The Game of Trust

Round 1

As your basic naïve male, I made the mistake of opening the door to a game which I'm not sure I wanted to open. What game? You ask. Good question. For the lack of a better title, let's call it The Game of Trust. Confusing? Damn right it is and just as frustrating too. But I opened the door and have to live with the results and consequences.

I'm Gabe; My wife of six years is Melinda, also known as Mel. I'm thirty and she is two years younger. We met when I was a third-year sales representative for a major supplier of components to the electronics industry. She had graduated six months before from a major college in the area and was in the company management trainee program. I was instantly attracted to her for five reasons. In order of importance were her smile, her beautiful eyes, her laugh, her tits, and then her ass. As I got to know her better, her intelligence rose to number two but her smile still brings me to a state similar to chilled gelatin. A year after we met, we were married and have been happy ever since. I've grown to be the regional manager covering five states while she's been promoted regularly to be the primary buyer for custom-designed components.

All of this has no direct relevance to what we were about to launch into but it is a sidebar to the events. One Friday in late March, we were watching a twenty-year old movie on television called "The Perfect Murder." In it, a wealthy man is married to a beautiful woman who's having an affair with a starving artist. The rest of the storyline was irrelevant. I decided to open my mouth and stick my foot in it when I said, "I can't believe a wife could have an affair and her husband wouldn't have some idea she was messing around."

Mel casually replied, "It happens all the time. Some go on for years and he never knows."

"You're kidding! You mean a guy's wife is having sex regularly with another guy and he's clueless about it?"

"Yep. It isn't that hard to do. A guy can't do it but a woman can if she's careful."

The challenge was thrown.

"Okay, smart ass. How can that happen? A guy knows his wife as well as he knows anyone. He can sense her moods and wants and likes and dislikes. How can she have an affair and not let on something for him to not be at least suspicious."

'I didn't say it would be easy but it can be done. If she's lazy and careless, it will stand out like a sore thumb just like it does with a man. But a man can't hide it as well as a woman can anyway."

"I can't believe you said that. Are you saying you could have an affair and I wouldn't have even a little suspicion about it?"

"That's what I'm saying; yes."

"Are you saying, you've had an affair since we've been married?"

"No; I'm not saying that at all. I haven't been with another man since we've been married. You're all I want and need in a man; you, lucky devil."

That made my male ego feel good but still the broader question remained unanswered. "For the record, you're the only woman I've been with since we got married too."

"I know; I can tell." If she hadn't been wearing that smug smile challenging me at that moment, I might have just dropped the whole thing. But that smile is like a double dog dare.

"All right; suppose I did have an affair; what would you look for as a giveaway?"

"Crap, there's so many signs. The obvious ones would be you leaving tell-tale tracks in your underwear but the two biggest ones would be your smell and your attitude."

"My smell?"

"Sure. Most women have a more sensitive nose for smells than men do. You shower in the morning and leave for the day. When you come home, I can tell if you've been sitting in your office or driving around in your hot car, or doing something physical. The amount you sweat generates a different aroma, a distinctively masculine one. I can tell the difference. If you had sex with someone, I could smell your sweat mingled with a woman's aroma. It might be her lotion or perfume or her own sweat; but you'd smell different."

"Really? You can tell a difference? What if I took a shower before I came home?"

"You'd smell the same as you left in the morning as long as you used the same soap. If you use a different soap, I'd know that and know you showered. But the main thing is her smell would still be on your clothes."

"Hmm. I never knew I was a walking aroma factory."

"Don't worry about it. I woman smells different too but most men don't focus on smells and aromas enough to notice. The other thing is attitude."

"All right, explain that one."

