All Comments on 'Cheap Seats Ch. 02'

I don't know why I read your stories man :) Your fuzzy feelings makes it crawl all over me. What's wrong with that guy? Why did it take him so long to question that asshole if she was set up. It's like those really bad horror stories where you know something bad is going to happen but none of the characters in the movie seems to get it. Try to make it more real please, otherwise you will end up as some gushy romance bodice hunting sissy who can't see left from right. I don't mind feelings, but this??? Cheers Yoron.

Whass the deal here? Folks ‘ere sure takin’ this ditty seriously! Damn. It’s a STORY, not real life!

Hay-suze Kristo, amigos.

Ohio, I do want to say one thing: I wish the bulk of the stories input into Literotica.com had the same measure of grammatical correctness this tale carries. Thank you. The story won’t be a best seller or a major motion picture BUT it was quite readable and possessed a modicum of reality. I’m giving it a three based solely on grammar and puntucation (there were some minor errors but nothing egregious) and one for the story itself (nothing there to alter the Earth’s orbit): for a total of... four. Tell ‘em what they’ve won, Johnny.

“Well, Bob first it’s a case Curdle Wax the only car wax made entirely from Wisconsin cheese and the home version of Beat the Bed Springs...”

<p>It is not fun when a great author digs himself too deep to get out. I think more effort should be put in perfecting the end than deepening the hole.

<p>As to Beth's legal position. I think as easily as she convinced us that she was a moron, she could do the same at a court of law and Barton will be charged with taking advantage of an incompetent person. Is not that a crime anyway?

Good story but boy the lesson from this story is TALK to your partner.

I have to say that Beth is the personification of a spoiled rich child who thinks all things can be solved, as she cannot be wrong or hurt. She has no idea what it is to share as she is the only one who is smart enough to handle problems. Of course it turns out she is as dumb as a rock.<P>In all these idiotic rules quoted, not one says; I will always confer with my loving husband before I make any decisions that effect my partner and me or our marriage in any way. I also will understand others have brains and skill to deceive so I will become more a person aware then self-assured.<P>I liked them getting back together as the infidelity was forced not a conscious or unconscious action by the wife. Though I must say this wife comes off as some kind of surreal dingbat to me.<P>Good entertainment from a very good author. Thank you<P>PT

I am sorry, you painted a picture of a woman to dumb to know right from wrong and how to act in the real world. Then you have her suddenly grow up, mature, and become a very intelligent person in the working world as well as the sexual world of her marriage. Sorry I dont buy it, Your story gives her the IQ of a hormone driven 13 year old girl. Do remember some things are beyond reconciliation, you can forgive someone for being stupid, or dumb, or ignorant, but you never have to retake them into your life as the most trusted and loyal person in the world. Not many people have 24/7/365 to do nothing but watch over a cheating lying betraying mate.

we had more stories from you. I have always enjoyed all of your stories. I will say I am a sucker for a happy ending and some of your stories have not had that, but that is your choice. I enjoyed this one and am always keeping an eye out for more from you.

...of making your characters so dumb that they become totally uninteresting. You described Beth as being a very intelligent woman and then proceded to disprove your own characterization of her. And what husband with any brains is going to believe such a cock-and-bull story? That would only be one of your characters, of course.

this gibberish story. writing's okay, so that's why the "25" point rating... I can't believe grown up men and women write story this childish...

Too much discussion, too much analysis... It's just a story. Me, I was entertained for a while, and really didn't give it a whole lot of thought. Isn't that what fiction is all about?

People will make mistakes. She was drugged and raped. She made no conscious effort to be seduced or to have an affair, so how is she the bad guy? The efforts she went to, to prove her love and devotion, were the honest efforts of a loving wife. Furthermore, she is right, at some point you have to let go of the mistakes and carry on, otherwise, you might become just another embittered Literotica reader.

