All Comments on 'Truth & Consequences: The Other Half'

this is a pretty well written responce IMO.

She gambled in her own selfishness...never realizing the pain he was in.

Both had their problems, but when push came to shove in their lives, he choose her....she she choose herself as well.

Could he have done more to save the marrage? Probally.

Could she? yup.

Sad really, on so many levels.

Nice start in your writting career FDK....can;t wait for more.

This story was well writen and it laid out logically how most men emotionally feel but are unable to verbally express. Much better than the origional story.

dont need to say more

From now on you're one of my favourites

For mine, it is not so much the illicit sex, but the betrayal of trust which causes the problems, which you have encapsulated very well in this story. Keep up the high standard of story telling!

Your take on Phil as an insecure, self absorbed whiner is pretty compelling. I wanted to hand the poor guy a box of tissues, for gosh sakes. Hope he doesn't break an ankle falling off his high horse....

An excellent, introspective take on "the usual" cheating wife story. I will look forward to your next submission.

FDK, you did a nice job of showing your view of Phil. I've never written my version of the the other side of the story because I've never really been able to formulate a cohesive approach. I'm still not sure how Phil would feel. This approach was true to the original and is one valid response. Thanks for the insight. I hope to see more of your writing in the future.

This was for the most part a well written story. In his letter Phil was able to use what Janet had said in her letter to show that she had not really changed since she had been caught. He showed that she thinking only of herself and how the things that Phil was doing effected her. He was also able to explain his own behavior an a way that made it seem reasonable and logical.

My problem with this story was Phil's telling of his meeting with his former lover while he was on his business trip. This struck me as being contrived. First because it was too much of a coincidence that both Janet and Phil should run into former lovers and nearly the same time. Phil apparently ran into Marge a couple of days before Janet ran into Phil. The author tried to use this to compare Janet's behavior with Phil's. IMO both parties acted inappropriately. When faced with a situation like they found themselves in, running into a former lover, a person should consider if it would be proper for them to spend the evening with that person. Dinner, drinking, dancing? The question you need to ask yourself when faced with the situation is 'how would my spouse feel about me spending the evening with a former lover?' I think the answer to that is obvious. Spending the evening with a former lover is a bad idea under any circumstances.

The fact that Phil claims that he got an erection while dancing with Marge is proof that there is the potential for trouble and he should not have been with her but the author uses that to try and show that Phil was so faithful to his marriage that he resisted the temptation to have sex with Marge. A man getting an erection while dancing with a woman has become such a cliché on this site I wish people would stop using it just a pet peeve of mine).

Bringing Marge back into the story at the end also felt contrived. If all mention of Marge was removed from this story it would not hurt the story in the least, IMO it would be an improvement.

One suggest I would make to the author is when telling a story use the names of real places or at least make up names. Tell us where they went on their business trips and if you want to say that Phil is see Marge do tell us she lives in the next city over tells us the name of the city, it will realism to your story.

Sometimes things just go to far to be "fixed" this instance certainly seems that way. Great writing, and a great epitaph to a great story by CAPECODMERCURY

Janet, on her knees, looked at the divorce papers once more, understanding fully the consequences of her actions. It has been a month since she wrote Phil the letter and separated.

With her hands, she made the Sign of the Cross over the papers, mouthed "rest in peace" got up and moved towards her bedroom.

"So where were we, Jeff? Oh yeah, when is your brother coming to town again, I'm looking forward to being dp'd again.", thinking how glad she was that she didn't waste her month of separation.

Poor Phil, he didn't realize while he was writing and re-writing his reply, she was abiding the rules of separation where anything goes!!!! Hahahahahahahaha.

but that's me

Andy

he done the right thing ...she cheated it should have been her responsibility to straighten her mess out ... a goodway to do that would have been to tell jeffs wife about the affair ...i really cant remember if he was married .. but she should have hurt him in some way to proveto her hubby that jeff was history .. and the only way to do that would have been to tell his wife , sue him for alienation of affection to her hubby ...or better yet kill him ..any way i hope se rots in hell over her cheating

I enjoyed this story better than the original as well, but to the commenter who said that Phil shouldn't have spent the evening with his once and future gurlfriend, Hogwash.

You see an old friend, whether intimate or not, in an unexpected place, you naturally catch up. And in the catching up if you happen to have dinner together and the gallant reflex occurs, you are appreciating the closeness of a person for whom you have had feelings. There is no harm there and Phil handled himself like a monogamous person should.

I could have written this story myself, as it very clearly sets forth the emotions I experienced upon learning of my spouse's affair. The author is right, it is very hard to move forward with someone who doesn't really change.

When I first read capecodmercury version, at first I really didn't like the story much. Not that it wasn't a good story, because it was, but because it seemed like the wife was blaming the husband totally for the affair. Like it was his fault she cheated and that made it ok.

Then later I thought about it. Having been on the other side of that fence before, I've had "exactly" this mentality thrown back at me. That it was somehow my fault I didn't stop something. Suddenly capecodmercury's story wasn't so bad and it seemed to show one side of a thought process of someone who was doing wrong, but wanted someone to blame it on like it wasn't really their fault they did what they did. When I looked at it like that, then suddenly it was a really good story capecodmercury wrote. Captured the "Its not my fault what I do" mentality

Then I read your story today. Nice take, I do sorta/almost agree with KK though. If you had the husband meet this old girlfriend at any other time before or after the time that the wife was cheating it would have been more beliveable. Not saying that the possiblity for the ex-girlfriend wasn't there, but if he had resisted while he was trying to work on his marriage it would have shown some pretty good character on his part. Or if he had mentioned that he ran into her in the past before his wife cheated then it could also have shown that he was after more than a sex buddy for trips.

