Four Year Itch, Talk Version

FOUR YEAR ITCH: The Talk Version

(Some commenters on the other two stories said Bill was immature for just walking out, instead of talking. Maybe. We'll see.)

Bill Yates and his wife Joan lived in a rented apartment in center-city. They were both twenty-six. They had been married at twenty-two and had just celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary. Bill was slim, 5'9" tall and had thick wavy light brown hair. Joan was 5'5", not as slim, but with a good figure. She had light brown hair and looked like the girl next door, who was out of local guys' league.

Bill was a plumber. He made good money, because here in the city no one could even clear a clogged drain. Work was more than steady. There was always a backlog. Joan had just graduated law school, and had been hired by a medium large firm. She also made good money, although not as much as Bill. Their marriage was, by all accounts, a good one. Of course, both were busy people. But they made a real effort to see each other, in and out of bed. Bed was almost always very satisfying, sometimes explosive. Joan had had a few hook-ups before meeting Bill. Bill was a little more experienced. Women seemed attracted to him. He was taken with Joan, though, the first time he saw her at a club. They were twenty-one. Married about a year later.

The two of them had plans to start a family. Both were from large families, and wanted to make a large family. Joan knew that getting pregnant was not going to sit well with her firm, but she had her priorities. Their plan was to put aside some money, have her go off birth control, and move back to the western part of the state for her to have their first child. Bill was confident that he could always make money as a plumber. They decided that they would make the move in about six months, around the New Year.

As the year moved on, Joan became a little uneasy. Two things. She felt as if their plan would lock her in, in a way that could not be altered thereafter. And she had been hit on at work by another lawyer. Jake Beatty was thirty-six. He was tall, handsome and personable. He was working at the firm on loan from the main office. Joan was quite attracted to him. She loved her husband. So, she made it clear to Jake that she was unavailable. Nevertheless, he persisted. He had gotten as far as a brief hug and kiss, after a lunch that they had, together, alone. Joan had been stand-offish until then. The kiss was revelatory. She didn't understand how or why she let it happen. She was in no doubt that if she gave in to Jake, she would have a spectacular time in bed with him. The rub was that Jake was on loan. He would head back in two weeks, a thousand miles away. After that, he might never return.

Bill was troubled by what he saw as a change in the marriage, just lately. Joan seemed preoccupied. When asked, she explained that she had a work problem.

Jake made a proposal to Joan. The weekend before he left, they would go off to a lake resort, have three days of sex, and that would be it. Jake, who was married with one child, would depart. Joan would continue with her plans for a family. Joan immediately said no. She simply said that she would not cheat on Bill, nor lie to him. She already felt guilty because she had not mentioned Jake to Bill. Jake said that she should simply ask Bill for permission. Tell him that she needed a fling before she settled into kid making. Just the weekend, then no more. She might learn new stuff that would help them in bed. She just listened to this. She was getting wet. If Bill loved her, he might agree. Jake knew that he had convinced her. He had no idea if her husband would go along. It seemed to him, though, that it was his only shot. He had tried all the tricks that normally worked for him, to no avail.

On Sunday night, the projected Friday departure to the lake with Jake was only five days away. Joan and Bill were heading for the bedroom, when Joan turned and gave him a super-hot kiss. That led to super-hot sex, with Joan having very intense orgasms, and Bill being pulled along by her. Joan was thinking about Jake the entire time. After they finished, they were lying in bed, with Joan spooned around her husband. She whispered in his ear.

"That was so great. You're so good to me."

"I try, thanks." He kissed her.

She started hesitantly, "Bill, I met a guy at work. He's a lawyer from the central office. He's been with us for five months." She felt Bill stiffen.

"Why are you saying this, especially now?"

"I was thinking how you have much more sexual experience than I do. I wanted...well the guy is hot. He's invited me to be with him at a resort for his last weekend here before he goes back to the main office. I wouldn't cheat on you. He said maybe you'd agree. I'd like a little fling before we settle and have kids. But if you say no, I won't do it."