It was an interesting idea, but in the end the wife's character flaws were stretched a little too far to be believable for me... if she was so incisive, independent and intelligent, then how did she consistently make such incredibly stupid decisions and have such a lack of understanding/communication with her husband? If she was so self-absorbed and selfish, how could their marriage have been anything but unhappy? The personality mix just didn't seem to work.

Overall, the story felt like it was trying too hard to make the impossible happen, a novel and difficult twist on a marriage under attack.

Have the husband run, don't walk, to get a vasectomy. This woman is too stupid to be allowed to breed.

<p>This is one of the <b>ultra</b> rare occasions I have to agree with “thebullet” here. This story just didn’t work for me.</p>

<p>For me you created a supporting cast of, first one <b>likeable</b> character, C.D., and then right after that you created a totally <b>unlikable</b> one “Mad” Madeline.</p>

<p>C.D.'s character seemed to be used to calm Jake down from doing something totally stupid; I like that in a character. It was new and different. I’m sorry, but the character Mad reminds me of one of the few “Howard Stern” shows I’ve seen, where he often insults his guest and for some reason they still can’t wait to tell him how right he is once he’s done. While Mad didn’t directly insult him, as what was to pass as a mutual friend of both of them, all she did was take Beth’s side, and while showing him what a jerk he was for overreacting to what Beth did. And when asked directly if she would rat out Jake if she ever found out he was cheating on Beth, she basically said she would in a New York minute, but when asked if she would do the same for Beth, she hedged and basically said she would tell, but only after a while. She just wouldn't directly lie to him. What kind of <i>mutual</i> friend is that? Why would Jake accept that as her being a good friend to him? Why is Jakes character obviously still seeking council from someone states such an one-sided motive, which anyone could already see? One who only wants to do what it takes to make her friend happy, but is willing to do it at the cost of her friend’s husbands trust? Things like this made her totally unlikable to me.</p>

<p>And Jakes character's blind acceptance of this advice quickly stopped making him appear as a victim to me in this story, started lowering his intelligence in my eyes as a reader, and started making him seem not as likeable as he was before. I'm not of the kick her to the curb crowd, but I am of the mind if they are going to work it out, it needs to make sense how they do it. What he got from advice from Mad, that he accepted, made no sense remotely to me. It was basiclly blind acceptance in light of how far blind acceptance had gotten him so far.</p>

<p>Then there was the whole <b>independence to a fault</b> thing Beth had going on the whole story. Beth didn’t just have a single bad moment because of wanting to be independence, she had what most people would consider repeated marriage ending ones, based on her decision on how to handle those problems.</p>

<p>Once being put in that situation you can see as her being a victim of a preditor, and bad judgement not to tell her husband, but to have been put in the postion to have been preyed upon twice? She stopped being independence once she put herself in this position a second time. Yet the characters all see her as a victim. You are not a victim if you continue to put yourself in harms way repeatedly. And that’s what Beth did, but no one seems to see that in their rush to get even with Barton.</p>

<p>That’s something else that bothers me. The revenge. I’m not saying that Barton didn’t deserve something, but in the story Beth’s character kept putting herself in harms way because the character wanted to be "Independent" and sucessful at her job. Yet when it ended badly for her, every single person stood on the corner and said "<b><i>Look at how badly she was taken advantage of</i></b>. Huh, that was it? And in real life if this story had gone to court Beth would have gotten nothing. It’s hard to get someone convicted of a crime with a good lawyer if you keep going back for seconds and thirds of trouble. And by Beth's own admission she continued working for someone who she claimed tried to rape her for fincial benifit and gain. It's hard to sue for a hostle work place when you continue to work there because it benifits you.</p>

<p>And Barton, confessing because he wanted to rub it in the face of the husband of the woman he nearly raped twice? Huh? That part of the story totally escaped me. And he put it in writing so she wouldn't quit on him the first time? Most people who rape, or almost rape, someone are so scared they would get found out they would do anything to hide it. Not confess "twice" to it, and put it in writting at least once.</p>

