All Comments on 'Before We Talked'

Cut him loose!

5

So neatly told! And sadly, so relatable. Thank you for participating in my event.

Love is not eternal.

It's very common for love to change over the course of a lifetime.

But there's only one version here.

And we always wonder why?

Why did it change? Why doesn't a man love his wife as much as he used to? What has happened over the years?

So what do we do now? Flip a mental coin? Call upon FTDS to add his two cents? Use your liberal foreshadowing to kinda guess what you had in mind? Perhaps you would consider another 750 words with the confrontation and denouement? Please?

Spends all his time at work with his protege, does he? Maybe this should be in GM...?

What and interesting prelude story.

"Call upon FTDS to add his two cents?" My guy, FTDS hasn't been active since before the Rio Olympics. Too many people have a weird understanding of what a 750 word story is.

A cautionary tale I’m certain will fall on deaf ears or inspire vitriolic rationalizations. Well told and complete. Nicely executed and edited. Thanks

This one may be short which I'm told is no easy task, but it still maintains your high quality all the way through. Thank you for the entertainment. And I live these stories from the woman's point of view. I know we don't get many but the critics here seem to be more blasphemous than inspiring. I'm glad they haven't run you off or soured you on the genre.

I get what you're saying but why not just give us an ending? I'm quite old fashioned in many respects. I like a story with a beginning, a middle and an end. I mean how many truly original stories are there anyway? It doesn't stop us reading and enjoying different authors take on well trodden roads. I'm currently working my way through the huge number of takes on Feb' sucks and really enjoying most of them. So, please consider writing a more complete story just to satisfy those of us who don't have your imagination or writing skills. By the way you are one of my favourite authors so please don't take the above the wrong way.

I don't get it how anyone could say there's no ending. It couldn't be clearer, after his sneer. Very nice job for 750 words! Your writing started off at a very high level with your first story, and somehow it's keeps improving with almost every story.

Kudos for a most excellent effort on this premise. Your writing is top shelf. I always jump to your stories first. Thanks again you are highly regarded amongst us readers here in LW

There doesn’t seem to be any infidelity in this story. She may be leaving him but it seems like it will be his choice. Unless the infidelity is between him and his business, which is not a wife.

What's missing in this story is the manilla envelope with divorce papers that comes into play if the husband chooses the business over the wife.

LBD and a renewed marriage vs divorce is an honorable proposition, but without the divorce papers choosing the man from the gym is still cheating.

Tilt! D

Excellent prelude to a honey we need to talk stories! Thoughtful presentation of how a marriage goes off the rails! 4*

Nice preamble.

A good beginning....that is always the problem with 750 words stories. It's usually a good beginning, but it always lacks the necessary details. For example, in this tale.

The husband has allowed work to dominate him so much that he has neglected the needs of his wife. He is the villain in this tale obviously. The wife, however, has also made herself into the villain. Look at how this ended. Very poetic of the author honestly.

,"Him, or the man from the gym who looks at me and sees me."

Threaten with divorce, not by becoming a cheater. She has lost all morals in this story because of her way of drawing the line in the sand. Therefore, aren't they both the villains here? Both doing wrong?

Either way it was a worthy attempt to work within such strict guidelines. Solid 4 stars. Just the problem is the wife plans on stepping out while being married....

Makes her just as bad as her husband IMHO.

Sincerely,

Payenbrant

One of the few stories where I can understand the wife's pain. Very nice for a 750.

Reality for some/many; perfect for the writing challenge

Excellent. 5 Stars.

Yes! Loved it

Yet Another Entitled Wife. Wants her needs met with no understanding of her husband's needs or empathy. There is a reason he chooses work to escape from her. There is a reason he knew she was setting him up for "the talk" as evidenced by the "sneer". It takes two and she failed every bit as much as he did.

Another 5 star offering from the immensely talented, NTH!

There is a difference between being too busy and avoidance. In this, the husband sounds like maybe he's been stepping out if he is actively trying to avoid the reconnect she has been trying for. No where did she say that she demanded he give her all his time. I don't agree with the idea that she is "Entitled" as has been suggested. It sounds like she is prepared to leave him, hopefully honorably bybdivorce, and not the trope of going on a date with the aforementioned hym guy. Good setup and nice to see you back NTH. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for another update to the genre and history on the site. I did read the series “Nico” created, although it eventually drifted into a the delusional wife trope again. I love your what I’ll call a “intro story”. I hope you expand on it as most of us marital veterans can understand your characters. In fact, maybe I need to have a talk with my spouse tonight about the same thing and next steps.

