Ohio I have read many of your stories and have enjoyed them, this one is no exception keep up the good work. The only problem I had was my computer went down and it took an extra day to read the third part of the story.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
WELL.... if we keep in mind the author
if we keep in mind WHO the author is... one that HEAVILY favors reconcilation... this ending was good.!!!
But looking at it another way I still have probems with this. Not major ones... Again WHY was the hubby the ONLY one in therapy? yes she did participate later on...
but we still do know WHY she had this sexual obession!!
I mean come on people... was that covered at ANY point by anyone in any of these three chapters?.... NO!!! Like I\ said before the wife is either 1) MENTALLY UNSTABLE which CAN be fixed or helped.... 2) or she has serious CHARACTER FLAW which again CAN be fixed or helped in some instances...
BUT since we dont know WHY the wife choose to fuck around she gets NO help... and we dont know what caused this... perhaps she is just evil? perhaps her mind was taken over by JUST PLAIN BOB or aliens!?!
The therapist said on Page 1
..." I see a strong marriage with a big problem, not a fundamentally troubled marriage..."
WTF??? anyone wishes to challenge that ?
or this one
...."And Ellen, I think you're going to have to be patient about it. Because right now I don't think Dan has any idea about how to let you in....
so its his fault that he is still stunned by her vile actions and betrayal?
and when the wife said this I burst out luaghing at how fucking good damn absurd this was.... I mean come on Ohio...
...."Think about the last time we had dinner downtown at "Chez Marcel". The food was fabulous, right? Well, as you ate your Veal Sorrentino, did you compare it to some other meal at some other restaurant, or did you just think, 'damn, this is really good veal'?"....
Ohio is great writer and a fabulous stry teller but as a author ....has serious problem with morals and reality. His stories are filled his classic examples of moral relativism ...
so the pain the betrayal the lies the humuilation the doubt from a cheating spouses is just like eating a good dinner? REALLY!!!?!?!?!?!?
by
Anonymous06/01/06
no more or less than expectedhttp://english.litero
ohio wrote it, i read it it sucked; give me a god damn break from more psycho-babble and guilt feelings in wronged husbands; i'm not saying they shouldn't reconcile, but why is it heaped on him to walk the whole way and not have her meet half-way
by
Anonymous06/01/06
Excellent story that will get poor comments
Many cheating stories that end with reconciliation do make the offended spouse out to be either a wimp or an ass. This story really addresses the feelings of hurt, mistrust and betrayal that are inevitable when a wife or husband cheat. They reconciliation is not forced and nor, in my opinion, does it make Dan into a wimp. Many of the (mostly anonymous) commentor’s seem to feel that an inability to forgive makes a guy a man. I can use the genders here because I don’t see the angry gripes and personal attacks in the comments on the stories where they husband cheats and the wife forgives. Some stories show characters that forgive because they can’t stand up for themselves and are willing to accept any behavior on the part of their spouse to try and keep them. They are the true wimps. Others like the ones in Ohio’s stories most certainly do stand up for themselves. None of them have ever accepted their spouse’s cheating and therefore I do not believe that any of them can be called wimps, at least not fairly. It is sad that so many people find it necessary to vilify a character that is willing to work through the pain to try and save what had been a good marriage/relationship. It is wrong to personally attack an author who presents such a story.
If you want to attack characters in the stories on Literotica, which the authors generously provide for free, then there are plenty of them who rape others, who blackmail people into having sex, who maliciously destroy peoples marriages and lives for you to attack.
by
06/01/06
A little different perspective
I thought this was really well written, and since I am not predisposed to have a certain type of ending I was able to enjoy the fine writing.
The only part I had trouble with was her statement to Chris: "So while our day together will always be one of my sweetest memories, it will have to be our only time together."
That doesn't sound like a memory she will let go of and one that I suspect she would pull out once in a while and enjoy. I dodn't see any way that wouldn't come between them in some way, shape or form.
The author showed quite vividly how devastating infidelity can be. The pain, the angst and the time necessary to heal, if that is even possible. In this case it was, albeit with a ton of effort.
I suspect you'll take a lot of shots for this, author, but your rational for reconciliation is valid. Adultery doesn't always end in divorce, marriages and relationships can be saved. It wasn't easy and it wasn't pleasant,but they found a way back from the brink. My thanks for a tale well
by
Anonymous06/01/06
scott free
chris knew she was married and did nothing to stop this train wreck. even if she offered a man should not accept. I think he should pay somehow.
Blue88 and that other Anon poster.... the authors lack of REASON why the wife did this is a MAJOR issue.
Any poster who asks WHY she did this vile action is NOT personally attacking OHIO... Nor is asking the question the same thing as "kill the bitch" attitude.
As for this other rather stupid post who argues
..."None of them have (the hubbys in OHIO stories) ever accepted their spouse’s cheating and therefore I do not believe that any of them can be called wimps, at least not fairly. It is sad that so many people find it necessary to vilify a character that is willing to work through the pain to try and save what had been a good marriage/relationship...."
is well a cluless boob. MOST of the time things CANNOT be worked out when adultery is involved.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
Finally
the ending. is anybody really surprised about the reconciliation?
its a well written story. i even like the reconciliation part. its a big mistake, but only happened one time and its not like its w/o its consequences. both have suffered, but in the end, the husband have decided to forgive but not entirely forget.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
Great Story
I get so tired of these pussies ripping on stories where the couple ends up together. Obviously not one of you has been in a true loving long term relationship. This couple had been together for 23 years and intended to be together for ever. Lets think about this guys options: 1)He kicks Chris ass - he ends up in jail 2)He gets a revenge fuck - first there isn't anyone else he wants and second the chances of a marage surviving would be almost nil. 3)He devorces her - With the love and hurt he felt, he would be miserable for the next 10 years - good plan. 4) He stays with her - they end up fixing the problems, he gets more better sex, he is with the the women he loves. Hmm lets think about these choices. Some one said stop the psycko babble and make it closer to real life. This is as really life as it gets and this "phycho babble" happens everyday. Battered wives stay with husbands that beat them, wives forgive a husband of cheating, couples get over terrible loss, but one husband forgives his wife and he is obviously a wimp. Then again, I am pretty sure the people making thos comments are the same ones beating their wives and cheating on them.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
?
Can you imagine the conversation between Dan and Chris.'glad that my wife enjoyed getting fucked by you,but please don't do it again'After all to quote Ellen it's only like comparing meals at different restaurants.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
What load of crap!
I give the author 100 points for taking their time and energy to write and post this story. I award Zero points for the Whimp.
Dan "The Whimp" needs to be "Bitch Slapped". He's not man enough to rate having the shit beat out of him.
Most important, I'm not at all convinced she has any remorse. I love her flippant comment at end that she hadn't forgiven herself and would have to make it up with sex. It's all a big joke to her. He told her he never wanted to be in that bedroom again and they're still on the bed she used for Chris. In all this time it never occurred to her? She wants him to tell her how to make it up to him? Doesn't she think she has to put any effort into it? Do authors think guys are praying for their wives to cheat on them so they can pick from a Chinese menu of sex acts? All she can think about is what she will lose.
I know, somebody is going to argue she recognized how much he was hurt several times, like when he had lost all that weight. But it was never the focus of her thinking. It was what can I do to get us back together, not what can I do to ease his pain. That's vastly different focus. I guess both Dan and his therapist were too stupid to consider it. Lucky for Dan or he wouldn't get to take her back with no serious consequences to her, just him.
The food analogy was laughable. How about a 12-course dinner in the big city's most renowned restaurant with elegantly-dressed wait staff, plate that are there only to hold other plates, an intermezzo between courses topped off by a world famous dessert. Would you compare with that meal when you went to KFC for takeout? Damn right you would. Even when you were not eating, you might think about it now and then with great pleasure. That's how she's thinking about Chris. But Dan decided to ignore it because it's too painful to recognize the reality, not because he decided to give up the pain as a source of power over him (since we're going into subconscious motivation).
I believe that for a reconciliation to succeed, there must be true remorse. The offender must focus on their victim. What is his pain? What can we do to ease that? It should be the top priority. Until that is addressed, there is no value in doing something for me or us. I never saw her show that kind of concern. What did she do to earn his coming back? She said she was sorry. The rest was up to him. Without remorse and with practically no effort on her part, the reconcilation is sterile and unconvincing to me.
I have always been a faithfull spouse cause I never had the courage to try my fantasy out for real, but, thanks to this author I have a plan.
I'm going to have my fling, confess, be wicked sorry, pretend I undestand how my spouse feels, convince some shrink that I regret my cheating, set up my spouse to get verbally beat on for for not rolling right over and forgive me before the cum even settles, and wring my hands while I weep alot.
I'm getting aroused just thinking about it.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
To What Purpose???
Constructively - Very well written as per usual. Sound introspection with the Dr. Boggle minimised at last.
I was soundly in your corner on the reconciliation until the party with Chris. You rubbed his and our nose in hubbies miraculaus beatitude of flailing himself into the perfectly knighted saint of male reconciliation. You just had to mention it. You couldn't not. Why? An ultimate pushed point? Why? What real purpose was served? What you painfully and carefully sold was lost in my opinion.
You couldn't have him say I'm not ready for that yet? How must a real woman feel about your / her miracle man without normal feelings / humanity who will shake hands with the fucker who knew he was fucking a married woman somewhat in an extended family situation in hubbies bed? Wifey could feel "this was easier than I thought". How can this not affect him? Is he human? Is he a real man? Who is this???
So author - why the final absurd almost male demeaning thrust? To what real purpose???
In my opinion, a lot of great work and time compromised by your intention to maximise the overkill of a how to. Without that boggle (without validity or sound purpose) - it would have been a well written acceptable reconciliation brought back from the ash heap. Jeez - you just had to push it didn't you. Why?
With Some Regard
PS - You are getting closer to real life although I still have this nagging feeling that you write these and your husband writes the others? Lets be clear - that I hope you continue to write and improve each time as you have to date as your efforts are appreciated. Closings are tougher than any other part aren't they?
I will give my worthless two cents of an opinion. I truly enjoyed the read; as usual you write a great story.
The plot followed through from the beginning to the end. As usual you did a fantastic job of developing your characters.
The only problem I had, your character development didn’t follow through with the plot development. It felt as though all three chapters were one story, but you were trying out three different couples to see which couple would be best suited for the story.
In other words, it felt like the same play, but with different actors in each chapter. Didn’t change the fact that I enjoyed the story, but I have had the same problem with several other popular stories.
