s body and noticed immediately that his dick was as hard as a nail and she began, quite enthusiastically, to kiss him back. When he finally let go, they were both panting.

Eveline cried, “Don’t send me away, please. Don’t throw me out. Please let me explain first, please?”

Harry was completely flabbergasted. Very surprised, he answered, “I won’t throw you out…but you do have some explaining to do. First of all, how did you get in here?”

Annika shouted from the door of the gym, “You can blame me, Dad! I have coffee and tea in the kitchen. So, when you are decent. Eveline, are you coming?”

Eveline smiled and shouted back, “I’m coming! When I’m decent! It might take a while, though!”

When Harry and Eveline entered the kitchen, they met a questioning look from Annika.

Harry explained grinning, “She jumped in the pool.”

Eveline added, “He wouldn’t look up so I had to. But I’m not going to do that again, ever.”

The three of them sat around the table. Annika softly said to her father, “Dad, I hope you aren’t mad at us for interfering in your life but you’re so unhappy we had to do something and then we met Jake and Eveline.”

Harry frowned, “Jake?”

Eveline quickly interrupted. “My little brother.”

“Ah,” came Harry’s reply. “I think I’ll stop trying to understand it all.”

“I’ll explain if you promise me that you don’t get angry and let me finish my story, cause it’s quite long. Annika already knows. That’s why I’m here now.”

“That much I understand. And I trust my children implicitly. That’s the reason you can explain, otherwise you’d have already been ousted.”

Eveline sighed deeply, looked grateful to Annika, and asked, “Shall I start? The sooner this is over the better.”

Harry only nodded. His gaze fixed on Eveline’s jiggling chest.

“When I met you Harry, I was on my first date after a, for me, disastrous marriage and you yourself witnessed how that date ended. Again, another disaster. I was married to an abusive control freak.

“It started as a dream marriage but soon after the mistreatments began. First verbal, but soon physical as well. You saw my reaction in the pool. Sheer panic. That’s because my ex tried his equivalent of waterboarding on me repeatedly. I fled several times but he found me each time and brought me back.”

She saw his look and nodded. “The Police? Where we lived, they were very conservative and women should know their place. Don’t expect help unless you can show some bruises. I could never prove that he was abusive until I pushed him too far and he put me in hospital. Now he’s in prison. Then I met you.

“Harry, I always liked you. At school, you went your own way and you didn’t take shit from the jocks. Ignored the queens, even when they threw themselves at you. They only did that because you ignored them, they couldn’t handle that. On top of that, you helped everybody who asked with their assignments, in math, chemistry, and physics. Even when we only knew each other a few hours, I felt as if I’d known you for years and I was falling for you. When you asked if I wanted to be your girlfriend I felt as never before. You took it slowly and didn’t rush me. About a month later you took me to meet Annika and Björn in that restaurant.

“There your ex-wife appeared and sneered that I was your fifth girl, as if you were dating all of us at once. My heart sank. When she told me those lies about you, she described my ex-husband to the hilt. I panicked and the only thing I could do was run away as fast as I could.

“It took me days to calm down. I was so afraid that I ignored all your pleas to talk to me, returned your letter and didn’t open when you were at my door. After a week, I saw Jake and told him everything that happened. He, in turn, said that, maybe, it was all lies from a jealous ex-wife. After that talk with my brother and with his support, I tried to reach you to no avail; my calls wouldn’t go through.”

Harry nodded, remembering how he’d blocked her number and deleted her from his contact list.

“I didn’t have the courage to come knocking at your door, afraid you would turn me down,” she said, her head bowed.

Harry asked, “How did you have the courage to show up today?”

“Jake, Björn, and I pushed her, Dad,” answered Annika before Eveline could open her mouth.

“And Evie, why did you decide to jump naked into my pool?”

Eveline’s heart soared. He called her Evie! His pet’s name for her! She replied, “I don’t know, you kept your head in the water and I wanted your attention so badly that I overcame my hydrophobia. When the current took me, I was so afraid, Harry, but you saved me.” Her eyes were cloudy and she was fighting off tears as she continued “I’m so sorry that I ran without asking your side of that story. I just don’t know what overcame me. And I am sorry that I was too cowardly to come here. Can you forgive me?”

