A Conspiracy to Deceive

Carol could sense that there was something very serious going on in her husband's mind after he came home from his session with Dr. Lee. She was almost afraid to broach the subject after she had told Barry about her intense session with the doctor on Wednesday. Was Barry's session a raging disaster? Did he accuse the doctor of mistreating his wife?

They ate supper in silence. Carol would catch Barry staring at her across the table. There seemed to be a questioning look in his eyes.

Finally, Carol sat upright in her chair and asked. "What's wrong, Barry? Did you have a bad session with Dr. Lee?" There was genuine concern in her voice.

"Bad might be an understatement. Disaster might be more like it." Barry answered as he picked up his wine glass and took a long sip.

"The good doctor wants me to consent to allowing you to take on a lover in order to improve your mental health." Barry's words came out like bullets from a machine gun.

Carol's mouth dropped open and for a moment she was speechless. "My god Barry! What brought this on? What did you say to him?" Her voice was strained.

"Nothing. I didn't give him an answer." Barry replied as his eyes locked on to hers.

"No answer!? I don't understand? You should have told him flatly, no! Haven't you been hurt enough by my affair with Les?" Tears were starting to well up in her eyes.

Barry's mind jumped to the PTR syndrome and the fact that Carol still was ignorant of that fact. How could he explain to her where his mind was at if she remained in the dark about the original cause of her infidelity. He got up from the table quickly and said.

"I have a phone call to make. It can't wait." He hurried into their bedroom, closing the door he fished Dr. Lee's card out of his wallet. On it was an emergency phone number that the doctor told Barry to use if there was a serious problem. Barry dialed the number.

On the third ring, Jack answered the phone.

"Jack, I'm going to tell Carol about her PTR syndrome. It can't remain a secret any longer. I'll explain it as best I can. You will need to be ready to give your diagnosis of her illness in tomorrow morning's session." Barry blurted out in one long breath.

His voice conveyed the fact that he wasn't requesting permission from Jack to tell Carol. He was just informing the doctor that he was going to tell his wife about her illness.

"Ok Barry, I guess this is as good a time as any to let Carol know about her dysfunction. I would like to be there, but I am tied up all evening with members of the college staff."

"I wouldn't want you here anyway, Jack. This is something I need to do. It's my duty as her husband. Tomorrow, you can give her the clinical explanation if you wish." Barry paused. "I'm going to hang up now. I only wanted to let you know before I told her."

"Good luck, Barry. Call me tomorrow. Bye."

The phone line went dead as Barry got up and walked out of the bedroom.

Carol was finishing up with the supper dishes. "Who were you calling, Barry? Is everything all right?" She could tell by the look on his face that he was deeply troubled.

"When you're done, come into the den. We have some serious things that need to be discussed."

A cold shiver raced up her spine and goose-bumps broke out all over her body. "What was on Barry's mind now? Was he deeply disturbed by what I told him last evening about wanting my lover's cock inside me?" Carol's mind was racing a hundred miles an hour. She took off her apron and walked into the den.

Barry was standing at the bar pouring himself a tall JD. "What can I get for you, my dear?" He asked as he turned toward her.

"Nothing right now, darling." She answered. Her eyes could not conceal her frightened state of mind.

"I think you will need something strong to soothe your nerves, Carol." He said as he lifted a bottle. "Rum and coke?"

"That will work....but easy on the rum." She said as she tried to make herself comfortable on the sofa.

Barry handed her the tall drink and sat down in his lounge chair across from her. Carol thanked him as she bit down lightly on her lower lip. What was going to happen next? Is the guillotine blade about to fall? She just sat there in silence waiting for him to begin.

"Carol, what I am about to tell you will probably come as a complete surprise to you. I want you to sit and listen till I'm finished. Please don't interrupt me until I tell you its ok to speak." Barry was speaking in a low controlled voice.

"There is a secret that Dr. Lee and I have been keeping from you. After what you told me last night about the photo session, I think its time that you know what that secret is." Carol's body seemed to perk up at the word 'secret'... Barry continued.

