Simply Complicated (8 page)

“Susan, I really have something to tell you,” Ken whispered as he continued to gently caress her back.

“What is it Ken? Are you finally ready to marry me?” said Susan sarcastically.

“Not quite. I was serious three weeks ago when I said it was over. I can’t do this any longer,” he said as he sat up in the bed.

“Do what?” Susan replied, acting as if she had no clue what he was talking about.

“Come on, Susan, you know what I’m talking about. Cheat on my wife with you. I can’t be with you anymore. I decided we need to call it quits,” said Ken as he moved to the edge of the bed.

“
You
decided we should call it quits? You say that as if you are the only person who has a say-so in the matter. You can’t just decide it’s over just like that without any warning.

“You sit here and say it’s over and you expect me to just go along with that. You made some promises to me and I expect you to fulfill them.

“It’s not over until both of us agree that it’s over and I’m not letting you go that easy,” replied Susan angrily.

“You might as well accept it because I’m not changing my mind. I no longer find you attractive nor do I like being around you.

“You and I should never have gotten involved in the first place. If you hadn’t thrown yourself on me at the bar, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

“A woman like you will find another man to sink her claws into. If you want, I can introduce you to some men I know from the bar to help you move forward,” he said harshly.

After hearing this something inside Susan snapped. “How dare you insult me like that? I am not some whore that you pass around to your friends when you’re finished!” she shouted.

“It’s hard to tell since you slept with Jake,” yelled Ken.

Ken didn’t mean to say that but he had become so angry. He had never said anything this cruel to a woman before. Part of him felt really bad but he knew this was the only way she would completely understand that things were over between them.

When he noticed the change in her behavior he decided he needed to back down a little. He could tell that she was losing it. He realized that maybe he had gone too far.

“I guess you’re finished using me and now you’re ready to go home and play husband as if I never existed,” she said angrily.

“It’s not like that, Susan. I gave you plenty of warning. I told you a few weeks ago it was over and you act as if we never had a conversation about it.”

Ken began dressing, “We’ve taken things too far and I can’t be all that you want me to be. You deserve someone better than me. You deserve someone who can take you out on dates and be with you all the time.”

“Don’t try that mess with me Ken. I’ve heard that before. You’re not the first man to use that line on me. I deserve a man who will be honest about why he is leaving me. I deserve a man who keeps his word,” Susan paced back and forth across the floor.

Ken didn’t know what to say next. He just stood there looking at Susan, searching for the right words to say. Before he could speak, Susan started striding from room to room.

She was so angry that she began talking to herself as if he wasn’t there. “I can’t believe this. What kind of fool does he think I am? Calm down, Susan. Don’t get upset. Calm down, Susan. Don’t get upset,” she repeated over and over again.

“Are you okay Susan? Try to calm down,” said Ken as he attempted to touch her shoulder.

As he reached out to calm her, she turned and slapped him hard across the face. “Don’t you dare touch me,” she shouted.

Ken was shocked. He didn’t see that coming. He was trying to keep the situation under control. As he tried to talk to her she slapped him again.

“Don’t touch me or talk to me, Ken! Just shut up,” she yelled.

Ken kept his distance as he spoke, “I know you’re upset but you need to stop hitting me, Susan. I hate to break the news like this but there is never a good way to end a relationship.

“You knew coming into this that I was never leaving my family. I thought I made that very clear.”

She just stared at him without saying a word.

“Did you hear me, Susan? Say something. Don’t just stand there!” he said.

Susan said nothing. She continued to stare at him.

“Well since you have nothing to say, I’m going to let myself out. Goodbye, Susan. Take care,” he said as he walked towards the door.

Without warning she picked up the phone and threw it at him. It hit him in the back of the head.

“What the hell’s wrong with you? I’m not going to let you keep hitting me, Susan! Now I’m trying to be nice but you insist on making this difficult. It’s over between us and I’m not going to say it again,” yelled Ken.

“How can you do this to me? You said you loved me,” Susan screamed.

She was outraged and cried profusely.

“Be for real, Susan. I like you but that’s about it. What we had together was sex. I thought you understood that,” said Ken.

“How dare you say that? What do you call what we just did? It felt as if we were making love, not just having sex. Two months ago you told me that you would leave your wife for me,” sobbed Susan.

“I never said that. Besides, you know the game. When we first met, you told me that you wouldn’t interfere with my marriage, that you understood how things worked. Now that it’s over, you won’t let go. I’m never leaving my family for you—not now, not ever!” Ken shouted angrily.

“When your wife wasn’t taking care of your needs, I was there. When she wasn’t pleasing you in bed, I was there. When you needed advice and someone to listen to you, I was there. Now after all we have been through in the last fifteen months you think I’m going to let you just walk away?

“Well, you don’t know me like I thought you did. I’m sick of men treating me this way. Playing with my emotions and then trying to walk out. It’s not right! You’re the last man I let treat me this way—you won’t get away with it,” replied Susan as she stormed into the other room.

Ken wasn’t sure what she was going to do. She walked back into the room. He saw something in her hand.

“
What are you doing?
” asked Ken. He thought she had a weapon but it was a remote control. She turned on her television and started playing a DVD of her and Ken having sex.

Ken didn’t know that she recorded them. He became outraged.
“Give me the damn DVD, Susan—and all the copies you made!”
Ken demanded.

