Remember When?

I was elbow deep in old photos that I was planning on sending to a local lab for digitizing when I came up with the perfect gift for my wife, our three kids, and our extended families next year when she and I celebrated twenty-five years of wedded bliss.

We had thousands of pictures from when we first met in grade school, right up through when we started dating in high school, on to college together, and then our married life. You would think that the pictures of when we were kids would still be with the respective parents but, no, Lizzie had asked for those when the kids were little so we had everything, now packed into these photo boxes I was elbow deep in.

She started to cry a little and made a move to get up and leave. “No, you don’t. You promised to sit here and watch the entire presentation. You get up. You look away. You do anything to stop the slide show and the entire thing goes out to everyone in your contact list. It is already loaded and set to automatically send unless I stop it, so you just sit there and try to explain why you have been fucking around on me for the entire time we have been together.”

She tried to blubber and argue but I just pointed at the screen. I was sure that she was going to say that all this happened before our wedding so that it didn’t count. She had not said her vows yet. The next slides put paid to that thought.

At our wedding reception her friends had caught her with my best man, Freddy Kugler, putting his hand in her bodice and grinding his knee into her crotch. From some of her pictures from her phone it didn’t seem that was their only contact. Years later he had quite a belly paunch but she still must have loved his cock as she had kept photographic evidence of sucking his puny erection and point of view shots of his little dickie plowing her cunt.

Then came the photos of Davy Clump, one of my groomsmen, doing essentially the same thing. At the reception she was on her knees servicing his slightly bigger cock than Freddy and, as currently as a month ago, had selfies and emailed pictures of more meetings with Davy. She obviously liked anal sex with him as many shots showed his cock in her ass. That same ass that she only allowed me, her husband, to kiss.

She sat there with a defeated look as other images that I had found saved to the cloud scrolled. Some were of her co-workers fucking her, even one or two with her various bosses over the years. Finally came the last chapter. “Remember When… We Were Married?” I paused the show there while she regained some semblance of equilibrium. Apparently having your infidelities thrown in your face knocks you off kilter. I really don’t know why as she was quite adept at fucking around and keeping me in the dark.

I had to ask. “Is this why you have always discouraged me from having any contact with your co-workers or attending any function? Were you afraid someone would let the cat out of the bag?”

She just shrugged her shoulders. I waited and she finally commented on the slide. “Didn’t you already go over when we got married?”

I hit “Enter” to advance to the final slide. It was a clip art drawing of a piece of paper with the words “Dissolution of Marriage” on the top. “The question was if you remembered when we were married, not when we got married.”

I handed her to customary manilla envelope. “If you wish a process server will present you with a formalized copy tomorrow while you are at work. If this is sufficient then there will be no drama at work. You can tell your lovers that you are free to fuck any time and any where from now on.”

Of course, her reply was to be expected. “I don’t want a divorce.”

My response had been thought about and prepared for six months. “Of course not. You want me to be the guy who pays for this house, mows the yard weekly, cleans the pool daily, and buys the groceries as you are far too busy to be bothered by such mundane trivialities. Add to the fact that you don’t have to provide even pity sex to your husband, since it has been months since you have allowed me even a glance at your body or allowed even a token touch, then I understand why you don’t want a divorce. Too fucking bad but it will happen anyway.”

She was shaking her head. I tried to resist my rejoinder but failed. “I have to ask if the kids are even mine? Belay that, I don’t want or need to know. I was there for every sniffle, sneeze, good or bad day so I am their father. Also, I told them what I was going to show you tonight but I did not ask them to see the evidences of your betrayal. That is between you and me.”

I gave her the remote. “Do what you want with the presentation. There is only one other copy and it is with my attorney in case you decide to fight the divorce. There will be no couples counselling. The split is as close to 50/50 as I can determine unless you have hidden bank accounts. If you do, I don’t give a damn.”

She wasn’t thinking very fast and seemed to be a little punch drunk. “Have you turned the kids against me?” Lord, she was way behind in the conversation. I was hoping to wrap this up quickly but I guess the take charge business woman was missing in action tonight.

“No, if they take sides, it is on you. I just told them that we are getting a divorce and that you had not been faithful throughout our relationship and that I had just found out. I did cancel all of the celebration of our Silver Anniversary. Truthfully, I never scheduled any of our planned event. I just told you that I did. I explained why to my parents and they are quietly spreading the word to my side of the family. You can tell your parents and other relatives anything you like. Maybe my dick was too short or I couldn’t make you orgasm like your lovers, whatever you tell them I am good with. I don’t have to interact with them anymore.”

“I love you and don’t want a divorce.”

“God, you are like a broken record. Sure, you love me, that’s why you not only cheated on me at every conceivable opportunity, you made sure to keep evidence of it. Sounds real loving, doesn’t it? Did you keep any other trophies of your assignations? You know, like used condoms, soiled underwear, semen stained dresses, or a journal of every date or fuck session? Do all of your lovers have pussy scented cigars in their possession?”

