All Comments on 'Squaring Things Up'

I really enjoyed this. It was an interesting take on those who love one another, and are suddenly dealing with and giving into temptations . . . and then having to determine priorities.

Mary, unlike the wives in so many similar tales, does NOT lose her marriage (at least not yet). I like this because it wasn't the sex as much as the betrayal and secrecy that was the most threatening ("it's not who you lie with, but who you lie to"). They both knew the marriage had lost something, but they both loved each other enough to attempt to forge ahead together. I kinda' wish Mary had expressed the sentiment, "I was an idiot.", in a few other ways and statements, but at least she kind of got it finally. Nice one!!

Hahaha! Just great!

Good. How he kept his emotions in check is amazing. Maybe he didn't love her as much as he thought?

A solid 4 from me.

I loved the "Sara had a second dog". Good one D. 5*****

Back to middle school indeed! What a morally ambiguous cast of characters. Fascinating and eminently entertaining. Like studying chimpanzee troop or lion pride social dynamics. Fun and well executed. Thanks very much.

i hope she used a strapon on him

Another good one. I’ll always enjoy it when that cookie cutter mold is broken and there’s actual characters. Hell, even Mary being honest was novel.

Mary only finally made the promise to be faithful because she was scared. During their more honest, less emotional conversations she could never bring herself to do that.

Hard to see their reconciliation lasting long term.

Don't deserve to stay together.

Done only by compulsion and fear.

It's bad enough that a marriage based on love is a difficult path, but this is really going straight up against a wall.

Well written, but all the emotive connection of a tree stump...the entire cast. Perhaps spend more time on your own work and less time pointing out the flaws in other stories. 2*

Are you trying to kid me and your readers? I am being generous with a 2-star rating. This is a typical, but rather lengthy cuck story. She WILL cheat again and damn soon.

Try writing kiddie books in the future because you suck in Literotica.

Well written but a simply stupid plot and none of the characters seem real except for the wife who was a non repentant cheater.

I enjoy your stories. Reconciliation isn’t an impossibility. In this case, I find it a bit far fetched with her behavior. She’s looking for strange bad…

Well written, Dman. I couldn't help but feel sad for them. They now have something "Lesser" than they both wanted. Her restlessness will likely fade as she ages, but the damage she's done will not. The comfort they feel for each other may be enough to sustain them into old age, but it is sad. They have settled for a comfortable arrangement. Thanks for sharing, always look forward to your writings.

Interesting story well written. It's hard to like any of them, and trusting her is unthinkable, but it was interesting.

Takes all kinds,

I was tempted to stop reading when I saw "desert" instead of "dessert" several times.

I continued reading hoping that the story would be interesting, and it was only partially so. I like the idea of the "spock moment" which partly justifies the lack of real emotions on the part of the two characters. In the end a (little) interesting variation of the usual "wife with a coworker" theme.

Nicely done. A unique style of story telling.

Loved it! Nice close. thanks

Milo frowned. "That's what's happening right this very moment. We had a nice time in bed and then you want an open marriage. It's insulting. I'd hate to be the one to cramp your lifestyle. Like I said, you do you."

He scooped up his pillow and took it to his office.

The story must end here. She does not serve any second chance. She cannot get away with all her thoughts and actions and welcomed back in monogamous marriage and enjoy family settings.

Very nicely constructed and well-written story. Although I did not relate to or agree with some of the actions of some of your characters, you did a really good job until the end. It ended too abruptly with too many loose ends. Why did Zil marry Todd? We (your readers) like Zil a lot. Todd is an airhead. You can't love an airhead. What happened to the Milo and Mary? Did she follow through on her promise? Did the primal, experimental sex they started last? Did it satisfy her? What about the kids? Did they grow up happy and healthy in a home that was fixed by their parents work and their love? Did they all really heal? Loose ends. Still, very well written.

Your male characters are mostly pathetically weak and this one is no exception.

You can have your "balance". I'll take the true loving wife, thank you.

Hope your bitch at least shows up for your funeral- if she can pry herself away from her latest shag.

It felt like an odd read - starting and stopping and then off to the zoo. Unfortunately I did NOT believe Mary at the end when she said she could remain faithful. She's way too unsatisfied with her situation. And he was too faithful to her to put up with her screwing around. I thought that they should have gotten divorced and had some kind of complicated child care and alimony (from her, just for laughs) arrangement. But I'm not the author. The garbage about Zill and Todd was off too. Not good.