Great story. This sounds familiar, like either side of many divorces, with one spouse drifting off and ignoring the other until there's too much emotional distance between them for either to care.

I gave it a 5. (But I think the postscript detracted a little.)

Sad to finally confirm her suspicions - he had lost all interest in her, maybe women in general. To maintain the "High Ground" she should have ditched the LBD and obvious plans for her gym-mate (Plenty of time for that later). Simple attire and a signed copy of her divorce notice (let's face it, she knew she'd need it) delivered without drama would better suit her. Many couples drift apart once they become empty nesters because they neglected each other and allowed the kids/work to capture all their attention for a couple of decades. Then, boom, they are alone together and no longer have anything in common.

Well written, as always, thanks for sharing.

Your writing is always excellent and thought provoking. You are as asset to the site. I fully accept that some stories can — and even should — leave the conclusion to the imagination.

Its nice to see a pov fron the other side, a wife that feels its being neglected and take it from granted. We dont if the husband its really a consumate workaholic, just lost his desiree to be in the marriage and its just waiting for the wife to take the first step... or he is already steping out the marriage.

Either way, the wife its barely holding out there, because what its the point of love and fidelity in a marriage if its not reciprocated?

Good job and thanks for sharing.

P.S. Yes all agree that are some works in the 750 words category that deserve to be expanded, but also ones that are just perfect in their current form.

Great view into her perspective. One thing though... It seems like this wife, with this 'honey we need to talk,' wants him to step up, is giving him that chance, and if he doesn't take it she seems like she's going to divorce him, or maybe tell him she's going to see other people, before she does anything of the kind. In other words, she's not just more sympathetic than other 'we need to talk' wives because we get her perspective. It's also because she is acting with more honesty and integrity than many of those other stories' wives who come out with a revelation that they've already been cheating or have already decided they're going to and there's nothing he can do about it.

NTH, once again you've taken a standard LW cliche and turned it into something (relatively) fresh and interesting. You have a unique talent for doing that, and your writing was outstanding as usual.

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@LWLover60 - could you provide a link to the story on which you are commenting? It sure as hell isn't this one.

In my view this story is extremely well done and the writer was correct that the story didn't need to go on from where it was left.

I at least partly disagree with @djrip about the wife's integrity. Real integrity would have her decision to leave her husband not in any way affected by the existence of the man at the gym. That doesn't in any way take away from this story, though. It just means the writer isn't making the wife pure white but rather a shade of gray consistent with the character of members of our species.

There is a big difference to 98% of the other 'We need to talk' stories. This one has a wife with legit concerns and at the end of the rope. And she already communicated, verbal and non-verbal. She did all she could have done and arrived at the ultimatum stage. She didnt even imply that she will fuck someone else. It reads more like, either you choose me or I am out, looking for someone to love me. Because there are people who 'see' me like the guy from the gym. So yes, huge difference to all the other stories with the 'talk' trope and not even comparable. Edit: Regarding KitDeLuca164, you are right. Her 750 word story was not bad. I even admit that she is a good writer from a technical standpoint. But she doesnt infuriate me because her stories dont have happy endings or are not tied up in a bow. The problem is that she glorifies infidelity. Her characters have no morals, are deceitful, have no empathy and are all selfish and narcisstic. I wouldnt classify them as evil but those are some of the worst traits humans can have to hurt someone emotionally. And they do it with no remorse. Everyone should take care of themselves in life but not the extent of hurting someone so bad that he they will carry scars for the rest of their lifes. And you shouldnt do it intentionally. Thats my problem with her and probably alot of other readers. I just cant give a story thats leaves me with a bad feeling a good rating. If they were atleast thought provoking I could reconsider, but they just arent.

I wanted to comment on something a few people have said, and which I should have made clearer: I think that the wife in this story is not blameless--she has fair complaints that she has tried to get her husband to listen to, but is forcing his response in a way that is hurtful--but her hurt is that which has built up over years, while his is coming in a single sharp blow, followed by the divorce. And I think that's something more realistic than in a lot of stories.