Harry looked at Annika and then to Eveline. He whispered, “Evie, I already told Annika that I still dream of you and it hurts every time I wake up. I don’t have a choice, do I? Do you know ‘Avalanche’ by Leonard Cohen? It starts with I stepped into an avalanche. It covered up my soul. You are that avalanche, my avalanche, twice. The first time was during our first dinner together and the second when you kissed me.”

Eveline’s mouth opened, closed and opened again, but no sound came and her tears overcame her. Harry kneeled next to her, took her face in his hands and forced Eveline to look in his eyes. “Evie, Look at me. Do you really want to be with a broken man like me? I, for me, would love to have you back again. But we both have issues to work out. Shall we seek counseling? Both of us and build from that? ”

Finally, Eveline found her voice, “Does that mean that you’re taking me back?”

“No.” Eveline went white as a sheet within a second, but Harry continued quickly as he wiped a tear from her cheek, “I never told you to leave, did I? You ran. Actually, I should ask you if you want me back.”

Eveline couldn’t believe her luck and she squeaked, “Yes, yes very much so. I’ve been so stupid to let myself be played like that. Can I stay here tonight?”

Annika butted in. “Dad, Eveline, sorry to interrupt, but now this has a happy ending, there is another thing I have to tell you and it concerns Eveline as well.”

“Out with it Cupid-Daughter of mine.”

Annika took a deep breath and started, “Björn and I have decided to let mother into our life again. On two conditions. First was that she leaves you alone and stops sabotaging your life. Second was that she seeks counseling. I, myself, will accompany her.”

“Good!” Harry said forcefully.” Very wise of you two to let your mother back in. That makes me very happy. If it will help to ease the tension in the future, I promise that I will behave when I meet her.”

Annika’s and Eveline’s head shot up and both wanted to say something. Harry went on before they could, “That doesn’t mean that I will ask her to dinner, but there will be a time that you, or your brother will want to have a family dinner or something like that. You don’t have to choose between two parents on my account. I can’t talk for your mother, of course.”

Annika sighed. “Oh, Dad, You’re so sweet. Thank you,” and she kissed him on his cheek. “Now I’m going to leave you. Eveline, are you coming?” She grinned.

Eveline, still uncertain, looked at Harry, “Do I have to?”

Harry smiled, “Not on my account. I have a spare bedroom.” He laughed out loud and said, “But whichever room you choose, you will find me in the bed.”

Eveline blushed and smiled at the same time.

That evening, Eveline and Harry were making out on the couch and Harry couldn’t keep his hands off of her. Long, slow, sensuous kisses alternated with steaming tongue battles. Eveline’s blouse was unbuttoned and Harry was appraising her dark hard nipples with his lips and tongue. His hands found that the harem pants gave easy access to her very wet vagina. His fingers had already brought Eveline two hard orgasms and her breathing was ragged again.

Eveline’s fingers were in his jogging pants curled around his dick, holding him lovingly as he continued his effort. She panted, “Harry, you’ve got to stop. I need you in bed first and then I need you in me. If I come now, I won’t be able to walk anymore.”

Harry regretfully let go of the woman, who was so beautiful in his eyes. He liked the way Eveline responded very much and he had a lot more in his arsenal to keep her happy.

Eveline, though, had never experienced a man who was willing to pleasure her. Her ex just banged away and, when done, fell asleep or told her to get a beer from the fridge. The orgasms she had, when she was married, were a total coincidence and slight tremors compared to the two major earthquakes she experienced on the couch.

After that, Harry supported Eveline up the stairs and helped her to his bed. Before she lay down, he divested her of her blouse.

“It’s like unwrapping a Christmas gift,” he said, admiring the two beautiful pear-shaped breasts topped with dark areola and rock-hard nipples looking slightly outward. Harry started to give lots of attention to the nubs while his hands were exploring how to undo her pants.

Eveline stopped him with a giggle. “It’s just elastic. No buttons. Now help me out of them.” She wasn’t wearing panties underneath; they were still somewhere in the gym.

With her pants tossed to the side, Harry’s nose dove into her curly triangle. He smelled her arousal and his nose went to the source. Soon, his tongue was teasing the inner lips of Eveline’s slit.

“No, Harry, no! Hurry! Inside, I need you inside, just make me yours!”

