All Comments on 'Ghosts & Shadows Pt. 06'

You left me crying, thank you. Yeah the burn the bitch and the rabid anonymous posters will make hay our of him getting back together with Mary, but to hell with them. This is an adult ending to the story, Hugh comes to realize that his relationship with Mary can't be the same as what it once was, but he also realizes how much he still loves her and her, him, and he also comes to realize he changed the relationship when he had his mid life crisis. It is a very real story, it is about the idea that you can forgive but it doesn't mean forgetting. The sex obsessors will say what Hugh and Mary did were different, and they were, but they were both cheating and in much the same way, both of them succumbed to the fantasy of different lovers, of being attractive to someone younger, the only difference was Hugh was able to pull back, Mary wasn't. My only criticism might be that Hugh, who is obviously a bright, intelligent man, and Mary, never try to find help in reconciling, about how Hugh, for example, could maybe forgive her while not forgetting.

For the haters, for those calling Hugh a wimo, he ended up with the person he truly cared for and did so, not by forgetting, but by creating a new relationship, and in the end ended up with as DQS said, maybe not what you want (which would be memories without the pain), but rather what you need. Part of the problem with traditional moral codes, as evidenced by the failures of the Catholic Church in terms of the priestly abuse scandal, is when you are locked into black and white thinking, this is bad, this is good, you can't act when faced with the unexpected or end up paralyzed. Hugh acted in a way consistent with someone realizing life isn't black and white and that he himself had left behind his own ghosts and shadows on their relationship, and dealt with it. Lot easier to walk away and hate then acknowledge the reality of feelings and act on them.

Another author goes to the sicko side. Really sad story about a man who has all the money and friends he will ever need and turns out to be just another loser.

i never could understand why some get so pissed when a couple get back together at the end. I mean cause they want to be happy that makes someone a wimp. i don't see people being forced to make this decision. They do or do not for their own good and happiness. I for one like happy endings even if it means they get back together. if being happy apart works then so be it.

Thanks again "Q" for another well done story. Looking forward to your next story!

Thanks again! smitty

Would have been a massive surprise if they hadn't reconciled. But it's still a brave choice by DQ, who knows he's gonna have to bunker down!

Thank you very much, as always, for another great contribution and not only to literotica but especially to Loving Wives. 5*.

I didn't care for any of the characters involved. I felt for the man until the story somehow let out the fact that he had become involved with other women, diluting the impact of the story to the point that her own unfaithfulness was a given.

What story was the amnesiac in?

destroy your husband and family,while you're having a good time.affair ends when boy toy drop vain and dumb whore.now i want my all of sudden wonderful hubby back. this call having cake and eating it too.your men in your stories are wimps.she and lover got away clean and hubby suffered.

OK - You managed to pull it off with your usual brilliant writing and here I was sharpening my pen to write scathing comments about the fact that Mary never explained the big "WHY" she did it. And when she did, it was almost anticlimactic because it was so simple and so miserably common. Would it have happened the same way if Hugh had thrown a fit and gotten mad instead of walking away and trying to crawl into a bottle; we will never know. If Hugh had been a little more perceptive would it have gone as far as it did? Mary said basically she was a slut and I think you were too unkind to her. I think it was more her fear of getting old and Hugh was aging too well (LOL, here I am explaining character behavior to the author). Richard was her proof she was still attractive, but she couldn't love him and couldn't respect him after his breast grabbing episode, good explanation of that aberrant behavior by the way.

The cheating wife haters will cry out in anguish that the bitch didn't get torched, or hung, or got AIDS, or died in a car wreck, or died a pathetic alcoholic in the gutter. Frankly I am glad they got back together, because there is nothing sadder than two people living apart who still love each other and these two did love each other and the fight to rejoin proved that.

I was ready to kind of write off this story, me of little faith, but now I love it and gave you five stars.

You managed to turn Hugh into a wimp. The only revenge here that was needed was living well. He could not even accomplish that. Truly pathetic.She even told him it could happen again. Oh she didn't use those words, she told him Richard stold her just the same way Hugh did. Thus it can and probably will happen again.

For this I could only give ***. Very disapointing

I had a feeling this was going to happen and you didn't disappoint me. TY for writing,

STUPID, WIMP EX -HUSBAND AND SLUT EX-WIFE,TYPICAL-1*

One of your strongest suits. Story will get 50k views and 50+ comments, so the intellectually derelict bemoaning the outcome represent 0.001% of the readers. It is your story and anyone with a brain and any life experience can fathom this ending as written. Sometimes people just belong together.

I was a but anxious as to how you were going to let this one end. You did it beautifully! I am very, very pleased with the outcome. Excellent piece. Keep 'em comin'.

I am always scanning for your stories! Thank you for amother well written story!!

But DQS1 has me convinced about this cheating slut. She is still a human being, just like Hugh was when he was fingering young nubile beauties. And despite the manner in which she crushed him so magnificently, the reasons for her errant behaviour makes her fall from grace plausible to be allowed some semblance of redemption in my books. Besides, Hugh never stopped loving her.

Not the best of DQS1 but definitely one that deserves to be up there!

I believed with Tiffany of ' Seperate Vacations ' , Paula of ' P & P ' , and yes even Debbie of WWWM that these women are sirens for whom the rules don't quite apply, that their men need to stay on tiptoes if they want to be worthy of these temptresses' charms.

Mary never rose to that standard. I HATED the things Tiffany putt Bruce thru in ' SV' but couldn't deny that when she was in the story, the plot galvanized, her dialogue was electric. I understood why Bruce would pay the prices entailed to be worthy of this 'Alpha Bitch ' .

I might well be prejudiced by my admiration for this author's work, heretofore. It will be very interesting to garner the verdicts of DQS's fellow authors. I'm sure this author worked hard on this submission but I feel about this story, the same way Hugh felt about Brittany .

The package has periodic panache and flair but the mystery is ultimately AWOL as far as I'm concerned. It will have to be for others with more discerning taste then I to find the magic that has eluded my spectrum of vision.

I do thank the author for returning to Literotica. Regardless of my qualified regard for this effort . I have read & reread him with so much pleasure & insight multiple times. His stories in the Loving Wives Hall of Fame blaze with emotion & determination. Seminal !

If Literotica were the Mafia , DQS would be a' made man' . This effort ain't going going to make or break him . He's made his bones - just check his story page for confirmation.

But a WACC is Still A WACC

After reading this, the first thought was finally the female villain really was not a villain, just a flawed human like the rest of us. She was not the cold hearted monster we see in so many of your other stories. She ran from the pain and guilt, not to be cold. I can understand that. Mary's character is a very believable character, as was Hugh's. But healing can happen. It takes a lot of time and honest heart searching.

Thanks again...

No great mystery, at all. I thought it was likely that there was a parallel between Kelly's seduction of Mary and Mary's seduction at the hands of Hugh (sorry for the pun). Nicely tied in.

Not the best or most justified of reconcililations, but I can buy it. They had a lot of history (36 years of marriage), truly loved each other, were both basically miserable without each other, and the cheating went both ways. It struck me that Mary never really apologizes to Hugh. Did I miss it?

Again with the typical DQS verbal castration (of sorts). I noticed the classic line, borrow from 'Separate Vacations': "I never loved him, like I loved you." Best to leave that modifier second half of that sentence off entirely, sweetheart. DQS women need to learn that a little white lie or 'spin' could help out the reconciliation process a bit.

I noticed a few consistency errors. Hugh states that Kelly has no children, but in the first or second part it is mentioned that he has two small children. Mary also never addresses the statement to her son that she and Kelly were planning on getting married after her divorce was final. She deals with the breast-groping incident, and says that it was humiliating and that it lead to her telling Kelly that it was, or would be, over between them. But, she says that she went to Kelly only because she didn't want to fess up to her kids that she had cheated on her father, and that she had no where else to go? What about an apartment? What about a hotel? You don't want your kids to know you've been fucking around on their father and that is the cause of your separation? Then it makes perfect sense to file for divorce, make no attempt at reconciliation, and immediately shack up with your lover-boy and announce that you are going to marry him as soon as your divorce is final.

