All Comments on 'Decisions, Decisions'

The story had me thinking the wife had cheated. Or was capable of it. It felt like having kids with her would be a mistake. Good story.

Leslie is definitely going to cheat.

LTW's usual dope-ass writing. It could never be anything but a five. If you wanna read another great story from Laptopwriter, or other great writers, tune in on St. Patrick's day when he will post another. Thanks again, bruh. Randi.

Great. Particularly the two views on whether to forgive. I think supporting a friend after the fact is a great and loving thing to do but not something I could ever do.

Having read the 4 comments before me, I can not disagree. 5*. I would say that I was starting to wonder about leslie; and the relationship between Leslie and Sara didn't overly affect the main MCs relationship. A sad but down to earth story. STAY SAFE.

aside from one name mistake in the epilogue, this was a pretty decent story. not as exciting as some of your others but still very real and relatable to situations that could happen in real life. I would normally prob give it a 4 star but ill give it a 5 to keep up with everyone else. Also the 4 star isnt an indication that the story or writing was bad it just was lacking that little something that would have pushed it to a 5 naturally for me. still very much enjoyed the read

Good story. I was waiting for Leslie to be caught cheating too, as she was always so forgiving of tony and sara.

This story makes no sense. You have characters that talk and act like real human beings? Where are the over the top reactions? Brain should be ordering Leslie to never speak to Sara again which causes them to split. Also, Tony never became a cartoon villain. He should have shown up to the BBQ drunk and taken shots at Levi while yelling something like "She's my woman! I'll see her dead before I let anyone else have her!" Without doing that how is the read supposed to know for whom to root? And duh you don't have it turn out Sara and Leslie were secretly lovers? For shame. My advice for next time is to pick a LW story at random and just rewrite that. There are only really like a dozen different LW stories on literotica, why try and fix what ain't broken. Get with the program. 5 stars

This is an exceptionally realistic LW story, which makes it even more interesting. No crushed balls, shoving money around and fantasy law suits. This focused on real life, and I'm thankful for it.

Unlike the BS we are force fed on LW, this story ran truer to real life. Excellent story!5*

Good story indeed.

I am a bit circumspect about Les’s attitude towards infidelity. But Sara was her friend. So….

I think Les should have read Sara the riot’s act well in time!!

4

Excellent!

5

Well written as usual, but rather repetitive and long winded. The same arguments were stated over and over. I have sympathy with both sides and not sure which is correct. I also believe that anybody who thinks they know for sure which stance is right needs to wind their neck in and get off that fucking high horse. Which brings me to my lasting impression from the story. Brian was basically a good man with high morals, but in the end I couldn't help thinking 'what an over bearing, self-righteous preaching arsehole.'

Tony showed his true colors when he confronted Brian after promising that he would end the affair. He blamed without knowing facts to cover his own guilt. Sara at least shows remorse in her conversation with Leslie at the end. I felt that it justified the differences in how Brian and Leslie responded to the moral dilemma they had to face. I did feel that until the cheaters were caught that Leslie was seriously considering an affair before starting a family.

A typically well woven plot. Interesting characters, with a tight no frills style.

5 stars

Cagivagurl

No big bang at the end but a wonderful story nonetheless.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nice approach. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Very nice. Pleasantly surprised the MCs wife wasn't also cheating. Glad you didn't take it in that direction: it was more powerful as a reflection on how a couple deals with their friends' betrayals.

This is how a story should be written. This was very well done and held my attention all the way through. Full marks from me and my thanks for posting this enjoyable story.

Different concept, well written story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A great story. I'm not sure about Tony and Sara still screwing after they were discovered. They caught a big break with their friends' silence, then blew it. Based on what Sara said later, she didn't have a lot of motive to keep on, and did have good reasons to stop, like her family.