Harry wasn’t going to decline such an invitation. He came up again and kissed Eveline soulfully as he lined his cock up with the entrance of her tunnel. She was wet, hot, and tight. He pushed and his oversensitive cock twitched as he slid just inside. Eveline locked her ankles behind Harry’s buttocks and tried to force Harry upward and further into her love tunnel.

She grunted, “I want you in me, now! And I want to feel you coming inside me. I want all of it inside me! Now, have me!”

Harry pushed his cock the rest of the way inside her tight sleeve in one go. He heard a high pitched “OH!” from Eveline and he started to play the piledriver.

Long, hard strokes followed, over and over, until he heard Eveline mewling, “Harryyyyy, I’m cumming, ooohhhhw, I’m cumminggggg.”

Harry lost it then.

He felt his sack constricting but it felt as if his cock was blocked for a second. Then the dam burst and years of frustration and pain vaporized when he shot stream after stream of semen into the warm and willing womb of his woman.

Eveline felt Harry’s great release and she was picked up in her personal avalanche that seemed to carry on forever.

An eerie silence descended over the house. Only to be interrupted by the heavy breathing of two people sprawled on the bed holding each other as if dear life depended on it.

Harry’s breath slowly became normal and he found his voice first. “Will you marry me?”

Eveline, who still was coming down from her last orgasm and the aftershocks, needed a moment to process Harry’s question. She bolted upright and looked with big eyes at Harry as she asked, “What did you just say?”

Harry repeated, “Will you marry me?”

Eveline said nothing for a long time and finally asked, “Do you really want to marry me? You don’t have to. I’m yours, without or with a ring and I promise you solemnly that I will stay at your side in good and bad times and that I will forsake all other men.”

Harry replied, “That’s good enough for me. I pledge the same except for the part about men. Make that other women, for me. Consider us married. Now, do you want to move, or shall I?”

Eveline laughed, a happy laugh, and told Harry that she would get her own things from her flat. “I don’t have much to move,” she said. “I think I was still in flight mode after my divorce.”

“Dear Evie, he can’t hurt you anymore. If he tries, I’ll break all of his bones.”

The next morning, Harry called Annika and Björn to tell them the happy news, and after breakfast, he and Eveline went to collect her things.

====

A year later.

Harry had finished his swim and was looking at Eveline doing her own slow strokes in the pool. It had taken a while but she’d overcome her hydrophobia and now Harry couldn’t get enough of the sight of Eveline, naked, cutting through the water. For his amusement, she’d learned to backstroke, too, but that invariably made him dive back in, too, when she did it.

Harry hummed to himself when he walked back to his office. He made a small detour along the mailbox. took out the mail and dumped it on his desk.

Coffee first, he thought. He made two cups, putting them on his desk, and was just starting to look at the mail when Eveline entered, still walking a little gingerly following their lovemaking the night before.

She took a seat and took the cup he offered. Sorting through part of the stack, she observed out loud, “There’s one letter without a stamp addressed to you, not your company.”

Harry took the letter and recognized the handwriting immediately. He groaned out loud,

“No, not again. She promised.”

Eveline asked, “Harry, look at me, please?”

Harry looked up, haunted, so Eveline went on. “I know that Inge wrote this letter. We talked about it when we met at Björn’s. We talked, the three of us. Inge’s councilor made short work with her idée fixe of having you back, but she had a hell of a time putting Inge together again. When Inge realized what she put you through, she came apart and slipped into a depression. Now, she’s on the mend and this letter is partly her atonement. Please read it. It gives you closure.”

Harry growled, “I don’t need closure with that woman. I need to be left alone.”

Eveline stood, took his coffee from Harry’s hand, and sat on his desk facing him. “Yes, you do, Harry, otherwise it keeps haunting you. Read-The-Letter!” The last came out forcefully.

Harry knew better than to object when Eveline used that tone with him. Nodding slowly, he relented and opened the envelope.

Dear Harry,

Yes, it is still “Dear Harry” to me although I know you think otherwise, and I still love you. I also know, from our children, that you are so far past hate that you don’t care about me whichever way. When they divulged that information, I was thunderstruck.

But enough about me. This letter is to tell you that I am sorry. When you left, you told me that you were so mad at me that there are no words strong enough to describe it. I now lack the words to tell you how sorry I am.

