Not really a TG story. And many thanks to Dee Sylvan for a key suggestion!

They’d been married for seven years now. The first six passed happily enough, but the next year found them arguing more and more. It seemed to him that it was always he that gave in, in order to keep the peace. But now it almost seemed as if she was picking arguments for the sake of arguing. It was wearing him down. When was the last time they really enjoyed each other’s company? Too long ago.

And now they were in the middle of yet another argument. She insisted things be done her way. The “or else” was implied. He didn’t really understand “or else what,” but he suddenly decided he didn’t care. No one wants to be threatened.

He stood silently, just staring at her for the longest time. His anger evaporated. He understood she was arguing because she either wanted him to bend to her will, or to go away. There was no point in saying anything further.

She stood there, arms crossed, angrily waiting for his next counter-argument.

To her surprise, she saw his shoulders relax, then he turned on his heel and walked away from her.

He loved her, but he didn’t believe in conditional love. “Do it my way or I won’t love you.” Nope. She was not willing to even talk about compromise, which must mean she didn’t want him anymore.

After she got over her initial surprise, she just decided he was being a difficult ass, and she left to go cool off at a friend’s house.

He heard her leave, and went to pack a suitcase. While he was busy packing he was trying to decide if a note was warranted. Well, what the heck. If the marriage didn’t work it didn’t work. Or maybe just time away from each other was the best solution right now.

So he did write the note.

“Dear Elaine,

As you know, the last year has not been the best of our marriage. I don’t know what is making you so angry, but I have had enough of taking the brunt of your ill temper. I have the sense that if you search your feelings you will discover I have done nothing to merit your wrath.
True love is unconditional, and I don’t believe I have been getting that from you. To keep the peace over the last year I have been letting you have your way, whether or not you see it that way. But when the threats start, well, I have had enough.
If nothing else we really need to spend time apart cooling off. At least we did have six good years.
If you decide to try things over again, do not call me for at least a week, maybe two. I think you need time to really assess yourself, find out why you are always so unhappy and angry. If you decide it’s me you think makes you unhappy, then I will gracefully bow out and sign any divorce papers.
I still love you, but I’m tired of being treated this way.

James”

He left the note where she would see it and left the house. He drove to a motel for the night. In his room he lay on the bed and tried to think what to do with himself.

Money was not the issue; they had enough, and the arguments were not about money. They were just about trivial things.

-o0o-

When Elaine returned home she was feeling better, having talked to her friend, Natalie, for a few hours. She was surprised to find the house dark. As soon as she turned on the light she found his note. She sat down to read it.

God! Was he really right about this? She did agree that the last year had not been fun, and she knew she was stressed. But to think she had taken out all her rage on James… well… she’d have to consider if that was true.

And divorce? Was he serious? She didn’t want to get divorced… did she? No, she loved him. Hadn’t even realized she was threatening him.

He was probably smart to suggest cooling off for a week or two, even though she would have preferred him at home.

Ugh. She’d really made a mess of things.

That night as she lay in bed alone she started crying. She had pushed James away, and she was starting to remember how many times he had given in. She resolved to find a social worker or therapist to talk to.

-o0o-

James was at the motel for two weeks, waiting to hear anything at all from her. He really felt at loose ends. By the third week, when he had received no communication from Elaine he had to assume she had decided she didn’t need him in her life anymore. It felt like a piece of his heart broke off and washed away. He was sad, but if she didn’t want him there, he would respect her decision.

The next day, during her work hours, he slipped into the house and gathered what personal things he wanted, looking around sadly at the accumulated possessions of their life together. He sighed heavily, locked the door and left.

The next step was to find himself somewhere to live. Suddenly he realized there was not one thing holding him to that city now. What would life be like in, say, California? Or Phoenix? New England? Well, there was no need to rush into this decision, so for now he took steps to find an apartment.

-o0o-

Elaine was having a difficult time. She had found a therapist and started talking to her. They tried very hard to get at the root of her unhappiness. Was it something James was doing? Was it something she had changed about herself?

