How High A Price: A Long EndingChapter 2: Sunday free porn video

In the early morning Early got out of bed and went through his routine of showering, shaving and getting dressed. It was Sunday but the thought of going to Church struck him as being incongruous given the current situation so he dressed in old Levis and pullover shirt. Following his set routine, he made the bed and straightened up the room before going downstairs. It being the guest room was not lost on Early. "I feel like a stranger in my own home" he thought sadly. "I might have to get used to it".

Early was preparing breakfast and halfway through his first morning cup of coffee when Susan came in. She looked fresh scrubbed with little make up and wearing jeans and an old blouse. "God how gorgeous she is" Early thought sadly to himself.

"Would you like a cup of coffee?" he asked.

"Yes, thank's".

Pouring the coffee, he added sugar and just enough cream to make it change color. As he handed it to her their eyes made contact for a brief moment but Susan looked away and started to get misty. Early too felt uncomfortable and needing to change the suddenly emotional atmosphere he returned his thoughts to his cooking.

"How many pancakes would you like?"

"I'm really not very hungry, I'm not sure I could keep food down if I ate it."

"I think it would be better if you ate something, but do whatever you want."

"Early, I can't stand it any longer, we have to talk now! I didn't sleep all night, I kept thinking about what you said, about us, about what happened and we need to fix this now before it eats us up". Susan was again in tears and Early could see that breakfast was only a way for him to avoid the inevitable. He turned the stove off, moved the pan to the side and taking his cup he turned and faced her. "Would you like to sit here or move to somewhere more comfortable?"

"We can stay here"

Sitting down at the breakfast table and facing Susan he spoke in a quiet but level tone, "Susan, from my point of view something has gone terribly wrong here. Last Wednesday I would have said "our" point of view but now suddenly you're a stranger to me. If we're to continue as a couple we need to re-evaluate our beliefs and feelings and come to a mutual understanding of what being married means to each of us as individuals. Obviously we do not share the same beliefs."

"Early, that isn't true!" Susan said in a voice barely a step away from hysteria.

"Based on what I know today I can reach no other conclusion. But this isn't starting out well; I've done almost all of the talking yesterday and today and for that I apologize. I have one more thing to say and then the floor is yours. After having a night to think about what I said yesterday do you still want to stay married?"

"Early, that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say! Of course I want to be married to you! I love you more than anything on this earth! I want to be yours forever!"

"Are you absolutely sure? I'm having a hard time squaring what you're saying with your actions of the past few days!"

"God please don't say that! I love you and only you! You have to believe me!"

"OK then, let's talk about what happened. You haven't given me a straight answer to any of my questions since you walked into the house yesterday morning. You have only answered with this strange notion that you "owed" Stickner for helping you. Now I need straight yes or no answer, did you break our wedding vows, did you have sex with him?"

"Yes," she answered in a whisper he could barely hear.

Although Early had anticipated that this would be Susan's answer, the actually hearing it from her was like a physical blow. A huge pain coursed through Early and he couldn't help but let out a strangled sob. Regaining his composure he steeled himself to continue.

"I need to know what you did and to understand why you did it. Start from the very beginning and tell me how the hell this happened. I promise I will try to not interrupt or comment until you are through".

Not looking at Early, Susan took a sip of her coffee and then stared into the cup for a while before setting it down. Finally looking up at him with teary eyes she cleared her throat softly and begin speaking in a low but clear voice.

"I had not worked much with John before the Melrose account. I knew him of course as we work on the same floor but at opposite ends of the building. Also we do different things; he is very good at courtroom presentation while I as you know have specialized in corporate law."

"Until I was assigned to salvage the Melrose mess I had only casual contact with him during the odd meeting or at one of the rare functions we were both in attendance. He is a very senior staff attorney while I am a struggling mid-level member fighting my way up the ladder. He was designated as my senior contact on the account so he was the one I went to when I found a problem and needed advice."

"Mr. Anderson himself had called me into his office and asked if I would take over the Melrose account as there were problems that fell into my field of expertise. If we didn't get it straightened out we would loose them as a client. I was eager to take this assignment on, even though it meant a lot of hard work and frustration. It was my chance to show the partners what I was capable of and maybe a promotion if I did well"

"I assumed the account lead about two months ago and as you will recall, I worked a lot of long hours and late nights. At first I concentrated on becoming familiar with the account and the work that had been accomplished to that point so I didn't ask John for much help. After a week or so things started to become less straight forward and I needed to ask for his input more and more often."

