Blackmail

[Elfy]

This is the start of what I hope will end up being a story similar to "Bad Husband, Better Baby" in that it will be long-running and cover reasonably similar themes.

This first part has been available on my Patreon for the last week. For $5 a month you can get early access to all my updates by one week. I post once every 4-5 days so I hope that represents good value for money! For $10 you get the above plus exclusive stories not available anywhere else.

https://www.patreon.com/Elfy88

A big thank you to all my readers, a very big thank you to those who leave comments and a super-mega-ultra thank you to all of my patrons who allow me to write as much as I do: DannyDazzler, Lena S, Kyle L, Kian R, Mario, Frank S, Charlie S, Alex B, P, James S, Orion F, John, Diapering Daddy, Eric C, Paul E, Kevin H, Mr. Smileypants, Tom H, Sterling W, Ryan, Jens B, Zachary U, Thomas R S, Matthew S, Pierry L, Matthew, John D, Liv, Cyatommorrow, Emmanuel S, Henry C, Bob, Michelle G, C Dom, Scott S, James B

Chapter One – Imperfect Romance

“John, did you take the rubbish out?” Came the shrill voice of Emma.

“Not yet. I was ju-” John started replying to his wife but was quickly cut off.

“Have you cleaned the car? I’m going to need it tomorrow.” Emma’s voice called out from the kitchen.

Just the sound of Emma’s voice caused John to wince. His wife was usually very sweet but when she has a bad day at work she becomes a bit of a nightmare to be around. Ever since she was promoted to “regional manager” she had been much more stressed and demanding. It didn’t help that John was temporarily unemployed having been made redundant from his previous job. The 25-year-old man was feeling rather down on himself and the verbal berating he faced for not doing every chore when his wife came home was the last thing he needed.

“I was going to but then it started tipping it down…” John reasoned, “I would have been wetter than the car.”

“Did you pick up that cake for little Annie’s birthday on Saturday?” Emma yelled out.

John sat at his computer in front of the screen full of job adverts and put his head in his hands. He was more than qualified for most of these positions and that was part of the problem. He didn’t have the confidence or experience to apply for the best of these positions and the ones he did feel confident about he was vastly over-qualified for. There was no middle ground.

“No…” John replied, “I was going to do it tomorrow.”

To any outside observer it would seem like John was doing nothing at all but that wasn’t fair to him at all. John had walked their Labrador dog, Casper, and cleaned the whole upstairs of the house. He had got the groceries in and put dinner on to cook slowly for shortly after Emma came home. It was almost as if his wife was specifically picking the chores he hadn’t done just to make him feel worse.

Maybe he was sensing his master’s distress but Casper got up from his curled up position on the couch and walked over to John. He laid down by John’s feet and looked up with his hazel eyes and slightly greying muzzle.

John smiled down at his long-time friend and gently stroked the dog with his foot. No matter what the situation, Casper was always on his side even now as he got older.

“Do you do anything whilst I’m at work?” Emma asked sarcastically.

John closed his eyes in resignation. It was the same thing every other night, Emma just wanted a punching bag to de-stress. He knew she didn’t want an actual answer so he wasn’t going to give her one. It wasn’t like he just sat at home all day on the internet and masturbating, though he wouldn’t deny doing that, a guy in his mid-twenties alone at home is almost required to play with himself. With his wife barely giving him any action it shouldn’t be a surprise he was finding different ways of keeping himself satisfied.

Emma walked out of the kitchen and upstairs to the bathroom leaving John alone downstairs. He stood up, much to the disappointment of Casper, and walked into the kitchen to check on the food he was cooking. A lovely shepherd’s pie and mash potatoes.

John loved his wife, despite the hard times they sometimes had, he was devoted to her and he felt like his wife felt the same way towards him. The stress of her job made it hard for her to show that love sometimes but it wasn’t like this every night. Whilst she was doing all the providing for both of them he could hardly blame Emma for being grumpy.

When John dished out the food on to a couple of plates he smiled. He had always enjoyed cooking, it was a very relaxing activity for him.

John wasn’t a big man. A little under 5’5” and very scrawny, he had a crazy fast metabolism it seemed. No matter what he ate, or how much he ate, he never seemed to get any bigger. He was very much the runt of his friends. His short brown hair and deep blue eyes combined with his smooth face to make him look very youthful, despite being 25-years-old John was still regularly given age checks when buying alcohol.

“Dinner’s ready!” John called to his wife as he laid the dishes on the table. He knew his wife would be coming down soon so he sat down and waited.

