Their Recording

John hurries home.

           His wife, Mary, is not home. He paces in a nervous manner, worrying how he is going to tell her what he found out when she does come home. He decides to tell her about it after dinner when they are relaxing in the living room while they are watching the television, anyway there are too many sharp objects at the dinner table.

           During the climax announcing the movie is about to end.

           “Honey,” he says.

           “Yes,” she says.

           “Do you remember when during our first year in college that one night before we got sexual and we decided to record it?”

           She loses interest in the movie, looks at him. “Yes, I remember.”

           “Well, today, it got boring at my job, so I did what I always do and pull up a social media page and was strolling through it and it popped up.”

           “What popped up?”

           “What we recorded that night.”

           Stun silence for a moment. “You told me that you deleted it. You swore it.”

           “Now, stay calm.”

           “I am calm, now, what did you tell me what you did with it.”

           “We broke up not soon afterwards. Do you remember that?”

           “So what? You swore that you deleted it before that.”

           “Well, I didn’t right away, so during that time I needed money.”

           “And, you copied it, sold it.”

           “Yes.”

           “To whom a dirt bag?”

           “It was this real old guy who like watching things like that.”

           “Oh, my goodness.”

           “It was on the screen but when I tried to pull it up again it wasn’t there and I could not find it, so I think, maybe, the social media’s watchdogs took it off their page.”

           “They didn’t remove it. You just lost the page. It is out there somewhere. You told, swore that you deleted it.”

           “We broke up and like I said I needed money and I heard about the old guy.”

           “Who probably died and left it with a sleaze ball relative. Most likely, it is floating around in some sleazy underground media.”

           The remainder of their evening is far from mutual. That night at bedtime, she decides to sleeps in the guest room.

The next day, John sits with his girlfriend for lunch at a downtown restaurant.

           “Did you tell her?” Beverly asks.

           “Yes,” John says.

           “How did she take it?”

           “She is pissed.”

           “Well, that is a start.”  

           “Yes, it is.”

           “How long do you think when she will get damn mad about it?”

           “Not long because it is bugging her right now.”

Mary cannot concentrate on a client’s legal manner. John’s dumbness with that recording interferes. She summons a firm investigator with expertise in such matters. She invents a hypothetical friend to obtain his advice.

           “The firm has someone on retainer for such situations,” Investigator says.

           “Do you think that he will set aside the retainer to solve my friend’s problem?”

           “She got into the business to make money, so I don’t see why not.”

           “Can you get her contact number for me?”

           “Sure, no problem, I’ll bring back later today.”

           “Good and thank you for the confidentiality.”

           Mary uses her personal telephone to call the number. After their introductions, Mary explains her friend’s problem to be solved.

           “Can you describe the participants?” She asks.

           “No, but it was time stamped and I can give you the exact month and year,” Mary says.

           “Okay, I can work with that. I will call you when I get it.”

           “That will be fine.”

           “One thing, who will the bill go to.”

           “I will take care of it.

Mary and John begin living separate lives in their apartment. On a Saturday, the woman calls. “I have fifty-three recordings with that time stamp,” she says.

           “That many,” Mary says.

           “Yes. Now, I can send them to your computer or copy them to a disc and mail them to you.”

           “Please mail them.” Mary give the woman her post office box number.

           “Got it and my bill will be with it.”

           Mary receives the disc then waits for an evening that John will be out. She watches all of the acts of coitus but not one occurs between them.

John enjoys beer with a Chinese meal with Beverly at her apartment. “Are you sure this will encourage her to divorce you?” She asks.

           “I am sure because if she believes it is out there in the underground media and have the opportunity to go mainstream then already, she will never forgive me. In her mind somehow it will get to the board and stymie her raise up the ladder. She will want me out of her life so she can deal with it without looking at me,” John says.

           “Then it is me and you without her in between.”

John just steps in the apartment and before he closes the door.

           With excitement Mary says. “It is not there.”

           “What?” John asks.

           “It is not underground or above ground on the media grape vine.”

           John understands that she is referring to their recording. “How do you know?”

           “The firm has a computer expert on retainer, and I hired her to do a search for it.”

           “Wait a minute, how did she know?”

           “I remember the time stamp, month and year.”

           “Are you sure, I mean.”

           “It is the same type of time stamp that shows on those weekend get-away that we took in college and sometime watch.”

           “And she did the search doing that?”

           “Yes. She copied them all to a disc.”

           “Them all?”

           “Yes. There was fifty-three and I watched everyone and not one was us.”

           Stun. He stands looking at her.

           “Well say something happy,” she says.

           “I lied.”

           “What?”

           “I lied. I did delete the recording.”

           “Why did you lie about it?”

           “I have a girlfriend. I want a divorce.”

           Taken-aback, she ponders. “If I initiate the divorce proceedings then I would be liable to pay you alimony.”

           “Right.”

John meets with Beverly at the downtown restaurant.

           “Well is the divorce happening?” She asks.

           “Yeah, but not like I wanted it too.”

           “What is the difference?”

           “Not the livelihood that I wished for. I will just have to live without what I expected to live.”

           “Well, my dear that is definitely not in my playbook.”

           “What do that mean?”

           “I’ll send you a dear john letter to explain the whole thing.”

           “Dear john letter, are you kidding me?”

            “Nope.”

           She stands then strolls out of the restaurant with him watching with disbelief.

John at his job’s desk is busy at his task.

           “Well, how does it feel to be not married anymore?” Coworker asks.

           “It feels fine, but I do miss my marriage financial fringe benefits.”