But either way, it was a good story. And for me Phil took that time alone to decide that maybe finding someone else was the better option, specially if the wife was still feeling that it wasn't her fault for what she did, that he just needed to "Forgive and forget" as it was put. But I liked the fact that he had enough strength of character to stand up and say "You know what I'm through being crapped on".

Of course all the stuff he kept saying about him greiving for his marriage seemed to make him look a little wimpy though, but I can understand why it was said in this context.

;)

The story was well told and the fact that he met an old flame and had a reaction seems to have drawn several comments that would lead one to believe he is culpable of cheating. The difference is that she reacted, he regreted and did not. It was in the story for a reason. Thank You. Ronnie W.

As is the case here, I am occasionaly offended by someone's strong talent. Sometimes musically. Like the TV show Idol. Out of nowhere, it can expose a new talent to be appreciated! Of course it also shows a lot of embarrassing chaff - wannabies if you will.

There is a certain Idol likeness to this site. A lot of chaff but wow every now and then someone like you bursts forth and it's showtime. When Carrie Underwood recently sang at the opening of the football game in Denver my emotions swelled within (and not like that you gutter minded idiots).

Is my being offended by your talent driven by jealousy? Why of course it is. Who that likes to read and is affected by a strong writing talent hasn't felt - "I wish that I could affect emotions and entertain as was done so strongly in this work!"

So Author - thanks for offending my sensibiities so much that I and many others look forward to your next offense - errr work! Take your time - using the same diligence and high personal standards to create another credible effort. Of course, I hope you continue in the theme of marital consequence as you will help balance the chaff of the many less respected - less credible others.

with high Regard

This was an interesting response to his wife's letter. When I read the original story I felt impatience with the wife. Despte her acknowledgment about the hurt she had caused, I felt that she still didn't recognize how devastated her husband was.

I was also a bit disappointed in his response to her letter. His refusal the seek counseling or even discuss the tragedy that had befallen them almost guaranteed the destruction of the marriage. I felt that the ending of his letter appropriate. This is a marriage that just couldn't survive considering the attitudes of both.

out of the gate. i for one am glad you didn't give specifics, each reader is from a city or town, a state, a country, let the reader put the story in their own back yard, it makes it more personal that way. writers too often overload a story with too much info, not only dragging the plot down, but making it too definitive. readers have imaginations, let them utilize them, they get more into the story that way. makes the story more personnal. keep up the good work and you will have at least one fan always.

A very good ending to a good story. enjoyed it

I apologize for the length of my comments. The combination of the first letter and this story presents an unusually complex and refined picture of relations. I just could not do justice to this talented writer in a short comment.

The above title suggests a guiding rule which I would have used with this couple – or for that matter any couple in crisis. You can’t fight alone, its true, and you certainly can’t resolve anything by yourself either. That’s why I highlighted the word ‘by’ at the title. At any point in time where either Phil or Janet brought up the issue of lack of communication or access to each other or openness - that spouse was right on the money. At any time when one of them claimed: “you should have done X” as a reason for a wrong action or inaction on their part, that person was showing where he or she have contributed their part to the destruction of the relations. At any point in time, when each of them looks at the relations as something which somehow ‘stands outside of them’, and they simply react to it – they contribute to the downfall of the relations. When Janet claims that she was frustrated and bored she should have acted on it within the marriage in order to change it (as Phil correctly points out to her); similarly, when Phil decides to do nothing when he realizes that his wife is starting to fall apart –he certainly helps her in his inaction and escalates with her the marriage to a level of “beyond repair”. If you want to believe Phil’s proclamations to wanting to save the marriage, you have to ask, why then didn’t you? Internal monologs do not count, only visible actions. And when Janet physically abandoned Phil, she certainly blew it. You don’t work marriage alone.

Am I arguing here for a moral equivalency between Phil and Janet? – Certainly not! There is no doubt that there are actions which are potentially “marriage busters”, such as: cheating along with violence mental abuse etc. If one wants to look for villains, one can always look at a particular offence and get a divorce. Justice done. From the perspective of reality, such a decision is rarely so simple. One of the reasons I really liked both the original story and this one, is that it shows in a way which you very rarely see here, how complex can each perspective of each couple can be –even if the main offensive acts come from one spouse. I can testify that this presentation is highly realistic. Imagine how difficult it is if a couple decides that they do want to try to work through their problems –despite the fact there is NO moral equivalency -they still have to both work on it, that is, if they want to succeed. Not because it’s fair. Just because it does not work if only one side (even if it is the guilty one) has to work on it alone. It simply takes two to work a couple. Stand BY and with your spouse.

take a vow, author. you did a great job, and as a first entry, i can only say, BRAVO!

i shared the same principles and convictions with Phil. i remember narrating to my wife some of the very thought-provoking stories i read in this site. mostly, they are focused on cheating wives and marital consequences. i remember my wife asked me a hypothetical question, "what about if it happened to us. would you not fight for me?"

the answer is a big NO! what is there to fight for? she did the things with her own decision and shut me out in the process. she could not expect any man to just simply sit and accept things, and continue living as if nothing happened. and this is what i told her.

She was aghast of my answer and even followed up with, "but, why? don't you love me that much?" do girls really have this shallow idea of us, men?

it would have been different if she was forced and raped in the process. this i told her, "i would die fighting for you just to avenge the wrong done to you." and i truly mean it.

author, we are riding on the same boat in this story. thanks and thanks for a very good read.

wishing to read more stories from you soon.

with high regards.

benhur726

Before I read your story I read the original version of her letter to him to refresh my memory. I was very upset with Janet's response to Phil in that story.

I agree with almost everything that Phil wrote to her. It was all about her. There was little likelyhood that those two would ever have worked it out even if she had stayed.