Emma splashed some cold water on to her face to wake herself up a bit. She felt tired and snappy, she knew she had already moaned at her husband too much but she couldn’t help herself, she just had so little patience after stressful work days. She would apologize though, as soon as she sat down and started eating she would make up for the little barbs she had thrown John’s way. He didn’t deserve it.

Emma was slim, much like her husband, but much more imposing physically. She visited the gym on occasion and generally kept herself fit. She was tall as well, taller than her husband at least, at 6’1” she towered over her spouse. Her long blonde hair and piercing green eyes got the attention of most men but she only ever had eyes for one.

Having got changed into her dressing gown, Emma walked downstairs with a yawn. She walked through the living room and up to the dining table. She smiled at her husband who was already sitting down and pouring wine out for the both of them.

“It looks lovely.” Emma said as she gave her husband a quick kiss before sitting down.

“Thank you. It’s nothing much really.” John replied.

The two of them began eating in relative silence as John tried to just keep the peace. He knew his wife wanted some silence after her day so he was more than happy to give it to her.

“I’m sorry for snapping earlier.” Emma said after a few mouthfuls, “It’s wrong of me to take my frustrations out on you.”

“It’s OK.” John replied, “I understand.”

Emma smiled. She felt like she didn’t deserve her husband, her temper was always something that caused her problems. She was able to keep it in check for the most part but when it slipped it tended to slip in a major way. She slipped her hand across the table and clasped her husband’s in silent appreciation of his understanding.

“How was work?” John asked as they finished their meal a little later.

“Not the best day. Cassie said to HR that…” Emma continued talking about a bunch of people that John didn’t know.

John tried to pay attention, he really did, but he didn’t know any of these people and he had no idea why it upset his wife so much. John was distracted when he heard the patter of some small paws on the floor, Casper was walking over slowly with his tail wagging. John knew that his dog was hoping for some table scraps. It always made him smile, the unconditional love was a refreshing change. Casper never snapped at him for having a bad day.

“Are you listening to me?” Emma’s voice suddenly cut through the distractions and John looked back at his wife.

“Huh?” John asked.

“I don’t know why I bother.” Emma replied stonily as she put her knife and fork down.

“Emma, I’m sorry.” John said, “I saw Casper and…”

“Oh, well, that’s alright then!” Emma said sarcastically. She knew she was losing her temper again but it was like she couldn’t help herself. She worked all day, the least she should be able to expect is her husband listening to her.

“Emma…” John started as he tried to calm the situation, “I saw Casper and…”

“Don’t try and patronise me!” Emma shouted as she stood up suddenly, “You are more interested in the dog than me!”

“Don’t be silly.” John replied. He rubbed his face with his hands briefly.

“Silly!?” Emma was going a little red in the face. After all of the stress of the day she was a powder keg looking for a spark, her husband was the lit match closest to her. Her frustration with her life was now overtaking her reason. Deep down she knew Nick didn’t deserve this but he was the source of frustration she could lash out at easiest.

“I can’t talk to you when you’re like this.” John said tiredly, “I understand your annoyance with me and everything else but I can’t just be a punching bag.”

Despite him trying to calm his wife down, John noticed his wife seemed to get angrier at his logic and calmness.

John’s perception was correct. Emma, despite knowing her husband was right was too angry to listen to reasonable discussion. She just made a frustrated growl and stormed away from the table. The dog, who had retreated to the living room with all the shouting, had his head down and his ears back. Casper quickly backed away from the woman on the warpath.

John put his head in his hands as Emma stormed up the stairs in silence. He heard the pitter-patter of tiny paws hurry across the room and found Casper nuzzling him in the leg. John reached down and gently stroked his four-legged friend as he wondered what he could have done differently.

“It’s OK, boy.” John muttered to Casper.

A minute or so after Emma had stormed up the stairs he heard her footsteps on the stairs again and felt a flicker of hope that she was coming to apologise or at least to talk. He looked around as the door to the living room opened and his wife entered, she was carrying a whole bunch of bed linen.

“Don’t bother coming to bed.” Emma said shortly, “If you love the dog so much you can sleep down here with him tonight.”

“Emma… Let’s just talk about it.” John pleaded uselessly.

Emma threw a couple of pillows and the duvet on to the couch in the centre of the living room before turning and walking away again. Even as he spoke, Emma had turned on her heels and left the room.

John just sighed and shook his head a little. He didn’t mind giving up the bed since his wife was the one who had to work whereas he stayed at home. John stayed at the table for a few minutes just thinking and remembering happier days.

