Chapter 15: Breakfast
When Ina entered the kitchen Peter was sitting at the table, a cup of coffee in front of him.
He looked like hell.
His eyes were bloodshot, with bags big enough to carry groceries.
Peter. Pete. He thought he was so smart. That he was pulling a quick one on her.
Think again, she thought. He was up to something. Probably another woman.
How typical.
"Morning sweetie." Peter looked up from his coffee.
"Morning." She walked to the coffee pot.
Chapter 16: Alone With Ones Thoughts...
Ina sat in the now empty kitchen. The exchange between her and her husband had been brief.
No different then usual.
She had to wonder if he was thinking about the same things she had been.
She sipped her cooling coffee, hardly noticing the bitter taste. Her mind was elsewhere.
She had an idea, a theory to prove, but she needed a plan. She needed to ensure that if what she was about to do ever came to light she was protected. This was the suburbs. People are always watching. Forget the NSA, her neighbors were worse.
Still, she knew that there was no turning back. Not now. Not after Jack.
6/26/13
Suburbia 1.13 and 1.14
Chapter 13: A Hint of Guilt?
Ina had surveyed the block, her mind made up. She had her first target.
This was all just an experiment, she told herself. A simple, social experiment. When thinking about it that way it didn't seem so bad. It wasn't cheating, it was science. It wasn't home wrecking, it was sociology.
As she was turning into her driveway she saw the door to Jack's house open. Linda stepped out.
Linda, in her house coat and slippers, waddled down the driveway towards the morning paper.
What struck Ina at that moment wasn't what Linda was wearing though, it was what she was missing.
Her usual self-righteous scowl.
There, in the hazy morning sunlight, with one hand clutching her house coat closed, Linda looked like a sad woman, aged beyond her actual years.
Chapter 14: A Bit of Linda
Linda hurried back in side, the shock of the morning cold making her skin pucker with gooseflesh.
Jack was still upstairs, asleep.
He had been drunk last night. Jack! Drunk! Of all people.
He had tried to... He had tried to...
Linda couldn't even bring herself to think the word. Why should she? She had failed at it. She was childless. Her body was a waste land where nothing could grow.
All her life all she had wanted was a child, and when her and Jack had married she thought that she would finally get her wish. Then, well... Linda had never really been one to get her prayers and wishes answered.
A tear started to fall from the corner of her eye.
She shook her head, clutching her house coat a little tighter. It was best not to think of such things.
Ina had surveyed the block, her mind made up. She had her first target.
This was all just an experiment, she told herself. A simple, social experiment. When thinking about it that way it didn't seem so bad. It wasn't cheating, it was science. It wasn't home wrecking, it was sociology.
As she was turning into her driveway she saw the door to Jack's house open. Linda stepped out.
Linda, in her house coat and slippers, waddled down the driveway towards the morning paper.
What struck Ina at that moment wasn't what Linda was wearing though, it was what she was missing.
Her usual self-righteous scowl.
There, in the hazy morning sunlight, with one hand clutching her house coat closed, Linda looked like a sad woman, aged beyond her actual years.
Chapter 14: A Bit of Linda
Linda hurried back in side, the shock of the morning cold making her skin pucker with gooseflesh.
Jack was still upstairs, asleep.
He had been drunk last night. Jack! Drunk! Of all people.
He had tried to... He had tried to...
Linda couldn't even bring herself to think the word. Why should she? She had failed at it. She was childless. Her body was a waste land where nothing could grow.
All her life all she had wanted was a child, and when her and Jack had married she thought that she would finally get her wish. Then, well... Linda had never really been one to get her prayers and wishes answered.
A tear started to fall from the corner of her eye.
She shook her head, clutching her house coat a little tighter. It was best not to think of such things.
Suburbia 1.11 and 1.12
Chapter 11: Peter's Hangover
Peter sat up in bed, his eyes barely glancing over the pictures on the walls, or the books stacked on his nightstand. No, his only goal was the bathroom.
He had come home drunk the night before. Ina hadn't noticed. She never did, and he was grateful for her total lack of interest in his life.
Then she might have figured out something was up.
Peter stumbled out of bed, and towards the bathroom, giving his backside a healthy scratch as he did.
As he stumbled towards the toilet and flipped the seat up his mind began to replay the memories from the night before.
Memories a part of him (a big part) didn't want to forget.
Chapter 12: Peter's Wild Night
As Peter relieved himself he leaned forward, resting his head on the cool tile wall of the bathroom. His skull felt like it was going to split open, but it was worth it.
Harvey had asked him out for drinks after work. Nothing new there. Same bar, same order, same everything.
The only thing that was different was Harvey.
It had started with his hand on Peter's knee, followed by a few drunken, half serious comments about them hooking up.
(Harvey had said "As a joke, you know?)
It had ended in the back of Harvey's BMW.
