ktmorrison
patreon
Devil In The Waters, Book 5, Chapter 2 (complete)
🕑 Added 2020-05-09 00:00:02 +0000 UTCAt the brick gingerbread cookie house with the insurance broker sign out front, she turned left onto the narrow drive that led to Hyun’s apartment. What used to be Hyun and Meyer’s apartment, before they separated and Meyer took the basement apartment in his buddy’s townhome.
The building was a five-story nestled behind fifty-year old family homes along a busy Ajax side street, red brick with black railing balconies; not upscale but not inexpensive and very clean and well-kept. She and Josh had visited here often since they married, back when Hyun and Meyer were still a couple and Sophie was littler.
She and Soph had gone to an all-day-breakfast family place Soph sometimes went with her mom, called The Great Eggs-Crepe. Sophie had French Toast with real maple syrup and bacon. Had asked for chocolate chips in her French Toast and Kimmy obliged her, feeling bad they were having an adult party when Sophie was staying with Meyer. And Josh would have liked to see his niece. But she and Sophie had a big-girl breakfast date, and with that Sophie was happy. She swore they’d make it up to Soph, and they would.
Hyun met them at the apartment door. Though she knew they were coming at ten (and it was ten on the nose), they used Sophie’s key to get in the building and they didn’t buzz up beforehand. It was like they’d caught Hyun unprepared. She looked harried; hair damp, like she’d just jumped out of the shower, she was tied up in a robe. She held the door, and Sophie bounced into her arms, Hyun stooping to pat Sophie’s back.
“Come in, Kimmy, come in,” she said.
“I can’t stay long,” she said, stepping in and closing the door behind her.
“Stay for a cup of tea,” Hyun asked, and Kimmy said she would. There was genuine friendliness in Hyun’s eyes—not a lie or politeness provoking the invitation for tea. It was hard to accept Hyun as no longer a part of the family but the truth was, without the marriage to Meyer, they saw almost nothing of her anymore.
“Should I have come later?—I hope I didn’t get you out of the shower . . .”
“I was late coming home, and I had to have a shower.” Hyun worked for Children’s Aid, sometimes doing overnight shifts at a foster care center. Kimmy asked her how school was going.
“Well, the workload . . .” She set the kettle on, shot a pained expression over her shoulder then shrugged with a half-smile.
“You’re doing the right thing,” Kimmy said. After the divorce, Hyun went back to school, going to U of T at the Scarborough campus—graduate work, going part-time for her MA in Adult Education. “Hard work pays off.”
Hyun chuckled, turned to lean on the counter. “Tell me about it—look at you. You look so different.” Sophie had gone to her room but was back now, coming to hug Hyun’s waist.
Kimmy touched her hair, laughed, said, “This work isn’t like being in Immigration.”
“Meyer said he didn’t recognize you when he first saw you . . .”
“Once I was working there?—Yeah, I remember. I must have been a real mess before . . .”
“Not a mess at all. You look very professional.”
Sophie said, “I had French toast for breakfast.”
“You ate already?”
Kimmy said, “She’s fed and watered, ready for her day. What are you guys going to do?”
“She’s going to watch her mother sleep for an hour or two, then . . .?”—looking down at Soph—“What would you like to do?”
“Watch TV?” Soph was hopeful.
Hyun caressed Soph’s cheek, said, “I want you to read a book.”
“Can I pick?”
Hyun said she could and Soph silently—but happily—skipped from the kitchen headed for the family room.
She couldn’t help a smile as she watched her husband’s cousin’s daughter, saying, “She really is wonderful.”
Hyun said, “She has her moments, that’s for sure. Thanks for taking her out to breakfast this morning,” as she scissored open the dishwasher and rattled out two mugs. The act of stooping, leaning, and reaching, opened Hyun’s robe, and Kimmy got a glimpse of her bare collar and a little more. It looked like Hyun wore nothing under the robe, at least up top. Hyun’s skin was pale to the point of ghostly. A beautiful shade of porcelain, with the tiniest hint of lavender.
“It was honestly my pleasure,” she said as Hyun set the mugs on the counter then brought closer a stoneware teapot and tossed two teabags inside. “We had a fun breakfast date.”
Hyun asked where they’d ate and what, and Kimmy told her. They talked more about how her Masters was going, and Hyun poured boiling water in the pot then came to the kitchen table and they both sat. Hyun poured.
Kimmy said, “You seeing anyone?”
Hyun put fingers in her damp hair, looked up. “There’s no time.”
“That’s a shame.”
“How about Meyer? He wouldn’t tell me if he was.”
“No. Not at all. Whenever we see him, it’s just him and Sophie.”
Hyun nodded. “Well, there is . . . someone.”
“At school or at work?”
“School.”
“Tell me about him.”
Hyun made a face, said, “Nah, it’s nothing. We’re just friends.”
“That’s how things start, though. But I know it’s hard with your schedule. We should go out sometime.”
That brightened Hyun. Her eyes went lively and she smiled. “I think I need a night out.”
“We’re both busy, but we should stay in touch.”
“I’d like that.”
“I should’ve invited you tonight,” she lamented as she sipped her tea. “Sorry.”
“I’m happy to watch Sophie so Meyer can go.”
“You guys get along?”
“We try. He’s mad at me. He blames me.”
“Oh. Not to me. I mean he’s never mentioned . . .”
Hyun changed the subject, brushing a lock of hair from her face, saying, “You’re throwing Josh a surprise party?”
“Yes,” she said, hissing her S sound happily.
“You’re so nice. Maybe if I’d . . .”
“Don’t say that. I’m throwing it because . . . I don’t know—I guess like I feel maybe I’m letting him down, being at work all the time.”
“That’s hardly letting him down.”
“We were stuck in that place where we’re supposed to be . . . having babies . . .”
Hyun averted her eyes a moment, nodding, but avoiding the subject of the incomplete pregnancy.
“. . . Then out of nowhere I get this amazing job opportunity and . . . I’m away all the time, or at least a lot more than he’s used to. And I know it’s going to get worse.”
“Your schedule you mean?”
“Yup.”
“Josh is sensitive. Like Meyer.”
“I’m throwing him the party to cheer him up.”
“That’s very sweet,” Hyun said, patting the back of Kimmy’s hand.
