Backsliding Ch. 03

I guess there must be some truth to the old cliché that time heals all wounds. In time, even my animosity toward what I conceived as wrongdoing by our former pastor began to subside. As time went on, I found myself caring less and less about what went on at that church and I held no ill will toward Sarah for still attending. I merely went on with my new life and began to feel comfortable in my own skin, even if it was a new skin. As for Sarah, well, life for her had also seemed to settle into a new normalcy. We were no longer strangers passing in the hallway. We weren't quite as close as we had been during my days as a seminary graduate and youth pastor, but we were hardly at one another's throats, either.

I continued to work hard at my management job at the Harley dealership and she continued to work hard at the church's daycare program. In fact, she put her church management degree from Bible College to good use and turned the daycare program into a money-making proposition for the church. No longer did the daycare only take in the children of working church members, it was now effectively marketing itself into one of the leading daycare programs in the city. Sarah had earned the respect of the church Board of Directors and earned herself a promotion in the process. Although I didn't really have any feelings for her employer one way or another, I was proud of my wife's accomplishments. Who would have thought that a degree from a small Midwestern Bible Seminary would have translated well in the business world? Ironically, it was her position as a manager for the church's outreach that would set her on a far different path, but that's a story for another time.

Our evening routine also fell into a sense of normalcy. Like always, I would try to hang out with the guys from work just to be sociable, but I also knew what I had waiting for me at home. I reserved Friday nights when she was at a youth service or some other church function for my time of hanging with the boys. The rest of the week, I tried to come straight home from work like a decent husband would do. Our evenings would actually be spent being civil to one another. She'd fix dinner or we'd go out to grab a bite to eat and make small talk over our meal. I'd joke about something funny that happened at work, or maybe bitch about something when I'd had a bad day, and she'd do the same. After dinner we would settle in to watch a ball game or movie on TV. I'd still drink a beer or two or walk outside to smoke a cigar, but she didn't give me flack about it anymore and I didn't try to push anything off on her. I was how I was going to be and she was who she had always been. Nothing much was going to change any of that, so why bother?

Our sex life was the one area that was affected by time. Personally, I think the changes were for the better. I'm sure Sarah would agree with me. My wife had always been ultra-conservative in the bedroom and I don't blame that on the church. Well, I don't blame it completely on the church. Sarah had always been sort of shy and reserved and a bit old fashioned in her thinking. Her religious beliefs held that sex was for procreation, not recreation, and that didn't exactly translate into wild, uninhibited sex.

However, ever since that night when Sarah discovered soft pornography on TV, I started to notice small changes in my wife's sexual urges. She didn't shy away from movies with sex scenes anymore. In fact, it had become almost common for her to now ditch the youth group after service on Friday nights and rush home to meet me. She would curl up with me on the couch and sort of subtly direct me to one of those soft porn Friday night cable movies. I noticed that she seemed to really get into the shows that had mind control or some other mental or physical transformation as a central theme. After one or two of those movies, she would almost drag me to the bedroom and it was her that would usually take control of our love-making. That was a far cry from our days of bland missionary-style sex. I'd be lying if I didn't say I enjoyed it greatly. I found myself searching out those kinds of movies specifically for her whenever possible. Maybe what I was doing was wrong, but it didn't feel wrong and I sure didn't hear her complaining about it anymore. I suppose it was our new norm.

One Friday afternoon, as I was getting ready to leave work, I got a text from Sarah. The message was sort of vague. She just said that she had some "interesting" news to tell me, but it could wait until later. I should go out with the boys and enjoy myself. I was intrigued about what kind of interesting news she had to share, but I didn't think much of it. I figured it was just more church gossip. Even though I had long since made it perfectly clear that I didn't care much for church news anymore, she still felt the need to share it with me almost daily. I just took it all in stride and pretended that I was concerned.

Since tonight was Friday and I knew she would be at church, I went to the Broken Spoke with some of the gang from work for our regular weekend routine. I was well into my second game of pool when I got a text from Sarah asking where I was. I was up front with her about being at the bar, but I did find it a little odd that she was texting from church. That was completely out of character for her. I remembered her cryptic text from earlier and now worry began to nag at the back of my mind. I quickly scratched out of my game and told the guys I had to go. I walked out to the parking lot, climbed on my hog and raced home.