<p>I’m sorry I didn’t like the ending to your story, but it felt forced. As I’ve often said, as a reader I should <i>feel</i> that the character belong together to make a happy ending, but this story felt like they are together because you said that they were going to be. Nothing I read told me they deserved to be. Other than a lot of sex between them. Sex doesn't fix problems, it only mask and hides them till later. And these two didn't fix or <i>solve</i> anything. I still like a lot of your writings, but just not this story</p>

<p>Sorry.</p>

-Risq

Ohio usually weaves a tale with far more tension. This chapter was a speedy and common resolution to a fairly common situation... on Lit. It was well written and a pleasure to read, but the usual tension was missing. This was good, but Ohio has set a very high bar for himself. As always, I thank him for sharing his ample skills and imagination!

It seems that people for get that this is suppose to get your mind off everyday stuff for a few min. If I did not know better I would think they had run into my first ex. the only person I know that can make you as angry as they sound.

Good story thanks for taking the time to entertain us.

Mike from Texas

if the wife had fucked the intire city of Boston, bareback, you would still find some way to forgive and forget. As always, your stories SUCK.

You know I like your stories. This one lacked drama. I can understand that you wanted to move away from the cheating wife to something else in this one but the story isn't that compelling. My feeling as I read it was that you needed to accentuate the turmoil in the husband's head, since that was the real focus, but you don't establish that and don't get very deep into his emotions. It might have been nice to use a point in his background that would make him a little bit fragile emotionally. That would have explained her reluctance to tell him and then he could go through the emotions and could learn from the experience.

... well educated american wives are dumb as you described. In Germany we tell sometimes wits about dumb blondes. So it looks like in your story. I came to a conclusion that this story rather belongs in the "humor"-category.

<p>Sincere regards</p>

<b>Nucleus</b>

<p>*Please excuse my inappropriate comment to chapter 1 of your story. My emotions at this moment flew just to high</p>

I believe Tom Clancy, one of the most prolific and successful writers of our time, noted that according to the reading public, the only thing that is supposed to make sense all the time is fiction. I can see what capecodmercury is saying but like him, I enjoyed it so much that 100 was the score we both gave it. Thanks for sharing your stories and as always, I'm looking forward to more.

I can't believe that I'm giving any Ohio work less than 100%. Yet, as many commenters have mentioned, there are enough logic problems in this story to drive a truck through. I guess my main problem with the story is Beth's seemingly total lack of understanding of real world situations and human behaviors. She fails miserably to understand how to protect herself in her dealings with Barton after his first rape attempt and compounds her problems by not sharing her experience with someone else.<br><br>Even her letter to Barton starts out "Dear Barton". How could she use such an endearing salutation to someone who she believes had every intention of raping her. And then to expect Barton to actually confess what he had attempted, PLEASE. And to leave the confession letter in her desk instead of somewhere safe.<br><br>To me, part of maturing and surviving in the real world is knowing when you need to turn on others for help and advice. Beth was truly out of her depth in dealing with Barton. He was more important to the company than Beth was and could surely claim that any sexual activity between them was consensual and instigated by Beth. At the worst, he would get a slap on the wrist and she would probably be shown the door.<br><br>Yet, after everything that happened, it appears that Beth has learned nothing. When Beth informs Jake that Diane has been given Barton's old position and has offered Beth the position as her assistant, Beth informs Jake that his assumption that she has already accepted another job is incorrect. Apparently, Beth is still keeping Jake in the dark as to what she is doing in her life. She did not accept the job offer and was going to work for Diane. I would have thought that Beth would be keeping Jake up to date on everything that happened in her life, yet she apparently still wants to be independant and inform Jake on a "need to know" basis.<br><br>Some people never learn.

Very nice story. I have read all your stuff on this site and loved it all. Keep up the good work.

I LOVE A Happy Ending! What a nice little fantasy tale. Hopefully she'll be smarter from here on, otherwise chapter 3 may not end as well.