So, those things stick in my craw a bit.

Still, emotional and well-written. The ending, summing up where all these major, and minor, characters are, reminds me of the ending of a movie where there will be a frozen screen of the various characters and a little blurb about what becomes of them. I thought of the end of Animal House for some reason.

I stuck with this tale, and found it worthwhile, as much as it irritated me at times. Well done.

DQS you just keep putting out great stories. I get lost in them and really enjoy your writing. Its nice to see a J-ville/Florida author just knocking them out of the park. Can't wait for more of your work (hint hint WWWM). Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work.

The writing is great. The story is catchy -- at times riveting. But finally, and we could all tell where this was going, I Did Not Believe It. Didn't believe he could or would take her back. That kind of betrayal is a fire that burns away the original emotion and love, and you said it yourself, Hugh will never again have what he thought he had with Mary, but you didn't build anything new for the 2 of them. The answer is simple -- just because you say he loves the bitch don't make it so! This is one of those stories where the plot came before the writing, like mapquest promising to take you someplace, but actually sending you someplace else.

Both author and the male protagonist are wimp.

twice, three times every day as I trolled this site frustrated at not being able to find the final chapters of this enthralling story. The anger, the frustration is expunged. the wait was worth the final chapters.

I sometimes feel the angst that seems to creep into D>Q> Steele's stories is too much, but it isn't....the stories are of a piece and the attitudes are the right ones for the people who inhabit these stories. Mary and Hugh were real people to me as a read "Ghosts and Shadows," the story was moving and the ending was more than satisfactory. Thank you, Mr. Steele, for a story well told, very well told!!!

Your stories are good, but you fall too often into cliche. The last line is one - and almost ruined the whole thing for me. "Simon is still Simon" and "Brittany is still Brittany" and "Gail is still Gail" is just lazy writing. I am disappointed in you when I read those kinds of lines.

That being said, your stories do capture the imagination, and I follow them to the end. I don't always believe them, but I do follow them.

As good as ever:

Don

I think you did it absolutely right!!!

D-l-k-

Hugh is a 60ish guy who is a troubleshooter, a VERY good one, for a major bank. He goes into hard, emotional situations, makes tough decisions, and straightens things out.

And yet, the bar meeting is conducted like he is a teenager. He calls in well endowed Brittney to make his ex wife jealous? Mary is a slut. She acts like a slut. Why would he be surprised to see her acting as he expects her to? Then when Mary says "I'm just wondering why she's with you." he pisses his pants and runs away. You want to tell me that he is upset by seeing Mary unexpectedly, OK. But a mature man like this, three years after a divorce doesn't collapse like this and it's absurd to write it that way.

Then we get this gem right out of the moronic woman's handbook ""It changes everything! She's trying to find a way back to you. She thought you'd see her at O'Brien's with another man, get jealous and approach them, then she'd have a chance to talk to you." Oh yeah, a wife that betrays me, demeans me, and is cruel to me thinks that showing up with a another guy will make me want to get her back? It's just more torture. Gail is a slut as well, so it's not too surprising that she is willing to give Mary a pass but setting Hugh up like this is a serious betrayal and the whole plan is pure stupidity. If Gail knew Hugh at all and respected him she would KNOW it would not work.

Then Mary reveals "I had men after him, hoping I'd find somebody who would free me of you... I had the choice of living my life alone and miserable trying to crawl back into your life." So just like before, Mary is being selfish. I don't want to be miserable so I'll try to get you back. Wow, that's really inspiring.

Hugh then reinforces exactly what I think of him, "You know how important loyalty is to me, in my personal and business life, yet you betrayed me." and yet Gail betrayed him and that is OK?

Hugh then reminisces about his time with Elaine "As long as I didn't fuck her, as long as I didn't slide my dick between those long lovely legs of hers it wasn't real, it didn't count!". Even now he is lying to himself. The degree of sex doesn't matter. The real difference is that he didn't try to hurt Mary with his actions, as stupid as they were. Mary DID try to hurt him.

Then Robert shows up to see Gail and points out "You remember the last time you left me, in that hospital bed, unable to move because your asshole boyfriend, and his friends, broke my neck?". Gail cheated on him and caused him serious bodily harm and yet GAIL is upset with him???? Why? Wasn't he a good enough punching bag?

A problem running through this story is that these people act insanely and no one sees anything wrong with their actions.

Let's go back to the beginning. When her affair is exposed here is what Mary says:

"Yes, I've been meeting him - being with him, since three months after - you were right, about everything. When you heard laughter, that was him, I had just climaxed, cum so hard I almost threw him off the bed and he was trying to stifle his laughter. When you couldn't reach me, I was with him, all night, three and four times a night. I even missed a few morning meetings because I couldn't tear myself away from him. I think about him at night, lying next to you and I think about him when you're inside me. It's him I'm thinking about."

...

"Do you love him?'

"I - I don't know, Hugh."

So Mary, at the time indicates she might love Richard although she denies it at the end. That was the final straw for Hugh. An affair, similar to his own ridiculous actions he might handle but if there was love involved....

I also get that he was haunted by thoughts of Richard and Mary together. You can't really forget things if you don't really want to. But then, with no reason, he does. And he tells Mary by buying a joint cemetery plot. Lovely.

It's a really nice ending that Hugh and Mary are back together and happy. I even agree with the sentiment that sometimes it's more what you "need" than what you "want" that's important. But how it happened, you've got me? It's like you handed someone a couple eggs and they tossed them in a blender and hit pulverize. You turn your back for a second and the person hands you back two undamaged eggs. It's magic!

You're a great writer DQS but what you're stringing together in this story aren't pearls.

...but sometimes I'm a little less fond of your plots. I guess I'm pretty much a romantic at heart and I can certainly appreciate that overcoming great obstacles is good story-telling to indicate how strong your Hero's love might be, but I keep running into the same question: Just how bad does your protagonist have to get screwed over before he says, "Enough!" and really means it?

Thanks for sharing your stories with us, I eagerly await your next one.

The plot sickened as story progressed. Reminded me of the comeback story of GaryAPB.

Maybe next time.

If you write about cheating spouses, in the end they either get back together, or they do not. I have no problem with either ending and write both. Most writers in here do. More than a few readers see things in black and white, but for many others, love and marriage has many shades. I had no problem with the ending.

My only problem was that these two intelligent people near 60 years of age were obsessed by sex. It may be possible, but isn't all that common. After that many years of marriage, the ties that bind are complex, but nature doesn't create many 60 year old sex fiends. Conversation, companionship, trust, and respect are the driving forces by that time. I'm just saying this story would seem more logical to me if the characters had been 40 or so. God, I hope I don't sound like DWornock! This was well done and a captivating story.

It really is nice to have omeone you care about to grow old with. I still can't find the conclusion to WWWM.

I've only been reading here for a few months. In that time I've come to read a lot of the works by many of the authors in this category and many of the others. I held back my comments on this story until I could read the whole thing at one sitting and read all of the comments too. Most of the authors here respect your work, some of them even gush about it. I understand why now. You do write very well. I believe the term I'm looking for is polished. On the other hand I think that one of the many anonymous comments after one of your chapters summed it up. It was well written, but really nothing happened. I love the way you use words but the characters were forgettable. by mid spring I won't remember this story. There are characters from other stories that I think about everyday though weeks have passed since I read them. Like the protagonist in CPete's too ugly to die and of course that crazy southern woman from Saving Savannah. Many here have suggested that I read your When we were married story. There are many parallels here between what I started reading of that one and this story. After reading this one though I'm pretty sure I've also read how that one will end haven't I?

There is a simple recognition of truth in your closing statement; I love the Bitch! As a story, after reading all six parts carefully, I still wonder if the point you tried to tell as author is the one I got as reader. What I got boils down to something like this: Life is complicated, can't be predicted or planned, it travels a path of its own, and it does not always have appearance of purpose.