The thing that bothers me now though is Phil's admission of what he did with Marge. It actually gives credence to one thing Janet said in her letter, that they had deeper problems in their marriage.

I think K.K. said this too, Phil should never have done what he did with Marge. What if he had been as weak as his wife was and he had been the one who was unfaithful? I defy anyone to claim they would never cheat. You might not, but no one knows that for sure. In almost every circumstance everyone has a price. Not all, but most.

Anyway, why would you do what either of them did if you truly loved the other person. A more appropriate answer for both of them might have been. "I would love to have a chance to go over old times with you, I will check with Janet/Phil and see if we can find a time to have you over to the house."

Now that is loving your spouse and still respecting that you had some feelings for the old flame. My wife and I have met with an old flame of mine and it went OKAY. I won't tell you it happened again because it didn't because it was quite uncomfortable. But with that solution neither would have put themselves in a situation where they could cheat.

All that being said, I really liked the story and felt the ending was probably the only thing that could have happened.

Oh yes, one last thing. I saw no reason why he threw his current fling with Marge in her face. He should have just ended it with class.

Thanks for your great effort. It is appreciated by many people.

Charleybear

I think you did a great job. I felt you expanded on some of my own misgivings about the self-serving letter she wrote.

I can say you have received some very credible critiques from what I consider very talented authors such as K.K. and Charleybear, and a reader Risq 001. Also a nice thumbs-up from the original author Capecodmercury.

Your story is obviously and deservedly well received.

Looking forward to more submissions from you.

Thank you

You nailed it, dude. Very well done.

I disagree with the critiques about the other woman. I have seen this happen IRL several times.

and with an empathetic plotline and fine character portrayal. That's not easy first time out, and you picked a difficult, close to the heart situation. Got it right too, consistent and introduced plausible new subject matter that built on the original, which was also a fine work, and raised some hidden themes in the first work in a totally simpathetic way.

I agreed with KK's comment re Marge, it probably added nothing to the intensity of your work, and took the edge off his moral high ground position. Better to have kept hitting home the betrayal and selfishness of Janet, and her delusive version of 'fighting for our marriage'.

Looking for more from you, and thanks.

Yes, of course she only thought about herself. Her letter reminded me of that old joke: But enough about me. Let’s talk about you. What do you think about me.

No, I don’t necessarily think there is anything wrong with spending an evening with a former lover you bump into when you’re on the road alone. It’s more of a problem if you spend it with a future lover, near future. I’ve spent a lot of time alone on the road. I’d spend an evening with my former shop teacher rather than have to spend another night alone. I wouldn’t sleep with him though. If you are trustworthy, you are trustworthy. If you bump into an attractive woman with whom you’ve had a relationship in that situation, sexy things will scamper through your mind, it’s involuntary. If they don’t, it just means you’re lying to yourself too. You don’t have to act on it. There is a word in the language – coincidence – because those things happen often enough to merit a word to describe the phenomenon. I recently went to a doctor who was in another age group at the same camp and time I went to over 45 years ago. Impossible? No. Coincidence? Yes. I’ve met people from down the street on vacation thousands of miles from home. This kind of coincidence is not a problem in a story. Neither is it a blessing. The coincidence you really want to avoid is the one that solve a formerly insolvable problem.

Yes, I, too, am exasperated with the ubiquitous dancing erection. I dance ballroom and Argentine tango where, in close embrace, the top of the woman is plastered against me. I don’t have to look, I can feel what they’re wearing. So far zero erections. The only thing more common in these stories is loosing things instead of losing them.

Neutral. I don’t think it was a problem to include Marge. But it would have worked without her.

Yes, using names of actual places helps make the story a little more concrete for the reader. So do products, like my RAZR instead of my cell phone. I don’t want to describe the woman with too much detail, each reader knows what he likes. But I don’t want to make him work for every detail. It’s nice when an experienced author takes the time to leave writing tips.

Not picking on you, your points were interesting.

The one thing I thought I would see in his response was addressing the likelihood of a repeat. She said in her letter that it couldn’t happen again because she now understood why she did it. I expected in his letter to see something like: I’ve tried to condense your explanation of why you did it and what I come up with is this, you did it because you wanted to because you thought it would be fun. And it was fun. How exactly does this understanding convince you it could never happen again?

On the issue of why he didn’t fight for her, he couldn’t win. His opponent was unbeatable – her.

FDK

I couldn't have wrote it better myself. When I read the original story I was pissed at her for turning things around and making herself out to be a victum. "Why didn't you fight for me? Indeed. You did an excellent job of turning things back around and making her face the truth. Congratulations on a job well done

Interesting comments writer - I felt your story / letter was very comprehensive and in a broad sense that is what I would like to comment upon.

The illustration is his old flame and the reader reactions to the trip meeting and follow-up just before delivery of his letter. These seem to have provoked reader judgements of him. I feel these reader emotions are human but what they seem to want is a perfect man and reaction(s) sanctioned by a book of humane rules.

I could say let he who is without "yaddiiittyy yaaddiittyy(you know)" but lets look deeper. This writer had a vision / a plot path - perhaps founded in reality or a well conceived one. Real people aren't always predictable are they - especially under dramatic personal stress. By my experience, what he did is human and understandable and most of all - not inappropriate in my mind. He showed restraint meeting her initially on the trip - no harm / no fowl! Two weeks before the multiple rewriten termination letter his mind was made up and no-faultwise nothing was in jepardy was it as it was splitesville on assets.

Does anyone really understand as I do why he needs some positive reinforcement at this stage - I think many of us having experienced divorce and the debilitative process can relate to the esteem issues he is wrestling with. Again no harm // no faul - fowl - penalty!

