All Comments on 'The Bridge'

and underneath a Troll. TK U MLJ LV NV

He would be off with his kids and the wife he had before that weekend in the mountains around the Christmas tree. But that wife doesn't exist anymore.

It is too bad about the bridge, though. It sounded like a really nice bridge.

Where to start with compliments ? I LOVED the stark setting of mountains as a backdrop . The symbolism of burnt-out bridge/ marriage stranding both husband and wife on opposite sides of impassable abyss for what seems to be the rest of their lifetime is not a novel, but still very effective and affecting touch .

One quibble is that Gloria had a doctorate in child psychology and fell so easily for shabby chic, new money veneer of Gabe. In the closure scene with Lyle , her bewilderment and colossal ignorance of his ethical mores was infantile.

I wish that either Gabe's charm could have been amped up to more Warren Beatty-esque proportions to explain why she fell so hard and easy from 16 years of grace. Either that or change her occupation to something a bit more proletariat. I am quibbling , however, the class delineations expounded on in tandem with the cheating gave story extra dimension.

I was reminded of Irwin Shaw 's short stories with the high wire act on middle upper high wire. This was a sort of Rich Man, Poor Man' for new millennium. The enigma of Lyle giving off resigned, beta male signals as wife progressively humiliates him and then turnabout with fiscal cyber - Samson scale payback bringing economic pillars crashing in tandem with aforementioned remnants of burnt out bridge was sublime.

Ergo full marks . *****

It was apparent from what I read in the story that the wife's respect for him wasn't exactly at an all time high. Lets face it she was seduced by some pretty boy with a fat wallet, whether he could do anything for her husbands career or not, no good would come out of being a whore for the bastard. What was Lyle supposed to do? Say no? He'd be laughed out and still powerless to stop them. Beat Gabe to a pulp? Even if he had won he'd be spending time in jail and facing certain unemployment with bleak career prospects. He wasn't the type of guy to just sit and take it so he left and played smart. Now she's whining and moaning because things didn't work out as she planned, whether she faked her pleasure or not the disrespect and hurt was already there.

So would it be nice to have his family back? Yes, but the dynamic was never what he thought it was. It mustn't have been if she was never truly content with him as a husband or a provider and where was her concern for the kids when she and the bastard planned all this?

It's sad for the children in this story but hopefully they'll adjust. As for Lyle he'll just have to keep going and find another woman, one who will appreciate all he has to offer. Gloria... I honestly don't care.

5/5 story for me, bad people got what they deserved and good people were relatively unharmed. Would have really been great if the kids were in a better situation.

The cold, hard truth is that a woman's stock declines with age and a man's stock generally rises with age. Gloria was alone, low on money, low on self esteem. Lyle was alone, money was good and getting better and so was his self esteem. He had two teen age kids so he did not need another wife to breed with. If he wanted a wife, he could surely pick up a trophy wife if he chose that, or he could find a decent woman who would appreciate his for being a decent man. In any case, what Gloria does not seem to understand is that no offense ever goes away. It is always there, always remembered. Even if it is forgiven, that just means that the offended party will not counter attack. That does not mean that it is forgotten, or that a relationship will exist any longer. Lyle did not forgive. He punished them all. Even then, he let them off easy. He lost his life as he knew it. They lost some money, and Gloria did not lose anything - she threw it away. No pity there.

Why do you always want to write that the husband does nothing when the wife tells him she's going to be a whore... FIrst, I don't believe for a minute that the wife or business partner would do something so stupid... most men will KILL for their family. Only the pathetic pieces of shit created by the losers on this site who spend all their time fighting their gay desires... any husband or wife can look the spouse in their eyes and make them understand that something is serious. They NEVER just sit there and say nothing so that the spouse can think it's ok. There are way too many postings on this site that take this lazy, ridiculous path.

She broke her man's heart, and did it without hesitation.

Her attempt at "reconciling" was just spin meant to get her back on his gravy train.

Fuck that cheating assed bitch with splintered baseball bat.

Definitely a 5* story. Understandably how she could be blinded by the "better ways" of life after several lean years, but having a degree in psychology she should have realized the implications of her actions. Whether objects or just in the mind, once broken, things are never the same or as strong as they once were. Not to mention the clear lack of concern and respect for her husband, there on that mountain and even in that last talk

What a interesting take on a uniquely told story. Your a good storyteller with the way how your story was so bleak as the mountain you describe. I just can't get over how a spouse can humiliate and embarrass their supposed loved one so thoroughly and think all will be well and it doesn't mean anything. It's amazing how people crave the attention of people who literally treat you like shit all your life be it for being fat, or being to brainy, or being poor, I understand we wish to be accepted and liked but how can we not see these arseholes are not the people you need to be accepted or like from...I also love how you describe how we look at people with money and how that transcends into power, and how we revere these people like they are supreme being of some kind...a very cool and enjoyable story.

Better not take the whore back. Her being fat and shit is just an excuse to spread her legs.

Excellent! Excellent!

Author, you scared me for a couple of seconds there. First was when the cunt, er Gloria the wife said she was going to fuck the asshole, er his boss Gabe and he let her walk away. Unfounded. Next was just before the end when it seemed there was a possible reconciliation. Unfounded. I read a couple of original things here and I have read thousands of tales. This gives a certain sense of satisfaction. Well done and continue the good work.

Five Stars and also a favorite

I am glad the naysayers (of which I am one) didn't drive you off.

This story also worked for me. I was a little bit worried when you gave us this name dump at the beginning of the story, but very quickly it narrowed to the essentials with sufficient detail to engage the imagination.

AND...I liked that the wife had reasons for her actions. That she TRUSTED her husband to not get too worked up about what she considered to be a minor blip in their marriage. She was wrong, but ego is a powerful thing.

