TITLE    : Moving On Up
STORYID  : moving-on-up-3
SUMMARY  : A man moves on after his wife leaves him.
AUTHOR   : AnAverageGuy61@lit
DATE     : 2022-09-09
CATEGORY : loving-wives
FLAGS    : 
TAGS     : |cheating wife|husband|revenge|moving on|divorce|


<strong><u>Moving On Up</u></strong>

<em>A quick note for all the keyboard warriors out there. Authors on this site are amateurs, therefore we are liable to make mistakes. I have been told that sometimes my stories don't contain this or don't contain that, you have imagination, use it!</em>

<em>All of my stories are spell checked with MS Word, and run through Grammarly. After that my editor does her bit, before it goes for publication.</em>

<em>I don't mind criticism, but be warned if you post a negative comment anonymously, i will delete it.</em>

The welcome I got that night wasn't what I was expecting. The house was quiet, no sign of my wife Helen or my kids. Helen and I, Mike Lewis, had been married for 11-years. As I said the house was quiet, I saw the note on the table.

<em>Mike</em>

<em>Sorry I couldn't tell you this in person but I am too much of a coward to face you. I have met someone else and fallen in love, the kids are safe and well with me. The divorce papers are in the envelope under this note, as you can see I am not asking for anything.</em>

<em>Helen x</em>

Needless to say my day and my life had gone to shit in minutes. I stormed around the kitchen cursing as I looked over the divorce papers, eventually I slumped into a chair. Helen was leaving me the house and all of our money, all she had taken was clothes for her and the kids, plus their toys. The point that really pissed me off was the last one, Helen wanted me to sign over my kids so her new man could adopt them. Like fuck that was going to happen. At least it let me know who Helen had left me for, Henry Carslake. I called my soon to be ex-wife.

"Hello Mike."

"Fuck hello Mike. What the hell is going on Helen?"

"Like I said in my note, I have met someone else and fallen in love with him."

"Yeah right. Nobody leaves a marriage and shacks up with a guy like that. At least it lets me know the two of you have fucked, I just hope it wasn't in our bed."

"No it wasn't. Please stop swearing and keep it civil," Helen replied.

"CIVIL. FUCK CIVIL YOU BITCH! You can have your divorce and be with shithead, but I am not signing over my kids for adoption. Tell Mr Big Shot he can FUCK OFF!" I slammed the phone down.

After taking a shower and getting changed I went out for something to eat, the mood i was in cooking was not an option. The meal was okay, afterwards I decided to go into the bar for a few drinks. Given that today went to ratshit I figured I was owed that much. The man my wife had left me for was the owner of Carslake construction. In the past I had done some work for his company, but that was about to change. My friend Paul spotted me at the bar.

"Don't often see you in here Mike. You managed to escape from the family for one night?"

"Something like that Paul. I got home to an empty house and a set of divorce papers."

"Helen is divorcing you? Fuck I never saw that coming."

"Neither did I Paul. Neither did I. She has moved in with Henry Carslake!"

"What? You mean Henry Carslake of Carslake Construction?"

"Yep, one and the same. Reckons she has fallen in love with him."

"What are you going to do Mike?"

"Let her have the divorce. She doesn't want anything from me, so I'll sign it and be rid of her. There was another form she wanted me to sign, fuck that i already threw that in the bin!"

"What form was that?" Paul asked.

"She wants me to sign the kids over for adoption. Not going to happen in this lifetime. Paul shook his head in disgust. "One thing I do know is Carslake can kiss my arse, I am supposed to be starting a job for him on Monday. Fuck him, I'll find some other work."

I signed the divorce papers. The form for dickhead to adopt my kids was in the bin. Helen tried pleading with me, I wouldn't budge. In the end she gave up. At the time of the divorce Chloe was 10 and Lee was 8 years old.

I wanted to get some revenge on Carslake, I just didn't want to go to prison for doing it. I never turned up to do that job on Monday, strangely nobody chased me to get it done. Part of my revenge on Carslake came without me doing anything, It stemmed from my talk with Paul. When the word got around what had happened, most of the local contractors declined to work for Carslake Construction. They felt he had shit on me, as payback they turned his work down.

Sure old Henry found other contractors, they were cowboys and the work suffered. Several times I was asked to quote on jobs, when I found out it was for Carslake I didn't bother sending in a quote.

My divorce was final six months later. Three months after that Helen and shithead got married. I got to have the kids for a week while they went on their honeymoon. I didn't take the kids to help them out, I reasoned a week was better than a weekend i was currently getting. What pissed me off was a question from my daughter Chloe.

"Dad, why did you send us to live with Mum and Henry?"

"What? I didn't send you, your mother took you because she doesn't love me anymore. If it was up to me, you could stay here." I replied, assuring Chloe it wasn't my decision. This was something I was going to speak to Helen about.