She smirked, admitted: “I’m kind of looking forward to seeing his face when he walks in. His face has been one way for so long . . .” She sunk her cheeks and drew her thumb and fingers down her face, narrowing her mouth to an unhappy shape. “He’s been on edge and mopey and it’s like—”
“You’re going to hit him with it.”
“Bam,” she said. “You’re right. Hit him with it.”
“I know the look on his face. Meyer gets it.”
“Maybe it’s a Waters thing.”
Hyun chuckled, gathered her hair up behind her head, both arms raised. She said conspiratorially: “Sophie gets it, too.”
“Aww,” Kimmy cooed, knitting her eyebrows. “She’s so cute.”
Hyun was watching her, cocking her head. “I love your new hair.”
“Sophie really likes it—I think, or maybe she’s just fascinated by the change in appearance.”
“Where do you get it done?” Hyun reached to touch, going slow as a request for permission. Kimmy allowed it, nodding her head forward.
“Same place as always—”
“Where’s that?”
“Here in town, Heather Lauren’s, over on Westney. But this isn’t . . . this is the same cut, I just put it back myself. Oh—and I trimmed my own bangs.”
“I love it,” Hyun said, bringing her hand back, then sipping tea. “I wish I could do mine like that.”
“I could do yours in a few minutes. Want me to trim your bangs?—you already have the same kind of style as mine . . .”
Hyun’s eyebrows popped up. “Would you really do that?”
She said she was sure and stood, came around Hyun’s chair. Hyun shifted it away from the table, and Kimmy gathered Hyun’s wet hair and pulled it back. “Yeah, I can definitely do something with this.”
“Now I just need a killer suit like that and I’ll be in business.”
Kimmy laughed, stroking back Hyun’s hair with her palms. “Where are your scissors?”
“Left of the sink, top drawer,” Hyun said, her own hands working over her hair now, right next to Kimmy’s, and in the moment before she turned to retrieve the scissors, a glimpse of Hyun’s aureola was revealed. For some reason it made her chuckle, but it also brought a pang of hurt, a ghostly reminiscence. The thing she’d done . . .
But that would be made better. “Let me text work,” she said, “let them know I’m going to be a little later . . .”
***
The text had just about killed him. Ten-thirty in the morning in his office, during a meeting, Rafe and Rita across the desk from him, he sees a text coming from his wife. He’d had a fairly clear-skies morning. Hadn’t considered much his situation with Kimmy and Devlin. It had eased out of his mind. But midsentence, him angling the phone on his desk to read it, catching a glimpse of her message, and he’s distracted, trying to struggle his way through the face-to-face with his team members. The text so consumed his thoughts, he had to hustle out Rita and Rafe, calling the meeting short. Once they were gone, he closed his office door, huddled up with his phone and read Kimmy’s message. It was what he’d thought from his peripheral reading.
Kimmy: sorry, quick plans change. Going to be a little late tonight, not too late, I swear! Something came up after work, I probably won’t be home for dinner, go on and eat without me… But I swear I won’t be late!
And that was when his gray mood turned black.
So now he was out for fresh air with Steve at lunchtime, the two of them avoiding the Swanson cafeteria and instead across the street at the souvlaki place in the industrial plaza. He wanted self-destructive food. French fries, onion rings, a big Coca-Cola, two souvlaki loaded with glistening meat. His treat, so Steve’s plate was loaded the same way.
And Steve knew something was up, biding his time, eating slow and letting the conversation hang—leaving plenty of space for Josh to step in and tell him what he brought him out for.
One souvlaki down, and he felt like he had the resolve: “You know she’s driving me crazy?”
“I guess you mean Kimmy.”
“Oh, I definitely mean Kimmy." He laced together his fingers, felt them slippery, wiped his hands with a napkin, wiped his mouth too, then resumed fingers-interlocked composure.
“Tell me about it,” Steve said.
He took his time, drawing out a long silence which Steve filled by plopping another onion ring in his mouth. Finally he said, “She didn’t get home last night till almost eleven.”
Steve raised his eyebrows, drew in a breath while he was chewing, leaned back from the table. “That sounds pretty late.”
“Eleven o’clock is very late.”
“Did she say why she was home so late?”
“She was at a business meeting,” he said. He put “business” in air quotations.
“You don’t think it was?”
“No, I think it was. Naw, I don’t want to make it sound like that . . .”
“What then—what are you saying?”
“Just that she’s drive me crazy. Why would she do that—stay out that late?”
“Maybe . . . she had a business meeting . . .?”
“So you think I’m making too much of it?”
Steve put his elbows on the table and mimicked the intertwined finger pose. “Maybe not . . .”
Now his brow knitted, and his expression grew perplexed. “You really think maybe not?”
“I don’t know,” he said, “tell me more . . .”
“Okay,” he said, “the meeting was downtown with her boss . . .”
“Why would they meet downtown? Why wouldn’t they just talk in the office?”
“No, it was them and some other people . . .”
“I see . . .”
"But that’s not the bad part. Well . . . Look, the meeting was downtown . . .” And here was the part where it was getting tricky to say. Was he going to cast doubt in his friend’s head about his wife’s fidelity? Steve knew Kimmy. What a terrible thing to do to Kimmy if she wasn’t cheating on him. She wasn’t. But still . . . “The meeting was at a hotel. At the Royal York.”
“Fancy-schmancy.”
“They were at the hotel for hours.”
“Her and these guys they were meeting.”
“That she told me they were meeting . . .”
Steve said, “But if she was at the Royal York for bad reasons . . . Why would she even bother to tell you she was at the Royal York? Why not just say they were meeting somewhere else that’s . . . You know that didn’t have . . .” Steve had problems committing out loud to the accusation as well. Too timid to say that Kimmy’d met her boss at a place that had beds.
He said, “Maybe she knew I could track her on my phone.”
“She could just leave her phone at the office . . . Or maybe turn off her tracking . . .”
“But then I would . . . She knows I would ask why she turned off her tracking . . .”
“Then she could act mad—because, you know, you’re tracking her.”
That was true. “Am I crazy?”
Steve thought about it, wiped his hands on his own paper napkin, looked out the window past Josh’s shoulder like he was seriously contemplating. “Maybe not,” he said.
“Really?” He was so used to Steve telling him he was being crazy that when Steve didn’t tell him he was crazy it got his stomach knotted up.
“It’s not crazy crazy. You know . . . I guess it is a little worrisome.”
“You really think so?”