"Since we've been together for a long time, I've come to recognize your attitude or moods depending on what's going on. I'm not talking about being angry or over-the-top kinds of moods. I'm talking about the more subtle ones. You work in a fairly stressful environment with multiple people demanding information or asking you to resolve problems. On any given day, you come home hyped up. That's your norm. If you came home totally relaxed, I would wonder why. Nothing in your daily life would turn the stress off that much. Once in a blue moon, you have a low stress day or something you've been working hard on is completed and you relax but underlying that is still the on-going tension. If you had sex and came, you would be physically very relaxed; sort of unnaturally relaxed for a normal day."

"And If I came home after a couple of hours we had sex, you could still tell?"

"Sure. When a man comes the first time, he expends a huge amount of energy and lets a huge amount of pressure go. He also releases a hormone than calms his libido down. Even a couple of hours later, the normal amount of pressure hasn't returned. You'd still be more relaxed than normal. You'd also probably be more tender and gentle rather than aggressive and demanding like a horny man would."

"Okay, I understand what you're saying but most of that would also apply to a woman, wouldn't it? Couldn't a guy notice the same things?"

"Possibly but not likely. For one thing, your cock tells a woman almost everything. It's not hard to notice when you're excited and if you should be excited and aren't responding, there's probably a reason. For a woman, I could have sex and two hours later, I could have sex again with another man and the second one wouldn't know he was second. A little cleaning and little personal perfume along with 'I've been thinking about you all day; take me.' Remember a man is quick to get excited and a woman is slow to get aroused but it lingers for a lot longer."

"I don't know about that. I think I'd know."

"Honey, before we got married but were dating regularly, twice I had a former lover in mid-afternoon before a date with you and you never knew."

"Really? When?"

"No details; just the facts."

"Okay then, if you wanted to have an affair or even a one-time thing, how hard would it be for you to set it up?"

"Let me ask you, how often do you think I get hit on?"

"Four, maybe five times a week."

"Lover, the number is about right but that's how many times I get hit on each day. Some are outright propositions and some are more subtle but behind them, they're all hits."

I'm sure I looked shocked because I was. "Seriously? I had no idea. Every day?"

"Yes. Think about it this way; I'm either working on a project in the office or at the customer's shop. Ninety percent of the people I work with are men. The obvious ones say something like, 'Lunch or dinner to discuss this further.' That's a pretty opened ended way of saying, 'We can talk or we can fuck.' They don't pin it down to one or another usually but they hope for the latter but have covered their ass with the former. When I'm only in my office, the words are similar but it's about fifty-fifty between men and women."

"Women hit on you too?"

"Of course, they do. There's a subtle difference between men and women though. Men want raw sex. It can be a blow job, a fuck, or an affair. As long as they get their rocks off, they're happy. A woman is a little different. The bolder, stronger ones want to try to dominate me because they see me as strong as they are. Getting in my panties is a win for them. The more submissive women look up to me and want me to get in their panties and show them I can dominate them. Either way, sex is involved but the meaning behind the sex is different."

"Wow! I had no idea." My head was running through all sorts of rapid images. "So, almost any day, you could get laid if you wanted to and you think I wouldn't know if you had."

"Yes, but there are a couple if big ifs involved here too. In all cases, I would have to be in control. I mean, if we went to lunch and I gave him a blow job, I still need to get back to work with no visible marks or too many wrinkles to hide. Second, I would still have to be attracted to the person. Many guys are attractive for one reason or another but few of them rise to the level of being attractive enough to risk my marriage or my job over."

"Okay, who or what kind of person would rise to that level? Wow; I can't believe I'm asking my wife what kind of man could turn her around."

"Actually, it's probably smart of you to ask and know because sometimes those happen when we're together and not at work."

"I keep saying seriously but you keep dropping things I had no idea about. I guess, I'm kind of naïve in this."

"Yes, you are but it's also part of the on-going attraction I feel towards you." She kissed me passionately for the first time since we began talking. "In answer to your question, the first thing that attracts me to someone is the very fact they aren't obviously hitting on me. Boldness is a turn off to me. If I met a guy or a girl at a party or a conference, or a meeting and we communicated well together and developed a connection, that would be the first thing. The second would probably be his or her eyes and the confidence level they showed. The third thing would be that intangible feeling which says there might be more to this person than what we were experiencing."