When the character development has to change dramatically to make the plot work, then I lose touch with the originals. I remain a fan always.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
weak
to quote a very fine author's comment to another story:
"..., I simply cannot find the behavior of either of these characters plausible."
the comments would cover the spectrum. There are some absolutes in "Loving Wives" on Lit. If there is reconciliation, many commenters will be displeased. If the wife is unfaithful, commenters will demand a "reason" and then tell you the reason you give is a dog that "don't hunt". When will someone write a story where the reason the wife cheats on a hard-working, sensitive husband makes sense? My opinion is; it ain't going to happen. Humans do foolish and painful things to themselves and to the people they love. That is what these stories are about. That is the heart, the crux, and the basis of the "Loving Wives" category. If a reader wants to see a "good reason" to cheat on a loving spouse, it's probably best they take up golf or knitting. These stories are about bad judgment, no judgment, jealousy, anger, the full gamut of human emotions and fears. Enjoy the story for how it makes you feel SOMETHING! I was left annoyed that the wife will maintain to the end that sex with lover-boy would never be matched, let alone topped. That made a so-called happy ending impossible for me and many readers. A good story does not have to leave you happy, it just has to stir feelings and emotions. This was a good story, well written, and very much worth reading. I thank Ohio for his hard work, and thick skin.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
Doesn't quite ring true, does it?
Certainly the story is competently written (though the unadulterated raves leave me thinking that those who frequent Literotica need to read more quality prose), but, as is typical of Ohio's material, the husband is required to swallow/abandon pride and accept that his wife enjoyed sex more with another man.
Frankly, while a male might well learn to move past this kind of emasculating admission, a *man*---or, if you prefer, an alpha male---would not. The issue would *never* be truly resolved until the breathless, sated wife said (and, moreover, *meant*) something to the effect of, "My God ... I never felt ... MY GOD ... that was the best sex of my life!" Only then could Chris' ghost be fully, or even substantively, exorcised.
Whether or not the author, the readers or the dispensers of psycho-twaddle wish to concede this point, it is, on a fundamental, visceral level, the *right* of every spouse to be the best fuck the other has ever had. Being permitted to avoid that admission means Ellen still has it over on Dan; and even if neither ever consciously comes to that jarring, inescapably valid realization, it will affect the marriage to its detriment. And by not demanding that Ellen bust her philandering ass to make him number one again, Dan has allowed Chris, and her, the victory ... because the hard [pun intended] reality is that men *are* in competition, and this young stud has bitch-slapped his rival in but a single night.
Dan's saved his marriage, yes---at the cost of surrendering his testicles.
Considering that this theme constantly recurs in the author's erotica, one has to wonder whether this form of 'literary' expression is therapeutic, cathartic ... or simply pathetic.
"By their fruits thou shalt know them," after all ... and what we're getting from Ohio are husbands with raisins where their balls should be.
by
06/01/06
It was your story and...
I thank you for your efforts. Story writing is not an easy task even if some seem to think it is. I realise the time you must have spent agonising as to how you would do this and fit in that without forgetting something else.
I have the problem, if one can call it that, of having a successful and long marriage. It’s hard sometimes to visualise and to gauge how people react in these situations. I do know many marriages survive traumas, as did the one in this story.
I asked the question once of a friend who is many years into his second marriage whether he still had thoughts of his first wife. He agreed he did. Will the wife in this story ever forget Chris? I doubt it. Should Dan go to the party? Yes, it’s just another healing process to go through. Did you please everyone? No, but can you ever.
My best regards
by
Anonymous06/01/06
Not the final ending
There is no way that the husband would accept to meet, shake hands or have polite conversation with the lover. The lover knew she was married. The wife shouldn't accept her husband meeting the past lover especially since things were finally going right with her and hubbie again.
However if you write a quick follow-up where the husband beats the living crap out of the guy, then I can see the logic of him agreeing to go to the party.
Loved it (obviously) even gave it a "5." Another fine addition to Ohio's Loving Wives stories. As with "House of Cards" and similar stories we get the following elememnts.
Suspicious husband discovers wife has cheated, or is cheating.
Husband either leaves for awhile or asks wife to leave (aka gives her the boot)
Husband strives to deal with and understand what has happened that lead to the adultery. This is often pursued through conversations with friends, professional help, or a combinatikon of the two. The key here is the husband clearly loves his wife and is very reluctant to pursue divorce, let alone a formal separation.
Meanwhile, the wife apologises profusely and often expresses varying degrees of remorsefulness. She asks to be forgiven and often intones "can't we get past this." She also strives to understand the why of her transgression. A key element here is how the author characterizes her infidelity as "it was just sex, I really love you" or "it was a huge mistake, I'm so ashamed at what I did."
I beleive that difference and how it's presented and handled is the tipping point of getting back together. It becomes the leverage as to whether or not we can accept the reconciliation to come.
In "House of Cards" I don't think that point was ever reached and I found the reconciliation lacking. I thought there was every liklihood that the wife would evenetually cheat again.
In "An Innocent Question" that point was reached and I found the reconciliation beleiveable.
I think Ohio does an excellent job of navigating the trecherous shoals of infildelity leading to a rescue of the marriage. I'm surprised that anyone really has a problem with that. Isn't that what both partners want in Ohio's story?
I might certainly join with a number of readers who see some of these husbands as a "little too saintly" but, in the end, Ohio pulls it off. Here we are left with an acceptable, and I beleive pausible, ending. Reconciliations are tough write (no doubt even tougher to pull off in real life!) But that's the goal you have to keep in mind. So i say...
WELL DONE OHIO.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
Does not ring true
This story was well written, but a lot of things did not compute, leaving me with a hollow feeling. For one thing, her conversation with Chris shows to me that she never "got" what was bothering Dan. She laughs and jokes with Chris about what a great day of sex they'd had. No real remorse on her part, only an understanding that she's not allowed to do it again. Then she tells Chris that he has nothing to be regretful about, it wasn't his fault. Bullshit. Last I checked, humans have free will. No matter how much a married woman comes onto a man, that man still has the power to say yes or say no. Chris disrespected their marriage. Then he comes over to her house, eager to do it again, and yet sounds all sorrowful that he hopes he wouldn't do anything to hurt their marriage. What did he think he was intending then, when he came over to the house?! The whole thing does not compute. If I were Dan and I heard an account of that conversation (as Dan supposedly later does), I would be hopping mad. It would validate all of his worries about what she's thinking regarding Chris. She just doesn't "get it." He WILL always have to compete unfavorably with her memories of Chris. In fact, she doesn't even think she should try to forget those memories.
Then you only have Dan in therapy, as if the only problem is with him. Sorry, the problem is equally with her. She needed therapy to better understand why she cheated in the first place and come to grips with her own issues. Note in therapy she says:
"Dan, you've told me that for months you fucked me up one wall and down the other, all the time imagining I was Bridget Zuzich! So what if I occasionally think about Chris?"
You see? You claim that she is empathetic, but she really has no clue. She still wants to fondly recall sex with Chris while having sex with her husband, and doesn't even see a problem with that.
I feel sorry for Dan at the end of this story. He thinks that he's solved the problem in his marriage, but he really hasn't. The fact that she'd ask him to go to a party where Chris will be and he's expecting to just shake Chris' hand and chat amicably with him seems completely insane to me. Sorry, Chris was not just a bump on a log. He had free will and knowingly slept with another man's wife. The fact that the woman was extremely horny and/or attractive at the time is no excuse. Do you think that would hold up in court? "But judge, it's not my fault. You have to understand she was hot and horny!" What a joke. Now Dan seems to have bought into the collective insanity that Chris had nothing to do with his wife's cheating and he needs to be amicable with him.
Sad. Disappointing. You add insult to injury with that party thing at the end, completing Dan's emasculation. I don't mind a good reconcillation story, but not like this. Ohio, you've done a lot better.
Good story. You did your job as an author in that you convinced me that Dan and Ellen could/should reconcile. It was a long road for them and there was a lot of pain. Thank you for spending the time and effort to write the story for our entertainment.
As good as the story was I do have couple of constructive criticisms.
The first is that her obsession and why it overpowered her was more or less glossed over. I know the answer is that we and she may never know the why, but a little more time of her coming to grips with how wrong it was and her exploring why she did it would have helped understand her character better.
The second is the sex scenes with Dan and Ellen. The ones you showed us seemed like Dan had notched up his sex ability in order to compete with Chris in bed. This is understandable and yes, Ellen found the sex with Dan to be fantastic. But, for this reader I would have had more sympathy and trust in her if you had added an additional sex scene where the sex between Dan and Ellen was just ordinary. And at the end of the scene, Ellen had thought something like this:
------- “As I lay there snuggled in Dan’s arms, I relished the joy and feeling of just plain good sex with my loving husband. It was not earth shattering, but it felt so good to be loved by the man I loved dearly. This was the sustaining kind of love that I almost lost due to my stupidity.”------
I am not that good with words but I hope you understand where I am coming from. And if she could figure some way to convey how she felt to her husband that would be helpful.
One last thing and this is just a personal foible for me. There is no way I could have any conversation with Chris at Emily’s party. And I would not want Chris talking with my wife either, there are just some things that are not forgiven. In fact, my wife and I would not go to the party.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
ok
but i think he needs to see if maybe he can talk crises wife gf or whatever into having a good romp with him to make it up ... hell why not ask cris to offer to lethim fuck his current squeeze.. afterall cris owes him big time ...hell maybe his significant other would enjoy getting back at cris ...and of course his wife cant say any thing as she had her fling ..so she owes him also ...just the one fuck ...i still wish they had split would have been more reasonable ...but i guess a wimp writes like a wimp
by
06/01/06
I sometimes don't understand why people
can't get over the fact that people are human and make mistakes. She admitted to it and was willing to do whatever it took to get back to what they had. And she paid for her mistake. As long as it's a one time thing, I can't see why people get so upset about a reconcilliation. It was a good story, Ohio, I enjoyed it.
Like most everyone that's made a comment I think you are a very good writer, But I just didn't think much of the story. If I were a husband of 23 years to a woman I truly loved I'd want desperately to forgive her and try to fix the marriage. I know you added his attraction to another woman to give him a way to excuse her, But it just doesnt work. He never did anything to take his attraction any where while she did. And nowhere is there a real explanation of why she was so out of her head with lust that she couldn't stop herself. How can I be sure it won't happen again when I don't know why it happened in the first place? How can I sleep with her in the same bed that she used with her lover as you had him doing? How can I make love to her when I know that I'm her second best lover? It makes it OK to me because she says she's not thinking of him at the moment we are making love? But she will at some point won't she.
One of the Anon comments had one of the funnest lines I've read in a while :)
perhaps she is just evil? perhaps her mind was taken over by JUST PLAIN BOB or aliens!?!
Please don't take offense at this, but this is the first of your stories that I just couldn't make myself finish. I stopped at Ellen's comment after she fell. I was just done.
I mean, I guess now that the itch was scratched she is in control now? But until she had sex she with Chris she was a raving lunitic without any control over her own body?
God, I wish my wife would let me use that as an excuse sometimes. That I was a beast that just had to have sex with the neighors or I'd go crazy.
