All Comments on 'How High a Price: Another View - M'

that E.Z.Riter's version of How High a Price had never been posted to Literotica. He told in an email today that he would try to get it posted on Lit. today or tomorrow.

I've tried very hard to maintain the personality of his story as this one began. I think this story is diminished if you don't have the context of what happened to the characters in his story.

If you still haven't read his story, I encourage you to do so, clearly I loved it. I apologize for the problems you might have had locating his version on other sites.

it's a new angle in this cheating genre, and rather well explained.

I think this is one of the very few endings which seemed to keep with the Troubador's original concept.

just before reading this, I read EZ Ritter's, written a year ago.

he's much more resolute to his ending. here, Joesephous wanted, as the character Susan said, to hurt for years and years on and on and on; as Susan said, the reason he went on hating her was because deep down he could not forget her; his love for superseded all other possible love with any other person.

so the 3 odd years he didn't want to talk to her was simply to punish himself, for nothing wanting to give her to blah blah about her explanation or excuses,,,

EZRitter, on the other hand, when you read him, he's much more resolute: yes, very much like what Joesephous here did, he described how that first night after serving Susan with the divorce papers, Early went to bed crying his eyes out; but EZRitter's take on it was more of a irrevocable good bye to a marriage and to a person he thought he knew but never truly knew.

he didn't cry for himself! he cried for her! I like to put it that way! she might have fooled herself, but she didn't fool him; so his crying, his sorrow, was more for her. but he threw up at least twice, regurgitating all that he had injest and absorbed from her, a person who he never knew and who could have given him HIV or some other incruable STD's, among mental anguish and sorrow.

again, in EZRitter's, Early met Susan square on --- at their place, when she returned --- and gave her the papers and beat the crap out of Stickner when the latter threw him a punch first. what made the LAST CONFRONTATION beautiful in EZRitter's rendition were a couple things, taking place within a few moments, like in an action packed movie: Early gave Susan the divorce papers, next to the sign of their home, now just a house, of "For Sale"! Early got to punch the crap out of some idiot who not only had to have some operations done but also lost his job (along with Susan).

Susan, as the light-heated bitch she was, FAINTED!

unfortunately, in EZRitter's, we dodn't know if she's the perpetual cheating as it is in Joesephous rendition here, but, like Early, we don't really wanna know. All we want to know, to see, is the look on her face, when she and John Stickner drove like mad to her (former) place and when she got out, there were a couple things awaiting her and Early was --- despite his hurt and sorrows, inside --- acted rather cool-headed; indeed, 'tis why he punch was so devastating: because he had control over his muscles because he was relaxed!

both renditions are a whole lot better than the other 3-4 by other authors; but EZRitter's, to me, is a bit above this one, though not as long.

I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of this fine story. You are certainly to be congratulated for your efforts. Please give us more as soon as you find the time.

1st: I can't believe you have spent so much time on a slut who cuckolded him many many times throughout his fidelity to her and 2nd: a man(?) who didn't have the courage to seek someone who he could both love and trust without concern. She was a vile insidious planning cheater who cuckolded him many times and planned to do it forevermore.

Her letter was outrageously silly but no more than her $ trusts and newborn rightousness - well at least until she either had his children outside marriage or she sucked him in again (gotcha again you silly cuck).

Jeez this is Corruption all over again which tried to save another helpless imbecilic man just like this one with a slut who enjoyed her cuckolding labors just like this one.

Instead - I would greatly appreciate your talents spent on something with some plausiblity - you know something of real value rather than disrespecting something built on vile swampland that you won't let go of.

God can forgive but man isn't God or there wouldn't be nearly a 50% divorce rate. Do you realize that if all men felt this way that most children would be bastards due to the planned impunity and grace factor. Why do you not drive through every red light you can??? Do you not think Grace will continue to save your ass???

Cmon writer - please get into the world of lifelike reality where there is real consequence but not absurd reconciliations that last beyond the next cheat or cuckold. Or after the thief hits the churches poorbox for the 26th time do you let him walk again???

Please - respect and credibility have real value and usually travel together.

Joesephus:

Your version is well told, but I think you missed a golden opportunity. Rather then hash it out here I'll drop you an e-mail for your thoughts. Ronnie W.

I am sorry but it is nice to have a bit of realism in a story. This ranks next to DC Comics but should be labeled "Super Fool". I don't think there is a man alive that would put up with that nonsense. I said man, not spinless idiot.

This was a wonderful read, well written, free flowing, and honestly believable. Well done in every regard.

Len Bee

story to end all reconciliation stories. I have no problem with reconciliation if the reason is somewhat rational. Early is a successful troublesooter and businessman. His life is ruled by logically solving problems.

Both Troubadour's and E. Z. Riter's stories portrayed a man of personal dignity and honor. Susan did not just cheat on him once but multple times. She forgot to mention in her confession that promotion to partnership as a motive for being with John Stickner. You state that you picked up where E. Z. Riter's story left off but Susan described her encounters with her lovers being strictly the missionary position only. What about the pictures of oral and anal sex she had with John Stickner in his outdoor hot tub?

Despite the fact that he repeatedly stated in this story that he did not love her somehow he ends up taking her back. I guess he was lying to himself. I understand the need for him to forgive her and he should forgive her in order to move on. But forgiveness does not mean absolution which is the same thing as grace. Man sins against God and you are totally correct that there is nothing he can do to "make it right." So God enables Grace (an unmerited gift) through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ to absolve man of his sins.

Forgiveness means letting go of what the person has done to you. In some cultures, what Susan had done who merit death. Forgiveness in those cultures would be to spare her life. Forgiveness in Early's case means letting go of the anger and hurt associated with her actions. As I was reading I expected him to turn the corner and leave all of the stuff of his old marriage behind. Then lo, he has a 2 hour discussion with a Navy priest and he absolve her of all the hurt and we find out he still loves her.

Your Early is still obsessed with her to prevent her from being with other men (what about the 3 years since the divorce?). Your Susan played the eternal suffering martyr willing to sacrifice her happiness for Early's. In E. Z. Riter's story Early rejected the PI surveillance for the manipulated tool it was (Since she spent their life thrying to fool him why would she have an escape clause in the surveillance).

Bottom Line: Her betrayal of Early (and her other boyfriends) was a direct attack on him. She described her actions to keep her secret life from him as a task and fucking others as a thrill. The thrill was fooling him and getting away with it. Once he divorced her that thrill was not possible but once he married her again then she is in the same situation that led to the betrayal. Just because she had grandkids that does not mean that she did not get that thrill again.

You are an excellent story writer which is why I provided these comments on this story.

SleeplessinMD

I give this story a 100 points i loved it so much i cried my eyes out i pray that Susan and Early accepts God and and prays that Susans soul is purified by god forgiveness

Pat M.

I'm pretty sure you know how I feel about most of your writings, so I'll just say this:

I think your amoung the most talented writers I've seen in a while on this site.

But having said this, let me offer a suggestion as well. You might want to move most of your stories to the "Romance" section. In that section it really doesn't matter the story because most folks are looking for that happy ending. And most don't care the route used to get it long as it's happy. Most (but not all) folks aren't looking for day to day parallels there, just something happy by the end of the story.

But in the "Loving Wives" section, often called Cheating wives (or husbands), most of the folks reading are looking for strong lead characters, real concequences for negative actions, and usually the wronged people to pull them selfs together after a major disaster and get on with their lives with or without the cheat mate, but if they stay married they want to feel good about the characters if they do. If it doesn't make sense they don't like it. Often times most compare what they read to actual life as basis's for their comments. Reader often feel that of the characters stay together, it only happens because it makes sense, not because the writer wants it to happen.

