Rekindled

**

"Sue! Where have you been! I've been frantic!" She was in the arms of the erstwhile Mr. Fantastic.

"Since you wanted to be alone with your science project, I decided to leave you alone all night. I made a force bubble in the woods and spent the night there. I'm sure your experiment kept our bed as warm as I do!"

"Sue, baby. I'm truly, supremely sorry. You were right. You are right. This week should be for us and us alone. Can you forgive me?"

"Will you let me lock away your computer and cellphone for the rest of the week?'

Reed Richard's face donned a crestfallen expression.

"You drive a hard bargain, but yes."

The rest of their week was very nice indeed, but Sue knew that something was missing. Try as he might, Reed could not recapture the sense of first love with her. He was a fine man. When they were free of distractions, he was an excellent husband. He was a great provider, a fine boss and a decent father, but too much of him was cerebral. He could never be like Travis and focus only on the here and now. He could give her most of what she wanted but not all. Reed's astounding physiognomy gave him sensual powers between the sheets that nearly every man alive would envy. It had also made him lazy. Reed thought that the ability to make Sue cum with impunity was enough. For most women it might be, but Reed could never summon that look of desire that Travis and Danielle had for her. Reed could not simply take wonder and joy at Sue's physical beauty or completely appreciate the mind and personality that went with it. He was always the boss, the leader, the promoter, the inventor. Once upon a time, Reed Richards had been a little boy who faced the world with acceptance and wonder. Now everything and anything had to be analyzed, dissected, comprehended, cataloged. He would never understand that one cannot do those things to love. To be desired by unfamiliar eyes. The light that Reed had so long ago would never come again, no matter how many times they tried to rekindle things.

**

The magazine sold out fourteen printings. Reed was livid. Sue knew he would calm down eventually. She didn't know what she'd use the money for, but she had no need to decide any time soon. The fan mail, however, gave her the kick she had been seeking so long. Heartfelt letters of appreciation, love sonnets, naked pictures of hunky dudes, marriage proposals and the like. Especially satisfying were the letters from much younger men explaining that they had never been attracted to an older woman before. There was that and so much more. Sue decided that she would not share those letters with Reed! Above the Baxter building, the sun was shining.