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DITW 12-6: Epimetheus
🕑 Added 2023-11-16 00:00:04 +0000 UTCDevlin was behind her, coming into the luxury suite at the Yorkville hotel, five minutes late. Standing by the bedside, between the bed and the window, she said toward the foyer, “I don’t know how long you think you can keep moving Benny Chan’s appointments around before he tells you to go fuck yourself.”
When she turned, her heart pounded and her mind careened in crazy chicanes. It wasn’t Devlin. It was Josh.
Josh stood in the sitting room of the reserved suite at The Hazelton, hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped yet his head held high. He looked amazing in the seven-thousand dollar suit she’d bought him.
Her legs failed her, and she sat on the bed before she collapsed. Hands on her knees, she forced herself to stand, wobbly but determined to stay upright.
It was a quarter after twelve on Monday. Devlin had told her he’d moved the Benny Chan appointment closer by a day; Monday instead of Tuesday. This was a workday. She was downtown in her killer suit and heels, her hair pulled back and shining, her lips painted red, her eyes black and fierce.
She hadn’t seen Josh in three-and-a-half days. Not a long time, unless it was spent in exile; in unknowing purgatory.
“Josh, what the— What are you doing here?” Her voice cracked. What sounded at first like disbelief, upturned in pitch to a sound of joy. Yet everything about Josh’s out-of-place presence screamed danger. She went to him, eager to touch him.
And worried he’d reject her. Worried enough, she stalled before she reached him, standing on the threshold between the bedroom and the sitting room. She couldn’t help smiling, couldn’t help the happiness. Before she touched him, she asked him, “Are you okay?”
He nodded, face serious and unfriendly—the demeanor chilling her.
She said, “What are you doing here?”
“I know it’s unexpected,” Josh said, hands still in his pockets.
This was somehow Devlin’s doing. It had to be. “Did you... Did you come here for me?”
Josh nodded again, biting his own lip, suffering under an unknown angst that emanated from him like a live wire.
She told him now, “I’m going to hug you.”
He said nothing and that hurt, but it was better than rejection. She stepped into his space, taller than him in her heels, putting her arms around him, whispering in his ear, “I missed you so much.”
He said, “I missed you, too, Kimmy.”
“You were at Meyer’s, weren’t you?”
His arms went around her and she breathed deep, feeling like hope had just illuminated the dim room.
“Yeah. I was. Of course I was.”
She stepped back, her hands on his arms. “Did you get what you need?”
His hands went back into his pockets and his upturned face dipped down, lost in thought for a moment. “I don’t know. . . . No, I didn’t.” He shook his head side to side.
“Oh, I— Can you... Can you come home?”
Josh drew a slow inhale, then let it out. His head came up again and his eyes roamed the room. He stepped past her, entering the bedroom, going around the opposite side of the bed, admiring the place, looking into the tiled bathroom, all in black. He held the attitude of a potential buyer, like he was touring the place and she was his real estate agent. He turned her way. “Is this where it happened?”
“What happened?”
“What you said to me.” He jabbed his head sideways toward the bathroom. “How you told Devlin to jerk off, and how he jerked off in the bathroom and when he came out, he put his dick against your leg.” Now he looked down at the bed, about right where she’d stood when that exact thing happened.
“Josh, what are you doing?”
“You can’t answer that? Are you ashamed?”
“Why are you doing this here and now? Why did you come here? I’m at work.” Her pulse flitted in her neck and her heart galloped. She wanted to dominate, but Josh’s absence seemed to have diminished her edge. “Why aren’t you at work?”
“I took a mental health day,” he said and strolled from the opposite bedside to the foot. She met him there.
“I really did miss you,” she said.
His smile was weak, but she was glad to see it. “I missed you, too.” His hands went to her jacket lapels, and she covered her hands over his.
“Come home tonight, Josh.”
His eyes were on their hands. “We’ll see.”
One hand slipped out from under hers and her touch her neck. He began to unbutton her shirt collar. Her hand moved over top of his but didn’t stop him, merely rode on top for a moment to see what he wanted to do. His finger slipped under the opened shirt and drew down to the next button. He undid that one. She squeezed his hand.