Some joke, thought Peter.
He finished off with a shake and a smirk, then headed to the shower. He suddenly didn't mind going to work today.
Peter sat up in bed, his eyes barely glancing over the pictures on the walls, or the books stacked on his nightstand. No, his only goal was the bathroom.
He had come home drunk the night before. Ina hadn't noticed. She never did, and he was grateful for her total lack of interest in his life.
Then she might have figured out something was up.
Peter stumbled out of bed, and towards the bathroom, giving his backside a healthy scratch as he did.
As he stumbled towards the toilet and flipped the seat up his mind began to replay the memories from the night before.
Memories a part of him (a big part) didn't want to forget.
Chapter 12: Peter's Wild Night
As Peter relieved himself he leaned forward, resting his head on the cool tile wall of the bathroom. His skull felt like it was going to split open, but it was worth it.
Harvey had asked him out for drinks after work. Nothing new there. Same bar, same order, same everything.
The only thing that was different was Harvey.
It had started with his hand on Peter's knee, followed by a few drunken, half serious comments about them hooking up.
(Harvey had said "As a joke, you know?)
It had ended in the back of Harvey's BMW.
Some joke, thought Peter.
He finished off with a shake and a smirk, then headed to the shower. He suddenly didn't mind going to work today.
Suburbia 1.9 and 1.10
Chapter 9: Walk
Ina had gotten up early, showered, dressed, and had her coffee in a travel mug before her husband had even woken up. She had plans today.
She headed out the door, her step energetic and her pace brisk. This was exactly what she wanted. A chance to survey her potential hunting grounds without anyone else watching.
Well, except for the occasional jogger, but they were so lost in the zone (whatever that was) that they barely noticed her.
As she walked, she examined, taking in each and every house, trying to remember each and every family who lived inside. Of course she knew Jack's house, but the others...
Her neighbors were no longer potential friends. No, to Ina, they had just become potential subjects in her experiment.
Chapter 10: Prowl
The first house she really paid attention to was at the edge of the block.
The Newlyweds. Mark and Diane. Both in their mid-twenties, and so blissfully happy it could make you sick. Mark had money, and Diane had a good job at an advertising agency downtown. Neither had dealt with debt, or any type of struggle really. They had probably grown up in a neighborhood just like this one. Safe and sound and wealthy.
They didn't have kids yet. That was key. Ina was willing to do a lot of things, but the last thing she wanted to do was ruin some poor kid's life.
No. She would only focus on couples with no kids.
Mark and Diane had just shot to the top of her list.
Ina had gotten up early, showered, dressed, and had her coffee in a travel mug before her husband had even woken up. She had plans today.
She headed out the door, her step energetic and her pace brisk. This was exactly what she wanted. A chance to survey her potential hunting grounds without anyone else watching.
Well, except for the occasional jogger, but they were so lost in the zone (whatever that was) that they barely noticed her.
As she walked, she examined, taking in each and every house, trying to remember each and every family who lived inside. Of course she knew Jack's house, but the others...
Her neighbors were no longer potential friends. No, to Ina, they had just become potential subjects in her experiment.
Chapter 10: Prowl
The first house she really paid attention to was at the edge of the block.
The Newlyweds. Mark and Diane. Both in their mid-twenties, and so blissfully happy it could make you sick. Mark had money, and Diane had a good job at an advertising agency downtown. Neither had dealt with debt, or any type of struggle really. They had probably grown up in a neighborhood just like this one. Safe and sound and wealthy.
They didn't have kids yet. That was key. Ina was willing to do a lot of things, but the last thing she wanted to do was ruin some poor kid's life.
No. She would only focus on couples with no kids.
Mark and Diane had just shot to the top of her list.
Suburbia 1.5-1.8
Chapter 5: That Night...
Ina lay awake in bed, her husband snoring softly next to her. She couldn't sleep. How could she? She had done something today that she never thought she was capable off.
Jack hadn't really resisted her. Well, he did a little at first. Even acted shocked that she would try something so forward. In the end, though, he had given in.
The actual act was rushed and frenzied, like two teenagers in the back of a car up on some lovers' lane, and Jack had all the skill and style of a jack hammer.
The carnal act wasn't the thrill. The thrill was the conquest. Jack and his shrew of a wife had always seemed so perfectly matched. Linda the Shrew and Jack the Loyal Lap Dog.
Ha, she thought. Not that loyal. Not anymore at least. Not after she had gotten to him.
As Ina finally started to drift off to sleep, a plan began to form in her mind.
Chapter 6: Jack's Night
Jack sat in front of his TV, his eyes focused on the images flickering on the screen, but his mind was elsewhere. He still couldn't wrap his head around what had happened earlier that day. He still couldn't believe he had allowed himself to...
