60 comments/ 129943 views/ 18 favorites What Happened to Until Death Do Us Part? By: Slirpuff A year ago, our kids threw us a twenty-fifth wedding anniversary party. It was a huge splash with all the trimmings. All our friends were there, we got a ton of gag gifts and life was pretty good at that moment even though I knew we were slowly drifting apart living in the same house together. My wife, Carol, and I met in our senior year of college and the rest is history. We fell in love, got married and had two wonderful sons, both of whom are in the process of finishing college. We are now almost empty nesters and should be enjoying the fruits of our labors, but we've run into a slight problem; I got younger and she didn't. I didn't get physically younger, more so I had a mid-life crisis when I hit fifty this year. Don't let anyone tell you that fifty is just a number and not to worry about it because that's bull shit. I started looking back and saying to myself, "what if" and was bound and determined never to say those words again. The pressure of caring for the kids was off, and for the first time we had a lot of extra free time and money. It was like a huge weight was lifted off my chest and I felt more alive than I had in a hell of a long time. Every year I got four weeks vacation from my job and over the years I'd squirreled away another four weeks of untaken sick and vacation time; what the hell was I going to do with eight weeks vacation? I started making changes, small ones at first. I stopped dressing like my dad. My suits and the rest of my wardrobe was dated, to say the least, and needed to be brought into the twentieth century. Another thing, I'd some how added a spare tire around my middle over the last ten years and need to get rid of that before I went crazy and bought all new clothes. When I told Carol I wanted more salads and less meat items she said nothing but when I started getting up early to hit the gym before work she took notice. I guess she thought it was a phase like my New Year's resolutions that would go away eventually, but it didn't. It took me three and a half stinking months of hard work to drop the eighteen pounds I'd packed on. It gave me more energy and I tried to make use of it by increasing our sex life, wrong. I guess over the years, our sex life had taken a bit of a nose dive. It went from being white hot, to hot, to good and finally ok when I actually got any, which was about once every nine days. I'd always pushed for more sex, but now I took it to a new level and it wasn't a welcomed move by my wife who was happy just with the way it was. "Steve, I'm not a twenty year old anymore. I can't do it five times a week," she told me in no uncertain terms. "You're not taking Viagra are you?" "How about if we compromise on three?" I asked or pleaded in this case. Carol said she'd think about it but wasn't guaranteeing anything. As usual, nothing changed. You see we'd gotten ourselves into a rut. We both got up in the mornings for work at about six o'clock give or take five minutes; we had coffee for breakfast together as I skimmed the newspaper. We both drove to our jobs that started at eight and I left at between five and five thirty for my twenty-five minute ride home. When I got home, I checked the mail, changed and usually set the table. Carol got off at four thirty and was cooking something by the time I got home. We ate, did the dishes and then read the paper. At that point we separated and did our own things for the next two hours before getting ready for bed. I laid out my clothes for the next day, brushed, flossed and then sat in bed watching the news. If I could get Carol in the mood, we had some vanilla sex and were asleep forty minutes later. The next day, we did the same boring things all over again. We were becoming our parents and I wasn't going to let that happen without a fight. I eased up on requesting more sex and started working on my foreplay techniques. A bottle of her favorite wine, flowers once in a while, a foot rub and doing other things went a long way. It put her in a better mood but it didn't bring us closer. When we didn't make love the first week, I said nothing. When it went to two weeks I dropped hints. Hell, went it went to three weeks, I finally said something. "Carol, don't you like making love with me anymore?" I said as tactful as possible. "Steve, what kind of question is that? Of course I do." "Well then, why don't we do it more often?" "Steve. We do it all the time." "Hon, it's been three weeks. I haven't bugged you once, but I wanted to wait and see how long you'd let it go before you noticed; but I guess you didn't." "Well, do you want to fool around tonight? If you do we'd better get started because it's getting late." "Carol, I don't look at it as some type of chore that needs to get done and out of the way, I think of it as something special that brings us closer," I tried to tell her but she wasn't listening. "Steve, do you want to do it or not?" she finally asked getting a little perturbed that I'd criticized her for never wanting to have sex anymore. "I guess not, I'm not in the mood any longer," I told her in a sharp abrupt manner. "Come on, let's do it, or you'll never let me hear the end of it," she said in that annoying whinny voice that I'd heard more often than not lately. "I'll pass," I said getting out and going to the bathroom. I took three Advil for the headache I now had, slipped back into bed and told her goodnight rolling over with my back towards her. "Don't say I never offered," Carol said with a condescending tone in her voice as she opened her book. I stopped asking after that night. I switched my workouts from morning to after work, which meant that we no longer had dinner together anymore. I liked it better because it gave me a chance to wind down after work and there were more people to talk to at the gym. Carol started to leave me a plate of leftovers in the oven but after two months that stopped and I made my own dinner or I stopped after working out and grabbed a bite. We were growing