And I didn't need fifteen conspiracies or side characters who were ultimately irrelevant to make this interesting. The CORE STORY with the CORE CONFLICT is the point of interest, at least in this sized genre.

One thing I would have liked to see, and this is a nit pick, is a remonstrance against Paula and her rationalizations. The third hand smack in the face seemed weak tea indeed.

It is a very strange helicopter which does not have at least 4 seats these days. A mere toy. It would have been a nice smack in the face for all the women, INCLUDING PAULA to have been left by the Frat Boys.

shows improvement in craft

The 'loving wives' theme of the story was just used as a metaphor for the deeper issues the author was discussing, and the metaphor held up perfectly throughout. Perhaps that's why it seems so few of the readers could see through the surface reflections to the reality of the rocky stream bed beneath.

I think that this is, philosophically speaking, the deepest and most reflective story I've ever read on this site.

The final few sentences makes for a 2nd chapter, exploring whether he can take her back or not. The humiliation is surely the stumbling block. Could I take her back? Difficult to say as I am a soft sod, but also my ego would maybe stop that happening. Like the others have said this was well written and had some original thoughts, and I was so pleased that the husband just got in his car and left, rather than have to face everyone the next morning when his humiliation would have been even greater. His wife should ensured that Paula was putting out then at least it would have been a wife swap not a wife that wanted to see her husband wear the face of humiliation and that is where my ego would have said BTB, she completely did not consider how she would humiliate him. Was that her intention, this needs to be explored.

I do have some problems. Burning the bridge was a great metaphor, I think that's what it was, but in reality the authorities would have tracked Lyle down. He would have gone to prison. The use of older accounts to hide money was a cheap ploy; Gabe would have been too smart for a simple oversight like that. That Bernie reappeared when he did was another short cut you didn't need to take.

It would have been less dramatic and less satisfying if Lyle had resigned, gone ahead with the divorce, but had to struggle financially and emotionally with the outcome.

I pity Lyle; he'd played by the rules and still lost.

Paula was the appropriate, and well explained, device in her role.

Of course, Gloria's late protestations on the doorstep meant nothing; she had bludgeoned Lyle too severely, he was gone and there wasn't anything to come back to.

I would have liked to hear some final comments from Lyle; not a rant, something philosophical, his life was ruined, like a zombie he moves on, broken, defeated, all he valued destroyed.

I thoroughly enjoyed your story. It was a well earned five.

Thanks again.

Jedd Clampett

No likable characters. Lyle is a boring grind. It's good that he is a hard worker who provides for his family and appreciates that his wife is a great trophy but that seems to be all. There is no indication that Lyle and Gloria even like each other. Gloria married him because she had low self-esteem and he seemed like a nice guy. God knows why he married her. Gloria gets a PHD in child psychology but after 16 years off marriage she doesn't realize that an open affair with Lyle's boss would be a marriage killer? The only plausible rationale is that she now sees Lyle as below her new hot body and status. She thought his boss would keep her.

Lyle would have been prosecuted for the financial vandalism at the job that killed the business and the jobs of his co-workers. He could have been prosecuted for arson for burning the bridge. He would not have gotten a restraining order against his wife but she might have gotten one against him after his crimes. Are you MM? Why do you always have the wives in your stories be taller than the husbands?

I gave this one 3 stars and think its actually worse than most of your other stories. I guess the high scores go with the BTB end. Your characters are flat, no interaction with each other or their children; who cares what happens to them?

reasonable man

It was and interesting story. Unfortunately it was so poorly written that continuing was difficult. The dialog was so stilted and robotic that it was difficult to read. No one talks like that. It sounds like it was written by computers. It's almost as if the author is not a native English speaker. A four for the story and a two for the writing. That's a three for the story. Try again and write like people actually talk.

The story type= FrancisMacomber "The Six O'Clock News Slot", but Francis wrote the epilog and his husband character got second wife and the forgivinness from the new marriage foundation was understandable well.

A good BTB from the Reconciliation and Open marriage story author with JPB type end.

and steer a car while the engine is off is one to be feared. I understand the disappointment he felt when the wife declared her intentions, but he would have been better served to state his as well. He could have warned her what would happen to the marriage. He could have gotten angry and smashed things. He just said okay and snuck away. Sure he hit the guy where it hurt, but there are times when revenge needs to be swift and angry.

She's right. He did give his OK.

A normal person, when he saw what was happening, would've simply said "I'm leaving, are you coming." Instead he lets them play all day and night without comment.

Then decides the smart thing is to commit crimes that would have at least gotten him disbarred, and probably put him in jail.

He was at least as responsible as she was.

Very very passive. Passive as a wet noodle that won't object when he sees something wrong.

Also, the story is not erotic.

I admit that people who declare the protagonist a bore because he is hardworking and

looks after his family, worried, I never realized that everyone I like is a bore. Well I am one and enjoyed the story with all its metaphors. One thing though, someone told me years ago, is that if you don't stand up immediately when you hear something wrong and denounce, then you are lost. He should have said no! But a woman with a doctorate in child psychology mousetrapped him because he did not know if she had all ready put horns on him. Very enjoyable read.

She never considered her hubby had also never been the top stud. What would she have expected of him had the situation been reversed and he was in a position to sleep with a princess?

worthy of a 5 fairly original too

in most states if your boss has an affair with your spouse you can sue for sexual harassment. just as if your boss made unwanted sexual advances towards you. this is a fact. in every company that ive ever worked for, HR will fire your ass quicker than shit for anything remotely like this. yes in this story the asshole owned the company. that only makes it worse for him. ive seen several managers fired for just openly flirting with female staff.do office romances happen. of course they do, people always get caught and fired. .

non erotic category is where this belongs.. I'm sure you had fun writing it and your layout was spot on but this story turned me cold in more ways than one .gabe is still alive ? you made yourself out to be soo smart but yet the only ppl suffering is your own wife and kids.. 3 from this reader and I'm going out on a burning limb at that score..

