5PM (7 page)

* * * * * 

“Wow, you’re back
to your super stud form tonight,” Talissa says to me as we cuddle into each other’s warmness after we’re spent. I look at my watch and see that we’ve been fooling around for two hours. It’s now past eleven p.m. We don’t care about the extra money we owe the babysitter; this date has been well worth it. My head begins to feel heavy. I know what is happening and I need to stop it before I lose consciousness right here and now on the grass by the lake. Our clothes are in a heap just a few feet away with the pills in my trouser pocket.

“We should dress and go,” I say to my wife whose face is within a couple of inches of mine.

“I could just stay here forever. Tonight has made me feel young again, and I know it’s because of how you make me feel inside.”

“Why don’t we just take off? You, me... and the kids of course. Just sell everything and go travel for a while. Nothing to hold us down and nothing to keep us stuck in this shithole city.”

“We can’t, Terry.”

“But why can’t we? Why can’t we live the life we want and go out and enjoy all there is in this world? We don’t have to be like everyone else.”

“You know I would love to, but we have a responsibility to our children to provide stability, security, and consistency. I hate to be the stick in the mud here, but that’s how life is.”

My vision begins to blur so I dive for my pants and fiddle around for the round object that holds the key to me being able to hold it together.

“Are you okay, Terry? Is this like what happened last night?”

“I’m fine. I just need to take one of these…” I locate what my hands fumbled through the dark pockets for, and quickly open it and pop a pill in my mouth. My head clears within a few seconds, but Talissa has taken the coin purse from my grasp and looks at it inquisitively.

“Why do you have a pink coin purse?” she asks.

I sigh. No point in lying about everything. “Emily from work was worried about me being so tired, so she got me onto these pills.”

“Do you know what they are?”

“Not really.”

“You took pills from someone you hardly know, and you don’t actually know what they are? Geez, I can’t see anything going wrong with that.”

“Talissa, let’s not ruin the great night we’ve had. Let’s go home and get a good night’s sleep.”

It seems a shame to have to ruin the view I have of the pale moonlit skin of her totally exposed body, but the night has to end sometime. I had almost forgotten everything that had happened earlier today during our date tonight, and tomorrow I have to face it all again.

But that’s tomorrow’s problem.

We dress, and then we stroll arm in arm back to the car as Talissa leans her head to the side so it rests on my chest as we walk. The walk is silent, but that suits us perfectly. I’m lucky to have this woman in my life, and I have to make sure I don’t try to fuck it up again.

As we get near the car, I jog ahead and open the passenger side door for her as if I’m some kind of gentleman. “Thanks, sir, but I’ve hardly been a lady tonight.” Talissa has a chuckle.

“As have I not been a gentleman.” I close her door, walk over to my side, and climb in. We share a long, deep passionate kiss, and I fire up the ignition. We are on our way home to reality.

As we exit the car park, the lights of a white hatchback sedan switch on, and through my window, I see a mass of blonde hair through the driver’s window of the car. 

I drive away, and a few minutes down the road, the same pair of headlights is keeping their distance from me.

* * * * *  

I park the
car in the garage and close the electronic door immediately. I don’t know if we were followed all the way home or not, but I ensure I don’t alert my wife with it. I don’t want her to be concerned if it’s nothing. We hustle our way inside and find the babysitter fast asleep on the couch. A quick look in the children’s bedrooms shows that they’re both well and truly deep in slumber.

“Oh, sorry. It got late and I couldn’t stay awake any longer,” Brittany says as she sees us return to the lounge room.

“Well, it is nearly midnight so it’s understandable. You’re more than welcome to crash on the couch for the night,” Talissa says.

“Thanks,” she looks over at me, “I promise I’ll be gone before eight.”

“Oh, yeah, we have money for you. Thanks again for staying longer.” I pull out two fifty-dollar notes and hand them to her. “We’re going to bed, goodnight.”