With the remains of dinner getting cold in front of him, John stood up and started collecting up the cutlery. He scraped the food into the trash and put the plates in the dishwasher. John moved lethargically and he stared out the window at the rapidly darkening world.

With summer ending, the long hot days were behind them and the nights began drawing in earlier. John didn’t know what to do with himself now. He knew Emma had her laptop upstairs and could entertain herself, he just didn’t think it was how a young, married couple should spend their time.

As John stared out at the roughly kept back yard, he daydreamed about what a perfect marriage would look like. He pictured none of the shouting, just two people snuggling together on the couch watching something on television. There was a dog in front of this imaginary couple, a warm fire in the fireplace. Just quiet romance between two soulmates who needed nothing as long as they had each other.

John sighed as he fantasised about this perfect relationship. Instead of that closeness John couldn’t feel more separated from his wife either physically or emotionally. The love was there but the stress made it impossible, on days like this, for him to get close to her. It was like there was a great chasm between them.

John walked back into the living room with a glass of water and sat down at the computer again. The best way for him to block out his disappointing real life was with a fantasy one. Video games were an escape for him, a door to another world where he could do and be whatever he wanted.

Casper walked under the computer desk and curled up at John’s feet. He was really too big to fit under there anymore but he had done it ever since he was a puppy and he loved that spot, as long as Casper didn’t kick the computer’s power switch he didn’t mind his dog being down there. If anything, Casper’s closeness was a much needed surrogate for the closeness he wanted with Emma.

For the next several hours John was no longer John. John was “Yuri the Loyal”, an Elf with a big bow but a bigger heart. He rode his noble horse across the land of this online world as he completed quests. His character had a whole backstory that he had invented, a reason to travel the globe and risk his life. His one true love had been kidnapped by an evil band of Orcs and Yuri was trying to track them down.

It was only when John suddenly heard Casper snoring  that he realised the room was pretty much pitch black, the only light being from the screen in front of him. He checked the clock in the corner of the monitor and saw it had already gone past midnight.

John was shocked, he had felt like he had been adventuring for an hour or so and yet several more hours had been lost. John quickly signed out of his game and stood up with a stretch.

“It’s OK, boy.” John said to Casper as his dog woke up with a start.

John walked to the stairs and quietly creeped upwards. He saw the slightly open door to the master bedroom and he carefully looked through. The light was on and he could see his wife, in her bed clothes, sleeping with her laptop next to her. John wanted to walk in and cuddle up to her but he settled with turning off the bedroom light, he didn’t want to wake her and starting another war of words.

Walking to the bathroom, John relieved himself before returning back downstairs. He looked at the makeshift bed on the couch without much desire, it wasn’t an uncomfortable couch but it was no substitute for a warm bed next to the person you love.

John walked back to the computer without any real plan as to what he would do. He contemplated just turning the machine off and going to sleep but he thought he would do one last scan of his favourite websites before heading to bed.

John leaned his head on the palm of his hand as he looked through the different websites. He was just about to retire to bed when he was stopped by an advert that appeared on the corner of his favourite news website.

“Chat randomly with strangers!” The advert declared excitedly in capital letters, “Refine your search to locals or talk to people on the far side of the planet!”

It was nothing John hadn’t seen before but for some reason this one now caught his eyes and he found himself drawn to it. Maybe right now this was just what he needed. John felt lonely in his marriage and perhaps talking to some complete strangers would be just what he needed, a fresh perspective on his life.

John hovered his mouse over the advert for just a second before clicking and being taken to a whole new webpage.

[Mcraft]

An exciting start! I'm really looking forward to where this is going.

[Elfy]

Thank you Mcraft. Does no one else have anything to say? I know there is no ABDL content yet but just like "Bad Husband" it will happen once it's all set up!

[Guilyn]

It

[sklawlor]

Hello. I enjoyed this first chapter and have read every section of bad husband better baby and I have to say that your development of character, situations and settings is very impressive.

[SallyKAT]

Good so far. I'm looking forward to further chapters!

[diaper24/7]

This is really good story.

[Britnee]

Well written as always Elfy but holy hell Emma is a total bitch!

[CDfm]

Loved the new story so far. John is some kind of special person to be able to take that kind of verbal abuse and still remain calm and even still supportive of his wife. I wish I could give it a like but was limited to just one today. I will be looking forward to reading more.

[Babypants]

"Tipping it down."

[Elfy]

"Tipping it down" is a British phrase to say it's raining.

I've never taken any courses in writing except for my English lessons at school.