“Even if you hadn’t told me all those things beforehand—you know about the fight and everything that she had with the guy who’s her boss now at that party—just coming out and saying what you told me now might make my scalp tingle . . .”
“Spidey-sense.”
“Yeah, Spidey-sense.”
“Wow,” he exhaled, sitting back now heavily in his iron chair, making the metal legs squeak on the tile floor. “So you don’t think it’s totally crazy?”
“Josh, it’s not totally crazy. Your wife went with her boss who she has this love-hate kind of thing with—”
“She doesn’t love him—what’re you saying?”
“No, not love-hate, but you know that thing where girls are like . . . they say they hate some guy but that means they don’t really hate him they’re just thinking about him all the time and they want to hate him and they’re kind of mad at themselves because they don’t hate him as much as they say they do . . .”
Now his stomach literally cramped. He thumbed forward his tray so he could rest his forearms on the table. “Really?”
“Yeah, and then she goes to a hotel with him . . .” Steve shook his head, mouth quirked to one side as if he was suffering on his own. “Wow . . . Yeah. She doesn’t even get home until eleven o’clock. Maybe there is something . . .”
“Are you freaking serious?”
Steve showed his palms saying, “You wanted my honest opinion, why do you ask if you’re only wanting to hear what you want?”
“I want your honest opinion. I think I just preferred it when you used to say that I was wrong.”
“Yeah,” Steve said. “You are probably wrong. But I see what you’re saying now. This time I can see it . . .”
He slumped back into his chair, rubbing his forehead. And the morning has started out so positive.
Steve said, “I wouldn’t worry about it too much for now, Josh. Don’t let it get you down.”
“But you just said you could see it . . .”
“I do see your point of view. I’m not agreeing with you . . .”
He shook his head, his knee bobbing up and down. “And, you know, there’re little things. Lots of little things . . .”
“Like what?”
He leaned forward again now, looking around to see if they would be overheard since this was of a more embarrassing nature. The place was packed, but everyone engaged with their own table conversations and no one would hear him. Still, he said quietly: “Like last week I called her phone, but she had her calls routed through her secretary . . .”
“Why would she do that?”
“She was in a meeting. That’s not what went wrong.”
“What went wrong?”
“I was talking to her secretary, and I tell her, you know, that I’m Kimmy’s husband.”
“And . . .?”
“We didn’t talk long, but for the rest of the conversation she kept referring to me as Mr. Chang.”
Steve shook his head and made a confused face.
He said, “She goes by Kimmy Chang at work. Because her boss wants Chang on her business card.”
“Sounds kind of racist.”
“It’s not,” he said. “I wish it was . . . Kimmy is Chinese. Well, Taiwanese.”
“So her secretary—”
“Her secretary thinks I’m Chinese.”
Steve nodded, and for a moment he thought Steve had indigestion. But then Steve brought his hands together over his mouth. He went walleyed then pinched his nose. Quick squeaky grunts snorted in his throat.
“Fucking go ahead and laugh.”
Steve released his nostrils, and blubbered honest laughter that had him hunching over his remaining souvlaki. “Her secretary thinks you’re Chinese . . .”
“Very funny,” he said again.
“You are not Chinese . . .”
“I know I’m not Chinese. Go on and laugh . . .”
“Okay, oh sorry, Mr. Chang . . .”
“I’m glad you’re getting a kick out of my wife not using my last name and obviously not having my picture in her office.”
“So that’s getting you down? It’s an honest mistake. Maybe her secretary was afraid to not call you Mr. Chang in case you were a white guy whose last name was Chang. That can happen . . .” Steve’s cheeks had gone red, and he knew that his friend could enjoy a lot more laughter but was holding himself together for Josh’s sake. Steve took a clean napkin, and wiped his leaking eyes. His body shuddered occasionally with an oncoming laugh which he choked off. “Sorry, buddy. Sorry, that is just . . . that’s too funny.”
“I’m so glad you’re enjoying it.”
Steve crumpled his napkin, laid his forearms on the table, hands extended toward him. “Hey. What are you doing tonight?”
Now his stomach crumpled again. There was no way he was going to finish the second souvlaki. He said, “Kimmy said this morning she’d be home at a regular time, then she texted me while I’m in a meeting with fucking Rafe.”
“Asshole.”
“I know . . . she texted me to say that she’s not going to be home early. To go on and have dinner without her.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah, you got that right. That’s why I’m having lunch with you right now because I wanted somebody to talk to.”
“Well shoot, Josh, if you’re not doing anything after work, come out with me. Come on, you bought lunch, let me take you out for a couple of beers . . .”
***
A pitcher of Creemore was split between the two of them at The Poddy Kilt, the two of them at the bar with a baseball game playing on the high mounted screens. At the end of the seventh inning Steve got a text, nudged his arm and said, “Hey, my brother’s over at the Dragon, in the old village . . .? Let’s go sit on the patio over there.”
The baseball game was almost over, and the Jays were ahead by four. Plus the misty gray day had opened up, the gray-green skies giving way to a brilliant blue and bright sunshine. And maybe he wouldn’t be home until eleven o’clock tonight. “Yeah,” he said, rubbing his cheeks, “I could use some sunshine and fresh air today.”
“That’s the spirit,” Steve said, settled up with the bartender and they headed to the cars. “We should probably take an Uber,” Steve said, and ordered one on his phone. They wandered up and down the sidewalk outside of the bar, and Josh did everything he could not to bring up Kimmy again.
But in the back of the Uber it got quiet, and his thoughts were heavy. He said quietly to Steve, “What do you think I should do about this thing with Kimmy?”
“You got me. I don’t know what to tell you. No, I do . . . Just play it cool. There’s nothing going on. But you should keep your eye out . . .”
“You really think I need to keep my eye out?”
“I’m always defending Kimmy,” Steve said, looking up toward the ceiling of the Uber. “But maybe you’re right, and I’m wrong . . .”
“You think?”
“I don’t like what I’m hearing. I always pooh-pooh you—most of the time I used to think you’re just a whiner. No offense.”
“No, I know . . .”
“But, yeah . . . Could you imagine? Like what would she be doing at the Royal York that late?”
“I know,” he said, guts squirming. “Kimmy said she was at a business meeting with some Chinese people . . .”
“Family of yours, Mr. Chang?”
“Fuck you,” he said, “I’m serious.”
“Boy, you’re getting snippy. I thought it was rye that made you feisty not some beers.”
“No . . .”
