Adultery Life After We by xleglover-COMPLETED

[Ramesh_Rocky]

Jen knew his insecurities. She said "But it got better, right?" She squeezed his hand encouragingly.

"Yeah," Mike said giving her a tight grin. But it was clear it had affected him. "That's what they did, things like that," he said with finality, signaling he didn't want to talk about it anymore. He drained the rest of his scotch, needing the alcohol. "I need a refill," he said. Despite the alcohol, he felt completely sober.

"Me too," she said with a smile, gulping down the rest of her drink. She also felt completely sober. As if reading their minds, the waitress appeared a moment later with new drinks.

Jen sipped her new drink, feeling sad, guilty and regretful as she remembered those long months (almost a year) while Mike was in jail. How she'd done nothing to get him out, how she'd betrayed him by letting fuck her the one man Mike had prohibited.

Mike read her thoughts but he didn't say anything. He didn't blame her. Her hands had been tied, she hadn't been able to help him without hurting him worse. As for Drums, it turned him on she'd fucked his rival, just like Colin. Just like Scott.

Still ... he couldn't forgive her, not completely. It was something that would probably be between them for the rest of their lives. Like a wife bangd before her husband's eyes. If there was a gun to his head, the husband would be powerless to help her. The wife would understand that, but still blame her husband for not trying to save her.

They were silent for long moments. Finally Jen forced a smile and said "I guess it's your turn."

"Yeah," Mike said. He forced the memories – the nightmare -- of his incarceration from his thoughts. He thought of his idea of making money, because it was related. He needed to talk to someone about it. He valued Jen's opinion more than anyone else's.

"I'm thinking of doing a deal with the government," he said to her.

"What?" Jen said, off-balance by the change of subject. "What deal?"

"When I hacked into Sapphire, I used a software program to hide my tracks," Mike explained, whispering. "The government called it the Cloaking Device. You know, from Star Trek."

Jen nodded, vaguely recognizing the reference. She didn't often watch Star Trek, although Mike was a big Trekkie.

"That's why they let me go," Mike said. "I gave them the code for the Cloaking Device. But the Cloak's not perfect. It leaves a trail, if you know what to look for. I'm sure they've figured it out by now, they're probably not even using it."

"Okay ...," Jen said, not sure where Mike was going with this.

Mike lowered his voice even more. "I think I've figured out how to fix the Cloak, make it truly invisible. That's the deal. I'll give them a real Cloaking Device."

"But, then they could use it to spy on innocent people, right?" Jen asked.

Jen got it. She'd identified his moral dilemma. He said "When I was in jail, one of the guys – Allen, a scientist – he told me they'd been in the process of setting up a special court with oversight over Sapphire. To make it legal, like wiretaps."

"You believe him?"

Mike shrugged, as he didn't know. As if trying to convince himself as much as Jen, he said "A legal Cloak could really help protect the country."

"Yeah, but if they use it illegally ..."

"Yeah." If the government used it illegally, no one would have any privacy. It would be much worse than Sapphire.

They were both silent, thinking about the dilemma. After a few moments she asked "What do you want from the government?"

"Under the settlement I can't do anything in finance or the stock market," Mike said. "I want them to lift the restriction so I can invest in the stock market. Not as a job, just personally."

"That's all you want?" Jen said surprised. "You don't want the money back?'

"That's all I need," Mike said looking confident.

Jen gave him a long look. In his own quiet, modest way, Mike was the most confident man she'd ever met. The most capable, the most powerful. It was kinda a turn on. More than kinda.

But he had blind spots. He wasn't good at dealing with people. She imagined him making an off-the-cuff offer to the government. No, that wasn't how things were done. People were too unpredictable, and these government people were serious, dangerous men. Things had to be orchestrated, nuanced.

She needed time to think it through. If he did it wrong they might throw him in jail, torture him again until he told them how to fix the Cloaking Device. That possibility terrified her.

She took his hand and squeezed it. "Promise me you won't do anything without talking to me again," she said urgently. "Promise me."