Some writers are able to build up animosity in the reader, but not capable of creating valid reasons why it makes sense to them. That's where the real challenge comes in.

This story (as almost all of your do) really falls more under romance. For me they really got back together because you wanted them to. In EZ's version Early had every reason to hit the ground running and never look back, but you stuck them back together. But if this story was moved to romance, there probably won't be as many readers, but there will be way fewer attacks on it.

Personally when I read your stuff, I think of you as an eternal optimist. And that's ok, because some one has to be (^_^).

Again, I think your a fantastic writer able to bring forth emotions from the reader like you wouldn't believe, but I can't say I was a fan of this story. The one gift you have is the ability to make someone empathize with your characters. But when you were done with Early, you made me personally feel a "wrongness" in your goal putting him back together with his wife. Once you started down that path there wasn't anything you could do to make it work for me.

EZ Riter's also had some emotions to it, but the one thing that he did was show the pain of how throughly it destroyes someone when that happens. I'm not saying your wrong in showing the wives side, but for me it really reduces the impact of the victim when this is done. For me its like it trivalizes the full impact of what the person cheating has done. I mean Often I'll read "This is painful for me too". Actually no. It's painful to get caught. It's painful to fact concequences. If their actions were truely painful they would either not do them or quick after the first time. As written multiple times is not painful. But the person, in this case the wife, only developed empathy "after" she lost her husband. And like I said for me it diminishes the husband when it's played down like this.

But again, I offer the suggestion, the romance catagory may be the way to go. In that catagory "Happy ever after" seems to be the "prerequisite" for endings and not the "exception".

-Risq

I will say this: I agree with almost all of the major points raised about Joesephous' Susan.

As most previous CRITICS noted --- as the author wrote it, as Susan herself said it! --- the sex was not an "addiction;" it was for "thrill," a "risk;" bit ot was NO LONGER there, once exposed...

Since this was NOT a "sex addiction" thing --- it was a very HEINOUS pursuit and SHE knew it and truly repented, knowing how deeply her acts hurt a man she actually truly loved, in a very twisted, "abnormal" way! --- Jeosephous' Susan could actually BECOME that Susan who said, years later, as she played with her grandkid (Early) and her daughter (who's pregnant), she'd rather cut her own breasts than bear them to another man other than Early again.

IN ORDER for this Susan to come to that corssroads, she would have to truly repent and reveal all major things she's able to or care to remember, to Early.

What most folks didn't get was that THE AUTHOR took a good chunk of the story to HAVE SUSAN painstakingly explain to Early how treacherous, how truly heinous, she really WAS and perhaps could, again, become!

It's a BIG risk that Early would take; and he knowingly took the risk (But in retrospect, it paid off! THEY BOTH KNEW IT!; but they didn't know it at the time...Indeed, at that time, odds were, the marriage would likely flounder again... that is, if Susan was NOT Joesephous Susan, but, say, was another author's Susan! ;o)

This Susan CHARACTER Joesephous ultimately built was DIFFERENT from the one in the original story; even different from the one in EZRiter'S rendition, which I liked very much.

(The way EZ Riter wrote his rendition, you know Early would take sometime to reflect on his life, but he would move on resolutely, as he's shown to be very resolute about things, the happy and the painful... You know he was NOT LIKELY to bother reading Susan's tearful please, because he knew Susan's very smart and very calculating and there's no point in being dumber than he really was!)

Again, this is JOESEPHOUS's Susan. This Susan didn't really care for any othe man, except Early. That twistedness, that flaw of Joesephous' Susan, did NOT allow her to escape her own design! What followed, then, was:

(1) the trust fund: she did it so it's believable; (2) the celibacy for the rest of her life, a declaration that can not be known at this point; her words don't mean much; (3) begging Early for sperms for in vitro! [this is comical]; (4) willing to give up kids for adoption, once birthed; THIS WAS STRANGE!

Point is, JOESEPHOUS built and shaped a very extreme woman (in both NEGATIVE and POSTIVE extremities), in any and all things and traits you want to talk about her:

She's NOT only capable of extreme transgressions but she's ALSO very capable of suffering deeply (self-inflicted, yes!) for her own callousness towards the one person she has, both wittingly and unwittingly, come to love deeply over a farily long marriage, during which both became highly successful in their own fields,,,,,

The AUTHOR didn't just have Susan "confess" and have Early take her back and had them IMMEDIATELY walked off into the sunset. There's a brief recap on their lives many years later, as dotting grandparents. But to me that's actually the least important JOESEPHOUS DID.

The most important thing the author did was, he allowed EARLY TO MAKE A COMPLETE FOOL OF HIMSELF! Folks, this is a very clever literary "device."

"I know, by loving you, Susan, again, I am handing you the power to hurt me deeply again...."

Susan ((laughing and crying at the same time: PERHAPS he's really a fool.... But that's a big perhaps... What she knew beyond doubt, however, was that SHE WAS A FOOL, for real, to have done waht she did, as a highly accomplished, widely known, lawyer: that it would take her some years to again establish her personal credibility!)):

"Yes, that is absolutely true, Early. And, you know what, despite my wording to the contrary, deep in my heart, I would love nothing more than for you to take me into your arms and never letting me go ago, never letting me soil myself and our partnership again....

"But whether you take me into your heart again or not, I will endeavor, from this point forth, never to hurt you again. If that means never seeing you again, I will do it. I can never prepare for it but I will do it!

"But if you love me again, I'd die before I do anything to hurt you and me again, as a couple. For you only time would tell; but for me I KNOW it already what I was and what I am capable of!"

Susan didn't say it in so many words. This was in her head, and THE AUTHOR, JOESEPHOUS put it there! ;o)

STRICTLY A WRITING CRITIQUE! For ranting and raving see comments on JPB's lastest abortion. :-))

I hate the rating system here....too little flexibility. This isn't a 100 but it is far about a 75. Since it is far closer to a 100 than a 75, you get the higher score although there are some problems as outlined below.

As the resident asshole (or one of many) I have to chime in here. I put off reading this because I read the original and I don't like re-tellings. They are never really as good as the origianl. I stand by that observation here as well.

Josephus, when not writing psuedo-apologetic histories about the plight of Jews in Roman Empire your writing is superb. Yes, I really mean that. It is excellent and amoung the best to be found here. Your sentence structure is good. You vary the rhythm of the sentences. Your use of dialogue needs a bit of work,however, and you use a bit too much description that is not needed. I am a great believer in letting characters "tell" the story not describe the story. It is easier to read through dialogue than it is to screen past 2 inches of prose no matter how well written. Use dialogue! I don't care what the hell your English prof said. Lastly, this was wayyyyyy too long. I am against novellas being printed here unless clearly identified as such. No offense, but I daresay I could have said as much in about 4 less pages. There were scenes in here that weren't absolutely necessary to the telling of the story. Next time ask yourself, "What am I trying to say here? Can I say it another way? Does this really move the action along?"

As to the points about the story. I haven't read EZRiders version yet but I suspect the observation remains true. When you re-write someone elses story, you wind up telling a totally different story about totally different people. The Early and Susan of your story are not the Early and Susan of the original. You did very well in making Susan a sympathetic character but that is just the point; she wasn't suppose to be! The whole letter thing, the Early of the original would have told Susan to pound salt up her ass and left it at that. This is what I meant when I told a fellow who wrote a different ending that he had to keep his version within the confines of already established characteristics. This is hard to do. When I wrote my response to Patricia51's excellent "TORN" I didn't have to go against character. Her husbands character had not really been established yet just hinted. When X_Bishop wrote his version, a different take, a differnt type of man, but still within the confines Pat51 broad outline.

