Erasing Julie Ch. 01

Chapter 1; The Beginning

Monday, March 8^th.

Gus lurched into the warm-up hut and stamped his feet. He was used to the cold, but thirty-three below zero combined with a twenty mile per hour wind was a brutal environment. He took off his gloves and his arctic parka in an effort to thaw out. In another ten minutes the rest of his crew should be in position.

He had started his seven week shift on the previous Saturday and immediately afterwards a Siberian Arctic front had moved over the Alaskan North Slope causing the temperatures to plummet. That morning, the pressure reading in one of the fifteen-inch re-injection lines had started to rise, possibly indicating a freeze-up, and Gus and his crew had been sent to investigate. 'I guess that's why they pay me the big bucks', he mused.

Waiting for the rest of his crew to arrive, Gus sat on the wooden bench in the warm-up hut and as he often did, thought about his work and life in general.

The last fifteen years had been hard; a work schedule of seven weeks on and three weeks off had been grueling, but the money was good. Unlike most couples, who spent their money as they made it, Gus and his wife, Julie, had saved and invested their money and now, at forty-six and forty-five respectively, they had paid off the mortgage on their house in Eagle River, put their daughter through college, were paying for their son, a sophomore at UAA in Anchorage, to complete his degree and had been able to purchase a retirement home in Sun City, Arizona.

They had a plan. Just six more years on the North Slope and they could retire. He would be fifty-two and Julie, fifty-one, which, for this day and age, when most people had to work well into their sixties before retiring, was not bad.

The seven weeks on, three weeks off schedule was tough on marriages. Almost three-quarters of the men who worked with Gus were divorced, but he had Julie; his love, his life and his rock. They were as much in love today as they were twenty-four years ago when they had married. They were an anomaly; a fifties' couple in a twenty-first century world; he made the money, which provided them with a good life, and she took care of the home. They were a great partnership and he trusted her completely. Their twenty-fifth anniversary was two months away and he wanted to do something special; something which told her and the world how much he loved her, but hadn't been able to decide on anything specific.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of approaching heavy equipment and although he would rather have remained in the hut, it was time to leave. He stood up reluctantly, put on his coat and gloves and walked out into the frigid darkness. He had taken only three steps when he heard a noise directly behind him, but before he could turn to determine the source of the noise, everything went black.

Tuesday, March 9^th.

Julie was aglow with excitement as she settled into the leather of her first class seat on the seven o'clock flight to Seattle. Her lover, Greg Peterson, was meeting all her expenses for this trip, just as he had for the other six trips she had made over the past two years. She was looking forward to five glorious weeks in beautiful Seattle, away from all the snow and winter weather in Anchorage. There were concerts, plays, art galleries and restaurants all waiting for her, but what she was most looking forward to was seeing Greg Peterson.

Greg and she had met in college, where he had been her first lover, but after a year of living together, she had realized he was and always would be, a player, always on the look-out for the next woman to take to bed. She had broken up with him and had started to date Gus on the rebound. Gus was the antithesis of Greg; whereas Greg was capricious and unfaithful, the terms steady and true described Gus. He was a great husband and father and despite having a lover, Julie looked forward to growing old with him. She was very fond of Gus and she knew he adored her; but he was just not very exciting in bed. Now she had it all; a great husband and a fantastic lover. If she ever had pangs of conscience, she rationalized her unfaithfulness by telling herself, after twenty-four years of marriage, she deserved some play time, some excitement.

She told her friends and children she was traveling to Seattle to take accounting refresher classes so she could take a part-time job as an accountant when Gus retired. She had taken a bachelor's degree in accounting at college, but had never worked after she graduated. She took the 'classes' only when Gus was on the North Slope and to date, she had managed to keep her trips to Seattle a secret by enrolling the assistance of her children after convincing them she wanted to keep it from their father in order to surprise him. To further embellish her story, she told her friends and children she was staying with an old college friend to save money and to keep it a secret from her husband. She smiled to herself at her own deviousness; she was having an affair right out in the open and no one knew!