I can see that conversation now: "You know Becky down the street honey? Yes her, she'll be 22 next month. Well I've seen her around an I was really curious how it would be to have sex with her so I finally did it. I mean she hot, don't get me wrong, but not hotter than you, just a different kind of hot. But I gotta tell you, the sex was incredible. No, not better than you, just different. Well, I guess I did have to convince her to meet me at a hotel for sex, but I swear I only had to talk to her about 20 minutes before she decided to have sex with me. But now that I'm done I've finally satified my curiousity. And I have to say that while I greatful for the experience I'm over her and now I'm ready to re-devote myself to you, and only you, and what ever it takes for me to help you to get past me having to satify my curiousity with her."
You don't see that conversation flying either huh?
Wonder why its ok for the wife in the story to do the exact same thing? I guess I've always wondered why the husbands have to be so forgiving after getting their self confidence and ego's crushed by a wife willing to do whatever it takes to have sex with another make, but the wives in the majority of the stories always manage to stay married, even though they were always having sex with other people, but the husbands are denied that?
I can answer why I didn't like it Daniellekitten, the wife knew it was wrong, she worked hard to pull off having sex with a younger man she fantasied about, I continued to see a lack of remorse in a character that kept referring to what she did as a "Mind blowing" experience to everyone that isn't her husband and willing to listen, and mistakes are what you do and is unintentional. I mean that's how the dictionary describes them. When you do it on purpose, then you really can't call it a mistake. Its called selfishness then, and this was a case of someone being selfish and wanting to escape the concenqueces of that action. Promising never to do it again is still someone trying to seek the out of those actions, not a sign of remorse.
I mean think about how empty prison would be if all it took to get out was an "I'm sorry" for any action that caused you to be put there.
But I guess for me I will always see that there is a lack of guilt or remorse for any character in a story where the wife keeps referring to her extra marital encounter as "'Mind blowing sex' that she'll always have sweet memories of".
For me that really doesn't speak "guilt" or "remorse". No, no, really it doesn't. I can see it now, with a smile on my face I'll say "I really regret that mind blowing sex with Becky only because you got hurt by it" to my wife and then she quickly pulls me into her arms and says "long as I feel that way I'll forgive you". Yep again I can see that flying with her, can't you?
And well, I guess the cure for having his wife cheat on him was she required him to wait on her because she was injured. Thats how they fixed it I guess. He had to see her naked and helpless to get back his manhood after all the mind blowing sex she experienced with a younger man.
Yep.
But sorry I don't really like it much. I tried I mean I really did, but once I got to page two I was really done.
Hon your comment came up after I started writing mine so I didn't see it till after I was done. Let me try to explain.
A lot of us don't think of infidelity as a simple mistake. It's an act of betrayal by the person we care for and trust more then anyone else in the world. The person we've planed on sharing or have shared most of our life with. In order to do it they have to at some point put their lust ahead of the pain they could be causing to someone they said they loved. Getting over something like that isn't going to be easy and the steps to reconciliation in this story just didn't work. For numerous reasons commented on.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
I'm with Risq
this story is just too silly; usually i like or dislike someone passionately; i care for neither Dan nor Ellen in this story,,,
the "honey," "dear," "beloved" lines are way too silly, in light of the fact that they are talking about fucking or thinking about fucking Chris, Bridgit and others,,,,
too fake to be enjoyable; again, i don't even feel one way or another for any of the characters; it's just a shrug of the shoulders as I glance rapidly through the paragraphs; nothing made me want to slow down and "find out" what's going on in their heads,,,
Your writing has improved a lot and your rendering of the therapy is better but the story was kind of over wrought. So much introspection by the guy. It felt tortured but not particularly real because people aren't that much in touch with their feelings. And if he were that able to be sensitive, the story wouldn't have taken such a long time coming to its conclusion. I suppose a really sensitive husband in such a story might be a nice touch but this one isn't really it.
Daniellekitten, even though Ohio convinced me that Dan and Ellen could/should reconcile, he only barely managed to convince me, so I understand where the others are coming from.
There were several places in the story where if Ohio had written Ellen’s response(s) with more apology and remorse, he could/would have won over a lot more readers to his view.
For instance when Dan asked Ellen after the aborted sex scene if she compared Dan to Chris; what does Ellen responded with but the restaurant analogy. Why could she have not responded with?
----- No Dan, I try not remember the sex I had with Chris, because it brings with it the bad memories of how I hurt you. -----
Juanwildone.... you made a GREAT great point here when you said
..."In "House of Cards" I don't think that point was ever reached and I found the reconciliation lacking. I thought there was every liklihood that the wife would evenetually cheat again.
In "An Innocent Question" that point was reached and I found the reconciliation beleiveable...."
KeEp in mind House of CardS (HOC) there was a 4 month affair where she fucked the other guy at least 2-3 times a week... or about 32-44 times... Inclusing her annivesary to the Man she TRULY loved!!!. The reason why that reconcilation FAILS to be been remotely believeable to anyone with a fucking brain is b/c wife says to the boyfriend (on tape no less!!!) 'My hubby comes first" but when the hubby gets suspcious.... she STILL continues to see the boyfriend
In this case it was ONE ime thing even though she clearly wanted to fuck Chris a lot more... yet the Hubbys reaction in this story was FAR greater far more intense and far MORE agonizing than the super wimp hubby in HOC .
DANIELLE KITTEN.... Mistake? if the wife actions were JUST a SIMPLE mistake then what if anything does the word BETRAYAL mean? Does that word mean ANYTHING to you?
Please tell us what is the difference between the two words?
recall the WIFES actins words anbd attitude IMMEDIATELY after the sex with Chris... she laughs and jokes with him... and says we cant do it again ... NOT becasue its wrong but b/c Hubby might get upset.
Then she says 'Hey I went after you Chris..."
This is NOT taking resposibility at all... she never thinsk about her hubby whatsoever. Its all about HER and her power...
The actors in the story had their flaws as did the story itself. But we have been given another glimpse into a marriage that hit an almost insurmountable bump in the road.
We are fortunate to have an author with the capabilities of ohio who has put a lot of effort into this offering. His stories are enjoyable to read and tend to generate more than their fair share of comments.
I hope that his next story is as thought provoking as this one.
I know this is going to get me in a world of trouble.... and some will view this as a personal atack... but it really isnt.... I do have a point here...
Like I said IF you consider the author this was a good story. But Please go back and read though the feedback posts and see how many other readers are picking up on the same thing as I have....
ONLY the men go into therapy in Ohio stories... the fact shwing p and soprt of pparticipating is ALWAYS the case with Ohio's stories.
The man alawys says "I wont sleep in that bed everagain" and in almost every OHIO story he does JUST that. This story was No different
The cheating wives dont have to explain their actions
As long as the man/ hubby gets his dick sucked he will be happy
from AnonymousCritic:
...."Most important, I'm not at all convinced she has any remorse. I love her flippant comment at end that she hadn't forgiven herself and would have to make it up with sex. It's all a big joke to her...".
and this ...
..." He told her he never wanted to be in that bedroom again and they're still on the bed she used for Chris. In all this time it never occurred to her? She wants him to tell her how to make it up to him? Doesn't she think she has to put any effort into it? Do authors think guys are praying for their wives to cheat on them so they can pick from a Chinese menu of sex acts? All she can think about is what she will lose..."
Appaently AC that is EXACTLY what Ohio thinks
as I said before "The food analogy was laughable...."
WHY would Ohio make such a pathetic argument?
another poster "To What Purpose??" wrote...
"I was soundly in your corner on the reconciliation until the party with Chris. You rubbed his and our nose in hubbies miraculaus beatitude of flailing himself into the perfectly knighted saint of male reconciliation. You just had to mention it. You couldn't not. Why? An ultimate pushed point? Why? What real purpose was served? What you painfully and carefully sold was lost in my opinion...."
classic OHIO Male bashing thats why!
...."You couldn't have him say I'm not ready for that yet? How must a real woman feel about your / her miracle man without normal feelings / humanity who will shake hands with the fucker who knew he was fucking a married woman somewhat in an extended family situation in hubbies bed? Wifey could feel "this was easier than I thought". How can this not affect him? Is he human? Is he a real man? Who is this???
So author - why the final absurd almost male demeaning thrust? To what real purpose???..."
Good questions!!! The answer is that either Ohio IS woman that hates all Man or perhaps is Gay and may be violently anti hetro Male..
In story after story Ohio comes up with these hardly believeable reconiliations that ends with the guy getting his nose rubbed in it by a woman that barely shows WHY ... or regrets or suffers any consequences
as the pooter Doesn't quite ring true, does it?... says
"but, as is typical of Ohio's material, the husband is required to swallow/abandon pride and accept that his wife enjoyed sex more with another man.
Dan's saved his marriage, yes---at the cost of surrendering his testicles."
and metzov Says
..."And nowhere is there a real explanation of WHYy she was out of her head with lust that she couldn't stop herself. How can WE be sure it won't happen again when I don't know why it happened in the first place? How can I sleep with her in the same bed that she used with her lover as you had him doing? How can I make love to her when I know that I'm her second best lover? ...."
by
Anonymous06/01/06
Wimp
What a fucking wimp!!! Go get your therapy like a good little wimp and kiss your "loving wife's" ass as she laughs at you. Then go to the party so everyone can see the gracious cockold, loser you really are. The only reason I'd went to the fucking party would be to kick Chris's nuts up his ass. Geez what a fucked up ending. The only reason you got a 25 and noy 00 was for the first two chapters.
I hate to give you such a low score, especially when there are many crap stories here that somehow score much higher, but I was honestly disappointed by this last chapter. As always, the technical quality of your story is strong, but I believe you are capable of much better work than this.
The biggest problem I have is not with reconciliation per se, but rather that Ellen just never came across as someone who was deserving of it. Dan seemed to be doing most of the work here, I just didn't feel like she was meeting him halfway. And while some readers felt that she communicated a genuine sense of remorse, the majority of your readers clearly were not convinced. While I'm sure that you intended Ellen to be deeply in love with Dan and truly devestated by what she had done, the fact that this many people did not buy into it shows that you failed to effectively convey your intent to your audience. Don't get me wrong, there will always be a small (but quite vocal) minority of "kill the cheating bitch" types, but when this many people (myself included) are telling you basically the same thing (Ellen shows no redeeming qualities, the husband doing all the heavy lifting here, etc.), I'm forced to say that your story comes up short.
I think Anonymous Critic made a great point, Ellen's focus was entirely on her being able to stay with Dan, and not on Dan's happiness. Those are two entirely different motives. The former is a selfish motivation, "How do I get Dan to not leave ME, to give ME another chance? The most important thing it that he stays with ME." The latter is selfless, "I love my HUSBAND and want HIM to be happy, regardless of whether HE'S with or without me."