[Elfy]

Here is part two of this story. This part has been posted on my Patreon for the last week and early access to stories can be gained by pledging $5 a month with a new part to a story posted every four days. For a $10 pledge you get the above plus totally exclusive stories. In the last couple of weeks I also had an image made for one story and have tried some audio readings.

A big thanks to everyone commenting, reading and liking my stories. An extra big thank you to everyone helping to support my writing: DannyDazzler, Daniel O, Lena S, Ron N, Jerry J, Kyle L, Kian R, M, Frank S, Charlie S, Alex B, P, James S, Orion F, John, Diapering Daddy, Eric C, Kevin H, Tom H, Sterling W, Ryan, Jens B, Zachary U, Thomas R S, Matthew S, Pierry L, Matthew, John D, Lin J, Ben F, LB Iceland, Liv, Cyatommorrow, Emmanuel S, Henry C, Bob, Michelle G, Kent J, Scott S, James B

https://www.patreon.com/Elfy88

I also write commissions... Message me here or anywhere else to discuss ideas.

---

“Hi!” The message popped up on John’s screen suddenly as the new website loaded.

“Hello.” John typed back. He guessed this was one of those random strangers.

“Man or woman?” Typed the mystery person on the other end of the connection.

“I’m a guy, how about you?” John replied.

Almost immediately after his message appeared on the screen a big pop-up appeared in the middle of the window with red text. It informed John that the other person had disconnected.

“Was it something I said?” John muttered with a wry smile to himself. He knew exactly why the other person had disconnected and it was the main reason he had hesitated before clicking the link to this site. Usually it was just desperate guys looking for a girl.

Despite his reservations, John clicked the green reconnect button and after a minute of loading a new stranger started typing to him.

“Heya J” The other person wrote.

“Hello.” John replied again. He was just about to ask how the other person was feeling when he saw the stranger typing another message.

“Can you do me a favour?” The stranger typed.

“What do you need?” John replied back in scepticism.

“I only talk to people on this other site. Can you come talk to me there?” The stranger typed quickly. It was almost as if they had everything ready to copy and paste.

John rolled his eyes and closed the conversation. It didn’t take a genius to work out what would be on the other side of any link the stranger sent them. It would either be a virus that would likely compromise the computer or it would ask him for money… Maybe both.

The next hour was spent connecting to random strangers trying to scam him, trying to find girls, or just people who were incredibly boring. To be honest, John didn’t know why he kept reconnecting to people except for the fact that he felt lonely and didn’t feel particularly keen to sleep on the couch.

When John’s wife had treated him so badly he felt like he just needed a friend to talk to but this late at night he didn’t want to disturb anyone, Casper was a good listener but he was much of a conversationalist.

When John clicked disconnect on someone who started talking in a foreign language, he stood up and headed towards the kitchen. He walked slowly and felt his way around to the entrance to the kitchen. He flicked the light switch and refilled his drink.

The back garden looked especially creepy at this time of night. With the kitchen light throwing illumination on the patio just outside the window and then being swallowed by the total darkness beyond. John remembered the time he had come down for a late night drink and looked out the window to see a pair of eyes in the darkness. He had nearly had a heart attack until he realised that it was just a fox at the back of the yard.

John was like most guys in that he tried to maintain the façade of being very masculine even though he had fears and wants that were the opposite of manly. John hated the darkness and had ever since he was a child. He had slept with the light on until his teenage years and even now didn’t like to be surrounded by darkness when alone. He would never admit to anyone that he was afraid of the dark but he knew deep down that it was true.

With his glass refilled with water, John turned back and headed to his computer again. As he sat back down at the screen he felt Casper lift his head before seeing who it was and laying back down again.

John decided that he would use the websites “refine search” ability and try to connect to people who were in the local area. He still didn’t know what his goal was, he just wanted to have a real conversation with someone who wouldn’t end up shouting at him. John went into the options and searched for people in a twenty mile radius of him. The computer took longer to search this time and it was just as John yawned and considered the makeshift bed that he saw the little chat box pop-up.

“Hello.” The message said simply.

“Hi, how are you?” John replied as he sipped his water.

“I’m fine. How are you?” The person on the other end replied.

“I’m fine. Bored as heck though!” John said.

“Same!” The stranger replied, “You are the first person near me I’ve found on this damn thing.”

“I only started using it tonight.” John replied, “I’m kind of surprised to find someone that doesn’t seem like they just want to play with themselves or scam me.”

“Ha.” The other person wrote, “Yeah, you get a lot of those folks unfortunately.”

John smiled as he watched the screen, this person seemed nice even if he knew absolutely nothing about them. The fact that they hadn’t immediately asked if he was a woman was a good start.