"Early on in this crisis, I had a discussion with Dr. Lee about our marital situation. He had seen the video that Les had you make and read the note that you wrote to me. Your actions did not surprise him". Barry hesitated a little.

"In fact, he has been doing research into a mental dysfunction which he felt was the root cause of certain women becoming unfaithful spouses." Barry took a long sip from his drink. Carol remained silent.

"The doctor has been conducting research into this dysfunction which he has labeled as Psychotic Transfer Response, or PTR for short. It's his theory that within certain women there is this latent tendency to mentally flip-flop from one mental state to another. In your particular case, he concluded that instead of your affair starting out of lust, this dysfunction caused a flip-flop in your mind which made you susceptible to Les' seduction."

Carol sat there immobilized. Barry took another sip of his drink, then continued his discourse.

"Although you still knew the difference between being faithful and being unfaithful to your marriage vows, this dysfunction permitted you to rationalize away the guilt associated with your infidelity. In that flip-flopped state, it was perfectly natural for you to feel that should be able to satisfy your fuck-slut desires with Les and still expect me to remain your loving husband.... And for our marriage to continue."

Carol made a motion as if to speak. Barry quickly move one finger to his lips as a signal for her to remain silent. Taking a deep breath he nodded his head and began speaking again.

"The whole line of Dr. Lee's therapy plan was to keep this dysfunction hidden from you in order that he would be able to dig deep into you psychotic state and determine just how severe the dysfunctional tendency was for you." ... A pause. A sip from his glass ... "I thought that you should have been told about this mental flip-flop state from the beginning. But, Dr. Lee asked me to keep silent about it until he felt he had enough information to properly treat your illness."

The room went deadly silent as they both looked at each other, neither one saying a word. Barry could tell that Carol was shocked and mystified about this unknown mental dysfunction he was describing to her. He waited for her to regain her composure before he continued.

"I'm telling you about this dysfunction now Carol, because it seems that you have reached that point in your therapy where the effects of this dysfunction are now coming to the surface. In your Wednesday session with Dr. Lee, he purposely set up a situation where he was able to induce a flip-flop relapse in your mind. He wanted to test and see if the dysfunction could still be triggered in you by some traumatic stimulus. The nudity, the photos and the hard questions were his way of getting you to flip-flop into your fuck-slut state. It was the reason you screamed out for your lover to fuck you."

Carol's eyes widened as she was told that the doctor may have tricked her into her outburst.

"Before I let you start asking questions, Carol. There is one more very important issue that you need to be aware of. From what Dr. Lee has gained in those therapy sessions and the written answers you gave him earlier, he has concluded that you have an extreme case of PTR syndrome. As such, there will always be a latent tendency for you to have a relapse at some time in the future. He feels that you may be able to control this dysfunction with a conscious effort most of the time. But eventually .... some day, under some stressful conditions, you will have a relapse and go out seeking a lover who will treat you like a fuck-slut."

"No I won't, Barry! I love you too much to ever consider doing that again!" Carol blurted out as her face went flush.

"Please, Carol. Let me finish." Barry's voice was soft and gentle as he tried to calm her. "If the doctor's diagnosis is correct, then like it or not, you will have a relapse even if you swear that could never happen again. There will come along some stressful situation that would be the trigger for the fuck-slut state to kick in. You will be virtually helpless to prevent it from happening."

Carol started to cry as Barry's words made it sound as if she had a terminal illness.

"It is a fact of life that we must come to terms with. Somehow we must come up with some solution that will prevent a relapse from tearing our marriage apart." Now Barry was coming to the very hard part for the both of them.

"One of the suggestions that the doctor made today in my session was for us to consider a form of pluralistic marriage. He felt that if constructed properly, a relationship of that nature could be forged that would allow you to move freely between both flip-flop mental states."

Carol's face flashed up in a sudden shock. "Buutttt....buttt....." She tried to form some words of response, only stuttering came out.

"You asked me earlier what was wrong when I came home from my evening session with Dr. Lee. It was this idea of a pluralistic marriage that he was throwing around that was the reason I was so upset." Barry said as he took the last long drink from his glass.

Slowly Carol wet her lips with her tongue as she began to speak. "Let me understand the last part of what you just said, Barry, before I ask any questions about...ahhh...the PTR."