I damaged our marriage way beyond repair. I tried to ruin your life at least three times and alienated you so that you gave up caring altogether.

Annika and Bjorn forced me to go into counseling and the counselor was brutal. Her mirror told me that I was jealous, selfish, and felt entitled. I have hurt you terribly because of that.

I’m not going to ask for forgiveness, not because I don’t want to be forgiven, but because I feel I don’t deserve that.

The children told me that you will behave politely toward me. You can do that by ignoring me as well. I dated a few men. I now realize what I threw away because someone told me that you need strife to keep a marriage interesting. I’ve got strife, but without a marriage.

I beg for one thing only. Please let me into your life again for the sake of our children. I am not going to stalk you again and will not invade your life ever again. But please, when we meet, will you talk to me? Just to say hello?

I crave for some words from you.

With remorse and love,

Inge

Harry looked up in Eveline’s expectant face before sighing slowly. “I…I’ll think about it. Don’t expect an answer soon. I don’t like it when people start frolicking with my feelings.”

Eveline wanted to say something but stopped when she saw that Harry’s face was expressionless and his eyes were like stones, completely without emotion. She nodded silently, knowing to give him time.

Harry went to his garage to tinker with his second BMW. This one was a R24 from 1949, a 250cc (15.25 cubic inch) single cylinder motorcycle. On his workbench, he started to dismantle the carburetor, but he couldn’t concentrate enough. When dinnertime arrived Harry still didn’t say a single word and Eveline started to worry.

“Love,” she said, “how can I help? Do you want to talk about it?”

Harry replied gruffly, “Can you undo that letter? I wish I’d never read it. I feel as if I’m being blackmailed through my children and by my children.”

Eveline was startled by the vehement reaction from Harry. She soothingly said, “That is not true. Nobody is trying to force you into this.”

Harry stood and started to pace the room. “That’s not true. You talked with Annika, Björn, and my ex-wife about this letter, and you pushed me to read it. So, what would you want to call it otherwise? Persuasion, perhaps? I promise I will give it serious thought in due time. But now I feel fucked over again. I think I’m leaving for a while to get my thoughts on the rails again.”

Eveline turned pale at Harry’s words. She’d expected a reaction, perhaps even a strong one, but this fierceness was beyond anything the three of them ever envisioned.

Harry said, “Tomorrow, I’ll take the caravan and go to Limburg for a while. I’m going to book a place at a camping site.”

====

Harry found himself driving south the next morning, grumbling to himself as he drove.

“Bloody mess, when you finally think you can leave that woman behind there comes another fucking rabbit out of her hat. And on top of that I end up getting the only campsite available in the area at the same fucking camping site where this mess began.”

At about the same time in Fourmont, things were frantic. Eveline called Annika but she didn’t answer the phone. Finally, Eveline got hold of Björn.

“Hai, Eveline, everything ok? Something happened, because you don’t normally call me but rather Annika.”

“Björn, Harry read Inge’s letter yesterday. It went badly, very badly. He said that he felt blackmailed and didn’t say another word but “See you” this morning when he went to Limburg with the caravan.” She cried, “Now, I don’t know what to do!”

“Oh, shit,” replied Björn. “That wasn’t what we expected. You know what? I’ll come over after I contact Annika. And I’ll relay the bad news to my mother. The only thing we can do is wait and hope dad will cool off. Now keep your wits together and keep calm. Dad will come back to you. Don’t be afraid.”

Still, despite his assurance, Eveline was very afraid.

====

In the afternoon, Harry arrived at the camping site. He was shown a beautiful spot with an endless view of the rolling landscape. He quickly made camp and then went in search of dinner.

After dinner, he went for a small sightseeing over the camping site when he noticed a familiar face in the place next to his spot. Now, because of the circumstances, place and face came together and Harry recognized the real estate agent who was also one of the men who’d fucked his ex-wife and given her syphilis.

Harry’s heart rate went through the roof and he felt his adrenaline spike as he felt murder on his mind. Luckily, the man walked away from him, oblivious to the danger a few meters away, and Harry, shaking with rage, went to his caravan.

There, he sat still for a long time, thinking, before finally going to bed. After a restless night, he rose the next morning to go into the office of the manager for a little chat.