I like C.D. and Madeline way more than our featured couple. Jake and Beth just seem so bland. The weakest part of the story is the guy whose engaged to a gorgeous model, that still goes after a co-worker. No matter how hot Beth may actually be, it's stupid for Barton to even go after her when he's already got Elena. That just makes no sense. Not to mention, Barton still has to drug Beth just in order to fuck her. That's simply more trouble than it's worth. Especially considering he has a hot piece of ass waiting for him at home. Barton is just an idiot for the sake of being the villain.

She goes to a concert with a guy she knows drugged her and attempted to rape her? Excuse me? That's what they call "Jumping the shark." Wanting to be an "independent woman" or just plain having a "brain fart" doesn't begin to cover that whopper. At the very least, that shows ignorance of how strongly effected nearly all women are to rapes and attempted rapes. There are a number of other things that don't make much sense either. Ohio, please get an editor not so much to proofread, but to conduct a plausibility check on the basic outline of the story. Maybe ask some fellow writers that you admire to look the story over before you publish it - why not? With just a little more thinking through, this could have been a much better story.

Ohio, a lot of commenters have address whether the wife's behavior was believable in this story. To some degree, I share that concern, but I also can see it as credible in a larger sense as well.<p>

First off, a lot of people have asked why the wife did not just file harrassment charges and get the asshole fired after the first incident. My answer to that her response is believable based on the way you wrote her character. You write her as sort of a post modern feminist. Not only is she independent and proud, she has enough ambition to want to "beat the boys at their own game". <p>

The unfortunate truth of the matter is that, even today, a victim of sexual harrassment can face as many problems as the perpetrator. Think Anita Hill and Clarence Thomas from his Supreme Court confirmation hearings on Capital Hill. Even if she had proof of the first incident (which she did not), any complaint filed by the wife could have derailed her career as well has his. Even if she succeeded, it would have become associated with her resume and she might have found it hard to advance. So, I can find her behavior in gritting her teeth and continueing on as somewhat credible.<p>

What I find difficult to swallow is the way you had it go down. I can either see her laying into him and threatening to go to human resources to making a big stink, or just ignoring it. I don't find it credible for her to "quit" (either time) while threatening to go public. Quitting just didn't seem consistent with her character, nor does it add anything to her case. But that is a somewhat small issue. <p>

My bigger concern was Barton's behavior. There is no way in hell that this guy would have ever written down anything that could be seen as a confession. Either the letter was full of self serving "non denials" that could be read in multiple fashions and bnot worth the paper that they were printed on, or he would have laughed her out of his office and bluntly told her to go ahead and quit. There is no way that he would have dug a bigger hole by giving her evidence in a "he said/she said" situation.<p>

I always look forward to your stories. I enjoyed part 1, but found that Part 2 had little emotion to it. In fact, it almost seemed like you tired of the story and just wrote something so that you could finish it.

Sorry, but you have set such high standards for yourself that "pretty good" seems like a let down.

Please keep writing and submitting.

What is here is good. The story seems a bit thin and familiar. The "sexual harassment at work" theme is worn, as others have noted. Still, worth reading.

This story is very good technically, and I liked the characters, but....

can we stop having the wife get harassed/raped/blackmailed by a male co-worker?

It might have been common 20 years ago, but if you work in today's business world than you understand just how draconian the rules are now. You say the wrong thing, or even look the wrong way and you WILL be pulled in front of HR to explain your actions. Heck, I one got hauled in front of HR because I had failed to look one of my female co-workers in the eyes, and she complained that I was looking at her tits. There is no way a woman as intelligent as Beth is supposed to be wouldn't understand that she absolutely had to report the first incident.

And there is little chance that Barton would have done that. Even the hint of a sexual harassment incident is enough to get HR looking to fire people. Something as careless as drugging a woman during a company party would be career suicide, and while he was described as a predator, he seemed to have a level of cunning that suggests he wouldn't risk his job just for a little fuck.