apart and if I saw it she also had too. It had been close to four months since our last love making session and I was bound and determined to make her initiate it if it took forever. My evening showers were taking longer and longer as I got rid of my stress by hand after shaving. I started replacing or upgrading my clothes bit and piece at a time and even a few of the women at work noticed but my wife never said a word. "Are you going to stop your sulking this year or should I just pencil you in for January of next year?" Carol said as I turned off my light tonight. "What?" "You heard me. You're playing a stupid game and I'm tired of it," she said with a tenseness in her voice I'd become accustom to. "Would you care to explain what game your talking about?" "Steve, don't play stupid with me. Just because I won't give you sex twenty- four seven you're pouting; but it won't work," she now yelled at me. "Carol, you asked me not to bug you about sex anymore, I'm just doing what you asked me to do. You told me you're not twenty anymore and not interested in it any longer so I've just been waiting for you to be in the mood." "Don't give me that crap. You're punishing me for not laying spread eagle on the bed for you every night, but it won't work. I can hold out as long as you can," she said smugly. "Listen to yourself Carol. I'll show Steve, I won't have sex with him. Do you hear what you're saying?" I asked her. "You started this, not me." "No Carol, I didn't. I wanted to make love to my wife and you looked at it as just another chore you needed to get out of the way before we went to bed. I decided to wait until you wanted to do it, not had to do it, as you so eloquently put it. Instead you took it as a challenge to see how long I would last, that's pretty pitiful. I guess I was right months ago, you really don't enjoy doing it with me any longer do you?" She just gave me an ugly look and stormed out the bedroom door. I guess that answered that question. Life got even tenser after that night. Carol now slept in the guest room and even went out of her way to avoid me in the evenings. When I told her that my company dinner was in two weeks she just shrugged it off. Saturday night of the dinner I had just taken a shower and wondered why I didn't hear Carol getting ready. After I finished getting dressed I went looking for her. "Why aren't you ready? We've got to leave in a half hour," I told my wife who was still dressed in shorts and a casual top. "I'm not going." "What the hell do you mean you're not going?" I asked in not too nice a tone. "When you start treating me like your wife again, I'll start acting like your wife again, until that time you're on your own." "Come on Carol, stop talking stupid, get dressed." "I said I'm not going," she said with her hands folded in front of her. "Fine, continue playing your fucking game," I said going down stairs and grabbing my keys. I was angry, pissed a million other things. This was my company's yearly dinner and it was going to be the first time I'd had to go alone and I wasn't happy. I told everyone that Carol wasn't feeling well and decided to have a good time anyway. I wasn't aware that there were so many single women where I worked. I guess when you're married you don't really look at something like that, but tonight I did. I danced with every one of them at least once. I'm not the greatest dancer, but I never heard a complaint all evening. I guess I had a little bit too much to drink and ended up needing someone to give me a ride home. Diane from customer service lived in my area and told me she would make sure I got home in one piece. I finished off the night with two more dances and one more drink. Walking out to the parking lot my eyes got as big as saucers when I saw what Diane was driving, a black 2005 Cobra Mustang. "Holy shit Di, is this your car?" "It was my husband's toy before he died." She'd lost her husband to cancer a year earlier. "You can handle something like this?" "Strap yourself in big boy and I'll show you what it has under the hood." "Son of a bitch, holy shit and oh my god," were just three of the phrases I used as we took the scenic route to my place. Diane went through the gears like a racecar driver and put me back in my seat more than once. When she finally stopped showing off, we settled back down to the posted speed limit. "I let it sit for six months before I got the nerve to take it out," she told me. "I hadn't driven a stick in forever and had to relearn rather quickly. Its got a lot of horsepower but after a while you get use to it. For me, it's a fun weekend car that gets rid of all the stress from the week. If you weren't so drunk I'd let you take it for a spin," she said smiling at me. A twenty-minute trip took an hour and a half because we stopped for coffee at Denny's. She told me about her husband and I guess I felt obligated to tell her about Carol. "You two should stop playing the games; life is way too short to miss out even on one day, take my word for it, I know." I agreed but told her it took two to tango. She roared down my street because at two in the morning there wasn't another car on the road. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and asked if I needed help inside. "Getting in will be no problem. My problems are going to start once I get inside," I told her with a smirk. She told me again to get my head out of my ass and that she'd see me Monday at work. As I walked up to the house I saw Carol looking out the window for a split second. I guess she did wait up for me. "Do you have any idea what time it is?" a pissed Carol asked. "Not a clue." "Who was that who gave you a ride home?" "That was Diane, she works with me," I replied. "I saw her kiss you, what was that for?" "For nothing I guess. I just danced with her tonight because my wife didn't care enough to come with me," I said staring at her. "So if you'll excuse me, I'm tired and had way too much to drink. If you want to discuss Diane and all the other girls I danced with tonight I'll be more than happy to talk to you but not