If my wife came up to me and said, 'I need a break. Why don't I cut off my hand, umkay?' I...would have to wonder at how incredibly stupid she was.

She did not have a long conversation with her husband about it in the beginning and she really left him no choice. So her total focus is on her. She is not insane. She is not stupid. She IS, however, distinctly insensitive. Graphically so!

So a warning? Just the fact that he asked 'and if I say no' and she pretty much tell him to go screw says it all

If the wife HAD had a conversation with her husband...if she had been discreet and not rubbed his face in it...if she had shown any sensitivity whatsoever and maybe picked someone he did not have to see everyday.

I wonder what his reaction would have been then.

The wife's betrayal and reasons were very realistic. The husband's response and the families felt real. Even though it comes back as most of these stories do ...with the husband smelling like roses, there is some room for this couple to find each other again, wiser and with more understanding of each other's frailties. Personally I enjoy a story that offers hope. In the real world all kinds of things happen...break ups, divorce and reconciliation.

I don't understand the comments about this not belonging in this category...if this doesn't belong here then half the stories in Loving Wives have been misplaced. I enjoyed reading this story and was glad to find it where I did. Thanks for sharing

Original and well written.

I find it amusing with all these types of stories that the conniving woman that is only thinking about themselves always argue that the man did not fight for her. That he does not accept that it "was only a fling" and he should love her enough to let it happen, to let everyone laugh at him, to let her go to bed with someone else right in front of him with out ANY consideration to the 16 years of marriage, the kids, her husband at all. Stupid.

That she should think that she had suffered enough is like thinking this is like a credit card debt that is now paid so you can use the card again.

Some people are just a waste of skin.

that ends well, well done

I'm just going to say that this was a good story, strong characters, good plot line and easy to read. Five stars.

You don't have any idea of what you're talking about. This story was not ripped off. The story you're referring to was completely different. Different circumstances, the couple in that story wasn't married, the only thing similar was the destruction of the bridge, where rains destroyed the bridge, not fire. So what was your point? You compared a story that had nothing to do with this one, the only thing they had in common was a bridge. Man it takes all kind. Amazing.

Good story author, I liked it. 5*

I liked this story. I have but one problem, the wife. She has a Phd in Psychology. We in this field have to learn the consequences of action. She was too self delusional for one of my profession.

You did a marvelous job in creating your metaphors and even better with your injections of philosophy throughout the tale. The allusion that his marriage was nothing more than an illusion is percipient. I enjoyed your characters and the fact Gloria’s role, while minor overall, was hugely impactful. I agree with some of the comments I read. LSD is correct, Gloria’s psychology degree should have provided her the insight necessary to recognize the seduction by Gabe and the fact he is nothing but a shallow, self-serving user. Perhaps she did, but decided to overlook the obvious harm she knew it would have on her relationship. It’s possible she just took her 16 year marriage and all its trials and tribulations for granted. I think that happens in most long term relationships. After all, Lyle did acknowledge that, during the Christmas party, he wasn’t overly jealous as he “trusted” his wife and their 16 year history. I wonder if the roles were reversed, would Gloria have been as trusting and would she have reacted any differently? Also agree with Avidfa, that this is one of the “deeper” stories on this site. There are others, but this definitely qualifies in the top few percentile.

Overall a 5* for me. Thank you for the enjoyable read and Please keep writing!!

Well, I thought that the common jokes why people go into the psychology as to help with their own issues, were just jokes....

This is yet another great offering. This basic, emphasize basic, premise has been used before but you took it to new, plausible heights. Once Gloria pronounced at the lodge (with the preplanned diversion of our hero, the booze, pot, topless lap-sitting, making out) that she was spending the night with Gabe, the die was cast and Gloria was already intellectually unfaithful. Not fighting it, not disagreeing, not dragging Gloria away would not have stopped her infidelity but merely deferred it to another time. She convinced herself (at Gabe's manipulations) that their stable marriage would survive her planned, in-your-face infidelity. This was all ex-parte on her part. Not objecting did not make Lyle a wimp. What already took place while Paula The Fixer lured Lyle away from the lodge for hours? It was all already over but the fucking. I enjoyed the financial BTB laid on Gabe's head.

Gloria,had a degree in physc and still could not fiqure out that sleeping with Gabe would end her marriage in his presence no less. And him standing by and not saying no and telling her that it would end their marriage. And at the previous party not saying anything about the kisses and crossing the line. Set this up. So why would a women with a husband and 2 kids throw it all away for a fling . He education and life how would she just lose it and trash herself worth. This part doesn't add up.

Favorited this, so take my thoughts with at least a grain.

I wish you had invested more time and space on the consequences side of the story. The set up was fine, with plenty of work invested (and invested well) in creating this conflict. The initial retaliation was a joy to read. But once that bridge was burned (ha ha), some of the air got sucked out because both wife and kids became non-entities. We learn a lot about the boss's come-uppance, but the wife's got no journey. Ultimately, she still has the comfort of not having accepted just how to blame for all this she really is (realistic, yes, but using realistic means to create an unrealistic ends usually creates the best work). At the end, it's still "his fault." And she's got the kids, by the way, so (speaking now as a child of divorce) all I can think about is how thoroughly she's going to turn them against him over time. And true parental alienation is shatteringly easy to achieve, under these circumstances.

Very well written and constructed, but I wish the victory over his boss had extended to the person who actually betrayed him most.