The basic idea of the story was great, tension in one marriage stemming from friends' messing around. I kept expecting Les to go to the dark side. Glad she didn't. D

It’s always good to see one of the legends of LW turn up with a new story. I gave it a 5. I do think that Leslie/Sara’s ongoing friendship could easily have created more angst than portrayed. At some point you need to have that out in the open, particularly if there’s a possibility that Brian might come home to find her in his house…

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There was the potential for the plot to be somewhat like javmor’s story, Catwoman Caught. I know Leslie wasn’t discovered cheating in this instance, but I’m more referring to how friendship and divided loyalties can ruin a marriage. Fortunately, Leslie did draw a line when it came to the support she'd offer Sara. That and the open assistance given to Julie

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The only other real missing element was the Why? from Sara’s POV. We learn at the end that she regretted what happened but we don’t learn precisely why. I do also wonder if Leslie was ever tempted, due to the conversations with Sara being such a turn-on? Was it ever a close run thing, were any lines ever crossed etc. I know that wasn’t the angle you were looking for here but I could see myself liking that tale/follow-up. Just a suggestion… ;)

A lot of thought and effort went into this story, and it was pretty realistic, so ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.

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But, I have to admit, my attitude toward Brian is, "Lord, save us from such self-righteous pricks!" I get that he couldn't forgive or stand to be around Tony, but his continually pissed off attitude about his own wife not breaking off her friendship with Sara was annoying.

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Then there was this bit, on page 2: ""Brian, I may not be the smartest guy in the world, but I have my pride and I won't let anyone take that away from me, not even Sara."

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"What about the kids?"

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"Yeah, I know, I thought of that and tried to put myself in their shoes. If I was a kid and knew my dad allowed my mother to sleep around and did nothing about it, I'd be ashamed of him. Brian, I'd rather be a part-time dad who was respected by his kids, than a full-time dad who wasn't.""

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Maybe that's how Arnie felt, but it is in no way reflective of how his kids would think. Kids are desperate to keep their parents together, and they value having their parents together over everything else. And the more the kids know about sex, and comprehend the reason for the split, their respect for their father will be tempered by the fact that their mother chose to screw someone else, because they'll always wonder, "Was dad a dud?"

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Then I combine that with Brian's attitude: he's pissed at Tony, but agrees to keep his knowledge a secret if Tony breaks up with Sara. If Tony and Sara had ended it, he'd (supposedly) have kept his knowledge a secret, but he'd also lose respect for Arnie, knowing he'd been cuckolded.

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Actually, that would be a good idea for a spin-off story: how would Brian and Leslie react if Tony and Sara had broken it off, continuing with the knowledge that they had. I can see such a story going off in a couple of directions, but either would be one which ended with a whimper rather than a bang.

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I'm sure I'll be in the minority on this point -- I usually am here -- but to me Brian is written as the male version of a "Karen," an entitled busybody. He decided for himself, and applied it to Arnie:

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"The more I thought about it, the more I felt guilty for promising to keep quiet. I kept asking myself if I'd really want to know if Les was cheating on me, and I always came back to the same answer, you damn well better believe I would." There are a couple of assumptions in that, that Arnie would want Brian to tell him, and that Arnie didn't already know, and would feel worse if Brian told him. After all, Arnie could already know, be trying to get things straightened out, and be hurt worse if friends knew he'd been cuckolded. It just never entered this male Karen's thoughts that this was none of his business.

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I did laugh at this line: "When I started for Tony's place, I was as nervous as a three-time loser in front of a judge." Hah! If it was in Philly, it wouldn't matter, our criminal-loving DA would still be sweetheart plea bargaining it down to probation.

nickbgb wrote, "The only other real missing element was the Why? from Sara’s POV." This is a long-running question in LW, and the answer is one that leaves a lot of LW readers dissatisfied, that things sometimes just happen. Sara admitted that she had always been attracted to Tony, and it just happened. Things like that really do happen in the real world, perhaps more often than people would guess.

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After all, how many times have readers here just fallen into bed with someone before they were married, without really putting too much serious thought into it. If you think, well, that can't really happen after you get married, you're fooling yourself.