now, tomorrow after breakfast," I said climbing the stairs. I slept like a baby. For the next month I tried my best to bury the hatchet. I didn't ask for sex but switched my workout back to the mornings so we could have dinner together again. I was getting sick and tired of all the bullshit but I figured I'd give it another couple of weeks before I once again said something. That's when Carol did something stupid. I was going through the mail Thursday when I found a receipt for a cruise ticket for the up coming week. "What the hell is this?" I asked holding it up. "I was going to tell you about that tonight, my sister and I are going on a seven day Caribbean cruise. It goes from this Sunday until the following Saturday. I just need some time away to think about my life." "And you can't do that here with me, but you can with your sister?" "Steve, I just need a little time away, no big deal," she said trying to downplay it. "Carol, it is a big deal. If we get any further apart there's a good chance we'll never get back together, is that what you want?" "Steve, I don't know what I want anymore," she said looking at me. "Well I guess I have my answer," I said crumbling up the ticket and throwing it at her. I think I heard her shout something at me, but I was out the door before I heard it. I think I finally reached my limit. I went to dinner, by myself, and hit two strip clubs. Those were the first breasts I'd seen in five months and they looked pretty good to me. I spent thirty dollars on tips and bought two of the girls' drinks before I finally left just after one o'clock. Driving back to my house I thought about all the places I'd wanted to visit but never had the chance. The one that stuck out was the California wine country. I loved wine and could never persuade Carol to go, she though it would be boring as hell. I guess if she can go off with her sister on a vacation so could I. Carol was asleep when I got home. She left me a note saying I was a stubborn jerk for walking out on her before giving her a chance to explain herself. "I'm the jerk?" I said to myself as I crumbled it and threw it across the kitchen. "Bitch," came to my lips as I went upstairs and packed enough clothes to be away just until after she left. The Holiday Inn across from work was my logical choice as I got about three hours sleep Thursday night. I told my receptionist that under no circumstances did I want her to put any call through from my wife, Carol. I turned off my cell phone and decided to hide for the next seventy-two hours. I did however check on tours for the wine country. For a ten-day tour, including airfare, meals and transportation it would set me back just over twenty-five hundred dollars. I booked it for the Saturday that Carol was coming back. I turned on my cell just once and had eight calls from Carol asking where in the hell I was and why wasn't I taking her calls. I did however, ask Diane what she was doing this Saturday afternoon. "If you aren't doing anything, I'd like to take you up on your offer for a test ride." "You think your man enough to handle it," she said with a smile. "I guess we'll both find that out won't we," I said smiling back at her. "How about one o'clock Saturday afternoon?" I got directions to her place and said I'd see her then. That takes care of Saturday and Carol's leaving on Sunday," I thought to myself. Friday I stayed at work a little later than normal and got completely caught up. I put in for my vacation and told them I wanted my vacation check the following Friday. I was really looking forward to doing this, I'd only wished that Carol was coming along but I guess that wasn't going to happen. I slept in late Saturday and had a big breakfast in the hotel dining room. It was a beautiful day and I made sure I was dressed appropriately, casual slacks and tennis shoes. As I drove up Diane had just finished washing the windshield. When she saw me she smiled. "Just making sure you'll be able to see clearly. You know that's one of the first things that goes when you hit fifty," she said laughing. "I think it's number three, but for the life of me I can't remember what number one and two are." Her car drove like a dream, a little stiff because of the race suspension, but great anyway. After a while I could go through the gears without thinking about what I was doing and even tried power shifting once before I realized I was approaching ninety-five miles per hour. "I got to get me something a little more exciting than the Volvo I'm currently driving. This is way out of my league but maybe a Corvette might be in order," I told her as we slowed it down to a dull roar. "Something I could drive to work every day that wouldn't break the bank." It was past four when we were filling it up with gas on the way back to her place. "Diane, you got plans for dinner? I feel I owe you more than a tank of gas for your troubles." "Don't you have plans with your wife tonight?" she asked eyeing me up one side and down the other. "Not tonight. How about it, my treat?" "Since you put it that way, you're on. I need a shower, so pick me up around six, if that works for you." "Six it is but dress casual. I know a nice Italian place with great food and an excellent wine list." I had five more calls from Carol. I listened to each, as they got progressively more irate. "Damn it Steve, call me. I'm leaving tomorrow and I need to talk with you before I leave," was her last one. I erased that one along with all the others. The food was excellent and we shared a bottle of wine with our meal. I didn't bring up Carol but Diane did. "How are you and your wife doing?" she asked sipping on her wine. "Not. She leaves on a seven day Caribbean cruise with her sister tomorrow," I told her. "I thought you two were going to work on your problems?" "I tried, but she wouldn't talk to me. When I found out about the cruise I just left." "That was pretty dumb," Diane said not mixing words. "She said she needed time away from me to think about us and where we're going. How can you work on 'us' if we don't talk out our