A shallow tepid marriage where communication was perfunctory, not deep, probing, and honest. And unknown to Lyle, apparently Gloria thought she had "settled" when she married him: "You are no prince now and you certainly weren't then. You were just an ordinary guy, but I loved you with all my heart. Yes. You were a bit smarter than most, and more ambitious, but we were always broke. I learned to live with lower expectations because I loved you." WTF!! Always broke? So she fucked another man because he didn't make as much money as she wanted? And how could Gabe have been in contact with Gloria all those months and Lyle never knew? Yeah, this marriage was headed for the dumpster anyway, Gabe just happened to be the catalyst that finally brought out Gloria's true selfishness and stupidity. Unless you want to include the scene where the Martians shoot Gloria with their slut ray, you left a whole lot out of the story to explain how 16 years of marriage left him clueless of his wife's motives and feelings, and her so ignorant of how her husband's true character and convictions. So Gloria is partly right, that both spouses have a share in the disintegration of their marriage. But Gloria is the one who poured the gasoline and threw the match on a weak relationship that might have been saved. The husband's only fault was not immediately informing Gloria that her behavior was ending their marriage, and leaving her before the fucking actually started. He should have made it perfectly clear to everyone there that their marriage was over if Gloria didn't immediately leave with him so they could try to salvage a dying marriage.

Its kind of funny really. A wife and husband who know so little about each other don't have much of a marriage to begin with. She just tells him she's going to fuck Gabe and thinks he's going to settle for that? A really weak point in your plot.

The wife in this story was more than just selfish and immoral, she was blind and stupid. And that is the reason the husband should move on to find another partner, his ex-wife is just too stupid to be a competent marriage partner and mother. Of course, as usual, the kids are screwed. The sooner the husband can find a good woman to establish a new partnership with the sooner the kids might regain some normalcy in their lives. And if he doesn't eventually find that person he might start dating Gloria again to see what develops. At least she's pussy. Stupid whoring pussy, but still pussy. Who knows, she might even rehabilitate herself and become a worthy partner? But I guess that story is for another author to create.

Thanks for your time and creativity with this one.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. One of your best, if the not the best.

First let me say that I enjoyed the story. I can see it being possible. That said I have questions like every other reader. But my point of issue is this; every wants to see things according to their point of view. The writer puts to words the story as he/she sees the world.The reader interprets the story according to their view of the world. Neither is wrong or right. Just different. In a perfect world everyone would be able to put their criticism in a constructive way. But since that's not reality, we'll just have to deal with it. End of sermon.

I like the story for wha it is. If I really absolutely want to see It written differently, I'll rewrite the parts I disagree with and send it to the author with why I feel it should be That way. I don't understand why someone should be so mad at a fictional story that they are compelled to take it personally and lash out. Can someone explain it to me. Seriously.

Than having a wife tell you what she is going to do, and then she goes and does it.

Right to your face, and with some weasel you just plain hate? Leaving you standing there, people you know around, smirking?

I lost a wife due to that one time way back. Like the author, I could have just said no, but then she would have done it anyway, sneaking. By then I had that figured out.

40 years now, walking away hurt then, it still does.

But then, I wasn't any bridge that burned. It was the mobile home they were having their little tryst in.

Pretty final. I thought it was just the wife and the weasel, later the news said her Mom and the weasel's brother were in the same bedroom.

That really was a surprise.

Too bad.

Just an accident.

It seems smaller propane powered mobile homes can be dangerous. Those things can explode, you see. One door, bedrooms in the rear?

There are lots and lots of questions asked about something like that. Cops get suspicious when affairs are involved.

But some things have to be proven.

Yes, lots of questions. Ask the lawyer.

There are also some men that just will not stand for being cuckolded.

But I did cry.

I normally post my user ID, not this time, for obvious reasons.

Sorry.

Your story brought back memories, not pleasant but well told.

Thanks.

All your stories have such a melancholy tone. I feel like they're all stories of men who gave their wives enough rope to hang themselves, and then their sad when they do. He could have fought harder in my opinion. He saw the writing on the wall, he saw where the weekend was going and he just let it happen without so much as saying boo. Then lights a bridge on fire? Talk about zero to sixty.

Anyway, maybe your stories are TOO realistic for me. There never really seems to be a happy ending. Just people accepting the cards they've been dealt. I guess that's life...

Something is driving this story (and most stories of this type) and it is NEVER spelled out. What has happened that has caused the pain that, in its turn, evolves into a fantasy/story of blind vindictiveness on the part of the husband?

Even a specific event (a so-called betrayal blabla) is not sufficient, because different people can react to events in different ways. It is the WAY that a person reacts that has to be explained.

Write about THAT, and you might have something interesting.

RG, thank you very much for such a good story. It's a true morality tale, but with no epilogue. Your male protagonists always seem to be far more capable and cagey than those around them realize, classic "misunderestimation" so to speak.

Plus your guys always land of their feet, sometime with the wife, but more often in a more advantageous place.

The story is excellent but a bit unsatisfying because in the ideal LW universe, Gabe goes to jail, Gloria ends up 100lbs fatter, living in a trailer alone. Lyle, ends up marrying a younger, hotter and richer version of his wife, whom the kids love from the get go.

But your ending, is far more real. Lyle goes home to an empty house, the kids get moved back and forth like ping pong balls. Finally we are left to wonder if Gloria is ever is willing to admit to her responsibility. Lyle however keeps his self respect, despite the emotional cost.

It would be nice to have had a bit more detail to build up the family and what happens in the aftermath.

We know Gabe loses his company, but we don't really know what the cost is to him.

Perhaps a slew of law suits, and a the banks taking a chunk of his wealth to pay off some loans. Gabe however is the classic snake, has the money to take what he wants and has the arrogance to seduce the wife of one of his key employees. No serious owner in their right mind would be so reckless. He is in dominant financial position and uses it to manipulate Gloria.

His posse of "friends", but more like people willing to follow orders to be part of his circle are happy to practice "casual infidelity" (great term) until they meet the wrong man who pulls the bridge out from under them. Their fall into an emotional ravine, two wives and a fiance end of destroying their relationships. Many but not all pay a price.