“Night,” she says back to us and flashes me a cute smile just before I look away.

Talissa and I go to bed, and that damned pill I took has me tossing and turning, unable to shut my mind off—the white car, the blonde hair, and those headlights that followed us for some time being at the forefront of my thoughts. Emily had a white hatchback. The damage from the accident wasn’t serious so she could have it back already, but how would she know we were at that restaurant? If she is one of those jealous, possessive types after just one fuck, then I have a world of other problems about to crash down on me.

Talissa is truly asleep so maybe I could sneak out and check to see if BluesGirl88 is online. I’m still not convinced that she and Emily aren’t the same person, but each of them denies it.

I’m not one to believe in fate and things happening for a reason. I believe in the theory of chaos and it was a stroke of good luck I happened to be in the club the night I met my future wife, just as I believe it was bad luck I met this BluesGirl88 online—especially if she’s not Emily. Was Emily already lined up to be the temp before I met this chat girl? If Emily is the girl in the chat room, then she would have had to find a way to get my personal information and where I work. I did talk about myself a lot to BluesGirl88, but not specifics.

But I can’t get her husky voice out of my head and the likeness of the avatar to Em. I need to press each of them individually a lot more in a not too obvious manner. They say to be a good liar you need to have an excellent memory, so I need to find the crack in one or the other’s recollections.

I have to get up. Lying here and not sleeping and over thinking all that’s happened these last few days won’t do me any good, and if I wake Talissa with my restlessness, I’ll be in deep shit.

Rolling carefully towards the edge of the bed, my wife rolls from her side to her back and starts snoring. This is my chance. I stretch to the floor, placing my hands on the carpet, and carefully use my fingers to pull myself off the bed inch by inch. My slow movements ensure I don’t emit any sudden noises that could disrupt the serenity.

A minute later, crouching on the floor, I fluidly extend my body so I’m standing a few seconds later. Maybe I should have been a navy seal or a marine. Yeah, right! I’ve been shooting at the range with my wife a couple times, and I don’t think I could hit an elephant in a hallway. At least, it gave the most capable Talissa a good laugh when I tried.

I can’t be walking around the house in just a pair of boxer shorts when we have the young babysitter staying in the house. The poor young girl would be horrified. Tiptoeing around the room, I find a shirt and a pair of sweatpants and take them to the bathroom to put on. Talissa continues to snore, not loudly, but with enough volume to reassure me she’s still fast asleep. As I journey towards the study, I’m watching each step I take to prevent that fateful creak in the floorboards, which my mind stupidly thinks will wake the entire house up.

I make it to the study, fire up the computer, and load the chat program. I barely see my avatar render himself in his own lobby when I see a chat request pop up from none other than BluesGirl88.

Here we go.

I accept and find myself in a boxing ring. She’s wearing a black sports bra with matching sports panties like those favoured by athletes. “
You fucking prick. Where have you been?”
Her character then punches mine in the face. She follows with a kick to the groin and a punch to the stomach.

“Why are you doing this? We may as well be playing an online martial arts game against each other,”
I type back to her.

“You will stand there and take it until I’m done.”
She strikes my avatar with a roundhouse kick to the chin.

“I’m not in the mood for this shit, woman.”

“I don’t give a shit, Terry. You left me hanging the other night wondering what happened.”

“I passed out. I came down after the effects of an upper had worn off and couldn’t stop my plunge into sleep.”

“You obviously exited out of the chat before it happened. What? Did your wife find you on the computer with your pants around your ankles while I was chatting with you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’ve never turned me on that much before.”
I try a taunt.

“Bullshit, you fucking liar! What about the other night when you went all quiet while our avatars were banging each other like a pair of horny goats?”

“I was having a drink and a cigar.”

“You don’t even smoke.”

There’s a pause in the chat. Of course, she’s right, but how does she know I don’t smoke?
“Well, who does these days? It’s a filthy habit that disgusting people partake in, not people like me.”