“Josh, we can’t. Not here. I’m... I’m at work. I’m expecting a meeting. Look at that table.” She shot her hand toward the table in the sitting room, set for four executives, with leather chairs and polished glass and all her paperwork at the ready. “Look, I have all the paperwork set up. I’m presenting, or helping, you know, Devlin present—”
“I know. I know.” Josh stepped away and returned his hands to his pockets.
“Josh, I’ll blow this meeting off,” she said. “If you want to, let’s get out of here. Let’s get our own hotel room. You can undress me. I’ll let you do anything you want to me. Anything. Say the word.”
“You’d do that?”
“I want that.”
“Because you want to get out of here, or because you want me?”
She frowned and shook her head, tried to answer a few times, but no words came. Then: “You’re manipulating me. You’re pushing me around and twisting my words.”
“It’s not too much fun, is it?”
“What does that mean?”
“I want you to unbutton your shirt.”
She narrowed his eyes, not seeing what her husband intended or what he wanted to do. “I’m at work. I can’t.”
“One more button, Kimmy. Just one more button.”
“Why?”
When she didn’t move to action, Josh stepped forward again, removed his hands from his pockets and undid the next button. She allowed him to do it, asking him again, “What are you doing?”
He smiled at the sight of her naked collar and his hand smoothed her skin. His hand was warm and welcome, but this wasn’t the time or place. He pushed aside her jacket and shirt and cupped her breast. Her nipple hardened.
He said, “What a wonderful bra you’re wearing.”
She looked down to where his hand slipped under her shirt. “So?”
He thumbed the nipple bulge. “I bet your panties match.”
She showed him a look of incomprehension.
“Maybe even garters and stockings.”
“Not with a suit, Josh.”
Josh’s cheeks puffed out, and he stepped away, turned and face into the bedroom suite, looking at the bed, unbuttoning his jacket and putting his hands on his hips.
“You’re mad at me for that?”
He turned slowly, regarding her fully, up and down. “You’re wearing lingerie because you’re going to fuck him. You’re in this room to meet Devlin.”
She scoffed. “No, I’m not.”
“To me you are. And that’s all I care about. I just care about me right now.” His voice had risen, and he’d jabbed his thumb to his chest in an angry manner. “You see, you’re my wife. You’re my wife and you’re meeting a man you’ve been having an affair with in this sweet ass hotel room. And you’re wearing lingerie.”
“I’m not having an affair, Josh.”
Josh chuckled, not a sound of amusement, more like one of hurt and suffering. “What if I told you in fifteen minutes that door was going to open again and this time Devlin would be coming in?”
“Yeah? I’m expecting him.”
“I know you are. You dressed for him.”
She shook her head in admonishment, tempered by sympathy. “I’m not dressed for him, Josh. I’m dressed for me. I told you what I like. I told you.”
“Did you shave it? Did you shave your pussy last night? Did you perfume it?” Josh’s eyes trembled and showed the shine of rising emotion.
She twisted her face into a mask of disdain, seeing her husband’s boldness crumbling. “Vulgarity doesn’t suit you, Josh.” She buttoned her shirt closed, taking her time with it. “And I swear on my life”—shirt buttoned, she fixed her gaze on him—“the very, very last thing I was thinking about today was sleeping with Devlin fucking Stone. You abandoned me. Punished me—for no good reason—you hurt me. All I thought about was you. I hoped you were okay. I hoped you were safe. I hoped you weren’t hurting. And I wanted you back. I wanted you home.”
Josh wiped his pinky eyes with the heel of a hand and looked away. The Yorkville sky painted his face in divulging gray light.
She said, “Talk to me, Josh. Let’s get out of here and talk to each other.”
“You have a meeting,” he muttered.
“Fuck it. Fuck Devlin.”
Josh looked at her and he hoped he didn’t misconstrue her phrasing.
He still faced the light coming in from the suite windows, saying, “I’ve been sleepless for days now—”
“Me too, Josh, me too,” she said consolingly. He did look so tired. If he hadn’t worn the suit she’d bought him, he would look like a zombie.
“I’ve been lying awake in Sophie’s bed every night, imagining all the ways I think you might have lied to me.”