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"Honey, We Need To Talk" is an inherently silly trope; like several of the other "big" tropes in the Loving Wives genre, it reads like cuckold porn setup with a followup that's played "straight." But there's another problem with it and with a lot of those other setups: it requires a villain, and real life is rarely like that. Hurts build up over years, passed back and forth with cruel comments and cold shoulders. They're not usually a big explosion; or, rather, if they are, it's because people ignore the fuse that's been slowly burning away. Villains don't spring into existence from whole cloth. "Hurt people hurt people," as the saying goes.

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In most "HWNTT" stories, it's told from the husband's point of view, and often from a first person perspective. As much as I love first person, it has its limitations, and one of those is that you have to assume, as a reader, that everything being said is at least a little bit suspect. It's always rung false to me, in a number of stories, how blameless the husband is, how this completely came out of left field and he had no way of knowing it was going to happen.

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Hence, our nameless protagonist here. I like to think she's the villain in at least one of the "HWNNT" stories on the site--it might even be my own "I Know My Wife"--but she's not a villain in her own story. And, really that's the point: if her husband had listened to her, and, maybe, if she had managed to reach her husband, there might not be villains and heroes to these stories at all. And maybe they wouldn't have needed to talk, at least not in such an explosive way.

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Be decent to each other, folks. Talk to y'all soon.

TThe story of my life, Married at 26 to 19 year old with a 2-year-old girl. For some reason the wife to be got pregnant. You'd think she'd of known better. No discussion about birth control ever came up. I took responsibility and married her. 2 young girls and 13 year later she divorced me. Baby trap? No I didn't get raped in the divorce but it hurt losing a family I got used to. This story is what most men do they get used to working, they get used to sex or lack of, used to the wife and kids and then they wear out. My job wore me out at 35. Men women live in to different worlds. Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Men and women have two different languages one for other people and one for their husband. The 'we need to talk' thing is the beginning of the end we men just don't understand and most of us never learn how to communicate with women, at least I haven't do you understand? 5 stars for very short 'this is the end' story.

The story reflects a single person point of view. It is difficult to judge if that is the correct view of the situation. Without more the story isn't a story.

Dear NTH,

I'm gonna be honest with you... I voted 2/5. Not because I somehow disagree with your declared goal to shed some light on that cliché scene from the other side, and not because there isn't enough cheating in your LW submission, but because I'm growing kinda tired of reading 750-word "stories".

Let's be honest here. 750-word stories are an exercise for writers, and they can be interesting from that POV, but as a reader, I get absolutely nothing out of them. There's just not enough room to tell a proper story, and I rated it accordingly, even if you splendidly achieved what you wanted to achieve. I just don't see why you would want to post something like that to a site for erotic literature.

Though, maybe I'm wrong about the purpose of the site and need to manage my expectations. I don't know.

Just one more bored middle aged woman lying to herself to justify the unjustifiable. 1*

This is a perspective I don't get enough of in LW. Thanks for the KitDeLuca164 recommendation too. Will check that out.

maybe it would have gone back to the way it was had she not cheated on him with the kids middle school gym teacher

the problem with not giving us an ending is we can make up one all our own. And givens women's inability to be happy with ANYTHING the most likely reason her husbands despises her is becuase she cheated at some point

“Honey, we need to talk” is the end. Nothing good follows those five words in any LW story I’ve ever read.

NO TALENT HACK..... were you drunk or insane when you wrote this? No the story is fine I'm talking about the reference to that bull Dyke and nutcase NICI.

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How the fuck can you compare your story here with the crap That that bitch wrote back in 2007. ??? They are not remotely the same thing. I'm just at a loss as to figure out how you can make a connection between your story here and what she wrote back in 2007.

In that story the wife was cheating for several months but in your story she is not.

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In your story the wife is destritted for her husband loaded attention but in NICI Awful story she doesn't want her husband around. She doesn't respect him and she wants to continue to fuck her boyfriendand move out of the house .

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In your story, the wife wants her husband to stop working so much Not only to pay her more attention but also because it risks his health BUT in NICIs story the wife is very happy to see your husband get old fat and work himself into the grave To support her ridiculous standard of living.

It happens sometimes. Love changes, evolves and can disappear in the course of a lifetime.

Here's an idea for you NTH.

Why don't you do an essay on formatting a writer on Lit.

By formatting, I mean the uniformity of thoughts out of step with reality.

