Marriage Exchange

"Fuck you, bitch," he said as a retort and left the room, slamming the bedroom door. Marybeth felt sorry for their neighbors. Brad's anger at her had gotten louder and meaner with each passing week, resulting in more yelling and now his slamming doors. That said, she thanked the stars he hadn't tried to make love to her.

*

At work two days later, Marybeth answered her cell phone. "Marybeth, this is Stacy."

"Hi, what's up? Do you need me for more questions?"

"No," she said in a cheery voice. "I just wanted to let you know that we're starting today -- this evening in fact. Come by the office about five. You said you wanted to see part of this operation. We're assuming that Brad will go by his usual club after work."

"Oh yes," Marybeth said with a touch of glee in her voice. "I'll be there."

*

Stacy finished placing the scraggly dark wig on Marybeth's head and adjusted the look. "Now, with this change of clothes and some crazy glasses, we know Brad will write you off as someone he's not interested in. You'll just be a body in this place, if he should even see you."

Marybeth looked at herself in the mirror in the backroom of theMarriage Exchange. She barely recognized herself. She wore the clothes of someone ten years younger and much more punk; large tinted glasses gave her a funky look that would not appeal to Brad. Stacy had also down dressed and wore a wig, giving her a less than attractive appearance. The two were a pair.

"OK, let's go," Stacy said, "I need to warn you that Brad may not be approachable tonight. We think we have the right mix of ingredients, but we'll have to see." Stacy led them out the door and they caught a taxi to a club not too far from where Brad worked and where Marybeth knew he often went after work, sometimes for hours and hours.

The place was filling up rapidly as the after work crowd poured in for some drinks or even a burger before heading home. A DJ kept a wide variety of songs playing at too high a volume over the speakers on the stage. He had a smoke machine that gave an interesting air to the place.

Stacy said, "See the redhead near the bar?"

Marybeth nodded.

"She's the bait. She's done this before for us."

"She's going to pick him up?"

"Oh, a little more than that, but I'll explain as things unfold."

Marybeth turned rapidly away from her look at the redhead that also took in the main door to the club. "He's here. He's actually here."

"Oh good," Stacy said. She picked a small device out of her purse and held it near her lips. Marybeth leaned forward so she could see and hear what Stacy said into the small microphone, "Chili, your target just came in. Sandy hair, blue shirt near the door looking around. Now he's heading to the slot at the bar to your left about six people down from you."

Marybeth hitched around until she could see the redhead, whose name was apparently Chili. She raised both arms and stretched; apparently a signal that she'd heard the message and homed in on the target. The pair watched as she hefted her pert figure off the bar stool and sauntered towards Brad, stopping to make a remark to each person as she went. Marybeth could tell she could be very friendly.

"Chili's an expert at flirting. You'll meet her later. She said she wanted to meet you too. It's unusual that we do this, but you wanted to see her in action plus she also wanted to meet you after reading your file and listening to some of your tapes over the weekend. She's from the Atlanta office, by the way."

Marybeth blushed thinking of some of the material on the tapes.

Chili reached Brad and tossed out some comment to him. He replied and soon the two were in conversation. The postures of the flirting couple were unmistakable. This was a mating dance: Chili out for the kill and Brad the soon to be carcass. Soon they watched Chili buy Brad a second beer and then a third.

Stacy explained, "Based on what you told us, Brad appears to be a sucker for females that gift him little things -- like a drink. It's a dom-sub thing. Moreover, he likes redheads, freckles, and touching -- see how she's got her hand on his arm now and her body pushed into his muscles. He likes an aggressive female, even if she's teasing."

Marybeth said, "But I never told you any of those things explicitly."

"No, but we imputed them from the data you gave us after we did a computer analysis. By Saturday we thought we had it figured out and what you told us Monday only confirmed our initial analysis. Fortunately, Chili was free and could start the game tonight."

"She came here from Georgia?" Marybeth asked in an astonished voice.

"Yep, just for you. She's got friends here too, so it's not entirely a dedicated trip."

They watched as Brad pulled Chili in closer to him, trying to plant a kiss on her cheek. Chili deftly turned at the last minute, laughed and then sashayed away from him towards the ladies room.