“That’s right, that was Kimmy.” He put up boxing fists and fake punched the back of the driver’s head rest.
“At the reunion party? She wasn’t drinking, I was drinking bourbon.”
“So when you drink bourbon Kimmy gets feisty?”
He laughed, appreciating the good-natured squabble, but unable to shake an uneasy feeling. “I’m sure it was a business meeting like she said. Kimmy’s not like that.”
“I used to think she wasn’t,” Steve said, and Josh turned to see his friend looking pensively out the window, an index finger hooked in the divot under his lower lip.
“She really isn’t like that.”
“Josh: Eleven o’clock for a business meeting . . .?”
“She got home at eleven, she wasn’t there till eleven.”
Steve said, “So ten o’clock?”
He was quiet for the rest of the ride, looking out the windows as they got to the Pickering Village, working their way toward Old Kingston where the Dragon was.
When they got out of the Uber, he shoved hands in his pockets, could feel his expression shrink down to a surly pinch. Maybe he would get a real good drunk on tonight. Maybe he wouldn’t even be home at eleven o’clock. Maybe Kimmy would be lying in bed tonight wondering where the hell he was. Maybe he wouldn’t even text her. Maybe he and Steve and Steve’s brother would go out to a strip joint . . .
“Come on, cheer up, look it’s a brilliant sunny day. Were going to sit on the patio, and I’m going to buy you another beer.”
“Just one more?”
“That’s the spirit,” Steve said, and they headed under the brick archway that led alongside the tudor-style pub, into the alcove of shop fronts where the Dragon’s brick patio opened out to a garden.
He was saying, “It’s just, you know, I don’t even think it’s Kimmy that’s getting under my skin, it’s the . . .”
There were coming past the bar's side wall now, and a familiar face had his eyes raising from the brick pathway where he was walking and focusing. It was Meyer. His cousin was sitting at a table on the Dragon's patio raising a pint glass of beer to him. And he had a momentary brain fart where he thought they were here to meet Meyer, but as his brain found its footing he realized no, it was a coincidence. They were here to see Steve’s brother and it was a surprise that Meyer was here. But then he could see Karina. Karina and Meyer, and Gabrielle, and Samara, and . . . And then standing was Kimmy. Still dressed in her black suit, hair pulled back, blood red lipstick on her pretty lips that now spread in a wide smile that showed her bright teeth.
Steve gasped: “What the hell are they doing here?”
He stopped short, stumbled, took another step, and stopped again. His heart thudded in his chest.
Steve broke out laughing. “I mean what are the odds that they’re here?”
He was such a fucking sucker.
Everyone at the table cheered and raised their glasses to him. Kimmy came around the table, gesturing for him to come up the steps onto the patio but his feet had gone to lead. He looked to Steve sheepishly, his eyes pleading Don’t tell Kimmy any of the shit that I just said . . .
At the top of the stairs, Kimmy held out her hand, said to Steve, “Great timing, Steve-O, we just got our drinks,” then to him, “Josh, what the hell are you doing here at my important meeting?”
“What are you doing here?” he said, feeling his cheeks absolutely blazing hot.
“I told you I wouldn’t be home for dinner.”
“What is going on?”
“Something came up after work, I’ve got this meeting here. Do you want to come and join me?”
“Kimmy . . .”
There was a flood of embarrassment that rose up from his guts. All that stuff he’d said to Steve today, and Steve playing along. He said to Steve, “When did you . . .?”
"Come on up and have some more beers you, douche bag,” Steve said, then skimmed past Kimmy, his hand brushing up her arm and squeezing her shoulder. Steve took the friends' cheers meant for Josh, raised his hands over his head and joined the tables, slipping in to sit next to Meyer.
“Oh my God,” Josh said, palming his forehead. “How did you do this?”
“It’s just a small dinner. It’s not a big deal.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What—and ruin the surprise?”
His eyes strained in their sockets, then went wet. All that hurt he’d suffered today from 10:30 in the morning until two seconds ago was twisting inside him like a damp rag being squeezed dry. A wonderful transformation, but a wholly uncomfortable one. He blinked tears as happiness reluctantly took the driver seat. He’d been so comfortable with anguish behind the wheel today, that anguish was slow to get out of the way. He almost still wanted to be mad at her. He stared at her wondrously, then she licked her lower lip, and waited for him to say something, smiling wide. Cupping her neck, he kissed her mouth.
Comments
RCH
"Hollywood" I found interesting because there is a Hollywood agent depicted in there that is fictional in name but there was really a agent like "Henry Willson". He was responsible for a good number of the Hollywood hunks rise to fame. Rock Hudson is portrayed in this by name. The agent was known for demanding the casting couch favors of his male clients. He was the gay equivalent of Harvey Weinstein!
RCH
I didn't pickup on that I'll have to reread the Reza series again too. Shulamit is the female coder yes? There is something strange about her. I've always wondered if the wasn't some plot complication coming from her?
Tim ziegler
Talking about off topic I just finished the Reza series I usually read a book twice and find something I missed.This time it was Shulamit didn’t pay much attention to her the first time then she said his wife was a problem,that set off my uh-oh senses.Does she secretly work for Reza and is secretly the spy?
DavidnDaria
So far during the Covodity, we've watched Ozark, Mindhunters, and finished up Goliath. We'll be checking out your recommendations from in the Northern reaches, soon.
RCH
Maybe tomorrow.
Chinookfan72
yeah i just hope all is well a break is well earned.
DavidnDaria
We hope it's the latter. KT needs a vacation, but where to go? Literally, we spent the last two months, with the exception of me getting groceries, on the property here.
Chinookfan72
same!
RCH
This is off topic but has anyone else watched "UPLOAD" on Amazon Prime? I enjoyed it. On Netflix I watched "Hollywood" it's a art piece that is not directly historic. It does parody some of the well know events and personalities in Hollywood. If you have issues with homosexuals showing affection, I would advise you stay away.
RCH
Tracey52 it's hard to say. Both my kids are working full time. One is working from home and had to take on extra responsibility. The other is the only person maintaining the whole operation onsite. Me I'm down to three days a week. Luckily I have some side engineering work so I'm busier than normal. By the looks of KT art works she may have work at home too. I don't know how Canada is handling the unemployment. I'm just hopping the Patreon page is helping some!
RCH
No problem! it was a heart felt piece and thanks for sharing!