When Helen called to collect the kids, she breezed all tanned and smiling. The smile disappeared when I spoke with her. "No more lies and bullshit Helen. From now on tell the kids the truth, if you don't I will. They now know I didn't tell you to take them to live with you, if I could I would fight you for custody tomorrow." Helen stormed off in a huff.

I found life as a single man strange after being married for so long. Some of my friends tried to set me up on dates, to be honest I wasn't in the mood for dating. I wanted to get laid, but not date. I didn't know my life was about to change again. Gary and Emily were my neighbours. They moved in just after Helen left me, their house was a bargain as it needed a lot of work doing to it. Emily was working locally as a secretary; Gary had recently left the army. We got on well and they seemed like a nice couple.

They chatted to me when we saw each other. Tragedy struck when Gary collapsed at work, paramedics and a doctor attended within 10-minutes. Gary was pronounced dead at the scene, a post mortem revealed Gary died of a subdural hematoma. Emily was distraught and on her own. I offered her a friendly sympathetic ear. Gary's parents were both dead, Emily's parents were on holiday in Europe. Not wanting to leave her alone I walked her to my house and poured us both a drink. I listened as Emily sobbed and told me of their plans for the future. Emily cried herself to sleep on my sofa. I covered her with a blanket, I slept in the armchair in case Emily woke up in the night.

Emily was leaving the next morning when Helen dropped the kids off.

"Glad to see you are not wasting time Mike."

"Knock it off Helen. The poor woman has just lost her husband!" Helen looked at me then turned to talk to the kids. Later that day I explained to them why Emily was leaving the house. Chloe looked sad, I don't think Lee really understood it properly.

Emily asked me to attend Gary's funeral, which I did. In the UK all mortgages have to have some life insurance cover, thankfully Emily wouldn't be left struggling to pay for her house. That was a small comfort considering she had lost her husband. Emily's parents had returned from Europe, they both spoke to me after the funeral. I assured them that I would keep an eye on Emily, apart from some work colleagues, I was the only friend she had.

I offered to help Emily where I could with any small jobs that needed doing, it was nothing major, just stuff that kept the house in a liveable condition. The next time Helen dropped the kids off she stayed in the car, that suited me as I didn't have to speak to her. Emily and I spent a fair bit of time together, not as a couple, more like friends supporting each other.

Almost a year later, Lee was playing in the garden whilst I was tidying up my work van. I heard voices and turned to see him chatting with Emily. I called out and told him not to be a nuisance. I heard Emily say it was okay, she was putting out washing to dry on her clothes line.

"Emily, would you like to have dinner with us tonight?"

"Lee! You can't just invite people to dinner."

"It's not people, it's Emily." We both stood there and laughed. I asked Emily if she did want to join us.

"Yes, I would. That would be nice, thank you."

Lee ran off to tell Chloe we had a guest for dinner. I apologised for him being so forward. Emily helped me cook dinner, it was obvious she was pretty handy in the kitchen. Emily helped me clear away after dinner, she sat with us for a while before returning home.

"Thanks for dinner Mike. I really enjoyed myself."

"Thank you for accepting the invite." I hugged Emily and watched her walk back to her house, when I heard her door close I went back inside.

"She's really nice Dad. Is Emily your girlfriend?" Chloe asked me with a smile.

"No, Emily is just a friend and neighbour." I replied, I did think it would be nice if she was my girlfriend, I just kept that thought from the kids.

Helen collected the kids on Sunday afternoon. I just knew they were going to tell her about Emily joining us for dinner. I wasn't wrong. The next time Helen dropped the kids off she made a point of asking about Emily.

"Not that it's any of your business, but Emily is just a friend. Besides, you left me for shithead so why are you worried about me?"

"I'm not worried Mike. I was just asking, that's all."

"Yeah well you got what you wanted. What I do is no business of yours!"

"I didn't get everything I wanted."

"No you didn't. If you are referring to me allowing dickhead to adopt the kids forget it. Not going to happen so you might as well get used to it."

"I just thought...."

"No Helen you didn't think. You walked out on me for a life of luxury with HIM. If he wants kids, let him have his own. That bastard took my wife and ruined my marriage, there is no way he gets to adopt those kids, ever!" Helen huffed and left to go home. I smiled knowing I had pissed her off.

<u>A year later</u>

I hadn't seen much of Emily for a few weeks, partly because I was so busy. My friend Paul was rewiring a house for a young couple, he got me to quote on doing a complete plumbing refit. My quote was accepted and I had a busy few weeks getting everything done.

While I was working on the house with Paul, he kept me updated on the news. Carslake was still having to use a lot of non-local tradesmen, most of the local guys still avoided working for him.

When the job on the house was complete, I finally had some time to relax. I decided to ask Emily out to dinner. She accepted and we agreed on a time for Saturday evening. When I called for Emily she took my breath away. She was a petite woman, she had what I called a pixie haircut. The dress she was wearing showed off her slim figure, for the first time I started to wonder about her in a sexual way. Dinner was great and we spent a lot of time talking about our lives in general.