For example:

- we know that love doesn't last forever, except on Lit apparently.

- We know that almost every other marriage ends in divorce,

- and that almost 30% or more of children have grown up in single-parent or blended families.

- as soon as he makes love with his wife, it's the best sex of his life for the man, as if his previous lovers were always lousy, while for the woman her previous lovers were always studs.

- That the big cock is the supreme reference for achieving maximum pleasure for both men and women, whereas it's the brain that's the main driving force.

No talent hack is one of the more annoying and obnoxious people to ever appear on Literotica. Do you ever close your mouth?

I always consider a 750 er to be an authors destress day…where he does not want to cook the whole meal so happy with a sandwich! Bit the sandwich cannot satisfy like a proper 4 course meal! So …not a great read!

Reading this, a cheating husband story, one I don’t normally subscribe to, something I am not sure I will ever do again, but, following an author is easy with notifications so, how do we follow the expected flood of endings to this genius first chapter??

Under these circumstances, change or divorce might be reasonable. She offers change or cheat. Destroy her.

We only hear her point of view. Good chance there’s a reason he avoids her.

It was a good short, FICTIONAL story. That for all those readers that think it's a real life moment of life or death. People change over the course of a lifetime. Somewhere along the line his business became his life and now that the kids are gone and his wife will soon be gone he'll have his business and money to keep him warm at night. Well played.

Divorce is too easy. A woman puts her children ahead of her husband for 20+ years, and then expects him switch back to being a newlywed because she’s finally willing to be a wife again, instead of only a mother?!? And if he doesn’t put her first, over his work, when she didn’t put him first, she’s going to leave him for some dudebro, and take half or more of what he earned and created?!? What a fucking bitch!!!

As for nici, the reason her story created such strong reactions is because she created a woman who was just plain evil, and held her up as an example of a strong independent woman, and defended the character in response to reader backlash. She absolutely believes that it’s perfectly acceptable for women to manipulate and abuse their husbands!

ZK

I liked the story and I thought the ending was good and we got the wifes thoughts from her point of view

We really dont need to know the full ending the look on his face gave it away , nicely done

Thanks for sharing...

Well delivered thoughts! Obviously, the wife is hoping for reconciliation, what could possibly be wrong with that?

In my opinon the best LW stories have clearly defined character definition, thus giving the reader the power of "interpretation" for their own understanding or mindset. This story/interlude gave just that!

If there's anything we should have learned from reading stories in the LW category, it's that there are always two sides to every story - especially ones like these. No offense, but I'd be surprised is the husbands transgressions haven't been drastically embellished by the wife in her tale. I'd be curious to hear the story from the husbands point of view. NTH called him the "aggrieved husband". But is he really? I'm betting that the husband might have a different take on the relationship than his wife. 3/5 BRB

From time to time I read stories here. I find I appreciate BTB because of a finale. I also find that a writer who won't commit to their own story, why should I? A complete story has a theme, setting, and resolution as they are all the writer's point of view. These "no ending" stories fail miserably, and have since the novelty of "The Lady or the Tiger?" Asking me to figure out an appropriate ending is akin to me going to your company to pick up your weekly check. If your too lazy or afraid to write fine, I won't give you that which you seek. No more comments. No more readership. No more attention. You won't be able to respond since Literotica doesn't acknowledge my password despite it being unique and a creation of my own.

What a waste of time to sit and wait to tell her husband that she wants to talk.

Are we reading the same site? The wife has her say in the majority of these stories. Keep in mind what most of the stories in this section are. Accepting cuckold, swinging, and hot wife.

Anyway, no matter how good of writer you are, half finished stories are never acceptable.

A rarity. A worthy five stars 760 ,Word tale. A sad 750 Word tale. An eye opening 750 Word tale.

JPB

Another excellent story from one of the best!

Useless without an epilogue.

750 word stories are a waste of your notable talent for writing.

This category is for two types of writers:

1) Amateurs who don't know how to fully structure a story.

2) Pros who think up an idea for an interesting scene, but who are too lazy to flesh it out properly.

I gave this 5 stars, which I rarely do. The only thing I would do without is the Gym Rat. Gym Rats are the same, they are hunters and lonely women are easy prey. For me, it would have been better if there wasn't a hint that she was willing to cheat. I am a small business owner, along with my wife. When we meet others in our business we see that there are those like this husband. Their business is their "brick and mortar mistress", that is a great line in this story. Kind of like Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, never enough. And he chose "brick and mortar" over flesh and blood. I liked the fact that this was from the wife's perspective. Nice job.