Women are charming, wiley, sensative and vulnerable creatures. They can also be a whirling dervish of violent action at times. One thing they rarely are, especially to men who love them, is predictable. I'm not really sure that Hugh and Mary's story needed to be told on psuedo paper. I've enjoyed reading this story because DQS is a good story teller. That said, the compelling spark isn't here for me on this one.

At least this one had an ending.

Short answer: Read 'Separate Vacations' and 'Moment of Clarity.' The very best of what this sort of LW story should be.

Longer answer: The author can spin words magically. Even when the story line breaks down (as it did sometimes in this series), even when the characters are just too over-the-top (Paul & Paula?), even when the stories bog down in needless side-lines and distraction so that the reader is left thinking "will anything ever HAPPEN?", and even when the reader can't see the forest for all the trees (and big tits), the author still largely gets a pass because of the quality of the writing-dialogue especially.

But, it is more than that. DQS also knows how to spin a story. Look at this one-it is basically a straight-forward cheating wife tale. In the end, she cheated because she was the object of a seduction by a younger, virile, persistent and charming new man. She carries it on for several months, get's busted, and leaves hubby for the other man. The relationship, out of the closet, quickly loses it's luster and ends. Wife and hubby are miserable, eventually reconnect, have the talk (or 2, or 3), hit the various highs and lows of attempted reconciliation, and eventual get back together. Pretty standard stuff. But, the story, presented in several parts, is riveting, reading almost like a short mystery novel. And that is because of the author's plotting, pace and presentation.

Great prose and dialogue, the ability to enfuse the story with all sorts of strong emotion, and the ability to build the story in a way that engages the imagination of the reader-those are the hallmarks of a DQS tale.

I wish I could do those things like DQS does. As it stands, I'll have to settle for much more mediocre writing about big tits and cheating bitches.

I think that BTTap has made some very good on point comments regarding this story in his two part analysis. I was going to come back online and make the point that there was a conflict in whether Richard had children in the first and last chapters, but really of no consequence to the story line.

I had the same thought that possibly Mary allowed the seduction by Richard, because it is the same thing that Hugh did to her fiance away at Harvard when they first met. In both cases Mary was well aware of what was happening but ultimately didn't want to stop the seduction because it made her feel so alive and wanted. Maybe there was an underlying angst in Mary's mind that she should not have let Hugh take her away from her fiance and this was a bit of payback for his seduction, as if he had been pure of heart, he should have stayed away from her.

One other major problem I have is the depiction of wanton sex with Richard, several times described as up to four or five times a night, just like Hugh used to be able to do thirty years ago. This never rang remotely true to me, as there are very few 58 year old women who can have that much sex without lots of artificial lubricant and frankly it would be pretty uncomfortable for them. Another poster said this might have been better depicted as a 40 year old woman, but then the marriage would not be as long and solid as in the story.

I still like the ending even though I can nit pic at some of the details.

Some women in their 50's can have sex like that, especially if they are taking HRT (don't know if Mary is, obviously) or even some of the herbal supplements..on the other hand, in your late 50's even women get tired out and sore:).

For john, above, WWM has been turned into a commercial book series (Smashwords has it), the first two books are out there as e-books, covers pretty much what is on Lit plus more then a bit more,there are two more book on the way.

Living in Jax where your story takes place is one thing but capturing the moments of the emotions are your special gift. Thank you for another story that displays the facts of Jacksonville and all the emotions of a relationship gone awry. It is a sad fact that this type of cheating story goes on in abundance quite a bit here.

The ending was nice. Maby the best you done so far, some people dont end stories very good. Keep it up

Another great story. You are a very good writer. Keep them coming

great story and he is a better man that me. I see things in black and white. Gray is for suckers, she either loves you enough to be faith and be honest. If she fucks off and comes clean then maybe theres a chance to save the marriage. But for me your one and done.

In gymnastics it’s all about the landing. No matter how well you perform, you have to stick the landing to get a medal. My friend you nailed it, a perfect 10 or 5 in this case. <P>

Several years ago you made a comment about a story written by Slirpuff (I think): “A good story but a dyed in the wool reconciliation writer would have found a way to make reconciliation work.” Probably not a word for word quote but close enough. I don’t know if you’re a dyed in the wool reconciliation author but you made this one work. I was definitely in Mary’s corner but you scared me a few times, I was never quite sure Hugh would take her back until the end. <P>

The characters were well written. Hugh tried to do what he considered the right thing. He had his faults, did he cheat? I realize that cheating like beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, Mary didn’t think so and her’s is the only opinion that matters. To tell the truth I wouldn’t have considered it a deal breaker, but unlike Mary I would have definitely have said something at the time. Mary, well she had her faults. She cheated. I don’t think she was a bad person; the circumstances were a big part of it. No I’m not giving her a free pass. She was in the wrong . <P>

Some wrote they were two unlikeable characters, not so. I felt sad for both of them; they had their flaws but were so human. Hugh so inflexible and adamant about not taking her back. Mary so ashamed/guilty of what she had done. Yet they still loved each other deeply. <P>

The dialogue was magnificent. I haven’t read anything even close to it since B2B. I wanted reconciliation but did not want it to be forced. What sticks in my mind is her reason. Richard Kelly didn’t have the mother of all dicks, he simply reminded her of Hugh in his prime at a time she was very vulnerable. <P>

WWWM aside, which is in a class all by itself, I think this is the best story you have written. <P>

TY again, <P>

Jenn

I look forward to postings by DQS, as infrequent as they are. His writing style for me is just perfect. In addition, I have absolutely no problem in his decision to have them reconcile. My problem is that I just couldn't believe it. I can't believe that Mary always loved Hugh. She ripped his heart out when she told him about the affair. It just did not seem like the actions of a woman who still loved her man. After that, the reconcilation just felt contrived.

DQS1. Good story. Glad you didn't kill off Nicole. The end game of getting Hugh and Mary back together was interesting. I guess I'm a fan of reconciliation. Very well writen.

Great story that was well worth the wait! Please keep writing!!!

Good story, I just didn't care for the ending...and not because they reconciled. Two flawed characters, who both contributed to the ending of their marriage, but who recognized their love for each other made for a good ending. But I didn't care for how rushed Hugh's decision to allow Mary back happened. He was dead set against being with her again & then it just happened without any main event to trigger it. Add the fact that Hugh wasn't happy & was still haunted by Mary's cheating, yet couldn't live without her, just left the ending hollow. Had Hugh bred a faithful & good husband, I would have hated the ending. Had their been a main event that showed Hugh the light, that he was equally at fault that allowed him to forgive & forget, I would have loved the ending. However, the current story & ending just left an empty feeling with me. Very good story though & I appreciate the author's efforts & will read more of his work. Now...had Gail told Hugh that she loved him & not to go back to Mary when they kissed on New Year's Eve, that would have made for an exciting ending!

The best part and the worst part of the story was the meeting between Hugh and Mary when she returned to see their daughter after the accident. I didn't much care how you handled it but thats just me.......

I don't think I would have taken her back, but given this pair of characters, the ending made sense. DQS expresses the angst of being dumped painfully well.

Bad, dog, bad.

You write another story that divides your readers. Thank you for your fine storytelling. The fashion with which you are able to deliver your scenes really is a gift.

You're ability to give us the reader a scene without the aid of video or film is really remarkable whether the Lit. society applauds or negatively responds here in the comments.

I was speaking/typing with a friend some time ago......(I miss them a little btw,) about your meanderings through your stories. It was about how well you do that, (meander I mean). At that particular time it was frustrating because it seemed to slow, or actually detract from the telling of the story you were working on then. I find it interesting that very recently I read how you actually enjoy writing that way and really enjoy using that very style in drafting your tales. A story that marches a path to follow, or a more linear story from you will be interesting to get if you ever decide to go there.