"Okay, I promise," Mike said a little too fast and flippantly.

Jen frowned at Mike. In South Beach he'd promised not to hack into Sapphire, and he did anyway. [Writer's note: Consequences Part 11.] She tried to think of something that would seal Mike's promise, ensure he wouldn't break it. She thought of her daughter.

"On Anna's life Mike," Jen said looking into Mike's eyes. "Promise on Anna's life you won't do anything without talking to me first."

Mike was startled by Jen's seriousness. He looked solemnly into her eyes and said "Okay, I promise on Anna's life." This time his words sounded like an oath made with God.

It was good talking to her about this. He smiled and said "Thanks for hearing me out."

"Thanks for confiding in me," she said smiling back. She added with a laugh, "I think it's still your turn."

"Okay," Mike said with a laugh back. He thought of the manila envelope with the divorce papers inside. He asked, "So, are you gonna marry Clint?"

"He hasn't asked me," Jen said evasively.

"Come on," Mike prompted. He tapped Jen's half full glass. "This is truth serum."

Jen shrugged. "I'm thinking about it," she said honestly.

"What does that mean?" Mike said, laughing to hide his anxiety.

"It means what I said," Jen said getting annoyed. She shot back "What's your big JasMike announcement in 2 weeks?"

"How'd you know about that?" Mike asked surprised.

"God Mike really?" she said sarcastically. "A girl like Jasmine makes an announcement to announce they'll be no announcement until the official announcement. That's how she works, you haven't figured it out by now?"

"I get she's controlling her image," Mike said. Feeling like he owed it to Jasmine to defend her, he added "It's important, she wants to get into politics."

"Oh major alert, Jasmine's getting into politics, I never would have figured that one out," Jen said sarcastically, anger in her voice.

"I think she'll be good in politics," Mike said, continuing to defend Jasmine. "I bet you vote for her, her views are close to yours."

Jen laughed sarcastically. "Mike, believe me, I will never vote for Jasmine Kelly. Never ever." (But Jen was wrong. For the rest of her life, Jen voted for Jasmine whenever she ran for office. And so did Mike.)

Jen crossed her arms and glared at Mike. "Is that what the announcement's about? Jasmine's getting into politics? Or something else?"

"Jen ...." Mike started, feeling uncomfortable. "I can't say. I promised Jasmine."

Jen looked at Mike, feeling like he'd hit her. Never before had he picked another girl over her. Yet, by not answering her question, by remaining loyal to Jasmine, that was exactly what he'd done, picked Jasmine over her.

"Okay, whatever," she said with an unconcerned shrug, doing her best to hide her feelings. She got up. Keeping her voice level, she asked "Are you going with me to the tattoo parlor or what?"

His eyebrows rose. He was surprised she still wanted him to go. He thought about saying no. Not out of meanness, but what was the point?

But he sensed this might be the last time they ever spent time together, just the two of them. After tonight, their life together would really be over.

"Yeah, I'll go," he said getting up.

"Okay then," she said.

They rode in silence to the Voodoo Tattoo parlor, both of them staring at (but not seeing) the sparkling lights of Las Vegas. Both felt like things were ending.

The muscular black tattoo artist grinned as Jen walked in. Still distracted by emotions, Jen could only manage a weak smile and half-hearted hug hello.

"Mike, this is Davis," Jen said. "Davis this is Mike, he's my ... my husband." She glanced at Mike and he nodded. They were playing the same game as yesterday.

Davis nodded. So he was her husband? Last time she told him she was divorced. He inwardly shrugged. Maybe they got back together. After all she had a ring on her finger.

He sensed the uncomfortable tension between them. Something heavy was definitely going on and it wasn't "happily ever after." Whatever, it wasn't his business. He gave a friendly smile and said "Back for another tat?"

"I'm thinking about making my tattoo bigger, like we talked about?" Jen said.

"You got it," Davis said amiably. He dug through a pile of books and pulled out a stencil of a tattoo, like the one on her back but larger. "This one right?" he said.