problems? Anyway she leaves tomorrow for the Caribbean and I'm taking a ten day wine country tour starting next Saturday." "You guys are still playing tit for tat and you're both going to lose. Look, if it's over, it's over and stop with the stupid games. But if there's still a chance, you two should jump at the chance instead of taking separate vacations," she said criticizing what we were doing. "Di, we haven't even slept in the same bed in over six months. In my opinion, my marriage is on life support and with her leaving, she's all but pulled the plug. When I get back, we split everything up and go our separate ways. I've still got enough years left in me to start over again, that is before I'm ninety-five and stuck in a damn walker." "I still think your both making a mistake, but it's your lives." I brought her back to her place at just after ten. She invited me in, saying that she was alone because her only daughter was away at college but I refused knowing if I had another drink I wouldn't be able to drive, she was looking way too good and I wasn't about to embarrass myself. The week dragged as I was looking forward to my trip. I laid out my clothes and ended up buying three more outfits because I'd lost another five pounds. I figured I could get everything into two medium suitcases, which were the maximum the airline would allow without charging me an arm and a leg. Carol sent me two e-mails saying that when she got back we had to talk. That could be a problem since I wasn't even going to be here. What Happened to Until Death Do Us Part? I thought about not even leaving a note but decided against that. "I've decided to take a little vacation of my own, see you in two weeks," is all I wrote. At least she'd know I wasn't lying dead in a ditch somewhere. Why I hadn't done this before is beyond me because after two days I was hooked. Every other day we would go to a different vineyard, set up shop and do tours during the day and have wine tasting in the evening. I was with a group of four couples, a mother and daughter and a single woman beside myself. We ate meals together, did the tours and basically hung out. On the fourth day the only other single person in our group approached me. "Steve isn't it?" she asked. "Yes it is, and your name is Lorie isn't it?" I said with a smile. "Since we're the odd ones out, would you like to take a side tour to a few of the old Spanish Missions tomorrow?" she asked. "They need a minimum of two people and you're the only other person I know." "Sounds great to me, I'm glad I brought my good camera." "They said it takes about four hours including travel time and the actual tour itself. They are sending a car for us right after our winery tour tomorrow." Lorie set it up. We sat together at dinner that night. Lorie was divorced and said she decided every year she was going to do something different. Last year she went deep sea diving after getting certified and next year she was planning on taking an Alaskan cruise. "After that who knows," she told me. "I see you're married, how come the wife isn't with you?" "She's on a seven day Caribbean cruise." "You don't like cruises?" "Wasn't invited. She decided to take her sister with her instead," I said quietly as I sipped on a glass of wine. "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry." "No problem, I probably wouldn't have gone anyway. It seems she doesn't care much for my company anymore." "Well her loss. So from tonight on, you are officially my date for the rest of this tour. This way you'll always have someone to eat with and talk to." "Lorie, we all eat together and we're always talking to one another," I said looking at her strangely. "I know that, it's just that now it's official," she said smiling and grabbing my hand. The tour was great and I enjoyed Lorie's company more and more every day. She said her ex-husband traded her in on a newer model. "I made him pay dearly for that move. I not only got fifty percent of our assets, I get a monthly alimony check that I use to pay for all my little adventures. I only wish I'd caught him sooner, I sure as hell would have liked to try mountain climbing but at forty-five I'm not going to push my luck." "I'd always wanted to go on a windjammer cruise where there's few frills and you spend the time cruising from island to island. I would have done it by now except for the fact that my wife gets seasick and I was paying for my son's college up until this year," I told her. "Don't wait until you're too old to go and enjoy it," she warned me. We talked to almost midnight. Everyone else had already gone to bed when I walked her back to her cabin. She kissed me on the cheek and told me she had a wonderful time and I was the best date ever. "I'll bet you say that to all the married men you date," I told her. "Not really, because you're the first. If I didn't know your background we wouldn't have even gone out tonight. I'm no home wrecker; been there done that, so you're lucky. Get some sleep, we've got a big day tomorrow," she said giving me a big hug and another kiss. I went back to my hut with a hard on and did it by hand. Just before I went to sleep, I turned on my cell phone and low and behold I had nine messages from Carol. The first ones were a little harsh and short but the last three sounded a lot more sincere. "Steve, please call. I don't know where you are, and I need to talk to you," she pleaded. Now she wants to talk after telling me basically to fuckoff for the last four months. I erased them again and turned off my phone. After two more days of traveling we stopped at the most beautiful winery you could ever imagine. It was built on the top of a hill overlooking a lush valley. It faced west so at night when we did the wine tasting the sun set, it almost took your breath away. I took more than a few pictures and even took a picture of Lorie with the sunset in the background. I was having the time of my life. The rooms at the wineries were basically small little cabins with just the bare basics. They had a shower, a bedroom and a small sitting