All Comments on 'Ari Ch. 03'

Well, if she hadn't been burned, I don't know who has for the 'torch the bitch' crowd. She had to wade through a swamp full of shit to get back to her man.

I agree with Bob that yes, her first instinct of 'how do I fix the problem with him' was WAAAYYY off base!

But let's see

She lost her job.

She lost her man

She watched him fuck, then marry another woman

Waited for years

Took a shot at him again

Put up with a year or so of sloppy seconds from that slut Rachael

Lost him to impotence

Had to give up her ass constantly

All while holding her tongue.

If anyone earned a reconciliation, it was this girl

That said, she was about as egregious a bitch as any JPB dreamed up in HIS story. ohio (who still can't capitalize worth a damn) had to write hard and heavy to make this even moderately possible

Though ohio has tried to paint a good picture , the subject matter is still alien to human logic/emotions.

Forgiveness can be given by any decent person who wants to move on with their life but the betrayal is too great to forget.

There would always be that small poke at the back of the mind everyday at home,while talking about or to her colleagues at work, TV shows that show flirting/cheating/divorce, every wedding/birth/divorce, travel, etc...

Not easy for any person man or woman. Yes he is going to be unhappy but hey that is what happens when there is betrayal.

Almost any interesting story is going to start out about something extraordinary. After all who want's to read about a 40 something woman with drooping tits or a 40 something man with receding hairline and a pot belly. That's ordinary. The hard to believe part in this story was why, if she loved hims so much and was sexually fulfilled, she didn't stop the screwing around. That's extraordinary. But assuming this could happen, the story is about what it would take to for them to get back together. In that respect what follows is realistic. After he remarried, she didn't become a nun. She dated and even slept with some guys. When he divorced and she hadn't found anyone else, it seems likely that she would move back and try again. After all, she had the money to do it.

She is still a calculating bitch. The husband better check the DNA of his kids if she ever gets pregnant.

it was made aware to me that this fantastic author has many different names. I am expecting most judiciously that 'Ohio' is one of these names, as this super story 'topped' my mind!! A very good writing John (haha oops I mean Ohio, sir) 5 stars for you.

...of the football field of shit (apologies for using the analogy from 'Shawshank Redemption') through which she had to crawl, I'd say she also earned her redemption and reconciliation.

Excellently told and a good grasp of the raw emotions extant.

This was, in the end, a believable continuation of JPB's story with a deserved ending.

Thank you

This was great. Thank you again. You have done a fabulous job with this series and I am sure Bob is thinking the same thing. Maybe you both can work together again soon.

I will overlook the shilling of this fellow you keep mentioning as I am not interested in the ethics of same. I'll leave that to the Forum Admins.

That said, does this John Doe with X's in his name have a serious problem with captializing within quotation marks? If not, then it's probably not the same guy.

She also dumped 1.5 million dollars and an expensive house that she earned one cock at a time to her hubby just to shake him up, NOT get him back.

Money doesn't equal sorry, but it certainly means SOMETHING.

One problem (and this is with Ari 2). She said "This was never about the money" when she dropped the cash on him.

That is AWFUL!!! That means it was about what? The cocks? The excitement of other men? That she was such a frigid cunt that even money and whoring herself meant nothing for the status of just selling more?

A comment like that was easily sufficient to totally turn off her husband or set his imagination racing in directions she really shouldn't want it going.

No wonder it took so long to reconcile saying stupid crap like that!

Your ending for the story was thoughtful and showed true redemption for a couple torn apart by betrayal. It does take a long time to establish trust in a relationship. Thank you for the time and effort you put into your stories.

ya done a good job on this one. Take a break and do another when you are ready.

Relationships are about trust. If Bobby doesn't trust her and needs to "verify" her faithfulness, then there is no trust and he needs to get over himself. There is no excuse for douchebaggery behaiviour like he did. Testing, verifying, re-testing...that is shit you do when you're 12 not in your 30's and 40's.

He re-married, rucked x amount of women (while supposedly dating his ex-wife) and set her up and he did this to hurt her. No other reason, just to hurt her. She cheated on him because that is how she grew up, that was part of her life before Bobby and IT WASN'T TO HURT HIM!!!! That's the difference. He wants to hurt her. How the fuck is that the sign of love?

I dare anyone who thinks this is a great story to prove how hurting someone shows your love. I'll bet all the wife-beaters out there would like to get some tips.

ddi you REALLY write this and MEAN it?

"There is NO excuse for douchebaggery behaiviour like he did".

getting married under false pretenses

fucking LOTS of other men

getting paid bny the company JUST be a whore

engage in a massive scheme to decieve your Husband for 4 years..

NO reason?

Despite my comments to Ch. 02, I now believe you fully carried this off. Do I think she's still the manipulating, cold-hearted bitch of parts 1 and 2? Yes, but far less so and with a far different focus. Now her manipulations are solely to do what was right for Bobby. Throughout this conclusion, she continuously allowed herself to be dumped on so she could prove her love for Bobby. More importantly, she was honest with Bobby the entire way.

Do I think this was particularly believable? Probably not. I will say, though, that it was extremely well-written, gave Bobby much more depth than he previously had, and went to extraordinary lengths to prove Ari's repentence and (Gasp! Dare I suggest it?)change for the better.

Simply put, the Ari he's about to have children with is not the same person as the Ari he divorced all those years ago. And that's why the reconciliation here actually works.

I'll be damned!

This was an impressive piece of writing and my hats off to you for for pulling it off.

To me the issue is not whether not Ari EARNED the right to reconcile. Certainly by her actions and her fanatical devotion she probably did. But from my point of view... There are THREE issues which stopped me from really loving this conclusion.

The biggest problem with this ending is the use of other men hired by the Ex husband to test the wife's faithfulness and her commitment when she is on the road. Lets be clear....Bobby is in no way responsible for the reprehensible actions by Ken in using a drug and almost raping ARI.

The only person responsible for that is Ken.

But the scheme by Bobby to use of three other guys is a much more serious issue because it shows that the trust factor is still two strong. Bobby has every right to be suspicious and skeptical about what Ari is doing and he has every right to test her --- and that is THE problem with the overall reconciliation. He shouldn't have to do that yet because of her actions in the past he does have to do that.

Moroever that issue is not really talked about because of the drug and planned rape by Ken diverts attention from the serious issue.

SECOND ... I dont get Bobby's reaction upon learning that the wife has been using a therapist to develop a scheme or a angle of attack in order to reach out and reconnect with their next husband. Based upon how I read this character Bobby seems to be way to calm about it. To her credit she was open and honest about this to Bobby and that does score some points. And yeah I am sure her conversations with the therapist over the years probably revealed a lot more about herself and probably did her some good but that is a side issue.

LASTLY..as a story that attempts to force a

reconciliation no matter what the issues ...this is not a bad story and it's almost believable. For the life of me I cannot figure out why this author decided to write these three additional chapters and expand upon the original story from JPB. There are some stories from JPB hich deserve or are worthy of some sort of expansion as to what happens next but I never viewed the original ARI as one of them.

