Saving Lives and Settling Scores

I had to think for a moment, but yes, she's right.

"Are you saying that Shane helped Becky to set me and Jonas up with her two best friends."

"Yep."

"Well, maybe I'd just call that being a good friend." I respond.

"Unless he already knew that they're both sluts, and that they were already planning to keep fucking other guys while they dated you both."

"I don't know, I find that hard to believe."

"Would you find it hard to believe that Shane's usually at my bar too whenever Becky finds herself a guy to fuck, that she does it right in front of him? That the three of them then all leave together to go back to their place for the night?"

"What the fuck! You're joking, right?"

"Nope. She's hooked up with plenty of guys right in front of Shane, she dances with them and kisses them right in his face. She treats him like a piece of shit."

"Fuck me. I always joke that she's the boss in their relationship, but I had no idea it was this crazy."

"That's why he set you and Jonas up with Talia and Janey, so that you two couples could both be in the same situation as him and Becky. Just that you two guys clearly didn't know what was going on, unlike him."

"I'll fucking kill him!"

"Don't be too hard on him, Jason. Becky well and truly bent him to her will ages ago, he's got no balls left."

"Still, that's no fucking excuse. He's supposed to be our best friend and yet he's helped set us up with two sluts that he knew were going to fuck around on us, and he's said fucking nothing to us the entire time."

"Look at it from his point of view, he loves Becky and will do anything to keep her. Having his best friends be with her best friends helps to make sure she won't ever leave him. That's how Becky would've put it to him anyway, I'm sure. She would've told him that you and Jonas would be happy with her girlfriends, so what's the harm?"

"The harm is that he knew they were cheating on us the whole time and said nothing. He's lost us as friends for good now because of that."

"Well, that's always the risk he's been taking I guess, that you would both find out eventually."

"But I wouldn't have, not if you weren't telling me all this. Again, exactly why are you telling me this? Seriously."

"I have my reasons."

"Oh, come on. You have to share them with me after the bombs you've dropped."

"No, not right now, but maybe later when we know each other better." Rose replies as I sit back in my chair for a moment, looking into those wonderful green eyes of hers.

"See, I knew it. You do want me." I reply with my cheeky grin once more, I simply can't help myself.

Rose shakes her head but smiles back at me this time, progress I'm thinking.

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I spent Thursday night trying to think of what I'll say to Jonas. How do you carefully explain to your best friend without him going off the deep end that the woman he loves, the woman he recently married, is nothing but a cheating slut?

Fucked if I know, honestly.

As we started work on Friday morning, I asked Jonas to come with me later to the nearby bar where Rose works, for a quick beer at lunchtime. He didn't want to at first, but I twisted his arm enough that he finally agreed.

Rose gave me a strange look as we both entered her bar, taking our seats up at the bar as well. Maybe Rose could back me up with what I'm about to tell him.

"Jason, why the fuck are we here? Beers at lunchtime? You know we can't be drunk on the job."

"We'll just have one, and grab something to eat on the way back." I reply.

"Fine." Jonas replies as Rose comes over to take our orders, I wait until she serves us and walks away before continuing our conversation.

"Have you ever been into this bar before?" I ask him.

"No, although it looks more like a club. It's a bit empty."

"Yeah, this place usually gets busier at night. Do you know that Becky, Talia and Janey come here sometimes?"

"No. Why would they come here? It looks a bit sleazy if I'm being honest."

"It is. It's a known hook-up joint. People come here when they're looking to have a drink, dance a bit, and find someone to fuck." I respond to Jonas.

"So why would the three girls come here then?"

"Well, what if I told you that Becky cheats on Shane, and that he knows all about it."

"Really? Are you sure?" Jonas responds looking a little incredulously at me.

"Yeah, he even comes here with Becky sometimes while she's picking up a guy for the night."

"Fuck! You're shitting me. Seriously?"

"Seriously." I reply.

"Wow, I mean, I knew that something's a bit weird with those two, but I never thought in a million years that this is what was going on between them."

"Yeah, you and me both." I chuckle a little.

"Why would he put up with that shit?" Jonas asks while still trying to understand it.