The point I am trying to make is: write your own stuff. You write excellently. Use your talent to write YOUR stories. If you write it, we will read! You seem to write more romances though. In future, the best so far in that are is Pat51, but for other ideas on how to handle characters I suggest Ohio, Troub's, Hard Days Night, et.al stuff. You can even read one of mine. But , please, when you have the time WRITE!!!!! You have too much talent to lie fallow. (Hmmmmm, maybe I ought to take my own advice...nawwwww!)

BTW, congratulations on yor marriage. May it be blessed and may you never be a character in on of JPB's missives.

Best Warm Regards,

C

I have not read the other comments, as I want to state my unchallenged thoughts on this marvelous piece of work. If others have stated my take on the story so be it, these are my thoughts.

Very well done. I will tell you I don’t buy into this happy ending years later and here is why.

You opened a can of worms by making one man into God by having him show Grace.

My problem is first what is Grace. It is an intricate part of the bible used hundreds or maybe thousands of times. It is not a word as we use it today it was a real action.

My perception of God’s Grace is all the things you put in the story, but you didn’t dwell on the one thing that separates humans from God. It is God can see and hear all we are and his knowledge can feel and see our true repentance. There is no hiding our selves from him.

A man can give Grace but it is no more then faith of his heart and soul as he has no idea if the other person is really repentant and can stay in that mind set and let it become a true part of them or will they slip and need to renew their repentance over and over as God is willing to receive those failures.

What is being put forth by the husband is he is willing to give that Grace to her with love but can he face having to do it over and over again and still keep his love of her and not start to lose himself in despair and loathing. It sounds more like it could be a slow death of love and a long life of depression possibly ahead. No man can see and feel all a person is, only God can do that.

Paramount to his recovery of his own life as stated rightly in the story is the initial scenario of him forgiving her then himself, and saying goodbye to each other for good. It is the only way for both to move on with any assurance that they will stop hurting each other and try and rebuild a life each can grow into a renewal of faith in their own beliefs.

Staying together is a failure to face facts of the mind and stop being stupid with the infatuation of the heart. Realizing that the future is only as strong as the mind with the hearts compassion and a normal human will not purge the past. The littlest of doubts will tear the heart apart eventually as doubts fester with the slightest of suspicion and turn a love into a horrible killer of spirit and soul.

Your plot and character development is just superb, and the wife’s explanation of why they need to move on is so true to who she still sees herself in her own self-degradation and soul searching.

EXCERPTS:

"Early, you have nothing to hang your head about. I'm a smart woman and a skilled liar, I'm a lawyer, and I'm trained to hide my real feelings which I did well. You need to understand that you're the 100% victim here.

You weren't any part of it. I said the words 'forsaking all others,' but I never meant them.

I was a selfish bitch and awfully stupid for such a smart woman."

I didn't mean to try to manipulate you, it was... I guess I was trying manipulate you but I didn't expect you to come back to me.

I'd like to say I'd decided to change to stop fucking around before you caught me, before I knew the consequences, but I can't honestly swear that he would have been the last one. After Stickner I would have stopped, but I don't know that I would never have started again. Early, can you see what an awful person you were married to? Can you see how much better you are off without me as your wife? Why did I cheat? Because I was a cheater and I didn't value my vows. Because I loved the tension of..."

"It was sex, betrayal, adultery, cheating; it was intolerable and there's no way you would have put up with it or accepted it. I could never respect you if you had been willing to let me do what I was doing. That's the point of all my being here Early. You were right to divorce me and you're right to not let me come back. The only thing that isn't right is to keep holding on to your anger at me for destroying something precious, not our marriage, but your image of our marriage. I wish I had been the person you thought I was, but I wasn't. You need to put me behind you.

"That's right, Early, it was just manipulation. Once I have you safely married off, I can get on with my own life... so if you care about me at all you'll find someone..."

END OF EXCERPTS

You have to have faith in someone as it is what trust is. You can not make someone into what you want them to be, you can compromise and both try to give a little more of something so you both can live with it. Here we have a woman who is still the same person trying to compromise but she cannot change who she is.

She needs to control and to be devious to feel she is who she wants to be. It is her true personality. She is a master at manipulation and requires it to make things come out how she needs them to be. Her respect for others including her husband stops where her needs and interest start for her, as she must be in charge at all costs.

This doesn’t make her a horrible person but this is whom she is to survive in her mind. She will never be happy being subservient to others points of views. We can only change so much of who we are without destroying all we are. She is a survivor and would be best served moving on with the open knowledge she has now come to grips with. IT would be her ultimate success in showing she real does care enough for him to let him go.

She has constantly with never a deviation, been controlling and manipulating all that has gone on throughout this story. She has only adjusted her manipulation to gain whatever it is she wants.

The husband is lost and she has tried halfheartedly to release him from herself but in the end she still has decided to keep him and lets it work out he comes back to her. She is still not able to really give up something she wants as her own need wins out over her stated moral right. She maneuvers him back to her.

She would probably tire of her control and cut him aimlessly away as he becomes a depressed hulk of what she had to begin with.

God help us all from people like her whether they are a man or woman. If your religious, the devil is alive and doing land office business. This outcome as written would only be possible to me by a rebirth of God in her life to remove the agent of evil. (I’ll get hate e-mails for my stated beliefs and I don’t care.)

You have done a superb job of bring out a plot so rich and original in it’s treatment of people and their personal character. You make every word an in-depth look at each character in this story. Your use of Grace is to me the ultimate originality in this Loving Wives genre.

I am astounded by your great abilities and that is my most honest appraisal of how your work has made me feel.

With the highest of respect, I hold no writer on this site above you in my regard.

Thank you so much

peggytwitty

The grace idea was nice but I dont know why he was eager to grant it. I can understand him moving on and getting over his anger but that he decided to give her another chance seemed weird to me.

Even before he found out that she was never the person he thought, he was mad and out of contact with her for years. After he spent years being angry he found out she had always screwed around on him, wasnt the person she pretended to be, and wasnt the type of person he wanted to be with the rest of his life. Deciding that he loved her so much he wanted to give her a second chance makes almost no sense in this situation unless Im missing something.

She wasnt even starting from scratch, she was starting out in the hole. To make a flawed analogy between character and looks, this 'reconciliation' is about the same as a bunch of guys walking down the street and pointing out the ugliest woman they see to their friend and telling him to go marry her. He walks over to this total stranger and instantly professes his undying love, tells her that he wants to be with her forever and tells her that he can force her into the mold he wants for a perfect wife through sheer force of will (or self-delusion) so they will be happy forever. Nobody would say thats very romantic but its supposed to be in this case?

About the only reason I can see for this guy suddenly deciding he had to be with her forever is that he didnt want to spend money going out on dates with someone new.

The story was ok and had some really good parts/concepts/scenes but I just didnt think it was at all romantic. Seemed more like mental illness than romance that got them together in the end so it wasnt all that happy for me. Glad it worked out for both of them (epilog fast forward 30 years scene) but that they had a good marriage and really loved each other was more a fluke than anything else based on the body of the story. Maybe that they could force themselves to love each other and it eventually developed into a stable, long-term relationship is whole point of the story though. Love isnt something you find, its something you make? If thats what the story was about though, why did you have the husband make himself love the ex? Just to prove how tough he was mentally? As I said before, he would have had an easier time just picking a random person off the street and making himself love her. At least she wouldnt be starting out as the exact opposite of the type of person he always wanted.

Nobody said a story had to be romantic though so my preference doesnt make the story bad or anything. It did give me stuff to think about and I was happy to see a less than perfect husband (his anger and bitterness were very well done). Thanks for writing.