Excellent Analysis by Harry.

I admit though that if I had an ex-wife with whom I was dating again and she threw a lot of beautiful women at me. If one of them had tried drugging me in order to collect my scalp, I would have moved back to San Diego and refused any further contact with the ex-wife. The point of explosion would come before the ex could say anything, so I did not like the testing procedure that Bobby invented.... Even though he did not pay for drugs... But somehow he passed along the idea that he wanted results and when the Bishop's head is at your feet, it is too late to say you are not guilty. What if the drugs had been a bit stronger?

RAAC is usually rejected by us because it shows the guy swallowing his self esteem and taking a lot of shit in order to accept the straying wife back. But here it is the errant wife that pays any cost for the reconciliation. Is this different, or is it just the old double standard at work?

Thanks, Ohio, it was well worth your time....

Just so people know the 'name dropping' reader that for some unknown reason keeps mentioning my name on various writers stories is NOT ME or any reader or person known to me. If I wanted to self promote myself I would do so under my username not Anonymously. And the fact that somebody thinks that Ohio is me is totally laughable and ridiculous and an insult to Ohio. Sorry about this Ohio.

Outstanding story, even though I do not care about menthat take cheating whoresback, at least Bobby made the bitch suffer for ten years before taking her back.

Thanks, you really are getting pretty good at this.

it's a version of a matt monroe story, she was a whore for 4 years and he takes her back. Enough said.

Most men do not want prostitutes in their lives. Then again, I know men who live with bar whores. Take the money and run.

Well done. Your writing is smooth and clear. You present emotions well and in natural ways. I thought you did a nice job. You never really address how she changed, but that would have been a different story. It was a good decision to focus on her attempts to earn redemption.

It's sad that so few people who comment believe in redemption. I'd bet nearly all of them profess Christianity. If I'm not mistaken, confession and repentance are kind of essential.

mmmmmm, wonderful, would never have thought of this from JPB's Ari. What a gold mine if you could flesh out his short stories, I've always thought of them as 'one-liners'. Thank you again.

am with hiv on this one.

ohio presents a transformation of a sinner to saint in this case a high class company whore to a doormat. really? can we really teach old dogs new tricks?

ari's strategy based her strategy on jon's analysis that her betrayal was sexual in nature and not emotional, ergo the solution is sex and lots of it!

that is the height of psychobabble bs! what book differentiates betrayal ie sexual, emotional etc?? extending that logic, what would the solution be if it were emotional betrayal?? let's keep it simple folks. betrayal is betrayal!

so sex is the problem so sex is the solution. in fact based on the story it was literally a piece of ass- ari's ass. she proves her devotion even while cheating by not giving her ass to her customers. and like an idiot, boggy agrees and fucks her there.

bobby should have said, "whopee, you saved you ass for me. when in the first place you should have saved your pussy and mouth when we got married"

to circumvent the racc thing, ohio wrote 6 pages that span 2 years. that takes away the "reconciliation was too fast" argument and makes the wife a doormat. come on, do we really want a doormat for a wife?

so, it's neither here nor there. jpb started the story with a whore and ohio ends with a doormat. jpb left ari in a deep whole and after 2 ohio chapters, ari's still there.

you know why? she's an untrustworthy doormat!

and is there really such a thing as an ex-whore? i know for a fact there are no ex-addicts.

Slut whore woman..man made into a cuckolded wimp. Just a longer JPB clone story. Ohio needs to get a life.

Your writing is superb and you make your characters real so we care about them and their foibles. You have few peers but none better.

She fucked around got caught and paid for it . Many years later they get back together and people hate it. SO WHAT.Deal with it or don't read this kind of story.Great job OHIO .

But the fact that you took such a shallow story to the brilliant level you did, I must take my hat off to a master storyteller...

Ohio, I think that you worked your ass off to salvage the original story. Even after Ari, pt 2, I had little confidence that I would enjoy Ari, pt 3 but I did.

Kudo's to Harry for his analysis, but the plot by Bobby to catch Ari cheating on her business trips was just plain shit. I agree with Bruce's analysis of that.

On the other hand, there was a whole hell of a lot a "pain" to go around here. I am not certain how much retribution and hurt it takes to cleanse and redeem a cheating wife, but in this story, there was a lot of suffering on both sides. Maybe they could start again? It's Ohio's story and he mixes it up a bit. He doesn't always get them back together in the end. With him it's not about a "RAAC" or a "torch the bitch" ending. It is almost always about writing a good story.

Even though I still think that a reconciliation was a little far fetched, I enjoyed the story and appreciated Ohio's efforts.

Ohio create magic in this story. I usually do not like forgive and forget. But this story is an exception. The effort and sufferring that Ari put in is unbelievable. She is truly regret her past action. It is surely LOVE and not OBSESSION.

He finds that he hasn't gotten over Ari. And he doesn't have the luxury of sitting back with clear mind without emotions and thinking through how to resolve his problem. Meanwhile Ari is doing everything she can to open up communication with Bobby, and she will likely make some mistakes.

The story moves from back in communication -- lunches, a dinner or 3, movies and concerts -- to the resumption of sex. It is no surprise that the good times and good sex is scary for Bobby. Then, as is to be expected, came several major stumbling blocks. The first was the travel with her job. Bobby on the surface handles the travel issue very well BUT underneath the surface he is confronted big time with the trust issues again. We may not like his "testing" Ari but it is Bobby's call and what he reasoned he needed to do.

I was impressed with Ari's handling the drugging. I thought for sure ohio was throughing in a cheap road block to reconcilliation. Not so. Her reaction and action was brilliant. Ari rightfully checked out with Bobby whether or not he had anything to do with the drugging. Both were pissed and neither made a federal case out of it -- although some readers did.

I thought Bobby's reaction to learning that the wife has been using a therapist to coach her in reaching out to reconnect with Bobby was as could be expected. Using a therapist as a coach actually was far smarter than using a friend as so many of us in stories and real life find out.

I disagree with the reader who referred to this as "a story that attempts to force a reconciliation no matter what the issues" I see this as a story that moves 2 people through a process that resulted in a difficult and unlikely reconcilliation. And while some of JPB's other stories may have been "more worthy" of 2 additional chapters, JPB's Ari does give one of the more challenging backgrounds for reconcilliation. As I remarked at the end of chapter 2, I didn't think I could get over what Ari had done with Charlie. Yet at the end I was happy for both of them.

In ohio's previous story there was no reconcilliation even though the circumstances weren't as severe. It is worthy of note that the characters in this story were far more sophisticated than those in The Surrogate. Ari was far more committed as well. The Surrogate woman may have 'wanted' it as much or more but she was not nearly as well positioned for full commitment -- money, training, intelligence, etc. -- as Ari.

