Divorced in Danville

by E. M. Sadler

  "When I get home, I'm going to go through my capsule wardrobe stock and send you a box full of clothes that will be a strong base. You don't have to pay me up front, and from now on, you can deposit $20.00 per week into my PayPal account until it's paid off. Then if you want to continue, I'll keep supplementing your clothes so that you have fresh choices every season."

  And that's what I had been doing for the last year. After paying off the initial balance owed three months into our arrangement when my tax return came in, I continued depositing the $20.00 per week in Joanie’s account. And as a result, once every two months, Joanie would send me a new package from her inventory.

  The best part of my new wardrobe, was that it gave Joanie and I a reason to Skype regularly and reclaim our once ironclad connection.

  Her most recent package had arrived just last week and enclosed was the dress I would be wearing to my wedding: a sleek off-white sheath dress with midnight blue stitching and a matching blue blazer. The outfit was wedding perfect, plus it gave me my something new and my something blue. For my old, I wore my grandmother's sapphire earrings and for my something borrowed, my mother's pearls. Underneath, I chose to wear a lace sky blue demi bra with matching boy shorts and a garter belt.

  I had been a little nervous about the thigh high stockings with lacy tops since I was still carrying some weight in my upper legs, but Joanie had assured me that the garter belt snaps were sturdy and would prevent them from rolling down.

  For hair, I decided to leave it down and decorated it simply with a set of pearl barrettes that would hold back my bangs and complement my mother's necklace. I even felt brave enough to finish the look with my favorite blue, satin heels.

  As I walked out the door that morning, I felt special and empowered. Not because I had a man, which I was pleased about, but I was radiating with the self-confidence that had been missing for far too long in my 38-year-old life.

  Chapter 50 – Dale

  When I arrived home at 11:45 am that morning, I wasn't surprised to see that my Mom had decorated the family room for the short ceremony.

  Going with a Christmas theme, she had purchased a beautiful wreath for over the fireplace and had draped a string of garland with giant red bows along the mantel, accenting the scene with candles of various sizes. On each side of the fireplace, she had also placed small Christmas trees situated on crates and decorated with twinkling lights and red poinsettias.

  Kelly was going to love it.

  "Happy Wedding Day, darling!" my mom shouted in greeting, before enveloping me in a bear hug.

  "Mom, this is great! I can't believe you did this."

  "Pshaw, this is the least I can do. Look, I even made sure that you could easily incorporate your Christmas decorations," she said practically bouncing. My mother loved to do things for the people she cared about. "Now, I'm going to give you five minutes to do any business you need to do near that front door, and then you are being relegated to the kitchen.

  "I know this is just the legal ceremony, but you will not see Kelly until she walks down those stairs." Then she squealed, kissed me on the cheek and started singing the song "I'm Getting Married in the Morning," while checking to make sure all of the decorations were ship-shape.

  Once I arrived in the kitchen, I found Joan and my dad setting up a small tray of hors-d'oeuvres next to the most miniature cake I had ever seen.

  "I'm not quite sure that this will feed everyone here, Joan. Do we have anything in the freezer I can help whip up?" I asked, hoping to sound both grateful and helpful. It was a thoughtful and beautiful spread, even if it would only feed two of our group.

  "That's because it won't. Us old folks have reservations at the country club at 12:45 pm to celebrate so that you can have a quiet but short lunch with your bride," she said, placing a short peck on my cheek.

  "Hey son, do you by any chance have the marriage license handy? I want to go ahead and fill out anything I need to ahead of time. Your mom even prefilled out your envelope so that we can drop it at the post office on the way to lunch," my dad said with a rare toothy smile.

  As I handed the license to my dad from my breast pocket, my ears were suddenly assaulted by my mom bursting through the kitchen door and squealing, "She's here!" before adding, "Now Dale, all we need now is to put on your boutonniere, and you are free to go stand by the fireplace with your father." With full red roses pinned to our chests, we all re-entered the living room to await my bride.