"Okay, you've got my attention. What's this intangible thing you're talking about?"

"Hmmm. Think about Dale and Grace. They're our good friends. We've been to their house and they've been here. We all get along. Right?" I nodded. "Add to that, she and I are in two civic groups together and you and Dale play golf frequently. In short, they're about as close friends as we have outside of family."

"Right; but I don't see..."

"That's because you interrupted me, Mr. Impatient. They're our closest friends but when we get together at parties or outside of our homes, within five minutes of our arrival, you're drawn to her like a magnet or a moth to a candle." I started to say something but she stopped me. "You're going to bring up the usual laundry list of excuses and things you share in common and talk about. Then explain why after you dance with her and then with me, you've got half a hard on?" I just stared at her. "Your brain is screaming at you that you're just platonic friends while your body is screaming 'fuck her, dammit!'"

"Mel...I...I never..."

She smiled at me and said, "I know; she's told me more than once. So, consider this; you turn her on just as much as she does you. What if both Dale and I had to go out of town for a long weekend on business or something. He told you she doesn't like to be alone when he's gone and suggested you take her to dinner and out for an evening to get her out of the house. You might be platonic for a day or so, but how long do you think it would take for the two of you to be in bed fucking each other like rabbits? I'd put money on the second day but that's if I fucked your brains out before I left."

"Wait, wait. This is moving too fast for my poor old brain. You're saying I wouldn't last two days if she and I were left alone for a couple of days? I...well crap; to be blunt, it might be nice but, and this is a huge but, I doubt seriously we'll ever get the chance to find out. You don't travel that much and neither does Dale. I travel more than he does but I'm seldom gone more than one night."

"True; but you forgot the question. You wanted to know what that intangible thing was I mentioned. That's what I'm talking about. You have no idea what attracts you to Grace but you are. And she's just as attracted to you and can't explain it. Some call it pheromones which is about as meaningless as calling a computer an electrical device. The point is, people are attracted to others for many unknown reasons. When that happens, logic and rationalization disappear pretty quickly."

"Okay, smart ass. Do you feel these kinds of feelings too?"

"Of course, I do. Most of them involve someone I meet at work; not the eager young guys but the manager level guys who have the experience and confidence. I can see it in their eyes when they look me over. Nothing ever happens mostly because they're on a tight schedule but the attraction is there."

"What would it take for you to be swayed?"

"Probably time. I mean, I'm not going to meet a guy and drop my panties in thirty minutes. If we had time for drinks and dinner, some wind down time after work, then something could happen."

"I understand that. What about local people? I mean you put me and Grace together. Is there a potential among our friends or co-workers?"

She grinned knowing at what I was asking. "Yes; there's maybe five guys and couple of women I feel attracted to. But honestly, I only know a couple of them well enough to say for sure. The others have potential but there's still a lot of unknowns with them."

"Want to tell me who?"

"No; you don't need to know. But if I ever did something with one of them, you seem confident you could tell." That grin again told me exactly nothing.

"Now that we've put this on the table and acknowledge the potential exists. How do you suggest we think about it or do something about it?"

She grinned again. "Knowing you, you're going to think about it whatever I think or say. As a result, you're either going to worry yourself crazy or you can just do what I do and that's to trust me like I trust you."

"Hmmm. You want to put the cork back in the bottle."

"Not really. Listen, honey; this isn't something new. It's been going on within each of us since before we even met. Since we've gotten married, nothing has changed except we both have had to carefully evaluate how important an affair is versus the potential cost. At this moment, if I found out you were having an affair, I know what I would like to think how I would react but I really have no idea if I really would react that way. Neither do you. I trust you and I'm sure you trust me. That's the only thing I can hang onto besides the fact that I'm more attracted to you than anyone else."