room. One by one the couples left for their cabins until just Lorie and I were left. "This is the life, I could get use to doing this on a full time basis. Taking tours to all the wineries here in California and maybe branching out to Italy and then Germany," I said daydreaming out loud. "And in two years they have to move you around with a forklift after you gained a couple of hundred pounds," she said with a laugh. "Between the wine, cheese and the rich food we've been eating nonstop, I think I've gain five pounds," she said rubbing her belly. "You're not fat, you look good," I replied. "Flattery will get you everywhere," she said finishing her glass of wine. "Come on, let's take a walk she said grabbing the last bottle of wine. The walkway was lit with torches as we took a casual walk around the winey itself. I wasn't drunk but wasn't totally sober either. When she stopped and pulled my lips to hers, I didn't resist or pull back but kissed her back. She dropped the bottle of wine as we both wrapped our arms around each other and traded spit among other things. I woke up next to her in bed. I still had my pants on and she had an oversize tee shirt. We had slept together after returning to her cabin but agreed that sex was not on the table, at least for last night. I watched her sleep and studied her face and everything else that was uncovered. "How long have you been up?" "About an hour." "It felt like someone was watching me," she said with a smile pulling me down to her lips. My breath had to be bad enough to kill a maggot but it looks like she didn't care. "We better get going, our bus will be here by nine to take us to our next stop," she said jumping out of bed, throwing off her tee shirt and heading for the shower. "You coming?" That was the most stressful shower I've ever had. We proceeded to wash one another without doing all the extras that we both wanted to do; well I wanted to do anyway. At least I got a good look at Lorie and sure as hell liked what I saw. She didn't have a models figure but was tight nonetheless. Her 'C' cup boobs and long nipples interested me greatly especially after they were pressed to my chest as she washed me until I got hard. I couldn't tell if she was a true blonde because she was shaved clean, but did have a long clit that poked its head out between her thick pussy lips. If it weren't for the fact I was married, I'd be banging her against the back wall of the shower. "Lorie, we've got to end this before I explode," I told her as I took a step back. "Well, go ahead and explode, who's stopping you?" I soaped up my dick and within two minutes I was shooting cum across the shower onto Lorie's leg. She took her finger and scooped up a bit and tasted it smiling at me. "A little soapy but good none the less. Now, you can watch me get off," she said as she leaned up against the wall putting one leg on the edge of the tub. It took her longer than it did for me and I would have loved to help her, but I didn't. She bit her lower lip as she finally thrust two fingers into her pussy and then just held them there. "Wow, I really needed that after last night." We got dressed slowly as neither one of us could take there eyes off the other. I went back to my cabin, got my luggage and threw it into the bottom of the bus and went in looking for Lorie. The hour's drive was over in the blink of an eye as we talked about nothing and everything. This was our last winey and I wasn't at all happy. We still had a day and a half and we made the most of it. We teased each other until we both had to cry uncle and slept the first night in just our underwear what there was of it. Her red thong was the thickness of dental floss and my briefs were doing their best to hold back my hard on. With me spooning her I don't think either one of us got any sleep that night. Like at all the other wineries I purchased a case of the bottles I liked and had everything shipped home. I made a note to buy a wine cooler as soon as I got home. We walked hand in hand that final night to dinner, as everyone was sorry our journey was coming to an end. We had a total of six toasts that final night as everyone exchanged addresses and e-mails. Dinner was fabulous, as usual, and one by one called it a night. I walked Lorie back to her cabin and told her I had to pack tonight. We kissed with just enough tongue to give me a raging hard on. "I'm going to miss you," we both said at the exact time as we laughed out loud. One more kiss and hug and she went inside. It took me about twenty minutes to get everything packed away. I located my airline tickets and parking pass making sure I knew where everything was. I washed up and had just slipped under the covers when I heard a knock on my door. I peered out the window and opened the door. "I couldn't sleep," is all she said as she walked into my room and shut the door. Lorie took me by the hand and led me to my bed. She pulled my briefs off and then took off all her clothes. "I can't do what you want," I told her. "I know, but at least I can have your body warmth for at least one more night." I spooned her with my raging hard on resting on the crack of her ass. After about five minutes Lorie reached under her and moved my dick between her legs as it rested up against her pussy. One wrong movement and I'd be inside her but I knew that wasn't going to happen. I knew this was teetering on cheating but at this point in time I didn't care anymore. So that's the way we slept all night or cuddled or spooned or whatever the hell you wanted to call it, but there wasn't any sleeping involved. With a kiss on the cheek she was out the door by seven o'clock. By nine thirty we were on the bus on the way to the airport. "Steve, here is my e-mail address and my cell phone number, no matter what happens, let's keep in touch," she said touching the side of my face. At the airport Lorie headed for South West Airlines while I went towards Delta. I gave her a final wave as we both headed back to reality. I had a lot to think about on my flight back. I figured I'd be back by