I'm confused by the comments of "man from the gym", when, from what I read, she merely had a gym membership and got herself back into shape. There was no added attention shown here. The only "extra" in the marriage, is noted as "brick-and-mortar mistress", or the job that has taken all the husbands time, effort, and energy. Seems too many here are jumping to conclusions, based upon all the other stories, that continue in a similar vein.

I do agree though, having the divorce papers in hand would have been the "best" method to truly enforce her meaning. Might have been the only means to get her point across to her husband...and I say "might" rather lightly, as the story makes it appear this intervention is likely "too little, too late".

Could there be more to this story? Does the husband suffer a true change of heart? From the story, that seems highly unlikely. Let your imaginations work and figure out your own ending.

Seems to me he spoiled her way to much sounds like she was a mircale stay at home mom in this economy. While I agree he might work harder we never hear anything about her spending habits outside of gym membership and years of prosperity. I wonder if the man can't stop because she always ask for a new car etc.. or he doesn't know how to stop and a better way or intervention would be a cooler outlook then I'm going to fuck a guy.

I agree with you, there are parallels between 'Something We Have to Talk About' and 'February Sucks'

Both inspired authors to respond with their own versions... and for the same reasons.

The underpinning message of both are morally bankrupt and required a reply.

'February Sucks' was still a better story, and did a better job of hiding the corrupt messaging.

Another story that you could include in this comparison is 'Another Love'. It also fails what you might call 'the morality test', ultimately reducing the protagonist to nothing more than a support character for the female empowerment message that each of these stories ended up promoting, and just like the others, led to the need for other authors to try and reinvent the fictional history.

There was a commentor that supplied a rash of comments on all kinds of stories here by the name of HighBrow. I don't know if he still does comment as he did back when I noticed. Most of the time, his comment was uncalled-for and incorrect. Some of them were absurd in their application, especially when a male lead dispensed and destroyed the female lead's sense of entitlement and thoroughly exposed her as shallow and selfish. Some of these stories were very well told. But in every comment he made, he made the claim that each and every story was 'Femdom Agitprop'. I couldn't stand it, and condemned him for it.

I never thought I would use the phrase because I hate it, but sadly, it fits with all three of the stories I mention.

That's the reason why these stories bring so many alternate versions. They are all full of lies, misdirections, or at least a gloss-over of the underlying issues.

I have enjoyed every one of your stories, NTH. I think you are one of the better authors here. But please, don't explore the direction that the aforementioned stories did. Because it's a betrayal.

Not of 'men', and not of conservative views. It's a betrayal of truth.

Those stories are not about empowered women. They are about elevated women. It may be that women's rights were trampled, but now it has swung the other way. Men are now relegated to being lower class citizens. They have had their own sense of self determination and justice yanked from underneath them, and then they get stuck with the bill. That may seem simplistic but it's true.

But the sad thing? All of this change is now undermining Women's rights as well... and always, always, the ones who really pay the heaviest price are the kids.

Both sexes need to face their responsibilities. Both need to learn what it means to be responsible. And neither should be able to habitually leverage 'the system' against the other.

But that's what we have now, and the scales are heavily tipped against the husband, regardless of the circumstances. The children pay, and it's more of a pandemic than we've ever seen.

Well done, very very well done. With the right perspective, so many men say 'I was working hard for us' long after that is true.

Great short story. Prefect ending "Honey, we need to talk.". It’s either the End or the Beginning.

5🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

agree with psyenbrant. Her using the man from the gym makes her evil in my eyes. Yes, she was ignored and yes you wrote her side well with how for years she made every attempt for him to come back to her. But wearing the LBD? Was that supposed to mean they go out for dinner or was that meant to show him she had a date lined up? I think her saying he has to commit now and giving him a time line to transition as they discussed OR she tells him she will divorce would be sufficient. She does not have to mention the man in the gym. He 9I know I would) think that some cheating has already taken place and he would feel she is damaged goods so why reconcile?

It was a very well written example of the trope you are trying to showcase. Taking the story at face value — and unless an author is intentionally trying to misdirect, that’s all a reader can do — this wife is at the end of her emotional rope, and this husband has totally lost the plot. My only hope if the story continued would be that s he would divorce him before she looks for another man to love/fuck/be with. As this is written, we don’t know. As this is written, the husband is going to lose big…although he might not care.