A chill crossed her, and she shivered. She worked her stiff fingers, feeling a sense of impending. She looked to her left, the opposite of Josh, looking at the suite’s main door. “I’ve lied, Josh. I’ve lied, but I love you more than anything in this world.” Though he had a new contender, a life forming inside her. She rested a hand over her belt line, wishing she had the time and wherewithal to announce their pregnancy.
“I think it’s all been a lie. All of it.”
“Josh,” she said, sternly, stern enough he faced her again. “I love you. I would do anything for you.”
He said, “No matter the cost.”
She rolled her eyes and slumped her shoulders, shaking her head. Her gaze cast to the side again, falling on the suite’s main door. She stared at its black face for a long moment.
Something nasty occurred to her, and she faced him again, Josh with his chin raised again at a defiant angle. “You slept in Sophie’s bed?”
“She has a normal bed.”
“You didn’t sleep on the couch.”
Josh shook his head no.
“Sophie went back to Meyer’s yesterday afternoon. I dropped her off. . . . Where did you sleep last night?”
Josh said nothing, and she turned to that blank, black door once more.
Comments
Kat
@Andrew I could see him forcing Kimmy to do it, just because it hurts him, and it might hurt her, too. He seems to want to push her. He’s angry and hurt. I know he hates Devlin, but he still blames a lot of this on himself, so it’s a way to punish himself, as well. Maybe it won’t happen. Maybe something worse will happen. I don’t know, it just seems to all be leading up to this. This was such a good chapter!
Andrew Mellein
So Josh’s endgame is for Kimmy and Devlin to have sex to see if he can stomach it? Is it to see if she cheated or if she was faithful? Or is it to see if he likes being a cuckold? I’m just a little confused because he hates Devlin. I do think he went to Devlin’s and he probably know more now than Kimmy thinks he knows about her affair with Devlin. I also think he arranged this surprise with Devlin and Devlin might be popping in next chapter! I hope the next chapter comes sooner rather than later! I’m excited!!!
Tracey52
Epimetheus god of afterthought and excuses. Aptly named chapter.
Kat
It all depends on who Hyun gets her information from. If it’s from Kimmy, of course she’s going to side with her, and do whatever she wants. If the info comes from Meyer, and it’s the real story, I think she’s going to be devastated and very ashamed, and cut Kimmy out of her life, if only for the sake of her daughter. She wouldn’t want anyone to know what she and Kimmy have done together. I doubt she’d get any info from Josh. He has no reason to tell her anything. If she finds out about Kimmy having sex again with Devlin she’ll be so hurt and upset. Hyun is in love with Kimmy. That’s why she’s so compliant with her. If everything lines up, Kimmy should be alone at the end with her baby, having burned every bridge, which is quite sad. I still can’t hate her, though. Lol
Kat
I’ve read this chapter over several times. It’s so good. What a shocker having Josh show up right there and confront Kimmy! You can feel the tension burning between the two characters. My stomach is in knots imagining what’s going to happen, and how these characters will react. KT is incredible in writing her characters with full fledged personalities and emotions. It makes the dialogue so much more meaningful. I’m leaning towards Kimmy and Devlin “performing” at the request of Josh. Obviously, there’s no meeting that’s going to happen. Devlin arranged this for Josh. At the end of Chapter 3, Josh says this to himself: The only way out was through. It was only once he was through that he could look back and see where he was. See who he was. Who he’d been. And in that cold and unforgiving illumination, he might discover whatever good existed that had been spoiled. I read that now as Josh needing to see his nightmare and dream happen right before his eyes. He’s so tortured by what he knows Kimmy has done, because he likes it and he hates himself for liking it. He needs to see it, and then see if he can live with the truth. He seems sick and tired of being manipulated and controlled, by both Kimmy and Devlin. I don’t know if he’ll be able to convince Kimmy to do it. Devlin would surely gleefully torment him throughout. I think it’s going to destroy Kimmy and Josh for good, especially when she tells him she’s pregnant. Josh is going to know 100% that the baby is not his.