She became so taken up with the therapy that between that and her job she let two weeks slide by without calling James; she just never even thought about it. So it was a big shock to come home one day and find a lot of his things gone. She rushed to the calendar to see how long it had been and was devastated to see the deadline had come and gone. He must have interpreted her silence as her answer. This was not how this was supposed to go!

She called his phone and it went straight to voicemail. She hung up, not having any idea what to say to him.

The next day she had another therapy session, and she told the therapist what had happened.

“Between my job and these sessions I’ve been so strung out that I completely forgot about calling James.”

“Do you think there’s meaning behind this forgetting?” asked the therapist.

“What… are you trying to say that subconsciously I don’t want him in my life anymore?”

“Well, do you?”

“I miss him, and I know it was misplaced anger I directed at him, but I never wanted him out of my life,” she said. “I did kind of hope this whole issue would be resolved before I called him and asked him to come home.”

“Elaine, sometimes therapy can take years. There’s not always a quick solution. The question is, can you live with him again and not fall back into the same pattern?”

“I really don’t know, because I still don’t really know what is or was making me unhappy.”

“Let me ask you this—you say the trouble started about a year ago. What changed in your life at that time?”

Elaine was silent for a few minutes while the therapist waited. Her mind wandered into different areas of her life, searching for something new from that time. Hmm. A new man was hired at her place of business about a year ago, and she did not get along well with him right from the beginning. He had a superior attitude towards women that grated on them all. He was good at his job, so there was never a chance of him being let go, and his speech never rose to the level of harassment. He picked on all the women, and there seemed to be no opportunity for them to let off steam.

“Of course!! That must be it” She turned to face the therapist. “There was this prick hired at work at that time. He treats all the women contemptuously, but not to the point where we could file a complaint. We’re all on edge around him, and there’s no way to get back at him, or get him fired. So I must have been taking out all that anger on poor James.”

“So if James were to come home today, what would change? The man, I assume, still works there?”

“Yes, he’s still there and still a pain. I like my job otherwise, so I wouldn’t be anxious to find somewhere else to work, but if it would save our marriage I think I would do it.”

“So now you have a plan. Contact James and arrange to talk with him.”

“I will!”

-o0o-

When Elaine called James, she again got his voicemail, but this time she left a message that she wanted to talk.

When James listened to her message he wondered what she wanted to say. By not getting in touch within the two weeks it seemed like what she wanted was pretty clear. She probably wanted to discuss the divorce.

He called back, but happened to call while she was on the line with her friend Natalie. So he left a voicemail message telling her she could talk to the divorce lawyer about whatever she wanted, that she didn’t need to talk directly to him for that.

“No! No! No!” she said, when she listened to his message. “This is getting too messed up!”

She called back and, of course, got his voicemail.

“James, I do not want a divorce! I love you and I have some things I would rather say to you face to face. Please call me back.”

Hopefully this message would be taken the right way.

Through an electronic quirk of fate this message never got to James’s phone.

When three days had gone by without a reply from him, Elaine didn’t know what to think. If she had known where he was she would have rushed there right away, but there was no way to tell where he might be. It was all very frustrating.

She called and left another message.

“James, please call me back! I do NOT want a divorce!”

-o0o-

The next day she got a call from a hospital.

“Elaine Blaine?”

“Yes, who is calling?”

“This is Kim at City Hospital. Mr. Blaine is a patient here and you are listed as the emergency contact.”

“Oh my god! Is he okay? What’s the matter?”

“Can you come in so a doctor can talk with you?”

“Of course. I’m coming now.”

At the hospital a doctor explained to her that James was found unconscious yesterday, and appeared to be in a hypoglycemic coma.

“Will he be okay?”

“Once we’re sure we have his meds adjusted correctly he should come out of the coma and be fine.”

“Can I see him?”

“Of course, let me take you to his room.”

The light in the room was not turned on, and it seemed kind of gray in there. There lay James, his head turned a bit to the side and a cannula in his nose. He looked tired and drawn.