"On those nights we had to work late together we ordered in Chinese take-out or Pizza, and when we relaxed during these times I found him to be an pleasant and charming person to be around. He told me that he had been following my career at the firm and was impressed with my work and dedication. He indicated that he had been the one that recommended that this account be turned over to me. I was very flattered that he was familiar with my work and thought enough of my abilities to warrant this assignment."

"One evening, about four weeks ago, he said he was tired of Chinese and Pizza and asked if I would like to go out to dinner instead, that he had something he wanted to discuss. We wound up at a pub not far from the office that has decent food and on that night had a blues band playing in the background. We ordered dinner and a drink to relax. He said he had a surprise for me. He had discussed my handling of the Melrose account with Mr. Anderson and how impressed he was with my work. He told me he suggested to Mr. Anderson that someone of my talent and ambition should be given an incentive to grow with the firm and that a partnership offer would be an appropriate reward if I pulled the account together and got the firm out of its mess".

"That revelation made me euphoric! My god how I wanted to succeed, to get the recognition, at last all of my hard work was beginning to pay off!"

"John then took my hand in his and told me I deserved it, that not only was I a talented attorney but a beautiful one as well."

"I was embarrassed at his comment but also flattered, and it made me feel really good about myself. I felt tingly where he touched me but I put it off as the thrill of the moment. Looking back I guess this was the first time that I had a reaction to John as a man instead of just a professional coworker and superior. It was also the first time that I acknowledged to myself how really charming and witty he was, and handsome in a glossy sort of way."

"After that night we seemed to work more as a team and he often commented on the clothes I wore or the perfume I was wearing. He also kept giving me little updates on the reception of the Senior Partners to his petition for my being offered a partnership in the firm. The more we discussed this the more excited I became until it was all I could think about. Besides the increase in position and personal prestige there is also a substantial increase in the financial rewards, and I found myself daydreaming about all the things we could do with the additional income."

"On Monday, the day you left, we traveled to the Melrose office for a presentation of our report, and to pitch our case for them continuing retaining us as legal council. It went very well and in the end they signed a retainer for another two years at a very healthy fee. To celebrate we went out to dinner at Francos. The mood was celebratory to say the least and we celebrated with Champaign and a fine dinner. All seemed right with the world at last after working so hard for so long."

"During dinner John and I talked about the events of the day and just business chit chat but during dessert he suddenly changed from being in a festive light mood to a somber quiet one. When I asked him what was wrong he denied any change or problems but his denials were obviously hollow and he knew it. After a bit of goading he finally loosened up a little and told me that it had been a long time since he had enjoyed the company of a beautiful woman and felt so at ease with someone. I was so flattered, all women like to hear nice things about themselves, I guess we really have egos bigger than men."

"John had never spoken of his personal life before but as we continued to talk he related that his wife of 20 years had died of cancer two years ago. Since her death he had buried himself in his work to cover up the pain of missing her. I almost cried as I thought what it would be like to be without you, the loneliness of being without someone you were so close to for so long. I felt so bad for John and told him I was sorry, I had no idea he had been married or what his marital status was as he seldom talked about his private life. He replied that he knew nothing of my private life either but did know I was married. We talked about what it was like to be married, the things we liked and the things we didn't. We found we had very similar likes and dislikes and that we both were very intertwined with our marriage partners."

"He reminisced about Saturday breakfast on the patio and Sunday walks by the shore. He told me the thing he missed the most was cuddling up in bed after making love, it was their most precious time and he still has a hard time falling asleep at night"

"Early, listening to John talk nearly broke my heart, such sadness must be awful to endure."

"The next day we were working in the office closing up the loose ends of the contract when Mr. Anderson came by my office and congratulated me on doing such a great job and that the client had been very impressed with my handling of the account. As he departed my office he stopped at the door and told me that career opportunities may open up for me in the near future."

"Early, I was ecstatic! This was what I have been working towards from the day I became a lawyer, and I owed a great deal of my success to John's guidance and help."

"As soon as Mr. Anderson left I went to Johns office to tell him what had been said. I told John that I owed him a huge debt of gratitude and asked him how could I ever repay him for what he had done for me. He laughed it off saying there was really nothing that he had done. I had done most of the work and deserved the promotion that Anderson had hinted at... I persisted and said that surely there must be something I could do for him, he replied jokingly that if I had a sister or could be cloned then he could think of something but under current circumstances there was nothing that could be done."