L_S87
I wonder what Hyun will think of this once it's done. And how Kimmy will manipulate her retelling of it so that she garners Hyun's support and sympathy. On the face of it, Hyun would probably feel Kimmy is being treated unfairly, no manipulation needed. Although if Kimmy does have sex with Devlin, that would change things given Hyun's vehement dislike of the man. I wonder because I could see a scenario where Kimmy pleads for Hyun's support while telling her sanitized version of the story and Hyun, because she loves Kimmy, confronting Josh in anger for mistreating Kimmy. Not typical of Hyun, but neither is buying a strap on in a sex toy shop while giggling. Such is Kimmy's corruptive influence. Wouldn't that be quite the conversation?
Bill F Protagoras
Just tried to find it... but gave up... It was only about a paragraph long and you seemed to burn a bridge for a resolution that you could now be using... it was cleverly done... but I don't like doing spoilers... Just yesterday I began to read DITW yet again... if, or when I find the reference, I'll give you a discrete update... don't hold your breath in case it was just a lucid dream... It will be embarrassing if I turn out to be an unreliable narrator!
Wayne
During their interlude, Limmy takes the opportunity to humiliate Josh, and in a moment of wicked passion, she lets it slip she is probably carrying Devlin's baby.
Wayne
Maybe, just maybe, Devlin shows up, catching Josh and Kimmy together. Devlin manipulates them and they, (Devlin and Kimmy) finally have sex in front of Josh.
KT Morrison
Hmm, it escapes me. Sometimes I do things like that without thinking, but I reread it and don't see it. An accident perhaps!
KT Morrison
Thank you!
KT Morrison
Ah, thank you kindly!—fixed in the manuscript now.
KT Morrison
Haha!
Donkatsu
The turnabout was great. KImmy's shock was total: She frowned and shook her head, tried to answer a few times, but no words came. Then: “You’re manipulating me. You’re pushing me around and twisting my words.” “It’s not too much fun, is it?” Devlin always gets a vote, and he is likely to have used whatever he has learned from both Kimmy and Josh over the last couple of days to further his longer term goals - keep Kimmy, subjugate and torment Josh. In hindsight, there was certainly that homoerotic element between Devlin and Josh (thanks Glaucon), but I do not think it is going anywhere. The race against time to our thrilling finale involves (1) Josh realizing and admitting to himself that Kimmy has been lying, cheating, and gaslighting him for quite a while. He is not quite there yet; (2) Josh must acknowledge that Kimmy's affair with Devlin and her carrying on and lying are not really his fault, Kimmy started it before Josh had any say in the matter; (3) Devlin and Josh finding out that Kimmy is pregnant and who the father is; (4) the return of Amy - not sure what her role will be but she needs to be heard from again; and, finally (5) whatever spanner Devlin manages to throw into the works..
Bill F Protagoras
There are all sorts of nooks and crannies throughout the extensive reaches of this epic tale, where the author may've tucked away startling information, or even a suitcase sized nuclear device... that's what keeps us all on our toes. There's even a cleverly worded ironic reference to another author's book... If my memory serves me well...
Andrew Mellein
KT you hit this chapter out of the park! I wish it was longer. Any confrontation between Josh and Kimmy is gold! I wonder when Devlin shows up at hotel it will totally catch Kimmy in her lies and her house of cards will come tumbling down! Now the wait for the next chapter!! Can’t wait!
Tracey52
Josh’s cheeks puffed out, and he stepped away, turned and face into the bedroom suite, looking at the bed, unbuttoning his jacket and putting his hands on his hips. ?typo face or faced
Bill F Protagoras
Oh... I laughed out loud when Josh said he'd taken a mental health day... this is the Josh I've always imagined he was hiding in daylight...
Tracey52
Great build up. Can’t wait for Devlin to arrive. So what did Josh do last night? He has at least spoken to Devlin because he is in the hotel room. May not have stayed at Devlin’s. Kt is good at misdirection. Sophie could have slept on the couch. It was fairly late when Hyun rang. We can assume we know what Kimmy did but will we get a flashback? Josh has decided what he wants but can he see it through? I think he will ask Kimmy to have sex with Devlin in front of him so he can decide if he can take it and they’ll stay together or whether they break up. That’s when the baby card will be played.