Later that evening I walked Emily to her door. "Thank you for a lovely evening Mike." I smiled. Before I could utter a word Emily stood on her tiptoes and kissed me, not a polite peck but a full blown open mouth tongue on tongue kiss.

"Wow! I wasn't expecting that." I gasped.

"Take me out again and see where that leads you." Emily smiled and said goodnight before giving me a polite kiss on the cheek.

I took Emily out again and this time we ended up in my bed. She may have been slightly built but my god she was a sexual dynamo. I don't think I have ever had such satisfying sex. Emily and I spent more and more time together, eventually she sold her house and moved in with me. The kids thought it was great that I was dating, I knew they would tell Helen. From what Chloe said her mother wasn't impressed. Tough shit she didn't want me and Emily did.

A year after we first slept together Emily and I got married. When the kids told Helen she just made a grunting noise and turned away.

Emily and I had two children. A boy we named Gary and his younger brother Robert. My older two were now old enough to travel on their own when they visited me, that meant I had even less contact with Helen.

The years went by and one evening Chloe informed me that she was getting married, her boyfriend Josh, had proposed the night before. As her father I asked if they needed any help financing the wedding.

"We didn't think we would, but now we do?" I looked a little confused, until Chloe explained.

"Henry said he would cover the cost of the wedding. We sat with him and Mum and discussed things, that was when he dropped the bombshell. Henry will cover the cost of the wedding, provided he gets to walk me down the aisle. I said no way that was your job. Henry said in that case he wasn't going to contribute to the costs." Chloe was clearly upset. I was angry with Carslake for pulling a stunt like that.

Emily asked if she could speak to me alone, so we headed out into the garden. "Mike, we have what's left of the money from my house sale in the bank. Please use it to cover the costs, Chloe deserves that much."

"I know Emily, but that's your money. I cannot ask you to spend it on Chloe."

"Yes you can. Now go in there and tell that poor girl we will cover the cost."

Chloe jumped for joy when I gave her the news. We agreed on a budget and everything they wanted came in under our budget figure. Chloe called me the following day to let me know that Henry was pissed off, apparently Helen wasn't happy either.

We were sitting in the garden one afternoon when Lee turned up unannounced. He said he needed to get away as he was sick of listening to his Mum and Henry arguing.

"Are they still arguing about the wedding?" Emily asked.

"No, this is something else. From what I can make out, Henry is not doing his duty in the bedroom."

I roared out laughing. It pleased me that Helen had left me for someone who couldn't perform when it mattered.

"The house walls are paper thin Dad. I hear them at night. I think Mum is getting tired of Henry not cutting it in bed."

We laughed about the situation as we drank a beer. Lee stayed over that night to avoid the arguments at home.

On the day Chloe and Josh got married Helen wasn't happy. She was told by Chloe that her and Henry would be sitting behind Emily and myself. The church service went off without a hitch. I did agree to Helen sitting on the top table for the reception. Henry sat with Emily, Robert, Gary and Lee.

When all the speeches were done the caterers cleared some tables away to make room for the dancing. Josh and Chloe started the first dance. Emily and I joined in, as did Helen and Henry. Later that evening we were standing at the bar, Gary and Robert were sitting with one of Chloe's bridesmaids and her children.

Lee asked Emily if she wanted to dance, I smiled and said go for it. Helen took that moment to approach me. I could tell Helen had been drinking, I knew this was not going to end well.

"Look at them together. She looks just about old enough to be Lee's girlfriend." Despite being the mother of two young boys, Emily still looked the same as the first day I met her. Helen on the other hand had not aged well, she had put on weight. Her dress was low cut at the back, it showed off several rolls of fat. Henry was overweight and losing his hair, they made a perfect couple.

"Don't start Helen. Jealousy doesn't suit you. Besides, we are divorced so you do not get to comment on my life anymore."

"Jealous. Jealous of her. Good god she looks like she should still be at school. I guess she will be okay when she fills out and develops a bust worth talking about."

"Do not talk about my wife like that. For your information Emily is more woman than you ever were." Helen looked at me in shock. "Ask yourself this Helen, when was the last time you had good sex? In fact, when was the last time you had any sex?" I paused for a brief moment. "I had some great sex last night, and you know what? I'll probably have some more great sex tonight as well!"

Helen stood stunned as Henry joined us. "You see Helen. When you left me you thought you were trading up. Maybe you were, maybe you weren't. As for me I just moved on. I have a life now that includes a wife who loves me for what I am, two great kids to add to the two I already had. Life for me is about as good as it gets right now. Can you say the same thing?"

I walked away leaving the two of them doing goldfish impressions. Emily and I danced to a slow number, Lee got dragged onto the dance floor by one of the bridesmaids.

"What was all that about at the bar?" Emily whispered as we danced.

"Kiss me, I'll tell you later." We kissed and I knew Helen was staring at us. When we broke off the kiss I smiled at Helen, she turned and ordered another drink.

Oh yes, I had definitely moved on. Looking at what I had and what I have now, I think I traded up as well.