10 big blazing stars for an interesting story. Obviously Tony was fucking Leslie too. It is just that Brian wasn't smart enough to catch the clues. His wife, Leslie supports her slutty friend because they are both sluts together. Birds of a feather, flock together. Just saying all those nights of cold shoulder was because Leslie's pussy was full of Tony's cum. Just sayin' Buster2U

@ReedRichards “This is a long-running question in LW, and the answer is one that leaves a lot of LW readers dissatisfied, that things sometimes just happen. Sara admitted that she had always been attracted to Tony, and it just happened. Things like that really do happen in the real world, perhaps more often than people would guess.” - Oh I totally get that, particularly in the case of a one night stand or something short-term while away from home. However, the interesting aspect to this story is that both Sara and Tony were given the option of a second chance with their marriages but still couldn’t stay true to them. Either the illicit sex was too good, they trusted in Brian and Leslie’s silence too much or they simply became conceited. Or some combination.

All the way through the story I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, but nothing happened. Well written but very boring.

Nice that the author allowed Brian to get confirmation that Les was true to him despite her continued friendship with Sara.

The other shoe I was waiting on was for the MC to give in and reach out to Tony, to try to pull him out of the rut. I get that the MC couple represented the opposite ends of the reaction spectrum, but still, it felt like at the end, Tony got thrown off the cliff. Would have been nice to heard more of his ending but I guess he qualified as the B in the mild BTB aspect of this. It was thought provoking as far as the issues for friends of the offending parties were concerned, and I appreciated that.

Quite a nice story of the impact of one ripple in the pond has on people around the pond. Add a handful of rocks to the stone and unintended consequences are imposable to forecast.

One little name flub at the end on an otherwise perfect story.

I have to be honest and say the further I read the more I expected a past indiscretion come to light about Leslie which might explain her sympathy towards he cheaters. I am glad it didn’t.

This is a great story that acts like a mirror for the reader. Lots of comments about how Brian is a judgemental prick or how Leslie is probably screwing Tony as well or how Sara is going to lead Leslie to start cheating. The story is what it is and I anticipate many lesser authors retelling to story to work through their personal issues.

Characters are not meant to be paragons of virtue or perfect. Maybe Brian should have told Arnie sooner. Does Arnie ever find out that Brian caught them and maintained their secret? A few unanswered questions make for a story that maintains tension. Well done.

Good story. Only problem was that I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Well done. For a while I thought the story was going where the mc wife had an affair. You fooled me.

I was waiting for Leslie to be caught cheating. thankfully it never happened as it would have been heartbreaking. not because I thought Leslie was a great character, but the way you built the story up it would have felt like a bigger betrayal of their marriage than just cheating.

It was interesting to me and just like everyone else, I was waiting for the new affair to occurred. However, I gave it a 5 because it made me to continue to read it and I enjoyed it because it gave me a different perspective on the emotional aspect of what affairs do to other people that are friends to the culprits.

You fooled a lot of us. I agree with the others. I keep waiting for it to come out Les had an affair and Sarah had known. Also a little surprised there was no blow back they had known about it from Arnie and Julie.

Decent story but for the second time today someone commenting right below me thought the same thing I did. Leslie was protecting Tony and Sarah because they knew of her affair as well and might have even been involved in 3somes with the two of them. LTW is a great author but this one was too long for the ground covered.

I sat here debating whether to rate the story 4 or 5 stars. OK----5 stars. Darn good, and some pretty good insights into a happily married couple who did disagree as to keeping certain friendships alive or let them die off.

The story gave me pause to reflect back many years when a similar situation occurred among friends. It was really tough to try the juggling act between the ex-spouses. How did we handle it? Hell, that in itself is a long story. So I will just shut up and sign off. See you when you write another good story.

This kind of story is the reason I’m even still on the site. LW stories done well let me appreciate what I have, the consequences of losing it and make me reflect on my own thoughts of my marital relationship. This one has all of that in more. Great writing and story development had me 100% engaged in your universe. Only conflict I had was Brian’s hard stance on his wife’s relationship with Sara. I get the point, just couldn’t make the leap. The best writers in this genre do what you do, new situations of known human defect that contaminated we can all relate to on some level. Well done - 4.9*!

PS - Small edit issue at very end where you put Leslie instead of Julie. LOL!