Some things that might have helped the story include: not having Ellen fondly recalling the "great" sex with Chris; not having her make that stupid food comment (how can she compare food to her infidelity?); the part at the end where Dan is just going to party with Chris like nothing ever happened (that was really pushing it IMO); Ellen at least having the decency to buy a new bed instead of making Dan sleep in the same one she had so grossly betrayed their marriage in; making your conselor more neutral (perhaps this wasn't your intent, but he came off as very pro-wife); and in general a better choice of language when writing from Ellen's POV, she came across as more self-centered than sympathetic.
In closing, let me say I think you're a fine writer, but in this case I think you missed the mark. Hopefully you'll find some of these comments helpful to you, and good luck with your next story.
You don't convince me on them getting back together. If anything you've turned the man into a wimp:(.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
Good
Your writing continues to improve. I liked reading the comments almost as much as the story. No surprises here and that is not bad. The journey is as important as reaching the destination. If you continue to write in this genre, maybe you should vary the outcome; not to placate the critics, but because reconciliation is not always possible. Keep on exploring the interpersonal relations between loving and not so loving couples.
The wife didnt seem worth it to me. Ive said it before and I have to say it again - you just didnt put in the work necessary to make the reconciliation palatable to me. Wife was unlikable and the whole marriage seemed too one-sided for the reconciliation to be about soul-mates, love and forgiveness. It seemed more like a wife who thinks she is too good for her husband and that entitles her to behave however she wants as long as she mouths a few pretty words about being sorry later. Husband lets her get away with it because he has the self-esteem of a slug. Worse than letting her walk all over him, he convinces himself that she loves and respects him by willfully ignorning the evidence.
Nothing wrong with reconciliation but you didnt set it up in the story proper by making the wife likable and/or telling us why the husband was so sure she loved him. His line about wanting to stay married more than she wanted to fuck Chris was basically the heart of the matter but then you tried to make it seem like they had a wonderful relationship of equals with mutual respect, trust and love.
It didnt really seem to me that the wife was too sorry for hurting her husband either. She cried a few crocidile tears about how she had devistated him etc but then went right back to diddling herself while she thought about her young stud. She spent a hell of a lot more time thinking about how great Chris was than worrying about what she did to the guy she claimed to love so deeply.
All in all, it seemed like the wife just recognized that she couldnt keep Chris long term (she was getting up there compared to him) and/or he didnt have the earning potential of her husband. That she wanted to stay with him didnt seem at all motivated by love or respect.
I used to think that you were trying to write about good marriages and loving spouses but just missing the mark a little. Several of your stories seem to feature pathetic men with no sense of self-worth and women who ruthlessly take advantage of them though so maybe thats what you were trying to write about all along and the characters are coming across as intended. If thats the case, you should make it clearer imo. Nothing wrong with writing about a marriage like that but you need to be clearer about. Either have the husband recognize and accept the marriage for what it is and stop deluding himself, or at least have the wifes thoughts reflect her contempt for the husband. That would avoid the confusion of having romantic words piled on top of such un-romantic actions.
Even though I found the disparity between words and actions rather confusing and sad, the story was still not bad as a study of how a guy can convince himself of almost anything if he is unwilling to accept the truth. Thanks for writing.
by
Anonymous06/01/06
Why not?
While everybody won't like the same thing, why are there so many 'never reconcile' people out there, guess they've never needed to be forgiven.
Of note, the real reconciliation came when she needed the husband, and he responded. She did get some recognition of what she caused him to go through, but maybe not enough. But still, it was a realistic story of 2 people who did love each other, and survived a real screw up by one.
Tell me, if the husband had cheated, should she have never given him a second chance, should she have made him squirm before he got back in her bed.
Not all of Ohio's stories are reconciliation, but if you can make it fit, why not?
What if he'd had a 1-time event with a young woman, concluding a fixation. Would his loving and faithful wife take him back? I think she either would throw him out or would make his life living hell and the relationship would never be loving again. But you may ultimately be correct, Ohio...my dad always said, "never understimate the power of a woman."
We got the reconciliation we all expected. And, I must say here that I think in this case there was room for reconciliation, but not necessarily under the circumstances ohio shoved at us.
I’ve resisted the temptation to read the other comments before writing mine, so if some are repeats – tough!
I have several real stumbling points with the story overall.
Firstly, the husband was the only one who suffered in this story. The wife was slightly peeved by some of his words and actions, but nothing ohio wrote gave me a sense that she suffered in any way.
Second, there seemed to me to be a definite attempt by ohio to have the husband seem unreasonable for not just “sucking it in”, unconditionally forgiving her and getting on with his life.
Next, ohio showed the woman as having no real clue what she did to her husband and she had not one shred of remorse for what she did with Chris. All she was sorry for (NOT remorseful or guilty) was Dan’s reaction. On the contrary, she was over the moon about what she and Chris did – never once expressed remorse or guilt over the action, just the result. Even when Chris visited the house and she managed to resist her urges (she admitted still having them!) she joked with him about how fantastic the sex was. She thinks all she did was make a silly mistake – SHIT! The only mistake she made in this story was missing the front step, falling and hitting her head, everything else she did was deliberate and calculated and in no way a ‘mistake’. Ellen tells Dan she doesn’t think about Chris, but she told Chris “….our day together will always be one of my sweetest memories,…” How is that remorse in any way?
And ohio made a big thing about Dan never wanting to be in the same bed she fucked Chris in, then left that thread to die somewhere. Why, author, make a big deal of something then not follow it through?
Then, even by the end of the story the fact she even considered meeting Chris again, and ridiculously expected Dan to do the same is the rock on which this story foundered. It was almost believable until then, but writers seem to always want to push the envelope that little bit further. Parts of the story were bordering on the edge of credibility, but this pushed the whole thing against a reef and it sunk without another whimper.
My ‘bullshit detector’ started to rumble a few times in this story, notably the rubbish about him fancying the other woman (Bridget?) many years before, but it went into overload with this absolute crap about them both seeing Chris.
What is Chris going to think? “Good, here’s that great fuck. Oh bugger she’s got her wimp with her.” A classic example of the author going for overkill, and all he killed was his story.
Without that last insult to my intelligence I could have bought the reconciliation.
This one comment was something I thought about but didn't think to add it. CK84 did it better than I would have:
I think Anonymous Critic made a great point, Ellen's focus was entirely on her being able to stay with Dan, and not on Dan's happiness. Those are two entirely different motives. The former is a selfish motivation, "How do I get Dan to not leave ME, to give ME another chance? The most important thing it that he stays with ME." The latter is selfless, "I love my HUSBAND and want HIM to be happy, regardless of whether HE'S with or without me."
________________________
That was something I picked up on as well.
When someone is with their husband and basicly dances away from talking about their affair, tries to be as vague as possible, and only worries about her husband "after" she gets to sleep with the man of her obsession, that never made her seem very sincere when she claimed remorse.
But when her husband "wasn't" around all she did was comment on the "Cosmic Sex" or "Mindblowing Sex" she and Chris had. She told everyone, including her husband, how great it was. Go back and read Chapter 2. In that Dan had left for 3 weeks and while he was gone she called her sister and when she talked to her sister she couldn't help but slip in how "Cosmic" the sex was, but she wasn't willing to give up her marriage for it. Thats not remorse. Thats someone who's comfortable in a lifestyle and doesn't want it to change.
But I have to agree there are too many folks that felt the wife wasn't sincere and was too selfish for her own good. And the husband was too weak willed to stand up for himself and feared living alone. That's really not reconcilation when they only do it so they don't have to live alone.
...I told you so. I didn't even bother to waste time reading the final chapter, as I promised. I just read the comments. We all know that OhiO is going the route taken again ... such a pussy as a writer that the woman almost always simply "makes mistakes," and the man becomes psychologically unbalanced and willing to admit he was wrong because the wife slept with someone else. Yes, I said that correctly. OhiO just likes to piss off readers. That's the name of the game with OhiO, just as it is with the women characters in the stories OhiO writes.
I haven’t read any other comments so I’ll just give you my take as I didn’t want to be influenced by others remarks. I have a real problem with the so-called outcome of this well written story though I find the ending very slanted.
First with the kids coming home for Christmas, they go back to the marriage bed without any type of pain or thought by him. That would only seem possible if he had already forgiven the adultery and the story says he hasn’t. Very strange!
Next all the consoling is for him to get to where he can forgive her. This is not a process any therapist would use, it would be for him to deal with his pain and then what he needed to pull his life together. If it were to get him to forgive it would only be with both under therapy and she trying to find out why she had such strong desire for sex with this other man. She is under no type of therapy only sharing in his feelings not facing anything about her feelings or reasons. Face one fact, THINGS JUST DON’T HAPPEN, there are real reasons in ones mind that cause people to do what they do. This is not a free pass as to I don’t know why I did it. The actions must be explored to find out what can be done to understand what is behind the need. Is something missing, are they feeling old and must act, is there a hidden dislike of something in their life, whatever there is a reason.
This story has the wife doing nothing to understand her desires or what she did wrong. It is all about the husband having to forgive and she saying I don’t compare the sex or think about it to often. My god, this has to be the biggest bunch of junk as it makes the husband into the guilty party for not being able to handle his pain and anger and she can throw out the I’m not think of my young lover to often.
The comparing of sex acts doesn’t have to happen when having sex, but if the wife ever thinks about how great it was with lover boy then she is putting the husband second when she does.
For the first time I’m going to say something a little critical to Ohio, who I respect immensely, it’s like a story from a woman’s point of view that was the one wronged. This is really a trash the bastard husband. I don’t understand how he is to forgive and get his head straight and she just lays back and watches. This whole last chapter is of two people who think only the husband has to forgive and forget and all is well. Nothing the wife did is important, as maybe in time she’ll forget her great sex with lover boy.
People get married to people who will never give them the thrill of the first lover or some wild encounter in the past. This if different as they are now making a choice of a long-term love they want forever with this one person. The wife in this story has no idea what her future holds for her as she figures she won’t do it again as she doesn’t want to end her marriage, but her need to do it has not been even once explored and maybe to much for her to ignore one more time as she has no idea what dives those needs.
I’m disappointed with the shabby therapy portrayal and how this is a very bad example of a husband bending over and getting it in the end. This is one time if the wife were to continue to act as the character is written I would say get away as fast as you can till she gets real help or just keep moving on.
Sorry for the criticism Ohio as you are one of my favorite Authors
Thank you for the entertainment/
PT
English
Wimpy Husband-again!
Another wimpy husband story-disappointing, no revenge. Gee, write one with a realistic ending one of these days.
Good writting
Another well written tale.
I liked the story
Ohio I have read many of your stories and have enjoyed them, this one is no exception keep up the good work. The only problem I had was my computer went down and it took an extra day to read the third part of the story.
WELL.... if we keep in mind the author
if we keep in mind WHO the author is... one that HEAVILY favors reconcilation... this ending was good.!!!