Bill F Protagoras
You are totally hitting the nail on the head Glaucon... after all Devlin's first diabolical trick in the book was to get Josh to grasp his rampant, or stony smooth member. Sorry, I'm new so haven't caught up on all posts...
Bill F Protagoras
Kimmy is really strongly resisting fessing up, ain't she? I didn't want to blab, but all the shopping, cuisine, and general spending kind of reminded me of all the detailed description of the expensive furnishings before the trial by cuckoldry in "Trial Separation"... but now I can only wonder... what have we here?
Bill F Protagoras
So which of them is the afterthought, or to be more incisive which is the god of excuses. Kimmy could quite easily be Pandora with all her largesse and her high fashion majesty... KT is she going to seal hope back up in her jar... or, as we more vulgarly call it nowadays, her box. I feel all tingley.
L_S87
I feel like Kimmy is now in a dammed if you do and damned if you don't scenario. We have no idea what Josh and Devlin have discussed or what the "plan" is, because there obviously is one. Or at least a plan that was discussed before Devlin likely drives it off the rails by deviating to his own script. Anyway, I say Kimmy is in a catch 22 because if she sticks to her current adamant stance that she's done with Devlin, she walks out and has to convince Josh to come with her. Worse, she has to convince him she's doing that because she's not interested, rather than simply putting on a show of disinterest because Josh is there. Which is exactly what Josh would assume. After all, she was naked in that same room not too long ago, with Devlin. So Kimmy walks, Josh thinks she's lying to save their marriage, she loses. Or, she lets Josh and Devlin pressure her into having sex again. She loves it, because we know she will, Josh is entranced but emotionally devastated. He'll hate it but also get off on it. Once it's over, he'll be over it. And potentially Kimmy too. That last bit I think largely hinges on Devlin. If he just rails her until she's a puddle and then leaves them alone... maybe they find a way to survive. But that isn't Devlin. I'm pretty sure he's going to find a way to flip the script in a way that will break Josh. But I don't think he'll break the way Devlin thinks he will. If that happens, it's all going to fly apart. Hell, even if Devlin acts like a gentleman (HA!), once Josh finds out about the pregnancy, he's going to make assumptions, and no amount of lying from Kimmy is going to fix it.
KT Morrison
I’ve got you covered, Glaucon
KT Morrison
https://youtu.be/6-1Ue0FFrHY?si=dvB-9h8UWIpJpMUO
L_S87
Not typically my cup of tea, but that would be absolutely hilarious. Kimmy's reaction would be one for the ages.
Kat
This chapter was amazing. What do you think is going to happen? Obviously, Devlin’s going to show up. Do you think Devlin tells her that Josh knows everything, and then proceeds to get into detailed descriptions in front of Josh, while Kimmy loses her shit? Do you think Josh will force Kimmy to have sex with Devlin right there in front of him? Do you really think she’s going to lose him? He seems pretty damn pissed right now. This is the strongest he’s been throughout this entire book. I wish this chapter was longer! I can’t wait. Ugh.
Glaucon
Listen, here's the only true path to reclaimed dignity for Josh: Devlin shows up and the two of them make sweet sweet love in front of Kimmy, leaving her completely out in the cold. This is where I would post Long Long Man again, but I'm limiting myself to once a year.
L_S87
Wow. What a setup, KT! Awesome doesn't begin to describe this. Also... punished for no good reason? Really Kimmy?? He wasn't trying to punish you, but even if he was, he had very good reason, and you just admitted why. What a mess this is, Josh still thinking it's all his fault and Kimmy admitting a smidge of truth but still twisting her words, and Josh's psyche, every time she opens her mouth. Although Josh is doing a shit load of twisting of his own this go round. The saddest part of all of this. 95% of what Kimmy said here was true. She did think of nothing but him, right until she thought she had no reason to worry, anyway. She does love him obsessively, the way she's acted puts truth to her words of how important he is now that she's on the precipice of losing him. What a mess the two of them have created here... and Devlin is going to walk through that door and I have a feel a stick of dynamite would be less explosive then what we're going to witness.
Kat
Love this chapter! Josh is finally standing up to her. When’s Devlin arriving? Kimmy may actually have to expose herself, literally.