Author - you continue writing as you see them knowing full well that while the buck stops with you - know also that inescapeable dissent even occurs to lawyers - right RP.

I was pleased with your touch and feel that seemed real - like a slice of life's reality! Great work and we hope for more at your convenience - With high Regard

Very good and sad. Excellent ending.

From the Author:

First, to all of you who took the time to comment on my story, thank

you very much for your time. I'm very flattered by all of the

positive comments, especially by some of *my* favorite authors, your

praise means a lot to me. I'm going to try to respond to the

comments you made, especially the ones that offered constructive or

other criticisms.

This story was written because of a combination of factors that will

probably not be repeated, at least for me. I found the attitude

Janet displayed to be very irritating and I got very angry that she

could treat her husband in that manner. The fact that the story was

written as a letter begged a reply from Phil. When I asked

capecodmercury for his permission I was writing the story in my head

but didn't put anything down on 'paper' until I received that go

ahead. By the time he had a chance to get back to me I had calmed

down and so, like Phil, I wrote the letter from a different point of

view than I would have originally. The part where Phil mentions

multiple versions of the letter was based on my writing process with

the story.

While you may not believe this based on your comments I have only

written one other story, unfinished at this time, in a different

genre. I don't plan to write another erotic story, but never say

never.

Again, thanks for all the great comments, below is my response to

your questions/suggestions.

Ray

*****

To Mr. Hands:

Phil may be on his high horse but given that Janet's horse was even

higher I think he was within his rights.

*****

To Anonymous in Australia

Thanks for getting the point. Phil doesn't own Janet but he should

own her trust. If Janet wanted sex from someone else then she

needed to be honest and end the marriage.

*****

To capecodmercury

Your comments are very gracious. I'm glad you feel I was true to

your characters. I tried to stick very closely to the information

given in the letter and not inject too much that Janet did not tell

us in her letter. Of course I take all responsibility for Marge as

I'll explain later.

*****

To K.K.

You wrote:

My problem with this story was Phil's telling of his meeting with his

former lover while he was on his business trip. This struck me as being

contrived.

It was, I'm guilty as charged. At the time I thought it was a good

idea and I stand by it but I can see your point. I wanted to use

Marge and Phil's meeting for two purposes. The first, of course,

was to show that Phil was tempted by an old lover and resisted

temptation. He wasn't innocent by any means, the dancing and

erection thing shows he was more involved than a married man should

be, but when the time came to make the same decision that faced

Janet he made the right choice and she did not. The second purpose

was to show Janet that she's lost everything and she has no chance

of getting Phil back now that he's involved with Marge. I wanted

Phil to be the exact opposite of the stereotypical husband in these

kinds of stories who loves his wife no matter what she's done and

takes her back because he can't or won't get a date.

Your suggestion of using real places or making up names is a good

one but since the original was very vague on details like that I

didn't want to start including them. Heck, I don't even know how

long they were married since Janet never said. The original story

had a specific tone that I wanted to maintain but your suggestions

are very valid and I appreciate them.

*****

To Anonymous

I don't know if Jeff was married either since Janet wasn't specific

about that. I didn't see Phil as being vengeful against Jeff since,

as he said, Janet all but had a sign advertising her availability

hanging around her neck and Jeff would have been a fool to turn her

down. I'm assuming Jeff was single, between marriages maybe, but I

don't know for sure nor did I feel it necessary to fill in that

detail.

*****

To Anonymous in andy1hardy

Great ending Andy! I laughed out loud when I read that one! Seeing

how Janet was only interested in taking care of number one I could

see that happening!

*****

To Anonymous in Chicago

Thanks for your opinion. That's the way I saw Phil too. He was out

with a woman he almost married, he'd been working a lot and was away

from his wife and Marge probably felt and smelled real good. He got

too comfortable for a happily married man but when the rubber met

the road he did the right thing, for himself and his marriage.

*****

To Risq_001

You wrote:

Then I read your story today. Nice take, I do sorta/almost agree with KK

though. If you had the husband meet this old girlfriend at any other time

before or after the time that the wife was cheating it would have been

more believable. Not saying that the possibility for the ex-girlfriend

wasn't there, but if he had resisted while he was trying to work on his

marriage it would have shown some pretty good character on his part. Or if

he had mentioned that he ran into her in the past before his wife cheated

then it could also have shown that he was after more than a sex buddy for

trips.

I think you missed the part of the story. Phil *did* meet Marge

before Janet's affair. Granted it was the week before but it was

before. He had no contact with Marge during the affair at all and

only contacted her after Janet left and dumped the letter that

basically blamed *him* for that affair. Phil wasn't perfect, do we

want him to be, but he did behave properly in this situation.

As to him being wimpy for grieving for the marriage. Maybe it could

be looked at that way. I looked at it as Janet and Phil were best

friends, marriage partners for a number of years, and to use a

cliche, soul mates. He forgot all about Marge once he met Janet and

he'd almost married Marge. I would think a man who loved a woman that

deeply would grieve for the loss of the companionship her cheating

would take away from him. At least that's my take on it.

*****

To Ronnie Wachuka

Thanks for your take on the cheating thing with Phil. I don't see

dancing with another woman, even an old flame, as cheating. It may

not be the smartest thing to do when one is alone on a trip but no

bodily fluids were exchanged, at least until Marge kissed him. He

reacted properly when the time came and that's what I wanted to show.

*****

To Anonymous in USA Mi

I'm very glad to have offended you, LOL! Thanks for the comments,

you're going to make me blush!