Finally I think your ability to so thoroughly look into, or show your major players actions without truly showing us what has motivated them to behave in the way that you are writing until the very end is fantastic. It is definately the driving force behind your followers in the comments sections. One could argue that you are actually using us the commentors as your guinea pigs as you watch one argue one view, and someone else another.

Thank you again for your time and the insight on humanity. The way you show so many sides of each character, and the many layers of lifelong experiences that make each one of us as we go. You seem to have a vast pool of viewpoints that you pull from. You must be a big fan of people watching.

AND.....I would, as it was done for me last chapter or pt. like to welcome a Bear out of hibernation.

Dan

Even though he didn't fuck Elaine, he did finger fuck her, and Mary knew about it. He should have been able to forgive Mary since he was the first one to step outside of the marriage sexually, and I thought he was being a prick about making Mary the only bad one in their marriage.

A fantastic story that was very well written and with characters that came to life in the story.

Thanks for the great read.

The different level of fucking .Do you equate pounding the pussy and fingering the cunt as the same.Mary could just give her lover a hand job to even the score but she went for a full scale affair for 6 months and that destroy the marriage.She is damaged goods and should be thrown to the dump site. DQS once again tell us no matter what your guilty adulterous wife did you should forgive and forget typical psyche of most wimp husbands.I give this story overall a 1.5 ..

DQS has really outdone herself on one of the longest castration stories in Lit history.

I mean six chapters about a needy little non-man, even rivals some of Matt Moreau's more pathetic blatherings.

Hey! You two aren't married are you? How do you decide which one gets to be the man?

I did skim the last couple of chapters just in case you decided to surprise everybody and grow a pair, but there were no surprises here.

I love happy endings. I don't write them but I love them.

you are a mentally ill, masochistic, suicide prone idiot. Best thing in his life was Brittany but he is to stupid to know it......

you aren't supposed to leave comments on the internet after your last kiddie fiasco; watching you piss yourself when the reporter came out from the patio was a hoot though.

and we are here to be entertained. He really creates some impressive images and characters. Note, you do not have to like characters to appreciate the quality of the work. In fact, if you hate them, it shows that he is doing a damn good job of writing. TY!

Huh.

Did I like the writing? Yes. There were a couple places in this last section where I was scratching my head however.

Did I believe the characters? Yes. I am not sure I understand Gail at all.

Did I buy her rationalization? Eh. Weak. But what explanation suffices?

Did I like the story?

Did I like the story?

Did I like the story?

Yes, but obviously I have a number of caveats.

Again, you run the emasculation dialogue against the hero. Has no Jacksonville woman, big tittied or flat, EVER heard of tact? Really?

Jason had some very good points at inconsistency.

One thing I'd have loved to see is Hugh having ANY sort of retort to that cunt of an ex-wife of his.

"What does she see in you?"

"I was wondering the same thing about your date..."

It just rolls off the tongue. Instead, he wimps out. Yes, he's hurt. But as big shot troubleshooter guy, he's never been in a difficult situation before?

BTW, the bank scene with Gail and the Feds was a total waste of pixels. It added nothing. It set no tone. It established nothing. There was no pay off. There is a term for it. It's called "Filler"

I will always read a DSQ story...provided there is an ending. And I prefer one single entry.

I can see from the comments it is a RAAC. To read or not to read, this is the question?

Great story I enjoyed it very much.

Nice job. I sort of figured you would be going for the reconciliation somewhere around the wedding scene. Glad to have been proved right this time.

I liked the story. Is it your best work? Probably not, but it's still a tale well told. Thanks for writing it. I enjoyed reading it, and in the end, that's what really matters.

Wow you kept hoping this guy would end up with Gail. Both needed loyalty and she wasn't too young for him in spirit at least. This story was way too long to end up with so little. I'm convinced there should be a new category on this site called depressing. This writer, the two toads, and just about any English writer could fill that area to the brim.

DQS, you are capable of better!

Sorry pal I did not think this was one of your better submissions,I waited till the whole thing was posted before I read it , I had visions of it being drawn out forever like "WWWM".As it happens I felt there was just not a suitable ending ,causing it to seem like just another cuckold story where there is no proper closure or for that matter any revenge.Had to give this one a 3 but only because I know you can do better

when someone is approaching 60 and his choices are limited, perhaps the best way is to stay with the familiar one, sure, he can be with Brittany, but in the end ,the girl will still have needs that Hugh can no longer gives and this might lead to cheating and probable divorce. Hugh no longer needs a wife in a sexual way but more of a companion, both Gail and Mary fits that description but the author chose Mary because probable she knows Hugh better than anyone else. Hugh perhaps felt that by accepting Mary he had validated himself as the better man although a broken one. In the end I think this is a very good story but not like the previous ones. Congrats and may you share your talents one again with another story!!!

Many men can't fathom why they got back together...But after being married

for over 34 years I see why and I understand why...When you have been with

someone that long they become like the air you breathe...They become a part

of you...And you can't just throw that away...Will it be hard...H*ll yes!!! Will

his mind go over and over that time in his life...Again H*ll yes... But even if

they were not together it would...The kind of Love needed to make it that long

together just doesn't die...Many would say like H*ll it doesn't...But trust me it don't...

Then you ask why did she screw up...And why did he play even if he did not

screw around...Believe it or not the answers to that are simple...

First we are all human...We F**k up...It's that simple...and Second as we

get older we all want what we had when we were young...That can play hard

on a persons mind...But in the end...Whether you believe it or not even

when we love someone we can fall off the fidelity horse...

And then it just becomes what will we do...That's when

you need to ask am I better off with her or not...Wait until you have been

with someone that long...Then ask yourself that question...The answer can and

will surprise you...And the answer is not as simple as you might think...It

will take time to work it out...But in the end it will surprise you...

Others say there was no major event to shock him into action...And all I can

say is that life and how fleeting it can be is the answer...Who wants to be alone

and lonely as they come to the end of the trail...The author showed that Hugh was

constantly thinking of his age... And he was constantly thinking of being alone...All

I can say is remember the old saying "Better the Devil you know than the one you

don't"...

DSQ1 is an wonderful writer...You don't have to like the ending to see that... All to

often when a good writer appears here and does a LW story they are vilified by

the readers...

Thanks DSQ1...

Six chapters when you could have told the same story minus the bullshit in one or two. In the end he takes her back despite all the crap she put him through as though nothing had happened.

The only things in didn't understand was

1: How is the Hunt bank so powerful it's only a small time business but it's powerful enough to rebuff the US government.

2: Why does Gail have a problem with Robert? He never looked at, let alone touched another woman. She on the other hand slept with untold men and then when her latest boyfriend and friends almost killed her husband she leaves him while he's in hospital. Is it because he got on with his life became independently wealthy and met the woman of his dreams while she is a sad lonely, bitter and pathetic old woman.

Not your worst story but not your best. Too long and at times too stupid. But still better than anything I could do.

There is no doubt that DQS is one of the best writer's on this site. I looked forward to each chapter of this story and spent a lot of time thinking about it but left feeling disappointed. It could have been great but just didn't hold together for me.

One problem that I had is that the story was written from Hugh's POV and we didn't even get an honest description of events from him. We are told that at 57 years Mary runs away from a happy marriage and her friends and family to join her 45 year old lover who had left his wife (and kids earlier in the story). When Mary finally confesses her affair to Hugh she does it in the cruelest way and cuts off all contact with him entirely. We are left to wonder with Hugh, Why?

Who is Mary? Even now, all we know is that she is attractive for her age. That she has chosen to work on the road selling textbooks and was away from her family more often than she was home. She almost didn't marry Hugh because she feared he may leave her for another one day. When she learned about his mid-life flirtations, she laughed that he didn't have the balls to go all the way with another woman because he loved her. Mary didn't apparently think, we don't need my money, why don't I stay with my husband and family?