Sure enough, Sarah's car was in the garage when I pulled into the drive. Sarah was a stickler about never missing a church service under any circumstances, not even when she was sick. I began to fear the worst. I quickly put down my kick stand and rushed inside. I half-expected to see Sarah sitting at the table sobbing or laying on the couch with an ice pack on her forehead. Instead, I found her sitting on the couch watching a James Bond movie and sipping a soda. She turned to face me when I walked into the den.

"Oh, hi honey. I didn't expect to see you so soon. I thought you'd be out with the boys at least another couple of hours. I'm sorry that I didn't make dinner yet. I was really getting into this movie."

"That's okay. I grabbed something at the Spoke. I got bored at the bar and decided to come home early," I lied. "I'm surprised to see you here and not at church."

She knew I was fishing for answers and chuckled. "Yeah, well, I decided to play hooky tonight. It was just youth service anyway. I go to church five times a week as it is, not to mention working there every day. It won't hurt me to miss every now and then."

I felt as if someone had hit me with a baseball bat. Sarah had always been so absolutely devoted to church and her perfect attendance was one of her proudest accomplishments. I was getting excited and scared at the same time. Was Sarah moving away from the church? Was she starting down her own path to backsliding like I had done? I shook my head. This was stupid. So she had decided to ditch one service that she really didn't need to attend anyway. Youth Service was for the youth, not married women in their late 20s. So what if she decided to miss one little service? I was reading way too much into all of this!

I tried to play off my anxiety. "So, what's this 'news' that you mentioned earlier?" I asked. She immediately seemed to brighten. She smiled.

"You're never going to believe what happened to me today," she said.

"What? Some badass little kid pissed on your shoe?" I joked.

"Hardly, Mr. Smarty-pants. I got a job offer. A very good job offer."

"Really? What kind of offer?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story. Do you remember Renee Parker?"

"Yeah, I think. Wasn't that the girl who started coming to church for awhile right after we started, then quit and started going to that non-denominational church across town?"

"Yeah, that's her. Remember, you threw a fit because you said she left the truth and went out and backslid. Funny how things change..."

"Okay, does this story have a plot?"

"Anyway, well, even after Renee left our church, she kept her son enrolled in our daycare. She took a new job recently and her mom has been picking him up in the afternoons. Since I got promoted to general manager at the daycare, I've gotten to know Alice Parker pretty good. We just sort of hit it off. Anyway, the other day she mentioned how much the daycare had grown since I took over and how much more efficient it seemed to be running. I thanked her for the compliment, but didn't think much of it. "

"Well, that's nice of her to say. You do realize that her husband Bob owns one of the largest cosmetology companies in the state, don't you?" I asked.

"I do now. Mr. Parker himself came to pick up Caleb after work today. He offered me a job!"

It was my turn to be stunned. "What? Bob Parker, the Robert Parker of Parker Heights, offered you a job? Doing what?"

"Marketing. He said that Mrs. Parker and Renee were always coming home bragging about the daycare and how I had made all of these changes and how I was really promoting it and stuff. He said that he was expanding the business and needed a marketing manager for the area. I tried to explain that I didn't have any secular experience and that I'd never been inside a hair salon in my life, but he just laughed. He said if I could grow a daycare, I could grow salon customers. He invited me to his office after work to discuss the details."

I was actually excited for my wife, but a little scared as well. "Well, did you go meet with him?"

"I sure did. I was nervous, of course, and I kept making excuses about why I couldn't leave the daycare. I guess he thought I was trying to negotiate a salary. Actually, I was just nervous about taking such a huge leap of faith. Anyway, he took out a pad, wrote down some figures, and slid it across the desk to me. I was shocked at what he offered me to come to work for him! If Pastor only knew what I was going to be making, he'd feel ashamed about paying me so little!"

"Going to be making? Are you telling me you actually took the job?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Just the salary alone was pretty astonishing, but it comes with a benefits package as well. I'm nervous, but I couldn't say no. I told him I'd take it."