"Don't know, but I do know that he's on board with it. I also know that he knew about Talia cheating on me too, way before I ever found out."

"Fuck, really? And he didn't tell you?"

"Nope. Not a fucking word."

"Why wouldn't he say anything? What's he playing at?"

"Probably trying to keep Becky happy, I'm assuming."

"What's Becky got to do with it?" Jonas asks.

"Talia and Becky were best friends before I ever met her, Shane helped to set me up with Talia right from the beginning. He also knew that she'd planned to cheat on me right from the start like Becky has done with him also."

Jonas looks over at me, I can tell by the look on his face that he's trying his best to take this all in. That one of our best friends has been lying to us the whole time and it's a bit of a shock for him, like it was for me too.

"How did you meet Janey again? Didn't you meet her at a dance club?" I continue.

"Yeah, she came over to our table and asked me if I'd like to dance with her." Jonas replies.

"And you were with Shane, right?"

"Yeah, I was."

"Same here, when I first met Talia. Did you know that Becky, Talia and Janey were already best friends before they met any of us? Shane included."

"What? That can't be right."

"It is. That's why you and I were setup with Janey and Talia to begin with, because we were best friends with Shane, and they were already best friends with Becky."

"Seriously? Why wouldn't they tell us that? Why pretend that they only met once they started going out with us?"

"So we wouldn't know what they've been up to before we met them. What they've been up to since we've met them as well."

"Hold on, what are you saying?"

"That Becky and Talia have been coming here to this bar for a few years now, picking up guys to fuck. Whenever us guys would hang out together, they've been coming here to do their thing."

"But Janey's been with them too."

"Yep. The three of them have been coming here together."

"But she wasn't doing that shit, no fucking way!"

"Sorry Jonas, I found out yesterday and I had to tell you. I can't sit back and say nothing like Shane has the entire time."

"What the fuck! You're telling me that my wife has been fucking around on me the entire time I've known her. Are you fucking serious?" Jonas almost yells at me as Rose walks back over to us.

"Hey guys, keep it down. There might not be many people here, but I don't want you two arguing up at the bar." Rose tells us in a firm voice.

"We're not arguing, I've just told him some bad news is all." I reassure Rose.

"About Janey I'm guessing." Rose replies.

"How the fuck do you know my wife?" Jonas fires back angrily at Rose.

"I've known her longer than you have, asshole." Rose spits back.

"Okay, you two stop it. Rose, you're not helping here. I just told him his wife's cheating on him, cut him some slack."

Rose looks at me, before looking back at Jonas.

"Okay, I'm sorry. But don't take out what she's done to you on me."

"Alright, I'm sorry too. I'm just trying to get my head around it. I can't believe she'd fucking do that to me." Jonas replies, somewhat less angrily this time.

"Rose, you've been here while they've been coming here over the last few years. Did they say anything to you about why they've been doing this to us. Why they'd cheat on us the entire time." I ask her.

"Because they like fucking other guys, I don't know. Look, women like those three are the types most decent guys will fuck, but then stay the hell away from when it comes to relationships. I'm guessing they figured that out too and that's why they lined you guys up. They wanted to be married, have someone pay for everything, maybe even have kids later. But what they also wanted was to be able to keep having their fun too. Sorry, but you two got well and truly fucked over."

"And Shane?" Jonas asks Rose.

"No, he knew Becky was a slut right from the beginning but wanted to be with her anyway. I think that's why he never told you guys the truth about Talia or Janey, I'm betting he was afraid of losing Becky."

"Didn't stop him from helping to set both of us up to be with them." Jonas answers.

"Yeah, it's what she would've wanted him to do for her. He probably would've agreed to anything to keep her." Rose responds.

"Nah, fuck him, he's an asshole for doing that." Jonas replies.

"That's kind of what Jason said when he found out too." Rose replies to Jonas.

"Well, what are you going to do now that you know?" I ask Jonas.

"If this is all true, I'm not going to stay married to that fucking slut, that's for damn sure."

"It's true. Do you want proof?" Rose asks him.

"Yeah, of course I do."

"Well, why don't you call Janey right now, let her know that you're going to be out late having drinks tonight with Jason, then I'll call you two later after they get here to have their fun. You two can then come here and see for yourselves." Rose offers.