But looking at it another way I still have probems with this. Not major ones... Again WHY was the hubby the ONLY one in therapy? yes she did participate later on...
but we still do know WHY she had this sexual obession!!
I mean come on people... was that covered at ANY point by anyone in any of these three chapters?.... NO!!! Like I\ said before the wife is either 1) MENTALLY UNSTABLE which CAN be fixed or helped.... 2) or she has serious CHARACTER FLAW which again CAN be fixed or helped in some instances...
BUT since we dont know WHY the wife choose to fuck around she gets NO help... and we dont know what caused this... perhaps she is just evil? perhaps her mind was taken over by JUST PLAIN BOB or aliens!?!
The therapist said on Page 1
..." I see a strong marriage with a big problem, not a fundamentally troubled marriage..."
WTF??? anyone wishes to challenge that ?
or this one
...."And Ellen, I think you're going to have to be patient about it. Because right now I don't think Dan has any idea about how to let you in....
so its his fault that he is still stunned by her vile actions and betrayal?
and when the wife said this I burst out luaghing at how fucking good damn absurd this was.... I mean come on Ohio...
...."Think about the last time we had dinner downtown at "Chez Marcel". The food was fabulous, right? Well, as you ate your Veal Sorrentino, did you compare it to some other meal at some other restaurant, or did you just think, 'damn, this is really good veal'?"....
Ohio is great writer and a fabulous stry teller but as a author ....has serious problem with morals and reality. His stories are filled his classic examples of moral relativism ...
so the pain the betrayal the lies the humuilation the doubt from a cheating spouses is just like eating a good dinner? REALLY!!!?!?!?!?!?
no more or less than expectedhttp://english.litero
ohio wrote it, i read it it sucked; give me a god damn break from more psycho-babble and guilt feelings in wronged husbands; i'm not saying they shouldn't reconcile, but why is it heaped on him to walk the whole way and not have her meet half-way
Excellent story that will get poor comments
Many cheating stories that end with reconciliation do make the offended spouse out to be either a wimp or an ass. This story really addresses the feelings of hurt, mistrust and betrayal that are inevitable when a wife or husband cheat. They reconciliation is not forced and nor, in my opinion, does it make Dan into a wimp. Many of the (mostly anonymous) commentor’s seem to feel that an inability to forgive makes a guy a man. I can use the genders here because I don’t see the angry gripes and personal attacks in the comments on the stories where they husband cheats and the wife forgives. Some stories show characters that forgive because they can’t stand up for themselves and are willing to accept any behavior on the part of their spouse to try and keep them. They are the true wimps. Others like the ones in Ohio’s stories most certainly do stand up for themselves. None of them have ever accepted their spouse’s cheating and therefore I do not believe that any of them can be called wimps, at least not fairly. It is sad that so many people find it necessary to vilify a character that is willing to work through the pain to try and save what had been a good marriage/relationship. It is wrong to personally attack an author who presents such a story.
If you want to attack characters in the stories on Literotica, which the authors generously provide for free, then there are plenty of them who rape others, who blackmail people into having sex, who maliciously destroy peoples marriages and lives for you to attack.
A little different perspective
I thought this was really well written, and since I am not predisposed to have a certain type of ending I was able to enjoy the fine writing.
The only part I had trouble with was her statement to Chris: "So while our day together will always be one of my sweetest memories, it will have to be our only time together."
That doesn't sound like a memory she will let go of and one that I suspect she would pull out once in a while and enjoy. I dodn't see any way that wouldn't come between them in some way, shape or form.
Good stoy, Thanks! DJ
Well Done
The author showed quite vividly how devastating infidelity can be. The pain, the angst and the time necessary to heal, if that is even possible. In this case it was, albeit with a ton of effort.
I suspect you'll take a lot of shots for this, author, but your rational for reconciliation is valid. Adultery doesn't always end in divorce, marriages and relationships can be saved. It wasn't easy and it wasn't pleasant,but they found a way back from the brink. My thanks for a tale well
scott free
chris knew she was married and did nothing to stop this train wreck. even if she offered a man should not accept. I think he should pay somehow.
that poster WELL... if we keep in mind
was actually amde by I... Harry in VA...
Blue88 and that other Anon poster.... the authors lack of REASON why the wife did this is a MAJOR issue.
Any poster who asks WHY she did this vile action is NOT personally attacking OHIO... Nor is asking the question the same thing as "kill the bitch" attitude.
As for this other rather stupid post who argues
..."None of them have (the hubbys in OHIO stories) ever accepted their spouse’s cheating and therefore I do not believe that any of them can be called wimps, at least not fairly. It is sad that so many people find it necessary to vilify a character that is willing to work through the pain to try and save what had been a good marriage/relationship...."
is well a cluless boob. MOST of the time things CANNOT be worked out when adultery is involved.
Finally
the ending. is anybody really surprised about the reconciliation?
its a well written story. i even like the reconciliation part. its a big mistake, but only happened one time and its not like its w/o its consequences. both have suffered, but in the end, the husband have decided to forgive but not entirely forget.
Great Story
I get so tired of these pussies ripping on stories where the couple ends up together. Obviously not one of you has been in a true loving long term relationship. This couple had been together for 23 years and intended to be together for ever. Lets think about this guys options: 1)He kicks Chris ass - he ends up in jail 2)He gets a revenge fuck - first there isn't anyone else he wants and second the chances of a marage surviving would be almost nil. 3)He devorces her - With the love and hurt he felt, he would be miserable for the next 10 years - good plan. 4) He stays with her - they end up fixing the problems, he gets more better sex, he is with the the women he loves. Hmm lets think about these choices. Some one said stop the psycko babble and make it closer to real life. This is as really life as it gets and this "phycho babble" happens everyday. Battered wives stay with husbands that beat them, wives forgive a husband of cheating, couples get over terrible loss, but one husband forgives his wife and he is obviously a wimp. Then again, I am pretty sure the people making thos comments are the same ones beating their wives and cheating on them.
?
Can you imagine the conversation between Dan and Chris.'glad that my wife enjoyed getting fucked by you,but please don't do it again'After all to quote Ellen it's only like comparing meals at different restaurants.
What load of crap!
I give the author 100 points for taking their time and energy to write and post this story. I award Zero points for the Whimp.
Dan "The Whimp" needs to be "Bitch Slapped". He's not man enough to rate having the shit beat out of him.
unconvincing
Most important, I'm not at all convinced she has any remorse. I love her flippant comment at end that she hadn't forgiven herself and would have to make it up with sex. It's all a big joke to her. He told her he never wanted to be in that bedroom again and they're still on the bed she used for Chris. In all this time it never occurred to her? She wants him to tell her how to make it up to him? Doesn't she think she has to put any effort into it? Do authors think guys are praying for their wives to cheat on them so they can pick from a Chinese menu of sex acts? All she can think about is what she will lose.
I know, somebody is going to argue she recognized how much he was hurt several times, like when he had lost all that weight. But it was never the focus of her thinking. It was what can I do to get us back together, not what can I do to ease his pain. That's vastly different focus. I guess both Dan and his therapist were too stupid to consider it. Lucky for Dan or he wouldn't get to take her back with no serious consequences to her, just him.
The food analogy was laughable. How about a 12-course dinner in the big city's most renowned restaurant with elegantly-dressed wait staff, plate that are there only to hold other plates, an intermezzo between courses topped off by a world famous dessert. Would you compare with that meal when you went to KFC for takeout? Damn right you would. Even when you were not eating, you might think about it now and then with great pleasure. That's how she's thinking about Chris. But Dan decided to ignore it because it's too painful to recognize the reality, not because he decided to give up the pain as a source of power over him (since we're going into subconscious motivation).
I believe that for a reconciliation to succeed, there must be true remorse. The offender must focus on their victim. What is his pain? What can we do to ease that? It should be the top priority. Until that is addressed, there is no value in doing something for me or us. I never saw her show that kind of concern. What did she do to earn his coming back? She said she was sorry. The rest was up to him. Without remorse and with practically no effort on her part, the reconcilation is sterile and unconvincing to me.
great idea
I have always been a faithfull spouse cause I never had the courage to try my fantasy out for real, but, thanks to this author I have a plan.
I'm going to have my fling, confess, be wicked sorry, pretend I undestand how my spouse feels, convince some shrink that I regret my cheating, set up my spouse to get verbally beat on for for not rolling right over and forgive me before the cum even settles, and wring my hands while I weep alot.
I'm getting aroused just thinking about it.
To What Purpose???
Constructively - Very well written as per usual. Sound introspection with the Dr. Boggle minimised at last.
I was soundly in your corner on the reconciliation until the party with Chris. You rubbed his and our nose in hubbies miraculaus beatitude of flailing himself into the perfectly knighted saint of male reconciliation. You just had to mention it. You couldn't not. Why? An ultimate pushed point? Why? What real purpose was served? What you painfully and carefully sold was lost in my opinion.
You couldn't have him say I'm not ready for that yet? How must a real woman feel about your / her miracle man without normal feelings / humanity who will shake hands with the fucker who knew he was fucking a married woman somewhat in an extended family situation in hubbies bed? Wifey could feel "this was easier than I thought". How can this not affect him? Is he human? Is he a real man? Who is this???
So author - why the final absurd almost male demeaning thrust? To what real purpose???
In my opinion, a lot of great work and time compromised by your intention to maximise the overkill of a how to. Without that boggle (without validity or sound purpose) - it would have been a well written acceptable reconciliation brought back from the ash heap. Jeez - you just had to push it didn't you. Why?
With Some Regard
PS - You are getting closer to real life although I still have this nagging feeling that you write these and your husband writes the others? Lets be clear - that I hope you continue to write and improve each time as you have to date as your efforts are appreciated. Closings are tougher than any other part aren't they?
Well i waited until the end, now
I will give my worthless two cents of an opinion. I truly enjoyed the read; as usual you write a great story.
The plot followed through from the beginning to the end. As usual you did a fantastic job of developing your characters.
The only problem I had, your character development didn’t follow through with the plot development. It felt as though all three chapters were one story, but you were trying out three different couples to see which couple would be best suited for the story.
In other words, it felt like the same play, but with different actors in each chapter. Didn’t change the fact that I enjoyed the story, but I have had the same problem with several other popular stories.
When the character development has to change dramatically to make the plot work, then I lose touch with the originals. I remain a fan always.
weak
to quote a very fine author's comment to another story:
"..., I simply cannot find the behavior of either of these characters plausible."
many others have explained why.