I was shocked. I never in my wildest dreams thought my dour little wife would have taken such bold initiative. What was ironic was that she'd decided to leave her safe job at her church to take a job for more money in a corporation in the beauty industry. Sarah, who had never trimmed her hair, had her ears pierced or ever worn makeup, would be marketing all of those things to other women. In essence, she would be promoting what her church considered sin. I mentioned as much to Sarah. She just sort of looked confused as if she hadn't thought about it much.

"Well, I did think about that a little. But, I mean, as long as I'm not encouraging women to do it or asking women in church to do it, is it wrong? It's not like I'm cutting my own hair or trying to get one of our church members to cut hers, right? These people are already wearing makeup and cutting their hair. I'm just giving them an alternate location to have it done."

"Sounds logical to me," I chuckled. I knew it was time to change the subject. I didn't want to rain on her parade. "This calls for a celebration!"

I got up and walked to the kitchen. In a few minutes I returned with a bottle of champagne and a couple of long stemmed glasses.

"What is that?" she asked, dumbfounded. "You know I don't drink alcohol."

"It's champagne, for Pete's sake. I'd hardly call it alcohol. You'd have to drink the entire bottle to even feel a buzz," I lied. "I've been saving this bottle since our wedding. What's it going to hurt to indulge in one toast to your new found success?" I could see the confusion cross her face. She was battling her inner demons. I could see her face register defeat.

"Okay, Jim, but just one glass. I don't guess it will hurt to have a sip to celebrate. I am pretty excited."

She giggled out loud when I shook up the bottle and popped the cork just like she'd seen on TV. I poured each of us a glass of the sparkling liquid. I handed her a glass and picked up my own and held it out for a toast. She tipped it toward mine.

"To new beginnings," I said.

"New beginnings," she repeated. We chinked glasses.

I took a sip and watched her bring hers to her lips. I knew she was nervous as hell and I fully expected her to not go through with drinking the celebratory sip, but tonight was a night of surprises. She brought the glass to her lips and drank. She giggled.

"It tickles!"

"Tickles? How does champagne tickle? "I chuckled at her innocence.

"The bubbles tickle my nose, silly," she laughed.

"Well, how is it?"

"It's actually quite sweet. I guess I expected it to taste like the beer I've tasted on your breath, but it doesn't. It's not bad."

I waited for her to put the glass down, but she didn't. She just held it in her hand and started making small talk. I knew she was excited about the prospect of changing careers, but more than a little nervous, too. I tried to keep her laughing and keep the conversation away from the things I knew would gnaw at her. During the conversation, I noticed that she continued to sip at the glass of champagne. I pretended not to notice and kept the conversation going. By the time she had finished the glass, I noticed she was a bit more animated and giddy than normal. I just chuckled at her inability to hold her liquor. Who in the world gets a buzz off of a single glass of champagne? Obviously a church wife who's never tasted alcohol in her life.

I poured myself another glass, even though I didn't particularly care for champagne. Without giving it any thought, I refilled her glass as well. She caught me off guard when she asked, "What are you doing? I said one glass!"

"Oh, damn! Hey, babe, I'm sorry. I just wasn't thinking. I'll pour it out."

She stopped me. "It's no big deal. I'll pour it out later. It's getting late. I wonder what kind of good movies are coming on tonight."

I knew what she meant by "good movies". I picked up the remote and started flipping through the cable movie channels. I settled on a movie that had a title that was sort of cheesy, but I figured it was worth a shot. It didn't really matter what was on, I knew Sarah was in the mood to watch something and I didn't want to disappoint. The movie ended up being about a struggling female artist who falls in love with a vampire next door. It was the classic vampire-falls-in-love-with-a-human tale, but this one had a twist. The vampire in question had a very sexy sister who held none of his misgivings about corrupting an innocent human and she sat out to corrupt her before her brother could partake. Of course the vampire sister was a lesbian and she worked hard to seduce the innocent human. By the time the female seduction scenes came on about half way through the movie, I noticed that Sarah had drunk her second glass of champagne. I also noticed that she was becoming increasingly turned on.