“I’m John.” John typed.

“Mary.” The stranger responded simply.

The two of them started sharing their experiences with other people and John had to be careful to keep his laughter down so that he didn’t wake Emma. The stranger told him of all the weird experiences she had had on this site and John listened attentively. For John, who rarely got out of the house to meet people, this was like a revelation. A person talking to him in a friendly way!

Before he even knew it the little clock in the corner of the screen read that it was 3am. John was shocked, the time had flown by and his wife would be getting up in a few hours, he had to get to bed.

“I’ve loved chatting, Mary.” John typed with a yawn, “But I really must get some sleep.”

“No problem.” Mary replied, “Do you mind if I give you my e-mail? We can search for each other on the site and chat some more.”

“I would like that.” John replied quickly.

The pair quickly exchanged e-mail addresses and then John said goodnight for the final time before logging off. He shut the PC down before turning to the couch. The discussion with Mary, despite having nothing to do with his home life, had done a lot to calm him down.

John quickly stripped naked and slipped under the cover that Emma had left him. The living room was actually kind of peaceful this late at night. There was no sound except for Casper’s snoring and it was quite dark although John kept the kitchen light on to throw some light across the room. It was relaxing if not as comfortable as his bed.

 ---

Emma woke up the next morning and rolled over in bed only to remember that her husband wasn’t there. She yawned as she slowly sat up and remembered the previous evening. She shut off the alarm clock and chastised herself for losing her temper.

Emma closed her eyes tightly in remorse for what she had done. John didn’t deserve to be kicked out of his own bed and she knew that. A long sleep and a rested mind told her that she had been far too harsh on her husband and she immediately felt the regret that went along with it.

When Emma was younger, as a teenager, she spent some time attending an anger management course and although it helped the vast majority of the time sometimes her anger got to her. She would have to make it up to her husband one way or another.

There wasn’t a lot of time for her to dwell on the previous evening though as Emma had work to prepare for. She rolled out of bed and walked straight to the bathroom to use the toilet and wash up. She showered and dried herself off before going back to the bedroom and getting dressed in one of her smartest suits. Emma was going to be working closely with her boss today and wanted to make a good impression.

Walking downstairs, Emma heard her husband snoring on the couch and felt renewed sympathy. She tip-toed through to the kitchen and stuck a couple of pieces of bread in the toaster. When she had buttered her toast she started quickly eating it, she really had no time to waste if she wanted to get to work early to properly prepare for her boss.

Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen from the drawer next to the sink and quickly scrawled an apology to her husband:

“John,

I’m sorry for everything.

Love,

Emma.”

It was simple but Emma didn’t have time for a proper apology now, she really had to get going. Emma hurried through to the living room and placed the apology on the low table in front of the couch. She gave John a quick peck on the forehead before putting her shoes on and leaving. She would have liked to have stayed after such a traumatic evening but she couldn’t risk her pay cheque.

---

John woke up to Casper licking him in the face and whining. Blinking a few times to clear the sleep from his eyes, John looked around at the brightly lit living room. The clock on the back wall showed that it was already the early afternoon, the late night had taken its toll.

Casper whined and wagged his tail when John sat up. John knew what the dog wanted and, still naked, he walked out to the kitchen and opened the back door. As soon as the door swung open John felt his dog bolt past him and into the garden.

Whilst Casper did his business, John made himself some cereal and walked through to the living room. Leaving the door open on such a nice day seemed like a good idea and John knew the dog would appreciate being able to lounge inside or outside as he pleased.

John turned on his computer and went online. After his usual roundup of news and social media websites John went to the website that was really occupying his thoughts. The chatting website from the previous night had been front and centre of his mind from the moment he stood up that morning.

He looked up the e-mail address that he had been given by Mary the previous night and was somewhat disappointed to see that she wasn’t online. They had discussed work a little bit and Mary had said she had ways of making money without working but hadn’t said anymore. John shrugged and did the next best thing, he went to the random search button and looked for someone to talk to.

After an hour of frustrating attempts to find a person to talk to John logged out of the website. It seemed like ninety-nine per cent of the people using that website were just looking for something sexual or a scam.

John got up and spent the next few hours cleaning the house up a bit. Casper lazed by the backdoor as John wiped down the kitchen counters and gave the oven a scrubbing. John scrubbed away but found his mind was only in one place, his mind was with the conversation with Mary. He felt a little guilty to be spending so much time thinking about someone he had only talked to for an hour but he really hoped he would get a chance to get to know her better.