"I trust you too. I guess I've never really thought much about it one way or another except as a fleeting image or something. I know I would never try to have you murdered like in the movie."

"That's nice to know. Let's put this to rest for tonight. I need to fuck your brains out tonight because we're going to a party tomorrow night and your girlfriend will be there."

"Is one of your heartthrobs going to be there?"

Her full Cheshire Cat grin came out as she replied, "Maybe."

Round Two

Saturday morning, I woke up full of energy but very little sexual arousal as she had done her usual wonderful effort fucking my brains out. I idly wondered why anyone would want someone else if they had someone like Mel in their life. It certainly wasn't simply because we made wonderful love with each other. That was like the icing on the cake. The cake was Mel because she was a wonderful partner, a great friend, and companion. We meshed together perfectly in and out of bed. I set out to do my Saturday morning chores but was still rehashing our talk from last night. Of all things, I focused my thoughts on Grace. I guess I could have focused on Mel and what kind of guy she was attracted to but I didn't. I tried my hardest to decide what I found attractive about Grace.

Grace Albritton and her husband were Mel's age or two years younger than I was. In many ways, she was everything Mel wasn't. She was tall, blonde, and very quiet. She was almost shy except when she talked about art and music. These were her passions in life as well as her career. She worked at the museum jointly owned by the college and the city where she gave art lectures and tours while also hosting musical events in the auditorium. If Mel was the leading lady of a Broadway musical, then Grace was the ballerina. If Mel drove the action on stage; Grace entered the stage in a quiet moment and delicately made everything right before silently leaving the limelight. I'm not sure this image even made sense to me but that's the contrast I see between them.

As I raked up some dead leaves and withered plants from the garden, another image came to mind. Mel was very real and very here and now while Grace was the image, the dream of what was yet to come. Mel had spent last evening taking me on a journey through my life and then had given me intense physical pleasure. The thought of being around Grace tonight was the promise of the future and a respite from the various tasks and wars I fought daily. I sort of realized this in one way or another, I really did need them both but how could that be possible.

When I broke for lunch, Mel had made a nice soup and sandwiches which we ate on the patio since it was fairly nice spring day. I noticed she had the same look in her eye and the same grin today as she had during our talk the previous night. She asked, "Are you looking forward to the party tonight?"

"Am I supposed to? I mean this is a community party like we often have. Is tonight's party special?"

"Sure, it is. This is the first time you'll get to see Grace after you realized how important she is to you." He eyes sparkled as she said this.

"Hold on, Mel. Are you pushing for something? This feels a little weird. I mean, I like Grace; no, that's wrong. I really like being around Grace. Of all of the people who will be there tonight, the people I enjoy most in order are you, Grace, and then Dale. I could have told you that yesterday or last week."

"Yes, you could have and you can tell me today you will feel exactly the same a month from now and I'll believe you. But today, you realize she brings you a special feeling even I don't."

"Last night you pointed out I was attracted to her like a magnet but you also said you're attracted to some people the same way. How does this really change or affect me?"

"I have no idea; I just know it does. Listen for a minute. One of the things I love most about you is the stability and grounding you give me. Just like at work, you've developed a solid and productive group who consistently performs at a high level. You'll be the national sales manager in a couple of years because your core is solid. I love that. But look at what I do. I do my job well but what do I really do? I live in a world which doesn't really exist. People come to me with dreams they're convinced will come true and change the world. I take their dreams to our people who usually grin and shake their heads like you're doing. But every once in a while, the light bulb goes off and they get excited to. They play around and come back with something they think a customer really wants. Then I take this dream to these other people and ask them what it will take to make it real. In both cases, I'm an enabler. I give people the opportunity to dream and then make their dreams come true."

"So, you aren't pushing me into Grace's arms; you're just enabling me to do it. This means I'm a fucking idiot to risk losing you."

She swatted my arm, "You'll never be a fucking idiot, idiot. You'll always be stable and solid but you have dimensions you haven't discovered yet. And you'll never lose me."