Another major stumbling block to reconcilliation turned out to be the key to their reconcilliation. Bobby couldn't get it up with Ari but could with other women as evidenced by his sex with Rachel. The "device" that ohio used to restore Bobby and Ari's relationship was an extremely clever ploy and was what it took for Bobby to be restored to his former self-image as a man. I want to cheer him 'taking her ass' as his own. I guess you could say she "took one for the team."

Bobby didn't have a therapist coaching him but he did have someone, his brother, who was more interested in Bobby's happiness than in Bobby doing what the brother thought he should do. He looked from 'Was Bobby going to be happier with Ari or without her.' Such macho bullshit as "is he a wimp" or other similar questions never entered into the brother or sister-in-law's thinking.

Thanks, ohio. I thoroughly enjoyed both chapters.

In general, I can't see getting back together after the kind of things she did. Some things are just unfixable. But this story comes about as close as you can come to making a good case for it. It was well thought out, well paced. and welll written. It was mostly believable. I even liked the shrink. I had some problems reading through ch. 2 but by the end, those had been addressed, although I am still a skeptic. In the end you have to just accept a few pieces for it all to work out but I can manage that. Doing that, it was a wonderful piece of story telling. <br><br>

So, to my observations. First, this overall story was about 2 different women. The Ari of parts 2 and 3 is an amazing woman. Sexy, smart, interesting, rational, understanding,... almost an ideal woman. The Ari in ch. 1 was a self centered, self delusional whore. Consider her rationalization, continued by Ohio, that her fucking around was business and she had told Bobby she wasn't quitting her job so fucking around was OK. That is blatantly untrue. First her sex relationship with her boss was VERY carefully managed so it WASN'T a part of her job. Ari wanted to make sure of that before it started and long before Bobby was in the picture. Second, her fucking of clients wasn't necessary, as was mentioned by her boss and as was proved when she changed jobs and was doing just as well without fucking anyone. She was fucking these people because she enjoyed it and, for the clients, it provided a slight greasing of the skids. So if all this wasn't really "business" her rationalization falls apart. She didn't place her marriage 2nd. She placed it 3rd after HERSELF, and her job. She was fucking these guys because she WANTED to, like most cheaters. It had very little to do with business. She was selfish and self delusional. <br><br>

Then she gets caught and suddenly she is not. The rational and emotionally aware person in chapters 2 and 3 could NOT have cheated on Bobby. She couldn't have told herself such self serving lies. The NEW Ari was needed to build this amazing reconciliation but there was no transition. She was just new and improved. <br><br>

The other thing is that Ari is rather obsessed with Bobby. She desperately wants her marriage back. She is rational about how hard that might be but ...... How many people going through the trauma of their experiences would come out the other side as the same people? As I point out, Ari is a "new" woman. Bobby is very different as well. So the perfect marriage that she is remembering is unlikely to be rebuilt. As ch. 3 goes along, Bobby shows how unlikely she is to truly get the old marriage back. Bobby has anger, lack of trust, and is not willing to be faithful to her. Because of the great writing I can almost believe they got to where they did. Almost, but not quite. These are different people and I can't accept that things came together so well. The original damage was too great. Some other great stories have gotten to this point and mention that the husband still has trust issues long after they get back together. That's what people are really like. Ari got her beautiful life back. That's nice. It's just a bit too perfect.

I don't give out many 5 star ratings but this story got one. Very well done.

I was a little disappointed after chapter two. I thought that was it. But today, seeing chapter three, I couldn't wait. Thoroughly well spent the past hour. Thank you very much, Ohio. Well done!

Liked the story, disagree with the premise and the conclusion. I liked the story in that it was pretty well-written and it was original, at least as much as a continuation story can be original. But I agree with lots of others that the likelihood of Bobby's taking Ari back, despite all the nuances that Ohio put in this story, is really far-fetched.

In real life, Bobby would have found someone else and not just a pretty face. He was a smart and deep enough person that after rebounding, I'm sure he would have looked for another soul mate. The idea that there can be only one such in this world just doesn't compute. If a person is somewhat flexible and adaptable, he/she can be compatible with lots of other partners, and I mean in the real sense, not just the "benefits" sense.

I know Ari proved herself and withstood lots of "tests" but the trust issue is something that would probably always persist under the surface, poisoning the kind of relationship that Bobby really deserves. Just as a woman can't be "a little bit pregnant," she either is or she is not, I believe a cheater can revert as quickly as a quitting smoker lights up again. A fight, a temptation, and there it goes again.

I also disliked the drugging episode. Were I tested in that fashion, I would have never forgiven the individual who set the wheels in motion, even if that person had not intended it to pan out that way. Ari seems as another said, a doormat and how would Bobby respect her, how can she ever be anything to him other than continuously apologizing and eating crow for the remainder of their second relationship?

Consider me surprised. I think she actually earned redemption.

Some random things I noticed.

Bobby believes Ari too easily. After such a huge betrayal, after all the pain he has gone through, when they meet again, Bobby immediately trusts her on her word.

"Trying to smile I said, "would it be okay if I corrected that to EX-corporate whore?"

He laughed and said, "correction noted."

Has Bobby been checking up on her? Have her followed? Why does he immediately believe Ari when she says she is NOT a corporate whore anymore? This rings false. Given their past he would not have believed her just like that.

Bobby sending guys to seduce her. That was indeed a plain shitty thing to do. Have her followed? Hell yes. But have guys seduce her? WTF?! What if one of those guys had succeeded? It'd be like he got caught in his own trap. He set her up, and was playing mindgames. THAT stunt should've earned him a slap in the face. Dude, NOT DONE.

I DO have to admit that it would be difficult for Bobby to know what to do. It's like he said, if Ari wanted to fuck around, she'd find a way to do it, job or not, he can't have her watched 24/7. Making her quit would not have stopped her if she WANTED to cheat, and the paranoia would've been hell, for both of them.

If he were still that distrustful of her, he should've taken a step back in the relationship, and not get that deeply committed that quickly.

As for the impotence and the anal thing... that comes back to my first point. Why does Bobby believe Ari when she says nobody but him has had her ass? Because she said so? Because she said she'd never lie to him again? He never wondered or doubted whether she was telling the truth about that.

Anyway, that was all, I think. Jeez, I'm still surprised that I think Ari's done enough to redeem herself...

Remembered this JUST after I hit the Post Comment button.

The marriage and the relationship itself would never be like the old one again. Especially regarding trust. There will always, always be that nagging feeling of doubt in Bobby. It'll never be the same...But that's what you get after cheating, I guess.

