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Click hereEpilogue
It's been a year since that weekend.
Both Derek Turner and James Young were fired for cause based on Holly's complaint and after the HR director listened to the recordings, read Jake Sullivan's notes and had a subsequent conversation with Jake. Neither received any severance; just a quick kick out the door. Holly heard they threatened lawsuits; but backed down after being threatened with countersuits.
Speaking of suits, a letter from our attorney produced a nice check from the company to Holly, nothing more was said after she signed the release. We might have been tempted to press the matter; but Holly's company did the right thing - they got rid of the miscreants and settled quickly with her.
The counselor did help us get over our issues. Holly was surprised when she heard the real cause for my first marriage's failure. She was hurt when I related during our first session how close I came to cheat on her. My reason for coming clean was simple; Holly needed to know she wasn't the only one who could be tempted; our marriage would be stronger if she wasn't carrying around a ton of guilt. After all, neither of us crossed a physical line; which made the emotional lines we crossed still damaging, but not unforgiveable.
I truly believe Holly and I are happier now than during our first year of marriage. Both kids are doing great; it's probably easier to raise children when there are two adults who love each other doing the raising.
A few important lessons were learned. Number one; don't use another person to replace the emotional support you should be getting from your spouse. Especially when the other person has a reason to put barriers between you and your spouse. It may start out with friendly lunches, it often ends up in bed.
Number two, if you're doing something you're ashamed to tell your spouse; chances are you shouldn't be doing it.
Number three. Communication; have an issue with your spouse? - let them know. I'm not naïve; there are marriages that won't be saved by communication and sharing, but if yours is a marriage worth saving, take the time to communicate.
Well, that's my two cents anyways; and worth every penny.
Afterword - by Bill and Kate
This story was written after a young couple who lived down the road recently separated and are now heading for a divorce. It's a shame really, their kids will probably suffer. Kate has had a few conversations with the wife and I spent an afternoon with the husband at a local pub. Of course, we've changed the names, locations and the ending. The trouble was, in our neighbors' case, it went too far, too many lines were crossed and they couldn't recover from the damage. Not as happy an ending to their tale, we're afraid.
Number one; don't use another person to replace the emotional support you should be getting from your spouse. Especially when the other person has a reason to put barriers between you and your spouse. It may start out with friendly lunches, it often ends up in bed.
=====> Wise words indeed.
Liked how you sanitized the plot so that couple were not tempted over the line to forbidden fruit. Hard to be morally ethically virgin in these muddied times. How to reconcile between being all you can be versus submitting your spouses expectations?
Nice cautionary tale. Sadly, the people my ex turned to for emotional support were family - her father and her oldest sister who had been married four times before she passed away in a fire. There was also a close friend from church. I considered her husband to be one of my closest friends, not realizing the poison his wife was injecting in our marriage until it was too late. In other words, people I trusted to have my back.
The poison spewing from her family began before our first anniversary - not something you’d expect from a Southern Baptist minister (her father) and a respected evangelist (her sister). Before we had celebrated our first year together as man and wife, she had begun pulling away from me and our intimate times were getting further and further apart. For a 22 year hormone driven half-Italian male, you can imagine what happened next. Before our fourth year of marriage, she came to me and suggested I take my former girlfriend as my concubine since my wife couldn’t handle (read that as, wouldn’t handle) my high sex drive. So, right before heading overseas for a military posting, I took her up on it. Of course, my ex was devastated that I had actually take her up on her offer and the distance between us only grew.
By the time our fourth child had been born and we celebrated ten years together, I was tired of having to beg and cajole her into having intimate relations and the big affair occured. By then, we only had sex when she wanted another child. Once she had a partial hysterectomy for health reasons, the sex had virtually dried up entirely. I was climbing the walls with desire! I turned to two colleagues for relief.
Donna, a nurse and former biker moll, and Marie, a business partner, were fantastic lovers. We did things that the ex would never allow me to do. The ex and I tried to reconcile and make the marriage work for another seven years before I began to suspect her of cheating. I could never prove it and truthfully her skills were improving so I ignored any dalliances she may have been having, After all, it would have been hypocritical of me to expect complete fidelity even though we had been through marital counseling and renewed our vows. It wasn’t until she absconded with three of our four children to live across the country close to her oldest sister and began shacking up with a known drug dealer that I filed for divorce for the children’s protection.
A great cautionary tale of how a good relationship can go down hill quickly.
Also a good story of how communication and proactivity can save a relationship.
I leaned on someone emotionally, as well as doing things I shouldn't have been doing secretly. And the communication had broken down on a serious topic with my wife.
Needless to say, my very brief affair caused problems for years even though I denied it was physical. She couldn't get past the wondering .....