Your normal great work -- entertaining; need I say more? 5*

Excellent story as usual from you! I enjoyed the character development and the way you kept them true to their character. Thank you for this enjoyable read. 5*

Excellent. An imaginative approach to the telling of marital disharmony. Leslie and Brian agree on the immorality of an affair but disagree on what constitutes tolerance of wrongdoing in a long-standing friendship. The dialogue was as one would expect between husband and wife. 5*.

It never mentions him checking the tracker he put on his own wife. I spent the entire story waiting for him to catch his own wife cheating. It would have made sense the way she liked to defend cheaters.

Good story--no, an OUTSTANDING story. Like most submissions from this author, I enjoyed it immensely. I had to go back and re-read parts of it because my mind would wander, wondering when Brian would find out Les was cheating on him! Her unswerving support of Sara and her reluctance to cut her out of her life had me convinced the old saying "Birds of a Feather Flock Together" was again coming true. I still have my doubts. I'm a pessimistic bastard.

Brian's stance is not what I would call inflexible. He disapproves of Tony and Sara cheating, but compromises by being willing to keep what he knows to himself when they promise him and Leslie that they'll stop. He even warned Tony that if he found out they were still cheating his promise of discretion was withdrawn. And when Arnie approaches him with his suspicions, he doesn't break his silence about his friends' previous cheating, but only provides suggestions on how to determine if they're STILL cheating. He only digs in his heels and cuts Tony and Sara off when they break their promise, thus betraying not only their friends but THEM as well. It's Leslie's determination to remain friends with people who have demonstrated that they can't be trusted by ANYONE that is hard to swallow and potentially troubling.

Brian had an easier time aftwards, because Tony went full-on total ass when he was exposed. I can't help wondering what Leslie would have done if Julie had reacted badly to her continuing friendship with Sara.

A truly beautiful, realistic story that shows us the devastation that adultery can wreak on a group of friends. 5⭐

All the characters deal in their own way with the fallout from the discovery of betrayal.

I really like Les and Brian as a couple, who deal with it in completely different ways, bringing a bit of tension between them, and in the end being quite open about their differences.

On the other hand, for an LW story, you forgot to mention the ego problem, the bigger cock, that it was all about sex, .......

It wasn't right to not respect the standards. 🤣🤣

I really enjoyed this.

Like others, I was waiting to discover Leslie cheating, but I suspect that is because of this category. Maybe I've been conditioned to think that way.

Well done and thanks for sharing.

Thank you for a story with believable characters. So well written. 5*

Engaging story. Real life people and dilemmas. Small error: "Leslie, of course, accepted his proposal" ;-)

Really nicely done, and I particularly like the way you handled the tensions between Brian and Les.

Great story as always. I think the different opinions that Brian and Leslie have toward their friends and how they supported or not supported them is simply the difference between how men and women are. And I think you nailed that reality. Does that mean Leslie will cheat in the future? I believe not necessarily.

Lots of hard truths about the effect on the friend group. It really is a ripple in a pond.

I've read so many great LTW stories that I can't remember if this is his best or not. Regardless, It is certainly near the top. I kept expecting Brian to discover Les was or had been in an affair. All I can say is this was brilliant.

I was waiting for the difference in how they supported Sara and did not support Tony to blow up their relationship. Glad to see it did not, plus they were able to support the two impacted move on. Enjoy Kaptop’s stories.

A five. But a couple things that were left hanging. The cheaters broke their promises to stop. And that was a big deal to the MC, but we never get any sense that Leslie feels violated or even realizes that she has played a part in the pain Julie experiences. And fortunately for our MC, Arnie never finds out that the MC kept a secret from him.

The cheaters really, really abused their friendships. And that abuse didn't seem to even register with Leslie. And never came up as part of the discussion. The cheaters made Leslie a participant in covering up the affair. That's unforgiveable.

Leslie never seems to understand her own culpability.

As I always laptopwriter you deliver.

Great story. 5 stars

Really good ... except in the last few paragraphs - you mixed up some of the women's names ... Sabrina <-> Leslie.

I was so afraid you would end with Les having a secret affair, which would explain why she failed to react the same as her husband. Instead, you authored a great tale with exquisite emotional detail, and a realistic tip of the hat to the real world. Life is messy, but life is why we live. Thank you.