  My smile was so big at that moment; you could probably see every single one of my teeth.

  My bride! My freaking, awesome bride!

  While we were in the kitchen, my mother had been busy setting up my iPod with instrumental versions of classic songs, which was now featuring Your Song by Elton John.

  Before I could turn to comment on her excellent song choice, another surprise addition to our group grabbed my attention. Polly's brother, Seth, was currently wielding a very expensive camera and hovering by the front door.

  Thank you, mom, for remembering everything!

  With everyone in their places, and with the clock reading 11:55 am, Joan headed upstairs to begin escorting my bride down the stairs.

  The first thing I saw as her heeled foot landed on the first set of stairs, was her exquisite calf.

  She had the most amazing legs. Just the other day a lady at the park had even asked her what her leg routine consisted of after commenting on those gorgeous muscles leading up to her knees.

  As she continued her descent with her mother in tow, she was absolutely stunning. Dressed in off-white and carrying a bouquet of red roses, my heart raced with anticipation.

  She was my life's greatest gift.

  Chapter 51 – Kelly

  The way Dale was looking at me right now, told me everything I would ever need to know about our marriage. Dale adored me and would cherish me for the rest of our lives.

  Dale and I were so singularly focused on one another that when Brian announced us as "Husband and Wife," after only a seven-minute service, we were adrift in each other's eyes. It wasn't until Brian had placed a kind hand on each of our shoulders and repeated his pronouncement that we realized that both of our moms and the photographer were laughing at our stupor.

  Slowly we began to move towards each other so that our lips could meet, but when Dale pulled away after only a slight, soft kiss my body revolted. I was just about to protest the chasteness of his kiss when Dale pulled me into his warm arms and whispered, "In 5 minutes I'll give you your real kiss."

  After many hugs, congratulations, and mentions of lunch reservations, by 12:15 pm we were finally alone.

  Turning on me with hungry eyes, Dale slowly approached me as if trying to record every movement to memory.

  "Rumor has it that your name is now Mrs. Wilson," he said taking me into his arms. And that makes this the best fucking day of my life!"

  Then as if exploding with need, Dale's lips slammed into mine in a kiss that not only claimed me as his forever but promised a lifetime of devotion. Within five minutes Dale and I made it up to our room, undressing each other with complete disregard for grace or coordination along the way.

  When I was finally standing before him wearing only my underwear and him in his pants, a look of complete awe came over him as he took a few minutes to inspect my undergarments. "Please tell me you have more of these in your suitcase," he begged before ripping my underwear off and leaving the garter in place. "Can't have these in the way, now can we? Especially since I plan on feeling these stockings against my skin when I thrust into my wife for the first time."

  Laughing at his playfulness, I launched myself at him and made quick work of undoing his pants and freeing his erection.

  "I promise to take longer tonight, baby, but I need you right now," he said breathlessly before we tumbled onto our bed.

  In one quick thrust, Dale entered me with a sigh. Pushing into me hard and fast, he kept repeating the phrase, "Come for me, Mrs. Wilson. Come for me." Over and over
again like a prayer as we claimed each other forever.

  Meeting his thrusts and gaze, it only took a few minutes before I was screaming. "Oh God! Oh God! Mr. Wilson, I'm coming!"

  Then he followed me there over the edge, yelling and hammering into my center. His release was so aggressive that it caused my orgasm to continue even after he had collapsed on top of me, leaving my nerve endings tingling from its aftershock.

  "Kelly, I'm the luckiest man on the planet!"

  "Dale, how do you do it?"

  "Do what?" he asked while narrowing his eyes in confusion.

  "Make everything so perfect." And he did make everything perfect.

  Several minutes and tender kisses later, Dale proclaimed, "Now I believe we have lunch set up for us downstairs and by my watch, we only have 30 min to eat it before we have to leave for work."

  Quickly redressing and removing my hair clips to save time on my hair, we made our way downstairs to find the cutest little lunch sitting on our kitchen table.