By now it was our normal routine to get into one of these movies and begin some heavy petting. The heavy petting would eventually lead to one of us encouraging the other to remove clothing and follow the other to the bedroom. The bedroom scene usually involved the lights being off and me being on top, but every once in a while, Sarah would surprise me and take control.

But tonight would be different. When the vampire lesbian finally seduced the innocent human, she did so by going down on her and eating her pussy. I could tell Sarah was really turned on by this and I wasted no time in moving my hand up her long jean skirt and finding her soaking wet panties. Sarah moaned when I touched her clit through the satin underwear. I was pleasantly surprised that Sarah was wearing sating panties instead of cotton, but what she did next surprised me even more.

"Do that to me," she whispered. She pointed at the TV screen with her empty champagne glass. I looked at the hot vampire chick with the platinum blonde spiked hair licking at the soft shaven folds of the brunette girl on the screen. Sarah whispered again, this time more forcefully with pure unadulterated lust in her voice. "Do that to me. Eat me like that."

I could feel her body respond to my touch each time my fingers brushed the outside of her panties. I knew she was being controlled by lust, but was it the alcohol talking as well? I knew Sarah wasn't drunk, but I also knew she was bound to be feeling the effects of the champagne.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

I could hear the frustration in her voice this time. "Yes, I'm sure! I want you to kiss me down there. I want you to eat me!"

I knew I was going to. I knew that before I ever asked her if she was sure. But I also knew I wanted to do something else and this may be the only chance I'd ever get. Without saying a word, I got up off the couch and sat my half-empty champagne glass on the coffee table.

"Where are you going?" Sarah demanded, obviously frustrated now.

I picked up my glass and handed it to her. "Hold this, I'll be right back. I've got to get something first." I almost ran out of the room.

In a flash, I was back. She was still sitting upright on the couch, watching the male vampire seduce the female this time. I noticed that some champagne was gone from my glass that she was still holding. I also noticed that her skirt was hiked up above her knees and her legs were spread open. It was so unladylike and I'd never seen her do it before. It was a turn on for me, but so far, everything about this night had been a turn-on for me. I pushed the coffee table back toward the TV and knelt down in front of her. She just looked at me with a confused expression through lust filled eyes. I reached up and unbuttoned her skirt and started to tug it off. She just grinned like a cat that had eaten a canary.

"What are you doing, James Edward?" she asked.

"Trust me, "I said, reaching up and pulling her blouse over her head. She helped me undress her. I had her remove her bra and then I pulled her panties down. The lights in the den were still on and I knew this was a totally new experience for both of us. I pulled her soaked satin panties from around her ankles and slung them behind the couch. I leaned in toward her dripping wet pussy and she moaned in anticipation, opening her legs further. "Wait a minute," I whispered, "I've got to do this first."

I reached behind me on the floor and picked up my beard trimmer. I thumbed the button and the electric trimmer clicked to life. It buzzed like a vibrator as I moved it closer to Sarah's virgin bush. This time I could hear the excitement in her voice.

"What are you doing?" She asked incredulously. I motioned to the shaven brunette now getting pounded by her demon lover on TV.

"I'm making you look like that," I whispered. I pushed the trimmers into her curly bush and pressed down. She moaned as the vibrating razor plowed through her mound, pressing against the skin above her pussy. She arched her back and moaned louder with each passing swipe of the buzzing blades I continued to trim, taking careful aim along the inner folds of her soft pussy lips. As the hair fell away onto the couch with each passing cut, I pressed down against her pussy lips with the back of the vibrating trimmers. She moaned, arched her back, and laid her head back against the couch. She was running her fingers through the hair on my head while I cleaned up the longest hairs with the trimmer. When I'd push down on her lips, she would tug at my scalp. I knew she was about ready to explode.

"Hmmmm," she said as I clicked off the trimmer. She probably thought I was finished and was finally about to bury my head in her mound. She was wrong. Instead, I picked up a can of shaving cream and pressed the top. A put a liberal amount in the palm of my hand and began to carefully spread it over the short bristle of her mound, taking extra care to softly spread it around the folds of her pussy and near her asshole. When I picked up one of my shaving razors I glanced up at her face. I saw a quick flash of concern, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she raised my glass of champagne to her lips and took a swallow. I started to shave her.