Bill sat straight up in the bed, turned to look at his wife, really to see if she was serious. He did look. The searing pain he felt when he saw she meant what she said flashed across his face, for just an instant. His whole world destroyed in seconds. Joan saw it. She was horrified. His face became a mask. He bolted up and went into the bathroom, locked the door.

Joan was desperate, "Bill, I won't do it. Bill, please." She tried the door and found it locked. The shower went on. She went and sat on the bed, waiting for him to come back out. She thought that maybe he was thinking over his reply. She knew different, though. She'd seen that look. She was terrified.

Bill stood in the shower, his life as he knew it was over. He hurt so bad. Joan was his life, and first love. He washed himself, and it seemed that doing that washed away not only their sexual debris, but his love. Gone down the drain.

Bill decided that he had to know what Joan was thinking. He didn't understand why she would make such a proposal. He had to know. He thought it likely that his marriage would end because of this. He wanted to know why. He opened the bathroom door.

Joan was sitting on the bed crying quietly. She looked up at Bill.

"Are you leaving me? Please, I won't go. I'll tell him no. Please, Bill."

"I need to know why you ever thought it was a good idea to fuck this guy, and ask me to allow it. Just for the record, I say no. But, more than that, it's possible, even likely, that we'll get divorced."

"No! I haven't DONE anything. I just thought about it."

"I do not believe that, Joan. Something must have happened for you to say what you said. What? One more lie, we're over."

"He's been coming on to me. We went out to lunch and a the end e kissed me. I kissed him back. That's all. That's as far as it went. He wanted a weekend. He said you might agree."

"That must have been some kiss. For you to try to get me to agree. You must want him so much."

"I.....I do...did...want him. He's very attractive. He got to me."

"And when we were just fucking, you were thinking of him, not me. That's why you came so hard. Right?"

"I'm so sorry. I'm trying to be honest."

"And....you must have firmly believed that this guy would rock your world like I never have. Otherwise, you wouldn't take the risk. You wanted fantastic sex with this new man. Probably a bigger, better man. How did you think I would react?"

"I thought you would just say no, and we would go on."

"If I said no, would you have fucked him anyway, just not a long weekend?"

"No. If you said no, that would end it. You said no now. That's it. No sex."

"But you want him so bad. If you two snuck off one afternoon and fucked a few times, how would I ever know?"

"I wouldn't do that."

"How do I know that?"

"I'll stay off work the whole week until he goes."

"But he's going to come back sooner or later, right? Just not for as long. Maybe next year, or two years."

"Maybe. No way to tell."

"If I had said okay, go off and fuck the guy, how would you have felt?"

"I would be hap.....shit! I...I...would hate you. Damn."

"Right. It would show you how little I cared for you. Letting you go fuck whoever you want."

"I see."

"Suppose you got over that. You wanted him so much that you disregarded my uncaring agreement. Then you spent three days getting fucked better than ever before. You come home to me, I ask how it was. And you would say....what?"

"I'd.....lie. Oh. Either I lied, said it was only okay, or I'd destroy whatever confidence you had left. No win there. It was such a bad idea."

"Now I want you to understand that all of these things occurred to me as soon as you made your pitch. I was in agony. I saw it all."

"I saw your face. I'm so scared that we're finished. Please, I...how can I make this up to you?"

"The thing that I understood was that you put me in a no win situation. That's still true, isn't it?"

"No, I know I fucked up. I wasn't thinking straight. We can get by this."

"How? The next time we fuck, if we do, I'll know you're thinking of another guy, a specific other guy, not just some movie star."

"Shit."

"Who is it, by the way?"

"You don't need to know. Not important."

"I can easily find out. It's not a secret at your office. I'll make a call now."

"Okay. Jake Beatty."

"Married? Kids?"