"I don't need to see Talia fucking around, I'm already done with her." I reply.

"Come with me anyway, you might need to stop me from doing something stupid." Jonas replies.

"Yeah, alright. Besides, we can actually go out for a few drinks like you tell them. We'll just stop in here for a bit if they show up." I respond.

"Oh, they'll show up. They've been here almost every week since I can remember. Sometimes more than once a week too. Give me your number Jason, so I can call you later." Rose adds.

"Fine. But all of this is really just an excuse to get my number, isn't it? I still swear that you want me." I reply to Rose with my big cheeky grin showing once more.

"You're so goddamn full of yourself, Jason." Rose replies, but with a wonderful smile on her face this time.

Yeah, she wants me.

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After work, both Jonas and I headed into a bar not far from the 'Sinners' club where Rose works. He told me about how he's been going through emotional ups and downs all afternoon, the cycle of being angry, then depressed, followed by being angry once again. I understand exactly how he's feeling, that was me just a few months back.

We tried talking about anything else while having a beer, as if trying to ignore the inevitable. I kept checking my messages, nope nothing. It's about 8pm when I receive the message from Rose, letting me know that the girls have arrived at the club, and that Shane is with them also.

The weird thing is, I didn't get Rose's number off her, so it comes up on my phone with her number, not her name. But it's not the first message I've received from her phone number. I scroll up to see her previous message, it's the one that first tipped me off that Talia was fucking her boss.

What the hell?

I had tried messaging that number and calling it too, but never ever got a single response. It did lead me to start checking more closely on Talia to see if the anonymous tip was correct, and that's when I found out that Talia was indeed cheating on me.

So, it was Rose that tipped me anonymously over three months back, then it was Rose that also gave me and now Jonas the dirt on everything else. What the hell is she up to?

As we approach the club, I text Rose to let her know we're almost there. She tells us to come around the back, she'll let us in via the loading bay so that we won't be seen.

As we walk in past all the beer kegs inside the back entrance, one of the security guys is there to stop us.

"Are you two Jason and Jonas?"

"Yep, did Rose tell you we were coming?"

"Yeah, she said to show you into the back office." As he turns and walks down the corridor, opening a door for us.

Inside the office, there's a few chairs, a few lockers, but also on the wall, a bunch of screens from the security cameras. Well, this is gonna make it easier to watch them without being seen.

Both Jonas and I take our seats in front of the screens as the security guy leaves, closing the office door behind him. We begin looking at the different screens before Jonas points out the screen that shows the three women sitting together. They already have two guys standing with them, one is Shane.

Nothing really happens for the next ten minutes, when suddenly the office door swings open, and in walks Rose carrying some beer bottles.

"Hey, I thought you guys might need these." As Rose hands us both a beer, she has one too, sitting down next to us.

"Thanks, this sure is thirsty work." I reply.

We all look back up at the screen again, it's still just the three women sitting at the table, with Shane and another guy standing with them.

"That guy with them, his name's Gary. He's a bit of a player here, he's already slept with both Becky and Talia before. Maybe he'll try for Janey this time." Rose informs us.

"I hope so, I want this shit to be over with." Jonas responds.

"Just don't do anything stupid, okay? It's not Gary's fault that they're here to get laid. Whatever happens, I want you to keep calm, or security here will have to deal with you." Rose tells Jonas firmly.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to go out there and start swinging. If she's cheating on me, I'll be happy to be rid of her."

It isn't long before another guy joins their table, he seems to be giving most of his attention to a very receptive Talia. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't get a twinge of jealousy watching her with him, while it's been three months, she's still the woman that I'd previously intended on marrying.

After Talia gets up to dance with her new suitor, Janey follows suit with Gary. While Jonas is watching them closely up on the dance floor on one screen, I notice on the other screen that Becky has left their table to talk with another guy standing nearby. Shane looks pretty fucking sad sitting by himself right now, occasionally looking over to see his wife happily chatting with a new guy she might want to fuck shortly. But I don't feel sorry for Shane, I just don't.

"Bitch." I hear quietly from Jonas.