The Alaska Airlines flight attendant brought her a glass of wine, while the other passengers boarded. Yes, she thought, as she sipped the wine, this was going to be another memorable trip to Seattle.

Wednesday, March 10^th.

"The tests came back negative, Mr. Randall," the doctor told Gus. "It's just a mild concussion and you are cleared to be discharged from the hospital today."

"And the arm?"

"You have a hairline fracture in your left humerus. A cast is not necessary, but you must keep your arm in a sling for three weeks. Take it easy and rest - and no driving, either. Come back and see me for another x-ray, in three weeks."

"What about work?"

"Three weeks mandatory leave, with another three weeks of light duty only. Depending on your recovery rate, I might extend it for another two weeks," the doctor replied.

"Is there anything else?"

"In the future, you might want to keep your crew from running into you with heavy equipment," the doctor replied with a smile. "And your son is here to see you."

Gus nodded.

"I'll send him in now," the doctor said as he left the room.

As he waited for Josh, Gus wondered whether his son would be able tell him why his mother hadn't responded to the messages he'd left on the home phone.

"Hey, dad!" Josh cried, as he approached his father's hospital bed. "How are you?"

"It's just a mild concussion and a broken arm, son; nothing too serious, but I will be out of commission for a month or so. Where's your mom? I left three or four phone messages for her at home."

Josh paused; it was a difficult question and he didn't want to break his mother's confidence, but given the circumstances he had no option.

"Well, I guess I'd better spill the beans," Josh replied, as he moved a chair next to the bed and sat down.

"I'm listening."

"When I graduated from high school about two years ago, mom said she wanted something to keep her busy. She decided she wanted to update her accounting skills and found a series of five week classes at the University of Washington in Seattle which would prepare her to be a certified public accountant. She wanted to surprise you, so she asked Bess and me to keep it a secret. She's been down to Seattle five or six times while you were on the Slope. I keep an eye on the house for her while she's away."

"I've never seen any expenses or charges for these trips."

"She said she got a grant for the school work...... elder student aid or something like that. It also included transportation."

"Where does she stay? On campus?"

"No," Josh replied. "She stays with an old college friend; Greg Paxton or Peters or something like that. She said she ran into him here in Anchorage, about two years ago and he agreed to help her."

Greg Peterson was her first college lover, Gus recalled. An ominous feeling came over him and his stomach began to knot. In almost twenty-five years of married life he'd never had reason to doubt Julie and chances were, even though the re-appearance of Greg Peterson was suspicious, it was probably innocent, but then again, it might not be.

"Dad?"

"Sorry, son, I was lost in thought. Can you take me home? The doctor said it was okay to be released."

"Sure, dad. Do you want me to contact mom and let her know about your accident?"

"Can you call her?"

"No. She left me her iPhone, but I can e-mail her."

"Well, your mom and I talk by e-mail every week while I'm on the Slope. Let's keep her classes a secret, okay. I don't want to disturb her studies unnecessarily. Let's pretend you didn't tell me about her trips and I'll send her an e-mail from home, pretending to be on the Slope."

"Thanks, dad," Josh said with a smile.

On their way home, Gus went over what he had learned. It might be innocent, but he knew Greg Peterson and his reputation with women. Once I get home, I need to check on the classes and a certain Mr. Greg Peterson.

Thursday, March 11^th.

Julie opened one eye and looked at the clock on the bed-side table; it was ten o'clock in the morning and the sunlight was flooding in through the bedroom window.

She lounged in the bed next to her lover and went over in her mind the happenings of the previous evening. It had started with front row seats at a concert, followed by a wonderful seafood dinner in one of Seattle's best restaurants, then home for two hours of intense lovemaking. Greg was fantastic, a complete contrast, both in and out of bed, to her husband.

It was in bed where the contrast was most marked. Sex with Gus had never been really exciting; he made all the right moves and was reasonably attentive in his foreplay. He tried to wait for her to reach her climax and hugged and kissed her after they had cum, but it was just too programmed, just too predictable. Greg was different and whereas Gus only ever made love to her at night, or occasionally, first thing in the morning and always in bed, Greg took her wherever and whenever the mood struck him. But the most exciting part of their lovemaking was how he made use of all her orifices, including, what had been, her virginal ass.