Most people and some could say most married people don't understand how intentionally fragile marriage really is.

To simplify the intention and the reality of the joyous marital ceremony now concluded, realize that each has given their life to the other to manage in good faith.

Scary huh! That is exactly what has happened but it doesn't bubble to the surface until the first grievous misunderstanding or true problem. That usually occurs after they or one of them begins to take the other for granted and have grown apart.

In the rush of this day to day world and its processes - He /she Stops putting themself in the others position to verify how they might feel and letting that affect their decision making process.

If managing the others life were more visually simpler, I think it would be easier - Maybe. After the cermony, give each spouse a chrome 357 Mag., a gleaming Samurai Sword and an Red Ice Pick plus a nightside lockable cabinet to store them close.

Ostensibly, these would be to protect the other from the evils of the world but they would also be internally regarded as a spousal deterant or a way to attack each other. Now give to each the others cabinet key. Now the visualization is complete when the key is placed in the others bedside endtable drawer opposite its cabinet owners.

Each knows where the others key is and the power that affords is akin to handing them the key then closing their eyes in surrender - in trust - in belief that this is the one person above all others who would never - never - never intentionally hurt the other.

That is what marriage is really about and why it is subconsiously sought for the comfort and stability it can provide. He / she always has your back against all others and every bad thing.

Everything is great until one day you find that your spouses cabinet key is gone from your bedside endtable. You know now that you are very much at risk at your sole defenders hands, but not why.

Did you miss a signal of disgust? - did you offend your spouse? - do they no longer care? - do they feel at risk? -what did you miss and why? - What happened to the respect and trust? - Do you still care? (because this should not be a true surprise) - why weren't you or they communicating on a daily basis?[why weren't you checking regularly to see if the key was still there?]. Who failed to invest in the security of the unit? How blind you were not to even know how long the key has been gone!

Outward symbolism of the loss of trust isn't always so evident, but it can be just as deadly to the marriage or each other.

Do you trust who you gave your life to?

Thanks Author - for provoking discussion on a topic important to everyone.

With Very High Regard

I was rooting for the husband throughout his turmoil and soul searching. At the end it seems he got himself a solution which worked for him (IMO behind all the bravado he was a fearful and paralyzed man) Where I felt disappointed was in the spiritual realm of ideas. To your credit I’ll be quick to add that it is not a daily occurrence on the LW section that one encounters A spiritual realm –period.

In one’s religion it’s called grace in another’s forgiveness and in therapy we call it ‘moving on’ and in any framework you choose to present it, it’s a very important ‘emotional tool’ for one's well being.

Parenthetically, let me say that the notion that the mental state encapsulated under GRACE is reserved to Christians only among the entire population of the human race has the odor of ETHNOCENTRISM. How about the notion that every group of human kind shares similar capacities and most likely uses different terms for the same mental capacities?

Now, I think that unfortunately our distraught main character missed an opportunity to practice what he had been taught by the wise man on the boat, which has to do with the very core of the state of grace. By definition and in no way should that state of mind be conditioned or caused by selfish needs or even justified personal emotions. The husband HIMSELF argued that as an exclusionary condition. If you have personal good reasons YOU DO NOT NEED that rare level of GRACE you adopt that which have hurt you for your own good reasons. Neither Ex wife nor wise men asked for nor advised for reconciliation! The WHOLE POINT of introducing the relatively unexplored concept (in LW that is) of the spiritual virtue of grace is that it helps to ‘un stuck’ people when practical considerations don’t work or don’t apply! The wife wished she could be back with him but acknowledged that it would not be good for him. In order to forgive her, which is what she asked for, he did not need to get back together with her. And conversely, If he decidesd to live with her he would need much more than GRACE on his side. In the way you constructed it you mix RECONCILIATION with GRACE. Essentially husband was quite vague on the issue of his love to his ex. At times he denied it and at times claimed that he still loved her. This was actually a plus as it represents a realistic state of mixed emotions. But be it as it may, after a period of mourning over the marriage that he thought he had but later learned that it was just an illusion - he finally realizes that NOW he has the wife he wished he had all that time; plus he has all the security in the world; plus all the one- up- mens- ship over his wife and related guilt as an added insurance. At this point this reconciliation looks more like a fortified fortress than a rel lovin reunion -but to each his own. If indeed the anger does not haunt him anymore it looks like he got himself a great deal with this woman - no GRACE needed!

So, by mixing reconciliation with GRACE you derailed the possibility of introducing a new type of LW story resolution. One in which the husband does exactly what his ex asked him and selflessly forgives and releases her and himself to move on. Instead he continues in his state of paralysis, only under a different title: he will hold her close to him so that no one else could have her. What a state of GRACE! It’s ironic that the one who really changed is the wife. I'll have to say though that as far as character depiction you did a great job with the husband's

It could have been a much better story if the concepts were not blurred and misused, but again, you took on a lot and despite the lengthy tale (example do all details of meals necessary?) it was an unusual and thought provoking story.

I think this is a load of crap! Everything that woman did was to manipulate Early from day one until day ???

The babble about grace is so far out of line here it makes me sick. God grants grace, humans don't have the capacity to do it period! A human male would never have taken back a woman who admitted cheating from day one.

This was just a stupid attempt to end a story with reconciliation by an author that won't accept failure of a marriage on any terms. Sorry Joesephus but some marriages fail and this would certainly have been one of them.

It's as well the characters were wealthy enough to afford those exotic places to travel and seek closure for their separations. At a more realistic level, which I prefer as I can identify a more homely environment like, home? I might find this story believable.

The fact it took years for Early to come to terms with his ex's adultery, then to find yet again she's been screwing others as well,I mean, he still took her back? With no guarantee she won't screw again? Get real.

It's clear that Susan has changed. Like most people who change, it wasn't overnight. The proof is in the ending. Yes Early took a risk. But his reward was worth it. For those that say grace doesn't apply to man to man. If you can sin against a man (and Susan did) then that man can give grace. Susan didn't deserve it, as the story makes clear. But Early was man enough, and had put his justifiable anger far enough behind him, to give her grace.

How many men could do that? Probably not enough, most of us are than strong, tough or prepared to take that kind of risk.

I have read all the comments on his story and the comments on my story referred to by Joesephus in his heading. I've read all the HHaP stories. It is a joy to see what Troubador started and how the various authors have handled the characters.

I think J's story was excellent. Since he was starting (continuing) from my story and, in fact, at his request, I wrote a chapter of his story, he had little wiggle room in his characterization of Early. I think using the concept of grace to bring his characters back together was a stroke of genius.

Some commenters said grace is a religious term, but it is not. The dictionary clearly states grace means pardon, clemency, mercy. Grace (note the captialization), as used in the term God's Grace, is mercy and pardon from God to man. It is a religious concept. But don't get grace with a little g confused with Grace with a captial G.

Some readers always want the man to walk away from the cheating wife. But this is not reality. Often men forgive.

For J's version to work, Susan had to be the character to change. Early was clearly in the right morally, ethically, and legally. So J had Susan change. She bared her soul, revealed her sins, and begged for mercy.

Early gave mercy, but J used the synonym "grace" that strengthed the forgivensess and the story. It is the only way the two characters could get back together without being untrue to their own nature.

And don't say granting mercy is wimpish. It requires great strength.

for your comments. The reason I scored this story so low was the haste in reconciliation. I agree with you that a spouse can always forgive and reconcil with the cheating spouse no matter how bad the behavior. For many stories of this type you have 90-95% of the text spent describing how the husband rejects any attempts to take the wife back.