RCH
I second that! I would say most likely KT is busy prepping Book 4 for publish or possibly getting a bit of sun!
DavidnDaria
Hoping everything is fine in KT land.
DavidnDaria
No, I deleted it myself. I didn't think it was appropriate. Thanks for the offer, Red. :)
Tracey52
Do you think kt has more or less time to write during the CoVid 19 lock down?
DavidnDaria
Thanks, Oh, and I agree completely. It's definitely not for everyone. I do think to get the reaction it has gotten from me that the writing is far above what one comes to expect in any genre of erotic fiction. Daria and I will still read it, and I'll just react differently. :)
RCH
DND Patreon lost your post again! It's good if you want I can copy and paste it for you!
Chinookfan72
My apologies DND for saying you didn’t like the story.. heck I’m not even sure Tim likes or dislikes the story. When someone says they don’t find an erotic story erotic I just assumed you didn’t like it, or at the very least you don’t like it as much as some of KT’s other works. Regardless, my point still holds which is basically you are okay to feel however you want about the story. this story isn’t meant for everyone we don’t all have to think the same way.
RCH
Tim you are correct Josh is and innocent. At the same time he is getting into the area of willing victim. If he keeps hiding from the truth. His love for Kimmy keeps blinding him!
Chinookfan72
I’ll take chapter 3 whenever I can get it.. sooner is always better!
Tim ziegler
The difference between Jonny and Josh is Jonny broke the law what happened was his fault Josh is innocent in his.
Wess
Every time I get ready to post Chinook posts what I was thinking...only better.
RCH
Chinookfan72 you made very good points. I was trying to pull the group together but that as you have pointed out is what we are all doing already by supporting KT and the form. Reza and Scream Queen are both coming from almost the opposite. In Reza I see Charlie as the victim of both Reza and Jonny. She is minorly at fault because she is willing to trade herself for her lifestyle. Scream Queen Libby is neutral she was playing at something before Ben cheated and was more than willing to play along when she could. Chelsea, was out to get revenge but it all worked out so far. Maybe chapter three Wednesday? I hope!
RCH
Tim when the wife and I played she demanded that the stag was respectful to both of us! I guess I can see this from a different position. We still are disadvantaged in that we see way more of what is going on while Josh is still trying to find a palatable truth. Because the reality is too earth shattering to him to believe! he'll grab on to the smallest positive evidence to force back the darker truth.
Tim ziegler
All I really want in these kind of book is for the guy to stand up and be a man.He doesn’t have to kick Devlin ass which he couldn’t do anyway,he doesn’t have to divorce.It his life he just needs to fight for what’s his.I don’t care for the cuckold and hotwife terms.I’m more stag and wife sharing.
Chinookfan72
personally I couldn’t careless about Kimmy and Josh’s relationship. Or really any couple in a hotwife/cuckold story. I identify with the other man in these stories and his actions make or break the story for me.. I don’t like Cole and it ruined the Maggie series.. I much would have preferred the wrestler stay as the other guy in the series than Cole. Separate Schools I agree with you falls into too young category so the stakes aren’t high enough. My point above is just Tim and DnD don’t like the story for whatever reason and that’s okay, they continue to support KT and I’m sure she’ll have something more suitable for them soon. Like she said she is planning to maybe add Reza and Scream queen chapters here so maybe they’ll enjoy those stories more.
DavidnDaria
100 percent fiction. 100 percent guaranteed that it has happened where a husband's bully gets the bullied guys wife--maybe not in a long term thing, maybe in a long termed thing, but it happens. So, here's where KT comes in. This story is simply astonishingly brilliant. It truly is. I don't think it's erotic, but that's just me. It not being erotic for me doesn't tale away from any of its brilliance. In the end it's just a story, with a strong basis is reality, true or not.
RCH
No, I'm not trying to convince Tim or DND as much as put it into perspective. I've been someone who's fiancée cheated. My wife admits kissing someone early in our marriage but in the end we ended up a swinging couple and hot wife play. I figured out that it is almost impossible to wear out a pussy, so yea the cheating hurts but for all practical purposes all parties are free to leave or stay. A word of advice to Josh is either accept it or leave, don't be whiny then you loose all respect. Devlin is hoping to see/hear Josh whine! I can see your point but because you have an interest in preserving the relationship. I kinda like the corruption factor. But at the same time don't want to see serious abusive behavior either. It gets to Josh deciding he has had enough and is out of the relationship! Josh has free will, he is not a child. Now we can debate whether or not this is a case of fraud on Kimmy's part in miss representing the truth in the relationship. It's funny that if this was a business transaction and Kimmy willfully lied about the true nature of the facts and violated the contract then there would be damages. Marriage is the exception now In California we have no fault so one of the spouses can be a lying cheating whore and she'll walk away with half of everything and usually the kids plus the dog. Man cheats it's a little different it'll still costs him fiscally. Cheating sucks it hurts all the parties in the end. Maggie series or the Separate Schools series these are per-marriage couples and it falls into the to young to commit situation. Look on the bright side that they didn't go forward and end up with kids and years later breakup because they discover they are unhappy! Love the banter here! Everyone has different views and it makes me think. All our customs are going to go through changes as modern realities present new variation to the human experience. We're delaying child bearing and it's making fertility doctors rich. But modern pressures make delaying parenting later and later. Kimmy is 28 she is still in the fertile range but at 32 thing start to change and the clock starts winding down. I have been struggling with that how does society solve the conflict between biology and societal reality?
Chinookfan72
While I agree with you RCH, I’ve been apart of enough erotica communities to know a cheating wife story is always going to turn a certain percentage of hot wife readers off.. For instance those that identify with the husband or are just morally against cheating aren’t going to like the story. Every story isn’t for everyone. For instance I’m not the biggest fan of the Maggie series or the Separate Schools series. While I think KT does a great job writing them and I’ll continue to read them, there are just other series that suit me better.