"I asked what he was talking about and he said that if I were single his wish would be for us to spend some time together but with me being married it was impossibility. He admired me greatly and was attracted to me and that under different circumstances we might be more than friends"

"Johns confession shocked me and I mumbled something about needing to get back to work and went to my office and closed the door. John's expression of feelings toward me left me emotionally confused. I felt an attraction towards him but it had never entered my mind to ever act on them. It was like when you are driving down the street and you see an attractive woman in a mini skirt. It is OK to fantasize but that is the end of it."

"That afternoon I called to tell you about Mr. Andersons comments because I was positive he meant a partnership. You said that you were too busy to talk right then that it would have to wait until later. You brushed me off before I could get a word in edgewise and it hurt my feelings terribly. I felt like a little kid that gets ignored when he is trying to tell an adult something important".

"I stewed all afternoon about your lack of interest in what was one of the most important events in my life until I had worked myself into a lather. I realize now that wasn't the case but it seemed very real at the time"

" Wednesday afternoon John called and asked if I would like to join him and the rest of the staff that had worked on the Melrose account for a final after work celebration drink for completing the work and my coming promotion. I agreed to meet them and was looking forward to socializing with the people who could

understand and identify with all the work and effort that went into saving the Melrose account and what my promotion meant to me".

"We met at the "Advocate" and occupied s a couple of side by side booths. Mostly we talked about how nice it would be for a few days to be out from under the pressure of a "must do" project. We all toasted each other on a job well done and the drinks flowed pretty heavily. Everyone told me what a great job I had done and how they had enjoyed working with me. I felt on top of the world as I ate up all of the complements, the feeling was so intoxicating. Eventually everyone went home except for John and I. By then I was way beyond tipsy from the drink plus still on an emotional high from the success of the account resolution and my pending promotion. I didn't want to end the celebration. I told John that I dreaded going home alone to a dark empty house, that it would be such a let down after the past two months effort and tonight's celebration."

"John lamented that all he had to go home to was a gardener and a bad tempered Scottish Terrier, and that he would forgo that in favor of spending time with the beautiful and talented next partner of Jenson, Sharon and Anderson. His words were mesmerizing and I soaked up the complements like a schoolgirl on her first date."

"I told John I was very much in his debt and greatly appreciated not only his help but also his friendship over the past two months, and that if there was anything at all I could do for him all he had to do was ask. His reply was, "The only problem he had was something impossible for me to fix. Then he gave my hand a long squeeze lifted it to his lips and kissed it."

"At that moment I knew how I was going to pay John for the huge debt I felt I owed him. I told him that tonight he didn't have to go home to a lonely house and a bad tempered dog. Tonight I would be with him and he wouldn't be alone in the morning when he woke up."

"The real world had ceased to exist for me and in my state of mind at the time it seemed so right. It was a personal gift that only I could give. It not only demonstrated how much I valued his help and friendship but would also bring comfort to him in an area where he knew only grief. I felt that if I could be a substitute for his wife, if only for a short while, then it might help him along with his life."

With teary eyes and a choking voice Early was unable to stick to his promise of silence "Susan, didn't it occur to you that you already were a wife? That you had made that contract with someone else?"

At this Susan broke down into tears and hid her face in her hands.

"I'm sorry Susan, I promised I wouldn't interrupt. Please go on, I will try to not interrupt again"

After long moments Susan rose and poured herself a glass of ice water, Early sat in stony silence as he watched her move to the kitchen and return to her seat at the window. Pulling a gap in the blinds she stared into the back yard, struggling for control. Finally turning back to Early she continued in a quiet voice.

"No Early, at that precise moment I was another person in another reality. My mind was centered on at last getting real recognition for my work and the associated potential rewards. That, plus a mixture of gratitude and compassion for the person that had done so much to help me achieve it. My only excuse now is that I was drunk with the glory of my success and also very high on the large amount of Champaign I had consumed."

Early sat silently, wondering who this person was sitting across from him, she looked familiar but it was like a dream where the characters are blurry and out of focus and he couldn't quite come to grips with who she was.

"I called my assistant at home and told her she could have the rest of the week off as I was taking a break and wouldn't be into the office until Monday. I then told John I was his until Saturday morning as you were due back on Saturday and we could never do it again"

Susan paused at this point, as if trying to decide if she would go any further with her tale. Her face was ashen and her eyes were devoid of the sparkle and life that was so much a part of her.

"Finish you story Susan, I am sure I won't like hearing it but it is something I, we, must face if we are to move on.

