Chapter Five: Getting Over It
It had been two weeks since the breakup with Henry, and we had no contact with each other. I drowned myself in my work and tried to forget about him, but it was more challenging than it seemed.
It was becoming clear that I wasn't ready to get back into the dating world. I blamed myself for the problems with Henry, he was a good man, and I tore him down because he wasn't good in bed.
All kinds of thoughts filled my head. Maybe I could have ignored it. Perhaps I went too far.
I sat down with my friends and asked if they had encountered the same problems. Since they, too, had gone through the same thing as I had.
"He's a man," Jacquelyn shrugged. "Nathan was the same way at the beginning."
Jacquelyn, the most outgoing out of all of us, had been married to a police commissioner before everything went down. Now, she was happily divorced and seeing her neighbor.
"But's he's, well you know," Sabrina said.
"No, I don't," Jacquelyn shook her head. She was teasing Sabrina, who was more introverted than the rest of us.
"Black," Sabrina whispered.
"Sweetie, the nearest table is nowhere near listening range," Francis shook her head. "You don't need to whisper."
"What's the color of his skin have to do with sex?" Jaquelyn asked. "Unless you're one of those simpletons that believe the internet and stupid rumors?"
"Well, some rumors are based on facts," Cassandra noted.
Cassandra and Francis were in the same boat as Jaquelyn and me. They were once married to high-ranking officials that got caught in the scandal, and both of them were now divorced.
Cassandra quickly remarried one of her coworkers, and Francis was like me, single and looking. On the other hand, Sabrina was one of the few women that knew about the club and were paid to keep it hushed.
"Some," Jaquelyn nodded. "I've dated a few men in my time."
"A few?" Francis smirked.
"Okay, a lot," Jaquelyn smiled. "Let me tell you something, color of their skin or prowess on any field of sport has nothing to do with their abilities in the bedroom."
"Amen," Cassandra nodded as the two clinked their wine glasses.
Sabrina nodded.
"So, I should have accepted it and moved on?" I asked.
"You said he was a good man outside of the bedroom?" Francis asked.
"Yes, very," I nodded.
"Take it and run," Jaquelyn nodded at me. "Take it and run for the hills, lock that man in a vault and plaster your name all over it."
Cassandra was the only one shaking her head. "Not me," she said as she sat back. "Did that with my first marriage and look what that got me?"
The others stopped drinking.
"For all those years I accepted everything he spouted at me, I was the good patient wife, never questioned, never disobeyed," Cassandra shook her head. "I told Timothy before we got married, I wouldn't be that wife again, it's both ways or the highway."
That's how I felt. Now that I had a taste of being alone, I wasn't afraid.
"What did he say?" Francis asked.
"He put the ring on my finger, and now I have it both ways. He is an excellent husband and a very patient and understanding lover, not like the other one," Cassandra smiled.
"Well, good," Jaquelyn stated. "Maybe he needs to come over and talk to Nathan," Jaquelyn nodded. "I get a few minutes of entertainment and pfft he is done and over on the other side of the bed snoring."
"Three minutes," I nodded. "Even with protection, three minutes and he was done."
"Nope," Sabrina shook her head. "I couldn't do it."
"Ladies," Francis shook her head. "Face the truth, men reach their sexual prime in their twenties, and sometimes thirties, after that it's downhill and fast, all of us are in our fifties and in our prime and I am sorry to say unless you all turn into cougars and start dating younger men, this is what you're going to deal with and that’s putting it lightly. Men our age don't have the stamina anymore, they just don't, no amount of complaining or pointing it out will change that, and that's just the facts."
The table went silent as usual, Francis. The medical doctor had laid the hammer down. Henry was in his mid-fifties. Was I asking too much of him to try and keep up with me?
"That's what the blue pill is for," Jaquelyn laughed as the table returned to its joyous repertoire.