Mary's affair had nothing to do with Hugh's cheating. Mary was feeling old and allowed herself to be seduced by a married guy she met on the road. The seduction was weak. You have to be a real creep if at 45 you are calling the room of a 57 year old married woman to talk about what she was wearing in bed and engaging in phone sex after talking about life with their respective spouses. We are expected to believe that this is Mary's first and only affair and I guess the same for Kelly. This makes no sense. I might be able to understand this if Hugh was 50, Mary was turning 40 and Kelly was in his 20's or early thirties. I'm sorry there is not much difference between the stamina of a 45 year old man and at healthy 57 year old. After 40 most men would agree with Toby Keith: I'm not as good as I once was but I'm as good once as I ever was.

Kelly did not have the opportunity to put on the full court press that Hugh did. Without changing the facts, Hugh met Mary at college. She was in a serious relationship with a Harvard man and considered marriage but was not engaged. Hugh was with her daily, wanted her and finally wore her down. He loved her and she loved him. Kelly met her on the road, he couldn't see her more than once a month if that. She was a married grandmother. She shouldn't have even considered a relationship and he shouldn't have been interested in one. Was he really going to divorce his wife and marry the old lady? No way! The groping scene still makes no sense. Mary should have told her son to wait a minute and she'd grab her bags and leave with him. We were told that they were getting married after the incident.

Then its Mary's actions after she and Kelly break up. She continues to cut Hugh out, not even responding to a friendly email. The beauty of email would mean that she would not have to see him and could slowly reconnect. She tells everyone that she knows Hugh still loves her. Her kids would have surely set them up for reconciliation at the first Christmas or Thanksgiving. Hugh and Mary should have been able to act like adults. Instead, Mary bars him from a wedding and runs away. What was she doing in NY when Nicole was injured? In a moment of crisis both of them should have easily put aside their feelings and been there for their daughter and for each other.

Mary's move to Jacksonville was also not realistic. It makes sense that she'd come back, that's where she lived most of her life. Gail would not have set Hugh up for the scene at O'Brien's. How could either of them think Hugh would try to get back with Mary if she showed up hooked up to another guy? Hey cuckold Hugh, isn't that your ex getting her ass grabbed by a guy on the dance floor? Yeah, that'd work. It is even less plausible that Brittany would drop her date and run to Hugh's rescue after being dumped and ignored. Even worse are Mary's words to Hugh when she later claims she is trying to crawl back to him:

"Oh, I have no doubt she is a hot young thing. I'm just wondering why she's with you."

I just stared at her and felt the weight of Bobby and Percy's gaze on me. G didn't know enough to realize what had happened but they did - I felt their pity! I pushed myself away from the table and stood.

"I'm walking away now, Mary. You've managed to ruin a good night out, the same way you ruined our marriage and my life. Don't say another fucking word before I get away from here, because I'm not going to be responsible for what I say or do if you open that lying, cheating mouth again!"

DQS just keeps heaping humiliation on top of humiliation on top of Hugh. We know that DQS understands what he is doing because its in his story:

Show me a man whose prowess and abilities in bed are scorned, laughed at, rejected by the women he's been in bed with, and I'll show you a man who's had his balls cut off. You can tell yourself as much as you want that their rejection doesn't mean you are less of a man, but you're lying. You won't feel like a man again until you find yourself between the legs of another woman, one who treats you like a man.

Hugh and Mary should have gotten back together because of their history. The story should have had Mary reach out to Hugh directly and beg for forgiveness and plead her case. She is a sales person but tries to make the sale while never explaining how she has grown. She should have gotten counseling because she is so self-centered that she doesn't seem to have any empathy for anyone. Her actions didn't just hurt Hugh, they also hurt her family and Kelly's family. Finally, Hugh dropping in on Mary and she dropping in on his office or house unannounced at random times before the reconciliation at the end is also stupid.

It was an entertaining story but it could have been better. There should have been a chapter from Mary's POV for her seduction, time in Chicago and post Kelly life. Her version to Hugh was too short and unsatisfactory. I give this story a 4 but look forward to reading DQS's next story. I only hope that it doesn't involve a wife bragging about sex with another lover and the husband crying.

"Hard to believe that an elderly lady could throw away 36 years for some fucking. Her explanation seems too far fetched. After the disrespect that the woman showed towards her husband, it seems surprising that he took her back."

First of all, 57 is not elderly, not these days at all, the days of the song "When I'm 64" is long gone.......she is an older women who is finally facing the fact that she is getting older and was vulnerable. I don't think many men understand what aging is like for women, because men aging is generally about aches and pains and maybe not being able to get it up as easily. Women feel it very differently, an older man can be 'distinguished', older women are called 'well preserved', big difference. Think about real life cases and what do you usually see? An older man, often with his first family grown, who is finding younger women to screw around with; meanwhile while it happens, the 'cougar' scenario is not as likely (even the story of Deb with the Doug the dick in WWWM is not that common, and they aren't that far apart in age).

Sometimes it is about attention, not saying Hugh was negligent, they obviously have sex, but if you have an older woman, feeling her age, and someone goes after her as Kelly did (and btw, it is interesting how many of the posters, all men I would add, degrade Mary but almost none of them talk about Kelly, and one of them talks about how Kelly's family suffered because of Mary; well, dear old Richard went after Mary, she didn't seduce him, and Richard was going after Mary because he realized unlike his wife, presumably with small children (yep, DQS and his editor missed that one), he had someone who was willing to have sex 4 times a night, who wasn't tired out after taking care of the house etc, he basically used Mary; I suspect he found living with her that the grass wasn't greener. Kelly is one of the true villains of the story, and the fact that Hugh allowed him to get through scott free is a weak point to me). Over time marriages tend to become a comfortable routine, and Mary couldn't see something she sees later, that Hugh still sees her as the incredibly attractive woman she had been back in college almost 40 years before.

As far as why Mary is cruel to him, she explains that, and it is part of the tragedy of the story. When Mary admits the affair, Hugh immediately goes off on his high horse, about trust, loyalty, etc, he basically tells Mary right there the marriage is over, which I am sure the burn the bitch, absolutist types think about. Mary sees that and kind of like in "The Dream Wife" of DQS, she deliberately antagonizes Hugh to force a break; she isn't doing that to belittle Hugh as much as it is like Montezuma burning his boats when they get to the new world, she is deliberately burning the bridge to force herself away, to try a new life she already knows will fail. She thinks she knows Hugh well enough not to try to fight for him, and that is why she does what she does, she explains that later on.In her own way Mary is just as rigid as Hugh, she sees Hugh as this perfect person when she knows he isn't, and is reacting to the perfect person, much as Hugh reacts to Mary with absolute standards without trying to understand.

And yes, Mary's behavior does make the reconciliation next to impossible, because it comes off as she hates Hugh, rather then loves him so much but can't stand what she did to him. Some argue this isn't realistic, but those kind of people do exist. Hugh talks about honor and loyalty, and Mary believe it or not feels it as much, it is out of a sense of honor and loyalty to Hugh that she feels she needs to maintain the distance, and it costs both of them needless pain. She feels like she was the complete slut who hurt the man she loves, and she feels it is her duty to keep away from him. The one slip might be the friends wedding, I suspect Mary would have stayed away rather then insisting Hugh not go.........

When Mary explains about Richard she doesn't belittle Hugh in any way, she tells him Richard wasn't any better in bed, other then physically he was able to perform like he did (which okay, is a bit off the mark, but DQS is quick to point out through mary this is a freak thing, even with viagra), and she explains a lot of it was simply her being afraid of getting older, of losing her attraction (not realizing, of course, how much Hugh still thinks she is hot). It is just different, and there has to be a lot of curiosity after that many years about how better it might be outside; Hugh certainly had it.

Mary doesn't mean to ridicule Hugh when she talks about his affair (the one mystery is why she doesn't bring this up when talking to Hugh about her affair, tell him it was the same reason he was putting the move on women x years before), when she says it is like a little boy being told not to go in the street, and he does then pulls back, it is a realistic description of what cheating is like, part of the thrill as authors on here nail is 'stepping out and breaking the rules'. She also tells Hugh when he gets upset that "yeah, I am ridiculing a man who is tempted, but ultimately loves me too much to actually do anything, that really makes sense". She isn't dismissing him as a man, she is telling him she didn't get upset because she felt so strongly about him and their relationship it could be cute to watch his attempts...big difference. Put it this way, I suggest all you kill the bitch types go out and date some young chip pies, finger some of them, and give the video to your wife and see what she thinks...it won't be cute, I guarantee that.