Abrupt change in MC's reaction to wife's wanting to have an open marriage is jarring and doesn't ring true to this character. Milo is rightly pissed at Mary for cheating and being very indiscreet about her affair; he is also angry at the fact her blatant cheating caused fall-out for his 13 yo son. Mary's infatuation and her raving to Milo about the great sex with Todd was seriously emasculating; she added insult to injury by then telling Milo she wanted an open marriage after the two of them just had great sex. At that point, Milo as portrayed throughout the story would have definitely ended the marriage and not changed his mind because of her belated regrets. I am a big fan of demander but I don't buy Milo's reconciling with Mary. Her words and actions make it is a virtual certainty that she will cheat again. 4****

I agree with several other commenters, great read (as always BTW) but it fell apart at the end. The characters and their state of mind as they finished having great sex, then Mary proposing an open marriage after months of infidelity left you with no "Spock" options. Instead, you yanked the reader around and put pie on them. If you ever get a chance or inkling, rewrite the last part so it is consistent with the scenes and characters you developed. 4.3*

When I see this author's name it's almost an auto 5. This did not waver.

I wonder if he knows a good lawyer that could write a devastating post nuptial around the topic of infidelity.

Started out well, and for the husband to get his self respect back as well as giving his slutwife a receipt. But it nose dived at the end. Totally unrealistic that she'd have a change of heart just like that. She'll be back, on her back before long.

I heard she’s getting him a collar and cage for his birthday…bless.

That was a fun tale to read, and that warrants 5 stars.

A raft of twists and turns. But well written... and I enjoyed it. Many thanks. Oh, the story never covered if Milo evened things up with Mary on the extra-curricular sex. We can but guess. Cheers.

Utterly amoral characters rutting like cattle with all the trappings of the rich and famous. In short a rather droll piece of chaotic nonsense that doesn’t support the RAAC ending.

2 stars

When I saw the name demander I immediately thought, DUD. I was right.

I usually like your stories, but this was easily your worst

Ridiculous ending. Once a cheat, always a cheat. He should have opened the marraige, then kicked her ass out after the last kid's graduation. Lots of time to prepare that way.

I dunno. Mary seemed obsessed with wanting some “variety”. It was only the certainty of losing Milo that got her to “recommit”. Not exactly a positive sign.

.

4 ****

I'm kinda shocked how this ended. Zill has a mean streak a mile long that matches Milo and even their threesome partner is a bit bitter. I totally saw at least one more hurrah of them dominating Todd and or Mary. If not with sex, then with good ol fashioned humiliation. Since both agreed are weak if character. And the very end was a disaster for Mary. She went back to Todd immediately, and then tried to open the marriage after that blew up. It took literally three times forgiveness from Milo acting like a true alpha to snap her outta the affair fog. I'd be done with her by then. That's a lot of disrespect. Forget everything else. She and Todd truly need strong people to keep them on a short leash to behave. Seems like a lot of effort, for a pretty shallow reward.

A predator must always be exterminated, Todd has forfeited his life.

In addition, a cheater should always feel the consequences of his actions.

The only thing that will do then is that their lover is harmed as a direct cause of the infidelity.

Well written, different ending so that gets you points. Didn't like the ending, but it is your story and besides going with a reconciliation on this site shows a lot of guts. You get a 5 for good writing and going with an ending that will get you shot down. That is where the guts part comes in. Creative too, not totally following the same old same old stuff we see here.

Demander started out fairly good then his stories turned to crap . After this he goes on the no read list with a lot of other authors on this site. 1

I liked the story but freaking hated the ending, his kids were old enough to absorb the spilt without too much residual psyche trauma, and then he dodged the constant attacks on his manhood she volleys at any given moment. This is so much like life especially with douchey Todd coming out smelling like roses simple cuz he's good looking, he needed a bigger comeuppance than a pie in the face and being a sub.

A nice change-up from the usual character development. I get so tired of cuckold husband hooking up with the more beautiful, wronged wife to the chagrin of the cheaters. Or, the younger gorgeous sister, who's always pined for the husband, screwing him before his bitch wife is even served. Just doesn't happen in real life. Two office mates finding a way to ease the pain works well. My only issue was keeping Mary, but people make horrendous decisions every day.

Interesting and well written, but then just... blah... for the last few paragraphs. Tood needed his balls cut off. Mary willl cheat again. I mean, she's already thinking about an office threesome while emotions are still raw from her fucking around with Todd and almost destroying her family. She barely seems contrite for what she put her son through, and already tries scheming to repeat her whorish ways. Fuck that. She needs kicked to the curb, Todd needs a pummeling, and Sara needs her man.