Now it appeared that she was somewhat back in control of her speech faculties. "The doctor suggested that we add another male into our marriage. Is that correct?" She shook her head as if in disbelief.

"Yes....Carol that's exactly what the doctor suggested. He felt that that if I truly loved you and wanted you to be a fulfilled woman, that I would have to find away to accept the fact that you need a lover who would treat you differently than I treat you."

"But, that's insane! How could adding another male into out marriage help me? This PTR illness is just a bunch of bullshit as far as I'm concerned!" Carol cried out not wanting to believe what her husband was telling her.

"Well......Carol, I don't think it is bullshit. And, I suspect, that deep down inside your psyche, you also believe that something is different with you. Something strange went on inside you that caused you to hook up with Les and want to become his fuck-slut." Something strange was also happening in Barry's mind. He was slowly convincing himself that the doctor was right.

"Damn it Barry! If it is true that I have this goddamn dysfunction then why didn't you or the doctor tell me up front!? Why were you letting the doctor use me as a guinea pig? Was it fun for the two of you to keep it a secret from me?" Carol was angry now. The more she thought about the dysfunction causing her to become susceptible to a dominant male, the angrier she became at not being told about the illness up front.

Barry tried to calm her down, but she would not let her anger go. It seemed as if knowing about the secret, Carol was now able to vent most of her pent up tensions and emotions. They poured out of her like a geyser in Yellowstone Park. Loud, hot and steaming. Her words were now no longer that of the penitent wife. She felt that her need to be forgiven for her infidelity had been used against her, and without her knowing about it.

"Goddamn it, Barry! Last night I was in deep pain when I told you about the humiliating session I endured in Dr. Lee's office. My pain and suffering was very real! Now I find out that it was staged to test my reactions!" Carol's mind was set free of the restraints that had been placed there because of infidelity. Now she was free to lash out at her husband, to take back some of the ground that she had surrendered to him.

"Why did you let him do that to me, Barry? Was it a conspiracy to deceive me all along? Was keeping this a secret from me, a way for you to get even with me for the secret that I kept from you?" Carol was fuming now.

I didn't know that Jack was planning to try and trigger a PTR episode in your last session." Barry said in a softer voice.

"Jack?" She had a questioning look on her face. "Since when has he become Jack?"

"Actually, since the first meeting I had with him when you were still with Les." Barry added that last snippet just to try and gain the offensive. "He told me to call him Jack instead of Dr. Lee. More to keep it informal between us."

Carol's eyes were glaring at him. She tried to hold back what she was about to say, but they came out anyway.

"Damn it! I should have known. Another example of the good old boys cliquing together. And I'm the odd man out!" She shouted out. Her eyes were ablaze. She had a feeling of betrayal all over again. Her loving husband was in a conspiracy to deceive and humiliate her.

Carol jumped up from the table and ran outside. She moved over into a shady part of the yard and she sat down, cross legged on the grass and began to cry.

Barry's first instinct was to follow her and to try and tell her she was wrong about him wanting to gang up on her. He wanted to tell her that he only wanted to give the doctor a chance to try and treat her dysfunction as best as he could. There were no other secrets, no other hidden agendas.

But, Barry knew that there was nothing he could say to her right now that would deflate her anger. He would just let her alone with her thoughts for awhile. If he presented her with some valid reasons for keeping her in the dark about her illness, she might just respond with more cutting accusations. Then a nasty argument might erupt and then they would be at each other's throat. He didn't want that to happen.

Nothing more was said that evening. Carol withdrew into herself. Now there was another factor that she had to contend with in all of this adulterous mess. She had a mental deficiency. There was a little miss-wiring inside her brain which could cause her to change from a loving wife to some other male's fuck-slut.

"Goddamn! Am I ever fucked up! I can't have any children naturally. I can't stay faithful to the one man I truly love! Oh god! Why did you fuck me up so badly?" Carol thought to herself as she moved back into the house. She went back into the guest room and closed the door. This time it was more of a penance for Barry to endure, than a jail cell for her.