I find Gloria the most interesting case. The classic "fat girl" who becomes a goddess later in life, but can never purge the past experience of loneliness and rejection. Gabe works her and we know what happens. It's almost a cliche, except it happens. Add the financial element and her wanting to get the attention "for once in her life". Just a time out from marriage, just a fing, nothing serious.

Lyle thinks his relationship is like the bridge ? Well made, tested by adversity. But regardless, the wood of time, is no match for the gasoline of wealth and the match of emotion.

I have greatly enjoyed all your stories, they generate comments that are thoughtful.

Please keep writing and thanks for the enjoyment.

As a novelist, I understand how hard it can be to end a story. Perhaps the hardest part of story telling. This one however, wound down just a little too fast. However, I enjoyed it and will continue to be one of this author's greatest fans.

The cheating slut got what she wanted, she got screwed. Twice in fact. Screwed by the bastard who was her husband's boss and screwed by her own sense of entitlement. I know many readers here don't like it when a cheating slut actually has to live with the consequences when she cheats, and loathe when the cheated on husband gets some measure of justice, but I think that, between the great writing and the great ending, this story well deserved every one of the five stars I gave it. A great story about the consequences of cheating. No one won, but some lost more than others. Even the husband and the children suffer the consequences for the cheating slut's actions. Our society has sunk so low that many people just can't comprehend the concept of actions having consequences. Reading a story in which consequences occur unsettles them as it doesn't fit into their world view. Tough shit. Life's a bitch and then you die happens to be the truth for a lot of people in this world. Personally I would have done my best to make it look like the bastard was a crook and try to get him some time in prison. Of course there would have to be several instances of physical violence done to his body before he got there. But then that's just me. The cheating slut would be lucky if she was still breathing.

Anyway, I loved the story and will now read this author's other stories. I can only hope that they will be as good as this one.

It seems to me that there is still the unresolved question of his feelings for Gloria and what she is willing to own in terms of responsibility and repentance.

I was worried about the ending. but I should not have. the ending is true to life. who knows what tomorrow brings.

Man this is why I come to this site ! That's pure gold ! To the comments that say it's in the wrong category , well hell have you read this genre before ? This is much more in the category than the well written werewolf story of a few days ago ! Also to the commentator who said he read this story before but that the bridge washed out in a storm, well I read that one too , and the only commonality is that they both have a bridge in them ! Nothing else at all !

RichardGearald , I always smile when I see you have a new story posted , you have a great ability to spin a great yarn ! Thank you for your talents and for sharing them with us ! 5*'s

Cpprcrk

Another GREAT story from a TERRIFIC author. I only wish it were longer. I wish you were posting more often. It is so nice to have some stories with some meat here. Thank you and keep up the great work!

I do like to reward well written stories, no matter my opinion of the motivations, actions, or the characters. Good stories are most often not about the reader, characters like the reader, the author, or Anonymous, nor need they be, no matter what some Anons think.

The worst part of the betrayal is the humiliation. She betrays him in front of the others, with it having been planned by his boss and his wife beforehand. You paint very interesting female characters. I think that it's much more realistic when the wives fall for attention and flattery, than some anonymous huge cock. The brain is the largest sex organ in the body, especially with women. That's an opinion based on decades of experience. After all, a woman giving you flowers won't have much to do with your attitude about sex with her if you're a guy.

Finally, someone who knows how to truly btb. I dont think the wife gets it and probably never will. Maybe a part two, maybe. Great and excellent story. You should do a part two so we can see the sucess of him. And the total destruction of her. Why not.

Have not made a comment in a while regarding a story on this site...but I really enjoyed this one a lot...had to read it twice it was so good. Please keep writing my friend!

I felt his pain.

Your wrote that so well.

Have to check your back catalogue and look out for new stories from you.

When you decide that the situation is irretrievable and attempts at fire prevention have failed. (This story didn't show much in the way of fire prevention activity.)

But I thought it was a well-constructed and very readable story, even 'though it described some rather unsavoury characters (first-person character included).

L

Finally a story where the husband does something to stand up for himself. Thanks for the read.

A couple of folks have commented about the lack of warning his wife - I think that would have taken away the surprise of the money movement and bridge burning. The perp paid a LOT of money to screw this guy's wife. He should have gone to Nevada - could have had a much less expensive party. I liked the story; would like and epilogue where the husband upgrades and, as the country song says, "I Gotta New Girlfriend."

Most everybody lost something. But I can't help but feel he lost the most. Very unsatisfying ending perhaps because it was too close to reality. I simply didn't enjoy the ending. Which, in turn, ruined the overall story.

I love your stories. I wish I could write half as good as you! Another excellent piece that I enjoyed. Thank you.

excellent writing, but the ending left me sad.

I love your other stories but this one is not great.

If I saw a man kiss my wife and she let him do it,then she would never put a step in my house.

This guy let her do it what ever she wanted,and now he blames some "golden boy".

He should blame his own wife and himself.

He loved her and married her when she was not so physically attractive, nor so well educated. Did he fall in love, or did he settle for less because he did not think he could attract a woman he was deeply in love with?

She clearly thought he was a lesser man when she married him, because she did not respect herself enough to seek a man whom she was in love with. She told him this and thought he would understand that her long term work to bear children and build an apparently loving family should earn his respect and abiding love. She could not accept that he was in love with her.

Once she felt attractive and accomplished, she could no longer perform as a loving wife. She thought she was living a lie. If his summary rejection of her and destruction of her immediate family, that was her emotional foundation, awakened her to the fact that she was in love with her life with him, could she convince him that she was truly remorseful? Could she earn his love and respect with patient contrition? Could she convince him that she is in love with him? Would her remorse, contrition, and love earn his forgiveness and love?