But other than that, the story was fun to read.

I gotta agree with Thebullet. The premise is too far fetched but ASSUMING beth did not actually fuck Barton the reconciliation is Just barely believeable.

<br></br>

In chapter 1 Jake sees Beth at the concert at 930PM ... then he tried to get closer but was blocked by security.... for an hour and a half... so the concert ended at 11PM... then Madeline sees Beth with Barton on ectasy at the club about 3am.

<br></br>

<b>what happened to Beth for 4 hrs?</b>

<br></br>

You see Barton had already gotten Beth once before -- the oral sex and almost Fucked her then. <b> This time Barton had Beth on Ecstay for SEVERAL hours</b>... and according to her own words Beth could only recall bits and pieces from all these hours alone with Barton...

<br></br>

<b>So WHY would Barton go to all this trouble and Risk going to Jail or getting fired etc only to wait until 3 am with Beth all drugged up and unable to resist? From 11pm to 3am what did Barton do with Beth? </b>

<br></br>

SECOND How exactly does Beth disrobing while she announces all these "rules" to Jake shows she understand what she did was so bad to the marriage??? I mean sure the make up sex could be great but as for the deeper issues -- that beth seems NOT know what what a marriage is.... her solution is weak.

<br></br>

It is a good thing Barton confirmed the existance of the Letter. However if Wharton Business school finds out about this whole incident I am sure Wharton will expunge all record of Beth ever attneding there...

<br></br>

Again the reconciliation is based on her NOT having sex with Barton. Why didnt Jake ask Him about the missing 4 hours ?

<p>Reconciliation for just cause is usually acceptable to me. But can any woman be as stupid as Beth? Can any person be as stupid as Beth and graduate from the Wharton School? </p>

<p>Because the premise, to me, was so unbelievable, it made the rest of the story hard to swallow. After an attempted rape only a truly submissive and beaten down woman would continue to work hand in glove with her rapist. And she certainly would never put herself into the position of allowing him to do it again.</p>

<p>But Beth was supposedly this independent, brilliant person. If such a person were to handle it by herself, her first move would have been to the police department. Her second would have been to human resources to bring a lawsuit against the company.</p>

<p>She made the boss sign a letter of confession and left it at the office and didn't make a copy? Ohio is asking us to suspend our belief system beyond recognition.</p>

<p>As usual, Ohio writes well. But this time he wrote himself into a corner that he couldn't work his way out of, IMHO.</p>

<p>Thumbs down.</p>

I admit that I was expecting a far more complicated tale

with many switchbacks on the road, but as it was, it was delightful and believable. She certainly was naive to believe

that the gentleman(??!!) would turn over a new leaf! And she did not set up any protection against possible renewal of the assault, but----- I enjoyed it. I admit that I would enjoy a third chapter where she was revealed as a villainess!

Dang, I was hoping ohio would make Beth into an evil, manipulative bitch but instead she's Goody Twoshoes. s'okay, it's good storytelling. Thank you, ohio.

This time I can agree with the reconciliation. Even if I think that the wife in this story is too stupid to be allowed to do anything without a minder.<br><br>

She also needs some serious education as to what constitutes a marriage. The first and foremost part being trust and communication. The minute those break down the marriage will follow suit very rapidly - and they can be damn hard to repair. By trying to "go it alone" she not only did the one thing every HR department tells you to never do in a sexual harassment case, she also violated the trust in her marriage. Yes, she was caught in a humiliating situation due to her own poor judgement, but that is forgiveable (if it wasn't her husband wouldn't have been worth the time of day). By not telling him, however, she took a bad mistake and changed it into something that could have permanently broken the marriage.<br><br>

That said, the outcome was entirely plausible - which puts this tale head and shoulders in front of most "reconciliation cheating wife" stories. I just wish there was more on the wife being educated by friends, family and maybe even professional marriage counsellors.