If the cheating spouse really demonstrates change I can buy the reconciliation. Confessions and accepting responsibility for your actions are necessary steps to grow beyond the past and they may show a willingness to change. Real remorse can only be demonstrated by what Susan does after Early takes her back not those actions taken to "win him back." The granny scene at the end only showed that they stayed together not that she truly changed. Perhaps if this story had been written from Susan's POV the reader would have seen this change.

SleeplessinMD

I downloaded this and Home Early at the same time. I liked this one more. For Sleepless, How can you say he moved too quickly? It took him years! Then he had that cruise. I loved that part of the story, made me want to take it, or any cruise for that matter. Anyway he had all that time to think. He loved her and he'd never been able to stop. He was looking for some way to square his feelings with his sense of justice, and how to deal with what he'd learned.

When she told him just how bad she'd been it didn't make what she'd done worse, cheating is cheating. No trust is not trust. What it did was to show him that she was prepared now to be honest with him even if it made her look bad.

It also showed she'd changed. She wasn't manipulating him she was showing all her warts. The trigger was the priest. He gave Early a way to do what his heart wanted to do and still feel like a man and not a wimp. He understood that she could never earn his forgiveness, but he could give her grace.

That's s poweerful concept. I'd never thought about how ti gave power to Early. It was his choice and made with heis eyes wide open.

Thanks, it did help me understand some of my own delema when he granted her grace. It truly is not something everyone can do nor is it something that can always be granted.

Loved the length ... the dialog... Early and Susans characters.... the internal Pain Early has ands this author is on of my all time favorites. That being said the GRACE idea while interesting and thoght provoking and GREAT literay ploy in THIS case was 100000% goddam bullshit................ WHY?......

................ If early had gone though 3 years if suffering and mental anguish over the whore Susan actions.... THEN extended the christain GRACE idea THAT would be WONDERFUL!!!! .......................

............. BUT on this story the author has Susan finally coming clean as the tye of sick self centered cunt she REALLY is............... IF Early went thru 3 years of personal HELL over what he thought was a loving faithful wife that t INTENTIONAL weekend of cheating with another man.... that he ASSUMED wasa 1 time affair... How does he so easily accept the fact that the whole marriage was a Joke to Susan from the Beginning? AS MOST folks would define it Susan NEVER loved Early.........................................

Yet Early after finding out the truth about this whore.......is NOT really shaken up at all.... and shortly after he learns about the REAL susan he extends to her the concept of Grace............................

.........................................................

sorry this ending makes NO sense .

NONE

As for me 5 is not enough, and 100% is too low. Maybe there are some flaws, but this touched me where I live. Bottom line is good writing does that, whether we perfectly agree or disagree. I have not read everyone else's critique, but some I agree with and some not. For once, I totally disagree with Harry in VA. It seemed to me that our hero would never have been able to "move on" unless he worked through his pain, and gave the marriage a second try. If it did not work the second time, then would be have a clear conscience to make that total break... He certainly was taking a risk by inviting pregnancy on the spot, if it did not work out. He still had the backup of investigation and evaluation of her actions. Truthfully, should we not all do that, even with ourselves? It would ALWAYS be a calculated risk, and perhaps every situation would be different. But our sequel author dealt with that by the "epilogue" to show us, "happily," that taking that calculated risk DID work out. Any speculation by the critics about the foolishness of him trusting her is defused by this ending. It does seem like a fairy tale ending, but sometimes dreams come true... Leopards may not change their spots; but women and men taken in the act of sin can go their way and sin no more. That is where "Martin's" grace comes into play.

but i hate the concept in the others he left her and the way she did him he should have ...at the very least he should have fucked every woman who owuld let him for the entire time he was away from her and even after they got back together ...after all he did forgive him now it would be her turn to forgive him many times over also..shefucked many he should get t ofuck many then she could give him drace also

I really enjoyed your conclusion to this story. I couldn't stop. I had to read it all the way through to the conclusion. Even though I was on duty. I wish I had something insightful to say or some constructive criticism. No way, it was perfect. Thank you

As with stories by other authors, one does not have to agree with the way everything turns out in order to respect the author and like the story. This was very well written, very few typos, powerful imagery, and the story kept moving along rather than bogging down. Even more amazing is how well this author writes considering (per his bio) that English is his second language. I guess AngiqueSophie is not the only one on this site (Literotica Loving Wives) who grew up in a different language yet writes well in English (and I really don't agree with her story lines, but she does write very well). I admire Joesephus' skill and cleverness in continuing Troubadour's story in a fairly believable fashion. I definitely look forward to more writing from this author, and particularly a sequel to his most recent story (Dilemma) that leaves the reader hanging. If he doesn't, I hope someone writes one.

You would understand it all with your christain heart. Love is too short. That's the scorpion song.

Another story where I can rate the author's wrting as 100%. Not doubt about it, Josephus was a potentially a great writer and if I understand correctly, he recently died in an auto accident so he cannot defend himself. I do not believe that the outcome of the story was possible once he changed Susan's act from a two day mistake to an ongoing during the marriage mistake. In his version, she is the worst kind of selfish, self-centered, woman who wants it all: loving husband who is ignorant of her fucking around for her own pleasure and the benefits of her cushy job. There is no way a normal man could accept after three years of anger at her one slip, the breadth of her adultery while mnarried to him. God gives grace, not man. She may have changed. But may is the operative word. Only God knows, Early cannot. He cannot take her word because it is so soiled by lies and deceit for so long that there can never, ever be true, loving trust between. She can ask God for Grace and he will give it if she is sincere, and God can forgive, but to ask Early after all of his suffering is deplorable and down right mean.

Great story and excellent finish. Just Great. Glenn in NC

He was going to kill her for the one affair then she told him about all of them and he forgave her i don't think so,MAYBE IN FANTASY LAND

about. Hmm to let the wronged person get on with their life after you have ruined it? To let the person who has wronged you get on with their life? Oh yes dear, I can forgive you for fucking men all during our marriage, for putting yourself and me at risk each and every time, and I can also forget it and love you for the whore you are. Is that the forgiveness we are talking about? Grace, as yes I forgive you even tho there is no reason to do so. Susan stated in the story she was normal nothing was mentally wrong with her when she cheated on her marriage over and over again for just the thrill of having a stranger enter her body then she just wanted it over. And she knew it would have no effect on her husband because none of the men knew who she was and her husband would never know. Let me see are those the actions of a rational human who is in love with their spouse, hell no they arent. And if she is not rational how do we characterize it, oh yes mentally ill that was it wasnt it. I went to counseling four times and the person said I was dealing with it correctly, yeah right, in four visits they didnt even know you, and as a professional lawyer you were lying thru your teeth the entire time. Yes Early deserves to reconcile with her, he is one of the dumbest men on earth! He deserves all the shit she shovels onto him.

to this story every so often. The sad part is that I know the author will never know about my comments because he died a while back. He was a talented author and this story is a great example of that. He chose a wildly different approach to the ending and infact made her even worse that the original story and then challenges the reader to see a solution that for the burn the bitch crowd is unthinkable and for anyone who says they are Christian, a real challenge. His theology is exactly right. But us flawed humans find ourselves wanting to punish the sinner, though really that is not our right as a Christian - only God has that right. Josephus seemed to really believe, also, that true love and passion can overcome the worst sin in a marriage. I really wish he could be writing more challenging, thoughtful stories for us to meditate on.

Too bad that so many phonies give 'Christianity' or 'Islam' or 'Judaism' or so many religions a bad reputation. Most of the world's religions cover essentially the same life lessons. it's EVIL people who have perverted those lessons. Joe really did get it, didn't it? ************************************************************Continuing from E.Z.Riter's version: "So your comments about not trusting..."