An umpteenth totally irrealistic RAAC fempov fantasy, where the slut wives never pay for their disgusting whoring around. Enough with this bottom-line "free cheating-cucking without consequences", believable only in the Planet of apes. Too many of these kind.

An evident fempov promotion for the totally unbelievable free cheating without consequences, since the husbands are all brainless sheeps. A warm welcome to this tale from the happy femdom crew.

Sounds like Todd should have been in the light pink gown. The resolution was kind of strange, after he correctly decides she would be fine until she lines up her next fuck, they decide to stay together because they don't want to be lonely. Doesn't seem smart. They sure need to see a therapist or shrink.

Good story, but Mary proved she's nothing but a whore and should have been dealt with like Todd was,or worse...

I have to say that the characters in this story had few redeeming qualities. That said, Milo was the "wronged party" here - but didn't exactly play that role to its full advantage. I can understand his revenge sex motivation. I can also understand his desire to severely pummel Todd. What I can't understand is his staying with Mary. The affair was very well known as Mary and Todd were less than discrete. It had even reached their children through their schoolmates. Further, it seemed that Mary only wanted to give Todd up for a while - not permanently. Despite their attempt at remaining together, when Mary proposed an open marriage immediately post coitus, it should have been all over. Milo's initial reaction was the correct one. He wasn't enough for her. At that point Milo should have shut the marriage down - no matter if they had to wait a years time or not. By staying, he is only delaying the pain which will eventually return full force when she cheats again. It's a foolish choice on Milo's part and seems an to have been an unrealistic choice for him to have made, given the circumstances. Nevertheless, a well written piece. 4/5 BRB

Nope. This is Literotica, every woman who fucks around and disrespects and humiliates her husband in public wil continue to fuck around. Yes, they might claim they only love the husband. But they will continue fucking any cock that gets close to them. Thatis what every slut wife does. 1☆

A tale of two stories, started out strong but that ending. 0 to simp in maybe the fastest time here. The slut kept trying to have her cake and eat it too, then all of a suddened wanted to be faithful? LMMFAO.....

I am a fan of this author’s detached style of writing, and it’s present here, but some of his formula is the feeling of seeing an inevitable car crash.

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The story was a bit of a let down because there’s little consequence felt for anyone but the children. Zill should be cut off from friendship. She did what was best for her, but that involved giving steady sex to a guy that seduced Milo’s wife. And Mary’s mention of an open relationship at the end should have ended their marriage. Sarah seemed sweet and her love was given rather selflessly.

Mary is a selfish spoilt entitled bitch, who I would have BTB

The story fell flat after zill got a hold of Todd.

Great and most amusing story considering it was about serious marital matters. The last sentence is a classic! Eight out of five stars.

Demander always writes great stories---that crash and burn during the ending, Too may open questions.

One minute she wants an open marriage and once he refuses she is content to stay monogamous-NOT!

Couldn't like any of these characters. Except for maybe the kids.

The rest of them are horrific as human beings and unrelatable to me.

Sorry. Long term affair. Plotted put. Lying. Betrayal. Then him with the two sluts who like jackals are waiting in the wings to swope in and eat him up. Despite his misery and weakness at finding out how deeply his wife has betrayed him?

Then the husband and wife begin the healing process. Trying to save things. They make love. Shower together. Begin to share intimacies again...and she immediately hits him with her open marriage ideas?

What kind of horrific creatures are these people?

And they stay together?

Geez...not a likeable one in the bunch. Zill and Todd? Good god what's their home life gonna be like. Butch bitch with the dumbass weak pretty boy? Yeah that's gonna turn out well.

Not only that...how's Milo going ever going to trust Mary again at her big high powered law firm again? She lied to him for more than a year with these weekly fuck sessions with Todd? And EVERYONE at her law firm KNEW she was fucking the empty suit. So they all think Milo's a wimp cuckold pussy.

That's really good for the ole reputation for a supposedly cold blooded trial attorney.

"He used to be a killer in the court room and everyone was scared of him. Then we all found out that his old lady was fucking around on him and he knew about it. Stayed with her...as her willing cuck I guess? Some men get off on sharing their wife...gross..."

See...I know as a professional? I'd lose some respect for him if I knew him in real life.

In the end? None of this fits or makes sense to me.

Entertaining and thoughtful, but ending was too abrupt. Thanks for the story!

