Best Friends

If there is another chapter to this story...

I wouldn't waste time on what happens with Paul and Ci Ci, except as background.

Instead, tell us about Gary, his past history with Ci Ci, his own marriage, how his wife saw his friendship with Ci Ci and what happened when he found out that Ci Ci was cheating on Paul. Did he tell his wife? What was her reaction? Did they argue about what he should do? Was the reason his wife didn't show at that lunch because Gary was going to push Ci Ci to end the affair and his wife didn't want to be there or have anything to do with Ci Ci? Which side will Gary take in Paul and Ci Ci's divorce? Which side will Gary's wife take? Will Gary's wife see Gary's failure to tell Paul or any sympathy Gary might show Ci Ci as an indication that maybe she can't trust Gary and become a threat to their marriage as well?

I think that would be a lot more interesting than another cookie cutter "BTB or RAAC?" second chapter.

Scored lower than it deserves.

Mm

I do not like the first person present tense style, but it isn't enough to make me hate the story. An eye roll will do.

**

I knew a single guy who was in the swinger scene (a unicorn). The dynamic that he saw most was a husband dragging his wife very reluctantly into an open marriage, with images of orgies dancing in his head.

What happened is what generally what one would expect: the man finds he is not as charming as he thinks, and the wife has a passle of new guys willing to feed her a line of shit about how charming SHE is so they can get their dicks wet. Since she just took a huge validation hit from hubby about 'not being enough', and she now has license...suddenly, yeah, she is on board.

I asked what happened to a lot of those couples. He said that while some could take the stresses, usually when the woman could get as much dick as she wanted and the man still had to work like a dog for pussy, well...feelings arose and things broke down.


Do I KNOW that open marriage doesn't work? Anything CAN work if one works hard enough at it. However, it is like an armless woman driving with her feet. Just because it CAN be done and maybe in a minority of cases, even done safely does not, as Chris Rock said, make it a good idea in general.

All the shit in an ordinary marriage AND more shit on top of it.

Works for some. Not a good idea in general.

Missing pieces

A nice fragment, but I am confused by the male best friend. Almost never works in real life- she confides in him but not her husband? The affair revealed makes sense in that respect, since she is already distant and definitely NOT her husband's best friend. Know flash stories aren't supposed to lay it all out, so the fact I have questions means it was a worthwhile read.

@sdc97230

I'm with you!

That sounds very interesting. It actually explores a lot of what we were asking about Ciara when it seemed like Gary was cheating.

@sdc and sbrooks

That is really interesting. I hadn't thought about doing a follow up to this story, but now I have to think about it from that aspect.

Gary has yet to be explored. How does his wife see things? My mind is churning and wondering his story. Hmmm.

Thank you for that.

One

One, unfinished

Criminy! (from Jedd Clampett)

Look at all the comments, and from worthwhile people too. I have a few myself.

Is this finished? It shouldn't be. We need some back story, and then we need to get to the core problem.

Ciara is, or has been having an affair and her husband had an awareness something was wrong. Now the core problem; is this marriage worth another day?

Troubling isn't it? She's been adulterous and was hiding behind at least one lie. There didn't seem to be any kids, and they appeared to be still pretty young. Were l our protagonist I'd be packing my bags. She's probably not worth the future uncertainty and certain pain.

This is your story Javmor; it's your job to fix this.

Jedd Clampett

P.S. I agree with HDK, first person present tense isn't much fun.

P.S. again. This is opening as an anonymous comment, but I left my name so it's not really.

Hum.

All I can say is a good start but at this point it is definitely an unfinished tale.

Unfinished?

I don't think so, at least as far as Paul and Ciara go. He was already uncomfortable with Ciara's relationship with Gary, they were keeping secrets from him, when he finally pried the secret from her (with EXTREME difficulty!) she LIED to him and it turns out she was having her own affair! Their marriage SHOULD be burnt toast!

As sdc97230 suggested, an exploration of GARY's marriage, what HIS wife thought of his relatonship with CiCi, etc, would be cool.

The hilarious part

Is that the much maligned best friend comes off as less of a stupid dick than the clueless hubby or his whore wife.

@Anonymous Re: "Hilarious"

Hubby WASN'T clueless, that's why he kept pressing her.

"Best friend" wasn't clueless probably because she TOLD him!

And best friend IS a dick, because she might have been his best friend, but he STILL should have told her to break it off or he wouldn't have anything to do with her!

I don't see Gary as a dick, at least not yet

Unless Javmor tells us otherwise, I see him as a noncheater who tried his best to talk his friend out of cheating on her husband (who, as the story explains, is merely an acquaintance to him and not really another friend). His message to her says that he's happy she's decided to listen to him, and not what he would have done had she not. Perhaps the reason she chose to end the affair is that he told her he was losing his respect for her and her actions were going to end their friendship if she continued? Perhaps his final comment about not being able to keep a secret tells us he told her he wouldn't keep hers.

Why Didn't Cynthia Go to Dinner?

Loose end you missed.

Unfinished ..

way below your usual standards. But then again, I think the quality of your stories has been going downhill since your first. 'Innocent Text Messages' had= a visceral punch to it AND was finished.

No Vote

Until an ending.

I liked the story & gave it a 4+ (4.45/5.0 = 89% = A)

:-)

Finishthedamnstory, where are you?

Javmor! Durn it all!

Normally I'm the one that agrees with an author's interpretation of where a story should end. Normally I just shake my head in bemusement as the comments increasing demand that the author address every iota of a certain tale. I grew up reading stuff like O.Henry, so I know some stories shouldn't be ironed out flat; let the reader explore the wrinkles for himself.

That said, please finish the damn story! Please.

'sigh' ... another unfinished bit, it is something that seems a lot more prevalent in the LW category than any other.

Good until the end

I hate it when writers leave the fucking story open ended! This is why I've started looking at the end of the story to see if I want to even bother reading it. Unfortunately, I didn't do it with this one. I regret it. Finish it!

WTF?!?!?!

I really got into this and then..... THAT'S IT!!! This begs for another chapter at least! Come on! Don't leave it hanging there or I'm gonna start calling you Just Plain Bob.

Nice Twist But Left Hanging!

I loved the twist at the end, but now I'm PISSED!!! What happens next? Does he kick her cheating ass to the curb? Does he forgive her for not leaving him and banging his brains out instead? Does he strangle the ever breathing life out of the deceiving bitch? [My personal inclination because she was totally lying to him when he confronted her in the car] WHAT???

You Must

Be channeling JPB on this one...we need the rest of the story.