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4 ****

Like reading the inside cover or back of the book, to find there's not enough to stop you putting it back on the shelf

Sad but so true in too many cases

The reason this was never gonna work out wasn't because he's a workaholic or she's resentful. It's because she already has a "backup plan" one which inevitably will end badly.

I enjoy your writing style, since I haven't the talent to write, I appreciate those who do. Thanks! Don't worry about the nay sayers, there is not one story written that pleased everyone.

The ending is quite obvious: "I know how our story ends now," as do we.

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@CrazyDave, her husband sneered at her obvious LAST attempt to reconnect, as we say in Boston, "It's OVAH!"

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FTDS is gone. They were two people, one who has sadly passed, the other who has been inactive for quite a while.

Very well done, thanks much

My reaction is to hate both of them. Obviously, he is an idiot. Who sneers at his wife with annoyance when she's dressed for him and claims to desire him? So, he's nothing but a prick. But she already knows the man she's going to fuck? Sorry, that doesn't wash either. Whichever way this goes the marriage is probably over. Even if he goes to counseling now, he'll probably resent it. She's ready emotionally to fuck around so the truth is she's done with him. She's lying to herself when she says she wants her husband.

You stories normally grab me, but this one just leaves a bad taste in my mouth... which may have been your intention from the start. Good authors don't always write about good people.

NTH continues as a gold standard on this site. This is a brilliantly produced piece that succinctly portrays a faithful woman's anguish in losing her life partner and her last desperate attempt at salvage. To those who gripe about resurrecting FTDS,we'll it's pretty clear from his response that thier story together is finished.

Did she actually bother telling him that she will divorce him if he doesn't cut back at work, before cheating? NO. So, 3.5 stars (would have been 2.5 if it wasn't a decently written 750, meaning it didn't waste my time and the author skillfully cut out the fluff). I'm rounding up to 4, because at least she pays lip service to acknowledge that he wasted his life materially supporting her. Doesn't sound very genuine to me, but maybe it's one of 1% of cases where it actually would be.

I usually avoid the "750..." stories...but this was good. A small situation, a mall snip-it...and well done.

I guess you forgot that your audience are the Judge, Jury and the Executioner! That, gives me the right to pass judgement and said judgement is one tiny little star! 1 ⭐

Just a lot of words.

She loved the money and the lifestyle and the pampering and the private trainer that her husband worked his butt off but now it's time to go with the muscle-bound sleaze bag at the Gym whio's been hitting in her ever sinceche spotted her Jewelery and Masserati SUV. One more entitled bitch. Hopefully hubby has an iron clad prenup

Just anther weak story about ungrateful that thinks the world revolve around them

Nici introduced hardcore misandry to Lit before it was done to death by Cagivagurl. It's no wonder she stopped posting here.

Excellent. Should be rated higher. A different perspective. As a husband and business owner, I have been guilty as described at times. Sometimes it's good to look in the mirror, see a blemish and work on it. The one thing about the "we need to talk" genre is the decision to cheat has already been made. And that is where the cheating slut syndrome lies. If you are miserable wait until your separated before your physical or emotional affair....

5*

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I appreciate the flip on the 'Honey We Need To Talk' trope. It's good to see it come from 1) the wife,... 2) the wife not wanting to slut around, but,... 3) The wife trying a last time to save a marriage, after coming to a realization.

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It's short, it implies, and it leads. It's well composed, it explains itself, and it's got a strong showing of sadness and determination. You do that well, and I'm jealous of your ability to emote like that.

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I saw no character lay blame (even though it's from the wife's point of view) for the situation, and you cast it as that being the direction their lives took. No malice, no direct neglect... just the tides of life. You gave us no villains, and making a worthwhile story that way is difficult. I appreciate the crafting.

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Thank you for this. I recognized the situation, and the result. It'll be a great thing if someone, in this situation in Real Life, can see it and make the changes that are right for them. You put a potential lesson in this one.

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Be well!

Another well developed story that could easily reach 5 star status with an ending. My hope is that some of the writers out there will take you up on the option. Thank you and I already have you on my favorites.

No surprise that you could tell as much of a story in 750 words, making it very clear as to the challenges of life, married life, child-rearing, and what can come in the later part of marriage life.