"Quick, that's our sign, come with me," Stacy said. She pulled Marybeth up and the two women followed the trail Chili had left towards the ladies room. The room was a torrent of women coming and going, the area in front of the large mirror swamped with women primping before they went back into the meat locker.

Stacy saw Chili and led Marybeth over. "Hi, doll. This is Marybeth."

Chili smiled warmly and sympathetically at Marybeth; "You've got yourself quite a handful to get rid of out there. He's a case, all ego and self centeredness."

"I heard you came up especially to help do this for me. I'm so grateful. I hope he doesn't give you a hard time. That's what I usually get."

"Don't worry, Marybeth," Chili told her. "You'll find a way to pay it back and I'll try to leave him at least neutered tonight so he won't be a problem when he gets home." She winked at Stacy. She pulled the earpiece out from behind her hair and with some finger work dislodged the small transmitter from her lacy under garments and pulled it up and out of her blouse by the wire. "You'd better take this. If he starts rummaging around in my hair or elsewhere, I don't want him finding it." Stacy took the receiver and put it in her pocket.

Chili exchanged a couple of words with Stacy and then said, "I better get back. I'm going to deliver the first dose in a few minutes if I can. I'll check in with you later or tomorrow." She slipped out the door of the bathroom as a gaggle of early twenty-somethings came giggling in the door.

"We'll give her a few minutes then slip out," Stacy said as she headed towards an open stall. "Be right out."

Back at their table, Stacy and Marybeth watched Chili and Brad in their flirtatious dance.

"Will she lure him with sex?" Marybeth asked, suddenly starting to put pieces of the puzzle together.

"Yes ... and no," Stacy said. "Brad is complex. He'd take the sex, but the fact is he wants more. He wants to play out that dom-sub thing I mentioned, plus he'd like to entertain all manner of fantasies with the right woman, most sexual, but some more substantive. That's why we picked Chili."

"I just don't want her to do something she wouldn't normally do," Marybeth said.

"Oh, she won't. You should know that Chili is happily married. She went through theMarriage Exchange program about two years ago -- at the time she lived in Raleigh. She liked it so much she started working with us."

"Did she have a terrible marriage, like mine?"

"No, in fact it was just one of those things that turned cold after a few years. Amazing, since I met both of them and thought they were warm people -- just not with each other. Anyway, that was true exchange."

"What do you mean?"

"Well in that case we matched Chili and Hank, her first husband, up with Shane and Alison. They were going through the program too, only from a few miles away in Chapel Hill. The couples hit it off and so did the cross pairs, if you know what I mean. They ended swapping spouses."

"You mean sexually?" Marybeth asked, surprised by the volume of her voice.

Stacy laughed, "Well, I don't know about that, but after they'd established their compatibility, they swapped marriage partners for good -- two success stories. Shane moved to Raleigh to be with Chili, and Hank to Chapel Hill to be with Alison. They even kept the houses they had."

"Did you think of doing that with Brad and me?" Marybeth asked then realized the dubious nature of her question. She clarified, "I mean, swapping us with another couple." She gave Stacy a lopsided grin.

"Yes, briefly, at least until we learned about Brad's abusive nature. I haven't met a woman yet that wants an abusive, often drunk, self-centered, egotistical bastard as a mate." She laughed at her string of words. She added, "Sounds just like my first husband."

"You mean ... you ... were you a client too?"

"One of the first," Stacy said. "At that time there was a lot of theory about all the match making and luring games. I lived in Boston at the time and met Mike's co-founder --Rachel. She was doing her Ph.D. on E.H.T. They needed a test subject and I was one of them, or rather my ex was."

Marybeth asked, "If E.H.T. is so good, why not just hypnotize the person so they change their disposition and be nice. Why does the couple have to break up?"

Stacy nodded and said, "What their research found is you can only change the fundamental nature of someone for a short time -- a few months at best. If you keep coming back and reinforcing it, you can boost it back up, but sooner or later, what I call their true nature resurfaces." She thought for a moment and added, "To your other question, if Brad changed now and stayed that way would you take him back?"

Marybeth thought for a moment and said, "No, not now. The relationship is too damaged to survive."

Stacy said, "Mine was too. Anyway, this part of what we do is sort of temporary. The person knows what they're doing, they can even object if they want, but it's done nicely. They can be a little easier to convince too. But sooner or later, we have to let nature take its course and they'll revert to the way they were -- in Brad's case, a rotten disposition."