*****

To Blue88

I saw that devastation you mention, and her lack of acknowledgement

of it, was the reason he couldn't go to counseling when she wanted

to. I had him say he wanted to go but wasn't ready, not that he

wouldn't. I also saw them living together as the problem. She was

like a splinter under his fingernail that wouldn't go away. Every

time he looked at her he saw her with Jeff. She even seduced him

instead of leaving him alone since her sex drive was what got them

in trouble in the first place. I also had Phil mention that it

might have been better if she had moved out when she came home from

that second conference. I think the marriage might have been saved

if they *didn't* live together. Her problem was she stayed for six

months *then* left and made him the bad guy in the letter. He

couldn't accept that after everything else she'd done.

*****

To wetapap in usa

The lack of details was to stay true to the original story which had

few details but I agree, I could make Phil and Janet into almost

anyone, anywhere. Thanks for the support.

*****

To KOLKORE in USA

First, never apologize for long comments. I do that when I comment

on others stories and I appreciate the thought that goes into a long

comment like yours.

I agree that both of them failed in the marriage due to lack of

communication. Janet seemed to want to blame Phil, and to be

honest, Phil did wallow a bit more than he probably should. His

claims of wanting to save the marriage rang hollow since what he

really wanted was his *old* marriage and that was long gone. He

wanted everything to go away, to have Janet be his best friend

again, to never have heard of Jeff, and that wasn't going to happen.

After her cheating Phil wasn't in love with Janet any more. He may

love her as the woman he'd shared his life with for all those years

but he wasn't *in* love with her anymore. His heart had been broken

and then hardened and he wasn't given time to miss her from his life

before that happened. You are correct, to make the marriage work

after her affair, both of them would have to stand by their spouse

and, I hate to say this, but maybe both of them were too selfish to

do so.

*****

To Anonymous in the Philippines

I agree with you. If my wife cheated on me and then kept doing it

because I didn't stop her I couldn't feel sorry for her later when

she got caught. It takes a lot of balls to ask *me* why I didn't

fight for her. If a wife will cheat on you is she worth fighting

for? I can't see it. If she was raped, as you say, I'd die trying

to protect her from that, but to willingly cheat on me, no way.

*****

To charleybear

I can see your and K.K.'s points as well. Phil wasn't behaving as

he should have but I don't see it quite the way you both do. I saw

this as two old friends getting together away from home. We all do

some things we might not do at home but hey, we're human and we make

mistakes. I think that if Phil and Janet and Marge and her ex had

met in their town Phil might have danced with Marge since Phil and

Janet used to trust each other. I wrote that scene with that kind

of trust in mind. Phil wasn't looking for anything with Marge but

his body reacted to an old lover. Now that you and others have

mentioned it I think I should have left the erection part out. It

did make Phil look more guilty than he was.

As I mentioned to someone above, Phil told Janet about Marge for two

reasons. He didn't want her to find out he was dating from someone

else, unlike what Janet did to him. And he didn't want Janet to

have any hope of a reconciliation. If he told her he was seeing

someone else she wouldn't be holding out hope now that the decision

to divorce had been made.

Thanks very much for your comments, they are very much appreciated.

*****

To peggytwitty in USA-Md

Thanks for the support. You and the others you mentioned are well

respected for your opinions by me and others. It sure is nice to

see all these great comments on my first effort.

*****

To RandallR in Australia

I can understand why people question my addition of Marge but I've

already had one person mention Phil needed to get off his high horse

so I think if I made him any more holier than thou he'd be

insufferable. LOL! I didn't want people to think Phil was perfect,

none of us are, but despite his meeting with Marge he was still able

to claim the moral high ground because of his actions.

*****

To rpsuch

LOL, I love your "dancing erection" comment. It brings to mind all

kinds of images of penises on the dance floor doing the tango! With

respect to loosing and losing, I'm right there with you and I'd like

to add then and than too! But seriously, if I had to do it over

again I think I'd leave out the erection while dancing comment too.

It was trite.

As I mentioned earlier, I was trying to stay as close to the

original as possible and there was precious little detail regarding

places and details of the marriage, but the point is well made and

well received.

You are right, Phil didn't comment much on his feeling that she'd

probably do it again. The closest I can think of is his comment

that now that she knows how easily she can be tempted he hopes

she'll be more aware with her next relationship, or words to that

effect. I threw that in as a backhanded jab and upon reading it I

think it sounds petulant.

You wrote:

On the issue of why he didn't fight for her, he couldn't win. His

opponent was unbeatable - her.

I couldn't have put it better myself. As is the case with drug or

alcohol addiction, if the addict isn't ready for help nobody can

help them. She didn't want to be stopped because she did everything

she could to hide her activities. If she'd really wanted help she'd

have acted differently and dropped clues so Phil would get

suspicious. She didn't, she was having too much fun with her

private relationship so there was no imperative to stop. She had

Jeff and she had good old Phil at home, the best of both worlds. It

is sad but that's the way people think.

Thanks very much for your comments and your praise, I really

appreciate them.

*****

To X_Bishop in USA

Thanks for you comments, I was angry with Janet too and that was the

motivation to write. I'm glad I succeeded.

*****

To Anonymous in USA with the title Perception Is Reality

Thanks for the support with respect to Phil and Marge. I want to

clarify that Phil has only seen Marge the two weekends before the

letter was delivered but the decision to divorce was made before

that. I allowed for processing time of the papers, etc., etc.

Maybe two weeks was too long but I didn't see him willing to pay

extra for next day delivery, so to speak. In any case I thought I'd

made it clear but upon second thought I was vague enough that people

could interpret Phil's comments differently. Despite his 'dating'

Marge I feel there has been no intimacy between them. Phil isn't

ready yet. It was sex that got him in this situation so I don't see

him ready to jump in bed with Marge until he feels more confident in

her, and himself. Unlike a lot of guys I don't see Phil as being a

slave to his gonads so a few months of celibacy while he gets to

know Marge again isn't going to bother him. I also think it will

give him a chance to see if Marge can wait for him to trust her as

well.

