Free A Natural Born Submissive by Victoria Winters

twenty-five years.  I watched you give birth to twins.  I've seen it all!"
    "Not lately you haven't.  And in case you've forgotten, you cheated on me, and now we are divorced.  So.  Get.  Out."
    "Geez, OK, OK," Ray said, withdrawing awkwardly as she headed towards her bedroom.  "But no matter what we went through, the sex was always good between us, Alice, remember?"
    She slammed the door in his face.  She remembered, all right.  But her memories were different.  The sex may have been good for him, but never for her.
    "You look great, you really do!" he yelled through the door.
    Alice listened to him stomp back downstairs as she leaned against the door.  She was grateful that she'd not come out of the bathroom naked.  The last thing she needed for was him to see her red bottom.  Alice hid in her room, listening to music and reading until it was time for dinner.
    Dinner was scrumptious, as always.  When Ray complimented her on the food, Doris gave the credit to her favorite celebrity chef, Paula Deen.  After dinner, Alice and Ray cleaned up while Doris headed out to play bingo.  Working side by side on the dishes helped relieve some of the tension between them, and they were back to bantering like the good old days.  They sat down afterwards over cups of coffee.
    "Got any Baileys to slip into this coffee?" Ray asked.
    "Oh I think I might be able to find a bottle around here," Alice replied, getting up to look.  Her Mom kept the strangest alcohol—Rum Chata, Kahlua, Caramel-flavored vodka and—yes—a bottle of Bailey's.  It was more like a soda fountain than a proper bar.  She poured them both a dollop.
    "Mmmmmm, that hits the spot!" Ray said, slurping loudly.  He grinned, knowing that she hated it when he drank noisily.
    She looked disapprovingly at him but then couldn't hide the grin that broke out on her face.  It was soothing to be back sitting with the person she'd shared life with for twenty-five years, no matter how badly it had ended.  At a pause in the conversation, she finally asked the question she'd never had the courage to ask.
    "Why did you do it, Ray?"
    "Look Alice," he began.  "I know I was a jerk.  I just felt like you and the girls had this little club and I wasn't a part of it.  I felt left out in my own home.  You were busy at the station in the evenings, and I got restless.  I started to feel lonely, and there was this woman and she … well, you know the rest."
    Alice didn't even know how to respond to that.  His explanation was ridiculous; he and the girls had been extremely close, and his teaching schedule was the same as their school schedule.  But was this how he really felt?  Could she be just as responsible for the breakup of the marriage as he was?  On reflection, she didn't even know when Ray would have had the time to be squiring another woman around town.
    "Was it worth the end of your marriage and the breakup of your family?" she finally asked.
    "Oh God, no.  It didn't mean anything.  It really didn't."  Ray shook his head sadly.  "She was just being nice to me—paying attention to me—and one thing led to another.  Honest to God, it was just skin rubbing against skin for all it meant to me."
    "I'm not sure I entirely believe that, Ray.  I think there was a much bigger emotional involvement than you're letting on."
    "Well, we're not together now, are we?  Doesn't that prove anything?"
    "I don't know what you do in your free time, Ray.  For all I know, you two are living together."
    "Jesus, Alice!  How can you even think that?  Come by anytime; you'll see I live alone!" he protested.
    Alice looked down and started to cry.  The pain of his betrayal still hurt as if she'd just found out about it.
    "Why don't you ever come by, Alice?" he asked, his voice soft now.  He placed his big, meaty paw over hers.  "I'd like it if you would."
    "Ray," Alice pulled her hand away and set it in her lap, using her other hand to wipe away the tears.  "I need time