I think you've achieved two things simultaneously here, Ohio. <p>

One, the story about redemption was well told, with humor, tragedy, sadness, reflection, and all sorts of self-inflicted trials and tribulations. Actually, in most stories of this length, where the author actually DOES want to write a story for the sake of writing a story --- and not so much for, say, the average Literotica reader to masturbate with --- we usually get some or a lot of tragedy, sadness, violence, reflection, sex, etc. <p>

But it is the SECOND, concomitant point here that really made the first point above here worked really well in THIS STORY of yours: <p>

THIS STORY worked well because it has a certain SURREAL ROBOTIC, COLD, & SELF-ANALYTIC feature to it, ON THE WRITER's part. That is, you SEEMED to write THIS STORY, for this genre (about sex and family and cheating and attempts at redemption, both for real and not-so-real), SEEMINGLY as a BLUE PRINT for HOW to write, or not to write, this kind of story, in this genre. <p>

That is to say, it came off like a script --- a SCRIPT --- that has been revised over and over again, to make sure no matter who the LEAD ACTOR IS, if they're good actor, they could easily play it BELIEVABLY. <p>

To me, that takes GOOD THINKING on the AUTHOR's part. <p>

"Ari" is a character, and it is NOT even one or your original creation --- and as I said, I didn't read JPB's original story so I don't know whether you deviate from it and, if so, by how much.... but I like YOUR take on the "Ari" character. She reminded me of the character "DATA" in "Star Trek The Next Generation": to me DATA is not only a SCRIPTEDLY interesting character (very well scripted, that is) but Brent Spiner, the actor who played it, also PLAYED IT incredibly well: he is MORE HUMAN than most human, in my way of thinking, yet he could never be sure, in his circuitry brain, because he could do anything we humans could do but do it better, faster, and more efficiently, without any effort, whether calculating billions of calculations per second, or running faster than a cheetah, or effortlessly lifting something so heavy, it'd crush dozens of men... <p>

I am not saying "Ari" is exactly like DATA; but I am saying she --- this fictional character you build upon --- reminds me of that fictional character: it/she's able to analyze things clearly (AFTER her divorce and came to understand her the heineous nature of her actions, actions towards someone she truly loved and someone who truly loved her in return, that is) but she's never sure how the data/information or analysis really works in the real world, with people... <p>

Again, this kind of tweaking with character development --- the ability to find a way to make a marginal/trashy/average character valuable and interesting and introspective and vulnerable simultaneously.... THAT takes some creativity on the AUTHOR's part. <p>

So, well done. Very well done, indeed.

did a great job. He can flat out write. No one can deny that. This was very well done. My only problem is that readers that hate reconciliation seem to accept it if the cheating wife suffers for at least three years, or longer. That seems to be a sub-formula we find in LW stories. If she suffers long enough and bad enough, the readers accept reconciliation. I have always wondered why the cheated spouse can not love the person enough to forgive them sooner, or never forgive them. This woman shit all over the guy. In my reality, the husband will consider one of the remaining 300 million available women on the planet and forgo this one. Or he just mans up, realizes he loves her too much to let her go..which is unlikely as well. My question? Why is reconciliation only acceptable after years of suffering? Don't both spouses miss a lot of life that way? Great job, my Buckeye Buddy!

This is one of the best stories I have read on this site. Thanks for sharing.

Ah what a saga. I loved the gentle slow pace. Wow! I was amazed at how this author could sustain the even progression of telling Ari's ups and downs, while still maintaining tension throughout. Very clever...brilliant. My enjoyment was tempered though, with the author rewarding a calculating manipulator with ultimate happiness. Redemption did not cover all of Ari's sins. Further, Bobby's character ultimately became one dimensional, almost pathetic (despite all the author's and Ari's ego boosting seductions) because of the relentless manipulation. And yet I got it! The FUN of the story was the over the top manipulation. Yet in a story that was so character driven, the reader wants to love and respect all characters. In the end, I did not respect either Bobby or Ari enough. Liked them, yes! This was a minor bete noir of mine. Overall wonderful! Thank you for your efforts Ohio I liked your storytelling!

One of your best stories ever ! So good for you to be able to take JPB's short tale and turn it into a proper saga !

Excellent !

You and mouse-bang stang wrote almost the same premise; Slut wife just gotta get claws back into some poor dumb schlub one last time! At least yours wasn't stupid, and was believable. I actually managed to not skim over too much of it, and in general; pretty much enjoyed the story, even though sick, sordid ending was predictable. Bottom line is that you did not improve on JPB's story or the ending at all. FWIW I give this shit(albeit well written) story a two, which is one more than I gave to the other long winded ball buster. Hopefully you've gotten your RAAC out of your system, and will resume the testosterone replacement shots before writing any more "bitch stuff."

Fives all the way for this very good chapter. I'm so glad that the story was finished.

Thanks Ohio, I loved the way this story went.

GenghisKhan:

If I understand you correctly, Ari is constantly thinking: "What would a human do in this situation?"

Weird, I think I see where you're coming from. Ari doesn't really seem to understand that her actions could (and have) hurt people, and it actually has to be explained to her by her shrink, and her friend...

Harddaysknight:

To your comment in general, we would not have a story.

For reconciliation to be possible, the author has to SHOW that the wife is repentant, and has to SHOW that she won't do it again. And for that, time is needed.

If the cheated spouse practically immediately takes back the cheater, it simply leaves a sense of dissatisfaction.

"He got suckered. He's a willing cuckold now. It's only a matter of time before she cheats again."

If he takes her back immediately, why did he get angry in the first place? That would come over like a childish temper tantrum. It just sends out the message, to the wife and the readers, that cheating is no big deal.

(Now that I mention this, it would be interesting to read a story where the husband quickly takes back the cheating wife, but with her discovering that he has become utterly paranoid, has her followed and checks up on her all the time. He has taken her back, but at the cost of his trust.)

For the other take, that the cheated spouse simply moves on and never has contact with the ex-wife again, there would be little to the story. Actually, I think there are plenty of stories like that.

"Wife cheats. Husband finds out. Big confrontation. Wife is kicked to the curb. The end."

In these stories the husbands supposedly move on, and find happiness after the ending. It's simply not written. The meat of the story would be about finding out, and then dealing with the cheating wife. Not about the aftermath.

Ultimately a failure, perhaps destined to be so due to the original crappy story. Trying to rehabilitate the characters didn't work because the redemption seemed born of convenience and selfishness rather than personal growth.

To men, their self image prevents them from seeing themselves as so hopelessly unattractive that they cannot get a decent woman and are forced to take back a whore. Story makes no sense to ladies because they cannot fathom expending that amount of effort for an unattractive loser guy. Stick to writing new material w/o the constraints of characters and situations people cannot identify with.

Major success.

What makes this story work is Ari's repentance. Contrition is a feeling of crushing remorse. Acts of repentance are the outward and visible signs of the inward and invisible feeling of contrition. Ari works to prove herself worthy. Long, difficult, emotional work without the guarantee of success is a statement of abiding love. She takes the risk that Bobby could reject the years of effort she has invested. He recognizes that risk, and he experiences Ari's repentance. His foregiveness and reconciliation are results of her repentance. A story very well told, ohio.

It is no wonder that Ari grew through this process, and became the woman of Bobby's dreams.