Chapter 16

Friday Morning:

Barry was up before Carol. He got dressed and left the house while she was still sleeping. On the way to work, he stopped at small cafe and had a small breakfast. Coffee, toast and a glass of juice. Enough to get his mind in gear.

When he got to his office, he noticed that Steven was already there. He stuck his head into Steven's office and said. "Good morning, boss. What brings you in this early on a Friday morning?"

"Just the man I wanted to see." Steven replied as he motioned for Barry to come in and sit down.

"Last evening at the club, I met with several board members. They were pressuring me to take an extended vacation now that the Dassis situation is history. When I resisted, they told me that rejecting an extended vacation was not an option." He sat back in his leather swivel chair and a sly smile came across his face.

"So, today will be my last day in this office for the next six weeks. It seems that the board members had already talked to my wife and they set up a European vacation that will take five to six weeks to complete. Margie told me that if I didn't go with her, I'd better get a good divorce attorney." He was laughing at that last comment.

"You're going to be gone...out of pocket for six weeks?" There was surprise in Barry's voice.

"That's what the powers-to-be have dictated, Barry old boy." Steven was having a good time with this. Secretly he knew that he was close to burn out after the past several months of 'nose-to-the-grindstone' intense pressure.

"That also means, that while I'm lying in the sun on some Greek island, you will be completely in charge of the GeoTex empire." Steven laughed out loud. "And there won't be any phones on that island. Margie said that if she sees me on the phone, she'll beat me with a baseball bat!"

Barry sat back and let out a long deep sigh. This is exactly what he wanted and was waiting to happen. But, the suddenness of it took him by surprise.

"Damn it, Steven. You really know how to blind-side a guy early in the morning." Barry's words sounded like a dud in the face of what he had just been told.

"Hey...its not like you and I haven't been joined at the hip for the past two months. You know as much about the going-ons within GeoTex as I do. And I'm beginning to believe that your management and direction would be better than mine in most cases."

Steven couldn't help but keep smiling as he watched Barry squirming in the chair. "So Bunky, here's your chance to run the whole show all by yourself. No daddy image looking over your shoulder. The ball game is all yours." ... Long pause ....

"Tell me you don't want to take the reins and drive this Clydesdale team all by yourself!" Steven got up from his chair and walked around his desk. "So, get up and call your first major staff meeting. Get all of the VP's and department heads into the board room. I'll be there for the first part of the meeting. After I make the announcement of my vacation, I'll turn the meeting over to you and get my ass out of the building."

Barry stood up and the two men shook hands. Nothing else needed to be said.

As Barry walked to his office, he turned to Rita and said, "Call all of Mr. Chase's staff together for a meeting in the board room in fifteen minutes." There was a strong voice of authority in his voice. No pleases, no homage to the Iron Maiden. Not now, not ever again.

"But Mr. Knoll, a lot of the staff members aren't at the office until after nine o'clock." Rita responded as if her knowledge of everyone's starting time was an important item.

"I don't care about that, Rita. Call the meeting and then I want you to make a list of the staff members who aren't there." The tone of Barry's voice told Rita that any further comments were not appropriate. He turned and walked into his office.

He closed the door behind him, and let out a yell. He threw his hands up in the air like a referee signaling a touchdown. "Yes....goddamn it!!!! This is it!!!! The top rung of the ladder! And I am here!" Barry said out loud for himself to hear.

His mind was so filled with his good news, that he entirely forgot that Carol was at home getting ready for her Friday morning session with Dr. Lee.

Back at the house, Carol was getting ready for her visit to Dr. Lee's office. This time, instead of wearing a dress and preening herself to look very attractive, Carol put on a baggy sweat-suit outfit. She applied a thin coat of lipstick, no eyeliner, no cheek blush.

"There's no fucking way that shit-head doctor is going to get me out of my clothes this morning." Carol said to herself as she looked into the mirror. There was a hard determination in her mind this morning.

She wished that Barry had awakened her before he went to work. She wanted to tell him that she was sorry for getting pissed off at him and making angry accusations that she didn't mean. But, he was gone by the time she got out of bed. Now her apology would have to wait till he got home tonight.