As the writer, you had to know
the comments would cover the spectrum. There are some absolutes in "Loving Wives" on Lit. If there is reconciliation, many commenters will be displeased. If the wife is unfaithful, commenters will demand a "reason" and then tell you the reason you give is a dog that "don't hunt". When will someone write a story where the reason the wife cheats on a hard-working, sensitive husband makes sense? My opinion is; it ain't going to happen. Humans do foolish and painful things to themselves and to the people they love. That is what these stories are about. That is the heart, the crux, and the basis of the "Loving Wives" category. If a reader wants to see a "good reason" to cheat on a loving spouse, it's probably best they take up golf or knitting. These stories are about bad judgment, no judgment, jealousy, anger, the full gamut of human emotions and fears. Enjoy the story for how it makes you feel SOMETHING! I was left annoyed that the wife will maintain to the end that sex with lover-boy would never be matched, let alone topped. That made a so-called happy ending impossible for me and many readers. A good story does not have to leave you happy, it just has to stir feelings and emotions. This was a good story, well written, and very much worth reading. I thank Ohio for his hard work, and thick skin.
Doesn't quite ring true, does it?
Certainly the story is competently written (though the unadulterated raves leave me thinking that those who frequent Literotica need to read more quality prose), but, as is typical of Ohio's material, the husband is required to swallow/abandon pride and accept that his wife enjoyed sex more with another man.
Frankly, while a male might well learn to move past this kind of emasculating admission, a *man*---or, if you prefer, an alpha male---would not. The issue would *never* be truly resolved until the breathless, sated wife said (and, moreover, *meant*) something to the effect of, "My God ... I never felt ... MY GOD ... that was the best sex of my life!" Only then could Chris' ghost be fully, or even substantively, exorcised.
Whether or not the author, the readers or the dispensers of psycho-twaddle wish to concede this point, it is, on a fundamental, visceral level, the *right* of every spouse to be the best fuck the other has ever had. Being permitted to avoid that admission means Ellen still has it over on Dan; and even if neither ever consciously comes to that jarring, inescapably valid realization, it will affect the marriage to its detriment. And by not demanding that Ellen bust her philandering ass to make him number one again, Dan has allowed Chris, and her, the victory ... because the hard [pun intended] reality is that men *are* in competition, and this young stud has bitch-slapped his rival in but a single night.
Dan's saved his marriage, yes---at the cost of surrendering his testicles.
Considering that this theme constantly recurs in the author's erotica, one has to wonder whether this form of 'literary' expression is therapeutic, cathartic ... or simply pathetic.
"By their fruits thou shalt know them," after all ... and what we're getting from Ohio are husbands with raisins where their balls should be.
It was your story and...
I thank you for your efforts. Story writing is not an easy task even if some seem to think it is. I realise the time you must have spent agonising as to how you would do this and fit in that without forgetting something else.
I have the problem, if one can call it that, of having a successful and long marriage. It’s hard sometimes to visualise and to gauge how people react in these situations. I do know many marriages survive traumas, as did the one in this story.
I asked the question once of a friend who is many years into his second marriage whether he still had thoughts of his first wife. He agreed he did. Will the wife in this story ever forget Chris? I doubt it. Should Dan go to the party? Yes, it’s just another healing process to go through. Did you please everyone? No, but can you ever.
My best regards
Not the final ending
There is no way that the husband would accept to meet, shake hands or have polite conversation with the lover. The lover knew she was married. The wife shouldn't accept her husband meeting the past lover especially since things were finally going right with her and hubbie again.
However if you write a quick follow-up where the husband beats the living crap out of the guy, then I can see the logic of him agreeing to go to the party.
or a question of innocence
Loved it (obviously) even gave it a "5." Another fine addition to Ohio's Loving Wives stories. As with "House of Cards" and similar stories we get the following elememnts.
Suspicious husband discovers wife has cheated, or is cheating.
Husband either leaves for awhile or asks wife to leave (aka gives her the boot)
Husband strives to deal with and understand what has happened that lead to the adultery. This is often pursued through conversations with friends, professional help, or a combinatikon of the two. The key here is the husband clearly loves his wife and is very reluctant to pursue divorce, let alone a formal separation.
Meanwhile, the wife apologises profusely and often expresses varying degrees of remorsefulness. She asks to be forgiven and often intones "can't we get past this." She also strives to understand the why of her transgression. A key element here is how the author characterizes her infidelity as "it was just sex, I really love you" or "it was a huge mistake, I'm so ashamed at what I did."
I beleive that difference and how it's presented and handled is the tipping point of getting back together. It becomes the leverage as to whether or not we can accept the reconciliation to come.
In "House of Cards" I don't think that point was ever reached and I found the reconciliation lacking. I thought there was every liklihood that the wife would evenetually cheat again.
In "An Innocent Question" that point was reached and I found the reconciliation beleiveable.
I think Ohio does an excellent job of navigating the trecherous shoals of infildelity leading to a rescue of the marriage. I'm surprised that anyone really has a problem with that. Isn't that what both partners want in Ohio's story?
I might certainly join with a number of readers who see some of these husbands as a "little too saintly" but, in the end, Ohio pulls it off. Here we are left with an acceptable, and I beleive pausible, ending. Reconciliations are tough write (no doubt even tougher to pull off in real life!) But that's the goal you have to keep in mind. So i say...
WELL DONE OHIO.
Does not ring true
This story was well written, but a lot of things did not compute, leaving me with a hollow feeling. For one thing, her conversation with Chris shows to me that she never "got" what was bothering Dan. She laughs and jokes with Chris about what a great day of sex they'd had. No real remorse on her part, only an understanding that she's not allowed to do it again. Then she tells Chris that he has nothing to be regretful about, it wasn't his fault. Bullshit. Last I checked, humans have free will. No matter how much a married woman comes onto a man, that man still has the power to say yes or say no. Chris disrespected their marriage. Then he comes over to her house, eager to do it again, and yet sounds all sorrowful that he hopes he wouldn't do anything to hurt their marriage. What did he think he was intending then, when he came over to the house?! The whole thing does not compute. If I were Dan and I heard an account of that conversation (as Dan supposedly later does), I would be hopping mad. It would validate all of his worries about what she's thinking regarding Chris. She just doesn't "get it." He WILL always have to compete unfavorably with her memories of Chris. In fact, she doesn't even think she should try to forget those memories.
Then you only have Dan in therapy, as if the only problem is with him. Sorry, the problem is equally with her. She needed therapy to better understand why she cheated in the first place and come to grips with her own issues. Note in therapy she says:
"Dan, you've told me that for months you fucked me up one wall and down the other, all the time imagining I was Bridget Zuzich! So what if I occasionally think about Chris?"
You see? You claim that she is empathetic, but she really has no clue. She still wants to fondly recall sex with Chris while having sex with her husband, and doesn't even see a problem with that.
I feel sorry for Dan at the end of this story. He thinks that he's solved the problem in his marriage, but he really hasn't. The fact that she'd ask him to go to a party where Chris will be and he's expecting to just shake Chris' hand and chat amicably with him seems completely insane to me. Sorry, Chris was not just a bump on a log. He had free will and knowingly slept with another man's wife. The fact that the woman was extremely horny and/or attractive at the time is no excuse. Do you think that would hold up in court? "But judge, it's not my fault. You have to understand she was hot and horny!" What a joke. Now Dan seems to have bought into the collective insanity that Chris had nothing to do with his wife's cheating and he needs to be amicable with him.
Sad. Disappointing. You add insult to injury with that party thing at the end, completing Dan's emasculation. I don't mind a good reconcillation story, but not like this. Ohio, you've done a lot better.
I liked it
Good story. You did your job as an author in that you convinced me that Dan and Ellen could/should reconcile. It was a long road for them and there was a lot of pain. Thank you for spending the time and effort to write the story for our entertainment.
As good as the story was I do have couple of constructive criticisms.
The first is that her obsession and why it overpowered her was more or less glossed over. I know the answer is that we and she may never know the why, but a little more time of her coming to grips with how wrong it was and her exploring why she did it would have helped understand her character better.
The second is the sex scenes with Dan and Ellen. The ones you showed us seemed like Dan had notched up his sex ability in order to compete with Chris in bed. This is understandable and yes, Ellen found the sex with Dan to be fantastic. But, for this reader I would have had more sympathy and trust in her if you had added an additional sex scene where the sex between Dan and Ellen was just ordinary. And at the end of the scene, Ellen had thought something like this:
------- “As I lay there snuggled in Dan’s arms, I relished the joy and feeling of just plain good sex with my loving husband. It was not earth shattering, but it felt so good to be loved by the man I loved dearly. This was the sustaining kind of love that I almost lost due to my stupidity.”------
I am not that good with words but I hope you understand where I am coming from. And if she could figure some way to convey how she felt to her husband that would be helpful.
One last thing and this is just a personal foible for me. There is no way I could have any conversation with Chris at Emily’s party. And I would not want Chris talking with my wife either, there are just some things that are not forgiven. In fact, my wife and I would not go to the party.
ok
but i think he needs to see if maybe he can talk crises wife gf or whatever into having a good romp with him to make it up ... hell why not ask cris to offer to lethim fuck his current squeeze.. afterall cris owes him big time ...hell maybe his significant other would enjoy getting back at cris ...and of course his wife cant say any thing as she had her fling ..so she owes him also ...just the one fuck ...i still wish they had split would have been more reasonable ...but i guess a wimp writes like a wimp
I sometimes don't understand why people
can't get over the fact that people are human and make mistakes. She admitted to it and was willing to do whatever it took to get back to what they had. And she paid for her mistake. As long as it's a one time thing, I can't see why people get so upset about a reconcilliation. It was a good story, Ohio, I enjoyed it.
I hate to sound like a broken record
Like most everyone that's made a comment I think you are a very good writer, But I just didn't think much of the story. If I were a husband of 23 years to a woman I truly loved I'd want desperately to forgive her and try to fix the marriage. I know you added his attraction to another woman to give him a way to excuse her, But it just doesnt work. He never did anything to take his attraction any where while she did. And nowhere is there a real explanation of why she was so out of her head with lust that she couldn't stop herself. How can I be sure it won't happen again when I don't know why it happened in the first place? How can I sleep with her in the same bed that she used with her lover as you had him doing? How can I make love to her when I know that I'm her second best lover? It makes it OK to me because she says she's not thinking of him at the moment we are making love? But she will at some point won't she.
One of the Anon comments had one of the funnest lines I've read in a while :)
perhaps she is just evil? perhaps her mind was taken over by JUST PLAIN BOB or aliens!?!
No harsh critisim Ohio but a few comments
Please don't take offense at this, but this is the first of your stories that I just couldn't make myself finish. I stopped at Ellen's comment after she fell. I was just done.
I mean, I guess now that the itch was scratched she is in control now? But until she had sex she with Chris she was a raving lunitic without any control over her own body?
God, I wish my wife would let me use that as an excuse sometimes. That I was a beast that just had to have sex with the neighors or I'd go crazy.