As far as what Hugh and Mary doing being different I think it shows the obsession with sex that leaves out a crucial part of this. When Hugh confronts Mary, when of the first questions she is asked is "do you love him?". Not if the sex was better, not if his dick was bigger, but rather if she loved him. It is the emotional that freaks most people out and in that case both Hugh and Mary are guilty. Hugh fingering the girl is still sex (the argument it isn't reminds me of the fundy kids, the ones with the virginity pledges and such, who do anal and oral sex because 'that isn't sex', or to Catholic types who do such things because 'the church doesn't consider that sex' [no, it considers those abominations,stupid theology, but as bad as vaginal sex outside marriage). Hugh cheated, emotionally and sexually, if at a different level, but Mary forgave that, in part because she puts Hugh on such a high pedestal and refuses to realize he is human, too.

Ultimate what this story turns out to be, a trucker magnificently wrote, is the story of two flawed people who in effect sabotage each other. If Hugh wasn't the rigid type he was, with loyalty and honor 'absolutes', he might have been able to at least talk to Mary after stuff went south to see what they can do, and if Mary didn't hold Hugh on such a high pedestal and realize he was not perfect and had things he had done wrong, it might have stopped the problems from happening.

In the end Hugh is not a wimp that is the vision of someone who doesn't know what a wimp is. A wimp cuckold is someone who when they find out the wife has cheated on them does nothing (I am assuming here we aren't talking about a cuck fetishist, but rather someone who doesn't like it but does nothing), and Hugh did something, he confronted Mary about his suspicions and makes clear he won't take it. The way he deals with it IMO is flawed, speaking as someone who has been married now several decades, my first reaction would be to look at why it happened, find out why the cheating happened, and see if it was a killer or not. If my spouse told me I was lousy in bed, etc, it prob would be, or if they told me they didn't love me any more and I believed it, maybe. I would never willingly go along with being lied and cheated on, but I also would need to understand the why. If I felt it was fundamentally our marriage was dead, or my spouse was using me, then it would e Cia, have a nice life. If it was some sort of fling that played itself out, there would be hope. The fact that Hugh still feels so strongly about her cheating, that he doesn't just fold up, says he isn't a wimp...

More importantly, when he finally reconciles with Mary he does it on his own terms and for his own needs. He realizes the marriage he once had is gone, but that a new one can arise from the ashes (if they do get married, DQS doesn't say) and I think he realizes that Mary does love him and isn't going to cheat again, that she always loved him....two lines I think get to him, and makes him realize they can have a relationship based on forgive and not forget..

-I think when she tells him "Hugh, I realized you never stopped seeing me as I was when we were in college, attractive and desirable, to you I am as attractive as Heather" (I paraphrased this, not an exact quote".

I think the one that gets him is when she says "Hugh, if you ever loved me, please don't throw me away". This is directly opposed to the message she passes through her lawyer , telling him "Hugh, if you ever loved me, please set me free"...I think through those words he realizes that whatever Mary did, she always loved him, she appeals to his love in both cases, but the second one says her love is there as well, truly. Plus she offers to do it on his grounds, whether they live together, he can see other women, etc, she is willing to give up all the things associated with marriage to simp;ly have him again, and that says a lot I think.

It's not coming back. His choice is now what to do going forward. The life he has led for 3 years is not making him happy. He has tried other women. They don't do it. For better or worse he still loves Mary.<P>

Can he live with the demons long term? Maybe. Time will tell. But he has evidently come to the conclusion that trying is better than not trying.<P>

I think he understands what motivated her to cheat. He almost succumbed to the same thing. Everyone would like to think we are attractive to others. Sexually attractive especially, The thought of growing old, of dying is a terribly depressing. The affirmation that someone younger than us still finds us desirable is very difficult to resist. It has been said as we age men get distinguished and women just get old. So I think that women, if I may generalize here, are probably more susceptible, more vulnerable.<P>

Some years back I was watching the movie “The World According to Garp” with my wife. There is a scene in the movie where Garp’s wife is told by one of her students that he wants her sexually. My wife commented to me that being desired like that was very powerful and arousing to a woman. So Mary fell. Will she fall again? I rather doubt it. The consequences of this one were too terrible.<P>

A very good strong realistic story. I would like to thank you for it. Thanks for sharing.

Why do people go after MM calling him all kinds of names and attacking his stories as one dimensional, repetative meditations on his deep neurosis that comes out time and time again but never attack this doof for the same thing? All DSQ can write are stories of deranged, sex and genatalia obsessed gorgons that somehow keep the loyalty and love of their kids and shit all over their ex husbands who are pompus, self flagellating head cases that obesess on these un holy bitches. GIve Matt Moreau some love. If you can go on for paragraphs on this inane shit, at least give him a break. Both authors are self hating beat freaks who would be happiest tied down and whipped by a fetish queen that dregrades them with every lash. This is actually a common fetish of people of wealth and power. These guys crave humiliation and just haven't gotten to the point where they just go ahead and become cuckolds. So be fair, DSQ and MM are basically the same thing. Not all the inane dialogue can change that.

Why didn't Hugh dump the bitch, forget the past and move on? I think DQS did a brilliant job of illustrating some important truths without being preachy about it, foremost being the fact that he lacking the necessary qualification to cast the first stone. Another (I think) important consideration is, if you love someone and have truly given them your heart, can you take it back? (And if you can, did you ever really give it to them in the first place?) Lots of examples in this story. Then there's all sorts of questions and answers about prices paid and by whom for self gratification and betrayal, not to mention forgiveness and repentance and the difficulties involved in both asking for and granting them, either to yourself or anyone else. Compare and contrast Mary and Gail's stories to see the difference. I could go on. This story is a rich tapestry (I think) designed to make us think those thoughts.

As for the people complaining that the story is too long, DQS uses words to paint portraits. You guys should stick to the caricature artists that you obviously prefer and leave the good stuff to people who can appreciate it.

The protagonist is a stone loser along with his on and off cheating wife and his boss Gail. You had to think long and hard to come up with such a demented cast of charactors.

What irony in this story! Hugh like Richard Kelly stole Mary from her fiancee David. Years later the same lying and cheating slut leaves him for Richard Kelly. It took 36 years for Hugh to get what was coming to him. Of course, with 2 kids Mary could not allow their well being to be harmed so she probably shut down any potential 'Richard Kelly' before it could get to first base. Once the kids were out and on their own someone like her husband can get to her. In a way, Hugh's midlife flirts gave her permission to let a Richard Kelly in her life. A fitting end because Mary and Hugh deserved each other. Thanks for a good story about imperfect souls.

Poor, pathetic, loser Hugh!

He wallowed his way through 5 and 3/4 chapters of self-pity.

This didn't do it for me at all

I think it was great! Sometimes we forget that LW is a category that is inherently difficult to write in. Unlike some of the others there are only two possibilities for the ending. Regardless of how we shape the characters or how complex we make the plot our stories will end in one of those two ways. Either they get back together or they don't. And no matter which ending the writer chooses half of the audience will hate what you did. Our category reminds one of that old saying, "It's not the destination that matters, it's the journey." In other words what matters most in our type of story is how you get to one of those two endings. DQS is the master of the journey. I think that his words and plots are narcotic, they take us out of ourselves so much that we become lost and locked into the story. Then Far too quickly it's over and we fall back into our camps. Regardless of how good the journey was the people who want them to get back together or the people that don't go back to their camps. That's why half of us liked it. And half of us are claiming they didn't. I think you should all ask yourself two questions #1) were you entertained? if so regardless of the ending it was a great story. #2) if you didn't like it why'd you read the whole thing?

Good writing, happy ending, hope you write more on this site.