I particularly like the inclusion of Bobby's supportive family. Perhaps ohio could consider writing an ending to The Troubador's "How High a Price" or nici's "Something We Have to Talk About" or Agena's "A Joke" where strong families are properly involved in the resolution -- be it reconciliation or divorce -- and future relationship within the families.

I can see why a lot of people commented the way they did. Ari basically didn't quite work for me. So much in love with her perfect husband, but still willing to have a lover and be a whore for him. I just doesn't compute to most of us and I think that is natural. I am glad they got back together, because I am not one of those "torch the bitch" types and everyone makes mistakes.

Okay to put it mildly, Fuck the dumb shit, this story is great! There are two things I look at in a story, #1, did I enjoy reading it. Yep and #2 did it touch me or move me in some way, yep. No matter where it came from or what the characters did, this was a great story on it's own from a master of great stories.

After that let's look at the fact that I admit that I'm in the minority, I've often admitted that though I don't care for a lot of his stories, I'm a big fan of JPB's work.

I have never seen anyone actually finish one of JPB's stories and have it hold a candle to the original. Usually they come out over the top revenge stories or just someone trying to make a point. Maybe it's just that it takes a master to complete something started by one. This is the rare case where the ending, both parts, fit so perfectly with the source material that it lifts the entire story to a new place. Ohio's 2 part ending actually makes the whole story better. Why must we over analyze everything? Why can't we just tell the truth. I read it I loved it, I'm jealous that I didn't write it. Great job by a master of great stories....Nuff said.

Harddaysknight writes:

My question? Why is reconciliation only acceptable after years of suffering? Don't both spouses miss a lot of life that way?

Mousse9 responds:

If the cheated spouse practically immediately takes back the cheater, it simply leaves a sense of dissatisfaction.

I'm not sure that answers the question, "Why is reconciliation only acceptable after years of suffering?" And I don't understand who has the 'sense of dissatisfied.' Is it the husband who is dissatisfied? Is it the reader or perhaps the next door neighbor. Who is left with a sense of dissatisfaction?

As I understand HDK, the question is 'is it possible to reconcile with less time apart.' Maybe years of suffering is required for the cuckhold to be sure that she will never cheat again. Even then he can never be certain. Not with the reconciled wife or a new wife.

HDK seems to be alluding to the premise that after a cooling off period the husband could, if he chose to, actually opt to trust the wife again based on reason, his gut feeling, or pure choice. Unfortunately this would take communication which is usually missing between the husband and wife and often the source of the originating problem.

The torch the bitch folks would certainly have a sense of dissatisfaction but the humanists might have a sense of satisfaction. It is true that kindness and a big heart aren't characteristics found in most males in cheating wife stories. Nor does kindness seem to be a characteristic of most readers of CW stories. Kindness gets equated with being a wimp. Cruelty and hate apparently are the attributes most admired by torch the bitch folks.

I am not impressed that there is no pride in the woman who gives everything or the Man who seems to only take. Screwing another woman, not checking out his so-called male testers of his woman.

From what I read she is grovelling and he is an asshole.

Steve

I like the good succesfull reconcilation stories as well (I am a revenge story fan). Sometimes the children's interest wishes a honest (it is very important honest) reconcilation. Ohio wrote earlier a excellent reconcilation story, where a the husband was succesful to break off his wife's affair for his children well of. One of daughters got leukemia and it was important a whole family, that his daughter does not give up the struggle against to the illnes. (Visiting Richard Greinier)

Here a earlier unfaithfull wife fights back her spouse.

I think a part of the people can learn of their mistakes. (another part can not learn) Ari could not find a other true mate for her and she belong to being able to learn people group. Ohio's story is so good, that I do not want to read the original JPB's. I confess sometime I read one-one JPB story, but I become nervous after it. I know from the comments JPB does not like to end his stories, but his opinion about the women is very pessimistic, look at: Older Sluts.

Some commenters said something here about the revenge stories, therefore I read a little pro the revenge stories:

The revenge stories is a new genre accross the stories, because during thousands years the writers have writen pro cheaters stories only (from Boccaccio to Thomas Mann). The male centered world the cuckold was humorous character. The female equity turned up the roles and the male and female have become same responsible for the mariage and the children well of in the Western Culture. I think this is and the possibilty of the divorce (in Ireland also there is divorce law) may be deep background of the revenge stories. In majority of the divorce the husbands lost their children notwihstand cheating wife, they havet to pay much alimony notwithstand ....., etc. The husbands could get some recompense from the writers with smart revenge (I do not like murder, violance). It is a big helper the almost 100% DNA test because we male people became responsible for our sperm cells. Sometime the old Roman Law Rule "The Mother is sure" is not true: Genetic Mother and Birth Mother.

The smart revenge stories are a very new issue in the litereture. Thank you for the inventor(s).

Ari betrayed her husband with uncountable men during first marriage and I do not wonder Bobby tried Ari with difficult tests befor ask for a newer wedding. They did not start equal in this new connection, because of the serial cheating. Something so reconcilation is very seldom event in the life.

I've never known a woman who would persevere like Ari. Most would have given up and moved one once the thing with Rachel restarted.

Very enjoyable story, though.

"I'm not sure that answers the question, "Why is reconciliation only acceptable after years of suffering?" And I don't understand who has the 'sense of dissatisfied.' Is it the husband who is dissatisfied? Is it the reader or perhaps the next door neighbor. Who is left with a sense of dissatisfaction?"

I meant the reader. You should've gotten that from the context.

"The torch the bitch folks would certainly have a sense of dissatisfaction but the humanists might have a sense of satisfaction. It is true that kindness and a big heart aren't characteristics found in most males in cheating wife stories. Nor does kindness seem to be a characteristic of most readers of CW stories. Kindness gets equated with being a wimp. Cruelty and hate apparently are the attributes most admired by torch the bitch folks."

By humanists you mean the RAAC crowd? That's a very clever choice of words, implying that torch the bitch folks are somehow NON human. I can see how you can manipulate people into believing that Debbie from WWWM is a saint.

You are mistaking codependency and willing cuckolding with kindness and a big heart.

If someone steals from you, would you immediately invite him to your house again, and leave him alone to steal? Don't mistake stupidity for kindness.

Foolishness and blind, undeserved devotion apparently are the attributes most admired by you.

Again and again you prove that you have a great fetish for slut wives and willing cuckold husbands, and deeply dislike it when the husbands stand up for themselves, calling them hateful and cruel, when it is the cheating wives who are the hateful and cruel ones.

Even by the premise of the original story by JPB, with the wife cheating on her husband for their entire marriage, the husband is not kind and does not have a big heart because he cannot handle her cheating?

If the situation were reversed, with the husband cheating and the wife kicking him out, would you call her cruel and hateful? Ofcourse not, if he cheats, it's his fault, if she cheats, it's his fault. You see this double standard as a law. Given that fact, it would be impossible to argue about cheating, because it'd be unequal for the genders. Never allowed for men, and not a big deal, always forgiven for women.