I can see that conversation now: "You know Becky down the street honey? Yes her, she'll be 22 next month. Well I've seen her around an I was really curious how it would be to have sex with her so I finally did it. I mean she hot, don't get me wrong, but not hotter than you, just a different kind of hot. But I gotta tell you, the sex was incredible. No, not better than you, just different. Well, I guess I did have to convince her to meet me at a hotel for sex, but I swear I only had to talk to her about 20 minutes before she decided to have sex with me. But now that I'm done I've finally satified my curiousity. And I have to say that while I greatful for the experience I'm over her and now I'm ready to re-devote myself to you, and only you, and what ever it takes for me to help you to get past me having to satify my curiousity with her."
You don't see that conversation flying either huh?
Wonder why its ok for the wife in the story to do the exact same thing? I guess I've always wondered why the husbands have to be so forgiving after getting their self confidence and ego's crushed by a wife willing to do whatever it takes to have sex with another make, but the wives in the majority of the stories always manage to stay married, even though they were always having sex with other people, but the husbands are denied that?
I can answer why I didn't like it Daniellekitten, the wife knew it was wrong, she worked hard to pull off having sex with a younger man she fantasied about, I continued to see a lack of remorse in a character that kept referring to what she did as a "Mind blowing" experience to everyone that isn't her husband and willing to listen, and mistakes are what you do and is unintentional. I mean that's how the dictionary describes them. When you do it on purpose, then you really can't call it a mistake. Its called selfishness then, and this was a case of someone being selfish and wanting to escape the concenqueces of that action. Promising never to do it again is still someone trying to seek the out of those actions, not a sign of remorse.
I mean think about how empty prison would be if all it took to get out was an "I'm sorry" for any action that caused you to be put there.
But I guess for me I will always see that there is a lack of guilt or remorse for any character in a story where the wife keeps referring to her extra marital encounter as "'Mind blowing sex' that she'll always have sweet memories of".
For me that really doesn't speak "guilt" or "remorse". No, no, really it doesn't. I can see it now, with a smile on my face I'll say "I really regret that mind blowing sex with Becky only because you got hurt by it" to my wife and then she quickly pulls me into her arms and says "long as I feel that way I'll forgive you". Yep again I can see that flying with her, can't you?
And well, I guess the cure for having his wife cheat on him was she required him to wait on her because she was injured. Thats how they fixed it I guess. He had to see her naked and helpless to get back his manhood after all the mind blowing sex she experienced with a younger man.
Yep.
But sorry I don't really like it much. I tried I mean I really did, but once I got to page two I was really done.
Sorry.
-Risq
a lovely story
thank you,ohio,for another great story!
DK
Hon your comment came up after I started writing mine so I didn't see it till after I was done. Let me try to explain.
A lot of us don't think of infidelity as a simple mistake. It's an act of betrayal by the person we care for and trust more then anyone else in the world. The person we've planed on sharing or have shared most of our life with. In order to do it they have to at some point put their lust ahead of the pain they could be causing to someone they said they loved. Getting over something like that isn't going to be easy and the steps to reconciliation in this story just didn't work. For numerous reasons commented on.
I'm with Risq
this story is just too silly; usually i like or dislike someone passionately; i care for neither Dan nor Ellen in this story,,,
the "honey," "dear," "beloved" lines are way too silly, in light of the fact that they are talking about fucking or thinking about fucking Chris, Bridgit and others,,,,
too fake to be enjoyable; again, i don't even feel one way or another for any of the characters; it's just a shrug of the shoulders as I glance rapidly through the paragraphs; nothing made me want to slow down and "find out" what's going on in their heads,,,
When's the next story coming?
Ohio, you da man!
Good but
Your writing has improved a lot and your rendering of the therapy is better but the story was kind of over wrought. So much introspection by the guy. It felt tortured but not particularly real because people aren't that much in touch with their feelings. And if he were that able to be sensitive, the story wouldn't have taken such a long time coming to its conclusion. I suppose a really sensitive husband in such a story might be a nice touch but this one isn't really it.
I understand the others' view
Daniellekitten, even though Ohio convinced me that Dan and Ellen could/should reconcile, he only barely managed to convince me, so I understand where the others are coming from.
There were several places in the story where if Ohio had written Ellen’s response(s) with more apology and remorse, he could/would have won over a lot more readers to his view.
For instance when Dan asked Ellen after the aborted sex scene if she compared Dan to Chris; what does Ellen responded with but the restaurant analogy. Why could she have not responded with?
----- No Dan, I try not remember the sex I had with Chris, because it brings with it the bad memories of how I hurt you. -----
Simple and straight forward.
for Juanwildone & Danillekitten
Juanwildone.... you made a GREAT great point here when you said
..."In "House of Cards" I don't think that point was ever reached and I found the reconciliation lacking. I thought there was every liklihood that the wife would evenetually cheat again.
In "An Innocent Question" that point was reached and I found the reconciliation beleiveable...."
KeEp in mind House of CardS (HOC) there was a 4 month affair where she fucked the other guy at least 2-3 times a week... or about 32-44 times... Inclusing her annivesary to the Man she TRULY loved!!!. The reason why that reconcilation FAILS to be been remotely believeable to anyone with a fucking brain is b/c wife says to the boyfriend (on tape no less!!!) 'My hubby comes first" but when the hubby gets suspcious.... she STILL continues to see the boyfriend
In this case it was ONE ime thing even though she clearly wanted to fuck Chris a lot more... yet the Hubbys reaction in this story was FAR greater far more intense and far MORE agonizing than the super wimp hubby in HOC .
DANIELLE KITTEN.... Mistake? if the wife actions were JUST a SIMPLE mistake then what if anything does the word BETRAYAL mean? Does that word mean ANYTHING to you?
Please tell us what is the difference between the two words?
recall the WIFES actins words anbd attitude IMMEDIATELY after the sex with Chris... she laughs and jokes with him... and says we cant do it again ... NOT becasue its wrong but b/c Hubby might get upset.
Then she says 'Hey I went after you Chris..."
This is NOT taking resposibility at all... she never thinsk about her hubby whatsoever. Its all about HER and her power...
MISTAKE?! COME ON....
I thought it was a good story
The actors in the story had their flaws as did the story itself. But we have been given another glimpse into a marriage that hit an almost insurmountable bump in the road.
We are fortunate to have an author with the capabilities of ohio who has put a lot of effort into this offering. His stories are enjoyable to read and tend to generate more than their fair share of comments.
I hope that his next story is as thought provoking as this one.
Its clear to many -- OHIO is REALLY anti MALE
I know this is going to get me in a world of trouble.... and some will view this as a personal atack... but it really isnt.... I do have a point here...
Like I said IF you consider the author this was a good story. But Please go back and read though the feedback posts and see how many other readers are picking up on the same thing as I have....
ONLY the men go into therapy in Ohio stories... the fact shwing p and soprt of pparticipating is ALWAYS the case with Ohio's stories.
The man alawys says "I wont sleep in that bed everagain" and in almost every OHIO story he does JUST that. This story was No different
The cheating wives dont have to explain their actions
As long as the man/ hubby gets his dick sucked he will be happy
from AnonymousCritic:
...."Most important, I'm not at all convinced she has any remorse. I love her flippant comment at end that she hadn't forgiven herself and would have to make it up with sex. It's all a big joke to her...".
and this ...
..." He told her he never wanted to be in that bedroom again and they're still on the bed she used for Chris. In all this time it never occurred to her? She wants him to tell her how to make it up to him? Doesn't she think she has to put any effort into it? Do authors think guys are praying for their wives to cheat on them so they can pick from a Chinese menu of sex acts? All she can think about is what she will lose..."
Appaently AC that is EXACTLY what Ohio thinks
as I said before "The food analogy was laughable...."
WHY would Ohio make such a pathetic argument?
another poster "To What Purpose??" wrote...
"I was soundly in your corner on the reconciliation until the party with Chris. You rubbed his and our nose in hubbies miraculaus beatitude of flailing himself into the perfectly knighted saint of male reconciliation. You just had to mention it. You couldn't not. Why? An ultimate pushed point? Why? What real purpose was served? What you painfully and carefully sold was lost in my opinion...."
classic OHIO Male bashing thats why!
...."You couldn't have him say I'm not ready for that yet? How must a real woman feel about your / her miracle man without normal feelings / humanity who will shake hands with the fucker who knew he was fucking a married woman somewhat in an extended family situation in hubbies bed? Wifey could feel "this was easier than I thought". How can this not affect him? Is he human? Is he a real man? Who is this???
So author - why the final absurd almost male demeaning thrust? To what real purpose???..."
Good questions!!! The answer is that either Ohio IS woman that hates all Man or perhaps is Gay and may be violently anti hetro Male..
In story after story Ohio comes up with these hardly believeable reconiliations that ends with the guy getting his nose rubbed in it by a woman that barely shows WHY ... or regrets or suffers any consequences
as the pooter Doesn't quite ring true, does it?... says
"but, as is typical of Ohio's material, the husband is required to swallow/abandon pride and accept that his wife enjoyed sex more with another man.
Dan's saved his marriage, yes---at the cost of surrendering his testicles."
and metzov Says
..."And nowhere is there a real explanation of WHYy she was out of her head with lust that she couldn't stop herself. How can WE be sure it won't happen again when I don't know why it happened in the first place? How can I sleep with her in the same bed that she used with her lover as you had him doing? How can I make love to her when I know that I'm her second best lover? ...."
Wimp
What a fucking wimp!!! Go get your therapy like a good little wimp and kiss your "loving wife's" ass as she laughs at you. Then go to the party so everyone can see the gracious cockold, loser you really are. The only reason I'd went to the fucking party would be to kick Chris's nuts up his ass. Geez what a fucked up ending. The only reason you got a 25 and noy 00 was for the first two chapters.
Disappointing
I hate to give you such a low score, especially when there are many crap stories here that somehow score much higher, but I was honestly disappointed by this last chapter. As always, the technical quality of your story is strong, but I believe you are capable of much better work than this.
The biggest problem I have is not with reconciliation per se, but rather that Ellen just never came across as someone who was deserving of it. Dan seemed to be doing most of the work here, I just didn't feel like she was meeting him halfway. And while some readers felt that she communicated a genuine sense of remorse, the majority of your readers clearly were not convinced. While I'm sure that you intended Ellen to be deeply in love with Dan and truly devestated by what she had done, the fact that this many people did not buy into it shows that you failed to effectively convey your intent to your audience. Don't get me wrong, there will always be a small (but quite vocal) minority of "kill the cheating bitch" types, but when this many people (myself included) are telling you basically the same thing (Ellen shows no redeeming qualities, the husband doing all the heavy lifting here, etc.), I'm forced to say that your story comes up short.
I think Anonymous Critic made a great point, Ellen's focus was entirely on her being able to stay with Dan, and not on Dan's happiness. Those are two entirely different motives. The former is a selfish motivation, "How do I get Dan to not leave ME, to give ME another chance? The most important thing it that he stays with ME." The latter is selfless, "I love my HUSBAND and want HIM to be happy, regardless of whether HE'S with or without me."