“Oh James,” she said, tears coming to her eyes.

She pulled a chair over and sat by the bed, holding his hand.

“Please wake up, Honey. I still love you.”

As the day darkened Elaine put her head down on the bed, still holding his hand. At some point during the night she awoke to feel someone stroking her hair. She lifted her head.

“James? Are you awake, Honey?”

“I’m not sure, but I think I am,” he said. “Am I in the hospital?”

“Yes, you are. I was told you were found unconscious, in a hypoglycemic coma. I’m not sure how long you’ve been here.”

“Ugh. I hope this feeling doesn’t last too long. I’m very lightheaded.”

He took another look at her and what was going on in their lives started to come back to him. “Hey, what are you doing here anyway?”

“I’ve been trying to get in touch with you, to tell you I don’t want a divorce. I’m so sorry I didn’t call you within two weeks. I was seeing a therapist, trying to figure out why I was taking my anger out on you. I just got so wrapped up in that and work that I completely forgot about your deadline.”

“Oh. I’m sorry, Elaine. I thought that you not getting in touch was a clear message that we were through.”

Through her tears, she said, “No, Honey. It was just all the craziness happening at once. I kept getting your voicemail, and I really would have preferred to talk in person. Then I left a message which I don’t think you ever got. It was all just so messed up. I’m so sorry for the way I’ve been treating you.”

There was a pause.

“Well, did the therapy help?”

“Yes. I think I figured things out. A year ago that huge jerk, Daniel, was hired, you know, the one I always complain about. I figure it must have been misplaced anger that he deserved, but that you bore the brunt of. I’m so sorry.”

He reached out a finger and wiped some of her tears away.

“I’m glad to know. I really didn’t think it was anything I had done.”

“No James, you’ve been a saint. How do you feel?”

“Not wonderful physically, but emotionally I think I feel pretty good.”

She smiled. “Me too! Oh. I told the therapist that I’d be willing to quit my job to get away from that creep. My marriage is worth far more to me than the job. I just don’t want to fall back into the same pattern with you.”

“I wonder if your therapist could think of same way to for you to deal with somebody like him. He must be one unhappy puppy to treat women so poorly.”

A thought occurred to him. “I’ll bet he doesn’t have any love in his life. I think his actions are kind of textbook for someone like that. Kind of like bullying behavior at school. Too bad it’s not as simple as setting him up on a date! I know you enjoy your job… other than him, that is.”

Her mind automatically starting going through a mental Rolodex of available women, but then she stopped. It wasn’t her job to set him up on a date. No one would thank her for being set up with a guy who looked down on women the way he did.

-o0o-

James was released the next day and moved himself back home. Elaine went back to work, but she was constantly thinking of solutions of how to handle Daniel. When one of her co-workers asked some of the women if they were interested in going to see a drag show, it sparked an idea in her head.

When the women were on their way to the show, Elaine explained her plan. There was a general agreement with it, and a lot of giggling.

-o0o-

At the drag show they noticed many men there dressed as women who were not in the show, and it wasn’t too long before they narrowed the choices down to two they considered might be good candidates for what Elaine had in mind. They both looked strong, but didn’t have ultra-manly features under all that makeup. They invited each to sit with them and explained the plan, and that they were willing to pay him for his services. The first wanted nothing to do with it, but the other, who went by the name Lesley, was interested. His sister had been mistreated at work, and this plan of Elaine’s appealed to his sense of justice.

“We’d like to know if you have a really strong grip,” Claudia asked.

“If you mean a strong handshake, I think I can fill the bill,” grinned Lesley. “I work out and though it may not look like it, I can curl a one-hundred-forty pound barbell. I dress so that my muscles aren’t emphasized. Does this guy look like he works out?”

The women all laughed.

“He’s not someone who looks as if he has ever even seen the inside of a gym,” said Elaine.

“I saw him really struggle once lifting a box of just five reams of paper” said Cathy, another co-worker.