  It reminded me of a British Tea with its tiny sandwiches and little quiches.

  Under other circumstances, I would have been fascinated by the taste and delicacy of the small feast, but every time Dale would sneak a goofy glance in my direction the portion of my brain that generally recognized flavor couldn't stop craving the taste of Dale's kisses, which I would then proceed to steal in excess.

  "Crap, only 5 minutes left," Dale announced too soon. "Our first dance will have to wait till tonight, but let's feed each other a bite of cake before we head out."

  "Just promise not to smash it in my face. I have to meet a client at 2:30 pm," I said with a teasing grin.

  Despite our best efforts, we didn't leave for another 15 minutes. A kiss goodbye turned into another, and before we knew what was happening Dale had freed himself and rucked up my skirt for another quickie.

  "Thank God you didn't put your underwear on," Dale said while panting, our orgasm still rippling through our bodies.

  That's when it hit me. I don't think either of us has ever had sex together without both of us having an orgasm.

  "I do believe that is because you destroyed the pair I had on," I cheekily said while trying to catch my breath. "Well now we are late, but luckily my 2:30 pm appointment is not very punctual, so if I hurry, I can still make it on time." Then with a quick kiss, I ran towards the door before he could distract me with any more of his glorious shenanigans.

  "Be careful Mrs. Wilson, just remember that once the kids are asleep at 9:00 pm tonight, you're all mine," he shouted as I closed the door behind me.

  Chapter 52 – Dale

  I can't believe I'm married again.

  After the messiness of my divorce with Maggie, I never thought I would be able to trust someone that deeply again.

  No, that's not right, because I trusted Kelly more than I had ever trusted Maggie.

  Looking back, a part of me had always known that something was incomplete in my marriage with Maggie, but I was so in love with her at the time that I would play it off as me overthinking things.

  Admittedly, part of me initially thought that my constant hunger for Kelly was rooted in my two years of forced abstinence, which was after six years of very little physical intimacy. But our 10:00 pm calls had changed my mind.

  I found myself not only craving Kelly's body but the easy conversational intimacy I had found with her. Within a few weeks, I knew that I would never be able to imagine a future that didn't involve her in some way or another. She never made me feel lacking or nerdy; instead, she made me feel like I was the king of our little kingdom.

  Which is why Kelly was my perfect match in every way.

  Completely distracted and brainless from the afternoon's events and sexual escapades, I walked into my office barely realizing that I had just passed Trish and Polly talking to the receptionist. Then I remember, that they were my 3:00 pm appointment.

  Crap! I didn't want to deal with Trish Samson today. At least Polly would be there to act as a buffer.

  Knock, knock!

  "Dale, are you ready for us?" Polly asked, politely in my doorway.

  "Of course! Come on in. Just leave the door open for me if you will," I said wanting to make sure my nosey receptionist could hear everything discussed and dissuade Trish from embellishing on our conversation to make everyone believe that we were a couple.

  I'm married for Christ's sake. Even if no one but our family knew it, I did not want anyone in our community to second-guess my love and dedication to Kelly.

  I'm married. Smiling to myself I took a moment to glance at the ring on my finger. It was still there.

  Since Kelly never asked me to not to wear it, and she had been wearing my engagement ring since Sunday; hopefully, she wouldn't mind if I kept my ring where it belonged for a few more hours.

  For the next thirty minutes of our group meeting, Trish droned on and on about the lack of parent interest and participation this year, while Polly was looking on with her usual amiable aura.

  Polly and I had known each other all of our lives, and though neither of us had ever shown romantic interest in each other, there was always a comfortable camaraderie. I always felt like if I had been given a younger sister, she would have been a lot like Polly.

  When the conversation shifted to talks about the need for volunteers at the faculty Christmas brunch, there was finally a long enough break for me to interject. "I believe Kelly Jenkins would like to help you that day. She even mentioned taking the day off work."

  "Really?" Polly exclaimed with pure delight. "Let me text her now. I've only spoken with her a few times, but I can't wait to work with her."