When Harry started to question the man, the manager volunteered, “I’m sorry. I know these men are bad news. I heard the rumors, but as long as I don’t have evidence, I can’t refuse them. I already have a CCTV camera pointed at them, but the ladies always enter their caravan voluntarily.”

“And if I can get them provoked?” Harry asked.

The manager smiled and said, “I know nothing as Manuel in Fawlty Towers always said.”

Harry laughed. “Aha, you are from Barcelona,” he said, referencing Manuel’s origin. “But we understand each other.”

Leaving the office, Harry started to plan.

====

“Good morning gentlemen.” Harry smiled. He hoped the agent didn’t recognize him. He hadn’t shaved for a few days and the man had met him more than three years ago. Harry looked very different these days.

The man looked up. Red shot eyes and dark sagging rims underneath. He croaked, “What do you want?”

Harry, with an innocent face said, “Me? Nothing, but since we are neighbors, I came to offer coffee. It seems you are in need of a cup.”

The man eyed Harry suspiciously. “Why would you do that?”

Still playing a bit stupid, Harry said, “It seems you had fun yesterday, and I’m all by myself here.” Harry let the rest of the sentence hang between the two of them.

After some thought, the man said, “Call me Abe and bring something strong to drink. It’s ladies’ night tonight and we’re going to get us some pussy.”

“OK,” Harry said. “What time?”

“Make it around three,” Abe replied. “My mate is coming too.”

Harry went for a walk and, as Abe so eloquently said, for booze. He bought a bottle of cognac, a whiskey, and a bottle of ‘young’ Dutch jenever which looked like water. Harry replaced most of the jenever with water. He took a gamble but most people didn’t drink jenever anyway.

At three, Harry walked over with his phone in record mode and put it face down on the table. He was surprised to find Abe and his ‘mate’ in the company of a young woman.

“Hi, I’m Bridget.”

Harry seated himself and whispered to Abe, “Bit young, isn’t she?”

Abe retorted, “Oh, she’s nineteen, but who cares, pussy is pussy. You’d be amazed how easy it is to get a woman on her back. We even had one, a few years ago, who told her husband to get lost because she had a good time. She just came on to us! Do you believe that? Afterwards when he was dismissed, we had a very good time with her and she got so drunk, but we left early in the morning. We didn’t want the man confronting us. Shame though, she gave us a nasty STD.”

Harry couldn’t believe his ears. He asked, “And if the woman isn’t willing?”

Abe smiled insincerely, “Oh, a little ketamine will solve that problem very quickly, but I like them better if they are willing and active.”

Harry noticed that Abe very subtly started to ply Bridget with alcohol. It started innocently with a glass of white wine, but an hour later he convinced her to drink a cocktail. After dinner the woman had more than enough, but was still refusing the avances from the two men.

Abe and his friend were over their limit too and started to get more aggressive. Finally, Abe said, “Time to break out daddy’s little helpers.”

Harry made sure that the CCTV was focused on the spot and that his phone was still in record mode on the table nearby. He said, “You know, that amounts to rape. I don’t think I like that.”

“Getting cold feet? So, what are you going to do about it?” sneered Abe. “She’s going to get fucked whether you like it or not!”

Harry, deciding to force the issue, looked at Abe and goaded, “Which of you needed to be treated for syphilis? Oh, no, both of you, of course. Stirring around each other cum.”

Abe’s friend went purple. “How’d you know that?” he shouted.

“Cause it was my ex-wife who treated you to it, asshole. And now that I know your modus operandi, I’ll put an end to it.”

Harry expected more bluster but, before he could react properly, Abe lunged with a knife suddenly appearing in his hands. Sidestepping, Harry felt the knife go in but was able to avoid much of the blow. He got hold of Abe’s hand and twisted it while turning away. He immediately kicked viciously at the side of Abe’s knee and heard it snap, and, in the same move, broke Abe’s wrist. He turned at once, blocking a fist from Abe’s friend, and kicked the man, as hard as he could, in the balls. The man went to his knees, and Harry kicked his face in for good measure.

Then, Harry staggered to a chair and slumped down into it.

====

“Eveline!”

“Yes, Björn? What’s wrong?”

“Dad, he’s in the hospital. He was knifed and the police want to arrest him for abuse.”

“What! What happened? Is Harry ok?”

“I don’t know. I know he needs surgery. That’s why they called me. As soon as Annika is here, we’ll pick you up and go and see him.”