After the dinner, I thought about it more. While cleaning the old house, I did find prescriptions for Benjamin, and they were for his libido. I wondered how he kept up with such a young woman, and it seemed like he had some medical help.
Maybe I should accept that Henry was right, he couldn't keep up, but that meant I would be unhappy and unsatisfied and leave my pleasure to myself. Then what was the point of having him around then?
"Shit," I said as I turned the corner to my house. "Talk of the devil."
I pulled up and got out of the car. "I thought I had given you enough space to calm down," Henry said as I got out.
I sighed and looked at him. "Could have called, or sent a text," I said as I made my way down the driveway toward him.
"Wouldn't have seemed right," Henry shrugged. "I wanted to tell you; I was sorry for yelling at you."
"And?" I asked.
"Bringing up my ex-wife at that time was the wrong thing to do," Henry added.
"Bingo, we could have talked, but that really set me off," I nodded.
"I'm sorry, just not used to having that part thrown in my face like that," Henry stated.
"I wasn't attacking your man hood, or anything I was just saying I was unsatisfied, and wanted to talk about it," I said, looking at him.
"Well, when a woman says that it does seem like an attack," Henry said, leaning against his car.
"Well, it's not," I replied. "I would never say you're less than a man, for any reason."
"That's a relief," Henry nodded.
"Come on, let's go inside and talk," I nodded.
We talked for hours over it, and of course, things got a little heated a few times, but I had put my foot down.
I wouldn't take care of things myself if I were with someone. I could do it myself being single if that was the case. Henry said he would see a specialist and see about taking medication if it came to that, but he also put his foot down that he wasn't going to be using as he called 'play toys' to help me.
In the end, I ended up unsatisfied again that night after another three-minute session. I watched Henry as he slept. Wondering if things would ever change.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~ ~
"You're a cum dumpster!" Sheila laughed as she helped me around the house.
The holidays were coming, and everyone was coming to my new house. "I still hate that Jaquelyn and you talk to each other," I said, shaking my head.
"And I am sorry that you're a cum dumpster, mom," Sheila smiled.
I cringed every time she said those words, but they were accurate, just wish she didn't say them repeatedly.
"Don't worry, lots of women go through it," Debra said as she had also come to set things up.
"Great, the two of you are agreeing for once," I shook my head.
"It's a topic a lot of women have in common," Debra shrugged.
"Not me," Sheila shook her head. "Grant was like that, and after a few times of him not listening, I kicked him to the curb."
"Grant, the tall basketball player?" Debra asked. "Or was he the swimmer?"
"Funny!" Sheila said.
Debra always picked on her little sister on the number of guys she dated.
"Well, we can't keep track," Debra shrugged.
"Sorry, how long does Jimmy last, and when was the last time, he brought you to an orgasm without the toys you bought from me?" Sheila asked as she stood on a ladder putting up decorations.
"Low blow and you know it!" Debra shouted up at her sister. "He has back problems, and low testosterone."
"That long huh?" Sheila nodded. "Fifteen minutes and twice, and it happened last night. Four separate times."
"Are we going to meet this one, or does he have something more important to do?" Debra asked.
I loved these moments. Even though the two of them went back and forth, they loved each other. Anytime the other was remotely sick or went out of contact for a while, the other was in a total mess. This was just their way of talking to each other.
"Again, I am sorry, I couldn't hear you over the loud desperate sound of a woman needing a decent orgasm," Sheila said.
This went on for most of the day, but in the end, the outside and interior of the house looked ready for the holidays.
"She's not wrong," Debra said as Sheila got in her car.
Debra was staying with me until everyone came home the following week.
"You don't have to put up with it, either." I stated.
"I love Jimmy, do you love Henry?" Debra asked. "That's the difference."
'Straight to the heart,' I thought as Debra went upstairs. She was right. I didn't love Henry. Debra could put up with Jimmy's shortcomings because she loved him, and he loved her enough to make sure she got hers, even if that meant using other means.
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