He pushed the thoughts from his mind. He couldn't stand to remember what he had done. Linda had noticed that something was wrong. She didn't say anything. Well, she never says anything, but he knows that look. The look that feels like it is reaching right into your soul. As if her eyes had the power of God himself to see your every sin.
They hadn't talked much through dinner, but that wasn't anything different. Linda wasn't much for idle chit chat. Neither was Jack for that matter. Not usually. Still, a tension seemed to hang in the air between them.
Jack turned off the TV and sat in his living room, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Chapter 7: Jack's Night Part 2
Why had he done it? Why had he given in to temptation? He and Linda had never really been much of a couple when it came to the bedroom.
When they had first gotten married he and Linda had had a pretty normal sex life. Warm even. Caring. Then one day it just stopped.
"We should remain pure," she would say every time he had tried to make an advance. "It is a sin if not in the commission of creating a child."
He would always argue that they were married, and that there was no sin in them showing physical affection, but she would just turn away.
Chapter 8: Jack's Night Cap
It had been... what? Years since they had last slept together. Then today, out of nowhere, Ida showed up. The way she looked at him, the way she talked to him. She had wanted him. Not as a friend, or a companion. She had wanted him as a man, and that had meant something to him.
When she had made the first move, he had been powerless to his sudden want to feel physical contact with another human being.
Jack could feel the pain in his stomach growing, the knot tightening as he recalled the events from that afternoon.
He needed something to help him calm down. He needed to forget that it had ever happened.
Jack got up and headed towards the ice box. His wife had always hidden a bottle of vodka in there. He had never touched the stuff, not since he was a teenager at least, but he knew Linda, in all her righteous glory, snuck a few nips here and there.
He poured himself a glass, and felt the chilled, bitter liquid rush down his throat.
Why did I ever stop drinking? He thought to himself as he poured a double.
Ina lay awake in bed, her husband snoring softly next to her. She couldn't sleep. How could she? She had done something today that she never thought she was capable off.
Jack hadn't really resisted her. Well, he did a little at first. Even acted shocked that she would try something so forward. In the end, though, he had given in.
The actual act was rushed and frenzied, like two teenagers in the back of a car up on some lovers' lane, and Jack had all the skill and style of a jack hammer.
The carnal act wasn't the thrill. The thrill was the conquest. Jack and his shrew of a wife had always seemed so perfectly matched. Linda the Shrew and Jack the Loyal Lap Dog.
Ha, she thought. Not that loyal. Not anymore at least. Not after she had gotten to him.
As Ina finally started to drift off to sleep, a plan began to form in her mind.
Chapter 6: Jack's Night
Jack sat in front of his TV, his eyes focused on the images flickering on the screen, but his mind was elsewhere. He still couldn't wrap his head around what had happened earlier that day. He still couldn't believe he had allowed himself to...
He pushed the thoughts from his mind. He couldn't stand to remember what he had done. Linda had noticed that something was wrong. She didn't say anything. Well, she never says anything, but he knows that look. The look that feels like it is reaching right into your soul. As if her eyes had the power of God himself to see your every sin.
They hadn't talked much through dinner, but that wasn't anything different. Linda wasn't much for idle chit chat. Neither was Jack for that matter. Not usually. Still, a tension seemed to hang in the air between them.
Jack turned off the TV and sat in his living room, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
Chapter 7: Jack's Night Part 2
Why had he done it? Why had he given in to temptation? He and Linda had never really been much of a couple when it came to the bedroom.
When they had first gotten married he and Linda had had a pretty normal sex life. Warm even. Caring. Then one day it just stopped.
"We should remain pure," she would say every time he had tried to make an advance. "It is a sin if not in the commission of creating a child."
He would always argue that they were married, and that there was no sin in them showing physical affection, but she would just turn away.
Chapter 8: Jack's Night Cap
It had been... what? Years since they had last slept together. Then today, out of nowhere, Ida showed up. The way she looked at him, the way she talked to him. She had wanted him. Not as a friend, or a companion. She had wanted him as a man, and that had meant something to him.
When she had made the first move, he had been powerless to his sudden want to feel physical contact with another human being.
Jack could feel the pain in his stomach growing, the knot tightening as he recalled the events from that afternoon.
He needed something to help him calm down. He needed to forget that it had ever happened.
Jack got up and headed towards the ice box. His wife had always hidden a bottle of vodka in there. He had never touched the stuff, not since he was a teenager at least, but he knew Linda, in all her righteous glory, snuck a few nips here and there.
He poured himself a glass, and felt the chilled, bitter liquid rush down his throat.
Why did I ever stop drinking? He thought to himself as he poured a double.
Surubia 1.3 and 1.4
Chapter 3: Thoughts Turn to Actions
As Ina watched out her window, thinking about her marriage (if you could even call it that) she saw the front door to a house across the street (and one house down) open.