“Please, yes! I’ll pack a bag for him.”

It was a long time quiet in the car. Björn kept the car just below the limit where one would lose their driver’s license. Eveline sobbed silently.

“I wish we’d never given him that letter. That’s the reason he went there in the first place,”

Annika said in a small voice.

Björn concentrated on the road ahead of them, but he couldn’t hold back. “It’s not for Dad to get in a fight. With all that Krav Maga, he learned to stay out of them. I think he had to defend himself or else he was ambushed. I’ve seen what he is capable of. I almost pity the other man.”

Two hours later they arrived at the hospital. They were met by a police officer.

“Good evening. I’m Officer Janzens. May I ask who you are?”

Introductions were made and Janzens continued, “Mr. van der Goos is not a suspect anymore. It was pure self-defense according to the images from the CCTV camera and his phone records. It also seems he saved a woman from being raped. Two men attacked him without warning. I must say, Mr. van der Goos gave a very good account of himself. The two men will be very sorry they took him on.”

“Two?” Eveline asked.

Annika interrupted. “How is he? Is he in danger?”

Janzens said that he didn’t know and they had to ask the doctor. Finally, after asking directions several times, they arrived at the right ward. There, a nurse told them that Harry was being operated on. His situation was grave; it was thought he would pull through but he’d lost a lot of blood. That there were no guarantees was left unsaid but was understood by all.

She told the anxious threesome that they could wait there or she could arrange a guest room on the other side of the street with a promise that they would be called immediately when Harry came back from the operation. Annika, Björn, and Eveline crossed the street in the middle of the night.

There, the waiting began.

====

Peep,peep, peep, peep.

What’s that noise? Shut it down! Don’t you know that I’ve a headache? Harry thought.

He wanted to say something but he couldn’t move his tongue and it seems his lips were sealed.

He heard a rich deep voice say, “Ahh, there he is again. Mr. van der Goose, if you can hear me, please lift your right hand.”

Harry, rather unsteadily, did as requested.

“Good,” the man said. “Let me introduce myself before I explain some things. My name is Deridder, Dr Deridder, and I’m going to help you to get you on your feet again. You just avoided the grim reaper so you’d better take it easy for a while. Now first, I’m going to release you from some of the equipment and wet your mouth. Then you’ll see some very anxious people, but I can’t stress enough to take it easy.”

When he and the nurse were done removing the tube, the doctor opened the door and gestured to Eveline, Annika, and Björn to enter. He looked at Eveline and mumbled something like “Lucky bastard” before leaving.

Eveline was in tears when she finally asked, “What happened? I should never have given you that letter.”

Harry smiled and croaked, “No. It cost me, but I now have a clear answer to Inge’s letter.” He closed his eyes and whispered, “I’m so tired.” In seconds, he was asleep again.

After their very brief visit, Eveline and the kids went to see Dr Deridder.

“The knife grazed a major vein. Mr. van der Goos was slowly bleeding to death inside himself. Luckily, we got there in time. As a result, he only needs to strengthen up. The wound itself was stitched and he will be sore and stiff for a while but next week he can go home. Mind you, he has to wait for at least three months before restarting to practice whatever martial arts he is partial to.”

Björn asked, “How do you know my dad is practicing Krav Maga?”

“Mmm. Krav Maga, that explains a lot. Officially I’m not allowed to tell you, but you should have seen the other two guys. One is going to need a cane for the rest of his life and the other is eating through a straw for the time being and is missing at least one testicle.”

A week later, Harry was sitting at home in his recliner with Inge’s letter in his hands. Three pairs of eyes were trained on his face when he said in a sad voice, “When I first read the letter and on my way to the camping, I was inclined to give in and let Inge back into my life. The men at the camping site were the same men Inge fucked nearly four years ago. When I gained some trust, they told me, without knowing who I was, that she was the one who gave them a STD and not the other way around. They also said that she became drunk after they had their fuckfest and not before. I can only conclude that she was already cheating on me before I left her. She is absolutely not coming back in my life. I will, however, behave myself towards her as if she is a stranger because I don’t want my kids having to choose which parent they should invite. And it’s my responsibility to tell her, so I implore you not to interfere. Please, promise me?”