Pointless

“He got his just desserts.” Interesting and well written story. I’m not sure Mary is cut out to be a faithful spouse, but the ending kind of worked.

Other commentators have noted that, except the kids, none of the character have any redeeming features, and we wish them all the ills which they have earned.

The story does not support reconciliation because Mary has never apologized or took ownership of her errors. The reconciliation will never last, because Mary has done nothing to earn back Milo's trust or vice versa. They have made a pact that it is better to stay married but never addressed the real issues that had caused them both to cheat. Indeed, instead of trying to deal with the marriage failure, Mary suggests an open marriage. Mary is not in love with Milo, and does not respect him. Such a relationship is unlikely to last.

Very late in the story, Mary has already identified two others in her office that she can use to replace Todd. She is saying whatever it takes to try and regain control of her situation. At the wedding, her thoughts would be that her husband’s playmates have found their own man, so the games may begin again.

lol

just ridiculous...I usually like Demander's stories but this one is not realistic on ANY front.

An entertaining story, with some clever lines, like - "I wish I could be that clumsy."

I think someoneother summed it up best.

The author showed us who Mary really was, and that was a woman who slept around or at least wanted to sleep around. I enjoyed the story, but the chances of them staying married are nil.

Good story but I wouldn't trust Mary as far as I could throw her.

Liked the story. And I thank you for sharing! But, I didn't love the ending. Mary is GOING to cheat on Milo. Hell, she is supposedly committed to Milo and becomes angry about Zill "capturing" Todd (ok, that was a weird twist in the story.) And then identifies 2 new targets. Milo threatens divorce and suddenly she's committed? Naw. So, hmm, ending was hard to take.

Sad

Another fine tale from this author!

Loved it!

Sorry. But this one was badly written.

To me it didn't have that ring about it which would make it believable. Even though it is "just a story" the reader needs to feel that the events are possible or plausible. Sorry but I don't think you achieved that.

For am intelligent woman Mary was remarkably stupid. The other characters weren't far behind. They were all a very unlikeable lot.

I enjoyed this one--the characters are clever and fun and awful in roughly equal measure which is impressive.

Because I liked this story and thought it well-rendered, I will use this opportunity to nitpick a syntax issue that is the plague of Literotica. Namely: Discreet and Discrete are words that have different meanings.

Discreet means secret, careful, circumspect. "I tried to be discreet with my extra-marital affairs."

Discrete means separate, unrelated. "Two discrete events shaped my view of marital infidelity."

Anyway, good work on this story. I enjoy characters with wit and flaws and personalities.

This had the potential for a decent Loving Wives story or a decent Group Sex story, but you managed to slip between both of them and achieve neither. I ended up skimming a lot of it because it simply wasn't worth reading.

I gave this 5*, although at the time I felt it was a 4.5. Now reading some of the comments, I realise I would go lower on my rating, but the 5* stands for the way the story was written and entertaining. Others mentioned the characters weren't likeable, but these people forgot they are attorneys and we all know most solicitors/lawyers/attorneys/paralegals are despicable! Also, I agree the ending was abrupt and the reconciliation of Milo and Mary was really stupid, after she mentioned the open marriage scenario, how could he trust her anymore!

No means one of your best, I don't get the ending why was Todd's rear healing up nice. Don't get it.

What a pussy

You killed the story with that ending. She still is looking for other men after they have sex.

Typical Demander story full of man and woman sluts. This one had a surprisingly abrupt ending. Three stars ⭐️ for this one.

Actually I found it more realistic than many - married people who know how fucked up this all is, but deal with each other within their own dynamic that they have forged over years. As opposed to the classic MC that plugs his ears and throws away his phone and runs away to the Channel islands and makes it with the local bartender / widower / mysterious lady sea captain. This story held my interest. Well written. Could have used a few more summary / satisfaction sentences at the end.

Lol, like reading about a parallel universe. We all, probably starting with Demander, would be begging to go back to the normal one.

Interesting but profoundly unsatisfying. Is Mary screwing both of the young studs at the firm, or just one?

The most important sex organ is the brain. It is insulting to both the Mary character and to the reader to have Mary claim that it was Todd's sexuality that seduced her. She wanted to fuck, somebody other than her husband, that's when Her marriage ended. Todd was her first fuck buddy, but she'll have as many more as she thinks she can get away with. And her husband knows this.