And yeah, I'm wasting my time arguing.

In my opinion it's stupid to argue with the author whether the hero should or shouldn't have taken her back. Guys, it doesn't besmirch your honor if someone writes a story about reconciliation. If you believe it's unlikely for her to change, point it out. The least you can say about this story is that the wife paid her dues. By the way, the author, who wrote the story, claims that she didn't whore it around after she lost her marriage, yet some will argue, as if this were real life and not a story, and that they somehow know what she really did. Stupid.

You are right. Somebody who is humanic does not mean he/she does not like revenge stories. I wrote in many comments, the World turned up, because the male famele responsibilty became aqual for the family (and the children well of). The smart revenge stories show this role change. Until the XX Century the women were second state in the family with alcoholic, cruel,very old, etc husbands and the sympathy of the writers was understandable about the cheating wives (from Boccaccio to Thomas Mann). I am a revenge story fan, but I do not like the wife murder, wiolance against the wife, wife selling to Central American Whorehouse, as revenge story. I prefer the very smart husband characters for example from Beermaker: Dawn A cheating Slut Wife, Stangstar06: Back on the Block, or that story in which the smart husband with the family moved from California to Texas because of the fault divorce law and he earned the children custody , etc... There are many excellent without violance revenge stories, for example JPB wrote some good stories (however without epiloge or with sad lonely exhusbands).

But sometimes forgiveness is required. This woman was dedicated to changing her own outlook on life for the benefit of the man she loved. Seven years is a long time to continually try to make things right. I guess for me I won't torch her because she accepted responsibility and went to great efforts to mitigate the pain she caused.

The time involved and her dedication actually can be looked at as an honor toward the ex-husband. I don't believe that this one will ever cheat again, In my lifetime, I have seen people do some dumb things, realize they acted stupidly toward others and changed their behavior. It is not common, but it does happen. I think these two will be fine.

Thank you for the story it was a good read as always.

Like many readers, I wondered if a reconciliation was possible. Every page I envisioned bumps in the road. You did a great job to make it believable and your writing is, as always, great. Thanks for the story!

I've looked up "humanist", and a humanist is an adherent to "humanism". This is from Wikipedia:

"Humanism is a comprehensive life stance that upholds human reason, ethics, and justice, and rejects supernaturalism, pseudoscience, and superstition."

Shoe says it's torch the bitch folks versus what he terms "humanists", by which he means the RAAC crowd.

RAAC, Reconciliation At All Costs. The opposite of human reason is right there in the name. At All Costs. No matter whether it is justified, or makes sense. Reason flies out the window with RAAC.

Ethics: Cheating is unethical. Enough said.

Justice: With a cheating wife, injustice has been done to the husband. By letting her cheating go without repercussions, justice has not been done. Where is the justice for the husband, who has been hurt by the wife's actions?

In short, Shoe has named the RAAC crowd (or, you know, himself) as the opposite of what they are. Don't be fooled, people.

the reader needs to read from HER PERSPECTIVE. <p>

most of us here are likely men, and we sometimes reading too much from a man's view. MOST OF US, I would argue, have NO PROBLEM if a Ari were a man character who has done the horrible wrongs she did to her husband.... but who, being a man character, regrets his actions tremendously and went a long, hard way to try to redeem himself, to woo his ex wife, to ask her to give him a second chance, to be a better person for her and for him himself... <p>

I've read plenty of such stories and I liked most of them, if they're cleverly thoughtout and written by the author... like this one, by Ohio. <p>

her, Ari is unthoughtful but capable of deep and sincere reflection and regrets... that she did it for years, even when Bob has moved on but quickly moved back in town, to try to woo him again, in a series of hilarious, sad, and haphazard ways... it shows something about her "true character." and she says: I'm not just doing this for you; I'm also doing it for myself, to prove to me that I am capable of deep love, capable of committing self-tragedy, capable of sincerity and devotion, and deserving of YOUR love... But you hold all the cards, since I threw mine away long ago... <p>

she makes both impulsive [fucking around and kept doing it even after she's married and thought nothing about how might impact her marriage] and careful decisions [dedicating herself to self-redemption, even when she knew chances of succeed were very remote; not just her thinking so but also her psychiatrist & friend telling her so; but she took that slight chance and followed it through, to the last moment and then further]... <p>

she is stupid and unthoughtful but not dumb and unthinking; she easily admits her destructive narcissism and looks for ways to improve herself, whether she has a second chance to get her man back or not... <p>

she's even a likeable one [not that you HAD to like her, no!], after you peel away all the ugly layers.... when you've done that, you see that Ari is just as capable as any of us, "in the real world," in feeling shame, in feeling regret, in having devotion & being devoted, in being capable of a deep love and wanting love in return, despite all the wrongs and ugliness she's done to those she was supposed to love and honor... <p>

in other words, Ari seems like a "real person," like many of us MORE THAN what some of us like to admit or are capable of admitting to...

the only fictional characer I've read that is supposed to be perfect is "God": this is a guy who, per the divine words he dictated on rock tablets and other writing materials during those days, created everything in the universe (and who monitors every heart beat and thoughts of every living things)... but who, per the Bible and his followers, takes credits for THE GOOD THINGS only! that SATAN, one of his creation, has gone amock, it's not his problem [even though he has absolute power in the universe: apparently he allow Satan to terrorize people to teach Liberals and others who don't worship or acknowledge him!]; that a fuckin' tsunami killed 450,000 in a few hours, not his problem.... but the few who're lucky enough to survive, THEY, those few, had to thank HIM for his benevolence and divine intervention! <p>

THAT'S truly the MOST fucked up and craziest fictional character, if ever there is one, that I've ever read on books.

Here was my suspension of disbelief problem with this story (and if you read my initial comments, you know I like this story quite a bit, despite ohio's inability to capitalize to save his life).

The testing: Now that I reflect, every single bit of it felt a bit fake and off.

The second wife riding him in public before dinner, visibly. WAY over the top.

Showing his wife pictures of Rachael. Way over the top

Mostly: sending men to seduce her. Women's sexuality doesn't work on the 'he's cute. Let's fuck' level. Not really. MEN work like that. Women go for status, confidence, money, and yes, maybe being broad shouldered.

And as Ari herself said: It wasn't about the money. She was always described as career driven, willing to put out that 'extra effort' to get, not only the client, but to rape the client financial as she herself got screwed.

None of that applied to Ari as restaurant habitue. The only thing that redeemed that idea was if Bob was smart enough to realize that. Looking at his other tests, he probably wasn't.

Still, I read that section and I rolled my eyes.

Still liked it though. Even if you can't capitalize

From Wikipedia:

"Humanism is an approach in study, philosophy, or practice that focuses on human values and concerns. In philosophy and social science, humanism is a perspective which affirms some notion of human nature, and is contrasted with anti-humanism.[citation needed] Secular Humanism is a secular ideology which espouses reason, ethics, and justice,..."