Thanks for the support!

*****

To Anonymous with the title My guess is its written by someone who

knows

Thankfully no, I don't know from personal experience how Phil

feels. I'll be celebrating my 30th anniversary this year and we met

when I was in high school. I just seem to empathize with the

cheated upon husband for some reason and that's what came out in

this letter. Thanks for your comments.

*****

Again, thanks to all who commented and provided support and

criticism. Feedback is the only pay authors on sites like this get

so every bit is as good as gold.

Ray

to a letter from a deceitful cheating spouse. I felt the same way you did when I read her letter (I just read the story just prior to your story). Her letter said in summary "get over it Phil." Even though she repeated the "I am sorry" refrain she kept going back to Phil's behavior, in effect blaming him first not responding the way she wanted him to and then incredibly not stopping her. She is a grown woman. A marriage is not a prison and if you have to monitor your spouse's actions then you do not have a marriage.

Great response!

SleeplessinMD

Perhaps some hubby's earlier angry drafts would have made for more interesting reading.

That was a worthy cap stone on all that came before it.

I read your alternate ending to "Submission" then this. The quality of the comments you have received and from whence they came are a real measure of your writing.

As said previously, by another, I, too, am offended by my own inability to write so well.

Having read "Reply from the Author" I am glad these insights were not from personal experience. I'm just sad that there are people for whom they are. I am also glad to see that you did choose to write a second erotic story and hope to see more. I would also be interested to know in what other genre you have written and where it may be found.

As for the comments about Marge, sometimes a construct is necessary to illustrate a point. Given the re-writes mentioned it is good to get the story read and critiqued rather than constantly re-written to perfection and never read.

One quibble, I agree it can be difficult to read some stories where the grammar is not good, but please bear in mind that not everyone has benefitted from good education. Where someone has a story to tell and they make the effort, despite any shortcomings, it is to be encouraged. They will ony get better that way. They may have a real story to tell and a forum that allows them to develop and, indeed, encourages, is to be welcomed. The volunteer editor system on this site is to be commended in this. Who knows, we may unwittingly see them in a best seller list some day. For those who are simply prepared to deprecate those who have not the skills but only the courage to try, maybe you should get out there and help in adult literacy classes!

Perhaps I may have the courage soon to stick my head above the parapet and submit a story I only hope I am as well received.

(Oh. I forgot to mention - I'd torch the bitch.)

Janet writes "how come he did not fight for me?" Well he could not fight for her, because it would hve been fighting over her. If you have to fight over your wife the battle is already lost. I read that someplace, I can't remember where. You have a lot of writing talent. Give us more. With high regards, Luie

Best ending yet!

I agree with Daluent. Fight for her?!?! I alway thought that when you marry someone, that you have won the fight for her love. You should not have to fight for her love everyday! Granted that does not mean you ignore or take her for granted, but there is NO REASON to have to fight for her love EVERYDAY! I keep thinking of how most marriage vows say "For BETTER or WORST..." Enough Said......

i enjoyed this story. but it brought up some questions. In a lot of the cheating stories, the husband is watching the wife cheat, doesnt try to stop it, then wants to get a lot of evidance by watching her for weeks, . then ends up going back to her. this hubby could have stopped some of the hurt that he brought on his self after her cheating.

We look forward to your efforts!

Thanks fdkman262, this is a very good yet unexpected ending to the story. I have to give you a perfect 10 for this one. For those readers who doesn't understand why some husbands doesn't stop their wives when they found out their affair is simply because love turns to hate. But of course, not all husbands are like that. Some husbands will try very hard to regain their wives' love. --- Thor

Wonderful letter...

It´s sad to know that exists a lot of person like Janet in the world...for her there´s only one point:herself.

A wimoy suck out at the end.

He blames it all on her and just makes excuses for his evil deeds.

this slut is very stupid

Thanks for sharing.

and still be alone. TK U MLJ LV NV

Dwornock you are the twisted ass!

ive only read 2 of your stories, and twice you have mangled the characters and ignored the theme of the original, while making the cucked character an intolerable douche that i cant find any sympathy for.

i think you do a disservice to those authors and their stories. write your own shit. you have the skills as a storyteller, you just dont seem to be able to carry a consistent storyline from another author's work.

It doesn't get much better than this. 5*

Having read her letter to him, I should have realized this could have been his only response.

She complained that he couldn't do anything on the timetable she neeed--be there to prevent her from fucking the other guy the first time, stop her from fucking him again, go to counseling, make love to her after the confrontation, or forgive her, so she decided she'd waited long enough and moved out. It makes me wonder if she was the kind of person who ever held herself responsible for any of the consequences of her actions.

He was absolutely right that he wasn't ready to attend marital counseling after only six months. That is actually the point at which the anger part of the coping cycle really hits the betrayed spouse. She was lucky he was still being civil to her at that point, as I'm sure some violent images were running through his mind at the time.

She should have been going to counseling by herself, to discern how she could so easily have betrayed him. Why would he want to stay with the person she had become? She needed to become a "new and improved" version of herself, to give him hope that she wouldn't do it again. But no, it was the old "Hurry up and get over it" that cheating spouses so often demand. A counselor could have helped her see the devastation she had wrought, which many consider second only to losing a child.

So now they are moving along on his timetable--the one toward divorce!

After Janet's actions during the affair and her last letter to her husband it was quite obvious that she was always thinking about herself and in doing so over stated her own feelings of loneliness. She clearly understated the hurt and damage she did to her own marriage and her husband even though in the last third of her last letter she attempted to shift the blame for her and Jeff's affair unto her husband. This latter attempt at blame and guilt shifting was yet another example of a selfish, self-absorbed personality. Divorce could be the only logical outcome.