  "Kelly is pretty great!" I said with a smile.

  "There's just something about her that always makes me feel like I've known her for years."

  So, it wasn't just me.

  "I completely agree with you. Kelly's been a great addition to our school family." And my family, I thought while scratching my face to cover my goofy smile.

  Never wanting to be excluded from a conversation, Trish narrowed her eyes and interrupted with, "You two are just too trusting. I saw the way she looked at you Dale, that girl is only volunteering to get your attention, and I'm looking for serious parents to help with the party, not lovesick clingers."

  Trying to collect my thoughts before I saying something I'd regret, I was relieved from acting on that need when Polly immediately interrupted Trish in a show of rare assertiveness.

  "Trish, I'm going to have to disagree with you, and since I'm the head of this event, I'm going to go ahead and put her down as a volunteer. Plus, she's just texted me to confirm her interest. Remember, she said herself, she has a boyfriend named Fernando."

  Feeling bad about my lie of omission, I was suddenly grateful that it was time for me to collect my kids. Well two of them at least, because in my heart I now had four.

  There goes that goofy smile again.

  "Ladies, I'm going to have to cut this meeting short so that I can pick up John and Katie. Please feel free to email me if you should have any further questions and/or concerns," I said before collecting the walkie-talkie I used during pick up and drop off times.

  Unfortunately, before I could make it past my receptionist, Trish grabbed me by the arm in a vice grip that screamed of desperation.

  "Dale," she said with her voice oozing with false sweetness. "As your close friend, I feel like I should warn you about girls like Kelly. They are so desperate for attention that they will latch on to men who are out of their league. Now I don't mind playing interference for you," she said while stroking my bicep. "But maybe if you had a girlfriend... someone you trusted... it would make your lack of availability clearer to someone like Kelly Jenkins."

  Wow!

  "Well, as much as I appreciate your offer, I'd like to remind you that I am in a committed relationship with Imogen. So, I am not in need of your assistance."

  Completely, curdled by my rejection, Trish's venomous side started to sho
w like daggers through her eyes. "Dale, we both know that you and this Imogen can't be serious, after all, you're still wearing your wedding band," she said with a victorious smirk.

  Using all of the patience my father had taught me over the years, I looked directly at her and said, "Oh, Trish, you misinterpret the situation. This ring isn't my wedding band from Maggie." And then I casually strolled away.

  Let that carp make her own conclusions.

  After collecting John and Katie from the pickup point, I noticed Kelly bent over her car door trying to buckle Mazie into her booster seat and I couldn’t help but notice her lack of underwear lines. This made the view so erotic that I had to start reciting the order of US Presidents in my head to avoid making a scene in front of my colleagues and students.

  I couldn’t see my wife and not acknowledge her existence.

  Needing to be within her atmosphere I strolled over with the kids and softly whispered, "Hello, wife."

  Startled by my sudden appearance, because I usually would have already collected the kids by the time Kelly usually arrives, she turned, put her hands on my shoulders, and leaned in for a quick kiss before realizing that she had just done so in public. Blushing a deep red, I was quick to reassure her. "Don't worry, no one saw us. I'm still your little secret."

  "But I don't want us to be a secret anymore," she said so low that I almost missed it.

  Teaming with joy, I quickly gave her another kiss on the lips before saying, "I will have to remember that in the future, Mrs. Wilson. Now, I figured after pick up was complete, I'd leave a little early, load the kids up in the van, and I could help you bring over a load from your mom's."

  "That's perfect! I can't believe how scatterbrained I've been lately. Normally I would have already planned this all out."

  "Well, in your defense, you did get married today. I think you're allowed to be little unfocused."

  Two hours later, we were all sitting down in the dining room having our first meal as a family, when the euphoric joy of my new situation in life had me daydreaming of things that might have been. Once I realized the direction that my thoughts were going, I quickly tampered them and instead focused on enjoying this perfect day.