Marybeth turned back to look across the room at Chili and Brad. Chili had her arm around his shoulders and was whispering in his ear. "I hope she's having fun," she thought aloud.

"No," Stacy said in a serious tone, "I think she's actually working. He's getting his first dose of hypnosis therapy based on the spacey look on his face." We watched for a few minutes; Brad sat almost motionless on the bar stool as Stacy whispered non-stop into his ear.

Finally, Stacy said, "We should get out of here. Not much more is going to happen tonight. She'll make a date to see him back here in a couple of days probably. I'll talk to her tomorrow morning and let you know of anything important."

The pair settled the tab and left the club. Brad never paid any attention to them.

*

Marybeth was in bed when she heard the door to the condominium open and shut as Brad came home. She actually thought he was trying to be quiet for a change. She waited for his usual attempt to make love to her; however, it never came.

In the morning as she got up to go to work, Brad was asleep on the sofa. He cranked one eye open and looked at her as she passed by to go to the kitchen; "Hi Babe. I didn't want to wake you so I slept out here. Got home past your bedtime I guess. Have a good day at work." His eyes closed and he nodded off again.

Marybeth was amazed at his pleasant demeanor. He'd rarely been that nice to her. Then she thought, 'Too little; Too late.'

In late morning Stacy called Marybeth. "I just wanted to update you. I talked to Chili and she's cool with everything that happened. She said he was an easy subject to hypnotize and open to every suggestion she made. She reminded me to tell you that some of it may wear off so don't be surprised if he regresses in some situations until he gets the full treatment. One session does not a success make." She laughed and said, "You can always revert to the boiler makers again." The two chatted a little more and ended the call.

*

Friday evening, Brad was groping a pretty and young longhaired blonde when Chili came through the door of the bar. She nodded subtly in the direction of Stacy and Marybeth's distant table then slowly worked her way down the bar to Brad and the blonde. Once there she planted a very wet and sensual kiss on him that made others at the bar start to comment about the steamy relationship and how Brad was going to get very lucky tonight.

Much to the surprise of his bar mates, as well as to Brad's surprise and apparent pleasure, Chili turned to the blonde and planted a similar sensuous kiss on her, running her tongue up to one of the blonde's ears and back down to her mouth. Soon the two were creating a small scene right in front of Brad. A couple of catcalls rang out from down the bar. The bartender paused to leer at the pair.

Marybeth asked Stacy in a conspiratorial whisper, "Is the blonde part of the act?"

Stacy laughed and said, "No, never saw her before. Chili has wide and varied tastes as you can see. Who knows, she just might take the blonde home tonight." She grinned at Marybeth at the obvious sexual innuendo.

"Hot," Marybeth whispered as she sat back.

The trio at the bar fell into conversation, with lots of physical touch involved. As Marybeth and Stacy watched, they could see Brad enter his trance-like state as Chili whispered in his ear and then remarkably, she repeated the process on the cute blonde.

"Do they know what's happening?" Marybeth asked.

"Oh, yes," Stacy said. "They're fully aware. They're just allowing themselves to be led more directly to make decisions and take actions they otherwise might dismiss."

The trio soon hit the dance floor and started gyrating around to the rock music echoing off the walls. Marybeth felt a touch of nostalgia and even a twinge of jealousy as she watched him flirting with Chili and the blonde. Such a shame, she thought. If only they could have made the marriage work. Now, she tested once more in her mind, it was dead -- very dead -- and she was ready to move on with her life.

*

The following week all was quiet and she only saw Brad a few times. On Wednesday night when she got home from work, she actually found a note from Brad telling her, politely, that he intended to play basketball with the guys and when he would be home.

In the morning, she found Brad again asleep on the living room sofa. As he got up and rubbed his eyes he told her, "I know I've been a little edgy the past year or so. Anyway, I thought I'd sleep out here until you felt comfortable asking me back to our bed. I won't try to force my way on you any longer." He gave her a warm smile and then headed off to use the bathroom.

Marybeth was speechless. She accepted the comment with a nod and then prepared breakfast for the two of them. The two made polite conversation about his basketball game the evening before. *

Mike escorted Marybeth to Brad's favorite bar the following Friday evening. She again wore the wig and some clothes that were just 'not her'. They took a table far from the bar, but one that afforded each a view of most bar stools. Brad appeared again right after work only this time obviously waited for someone. The 'someone' turned out to be Chili.