Once the cleaning was done, John took the dog for a walk and found the fresh air very pleasant. He smiled as Casper ran around the park chasing tennis balls and playing with other dogs. On the way home from the park, John stopped by the shop to buy some food for dinner. This was all John’s normal routine and helped him to clear his head a little.

Despite all of the distractions, John felt himself dreading the return of his wife. He loved her greatly but he couldn’t help being worried because he never knew which version of Emma was going to come home. Was it going to be the happy and relaxed Emma or the Emma that made John sleep on the couch?

When John got home that evening he looked at the clock to see that his wife was due back at any moment. John hurried over to the computer and logged back in to the website, before he could even find Mary’s contact details he heard a small noise and saw a pop up. He smiled as he saw Mary’s name on the message.

“Hello J” Mary wrote.

“Hi, can’t stay long… Just thought I’d see if you were around.” John replied quickly.

“Going out somewhere?” Mary asked.

“Nah. My wife will be home soon.” John replied.

“Oh, you are married?” Mary asked.

“I am.” John was just about to press send when he heard the key in the front door. He didn’t pause as he quickly closed the website.

John wasn’t sure why he was being so secretive about this website. He was talking to someone as a friend and there didn’t seem like there was anything to hide and yet he felt a strong compulsion to keep everything secret.

“Hello!” Emma called out as she closed the door.

“Hi.” John replied. He made sure there was no evidence of what he had been browsing before standing up and turning around.

John was relieved that Emma was smiling. After yesterday evening it looked like today would be a lot more relaxed and that was most welcome. His smile doubled when he saw Casper get up and run to the door with his tail wagging causing Emma to start giggling.

“Good day?” John asked as he walked across the room.

“Yeah, quiet and easy.” Emma replied. She wrapped her arms around John and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “I’m really sorry for last night. I got too wrapped up in work and…”

“It’s fine.” John replied, “I understand.”

“I love you.” Emma said as she hugged John tighter.

John didn’t reply. He just squeezed his wife and gave her another kiss. Eventually they pulled apart and, whilst Emma went upstairs to change, John walked through to the kitchen to sort dinner out.

[Elfy]

Here is the start of chapter two of this story. I hope people are enjoying it, I know it is light on diaper content right now but it is coming, and it will be coming soon. Just like Bad Husband, I want to set it all up

This update has been available on my Patreon for the last week and for $5 you can get early access to all my stories. For $10 you get the early access plus exclusive stories. There are more tiers and rewards available. For more information please visit my Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/Elfy88

A big thank you to all my current patrons whose generous contributions allow me to write as much as I do: DannyDazzler, Daniel O, Lena S, Tsidt, Scy Tali, Britnee L, Sith, Trenton M, Geoffrey J, Robert J, Chris, Cameron, Cole T, Dorian G, LB Iceland, Babybb, J Land, Tim Fadden, Cvsflip105, P74_1986, Chris B, Ron N, Jerry J, Frank S, Charlie S, P, Orion F, John, Kevin H, Tom H, Sterling W, Ryan, Jens B, Zachary U, Thomas R S, Matthew S, Pierry L, Matthew, John D, James B, A Random Patreon, Eric C, Ben R, C Dom, Lin J, Ben F, Henry C, Bob, Michelle G, Kent J and Scott S

---

Chapter Two – Playing Away

Dinner was a much better affair that night. Emma was much more relaxed and there were no raised voices or harsh words between them, this was something John was very happy about.

That evening was spent with the pair of them watching television and whilst it was nice being snuggled up to his wife, John just couldn’t take his mind off the computer. He hoped Mary would still be awake to talk to him later that night. Yet again he didn’t know why it had to be such a secret but he knew that telling Emma would be a mistake.

“What time is it?” Emma asked with a yawn after a while.

“It is… 10 o’clock.” John replied as he checked his watch.

“Ugh…” Emma hid her face in her husband’s chest, “I really should go to bed. I’ve got a long meeting tomorrow.”

“Well, I don’t want you all cranky at work!” John teased playfully.

“Cranky?” Emma sat up and looked at John, “You think I’ll be cranky? I’m not a baby.”

“No… Emma, I know you aren’t.” John quickly realised he had said the wrong thing again, “I was just joking!”

“I take my work a little more seriously than a joke.” Emma replied as she stood up.

John didn’t know what to say. This outburst had come out of nowhere and after a great evening spent relaxing together, Emma had suddenly worked herself up into an angry state again.

“Emma, I’m sorr-” John started as he sat up straight.

“Save it.” Emma replied.