********

You omited the qualifier, "Secular", when you cited Wikipedia's definition of "Humanism." By extension, reason, ethics and justice are beliefs of secular humanists. Using the made-up a word, humanist, my intent was refer to a humanist as one who practices or believes in human values and concerns as applies treatment of spouses guilty of infidelity/adultary.

You, sir, seem to have confused *secular humanism,* with humanism.

Further more I don't see how you can say or insinuate that I'm an advocate of RAAC. Evidence that your insinuations are not true are this comment I made after reading ohio's Ari Ch. 02: "...there is no way in hell I would take her back after she continued to sport fuck her boss and suck him off every time he wanted to get his rocks off." I commented at the end of this chapter: "....I didn't think I could get over what Ari had done with Charlie"

I do believe you may be mistaking my humanistic approach to dealing with spouses who have been faithful for years only to have an affair as being RAAC.

I particularly feel badly for women such as the character Debbie in WWWM. Debbie was a victim of statuatory rape over 20 times before she was 15. This had to abnormally influence her thoughts and feelings about herself as a sexual being. Ari didn't have nearly as traumatic a past but she also had exposure to an abnormal family during one of the most influential time of her life, her teens.

I might not be able to forget and may not be able to continue being married to them but I hope I would be able to forgive women of these kinds of backgrounds. Certainly revenge, punishment and vindictive treatment is inhumane and IMNSHO not appropriate behavior.

Much of the behavior advocated in comments is neither humanistic nor secular humanistic. It is just down right mean and cruel.

"and is there really such a thing as an ex-whore? i know for a fact there are no ex-addicts."

Are there ex-husbands? How about ex-policemen or ex-Nuns or ex-cons?

1. I do not understand some people. Yes some time the forgivigness is not a symbol the weakness. However the forgivigness it not limitless.

2. I am a revenge story fan and I know many and many revenge stories (not every it) and I think majority of these stories do not consist of cruel and violance. I do not like the violance stories . I think many author to help the reader's knowlege/mood write a little violance because to show the consequence of the violance. DGHear is an excellent story, where the husband got jailhouse punishment, but the exhusband rebuild his life.

3. I like very much the smart husbands (or lawyer) stories, where they not only ethical winner in the stories, but they gets the children custody, much money compensation not DNA test proof children, much money compensation from compnies, wife's family, friends, neighbors, colleugue, etc. are showed gang bang events by DVD (JPB has a excellent story), E-mail, to use special electric shock instrument instead of gun. I think to show people the revenge not only murder, it is important.

4. End of the XIX Century and end of the fragile women. The women are equal with us males and they are equal responsible for the family, children and the marriage. However the violated women will get the sympathy from me.

Ari tried change her mind, mood, to get beck Bobby and she could prove this. In this story she went away last thing to prove her could be a faithful and she got my sympathy. (Bobby may has DNA tests made secretly for last try)

Against a JPB's story wife who after the reconcilation (begining of their marriage) she confesses herself loves his husband but she will allways do affairs secretly as well.

Good story. One of the best in a while. JPB has about 600 more stories that need to be finished.

Sensably done and well-drawn characters. Thanks for an excellect story.

Thorough, thoughtful, complete - I loved it the tensions remained and the challenges continued.

Ari dedicated herself completely to one end when it was possible and made it work through patience and love and hard work, she earned her second chance. She also grew up and developed as a human being - it is far less likely she would ever revert than most of the women written about in these stories - she identified her demons, and moved past them. She also was intelligent enough and logical enough to avoid the hypocritical mistakes and rolled with the punches she knew she deserved.

Really - really nice work thank you -

I've read probably dozens of follow-ups to JPB stories, but I don't think any of them followed quite this pattern. Many, many of his stories have the slut crying and begging the guy to stay, "please baby, it's you I love....only you". You get my thought, I'll bet. And, some of them have the guy doing the planning for revenge, or getting back together, or whatever. But your Ari's single-minded determination literally knocked my friggin' socks off! Dude, you can write a cheating wife story with the absolute best, and definitely better than 99% of them out there, but this story is "ohio" storytelling at it's best. Great job, and thanks!!!!!

DC

Well done, thanks for the effort. Your follow up chapters of JPB's Ari are a story to behold.

and I loved the comments. You had to have known you would get many! That was your real genius. You wrote a story that would have everyone involved. Actually though, Stang Star voiced the opinion that I really have on every story.

My comment now on the fiction Ohio wrote.

I thought Bobby came off as the bad guy in chapter 3. He was a cheating and evil asshole and he made his former wife look good! To me...he got his revenge in divorcing her and marrying Laura. Story ends until the writer shows us Bobby wasn't so righteous and good, and the "Former" wife wasn't so bad!

After all that had occurred, his "former" wife was willing to grovel to get him back. Proving repeatedly that she had changed and was now a better person. In his righteousness, Bobby continued to treat her like a lowlife slut. Why do so when he could have just moved on again? Why did he degrade himself like that after having been so perfectly righteous in the first chapter?

Like someone else said, "Why not forgive her earlier if you are still interested in her?" At the first I thought he was not a wimp...just an unwilling Cuck. Now he is a wimp in chapter 3 because he wants her, but yet he has to test her repeatedly to justify his taking her back. Poor, poor, pitiful Bobby took years to get over his hurt feelings. Of course, in the meantime she is working hard to win his trust, groveling before him repeatedly when she could have had hundreds of better men than he had become!

It kinda appeared to me that he was a male slut after his marriages. Can men be sluts? Oh of course not, right guys?

She was a cheating slut during their marriage but what did he become after the 2nd divorce? Oh, I forgot, he had a right everyone says because his feelings were still hurt 4-5 years later? Like the torchers say: Why would he want her back if his feelings were so hurt by the deceit and lies that he just couldn't get over it? So at heart maybe he was a both a cuckold and finally, a cruel, but loving wimp?

I actually liked the story a lot my fellow readers and Authors. I just wanted to throw in a long comment too...Sorry.

One of the best stories I've read!!!

It was boring. Long winded and boring. Well written though, as is standard for this writer.

Bit disappointing.

so sluts do have feelings after all

is being stupid really being dumb/ TK U MLJ LV NV

The initial story by JPB was not worth this much effort and, in my opinion, not worth more than another very short chapter.

The biggest problem I had with chapter 3 was it took 7 years and it just went on and on and on. It became boring and I skipped almost half and should have skipped more.

To use so much talent and effort on a basically poor story seems to be such a waste and primarily the reason I only gave it 3 stars.

comment from DWannabe.

Who has never dared to post a word of his own.

Sick wannabe fucker. Bet he's a virgin.