"One child. Yes, married." She started to cry softly again. Bill didn't move to comfort her. Instead, he went out to the living room, although he was in his boxers. She knew he wouldn't be walking out just then.

Bill looked up Jake, found his address, his email, his wife's email and Facebook. He looked at the Facebook page. She was a cute woman, and they had a cute baby daughter.

Bill emailed Moira Beatty a description of what had happened between her husband and Joan. He made it clear that even though no true sex had happened, his marriage to Joan might end. He asked her to reply, if she needed any further information. He went back upstairs. He put on a T-shirt, grabbed his pillow, and went to sleep in the other room.

Before he left, he told Joan, "I'm not leaving now. I haven't decided what to do. I AM sleeping on the couch for the foreseeable future."

On Monday morning Bill went to work. Joan called in sick. Bill was in a quandary about whether to leave her alone. He figured that if she was going cheat after all that nothing would stop her. He did have his friendly neighbor on the lookout at the house, and a guy he knew at her work on alert.

Joan was dressed and making lunch when Jake called her.

"Jake, you and I can't have any contact. Please don't call. My marriage is on he edge."

"My marriage is over the edge. Your husband emailed Moira with all the details of our possible fling. She was unhappy. She's going to a lawyer."

"I'm sorry, Jake. Nothing I can do. All this was your fault, mostly. I bet you've done this before, too."

"So what? I'm out of town for months. Go back home once a month for a weekend. I have to occupy myself."

"I see."

"Don't be so high and mighty. You wanted the sex as much as I did. You put it all on the line to try for it. Sell, if our marriages go to shit, we can at least fuck away our sorrows."

Joan was silent. Joan was wet at the idea. What was wrong with her?

"I'm trying to save my marriage, Jake. Don't call again."

Jake did not get divorced. His wife put him through hoops, but decided that her daughter was the important thing. And Jake was a good fuck. But she took some measures when he left town again. One of them was named William. She thought that was only fair.

In the six months since Joan made her pitch, she and Bill have occupied the same apartment. But they have not been the same. They don't make love, ever. Five or six times, Bill has fucked the shit out of her. No love. She liked it anyway, and needed it. Their bond that they had has been broken, though. They have some fun times, laugh at things, enjoy the same books. But not the closeness that there had been. She has decided to give the marriage another six months, to see if things change. She did still love Bill. She simply didn't know if he loved her. She believed that she had hurt him badly. His idealistic image of her was blasted apart. She needed to substitute the real her in its place. The Joan that lusted after other men, but wouldn't have sex with anyone but Bill. No matter who she was thinking about when they did it. What more could he ask?

There was another fuck session, just two weeks after the last one. She was happy, because he was a little softer. Not gentle, just not caveman. She decided to ask him if he still loved her.

"Yes. I do love you. Not exactly as before."

"Maybe that's okay. I mean, I do have urges, and I do look at other guys. You look at other women. Like the secretary at your work, or that checker at the market. I just was carried away about one guy. But I would never, never go behind your back."

Bill hugged her. He gave her a soft kiss. "The check out girl is hot. I was in there just today. Her name is Judy. When we were having sex just now, I was thinking of her. Sorry. Also of you, but she got me going."

"Hah!" She punched him in the arm. "Well, I like that guy who delivers our pizza. He's a dreamboat. Next time we fuck, I'm gonna imagine that it's him."

"I bet he has a big dick," Bill smiled. He moved to her and gave her a hot kiss. She giggled.

"I bet he does too. I think he's hard when I pay him for the pie." Bill rubbed her clit, gooey from their last sex.

She moaned, "Oh....Oh....I'm yours, pizza guy....Oh."

Bill flipped her onto her knees, spread her and plunged into her. He fucked her hard, She came hard, twice. He filled her up again.

They rested, with her still on her belly. Bill caressed her, and she caressed him.

"I love you, Bill. The pizza guy doesn't have a chance."

"I love you, too, Joan. The check out girl doesn't either."

End. (But it could have gone the other way.)