Perhaps. Some couples can, and some cannot. It is a very tough ordeal.

I LIKED THE STORY.IWished yoe had spinned of a story about FOxy Fitzgerald.Having trouble logging Dearfield.

I thought it was interesting that some commentators thought it was unrealistic that someone with a doctorate in child psychology would fall for such unbelievably hollow motives. Not to cast aspersions on anyone with a degree or doctorate in psychology but I have known more than a few emotionally screwed up disasters as far as their personal lives go that were trained in the field. I'm talking about multiple divorces and constant streams of relationships with the wrong types that never went anywhere and ended up in breakups. Interestingly, they were extremely gifted when dealing with others, but for some reason when it came to their own lives and relationships it was like they had blinders on.

for not fighting for the loser bitch.

the end was rather rushed.

can see where the events are entirely possible. stupid women, and men, are born each day.

u did good dropping the bitch rather be a whore, obviously, and putting deserved folks in the pore house.

Good story, but barely believable for fixable reasons. Some of the obvious. A 20 gallon gas tank and he lifted it around easily, Those dam things weigh 170 pounds when full. Any and all accounting and banking programs leave trails of where the money went and how it got there, and these trails are not erasable. With SUVs and a barn full of ATVs, motorcycles and snowmobiles, the way out could not of been that hard. A canyon don't go all the way to the top of a mountain I never saw a place I could not get out of with a dirt bike and few that were inaccessible by ATV.They were able to call out on cell phones (he recognized her caller ID/picture), but GPS did not work...come on GPS comes from satellites, unless the whole place was in a cave, of course GPS worked. There are half a dozen other things that were just not possible or highly unlikely... made it annoying to read for me...liked the story. Got a 3 instead of 5.

Picky.

As anonymous said, different people respond to the same situation in different ways and very few LW stories explore the motivations of the 'wronged' husband in responding the way they do. Perhaps this is because so many readers in their comments state that retaliation and retribution are the natural responses and any other response is unnatural.

When somebody does something another person doesn't like, the 'natural' response is to say "You upset me". Not so. The correct response would be "You did something and I chose to upset myself about it".

As anonymous said, in LW stories there is little exploration of why "I chose to upset myself". There's even less exploration of those occasions where "I chose not to upset myself".

L

There are comments on the many incongruous or unbelievable bits.

Do these commentators ever watch Bond, or Spielberg, or Rocky, films?

Entertainment doesn't have to be believable.

Gloria says she wants to come home but never even says she is sorry. The closest she gets it to say she didn't intend to cause him pain when she fucked his boss and acts surprised when he tells her how it affected him. She then calls him stupid and tells him that she settled on him because she was a fat girl and he was nice to her.

Who would want her back?

reasonable man

the Alpha opinion stems from masculinity, the take-charge DNA that produced dominant males for eons, what women respond to - Easy to inform everyone that not only would noone be sampling his wife, but also that he would be sampling the other women. End of story.

I find it interesting that you think that reactions are merely decision trees. There have been studies which note that men in a competition over women tend to create more sperm to 'chase out the sperm of the other guy'. Also, I believe (but am not sure) that things like jealousy are hardwired into humanity. Take a look at ALL THOSE MATING FIGHTS on nature documentaries, which are essentially jealousy writ large across species. Are they making rational decisions? No. They are acting on instinct.

So this makes the idea of 'choosing to be upset' on it's ear. The biological default position seems to be 'this action WILL make me upset' with the caveat 'but as thinking rational beings, we can with great effort squelch that reaction.' It helps if you are also a pointy eared Vulcan.

Personally, when someone can so easily 'choose not to be upset' by infidelity, I get the sense that a) he has a fetish that way (hence the existence of this story category) or b) he didn't care that much for this woman anyway.

There are a few places where the suspension of disbelief is strained, but not overmuch I think.

The wife is brain dead... but her having a Phd doesn't signify. A Phd does not render one immune to psychogenic, or somatogenic neuroses sufficient to generate delusional states of such magnitude to render insight inoperable for periods of time. She was fucked up... but the key here is... she hasn't yet recovered! She STILL wants to believe that it is his fault! He asked her, point blank, about their 16 year marriage, and if he had any input... she blew him off deciding, in good or poor mental health, that what she wanted was of more import.

"The husband was a boring grind!" So what? Do all of the husbands have to be "Too Cool Johnny"? Driving hot cars? Smarter than their wives? Bull... life isn't like that! MOST people are 'boring grinds' both to themselves, and especially to others who don't share their worldviews!

"He should have stamped his feet and told her to get her ass in the car, they were leaving!" Why? Is he supposed to protect her, physically, from making stupid decisions? Unless he had some reason to believe that she was defective emotionally, psychologically, or was under the influence of drugs/alcohol, he gave her all the warning a faithful spouse should have required. She declined to hear it....

That said I, unless I already had a plan to dump her, would have told her, in no uncertain terms, that if she valued her marriage she should re-visit her decision to sleep with their host. No need for a tantrum, no drama, no violence, just a strong reminder that should she break her vows, that they were history.

20 gallons of gasoline? Way too cumbersome... and unnecessary! 10 gals should be sufficient for an old wooden bridge; if it was poorly kept, the bare wood would catch quickly; if it was well kept the paint would have provided more accelerant yet. As for his being "sent to prison" it all depends on what could be proven... NO eyewitness, NO evidence of arson (I doubt that any trace of accelerant would be left! On a wooden bridge? ha ha ha!) NO real way to connect him to the crime. What one suspects, or even knows, doesn't count... only what one can prove.

"His financial manipulations would have left a trail!" Not necessarily.... he was the number two guy, might have had knowledge to hide in house transactions.. I'll go along with that. He also had the Password Log ( his access to which might have been unknown ) and could have logged in as Chief Dilweed..) This, while a good observation, is not one I would harp on.