probably one thirty and at the house no later than three o'clock. That gave me about an hour and a half before Carol got home from work. After getting my bags and picking up my car I headed out. I call my secretary, Jill, to touch base to see if there were any fires waiting for me when I got in tomorrow. "Steve, everything went pretty smooth. Since you did ninety percent of what needed to be done before you left, I just sat on my ass and did my nails all week," Jill said laughing. "However, Diane wanted to talk to you if you called, let me switch you over to her phone." "Customer service, Diane speaking how can I help you?" she answered her phone. "You can let me drive your car again," I said in my normal voice. "Steve, why in the hell didn't you tell me you went to California to do the wine country; I would have gone with you." "Diane, you know the place would fall apart if we were both gone at the same time," I said trying to sound serious. "And besides, you'd probably want to play nurse maid to me and I wouldn't have had any fun." "You better have not had any fun if you know what I mean," she said now a little testy. "Don't worry, I was a good boy. What did you need to talk to me about anyway?" "I had an unexpected visitor on Tuesday morning waiting for me when I got in, your wife. She wanted to know if I knew where in the hell you were. When I told her I didn't, she asked me point blank if I'd slept with you, can you believe that?" she asked. "You did tell her yes didn't you?" "Are you nuts, you didn't see the look in her eyes. She was hot to say the least. I did however ask her how she liked her cruise and she wanted to know how in the hell I knew about that. I told her you and I had a few discussions, on a friendship level, and that I knew that the two of you were having problems. Steve, we had a nice conversation for about forty-five minutes and I told her, like I did you, that the two of you were playing with fire. She was at least calm by the time she left. She thinks you won't be home until Friday, where she got that bit of information I haven't a clue. Just be warned, I think you're walking into a hornet's nest." I thanked her and told her I was sorry about all the trouble I caused her and would see her in the morning if I were still alive. Ten minutes later I was pulling into my garage and was totally unpacked within a half hour. The house looked the same; at least she didn't trash it while I was gone. I was just finishing my second beer and catching up on the mail when I heard the garage door open. Shit, I was hoping for at least another half hour before she got home. Carol came flying into the kitchen. "Where in the hell have you been? While didn't you tell me you were going out of tow?n Where were you?" were just three of the questions I remembered as she kept going on and on nonstop for about five minutes. "Wine country in California and since you decided to take a vacation, I did too." "Steve, at least I told you where I was going," she shot back. "Carol, if something came up, how would I have reached you? If I need to talk to you while you were on board could I have gotten you on your cell phone?" I asked. "You know our plan doesn't include the Caribbean." "That's why I turned off my phone when I left. How did it feel to be left in the dark?" I asked looking at a nervous Carol. "Well, at least you're home now and we can talk and stop all these stupid games. Are you hungry, do you want to go out and grab a bite or bring something in?" "How was your cruise? Did you get lucky?" I asked trying on purpose to put her on the spot. "I know your sister probably got laid every night, how about you?" "Steve, that's a hell of a question to ask your wife. Do you think I went on the cruise to cheat on you?" "I haven't a clue why you went on the cruise, remember you wouldn't talk to me about it. Hell, you could have had a gang bang every night for all I know. By the way, are those island boys as hung as I've heard?" "If you're going to cope an attitude I guess I won't talk to you tonight." "What else is new?" I said still looking at her. "To answer your question, no I didn't cheat on you and no I haven't a clue how hung the island boys are if you're interested. Maybe I should be asking you the same questions," she replied. "There weren't too many island boys in California," I said trying to un-tense what was now getting out of hand. "And no I didn't screw anyone." I would have loved to say I slept with someone but never actually had sex with her but I figured Carol wouldn't have taken kindly to that. "Why don't we order a pizza, open a bottle of wine and talk?" "I'll go along with that. Why don't you order while I change," she said walking upstairs. I wondered if she'd moved back into our bedroom while I was gone. I guess I'll find out later tonight. We talked about bullshit for the first hour. The small stuff that people bring up when they're afraid to touch on the big issues. I gave it another twenty minutes before I started asking the hard questions. "Figure out anything while you were on the cruise with the tramp?" "Steve, I wish you wouldn't call her that. So she's been married a couple of times. She just hasn't met the right guy." "Carol she had two guys that loved her, and she cheated on the both of them, and this is the woman you took with you to figure out if you wanted to stay married to me? Should I start packing now or have you already boxed up my shit while I was gone." I said trying to make a joke. "Very funny, you know I didn't do anything of the sort, but I have to admit I was pretty pissed when I came home and you were gone." "That was one of the reasons I left when I did. I figured it would give you a little extra time to think not knowing exactly where I was. I guess it was kind of cruel, but you deserved it after that cruise announcement." "Steve, if I'd told you about the cruise earlier we would have done nothing but argue." "And we didn't after I found out?" "But it was only for two days and hell, you left before I could explain my reasons for wanting to go." "Well, did