John watched as, for the second night in a row, his wife stomped away from him and up the stairs. He was flabbergasted that Emma was having another tantrum and despite doing his best to keep the peace it seemed that his wife was determined to take offence to something. Despite being so adamant that she wasn’t a baby, she was certainly acting like one.

This time John himself was angry and there was no way he was going to go after Emma tonight. He sat back down and changed the channel of the television to watch some sport, if Emma wanted to be cross then she could do it upstairs alone.

John felt his own anger dropping rather quickly but he was still annoyed at his wife. He wished she would learn to deal with her stress better. He would like nothing more than to go to couples therapy or something but Emma would always calm down and say it was unnecessary.

When an hour had passed and Emma hadn’t reappeared, John decided that she must be asleep and he decided it was time to go online. He scooted over to the computer and after a conspiring look around him he logged on to the computer and hurriedly visited the chatting website.

“Hey!” A pop up from Mary appeared at the bottom of the screen almost immediately.

“Hello.” John replied. He sat back in his seat and smiled. He had barely pressed enter on the password screen when Mary had messaged him, she must have been looking forward to the chat, John knew that he was.

“How are you? I was just about to go to bed. I didn’t think you were coming on!” Mary typed quickly.

“I’m fine. I’m just done with the day and relaxing with Casper.” John replied.

“Casper?” Mary asked.

“My dog. My pride and joy!” John answered with a smile.

“Aww, how sweet!” Came Mary’s reply.

They talked for an hour about this and that. They talked about growing up and what led to them both being here at the same time. It was all just getting to know each other stuff until, out of the blue, Mary suddenly said something very unexpected.

“So… Both of us are out of work, neither of us have anything urgent to do during the day and we seem to be getting on really well.” Mary typed.

“When you put it like that we sound like a pair of losers!” John replied with a giggle.

“Haha.” Mary wrote.

John felt like he was meant to respond but he saw the little chat bar tell him that Mary was still typing. John took the momentary pause to give Casper a quick stroke, the dog wagged his tail in appreciation.

“But seriously…” Mary continued, “Why don’t we meet up?”

John was taken aback by the proposition and he wasn’t sure how to respond. He felt guilty enough talking to someone online secretly but meeting a woman from over the internet behind his wife’s back seemed like an even bigger step.

“You know I’m married…” John typed. He really wasn’t sure what else to say, he didn’t want there to be any confusion.

“Oh my God!” Mary typed back, “Of course I do! You told me that, I meant… You know, just meeting for coffee or something. Like normal friends!”

“Well, I mean, if that is all you want then… Why not? I guess it could be fun.” John didn’t feel confident as he typed out his message.

“Cool. How about on Friday?” Mary asked, “Midday?”

“Yeah… Sounds good.” John replied.

---

The rest of the week went on as usual. Emma seemed on edge after work and despite John’s best efforts it seemed like she was just determined to be in a bad mood. John soon realised that she was better off just not interacting with his wife much when she was in a bad mood, it seemed like everything he did antagonised her.

Thursday night, the night before John’s still secret lunch time meeting, was the worst one so far. Emma just flat out refused to talk to John which made him very upset, she then blamed him for her problems and ran off upstairs. John hadn’t helped matters when he lost his temper as Emma stomped away.

“If you just went back to anger management we would both be happy.” John had yelled before he could stop himself.

It made no difference anyway, Emma was already irritated so his comment didn’t do anything to make things worse. Although he had yelled it in anger he did genuinely believe what he said would help. He just had no way of making Emma see that much to his own frustration.

Any hesitation John had for meeting with Mary was dramatically reduced by that evening’s events. It would be good to have a sympathetic ear and to talk to someone who wasn’t going to snap at him if he said the wrong thing.

The next morning, when Emma had made her usual apology and left for work, John got up and showered. He could feel butterflies in his belly from the moment he woke up and no matter how much he tried to tell himself that this was just a friendly meeting it felt like much more.

John and Mary had agreed to meet in a coffee shop just off the high street of the town. It was a place that Mary apparently knew quite well and would likely be relatively quiet considering it would be lunch time. She had given John her phone number as well just in case there were any problems.

John spent the whole morning feeling like he was on the edge of calling the whole thing off. He felt like he was being disloyal to his wife to be meeting another woman and more than once he had the number ready to be dialled on his phone.

It was almost a surprise to John when he found himself in the car and driving into town. He fully expected himself to call things off and yet here he was making the trip. Not only was he driving to the meeting but he was also excited to get there, he was excited to meet Mary.

The journey was unremarkable except for John’s heart hammering harder and harder the closer he got. By the time he had pulled up on a side street not far from the café, John was having to manage his breathing to calm himself down before he passed out.