A partner who supports a cheater and would cover up for him/her is someone I could never see myself trusting. The fact that they didn't even go to counseling is also worrying, our guy would have to examine his relationship until the day he dies and never feel completely secure in it.

What a great, grounded couple. And a refreshing new slant on cheating spouses and the problems they cause for their friends. Congratulations.

This is such an interesting premise. I thought maybe Brian was too hasty in dropping his friendship with Tony. But then I also thought: Would you want to be friends with a man who doesnt mind sleeping with the wife of his friend? Would you be comfortable leaving your wife alone with such a man? So many hard questions.

Phew. This was a good and interesting take on this type of story. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop on Les and Brian, but it never did. I breathed a sigh of relief at the end. You can tell you read too much LW fiction when simple and normal marital disagreements get you anxious for one of the partners having an affair. lol.

The only thing is that I think your morality tale was a bit transparent. Brian didn't support Tony so he ended up a drunken loser. Les supported Sarah and she became contrite and remorseful. Things don't really work out that nicely and to be honest, Brian is right to be afraid of Sarah's influence in his own marriage - hell, real life is replete with example after example of wives and girlfriends dragging each other down like a bucket of crabs.

Beautiful story. The "Superman and Jesus Christ" line yanked me out a bit, but it was just enough to realize how much I was enjoying the narrative. Really original perspective. Thank you.

Well, it is a 5 star story. I thought all along that Leslie was going to or was already cheating. If it is okay for her friend to do and her to support that friend even when her husband was not happy about said support, then why wouldn't Les cheat herself if she got the chance. Having children with someone who is somewhat ambiguous about fidelity might not be a good idea. But the husband has to make his own decisions about that. Always good to see one of your stories.

A good story. Although you did cock up the character names at the end. Looking forward to your next one!

Ambivalent about this one which is probably the author’s intention. A well written tale as far as mechanics but I find my real reaction is “bleh…” There really isn’t much pathos here and the third person perspective combined with the protagonist and wife’s decisions to not tell the cheated on spouses about their observations, and the wife’s unresolved amorality.leave me trying to use my own common sense to resolve the unresolved skeins at the end. Thus I fail to properly suspend disbelief and am left unsatisfied by the story ending. I guess that all the authors framing and foreshadowing of the wife’s continuing and defense of her relationship

With her cheating friend coupled with this authors morally ambivalent tales caused my unfounded expectation that the wife would be revealed as a cheater herself. Ah well…

4 stars

I sure hope it was Julie that accepted Levi’s proposal and not Leslie as that might have caused a few problems.

While all this was going on Arnie and Julie never found out that Brian and Leslie knew about the affair and said nothing, can’t see that as possible given how chatty they all were, pretty sure it would have slipped out at some point, then see the shit hit the proverbial.

Great story as always. Infidelity always reaches further than the cheaters think, it destroys friendships as well as family. Les's and Sara's friendship was a good subtext. Sometimes someone will forgive whatever the friend does, no matter how bad it is because their friendship means too much. Sara's regret was good at the end and Brian's realisation that Les would never end her friendship with Sara so there was no point trying to stop her.

Couple of editing errors at the end where you put Lesley instead of Julie but that is just nit picking

Always nicely constructed and you write characters really well, nicely defined by their actions rather that exposition, which I think is hard to get across in short form.

Loved it. Seems very true to life. 5

Great story. I was honestly on the edge of my seat expecting Les to be cheating too. Her NOT cheating was a nice twist.

An interesting line on how other's problems can affect you. A solid 5 from me.

A little confused with names right at the end?

A very realistic examination of the impact of cheating and divorce on marriages and friendships. Excellent!

As others have stated, a well written, nicely constructed and very realistic story of the impact a cheating couple can have when drawn from a close knit group of friends. Sides are taken... people hurt, no matter what happens. Thank you, I enjoyed it. "Life goes on", as they say. Cheers.

Good story, well told. Brought out the emotional devastation powerfully.

Always happy to see you post. It was lovely.

A nice, gentle story, and the MC continues his happy marriage. Really well done.five stars worthy..

