Page 41 of Temptation

“First, I'm calling to make an appointment with a marriage counsellor today.” He wasn’t going to; he didn’t need to for the divorce to happen, but he wanted to gauge her reaction.

“I won't go.” Viki's lips tightened into a straight line, and her eyes narrowed as she stared at the table, avoiding Tenn’s gaze.

“That's fine. Actually, that's perfect.” Tenn smiled broadly when she frowned at him. “If you don't go, I can just divorce you. It means you aren't putting in the effort to fix things, so you only have to no-show for three sessions, and that's it. Finito.”

“I've been trying to fix things!” Viki's eyes filled with tears, but Tenn noted she wasn’t sad; she was scared. “You won't let me!”

“Because you come down and sexually assaulting me isn't trying to fix things!” He explained, losing his patience and raising his voice.

“I didn't sexually assault you.” She scoffed, rolling her eyes.

I said no and to please stop, and I had to remove myself from your hold before you gave up. That's sexual assault, and you're trying to manipulate me into forgiving you! Sex isn't going to fix our problems, build trust, or make me love you again.” He kept his voice firm and calm but wanted to make sure she knew she was in the wrong here. “That's the second thing I wanted to talk to you about. No more unsolicited sexual contact. That was incredibly uncomfortable for me last night, and I won't be made uncomfortable in my own home.”

“Whatever.” She grabbed her phone and started to stand up, the tears were gone, and she was back to being dismissive and aloof. Tenn had never been violent, especially with women, but he had to actively hold himself back from grabbing her and shaking her. He wished he had pushed harder for her to go to therapy after the miscarriages instead of agreeing to her plan of meditation and yoga. Whatever she had done had changed her completely, and not for the better.

“I'm not done.” He snapped, and she dropped back into the chair and glared at him. “You need to speak to a therapist. Your outburst last night was so over-the-top and inappropriate. I want you to make an appointment today. Give me the proof that you have, and I want proof that you went to the appointment. If you have another meltdown, I'm just calling 9-1-1, having you 51/50'd, and you'll spend seventy-two hours in a hospital. You need professional help for whatever is going on with you.”

“And if I don't?” She folded her arms and glared at him, clearly angry that he was threatening her.

“You move out. I will call the police, show them the recording from last night, and have you removed from the property because I own the house and don't want you here because you're erratic and violent.” He took a deep breath. “If you want to fix things, this is the first step you need to take.”

Viki opened her mouth and looked like she was about to argue with him, but then changed her mind. “Fine, I admit I should probably talk to someone. Anything else?”

“I think you should stay home tonight.” Tenn didn’t want a repeat of her dramatics and he knew seeing Quinn and Joel playing happy couple would not end well.

“Nope.” She said, forcing cheerfulness. “I was invited; I want to go. I've been under so much stress with everything, and I want to have fun.”

“You hate bowling.” Tenn pointed out, struggling to remain calm. This was going to end badly; he just knew it.

“I'm sure I can suck it up for a few hours.” She stood up. “I need to get to work.” Tenn watched her go with narrowed eyes. What was she up to?

He showered and dressed, then poked his head into her room out of curiosity. “Fuuuuuuuck!” He breathed out in disbelief. He regretted putting on his headphones now. She had trashed everything. The mirrors on her makeup table and the dresser were broken; the curtains and rod had been ripped down; there were holes in the wall; and the pictures had been pulled down and thrown. There were feathers from a pillow that had been cut open everywhere. He pulled out his phone and filmed a walkthrough, taking note of all the damages.

After he was done, he sent the video to DeeDee and called her. When her secretary put him through, she immediately asked if he was okay.

“I'm fine.” He assured her. “I moved her to the spare room a few days ago.”

“I'm guessing the texts that Quinn sent me last night were the cause of all this?”

“Yeah. Hang on, and I'll send you the videos of what happened here.” Tenn pulled up the security footage, downloaded it, and sent it. Deedee was silent as she watched it all. When it was finished, she blew out a breath.

“Okay. This is what I want you to do, and please understand that I'm concerned she'll claim domestic abuse, somethingyou've clearlythought of since you bought the security cameras. Quinn said they were going to Atlanta for the weekend?”

“Yeah.”

“Alright, call the cops and make a report; have them come in and show them all the footage and the room. Explain that you don't want to press charges; you're gathering evidence of an ongoing affair, and she will be served next week. You're covering your bases in case she screams abuse. And you'll also need the report to go through your homeowner's insurance to get all that repaired and replaced. It would be best if you stopped talking about kicking her out or getting divorced. Be civil and polite; - do not have sex with her - let her think things have calmed down. Hopefully, her weekend away with Joel will make her more secure, and she won't have any more meltdowns between their trip and when we serve them. If she does, you call the cops assigned to your report and have her taken from your home, then call a locksmith and change the locks.”

“Alright. Thanks Deedee.” Tenn sighed, he would do his best, but he wasn’t sure if he could play nice with her.

“No, thank you.”

Tenn hung up. He sat quietly for a minute, thinking about his next steps and then called Ron.

“Hey, you wouldn't be interested in an all-expenses-paid weekend trip to Atlanta, would you?”

“I mean, who wouldn't?”Ron chuckled, and Tenn couldn’t be sure if he was being sarcastic or not but pushed on.

“Viki and Joel are going for “training” and I'd like to see what happens.” He quickly brought Ron up to speed on what had been happening since they last met. Ron was quiet for a moment then he let out another chuckle.