“Do you honestly think I’ll simply hand them to you? I’ll give you the movies on two conditions. You have to promise that you will come over every time I call you and you can no longer sleep with your wife.” Susan insisted.

“The only way you’ll be free from me is if your wife tells me to leave you alone and we both know that will never happen because you’re too scared to tell her about us,” she yelled.

Ken angrily stormed out of her apartment. He knew if he did not leave immediately he would probably hurt her. He drove around for about an hour before calling Jake to see if they could meet.

During their meeting, he told Jake everything. Of course, this time Jake was the wrong person to confide in.

“I don’t understand the problem. Sit back and enjoy the ride. If she’s willing to give it up knowing she’ll never be your wife then so be it,” Jake told him.

“Jake, you didn’t see how crazy she was acting. Besides, I really want to go back to being faithful to Monica and spending more time with Marci. I feel I’m being blackmailed into cheating,” Ken explained.

Jake disagreed, “Man, I’m telling you, the worst thing you can do is to tell Monica. Doing so will cause you to lose her forever.”

Ken didn’t know what to do. He hated the fact that Susan was forcing him to be with her but he felt Jake was right. Telling Monica was not an option. So, he decided to play her game until he could figure a way out of this mess.

Susan called him every chance she got. His dream affair had turned into a nightmare. He was no longer having fun. He started getting depressed, bitter, and irritable. He didn’t know how much more he could take.

It had been over a month since he had been playing Susan’s game and he was growing tired of it. After the first month he refused to have sex with her but would go to her place and stay for an hour.

One evening she called him when Monica happened to be out with friends and he was home with Marci. He chose to ignore her call. She called him every ten minutes.

He continued ignoring his phone deciding not to listen to her messages. An hour passed and she finally stopped calling.

After putting Marci to bed, Ken decided to make himself a drink and relax. While sitting in the den, he heard a loud noise. When he looked out, he noticed a car driving away from his house.

Someone had thrown a brick through the window of his side door. He was furious. He knew it was Susan although he did not see her.

A few minutes later Monica pulled up.

“Oh my God, Ken, what happened to the window? Is everything okay? Tell me what happened,” exclaimed Monica.

“I’m not sure. I was in the den and heard a loud noise. When I went to see what it was I saw the window broken. I was just about to call the police when you pulled up,” he explained.

“Well, let’s call the police,” Monica said.

The police came and took a statement. During the interview they asked if Ken or Monica knew of anyone who was capable of doing something like that. They replied no.

The police explained that it could have been a burglary attempt and perhaps the perpetrators took off after realizing someone was home.

After the police left, Monica told Ken she was afraid that whoever did it may come back and actually break in. He assured her that everything was okay and then boarded up the window.

After she went to bed, Ken listened to the messages Susan had left. He could tell in her voice that she was angry and out of control because he did not answer her calls.

“I can’t believe you think you can break our deal without any consequences. I told you I’m not playing with you. I advise you to call me back
,” the first message said.

“Ken—quit playing and pick up the telephone. I need you. Please come over. I’m sorry for forcing you to see me.
” The second message said.

“Ken—why are you doing this to me? I love you. Okay bye.”

“I tried being nice but you just insist on bringing out my evil side. Well don’t forget Ken, I know where you live and since you won’t come to me then I’m coming to you. You have twenty minutes to return this call or else,”
she said in her last message
.

The next morning Ken stayed home until the repairman came to replace the glass on the side door. Monica went to work after dropping Marci off at daycare. While waiting, Ken called Jake and told him what happened. He could not believe it. “What are you going to do, Ken?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I better do something because things are starting to get out of control. Susan has crossed the line,” Ken replied, gazing at the broken window.

Ken remembered he still had a key to Susan’s apartment. He thought if he could only get the DVD that half of his problems would be over. After the repairman left he decided to go to her apartment. He knew she would be at work.

When he arrived he let himself in. He was surprised to see how messy her place was. There was a slight odor from the dirty dishes and trash. There was a pile of dirty dishes in the sink, clothes all over the living room floor, and leftover food on the stove that seemed like it had been there for days. Whenever he was there, it was neat and clean.

He went into her bedroom and it was just as messy as the rest of the apartment. He could not believe it. He started looking everywhere for the video camera and the DVD.

It took him about twenty minutes but he found them. He did not want to sort through them at her place so he took all the DVDs he saw. There were about twenty in total.

He quickly left her apartment. He knew he had to destroy the DVDs but he just had to look at them to see which contained damaging footage of him. It was still early and he knew Monica would not be home for hours so he decided to watch the videos at home.

He went into his den and started watching the DVDs. Susan did not have names on the movies—only dates. He tried to guess the first time they had sex together. He found one that was close to what he estimated and put it in.

The first ten minutes of the footage was of her pleasing herself. He didn’t remember seeing her do any of that so he fast-forwarded. Midway through the movie, the scene switched and there was Susan with someone else.

A part of him became jealous. He didn’t recognize the man but according to the date on the DVD, she was sleeping with this man when she and Ken were together.

Ken quickly removed that DVD and put in another. He was not in that one either. He watched fourteen of the twenty DVDs and wasn’t in any of them.

They were all of Susan with other men—men she was sleeping with while sleeping with him. He noticed that all of the men were wearing wedding bands.

He started getting angry.

She lied to me! She said she wasn’t sleeping with anyone else and I believed her
, he thought.