Reminds me of a story her on Lit. Divorce or Forgive. But the wife chose a revenge fuck. Not exactly what my ex did. Same result though.
Enjoyable story, enjoyable outcome, a strong man of action not a weak cuck. He deserved to save his marriage.
[I'll confront her tomorrow, no sense in drawing it out.]
=== finally a proactive husband who goes on the offensive! Glad he saved their marriage. However a post-nuptial might be in order.
Good story. Not sure why so many commenters below say they would never trust her again. Look at the husband's own experiences and his near miss. In the conversations that were recorded she never derided her husband and stood up for him. She never kissed him (except the failed cheek misses). When followed there was no hand holding. Nothing intimate. And she never outright agreed to the seducer's proposals. She was clearing doing something wrong and in danger of betraying the marriage. It is not clear that she wad going to go away to the conference. That would come out in counseling. She probably did worry about her husband's trips to Dallas and the seducer preyed on that. Not to mention sexual harassment and promise of promotion. Unlike so many LW stories she did not reduce or deny sex to her husband, and to the MC had obvious signs of love of their family when watching him with their kids. Yes the shopping trip was tawdry and the teddy was inexcusable, crossing aime that should never be crossed. But the MC acted with purpose and was forthright and intervened. She agreed to all her husband's demands. She was ashamed and ended it with the asshole, saying she never wanted to be alone with him again. A telling statement showing that she was being heavily seduced for some time and while her resistance was slowly crumbling, she did not enjoy what was happening and was confused and conflicted. I suspect talking it out with her husband that night and thr next day, ended up being a relief to her. Then outrage when she heard the various recordings. Following the slimeball was really smart btw. Made it a slam dunk for the lawsuit / settlement. Then the hard work began in counseling. Thr MC confessed why his first marriage died (see not always a cheater) but also about his near miss. The three rules at the end are very wise. Sorry about the real life couple that inspired the story where I am guessing the affair progressed farther into the physical and divorce is inevitable.
Do not listen to pummel187. Marriage can be beautiful. You need to choose wisely. It helps to know the other person really well. I knew my wife for many years since we were kids. We have been married for over 35 years. Our kids and grandkids enrich our lives. Pummel can live a lonely life because of lack of trusting anyone.
yuk. That was gross. If this were real life, this husband would be set for a life of heartaches as this selfish simple minded bitch keeps being tempted over and over.
Superb. That's how a man would react . Mature and dignified way. If one sees one's wife with another man it is logical to confront or address her and not pull out a mobile camera.
5* all the way.
"Number one; don't use another person to replace the emotional support you should be getting from your spouse." Great wisdom found therein. Also: women on jobs are targets for seducers.
To the anonymous commentator below. Did you read the story? Holly didn't cheat, and may never have. We'll never know because her husband intervened. Maybe, like her husband, she would have backed out when push came to shove. No matter, she recommitted to the marriage and hopefully they lived happily ever after. Sorry you are so damaged you have to think otherwise.
It’s always nice when an author; or authors, are willing to write a loving wives story that’s not a BTB story. I realize that’s what most of the male readers want to read, so I want to thank you for having the courage to go against the grain to write a different type of LW story.
Keep up the good work, and thank you for the time, and effort, you put in to entertain us readers. KS
Great save the marriage tale. Just lucky that Greg saw the signs and took action that saved their marriage. I question on why Holly went out with her boss in the first place, I seemed quite apparent what his end game was and she should have seen that he was just trying to seduce her. At any rate story that had a positive end. Well done 5 stars
Did anyone check up on Karen? She needed help as well.
Good story! Excellent advice!
Thanks for a story about couples interceding early to save the marriage instead of waiting to gather facts to improve their divorce results.
Can't be any clearer than those. The story is a fine blueprint on how to deal with the issue at hand, too bad the couple down the road didn't follow the same map. Another unique way to spot the problem, a heated car seat and it was all done without one unnecessary word.
William Conrad was a WWII fighter pilot and the original Marshal Matt Dillon on radio. He didn't get the part on television because the studio didn't think he looked the part. So the creature from the original movie 'The Thing From Another World', James Arness became a star. Signed: BTW
This one was very realistic. I loved when he told her to come home now. Way to tackle the problem straight away. Thank you
reflects what a husband would actually do in those circumstances....none of the usual LW nonsense: "...I wasn't going to confront her because I wanted to know whether she'd make the right choice, and if I stop her now she'd just do it later when I might not know."
How many LW authors use that absurd trope as a device to cover for the fact that they lack the ability to create an interesting plot not based on a weak husband or a "Martian Slut Rayed" wife?
Short and to the point. Confrontation, then get rid the bastards trying to fuck up a marriage. Too bad the real life couple didn't do this.