RCH
Tim I added this after I wrote the following it's not singling you out. I just want to try and put it in perspective. I have a very big I do mean VERY BIG discomfort to rape in books and movies but sometimes it's necessary to move the plot along. So, it may make you sick now but by the end you may like how it works out! happy or sad you have to agree most of the ride has been fun so far. Try this ask yourselves this if Josh was cheating on Kimmy and Kimmy was the one staying home how would you feel? Libby and Ben? it was shocking but it was necessary for the plot. Kimmy is just looking out for herself(AKA Selfish Bi#^H). Yes, it's wrong and it's hurtful but it's a cuckold story and we were warned it was a dark one! As long as Josh isn't beaten and abused physically I'm OK with it. Remember Josh is not a real person and this book isn't being used as a marriage guide book it'll be OK. It's part erotica and a physiological thriller hopefully no one is killed or severely harmed. Just get it into perspective You may love someone but you don't own them and they are still able to exercise free will. Now there a consequences with this freedom and that's how it is. We all have the weakness in use to be unfaithful it is part of the human makeup. 90% of us are good 90% of the time but we fuck up it's human. In the right situation Josh would cheat on Kimmy too. There is always something that gets us to do something that one time just once. Is it the little devil on our shoulder or just deep opportunistic programing?
Tim ziegler
To me this book is just sad it shows how heartless and self centered we humans can be to each other. And it’s doubly bad when it’s a person you love or care about.I’m with David not enjoying the erotic parts.
RCH
It's a bit hard to say what Kimmy will do. She has some very Jekyll and Hyde swings. I think when she leaves the house on Tuesday morning she is determined to be a faithful wife. Will she remain so, don't think it will take much to have her fall off the wagon. KT is a deviously talented spinner of stories that keep me guessing what her next move is going to be. I could see the next chapter be a continuation of the party and/or the return home after and the interactions between Josh(drunk?) and Kimmy. Book 5 could be mostly the events of Tuesday or the rest of the week. If there is any physical interaction between Kimmy and Devlin it could be strictly oral too. Because oral sex isn't cheating, right everyone. We all agree it's like shaking hands or a friendly hug! Kimmy, your mother is rolling over in her grave...
Donkatsu
HMV, you are referring, possibly to r/K selection theory or "Life History" theory. A decent summation, without KT's dirty parts, can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_history_theory.
CSH
While we all wait for the next installment, I’m gonna venture to say that the whole one and done thing is dead in the water, pun intended. I think she has already accepted that she’s going to have an affair with Devlin. I don’t think there’s going to be any real hesitation on her part so if she saw him, and they had the chance, they did something already or they planned something. I’d point also to her phone call to Devlin and her telling Hyun that she was going to be spending even more time at work away from Josh. I think that decision has already been made by Kimmy so, my opinion is that thought of one and done is over for her.
Chinookfan72
Yeah it can go a 100 different ways. I guess I’m just saying I’m worried chapter 3 is just going to pick up from where chapter 2 left off and we don’t get any of the details of Kimmy’s day.. Kind of like how book 3 started, we got Kimmy’s conversation with Devlin in the office, and then it skipped to dinner with Josh, Sophie and Meyer. Obviously nothing much happened then so book 3 was fine, and I’m sure book 5 will be fine without the mundane details too. However, the fact Kimmy’s story keeps changing has me intrigued both as to why and what she is doing to the point that even if it is mundane I’d still want to read about Kimmy’s day and her thought process.
RCH
I can only see divorce coming from Josh. Kimmy will want to have her cake and eat it too. So keep Josh and play on the side for fun! Her Dad would have a hard time siding with Kimmy if she is cheating on Josh. I'm very close to my daughter and I wouldn't stop loving her if she was Kimmy. I would have to draw the line if she was continuing to cheat on Josh. I'd see it as selfish and foolish behavior. I love you Kimmy but your being a dumb ass!
RCH
Let's hash this through... Monday evening she gets her freak on with Devlin. This is Tuesday evening party for Josh. So from what we can gather she drops Sophie off at Hyun doesn't seem to be in a hurry to get to work and takes time to cut Hyun's hair. The info void starts here and we can only speculate what happens between then and the party. One part wants to say there is a whole male wet dream lesbo scene between Hyun and Kimmy but Sophie is there so most likely that will have to wait. Something that could go on between her and Hyun is a confessional talk. Just how deep it goes depends on how much trust Kimmy put in Hyun and vice versa. She is divorced from Meyer so she isn't going to feel obligated to rat Kimmy out. There is the cryptic reference to there being some guy in Hyun's life so perhaps Hyun is getting her pipes cleaned by some well hung fellow student. So there could be a whole chapter of girl talk. Why did Meyer and Hyun divorce(was that clear)? After Hyun's Kimmy has work in mind we don't see that she has changed her one and done policy yet. So maybe she does got to the import export authority's office to deal with Devlin's client's issue. IMHO at this point her intentions are not to stray again. So Kimmy at this point is down town by 11:30am or noon. she'll have to wait till after lunch to deal with the import export authority (unless the have a different lunch time). Was the whole port authority meeting just a ruse for Josh's benefit? if so she is free to go into work then. If Devlin is in the office then there is an opportunity for lunch and Kimmy eat a breakfast with Sophie so perhaps she goes someplace to bump uglies with Devlin? KT will surprise us somehow so any other ideas? If Kimmy sticks with her one and done she is still going to the party tonight with Devlin swimmer still the sole occupants of her uterus!
Chinookfan72
I just want to know what Kimmy was up to before the party today because on a second read she was lying yo everyone.. her lies to Josh make sense as she is trying to surprise him. However it’s also obvious she lied to Meyer about her 11 am appointment as she is still at Hyun’s at 10:30 and there is no way to get downtown by 11 since she was still doing Hyun’s hair. If she had an appointment there is no way she’d be late just to do Hyun’s hair so the question I have is why lie to Meyer? And obviously what was Kimmy up to?
CSH
She’s still pretty sore, it’s the lips that just kissed him Josh should be worried about.
Chinookfan72
I’d say it’s likely Kimmy hasn’t been a good wife during the day, as to the details i.e. being currently without panties.. not sure, I wouldn’t be surprised if she is.
Chinookfan72
Being as this story is about a cheating wife I tend to agree and like where your head is.. there is still chance KT wants a happy moment between husband and wife, but If I was placing odds the latter would be a heavy dog. 19 to 1 odds seems right to me.
RCH
DND the reason they had to switch to plastic is because there were no longer the studly milkmen to carry the heavy glass(yes they used glass) milk jugs to the doors! Alas this studly species is gone from this earth. It maybe possible that in the future as DNA science improve to bring back the milk man species by collecting enough DNA fragment from the general population to reconstitute the Milk man genome!
RCH
Well, it'll be up to KT but I suspect something went on earlier in the day with Kimmy. Even if the day was a normal work day she is hugging her loving husband while Devlin's swimmers are still active in her! How is that for puerile gutter mind thinking!
