They'd had a few fights like any married couple, but lately, it seemed as if they fought every night. Wendy would say something like Jack never helped her with the housework and Jack would instantly become defensive. After all, he worked ten hours a day as an engineer so Wendy wouldn't have to work. All she had to do was stay home, keep the house clean, and fix their meals.
Something else had changed too, and that change had first made him wonder, then made him mad. He and Wendy had had sex at least every other night after the first year they were married. Now, three years later, if he touched her, she'd make some kind of excuse like she was tired or had a headache. They still had sex on Sunday morning, but he always felt like Wendy was just doing it because he wanted to. The first years of their marriage, she'd told him he was a good lover, and he didn't think he'd changed.
At first, he'd thought maybe she was seeing another man, but she denied it and said she'd never do that. He still didn't believe her and on the pretext of improving their home security, had installed a home monitoring system with a camera at every door. After a month of reviewing the recording every night, he hadn't seen anything except Wendy going shopping and coming back a couple hours later. She always had a load of groceries and other stuff with her, so he knew she'd really been shopping and not meeting another man somewhere.
It finally came down to Wendy telling him she wanted a divorce. They'd sat down that night and talked it over. When they finished, Jack still didn't understand what had changed. All Wendy would tell him was that she didn't think they were compatible anymore. He'd asked her if she'd stopped loving him and she'd said no, she still did, but she couldn't live with him any more. He'd told her he still loved her too and didn't want to lose her. They went to bed that night not knowing what they were going to do.
Wendy asked her best friend to come over for coffee the next day. She had to talk to somebody, somebody who would listen to both what she said and understand what she couldn't bring herself to say, somebody who wouldn't judge her. Sarah was that person. They'd been friends since junior high school, and had always shared their most intimate thoughts about being women and what they thought about doing with boys.
They'd talked that afternoon about nothing in particular, but Sarah knew those things weren't why Wendy had asked her to come over.
"Wendy, we've known each other for a long time so I know how you are. Something's bothering you that you need to talk about. What is it?"
Wendy couldn't look Sarah in the face. She stared at her coffee cup.
"I think I want to divorce Jack."
"Divorce? Why? You two seemed like the perfect couple when you got married."
Wendy sniffed and wiped a tear from her cheek.
"I know, and it used to be that way, but it's not any more. I don't know what else to do. I'm not happy at all anymore."
Sarah reached across the kitchen table and put her hand on Wendy's.
"What's changed, Honey. Something must have changed."
Wendy sniffed again.
"I don't know. We just don't seem to be the same people."
"Wendy, this is none of my business, really, but are you two still intimate?"
"No, not really. We do it on Sunday morning, but that's about all."
Sarah thought she understood then.
"You don't like it, do you?"
"No."
"Does Jack like making love with you?"
Wendy shook her head.
"I don't think so. He just does it until he's done."
"Do you still love him?"
"Yes, I do."
"What about him? Does he still love you?"
"He says he does."
Sarah chose her words carefully so Wendy would understand she was trying to help.
"Wendy, what's happened isn't all that unusual. It happens for a lot of reasons, but mostly it's because couples don't talk. Bill and I had the same problem a couple years ago."
Wendy looked up at Sarah.
"You did? I didn't know."
"Yes, we did. We knew we couldn't keep going like we were so we found a marriage counselor who helped us figure out what was wrong and then showed us how to fix it. I'm not telling you that's something you should do. You'll have to both decide you want to keep trying, but I'll give you her business card. Give her a call. You don't have anything to lose by talking to her."
The next morning, Wendy called the number on the card. The woman who answered had a soft voice and sounded very polite.
"Victoria Counseling. I'm Victoria. How may I help you today?"
Wendy didn't explain much, only that she and her husband were having some problems they wanted to work out and a friend had recommended her.
Victoria's voice somehow made Wendy feel better.
"I remember Sarah and her husband. They were not doing well at all when they came for their first appointment. I was overjoyed after their last. They were a great couple. They just needed some help in learning how to talk to each other. Might you and your husband have the same problem?"
Wendy replied that Sarah thought that was the case.
"That's what Sarah said. When could I schedule an appointment?"
Victoria's voice was reassuring, but she also said there was a condition they had to meet.
"My appointments are two hours long, so most couples come after six. I have an opening at seven on Thursday night. There is one thing though. Your husband will have to be willing to come with you. It won't work if he just comes because you want him to."
Wendy didn't know if she could convince Jack they needed some help, but she knew she had to try.
"Can you schedule us for Thursday night? I'll talk to Jack and if he says no, I'll call and cancel."
Wendy gave Victoria her name, address, and phone number, and then heard typing on a keyboard for a few seconds. Victoria then said, "You're all set. When you talk to your husband, please tell him I don't judge people. I only try to help them understand each other."
"I will", said Wendy.
}|{
That night after dinner, Wendy stopped Jack from getting up from the table.
"Jack, we need to talk about us."
"I thought you'd already decided to divorce me. What do we need to talk about -- how much of our stuff you want and how much of our bank account you're going to demand?"
"No. I don't want to divorce you. I just said that because...I don't know why I said it except that I'm so frustrated by how things are now. I don't want that at all. I want us to be like we used to be. I think I've found a way to do that."
Jack sat back down.
"What way is that?"