JPB

This was ok but all your characters were one dimensional. Brian was black and white. He would only support anyone who was as perfect as himself. People are fallible.

Leslie was non judgmentally supportive. She could support and be there for her friends despite their decisions.

It was good but honestly, Brian is an uncompromising asshole and it would have been nice to see him lose his way.

Wow!

A serious and well written story with decent character development on Literotica.

What were you thinking about?

Please don't become a repetitive writer like cagivagirl, this was so repetitive I had to keep checking it wasn't one of her stories.

I'm also pretty sure I might have read something similar before. You seem intent on thinking you're finding new ways to make your stories new/different, but its simply not possible anymore.

Your tale was well written until the end. You name swapped Leslie and Julie twice, "Leslie, of course, accepted his proposal" and "Les has kept her friendship with Sara, but she has never favored her over Arnie or Leslie" . I'll give a 4.6*.

Just outstanding! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Great story,with well drawn characters which is not always a given here.Most especially the mc Brian, who although not without flaws shows himself a steady and dependable man. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good story. It seemed like the set up was there to reveal that Les was sympathetic to Sara because she herself had also cheated. But you didn’t fall into that trap - kept us guessing. Without additional conflict to solve the end maybe could be curtailed a bit it or alternatively explored further ( with the why, or the underlying tension with Les).

Nice work.

I especially like that Brian never wavered in his ethos. Some people don't have ethics, and make apologies for untrustworthy people who break their promises, he would not.

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Good on him, you should be able to trust your friends, or find new ones. If Sara and Tony can't trust their own spouses, why would anyone else ? And why keep toxic cheaters in your life ?

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Great story and good, taut writing. A lot of it is believable too. Something that can happen to any of us.

Five stars!

If this were real, I would tell the main character to carefully read the article Les was reading and find out what she thought was allowable or prudent in a marriage, before agreeing to have kids with her.

@nickbgb Humans nearly went extinct in our history. Once with only 1000 reproducing pairs and I believe there was another time as well. Our species has an interesting quirk that pulled us away from the brink of extinction. If there's someone or something you're not suppose to have sex with, shouldn't have sex with, don't want to have sex with, someone will still fuck it.

It kept the species going but also causes lots of divorces.

"The Only Constant in Life Is Change." a popular quote by a Greek philosopher, Heraclitus.

" If you think, well, that can't really happen after you get married, you're fooling yourself."

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There are also people with solid and honest morals and values, not only blinded by their selfishness cheaters.

Good story but you got a vrain fart at the end where Julie changed to leslie

5*

Seems to me Brian too easily sloughs off his concerns about Les's relationship with Sarah.

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There is a similar story in LW where the MC catches his sister-in-law cheating and ultimately finds out his wife cheated with the same guy. I regretfullly don't remember the author, but I think the title (or maybe the tagline) was She Cheated and I got Fucked.

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Still, an enjoyable read. Thanks for sharing.

The bejaviour of the wife of the MC, Leslie, was just a bit worrying, defending the disgusting slutting and cheating around of her best friend. Difficult to understand such an ambiguous thinking and behaviour. Certainly something that needed a more serious discussion.

I read it all (more fool me)

But i cant stop asking myself, what was all that about, just seemed like a lot of nonsense!

Agree with Pinto931's comment.

The one constant thorn is his wife's friendship with Sarah

Good tale. Very good characters. Poor choices and a progressive happy ending. It is not as strange that Les stayed friends with Sara. Women aren’t as judging as men especially if their friend’s loyalty, integrity and honesty are challenged. Tony’s reactions typical of self absorbed asshole who blames everyone but themselves. I found it also telling that Sarah’s reaction was about 180 to Julie's. Seems she was ready to cheat. Anyway nice to be able to read something new from you.

I made the mistake of not telling a friend about her husband’s infidelity. Same excuse; breaking up a family with kids. It turned out much worse for her than it would have been. I’ve carried the guilt for years.

Was a good story I am not sure about getting involved in other peoples business among friends even more so , but it seemed to work out for the most part

Was dreading the reveal that Leslie was a cheater and was very happy to be disappointed. Good stuff.