“It’s just a friend…” John muttered to himself, “I’m just meeting a friend.”

John stepped out of his car and walked towards the small coffee shop with shaky legs. He checked his watch and found he was a little late, just a few minutes but it was enough to make him even more self-conscious.

When John reached the café he paused and took a deep breath. The café was indeed very small and quaint, it looked like a converted cottage and the green paint around the windows and doors was peeling badly. It was clearly the sort of shop that was run by a family, maybe multiple generations had served here. It was quickly becoming a relic as more and more of these places closed to be replaced by large chain stores.

A small bell rang as the door opened and John stepped inside. He tried to look as casual as possible as he scanned the seats but he knew he must look particularly conspicuous underneath the bell. He was hit by the smell of fresh tea and coffee as he nervously looked around.

The café was as small as Mary had said it would be. There were only a half dozen tables set up and only people at half of them. One of the tables was an elderly couple, another table had a mother with their daughter and the third table had a single woman sitting at it.

“John?” The woman asked when she saw John staring at her.

“Mary… Hi.” John replied awkwardly.

Mary was prettier then John had imagined. With her shoulder length brown hair and large green eyes, she almost looked like an oil painting. John was surprised that she seemed almost as tall as he was and she looked quite fit from what the awkward man could see.

Mary was wearing a very nice black top with a gold necklace over the top. She had some rings on her fingers which were clutching the edge of the table lightly.

“So good to see you!” Mary said as she stood up and indicated the chair opposite her.

John took the couple of steps and sat down. Mary’s smiling face was like an image from heaven, she looked so sweet and lovely that John wouldn’t have been surprised if she had told him she was from heaven. Even her voice was high and angelic.

“You too.” John replied as he smiled back.

“I have to admit I almost chickened out.” Mary said with a laugh.

“Thank God it wasn’t just me!” John replied causing both of them to chuckle, “I’m just… Not good at meeting new people.”

“I understand completely.” Mary replied with a warm smile, “But I’m not a new person. Heck, you know more about me after our online chats than some of my oldest friends.”

A waitress came over to the pair of them and took their orders. John just ordered a regular coffee but Mary ordered some very fancy sounding French coffee. It sounded very exotic.

The two of them talked for a long time, mostly about Mary. Mary told John about her lack of a relationship and how she always wanted a partner and, in particular, a child but just never met the right person so far.

The conversation of partners turned around and led to John ranting about Emma for a bit. His frustration was finally getting an outlet.

“Sounds like you aren’t getting what you need from your wife.” Mary eventually said when John paused his rant.

“She is a great person and I really do love her…” John said as he took a sip of his coffee, “But I feel like a punching bag.”

“That’s terrible.” Mary replied sympathetically.

“It wasn’t always like this though.” John continued, “Things have just got worse and worse as time has gone on.”

“I hope I’m not overstepping the mark when I say that you deserve better.” Mary said as she sipped her coffee.

John didn’t reply. It was what he had been thinking even if he didn’t dare say it out loud. He looked over his own drink at the woman who was being so attentive to him, so nice and seemingly interested in everything he had to say. She was everything he wished Emma was, she was everything Emma used to be.

“Listen, I can’t stay long.” Mary looked apologetic, “I have friends I promised to meet this afternoon.”

“It’s cool.” John replied with a smile, “It was great to talk to you face-to-face. I never thought I’d meet someone online… A friend, I mean.”

John felt his heart skip a beat. Did he really just say that?

Mary stood up and grabbed her things. She took a couple of steps towards the door before stopping and seemingly hesitating. John turned in his seat and saw her looking at him over her shoulder, she turned around to face John again.

“Listen… I can’t believe I’m going to suggest this but… Would you like to go somewhere for dinner tomorrow night?” Mary asked. John thought she looked nervous, “Just to talk more. I feel like we got cut off early today and…”

“Sure.” John interrupted the spluttering woman and agreed that dinner would be nice, “As friends, of course.”

“As friends.” Mary agreed with a smile, “I’ll make the reservation and message it to you tonight.”

“I look forward to it.” John replied.

The two of them shared a smile before Mary turned to leave the café. John turned back to the table and felt his heart hammering. Did he just agree to have dinner with a woman he met online without his wife’s knowledge?

[aldl4811]

I really like the anticipation that this story is building. 

[Sarah Penguin]

[CDfm]

Great new chapter. Seems like you have first hand knowledge of how someone can slip into having an affair without intending to do so.  Emma may be driving John to this but I still believe he is wrong to go forward and meet Mary. I am looking forward to reading more.