Some things that might have helped the story include: not having Ellen fondly recalling the "great" sex with Chris; not having her make that stupid food comment (how can she compare food to her infidelity?); the part at the end where Dan is just going to party with Chris like nothing ever happened (that was really pushing it IMO); Ellen at least having the decency to buy a new bed instead of making Dan sleep in the same one she had so grossly betrayed their marriage in; making your conselor more neutral (perhaps this wasn't your intent, but he came off as very pro-wife); and in general a better choice of language when writing from Ellen's POV, she came across as more self-centered than sympathetic.
In closing, let me say I think you're a fine writer, but in this case I think you missed the mark. Hopefully you'll find some of these comments helpful to you, and good luck with your next story.
Getting Back Together??
You don't convince me on them getting back together. If anything you've turned the man into a wimp:(.
Good
Your writing continues to improve. I liked reading the comments almost as much as the story. No surprises here and that is not bad. The journey is as important as reaching the destination. If you continue to write in this genre, maybe you should vary the outcome; not to placate the critics, but because reconciliation is not always possible. Keep on exploring the interpersonal relations between loving and not so loving couples.
Boyd
What CK84 (among others) said
The wife didnt seem worth it to me. Ive said it before and I have to say it again - you just didnt put in the work necessary to make the reconciliation palatable to me. Wife was unlikable and the whole marriage seemed too one-sided for the reconciliation to be about soul-mates, love and forgiveness. It seemed more like a wife who thinks she is too good for her husband and that entitles her to behave however she wants as long as she mouths a few pretty words about being sorry later. Husband lets her get away with it because he has the self-esteem of a slug. Worse than letting her walk all over him, he convinces himself that she loves and respects him by willfully ignorning the evidence.
Nothing wrong with reconciliation but you didnt set it up in the story proper by making the wife likable and/or telling us why the husband was so sure she loved him. His line about wanting to stay married more than she wanted to fuck Chris was basically the heart of the matter but then you tried to make it seem like they had a wonderful relationship of equals with mutual respect, trust and love.
It didnt really seem to me that the wife was too sorry for hurting her husband either. She cried a few crocidile tears about how she had devistated him etc but then went right back to diddling herself while she thought about her young stud. She spent a hell of a lot more time thinking about how great Chris was than worrying about what she did to the guy she claimed to love so deeply.
All in all, it seemed like the wife just recognized that she couldnt keep Chris long term (she was getting up there compared to him) and/or he didnt have the earning potential of her husband. That she wanted to stay with him didnt seem at all motivated by love or respect.
I used to think that you were trying to write about good marriages and loving spouses but just missing the mark a little. Several of your stories seem to feature pathetic men with no sense of self-worth and women who ruthlessly take advantage of them though so maybe thats what you were trying to write about all along and the characters are coming across as intended. If thats the case, you should make it clearer imo. Nothing wrong with writing about a marriage like that but you need to be clearer about. Either have the husband recognize and accept the marriage for what it is and stop deluding himself, or at least have the wifes thoughts reflect her contempt for the husband. That would avoid the confusion of having romantic words piled on top of such un-romantic actions.
Even though I found the disparity between words and actions rather confusing and sad, the story was still not bad as a study of how a guy can convince himself of almost anything if he is unwilling to accept the truth. Thanks for writing.
Why not?
While everybody won't like the same thing, why are there so many 'never reconcile' people out there, guess they've never needed to be forgiven.
Of note, the real reconciliation came when she needed the husband, and he responded. She did get some recognition of what she caused him to go through, but maybe not enough. But still, it was a realistic story of 2 people who did love each other, and survived a real screw up by one.
Tell me, if the husband had cheated, should she have never given him a second chance, should she have made him squirm before he got back in her bed.
Not all of Ohio's stories are reconciliation, but if you can make it fit, why not?
I just wonder about the reverse...
What if he'd had a 1-time event with a young woman, concluding a fixation. Would his loving and faithful wife take him back? I think she either would throw him out or would make his life living hell and the relationship would never be loving again. But you may ultimately be correct, Ohio...my dad always said, "never understimate the power of a woman."
Well that's it then?
We got the reconciliation we all expected. And, I must say here that I think in this case there was room for reconciliation, but not necessarily under the circumstances ohio shoved at us.
I’ve resisted the temptation to read the other comments before writing mine, so if some are repeats – tough!
I have several real stumbling points with the story overall.
Firstly, the husband was the only one who suffered in this story. The wife was slightly peeved by some of his words and actions, but nothing ohio wrote gave me a sense that she suffered in any way.
Second, there seemed to me to be a definite attempt by ohio to have the husband seem unreasonable for not just “sucking it in”, unconditionally forgiving her and getting on with his life.
Next, ohio showed the woman as having no real clue what she did to her husband and she had not one shred of remorse for what she did with Chris. All she was sorry for (NOT remorseful or guilty) was Dan’s reaction. On the contrary, she was over the moon about what she and Chris did – never once expressed remorse or guilt over the action, just the result. Even when Chris visited the house and she managed to resist her urges (she admitted still having them!) she joked with him about how fantastic the sex was. She thinks all she did was make a silly mistake – SHIT! The only mistake she made in this story was missing the front step, falling and hitting her head, everything else she did was deliberate and calculated and in no way a ‘mistake’. Ellen tells Dan she doesn’t think about Chris, but she told Chris “….our day together will always be one of my sweetest memories,…” How is that remorse in any way?
And ohio made a big thing about Dan never wanting to be in the same bed she fucked Chris in, then left that thread to die somewhere. Why, author, make a big deal of something then not follow it through?
Then, even by the end of the story the fact she even considered meeting Chris again, and ridiculously expected Dan to do the same is the rock on which this story foundered. It was almost believable until then, but writers seem to always want to push the envelope that little bit further. Parts of the story were bordering on the edge of credibility, but this pushed the whole thing against a reef and it sunk without another whimper.
My ‘bullshit detector’ started to rumble a few times in this story, notably the rubbish about him fancying the other woman (Bridget?) many years before, but it went into overload with this absolute crap about them both seeing Chris.
What is Chris going to think? “Good, here’s that great fuck. Oh bugger she’s got her wimp with her.” A classic example of the author going for overkill, and all he killed was his story.
Without that last insult to my intelligence I could have bought the reconciliation.
I think CK84 filled in something I was thinking
This one comment was something I thought about but didn't think to add it. CK84 did it better than I would have:
I think Anonymous Critic made a great point, Ellen's focus was entirely on her being able to stay with Dan, and not on Dan's happiness. Those are two entirely different motives. The former is a selfish motivation, "How do I get Dan to not leave ME, to give ME another chance? The most important thing it that he stays with ME." The latter is selfless, "I love my HUSBAND and want HIM to be happy, regardless of whether HE'S with or without me."
________________________
That was something I picked up on as well.
When someone is with their husband and basicly dances away from talking about their affair, tries to be as vague as possible, and only worries about her husband "after" she gets to sleep with the man of her obsession, that never made her seem very sincere when she claimed remorse.
But when her husband "wasn't" around all she did was comment on the "Cosmic Sex" or "Mindblowing Sex" she and Chris had. She told everyone, including her husband, how great it was. Go back and read Chapter 2. In that Dan had left for 3 weeks and while he was gone she called her sister and when she talked to her sister she couldn't help but slip in how "Cosmic" the sex was, but she wasn't willing to give up her marriage for it. Thats not remorse. Thats someone who's comfortable in a lifestyle and doesn't want it to change.
But I have to agree there are too many folks that felt the wife wasn't sincere and was too selfish for her own good. And the husband was too weak willed to stand up for himself and feared living alone. That's really not reconcilation when they only do it so they don't have to live alone.
Oh well.
-Risq
All I gotta say is this...
...I told you so. I didn't even bother to waste time reading the final chapter, as I promised. I just read the comments. We all know that OhiO is going the route taken again ... such a pussy as a writer that the woman almost always simply "makes mistakes," and the man becomes psychologically unbalanced and willing to admit he was wrong because the wife slept with someone else. Yes, I said that correctly. OhiO just likes to piss off readers. That's the name of the game with OhiO, just as it is with the women characters in the stories OhiO writes.
I did not like this chapter very much
I haven’t read any other comments so I’ll just give you my take as I didn’t want to be influenced by others remarks. I have a real problem with the so-called outcome of this well written story though I find the ending very slanted.
First with the kids coming home for Christmas, they go back to the marriage bed without any type of pain or thought by him. That would only seem possible if he had already forgiven the adultery and the story says he hasn’t. Very strange!
Next all the consoling is for him to get to where he can forgive her. This is not a process any therapist would use, it would be for him to deal with his pain and then what he needed to pull his life together. If it were to get him to forgive it would only be with both under therapy and she trying to find out why she had such strong desire for sex with this other man. She is under no type of therapy only sharing in his feelings not facing anything about her feelings or reasons. Face one fact, THINGS JUST DON’T HAPPEN, there are real reasons in ones mind that cause people to do what they do. This is not a free pass as to I don’t know why I did it. The actions must be explored to find out what can be done to understand what is behind the need. Is something missing, are they feeling old and must act, is there a hidden dislike of something in their life, whatever there is a reason.
This story has the wife doing nothing to understand her desires or what she did wrong. It is all about the husband having to forgive and she saying I don’t compare the sex or think about it to often. My god, this has to be the biggest bunch of junk as it makes the husband into the guilty party for not being able to handle his pain and anger and she can throw out the I’m not think of my young lover to often.
The comparing of sex acts doesn’t have to happen when having sex, but if the wife ever thinks about how great it was with lover boy then she is putting the husband second when she does.
For the first time I’m going to say something a little critical to Ohio, who I respect immensely, it’s like a story from a woman’s point of view that was the one wronged. This is really a trash the bastard husband. I don’t understand how he is to forgive and get his head straight and she just lays back and watches. This whole last chapter is of two people who think only the husband has to forgive and forget and all is well. Nothing the wife did is important, as maybe in time she’ll forget her great sex with lover boy.
People get married to people who will never give them the thrill of the first lover or some wild encounter in the past. This if different as they are now making a choice of a long-term love they want forever with this one person. The wife in this story has no idea what her future holds for her as she figures she won’t do it again as she doesn’t want to end her marriage, but her need to do it has not been even once explored and maybe to much for her to ignore one more time as she has no idea what dives those needs.
I’m disappointed with the shabby therapy portrayal and how this is a very bad example of a husband bending over and getting it in the end. This is one time if the wife were to continue to act as the character is written I would say get away as fast as you can till she gets real help or just keep moving on.
Sorry for the criticism Ohio as you are one of my favorite Authors
Thank you for the entertainment/
PT
Click here to leave your own comment on this submission! or
Back to An Innocent Question Ch. 03 or
More submissions by ohio.