Mike volunteered, "According to Chili the blonde might show up too. Apparently they did have a little liaison last week."

Marybeth's eyebrows rose. "Did everyone participate? Brad?"

Mike laughed and said, "From what I hear, Chili got lucky. Brad didn't."

Before too much time had passed, Marybeth noted that Brad's vacant stare had returned and that Marybeth was whispering in his ear. "How many sessions like this will it take?"

Mike replied, "Well, we measure the effectiveness of E.H.T. on a ten-point scale. We keep up the 'treatments' until the subject gets to a nine or ten. Based on what you told us about his behavior over the weekend and earlier this week, and about his change of attitude -- his politeness and all -- I'd say he's at about a six. We're getting close. Chili will give him a strong dose tonight and we'll reassess in a couple of days."

Marybeth sighed and then relaxed back into the chair, watching one more time as Chili whispered into Brad's ear; she was rubbing his arm in an erotic manner and Brad had a distant look in his eyes. Mike hitched his chair a little closer to Marybeth. He reached over and held her hand. The nonchalant move was anything but that to Marybeth; her body went on high alert at the flirt. As the minutes passed and they sipped their drinks and talked, Marybeth felt the wetness in her crease purely as a result of the physical attraction she had for Mike. Apparently Mike liked her too.

Soon Marybeth said, "We should go. I have to play catch-up this weekend -- a few things from the office I pushed off from when we did all the interviewing. Brad looks in good hands. I wouldn't even care if he got lucky tonight." Mike shook his head to indicate the concept was very unlikely.

Mike settled the bill and the two left the bar. Outside the pair stood for a minute. Mike whispered to Marybeth, "You should know I'm very taken with you. Some night I hope to get lucky with you ... errr, I mean to date you. I know you may not be ready now, but someday." He bent and kissed her.

The words and his kiss surprised Marybeth. "Oh ... oh ... yes ... I'd like that ... I'd like that very much." She reached up and stroked his face. She thought about how long it had been since she'd rejected Brad for the last time. She thought about the sexual revelations she'd provided to Stacy and Mike in the interviews, and then about her magazines and her bedside vibrator. She looked up into Mike's face and this time she kissed him. She then said, "In fact, I'd like it tonight please."

The pair hugged and Mike hailed a taxi to take them to his apartment a few blocks away.

At his apartment as Mike took her coat, Marybeth asked, "Am I under any kind of hypnotic spell by any chance?" She also pulled the wig from her head and brushed out her hair.

Mike laughed, "No, only the spells and curses we place on ourselves. No one of us has done anything to you. You, however, have made yourself open to other people as you closed Brad out of your life. You're receptive ... and I'm glad." He came and kissed her and she kissed back, just enough to hold a promise of where the night would go. Mike walked to his open kitchen as she stood by his window admiring the view of the courtyard below.

He got out some Grand Marnier and gestured with a small liqueur glass to Marybeth. She nodded her acceptance and he poured a half a glass of the rich tasting liquid. He brought the glass to her but rather than hand the glass to her, he took a sip from the cordial glass and then kissed her again, this time using his tongue to open her mouth and then squirting the Grand Marnier from his mouth into hers. The moment was a turning point. She moved forward, pushing her pelvis into his and rubbing her breasts across his chest. This was a mating dance.

"Wow," she said, licking her lips, "No one has ever French-kissed me with Grand Marnier before." After a few more regular kisses, she said, "I'd like some more Grand Marnier." Mike reached for a clean glass, but she stopped his hand. "No, that's not how I want it." He sipped some more of the liqueur in his mouth and again thrust his tongue and the liquid into her mouth as they French kissed again.

In an obvious move, Marybeth reached up and undid the top button on her blouse. "The rest is up to you," she said in a sexy voice. Mike reached up with one hand and worked each of the lower buttons to open the blouse completely, pulling it from her waistband as he did. Once the blouse was open, he put his head to her lacy bra and blew hot air on the apex of first one breast and then the other. He felt each nubbin rise to meet his moist call. He made small biting motions through the bra's thin material at each nipple. Marybeth watched intently as he ministered to her breasts with his mouth. She cradled his head and held him close to her.