\

But men age like wine, while women age like cheese. Even if somehow Mary can keep her legs closed to strangers, eventually she will enter her cheese phase. She was already insecure when she actually was attractive. As she gets wrinkled and dry Milo will have to make some decisions. Mary fucked around on him because Milo wasn't enough, and she would have continued for as long as she could get away with it. And she stopped for only One reason: she got caught and Milo wouldn't let her cuckold him. She has no virtue or ethics about her marriage vows and commitments. She just doesn't want to pay the price for breaking the contract; Milo was still a decent fuck, if boring. I think its just a matter of when Milo finally dumps the worthless whore. It might be accelerated once Milo figures out that his son thinks he's a sucker for keeping the bitch, and his daughter just sneers at the fake warmth and love her slut mother will try to portray, poorly. Everyone will see the looks Mary gives young athletic men when she thinks people aren't paying attention. The marriage will eventually become a farce. I hope someone writes that sequel. In the sequel Milo gets Mary to sign a post nuptial agreement. Then months later Zill sends Milo the video of her and Todd fucking Mary while Milo is out of town; it will be Zill's gift to Milo to give him the final push to dump the brainless whore. That would be sweet.

Oh the shallowness coming from Demander's characters. Interesting and insightful dialogue- intelligent, witty, sharp..... and empty. Actually, I see an improvement in this story, as in the writing went up a few notches. Always a good story writer (hate the content), but this one was sharper; maybe it got dulled in all the numerous sexual escapades in his other stories. The abrupt ending here was perfect- the moral lack of depth demanded it.

There is no confidence offered in any fashion regarding this relationship by the conclusion as written by any party. They are all cheaters with no end in sight.

Just a pause in their decline. Don’t have much hope for them in the long run.

The story was going well until the end. One minute, Milo is convinced that Mary will never really be satisfied with him; and that she -will- cheat again. Then they’re all good because she felt bad that he left the bedroom. They hadn’t even spent a night apart, and his resolve flatlined? Then within 6 months all is good for Milo and Mary? That doesn’t fly with me.

The last sentence could imply several different things, which is maybe what Demander intended, why IDK. Regardless, their marriage will always be on a knifes edge with a lack of trust and both always looking for something possibly better. Maybe fine for them but raises children in a unsecured environment.

Not bad. Enjoyable romp but a lot of inconsistencies in behaviour. Milo and Mary's marriage is running on habit and can hardly be expected to last. Still, interesting story. Thank you

Cheating wife, cheating husband, plotting side characters that force their attentions on someone who's angry. No thank you. Topped off with reconcilliation. This story doesn't entertain. Two stars.

Why would any man stay with a wife like Mary? I can't be love, it must be that you are really afraid of life, of the unknown. It's just sad to see it in writing (yes, fiction but a mirror of your thoughts) that there are men who think it's the best course of action.

"There are many ways to achieve balance in a marriage."

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Yeah, but almost the only one promoted in this LW category is the totally unrealistic "free cheating without consequences" and the "cheating-cuck", with sheep husbands and whore wives. Certainly these two are NOT "ways to achieve balance in a marriage".

Another failed attempt to make the usual cheating-cuck plotline realistic and acceptable: these are tocic and dangerous ideas, very likely going to destroy marriages, families and lives. Ah, right, this is ... "just fiction".

So in reality, neither of them are very bright, quick, or amusing.

I'll give you this though the sex scenes were fitting for LW. The writing and dialog witty to boot.

OMG!!!

GROANnnnnnnnn

MINUS 5 Stars

The epilog is totally wrong, I don't even think Zill will keep ownership of Todd. Milo and Mary will come apart taking several clashes to abandon the marriage. She wins; Milo loses unless Sarah comes thru but we don't know enough about her. Fortunately the kids are robust and only a short way from independence.

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Demander, you often seen to have a conclusion written before you finish the story, and 3/4 way through you fail to fix the logic that will make your ending work.

i was confused...

The wife is likely to cheat again when the urge, opportunity and environment are suitable. Maybe not with someone at the firm but a client or someone she meets on a business trip. She’s in an occupation that makes it easy to account for “lost” time, e.g., offsite meeting, client dinner , a reception, etc. The same goes for outside sales. Leopards don’t change their spots and she’s had multiple tastes of cheating. The only solution is remove the leopard from your home!

Wow, count on demander to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. It was (for a change) a really good LW, for the first 3 pages. Not perfect but the MC wasn't a stupid wuss. Then you just HAD to go and RAAC the crap out of it for no reason whatsoever, saddling MC with a lying cheating skank who doesn't love him nor respect him. What an awesome example for his children :( 2.5 stars, just for the beginning being good.

Just another cuck keeps slut story.

Life is full of give and take