"Comes from here," Miller said, tapping his chest over his heart. "And in here." He put his hand on his stomach. "Not here," he said as he tapped his head. "That's what makes it so hard to trust again, particularly for a guy that makes his living with his mind like you do."

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

There is no logical reason to trust any human being on Earth regardless as to whether or not they have done you wrong. Letting another person into your life, to be vulnerable to them, is a gift that a good person gives back in kind. That's like turning and offering the other cheek to a person who has hurt you. Susan and Early both understood that in the end. There was no turning back time, no reason for trying again, but there was free will. Our free will is what makes our choices so special. In Early's case he still had the option of having private detectives, funded by Susan and administered by a third party, to deter Susan from ever straying again. In reality, that's what a prenuptial agreement is meant to achieve: to mitigate the potential harm that giving grace to another person entails. To be in a strong relationship with another person, you have to have faith -- not blind faith -- in them because you can never be 100% certain about people. People are not mathematical equations. There will always be risks. Grace is the acceptance of that risk in making choices that have potentially very rewarding outcomes. In this story, the risk was worth taking.

This wasn't a bad story, actually it's one of the better ones I've read on this site, especially when compared to the ones where the wife fucks around, gets caught, cries and says it wasn't to spite/hurt the husband, and the next thing you know their back together again. I find both Early and Susan's characters to be as human as you can get. Yes, Susan made horrible choices throughout her marriage to Early (I say choices and not mistake because no one repeatedly makes the same mistakes, unless they really are that stupid). Early held onto negative emotions in order to spite Susan, even though it kept him from really having a life apart from her.

The thing most people don't understand about grace and forgiveness is that offering either one doesn't make you stupid or a glutton for punishment. Both are things that God offered all of man, even though we didn't deserve it. Many of you who judge either of their characters seem to forget that like them, you've made mistakes and said/done things that you aren't very proud of. The key to it is being able to offer grace and forgiveness to the person who wronged you, regardless of whether or not they deserve it. Does this mean you forget what the person has done? No. Does it mean that you are required to take that person back? absolutely not. However, it does mean that you move to a point where you let go of your negative feelings to that person, and move forward with your life. Does it require you having to be friends with them? No, but it does require that you get to a point where you can be civil, and they can feel comfortable around you. That's the idea of it.

I think you handled reconciliation better in this story than I've read in any other "cheating" story. I'm normally not a fan of reconciliation in cheating stories. I think introducing the concept of Grace did the trick.

Original was more complex than it, you just rationalized it. In original it was more a fight between for wife to choose between her marriage and career. Choice between ethical and moral values. Her love for husband and admiration for a man. You see original author made made excellent effort in story. So next time try to realize depth of story and it purpose.

and I can only thank you wholeheartedly for that. I enjoyed your version of Early's & Susan's story. And I thank you for that as well.

but even I liked this story

made me think about someone in my own life, someone I love very much

Early is a child and like most children loves dessert; his favorite of course being creampies

Best writing in this story string! Enjoyed where you took the story

Too unrealistic and reading further would be a waste of my time.

Its not like you dont have to much time to waste Eh? Dont read it but you rate it. Keep your stupid views to yourself.

It's really tough to read through this,and to feel that - at last - a Woman that has genuinely regretted her transgressions.

I realise this is 'just a story',but it does highlight emotions that rule our lives,which we are saddled with as 'de facto' the correct way to live,act & react, to the impact that some actions have on our lives.

Made me understand (?) more of my own past...

No doubt about it - cheating is a corrosive action,as well as several others..

Thought provoking and superbly written story - Thank You.

Well I read the starter and then this. Then I read some of the comments. Love it, Like it, Hate it all categories represented. So kudos you got people talking about it. I'll be reading more of work.

Fuck Dwornock he's a fucking moron. It's a master piece "RIP"

Very deep emotions and interesting characters. Excellent writing! When will we see more from you? Sorry, I could not give you more than 5*.

This is a well written sequel, one of the best (although I do not like RAAC). Ex-wife became the postergirl for "repentant" and even though ex-husband tried to be a hardass in the end he probably did the right thing.

this was a good read. not sure if i liked them back but you made the characters read that it is what they wanted. you get a 5. i will read your other workd too,

Is it the sympathy vote because he died? Ive read a few of his stories and everyone has the husband taking the wife back nomatter how many men she cheated on him with.

This story was average at best and Susan appears to serious mental problems.

If I had been Early, I'd have blown my own brains out. This is probably the most jarring of the alternative endings, and well written, although I had some trouble reconciling the original 'picture' of Susan with this one. Wow.

how many fucking years was this whore - for what ever reason - fucking two or three guys a week she picked up in a hotel? ten years - that would be one hundred and fifty a year for how many years - you really want this skank back? just ask her to feed you her fuck budies cum already.

I am a romantic at heart, so I enjoy a happy ending... this was well written... do keep up the good work!

You painted a picture of two very disfunctional and damaged personalities. Some may get misty eyed and think it is wonderful that they finally got together, but I don't belive that a match between a sadist and a masochist is the optimal situation and believe me that is what you have delivered. Realistically they would have never made it 35 years. These things never end well.

The best end ever!

Crap!

Hate, which begets depression, which becomes debilitating. OR grace? Give me grace for I have tasted the other. Another great story that deserves the best that can be given.

This story, with its first-rate character development, with its insightful discussion of forgiveness and grace, is a reminder of the loss when talented people leave us. I've been a BTB person, but in this case, given their understanding of grace, I'm on board with their reconciliation.

DP

She remains a cheater and the lowest type of scum on the face of the earth.

This wife has been cheating on her husband throughout their entire relationship as well as their marriage, she freely admitted to not meaning "forsaken all others" she had no intention on ever being faithful. She cheated on every relationship she had; she admitted that the only concern she had was keeping her secret; not her wedding vows. She freely admitted that it wasn't the sex, once penetration has occurred the thrill was gone, she admitted that it meant nothing! My problem with this reconciliation story is that; how do one forget the years of lying & betrayal? If early couldn't tell that she had been lying & cheating throughout their relationship & well into the marriage, how do one prevent history from repeating itself? She admitted to being a skilled liar, how can early be certain when she's telling the truth & when she's lying? I think it's ridiculous to put these two back together when she told early even if he would've taken her back during their divorce, she wouldn't of stopped, so I'm annoyed that reconciliation is being crammed down my throat. Yeah the wife might've changed --all slut wives do after they get tossed to the curb-- but it's crazy to want me to believe that this total whore who has NEVER EVER been faithful to any man in her entire life now wants to suddenly be monogamous. She married early knowing that she never intended to stop having multiple "sexual partners". I really don't see the love , all I see is a pathetic wimp loser ex-husband who refuse to move on, instead he dwells on his ex-slut wife, he's bitter & angry --understandably so, but at some point he should've tried to release the bitterness/anger so that he could move on. It was six chapters of early throwing himself a pity party. Early decides since he couldn't/won't move on he'd just go crawling back to the gutter slut who ripped his heart out. Early is pathetic! It's great that the cum slut has changed--but I highly doubt it, cheating was something she was used to & have been doing her entire adult /dating life it's ludicrous to believe that she's now a changed woman who finally realized that she loved her husband & wanted to be his wife & mother of his kids! WTF?! My problem with this story is the years of lying--although the cheating part was bad too but the years of lies & deceit makes it impossible to trust her again, there's no way I'd be able to trust a person who has done nothing but lie to me throughout the entire relationship & didn't seem to think anything was wrong with this. If she wasn't caught she would've continued well into when they retired. She didn't change when she had him, she had years of chances yet she continued to fuck other men, she even had rules! The trust is gone, the love he thought they shared wasn't real, neither was their marriage, he was still looking at her like the woman he fell in love with & married but in reality he fell in love & married a total fucking slut.theres no way a man would take her back--I don't give a fuck how many years they've been divorced & how much she's changed--a slut can't change their spots-- it's not possible to trust her without fear that she'll go back to being the cheap whore that she was/is. The reconciliation was crazy, I didn't believe it but I expected it because it was 3 years & early was still very bitter & very angry, when early refused to let go of the bitterness & anger he was holding onto her, he didn't want to let her go, if he did , then the talk on the ship would've came sooner, that way he'd be able to move forward but instead he sat & continued to dwell on the past, he continued to allow false memories of her & their lives together hold him hostage. Those memories or the person he thought he married & fell in love with weren't real, she allowed him to see what he wanted to see, which was a faithful loving wife but she wasn't any of those things. She's a manipulative cheating slut. It's great she learned some grace--but the damage is done, there shouldn't of been no turning back. Sorry I just didn't like this story. Trust, is the most important ingredient in a marriage once that --trust is broken its almost impossible to regain that back especially it pertained to years of lies & betrayal. Early would've done better to just find someone new. I don't understand how/or why he'd want to put his heart in this tramps hands once again ? Why would any sane person go back to the person who caused them so much pain--unless he enjoys it. He's pathetic & she's a slut