Great reconciliation story. I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks a lot for your effort and keep up the great work. ^__^

Reading JPB's story for Ari made me hate her so much and even in your story I was highly displeased with her initially but you gradually pulled me toward rooting for her. She made horrible decisions and you displayed the guilt she felt over them and love she held for Bobby in true sincerity. I'm getting all gushy like a woman now damn you big O damn your nefarious story telling ability. Much love and keep up the great writing big O........(insert usual dribble about typing this on an iPhone that screws my spelling)

Why did you turn Bobby into a wimp...I am so disappointed. JPB made it very clear what disrespect Ari had for Bobby, and you write a 2 part story how she planned and worked with her shrik to get him back. JPB gave Bobby some balls, why did you cut them off? I don't get it.

I was very pleased to see you with a new story. I love the way you develop your characters and the psychological resolve of the plot. I hope I will see more of yours writing soon.

Thank you for your effort.

.. NOW GO FUCK YOURSELF OHIO ... JUST LIKE ARI FUCKED BOBBI .. OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND OVER .... ASSHOLE!!

and a snake can eat his own tail. TK U MLJ LV NV

Some excellent writers write fabula=fable. This Ohio story is fable. A fable with human charcters are minimum 2 meanings. The faithfulness biological function is to sure the good background for the children growing up. The felide animals as male cats kill the not sired kitties. Also a slut wife (or a serial cheate husband) is not the best background for the children.

More exactly explanation Ohio's story's second meaning: Who wants to bring up not DNA proof children=bastards? How many % of the husbands? A husband could not hope 100% the children are from him, if his wife was slut, whore, bitch....

While ohio does write a lot of RAAC stories, I don't quite see this as one of those at all. If that old girl didn't wade clean through that proverbial "swamp full of feces" to regain his trust in her, I've never read a better case for it. Ohio does indeed deserve real praise for the way he finish off JPB's tale. I gave it a well-deserved FIVE!

For all those out there who can't bear to be in a relationship unless they are in charge so they'll never get hurt, this was a powerful story about letting go of control, being vulnerable and reaping the benefits of the power of love - no guarantees, really painful when it goes wrong but absolutely wonderful when it works.

Simple, fool me once shame on you. There won't be a second time.

and his DNA ranting, every goldang story I read there he is with half a dozen comments, jeebus wept I swear

Well done. You are a very good writer.

The biggest achievement (and there were many) you accomplished was fleshing out the Ari character. The Ari of JPB seemed to have such a disconnect with morality and normal human behavior. You did your best to explain that.

She still comes off as a disturbingly other-than-human character. She has this need to love, and be loved-particularly with Bobby. And, she seems to have real remorse-though seemingly only for hurting and losing Bobby, not for her horrible behavior, her betrayal of her marriage vows. Another commentor mentioned that she seemed like DATA from Star Trek, SNG. I agree. She seems human in many ways, but disconnected from the human condition of 99% of the rest of us (at least). She is able and willing to put up with so much, and she is bothered not in the slightest by engaging in behavior that most would be disgusted by. Her single-mindedness and endurance is amazing. Her rationality and pragmatism are surpassed only by her inability to understand or sympathize with the deeper emotional experiences of her fellow human beings. In short, she is a sociopath. Maybe not a malicious one; but, asside from her single-minded love for Bobby, she seems to have no deeper emotional life of any kind. I think creating her that way (and that was your doing, Ohio) was the only way to make the reconciliation between Bobby and Ari possible (in any satisfactory way, that is). Ari is therefore the most interesting character I have ever read on this site.

Two disconnects stand out, however. The first is from the JPB version. Ari wanted to keep her activities from Bobby's knowledge. She knew, though perhaps could not relate to or appreciate the depth of, the hurt that he would feel if he found out about her slutting it up with her boss and others. And, she was obviously extremely intelligent. So, why in God's name would she do it with the boss after Bobby went to sleep. I mean, slipping out of bed in the middle of the night and going down the hall to fuck the boss with hubby a few rooms away? That is temping fate and just plain stupid. But, you could do nothing about that, Ohio. However, it made the Ari of the first story a little incongruent with the Ari you created. The second thing that stuck in my craw, and another commenter brought it up, was her assertion during the divorce negotiations when she allowed Bobby to keep the bulk of the money, that "this was never about the money." I thought it was. If it wasn't, then what the fuck was it about? I had the impression that she did what she did because of the money (at least with the customers). I get that she enjoyed what she and her boss did-she liked the simplicity of the fuck and suck relationship. But, I got the impression that she could have easily given it up, and in fact did after the discovery without a second thought and temporarily without complaint whenever the boss got serious with a new gal. Did she mean that she whored herself out because she needed to relive in a way the abuse she suffered (with Mom's consent and approval) as a young teen, a sort of twisted therapy with her in control (and with the necessary rewards for her doing the deed)? I wish that had been explained better. Because I was left the the impression that she lied to Bobby about it not being about the money. And that begged the question: why would she lie? It also would have been something Bobby wouldn't want to hear (the obvious implication would be that she did it for the thrill of doing it, because Bobby wasn't enough for her, etc.-that would haunt him, making reconciliation and regaining of trust impossible, it would seem).

Anyway, those are minor points (one of which you could do nothing about). Well done, Ohio.

and the 2 contestants are pride and heartache. TK U MLJ LV NV

Just another good old cream eater tale of wimperlization of hubby. lol !!!!

You are really pathetic sorry excuses for men.

This woman was a despicable whore.

The key word is "was".

What you are all now is bitter intolerant bastards.

You must be lonely as hell as no one worth having is going to want to be anywhere close to you.

And it went into much more detail than Just Plain Bobs tale. Actually ohio did such a good job that Bob ought to thank ohio for bringing the idea to fruition.

"How could I possibly thank him for all that he'd done for me?" Am I the only one to find this remark unsettling. Sounds like the corporate whore didn't really retire, she just went into private practice. Thanks for sharing, ohio, your ending was every bit as enigmatic as JPB's.

Babylonian for cuckold

I liked JPB's story, I loved your completion of it. There may be niggling little details that could be improved, but the bottom line is that in all it was a very good story.

...is not "How could I possibly thank him for all that he'd done for me?" It's "And I wondered what kind of present I could buy for Jon Erickson, how I could possibly thank him for all that he'd done for me." She's talking about buying him a gift, not getting in the sack with him. Jeez, it doesn't matter to some people what the author actually wrote, the point is that no woman who ever cheats will ever be anything but a no-good slut and there's got to be evidence in there SOMEWHERE!

There's a class of readers who come to this category for the thrill of seeing ho's and bitches humiliated and punished, and if the story doesn't give 'em that, there's something wrong with the author.

Ohio writes some of the most serious reconciliation stories on the site. In many of his stories he presents repentance and moral growth as tough, hard, and shaming, and gives characters time for credible change. But these are ideas too big and disturbing for the yahoos. They look at the end and if the bitch doesn't get everlasting punishment, then it just proves that Ohio is a wuss.

I hope it doesn't discourage him from writing-the current crop of hysterics will find new fixations in time, scores will go back up to what the stories deserve, and the core of readers who appreciate his work will hang in there and grow.