“Listen to you, Mr Self Righteous. Would you call screwing someone else behind your wife’s back as being NOT filthy?”

She thinks she has me, but I’ve got her.
“I call it the biggest mistake I’ve ever made, and I wish I could undo it.”

“You think you can just have sex with me and show me no respect afterwards? You’re just a piece of shit, after all. You wait, Terry. I’m gonna get you and tear you to pieces and destroy you. You messed with the wrong girl.”

“You’re just a blonde slut on a chat program, who probably has the looks of a bucket of horse vomit in real life. You won’t do shit to me, woman because you can’t do shit. You can kick me and punch me and insult me all you like here because this isn’t real and you’re not real. And if you’re not real, you can’t hurt me.”

I exit the chat with her and then the program itself. I shut down the computer and grab a glass of scotch. She’s exposed herself, and I’ll be ready for her when she decides to come after me.

“Cheers,” I say aloud while holding my glass up and clinking it to an imaginary drinking partner’s glass. Now I know I’ll be able to get to sleep.

Day 5

I wake up
feeling the best I’ve felt in days. Talissa gives me a kiss. She then thanks me for the hot date last night and asks me to follow up on last night’s performance. She straddles me and puts her hand inside my boxers, smiling as she notices that he’s awake, too. We can’t hear any of the children making a noise yet, but it is only six a.m. And quite often, we have to wake up early if we want any morning glory.

She releases me and takes her silk nightgown off as she knows how much I love to see her in her completely naked form when she’s on top. Talissa’s bouncing with more vigour than usual, and I don’t know how much longer I can last at this pace. Just as I think I’m getting close to the edge, she stops, gets off me, then gives me a kiss before saying, “We’ll finish this later.”

“But, honey, I was so close. I’m gonna burst here.”

“No finishing the job in the shower either. I want you to think about this all day. I want you to miss me and crave me. I’ll know I’ll possess your desire all day.”

“Wow, this is something new. I think I like it, but it’s gonna drive me crazy all day. How will I be able to go to work and function?”

“You will be fine, my big stud. Now go get ready.”

She gives me another kiss and jumps in the shower, and all I want to do is scratch this itch she’s left me. But Talissa made me give her a promise, and as much as it pains me, I’ll make sure to keep it. I decide to squeeze in some more sleep while I wait for my turn to shower.

* * * * * 

At the breakfast
table, I hear music from the lounge room. I ask my wife if Brittany is still here, and she explains that she’ll stay on to look after Matilda until Talissa returns home from work. I finish my eggs and bacon and wander into the room where I hear the music coming from. The babysitter is doing aerobics to a morning fitness show on TV. Her shoulder length hair flicks around as her long, trimmed body moves to the beat.

I can’t be watching this. She couldn’t be any older than eighteen years old, and even though that would make her legal, I’m sure there’s a special place in hell for dirty perverts who have sex with females half their age. She bends down to grab her toes, and her upside down face smiles at me as she notices me by the doorway.

“Hi, Terry.” She waves while in position. She presses her body against her legs and tucks her shoulders behind her ankles, and I think of the pain it would cause me if I tried the same thing.

“Terry, I think one of my earrings fell out in your car last night. I’ll be back in a minute,” Talissa calls out.

“Okay, honey,” I call back.

“She’s so nice, your wife, and pretty, too. And your kids are so cute and well-behaved… and you, you’re a handsome man for your age,” Brittany says.

I take that as a backhanded compliment, and she stands back up and turns to look at me. It’s now that I get a good look at what she’s wearing—a black aerobics top not much larger than a regular bra and a pair of black sporting panties. I have to say something.

“Um, thanks,” is all I can think to say, and then I hear the front door slam shut.

“Terry, bedroom now. Brittany, take the kids out back for a minute, please.” Talissa’s tone matches the scowl in her features.