After two weeks, Harry got the green light from Dr Deridder to start with his exercises again. He started his first weeks under the watchful eyes of a physiotherapist. Six weeks after his ‘flight and fight’ he was pondering how to tackle the conversation with his ex-wife.

Determining no good way to handle it, he finally decided just to improvise and see what it brought.

One week later

Harry was waiting in the same restaurant where Inge tried to destroy his budding relationship with Eveline. Now, Eveline and Harry were deeply in love with each other. Eveline had gotten rid of her uncertainties during the counselling they took together, and, at the same time, Harry slowly rid himself of his distrust.

He saw Inge entering the restaurant and was surprised to see that she had company. He stood and waved before both women walked to his table

“Inge, I see that you brought company to a private conversation.”

Inge wanted to cry; this wasn’t the welcome she’d hoped for. She and her counselor had discussed several scenarios, with this opening being the one of them she dreaded the most, one of the worst-case scenarios. Inge had known it was going to be difficult, which was why she had her counselor with her in the hope that the woman could defuse possible explosive developments.

“Harry, may I introduce you to my counselor? She’s here to give me support.”

“Ah, I see. Still trying to manipulate me.” Harry addressed the other woman. “Should I have brought my counselor as well? You see, I had a need for one too after this woman was finished with me.”

He turned to Inge again, “I promised you dinner and your support is welcome too; let’s take a seat.”

Inge was on the edge, but Harry insisted on ‘first eat, then talk’.

She also noticed that Harry only ate a little and drank sparingly from his wine but seemed totally relaxed. Finally a dessert, Harry asked, “Alright Inge, what do you want from me?”

Inge almost choked on her ice-cream. The counselor jumped in, “Sir, you’re being rude. Inge is trying to solve the, ahh, difficulties between you. This doesn’t help.”

“Difficulties? You can’t even begin to comprehend the anguish she caused me. Inge, you know I was in hospital, but do you know why?”

Inge was still off balance by the chilled, almost hostile, attitude Harry showed toward her and her counselor. She replied in a little voice, “Hospital, yes, but I don’t know why. The kids wouldn’t tell me anything.”

Harry looked at the two women and asked, “You’re interested as to why?”

Both women nodded yes.

“Okay. Inge, after I read your letter, I needed to do some serious soul searching. And I needed to do that only because the people I love, those who I’m certain love me, asked me to do what you begged for. So, I took the caravan and went south. When I came to the vicinity, I looked for a camping site. Coincidence had it that the only one with a free spot was the same where your especially-for-me-designed hell came to full fruition. Fate must have had a field day because there I met the two men you had your fuckfest with. I wanted to extract some revenge so I tried to gain their trust. I did, and with resounding success, I might say. They were bragging about past conquests.”

During Harry’s explanation blood slowly drained from Inge’s face. She never, even in her worst nightmares, thought that Harry would recognize these men again.

Harry, however, went on relentlessly. “They were willing to rape a woman using ketamine, if need be, so I stuck around using the CCTV to record the scene and for sound, my phone. When I objected to the rape and insulted them, they started the fight. One had a knife.”

Here Harry paused, took a sip of his drink, and looked Inge straight in her face. “I happen to have a part of that record on my phone and I’m going to share that with you both.”

The counselor woman butted in. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Harry’s reply was swift. “I’m sure you don’t, but you aren’t my counselor and I think it is absolutely necessary to make the reason for my decision clear beyond any doubt.”

He played the recording as Inge trembled with anxiety. This was the part she’d withheld from everyone. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as the tape laid her lies bare.

When the recording was finished Harry’s eyes were, unlike hers, devoid from any emotion. His face was set as he explained, “These men didn’t recognize me until after this was recorded. I used this to goad them into attacking me. But the information was shared freely.

“Now, ex-wife, I came to the conclusion that, in the months before the event, while you shut me down from any sexual relief, you indulged yourself with and spread your legs for one man at least, and maybe more. You not only humiliated me and constantly insulted me for almost half a year, you also took a complete vacation from your wedding vows. And even if I thought that your ‘grand finale’ at the camp wasn’t enough to make up my mind, this will certainly do!”

A heavy silence descended over the table. Harry looked grim when he said, “To paraphrase you, can’t you see that I’m in good company now? So be so kind as to get lost!”

With these words Harry stood, paid the bill, and went home to be with Eveline, the woman he loved.

The End