The previous night they had made love beside the pool. As soon as they had closed the front door following their return from the restaurant, he had grabbed her and ordered her to take off her clothes. She had complied readily; she loved being dominated by him, loved being made to do things she would never have contemplated doing with or being asked to do by Gus.

"Outside," he commanded.

She walked outside and with the exception of her high-heels, completely naked, her ass swaying provocatively from side-to-side. It was a great ass and Greg coveted it.

"Great ass."

"Why, thank you, kind sir."

Outside was outside in name only. The pool was split into two sections; one of which was truly outside and the other, housed in a glass-sided solarium. Within the solarium it was warm, at least seventy-five degrees and a contrast to the thirty-nine degrees of the outside air.

"On your knees."

She knelt and waited as he took of his pants, exposing his erect cock. His cock was much thicker and longer than Gus's and when she was being fucked by Greg, it provided her with a feeling of total fulfillment, a feeling she had never had from her husband.

"Suck it."

She sucked. Sometimes she played with him, sucking his balls and rimming his ass, even fucking his ass with her tongue, but this time she sucked. He wanted to cum; she could sense his urgency and like an experienced courtesan, she knew what her lover wanted and he wasn't in the mood to play. He grabbed her head and started to fuck her face, pushing his cock deep into her throat and urging her to 'suck it baby, suck it'. He came seconds later; his cum spurting out and filling her mouth. She continued to suck, smiling to herself as his thigh muscles shivered under her continued ministrations.

They fucked twice, the second time her took her in her 'great ass' as she knelt on the springboard, her ass in the air, her puckered hole an inviting target for his rampant cock. When they had finished, he ordered her to stay on her knees and watched as his cum slipped, creamily and lazily, from her ass and out onto her thighs.

Recalling the night before excited her and her cunt was becoming wet and her nipples erect. Greg was asleep and she thought about playing with herself, but opted for the alternative; creeping down under the sheets and taking him in her mouth.

Friday, March 12^th.

Gus was sitting at his wife's computer, trying to break her password, when the telephone rang. He answered and was greeted by the voice of Charlie Persons.

The previous Wednesday, he had gone online using his home computer and researched classes at the University of Washington. When he was unable to find any five week accounting classes, he had immediately contacted Charlie Persons, an old friend who worked for a private investigator in Anchorage.

"I'm sorry to have to tell you this, Gus, but your suspicions were correct."

"Go on," Gus replied, his voice choking and his stomach tightening.

"I had our Seattle office do a little checking for me. Greg Peterson is independently wealthy and lives in the Lake Washington area of Seattle, where he owns a home. He made millions in accounting software and managed to cash out of the market before the tech stock crash of a few years ago. Reliable sources say he has a number of lovers, one of whom lives in Alaska and who usually stays for five weeks. We believe this person to be your wife."

He had expected the news, but when it came, found it difficult to accept.

"Charlie I can't believe it. I trusted that woman and this is what she does to me."

"How do you want us to proceed, Gus?"

"I want pictures, recordings, anything I can take to court if I need to," he replied, angrily.

"It won't be cheap, my friend. I'll need ten grand to start and it will probably be another ten before we finish."

"I've got the money, Charlie. Just do it."

"Okay, Gus. I'll have an initial report to you in about a week."

After giving Charlie his credit card number, saying goodbye and hanging up the phone, he shut down the computer and went to sit in the living room.

It was dusk and from his front window he could just make out the individual trees in the surrounding forest. His arm ached and he found it difficult to concentrate. For some perverse reason, when he had first suspected her unfaithfulness he had welcomed the pain and except at night, had stopped taking his pain medication. It was as if there was comfort in the correspondence between the physical and emotional pain. Now his suspicions had been confirmed, his mood had changed and he was finding the ache in his arm difficult to ignore.

He'd loved and trusted his wife and she'd betrayed him. Twenty-four years of marriage had gone in a flash. Over! Just like that. A part of him wanted to know why, but mostly he didn't really care. He just wanted her out of his life forever. Her betrayal was beyond understanding and certainly, beyond forgiveness.