I do as I’m asked, and Talissa comes storming in and pulls the door shut behind her. “So did you find…”

A slap in the face cuts me off. “Yes, I found these,” she’s holding up a pair of panties, the ones that look like the pair Emily slipped off two days ago.

“I can explain.”

“I sure hope so, Terry, because I know my big ass wouldn’t fit in them. It was that blonde skank from work, wasn’t it?”

This is tough. Yes, I had fucked the woman she was referring to, but not when she left her panties in the car. “Where did you find them?”

“Under the seat where I assume she sat.”

“When she was in the car, she changed into her gym gear and slid them off from under her skirt to put her shorts on. She had a gym bag and I assumed she put them in there.”

“You expect me to believe that, Terry? Why didn’t you tell me any of this stuff—if this is actually what happened? If you had nothing to hide you should have said straight out, but now I have to wonder what else you’re hiding from me.”

“I’m sorry, honey, but I thought you wouldn’t believe such a story.” I take a step closer to her.

“Just go to work and let me digest this. I’d like to believe what you’re telling me, but you were so secretive about even giving her a ride the other day. Maybe because you gave her a ride, and then she let you ride her as a thank you gift.”

“Please don’t do this. I love you. There’s no one else for me but you—and you’re all the woman I need.”

She points to the door, and I leave the room and head to the car. I know who I’ll be seeing first when I get to the office today.

* * * * * 

I arrive at
work with an hour of built up anger brewing inside of me, and I don’t even head for the staff room. I go straight into my office and keep watch until I can see the blonde bitch arrive.

It’s rare I’m even here before Phelps, but the nature of our job as an agent means we need to be able to enter the branch at any time, so we each have a key to get in whenever we need. I’m sure I have a few minutes to make a stealth mission inside Em’s temporary office. I need to take a peek for anything I can use against her in retaliation for setting me up with those panties she left in my car two days ago.

Her office is in pristine condition. No papers sitting on the desk and the drawers are all neatly organised. There is no notepad to be seen, which is unusual in itself as we all have a need to jot down notes in this job. I ruffle through as carefully as I can and hear the sound of someone unlocking and entering the front door. I freeze and take a listen to the footsteps. I would bet my house on them belonging to a female. Heels make a distinctive sound when they click on our linoleum floors, and these are short, high-pitched clicks consistent with high heels rather than the deep clunky sounds from mens dress shoes.

I use soft hands to close the drawer I was currently searching through, careful not to make a crash when it fully closes. I take a quick glance to check that nothing is out of place before walking on the balls of my feet to exit the blonde bitch’s office. Pulling the door shut behind me, I walk in my normal fashion down the corridor towards my own office.

“Hi, Terry. You’re very early today.” Kate smiles at me as she approaches.

“I have the Pellmont House today. I want to be extra prepared for this one.” I flash my used car salesman smile.

“I’m sure you’ll do well.” She giggles like a teenage girl in the learning stages of flirting. It’s pathetic she’s in her mid-thirties and probably hasn’t had her first fuck yet. I could be wrong, but Roger and I are pretty sure this would be the case.

I shake my head once she’s passed me. If I gave a shit about her, I’d try to line her up with one of Talissa’s male friends. Instead, I’m preoccupied with needing to check something quickly on my work computer, which I make a direct course to as soon as I step into my own territory.

I boot it up, load the chat program, and see no sign of BluesGirl88. But another of my contacts shows up as being online—DancerGirl. Sending a chat request, I don’t expect my invitation to be accepted with any promptness, and after a few minutes, there is still no answer. This is achieving nothing, so I exit the program and shut down the computer.

I’m best to head for the staff room and go through the usual ritual of coffee, chat with Roger, and then saying hi to everyone else who arrives. Phelps is already in there, which is strange because I didn’t hear him make his normal song and dance about arriving to work. But then I think about the fact he’s usually the first to arrive.