Donkatsu
Does anyone else think that KT may try to keep with her "Kimmy event" precedent and send our gal to the party sans knickers? There is, after all, some time to be filled in during the day prior to her arrival at the party. Probably just my puerile mind and gutter thinking, which have lately been further eroded by brain cramps and social distancing.
RCH
Sorry Tim! didn't mean to give you a brain cramp!
Tim ziegler
“Holy Shit” I went to Ford MotorCo.not college way over my head.I think I have a brain cramp
RCH
Tim now you've gone and done it, I'm going to go off on one of my science rants! :) Well there is science to prove that Josh is a product of natural selection. If you go back 1 million or so years ago (a few years before I was born). At some point female started to lean towards the less violent and calmer males as mates. Now this may have started before humans but till there was a trend. Because child rearing was a time consuming human females looked for help and the calmer male were more successful helpers. Combined with a more complex social structure and we have a modern human family structure that serve us today. Now because KT likes the dirty science stuff! Cuckolding was still part of the equation a female was still able to mate with a partner of her choosing when ever the opportunity was there. Human females also hide their fertility. So for the most part prior to modern times males don't know when their female is fertile. Some evidence suggests that females are more likely to cheat during fertile periods. It's interesting science that goes deeper. In Devlin's case much deeper!
Tim ziegler
I’d rather have Josh as as son in law any day, and would really be pissed if they divorced because of cheating even if he’s rich.I think he’d lose interest in Kimmy after awhile.
CSH
“Josh types make good fathers because they tend to be stable and hard working.” - which is why Kimmy would regret losing him, too.
RCH
If KT wants to go that route pops could totally bag on Josh as his wimpy son in-law. Or be upset at loosing a fine son in-law. Josh types make good fathers because they tend to be stable and hard working.
Chinookfan72
Divorces are on the rise in China. in 2018 they had a divorce rate of 3.2 per 1,000 people.. the same as the US.. Older generations look at divorce negatively as women were only able to leave starting in the 50s, younger generations don’t have that hold up.. As for how pops would view it I don’t know.. If KT wants to go there I think she can make a case for pops being supportive or upset, whichever works best for the story.
DavidnDaria
Yeah, but in Canada, milk comes in plastic bags. :) Canadian's seem to have a facination with plastic. Plastic milk bags :), plastic tender, the list goes on and on!
RCH
Chinese culture if it is anything like Japanese culture it's biased against the woman more than the man. A divorced man doesn't have much held against him. Where a woman is seen as used goods. Now things are much better now than 20+ years ago. It still would be a big disappointment to her father because he likes Josh. To make it worse the divorce would be a direct result of her affair with Devlin at this point.
Tim ziegler
How taboo is divorce in Chinese culture? Kimmy doesn’t want to disappoint her father!
Chinookfan72
I think 100% of it was fucking with josh.. at some point he was in on Kimmy’s plans so at least the after lunch stuff was, and depending when Kimmy told him the plans even the lunch stuff could have been him fucking with him. Could I be wrong? Yup! But until told ofherwise I’m seeming Steve as being on team Kimmy... I’m sure Steve thinks Josh is nuts. In my head I seem him acually thinking “you have this hot chick who is making all this money and throwing you a party? And you are going to spend all day complaining about her?” Also on your last post on the prior thread I agree, Getting married at a young age is always a 50/50 proposition.. everyone grows so much in their 20s that it becomes a crap shoot. Personally If Kimmy and Josh don’t make at least their aren’t kids and both can make a clean break.
RCH
As some pointed out Steve is an interesting character. I'm wondering how mush of his post work discussion with Josh was messing with him part of the keep Josh occupied till the party later or what? Is Steve going to be the anti-cuckold angel on Josh's shoulder! If so do we have a Devlin like devil on the other with his lariat length member smacking Josh and taunting him about his apparent excitement from Kimmy's infidelity!
RCH
Interesting points Chinookfan72. I can see if things had worked differently there would have been a child in the house Kimmy a unhappy stay at home mom possibly. Then it's an affair with the Amazon delivery guy. It's one of the problems with getting married before you've spread you wings. Neither Josh or Kimmy had time to find their adult self before they were a couple. I was 28 almost 29 when I got married. I had plenty of time to find me and what I wanted. Note: above I used the Amazon delivery man as the possible affair candidate for Kimmy. In days gone by it was usually the milkman. What's a milkman? Well you young kids, when I was young there was a group of men that drove around the neighborhood delivering fresh dairy product to your door. We don't have them anymore and there is a theory I have about that! Many a house wife was accused of birthing children that resembled the milkman. This is the root cause of the extinction of the North American Milkman. See the milkmen were always busy delivering milk and keeping the wives along their routes happy and full of milk:). The problem was his children grew up in the home of bankers, lawyers, mechanic, factory worker etc. Very few of these children grew up to be milkmen! So at some point the entire milkman ecosystem collapsed and their numbers could not compete with the likes of the mailman, UPS drivers, the pool man or the gardening crew! So that is why there are no milkmen around today!
Chinookfan72
RCH I’m not actually arguing that she is two different people, just that’s how I look at her because it simplifies things for me personally. You make a good point about her opportunities. The characteristics Kimmy was attracted to in a man as a 20 year old college student isn’t going to be the same characteristics she’d necessarily be attracted to as a 28 year old attorney who is self sufficient.. This gets to my last point that Devlin isn’t special. I think given enough time Kimmy would have realized she was wasting herself at immigration or making baskets and would look for something more personally fulfilling. From there it isn’t hard to imagine she’d be introduced to a similar person as Devlin and ultimately the Waters’ would be in the same spot.
DavidnDaria
Calm before the storm. Kimmy may be thinking one and done, but she hasn't seen Devlin since that fateful night. I hope (my wife doesn't) that it's one and done. Hope is a strange thing, though. Something tells me that KT is going to blow this up big time. Daria senses it, too. Wonder what happens when Kimmy and Devlin are in the same space, again?