“Sounds good. Before you ask, I do have a non-drag look where I am very passable. I think this is going to be fun, and I’m not going to ask you for any remuneration, other than you all treating me to the lunch we’ll have.”

The ladies were pretty excited about this, and the thought of Daniel being taken down a peg or three was very enticing.

-o0o-

Lunch was arranged for two days from now. Daniel always went to the same restaurant for lunch, and was no more polite there than at the office. He even treated the waitresses pretty shabbily.

The drag queen, Lesley Brown, met them at the restaurant, and arranged to sit at the open end of the booth. He looked pretty darned good, they all thought. They had all ordered when Daniel walked in. Elaine had a mini digital recorder in her hand and was going to record the whole encounter.

Claudia, one of the ladies at the table, waved at him. “Yoo hoo, Daniel! We’d like you to meet a friend of ours. This is Lesley Brown.”

Daniel came over but didn’t put out his hand. Lesley grabbed it anyway.

“How nice to meet you, Daniel,” she purred.

“Hey lady, did you look in the mirror before you left home today?” he said, with a laugh. “Oh, that’s right, looks aren’t as important as position, especially judging by the rest of you. Heh heh.”

Lesley hadn’t let go of his hand, and he started to try and pull it away. At that point Lesley started applying pressure, and Daniel’s eyes widened.

“That’s some grip you got there. Are you the strongman in a circus?”

The grip suddenly became bone crushing, and Daniel realized this person was quite capable of breaking the bones in his hand.

“You know, Mr. Smart Ass, that wasn’t very a polite way to treat a stranger or your co-workers. Maybe you should show a little more respect.”

“Hey, let go of my hand!”

“No, I don’t think so. I believe you owe everyone here an apology for your foul manners. Do you think you’re treating us as you would wish to be treated?”

“Oww! You bunch of bitches don’t deserve my respect, here or at work. Leggo!!”

Lesley applied even more pressure.

“What about that apology?”

“Dammit! …I apologize!”

“And you will treat women with more respect.”

There was a bit of silence until Daniel got the message that he was supposed to repeat that too. He really didn’t want to say it, but his hand was now in agony.

“Goddammit! Okay! I will treat women with respect!!”

Lesley relaxed the pressure but didn’t let go.

“I would advise you against getting complacent with your new attitude, because I will ask these ladies to report to me if there’s any backsliding.”

Daniel’s eyes flashed fire, but he grudgingly nodded. Lesley released him, and he practically ran for the men’s room to run cold water on his hand.

Elaine and her companions high-fived each other and thanked Lesley profusely.

“That felt so good, to finally have someone put him in his place!”

“I have to admit I enjoyed it myself,” said Lesley, chuckling. “And really, keep me informed if he goes back to his old attitude. I’d love to shake his hand again!”

-o0o-

Elaine felt like a load had been taken off her after that. She went to the big boss with Claudia and played the recording for him, and explained that all the women there had been treated very poorly by Daniel since he was hired, and that it created a bad atmosphere.

“I like my job here, but I was considering quitting because of him. He would do things that were just within the parameters of the sexual harassment guidelines, so we were unable to report him.”

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Elaine and Claudia. I may ask others how they felt about him. That is not the kind of behavior we like to see in this company, and we would hate to lose you over something like this.”

-o0o-

Elaine reported all that had occurred to James, and their relationship resumed its happier Pre-Daniel status.

After two months Daniel seemed to be forgetting about the encounter in the restaurant, and his snarky attitude was slowly returning. Claudia had expected this, and she had taken a photo of Lesley and printed it. The next time he came close to her cubicle, she waved the photo in front of his nose. His behavior improved, but not for long.

It wasn’t much later that Daniel found himself fired. Since he couldn’t use all the women as a target, he had picked other targets, and it happened that one of them was related to the big boss. The women invited Lesley for lunch and they celebrated being Daniel-free at work. Lesley arrived at the restaurant as Lex, a pretty good-looking man, and Elaine’s co-worker, Cathy, found herself very attracted to him. But that’s a whole different story.

The End.

(And it’s not a story I intend to write!)