I don’t want to be alone with him in the staff room, so I slide on over to the coffee machine as if I have an invisibility power.

Obviously, I don’t have the ability. “Morning Terry.”

“Morning,” I grunt back to the prick.

“Terry, don’t mess up the Pellmont property today. If you do, your life here will be a living hell. Make me happy.” He pats me on the shoulder, which makes me wonder if hell has frozen over. In the time I’ve worked here, he’s never done that—in fact, he only ever shook my hand the first time we met when he agreed to take me on board.

Roger saves the day. “Morning, Terry, Mr Phelps.”

I return the greeting with a look that he knows well. The unspoken,
‘We need to talk’
has been used by us for years.

George is next to arrive, and lastly Emily, looking like she ran 5km to get here. “Sorry I’m late,” she addresses Phelps and avoids making eye contact with me.

“No problem, Emily. We try not to make it a habit here though on any day, let alone a Friday when we have our end of week briefing.”

We all take a seat at the table, and Phelps waffles on for what seems like half a day, but in reality, only half an hour has passed. We all get to go about our business, and I follow Roger to his office.

“What’s up, buddy?” He pulls out a chair for me and takes his spot behind his desk.

“I’ve made a terrible mistake.” I go on and tell him about what happened with Emily in the office yesterday, and then about Talissa finding the underwear in the car this morning.

“Oh, shit, Terry. I kind of feel responsible for this, for introducing you to this chat program and encouraging you to chat with other women. But I didn’t say to go fuck the new girl on her desk at work.”

“You didn’t force me to do anything. I chose to do it. I don’t know how it happened, though. I’ve had so many chances over the years to cheat on my wife and haven’t been tempted. And then yesterday it all fell apart. What the hell was I thinking?”

Roger smiles. “It’s okay, Terry. It’s your one little indiscretion in twelve years.”

“It’s not okay, Rog. Talissa found Emily’s panties and while I was innocent at that point when she left them in the car, I cheated since.”

“You’ll work this out. Maybe you could ask Emily to give Talissa a call and smooth this out.”

“Geez, I can see holes in that idea bigger than the Grand Canyon. She won’t do it, she’s pissed that we screwed, and I’ve treated her with contempt since. Avoided her at every chance and then confronted her last night on 3DDreamChat.”

“Listen, buddy. Maybe I can chat with Talissa, tell her you came to me all upset and scared that she was going to leave you over the panties incident. She’ll listen to me rather than Emily anyway, and if she realises how torn up you are, there’s a chance she might buy your story. Come on. Let me give it a shot.”

I rub my chin and take a few seconds to respond. “I’ll let you know, Rog. Thanks very much for the offer. I might just have to take you up on it.” I should give this guy more credit than I do. He might be a sleaze and the boy who hasn’t grown up, but he’d dive on a grenade for me while at the same time, I’m not sure I could do the same for him.

“Well, get back to me as soon as you figure this out. My offer’s good all day.”

I thank him again and leave. Taking a few deep breaths, I build up the courage to approach Emily. She’s a formidable force, and if this goes pear shaped, I’m in for a whole world of trouble.

“Hi, Terry.” She runs outside of her office and stops a few feet from me. Then she says in a voice louder than necessary, “I have to go do something, but I’d love to chat later.”

I grab her wrist. “Why did you do it?”

She laughs at me. “Whatever do you mean, Terry?” she looks around to see if she’s attracted the attention of anybody else in the office.

I speak in a low voice. “You left something in my car the other day. You did it on purpose, didn’t you?”

“Terry, let me go,” her voice even louder again.

George has appeared down the other end of the corridor. “Hey, Terry. What’s going on here?”

“Get back to your office, George. This doesn’t concern you.” My voice is firm, but not large in volume.

He takes a few steps towards me, and I know Emily’s won this round so I release my grip. “Sorry, Em. Just a misunderstanding is all.” Now it’s my turn to speak in a loud voice.