All in all a very entertaining story!

Is still a BTB story. All LW stories require some degree of suspension of logic and realism. Never let those complaints stand in your way. I did find it peculiar that wifey all of a sudden assumed she could stray for a fling without consequence. Keep writing.

The choice is not whether or not you bcome upset when things happen to you. The choice is actually what you do with that anger. A person is no more in control of their feelings than they are of their heartbeat. People try to control their emotions by pretending they don't exist, but that is denial. This is a false sense of control. What usually happens in this case is the person's words and actions will contradict. For instance, a person will say that they aren't jealous, but will act jealous passive aggressively. They won't be honest with themselves to admit that they are jealous, so their behavior will seem erratic.

This was actually what happened in a series that you (luedon) wrote. The wife had an affair and saw it as no big deal to her marriage. She felt that she could separate the sex from the love. She made every excuse to make it OK. However, that same reasoning went out of the window when her husband had a sexual encounter. She wasn't honest with herself about her feelings when she was having the affair. She went crazy when her husband did because she knew the dangerous feelings that she had, and she was afraid that he would have those same feelings. She tried to be okay with it, but eventually the lie she told herself made her act hypocritically.

A dominant male chimp has his own private stock of females (who also fuck around some). When a larger, younger alpha male happens along with his buddies, the new guy kills the other chimp for his woman/women. That is the 'Alpha' way...and that was EXACTLY the dynamic at this lodge. There were 4 superior specimens (I am including Paula) who were going to do whatever they wanted to get their way, up to firing this guy, up to isolating this guy in a room. Maybe up to beating him up. That was the whole point of Paula: she was an enabler to GET THS DONE.

But okay. Lyle was able to THUMP his chest and HOOT his outrage enough to stop this from happening (because, after all, we are civilized beings, after all).

This ignores the most salient facts.

Lyle has already been humiliated in front of all these people.

HIS WIFE ALREADY CHOSE SOMEONE ELSE.

So, Alpha Pride....how do you walk back from that? The deal is already done and all that is left is a purely symbolic dipping of a pen in an inkpot. He is the one emotionally left on an ice floe for the polar bears to pick over his carcass. No amount of chest thumping is going to change that.

Whether she does the dirty or not, for a self respecting man, the marriage is over anyway. Or is all your pride only predicated on the exchange of 5 ml of fluid?

**

When the GPS thing was mentioned, I thought it was that they had reached the end of the MAPPING of the GPS, not the coverage. But that might have been me filling in the blanks of the story.

Don't most of those large fuel tanks have WHEELS on them? Because, yeah, fuel is HEAVY? Rolling it out to the vehicle, and tipping the top in while lifting the bottom, using the legs. This is rather easily accomplished even by the average man.

So these plot holes don't work for me.

The Helicopter thing, and not being to WALK out was something else. And, frankly, I don't recall how wide that bridge was, but bridging a gap like that...I can think of a half a dozen ways around it (most involve help)

I have no real critism of the story. Gloria was well drawn. Low self esteem when young, settled for Lyle, Perhaps a marriage of convience to a man she found boring. Her education is a bit dubious, lots of people educated beyond their intelligence. So kids older, she buffs up, and wants to spread her wings (and legs) and trade up.Lyle could stay or go, she' found a better meal ticket.

All hung together.

Anon should know, a lot of higher level bosses fuck the help. Policy or no policy.

Excellent story

Chilley

Some people say that Lyle would go to jail for burning the bridge. I see a couple of complications with that. First it would have to be determined if the bridge was private property or government property. If private property then Gabe would have to sue Lyle for i'm not sure what the correct legal term is but in any case it has to do with destruction of property by someone other then the owner where no one else is physically harmed. Gabe's lawyer would then in absence of video, photo and eyewitness evidence make a case that's strongly bent on proving the intent of Lyle. To prove intent he would have give a good enough reason " Your honor the defendant burnt the bridge down because my client was cuckolding the defendant and the defendants wife gave her consent to do it vocally and with enthusiasm"(this last part because the lawyer does not want to make it seem that there was any coercion involved from the side of his client because if coercion is proven then that opens doors for bigger legal problems for Gabe and his friends). There are a couple more things my armchair legal mind is compelling me to write. Consider the setting:

Lyle is out in the middle of nowhere

He has with the exception of his spouse no close and personal relationships with anyone.

His spouse seems to be on more personal terms with the people there.

Throughout his entire trip there he seems to have a "shadow" following him seemingly keeping him from taking what the "shadow" deems unnecessary and pointless action through indirect coercion.

This does not paint an ideal picture of events does it ?

If the bridge is government property the just as the lawyer above the prosecutor has to prove intent. To find that out he'll have to supoena everyone that was there. Lyle i think will be able to handle this because he is a trained lawyer the others not so much especially the two other women because i think they'll likely throw everyone under the bus to make this all go away so that they could go back to doing damage control with their own spouses. From here on the case becomes too juicy for the prosecutor to bother with lyle too much. "3 affluenza laden men using their financial privilege to coerce and quite possibly rape 3 women who are financially struggling". Imagine the press this will get.

And also moving the money around thing if Lyle did not take money from the company but merely moved the money to another company account then he cannot be charged with embezzlement. As to the consequences he caused with his action then yes he can be sued for it by Gabe but then when it goes to court Lyle's lawyer can claim his client had a bout of temporary insanity and as to what caused the temporary insanity...well you can read above how that can open legal proceedings Gabe does not want to deal with so its less likely he'll approach this avenue.

Again i'm not a lawyer i'm just armchair legal eagaling

''Do I have a choice?''