He sat in the rapidly darkening room for an hour; trying to rationalize her betrayal, but without success. Realizing there was nothing further to be gained from sitting in the dark and brooding, he returned to his task of trying to break the password to Julie's e-mail account. She had changed it without telling him and he wanted to know what she was hiding. Furthermore, it gave him something to do

Saturday, March 13^th.

Julie looked out the window as the limousine crossed the Columbia River into Oregon. She and Greg were on their way to a film festival in Portland for five days of films, marvelous restaurants, chatting with film makers and fucking. This was what she wanted; a sybaritic lifestyle featuring entertainment, good food and wine and great sex and not the boredom of a suburban existence in Eagle River, Alaska.

She looked over at Greg, who was talking quietly on his cell phone. She knew he had other lovers, but they had an agreement he would forgo his other lovers, while she was living with him during her five weeks of 'classes' in Seattle. As far as she knew, he had kept his side of the bargain, but she knew he wouldn't have a problem breaking it if the opportunity arose.

Gus would never have a lover and wouldn't even know how to find one, she mused. He was boring, but faithful. In her mind, she imagined combining the two men into one; a lover-husband with the libido and sexual athleticism of Greg and the faithfulness and support of Gus. She smiled to herself; maybe someday, maybe someday.

Sunday, March 14^th.

Gus gathered up the over two hundred e-mails he had printed; they'd taken him four hours and he'd had to replace the ink cartridge on the printer twice. As a back-up, he'd made electronic copies on a flash drive.

Julie's e-mail password had been fairly simple to crack; just her maiden name and the year she was born. Once in her account, he'd found a separate folder entitled 'Greg' which contained two hundred and thirty-seven archived e-mails, covering a two year period. If the number of e-mails was surprising, it was their content which was staggering. It documented the six other trips to visit her lover in Seattle and it detailed the 'accounting class' cover story she had told to their kids and to their friends.

Over and over again she had written describing Gus as inadequate, boring and unsatisfying as a lover, while repeatedly praising Greg's skills in bed and more harmfully, comparing favorably his cock with the 'weenie', as she described it, of her husband. She lamented leaving Greg for Gus and in a couple of the messages, had even admitted she wished she had married Greg instead of Gus.

When he first began reading, he was shocked, as he continued he was outraged, but by the time he had finished he was just numb. The deep disrespect she demonstrated in the e-mails shook him to his core. That she had disparaged him to an outsider was bad enough, that she had done it to a lover, was outrageous. He'd loved and cherished her for almost twenty-five years and all she had to say about him was how inadequate his cock was and how poor he was in bed. If there was a silver lining, it was he now knew what she thought of him and it was better to find out sooner rather than later. At forty-six; he still had time to build another life for himself.

Divorce was a given, but he needed to do more than just no longer be married to her. He needed to eliminate or erase her from every aspect of his past, present and future. 'Erase'. He liked the word. Julie would be erased from his life.

He began writing notes on a note-pad. He would call a divorce attorney on Monday as the first step in his 'Erase Julie'; a plan that had to be foolproof. He would let his attorney guide him through the process to ensure he stayed within the law and did not end up in jail, but he would set the agenda. The more than four weeks before Julie returned, would provide enough time to gather all the evidence he needed.

Monday, March 15^th.

The latest offering from the twenty-six year old director/producer, Lisa Malcolm, had just finished its first showing and the lobby of Portland's Hollywood Theater was packed with the city's glitterati. Greg had invested in about a dozen independent films over the past few years, most of which had been profitable, and as an investor with deep pockets who was always looking for new film ideas, he was always welcome at film festivals; the Portland festival was no exception. .

Standing in the crowd and drinking champagne, they made a handsome couple; Greg in the obligatory tuxedo and Julie immaculately coiffed and made-up, wearing four inch Prada heels and a stunning black dress, which had cost Greg over two thousand dollars when he had bought it that morning. She looked good and she knew it; a far cry from the almost dowdy image she projected in Eagle Ridge.