Jack O'Day stepped out onto his front stoop. He was the exact opposite of her husband. Bright, curly red hair surrounded a round, friendly face that sat atop a body built for blue collar work.
He didn't have a shirt on, and his broad, furry chest made it impossible to look away.
So she didn't.
Chapter 4: Hello, Jack
It had to have been the wine. The wine had made her walk out of the house, and across the street. Her buzzed (but hopefully not glazed over) eyes were locked on one target.
Jack.
"Howdy neighbor!" She was glad her voice wasn't slurred. "The wife home?"
Jack turned to greet her, a polite smile on his face. "She's down at the church. They're getting ready for bingo night."
His wife, Linda, was a nasty shrew of a woman who still used words like "harlot". Her and Jack were as Catholic as one could be living outside of the Vatican.
Well, except for their complete lack of children.
Ina crossed her arms, knowing that her forearms would give her breasts a little extra leverage.
"Bingo night? Sounds like fun." She tried her best not to sound sarcastic.
"It's simple, but we tend to like simple." Jack ran his big, work worn hand through his hair. "Simple things for simple folks." His eyes kept darting to her cleavage.
At that moment, to Ina, simple was looking pretty good.
As Ina watched out her window, thinking about her marriage (if you could even call it that) she saw the front door to a house across the street (and one house down) open.
Jack O'Day stepped out onto his front stoop. He was the exact opposite of her husband. Bright, curly red hair surrounded a round, friendly face that sat atop a body built for blue collar work.
He didn't have a shirt on, and his broad, furry chest made it impossible to look away.
So she didn't.
Chapter 4: Hello, Jack
It had to have been the wine. The wine had made her walk out of the house, and across the street. Her buzzed (but hopefully not glazed over) eyes were locked on one target.
Jack.
"Howdy neighbor!" She was glad her voice wasn't slurred. "The wife home?"
Jack turned to greet her, a polite smile on his face. "She's down at the church. They're getting ready for bingo night."
His wife, Linda, was a nasty shrew of a woman who still used words like "harlot". Her and Jack were as Catholic as one could be living outside of the Vatican.
Well, except for their complete lack of children.
Ina crossed her arms, knowing that her forearms would give her breasts a little extra leverage.
"Bingo night? Sounds like fun." She tried her best not to sound sarcastic.
"It's simple, but we tend to like simple." Jack ran his big, work worn hand through his hair. "Simple things for simple folks." His eyes kept darting to her cleavage.
At that moment, to Ina, simple was looking pretty good.
Sururbia 1.1 and 1.2
Chapter 1: A Bottle of Wine
It had only started as one glass. One glass led to two. Then three. Before she knew it her bottle was empty, and it wasn't even 5pm yet.
Did that make her a drunk? What would the neighbors think?
She pushed herself off the pristine white couch, and walked across her well decorated living room to the large window that overlooked her yard.
All she saw were perfect, upper class homes. They all had perfect yards, which were maintained by hired help, and they all contained "perfect" families inside.
At that moment it dawned in her. The thought just smacked her right in the face.
She hated them. She hated those perfect families.
Chapter 2: A Little History...
Ina had sworn she wouldn't turn out like her mother. Trapped at home with five screaming kids and a husband whose idea of conversation was a grunt to signal his need for beer.
No. When she got married to Peter she had sworn up and down that things would be different, and they were.
Peter was sweet... ish. He was nice enough, smart as could be, and could hold an intelligent conversation. He was also dull, and a bit full of himself. He was an attorney (corporate of course), and was considered one of the last remaining yuppies.
He was good looking though. Tall, broad shouldered, with a model perfect face. He was what her mother would have called a "catch". Ina had thought so at first, but lately... Lately she was thinking she might want to institute a "catch" and release policy.
It had only started as one glass. One glass led to two. Then three. Before she knew it her bottle was empty, and it wasn't even 5pm yet.
Did that make her a drunk? What would the neighbors think?
She pushed herself off the pristine white couch, and walked across her well decorated living room to the large window that overlooked her yard.
All she saw were perfect, upper class homes. They all had perfect yards, which were maintained by hired help, and they all contained "perfect" families inside.
At that moment it dawned in her. The thought just smacked her right in the face.
She hated them. She hated those perfect families.
Chapter 2: A Little History...
Ina had sworn she wouldn't turn out like her mother. Trapped at home with five screaming kids and a husband whose idea of conversation was a grunt to signal his need for beer.
No. When she got married to Peter she had sworn up and down that things would be different, and they were.
Peter was sweet... ish. He was nice enough, smart as could be, and could hold an intelligent conversation. He was also dull, and a bit full of himself. He was an attorney (corporate of course), and was considered one of the last remaining yuppies.
He was good looking though. Tall, broad shouldered, with a model perfect face. He was what her mother would have called a "catch". Ina had thought so at first, but lately... Lately she was thinking she might want to institute a "catch" and release policy.
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