"There is not much point going into a lot of detail, I went to Johns house and pretended to be his wife until Saturday morning.

"What happened while you were playing wife" Early queried miserably.

"Please Early I don't want to talk about it" Susan pleaded.

"Finish the story Susan"

"We spent Thursday and Friday setting by the pool or in the study drinking wine and talking about our lives, our childhood, our ambitions and our dreams. Things you would normally talk about in a relaxed atmosphere with very close friends. We spent a great deal of time talking about a variety of things but the conversation always wound up talking shop, specifically about the Melrose account and my pending promotion. It made me feel so good to have someone that understood how important it was for me to be successful. We spent the days just relaxing and enjoying ourselves.

Susan turned her head and looked out the window again, tears streaming down her cheeks unable or unwilling to continue further.

"What else Susan?" Early finally asked through clinched teeth in a voice edged with anger, dreading what would come next but being drawn like the proverbial moth to the flame. He had to know what happened if there was ever to be any peace within himself, knowing was better than guessing and making up visions in his mind that would haunt him forever. There could be no secrets, no lies, and no deceptions if they were ever to repair their relationship and their marriage.

"What about the nights? What did you do at night Susan?"

"No Early, please don't make me say it!!"

"I'm not going to make you say or do anything. You do what you feel is necessary to achieve whatever your goals are. I personally believe that honesty and the truth is the only chance we have of making it together, of saving "us", of course the truth and honesty have not been your strong suits of late "

Early said nothing more but sat and watched Susan. As the silence drug on Susan twisted her wedding rings nervously and closed her eyes as tears ran down her face.

"We had sex, " she whispered in a voice so low Early was not sure what she had said.

"I didn't hear you Susan, what did you say?"

Susan let out an anguished cry "We had sex Early!! We made love! We fucked!! What else can I say! At night we slept together and had sex!"

"Oh dear God help me I wish I were dead!!" And with that outburst she curled up on the bench and began crying hysterically, with great choking sobs.

It tore the fabric of Early's soul as he watched Susan. On one hand he desperately wanted to go to her, hold her and make everything all right but on the other his own pain and anger made him want to lash out and punish her for doing this to him, to their previous happy life. Instead he sat unmoving. It felt like his body had turned to lead.

Watching impassively Early waited until she passed from hysteria to making little groaning noises then went to the kitchen sink and wet a hand towel with cold water.

"Here, wash your face and hold the cloth over your eyes until you can get settled. I know this is horribly painful for you but it is for me also, probably more so. I've cried for three days now and run out of tears, I can cry no more, it is time to start healing our wounds if we can."

Regaining enough control to wipe her face Susan pressed the cool cloth to her red swollen eyes and struggled to gather her composure.

Getting up Early poured a fresh cup of coffee for himself then turned to Susan, "Would you like a cup of coffee?"

After a long pause she answered in a strangled voice, "Yes, thank you."

Automatically he poured her coffee, adding a half-teaspoon of sugar with a splash of cream just as he had made it for her a million times before. It was an automatic response to someone you knew like your own self. Early felt a pang of sorrow as he mentally corrected himself, "Someone you thought you knew that well."

They sat and sipped on their coffee without speaking until the silence punctuated their obvious discomfort.

"What now Early?" Susan asked in a defeated whisper. "What do we do now?"

"We continue talking. We try to discover who we really are and what allowed this to happen. As long as we can talk like rational human beings there is always hope. It also depends on what expectations and needs we have from each other. Are you ready to talk about those things Susan?"

"Yes, I dread talking anymore, dread it like death, but I know it's the only way we can move on. I need to do something that will help, I can't cry anymore. At this moment I wish I were dead."

Speaking in a soft but determined voice Early continued, "Susan, why did you do it? Is there something missing between us? Have I done something wrong? Did you get bored with me and want to spice up your sex life? I guess the old saw about variety being the spice of life may be true. I have some personal suspicions about what was at least partially the cause but you need to examine it and tell me what you think it was."

Despite her previous comment about not being able to cry anymore, Susan's eyes filled with tears as she struggled to articulate her thoughts. "No Early, there was and is, nothing that you have done wrong. You are the most wonderful considerate person in this world. What I did was my own doing. I know this will sound like I'm making excuses but at the time I was another person in another world. I was driven to prove myself at work as not just a good female attorney, but a great attorney by any measure in any circumstance. Being a full partner in the firm was the Holy Grail for me and I have worked like a Dervish to reach that goal all of my professional life. When John intimated that there might be a promotion and even the possibility of being offered a partnership if I were to bring the Melrose account to a successful conclusion I became fixated on achieving that goal. I desperately wanted the prestige and the financial rewards that came with it. The Melrose account and the firm became my real world."