you come up with any earth shaking revelations?" I asked. "Only that I still love you and want to stay married to you." "Well I don't, if it's like what we've had for the last two years," I told a surprised Carol. I really think she thought I was going to get all teary eyed and jump into her arms, but I was long over that. "I want a wife not a damn roommate. I can always hire a cook or maid to do what you do, but it's a lot harder to hire a wife but that's what I want and won't settle for anything less." "Steve, I've been a good wife to you for twenty-five years. Now all of a sudden you start making demands that I change or what, you're going to toss me out with the bath water? Do you see how wrong that is?" "Look Carol, I'm not making any demands on you other than I refuse to be celibate any longer. If you're not interested in making love with me any longer I'll find someone who is. I'm not giving it up at fifty for Christ's sakes," I said maybe a bit too loud trying to make my point." "We've been all through this, I can't do it twenty-four seven, I wouldn't even want to." "Carol, I asked for three times a week, and you said you'd think about it but I guess you thought I was kidding. Don't you miss the closeness we had? The touching, the hugging, the cuddling in bed before we both fell asleep, I sure have and I want it back." "But you started playing those stupid games," she shot back at me. "Carol, we started playing games that did nothing but pull us further apart to the point where I don't even have a clue how to start to get back together," I said sadly. "First things first," she said standing up and taking me by the hand. We must have kissed for two solid hours straight. Our clothes melted away sometime during that time as we both got reacquainted with each other's bodies. When I went down on her, I found for the first time a neatly trimmed pussy that was still sensitive to the touch or lick in this case. Carol didn't last for over two minutes as she climaxed and almost tore my head off. I was already rock hard as I climbed on top and slipped in. I was taking back what was mine when I heard her yell out for me to 'shoot my hot cum in her wet pussy.' I stopped looked at her and she at me before we both started laughing wildly. I laughed so hard; I pulled out and lay down next to her still laughing. "Where did that come from?" I asked finally stopping. "I thought you wanted to spice it up a bit?" she said still laughing. "In that case, let's get out the video camera and show everyone how it's really done." "Not in your life time big boy," she told me as we started to settle back down. I reached over and kissed her softly. "Let's try this again," I said as we went back to the way we had for the last twenty-five years and yes, it was better than I'd remembered it. We did it once more that night, her call not mine, she said we needed to catch up after five months and then talked again for the next three hours. What Happened to Until Death Do Us Part? Breakfast was quick, I needed to get back to work. With only two hours sleep I looked a little tired. "Looks like you need a vacation to recover from your vacation," my secretary Jill kidded me. She asked me if I needed a cup of coffee. There were a few things that needed my immediate attention but everything was back to normal by noon. "I see you're still alive," Diane said walking by my office just before four o'clock. "You two talk or just take pot shots at each other last night?" "Both," I said with a weak smile. "I guess you can't solve it all in one night." "Well at least you're talking for a change," she said and she moved on. We talked, made love and talked again for the next month. We'd solved some of our issues but finally figured out we couldn't do it all on our own. Carol got David's name from a friend who had used him years earlier and said he was pretty good. Tuesday at three o'clock we found ourselves in his office. "What can I do for the two of you," was the first question out of his mouth. We both went on for the better part of a half hour explaining how we'd grown apart and the issues we'd been having including the sexual ones. "Look, I can't solve your problems overnight but if your willing, we can work on the issues that are tearing you two apart and see where that takes us?" We both agreed and started on the long path to recovery. We met twice a week. Most of the times we were together at the sessions, but sometimes he wanted to see us each alone to work on our individual issues. He didn't soft-soap anything with us. He told me that what I did in California was cheating and that what Carol did on the cruise was also stepping over the line. It seems that my wife also found someone to her liking on the cruse and as she put it, went as far as second base with him more than once. She did get a little irritate with me when I said I hadn't heard that phrase, second base, since I left high school. But at least we were trying. When he asked us where we saw ourselves in one year and five years from now we both didn't have a clue, but it got us to thinking. When he asked us how much sex was too little and how much was too much, we were still on opposite ends of the spectrum. To me once a week was too little for me and three times a week was too much for Carol, but we plugged on. It took almost five months before we had our first real breakthrough and another month before we resolved our final two issues. David was pleased with our results and for the first time in a long time Carol and I were both happy. "Steve, when I got your e-mail about wanting to go on this cruise I was doing back flips," Lorie said to me while on deck looking out over the water. "But when you said that you were bringing your wife, that kind of put a damper on my enthusiasm," she said holding my arm. "I told her that I wanted to go alone but she said no way no how after me having to tell her about our last trip together," I said with a smile. "She said something about you not sharing my bed this time around." "Well, if she accidentally falls overboard, I'm