she was doing two to three strangers a week picking them up in the hotel close to work for ten fucking years. that is like 156 or more guys a year! that is 1156 guys in ten years. no fucking way to take this whore back and even if she is crazy that is her fucking problem, not his. he is lucky he did not get every std known and aids too. swalling some strangers cum even if you make him put a rubber on to fuck you cunt or ass will still get you aids and stds.

Your math is as bad as your spelling! :)

That's a lot of writing. You could have saved yourself the time and effort by writing "Early became a limp-dicked wimp." That is the thrust of your story.

aint gonna float

WHY, did I waste my time reading six pages of total fucking shit.

What a load of crap

go back to cuckolding your mate and stay on dark wander site men don't put up for cheating they forgive but they don't stay. As you can tell no one like your side

JUST WALK AWAY, NO DIVORCE, NO COURT, NO WIMP,AND ITS A WEAK WRITER THAT RELIES ON GOD AS YOUR GRACE POINT.ps yeah a lot of women love this shit but its so feminist onside now a days.

You all missed a few key and significant matters.

Three years, PI Reports, No sex, she is suffering from her own mistakes and has time to rationally think things through - what she was, who she was and who she wanted to be - in every respect. She also did love him and wanted to do right by him. His self esteem and emotional balance was important enough for her to try and help him move on - yes, without her, she cared that much for him!

You folks seemed to have missed the fact that he always had to remind himself that he was angry. He was angry, he was hurt, he was devastated and totally wrought with pain, he still loved her but the anger kept him from letting her go. Subconsciously, he needed something to either enable him to find a way to love her and be with her or, be able to actually walk away without any emotion....pretty tough to do.

Okay, her frank and open honesty had more of a calming effect on him than he knew...BECAUSE, she had figured out the what and why's of who she had become.

In the between the lines she held herself in gross contempt and knew that (finally) she really had the man she loved and never wanted to lose or even cheat on. Now, her love for him made her want to help him move on, she cared that much.

The key here, 3 years celibate, three years alone, intelligent and having come to grips with who she was and somehow he sensed, he realized - she would never cheat again and she did love him and guess what - he never stopped loving her,.

In real life - hard to believe but...Guess What - If you really love someone - it can and probably has happened.

Nice follow-up story, I'm a realist and this story is more than a possibility...Thanks again!

And all commenters, bear in mind that the original author is dead. He will not hear your praise or condemnation. If I am incorrect on this point, one of the regulars please tell me otherwise.

It is well written, perhaps a bit overly long. I enjoyed the injection of 'grace' into the concept of adultery. It is one of the ways to 'get over' things.

I enjoyed this story both times I read it.

Yes, this is the 'however'. E.Z. Riter, IMO, totally changed the tone of Troubador's character from slow, thoughtful, emotionally vulnerable man, into a JPB/Winterfrog 'Divorce Da Bitch' trackstar! In a mere day (a DAY) he emotionally detached, got the cheating goods, got all his finances in order, got a lawyer (THE SAME DAY...this must be fantasy hee hee) AND got his house put on the market (not in the original story) and had her served. One day.

Then, while she's still in mid fuck, gets to ruin her date, assault the bad guy and get away scot free. Um...that is a SOLUTION...but that is akin to one of Jane Austen's heroines, after 20 chapters of fluff, lace and husband hunting, suddenly whipping out a pair of dueling pistols and killing her two rivals for Radheath's affections in front of his face.

Yes...that jarring.

What Josephus did here is akin to that. He revisited the emotional vulnerability and twisted it into ire and hate, causing him to never see his wife again. He sure talked about how much pain he was in though.

It was a tale well told, but, just like E.Z. Riter, he suddenly shifted from 4th gear to 1st when suddenly and without warning, Susan went from 'woman with poor boundaries who never left any trace she cheated before' into 'full blown cock hunter'. Troubador's Susan had plausible motives. You understood her. This Susan...well...I'm glad they were named the same because otherwise, this Mary Magdalene, who covered BOTH phases of her career, would be unrecognizable as the original character. Not totally...but enough that the entire time I am reading past that reveal, my mind keeps going back and asks "Really? REALLY? A constant cheater...REALLY?!?"

Which is sad because I admire his work. I wish he had written a story directly from the Troubadour.

At such an early age. He was a decent writer. But he screwed the pooch on this one. He produced a few RAAC stories and this one is the worst of the lot.

I have a problem with the plot. From what I have seen in life, we do not really change much from who we were when we were born. The use of Christianity brings in the concept of a real change in a person, but if you know your theology this is NOT acomplished through the love of a human being! It is only through the love of God. Susan never had a relationship with God, even in the end she vaguely mentions "...what Early calls grace..." WTF!? She didn't change, she was just riding on Early's faith...which in some cases may be enough (theologically speaking) However, I find it unlikely. I once knew a woman like Susan, beautiful, charming, seemingly loving...but when I got close I found that it was all for show. All a manipulation. I walked away, and I never looked back. Over 20 years later through the miracle/curse of Facebook I was reacquainted with this creature. Now, you has faded revealing the unveiled face of a selfish, foolish woman. In her wake are strewn the bodies of her victims. There but for the Grace of God go I! No, there is no redemption for whores except through the grace of God. It took Jesus to forgive the adulterous woman, he had it within his power to forgive sin. We do not. We are told to follow the rules and that includes shunning evil people that do not follow the rules. We are not God, or Jesus we cannot drive evil spirits out of people! So, be careful mixing your theology into your stories.

As a follow-up to How High a Price, this is worth 2*. Why? Because to get to Early behaving this way based on how he acted in the original you have to sprinkle fairy dust on him and have him act completely out of character. Starting from a different beginning, this story is quite interesting and well done and the outcome is plausible. However, it starts from How High a Price and you can twist and turn and throw pages of rationalization and "growth" at us and it doesn't change the fact that the characterizations have completely changed.

Let me start off this comment by saying I am FIRMLY entrenched within the BTB crowd. That being said, this was a very moving story. You are a wonderful writer and you really brought these characters to life. Despite my own views on cheating, I'll admit I was pleased that there was reconciliation between them. I even agree personally about grace...the grace Early spoke of. The truth is, I think very few people are strong enough to give true grace to another, so it should come as no stigma when they do not. Fantastic read though.