Please tell me you didn't!

way back in chapter 4...

I'm glad that they have reached an accommodation. I mentioned in a comment several chapters back that I was unhappy reading about a disintegrating long term marriage as my wife and I have been together for mor than 50 years. I'm please to learn that some people can be reasonable after such a nightmare.

Shut up already... writing 10 long paragraphs that is filled with your incoherent babble does NOT make you right... it just makes you come across as an idiot

"And yes, Mary's behavior does make the reconciliation next to impossible, because it comes off as she hates Hugh, rather then loves him so much but can't stand what she did to him...."

Again you are totally way off base here. This sort of iirational and incomprehensible action is WHY a reconciliation is impossible. The impact of mary's decision to stay away from Hugh for all that time -----is all about MARY. She is fully informed from the grown up children about the emotional and psychological shape Hugh is in... But she decided to stay away from him ......for HER sake.

Does she ever feel any remorse? Maybe but when push comes to shove she goes out of her way to hurt High more. Yet somehow another fucking idiots like you think that this is proof that Matty still loves Hugh. Well maybe so but who the hell needs that, distorted twisted love?

then in In your 8th paragraph

"She isn't dismissing him as a man, she is telling him she didn't get upset because she felt so strongly about him and their relationship it could be cute to watch his attempts...big difference."

Mary did NOT dismiss Hugh as man? what the fuck is wrong with you?

are from guys who have never been with a woman they didn't pay to fuck, and needless to say have never had a relationship in the same sense those of us who have been successfully married for decades can understand. Story rang true for guys that don't live in their mommy's basement or a closet somewhere. Good story.

who the fuck talks this way... "Because I loved you for a lot of years. Even after I betrayed you I never really stopped loving you..."

??? and more importantly WHY does Hugh accept it? THIS questions/ premise is WHY Hugh is wimp and why this boring cliche driven story sucks Moose cock.

Like I said a LOOOONG time ago its is clear in this story DQS is fucking MM.

But wait it gets Much worse. Many readers -- the ones who LIKE this story and seem to think recociliation was good or justified -- seem to think that it is wrong for other readers to accept the story as written.

in chapter 12 when Hugh says "The bottom line, Mary, is that I trusted you. I was loyal to you in the most important ways. You know how important loyalty is to me, in my personal and business life, yet you betrayed me. There is no room in my life for you anymore..."

and this "Short of killing you, there's no other way I can hurt you the way you need to be hurt."

I mean those are the words that DQS has written for Hugh right? I am NOT making those words up right ?

we-- all readers-- know these assertions by Hugh are 100000% bullshit. Hugh calls Brittany so that she rushes over to this restaurant / pub just to make Mary jealous... then Hugh runs away from Mary-- SUPPOSEDLY racked with guilt and remorse -- goes out of her way to Hurt Hugh AGAIN!!!!!

Hugh NEVER does anything to block Mary from re-entering his life. In fact all Hugh does is give lots of power to Mary. When he finds out Gail is feeding Mary info.. Gail his so called best friend a woman who knows better than anyone what sort of hell Hugh has gone through... Hugh does not even get upset .

The suppose explanation as to why MARY has for all these years, NOT allowed any sort of contact from Hugh reveals a lot as to why any sort of for reconciliation is irrational and hopeless. If indeed Mary has been overcome with guilt and remorse for all these years over what she did... She made no effort to alleviate Hugh's suffering. All this time she has known through the grown children and probably through Gail all of the mental and psychological anguish that Hugh has been going.

Mary will not go back and see Hugh because she feels bad. She knows what she is done something terrible and deeply hurtful to Hugh... But her response and her reaction to this over the course of several years is the essence of self centeredness and self absorbed .

Despite Hugh's so called sophistication this pathetic loser is unable to grasp this basic insight.

I read stories on this site to be entertained. And to forget the 'real' world for a short time. This story was well written and entertained me. So to me this story has done it's job. Thank you writer for your stories, I hope you keep writing.

DQS is an excellent story teller. The descriptives and angst he creates is superb. I began to understand Mary more when Saint Hugh wasn't so saintly. In fact he was lecherous. Yes she knew and yes she had him tailed, but I could see her sadness at his betrayal, holding it in for so long ate her up. Yes she said that didn't cloud her judgement.. Right... BULLSHIT.

Consciously and probably even more subconciously it devastated her. She succumbed to Kelly's advances the same as she did with Hugh in college. I would bet if Hugh didn't let his fingers do the walking Mary would never have cheated or given Kelly the time of day. Hugh is the ass. His cheating ala Clinton doomed her and them.

He was the weak pathetic one. One thing that perplexed me was with the exception of Mary apologizing about her demasculating comment. Neither said they were sorry for his multiple cheating and her one affair. Interesting. Hugh ends the story saying he loves the bitch. I am sure Mary would say I love the Bastard.

Worth the build, good job. I was confused and disappointed at first. I still believe a lot should have come out sooner, but still a good effort and with finality too.

Thank you!

M1

The story of a man so insecure that his yo-yo life with his yo-yo wife (whom he loves more than anything) just went on too long. And Gail? If she's so smart, why can't she figure out how to live? Sorry I wasted all that time. As for you Daniel QSteel1, it will be a long time before I read another one by you.

Just a little, huh? <P>

You are so right. Q is never going to take the shortest route from point A to point B. That’s not his style. I accepted it begrudgingly at first, however I now enjoy going on all these little side trips. It’s simply the price of admission to his world. He does have a way with words. I even enjoy the titles he gives his chapters, he does put some thought into them. <P>

I think Q marches to his own drum. If he was going to let our comments affect him, he wouldn’t have written all these reconciliation stories. I thought it was well done on this story, not so much on some of the others. <P>

Did the age of the characters make the story less believable to you? Some readers felt that way. Not so for me, I readily accepted the picture Q painted of them. Maybe it’s my frame of reference. I’m less than half their age. I might be in for a rude awakening when I’m older. Heh heh The thirty six years of marriage did make the story more interesting. I wondered why she would do what she did after all that time. On the flip side I wondered how Hugh could dismiss them so easily. Thirty six years ought to count for something.

I haven’t been hibernating. The real world has commanded all my attention <P>

way he does on his own stories. Oh well, good ending even if it didn't turn out the way some folks wanted it but hey, fuck them, let them write the ending to their own stories eh?

An anecdote.

My young daughter likes helping in a big girl way and one day, with my permission, she was washing the dishes. She's responsible and had done it dozens of times. THIS time, she broke a wine glass and put a two inch cut in her arm, requiring a quick trip to urgent care.

To this day, I feel some guilt when I see that scar. Even though I had a valid reason to give permission. Even though it wasn't my fault. Even though she doesn't blame me. It was an accident.

Now, imagine, in a fit of rage, I struck my (otherwise well loved daughter) and I scarred her face. Exactly what level of guilt would I feel then?

Mary gets to look at the scarred face of her husband for the rest of her life. She hasn't gotten away with anything. And not in a fit of rage. There wasn't that much passion involved. Instead because she was weak and she knew it as she drew the knife across his face.

If she had any sensitivity in her soul, she'd suffer.

Which is a long way to say I agree with njlauren AND Harry. She took the easy way out. She was selfish. As soon as she was busted, she deliberately hurt her man hard to make the break clean (coincidentally satisfying DQS's fetish for emasculating his male characters emotionally). Maybe she believed that it would set him free without hurting him more. But it was also a survival thing for her. Her motives don't need to be all of column N or all of column H.

I found the scene with Richard and the wife totally unrealistic and not explained well at all. And I hope they never got remarried. Every time she has to pay for something from her own account. Every time she has HER credit card bill to pay, it's a reminder.

His fingers aren't clean either, but she still deserves the pain. And as a writer, DQS went cheap on describing that. Because she'd feel that. All we got was HIS suffering. Granted (grudgingly), he TRIED to describe it a little bit better then usual. Normally the wife talks about how she lost it in blithe, matter of fact tones to the husband after the fact. No emotion. "The Last Goodbye" was the only good portrayal of something happening to the wife.