telling you in advance it's not my fault," she said kissing me on the cheek. "Steve, I can't leave you alone for a damn minute," I heard my wife's voice call out to me as she came up behind me and gave me a full lip kiss. "And you must be Lorie," she said reaching out her hand. "I've heard a lot about you and you're as lovely as Steve said you were," she said now looking back at me. "You know what a flatterer he is," Lorie replied. "Not really, but he better start learning if he knows what's good for him," she said with a smile. "Well, shall we go to dinner? I am so glad you were able to get switched to our table, because there are still a few questions I've got about that wine country tour I need to talk to you about," she said as the two of them laughed looking at me, as I turned more than a little red. I was dead meat and I knew it. Our dining room table seated ten and by the time the waiter brought our drinks everyone was seated. There were four couples, including ourselves, and a single good-looking young guy who sat next to Lorie. I elbowed her and gave her a thumbs up as she punched me in the arm. Introductions were in order as each couple told everyone their names and where they were from. I introduced us as Steve and Diane Moore from the sunny state of Florida as I looked over at Lorie who's turn it was next. That's right, my wife Diane not Carol. You see we finally did work out our issues with David's help, just not the way we both had intended to. It seemed that we were both on different pages in our lives. Carol was at a point where she wanted to kick back and let life go on as long as it didn't interfere with her casual lay back life style. She was starting to enjoy her freedom and didn't want anyone dictating to her what she could or couldn't do, including me. She was more than happy with sex once in a while, to take the edge off, but was overdoing it when she wasn't really in the mood, even to please me. We talked about where we wanted to be in one and five years and found we weren't even on the same planet. We called it quits and are now better friends than we were together. Carol and I sold our house and split everything right down the middle. We used the same attorney and within three months it was all over and we were both a lot happier. She wanted to do it one more time for old times sake, but I told her that even though I would have loved to, I was in a relationship and couldn't cheat on Diane like I wouldn't have cheated on her. You see, a week after our last session I showed up on Diane's doorstep. We talked, went to dinner but she told me there was no way in hell she was going to get involved with someone from work. I solved that problem when I took a buyout of my eight weeks vacation, cashed in my 401k and bought into a prosperous travel agency. We started going out the next day. I got an apartment close to my work and leased it on a month-to-month basis but within three months I'd moved in with Diane. She had been with two guys since her husband passed away but both didn't live up to her expectations. I guess her husband was a lot better than good in the sack. After our third date, and with her not me driving her car, we stopped back at her place. "Steve, I'm not Carol nor will I ever be. I don't like games and if you have a damn problem with me, I expect you to tell me so we get it out in the open. You two screwed up your marriage and if we're going to move forward I won't tolerate what the two of you did. I expect you to be honest, faithful and to put my needs first and I'll do the same for you. So if you can't handle that there's no use us wasting our time on something that doesn't stand a chance in hell of succeeding. "All right Diane, tell me how you really feel. Don't beat around the bush, tell me straight, I can handle it," I said with a stupid smirk on my face as I grabbed and kissed her. We made love that night or let me rephrase that. Diane balled my eyes out and then I made love to her after that. "That was nice," I said stroking her arm as we lay there next to each other. "Nice? Nice?" she asked again. "I didn't rock your world? I figured you'd say something like that was fucking great, the best ever," she said now resting on her elbow looking at me. "Babes, it doesn't matter if you ball my eyes out and leave me blind or we make gentle love and then cuddle for the rest of the night, the only thing that's important is that we're together," I told her. We spent the rest of the weekend in and out of bed. At two months she wanted to make sure we were exclusive. At three months I moved in with her and at six months we were married in a small ceremony with just friends and family. Her daughter was her maid of honor and with my sons, I had two best men. In passing she asked if I wanted to invite my ex but I told her it was our day and even though we were on good terms, Carol was my past but she was my future. All she said was, good answer. Since we never had a chance to take a formal vacation I set up a cruise for the two of us. I e-mailed Lorie and asked if she was interested and she immediately responded, YES. I finally told Lorie I was bringing my wife; my new wife, and although she was more than a little disappointed she still wanted to see the two of us. "I just need to meet the woman that grabbed your ass so soon after you became available." We had a fantastic time. Lorie never did hookup with the young guy at our table but mentioned a certain someone back in Denver who had taken more than a shine to her. "He's nice and all, but wants to make an honest woman out of me and I don't know if I'm ready for that just yet." "Let me give you a word to the wise," Diane said leaning in and whispering to Lorie. "If he's worth it grab him as soon as you can, if not he may not be available when you are ready," she said grabbing my leg. "So if you'll excuse us, I want to try that new way of spooning you told me about. However, I can't promise you he might not accidently slip in though," she said with a big smile as we walked back to our cabin hand in hand.