She shook her head in denial. “No, I just kept the pictures. They were only for my titillation, not something to beat you up with. I never wanted you to see even an innocent one from my bachelorette party. Hell, I forgot most of those existed, let alone were somewhere you might find them.”

She tried again. “Please forgive me. I will be the wife you want. No more lovers. I will cut back at work and be home with you for whatever you want or need. I can’t believe it has been such a long time since we made love. And I mean this, we make love, we don’t fuck. I have always been happy and satisfied with your dick and how you make me feel.”

“Yeah, and that’s why you have gone so long without touching me in any way. It was to make our lovemaking even more special than it always was. Sorry, but no dice.”

She made a move like she was going to stand. The tears were wrecking her makeup, the makeup she put on for everyone from clients to family and fuck friends but never for me. I stepped back out of reach and put my hands up to stop her from approaching me.

I looked around. It was time to leave and I wanted to see if I had missed anything. I mentally shrugged my shoulders. Anything I had forgotten was just an object and had no sentimental meaning and could easily be replaced. Time to make my exit.

“Since you are here so seldom, except as a place to sleep once in a while, you might not have noticed anything missing but you need to know that everything I wanted to keep has already been sent to my new abode. I won’t call it a home as my heart is dead but it is somewhere to hang my hat. You keep whatever you want. In the packet is a power of attorney for the house. Keep it, sell it, burn it down for all I care. Maybe the kids will want to visit. Since Shane and Todd are still in college they might want somewhere familiar during holiday and semester breaks. I didn’t ask them about their plans so they didn’t say.

You can have the wedding album and all the photos with you in them. Since I spent so long digitizing every photo, I deleted the ones I didn’t want off my flash drives and have them safely packed.” I indicated a stack of flash drives on the end table. “Those are your copies. I have also left all of the original photos in the attic and online for you to do with as you will and that includes all of your fuck sessions. I destroyed nothing.”

She had a bewildered look on her face and didn’t seem to find the words to ask a question. I pressed on. “You know I really wanted to exact retribution from your lovers but decided I have no need to see the inside of a prison cell. Just tell Freddy and Davy and any other of your buddies, that I can recognize anyhow, that they are dead to me, just like my marriage, but if they see me somewhere to immediately turn and go the other way as I might be tempted to try on prison garb.”

She nodded. Finally, she found her voice. “Where are you moving to?”

“Let’s just say it is just ‘not here’. I have quit my job and have a new position quite a ways from here. Of course, the kids know where I am moving to but are under the threat to never again have me speak to them if any one of them gives you my new cell phone number, email address or location. I am sure you will be able to find me if you so desire but I have no idea why you would want to do so.”

And there you have it folks. I would imagine it is like most ends of a marriage. No fireworks, no nuclear explosion, more like a fizzle. Just a sadness that one of the partners in the relationship couldn’t do something so simple as be faithful. As for me, personally, I will be fine. Yeah, it hurt to know that Lizzie had so little respect for me and for our marriage that she had to have multiple affairs throughout our life together. Maybe it is part of the new world order, where promises mean nothing, that whatever the individual wants then that is good, no matter who gets hurt in the process.

As I left the house for the last time I took stock of my life again. Yeah, I was going to be lonely for a while. I will miss having a close relationship where you can share accomplishments, disappointments, frustrations, triumphs, and all the other aspects of a full and fruitful life.

But I am on the underside of fifty, have a good amount of my natural hair and still mostly my natural hair color, have no physical disabilities and hope to regain my sense of humor and innate faith in humankind as I recover from my loss. Is there another great love in my future? I don’t know but I won’t let the lack of it slow me down. My new town, where I am heading to now, is in an area full of outdoor activities. Maybe I will buy a road bike, like a Harley or large Honda, and tour on my days off. I had never participated in a poker run but friends who ride have praised the experience.

Maybe I will get into better shape and try mountain biking in the hills around the valley the town is located. No matter where I might wander there will be events, museums, parades, circuses, sports teams and other things to do and experience. I just don’t know if I will try to take many photos as some memories are best just kept in the brain not in any physical sense. I will try to keep the thought in the forefront of my brain that it is the journey, not the destination, that is the adventure of life.

Oh, yes, you ask about how Lizzie fared. Well, I don’t know and don’t really care. Like most cheating bitches she will probably hook some other sap. I just hope he either relishes her slutdom or keeps her on a very short leash. I had many months to come to grips with my anger and my disappointment so the final denouement was more of a statement to her that I was no longer the clueless cuck and that I had regained some of my self respect by how I confronted her and let her know that whatever secret life she wanted to keep from me was no longer something to be savored in those rare quiet moments.