For this excellent follow-up.

Excellent way to get his point across to a cheating fucking whore.

I really liked the ending of this rebuttal of the selfish whore his wife had become. Yeah its always the guys fault. Gone for two weeks. wow nice sacrifice slut. There are many more jobs in this world that lead to separation than this whore had to deal with. And even then she is selfish in leaving on her own. It just goes to show how women in this fucked up society think the world revolves round them all the time. Well whore you got your doo doo I hope you wallow in it.

The cheating whore got what she deserved. The loss of her loving husband. Now she can slit her throat. Fucking cunt.

Another cheating slut bites the bullet. But he did have his fair share of blame. It shouldn't have taken him a year to "heal". He should have realized long before that that he and his wife needed professional help. So while her actions precipitated their divorce, his non-action pushed it over the cliff. So in the end this was just another self centered cheating slut and a pathetic cuckold unable to help himself. BAH!

I like this one!

A galaxy of stars

Perfect sequel to the original story.

You can tell when someone has failed to take responsibility for their actions when they talk about what "happened" as a dodge for what they did.

As fictitious as this story is on the surface, I had a very good friend who is now deceased that lived through this very scenario with his wife. Both were very busy professionals who had to travel or be away from home sometimes for extended periods of time. They both absolutely loved each other but the wife had an affair that my friend discovered. Though his wife tried in every way she could, he could never forgive her and continue their marriage. Neither one ever remarried. They still cared deeply for each other and would always be there when the other one was going through a difficult time in their life. He just could not get over her affair and she could not find a way to help him forgive her. They each had a series of unsuccessful relationships because deep down inside they still loved each other.

I would like to see a sequel to this where Janet does what she asked of Phil; I would like to see her truly "fight for" him and their marriage. The way the story ends is not realistic. If two people loved each other as deeply as the story portrays and one strays, there is no question that the hurt and anger would be unbearable to the betrayed spouse. But, if there is a true desire for healing and truly a deep love for her husband, then she would not simply safe "…I underestimated the damage to our marriage and to my Husband…" She would muster up all the strength, love and resolve within her and fight the hard battle. Janet had a plan to reconnect with her husband that based on a faulty premise, that of "absence makes the heart grow fonder". Absence makes the heart forget you once loved someone as she found out with Phil.

I would really like to see a face to face encounter in spite of the statement of "…not to contact me…" I think Phil needs to see his wife fight for him and their marriage as a true part of her remorse and honest desire to gain forgiveness and healing. I would not want this to end as it did for my friend where he went to his grave still in love with his wife but never able to tell her and forgive her; never able to share a life together again that both of them truly wanted.

can anything good ever come out of those actions. TK U MLJ LV NV

Wish in one hand and shit in the other. See witch fills up first.

The funny thing about liars, especially female liars is that their deceit often starts with the lies they tell themselves. Cheaters do not "love" their spouses. That is a simple fact. Love is the act of caring for another persons well being. The act of cheating, by definition is one of the most uncaring, injurious things you can do to another person short of committing physical violence upon them. So, if you are being cheated on understand this: the cheater does not love you and never did, while your fantasy of your relationship has now been destroyed that is all you have lost. You never had the cheaters love, you never had a "real" loving relationship. You were deceived, worse yet: you probably deceived yourself as well. Most cheaters are not really that bright, or that talented in their deception. They depend on the cheated to aid them with a willingness to believe their lies. This is often due to the low self esteem of the cheated. Awful yes, but sadly true. Live, learn and do better next time.

... of pain, grief, guilt and regret.

Deserves much more intelligent response than the usual BTB bullshitters, frightened little rednecks.

Beautifully done.

to piss off dear annony!! VOTE!!!

She is like all other women.

Selfish, they "love" their husbands. But cheat, lie, and even divorce to get something better.

Trust a woman at your own peril.

In real life, his reply would probably be more like, "read your letter and here's my decision," and would be taped to the outside of the envelope with the divorce papers.

The perfect response - reaction to the narcissistic letter from the wife.! Great job

What a well thought out and articulate response.

5 stars from someone who really wanted to give 11!

Regrets are for people who do not take the time to think things through.

It's always been my stance that the worst offense IS an offense... at least if you're trying to have some reasonable discourse...

Him rewriting the letter repeatedly until he could convey his thoughts without it being totally hostile was a great facet of the story...

This story wasn't about him pointing out what a cheating slut she was, it was about the damage she'd done to their friendship and marriage as well as pointing out his take on her actions and apparent thoughts.

Very well put together...

We all do,my heal at the same rate despite what our insurance companies say. I went back to first read the original story. A very well crafted response that paints the wife as a crafter in a silo.

. . . an excellent and thoughtful response. Thank you. 10*

Why would he get with marge. She is a slut also. Didn't she try to seduce a married man.

I don't see any reason to try to get past what she had done, just get past her. As for going after his old lover. Are there only two or three women in all the these stories that the poor downtrodden cuckold husband is connected to. The best results would be to try to drink from an uncontaminated well, so to speak. New blood and new hang ups are what is called for here. Having read the first story I saw what a piece of shit the wife was. Too much to drink led her astray, I call bullshit on that. She went there planning on getting together with her old friend.

Good effort and a good try. At least you got him away from her. Cudos for that.

After finding out my wife had strayed, I began packing my bags. No kids and we rented. I'll never forget it. As I packed and began loading my car, my wife tried to block the door on my final trip. Her question made me reconsider her sanity.

"Don't you love me? I thought you would be willing to fight for me."

My answer?

"I did and I lost."