I look back to the other screen, Jonas' wife is now kissing the guy she's slow dancing with. I'm not sure what to say to him at this point, at least I never had to watch Talia cheating right in front of me like this. I confronted her after I found out she'd been out with her Boss on a 'date', I never watch her with him, however.

I do notice that Talia is also now kissing her guy as well, I can still feel the knife turning a little. Yeah, Bitch.

Rose gets up to go back out to the bar, grabbing our empty beers in the process.

"Do you both want another beer? I gotta get back to work, but I can get one of the security guys to bring them in here for you."

"How long do you think? Before they leave with these guys." Jonas asks her.

Rose looks over at the other screen where Becky is still chatting with her new guy.

"Probably not too long, Becky looks like she's found her fuckboy for the night. They always leave when she's ready."

"Rose, can you send two more beers back here thanks, we'll stay here for a bit until they've fucked off already." I reply.

"Okay." Rose responds as she leaves the office.

"How are you doing?" I ask Jonas.

"How do you think? I can't believe I've been such a dumb sucker, that she's been playing me this entire time. I had no idea what a fucking slut she is. How the hell did I not see this?"

"Hey, I'm right there with you on that front. I didn't have a clue either." I respond.

"At least you weren't married already. Now I have a fucking divorce to worry about. You know she's gonna try and take everything I own, right?"

"Yeah, she will. Do you guys own much stuff?" I ask Jonas.

"No, not really. I've been saving up for a deposit for us to buy a house though, and I have my new work truck too. She owns fucking nothing apart from her clothes, and I bought most of them for her as well."

"Maybe there's something you can do, before you tell her you're getting a divorce. Maybe you can sell your truck, pull your savings out, I dunno, there's got to be something you can do to stop her from getting her hands on half of it."

"Like what? Take all my money out of the bank and hide it somewhere?"

"Well, yeah."

"They'll know I took the money out."

"Hey, do you trust me?" I ask Jonas.

"Yeah, of course I do."

"Then, why don't you sign over your work truck to me, you can drive it still, but it'll be under my name so she can't touch it. Then transfer all your savings to me as well, I'll hold it until your divorce is settled. Then when the coast is clear, I sign your truck and cash back to you."

"They'll know where the money has gone, she'll have access to the bank statements."

"And so what? Just say you owed me the money, maybe for gambling debts or we'll make up some other bullshit. Either way they'll be in my name before you even break up with her or file for divorce."

"If we do this, you better fucking transfer everything back when the time comes, Jason."

I chuckled a little at Jonas' statement.

"That's why I asked if you trust me. Don't worry, I won't ever fuck you over like Talia and Janey have done to us. Or Shane for that matter."

"Alright, I'll be much happier if she's not driving my truck around after I divorce her ass."

As we look back up at the screens, we can see both Talia and Janey making their way back to the table that Shane had been sitting alone at. He's then also joined at their table by his wife Becky and her new squeeze. She then starts kissing the guy right in front of her husband, and Shane's just sitting there watching her do it. I'll never understand him.

"Can you believe that shit? He's just sitting there watching her with this clown." Jonas adds, he can't understand it like me either.

"Yeah, he's a fucking coward, and a weak-ass bitch." I reply.

"Absolutely, I'm still trying to wrap my head around why he'd set us up like that with Janey and Talia, why he never said anything to us about what they were doing all this time. Or how he can sit there right now and watch his wife getting it on with another dude either, that's just fucked up."

"Yeah, fuck him, he's no friend of mine anymore." I respond as the security guy walks in and hands us two more beers.

It isn't long before the seven of them all leave the club together, it's not even 9pm yet. They've still got a couple of hours to have their fun before Janey would've returned home to an oblivious Jonas, just not this time.

After we finish our beers, we go out into the club to sit up at the bar near Rose once more. She gives us a nod as we take our seats before bringing us over two more beers.

"How much do I owe you?" I ask Rose as she hands us our beers.

"They're on the house tonight. But you can pay for anymore you have; three each is my limit for a broken heart." Rose replies with a slight smile before going back to serve other patrons.

We both have another two beers after that one, before Jonas decides to leave for home.

"Hey, just remember, don't say anything to her tonight, wait until you can transfer your truck and your savings over."