She fucks around on him dozens of times and he takes her back. This story was like going to the dentist to get teeth pulled, you know you are not going to like and you don't. I did not like all the sappy mental/emotional conflict. It is a sign of a weak and insecure person, Early needs to get some balls and move on.

The author went all out for a reconcilliation. And to do so, he had to pretty much let everyone Early knows manipulate him....isn't that a little odd? The guy who won't tolerate cheating, who takes a stand for what he believes in, then allows everyone in sight to twist and manipulate him until he and Susan are back together. Also, the author made it easy to spot early on. There's no buildup when you already know the intended result......sort of like a very predictable movie that leaves you wondering why you bothered. But with the movie, I get popcorn so I'm not entirely cheated, like this story left me. It's well written, but lacking in any surprise or suspense.

of all the versions I have seen, I liked this one this best.

Humans can change, if we choose to do so.

I'm not particularly a BTB fan, and I DO like a happy ending, but come on!

She has all this guilt, yet she jerks him around on the divorce pretending it's a one-time slip?

..though I like a few other versions of this one. This was a fun twist thought, that Susan had cheated repeatedly and it was about the hunt, not the cunt, so to speak. It was really interesting, made me think.

Would 'I' have taken Susan back? No, but neither would I have accepted her money or word after that, such as Early was right up until he took her back. The way Susan was described in this version, she was a sick individual that needed to be institutionalized for at least a time. Probably medication.

I imagine the reason why I really enjoyed this story is that while I am a GIANT BTB fan, I am also a fan of true love and love at first sight. I'm married to the girl I knew I'd marry someday when I was 8 years old, and that was 47 years ago. It was love at first sight, true love and all that.

This version is so untrue to the original as to be irreconcilable with it on any level. To believe the discovery of additional cheating and "it was the excitement of the chase" makes it all better is such unmitigated delusion that the only description of this version is disgusting crap.

I liked this version.

Some of it may be what is going on in my own life and a need (for lack of a better term) for ... Something...

I can't say I liked it, but I will say that the story telling (writing) kept me enraptured. It may be several days before I come to a conclusion about what I've read, and likely won't make it back to comment further then, but I will say that it was masterfully done. I can only imagine how high I would have rated it had I agreed with the decisions of the characters.

Great story. Usually I say BTB but I am thankful that God is God and extends grace.

The truth is, she WAS a discusting piece of shit. And, even though he knew she was a discusting piece of shit, he was still in love with her. Which one is sicker. Take her back? No. Continue to have feelings for her? Yes, total hate. Forgive her? Not in this lifetime. Expose her and the other attorney? To everyone I could reach. Get them fired? If I could. Pursue other women? In a heartbeat. Feel sorry for her? Surely you jest. Remorse for my actions? Absolutely none.

Well written, good tension, good characters, just didn't like the ending, so I didn't vote

Well written story. I can see him forgiving but not forgetting. I can even see extending her grace. But I cant see him taking her back. He divorced her for one guy one weekend then he found out his marriage was a sham, No the ending does not work.

great ending to the story and so true how hard it is to forgive and forget. but with his grace look what they got in return. a truly happy life.

is to make Susan an even worse slut than the original story? and to have it all go away with wishing and happy thoughts.

Early thinks too much!

I could not have taken her back, but I'm an asshole and my passive-aggressive behavior always hurts me, rather than the object of my scorn. Loved the "Admiral." BTW - Why, at the Board meeting, did she have a different last name? Since she would always be his "wife," why would she change her name?

I like this version of her being smart, but having this one little problem... Much better than the version in which she was merely thanking Stickner for his help.

Great story, even if you made her a slut. The focus on Grace and how you couldn't balance scales is something a lot of LW stories try and touch on but never get right and you did.

Is this a joke or what? This guy went from a man who did the right thing to a complete fool in 3 pages. I am between BTB and Reconciliation depending on the story. This story does not deserve it. She was not only a stupid, stupid woman but she was a serial cheater. This marriage was a sham from the get-go. I just read E.Z.Ritter's take on the story and that was so much more believable. He had a lot of trouble with her cheating with the John guy, but forgives all the other times she cheated like it was nothing. This woman was not deserving of reconciliation, she was worth the years of anger, etc. that he carried for her.

. . . a master storyteller. I have read a number of his stories and enjoyed them all but not this one until it popped up on random and I noticed the name Joesephus as author. It is most unfortunate he died relatively young. What is truely amazing about his writing ability is that English was by no means his native language.

As to this story, the end point seemed relatively clear about halfway in; the path was always murky, at least to me. The universality of religious grace as pathway to a reconcilliation required by both but not a given by the actions of either party cleared trees from the path and fog from the vision of the travellers. The very neat wrap up of Susan talking as mother to daughter about daughter's cheating spouse reinforces the universal nature of the imperfection of man, and woman.

We are flawed, we are human, all of Joesephus' stories reach that level of chalange to the reader. It is unfortunate that he can no longer be an continuing example with current work.

Xtchr says it all.

Joesephus was struck dead for being such a pussy writer....waaaa waaa i love you waaa waaa please all the shit he did to remain true and she tortured him and the he is all like i love you..blah blah....ruined a good story.

When he confessed vs her being caught......fu bitches that read this and cant see the difference.

E.Z.Riter's and Joesephus's version. Not anywhere near the silliness of needing to give John Stickner a special reward. Grace, rather than forgiveness, is likely what gave Early AND me the focus change to make reconciliation viable.

we've all done things we regret...unfortunately not everyone is given the chance to recieve grace.....sometimes the people we need "forgiveness" from die before we can realise their forgiveness...by the way ...the correct saying is "in vino es veritas george pay

I guess I'm not a grace(ful) person!

Many thoughts (writing these as I go, so some may be over-taken by future events!):

If Susan was such a brilliant fucking lawyer, why did she need John Stckner’s help?

I’m sorry, but while I understand her guilt feelings, I can’t believe that she wouldn’t marry someone else even if Early marries another!

If it bothers him that much, don’t read the letter. Who’s going to know?

Early can help without being on the Board.

"I'm not a slut and I'm not some sort of nymphomaniac. I told you I would never be with another man and I haven't” – That makes no sense! Of COURSE she’s a slut, maybe not a nympho since she can control it, and has obviously been with other men! I read a bit ahead to see if maybe she cheated with WOMEN, but it does appear that she cheated with men.

“I'm a smart woman and a skilled liar” – And we’re supposed to believe her now?

“I was actually trying not to be involved with John." – Again, that makes no sense, she admitted to initiating the relationship to “repay” him for his help.

“awfully stupid for such a smart woman." – Took the words right out of my mouth!

“She hadn't attempted to excuse her behavior with psychobabble about being a sex addict or any other such nonsense, but” – In a way she DID attempt psychobabble! The whole idea that “she cheated because she’s a cheater” crap! If she loved him as much as she claims, even to the point of destroying her OWN character, she WOULD – NOT – HAVE – CHEATED!

“be friends again." – WTF! No way! Even IF I could somehow “forgive” her, I would never want to even SEE her again, let alone be friends! I would want her to move to another city!

Minor point: It’s mal de mer not mal de mAr.

Why is he so concerned about the cost of calls, or Internet, or Email? Isn’t it going on the company’s tab?

I, for one, don’t believe in either her celibacy vow, or any promise to “change her ways”. She had plenty of opportunity to change her ways long before Strickner, and didn’t seem to be able to.

“He's retired military so I should be able to find him through them." – He gave you his card! You don’t have to “find” him!

“I want it done the right way. I want us married and all legal.” – She’s not going to have a baby for nine months, and that’s I she gets pregnant right away, so there’s no rush to get married.