While the whore wife gave him plenty of reasons to call it quits, the entry of Marge back into his life probably gave him the final nudge he needed to flush the ex-wife down the toilet. I thought this was a great response to the flaws and weaknesses in the wife's original parting letter. And the primary point, that she had been and still was acting totally out of self interest was the primary reason to give up on their marriage. She'll never be a good wife for any man until she matures beyond her selfish ego and knack for self deception. She is her own worst enemy. If she hadn't of fucked Jeff then, she would have fucked someone else sooner or later. Thank God there were no children in the marriage.

Well done and well told. Thank you.

just to point out a simple litle fact! evryone is selfish as hell there is no person in this world who is not selfish

you give some money to a person on the street (becouze it makes you feel you did something good)

you jump in a bullit ment for your wife (becouze you love her more then you'er self becouze you cant live with your self if you do nothinh enz....)

being whipped by your wife (i do allmost evrything she ask's of me i bring her flowers just to get that look from her that she admires me loves my lusts me it just melt's me away so i aint buying shit for her i am being it for my self ultimutly)

so yeah evry person on this planet makes the choise witch they think is best selfish

so the guy should not ask why she is so selfish but when she lost her self interest in him

To reconcile , to make amends , to make peace in a marriage you don't write letters , you confront your spouse and talk one to one and then resolve matters .....this way or that ...the wife is really one bitch to shun the confrontation and avoid confrontation ....no way Phil should ever reconcile with her ..kick her ass out of the house...

This jerk is one of them. I understand that the wife cheated, but she was also the one who really tried to fix what she had done. Husband didn't try. Having sex with her to see if you could without working on the emotional and psychological, isn't working on the marriage. It was just his way of lashing out and hurting her. "Once a cheater always a cheater," is as much bullshit as, "it was just sex." Here's the point. Either this was fantasy or it was aiming for truth. As fantasy, it wasn't fun, and as truth it wasn't very truthful.

Me me me.

Fuck you you snivelling piece of Wuss . She is a selfish self serving slut . She doesn't deserve a second chance . He SHOULD divorce her on the grounds of Adultery and name good old Jeff . Then six months later Jeff should be attacked by a couple of robbers and crippled for life .

Maybe have some fun with her for a while, but don't take her seriously. After all, she was willing to sleep with a married man at a time when he didn't yet know his wife was cheating.

MaFrepler- you seem to agree with the selfish manipulative lying delusional Janet. I guess that says something about you.

Maybe not as bad as this time, but surely with heir busy lives this wasn't the first time they had a missed connection and/or extended time apart.

The one thing that gave Jeff a leg up on any random pussy hound who might have picked up her signals were her prior relationship with him. That allowed her to open up about her frustrations, and she had been intimate with him in the past.

should you expect your hopes to happen. TK U MLJ LV NV

She's better off without him.

Janet was still selfish at the very end. All "me" and "I".

For me the ending was a bit abrupt compared to the rest of the tale.

I think he has it all covered. She was still all about her wants, her needs. Glad he moved on without her. Good story.

Wow!! 5* bravo

Janet will never be in successful marriage until she gives up the "I" and "me" concept. Janet`s only concern was for herself during and after her affair. Janet was most likely only concerned for herself before and during the marriage but we do not have enough info to make that claim but, by her own words she let us see inside herself to know she was very selfish. Her last comments solidified that she felt it was time for Phil to get over his hurt and move on because "she" felt she had given him enough time to move on and she was tired of being punished for "her" infidelity. Phil is much better of with out her!

Why do assholes like 09/07/18 make stupid comments? They just show their ignorance, he probably thinks he being cute. To bad the asshole has a computer.

They are trolling to find really men to fuck their wives becuase they know they are pathetic

I believe what the author is trying to do here is to give the idea that a man or a woman, I suppose it could work either way, but for instance take a man. There are things that can happen in a marriage that brings so much pain and heartache that one cannot get past it. In this case the woman's affair was such that it tore the man's very soul out of him. In this case her affair, and the divorce was like a death sentence. To bad for him, to sad for her.

“...evry person on this planet makes the choise witch they think is best selfish.

so the guy should not ask why she is so selfish but when she lost her self interest in him.”

This is actually very observant.

*****************

Anyway, good but not as well written as the original. I suppose you could say the husband just isn’t as good a writer. Ok, let’s assume the written flaws are the husbands and not the author.

He uses Marge as a — “See?!!! I can be faithful in the same situation. *Naah-nah-nah-naah-naah*”. They aren’t necessarily equal, so I guess it’s a strawman argument. As an outside observer I can see that. Of course if I were Phil, if that had happened to me, I would definitely throw that in, but if it’d been at a debate competition it’d be a big target.

We can see how one person thought and acted one way, and now see how the other person interpreted it, in this case always in a negative light. It just seems to me Phil, despite his proclamation he started and rewrote this letter many times, hasn’t self examined himself as well. Admittedly, he’s still hurt and emotional, so Phil has that excuse vs Janet. I’m just making that observation.

There are several other small logic flaws, but Phil spent a lot of time with the Marge argument, so I’m targeting that.

4-stars

Again. Very good choice on his part. Cheating bitch gambled and lost.

Read Presidio's story, and this one after reading original again. Both are strong and leave no doubt about where the blame for them and of the marriage lies. I like both, but Presidio does not allow comments, so I put it here with praise for this one.

And even after he explained himself, she implies that the divorce is his fault: that he didn’t love her enough. She admits to attempting to manipulate him by moving out, yet it’s still his fault. Manipulation and blame shifting, what a sick woman!

Manipulation and blame shifting, what a sick woman!

.

.

.

Manipulation and blame shifting, what an average run of the mill woman!

Fixed it for ya