''Not really, it's decided. I'm just telling you, so you know,''

In what universe, can a woman do what this wife is doing and then expect her marriage to stay the same? Even women who are planning to leave have the decency to do there cheat in private, behind there husbands back, where he can at least have the illusion that they care about his feelings or what others think about him. But this bitch shows a total lack of respect, in fact she goes out of her way to humiliate the guy in front of an audience. And then she tells him that he has to take it. While she and her posse and the guy she's fucking, who also happens to be his boss ridicule him behind his back and smiles to his face. Then she has the audacity to blame the guy for destroying there marriage.

In sixteen years of marriage she never screams for her husband in bed, because she doesn't give a fuck about his feelings. But cares enough about her lover to at least fake it for him.WHY? Because guys like that. This bitch is lucky he didn't burn the house down with all of them in it. NOW that being said, good story I would have liked to see her suffer some more, but that's just me. Keep writing stories like these that make people feel.

But this begs a chapter 2 .... What will our intrepid firebug do in the name of his kids? Reject her? Take her back with some payback like piercings, tatto his name atop her pussy, some serious bondage play, u know, over the top stuff.

Ohhh.... I get it; leaving us hanging with a scrunched up crappy ending is a metaphor for the cheaters being abandoned when their bridge was destroyed...

Damn. I really liked that Lyle character to have only left him as the shallow, ending-less shell he became. This story was really going somewhere... until it just wasn't.

If you can identify with the protagonist in this story, you are a beta.

is fine as it is, i dont know why many of you are clamoring for a pt2 in hopes of a reconciliation.

to animals is aggravating. Some humans have the capacity to control their emotions (anger, jealousy, etc) and some don't. So the "decision tree" is really whether or not a man lets animal emotion dictate the decision (run away, violence, etc) or human intelligence (logic, reasoning).

The work is well crafted and populated with believable characters. I assume the conclusion was chosen to leave a measure of suspense since it poses the question frequently employed in this genre and then leaves it unanswered. I am sure the husband's retaliatory measures stirred the blood of the BTB fans but I couldn't shake the feeling that he should have confronted his wife and told her that if she didn't leave the cabin with him before having sex with his scumbag boss he would go home and initiate divorce proceedings. Wasn't a woman he had loved for 16 years and had borne him two children worth fighting for ?

Sports is a great example - some guys play hard and never give up, some guys won't step on the pitch. Like the dipshit talking about wild animals says, the toughest lion in the pride fights every day to be the one to fuck the lionesses.

Closet cases, OTOH, believe the lionesses should fight for the male lion. Evolution weeds those weaklings out over time.

The ending is good. There is a future for both of them, but not together. We-The-Readers have not really met the kids. We know much less about Sweetie than we do about Hubby. But what we DO know about Hubby is that Sweetie is his past and his kids will be a significant part of his future! That future may be worth another story, but this one is over. Thanks for a five-star read!

Even though he burned the literal and she burned the metaphorical, bridges can be rebuilt.

And sometimes, just sometimes, the destination on the other side is better.

Nobody says it is easy, but I would like to think that humans do have choices about their emotions. After all, if we were as driven by instinct as other species (mentioned by FD45) there would be a lot more rape and domestic violence than we have now. (And the fact that we have any of it at all is bad enough.)

People use 'driven by emotion' as an excuse for lack of self control. And, as Javmor pointed out, I have written a story in which the first-person character does precisely that. One might hope that she learned something from the experience.

L

Loved how you drew us in, gave us that sense of foreboding of impending doom, outlined the drama, then resolved the situation. Great insights into the wife's thinking. Although one quibble is that the hubby should have (in my world) objected when he saw the wife kissing Gabe, and sitting on his lap. That would have been the time I asked for a timeout and a private session together to discuss what was going on. Then maybe this whole thing could've been averted.

But on a deeper level, maybe he saw that with a wife capable of this treachery, of this misguided thinking, of this acquiessence to the group think, that all hope was lost and he initiated his exit strategy.

Love your writing sir-the details, the knowledge of law, the setups, very good and full marks.

Dumb bitch not only was she gonna cheat but she humiliated him . Everyone there knew and was laughing at him and he the balls to have that woman there to talk him off the ledge while his got fucked. In what world would any wife think that was ok . She told him that she was gonna do it then waved to him as they walked up the steps to fuck. She had no regard for him or their children. The kiss at xmas would have made me snap and both would have been put in there place , job or no job. The self control hubby had was good I'd probably would have made a scene and started fighting . He was a lot better controlled and calculated. She deserved everything that happened to her and should have thought about that before she acted like a pig.

Signed: the Closet Cuck

Good to read a complete short story from A to Z, not this 30 part serial that carries on to nowhere. I like it.

She got what she deserved. Do feel for the kids. For being educated she showed us that a degree in something does not make you smart. Then to come back and give the reasons she gave .... WTF. Was she thinking ?? The kids want to come home...he should have said 'Drop off the kids and they can have a good Christmas with me and you can go and kiss anything you want. Oh by the way did you ever tell them what you did to keep them from their father and their home. '???

Perhaps I wasn't clear in my comment.

I was not taking exception to the idea of self control. I heartily approve of self control. Some of my favorite stories in LW are from HDK where he discovers his wife is screwing around, and he does a nice little self assessment and instead of dragging her to a basement or going through painful retribution, instead decides he is living life on his terms and just making a few emotional adjustments.

I was taking you to task for the concept that things like anger, jealousy, lust, and even joy are just 'choices'. No. I believe they are hard wired into people How they REACT is a choice. Not the emotions themselves.

I believe that there is far less hard wiring in the human animal than you apparently do. Hard wiring is instinct. The human is the learning animal and while there are some vestigial instinctive behaviours, they are very few. It's the old nature vs nurture argument.

When I see two people subjected to identical situations and see them reacting differently, I have to doubt the hard wiring thesis.

Even our selection of language indicates our learning. Where you might use "cheating wives" I might say "wives who wander". What you have learned about this situation is different to what I have learned.

L

thanks