RCH
Yes, Kimmy has deluded herself for a one and done. We know it won't happen that way. Chinookfan72 I don't see her as two different people as she is just seeing new opportunities for herself. Being Asian her cultural upbringing would bias her towards being a good girl with a bit of subservience to her husband. Yes, I know she is Canadian but it leaks through. I see it in my daughter she picked up certain mannerisms and behaviors from her mom(my wife). So she'll always feel a bit guilty going wild with Devlin. Now, if Josh is part of it then it won't provoke that kind of reaction as much. This chapter is one of the necessary glue/continuity chapters not so hot but helps thing flow and gives context to the following parts. I'd say the important points are Kimmy's interaction with Hyun and Josh conversation with Steve. There is so much that could develop from what happen in this chapter. Small things could spawn future events that we can't imagine AKA "The Butterfly Effect".
Chinookfan72
yeah to me Kimmy is basically two different people, who she is around a Devlin and who she is otherwise. The last two chapters have been sans Devlin so she is back to in control Kimmy, compartmentalizing past actions away and still fully in “one and done mode”. However, the phone call she had with Devlin just shows how unrealistic that mode is as without really encouragement she was getting herself off over the phone with Devlin while Josh is in the next room. Also to CSH’s point we have no idea yet what kimmy did between hyun’s place and the party. The second half of the last chapter is from Josh’s pov so for all we know Kimmy’s just putting on her front that she puts on every time she’s come back to Josh after being with Devlin.. I think it’s genius of KT to write it this way, if Kimmy has cheated again, as it gives us a glimpse of how normal Kimmy seems, and how hard it actually is from Josh’s pov to see something is amiss.. Or KT generally wants a short happy moment to reconnect the couple before hell breaks out again. It’ll be interesting to see how long Kimmy can keep the two Kimmy’s apart.. The “Devlin Kimmy” is already seeping into “otherwise Kimmy’s “ territory (as evidenced by her bedroom behavior and the late night Devlin call), the question is does that continue to grow or can she keep it contained? As to TF’s point regarding the the potential demise of the marriage.. no doubt Kimmy’s ability to act completely normal is going to make the affair harder to prove and thus make it last longer and make it harder for the Waters to recover.. Although I think you are giving Devlin way too much credit for breaking up the relationship.. Personally I think Waters were murky before Devlin showed up and is just highlighting those issues with a giant spot light. To me Devlin really isn’t all that special or unique, he just happened along the right couple at the right time.
CSH
I think the main characters all have a need to lie to themselves. However, the phone call struck me as at least a partial admission that she was addicted and it wasn’t going to be one and done. “I’m thinking of you”;? It’s the implications of that she’s now avoiding. Also we don’t know how the rest of her day went. Agree she is totally compartmentalizing. Like basically 100% of cheaters through history. “We love each other. I don’t love the other guy, it’s just sex. He doesn’t know, he won’t find out, and, anyway, I’ll make it up to him.” Hyun just showed her the end point of that way of thinking.
Glaucon
Yeah, Kimmy definitely thinks the time with Devlin was one-off, but we as the audience know better haha.
TF
I may be totally off the tracks but from the last two chapters I get the impression Kimmy is still thinking her night with Devlin was a one off and that this party is her way of making up to Josh for something she thinks he is still pretty clueless about. Kimmy seems to be a person who can compartmentalize her life thereby avoiding recognition that certain activities are essentially incompatible…not really an unusual characteristic. It also, perhaps inadvertently, sets Josh back on his heels vv his doubts of Kimmy’s faithfulness as Kimmy doesn’t know how many clues he has. So it is not really just a jaunt on the lighter side but an essential part in the developing tragedy (my speculation) of their marriage resulting from the escalating influence of Devlin in the lives of the Waters.
CSH
I’m really happy we are seeing Kimmy at least ostensibly being sweet and kind to Josh. Though we admittedly don’t exactly know where those lips were before they kissed Josh, do we? Josh needs this sort of thing to calm his fears and disarm him a bit and it’s also a chance for us as readers to recharge a bit. The smooth part of the roller coaster after the emotional upheaval of book 4 and before the thrills start again. The Hyun thing was an intriguing detour.
Chinookfan72
yeah I also like the angle ofKimmy getting a new type of friend with her job.. Like old Kimmy and Karina got along great, but new Kimmy needs a different vibe..one that a newly divorced woman would have.. Also one that is probably okay talking shit about the Waters (Josh any Meyer). One that if Devlin stops by while they are having a girls night she can flirt with and maybe get a little intimate with and not worry about.. And maybe be a candidate for a three way down the road as added humiliation to Josh.
RCH
Nice chapter! Potential fore shadowing of future events. Good potential for Hyun and Kimmy bi relationship? We are look down her top when the opportunity presents itself. Can't say to much about this chapter other that as Chinookfan72 pointed out I see us looping back to the days event. Will Devlin show up? Don't know don't think it is necessary. Not a surprise chapter with a bunch of drama. Just good flow the next chapter may have drama it a KT story and I can't guess...
JamesIsAsleep
Good point about the potential of the Hyun character, I would like Kimmy to have some bad influences around her.
Chinookfan72
Really enjoyed this chapter.. The Kimmy Hyun parts foreshadow some additional girl nights out.. or you know, KT is just using Hyun as a red herring.. Same with the party stuff.. Could be the calm before the storm as DND says, or KT can just pick up chapter 3 straight from here and the party is a nice event just like dinner with Meyer and Sophie was in book 3... it’ll be interesting what routs KT chooses to go.. My hope is Hyun becomes a bigger character.. Kimmy needs a local friend to have girls nights with and Karina doesn’t seem like a good fit. Hyun, because she is already infatuated with Kimmy, is probably more receptive to her divulging secrets to. Kimmy needs someone she can talk to like she does Amy, but is local. As for the party I’m indifferent if, KT just wants a nice moment that’s all good with me or if Devlin crashes it fantastic..I am curious how Kimmy’s day went leading up to the party. like how did the rest of the morning go with Hyun, did they make plans? or just leave it open ended? How did Kimmy’s meeting go with the government.. Did Devlin come by etc... My guess is KT is writing it this way so she can compare and contrast now with Kimmy at the start of book 3.. There nothing seemed to happen, but my guess is that will be different this time around...OrI could be completely wrong.. would be my first time, won’t be my last.
Chinookfan72
Steve was fantastic!
JamesIsAsleep
Steve is awesome in this part, I really like his character. I absolutely love how he gaslighted Josh with exactly the concern he should legitimately have in the interest of covering for Kimmy's surprise. I really love that. I thought it was weird how well he was nailing Kimmy's feelings for Devlin, but it seems he was just messing with Josh knowing she was throwing this surprise for him.