It is a forgivable tendency to believe that DQS and MM share the same meat identity while dividing up his output to two online identities. However, this is a mistake, albeit one of confusing the four toed sloth with the three toed sloth.

However, there are sufficient gross character traits that you too can readily distinguish a MM story from a DQS story.

GROSS ANATOMY

1) Check the author.

2) Count the number of parts to the story. If the number surpasses three, then most likely it's a DQS tale. If it gets above 7 (MM's max) then it's definitely a standard DQS tale...

3) Check the scores of the stories. If it's less then a 4.2, then it is most likely a MM story. If it is above...well...maybe you got MM when he just got back from his testosterone therapy sessions. You can't rely on a high score. Even MM sometimes doesn't suck...though not lately.

4) If the man describes himself as anything less then 5'10", do not pass go. Do not collect $200 dollars. Go directly to MM. In fact, if height is mentioned at all, it's likely a SS06 or MM story. Most writers don't bother. DQS MAY put a short man in the story...but statistics don't lie. Short dude, short sign in. Go with MM.

THE BONES OF THE STORY

5) DQS has men who are...mostly adequate in bed (Lyle being the exception). They had mutually satisfying sex lives with their partners. His women are stolen by extraordinary cocksmen. The wives always gleefully point this out in as hurtful terms as possible.

MM's heros always suck in bed and have inadequate equipment. While the man who steals her is a superior cocksman, he doesn't really have to be. An average sized weiner would do (though to make the pain greater, MM always paints the new guy as having a much bigger cock then even an average man could hope to match). The wife, similar to a DQS story, always gleefully points this out in as hurtful a way as possible.

6) DQS has a basic understanding of female psychology...sort of. When the wife leaves, she leaves for A single man. She falls out of love with her husband. Granted, she never falls out of love with an average guy, he always has to have a big schlong.

MM has an LW understanding of female psychology. She seldoms sleeps with just one man. Normally, there is a deli number selector near her bed. She gleefully whores herself to all and sundry because she just can't get enough cock, or it pays well. Forget being attracted to someone. Forget feelings. Forget body odor or age. MM's women will sleep with anyone more then willingly...except her husband, whom it is a chore. Mercy fucks (characterized exactly that way) are always on tap bi-weakly (sic).

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

7) In a DQS tale, the man is well adjusted, successful, and generally a good earner. He has friends who respect him (even if they aren't necessarily attracted to him). His worth and sense of self worth is always multi-faceted. If he's bad in bed, he is more then adequate in other areas. If a divorce occurs, there is a division of friends and co-workers. People are actually in the corner of one of DQS's heros.

MM's heros (?) are derided by everyone. Everyone measures his worth by his sexual potency. He happens to be the best salesman in the company? Fuck him! No one tells him about his whore of a wife. No one supports him afterward with anything but looks of pity. No one takes his side with management. MM victims (that's the word) are the lonliest people on this fucking planet. People forgotten in Chinese prisons have more well wishes sent their way then MM victims.

KIDS: HAVE TWO SO YOU CAN PICK ONE UP AND BEAT THE OTHER ONE TO DEATH WITH THEM

8) DQS kids hate both parents equally. They are generally the product of the parental units.

MM's victims rarely have kids. Oh...not that there aren't kids in the family. Just the father has little to do with their creation. Even if, by quirk of statistical accident, the parasites in question are the progeny of limpdick, they generally side with the mother, hating the father for ruining their comfortable existance by being so unreasonable as to demand sexual fidelity from their whore of a mother...whom they love. Nope, she has no responsibility.

WAYS YOU CANNOT DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN A DQS STORY AND A MM STORY

Quality writing

Emotionally engaging characters

Women without a sense of shame

Constantly crying men

Women who almost totally avoid the consequences of betrayal

Men who never ever get over their wives...despite being mistreated by them.

Obviously, given the choice, a DQS story is the way to go. Granted, his story arcs are frequently mistaken for straight lines, but they are very decorative straight lines. There is no arc in a MM story.

I hope this helps the LW-philes out there.

Everything after that seemed hollow and out of place. I almost wish you could go back to that point & change the scenario. The story deserves a better conflict & resolution.

DQS, has this guy reunite with the EX. In others that does not happen. And yes if you want to plumb the depths of emotion cheating, lying and divorce will get you there so DQS does go there, this is after all the "Loving Wives" category right?

DQS, you are an excellent writer and you do tell these stories well.

but why bother. The fact is he doesn't have the balls to admit to the real answer: hatred. Its not about his love for her, but because of his own self-loathing. This is why people do such things to themselves and accept it from others.

You had to go after my fragile male ego huh? My false pride in adding "a little" in my comment. Smart ass. You really do earn that smarter than the average bear comment from back when.

Really thought it was a well done story. Torch, raac, wimp whatever. I liked the dialogue.

You and I have talked/typed some....let all these opinions in here find their own way. No one can guess how they will react when they are faced with dragging their shot up buddy out of harms way.......or get called to an accident where a lifelong friend has been killed.....or out of nowhere, multiple states away from what has always been your home have someone love you enough to stop their life.... come track you down and tell you its time to let those who love you help and drag your ass back home. Q like yourself has recently talked about frame of reference as it relates to age. Imagine that! I can tell you life experiences matter also.

The age thing does seem a little far reaching, but I have a few yrs more than a decade to get to Hugh and Marys age so if we're still chattin then I'll let ya know. What his characters age did do for me was give me the impression that Q was trying to show that these two had a very full and loving life together. Yet as with many it got stale. The same face across the table, the same way you say goodnight night after night. The way your spouse may dress in the same style clothes for yrs, the way Hugh knew without knowing. Nothing was new. nothing was fresh. The excitment of learning the little nuances of another were gone.

Q writes well and often about how successful couples who forget to keep each other in the forfront of each others lives. The communication inside the households of his stories lags and the lives of the main characters become too individualized for an ideal marriage to continue.

Not that uncommon in todays world. Many of his stories are examples of traps that some of us could probably benefit from by paying better attention in our own little worlds. I hope for Q's sake he isn't writing and rewriting his own life lessons.

I'm not sure I think Hugh took her back easily. Q wrote Hugh in misery for 3 yrs.and he couldn't let her/it go. Hugh a pussy? Maybe. Maybe so. But maybe just that lucky to feel that way about someone,.....because it would take some love huh?, Some love to rationalize letting her become part of your life again after that kind of pain. But If you don't just pull from what you might do, or I might do with our limited age and experiences, and if you simply accept what Q was trying to make sure we all read and understood from his story.......These two needed and did love each other. They just each at one time or another took that bite of apple from the snake.

It was great to get a direct note JB.

Anytime

TigerDan

Here's a thought, Hugh loved Mary so much that after the betrayal the love turned to hate then within the three years back to a sort of jealous love. So much hatred mixed with jealousy that he reunited with Mary just so no one else would ever be with her again except him. Ergo, a jealous love.

Maybe? Maybe not.

Just one man's opinion.

Maybe.

his cornhole rudely buggered, his lipstick smeared, betrayed!

That most recent comment was funny as fuck!

That should be posted as a Review & Essay all by itself. Late-night pizza induced insomnia be thanked for getting me back to this comment thread for that alone.

Seriously, though, is not the number and thoughtfulness of the comments to this story enough to prove it was a very good product?

I read the essays and I can not decide on reading the last chapters or not. Yes I wrote some minority opinion comments for reconcilation stories to stand up beside the writers from MM to KK and from cuorious2c to murphy621 's stories. However I hoped a newer mate for Hugh here.

BTW Hugh tells as narrator his affairs were not full affairs against Mary's. My friend tells his wife I woved faithfulnes but not blindness..............

In a way I am glad that your story is finally over. I could not wait for you to write another chapter! Excellent writing, my friend!

Thanks!!

I was going to comment about the story, but I don't think there is any room left. ;)

I never thought there would be comments that rivaled the length of a DQS story.