"As work on the Melrose account progressed John was involved more and more and I became convinced that I couldn't do it without his input. He had unique insights into the character of the client and the cause of what had made the relationship with them come unraveled in the first place. He was always there supporting me not only with the account but also with the senior partners of the firm, championing my cause. I became enamored with John, not in the way I love you but like a schoolgirl crush on a favorite teacher."

"When he told me his wife had died of cancer and how alone he had been since that time I felt devastated. When we were finally successful at saving the Melrose account there was such a rush of euphoria that I couldn't think straight. I wanted to share that feeling with everyone who had participated and especially with John who had been my mentor and counsel."

"That was how I was feeling when we were celebrating with the gang. When it came time for us to leave the party I had way too much to drink and obviously shouldn't be driving so John suggested that we lock up my car and take his. We wound up at his house having a nightcap and the next thing I knew we were in bed together. The next morning when I woke up none of the euphoria was gone. The next few days had a surreal like quality to them with John always there boosting my ego making me feel good about myself and telling me how great I was."

"Looking at it now, I was another person in another world. My real world as a wife became like a dream where you wake up and you know what it was but don't remember the details. My mind and feelings were in another place and because of my feeling of camaraderie and gratitude to John plus the sympathy for a friend the act of going to bed with him didn't register at the time as something wrong. I didn't make a calculated decision to cheat, I never thought of what I was doing in those terms. The impact of that decision didn't really dawn on me until I saw you setting in the dark on Saturday morning. Seeing you jolted me back to reality like ice water being dashed in my face awakening me from that dream! Then the full impact and implications of my actions hit me in a wave of fire and agony. Seeing you sitting alone in the dark was an epiphany! An epiphany of the worst kind! What had I done? How could I have done this to you, to you and me? Oh, God I was scared!"

"Oh God Early! Please don't leave me. I'll do anything you want, just please forgive me." Susan sank to the floor in a sobbing heap, crying out of control. "I'll die without you!"

Early watched his wife, her body wracked with sobs of despair.

He patiently waited for her to regain her composure before helping her up to a setting position on the bench "Susan, before I can forgive you we need to come to grips with what our requirements are for preserving our union. To determine that, there are issues we need to settle and questions that must be asked and answered."

"What more can I tell you, I made a terrible, terrible mistake. I realize the hurt I've caused you and I wish I could undo it but at the time I thought it was the right thing to do. Somehow the danger to our marriage, to you, never entered my head. Work at the firm became a separate world to that where you and I live together. Until last night I never considered what I was doing as prostituting myself for advancement. Nothing John had done called for my rewarding him for his effort on my behalf. It seems stupidly foolish looking back on it, but it was like the office and job were the real world and the one where I am your wife was like a movie. I was so thankful for what John had done for me and wanted to do something special for him. I can't believe my thinking now. I can't believe you will understand, but there was no love such as between you and I. There was sexual pleasure, but again nothing like we, you and I normally indulge ourselves."

Early leaned forward in his chair and looking directly into Susans eyes he asked "What were the rewards Susan, power, money, prestige? A bigger office with your name on the door? I don't know how much worth those things have for you but let me ask you a question; are they worth our marriage?"

"If the sum total value of all of the rewards, including making your "friend" feel better, could be put in a box and offered to you in exchange for your marriage, your husband and your home, would you have taken it?"

Susan visibly flinched at Early's question "No, of course not when you put it that way. I can't imagine my life without you in it."

"Then maybe you should try to imagine it, that's the price you are very, very close to paying."

Susan reacted to Early's last comment with a horrified expression "No! Early, you can't mean that! We can work this out! Please tell me we can fix this, I will do anything you want, just name it. Please tell me what to do!"

"Wife, I cannot tell you what to do, I have never told you how to conduct yourself. You are an intelligent and thoughtful person and I had always had faith in your judgment and assumed you had faith in mine."

"Now for me at the present time that faith is a thing of the past. But to answer your question it appears to me that there are two things we need to address; one, we need to come to a mutual understanding of the basic concepts that define our union, the other is we need to clearly establish our individual positions on things affecting that union. To that end I have questions that yesterday you were unable or unwilling to answer. While they may be painful for you to address it is necessary to get them behind us and put away for good."