It's no surprise because you always write so well, and tell the stories so that readers feel the characters and their emotions, whether happy, sad, romantic, stoic, or any and every possible feeling.

I'm probably not the only person to dispute your handle as bring an apt description of you and your work...

...but I firmly believe it to be the case.

Five stars for this one, too !

Nope. Doesn't workfor me. It's not a story. I'm not sure what it is but it definitely is not a story. You are better than this.

First off, excellent work. I love how you are able to flesh out a character and not make a caricature.

I also love how you make a short story of a woman desperately trying to figure out if she can salvage her marriage or if it's time to move on. And a bunch of the responses are to insult the woman and call her a whore for wanting to be happy. You never say she's cheating, but has a man interested in her. But most readers can't understand that and just want to complain that the woman isn't putting up with being miserable anymore. And some can't even understand that it's fiction and not a real person. Anyway keep up the great work.

Really good. Communication is always key, but when that fails ...

This is, as expected, excellent.

I disagree with the argument that this would be improved if the guy at the gym didn't exist. Because there's always a guy at the gym, or a coworker, or a vendor, or a hot new doctor at the hospital...and that's as true in real life as it is in these stories. Her kids are grown and gone, she's gotten herself back into shape, she's made herself as desirable as she can. People are going to notice that. Some subset of those people will be quite willing to pounce if given the opportunity. And a percentage of *those* people will let her know up front. This woman would already know she has options, in or out of a story.

But the biggest reason the gym guy has to be there is that NTH has to make the story conform to the trope for the upending of the traditional perspective to work. And the trope is that there's always someone who predates the "we have to talk" confrontation. The problem with at least 90% of the stories that use this trope is that the signature conversation isn't actually a conversation, it's a defense of a fait accompli. The wives in those failed stories are almost always already cheating, even if not yet physically. They're also hollow shells; non-characters who couldn't possibly be as stupid as they're written; that exist only to allow the author, via the aggrieved husband, to seethe and vent and, sometimes, destroy. They might as well be inanimate objects.

Here, we have a wife with legitimate complaints who has reached the end of her rope, and a husband who is actually guilty of the things she's about to accuse him of. And yet, "we have to talk" is still, in this case, an actual conversation, not a fait accompli. She wants her husband back. The one she married, not the one she currently shares a house with.

Until he sneers at her, and she sees how it's going to go, and realizes that the outcome has been predetermined afer all. Just not by her.

(If I could make a change to the story, it'd actually be to eliminate the sneer. To make the ending even more ambiguous and not clearly foreshadow the unwritten ending. It'd never satisfy the weirdos who need every last thing spelled out to the bitter end, but then nothing will satisfy them because they don't understand how writing works.)

Hmm. Nice lead up.

What a wonderful story... as far as it went. Reading your thoughts, which're very valid, I would've still liked for you to have written a conclusion. Maybe it's coming? Hopefully. But it's true, husbands are at times (how often, IDK) the cause of their wives wanting to go with another man once, twice..., just to hear the husbands bitch & bellyache.

Of all the endings, it would be nice for the husband, after the talk, or even after her going out, to realize what he's done & that he's also responsible for the rift in his marriage while working to change things for the better. However, the way these stories generally end, the he'll probably have a fit that she dared go out with another man, causing the marriage (possibly) to fail. Perhaps this fine author could write where the marriage's almost done but saved by either the husband realizing he's wrong, or by forced counselling, or some combination.

> In the end, a great story, but like a commenter below me, I can't give this 5 stars, which is deserves, due to the non-existing ending. 4 stars. Bob

Five stars, she has a well thought out plan, sounds like she gave him plenty of opportunities over the years to recover himself. Is it possible she's not blameless in this... yes, quite possible. They're better off apart.

I loved this just as it is. At least she gave it everything she had to try and make it work, but being lonely in a marriage must be hell. Nobody, male or female, should suffer through that.

Your stories are usually damn fine but this , no

P.S. Kit writes about purely wretched women who don't really have redeeming characteristics.

She portrays the men, unfortunately shackled to these sociopath whores, as wishy washy somewhat clueless schmucks who live in almost perpetual victim hood.

Quickly to the point and teaches a lesson... choose wisely.

Thanks again.

There are a hell of a lot of broken men out there, of their own making I'll add.